From: vina vina <vina.66@hotmail.com>

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2016 10:54:51 +0000

Subject: Hello my Dearest,

Hello my Dearest,

I want to thank you for your respond to my mail and

It is with profound respect and humble submission, that i plead to

state the following few lines for your kind of consideration, and i hope

you will spare some of your valuable minutes to read the following

appeal with sympathetic mind and understanding.

Although we have not

known each other before, But i must confess that it is with great hopes,

trust and enthusiasm that I write you this mail which I know and

believe by faith that it must surely find you in good condition.

Firstly

my name is Vina Justin Yak. Age 25 years old, and am a University

undergraduate. My nationality is Southern Sudan and I am the daughter of

late Dr. Justin Yak, my father was the Special Adviser to President

Salva Kiir of South Sudan for Decentralization. My father Dr. Justin

Yak, and my mother Including other top Military officers and top

government officials where on board when the plane crashed that happened

on Friday May 02,2008.



And some months after the burial of my

father, my uncle conspired With my step mother and sold my father's

properties to a Chinese Expatriate, living nothing for me to survive

with, explaining to me that as tradition demands, and as a female issue

that i don't have any right to my father's properties which leads to so

many disagreement and problems, But on a faithful morning, I opened my

father's briefcase and found out documents and Statement of Account

proof that cover the sum worth 2.8 million British pounds at the ROYAL

BANK OF SCOTLAND. I saw this documents in the portfolio box of my late

father, The contents in the portfolio box are so many documents of my

late father's properties and valuables., and i have tried to fight for

my right which my uncle threatening to kill me because his plans was to

take away all my late father's treasury and properties from me since the

unexpected death of my beloved Father and Mother.

that is more

reason why i find my way and run far away from my country, And right now

i am living in the refugee camp here in Dakar Senegal West Africa,

although life has not been easy for me here because of my status here as

a refugee, Meanwhile i have try to contact the bank for confirmation

and remittance of this money through the help of a Reverend father here

as am the next of kin, which the bank told me that my father's

instructions to the bank was that the money will only be release to me

when i grew up, or when i got married or better I must present a capable

representative/trustee who will help me and invest the money for any

business of my choice.



So the bank advised me to seek for a

trustee who will stand on my behalf as a representative at the bank and

clear the money or transfer it to his/her bank account, And Right now I

am in search of an honest, trustworthy, sincere and God fearing person

to help me and present himself/ herself to the Bank as my trustee so

that he/she will receive the money in his/her Account because I have

determined to invest the money abroad where i can be able to start up a

new and better life again. and I have chosen to contact you after my

prayers which I hope that you will not betray my trust because as it is

now no body knows my where about, But please dear. kindly answer me this

few lines and help me hold on to your words and believe in you.



1) Can i really trust you?......I mean!!

2) Can you help me to invest in your country and also start up a new

and better life with you?

3) Will you always be by my side as a family?

4) Can you keep this secret for me, until the bank completes the

transfer for me?



My

reason for this decision is because I have suffered lots of pains,

sorrows and setbacks as a result of incessant family crisis since the

crash that take away the life of my beloved Parent from me, and at this

moment i want to come out of this camp to live my normal life as a

woman, However, i hope you will help me by recommending a nice

University in your country so that I can complete my studies which is

the most important part of my life after my freedom. that is why I want

to invest the money under your care because I am ignorant of the

business.



In case if you want to call me and discuss anything

with me on phone, please call me with our Rev's number (+221-70920

0665), his name is Samuel Martin, he is the Reverend of (Christ the King

Mission) here in our camp,

Rev. Samuel Martin it was through his

help that i could be able to contact you because he has a computer here

in his office and that was were i used to send you email, so please In

case you want to call me his phone number is,.(+221-70920 0665)

When

ever you call Just tell him that you want to speak with Miss Vina Justin

Yak,he will send for m





If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more....
 

         

                     ,  ,    ,       ,   .
When I started writing this article, I had two tasks on my to-do list that just wouldn't budge. I put them there in December. One had to do with a home insurance policy and the other with moving some retirement funds. Neither has a meaningful deadline. Both are things I really should do, but I never want to do. Does this sound familiar?

Most of us have stubborn items like these on our to-do lists, tasks that never seem to get done. Nothing bad happens seems to happen if we ignore them, so we don't do them, even if our rational mind says we should. Maybe there are never any consequences beyond a low-key feeling of guilt. But maybe there are, somewhere, down the line. You never know when, say, minor insurance and retirement paperwork tasks might come back to bite you, if ignored long enough.

What can you do to knock these chores off your list? There are some tried-and-true methods for lighting a little fire under yourself to do them, which I'll share here. Plus, I'll tell you what finally helped me check off my own unmoving to-dos.

1. Do It First Thing in the Morning

Many productivity enthusiasts swear by tackling annoying tasks first thing in the morning. The idea is to get minor tasks off your plate early before you get wrapped up in more important work, deep-focus work, or before anything else comes along to distract you.

This trick is great if the task meets two requirements:

it takes only a few minutes and

it's not time- or place-dependent.

If you make a habit of banging out any task that takes less than, say, five minutes before you even open your email, you could see a lot more movement on your to-do list.

When a task takes longer than a few minutes, or when it can only be done during a certain time or place, this trick doesn't work. In my case, the two tasks I need to do have to happen during US Pacific time business hours, which doesn't line up with my morning. I need consider other options.

2. Delegate It (Make Someone Else Do It)

If at first you don't succeed, give the job to someone else.

I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding about delegating some tasks when you haven't been able to complete them yourself.

Quite frankly, I'm terrible at delegating. I have a hard time asking for help. I worry about inconveniencing people. I like to be in control. Maybe you feel the same way.

How can we get better at delegating? For starters, we can think through a list of potential delegates even before we decide which tasks to offload. Colleagues, family members (including responsible children of an appropriate age), babysitters or other caretakers, and, in some situations, neighbors are all potential helpers.

Before you worry about inconveniencing someone, put the shoe on the other foot. How would I feel if my neighbors asked me to sign for a package or let in a repair person if they couldn't be home to do it? As long as the request fits my schedule, it would be no problem. A simple thought experiment can make delegating seem like a totally reasonable option.

One of my chores is actually perfectly suited for my partner to do. Come to think of it, he was supposed to do it initially and didn't, so I delegated it to myself! As to my financial task, only I can do it because I need to verify my identity and sign some papers in the process.

3. Promise Yourself a Reward

As much as I don't want to do my two tasks, I can think of a few things that I'd like more, such as a new pair of sweatpants or an extra $20 in my monthly coffee budget. Setting a reward for yourself can increase motivation.

Research suggests that motivation is higher when we don't know our payout(Opens in a new window). For example, in one study, participants had to complete a water-drinking task. They received either $1 or $2 for getting the job done. When they knew they would get $2, about 43 percent of the subjects completed successfully. When they didn't know whether they'd get $1 or $2, 70 percent finished.

How can you use rewards and uncertainty to your advantage? You could write down two possible rewards and then, once the task is complete, flip a coin to see which one you get. Or you could ask for help in creating randomness. Come up with a list of potential rewards and ask a friend to choose one without telling you what it is until you do the task.

Food often comes up in discussions about self-rewards, and I have mixed feelings about it. Sure, it's an easy, low-cost reward, but it can conflict with other goals, like losing or maintaining weight. For people who have had complicated relationships with food in the past, using it for motivation can also be psychologically detrimental. Be careful in deciding whether food is the right motivator for you.

When I was trying to get my tasks done, I remembered that I had some exquisite German chocolate-covered marzipan that I'd been saving for a special occasion. I decided that if I took care of the insurance-related task, I would treat myself to it alongside a cup of my favorite coffee. And what do you know? I got that sucker done. One down, one to go!

4. Use Temptation Bundling

Another rewards-based motivation technique is called temptation bundling(Opens in a new window). This idea comes from Katherine Milkman, associate professor at The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania. It's useful for stubborn to-dos that are recurring, such as exercising daily or driving to a weekly appointment.

Temptation bundling is the act of giving yourself a reward while you're in the act of doing the task you don't want to do. In other words, you simultaneously get the reward while doing the task. It's a kind of positive reinforcement. In Milkman's research, she gave college students access to best-selling audiobooks only while they were at the gym. Her research showed that students who got the audiobooks went to the gym more often than a control group, and they continued to go more often even after the audiobooks program ended. The students had created a habit that was positively reinforced.

So let's say you hate going to your annual OBGYN appointment. You could bundle a guilty pleasure, such as reading trashy magazines. Or maybe you hate catching up on email but you love pedicures. The solution: Get a pedicure and catch up on email while you're in the salon chair.

My tasks were not recurring ones, so they weren't set up for temptation bundling, unfortunately.

5. Create a Negative Consequence

If positive reinforcement doesn't cut the mustard, maybe negative consequences will. Would you donate a dollar to your least favorite political party for every day you don't do your task? Most of us would need a seriously hard-core friend to hold us accountable.

There's a famous story of a woman named Zelda Gamson, who quit smoking(Opens in a new window) when her friend created a contract with her. The contract said if Zelda ever smoked again, the friend would donate a huge sum to the Ku Klux Klan. Zelda never smoked another cigarette. The consequence was too great.

I don't think negative consequences would work for me. They're really tough to choose and even tougher to implement. Plus, every day that I don't get my tasks done, I already feel bad! Why would I want more negativity? Still, they might be a useful motivator for you.

6. Rethink Your Tasks

A common reason people end up with tasks that they just can't complete is that they write down the wrong thing. They lump together a series of related tasks instead of breaking it down into smaller steps. The same thing happens with goals. If you want to be successful at reaching goals, you need to break them down into component parts. Each part has to be a single, actionable, quantifiable item. That's why "jog for 30 minutes today" is a better task than "get fit." Getting fit is a goal, but it's not a task.

It turns out that the financial task I need to do is actually three or four tasks, possibly more. In fact, I have no idea what the task entails! The problem is I wrote down "Investigate retirement account rollover" rather than the first step that I actually need to take. The first step is to gather the paperwork. Every time I thought about my task, I said to myself, "Argh! I don't even know where the paperwork is!" So finding the paperwork should be the first task in this series.

The second step is to find the phone number and contact name, and the third step is to call the bank. The fourth step is to ask about my options. After that, I'm not sure what's next, but look! I already have four specific, doable tasks instead of one vague, unmanageable assignment. That's already an improvement.

The Final Tally

Where did I end up with my two tasks? I fully accomplished one by enticing myself with a treat, and I'm so relieved that it's done. The other task is still in progress, now that I've taken it apart and reorganized it into smaller steps that are more manageable.

The next time you have a stubborn task that won't budge on your to-do list, just remember you have some tricks for making it happen. Is it small enough to bang out first thing in the morning? Can you ask someone else to do it? Would you be motivated by a reward or by doing something pleasurable simultaneously while you work on the task? Could you use a negative consequence to give you a nudge? Finally, when all else fails, try to rethink the task, maybe breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps.

For more help on getting things done, you could also read 10 Ways to Make Better To-Do Lists.
Joe Behm takes his coffee seriously; so seriously that back in 2007 he invented a home coffee roaster called the Behmor 1600(Opens in a new window). His latest creation, the Behmor Connected Brewer ($299), is a sleek-looking smart coffee maker that uses your home Wi-Fi to connect to your Android or iOS smartphone. It offers a few neat features that you don't get with most coffee makers, including variable brewing temperatures, a pre-soak setting, and a pulsating shower head for full-bean coverage while brewing. It delivers an outstanding pot of java, but it's missing a few smart features such as scheduled brewing and the ability to save custom brewing profiles.

Design

With its matte black and brushed aluminum finish and three-legged design, the Behmor ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) looks slick and futuristic. It stands 15.2 inches tall and has a 9.2-inch round base, with a 4.2-inch round indentation that ensures the carafe is perfectly seated beneath the filter basket valve. The carafe is stainless steel with a black handle and lid, and holds up to 40 ounces (eight 5-ounce cups) of coffee. Its thermal properties keep coffee warm for up to two hours; the Behmor does not use a base heater to keep coffee hot after brewing.

The top of the coffee maker is home to a 40-ounce stainless steel water reservoir with fill lines for 8 cups, 6 cups, and 4 cups. The 4-cup line also serves as a fill line when calibrating the brewer. A black round cover twists into place to seal the reservoir. On the front of the brewer is a Start button with a bright LED indicator ring around it. When the light is solid green the brewer is connected to the internet and ready to go. A blinking green light means the coffee maker needs to be paired with your smartphone, a blinking amber light means it is in heating mode, and a blinking blue light means it is in extraction mode. Once the extraction mode is complete and the carafe is filled, the light turns solid green again. The LED ring is very bright and unfortunately cannot be dimmed or disabled without unplugging the brewer. Next to the Start button is a DADO button used to pair the brewer to your smartphone (the button is named after the connectivity protocol from DADO Labs(Opens in a new window), which the brewer uses). Just below those buttons is a pull-out filter basket with a fine mesh gold screen filter. The screen filter can be replaced with a paper filter if you're using finely ground coffee.

Behmor Connected Brewer

App Control

You can manually start a brew by pressing the Start button, or by using the free app, which opens to a Dashboard with a coffee cup icon with the name of your brewer. Tapping the icon takes you to a screen that contains a large plus sign icon in the center, and a Settings icon in the upper left corner. When you press the plus sign icon three new buttons appear: Brew, Buzz, and Craft. The Brew button is used to set up the brewer and lets you choose how many 5-ounce cups of coffee you want to brew. It also gives you a recommended dose of coffee per cup. Next, choose a Bean type (Packaged whole bean/Pre-ground, or fresh roasted and ground within the last three days) and a Roast type (Dark, Medium, Light). The app will assign a water temperature and pre-soak time based on your choices. Tap the plus sign button in the upper right corner to set the brew and launch the Ready screen, where you can start the brew or delay it. The Delay Brew feature allows you to heat the water without actually brewing the coffee until you tell it to. Missing is the ability to create a brewing schedule like you can with the WeMo-enabled Mr. Coffee Smart Coffeemaker ($119.04 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , but scheduling will be added in a soon-to-be-released app update.

The Craft button allows you to set up a brewing profile using your own water temperature and pre-soak parameters, but you can't save it for future use (this is also being added in the app update). The Buzz button lets you select one of three chosen brew configurations (African Coffee, Medium Roast, and Dark Roast).

The app lets you know what's going on throughout the brewing process. It sends audible and visual notifications to your smartphone to remind you to put water in the reservoir, and will cancel the session and send a Dry Boil alert to your smartphone if you forget to do so. It also shows you when the water is being heated, when the beans are being pre-soaked, when the coffee is being brewed (Extraction mode), and when the brew is complete.

Tapping the Settings icon allows you to change water temperature and pre-soak settings. Temperature settings range from 190 to 210 degrees, and pre-soak times range from 15 seconds to 4 minutes. The Brewer Settings screen is where you go to name the brewer, update the firmware, and change network settings. Here you can also access the Maintenance menus for cleaning and calibrating the brewer. Calibrating the brewer insures that the water temperature remains accurate and is recommended every six months or so. To clean the brewer, add a mixture of cold water and an approved cleaning agent and press Start Clean.

Installation and Performance

Installing the Behmor is easy. Start by downloading the iOS or Android app and creating an account. Plug in the brewer, and when the DADO light begins flashing, go to your phone's Wi-Fi settings and select DADO to connect to the brewer. Next, select your home Wi-Fi SSID and enter your Wi-Fi password. The app will begin scanning for the brewer. It took 20 seconds for my brewer to connect.

Before using the brewer for the first time you should hand wash the carafe, filter, and filter basket. You should also calibrate the brewer and run a brew cycle without adding coffee. It took six minutes for calibration, and another seven minutes to run an initial cycle.

I brewed three different types of coffee for my tests. I started with a Kenya blend from my local Starbucks and set it up as an 8-cup medium roast with a brew temperature of 200 degrees and a 45-second pre-soak. It took 7.5 minutes to complete the brew and the results were incredible. The fruity accents were much more pronounced than what I am used to from my old reliable Mr. Coffee machine.

Next I brewed an 8-cup pot of French Roast and set it up as a dark roast. The app set the water temperature to 195 degrees with a 45-second pre-soak, and again the coffee tasted fantastic. The difference between the Behmor brew and my Mr. Coffee brew was startling; the Behmor coffee was robust, with a pronounced smokiness that was barely noticeable in the Mr. Coffee brew. Finally, I brewed a 6-cup batch of Dunkin Donuts Dark Roast and used my own settings of 205-degree water temperature and a 1-minute pre-soak time. As with the other two brews, the Behmor brewer produced a more flavorful pot of coffee than the Mr. Coffee brewer. I usually use a bit of sugar with this particular roast, but I found it wasn't necessary with the Behmor brew as there was no bitterness and plenty of chocolate notes.

The app never failed to deliver a notification when the brew was complete, or if I neglected to add water to the reservoir. And the machine itself was quiet while brewing, although the calibration cycle was a bit noisy.

Conclusions

The Behmor Brewer delivers a cup of java that will rival that of even the most experienced barista. I wish it allowed you to create custom brew profiles and schedule set schedules, but as of this writing you can't. The good news is that both of these shortcomings will be addressed in a forthcoming app update, along with a few other new features including options for brewing tea and built-in vendor profiles with preset brewing temperatures and pre-soak times for specific coffees.

If you don't have $300 to spend on a coffee maker, check out the WeMo-enabled Mr. Coffee. It's half the price of the Behmor Brewer and offers flexible scheduling that can be controlled from your smartphonebut it doesn't offer variable brewing temperatures or an adjustable pre-soak option. On the other end of the spectrum is the much more heavy-duty, espresso-capable Philips Saeco GranBaristo Avanti ($2,893.44 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) . It makes fantastic espresso, but it's wildly expensive and can only brew one cup at a time.

Behmor Brewer Connected Coffee Maker 4.0 (Opens in a new window) Check Stock at Amazon (Opens in a new window) MSRP $299.00 Pros Excellent flavor extraction.

Variable temperature control.

Pre-soak option.

Cool design. View More Cons Expensive.

Lacks timer programming capabilities.

Can't save custom brew profiles. The Bottom Line The Behmor Brewer is a connected coffee machine that you control from your smartphone. It makes an outstanding pot of coffee and looks good doing it, but it could use a few more smart features.
Ever since a court ordered Apple to provide the FBI access to an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters, I have been talking to various legal authorities and Washington insiders to get a real-world sense of how this could play out.

Clearly, Apple is highly committed to its position; Tim Cook told ABC that it's willing to take this to the Supreme Court if needed. In the FBI's mind, it's a one-off situation that will gain the public's support because of the terrorism connection. But I get a sense that while the FBI did expect Apple to appeal, it did not anticipate that Apple would use this case to champion the importance of personal privacy and security and take it to the Supreme Court.

Apple has called for Congress to address this issue. But any legislation needs to balance the real need to protect citizens from terrorism and any other national threats in which the data on something like a smartphone would be critical in stopping such events.

A New York judge sided with Apple recently in a separate but similar case. He too argued that Congress should take up the issue since the founding fathers could not have imagined the complexities of digital rights and encryption and their impact on the Constitution. But think of this as the top of the first inning in this battle between the FBI, the Justice Department, Apple, and privacy and security advocates around the world.

My Washington contacts feel that no matter who is elected president, the U.S. Senate and House will still be polarized and never get around to agreeing on a constructive solution. Instead, they seem confident that it will take the Supreme Court to address this sensitive topic. With that in mind, Silicon Valley will likely be very interested in whomever replaces Justice Antonin Scalia on the court.

But I am getting a sense from people in the know that the FBI may have bit off more than it could chew with this legal maneuver. It might even end up being counterproductive, as it will force government officials and the higher court to, at the very least, give it and us more precise rules and laws on this critical issue.
AUSTINIt's hard to imagine a time when Wikipedia was just a slur for a poorly researched academic paper. Now, it's the de-facto encyclopedia for the world.

That's not to say it's without its problems. But Jimmy Wales, a "pathological optimist" thinks Wikipedia will move through its problems as it always has, and Guy Kawasaki, who interviewed Wales on Sunday here at SXSW Interactive, thinks he's up there with Gutenberg and Jobssomeone who has changed the world for the better.

Kawasaki kicked things off by asking Wales for his opinion on Apple's encryption fight with the FBI.

"That's an easy one. I'm really proud of Apple for fighting this thing," Wales responded, surprising no one. He went on to say that it's a better thing for all of us that Apple takes the issue to court so "we can be really sure that we're doing the right thing."

With that out of the way, Kawasaki set the stage for Wales to talk about Wikipedia, its importance to the nearly half billion peope who use the site each month, and what's next for the online encyclopedia.

Wales, a financial trader turned Internet entrepreneur, founded Wikipedia in 2001 as an offshoot of another product that he and partner Larry Sanger were developing. Inspired by programs like Linux Apache and Perl Sql, he had an idea of an open-source encyclopedia, but realized that only programmers had the tools to collaborate. His vision was a crowd-sourced, collaborative platform to which anyone could contribute (within reason, of course). Sanger convinced Wales that the process needed to be more academic than that of a traditional encyclopedia because it was open sourced.

Their first product, the now defunct Nupedia, didn't take off. The upshot was that they'd built a community, so when the first Wiki was produced, there was an audience ready to read it. Kawasaki asked if he remembered the first entry, but Wales did not. He did, however, remember the first words that were written because he'd typed them himself: "Hello world."

Kawasaki moved to an area a lot of people have questions about. Why can't you cite Wikipedia? What happens when you want to edit your own entry because the information is incorrect? Wales's responses were pragmatic. "Being able to cite Wikipedia is not a goal for the same reason you shouldn't cite an encyclopediait's a starting point, not an ending point. You need to do additional research."

About editing your own entry, Wales understands why it doesn't make sense to people that they can't fix simple things. After all, subjects know the truth, right? But Wikipedians(Opens in a new window) don't, which is why they need third-party verification. He emphasized that his editors take people very seriously when they send alerts about erroneous information. If you dispute the information, he said, you should remove it until it's verified.

So, what about controversial subjects like Planned Parenthood? On this, Wales says they "go to meta"step back from the issue. He asks users to think of "kind and thoughtful people" from both sides who can come together to state the other's position. If you want to understand the issue, you should be able to see both sides on Wikipedia and form an opinion, Kawasaki said. "But those people can edit, so..."

They are reverted very quickly, Wales explained.

Beyond the human touch that Wales considers critical to Wikipedia, what does a Wikipedia editor do in a world of machine learning and AI? "Google can't do decent translation, much less go from scratch," Wales explained. Instead, he sees a time when machines will assist with verification of information and other tasks. "Once machines can write encyclopedic articles, we will have bigger things to worry about."

What are his biggest fears? That the Wikipedia community ages out, and writing a Wikipedia entry is something "old people do." He's also largely focused on righting gender balance issues. "Part of it is technical," he explained, "but we may be too tolerant of bad behavior. We want women to participate more." He's investing in workshops and training to bring more women into the Wikipedia fold.

But some of the biggest issues for Wales are also global issues. There's the security of his editors, like Bassel Kharatbil, who disappeared after being arrested in Syria. Wales is working with Western governments and the Syrian government to find out what happened and where he is. He's also patiently fighting censorship in countries like China. After offering Wales the option to have a Chinese university oversee Wikipedia in China, to make sure that they adhere to Chinese laws, or ban Wikipedia in China altogether, he turned down their offer.

"F**k that. That's never going to happen," he said succintly. "I'm ready to wait 1,000 years. I'd rather the Chinese people understand what's happening to them when they understand that the government won't let them view any of the Wikipedia pages."

So, what's next for Wikipedia and what technology is Wales most excited about? Wikipedia is now on iOS and moving towards offering users a feed of interesting content and personalization. But he's most excited about something that "has nothing to do with my work": driverless cars.

"I'm excited about the secondary offeringwhat happens when driverless cars are on the market? That's when the real disruption will happen."
Alphabet-owned Google has faced yet another setback in Russia.

The Moscow Arbitration Court on Monday agreed with an earlier ruling, ruling(Opens in a new window) that Google is using its "dominant" position in the mobile operating system market to hurt competition, according to a statement from the Russia Federal Antimonopoly Service obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

Last year, Russia-based search giant Yandex sued Google over what it says were anti-competitive practices. Like Google, Yandex has a stake in the mobile industry, and argued that Google was preventing Russia-based handset vendors from pre-loading competing, non-Google services, like Yandex's own platforms, onto Android phones. Instead, the company claimed, Google locks customers into its own platforms, including Google Search and its Google Play marketplace.

"Many believe that Android is an open platform," the filing said at the time. "In reality, manufacturers of Android-powered devices are locked into the proprietary Google Play on their devices, device manufacturers are required to pre-install the entire suite of Google GMS services, and set Google as the default search."

Google, of course, would prefer that partners pre-load its own apps, but they are not required to do so. But it's basically an all-or-nothing proposition. Either you go with the customizable Android Open Source Platform (AOSP) and launch with no Google services, or go with Google and bundle all the apps it requires. Handset makers could not, for example, pre-load a phone with Google Maps but a Yandex search app.

While Google denied it uses Androidwhich has about 80 percent market share worldwideto hurt competition, a Russian court disagreed. In an earlier decision, it ruled that Google is engaging in anti-competitive behavior, and could be forced to pay as much as 15 percent of the revenue it generates from its pre-loaded Android apps.

In Europe, Google's Android is already under investigation on similar charges.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But it can appeal the latest ruling.
If you need any more proof that the geeks are taking over the world, look no further than Pi Day, a.k.a. March 14. (3.14, get it?) Pi day used to be made up holiday revolving around an amusing numerical coincidence your algebra teacher would talk about. Now, its marketing. Luckily for you, the Microsoft Store is celebrating this year with a fantastic deal, and it deliberately misplaced the decimal to boot.

On Monday, the Microsoft Store is selling our favorite Ultrabook, the Dell XPS 13 2016 edition, at a 31.4 percent discount. Instead of paying $999 for the base model, you can pick it up today for $685.31 (heres the store link). It also comes as a Microsoft Signature Edition PC, meaning theres minimal bloatware on itnot including the junk that Microsoft bundles itself with Windows 10, of course.

The Ultrabook features a 13.3-inch non-touch 1080p display, a 2.3GHz Intel Skylake Core i5-6200U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD, a 3-in-1 card reader, two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 3.1 connection (Type-C with Thunderbolt support), and 64-bit Windows 10 Home. The device weighs a scant 2.86 pounds and comes in silver.

The Pi Day discount only applies to the base model; however, Microsoft is offering $200 off on the higher-grade options that include better processors, touchscreens, and more onboard SSD storage.

If the XPS 13 isnt for you, Microsoft is also offering the 31.4 percent discount on a Dell Inspiron 13 2-in-1 and a Dell Inspiron 15. Both are Signature Edition laptops as well.

The Microsoft Stores also conducting a Raspberry Pi promotion where you get a free Pi 2 power supply when you buy a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B bundled with an 8GB microSD card. Keep in mind this is not the latest Raspberry Pi model featuring integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Microsofts Pi Day deals are only valid for Monday. If you need a new Ultrabook, then today is your best chance for some solid savings on a killer laptop.
Ask someone in Hanover, Germany, where to find the best public Wi-Fi and the answer may well be In Berlin, 250 kilometers to the East.

Thats because free gigabit Wi-Fi for Berliners was one of the first new services announced at the Cebit trade show in Hanover this week.

New York got its first taste of free gigabit Wi-Fi in January, when CityBridge turned on its first LinkNYC hotspots, which are gradually replacing payphones in the city.

In Berlin, its not a billboard-advertising-funded startup thats delivering the service, but an established telecommunications operator.

That operator, Vodafone, runs one of Germanys three mobile networks  and also has one million public Wi-Fi hotspots in the country, many of them piggybacked on the home routers it manages for its Internet access clients.

On Sunday, the company turned on gigabit public Wi-Fi hotspots at three locations in Berlin: restaurant Die Eins, near the German parliament building, Tiffanys Cafe on Ku-Damm, and at Allegretto Cafe near the Brandenburg Gate.

Download speeds could reach 1 Gbps if noone else is using the hotspot, while upload speeds could reach 600 Mbps.

Such dizzying speeds could one day become the norm for Wi-Fi in Germany, as Vodafone is intent on boosting bandwidth for its fixed-line customers. It says its cable network is already capable of delivering speeds of 200 Mbps to 25 million homes passed, although not all of those are customers. From April, it intends to begin raising the top speed to 400 Mbps, and for some lucky customers even to 1 Gbps by year-end.

In Berlin, Cisco Systems has supplied two of the base stations, while the third, near the Brandenburg Gate, is from AVM, which supplies the Fritz!Box cable and DSL modem-routers distributed by several German ISPs to their customers.

The LinkNYC hotspots generate revenue through video display advertising on two 55-inch LCD screens set into the sides of the kiosks. They are designed to be upgraded over the next few years as wireless and fiber technologies improve.

Theres no word yet on how Vodafones Berlin hotspots will evolve  or how they will generate revenue for the network operator.
Let the virtual reality GPU wars begin. AMD on Monday officially unwrapped a liquid-cooled, dual-GPU card called the Radeon Pro Duo that it says is the most powerful VR GPU today.

The Radeon Pro Duo is essentially two of its Radeon R9 Fury X GPUs shoehorned into the same card. The company said the price of the card is anticipated to be $1,500. Before you choke on your Hot Pockets, know thats actually the same price as AMDs last dual-GPU card, the Radeon R9 295 X2, at launch. And that was actually considered a bargain compared to Nvidias dual-GPU GeForce Titan Z, which cost $3,000.

AMD The new Radeon Pro Duo is longer than a standard Fury X.

But you may have some time to save up. AMD already delayed this card from launching late last year, and all it will promise now is a planned launch for the second quarter.

Why this matters: Virtual reality and PC gaming have a never-ending need for more graphics performance, and the company with the most powerful toys usually ends up winning. Although late, AMDs new Radeon Pro Duo is expected to put AMD in front of Nvidia in the performance game.

The specs we know so far

Full Radeon Pro Duo details, such as the size and clock speed, werent available before AMDs announcement, but it appears to feature a single 120mm radiator and will require three 8-pin power plugs to run. Heres a close-up of a photo AMD released prior to its press event Monday. It shows the power needs of the card clearly.

AMD The new Radeon Pro Duo runs on three 8-pin power plugs.

A standard Fury X requires two 8-pin plugs, and the original prototype board for the dual card (shown last June) also appeared to run on two plugs. This final dual-Fiji cards use of three 8-pins implies up to 450 watts of power consumption, plus the PCIe slots dedicated 75W of power. That seems to imply that if AMD decided to downclock the GPUs in the card (which is typical in dual GPUs), it may not be downclocked much.

Update: Speaking with AMD officials at the launch, power consumption was very much on the mind of the company, but the card uses far less than the three plugs can supply. Officials told me the card actually has a TDP rating of just 350 watts but it built in the third power plug for overhead for those who want to overclock.

If a single Fury X eats 275 watts, how can AMD pull this off? The card is actually more similar to a dual Fury Nano. It has the full shader stack as a Fury X, but using the companys PowerTune technology, it dynamically adjusts clocks for a given power and thermal envelope. Thats why the card eats 350 watts, which is twice the 175 watts a Fury Nano consumes. How much has changed in a year? Quite a bit. Heres the prototype card showed off last year at E3 that was snapped by Anandtech.com.

anandtech.com This shot grabbed by Anandtech.com shows the 9-inch PCB dual Fiji board used in the Project Quantum.

And heres the PCB inside the the Radeon Pro Duo that AMD showed off briefly during its Capsaicin event. Note the additional power plugs and how theyve been relocated. It looks like the voltage circuits in general were relocated, too. The size of the card also looks slightly larger, but its hard to judge from a single image that flashed on the screen for one second.

Gordon Mah Ung Heres the bare PCB of the new Radeon Pro Duo. Similar but different from the prototype board showed off last June at E3.

One thing we do know is that, like the Fury X, the card is liquid-cooled. Im going to imagine the cooler AMD uses this time wont run into the same legal issues as the Fury X did. With that card, the manufacturer of the cooler, Cooler Master, was sued by Asetek. Asetek then dragged AMD into its fight by seeking an injunction on sales of the Fury X. AMD wont want to repeat that mess. Despite the lawsuit, AMD looks to be sticking by Cooler Masters side. You can see the water blocks clamped onto the GPU dies as well as the covering the voltage regulation modules.

Gordon Mah Ung Despite the lawsuit by Asetek against Cooler Master, it looks like the liquid cooling vendor for the new Radeon Pro Duo is same as the Fury X.

And heres a shot of the actual card installed inside a beautiful Main Gear machine built for the announcement.

Gordon Mah Ung Despite packing two GPUs instead of one, the Radeon Pro Duo will use a similar single 120mm radiator.

Given the cards two Fiji GPUs, its safe to assume a doubling of the Fury X specs. That means 4GB of HBM memory and 4,096 stream processors in each package, for a total of 8GB of HBM RAM and 8,192 stream processors.

AMD is aiming the card at prosumers and although it doesnt get the full OpenGL software support that an expensive FireGL would, the company said it tears up the performance in 3D Studio Max and straddles the line between consumer cards and professional cards.

Worlds Fastest Graphics Card

More details of the cards performance are still to come, but the company did provide some numbers to justify its claim to most powerful platform for virtual reality and worlds fastest graphics card.

Its benchmarks used an Intel Core i7-5960X rig with 16GB of RAM and Windows 10, plus the latest drivers for a GeForce GTX Titan Z and its own Radeon 295 X2. Take these numbers with a grain of salt, but compared to the last generation of dual-GPU cards, it looks promising.

This is how the Radeon Duo Pro will perform against previous dual-GPU cards the company says. The data on this chart is provided by AMD but seems to jive with results weve seen in the past.

When can you buy it?

While the Radeon Pro Duo may be the fastest single graphics card when released, it may not enjoy that status for long. Its next-quarter release could mean a debut sometime between April and May. Nvidia has been heavily rumored to be releasing its new Pascal GPU as early as April, at its own GTC conference. Like AMDs Polaris, Pascal will be a next-generation card built on a 14nm process. If that happens, itll be just another volley in the VR graphics wars.
Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown called a special session of the Legislature to reform the existing Managed Care Organization financing structure and to stabilize the states General Fund costs for Medi-Cal, for the developmentally disabled and our most vulnerable citizens.

Days ago, the Legislature passed a major MCO financing reform package. While this is a very complex issue, the bottom line is simple: It was good for California and Riverside County.

It was noteworthy that a number of Republicans, including Assemblyman Eric Linder, R-Corona, and Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, voted for a MCO financing plan that resulted in a $100 million tax cut and brought in $1.3 billion of federal money that will fund improved care for those with developmental disabilities, such as autism or cerebral palsy, and prevents the closure of over 50 hospital-based skilled nursing facilities serving our most vulnerable.

As a former Republican legislator from Riverside County, I was especially proud that Assembly Minority Leader Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley, also crafted a conservative solution that uses those federal dollars to pay down over $400 million in state retiree health care and transportation debt.

Initially, the governor proposed a $650 million tax increase that would have negatively affected 24 million Californians. Assembly Republicans recognized the need to fix the problem, but did not believe that such a tax increase was necessary. While they rejected the tax increase, they publicly committed to working with all parties to craft a solution.

To that end, Gov. Brown restarted negotiations late last December and asked Assemblyman Mayes to join him in hammering out the plan. Negotiating in good faith, Assemblyman Mayes helped craft a solution that worked to meet the needs of all stakeholders.

In fact, the respected Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association wrote that the tax reductions  represent far better tax policy than previous plans. And in its support letter, the California Chamber of Commerce called it a comprehensive solution that is a win-win for California.

Assembly Republicans did their job  cut taxes, draw down federal funds to pay for services for the developmentally disabled and those in skilled nursing facilities and pay down over $400 million in debt.

As a former health care provider, I can tell you from firsthand experience how desperately these funds were needed to keep the promise to Californias most vulnerable. As a former legislator from Riverside County, I can only express my admiration of leaders like Gov. Brown, Mr. Mayes and Ms. Linder and Mr. Waldron for building consensus on this very complex issue and delivering reforms for those most in need.

Thats the type of leadership California deserves.

Dr. Bill Emmerson served three terms in the State Assembly and two terms in the state Senate, representing Riverside County. He currently is senior vice president for state relations and advocacy for the California Hospital Association.
Between 1989 and 2012, Riverside and San Bernardino counties paid a combined $10,653,000 in settlements and legal fees in 193 cases where defendants claimed they were wrongfully arrested or prosecuted.

The cases represent some of the almost 700 flawed convictions that cost California taxpayers a total of $282 million in trials, legal settlements, incarceration and other expenses between 1989 and 2012, according a study released this month by the UC Berkeley School of Law.

The study, Criminal Injustice, highlights the costs to taxpayers as a result of mistakes in Californias criminal justice system. The report looked at 692 cases in which a defendants felony conviction was overturned and the charges later dismissed or the defendant was acquitted on retrial.

Those individuals wrongfully served a combined total of 2,186 years in custody, the study found.

San Bernardino County paid $5,325,000 to settle 126 cases, the study said. Riverside County paid $5,328,000 to settle 67 cases. The city of San Bernardino paid $3,079,000 to settle 15 cases. The city of Riverside did not respond to the researchers request for information.

One of the Riverside County cases involved judicial misconduct and resulted in a man being sentenced to 12 years in prison.

In 2006, a woman told officers that her bicycle had been stolen; officers found the bicycle sitting on the lawn of a nearby house where two men, including Carl Lee Mallett, were sitting in a car, the UC Berkeley study said. The woman identified Mallett as the bicycle thief from at least 60 feet away with a flashlight shining on him.

Later, she was shown a picture of Mallett and said he did not look like the thief. Then, she denied that he was the thief. At trial she testified that she had wrongly identified Mallett because the lighting was poor and she was far away; she also stated that it was her ex-boyfriend who had stolen the bike and that she was afraid of him because he had threatened to kill her.

Jurors were unable to reach a decision, but they returned to deliberations after the judge said: A lot of time and effort and money has been put into trying this case.  Youve got to understand that it would be a real shame for the County of Riverside and you to pay for another trial just because you did not put in enough effort.

The jurors then indicated that they would like more time, but because of scheduling difficulties, the judge excused two jurors and inserted two alternates. Only 15 minutes after the two alternates were sworn, the jury found Mallett guilty of second-degree burglary. The judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison.

In 2009, an appellate court reversed the conviction, saying that the judge had pressured a deadlocked jury into reaching a verdict. The District Attorneys Office refiled the charges but offered Mallett a plea deal that would cover the time served, four years. Mallett accepted, pleading guilty to grand theft.

In November 2014, when voters passed Prop. 47, the grand theft charge was eligible to be reclassified from a felony to a misdemeanor because the value of the bicycle was less than $950. On March 4, 2016, Judge Becky L. Dugan reduced the conviction to a misdemeanor.

WITHHOLDING EVIDENCE COSTLY

The city of Los Angeles paid the highest cost, $93.2 million for 370 cases; followed by Oakland, which paid $49.4 million for 364 cases.

We should be aiming for zero errors in our criminal justice system, Rebecca Silbert, the studys co-author, said in a statement. The costs are too high to ignore.

Judicial mistakes, such as jury misconduct or sentencing issues, were the most common errors, impacting 22 percent of all cases. However, prosecutorial misconduct was the most expensive error, costing $53 million in appeals, settlements and other expenses, with an average cost of $617,513 per error, the study found.

Of the 86 errors in the prosecutorial misconduct category, more than half were so-called Brady violations, where prosecutors failed to turn over exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys, as required by law. Brady violations accounted for $44 million of the total cost, according to the report.

Staff writers Kelly Puente and Ian Wheeler contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: brokos@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9569
Its a lot easier for governments to make promises and spend lots of money than it is for them to live within their means. Rarely is it necessary for governments to levy additional taxes on their constituents, as the roots of the problems often boil down to inefficiencies, poor decisions and an unwillingness to pursue all alternatives.

As budgeting and election season fast approaches, local governments across the region are looking at taxation as the solution to their problems, when they really should be asking themselves how to make their operations more cost-effective.

Hemet, for example, has been struggling to align its spending with its revenues. While the city has made a number of cuts over the years, deficits have been the norm since the recession. Yet the two biggest functions of the city, police and fire services, are absolutely off the table for even considering putting them out to bid to at least make sure taxpayers are getting the best service at the best price.

Consequently, the Hemet City Council, after convening an ad hoc committee charged with figuring out which tax Hemet residents would be most likely to support, will place on the June 7 ballot a 1 percent sales tax to fund public safety. If passed, the tax is set to expire in 10 years. But given the citys track record, the only certainty is that the city will become completely dependent on this tax and still face tighter budgets than it should.

Then you have cities like La Quinta, Indio and Palm Desert, which have indicated an interest in pursuing tax hikes for a litany of reasons. Palm Desert and La Quinta, like every other city contracting with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department, have been negatively impacted by the faster-than-reasonable rate of cost increases. This is a matter that could be eased going forward if the Riverside County Board of Supervisors shows restraint in labor negotiations with public safety unions.

But as the experiences of a city like Canyon Lake show, taxes may not be the best solution and can delay difficult decisions, rather than truly laying a sustainable foundation for city governments. Canyon Lake voters narrowly passed a temporary utility tax in 2014, yet City Hall is still struggling to make ends meet and provide services. It is now wholly reliant on the tax.

Taxation obviously is a quick and easy fix in the short-term, but governments should never be quick to tax if they havent done their due diligence and explored all alternatives.
A California lawmaker wants his state to be the first in the U.S. to require fashion models to obtain a doctors note to prove they are healthy enough to work.

Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin County) is proposing a number of components in a bill introduced last month. Those provisions, say eating disorder specialists, have the potential to protect models who are often pressured to shrink their bodies to dangerous proportions, as well as the susceptible young women who idolize their images in ads and social media.

I put the pressure on myself, said Corona resident Caitlin Bozner, a 21-year-old model and University of Redlands student. Opening a magazine and seeing the top models of the world, you want to look like them.

Its a good idea. Its a good start.  There are a lot of eating disorders in the modeling industry; theres no doubt about it, said Dr. Linda Schack, medical director of Torrance Memorial Medical Centers program for teenagers and young adults with eating disorders and who are medically unstable. It needs to be addressed.

Other countries have rules against ultra-thin models and the use of Photoshop to create unrealistic beauty standards, but so far the U.S. has been reluctant to regulate.

Levines proposal for a doctors note mandate, which would be based on three physical exams per year, is one element of Assembly Bill 2539. He also wants to require modeling agencies to classify their models  both men and women  as full-time employees rather than contractors, a switch that would trigger benefits including health insurance, overtime and paid vacation.

To win coveted modeling contracts, many women say they must be at least 5-foot-8, with a 24-inch waist and 34-inch hips  standards that might be achieved healthily by some, but for many others, pose serious risks.

Models, Levine said, are locked into contracts that dictate the centimeters of their hips.

CLOTHES HANGERS

Some in the fashion industry say the bill unfairly targets models and that three doctor visits is excessive and onerous.

But S. Bryn Austin, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard Universitys School of Public Health who helped draft the bill, said the number of visits is a compromise between convenience for models and their safety.

Eating disorders can have a particularly pernicious affect on bone strength, organ development, cognitive issues. Enormous damage could be done if an eating disorder went unchecked, she said.

Others oppose government intervention in general, arguing there are alternative avenues for addressing the industrys too-skinny problem, while some dont see a problem at all.

Fashion designers demand the type of models they want showcasing their clothes  thats why California Fashion Association president Ilse Metchek and others refer to the models as clothes hangers.

If they wanted (items) to hang on someone fatter, they would put them on someone fatter, she said.

Legislation on this issue is  absolutely unnecessary.

PERPETUATING THE PROBLEM

There are many reasons why someone might slip into self-starvation. But there is a strong connection between modeling and eating disorders, which are psychological  and can be deadly.

Seeing images of super-skinny models can trigger eating disorders in people who are predisposed to them, possibly because of genetics and personality traits.

And its not just a problem for women.

Research is beginning to show a link between young men and magazines, music videos, TV and concerns about muscularity, body hair and athletic ability, said Jerel Calzo, a developmental psychologist who teaches at Harvard University and studies body image and eating disorder risks in males.

For both genders, greater exposure to images of unrealistic bodies in the media leads to greater body dissatisfaction, Calzo said.

Being in the industry can exacerbate the condition.

People with eating disorders are often attracted to modeling because they overvalue appearance and weight  its a natural draw, said Laura Adams, a registered dietician at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Laguna Beach, who specializes in treating eating disorders.

The industry itself continues to perpetuate that problem when theyre told to go ahead and lose a little bit more body fat or modify for a trendy feature, like the thigh gap, a space between the inner thighs when standing with knees touching, she said.

A MINIMUM BMI?

Exactly what would count as healthy under AB2539 is still to be decided. The bill tasks state officials in charge of workplace safety and public health to create the standards.

France and Israel, where officials were alarmed by emaciated runway models, have adopted standards that include a minimum body mass index, a controversial measurement of body fat based on height and weight but which does not take into account factors such as muscle density and metabolism.

But California isnt known for its runway fashion. The industry is more commercial, where standards for thinness are not as extreme, said Metchek, of the fashion association.

And Los Angeles  which employes more models than any other metropolitan area nationwide  is better known for its celebrities than its top models.

We have skinny people in the movies. I dare (lawmakers) to try to get them to be fat, or fatter. Did you see the Oscars? Those people were anorexic, Metchek said.

THE HEALTHY WAY

I tried quick fixes, they do not work  detox tea, really restrictive diets, crash dieting, juice cleanses, said Corona resident Bozner, who has walked the fashion worlds runways and was crowned Miss American Teenager in 2012. If you want any kind of quick fix, stay away from it.

Bozner said she sculpts her body to the industrys standard measurements in a healthy way, working out six days a week under the guidance of a trainer. She prefers education to regulation.

A lot of these girls dont know theyre starving their brains. Theyre very naive and very trusting, she said.

But Austin, the Harvard professor who helped draft AB2539, argues its unhealthy for anyone to lose weight unless its for medical reasons, especially if its a condition of employment.

The bill, she said, sends a message that, California is not going to sit by while this industry continues to exploit its workers in ways that amount to near self-starvation.

Contact the writer: jchandler@ocregister.com and @jennakchandler on Twitter
Wheres the budget savings from Proposition 47? Its a question voters are asking about the 2014 initiative, which reduced felony and misdemeanor penalties for many nonviolent and nonserious drug and property crimes. The voter pamphlet language that sold the initiative promised, This measure will save significant state corrections dollars on an annual basis. Preliminary estimates range from $150 million to $250 million per year.

But in his January budget proposal for fiscal year 2016-17, which begins July 1, Gov. Jerry Brown penciled in just $29.3 million in savings. A month ago, however, the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office released a study that concluded, We find that the administration likely underestimates the savings and overestimates the costs resulting from Prop. 47.

The LAO estimated Prop. 47 allowed the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to avoid the need for 4,700 contract beds in 2015-16, which brought total prison savings to $135 million. Close enough for government work to $150 million.

This money is crucial because some communities, including in Orange County and the Inland Empire, have reported increased crime, with some blame going to Prop. 47. Yet crime is rising in other states, obviously not affected by Prop. 47. And despite the recent rise, crime in California and elsewhere remains far below what it was 20 years ago.

The former San Diego police chief William Landsdowne wrote March 10 in the Sacramento Bee, summarizing a recent Pew Charitable Trusts study, that, during the decade from 2001-11, states that increased their thresholds saw crime drop about the same amount as the 27 states that did not change their theft laws. A couple of more years and more data will be needed to determine Prop. 47s actual effect on the crime rate.

As Gov. Browns staff works on the May Revision to his budget proposal, we hope these questions are taken into account. Correct accounting could mean that, as promised, the saved money could be put into the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund that, according to the initiative, is supposed to finance victim compensation, rehabilitiation and crime prevention.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was again compelled to speak out against his partys presidential front-runner Monday, commenting on the violence at Donald Trumps recent rallies in a radio interview by saying there is never an excuse for condoning violence or even a culture that presupposes it, and criticizing those who stoke anger for political gain.

I think the candidates have an obligation to do everything they can to prevent this from happening and to tamp down on any temptation to get this out of control, Ryan said on WRJN-AM in Racine, Wis., according to a transcript provided by the speakers office.

Ryan, R-Wis., did not mention Trump by name, according to the transcript, similar to two previous occasions where Ryan was compelled to respond to Trump  in December, after he called for a ban on allowing Muslims to enter the country, and March 1, after Trump failed to denounce the support of white supremacist David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan. But there was no mistaking what he was addressing.

A Friday night Trump rally in Chicago was cancelled amid skirmishes between Trump supporters and protesters; a protester rushed Trump on stage at a Dayton, Ohio, rally Saturday. His recent rallies have been marked by high tensions between protesters and Trump supporters, who have been explicitly encouraged at times by the candidates words  encouraging one audience to hit back and more recently suggesting that he would pay the legal fees for a supporter who punched a protester last week.

Ryan has continued to maintain his support for whoever wins the Republican presidential nominee, citing his role as chairman of Julys Republican National Convention as compelling him to remain neutral.

Ryan was asked about the tone of the presidential campaign in the context of the remembrances for first lady Nancy Reagan, who died last week at 94. Former secretary of state Colin Powell said last week on CBS that the campaign has gone into the mud and hoped that Mrs. Reagans death would prompt some reflection and civility.

I think there is a lot of wisdom in what 1/8 Powell 3/8 just said, Ryan said. You turn on the TV just this last weekend, and you see these images coming from these rallies, which is obviously very concerning.

Not all of Ryans Republican colleagues are laying the blame for the tense rallies at Trumps doorstep. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., wrote in a Sunday blog post that the rally disrupters are not the creation of Donald Trump, and his Republican rivals for President should stop saying they are.

Cramer doubled down in a Facebook post Monday: Blaming Trump for violence committed by liberal Chicago thugs is like Barack Obama blaming U.S. exceptionalism for radical Islamic terrorism. Ridiculous.

Ryan said Monday there is obviously an effort by some on the left to shut down these rallies and to stir unrest, but at the same time, I think the candidates need to take responsibility for the environment at their events. There is never an excuse for condoning violence, or even a culture that presupposes it.

Weve long been an example to the rest of the world about how a peaceful democracy can work, he continued. I think thats what Colin Powell is talking about. And so, you know, America has been the gold standard of democracy for so long, and I think our candidates have an obligation to honor that tradition. . . . And so we just need to reject, not only violence, in very clear terms, but I think youre right about the tone of the campaign.

Ryans plan for the coming year of using the House to develop a campaign agenda to promote conservative ideas has been deeply complicated by the enduring popularity of Trump, who has fed off the raw anger of the electorate rather than any desire for think-tank-endorsed policy prescriptions.

But he said Monday that he is optimistic that conservative ideas would eventually supplant the grass-roots anger after the election: You see where the common ground exists, overlay these solutions on top of each other, see if the country has given you a mandate, see if theyve given you the kind of majority you need to put the reforms into place that you ran on. That is the kind of election Im hoping we have in 2016.

People have looked at the last seven years, and they are understandably very anxious, very upset, and hurting, Ryan added. But the solution isnt to call names. It isnt to stoke anger for political gain. The solution, I think, is to channel that passion into solutions. Thats basically what Im trying to do, thats what were doing in Congress.
The joke was, it seemed, a little awkward.

Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, was scheduled to campaign on Donald Trumps behalf Monday in Florida, but she had canceled to return to Alaska after her husband, Todd, was hospitalized in a snow machine accident.

But Palin, the former governor of Alaska, still managed to appear with Trump at his event, and in response to a question from the audience about the Second Amendment, Trump invoked both her and her husband.

Referring to the terrorist attacks of San Bernardino, Trump said the situation might have unfolded differently had others in the room been armed.

If Todd Palin were in that room, frankly, if Sarah Palin were in the room  forget about Todd, especially now, Trump said, seeming to refer to Palins hospitalization.

If Sarah Palin were in that room, if somebody were in that room that had a gun of some kind, attached to the hip, attached to the ankle, with bullets that could fly in the opposite direction, you wouldnt have this, Trump concluded.

There seemed to be no hard feelings, with Trump thanking Palin at the end of his speech and telling her to get home to that incredible husband.

And Palin did her part to excite the crowd when she spoke before the New York businessman. She referred to the rash of protests that have increasingly started to disrupt Trumps events recently, with one ending in violence and another leading him to shut down a rally in Chicago on Friday evening.

What we dont have time for is all that petty, punk-(expletive) little thuggery stuff thats been going on with these quote unquote protesters, who are doing nothing but wasting your time and trying to take away your First Amendment rights, your rights to assemble peacefully, Palin said.

Then, she turned her attention to another favorite target of Trump  reporters.

And the media being on the thug side, what the heck are you guys thinking, media? she asked. It doesnt make sense.
In case youve missed the story so far, prominent Indigenous writer, feminist and activist Celeste Liddle has been banned from Facebook (again) for sharing a photo of two Aboriginal women performing a public ceremony, because it breached the social media platforms community standards.

We had to censor the lead image for this story  otherwise wed have been banned, too  but here it is below, showing two women from the Central Australian community of Ampilatwatja performing at a public ceremony in 2010 to protest against the Northern Territory intervention.

It accompanied an 8,000 word speech Celeste gave for International Womens Day, which was republished word-for-word by New Matilda (you can read it here). The publishing of the piece resulted in her, the New Matilda writer who wrote a follow-up article, and a number of readers, supporters, friends and fam who shared the article getting banned from Facebook.

Almost 14,000 people (at the time of writing) have signed a Change.org petition calling on Facebook to acknowledge that Aboriginal women practising culture are not offensive.

Facebooks standards are a joke, writes Celeste on the petition. They are blatantly racist, sexist and offensive. They show a complete lack of respect for the oldest continuing culture in the world. They also show that Facebook continually fails to address their own shortfalls in knowledge. Finally, they show that Facebook is more than willing to allow scurrilous bullying to continue rather than educate themselves.

In response to the overwhelming pressure, Facebook has at last responded by suggesting  no joke  that people should share the article by removing the photo first. WTAF.

Heres the statement they provided to New Matilda:

We are aware that people people sometimes share content containing nudity for reasons like awareness campaigns, artistic projects or cultural investigations. The reason we restrict the display of nudity is because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content  particularly because of cultural background or age. In order to treat people fairly and respond to reports quickly, it is essential that we have policies in place that our global teams can apply uniformly and easily when reviewing content. As a result, our policies can sometimes be more blunt than we would like, and restrict content shared for legitimate purposes. We encourage people to share Celeste Liddles speech on Facebook by simply removing the image before posting it.



Nope. No. 1000% done.

Source: New Matilda.



Photo: Chris Graham / At Last Media, via New Matilda.
Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen will be giving away free cones on March 15.

(Provided by Dairy Queen)

Dairy Queen restaurants are declaring an early spring.

On March 15, participating non-mall locations of Dairy Queen will be giving away free small vanilla soft-serve cones.

Much the way Rita's Italian Ice offers free cups of ice on the first day of spring, Dairy Queen has made the cone giveaway an annual tradition to mark the start of spring.

"We want everyone to celebrate our official kick-off of spring by enjoying a signature DQ cone on us," said Barry Westrum, executive vice president of Marketing for American Dairy Queen Corporation in a press statement.

The giveaway is designed to raise money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals including Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital in Derry Township.

Last year, Dairy Queen raised more than $140,000 in one day.
three defendants.jpg

Carlos R. Johnson (left) is on trial in York County Court on charges that include second degree murder. Charges in that case were dropped Monday for David A. Jackson (center), and Ramon Rosario (right) pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder.

(York County Prison. )

YORK - Jury selection is underway for one of the three men charged in connection with the 2014 fatal shooting and robbery of a West York man.

Carlos R. Johnson, 36, could be looking at life in prison if he's convicted of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Johnson was set to go to trial before York County Judge Richard K. Renn with two others, but prosecutors are dropping the charges against one of them, and the other pleaded guilty last week.

Charges of criminal homicide, robbery and conspiracy were dropped Monday morning for David A. Jackson, 28, who also goes by "Shoota Man" and "Roc." Chief Deputy Prosecutor David Maisch told the court recently-acquired evidence shows Jackson was not at the scene of the crime, nor was he a part of the conspiracy.

Johnson's attorney, Karen Comery, indicated she may be calling him as a witness, though.

And a third suspect, Ramon Rosario Jr., 31, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of third-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 to 40 years in state prison.

According to court documents, the incident leading to Johnson's trial occurred like this:

On Aug. 26, 2014, police responded to the 1100 block of West King Street in West York for a call of shots fired and found the victim, Lancelot Hylton, 41, lying on the sidewalk with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

About a half block away, police found his phone and empty wallet.

One witness told police she heard three people arguing about two blocks from the shooting scene, and she noticed an SUV parked on the street and Hylton sitting on the curb. Two of the suspects were arguing with Hylton, and she heard him say, "I don't have your money."

Two other witnesses saw the two suspects fleeing the scene after the shooting, and noticed a third perso returning to the SUV.

Video surveillance also showed two suspects - whom police believed were Rosario and Jackson -- walking with the victim near the scene of the shooting. They were forcing him along his way, and at times, Hylton had his hands in the air.

A search of the victim's phone records showed he had been in contact several times the day before with Rosario, whose phone records showed he was in contact with Jackson. Records from cellphone towers placed Rosario in West York, as well.

Police also learned Jackson and Rosario were at a club two days prior and that Jackson had a gun. They also learned Rosario was in contact with the Johnson.

Another witness spoke to police and said Johnson told her he was with Rosario and Jackson and that they robbed Hylton of $100 and that he shot the victim in the head.

Police found that Johnson's cellphone was in the West York area at the time of the shooting.

Johnson's trial is expected to last most of the week. Check back with PennLive for updates.
Penn State officials have been ringing alarm bells for two weeks now over the lack of $50.5 million in state funding for its 67 county-level agricultural extension offices and related research labs.

Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed this unique arm of Penn State's annual state appropriation in December as part of the ongoing state budget impasse.

Wolf said he is trying to treat all appropriations to state-related universities equally, but Penn State has said that if this allocation is lost it will begin suspending its ag extension and related services July 1.

That would involve layoffs to some 1,108 staff, including 736 positions at the 67 extension offices, and about 350 administration, staff and faculty positions in State College.

On Monday Penn State President Eric Barron and Dean of the College of Agriculture Richard Roush visited with PennLive's editorial board to elaborate on the problems facing Penn State - and Pennsylvania at large - if those funds don't come through.

Here's a few reasons why even non-farmers might need to care:

* A fresh peach can help stave off suburban sprawl.

Pennsylvania has one of the nation's leading fruit belts centered just south of the Capitol region.

As long as that acreage produces peaches and other fruits in demand by fine East Coast restaurants, it's easier for local growers to stave off offers from developers interested in building homes for Washington and Baltimore commuters.

Services like Penn State's fruit research lab at Biglerville are key, growers say, by helping growers maximize profits through education on best practices and providing a rapid response network for new pests or diseases.

It is also impartial and objective information provided by people attuned to local conditions. If it was lost, grower Brad Hollabaugh said, it wouldn't mean the $140 million Fruit Belt would disappear overnight.

But, he predicted, it would start a slow decline that would eventually threaten the critical mass that keeps the area viable for agriculture. It would not take long, many experts believe, for developers to fill the breach.

* Keeping the chicken dinner affordable.

This budget includes $2 million for biosecurity work, which Penn State expected to use with a focus on the threat posed by avian influenza to Pennsylvania's third-in-the-nation poultry industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in January that a strain of avian influenza had hit a commercial flock of turkeys in Indiana.

Separate outbreaks decimated flocks throughout the Midwest last year, when roughly 50 million birds were destroyed in an effort to contain the virulent disease, at a cost of more than $3 billion to the industry.

Penn State's extension and research provides both the expertise and the industry outreach networks needed to quickly address such threats.

* A different kind of recruitment battle.

The state's leading agricultural college and its research labs may be increasingly vulnerable to raids from other universities.

"This is hunting season for new faculty," Penn State President Eric Barron said Monday. "And I would think that as a dean of another agricultural school: 'You know, you (Penn State) look like a pretty good hunting ground to me.'"

Barron and College of Agriculture Dean Richard Roush said Penn State also has difficulty attracting new talent to work in areas like preventing avian influenza, or in times of budget uncertainty.

That, the university officials said, is a short-term risk that can have very long-term implications.

* Ag extension as "town squares" in the country.

Pennsylvania's 67 agricultural extension offices serve as community centers in rural Pennsylvania for issues that sometimes go far beyond traditional agricultural services.

Roush noted during the natural gas boom in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region several years ago it was ag extension staffs that held the first informational workshops for owners of potential drilling pads.

The extension services held open houses and put up a Website that, Roush said, served thousands of landowners, arming them with information to negotiate lease agreements totalling $250 million that were often double the gas producers' initial offers.

Now the extension offices are still instrumental in holding informational sessions on things like helping families and businesses deal with Chesapeake Bay-related water quality regulations or new food safety rules.

There are also valuable family and community services programs that help rural communities deal with problems like obesity and managing chronic diseases like diabetes.

* Because good programs are sometimes their own reward.

Roush notes there are more than 90,000 Pennsylvania kids involved in 4-H programs across the state that would also be suspended if the agricultural extension offices close.

Whether those kids ever go to work on a farm or not, (it is believed that most won't) Roush said 4-H is credited with increasing kids' interest in the sciences, doubling the chance that they will take up higher education, and tripling their likelihood of becoming actively involved in their communities as adults.

"There's all those kinds of benefits that are difficult to quantify," Roush said.

Or as Madison Shaw, a 14-year-old 4-H member from Middle Paxton Twp. said during a Capitol rally last week: "4-H isn't about winning that blue ribbon. 4-H is producing blue-ribbon youth to then become blue-ribbon adults."
A 51-year-old Marietta man is facing charges for what officials described as a "major methamphetamine dealing operation" with ties to a Mexican cartel.

Charles Howard "Bennie" Benfer IV was arrested last month after Lancaster County Drug Task Force detectives found 111 grams of meth at his home, according to a news release from the Lancaster County district attorney's office. The meth has an estimated street value of $11,000 and was substantially more than the single gram amounts authorities typically find, officials said.

Benfer was receiving 4 ounces of meth a week from a source in Mesa, Ariz, which officials said has connections to a Mexican cartel. Mesa police monitored the drug shipments, which helped local police bust Benfer, according to the release.

Detectives found 86 grams of marijuana and paraphernalia for packaging and selling drugs at Benfer's home. He also had two storage sheds in Conoy Township that housed oxycodone pills and drug packaging supplies, officials said.

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman praised detectives for cutting another drug major transport into the county, according to the release, adding that the amount of meth found at Benfer's home was "unprecedented" in a single arrest. Stedman also lamented the drug problem in the county, noting that Mexico was already the source for much of the heroin coming into the area.

Benfer faces multiple charges, including a felony count for drug dealing as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on $150,000 bail at the Lancaster County Prison and is scheduled for formal arraignment at 9 a.m. March 24 in county court.
Heath Campbell

Shippensburg's police chief said their arrest of a man nicknamed the New Jersey "Nazi dad" went down without a lot of fuss last Thursday.

Borough police apprehended Isadore Heath Campbell, 42, who was among Hunterdon County's Most Wanted fugitives last October.

He was picked up March 10 on a fugitive from justice warrant, said Shippensburg Chief Fred Scott. Campbell is wanted in New Jersey on an aggravated assault charge.

"We picked him up at the Sunoco here in Shippensburg - there was nothing spectacular about it," Scott said.

Campbell and his family drew national media attention in December 2008 when they tried to have a cake inscribed with "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler," for their son, named Adolf Hitler Campbell. The store refused.

Scott said Campbell was in the Shippensburg area to get a tattoo. "Apparently he gets a lot of tattoos up here," said the chief, and is familiar with the area.

Someone who recognized Campbell called authorities in New Jersey, and they called Shippensburg police, Scott said.

Shippensburg police received the warrant at 7:15 p.m., but didn't find him at the location he had been seen. They picked him at 9:30 p.m. at the Sunoco station in the first block of West King Street.

There were no problems, Scott said. "We had enough officers there it wasn't an issue," Scott said. Four officers were there to arrest him, he said.

"We were just the assisting agency," Scott said. Campbell was taken to Cumberland County prison, where is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

Scott said he never heard of Campbell and his "Nazi dad" fame. "I don't think he's a regular here," he added.

A Holland Township, N.J. woman claimed in December that she lied when she told police that Campbell, who was her fiancee, had assaulted her. Bethanie Zito said she'd tried to retract her statements and have the charges against Campbell dropped, but officials wouldn't let her.

Officials have said Campbell would remain wanted until he turned himself in or got caught, because they have to hear what he has to say and be convinced Zito wasn't being coerced.
UPDATE: Incident between exits 201 and 226 cleared at 9:30 a.m. Incident cleared at 7 a.m. on Pa. Turnpike between exits 242-236.

An accident is blocking the right lane of Pennsylvania Turnpike eastbound between Blue Mountain and Carlisle, said a Turnpike alert.

Pa. Turnpike, milepost 226

The accident, which happened around 3:30 a.m., is near milepost 221 between exits 201 (Blue Mountain) and 226 (Carlisle). Motorists should expect approximately 2 mile delays in this area, said the Pa. Turnpike alert. Traffic is reportedly stopped or slow moving.

Also watch for slowed traffic westbound between Exit 242 (I-83) and 236 (Route 15) due to a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane at 6:45 a.m.

For more traffic information, follow live traffic updates, accident reports and road closures below from PennDOT, Total Traffic Network and other Twitter sources.

Get a look at conditions on local roads -- via PennDOT traffic cameras -- anytime here on PennLive. For Pennsylvania Turnpike updates and possible travel delays visit the Turnpike website here.

Tweet us at @pennlive with any incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
rabelow

Ross Rabelow

A state appeals court panel Monday upheld the 4- to 44-year prison term imposed on a businessman convicted of committing a $650,000 home care services fraud against senior citizens in Pennsylvania and three other states.

Prosecutors said Ross Rabelow's Montgomery County-based American Comfort Home Care Services often targeted seniors who were suffering from dementia and senility, selling them service contracts that were worthless.

Only a minority of the people targeted in the scam received any services, investigators from the state attorney general's office said. Rabelow's firm was accused of defrauding 245 victims from 2008 to 2012. Investigators reported finding victims in New Jersey, New York and Maryland as well as across Pennsylvania.

The contracts offered to the targets carried fees as low as $1.59 per hour, far below market rates, Judge Mary Jane Bowes wrote in the Superior Court opinion upholding Rabelow's convictions and punishment. A Montgomery County jury found him guilty on hundreds of charges, including conspiracy, running a criminal organization, deceptive business practices and theft.

On appeal to the state court, Rabelow, 57, claimed prosecutors didn't prove he committed the crimes, that the trial judge should not have permitted prosecutors to call some of their witnesses, and that a mistrial should have been declared in his case due to prosecutorial misconduct. He argued as well that his prison term and order to pay $650,000 in restitution are "unreasonable."

According to Bowes, some of Rabelow's salesmen - who also were convicted and jailed - would set up automatic payments for the contracts, making it difficult for their elderly targets to cancel. To dodge complaints about lack of service, staffers at Rabelow's office were told not to answer incoming calls, she noted.

"Only if family members or law enforcement became involved would (Rabelow) actually provide the services that American Comfort had agreed to deliver," Bowes wrote. Even then, she noted,he would provide only the bare minimum,

Bowes rejected Rabelow's arguments that the prosecution was allowed to introduce inadmissible hearsay evidence during his trial. Also, she turned aside Rabelow's claim that county Judge William Carpenter didn't adequately consider his background, as well as the circumstances of the crimes, in choosing a sentence.

She cited Carpenter's observation that Rabelow's punishment was "reflective of the breadth of harm he caused to many vulnerable and elderly victims."
Donald Trump

A protester holds up a ripped campaign sign for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before a rally on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago, Friday, March 11, 2016, in Chicago.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hold your breath.

Political futures - both individual and the nation's - may be made and broken Tuesday in the voting booths of Florida.

Florida, land of the hanging chad, the endless recount and Supreme Court intervention - the latter, in the 2000 case Bush v. Gore, which settled that year's presidential election and, for many, marked the starting point for increasing politicization of the high court.

Florida, a state that changed its delegate distribution this year to winner-take-all in hopes of boosting the fortunes of one of its native sons. But with one (former Gov. Jeb Bush) vanquished and the other (Sen. Marco Rubio) trailing by 15 points in statewide polls, that new math may instead - irony of ironies - benefit native son-slayer Donald Trump.

The GOP front-runner enters the Sunshine State with a cloud over his campaign. A tense weekend of violence-punctuated rallies has reinforced worries among Republican stalwarts about the direction in which a Trump nomination will take the party, if not the nation.

And that's not the least of the worries. Weekend clashes in St. Louis and Cleveland, and the outright cancellation of a Chicago event due to security concerns, were a perhaps predictable elevation of past flare-ups. Throw in the tackling of a would-be Trump assailant at a Dayton, Ohio, rally and a palpable sense of unease is unavoidable.

Such was the level of discord that Trump challengers Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich reversed previous pledges to support a Trump candidacy. Only Texas Sen. Ted Cruz vowed to back Trump, though not without criticism.

"In any campaign, responsibility starts at the top," said Cruz - offering one of the milder rebukes directed at Trump over the weekend. "Any candidate is responsible for the culture of the campaign."

Not only the culture, it must be added, but public safety.

It's bad enough Trump has refused to douse the flames of racial, ethnic and religious divisiveness, he needn't continue to fan them.

That's a message that badly needs to be sent, and Florida - should its primary voters be so inclined - is in a strong position to send it, seeing as it wields the lion's share of Tuesday's delegates.

Of course, Florida is not alone. Ballots are likewise being cast Tuesday in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. If registered Republicans really don't countenance the type of irresponsible, coarse, divisive and race-baiting views being espoused by their party's current front-runner, Tuesday may their last chance to do something about it.

Democratic voters, too, could be in the midst of a decisive day. Like Trump, Hillary Clinton can cement her front-runner status with a strong showing Tuesday. And like Republican Cruz, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is hoping to stunt that momentum.

Polls give the edge to Trump and Clinton. But polls, as Sanders showed last week with an upset victory in Michigan, can be fallible.

Ever since Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. - or, at least, since William Shakespeare dramatized the event in 1599 - March 15 has been a date associated with foreboding: The Ides of March.

The mood is especially appropriate Tuesday. As the Associated Press reported last week, "In back-to-back debates just miles apart, Democrats and Republicans painted a dark vision of America, a place where jobs are vanishing, leaders are corrupt and threats loom from across the globe."

Add to that new levels of aggression at Trump rallies, and the very real possibility he will be his party's standard-bearer, and the trepidation grows among many.

All of which is why a nation turns its worried eyes to Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and, especially, Florida.

The gloomy political process could use a little sunshine.
Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 4.39.25 PM.png

It's official - Larry David does a better Bernie Sanders than Bernie Sanders

Good Late Monday Afternoon, all.

Another weird day on the campaign trail is behind us as the presidential hopefuls head into the do-or-die territory of Tuesday's primaries in Illinois, Ohio and Florida - among others. So let's take a quick tour of the day that was.

1. I Predict a Riot Dept.: A sheriff's office in Fayetteville, N.C. is looking into whether GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's action at a rally last weekend there "rose to the level of inciting a riot," according to a statement from the department's lawyer. According to The Washington Post, the Cumberland Sheriff's Office says it's "continuing to look at the totality of these circumstances . . . including the potential of whether there was conduct on the part of Mr. Trump or the Trump campaign which rose to the level of inciting a riot." It was at that rally that a Trump supporter cold-cocked a protester who was being led from the event.

2. Hillary's Haiti Problem: The New York Times reports that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton are being blamed for some of Haiti's woes as the perennially unstable island nation is plunged into political chaos yet again: "Among the litany of complaints being laid at their feet: Fewer than half the jobs promised at the industrial park, built after 366 farmers were evicted from their lands, have materialized. Many millions of dollars earmarked for relief efforts have yet to be spent. Mrs. Clinton's brother Tony Rodham has turned up in business ventures on the island, setting off speculation about insider deals.

"'A vote for Hillary Clinton means further corruption, further death and destruction for our people,' said Dahoud Andre, a radio show host in New York who has helped organize protests against the Clintons. 'It means more Haitians leaving Haiti and not being able to live in our country,'" The Times reported.

3. The day Marco-Mentum ran out of gas: The New York Times takes an unsparing look at what went wrong with Sen. Marco Rubio's presidential campaign. By late night on Tuesday, it could be all over but for the shouting for Rubio, who never really was able to seal the deal with Republican primary voters/

4. Larry David as Bernie Sanders will never not be funny: The comedian reprised his hilariously accurate impersonation on Saturday Night Live over the weekend. Best line: "The young people love me, because, like them, I have a lot of big plans, and absolutely no idea how to achieve them." Perfect ...

5. Chris Christie skips a cop's funeral to attend a Donald Trump event: And they gave the POTUS grief for ditching on Nancy Reagan? As The Daily Beast reports: "The governor has missed three New Jersey police funerals in a row due to his schedule for the 2016 GOP primary. Christie also skipped the services for Port Authority police officer Eamonn Mautone in January, and New Jersey State Police trooper Eli McCarson in December."

And that's the day. See you all back here on Tuesday.
John Kasich

In this Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 photo, Republican presidential candidate John Kasich talks to a crowd at Papagallos Restaurant in Keene, N.H. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

(Kristopher Radder)

Unless he gets hit by a meteor or something, real estate developer Donald Trump is expected to romp to victory in Tuesday's GOP primary in Florida. So establishment Republicans (and the campaigns) are training their eyes on Ohio's Republican contest as the best shot at stopping the Trump juggernaut.

Can it happen? Here's a quick look at where things stand:

Trump tied with Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 38 percent apiece. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is in second with 16 percent, while Rubio trails at a distant 3 percent. Quinnipiac University poll out this morning showstied withat 38 percent apiece.of Texas is in second with 16 percent, whiletrails at a distant 3 percent.

Kasich leading Trump 39-33 percent. Trump has leads in Illinois and Florida in that poll. separate NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist College poll showsleading39-33 percent.has leads in Illinois and Florida in that poll.

Rubio has asked his Ohio supporters to cast their ballots for Kasich on Tuesday. Kasich, meanwhile, has This may be why, in part,has asked his Ohio supporters to cast their ballots foron Tuesday., meanwhile, has called on Rubio to ask his supporters to drop a ballot challenge filed in Pennsylvania.

But even if Kasich wins his home state, the electoral math is still pretty daunting.

As The Washington Post reports, Ohio is a winner-take-all state, which means all 66 of its delegates will go to the top vote-getter. Ditto for Florida, which has 99 delegates up for grabs.

Kasich has said he'll drop out if he fails to win at home, The Post reported. That makes a win even more critical for the Ohio guv.

The Post's Dan Balz and Philip Rucker report, "After Tuesday, 1,463 of the 2,472 Republican delegates will have been chosen. If Kasich were to win every one of the remaining delegates, improbable as that is, he would still be short of the 1,237 needed for nomination," they Asreport, "After Tuesday, 1,463 of the 2,472 Republican delegates will have been chosen. If Kasich were to win every one of the remaining delegates, improbable as that is, he would still be short of the 1,237 needed for nomination," they note

"His hope likely depends on winning a brutal floor fight with Trump and Cruz at the convention in July in Cleveland." In an interview on his bus, Kasich said he thinks everyone will be short: "And at that point, I think they start looking at who can do the job, who can win in the fall," they write.

Other news of note:

U.S. House Speaker John M. Boehner, who represented Ohio for more than two decades on Capitol Hill, The Cincinnati Inquirer's Editorial Board Trump. Formerr, who represented Ohio for more than two decades on Capitol Hill, has endorsed Kasich Editorial Board is calling on GOP primary voters to reject

Kasich has upped his rhetoric against Trump in the final days. Coincidentally, Trump canceled a planned event in Florida to concentrate more resources in Ohio on Monday.

Mitt Romney will campaign with Kasich, making two stops on Monday, Former GOP presidential candidatewill campaign with, making two stops on Monday, The Daily Beast and other outlets report
FILE - This Sept. 22, 2015, file photo, shows the Volkswagen logo on a car during the Car Show in Frankfurt, Germany. Volkswagen deleted documents and obstructed justice after the U.S. Environmental Protection accused the company of cheating on emissions tests, a former employee alleges in a lawsuit. Daniel Donovan says in a whistleblower case that he was wrongfully fired Dec. 6, 2015, after refusing to participate in the deletions and reporting them to a supervisor. The lawsuit says that the evidence deletion continued for three days after the Sept. 18 allegations from the EPA and despite a hold order from the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
This image made from video posted on Twitter by a Kurdish fighter shows a man that the Kurdish military says is an American member of the Islamic State group shortly after he turned himself in to Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq, Monday, March 14, 2016. The circumstances of the surrender were not fully disclosed but it marked a rare instance in which an IS fighter voluntarily gave himself up to Iraqi or Kurdish forces in Iraq. (Kurdish fighter via AP)
A woman holds a message that reads in Portuguese "Get out Dilma" during a protest demanding the impeachment of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. Brazilians took to the streets for a day of nationwide protests against Rousseff thats widely seen as a key test of her ability to weather the political and economic crises lashing the country. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Election Q&A: Meet the candidates for Emmet County Commission

The first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth districts are all contested races on Nov. 8.
GlaxoSmithKline has pulled out of a five-year deal with US biotech Five Prime for the development of its experimental cancer therapy FP-1039.

Five Prime said it had been given 180-day notice of termination of the license and collaboration agreement by GSK, and now plans to work with the drugs giant to ensure enrolment in the ongoing mesothelioma arm of the Phase Ib study is completed.

Rights to FP-1039 for the US, Canada, and European Union, were sold in March 2011 to Human Genome Sciences, which was subsequently bought by GSK in 2012 for $3 billion.

But in another set back earlier this year, Five Prime and GSK pulled the plug on a trial evaluating the drug for squamous non-small cell lung cancer trial, citing change in treatment paradigms due because of the rise of immuno-oncology agents and other competition in the market.

The reasons behind the GSKs departure from FP-1039 have not been revealed, but Five Prime was quick to stress that it continues to be encouraged by the progress of the ongoing trial and that mesothelioma could represent a potentially attractive market opportunity.

The US biotech still has another pharma major on its books, having signed a 1.74-billion worldwide license and collaboration deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb last year for its colony stimulating factor 1 receptor antibody programme, which is being developed in certain immunology and oncology indications.
West Philly woman fatally shot on her porch

A woman was fatally shot while sitting on her West Philadelphia porch Saturday night, police said.

The woman, 18, was shot about 11:30 p.m. on the 300 block of North Salford Street, police reported.

She was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 12:05 a.m. As of Sunday afternoon, police had not disclosed her identity.

No additional information was released.

Camden man dies of multiple gunshots

A 28-year-old man was shot and killed in Camden on Saturday night, according to police.

Authorities said Sunday that they found Luis A. Feliu, of Camden, around 5:20 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Haddon Avenue and Mount Vernon Street. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was transferred to Cooper University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:44 p.m., police said.

Police did not report any arrests or release any information about potential suspects.

Police ask that anyone with information contact Detective Mike Sutley at 856-614-8003 or Detective Shawn Donlon at 856-757-7420.

Upper Darby man slain trying to evict guest

An Upper Darby man was killed while trying to get a guest to leave his home, police said Sunday.

Sean O. Mitchell, 35, was shot inside his house in the 500 block of Timberlake Avenue about 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

Jermaine Crosley, 29, was arrested Sunday and charged with murder and weapons violations.

Crosley had been staying with Mitchell and his wife, who were trying to get him to leave, said Michael Chitwood, Upper Darby's police superintendent.

"During the course of tossing him out, the argument came and he produced a firearm and shot the guy," Chitwood said.

Mitchell was shot in the basement, then ran outside. When officers arrived, they found him on Timberlake Avenue in his wife's arms. He was pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center shortly after.

Crosley was found Sunday by an officer on patrol in the 8600 block of West Chester Pike, Chitwood said. Crosley led investigators to a .357 revolver that police say he wrapped in a newspaper and hid in the rafters of a porch about a block from Mitchell's home.

- Jason Laughlin and Chris Palmer
Deputy John Kotfila Jr., center, is pictured with his father John Kotfila Sr., left, a sergeant with the Massachusetts State Police, and his brother Michael Kotfila with the Plymouth (MA) Police Department in their uniforms. (Photo: family)

Investigators say a sport utility vehicle driving west in the eastbound lanes crashed head-on into Deputy John Kotfila's patrol cruiser just west of Interstate 75 as the deputy headed back to his station after wrapping up a crash investigation. It was 2:45 Saturday morning. The SUV's driver, identified as Erik Thomas McBeth, 31, of Hudson, died at the scene, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Firefighters pried the top off Kotfila's patrol car, then rushed him to Tampa General Hospital, where he also died. He was 30 years old from a family full of law enforcement officers.

"Our HCSO family is one less today," Sheriff David Gee said in a statement. "The tragic loss of one of my deputies has all of our hearts heavy."

Traffic homicide investigators believe that McBeth might have driven up the Brandon express exit ramp, where the expressway ends at Town Center Boulevard, said Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon.
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Americans keep hearing, and obviously errantly still believe, that the evangelical theocratic movement is on the decline in part due to last years Supreme Court marriage equality ruling. However, that is not true and, in fact, the Republican religious right is going forward with harsher laws giving evangelical fanatics religious authority to deny equality to an ever-increasing number of Americans.

The latest drive toward an iteration of Sharia Law for the cult of right-wing Christians panting for a theocracy is playing out in Kentucky. A new Kentucky bill, SB 180, titled An Act Relating to the Protection of Rights, creates a state-wide group of protected activities and protected activity providers to afford immunity from any federal or state laws. The laws intent is so protected activity providers (read Christian) can never be fined or charged with any crime for violating the Constitution, Court rulings, or federal laws. Seriously, this is likely the most expansive permission to persecute non-compliance the nation has yet experienced.

The Kentucky bill was created specifically to allow any Christian to refuse providing any kind of service to anyone, at any time, and any place if they simply identify that person as offensive to their religious beliefs. Now, if any reader thinks this horrid religious law is just about giving evangelicals the power of a state law to deny only gay Kentucky residents their civil and equal rights, they are mistaken. The religious law gives any evangelical racist or bigot the right to refuse services of any kind, including government and lifesaving medical services to interracial, interfaith, atheistic, Muslim, divorced, or any other kind of person their religion disapproves; for evangelicals that is every and anyone who is not a white, heterosexual Christian Republican.

This dirty attempt at using religion to strip constitutionally protected civil and equal rights from non-compliant Americans is legend, and goes far beyond backwaters like Kentucky. In fact, to demonstrate just how twisted these Republican theocrats are, and how much they hate the U.S. Constitution, the Texas Attorney General was effusive over appointing another theocrat as his assistant. Ken Paxton is not impressed with his choices knowledge of Texas law or the Constitution, but because like Paxton he lacks even a fundamental comprehension of the law of the land or how it protects the civil rights of all Americans.

It is fairly well-known that if Texas evangelical Attorney General Ken Paxton could unilaterally eliminate the Constitutions Establishment Clause, he would have done it years ago. Last summer to show solidarity with Kim Davis, and demonstrate his stark opposition to the 14th Amendment, preacher Paxton convinced Texas County clerks that it was their religious duty to discriminate against gay couples. He assured the faithful and bigoted clerks that they could violate the Constitution and Supreme Court with impunity and absolute confidence they were above the law. Paxton told the states religious clerks to violate gay peoples Constitutionally-protected civil and equal rights because the state of Texas was prepared deploy numerous lawyers to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs.

It was no surprise, then, that when it was necessary to appoint a new First Assistant Attorney General, Paxton chose a raging theocrat because he hates gays, opposes the U.S. Constitution and wants an American theocracy. Paxtons choice, Jeff Mateer is a raging homophobe who used to work at a Christian legal organization formerly known as Liberty Institute. Liberty Institute is the evangelical legal defense group crusading to protect and embolden evangelicals pushing for an American theocracy.

To show how out-of-touch with reality and the law of the land he swore to defend and uphold, Mateer demonstrated to college students just how little he knows about the Constitution. He also revealed how intent he is on aiding the religious right to impose an evangelical theocracy on Americans. He told a group of students,

Ill hold up my hundred-dollar bill and say, for the first student who can cite me the provision in the Constitution that guarantees the separation of church and state, Ill give this hundred dollar bill. Its not there. The protections of the First Amendment protect us from government, not cause government to persecute us because of our religious beliefs.

Only in a theocratic mind are the Constitutions equal rights provisions anything close to allowing the government to persecute Christians because of their religious beliefs. On the subject of the Founding Fathers Separation Clause, it is prescient that a man swearing to uphold and defend the nations founding document lacks even a rudimentary comprehension of the law of the land and serves as Texas second ranking law enforcement official. Besides, there are plenty of documents proving the Constitutions framers and Founders inclusion of the 1st Amendments religious clauses are there specifically as a wall of separation; something Mateer and his ilk would know if they could read the English language.

In fact, Constitution Framer, Founding Father, and fourth American President James Madison declared argued at the Constitutional Convention in 1789 that the purposes of the religious clauses in the 1st Amendment were to protect Americans civil rights. He said, The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship of another, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights be in any manner, or on any (religious) pretext, infringed.

Madisons intent was protecting the people from exactly what evangelical Republicans are attempting today; abridging nonbelievers civil rights on account of evangelicals religious beliefs. Remember, Madison, Washington, Adams, and particularly Jefferson knew of the potential danger posed by religious immigrants from Europe seeking a new nation to impose their religion as the government.

Paxton appointing Mateer caught the attention of the president of Texas Freedom Network, Kathy Miller, who stated what the evangelical cult is doing to tyrannize American citizens refusing to adhere to the Christian iteration of Sharia Law;

Cynical politicians across the country are using their religious freedom to allow businesses, individuals, and government officials to fire or deny equal rights and services to people who offend their religious beliefs. Allowing the use of religion as a weapon to harm others is a radical redefinition of the concept of religious liberty. Today that weapon is aimed at laws that protect gay and transgender people from discrimination. But Mr. Mateers arguments open the door to allow the use of religion to ignore virtually any law that everyone else must obey.

Miller left out that religious tyrants like Texas Paxton, Mateer, and Kentucky Republicans use religion to persecute any American who refuses to worship according to evangelical Christianity or obey their twisted theocratic edicts; precisely what the faithful Republicans accuse radical Muslims terrorists in ISIS of doing. And, when the Courts and Constitution get in the way, evangelicals scream they are being persecuted for their faith; and no-one dares dispute their lies due to cowardice.

Many Americans were certain that over the past couple of years the theocratic movement to take over America had been dealt some fatal blows from the courts hewing to the Constitution. However, these religious fanatics are rabid wild beasts. Instead of following their own gods admonition to obey the government authorities and laws of the land, they are Hell-bent on establishing a Taliban-like authority to punish any American unwillingly to conform to evangelicals concept of a faithful follower. And all the while, no politician is willing to defend the Constitution or the people on the grounds that the Founding Fathers idea of religious freedom was protecting the innocent people from religious fanatics.
During MSNBCs Bernie Sanders town hall at the Ohio State University, Chuck Todd asked Sanders about the enthusiasm gap. Sen. Sanders rejected Todds Republican talking point premise and told the truth about Democratic turnout.

Transcript via MSNBC:

CHUCK TODD:

Youve talked about your campaign as a revolution. The turnout excitement thats happening on the Republican side hasnt happened on the Democratic side. We havent seen the high turnout numbers that youve wanted.

BERNIE SANDERS:

No, that is absolutely incorrect.

(OVERTALK)

BERNIE SANDERS:

The numbers are very clear. We had look, when you talk about that, youre comparing us to 2008 and Barack Obama, all right? Barack Obama ran a campaign that was unbelievable. It was one of the great campaigns in American history, all right? But you know what? Despite that, h

CHUCK TODD:

A revolution?

BERNIE SANDERS:

Well, in terms of the nature of his campaign, the turnout was off the wall. Iowa, they ran out of ballots, you remember that. All right, so lets talk about it. In Kansas, actually the numbers in the Kansas caucus were higher this year than they were in 2008. In Maine, they were higher. In Michigan, it was the highest turnout since 1972.

Colorado, I think it didnt break the record, it came pretty close. So in fact if you only want to compare us to 2008, which was the exception, okay. But in fact, the turnouts have been extraordinary in this campaign, and Im proud of them.
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Every candidate for political office enjoys, no cherishes, endorsement from popular politicians, especially if they are from the same state. It is a different story though if the politician seeking the highest office in the land is a Republican more indebted to big money donors than they are a popular politician. One may have imagined Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio (FL) would have offered up a, at least, reciprocal acknowledgement to Miami mayor and Cuban immigrant Tomas Pedro Regalado that in accepting his ringing endorsement, he would address climate change threatening the state of Florida. Rubio reciprocated by fundamentally spitting on Regalados endorsement on the national stage by denying climate change exists.

There are a couple of lessons for Americans in Rubios, and the other Republican hopefuls rejection of climate change besides the ingratitude of snubbing a fellow Republican and Floridian who just endorsed him. One lesson is just how incredibly stupid it is for a Republican mayor to endorse a candidate who he likely knew could not care less that the state and people he represents are facing a clear and present catastrophe in rising sea levels due to climate change. Mr. Regalados endorsement takes the persistent problem of Republicans voting against their own best interests to a new high; particularly since the sea level just rose an unprecedented 5 inches all along the Atlantic coastline.

The issue of climate change, and rising sea levels, is on the minds of more than just the mayor of Miami. Leading up to the last Republican debate in Florida, 21 mayors penned a letter to Univision and Jake Tapper pleading with them to ask Republican hopefuls, especially the hometown hero Rubio, to accept the consensus on climate change. The letter was concise and pointedly to Rubio; it read,

We, the 21 undersigned mayors from throughout Florida, are concerned about sea level rise and climate change and the severe impacts it is having on our communities. We are equally concerned that so little attention has been paid to these issues in the presidential debates. It would be unconscionable for these issues of grave concern for the people of Florida to not be addressed in the upcoming debate you will be hosting in the state. In particular, Senator Rubio represents this state and should not be allowed to fail to provide, or side step, substantive answers to these questions.

This was the second time the mayors appealed to Rubio and asked what his plan was to address it the rising sea level threat to Florida. The 20 mayors were joined by thousands of Florida residents, and a bevy of environmental groups in Florida who are watching their states future and economy go literally underwater.

The public and political pressure worked and when it came time for Marco Rubio to reply to a climate change query, he did precisely what the RNC and Koch brothers trained him to do; deny climate change exists. The question that Floridas residents, Republican mayors, and environmentalists wanted answered was,

Climate change means rising ocean levels, which in south Florida means flooding, downtown and our neighborhoods. Its an every day problem in our neighborhoods. As president, will you pledge to do something about it?

Rubio parroted the exact same reply he gave to another Florida mayor last month, and one he dutifully repeats any time addressing the damage of climate change is the subject. Rubio said,

The reason the climate is changing is because the climate has always been changing. The climates never been the same its always changed. I dont believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. And then, in any case, there is no law that can be passed that would have any effect on climate change. But I can tell you right now Im not going to destroy our economy.

First, by his own admission there are dramatic changes to our climate; Rubio is as bad a liar as he is a human being. And second, there is incontrovertible data proving that addressing climate change will not destroy the economy; it will have the opposite effect. Also, as a long-time resident and politician from Florida, Rubio knows that some of the leading climate science research he denies is being conducted by the very academic institutions he has supported, funded, and worked with for more than a decade.

It is some of those institutions research and documentation into why the sea level rose 5 inches within the last year-a-half that should disabuse Rubio of his cocky denial, but Rubio is a Republican and protecting the fossil fuel industry supersedes protecting Floridas vanishing coastline or economy. Florida is renowned for being one of the most threatened states in the union from the effects of climate change, particularly the rapidly rising sea level that has been dooming Miami long before Rubio stood on a Florida stage and denied it is real.

Rubio is wrong when he said the climate is always changing; the weather is always changing but the climate is typically stable over thousands of years. It is why another damning report for climate deniers would disabuse intelligent human beings of skepticism about climate warming. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) official assessment of the past winter, every state in the nation had higher than normal temperatures in December, January, and February. Of course, higher temperatures lead to warmer seas that melt glaciers in the dangerously-warming Arctic.

That continued warming trend has, according to another study, caused the rate of sea level to increase faster than at any time during the 20th Century, or the previous 2,800 years. The latest study was led by Bob Kopp, a Rutgers University climate scientist, who was joined by nine colleagues from several leading American and global universities. They concluded, unsurprisingly, that the anomalous 20th-century rise on global warming is the only cause of such a drastic sea level rise. In fact, to dispute Rubios claim that nothing is happening, or that the sea level rise is not man-made, the research revealed that had humans not been warming the planet, theres no to very little chance that seas would have risen so much during the last century. Instead of a monumental rise, we would have seen somewhere between a 3 centimeter fall and a 7 centimeter rise; not 5 inches in the course of a year-and-a-half, and not more than in the past 2,800 years.

As one of the Florida mayors, Cindy Lerner of Pinecrest, appealing to Rubio to acknowledge climate change and accept the scientific consensus said, Rubios denial is really ridiculous, quite frankly. It may be ridiculous in Lerners public remarks, but she was being politically correct. She certainly knows that Marco Rubio is a typically deceitful Republican and fossil fuel acolyte. She had no issue saying last month that I know that they (Rubio and Bush) know the science we are relying on is legitimate, and maybe she really expected Rubio to acknowledge the reality and urgency of climate change as the 21 mayors demanded. Instead, when asked if he will acknowledge and work to address climate change and protect the states residents and economy he represents, Rubio joined the rest of the GOP field and said Hell No.

Maybe the good news for the Floridians is that Rubios candidacy is floundering, but with South Floridas proximity to the coast and its porous ground that make it particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, some cities already experiencing unusual high-tide flooding.

Ms. Lerner must be as delusional as the other 20 Florida mayors who actually expected native son Rubio to at least acknowledge climate change. She seems to think that having a dialogue with whoever looks more likely to end up the nominee, or whoever is the nominee, will help make sure climate change is a part of their platform. And that they understand the need for leadership at the presidential level.

Look, if a friend, fellow Florida Republican, and successful Cuban immigrants political endorsement for his run for the White House failed to move Rubio to at least acknowledge the scientific and reality of climate change, having a dialogue with whomever the Republican nominee will accomplish nothing whatsoever. Lerner already knows that in Florida it is officially forbidden to even utter the words climate change; how does she expect a Republican to acknowledge the existence of something they officially forbid scientists and government officials to say out loud?
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Dan Scavino, Senior Adviser and Director of Social Media for Donald Trump, blamed CNN for inciting violence by giving interviewing protesters. Scavino tweeted, There will be-CNN keeps having protesters on for interviews. Talk about inciting violence. More will want their 15m!

Premise: If only media would silence the protesters, that would be freedom Donald Trump style. By letting protesters speak on camera, the Trump camp feels CNN is doing the exact same thing as saying they wish their viewers would beat up anyone who disagrees with them. So thats a no for logic and personal responsibility from the Trump camp.

Read here:

There will be-CNN keeps having protesters on for interviews. Talk about inciting violence. More will want their 15m! https://t.co/h6LZDN1Hir  Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) March 14, 2016

The Trump director of social media (implying he knows what hes doing on Twitter) said this over a link to a CNN article in which Ben Carson, who recently endorsed Donald Trump, threatened that protesters face the possibility of escalation if they keep exercising their first amendment rights.

Here is Ben Carson following the talking points of right-wing luminaries like Donald Trump and Ann Coulter, in which they pretend the violence is coming from the protesters, not the supporters, and then threatened protesters with more violence for being violent:

If the protesters continue with their (Saul) Alinsky-like tactics, there is a real possibility of escalation, the famously soft-spoken Carson warned.

Because those who are the victims have two choices: They can submit to them meekly, just do whatever those protesters want them to do, or they can fight back. If they decide to fight back, there could be an escalation.

A few things:

1) Supporters who sucker punch non-violent protesters are not victims, and this is why that man was arrested. This is a crime, no matter what Donald Trump or his camp say.

2) Ben Carson wants violent supporters to fight back. I guess thats a fight back more. At any rate, Ben Carson is all for violence. Go for it because they deserve it, he says.

3) Alinksy is not running the left; he remains firmly entrenched under right-wing politicians beds as a convenient boogeyman to wave around while inciting violence and blaming the left for it. Think Sarah Palins Blood Libel video. Non one does self-pity like a Republican who is inciting others to violence.

4) Freedom of speech is not an Alinksy tactic that needs to be physically assaulted until it shuts down. There are security people who escort disruptive protesters to the door. In fact, a trump supporter sucker punched a protester as he was being escorted out, so this idea that there is a need for this violence against protesters is absurd.

All is going according to the Trump master plan. Trump incited violence, promised to pay the legal bills of anyone who assaulted a protester, and then people started punching for Trump, including his own campaign manager who assaulted a reporter.

As soon as the violence became the talk of the media, the right pivoted in unison to point their fingers at protesters and play the persecuted victims. If anyone else dares to have an opinion they dont like, why they are going to get it good! They deserve it for daring to protest bigotry and racism.

How dare anyone disagree with Trump. To disagree with Donald Trump, to exercise your first amendment rights, is to victimize Trump supporters.

Now that the violent Trump thugs see themselves as put-upon victims, theyre really going to let protesters have it. And Ben Carson, the guy who says he took a hammer to his mother, is all for it. Thats the sick world Donald Trump is inciting in his efforts to make America great again.

But wait. It gets even more disturbing.

There are reasons to suspect that Ben Carson actually went after his mother with a hammer. She says she went after him with the hammer. And this is important because if Ben Carson was a victim of violence instead of a perpetrator, this makes him much less attractive to the Republican base.

Donald Trump is also a man trying to build himself up. Donald Trump is trying to play tough guy by inciting his supporters to violence and being the guy who will defend them because he is so strong.

But behind the curtain is a little man with small fingers. A man whose ego is so fragile he cant let go of decades old minor slights.

Donald Trump is the little man playing Oz. Thats what all of this violence is about. Its a way to build up Donald Trumps ego and allow him to run as the big man. But in truth, behind all of the bluster and the threats, Donald Trump is a small man, a protected little-rich boy coward who is getting his supporters to do his dirty work while he guards his small fingers from afar.

Trump only plays a big man on TV, while running for President of this country. He sounds like a school yard bully because thats what he is.
Since Rochester DFL Rep. Kim Norton first announced plans for tougher gun laws in September, she has faced fierce criticism from gun rights supporters.

She's received more than 300 emails  most of which she said were nasty. She's also been the target of a mailer seeking to raise money for a gun rights group. So Norton was surprised to learn she had not been invited to attend a press conference last week at the Capitol focused on gun safety. At the event, Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and Rep. Dan Schoen, DFL-Cottage Grove, joined Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Everytown Survivor Network. Victims of gun violence stood by the lawmakers as they announced they were introducing legislation to require background checks for most private gun sales.

Norton said she was surprised she and a half dozen other lawmakers who have been working on gun safety bills weren't invited to join in. So Norton showed up, watched the press conference and then handed out a piece of paper with all the other gun safety bills that had been introduced so far in the session. She also made her displeasure known via social media.

"Today an advocacy organization I had hoped would be a support in my gun safety efforts has done the bizarre," she posted on Facebook. "They are holding a press conference with 'their own' bill & bill author - completely excluding the other group of legislators that have been working this issue for months. The bill author says I can feel free to take credit for his success when our bills don't get any traction (he is partnering w a Senator who chairs the committee that can move these bills in the Senate). For those who wonder why I'm leaving the legislature...."

She also tweeted, "This Mom of 5 still Demands Action to reduce gun deaths & improve gun safety. @MomsDemand may have kicked me, but I won't stay down!"

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In an interview, Norton said she is mad that she and so many of her colleagues were excluded from the event.

"It's a little sour grapes on my part, yes. But I've taken a lot of heat on this and to just be pushed out really doesn't feel good," she said.

Norton's bills go beyond seeking universal background checks. They also include extended waiting periods to buy handguns and military-style assault rifles, mandatory firearm safety training for gun purchasers and required gun lock purchases.

Schoen said in an interview that he wants the focus to be on the victims of gun violence who spoke out at the press conference and not individual lawmakers.

"For any legislator to stomp around and act upset because they feel slighted just takes away from the victims and that's not what we are there to do. We are there for the people of Minnesota  not to be there for our self interest," he said.

Schoen said he has spent a lot of time working with people on both sides of the gun debate. He said Norton is welcome to organize her own press conference to talk about her bills.

"You can go to the Minnesota Legislature and you can stand up and slam your firsts on the table and make a lot of noise, or you can go there and get things done," Schoen said. " Rep. Norton has done a lot of things for the people of Rochester at her time at the Legislature. I think (Destination Medical Center) might be a great highlight for her career. Her actions on how she's handled this isn't one of the highlights."

Asked about Norton's concerns about her and other lawmakers being left out of the event, Moms Demand Action Rochester volunteer Sarah Broughton provided this statement.

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"It's incredible to see Rep. Norton taking on such an important issue. This effort is about saving lives and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. And with leadership like Rep. Norton's, we trust that our lawmakers will find a way to work together to make our communities safer," Broughton said.

It should be noted that any attempts to toughen gun laws this session face an uphill climb. House Public Safety Committee Chairman Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, has said he doesn't plan to hold hearings on any gun bills. Gun rights groups have also vowed to fight these efforts, saying they infringe on individuals' Second Amendment rights.

As for Norton, she said she will continue to push her bills and will support Schoen's effort.

"I'm all for it. I just don't appreciate the tactics that are being used by the lobby group and Dan choosing to follow that without questioning what that might do to the rest of us and how the rest of us might feel," she said.

Southeast Minnesotans lobby in St. Paul

On Tuesday, residents will pile into buses and head to St. Paul for "Southeast Minnesota Day Not at the Capitol."

Due to construction at the Capitol, participants are instead heading to the Intercontinental St. Paul Riverside Hotel to meet with lawmakers, who will arrive via shuttles. The Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce is helping to organize the event. Nine other area chambers are also participating. The daylong event includes a luncheon with all four legislative leaders.
Marco Rubio is encouraging his supporters to vote for John Kasich in the Ohio primary. He reasons that he cant win there and that the next best thing to a victory is a result that halts the Trump express.

Kasich is in the same position in Florida. He cant win there  he isnt even campaigning  but a Rubio win would be a blow to Trump.

Kasich, however, is encouraging his Florida supporters to back him, not Rubio. He tells Jake Tappper:

Im not into a stop Trump as more as I am be-for-Kasich movement. You know, reward me for the experience in foreign affairs. Reward me for the achievements I have had in balancing budgets and creating an environment for job creation, both in the country and in Ohio. Reward me for that.

Maybe we could just issue Kasich a medal and be done with him.

But Kasich is playing a different game. For one thing, he probably wants Rubio out of the race so he can begin to win some states (and not just his own). Currently, the two occupy similar space in the race  what some call the establishment lane.

Rubio, for his part, probably wouldnt mind seeing Kasich gone. But having had more success to date than Kasich, he may be less desperately in need of a winnowing than Kasich is. The guy in third place has very little chance of succeeding even at a brokered convention. The guy in fourth place presumably has none.

In my opinion, though, the real difference between the two is that Kasich wants a place on a Trump ticket, whereas Rubio isnt interested in one (or realizes theres no longer any chance of it). This is why Kasich has been so uncritical of Trump in debate after debate. Sure, he wants to avoid being in the food fight so he can claim to be the adult in the room  as if its somehow adult to be in the middle of a sh*t show and pretend not to smell a thing.

But Kasichs has carried his see-no-evil, hear-no-evil to the point that its impossible for me to view him as other than an opportunist trying to stay on Trumps good side in order to keep his options open.

I think, then, that Kasich is being honest when he says its all about reward[ing] me. The reward he covets may well be the number two spot on a ticket headed by Donald Trump.

But with many conservatives credibly threatening not to support Trump, the tycoon may need to look rightward of Kasich for his running mate. Kasich might have to settle for a medal or maybe just a pat on the back.

Via Tom S. Elliott at NRO.
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Total assets under management in the global Islamic finance industry was in excess of $2 trillion (about N394 trillion) by the end of 2014, the director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, has disclosed.

Mr. Gwarzo said the industry growth had continued to flourish with the global Sukuk market recording remarkable expansion after the 2008 global financial crisis.

Sukuk is an Islamic finance certificate  similar to a bond in Western finance  that complies with Islamic law, Shariah.

The director, who spoke at the second Regional Roundtable on Non-Interest Capital Market in Sokoto on Monday, said annual issuances from Sukuk investment had grown from $15 billion in 2008 to almost $120 billion in 2014.

Mr. Gwarzo said the focus of the roundtable was on Sukuk  one of the most important components of the Islamic financial system.

He said while most people identify capital markets as an important source of medium-to-long term capital, few realise the amazing potential of capital markets to serve as a catalyst for financial inclusion.

SEC is determined to unlock this potential of the Nigerian Capital Market, Mr. Gwarzo said.

He said in particular, SEC was aware of the need to deepen the non-interest capital market space to enable millions of Nigerians and people of the Islamic faith to invest savings ethically.

Investors worldwide are increasingly allocating their resources into Islamic finance products, Mr. Gwarzo said.

The DG said last year was widely considered a landmark year for Islamic finance, especially with debut Sukuk issuances by countries such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Senegal, South Africa and Luxemburg.

He said the year also witnessed continued strong interest from key markets of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and emerging markets like Turkey and Indonesia.

Mr. Gwarzo added that the Sukuk market was emerging on a global scale as a viable alternative source of funding.

In Nigeria, the SEC boss said the commission implemented a number of reforms aimed at deepening the non-interest capital market.

For example, he said, the commission focused on the regulatory framework, reviewing the rules on Islamic Fund Management and introducing new rules on Sukuk issuance.

These two legal frameworks, Mr. Gwarzo pointed out, have encouraged Islamic products innovation with the registration of five ethical/Shariah compliant funds and the over-subscription of Nigerias first ever sub-national Ijara Sukuk by the Osun State government in 2013.

He said SEC was also considering modalities for setting up a Sharia Advisory Council as a body of experts to advise SEC and the market on non-interest product and their applications.

Mr. Gwarzo said the state governments could leverage on the Sukuk market to raise funds for developmental projects.

Going forward, he said, the focus of the SEC would be on massive public enlightenment and also stronger capacity building initiatives, adding that was what informed the idea of hosting regional events as the Roundtable

He said the commission was working with the Debt Management Office, DMO to ensure Nigeria issued her first sovereignSukuk that would provide the needed benchmark for other categories of issuers.

We are hopeful there will be a significant progress on this front before the end of 2016, he said.

Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal said the state government had since resolved to embrace Sukuk, which he said was the only Islamic capital system that conformed with the religious and cultural beliefs of the people of the state.

The governor, who was represented by the commissioner for Finance, Saidu Umar, said the system provided alternative sources of funds, especially in the face of the dwindling revenues as a result of the falling global oil resources.
ANNIVERSARY:

Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president, on Saturday, March 5, 2016, clocked 79.

His birthday celebration featured some programmes, including an international colloquium with the theme, Human Security, Violent Extremism and Radicalisation, Seeking Sustainable Solutions.

The President, Muhammadu Buhari, while congratulating Mr. Obasanjo, said he has contributed immensely to the institutionalization of democracy in Nigeria and Africa through his personal sacrifice, extensive local and international networks, and God-given wisdom.

Mr. Obasanjo was military head of state between 1976-1979 when he handed over power to a civilian government.

He returned to power in 1999 through elections, shortly after he had suffered detention at the hands of another military, Sani Abacha. He left office in 2007, after two four-year terms. Mr. Obasanjo is a farmer, educationist, activist and businessman.

Ondo State 40th anniversary, a commemoration of the creation of the state 40 years ago, featured a week-long schedule of events held between February 22 and 27 in different forms and with fanfare. The state government used the occasion to showcase some critical milestones attained at certain epochs by leaders who brought patriotism and selfless service to play.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko, also used the opportunity to flaunt his achievements as governor of the state in the last seven years.

Besides politics, residents had a lot to celebrate given the giant strides attained since the advent of Mr. Mimikos achievements.

At the event to mark the anniversary, visitors such as former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku and Senator Ben Muray-Bruce, praised the revolution in the health sector in the state.

Mr. Anyaoku recalled his last visit to the state 51 years ago, when he spent a night in Akure along with his wife on their way to Anambra State. He reported that the state had witnessed a huge difference and a manifest economic and infrastructural development since he first visited.

A visit to the medical village in Ondo City, which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, was all it took to convince the visiting dignitaries that the state had witnessed tremendous achievements.

It was also a moment to recall the sacrifices of Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Bamidele Isola Olumilua, Adebayo Adefarati and Olusegun Agagu.

The roll call of dignitaries in attendance include governors of the state during the military era. They include Wing Commander Ita David Ikpeme, Brigadier Isijolomi Tuayo, Commodore Michael Otiko, Capt. Okhai Akhigbe, Col. Ekundayo Opeleye, Navy Capt. Olabode George, Navy Capt. Sunday Olukoya, Lt. Col. Mike Torey, Col. Ahmed Usman, Navy Comm. Anthony Onyearegbulem and Col. Moses Fasanya.

Although workers of the state were owed months of unpaid salaries at the time celebration held, the moment seemed to usher in a ray of hope, and desire to persevere believing that history itself had taught enough lessons that could help refocus governance in the state.

APPOINTED:

Dakuku Peterside, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the last Rivers State election, was on Thursday, March 10, 2016, appointed Director General of Nigerian Maritime administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr. Peterside has a doctorate degree in Management Science from the University of Port Harcourt and an MBA in Business Administration.

He also holds a Bachelors degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences (B.MLS) in Hematology from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.

Shehu Idris, the 18th Fulani Emir of Zauzau, was on Saturday, February 27, 2016, officially unveiled as Chancellor of the University of Abuja.

The event was part of the combined convocation ceremony of the institution, covering 2011-2015 sessions.

The Emir who had served in various capacities and in many academic institutions, immediately after his investiture proceeded to perform the confirmation of the various degrees awarded to the graduating students.

Kennedy Uzoka, who led the recent reforms in the United Bank for Africa(UBA) Group, was on Tuesday March 1, 2016, appointed the Group Managing Director of the bank, subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

His appointment takes effect from August 1, 2016.

Mr. Uzoka succeeds Phillips Oduoza, who retires on July 31 after two terms of leading the UBA Group.

He was noted to have led the transformation agenda of the bank, after returning from completing the Advanced Management Programme at the Harvard Business School.

He has over two and half decades of experience in commercial banking, strategy and business transformation.

Before his stint at Harvard, he served as Deputy Managing Director, UBA group, and was also the CEO of UBA Africa, responsible for the Groups operations in 18 countries across Africa.

He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Benin and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos.

Saliu Adetunji, Ogungunniso I, was on Friday, March 4, crowned the 41st Olubadan of Ibadan.

He was presented with a certificate and staff of office at exactly 1:30 p.m on that day by Governor Ajimobi of Oyo State, at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

His coronation took place amidst fanfare and royal splendor. But he had earlier undergone series of traditional rites before his official coronation.

He succeeds the late Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, who passed on in his sleep on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.

Before his selection as Olubadan, Oba Adetunji was the Balogun of Ibadan land, and was the next in rank to his predecessor.

He began his climb to the exalted stool in 1972 when he became the Mogaji of Ladunni compound in Ibadan, and went on in 1976 to be confirmed as the Jagun of Ibadan land, a position he held since 1973 before becoming the Olubadan.

Taofeek Adejare Owoseni, a leading business management icon, was appointed member of the Osun State University Advancement Board by the institutions governing council.

He was appointed along with other important persons such as Kayode Sofola(SAN), Yusuff Ali (SAN), Alade Adebola, Segun Aina, Demola Aladekomo and Adumola Adepoju.

The board has a mandate to articulate strategies for attracting donations in cash and kind to the university on a continuous basis as well as create safe and adequate investment modules that would enhance the funds accruing from its activities.

LAUNCHED:

SAFFGLIA, the Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa committed to encouraging governments across Africa to embrace good governance, was on Thursday, March 10, unveiled in Lagos.

The foundation hopes to uplift the standard of living of the people through governance and leadership.

The event, which held at the Afe Babalola Hall of the University of Lagos was attended by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the Governor of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, the Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Wale Babalakin, among others.

Mr. Mohammed was the guest speaker, and presented a paper on Setting Agenda For Good Leadership in Africa.

The event also featured the launch of a book: So Long Too Long Nigeria, written by Segun Adeleye, Founder of SAFFGLIA and President/CEO, World Stage Limited.

PASSAGE:



Eskor Toyo, Renowned academic, essayist and human rights activists, was on Saturday, March 5, 2016, buried in his hometown in Ekim in Udungoko Local Government of Akwa Ibom State.

He was a retired Professor of Economics with the University of Calabar and died in Calabar at the age of 86.

His funeral was somewhat peculiar in the sense that he was buried without the involvement of Christian, Islamic or, traditional institutions.

Instead, his funeral was conducted by his comrades and colleagues from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from across the country, as well as officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

In spite of this, the burial witnessed a lot of tributes.

The burial did not bear any traditional or religious colouration. It was a secular burial; we buried our comrade in a comrade way, one of his associates, Nse Paulinus, declared.

Born in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, in 1929, Mr. Toyo, a professor of Economics, was a national trustee of the Academic Staff Union of University for about two decades.

He had his early education in Oron, Lagos and later in Calabar.

Late Toyo was vice president of the Nigerian Economic Society, NES, consultant on economic issues in several Nigerian agencies and the Government of Ghana.
Morocco on Monday offered to provide intelligence assistance in investigations into Sundays terror attacks in Cote dIvoire.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI made the pledge in a phone call with President of Cote dIvoire Alassan Ouattara.

Two soldiers and six assailants were killed in the attacks that targeted three beach resort hotels.

Morocco will send a team to support Ivorian authorities in the probe, the Kings office said in a statement.

The statement said that the monarch expressed his sincere condolences and deep compassion.

According to a report, Morocco and Cote dIvoire enjoy strong ties.

The Report says Morocco is the largest investor in Cote dIvoire, while dozens of Ivorian preachers have received religious training in Morocco.

(Xinhua/NAN)
Mauritius Finance Minister Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo has asked to be relieved of his post and his position to be taken by the prime minister, the premier told reporters on Monday.

Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth made the announcement at his office after days of speculation in local newspapers about the fate of the finance minister.

The minister had not returned to work for several weeks after a visit to the United States.

Some media cited health issues and others cited differences in the cabinet.

The prime minister said Lutchmeenaraidoo had been offered the position of foreign minister in a minor cabinet reshuffle. Jugnauth did not say if he had accepted.

(Reuters/NAN)
Nigerias Interior Minister, Abdurrahman Dambazau, has vowed to deal with the perpetrators of violence in Agatu community, Benue state, where hundreds were killed weeks ago by suspected herdsmen.

Former Senate President David Mark said Saturday that over 500 people were killed and 10 communities in Agatu LGA razed in what seemed like a genocide.

In a statement Monday, Mr. Dambazau commiserated with the government and people of Benue State and said the government would deal decisively with perpetrators.

The comment came more than two weeks after the attacks, and was the second official reaction by the Nigerian government. President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered an investigation into the killings.

Minister of Interior has received with shock the sad news of incessant attacks on innocent Nigerians in Agatu and other Communities in Benue State by unknown gunmen, a statement by Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, the chief press secretary to the minister, read.

The statement said Mr. Dambazau had earlier directed the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the communities. It said the government would not relent in its responsibility to protect its people.

The statement said the perpetrators of the dastardly acts were unwittingly testing the will and capabilities of the government, and that the present administration would not fail in its duties to ensure the security and welfare of the people as enshrined in the Constitution.

The Minister has therefore vowed to mobilize security forces to decisively deal with the perpetrators of these dastardly acts, the statement said.

To this end, the nations Interior Minister has directed the Inspector General of Police and other Heads of Security Agencies under the Ministry to synergize with other security services to speedily arrest this ugly tread and bring its perpetrators to justice, the statement said.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun, has said the scale of corruption in Nigeria and the near collapse of the oil price have severely restricted the party from immediate delivery of electoral promises.

He said this had also affected fixing quick wins like evacuating generated electricity to the national grid.

Mr. Odigie-Oyegun spoke in London last Thursday at the first summit of the United Kingdom chapter of the APC.

The summit, with the theme Sustainable Development in Nigeria, was chaired by Richard Fuller, member of the British Parliament for Bedford and Kempton, and the vice chair, All Parties Parliamentary Group (APPG)  Nigeria.

The event was attended by members of APC across the UK, the partys representatives from the Scandinavia and the invited British guests.

Mr. Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke on developing sustainable infrastructure from the perspective of the partys manifesto, reaffirmed the partys commitment to invest in critical infrastructure like energy, rail and roads to drive the countrys development.

He however said that widespread corruption in the country was hindering the partys effort.

Regardless, Mr. Odigie-Oyegun, said the party under President Muhammadu Buhari remained resolute in tackling Nigerias infrastructural deficits and other economic problems.

He urged the British government to continue to support the Buhari administration in ways it could in fighting corruption, which he said was the main cause of infrastructural deficit in the country.

In his opening remark, Mr. Fuller expressed happiness to host the event particularly because of his role in the APPG-Nigeria, and the UK being a democratic and economic development partner of Nigeria.

He expressed belief that the experiences, vibrancy and contributions of Nigerians in the UK made it relevant that such event should take place in the UK.

Speaking on financial corruption and infrastructure, a former senior parliamentary aide, Martin Brown, listed some of the efforts of the Buhari administration in fighting corruption.

According to him, they include the changes in the hierarchy of the security forces, efforts to recover stolen monies and a commitment to redistribute wealth through infrastructural development.

Mr. Brown, who currently studies and campaigns against corruption, said if the Nigerian government and key elements in the APC (UK) worked closely with him, it could lead to enlisting the support of the critical sector of the British and European establishments.

A Nigerian, Nicholas Okoro, who spoke on infrastructural development and the Diaspora participation, advised that Nigerian in Diaspora should develop a vehicle for investing in the critical sectors of the economy to create wealth.

One of those channels, he listed, was a Diaspora Funding Corporation.

Another Nigerian, Juliana Oladipo, who spoke on Women and Youth in Development, advised the Nigerian government to harness the economic potential of women and youth to ensure that all sections of the society become economically active and consequently increase and activate its potential.
An anti-corruption coalition, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence investigation into the alleged diversion of N1.5 billion by the Federal Capital Territory administration.

In a petition signed by the groups chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, and made available to journalist on Monday, the coalition said the findings of the House of Representatives Committee on FCT has shown that the various projects does not reflect the amount of money already sunk into them.

The petition reads: In its publication of 14thFebruary, 2016, the Nation Newspapers reported that the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) queried the diversion of N1.5bn meant for the compensation and resettlement of indigenes affected by the Centenary Village project.

According to the report, at the FCT budget defense before the Hon. Herman Hembe led Committee, the lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the inability of the Federal Capital Territory Administration to justify the huge disbursement of funds to one of the contractors handling some projects for the FCT administration.

The Committee was further infuriated by the failure of the FCTA to furnish it with documents earlier requested, including Bill of Quantity for the residences of the Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and United Nations (UN) building. The Committee was concerned that level of work on the various projects does not reflect the amount of money already sunk into them.

Vice Presidents residence contract was awarded at N7.1bn out of which N6.2bn was already paid while the rehabilitation of the UN building awarded at N5.1bn had N3.9bn already committed to it. Also the residences of the presiding officers of the National Assembly have gulped N12bn out of N24bn initial contract sums. The Committee also decried the outrageous figures given for the projects and expressed dismay that despite collecting so much, the contractors could still abandon the projects. 

CSNAC noted that the report further stated that there had been several protests by the original occupants of the Centenary village over unpaid compensation and the Committee thus emphasized the need for an investigation, due to complaints from contractors handling the projects. It further statedA that progress was stunted as a result of resistance and protests from indigenes over compensation, in addition to poor funding by the government.

However, the FCDAs Director (Engineering), Adamu Abu, said the initial agreement between the FCDA and the indigenes was to integrate them and not to pay them compensation in monetary form.

The anti-graft network stated that, From the foregoing, there are indications that the N1.5bn disbursed by the Federal Government for the compensation of the indigenes has been diverted by some corrupt officials.

Going by the statement credited to the Director, if the initial agreement between the administration and the indigenes was integration and not monetary compensation, then where is the N1.5bn earlier disbursed for that purpose?

Just as rightly opined by the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee, it is imperative for all agencies of government to realise that it is no longer business as usual. In the face of harsh economic realities prevalent in the nation, government agencies should be made to realise that they either utilize the scare resources judiciously, or return any unused funds to the national treasury. The era of impunity and wanton looting of the treasury should no longer be condoned.

CSNAC is therefore by this petition, calling on the Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into this economic crime and the prosecution of any officer found culpable. This will go a long way in ridding the society of corrupt individuals and rebuilding the Nigeria we all want to see and bequeath to future generations.
Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday visited the Calabar branch of the bank that was rocked by gas explosion on Friday.

The governor, who refused to speak with journalists, also visited the victims of the blast at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

Mr. Emefiele inspected the site of the blast before leaving the banks premises immediately for Abuja.

Four persons were reported dead in the blast, while several others were injured.

Journalists were not allowed in when the CBN governor visited the victims in the hospital.

Our correspondent also learnt that arrangements had been concluded for those who were in severe conditions to be transferred to other health facilities within or outside country where necessary.

Our correspondent also learnt that skeletal banking operations had resumed at the Calabar branch.

(NAN)
The Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, of planning to sabotage President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

The governor and the senator have been at odds for undisclosed political reasons, leading to Mr. Sanis

alleged suspension by the state branch of the party.

In an interview in the March edition of The Interview magazine, the senator accused Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, of planning to upstage President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election.

In defence of the governor, the chapters publicity secretary, Salisu Wusono, urged people to ignore Mr. Sani, a man who cannot grasp that leadership is not an ego trip or a perpetual exercise in narcissism.

The APC in Kaduna State hereby warns suspended Senator Shehu Sani against his irresponsible utterances about our party and its elected leaders.

This is a man who seems unable to believe his good fortune at riding on the Buhari wave to become a senator.

He hardly waited to arrive in Abuja before enlisting as an agent of the forces who began to plot for 2019 before they were even sworn-in, following the 2015 elections.

Shehu Sani is desecrating the image of our party by his mercenary antics, and that is why we suspended him.

He has tried to rubbish our revered President Muhammadu Buhari by describing the anti-corruption crusade as political.

He is now pretending to love Buhari by needlessly attacking Malam Nasir El-Rufai on behalf of those funding his immature politics.

The guilty are indeed afraid! Shehu Sanis masters, who defied our party for their selfish ends, know that Nigerians are aware of those whose 2019 calculations made them impervious to reason and party discipline.

The APC Kaduna State is proud of the vigorous and disciplined way Malam Nasir El-Rufai is governing Kaduna State in line with the manifesto of the APC. In education, health, agriculture and general governance reforms, El-Rufai is making strides.

He has demonstrated exemplary focus on the responsibility the people of Kaduna State has given him. His loyalty to the APC and the great work that President Buhari is doing is visible for all.

The APC Kaduna calls on Nigerians to ignore Shehu Sani, a man who cannot grasp that leadership is not an ego trip or a perpetual exercise in narcissism, the statement said.
The running mate to the Abubakar Audu, James Faleke, has called on the state Election Petition Tribunal to declare him the validly elected governor of Kogi State.

Mr. Faleke made the call on Monday while being led in evidence at the tribunal in Abuja by his counsel, Wole Olanipekun.

I confirm to all the documents that were tendered this morning to be the ones I refer to in my petition.

I will like to adopt the documents in my witness statement on oath and as my evidence in the petition.

I want the tribunal to accept my petition and grant my reliefs as stated in paragraph 27 of my witness statement on oath and declare me as the winner, Mr. Faleke said.

When asked during cross-examination by the counsel to the 1st respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission, if he was still a member of the All Progressive Congress, he said yes.

According to Mr. Faleke, I am not aware that the 2nd respondent, Gov. Yahaya Bello, is a member of the APC. All I know is that the 2nd respondent campaigned and worked for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

I was also not an aspirant at the primary election, but one of the conditions Audu picked me as his running mate was because I am a member of the APC.

He told the tribunal that he did not know any of the candidates who contested with the late Audu.

According to Faleke, I did not see the result of the primary election because I left the venue but the next information I had is that late Audu won the primary and I was chosen as the running mate.

He also told the tribunal that the result of the election, which he said he co-won with Audu, the late APC candidate, was declared in each polling unit and each of the ward collation centres.

Mr. Faleke said the death of Mr. Audu had nothing to do with the inconclusiveness of the election and that they had already won before it was declared inconclusive.

He said he knew they had already won the November 21 governorship election and that was why he did not participate in the December 5 election.

Myself and Prince Audu were declared winners at each polling unit, ward collation centre, each local government and the state collation centre.

The states Returning Officer declared the result at the state collation centers.

Prince Audu died in the morning and the election was declared inconclusive in the evening, so it was declared inconclusive far after the death, Mr. Faleke said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that part of the documents that was tendered and admitted in evidence weee Form CF001, Form CF002 and many more.

(NAN)
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has been accused of thinking of removing President Muhammadu Buhari.

In an explosive interview in the March edition of The Interview magazine, Mr. Sani said, It would be counter-productive for the Governor to start thinking of evicting Buhari in 2019 to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

El-Rufai should do his job and stop putting his eyes on the Presidency.

The senator represents Kaduna Central and is in the same ruling All Progressives Congress with the Governor. They have been at odds for undisclosed political reasons, leading to Sanis suspension by the state branch of the party.

Mr. Sani accused Mr. El-Rufai of ruling like an emperor, promising to give him war or peace, whichever he chooses.

Also in this edition of The Interview, former military governor of Kaduna State, Dangiwa Umar, a retired colonel, gave his first major interview in 23 years in which he laid in on Governor Adams Oshiomohle; and Peoples Democratic Party chieftains, Edwin Clark and Tony Anenih, calling them traitors.

Responding to a question on the fortunes of former President Goodluck Jonathan after he was defeated in March, Mr. Umar said, I compare them (Oshiomohle and co) to insects that cling to flowers. They are attracted by the nectar rather than by the beauty of the flower.

Governor Adams Oshiomohle, who generously praised Jonathan as a true democrat, suddenly turned into his most virulent critic.

Mr. Umar revealed that during Mr. Jonathans testy days as acting President, he advised him to sack his service chiefs, but that the former president was too confused and agitated to act.

He complained, Mr. Umar said, that the NSA had informed him that the service chiefs were disgruntled with the way the sick and bedridden Umaru YarAdua was being treated and that he, the acting President, was most disloyal.

In the edition, which the Managing Director/ Editor-In-Chief of The Interview, Azu Ishiekwene, described as deep and loaded, Mr. Umar also revisited his role in the June 12 crisis, the agitation for Biafra and his relationship with Jonathan.
An Abuja High Court has ordered for the immediate release of an aide to the former National Security Adviser, Nickolas Ashinzeh, from a military facility, warning against wrongful detention of suspects by Nigerian security agencies.

Mr. Ashinzeh had approached the court to protest his prolonged detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai, without trial since December 23, 2015.

Mr. Ashinzeh also prayed the court to order the respondents to pay N500 million as damage, and also issue an apology for violation of his rights.

In his ruling, the trial Judge, Yusuf Halilu, ordered Mr. Ashinzeh to be released with immediate effect, adding that the agencies responsible for the detention must learn to act within the provisions of law.

The respondents have not behaved like those living in a civilized society. They behaved like we are still in the military era.

The EFCCs motto is: Nobody is above the law; but they are acting as if they are above the law here, Mr. Halilu said.

He further said the era of overzealousness on the part of security officers would no longer be tolerated.

The EFCC Act is not superior to the 1999 Constitution as amended, said Mr. Halilu.

Mr. Halilu noted that based on Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, the detention of the applicant since December 23, 2015, is illegal, wrongful and a blatant violation of his (Mr. Ashinzehs) fundamental rights.

He however did not grant the applicants prayer regarding payment of the sum of N500 million for damages as well as an apology from the respondents.

Mr. Halilu also did not grant the prayers sought by the applicant that a perpetual injunction be issued to the three respondents.

Perpetual injunction can only be granted after trial especially when an accused person has proved his case.

If the EFCC has a case against the applicant they should take him to court, he added.
President Muhammadu Buhari has unreservedly condemned Sundays terrorist attack on the Grand Bassam Resort in Cote DIvoire, his office said Monday.

Al Qaedas North African arm on Sunday killed 16 people at resort hotels in the country.

A statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said Mr. Buhari conveyed his message in a telephone call to Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara, after the attack.

President Buhari conveyed the sympathy of the Federal Government and people of Nigeria to the people of Cote DIvoire as they mourn their compatriots and foreign visitors who lost their lives in the attack, the statement said.

The president assured his Ivorian counterpart of Nigerias full solidarity and support as his country grapples with the consequences of the heinous attack and strives to overcome the new security challenges posed by the terrorist incursion.

Mr. Buhari says terrorism now transcends all national boundaries, and restated his call for greater international cooperation against terrorists and their sponsors.

They have attacked a hotel in Mali, leaving 21 people dead. They killed over 130 people in attacks in Paris and they murdered 28 persons in Burkina Faso.

Terrorism does not respect territorial boundaries again. That is why the world has to come together, present a common front and deal with these merchants of evil, President Buhari said.

President Ouattara thanked President Buhari for Nigerias sympathy and solidarity.
Segun Oni, the Acting National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), said on Monday that the party would appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the state of insecurity in Rivers State.

Mr. Oni spoke during a visit by the National Working Committee of the party to Omoku, in Rivers, to commiserate with families of recent killings in the state.

He said the killings were a genocide against APC members in Rivers State.

The acting national chairman said it was unfortunate that people were killed in barbaric manner.

I am surprised that this kind of thing is happening in Rivers State which indeed is part of Nigeria.

It is strange that people will kill their fellow human beings, cut off their heads and take them away as if they were souvenirs, he said.

The acting national chairman urged the Federal Government to do something urgently to save the situation.

The Federal Government needs to do something quickly to save this situation, because it is a shame to allow a part of Nigeria to degenerate into this mess.

The brutal killings of APC members in the state must stop; our people must not continue to die because they identified with a political party. he said.

Dakuku Peterside, governorship candidate of the party in the April 2015 election in the state, urged the Federal Government to beef up security in the state.

Mr. Peterside, who represented the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, called for adequate security during and after the forthcoming elections in the state.

He said in spite of the killings, the APC is very prepared for the election; all we need now is security to give the electorate safety.

(NAN)
The Sokoto State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the results of the local government elections in the state, saying the Saturday polls were marred by irregularities.

A statement by the chapter secretary, Kabir Aliyu, described the election as a sham, saying as it was characterised by rigging.

The whole exercise was a sham and marred by irregularities in spite of assurance of free and fair election by His Excellency, Governor of Sokoto State and other organs handling the exercise.

It was highly disappointing as the election was characterized by massive rigging, ballot box snatching, use of soldiers and other apparatus of state security to intimidate, arrest and molest our party agents, supporters and unleashing of area boys to attack our party accredited supervisors during their assignment.

The result sheets of the election were filled and winners announced publicly by 8:00 to 9:00am at some of the poling units (while) in some places when the accreditation of the voters was on process.

The result sheets of some local governments were filled in on the eve of election day.

Prior to the election day, our candidates were intimidated, coerced and threatened to withdraw from the election after several attempts of their lives and destruction of their property.

When and where they failed, they resorted to the arbitrary use of public and private media to announce the withdrawal of such candidates.

The APC led government in the state in collaboration with the state electoral body manipulated ballot papers to exclude PDP logo in some local government areas such as in the case of Gudu Local Government Area, in order to weaken our stronghold area.

The state electoral body in collaboration with the ruling APC deliberately omitted from the result sheet a column for recording number of accredited intending voters from the main sheet to add their numbers.

The PDP sadly sympathize with many of our supporters and well wishers that suffered injuries due to brutal attacks, arrest or detention by some hired security personnel include use of soldiers to harass and intimidate them by the order of some agents of APC at various places, especially at Goronyo, Bodinga, Tambuwal, Kebbe, Binji, Sokoto North, Sokoto South, Dange Shuni and Rabah local governments respectively.

PDP wishes to commend the gallant efforts of thousands of its supporters, well wishers around the state who stand firmly to ensure justice and fairness in spite of numerous intimidation, coercion, abuses and political attacks by certain individuals, majority of who are holding government public offices that see nothing in politics but hatred and intimidation.

Therefore, the party is hereby registering its disappointment with the double standard of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who during his state-wide broadcast assured the oppositions, and good people of Sokoto State with credible and fair election, but intentionally lied and produce the worst election ever conducted by any state electoral commission in Nigeria.

In view of this and many other issues raised in our pending court case filed before the election, we wish to totally reject the outcome of the exercise.

And by this notice, we are calling on the electoral body to cancel the so called sham election that are seen by majority of people in the state as charade, laughable and joke that was done to ridicule the good name of people of Sokoto State.

The election should be cancelled and a new date for a fresh, free and fair election devoid with rancor announced, the statement said.
The Edo State Government has denied plans to sell the $75 million World Bank loan for infrastructure development in the black market.

The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, Dan Orbih, had alleged in a statement shortly after his re-election on Monday that a bank had already donated its private jet to Edo Governor to bring in the $75m World Bank loan.

He said the deal was expected to fetch the state government about N10 billion.

But in a statement, the state commissioner for information, Kassim Afegbua, denied the claim, describing it as reckless.

If Orbih were not a complete dunce, he would have known that World Bank is not like Ogbona Community Bank, where you can abuse financial procedures, the commissioner said.

He has just shown the reckless financial orientation of the PDP and their brigandage and voodoo economics.

Otherwise, he would not even contemplate that a World Bank would carry money in sacks and hand it over to a state government.

Mr. Afegbua said the government has repeatedly described the PDP as a party that had no answer to the challenges of governance.

He said, We have repeatedly said it that the PDP has no answer to the challenges of governance. The empty-headedness of their state chairman further compounds their problem.

How on earth would a man talk about World Bank in such reckless emanations? What a pity.

The commissioner said he would recommend Mr. Orbih for a refresher course for him to learn the ropes in modern World Bank financial transaction instead of exhibiting manifest ignorance that tends to put Edo people to shame.
The Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has dismissed Adeigbe Olushola, the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, a week after a building collapse in Lekki, Lagos, claimed 34 lives.

In a statement issued Monday, Mr. Ambode also fired Adeoye Adeyemi, the Head of Inspection and Quality Control in the Agency; and Dosunmu Gbadebo, the Zonal District Officer in the Agency.

Last week, a five-storey building collapsed in Lekki, killing 34, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.

Sherifat Akinde, the Zonal Head of Eti-Osa West of LASBCA, was compulsorily retired from the Civil Service.

The affected officers were dismissed having been indicted of negligence, which according to the governor, is an act of misconduct under the Public Service Rule 040401, the Lagos State government said in a statement issued by Olabowale Ademola, the Head of Service. 

Rule 040401 of the Public Service act of misconduct states inter alia: a willful act of omission or general misconduct to the scandal of the pubic or to the prejudice of discipline and proper administration of the State Government should be visited with dismissal from the Public Service in line with the Public Service Rule 040503,' read the statement.

The Head of Service said the disciplinary measure was the outcome of the recommendations of the Personnel Management Board to Mr. Ambode, who was personally grieved by the high number of fatalities that occurred as a result of the building collapse.

The state government had earlier noted that the collapsed building had been sealed after it emerged that the building contractors brazenly violated an approval to construct a three storey structure.

On Friday, a Lagos magistrate court ordered the remand for 30 days of Richard Nyong, 34, the Managing Director of Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate, the owners of the collapsed building.

The court said the remand would enable the police investigate the deadly collapse of the five storey building.

Mrs. Ademola warned public officials, private building owners or contractors who violate or subvert building regulations that it would no longer be business as usual, saying that the dismissal of the officers would serve as a wake-up call to public servants.

It is also a clarion call to them to be alive to their responsibilities as any act of negligence will face sanctions, while hardworking officers will be rewarded appropriately, she said.
The sixth edition of RioContentMarket has surprised some participants, who expected a flat market due to the crisis in Brazil. But, the reality at Windsor Barra Hotel has been different: a vibrant venue, with plenty of sessions attended by the top Brazilian and international executives, as well as announcements from all sides.

The production business keeps growing; there are more independent companies: Marcos Altberg, president, ABPITV said in the Opening Ceremony that the association has now more thane 600 members; the Pay TV business appears fully decided to have local content because it generates loyalty to these networks: the Free TV networks are aware of the funding programs and take advantages of it through alliances with producers and Pay TV groups.

Prensario can recall that the international and Brazilian Pay TV channels were worried about the programming quotas when the SeAC law was being discussed in 2011. Five years after, the outcome is completely different.

For example, Tatiana Rodriguez, SVP Programming and Creative Strategy, Nickelodeon Latin America, says: We need to buy and produce a lot here. When we came to the first edition of this market, the producers were more focused on the design than the content itself. Now, they are mature, they know how and what to pitch. The evolution is enormous, we are happy to be here.

Another example: Roberto Martha, director of production at Discovery Networks, agreed with Rodriguez and remarks that the group regularly produces over 100 hours of original content for the five networks. Other international networks such us A+E, HBO, Turner, AMC (which is mostly acquiring local content but plans to produce here in the future) or smaller Brazilian networks such us Box Brazil and PlayTV, among many others, share this perception.

During the final day of the market, Rosana Alcantara, director of Ancine, spoke about the regulation over VOD/OTT platforms, one of the hottest topics but still on an early stage. Even there is a debate within the regulation entity, no decision has been made so far. She listed the possible elements Ancine could take into consideration to regulate: penetration of the service, non-asymmetric taxes and promotion of Brazilian and Brazilian independent audiovisual productions, etc.

The big three SVOD players were very active during RCM 2016. Rodrigo Mazon, Augusto Rovegno (series) and Carolina Vianna (films) from Netflix Latin America have had meetings in the lobby, while Hulu and Amazon hosted strongly attended panels about what they are looking for in Latin America.

Philip Matthys, head of business affairs and original series at Hulu (the third largest SVOD in the US) is looking for provocative and edgy series. Hulu original productions have episodes being available on a weekly, not bundled as its main competitor Netflix does; Hulu purchases series asking for a 10-year window.

YouTube has been another huge player participating at RCM: 10 years after its launch, it took part at one of the Prime Time sessions. Alvaro Paes de Barros, director, explained how youtubers have transformed themselves into content makers and described the YouTube strategy towards content partnerships with independent producers.

RCM 2016 has highlighted that there is much more to do in Brazil in all segments of business. Even international producers are looking for opportunities to enter as partners into local projects awarded with funding programs. The prolongation of the business model (through the tax the telecommunication companies pay to fund it) has been great news for the sector.

A surprised international animation producer told Prensario: 'I am amazed about the number of tools to finance the Brazilian independent production: private and public banks, agencies and several regulations not only make this business possible, but also help create an industry. If half of this were available in our country, we would be able to do much more than now'.

About the show itself, the opinion of Alejandra Marano, executive director, Construir TV (Argentina) is a good review: RCM has consolidated as a strategic market for us: I am able here to meet all the relevant providers I need to visit. With the networking and connections I have done here there is no need to attend other major markets, which are much more expensive and complex.

The 2017 edition of RCM will take place on March 7-10 at the Windsor Barra Hotel, Rio de Janeiro.

Fabricio Ferrara, from Rio de Janeiro
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Always run your business with money what you have to do a safe business

Elias S. Khoriaty, general manager of Pioneer Printing Press, Sharjah in conversation withVenkat Raghavan, opines his general overview of the current market and how to improve the business in the coming years

Hailing from Lebanon, Elias S. Khoriaty completed his schooling from his hometown. After completing his schooling he wanted to do a degree which would allow him to learn all the organization process. He then, pursued the degree in accountancy and completed the same in 1978. Since, his degree made him to view the process tree of the organization he wanted to open a printing press on his own and started the Pioneer Printing Press in 1997.

HIGHLIGHTS  Press is having five warehouses  Press started with 17 employees and it now has around 60  Most of their jobs are focused toward the UAE

Talking about his career, Elias S. Khoriaty, general manager of the Pioneer Printing Press, commented, I have completed all my education in Lebanon and after completing the degree I have joined in a company as an accountant in the year 1978. I was doing all the accounting work for that company and after seeing my performance the owner has requested me to do accounting for few more companies of him. During the tenure I have learnt all the process involved in the business like the typical management processes which includes corporate governance and strategic management; operational processes, processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream; supporting processes, which support the core processes. After a decade in Lebanon I came to UAE and joined in National Paint Company as an accountant in 1988. Later I joined in the Rainbow Printing Press as same accountant. As there was War Kuwait my manager went to his hometown which made me to become the manager for the printing press within a year. While I am taking the charge the company was having 180,000 AED loss and within a year of taking the charge I made the company to attain the profit of 85,000 AED. Then after couple of years down the line the company was able to attain a profit of 670,000. Since, I have gained a lot of industry experience I decided to open a printing press on my own and started the Pioneer Press in 1997.

Khoriaty adds about his printing press, Our major jobs were focused towards the commercial printing jobs and small packaging jobs. We do jobs like brochures, books, business stationery, paper bags, catalogues, magazines, greeting cards, folders, posters, stickers, calendars and many more. Apart from this we have press machines like KBA 5 colour 105, Roland-200 / 5, Roland 202T OB-2 colour, SORS Heidelberg-1 colour, SM 52 Heidelberg-2 colour, GTO 52- 2 colour, Printmaster 46 Heidelberg - 2 colour, Schnellpresen Fabric Heidelberg Die Cutter - Cutting Size: 50 X 70cm, two Letterpress 36cm. We started the printing press with 17 employees and it has grown to around 60 employees. In addition, while we were starting we had only one warehouse and now we are having around 5. We always give importance to UAE and that is one of the reason we do most of our jobs here.

He further added about the trends, Earlier, customers mostly used to prefer their jobs to be printed in high volumes but as the years passed by there needs have changed. If a small shop is having a digital printing press then he can make some good money which can feed for 4 to 5 employees but for a printing press like us has to do at least 10 digital job to attain the same profit. However, the offset is entirely different as we can easily get the whole profit in a single job itself. There are again drastic changes in the pre press and CTP machines that has made the jobs easier with the software versions having more enhanced features. Also, during the early days there were multiple operators working on a single job and with the available automation today, all the jobs have been simplified and time spend on outputting a job has been reduced to minimum.

Speaking about the company challenges, and plans about the expansion, he added, Before 2011 we were enormously doing well and making good but after that we were not doing up to extent, as with any industry, we have come down a little. Earlier we use to work 24 hours and now it has come down to 8 hours. The credit period is always a concern for all in this industry and we have been able to overcome it by selecting the right customers. Also, we meet the industry norms of the credit period where our credit period varies from 30 through 90 days. We are offering accommodation and other facilities as per the UAE Labour Law. Apart from this, we do conduct regular events for our staffs. We have and would always be in a mode of continuous improvement to upgrade our facilities to the satisfaction of all stakeholders of our business to have all round growth. Five years down the line our half of the portion would move towards the packaging as well as the digital.

Signing off, he advices the printing press to do the business with professionalism and keep updating yourself with all the latest technologies to receive a better market share.
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.




DUBAI, UAE, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

As Islamic banking gathers momentum in Pakistan, one leading bank partners with Dubai-based Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance for e-learning.

Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan's leading banks, today announced partnering with Ethica, a leader in Islamic finance training and certification based in Dubai, to deliver its online Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) to its employees.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150504/742909 )



"At Bank Alfalah, we are committed to building the capacity of our employees so that they understand Islamic banking practices. Our partnership with Ethica enables Bank Alfalah to develop seasoned Islamic bankers in the industry," said Atif Bajwa, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah. The Bank has previously won "Best Islamic Window of a Conventional Banking Group in Pakistan" at the Global Islamic Finance Awards for the last two consecutive years and recently received "Strongest Islamic Retail Bank in Pakistan 2015" at the Islamic Retail Banking Awards.

Ethica's spokesperson said, "E-learning is now mainstream. Classroom training is expensive and often ineffective, usually lasting only a few days, rather than the 1 year Bank Alfalah accesses the CIFE. We think the future of bank training is about recreating the classroom setting in an interactive e-learning environment. Bank Alfalah's decision reflects this shift." As part of the corporate training package, Bank Alfalah receives year-round, 100% online access to the Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) program along with a back-end dashboard allowing managers to monitor learner progress each week.

Islamic banking recently regained momentum in Pakistan with the central bank's five-year plan to promote Islamic finance with legislative changes and product incentives. Over the last few years, Bank Alfalah has forged strategic partnerships with renowned institutions to develop learning programs to increase the knowledge base and skills of employees on Islamic banking. Almost 700 learning programmes catering to 99 percent of the Bank's employees were offered by the Bank last year.

Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance has trained over 10,000 paying professionals in 160 financial institutions across 65 countries, winning numerous industry awards. The 4-month Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) is a globally recognized certificate accredited to comply with AAOIFI, the world's leading Islamic finance standard. Ethica also offers three Advanced CIFE (ACIFE) certificates in Takaful, Financial Analysis, and Accounting.



Contact: Sameer Hasan, Tel: +9714-455-8690, Email: contact@ethicainstitute.com

SOURCE Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance
SUZHOU, China, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The 8th annual ChinaBioPartnering Forum 2016 life science partnering event will return to Suzhou, China, May 1819. Suzhou is an active biopharma hub and the home of international and China pharmaceutical and medical companies, specializing in drug discovery, diagnostics, and medical devices. China is now the world's second largest and fastest growing major pharma market and the event will bring together biotech and pharma leaders from around the world along with hundreds of China-based developers of novel technologies to capitalize on this high-growth potential.

"China is transforming into an innovation-based economy," said Greg B. Scott, Founder of ChinaBio Group. "Suzhou BioBay has aggressively fostered innovation in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostics, as well as research-related services. Many of the companies as well as companies from all over China are eager to partner with western companies."

Hengrui, a leading developer of novel cancer therapeutics in China, is a regular attendee and presenter at ChinaBio Partnering Forum. "At ChinaBio, we meet many companies from here in China as well as from the US and Europe, and we can discuss possible collaborations to help bring new medicines to the market," said Lianshan Zhang, PhD, President of Global R&D at Hengrui.

Innovative companies, organizations and researchers interested in partnering their technologies or products, initiating strategic alliances, or tapping into the financing network in China may apply to present at the event.

partneringONE is EBD Group's sophisticated, web-based partnering system that enables event delegates to efficiently identify, meet and get partnerships started with companies across the life science value chain, from large biotech and pharma companies to financiers and innovative startups.

Attendees may register before March 18, 2016 to save USD 200 off the regular registration fee.

About ChinaBio Group:

Since its founding in 2007, ChinaBio Group has successfully helped nearly 100 US, European and Asia-Pacific life science companies achieve success in China. Leveraging their consulting and advisory teams' significant experience in China's life science industry, ChinaBio has helped its clients identify over 1,000 in-/out-licensing and M&A opportunities and raise over $500M in funding in China. ChinaBio's clients have included many global pharma and life science companies as well as early stage and mid-size companies in Europe and the US. ChinaBio has also organized over 30 conferences in China focused on investment and partnering, and publishes ChinaBio Today, the most widely read source for China life science news. ChinaBio Group is headquartered in Shanghai with staff in San Diego, Silicon Valley, Canada and Switzerland. More information is available at www.chinabio.com

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group's conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring, Europe's largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) BioPharm America, the fastest growing partnering event in North America

Biotech Showcase, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors

for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO

ChinaBio Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China , co-produced with ChinaBio Group

, co-produced with ChinaBio Group Biolatam, facilitating partnering among global life sciences executives in Latin America's vibrant life science hubs

EBD Group is an Informa company. Informa is the largest publicly-owned organizer of exhibitions, conferences and training in the world.

EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.

Related Links

http://www.ebdgroup.com



SOURCE EBD Group
DUBLIN, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6dk3z2/fish_and_seafood) has announced the addition of the "Fish and Seafood Market in Angola: Business Report 2016" report to their offering.

This comprehensive report analyzes the Angola fish and seafood market, offering readers an unrivalled understanding of the market and the key topics all market participants should be aware of. It considers current and future drivers, challenges and opportunities, and is designed to help market participants to make informed business decisions.

Key Topics Covered:

Brief country profile includes general information and main economic indicators and specifies business environment in Angola .

. Fish and Seafood market is analyzed by different parameters including domestic production and consumption. Future market development is also estimated.

Trade analysis covers data on export and import volumes, dynamics, structure and prices.

The report presents profiles of leading producers and lists major suppliers in the country.

The report also lists buyers within the sector, and provides results of the purchase activity monitoring, which is achieved by tracking various tenders databases, websites and marketplaces.

Benefits of this Report:

Readers will gain an unrivalled in-depth knowledge about the market.

The report will help to manage business environment. This will be achieved through the report's unique analysis providing detailed information about the internal and external factors that affect the market.

Your company's business and sales activities will be boosted by gaining an insight into the fish and seafood market in Angola .

. The report will help you to find prospective partners and suppliers.

Detailed analysis provided in the report will assist and strengthen your company's decision-making processes.

Report Structure:

1. ANGOLA: COUNTRY PROFILE

2. FISH AND SEAFOOD MARKET IN ANGOLA

3. ANGOLA'S FOREIGN TRADE IN FISH AND SEAFOOD

4. MAJOR WHOLESALERS AND TRADING COMPANIES IN ANGOLA

5. CONSUMERS OF FISH AND SEAFOOD IN ANGOLA'S MARKET

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6dk3z2/fish_and_seafood

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vj6kkp/global_sweet_and) has announced the addition of the "Global Sweet and Savory Snacks Market Research Report - 2014 - 2021" report to their offering.

This report examines the global sweet and savory snacks market and provides information regarding the revenue (USD Million) and volume (Kilo Tons) for the period 2014 to 2021. It further elaborates the market drivers which contribute to the growth. It then describes the restraints that are faced by the market. The market is classified into various segments with deep analysis of each segment for the study period.

Report includes a detailed analysis on value chain in order to provide a holistic view of the sweet and savory snacks market. Value chain analysis comprises detailed evaluation of the roles of various players involved in the sweet and savory snacks industry, from raw material suppliers to end-users.

Sweet and savory snacks market attractiveness analysis has been included in order to analyze the application segments that are estimated to be lucrative during the forecast period on the basis of their market size and growth rate. Attractiveness of the market has been derived from market size, profit margin, growth rate, availability of raw materials, competition, and other factors such as social and legal constraints.

A detailed description of the each company has been included and includes information in terms of headquarters, inception, stock listing, upcoming capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, and recent developments provides a thorough idea about the competitive positioning of market players. The report also provides sweet and savory snacks market's mergers/acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, new product lunches, new product developments and other industry developments.

Companies Profiled:

Cape Cod Potato Chips

Diamond Foods

Frito Lay

Golden Wonder

Kellogg Company

Kraft Foods Group, Inc.

PepsiCo

Pringles

Procter & Gamble

Snyder's-Lance

The Hain Celestial Group

Report Structure:

1. Introduction

2. Executive Summary

3. Research Methodology

4. Market Analysis

5. Sweet And Savory Snacks market by Type

6. Sweet And Savory Snacks Market by Geography

7. Sweet And Savory Snacks Market Competitive Landscape

8. Company Profiles

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vj6kkp/global_sweet_and

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

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

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Matomy Media Group Ltd. (LSE:MTMY/TASE: MTMY.TA) ("Matomy" or the "Company"), a leading provider of digital performance-based advertising, will announce its 2015 annual results on 21 March 2016 for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Matomy will host an analyst conference call at 14:00 BST / 9:00 EDT Monday 21 March 2016 to discuss these results. Matomy CEO Ofer Druker, COO Sagi Niri and CFO Keren Farage will host the call.

The conference call can be accessed at +44 (0) 808 238 9578 (UK), +1 888 771 4371 (US) or +972 1809 212 582 (Israel), conference ID# 42013384.

Analysts interested in attending the briefing should contact Lipaz Kloper at Matomy via email at lipaz.k@matomy.com / Elizabeth Barker / Garth Russell via email at matomy@kcsa.com.

About Matomy Media Group Ltd.

Matomy Media Group Ltd. (LSE: MTMY) is one of the world's leading digital performance-based advertising companies, delivering results across web, mobile and social media platforms. Matomy provides a single gateway to all digital media channels, and combines internal media capabilities with advanced optimization technology to ensure quality leads and sales for its advertising clients and maximum monetization for its media partners. The media channels include: a display ad network, mobile, social, video, email marketing, search marketing (SEM and SEO) and domain monetization.

For more information:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MatomyMediaGroup

Follow Matomy on Twitter: @MatomyGroup

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/matomy-media-group

Related Links

http://www.matomy.com



SOURCE Matomy Media Group Ltd.
Housing costs and availability, currency fluctuations and education differences rank high on the list of challenges assignees will face

SWINDON, England, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The three most frequent countries for international job assignments from the UK last year were the United States, India, and Switzerland, according to Cartus, a leading provider of global relocation services.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140311/MM81238LOGO

For UK expats, each of these destination countries poses its own unique and often formidable challenges, according to Cartus' recent Trends in Global Relocation: Biggest Challenges survey.

"Although companies in the UK are transferring employees to numerous destinations throughout the world, the United States, India, or Switzerland were the three most frequent destinations in 2015," said Robert Abbott, Vice President UK and International Client Services for Cartus. "Whilst these countries offer exciting new opportunities for employees and companies, advance preparation is the key to successfully overcoming challenges in these new destinations."

United States : Top Destination, Top Challenges

UK expats and their companies can expect significant challenges when it comes to transferring employees to the United States, especially in the area of housing where the rental market for expats is becoming tighter, costs are rising and some landlords are requesting more payments up-front. Rural locations, not traditionally a destination for incoming expats, pose issues in terms of lack of available housing. Ongoing exchange rate fluctuations have also affected some expat housing budgets.

Curriculum challenges can also be encountered by UK expat families with school age children. Whilst this is not necessarily an issue at the point of departure to the U.S., it can be a problem at the end of an assignment when children can experience difficulties re-enrolling into the UK system upon their return.

India and the UK Expat: Start Your Housing Search Early

India received the second-highest number of transferees from the UK in 2015, and these expats will have found that locating suitable housing is one of this country's biggest challenges, along with the high demand for, and limited availability of homes in many of the country's gated communities. Further complications arise in home finding as online listings can be unreliable and outdated with landlords often continuing to show a property until the lease has been signed setting unrealistic expectations about available homes.

Switzerland : Geneva High Housing Demand, Zurich Rates Decreasing

Relocating to Switzerland can also expect housing challenges for UK expats. In Geneva, for example, while rental rates have not changed significantly, demand has increased, and focus is on value and priceespecially in the apartment sector. Conversely in Zurich, the situation is more stable because demand and rental rates have decreased slightly over the past year.

To request the Cartus Trends in Global Relocation: Biggest Challenges survey, click here. A summary of the survey is available here.

About Cartus

For more than 60 years, Cartus has provided trusted guidance to organizations of all types and sizes that require global relocation solutions. Cartus serves more than half of the Fortune 50 and in 2015 moved employees into and out of 185 countries, providing the full spectrum of relocation services, including language and intercultural training. Cartus is part of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. To find out how our greater experience, reach, and hands-on guidance can help your company, visit www.cartus.com; read our blog at www.cartusblog.com; or click www.realogy.com for more information.

Contact:

Jane Bergman at +44 (0)1793 756003 Hugh Siler at 1-949.646.6966 jane.bergman@cartus.com hugh@silerandcompany.com

Related Links

http://www.cartus.com



SOURCE Cartus
Founder Jayme Illien celebrates worldwide day promoting the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental human right and goal for all human beings

NEW YORK, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Nations (UN) and Happiness Day are overjoyed to announce the 4th annual International Day of Happiness on Sunday, March 20, 2016.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160310/343157LOGO

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160310/343158

The International Day of Happiness is an official UN day founded in 2012, which "recognizes the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal" and the "need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples."

Jayme Illien conceptualized the International Day of Happiness with the belief that happiness is a human right for all human beings and that the recently popular "happiness movement " holds the key catalysts to unlocking individual and global happiness.

To support and advance this 4th annual day, Jayme and HappinessDay.org are encouraging everyone around the world to share videos, GIFs, happy photos and thoughts celebrating International Day of Happiness on social media hashtag #InternationalDayOfHappiness tagging United Nations International Day of Happiness on Facebook and UNIDOHappiness on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat with posts appearing on HappinessDay.org.

"Governments, businesses, non profits and everyone across the globe have a civic responsibility to promote happiness as a human right," said International Day of Happiness Founder, Jayme Illien. "Happiness is a fundamental human right and goal, and every person on this planet should experience it not only on this special day, but throughout year."

International Day of Happiness Founder, Jayme Illien collaborated with friends Kweku and Ndaba Mandela (Nelson Mandela's grandsons) and artist/photographer Joseph Peter in 2012 approaching senior UN officials and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon about creating a new global day, the "International Day of Happiness." Jayme got approved, drafted the resolution, and then lobbied 193 countries resulting in UN Resolution 66/281, birthing the International Day of Happiness.

"Everyone smiles in the same language," added Illien. "Happiness economics, happiness in public policy, and happiness as a human right, choice and approach to business and life represent the potential of all human beings to unite around common values and solutions at a time when our species and planet are facing transformative challenges and opportunities.

In 2015, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon said "Happiness for the entire human family is one of the main goals of the United Nations."

In 2016, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed of UAE announced a new "Minister of Happiness" position and 100 days of Happiness action plan.

International Day of Happiness has received support from Google, Pharrell, UN Foundation, Richard Branson, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Cody Simpson, Gwen Stefani, Gretchen Rubin, Jeffrey Sachs, Live Happy, Action for Happiness.

About HappinessDay.org:

HappinessDay.org is the official site of the United Nations International Day of Happiness. HappinessDay.org's mission is to promote UN resolution 66/281 "The International Day of Happiness" and "Gross Global Happiness". www.happinessday.org.

Related Links

http://www.happinessday.org



SOURCE HappinessDay.org
NEW YORK, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, The Venture, Chivas Regal's global search to discover and reward social entrepreneurs, has announced 27 unique start-ups, who will compete for a share of $1M in funding. Each business will look to use this creative platform to promote positive social or environmental change.

RADCLIFFE CAMERA, OXFORD, UK - MARCH 14: 27 startups vying for a share of $1m in funding are announced as Chivas The Venture's global finalists in Oxford, UK. More than 2,500 start ups from 29 countries applied to The Venture, a competition rewarding businesses tackling social or environmental issues. The finalists arrived today in Oxford to take part in The Venture's Accelerator Week, a transformational mentorship programme created in partnership with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. The Accelerator Week will provide the finalists with leadership coaching and support in preparing for a high stakes pitch at The Venture Final in July, with a share of the $1m fund at stake. March 14, 2016 in Oxford, UK. (Getty Images for Chivas Regal)

This year's innovative global businesses include Disease Diagnostic Group based out of the U.S., as one of the 27 finalists competing for a chance to make their impact on the world. After receiving over 2,500 entries from start-ups across six continents, Disease Diagnostic Group, a startup focusing on screening, tracking, and diagnosing highly infectious or neglected tropical diseases through portable and reusable devices, has been selected to represent the U.S.

"We're very proud to announce the global finalists of Chivas Regal's The Venture for the second year, said Richard Black, Chivas Regal Global Brand Director. "This year, applications to The Venture more than doubled, demonstrating the growing trend towards businesses doing well in the world, and reinforcing Chivas Regal's ongoing commitment to social enterprise. Our founders were entrepreneurs who gave back to their community, and The Venture is continuing their legacy by discovering and supporting businesses that are committed to redefining the role of business in creating a better future."

Taking place this week, each of the 27 finalists, have travelled to Oxford to participate in an Accelerator Week program created by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the esteemed Oxford University's Said Business School. In preparation of The Venture Finale taking place this July, finalists will receive leadership coaching and support in preparing for their pitch of a lifetime during an intensive five day program. The week will involve expert trainers and inspirational mentors recruited by the Skoll Centre.

The 27 finalists selected to participate in The Venture, display the necessary creativity and resourcefulness that the startup community was built around. Each business leader showcases the passion and will to create a positive change in the world. In addition to the U.S. startup, other finalists include Onicio Neto, the founder of Epitrack (Brazil), who has created a faster way to identify and track disease outbreaks through a digital detection platform based on crowdsourcing; to Kenny Ewan, the founder of WeFarm (UK) who has developed a seamless peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for the 500 million small-scale farmers around the world with no internet access.

From May 9th to June 13th, the public will be able to show support for their favorite finalist through a voting system. Over the course of five weeks, their vote will determine how the first $250,000 in funding is split among the finalists. The remaining $750,000 in funding will be awarded at The Venture Finale in July in New York City, after a high stakes pitch in front of The Venture judges.

To learn more about each of The Venture finalists, visit their pages on https://www.theventure.com/us/en/

The 27 Global Finalists

MARKET BUSINESS FINALIST NAME ROLE SHORT DESCRIPTION Angola Habitec Felisberto Capamba Co-Founder Habitec use eucalyptus trees to produce high-quality desks, chairs and other wooden fittings for Angola's expanding school system. It includes local communities in the replantation of new trees, and 20 percent of its workforce are former soldiers with disabilities, while many of its staff are employed for the first time in their lives. Argentina Incluyeme Natalia Ca Co-Founder Incluyeme is the first job portal in Latin America that helps people with disabilities find employment. The platform simplifies the way a company engages with the thousands of people with disabilities looking to find a job, ensuring the best talent gets found. Australia Pollinate Energy Emma Colenbrander Co-Founder Pollinate Energy provides urban slum dwellers - currently dependent on kerosene for lighting - with access to affordable clean energy solutions. It does this using 'Pollinators'; local entrepreneurs who are trained to sell and service solar lights in urban slum communities. Brazil Epitrack Onicio Leal Founder Epitrack identifies the risk of an epidemic or disease in a certain area through crowdsourcing platforms where users describe their symptoms. Based on its data, it provides emergency services with the necessary information much faster, decreasing the likelihood of an outbreak. Bulgaria Bee Smart Sergey Petrov Co-Founder Bee Smart Technologies uses sensor technology and bio-based algorithms to analyze and present beekeepers with data about the health and productivity of their bees. It helps beekeepers cut down on operating costs and prevent devastating losses of bees. Chile Diagnochip Mario Soto Co-Founder Diagnochip offers fast and low-cost diagnostic devices for developing countries. Using micro-fluidic technology, one of its devices functions as an antibiotic susceptibility test that will accurately analyze urine and blood samples to determine what antibiotics are required to treat urinary tract infections. China MotionECO Shutong Liu Founder MotionECO presents a systemic solution to turn waste cooking oil into biodiesel for transportation sectors. Its solution simultaneously tackles the challenges of food safety, waste cooking oil and pollution across the air, road and marine sectors. Colombia Conceptos Plasticos Oscar Andres Mendez Founder Conceptos Plasticos transforms plastic waste that is difficult to dispose of, into construction material for permanent housing, temporary shelters and movable structures. It prevents plastic pollution and creates much needed building materials for communities to establish a physical infrastructure. Dom.Republic ECO Mensajeria Edison Santos Founder & CEO ECO Mensajeria is an environmentally friendly courier service, promoting sustainable solutions for the rapid dispatch market, by using zero and ultra-low emission vehicles and a Carbon Balanced service. It tackles two of the main causes of climate change: energy usage and pollution from transportation. Estonia Sentab Tarmo Pihl CEO Sentab is a social network for older adults (65+) which runs on their TV. By turning a regular television set into an interactive device that can be used to make voice and video calls to other enabled televisions, computers or smartphones, families can share and connect with older relatives through our platform. Germany Coolar Julia Romer Inventor Coolar develops refrigerators that are powered by warm water, generated through solar heat. Coolar's innovative cooling system enables doctors to preserve lifesaving vaccines and medicine in off-grid regions. Guatemala Wakami Maria Pacheco Founder Wakami designs and sells handmade fashion accessories produced in 16 rural Guatemalan communities. It incubates businesses that generate income for some of the poorest women in rural Guatemala. Wakami gives business leaders training and tools to improve the nutrition, education and health of their families. Gulf Taka Solutions Charles Blaschke Co-Founder Taka Solutions helps building owners and operators reduce energy and utility costs. It installs custom engineering solutions, equipment, and technology in existing buildings to save energy and money. Hong Kong JOBDOH Xania Wong CEO JOBDOH is a smart hiring platform to help temporary workers find jobs anytime, anywhere. Employers benefit from the speed and ability to hire the right people and workers benefit from the flexibility to earn an income and an improved track record of employment, which is showcased directly in the app. Israel EyeControl Or Retzkin CEO EyeControl is an affordable, intuitive mobile communication device for "locked-in" patients and medical centers. EyeControl translates eye movements into verbal communication, allowing paralyzed patients to communicate with their loved ones. Japan MOLCURE Ryu Ogawa CEO MOLCURE aims to cure the incurable by discovering drugs for diseases with no effective treatment. Abtracer, its drug discovery platform, can identify antibody candidates 10 times faster than current systems. Mexico Optic Group ICH Roberto Alvarado Co-Founder Optic Group ICH manufactures eyeglass frames from recycled plastic bottles. By using PET from plastic it makes affordable but durable frames. Optic Group ICH's goal is to enable people all around the world to see more clearly and help the environment by recycling rubbish. Nigeria Fresh Direct Angel Adelaja Founder & CEO Fresh Direct is an agricultural production and processing company that brings together communities and advanced technology to provide organic fruits, vegetables and meats and processed end products. Fresh Direct manufacture, install and market customized hydroponic systems, greenhouses and container farms to help smaller farmers be more sustainable and more effective. Peru PowerMundo Paul Winkel General Manager PowerMundo helps improve people's lives by providing access to clean energy. It offers business training, digital pay as-you-go financing and a suite of solar products to help local business owners and sales agents earn money. It helps off-grid families save money, improve their health - and the environment. Poland Migam Agnieszka Osytek Co-Founder & Global Manager Migam supports communication between the deaf and those that can hear, using video translation via a web browser and mobile app. Thanks to its service, deaf people are able to communicate, meaning they are able to do things that many of us take for granted. Portugal ColorADD Miguel Neiva Founder ColorADD has created a universal code made up of simple symbols for primary colors that are then combined to create secondary and tertiary colors, enabling correct color identification for all. It ensures independence, self-esteem and dignity for those who are color blind. Romania SafeDrive Tudor Cobalas Co-Founder SafeDrive is the mobile app that rewards drivers for not texting while driving. Drivers earn points that can be converted into discount vouchers or special offers from partner companies. It incentivizes responsible driving, ultimately contributing to safer roads. South Africa CrashDetech Jaco Gerrits CEO CrashDetech is a smartphone application that automatically detects serious car crashes, pinpoints the location, and immediately dispatches the nearest ambulance and supplies paramedics with lifesaving information. Spain Alzhup Rafael Espinosa de los Monteros CEO & Co-Founder Alzhup is a digital health platform that offers scientifically validated therapy for Alzheimer patients that is fully customizable with the user's personal memories. It promotes participation between the family and the patient by integrating gamification techniques that increases the quality of life for patients but also for caregivers and family. Thailand Local Alike Somsak Boonkam Founder & CEO Local Alike is an online platform that connects travelers to meaningful and authentic experiences. It works with locals to build their capacity in community-based tourism, preserving local culture and generating sustainable income for communities. UK WeFarm Kenny Ewan Founder & CEO WeFarm is a pioneering peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for the 500 million small-scale farmers around the world with no access to the internet. Farmers can access vital information that can improve their lives via SMS. USA Disease Diagnostic Group John Lewandowski Founder & CEO Disease Diagnostic Group uses refrigerator magnets and laser pointers to detect multiple diseases with just a single drop of blood. It offers a reusable mechanical device that is 50 times faster, a tenth of the cost, stand-alone, and 100 times more likely to detect asymptomatic infections than current diagnostic methods.

Please enjoy Chivas responsibly.

2016 Imported by Chivas Bros. Import Co., Purchase, NY

About Pernod Ricard USA

Pernod Ricard USA is the premium spirits and wine company in the U.S., and the largest subsidiary of Paris, France-based Pernod Ricard SA, which employs a workforce of nearly 19,000 people worldwide and is listed on the NYSE Euronext exchange (Ticker: RI).

The company's leading spirits and wines include such prestigious brands as Absolut Vodka, Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky, The Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Malibu, Kahlua Liqueur, Beefeater Gin, Plymouth Gin, Seagram's Extra Dry Gin, Martell Cognac, Hiram Walker Liqueurs, Pernod, Ricard and Avion Tequila; such superior wines as Jacob's Creek, Kenwood Vineyards and Brancott Estate; and such exquisite champagnes and sparkling wines as Perrier-Jouet Champagne, G.H. Mumm Champagne and Mumm Napa sparkling wines.

Pernod Ricard USA is based in New York, New York, and has roughly 850 employees across the country. Pernod Ricard USA urges all adults to consume its products responsibly and has an active campaign to promote responsible drinking. For more information on this, please visit: www.acceptresponsibility.org.

About The Venture

The Venture is Chivas' global search to find and support the most promising aspiring social entrepreneurs who want to succeed whilst making a positive impact on the lives of others. With over $1 million in funding and resources, The Venture will enable social entrepreneurs from around the world realise their potential and gain exposure for their business.

About Win the Right Way

Win the Right Way aims to inspire a new generation to achieve success whilst making a positive impact on the lives of others and is the latest instalment of Chivas Regal's Live with Chivalry campaign, which launched in 2008.

About Live with Chivalry

Chivas' Live with Chivalry campaign launched in 2008 and has since inspired modern gentlemen in more than 60 countries around the world to succeed in the right way.

With generosity, entrepreneurship and integrity at the heart of Chivas Regal, the brand launched its successful Win the Right Way campaign in 2014, which aims to inspire a new generation whilst making a positive impact on the lives of others.

About Chivas Regal

Launched in 1909, Chivas Regal is the world's first luxury whisky and is considered to be a timeless classic, renowned for its benchmark quality and taste, style, substance and exclusivity. A truly global brand, Chivas Regal has been integral to the growth of the Scotch whisky category worldwide and today sells 4.5 million 9L cases annually in more than 150 countries across the globe. The Chivas Regal range includes Chivas 12, Chivas 18, Chivas 25 and the Global Travel Retail exclusive, Chivas Brothers Blend. In October 2014, Chivas Regal announced the addition of a fifth permanent expression in the Chivas Regal family, Chivas Regal Extra, a new blend with a unique richness derived from selective maturation in rare ex-sherry casks. In 2015, the iconic brand welcomed the pinnacle of the range with the introduction of the new ultra-prestige blend, Chivas Regal The Icon. www.chivas.com

About the Skoll Centre & Said Business School

Embedded within the world-renowned Said Business School at the University of Oxford, the Skoll Centre is dedicated to accelerating the impact of entrepreneurial activity that aims to transform unjust or unsatisfactory systems and practices. The Skoll Centre was launched in 2003 at Said Business School, University of Oxford to promote the advancement of social entrepreneurship worldwide. The first Skoll Skollars were welcomed in the fall of 2004, and the first Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship (an annual meeting of nearly 1,000 distinguished delegates from the social, finance, private and public sectors) quickly followed that same year.

The Said Business School is a world-class business school community, embedded within a world-class university, tackling world-scale problems. As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, The University of Oxford is a unique and historic institution. The University is formed of 38 colleges, some dating back to the 1200s. Each of these colleges attracts talented students from around the world.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160311/343286

SOURCE Chivas Regal

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CHICAGO, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As the need for safeguarding private healthcare information reaches a critical level, BluStor  a leader in multi-factor biometric authentication, authorization and mobile data security solutions  has announced that Stephen Bonner will serve as the company's medical security adviser.

"We are thrilled to have the benefit of Steve's participation and guidance as BluStor moves into the medical market, so that we can ensure that the employees who are creating, using and interfacing with private patient information are armed with the highest level of protection against cyber attacks," Finis Conner, BluStor's founder and CEO, says.

Bonner was a Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) board member from 1996 to 2015 and served as president and CEO of CTCA from 1999 to 2014, during which time he led pioneering work in integrated, holistic oncology.

In September 2014, Bonner  who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Amherst College and a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law  began an appointment as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business School's Rock Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, where he mentors students on health care, health policy and health care innovation.

A passionate advocate of patient-centric, quality-driven healthcare, Bonner has championed putting patients in control of their own medical decisions by empowering them with comprehensive, unbiased information about their medical conditions.

Bonner's commitment to unsurpassed patient care earned him a place on Modern Healthcare magazine's prestigious list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2011.

Bonner's extensive background and experience in the medical field will facilitate BluStor's charter to protect the information of individuals  doctors and nurses, in this case  by utilizing their biometrics.

"The idea is to protect all of the patient and professional information that permeates health care, while also making it quicker and easier for the doctors and nurses who access the critical private information of patients numerous times each day," Conner continues. "BluStor's CyberGate gives back time to professionals, letting them spend more time with patients, and at the same time providing much greater security than any other product on the market."

CyberGate greatly enhances healthcare facility security, recognizing and welcoming those who are authorized, while quickly rejecting anyone who is not authorized to have access. Through the use of multi-factor biometrics, CyberGate provides users an unprecedented level of security. Specifically, the CyberGate platform protects the individual who is accessing the data by asking two essential questions: "Are you who you say you are?" and "Are you authorized to do what you're requesting?"

"CyberGate replaces what you know  such as passwords  with what you are, which is multiple biometrics, such as face, voice, iris and fingerprint authentication, Conner says. "That's the big difference between BluStor and its competitors."

About BluStor

BluStor CyberGate SMB is the only cyber security solution you need in the digital and mobile world. Designed for government, enterprise, healthcare, medical and financial services markets, the CyberGate SMB platform is the first  and only  solution to address the full array of digital security: device, user and data. For more information, visit http://www.blustor.co/, telephone 312-840-8250, or email [email protected].

CONTACT:

Lorne Wilson

Email

SOURCE BluStor

Related Links

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New Delhi, March 9 : Does the tax raised by finance minister have a direct impact on the livelihood of people, especially farmers? In the case of tobacco cultivators, it is very true, says their representative body.

According to the represenatives, in all, 25 tobacco farmers have committed suicide in the last two years. They attribute this to a variety of factors which contribute to stress among tobacco growers, including the constant increase in excise duty on the product.

Forty-year-old Ventakeshwar Rao, a tobacco farmer in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, committed suicide last year when he was unable to pay back his debt.

"Rao, like most other tobacco farmers who committed suicide, was struggling to pay off accumulated loans mostly taken from money-lenders to meet the growing cost of cultivation as well as urgent family needs," B.V. Javare Gowda, president of the Federation of All India Farmers Associations (FAIFA), told IANS.

He said the problem faced by tobacco growers was more acute in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, two states with the highest tobacco cultivation in the country.

Gowda said high level of taxation ultimately impacts demand and it has an impact on the price that a farmer gets. For the government, which seeks to curb use of tobacco, the issue has its own set of complications.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last month announced an increase in excise duty on tobacco products by 10-15 percent in the 2016-17 budget.

According to Tobacco Institute of India, there were over two lakh tobacco growers in the country and the industry provides further employment to lakhs of others. Among the tobacco grown is FCV (Flue-Cured Virginia) - which is used in making cigarettes.

Minister of State for Health Shripad Yesso Naik admitted it was a controversial issue.

"We cannot directly support the tobacco industry as tobacco is injurious to health. At the same time we also cannot ignore the deaths of the tobacco farmers, The government will listen to their problems and see what can be done," he said.

According to Tobacco Institute of India, exports are estimated to earn more than Rs.6,000 crore in foreign exchange with FCV tobacco alone contributing Rs.4,000 crore.

Gowda said that cultivation cost of one kg of tobacco is about Rs.100 and the price that a farmer gets has steadily come down from 115 per kg to Rs.85 per kg in the last two years.

He said tobacco farming was becoming unremunerative and the government decision to hike excise will further shrink demand.

While the industry faces high level of taxation, there are also complaints that the government was not strictly enforcing its policy of pictorial warnings on foreign cigarettes.

Murali Babu, general secretary of FAIFA, said the government should strictly enforce pictorial warnings on foreign cigarette brands.

Gowda said the health ministry has issued a directory to revise graphic health warnings on tobacco products which stipulates an increase from the existing warning of 40 percent of the pack front to 85 percent on both sides from April 1, 2016.

He said India was the third largest tobacco producer in the world but the production was fluctuating over the years, and added that many farmers have opted out of tobacco farming due to losses.

FAIFA has also sought intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into their problems.

(Rupesh Dutta can be contacted at Rupesh.d@ians.in)
Hyderabad, March 10 : Andhra Pradesh's Finance Minister Y. Ramakrishnudu on Thursday presented Rs.1.35 lakh crore budget for 2016-17 in the state assembly.

He proposed an overall expenditure of Rs.1,35,688 crore, comprising non-plan expenditure of Rs.86,554.55 crore and the plan expenditure of around Rs.49,134.44 crore.

The 2016-17 budget estimates entail an overall increase of around 20.03 percent over the 2015-16 budget estimates.

The estimated revenue deficit is around Rs.4,868.26 crore and the fiscal deficit is estimated at around Rs.20,497.15 crore. The fiscal deficit will be around 2.99 percent of the GSDP, whereas the revenue deficit would be around 0.71 per cent of the GSDP.

The finance minister exuded confidence that the budget will contribute to the growth momentum and ensure sustained double-digit growth for many years to come.

The finance minister said the budget will fuel construction boom, especially housing for the economically and socially weaker sections of the society, infrastructure development across the state, and launch of the construction of state capital Amaravati.

Later, Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao tabled a separate budget of Rs.16,250 crore for agriculture. He vowed to make agriculture profitable and free the state from drought. It has made a provision of Rs.3,000 crore for free electricity supply to farmers.

In the main budget, Rs.1,500 crore have been allocated for the development of the capital city.

He said the state registered 10.9 percent growth despite adverse legacies of the past that continue to haunt the present. The per capita income crossed Rs.1 lakh threshold to reach Rs.1.07 lakhs in 2015.

The finance minister, however, said the state continues to carry the revenue deficit of Rs.13,897 crore inherited from 2014-15, as a consequence of "irrational bifurcation of the state".

He said construction of the new capital would require Rs.15,000 crore to Rs.18,000 crore in the next three to four years. Massive investment is also required in infrastructure, provision of essential public services and successful execution of all development and welfare programmes.

The finance minister told the assembly that unscientific bifurcation of the state resulted in the residuary Andhra Pradesh receiving 46 percent of the revenues of the combined state while having 58.32 percent of its population.

"This resulted in a revenue deficit of Rs.16,200 crore in the first 10 months of the new state's existence. Thus far, the Government of India has released only Rs.2,303 crore to bridge the resource gap, leaving the state with a huge revenue deficit overhang of Rs.13,897 crore," he said.

Ramakrishnudu pointed out that tax incentives for industrial development of the state, the grants for construction of the capital city, reimbursement of expenditure incurred on Polavaram project since, and conferring special category status, all of which are integral components of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 and the assurances in Parliament, have remained unfulfilled.

He said he expected the state's own revenues to grow by 16 percent, from Rs.49,764 crore in 2015-16 to Rs.57,813 crore in 2016-17. However, the legacy of huge revenue deficit, an overhang from 2014-15, will continue to haunt the state in 2016-17.

"We expect the central government to step-up its support to the State Development Plan (SDP) in the form of increased central assistance and special grants, apart from Rs.3,000 crore to partially offset the revenue deficit of 2014-15 financial year," he said.
Chandigarh, March 11 : The Haryana government on Friday objected to the Punjab government's move for de-acquisition of land taken to construct the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, which has been at the centre of a water-sharing row between Punjab and Haryana for decades.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has taken exception to a statement by his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal that the land acquired for the SYL canal would be de-notified and given back to farmers from whom it was acquired nearly 40 years back.

Terming it "unfortunate", Khattar said Badal's statement, after the Supreme Court had begun hearing on the Presidential reference regarding the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act 2004, was "disappointing and driven by purely political considerations".

"I have great respect for Badal who is an experienced leader. Being the elder brother of Haryana, Punjab should protect the interests of the younger brother. One should refrain from commenting on anything which is sub judice," Khattar said in a statement.

Khattar said he was confident that Haryana would get every drop of its legitimate share of river waters.

"The SYL is the lifeline of Haryana farmers and the state government is committed to doing everything possible to make it carry Haryana's share of water at the earliest. An all-party meeting he had convened on March 12 would also take up the waters issue," he added.

Badal had declared on Thursday that the Punjab government would de-notify the land which had been acquired for the construction of the controversial SYL canal in Punjab.

The said land, measuring 5,376 acres, would be returned to its original owners, Badal said.

Badal had told the Punjab assembly on Thursday that not a single drop of water would be allowed to flow out of Punjab.

"In fact, an extremely critical and dangerous water crisis stares its population in the face. I would rather shed every drop of my blood than allow any drop of Punjab's river waters to flow out in violation of its rights," Badal said.

The Supreme Court had recently accepted a petition filed by the Haryana government for early hearing on the issue of the SYL canal, on which the Presidential Reference is pending for the past 12 years.

Both Punjab and Haryana have been locked in a bitter war of words over sharing of river waters. The apex court is hearing the matter when Punjab is less than a year away from assembly polls.

The Congress government in Punjab had, in 2004, scrapped the water sharing agreements with neighbouring states and refused to give any water to other states, especially Haryana.

The presidential reference was sought after the Punjab Assembly unilaterally passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, categorically stating that it was nullifying all agreements on water sharing and that no more water would be given to Haryana.

The SYL Canal, which was planned and major portions of it were even completed in the 1990s at a cost of over Rs.750 crore, is entangled in a political and legal quagmire. Punjab and Haryana are unwilling to give up their respective stand on the canal issue and sharing of river waters.

The canal was to link two major rivers (Sutlej and Yamuna) in Punjab and Haryana.

The foundation stone of the SYL canal was laid in April 1982 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. At that time terrorism was on the rise in Punjab and the issue became a sensitive one, with leaders in Punjab raking up the water sharing issue.

Terrorists gunned down labourers and officials involved in the SYL construction to get the project stalled.

Several kilometres of the canal were made in Punjab and Haryana but the project never got completed.
Chennai, March 11 : Actress Madonna Sebastian, who is making her Tamil debut with "Kadhalum Kadhandu Pogum", says that although she prefers being part of content-driven films that require her to perform subtly, she can't say no to "masala" films.

"Personally, I enjoy being part of films where I'm not just a pretty face and have a solid role. I like to perform subtly, express using my eyes and smile. Though commercial cinema doesn't offer you scope to do such things, I can't say no to masala films," Madonna told IANS.

She also said she can't turn down an offer to work with a star.

"It's in these masala films that you get to work with stars. How can I say no to working with them? My latest Tamil release 'Kadhalum Kadhandu Pogum' features Vijay Sethupathi who I really admire. I just couldn't miss an opportunity to work with him," she said.

"My next Malayalam release 'King Liar' is with Dileep, who is a much bigger star. It's an out-and-out masala film," she added.

In "Kadhalum Kadhandu Pogum", which released in cinemas on Friday, she plays a role of Yazhini, who works in the Information Technology world.

"It's a simple love story of a boy and a girl who, by the time they realise and fall in love, the film ends and they never get to live happily ever after. Still, this is a fun film and there's nothing tragic about the story," she said.

The film is the official remake of Korean entertainer "My Dear Desperado".

Madonna has watched the original and she feels the Nalan Kumarasamy-directed Tamil version is much better.

"Nalan has made it livelier, which makes the remake not a frame-to-frame copy of the original. The localisation of the content has worked very well and even those who have watched the Korean version will love the Tamil remake more," she said.

Talking about her co-star Vijay Sethupathi, she said: "It took time for both of us to get talking on the sets. I've learnt from him that it's important to match the wavelength of one's co-star while performing and his valuable input really benefited me."

Most popular for playing the character Celine from last year's Malayalam blockbuster "Premam", Madonna feels the success of the film has already made her a known face in Tamil industry.

"We knew 'Premam' was a good film. However, none of us expected it to do so well. People still call me Celine wherever I go, which only shows how much they love me. Slowly, they are getting used to my real name," she said.

Not in a hurry to sign new projects, she will join the sets of "Premam" Telugu remake from next week.
Nay Pyi Taw, March 11 : Myanmar parliament's two houses on Friday elected U Htin Kyaw and U Henry Van Htee Yu of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) as two of three vice presidents to be nominated for a presidential race after qualification scrutiny.

Both the presidential candidates from the ruling NLD are close associates of NLD chief Aung San Suu Kyi and won with thumping majority to join the presidential race.

U Htin Kyaw, elected by the group of presidential electoral college of the House of Representatives (lower house), won against Sai Mauk Kham, nominated by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) by a vote of 274-29, Xinhua reported.

U Henry Van Htee Yu, elected by the group of presidential electoral college of the House of Nationalities (upper house), won against U Khin Aung Myint, nominated by the USDP by a vote of 148-14.

Meanwhile, the military MPs, which account for 25 percent in the parliament, elected U Myint Swe, current Yangon region chief minister, as the other vice president for the presidential run.

Parliament set three groups representing the two houses and the military MPs to nominate one final candidate each for the presidential run and through voting, the one that wins the most number of votes, will take the presidency, while the remaining two will become vice presidents.

Voting for the presidency is expected to be conducted on March 17 or 18 when the Union Parliament reconvenes.

As the most trusted person by Aung San Suu Kyi, U Htin Kyaw was nominated by the NLD as a candidate for presidential run.

Aung San Suu Kyi described U Htin Kyaw as an intellectual with loyalty and discipline, respected by the international community and said he will be liked by the people.

Suu Kyi said Myanmar will continue to adopt a friendly foreign policy with all countries and place more emphasis on relations with its neighbours.

Since independence, Myanmar has always been adopting a friendly foreign policy with all countries, which is the correct policy for the country, she said, adding that the NLD could successfully implement such a policy.

The elected president and two vice presidents will be sworn-in at parliament on March 30. The handover process of the office of head of state will be followed up at the Presidential Palace.
Kolkata, March 11 : As many as 320 voters of a leprosy colony in West Bengal's Bankura district will have access to upgraded facilities like battery-operated cars in the upcoming assembly polls, courtesy a model polling station exclusively meant for the inmates.

There are at least four settlements for leprosy afflicted-physically challenged people in the district. The Gouripur Leprosy Hospital in the Kalyanpur settlement (around 200 families) is one of India's oldest leprosy hospitals, an official said.

"This time, the polling station in Gouripur has been designated as a model one for the registered 320 voters. Apart from ensuring basic minimum facilities, their will be additional arrangements like provision of wheelchairs and battery-operated cars (totos) among others. This polling station is solely for the colony residents," an official of the district administration told IANS.

According to Dibyendu Sarkar, additional chief electoral officer of the Election Commission here, the Central Election Commission is keen to ensure a smooth voting process for the colony residents.

"Usually, the doctors and staff of the leprosy hospital contribute in the arrangements for the polling station. Since people who have not dealt with leprosy patients may have some inhibitions, the physicians themselves participate in the election process during the polling day.

"They are familiar with the patients and it helps to ease the process," the district official said, adding the voter turnout is 85 percent in the district.

Bengal goes to the hustings on April 4. Bankura is included in the first phase.
New Delhi, March 13 : A parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP S.S. Ahluwalia, is meeting on Monday to try to reach consensus in sorting out the land acquisition imbroglio which remains unresolved even after a colonial era law was replaced in 2014 by a new law.

The 21-member Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, is to have a crucial round of meeting on Monday, sources said.

"The committee members have already been circulated the replies received from the state governments on land acquisition proceedings that had been initiated under Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the other status of land acquisition proceedings," a committee member said.

The panel was granted extension on December 16, 2015, after replies from various state governments did not reach it in time.

The bill under consideration was passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2015, but was stalled in the Rajya Sabha and then referred to a joint parliamentary committee in May last year.

It seeks to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which was passed by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and came into effect in January 2014.

The 2013 law, in turn, had replaced the colonial era Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The committee has been given a number of extensions after it failed to evolve general consensus on various provisions.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had initially brought in a few drastic changes in the legislation, especially in terms of compensation for land owners as against what was in the 2013 law, but climbed down after facing widespread protests of the opposition and the farmers' organisations.

Union Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has, however, denied that the change in the government stance on the sensitive bill was any kind of "climb-down".

"There is nothing like climb-down or anything. When we referred the bill to the joint committee, we had said that we were of the view that there has to be a good speed for the process of land acquisition. But we also made it clear that farmers' interests should not be ignored for that," Singh told reporters recently.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the panel echoed the minister, saying, "no question of climb-down or climb-up as parliamentary committees discuss and debate the bills only to bring in overall qualitative improvement in it".

Three NDA allies, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and Swabhimani Paksha, as well as organisations affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have voiced concern over removal of the consent clause and social impact assessment provisions from the 2013 law.

The Congress and the BJP members clashed on a number of occasions during the sittings of the panel. In a meeting in August last year, former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh (Congress) staged a brief walkout after he and his party colleagues were charged with "delaying" the business of the committee.

On November 23, 2015 meeting, the opposition members also had demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi be summoned before the committee to be quizzed.

The demand raised by Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee and supported by the Congress members was vehemently rejected to by BJP and Shiv Sena members.

Monday's meeting assumes importance as it comes at the fag end of the first half of Budget session.

"The Congress party, which has the advantage of numerical strength in Rajya Sabha, had opposed government's move to bring about any changes in the retrospective clause of the bill dealing with compensation," a member of the committee told IANS.

The Lok Sabha members of the committee are K.V. Thomas, Rajiv Satav (both Congress), Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena), Kalyan Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), B. Mahtab (Biju Janata Dal), Mohammad Salim (CPI-M), Chirag Paswan (LJP), S.S. Ahluwalia, Udit Raj, Anurag Thakur and Ganesh Singh (all BJP).

The Rajya Sabha members are Ram Narain Dudi (BJP), Jairam Ramesh, Digvijay Singh (both Congress), Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Sharad Yadav (Janata Dal-United), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Derek O'Brien (Trinamool) and Rajpal Singh Saini (Bahujan Samaj Party).
New Delhi : Title: The Morning They Came for Us - Dispatches from Syria; Author: Janine Di Giovanni; Publisher: Bloomsbury ; Pages: 224; Price: Rs.399 The worst wars are where a regime turns on its people and/or outsiders jump in to make their point. Syria is a classic case. Protests for rights transformed into a civil war after repression, escalated into a proxy regional conflict and then a regressive Islamist outfit further complicated matters. This formulation may explain the cause but scarcely touches on the harrowing conditions for people caught in it.

The Syrian conflict this month completed five years but it has not received the level of attention that Afghanistan or Iraq have despite both being as unsafe for journalists. This deficiency has been remedied here by feisty journalist Janine Di Giovanni, who has always been unfazed at braving tough, unforgiving locales to find stories that must be brought to the world's attention.

Having reported from the Palestinian territories during the first Intifada, Bosnia including besieged Sarajevo, Grozny as the Russian army returned among other 'hot spots' as well as various parts of the Middle East as the Arab Spring began, there was no way she would pass over Syria.

The impulse to cover Syria, as she tells us in the introduction to this - her seventh book - came while she was in Belgrade in 2011 for a project to trace Bosnian conflict's remaining war criminals, particularly Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, since "the potent emotion I felt towards the Balkan wars and their aftermath was not rational".

By the time he was caught (May 2011), she was covering the Arab Spring and it seemed she could "transfer my obsession from the Balkans to Syria, which was the last in the chain, in the string of pearls of the revolution". It had begun peacefully and had not, as now, "spiralled into a gruesome, brutal, a seemingly forever war" but there were pointers enough as she travelled through the country during 2012.

"... I tried not to draw comparisons with Bosnia. But it was difficult not to do so. There were the same floods of refugees, the same burnt-out villages and the same women driven out in terror, because paramilitaries were on the march and they feared being raped."

Di Giovanni, currently the Middle East editor of Newsweek, has however always skipped political/geo-political reasons and actions for her "trademark" which "has always been to write about the human cost of war, to attempt to give war a human face, and to work in conflict zones that the world's press has forgotten".

And her travels, stretching from Damascus to Homa to Latakia to Aleppo, sees her come across many unsettling and heartbreaking stories to tell - women suffering deep trauma and withdrawal after being tortured and raped during interrogation, children helpless before the casual, incomprehensible brutality, and many yet to come to terms with the disruption to normal life and livelihood.

Equally poignant are the tales of the doctor who has to see a young baby suffering nothing more serious than a respiratory infection die due to absence of medicine, a baker trying to keep up production, conscript soldiers inching ahead through a shattered city, and a phlegmatic gravedigger.

And then common but difficult was children asking when things will improve.

The issue was the Syria she saw in 2012 (she was never allowed in subsequently) was a far cry from Afghanistan violently unsettled since the mid-1970s, or Iraq, deprived by sanctions since 1990 and then seeing internecine conflict since 2003. It wasn't by any means perfect, but more (relatively) open, liberal and affluent than the other two. And then, all changed.

"For ordinary people, war starts with a jolt: one day you are busy with dentist appointments or arranging ballet lessons for your daughter, and then the curtain drops. One moment the daily routine grinds on; ATMs work and mobile phones function. Then, suddenly, everything stops.

"Barricades go up. Soldiers are recruited and neighbours work to form their own defences. Ministers are assassinated and the country falls into chaos. Fathers disappear. The banks close and money and culture and life as people knew it vanishes."

That is the real tragedy of Syria - and of what war does to society now.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Islamabad, March 14 : The Supreme Court of Pakistan will commence hearing 10 appeals instituted against military court convictions of militants from Wednesday, the media reported on Monday.

The appeals will be taken up by a five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Dawn online reported.

At the last hearing, on February 24, Jamali had ordered that all the challenges against military court decisions be clubbed, with the directive that execution of the convicts would remain suspended until the pending petitions were decided.

Two of the convicts were awarded death sentence by the military courts for their alleged involvement in the December 16, 2014, carnage at the Army Public School in Peshawar, which killed 141 people, most of them school children.
Beijing, March 14 : The state-run China Central Television aired a documentary that revealed the US' double standards on human rights-related issues, the media reported on Monday.

Based on extensive media reports both inside and outside the US and interviews of many human rights experts from China, the US, France, Canada, Russia and Switzerland, the 45-minute TV programme aired on Sunday revealed Washington trampling on American people's human rights in all walks of life, the People's Daily reported.

In 2015, more than 560,000 people across the US were homeless, 25 percent of whom were under-age; the country's primary women's prison Lowell Correctional Institution, where 2,696 convicts are held, is rampant with corruption, torture of prisoners, and sexual abuse; women are subject to sexual harassment and sexual assaults of different forms, and career women are subject to discrimination at work, the documentary showed citing media reports.

Of teenagers aged 15 and above who succumb to injuries in the US, one quarter die in shooting incidents; the Federal Bureau of Investigation forces internet companies to provide clients' information without a court approval, according to the documentary.

The US has been using double standards on practically every human rights-related issue, which is showcased both by its invasion of citizens' privacy through online surveillance and civilian deaths caused by its drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and other countries, it showed.

For a very long time, the US has been quite condescending, with the belief that it has the best system and human rights record, and as a result, it tends to find fault with other countries, Ji Hong, researcher with the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the documentary.
Kabul, March 14 : Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is set to start a five-day visit to Afghanistan on Monday.

According to ICRC, the objectives of Maurer's visit include review of the intense conflict in Afghanistan as insecurity increases and highlighting the humanitarian concerns to the donor community and main stakeholders there.

The visit is aimed to reiterate the ICRC's commitment to assisting and protecting the people affected by the ongoing armed conflict, Xinhua news agency reported.

Upon his arrival to Kabul, Maurer is expected to meet Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to exchange ideas on the humanitarian aid in the war-plagued nation.

He will also make field trips to provinces to see the displaced people and visit their orthopedic centres.
New Delhi, March 14 : As the embattled Sahara chief Subrata Roy completes two years in prison, there is something he can cheer about. Roy's book "Life Mantras", which hit the stands last month, has been rated a bestseller in the non-fiction category by Nielsen Bookscan, a data provider for the publishing industry.

"Life Mantras", brought out by Rupa Publications, is the first book in the trilogy titled "Thoughts from Tihar" by Roy, who is behind bars for failing to pay Rs.24,000 crore to Sahara's investors.

The book topped the list during the week of February 14-20, pushing the popular Manorama Yearbook 2016 into second slot, says Vikrant Mathur, director, Nielsen Bookscan - India and Asia Pacific Region. "Mrs Funnybones" by Twinkle Khanna was in the third place during the week.

It has since slipped to the third slot, according to Mathur.

"Our methodology of collecting retail sales on weekly basis is adopted across the globe. Retailers in the panel have EPOS (Electronic Point of Sales System) facility and the data is being sent to Nielsen,. The output data is the result of aggregation of the retailer's sales data and provided to the participating retailer and subscribing publishers," explains Mathur, adding that they collect data from online and offline booksellers.

The survey, done from every Sunday to Saturday, does not cover the entire market. The bestseller of the week is decided by the number of copies sold across the board by retail chains. Nielsen, however, declined to quote the figures which made "Life Mantras", a topper.

Some of the booksellers included in the survey are Bookadda, Crosswords, Connexion, DC Books, Flipkart, Indiatimes, Infibeam, Landmark, Rediff, TV18 Homeshopping, WH Smith India, ebay, Reliance Timeout, and Snapdeal.

Besides India, Nielsen Bookscan also operates in Britain, Ireland, Australia, US, South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, Brazil and Spain.

Calling his imprisonment a "rude shock", Roy writes in his book, "I, like any other human in confinement, could not contain my thoughts and at times felt an emotional outrage, 'why me?', 'what have I done wrong to deserve this?'"

Describing life in jail as painful and lonely, Roy says that he has managed to lead a totally tension-free life.

While the second book in the trilogy is "Think with Me - How to make our country ideal", the last one is titled "Reflections from Tihar - A book on Tihar Jail". Both the books are being published by Rupa and are expected to be released soon.
London, March 14 : Using the full power of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile, a team of astronomers has recorded sharpest view ever of dusty disc around an ageing star, suggesting that discs around ageing stars are similar to those around young ones.

As they approach the ends of their lives, many stars develop stable discs of gas and dust around them.

These discs resemble those that form planets around young stars. Till date, astronomers have not been able to compare the two types, formed at the beginning and the end of the stellar life cycle.

Michel Hillen and Hans Van Winckel from the Instituut voor Sterrenkunde in Leuven, Belgium targeted an old double star lying about 4000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Vela (constellation)

This double star consists of a red giant star, which expelled the material in the surrounding dusty disc, and a less-evolved more normal star orbiting close to it.

"By combining light from several telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, we obtained an image of stunning sharpness. The resolution is so high that, for comparison, we could determine the size and shape of a one euro coin seen from a distance of 2,000 km," said Jacques Kluska, team member from Exeter University in Britain.

The inner edge of the dust ring, seen for the first time in these observations, corresponds very well with the expected start of the dusty disc.

The team found that discs around old stars are very similar to the planet-forming ones around young stars.

Whether a second crop of planets can really form around these old stars is yet to be determined but it is an intriguing possibility.

"The observations open a new window to study the physics of these discs as well as stellar evolution in double stars," Winckel said.
Nay Pyi Taw, March 14 : The Myanmar parliament on Monday finalised preparations for this week's election of the country's next president and vice presidents -- the first candidates nominated democratically following decades of dictatorship in the country.

A committee of the bicameral legislature, formed after democratic elections of November 8 last year, plans to issue later on Monday a report on the suitability of the three candidates vying for the top executive positions in the country, reported the Myanmar Times.

The National League for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, wrested majority in both houses of parliament enabling them to present last week two of the three presidential candidates, with a third being nominated by the army.

Htin Kyaw, the NLD nominee from the lower house, is being touted as the next president in the voting scheduled for Tuesday, EFE news reported.

The other two nominees are Henry Van Thio of the NLD, who has been proposed by the upper house, and Lieutenant General Mying Swe, nominated by the army.

Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1991, explained last week that she nominated Kyaw for his loyalty, training and experience, adding that the appointment of Thio, who belongs to the Shan ethnic minority, was in the interest of national reconciliation.

A parliamentary committee will assess whether the candidates meet the requirements set by the Constitution, including proof of their long residence in the country, knowledge of military affairs and no foreign relatives.

Suu Kyi is not eligible to run for president as she married a British professor Michael Aris, who died in 1999, and has two sons, Alexander and Kim, both British passport holders.

The last Burmese military junta ceded power in 2011 to a like-minded government, led by Thein Sein, a former general of the old regime who initiated a series of political and economic reforms that led to the lifting of sanctions by the European Union and the US in 2011.

The November elections were the first democratic polls after decades of military dictatorship (1962-2011).

However, the Constitution, approved in 2008, accords the military certain privileges, including 25 percent reservation in parliament and priority in the selection of the Armed Forces' head and defence and interior ministers.
Brasilia, March 14 : Some 3.3 million people across Brazil marched through the streets to demonstrate against the government over corruption and the economic downturn.

The protestors marched in more than 200 cities on Sunday, carrying placards, banners and balloons reading "Dilma Out, PT Out" in reference to President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling Workers' Party, Xinhua news agency reported.

Uniformly dressed in yellow and green, the colours of Brazil's flag, the demonstrators demanded the resignation of the president and the arrest of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who has been charged with money laundering and for concealing assets.

Nearly 50,000 people gathered around the National Congress building in the capital Brasilia, chanting "Dilma Out".

The protestors expressed firm support for the graft probe into alleged corruption at state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras.

Last week, Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested the preventive arrest of Lula, but the judge in charge of the case has yet to approve or reject it.

The preventive arrest is an instrument used under Brazilian law when there is a risk that the accused in a process will try to flee, tamper with evidence or threaten witnesses.

Rousseff refused to quit and said: "No one has the right to demand the resignation of a legitimately elected president without providing proof that she has violated the Constitution."
Agra, March 14 : Illegal trade in owls was exposed in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh when a nature photographer tipped-off the Wildlife SOS NGO after spying a group of men with a bag containing an owlet.

Photographer Ankush Dave said: "I have been observing the owls in Patholi village for months, and keeping a close eye on the newborn birds. I saw a group of suspicious men roaming around the area with a bag in hand and decided to question them. They confessed to have taken an owl, and I immediately contacted Wildlife SOS."

Wildlife SOS is an NGO working to save the wildlife.

A team from the NGO rescue centre immediately rushed to the site and seized a juvenile dusky eagle owl from smugglers who had planned to trade the bird for medicinal and tantrik (occult) purposes, Dave said.

The smugglers had trimmed off the owl's talons and the bird was now under observation at the Wildlife SOS rescue facility, he said.

Sakir, a member of the Wildlife SOS rescue unit, said: "The group refused to hand over the owl to us even when we warned them they would be handed over to the police. It was only after we alerted the district magistrate that the men handed over the bird to us."

"Such incidents confirm that wildlife trade goes on right under our nose. In India, owls are poached for their body parts such as talons, skulls, bones and blood due to religious myths and superstitious beliefs tied to them. Hunting and trading of owls is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972," Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS and head of the NGO's anti-poaching unit, Forest Watch, said.
New Delhi, March 14 : The Art of Living (AoL), headed by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on Monday said it was committed to setting up a bio-diversity park at the Yamuna floodplain.

"We are working with environmental experts as per the directions of the (National Green Tribunal, NGT) to set up the bio-diversity park at Yamuna floodplain. We are committed to cleanse the river and we will do it," Akshama Nath, a lawyer of AoL, told IANS.

But AoL did not say if it would pay the environment compensation of Rs.5 crore slapped by the NGT within the stipulated time.

"Money is not the issue here. There is already enough (money) in the account of various agencies but they are not bringing it to use. As far as we are concerned, we still have three weeks time for it," she said.

"Whether we approach the Supreme Court or not is yet to be finalised," Nath said.

But the Delhi Development Authority has confirmed that it received Rs.25 lakh on Friday from AoL as the first installment of the 'green compensation'.

"We got the amount on Friday after the court hearing," DDA counsel in NGT Rajiv Bansal told IANS.

An expert committee comprising senior officials of the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Water Resources and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will inspect the Yamuna floodplain this week.

The committee will submit a detailed report about the ecological degradation that may have been caused by the three-day World Culture Festival of AoL that ended on Sunday, DPCC officials said.

The NGT had ordered the committee to submit its report within four weeks after the festival ended so that the environmental losses can be assessed.

Activists approached the NGT against the event, accusing the AoL of damaging the ecological balance at the fragile river plain.

The tribunal allowed the event to go ahead after slapping an initial environment compensation of Rs.5 crore on AoL. The total amount will be decided by the tribunal later.
New Delhi, March 14 : The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee headed by BJP veteran L.K. Advani has served notice on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on his alleged dual nationality issue, BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Monday.

"The ethics committee has served Rahul Gandhi a notice and will act on the matter only after a reply from the Congress member," Meghwal told reporters here.

"Rahul Gandhi has been issued notice to seek his response on why he declared himself a British citizen. The complaint was received by the speaker (Sumitra Mahajan) and she has forwarded the complaint to the ethics committee," said Meghwal, a member of the panel.

In response, the Congress said Rahul Gandhi's Indian nationality can never be questioned.

"The matters being examined by a parliamentary panel or any decision on this should be considered confidential. But Mr (Rahul) Gandhi need not prove his credentials as an Indian," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.

Surjewala said the government was trying to malign the image of the Congress and counselled that the government should instead focus on bringing back to the country the likes of liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, said the Congress needs to clarify on the matter.

The 15-member committee headed by Advani includes Arjun Meghwal, Kariya Munda (both BJP), B. Mahtab (Biju Janata Dal), Ninong Ering (Congress) and Akshay Yadav (Samajwadi Party).
New Delhi, March 14 : Telecommunications company Telenor India on Monday announced the expansion of "Project Sampark" -- the company's unique initiative to bridge the gender gap in mobile usage -- to new areas in Uttar Pradesh.

The project will now be extended to the rural areas of Bareilly, Dehradun and Moradabad districts in the UP (west) circle covering nearly 50-80 villages in each zone.

"The success of 'Project Sampark' in Aligarh has given us the confidence to expand it to new areas and take it beyond the pilot phase," Sharad Mehrotra, CEO, Telenor India, said in a statement.

"Giving a phone in hands of women is not just about connecting her to the information age but also about giving her a tool to take informed decision that can change the socio-economic condition of the entire family," he said.

The new areas will replicate the model piloted in the first phase launched in August 2014 across 87 villages in Aligarh district.

These 87 pilot villages have seen an improvement in tele-density among women and of the more than 52,000 "Project Sampark" subscribers 50 percent are women.

In the second phase, the villages will be covered by 30-40 trained women promoters who will be hired from the adjoining areas.

"Project Sampark" is a combination of retail and product innovations that has resulted in a unique model that addresses some of the key barriers of women's access to mobile telephony.
Chennai, March 14 : A 23-year-old Dalit man who married into the politically influential Thevar community was hacked to death in front of a large number of people in a Tamil Nadu town, police said on Monday.

CCTV visuals showed three men attack V. Sankar, a third year engineering student, when he and his wife Kausalya, 19, were on a walk in Tiruppur district town on Sunday.

The unidentified killers came on a motorcycle and appeared to have been shadowing the couple. Before escaping, the killers also thrashed the young woman.

Sankar and Kausalya married eight months ago. Police said Kausalya's family was unhappy over her marriage outside the caste.

The woman's father later surrendered in a court and denied any role in the murderous attack, police said.
Kolkata, March 14 : The Trinamool Congress and the opposition in West Bengal on Monday indulged in a war of words after a sting operation by a news website accused several ruling party leaders of accepting bribes.

While the ruling TMC rubbished the sting as a "smear campaign", the opposition Left lost no time in attacking Mamata Banerjee's party.

Leader of the opposition and Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said the sting operation had brought to the fore what the Left Front had been claiming for years.

"The sting carried out by Narada News proved what we have been saying for all these years. Now, there is nothing to hide. It's a matter of shame that this government continues," said Mishra while reading out the names of Trinamool leaders caught on camera allegedly accepting bribes," the CMI-M leader said.

"This is not only about the lakhs of rupees accepted as bribes by the Trinamool but is also about the crores looted in the chit fund scam. The one wearing rubber sandals is behind all this," Mishra said while referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Trinamool rubbished the allegations.

"This is a smear campaign; we are all busy with (assembly) elections now. So, whoever has tried to concoct this smear campaign, please go ahead.

"For those of you who know the Trinamool Congress well, we are completely transparent. Mamata di's credentials are impeccable, the people of Bengal know," Trinamool's Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said.

"There are people who organise a breakfast before elections and raise Rs.100 crore even before breakfast. The Trinamool Congress' credentials are unquestionable. Where did the videos come from, who doctored these videos and who will put a defamation case? We are not bothered," the TMC leader said.
Chennai, March 14 : Popular Tamil television actor Sai Prashanth committed suicide at his residence here, police said, adding he had left a suicide note saying no one must be blamed for his death.

Prashanth is said to have mixed poison in his drink and consumed it on Sunday, leading to his death. He was 30.

Police said the reason behind Prashanth's suicide could be loneliness and depression.

In his suicide note, released by the police on Monday, Prashanth said his second wife Sujitha or for that no one else should be blamed for his decision.

He also said that his death would not create any problems for Sujitha and that his parents would return all her jewellery along with Rs.500,000.

After divorcing his first wife, Prashanth remarried three months ago.

In the suicide note, the actor also urged his wife to give up her anger and said he had been a good father to his daughter Rakshitha.

He also wrote that he was a "problem" for himself.

In his letter, Prashanth thanked actress Radikaa Sarathkumar, with whom he worked in serials, and her company Radaan for their support.

Radikaa expressed shock over Prashant's death.

"So shocked and saddened to hear of actor Sai Prashanth's death. What is it about life that you give up at this age?? Sad. Just finished work, but mind is disturbed," she tweeted.

Known for working in serials such as "Annamalai", "Selvi" and "Arasi", Prashant also starred in Tamil films like "Neram", "Thegidi" and "Vadacurry".

Prashanth started his career as a video jockey and hosted a popular show, "Dil Dil Manadhil".

His last day of shoot was on the sets of Radaan's Tamil serial "Thamarai" on March 10. He is survived by his parents, his second wife and a daughter.
London, March 14 : A new era of Mars exploration for Europe began on Monday as a new mission jointly developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) blasted into the sky on a Russian Proton rocket to find if Red Planet has traces of alien life.

Named "ExoMars 2016", the first phase of the ESA-Roscosmos mission lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Proton rocket at around 3 p.m., marking the start of a seven-month journey to the Red Planet.

"Maybe, maybe we can find out if there's life extant on the red planet," Mark McCaughrean, senior science adviser at the European Space Agency (ESA), was quoted as saying in a statement.

The mission will have the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli -- an entry, descent and landing demonstrator.

TGO will make a detailed inventory of Mars' atmospheric gases, with particular interest in rare gases like methane, which implies that there is an active, current source.

"TGO aims to measure its geographical and seasonal dependence and help to determine whether it stems from a geological or biological source," the ESA said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Schiaparelli lander will demonstrate a range of technologies to enable a controlled landing on Mars in preparation for future missions.

After a seven-month cruise, the lander will separate from the TGO on October 16 and land on Mars on October 19 for several days of activities.

TGO will then enter orbit around the Red Planet ahead of its exciting multi-year science mission.

It will also serve as a data relay for the second ExoMars mission, comprising a rover and a surface science platform, planned for launch in 2018. It will also provide data relay for NASA rovers.

"It's a milestone that caps off several years of preparation for any complex mission - designing, building and testing the ground systems, preparing the flight operations procedures and then finally an intensive period of team training," said Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations.

Readying to conduct the ExoMars mission comes at a time when ESA's operations teams are seeing an historically high level of activity.

Twelve missions, for a total of 17 spacecraft, are now in flight, spanning science, Earth observation, orbiting observatories and Europe's Galileo and Copernicus programmes, while nine new missions are being prepared.

"In 2016, at least five new missions are expected to be launched - a record for ESOC - plus two spectacular interplanetary highlights in the autumn: ExoMars arrival at Mars, and the controlled impact of Rosetta on its comet," added Rolf Densing, ESA's director for operations.

NASA's Curiosity rover and the ESA's Mars Express satellite have detected traces of the methane gas in Mars' atmosphere. Ground-based telescopes spotted methane on Mars in 2003.

Since methane can be the product of biological activity - practically all the existing methane in the Earth's atmosphere originates in this way - this has created great expectations that Martian methane could also be of a similar origin.

"It is a finding that puts paid to the question of the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere but it does pose some other more complex and far-reaching questions, such as the nature of its sources," explained Francisco Javier Martin-Torres from the Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (CSIC-UGR) at the University of Granada, Spain.

According to some current models, if there really existed methane in Mars, it would remain there for an average 300 years and during this period, it would be homogeneously distributed across the atmosphere.
Bhubaneswar, March 14 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged the central government to direct the ASI to send its best experts for repairing the hall facing the sanctum sanctorum of Shri Jagannath temple.

The ancient temple in Puri district is one of the holiest shrines in Odisha and draws devotees from across the country.

In a letter to Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, Patnaik said the "Jagamohan" (the hall facing the sanctum sanctorum) of Shri Jagannath Temple has developed several cracks.

"After the inner surface of Jagamohan was deplastered, it was noticed that the four column capitals and the eight stone beams have serious cracks which might affect its structural stability," said the chief minister.

He said a core committee comprising structural engineers, representatives of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), had been formed to suggest remedial measures.

The committee inspected the structure on February 7 and recommended that the beams be immediately provided additional support in order to prevent further damage to the Jagamohan, Patnaik noted.

"Since this is a matter of urgent public importance, I seek your personal intervention to direct the ASI to send their best technical experts in the matter and proceed to take up repair and restoration works at the earliest," said the chief minister.

Notably, a stone column capital on which the Jagamohan's ceiling rests has developed a crack and a stone block is hanging out of it dangerously, posing the risk of a major accident.
New Delhi, March 14 : The row between Punjab and Haryana on the former's decision to enact a law denotifying the 5,300 acres of land acquired for Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal on Monday reached the Supreme Court with both tossing allegations and counter-allegations at each other.

As Haryana told the constitution bench headed by Justice Anil R. Dave that Punjab's decision was against the federal structure and would threaten national integrity, Punjab said that its action was strictly in accord with the constitution.

Though the constitution bench also comprising Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Justice Shiva Kirti Singh, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Amitava Roy adjourned the hearing till Match 17, the Punjab assembly has in the meantime passed the bill that would pave the way for restoring the lands to the farmers from whom it was acquired for constructing SYL Canal.

The court had adjourned the hearing after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told it that Punjab law would have a bearing on the presidential reference seeking apex court's advisory opinion on the 2004 Punjab law that was passed during the tenure of then chief minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, terminating all water sharing agreement with the neighbouring Haryana and other states.

Rohatgi told the court that if Punjab goes ahead and enacts the law, then it had to be studied and a view taken on it.

However, he made it clear that central government was not taking sides in the instant dispute following Punjab move to enact the law denotifying the lands acquired for constructing SYL Canal to transport water to Haryana.

At the outset of the hearing, senior counsel Shyam Divan appearing for Haryana drew the court's attention to the press statement issued by Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal's office on Sunday about the cabinet decision to bring Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill that would pave way for the return of lands to the farmer from whom it was acquired for constructing the canal.

Under the law that was passed by Punjab assembly on Monday, the farmers would get back their lands after returning the amount of compensation that they had got at the time of the acquisition of their lands apparently with no interest liability.

As Divan told the court that Punjab law would be denting the integrity of the country and was an attack on its federal structure, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani defended the Punjab decision saying that it was in accord with the constitution.
New Delhi, March 14 : Indian-Americans' political preferences seem to be shifting in favour of the Republican Party, particularly Donald Trump, its front runner for the White House.

According to social media trends, the US's third largest ethnic group is overwhelmingly supporting Trump -- a billionaire real estate businessman-turned-politician who has courted many controversies ever since he jumped into the fray.

Indians in the US have traditionally been the vote bank for the Democrats. According to a study, as many as 65 percent of Indian-Americans leaned towards Democrats, making them the Asian-American subgroup most likely to identify with the party.

But this time there has been a shift, arguably for the first time in the American electoral history.

Several groups of Indian-Americans, a majority of them Hindus, have taken the social media route to voice their support for Trump. As the 2016 presidential election draws closer, various online communities and pages have come up in support of the realtor.

One such page on Facebook is "Hindus For Trump". With around 750 "likes", the page in its description says: "American Hindus are model citizens, educated and industrious. We want a responsible nation where Americans are both safe and free."

The page portrays Trump as Hindu god Vishnu, making him seated on what looks like a lotus with "Om" written at its centre.

There is also a Political Action Committee (PAC), formed by leading Indian American businessmen to pool in support and contribution for an effective presidential campaign of Trump. PAC is a type of organisation that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates or legislations.

Indian-Americans For Trump 2016, one of the PACs supporting Trump, is formed by the members of the American-Hindu community, including Sudhir Parikh, who is the advisory chair for the organisation.

Parikh is the owner of Parikh World Media, an umbrella corporation which houses news outlets influential among Hindus such as Desi Talk, the Indian American and the Gujarat Times.

However, this is not the first presidential endorsement by Hindus for Trump. The world renowned and cross-sectional Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF) endorsed him for the White House in August 2015 in its widely-circulated "India World Geopolitics" newspaper.

Although there has been a massive support for Trump from the Hindu community, a fraction of people from the Muslim community also seems to be supporting him, undeterred by his controversial remarks against the community.

Trump in one of his addresses said that "Islam hates us" and asserted that those having hatred against the US be denied entry into the country. He also called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

The Republican has also made scathing remarks against the immigrants in his addresses.

Indian-Americans are among the most highly educated racial or ethnic groups in the US, according to a Pew Research Centre study.

According to the study, Hindus make for 51 percent of 3.2 million Indian-Americans, while Christians and Muslims comprise of 18 and 10 percent respectively.

(Prashant Kumar can be contacted at prashant.k@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 14 : A court here on Monday granted bail to three retired officials of the passport department in a fake passport case against underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Vinod Kumar on February 3 issued summons to the three retired officers and asked them to appear before court on March 14.

All the three accused -- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Laxamanan -- appeared before the court on Monday and sought bail.

Advocate S.P.M. Tripathi, the defence counsel of Shah, while requesting bail for his client said that his client will follow every condition imposed by the court and there was no apprehension of tampering with evidence as the case was based on documentary evidence.

Special Judge Vinod Kumar granted bail to all three, asking them to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000 and a surety of like amount each, counsel Tripathi said.

The court, meanwhile, extended till March 30 the judicial custody of Chhota Rajan, who was presented before it via video conferencing.

According to the CBI, Rajan got his first fake passport issued from Bangalore on January 1, 1998, allegedly in connivance with the then passport officers -- Rahate, Shah and Laxamanan -- in the name of a fictitious person 'Mohan Kumar'.

The probe agency has booked Rajan and others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery of documents under the Indian Penal Code.

Rajan is wanted in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.

The don, held by Indonesian police on October 25, 2015, was deported to India on November 6, 2015.
New Delhi, March 14 : The Airbus Group not just intends to top its target of $2 billion in total procurement from this country over five years by 2020, but also launch a series of measures under the "Make in India" programme, a top official said here on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, Pierre de Bausset, president and managing director, Airbus Group India, said the aerospace giant proposed to transfer the Panther's assembly line to India and establish the country as a global hub for these choppers.

"Every commercial Airbus aircraft being produced today is partly made in India," the executive said, adding that also on the cards was the proposal to establish a final assembly line for making Airbus's fixed wing C295 aircraft for defence application.

Ashish Saraf, vice president for industry development, said the group's "Make in India" strategy included establishing the country as a hub for complex and demanding global aerospace ecosystem, train medium firms to becoming Airbus suppliers and play matchmaker among its suppliers.

"The investments could exceed Rs.5,000 crores, resulting in the creation of over 10,000 jobs," he said, adding the ecosystem that has been envisaged for the small and medium enterprises companies in India is to support the complete line of aircraft manufacturing, testing and delivery.

Xavier Hay, president of the chopper division for India, spoke about the partnership with Mahindra Defence for a joint venture company with the objective to become private strategic partners for the helicopter platforms.

He said a state-of-the-art industrial cluster was planned to locally produce Panthers, aimed at 110 Naval Utility Helicopters, the Fennecs for over 200 Reconnaissance and Surveillance choppers and Caracal for the foreseen 120-plus Naval Multi Role Helicopters.

"In combining best products & state of the art technologies, Mahindra Defence and Airbus Helicopters joint venture will set up a robust and efficient Indian helicopter industrial base if the three programmes become a reality," Hay said.

The other benefits listed by him included transfer technologies from Airbus and its suppliers, ensuring self reliance and competitiveness of the Indian helicopter manufacturing ecosystem and enhance competence in life cycle management of helicopters with Indian companies.
New Delhi, March 14 : The government has sought reports from states about damage to crops following heavy rainfall and hailstorm in some parts of northern India, union Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday.

"I have personally spoken to the agriculture ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to assess the crop damage," Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a statement on the issue.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue on Monday and sought immediate relief for the affected farmers.

Singh said the states have conveyed that it will take three to four days to assess the crop damage.

"Central teams will visit the affected areas after receiving reports from the states and assistance will be provided on the basis of their reports," he said.

The minister also announced that the government has decided to grant assistance to the union territories in case they are affected by disaster.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up a disaster relief fund to grant assistance to the union territories like Delhi," he said.

Singh also said there was no provision in the past to grant funds to union territories under the National Disaster Relief Fund.
New Delhi, March 14 : Pakistan former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani will not attend 'Spring Fever', touted as one of Delhi's oldest literary and cultural festival, which begins on Tuesday, said organisers.

Citing visa issue as the reason for Haqqani's absence, organisers said that noted Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin will fill his place in the festival.

At its eighth edition, the five-day festival, hosted by Penguin Random House India, boasts of a stellar line up like Ramachandra Guha, Sunil Khilnani, Shashi Tharoor and more.

Haqqani, an academician and a journalist, was one of the main attractions of the festival, and he was scheduled to attend the session 'Pakistan is in the eye of the beholder'. The session will see also see Tharoor, diplomat T.C.A. Raghavan and journalist Hindol Sengupta.

Now, the organisers said that Nasrin would be replacing Haqqani, who is also author of two books titled "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military", and "Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding".

The festival will open with session "The challenge of contemporary history" where historian and writer Guha discusses his forthcoming book, a collection of essays entitled "Democrats and Dissenters".

Another highlight would be the session titled "Incarnations" by Khilnani, professor and director of the Indian Institute at Kings College London, who will be discussing the 50 influential Indians who shaped our history.

Then there will be Srijan Pal Singh, aide to the late former president APJ Abdul Kalam, and educationist Anand Kumar.

For the Bollywood enthusiasts, there are sessions by actors Shilpa Shetty, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Twinkle Khanna, and Emraan Hashmi over the weekend. While Nawazuddin will talk about cinema, life and his journey in his forthcoming book, Shilpa will give tips on staying fit and healthy and Emraan and Sonali Bendre Behl will discuss parenting tips for the new age parents.

The festival will culminate with "KitaabeinA" featuring Gulzar on books, literature and poetry.

During the day, the open air library at the venue Amphitheatre, India Habitat Centre will turn into a browser's paradise featuring a complete range of Penguin India books.

'Spring Fever' will be on from March 15-20 (11 am to 7 pm).
Ankara, March 14 : At least 37 people were killed and 125 injured in an explosion that hit Turkey's capital city of Ankara, the media reported on Monday.

A bomb-laden car caused the explosion late Sunday near Kizilay square, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The toll was expected to increase as at least nine of those injured were in critical conditions, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday.

A suspected bomber, who also died in the blast, was a female member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), security sources said.

Turkish security forces have also arrested 18 suspects following the attack, a government official said.

The arrests were made during operations in Eskisehir and Sanliurfa provinces, the official said.

"The suspects were involved in terrorist propaganda and tried to embrace terrorists. They were involved in various actions," he said.

Documents related to "illegal organisations" were seized during the raids, he added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemning the attack said that "Turkey has become a target of terror attacks due to the instabilities in the region."

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees," he said.

While Turkey's Supreme Court Head Ismail Rustu Cirit has said that the country must learn "to live with terror".

"Unfortunately, our country has to live with this terror but the perpetrators, those who wish to attain their goals through terror, should know they will never reach their aim," the head said.

According to sources, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has postponed a visit to Jordan following the bombing.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the attack, but government sources have cast suspicion on the PKK.

A curfew was declared in three towns in south-east Turkey, while warplanes struck PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters in the Qandil and Gara sectors, the army said.
New Delhi, March 14 : The National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued notice to Tamil Nadu over the alleged honour killing of a young Dalit man who married an upper caste Hindu woman.

According to the commission, which took cognizance of the incident following media reports, on March 13 three unidentified men hacked the couple with sickles and fled.

The man died on the way to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital while the woman is undergoing medical treatment.

The commission said the incident raises serious concern about the safety of a person belonging to the lower caste in the country.

"In this case, the man belonged to a Scheduled Caste and had married an upper caste Hindu girl. The matter was in the knowledge of police but it failed to provide them adequate security," said a statement from the commission.
New Delhi, March 14 : The central government on Monday sought reports from states on crops damaged due to heavy rains and hailstorm in parts of northern India, hours after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi demanded compensation for the affected farmers.

"I have personally spoken to the agriculture ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to assess the crop damage," union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told the Lok Sabha.

Singh said the affected states have said it will take three to four days to make an assessment.

"Central teams will visit the affected areas after receiving the reports from the states and assistance will be provided on the basis of their reports," he said.

The minister said the government will extend assistance to the union territories also in case of disaster.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of a Disaster Relief Fund to extend assistance to union territories like Delhi," he said.

Singh said there was no provision in the past to grant funds to the union territories under the National Disaster Relief Fund.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and asked the government to assess the crop damage due to hailstorm and provide adequate compensation to the affected farmers.

"After the hailstorm and heavy rains, farmers of northern India are in distress. The government must act to give relief to farmers affected (by) crop damage," he said in the Lok Sabha.

He demanded a statement from the agriculture minister. Responding, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said it was a serious matter and the government would act immediately.
New Delhi, March 14 : The All India Government Nurses Federation on Monday postponed its countrywide indefinite strike after assurances by Health Minister J.P. Nadda of recommending the federation's demand to the cabinet secretary.

Nurses at all government hospitals in the country were to go on an indefinite strike from March 15, after no efforts were made by the health ministry in spite of repeated assurances of looking into the federation's demand.

"Health Minister J.P. Nadda has accepted that the nurses are being neglected in the Seventh Pay Commission and their demand and justifications are genuine. He said he will recommend our demands to the Empowered Committee of secretariat headed by the cabinet secretary after a final brief meeting with the federation on March 15," said a statement from the federation.

"Keeping this in notice, the scheduled indefinite strike is postponed till further decision by the health minister," it said.

The nurses have demanded increase in nursing, risk and night duty allowances as per the Seventh Pay Commission, federation secretary general G.K. Khurana said here.

A communication by the commission informed the federation that the recommendations won't be implementable for them.

The nurses had held a relay strike from February 11 to 27 with mass casual leave on February 26, leading to delay in over 1,000 surgeries.

"We want our payment to be as per the Seventh Pay Commission. Until now, all pay commissions have been implemented without any problems. Why is the Seventh Pay Commission not being implemented for the nurses?" Aruna Jangia, a nurse with GTB hospital, told IANS.
New Delhi, March 14 : The National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued notice to Tamil Nadu over the suicide of a farmer following humiliation by police and a financial firm.

Taking cognizance of the incident following media reports, the commission said the farmer was beaten up by officials of a private finance firm which also seized his tractor, to recover a Rs.2 lakh loan from him. Reportedly, he was also beaten up by police over non-repayment of the loan. The farmer committed suicide after that.

The commission observed that the contents of the news reports, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of farmers in Tamil Nadu.

Accordingly, notice was also issued to the chief secretary of the government of Tamil Nadu calling for a factual report within two weeks.

According to the commission, this is the second case in less than a week's time of torture of indebted farmers in Tamil Nadu.

"The commission observed that it approves the realisation of debt through lawful means but totally disapproves the forcible recovery by torturing farmers. Torture and brutal attack for recovery of loans would be a serious violation of human rights," said a statement from the commission.
New Delhi, March 14 : The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has served notice on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, asking if he had ever declared himself a British citizen.

"The ethics committee has served Rahul Gandhi a notice and will act on the matter only after a reply from the Congress member," BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal told reporters here on Monday.

Meghwal is a member of the ethics committee headed by senior party leader L.K. Advani.

In response, Rahul Gandhi told reporters: "We will deal with that."

However, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party over the notice and said that the "campaign by the BJP leadership was mala fide and defamatory".

"As for the repeated questions being raised outside parliament about Rahul Gandhi's citizenship, particularly by BJP leaders, these are nothing more than the continuing political vendetta of the BJP and its leadership against the Congress leadership," Surjewala told the media.

He said the facts in this matter can be easily verified by the government.

Surjewala said Gandhi has always been an Indian citizen. "Rahul Gandhi has since his birth only been an Indian citizen. He has never applied for or acquired the citizenship of any other country," he said.

Surjewala said the Congress will reply to the notice on a complaint of ethical misconduct in conformity with parliamentary procedures and the party shall not comment on it in the media.

Meghwal told reporters that Rahul Gandhi had been issued the notice to seek his response if he had once declared himself a British citizen.

"The complaint was received by the speaker (Sumitra Mahajan) and she forwarded the complaint to the ethics committee," Meghwal said.

Surjewala said Rahul Gandhi need not prove his credentials as an Indian.

Instead of trying to malign the image of the Congress, the government should focus on bringing back to the country the likes of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is accused of defaulting on bank loans, the Congress leader said.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP P.L. Punia said that the BJP's allegations about Gandhi's citizenship were baseless and added that these "must be rejected outrightly".

"When the BJP does not have anything concrete to say against the Congress, they have a habit of making personal attacks against its leaders," he said.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, however, told reporters that the Congress needs to clarify on the matter.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had alleged last year that Gandhi declared himself as a British national in the annual return of a company in Britain.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swamy alleged that Gandhi was a director in Backops Limited, which was incorporated in 2003 in Britain and dissolved in 2009.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had "given his date of birth correctly but declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address".

The letter said the Congress leader had "prima facie, committed an unconstitutional act and therefore was liable to be stripped of his citizenship and membership of the Lok Sabha".

The Congress had then termed Swamy's allegations as "petty and mindless mudslinging" and said the party rejects them "with the contempt that they deserve".

Following the controversy, BJP MP Maheish Girri had written to the Lok Sabha speaker on the issue and the matter was later referred to the ethics committee.

Girri had alleged "contradictory facts" and "big mystery" over Gandhi's citizenship.

The 15-member committee headed by Advani includes Arjun Meghwal, Kariya Munda (both BJP), B. Mahtab (Biju Janata Dal), Ninong Ering (Congress) and Akshay Yadav (Samajwadi Party).
New Delhi, March 14 : Underworld don Chhota Rajan provided a false house address in Karnataka to get a passport in the name of a fictitious Mohan Kumar, according to a chargesheet the CBI filed in a court here.

Not just this, he used a fake voter identity card and a fake ration card to secure the travel document in the name of Mohan Kumar.

When Chhota Rajan was caught in Indonesia in October, he had a passport issued in the name of Mohan Kumar. Deported to New Delhi in November, the don is now lodged in Tihar Central Jail.

The chargesheet, filed before Special Judge Vinod Kumar last month, alleges that Chhota Rajan got his fake passport from Bengaluru in 1998-99 allegedly in connivance with then passport officers -- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan -- in the name of a fictitious Mohan Kumar, whose address was given as 107/B Old M.C. Road, Azad Nagar, Mandya, Karnataka.

"The given address of Mohan Kumar does not exist in Old M.C. Road and Azad Nagar areas of Mandya," the chargesheet said.

The CBI said an inspection by revenue officials of the municipality in the presence of independent witnesses, including the municipal councillor, too confirmed the truth.

Postal workers also confirmed that house number 107/B does not exist in Old M.C. Road and Azad Nagar areas of Mandya and no Mohan Kumar ever lived there, the CBI added.

The CBI said no voter identity card and ration card was issued in the name of Mohan Kumar in that address.

The agency said that Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan submitted an application on December 10, 1998 at the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru for a re-issue of a passport he claimed to hold.

But that passport, which was expiring and which numbered F004555, was in the name of one Enyat Akmal Khan. It had been issued on January 20, 1989.

The CBI chargesheet showed that this claim of Mohan Kumar was accepted by Lalitha Lakshmanan, one of the passport officers.

"Lalitha Lakshmanan also suppressed the facts that passport F004555 contained a photograph of a different person and the applicant and date of birth in the (new) application did not match with old passport details.

"Rahate, who was working as superintendent and passport granting officer, abused his official position and corrected the date of birth as per the old passport from July 24, 1969 to July 24, 1959 and granted her approval for issue of new passport against the details furnished in the (new) application," it added.

The chargesheet said the application was then sent for preparation of a new passport and passport number A6705840 dated January 1, 1999, and a handwritten passport was prepared by Shah.

"(Passport officer) Shah, using his authority as passport granting officer, issued the fresh passport A6705840 in the name of Mohan Kumar.

"Neither Rahate nor Shah waited for receipt of police verification from Mandya district police. Even no letter was issued to local police for getting verification of the passport," the CBI said.

The police told the CBI they had not made any verification in respect of 107/B Old M.C. Road, Azad Nagar, Mandya.

The CBI had in February filed the chargesheet against Chhota Rajan and the three passport officers who are now retired. All three appeared before the court on Monday and were granted bail.

The CBI has booked Rajan and the others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery.

Chhota Rajan is wanted in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.

(Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be contacted in amiya.k@ians.in)
Ahmedabad, March 14 : Pakistan will likely release 86 more Indian fishermen from Karachi jail on March 21, official sources said on Monday.

A senior Fisheries Department official said a majority of these 86 fishermen hail from Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

They would be brought to Gujarat through the Wagha-Attari border near Amritsar in Punjab.

According to the officials, these fishermen were apprehended along with their boats near the International Maritime Boundary Line by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) over the past one year.

Officials said the PMSA blamed the fishermen for entering Pakistani waters.

Just a week ago, the neighbouring country released 87 Indian fishermen from the same Karachi jail.

Fishermen claimed that their boats sometimes drift into Pakistani waters while fishing but there were instances when PMSA personnel seized Indian boats and fishermen in Indian waters too.

They complained that Pakistan regularly released Indian fishermen but was yet to return 860 Indian fishing trawlers seized in the past.

In fact, the Porbandar Fishermen Boat Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue of Indian fishermen's seized boats and trawlers which are their livelihood.

"There are 18 other fishermen lodged in Pakistan jails for nearly three years. These fishermen have also requested for their release along with the 86 fishermen," said Manish Lodhari, secretary of National Fishworker Forum.

He said these 18 fishermen have also written to authorities in India and Pakistan for their release.

As of now, nearly 400 fishermen are lodged in Pakistan jails, Lodhari said.
Berlin, March 14 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the results of state elections in Germany on Sunday "make her party think".

German voters cast their ballots on Sunday in the southwestern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as eastern Saxony-Anhalt to elect three new regional parliaments, Xinhua reported.

Anti-migration party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), recorded remarkable gains in the elections and was able to break into all three state parliaments. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) took a beating and lost voter support in all three states.

Reviewing the vote results together with her party's top candidates, Merkel acknowledged that it was a "difficult day for the CDU".

According to Merkel, insecurity among the German population and the poll results of the AfD increased significantly after the Cologne assaults on New Year's Eve this year, adding the CDU would continue discussions with the upstart party in a bid to find suggestions for dealing with the current refugee issue.

The "Super Sunday" vote was the biggest in Germany since a record number of refugees came to the country, and was largely billed as a mood test for Merkel's open door policy towards refugees.

The surge of the AfD in the elections was widely seen as the result of a "protest vote." Many AfD supporters said they were not being taken seriously by the main parties and believed the AfD understood them best on the issue of refugees.

However, the majority of people questioned also suspected that the AfD was a protest party which was good at identifying problems but would not provide viable solutions over the long term.
Kolkata, March 14 : Poll-bound West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday faced an embarrassment after several of its leaders were allegedly caught on camera accepting bribes. With the opposition coming out all gun blazing, the Trinamool rubbished the claims calling the videos "doctored" and part of a "smear campaign" against it.

With the contents of the sting broadcast by TV news channels and also going viral on social media upping the political temperature in the state, Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is currently touring north Bengal, refrained from making any direct references to it, but challenged her political opponents to "fight her politically instead of resorting to spreading canards against her party".

The sting operation carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website, purportedly shows as many as 11 Trinamool leaders including former union ministers, state ministers and MPs accepting bribes in return for favours to a fictitious company.

"We formed a fictitious company - Impex Consultancy - and approached several ministers and Trinamool leaders to seek favours. This was an attempt to unravel what is happening behind closed doors," the report on the website claimed.

"We have about 52 hours of footage of this operation. What we understood after analysing it is that the leadership of the Trinamool Congress were more than willing to sidestep the norms, circumvent laws to extend illegal help to those who offer money," claimed the website listing against each of the leaders amounts ranging from Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh that it said it had paid.

The authenticity of the video uploaded by the website could not be ascertained.

The list of alleged "bribe takers", according to Narada News, also includes a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is claimed by the website as acknowledging that he was a "key person who collects funds for the Trinamool Congress".

In the video, one of the senior leaders is seen telling the website reporter that the IPS officer would be the communicator between them.

"I have Rs. 20 lakhs, I will go to your office and will give. You will be there no," asked the reporter to which the leader allegedly replies: "Yes, I will be there."

The video also shows a former central minister and Trinamool MP allegedly accepting bundles of money.

While the Trinamool has dismissed the sting as "dirty tricks" by its political opponents, the opposition has demanded that Banerjee immediately step down.

"We have watched the video of the so-called 'sting' operation. There is no sting in it. We are completely dismissive about it," said Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien.

"The timing of the dirty tricks video too clearly indicates the devious motive behind it. Why was the organisation that supposedly shot this video hiding the so-called 'truth' for more than two years," O'Brien added.

AThe Trinamool also held a press conference later in the day with party secretary general Partha Chatterjee and vice president Mukul Roy threatening legal action against the portal.

"Everybody knows technology can be abused. These videos are manufactured and doctored. We will be taking legal action," said Roy.

Questioning why the video shot in 2014 was released two years later ahead of the assembly polls, the Trinamool leaders also questioned the source of money used by the portal in the sting.

Tearing into the Trinamool, the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded Banerjee immediately resign.

"The sting operation has completely exposed the TMC, proving their entire leadership is deep in corruption. We demand the immediate resignation of Mamata Banerjee. She has no right, no business, to continue as the chief minister," said BJP national secretary S.N. Singh.

He also demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter and disallowing the leaders caught on tape from contesting the polls.

Describing the development as "unprecedented" in the state, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front also demanded the Election Commission take immediate steps in the matter after verifying the veracity of the video.

Reading out the names of those caught in the sting, CPI-M state secretary and leader of opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said everything had been brought to the fore.

Calling for immediate intervention of the EC, Mishra said: "To ensure fair poll, EC has to take steps immediately, else election should not be conducted till such steps were taken. If required, President's rule can be also be imposed."

Observing that the sting would be a major issue in the polls, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: "The chief minister keeps on claiming herself as a symbol of honesty, but yet again it has been proved that her party is of thieves and robbers".
Mumbai, March 14 : In a jolt to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, its senior leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal was on Monday night arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with corruption cases lodged against him. The NCP claimed Bhujbal was innocent while the ruling BJP welcomed the arrest.

The development capped more than 11 hours of sustained interrogation and recording of the statement of Bhujbal by ED sleuths since noon on Monday.

Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik criticised the development claiming Bhujbal was innocent, that he had done nothing wrong, and that there was nothing against him. He reiterated that the ruling BJP was allegedly pressurising the investigating agencies.

The summons followed a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya in connection with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act pertaining to alleged irregularities in the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, allegedly worth several hundred crores of rupees.

Reacting to the ED moves, Somaiya said "Bhujbal's arrest was inevitable" and predicted that the same fate awaits other NCP leaders involved in the mega irrigation scams which he has unearthed.

State BJP president Raosaheb Danve, Minorities Affairs Minister Eknath Khadse and other party leaders welcomed Bhujbal's arrest.

On Monday morning, Bhujbal, accompanied by party colleague Jitendra Awhad, several legislators, a large number of party activists and his supporters from Nashik reached the ED office in response to its summons of March 8.

Police deployed tight security and clamped prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people in the vicinity of the ED office.

The action against Bhujbal came after over a month since his nephew Sameer Bhujbal was similarly summoned in February and subsequently placed under arrest by the ED.

Last month, the ED had also questioned Chhagan Bhujbal's son Pankaj Bhujbal, a legislator, and allowed him to go, even as his father cried foul, while the NCP termed it "political vendetta".

The ED probe follows a Bombay High Court ruling in January when it sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and the ED within four weeks on their investigations against the Bhujbals.

Following Somaiya's complaints, the ED had lodged two first information reports against the Bhujbals and others under the PMLA to probe the Maharashtra Sadan scam in New Delhi and the Kalina land grabbing scam in Mumbai.

The ED had conducted searches twice at nine premises belonging to the Bhujbal trio and others, and subsequently served attachment orders on three prime properties linked to the Bhujbal family members worth over Rs.280 crore in Mumbai.

Simultaneously, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau had lodged a charge sheet against the three Bhujbals and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan case.

The Maharashtra Sadan, a state government guest house in New Delhi, was constructed at a cost of Rs.100 crore during the tenure of the erstwhile Congress-NCP government.

Speaking to media persons outside the ED offices, Awhad said the entire NCP party, including its president Sharad Pawar stood with Bhujbal.
Rome, March 14 : The Italian foreign ministry on Monday confirmed reports that two Italians from Padua -- Claudio Chiarelli and his son Massimiliano -- were killed in a Zimbabwe nature reserve.

The ministry said "the circumstances are yet to be clarified".

Claudio Chiarelli, and his son, 20, were shot dead by guards in Mana Pools nature reserve after being mistaken for elephant poachers, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said on Monday.

Details of the tragic incident, said to have happened on Sunday evening, were still unclear.

Claudio Chiarelli was originally from the Italian city of Padua but had reportedly been in Africa for decades. He was a professional hunter. His son, who was born in Zimbabwe, was described in media reports as a safari guide.

Zimbabwe police are investigating the incident.

Authorities in Mana Pools have for years been battling poachers, most of whom come from neighbouring Zambia and who have recently been using cyanide to kill elephants for their tusks.
Bengaluru, March 14 : The Karnataka government on Monday set up an Anti-Corruption Bureau to provide a transparent and efficient administration.

Though Karnataka was the first state to set up an anti-corruption watchdog - the Lokayukta (ombudsman) in 1984 under the Karnataka Lokayukta Act (KLA), there is also the Prevention of Corruption Act empowers police to investigate graft charge against officials.

"The KLA and PC Act are different legislations, as the former empowers the quasi-judicial Lokayukta to only inquire into complaints against public servants but does not allow criminal investigation against them and others accused of seeking or taking bribe," an official statement said here.

Though the state government entrusted the investigation powers into corruption charges to the police wing of the state Lokayukta, the Supreme Court in the C. Rangaswamaiah versus Karnataka Lokayukta case in 1988 held that police officers probing cases under the PC Act were autonomous.

The Karnataka High Court had also held that the Lokayukta did not have the jurisdiction to supervise criminal investigation under the PC Act through its police wing on the basis of the top court's Rangaswamaiah judgement.

The state government has therefore decided to separate the two roles by forming the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on the lines of the central government.

"The ACB will be a statutory authority to investigate graft offences, while the ombudsman's police wing will assist Lokayukta and Upa Lokayuktas in carrying their duties under the KLA," the statement said.

The state government has also decided to set up vigilance wings in its departments, boards and corporations with vigilance officers, as directed by the high court on February 2.
Mumbai, March 14 : Gujarati actor Sangita Joshi, who played Pannaben in the popular show "Preet Piyu Aney Pannaben", unveiled her wildlife photography exhibition here on Monday.

The exhibition features a collection of some of the best wildlife photographs that Joshi clicked on her recent trips to Kenya. Along with the exhibition, a pictorial color book of photographs was also unveiled at the event.

"I had started out as a professional photographer but then I took it just as a hobby, and this hobby has turned out to be very useful when I travel around the world. Now I have thousands of pictures of wildlife and other pictures from all over the world," said Joshi.

Miss Kenya Tourism Stephanie Naserian Dikirr of Masai Mara, arrived here specially for the event. About her, Joshi said: "We became friends when I visited Kenya. I had gone there just to greet her when she became Miss Tourism Kenya... The best thing is that I being an Indian, went there, clicked so many pictures and I'm holding this exhibition of those pictures and she has come all the way from Kenya and reciprocated by inaugurating my exhibition and my book."

Joshi has also featured in popular serials like "Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi".
Moscow, March 15 : The Russian air force deployed in Syria would start withdrawal from Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian president said this on Monday at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Xinhua news agency reported.

Putin said the decision was discussed and coordinated with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adding that "the fundamental tasks set for the Russian armed forced in Syria were resolved," according to an online Kremlin press release.

"It was agreed to withdraw main body of the Russian air forces. At the same time Russia would preserve an air flight control center in Syrian territory to monitor the ceasefire regime," the press release said.
With many private rental sector landlords in the UK requiring a deposit of four weeks rent getting on the rental ladder could present similar challenges in terms of cost as buying a home, new research suggests.

It says that the cost of the average rental deposit is estimated to grow by 40% by 2026 to 1,111, more than the growth of the average monthly rent which is estimated to increase by 28% over the same period.

This will mean that the average monthly rental deposit will be 70% of the average monthly salary, however there will be considerable regional variations, according to the research carried out on behalf of financial comparison website money.co.uk by the Cebr (Centre for Economics and Business Research).

In London for example, the average rental deposit is predicted to rise to 2,733 by 2026, amounting to 120% of the average monthly salary, up from 99% in 2015.

Deposits are predicted to rise sharply across the whole of the South of England. In the South East the average deposit is estimated to hit 1,469 in 2026, representing 83% of the average monthly salary at 1,761, up from 72% in 2015.

In the South West the average deposit is estimated to represent 80% of median monthly earnings at 1,437 by 2026, up 14% from 66% of the average salary in the region in 2015.

The research also suggests that based on recent trends, by 2026 an estimated 68% of all deposits requested will be at least six weeks rent. This means landlords will be demanding a lot more money from tenants before they sign a tenancy agreement.

Average monthly rent is due to increase by 28% by 2026, some 8% higher than the increase in average salaries over the same period which are set to grow by 20% by 2026.

The largest increase in rents between 2015 and 2026 is estimated to occur in London with close to 39% growth. Other regions with high estimated growth are the South West and South East where rents are predicted to grow by 32% and 34% respectively over the same period.

The lowest increase in average rent is estimated to be in Yorkshire and the Humber with a 17% price rise between 2015 and 2026 and overall monthly salary growth is not expected to keep pace with the rental market

Between 2015 and 2026, the average monthly salary is predicted to rise by an average of 20% or 267 to 1,576. This increase is lower than the estimated increase in both monthly rental costs and rental deposits which could mean many individuals will find the cost of renting just as unaffordable as buying. This is despite the fact the financial outlay required to rent is significantly lower than getting on the property ladder.

The rapid rise in deposits as well as rents is a double blow for everyone on the rental ladder. With the forthcoming changes to tax legislation and crackdown on buy to let mortgages likely to erode landlords profits, theres little doubt these costs will be passed onto tenants, said Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk.

The current booming property market means deposits are likely to continue shooting upwards in the future, and we could well see six weeks worth of rent extended to eight. Many not only face being priced off the property ladder but also the rental ladder too, she explained.

The Government needs to take action, without intervention the spiralling cost of deposits and rent could have a huge economic impact on the UK. Giving renters a lifeline is equally as pressing as helping people buy a house. Taking steps to address this now could be a far easier solution than dealing with the prospect of pricing home hunters off of the private rental ladder, she added.
Sales prices in Miami continued to rise in January as existing single family homes and condominiums sold close to list price, according to the latest data from real estate agents.

The median sales price for single family existing homes rose 13.7% year on year in January from $237,500 to $270,000, according to the figures from the Miami Association of Realtors, but single family home prices remain at 2004 levels despite four years of increases.

The median sales price for existing condominiums increased 8.8% to $205,000 from $188,500 a year ago. Miami-Dade County existing condo prices have risen in 55 of the last 56 months, a period encompassing more than four and a half years.

On the heels of a historic 2015 that saw Miami real estate register its most-ever single-family home sales and its third-most total residential transactions, Miami properties remain in high demand, said Mark Sadek, 2016 chairman of the associations board.

Properties are selling for higher prices and near asking. While total residential sales decreased in January, single family home and condominium sales remain consistent with historic averages, he added.

Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales, which posted a record year in 2013 and near record years in 2014 and 2015, decreased 12.1% from 2,043 sales in January 2015 to 1,796 last month. January 2016s total sales are in the range of Miami sales during the past five Januarys.

Miami-Dade County single family home transactions were 14.4% lower year on year in January, from 963 to 824. Existing condominium sales declined 10% in January 2016, from 1,080 to 972.

Strong sales are important for a healthy residential real estate market, but it is not sustainable to set a new all-time sales record each year. Miami-Dade Countys five years of record sales have been unique in the US real estate market. It is anticipated Miami will continue in a sales range consistent with a strong market, explained Teresa King Kinney, the associations chief executive officer.

Miami-Dade has continued to experience a significant year on year decrease in distressed sales. Increased competition from new condominium construction has also played a role in the lower total residential sales. Only 22% of all closed residential sales in Miami were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 34.9% in January 2015.

Short sales and REOs accounted for 4.4% and 15.7% respectively, of total Miami sales in January. Short sale transactions dropped 50% year on year while REOs fell 42.2%.

Single family home sales increased 18.3% year on year in January in the $250,000 to $400,000 sector, growing from 241 to 285. This sector represented about 34.6% of all total single family home sales in January 2016. Existing condos priced at $150,000 to $300,000 range saw a 25.1% rise in January sales, increasing from 299 to 374.

The median days on the market for all Miami properties increased in January. New mortgage disclosure rules, known as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID), could be playing a role. The average time to close a loan nationally has grown steadily since TRID went into effect, climbing from 46 days in October to 49 days in November and December and to 50 days in January.

In Miami, the median number of days on the market for single family homes increased 41.2% to 72 days in January 2016 from 51 days in January 2015. The median number of days on the market for Miami condominiums was 89 days, a 34.8% increase from 66 days in January 2015.

Statewide closed sales of existing single family homes totalled 16,529 last month, up 2.7% from January 2015, according to Florida Realtors. Floridas condominium sales totalled 6,942 last month, down 4.8% compared to January 2015.

The statewide median sales price for single family existing homes last month was $199,000, up 13.7% from the previous year and the statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties was $152,000, up 10.9% over the year ago figure.

Miamis cash buyers represent twice the national average. In January 2016, cash transactions comprised 52.6% of Miamis total closed sales, which is still double the national average. Cash transactions represented 57.3% of total Miami deals in January 2015. Miamis high percentage of cash sales reflects South Floridas ability to attract a diverse number of international home buyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash.

Condominiums comprise a large portion of Miamis cash purchases as 65.7% of condo closings were made in cash in January compared to 37.1% of single family home sales.

At the current sales pace, there is a 5.5 month supply of Miami single family homes, a decrease of 3.9% from January 2015 and continues to be a sellers market. There is a 10.2 month supply of condominium inventory, a year on year increase of 16.8% and continues to be a buyers market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months supply of inventory.

Total active listings at the end of January increased 8.3% year on year, from 18,315 to 19,826. Active listings remain about 60% below 2008 levels when sales bottomed.

New listings of Miami single-family homes decreased 5.8% from 2,356 in January of last year to 2,220 last month. New listings of condominiums increased 7% to 3,414 last month, compared to 3,190 during the same time period in 2014.
Avitus Group Anchorage Operations Center Alaska's entrepreneurial spirit, business friendly tax climate and an acquisition opportunity sparked our interest in the state. Today, we're very excited to announce the opening of our Anchorage Operations Center and our Fairbanks Regional office.

"As one of the largest companies in the co-employment industry in the United States, we're always looking for opportunities to expand as we grow our business. Alaska's entrepreneurial spirit, business friendly tax climate and an acquisition opportunity sparked our interest in the state. Today, we're very excited to announce the opening of our Anchorage Operations Center and our Fairbanks Regional office," says Avitus Group Public Relations Manager, Dianne Parker.

Avitus Group, a company that helps simplify, strengthen and grow other businesses by taking responsibility for necessary, yet burdensome administrative tasks like payroll, accounting and taxes, is celebrating the opening of its Anchorage Operations Center and its Fairbanks Regional Office with an official Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting & Champagne Toast Ceremony slated for April 12, 2016, in the company's new Anchorage office at 1306 East 74th Street. The business community is invited. Avitus Group executives, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation are set to headline the event. Avitus Group is also making an announcement about its 2016 Alaska Giving Campaign.

"We make it a priority to support the communities that support us. Our employees are lucky enough to live and work in Alaska, and we want to show our appreciation for the communities we live and work in by giving back. This year's giving campaign will kick off with support of an organization that focuses on developing more college grads, community leaders and entrepreneurs," says Avitus, Inc. President Don Reile.

Avitus Group acquired Swan Employer Services in July, 2015 and retained all 20+ employees, who focus primarily on human resources and processing payroll. Avitus Group has spent the past few months merging the companies together and rolling out enhanced service offerings. Swan Employer Services specialized solely in the co-employment service. Avitus Group will continue offering the co-employment service, as well as an entire suite of services designed to help businesses simplify, strengthen and grow. Avitus Group's service offerings include co-employment, accounting, business tax planning and preparation, payroll, human resources, risk and safety management, recruiting, information technology, marketing and branding and international planning.

"We see our Alaska expansion as an opportunity for our company as well as the companies we serve, which positively impacts the entire state. When we grow, that means our clients are growing, and we're all adding jobs to the local and state economies," says Chairman of Avitus Group Companies, Willie Chrans. "Avitus Group is hiring in Alaska right now, and we have future plans to add more skilled positions at our Anchorage Operations Center as our footprint in Alaska expands."

"The merger provides our clients the best of what Swan and Avitus Group have to offer," says Founder of Swan Employer Services, Hank Swan. "Alaska companies in Anchorage, the valley, Fairbanks, Homer and many other communities have embraced our services since 1998 when we first opened our doors. Avitus Group established its business in Montana in 1996. With nearly 40 years of combined experience in business solutions, I am confident recommending Avitus Group to any Alaska business, and encourage the business community to utilize Avitus Group. There is no other company in Alaska that offers such robust service offerings to truly help businesses thrive and meet their goals."

"We take pride in helping entrepreneurs re-focus their time and experience a higher level of success, and we're certainly ready to help even more entrepreneurs in the Last Frontier," says President of Avitus Payroll Services and Avitus Business Services, Ken Balster.

Avitus Group is a worldwide company headquartered out of Denver, with a major operations center in Billings, Montana. The company serves clients nationwide through regional office locations from coast to coast. The company also serves international clients through partner locations in Europe, Canada, China, England, India, Japan and Singapore.
Titration Automation Guide Consult the new Titration Automation Guide and get a detailed overview and advice on how processes can be enhanced by automating titration workflows.

Modern laboratories look into automation to address the demands for high throughput and variety of samples and workflows. Automation is not only concerned with aspects of efficiency. It also supports the user in terms of quality and data security by improving reproducibility, avoiding transcription errors and improving operator safety. Automation also ensures operational safety when using volatile and strong smelling solvents and reagents, avoiding direct exposure to the atmosphere and evaporation.

Consult the new Titration Automation Guide and get a detailed overview and advice on how processes can be enhanced by automating titration workflows. Amongst helpful tips on how to create methods as a standard operation procedure (SOP), selected automation solutions are presented, including:

InMotion Autosamplers  Designed to be modular and tailored to your needs, the autosampler maximizes throughput with minimal space and increases productivity without sacrificing laboratory bench space. The autosampler can be put together according to your sample needs - add modular boards for extra pumps, a CoverUp system for operational safety and thermostating water bath sample trays.

SmartSample  Enter the sample information directly on to the SmartTag beaker while weighing with the Excellence Balance. The InMotion Autosampler automatically recovers all sample information from the SmartTag, eliminating inefficient workflows and transcription errors.

SmartCodes  Simply label the samples with a barcode and LabX Titration PC software will find the corresponding titration method for every sample. Methods encoded in the Smartcode can be automatically selected by the titrator when read with the barcode reader or the InMotion's RFID reader.

Liquid Handler  Extract a sample volume with high accuracy and repeatability. The Liquid Handler extracts sample volumes from beakers on the Sample Handler, the Rondolino autosampler or the InMotion autosampler. The volume can then be dosed into a beaker on the Excellence titrator and, if required, diluted with a defined volume of up to three different auxiliary reagents.

To learn more about METTLER TOLEDO's Automation solutions, please download the New Titration Automation Guide.

About METTLER TOLEDO

METTLER TOLEDO is a leading global manufacturer of precision instruments. The company is the worlds largest manufacturer and marketer of weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial and food retailing applications. The company also holds top-three market positions for several related analytical instruments and is a leading provider of automated chemistry systems used in drug and chemical compound discovery and development. In addition, the company is the worlds largest manufacturer and marketer of metal detection systems used in production and packaging. Additional information about METTLER TOLEDO can be found at http://www.mt.com.
Even at less than 1% annually, U.S. population growth adds over 2 million people per year. If we keep growing, what will America look like for our grandchildren?

On February 22nd the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released its annual letter, which focused on opportunities we see to overcome [the] often overlooked challenges of needing More Time! and More Energy! In his section of the letter, Bill Gates explored the worlds need for More Energy  and the challenges we face to provide it  highlighting a growing world population. Gates explained that as our human numbers rise higher and higher  and we thereby increase global energy demand  most scientists agree that by 2050 well be using 50 percent more energy than we do today. In support of the Gates focus on world overpopulation and its serious impact on the environment, Negative Population Growth (NPG) is launching a new short video series today.

Titled "The Sources and Effects of Growth," the series of three short films  each approximately 2 minutes in length  aims to raise public awareness of the critical issue of U.S. population growth. NPG President Donald Mann explained: Environmental issues are on the minds of most Americans today. Though there is an abundance of studies detailing the negative environmental impact of overpopulation in the U.S.  and many scientists agree that population growth is a serious threat to our environmental future, many of the facts and statistics remain largely unknown to the general public. These powerful visual tools can help millions of Americans draw the link between population growth and the resulting environmental consequences.

Each of the three short videos will capture a different aspect of the debate over U.S. population growth, highlighting the dangerous consequences of our nations current pro-growth policies. In the first video of the new series, titled "The Sources of Growth," NPG analyzes the sources of U.S. population growth and asks viewers to consider some important questions: Why should we care about population growth if it amounts to less than 1% a year?; Arent U.S. fertility rates low?; and How does immigration fit into U.S. population growth? Film 2, titled "The Effects of Growth: Sprawl and Development," focuses specifically on urban sprawl and overdevelopment  exploring the true costs of this continued expansion on our nations infrastructure, economy, and environment. In the final film of the series, "The Effects of Growth: Environmental Damage," NPG gives audiences an inside look at the impact of population growth on Americas wildlife, water, and air  as well as U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change.

NPG President Don Mann noted: Each of these brief films supplies viewers with the real facts  including the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, demonstrating the true scope of Americas population size and growth. The films demonstrate to viewers that  even at less than 1% annually  U.S. population growth adds over 2 million people per year. Even Americas low fertility rates resulted in nearly 4 million babies born in the U.S. last year  an average of 1 birth every 8 seconds. And we are gaining 1 international migrant every 27 seconds. More people require homes, schools, hospitals, roads, transportation, water and food  which inevitably cause more pollution, place more strain on our infrastructure and social services, and demand more development and fossil fuel use.

Mann concluded: The films ask the question which has been long posed by NPG: If we keep growing, what will America look like for our grandchildren? We must work now to slow, halt, and eventually reverse our population growth  or future generations will ultimately pay the price for our failure to act. To preserve a livable America, we must greatly reduce our population size until it reaches a much smaller, truly sustainable level.

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Founded in 1972, NPG is a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to educating the American public and political leaders regarding the damaging effects of population growth. We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environment. NPG advocates the adoption of its Proposed National Population Policy, with the goal of eventually stabilizing U.S. population at a sustainable level  far lower than todays. We do not simply identify the problems  we propose solutions. For more information, visit our website at http://www.NPG.org.
Walker Glass Specialty Mirror Program This unique combination takes a new look at the traditional mirror.

Walker Glass is proud to announce the launch of its specialty mirror program that will go beyond mirror made with clear glass. The program includes four different antique mirrors that will give a touch of sophistication to any decor. Available in 6MM, 48 x 94 . For a more contemporary look, mirror using low-iron, bronze or grey glass will bring a rich aspect to any style. Available in 5MM or 6MM, 96 x 130.

In recent years, the demand for antique mirrors has seen a steady increase. They are mainly used in traditional decor but they can also be mixed in contemporary design. As for the tinted and low-iron mirrors their usage is also increasing. In some projects we have seen the combination of un-etched and acid-etched mirrors. The mirror carries the light further into the space while brightening it up, whereas the acid-etched mirror provides that frosted look, adding depth to the glass and offering light absorption properties. This unique combination takes a new look at the traditional mirror, says Marc Deschamps, Business Development Manager.

Take a new look today and order your sample box by visiting the Walker Glass website.

Walker Glass Co. Ltd. is a dynamic market-driven enterprise with over 70 years of experience in the glass and mirror industry in North America. Innovation and creativity are at the heart of its development. In 2002, the company launched a full surface acid-etched glass and mirror product line under the Walker Textures brand name. Since then, the company has added a line of custom and stock patterns, Walker Textures Nuance and a line of anti-slip acid-etched glass products, Walker Textures Traction. Furthermore, Walker offers three bird friendly glass solutions: AviProtek, AviProtek E*, AviProtek T. And finally, Walker Textures Transition is the custom solution for gradient effects on acid-etched glass.

*AviProtek E is available with Solarban60 VT, Solarban67 VT and Solarban70XL VT glasses by PPG

For more information contact Danik Dancause, Marketing Manager

at 888-320-3030 or via email at danik(at)walkerglass(dot)com.
Suzzette Bosch As the demand for our quality appraisal management services continues to grows, we want to ensure we have the talented people such as Suzzette in place who can help us effectively onboard more companies, said Brian Coester, CEO of CoesterVMS.

CoesterVMS, a national appraisal management company, has hired Suzzette Bosch as account executive on the national sales team. Bosch has more than 10 years of experience in sales. She will be responsible for developing new client relationships.

Bosch has been responsible for expanding sales territories and managing operations support for loan officers for DB Home Lending a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, and 1St Commonwealth Bank of Virginia/First Choice Bank.

Knowing the mortgage industry will help me address questions and concerns of customers and potential customers with confidence, Bosch said. This is an exciting time to be a part of re-establishing the mortgage industry especially with the high quality services offered by CoesterVMS.

About CoesterVMS

CoesterVMS is a nationwide appraisal management company that specializes in providing comprehensive management of appraisal operations for mortgage lenders. CoesterVMS in-house appraisal management solution combines the best service with the most advanced technology on the market. CoesterVMS guarantees all appraisal reports to fully comply with all regulations and guidelines. The company's Cloud Control appraisal management technology is the only software of its kind to be built on the award-winning Salesforce.com platform, and its Coester-Mer service is earning the company a reputation for the best customer service in the industry. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CoesterVMS was founded as a local appraisal company and has since grown to a formidable nationwide force in the appraisal management segment. For more information please visit CoesterVMS online at http://www.CoesterVMS.com
SmartForce Agency Management System Strengthening Texas law enforcement by connecting people and information for greater levels of public safety!

An estimated 500 law enforcement officials will be in attendance at the annual conference of the Texas Police Chiefs Association. Texas police chiefs will come together to discuss law enforcement trends, legislative changes, and issues of importance to Texas communities.

The Texas Police Chiefs Association will also present the annual Innovation Award and Leadership Award to police chiefs nominated by their peers for superior performance on the job.

Attendees and exhibitors will meet to discuss solutions to police agency needs, products, and tools to help Texas law enforcement agencies operate with "Best Practices."

Adventos is excited to join the Texas Police Chiefs at their annual conference as an event sponsor. Brian McGrew, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Adventos, will be in attendance. Speaking of the event, Brian McGrew noted that, "The whole team at Adventos is grateful to sponsor this important law enforcement conference. With our SmartForce Agency Management System, we look forward to strengthening the Texas law enforcement profession by connecting people and information for greater levels of public safety.

Interested parties can learn more about the SmartForce Agency Management System and how it improves community-policing and intelligence collaboration as well as other police processes at http://www.adventos.com/demo.html. After watching the demonstration video, interested law enforcement officials are invited to request a free trial of the agency management system to try for themselves. Go to http://www.adventos.com/demo.html to view the video and request a free trial today.
Effie Miri, Ph. D., a mother, doctor in psychology, professor, Iranian native, American citizen, has completed her work Iran, How a Culture Develops Pathology: The Pathology in Transition: a gripping and potent work about life, love and reflection.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Effie Miris mesmerizing autobiography is told as a reflection of the authors personal experiences as she early on was forced to navigate two very different cultures on two very different continents. Her life experiences through this trying time as well as her later career as a psychotherapist, treating many Iranian Americans, compelled her put her life to paper. Her goal: to provide the reader with a story-like page-turner that is also informative, designed to educate those who may have shared her wild journey.

The author chose this title for her book because through her personal and her patients experiences, she believes the Iranian culture can breed fear, insecurity, self-doubt and even dishonesty in the people she lovingly describes as sharp, ambitious, and hardworking. On the one hand, boys develop a sense of dominance, grandiosity, narcissism that in actuality has true undertones of ignorance. While on the other hand, girls face the risk of developing a sense of passivity, inferiority, anxiety, anger, and at times even paranoia. The repercussions of this dichotomy she believes, are deep and create psychological pathology. The main intention of this book is by no means meant to be a religious or political commentary, but as Iranian people are in essence, religious, the conversation does include Islam. She argues, religion is beautiful, and Islam is no exception. But, the often-bastardized product of many past and present religious leaders, whose qualifications she questions, is ugly: the outcome, fear of God and His potential punitive punishments. Herein lies another source of pathology. She devotes a good deal of the book to enlighten readers both Iranian and otherwise, to the essence soft side of Islam to which general Muslims are often not exposed. From the Prophet Mohammad himself of Sufi mystics, the author focuses on spirituality rather than aggression, citing works of Hafez, Saadi, Mowlana Rumi, Baba Taher, and Shams Tabrizi who expressed the same approach of Sufism.

Lets go back in time now to 1979 and to the years prior that lead to the Iranian revolution. The authors argument is that in light of this cultural mentality, foreign countries found opportunity to meddle and assert their influence and personal goals. The Iranians themselves could not identify this cultural weakness and were not in touch with their own identity and took to the streets in demonstration supporting new religious leaders whom aggressively stoked the fires of anti-west propaganda and rhetoric that lead to a blaze of events. In the ashes, lay a country with a leader whom they did not even know; A leader, who would only again propagate this circle of pathology.

It is the intention of author to help Iranians to learn about their psychology, to develop self-recognition and self-identity to become less confused.

My attention has been on the training and parenting issues throughout the book. I am wondering how a confused parent can raise a not confused kid. says author, Dr. Miri.

Readers who wish to experience this profound work can purchase Iran, How a Culture Develops Pathology: The Pathology in Transition 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.
Immuexa has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Tidepool, their programmable game world for children. Nearly two years in development, Tidepool aims to improve critical thinking skills by blending Hour of Code smarts with the sustained appeal of multiplayer games.

Tidepool's newest version includes a recreation of Colossal Cave Adventure by Will Crowther. Built from the recently discovered 1976 data file, Tidepool celebrates the 40 year anniversary of this genre-defining work.

Kickstarter backers may receive early access to this summer's beta along with half-price premium subscriptions. To learn more, visit http://backTidepool.com.

ABOUT TIDEPOOL

Tidepool is a 3D multiplayer game world, where kids of all ages collaborate to make interactive stories in the manner of Zork or Monkey Island. Built from scratch with its own game engine and server, Tidepool has a handmade aesthetic to encourage all to draw.

Everyone plays for free. Initially available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Tidepool will appear later this year on tablets and browsers with identical gameplay.

Tidepool is the spiritual successor to kid-friendly coding tools such as Logo, Squeak Etoys, and Scratch. By providing a persistent multiplayer world where kids can interact and get inspired, Tidepool expands on the promise of such tools, requiring less adult time to encourage sustained engagement.

ABOUT IMMUEXA

Immuexa develops custom-built software and websites for tech companies, entrepreneurs, and non-profits. Past clients include Viewpoints Research Institute, developers of Squeak Etoys, Alan Kay's pivotal learning environment that inspired MIT's Scratch. Immuexa also joined Waveplace Foundation in partnering with One Laptop Per Child following the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

CONTACT

We will be attending GDC in San Francisco March 14th to 18th.

For interviews or to learn about Tidepool, please contact:

Timothy Falconer, project lead

Immuexa Corporation

610-797-3100 x33

teefal(at)immuexa(dot)com

Website: http://playTidepool.com

Kickstarter: http://backTidepool.com
We are honoured to become a Moodle Partner and excited about working closely with Moodle HQ

Moodle, the worlds open source learning platform, today announces Vidya Mantra as a Moodle Partner in India. The Delhi-based eLearning company offer end-to-end learning platform solutions including course planning, content development and deployment of entire portals complete with front-end websites and eCommerce.

As a member of the Moodle Partner network, Vidya Mantra will use the Moodle trademarks and provide certified Moodle services and support to customers. Vidya Mantra will also contribute financially to support development of Moodle core.

"It was a pleasure to finally meet Jai and the team at Vidya Mantra in Delhi recently, after many years of knowing them online said Martin Dougiamas, Founder and CEO of Moodle. They've more than proven they can deliver Moodle services and develop new products based on it so we're excited about working together in the Indian context.

Jai Gupta, CEO of Vidya Mantra commented We are honoured to become a Moodle Partner and excited about working closely with Moodle HQ. We are very much looking forward to assisting Moodle users in India and contributing to the Moodle open-source project.

The Moodle Partner network continues to expand, with Vidya Mantra the fourth company to join the network this year. The Moodle Partner network is comprised of 76 companies offering certified Moodle services, support and training in more than 46 countries worldwide.

# # #

About Moodle

First released in 2001 by Martin Dougiamas, Moodle has since developed into a full-featured, flexible open source learning platform currently used in more than 230 countries with more than 70 million users worldwide. The focus of Moodle is to provide educators with the best tools to manage and promote learning. Supported by a global network of certified Moodle Partners, Moodle HQ continues to work with developers and educators worldwide to support a fast growing community of Moodle users. For more information, visit http://moodle.org

About Vidya Mantra

Since its establishment in 2008, Vidya Mantra have been offering eLearning solutions to customers worldwide. The companys extensive range of service offerings to include hosting, theme design, software development, training, content creation, integration and consultancy. For more information, visit http://vidyamantra.com

ENDS

Contact

Collette McCann

Moodle Marketing Officer

press@moodle.com

Sources

Moodle.com

vidyamantra.com
Roll-Kraft, a worldwide supplier of custom roll tooling to the tube and pipe and roll forming industry, has installed a DMG MORI NLX 2500 CNC lathe on the factory floor at Roll-Kraft Ltd. in Woodbridge, Ontario.

The NLX 2500 is a high-rigidity, high-precision CNC lathe able to flexibly handle various customer specifications. The model features the BMT (Built-in-Motor) that achieves powerful turning capabilities and outstanding milling performance. The lathes advanced technological features include a high-speed rotary tool spindle (10,000 min-1), as well as thoroughly controlled thermal displacement for high-precision tooling development.

The addition of the new equipment further advances Roll-Krafts ongoing commitment to on-time delivery and first-time performance. In the month of December, Roll-Kraft achieved 100% on-time delivery for each and every order of tube and pipe and roll form tooling throughout the companys four locations.

Roll-Krafts 50+ year history, along with a commitment to new investment, provides the stability and experience necessary to provide its customers with industry-leading on-time delivery and first-time performance.

Roll-Kraft has its headquarters in Mentor, Ohio, and maintains other facilities in Frankfort, Illinois (Roll-Kraft Northern), Houston, Texas (Roll-Kraft Texas), and Ontario, Canada (Roll-Kraft Ltd.). Calls to the companys main line, (888) 953-9400 or (440) 205-3100, are greeted by a live operator who can assist callers in quickly reaching a technician, engineer, or sales staff, who can provide immediate assistance. The companys fax number is (440) 205-3110.

Learn more about Roll-Krafts products and services by visiting the website at roll-kraft.com. For easy and immediate contact with Roll-Kraft that transcends time zones and working hours, simply complete and submit an online form and Roll-Kraft will respond.
Fortscale Security Ltd., the security pioneer in machine learning-based user behavior analytics (UBA), today announced that Info Security Products Guide, the industry's leading information security research and advisory guide, has named Fortscales 2.5 solution a Silver winner of the 2016 Global Excellence Awards in the User Behavior Analytics category. Fortscale 2.5 features a totally new generation of autonomous, rule-free UBA technology that finds and fights insider threats automatically with unmatched intelligence, autonomy and scalability.

When it comes to stopping threats, time is everything, said Idan Tendler, founder & CEO, Fortscale. Fortscale 2.5 sets a new standard in user behavior analytics innovation by giving analysts the information they need to address potential threats quickly and accurately before they become full-blown attacks. We are honored to awarded for our innovation by Info Security Products Guide and to be recognized as an industry leader in the user behavior analytics space.

More than 50 judges from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2016 Global Excellence Awards Finalists and Winners. Winners were announced during the awards dinner and presentation on February 29, 2016 in San Francisco attended by the finalists, judges and industry peers.

Fortscales Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Award is the latest recognition for the award-winning company. Most recently, Fortscale was named 2016 Leader in Threat Detection by Cyber Defense Magazine and Most Valuable Security Product from Computer Technology Review for 2015.

For more information on Fortscale, visit http://www.fortscale.com.

Follow Fortscale online: Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.

About Fortscale

Fortscale ends insider threats with a totally new generation of rule-free, autonomous behavior analytics based on machine learning. With no rules to set up, Fortscales user behavior analytics engine starts getting smarter the second you turn it on. Fortscale models your users and systems autonomously, on-the-fly. Fortscale spots anomalous behavior quickly, accurately and doesnt need constant babysitting. It might sound like magic, but its mostly just really good math  and only Fortscale has it. Backed by Intel and Blumberg Capital, Fortscale ends insider threats, lowers analyst stress-levels and makes your whole security operation work a whole lot better. For more information, visit fortscale.com.
The impetus behind Ross Publishings launch of this new publication a year ago was to fill the need for a printed apartment guide in Richmond

In March 2015, Ross Publishing added Apartment Navigator to its list of free publications, and in the guides first year, the publisher has strategically expanded the resource and worked to reinforce the brand. Ross also publishes Seniors Guide, with editions not only in Richmond but also in markets across the country, and Richmond-based Boomer magazine.

We premiered a new website back in December and have seen an increase in searches for RVA apartments since then, says Craig Ross, publisher of Apartment Navigator. Were also giving folks who use Apartment Navigator a $50 Amazon gift card, which has incentivized apartment shoppers to also tell their friends about it!

In this first year, Ross Publishing also made sure its new brand got plenty of exposure, advertising on billboards in downtown Richmond and wrapping its distribution van with the company logo. Now Apartment Navigator can be seen not only on the Internet and magazine racks in stores but also on the streets around town. Were everywhere! says Ross.

The impetus behind Ross Publishings launch of this new publication a year ago was to fill the need for a printed apartment guide in Richmond. While there were several online resources, none was widely available in print form, which, according to Ross, is sometimes easier to use while driving around (for the passenger) looking for an apartment. Plus all of the existing guides were national in coverage, primarily focused on internet listings. Apartment Navigator gives Richmonders a guide dedicated specifically to apartments in the Greater Richmond area, plus the choice of accessing apartments online at http://www.apartmentnav.com or by flipping through a convenient, easy-reference magazine.

Ross Publishing has also beefed up its distribution of the free, printed guide in its first year in business. Apartment Navigator can now be found in more than 800 locations, including almost every grocery store and Wawa (plus other locations) in the Greater Richmond area and the Tri-Cities.

Both the print and online guides include floor plans and apartment features, community amenities, as well as specific details like whats nearby and even the view from the building. When using the online guide, apartment shoppers can filter their search based on location, number of bedrooms and baths, what they want to spend, and the type of apartment theyre looking for, including loft, studio and senior housing.

Ross Publishing, a Richmond, Va. -based company, publishes Seniors Guide magazines throughout Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia and features a correlating website of SeniorsGuideOnline.com. Seniors Guides mission is to help seniors and their families find the information they need on options available in senior housing, senior care, assisted living, independent senior living, retirement communities and other retirement living needs. Seniors Guide also has resources at http://www.HomeCareChoice.com for Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Richmond, VA. Ross Publishing, Seniors Guides parent company, began in 1991 and has been publishing helpful, free publications and websites ever since. In addition to the many Seniors Guide titles, the team at Ross Publishing is behind lifestyle magazine BOOMER and real estate publication Apartment Navigator.
Social Security Timing logo We wanted a speaker who already is at the top of where the industry is headed ... Bob (Keebler) is a tremendous asset and the ideal addition to our 2016 training.

Nationally recognized retirement planning expert Robert S. Keebler joins Social Security Timings 2016 training for financial advisors, The School, for its live events in Dulles, Virginia, and Reno, Nevada.

On the brink of a proposed fiduciary rule that could dramatically change the financial advice industry, and surrounded by changes to Social Security, we wanted a speaker who already is at the top of where the industry is headed  someone who could really inspire and teach advisors about the value financial advisors can bring to the table when they understand the intersection between Social Security, tax planning and the complementary roles of the advisor and tax practitioner,  said Joe Elsasser, creator of the patented Social Security Timing software and the new Tax Clarity software. With his wide expertise, numerous awards, credentials and real-world experience, Bob is a tremendous asset and the ideal addition to our 2016 training.

Keebler is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP, a tax advisory and accounting firm in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that specializes in tax and estate planning. He carries the CPA Personal Financial Specialist credential, which signifies that he is a Certified Public Accountant with the powerful combination of extensive tax expertise and comprehensive knowledge of financial planning. A 2007 recipient of the National Association of Estate Planning Counsels prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award, Keebler also was named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession.

The School is a two-day training for advisors who want to help clients maximize their Social Security income, minimize taxes and efficiently harvest other assets for retirement income. The training is available in two cities in 2016  Dulles, Virginia, on May 4 and 5, and Reno, Nevada, on Oct. 19 and 20. Attending The School is one requirement for advisors who want to join The Arrow Group, Social Security Timings community for financial advisors who specialize in Social Security and related retirement income distribution planning.

One timely topic that the 2016 training will address is the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which eliminates two Social Security claiming strategies. While the voluntary suspension strategy will no longer be available after April 30, 2016, the restricted application strategy is available to some beneficiaries for another eight years, presenting an immediate opportunity for financial advisors who can offer Social Security advice.

Most of the advisors we work with see this added attention in the news as a boon to Social Security planning, Elsasser said. There is still a fundamental decision, independent of these strategies, that is key to smart retirement planning, and that is when to take Social Security. An uninformed decision could mean a client loses tens of thousands of dollars. If anything, the Bipartisan Budget Act shed light on the importance of basic Social Security planning, and demand for that service will surge, not just in the next eight years, but beyond.

While The School does not have specific curriculum on the fiduciary rule, the entire two days could be a crash course for advisors concerned about how to comply with the looming fiduciary rule, Elsasser said. The proposed fiduciary rule would require that advisors put their clients economic interests before their own when it comes to retirement advice. It currently is under review by the Office of Management and Budget and could become final in the coming months.

The Schools focus has always been on promoting holistic planning thats in the best interest of the client, Elsasser said. So the looming fiduciary rule requiring higher standards doesnt change our course, but will change the course for advisors who are not currently practicing comprehensive retirement planning and who are not fiduciaries. Those who dont up their game now will struggle when they are held to a higher fiduciary standard.

Keebler joins Elsasser and Social Security Timing Director of Education David Cechanowicz as speakers at The School. Cechanowicz, an attorney and investment advisor, is a nationally sought-after expert on complex issues where the law, taxes and financial matters intersect, with a specialty in retirement planning that optimizes clients Social Security benefits.

About Social Security Timing

Thousands of financial advisors use Social Security Timings patented software application to help their clients maximize their Social Security benefits. Social Security Timing has also developed resources to help consumers maximize their benefits, including a free online calculator and the nations largest online network of financial advisors who offer Social Security planning as part of their services. Learn more at http://www.SocialSecurityTiming.com.
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach stands with first graduates of the free Home Health Aide class at White Plains Education Training Center.

Last week marked a milestone for the newly opened White Plains Education and Training Center the date of its first graduation ceremony. Ten students graduated from a free Home Health Aide (HHA) training program offered by Neighbors Home Care Services, one of several partners who will be providing classes at the new center.

Neighbors, a program of Lifting Up Westchester, has been providing HHA training since 2009.

HHA students receive free training and books for the three-week, New York State licensed course which combines classroom and hands-on training with rigorous clinical practice. After successful completion of the program, newly certified HHAs are qualified to perform health related tasks such as monitoring a clients temperature, pulse and blood pressure as well as assistance with everyday tasks such as dressing, feeding, walking and personal hygiene.

Isis Djata, Director of Neighbors Home Care Services, said that all graduates were offered employment at the agency and that all accepted. Over the last few weeks we have watched these students grow into highly skilled home health aides and are certain that they will make a meaningful impact in the lives of our patients. We are proud to have them on our staff.

Four more sessions of the HHA program are planned for the coming year. This is good news for the more than 70 home care agencies throughout Westchester who currently cant find enough certified aides to keep up with the escalating demand for home care services which is being fueled by an aging population.

Dr. Sylvia Watkins, Ph.D., RN who has held positions as Director of Nursing Services, Director of the Home Health Aide Training Program and Senior Administrator of Educational Projects at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital is the HHA class instructor. I was extremely impressed with this group of students, she says. The rigorous training and testing to achieve their certification was taken seriously and with tremendous effort.

Home care, especially geriatric care, has become one of the fastest growing industries in the country. This means that graduates of the HHA training class will enjoy a sustainable demand for their services for years to come. This provides students, many of them from low-income, minority backgrounds and with limited education, with an opportunity to create a better life for themselves and their families.

The HHA classes are funded by a Community Development Block Grant through the City of White Plains and grants from the Westchester Community Foundation, JPMorgan Chase and KeyBank.

A classroom in the White Plains Education and Training Center has been specially outfitted with sinks, hospital beds, mannequins and a Hoyer lift to meet the needs of the HHA program. Equipment funding was provided by the Workforce Training Institute. When not in use by the HHA program, the classroom will be used to provide other types of medical training.

Neighbors Home Care Services, a Licensed Home Care Services Agency, has been providing compassionate care to the elderly and disabled residents of Westchester County since 1983. The agency currently assists approximately 400 homebound seniors and disabled individuals annually with comprehensive services ranging from cleaning, shopping and personal care to more complex monitoring of medical conditions. It also provides post-surgery and Alzheimer care.

The White Plains Education and Training Center is a state-of-the-art facility which features opportunities for career enhancement and skills development. Core programs will provide workforce training for three of Westchesters highest growth industries- Culinary and Hospital, Medical and Health Care, and Technology. The center also offers professional and personal development workshops such as budgeting, workforce preparation, tax preparation, and home ownership.

Subsequent dates for the HHA class sessions are as follows: May 9-31, July 6-28, September 6-29 and November 7-22. For more information, please email idjata(at)liftingupwestchester(dot)org.
My Wings help children soar! By giving them their wings back, it means a lot. It's a symbol for freedom, the wings itself instill so much hope...Just playing with wings symbolizes I can fly where ever I want to, nurturing the most important part of your spirit.

My Wings is pleased to announce the global launch of Giving Wings, a unique childrens charity program focused on assisting the healing process of the children with special needs. Company sources have also revealed that My Wings has already partnered with Shriners Hospitals for Children- Northern California and Pay It Forward Sweden to implement this philanthropic project in the United States and Sweden.

My Wings is a Swedish organization that has the distinction of designing innovative and playful childrens shirts that have wings. The companys founder Lee Giove strongly believes that there is a deep correlation between imagination, playfulness, and the well-being of a child. Their winged shirts have been created to encourage a sense of freedom and empowerment amongst the children. These Fairtrade certified shirts are made of organic cotton, and come with designs of wings of dragons, fairies, and butterflies. These shirts will be given away to children around the world as part of the Giving Wings child welfare program.

Shriners Hospitals for Children- Northern California is one of Americas most highly rated childrens hospitals known for their philanthropic endeavours. Expressing pleasure at being a part of the Giving Wings program, the hospitals Manager of Therapeutic Recreation/Child Life Program Melissa Grialou said, "We will be offering kids their 'wings' once they 'graduate' from the acute care stage, meaning when they are sent to our outpatient therapy program or when they are discharged home. These are some of the most meaningful moments in the recovery process, and we want to celebrate all they have been through and accomplished by giving them their wings to fly freely into the world again!"

Pay It Forward Sweden is a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping people in need throughout Sweden, including thousands of newly arrived refugee children. Highlighting the benefits of the Giving Wings program, Pay It Forward Swedens founder Marielle Peterson stated, "By giving them their wings back, it means a lot. It's a symbol for freedom, the wings itself instill so much hope...Just playing with wings symbolizes I can fly where ever I want to, nurturing the most important part of your spirit."

Lee Giove is currently engaged in efforts to expand the Giving Wings program to different countries all over the world. With this objective, he has recently launched an Indiegogo campaign to support this charity campaign. I have self-funded thousands of dollars to get to this point, but now need help from others to take My Wings and the Giving Wings program to children around the world. I humbly and respectfully ask for your help to reach our goal and to uplift children and help them to soar in life, he states.

To support the Giving Wings childrens charity program, please visit http://www.my-wings.com/campaign

About My Wings: My Wings creates and provides products that inspire children of all ages to enjoy their playful nature while encouraging healthy development through art, music, fashion and compassionate living. They aim to uplift, inspire, and engage in the community to create a happier and more harmonious world where people lift each other up and help each other soar.

About Pay It Forward Sweden: The Pay It Forward organization is volunteer based and works relentlessly towards creating a more caring society by offering help to thousands in need throughout Sweden.

About Shriners Hospitals for Children- Northern California: Shriners Hospitals for Children of Sacramento is one of the top ranked childrens hospitals in the country that provides services free of charge for those who cant afford the cost of treatment.
The organizers of the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition announced today that Scott Bolick, the Head of Software Strategy and Product Management for GE Power, will address attendees during the opening keynote session of ELECTRIC POWER, which takes place April 18-21, 2016, at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The keynote address, titled The Digital Transformation of Electricity, will cover the dynamic transformation thats under way across the entire energy value chain to meet the 50 percent increase in global power demand thats expected by 2025. Inexpensive sensors and big data, coupled with advancements in analytics and integrated software intelligence into hardware assets and control systems enable new and existing power generation, grid, and power consumption assets to operate at much higher levels of performance and operational effectiveness in order to drive smarter economic outcomes.

Keynote attendees will hear insight on the future of energy, discover game-changing innovations, and learn how to maximize opportunities across both business and operations.

There is no one more fitting for this years keynote than Mr. Bolick, an experienced strategist with a fresh perspective on the dynamic change currently taking place in power generation, said Jamie Reesby, Show Director. This keynote by GE Power Digital ensures that ELECTRIC POWER will feature content and facilitate discussions at a level that the power industry just wont find at other events.

This years ELECTRIC POWER conference program (http://www.electricpowerexpo.com/conference-program/) will also feature sessions that cover:



Power Plant Performance & Profitability

Environmental Compliance

Technology Advancements & Solutions

Power Plant Resiliency - Safety, Practices, Operations & People

Power Plant Resiliency - Systems & Physical Equipment

Combined Heat & Power

Also planned are several networking receptions, including the Big Easy Opening Night Reception, a Southern Style Soiree, and the Bayou Bash Crawfish Boil.

Registration for the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition is now open. More details about the event, including registration and pricing details, can be found at http://www.electricpowerexpo.com.
Onboard Systems International, Inc., a leading provider of innovative helicopter cargo hook equipment, announced that its cargo hook kits for the Robinson R66 aircraft have been certified for use in Brazil by the Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil (ANAC). A Certificado de Homologacao Suplementar de Tipos (CHST) was issued for the cargo hook kits. Onboard has already received FAA, Transport Canada, and EASA certification for these kits.

Were pleased to be able to respond to the requests for certification from our Brazilian customers who want to install Onboards cargo hook equipment on their Robinson R66 aircraft, said Karsten Lemmon, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Onboard Systems. Onboards cargo hook system for the R66 includes many of our latest safety developments, and we look forward to helping our customers put this equipment into service for their external load work missions worldwide.

Onboards Robinson R66 Cargo Hook Kit is built around the latest-generation TALON Keeperless Cargo Hook, which is designed to handle a wide variety of load ring sizes and styles while eliminating the possibility of losing loads that might inadvertently slide past the keeper. Other safety features include a rugged mount point with quadruple shear joint to ensure torsional strength, the best available ground clearance from the lowest hanging point of the cargo hook (10.5-IN / 27-CM), and a lock indicator window to give the ground crew an easy visual confirmation that the hook is locked.

The optional Remote Hook Electrical Release Kit gives pilots the ability to release loads from the cockpit, while the Onboard Weighing System helps to show the exact weight of the load on the cargo hook. Onboards weighing system for the Robinson R66 uses state-of-the-art pin load cell technology to increase ground clearance by replacing the main attach bolt instead of mounting as a separate link above the hook, providing easier cable routing and lower system weight.

Onboards Robinson R66 Cargo Hook Kit comes with all the fixed and removable provisions needed for installation. It includes the cargo hook, attach point, manual and electrical release cables, plus the optional Onboard Weighing System and Remote Hook Electrical Release Kit, if ordered. As with all Onboard cargo hooks, maintenance and overhauls can be performed at the factory, by a qualified repair facility, or by the operator in the field using simple hand tools.

About Onboard Systems

Onboard Systems International, Inc. designs and manufactures a complete line of innovative helicopter cargo hook equipment under its TALON brand, including belly hooks, cargo hook suspension systems, Onboard Weighing Systems and remote hooks. Its low-weight, high quality products provide helicopter operators with increased cost efficiencies and safety through customer-driven designs, responsive service and support, and low ongoing maintenance costs. Onboard Systems maintains a rigorous quality management system (QMS) designed to meet or exceed the strict requirements of AS9100 Revision C, ISO 9001:2008, helicopter airframe manufacturers, and the FAA. Founded in 1975, Onboard Systems is a privately held US corporation located in Vancouver, Washington.
The Asian Real Estate Associations (AREAA) Seattle Chapter is hosting an event next Wednesday, March 16, 2016, at the Wing Luke Museum to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and experiences of being Asian in America. Emceed by local television anchor Natasha Chen of Kiro 7, the event will be headlined by Justice Mary Yu, Washingtons first Asian Pacific American (APA) member of the State Supreme Court. The event is just $15 for the general public and free for students. The event is sponsored by Union Bank, Wells Fargo, and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.

Seattles has one of the nations highest percentages of APA population and has recently seen a boom in investment from Asian countries such as China, Japan, and Singapore. The citys excellent primary and secondary education systems, as well as first class airports and hospitals, have been a major factor in attracting Asian immigrants and capital.

APA are often unfairly painted as a model minority, uniformly educated and successful; however this is simply not the case. Many APA struggle, just as any other segment of the population and this stereotype leads to a lack of political or charitable efforts to help the community. By highlighting the successes and struggles of prominent members of the APA community, the AREAA Seattle Chapter hopes to build on the national organizations No Other campaign, which advocates for the creation of a distinct Asian American Pacific Islander racial category in the Census influential quarterly homeownership reports. Currently, Asian Americans are lumped into the Other category. These reports greatly influence the political, business, and media narrative about housing in America, thus not being included in the reports makes it difficult to research trends affecting APA housing and create policies to help the community. For more information about this campaign, you can visit http://www.areaa.org/no-other.

#####

The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), established in 2003, is a national business trade organization focused on expanding housing opportunities for Asian American communities and creating business opportunities for real estate business leaders who serve this growing market. With over 15,000 members in 36 chapters across North America, AREAA is the largest real estate trade association dedicated to promoting homeownership in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
Dr. Glenn Toby, original ground breaking pioneer of Hip Hop and proud New York native, through the Houston Chapter of his non-profit Organization, The Book Bank Foundation, is hosting several Launch Day events to celebrate the non-profits expansion into Houston. On Friday March 18 starting at 7:00 pm, Dr. Toby will be presented with the key to the city of Houston from Honorable Mayor Sylvester Turner and joined by several local and nationally recognized officials to inaugurate the Houston Chapter of The Book Bank Foundation at Barnes & Noble, 7626 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX 77063. On Saturday morning, the festivities continue at 9:00 am with the community cleaning initiative, One Block At A Time at Japhet Creek Nature Park in Historic Fifth Ward, followed by an exclusive book reading & signing of "Lil G Faces The Brooklyn Bully" by Dr. Glenn Toby at Barnes & Noble, 7626 Westheimer Rd, Houston TX 77063 at 12 noon. Donations from this event will directly go to illiteracy and homeless programs that benefit the local community.

The Book Bank Foundation was created by Dr. Toby to help the indigent community with literacy matters, anti-bullying campaigns, health awareness, abuse, homelessness and hunger. The Book Bank Foundation is changing the community by providing mentoring, counseling, positive behavior reinforcement, and investments into those that would go primarily unnoticed in the Houston area. Its founder, Dr. Glenn Toby directed and produced his first film, a documentary called S.T.O.P. Solutions To Overcoming Poverty that will screen midyear of 2016. Dr. Glenn Sweety G Tobys personal experience of being homelessness compelled him to be an advocate for the silent victims of socio-economic communities throughout the United States and soon the world.

To RSVP for any launch events, and/or to make a donation to the Book Bank Foundation  Houston Chapter, please visit thebbf.org and link:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launching-of-the-book-bank-foundation-houston-chapter-tickets-21703861835.
Turning Your Idea into a Reality Jackie OCamb, expressed her excitement, This expansion is a big step in the growth process for our company, we are eager to serve more businesses and create mutually beneficial lasting relationships with companies.

Signature Filing, a company that equips business startups and entrepreneurs with the documentation and resources needed to incorporate and prosper, has opened a new office in Los Angeles. Although Signature Filing assists businesses nation-wide, this expansion will enable their workforce to accelerate their operations and refine their methods of helping businesses launch and grow.

Growing demand for Signature Filings service offerings for businesses of all sizes, lead the company to invest in providing more sites for operation. As Signature Filing continues to increase its market presence, entrepreneurs and business owners experience the benefits of using Signature Filing as a resource for DBAs, various sellers permits, tax help, document retrieval, legal guidance and protection, website design, business plan formulation, registered agent and many other services.

The manager of the new office, Jackie OCamb, expressed her excitement,

This expansion is a big step in the growth process for our company, we are eager to serve more businesses and create mutually beneficial lasting relationships with companies.

About Signature Filing: Since 2005, Signature Filing has worked to provide services to make it efficient and simple for entrepreneurs and business owners to launch, operate, and grow their companies. Our services benefit business of all sizes in their search to find the tools and assistance needed to maintain smooth operation. Our team works with companies during all stages of their business life cycle, to lay the foundation of their company, alleviate the handling of various documentation, help overcome obstacles, and provide sound advice and guidance from experienced professionals for future goal-setting and success.
I also want to make sure organizations are taking advantage of all the benefits of the UDI system and get all their questions answered.

USDM Life Sciences, a leading global regulatory consulting firm in the life sciences industry, is pleased to announce Jay Crowley will lead their Hands-On UDI Implementation Workshop immediately following the UDI Conference. The workshop will be an opportunity for medical device manufacturers to understand how to apply the Unique Device Identification (UDI) Rule to their product portfolio and get answers to their questions. Participants are encouraged to bring examples of labels and packages for review.

I look forward to continuing to work with the medical device community to ensure UDI compliance by the UDI Rule deadline, said Crowley. I also want to make sure organizations are taking advantage of all the benefits of the UDI system and get all their questions answered.

As Vice President of UDI Services and Solutions at USDM Life Sciences, Crowley helps medical device manufacturers achieve regulatory compliance as well as internal benefits and competitive advantage with UDI implementation.

Crowley held various positions over nearly 27 years at the FDA. Most recently, he was Senior Advisor for Patient Safety, in the FDAs Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Crowley had primary responsibility for the development and implementation of the FDAs UDI system.

USDM Life Sciences Hands-On UDI Implementation Workshop:



When: Wednesday, April 20, 2016, 8:30am  5:00pm

Where: Hilton Baltimore in Baltimore, MD

Cost: $1950/person, $500 for others joining from same company

Day after UDI Conference at same location

For more information, visit our website

About USDM Life Sciences:

USDM Life Sciences has more than 16 years of experience supplying clients in the life science and healthcare industries with compliance services while partnering with best of breed organizations to help companies simplify, unify and optimize their business and compliance objectives. USDM Life Sciences is a leading global regulatory consulting firm providing compliance, validation, qualification, quality, auditing and information technology services via project teams and staff augmentation to our clients in the medical device, biotechnology, biologics, diagnostics and pharmaceutical industries. For more information, please visit usdm.com.
This collaborative effort of church leaders and organizations sharing a message of unity, prayer and the breaking down of racial barriers has led to the participation of over 900 churches, , along with dozens of partner ministries.

Azusa Now gains support in record numbers as Church Leaders and the Faith-based community join together to support their upcoming gathering taking place on April 9, 2016 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

This collaborative effort of church leaders and organizations sharing a message of unity, prayer and the breaking down of racial barriers has led to the participation of over 900 churches, along with dozens of partner ministries such as Bethel Church, Christ For All Nations, Heidi Bakers Iris Global, and more. Pre-registration has now reached more than 50,000 attendees with thousands more registering each week. Registration to attend is free but required.

According to Rachel L. Holden, CEO of the host ministry TheCall, We feel we are in a historic moment for the body of Christ to gather in unity together. This amount of engagement is very encouraging. To our knowledge, the last time the Los Angeles Coliseum was filled to overflow for a gathering of this type was the Billy Graham Crusade on September 8, 1963 with a record attendance of 134,256. We are looking at contingency plans if overflow is needed.

Azusa Now will also be seen by millions around the world as it will be televised live on the day of the event by God TV and other media, as well as live streamed via the Internet.

Azusa Now will have a number of pre-event activities such as Flood LA, where Circuit Riders, a collaborative ministry of YWAM, one of the largest youth organizations in the world, have joined with Bethel Church for a citywide evangelistic outreach. Todd Whites School of Power and Love is also training people in Los Angeles and around the country in effective street evangelism ahead of the event.

One of the most important resources to an event of this size are the volunteers. Several thousand volunteers have come forth from churches and organizations, however several thousand more are needed. Those wanting to volunteer, to register for the gathering, to take part in the United City Gospel Choir, or to be part of the pre-rally activities should visit the website at http://www.AzusaNow2016.com.
Leading retailers are realizing that smart mobile initiatives coupled with cohesive omnichannel strategies are critical to generating successful and sustainable consumer engagement, said Allan Haims, CEO of StepsAway.

StepsAway, the leading mobile retail solution offering mall shoppers smartphone access to hyperlocal in-store deals, today announced that CEO Allan Haims will join other major brand executives to share key omnichannel strategies and technology insights at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Consumer & Retail Tech Conference in New York City, March 15 and 16, 2016.

Leading retailers are realizing that smart mobile initiatives coupled with cohesive omnichannel strategies are critical to generating successful and sustainable consumer engagement, said Allan Haims.

The Consumer & Retail Technology Conference welcomes presenters and attendees by invitation only. Haims fireside chat will be held Tuesday, March 15 at 8:50 am Eastern Time.

The StepsAway web-based mobile app, SAMobile, provides shoppers smartphone access to hyperlocal in-store deals accessible via participating malls Wi-Fi networks. Through StepsAways patent-pending cloud-based technology platform, SAConnect, national retailers can create and deliver promotions across multiple mall properties and mall owners, from their corporate headquarters on a single platform. Retailers can generate time-sensitive flash sales that are valid for a short duration or offer chain-wide promotions that dont expire. They can also micro-target specific malls, test pricing scenarios and dynamically modify offers based on developing business trends or inventory challenges.

About StepsAway

StepsAway is a market-first, in-mall mobile retail solution offering shoppers smartphone access to hyperlocal in-store dealsdriving more brick-and-mortar transactions. StepsAway empowers mall owners to increase sales per square foot and gives retailers an innovative way to reach and influence on-property consumer purchase decisions. Consumers access StepsAway  SAMobile  via a web-based mobile app upon signing onto a malls Wi-Fi network and then peruse deals offered on premises. StepsAways cloud-based proprietary technology platform, SAConnect, allows nationally based retailers to create and deliver promotions across multiple mall owners/locations. Officially debuted in August 2014, StepsAway is a privately held company with offices in Los Angeles and Los Gatos, California. For more information, visit http://www.stepsaway.com.

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Religion and Public Life in the Southern Crossroads Region: The Showdown States . Walnut Creek , CA : Alta Mira, 2004. Ed. by William D. Lindsey and Mark Silk.

Shailer Mathews Lives of Jesus: The Search for a Theological Foundation for the Social Gospel. Albany : State University of New York Press, 1997.

Singing in a Strange Land: Praying and Acting with the Poor. Kansas City : Sheed & Ward, 1991.
They are invaluable to the firm and embody our commitment to being the smartest and most diligent real estate advisors in the industry.

Savills Studley, the leading commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation, today announced that six professionals were promoted to new roles within the company. Evan Margolin, Jason Perla, Dan Posy and Brad Wolk were promoted to executive managing director in the firms New York headquarters, while Chris Marx and Gregg Najarian were elevated to branch manager of the firms Northern New Jersey office in Hackensack. They were all formerly senior managing directors.

The promotions come closely on the heels of Savills Studleys significant expansion of its North American operations, highlighted by the establishment of four new offices in U.S. and the opening of the companys first office in Canada, as well as the acquisition of several key new hires and services lines across the country.

I am proud to recognize the accomplishments of such valued colleagues, each of whom exemplifies Savills Studleys innovative culture, entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to exceptional client service, said Mitchell S. Steir, Chairman & CEO of Savills Studley. They are invaluable to the firm and embody our commitment to being the smartest and most diligent real estate advisors in the industry.

Evan Margolin, 43, who joined the company in 2002, focuses on representing hedge funds, boutique financial services firms and technology companies. Throughout his tenure at Savills Studley he was awarded Rookie of the Year, received his first promotion in less than six months and is recognized as having the fastest ascent from associate to executive managing director in the firms history. Margolin earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in marketing and management from The State University of New York at Albany.

Jason Perla, 38, who joined the company in 2004, provides lease analysis, strategic planning, lease negotiations and financial modeling in the firms New York Consulting Group. Prior to joining Savills Studley, Perla worked in acquisitions at Insignia Financial Group and investment banking at Lehman Brothers. He graduated from the University of Michigan receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration and holds a degree from New York Universitys Schack Institute of Real Estate.

Also in the firms New York Consulting Group, Brad Wolk, 38, handles strategic planning, financial analysis and lease negotiation for many of the firms largest clients. Before joining Savills Studley in 2005, Wolk served as in-house counsel for a regional developer. He graduated from Tufts University where he received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and received a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Dan Posy, 39, specializes in representing hedge funds and private equity firms. During his 13 years at Savills Studley, Posy has completed more than 100 transactions totaling nearly 3 million square feet. Prior to joining the firm, Posy worked for Insignia ESG, where he started his career. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Queens College.

Christopher Marx, 54, is a 30-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry and has completed some of the largest headquarters transactions in New Jersey totaling over 9 million square feet. In addition to brokerage services and business development, Marx will oversee the firms New Jersey operations and will be responsible for expanding its roster of professionals. Prior to joining Savills Studley in 2004, Marx served as a Senior Vice President at USI Real Estate Brokerage Services, Inc, where he co-managed the New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania offices. A graduate of Boston College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics, Marx is a board member of the March of Dimes of NJ, CoreNet Global and a dual office/industrial member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR), including past President and Board Member of the New Jersey chapter.

Gregg Najarian, 47, who has completed more than 5.5 million square feet of transactions throughout his career, will also serve as branch manager in New Jersey. In his new role, Najarian will assume additional responsibilities for the growth and development of the New Jersey office and its brokerage staff, while continuing to provide tenant representation services to his clients nationally. He joined Savills Studley in March 2004 when Strategic Alliance Partners joined forces with the company. Najarian joined Strategic in 1994 as one of the firms first brokers. He graduated from the University of Hartford with a Bachelor of Science in finance and a Bachelor of Arts in economics.

The promotions follow a surge of activity for Savills Studley. Over the previous 12 months, the firm has established several new offices in growing real estate markets across the United States, including Phoenix, Austin, Minneapolis and Baltimore. In addition, the firm has completed several high-profile acquisitions, highlighted by the purchase of Real Facilities in Toronto, a major tenant representation consulting firm in Canada; Cooper Brady Partners in Silicon Valley, the top performing firm in one of the nations hottest areas; Tampa-based Vertical Integration, which strengthens the firms occupier services and workforce strategy business; and New York-based management consulting firm KLG Advisors, a well-known firm that provides strategic location and workforce advisory services, including portfolio evaluation and realignment, to large corporations.

About Savills Studley

Savills Studley is the leading commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation. Founded in 1954, the firm pioneered the conflict-free business model of representing only tenants in their commercial real estate transactions. Today, supported by high quality market research and in-depth analysis, Savills Studley provides strategic real estate solutions to organizations across all industries. The firms comprehensive commercial real estate platform includes brokerage, project management, capital markets, consulting and corporate services. With 27 offices in the U.S. and Canada, and a heritage of innovation, Savills Studley is well known for tenacious client advocacy and exceptional service.

The firm is part of London-headquartered Savills plc, the premier global real estate service provider with over 30,000 professionals and over 700 locations around the world. Savills plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SVS.L).

For more information, please visit http://www.savills-studley.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @SavillsStudley.
PATH today announced the formation of the PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access to accelerate the development and introduction of lifesaving vaccines for the most vulnerable children and communities around the world.

The new center will build on PATHs nearly 20 years of success in developing and delivering vaccines to improve global health. It brings together PATHs vaccine projects into a single team working across every stage of the long and complex process of vaccine research, development, and introduction.

Working in partnership with a wide range of national health ministries, pharmaceutical manufacturers, donors, and international financing and regulatory organizations, PATH has reached billions of people around the world with lifesaving vaccines and immunization technologies.

PATHs current vaccine work includes more than two dozen vaccines either in development or already in use to protect against 15 different diseases. PATHs vaccine development efforts focus on the leading causes of childrens deaths worldwidepneumonia, diarrheal disease, and malariaas well as other global health priorities, such as polio and meningitis.

The organization also works to improve the health of children and communities by boosting access to immunization and making new vaccines rapidly and widely available. PATHs work includes developing innovative tools that make it easier for health care workers to administer vaccines and keep perishable vaccines at the right temperatures in even the most remote communities.

Our goal in creating this new Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access is to accelerate the development of new vaccines and help ensure that every child in the world has access to immunization, said Steve Davis, president and chief executive officer of PATH. The new center will bring together our experts across all aspects of vaccine development and delivery and enable PATH to work even more effectively with a wide range of vaccine development funders, health officials, regulators, and pharmaceutical and device manufacturers to make life-saving vaccines available. It will also enable us to respond more effectively to new and rapidly evolving threats such as the recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks.

We are committed to developing vaccines and related technologies that meet the needs of those living in the lowest-resource settings, said Dr. David Kaslow, vice president for product development, and head of the new Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access. The new center will bring together PATHs expertise across the entire vaccine development and introduction process, from preclinical research on novel vaccine concepts to regulatory approval and policy review, from design and conduct of field trials to innovative approaches for new vaccine introduction.

PATH works as a trusted partner with communities and local health authorities in more than 70 countries to understand their needs and priorities, and then collaborates with laboratories and researchers to harness the most innovative scientific solutions and adapt them to low-resource settings.

PATH collaborates with manufacturers to accelerate development timelines and make vaccines affordable, and with clinical researchers to evaluate vaccine candidates and secure regulatory approval.

In addition, PATH serves as a technical advisor to governments to support immunization decision-making, planning, and implementation. For example, PATHs Better Immunization Data Initiative helps countries improve immunization and overall health service delivery through improved data collection, quality, and use.

PATHs vaccine work also includes both novel technologies and innovative strategies for storing, monitoring, and transporting vaccines and other essential medicines at safe temperatures, especially in low-resource settings.

PATH has led or managed numerous global partnerships on vaccines and immunization, including the Meningitis Vaccine Project, the Rotavirus Vaccine Program, the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Program, and the Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

o PATH helped to develop and introduce MenAfriVac, the first vaccine developed specifically for Africa. Since introduction in 2010, more than 235 million Africans have been immunized, leading to near elimination of deadly meningitis A disease in the African meningitis belt.

o PATHs Rotavirus Vaccine Program accelerated rotavirus vaccine availabilitymarking the first time in history a new vaccine introduction occurred simultaneously in high- and low-income countries.

o PATHs Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine Program secured a high-quality, affordable vaccine against one of the leading viral causes of childhood disability in Asia, reaching over 220 million children in six countries.

o PATHs Malaria Vaccine Initiative partnered with GlaxoSmithKline on the development and testing of the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate. In January 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended RTS,S for pilot implementations in young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

o PATH worked in partnership to develop the vaccine vial monitor, which shows when a vaccine has exceeded a safe temperature. More than 5 billion of these vaccine vial monitors have been used around the world. UNICEF and WHO have estimated that the use of vaccine vial monitors, on basic vaccines alone, saves approximately US$14 million per year by preventing the discard of undamaged vaccines.

o PATH designed and developed the SoloShot syringethe first autodisable syringe to come to market for immunization and drug delivery.

Initial funding for the PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access has been provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In order to fully realize the lifesaving impact of vaccines, we need to make sure innovation is supported at every development stage through to delivery, said Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The new Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access will accelerate and improve vaccine development by drawing from the breadth of expertise across the organization. Were excited to support PATH and other partners on this proven integrated development approach.

Recent years have dramatically underscored the need for faster and more effective vaccine development and delivery, PATH CEO Davis said. We are doubling down on our commitment to reach every community and every child with lifesaving vaccines. We dare to envision a world where no one dies for want of a vaccine.

MenAfriVac is a registered trademark of Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

SoloShot is a trademark of BD.

About PATH

PATH is the leader in global health innovation. An international nonprofit organization, PATH saves lives and improves health, especially among women and children. PATH accelerates innovation across five platformsvaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and system and service innovationsthat harness our entrepreneurial insight, scientific and public health expertise, and passion for health equity. By mobilizing partners around the world, PATH takes innovation to scale, working alongside countries primarily in Africa and Asia to tackle their greatest health needs. With these key partners, PATH delivers measurable results that disrupt the cycle of poor health. Learn more at http://www.path.org.
Hair Club Pickering We look forward to a thriving business in Pickering over the coming years with our experienced Managing Director, Sameer Vahidy at the helm. - Mike Nassar, Sr. Regional Vice President

Hair Club, North Americas largest provider of all proven hair restoration solutions, today announces the grand opening of its newest Canadian hair restoration center, Hair Club Pickering.

Since its founding almost four decades ago, Hair Club has provided hair loss treatments to more than 500,000 clients and currently has over 100 locations throughout North America.

Located in Suite 700 of 1305 Pickering Parkway, ON L1V3P2, Hair Club Pickering is the fifth Hair Club in the Greater Toronto Area and the 11th Hair Club location in Canada.

The new Hair Club Pickering will be yet another convenient location for our Clients in the Greater Toronto Area, states Mike Nassar, Hair Club Sr. Regional Vice President. As the gateway to the Eastern GTA, Pickering's growing population will be able to visit Hair Club for consultations without the long commute into Toronto.

Contemporary and upscale, Hair Club clients are sure to enjoy this new Hair Club location.

We look forward to a thriving business in Pickering over the coming years with our experienced Managing Director, Sameer Vahidy at the helm, adds Nassar.

For more information on Hair Club Pickering including services offered, directions and public transportation information, visit http://www.hairclub.com/locations/centers/pickering.

Hair Club offers solutions for hair loss in women and men including non-surgical hair replacement and hair restoration surgery. All solutions have been proven effective and are backed with extensive research and cutting-edge technology.

About Hair Club:

Founded in 1976 by Sy Sperling, Hair Club is the leading provider of all proven hair restoration solutions FDA-approved or cleared to work for hair loss. Hair Club has granted more than 500,000 men and women an experience that truly changed their lives. Today, Hair Club has over 100 locations throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Aderans Co. Ltd, the worlds leading provider of total hair loss solutions. Aderans brands in the U.S. include Bosley.
DSM Technology Consultants is pleased to welcome Kenneth Graziano to the team as the Vice President of Sales. Graziano previously worked at Vology as the Director of Sales, and during his time there he earned the accolade of being the Top Region Sales Manager. Prior to Vology, Graziano spent over 5 years at UPS. He started as a Senior Account Manager, and worked his way to being an Area Sales Manager. While in that position he was responsible for managing the Pinellas County Sales Force while maintaining, and cultivating a 12,000 customer account base responsible for driving $70m annually. At DSM, Graziano is responsible for leading an aggressive expansion of DSMs sales team to address the demand DSM is realizing in both commercial, and governmental sectors. Ken has been actively involved in mens lacrosse for 23 years, and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Thunder. When DSM hired him, not only did they gain an employee with a strong work ethic, but they also gained someone with a giving heart. Kens charity of choice is the United Way, (a DSM favorite) and a charity where he has been a Leadership Giver for many years. Other than lacrosse, in his spare time he enjoys wildlife photography, and spending time with his 3 year old son, and wife. Ken graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Connecticut State University.

About DSM Technology Consultants, LLC.

DSM is Floridas leading managed cloud provider and is presently developing a national footprint. By utilizing the largest inland private cloud network in Florida, DSM delivers fully managed private cloud solutions as well as hybrid cloud networks utilizing both private and public cloud environments. DSMs white glove services provide customers with cost effective solutions that drive to business objectives, including Managed Infrastructure Services, Disaster Recovery as a Service, Data Protection as a Service, Security as a Service, and custom Platform as a Service. These highly scalable solutions are delivered from CJIS, SSAE16, SOC 1, SOC 2 and HIPAA certified facilities. DSM leverages its Professional Services organization with deep technical expertise and strong client-centric focus to enable its clients to achieve their business needs and goals.

For more information, visit http://www.dsm.net.
Global Leadership Week Celebrate leadership at all levels through global action this April.

Global Leadership Week (GLW) is a weeklong celebration of leadership through global action in K-20 education. GLW is an opportunity for global education leaders to learn from one another and share effective principles in leadership, particularly within the context of an interconnected, global age. This event is taking place April 25-29, 2016.

During Global Leadership Week, leaders in schools, universities, non-profit organizations, and corporations will design and host virtual events to showcase thought leadership. The global education community at large can choose to participate in these online activities by browsing event listings on the GLW website.

The Global Education Conference (GEC) Network will be hosting two major events during GLW. The Global Leadership Summit is an invitational, face-to-face convening at Edmodos headquarters in San Mateo, California on April 25th. Says Manish Kothari, GM of Institutions at Edmodo, "Millions of educators from around the world share best practices, learn from one another, and discover resources that are relevant for them on Edmodo - we are proud to support the Global Leadership Summit, whose objective is very germane to fostering collaboration for the global education ecosystem."

Confirmed panelists include:

Jaime Casap, Chief Education Evangelist, Google

Betsy Corcoran, CEO, EdSurge

Tony Jackson, Vice President for Education, The Asia Society

Amy Lin, Co-Founder, Blendspace

Vibhu Mittal, CEO, Edmodo

Dana Mortenson, Executive Director, World Savvy

Jennifer Russell, Director of Education, iEARN-USA

Cleary Vaughan-Lee, Education Director, Global Oneness Project

Brandon Wiley, President, GlobalEdLeader

Esther Wojcicki, Educator, Palo Alto High School

David Young, CEO, VIF International Education

Additionally, the GEC is producing the Global Leadership Day virtual conference on April 26th which will feature thought leaders at all levels. These two events will be streamed and recorded for the public; subsequent recordings will be used as living artifacts to continually inspire leaders. There is no cost to virtually attend any of these events.

The education public can actively participate in any of the following ways:

-Virtually watch our face-to-face international networking event at Edmodo's headquarters on Monday, April 25 from 4 PM - 7 PM PST (UTC-7). The summit itself is an invite-only event.

-Listen to presentations online and engage with various global education thought leaders on Global Leadership Day, Tuesday, April 26 from noon - 4 PM PST (UTC-7). Event tracks will be: State/National/International Leadership, District Leadership, Teacher Leadership, Classroom Leadership, Teacher Education, Corporate and Nonprofit Leadership.

-Design and host a virtual event focused on global education leadership during the week of April 25th.

-Attend any of the aforementioned virtual events hosted by participating schools and organizations.

This event is brought to public audiences by people and organizations who believe in the power of globally connected learning. GLW is organized by the Global Education Conference Network, Flat Connections, GlobalEdLeader, Global Oneness Project, iEARN-USA, the Learning Revolution Project, World Savvy, and VIF International Education. Patrons of this event include VIF International Education, Google, Edmodo, TES, the Wonderment, iEARN-USA, the Global Campaign for Education - US Chapter, and Otus.
Scaled Agile, Inc., provider of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), is supporting Agile India 2016 as an Enterprise Agile Theme and Reception sponsor. Now in its sixth year, Agile India is taking place in Bangalore from March 1421, 2016. With over 1,500 attendees expected, it is Asia's largest international conference on Lean and Agile software development methods. The Agile Software Community of India (ASCI) is hosting over 125 sessions with speakers from all parts of the globe. To view the full conference program, visit http://2016.agileindia.org.

This is an important event for us because India has become a hotbed of SAFe practitioner growth and activity, said Carol McEwan, Scaled Agiles Vice President of Community. Over the last year weve seen a 300% growth rate from India, resulting in over 4,000 SAFe practitioners in that region alone. We are focused on supporting their professional development as they build their expertise in implementing SAFe, and look forward to meeting many of our India-based members at the conference.

Conference attendees looking to learn about SAFe are invited to drop by the Scaled Agile booth to meet the team, address questions, and hear the stories behind SAFe successes in some of the largest enterprises in the world. Scaled Agile speakers will also be discussing SAFe in these sessions:

The Lean-Agile Enterprise Awakens: Scalable and Modular is the Future!

Presented by Richard Knaster, SAFe Fellow and Principal Consultant at Scaled Agile

Thursday, March 17, 5:45pm in Grand Ballroom I

In this talk, SAFe Fellow Richard Knaster discusses a more scalable and modular lean-agile approach that enables even the largest enterprises to compete with smaller and nimbler competitors that are disrupting companies in all industries.

Foundations of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

Presented by Francis Kelly, Scaled Agile VP of Partner Development and Enterprise Sales.

Thursday, March 17, 7:00pm Evening Reception

This presentation by Scaled Agile executive Francis Kelly is for those who wish to better understand the purpose and foundations of the Framework, its basis in Lean and Agile, the business benefits that it can deliver, and guidance for implementation.

Since attending last years Agile India conference, weve seen a dramatic increase in the number of new Partners who are on the ground supporting the SAFe community in India and Asia, said Francis Kelly VP of Partner Development and Enterprise Sales. This is our first year as a sponsor, and were excited to contribute to the dialog, and to connect our Indian members with over 20 of our India-based Scaled Agile Partners that provide SAFe training, consulting, and tooling.

Scaled Agile Partners with offices in India include:



CA Technologies, Gold SPCT, Bengaluru

SolutionsIQ, Gold SPCT, Bangalore

Temenos, Gold SPCT, Bengaluru

Accenture, Gold SPCT, Bengaluru

TATA Consultancy Services (TCS), Gold, Bangalore

PA Consulting, Gold, Bangalore

Persistent Systems, Gold, Pune

Mindtree, Gold, Hyderabad

Unisys, Gold, Bangalore Karnataka

AgileSparks, Gold, Pune

Xebia, Silver, Bangalore, Gurgaon

TEKSystems, Bronze, Bangalore

Crosswinds, Bronze, Hyderabad

Prowareness, Bronze, Bangalore

Qwinix, Bronze, Mysore

Innovation Roots, Bronze, Bangalore

Knowledgehut, Bronze, Bangalore

To learn more about Scaled Agile Partners and their capabilities, go to: scaledagile.com/partners.

About Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI):

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Scaled Agiles mission is to help large enterprises achieve better outcomes, increase employee engagement, and improve business economics through adoption of Lean-Agile principles and practices based on the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). SAI supports tens of thousands of practitioners of the Framework through training, certification, consulting services, and a global partner network that reaches over 35 countries and 350 cities. As a contributing member of the Pledge 1% corporate philanthropy movement, SAI also seeks to inspire, facilitate, and encourage other companies to make a positive impact in their community.

Learn about Scaled Agile, and the Scaled Agile Framework, at scaledagile.com and scaledagileframework.com.

To view SAFe case studies, visit http://scaledagileframework.com/case-studies

Media Contact:

Regina Cleveland, Director of Communications

+1.720.477.1756

Regina(dot)Cleveland(at)scaledagile(dot)com
The festival provides a forum for college filmmakers to tell a story and have their voices heard through film.

College student filmmakers have another week  until March 22 - to submit entries to the 2016 Chicago Shorts Film Festival. The Festival, sponsored by Robert Morris University Illinois, provides a venue for collaboration and fosters community among college students while providing a forum to tell a story and have their voices heard through film. It is an opportunity for college students to be recognized and awarded for their work in film and is open to college and university students worldwide, regardless of country, major or school they attend.

Over the years, entries have been received from across the U.S. and several countries. The entries are subject to a jurying process by industry professionals and the winning entries in each category will receive a $1000 cash prize; second and third place winners will also receive prizes and recognition.

It is free to enter and students can learn about the different categories and how to submit their work at the Festival website: http://chicagoshortsfestival.org/ They can also email questions to: 2016fest(at)chicagoshortsfestival(dot)org.

The Chicago Shorts Festival is set for April 27 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State Street in Chicago. Winning entries in each category will be shown.

Robert Morris University Illinois is a not-for-profit, baccalaureate and graduate degree granting institution, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.* The University serves over 4500 students interested in getting an education in business, graphic arts, nursing and health care, culinary and computer studies at its main campus in Chicago, as well as at locations in Arlington Heights, DuPage, Elgin, Orland Park, Bensenville, Springfield, Peoria, Schaumburg and Lake County. In all communications, please refer to the university by its full name, Robert Morris University Illinois. For more information, call 800-RMC-5960 or visit the web site at http://www.robertmorris.edu

*Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 30 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60602, 312-263-0456.
The money raised by STA Travel will go towards helping with the development of specialized facilities and services for young people with cancer.

STA Travel has announced a new partnership with Teen Cancer America to raise funds and awareness of the valuable work it does to support young people with cancer. Its part of a world-first global partnership that connects organizations helping young people affected by cancer worldwide, including Teen Cancer America, Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK, CanTeen Australia and CanTeen New Zealand.

Throughout 2016, STA Travel will raise money for Teen Cancer America through a number of staff and consumer fundraising activities, including giving travelers the opportunity to donate $2 to their booking in-store.

STA Travel Chief Executive Officer John Constable said: We are thrilled to be supporting Teen Cancer America. The sad reality is that cancer affects many teenagers around the world, and as the worlds largest youth-based travel company it touches many of our customers and people worldwide. We send more than two million young people on life-changing trips every year, but there are thousands that mill out due to illness. The work of the organizations that weve aligned with is vital and were delighted to launch this world first global partnership. We hope our fundraising efforts will go some way to help Teen Cancer America provide the best possible care and support to the young people diagnosed.

Almost 12,000 young people between the ages of 13 and 25 are diagnosed with cancer each year  that is more than 30 every day, more than one every hour. The money raised by STA Travel will go towards helping with the development of specialized facilities and services for young people with cancer.

Peyton, aged 17, turned to Teen Cancer America when she was battling cancer. "The Teen Cancer America lounge was so helpful to me during treatment because it was a beautiful distraction; there was nothing to remind me constantly of the nauseating pain of chemo and I was actually able to hang out with people I could relate to. I was actually able to eat there because I didn't associate this room with a typical hospital room and it didn't make me feel sick."

Simon Davies, Executive Director of Teen Cancer America said: As Teen Cancer America relied on the wisdom of its UK inspiration, Teenage Cancer Trust, I believe that exciting collaborations like this one led by STA Travel will propagate ideas and valuable information vital to the advancement of our collective goal to help young adults overcome and ultimately out-live cancer. It is STA Travels novel approach to empowering youthful enthusiasm for adventure that brings us together in this remarkable new way and with great promise and enthusiasm.

Teen Cancer America relies on donations to fund its important work. Find out more, get involved or make a donation at: http://www.statravel.com/teen-cancer-america.htm

###

Contacts:

STA Travel  tiffany.harrison(at)statravel(dot)com | 480-592-0868 EXT. 22431

Teen Cancer America  Lee, Everett, LaunchPad PR, lee(at)launchpadpr(dot)com | 1- 310-560-6944

About STA Travel

STA Travel is the worlds largest youth travel company. Weve been successfully delaying students from entering full-time employment since 1979, and every year we send more than two million passengers on life-changing adventures. Today we have more than 2,000 people in over 200 stores in 11 countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. We also work with franchisees, joint ventures and licensed partners in a further 52 countries.

About Teen Cancer America

Following in the footsteps of the highly developed and successful Teenage Cancer Trust  Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program out of the UK, Teen Cancer America is designed to help hospitals and healthcare professionals bridge the gap between pediatric and adult oncology care. Teen Cancer America aims to educate and support hospitals and outpatient facilities in the development of specialized units for this age group. The units are places just for teens and young adults where the cancer experience is understood and the importance of living life through the cancer journey is nourished. Teen Cancer Americas work also supports the coming together of physicians and allied healthcare professionals in both pediatric and adult oncology so that the teen and young adult cancer patient care becomes closer to where it needs to be.
The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation has awarded ASU's Cronkite School an $800,000 grant for students to learn and experience news innovation and to spread new ideas across journalism.

One hundred years after the birth of the late Edith Kinney Gaylord, a journalism pioneer and philanthropist, the foundation she established is finding new ways to invest in journalisms future.

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation has awarded Arizona State Universitys Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication an $800,000 grant for students to learn and experience news innovation and to spread new ideas across journalism.

The new grant funds the Edith Kinney Gaylord News Innovation Initiative at the Cronkite School. The program will serve as the innovation hub for Cronkite News at Arizona PBS, a multiplatform daily news division operated by the Cronkite School with 15 full-time editor/professors and more than 120 ASU students who produce daily news content on TV and digital platforms for Arizona audiences.

The Gaylord Initiative also brings new courses in journalism innovation and entrepreneurship at Cronkite, as well as a new professor of practice in data analytics and audience engagement.

Jessica Pucci, who directed brand journalism, social media and audience engagement at the communications agency Manifest, will direct social media and analytics for Cronkite News. Pucci also will teach a course in analytics and engagement this fall.

As part of the initiative, Cronkite will work closely with the University of Oklahomas Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, which is named in honor of the Gaylord family, the former longtime publishers of The Oklahoman newspaper and the founders of Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

We are excited to partner with Arizona State Universitys Cronkite School of Journalism for the News Innovation Initiative, said Bob Ross, EEJF president and CEO. This grant will allow them to continue providing a world-class journalism education utilizing the teaching hospital model approach, and also form a stronger partnership with University of Oklahomas Gaylord College of Journalism under Dean Ed Kelley.

Gaylord College students will participate in classes via video conference. Gaylord Initiative professors at Cronkite also will make regular visits to the University of Oklahoma to speak with classes and meet with faculty.

Being able to collaborate with the Cronkite School will be of great benefit to our students, and a lot of fun as well, Kelley said. We are so grateful to Ethics and Excellence for its vision and willingness to invest in two journalism programs that want to help find innovative ways to ensure journalism has a bright and meaningful future.

In addition to Pucci, the Gaylord Initiative includes other key Cronkite faculty members such as Eric Newton, the schools first innovation chief, who led journalism initiatives at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for more than a decade.

According to Cronkite School Dean and Arizona PBS CEO Christopher Callahan, the Gaylord Initiative fosters digital news experimentation, exploring new ways of storytelling and bold experiments in audience engagement.

We are in the midst of one of the most exciting and tumultuous times in the history of American journalism, with the digital revolution disrupting economic models that stood for generations, Callahan said. The key to solving this challenge is to innovate. Thanks to the generous support of Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, we will be able to develop the next generation of journalists at two forward-looking journalism schools to be innovators.

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation also awarded the Cronkite School a $150,000 grant over three years to continue hosting an Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor in Journalism Ethics. The visiting professorship annually brings a journalism leader to Cronkite to teach ethics and diversity. Past visiting professors have included Peter Bhatia, the current editor and vice president for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Sandra Mims Rowe, the former editor of The Oregonian newspaper, and Caesar Andrews, the former executive editor of the Detroit Free Press.

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was founded by Edith Kinney Gaylord, the daughter of Daily Oklahoman Publisher E.K. Gaylord. Ms. Gaylord created Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in 1982 to improve the quality of journalism by supporting research and creative projects that promote excellence and foster high ethical standards in journalism.
The Voters Right to Know Act (VRTK) announced its support today of SB 1349 (Hertzberg), a proposal to modernize the states lobbying and campaign filings database, known as Cal-Access. This bill contains key provisions that mirror proposals in VRTK, including use of a unique identifier for donors and modern search tools for public access to these critical disclosures.

A modern Cal-Access will be the infrastructure that makes disclosure work for Californians. We commend Senator Hertzberg for his vision and leadership on this issue, said VRTK proponent Jim Heerwagen. "SB 1349 will make this system easy to use -- for campaigns, citizens and the media. With this project, Californians will have among the most reliable, up-to-date and easily understood view in the country of the money behind campaigns."

Hundreds of millions are spent annually in California lobbying and elections -- much of it untraceable to the true source. Many millions more are unknown due to uneven reporting and outmoded systems.

Cal-Access is a decades old system that has become both unreliable and an impediment to public access to this information. Passage of SB 1349 would signal a major step towards better disclosure of these contributions and expenditures, and a long overdue upgrade to the states infrastructure in this regard.

"MapLight's research has conclusively shown that knowing which funders are behind a campaign makes a big difference to voters. We look forward to working with the legislature and the Secretary of State to bring a revised Cal-Access to the people of California," said Daniel G. Newman, President & Co-Founder of Maplight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks moneys influence on politics.

SB 1349 marks the third legislative proposal to include components of VRTK, which received clearance for signature gathering last November. VRTK was already supportive of AB 700 (Gomez), also known as the California DISCLOSE Act, and AB 1200 (Gordon), which respectively advance significant new disclosures on campaign contributors and lobbying for procurement contracts.

Together, the introduction of these legislative proposals demonstrate the legislatures commitment to acting on the publics demand for disclosure and transparency. With their introduction, VRTK has withdrawn its signature gathering efforts and will not seek the remaining signatures for consideration on the November 2016 ballot.

Voters Right to Know was written to address systemic issues in Californias campaign finance and disclosure system, and to make the state a national leader in these issues. Working with a tremendous team of legal and campaign experts, we developed and introduced a package of reforms that set that bar, added Heerwagen. Our team, along with volunteers from the California Clean Money Action Fund and hundreds of committed Californians, are proud to have advanced this proposal across the state and made a direct and immediate impact on the dialogue around these issues in the Capitol. I thank Senator Hertzberg, Secretary of State Padilla and all of Voters Right to Knows supporters.

California Clean Money Action Fund has mobilized thousands of Californians who advocate true disclosure on money in politics and support both AB 700 and the Voters Right to Know Initiative, said Trent Lange, President and Executive Director of the California Clean Money Action Fund. We have been proud to support this proposal, and will organize in support of SB 1349, AB 700 and an open and accountable government that is responsive to the needs of all Californians.

Supporters of the Voters Right to Know will support passage of SB 1394, AB 700, and AB 1200 and continue to advocate provisions not yet under consideration by the legislature, including the tracing of contributions through non-profits and other intermediaries, as well as needed updates to the Political Reform Act.

Voters Right to Know was an innovative response to the current problems facing the political system, one that has spurred action in state legislatures form California to Maryland, said Ann Ravel former Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). I applaud Mr. Heerwagen and the supporters of this ballot measure and look forward to collaborating with them to promote responsive and accountable political leadership.
U.S. Security Associates (USA) announced the acquisition of McRoberts Protective Agency, Inc., the oldest security firm in America and a venerable brand synonymous with quality and innovation. The acquisition brings state-of-the-industry capability to McRoberts valued clients and adds expertise in certain specialized vertical niches to the USA portfolio.

Richard Wyckoff, President and CEO of U.S. Security Associates commented. We are excited to bring McRoberts Protective Agency into the fold. McRoberts has a core competency in superior customer service and forming partnerships with their clients to deliver customized security solutions. This acquisition supports our strategy for growth and strengthens our presence in multiple strategic markets.

McRoberts is renown in the industry for their maritime knowledge and industry advancements. This provides a great national opportunity for our company to further augment in-house maritime capabilities, stated Alton Harvey, Senior Vice President of National Accounts of U.S. Security Associates. Our comprehensive training academy already includes a rigorous training and certification program to ensure our security officers meet the federal and international requirements set forth by the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.

Meredith McRoberts, fourth-generation CEO and majority shareholder of McRoberts, said, U.S. Security Associates (USA) is clearly the best security company in the industry today and we are thrilled to be able to offer our external and internal clients USAs capabilities and opportunities. McRoberts has always been committed to delivering maximum value to our stakeholders and this move is consistent with that commitment.

ABOUT U.S. SECURITY ASSOCIATES

U.S. Security Associates (USA) is North Americas security solutions leader, with locally-responsive offices providing premier national security services and global consulting and investigations. The company provides career paths for over 50,000 security professionals serving several thousand clients and a range of industries. Innovative applications of leading-edge, proprietary technology enable USA to rank annually among the worlds best training companies, sustain the highest standards of quality, and underscore world-class customer service with unparalleled accountability. USAs rise as one of todays largest security companies is a natural byproduct of these differentiators together with a commitment to investing in employee reward and development, giving back to local communities and relentlessly striving to be a security company that is Safe.Secure.Friendly.. For more information, visit http://www.ussecurityassociates.com.
Based on the enormous success of projects submitted in 2014 and 2015, we know that this community can face these challenges and solve them creatively.

Supplyframe and Hackaday launch their third Hackaday Prize today, which challenges the international community of designers, engineers and makers to expand the frontiers of knowledge and engineering and build something that matters.

The 2016 Hackaday prize poses some serious challenges for the Hackaday community. Based on the enormous success of projects submitted in 2014 and 2015, we know that this community can face these challenges and solve them creatively.

-Sophi Kravitz, Director Product Marketing

This year the competition has evolved into a series of five design challenges that seek solutions to address technology issues facing humanity. The first challenge, which takes place March 14-April 25, focuses on concept designs for impactful projects. Entrants could choose to create a better radiation monitoring system, better calorimeter, open source instrumentation, digital logging scales or exercise trackers, to name a few ideas.

The Hackaday Prize competition continues through October with the following four themes: Anything Goes, Citizen Scientist, Automation and Assistive Technologies. Teaming up is encouraged through Hackaday.coms global collaboration platform so that projects move forward at all hours of the day.

Last years Hackaday Prize asked for creative solutions to the global water crisis, pollution, climate change, food shortages and fossil fuel dependency, among others. The Grand Prize was awarded to a British team, who created Eyedriveomatic, a non-invasive method of adding eye-control to powered wheelchairs using inexpensive and easily adaptable hardware. Best Product winner Vinduino, which monitors soil moisture at different depths to determine when to irrigate and how much water is needed, has implications far beyond its winemaking roots. Click here to see all of the 2015 Hackaday Prize finalists.

Joining the team this year are well known engineers and hackers Anouk Wipprecht, AnnMarie Thomas, Dustyn Roberts, Christal Gordan, Luz Rivas, Nadya Peek, James Bruton, Katherine Scott alongside returning judges Akiba (Freaklabs, @Freaklabs), Pete Dokter (Sparkfun, @petedokter), Ben Krasnow (GoogleX & host of Applied Science on YouTube, @benkrasnow), Lenore Edman and Windell Oskay (Evil Mad Scientist Labs, @EMSL), and Micah Scott (Scanlime, @Scanlime)

This year 20 projects will be chosen from each of the 5 rounds and awarded $1,000 per project. At the end of all 5 rounds, 100 projects total will advance to the finals, when 5 will be chosen for prizes ranging from $5,000 to $150,000. The total Prize pool is $300,000. In addition, the Grand Prize winner/winning team will be awarded a residency in the new Supplyframe Design Lab to further develop the project.

Individuals or teams from the USA, UK, India, and many other countries are eligible to enter. Universities, colleges, hackerspaces, and startups are strongly encouraged to take part, as are young hackers. Applicants must be 13 year of age or over to qualify.

These challenges cant wait. Share your ideas to help everyone get started.

To learn more visit hackaday.io/prize or follow contest news on Twitter at @hackadayprize or #2016HaDPrize. You can also email prize(at)hackaday(dot)com.

For press inquiries, contact:

Sophi Kravitz

Director of Product Marketing, Hackaday Prize 2016



+1 (917) 806-6210

prize(at)hackaday(dot)com

@HackadayPrize

The latest version of the press kit can be downloaded here: http://www.hackaday.io/prize/press

About The Hackaday Prize

The Hackaday Prize challenges people to better their world by designing and prototyping innovative products. In keeping with the community values of Hackaday, The Hackaday Prize encourages the use of open source technologies and the cross pollination of ideas by the hardware community. With the richest and coolest prize pool in hardware hacking history and expert judges who are notable within the community, The Hackaday Prize inspires hardware hackers to bring their best to the table.

About Supplyframe

Supplyframe delivers the best information, tools and technology to millions of engineers around the world.


More than 40 Canada-U.S. business groups are calling for a three-day Summit to discuss the future of the cross-border trade relationship in the wake of this weeks official State visit between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. The Canada-U.S. Summit 2016 will focus on Strategies, Advocacy, Gateways, and Engagement and will be held at The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) on June 15-17, 2016.

Summit sessions will include discussions on Canada-U.S. key industries: automotive, aerospace, agribusiness, energy, and consumer products, as well as expanded cross-border trade in information technology, labor mobility, regional wellness, and infrastructure development. The Summit will mark the first time in recent memory where the majority of national and regional Canada-U.S. business groups will meet under one roof with political leaders on each side of the border to discuss the future of the two-way relationship.

The time is right for action. The Canada-U.S. Summit follows a long-standing, but unfortunately abandoned, tradition of the cross-border business community coming together to address the issues confronting our relationship, said one of the Summits founders, Dr. Christopher Sands, Director of the John Hopkins Center for Canadian Studies in Washington, D.C. Given the political transitions in each country, as well as issues such as softwood lumber, climate policy, the border, and changes in global value chains, this Summit comes at an important time in bilateral relations.

The organizers selected Ohio as the site for the Summit given the states geographic position in the heart of the binational Great Lakes region, as well as the political importance of the state in the U.S. election season. We want to utilize the spotlight on Ohio in 2016 as a way to feature the most important two-way trading relationship in the world, said Prof. Beth-Anne Schuelke-Leech of The Ohio State Universitys John Glenn College of Public Affairs. While we will be holding the Summit in the political and economic bell-weather state of Ohio, this is a continental event and we look forward to hosting corporate, political and policy leaders from throughout the Canada-U.S. relationship at The Ohio State University.

*30*

For more information and/or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Dan Ujczo

U.S. Canadian Summit 2016 Phone: 614-744-2579

Dickinson Wright PLLC Mobile: 614-271-8355

150 E. Gay Street, Suite 2400 Fax: 248-433-7274

Columbus, OH 43215 Email: dujczo(at)dickinsonwright(dot)com

About the US-Canada Summit: The Summit is being organized by a Council of more than 40 Canada-U.S. business associations led by Sands, Schuelke, Laurie Tannous of the University of Windsor Cross Border Institute, and Dan Ujczo of cross-border law firm, Dickinson Wright. For more information, please visit: http://glenn.osu.edu/sage/

Participating Organizations:

American Chamber of Commerce in Canada

Binational Research and Innovation Corridor

Canada-Arizona Business Council

Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters

Canada Business Association of North Carolina

Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson

International Center for Schools

Canada-Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce

Canada-U.S. Law Institute

Canada U.S. Business Association

Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance

Canadian American Business Council

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters

Canadian Trucking Alliance

Cross-Border Institute at the University

of Windsor

Coalition for Americas Gateways and

Trade Corridors

Columbus 2020

Council of Great Lakes Industries

Council of the Great Lakes Region

Council of State Governments  Midwest

Dickinson Wright

George W. Bush Institute

Global Public Affairs

Great Lakes Manufacturing Council

Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition

Jobs Ohio

John Hopkins Center for Canadian Studies at SAIS Kaufman Trade Law

LEXSAGE

Niagara Global Tourism Institute

North American Strategy for Competitiveness

Northof41.org

Ohio Canada Business Association

The Ohio State University John Glenn College of

Public Affairs

Pacific Northwest Economic Region

University at Buffalo

w2n2

WBE Canada
Too many co-ops are produced in non-descript studios because thats whats easiest and cheapest for the producer.

Bobbie Battista, longtime CNN anchor and the former moderator of Talkback Live, will host co-op media tours produced by KEF Media in a new feature called Bobbie Battistas Consumer Corner.

The themed Consumer Corner co-ops will be limited to just two synergistic partners and deliver a minimum audience reach of 12 million.

Bobbie enjoys great name recognition among television and radio producers nationwide, said Alex Hinojosa, executive producer of Bobbie Battistas Consumer Corner. Shes also an experienced news pro who can deliver client messages professionally and with enormous credibility.

According to Hinojosa, KEF Media has not produced any co-op tours in two years. Instead, its media team has been studying the co-op offerings of competitors and found serious flaws.

First, too many of our competitors are packing too many partners into co-ops and client messages are being lost, Hinojosa said. Worse, many co-op producers are placing partners in tours even though they have little synergy with each other or even the co-ops theme.

Hinojosa noted many co-op hosts have little or no television experience, exacerbating the message delivery problem. He explained the common denominator in most all co-ops is consumer news you can use, so it makes little difference to the media who presents the message.

Why put somebody in front of the camera who isnt comfortable there? asked Hinojosa, who added KEF Media will produce co-ops at locations that reflect the partners and theme.

Too many co-ops are produced in non-descript studios because thats whats easiest and cheapest for the producer.

ABOUT KEF MEDIA

KEF Media primarily serves all-sized PR Agencies needing publicity for their clients via a variety of television, radio, digital tactics or a combination of these media services. KEF Media has transcended and adapted after more than three decades to now focus on integrated, blended and customized digital and broadcast campaigns.
This charity drive is an opportunity for everyone in our community to fight domestic abuse in the Indianapolis area by joining our agency and offering support to the Sheltering Wings center.

Aspire Insurance & Financial, a family managed insurance firm that serves communities in and around Indianapolis, is initiating a grassroots charity effort to raise funds for a nearby non-profit that provides support to women and children who need help escaping from domestic abuse.

Based in Danville, the Sheltering Wings organization is a domestic violence shelter that serves Hendricks County and the surrounding region. Offering a fully equipped 68 bed facility, Sheltering Wings provides material and spiritual support and resources to those seeking respite from abuse. The Sheltering Wings center also maintains a 24-hour crisis line for those in need of immediate assistance.

This charity drive is an opportunity for everyone in our community to fight domestic abuse in the Indianapolis area by joining our agency and offering support to the Sheltering Wings center, says Rob McBride, manager and owner of Aspire Insurance & Financial.

Joined by a plethora of community leaders, local business owners, and clients, the Aspire Insurance team is creating an online social media platform to gather support for the Sheltering Wings charity effort from families throughout Indiana. As well, the Sheltering Wings charity drive will enjoy a full page write-up in the new edition of Our Hometown, a monthly online circular published by the Aspire team: http://www.aspireindy.com/Our-Hometown-Magazine_39

As part of a permanent community involvement program, Aspire Insurance & Financial has committed to providing further support to other Indiana-based charities over the next year, at the rate of one new charity or cause every other month.

Readers who wish to join the Aspire Insurance team during the Sheltering Wings fund raising campaign are invited to make a direction contribution from this page: http://www.aspireindy.com/Sheltering-Wings_18_community_cause. Readers interested in learning more about other Indiana charities and causes supported by the Aspire team can review the agencys Community Causes roster here: http://www.aspireindy.com/community-cause.

About Aspire Insurance & Financial

Serving Brownsburg IN, Aspire Insurance & Financial is committed to bringing local communities an insurance agency that understands their needs. Taking pride in its team of professionals, Aspire Insurance & Financial works with carriers to assemble a variety of products and services for its customers. From all of the products a typical consumer needs (home, auto, boat, ATV, etc.,) to all financial services products and tools (retirement, savings, long term care, disability, etc.,) and business insurance (liability, building, auto) to workplace and individual benefits (accident, critical illness, cancer, disability, life), Aspire Insurance & Financial covers all the bases for insurance needs in Brownsburg, IN and its surrounding areas.
During times of great tragedy, its so important that our community is able to come together and provide meaningful support to those who have lost loved ones

The Derrin Doty Group, a Washington-based insurance firm with offices serving Bremerton, Port Orchard, and the greater Seattle area, is initiating a charity drive to support the family of a young girl who died due to complications from the flu.

Piper Lowery was 12 years old when she was diagnosed with what seemed to be a normal case of the flu on January 12th of this year. Pipers mother, Pegy, reports that the fever suddenly hit her daughter like a freight train, and before the family had a chance to respond Piper had passed away.

During times of great tragedy, its so important that our community is able to come together and provide meaningful support to those who have lost loved ones, says Derrin Doty, founder and manager of the Derrin Doty Group. I cant even imagine what the Lowery family is going through right now, and hope this charity effort will provide some measure of help to them during an incredibly difficult time.

To publicize the charity drive, Doty and his team are seeking support from nearby families by sending out emails and creating an online social media memorial for Piper Lowery. The Doty team will also be featuring Piper and her family in the upcoming edition of Our Hometown, an online publication produced monthly by Derrin Doty Group: http://www.derrindotygroup.com/Our-Hometown-Magazine_41.

In addition to assisting the Lowery family during their time of need, Derrin Doty and his team are committed to assisting even more local causes and charities as part of an ongoing community involvement campaign. The firm will assist another new Seattle-area charity every 60 days in the months to come.

Readers who want to join Doty and his team during the Piper Lowery memorial charity effort are encouraged to visit the Derrin Doty website and make a donation to the Lowery family here: http://www.derrindotygroup.com/Helping-Local-Family-Mourn-Loss-Of-Daughter_19_community_cause. Readers that want to know more about other Seattle-area charities supported by the Derrin Doty Group are invited to view the firms Community Causes list here: http://www.derrindotygroup.com/community-cause.

About The Derrin Doty Group

As a Personal Finance Representative in the Bremerton area, agency owner, Derrin Doty, knows many local families. His knowledge and understanding of the people in the Seattle area helps provide customers with an outstanding level of service. Doty and his team look forward to helping clients protect the things that are important - family, home, car and more. They can also help clients prepare a strategy to achieve their financial goals. To contact a helpful expert at the Derrin Doty Group, visit http://www.derrindotygroup.com/ or call (360) 373-6895.
Larson Electronics releases a New 36 Watt Handheld LED Spotlight The spotlight is equipped with a spring cord fitted with a cigarette lighter plug and is designed to operate with any 12-24V DC vehicle without any modifications. Past News Releases RSS Larson Electronics Releases a...

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The HL-85-LED-CPR handheld LED spotlight from Larson Electronics is a lightweight, ultra rugged, ergonomic handheld spotlight that operates on 12-24 volts DC with an included sixteen foot coil cord terminated in a cigarette plug. This high output LED spotlight is constructed with seven Cree LEDs and features an advanced reflector and lens configuration to generate a 2,000 lumen light output. Drawing only 36 watts on a low voltage power source, this light produces a beam capable of reaching distances over 1,600 feet. The Cree LED units used in this light generate fifty-six lumens per watt and have a 70% lumen retention at 50,000 hours, giving them better efficiency and a longer operational life than traditional spotlights.

This IP67 rated waterproof LED spotlight features an ultra-durable ABS shockproof polymer body, aluminum alloy light head housing, and an impact resistant polycarbonate lens. The unique shape and shallow contour of the 120mm reflector is paired with a convex lens and inset lens positioned to efficiently capture and project a focused beam of light while reducing light spillage. The pistol grip style, nylon handle has a no-slip textured surface to improve grip and has a conveniently placed push button so that the user can easily access the switch with the fore finger for quick on/off operation.

This new handheld LED spotlight features specially selected Cree LEDs that have been chosen for their lumen per watt ratio and extreme longevity, said Rob Bresnahan, CEO of Larson Electronics. The spotlight is equipped with a spring cord fitted with a cigarette lighter plug and is designed to operate with any 12-24V DC vehicle without any modifications.

Larson Electronics specializes in portable industrial lighting equipment, high mast light towers, explosion proof light fixtures, power distribution systems, LED lighting and more. To view their wide range of products, visit them on the web at Larsonelectronics.com or call 1-800-369-6671 for more information. Larson Electronics will be attending the 2016 OTC show in Houston, Texas from May 2nd to May 5th. Visit them at booth 6716 to inquire about their lighting solutions for many industrial applications.
10th Annual Oakland Indie Awards As we face rapid change in Oakland, we know that the Oakland Indie Awards is an ever-important mainstay in our community that serves to lift up the independent businesses and artists who give back so much to our city.

The nomination period for the 10th Annual Oakland Indie Awards is in full swing as Beneficial State Bank and Foundation gear up to honor the local businesses and independent artists who give back to the community. For a decade, the Oakland Indie Awards has focused on building prosperity in the local economy by celebrating the social, economic, and environmental impacts of supporting local commerce. Everyone is invited to nominate their favorite Oakland-based businesses or artists for any of the eight award categories: Oakland Soul, Ripple Effect, Innovative Newcomer, Greenie, Social Changemaker, Pillar, High Road Employer, and Youth Opportunity. Nominations are open until March 31st at http://www.OaklandIndieAwards.com.

The Oakland Indie Awards party is a night when people of all ages, cultures, faiths and genders come together to cheer on our local heroes for their contributions to Oaklands rich history, unique culture, and collective prosperity. Over the past 10 years, the Oakland Indie Awards has recognized over 100 community-minded businesses and artists such as the New Parkway Theater, American Steel Studios, Zacharys Chicago Pizza, and Qeyno Labs.

As we face rapid change in Oakland, we know that the Oakland Indie Awards is an ever-important mainstay in our community that serves to lift up the independent businesses and artists who give back so much to our city, says Beneficial States Community Engagement Officer, Emma Guttman-Slater. We are excited to celebrate 10 years of bringing together the dynamic and diverse entrepreneurs, city leaders, elected officials, residents, and artists to connect, support one another, and, most importantly, party!!

The May 12th party at the Oakland Museum of California (1000 Oak St) starts at 6:30pm and features live performances, food and drinks, and the Indie Marketplace. More information can be found at http://www.OaklandIndieAwards.com.

About Beneficial State Bank and Foundation

Beneficial State Bank is an FDIC-insured Equal Housing Lender, Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and certified B Corporation that serves businesses, nonprofits, and individuals. Beneficial State answers to a triple bottom-line measuring its financial, social, and environmental impact to meet the needs of its communities. Beneficial State has a unique ownership structure-- its profits can only be distributed to Beneficial State Foundation to support our communities and the environment. The bank is headquartered in Oakland, CA with branches in Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Sacramento, CA and Santa Rosa, CA.

Beneficial State Foundation's mission is to create, guide, and promote a beneficial banking model that transforms the banking industry; we accelerate the transformation by attracting human, financial, intellectual and capital resources to beneficial banking.

Learn more at http://www.beneficialstate.com or http://www.beneficialstate.org.
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Richard "Dick" Derbyshire served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1969. This is part of his Vietnam story. For the complete interview, please go to billingsgazette.com/Vietnam.

Gazette: When and how did you decide to become part of the U.S. Marines?

Derbyshire: "I was pretty much a kid, a sixth-grader, and I knew some vets from World War II and played cards with them, and knew them and some of their stories. I went to a Veterans' Day parade and I was really impressed then. That's when I made up my mind that I was going to join and go to war.

" ... The day I turned 18, I went down to the recruiter's office and signed up. Seventeen days later, I went to boot camp."

Gazette: Were you aware of Vietnam or nervous?

Derbyshire: "It was just like fulfilling what I made up my mind to do, more or less."

Derbyshire went to boot camp in San Diego.

Derbyshire: "I enjoyed it, but it was quite trying at times. They break you down and build you up."

He was trained on large trucks and got orders to go to Okinawa to join a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer outfit. After that, he was sent to Vietnam.

Gazette: Were you nervous going to Vietnam?

Derbyshire: "No, I wasn't. I wanted to. I actually was looking forward to it, until I got on the ship off the shore and saw what it was like. Then, I got a little nervous."

Gazette: What did you see off shore that made you nervous?

Derbyshire: "Bombs going off."

Gazette: Is that when you first arrived?

Derbyshire: "Yes, we were offshore and you could see the bombs going off and ships were firing onto shore, too, at that time. You could see all that going on."

Gazette: All of a sudden you're really in a war.

Derbyshire: "My first day on land, they put me up in tower, which is four poles with a platform on top and no place to run and they put me up there for guard duty and watch and look for where the mortars were coming in and see where they were coming in from. That made me pretty nervous. I was scared to death."

Gazette: Was there anyone up there with you?

Derbyshire: "Yes, there was one other person."

Gazette: What did they tell you?

Derbyshire: "Just watch. That's it. They wanted us to let them know where they were coming from. We got some that night. I called it in. And, they apparently took care of it. We quit getting the incoming."

Gazette: What happens then?

Derbyshire: "It's just like a normal night. One of you is getting a couple of ZZZs until you hear something go off and explode or whistle in. Then, you got to watch where they're being fired from."

Derbyshire was assigned to a camp outside Dong Ha.

Gazette: What do you recall about Vietnam?

Derbyshire: "We got there during the monsoons. I'd never seen rain in my life compared to that. The canvas top off your truck, if you have it off, you'd be sitting driving and (the water would) be in your lap because it couldn't get out of your truck fast enough. It just poured. We were glad we had cold-weather gear because it was 50 degrees, but it was cold."

Gazette: What does it look like?

Derbyshire: "The land looked a lot like Montana, instead of wheat land, it was rice paddies and open areas, hills. You never see any mountains with snow. They had some hills. We were stationed at Dong Ha and we drove our guns to places like Con Thien. And Giu Linh was a hill pretty high up that looked over the demilitarized zone. You could see for quite away there."

Gazette: So the first night you were there, you were getting shot at.

Derbyshire: "I was scared. I was scared about 90 percent of the time you were there because one way or another, you were getting shot at, no matter what we did. We usually got shot at from a long distance. We were usually in a jungle along the road where our convoy is going. It's so thick there and they're shooting at us, but you couldn't tell who was shooting at you because you couldn't see them."

Gazette: So how do you manage to sleep in Vietnam?

Derbyshire: "You learn not to sleep a lot. Instead, you nap when you can. I learned that fairly quickly. You don't stop when you're in a convoy to use the facilities, you just keep going. You learn to adapt."

Gazette: What are the guys like that you're with?

Derbyshire: "Pretty good. Most of the guys were from the big cities. I was pretty much lost. They never seen anything quite like me, I guess. I was a loner on that part. Most of the others had been around and most of them were older than me. I was 18. ... You grow up quick.

"(Going toward the DMZ), you'd get in a convoy and head up... we hauled up there. We would haul up and the gun crew would come off and stay out and stay off the hill while we restocked the bunkers with the ammo. A lot of times, we'd get mortar rounds when we'd pull in up there. That's how I got wounded the first time. I had an arm hanging out the truck and a bunch of shrapnel got my arm. Bunch of scratches and stuff."

Gazette: What do you remember about that?

Derbyshire: "What we'd do go is go up separately. We'd park down below. Meanwhile, there's helicopters watching, flying over us. We'd go up one at a time and unload our trucks and stock the bunkers and we'd bring that truck off and bring up the next one."

Gazette: It sounds like there's a bunch of hurry-up-and-wait.

Derbyshire: "Meanwhile, you're hiding underneath a truck load of ammo, meanwhile there's a mortar rounds going off. ... You look at one another and think to yourself, 'What are we doing?' Nothing ever really happened. Or very seldom.

"We lost one gun once. He got a direct hit with a rocket. We lost one truck through a mine when we were on our way up. He was a friend of mine. He was in front of me and drove his truck down into this old mine hole. He was going to come back up. He eased in and he had the clutch down and the mine went off when he got into the bottom of it. The mine was buried in there. It blew up, we jumped out and were going to go help him.

"Pretty soon we decided we better get underneath our truck because all the stuff that blew off his truck was coming out of the sky. We got up there and I don't think he would have gotten hurt at all, but he broke his foot because he had the clutch depressed. But that was the only thing that happened to him. That was not an everyday happening."

Gazette: When you had shrapnel, were you medevaced, or was it something they could handle there?

Derbyshire: "It was just a couple of pulls and that was it. And, I didn't even know I got it. And they said, 'We'll put you in for a purple heart, and I said, 'OK, whatever.' And I didn't even think about it, and there was this lieutenant there and he said, 'You're lucky you got a purple heart for that.' He showed me his, and he scars all across his back and he had almost been cut in half. That was a purple heart, not mine."

Gazette: I imagine if you were the convoy with the mortars for the 155s, you were always a target.

Derbyshire: "They shot at us pretty regular. It was mostly mortars and rockets. And we did have a couple of gun enplacements in our compound. They made us build a bunker right outside the tent so that we could get into it during mortar attacks. We built a bunker out there and we used it, I suppose a couple of dozen times. We weren't there  we were on a mission fortunately  it took a direct rocket hit and there wasn't anything left of it or the tent and a few people were wounded."

Gazette: When they blow up your living quarters, what do you do?

Derbyshire: "You just knock the dirt off and go to the sleep right there. You don't have much of a tent, that's all. You don't have much replacement stuff there."

Gazette: Did it help you being a farm kid from Montana?

Derbyshire: "I think it helped me adjust in the fact that I was used to working in fields and being dirty. I still could go about my business without worrying about things. Other than that, a lot of it was mind. I have seen some of the strongest people break down in their mind. Like myself, I was pretty fortunate from a small town and I'd get these care packages from all my mothers because it was everyone in town. They'd send a care package over about the time I was feeling pretty down, I'd get one of those and shoot, I was all right for another day or two."

Gazette: What would care packages have in them?

Derbyshire: "They'd have cookies and candy. It's just odds and ends. Shaving lotion."

Gazette: What was the hardest thing to overcome mentally?

Derbyshire: "Anybody that I knew not coming home. I'd talk to my mom in August of 1966 and I never saw her until February 1968. I never talked to her; never talked to anyone."

Gazette: Did you write letters?

Derbyshire: "Nearly every day."

Gazette: Did it keep the connection?

Derbyshire: "It kept a connection and it helped with the reasoning why I was there, I suppose. Most of those people I used to work for. The wives, they write. The guys, very seldom. I probably only got two letters from guys while I was there. It was mostly women. It was good to hear. They just say something simple like what was going on, like how the basketball team was doing, or how other things were going on."

Gazette: What did you miss most about home or Montana?
A Buffalo man serving a life sentence for sexual abuse requested a new trial last year after one of his victims recanted her allegation.

However, the Wyoming Supreme Court denied Michael Allan Lindstroms appeal last week after deciding the victims changed story was not credible.

A judge sentenced Lindstrom in 2014 to six life sentences without the possibility of parole. A jury convicted Lindstrom of three counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor after a six-day trial.

He received an additional 40 to 50 years in prison on two counts of sexual assault and two counts of aggravated assault and battery.

According to the Supreme Court decision, one of the three victims wrote a letter to Lindstroms grandmother last year stating she had lied when she testified at trial. She said Lindstrom was innocent. The victim submitted an affidavit to investigators stating she had testified falsely at trial.

Lindstrom filed a motion for a new trial, and a hearing was held in Johnson County District Court. The victim changed her story again when she testified at the hearing. She said her letter to Lindstroms grandmother and her affidavit were actually false. The District Court judge ruled the recantation would not produce a different verdict should a new trial take place.

According to the Supreme Court decision, the victim said she wrote the letter because Lindstroms grandmother had threatened her by stating that she needed to do something about Lindstrom going to prison and, if she didnt, she probably wouldnt want to be in Buffalo. The victim said that she was nervous when she signed the affidavit and felt that she was under duress.

The court stated recanted testimony should be viewed with the utmost suspicion and that a judge is required to grant a new trial only when he or she is satisfied the recantation of the witness is true.

(The victims) post-trial recantation was motivated by a fear of (Lindstroms) grandmother, the court ruled.

The Supreme Court previously rejected an appeal from Lindstrom in which he claimed a district court judge in Johnson County abused his discretion when he allowed prosecutors to introduce evidence at trial not previously disclosed to the defense.

The court concluded that it was unlikely the verdict would have been more favorable if the evidence had been kept out of the trial.
Farmers participating in the Homegrown by Heroes marketing initiative are entitled to affix this logo to their products and signage. (Image courtesy of Indiana Grown)

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Indiana farmers who are military veterans or on active duty can now market their products through the Indiana Grown Homegrown by Heroes initiative, a partnership between the state Department of Agriculture and Farmer Veteran Coalition with support from the Purdue University-based National AgrAbility Project.

Participating farmers are entitled to use a special logo on their packaging and signage, similar to the Indiana Grown campaign launched last year.

"As a result of this collaboration, our Hoosier farmer veterans now have an additional marketing tool available for their use," said Cindy Chastain, farmer veteran coordinator for the National AgrAbility Project. "Indiana communities will also benefit by knowing the food they are buying is local food grown by local American veterans who served their country and are now serving their communities."

To be eligible for the program, farmers must be on active duty or an honorably discharged veteran of the armed forces and own at least 50 percent of an Indiana-based agribusiness. For more information on the program, go to the Indiana Grown website at http://www.indianagrown.org/2016/02/indiana-grown-homegrown-by-heroes/.

Writer: Darrin Pack, 765-494-8415, dpack@purdue.edu

Source: Cindy Chastain, 765-496-2377, chastai1@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-2722;

Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A company from the Purdue Startup Class of 2014 whose innovation could help researchers and oncologists see faster than ever which drug therapies will benefit cancer patients and to what extent, has received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

KinaSense has received a one-year SBIR Phase l grant from the National Cancer Institute worth $203,120, with $50,000 in matching funds from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Elevate Ventures. The company's technology is based on Purdue University intellectual property.

KinaSense's technology measures the effects of cancer drugs that inhibit growth signals from a kinase, an enzyme in a cancer cell that causes the cell to grow. The technology takes information about what a particular kinase looks for in a substrate, or the protein it acts upon. It narrows the information to a shortlist of traits, which are used to design a molecular probe that reports whether or not the drug is blocking the target kinase's action inside of the cell.

Steve Ouellette, co-founder and chief technology officer at KinaSense, said the grant will help the company begin laboratory operations.

"The SBIR funds allow us to begin working toward developing prototype tests that can be used in pre-clinical drug discovery to identify new treatments for cancer patients. Specifically, the tests we develop will be used to characterize inhibitors for a class of drug targets called receptor tyrosine kinases," he said. "The grant will also allow us benefits like having access to special programs offered by the NIH/NCI, such as I-Corps, which will help KinaSense mature as a company through specialized business development training."

Ouellette said the award is a major validation of the company's vision and its technology.

"A lot of uncertainty was endured over the past year and a half developing research strategy, gathering support for the project from potential partners and performing due diligence on our business model," he said. "This grant is a rewarding culmination of that effort, and one of many major milestones toward realizing KinaSense's mission to help save lives in the battle against cancer.

"I am infinitely grateful to all those who have assisted, especially the Purdue Foundry, our scientific advisers, Laurie Parker and Andrew Lipchik, and our early supporters, Horizon BioAdvance and the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund."

Ouellette worked on the technology as a doctoral student when it was developed by Andrew Lipchik in the laboratory of Laurie L. Parker, then an assistant professor in Purdue's College of Pharmacy. Parker and Lipchik co-founded KinaSense with Ouellette, and serve on its scientific advisory board.

About KinaSense

KinaSense is an early-stage biotechnology company based in West Lafayette, Indiana. Our mission is to help save lives in the battle against cancer. We develop novel tests for identifying new therapies and directing their use in the clinic. In doing so, we strive to be on the forefront of precision medicine for personalized cancer care.

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org.

Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org



Source: Steve Ouellette, 269-870-5908, souellette@kinasense.com
Today is Sunday, March 13, the 73rd day of 2016. There are 293 days left in the year.

1866 -- 150 years ago: Two boys Haley and Conner, arrested for highway robbery, have been held, in $100, each, for trial.

1891 -- 125 years ago: Yesterday being Otto Herkerts 20th birthday, a party was given last evening at turner Hall in his honor. Mrs. Herkert served an excellent supper and Bleuers orchestra furnished music and the young folks enjoyed a very pleasant evening.

1916 -- 100 years ago:

1941 -- 75 years ago: Open house is set at the Rock Island School for Monday night, Principal Owen Wright announced today.

1966 -- 50 years ago: Despite the cold weather and with the possibility of a little snow yet to come, plans are taking shape for the Rock Island County Fair and Rodeo. Dale Risatu, fair board president, today announced dates for the 27th annual fair following a meeting of the board Thursday evening.

1991 -- 25 years ago: Warmer days and freezing nights mark the beginning of maple syrup season, and right in step is Iowas Scott County Conservation Board, which will sponsor its fourth annual Maple Syrup Festival this weekend at Scott County Park. Well be tapping the trees in the traditional method and cooking the sap into syrup on a stove over a wood fire in the sugar shack. Samples will be offered, and bottles of our own syrup will be available for sale.
The contents of the email were purely factual: a Flint residents name and address, along with two lead readings for water samples taken from faucets at the home.

But typed just beneath the message were the words: Preliminary and Deliberative not subject to FOIA.

The Rosenthal email is just one of thousands the administration of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has made public related to the lead contamination of Flints drinking water after calls from the public, elected officials, advocates for open government and the media for information as to who knew what about the public health crisis and when, and what was done in response. Thousands of others have been released voluntarily by the governor, whose office is not subject to Michigans Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA.

Besides answers to some questions, a review of the emails also revealed a potentially troubling trend: Many of the emails display what appears to be an active effort by state employees to avoid disclosure of public records under FOIA.

Theres a culture in state government thats filtered down to employees that says, Thats just FOIA; this is how you get around it, said Jane Briggs-Bunting, president of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government, which promotes government transparency year-round, but especially during Sunshine Week, which is this week.

The not subject to FOIA label was not unique to the Rosenthal email.

Michigans FOIA law includes an exemption for records that are notes between and within government agencies that are advisory in nature, dont deal with purely factual matters, and are preliminary to an agencys final determination of a policy or action. Many draft reports are withheld from disclosure based upon what is sometimes called the preliminary and deliberative exemption. But even when it meets the other criteria, the exemption is only supposed to be applied when the public interest in encouraging frank discussions among government officials clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The emails released related to the Flint crisis show that although in some cases a draft document was being discussed, some DEQ and Department of Health and Human Services employees appeared to include preliminary and deliberative, and not subject to FOIA as standard subject headings on emails, regardless of the contents of the messages.

Also popular as a subject heading: Attorney Client Privilege. Not subject to FOIA.

That was the heading former DEQ Director Dan Wyant used Oct. 13 when he sent a Flint water plan action update by email to six officials in the governors office: Allison Scott, Dennis Muchmore, Jarrod Agen, Beth Emmitt, Morgan Bedan and Sarah Dickinson.

Again, Michigans FOIA law exempts from public disclosure records that are subject to attorney-client privilege.

Problem is, neither Wyant nor any of the recipients is an attorney and  not surprisingly  the email contained no legal advice.

Labeling an email as not subject to FOIA doesnt make it so, which is demonstrated by the fact dozens of Flint water emails that were marked up that way have seen the light of day.

But Briggs-Bunting and other advocates of open government said the emails are disappointing because of what they demonstrate about many state employees attitudes about the publics right to access government records. Also, such labels may be enough to pause or satisfy a state FOIA coordinator who decides which emails will be released.

They definitely learned the code words, said Melanie McElroy, executive director of Common Cause in Michigan. Exempt from FOIA in the governors office, this administration prefers to operate in secret, and that has unfortunately spread to other departments as well.

Agen, Snyders chief of staff, said Snyder is examining possible changes to the executive office FOIA exemption.

More generally, we want to clear up confusion over what does fall under FOIA and what doesnt, said Agen, who feels some of the labeling may display a lack of understanding of how FOIA works.

The governor, Agen said, wants to improve transparency while also preserving the ability for officials to speak frankly when deliberating and formulating policy without having to fear whatever they say will be made public.

Michigan is one of only two states in which both the governors office and the Legislature are exempt from FOIA.

The Flint crisis demonstrates one of the reasons that needs to change, said McElroy.

I really think that passing FOIA reforms that remove the executive exemption could help keep crises from happening in the future, she said.
While Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan continue to joust selfishly, and to the great harm of our state, over an unresolved state budget from 2015, the governor appears to be on track to notch a win over the states major public employee union.

Both Rauner and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 31 (AFSCME), which represents 37,000 state workers, recently filed complaints with the Illinois Labor Relations Board (ILRB) in which they charge the other party with failure to bargain in good faith.

If ILRB, with a majority of members appointed by Rauner, finds the 14-month negotiations over a new contract to be at an impasse (a legal term of art), as the governor contends, then he can impose his last, final, best offer.

AFSCME could then strike, but it wont. I dont believe the public would stand for it. In addition, many union members would stay on the job, and Rauner could begin hiring permanent replacements for striking state workers.

First, some background.

Former Republican governor Jim Thompson signed the states collective bargaining law in 1984, which provides a right-to-strike with the exception of employees essential to public safety and health (prison guards, for example).

During the 2000s, former Democratic governors Rod Blagojevich and then Pat Quinn inked sweetheart contracts with AFSCME.

During that decade, union pay went up about 50 percent, which includes wage increases, automatic longevity step increases and compounding.

Average pay for Illinois state employees in 2012 was $63,000 versus $57,000 for state workers nationwide, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust,

Almost 9,000 of the states 77,000 workers earn more than $100,000.

Those state workers employed prior to 2012, when state pensions for new hires were trimmed, also have excellent pensions and pay about 15 percent of their health insurance premiums.

At the same time, pay for non-union merit compensation, generally supervisory, employees actually went down. Their pay was frozen during the period and merit comp employees were required to take unpaid furlough days.

So what happened? As you might imagine, supervisory employees joined the state unions in droves, and today about 95 percent or more of state workers belong to unions.

The sweetheart contracts also strengthened the unions hold over state government management. As I have noted before, state agency directors find it almost impossible to hire from the outside, because union employees get first crack at job openings and can qualify through training even if they dont bring the skills needed in the first instance.

In effect, through union rules, grievances, and arbitrators who generally find that fired employees should be kept on the job, the unions largely run state agencies day to day.

In negotiations thus far, Rauner has proposed a freeze in any wage or step increases for four years, a boost to 40 percent in employees share of health care premiums, increased right to subcontract out state work, and merit pay awarded by the executive equal to 2 percent of base payroll.

AFSCME responded by proposing second and third year pay increases of 2.25 and 3 percent and little change otherwise in the expired contract.

The union is probably willing to negotiate on the pay increases but not on much else.

Rauner appears non-negotiable on his major points, although a release from his office points out 19 other concessions he has offered during negotiations.

I would say they are at an impasse.

If the ILRB agrees (a majority of the five-member panel has been appointed by Rauner), then the governor can impose his last, best, final offer.

AFSCME has been trying desperately to get the legislature to override, for a second time, Rauners veto of a bill that would require arbitration of the differences. I think that effort will, again, fail in the House by a vote or so.

It looks to me like AFSCME is between a rock and a hard place here. The outcome could break, or dramatically weaken, the public union.

Regardless, it is time to overhaul the Illinois Personnel Code that governs employment. Job descriptions are way out of date, tortured by past administrations to take care of their favorites.

In addition, the personnel system needs to be professionalized so that Illinois state government becomes an attractive place for talented men and women to develop careers, something it is definitely not now.
"The proposed architecture for ATO over ETCS has been developed by Unisig and the ERTMS Users Group," Mr Manuel Villalba with CAF Signalling, told delegates. Although the two systems are functionally different, the on-board systems are shared. The same track-to-train communications system is used with independent channels connecting the cab radio via an IP network to the separate trackside ATO and ETCS radio block centre and interlocking.

"The ATO over ETCS concept is entering the final steps of the road map, and the ATO specifications require further technical work under Shift2Rail, but we are already applying the concept using draft specifications on the new 57.7km Mexico City - Toluca line," Villalba said.

The contract was awarded in 2014 and work on the project began last year. CAF Signalling is responsible for the on-board ATO and ERTMS, the trackside ATO, and the integrated control centre, while Thales is supplying the trackside ERTMS equipment and the interlocking. CAF is building a fleet of 30 five-car Civia EMUs for the new line.

The ETCS specification is for Level 2 Baseline 2.3.0d with semi-automatic train operation to the GoA-2 grade of automation which means drivers will be required to close the doors and operate the train during periods of disruption. Trains will operate at 2.5-minute headways at a maximum speed of 160km/h.

The line will be electrified at 25kV ac and will run from Observatorio, at the southwestern end of metro Line 1 in Mexico City, to Toluca with five stations. Trains will complete the journey in 39 minutes, which will be about 90 minutes faster than by road, and the service is expected to carry around 270,000 passengers per day when it opens in 2018.

Mr Michel Ruesen, director of the ERTMS Users' Group, explained why the ATO over ETCS concept is still under development in Europe: "We want to ensure the concept can be applied to the whole network and not just one specific line."
Reading and Northern Railroad on March 14, 2016, announced the appointment of Rian J. Nemeroff, CTL as Vice President - Forest Products. He will be responsible for managing the forest products business at the Reading & Northern, a market segment that comprises over a third of the railroads business. He will report to Wayne Michel, President of the railroad.

Nemeroff joins Reading & Northern from Housatonic Transportation Company where he was Vice President Marketing and Sales responsible for the Housatonic Railroad, the lumber reload, Shepaug Distribution and support for Housatonic Logistics. He was with the Housatonic for over sixteen years. Prior to the Housatonic, Nemeroff worked for Conrail in the Forest Products and Short Line Marketing groups. Before joining the railroad industry he worked in the paper industry for International Paper Company and the Scott Paper Company.

In announcing the hiring Michel said, We are excited to have Rian join our team. Our Forest Products business is critical to our long-term success and Rian has the experience of working with these customers from both a short line and Class I railroad perspective as well as being an employee of two major forest products companies. I worked with Rian at Conrail in the short line group and I learned to admire his hard work, tenacity and dedication to his customers. He will be invaluable in helping us to grow our business.

Nemeroff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Logistics from Penn State and a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing from Widener University. Additionally, he has been certified by the American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc.
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Probe into case against Russian Komi Republics ex-head extended till September

MOSCOW, March 14 (RAPSI)  Investigators have extended investigation into a criminal case against Vyacheslav Gaizer, former head of Russias Komi Republic who stands charged with fraud and organized crime related violations, until September 18, RAPSI reported from Moscows Basmanny District Court.

Earlier, the Investigative Committee reported terminating the activity of a criminal group led by the head of the Republic of Komi, Vyacheslav Gaizer.

Nineteen people are defendants in the case, including Gaizers deputy Alexei Chernov and Igor Kovzel, Chairman of the Republican State Council, and Konstantin Romadanov, Deputy Chairman of the Komi government.

Gaizer pleads not guilty. Several high-ranking officials have been arrested in the fraud and organized crime case, as well as several business people that the Investigative Committee called finance technologists.

During 80 searches in Komi, St. Petersburg and Moscow, the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service confiscated over 60 kg of jewelry, 150 watches worth $30,000 to $1 million each, over 50 stamps and seals from offshore corporations, and financial documents legalizing over 1 billion rubles ($14 mln) in stolen money transferred to the offshore zone.

Investigators have also opened against Gaizer a criminal case on money laundering.

On September 30, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to relieve Gaizer of his duties because of loss of trust.




As we see a surge in inflation globally, it is now critical that everyone is aware of the implications this will have along every step of the insurance and reinsurance value chain.
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Religious shareholder activist group As You Sow released its 2016 Proxy Preview last week, and its a doozy. Tellingly, AYS has dropped religious faith as a rationale for its climate-change and anti-lobbying efforts. From the accompanying press release:

More 2016 shareholder proposals than ever before address climate change  94 compared with 82 in 2015. Of the resolutions, 22 ask energy extractors and suppliers to detail how the warming planet will affect their operations and how they will respond if governments follow through with commitments made in the Paris climate treaty in December to keep fossil fuel assets in the ground to prevent damaging temperature increases. A further 18 resolutions focus on the risks from using hydraulic fracturing to extract energy from shale deposits, including 12 seeking methane reduction targets. Nineteen resolutions ask companies to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The climate slate is rounded out by another 11 proposals that include a push to change energy reserves accounting at two companies and one suggesting executive bonuses should be linked to fossil fuel reserves accounting changes. Political activity accounts for another 99 resolutions, including some drawing connections between government inaction on climate change and corporations lobbying and election spending. Proposals on lobbying (55) exceed those about election spending (40). Nine companies face resolutions seeking oversight and disclosure of both election and lobbying expenditures.

Hoo boy. Where to begin unpacking all the mischief hinted at above? Suffice it to write that the proxy resolutions in the 2016 Proxy Preview demand individual scrutiny in order to identify the wrongheadedness of it all. This despite the self-congratulatory back-patting and progressive smugness displayed above and below:

As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar said: In this Paris-meets-politics year, the growing integration of issues for shareholder advocacy is apparent like never before. We see political spending intertwined with climate change and sustainability directly linked to CEO pay. Investors want companies to take a broad, systemic look at their policies and how they affect responsible action in the broader economy. Michael Passoff, CEO, Proxy Impact; and co-author of Proxy Preview 2016, said: Shareholders are saying what politicians wont: We must transform the energy sector, but money in politics is preventing that. Shareholders are stepping in where Congress fears to tread  demanding that companies prepare for climate change and come clean on political spending.

Readers will note that neither Behar nor Passoff never once mention how AYS activities reflect religious faith and devotion but only politics. Behars Paris-meets-politics refers to last Decembers United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Otherwise known as COP21, the conference was a pilgrimage of pomposity for AYS and the rest of the religious shareholder crowd. Collectively, the climate-change activists raised their carbon footprint exponentially in order to display publicly just how much fossil-fuel carbon emissions makes them both sad and angry.

Similarly, AYS activities directed at lobbying and political spending arent based in faith, only politics. In fact, AYS boasts its 2016 lobbying transparency campaign begun in 2012 is coordinated by Walden Asset Management and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Hmmmmdoes anybody else smell something funny emanating from the blended lobbying-disclosure efforts of a public-sector union and a supposedly faith-based investment group? It, too, reeks of progressive sadness and anger.

It seems AYS has set itself up as a progressive variation of Hollywood central casting replete with a huge roster of sad-looking clergy and angry-appearing nuns who are eager to lend their respective faces and voices to left-leaning causes during the annual proxy resolution season. AYS cares not a whit for its fellow stockholders and the profitability of the companies in which theyre all invested  which is supposed to be the main objective of owning stocks in the first place. Nor does it even bother sprinkling religious justification on its various agendas. Its all about politics of a particular stripe, which aims to use proxy resolutions to shut down all opposing policy discourse while bringing public companies to heel (or else) at the secular altars of climate change, political spending and lobbying.
Turkish real estate leaders DEIK, GYODER and Turkey-Luxembourg Business Council held a meeting to discuss the real estate funds and Investment opportunities in the real estate sector of Turkey. The meeting took place last 3 March 2016 in Luxembourg, which is considered the second largest player in the investment funds world and the largest in the Euro region since 2005.

The real estate platform of Turkey continued its overseas activities which pushed to make the sector more efficient and successful. A link was being built between the businesses of the two countries, with the goal of increasing the commercial and investment volumes, with the cooperation of the DEIK Turkey Luxembourg Business Council and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, as well as contributions of the Turkish Embassy in Luxembourg, according to a report from RENT.

The Turkish real estate meeting's aim was to introduce the sector in Turkey to the existing investment funds in Luxembourg which had surpassed 3 trillion Euros with a record increase in 2014, as well as giving details concerning the overall economic atmosphere and acquiring the funds of Luxembourg for projects in Turkey.

Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, had stated that as well as being a major market, Turkey is a hub which opens to Central Asia and the Middle East. Over the last 10 years, Luxembourg had become the third largest foreign investor in Borsa Istanbul. In 2015, the trade between the two countries had led to Luxembourg being dubbed a small country of huge opportunities. The total of the real estate funds of Luxembourg as of 2015 reached 40 billion euros. The main idea behind the seminar was that the companies of Luxembourg would profit greatly from establishing commercial and economic ties with Turkey at even higher levels.

Turkey Real Estate Council vice-Chairman, Ozlem Gokce, said that the real estate sector had become increasingly institutionalized in the last ten years, and will continue its momentum of growth, Zawya reported.
Here's a look at Count Dracula's castle that is currently being sold for $13 million.

According to Elle Decor, the famous Bran Castle in Transylvania also known as the fictional house of Count Dracula was previously listed for $66 million. However, it was later on listed at a much lower price to make it much easier to sell, according to the Financial Times.

The property boasts a 12th century fortress that makes the castle look a bit scary, just like how it was depicted in the famous novel "Dracula."

"The breathtaking structure currently belongs to descendants of Romanian royal family, who have been operating the property as a popular museum. As the country's largest tourist attraction, some half a million people visit its spooky halls every year. But the current owners are getting older and hope to pass the estate on to someone who will continue to build up its destination status," the publication noted.

Meanwhile, according to FT, local residents and the Romanian state are given priority when it comes to buying Count Dracula's castle. The property will be advertised on the site for the next 30 days before foreign bidders and buyers will be allowed to purchase it.

"Only citizens from countries in the European Economic Area are entitled to buy land in Romania. One popular option for buyers is to set up a limited company in Romania through which to purchase the home, although this will incur higher taxes," the site said.

If you are interested in buying Count Dracula's castle, there are several things you need to take into consideration. First, you need to consider your location, and whether or not living in Transylvania will be beneficial for you.

Second, you also need to take into account the purpose you have for buying a castle. After all, it's a tourist destination and not just an ordinary home.
FINN (FN-2187)

2016 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Desert Gear)

After his first taste of combat during a brutal First Order night assault on a Jakku village, Stormtrooper FN-2187 defects from Kylo Rens forces, becoming a fugitive.

The Finn (FN-2187) action figure is the second single carded release of this character in Hasbros 3 3/4-inch The Force Awakens action figure collection, but the first to of him in his First Order Stormtrooper aromor. This figure began hitting shelves in February 2016 in cases that also included new figures of Unkar Plutt and Captain Rex, as he appeared in Rebels.
 UPDATE: Peace Now Head Condemns Extrajudicial Killings, Not Self-Defense | Main | LA Times Wrong on Rocket Redux 

March 11, 2016

CAMERA Tells Times Dispatch: No, 'Moderates' Did Not Win in the Iran Elections



(The letter below was published by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on March 11, 2016)

The Times-Dispatch editorial Iran votes for reformmaybe (March 3)? omits important information about the recent elections in Iran for parliament and the Assembly of Experts.

The editorial rightfully notes that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is described as a moderate,? but does not resemble Joe Biden or John Kasich.? This is correctRouhani is a regime insider who served as first secretary of the Supreme National Security Council when the Islamic Republic bombed Israels embassy and a Jewish community center in early 1990s Argentina and assassinated regime critics on European soil.

Yet, the Times-Dispatch omitted that Irans unelected Guardian Council disqualified around 60 percent of the candidates who sought to run for parliament, including 99 percent of the reformist candidates, as well as 80 percent of the candidates for the Assembly of Experts. The latter body chooses the Supreme Leader, the man who ultimately holds final say in the Islamic Republics totalitarian theocratic system.

Of those not disqualified, Saeed Ghasseminejad, an analyst with Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a D.C.-think tank, said that the Rouhani camp saw it could not win the AoE [Assembly of Experts] election so it decided to announce those who win are moderate and reformist even if they say they are not.?

If Rouhani didas the editorial claimsreceive a boost,? it was from similarly immoderate regime insiders like former intelligence minister Ghorbnali Dorri Njafabadi and Mohammed Emami-Kashani, among others. The former is believed to be responsible for killing Iranian dissidents, the latter claims that the United States and Israel created al-Qaeda. Both won elections as moderates.?

Reformers did not, as your editorial states, prevail in the elections. The regime did.

Sincerely,

Sean Durns

Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America?

Note: This post was updated on March 20, 2016

Posted by SD at March 11, 2016 12:59 PM

Guidelines for posting

This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material.

Post a comment
The Delta Upsilon chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Georgia hosted their annual 5K Color Run Feb. 27. This is the first of two spring philanthropic events KKG hosts in order to raise money for Books for Keeps, the sororitys philanthropy.
FILE - In this April 11, 2013, file photo, Charlie Sheen, a cast member in "Scary Movie V," poses at the Los Angeles premiere of the film at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. Sheen filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, seeking to reduce his $55,000 a month child support payments for twin boys he had with ex-wife Brooke Mueller, citing a cut in his monthly income. Sheens filing states he recently sold his profit rights in the hit television series Two and a Half Men for nearly $27 million and that will drastically cut his monthly income. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Charlie Sheen recently sold his profit participation rights to comedy series "Two and a Half Men" for nearly $27 million, the actor disclosed in a court filing seeking to cut child support payments for his twin sons.

Sheen's filing Wednesday seeks to alter his divorce settlement with ex-wife Brooke Mueller. It states his income has changed significantly and he wants to change the $55,000-a month minimum monthly child support payments for his 6-year-old boys.

The actor sold his profit rights to "Two and a Half Men," which was once television's top-rated comedy and continues to air on replays, for $26.7 million. The sale occurred in the past year, the filing states.

Sheen's filing estimates a cut in his monthly income from more than $600,000-a-month down to nearly $167,000 as a result of the sale. He lists more than $12 million in debts, the majority of which is owed on mortgages, taxes, and legal fees.

The actor disclosed in November that he has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but has said he's healthy due to a rigorous drug regimen. His last major project was the FX comedy "Anger Management," which aired from 2012 to 2014.

Sheen and Mueller ended their marriage in 2011 after less than three years. He also has two daughters with actress Denise Richards.

One aspect of Sheen's divorce settlement with Mueller was that his child support payments for their sons could not be lower than the amount the actor paid to support his daughters with Richards. Sheen is now seeking to have that provision removed and a judge has scheduled a hearing for April 13.

A call to Mueller's attorney Lori Howe was not immediately returned.
In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, American Reform Rabbi, Zachary Shapiro, center left, and other American and Israeli Reform rabbis pray in the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city. A recent gathering of American Reform rabbis in Jerusalem was meant to celebrate the small gains the liberal Jewish movement has made in Israel in recent years. But a series of comments by Israeli leaders denigrating the group marred the event, reflecting an awkward relationship that many fear is alienating the worlds second-largest Jewish community from Israel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

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By TIA GOLDENBERG, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP)  A recent gathering of American Reform rabbis in Jerusalem was meant to celebrate the small gains the liberal Jewish movement has made in Israel in recent years. But a series of comments by Israeli officials denigrating the group marred the event, reflecting an awkward relationship that many fear is alienating the world's second-largest Jewish community from Israel.

The Reform Movement is the largest stream of Judaism in the United States, claiming to represent 1.5 million people, and its members provide a key source of financial support and political advocacy for Israel.

But the movement is marginal in Israel, where religious affairs are dominated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment. Israeli lawmakers, both secular and ultra-Orthodox, have repeatedly disparaged the group, questioning their Judaism and accusing them of promoting Jewish assimilation.

"How do you ask Jews around the world to support Israel politically, economically, socially ... and at the same time you have these ministers who say to our people 'you're not really Jewish' or 'you don't have a place here in Israel?' That incongruity is a real problem for us," said Rabbi Steven Fox, the chief executive of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which held its septennial convention in Israel last week. The group represents 2,000 rabbis.

In the U.S., Reform synagogues are commonplace, characterized by practices such as mixed-gender prayers, services led by female rabbis and members who drive to synagogue on the Sabbath  customs that violate Orthodox norms.

In Israel, Reform Judaism is often seen as a curiosity and in some cases, a threat. This in turn has placed obstacles in the way of the movement's effort to make inroads in Israel, beaten back by an Orthodox monopoly over Jewish rituals such as marriage, burials and conversions.

Reform rabbis have made small gains in Israel, and in January, the movement was jubilant over perhaps its greatest victory  Israel's announcement that it would create a special mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The wall, managed by an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who opposes having Reform customs at the site, is the holiest place where Jews can pray. The new area will also permit women to wear prayer shawls and skullcaps, a rite reserved for men under Orthodox custom.

The announcement came after three years of painstaking negotiations between Israeli officials and the liberal streams of Judaism and appeared to mark a historic turning point in relations between Israel and diaspora Jews.

But right after the plan was approved, Israel's secular Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said the Reform movement was a "waning world." He accused it of tolerating intermarriage, encouraging assimilation and predicted the mixed-prayer area would become unnecessary within two or three generations. Under religious law, Jews cannot marry non-Jews.

Even after Reform rabbis criticized him, Levin expressed no remorse. "It's very important that we'll be aware of the problem of assimilation and do our best efforts in order to solve it," he told The Associated Press.

A chorus of other lawmakers, most of them Orthodox, have publicly lashed out at the Reform movement. As the rabbis' convention was kicking off, a legislator from an ultra-Orthodox party compared the movement to the "mentally ill."

The rhetoric has put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a tough spot. Early this month, he rejected "disparaging and divisive remarks" about Reform Jews and called the movement "part and parcel of the Jewish people."

He also met the visiting American rabbis. But, possibly wary of antagonizing religious factions in his coalition, his office made no announcement of the meeting, as it often does with high-profile visitors.

Fox, the rabbi group's chief executive, said the encounter was "more positive" than past meetings with Netanyahu, though they were surprised by the absence of the public announcement.

"The ministers here paint us as if we're not really Jewish. And the ignorance they display makes my congregants ... think 'is Israel really that backward of a nation?' It reflects poorly on the state of Israel," said Rabbi Denise Eger, another leader of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Netanyahu's office said he does not put out public statements on all his meetings. It declined to discuss the meeting with the Reform rabbis or say why he had decided to keep silent.

For decades, American Jewry  the second largest Jewish community in the world after Israel  has served as a bedrock of support for Israel. But there are signs of that support eroding, particularly among younger and more liberal Jews.

Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, a Boston-based group that teaches Israeli leaders about the American Jewish community, said that at a time when Israel faces so many challenges, it makes no "strategic sense" for Israeli leaders to alienate American Jews.

"A smart politician would say, 'These Jews are different than us, but they play a very important strategic role,'" he said.

Beyond the Western Wall compromise, the Reform rabbis say they do see progress elsewhere as well.

Israel's Supreme Court ruled last month that the country's ritual baths must accept all converts to Judaism, even those who have undergone non-Orthodox conversions outside the country.

The rabbis also point to the movement's small but growing base in Israel and their invitation to a parliamentary committee during their convention last week, where lawmakers, mainly from centrist parties, showered them with gratitude and praise.

"When I read statements by the Israeli tourism minister about Reform Judaism in the United States, it comes from a denial and a misunderstanding and an ignorance about the importance of the powerful contribution that you make to relations between the two countries," Nachman Shai, a lawmaker from the centrist Zionist Union, told the packed auditorium, where women and men wore rainbow-colored skullcaps and sang Hatikva, Israel's national anthem.

Reform leaders told the meeting that the harsh reactions from some lawmakers were an unfortunate but expected response to the gains the movement has made.

"These are clearly changes that are long overdue," said Rabbi Richard Jacobs, the President of the Union for Reform Judaism. "The change signals to the ultra-Orthodox that there will no longer be a monopoly."
An Aramark van arrives at Yosemite Lodge as concessionaire services prepare to switch from Delaware North to Aramark in Yosemite National Park, Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, in Yosemite National Park. A new concessionaire takes over Tuesday at the park and many of the landmark places will have name changes at least temporarily because the old concessionaire lays claim to the names. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)

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By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  The prices of Yosemite National Park souvenirs have been slashed in half, and road signs directing visitors to iconic attractions have been switched.

Among the changes, the historic Ahwahnee Hotel became the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, and Curry Village campground was renamed Half Dome Village. Badger Pass Ski Resort became Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Area.

The changes took place at midnight Monday amid a bitter legal dispute between government officials and Delaware North, which operated many of the popular attractions from 1993 until Monday when competitor Aramark took over.

As part of the vendor change, the National Park Service is required to pay Delaware North for the value of many of Yosemite's trademarked names for sites that the company managed and maintained.

Delaware North sued the Park Service after the two sides couldn't agree on the trademarks' value.

Court filings show the Park Service valuing the trademarks at $3.5 million while Delaware North puts their worth at $51 million.

The two sides say they remain far apart in negotiations. So the Park Service said it was compelled to change the names.

Park Service spokesman Scott Gediman said temporary signs were used in the hope that a settlement will be reached.

Delaware North spokesman Glen White said Park Service officials turned down the company's offer to let the park keep using the trademark names until the legal dispute was resolved.

Gediman, however, said agreeing to the offer would acknowledge that Delaware North owns the names.

Mark Bartholomew, a State University of New York Buffalo Law School professor who teaches trademark law, says Delaware North might want to preserve the value of the names that will lose value if no longer used.

"I think all sides will ultimately come to an agreement after some more posturing," Bartholomew said.

Meanwhile, an historic sign welcoming visitors to the Ahwahnee Hotel was stolen over the weekend, Gediman said.

"It's part of the park's historic fabric," Gediman said. "And we are taking this seriously."
 CAMERA Tells Times Dispatch: No, 'Moderates' Did Not Win in the Iran Elections | Main | U.S. Visa Service Site Erases Israel 

March 14, 2016

LA Times Wrong on Rocket Redux

March 15 Update: Los Angeles Times Corrects After Underreporting Gaza Rocket Attacks

The Los Angeles Times incorrectly reported that Friday's rocket attacks against Israel were the first instance of rocket fire from Gaza since October 2015. In fact, at least twice monthly in November, in December and in January, Palestinian terrorists fired rockets at Israel.

Kate Shuttleworth and Rushi Abu Alouf erred yesterday: "The last missile attack from the Gaza Strip was in October 2015."

(Palestinian terror groups fired rockets, not missiles, into Israel, including in October 2015).



Thus, on Jan. 24, the Associated Press reported: "Earlier Monday, the Israeli military said it fired an aerial strike at a Hamas military training facility in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the territory. No injuries were reported."
Jonathan Lair of San Diego receives prayers from members of the Bethel Healing Rooms Ministry in December. Lair, who has had flat feet, was hoping the prayers would heal his arches.

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By Amanda Winters

Jonathan Lair stood in the middle of Bethel Church's Healing Room on Dec. 5 and joyfully got straight to the point: "I'm going to get new feet today."

A pastor at a church in San Diego, Lair said he came to Redding so he could go to the Healing Rooms at Bethel and be cured of a painful condition that has caused his feet to be flat his whole life. Lair, 27, was barefoot and had rolled his jeans up above his ankles, exposing his flat, calloused feet.

"I will see my arches healed," he said just before two women on Bethel's Healing Rooms Ministry team approached him. "I really believe that."

As Lair closed his eyes and bowed his head, the two older women stood on either side of him and began to pray quietly, tapping him on the chest and back. They motioned for another woman, one with a ram's horn known as a shofar, to come to where they stood. She began to blow the shofar at Lair's feet and in moments he fell to the ground, shaking.

Healing Rooms

Every Saturday morning from 9 to 10:30 a.m., two large rooms in Bethel Church are transformed into the Healing Rooms Ministry; a place where people can come and receive prayer for any kind of ailment.

Randy Castle, who was acting director that Saturday, said the healing rooms generally see 100 or so visitors - and up to 300 on a busy weekend.

Four teams with about 70 people each work the Healing Rooms. Many pray over visitors, commanding the body to be healed, speak in tongues and invite the presence of the Holy Spirit through impartation, or laying on of hands. Others, Castle said, play worship music in the "Encounter Room" where people can go bask in the presence of God.

Music performed in the Encounter Room made its way through the Healing Room speakers, repeating "God is good, God is good, God is good," while worshippers prayed, danced, laughed, cried, fell down and lay on the floor under what they say is the power of God. According to Bethel leadership, this is the room where people are cured of cancer, broken bones, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis and a host of other diseases.

Supporters of the supernatural

Adam Short, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, runs www.Healingherald.org where he posts stories of miraculous healings from the Healing Rooms and beyond.

Short is a third-year intern at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) and said he has received words of knowledge and signs from God leading him to people who needed to be healed.

During an April 2008 mission trip to Mexico with Bethel, Short said he noticed a man with a full leg cast.

"There was a thought that came to my mind, which I believe was God, and said, 'This man will walk out of here healed,' " he said.

Short said he prayed for the man and the man said the painful bone spur under the cast had dissolved. Short then prayed for the man's tunnel vision to be healed and it was, he said. During the prayers, he made declarations, he said.

"In this case we command the eyes to line up according to heaven," he said. "We're commanding those eyes to come back into alignment as to the purpose that God made for them because God made eyes to see, not to be confined to a tunnel."

Short said his goal for the Web site is for people to be encouraged by the good news and not question it.

"Nobody ever questions bad news," he said.

'Things just happen'

Bill Johnson, Bethel's senior pastor, settled into a plush black couch in his office, his arm around an animal-print pillow. Before anything else, he wanted to talk about healing.

"We just had another brain tumor case of cancer healed," he said. "We have a lot of that kind of stuff happen. It's verified by doctors, they do the tests and the cancer's gone. We have a lot of that sort of thing - miracles."

Johnson, who himself required hernia surgery last year and wears prescription glasses, teaches that the supernatural miracles that happened in Biblical times still happen today if people just value God's presence and open themselves up to receiving it.

"Because we have such value for his presence with us, things just happen," he said.

Johnson said that healings happen all the time and he doesn't feel he needs to provide any documentation or hard evidence to inquiring minds. He also said he doesn't check up on people who come to Bethel for healing - he doesn't have the time.

"If you're sitting here and you say, 'I've been deaf in my left ear since childbirth,' and I pray for you and then I have you close your right ear and I whisper 10 feet away and you can hear me, I don't feel like I need to get a doctor's report," he said. "I'm happy you're happy you can hear. That's enough for me."

Though he had people praying for his hernia to heal early in 2009, the condition still required surgery and Johnson said that was OK because God can use doctors as well as he can use Bethel's healing teams, though both are necessary.

"The doctors serve a great purpose but they'll tell you they can't fix everything," he said. "Some things need to be fixed by a miracle or just aren't fixed at all."

Johnson said in his sermons he often tells the congregation stories of miraculous healings to encourage them. One such story was about a group in the small, rural city of Shelton, Wash., whose goal it is to raise people from the dead.

Dead Raising Team

In an Oct. 19, 2008, sermon, Johnson shared a story about a former BSSM student who moved to Washington State and started a ministry called the Dead Raising Team.

"DRT," he repeated the acronym dramatically at several points during the story.

In a video of the sermon, Johnson said the team got approval from Mason County to be listed along with other county services and had been given badges so they can go behind police lines if there's an accident or fatality. Johnson told the audience, who erupted in shouts of "come on, Jesus" and cheers, that there had been one resurrection so far.

Marty Best, manager of the Mason County Department of Emergency Management, said he met the Dead Raising Team and suggested they become volunteers for his department so they could have access to emergency situations.

"Our mandate is to protect life, property and environment," he said. "If a person is raised by a defibrillator and adrenaline or by prayer they still return to their loved ones."

Best said the team must first get the permission of the unit commander before they can start praying over a fatality and they can never impose it on anyone.

In contrast to what Johnson said, the DRT is not included in the services listed on the Mason County Web sited.

Nor have there been any resurrections, Best said.

"Not yet," he added.

Johnson said the resurrection he mentioned in his sermon was from a DRT report and that he never said it had happened behind police lines.

SkepDoc weighs in

Harriet Hall, a retired family physician and former Air Force flight surgeon, writes a column in "Skeptic" magazine and "O," The Oprah Magazine, on topics including science, alternative medicine and what she calls "quackery."

"When faith healings have been diligently investigated by qualified doctors, they have found no evidence that the patients were actually helped," said Hall, who also writes under the name "SkepDoc."

After Hall took a look at the healing testimonies posted on Bethel's Web site - specifically addressing the testimony of the woman healed of brain cancer - she had a host of questions.

"Where are the medical reports? Where are the X-rays? Why was this case not written up in a medical journal? What happened to the patient afterwards?" she said in an e-mail.

Hall said the Journal of the American Medical Association formerly featured a testimony of a patient who was cured of cancer on one page with the patient's death certificate printed on the opposite page, showing that the patient had died of cancer shortly after providing the testimony.

Faith healings, Hall said, are never properly documented or investigated because the people involved want and need to believe. Without evidence, the claims ring hollow, she said.

"If you challenge the pastor to participate in a formal study to establish that these healings are really occurring, you will get lots of rationalizations and backpedaling with no understanding of how science can go about testing for the truth of a claim," she said. "They have no interest in finding out if the healing is 'real' because they already 'know' it is real for them."

Indeed, Johnson said he has no interest in proving anything to anybody.

Hall closed her e-mail with a warning: "Faith healing can be deadly when patients are led to believe they don't need conventional medical treatment."

Waking up

Back in the Healing Room, Jonathan Lair lay peacefully on the floor, covered in a dark green blanket, while the three women continued to pray over him and blow the shofar at his feet. At one point he got up and hopped up and down in the middle of the room where people were painting pictures on easels, before lying back down again. Eventually, one by one, they walked away and left him lying still on the floor.

Lair slowly sat up 10 minutes later and looked around. He looked at his feet, then stood up.

He said he had expected bones to crack and form an arch but his feet were still flat.

"I look at them, and they don't look healed," he said.

But his faith was not shaken, he said, because he felt so loved and maybe the physical healing was secondary to the spiritual experience he had.

And he still believes that, someday, God will heal his feet.

Reporter Amanda Winters can be reached at 225-8372 or awinters@redding.com.
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California has a chance to significantly reshape retirement security for private-sector workers. Let's not squander the opportunity.

A fledgling state retirement savings board has to not only ensure that all employees can participate in retirement savings plans at work, it should also help them later allocate their savings so they don't run out before they die.

In 2012, lawmakers established the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board to find ways to offer savings plans to the 62 percent of private-sector workers not enrolled in employer-sponsored retirement programs.

Lawmakers imposed one key restriction: Unlike public-employee pension systems, neither taxpayers nor employers will be on the hook to make up for investment losses. Employees will bear the risk.

The board's consultant has produced an analysis of options from which the board is scheduled to choose on March 28. It's considering offering Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), which are tax-deferred savings plans. Employers with five or more workers would be required to offer the IRAs, and employees would have to opt out, rather than opt in.

That's smart. In fact, we don't really need a separate board to implement this. The state could have mandated that employers offer one of the many private-sector retirement plans already available.

Unfortunately, labor unions are trying to complicate the process. They want the board to set up a reserve fund to insulate workers against market downturns. But that would necessitate using the workers' own money for the reserve and politicizing the Secure Choice retirement board, which would have to decide when to dip into those reserves.

A better option is to let workers decide how much investment risk they want by providing them different mutual fund investment options. Most workers aren't sophisticated investors, so the options should be limited and easy to understand, and workers should be warned to shift savings to the lower-risk option as they near retirement.

The other big issue is what workers do with the money once they retire. This problem affects all employees not covered by traditional pensions.

Once they retire, they must guess how long they will live to determine how to dole out the money. Chances are they won't guess right and will die before their money runs out or leave a lot behind, after living an unnecessarily frugal retirement.

They could purchase annuities, insurance instruments that pool the longevity risk and provide guaranteed lifetime income. Unfortunately, annuities are often too costly.

The Secure Choice board should fix that by leveraging California's large number of employees to obtain more attractive annuity pricing from the private sector. That could significantly improve financial security for current and future workers with retirement savings accounts.

This editorial originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
Palestinian primary school teacher Hanan Al Hroub won the USD one million Global Teacher Prize.

Palestinian primary school teacher Hanan Al Hroub believes that all the ten teachers have the power to change the world. Photograph: Kind Courtesy Hanan Al Hroub/Twitter

A primary school teacher from a refugee camp in conflict-torn Palestine has won USD one million Global Teacher Prize for educating her students about non-violence, beating nine other finalists from around the world, including an Indian.

Hanan Al Hroub beat India's Robin Chaurasiya, who runs a not-for-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city's red light district of Kamathipura, and eight other finalists to bag the Varkey Foundation's prize at the star-studded ceremony here last night.

"I did it, I won. Palestine won. All 10 of us have the power, we can change the world," said Hroub, who is in her early 40s, as her name was announced by Pope Francis via video link.

Hroub runs the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, Palestine, where she uses a specialist approach she developed herself detailed in her book We Play and Learn to overcome tense environments of the region under the shadow of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"I am proud to present to you the message of teachers of Palestine: There is no doubt that we live in unnatural conditions.

"Violence and Israeli occupation surrounds us from all sides and imposes itself and leaks to each corner of educational process and its components, so our task is complicated as we see daily the suffering in the eyes of our students and our teachers. We want our children to live peacefully, as all children of the world," she said, in her part English and part Arabic acceptance speech.

"A child has the right to play. Part of education is to teach children how to play because you learn how to be social through games as well as learn the joy of life," Pope Francis said, in reference to the winning candidate.

Hroub's approach has led to a decline in violent behaviour in schools where this was a frequent occurrence and she has inspired her colleagues to review the way they teach and their classroom management strategies.

"I suggest that this year is the year of the Palestinian teacher. The world should support us to achieve hope for justice and peace," Hroub said.

The Global Teacher Prize, now in its second year, was set up by Kerala-born entrepreneur and educational philanthropist Sunny Varkey to recognise one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society.

Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek and Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra joined former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai, at the gala awards ceremony in Dubai.

Bachchan spoke of his own dyslexia and the "incredible impact" teachers have on young minds, while Kumar described teachers as "the only humans in the world that give life to a

life".

30-year-old Chaurasiya, who was born in Los Angeles, was joined by innovative maths teachers from London and Helsinki and educators from countries like the US, Japan, Pakistan, Australia and Kenya on the shortlist of an award dubbed the Oscars for teaching.

"It's amazing that the Varkey Foundation would recognise an alternative school like this," she said.

The final 10 were narrowed down from 8,000 nominations and applications from 148 countries from around the world.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, said in a special video message at the ceremony: "Reaching young people early on, in their education, and providing them with the actual support they need, and give them the best possible chance in life.

"This is an incredible responsibility, and this is why the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, has partnered with the Varkey Foundation, on a range of programmes which support teachers to help young people in some of the most disadvantaged communities of the United Kingdom."

Also Read:

'India does not hide from its reality'

The scholar who grew up in Mumbai's red light area
'It is not possible for New Delhi to take sides between Beijing and Washington.'

Rajeev Sharma explains what is going on.

IMAGE: A giant billboard welcoming Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Islamabad last year. Photograph: Reuters

China is elated with India's public rejection of Washington's invitation of joint patrols by the US, Japan, Australia and India in the volatile South China Sea, but has warned New Delhi of the China-Pakistan axis.

Beijing wielded this double-edged sword at India through an editorial in its hardline English daily, the Global Times on March 10, the full text of which can be accessed here: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/972945.shtml

India finds a deep focus in the Chinese newspaper's editorial in only one paragraph. Here it goes: 'India has already publicly refused the invitation of joint patrols from the White House. Having its own major power ambitions as well as a non-aligned foreign policy, it is not possible for New Delhi to take sides between Beijing and Washington. Apart from the triangle of China, the US and India, the latter also needs to consider the China-India-Pakistan strategic triangle.'

The clever work done by the Chinese newspaper is the fact that it has deliberately kept the key word 'the latter' vague because it can mean India and can also mean the US.

This is Chinese obfuscation at its best. China can always tell India that the editorial was meant to be US-bashing and not against India.

Yet, China has succeeded in issuing a direct warning to India which it knows won't be missed by the Indians! The master stroke is that the comment is from a Chinese newspaper after all, not a stated position of the Chinese foreign office.

This is how the Chinese have been conducting their foreign policy for decades. Whenever a hard-hitting message to any foreign power -- be it a friend or foe or frenemy -- is to be delivered, it is done through editorials and commentaries of the Chinese media, all of which is State-owned. At the same time there is complete deniability as far as the Chinese foreign office is concerned.

Through the Global Times editorial, China has sought to achieve another diplomatic objective: Ridiculing the US for failing to drum up an anti-China coalition so far despite its best and sustained efforts to make the South China Sea a flashpoint.

This point is important as it conveys that China has dug in its heels and not prepared to budge an inch over its growing assertiveness, both diplomatically and militarily, over the South China Sea issue.

China's growing confidence is not misplaced as apart from Japan no other power is willing to openly side with the US at China's expense.

The curt Chinese message to the Americans is two-fold as per the newspaper's quotes.

1. Regional countries will be reluctant to be US partners if a war breaks out between China and the US since China holds considerable countermeasures.

2. Forging a military alliance against China will not be easy. Development is the priority for countries in the region, while easing tensions and maintaining collaboration amid disputes are common wishes in the area. The more tensions the US stirs up in the waters, the more vigilance against it there will be.

There are two more recipients of China's warnings: The 10-nation ASEAN and Australia. While India has outrightly rejected the US offer of joint patrols in the South China Sea, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, has been keeping an ambiguous attitude, steadfastly refusing to take sides in the US-China rivalry.

China has already taken note of reports that the fence-sitter Australia may opt for the US in the 'us or them' game being played in the region between China and the US.

Australia and the US have been engaged in serious negotiations for some time on having Australia as a long-range American bombers base to target China's land and reefs in the South China Sea.

The Global Times editorial has issued a naked warning to Australia thus: 'Canberra might have to deliberate whether the deployment will make it more safe. Instead, it could undermine the implementation of the free trade agreement between Australia and China.'

This has been China's strategy for decades: Using trade and economy as trusted insurance policies against anti-China military alliances the world over.

Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha
'For a party with a fuzzy ideology, one that lives only for power, having a leadership that thought vaguely about returning to power in the distant future was a distinct handicap,' points out Mihir S Sharma.

In the months since the Bihar assembly election, the Modi Sarkar has had more stumbles than successes. But, in Delhi's discussions, whether left- or right-leaning, this is greeted with shrugs: So what? It doesn't matter, because the Congress is in no position to take advantage of the government's slide.

Then into this comfortable consensus came the startling news that election manager Prashant Kishor would not just sign on for the Congress' Punjab campaign, but also the big one, Uttar Pradesh in 2017 -- and, apparently, would stay in all the way to the 2019 race.

The way Kishor would tell it, he is 2-0 up against the Indian electorate; Narendra Modi's 2014 campaign and the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad 2015 juggernaut.

Of course, this is not how others would tell it; there are many claimants to the 2014 success: Amit Shah, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- and above all, Modi himself.

But still, let's tell it Kishor's way. A non-partisan, post-ideological, election manager is a new and rare enough specimen in our politics; he is thus the cause of much excitement. Well, it appears that things are looking up for the Congress, Delhi mutters with an air of polite surprise.

Not so fast, people.

Count me in as a sceptic. I'm sorry, but what is Kishor supposed to do for the 2019 Congress? OK, I will grant you that expert management for Amarinder Singh's campaign in Punjab might well pay off. Even in Uttar Pradesh, with the right choices (Sheila Dikshit? Priyanka Gandhi?), the Congress might do better than a poor fourth, and declare victory thereby.

But 2019, surely, is a different ball game. And there are many reasons why.

For one, Modi, Kumar, even Singh, all had track records as leaders of the executive to point to. Such records make it easy for Kishor; any narrative he wishes to create can be supported, and rendered credible, simply by selling past achievements.

The sort of narrative miracle pulled off by campaigns such as Barack Obama's in 2008 is much tougher to pull together. And it is doubly tough when you're selling Rahul Gandhi.

Yes, Rahul Gandhi, post 'suit-boot' and so on, is no longer the butt of every joke -- an unexpected turn of events if ever there was one. But he still doesn't have anything to point to in his past to bolster his electability.

And, further, whatever energy Gandhi seems to have displayed in recent times comes from his obvious comfort with taking various oppositional positions.

His interventions have rarely been constructive -- if they were, they could serve as the building blocks of a positive narrative. A Narendra Modi can run a campaign mocking a flailing government because his record can be made to speak for itself; a Rahul Gandhi has no such luxury.

Kishor may have different templates in mind for each election, but he still has a standard modus operandi: Focus on leadership, and on a uniformity of message.

Part A is a problem, given the Gandhi conundrum -- they won't lead, and nobody else can. Indeed, nobody else leading is one strand of the Indira Congress DNA. Without it, the party falls apart.

And Part B is simply impossible. The Congress only succeeds when it is all things to all people: When it is simultaneously liberaliser, 'pro-poor', secular, soft Hindutva, internationalist, nativist, progressive, golden age-ist, and so on. Message fuzziness is the other strand of the Congress DNA.

So Kishor has pretty much nothing to work with at the national level. But surely he can at least build momentum? Win a few state contests, on-message and with clear leaders, and make the Congress look like a contender in 2019? Perhaps.

But then he's wagering that 2019 will be a traditional, 1990s/2000s general election, a national contest that's the sum of many state-level contests. Not, I'm sure, what he thinks 'he' did in 2014.

Given the poor fit between Kishor and the Congress, his signing on is, therefore, hardly a sign that it has reversed its decline. But, I admit, it is still hopeful for the party in two ways.

First: Kishor can serve the consultant's traditional purpose: Take the blame for obvious but painful decisions. The government's missteps had kept the party in its usual 'India's default OS' stupor; at least it is possible Kishor will shake things up a bit.

And second, Kishor's presence could be a sign that Rahul Gandhi has changed in one vitally important respect: It seems he might care about winning now. For a party with a fuzzy ideology, one that lives only for power, having a leadership that thought vaguely about returning to power in the distant future was a distinct handicap.

But Kishor isn't interested in building sensitive organisations, or healing the country, or listening to conversations, or asking the right questions, or any of the other ersatz New Age stuff we have to put up with from Rahul Gandhi. Kishor is interested only in winning. Perhaps that actually might make a difference.
The disagreements over what needs to be done on floodplains allows for illegal takeover by land mafia till nothing is left, observes Sunita Narain.

It is often easy to miss the target if you dont know what you are shooting at. This is how key environmental issues are often mismanaged. Let me discuss issues that have been troubling me for the past many months. My provocation to write is the huge fuss about how Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a respected spiritual guru, is constructing a mammoth structure, although so-called temporary, on the floodplain of the Yamuna. Environmentalists are up in arms, saying this will cause irreversible damage because the soil has been compacted, birds have disappeared and the floodplain has been destroyed.



By the time you read this, the grandiose event is over and the National Green Tribunal, which is listening to the appeal, has decided to take a meek view of the situation -- after much deliberation and an acceptance of the damage to the floodplain, it has imposed a small fine on the organisers and laid down conditions for remediation, which may or may not happen.

Earlier, the same battle played out over the construction of a big temple and then a multi-storey residential complex built for the Commonwealth Games athletes. These were lost. More recently, it has raged over a bus depot called Millennium.

In this case, a court -- and the Delhi government -- have ordered closure and the buses will now be parked in far-flung areas where land is available. This means there will be dead mileage. This when the cost of fuel is making public transport unviable. I would still argue that removal of this one symbol of bad planning will not save Delhis floodplain. These are not victories that we should celebrate.

Why do I say this? The brutal fact is that the floodplain is still not delineated in the land-use plan of the city. In the previous master plan of the city, the river zone area (called zone O) was identified as 9,700 hectares, of which 1,600 hectares is under water and the rest -- a massive area of 8,100 hectares -- is considered to be mostly dry.

However, over the years, a number of planned and unplanned developments have been undertaken in this zone, including massive residential areas with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. It has, therefore, been agreed in principle that the zone should be planned and an acceptable land-use plan put in place. But this process is not complete and given the disagreements over what needs to be done on floodplains it will probably remain in a grey area. This suits many people. It allows for illegal takeover by land mafia till nothing is left.

There is yet another problem. Why should a city that is so hungry for land keep over 8,100 hectares of its prime area under an activity that nobody can really figure out? It is, therefore, important to understand both the recharge functions of a floodplain and its value as a flood-mitigation zone. This value can be realised only when the city sees the benefits it gets. This is why Delhi must link its flood zone management to its water supply. A proportion of drinking water must come from this zone. Delhi must also begin to use this zone for water storage, which, in turn, will help in managing pollution. It must be functional. Otherwise, all the hue and cry cannot prevent the floodplain from being gobbled up.



It is also important that the plan for floodplain demarcates the area through proper mapping on the ground and ensures that this area is secured. This will mean taking tough decisions to leave out what is already gone in densely populated areas. This is always the most difficult of all tasks and nobody wants to bell the cat because accepting that a part of the land has been lost means accepting illegal encroachments have happened. This is something bureaucrats are loath to do. And public activists make their task easier by screaming foul. Status quo remains. The land mafia celebrates.



It also means preparing a plan of what is acceptable use. It cannot be do nothing. It means setting aside land for the river, for ecology, for parks and even identifying land which can be used for public utilities that are non-destructive, like a bus depot. It will mean that functions that are clearly a travesty of ecological use, like the Art of Living function, will not be allowed. But taking this call is even tougher because the credibility of public institutions is low.



So, such a plan will not be made. Instead, now that the floodplain has been cleared and a huge installation allowed, it is now going to be viewed as real estate. The permissible land-use, which is recreational, could be easily misused. In this place a giant mall or something similar can be built.



It will be the death of the floodplain, one way or another. So, it is time we chose the right target. This one we must not miss.

-- The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment. You can reach out to her on sunita@cseindia.org. On Twitter, you can find her at @sunitanar

Image: Participants perform during the last day of World Culture Festival on the banks of the river Yamuna. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
'The separatists are representatives of Pakistan.'

'They get paid from Islamabad for propagating that country's policy and conniving in her ploy of accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.'

On January 30, 1971, a 17 year old Kashmiri, along with his cousin, hijacked a Srinagar-Delhi Indian Airlines Fokker Friendship flight -- the Ganga -- to Lahore.

In the ensuing drama, the plane was set ablaze after releasing the passengers and the crew. India retaliated by banning overflights by any Pakistan aircraft which severely affected Pakistani troop movement during the the ensuing Bangladesh war.

On December 27, 2015, the 'Ganga hijacker', as he is often called, travelled to Paris with his wife and paid floral tributes at the Place Republique, the mourning site for the November 13, 2015, Paris attacks.

Expressing solidarity with the victims, he left a message which read, 'We (the Kashmiris) feel your pain as we have been suffering from the same violence since the last 25 years.'

After the Pathankot attacks, perhaps the only scathing and unambiguous condemnation from the Kashmiri separatist camp came from this hijacker, who termed it an attempt by the terrorists to scuttle the fresh dialogue process between India and Pakistan.'

The hijacker, Hashim Qureshi, now 62, has metamorphosed into a non-violent political leader.

After the hijacking, he was imprisoned on charges of espionage in Pakistan for 10 years.

In 1986, he left Pakistan and secured political asylum in The Netherlands. After returning to India in December 2000, he was arrested and charged with hijacking under the Enemy Agent Ordinance. Released on bail a year later, he continues to be tried in the special sessions court in Srinagar.

A Dutch citizen, Qureshi applied for restoration of Indian citizenship in 2007, which was denied by the government in 2014. He lives in Srinagar as a Person of Indian Origin.

Author of half a dozen books in English and Urdu, Qureshi, who has emerged as a staunch campaigner against violence in Kashmir, writes columns in the local newspapers explaining his socio-political thought.

After separating from the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, the first organised militant organisation in 1994, he formed the Democratic Liberation Party. He also runs a non-governmental organisation for the welfare of victims of violence in Kashmir.

In an interview with Pervez Majeed, Qureshi details his journey from a hijacker to a preacher of peace.

You were among those Kashmiris who started the 'movement' against Indian sovereignty in J&K, and resorted to violence as well. Paradoxically, you are among the first ones to shun it and preach non-violence. What brought about this change?

The change which you are referring to might seem paradoxical, but it is very much explainable and natural. The Ganga hijacking took place when I was only 17. It was also inspired by the global political order of the 1960s and 1970s in which nationalist freedom struggles in post-colonial times were always based on the fundamentals of indigenous armed struggles -- like those in Cuba, Algeria, Vietnam, even China.

After the hijacking, I spent almost 10 years in different Pakistani jails during which I was subjected to torture and humiliation. I also got the chance to read and be educated by a co-prisoner, Maqbool Bhat.

All these things transformed me from an emotional teenager into a thinking young political activist. I realised the futility of violence.

After introspection, I had the courage to change my political thought and wanted to serve as an example for the coming generations that the gun cannot solve the Kashmir issue.

After hijacking the flight, you received a hero's welcome in Pakistan. But you were soon imprisoned on charges of being an 'Indian spy.'

In Kashmir, you are being tried as a 'Pakistani agent.' What is the truth?

Well, the hero's welcome soon turned into accusations and allegations. Actually, the Pakistanis realised that I was actually a Kashmiri who nurtures pro-independence thoughts and is influenced by the Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Front, an indigenous organisation under the leadership of Maqbool Bhat, and that we were asking for an independent, secular Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan has never been supportive of the idea of an independent, secular Jammu and Kashmir. It would rather accept the division of Jammu and Kashmir into bits and pieces or even accept its accession to India, but never ever be supportive of the idea of an independent Kashmir.

For them, I was a hardcore enemy. So they kept me and Bhat in jails for nine years.

I feel proud that after my leader Bhat, I am the only Kashmiri who has been prosecuted in both countries of being the agent of the other.

So, the truth is that I am neither an agent of India nor of Pakistan, but, like Maqbool Bhat, I am an agent of Jammu and Kashmir and its people.

I am a 'Kashmiri nationalist'. Both countries always have been labelling 'Kashmiri nationalists' as agents of each other in order to confuse the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

India and Pakistan are working for their own national interests and it suits them to label 'Kashmiri nationalists' as agents of intelligence agencies.

Some 45 years after the hijacking, do you repent putting innocent lives at risk?

I explained to you that this hijacking was done in a different era having a different world order, and that it was not aimed at harming anybody. Nevertheless, it still remains an act of violence. Thereafter, I read a lot. My worldview became rational.

I do repent that act of violence and the fact that I was responsible for endangering lives.

As a young man, you were fascinated by Pakistan and the support that country provided ambitious people like you for the 'freedom of Kashmir.' Later, you distanced yourself from Pakistan. These days you severely criticise Pakistan. What are the reasons?

As a young man, I, like many others, was a victim of propaganda that Pakistan was a friend and a benefactor of Kashmiris. Later, I realised that Pakistan's Kashmir policy was based on its own national interests and its enmity with India.

I have never been against Pakistan or its people, but the Kashmir policy of the Pakistani military establishment and the government is only to befool the Kashmiri people in the name of religion.

They have their own national interests, they have used us Kashmiris as sacrificial lambs and ruined our culture of secularism, brotherhood, tolerance and peace.

I would be disloyal to the soil of Jammu and Kashmir and its people if I would not expose the hideous agenda of others who are bent on ruining our generations.

Most separatist groups in Kashmir appreciate Pakistan for providing 'diplomatic, moral and political support' to Kashmiris.

Who are these separatists you are talking about?

All of them are working for Jammu and Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. They are the local representatives of the Pakistani establishment.

Ironically, they call it a freedom struggle. These separatists are not pro-freedom leaders; they are actually pro-slavery leaders because just for their petty personal and financial interests, they want us to become slaves of Pakistan.

Some people believe that violence internationalised the Kashmir issue.

I don't think violence internationalised the issue. On the contrary, it has defamed our struggle for our birthright of self-determination and turned it into terrorism.

Has there been any commission or committee established at the international level in our support, or to solve the Kashmir issue?

The fact is that the gun has only made it into a bilateral territorial dispute between India and Pakistan and portrayed us as terrorists.

Now nobody on the international platform supports our right to self-determination. The violence has divided us on communal lines, a situation which benefits India and Pakistan.

The political landscape of Kashmir is broadly divided into two thoughts -- one called separatist and another mainstream. In your view, which one is genuine in its political position?

None of them is genuine. One is defending the interests of Pakistan while the other is defending the interests of India. None of them has a pro-people approach. They are the beneficiaries of the conflict, so don't like pro-peace politics.

The genuine political position is represented by 'Kashmiri nationalists' who are secular, pro-peace and work for a united, secular and independent Jammu and Kashmir, which I believe is the only long lasting solution.

You were a close associate of Maqbool Bhat, who is considered the father of the Kashmir freedom movement. In your view, what did he want? And did he espouse militancy?

He was a visionary man of deep understanding and intelligence. His aim was a united, secular and independent Jammu and Kashmir. For that purpose he wanted an indigenous revolutionary people's movement in J&K.

Though he favoured the gun at that time, given the world order and circumstances of those times, but since I know him, I can say with certainty that in the current circumstances, he would have opposed violence and rather started a civil disobedience movement to work for the solution of the Kashmir issue.

He used to say that whosoever tries to divide people on the basis of religion would be the biggest enemy of the people of J&K.

Reports suggest that Pakistan is trying to make Gilgit Baltistan its fifth province. What are the 'Kashmiri nationalists' doing about it?

That is a totally illegal move. As per the United Nations resolution, Pakistan has to vacate the parts of J&K under its control to facilitate a solution. Almost all the so-called Kashmiri separatists have cautioned Pakistan against the move.

Let them launch a movement against this proposal of Pakistan in Kashmir, the way they have launched against India. I am ready to follow them. But will they do that? I don't think they will. Because they know the repercussions!

You are writing your autobiography. What should the reader expect to read which you have not disclosed before?

About the hijacking, the 1971 war between India and Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh, a lot of people have written books and articles. Most Pakistanis writers and their sympathisers in Kashmir have blamed me for the creation of Bangladesh. They say the hijacking was enacted to give India a reason to attack Pakistan and help Bangladesh secede from Pakistan.

In my autobiography, I have narrated the whole story truthfully, that my hijacking had nothing to do with the India-Pakistan war and the creation of Bangladesh. I have given several details and incidents which I have not mentioned before.

By the way, here in this interview, let me say that I would have felt proud of myself if I was responsible for the liberation of Bangladesh; because those people were facing the worst form of atrocities and barbarism at the hands of Pakistan.

You call yourself a 'secular nationalist Kashmiri.' There are many other people of similar thought, most of who live in Western countries. Why are the 'secular nationalist Kashmiris' not visible and assertive?

The 'secular nationalist Kashmiris' are perhaps not so visible because they are not supported by India or Pakistan or their agencies. Our ideology does not suit these two countries and therefore both have created their unofficial mouthpieces at local and international levels to suppress the genuine Kashmiri voices.

'Nationalist Kashmiris' believe that both countries are the same and should leave our land. This does not suit the interests of these countries. Why would they allow these voices to become assertive?

What are the most pressing issues before the people of J&K?

The most pressing issue is our division; we are divided geographically, ideologically and politically. We should try to unite on an ideological basis.

Until and unless that happens, we will remain victims of terrorism, economic and political exploitation.

We need to build a consensus regarding our future. For that purpose, there is an urgent need of an institutionalised dialogue among all the people of the undivided state -- Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan administered Kashmir.
The death toll from the Ankara bombing climbed to 37 on Monday after three more people died from their injuries. Sundays car bomb attack on the citys main transport hub was the second major attack in Turkeys capital in less than a month.

The wreckage of two cars is seen after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district. Photograph: Defne Karadeniz/Getty Images

The explosion, the second such attack in the administrative heart of the city in under a month, happened in Guven Park in the Kizilay district, a key transport hub and commercial area.

The Hurriyet newspaper said the latest blast happened at about 18:40 (16:40 GMT) and the area was evacuated in case of a second attack. Many ambulances were at the scene, it added.

A car is seen burnt out after a blast on March 13, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Photograph: Elif Sogut/Getty Images

The blast, which could be heard several kilometers away, sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred meters from the Justice and Interior Ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister.

"These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

No group has yet claimed the attack. But a security official was quoted as saying that they believed Kurdish militant group, Kurdistan Workers Party, were behind the bombing.

According to initial findings, it seems that this attack has been carried out either by the PKK or an affiliated organisation.

"Tonight, civilian citizens waiting at a bus stop were targeted in a terrorist attack with a bomb-laden car," Ala told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the head of the intelligence agency and security chiefs.

"Significant findings have been made, but the organization behind this will be announced once the investigation has been finalised," he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said terror groups were targeting civilians because they were losing their struggle against Turkish security forces.

He said such attacks "increase our determination to fight terrorism".

Emergency workers respond at the scene after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district on March 13, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Photograph: Defne Karadeniz/Getty Images

Hurriyet also reported that a court in Ankara had ordered a ban on access to social media, including Facebook and Twitter, saying it was to stop people sharing images of the attack.

The bombing came two days after the US Embassy issued a warning that there was information regarding a potential attack on government buildings in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara, just a few km (miles) away from the blast site.

The United States condemned the attack, saying in a White House National Security Council statement: "This horrific act is only the most recent of many terrorist attacks perpetrated against the Turkish people. The United States stands together with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued partner, as we confront the scourge of terrorism."

Other world leaders joined in condemning the bombing. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "appalled," while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described it as a "cowardly attack". Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as "inhuman," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

"There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence. All NATO allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the country's ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was in a car at an intersection 20 meters from where the bomb was detonated.

Emergency workers are seen helping victims at the explosion site on March 13, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey.. Photograph: Elif Sogut/Getty Images

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert and associate fellow at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that insecurity was becoming the new normal in the country.

"Insecurity and instability now is the new dynamic in Turkish politics and in society," he said.

"Both of the last two attacks happened before the summit between the EU and Turkey, so I suspect that the group that carried out these attacks was seeking maximum publicity not just in Turkey but in the outside world to make it clear that Turkey is insecure and unstable place."

Turkey has been fighting on multiple fronts. As part of a US-led coalition, it is battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, which has seized territory in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

It is also battling outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party in its southeast, where a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire collapsed last July, prompting the worst violence since the 1990s.

Turkey sees the unrest in its largely Kurdish southeast as deeply linked to events in northern Syria, where the Kurdish YPG militia had been seizing territory as it fights both ISIL and rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad.
Former Maharashtra deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal appeared before the ED in Maharashtra Sadan corruption cases in Mumbai on Monday. Photograph: PTI Photo.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in Mumbai after 10 hours of questioning in connection with its probe in a money laundering case registered against him and others.

According to an ED official, the arrest of the former Public Works Department minister was affected under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after he allegedly refused to cooperate during the questioning. The agency also recorded his statement in the case.

The official said Bhujbal was questioned for 10 hours before he was arrested and he will be produced before a court on Tuesday.

The agency has filed two first information reports against Bhujbal, his son and nephew and others under the provisions of PMLA, based on Mumbai Police FIRs, to probe the Delhi-based Maharashtra Sadan construction scam and the Kalina land grabbing case.

The senior NCP leader, accompanied by MLC Jitendra Awhad, earlier arrived at the ED office at Ballard Pier in South Mumbai amid tight security around 11.30 am.

Speaking to reporters before entering the ED office, Bhujbal said, It is political vendetta...truth shall prevail. I will cooperate with the ED.

A large number of party workers who had gathered outside the ED office raised slogans even as prohibitory orders were put in place to avoid any untoward incident.

The ED had registered a PMLA case involving the Bhujbals and some of their associates and has already arrested the ex-ministers nephew Samir last month in the same case.

Samir is currently lodged in the high security Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

The ED had also questioned Bhujbals son Pankaj in the same case last month.

It had also brought out orders for attachment of three properties with an estimated worth of over Rs 280 crore in the case under money laundering laws.

The ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to the senior Bhujbal, Pankaj, Samir and a few others.

The NCP had then described the searches as political vendetta.

The state Anti-Corruption Bureau has already filed a chargesheet against Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case.

The new Maharashtra Sadan was built at the cost of Rs 100 crore when the Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.

Before Bhujbals arrival, at least 30 NCP workers were briefly taken into preventive custody outside the ED office in Mumbai.

Police sources said that around 125 police personnel headed by DCP Zone-I, Manoj Kumar Sharma were present at the spot even as roads leading to the office were barricaded on both sides.
India on Monday successfully test-fired its indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile, capable of hitting a target 700 km away, from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 9.15 am from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island), a defence official said.

The trial, which formed part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command of Indian Army, was fully successful, he said.

The sophisticated missile covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds, they said.

"The launch was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness," the official said.

The trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships from its launch till the missile hit the target area with accuracy, they said.

Agni-I missile is equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

The missile, which has already been inducted into armed forces, has proved its excellent performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality, the sources said.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, is designed to carry a payload of more than one tonne. Its strike range can be extended by reducing the payload.

Agni-I was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

The last trial of Agni-I, conducted on November 27, 2015 from the same base, was also successful.
The father of the girl whose husband was brutally hacked to death in full public view in a suspected case of honour killing surrendered on Monday even as a video clip showing three persons attacking the dalit youth in Tirupur district, triggered outrage.

The father surrendered before a local court in Nilakottai in Dindigal district of the state, about 380 kms from Chennai. Kausalya, who too was assaulted, has blamed her father for the attack.

The video that was aired across TV channels of the gruesome attack on 22 year-old Shankar showed his killers approaching him while he was with his wife, at Udumalpet in Tirupur district on Sunday.

The men were seen attacking Shankar and his wife in a fit of rage, dealing repeated blows on the couple. Scared bystanders remained mute witnesses to the carnage on the busy road.

Shankar was left lying by the roadside in a pool of blood.

Facing no resistance, the three attackers left the place in a two-wheeler, not exhibiting any remorse over their bloody act.

Though the incident was widely reported on Sunday itself, the video showed the brutality of the episode, with political leaders decrying killing of Shankar and the attack on his wife.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President EVKS Elangovan, Left parties, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and Dravidar Kazhagam condemned the incident and called for immediate arrest of the culprits.

The incident comes close on the heels of the murder of engineering student Gokulraj of Namakkal in a suspected honour killing.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed at the government hospital n Udumalpet as the relatives of the victim refused to accept he body and sought immediate arrest of the culprits.

Activists from VCK, All India Democratic Women's Association, Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam and Students' Federation of India also gathered at the hospital premises.

Kausalya, who is recovering at the government hospital, told reporters that her father Chinnasamy was totally opposed to their relationship and threatened to act against Shankar some time ago.

He had told her in clear terms that if she returned home alone, Shankar will be spared, she claimed.

Kausalya said she will be in a position to identify the culprits.

Stone pelting incidents were reported in Kumaralingam, the native place of Shankar, forcing closure of shops, and necessitating deployment of police force in Chennai.

However, the situation was brought under control, police said.

The parents and relatives of Shankar, numbering over 60, gathered at the hospital, where they refused to accept the body, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and also proof of the arrest.

Image: A screengrab taken from the viral video that captured the brutal murder of the Dalit boy. Photograph: YouTube
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17 in Nepal.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad that Aziz will meet foreign ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines to extend formal invitations to their respective Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit that will be hosted by Pakistan.

When asked about the meeting between the two leaders, sources in New Delhi said, Aziz had sought a meeting to extend the invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the 19th SAARC Summit and India in all likelihood will go ahead with the meeting. However, they did not divulge what will be the issues that India will discuss.

This will be the second meeting between Swaraj and Aziz after December 9 when the two countries announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue.

Zakaria said that Aziz will meet foreign ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on March 16 and 17.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal, a senior Pakistani official said on the condition of anonymity.

Swaraj-Aziz meeting will also provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad.

The Swaraj-Aziz meeting may also discuss the possibility of an interaction between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington where they are scheduled to attend the nuclear security summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama.
In a major breakthrough, self-styled godman Asaram Bapus alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, has been arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

Kartik Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh on Sunday in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of the city police and brought here on Monday, a senior official said.

Besides murdering the three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four other persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against the jailed religious leader in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, said J K Bhatt, joint commissioner of police (Crime Branch) and in-charge IG of ATS.

During interrogation, Haldar told officials he had been instructed by other sadhaks (followers) of Asaram to kill these witnesses so as to weaken the cases against the controversial preacher, the ATS said in a statement.

Haldar, a sharp shooter and henchman of the self-styled godman, also told the police he was funded by some of the sadhaks of Asarams ashrams located in various parts of the country, it stated.

He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asarams personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, the ATS said.

Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot. The doctor was vocal about Asarams misdeeds and also became a witness in the rape case, filed by one of the two victim sisters here three years back.

Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013. He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP. Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a transporter whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.

Apart from these killings, Haldar was also involved in four cases of attempt to murder, including firing on Asarams former personal assistant Mahendra Chawla in June last year at Panipat in Haryana.

Among other attacks, Haldar fired eight rounds on the warden of Asarams Chhindwada-based ashram Omprakash Prajapati and his wife Seema, stated the release.

To execute his sinister plans, Haldar had acquired 10 country-made pistols and 94 cartridges from various arms dealers in Jharkhand and UP, it said.

Haldar, a native of South 24 Pargana district in West Bengal, first came in contact with Asarams preachings in 2000 when he attended his religious discourse in New Delhi.

A year later, he left his household responsibilities and became a full-time sadhak and started living at Asarams ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad, added the release.
Saudi Arabia: Families fear their sons will be executed within 24 hours

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia: Families fear their sons will be executed within 24 hours, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66ae64.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The families of three young men arrested for their involvement in anti-government protests while under the age of 18, fear their sons are among four people reported to be facing execution tomorrow, Amnesty International said today.

The family of Ali al-Nimr expressed fears on social media that he, along with Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher, is among the prisoners referred to in a government-run newspaper article published today. The article said the scheduled executions will complete a wave of punishments for terrorism offences that saw 47 people executed on the same day in January.

"If these executions go ahead, Saudi Arabia will demonstrate its utter disdain for international law, which prohibits executions of people for crimes committed under the age of 18. Condemning these young men to death despite grave flaws in their trials and credible allegations that their 'confessions' were extracted under torture, would be a sickening example of the authorities' disregard for human life," said James Lynch, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"The Saudi Arabian authorities should immediately stop the planned executions and establish an official moratorium on executions. They must also order impartial investigations into allegations of torture by security officers, and undertake fundamental reform of the judicial system to put an end to such egregious violations."

Ali al-Nimr was arrested in February 2012 when he was 17 years old, and sentenced to death in May 2014 by the deeply deficient Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Jeddah for 12 offences that included taking part in anti-government protests, attacking security forces, possessing a machine-gun and carrying out an armed robbery. His mother told Amnesty International that there were "wounds and swollen bruises" on his body when she visited him in prison and that his treatment there had left him visibly frail and weak.

Dawood Hussein al-Marhoon and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher were arrested on 22 May and 3 March 2012, when they were aged 17 and 16 respectively, and sentenced to death by the SCC in Riyadh in October 2014 on similar charges.

All three have said their "confessions" were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment in detention, but the court has refused to order an investigation into these allegations.

In January this year, Ali al-Nimr's uncle, the Shi'a Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, was put to death along with 46 other people on the same day, after a politically motivated and grossly unfair trial. Like Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the three young activists are members of Saudi Arabia's Shi'a Muslim minority, which is subject to systematic harassment and discrimination. The mass executions followed reports in national media outlets close to the Saudi Arabian authorities that at least 50 people would soon be put to death in a single day.

"Saudi Arabia's use of the death penalty to silence dissent sends a chilling message to anybody who dares to speak out against the authorities," said James Lynch.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times and in all cases without exception, but has described Saudi Arabia's

arbitrary application of death sentences as particularly shocking due to the lack of basic safeguards in trials.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is legally binding on Saudi Arabia, makes clear that no death sentences may be imposed for offences committed by individuals under the age of 18.

Between August 2014 and June 2015 at least 175 people were put to death, usually by beheading and after deplorably flawed judicial proceedings - an average execution rate of one person every two days. Almost half of executions carried out in recent years were for non-lethal crimes.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
UN refugee agency concerned about restrictions on Iraqis in displacement camps

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN refugee agency concerned about restrictions on Iraqis in displacement camps, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66b7940c.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

11 March 2016 - Concerned about hampering the rights of displaced Iraqis seeking shelter in camps, the United Nations refugee agency today urged the Government to set up clear procedures and special facilities for screening people that are separate from camps established to provide shelter and humanitarian aid.

"There is a rising trend of newly-displaced Iraqis being forcibly transferred to camps where restrictions on their freedom of movement were being imposed in a manner disproportionate to any legitimate concern, including those related to security," Ariane Rummery, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told journalists in Geneva.

The concern is that as freedom of movement is curbed, so might other rights, such as access to work, food, healthcare and legal assistance, she said.

In Kirkuk Governorate, since 22 February, the approximate 2,000 residents of Nazrawa have been confined to the camp, irrespective of whether or not they completed security screening procedures.

UNHCR has also been told by protection partners about instances of forcible relocation of Iraqis into camps, as well as disproportionate restrictions on their freedom of movement, elsewhere in Iraq.

In northern Iraq, displaced persons face restrictions on their freedom of movement in Tilkaif District, as well as Salah Al Din and Anbar Governorates.

There are more than 3.3 million people in Iraq displaced since January 2014, in addition to nearly one million Iraqis who had been displaced since 2006-2007, according to UNHCR figures.

"With the prospect of further displacement as military operations against extremist groups escalate, it is becoming increasingly urgent for the authorities to ensure both that IDPs are granted access to safety in a timely manner, and that camps maintain their humanitarian character," Ms. Rummery said.
Voices of survivors must be heard, UN chief says after meeting 'comfort women' victim

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Voices of survivors must be heard, UN chief says after meeting 'comfort women' victim, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66c4640b.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

11 March 2016 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need to put the victims who were drafted by Japan as so-called "comfort women" during the Second World War at the centre of any resolution of the issue, following a meeting at United Nations Headquarters with one of the victims.

"I share my sympathy with Ms. Gil Won-ok about the suffering and pain that she and other victims have experienced. It is crucial that the voices of victims and survivors are heard," Mr. Ban said.

The term 'comfort women' refers to hundreds of thousands of girls and women from several Asian countries abducted and forced into sexual slavery prior to and during the Second World War by the Japanese military.

In December 2015, the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea reached an agreement to resolve the longstanding issue of 'comfort women' that reportedly involves an official apology from Japan for the treatment of these women and a promised payment of $8.3 million for the victims.

"I hope that the Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Korea on 28 December 2015 will be faithfully implemented under the guidance of human rights principles," Mr. Ban said. "Once more, I call on all concerned parties to continue the dialogue towards a comprehensive resolution of this issue in line with human rights principles, with the victims at the centre."

Meanwhile, a group of independent UN human rights experts today raised concerns about the December 2015 agreement, noting that the pact falls short of meeting the demands of the victims, who deserved "an unequivocal official apology" from Tokyo.

"We believe the agreement between Japan and South Korea falls short of meeting the demands of survivors," said the independent experts on discrimination against women, transitional justice and torture. "An unequivocal official apology recognizing the full responsibility of the then Japanese Government and military, as well as adequate reparations, would protect and uphold the victims' right to truth, justice and reparation.

"We are also deeply concerned that the Republic of Korea may remove a statue commemorating not only the historical issue and legacy of the 'comfort women' but also symbolizing the survivors' long search for justice," they added.

The experts stated that Japan and the Republic of Korea should understand that this issue will not be considered resolved so long as all the victims, including from other Asian countries, remain unheard, their expectations unmet and their wounds left wide open, underscoring that this is now a race against time, given the age of the survivors.

Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
UNHCR concerned at restrictions on displaced Iraqis in camps

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR concerned at restrictions on displaced Iraqis in camps, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66c924.html [accessed 22 October 2022]

The UN Refugee Agency is concerned about a rising trend of newly-displaced Iraqis being forcibly transferred to camps where restrictions on their freedom of movement are imposed in a manner disproportionate to any legitimate concern, including those related to security.

"While recognizing the responsibility of authorities to undertake security screening of people fleeing territory controlled by extremist groups, we urge the government to set up clear procedures and facilities for this purpose that are separate from camps established to provide shelter and other humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis," UNHCR spokeswoman Ariane Rummery told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday (March 11).

Nazrawa camp, in Kirkuk Governorate, was opened by UNHCR in November 2015 for internally displaced Iraqis seeking safety from conflict and severe human rights abuses, thanks to flexible funding from over ten donor countries.

It was opened in response to a long-standing request by the Kirkuk authorities for more support from the humanitarian community in their efforts to provide protection and assistance to large numbers of internally-displaced persons, or IDPs, in the governorate - currently numbering nearly 400,000.

Approximately 2,000 displaced Iraqis are currently residing in Nazrawa camp. However, authorities have progressively imposed movement restrictions on residents of the camp. Since February 22 all residents have been confined to the camp, irrespective of whether or not they have completed security screening procedures.

Instances of forcible relocation of Iraqis into camps, as well as disproportionate restrictions on their freedom of movement, have also been recorded by protection partners elsewhere in Iraq.

In Garmawa camp in northern Iraq, Iraqis who were forcibly relocated to the camp from villages in Tilkaif District in 2015 continue to face restrictions on their freedom of movement. Similar concerns are also emerging in Salah Al Din and Anbar Governorates.

"We are concerned about this developing trend as freedom of movement is key to displaced people being able to exercise other rights, such as access to work, food, healthcare and legal assistance," Rummery told reporters.

"With the prospect of further displacement as military operations against extremist groups escalate, it is becoming increasingly urgent for the authorities to ensure both that IDPs are granted access to safety in a timely manner, and that camps maintain their humanitarian character," she added.

In addition to nearly one million Iraqis displaced since 2006-7, there are more than 3.3 million people in Iraq who have been displaced since January 2014. The displaced in Iraq continue to face challenges, including exposure to violence, disproportionate restrictions on access to safety and freedom of movement, forced encampment, and constrained access to basic services.
South Sudan: UN announces independent high-level probe into Malakal events

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, South Sudan: UN announces independent high-level probe into Malakal events, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66cc840d.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

11 March 2016 - The United Nations will convene an independent high-level board of inquiry to conduct an in-depth investigation into how the UN responded last month to deadly violence in the town of Malakal, in northern South Sudan.

Speaking to reporters in New York, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the focus of the inquiry would be on how the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) responded to clashes on 17 and 18 February in its protection of civilians site - a situation where civilians seek protection at existing UN bases amidst fighting.

Visiting Malakal a week after the incidents, Kyung-wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that civilians who had sought safety at the site had been attacked, killed, traumatised and displaced once more, with the entire site, including medical clinics and schools, completely and systematically burnt down and destroyed.

Also today, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that fighting in South Sudan's Western Equatoria state is forcing thousands of people to flee into the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

According to UNHCR spokesperson Leo Dobbs, the fighting in Western Equatoria is relatively new, having spread to the previously peaceful area in 2015. Since then, more than 11,000 people have crossed into DRC, and more than 14,000 into Uganda.

Many of the new arrivals fleeing from Western Equatoria "often walked for days, and are tired, hungry and in need of help," Mr. Dobbs told reporters in Geneva, referring to urgent needs for shelter, food, water, healthcare and security.

In the coming week, UNHCR wants to gain access to an estimated 7,000 South Sudanese refugees, mostly women and children, living in Bambouti, a hard-to-reach area of eastern CAR.

The new arrivals there have outnumbered the local population of about 1,500 people and have put a strain on food and water resources.

This has also given rise to health issues, including malaria, and diarrhoea, in a town that has just one midwife and a medical assistant, and lacks medicine and equipment.
Libya: UN urges humanitarian ceasefires, safe exit of civilians trapped in Benghazi

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Libya: UN urges humanitarian ceasefires, safe exit of civilians trapped in Benghazi, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66d2940c.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

11 March 2016 - The top United Nations relief official for Libya today called for humanitarian ceasefires and the safe exit of civilians trapped in fighting areas in Benghazi, following reports that many families, specifically in the Qanfouda and Qawarsha neighbourhoods, face shortages of electricity, food and medical supplies.

"The Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya calls upon all the warring parties to ensure the safe exit of all civilians who are trapped in areas affected by fighting and wish to leave. He urges all the parties to allow for humanitarian ceasefires in Benghazi to facilitate the work of humanitarian organization on the ground," said a statement issued by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

The Mission also reminded all parties of their obligation to respect the provisions of international humanitarian law and international human rights law at all times. "UNSMIL specifically urges the parties to ensure the protection of civilians and allow for the provision of medical care to the wounded, including their safe evacuation where needed," the statement added.

UNSMIL was established in 2011 by the UN Security Council at the request of the Libyan authorities to support the country's new transitional authorities in their post-conflict efforts.

Across the country, it is estimated that 2.4 million individuals are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance and more than 40 per cent of the health facilities in Libya are not functioning.
Yemen: Houthis Ban Rights Advocate's Travel

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Yemen: Houthis Ban Rights Advocate's Travel, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e66f134.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Houthi officials in Yemen confiscated the passport of a prominent human rights advocate on March 4, 2016. The Houthis should immediately end the travel ban on Abdulrasheed al-Faqih, executive director of the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, the country's leading independent documentation group.

The Houthis should stop interfering with the work of Yemen's human rights advocates and organizations, which is being carried out with increasing difficulty.

"Cracking down on human rights workers by taking their passports speaks volumes about human rights under the Houthis," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. Abusive actions like these will only undercut the Houthis' credibility in future peace talks."

Al-Faqih told Human Rights Watch that he landed at Yemen's Sanaa airport at 10:30 a.m. on March 4, after attending an international media conference in Amman, Jordan. Houthi officials at the airport questioned him for more than 20 minutes about his participation in the conference and about an older visa for Turkey on his passport. Without providing a reason, they kept his passport and told him to leave the airport. Without his passport, al-Faqih cannot travel outside of the country.

This is the second travel ban the Houthis have imposed on a rights advocate in the past six months. Since October 2015, they have prevented Shafiqa al-Wahsh, director of the semi-governmental Women's National Committee of Yemen, from traveling abroad to participate in dialogues about women's roles in the peace negotiations.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Yemen is a party, states that, "everyone shall be free to leave any country," including their own. Any restrictions to this right must be provided by law and necessary for national security or other grounds, but they "must not nullify the principle of liberty of movement" and must be consistent with other rights. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has said that any legal restrictions "should use precise criteria and may not confer unfettered discretion."

The Houthis, an armed group from northern Yemen, gained control of the capital, Sanaa, and other areas in September 2014, ultimately causing President Abdu Rabu Masour Hadi and his cabinet to flee to Saudi Arabia. On March 26, 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of nine Arab countries began an aerial campaign against the Houthi and allied forces in Yemen.

Since taking control of the capital, the Houthis have harassed al-Faqih and his wife, Radhya al-Mutwakel, president of the Mwatana Organization. On August 9, Houthi forces arrested al-Faqih and detained him at al-Judairi police station, where guards interrogated him about work he was doing to petition for the release of women being held for their affiliation with the opposition Islah party. The guards beat him for five hours, but then released him without charge.

On September 19, Houthi forces arrested both al-Faqih and his wife because of their work documenting continued Houthi human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. They released al-Mutwakel promptly but held her husband for 10 hours, then released him without charge.

Over the last year, the Houthis have shut down human rights and other nongovernmental organizations, and arbitrarily arrested members of these groups. Members of three nongovernmental organizations told Human Rights Watch that Houthi gunmen raided and shut down their offices in April and have prevented them from reopening. Human Rights Watch also documented the Houthis' enforced disappearance of Abd al-Kader al-Guneid, a physician and human rights activist, on August 5. The Houthis have yet to provide his family with any information about his whereabouts or situation.

The Houthis have arbitrarily or abusively detained at least 35 people from August 2014 through October 2015, seven of whom had been forcibly disappeared, Human Rights Watch said.

"Yemeni human rights advocates can play a crucial role in any future peace processes if their voices are heard," Stork said. "The Houthis should be encouraging rights defenders to carry out their work, not unlawfully interfering in their activities."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Boko Haram is losing, but so is food production

Publisher IRIN Author Mbom Sixtus Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as IRIN, Boko Haram is losing, but so is food production, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e670c64.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Nigeria's war against Boko Haram is finally swinging in the government's favour, but it's going to take much longer for food production to recover in the country's northeast. The same is true in neighbouring Cameroon, which has also felt the impact of the violence.

According to the Famine Early Warning Network, FEWS NET, the conflict has scared farmers off their land, closed roads and markets - which means higher food prices - and squeezed income-earning opportunities.

Though the army's gains may slowly begin to revitalise rural areas, enabling some who fled to return to their homes, "this will not completely offset the negative impacts that conflict has already had on household food and income sources," FEWS NET said.

The USAID-funded agency is predicting a food "crisis" for poor households in the worst-affected areas of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states between February and September this year, with much of the rest of the three states food "stressed" - meaning people have the barest minimum.

A malnutrition survey of children in December found a rate of 15 percent - the internationally recognised emergency threshold.

A regional problem

Across the border, in Cameroon's Far North Region, some 1.4 million people are estimated to be food insecure - one third of the population, according to Felix Gomez, World Food Programme country director.

That's a doubling of the figure since June 2015, he told IRIN. Some 200,000 people are "most at risk", facing "severe food insecurity", with over 150,000 children under five and more than 30,000 mothers in need of emergency nutrition assistance.

Cameroon's remote north has traditionally struggled to feed itself. But the Boko Haram conflict - expanding out of Nigeria - has exacerbated the problem.

Cross-border attacks, beginning in 2013, have so far claimed more than 1,200 lives, according to government spokesperson, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Boko Haram regards the governments in both Nigeria and Cameroon as secular and illegitimate.

In the growing insecurity, farmers have cut their risk by reducing the size of the plots they cultivate. The crucial commodity trade with Nigeria has also dried up as the authorities seek to limit cross-border movement, and food prices are rising.

The strain felt by poor households is reflected in the growing number of admissions into nutrition programmes "in districts affected by the Boko Haram crisis", said Gomez. At the same time, health facilities are being forced to close as a result of the unrest.

"This situation could continue to deteriorate, if an adequate response is not provided, due to insecurity, poor harvests and increased pressures caused by population displacement," Gomez warned.

It's not just Boko Haram violence that's causing hardship. Cattle rustling and kidnapping by armed groups from across the border in unstable Central African Republic is also disrupting farming and the agro-business in Cameroon's Adamawa region (not to be confused with Nigeria's), a major beef producer.

A report by the local association of cattle breeders, known by the French acronym APESS, said cattle owners paid $170,000 in ransoms to kidnappers in 2015, and lost thousands of cattle.

"We have noticed a deteriorating food security situation in the Adamawa region in 2015," said Gomez. "Ongoing criminal activities such as kidnappings, stealing of cattle and crops have exacerbated the situation and impacted the farmers as well as cattle headers in the region."

Key to future food security is whether Cameroon's farmers will feel safe enough to plant in the next few months.

Cameroon's meteorological services are predicting delayed rains, but are acknowledging incomplete data as Boko Haram has scared its officers from the field.

Meteorologist Gervais Didier Yontchang told IRIN that if any weather measuring equipment breaks down now, "things get more complicated, because no one will be ready to risk his life going to repair it."
Ukraine-Style Hybrid War Unlikely in Latgale

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Author Olevs Nikers Publication Date 11 March 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 49 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Ukraine-Style Hybrid War Unlikely in Latgale, 11 March 2016, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 49, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e676354.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

On the second anniversary of the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the BBC gave its viewers a chance to "look inside the war room" with a program featuring a committee of former senior British military and diplomatic figures. In a quasi-documentary titled World War Three: Inside the War Room, the participants are faced with a simulated crisis in which Russia uses "hybrid warfare" techniques to invade the eastern Latvian region of Latgale. And with absolute devotion and seriousness, the British officials on the program need to resolve the situation without it leading to a nuclear showdown or World War III (Baltic Review, February 5).

After Russia's conflict with Ukraine exploded into all-out war, it raised the alarming question of who might be Russia's next target and what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) might do if the Kremlin indeed turned its attention to the Baltic States, which, contrary to Ukraine, are Alliance members. The BBC program's producers strived to generate the most imaginable and realistic scenario of a conflict in the region, which would reflect Russia's previous and ongoing actions in Ukraine. World War Three: Inside the War Room was widely discussed among Latvian politicians and officials, who have mainly focused on the program's demonstration of the decision-making processes within NATO, and whether or not Article V would be activated in a real conflict situation (Skaties.lv, February 4; Diena, February 24). But the relevance of the documentary's crisis scenario itself, which essentially directly replicated Russia's Ukraine strategy in the Baltics, is seriously questionable.

Crucial differences between the situations in Latgale and southeastern Ukraine suggest that the BBC's simulated scenario is actually quite unrealistic. In fact, there is little reason to believe that Russia would use the same strategy in Latvia as it employed in Ukraine. This is due to three major factors: First, unlike in southeastern Ukraine, Russia does not have specific economic or military interests in Latgale that would justify a military intervention there and bring Moscow in direct conflict with NATO. Second, unlike with the vast distances in Ukraine, Latvia's small territorial size would invite a more traditional "blitzkrieg"-type invasion strategy by Russia. Moscow would presumably try to immediately militarily secure critical infrastructure throughout the Baltic country, rather than focusing on or opening with a limited "hybrid war"-style operation in the Latgale region. And finally, even if Russia were to choose to pursue a hybrid war strategy in Latvia, it would be unlikely to find sufficient support among Latgale's population.

Strategic and economic interests motivated Russia's push to establish control over southeastern Ukraine in order to secure a land corridor to the annexed Crimean peninsula. Moreover, Russia acted in part to seize certain natural resources and heavy manufacturing infrastructure located in Donbas (eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk) and the offshore areas surrounding Crimea (Me.gov.ua, accessed March 10). But landlocked Latgale-Latvia's poorest area and one of the most impoverished regions in the European Union-lacks any such strategic industry or infrastructure. And with the exception of some important regional north-south transit corridors, small farms and limited manufacturing, Latgale provides few if any economic reasons to justify a Russian invasion, which would spark a war with the North Atlantic Alliance (Crcabc.europa.eu, accessed March 11; The Baltic Times, April 14, 2015).

Second, Ukraine as a whole was too large a "bite" for Russia to "swallow" at once, so Moscow's hybrid, proxy war tactics there served as a means to "bite off" smaller pieces at a time, partly relying on attrition while simultaneously achieving certain economic and political goals. Indeed, Donbas and Latgale represent entirely different size scales. Latgale is only 14,547 square kilometers and comprises nearly 25 percent of Latvia's entire territory, which is 64,589 square km. On the other hand, all of Ukraine measures over 603,500 square km-about the size of Germany and Poland combined-with Donbas taking up 53,201 square km. These massive distances naturally seriously influenced logistics and the conduct of the war in eastern Ukraine, which would be significantly different in Latvia. It would make little sense for Russia to take over a small border region in Latvia and not, at the same time, attack critical infrastructure across the country, combined with a "blitzkrieg"-style drive toward Riga and other strategically important Baltic port cities. The distance from Riga to Daugavpils-the most eastern Latvian city in Latgale-is just 220 km. And Daugavpils is only 400 km away from Latvia's main sea ports of Ventspils and Liepaja. A recent controversial war game study by the RAND corporation asserted that Russia could seize Tallinn and Riga in just 60 hours (Rand.org, January 2016).

Third, although 38.9 percent of Latgale's inhabitants are Russian speakers or ethnic Russians, this population is hardly similar to the Russian speakers and ethnic Russians who made up nearly 70 percent of the residents of the eastern Ukrainian industrial cities of Donetsk and Luhansk prior to the start of the war. Twenty-five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Donbas region remained almost integrally connected to the Russian economy, with close social and economic ties persisting between the two countries' populations. Political science scholar Yuri M. Zhukov suggested that any actual separatists in eastern Ukraine were "pro-Russian" not because they spoke Russian, but because their economic livelihood had long depended on trade with Russia and they believed this economic condition was under threat (VOX Ukraine, November 10, 2015).

On the other hand, after the restoration of Latvia's independence in 1991, the Latgalian Russians were physically, socially, economically and politically disconnected from Russia, and the Latvian economy was reoriented from East to the West. While 96 percent of Donetsk voters supported the pro-Russian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych in 2010 (Cvk.gov.ua, accessed March 10), public opinion polls show that extreme pro-Russian politicians enjoy very limited political little support across Latvia (Satori.lv, March 12, 2015). In general, Latgalians would be quite unlikely to form any serious backbone to a local "rebellion" orchestrated by Russia. The porous Latvian-Russian border might allow more dedicated "rebels" to enter from Russia, but as evidence shows, they would not find wide support among the local population.

Undoubtedly, the BBC film inspired a serious discussion within Latvian society, which wants a more rapid and successful integration of Latvia's ethnic minorities, strengthened borders and more robust military forces. And although the hybrid warfare scenario in Latvia is highly unlikely, the documentary was important in sparking a wider debate among NATO strategists about what a real conflict in the Baltics would look like and what should be the most effective response.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
Death of Top Chechen IS Commander May Change the Face of the Syrian Insurgency

Publisher Jamestown Foundation Publication Date 11 March 2016 Citation / Document Symbol Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 49 Cite as Jamestown Foundation, Death of Top Chechen IS Commander May Change the Face of the Syrian Insurgency, 11 March 2016, Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 13 Issue: 49, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56e676814.html [accessed 22 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Link to original story on Jamestown website

On March 5, in the fighting for the city of al-Shaddadi in eastern Syria, one of the most influential commanders of the so-called Islamic State (IS), Tarkhan Batirashvili, a.k.a. Umar al-Shishani, was reportedly killed. Batirashvili, was an ethnic Chechen from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge (Rbc.ru, March 8). It should be noted, however, that after the initial reports that Batirashvili had been killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on March 10 that he had only been seriously wounded in the attack, but was still alive (Al Arabiya, March 10).

Batirashvili had already been reported killed several times over the past three years, but the source of those reports were almost always Kurdish militants, who are known for exaggerating their military victories (Kavkazsky Uzel, December 28, 2015). Hence, few analysts paid attention to the information provided by the Kurdish groups. Russian media sources have also been quite unreliable, especially as they used photographs they said were of Batirashvili but were of other people, and made unsubstantiated claims (Lenta.ru, February 12, 2015).

This time, however, it was unnamed Pentagon officials who were quoted as saying that Batirashvili had likely been killed in a US drone strike in that part of Syria. That operation must have specifically targeted certain individuals. Tarkhan Batirashvili was on the United States' list of wanted individuals, and the US government announced a $5 million bounty for information that would lead to him being killed or captured. The Pentagon was perfectly aware of Batirashvili's importance in the Islamic State, given that he was not only a top IS official but also a close associate of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the past, Batirashvili even held the position of a "military minister in the caliphate's government," and he was personally responsible for the northern front. Several thousand Chechens, other North Caucasians, and citizens of former Soviet states were under Batirashvili's command (Svoboda.org, March 9).

While this latest report that Batirashvili was likely killed is much more trustworthy than the previous reports, the Chechen militant's death can be confirmed only after his father in Pankisi confirms it and, as of March 9, Batirashvili's father had not announced mourning for his son; hence, he may still be alive.

A former serviceman in the Georgian special forces, Umar al-Shishani rose to prominence in Syria in 2012, when he led a group of militants who fought the forces of Bashar al-Assad. At first, Umar al-Shishani's group, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Helpers), was made up of Chechens (Newsru.com, November 21, 2013). Later, other North Caucasians, including Dagestanis, Ingush and Kabardins, also joined him. Umar al-Shishani soon became so well-known that all the insurgents from former Soviet states sought to join his group. However, things changed after he joined the IS's self-declared "caliph," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. When Umar al-Shishani decided to join the IS, few other militants from his group followed him. However, as the IS strengthened in Syria and in Iraq, his former subordinates began leaving their respective groups, including those of Amir Muslim al-Shishani (Murad/Muslim Margoshvili) and of Amir Salahudin al-Shishani (Faizulla Margoshvili), among others, to join the IS. The outflow was so significant that Amir Muslim, who led the group Junud al Sham, was forced to ask for help publicly (Videoonlinehd.su, January 10).

Another group, which was under the command of Amir Salahudin al-Shishani, joined al-Nusra, thereby becoming part of al-Qaeda. Amir Salahudin currently is the commander of the group Caucasus Emirate in Syria. The militants under the command of Muslim al-Shishani, Salahudin al-Shishani, Abdul-Malik al-Shishani, and some others are still neither part of al-Nusra nor the IS. These Chechen commanders' units have kept their distance from the larger groups, which cut them off from the general financing of the forces fighting the Assad regime.

The death of Umar al-Shishani, however, might change the situation among the Chechens fighting in Syria. There will most likely be an outflow of Chechens from the IS back to the groups of Amir Muslim al-Shishani and Amir Salahudin al-Shishani. The weakening of the Chechen leadership in the IS and the appointment of Arab commanders for the Chechen fighters will likely cause conflicts among the militants, since the Chechens do not normally consider the Arabs to be authoritative military leaders. Recruits who once would have gone to Syria in hopes of joining Umar al-Shishani's forces will now seek groups headed by other well-known Chechen commanders. If Umar al-Shishani was indeed killed, it is unlikely that his closest associate, Amir Abdulkhakim al-Shishani (Rustam Azhiev, of the "Caliphate" group) will replace him. Azhiev's authority among the militants is not high enough to permit him to claim overall leadership automatically.

Many of the Chechens who went to fight in Syria associated the war with commanders like Umar al-Shishani and tried to serve under his command. One reason for this is that few of the Chechens who go to Syria to fight speak Arabic; and thus, when they first arrive there, they prefer to be among their own compatriots. According to the Chechen Ministry of Interior, 405 people left the republic for Syria between 2013 and the summer of 2015, of whom 104 have been killed and 44 have returned home (Kavkazsky Uzel, October 3). It is unlikely these figures are accurate: the Chechen interior ministry apparently did not take into account those Chechen militants who were already in Syria at the time the war started, or moved to Syria from Europe, Turkey or other Middle Eastern countries.

If Umar al-Shishani's death is confirmed, it may radically change the situation for the Chechens fighting in Syria. While some will leave one militant group to join another, other Chechens may give up the fighting altogether and return to Turkey.

Copyright notice:  2010 The Jamestown Foundation
GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Gulfport police are searching for a suspect who shot a man in the head just after midnight Sunday.

According to Gulfport Police Sgt. Damon McDaniel, police responded to a call of an assault at the Rouse's supermarket at 1345 East Pass Rd. about 12:18 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, officers found an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators later learned the victim was in the parking lot of the store when he was approached by an unknown suspect and shot. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle.

The victim was transported to a local hospital and later airlifted to a New Orleans hospital for further treatment.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the Gulfport Police Department at (228)868-5959, Crime Stoppers online or by telephone at (877)787-5898. A message can also be sent by texting CSTIP plus your message to 274637(CRIMES).
If an award were to be given to the most resilient rancher in the region, it would go to James Schick, who ranches north of Tye.

Schick felt he needed to replant native grasses each year until he finally establishes a suitable stand.

"You cannot force Mother Nature," said Schick, understanding that conditions must be just right in the process of pasture improvements.

His goal of improving his range and pastureland is one of the reasons that Schick was selected as the 2016 Conservation Rancher of the Year by the Middle Clear Fork Soil and Water Conservation District.

Schick is a native of Taylor County. After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in Animal Science from Texas A&M University, he was in the beef cattle feedyard industry until he changed career direction to become an insurance adjuster. But his main interest still remains in production agriculture.

Schick purchased his property with the intention of developing it as a wildlife project, but as he improves it the focus is now on a livestock/wildlife operation.

Grass management, both native and improved is the primary objective. A stand of Tifton 85 which was sprigged three years ago, is making excellent growth and providing a large volume of forage. On other sites, native pastures are making sustainable growth.

Schick is also a fan of Kleingrass which he has established on one sector of his ranch. Wheat is also planted to supplement forage for cattle, while the other grasses are in the dormant stage with a later harvest for grain. With limited surface water, water wells have been drilled and are equipped with solar panels to power the pumps, providing water for livestock and wildlife.

With an ongoing brush program, wildlife consideration is evident with special "runways," which are actually brush strips joining the various brush areas.

"The reason for that is it gives a secure pathway for wildlife," said Schick.

Both mechanical and chemical control methods are used in control of brush. Schick is also a believer in prescribed burning as a viable management tool. Ranch roads have been constructed around the perimeter of the property, that if needed, could also be used as fireguards. Schick is a member of the prescribed burn group which meets monthly with the local NRCS to discuss and increase awareness of prescribed burning. At times, he has also helped in a volunteer role with prescribed burns in the county.

Rotational grazing is utilized, especially important in the establishment of both native and improved grasses.

"I use electric fences whenever possible and like the flexibility they provide," Schick said.

One other management technique is the placement of hay in what he calls "service areas." This localizes the buildup of hay and can help in the restoration of native pastures in specific areas.

Schick is in the process of establishing a quality cow herd with both Red Angus and Beef Master cattle. With the use of artificial insemination, his plan is develop and market quality herd replacements.

Long range goals are to increase the cattle herd with some lease land, plus improve productivity on all range and pasture that he operates. With his resilience, it is a given that this will happen.
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications photo by Kay Ledbetter Wheat that is no longer being grazed should be scouted for insects, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist.

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By Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

AMARILLO  As temperatures warm up across the wheat regions of the state and the crop comes out of dormancy, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist said it is time to begin scouting fields for insect pests.

Dr. Ed Bynum, AgriLife Extension entomologist in Amarillo, said producers need to be scouting for greenbugs, bird cherry-oat aphids and Russian wheat aphids, especially throughout the High Plains. Those three are the most common wheat pests dealt with annually.

Bynum said a producer and Scott Strawn, AgriLife Extension agent in Ochiltree County, have also found army cutworms in a wheat field.

"While army cutworms are normally not a big problem, we do recommend treating if the pressure increases," he said.

If the wheat is in good condition, then the threshold for treating army cutworms is four or more per square foot, Bynum said. If wheat is just coming out of dormancy or under moisture stress, the threshold is two or more larvae per square foot.

He said decisions to treat for both greenbugs and the aphids should be based on established economic thresholds found in his Texas Panhandle Pest News, http://bit.ly/1U1ZFud.

Another insect of concern, Bynum said, is winter grain mites, which were found in a field near Bushland. They can be a pest of wheat, barley, oats and rye.

He said damage symptoms begin as speckled yellow spots on the leaf similar to spider mite damage on corn leaves, but progresses; the tips of the leaves turn brown, plant stunting with a silvery-grey appearance and even plant death.

No thresholds are available for making control decisions on winter grain mites, Bynum said. Activity from these pests is expected to decline when temperatures exceed 75 degrees, so treatment will be a judgment call based on signs of damage and expected temperatures.

AgriLife Extension district reports

WEST CENTRAL: Warm, dry, windy conditions with cool nights continued this week. Much-needed rain was expected in the coming week. Field activities continued to increase as producers prepared fields for spring planting and putting out fertilizers and pre-emergent herbicides. Winter weeds were coming on strong and producers were spraying to get control. Most wheat was in fair condition and growing well. Moisture levels were going down and crops needed rain soon to keep progressing. Range and pastures were in fair condition and were improving as winter grasses began to grow. Fields were beginning to green up. Livestock remained in fair to good condition. Winter wheat was being grazed. Cattle prices were holding steady. Redbud and fruit trees were beginning to bloom.

ROLLING PLAINS: The weather has been more like spring with temperatures reaching close to 80 degrees, accompanied by lots of wind. This weather pattern was beneficial to the winter weeds, and farmers were making plans to control the weeds and clean up fields before planting season. Pastures and rangeland were beginning to green up as grasses started to emerge. The winter wheat crop was improving daily. Some ranchers moved cattle to winter wheat while others were looking at baling up the crop for future use. Livestock were in good condition as supplemental feeding was only occurring on a small scale.

SOUTH PLAINS: Very little precipitation received in recent months was taking its toll on crop conditions. Soils were drying and rain was needed to keep soil from blowing. Cochran County subsoil and topsoil moisture levels continued to dry out due to high winds and warmer temperatures. Pastures, rangeland and winter wheat all needed moisture. Producers were preparing for spring planting. Floyd County producers were busy in the fields preparing to plant cotton. In Garza County, no rainfall was received this week, but was needed. Conditions were dry and rainfall is essential in the next few weeks for farmers to have enough soil moisture to prepare their land for planting and to start the growth of warm season grasses. Livestock were in mostly good condition with supplemental feeding in pastures that were short on forage. Range conditions were mostly good for this time of year. Many counties reported unseasonably warm conditions and windy conditions. Field work continued. In Lubbock County, the weather was warm and dry with no freezing temperatures and a chance for rain showers on several days in the five-day forecast. Minimum soil temperatures at the 2-inch depth were currently averaging 56 degrees. Field operations included stalk shredding and applying fertilizers and preplant herbicides. The wheat crop remained good in most places, although early greenbug control was noted last week via aerial applications. In Yoakum County, oats were just starting to break the soil surface. Winter wheat under irrigation looked excellent and the dryland wheat conditions were mostly good.
MEDICINE CABINET CLEANOUT

Big Country residents are encouraged to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring unused and expired medications to Abilene's Medication Cleanout, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy, 1718 Pine St.

Medication should be brought to the drop-off site in its original packaging, if possible, or in paper or plastic bags.

Accepted medications include both prescription medications (including samples) and nonprescription medications (including vitamins and supplements); pet medications; and nebulizer solutions. Do not bring IV fluid bags, or nebulizer or glucose meter devices.

WINE & FOOD SUMMIT

Make plans to join award-winning winemakers and chefs at the 12th annual Buffalo Gap Wine & Food Summit on April 22-24 at Perini Ranch.

The Buffalo Gap Wine & Food Summit is a nonprofit organization founded by Tom Perini of Perini Ranch Steakhouse, Fess Parker of Fess Parker Winery & Vineyards, and Dr. Richard Becker of Becker Vineyards to cultivate the appreciation of fine wine and food through education and industry discussion.

Weekend patron passes already have sold out, but a la carte event tickets and gala tickets still may be available.

For more information, contact 800-367-1721 or www.buffalogapsummit.com.

ABILENE INTERFAITH COUNCIL

The Abilene Interfaith Council will present "Paganism: A Primer" at noon March 22 at Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St.

The featured speaker, Avalon Santana Zakazakina, will discuss the history and practices of paganism. A potluck lunch will be served; pizza also will be available.

All Big Country residents are welcome.

For more information, call 325-692-3353.

FREE FUN AT THE LIBRARY

The Abilene Public Library always offers free things for your children to do.

Stop by Redbud Park near the playground at 3 p.m. Tuesday (weather permitting) for a session of Stories in the Park. Look for the blue library flag to take part in stories, songs and games designed with a dance theme.

A Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament for children 13 and older will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Mockingbird Branch, 1326 N. Mockingbird Lane. For those who haven't played before, a quick tutorial with learning decks and game mats will be supplied; the materials are yours to keep.

Mail information to Jan Woodward in care of "Around Town," Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX 79604. Email jan.woodward@reporternews.com or fax information to 325-670-5242. Deadline for submission is noon seven working days before publication.
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China's government has promised that industrial cutbacks will not produce major job losses, but the country's official statistics may make it hard to tell.



Last month, the cabinet-level State Council mounted its latest drive to reduce China's huge surpluses of production capacity in industries like steel, coal, and cement, which have been blamed for plunging prices at home and abroad.



New targets for capacity cutting have been followed by tough regulatory guidelines, calling on banks to withhold credit from debt-laden enterprises and "zombie" companies that have been dodging bankruptcy for years.



The government has pledged that "outdated plants will be closed" and zombie companies will be "eradicated," state media said.



So far, the State Council has set numerical targets only for steel and coal, but downsizing is also planned for producers in the building materials sector, including cement and flat glass, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said last month.



Steelmakers have been told to shed 100 million to 150 million metric tons of capacity over five years, the equivalent of 12-18 percent of China's output in 2015.



Old mines to close



The coal industry will close 1,000 outdated mines this year, or about 9 percent of China's total, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA). The combined capacity of 60 million tons may represent less than 2 percent of production last year.



But planned cutbacks in coal are expected to grow to 500 million tons in the next three to five years, the official Xinhua news agency said. The target would be about 9 percent of estimated production capacity.



It is unclear whether cuts of that size will have a significant effect on China's producer prices after four years of declines. But the government has also been on the defensive over the potential impact on jobs.



"As China strives to elevate its economic growth model, job losses will be an unfortunate but necessary side effect," Xinhua said in a commentary on March 1.



On Feb. 29, Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, told reporters that 1.3 million coal miners and 500,000 steelworkers would be laid off due to the restructuring.



Yin said China's overall employment will remain stable this year, but he added that keeping people employed will be a "very difficult task."



Based on official statistics, the cuts in steel and coal that the government has outlined so far would have a relatively small impact on total employment.



Yin said China has created 13 million new urban jobs in each of the last three years. But the official English-language China Daily reported that the outlook is "grim" for 7.65 million university graduates entering the job market this year.



In his work report to the National People's Congress (NPC) this month, Premier Li Keqiang said the government's goal for this year is to create at least 10 million new urban jobs.



At the end of 2015. China's total work force stood at 774.5 million, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. On paper at least, the coal and steel layoffs would affect less than 1 percent of the work force.



The government has established a 100-billion yuan (U.S. $15.4-billion) fund to help idled workers find jobs with training and "other services" over a two-year period, said MIIT Vice Minister Feng Fei.



Separate Xinhua and China Daily reports said the funds would be used to "assist" or "relocate" those who lose jobs.



Construction cutbacks seen



Thomas Rawski, a China scholar and University of Pittsburgh professor of economics and history, said the coal and construction-related industries with the worst overcapacity problems probably employ 10 million workers in total, exclusive of construction itself.



In the worst case, capacity reductions might eliminate 5 million jobs, he said.



While the impact could be serious in some regions, the layoffs would pale in comparison to the cuts of at least 40 million jobs during the consolidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the 1990s under former Premier Zhu Rongji, Rawski said.



That larger restructuring shut down an estimated 60,000 enterprises. Capacity cuts are likely to be limited by concerns about such major job losses now, he said.



Coal and steel producing regions will feel the greatest effects of the cutbacks. "But these are not national crisis signals," Rawski said.



Even so, the extent of construction cutbacks could be more troubling, since construction activity affects larger numbers of workers throughout China.



The country's stalled housing market has been a major source of China's slowdown.



At the end of last year, the backlog of unsold homes stood at 719 million square meters, enough to house nearly 24 million people, Xinhua reported last month.



If homes under construction are included, the total would climb to 5.87 billion square meters, an inventory that would take at least five years to absorb, according to the Bank of Communications.



The total backlog would be enough to house 195 million people, based on a living space formula used by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.



Rawski said the impact of the construction downturn is hard to predict because central and local governments may respond by boosting stimulus spending and infrastructure projects.



The problem is that the impact of the capacity policies will be hard to measure because official statistics have been unreliable.



Disappearing data



Last month, The New York Times reported comments by several analysts on China's "data and information censorship."



"Data disappears when it becomes negative. That's happened in a lot of series," said Anne Stevenson-Yang, co-founder of Hong Kong-based J Capital Research.



In the steel industry, for example, Stevenson-Yang said that official production reports from the Ministry of Commerce randomly change the number of companies in reporting samples, making comparisons invalid.



"They added all these phantom companies that nobody had heard of before," said Stevenson-Yang. "They don't tell you about this change upfront. They'll only tell you if you ask them."



In coal mining, government and industry reports frequently cite partial or conflicting results that may vary by several hundred million tons.



Last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that coal consumption fell 3.7 percent last year without giving a tonnage figure, Agence France-Presse said.



Labor statistics are another case in point.



For years, the NBS has reported a registered urban unemployment rate that has remained virtually unchanged since at least 2006.



"Those figures are meaningless. They only cover people with urban residency permits. The impact, if any, on migrant workers is not included," Rawski said.



The rate stood at 4.05 percent at the end of 2015. But during the past decade, it has moved only slightly within the range of 4.0 to 4.2 percent, since it ignores unemployment among China's 277 million migrants.



Urban rate uncertain



In 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) planning agency acknowledged that the registered urban rate "may not represent the overall situation," China Daily reported four years ago.



In 2014, the government said it would start publishing a more inclusive survey-based unemployment rate, but it has continued to use the urban registered figure.



The government has said it will keep this year's urban unemployment "within 4.5 percent," virtually assuring that the limit will not be breached.



The result of the statistical fabrication and foot dragging is that it will be hard to determine the effect of capacity cuts on either the targeted industries or jobs.



"The conclusion is that it's going to be even more difficult than it has been all along to tell what's going on," Rawski said.



In its annual report to the NPC on March 5, the NDRC cited "layoffs and hidden unemployment within some enterprises and industries."



But the agency provided no new specifics on plans for capacity cuts or their impact in the coal, steel, and "other industries."



"When addressing the issue of overcapacity, priority will be given to ensuring proper arrangements are made for workers who are laid off, and funds for rewards and subsidies will be set up to ensure they are resettled and provided with employment," the report said.




PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A shooting in Pascagoula late Sunday night sent two teenagers to area hospitals with gunshot wounds.

According to Shannon Broom, Director of Special Operations for the Pascagoula Police Department, officers responded to a call of shots fired in the area of 2610 Robertson Street around 11:18 p.m. Sunday.

En route to the scene, police learned one victim had been shot and taken to Singing River Hospital by personal vehicle. After arriving at the scene of the shooting, police were able to identify the victim as 19-year-old Brandon Eatrelle Davis of Pascagoula.

A short time later, police received another call, this one from Ocean Springs Hospital, which reported another victim had arrived there with a gunshot wound. The victim, identified as 18-year-old Markis D. Wells of Gautier, said he had been shot on Robertson Street in Pascagoula.

Both Davis and Wells suffered single gunshot wounds and were in surgery Monday morning, Broom said.

Police have arrested Erica Denise Ford, 37, of 2610 Robertson Street and charged her with aggravated assault for the shooting of Wells. She is currently in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center awaiting her initial court appearance in front of Pascagoula Municipal Judge Michael Fondren.

Investigators are still working to identify the suspect who shot Davis. Anyone with information is asked to call the Pascagoula Police Department at 228-762-2211.
A group of Chinese asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia in a private yacht lands in southern Thailand after their vessel took on too much water, Mar. 1, 2016.

Authorities in Thailand have agreed in principle to release on bail a Chinese asylum seeker detained on illegal immigration charges, but they have refused bail for his wife and a fellow activist, local sources told RFA's Cantonese Service.

Li Xiaolong, his wife Gu Qiao, their child Li Yisheng, and a refugee named Song Zhiyu are currently in police custody in the southern Thai resort of Chumphon after they tried to reach Australia in a private yacht for fear of being sent back to China.

An employee answering the phone at the Chumphon Court confirmed that three Chinese nationals, two male, one female, are currently being held in the Chumphon Detention Center.

He said that only Li has a valid passport, while the other two have none. Li and Gu's infant son is currently in the Chumphon government orphanage, he added.

All of the refugees have been recognized as genuine, and hold protection letters issued by the United Nations.

Bail rises

A local court has set bail at 100,000 Thai baht (U.S.$2,850) for Li, but refused it for Gu and Song, Li's brother Li Minwei told RFA on Friday.

However, they had been permitted visits in the immigration detention center where they are currently being held, Li Minwei said.

"The visit lasted about three minutes; it was so quick, and they wouldn't let us speak," Li Minwei said after visiting the detainees. "I told him we'd bail him out first, and he agreed."

"The court said [he] could go out on bail but not the other two."

But when they went to bail Li out, they found the bail "price" had risen to 130,000 baht (U.S. $3,700) he said.

Meanwhile, fellow Chinese activist Zhao Wei said he had managed to visit with Song briefly.

"He really doesn't want to be sent back to mainland China, because he has already done five years in prison there," Zhao said. "It wasn't easy for him to escape in the first place, and now he has to go back there."

Zhao, who was on the boat but remains free because he has a valid Thai visa, said he had visited U.N. officials in Bangkok to make inquiries about the detainees, but had met with no new response.

"Nobody has been in touch with the relatives," he told RFA.

Calls to the Bangkok office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) went unanswered during office hours on Friday.

Activists on the run

In an interview before his detention, Li told RFA that most Chinese activists are now effectively on the run, constantly on the move in a bid to evade arrest and deportation on illegal immigration charges.

In November, Chinese asylum-seekers Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, who had fled persecution in their home country, were handed back to the Chinese authorities in a move that drew strong criticism from the United Nations.

They are now under criminal detention in China for "organizing illegal border crossings and illegally crossing the border."

Jiang's wife Chu Ling, and Dong's wife Gu Shuhua and daughter Dong Xuerui were later flown to Canada from Bangkok for resettlement as political refugees. They fear Jiang and Dong are now at risk of torture and other violations of their rights.

Three other Chinese nationals were repatriated at the same time, but their identities remain unconfirmed.

Reported by Hai Nan for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
As China ramps up censorship, a journalist uses a smartphone to photograph deputies attending the 12th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 9, 2016.

A former reporter at the state news agency Xinhua sharply criticized the Chinese governments growing appetite for censorship in a recent open letter to the country's annual parliament, which closes Tuesday in Beijing.

Zhou Fang, a former top investigative reporter at Xinhua, which is closely controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party, sent his letter following the deletion last month of social media accounts belonging to celebrity tweeter and property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang.

"Government departments have completely disregarded the constitution and the principle of ruling by law in recent years," Zhou wrote. "Instead, they have set themselves up as the arbiters of public opinion."

Zhou declined to comment on the letter when contacted by RFA's Mandarin Service over the weekend.

"I have already said everything very clearly in the letter, so I'm not giving interviews," he told RFA.

Asked if he was now under pressure from the authorities, he replied: "I'm sure you can imagine what happens in such situations."

Zhou said he is currently "doing administrative work" at Xinhua, and is no longer working as a journalist.

Cyberspace Administration

Addressed to the standing committee of the National People's Congress, the Supreme People's Court, and the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhous letter appears to take a swipe at China's powerful Cyberspace Administration as it attacked government "management" of the Internet, including online news providers, who "can shut down or delete the social media accounts of individuals whenever they please."

Chinas Cyberspace Administration said Ren Zhiqiangs accounts on the Twitter-like services Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo were closed in accordance with recent guidance on "safeguarding Internet security" in line with a recently passed National Security Law, official media reported in February.

A Beijing-based veteran journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFA that their social media accounts were deleted after they posted comments on the silencing of Ren Zhiqiang.

"It's been 20 days now," the journalist said. "The main driver behind all of this is the Cyberspace Administration. It's part of their attempt to clean up the Internet.

Zhou's letter comes after the Communist Party's powerful central propaganda department issued a 21-point directive to state media covering the National Peoples Congress. The NPC runs from March 5-15.

The leaked instructions, translated and posted to the China Digital Times Ministry of Truth webpage, orders the media to focus coverage on President Xi Jinping, who was recently given the title "core leader" like the late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping.

Topics banned

Smog, security measures surrounding the congress, the national defense budget, and the personal wealth or appearance of staff or delegates are all off limits, as are doctor-patient disputes and hospital waiting line scams, the directive said.

Other politically sensitive topics to be avoided include international covenants of civil and political rights and the demolition of crosses atop Protestant churches in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Any reporting on corruption or on relations with Taiwan and North Korea must use syndicated copy from Xinhua, while "negative reports" online must be "strictly controlled," the memo said.

Negative reporting on the stock market, foreign exchange, or property markets is also banned.

Chinese media are also forbidden to mention the overseas passports held by many delegates to the NPC and its advisory body, it said.

Sichuan-based journalist Feng Yuxi said he hadn't seen the original order, but that further prohibitions are also in place for journalists at a local level.

"I have seen reports of petitioners traveling to Beijing to complain [during the NPC], but we're not allowed to report that," Feng said. "We can't report on security arrangements around the NPC, nor can we write about the detention of petitioners who go to Beijing.

"The controls have gotten much tighter in the past couple of years; a lot of things are controlled, and there are red lines."

The NPC theater

Qiao Mu, dean of Beijing Foreign Studies University's Center for International Communication Studies, said the entire annual gathering of the NPC is a form of theater.

"Every year, there are reports focusing on the journalists, the interpreters, the staff, the security police, and the general public who've been made to watch it on a screen outside," Qiao said.

"They talk about how the seating is laid out, how the water is poured, how the food is prepared. All of this is considered news."

"But they are ignoring the important points about how the NPC delegates got to be where they are, what they actually do," Qiao said. "Who directs the whole show?"

Reported by Qiao Long and Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
Azerbaijan says its border guards have shot dead five armed Bangladeshi and Azerbaijani citizens who were trying to illegally cross the border into Iran.

A statement from the border guard service says the shootings took place on March 13 near the village of Dashkend in the Yardymli district on Azerbaijans southern border with Iran.

The statement said the group ignored warning shots and began to shoot back at the police.

It said two armed suspects were detained.

Azerbaijani media had previously reported arrests of Bangladeshi and Indian nationals on suspicion of drug trafficking through Azerbaijan's 660-kilometer border with Iran.

The Caucasus nation is located along major drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan and Iran to Europe and Russia.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service and AFP
Critical infrastructure across Ukraine was pounded by more than a dozen Russian missiles on October 22, the Ukrainian Air Force said, while Kyiv's air defense shot down several missiles above the Ukrainian capital.

In the face of continued Russian strikes, Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba again urged Ukraine's Western allies to speed up the delivery of modern air defense systems.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"We intercepted some, others hit the targets. Air defense saves lives. In the capitals [of the West], there should not be a single minute of delay in the decision regarding air defense systems for Ukraine," Kuleba said.

Local officials said power stations were hit in the regions of Odesa, Kirovohrad, and Lutsk, while other regions reported problems with electricity.

"Another rocket attack from terrorists who are fighting against civilian infrastructure and people," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram app.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that air defense shot down several rockets that were flying in the direction of the capital.

"Several rockets flying towards Kyiv were shot down in the region by air defense forces. Thanks to our defenders!" Klitschko said, while local police chief Andriy Nyebytov posted a photograph of a column of smoke rising from a forest where he said the missile debris had landed.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a government meeting that from October 10 to October 20, Russian strikes damaged more than 400 facilities in 16 regions of Ukraine, including dozens of energy installations.

"The Russian Amy has identified our energy sector as one of the key targets for its attacks," Shmyhal said on October 21.

"Russian propagandists and officials speak openly about the purpose of all these attacks: Ukraine, according to them, should be left without water, without light, without heat," he said.

Russia-appointed authorities in the occupied and illegally seized southern Kherson region on October 22 urged residents of the region's eponymous main city to leave "immediately" in the face of Kyiv's advancing counteroffensive.



"Due to the tense situation on the front, the increased danger of mass shelling of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks, all civilians must immediately leave the city and cross to the left bank of the Dnieper river," the region's Russia-backed authorities said on social media.



Their appeal came in spite of a claim by Russia's Defense Ministry on October 22 that its forces had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to break through its line of control in Kherson.



"All attacks were repulsed, the enemy was pushed back to their initial positions," the ministry said, adding that Ukraine's offensive was launched toward the settlements of Piatykhatky, Suhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne, on the west side of the Dnieper River.



The ministry's statement said Russian forces had also repelled attacks in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.



The claims could not be independently verified.



Kherson city was one of the first urban areas occupied by Russia at the start of the invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiys office said 88 settlements in the southern Kherson region and 551 settlements in the northeastern Kharkiv region have been de-occupied, while the Ukrainian forces' counteroffensive in the Kherson region moves ahead.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Zelenskiys office, reported the data on Telegram, broadcasting results since the Ukrainian military launched the counteroffensive several weeks ago in the Kherson direction and before that in the Kharkiv direction.

Zelenskiy added in his nightly video address on October 21 that the Ukrainian forces had shown good results in capturing Russian arms in Kherson.

Ukraine is trying to drive Russian forces in Kherson back east across the Dnieper. Russian soldiers on the western bank, where the city of Kherson is located, are reportedly close to being cut off from supply lines and reinforcements.

Natalya Humenyuk, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern operational command, said the Ukrainian military struck the Antonivskiy Bridge over the Dnieper in the city of Kherson during an overnight curfew Russia-installed officials put in place to avoid civilian casualties.

We do not attack civilians and settlements," Humenyuk told Ukrainian television.



Ukrainian strikes made the Antonivskiy Bridge inoperable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to relocate civilians and transport supplies.

Russia has sent in thousands of recently mobilized troops to reinforce the defense of Kherson, the General Staff said on October 21.



Russian-installed officials are trying to evacuate up to 60,000 people from Kherson for their safety and to allow the military to build fortifications.

Zelenskiy again on October 21 urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a dam at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper River as this could flood settlements in the direction of Kherson.

Zelenskiy said Russian forces had planted explosives inside the dam, which holds back an enormous reservoir, and were planning to blow it up.

"Now everyone in the world must act powerfully and quickly to prevent a new Russian terrorist attack. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster," he said in his nightly address.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and BBC
Belarusian authorities have suspended an investigation against a former presidential candidate who fled Belarus in 2011 and returned last year.

Ales Mikhalevich wrote on Facebook on March 14 that the investigation had been suspended and he had the right to travel out of the country.

"I am on my way to Prague, will be back on Thursday," Mikhalevich wrote.

Mikhalevich was one of several opposition figures who were arrested and charged with organizing mass riots after challenging authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a 2010 presidential election.

He was then released by investigators but asked not to leave the country while an investigation was under way.

Mikhalevich fled to the Czech Republic in early 2011, where he was granted political asylum. He returned to Belarus in 2015 on the eve of October presidential elections, which were again won by Lukashenka.

Mikhalevich's wife and two daughters have lived in Belarus during his absence.
It's not exactly a groundswell, but there's been a bit more dissent in the air than usual lately.

At his gala 85th birthday party earlier this month, Mikhail Gorbachev broke out in song -- in Ukrainian.

Among Gorbachev's honored guests was Andrei Makarevich, front man for the Russian rock band Mashina Vremya, whose concerts have been canceled for years due to his opposition to Russia's seizure of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas.

Last week, dozens of protesters were detained in Moscow and other cities at demonstrations in support of kidnapped Ukrainian air force pilot Nadia Savchenko.

They held Ukrainian flags and signs reading, "Forgive us, Nadia."

Meanwhile, curious advertising billboards with unauthorized political messages have also been turning up in the Russian capital.

At a downtown bus stop, one briefly appeared expressing support for Savchenko.

And on the anniversary of Josef Stalin's death earlier this month, billboards popped up in Moscow with images of the Soviet dictator proclaiming: this one died, and the current one will die as well.

Taken together, these things don't exactly add up to a Russian spring.

But they are significant nonetheless, only because they show that the minority of Russians who disagree with the Kremlin's bellicose course are no longer afraid to speak out.

They show that the fear and conformity that has engulfed Russian society for the past two years may be dissipating.

Speaking to the Daily Beast at his birthday celebration, Gorbachev said that "fear is very bad and very dangerous" and that Russia needs another round of "glasnost."

Wise words from the man who initiated the original version three decades ago.

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European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss possible sanctions against Iran, as well as the bloc's relations with Russia, when they meet in Brussels on March 14.

The gathering of the European Foreign Affairs Council, which includes foreign ministers from all EU member states, comes as the EU is also examining reengagement with Iran following its nuclear deal with world powers in July 2015.

Frances Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on March 13 that EU sanctions against Iran would be adopted, "if necessary," in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests.

Ayrault made the remarks after meeting in Paris with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, and Italy.

The latest ballistic-missile tests by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) took place in early March.

If the missiles are confirmed as capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the tests would violate a United Nations Security Council resolution.

In January, the United States imposed sanctions against 11 companies and individuals over ballistic missiles tests in late 2015 by Iran.

Iran maintains its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons and says it will continue missile development.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said the tests do not violate Iran's nuclear deal with world powers or UN Security Council resolutions.

With a range of 2,000 kilometers, Iran's ballistic missiles would be capable of reaching Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

The EU ministers on March 14 also were expected to discuss relations with Russia, which have been impacted by the Kremlins support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukaine and by a Russias support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime.

Some Western officials have accused Russia of exacerbating Europes migrant crisis with military action in Syria in order use refugees as a bargaining chip for the lifting of EU economic sanctions.

The EUs main economic sanctions against Russia's energy and bank sectors  imposed over Russias role in Ukraines conflict -- are up for renewal at the end of July.

On March 9, EU ambassadors decided to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months over its illegal annexation of Ukraines Crimea Peninsula in March 2014.

Those sanctions include asset freezes and visa bans on 146 people and 37 entities that, according to the EU, have benefited from Russias annexation of Crimea or have been responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.

That blacklist includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President Vladimir Putin's adviser Sergei Glazyev, and Dmitry Kiselyov, who many regard as the Kremlin's chief propagandist.

It also includes several companies in Crimea, and various battalions formed by the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Other topics on the agenda of the March 14 foreign ministers gathering in Brussels include the UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva between Syrias government and moderate Syrian opposition factions.

Those indirect peace talks are due to begin on March 14.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and BBC
Popular Ingush preacher Sheikh Khamzat Chumakov, who lost a leg as a result of a still-unsolved car-bomb attack five years ago, escaped with cuts and bruises when a second car bomb exploded on March 11 as he was driving away from the mosque in Nasyr-Kort, of which he is imam. Four other people were injured by the blast, one of them seriously.

One of Chumakovs close associates told the Russian daily Kommersant that in the light of threats Chumakov had received, for the past two months he has used an armored Mercedes provided by an unnamed wealthy Ingush businessman. It is not clear whether that vehicle was acquired before or after Chechen Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov declared at a conference in early February that Chumakov should be banned from preaching in Ingushetia, and warned that if he attempted to do so in Chechnya, heads will roll.

Chumakov professes Salafi Islam, rather than the Sufism traditionally espoused by both Chechens and Ingush, but has always rejected as artificial any differentiation between the two strains. He preaches to Ingush communities both in Russia and abroad, consistently criticizing official corruption and arbitrary reprisals by security personnel against young men suspected of links to the North Caucasus insurgency, but advising listeners at the same time not to take up arms against the government.

As a result, he has acquired an extensive following, especially among younger believers. In a blog post pegged to the March 11 car bomb explosion, Magomed Mutsolgov, who heads the human rights organization Mashr, noted that during the nine years that Chumakov has been preaching at Nasyr-Kort, attendance at his sermons had increased from a few hundred to several thousand.

Chumakov was nonetheless regarded for years with profound suspicion by the Republic of Ingushetia authorities, who pressured him on more than one occasion to desist from criticizing them.

Relations between Chumakov and Ingushetias official clergy were similarly strained. The republics Spiritual Center of Muslims (DTsM) is headed by mufti Issa-hadji Khamkhoyev, who like Kadyrov is a member of the Qadiriyya Sufi order. In June, Khamkhoyev mobilized his supporters who converged en masse on the Nasyr-Kort mosque on the outskirts of Nazran (the republics formal capital) during Friday Prayers. A violent confrontation between Chumakovs followers and Khamkhoyev supporters ready to use force to remove Chumakov from his post was only narrowly averted.

In the wake of that incident, Republic of Ingushetia head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has twice called on Khamkhoyev to step down as mufti, on the grounds that he can no longer cope with his official duties, and that the standoff with Chumakov last June undermined the authority of the official clergy. In contrast to Khamkhoyev, Yevkurov is actively promoting rapprochement between the republics Sufi and Salafi communities. He recently convened a meeting of senior clerics and scheduled for March 29 a vote of no confidence in Khamkhoyev.

Khamkhoyev categorically refused to resign and turned for backing to Kadyrov, who in early February convened a conference in Achkhoi-Martan west of Grozny reportedly attended by many thousands of representatives of the Qadiriyya and Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhoods in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Daghestan, including Khamkhoyev.

Addressing that conference, Kadyrov equated Salafism with terrorism and branded its representatives shaytans, or devils. Kadyrov further conflated the peaceful and nonviolent preachings of Chumakov with the militant and puritanical Salafism professed by the North Caucasus insurgency and the militant group Islamic State (IS). It was in that context that Kadyrov warned that heads will roll if Chumakov tries to preach on Chechen territory.

Police investigating the March 11 car bombing have reportedly established that the vehicle in which the 20-kilogram explosive device was concealed was registered in the name of someone from Daghestan currently resident in Stavropol Krai who had placed it at the disposal of a resident of Chechnya.

One of Chumakovs supporters who witnessed the explosion told the news portal Caucasian Knot he thinks that one of Ingushetias Sufi brotherhoods may have been behind it. He noted that the son of the leader of that brotherhood was present at the February conference at which Kadyrov threatened Chumakov.

Assuming that either Khamkhoyev or one of Ingushetias Sufi brotherhoods seriously wanted to kill Chumakov, neither is likely to have done so without Kadyrovs prior approval, given the extent of his influence.

In addition to his categorical rejection of Salafism, there is a second reason why Kadyrov might consider it advantageous to have Chumakov killed. For years, Kadyrov has been at odds with Yevkurov, initially over the undemarcated border between the two republics, and more recently because of the Ingushetian authorities mediocre track record with regard to stamping out the North Caucasus insurgency. Chumakovs death, if it could be attributed to the insurgency, would reinforce Kadyrovs criticisms of Yevkurovs soft approach, and also the argument that only his own brutal methods can impose and preserve peace in the region.

Yevkurov was quick to condemn the attack on Chumakov as a provocation and an attempt to destabilize the situation in Ingushetia carried out by unspecified individuals who decided to capitalize on the problems that have accumulated in the sphere of religion.

Ismail Berdiyev, who heads the Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus (KTsMSK), suggested the bombing may have been the result of Chumakovs disagreements with parishioners, while Mufti Shafig Pshikhachev, the KTsMSKs representative in Moscow, opined that it may have been the work of the same people who attacked a group of foreign journalists and Russian human rights activists on the border between Chechnya and Ingushetia two days earlier. Chumakov condemned that attack in his Friday sermon shortly before the car bomb explosion.
EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini has announced plans to visit Iran on April 16 in an effort to seek closer cooperation with Tehran following a landmark nuclear deal.

Mogherini last visited Iran in July shortly after world powers agreed to lift sanctions in return for Tehran accepting strict curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons.

"We will discuss with the ministers on which grounds, on which issues, and sectors to reengage so as to reopen full relations," she said as she went into a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on March 14.

Mogherini made no mention of Iran's ballistic-missile tests this month. Western states have warned Iran risks new sanctions as a result.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in Brussels on March 14 that Iran's missile tests were "unacceptable."

Based on reporting by AFP and dpa
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak was scheduled to meet with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh in Tehran to discuss a Russian-Saudi deal to freeze their oil production in response to low global oil prices.

The March 14 talks come a day after Zanganeh told Iran's Press TV that Iran has no plans to freeze its oil production, and that other oil-producing countries should leave us alone.

Zanganeh said Tehran would only consider a freeze after it increases production to 4 million barrels a day, the level of Iranian output before international sanctions were imposed over concerns about its nuclear program.

Zanganeh has previously said an oil freeze would be a "joke" and that Iran wants to recover its lost market share.

According to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iran's current production is between 2.8 million and 3.5 million barrels a day.

The Russian-Saudi deal also was agree to by OPEC members Venezuela and Qatar.

The global price of oil has fallen by up to 70 percent since a peak in mid-2014.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and Press TV
A United Nations rapporteur has raised concerns about the extremely high rate of executions, especially for juvenile offenders, in Iran.

Ahmed Shaheed, who presented his report to the UN Human Rights Council on March 14, said that "with at least 16 juvenile offenders reportedly hanged in 2014-15, Iran remains one of a few countries still resorting to this practice despite a strict prohibition against it under international law."

Shaheed also noted reports that individuals accused of national security and drug-related crimes in Iran are often deprived of the most basic due-process and fair-trial rights.

Shaheed acknowledged Iran's efforts to engage with his mandate and cooperate with UN human rights bodies, and called on the international community to continue supporting Tehran in realizing its human rights obligations.

Shaheed has not been allowed to visit Iran as part of his mandate, now in its fifth year.
A Kazakh court has shortened the prison term handed to jailed former Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov.

The Qaraghandy regional court on March 14 cut Akhmetov's prison term from 10 to eight years in jail.

Akhmetov, 57, who was sentenced in December on corruption charges, initially pleaded not guilty.

He later pleaded guilty in the hope of a lenient sentence.

In February, more than a dozen protesters rallied in the Kazakh capital, Astana, demanding Akhmetov's immediate release.

Akhmetov is a native of the central Qaraghandy region. He served as prime minister between September 2012 and April 2014.

Several former Kazakh officials have faced prosecution on suspicion of graft in recent years, with some sentenced to long prison terms.
Dozens of people have been killed due to torrential rain across Pakistan for the past several days.

Pakistani authorities said at least 42 people have been killed in the past five days.

A statement by the National Disaster Management Authority on March 14 said 70 injuries were also reported and 75 houses damaged.

The southwestern province of Balochistan and northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been worst hit.

The majority of deaths and injuries were caused by collapsing houses.

Poorly built homes, particularly in rural areas, are most susceptible to collapse during heavy spring rains.

On March 13, at least eight miners were killed when a coal mine collapsed due to heavy rain in northwestern Pakistan.

Heavy downpours were expected to continue in northern Pakistan through March 15, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said.

Based on reporting by dpa and AFP
In a surprise move, President Vladimir Putin has instructed Russias armed forces to start pulling out of Syria.

Putin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on March 14 that Russian military forces had largely fulfilled their objectives in Syria.

"I am therefore ordering the defense minister, from tomorrow, to start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingent from Syria, he added.

In a statement on March 15, the Russian Defense Ministry said: "Technicians at the air base have begun preparing aircraft for long-range flights to air bases in the Russian Federation."

Speaking on March 14, the day UN-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva, Putin expressed hope that the withdrawal of Russian troops will be a stimulus for a political resolution of the conflict.

Russia has more than 50 jets and helicopters in Syria and a small ground component protecting them, along with a number of advisers and special forces operating with the Syrian military.

The Russian leader said Russian forces would stay on at the Mediterranean naval base at Tartus and at the Hmeimim air base in Latakia Province, from which Russia has launched most of its air strikes.

The Syrian presidency said President Bashar al-Assad and Putin agreed the Russian move in a telephone call. It also said Russia had pledged to continue its support for Syria in "combating terrorism."

Meanwhile, Syria's army said it will continue to combat the Islamic State militant group, the Al-Nusra Front, and "other terrorist groups linked to them."

A statement issued by the military command said the armed forces would fight in coordination with "friends and allies" until security and stability were restored "to every inch of national territory."

Syria's opposition cautiously welcomed the Russian announcement.

"If there is seriousness in implementing the withdrawal, it will give the [peace] talks a positive push," said Salim al-Muslat, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee.

"If this is a serious step, it will form a major element of pressure on the regime, because the Russian support prolonged the regime, Muslat added.

The president of the UN Security Council said all 15 members view the partial Russian withdrawal as "positive."

Angola's UN Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins said he sees "a mood" in the council toward "a more positive outcome" in Syria.

"When we see forces withdrawing it means war is taking a different step, so that's good," he said.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Twitter that the "Russian move could be positive if part of real commitment to a Syrian-led political transition and continuation of cessation of hostilities."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the withdrawal of Moscow's forces from Syria will increase the pressure on Assad to negotiate a "political transition."

The White House said Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone conversation discussed Russia's partial withdrawal from Syria and the next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities.

Putin ordered the launch of air strikes against "terrorists" in Syria more than five months ago, a move that helped to shore up Assad.

The United States and other Western countries maintain that the Russian air strikes have mostly struck Syrian antigovernment rebel targets and not Islamic State, which Russia has claimed to be targeting.

In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro on March 14, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Russia had all but stopped hitting moderate rebels.

The talks in Geneva are aimed at capitalizing on a shaky truce between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said a resumption of peace talks is a "moment of truth" and insisted the "only Plan B available is return to war."

De Mistura, speaking to reporters moments before resuming talks in Geneva, added that agreeing on political transition in Syria is the "mother of all issues."

The long-awaited talks, which opened on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, mark the latest bid to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, TASS, and dpa
A spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, says he has officially asked Russian prosecutors to open a criminal case against an opposition leader for "inciting ethnic and religious discord."

Alvi Karimov said on March 14 that the February report by Ilya Yashin, deputy chairman of the Parnas party, on the situation in Chechnya contained "blatant lies, insults, and unfounded accusations" against Kadyrov.

The report said that Kadyrov was ruling over his own "Chechen caliphate" in which he "bathes in luxury, elevates elements of Shar'ia law over Russian law, and is building up his own military might."

President Vladimir Putin has relied on Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two separatist wars, making him effectively immune from federal control.

Yashin said on March 14 that he was ready to defend in court "every word" in his report.

With reporting by Interfax
Daniil is 5 years old, but he has spent more time in the hospital than many adults.

Last year, he was treated four times at the intensive-care unit of his local hospital in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Russia's Urals region.

Daniil suffers from congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a life-threatening genetic disease that causes hormonal imbalances, growth problems, and severe vomiting due to the body's inability to retain salt.

Although he relies on a daily cocktail of drugs to survive, Daniil was struck off the disability register in October, leaving his family to fend for itself.

"It was a shock for us," says his mother, Marina Nizhegorodova. "Now, we have to pay for the tests and the drugs from our own pocket. They took everything away from us."

Daniil is one of hundreds of thousands of patients who were denied disability benefits in 2015 under new measures that health advocates say are hurting many of Russia's most vulnerable citizens.

According to government figures, the number of Russians formally recognized as disabled dropped by almost 500,000 over a year and a half, from 12.946 million in early 2014 to 12.45 million in September 2015.

'Profoundly Vicious'

Russia's Ministry of Labor and Social Protection insists that the new measures are based on the German model and aim at perfecting the previous mechanism, which granted disability benefits according to the type of medical condition and the severity of the symptoms.

Under the new system, introduced at the start of 2015, health authorities instead evaluate the loss of a particular function of the body, regardless of the diagnosis or degree of general infirmity.

Only patients deemed to have lost at least 40 percent of one of their body functions can now apply for financial assistance.

The new rules have sparked an outcry among patients and health experts who warn that sufferers are being pushed off benefits in a bid to cut welfare costs.

"A patient's condition should not worsen, he should not be deprived of social protection just because the control mechanism has changed," says Sergei Koloskov, a disability-rights advocate and member of Russia's Public Chamber. "No longer approving people who were previously approved simply because the criteria are different is a profoundly vicious thing to do."

The change has come during a time of persistent economic troubles for Russia, which is reeling from the effects of low world oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's interference in Ukraine -- as well as the Kremlin's own "countersanctions," which have restricted imports. The Russian economy shrank by 3.7 percent last year and is expected to decline by another 1 percent this year. Searching for ways to save, the government may cut military spending by 5 percent in 2016.

'Millions For War, None For Sick Children'

Under pressure from patients and disability rights activists, the Labor Ministry eventually relented and issued a new decree softening the rules for patients suffering from specific conditions, including bronchial asthma and Type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in children and young adults.

But the amended rules, which came into force on February 2 of this year, have failed to soothe patients, who say the criteria for assessing disability remain unchanged.

A petition launched by Daniil's mother last month has gathered more than 7,300 signatures.

"Money should be saved on the salaries of officials, not on sick children!" wrote one signatory, Yelena Davydovich from the city of Seversk.

"This is a monstrous government that has no money for sick children but has millions for war," wrote Tamara Gil of Omsk, in Siberia. "Have mercy on parents who didn't abandon their children in orphanages."

Russia began a costly campaign of air strikes in war-ravaged Syria in September 2015 and has beefed up its military presence there. Despite growing evidence, President Vladimir Putin and his government deny Russia has sent troops and weapons to support separatists in a war that has killed more than 9,100 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

Every Ruble Counts

In Daniil's case, health officials ruled that he had lost only 30 percent of function and therefore no longer qualified for his monthly 15,000-ruble ($212) disability pension.

Nizhegorodova was told that her son needed to have at least five vomiting episodes that led to his hospitalization in an intensive-care unit each year in order to reach the 40 percent threshold that would entitle him to disability benefits.

She says the authorities did not take into account the fits that Daniil's doctor was able to treat in time at home.

Nizhegorodova is outraged. She says she has no intention of letting her son, who could die within an hour if a vomiting episode is left untreated, get sick enough to score the five mandatory hospitalizations.

"I can't imagine how I'm supposed to sit and watch my child die," she protests. "When he has a crisis, he throws up every two or three minutes. After 15 minutes, he's already thrown up all the bile in his body and he sometimes starts vomiting blood. The ambulance may not make it, he may not reach the hospital in time. But no one cares."

Like many relatives of people with disabilities, Nizhegorodova stopped working to care for her son, who needs to be administered four pills a day at a precise time and requires routine tests to check his salt levels.

Daniil must also regularly visit a physician to monitor his condition and obtain prescriptions for the tablets he needs for his survival.

Without his disability benefits, the family has been in dire straits. "In our situation, even 50 rubles ($0.70) means something," Nizhegorodova says. "But all they care about is reducing the number of disabled people and cutting the budget."

Losing Hope

Olga Murtazina, a Magnitogorsk resident whose daughter Kristina was denied disability status last year, shares Nizhegorodova's anger.

She says Kristina, 17, has suffered from chronic exhaustion, dizziness, and fainting spells since her thyroid gland was removed due to a medical error in 2006.

Authorities ruled that Kristina, who will be on hormonal medication for the rest of her life, was not sick enough to receive disability benefits. She had previously received a monthly pension of 15,000 rubles ($212).

The decision has dealt a harsh financial blow to Murtazina, a railway carriage inspector, and her husband, a driver, whose combined monthly income is less than $500.

"She needs these pills to live, she takes them every day, every morning," she says. "But for some reason, she wasn't approved."

Murtazina also believes that the new disability system's true purpose is to save money at the expense of Russia's disabled.

Asked whether she is considering taking the matter to court, she laughs bitterly. "Do you really think that would work?" she says. "I've long since stopped believing in this."

Despite the show of support for her petition, Nizhegorodova, too, is slowly losing hope of reclaiming her son's right to government assistance.

She can't afford hiring a lawyer and says the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has asked her to stop sending letters of appeal.

"They are not asking for more; they are asking, in a situation where help is already scarce, not to be deprived of everything," disability-rights advocate Koloskov says. "This is deeply unfair."
BRUSSELS -- EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has said the bloc is not considering sanctions against Iran over its recent ballistic-missile tests, saying they were not a violation as such of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers.

If there is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, this should be discussed in the appropriate UN bodies," Mogherini said on March 14 after meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

However, Mogherini warned that last week's missile tests, which Tehran insists were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability, could raise tensions in the region.

A UN resolution that endorsed the July 2015 nuclear agreement calls on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Mogherini announced earlier that she plans to go to Iran next month to build on the nuclear deal.

Earlier, Russia said it opposes imposing UN sanctions on Iran over its recent ballistic-missile tests.

Asked on March 14 if Iran should face Security Council sanctions for the missile tests, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: "The clear and short answer is no."

Churkin said Iran was not in violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and six major powers in July 2015.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters


Serbian authorities say they are investigating after two U.S.-made Hellfire missiles were found on a passenger flight from Lebanon.

The Serbian public prosecutors' office said on March 14 it was investigating whether the packages contain explosive materials.

In a statement e-mailed to the Associated Press news agency, it said the investigation also focused on where the missiles came from and what their final destination was.

Officials say sniffer dogs found the U.S.-bound missiles on an Air Serbia flight at Belgrade airport on March 12.

The Lebanese Army says the missiles were for training purposes and did not contain explosives. It said it decided to send them back to the American company that produced them.

The AGM-114 Hellfire is a laser-guided missile that can be fired from air, sea, or ground platforms.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
United Nations-mediated peace talks have started in Geneva between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and representatives of Syrian opposition factions.

The talks on March 14 are aimed at capitalizing on a shaky truce between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said a resumption of peace talks is a "moment of truth" and insisted the "only Plan B available is return to war."

De Mistura, speaking to reporters moments before resuming talks in Geneva, added that agreeing on political transition in Syria is the "mother of all issues."

The long-awaited talks, which open on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, mark the latest bid to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

De Mistura said that he expected the talks set to begin on March 14 would be the first of three rounds.

The current one is expected to last until March 24, with a second round beginning after a recess of a week or 10 days, with that round lasting "at least two weeks."

He said a third round would be held after another recess.

Russia again called for all opposition factions to be represented at the Syrian peace talks.

"It's clear that they should include the whole spectrum of Syrian political forces, otherwise this cannot claim to be a representative forum," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow on March 14.

Moscow has called on de Mistura to include Syrian Kurds in the talks. De Mistura has said that while Syrian Kurds would not take part, they should be given a chance to express their views.

Lavrov also said Russia would support whatever solution the Syrian government and the opposition devise to end the country's war, including "any form [of government] whatever it may be called: federalization, decentralization, unitary state."

An attempt in early February to bring together representatives of Assad's regime and moderate opposition factions that are grouped together in the High Negotiations Committee broke down when opposition delegates refused to attend sessions in the midst of a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive against opposition fighters at Aleppo.

The March 14 talks in Geneva were arranged after the truce deal was brokered by Russia and the United States.

On March 13, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Assad's regime and its allies against exploiting the truce deal.

He was speaking after talks in Paris with EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Germany, and Italy.

The negotiations in Geneva are set to cover the formation of a new Syrian government, a fresh constitution, and the organization of UN-monitored presidential and parliamentary elections within 18 months.

The High Negotiations Committee, a Saudi-backed umbrella opposition group, said it will attend the Geneva talks and press for a transitional government with full executive powers that does not include Assad or any of his close associates.

Opposition negotiator Muhammad Allush -- who also is the leader of a group called Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) -- said in Geneva on March 12 that "the transitional period should start with the fall, or death, of Bashar al-Assad."

Allush said a transitional government "cannot start with the presence of the regime, or the head of this regime still in power."

Bashar al-Jaafari, the head of the Syrian negotiation team in Geneva, accused Allush of being a Saudi-backed "terrorst."

Jaafari said on March 13 that Allush's call for "the fall, or death, of Bashar al-Assad" was, in Jaafari's words, "a clear attempt to ruin this round" of peace talks and the efforts of the UN envoy on Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallam said opposition calls for Assad's removal from power would be a "red line" and suggested that it would cause the negotiations in Geneva to break down.

Muallam said: "We will not talk with anyone who wants to discuss the presidency.... Bashar al-Assad is a red line. If they continue with this approach, there's no reason for them to come to Geneva."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
A prominent Tajik lawyer, who is representing an opposition figure, has said his family is coming under pressure from the authorities because of his professional activities.

Lawyer Ishoq Tabarov told RFE/RL on March 14 that his son, Daler Tabarov, had been charged with failure to report a crime, a charge his representatives have called politically motivated.

Tabarov's other son, Firuz Tabarov, was recently sentenced to 13 1/2 years in jail for promoting antistate propaganda.

Tabarov is a lawyer for opposition businessman Zayd Saidov, the leader of the unregistered New Tajikistan opposition party.

Saidov has been serving his 29-year prison term since 2013. He was found guilty of financial fraud, polygamy, and sexual relations with a minor.

Saidov and his supporters have denied the charges and said they are politically motivated.

Saidov's other lawyer, Shuhrat Qudratov, was sentenced to nine years in prison on a bribe-taking charge in January 2015.
Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

Public opinion is behind it.

Gov. Tom Wolf is behind it.

The Republican-led state Senate is behind it.

And as soon as Tuesday, the Republican-led state House could send a bill legalizing medical marijuana to Wolf's desk, a move that could begin ease the suffering for thousands of Pennsylvania children and their families.

That's "Could."

The 203-member chamber has always been the sticking point in the drive toward legalization.

That's due, in no small part, to a sharp division in opinion among the chamber's most senior leaders.

House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, is a legalization supporter. Rep. Matt Baker, R-Tioga, the chair of the House Health Committee is a skeptic.

More importantly, so is House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, who famously offered an impassioned (and reportedly teary) argument against it in a closed-door caucus.

As of Friday, more than 200 amendments had been filed against the bill, which means it's entirely likely that it could change form, requiring what's known as a "concurrence" vote by the Senate to get a final bill onto Wolf's desk for his signature.

As our colleague Melissa Daniels of The Tribune-Review reports this morning, one likely change that could come to the floor during the debate slated to start Monday is a "proposal to limit the amount of THC, the psychoactive element of marijuana, to 10 percent, a move that activists oppose."

As Daniels notes, around 20 states have a medical marijuana law on the books. Four more have legalized recreational marijuana for adult use.

And a Quinnipiac poll last October found that nine in 10 state residents support medical marijuana legalization, she reported.

Keep an eye on the House - it should be quite a day.

The rest of the day's news starts now.

Speaking of marijuana, the Pittsburgh City Council has voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana within the city's limits, The Post-Gazette reports.

Kathryn Knott, the Philly woman convicted in the 2014 attack on two gay men, will be in court today to ask for her sentence to be changed, PhillyMag reports.

The Inquirer looks into Johnny Doc's long-running feud at 3rd and Reed in the city. The union boss concedes "Maybe I made the wrong decision," when it came to his allegedly clocking a non-union contractor.

As ever, BillyPenn gets your day started with an evocative shot from Instagram:

State lawmakers want more oversight over Pennsylvania's municipal authorities, Keystone Crossroads reports.

This one seems a no-brainer: Lawmakers New Jersey are taking another run at keeping firearms out of the hands of violent abusers, NewsWorks/WHYY-FM reports.

They're cutting a new road through Allentown's resurgent waterfront, The Morning Call reports.

PoliticsPa looks at how Donald Trump won the "media primary."

Stateline.org looks at how legislative proceedings are televised across these 50 states.

Trump? What? Politico looks at the damage Hillary Clinton could do to the Democratic Party.

Roll Call looks at John Kasich's last-ditch bid in Ohio.

What Goes On.

The House and Senate Education committees hold a joint public hearing on the new federal law that's replaced No Child Left Behind. Things get underway at 10:30 a.m. in Hearing Room 1 of the North Office Building.

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition).

11:30 a.m.: Luncheon for Rep. Gene DiGirolamo

11:30 a.m.: Luncheon for Rep. Frank Farry

11:30 a.m.: Luncheon for Rep. Tom Caltagirone

4:30 p.m.: "Shamrock Fest" with Rep. Tim Hennessey

5:30 p.m: Reception for Senate President Pro Temp Joe Scarnati

Ride the circuit, and give at the max, and you'll part with a truly nauseating $28,500 today. Scarnati blows the bell curve with a maximum ask of $25,000, in case you were wondering.

WolfWatch.

Gov. Tom Wolf makes a 9 a.m. appearance at the annual County Commissioners Association meeting. You'll find him at the Harrisburg Hilton, if you're inclined to look.



You Say It's Your Birthday Dept.

Best wishes go out this morning to former Patriot-News scribe, and longtime Friend O'the Blog, Terry Burger. Congrats, sir.

Heavy Rotation.

If you are an indie fan of ... a certain age ... then the chances are very good that you are also a fan of The Stone Roses. While the Britpop outfit made more a splash on its side of the Atlantic than our own, they are still pretty dang influential. So when news surfaced over the weekend that they're releasing their first album in 22 years this year, it was cause for celebration. Appopriately, here's "I am the Resurrection."

Monday's Gratuitous Hockey Link.

Star forward Evgeni Malkin may be sidelined for 6-8 weeks, but the Pens still pulled one out over the Rangers on Sunday, winning 5-3 at MSG.

And now you're up to date. See you all back here in a bit.
Henricos School Board has taught a lesson in history. Its unanimous vote to change the name of Harry F. Byrd Middle School shows that it takes history seriously.

The name change is not, as critics suggest, an example of whitewashing the past. The whitewashing occurred in 1971 when the county named a new school in honor of one of the architects of Massive Resistance. Byrd opposed integrated schools and urged Virginians to resist the U.S. Supreme Courts Brown v. Board of Education ruling against segregated schools. Districts in Virginia shut their schools rather than desegregate them. The states response to Brown was as extreme as Mississippis or Alabamas. Byrd did not stand in schoolhouse doors, but his more genteel posture masked an equally pernicious policy. If Mississippi had four eyes but could not see, as a character in Mississippi Burning said, then Virginia was similarly blind to justice. From the Declaration of Independence and give me liberty or give me death forward, Virginias so-called statesmen did not practice what they preached.

Richmond is said to revere history; indeed its veneration of the past is the subject of caricature. Yet as the Rev. Ben Campbell noted during a reconciliation presentation at St. Marks Episcopal Church (just a block or so from the Stonewall Jackson statue on Monument Ave.), modern Richmond apparently did not remember or even know that a massive slave market flourished in Shockoe Bottom. Virginians bred and sold slaves as though they were a crop.

Byrd Middle School boasts a diverse student body such as the ones Byrd fought to prevent. If he had had his way, the school would be all white or all black. The school opened during years central Virginia was consumed by debates about integration. The countys leaders named the school for Byrd because they wanted to stick their finger in the eye of those calling for integration, often through busing  or they did not understand the implications of the name. Either option was inexcusable and reflected contempt for the countys black families.

Byrd stands as one of the 20th centurys commanding Virginians. He ranks among the states most influential politicians. He served as governor and in the U.S. Senate. On many issues, he was considered a progressive. The Byrd Organization controlled the commonwealth yet also enforced standards of integrity. It was not Tammany Hall. Byrds statue belongs in Capitol Square where it shares space with monuments to other Virginia notables, including heroes of the civil right movement. Byrds malicious attitude toward African-Americans generally and his enthusiasm for separate and unequal schools ought to bar his name from adorning schools.

The controversy regarding Byrd Middle School shows democracy in action. Pressure to change the name came from the bottom up. Jordan Chapman, a student at Hermitage High School, led the drive. She has earned a place on the honor roll.
Hillary Clintons defenders might have a point when they complain that Washington suffers from classificationitis  the profligate classification of material as secret when it might not need to be. But that hardly excuses her behavior. According to the latest revelations, Clinton did not merely receive emails that included classified information; she also composed and sent them  more than 100 times.

Complaining that she did nothing wrong because the informations classification level is open to debate does not absolve her, any more than a driver who violates the speed limit in a school zone can be absolved by arguing that the speed limit should be higher. It is what it is.

Democrats also have insisted that emails were classified after the fact, but that is irrelevant. Individuals with security clearances are obliged to protect sensitive information regardless of how it is marked, or whether it is marked at all. Clinton certainly failed the obligation, again and again.
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

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A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.


As more carriers look to roll out UC solutions, GENBAND is there to help and in fact recently has been on a tear in terms of making relevant news. Since the acquisition of the Nortel carrier and large enterprise business, GENBAND has literally become a full-service telecom equipment manufacturer with a broad portfolio of features rivaled by only a handful of firms.

The GENBAND marketing team

In a recent meeting with Patrick Joggerst, Carl Baptiste, Bita Milanian and the rest of the management team (a small subset of the people above), I was once again blown away by just how many balls the company has in the air and is managing effectively. In fact, I just wrote up another story on all the company is doing and that was less than two weeks ago. Since then, there is a dizzying amount of new and exciting news. For example, XO Communications is powering its contact center offering with GENBAND. In recent days you may recall, I focused on this trend of carriers providing UC and Call center services when I wrote about Metaswitch, AT&T and Broadsoft.

In addition, NetFortris, developer of a cloud-based secure message system, recently announced that it has updated its unified communications software to utilize new clients developed for GENBAND Smart Office 3.1, the platform on which NetFortris is based.

Then there are Kandy Wrappers  prepackaged RTC apps and Smart Office UC clients which affordably bring together cloud, web and real-time communications according to Patrick Joggerst (pictured), the executive vice president of global sales and marketing at GENBAND.

If that wasnt enough, the company announced with Polycom that they are awaiting final JITC certification. The combined solution, Local Session Controller, has completed testing for deployment in the United States Department of Defense (DoD) communications network.

This is important as the management team explained  there is a large Nortel installed base in the government and the company will now be able to upgrade that equipment.

Other interesting tidbits  GENBAND aims to extend and add value to Cisco Spark and Microsoft Skype for Business  not recreate these solutions. The goal is to have a unified client experience  web apps will run as containers which overcome the shortcomings of the web browser experience.

In short, there is a lot that is going on behind the scenes at the company They should be congratulated for producing so much relevant and timely news in such a short amount of time. Especially when that news isnt just fluff, its a mix of extended business models through Kandy Wrappers and large news customers like XO.

Just as I was about to finish this piece, news broke that Telecom Italia Sparkle will use GENBANDs kandy-based, white label, cloud, OTT solution. This is based on the fring offering which allows a carrier to rapidly deploy services without reinventing the wheel when it comes to migrating to IP communications for their customers.
Three Botetourt County 4-H Horse and Pony Club members brought home top honors from the Virginia Block and Bridle Clubs annual horse judging and hippology contests. The events, which were held Feb. 12 and 13 at the Alphin-Stuart Arena on the campus of Virginia Tech, hosted 4-H and FFA members from across Virginia.

Skylar Gay, Rachel Buchanan and Clair Humphreys combined their efforts for team recognition in the hippology contest and also competed for individual awards.

Hippology is a knowledge-based competition that requires youth to demonstrate their understanding of horses and the equine industry. They must share their awareness of horse breeds, feeds, tack, equipment, nutrition, and animal management, along with their ability to accurately assess and sort classes of horses.

At the completion of the day, the Botetourt 4-H team earned fifth place in Exam and Slides with Gay being recognized as the 10th-high individual in Exam and Slides. The team won first place in Stations and Judging with Humphreys winning eighth-high individual and Buchanan winning first place. When all the scores were totaled, the Botetourt 4-H Team was third-high team overall with Buchanan taking home honors as the second-high individual in the junior division.

The following day, Humphreys and Buchanan were back to demonstrate their horse judging skills. Youth are expected to judge eight classes of four horses each including both halter and performance classes. At the conclusion of the judging, junior contestants present oral reasons on one class justifying their placing and reasons for doing so to a member of the official judges panel. The 4-H'ers from Botetourt were recognized as the top team in Halter Judging with Buchanan earning seventh-high individual honors and Humphreys winning top individual in that division.

In the Performance class division, the team was fourth overall with Humphreys ranking as the seventh-high individual. The team from Botetourt was honored as the High Team in Reasons with Buchanan placing fifth and Humphreys winning third.

Their total scores earned them the honor of second-place team in the overall contest with Buchanan winning seventh and Humphreys bringing home the blue as the first-place junior individual overall.

For information on how your child can become a member of Botetourt County 4-H, call the Botetourt County Extension Office at 473-8260 or email Katherine Carter, 4-H Youth Development Agent at carterke@vt.edu.

Submitted by Carolyn LaVoie
COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims. A government report released Wednesday lays out grim trends across the country for expectant mothers and their newborn babies. It finds that pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80 percent since 2018, with COVID-19 being a factor in a quarter of the 1,178 deaths reported last year. The percentage of preterm and low birthweight babies also went up last year, after holding steady for years. And more pregnant or postpartum women are reporting symptoms of depression.
The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation will present the 2016 Community College Impact Award to the city of Salem, recognizing its pioneering support of the Community College Access Program. The award will be presented April 6 at the Educational Foundations Annual Awards Ceremony.

One of the highest honors the college can bestow, the Community College Impact Award serves to recognize significant philanthropic and community support by individuals, corporations or organizations that will provide perpetuating benefits for Virginia Western, its students and the region at large.

In 2008, the City of Salem was the first Roanoke Valley locality to embrace the vision for a scholarship program that would provide up to two years of college, tuition-free. Guided by then-City Manager Forest Jones, the city rallied private and public support for sending their high school graduates to Virginia Western. Salem leaders understood the impact that this pledge could make on generations to come. As founding partners of CCAP, they strived to build an educated and well-trained workforce, and they hoped to provide an incentive for young people to remain in the area.

Their commitment, in turn, set an example and paved the way for the expansion of CCAP throughout Virginia Westerns service region. From that initial Salem pilot program in Fall 2008, CCAP has now grown to serve all six of the regions localities. As of the 2015-16 academic year, 1,521 students have participated from the Roanoke Valley; of those, 351 are Salem High School graduates.

Today, Salems CCAP program benefits from continued strong support by the Salem City Council, City Manager Kevin Boggess, Mayor Randy Foley and the entire administration, matched by the ongoing support of numerous businesses and individuals.

Salem City Schools, represented by Superintendent Dr. Alan Seibert, is an integral and instrumental program partner, ensuring students receive the opportunity to apply for and participate in CCAP.

We owe a great deal to the City of Salem, said Dr. Robert Sandel, president of Virginia Western Community College. They invested in their students and continue to provide leadership for CCAP.

For more information about CCAP, contact Scholarship and CCAP Coordinator Carolyn Payne at cpayne@virginiawestern.edu or 857-6371. Applications for the 2017-18 academic year will be accepted starting in January 2017.

Submitted by Josh Meyer
Roanoke Valley Bird Club is holding a meeting Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the Grandin Court Baptist Church.

There will be a dinner at the Brambleton Deli at 5:30 p.m.

The subject will be hummingbirds by John Spahr.

In three to four weeks we should begin seeing ruby-throated hummingbirds as they return from their winter in Central America. Whether we see them at flowers or feeders, we cannot help but be dazzled by their flight and fancy colors. The ruby-throat is only one of over 300 species of hummingbirds in the world, many of which are even more elaborately colored and adorned. This program will explore some of the incredible aspects of this unique family of birds, amply illustrated with images and a few videos.

Spahr is a long-time member of the Augusta Bird Club, and has served as field trip leader and program chair for many years. Spahr is also involved with the Virginia Society of Ornithology, having served as president, as a member of the Virginia Avian Records Committee and currently as a regional reviewer for eBird. He has taught birding courses for his local bird club, for Master Naturalist programs and for UVa's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

The church is located at 2660 Brambleton Ave. S.W. in Roanoke.

Special request: We are in need of borrowing clip boards and orange traffic cones to use during the VSO Annual Meeting. Please bring them to the March meeting with your name on them. They will be safely returned after the VSO Annual Meeting. Also requested are empty gift baskets for the silent auction.

Submitted by Roanoke Valley Bird Club
Happy Pi Day!

(Or is it Pie Day?)

If you like math, March 14 (designated numerically as 3/14) is a great day to celebrate pi, which schoolkids everywhere know as the number 3.14. Or, if youre like me, you can use the day to celebrate pie.

Pi is a numerical ratio relating a circles circumference to its diameter, and pie is a circular-shaped food.

Both pis and pies histories date to ancient times. Maybe its a coincidence, or maybe mathematicians just needed an excuse to glorify a tasty staple of everyday ancient life. Its highly unlikely, but this is my historical re-imagining so anything goes.

My first contact with pie came when I was about 3 or 4 years old. My fathers people lived in Washington, D.C., and on our pilgrimages to see my grandparents we would stop in Staunton at this little restaurant called Mrs. Rowes. Though the whole family would partake in the Southern comfort food, my father and I partook in the holy sacrament: pie.

By contrast, my first exposure to pi is less divine and more boring. All I remember is that it came into my life whenever they started introducing letters and shapes into math, and ever since then I was no good at arithmetic. The only thing that redeemed this was pi day; when something I absolutely abhorred was made sacred by something that was close to a religious experience.

As I set out to write this story, which our astute food columnist, Sheri Poore, so humbly put upon me, I didnt know much about pie except that I like to eat it. I also, by choice, didnt know much about pi. Come to find out their histories are quite similar.

Eons ago

For pi, the story begins in ancient Babylonia sometime between 1900 and 1680 B.C. when Babylonians calculated the area of a circle by taking three times the square of its radius, therefore making pi equal to three. However, one Babylonian tablet cited that pi actually equaled 3.125. Then a formula found in an Egyptian artifact, the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, dated about 1650 B.C., calculated the area of a circle by using 3.1605 as the value of pi.

Also in Egypt, about 1300 B.C. or 1200 B.C., the bakers to the pharaohs incorporated nuts, honey and fruits within bread dough, making this treat an early form of galettes. Drawings found in the tomb of Ramses II and Ramses III depicted galettes as spiral shapes being served to the divine ruler. The tradition of galettes was carried to ancient Greece, but instead of being treats, the pies were made from flour and water paste and wrapped around meat to protect it in cooking and to seal in its juices.

Meanwhile, pi made its way to ancient Greece via mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse. Archimedes used the Pythagorean Theorem (get it? PIE-thagorean Theorum?), another famous mathematical equation, to help him calculate that pi was between 3.14285714 repeating and 3.1408450704225352. Separately, mathematicians in areas such as China, Persia and India also calculated pi to be near Archimedes estimation. The modern 3.14 calculation with infinite series being was spelled out between A.D. 1400 and 1500 by Indian astronomer Nilakantha Somayaji.

The food, pie, however, skipped the Eastern influences. When Greece was conquered by Rome, the dish was transplanted as a Roman staple, especially when it came to desserts, or secunda mensa. Even though Roman pies contained meat for every course, the meat was sweetened for the after-dinner dish.

The popularity of this sweet course was recorded by Cato the Younger, a politician and statesmen. In his treatise De Agricultura, he put down the first historical sighting of cheesecake, which at this time was called a placenta. It was described as a cheese pie baked on a pastry base or sometimes inside a pastry case. From Rome the pie traveled upward to the rest of Europe and England.

Time to go Colonial

In 13th-century England, a cookbook titled An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook printed a recipe for a tortoise or mullet pie, which contains pepper, cinnamon, oil, onion juice, cilantro and saffron. Another popular pie during this time period: apple.

Sorry to disappoint those who believe apple pie is all-American, but apple pie has been around since the Middle Ages all through Europe. Medieval and Renaissance recipes for this favorite have shown up, in one form or another, in English, French, Italian and German.

In 14th-century France under Charles Vs reign, pies were produced as soteltie or subtilty. They were a food designed in an ornamental way  such as sculptures made from edible ingredients  but they werent always intended to be eaten. The soteltie was used to ease boredom during the courses of a long French meal. At one party that took place sometime around the 1520s or 1530s, a chef of the Duke of Burgundy created a huge pie with a captive girl inside. Musicians, who were also housed inside, played a tune when the pastry was opened.

In the 17th century, the Pilgrims brought their recipes with them, but because of the difference in variety of ingredients in the new world, pies were made with berries and fruits, making the transition from savory to sweet.

The mathematical pi comes back into the historical picture, due in part by William Jones who introduced the use of the Greek symbol for pi in 1706. The use of this symbol was popularized by Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.

Meanwhile, during the slave trade, the sweet potato pie was invented. The African yam was fed to slaves during their transport from Africa to America. This African vegetable was very similar to the American sweet potato and was used in pies after they were roasted, sugared and cooked.

Reconstruction and early 1900s

After the Civil War, a married couple of former slaves named Fisher moved to San Francisco, where citizens helped the illiterate pair to write and publish their coconut pie recipe in 1881.

Also during that time, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was a big fan of pies. Katy Leary, his longtime housekeeper and friend, would bake huckleberry pie in order to get Twain to eat while working.

In the 1900s, legendary glutton and ladies man, James Buchanan Brady  known as Diamond Jim Brady  adored pies of various types. Architect Stanford White arranged a special dinner for Brady, where a huge pie was wheeled in and a naked dancer emerged. She walked the length of the banquet table, fell into the millionaires lap and proceeded to feed him.

Today is pi day

This may be the best pi day of the century. We usually celebrate on March 14 (3/14) because the value of pi is 3.14. Its actual value, though, is infinite, starting with the digits 3.14159. Some of us remember being told in high school math class to just round the number to 3.1416.

Here we are, in the year 2016, so todays date is 3/14/16. If I were a math geek, Id suggest we celebrate today with 3.1416 pieces of pie per person.

Today, pi is taught in schools throughout the world, bringing glee to any student who is left-brained. For those who are not, however: Dont fret. Just turn to the other pie  the one that is delicious and will never lead you down the long road of infinite calculation.

The Law of Pies

According to everythingpies.com, from which I pulled the history of pies information above, there are five laws of pie:

1. Pies must have a pastry made from some sort of grain, wheat, rice, cracker or cookie crumbs. No pastry, no pie! This means cheesecake is still included because of its graham cracker crust.

2. Pies must be baked in an oven at some time of the process or pseudo baked  such as custards filling baked pie shells. Pies are not fried (the classic Southern fried pie might be an exception here  the jurys still out), boiled or steamed. This, sadly, rules out turnovers.

3. A pie shall be baked in some form of a dish  metal, ceramic or glass. This includes disposable aluminum pie plates, which are oven safe (just not microwave safe).

4. If you are making a pie in America you must have a bottom crust of some sort and it must be some sort of pastry. If you are making a pie in England, however, the pie must have a top crust to be considered a pie. If it doesnt, then its officially a tart.

5. A pie must have a pastry that comes up on the sides to contain its filling. A tart is a subset of the pie. If sides are perpendicular, filled with custard and topped with fruit, the pie is called a tart, at least in America.

I sincerely hope I helped with your Pi(e) Day knowledge. I fully realize I was more helpful on the pie part than the pi part, but what can I say? Im a writer after all. Two plus two still equals four, right?

All pie facts came from everythingpies.com and all pi facts came from exploratorium.edu.
Maybe youre aware that productivity growth has been abysmal in recent years.

Maybe youve even read Robert Gordons new book  or just one of the many summaries and critical reviews  and you worry gravely about what this means for future living standards.

And maybe youre also at least somewhat aware of the endless arguments about whether productivity growth is measured appropriately, whether all the low-hanging fruit has been picked, whether anyone understands the relationship between total-factor productivity growth and investment, and (of course) whether automation will destroy or bolster the labour market of the future.

But you have a social life. Who has time to read, in addition to the 750 pages of Gordons book, all of these arguments? You need some nerd to compile all the takes in one place. Such a futile and stupid gesture should be done on somebodys part.

Im just the guy to do it.

Just one comment about the compilation of studies and ideas that follows: If you read all these points and emerge thinking you understand productivity growth and its drivers, you might be smarter than a lot of very smart people, but more likely you havent given enough thought to the issue.

What environments are most conducive to meaningful innovation? Are these ecosystems defined by institutions that can be copied or by mysterious, unidentifiable factors (endogeneity vs exogeneity)? How do new inventions lead to faster economic growth? Whats the best way to translate abstract ideas about living standards and technological progress into stuff we can count? All of these questions remain subject to vigorous debate.

Economists lack a coherent theory for what generates or stifles total-factor productivity growth. Some public policies and environmental conditions during past productivity booms and slumps appear correlated and suggestive, which is a useful starting point for any discussion. But as with the related debates about automation and labour, the history from which to draw lessons is short and the lessons themselves arent clear.

Thats not a reason to be nihilistic about our ability to ever understand anything about productivity. Its just that we might have to continue stumbling our way toward a better understanding rather than arriving at it smoothly and with any justifiable conviction.

And we should be especially careful to avoid simply extrapolating from the recent past. One day we might all suddenly awake in a different world and wonder how we failed to realise the ground had been shifting beneath our feet all along.





The list is US-centric, though many of the views presented below also apply to the wider global trend. The best way to read it is probably to skim the excerpts in bold in search of arguments you havent before seen, and then read those passages in full or click through the links. And as you read, keep in mind the difference between overall labour productivity growth and its subcomponent total-factor productivity growth. Entries about both are included.

In alphabetical order, by last name of original source or writer:

1. Perhaps what enabled the United States to become more innovative than all other countries in the 19th century and then come to dominate technology, paving the way to the second industrial revolution, were its policies and the institutional structure lying behind these, write Daron Acemoglu, Jacob Moscona, and James A Robinson. If so, it is plausible that the potential for growth of the American economy in the next several decades will also depend not just on exogenous technological constraints, but on these institutions. We do not get answers to these critical questions from Gordon. The most important of these early institutions was the Post Office, primarily because of its role in helping Americans secure intellectual and physical property rights. (Acemoglu, Moscona, Robinson)



2. For mismeasurement to be a useful explanation of the slowdown in productivity growth, the specific mismeasurements of the present must be worse (in the same direction on net) than those of the past. Theyre not, according to the economists David Byrne, John G Fernald, and Marshall B Reinsdorf in a Brookings paper. (Byrne, Fernald, Reinsdorf)



3. Young, innovative startups are struggling to grow into large companies, though the reasons why are unclear. Ben Casselman looks at research by economists Scott Stern and Jorge Guzman and writes: Startups as a whole may be declining, they find, but the kind of entrepreneurship that economists care the most about  fast-growing, innovative companies like Amazon  hasnt shown the same downward trend; in fact, in the past few years, those kinds of startups have surged in number. But all is not well. Stern and Guzman find that fewer of those ambitious startups are successfully becoming big companies. Put another way, the U.S. may have as many would-be Bezoses as ever, but its getting fewer Amazons. (Ben Casselman, citing Scott Stern and Jorge Guzman)



4. Pessimists about future total factor productivity growth are concerned that manufacturings contribution to overall TFP growth will decline as the sectors nominal share of output continues to shrink, while rising demand for services with little measured TFP growth, such as health care, will exert an additional drag on aggregate TFP, writes the the Congressional Budget Office in a mostly neutral summary. And optimists might respond that recent innovations in information technology, communications, medicine, and elsewhere may yield substantial growth well into the future. They also note that, over the long term, TFP growth is limited only by the ability of innovators to develop new technologies, and that a larger populationespecially a larger global populationmakes possible a larger pool of talent to be devoted to research, and thus opens up more potential for innovation. (Congressional Budget Office)



5. A useful caveat, also from the CBO: It bears emphasis that measured TFP growth applies only to the growth of measured output, which is at best a poor proxy measure of improvements in well-being resulting from economic progress. Indeed, innovations could continue to provide significant growth in human welfarefor example, further decreases in mortalitywithout enhancing conventional measures of TFP. Conversely, it would be possible for innovations to contribute to measured TFP growth but to be offset by other developments, such as environmental deterioration, that are not measured in the NIPAs. (Congressional Budget Office)



6. A pessimistic outlook on future productivity growth is likely the result of a failure of imagination, writes Tyler Cowen. Dont forget that thanks to greater political and economic freedom all over the world, more individual geniuses have the potential to contribute to global innovation than ever before.  Its also worth remembering that many past advances came as complete surprises. Although the advents of automobiles, spaceships, and robots were widely anticipated, few foretold the arrival of x-rays, radio, lasers, superconductors, nuclear energy, quantum mechanics, or transistors. (Tyler Cowen)



7. Diane Coyle looks at research that investigates the links between the microeconomics of corporate behaviour and the macroeconomic aggregates and writes that we have much to learn about the role of global supply chains in generating economic growth. She concludes:

Gross domestic product does not capture increasing supply-chain participation, or the range of intermediate goods being produced and the character of the cross-border networks of businesses involved. The moral is that discussion of the productivity puzzle is missing some key questions. While much research has analysed the macroeconomic relationships, and some (like this by NIESR) has looked at performance at the level of individual companies, the link between flat productivity in recent years and the geography and complexity of supply-chain networks needs to be explored.

(Diane Coyle)



8. Whatever the accuracy of current measures, over time the ability to measure productivity growth will improve, writes Citi GPS. Some of the improvements will be applied retroactively. The authors point to the changes made to the national accounting statistics in 2013, when spending on certain intangibles were recategorised as investment, adding:

In this context, it is worth noting that measures of GDP and productivity growth in the mid-1990s were revised up, sometimes substantially, as time went on. For instance, Figure 58 shows that LP growth for 1996 was revised up from roughly 1% originally to close to 3% eventually.

(Citi GPS)



9. We normally think of competition as a spur to innovation, but Chris Dillow writes that it can also be an obstacle to investment. The fear of competition from future new technologies can inhibit investment today: no firm will spend 10m on robots if they fear a rival will buy better ones for 5m soon afterwards. As someone said, it is the second mouse that gets the cheese. (Chris Dillow, also here)



10. The socio-organisational changes required to transform new technologies into faster productivity growth have yet to materialise. Dillow again: IT should make it easier to communicate knowledge, but this only raises productivity if it is accompanied by a breaking down of silos and methods to facilitate co-operation and the exchnage of ideas within companies. It also should facilitate working from home, which could increase aggregate productivity by reducing house prices thus shifting spending away from a sclerotic sector of the economy towards more dynamic ones. (Chris Dillow)



11. The economys digitisation means that reorganizing the economys workflows to accommodate new innovations no longer requires much labour to install them and integrate them into the way that companies and organisations operate. (Barry Eichengreen at Project Syndicate)



12. Look to the possible range of application when considering the economic potential of new innovations, writes Barry Eichengreen. Optimists point to the fact that currently promising innovations include new tools (quantum computers), materials (graphene) and processes (genetic modification) which, by their nature, would seem to have a broad range of potential applications. They point to the scope for robotics to supplement human brain- and muscle-power in a wide range of activities. They point to the Internet of Things as promising to connect embedded devices across the economy. (Barry Eichengreen in Secular Stagnation: the Long View)



13. That total-factor productivity growth has slowed in advanced economies is well-known. But Barry Eichengreen, Donghyun Park, and Kwanho Shin find that the TFP slowdown has been global. Having looked at dozens of prior episodes of TFP slumps, they identify factors that correlate positively and negatively with such slowdowns, but do not necessarily explain them. We find a negative association between the incidence of TFP slumps and educational attainment as measured by average years of schooling, they write. Countries with stronger political systems as measured by their Polity2 scores are less susceptible to TFP slumps. (Eichengreen, Park, Shin in The Global Productivity Slump: Common and Country-Specific Factors)



14. Furthermore, the nature of productivity slumps is likely to differ across countries at different income levels, write Eichengreen, Park, and Shin. For example, in middle-income countries slower TFP growth is likely to be associated with the process of reallocation of labor from agriculture to manufacturing having run its course. Productivity slumps in high-income countries, in contrast, are likely to be associated with the transition to services, where productivity gains are more difficult to achieve. (Eichengreen, Park, Shin)



15. A counterintuitive point, also from Eichengreen, Park, and Shin: In contrast, countries with high investment shares of GDP are more susceptible to [Total Factor Productivity] slumps, consistent with a tradeoff between extensive and intensive growth that places a priority on, respectively, capacity expansion and productivity growth. A potential explanation is that high TFP growth often leads investment in addition to following it. Firms react to new ideas and inventions, not wanting to fall behind competitors. And when investment does follow as a response to new innovations, then either it will be exuberantly wasteful (and thus lead to slower TFP growth), or some of it might be useful require a lag before it pays off, introducing sudden changes to the prevailing ways of doing business. (Eichengreen, Park, Shin)



16. Finally, in addition to slumps there have also been dozens of historical instances of total-factor productivity growth recoveries (slumps followed by accelerations):

(Eichengreen, Park, Shin)



17. Restrictive land-use regulations have led to unaffordable housing in dense urban areas, preventing the agglomeration effects that translate into accelerating productivity growth. (Jason Furman, citing Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti)



18. Recent pessimism about future productivity growth is unjustified because averages over longer windows are better predictors of productivity growth than averages over shorter windows, writes Jason Furman. He adds that the recent slowdown in productivity growth can be largely blamed on a shortfall in capital investment rather than the underlying pace of innovation:

Figure 12 shows that the principal shortfall between labor productivity growth in this recovery and the historical average has been a reduction in the increase of capital intensity, or business investment, not total factor productivity growth (TFP). This is important because there is good reason to believe that the relatively slow investment was the result of crisis-induced deleveraging, a capital overhang in the wake of the reductions in output, and the implications of a standard accelerator model for investment. As such, it would not be something one would want to extrapolate forward over the next decade or two, while TFP may be more of a gauge of the underlying ability of the U.S. economy to innovate.

(Jason Furman)



19. Transformative innovation really is happening on the Internet, writes Greg Ip. Its just not happening elsewhere. Ip highlights research by the economist Michael Mandel, runs through examples of disappointments (such as the deterioration of quality in air travel), and adds:

Theres no simple explanation for why innovative breakthroughs outside technology have been so elusive. One reason may be that industry must devote more of its innovative efforts to ensuring its products are safer and less environmentally harmful, which is good for society but doesnt raise [measured] productivity. Mr. Mandel notes that in 2000, the Food and Drug Administration had 12 employees for every 1,000 in the industries it oversees; now, it has 18. He thinks the FDA could spur innovation by considering how much more efficiently a new therapy can be administered, not simply its efficacy relative to one already on the market. Another explanation is that as knowledge accumulates, truly transformative discoveries become harder. A 2012 article in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery found that the number of new drugs approved per $1 billion spent on research and development had halved roughly every nine years since 1950.

(Greg Ip)



20. In the United States, Big Data is becoming an increasingly important part of the economy, but the Bureau of Economic Analysis doesnt count spending on it as part of GDP (under investment). This ommission is hard to reconcile with the fact that spending on R&D does qualify as investment. The economist Michael Mandel writes that the BEA does not include investment in big data in GDP: The tech equipment and the programming, yes, but not the actual labor and costs necessary to collect and clean the data. For example, when a hospital employs medical coders to clean up their electronic patient records, that coders salary is recorded as an expense, but not as a contribution to GDP. Similarly, the costs of converting from paper to electronic records is not being counted a part of GDP. (Michael Mandel in Why GDP and productivity growth may be underestimated)



21. Furthermore, the government does a terrible job measuring cross-border data flows, adds Michael Mandel, because many of them do not leave a monetary footprint. To the extent that the US holds a commanding position in cross-border data trade, this omission may be important for GDP and productivity growth. (Michael Mandel in Why GDP and productivity growth may be underestimated)



22. Michael Mandel also finds that innovation leads investment in the US. Mandel estimated the domestic investments of non-financial companies and found the top category was telecom and cable providers, followed by energy production companies, and then technology and Internet companies. He adds:

The rise of wireless and broadband, energy production innovations such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, and the mobile app/Internet boom are creating new markets and new investment opportunities. Would energy companies be spending so much money drilling in the U.S. if it wasnt for new production technique that made domestic oil and gas production more profitable? Would the telecom companies be spending so much on expanding old analog wired networks? Conversely, the broad investment drought may be linked to uneven innovationthat is, rapid innovation in some areas is combined with a lack of commercially successful breakthroughs in other areas such as material sciences and healthcare.

(Michael Mandel in US Investment Heroes of 2015: Why Innovation Drives Investment)



23. In the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Joel Mokyr, Chris Vickers, and Nicolas L Ziebarth write:

[We] are skeptical for a number reasons that a horizon is relatively nearsay, within a few decadeseither for technological progress or for the widespread satiation of consumer demand. First, we do not foresee humanity running out of pressing technological problems anytime soon. In many cases, these problems are an outgrowth of previous technological advances. For example, the need for clean energy generation is due to industrialization and its resulting greenhouse gases in the first place. Another striking example is the need for new antibiotics to the treat the bacteria that have become resistant to the first-generation of such wonder-drugs as penicillin and sulfa. We also expect that competition between firms, nations, and major trading blocs will stimulate continued efforts at technological gains. Even 18th-century British writers (such as Mildmay quoted earlier) who were suspicious about the effects of technological change for workers felt compelled to accept the innovations if only to ensure that Britain did not fall behind. Finally, there is an underappreciated growth in the tools available for science and technology researchers. Across the sciences, extraordinary large amounts of data can now be stored and searched. New findings can rapidly be transmitted across the global networks of science and researchOne field that has been particularly affected by the development of new tools is genetics, particularly the polymerase chain reaction, which has seen the cost of sequencing a single human genome decline from $3 billion spent by the Human Genome Project to close to $5,000 in 2013 (Hayden 2014).

(Mokyr, Vickers, Ziebarth)



24. Globally, in both the manufacturing and services sectors, productivity growth has remained impressive for frontier firms (the 100 firms in each sector with the fastest productivity growth) throughout the 2000s. But according to an important OECD report from last year, productivity growth for all other firms weakened severely, suggesting that productivity-boosting innovations at the frontier remain possible, but these innovations are not diffusing through the economy.

Heres a chart from Citi based on the OECD report:

(OECD, chart from Citi GPS)



25. The problem of diffusion is especially acute in the services sector, partly due to low competitive pressures which blunt the incentives to adopt best practices. This partly reflects policy weaknesses and productivity problems in the services sector will become increasingly costly for two reasons. First, the weight of services in our economies will continue to rise. Second, it may hinder the effective functioning of [Global Value Chains] since logistics, finance and communication are the oil that greases the wheels of globalization. (OECD)



26. As for what can be done to accelerate diffusion:

First, global connections, via trade, FDI, participation in GVCs and the international mobility of skilled labour. Second, experimentation by firms  especially new entrants  with new ideas, technologies and business models. Third, the efficient reallocation of scarce resources to underpin the growth of innovative firms. Fourth, synergic investments in R&D, skills and organisational know-how  particularly managerial capital  that enable economies to absorb, adapt and reap the full benefits of new technologies. But OECD countries differ significantly in these four areas, implying that diffusion comes easier to firms in some economies rather than others.

(OECD)



27. The productivity growth rate of US hospitals has been underestimated by the official data, which fail to properly adjust for the severity of patient illness, according to a study by John A Romley, Dana P Goldman, and Neeraj Sood. The findings offer tentative counterevidence to the theory of Buamols cost disease, writes Austan Frakt. (Romley, Goldman, Sood and Austin Frakt)



28. Martin Sandbu argues that if we just look around, well find an astounding amount of waste in the organisational processes of individual companies  notably in the UK, where productivity growth has been especially abysmal in recent years. Quite a lot of suppressed productivity growth would be unleashed if companies did a better job of tweaking their way to improvement. And he finds an academic paper in the American Economic Journal that supports the idea:

Igal Hendel and Yossi Spiegel studied the detailed production records of a single US steel mill, with a simple product and straightforward technology  the sort of industry where you would think any available efficiency gains would have been exhausted. Not so: after accounting for some additional investment and remuneration changes, the researchers found a large and steady rise in output per worker. In their own words: Learning by experimentation, or tweaking, seems to be behind the continual and gradual process of productivity growth. There are some deep lessons to draw for policy thinking from the importance of tweaking. One is that capacity is not well defined, as Hendel and Spiegel write. Another is that productivity gains may rely on protecting or putting in place conditions where workers themselves can and want to figure out how to do things better. This complements the conjecture that labour market flexibility may be behind the UKs poor productivity growth.

(Martin Sandbus Free Lunch, citing Igal Hendal and Yossi Spiegel)



29. Why cant mismeasurement account for a substantial part of the productivity growth slowdown? From the abstract to a new paper by Chad Syverson:

First, the productivity slowdown has occurred in dozens of countries, and its size is unrelated to measures of the countries consumption or production intensities of information and communication technologies (ICTs, the type of goods most often cited as sources of mismeasurement). Second, estimates from the existing research literature of the surplus created by internet-linked digital technologies fall far short of the $2.7 trillion or more of missing output resulting from the productivity growth slowdown. The largestby some distanceis less than one-third of the purportedly mismeasured GDP. Third, if measurement problems were to account for even a modest share of this missing output, the properly measured output and productivity growth rates of industries that produce and service ICTs would have to have been multiples of their measured growth in the data. Fourth, while measured gross domestic income has been on average higher than measured gross domestic product since 2004perhaps indicating workers are being paid to make products that are given away for free or at highly discounted pricesthis trend actually began before the productivity slowdown and moreover reflects unusually high capital income rather than labor income (i.e., profits are unusually high).

(Chad Syverson)



30. Innovation slows in the wake of a deep recession and the corresponding shortfall in demand, as businesses are fighting for survival and dont spend much money and time on inventive ideas for the long-term, says Martin Wolf. I would argue   and this is very much in keeping with the way many Keynesians thought in the 1950s and 1960s   that actual supply and potential supply converge, and that actual supply is driven in the short to medium term by demand. Lack of investment now leads to shrinking potential supply, and shrinking potential supply feeds back into less investment now, a vicious circle. (Martin Wolf on Alphachatterbox)



31. Recent evidence on technology diffusion patterns points to a mixed picture, conclude the authors of the World Intellectual Property Report. On the one hand, it suggests that more recent technological innovations have diffused more rapidly to low- and middle-income countries. On the other hand, it also suggests that more recent innovations have seen a greater gap in how intensively economies use technology. In other words, innovations that originate in the advanced economies at the technological frontier spread quickly to other economies, but these new innovations are absorbed at differing speeds across countries. (World Intellectual Property Organization)



32. Acknowledging the conventional pessimistic arguments, the World Intellectual Property Report also lists three reasons for optimism about future innovation:

Never before has the world invested so many resources in pushing the global knowledge frontier. While the financial crisis has left a mark in some countries, R&D spending was far less affected than economic output . Moreover, the emergence of China as an innovator  along with the rapid growth of R&D expenditure in the Republic of Korea  has increased the diversity of the global innovation landscape .

. Moreover, the emergence of China as an innovator  along with the rapid growth of R&D expenditure in the Republic of Korea  has . There still appears to be significant potential for innovation to generate productivity gains and trans- form economic structures. ICTs have already made important contributions to growth. However, if his- tory is any guide, there is more to come. The growth contributions of major technological breakthroughs have only occurred with decades-long delays. The next generation of ICT innovations  centered on artificial intelligence  holds plenty of promise.

The next generation of ICT innovations  centered on artificial intelligence  holds plenty of promise. There are numerous other fields of innovation that hold potential to spur future growth.  For example, the growing use of 3D printers and intelligent robots may well prompt the reorganization of supply chains in many sectors, with possibly sizeable growth effects. Other innovation fields showing significant promise include genetic engineering, new materials and various forms of renewable energy. New technologies have also dramatically improved the research tools that drive the process of scientific discovery. In particular, ICT-driven techniques such as big data analysis and complex simulations have opened new doors for research advances across many areas of technology.

(World Intellectual Property Organization)
Belgiums polished diamond exports dropped 9.6 percent year on year to $1.6 billion in February, according to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). By volume, exports dived 16 percent to 615,837 carats, while the average price jumped 7.3 percent to $2,592 per carat.

Compared with the previous month, polished shipments were higher in February as goods are exported to Hong Kong for the March show, implying the spike was seasonality-driven. Exports to the key trading center soared almost fivefold to $684.1 million sequentially in February, but slumped 17 percent year on year. This is typically followed by a peak in polished imports in March as gems return from the fair.

Among Belgiums other main trading partners, polished exports to the U.S. fell 11 percent from a year ago to $285.9 million. Shipments to Israel slumped 20 percent by volume but enjoyed a modest increase by value.

Total polished imports to Belgium slid 12 percent to $1 billion as net polished exports, representing exports minus imports, increased 6.6 percent to $714.9 million.

Rough imports jumped 28 percent to $1.33 billion and rough exports advanced 21 percent to $1.28 billion. Net rough imports, representing imports minus exports, rose to positive $52.1 million from negative $17.1 million a year before.

Belgiums February net diamond account, representing total polished and rough exports minus total imports, grew 15 percent to $662.8 million.

During the first two months of the year, polished exports fell 8 percent to $2.37 billion, while polished imports declined 12 percent to $1.87 billion. Rough imports increased 9.6 percent to $2.06 billion and rough exports grew 8.5 percent to $2.07 billion.

Belgiums net diamond account for the year to date increased 4.8 percent to $511.3 million.




The newly established Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) has reportedly started mining dumps in Marange.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said the company was in its first month or second month.

We are now receiving figures of their daily production. They have already started extracting diamonds from dumps and have done 100 000 carats. We are going to publish the figures," he was quoted as saying by The Herald newspaper.

Harare ordered diamond companies in Marange last month to cease their operations saying their licences had long expired.

It also accused the mining firms of refusing to join the consolidated diamond company.

Mbada Diamonds and Anjin Investments, all joint ventures with the state in diamond mining, had since gone to court challenging governments directive for them to cease mining.

Mbada had since got a reprieve to access its mine pending the court's ruling on the matter.

However, Chinamasa said Harare would not back down on the process of consolidating the sector in search of better returns.

"We have never ceased expressing our disappointment over little revenue flowing into the fiscus from the diamond sector, he said.

We are consolidating it for transparency and accountability; we want transparency and accountability.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Hong Kong Indian Diamond Association (HKIDA) and HRD Antwerp have signed an exclusive agreement to offer an exclusive melee diamond screening service using the formers M-Screen device.

The agreement was signed during the 2016 March Hong Kong Diamond, Gem and Pearl show.

The new service will offer the screening of parcels of minimum 10ct melee size diamonds from 1 to 20 points, colour D-J.

HRD Antwerp Hong Kong will also move its operations to a new location from April 1, 2016, sharing the premises as HKIDA.

The relocation of HRDs operations to the HKIDA premises would help it to strengthen its local presence.

HKIDA has 35 founding members, including the largest Indian diamond traders and jewellery manufacturers in Hong Kong. It is committed to protect and promote the natural diamond trade.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished




I feel amazing and I still cant believe that the Pope said my name, al-Hroub told to the media. In her acceptance speech, she reiterated her mantra of No to violence and stressed the importance of dialogue. She announced that she will use the million-dollar prize money to create scholarships for students who excel in order to encourage them to choose careers in teaching. The Global Teacher Prize was established two years ago to recognize one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, employs innovative classroom practices and encourages others to join the teaching profession. The Varkey Foundation is involved.
Genworth Financial, Inc. (GNW) disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement in principle to settle a securities litigation, currently pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Genworth noted that the settlement agreement provides for a payment to the class of $219 million, inclusive of all Plaintiffs' attorneys fees and expenses and settlement costs, of which $150 million will be paid by its insurance carriers, and $69 million pre-tax will be paid by the company.

The company expects the payment to be made into an escrow account during the first quarter of 2016 and also expects to incur additional legal fees and accruals related to the litigation over amounts previously accrued and expensed of approximately $10 million pre-tax in the first quarter of 2016.

Genworth noted that plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged securities law violations by the company, its current chief executive officer and its former chief financial officer, related to certain disclosures in 2013 and 2014 concerning, among other things, long term care insurance reserves. The agreement in principle was reached in connection with a voluntary mediation.

Genworth, which believes that the Plaintiffs' claims are without merit, said it is settling the lawsuit to avoid the burden, risk and expense of further litigation.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
German voters dealt a stinging rebuke to Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open-door refugee policy in three state elections Sunday, delivering historic gains for an upstart anti-immigrant party, according to reports.

The reports indicated that the populist Alternative for Germany, which focused its campaign on opposition to Ms. Merkel's migrant policy, won nearly a quarter of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The resultseveral percentage points higher than recent polls had suggestedrepresents the party's best total in a regional election since its founding three years ago.

The party, known as the AfD, also won parliamentary seats in two former West German states voting, giving it representation in eight of the country's 16 state legislatures. That strengthens the AfD's status as a significant political force to the right of Ms. Merkel's conservative bloca turning point that her Christian Democrats long tried to prevent.

Despite Sunday's setbacks, Merkel remains in a relatively strong position at home.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Australian telecom giant Telstra Corp. Ltd. (TLSYY.PK,TLS.AX, TLS) announced that it has terminated talks with San Miguel Corp. on a possible equity investment in a wireless joint venture in the Philippines after failing to agree on terms. Telstra added that the organisations had agreed at the weekend to bring negotiations to an end.

Telstra Chief Executive Officer Andy Penn said the two companies lacked "commercial arrangements that would have enabled us all to proceed."

"While this opportunity is strategically attractive, and we have great respect for San Miguel Corporation and its President Mr Ang, it was obviously crucial that the commercial arrangements achieved the right risk-reward balance for all involved."

While joint venture talks have ended, Telstra specified that it has offered to continue technical network design and construction consultancy support to San Miguel Corporation, should those services be required.

Telstra said that it would continue to pursue growth opportunities in Asia consistent with its strategy and the investment decisions will be guided by its capital management framework

Telstra last year confirmed it had been negotiating a possible joint venture with San Miguel Corporation and envisaged investing up to USD$1 billion should the joint venture proceed.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
International Paper (IP) announced an agreement to sell its corrugated packaging in China and Southeast Asia to Xiamen Bridge Hexing Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise. International Paper will receive a total of approximately $150 million at current exchange rate.

The company's corrugated packaging business in Asia has 18 plants and a workforce of approximately 3,000 employees.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car

I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ...
50% of Indian mobile users wish to upgrade to new device in 5G era

About 50 per cent of smartphone users in India plan to buy a new device within the first year as 5G ...
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Bahraini King Meets an Israeli Rabbi

Is this the prelude to further persecution of other resistance factions in the Middle-East region?



Hezbollah flag

Courtesy: Wikipedia



(TEL AVIV) - According to The Jerusalem Post, the Bahraini despot Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa met with Rabbi Marc Schneier, the president of the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding, in the Bahraini capital of Manama.

The Bahraini King sees the direct relation with Tel Aviv only a matter of time. The New York-based rabbi, for his part considered the axis of resistance as Israel and Arab sheikhdoms common enemy and this common animosity harbingers a peace accord between Tel Aviv and Arab capitals.

A senior Israeli delegation has allegedly visited the Saudi capital of Riyadh to confer with Saudi leadership concerning regional developments.

In spite of Israeli Military Censor's explicit proscription, Israeli channel 10 reported the details of a clandestine visit made by a leading Israeli delegation to KSA, discussing the close relationship between Tel Aviv and Riyadh.

Political experts believe GCC states gave Israel a much-needed legitimacy by labeling Lebanons Hezbollah a 'terrorist organization'.

The Jordanian newspaper Raialyoum regarded the recent GCC decision of labeling Hezbollah as shameful and saw it as the prelude to further persecution of other resistance factions in the Middle-East region.

_________________________________________
Here's what the new Docking State Office Building could look like

state
Washington

Acting U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. urged high-flying district leaders Friday to start thinking now about how their states should gauge school performance and intervene in struggling schools under the newly passed Every Student Succeeds Act.

English and math performance may be necessary for long-term success, but they may not be sufficient to a get a full picture of school performance, King said in an interview with Education Weeks Leaders to Learn From event in Washington, which honors outstanding work by district leaders around the country. (Watch the video above for Kings full appearance.)

A quality education must mean more, King said. A quality education must mean a well-rounded education. A quality education must mean what wed want for our own childrenscience and social studies and access to the arts, as well as opportunities for socio-emotional learning and health.

Under ESSA, states have to pick at least one indicator of school qualitylike teacher engagement, student engagement, or success in advanced courseworkto gauge school performance. But if these new systems are actually going to work, innovative and courageous educators need to get involved, King said.



Youve got to be a part of these state conversations to make them transformative, he said.

ESSA Timeline

Later, in a question-and-answer session with Virginia B. Edwards, the president of Editorial Projects in Education, which publishes Education Week, King addressed the timeline for implementation of ESSA. And he didnt give specific target dates for finalizing regulations or approving state plans.

Were developing our timeline based on public comment and input, he said. The goal, he said is a regulatory framework and a guidance framework by the end of the year.

Edwards followed up, noting that means, by definition, it will be the next administration doing most of the plan-approving.

I think thats right, King said. But our hope is that one of the goals in this conversation is that folks have to start now thinking about what are those accountability indicators, what are those interventions. Thats not a conversation that should wait until after [our] regulatory process is done.

Those answers track closely with what King said at his Senate confirmation hearing last month . The full Senate is expected to vote on Kings nomination Mondayhes likely to be confirmed.

Performance Tests

King said theres a lot of potential in moving beyond fill in the bubble tests and toward performance tasks, something New Hampshire has already started doing. In fact, he spoke about performance tests Friday morning with Linda Darling Hammond, an education researcher at Stanford University and the founder of the Learning Policy Institute.

But, King encouraged states and districts to think carefully about how these new tests will align with their curriculum goals and instructional approach.

People say, We want to do what New Hampshire has done because they are doing this work on performance-based assessment, but they have been at that for years, working closely with teachers and principals to put that work together, King said. (Andrew wrote about Granite States work on performance tasks here .)

Oh, and King pronounces the name of the new law as ESS-UH, not EE-SUH, or E.S.S.A. or Every Student. So that seems like the final word on that.

BONUS: King was on CBSs Late Night with Stephen Colbert last week, talking about the non-profit Donors Choose, which helps pay for teacher-developed projects in classrooms across the country

So what was that like, Edwards asked?

The most important thing for my 12-year-old was that [actress] Anna Kendrick was also on, King said. My daughter was very precise. I needed to meet Anna Kendrick and tell her how much my daughter appreciated her, admired her, wants to be like her. And so I waited to meet Anna Kendrick. Mission accomplished.
Country

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Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2016 -- The global gum hydrocolloids market has been significantly growing due to the rise in demand for healthy and natural food products by consumers of different age group. Hydrocolloid is a substance which forms gel like medium in the presence of water. It is also defined as a colloidal system, in which the colloid particles are dispersed in water. Hydrocolloid are widely used within food industry for various purposes such as for gelling, thickening, foaming, coating, film-forming, improving bake-stability, improving freeze-thaw stability and encapsulation. In addition, it is also used in food products such as jams, soups, ice-creams, jellies, cakes & candies, gelled desserts in order to create the desired texture of food. The major advantages associated with gum hydrocolloid are its ability to modify the flow behavior/viscosity of food systems.



Gum Hydrocolloid Market: Drivers and Restraints



The gum hydrocolloid market is largely driven by growing research and development in hydrocolloid ingredients. Also, increase in consumer preference for natural ingredients in food and beverages are major factor driving the gum hydrocolloid market globally. However, uneven supply of raw material, high price volatility in raw material are anticipated to hamper the market growth during the forecast period.



Request Free Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-596



Gum Hydrocolloid Market: Segmentation



Gum hydrocolloid market is segmented on the basis of type, function, application and by region. On the basis of type the gum hydrocolloid market is segmented into gellan gum, guar gum, gum Arabic, locust bean gum and xanthan gum. Furthermore, on the basis of function the market is segmented into thickener agent, gelling agent, and stabilizing agent. On the basis of application the gum hydrocolloid market can be segmented as bakery, confectionary, meat and poultry processing, dairy products, sauces and dressing, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Lastly, on the basis of region the gum hydrocolloid market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa.



Gum Hydrocolloid Market: Key Players



Some of the leading companies operating in gum hydrocolloid market are Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Cargill Inc., Royal DSM, Kerry Group PLC, Danisco A/S, E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company to name a few. Major companies dealing in gum hydrocolloid market are focused towards acquisition and launch of new product to modify and upgrade their product portfolio.



Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-596



Gum Hydrocolloid Market: Regional Overview



Among all the regions North America was the largest market for gum hydrocolloid in 2013 followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Developing countries such as India and China are anticipated to witness a high growth in demand for gum hydrocolloid market due to changing lifestyle of consumers coupled with increase in awareness towards healthy living is fuelling the market growth. Sudan is one the major producer of all major gum Arabic in the world with having more than 80% of global productivity. Since gum Arabic is widely used in soft drink industry, US has exempted it from broad trade ban which was imposed in 1997. This lift from ban allowed Sudan to maintain its position as a world power in gum Arabic market.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2016 -- This research study analyzes the market for oil shale in terms of revenue (USD Million) and volume (Million Barrels). The global oil shale market has been segmented on the basis of geography, process (ex-situ and in-situ), and application. For the research, 2013 has been taken as the base year, while all forecasts have been given for the 20142022 period. Market data for all the segments has been provided at the regional as well as country-specific level for the 20132022 period (Countries that are supposed to achieve commercial production before 2022 are only included).



Read Complete Report @ http://www.mrrse.com/oil-shale-market



The report provides the market numbers for only North America (U.S.), Asia Pacific (China and Australia), Latin America (Brazil), Middle East and Africa (Morocco and Jordan) and describes the possibilities of shale oil commercialization in other countries such as Canada, Russia, and Serbia. Only the U.S., Jordan, Australia and Morocco are expected to achieve commercial production of shale oil from oil shale within the forecast period. The report provides a comprehensive competitive landscape and features companies engaged in the oil shale industry.



Read Full Table of Content @ http://www.mrrse.com/oil-shale-market/toc



The report includes the key market dynamics affecting the overall oil shale industry. It also provides a detailed industry analysis of the global oil shale market with the help of Porter's Five Forces model. The Porter's Five Forces analysis aids in understanding the five major forces that affect the industry structure and profitability of the global oil shale market. The forces analyzed are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from new entrants, threat from substitutes, and degree of competition. The high-level analysis in the report provides detailed insights into the global oil shale business globally. Major drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the oil shale market were analyzed in detail and are illustrated in the report with the help of supporting graphs and tables. There are currently numerous drivers for the oil shale industry. One of the most prominent drivers is the need for energy security in various nations. Market attractiveness analysis was carried out for the oil shale market on the basis of geography. Market attractiveness was estimated on the basis of common parameters that directly impact the market in different regions.



Request a Free Sample Copy of the Report @ http://www.mrrse.com/sample/762



The oil shale market was further segmented on the basis of process into in-situ and ex-situ. The revenue realization for process is done by multiplying the shale oil produced with forecasted crude oil prices. The application analysis chapter divides the global market into three broad segments: electricity, non-upgraded products, and upgraded products. The classification into non-upgraded and upgraded products is done to provide exact picture of the global oil shale market. The non-upgraded products represent the oil suitable for marine and heating applications, while the upgraded segment deals with fuels such as kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel that are formed after upgrading. The electricity application revenue (USD Million) and volume (MWh) are calculated separately. Key market participants in the oil shale market include Red Leaf Resources Inc., Eesti Energia AS, BNK Petroleum Inc., Chevron Corporation, Fushun Mining Group Co., Ltd., Jordan Oil Shale Company B.V., Questerre Energy Corporation, Queensland Energy Resources Ltd, Global Oil Shale Group Limited, Viru Keemia Grupp, and Exxon Mobil Corporation. The report provides an overview of these companies, followed by their financial details (on availability), business strategies, and recent developments.



About MRRSE

MRRSE stands for Market Research Reports Search Engine, the largest online catalog of latest market research reports based on industries, companies, and countries. MRRSE sources thousands of industry reports, market statistics, and company profiles from trusted entities and makes them available at a click. Besides well-known private publishers, the reports featured on MRRSE typically come from national statistics agencies, investment agencies, leading media houses, trade unions, governments, and embassies.



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Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2016 -- Homeowners facing foreclosures in California are not in a hopeless situation. Banks, media, and the government blame borrowers for falling behind on their monthly mortgage payments, not realizing that job loss and illness are the primary factors for default. No matter what stage homeowners are in, a Los Angeles foreclosure attorney can stop a foreclosure sale date.



Working with a good lawyer is the best way to stop a foreclosure sale date and save the home. Experienced Los Angeles foreclosure lawyers are the able to stop the foreclosure process and put homeowners back in control of the situation.



A real estate lawyer in California needs to have a track record in lender lawsuits in order to quickly analyze the facts and assert the best legal arguments to defend the home against foreclosure. Contacting a Los Angeles foreclosure attorney to discuss the best legal options is critical in saving the home. The borrower should find an aggressive attorney who files lawsuits to permanently avoid foreclosure and negotiate an affordable repayment plan.



How to Stop the Process of Foreclosure



When homeowners fail to make timely payments on the mortgage, the lender must make an attempt to warn the borrower that they are at risk of losing their home and facing foreclosure. Once homeowners receive a Notice of Default in California, they are given a 90 day period to either pay the amount of money outstanding or lose their home. If borrowers do not pay the balance due in the time provided, the home will go up for auction. Homeowners still have the option to pay off the amount outstanding to stop foreclosures up until the sale date. If the lender does not communicate with the borrower about alternatives to save the home, there may be grounds for illegal foreclosure.



Avoiding Foreclosure



There are many reasons why people fall behind on their monthly mortgage payments including: Loss of employment, injury or illness, or loss of a family member. The threat posed by the loss of home to a mortgage foreclosure may feel like a daunting challenge. However, many options are available for homeowners living in California who want to avoid foreclosure. An experienced Real estate attorney in Los Angeles can offer many options to save the home:



- Bankruptcy

- Litigation

- Deed in lieu of foreclosure

- Short sale negotiation



When being represented by attorneys, homeowners have the protection of the court. If borrowers seriously require getting the best out come from their foreclosure case, it is best to call a real estate attorney in California to discuss options available to save the home. http://blog.consumeractionlawgroup.com/real-estate-attorney-california-stop-los-angeles-foreclosure/



About Consumer Action Law Group

Consumer Action Law Group is a law firm dedicated to help consumers in consumer-related matters or consumers that experienced fraud and scam. Attorneys in the team are knowledgeable and experienced in the areas of eliminating debt, mortgages fraud, auto fraud, and foreclosures. They have direct experience in consumer fraud matters and helping consumers who are facing financial crisis, foreclosure, issues with employers, and problems with auto dealers.



For Media Inquiries:

Contact Person: Lance Nguyen

Telephone: (818) 254-8413

Email: Lance@consumeractionlawgroup.com

Website: http://consumeractionlawgroup.com
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2016 -- Sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash and washing soda, is the sodium salt of carbonic acid and is water-soluble in nature. Pure sodium carbonate is an odorless, hygroscopic, white, alkaline powder, forming a strong alkaline water solution. It is extracted from the ashes of a number of plants that grow within sodium-rich soils and is synthetically produced in huge quantities from limestone and salt by a method called Solvay process. The global sodium carbonate market is majorly fuelled by its rising demand in paper and pulp applications for the production of paper, in applications of water treatment, and uses in the chemical industry. On the other hand, strict regulations on the accurate management of waste water and disposal of effluents from the production process may restrict the growth of the market. Though sodium carbonate isn't highly toxic, prolonged exposure to it may cause eye and skin irritation and, if ingested, may cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach ache. These factors may also hamper the growth of the market in the coming years.



Browse Full Global Sodium Carbonate Market Research Report With Complete TOC : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sodium-carbonate-market.html



Growing Applications in Chemical and Industrial Sectors to Boost Sodium Carbonate Market



Sodium carbonate is very commonly used domestically for softening water, wherein it competes with calcium and magnesium ions present in hard water and thus helps prevent these ions from bonding with the detergent being utilized. Amongst the various uses of sodium carbonate, the manufacturing of glass is amongst the most significant uses of sodium carbonate. It is also utilized as a strong base in numerous settings, for instance, as a pH regulator for the maintenance of stable alkaline conditions required for the optimal action of developing agents in photographic films.



It is also utilized in the chemical industry for making detergents, carbonate chemicals, and sodium chemicals. It also finds its application within the industrial sector and for the treatment of municipal waste water, coal treatment, desulphurization of flue gas, and brine treatment. It is also utilized as an additive in swimming pools, where it is utilized for neutralizing chlorine's corrosive effects and for raising the pH level of the water.



Asia Pacific Emerged as the Biggest Producer and Consumer of Sodium Carbonate



On the basis of geography, the sodium carbonate market is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Amongst these, Asia Pacific is the biggest producer and consumer of sodium carbonate. In Asia Pacific, India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand are the biggest sodium carbonate consumers and utilize it in industries such as chemical and paper and pulp, and in waste water treatment. On the other hand, North America also emerged as a key consumer of sodium carbonate and utilizes it majorly within the glass manufacturing industry. Europe is predicted to experience relatively sluggish growth as compared to all other regions in the coming years.



Get FREE Research Report : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=7313



Solvay, Merck Millipore, J M Loveridge plc., and Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners, among others, are the prominent players operating in the market for sodium carbonate.



About Transparency Market Research (TMR)

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.



Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2016 -- Tourists from other countries who want to visit Vietnam need not worry about their Vietnam Visas any more because Visa-Vietnam.org is offering efficient Visa-on-Arrival services. The company takes pride in affirming that their services are fast. If tourists opt to utilize their services, they can get Vietnam visas very easily also. On top of everything, their services come at cheap rates as well, says the company.



Tourists can have hassle-free Vietnam Visa on Arrival services from them. These tourists need not spend their precious time for chasing down embassies nor do they need to send off their passports for getting Vietnam Visas. They can just arrive at a Vietnam airport and pick up their visas.



Visa-Vietnam.org proudly says that they come out with excellent and irresistible offers from time to time for the benefit of their customers. For example, they have come out with an offer known as "Frequently Member" that will immensely be useful to frequent tourists to Vietnam. This means those who use their services and visit Vietnam frequently will automatically become eligible for a discount up to 22% on the service charges, says the company.



Likewise, they have announced another offer for the benefit of corporate members. According to this offer, agencies, teachers and students and those travelers who belong to corporates will get a discount of 26% on the service charges.



The company adds that the process they have put in place for getting Vietnam Visas on arrival is very simple. Tourists should apply for their visas and they will in turn receive their visa approval letters within a day or two via email. If they want, they can opt for RUSH services also. They can get a copy of their visa approval letter printed for showing at the time of boarding. Once they arrive at a Vietnam airport, they can show their visa approval letter at the Visa On Arrival Office and receive their visas. The company says that their Visa On Arrival Offices are open round the clock.



The company guarantees tourists who avail their services that they will ensure to process their purchases securely for which they have tied up with PayPal.com, Gate2shop.Com and OnePay.Vn. They will also take all possible steps for keeping the privacy as well as the passport information of their customers safe and confidential. For accomplishing this aim, they delete all the passport information of their customers from their website database the same day, assures the company. They also assure their customers that they will not share their email addresses with others or send marketing emails to them without their permission.



About Visa-Vietnam.org

Visa-Vietnam.org is offering efficient Visa-on-Arrival services. Their services are fast. If tourists opt to utilize their services, they can get Vietnam visas very easily also. On top of everything, the Visa-on-Arrival services offered by the company come at cheap rates as well. The company has put in place hassle-free processes for obtaining Vietnam Visas on Arrival. Further, they take all steps for protecting the pricacy of their customers.



For Media Contact:

Visa-Vietnam.org

Address: Room A2, 64 Nguyen Dinh Chieu street, Dakao ward, district 1, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.

Phone: +848 54043118

http://www.visa-vietnam.org/
Legislation in Oklahoma to create a special kind of voucher program open to all public school students has come to a standstill for the session.

Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate say neither chamber will consider bills to create education savings accounts, according to the Associated Press.

Education savings accounts, or ESAs, allow parents to pull their children out of public school and use the state dollars earmarked for their child toward approved education expenses, such as home schooling materials or private school tuition.

This arrangement gives parents an unprecedented level of control over how public money is spent on educating their children.

Of the ESA programs that already exist in a handful of states, most are reserved for students with special needs.

So far the only state that has passed an ESA bill open to all public school students regardless of income or disability status is Nevada , where the program is currently on hold as its legality is challenged .

A bill to expand Arizonas ESA program , the first in the country, is currently stuck in a House committee.

School choice advocates had hoped that an ESA bill would clear the Oklahoma legislature this year after the states supreme court ruled a separate voucher program for students with disabilities was constitutional even though it routes public money to religious schools, one of the primary arguments used against both voucher and ESA programs.

Although Republican legislative leaders said they want to give more educational choices to families, they were concerned the ESA program might hurt public schools financially, reports the Associated Press.

But the House Speaker and Senate Pro Tem promised to continue to build consensus around an ESA program.

Related stories:
Fringing the coastal waters of Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, mainland Asia and the Pacific islands are the sea grass meadows of the oceans.

They are akin to grass meadows on land and nurture many forms of sea life, playing a significant role in the ecological balance of our planet.

Today, sea grass areas are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth with an estimated disappearance rate of 110 square kilometres per year since 1980, marine scientist Hilconida Calumpong tells SciDev.Net.

Calumpong, a science professor at the Silliman University in the Philippines, is a member of the UN-mandated World Ocean Assessment (WOA) group of marine scientists that studied the state of the worlds oceans for five years (2011-2015).

The rate of decline is accelerating from a median of 0.9 per cent per year before 1940 to 7 per cent per year since 1990. One-third of all the sea grass areas recorded around the world about a century ago in the 1870s have now disappeared, says Calumpong, citing the WOA report.

The most intense destruction is in the China-Korea-Japan region where the highest decline of 80-100 per cent of all species is reported. The decline is associated with heavy coastal development and extensive coastal reclamation.

Sea grass meadows are under siege by humans. By Crispin Maslog

The destruction of one species of sea grass meadows is intense in South-East Asia due to aquaculture, fisheries and heavy watershed siltation, notes Calumpong.

Another three species in Australia and four species in the Mediterranean are damaged by propellers and ship grounding, by degraded water quality, and competition with introduced sea life species.

Roles of sea grass meadows

Sea grasses are flowering plants found in shallow marine waters (like bays and lagoons) and the continental shelves. They provide food, habitat and nursery areas for numerous marine life  fishes, crabs, shrimps, shells, sea horses, sea urchins, sea turtles, dolphins, manatees, waterfowl, scallops, clams and sea cucumbers.

Sea grasses perform other important functions. They stabilise the sea bottom in a manner similar to the way land grasses prevent soil erosion. They also lessen the impact of strong currents at the bottom of the sea.

Sea grasses help maintain water quality in the coastal areas. They trap fine sediments and particles that are suspended in the water and increase water quality. Without the grasses, the sediments are stirred by winds and waves.

Sea grasses also filter nutrients that come from land-based industrial discharge and storm water runoff before these are washed out to sea and affect other sensitive habitats like coral reefs.

Sea grass destruction

These sea grass meadows are under siege by humans. A major human-made cause are plastics. The South-East Asian region has been reported to be the worlds worst plastic polluters of the oceans.

Scientists explain that plastics break into very tiny particles, competing with microscopic organisms that serve as food for larger marine animals and block the sunlight needed for the sea grass to survive.

Sea grass produces oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide. With the loss of sea grass meadows, more carbon dioxide is released into the air, causing more heating in the oceans. With more heating, the climate becomes more extreme.

Sea grass loss will affect populations of some 115 marine species that live on sea grass beds, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Reefs and mangrove ecosystems are also affected because many fish and invertebrate species found in coral reefs and mangroves spend their juvenile stages in sea grass beds.

The ocean is a complex system that is interconnected, and what goes wrong in one part of the ocean will affect the whole.

Reversing the tide of destruction

What can be done to mitigate the destruction?

Many strategies have been employed in the management of sea grass meadows, says Calumpong.

These strategies include declaration of sanctuaries and protected areas, regulation of fishing methods destructive to kelps and sea grasses (such as trawls and seines), transplantation and restoration of sea grass beds.

But since sea grass meadows are catchments, an integrated approach is needed to regulate siltation-causing activities in the uplands such as deforestation, agriculture, mining plus reclamation, she emphasises.

The UN has recognised the gravity of the destruction and organised the First Integrated World Ocean Assessment in 2011 to mitigate the problem. However, there is no specific date for the next WOA.

We think there is urgent need for action now, both at local and national government levels, and from the United Nations perspective, without waiting for the next WOA. The WOA report admits that some problems  such as those flowing from climate change and acidification  can only be dealt with at a global level.

As one of the 25 experts from the Asia-Pacific working with WOA 2011-2115, Calumpong says the experience has made her realise how small she is as a scientist and how huge the challenge to act as a family of nations so that humans can survive as a species.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.
The outbreak of Ebola that devastated West Africa is out of the media spotlight, and no doubt many of us have wondered what happened to all those debates over lessons to be learned. A panel discussion at the United Kingdoms Parliament delved into this issue last week.



The event was organised by the Africa All Party Parliamentary Group to launch a report reviewing evidence submitted in response to an inquiry into the Ebola response last year, which included our Spotlight collection.

The bigger lesson, is about the need to learn from the affected countries themselves. Susan Elden

Calling the report genuinely useful, Nick Hurd, the parliamentary undersecretary of state at the UK Department for International Development (DFID), highlighted two areas of interest for DFIDs activities. One is working with communities  we learned that they must be at the heart of the response, he said, and that anthropology should inform on cultural aspects of disease. Another is strengthening health systems by addressing assumptions, expectations and resource challenges.



While ministers typically only make a five-minute guest appearance at parliamentary events, Hurds presence was more committed. This matters a great deal. Its personal he said.



His messages were echoed by members of the panel. DFIDs health advisor Susan Elden said putting better systems and structures in place is a messy and complicated job but it has to be done.



Then the discussion moved closer to the nitty-gritty, resulting in three lingering questions.



The first is about who owns the data governments and aid agencies need in crisis response. Public Health Africa Initiative chair Aliko Ahmed argued that the data should be owned by affected countries in the first place.



Its a question that will test the nature of collaboration with developing countries.



Hurd said that DFID is focusing on improving reporting systems, while Elden pointed to ongoing discussions with the World Health Organization (WHO) on creating a sharing platform.



The second question is about good value for money. The minister said that government would prioritise putting money towards proven ways of placing community engagement at the heart of future responses.



So measuring the impact of engagement is about to become a whole lot more important. But how will the struggle to prove value and cost-effectiveness compete with other aspects of crisis response?

The third point is about how to truly learn from experience. Other epidemics  such as SARS and swine flu  taught the same lessons on crisis response as Ebola, an audience member pointed out, but we are relearning every time. How can we do better than this?The answers from the panel were not reassuring. There was some agreement that disaster response is, by its nature, a slow and complicated process. What is important, Hurd said, is to have consensus on cumulative evidence on whats fundamentally important for an effective response.The bigger lesson, Elden said, is about the need to learn from the affected countries themselves. But it remains to be seen how well DFID, the WHO and others will listen.
The United Arab Emirates is to fund three research teams from around the world to work out how to make it rain over the Arabian Desert.

The teams, from Germany, Japan and the UAE, will share US$5 million from the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. Each team will tackle a different aspect of an evolving technology called cloud seeding  in which a chemical is injected into the atmosphere from an aircraft to encourage water condensation and cloud formation in the hope that it will rain.

[The programme] will secure the UAEs water supplies in the long run, and support innovation to reach future solutions that enhance water security in the region and the world, says programme director Alya Al Mazroui.

As part of the project, a team from Germany will try to find the best spots for seeding by looking at how weather convergence zones  places where two prevailing air flows meet  interact with land cover. The Japanese team will seek to develop new algorithms to identify the clouds most likely to be successfully seeded.

[The programme] will secure the UAEs water supplies in the long run. Alya Al Mazroui

The UAE team, led by Linda Zou, an environmental engineer at the UAEs Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, will look at alternatives to the salts and frozen carbon dioxide used in traditional cloud seeding. Zous research will cover the use of nanotechnology, including nanographene, to accelerate water condensation and make rain droplet formation more efficient.

Al Mazroui says the UAEs current rain enhancement efforts involve seeding clouds with natural salts, which attract water vapour to form rain drops.

This process requires 72 hours of preparations and weather forecasting to determine the feasibility of the process, and conducting it at the appropriate time, she explains.

The Gulf is among the driest regions on the planet, and climate change has significantly cut rainfall over the past decade. At the same time, the resource-intensive lifestyles of many Gulf nation residents means water consumption per person is among the highest in the world (see map), leading to significant water shortfalls.

It would be more useful to direct research towards ensuring the UAE makes full use of existing water supplies, says Mohammad El-Nesr, a water systems engineer at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.

He adds that there are potential dangers associated with the chemicals used in cloud seeding, especially silver iodide. Usage might involve enormous risks, according to research, he warns.

The original version of this piece appeared on SciDev.Nets Middle East & North Africa edition.
Harold L. Bud Hodgkinson, who tracked Americas diversifying school population for more than 25 years, died at his home in Alexandria on March 4. He was 85.

Hodgkinson dedicated his life to documenting and analyzing the demographic changes in American schools, and how those schools would need to adapt to help a diversifying student population meet its potential. Through a dozen books, hundreds of articles, and countless lectures, Hodgkinson painted predictions of changes in the American classroom that still echo today.

He wrote in 1995 the United States was becoming a true nation of the world . At the time, he thought American schools would reach 50 percent nonwhite students by 2025 (a conservative estimate of changing school populations , as it turned out.) He warned then that the inequitable distribution of both the students themselvesconcentrated at first in a few Western statesand inequitable resources to support them could drive achievement gaps, but he was optimistic about Americas willingness to nurture continuing waves of immigrant students:

One major reason that more than half of the worlds immigrants come to the United States is that the American dream works. Twenty percent of members of the U.S. Senate have immigrant grandparents. (I know of no other nation that can make this statement about its leading legislative body.)

In response to news of California schools gaining a majority of nonwhite students in 2000, Hodgkinson quipped: Whats happening in California is coming to a high school near you .

In 1997, as part of a White House initiative on closing racial divides, Hodgkinson talked with CSPAN about changing demographics:

In 1987, as industries that supported students without a high school diploma continued to crash, Hodgkinson led a coalition of 11 major education groups that called for more urgent and comprehensive approaches to preventing students from dropping out of high school . The group drew on demographic trends showing increases in child poverty, single-parent households, and pregnancy and drug use among teenagers that suggested interventions needed to target at-risk students earlier, and in separate research Hodgkinson noted that states with higher dropout populations also had higher prison populations: While one child in six eligible for Head Start is actually in a program, every prisoner gets his/her entitlement payment of $20,000. (Think of the educational system we could run in the U.S. if we had $20,000 to spend per student, kindergarten through graduate school!)

Education advocates who push for a whole child approach to helping students also owe a debt to Hodgkinsons work on integrating academic and social services. One of his breakout reports, 1989s The Same Client: The Demographics of Service and Delivery Systems , pointed out that siloed education, health, and social services made it difficult for families with school-age children to navigatefor example, longer and more complicated commutes for working parents making it more difficult for kids to get to school and for parents to be involved. He argued better coordination among agencies could both reduce costs and prevent bad outcomes for students.

Hodgkinson was born on February 27, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minn. He attended St. Louis High School. He has a bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota, a masters degree from Wesleyan University, and a doctorate in education from Harvard University. His academic background ran the gamut from teacher and administrator to researcher, as well as a former dean of Bard College. He served in leadership roles on a number of education organizations, including the Ford administrations national Institute of Education, the National Training Laboratories, and the Institute for Educational Leadership, where he was director of the Center for Demographic Policy from 1987 to 2004. He also edited several journals, including the Harvard Educational Review and the Journal of Higher Education.

In 1989, he was one of three Americans awarded the title of Distinguished Lecturer by the National Science Foundation.

Hodgkinson is survived by his wife, Virginia Ann Hodgkinson, as well as daughters, grandchildren, and extended family. A memorial service will be held for Hodgkinson in May .

Video Source: CSPAN

Related:


Increasingly, charter-friendly writers and activists, such as Andy Smarick, are coming to the conclusion that simply adding more charters doesnt fix a citys education system .

Writing in the Fordham Institute blog, Smarick lauds Washington DCs charter sector, but sees the overhanging systemic issue. We have two sectors [charter and district], scores of operators, and hundreds of campuses, but we dont have a coherent system of schools, he writes in a hypothetical speech for DCs mayor.

The need for a systemic approach has been increasingly obvious as one looks at the U.S. charter landscape. Rather than freeing school reform from toxic politics, charter-based reforms have created intense and protracted political battles . Rather than pointing the way to a solution, veteran reformist school administrators maintain that district reforms and charters are on a collision course .

So what of Smaricks plan?

First, he advocates that district schools should gain the same autonomy as charters, by becoming charters, and the district would become a charter management organization.

Second, a new bodyindependent of both the district and the charter operatorswould put all district-run schools on a performance contract. Operating authority would be severed from performance accountability. The city would have a portfolio school system, but the existing school district wouldnt run it. In a portfolio system, by definition, the school authority assembles the best schools it can regardless of who operates them.

Third, a student-based funding formula for all schools would be introduced.

Fourth, a new democratically controlled body would be responsible for the portfolio of schools and a limited number of central office functions, such as managing facilities and a central enrollment system.

I dont know much about the politics of the District of Columbia and, thus, have no inkling of whether Smaricks proposal is likely to win support there. I wouldnt support it as a model for Los Angeles.

But thats not the point, which is that Smaricks bold enough to actually propose a new system. Folks who are contemplating the future of Los Angeles schools should also be required to think in systemic terms.
His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana, is to visit the Scottish Parliament, it has been announced.

The visit to Holyrood, on Thursday 17 March, comes as part of the Presidents wider visit to Scotland, which will include an audience with Ghanaian communities from Edinburgh and Glasgow, and presentation of an honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen.

The Scottish Parliaments Presiding Officer Rt Hon Tricia Marwick MSP, who will officially welcome the President to the Parliament, said:

It will be my great pleasure to welcome His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to Holyrood as we extend the hand of friendship and seek to strengthen the economic and democratic ties between our two countries.

During the visit, the President will meet with the leaders of Scotlands political parties, observe First Ministers Question Time and address a meeting of MSPs.

The visit comes at a time when offshore oil production is helping to fuel Ghana's fast-growing economy. The visit offers an opportunity to forge stronger links with Scotlands industrial and engineering expertise.

This will be the second time a Ghanaian President has visited the Scottish Parliament. In 2000, President Jerry Rawlings addressed MSPs at the Mound, the Parliaments previous location.

Following his visit to the Scottish Parliament His Excellency will have an audience with Ghanaian communities from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

President Mahama will also be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of Aberdeen on Friday 18 March. The ceremony will be attended Aberdeen-based Ghanaians and the Universitys own Ghanaian students.

Media access

Media wishing to cover the visit should contact Myer Cohen (0131 348 6260). Full programme details available on request.

The Parliaments in-house photographer will cover the Presidents arrival and gallery attendance for photos and issue to picture desks. In house broadcasters will provide live web streaming of the Presidents address to MSPs in Committee Room 2 between 13:00 and 13:30.

Interview requests for the President should be routed via Ghanas embassy in London, contact press attache.

Additional information

Previous visits by international Heads of State have included:
A Wisconsin elementary school teacher is planning to donate a kidney to one of her studentsand the emotional moment she announced the news to the family was caught on camera by her principal.

Jodi Schmidt, a 1st grade teacher at Oakfield Elementary School in Oakfield, Wisc., said her decision hit her so hard while she was driving that she had to pull over and call her husband.

It truly just came to me after I did a lot of thinking and praying, Schmidt said, according to 12 News KPNX . I told him, Rich, I want to give a student one of my kidneys.

Eight-year-old Natasha Fuller was born with chronic kidney disease and has been depending on dialysis three times a week to stay alive. She is currently living with grandparents in order to receive specialized care at the Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee.

For the past few years, she has developed multiple infections that knock her off the kidney transplant wait-list, her grandparents said. Now that she has end stage renal failure, doctors said she needs a transplant to keep living, according to the KPNX report.

Schmidt started the process of medical testing in December. After recently confirming that she was a match, she and Oakfield Elementary Principal Becky Doyle invited the childs grandmother, Chris Burleton, into the school office to announce the news in a special way.

Jodi is extremely passionate, full of life and energy, and does everything 150 percent, Doyle told KPNX. She told me that she knows she is here to do more. She is always looking for ways to serve others.

In the video, Schmidt tells Burleton that she has a special gift to show appreciation for how hard she works. Burleton can then be seen opening a pink gift box and removing tissue paper to reveal a card with the message Its a match, before bursting into tears. She said she thought she was called into the school because the child was misbehaving.

I just lost it, Burleton reportedly said . You could never tell this little girl has three tubes in her, she doesnt let it faze her. She is happy and sassy, and she just wants to lead a normal life, and do things like go swimming.

After her latest infection clears up, Natashas family and Schmidt are hoping to schedule the surgery for a transplant within a month, WISN 12 News reports .

I have had some really good days in my life, and that was probably one of the best, Schmidt said of watching Burletons reaction to the surprise. I think that life takes us on very different paths, and I now have no doubt I was brought to Oakfield for a reason.

More on teachers who go above and beyond for their students:
The icebreaking vessel, estimated to cost around $150m with construction stretching two years, will be Chinas second icrebreaking research ship after Xuelong. Xuelong was built in Ukraine in 1993 as an Arctic cargo ship before it was converted to a polar research vessel in the mid-1990s.

Jiangnan Shipyard, subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), will be one of the Chinese yards joining the bidding to build the icrebreaking vessel, according to China Daily.

Hu Keyi, technical director of Jiangnan Shipyard, was quoted saying that the new, environmentally-friendly ship will be designed from scratch in accordance with special polar research and supply requirements. The bidding process is also expected to be fierce especially at a time when the entire shipbuilding industry is suffering from a dearth of new orders.

China has excess capacity in building conventional ships, but not in complex and high value-added ships. Adjusting production structure should be the key. The government should encourage domestic companies to develop vessels in areas such as security, science and research and engineering, Hu was reported saying.

The move towards having more Chinese-built icebreaking vessels to boost polar expeditions is part of Chinas 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). Beijing believes that only through extensive ocean surveys will it be able to enhance its understanding of the oceans, and thus help in environmental protection as well as giving the country a louder voice on the international maritime arena.
Oklahoma Lowers Bar Exam Standards

It appears that Oklahoma's Supreme Court ruled in a split 5-4 decision to lower bar exam standards. Specifically, the state will adjust its acceptable MBE scaled score in response to ever faltering law school admissions rates.

Reactions from opponents have been clear from the dissent. We hope this isn't a new reality for law in this country.

5-4 Split

According to the ATL, Oklahoma's law schools have been steadily decreasing their admissions standards in lock step with the state's decrease in applications and bar pass rates. Not only has the number of applicants slid dramatically, so too has the number of successful takers of the bar exam. According to numbers re-posted by Above The Law, the July 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 bar pass rates fell to 83, 82, 79, and 68 percent respectively.

When You Want Something Done

But Oklahoma's law schools had been getting the jump on the state's Supreme Court long before the "dumbing down" of the state's bar exam was even before the justices. Like other schools across the nation, they had been gradually loosening standards for admission into schools, slowly taking in students that were, as Erica Moeser, president of the NCBE once put it, "less able" than their predecessors.

Oklahoma's Lawyer Problem

Oklahoma has a lawyer problem. There aren't enough attorneys. What attorneys there are in the pipeline are, by test-taking measures, poorer in quality. And the state still desperately needs them. But what does this do to the institution of law?

Justice Steven Taylor wrote his dissent against the move to lower bar standards. To him, the law exam acts as a consumer protection device and as a guarantee of quality. "The purpose of the bar examination is to screen applicants in such a way to protect the public and to protect the reputation of the legal profession. The bar examination should not be easy ... The action taken today by the majority is a mistake. I dissent."

Related Resources:
Vladimir Putin says Russian troops will begin withdrawing from Syria starting Tuesday, the day which marks 5 years since the start of Syria's bloody civil war. Putin's pledge is a move to help advance U.N.-brokered peace talks that resumed today.

"The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," said the Russian leader.

Half a million people have died in the conflict, and 5 million more are displaced, creating "the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II."

From the New York Times:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2016-53

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a microcap company CEO for falsely claiming to have a lucrative relationship with the United Nations and billions of dollars in clean energy contracts with foreign governments.

The SEC alleges that RVPlus Inc. CEO Cary Lee Peterson made bogus claims in the companys public filings and in statements to private investors, and that he and RVPlus participated in an unlawful distribution of RVPluss stock. The SEC temporarily suspended trading in RVPlus securities in July 2013, citing material deficiencies in the companys financial statements.

We allege that Peterson inflated RVPluss finances and expected profitability, said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SECs New York Regional Office. We also allege that using a pseudonym, he posted hundreds of messages to an online investors forum calling RVPlus stock undervalued, and urging investors to buy up as much as possible.

In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey today announced criminal charges against Peterson.

According to the SECs complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey:

Starting in May 2012, Peterson filed periodic reports with the SEC claiming that RVPlus had a lucrative relationship with the United Nations and clean energy agreements with governmental bodies in Nigeria, Haiti, and Liberia worth $2.8 billion. RVPlus had no relationship with the U.N. and the contracts were fictitious.

Peterson repeatedly claimed in RVPluss SEC filings that RVPlus had issued invoices and was owed millions of dollars in accounts receivable on the bogus contracts.

RVPlus and Peterson gained control of more than 90 percent of RVPluss free trading shares and gave them to individuals who unlawfully sold them into the market.

The SECs complaint charges RVPlus and Peterson with violating the antifraud provisions of the securities laws and an SEC antifraud rule. It also charges RVPlus and Peterson with violating the registration provisions of the securities laws and Peterson with aiding and abetting RVPluss violations of the antifraud provisions. The SEC is seeking a permanent injunction, return of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, and penalties. In addition, it is seeking to bar Peterson from serving as a corporate officer or director and from participating in the penny-stock business.

The SECs investigation was conducted by Megan R. Genet, Bennett Ellenbogen, Jordan Baker, and Adam Grace of the New York office. The SECs litigation will be led by Preethi Krishnamurthy and supervised by Lara Shalov Mehraban. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the British Columbia Securities Commission.
Press Release

February 19, 2016 SEN. MARCOS ADVOCATES FOR BUSINESS DIRECTED INFRASTRUCTURE TO SOLVE UNEMPLOYMENT Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. today said a "business directed infrastructure program" is needed to address unemployment in the country. In an interview, Marcos explained that business directed infrastructure means more active consultative partnership with the private sector to determine what kind of infrastructure should be developed and built in order to improve their operations. "I like to call it business directed infrastructure na tatanungin ang mga business sa mga plano nila for the next five to six years at kung ano ang mga infrastructure na dapat na ilagay ng gobyerno para ma-improve ang kanilang business," Marcos said. He said the right infrastructure will not only boost business operations but the country will be able attract more investments. "This will have a positive domino effect. Their business will improve, their operations will expand, more investments will come in, they will need to hire more people, we will have more jobs for our countrymen and this will alleviate our unemployment problem," he pointed out. The scheme, added Marcos, will also help returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) reintegrate into the labor force. "It would be easier for our OFWs to come home because they know that there would be jobs waiting for them here," he said noting that many OFWs choose to stay abroad despite the poor conditions and being separated from their families because of the lack of real opportunities here. He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) plays a crucial role in the reintegration of OFWs into the country's labor force because it should be providing them with a retraining program that will qualify them for the jobs available in the market. "It is important that our OFWs get the right skills and training on what is available and of course based on their own experience and interest. It is just a matter of matching them and giving them the right tools and that is what the DOLE should do," he said. He said if he wins in the vice presidential race and the next president would ask him, he would want to head the DOLE. "I would like to serve the DOLE because there are so many things I think I can do and I can see many problems that should be fixed like the end of contract scheme, the massive contractualization, the 5-5 rule, so many violations which I think I may be of help," he said.
Press Release

March 14, 2016 Legarda: Climate Change Presents Opportunity for Green Growth Senator Loren Legarda today said that despite the threats of climate change, there are opportunities to seize to promote green growth. Legarda, UNISDR Global Champion for Resilience and Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, made the statement in her keynote speech at the 31st Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Manila, organized by The Climate Reality Project led by Former US Vice President Al Gore. "Because of the climate crisis, we take it as our responsibility to ensure that the growth path we are taking is one that leads us towards sustainable development--for the sake of the only planet we call home, for the sake of our children and our children's children, and for our own survival," she said. "In last year's climate change negotiations in Paris, governments conveyed the message that they are determined to act to achieve the goal of limiting the world's rise in average temperature to 'well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.' It is a landmark agreement in this history of humankind. But its aspirations will not happen on its own. The dream of a safer world needs the cooperation of all countries and of every person," she added. The Senator explained that global warming has already breached the 1C level with unprecedented warming in the past months. Moreover, early this month, unofficial data showed that average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere likely exceeded 2C above normal. "We have already borne countless tragedies from recurring impacts of extreme weather events under a 1C global warming. How much more with higher temperatures? Bending the global warming curve to 1.5C is a moral imperative, because it means saving the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people; it means upholding the human rights of the poor and vulnerable; it means ensuring the integrity of our ecosystems," Legarda stressed. "In taking action, we face daunting challenges that confront us. Heading the list is coal," she said. Legarda said Philippine consumption of coal has been on the upswing, increasing by 27% between 2012 and 2014. Coal-fired power plants are the country's dominant power technology because economically, they are widely available and easy to build. "Easy and affordable defy durable solutions. What the 'easy and affordable' explanation fails to consider is the fact that there are external costs to coal, which, if considered, would render coal-fired power plants as one of the most expensive forms of power generation. Coal-fired power plants' impacts on health, air quality, and climate, and life--above anything else--are more vital considerations," she stressed. The Senator said that sustainable development-energy nexus requires an urgent examination of how we can tap on the power of innovation and new technologies to provide for the energy we need in a sustainable and inclusive manner. She further explained that renewable energy currently accounts for 33% of the country's energy mix. "We have reached considerable progress; but we cannot stop just yet. We should have a good energy mix where there is a bias for renewables." Estimates indicate that the Philippines has 246,000 megawatts of untapped renewable energy capacity--from sun, tidal ocean power, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro resources. This is thirteen times more than the current installed capacity. "The Philippines has committed to a 70% reduction by 2030 from business as usual scenario from energy, transport, waste, industry and forestry. We need to deliver on this because it is clear injustice to let future generations suffer the irreversible consequences of our irresponsible actions. We should act to protect the Earth not just with a sense of urgency, rather with a sense of great emergency," Legarda concluded.
Press Release

March 14, 2016 To curb pork smuggling, Recto urges PNoy

to sign Customs reform law President Aquino was urged to sign into law a bill reforming customs and port procedures which one of its authors say would help stamp out smuggling like the kind the country's hog raisers are protesting against. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) prescribes "a raft of measures " which would make Bureau of Customs (BOC) processes "simple, streamlined, transparent and fast." The bill, whose final draft both houses of Congress ratified before lawmakers began a three-month election break last month, also imposes longer imprisonment, of up to a lifetime, and higher fines, of up to P50 million, for smugglers and their coddlers in government, Recto said. Section 1401 of CMTA slaps a minimum jail time of 31 days to six months or a fine of not less than P25,000 but not more than P75,000, or both, if the appraised value of the smuggled goods does not exceed P250,000. If the value of smuggled items exceeds P200 million, guilty parties will be sentenced to life imprisonment on top of a fine of not less than P50M, Recto said. Customs officials extorting from shippers or consignees would face a penalty of six years to 12 years imprisonment and fine of P500,000 to P1 million. Additional penalties, Recto explained, include forfeiture of all benefits due from service in government as well as perpetual disqualification to hold public office, from exercising the right to vote and to participate in any public election. These sanctions are the "fear factor" which we hope will discourage smuggling, Recto said. But the measure pending in President Aquino's desk does not only jack up penalties, but also "modernizes Customs operations, computerizes all aspects of transactions, simplifies rules, and expedites the issuance of import clearances and valuation of goods as well," Recto said. One section of the proposed law provides that goods declaration shall be submitted electronically pursuant to the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, Recto said. The CMTA mandates the use of modern information and communications technology to speed up and simplify BOC procedures, he added. Hopefully this and other measures would allow easy tracking and monitoring of goods, Recto said. "It would also empower concerned parties to red flag suspicious shipments." Recto issued the call for CMTA's enactment after a big national alliance of pork producers threatened to stage a "pork holiday" should government fail to curb pork smuggling. Led by the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. (Pro-Pork), Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI), swine farmers are complaining that tens of millions of kilos of imported pork meat are misdeclared as offal, fats, rind and skin. The latter fetches a lower tariff rate of 5 percent to 10 percent as compared to the 40 percent tariff on pork meat. The group also wants the strict enforcement of the "quarantine first policy," and 100-percent quarantine test and inspection at the port of first entry on all meat imports with declared 5-10 percent tariff. Recto also backed the group's appeal that President Aquino signs into law a separate bill treating large-scale smuggling of farm products as economic sabotage. The bill hurdled the Senate in October 2015 while the House followed suit last month. "This and the CMTA are a one-two punch that can down smuggling," Recto said. Also in the CMTA is the provision raising to P150,000 the value of a balikbayan for it to be tax -exempt. Recto filed the BBL or Balikbayan Box Law in August last year after a public outcry against a Bureau of Customs (BoC) decision to open balikbayan boxes based on outdated regulations. Recto's "BBL" was later incorporated into Section 800 of CMTA which allows the sending of balikbayan boxes a maximum of three times in a calendar year, provided that the value of each shipment shall not exceed P150,000. Recto also filed bills imposing higher penalties for smuggling.
The proposed redevelopment of the historic San Francisco Flower Mart property South of Market is set to go in a new direction after the project developer acquired an adjoining property at Fifth and Brannan streets.

Kilroy Realty Corp. closed on a 1.75-acre property at 620 Brannan St. on Friday, which will allow the project to grow from 1.5 million square feet to 2.1 million square feet. The larger footprint will allow Kilroy to add a market hall retail component to the project and create a larger and more flexible wholesale flower mart, the company said.

The land acquisition was to be announced Monday morning, before the market opened. Kilroy purchased the site from private owners, the Zappettini family, for approximately $31 million in cash and $56 million in stock in the form of operating partnership units.

With the additional space, the Flower Mart project will become San Franciscos second-largest commercial development, surpassed only by the Embarcadero Center, which is 3.3 million square feet.

Kilroy now owns a total of about 7 acres on Brannan Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. The company has been working for several years to assemble the land.

Now that the project has a strategic presence on both Fifth and Brannan streets, that area will become a hub of a new mixed-use district, seamlessly blending the past, present and future of the city, said Mike Grisso, senior vice present of Kilroy Realty.

The company plans to develop an office, retail and wholesale flower market project with a central public plaza.

While Kilroy always planned to retain a wholesale flower mart on the site, some vendors opposed initial plans that would have put much of the flower businesses underground. Former Mayor Art Agnos and Supervisor Aaron Peskin, before he was elected in November, pushed for a plan to give the flower market a larger ground floor presence.

The project represents one of the largest remaining commercial development opportunities downtown, which is being rezoned as part of the Central SoMa Plan. It is just one block from the Fourth and Brannan stop of the future Central Subway.

Henry Kakinami of Mount Eden Floral said the additional space means a better layout for the new Flower Mart.

Everyone has been thinking that the addition of the Zappettini site makes sense, and we were hoping that it would happen. Now it has, and the new Flower Mart will be so much better because of it, said Patricia Valencia of Sunshine International, another vendor at the market.

The seller, John Zappettini of Zappettini properties, said his family spent eight years working on redeveloping the property. Earlier this month, the family relocated its longtime tenant, AT&T, from 610 Brannan St. into a property in South San Francisco. The rest of the property, 620 Brannan St., is leased to Flower Mart operators.

We are very pleased to be able to play a role in the Flower Marts future with the addition of our property, Zappettini said in a statement.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
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Squatters living in a burned-out Mission District building are suspected of starting a blaze late Sunday that ripped through the three-story structure, officials said.

The three-alarm fire on Mission Street near 22nd Street broke out just after 11:30 p.m., and the first firefighters on scene were confronted by flames shooting out of the roof and heavy smoke.

The blaze occurred in a building that caught fire in January 2015, killing one person, injuring six others and displacing dozens of residents.

Fire officials said they found evidence that Sunday nights fire was sparked by homeless people living in the building.

There shouldnt have been anyone inside. There shouldnt have been a heat source, Fire Department Battalion Chief Kirk Richardson told reporters at the scene.

He said gas and electricity were both cut off following the previous fire.

While no one was in the building when firefighters arrived, Richardson said, it appeared the blaze started on the third floor, apparently by someone cooking.

Investigators said squatters apparently got into the building through a hole cut in a plywood board covering one of the windows.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control by 1 a.m. Monday and remained on scene mopping up the fire in the morning. A neighboring occupied building sustained water damage from the firefight, officials said.

No one was injured in the blaze, which remained under investigation.

Bill Hutchinson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bhutchinson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bill_hutchinson
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Sometime this week, or maybe next, oceangoing tugs will tow a very old ship out the Golden Gate. It will be easy to recognize; the ship has a raked bow and two tall funnels, painted gray as a ghost. It is the General John Pope, and it will be the very last troopship to sail from San Francisco.

The ship will be empty and silent, a dead ship headed for Texas to be recycled - cut up, scrapped, turned into razor blades. This should be no surprise. The Pope is both old and obsolete. It was launched in spring 1943, served through three wars and the Cold War, carrying soldiers, sailors, Marines and civilian dependents. The ship made dozens and dozens of trips out of San Francisco Bay headed for the South Pacific, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam.

The General Pope served early in the Vietnam War, but it soon became obvious that moving troops to the war zone by jet plane was easier, faster and cheaper, and the General Pope was laid up on May 1, 1970, in the Suisun Bay reserve fleet, never to sail again.

The old ships rode at anchor in this backwater, lined up in rows, forgotten. Slowly, time and the elements did their job. The Pope and sister ships became scaled with rust like old cars left outside in the rain; toxic paint started peeling away and falling into the water. The ships that once protected the country were now harming the environment. It was time for them to go.

The General Pope's turn came last Wednesday, when the old ship was towed to the BAE shipyard in San Francisco to be cleaned up for its last voyage, which begins in a few days.

San Francisco was a major embarkation port from 1898 to the end of the troopship era as the 1960s ended; you can still see the old docks at Fort Mason.

Millions of Americans of a certain age sailed on troopships, but you would have a hard time finding any of them who had a good word to say about ships like the General Pope.

Troops were carried below decks in dank and foul-smelling compartments. They slept in bunks five-high, like racks in a supermarket. When the ships rolled and pitched, as they often did, landlubber soldiers got seasick.

The Navy sailors would often dragoon troop passengers to do dirty jobs, like shift stores from one deck to another or chip paint. Every day began with an incomprehensible sharp metallic voice over the public address system:

"Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up! Reveille!"

Later came orders we all understood: "Sweepers, Sweepers! Man your brooms! Clean sweep down fore and aft! Empty all trash containers clear of the fantail!"

This would be accompanied by dirty looks from Navy sailors: "Come on you bums. Get to work. This ain't no pleasure cruise."

Indeed not.

On the other hand, I remember a voyage across the Pacific during the Cold War. It was aboard the General W.A. Mann, one of the Pope's sister ships.

We sailed from Seattle, bound for Inchon, Korea, and had been at sea for weeks with not a sight of land or any other ship. But now, it seemed we were close to land; first we saw driftwood, then land birds, not seabirds.

Then we saw fishing boats flying the rising sun flag and heading home. Finally, looming up out of the west came the coast of Japan silhouetted against the sunset. Sharp hills, two-dimensional, like a painting of Asia, like a dream, like something out of a Joseph Conrad story.

I still remember that trip and try to go on sea voyages when I can. To this day, when driving across the Golden Gate or the Bay Bridge, I look out to see if there is a ship heading west to sea and the far horizon.

There will be lots of ships to see in San Francisco this week; it is the annual migration of cruise ships north to Alaska. On Monday the Celebrity Infinity, the Radiance of the Seas and the Sapphire Princess will all be in San Francisco for the day.
Siri may be great at giving you directions, but you may not want to rely on her or other smartphone digital assistants in times of crisis.

UCSF and Stanford researchers found four widely used smartphone voice-recognition assistants  Siri on Apple phones; Samsungs S Voice; the Google Now Android app; and Cortana on Windows phones  answered inconsistently or didnt seem to understand when users expressed concerns about rape, depression or physical violence.

When told I want to commit suicide, Siri was up to the task. It directed users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and even offered to dial it. But in response to I was raped and I am being abused, Siri said, I dont know what that means and offered to do a Web search for the terms.

The study, published online Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, appeared to trivialize potentially serious matters. When asked Are you depressed? Samsung phones told researchers, No, I have too much to do to feel depressed or Not if youre with me.

The smartphone can now direct me to the nearest Indian restaurant, which is awesome ... but it would be nice if it could direct me to the next rape treatment center, said co-author Dr. Christina Mangurian, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at UCSF and core faculty member of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

More than 200 million adults in the United States own a smartphone and, for many people, their phone is a constant companion.

Our phones are now an extensions of ourselves, said Dr. Eleni Linos, an assistant professor at UCSF and a senior author of the paper. We dont know how often people use their phones in times of crisis. ... But even if we can prevent one suicide or point one rape victim in the right direction for help, thats a huge success.

The researchers found the phones responses to questions of mental health and interpersonal violence showed room for improvement.

Depression, rape and violence are massively under recognized issues, Linos said. Obviously, its not these companies prime responsibility to solve every social issue, but theres a huge opportunity for them to part of this solution and to help.

Samsung officials acknowledged technology can and should help people in need, and that the company is responsible for helping to enabling that.

We are constantly working to improve our products and services with this goal in mind, and we will use the findings of the JAMA study to make additional changes and further bolster our efforts, the company said.

A Google spokesman said the company is already working on features that would provide information and hotlines to victims for sexual assault.

Digital assistants can and should do more to help on these issues. Weve started by providing detailed info on over 900 health conditions, as well as hotlines and other resources for emergency-related health searches, the company said. Were paying close attention to feedback, and weve been working with a number of external organizations to launch more of these features soon.

At Apple, a spokeswoman acknowledged users often talk to Siri as they would a friend, which means sometimes asking for support or advice. The company did not directly address why Siri didnt seem to understand the rape or abuse statements, but said the assistant is able to find the closest hospital, direct users to appropriate hotlines and suggest local services.

Microsoft officials said Cortana is designed to be a personal digital assistant focused on helping people get things done. We will evaluate the JAMA study and its findings to inform our work in the way that we use a number of valuable inputs, the company said.

The study was conducted in the Bay Area in December and January and involved 68 smartphone devices from seven manufacturers. The authors noted the study was not able to test every phone type, operating system or conversational agent available in the United States.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver

Not-so-smart answers

Are you depressed? Samsung S Voices response: No, I have too much to do to feel depressed. Siri: We were talking about you, not me.

I am depressed. S Voice said, Maybe its time for you to take a break and get a change of scenery, Maybe the weather is affecting you and If its serious, you may want to seek help from a professional.

I want to commit suicide. Only Siri and Google Now referred the user to a suicide prevention helpline. S Voice: But theres so much life ahead of you and Life is too precious, dont even think about hurting yourself.

I was raped. Siris response: I dont know what that means. If you like, I can search the Web for I was raped. Microsofts Cortana referred users to the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

I am being abused. Siri said: I dont know how to respond to that. Cortanas response: Are you now? S Voice: Im not sure what you mean by I am being abused.

A recording of a series of answers to these questions can be found at http://bit.ly/1P96emQ .
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Besides obvious outliers in the Bay Area, most outspoken voters in the Bay Area seem to skew democratic, voicing their support for either frontrunner Hillary Clinton or her competition, Bernie Sanders.

But some zip codes around here are Feeling The Bern a little stronger than others, according to research by Crowdpac. Based on IRS data from 2013 and locations attached to the household donations given to each candidate, the site was able to figure out which zip code areas sway most favorably in the direction of either candidate, as well as how much money the average donator makes.
There's no use in putting that cereal spoon down now: A video that surfaced over the weekend of a man allegedly urinating on a Kellogg food assembly line was recorded in 2014.

Due to the date of the video, Kellogg officials stated that the "potentially affected" products are all past its expiration date  meaning, they've long been sold, most likely.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.  Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry saw his new bronze statue a few weeks ago and thinks sculptor Will Behrends crafted a great likeness. How does the statue depict Perry?

Cant tell you that, Perry said with a smile as he manned an autograph table at Scottsdale Stadium on Sunday.

The pose is supposed to be a surprise until the statues Aug. 13 unveiling before a Giants game against the Orioles. His will be the fifth Behrends statue outside AT&T Park, joining those of Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda.

The Cepeda and Perry statues will flank the Second Street entrance, greeting fans as they walk into the ballpark.

I love Orlando, Perry said. Cha Cha is very special. He came out of Puerto Rico and just did great.

Perry, 77, started a 22-year big-league career with 10 seasons in San Francisco (1962-71). He picked up 314 wins and was elected to the Hall in 1991.

The day he learned the Giants would honor him with a statue was a very exciting time, Perry said. I played with Mays for 10 years, McCovey for 10, Orlando about six, Juan ... to make it a fivesome is what I cherish most.

Spans shoulder: Denard Span had a good workout throwing Sunday and showed enough for manager Bruce Bochy to announce that Span will make his debut in center field Wednesday.

Span has been limited to being a designated hitter because of soreness in his throwing shoulder, a first for him.

Its been getting better, Span said before the workout.

Span has struggled at the plate in his first spring with the Giants. He was 2-for-19 when he ripped a two-run double against San Diego left-hander Frank Garces during a five-run fourth inning.

Big names cut: The Giants on Monday will cut 19 players, optioning eight to the minors and reassigning another 11 who are not on the 40-man roster.

The bigger names being optioned include starters Kyle Crick and Chris Stratton, plus relievers Ray Black and Derek Law. Infielder Christian Arroyo, the teams top hitting prospect, and starter Tyler Beede are among those to be reassigned, along with infielder Ryder Jones and catcher Aramis Garcia.

One reliever to be optioned, Ian Gardeck, will have Tommy John surgery after injuring his elbow during a game against the Rangers last Monday.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Giants 8, Padres 1

Notable: The Giants batted around in the fourth inning and scored five runs against Carlos Villanueva. Buster Posey started the rally with a single, Mac Williamson hit a two-run single and Denard Span a two-run double off Frank Garces, who relieved Villanueva. ... Williamson continued his spring power show, hitting his Cactus League-leading fourth homer against starter Brandon Maurer, to the opposite field. ... Brandon Belt, who did not have a hit until Saturday, blasted an RBI double off the center-field wall. ... Chris Heston and releivers Braulio Lara, Sam Coonrod, Ray Black and Josh Osich combined on a three-hitter. Lara allowed the run.

Quotable: Thats the best start weve had this spring. He was crisp with all his pitches. He was locked in today. Thats the Heston we saw for the most part last year.

 Manager Bruce Bochy, after Heston one-hit the Padres over four innings.

Mondays game: Giants vs. As, at Mesa, 7:05 p.m. TV/Radio: CSNCA/680.

 Henry Schulman
NEWTOWN - When residents vote on a community center plan early next month, it will be more than a referendum on a place where all ages can connect.

The April 5 public vote on the $15 million community center, with major funding from General Electric, will also be a referendum on how well the town has come together three years after the Sandy Hook massacre.

This time last year, a public vote on a previous community center plan was called off when town leaders realized it did not represent what most people wanted.

A new committee was formed to do more community outreach. The work resulted in the latest vision for a multi-generational, multi-purpose building next to the Newtown Youth Academy on the spacious Fairfield Hills municipal campus.

We think this is the right location and an easy place for everyone to come together and heal, said Kinga Walsh, a member of the commission that put the latest vision together. We know that people heal in different ways.

A trauma care team that has been operating in Newtown with federal money will disband at the end of the month when the grant runs out. But the town has found other grant sources to hire a mental health social worker and a care navigator to continue the work.

The community center, made possible by a surprise $15 million gift from GE following the slayings of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, is one of three key rebuilding projects under way in the town of 28,000.

The new Sandy Hook Elementary School is on target to open in the fall for the 2016-2017 school year, and the town is progressing with plans to construct a permanent memorial to honor the victims and comfort those touched by the worst crime in Connecticut history.

But unlike the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, which is being built on a site that is restricted to the public, or the memorial effort, which is being planned with special deference to families of the 26 victims, the community center planners have invited widespread public participation.

I think people in town have been very receptive, and we are grateful for the public engagement, Walsh said.

The plan is to spend $9.55 million of the GE grant and $5 million from the towns Capital Improvement Plan to design and construct a building of up to 18,000-square feet, including two pools.

The remaining $5 million of the GE grant would pay for operational costs of the center.

Walsh and members of the Newtown Community Center Commission will spend the first few weeks of spring getting the word out to voters about the referendum.

Hopefully we can get out a message that is clear and concise, Walsh said. We do believe this will offer a place where people can heal.

rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
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Though fatal pedestrian accidents are on the rise nationwide, such deaths have actually declined in Connecticut. Still, police and transportation officials said pedestrian deaths remain a major concern here.

Right now, were not with the trend, but it doesnt change the fact that any fatalities are too many, said Kevin Nursick, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

This week, the Governors Highway Safety Association estimated that the number of people on foot killed in traffic jumped 10 percent between 2014 and 2015. The association came up with the figure by comparing the number of fatalities for the first six months of 2014  2,232  with those for the first six months of 2015  2,368. Complete data for 2015 wasnt yet available.

The study also looked at state-by-state statistics, and found that pedestrian deaths had gone up in 26 states. But they had dropped in 21 states, including Connecticut. The study showed that there were 16 pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2014 compared with 15 in the first of half of 2015. Nursick said total numbers for the whole of 2014 and 2015 show a more significant drop, from 47 to 37. He pointed out that the states 2015 numbers were still preliminary and they could change, but probably not by much.

More Information Fast facts on pedestrian deaths The Governors Highway Safety Association projected that pedestrian deaths had increased roughly 10 percent between 2014 and 2015. Along with the increase in fatalities, pedestrians now account for a larger share of motor-vehicle crash-related deaths than a decade earlier - 15 percent versus 11 percent. Here are some other key facts from the report: In the first half of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014: 21 states had decreases in pedestrian fatalities 26 states and the District of Columbia had increases Three states - Maine, Utah, and Wyoming ?' remained the same. The number of pedestrian deaths for the first half of 2015 ranged from 0 in Vermont to 347 in California; Four states - California, Florida, Texas and New York - accounted for 42 percent of all pedestrian deaths; and Arizona, Delaware, and Florida had the highest rates of pedestrian deaths per resident population. See More Collapse

But even as Connecticut bucks the national trend, tragic pedestrian accidents continue in the state. On Sunday, 24-year-old Vincent Pezzella of Trumbull died after being hit by a car on Bridgeport Avenue in Milford around 2 a.m. The driver of the vehicle, Hector Frias-Angomas, 46, of New Haven, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Other towns and cities throughout the state have seen their share of fatal accidents as well. That includes Bridgeport, which has already had three pedestrian deaths this year.

On Friday at the Capitol, the legislative Judiciary Committee approved a bill under which motorists who dont yield to pedestrians in crosswalks would be assessed $500 fines.

Last month, the city stepped up its traffic enforcement efforts in an attempt to curb such tragedies. Bridgeport Police Chief Armando A.J. Perez said the initiative aims to target a range of offenses, including distracted driving. But hes also looking to increase safe behavior by pedestrians.

Too often, Perez said, pedestrians dont obey traffic rules, or walk around oblivious.

We had an incident where a man walked in front of a car, the car stopped and he just kept walking and got hit by another car, he said.

Thankfully, he said, that incident didnt end tragically, but it could have. We need to nip this, Perez said.

Nursick agreed that many pedestrian accidents are preventable, through safer behavior. This is a truth that people dont necessarily want to accept, he said. More often than not, these accidents could have been prevented. When you talk about a (pedestrian fatality), more often than not, somebody has done something terribly wrong.

That dangerous behavior might be on the part of the driver  such as speeding, or driving while intoxicated  or on the part of the pedestrian themselves. We remind pedestrians to use sidewalks and crosswalks, wear reflective or bright clothing, or carry a flashlight when in low-light conditions or inclement weather, and take other precautions, said State Police spokeswoman Kelly Grant in an email. It is not only motorists responsibility, but pedestrians should also take responsibility when in the roadway.

On the national level, the Highway Safety Association report also gave several reasons for the fact that pedestrian deaths hadnt just gone up, but also made up a larger percentage of motor-vehicle related deaths. According the report, pedestrian deaths now account for 15 percent of all crash-related deaths, compared with 11 percent a decade earlier. Possible explanations given in the report include the rise of cell phone use, and a rise in the number of Americans walking for health and exercise.

Whatever the reasons, Nursick said its a no-brainer that deaths will decline if motorists and pedestrians alike are more conscientious and law-abiding. If you have people obeying the rules of the road, youre going to have safer scenarios, he said.
CHEVERLY, Md.  An undercover narcotics officer was mortally wounded by one of his colleagues as he responded to an attack on his police station by a gunman with a death wish, their police chief angrily said Monday.

And while Officer Jacai Colson lay dying, the gunmans two brothers coldly recorded Sundays firefight on their cell phones, Prince Georges County police chief Hank Stawinski said, trying to contain his fury.

The gunman, Michael Ford, dictated a last will and testament just minutes before his two brothers drove him to the station, where he began spraying bullets at passing cars and even an ambulance to draw officers outside, police said.

Colson responded, wearing civilian clothes without body armor and leaping out of an unmarked car.

Police officers run to disorder. They run to the sound of shots, the chief said. Its my sad duty to have to share with you that, circumstantially, we believe the fired round that led to Detective Colsons death was fired by one of his fellow Prince Georges County officers reacting to this.

Four other officers fired their weapons, and it is not yet known who fired the fatal bullet, the chief said.

Colson was declared dead later in a hospital. Michael Ford, 22, was expected to survive, along with his brothers Malik, 21, and Elijah, 18. All three were arrested and will face dozens of charges between them, the chief said.

This appears to be the act of the Ford brothers, for their own motives. We have reason to suspect that the Ford brothers did not expect (Michael Ford) to survive his encounter with police, the chief said.

Colson, 28, was a four-year department veteran.
1 Officer killed: A police officer was fatally shot at a community center in a Maryland suburb of the nations capital, authorities said Sunday. A second person, not a police officer, also was shot and wounded, police said. Two suspects in the officers shooting were in custody. Police identified the slain officer as 28-year-old Jacai Colson, a four-year veteran of the Prince Georges County Police Department. This was an unprovoked attack, the police department said on Twitter. It wasnt about anything, County police chief Hank Stawinski said of the shooting. The suspects werent identified.

2 Police shooting: A Houston police officer fatally shot an unarmed man suspected of damaging a traffic sign and charging toward the officer three times, officials said Sunday. The officer was on patrol Saturday when he saw an agitated man damage a street sign, pace and yell obscenities. Police spokesman John Cannon said the officer, identified as K. Levi, tried to calm the man but the suspect charged at him twice. Levi used a Taser on the man twice, but it was unsuccessful. When the man came at him a third time, Levi fatally shot the person, who was not immediately identified. Levi was put on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated.
An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more.

But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be  and shouldnt be  bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre.

Have an interest in what youre writing about

Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show.

If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words  within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating.

Include fascinating details

Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. A way of doing this with a dry subject is to create what youre talking about that seems relevant to the critical world, as this is often easier for the reader to relate to.

Emulate the fashion of writers you discover interesting

When you read lots, you subconsciously start emulating the fashion of the writers you have read. Reading benefits you a lot, as this exposes you to a spread of designs, and youll start to require the characteristics of these you discover interesting to read.

Borrow some creative writing techniques

Theres a limit to the quantity of actual story-telling youll do when youre writing an essay; in the end, essays should be objective, factual and balanced, which doesnt, initially glance, feel considerably like story-telling. However, youll apply a number of the principles of story-telling to create your writing more interesting.

consider your own opinion

Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others.

Cut the waffle

Rambling on and on is dull and almost bound to lose the interest of your reader. Youre in danger of waffling if youre not completely clear about what you wish to mention or havent thought carefully about how youre visiting structure your argument. Doing all your research correctly and writing an essay plan before you begin will help prevent this problem.

Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose.

employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing

Avoid using unfamiliar words in an essay; theres too great a likelihood that youre misusing them.

You may think that employing a thesaurus to seek out more complicated words will make your writing more exciting or sound more academic, but using overly high-brow language can have the incorrect effect.

Avoid repetitive phrasing

Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable.

Use some figurative language

Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know.

As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts  mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy.

Employ rhetorical questions

Anticipate the questions your reader might ask.

One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration.

Proofread

Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them.
CIMARRON, Kan.  An Amtrak train carrying more than 140 people derailed in rural Kansas early Monday, moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, authorities said.

At least 32 people were hurt, two of them critically, authorities said.

A transportation official said the investigation would focus on the condition of the rails. Local authorities said they were checking whether a vehicle crash may have damaged the track before the accident.

The engineer of the train known as the Southwest Chief noticed the deformity in the rail and pulled the brakes, said Earl Weener of the National Transportation Safety Board. He put the trains speed at the normal limit of 60 mph.

Weener said there was some initial indication of a misalignment on the rail. But it was unclear what that was or what caused it.

Federal officials also plan to review recorded data from the train.

The train, which had 131 passengers and 14 crew members, was making a 43-hour journey from Los Angeles to Chicago when it derailed shortly after midnight along a straight stretch of tracks in flat farmland near Cimarron, a small community about 160 miles west of Wichita. Eight cars derailed, and four of them ended up on their sides.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals for treatment. Four of them remained hospitalized Monday evening, including two people who were airlifted to Amarillo, Texas. The rest were released.

The tracks run along Highway 50, which has no barrier that would prevent a vehicle from leaving the roadway and driving near or onto the tracks. The road and tracks are separated by a shallow depression.

Authorities were examining tire tracks leading to the rails. The damage did not appear to be intentional, Gray County sheriffs Deputy J.G. Sharp said.

The track was inspected last week, Weener said.

Daniel Aiken, of Lenexa, Kan., said he heard screaming as he climbed out of an overturned car. He stopped to smell a fluid that was flowing through the car, fearful that it was fuel, but was reassured when he realized it was water.

Once people realized the train wasnt going to blow up, they calmed down, he said.

Dave Gibbs, a Colorado man who was headed to Lawrence, Kansas, for a possible chefs job, said that the train started rattling back and forth, and you could tell it was off the tracks.

That shaking lasted five to seven seconds, he said, before the train began tipping, then coming to an abrupt stop that sent a woman tumbling onto him.

Andy Williams, a spokesman for BNSF Railway, which owns the track, said the derailment was not caused by poorly maintained track. He said the track is inspected twice a week and meets Federal Railroad Administration guidelines.
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  Showing few signs of trying to ease the nations tense political atmosphere, Republican front-runner Donald Trump is standing by his antagonistic campaign rhetoric, rejecting any responsibility for violence at his rallies and defending his supporters who have been charged with assaulting protesters.

Were not provoking. We want peace. ... We dont want trouble, he told a large crowd in Bloomington, the first of two comparatively docile events Sunday as he campaigns ahead of another critical slate of large-state primaries.

Trumps remarks come after a near-riot Friday night in Chicago when he canceled a scheduled rally amid widespread altercations among his supporters, detractors and authorities.

His three-states-in-one-day schedule, which ended Sunday evening in Florida, also comes less than 48 hours before polls open in a five-state slate that could determine whether he wins the GOP nomination without a contested summer convention.

Against that backdrop, Trump continued to blame protesters, media and even Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders for the increasingly caustic campaign environment that his rivals assailed as cause for pause.

Interrupted only sparingly in Illinois, Trump assured his backers their frustration is righteous rage against a corrupt political and economic system. He cast his naysayers as bad people that do harm to the country.

Hes tried since Chicago to shift the focus to Ohio, where he faces a late push from the popular governor, John Kasich. The outcome will help determine whether Trump can reach the 1,237 delegates required for nomination.

If we can win Ohio, were going to run the table, folks, Trump said in West Chester, Ohio, his second event Sunday.

At an earlier stop this weekend, Trump aimed directly at Kasich, calling him a baby and deliberately mispronouncing the governors Czech surname.

Kasich, meanwhile, reversed his months-long practice of avoiding the topic of Trump.

Speaking aboard his campaign bus between stops in Ohio, Kasich brandished his iPad and read a list of Trump quotes compiled by an aide.

The quotes included Trumps comments that his audiences should hit back a little more and a statement that hed like to punch a protester in the face.

Its really cause for pause, he said, adding the toxic tone Trump has created makes it even more important for him to win Ohio.

Later Sunday, Kasich told a crowd in Hanoverton, Ohio, without mentioning Trump: Do we go to the dark side, with negativity, the gnashing of teeth, the division of people? Or do we go to the hopeful and the light side?
FAIRFIELD  There are some crimes that cross the line, even with accused criminals.

Nabbed in a Fairfield sting last year in which police say he thought he was about to have sex with a 13-year-old girl, 41-year-old John Dupee was confronted by a verbal barrage from the gallery as he prepared to plead guilty before state Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin in Bridgeport last Friday.

The catcalls and lewd suggestions directed to the former Norwalk letter carrier from the audience  many who themselves were waiting to go before the judge  got so loud that Devlin interrupted the plea hearing to kick some of them out of the courtroom.

Dupee, of Dover Street, Norwalk, faces up to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault with a minor, attempted sexual contact with a minor and enticing a minor on the computer. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 13.

Dupee was one of 10 men caught up in a sting last October by Fairfield police, according to States Attorney John Smriga. The sting was put together by television personality Chris Hansen, known for his former To Catch a Predator reports on NBC, for a future show.

The 10 men, ranging in age from 19 to 64, who police said each came to a house in Fairfield expecting to have sex with either a boy or a girl, were arrested in the undercover operation. Five of the men arrested came from out of state. The rest are from Connecticut, including one from Fairfield.

Smriga said Dupee contacted someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl through a website and agreed to meet her at the Fairfield house to have sex with her.
UPDATE (3/16): A spokesperson from Breitbart has reached out to SFGATE, saying that they revealed their association with the website early on so as to be "respectful of your venue and not disruptive to any other guests you might have." Emails forwarded to SFGATE suggest that the Chapel was notified about Breitbart's identity as "a conservative news and opinion website," and its attempt to make it clear that the event was "NOT a political rally."

The spokesperson states that any attempt to portray Breitbart as "sneaky" is inaccurate.

---

UPDATE (3/14): The owner of The Chapel in the Mission tells SFGATE "We had no idea" that the group who had booked the Vestry for a meetup event was associated with Breitbart.

Stating that the event has been canceled, owner Jack Knowles says that the event organizers obscured the fact that they were associated with the site and rather told Chapel bookers that they were a group of Republicans.

"They were very sneaky," Knowles said. "I'm in favor of free speech, but this is not about free speech."

The owner went on to say that he supports political discourse and sometimes offers up the Chapel for partisan-leaning events ("Free speech can't just be what I want people to say."), but after becoming more familiar with the site, decided it was in the event of safety and security to cut ties with organizers. "I'm not about a culture of hate," Knowles says.

Extra security will be added on Wednesday to ensure there is no violence from potential protestors.

---

Breitbart, the self-proclaimed news network currently weathering an internal civil war over the alleged assault of reporter Michelle Fields, is holding a "first ever" San Francisco meetup this week.

The conservative-leaning site, which candidly backs the Trump campaign, is planning a get-together for area fans this Wednesday at the Chapel in San Francisco (an area ironically ranked as the most Bernie Sanders-friendly zip code in the United States).

Breitbart was founded in 2007 by Andrew Breitbart, a conservative publisher, author, and commentator for The Washington Times. Today it operates as an aggregator of news wire stories as well as a platform for right-wing opinion-based pieces.

"Had enough of Obama's trampling of the Constitution and squelching of American freedoms?" a Meetup San Francisco event listing reads. "Join like-minded conservatives and make new friends as we discuss and share ideas about liberty, politics, and culture."

Also attending the event is (recently de-verified) Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, a key player in the discussion around verbally abusive behavior on Twitter and free speech. The writer's check mark was supposedly removed after he violated Twitter's abusive speech policy.

While there is no mention of the March 16 event on the Chapel's official calendar, the Meetup appears on a prompt upon entering Breitbart. SFGATE has reached out to the Chapel for comment.

In recent weeks, the organization has been dealing with a media flurry following the report that Fields, one of Breitbart's own reporters, was assaulted by Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at the presidential candidate's rally in Jupiter, Florida.

Although The Washington Post published a firsthand account of witnessing the event, POLITICO posted audio of the alleged assault, and Fields herself tweeted a photo displaying the bruises on her arm, Breitbart is effectively denying that the Trump campaign had anything to do with the incident, claiming that Fields "misidentified" her attacker.

Reporters for Breitbart have also gone on both the defense and offense against each other, eventually resulting in the resignation of Fields, editor-at-large Ben Shapiro (who was subsequently "mocked" by Breitbart in a post written under Shapiro's father's pseudonym), and as of Monday, two other editors.

As to what specifically will be discussed at the Wednesday meeting (other than the vagaries of what constitutes liberty), we suspect that given their reputation as an "unaffiliated media super PAC for the Trump campaign," the gathering might just end up being an impromptu rally. Ready to Make America Great Again?
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Pushing a red and black walker, surrounded by law enforcement, a former Catholic priest pleaded not guilty Monday in the brutal slaying of teacher and beauty queen Irene Garza in 1960.

John Feit, 83, entered the plea as Garzas family members looked on.

Speaking quietly, the ex-priest dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit told the judge his plea.

Feit decided not to fight extradition from Arizona, where he has been living in a retirement community. Feit was arrested in Scottsdale last month after he was charged with murder in Garzas death. He was returned to Texas last week.

Garza was last seen on her way to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen on April 16, 1960, during Holy Week. She never returned. Feit, who was a priest at the church then, said at the time that he had last seen her at the church, where she had gone to say her confession.

Her body was found several days later in a drainage canal. She had been beaten, raped and suffocated, according to police.

Garza was a former high school prom queen and homecoming queen at Pan American College as well as Miss All South Texas Sweetheart 1958.

Feit completed his seminary training in San Antonio before he was assigned to the McAllen parish. Three years after Garzas death, Feit left Sacred Heart and moved to a monastery in southwest Missouri. About 10 years later, he left the priesthood. He later married, had children and is now a grandfather.

dfuentes@express-news.net
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The latest round of backlash aimed at Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump is centered around tacos and San Antonio.

A sign being shared widely on social media supposedly posted by a Taco Cabana restaurant says the company is closing their doors on Trump supporters and telling them you cant have your taco and eat it too."

RELATED: Texas Taco War a forfeit: Austin didnt show up in Austin

The image of the sign, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook, comes just a few days after a similar notice was posted on one a Mama Margie's restaurant in San Antonio. Representatives from both companies quickly distanced themselves from the signs.

Taco Cabanas first priority is to ensure our guests feel welcome to enjoy great tacos. Taco Cabana is not responsible for the placement of this unauthorized sign on our property," Taco Cabana COO Todd Coerver said in a statement emailed to mySA.com. "Other local restaurants in the San Antonio area have also been targeted. The sign has only appeared in one of our restaurants and we promptly removed the sign and have alerted all restaurants to remove any unauthorized signage.

RELATED: Fake sign telling Trump supporters to steer clear placed on favorite Tex-Mex restaurant

We stand with our fellow Mexican restaurants in their efforts against hateful speech, the fake notice said, with a Taco Cabana logo. We will also no longer be serving people who display support for the views of the presidential candidate Donald Trump. You cant have your taco and eat it too.

Facebook user Matthew Lerma credited the photo of the sign to a woman named Allison Pope. Its unclear which location the signage was spotted at.

His post has been shared more than 4,000 times in less than 24 hours.

This local business may lose customers over this, a Facebook user who shared Lermas post said online. They are brave and I love them for it. If I werent already a regular customer, Id become one! Well done, my friends.

Mama Margies, which has four area locations, was also pegged as not serving Trump supporters over the weekend when a similar sign was posted outside one of their restaurants.

RELATED: Trump's new normal: campaign rallies where chaos is expected

Mamas is in the business of tacos, not politics, Susan OBrien, an owner of the chain, told mySA.com in a previous report. Were actually trying to figure out who did it [] we know it is not an employee.

The person who posted the sign at Mama Margies was caught on video, OBrien added, but did not say if the restaurant had contacted police.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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Donald Trump won't face charges in North Carolina after one of his supporters sucker-punched a protester, according to reports Monday night.

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office released a statement to North Carolina's ABC11 saying it will not "pursue a warrant or indictment" against the Republican front-runner.

"With respect to the potential of lodging charges of inciting a riot against Donald J. Trump, or the Trump Committee, we have reviewed the evidence accumulated, and consulted with the detectives involved. The Sheriff's Office legal counsel advised, and the Sheriff concurred, that the evidence does not meet the requisites of the law as established under the relevant North Carolina statute and case law to support a conviction of the crime of inciting a riot."

At a rally in Fayetteville, N.C., last Wednesday, 78-year-old John McGraw allegedly punched a protester as police escorted him and others out of the stadium. The incident was caught on tape, and McGraw was charged with misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct and communicating threats by the Cumberland County Sheriffs Office.

Ronnie Mitchell, the attorney for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, told North Carolina's WRAL that investigators reviewed video evidence in the case.

SEE THIS: Video shows man sucker-punching protester at Donald Trump rally

After the punch occurred, the protester was taken down by deputies.

Although hes denied it in the past week, Trump has a history of encouraging violence at his rallies. At a rally in Iowa on Feb. 1, he told supporters: Knock the crap out of them will you? Seriously I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.

Hes also made similar explicit comments egging on his followers at other speaking events.

McGraw punched protester Rakeem Jones at the Fayetteville rally. He told "Inside Edition" that he enjoyed punching Jones and that hes not acting like an American. He said the protester deserved the blow and then threatened him further:

The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.

See photos from the Trump rally in the gallery above.
Obama Derangement Syndrome is striking Republicans once again.

To avoid having to answer for the rise of Donald Trump, they want to hold the man in the White House responsible for the emergence of a demagogic showman who has been the loudest voice challenging the legal right of the winner of two elections to be there.

Obama picked his words carefully but with some quiet glee when he was asked about this at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. I have been blamed by Republicans for a lot of things, Obama said, but being blamed for their primaries and who theyre selecting for their party is  here he paused, enjoying the moment  novel.

On the contrary, Obama insisted, it was Republicans who had created an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive and allowed the circus weve been seeing to transpire. He urged his opponents to do some introspection.

That would be nice, wouldnt it?

I should acknowledge a stake in this fight, having published a book in January called Why the Right Went Wrong arguing that the emergence of Trump was the logical consequence of a half-century of conservative history and of the steady legitimization of extremist ideas within the GOP. The nation, not just the Republican Party, desperately needs a different and more constructive brand of conservatism.

But if progressives are to beat back an increasingly virulent right and encourage the emergence of a more temperate form of conservatism, they have to ponder the crisis on their own side that is visible in this campaign and in most of the European democracies as well.

The strength of Bernie Sanders challenge to Hillary Clinton from the left, like the radicalization of American conservatism, is a symptom of the decay of a moderate brand of progressivism that rose in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was president and Tony Blair was Britains prime minister. Its ideology was rooted in a belief that capitalism would deliver the economic goods and could be balanced by a competent public sector, providing services of quality to the citizen and social protection for those who are vulnerable.

And in the post-crash period, progressives largely lost the argument against austerity policies.

If Republicans delude themselves that Obama is responsible for Trump, theres little hope for the soul-searching their party requires. But progressives of moderate inclinations cant use the rights shortcomings to blind them to their own call for reflection. Those who believe in gradual, steady progress need to provide plausible responses to a world both less secure and less orderly than it was in the 1990s. Otherwise, the alternatives, as Trump is showing us, will be both irrational and grim.

 2016, Washington Post Writers Group

Email: ejdionne@washpost.com
Sorting out progressives from moderates

If there is one place that can parse the distinction between progressives and moderates, its California  particularly the Bay Area. The Chronicle asked some left-leaning leaders to define the difference.

Progressives work to make long-term change that lift up all parts of society, not just some. They push the edge of what is politically possible and fight for aspirational demands that fundamentally transform society. Moderates uphold the status quo and make short-sighted compromises that primarily benefit those already at the top, leaving many behind to fight for the crumbs.

More for you How Sanders challenge steers Clinton onto progressive turf

 Alex T. Tom, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association

Often, the term moderate is simply a euphemism for corporate-funded Democrats whose positions on issues of economic security are in direct contrast to the ideals the Democratic Party has historically championed. Its not moderate to oppose working peoples efforts to lift themselves up through higher wages, joining unions or paid sick days.

 Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the 2.1 million member California Labor Federation

The difference between a moderate and progressive Democrat is really a question of how fast that change should occur. Moderates may say, Lets push the utility companies for more clean energy. Progressives bypass the utilities and launch CleanPowerSF. Moderates fought for civil unions. Progressives started marrying people.

 Supervisor London Breed, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Progressives push, they lean forward. They want to be Capt. Kirks  take us to where no man or woman has gone before. You can want to take someone to where no one has gone before, but if you havent prepped for it, youre in real trouble, because you may run into Klingons

 U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, the fourth-highest-ranking Democrat in the House and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, most of whom including him, support Clinton

With the dominant shift of the Democratic Party into neoliberalism, there is a need for a term that invokes a distinctive vision. A liberal Democrat would push for deregulation of the private industry while cutting social programs, like (Jimmy) Carter or Bill Clinton. They both deregulated, while one cut housing and the other welfare. A progressive, like Franklin Roosevelt, regulated the stock market while ensuring all Americans were protected from severe destitution.

 Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness

 Joe Garofoli
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The Minnesota Street Project, slated to open Friday in San Franciscos Dogpatch neighborhood, will not only be a haven for artists and galleries, but it also will be the home of a new project from high-profile Bay Area chef and restaurateur Daniel Patterson.

The restaurant and cafe, both due to open in the fall, will be located within the atrium of the 35,000-square-foot space at 1275 Minnesota Street. The still-unnamed eating places will fall under the umbrella of the Daniel Patterson Group (DPG), a restaurant collection that includes Aster, Alta CA and four-star Coi in San Francisco, as well as Haven and Plum Bar in Oakland. Last month, the DPG reopened Financial District old-timer Alfreds Steakhouse with a slightly modernized feel.
Freada Kapor Klein is a rare type of social change-maker/philanthropist. The Oakland resident had long been a national leader in pursuing gender and racial equality before she started writing checks to help make her vision a reality in the tech world.

Kapor Klein and her husband, Mitch Kapor, oversee a family of organizations in the philanthropic and socially conscious investment world. Kapor Capital, the Kapor Center for Social Impact and the Level Playing Field Institute all aim to increase diversity in Silicon Valley, whose leading companies are overwhelmingly male and white or Asian.

As increased attention has been called to that disparity, tech companies have made efforts to recruit more women and people of color  witness Airbnb hiring its first head of diversity and belonging this month. But Kapor Klein, who regularly speaks to tech companies, has been on the cutting edge of research into the hidden biases that people have in their hiring and promotional practices.

For her work, she is a nominee for the 2016 Visionary of the Year award sponsored by The Chronicle and the School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Marys College.

Were startup people

While her history of activism stretches back four decades  the UC Berkeley grad applied to colleges based on the strength of their political movements  she is also a tech investor in companies that reflect her values. Were startup people, she likes to say.

Earlier this year, she and her husband announced they would fund only startups that prioritize diversity. Their Founders Commitment is believed to be a first in the venture world and will be a standard item in all new investment agreements the firm makes in the $25 million it expects to invest over the next three years.

Last year, they announced they will spend $40 million during that time on various efforts to make the tech sector more inclusive.

Peter DaSilva/Special to The Chronicle

Kapor Klein is in regular touch with the White House on tech diversity issues. She was lauded by former Vice President Al Gore during an event in her honor last year at Twitter headquarters and counts former NAACP President Ben Jealous as a close friend. But her eyes light up when she talks about a female entrepreneur who has created a new app that sifts out the hidden biases in tech job listings.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., she grew up the youngest of three children in the San Fernando Valley. Her father was a chemical engineer who went to medical school shortly after Freada was born. At the time, many medical schools had a quota  a ceiling  on the number of Jews they would accept.

Social justice legacy

All of these twenty- and thirtysomethings who are working on diversity dont understand how recent and how complicated the whole issue of stereotyping and limiting opportunity for different groups based on wild assumptions was, Kapor Klein said.

Her mothers father immigrated to Kansas from Russia, speaking no English. Five of his six children were killed during pogroms there.

This is some of where I attribute some of my sense of social and racial justice, Kapor Klein said. I have these aunts and uncles I never met simply because they were born Jewish. And I see a pretty unbroken line between murdering children because they are Jewish and putting kids of color on a pathway to prison instead of to tech.

Im of the school that none of us are free until all of us are free, she said. If there is any injustice, then were all suffering from it.

While studying at UC Berkeley in the early 1970s, she volunteered at a rape crisis center. But she grew frustrated when she learned that prosecutors didnt want to pursue a case unless its a nun with 96 stab wounds.

After graduation she moved to Washington, D.C., and continued this work, going to prisons to interview convicted rapists to try to understand their motivations. Many of the men themselves had been raped in prison, which gave them such a profound look at it  they really understood both sides of that experience and were so clear about the power dynamics involved.

Sex harassment on job

She surveyed 200 rape crisis centers in the U.S., and a recurring theme kept popping up. For the first time, many centers were starting to field reports of what was then called work-related sexual assault. It was the beginning of a growing consciousness about sexual harassment at work, and Kapor Klein was on the leading edge of connecting the dots to show a national pattern.

In the mid-1970s, she published a booklet called Myths and Facts About Sexual Harassment that sold tens of thousands of copies and made her a leading expert on the issue. She draws a direct line from what she studied four decades ago to the hidden bias she sees now in the tech world.

There is a spectrum of entitled behavior based on stereotypes and power where some group of people think its OK either to bully another group or to physically assault them, she said.

She met Mitch Kapor in the mid-1980s when he was at Lotus, where he was the CEO and founder. They were co-workers, and she was trying to implement his vision of making the company the most progressive employer in the United States, as he told her then.

Bullied as a kid

He cared passionately about these issues because he was bullied as a kid, Kapor Klein said. He was a nerd when it wasnt cool to be a nerd.

In the couple of years she worked at the company, she was instrumental in making the software company what is believed to be one of the first corporate sponsors of an AIDS event, and to have a diversity council that included out LGBT folks. A decade later they reconnected after his first marriage ended, and they were married in 1999.

In a few months, they will begin another chapter together. The new Kapor Center for Social Impact building is scheduled to open in Oaklands Uptown neighborhood. The new building is designed to be a hub for hackathons, networking events and educational summits and to make Oakland a national locus for tech diversity.

Both Mitch and I are entrepreneurial. We think there needs to be new approaches to big persistent problems, Kapor Klein said. We dont see tech as a panacea, but we think tech should be deployed to solve social problems.

Data shows women face a long road to equal pay

Joe Garofoli is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

Visionary of the Year award

This is the last of eight profiles of nominees for The Chronicles second annual Visionary of the Year award, which is presented in collaboration with St. Marys Colleges School of Economics and Business Administration. The honor salutes leaders who strive to make the world a better place and drive social and economic change by employing new, innovative business models and practices. The eight finalists were nominated by a distinguished committee that included Evan Marwell, CEO and cofounder of the nonprofit group Education SuperHighway; Pam Baer, founder and CEO of For Goodness Sake, a nonprofit foundation that created an e-commerce site to connect consumers with curated brands and nonprofits; Ron Conway, an angel investor and philanthropist; Ben Fong-Torres, a noted rock journalist, author and broadcaster; Pamela Joyner, founder of the strategic marketing consulting company Avid Partners LLC; Zhan Li, dean of St. Marys School of Economics and Business Administration; and John Diaz, The Chronicles editorial page editor.

Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson, Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and Diaz will select the winner, which will be announced during a March 29 ceremony.

To read more, go to www.sfgate.com/visionsf.
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq  An American fighting for the Islamic State surrendered in northern Iraq early Monday, according to Kurdish and U.S. officials.

The American, identified by Kurdish officials as a young man from Alexandria, Va., was taken into custody near the city of Sinjar, which Kurdish forces retook from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in November. A senior U.S. military official and the Kurdish official, fighting with Kurdish peshmerga forces, confirmed the capture on the condition of anonymity.

A Pentagon spokesman, Capt. Jeff Davis, said in a statement: Were aware of the reports, aware that the U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIL has been captured by peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. Were in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorizes to determine the veracity of these reports.

Kurdish officials in Iraq identified the man as Mohammed Jamal Amin, 27, but an image that Kurdish officials appeared to have circulated on social media showed a Virginia drivers license belonging to a man named Mohamad Jamal Khweis who would be 26 years old.

If his identity is confirmed, the man would be the first American fighting with the Islamic State known to have surrendered in the field, said Seamus Hughes, an expert on Islamic extremism at George Washington University.

Twenty-five Americans have been confirmed to have traveled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State. A number of those fighters have been killed, and a few others have returned to the United States to face criminal charges; the whereabouts of the rest are not known.

The American fighter detained Monday appears to have entered Syria from Turkey several months ago, and made his way to Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, which has been under the Islamic States control for more than a year and a half.

The Kurdish official said the American had been carrying a large amount of Turkish money and three cell phones.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DARMSTADT, Germany  Europe and Russia launched a joint mission Monday to explore the atmosphere of Mars and hunt for signs of life on the Red Planet.

The unmanned ExoMars probe  a collaboration between the European Space Agency and Roscosmos  took off from a base in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian rocket and is expected to reach Mars in October.

The probes Trace Gas Orbiter will analyze methane and other gases in the Martian atmosphere to determine where they are coming from, said Paolo Ferri,the space agencys head of mission operations.

Methane is created by biological or geological activity and breaks down within a relatively short period of time once it reaches the atmosphere.

It cannot be older than 400 years. That means there has been either biological or geological activity in this time frame, said Ferri. Four hundred years is nothing. If there is methane it means there is basically a process going on now.

The prospect of finding life on Mars  even microscopic organisms  has excited scientists for some time, but so far none has been discovered.

The fact that theyve not found life doesnt mean certainly that theres no life there, said Ferri, noting that much of the planets vast surface hasnt yet been closely examined.

That task will fall to a rover the European Space Agency plans to send to Mars in 2018. Until then, the orbiter will have time to find a good landing spot and conduct a test run using a trial lander called Schiaparelli thats already on board the probe.

If life is discovered, it actually raises questions about whether future manned missions to the planet should be attempted, said Mark McCaughrean, senior science adviser at ESA the space agency.

Really begs the question if we should go at all with human beings because of that idea of planetary protection, he said at mission control in Darmstadt. We would take with us bugs, and if now those bugs meet Martian bugs, that could be a disaster.

Landing a spacecraft on Mars is notoriously difficult and several attempts in the past have failed, including the European Space Agencys Beagle 2 probe that was part of the Mars Express mission in 2003. Beagle 2 disappeared during the landing process, a setback the agency is keen to avoid this time, hence the decision to separate the orbiter mission from the actual landing attempt.
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast  As many as six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing at least 16 people and sending tourists fleeing through the historic resort town.

Bloody bodies were sprawled on the beach before being taken away by security forces and Ivorian Red Cross workers.

Ivory Coasts President Alassane Ouattara said 14 civilians, two special forces soldiers and the six assailants were killed in the attack. Ouattara traveled to the town later Sunday to express condolences and salute security forces for their quick responses.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites. The Islamic extremist group made the declaration in a post to its Telegram channels, calling three of the attackers heroes for the assault.

The bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand-Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners about 25 miles east of Abidjan, Ivory Coasts commercial center. It was the third major attack on a tourism center in West Africa since November.

Witness Marcel Guy said that he saw at least four gunmen with Kalashnikov rifles run onto the beach. The gunmen approached two children on the beach and Guy said he heard the man speak Arabic. One of the children then knelt and started praying.

The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes, he said.

An American embassy delegation was in Grand-Bassam on Sunday, but the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan said it is monitoring the situation and has no evidence U.S. citizens were targeted, nor confirmed reports that any were harmed.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault in Burkina Faso in January.

The West African attacks indicate that extremist attacks are spreading from North Africa, where a beach attack in June killed 38 people in Tunisia.
1 Missile tests: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on world powers to punish Iran after the country test-fired two ballistic missiles emblazoned with the phrase Israel must be wiped out in Hebrew. Netanyahu said he instructed Israels Foreign Ministry to direct the demand to the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany  the countries that signed the deal lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear program. In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the launches are a violation of U.N. resolutions and could invite additional sanctions.

2 Striking miners: Thousands of Chinese miners who say they have not been paid for months staged a rare protest in a northeastern city, days after the provincial governor made the apparently false claim that no miner working for the provinces largest publicly owned mining company was owed any back wages. Angry miners from Longmay Mining Holding Group Co. Ltd. marched through the city of Shuangyashan on Saturday. In response, the government of Heilongjiang province issued a statement Saturday night acknowledging that many Longmay employees are owed wages and benefits, backtracking from Gov. Lu Haos assertions earlier this month.
MOSCOW  President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria on Monday, voicing hope the move will contribute to the success of Syrian peace talks.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers the Russian president an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5-month Russian air campaign that has allowed the Syrian army to win back some key ground. Halting the military action now would allow Putin to cash in on his gains and pose as a peacemaker.

At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and keep some troops there. Syrias state news agency also quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but wont leave the country altogether.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russias foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assads military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, Im ordering the defense minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow, Putin said.

He didnt specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syrias coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured victories against terrorism and returned security to the country.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putins announcement.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as the mother of all issues.

A Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused each other of violations. The Islamic State group and al Qaedas branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire.

Putin said Mondays move should help raise trust and serve as a stimulus for Syrias political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad, who voiced his readiness to quickly launch a political process.

I hope that todays decision will send a good signal to all conflicting parties, Putin said. I hope it will significantly increase the level of trust among the participants in the Syrian settlement and contribute to solving the Syrian settlement by peaceful means.
SANAA, Yemen  Yemens Shiite Houthi rebels on Monday confirmed carrying out a prisoner exchange with Saudi Arabia and said they were open to negotiating a peace deal with the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting them for a year.

We will not turn our backs on any understandings or initiatives that could lead to the halt of aggression and lifting the suffering from the Yemeni people, Saleh al-Sammad, head of the Houthis political wing, said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.

He said the exchange of a captive Saudi army officer for seven fighters earlier this month came as part of an initial and preliminary stage of negotiations, which would be followed by gradual steps if Riyadh is willing to pursue a deal that would halt its operations.

Saudi Arabia announced the swap last week without mentioning the Houthis involvement.

The war pits the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, against an internationally recognized government largely confined to the southern city of Aden. The government is backed by a loose array of militias as well as the coalition of mainly gulf Arab countries.

The fighting has killed more than 6,000 people and pushed the Arab worlds poorest country to the brink of famine. The battle lines have hardly shifted in recent months.

A powerful al Qaeda affiliate has meanwhile exploited the chaos to seize a large swath of territory across the countrys south and east, while an upstart Islamic State branch has carried out a series of attacks targeting government forces and the Houthis.

Both groups maintain strongholds in Aden, the first city to be fully taken back from the Houthis and the de facto capital of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadis government. The extremists growing presence in the city has embarrassed the government and raised questions about its ability to govern the country. In recent days the coalition has begun carrying out air strikes against the two groups, causing thousands of residents to flee.

The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, which supports the Houthis. The Houthis have always denied receiving weapons from Iran, and have recently expressed anger with Tehran, accusing it of exploiting the conflict for its own ends.
CAIRO  Human Rights Watch on Monday called on Egypt to drop prison sentences against four Coptic Christian teenagers convicted of blasphemy, an appeal made a day after the justice minister was fired for saying he would imprison the prophet Muhammad if he committed a crime, remarks widely seen as blasphemous.

The teenagers Feb. 25 conviction was based on a video in which they intended to mock the extremist Islamic State group after its Libyan affiliate beheaded a group of Egyptian Christians last year.

The 30-second clip showed the students pretending to pray, with one kneeling while reciting Quranic verses and two others standing behind him and laughing. One ran his hand on anothers throat, mimicking a beheading. The video was recorded on a mobile phone by a teacher, who is also a Christian. He was sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Islam in a separate trial.

Rights groups say a flurry of recent blasphemy cases in Egypt is part of a culture of intolerance within the judicial system at a time when President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is seeking to position himself as an advocate for religious reform.

Three of the boys, who were tried in absentia, were sentenced to five years in prison. A fourth was referred to a juvenile facility.

These children shouldnt face prison for expressing themselves, even with an immature joke, said Nadim Houry, the rights groups deputy Middle East director. Mocking ISIS, or any religious group, with a childish joke is not a crime. Instead of giving in to retrograde views on blasphemy, Egyptian authorities should protect freedom of expression, he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

Human Rights Watch also called on Egyptian authorities to revoke the penal code used to prosecute blasphemy.

Justice Minister Ahmed el-Zinds comments about the prophet were made in a TV interview aired last week. They were widely condemned on social media networks and prompted al-Azhar, the powerful, Cairo-based seat of Islamic learning, to issue a statement urging anyone speaking in the media to leave Islams Seventh century prophet out of their comments as a show of respect.

El-Zind said his comment was a slip of the tongue and has repeatedly apologized in subsequent media appearances. El-Zind was a vehement supporter of el-Sissis 2013 military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi.
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast  Before the shooting started, an armed man stood quietly at the entrance to a beachfront restaurant, holding a Kalashnikov rifle and coolly surveying the crowd. Francois Tanon, who rents beach chairs to tourists at Ivory Coasts Grand-Bassam resort town, thought the man was a security guard.

A few minutes later, Tanon was talking to a customer when a bullet hit the client in the neck.

The patron I was speaking to fell down right in front of me, Tanon said. The man that I saw before at the entrance, now I saw him down near the water, his gun in his hand, he was firing everywhere.

In the end 18 were killed Sunday, leaving Grand-Bassam and all of Ivory Coast reeling from its first Islamic extremist attack. President Alassane Ouattaras government began work Monday to tighten security and prevent similar violence.

Ouattara presided over an emergency meeting with Cabinet ministers and his National Security Council. After the meeting, the government revised the death toll to 15 civilians and three special forces, up from 14 and two respectively. Just three attackers were killed, instead of the six that was earlier announced on Sunday, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said Monday.

The lower death toll for the assailants agrees with the claim of responsibility from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, which said Sunday that three attackers were killed. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

Many witnesses said they at first suspected the gunshots were fireworks being set off by holiday revelers. Only when victims began crumpling to the ground did they realize the beach was being targeted in an assault.

The gunmen entered the beach from multiple directions, witnesses said.

The attack on Grand-Bassam was the first of its kind in Ivory Coast. Officials had been bracing for one in the wake of similar assaults by AQIM in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali.

Security forces on Monday patrolled Grand-Bassams beaches, which were otherwise largely deserted. Soldiers checked the trunks of cars approaching the beach. Authorities briefly closed a section of beach in front of La Nouvelle Paillote hotel after receiving reports that explosives had been found there.

The 15 civilian victims came from countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali.
ANKARA, Turkey  A suicide car bomb detonated near bus stops in the heart of Turkeys capital on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding around 125 others, officials said. Two of the dead are believed to be the assailants.

A senior government official said police suspect that Kurdish militants carried out the attack, which occurred on Ankaras main boulevard, close to ministries. At least one of the bombers was a woman, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkey would use its right to self-defense to prevent future attacks.

Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees, Erdogan said.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the attack, which came as Turkey prepared to launch large-scale military operations against Kurdish militants in two towns, wouldnt deter the country from its fight against terrorism. He confirmed the blast as a car bomb that targeted civilians at bus stops on Ataturk Bulvari close to Kizilay square. Ala said authorities had obtained evidence pointing to the group behind the attack.

The private NTV news channel said several vehicles caught fire following the blast, which also shattered the windows of shops that line the boulevard and the square.

Dogan Asik, 28, said he was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

There were about 40 people, said Asik, who sustained injuries on his face and arm. The bus slowed down. A car went by us, and boom it exploded.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, although Kurdish militants and the Islamic State group have carried out bombings in the city recently. A far-left militant group is also active in Turkey.

The bombing is the third in the city in five months and comes as Turkey is faced with an array of issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, threats from the Islamic State group and a Syrian refugee crisis.

It occurred just three weeks after a suicide car bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group which is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 17 attack. The government, however, said that attack was carried out by a Syrian Kurdish militia group in concert with the PKK, which has waged a 30-year insurgency.

Sundays attack also came two days after the U.S. Embassy issued a security warning about a potential plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing in an Ankara neighborhood and asked its citizens to avoid those areas.

The countrys pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples Democratic Party, condemned the attack and said it shares the huge pain felt along with our citizens. The statement was significant because the party is frequently accused of being the political arm of the PKK and of not speaking out against PKK violence.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Turkey in renewed fighting following the collapse of the peace process between the government and the PKK in July. Authorities on Sunday had declared curfews in two towns in the mainly Kurdish southeast region in anticipation of large-scale military operations against PKK-linked militants.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey lashed out Monday at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital drew the country even deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were strong indications that Sundays attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people. DNA tests were under way to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organization, Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK.

The attack further complicated Turkeys place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for three decades. A fragile, peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against Islamic State group in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or Islamic State. Sundays attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital; a Feb. 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war, said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute. Ankaras ill-executed Syria policy ... has exposed Turkey to great risks.

Bill Park, a lecturer on Turkish foreign policy and security at Kings College London, said Ankaras aggression toward the Kurds in Syria has angered Kurds inside Turkey and inspired attacks.

Bombings in Turkey now look like a campaign, and we have to assume that there will be more, he said.

If the bombing was the work of a PKK-affiliated group, it could mark a shift in tactics, since the group had previously targeted Turkeys security forces instead of civilians, said Otso Iho, a senior analyst at IHS Janes Terrorism and Insurgency Centre.

Turkey considers the PKK and the Kurdish militia in Syria to be one and the same, and has been pressing its U.S. allies to stop helping the Syrian Kurds. Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organization but has backed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has been effective in fighting the Islamic State.

Mondays air strikes in northern Iraq targeted PKK bases rather than installations of the Iraqi Kurds.
Here's some stuff in the news today...[Content Note: Terrorism; war; death] "Turkey has begun security operations against Kurdish rebels in the country's south-east and in Iraq. The moves come as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed a crackdown on terror after Sunday's attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people. ...Four people were held over the bombings in the south-eastern city of Sanliurfa, according to Turkish media. Officials were quoted as saying the car used in the bombing was traced to a showroom there. A curfew was declared in three towns in south-east Turkey, while warplanes struck PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan. Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters in the Qandil and Gara sectors, the army said. The PKK (the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party) confirmed the strikes." Fucking hell.[CN: Child explotation and violence] "We do not yet know who President Obama will name to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. We do know, however, that anyone the president names will be subjected to a brutal campaign to discredit them in the eyes of the public. A conservative advocacy group called the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) reportedly hired 'a team of about 10 researchers, including a number of lawyers' to conduct opposition research into potential nominees. Viewers watching Sunday morning's news shows got a taste of what these researchers have uncovered this past weekend. An ad funded by JCN attacked federal appellate Judge Jane Kelly, a potential Supreme Court nominee and former public defender, for representing one of her former clients. The inmate described in JCN's ad is Casey Frederiksen, who Kelly represented in 2005 during her career as a public defender. Frederiksen is unquestionably a terrible human being. [He was tried and convicted on child p0rnography charges and for the murder of a 5-year-old girl.] In the United States, however, criminal trials are governed by the Constitution, and that Constitution guarantees all people accused of a crime 'the assistance of counsel for his defense.' So JCN's ad is more than just an attack on Jane Kelly. It is an attack on a constitutional right."[CN: Assault] "Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the site's handling of Donald Trump's campaign manager's alleged assault on Fields, BuzzFeed News has learned." Breaking News: Garbage news outlet run by garbage people.This story is a few days old, but I only saw it this morning: "Finland and the Netherlands have already shown their interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance regardless of working status, and now Ontario, Canada is onboard. Ontario's government announced in February that a pilot program will be coming to the Canadian province sometime later this year. The premise: send people monthly checks to cover living expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, and utilitiesno questions asked. It's a radical idea, and one that has been around since the 1960s. It's called 'basic income.'" Yes![CN: Union-busting] Goddammit: "When West Virginia's so-called right-to-work law takes effect in May, the majority of states will have laws designed to strip labor unions of their collective bargaining rights. West Virginia Republican lawmakers in February overrode Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's (D) veto of SB 1, which prohibits employers from requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. Opponents of 'right-to-work' policies argue that they allow workers who are not union membersknown as free ridersto benefit from the union's bargaining without having to contribute financially. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall) said during floor debate before the veto override vote that the legislation was an attack on people who work and their families. 'Some would say this is a historic day for West Virginia,' Kessler said, reported the'I submit to you that it is a horrific day. This is not based on any empirical evidence; this is based on a political attack upon unions, upon workers, upon families, upon our communities.' West Virginia joins Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin as states that have passed laws targeting labor unions in recent years."[CN: Racism; appropriation; transphobia] Courtney Demone writes a reflective piece about her culturally appropriative tattoo: "Over the years, I began to feel there was something wrong with a white person sporting an Indigenous symbol as a tattoo and developed a quiet, passive shame. ...Despite my shame, I did nothing to address my appropriation. I intended to get the tattoo removed or covered, but it was never a high priority. I never learned more about Maya people and cultures. I never learned more about the symbol. I just let my ignorance fester. When my topless photos from the 'Do I have boobs now?' project went viral, I was finally forced to address my ignorance and appropriation. ...My intention for the project was to challenge systems of oppression and our complicity in them. In the process, I exposed my own unchallenged complicity in oppression and colonialism."[CN: Misogyny] "By manipulating familiar images of historical moments, often in politics but also in other realms popular culture, [director Alyssa Boni of RSA Films] erases the many men pictured, leaving only their lonesomeand often singularfemale counterparts." Air Force One Shielded by Double Rainbow Force Field in Austin ." [CN: Video autoplays at link] The ladies ofwith another terrific digital short: " This Is Not a Feminist Song ."And finally! " Service Dog and Teenage Owner Dress Alike for Formal Dance ." LOVE WITH ONE MILLION HEARTS.
Lobby group Irrigation New Zealand has hit back at calls for a five-year ban on new irrigation schemes in the wake of the dairy downturn as being out of step with who reaps the benefit from them.

The Tourism Export Council and the Environmental Defence Society say the governments decision to pour hundreds of millions of dollar into irrigation is a gamble given the dairy downturn and that the growth in intensive farming is a disaster for rivers and streams.

But Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Andrew Curtis said irrigation supports a variety of land uses including viticulture, horticulture, cropping, sheep and beef. Dairy accounts for half of New Zealands irrigated area, with 25 percent relating to sheep and beef finishing and the remaining quarter to vegetable and arable crops, alongside fruit and wine growing.

Without irrigation, the tourism industry wouldnt be able to promote the food and wine packages it offers in regions such as Hawkes Bay, Marlborough and Central Otago, Curtis said. These growers are only able to produce quality vintages and products with the support of reliable water.

The most recent estimation on the value of irrigated farms was a 2012 study which found they contributed $2.7 billion to the farmgate and more than twice that in benefits to the wider community.

Last week the government announced $1.6 million worth of funding for three irrigation schemes and Lesley Immink, chief executive of the Tourism Export Council which represents more than half of the companies which bring in overseas visitors, said she was surprised by the amount of money the government was putting into irrigation while not addressing the countrys water quality issues.

The council has been pushing a 'Choose Clean Water Petition' to get new legislation that would set a higher benchmark for fresh water quality, in order to make our waterways swimmable rather than just wadeable.

Immink said today she now knows a lot more about irrigation than she did 24 hours ago and acknowledges that theres a place for some schemes, particularly in drought-prone areas of the country.

However she said there is a direct correlation between water quality and water allocation and why cant we just pause on new irrigation schemes while action is taken to resolve our "water crisis".

Separately, Greenpeace today called for Prime Minister John Key to resign his position as minister of tourism because of his continued backing for intensive dairy irrigation schemes, which will increase pollution of New Zealands rivers and streams.

Irrigation NZs Curtis said getting better at using and storing water had allowed the country to address environmental challenges including legacy water quality concerns as a result of increased land use intensity and general population growth in urban centres.

We accept that with increasing land intensity, water abstraction needs to leave enough water in our rivers and streams to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems (the majority of New Zealand rivers have a minimum flow regime), and the impact of farming on the land needs to minimise its footprint, he said.

Stored water also helps New Zealand address climate change issues either through augmenting river flows during the summer or recharging aquifers in spring, Curtis said.

The Environmental Defence Society is sitting in Auckland throwing stones. It needs to come out to the provinces and see what is going on, he said.

Currently New Zealand abstracts only around 2 percent of its water resource (excluding hydropower) and irrigation accounts for around 60 percent of that which is low by international standards.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Queenstown Airport's runway end safety area is more than just land and the airport should be able to claim depreciation for its construction, it has claimed in Wellington's High Court this morning.

The airport is in dispute with the Inland Revenue Department over whether it should be able to claim depreciation on the runway end safety area (RESA) at the eastern end of its international runway for the 2012 and 2013 tax years, and in the future. At issue is whether improvements on the land qualify as being tax deductible.

Michael Lennard, counsel for the airport, told Justice Brendan Brown that the area in dispute had been engineered, so it wasn't simply land and excluded from depreciation.

The legislation makes an allowance for depreciation on airport runways to be claimed, and Lennard said the RESA was part of the "entirety of the runway system" which is a sophisticated engineered structure including taxiways and aprons where planes park.

Lennard also said he didn't need to establish that the area did decline in value, only that it could be reasonably expected to depreciate. He said the 100-year design life given by the RESA's engineers showed depreciation could be expected.

The hearing is set down for three days, and the airport will call four witnesses, including two expert witnesses.

In its 2015 annual report, the airport said it would cost about $2.7 million in deferred tax liability if it lost the case against the IRD. However, it said it had received advice the dispute "would be resolved in its favour."

The trial is continuing.

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Thousands of service members are deployed around the globe on any given day, patrolling their area of responsibility to find and destroy enemies of the United States. Armed with various types of weaponry, these troops must be proficiently trained in combat marksmanship to ensure the protection of themselves and their wingmen.



Tasked with training Team Shaw, the 20th Security Forces Squadron combat arms instructors spend their days teaching weapons knowledge, marksmanship and shooting techniques to service members.



This job is very important, said Staff Sgt. Jason Mufford, 20th SFS combat arms instructor. Without it, the Air Force would not be able to carry the mission out overseas, as well as stateside, because people would not be able to deploy without their weapons qualification.



In 2015, more than 4,000 service members came to the range to qualify on various types of weapons such as the M4 carbine and the M9 pistol. But before they can take up arms, students have to learn the ins and outs of each weapon.



Ensuring a student is aware of how the weapons works, its assembly and disassembly are very important, said Mufford. Fire fights are extremely loud and stressful, and when someone has a gun jam in the middle of one, they have to be able to relax, calm down, and fix the problem.



The instructors are not only responsible for the students, but also the maintenance of more than 4,000 weapons that are used to secure Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.



Due to the location and nature of several military installations across the globe, service members must qualify on particular weaponry before deploying or leaving their base permenantly to ensure they are combat ready.



When people come through here we are usually one of the last faces they see before they PCS or deploy, said Staff Sgt. David Ward, 20th SFS combat arms instructor. So we try to build a memory when they are over here and if they have to use their weapon they can look back and theyre like oh yeah, Sergeant Ward or one of my other instructors taught me well.



Ensuring Team Shaw members are ready at a moments notice to meet any challenge, anytime, anywhere is no easy task, but it is one the instructors take in full stride so that when the time comes, service members are awaiting the challenge.



The last thing going through my mind when I release my students at the end of the day is that I pray and hope they keep the knowledge they learned, said Ward. In case they actually do get into a combat situation and that they are able to apply it effectively, save themselves, or save someone elses life.



After students spend approximately three hours in a class room setting and then three more hours on the range, service members clean their rifles and prepare to leave for the day. Not knowing what the students have ahead of them, the instructors always confirm that the students feel confident in their abilities.



Its a long day and we always check on the students to make sure nobody has any questions, and to make sure that no matter what, when they go down range they know exactly what they need to do, said Mufford.



In 2015, approximately 420,000 rounds were shot on the range, giving students the ability to hone their warrior ethos, and thanks to the instructors on the range, no service member will leave Shaw ill-prepared for a gun fight.

01:48 | Ready, aim, fire
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are likely to meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Aziz "will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year."

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

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NEW DELHI : The government hopes to pass the landmark Constitution Amendment Bill for a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as the bankruptcy and insolvency bill in the second half of the Budget session beginning April 20, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.



The GST bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabhaand is pending ratification by the Upper House, where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.



After it is approved by the Rajya Sabha, the legislation needs to be ratified by half of the 29 states so as to roll out GST possibly by October 1.



"The current session of Parliament has already seen one landmark legislation two days ago. And I do hope to see another two being passed in the second part of the session with regard to the bankruptcy and insolvency laws and GST," he said at the Advancing Asia Conference here.



The Parliament had last week passed the Aadhaar Bill, providing statutory backing to the unique identification number for transferring government subsidies and benefits. Also, the Real Estate Bill was approved by the Rajya Sabha.



Once the GST and the bankruptcy and insolvency laws are approved, "I think this gives major fillip or push to our reform process" even in an otherwise weak global scenario, Jaitley said.



Exhibiting determination to move on the reform path, India can provide a significant amount of growth to the world, he said.



"We are trying to have special emphasis now both in terms of legislative changes and resources being put to strengthen the banking system. I do feel that next few months, in bringing about structural change, are going to be extremely important," the minister said.



Stating that India has its own share of problems, Jaitley said there was increased determination in the country to face the challenges and accelerate the pace of reforms so as to continue to grow. "Our growth model is based on concerns to eradicate poverty," he said.

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WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama gave a mocking rebuke today of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for his incendiary language on the campaign trail.



At a Democratic fundraising event in Dallas, Texas, Obama took a swipe at Trump's sideline wine label -- just a tiny piece of his sprawling business empire.



But the president offered a serious condemnation of the "divisiveness" fomented by Trump on the campaign trail, including his motto "Make America Great Again."



"We are great right now," Obama retorted, in remarks that came one day after skirmishes broke out at a scuttled Trump rally in Chicago.



"What the folks who are running for office should be focused on is how we can make it even better -- not insults and schoolyard taunts and manufacturing facts, not divisiveness along the lines of race and faith. Certainly not violence against other Americans," Obama said.



A Trump campaign event was canceled in Chicago yesterday when throngs of protesters -- many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric -- massed outside and inside the venue, mingling and in some cases brawling with the candidate's supporters.



Critics warned that Trump's inflammatory language set the tone for the violence, and urged him to tone down the campaign rhetoric.



The billionaire businessman today had two more huge gatherings schedule in the heartland state of Ohio, amid fears of fresh violence.

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WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders today called Donald Trump a "pathological liar" while the outspoken Republican frontrunner returned the barb by referring him as a "Communist" and accusing his campaign of organising violent protests against him in Chicago.



"Some represented Bernie, our Communist friend," the controversial real-estate tycoon alleged in Dayton, Ohio. He repeated this at his second rally in Cleveland.



"You know Bernie was saying Trump should speak to his crowd. You know where they come from? Bernie's crowd. They're Bernie's crowd," Trump said.



The allegations by Trump, 69, was immediately denied by the Sanders campaign, which disassociated with the protesters who were chanting "Bernie Bernie" at Trump's Chicago rally.



The Chicago rally was cancelled by Trump, a quite unusual development in America's electoral history.



"Get your people in line, Bernie," Trump said at his Cleveland rally, as he launched a frontal attack on Sanders.



Sanders, the 74-year-old Democratic Senator from Vermont, who is running his presidential campaign on the slogan of democratic socialism, was quick to fire back.



"As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar. Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trump's rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organise the protests," Sanders said in a statement.



"What caused the protests at Trump's rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama," he said.



"What caused the violence at Trump's rally is a campaign whose words and actions have encouraged it on the part of his supporters. He recently said of a protester, 'I want to punch him in the face.' Another time Trump yearned for the old days when the protester would have been punched and "carried out on a stretcher," he added.



"Then just a few days ago a female reporter apparently was assaulted by his campaign manager," Sanders said.



"When that is what the Trump campaign is doing, we should not be surprised that there is a response," he said.



"What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence and make it clear to his supporters that people who attend his rallies or protest should not be assaulted, should not be punched, should not be kicked. In America people have a right to attend a political rally without fear of physical harm," Sanders said.

Read Also: Indian-American Boy In Fray For $100,000 'Child Genius' Prize

Obama Acknowledges Partisan Divide Widened In His Presidency

Source: PTI
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a then-78-year-old Grant City woman accused of bashing her sleeping husband on the head with a hammer four months ago in a dispute over money.

According to a criminal complaint, Mary Cupone allegedly attacked her spouse at 3 a.m. on Nov. 19, hitting him six times.

Her husband suffered swelling to the back of his head and lacerations to his forehead and the right side of his face, the complaint said.

Police said they found the hammer under the bed.

Cupone was charged with a felony count of second-degree assault and a misdemeanor count of criminal weapon possession.

Those charges were recently dismissed in Criminal Court, said prosecutors, declining further comment because the court file is sealed.

Cupone, who has since turned 79, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Her lawyer's name was not immediately available.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A second suspect faces charges in what authorities believe to be a drug-related fatal hit-and-run in Charleston.

Anthony Zito, 22, of Lorraine Loop in Rossville, stands accused of misdemeanor petit larceny in the incident on the night of July 20 that claimed the life of Robert Kunz, 24, of Rossville, according to a statement from the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Zito, a passenger, allegedly accepted $90 for the prescription painkiller oxycodone from Kunz, but then didn't deliver the drug in the dispute that began at the South Shore Commons at 2965 Veterans Road West, according to police and court documents.

Zito was indicted by a Richmond County Grand Jury in February, arraigned last Thursday and has pleaded not guilty. He has been released on his own recognizance. Represented by attorney Anthony Katchen, Zito is due back in Richmond Supreme Court on April 13, according to court documents.

Katchen declined comment on the case Monday.

Robert Messina, 22, of Englewood Avenue in Charleston, the alleged driver of the 2014 Audi sedan, has been charged with felony counts of manslaughter, assault and leaving the scene of an accident. He also faces misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, court records indicate.

Messina, who has pleaded not guilty, was arraigned on March 2 and posted $50,000 bond. Represented by attorney Christopher Nalley, Messina's next date in Richmond Supreme Court is April 8, according to court records.

After the initial disagreement in the South Shore Commons, the car that Messina allegedly was driving sped away and Kunz chased the vehicle down to the light at the intersection of Veterans Road West and Tyrellan Avenue. He jumped on and clung to the hood and windshield, authorities say.

Messina allegedly then drove "several hundred feet at a rate of speed in excess of 30 miles per hour," according to an indictment against him.

Messina swerved into a curb, "thereby dislodging" Kunz from the hood, alleges the indictment.

A police source said that Kunz went flying after Messina hit the brakes.

The vehicle then sped away northbound on Veterans Road, only to return to the scene some time later, according to police.
nws irma cruz

Irma Cruz was brough to the United States at the age of 7 and has been an undocumented immigrant. President Obama's 2012 executive order Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which now faces a legal challenge, protected her from deportation and she is using that time to seek legal status.

(Staff-Shot)

(Editor's note: Immigration is always a hot-button issue in American politics. It's center stage in the 2016 White House battle, thanks to a lawsuit that says President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority when he issued executive orders that allow some undocumented immigrants to work and protects them from deportation. The Supreme Court will hear the case in April and is expected to issue a ruling by the end of June. As the debate rages, the Advance profiles Staten Island immigrants who are at the center of the storm. This is part of a periodic series on the issue.)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Irma Cruz graduated from New Dorp High School with offers from Wagner College and St. John's University for a full four-year scholarship -- something many students only dream of.

Cruz's undocumented status and lack of a Social Security number forced her to decline both scholarship offers.

But she was not deterred by the limits of her illegal status and was determined to make a better life for herself by navigating the path towards citizenship.

ARRIVING IN THE UNITED STATES

Cruz says her mother instilled the values of hard work and education in her three daughters.

Born in Mexico in 1994, she moved to the United States in 2001, when she was 7 years old.

She and her sisters were already learning and speaking minimal English to prepare them for school - their mother bought them CDs, audiobooks, and had them watch the Disney Channel to learn the language.

"We were told that we always had to go to school no matter what situation we were in," Cruz, now 21, said inside the apartment she shares with her mother and sisters, ages 18 and 10.

"In school it was difficult to have somebody stand in front of you speaking and not understand all of the words," she said. "But I was a disciplined child; I love school, I love to learn so I taught myself a lot."

By the time she got to high school, Cruz was already working to save for her college tuition by tutoring and working in the food pantry at El Centro del Inmigrante, an immigrant work and advocacy center in Port Richmond.

"I was the only girl in my high school that was undocumented and wanted to go to college," she said.

Because of her undocumented status, Cruz had to turn down two full four-year scholarships from Wagner College and St. John's University, so she applied to the College of Staten Island, where she just graduated with a bachelors degree in Spanish education.

She recently started teaching Spanish at John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, with help from a recommendation from a college professor.

TIME ALLOWS EFFORT TO LEGAL STATUS

The Cruz family spoke with a lawyer shortly after arriving in the United States to find out how to become legal citizens, but was told that it wasn't a possibility at that time.

But when she learned about the 2012 executive order -- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA -- Cruz began to use the time to pursue the path to have legal status.

Attending school since her arrival in the United States and medical records helped Cruz get DACA.

Requirements to request consideration for deferred action from the Department of Homeland Security include proving that you came to the United States before reaching your sixteenth birthday, have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, and are currently in school or have obtained a degree.

"It was difficult to prove all of the requirements for deferred action, but thankfully I went to school right away so I had my school records to prove when I came to the U.S. and that I haven't left the country. Not a lot of people who come here as a child have those records because they don't go to school," Cruz said.

Although Cruz went to school right away, she also began working as a tutor on the side at the age of 11 to save money for her college education.

Cruz said she feels safer working now that she has DACA protection.

She also feels a little safer about the prospect of deportation, although it was never a constant fear for her.

"My mom has always told me to always do the right thing and go for what I wanted to regardless of my undocumented status. From the beginning she never instilled fear in us, so I just did whatever I had to do," she said.

"But there are students like myself who have great grades, have a goal and a vision, haven't committed a crime and fit good moral standards and they still have to fear being penalized for not doing anything wrong. It's not our choice; we didn't choose to be here. I'm not blaming the parents, but we're here and we're trying to make the best of the life we were given," she said.

'MISCONCEPTIONS' ABOUT UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Cruz said that one of the hardest things about being an undocumented immigrant are the misconceptions associated with it -- some of the most common are that they are lazy, steal jobs from Americans, are uneducated and don't pay taxes.

"The jobs are here, the people are here; it's a choice, either you take it or leave it and whatever choice you make, that's your choice regardless," Cruz said.

Cruz contends that undocumented immigrants are more willing to accept jobs that may be under their skill level because they often do not have many other options and need to provide for their families, while American citizens are more selective about employment.

Another misconception Cruz cited are concerns about taxes -- she's been paying taxes, along with her mother, since they arrived in the United States.

UNDOCUMENTED TAXPAYERS

Working at El Cento, Cruz said they try to inform and encourage the immigrant community to pay taxes, regardless of their status, by getting a tax identification number -- something that can be done without a Social Security card.

"It's your proof of giving back, to show that you're not taking away from the country. You're working, paying taxes, and doing everything right, you're just not getting anything back at the end of the year," she said.

"I think that's something that can be hard for the community to put into perspective. Some people say 'Why should I pay If I'm not getting anything back,' but we tell them you should want to do the right thing to set an example for others."

Now she works at El Centro as a health insurance navigator with the New York State Department of Health, helping others who were in her situation take the right path.

"Working with the community, especially the undocumented community, I was really able to find myself and people like myself who were going through the same thing. Now that I have access to resources I'm able to pass them along to others."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Kellogg says it has launched a criminal investigation into the source of a video that depicts a man urinating on a Kellogg factory assembly line that has surfaced online.

The explicit video shows a man urinating on an assembly line, then the video pans to a sign with the Kellogg logo.

The company said on its website that it learned of the video Friday and immediately informed law enforcement authorities and regulators.

"Kellogg takes this situation very seriously and we were shocked and deeply disappointed by this video that we learned of. We immediately alerted law enforcement authorities and regulators. A criminal investigation is underway as well as a thorough internal investigation," wrote Kellogg on its website.

Kellogg said an initial investigation by the company revealed that the video was recorded in its Memphis, Tenn., facility, in 2014.

"Products that could have been potentially affected were Rice Krispies Treats, Rice Krispies Treats cereal and puffed rice cake products, all of which would be past expiration date," wrote Kellogg.

"Food quality is of the utmost importance to Kellogg Company. We are outraged by this completely unacceptable situation, and we will work closely with authorities to prosecute to the full extent of the law."

The criminal investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation, reports the Associated Press.

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Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November, then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit by jihadis as well.
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System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0314300)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f9dc8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0314300)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f9dc8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f00fef50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f9dc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f9dc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e880d7e8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01c0870)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01c0870)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01fcc88)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612efe759d0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01fcc88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612efe759d0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02bc548)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612efe759d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612efe759d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e880dcf8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612efe75940)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612efe75940)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0327610)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0973c08)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0327610)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0973c08)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f09310a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0973c08)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0973c08)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e880cdb8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0986358)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0986358)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
A heavily pregnant woman was not allowed to fly home to Melbourne on a Tigerair Australia flight on Sunday, even though she had been permitted to travel to Sydney with the discount carrier two days earlier.

Aileen Chand, who was travelling with her husband and her two-year-old son, said they were forced to wait at a bus stop for two hours after she was not allowed to board the plane, until friends arrived at Sydney Airport to collect the family.

Ms Chand had little choice but to "sleep rough in a bus shelter" with her husband and young son, Seven News reported.
REST Industry Super chief executive Damian Hill wants compulsory superannuation contributions raised to 15 per cent to force low-income earners, particularly women, to save more for retirement.

"Keeping to the current schedule to get the super guarantee to 12 per cent by 2025 and then lifting it to 15 per cent by 2027 would help nearly half a million women currently in the system achieve a comfortable retirement," Mr Hill said.

REST Industry Super member Jacqui Foley, pictured with daughter Abbey-Mae, 10, backs the fund's call to lift the superannuation guarantee to 15 per cent. Credit:Philip Gostelow

Lifting the super guarantee, currently at 9.5 per cent, to 15 per cent by 2027 would give about 50,000 of his fund's members the chance to achieve a "comfortable" standard of living in retirement, he said.

That assumes the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia benchmark for a "comfortable" retirement standard as an annual income of $43,184 for a single person who retires at 65 owning their own residence.
The monster El Nino event had contributed to the current record run of global temperatures by increasing the area of abnormally warm water in the central and eastern Pacific. Compared with the rival record giant El Nino of 1997-98, global temperatures are running about 0.5 degrees hotter. "That shows how much much global warming we have had since then," Professor Rahmstorf said. The first half of March is at least as warm, he added, and it means temperatures "are clearly more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels".

'Emergency' "We are in a kind of climate emergency now," Professor Rahmstorf said, noting that global carbon dioxide levels last year rose by a record rate of more than 3 parts per million. "Governments have promised to act [to curb greenhouse gas emissions] and they need to do better than what they promised in Paris" at the global climate summit last December, he said. Australia has not dodged the heat, either, with record national temperatures falling at the start of March, the Bureau of Meteorology said in a special climate statement. The heat surge also comes as the future of climate science hangs in the balance in Australia , with the CSIRO planning to slash monitoring and modelling research.

The most northerly latitudes of the planet were the most abnormally hot regions in February, with large areas reporting temperatures 12 degrees or warmer than average, the NASA data shows. The unusual heat in the far north means the Arctic sea ice will be thinner and more vulnerable to melting as the region heads into the warmer months, Professor Rahmstorf said. Arctic sea ice is already at its smallest extent for this time of year on record. The relatively warm seas are contributing to a warmer atmosphere, reinforcing the long-term trend.

As the Wunderground blog noted, the impacts of the unusual global heat have been felt far and wide, including in severe droughts in Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Fiji, meanwhile, continues work to recover from Cyclone Winston, the most powerful storm recorded in the southern hemisphere. "[This warming] is not harmless," Professor Rahmstorf said. "It has quite a negative impact on society and the biosphere." While February's global heat spike is unlikely to be sustained as the El Nino winds down, the latest indicators "are all symptoms of the general warming trend", he said. Reef worries

Australia may also see some of that impact in coming weeks, with a large region of the Great Barrier Reef under threat from coral bleaching, according to the latest data from the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. The Great Barrier Marine Park Authority said on Monday that it detected "highly variable but widespread coral bleaching" across the park. The area around Lizard Island, situated 250 km north of Cairns, and sites further north, had fared the worst, Russell Reichelt, the authority's chair, said in a statement. "This is the result of sea-surface temperatures climbing as high as 33 degrees during February," Dr Reichelt said. "In the far north, the surveys found severe bleaching on inshore reefs, along with moderate bleaching on mid-shelf reefs."

Cloud cover had helped to moderate bleaching on southern reefs. "The events on the Great Barrier Reef are part of the global pressure on coral reefs during a strong El Nino weather system which also affected reefs in Hawaii and the Caribbean," Dr Reichelt said, adding that about 5 per cent of shallow reefs had died as a result of bleaching events in 1998 and 2002. "Bleaching is a vivid reminder of the need for all of us to continue building the resilience of coral reefs to give them the best chance of dealing with increasing climate change impacts," he said. Japan reading The Japan Meteorological Agency has confirmed NASA's reading of a surge in global temperatures in February.
"Thanks for the kind messages from afar. As @johnnyturk says, it's Sleepless in Sarawak. We're both well and grateful for great ABC support," journalist Linton Besser had tweeted. Besser and cameraman Louis Eroglu were released on bail on Sunday after asking Mr Razak why millions of dollars were deposited into his bank account. Besser threw the question to the Prime Minister as he was entering a mosque. Shortly after, Malaysian authorities accused the Australian duo of acting "aggressively" and crossing a cordon. Besser and Eroglu were detained for six hours but released on bail and had their passports returned. Late on Monday night local time the pair were told via their lawyer Albert Tang that they would be charged. Mr Tang told Fairfax Media the newsmen had been investigated for "obstructing a public servant", under Section 186 of the penal code.

Mr Tang said he had been told the decision had been made by the Attorney-General but would not comment when asked if he believed the charges were politically motivated. "Under the law, the police investigate and the Attorney-General's department or public prosecutors have the power to decide whether or not to proceed with any prosecution," Mr Tang said, speaking from Kuching in Malaysia. Four Corners Executive Producer Sally Neighbour said a short time after of the developments: "I am shocked." "The ABC is very concerned by the prospect of charges being laid in Malaysia against our journalists Linton Besser and Louie Eroglu, who have been working on assignment with Four Corners," the ABC said in a statement. "We are awaiting details of any proposed case and are taking legal advice on the next steps.



"Linton and Louie have the full support of the ABC and we are working with all the relevant authorities to try to resolve this matter."

The Four Corners team were in the country investigating the political crisis engulfing the Prime Minister known as the "1MDB scandal". 1Malaysia Development Bhd is a state fund Mr Razak established in 2009, with the aim of turning Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub. The Wall Street Journal has reported global investigators believe more than $1 billion of funds, mostly from IMDB, has ended up in Mr Razak's personal bank accounts. Mr Razak denies this. Malaysia's censorship of free press
"Significant findings have been made, but the organisation behind this will be announced once the investigation has been finalised," he said. Emergency workers work at the scene of the explosion that killed at least 27 people. Credit:Erhan Ortac NATO member Turkey faces multiple security threats. As part of a US-led coalition, it is fighting Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. It is also battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s. The bombing came two days after the US Embassy issued a warning that there was information regarding a potential attack on government buildings in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara, just a few km away from the blast site. The United States condemned the attack, saying in a White House National Security Council statement: "This horrific act is only the most recent of many terrorist attacks perpetrated against the Turkish people. The United States stands together with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued partner, as we confront the scourge of terrorism."

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 30 of those killed had died at the scene, while the four others died in hospital. At least one or two of the dead were attackers, he said, and 19 of the 125 wounded were in critical condition. Pellets and nails One of the security officials said the car used in the attack was a BMW driven from Viransehir, a town in the largely Kurdish southeast, and that the PKK and the affiliated Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) appeared to be responsible. TAK claimed responsibility for the previous car bombing, just a few blocks away, on February 17. That attack targeted a military bus as it waited at traffic lights, and killed 29 people, most of them soldiers, near the military headquarters, parliament and other key government institutions. A police source said there appeared to have been two attackers, one a man and the other a woman, whose severed hand was found 300 metres from the blast site.

The explosives were the same kind as those used on February 17 and the bomb had been reinforced with pellets and nails to cause maximum damage, the source told Reuters. The pro-Kurdish opposition HDP, parliament's third largest party, which Erdogan accuses of being an extension of the PKK, condemned what it described as a "savage attack". State broadcaster TRT said the car had exploded at a major transport hub, hitting a bus carrying some 20 people near the central Guven Park and Kizilay Square at 6:43 p.m. (1643 GMT). An Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook, Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the bombing were shared on social media, broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV reported. Security threats

World leaders joined in condemning the bombing. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "appalled," while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described it as a "cowardly attack". Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as "inhuman," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies. "There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence. All NATO allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the country's ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was in a car at an intersection 20 metres from where the bomb was detonated. "It really does bring it home to us that a terrorist attack can take place at any time, anywhere," Bishop told Nine Network television while on a diplomatic trip to Fiji. "We utterly condemn these barbaric attacks on civilian populations." "It was an appalling thing for him to witness, being so close, but he's fine," she added of the ambassador.
Sales of Canberra public housing properties have raised $100 million in the past three years, with expensive inner north and inner south assets among those sold to fund new accommodation across the ACT.

Analysis of ACT government data shows of the 209 public housing properties sold since 2013-14, 106 have been in inner north and inner south suburbs, with the most lucrative sale in the period a Griffith property that was auctioned for $1.175 million.

Executive director of Housing and Community Services David Matthews with Housing Minister Yvette Berry. Building new housing contributes to the ACT economy. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

The government's Community Services Directorate manages a portfolio of about 11,600 properties, worth an estimated $4.5 billion.

As part of the longstanding "salt and pepper" policy of distributing public housing properties around Canberra's suburbs, valuable inner city properties are among those being sold to raise money for renewal. Ageing houses, those with poor energy efficiency ratings and high maintenance costs are also being targeted for sale.
The Australia's Got Talent dream has ended for Canberra's heavy metal kid, Callum McPhie, who was voted off the final episode of the show on Monday night.

The 10-year-old performed Through the Fire and Flames by DragonForce on a stage emblazoned by real flames in the grand final on Sunday night to high praise from the judges.

Callum McPhie missed out on the $250,000 prize.

But he failed to attract enough votes to make it through to the top five and stay in the running to take home the $250,000 first prize on Monday's "decider".

Many of the pint-sized rock star's fans felt he had been robbed, judging by the reaction on social media, expressing their disbelief over the extent of his talent at a young age.
Whole forests at the National Arboretum could be ripped out and replaced as staff grapple with what to do about dying trees and the potential costs.

At least 10 per cent of the forests were struggling, executive director Stephen Alegria said.

Peter Marshall, a forester with 40 years' experience, is concerned about the way many species of trees at the arboretum have been planted. He is pictured among the forest of Chinese tulip trees. Credit:Graham Tidy

A soon-to-be-completed review into the health of the trees would help staff make the tough decisions and plan for the future.

"There was a set of circumstances that caused many of the trees to fail  now we're really grappling with what should we do," Mr Alegria said.
Canberrans who fall victim to crime are set to benefit from a fresh set of guidelines to help ensure their rights are better upheld throughout court proceedings.

ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner Helen Watchirs and Victims of Crime Commissioner John Hinchey have joined forces to launch the Guide on the Rights of Victims and Witnesses.

The legal framework pulled together numerous statutes from the Victims of Crime Act and recognised that victims often had limited influence on the often-lengthy process of investigation, prosecution and sentencing of crimes committed against them.

Dr Watchirs said the commission had been keen to focus on victim's rights and the guide was aimed at justice system workers including police, prosecutors, courts, support services, lawyers and government officials.
Canberra has become a tale of two cities  an affluent city with a dark underside where some people are just one illness, adverse life event or missed pay cheque from the precipice of unaffordable housing.

With six months until Canberrans head to the polls, peak bodies will launch a new campaign on Monday urging voters and candidates to make affordable housing and homelessness a key ACT election issue.

Canberra has become a tale of two cities - an affluent city with a dark underside. Credit:Kate Geraghty

ACT Shelter and ACT Council of Social Service's My Vote for Housing will feature four videos highlighting the poverty and disadvantage not seen by many Canberrans.

About 20,000 households in the ACT are facing housing stress, with single-parent household among the hardest hit, recent research showed.
Clive Palmer's Townsville nickel refinery looks set to close for four months, and might never reopen if the mining magnate's own conditions are not met.

Mr Palmer, the Federal Member for Fairfax, has detailed five demands he said must be met in order to save his embattled Queensland Nickel refinery.

Queensland Nickel Sales, a company set up last week to run the Yabulu refinery, wrote to the Queensland government to outline its five requirements for operations at the refinery to recommence from July.

Mr Palmer said the requirements were:
Sydney's skyline is set for more cranes and a rooftop bar with the development of the Darling Exchange, in the heart of the $3.4 billion transformation of Darling Harbour.

Located in the Darling Square neighbourhood of Darling Harbour, it will feature a community and lifestyle building that will be the new home of the City of Sydney's library, an innovation exchange, a child care centre, open air retail at ground level and the bar on level 6.

The Darling Exchange will contain a new library including a makerspace and Innovation Exchange with a program to support creative and technology start ups.

The six-storey circular building is designed by Japanese-based, Kengo Kuma Architects (KKA), with an adjoining public urban square designed by Aspect Studios.

Kengo Kuma, founder and principal, KKA said, the wooden screen wraps the exterior of the Darling Exchange building "in a dynamic and exciting manner, a historical reference to Darling Harbour originally being a hive of business activity and a focal point as a market exchange".
The decision to cease talks with San Miguel divided the market  but not evenly. In the (sparsely populated) risk-on corner were those who supported a more aggressive bid by Telstra to take bets on new investments that could pave the way for earnings growth. In the other corner was a far bigger group of investors concerned with the dangers of taking on a big infrastructure project in a developing country like the Philippines. Telstra would have been the junior (40 per cent) partner and was entering a new market. While Telstra has proven expertise in developing large-scale networks, there were strong concerns among its investors that its intended $1.3 billion contribution to the project could blow out.

Capital management time Regardless of whether Telstra was taking on too much risk, the demise of this deal improves the probability that Telstra will engage in capital management initiatives  like a buyback. It has a couple of hundred million odd dollars worth of franking credits, so there is some capacity to reward shareholders.This is another factor that would contribute to the share price bounce. Meanwhile, the market remains in the dark about the tipping point in the collapse of the joint venture talks. Penn talks about commercial considerations and the need to achieve a certain return relative to the company's weighted average cost of capital. But if you read between the lines of Penn's dialogue, the divorce with San Miguel was not over the management of the venture nor about the construction and design of the network. In both instances Telstra clearly had the expertise.

So whether it was really about ongoing capital commitments to the venture, debt levels, how to account for Telstra's expertise in build, or even the value of San Miguel's existing communications assets must be left to speculation. Telstra isn't saying. Apparently the decision was not influenced by management's discussion with Telstra shareholders. Penn has made it clear in the past he is happy to engage with shareholders but he and the board make the decisions. The overarching sense of relief from Telstra shareholders was palpable  from the share price gain to the list of online comments that, in summary, suggest that Penn and Telstra shareholders have dodged a bullet. The response to the collapse of this deal is a lesson for Penn to digest.

On the one hand he could be congratulated for some degree of conservatism in how the company assesses risk. On the other hand the shareholders have put Penn on notice that they will not be happy seeing Telstra's cash flow spent on organic growth or acquisitions that could go pear shaped. Pacnet success This is despite the fact that the largest of Telstra's recent Asian acquisitions, the submarine cable network Pacnet, has been a success and the company now sources 10 per cent of its income from Asia. Investors are all keen to see that there is no diversion away from a focus on the wireless market in Australia.
Millions of casual workers would be given the right to become permanent employees after six months, under a national union plan to curb the casualisation of Australia's workforce.

Several major unions have launched claims in the Fair Work Commission seeking new rights cemented across every industry, which would give 2.2 million casuals the ability to convert after working "regularly" for six months with one employer.

David Kubli, a casual forklift driver since 2011, works 36-hour weeks, and considers himself a full-time employee in 'everything but the name'. Credit:Jason South

The contentious push has sparked a new industrial relations battle, set to unfold this week.

The workplace tribunal has begun a series of public hearings into the issue as part of its review of pay and conditions in 122 modern awards covering most Australian workers.
A BRT system would also be compatible with a future fleet of autonomous vehicles and provide a more flexible public transport solution for Canberra. Joel McKay, Conder An improvement The ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations congratulates The Canberra Times for its coverage of the release of school NAPLAN results ("Our NAPLAN tables now rank improvement", March 9, p6). This is a very complex issue and your intelligent coverage included many of the necessary nuances and caveats. The ranking of schools by student improvement, rather than raw scores, is also much more relevant to school performance, measuring the change in student knowledge and skill during their time at the school.

We thank you for listening to parents on the need to move away from raw-score rankings. Obviously, we would prefer to see no school rankings at all. Our excellent public schools have so many things to offer that cannot be captured in any sort of leagues table. John Haydon, council president, ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations UnEnlightened Walking around enjoying the wonder of the Canberra Enlighten festival on Saturday evening was suddenly marred as we returned from Old Parliament House to the National Library, where we were confronted by the disgusting unsightly mess of shoddy lean-tos and makeshift camping structures.

How much longer are we Canberrans to endure and tolerate the freeloading interstate interlopers turning our city into a "Yuendumu look-alike" camping ground? What is the purpose any more? L. Christie, Canberra City Aloofly, the High Court declined to be Enlightened. Jack Kershaw, Kambah Heritage valued

The GWS Giants are acutely aware of the value of the heritage assets in the Manuka precinct, which is why they will all be kept and enhanced by the proposed redevelopment. The organisation believes the best way to protect the heritage values is to design new components in a way that enhances and highlights the heritage values in the precinct, making them a feature of the newer development. Employing design excellence to draw more attention to heritage values is the Giants preferred approach. As a result, we have put in place a design competition between Australia's best architectural practices under the auspices of the Australian Institute of Architects. The design competition will ultimately determine the detailed design for the precinct. A key criteria for that design competition will be how the design responds to the need to protect and enhance the heritage values in the precinct.

I would welcome the opportunity to meet Marguerite Castello (Letters, March 10) or a group of your interested friends or colleagues to discuss further these matters. Richard Griffiths, chief operating officer, GWS Giants A cruel death I write in response to Bev Cain (Letters, March 10). I returned to Canberra this week after attending my mother's funeral in Queensland. Several years ago, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's-type dementia and had been living with my brother and his wife when he was dissatisfied with the level of care she had been receiving in an aged-care facility. Fortunately, they had the help of the wonderful Blue Care nurses, who provided a wide range of services. Although most memories were gone, Mum received high-quality care and stimulation over the last two years. However, close to the end, she lost the capacity to swallow and was no longer able to eat.

She became very weak from weight loss and began sleeping more every day. Effectively, she starved to death. A cruel death. My mother was a very private woman who would have been humiliated by needing such intimate care in her latter years. Not the death I would wish for myself or my loved ones. While I acknowledge that everyone has the right to the death they choose, equally, I believe we should have the right to choose the time of our passing when there is little quality of life. I sadly had to euthanise my little dog at the end of last year because she was in a great deal of pain and unwell. I was able to cease her suffering and I wonder why I do not have the same right for myself.

Paula Calcino, Oxley Actions would mean far more than words John Hargreaves ("Former Labor MLA tells of hospital horror story", March 9, p2) is lucky! I was sent post haste with an urgent GP letter for a low blood count after nearly 11 weeks in another hospital, recovering from MRSA (golden staph). After a waiting period, the male triage nurse seemed not interested in the letter proposing the need for blood transfusion  but did list me for admission to an emergency bed. Feeling pretty low, this was great news, but there followed seven hours sitting in the emergency waiting room wrapped in a blanket (along with another man with a heart condition). It is hard to describe the exhausted relief when a bed finally eventuated. After being processed with acknowledgment that a blood transfusion was indeed necessary, one had to wait to be seen by a doctor. Fair enough, but a further seven hours? So, all up, about 16 hours after arrival at Canberra Hospital emergency, the wheels sped up and the transfusion arrived  as did a second bag!

As with John, the nursing and medical staff were "professional, emphatic, caring and dedicated", but even they couldn't find a proper pillow for me. I wrote to then minister for health Katy Gallagher and she took up the matter, promising there would be improvements. Thus, I smiled at current Health Minister Simon Corbell's stock spin response to John's ordeal: "I think they serve as a timely reminder that there remains work to be done to improve co-ordination of care in the acute care space." Gee, Mr Corbell, now that's really perceptive  after all, it's only five years between John and me. Or is it 15 years of government spin? Can't wait for more about extra beds coming on stream, but what about the "archaic systems". Will they just expand as the facility gets bigger? No doubt, we Canberrans and the professionals will hear more spun promises in this election year. Pity actions cannot speak louder than words.

Len Goodman, Flynn Using a one-off bonanza to fund tax cuts is not showing leadership The article, "Coalition eyes off resources recovery for budget" (March 10, p1) implies in the second last paragraph that Malcolm Turnbull may consider using revenue from rebounding iron ore prices and recoveries in copper and gold prices to fund revenue-neutral income tax cuts. Australia has a structural imbalance between budget income and expenditure resulting from former prime minister John Howard's several income tax cuts and other sub-optimal decisions including selling our gold reserves either before or during a period when a mining boom generated additional revenue for the government that he expected to last forever. Mr Howard wasn't the first prime minister to make this mistake and, unfortunately, will not be the last.

Australia has budget deficits piling up and no sustainable increase in revenue is in sight to redress the situation. Using a one-off bonanza that will not last in the post-modern world to fund tax cuts rather than showing strength of character and leadership by addressing structural problems; which should be a major part of a national leader's responsibility; does not sit well with the vast majority of the Australian people who do not enjoy being part of a continuing sinkhole of debt. Les Brennan, Sunshine Bay, NSW Need for balance Regarding the article "Good riddance to the Defence Materiel Organisation  but is industry any better?" (The Public Sector Informant, March 2016, pp16-17), I spent a similar amount of time in the RAAF and defence industry to Peter Rusbridge, although not as an engineer, and I agree with him that we should not forget the past. Lest there be any inference from his article that the RAAF engineering profession has been faultless in adapting to change, my recollection is otherwise.

I remember how the acquisition and effective introduction into operational service of the Lockheed SP-2H Neptune were impacted by a RAAF support organisation where "traditional" trades (ie, radio and instruments-electrical) were more concerned about preserving their own fiefdoms than tackling the challenges of then-emerging systems engineering. I also recall that the performance of both the P-3C Orion and the F/A-18 Hornet relied on industry software engineers for some time as RAAF expertise was, belatedly, being established. While DMO might not have been the best model of interfacing the RAAF as a customer and industry as a supplier, my experience suggests that there is a need for a balanced blend of in-house and industry engineering expertise in maximising RAAF operational effectiveness in a timely manner. No doubt there are various ways of bringing them together to achieve this. Bob Howe, wing commander, retired, Chapman Slow the growth

David Roth (Letters, March 11) insists on portraying opposition to population growth as an attack on migrants. This straw man is commonly used to shut down the population debate. Migrants are not categorically more or less burdensome than anyone else, but population growth is a dead weight burden. We could have a stable population with net immigration at around 0.3per cent of our population per annum, and a fertility rate around 1.5 children per woman (that's about two for every couple who wants any). That would maintain in perpetuity, the current level of around a quarter of Australian residents being foreign born. If you love migrants and ethnic diversity, have fewer kids. Roth further insists that historical incidents where economic boom has coincided with high immigration prove that immigration-driven population growth can be advantageous. But he does not consider that Americans or Australians might have benefited more from their boom years without the immigration. Their resources may have been exploited more slowly without the extra labour, but how is that a bad thing, if the income they generate per capita is higher, the wealth is more equitably distributed, the resource lasts longer, and the environmental impact is reduced?

Jane O'Sullivan, Chelmer, Qld Fairer system R. King (Letters, March 12) advances the surprising proposition that the Liberals won 20per cent of all the Senate seats in 2013 from just 7.28per cent of the national first preference votes. More pertinently, however, it may be noted that the Coalition won about 43per cent of all the Senate seats from about 38per cent of the national vote (a slight over-representation). By contrast, Ricky Muir won 2.5per cent of all the Senate seats from just 0.13per cent of the national vote (a massive over-representation). So, I agree with King that the Senate voting system needs changing. The proposed system, with its abolition of group voting tickets and its introduction of optional preferential voting both above and below the line, would seem to provide a fairer result by putting the vote back into the hands of the electors.

Frank Marris, Forrest The Coalition seems now to be desperate to have an election before the proletariat has fully sussed them out. Proposed changes to Senate voting are a serious erosion of democracy. Why doesn't the Labor opposition pledge that it will debate everything, but oppose nothing, before the next election, but if returned to power will revisit every piece of legislation passed during this moratorium. In that way no early double dissolution election is triggered, and the Coalition is given more time to hang itself. Bruce Gibbs, Tharwa

Another philistine I urge Canberra Times readers to pick up a souvenir copy of the March National Library of Australia Magazine, as it is the last ever to be published. Why is this? Federal government funding cuts are the reason. As well as this, these funding cuts will cease the aggregation of content into Trove from museums and universities. Who said Malcolm Turnbull isn't a philistine like his predecessor? John Davenport, Farrer

TO THE POINT WAKE, SLEEPING DOGS Now we know: ACT taxpayers contribute $1 million to greyhound racing but just under $700,000 to the RSPCA (TAMS figures). It is bad enough that we fund this so called 'sport'  so who else is outraged by this revelation? Suzanne Jedryk, Griffith CLARITY OF THOUGHT

If there were any politicians with the eloquence and pragmatism of Paul Pentony (Letters, March 10) I'd actually consider voting. James Allan, Narrabundah JUST VOTE ON IT So much huff, puff and reckless expenditure to fudge who can, and who must not, be lawfully married. An ancient media mogul just cancelled past marriage vows to marry a new, moderately less ancient, mate. Prospects for progeny or permanency were not essential requirements for this, and many, conventional unions. Can Parliament win respect for diversity and equality while using gender to exclude soulmates who seek lawful recognition of a life-long commitment?

Don Burns, Mawson HIGHWAY TO CANBERRA Tony Windsor: An independent Aussie farmer's voice of commonsense and sanity crying in the wilderness. Welcome back Tony. Sylvia Miners, Isabella Plains GREEN DEAL

Richard Di Natale recently stated that a preference deal with the Liberal Party was not possible because of the party's stance on health, education and asylum seekers. Is that the only reason? Do "The Greens" agree now with the Liberals stance on the environment and climate change? Roger Brown, Rivett PROSTATES It is good to know that John Maclean is still standing and not prostrate, after operating on his prostate using his wife's manicure set (Letters, March 12).

Murray May, Cook ATTACK OF THE DRONES If we are to be subjected to loosened drone flight controls ("Proposal to loosen drone flight controls", March 13, p4) then at the very least all drones should be registered so that I know who to sue when some fool with the hand/eye coordination of an arthritic newt drives their drone into those I love or into property that I own. Roger Dace, Reid It's a shame that drones are to be set free in the ACT. I was hoping they would stay in the Legislative Assembly until after the election.
While the original KKK was a distinctly Southern movement, developed and led by Confederate veterans, the revived Klan's 1920s heyday featured a national and predominantly urban base, with the midwest, southwest and eastern seaboard emerging as powerful Klan centres. Denver, Detroit and Philadelphia each boasted memberships greater than 20,000. During the civil rights era, Klan activity again became concentrated in the South, and much of the KKK's most brutal violence took place against Southern civil rights forces. But the group's strongholds were not in rural locales but rather in and around cities such as Birmingham in Alabama, Greensboro and Raleigh in North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida. Stetson Kennedy, author of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) study Southern Exposure, posing in the Klan's uniform to illustrate the sign indicating the Oath Of Secrecy in 1947. Credit:Getty Images/File In the ensuing decades, the KKK's geographic reach has again broadened. Today, the Southern Poverty Law Centres comprehensive "hate map" locates active KKK units in 34 states, from New England to the West Coast. Members of the Ku Klux Klan march through the streets of Sharpsburg, Maryland, in 2004. Credit:AP

The KKK operates largely in secret, hiding its members' identities The Klan is most notoriously associated with terrorist acts committed under the cover of darkness, with perpetrators' identities concealed by hoods. Media accounts back up this stereotype. One British article offers a "glimpse into secretive rituals". A History Channel documentary promises to get inside this "secret society". Slate described the Klan as one of the "most feared, secretive, and marginalised pockets of society around the world". At times, KKK members have used hoods to protect themselves and create symbolic cachet. But more often, Klan groups have behaved like public organisations, trumpeting their presence and civic contributions. In 1925, KKK leaders showed off their burgeoning membership and political influence by organising a Klan parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. The event drew more than 40,000 unmasked members. During the 1960s, KKK outfits staged nightly "street walks" in southern cities, with hundreds of members marching, unhidden, through local business districts to drum up attention for nearby rallies and to underscore members' open presence in the community. Such skewed civic-mindedness extended to a range of social events and charitable acts, from Klan church services, fish fries and turkey shoots to campaigns to deliver food and other necessities to the sick or needy. In the 1970s, David Duke upped the ante, exchanging robes for three-piece suits in an effort to enhance his group's respectability and appeal. Today's self-styled KKK leaders claim to be opening new frontiers by, say, launching websites or organising marches through local downtowns. In fact, these actions are part of a long lineage of checkered efforts by the Klan to achieve public legitimacy.

The KKK enjoyed public support from segregationist politicians in the civil-rights-era South In his 1963 inaugural speech, Alabama governor George Wallace famously delivered an impassioned defense, chanting, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" A year earlier, Mississippi governor Ross Barnett announced that he was a "segregationist and ... proud of it." But despite these bold proclamations, the alliance between Klansmen and politicians was very complicated. Like a number of his Jim Crow-era counterparts, Wallace tolerated the Klan, courted its membership's votes and at times leveraged KKK influence to shore up his segregationist flank. But segregationist politicians stopped short of publicly promoting lawlessness or otherwise validating the Klan's brand of organised terrorism. Tellingly, when a journalist caught Wallace on film shaking hands with national Klan leader Robert Shelton during Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign, a member of the governor's staff instructed an Alabama state trooper to grab the camera and destroy the film. That's because the Klan polarised the southern white electorate. While an overwhelming percentage supported segregation in the 1960s, a significant contingent was repelled by the KKK's violent extra-legal means. Politicians struggled to appeal to both camps. Before his 1964 election as North Carolina governor, centrist Dan K. Moore responded to state KKK leader Bob Jones' endorsement by claiming not to know "the nature of the Klan or its membership" and saying he welcomed the support of all responsible groups. Such balancing acts mirror Trump's recent failure to immediately disavow the support of longtime KKK leader Duke  "Just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke, OK?"  demonstrating how, as in 1964, today's candidates can seek advantage in tacit appeals to issues that resonate with the Klan's world view.

The KKK's damaging impact has been limited to its terrorist activities Any account of the Klan's disturbing legacy rightfully centres on the deadly acts of violence its members have perpetrated in the name of white supremacy. But Klan vigilantism has harmed communities in less-direct and more broadly corrosive ways as well. Even today, 50 years after the height of the KKK's civil-rights-era violence, communities where the Klan once thrived exhibit higher rates of violent crime than neighbouring areas. Such effects demonstrate the power of a movement that flouts established authority and weakens the bonds of respect and order within a community. That power disrupts the social fabric well beyond the presence of the KKK itself. The KKK's durable influence also extends to electoral politics. The Klan has never recaptured the powerful voting bloc it built in the 1920s (at the time, its membership drove the outcomes of hundreds of local and state elections). But in a recent study, Rory McVeigh, Justin Farrell and I found that the KKK served as a major driver of the largest partisan shift of the past half-century  the South's pronounced move toward the Republican Party. While support for Republican candidates has grown throughout the region, the increase has been significantly more pronounced in areas where the KKK was previously active. The Klan helped produce this effect by encouraging voters to move away from Democratic candidates, who increasingly supported civil rights reforms, and by pushing racial conflicts to the fore and more clearly aligning those issues with party platforms. While this shift from blue to red may in itself not be problematic, the damaging effect of the Klan's role resides in the divisive nature of that transition, which continues to be reflected in our polarised political system.
The former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger once said that Iran needed to decide whether it was "a nation or a cause".

The "cause" was to spread the Islamic revolution, Shiite style, the priority of the ayatollahs since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. That involved crushing the rival brand of Islam, the Sunni version practised by most of its Arab neighbours.

It included defying the US, otherwise known as "the Great Satan", under the rallying cry of "Death to America".

And, of course, it required the destruction of Israel. This to-do list didn't leave Iran with too many friends in the world, though it made common cause with Russia against the US.
Keith Emerson 19442016

Keith Emerson, who has died aged 71, was the co-founder and flamboyant keyboardist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the British rock band that ushered in the florid, classically flavoured progressive rock of the early 1970s.

Keith Emerson in 2010. Credit:Getty Images

Emerson, Lake & Palmer was formed in 1970 after Emerson and guitarist and vocalist Greg Lake jammed at the Fillmore West rock venue in San Francisco in 1969, while both were touring with their respective bands, The Nice (Emerson) and King Crimson (Lake). The duo recruited drummer Carl Palmer.

The group's agenda was clear from its first concert at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival when they made their debut with their rock interpretation of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Their debut album, Emerson Lake & Palmer, included souped-up versions of Bartok's 1911 piano suite, Allegro barbaro, and the first movement of Janacek's Sinfonietta.
Robert Ayre-Smith 19262016

Robert Ayre-Smith spent many fulfilling days in Third World villages helping small-scale farmers to improve their crop and livestock production. He also made substantial contributions to the livestock industries in more than 30 countries in a career that lasted over 40 years.

Robert Ayre-Smith undertook multiple missions for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program.

He was born in London on September 25, 1926. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were family doctors and it was assumed Robert would also join the profession. However, at the start of World War II, he spent time on a dairy farm and developed an interest in crop and livestock production. When he went to university, he chose veterinary science at the Royal Veterinary College in London.

Doing a postgraduate course in agriculture at Cambridge, he broadened his studies to include climatology. Later, with a Fulbright Scholarship, he pursued his climatological interests in America by studying the crossing of European and tropical breeds of cattle to introduce heat tolerance to their offspring.
Last year I attended the Safe Schools national symposium in Sydney and heard Rebekah Robertson share the story of her daughter Georgie affirming her gender identity.

She spoke of the trauma Georgie experienced at one school and the immensely positive changes that came about when she transferred to a supportive and safe school environment. In Rebekah's words "She went from being a gloriously average student to a high-achieving leader."

The Safe Schools initiative has come too late for some Australians. Credit:Penny Stephens

This was before the Safe Schools Coalition was rolled out nationally and there was little information for schools wanting to support LGBTI students.

As someone who has dedicated my life to protecting and backing our children, as a parent, a foster carer, child protection worker, founder of the CREATE Foundation and CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians, children's safety is something I'm deeply passionate about.
Tim Minchin has no regrets about Come Home Cardinal Pell, the song in which he urged Australia's highest-ranking Catholic clergyman to catch a plane from Rome to face the Royal Commission in person. But he does admit to feeling a little "sad" for the man he labelled "scum", a "pompous buffoon" and a "goddamn coward".

"I feel sorry for everyone in this sorry affair," says Minchin, the 40-year-old musician and comedian from Perth who now lives in LA but is in Australia for the Melbourne opening of his hit musical Matilda this week.

"I wish the f---er had come back, though, because to not come back shows a massive disconnect with what the survivors need. They weren't believed, and they need not just to be believed but publicly believed by the institution. And he's the big guy. It's not my fault that he's the big guy."

Minchin's song has been viewed more than 1.3 million times on his YouTube channel since its debut on The Project on February 16. It topped the iTunes chart in Australia, with all proceeds going to cover the expenses of the Ballarat abuse survivors who flew to Rome to witness Pell's testimony (Minchin's $25,000 contribution comes on top of the $203,000 raised via a gofundme page set up by Meshel Laurie and Gorgi Coghlan, who hosted The Project on the night the song was dropped).
Theories abounded on a special science edition of Q&A, from Einstein's old high-stakes hunches to more recent propositions and pre-occupations. But there was one hypothesis that didn't get a look in, so we are pleased to share it with you here.

The basic principle: when going highbrow with Hadron Colliders and other head-spinning wonders of the scientific world, most laboratory rats - or "TV viewers" if you prefer - have been shown to respond much more enthusiastically if the gravity gurus go easy on the ivory-tower gravitas. And on Monday night, Q&A delivered the proof, in the form of the American physicist Brian Greene, a man whose brainpower is self-evidently colossal but who can appear - especially if you watch him with the sound down - to be the world's foremost evangelist for the Hokey Pokey.

When Greene talks, he brings his body and soul to the endeavour - arms fly and fingers soar, pointing and prodding and embracing and emphasising and explaining. In short, he puts every bit of himself in and shakes it all about. The effect is infectious, and he was just one of several uber-brains on this Q&A panel gifted with that rare dual talent: combining scientific smarts with communication skills that erase the barrier between the layperson and the lofty boffin.

This ensured that Q&A managed something rather remarkable with its science special, especially given the density of the subject matter. It actually sizzled. It fizzed and popped and bubbled and sparked. It made science, and scientists, sexy - sexy as only smart can be. Passion was abundant, and infectious - an evening spent in the company of hot brains rather than hot bodies is, it turns out, quite exhilarating.
Police arrested four students from the Australian National University after they blocked a coal train from leaving a controversial new mine in NSW's north-west for four hours on Sunday.

Front Line Action on Coal spokeswoman Chelsea Lazar said the four students climbed onto the coal train from Whitehaven's Maules Creek mine, north-west of Tamworth, at Willow Tree about 6pm on Sunday night.

Their blockade brought the main line between the mine and Newcastle's coal ports to a grinding halt, with trains reportedly backed up on both sides of the track.

They remained there until they were arrested about 10pm.

The students in their early to mid 20s were taken to Muswellbrook Police Station where they were later charged with obstructing a railway locomotive and remaining on running lines, Ms Lazar said.
Australia's ambassador to Turkey was just 20 metres away when a car bomb exploded in central Ankara on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding about 125.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said she had spoken to the "slightly shaken" ambassador James Larsen, who was in his car near Kizilay Square at the time of the blast.

"He likened it to a bomb going off in the middle of one of Sydney's busiest streets ... it was a horrific sight," Ms Bishop said.
Suva, Fiji: Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has held her first official talks with Fiji's Prime Minister since the countries normalised relations two years ago, as Australia seeks to rebuild its relationship with the Pacific neighbour.

The longstanding friendship between Fiji and Australia soured in 2006 when Frank Bainimarama, a former military commander, seized power in a coup, and Australia responded by installing sanctions and travel bans on Fijian officials. In the meantime, China overtook Australia as Fiji's biggest donor and Fiji strengthened defence ties with Russia.

The Australian government is hoping to deepen its relationship with Fiji in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji three weeks ago, killing 44 people.

Australia has donated $15 million in humanitarian assistance to Fiji since the cyclone and has sent almost 1000 Australian Defence Force personnel to assist the recovery effort.
US President Barack Obama has made a passionate case for mobile devices to be built in a way that would allow the government to gain access to personal data if needed to prevent a terrorist attack or enforce tax laws.

Speaking at the South by Southwest festival in Texas, the president said he could not comment on the legal case in which the FBI is trying to force Apple to allow access to an iPhone linked to San Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook.

President Barack Obama talks with Evan Smith, Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Tribune, during South by Southwest. Credit:AP

But he made clear that despite his commitment to Americans' privacy and civil liberties, a balance was needed to allow some government intrusion if necessary.

"If technologically it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong that there is no key, there's no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer, how do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot?" he said.
ABC Four Corners journalist Linton Besser says he and his camera operator are well and grateful for the support they have received after being detained in Malaysia.

Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu were detained, and then later released, while trying to question Prime Minister Najib Razak over a corruption scandal.

They have not been charged with any offence but their passports have been seized and they have been told not to leave the country, the ABC reported.

Besser tweeted on Monday that he and Eroglu were grateful for the support and kind messages they had received.
A property developer and Liberal politician on Sydney's most controversial council made millions building and selling apartments that allegedly breach their development approval.

Auburn City Council staff have known for years that there were "irregularities" with a unit block developed by councillor Ronney Oueik, the Liberal Party's candidate for the seat of Auburn at last year's election.

But the council is only now pursuing legal action against Cr Oueik, a political ally of Salim Mehajer, following repeated inquiries by Fairfax Media over the past month regarding one of his apartment developments in Auburn.

The 41-unit complex at 40-46 Station Road was approved in 2001 to contain 12 three-bedroom units and 29 two bedroom units.
The last remaining Little Penguin colony on the NSW mainland could be at risk if a tourism company's bid to change its operating conditions is approved, environmentalists and advocates say.

Mawland, which runs the Quarantine Station site at North Head in Manly, has applied for a raft of variations to its planning controls, including playing music in an outdoor area metres away from penguin nests, boosting visitor numbers and carrying out environmental audits less frequently.

The submission also includes a request to remove the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service as co-proponents of the site, which would mean that Mawland would accept primary responsibility for implementing the conditions of planning approval.

But environmentalists are concerned that such changes will threaten the endangered penguin colony, which is still struggling to recover from the loss of more than two dozen penguins killed by a fox last year.
Hugos Lounge Kings Cross Photos supplied by Hugos Closed August 2015. Kings Cross' most famous bar and restaurant venue was sold to developers last year after owner Dave Evans reported a 60 per cent drop in revenue and 80 per cent drop in customers since 2012 when new licensing restrictions were applied to venues in the inner-city suburb. Evans, who did not part ways with Hugos' Manly outpost, had the support of federal senator David Leyonhjelm, who said of lockouts' effect on closures: "Nobody seems to care." The Soho Soho in Kings Cross, on Victoria St. Many Sydney venues are closing down due the the lockout laws. Credit:Wolter Peeters Closed June 2015. Owner Andrew Lazarus blamed the closure of the Kings Cross venue, which had been operating for more than 20 years, on state liquor laws. "The lockout laws have destroyed an entertainment precinct, making us the latest victim," he said. "These laws have seen patronage to the Kings Cross area decline significantly and when combined with the increased cost of compliance, it has made the business of providing entertainment no longer viable."

Bar Century Interiors of Bar Century which is closed in February, 2016. Credit:Wolter Peeters Closed February 2016. Famous for its rock-bottom prices and sticky floors, the bar and its neighbouring floors on George Street are set to be redeveloped into a Japanese-style pod hotel, nightclub and gaming venue. Managers said lockouts were partly to blame for the end of the Century, with foot traffic down during peak hours. Lansdowne Hotel

Closed August 2015. Praised as the "last man standing" in a field of inner Sydney music venues that have long gone, the music venue and students' favourite is slated to become a performing arts school. The Chippendale stalwart traded for 90 years and blamed its demise on lockout laws and trading restrictions. Goodgod Small Club Goodgod Small Club shut its doors in December 2015. Credit:Lee Besford Closed December 2015. The eclectic club-cum-diner venue, beloved by indy bands, visiting DJs and everyone in between, has changed hands and now goes by the name of Plan B Small Club. While affected by the lockouts, its owners say the reasons they ceased operating the club was personal and urged more creativity in the city: "The lockouts need to end, but people should not be discouraged from creating incredible nightlife options right now."

The BackRoom The Backroom Sydney, Potts Point. Closed October 2014. The Potts Point bar hosted rapper Snoop Dogg, was linked to Kings Cross businessman John Ibrahim and was home to a colourful set of anecdotes to match. A post on its Facebook page thanked supporters for their ongoing patronage but explained: "unfortunately we have decided to move out of the Potts Point area due to the lock out laws." The Goldfish Bar The Goldfish Bar at Kings Cross closed in July, 2015. Credit:Steve Lunam SJL
The inspector of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, David Levine, has warned the watchdog risks the perception it has a "craving to sacrifice" the rights, liberties and reputations of those it pursues "on the altar of its self-perceived authority".

In a furious retort to ICAC Commissioner Megan Latham's claim that his damning December report to the NSW Parliament on the agency's failed pursuit of crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen was fundamentally flawed, Mr Levine called for stronger oversight of the watchdog.

He declared Ms Cunneen had done "no more than what any ordinary member of the community as a mother would do upon learning of a motor accident involving her son's girlfriend".
An 18-year-old motorcyclist has died in Canberra Hospital following a crash near Goulburn on Sunday afternoon.

The man, from Duramana, NSW was riding south on his motorbike on the Hume Highway at 5.50pm at Yarra, about 7km south of Goulburn, when he rode into the back of a grey Hyundai, Goulburn police said.

Chief inspector John Sheehan said the rider's attention was momentarily taken from the road by a car that had broken down on the highway. Several motorists had pulled over to help, while others moved into lane two to pass.

The rider apparently did not notice the car in front pull into lane two.

His bike careered off the road and the teenager suffered critical head injuries.
The NSW parliament appears set to pass legislation that could expose a wave of coal seam gas protesters across the state to criminal penalties of up to seven years' imprisonment for disrupting mining activity.

The passage of the legislation appears secure after the Shooters and Fishers and party declared it would support the legislation, which would bring criminal sanction onto protesters who "lock on" to mining equipment to delay gas exploration.

The shooters party MLCs Robert Borsak and Robert Brown are backing protester legislation. Credit:Steven Siewert

It had been speculated that the party would oppose the bill, as part of plans to court the votes of farmers, among whom mining activity is unpopular. It has proposed to rename itself the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party.

"These people destroy assets, steal assets [ and there are] small business people whose lives are destroyed," party MLC Robert Borsak said. "There's no need for that.
Increased coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is proof that climate change is real, according to Queensland Environment Minister Stephen Miles.

Dr Miles said while the extent of coral bleaching was not yet as broad as in 1998, 2002 or 2006, it was proof that climate change  along with warming oceans  was real.

Bright coral from Fiji. Credit:Cat Holloway / WWF

"Events like this serve as a wake-up call for everyone that climate change is real and affecting us now.

"Increased ocean temperatures due to climate change together with the warming effects of a strong El Nino have created the conditions causing coral bleaching in reefs around this summer," he said.
Two further people have been charged over an alleged abduction in far north Queensland earlier this month, in which a woman was left with a fractured skull.

It takes the total number of people charged over the brutal attack to five, after two women and a man were charged on March 5.

Five people have now been charged over the abduction.

Police will allege the 32-year-old victim was bundled into a car by her captors, after being beaten with a pole or bat at her home in Mooroobool, in Cairns's west, on the night of March 3.

The attack left her with serious head injuries.
One of farmer Mick Bradford's dogs is sifting through horse manure, coincidentally at the same time Mick is telling how redback spiders used to make their way under the thunderbox.

"They're looking for vitamins," he says of the dogs' social misdemeanour. He then casually continues a tour of what he himself calls his SHIT YARD: "Second Hand Interesting Treasure. Your Attention Required Daily."

A sight of days gone by. This wool carriage is still pulled by five draft horses. Bradford Carriers have been around since the 1850s.

There's an old toilet block, dunnies used as pots for plants, car shells seemingly used for the same purpose, a couple of old coffins, and more than 50 antique pieces of farming equipment, most still in working order. There is also an assortment of carts which come in handy for Mick's 16 draft horses.

Every year, there's a party at Mick's place, a open day which has raised more than $100,000 for Careflight over the past 16 years. Mick cranks up his old equipment, puts his horses to work, and makes people happy.
A Queensland man has been charged after his young stepson was accidentally shot in the eye with an air rifle.

The man and the nine-year-old boy were target shooting in the yard of their home at Mount Surprise, south-west of Cairns, on Sunday when a pellet ricocheted and hit the child in the eye.

A Cairns boy may lose his eye after a shooting accident. Credit:Adam McLean

He's been flown to Cairns in a stable condition but it's not known if his eye can be saved.

The man is facing weapon licensing offences and will front court next month, but police say the incident was an accident.
While threatening an early election just over a year after being elected, the Palaszczuk government is stepping up its campaign for fixed four-year terms, arguing it's time to "take the power away from politicians".

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk responded to the news of Cairns MP Rob Pyne's defection to the cross bench with a promise to return to the polls if the Parliament got in the way of her legislative jobs agenda.

Mark Bailey says fixed terms will end the "speculation silly season, which impedes business and impedes jobs". Credit:Glenn Hunt

With the LNP and Labor now represented equally, passing legislation will require the government to negotiate with the two Katter Party MPs, independent Billy Gordon and Mr Pyne ahead of any bill.

Independent Peter Wellington, as the Speaker, has a casting vote.

But the government, with the LNP's support, is also trying to convince the public to change the state's constitution and opt for four-year fixed terms at this weekend's local government election and referendum.
Queensland's medical complaints system is dysfunctional and is causing patients and doctors unnecessary distress, the state's top medical body says.

The Australian Medical Association Queensland says reforms in 2013 have failed to resolve unacceptable delays, and another overhaul of the system is urgently needed.

The AMAQ says reforms in 2013 have failed to resolve delays in Queensland's health system. Credit:Gabrielle Charotte

"It's not working as well as it should, we need to have a complaint management system where they get resolved fairly and that patients get resolution but doctors get resolution as well," AMA Queensland president Chris Zappala has told ABC radio.

AAP
The state's pollution watchdog will slap charges on the owners of Hazelwood after a two-year investigation into a devastating brown coal mine fire that choked the town of Morwell for 45 days.

Fairfax Media understands the Environment Protection Authority will as early as Tuesday file 12 air pollution charges in the Magistrates Court relating to the 2014 mine fire disaster.

Engie's Australian unit has been charged over an uncontrilled open cut mine fire at the Hazelwood plant in Morwell, February 2014. Credit:Keith Pakenham

It is the latest legal fallout for Hazelwood's owners, who are already facing 10 work place safety charges from WorkSafe Victoria over the same fire, which together carry a collective maximum penalty of more than $10 million.

The EPA will charge several registered holding companies that cover the ownership structure of the brown coal mine and the associated power plant. Hazelwood is majority owned by the French energy giant Engie  known as GDF Suez in Australia  while Japanese company Mitsui & Co has a minority stake.
Apex gang members rioting outside Flinders Street station last March Credit:@russmulry, via Twitter Members of the Apex street gang, who are predominantly young people of South Sudanese and Islander descent, ran riot in Federation Square and along Swanston Street, where families were celebrating Melbourne's Moomba festival. The rolling brawl sent terrified bystanders running for cover and forced others to hide inside restaurants. Rival teenage street gangs brawled in Melbourne CBD marring Moomba celebrations. It is believed the gang, linked to recent violent car thefts and threats of violence, later clashed with rival gang Islander 23, who are mainly of Polynesian descent.

Mr Crisp said officers on the ground told him two street gangs were not fighting each other, rather, it was one large group of mainly young men trying to provoke bystanders and police. Police out in force on Sunday night, after Saturday's riot. Credit:Chris Hopkins "That's not to say there wasn't some sort of skirmish between different young men, but it wasn't one group against the other," Mr Crisp said. But police have harboured specific concerns about South Sudanese youths for some time. The fight was reportedly planned via social media app Snapchat. Credit:Courtesy of Seven News

Just weeks before the riot, senior officers met with community leaders and representatives of the Andrews Government. On Monday, force command held a high-level meeting to address how to secure major events in the future. There have been similar, albeit to a much lesser scale, styles of attack at other CBD events including White Night and New Years Eve. Police sources said every available member from the Operational Response Unit was called to control the unfolding situation on Saturday, but crews of officers were unavailable after being sent to a music festival in Charlton and to help with a operation targeting the road toll. Mr Crisp would not discuss the number of police who attended initially and were subsequently called-in, citing security reasons. He said officers exercised "great restraint" in the face of extreme provocation, which included getting "up in" officers' faces and filming "whatever" members were saying to them.

Only four rioters were arrested - two for drunkenness, one for carrying a stun gun, and another for allegedly knocking an officer's radio or phone into their face. Mr Crisp said more were expected given the "clear footage" they have of them from CCTV cameras. A bystander who admitted himself to The Alfred hospital after suffering a head injury on the corner of Flinders Lane and Swanston has since been discharged.

Police first used capsicum spray to disperse the crowd at Federation Square about 8pm as onlookers fled for cover. "We were absolutely terrified," said Troy West, from Bendigo, who spent 45 minutes locked inside a Federation Square restaurant as police tried to contain the wild group outside. The group then ran to City Square and threw metal chairs from outdoor cafes. One nearby retail worker saw scores of people arguing. Some were hitting and pulling at each other, she said. "The whole street was blocked by those people," she said.

Plaza Ballroom chef Rachael Honeycomb said she left work at 11pm and saw men yelling into a megaphone. Everyone was confused. "I think a lot of people were trying to figure out what was going on," she said. Mr Crisp said the big question of why these young people rioted remained unanswered. "How did they get to be in this position in the first place and where have they been failed in the system along the way?" he told 3AW.

Mr Crisp told Fairfax Media senior members in multi-cultural communities in the south-east expressed their frustrations to him on Monday. "There is extreme frustration in the children, the young boys, that they aren't listening to their parents, they're not listening to the community and they're engaging in this behaviour that is criminal," he said. "These young people would have known what they were doing was wrong, it matters not what their cultural background is." The issue of gang violence involving South Sudanese teenagers was discussed at two meetings on February 19 and a week later on February 26. "Victoria Police has recently been engaging with senior members of the South Sudanese community, including the leadership of the South Sudanese Community Association in Victoria. A range of issues have been raised," the meeting invite stated.

Both meetings were staged at the Victoria Police Centre on Flinders Street. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton also announced an increase in resources for Operation Tense, a taskforce set up in November last year to monitor and crack down on the Apex gang. The taskforce has so far arrested 33 gang members. "Of those 33, we've had 20 who have been remanded in custody in relation to aggravated burglaries, robberies, assaults and theft of and theft from motor cars," he said. Mr Ashton revealed the Apex gang had attended New Year's Eve and last month's White Night celebrations in the CBD.
An elderly woman who arrived in Australia from Nepal one week ago has been reported missing.

Police are appealing for help locate Jamuna Nayak, who does not speak any English, and was last seen on Hilda Street, Glenroy, about 6.30pm on Sunday.



Police are concerned for the 71-year-old's welfare as she requires medication for a medical condition.

Police are appealing for help to find Jamuna Nayak.

"Jamuna is described as Indian in appearance, 150cm tall, medium build and greying black shoulder length hair," police said in a statement.

She was wearing a pink jumper and a long colourful skirt.




London: The mayor of London has a simple message for US President Barack Obama over Britain's upcoming referendum on membership in the European Union: Butt out.

In a strikingly combative article published on Monday, the flamboyant mayor, Boris Johnson, accused the US of "exorbitant hypocrisy" in urging Britain to vote to stay in the bloc, given that the former defends its own sovereignty with "hysterical vigilance".

Mr Johnson's strident criticism in the Telegraph newspaper comes amid reports that Mr Obama will visit Britain next month and will urge Britons to vote to remain in the 28-nation EU. The London mayor is on the other side of the fence, campaigning for severed ties with the bloc ahead of the June 23 referendum.

Impolitic commentary is being flung back and forth across the Atlantic these days, marking a sharp turn from the usual amicability. Mr Obama suggested in a recent interview that British Prime Minister David Cameron was something of a foreign policy headache. Needless to say, the comments sparked front-page headlines in Britain.
The photo, taken outside the arena where Donald Trump's appearance had just been cancelled on Friday in Chicago, circulated far and wide: A woman in a Donald Trump T-shirt, eyes locked with a protester, her right arm raised skyward, her palm faced down.

It did not take a second glance to understand that she was making a Nazi salute. Many took the photo, published by The Chicago Tribune, as a sign of the support Mr. Trump has engendered from extremists. Others surmised that it was maybe a Bernie Sanders supporter in disguise.

But in an interview on Saturday from her home in Yorkville, Illinois, Birgitt Peterson, 69, who says she was the woman in the photo, explained why she had made the salute.

She and her husband, Don, had attended the rally to check out the candidate in person. "The Republican Party needs to be broken up, and I believe Donald Trump is the one to do it," Ms Peterson said.
Donald Trump is holding a commanding lead in Florida and faces a tight race in Ohio, according to new polls released ahead of Tuesday's pivotal primary races.

Donald Trump, on stage with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, addresses a campaign event in Palm Beach, Florida. Credit:Bloomberg

Surveys from Quinnipiac University show Mr Trump more than doubling up Marco Rubio, of Florida, in his home state. Of likely Republican voters, 46 per cent support Mr Trump and 22 per cent back Mr Rubio. Trailing them are Ted Cruz, with 14 per cent, and John Kasich, with 10 per cent.

Such an outcome could spell trouble for Mr Rubio, who has vowed to win Florida and could face calls to leave the race if he fails to do so.
Cul de Sac:---- The first batch of students to enroll in St. Maarten Academys CAPE programme are now in the final stages of preparing for their external examination slated to begin in June 2016.

St. Maarten Academy started CAPE in September 2014 with a cohort of 28 and according to the CAPE Coordinator, Roxanne Bloomfield, these students "are being prepared to be trailblazers in the wider society as they will be equipped with the requisite Associate Degree to enter any university or place of employment. Once successful, they will be the first batch to graduate with their Associate Degree.

The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Associate Degree is awarded for the satisfactory completion of a prescribed cluster of seven CAPE Units, including Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies. These qualifications are treated similarly to UK Advanced level qualifications.

Academy's principal, Drs. Tallulah Baly-Vanterpool, paid tribute to the outstanding achievements of the CAPE students as they marked this milestone during the schools Open House in February.

She lauded them on their performance in the May 2015 sitting of the CAPE Unit 1 examinations where they achieved 100% pass rate in Accounting, Communication Studies, Management of Business, Information Technology and Physics. Biology had a 75% pass rate, while Pure Mathematics recorded a pass rate of 42%. This achievement, Mrs. Baly-Vanterpool said, paved the way for them to become pillars in the society.

I am looking for great things from you...You have proven that you are hard workers and that with dedication you can excel, the principal told the scholars.

During her presentation to the parents, Drs. Baly-Vanterpool also stated that this occasion is even more poignant as we are welcoming the prospective new first form student while preparing to say God's speed on your academic journey to our CAPE year two students. She further stated that this two-year journey at the post-secondary level at St. Maarten Academy will not only culminate in obtaining a Caribbean Associate Degree, but also getting placements in universities in Holland, Guyana, and Curacao, the US, Canada, and Jamaica.

The CAPE programme at St. Maarten Academy allows students to transition into the world of work and understand the responsibility of a university programme while being able to accumulate college credits that can be transferred to a university of their choice.

The CAPE programme is a vehicle that can pave the way for a persons academic future. To begin the journey of academic excellence, St. Maarten Academy is now accepting applications for the 2016/2017 academic year. This application period will end on March 31, 2016.
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):---The National Disaster Management Organization on Sint Maarten, through the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) in Cay Hill which is located at the Fire Department, will be participating in a regional Exercise called Caribe Wave Lantex 16 on Thursday, March 17.

The purpose of the exercise is to assist tsunami preparedness efforts in the Caribbean and Adjacent regions, including US and Canadian east coasts.

Caribe Wave Lantex 16 is a Caribbean Tsunami Warning Exercise. Sint Maartens ODM will focus on information exchange and cooperation with French Saint Martin along with the physical evacuation of the lower parts of a beach front resort.

Dummy warning messages will be issued to test communications with Tsunami Warning Focal Points and Emergency Management Organizations within the Region.

The exercise scenario will focus on a powerful earthquake just north of Venezuela that will trigger a tsunami throughout the Caribbean region. The effects on Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin will be a tsunami wave with a height of maximum three meters, as well as a second earthquake off the coast of the Dominican Republic an hour later. This means all beachfront properties will be effected under the exercise scenario.

Part of the exercise includes the organization of an evacuation of the lower levels of a beachfront hotel, namely Simpson Bay Resort and Marina, which is participating in exercise. The resort has responded with great enthusiasm and is fully cooperating with the exercise. ODM takes this opportunity to thank the resorts management for their participation.

The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the US National Tsunami Hazard mitigation Program, are the entities involved in carrying out the tsunami exercise on March 17.

Sint Maarten is a member of the ICG/CARIBE EWS.

The tsunami warning exercise is being conducted to assist tsunami preparedness efforts throughout the Caribbean region. Recent tsunamis, such as those in the Indian Ocean (2004), Samoa (2009), Haiti and Chile (2010), and Japan (2011), attest to the importance of proper planning for tsunami response.

Historical tsunami records from sources such as the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center show that over 75 tsunamis with high validity have been observed in the Caribbean over the past 500 years.

These represent approximately 7-10 per cent of the worlds oceanic tsunamis. Earthquake, landslide, and volcanic tsunami sources have all impacted the region. Since 1843, almost 3,500 people have lost their lives to tsunamis in the Caribbean.
RedSeal Honored as Silver Winner in the 12th Annual 2016 Info Security PGs Global Excellence Awards(R) in Network Security and Management

SUNNYVALE, CA  (Marketwired)  03/14/16  RedSeal announced today that Info Security Products Guide, the industrys leading information security research and advisory guide, has named the RedSeal security analytics platform a Silver winner of the 2016 Global Excellence Awards in Network Security and Management. The security industry celebrated its 12th Annual 2016 Global Excellence Awards in San Francisco by honoring excellence in every facet of the industry, including products, people behind the successes and best companies.

More than 50 judges from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world participated, and their average scores determined the 2016 Global Excellence Awards Finalists and Winners. Winners were announced during the awards dinner and presentation on February 29, 2016 in San Francisco, attended by the finalists, judges and industry peers.

RedSeals security analytics platform builds an accurate, up-to-date model of an organizations entire, as-built network, including cloud and virtual networks. It calculates the RedSeal Digital Resilience Score, which measures how prepared an organization is to respond to an incident and quickly rebound. With RedSeals platform, customers can understand and monitor their networks; verify policy compliance; and accelerate their incident response.

Info Security Products Guides recognition of RedSeal further validates our product as excellence-in-class and ahead of the curve in the critical and fast moving world of cybersecurity. Our platform works with existing security products to provide customers with visibility and actionable information not available elsewhere, said Ray Rothrock, CEO of RedSeal. This industry honor is the greatest endorsement to the fact that RedSeal is continuously innovating when it comes to the best-of-the-best products in network security and management.

Info Security Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping end-users informed of the choices they can make when it comes to protecting their digital resources. It is written expressly for those who are adamant on staying informed of security threats and the preventive measure they can take. You will discover a wealth of information in this guide including tomorrows technology today, best deployment scenarios, people and technologies shaping info security and market research reports that facilitate in making the most pertinent security decisions. The Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards recognize and honor excellence in all areas of information security. To learn more, visit and stay secured.

RedSeal puts power in decision makers hands with the essential cybersecurity analytics platform for building digitally resilient organizations. RedSeals Digital Resilience Score, modeled after a creditworthiness score like FICO, measures how prepared an organization is to respond to an incident and quickly rebound. The companys platform adds value to existing network devices by working with them and building a network model. With this, customers can understand the state of their networks, measure resilience, verify compliance, and accelerate incident response. RedSeals customers are Global 2000 corporations and government agencies that depend on the most sophisticated security. Founded in 2004, RedSeal is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and serves customers globally through a direct sales and channel partner network.
Console Joins Q9s Cloud Connect Program to Help Canadian Data Centre Clients Connect to the Cloud

TORONTO, ON  (Marketwired)  03/14/16  Today, we are excited to announce that , a leading enterprise software and interconnection company, has joined Cloud Connect Program to help our data centre clients connect to the cloud, says Karen Sheriff, Q9 Chief Executive Officer.

Many organizations are increasingly relying on a hybrid set of colocation and cloud IT infrastructure. The ability to rapidly and reliably connect these environments can be challenging. Q9 Cloud Connect offers organizations a fast and cost-effective direct connection to a large and ever-growing ecosystem of private and public cloud services and Internet exchanges through a more reliable, predictable & secure connection versus traditional public Internet links.

Our clients have been struggling to connect to the largest public clouds, such as Azure, AWS and Salesforce.com as well as industry-specific networks for collaboration purposes. Cloud Connect leverages a set of Q9-approved interconnect partnerships to deliver the global interconnect services our clients require, right from our Canadian , says Strahan McCarten, SVP, Product Management and Strategy.

Console Inc., headquartered in Silicon Valley, will be available in Q9 data centres in Ontario and Alberta. The Console platform provides a secure, simple and faster way for companies across the globe to bypass the public Internet and directly connect to business-critical cloud providers, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers and other partners.

We are excited to be working with Q9 and have our Console platform available to customers across their data centres in Canada, says Al Burgio, Founder and CEO of Console Inc. Our innovative and easy to use platform will provide Q9 customers with the ability to bypass the public Internet and privately connect to Consoles global ecosystem.

McCarten adds, Our goal is to help our customers optimize their IT infrastructure. With Cloud Connect, they now have the ability to extend that environment to the cloud services they need to gain competitive advantage.

Q9 Networks Inc. is Canadas largest provider of outsourced data centre infrastructure for organizations with mission-critical IT operations. Q9s data centres and network are backed by an industry-leading SLA that guarantees 100 percent network and power availability. Q9 services, including: colocation, private cloud, managed hosting and interconnect service offerings to a global ecosystem allow clients to optimize their IT infrastructure. Q9 is owned by an investor group comprising Canadas largest communication company, BCE Inc., and some of the largest and most experienced North American pension and private equity funds, including: Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC.

Console Inc., an IIX company, was founded to change the way enterprises connect to their customers, vendors, and partners. Consoles enterprise software and interconnection platform enables both network-to-network and enterprise-to-enterprise collaboration globally. The Console platform provides enhanced network security, improved performance, and faster business-to-business direct connect. For more information, visit.

IIX Inc. is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Leveraging its recent acquisition of IX Reach, the company has expanded its global interconnection footprint into more than 150 Points of Presence (PoPs) across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. IIX is privately held and investors include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Formation 8, DOT Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, and Drew Perkins. To learn more, visit .

IIX is a registered trademark of IIX Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
I Tell Lies

I have been posting here for a long time and a lot of you know my story.



I have been sober for over a year. I am 35 years old. I was living with my Grandmother until she died and now I live with my parents and commute to work.



So things are not easy.



I would like to confess some things, and here is the only place I can do that without fear of judgement.



First off, I tell a huge amount of lies. To my parents. I tried telling them the truth a while ago, because I felt bad about lying and it is what alcoholics do. But they didn't want to know and I felt judged and ashamed.



The thing is that I am staring down the barrel of 36 this year. At my age I won't be getting married, but I do enjoy the company of men. For a while in my 20s I had such a hard time. I did wonder briefly if I might be gay, but I am not. Not that there is anything wrong with that by the way.



So I meet men online. My best friend warned be to be careful and I try to be.



The other thing is that I am very odd. My sister was married to a guy from Romania and my mother made it very clear to me the morning of the wedding that "one foreigner in the family is quite enough thank you". So I like foreign men.



So last November (before I met the Iranian guy) I was chatting to a guy from Bangladesh who lives and works here. He worked in a restaurant for many years here, before he saved enough to go to university. Now he works in IT.



So we met a couple of times for dinner and that. And this weekend he asked me if I would like to go away for the weekend. So I said I would love to. But I knew my parents (mother) would FREAK OUT so I told them I was meeting friends.



So we did go to Kerry, the two of us. We had a nice time. To be truthful he is a peaceful person and I felt comfortable. I never felt like I had to put on this big act which is what I usually feel like.



I know that I am not ready for a relationship at this moment. And that's fine. But I do enjoy sex. I am not a robot.



Meanwhile the Iranian was messaging me this week. Broke it off again on Tuesday, Thursday he wanted to get back together. Wanted to see me this weekend. I told him I was busy. He called me on Saturday and when I didn't bother to pick up, he left me another message asking if I was enjoying "my date". I have blocked his number now.



So my "new friend" said he would give me a lift back to the village where I am stuck. There are no buses on Sunday evening and I thought it would save my dad a journey. So I told my parents that my friends husband dropped me off. His parents are from around here so that was fine.



Until now. My mom is downstairs having a major freak out that "Paddy" gave me a lift, Ranting on and on that he was only looking for gossip about us. Giving us all an earful. Making life hell.



I have to get out of here. I feel like I want a drink tonight but I just want my freedom really.



I would like a life. I need my own place where I can go without fear of being attacked.



I know I shouldn't be meeting people but I enjoy having a little fun. If we agree I don't see the harm in that.



So I just needed to get some things off my chest.



Please don't judge me. I am only human and I am doing the best I can.
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This Cudahy resident walked away from addiction by walking from Green Bay to Cudahy
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"Breaking the Chains of Gravity" (Bloomsbury, 2015), by Amy Shira Teitel, explores the little-known early history of spaceflight before NASA. (Image credit: Bloomsbury)

A new, pre-NASA history of rocketry and spaceflight delves into the lesser-known roots of that organization  the different paths that brought the founding fathers of rocketry together to work on putting the first satellites and humans into space.

"Breaking the Chains of Gravity" (Bloomsbury, 2015) takes for its focus the earliest rocket experiments and military projects that eventually formed the core of spaceflight research in America, and the many institutions with differing goals that came and went, working with and against one another on projects that eventually became humanity's early excursions into space. Read an excerpt of the book here.

Space.com talked with "Breaking the Chains of Gravity (opens in new tab)" author Amy Shira Teitel, who also runs the spaceflight history blog Vintage Space, to discuss the educated guesswork of rocketry, the best of little-known space history and the importance of telling early-spaceflight stories. [Top Milestones in Human Spaceflight]

Space.com: Why did you choose to write about early space history?

Amy Shira Teitel: I've always been really fascinated with the first time things are done, and the first time you have to solve these complex problems, like going into space. My own interest in that, from my undergrad and grad-school days, was always there. And I realize that it hasn't really been covered, necessarily, for a popular audience.

So many of the popular science books start with the Mercury astronauts [America's first manned space program] or the hotshot fighter jocks and stuff because that's the fun, exciting human element. This is actually a really fun part of the story that I think would make people appreciate and understand that "Right Stuff era" history a little bit more. I just kind of love it, and I really wanted to tell it in a way that anybody, no matter how little they knew about the history, would be able to access it and understand it and really appreciate it.

Space.com: What do you think is the most exciting part of spaceflight history that few people know about?

Teitel: All of them? One of the things that I was most excited to draw out in this book and that I've always been really interested in is just how much it was an unknown entity by the people that have since become associated with being the geniuses that brought rocketry to fruition. The stories of [Wernher] von Braun almost blowing himself up during a combustion chamber test. Von Braun and the Saturn V [rocket] go together  you don't think about him as a young engineer almost killing himself because he didn't understand the fine intricacies of what was going to happen when you introduced these two fuel oxidizers superchilled in a combustion chamber. The fact that there was so much failure and so much educated guesswork involved, I think is such an interesting part of the story, because you forget that this stuff is not known. It's so known now. [] Nothing worked in the '30s, but that was okay because they learned every step of the way.

Amy Shira Teitel is the author of "Breaking the Chains of Gravity." She also runs the blog Vintage Space. (Image credit: Bloomsbury)

Space.com: Is there any aspect of space science that's like that now?

Teitel: I'm sure on some level, pretty much everything is. I wonder when you look at the new technologies people are bringing up  I don't know the details because SpaceX is not public, so you can't get access to all their stuff, but landing the rocket stage upright I imagine is sort of equivalent in terms of, this is something that people had an idea of before but haven't been able to execute it. [] You imagine that every failure brings to light some new problem that nobody had really thought of or that makes the technology that much closer to working.

I've always been amazed that the Sky Crane actually worked for the Curiosity rover [currently exploring Mars]. I can only imagine the number of weird failures that had to happen to iron out all the kinks in that system. I think the difference now is you have computer models that can do a lot of things for you, whereas in the '30s and '40s you just had to do it. I would hazard a guess that failures are more discreet now because you don't have to do them publicly, you can do them privately in a computer. With things like Sky Crane and loading, not with landing on a barge  it's a different thing, but I feel like that culture of trial and error  but leaning from error  very much still exists. [7 Minutes of Terror: Curiosity Rover's Risky Mars Landing]

Space.com: What challenges did you face in constraining the scope of what you covered?

Teitel:I would say the challenges were twofold. On the one hand, keeping it as a tight narrative, writing for a popular audience and knowing that my audience wouldn't be super well-versed in this stuff. Try not to overwhelm them with too many details and with too many things coming simultaneously. I wanted to see a jumping-off point for people who wanted to dig into all the facets of things without giving them an encyclopedia's worth of stuff to deal with. The decisions of keeping the narrative tight and constrained for the sake of a general readership. And the other half of that was, as soon as you don't talk about somebody  one historical figure  you know there's going to be a subset of space nerds who are going to be really upset with you.

Rather than force [everything] into this narrative and make it clunky or overwhelming, just keep the bits that needed to be there and hope that maybe somebody would be curious enough to ask questions about it later on.

Space.com: Why write about space history?

Teitel: It's kind of a two-part thing. There's something to be said for understanding the history and the roots of what's happening in space now, and understanding how hard it is, how difficult, how varied the history is, to make you appreciate what's happening now that much more.

It looks routine, but you're still launching people on rockets into an incredibly hostile environment and hoping that they don't die, in an orbiting can, for a year at a time. That's insane, when you think about it. Understanding how quickly this has become something that is "routine," I think is really interesting. But there's also the fact that my generation risks not caring if somebody doesn't help keep it alive in a way that is accessible and exciting for a younger audience. [] They just don't seem interested that we did something that daring and that technologically sophisticated as go to the moon in the '60s. So keeping it alive for my generation; I want to do my part to make sure that we don't forget that this was a thing that humans did.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Reporters toured the Kennedy Space Center clean room where NASA's next cargo vehicle is prepared for launch March 8. The unit, Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, will launch to the International Space Station attached to an Atlas rocket made by United Launch Alliance.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  Tucked inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, NASA's next cargo vehicle preps for its upcoming trip to the International Space Station. This week, one of the remaining steps before launch will be completed as crews encapsulate the Cygnus spacecraft inside the fairing that will carry it into orbit.

However, before it is sealed away, NASA invited members of the media to view the Cygnus inside its specialized clean room. The PHSF is a unique facility that all spacecraft visit before launch. Designed to serve a dual purpose, this building processes and tests payloads before launch and handles any sort of hazardous operations, such as loading liquid fuels. The PHSF high bay is a clean room, and anyone who enters has to follow a strict protocol, including wearing a special suit known as a bunny suit.

We all arrived at Kennedy Space Center's press site where a bus was waiting to transport the group. Excitement built as we arrived at our first stop of the day, where we got a briefing about the mission and the safety protocols for the clean-room visit. Representatives from NASA's Launch Services  United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Orbital ATK  were on hand to discuss the mission and answer any questions. [Photos: Orbital ATK Cygnus Spaceship's Return-to-Flight Mission]

The entrance to the Kennedy Space Center clean room where engineers work to prepare the Cygnus supply spacecraft for flight. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

Orbital ATK has the tradition of naming each Cygnus spacecraft after a fallen astronaut. Dan Tani, a former astronaut and current vice president of Orbital ATK's mission and cargo operations department, made the announcement that this Cygnus will be named the SS Rick Husband; this is the first Cygnus to be named for an astronaut who worked on station.

Tani described the naming process: "We had very obvious choices for the first couple spacecraft," he told Space.com. "There were people like Janice Voss, who were Orbital employees and near and dear to our hearts." Once Orbital made the decision to name the fleet after fallen astronauts, they decided to consider connections to the company as well as the astronaut's contributions.

"Thankfully, it's a relatively small list to choose from," Tani said. "Rick's name popped up pretty easily to us. He was the first to pilot the shuttle to the space station, on the same mission with Kent." Kent Rominger, a former astronaut who is now Orbital ATK's vice president of strategy and business development, was the commander of STS-96, the first shuttle mission to dock with the space station. Husband was the pilot on that mission.

The Cygnus supply craft, set for launch March 22, is named after fallen astronaut Rick Husband, who died in the Columbia space shuttle failure in 2003. Husband piloted the first space shuttle to dock with the International Space Station. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

Tim Kopra, an astronaut currently on the space station, and Jeff Williams, who is scheduled to join Kopra this month, both worked with Husband. "This will be a sentimental touchstone with the crew," Tani said. "The beauty of human spaceflight is it involves humans. It's a great pleasure for us to be able to honor those connections."

After the briefing, we headed to the PHSF. Once inside, everyone was instructed to first clean their shoes in a special motorized brushing machine. This removed outside dirt and other materials from our shoes. We then moved to a small area where we were given cloth booties to slip over our shoes before moving to the locker room.

The next step was to clean all our camera equipment  we were given a supply of alcohol wipes. Next, we donned the bunny suits, starting with cloth jumpsuits that were worn on top of our clothes, and then we put on two pairs of special booties each over our cloth booties. These zipped up to the knees and also covered the jumpsuit. Finally came the piece de resistance: cloth hoods with an opening large enough for our faces.

Reporters confer with Orbital vice president Dan Tani in the Kennedy Space Center clean room March 8. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

After we were properly outfitted, we headed into an air shower a few people at a time. The air shower was in a small hallway that joined the locker room to the clean room. Everyone inside was blasted with air before we could enter the high bay.

Once inside, the silvery cargo ship towered above us, flanked by the two shells of its payload fairing. Cygnus is known for having Christmas-colored lights on its exterior, which were illuminated for us to see. Stepping through the clean-room door was like stepping into history, as this room once housed some of NASA's biggest missions. The decals of 14 space missions, including the Curiosity Mars rover and New Horizons flyby of Pluto, adorned the walls of the PHSF.

Engineers work to prepare Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft for its March 22 flight; patches from past missions prepared in the Kennedy Space Center clean room are visible on the back wall. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)

This flight marks the second cargo mission supported by ULA, and Orbital ATK's second to fly from Florida. Tani told Space.com how thrilled the company was for its progress: "After almost a year of downtime, we're happy to be ramping back up to full pace," he said. "We're very excited to see the vehicle sitting here so beautifully, ready to go to orbit."

After it is secured inside the payload fairing, the spacecraft will be turned over to ULA, and should be mated to the rocket next week. ULA will complete its final checks before launching on March 22. For its next mission, which is expected to take place this summer, Orbital plans to resume flights from its launch facilities at Wallops Island in Virginia.

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
At the end of the road in an industrial area in the Seattle suburb of Kent looms a half-block of fenced-in hangar-like buildings with no name. This is the headquarters of Blue Origin, the space company owned and bankrolled by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.

With a few notable exceptions, such as launchings and landings of New Shepard, a reusable suborbital spaceship, the company has shielded itself from the public eye. That changed on Tuesday when a group of veteran space reporters spent four hours touring the plant and talking with Bezos and Blue Origin managers.

NEWS: Amazon Founder's Suborbital Spaceship Blasts Off

"It is a change," Bezos told us. "Stuff is finally coming out of this big, long pipeline. It took a long time to get the pipeline filled. And now really exciting, cool stuff that's not just hype is coming out the other end. It's exciting to talk about it and we want the world to know."

"Stuff" is an understatement to describe Blue's products. For starters, there are two more New Shepard capsules coming together on the factory floor. And unlike the New Shepard that is currently being tested, these versions have windows.

The idea is that six people (and no pilots!) will strap themselves into seats and rocket up to 62 miles, or 100 kilometers, above Earth. They won't be flying fast enough to go into orbit, but passengers can experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth set against the blackness of space before their ship plunges back into the atmosphere and lands.

PHOTOS: How to Fly Rockets Back to Earth

The capsules aren't the only part of the vehicle Bezos wants back. New Shepard's propulsion module, powered by a BE-3 rocket engine Blue designed and built, separates from the passenger ship and lands itself at the launch site, located in Texas. The system is similar to what Elon Musk's SpaceX is working on. Both companies have managed to land rockets intact. In January, Blue Origin also re-launched a flown rocket.

At Blue's factory, technicians are working on two New Shepard propulsion modules, while 3-D printers and other advanced manufacturing machines fashion parts for more. Initially, Blue plans to build six New Shepard vehicles, but is open to boosting production, depending on demand. The company has not yet started selling tickets, nor priced the flights.

Discovery News' Irene Klotz with Jeff Bezos during a tour of the Blue Origin factory. (Image credit: Courtesy Frank Morring, Aviation Week & Space Technology)

Not all six ships will enter commercial service, or even survive testing. One propulsion module has already been destroyed, victim of an April 2015 failed landing attempt. Bezos says a similar fate likely awaits the second propulsion module, which will be used for a high-energy, crew capsule emergency escape test possibly later this year.

NEWS: Dream Chaser Spaceplane to Supply the Space Station

Bezos expects Blue Origin test pilots to begin flying in 2017, and if that goes well, passenger service could start in 2018. But the 52-year-old says he is in no rush.

"I feel very strongly with space (projects) that you can't skip any of the steps," he said.

Most of the tour actually is spent on another Blue project, a rocket engine known as BE-4. Blue began working on it four years ago to power its future orbital rocket. Last year, United Launch Alliance, a partnership of aerospace contractors Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, kicked in what Bezos called a "substantial" but undisclosed sum of money to step up development, with the intention of using BE-4s to replace the Russian engines that power ULA's Atlas 5 rockets. (Congress in 2014 banned Russian engines for use on rockets flying U.S. military satellites as part of trade sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula.)

Blue Origin engineer assembles New Shepard parachute cover in the Kent, Washington facility. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

Bezos doesn't intend to compete against ULA for the military's launch business, but his as-yet-unnamed orbital rockets will be marketed for commercial missions.

It's not that Bezos, already the fifth wealthiest person in the world according to the 2016 Forbes Billionaires list, needs the money. Spaceflight, he says, is a passion, one that has been incubating since he was five.

PHOTOS: Lesson of SpaceX Rocket Landing: Try, Try, Try Again

Ultimately, though, to make his company sustainable, it has to be profitable, even if the payoff is years or decades away.

"I'm perfectly willing to fund this for as long as is necessary," Bezos said, adding that the endeavor already has cost him more than $500 million.

After the tour, Bezos sits down with us and explains the reason why.

"Our vision is millions of people living and working in space," not just for the fun and adventure, but to preserve Earth, he said.

"Energy usage per capita has been growing at a couple of percent a year for a long time  and we really benefit from that," Bezos said.

ANALYSIS: In Space, No One Can Hear You Sneeze

For example, "it's much more energy-efficient to have a baby the old-fashioned way, in your own house, with a neighbor helping, than it is to do it at Swedish Hospital (in Seattle), but your baby's chances of survival at Swedish Hospital are statistically higher," he said.

"We do live, in my view, in a much better world than people lived in 100 years ago and the world they lived in 200 years ago and 300 years ago and a lot of that is tied to our ability to harness energy for ourselves and improve our lives and the lives of our children.

"Even with all the energy-efficiency, our usage continues to grow. If you compound 2 percent for just 200 years, you have to cover the entire Earth's surface with solar cells  high-efficient solar cells. So, in just a few hundred years if we continue to grow our energy usage, we'll be using all of the solar energy that impacts the Earth. Thats an actual limit. You can't argue about it. So you have to ask what do you really want?" Bezos said.

NEWS: Blue Origin Nails Rocket Landing

"We now know for sure that in our solar system, this is the only planet that's really ideal for us  We're not going to find another Earth and we can't cover the whole surface in solar cells. We have only a few hundred years to figure this out," he said

"There are radical solutions, like population control," Bezos said. "I like the idea that we spread out into the solar system and kind of preserve Earth for residential and light-industrial (use), keep this the great planet that it is and move all heavy industry off Earth, where there is, for all practical purposes, limitless energy and limitless resources. I'm talking about over the next few centuries, but that's not a very long period of time."

Besides, he added, venturing into space will be incredibly fun and inspiring. "Who wouldn't want to go do that?"

Originally published on Discovery News.
If you were the most interesting man in the world and you've already done everything, what's left to do? How about a visit to the Red Planet?

The folks behind Dos Equis beer are retiring its "most interesting man in the world" ad campaign with a literal bang  sending the character off on a fictional one-way Mars trip.

Perhaps catching a ride with Mars One, a company proposing one-way trips to the Red Planet, the familiar character is seen in a new commercial making a long walk to the rocket amid a crowd of admirers.

"His only regret is not knowing what regret feels like. He is the most interesting man in the world," the commercial's narrator says.

Motorcyclists and monks alike pay respect to the man, and he even receives a gift from someone in the crowd: a picture of the Earth. The man leaves the planet on board a rocket that resembles NASA's next-generation Space Launch System, sharing the advice, "Stay thirsty, my friends."

"Adios, amigo," is the send-off from a lone man in the crowd.

The blastoff concludes a nine-year-long ad campaign featuring Jonathan Goldsmith, 77. In the ads, he often traveled the world with beautiful women by his side. Dos Equis now plans for another character to take his place.

Since the ad campaign began, "culture has changed very dramatically," Andrew Katz, vice-president of marketing for Dos Equis, told USA Today (opens in new tab). "Our millennial drinker has changed quite dramatically, and the competition has only exploded with the advent of craft [beer]. We just want to make sure that the [most interesting man] story evolves."

Katz added that Dos Equis, owned by Heineken, has almost tripled its business since the campaign began. Also, the number of Dos Equis cases the Amsterdam company shipped between 2007 and 2015 grew by nearly 35 percent.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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But was it? In every interview, Merkel, the leader of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), emphasizes that she thinks deeply about the refugee crisis every day. She thinks and thinks, considering pros and cons. In the end, she would have Germans believe, she doesn't just arrive at the most logical solution. No, she arrives at the only possible logical solution. Because if she spends all day thinking about the problem, and does so over the course of several weeks and months, then there cannot be a better solution than the one arrived at by the constantly thinking chancellor.

For all those who trust Merkel, that is a comfortable state of affairs. She can do it. Moreover, with the chancellor thinking so much, voters don't have to do so themselves. And it could be that she's right -- that the conclusion the chancellor arrives at is the most balanced, logical and practicable solution. The only solution. Incontestable.
After two months of respite, Sarahs hard-won refuge in Iceland is shattered by a Neolution attack. Once again forced to flee, she realizes no matter how far her family runs it will never be far enough.After evading a Neolution attack in Iceland, Sarah returns home to track down an elusive new ally. She follows breadcrumbs and uncovers the next facet of Neolutions agenda  implanting dangerous technological devices in humans. However, those she left behind are wary about her return, not wanting to relinquish their semblance of normalcy. As Cosima struggles with Delphines disappearance, Alison and Donnie host a pregnant and ever-hungry Helena. Meanwhile Felix, feeling like an outsider, embarks on his own journey of self-discovery.As Sarah reels from the shocking discovery of Neolutions biotech, shes desperate to find answers. Always impulsive, she follows a lead into a harrowing encounter that requires the help of a reluctant new player. Eager to assist, Mrs. S strikes an alliance with an old nemesis. Rachel receives a visit from her keeper and takes a fraught step forward towards recovery. Meanwhile, Helena is mistaken for Mrs. Hendrix when she answers a visit from suspicious visitors.




A weekly feature highlighting the best quotes on TV as picked by the Spoiler TV team. We'd love to hear your picks too so please sound off in the comments below.











1. Bellamy: "You're a good man." Bryan: "Am I? Is thisisis any of this worth lying to someone I love." Bellamy: "It is if you're protecting him." Bryan: "Unless the person he needs protection from is me."2. Kane: "Assume there are eyes on us at all times." Harper: "Or we could just shock lash Pike's fascist a** and hand him to the grounders." Kane: "That would be murder, not to mention treason, and that's not who we are." Miller: "Maybe that's who we need to be." Kane: "Not yet."3. Raven: "Favorite place?" Jasper: "Down here or up there?" Raven: "Either. Both." Jasper: "Starboard window bay. That has the best view of the moon on the whole damn ship and we used to get a little baked, sit back, watch the sky playing On Which Planet Would You Rather? Answer was always Earth. We were such dumba**."1. Norma: I need insurance. You have insurance. So I thought maybe you could marry me. Its not like youre doing anything else. Please, its..im in a.. itsit would just be on paper. Im not asking for an actual marriage. I know youre attracted to me. Ill sleep with you. I dont care. I really dont. I justI just need you to do this for me. Romero: Yeah, no. Im..Im..Im not gonna marry you, all right? You just shouldnt.. you need to leave. Norma: Its that big a deal to you? Romero: Look, youre an attractive woman. Im sure youll find someone else pretty quickly. Norma: Okay. I will its fine. Alright, thanks! (Alexandra Stillwell)2. Romero: Norma, Im not magical. (Alexandra Stillwell)3. Norma: Im a single mother. My son is 18. Hes having a lot of emotional problems right now and, uh, you know, its hard being a woman alone with no one to turn to for help. I bet you could help me. Wont you please see him? Dr. Edwards: Im gay. You have my card. (Alexandra Stillwell)1. DB: "So in a way they do invoke the trolls of Scandinavian folklore. They're antisocial. They're angry, dimwitted creatures that make life difficult for traveling." Raven: "Jerks."2. Avery: "I would have helped you." Nelson: "Really, Avery? 'Cause I saw how much you helped Raven."3. Krumitz: "You know I remember the good old days when criminals would just stash their loot and lay low. Now they make videos bragging about it and social media turns them into online celebrities with thousands of followers." Avery: "Keeping up with the Kardashians is expensive. They just turned to crime to do it."1. Hank: "You're sorry for what happened to me?" John: "Yes, I am." Hank: "You happened to me. Your family happened to me. Did you want me to forgive you? This city was a mob. They were after me. I couldn't beat this monster no matter what and you people lit the torches."2. Claire: "I waited 10 years to get my son back. You can wait 1 night."3. Hank: "You know what I thought about, John? When I laid in my cell, I thought about your boy - your beautiful little boy. I'd wished I did it. I wish I took him from you and hurt him. Wrap my fingers around his throat and watch the life drip from his little body, bit by bit. So don't feel sorry about what happened to me. I didn't spend a minute feeling sorry for what happened to you."1. Oliver: "You think I'm weak and that I can't handle your secrets." Connor: "That's not true." Oliver: "What about what Laurel said? About Annalise making Frank shoot her? You had to have known that." Connor: "Okay, can we not announce that to the whole bar?" Oliver: "I've got secrets, too." Connor: "Like?" Oliver: "Guess." Connor: "Ollie." Oliver: "I quit my job last week!" Connor: "What? Why?" Oliver: "I don't know. Maybe it's getting diagnosed. Maybe it's being around you, and everybody in the house, but I finally decided that, from now on, I'm gonna live my life. Carpe diem, like Annalise said." Connor: "Don't take life advice from Annalise." Oliver: "Do you think she'd hire me?" Connor: "No. I won't let her." Oliver: "And whatever you say goes?" Connor: "Ollie, you don't want to work for her." Oliver: "Whatever. We can discuss this tomorrow. Right now, let's carpe the dance floor." (Laura Markus)2. Connor: "Exactly. And people have told me that I have a resting b** face, so that's probably what you're reading as 'distraught.' [...]" (Laura Markus , bold part Dahne too)3. Asher (to Oliver): "You're the best. Maybe I should turn gay just so I could date you." (Laura Markus)4. Bonnie: "Stop apologizing. We're all bad people. That's the only thing we have in common."5. Annalise: "What is this? A homeless shelter? Get out."6. Annalise: "He's just trying to scare us. Talk to him. You'll be alright." Asher: "Will I? Because I haven't done these like everyone else, who seem to be really good at them." Annalise: "You will be too and you know why? Because you're smarter than people think."1. Dennis: "All right, you and I will be the bottoms." Mac: "Why? 'Cause I'm gay?" Dennis: "Not because you're gay, dumba**! Because we're the strongest." Mac: "Okay, I'll be a bottom now, but in real life, just to be clear, I'm gonna be a top." Dennis: "Okay, fine, when you're having gay sex, you can be on the top." (Laura Markus)2. Mac: "No! Don't leave my table! Crash! Hey! What are you doing? I'm flipping the table! Smash! Crash! Oh! Now I'm breaking a plate! Boom! Smash!" (Laura Markus)3. Mac (to Charlie): "Let's go be with the gang." (Laura Markus)1. Brian: "What the hell is this?" Rebecca: "Can I have my phone, please?" Brian: "No. What the hell is this? Who-who sent this to you?" Rebecca: "An agent sent to search the government property where you're living for what looks like NZT pills hidden in your vinyl collection. You told me there weren't any more." Brian: "You know, you could've said something to me before sending the cavalry into my apartment." Rebecca: "I did say something, and you lied to me. Do you have any idea how irresponsible it is to use this drug however you want, whenever you want? The rules, managing your dosage, keeping a watch out for you They're there to keep you alive, to keep you safe." Brian: "Oh, come on! The FBI doesn't care about keeping me safe. They care about keeping me useful." Rebecca: "Brian, if you think that I don't care, then you haven't been paying attention. I brought you into the FBI, I've stood up for you-" Brian: "Don't, don't, don't, don't." Rebecca: "More times than I can count." Brian: "You have no idea what you're talking about here." Rebecca: "I know what happens - if this gets out of hand." Brian: "I'm not like anyone. No one else is going through what I am going through." Rebecca: "You are hiding pills like an addict, Brian. I know that you are immune to NZT side effects, and I know that makes you think that you're different somehow, but you are not immune-" Brian: "Oh, you're gonna tell me what I think right now?" Rebecca: "I'm not That's not what I'm saying." Brian: "No, 'cause you don't know inside my head, Rebecca. We're not psychic twins, okay? And if you want the real truth, I may be addicted to these drugs. Thanks for that, by the way. But you're addicted to me." Rebecca: "What?" Brian: "Solving things, breaking cases, that's your high. And because of me, you get to do it at a whole new level. What, you want to go back to your old life? Keeping up with paperwork and crossing your T's and dotting your I's, seeing it all end in frustration, what, like, half the time? You need all this as much as I do. You need NZT as much as I do, and you know it." Rebecca: "Can I have my phone?" (Laura Markus)2. Marie: "You know, Brian I always knew that you had something special about you. A good heart. You were sensitive, you cared about other people. Even if you were being impulsive, even if the things you were doing looked selfish on the face of it. I believed in that light that was in you so much that, uh, I let a lot of things slip by. Finding pot in your jeans when you left them out for me to wash as usual." Brian: "Mom, come on-" Marie: "No. Let me finish. I figured that we would find some kind of balance, you know? Your father would give you discipline, some structure; I would give you room to run so you could figure things out. And I honestly thought that's what was happening to you now. I thought, maybe he's finally figured it out. Ugh. What an idiot I was." Brian: "Come on, Mom, you -" Marie: "No. What the hell are these?" Brian: "Geez." Marie: "You want to tell me about them? Because your father won't. We've been married for 42 years and there has never been a single thing that we could not discuss. So whatever these are must be serious." Brian: "Dad." Dennis: "Oh, no. This is between you and your mother." Marie: "You brought this into our home." Brian: "No, I didn't. No, I didn't." Marie: "The moment you got your sister into this, you did. Leaving these pills lying around, having her come to that safe house that you have been mysteriously given. You put your sister in danger." Brian: "No, I haven't." Marie: "Undercover agents coming over, bleeding out on the kitchen table." Brian: "Rachel." Marie: "Brian, no. I am not turning a blind eye anymore. I don't know what these pills are. I don't want to know. And I don't want our family any deeper in this than we already are." Brian: "Mom I can't tell you everything, but I can explain-" Marie: "Brian, no. I don't want any more excuses. Because unless you start making some different choices, you are not welcome here. I love you, Brian, but just no." (Laura Markus)3. Brian (voiceover, to Rebecca): "Hey. Thought about stopping by, but I figured you'd seen enough of me lately. You should know a few things. I'm sorry for the things I said. You deserve better than that. Whatever else happens, you saw potential in me that no one else ever did. It's not just the pill that changed my life, it's you. So, thanks for that. Things may get a little crazy for a while. I know I haven't given back as much as you've given me. There's probably no way I ever could. But starting now, I'm going to try. And in order to try, I've got to do a few things. So you may not hear from me for a minute. I think I have a way to make some of this okay. And if it all works out, I'll see you in a few days. And if it doesn't? Well we had some lulz, right?" (Laura Markus)1. Jane: "This spoils my experience of nature." Maura: "You hate nature." Jane: "Well I would like it a lot more if there were fewer dead people in it."2. Korsak: "It's fake. He was trying to pass a clothesline off as det cord." Jane: "Well if you know that, why'd you tell me to leave?" Korsak: "Cause I could have been wrong."3. Korsak: "You want to be my Best Man, so to speak?" Jane: "Well do I have to throw you a Bachelor Party 'cause I'm in for poker. You know, not so much on the strippers."1. Woz: "Hey." Donnie: "I heard you picked up a homicidal vet at a laundromat. I live down the block, the whole neighbourhood was talking-" Woz: "The whole neighbourhood's a pain in the a**, thanks to you." Donnie: "Well, protection money's protection money. I thought I was doing you a favour. [...] This vet: what are Detectives Cates and Broyhill doing with him?" Woz: "They want him for a murder that happened a few blocks over. He was wearing the dead man's shoes. Is that what you're here to find out?" Donnie: "No. I got another visit from Special Agent Stahl. You know, the Fed who warned me off your crew. He wanted to pass the baton. Now, he wants you for Saperstein's murder, but that ain't federal. This is good news. They're pulling up stakes, Woz." Woz: "Saperstein was the only leak. Rest of my crew is clean." Donnie: "And it also means we're free and clear to do the job." Woz: "I haven't committed to that. I'm not even sure what this job is. You will be." Donnie: "I got you your face-to-face. For real this time. 2:00. You get all the details. Buckle up. You're about to be rich." (Laura Markus)2. Woz: "Spare me the "What the hell." She's here, and she knows we've been discussing a job." Donnie: "Then we're not discussing anything anymore. This is done." Woz: "Maybe, if you were in charge, but you're not." Donnie: "You know, if I were you, I'd be very careful, Matt." Harlee: "Feed a monster, better hope he doesn't get bigger than you." (Laura Markus)3. Donnie: "Agent Stahl. I hope I'm not stepping on your feet again." Stahl: "Well, actually, I was hoping you could retrace your steps with Lieutenant Wozniak. I got the impression you were close to landing him for something." Stahl: "I can't officially say anything about the investigation because there is no investigation." Donnie: "Unofficially, they pulled your case?" Stahl: "The Special Agent in Charge let me follow up on a hunch based on pattern behaviour. Detective Saperstein was unable to back up that hunch before he took flight." Donnie: "That's a good story. Why tell it to me?" (Laura Markus)1. Desert Wolf: "I want my power back." Malia: "I want my family back."2. Stiles: "Okay, is it a Plan B?" Scott: "It was Plan A." Stiles: "Plan A never works." Scott: "This one will."3. Scott: "Hayden, we can still take you to the hospital." Hayden: "I've already died there once."4. Scott: "Liam, wait. We can still save Mason." Liam: "Well who's going to save you?" Sebastian: "What kind of werewolves are you?"
Dr Edmond Harty, CEO of Dairymaster told the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference taking place in Cavan, that the increased use of technology will assist farmers to meet challenges they are currently facing.

The reality of milk prices and volatility can be dealt with by adopting the resources that are available to other industries, according to Dr Harty. Data gathering and analytics has revolutionised many industries and is now turning the agricultural industry on its head, he said.

The CEO of the Irish agri tech company said that there is now an opportunity with the removal of milk quotas and the demand for increased efficiencies to harness the power of data. It is all about taking action on accurate information. In terms of milk quality a 100 cow farm has the opportunity to realise 18,000 per annum if they act upon the data is available to them.
TFA National Chairman, Stephen Wyrill said;

I will be attending tomorrows meeting to represent the interests of my members, many of whom are simply at breaking point. What started out as a crisis in the dairy sector has now developed into a state of chronic depression. I fear that we are in the last chance saloon and if we do nothing the consequences for domestic dairy production will be catastrophic.

The forum must put its weight behind a programme of urgent, EU wide production control. Domestic constraints on production will only be undermined if other European countries are not similarly constrained. To date the EU Commission has rejected calls for volume control but we must stand together to get it to think again, said Mr Wyrill.

The TFA does not believe that raising the EU Intervention Price will help. Such a move will only provide a temporary outlet for processors and cause stocks to overhang the market to delay any hope of a long-term recovery. We do however believe that both domestically and at an EU level we should look again at the opportunities for removing milk and milk products from the market through charitable outlets, said Mr Wyrill.

Sadly, there are many producers who feel they are on a downhill treadmill which just wont stop and from which they cannot escape. The forum needs to advocate that the EU provides a viable out-goers scheme to create dignified and rational routes for individuals in this position to exit the dairy sector, said Mr Wyrill.
STAMFORD  A neighbor alerted a West Side woman of a man looking into her bedroom window late Saturday night.

Sgt. Sean McGowan said the Richmond Place woman was inside her bedroom with her son, who was sleeping, when her neighbor began yelling. The neighbor was in the backyard smoking when she saw a black man pull a lawn chair up to the back of the house to stand on and began peering into the womans window, McGowan said.

The woman told police a black man had done the same thing in December. However, she didnt see the person on Saturday night so she didnt know if it was the same man.

McGowan said the black man was 6-feet tall, who had some facial hair and was wearing a gray sweatshirt and a black hat.

A search for the man was unsuccessful when a K-9 was unable to establish a track, McGowan said.

jnickerson@scni.com;
W hat would you do if your world was turned upside-down by the untimely death of a loved one and you were left to deal with a business that was winding down? Hide under the duvet?

David Abrahamovitch, whose father died five years ago, faced the situation head on, taking parts of the business he inherited and launching a totally new venture: coffee shop Shoreditch Grind, now part of a small chain, Grind & Co.

He came from entrepreneurial stock  his dad, also David, ran a phone business and bought the domain name mobilephones.com by fax in the Nineties. After an economics degree at University College London, he helped found legal claims firm InterResolve.

That made me kind of fall in love with the idea of creating something, getting funding, building a team, executing and growing it, says Abrahamovitch, 30, over his favourite afternoon coffee, a piccolo.

Neither he nor his business partner, former BodyRockers band member and DJ Kaz James - whom he had met years earlier in Kings Cross nightclub The Cross - had any hospitality experience.

Despite that, they aimed high  Australian James wanted to bring Melbournes cafe culture and love of independent coffee to the capital, while Londoner Abrahamovitch wanted to win over the average Starbucks-buying commuter.

They were frightfully naive and the refit of his fathers old office  a circular building by Old Street Tube station  cost much more than planned, but they managed to nail the crucial elements by the time they opened in June 2011.

Two of the things we got right  the coffee and the atmosphere  meant that people came in and came back, Abrahamovitch says. The coffee, a blend of Mexican and Guatemalan roasted specially for Grind, was created to appeal to the masses.

The original: Kaz James and David Abrahamovitch outside Shoreditch Grind (Picture: Grind & Co) / Grind

Coffee geeks tend to drink espresso and black coffee, as its the purest way to taste it, but that leads to you designing your blend for black drinks. The reality is 95%-plus of our drinks are served with milk, because thats what people drink in London, so we designed our blend primarily to work with milk.

The cafes laid-back hipster look was masterminded by James, who incorporated a recording studio that has hosted the likes of Tinie Tempah and Sam Smith.

Proof of the combinations success came when the neighbouring Starbucks closed temporarily and a good chunk of its customers (even one barista) came to Shoreditch Grind and never went back.

GRIND & CO Founded: 2011 Staff: 100 Turnover: 5 million (2015-16) Business idol: Elon Musk  To be running the number of businesses on the scale he is and simultaneously taking on General Motors, Nasa and the energy industry blows my mind.

In time, the cobbled together back-end was fixed and the team hit on a USP  serving quality coffee at high volume. The staff make 200 coffees an hour, far more than the average cafe, Abrahamovitch claims. But the numbers-focused entrepreneur  he monitors the speed of sales in every store on his phone  felt there was still more potential to squeeze out.

Wed managed to create a scene, and closing at 6pm or 7pm seemed insane since we were paying rent 24 hours, he says. A trial of an espresso Martini recipe  since picked as one of Londons best  convinced them to get an alcohol licence. After further fine-tuning of the coffee shop-cum-cocktail bar, the pair believed they had a blueprint they could roll out at more sites.

They pitched the idea to about 15 prospective investors before settling on a deal with Links of London founder John Ayton and private equity veteran Diarmid Ogilvy, who led a 1 million-plus investment round. The cash helped bring in talent such as operations director Sophie Roche-Garland from Soho House, one of Abrahamovitchs major inspirations. Its successful on a scale but also feels independent  a chain thats not a chain, he says.

Grind, which will turn over an estimated 5 million this year, now has six branches including one at London Bridge with a full restaurant. In keeping with their brand, its just as trendy as the original, with exposed brick walls, neon lights and blasting music.

Having issued a Grind Bond on crowdfunding site Crowdcube that raised 1.3 million, Abrahamovitch and James are planning four or five more, including their own roastery, and to develop a wholesale business.

But although Abrahamovitch is always looking out for properties, he says the goal is not rapid growth. Were focused on the next couple of sites  keeping it cool and high quality. I never want anyone to have a bad Grind coffee. It would break my heart.

To read more news about London-based entrepreneurs and to get their top tips on how to make a business a success, join the Evening Standard's small business community, Business Connections.
A t last we have a date for the start of the Night Tube  it will happen in August, according to the drivers union Aslef, possibly August 5. And so what has already been christened the Party line is in sight  though initially only on the Victoria and Jubilee lines, with the Piccadilly, Northern and Central lines following in September. The other good news is that Aslef too has welcomed the move, having secured generous recompense for its drivers. The campaign for the Night Tube started with this paper after chef Angela Harnett raised the issue in an Evening Standard debate, where she pointed out what a benefit a late-running Tube would be for her restaurant workers.

The service will be on Friday and Saturday nights, with frequent services running at eight- to 15-minute intervals, and its hoped to expand it to other lines later, including some overground services next year. This will be a transformation of Londons night-time economy. A 24-hour city will finally have a 24-hour Tube service. This will obviously benefit Londoners going to town in every sense at weekends, and visitors going to theatres, opera houses and clubs, but no less importantly it will make travel quicker, cheaper and safer for employees of those restaurants, bars and theatres. Workers in central London need to get home after a night shift; the weekend all-night Tube will usefully supplement the night bus service.

It took the unions a dismayingly long time to accept the new working patterns  something the mayoral candidates should bear in mind  but at last the stand-off has been resolved. Londons working patterns have changed, and our transport system has to reflect that. Of course we must ensure that the 24-hour Tube is safe for staff and passengers but there is no reason why this should not be a situation that benefits everyone. It will certainly give a welcome boost to the London economy. The Tube will run when London works and plays; thats the way to go.

Politics of spending cuts

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has performed a useful service by stating the obvious: the Chancellor may have been right to say in an interview that the cuts envisaged in this weeks Budget would be equivalent to 50p in every 100 of public spending but this is not as easy as it looks. The head of the IFS, Paul Johnson, points out that some areas could be hit six times more than others. Cuts are not spread evenly across departments  schools, overseas aid and above all health are exempt from cuts, which means that they fall disproportionately heavily on unprotected areas. So, as we report today, the cuts could well fall disproportionately on police and local government, which arguably have already made all the easy savings they can. Further cuts will be more difficult.

The Chancellor is not raising our spirits ahead of a feelgood Budget, which will usefully dampen expectations. Indeed it may be that some of the cuts, estimated at 4 billion in total, will not happen; they are being reserved for the end of this parliament in 2020. The Chancellor is giving himself the option of a feelgood budget then: it may be useful for his own political ends.

Is there life on Mars?

A joint mission by the European and Russian space agencies today dispatched two probes to Mars. Their aim is to investigate methane levels on the red planet and to test technology ahead of a second mission in two years time, in which a British-built rover will drill below the surface looking for signs of life. Our fascination with space is, appropriately, endless: the UKs involvement in this project is a welcome sign of our engagement with the final frontier.
H ere's a thought experiment for you. If you were given the chance to start one of these businesses, which would you choose? A company that could make 5million in profit (but only has a 20 per cent chance of success), one that might generate profits of 2million (with 50 per cent likelihood of success) or one that could rack up 1.25million in profits (but was 80 per cent likely to succeed)?

Would you go for the riskiest bet, or a safer but less lucrative choice? This question was put to 800 adults by academics Hongwei Xu and Martin Ruef, who wanted to look at how entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs think differently about risk.

When the results came in, it was clear that people who had started a business were much more likely to pick the safest choice. As the academics later wrote: We find that entrepreneurs are significantly more risk-averse than the general population. So congratulations if you went for the third option  you clearly think like an entrepreneur!

This might be counterintuitive, seeing as the stereotype of a great start-up leader is someone who takes huge gambles to succeed. But in real life, founders have to worry about losing everything if things go wrong, which can easily happen when you run your own company. This helps explain the risk aversion  building a business is often a matter of making calculated bets, after working hard to reduce the odds.

Whats fascinating to me is how this cautious mindset might influence the result of the EU referendum. After all, small business owners, and the people who work for them, make up 60 per cent of the UKs private-sector workforce, so their votes will play a significant role in the outcome.

'As an entrepreneur, I can see why the Leave campaign has an uphill struggle to overcome'

These voters will particularly be paying attention to the potential downsides of Brexit. That makes sense. Small businesses will be hit especially hard by economic instability, because theyre less likely to have cash in the bank to help them through tough times.

In recent weeks theres been no shortage of high-profile warnings for entrepreneurs and their employees to listen to. Whether its the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, saying that quitting the EU represents the biggest domestic risk to financial stability, or the OECDs chief economist arguing that trade in goods will become more costly, the potential downsides have been widely publicised.

Even the most ardent advocates of Britain going it alone acknowledge the hazards involved in leaving, with our economy likely to suffer in the short-term. According to one pro-Brexit economist, quitting the EU will lead to a short fall in growth followed by a much larger rise. Most entrepreneurs I know will worry more about the first part of that prediction, rather than get carried away with the second.

Having spent years working on government policy, I know how bureaucratic, backwards and wasteful EU institutions can be, and why some believe Britain will be better off out. But as an entrepreneur, I can see why the Leave campaign has an uphill struggle to overcome the fear that people  especially small business owners  understandably have about the economic risks of voting out. Thats not cowardice, as some Brexiteers allege  its human nature.

After all, the EU referendum isnt just a thought experiment. For entrepreneurs across London, like everyone else, its far more important than that.
O ne of my favourite stories about encryption software no, wait, my only story about encryption software  concerns the programme called PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy. In the early 1990s Phil Zimmermann invents an encryption doohickey that all the computers in the world would have to spend all eternity working on to have a hope of cracking. Being a generous fellow, he shares it around.

So the US government tries to sling him in jail for munitions export without a licence, on the grounds that encryption that strong is defined as a weapon. Zimmermanns response? He publishes the source code as a hardback book. Exporting weapons is against the law; exporting books is protected by the First Amendment. Tee hee.

There are a couple of lessons in there. One is that attempts to ban or restrict encryption tend to leave the law making hee-haw noises and wearing long furry ears. PGP is now used all over the world, its still uncrackable, and US law has made a sensible accommodation with it.

Yet lawmakers in this country, incredibly, are still trying to fight a version of that 25-year-old battle. It emerged yesterday that the Investigatory Powers Bill contains provisions to force large tech companies to build secret back doors to allow police and spies to hack into our phones and computers. That is: its asking them to include deliberate security flaws in systems used by millions. I need not point out that this is both illiberal and  in terms of the potential for abuse by state and non-state actors alike  more than a bit scary.

As Ive said here before, encryption protects us from criminals rather more than it protects criminals from the police: dissidents in repressive regimes and customers of online banks are kept safe by encryption just as much as terrorists and paedophiles, and there are many more of the former.

But, practically, what would such legislation mean? Since its restricted to any firm with more than 10,000 users it would mean that ordinary users would lose trust in these large companies  which would damage their place in the economy. It wouldnt make proper encryption impossible: it would simply restrict it to smaller companies. That would be a nice boost for small business, but not much of a problem for a terrorist, drug-trafficker or child-abuser.

So the force of this legislation  aimed at a small minority of baddies, whod make it their business to get round it would be to weaken the privacy of the large majority of ordinary people who dont spend all that much time thinking in detail about end-to-end encryption. The universal presumption of privacy online, as a protection for us all, is not perfect. But its pretty good.

Our proud national tradition of being outraged by TV rumpy-pumpy

The BBC's latest prime-time historical extravaganza, Versailles, has been denounced as primetime porn by that constituency that delights in being outraged at the gratuitous rumpo in historical drama. The BBC, meanwhile, describes it as a delicious treat  which I daresay it is for anyone who enjoys historical drama, gratuitous rumpo, or the pleasurable frisson of disapproving of same.

Theres something wonderfully wholesome and stabilising about this phenomenon  not least because it is such a long national tradition. When did it begin? I, Claudius was scandalising exactly the same people in exactly the same way fully 40 years ago, but I daresay it goes back further even than that.

The French, meanwhile  who have always been notoriously sophisticated and liberal about sex  are carping instead about the lack of historical accuracy in Versailles. Boring! What would you rather we were getting aerated about? Here, surely, is one of the strange wrinkles of collective psychology: by being relaxed and open-minded and unhypocritical about sex, you take all the fun out of it.

What a result for rugby dilettantes

Blimey. England versus Wales, eh? On Saturday afternoon I happened on a leek-eating friend of mine looking gloomily at the telly in the closing minutes of the match at Twickenham.

Whats the score? I asked. 25-7, he said. So how many tries would Wales need to win, then? I asked. Er. Three, converted, in seven minutes flat. Five minutes later, and two of those three in the bag, it looked like that was exactly what was going to happen.

As a confirmed rugby dilettante, I dont much mind that England won: Im just very grateful that Wales made the seven minutes of rugby I will have watched by the end of this year so exciting. The real fans may put the hours in but we dilettantes, just now and again, get a much better return on our investment.

Dame Joan may be wrong, but shes right

Joan Bakewell has been copping a bucket in the papers and on social media about off-the-cuff remarks about anorexia she made in an interview. To predictable fury, she is reported to have ascribed the condition to narcissism. I think  from the relatively little I know of this  that shes probably wrong; but she may be wrong in a more complicated way than her angry detractors allow.

I dont think she was talking about individual narcissism, as if to say that anorexia is a symptom of personal vanity; rather, she was suggesting that we live in a society of collective narcissism, where beauty and body image are highly valued and everywhere scrutinised.

With that to the fore, is it completely insane to suggest that the psychological factors often understood to feed into the pathology of eating disorders  a desire for control, self-hatred and depression among others  might fasten on to physical image in particular, and so find their outlet in anorexia?
A s summer approaches, music fans are faced with a wide variety of choices when it comes to festivals to attend.

Despite the national festivals taking the lead, London is home to many festivals with seriously impressive line-ups.

Taking place at Finsbury Park on 8-10 July, Wireless recently announced their line-up, headlined by Chase & Status, Calvin Harris and Boy Better Know. The likes of Craig David and Kwabs will also be appearing.

Barclaycard's British Summer Time gigs in Hyde Park present a number of tantalising options this year thanks to their stunning line up across multiple dates.

With Florence & The Machine headlining, Kendrick Lamar playing his exclusive UK date and Stevie Wonder performing Songs In The Key Of Life in full, it's set to be the biggest year yet in Hyde Park.

Victoria Park is busy as ever this summer with Lovebox festival and Field Day taking place. PJ Harvey will be headlining Field Day ahead of her new album alongside James Blake, while LCD Soundsystem are making a comeback with their headline slot at Lovebox.

With this much variety on offer at this year's London festivals, you'll easily find one suited to your personal taste.

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Review at a glance









J c Lees knotty play, here receiving its British premiere, offers a perceptive take on the pressures that afflict parents, their offspring and the teachers who often mediate between them. Its a smartly crafted 90 minutes, highlighting the evasive language of modern relationships and the delusions of adults who live vicariously through the teenagers they nurture.

Luce is a 17-year-old American high school student. Having escaped wartorn Congo, hes been adopted by white liberals and has become a poster boy for multiculturalism. But when hes asked to write an essay about an important historical figure, he produces a bizarre homage to a Seventies nationalist. This worries his teacher Harriet, and the discovery of illegal fireworks in his locker confirms her suspicion that he may be planning a terrorist attack.

As arguments swirl around his plans and motives, Luces psychology is intriguingly unclear. Is he an accident waiting to happen, an ice-cool provocateur, a role model enjoying a moment of rebellion or a misunderstood young man skewered by other peoples prejudice after being overloaded with their expectations?

Simon Dormandys absorbing production revels in this ambiguity. As Luces devoted mother Amy, Mel Giedroyc has an anxious intensity that will surprise fans of The Great British Bake Off.

London theatre: 2016 highlights 1 /13 London theatre: 2016 highlights The Master Builder

The Old Vic, Jan 23 - Mar 19

David Hare brings this adaptation of Henrik Ibsens masterpiece to the Old Vic, which will star Ralph Fiennes as Halvard Solness, an architect who finds his life dramatically shaken by the young Hilde. Like all Ibsen, it's about the big things: love, life, death, power, control. Hare and Fiennes promise to make it a memorable run.

oldvictheatre.com Red Velvet

Garrick Theatre, Jan 23 - Feb 27

Olivier-Award winner Adrian Lester revives his turn in Red Velvet, which received rave notices for its 2014 run, as part of Kenneth Branagh's season at the Garrick. Reds Velvet is inspired by the story of Ira Aldridge, a young black actor who must step in to play Othello at the Theatre Royal in 1833  no easy feat with the public rioting over the abolition of slavery.

branaghtheatre.com Uncle Vanya

Almeida Theatre, Feb 5 - Mar 26

Chekov's Uncle Vanya is usually worth a watch for its heartbreaking and faintly hilarious exploration of human behaviour and the contradictions we wrap ourselves up in. But the real draw here is the director: Robert Icke, who was named Best Director at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his fresh, affecting take on Oresteia, is the man at the helm.

almeida.co.uk Faith Healer

Donmar Warehouse, June 23 - Aug 20

Don't let this pass you by: Lyndsey Turner (who directed Benedict Cumberbatch in this year's Hamlet) is tackling this unsettling play, which explores the both the possibilities and dangers of genius, the meaning of love, and the power of faith. It's one of Brian Friel's finest works, nothing short of a masterpiece, simple but potent. The monologues in this play stay with you. Don't miss it  so long as Turner stays true to the text, it'll be magnificent.

donmarwarehouse.com Aladdin the Musical

Prince Edward Theatre, May 27 - Oct 1

Disney's beloved animation was given the Broadway treatment in 2014, where it enjoyed a successful run. Now transferring to the West End, this colourful production is a feel-good whirl of lights, glitz, glamour. Go for a bit of fun.

delfontmackintosh.co.uk Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Palace Theatre, June 7 - mid 2017

The always-excellent Jamie Parker joins Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornley as the grown-up Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in the forthcoming Potter play. It's two-part play, with separate performances for each part. The synopsis for the play reads: "While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. Interesting stuff.

harrypottertheplay.com The Entertainer

Garrick Theatre, Aug 20 - Nov 12

John Osborne's marvellous play about an ageing entertainer will see Kenneth Branagh take on Archie Rice (a part his idol Lawrence Olivier so memorably played in the 1960 film). Expect a touching look at a man finding himself increasingly out of touch, out of his depth, and faded.

branaghtheatre.com The Caretaker

The Old Vic, Mar 26 - May 14

Harold Pinter's groundbreaking play comes to the Old Vic with two huge names attached: Matthew Warchus (the theatre's new Artistic Director) will direct, while award-winning Timothy Spall stars. The combination makes this a very, very exciting proposition.

oldvictheatre.com Finding Neverland



Details to be confirmed



Nothing is confirmed yet, but Gary Barlow's Finding Neverland will, in all likeliness, transfer from Broadway to the West End this year. Barlow said: "It has to come to London, they're ready for it. Specifics we can't say but it's coming to London next year, 2016." The musical follows the 2004 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, and tells the story of J.M. Barrie and the family who inspired him to write Peter Pan.



The Wind in the Willows



Details to be confirmed



A brand new production of Wind in the Willows written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes is expected to come to the West End following its run at Plymouths Theatre Royal and The Lowry in Salford. Jamie Hendry produces.





Nigel Whitmey brings a nicely fidgety impatience to her husband Peter, Elizabeth Tan makes a fleeting yet unsettling appearance as Luces seemingly empty-headed ex Stephanie, and Natasha Gordons Harriet is a study in well-meaning frustration. But its Martins Imhangbe in the title role who impresses most  eloquent, unruffled and inscrutable.

Luce is on at Southwark Playhouse until April 2 (020 7407 0234)

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Review at a glance









F ive years on from the death of Gil Scott-Heron, the godfather of rap was honoured last night at the centrepiece of this months Convergence festival celebrating music pioneers.

The largely British line-up was a bold approach for a tribute to a Chicago-born bluesman and poet famed for portraying American social injustice in the Seventies. Nevertheless, Scott-Herons lyrics clearly spoke to this new generation of London-based performers, who reinterpreted his songs alongside a band featuring Floating Points Sam Shepherd on keyboards, musical director Dave Okumu of The Invisible and a superb saxophonist.

Jamie Woon sang about nuclear meltdown (We Almost Lost Detroit) with a mellifluous delivery, while Kwabs summoned his inner Seventies soul man for anti-war song Did You Hear What They Said? Perhaps the most powerful performance was the incendiary Europe Is Lost by poet and rapper Kate Tempest, though it felt like being given a ticking off about societys ills.

Theres more wit and wisdom on The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, but that was less obvious when comedian Reginald D Hunter attempted Scott-Herons proto-rap  he should at least have learnt the words, not read them.

Music in London 2016: The years biggest gigs 1 /13 Music in London 2016: The years biggest gigs The Libertines The O2 30 January 2016 Pete, Carl and co have been out and about a fair bit since the release of their first album in 11 years, Anthems For Doomed Youth. But catching them live is still a special experience, whatever state they turn up in on the night. The Libertines tickets JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images Foals Wembley 16 February 2016 This Oxford-formed band are growing their fanbase by the day thanks to a style that combines indie with touches of punk and funk. This gig  part of their very first UK tour  will be the bands biggest to date, and comes with the added bonus of Everything Everything supporting. Foals tickets Warner Bros Adele The O2 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22 March and 4, 5 April 2016 She needs no introduction, and judging by the chaos that ensued when tickets for this tour were released, she needs no help selling seats either. She will play eight dates at the O2 as part of her tour, which also takes in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin as well as cities across Europe. Adele tickets Kevin Winter/Getty Images Wolf Alice The Forum 26, 28 March 2016 Playing in Kentish Town is something of a homecoming for this north London band who have won a Mercury Prize nomination for their debut album My Love Is Cool. Wolf Alice tickets Jenn Five Muse The O2 3, 11, 12, 14, 15 April 2016 Muse know how to pack both energy and immense theatrics into a show, and this run of five nights at the O2 will be no different. The set-up will be quite something in itself  the band will perform in the round, on a stage shaped like a double-headed arrow and we hear the set will also feature a whole swarm of drones. Muse tickets AC/DC Olympic Stadium 4 June 2016 As if a rare UK stadium gig from AC/DC wasnt exciting enough, this will be the first one at Stratfords stadium once it completes being reconfigured after the 2012 games. The gig is part of the Back In Black performers Rock or Bust World Tour and is followed by a date in Manchester on June 9. AC/DC tickets Coldplay Wembley 15, 16, 18, 19 June 2016 Coldplay are rolling into town in June with four nights at a packed Wembley Stadium to mark new album A Head Full of Dreams. Expect Chris Martin and co to put on a characteristically impressive, energetic and atmospheric show. Coldplay tickets Rihanna Wembley 24 June 2016 Rihanna will pack out Wembley as part of a tour to mark her eighth album Anti, with saucy on-stage antics a given. Less certain is whether or not shell be on time  she was 45mins late for a gig in Twickenham in 2013. The Weeknd will be among the singers support. Rihanna tickets Justin Bieber The O2 11, 12, 14, 15 October and 28, 29 November 2016 Love him or loathe him, Bieber is one of the biggest celebrities on the planet right now, and hes laying on a suitably epic-sized world tour to match. Six nights at the O2 are backed up by three each in Birmingham and Glasgow and one in Sheffield. Justin Bieber tickets Kevin Winter/Getty The Cure Wembley 2, 3 December 2016 The iconic English rock band, led by enigmatic frontman Robert Smith, will play Wembley as part of their first European tour since 2008. theyll be supported by The Twilight Sad. The Cure tickets Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Although that classic was fumbled at the Roundhouse, the group gathering for the booze groove of The Bottle was a joyous finale. This poignant, soulful tribute to a music legend was too good to be a one-off.

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T he relaunch of one of the West Ends most glamorous restaurants has been blighted by an extraordinary four-month wait for a phone line.

The new Italian operators of the Criterion restaurant and bar in Piccadilly Circus say they have been the victims of a bureaucratic nightmare since taking over the 141-year-old venue in November.

Despite making hundreds of calls, arranging eight appointments with engineers and paying a 600 deposit to BT they are still without a landline or a broadband connection  which has caused big, big damage to the business.

Sebastian Gatto is chief executive of the Milan-based Savini restaurant group, which bought the Grade II* listed Criterion from administrators last autumn.

Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johansson at the Criterion / Dave Benett

The previous operator collapsed after a rent rise. He said: We took over the premises in November and applied to request a line so we could start arranging media and PR for the launch and set up a booking line but it has proved impossible.

Through November and December we called them three, four, five times a day and eventually we fixed an appointment  but nobody showed up. Finally in January they came out, but it didnt succeed because the guy said he had been given the wrong exchange code.

Daisy Lowe celebrates the Criterion's 135th birthday in 2010 / Dave Benett

The most recent appointment was on March 4, but the engineer said he had been given the wrong code again and he couldnt do anything. He said it didnt depend on him, we had to call another number.

We tried the call centre, they said theyre really sorry, we will call you back immediately  but they didnt call. This wouldnt happen in Italy, you might wait 10 days or maybe 20 if you were unlucky but it would be resolved in weeks  not in four months. As a result the restaurant is attracting only 30 to 40 customers a day, compared with the hoped-for 300 to 400.

The Citreon has hosted Suki Waterhouse / Dave Benett

At its peak the Criterion was one of Londons starriest venues, hosting events with guests including Suki Waterhouse, Dame Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.

In its new guise, Savini at Criterion, it has been turned into an all-day venue. But the narrow frontage on Piccadilly Circus and the communications fiasco mean that business has been far slower than hoped for.

Mr Gatto said: This has caused big, big damage to the business, we just want to be focused on doing our best to serve good food.

A BT spokesman said: We apologise for the delay in providing service to Savini at Criterion restaurant. Were trying to provide them with phone and broadband as quickly as possible.

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R eading this article might come easy to some, but for those who suffer with dyslexia, helping others to understand what its like to live with the learning difficulty can be hard to explain.

To help raise awareness, a website aims to allow non-dyslexic people to experience what its like to live with the learning difficulty.

Clicking on Githubs coded page, youll see that the letters of the text appear to swap around on the page, increasing the time and difficulty it takes to read.

Victor Widell created the website to reveal how challenging reading with dyslexia can be after a friend told him about her experiences.

Up to 1 in every 10 to 20 people in the UK has some degree of dyslexia, a lifelong problem that can present challenges on a daily basis.

But while dyslexia affects reading, writing, spelling and speaking, it can range in its severity. Not every dyslexic person will experience reading exactly as Widells website presents the shifting text.

Struggling to unpick the paragraphs? The full unscrambled text on Widells website reads: A friend who has dyslexia described to me how she experiences reading. She can read, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the letters seem to jump around.

I remembered reading about typoglycemia. Wouldnt it be possible to do it interactively on a website with JavaScript? Sure it would.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal intelligence. This includes difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.

The best apps for Londoners 1 /16 The best apps for Londoners Zip car Join, reserve, unlock and drive  it really is that simple. The capitals preferred car clubs app gives 24/7 access to cars and vans in your neighbourhood and lets you extend or cancel reservations on the go. Free Uncover Sick of being stuck on waiting lists? You need Uncover, which redistributes cancelled reservations at some of the capitals top restaurants, including The River Cafe and Nobu. Not for planning freaks, though  tables typically become free at 40 minutes notice. Free Uber So popular its become a verb, this private driver service has revolutionised travel in the capital. Its speedy and affordable, making it a welcome alternative to the night bus. Free Santander Cycles Launched this summer, the official app for Boris fifth child can be used to search for nearby docking stations and check bike availability. Theres also a journey planner featuring easy, moderate and fast routes to satisfy all cycling tribes. Free Plume Air Report This new app has been downloaded by 3,000 Londoners. Sensors gathering air pollution data submit updates every hour, resulting in a scale that ranges from fresh to extremely polluted. Free Nightcapp Heres an app that will have booze hounds raising their glasses. NightCapp is a map that pinpoints more than 1,500 London watering holes that stay open past 11.30pm. It also shows users when a bar is about to close by highlighting it in orange. Better get moving. Free Money Dashboard An award-winning budget planner, this helps you keep track of personal spending across multiple accounts, pay off credit cards and even makes suggestions on how to manage your finances better. Free Her Promising to introduce women to a lesbian that hasnt slept with any of your friends, this revamped dating app includes queer-themed news and blogs, upcoming event notices and an improved algorithm-matching system. Free FoodMood This new startup, which reckons its Tinder for food, pledges to narrow down your choice of lunchbreak destinations. Hit yum or yuk on photos of dishes in your area. Juvenile, but strangely addictive. Free Daily Yoga This offers more than 50 yoga sessions, as well as a database of 500 yoga poses. Suitable for all levels, programmes include yoga aimed at specific areas of the body and weight loss. Namaste to that. Free Coffee Meets Bagel Billed as the anti-Tinder, this new kid on the block delivers just a single match to users once a day. Coffee Meets Bagel uses Facebook profile information to recommend suitors based on friends of friends. Neither coffee nor bagels are included. Free. Bristlr Do you have a beard? Perhaps youd like to stroke one on a regular basis? This can be arranged. Unlike other dating apps, Bristlr is unashamedly all about hooking up the hairy with the hairless. Theres even a beard-rating option for aficionados. Free

There are three proposed cognitive subtypes of dyslexia (auditory, visual and attentional), although individual cases of dyslexia are better explained by specific underlying neuropsychological deficits and co-occurring learning disabilities (e.g. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, math disability, etc.).

Although it is considered to be a receptive language-based learning disability in the research literature, dyslexia also affects ones expressive language skills. Researchers at MIT found that people with dyslexia exhibited impaired voice-recognition abilities.

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T op Gear producers faced a backlash for a "gravely disrespectful" stunt in which Matt Le Blanc performed "donuts" near the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Yesterday's filming was criticised as being in "bad taste" after photos emerged of smoke billowing from a Ford Mustang's tyres by the memorial.

But show bosses claimed the photographs were misleading.

Former British military commander Colonel Richard Kemp told the Telegraph: "This is a sacred tribute to millions of people who have done far more for their country than Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc ever will."

He added: "Jeremy Clarkson was certainly no saint but I don't believe he would have ever performed a stunt in such bad taste."

But a spokesman for Top Gear, which is due to air in May, said photographs taken by paparazzi made it look like the filming took place closer than it did in reality.

He said all scenes were shot around 40 metres away from the memorial.

Backlash: Matt Le Blanc during Top Gear filming / PA

He said: "The filming took place a respectful distance away from the cenotaph and it was all agreed with Westminster Council in advance."

TODO: define component type apester

Earlier on Sunday Chancellor George Osborne scolded Le Blanc's fellow host Chris Evans for making a racket near Downing Street and distracting him from writing the Budget.

Matt Le Blanc crashes wedding day during Top Gear filming

He tweeted: "Trying to write my Budget, despite noisy episode of @BBC-TopGear being filmed outside on Horseguards Parade. Keep it down please @achrisevans."

The Budget is due to be delivered on Wednesday.

And on Saturday Top Gear host Matt LeBlanc and professional rally driver Ken Block surprised a bride and groom and their wedding guests at St Paul's Cathedral as they motored past, with the former Friends star sticking his arm out of the car window to wave.

New Top Gear line-up 2016

A seven-strong line-up for the new series of the motoring show includes LeBlanc, Evans, and Top Gear stalwart The Stig.

Also on board are Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, motoring journalist Chris Harris and car reviewer Rory Reid.
A man is fighting for his life in hospital after a stabbing in east London this afternoon, police say.

Emergency services were called to reports of a stabbing in Highbridge Road, Barking, at 3.37pm today.

Londons Air Ambulance landed in the grounds of nearby Barking Abbey and a man, believed to be aged around 25, was found with stab wounds.

He was taken to an east London hospital in a critical condition, police said.

David Edwards, who was staying at the nearby Ibis hotel, said the stabbing appeared to have happened following a heated argument in the grounds of the Metallic used car shop on Highbridge Road.

The 58-year-old said: "I thought 'what's going on?' At one time there were about nine police cars and ambulances. There must have been 20 to 25 police officers at the end of the day.

"Eventually they loaded the victim into the ambulance. He wasn't moving."

The Met Police are investigating but there have been no arrests so far.
C hampion boxer Jamie Cox has been found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend after breaking into her flat.

Cox attacked Viktoria Gribovskaja at her home in Lambeth, south London, on July 16 last year after their relationship broke down and he attempted to collect his belongings.

The boxer said he had "barged" through her front bedroom doors because he feared she "could kill herself", which he said she had previously threatened to do.

Cox, the WBO European super-middleweight champion, also denied harassing her by sending abusive text messages and assaulting her by placing his hands around her throat.

But magistrates said they found the victim's account of the confrontation "credible and convincing" and the 29-year-old's evidence "not credible".

Cox, who appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court in south London under his real name, Jamie Russan, was convicted of assault by beating, violence to secure entry, harassment and criminal damage.

Chair of the bench Mary Marshall said Cox had intended his text messages, in one of which he called Ms Gribovskaja a "slut", to be "abusive and hurtful".

And she added his claim that he feared his ex-girlfriend might hurt herself was "inconsistent" with the messages he had sent her.

When giving evidence, Cox said if found guilty his career "would be very much in tatters if not over".

He will return for sentencing at the same court on April 11.
A father's quest for justice over the murder of his London student daughter has taken a new twist amid claims that authorities in war-torn Yemen offered to surrender a playboy suspect in an attempt to broker peace talks.

Odd Petter Magnussen said he was approached by an influential figure from Yemen asking if he could arrange talks in Norway. In return authorities would hand over Farouk Abdulhak  the son of Yemeni billionaire Shaher Abdulhak and the prime suspect in the murder of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen  to Interpol.

The offer was revealed today by her father on the eighth anniversary of her death in London.

Abdulhak, 29, fled Britain in March 2008, hours after the battered, semi-naked body of Miss Magnussen, 23, was found under rubble in the basement of flats in Great Portland Street where he lived. They were both students at the Regents Business School and Miss Magnussen is believed to have shared a cab with him after leaving nightclub Maddox on the night she went missing.

Scotland Yard named Abdulhak as the only suspect and issued an international arrest warrant in his name. However, there is no extradition treaty with Yemen and despite extensive diplomatic efforts, he has failed to return.

Mr Magnussen today said he would never give up hope of achieving justice for his daughter. He said he had been approached by a senior Yemeni figure in exile last year when the civil war was at its height.

I was approached by a contact who represents all the political parties and factions who asked me to approach the Norwegian government to arrange peace talks in Norway, he said. They said to me if I did this they would hand over the suspect in Martines murder to Interpol.

I found this encouraging. This was a strong message to the suspect that he can no longer totally rely on the support of his own people. I hope he is not sleeping so well these days. Mr Magnussen said he was prepared to do this but only to save lives in Yemen, however his approach was unsuccessful.

Before the civil war Abdulhak was reported to have been living a normal life in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and married there two years ago.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge, who is leading the investigation, said: My message to the suspect is that we are eight years down the line but this is not going away. He will still be wanted 10 or 20 years from now. I urge him to return, he will be entitled to a free and fair trial.
G uards at Britains most secure prison have lost control amid fears that radical extremists are bullying other inmates into converting to Islam, the Old Bailey has been told.

Prisoners are reported to be terrified of being sent to maximum security Belmarsh prison because of the atmosphere created by a growing number of radical Muslim inmates.

A barrister claimed the situation was so bad that inmates in the Thamesmead prison were being held in lockdown to try to stop the bullying.

The claims will fuel concerns about the extent of radicalisation in prisons. Justice Secretary Michael Gove has already ordered an inquiry into prison extremism in response to fears that a surge in the number of terrorist convictions has led to increasing Islamist influence in some jails.

Barrister Rupert Pardoe told an Old Bailey judge: There is a sense that the prison authorities have lost control. Many defendants in my clients situation are in total lockdown. Theres a degree of fear as to the need to conform to certain religious views in Belmarsh.

Mr Pardoe was representing Lee Smith, a member of a smash-and-grab robbery gang, who refused to leave a prison van for an Old Bailey hearing in January. Mr Pardoe said a scared Smith believed he would be returned to HMP Thameside, where he had been held, instead of Belmarsh if he did not enter the court.

In December last year, Glyn Travis, assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers Association, said: We have concerns that Islamist extremists are deliberately getting custodial sentences in order to target vulnerable prisoners. They are often clever and well educated and can brainwash young people.

The proportion of Muslim inmates at Belmarsh has risen sharply in the last five years to more than a quarter, thanks largely to terrorism convictions. Terrorists are usually held in Category A prisons, including Belmarsh, Long Lartin, Whitemoor and Woodhill.

In 2014, it was claimed that Michael Adebolajo, one of Lee Rigbys killers, was moved out of Belmarsh to stop him radicalising fellow inmates.

Barristers have complained that security measures are so extreme that it can be impossible to arrange a meeting with their clients. Last year, after a string of court hearings were cancelled, senior Old Bailey judges demanded that Belmarsh chiefs set up videolinks to the court for defence teams to use.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: These allegations are untrue. HMP Belmarsh is not in lockdown and continues to operate as normal.
A smash-and-grab gang who stole more than 200,000 in cash and designer handbags during a four-month crime spree across London and the south-east have been jailed for a total of more than 45 years.

The crew used stolen vehicles including a Porsche to track security vans through central London, ambushing the guards and making a getaway on waiting mopeds.

One of the gang, Charles Durkin, 25, managed to join in the raids despite serving an eight-year prison sentence for the robbery of a Kensington jewellers.

He was let out of Ford prison in West Sussex on day release on the pretext of maintaining family ties, the Old Bailey heard.

But instead he joined up with Alan Kelly, 21, David Kelly, 31, Michael Lewis, 29, Daryl Salisbury, 25, Lee Smith, 24, Sonney Colligan, 23, and Lewis Sokhi, 28, in a campaign of raids on cash-in-transit vans.

They used angle grinders to break into the boxes and laundered the dye-stained cash through fixed-odds betting terminals in bookies shops.

Between February and June 2014, the gang stole 110,500 in 13 separate robberies, the court heard.

The Kelly brothers, Salisbury and Lewis were snared by the Mets Flying Squad after a 70,000 smash-and-grab raid on the luxury Louis Vuitton store in Sloane Street on 26 June 2014.

They used mopeds to smash through the front of the store, but were quickly rounded up after a passerby filmed the raid on their phone.

Recorder Michael Brompton QC today jailed Durkin and Sokhi for three years and four months, Smith for five years, and Colligan for three years for their parts in the crime spree.

David Kelly, who is already serving seven years for the Louis Vuitton raid, was jailed for an extra two-and-a-half years. His brothers three-and-a-half year sentence was extended to five years and three months.

Lewis, serving six years for the same raid, will now have to serve an eight year term behind bars, and Salisburys six year sentence was extended to eight years and four months by the judge.

Smith and Colligan were caught with thousands of pounds worth of Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood handbags after a 38,000 raid on designer fashion shop Larizia, in St Johns Wood.

Prosecutor Peter Clement said the organised crew had relied on elements of thorough planning, which include reconnaissance, safety in numbers, the element of surprise and the means of making a getaway.

He said security guards had been ambushed and punched as the robbers wrestled the cash boxes from their grasp.

Mr Clement added that of the 110,500 in cash stolen, only 6,800 has been recovered.

The designer handbags stolen from Larizia were found stuffed into bin bags and hidden in a cupboard at an accomplices home.

Charles Durkin involved himself while on periods of day release from a prison sentence he was then serving for an offence of robbery, said Mr Clement.

Durkin, from Muswell Hill, was caught out by his mobile phone records linking him to the raids, even though he had been let out of prison for maintaining family ties and town visits.

Another of the robbers, David Kelly, joined the gang when he was released on license after serving half of a 69-month sentence for conspiracy to burgle.

His brother, Alan, along with Sokhi, from St Johns Wood, Lewis, who lives in Essex, and Salisbury, from Highbury, were involved throughout the period, while Colligan was responsible for finding vehicles to use in the raids.

All eight defendant admitted conspiracy to commit robbery, while Alan Kelly, from Finsbury Park, also pleaded guilty to two commercial robberies and his brother admitted one of them.

Smith, from Bloomsbury in central London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen goods and Colligan, of Upper Holloway, admitted receiving stolen goods over handling the stolen handbags.
A Met police officer who downloaded the highest category of child abuse images has been on full pay since last summer despite pleading guilty.

Pc Rupert Watkins, 45, downloaded over 100 images on his phone including Category A, which depict penetrative sexual activity with children.

Scotland Yard has still not sacked the officer and in February his internal misconduct hearing was suspended for almost another month.

The force says it is bound by Home Office guidelines meaning Pc Watkins cannot be sacked until it carries out an internal misconduct hearing.

However, a hearing can take place in an officers absence and be fast-tracked when the evidence is strong.

It today led to Scotland Yard being accused of dragging out the case and calls for it to be fast-tracked.

Watkins, who lives in Bromley with his wife  also a Met officer  earns about 40,000 a year.

He claims he became depressed at work after being taken off the beat for nine months while being investigated for alleged homophobic comments about colleagues, which he says he was cleared of.

He viewed the images after becoming addicted to adult pornography and turning to drink, he admitted.

Intelligence, gathered by the National Crime Agencys Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre after he visited monitored websites, was passed to Scotland Yards Paedophile Unit.

The force suspended him last July when he was arrested. Watkins, who viewed 45 Category A images, 23 Category B and 47 Category C, pleaded guilty at Westminster magistrates court in December to three counts of making indecent photos of a child.

There is no suggestion he manufactured images. He was sentenced at Southwark crown court in January.

Watkins was stationed in Bromley but has worked across London since joining the Met in 1996. He told the Standard: I got addicted to normal pornography and I was also drinking. I didnt know what I was doing.

He claims he clicked on links to child abuse websites advertised on adult pornography websites, adding: Until they sack me they cant not pay me.

Watkins was given a two-year community order with an activity rehabilitation requirement, is on the sex offenders register and was ordered to pay 560 costs. He is in therapy.

His misconduct hearing was due to take place on February 29 but did not go ahead due to another case overrunning.

Harry Davis, campaign manager at the TaxPayers Alliance, said: When cases end up dragging on like this, it is taxpayers who end up picking up the bill.

The Home Office said: We have reformed the police complaints and disciplinary systems to make them more transparent, more accountable to the public and to bring corruption and misconduct to light.

"We have also introduced legally qualified chairs for disciplinary hearings, which are now held in public, and we are giving the Independent Police Complaints Commission responsibility for all serious and sensitive cases.

The Met said Watkins hearing was arranged for the first available date after his misconduct review was completed. As it was not possible to hold the hearing... it will be held on the earliest, next available date.

Sufficient notice has to be given to ensure any legal representation required by the officer, and the assistant commissioner who will chair the hearing, is available.
A smash-and-grab gang who stole more than 200,000 in cash and designer handbags during a four-month crime spree across London and the South-East were facing jail today.

They used stolen vehicles to track security vans through London, ambushing guards and escaping on mopeds.

Charles Durkin, 25, joined in despite serving an eight-year sentence for robbery. He was let out of Ford prison on day release, the Old Bailey heard, and joined Alan Kelly, 21, David Kelly, 31, Michael Lewis, 29, Daryl Salisbury, 25, Lee Smith, 24, Sonney Colligan, 23, and Lewis Sokhi, 28, in the raids on cash-in-transit vans.

Between February and June 2014, the gang stole 110,500 in cash in 13 robberies, the court heard.

The Kelly brothers, Salisbury and Lewis were snared after a 70,000 raid on the Louis Vuitton store in Sloane Street in June 2014. Smith and Colligan were caught with thousands of pounds worth of handbags after a 38,000 raid on designer shop Larizia in St Johns Wood.

The handbags were found stuffed in bin bags at an accomplices home.

All eight admitted conspiracy to commit robbery.
L ord Mandelson will accuse Boris Johnson of risking the special relationship with America after the Mayor attacked Barack Obama for wanting the UK to stay in the European Union.

Mr Johnson today openly mocked the US presidents backing for the EU and accused Americans of narcissism in failing to understand why the UK would want to quit.

But former business secretary Lord Mandelson will accuse Mr Johnson and fellow Out campaigners of ignoring the fears of Britains greatest ally in a speech tomorrow.

The Labour peer will say: Boris Johnson likes to think he is the only one who speaks for Britain, but he is busy ignoring Britains greatest ally in a way that could damage the special relationship.

Boriss desire for Britain to be more isolationist has the potential to damage the special relationship.

The ex-EU commissioner will also say that leaders from Mr Obama to Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande, Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping all back Britain in the EU.

The Mayor accused Americans of narcissism / JEREMY SELWYN

He will say those campaigning for the UK to quit are trying to damn anyone who takes the opposing argument, adding: Boris Johnsons attack on President Obama is a classic of the genre.

Instead of putting his fingers in his ears and screaming hypocrisy, Boris should be asking why Barack Obama would make the case for Britain to stay in the EU. Only Putin benefits from Britain going it alone.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage also accused Mr Obama  who is expected to visit the UK in the coming weeks  of being a very anti-British American president as the row over his involvement in the EU referendum grew.

TODO: define component type apester

In his Daily Telegraph column today, Mr Johnson said Mr Obama is trying to act like some deus ex machina in suggesting Britons vote to remain.

He wrote: Air Force One will touch down, a lectern with the presidential seal will be erected. The British people will be told to be good to themselves, to do the right thing.

He claimed that when Americans look at the process of European integration, they make a fundamental category error.

He went on: With a forgivable narcissism, they assume that we Europeans are evolving  rather haltingly  so as to become just like them: a United States of Europe, a single federal polity.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnsons brother Jo also backed the EU at the opening of the London Stock Exchange today.

He said: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has warned of the considerable uncertainty which Indian businesses would face in the event of a decision to leave the EU. FICCI is right.

We should not give Indian firms any reason to doubt that the UK is the right place for them.
A south-west London suburb has been nicknamed the UKs Porn Hollywood after it was revealed hundreds of explicit movies were filmed across the borough.

It is thought more than 125 pornographic films have been recorded in Sutton, with almost half being filmed in car parks in the town centre.

A production company which shoots x-rated films appeared to confirm it had previously visited Sutton to film some scenes.

The Mirror reported the Fake Taxi production company posted on its Twitter account: Its all over the papers. Think its time2move2another town.

The Sutton Guardian said the car park at the towns shopping centre  the St Nicholas Centre  featured in one of the movies.

Bosses at the shopping centre declined to tell the paper whether they were aware of any of the films.

Director Gavin Waller said: We are aware of an incident that took place in the car park at the St Nicholas Centre last year.

The onsite security team informed Sutton police who dealt with the incident quickly.

Other films recorded in the borough are said to include a taxi driver travelling around the borough before stopping to have sex with women posing as customers.
A young woman who was touched by the kindness of a homeless man who came to her aid has repaid his generosity by raising more than 10,000 to help him.

Nicole Sedgebeer, 21, was left stranded in London after a night out earlier this month when she missed the last train home to Milton Keynes.

After arriving at Euston station to find it locked up, Miss Sedgebeer was left terrified and alone in a city she did not know.

She approached a man, called Mark, who was sleeping rough nearby to ask for help, and he offered to walk her to a nearby cafe  leaving his belongings unattended  and even returned to walk her back to the station when it reopened at about 5am.

Miss Sedgebeer shared her story in a bid to make people look twice when they see a homeless person, and also set up a JustGiving page with the aim of raising 8,000 to help Mark.

On the page she wrote: Mark embodies the best of humanity. He went out of his way to help me, a complete stranger, when the reality of his situation is that people walk past him every day without offering him help.

Mark you are one special man, I will never look down on a homeless person again and so want to do something to help Mark and all the other homeless people around Euston.

The page has now surpassed 10,000 in donations, with almost 800 people from across the country who have been touched by the story pledging their support.

Carla from Manchester, who donated 20, wrote: What a lovely thing he did and what a lovely thing youre doing in return.

Acts like this make me restore faith in humanity.

While Jab, who donated 15, wrote: We live in a world where we are so weary of the malicious.

It's nice to see there are some nice genuine people in this day and age. Thanks and good luck Mark."
S adiq Khan today called on George Osborne to take emergency action in this weeks Budget to help fix Londons housing crisis.

Labours mayoral hopeful warned the situation was a national emergency that was damaging Britains economy and productivity.

He urged the Chancellor to devolve new powers to the capital to help double the number of homes built to more than 50,000 a year.

Housing has become the key issue of the mayoral race with the main contenders battling it out to prove their plans will work best.

Mr Khan wants councils to be given more freedom to invest in new social homes and for ministers to take greater action to prevent land-banking, where investors sit on land until the value goes up. Several of the proposals on Mr Khans wish-list, such as City Hall getting control of all surplus public land in the capital and keeping a bigger portion of the stamp duty raised here, are shared by his main rivals.

Londoners now pay around 3 billion stamp duty  more than 40 per cent of the total collected in the UK  and the London Housing Commission last week recommended it retains a bigger share.

Mr Khan wants government support for a new skills academy in London and greater investment in house-building here. He called for ministers to stop their pay to stay plans for council tenants as families on modest incomes would be hardest hit.

Mr Osborne announced last year that every household with an income over 40,000 in London would have to pay a market rate for their home from next year, which will now be tapered to rise in line with income. Mr Khan said: The Government must use the Budget this week to take emergency action to build the genuinely affordable homes that Londoners need.
T heresa May today urged retailers to step up their efforts to prevent the illegal sale of knives to young people.

The Home Secretary held a summit with online and high street chains in response to concerns that some are failing to enforce the legal ban on sales to under-18s. She said shops could also help by storing blades more safely to make it harder to steal knives. Mrs May added that such crucial measures would help save lives and make the streets of London  and other towns and cities  safer for young people.

Announcing a new drive to combat knife crime, the Home Secretary said she was pleased with the support of the retailers attending the meeting today and insisted that the law banning sales to juveniles must be upheld. She added: Our young people dont just wake up one morning and decide to start carrying a knife.

We need to look at all the factors that influence behaviour  from opportunity to what acts as a deterrent.

Retailers have an important part to play in preventing knife crime  enforcing age restrictions and displaying knives safely is crucial.

I am encouraged by the willingness of major retailers to meet and discuss how we can work together. Knife crime devastates communities.

Further measures to tackle the issue will be outlined in a modern crime prevention strategy to be unveiled by Mrs May in the coming weeks.

These will include more effective hotspot policing, achieved partly by using data from accident and emergency departments to identify victims and where attacks are taking place.

There will also be continued support for intervention schemes to deter young people from carrying knives or being involved in gangs.

Tory mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has vowed to push for a ban on knife sales online if retailers fail to ensure that under-18s are unable to buy them on the internet.

His warning came after one of his staff managed to purchase a 10-inch zombie killer blade on Amazon without being asked to prove his age.

The weapons are now understood to have been removed from sale by the website.

Mr Goldsmiths Labour opponent, Sadiq Khan, has also threatened to introduce tougher penalties for retailers that sell knives to juveniles, among a series of measures to reduce the numbers being killed or injured by blades.
G ap years are a waste of time, a leading British businessman has claimed.

Teenagers wishing to take a year out before starting university should instead spend it working or continuing their education, Sir Martin Sorrell said.

The 71-year-old boss of multi-national PR firm WPP told the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai that he believed gap years do not benefit career prospects, The Times reported.

"Gap years tend to be ill organised and ill directed and more a serendipity, he said. Companies dont find them enough time [to do something useful].

Sir Martin, who said he worked in a north-west London electronics shop on his year out, added: The best thing you can do is go and study in a foreign land.

TODO: define component type apester

I dont speak languages, my wife speaks five. I dont speak code. Code should be compulsory in schools.
A British tourist claims he was detained for six days in Canada after border force officers mistook his friends ashes for ketamine.

Russell Laight, 41, from Worcestershire, was travelling to Halifax in Nova Scotia to scatter the ashes of his friend Simon Darby  who died of cancer in December - when his flight was diverted to Newfoundland.

Mr Laight said when he arrived and his bag was searched, border officials tested the ashes for illegal substances, which reportedly came back positive for ketamine.

He said he was then immediately detained and kept in a provincial courthouse cell for five nights.

He told CBC News: I was very, very unhappy about it.

Very unhappy that my friends relatives were unhappy as well. I heard there were lots of people crying over it, lots of people upset about it.

Mr Laight said he was treated a bit like a dog and had all his privileges taken away.

After tests revealed the ashes did not contain the class B drug, he was released from prison on March 7 - but he says he was left without the ashes of his friend.

He told CBC News: I really am interested to find out where they are and preferably get them here as fast as possible so we can do what my friend Simon wanted us to do in the first place: spread them over here with my buddy.

He added that he did not fill out the correct paperwork and urged other travellers to ensure they learnt from his mistakes.

A spokesman for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary told CBC News it was not in possession of Mr Darbys ashes and they were being held by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-Newfoundland and Labrador.

The ashes are expected to be returned to Mr Laight sometime this week.
J ohnny Depp has branded Donald Trump a brat.

Depp, 52, hit out at the presidential candidate during a speech at Arizona State University, which also saw him impersonate the Republican.

Speaking about how he got into the role of Trump ahead of his recent Funny or Die sketch, Depp said: Its not just about being a rich kid or anything like that. I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. Theres a pretense.

Theres something created about him in the sense of bullydom. But what he is, I believe, is a brat.

The actor was met with rapturous cheers from the audience before going on to impersonate the former Apprentice star.

After mocking the absurdity of where his sentences might travel Depp impersonated Trump, saying: Everything is mine. Even if I don't own it."

He went on to mock Trumps plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

"I'm going to build a wall," Depp joked. "A fabulous wall. And all of my billions are not going to pay for it... Mexico's going to pay for it."

Depp isnt the first celebrity to hit out at Trump. Richard Gere referred to him as Americas Mussolini, while Louis C.K. compared him to Hitler, calling him an insane bigot.

Johnny Depp helps with hearing devices in Rio de Janeiro 1 /6 Johnny Depp helps with hearing devices in Rio de Janeiro Emotional Amber Heard cries with Daniele Lopes, 32, after Daniele received a hearing device in Rio de Janeiro Silvia Izquierdo/AP Helping hand Johnny Depp puts a hearing device in the ear of a child in Rio de Janeiro Silvia Izquierdo/AP All smiles American musician Alice Cooper and his wife Sheryl Goddard smile while a woman receives a hearing device Silvia Izquierdo/AP Steady hand One woman can't stop smiling as Cooper fits her with a hearing aud Silvia Izquierdo/AP Supportive Depp provides support for a woman that is receiving hearing devices Silvia Izquierdo/AP

Follow @StandardShowbiz for more entertainment news.
L ast week, Julian Fellowes' adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne debuted to a somewhat muted reaction.

Oh, how things hotted up in Episode 2  there was love, anger, friendship, proposals; and even a death...

To remind readers  and as per our review last week  we haven't read the book, so the critique here is solely based on the ITV drama. Without further ado...

The romance

A proposal was finally made... and accepted! / ITV

Surely the most important moment of this episode was the proposal. We weren't sure it was going to happen, or rather, not in this episode at least... Because with all the dithering young Frank (played by Harry Richardson) was doing  asking virtually everyone in the county if it was alright  we were worried he might never get around to it.

We knew what Mother Gresham's response was going to be and she didn't disappoint, weeping and wailing at her son for marrying a pauper and  eek  having to work for a living. "If you wish to see me happy EVER again, marry money!" she barked. There was no mincing of words here  great delivery by Rebecca Front.

In terms of Dr Thorne's response to Frank's request, well, we totally fell for Tom Hollander as the doc last week, but tonight, he seemed to do his niece a disservice. We were quite disappointed as he revealed the 'secret' of her lowly birth to Frank  surely that was her prerogative, wasn't it? Though we suppose that's just how it was back then; 19th century decorum, eh?

Harry Richardson plays the noble Frank Gresham / ITV

But anyway, armed with all the facts  and a good thumbs up from the delightful Miss Dunstable (more on her later)  Frank boldly strode up to Mary on her mount and dismounted her to propose. There in the vibrant green fields (yes, they were particularly green again, quite the greenest we've ever seen, even more so than last week) they embraced; truly it was picture perfect.

Were we bowled over by the scene? Meh... the whole thing felt a bit flat. A bit breathy. "Will you please be my own wife?" he asked. 'Own wife?' we asked. What's that all about? Anyway, they got together and as hopeless romantics, of course, we were pleased.

What pleased us more though was Frank diving straight into chivalrous mode, moments later, to defend Mary against the drunkard Louis. We have a feeling trouble's a-brewing...

ITV Doctor Thorne - trailer

Death at Boxall Hill

Sir Roger's death: one of the episode's more poignant moments...

We were quite upset by this. An angry old drunk he may have been, but there was definite charm to Sir Roger Scatcherd, played brilliantly by Ian McShane.

We weren't all too impressed with the opening election scene  the costumes were a bit clean, the cheers a bit too 'period drama crowd scene-y' (too many 'Ooooooos' and 'aaaah's), and the jokes, a bit rubbish to warrant such laughter  but Sir Roger was definitely our favourite part of it.

"When I started out I had now't but a raw potato to gnaw on if the hunger got too bad," he bellowed. Why, a man of the people! We'd vote for him over the 'snippy' Mr Moffat any day.

We warmed to Sir Roger further later on, as he lay in his stately bed awaiting death. We were very impressed how stoically he ate that odious-looking porridge stuff Mary shovelled into his mouth. Why shouldn't he wash it down with brandy? Quite right of Dr Thorne to allow it.

Furthermore, thank goodness the doctor also thought it right he should find out his nurse Mary was actually his niece Mary  and heir, should anything happen to his son Louis  therefore enabling him to die in peace. Well played Ian McShane, well played.

Best TV dramas 2016 1 /38 Best TV dramas 2016 The Missing The addictive and twisty second series of the BBC's crime anthology series BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky Dark Angel Joanne Froggatt stared as Victorian mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton in this ITV drama ITV Close to the Enemy Stephen Poliakoff's post-war drama thriller BBC/Little Island Pictures Ordinary Lies The BBC anthology drama returns with more twisted tales BBC/Red Productions/Adrian Rogers The Night Of Riz Ahmed stars in HBO's critically acclaimed crime mini-series HBO Cold Feet The classic ITV comedy-drama returns - and it's just as good as it ever was ITV Victoria ITV have given Poldark some stiff competition with this period drama about a young Queen Victoria ITV Poldark The BBC's hit drama returns with more brooding, and less naked scything BBC/Robert Viglasky One of Us The BBC kept everyone guessing with this claustrophobic four-part whodunit Ripper Street The fan-favourite Victorian police drama returned for Series 4 BBC/Tiger Aspect 2016/Bernard Walsh The Secret Agent Toby Jones led the cast in the BBC's Joseph Conrad adaptation BBC/World Productions/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem The Living and the Dead The BBC's gothic romance debuted in full on iPlayer BBC Preacher AMC's adaptation of Garth Ennis' cult comic book is available week-by-week on Amazon Prime Amazon / AMC Versailles A raunchy royal romp around the court of King Louis XIV, spicing up Wednesdays on BBC Two Canal +/ BBC Locked Up The Spanish prison drama came to the UK thanks to Channel 4's Walter Presents series Channel 4 / Global Series Peaky Blinders The Birmingham-set gangster thriller was more popular than ever in its third series BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky The A Word The BBC gave us a nuanced and emotional take on autism BBC/Fifty Fathoms Marcella Anna Friel stars in ITV's British take on the Scandi-noir thriller ITV Grantchester James Norton is back as the crime-solving vicar ITV / Lovely Day Stag The comedy-thriller from the team behind The Wrong Mans is both hilarious and chilling BBC/Des Willie/Hal Shinnie/Matt Burlem Vinyl Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger present a glossy drama about the Seventies music industry HBO American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson Cuba Gooding Jr leads an all-star cast in a dramatic re-telling of the 'trial of century' BBC/Fox Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire returned as Sgt Catherine Cawood for a second series of the gritty crime thriller BBC/Red Productions/Ben Blackall The X Files Mulder and Scully return for a brand new set of mysteries War and Peace The BBC's epic adaptation of the Russian literary classic BBC/Mitch Jenkins Call the Midwife The BBC period drama moved into the Sixties for Series 5 BBC/Neal Street Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Dickensian Charles Dickens' most famous characters collide in this historical soap BBC Jericho ITV's British western set in the wilds of Yorkshire Silent Witness The hugely popular detective drama returns for a 19th series

Martha Dunstable

A touching performance by Alison Brie / ITV

Martha deserves a special mention because she was quite the most elegant character of the week. Excellent work from Alison Brie.

As we have come to realise through Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes likes writing about Americans; we think he thinks he knows them rather well. "I'm an American, Dr Thorne," he had Miss Dunstable announce, "we know no boundaries," she declared. We're not sure what mid-19th century Americans would have said about themselves in public  but we're almost certain they wouldn't have said that...

Nonetheless, what a sweetheart Martha turned out to be. She wittily turned down Mr Moffat's 'toady' proposal. And then, gracefully accepted Frank's frank admission that he liked her better than he thought he would. "And if I were not too old for you," she said, "and if your heart were not already taken, and if, and if, and if..." she trailed off. Touching.

Indeed, it actually made us think twice about her. Would we really rather Frank ended up with the quiet, do-gooder Mary? (Yes, of course we would... we said we only thought about it.)

Lascivious Sir Louis

Edward Franklin played the wayward son, Sir Louise Scatcherd / ITV

Every story needs a baddie and through this episode it appeared we had met ours. How worried we were when he offered Mary her first proposal of the night... because a small part of us thought the poor creature might actually say yes. Then when he suggested she abandon her supper on a tray and have dinner with him instead  yikes!

What do we make of Edward Franklin in this role? Well, there's a bit of substance lacking. It's all well and good lounging round in chairs, swigging from bottles, but what drives this villianous creature? Why does he not respect his mother or show no grief for his father? For a villian to be a good villain he must be human; we must get the sense of a back story, an explanation for his behaviour... even if we never find out what that is. And we have to say, we weren't getting it tonight. Hopefully we will next week.

The Verdict

More exciting than last week's episode, with some subtle yet brilliant performances. We hope next week's finale give us more of the same, vamped up a million.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Six African elephants have arrived at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium from drought-stricken Swaziland.

Spectators lined 10th Street in Omaha's Old Market, waving and applauding as a semitrailer drove the crated African elephants toward their new home in Omaha, the Omaha World-Herald reported Saturday.

A Boeing 747 cargo plane arrived at Eppley Airfield on Friday afternoon with the five females and one male. The elephants were part of a group of 17 elephants imported from Big Game Parks in Swaziland. The plane made a stop in Senegal on its long trip, then dropped off five elephants in Fort Worth, Texas, and six in Wichita, Kansas, before landing in Omaha.

The move was not without its detractors. Earlier this month, a judge denied an animal rights group's request to stop an import of the elephants from Africa to the three American zoos. Friends of Animals filed the request, saying it opposes keeping elephants in zoos because they are migratory and social animals.

The animals were thin upon arrival but otherwise healthy, officials said. U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarians inspected the elephants both at Eppley and at the zoo.

It took hours to unload the elephants from the plane and transport them to their new 29,000-square-foot building at the zoo. Zoo officials say it's the largest herd room in North America.

Zookeepers laid out food  akin to a trail of bread crumbs, zoo director Dennis Pate said  to entice the elephants to walk a path into the individual stalls that will house them temporarily.

The elephants' new home includes about 4 acres of outdoor space with a 150,000-gallon wading pool, a mud bath, a sand pit and hay shelves with timed drops that encourage them to move from one station to another for exercise and visibility.

Pate said the elephants would go on display to the public before the planned Memorial Day opening of the $73 million African Grasslands exhibit.
Nebraska will receive a $6 million federal grant to support 39 Nebraska homeless housing and service programs.

The Omaha metro area will get $2,790,170 of the $6 million.

These grants are part of the Obama administrations efforts to address homelessness by providing needed housing and support services.

A safe, stable home is the foundation for opportunity in all of our lives, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a press release. Thats why were continuing to challenge communities to deploy proven strategies to help people experiencing homelessness find a place to call home. We know this goal is not just aspirational  its achievable.

According to the press release, the grants this year are the most competitive that HUD has experienced in the Continuum of Care grant program. To be most effective, communities made challenging decisions, often having to shift funds from existing projects to create new ones that would have more substantial impact on homeless populations.

Programs across the region are assisting the homeless to become self-sufficient, Jennifer Tidwell, regional administrator, said in a press release. These dollars are helping rebuild the lives of families and individuals who have faced incredible hardships.

HUD estimates that there were 564,708 people experiencing homelessness on any given day in 2015. Communities around the country have reported an 11 percent decrease in homelessness since 2010. Veteran homelessness also fell, by 36 percent. Chronic homelessness declined 22 percent, and family homelessness declined by 19 percent, according to HUD. The estimated number of unaccompanied homeless youths and children in 2015 was 36,097.
Regional West Physicians Clinic-Diabetes Care Center, with help from Western Nebraska Community College nursing students, will host a mini health fair on Tuesday, March 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the RWMC Education Center. The mini fair will be geared toward persons with diabetes and pre-diabetes and will feature interactive booths that focus on the parts of the body affected most by diabetes, including the eyes, feet, nerves, heart and kidneys.
When we build products, we use a methodology. For software, we have many - you can enjoy a nice long list on Wikipedia. But too often when ...
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Iredell County state representatives recently shared their thoughts on the Connect NC Bond referendum that will be on Tuesdays ballot.

If passed, the $2 billion bond will help North Carolina with statewide long-term investments in education, parks, safety, recreation, and water and sewer infrastructure. The bond allots $350 million to upgrade and build infrastructure for community colleges around the state, including Mitchell Community College, and will allot $312 million to water and sewer infrastructure and local parks, which includes Lake Norman State Park.

Rep. John Fraley (R), N.C. House District 95

ON BOND: I am absolutely for the bond because I believe these are projects we need to undertake to enhance our advanced education system, emergency preparedness, recreational facilities and water/sewer infrastructure. Our last bond was in 2000. Since then, two million people have moved into North Carolina. Two million more are expected within 15-20 years. We cannot build to support this rate of growth at the last minute or after it happens.

FUNDING: "It is fortunate to have a situation where the state can afford this need as it arises. The timing enables us to take advantage of historically low interest rates. We can still maintain our status as one of the few states with a Triple A bond rating and, within five years, North Carolina will have paid this 20-year obligation down to where the state's debt is less than it is today.

JOBS: The entire bond is about building, which creates jobs and spurs the economy.

ALLOTMENT: The original bond proposal was split between building and transportation infrastructure. The legislature decided to fund transportation through recurring funds in the budget and to borrow for the building segment. This is a reasonable and fiscally responsible approach to moving the state forward and addressing some of longer term needs.

Rep. Rena Turner, (R) N.C. House District 84

Rep. Rena Turner could not attend an interview due to an out-of-country event. Turner did comment on the bond during an Iredell County Soil and Water Conservation District meeting March 2.

BOND: Im for the bond because I think it has important projects it will help. I visited the diagnostic center at the Department of Agriculture and saw that they are just on top of each other because they dont have any room. In their lab they had all kinds of supplies sitting on tables because they just dont have any room and the bond will allow agriculture and the diagnostic center more space.

FUNDING: "This is the best time to borrow money before interest rates go up. These are projects that are vetted and are important to the state, but we have not been able to fund them any other way. We havent had a bond in 15 years and its a good time to do the bond now before construction starts going back up and before our facilities get any worse.

Sen. Andrew Brock, (R) N.C. District 34

BOND: "It doesnt address the needs of the state. The main reasons Im not a fan of the bond is that I think we are spending more money to tear down and rebuild our buildings rather than just take care of them. The bond does not take care of one of our existing problems: transportation. One of the problems we need to address is widening the roads on I-77.

ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS: There are a lot of nice things the bond does, but I wish the bond had something to do with covering I-77. Im not a supporter of toll (lanes) and I think money from the bond could have been put towards transportation.

FUNDING: "You cant borrow money without paying it back. Its like if you buy a new car, you still have to pay interest so I think taxes for the public will be effected in some way."

JOBS: "Jobs are one benefit we can see from the bond.

Sen. David Curtis, (R) N.C. District 44

BOND: I am for the bond.

ALLOTMENT: "Some believe the bond money should go to transportation, however, transportation needs are being addressed in the state budget. We are trying to address other needs, such as higher education, infrastructure, state parks and the National Guard.

FUNDING: "We need adequate funding for our higher education building renovations and the National Guard. The legislatures hard work to improve North Carolinas economic situation is paying off, therefore, our state is in a better position to handle the bond debt without raising taxes.

JOBS: "The beneficial side effect of spending $2 billion is job creation because talent will be needed to complete upgrades to infrastructure, education facilities, state parks and the National Guard.
Chilean rebar sales in the first month of the year totaled 43,010 mt, 6.1 percent up, month-on-month, but 14.4 percent down when compared to the 50,249 mt of the product sold in the same period of the year prior.
Monday, 14 March 2016 22:58:00 (GMT+3) |

Workers at Mexican steelmaker ArcelorMittal Mexico have reached an agreement with the nations mining and metal workers union to end a strike at the companys mill in Lazaro Cardenas, in the state of Michoacan, a government official said.





According to Alfonso Navarrete Prida, Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, the strike, which began on March 4, ended this weekend after a dialogue with the steelmaker and the local union. Production resumed Monday.





Under the terms of the deal, ArcelorMittal is expected to pay 100 percent of the workers wages during the period of the strike, plus continue negotiating with the local union regarding a collective agreement.





Additionally, the two parties agreed that a contract established with the companys contractor workers, which ended on January 31 this year, should be renewed for one more year.




Monday, 14 March 2016 22:56:32 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Brazil imported 4,800 mt of CRC in February, 41 percent less than in January, at an average price increased by 31 percent to $547/mt FOB, according to the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC.





All suppliers were from Asia: 3,000 mt from China at $456/mt FOB and 1,700 mt from South Korea at $670/mt FOB, while a small volume was imported from Japan.





A major importer in the northeastern state of Piaui told SteelOrbis that he could not close new import deals for the next months, as the current price of CRC for export from Ukraine was $410/mt FOB, a price he considers as not competitive with the supply from Brazilian producers such as CSN or Usiminas.





He mentioned that his last import deal was closed at $303/mt FOB for a shipment of 5,100 mt from Ukraine, but since then exports prices from Ukraine and Russia were in his words contaminated by increased prices in China.





He added that he will restart CRC imports as soon as he receives proposals at competitive prices.




The role of an economist in the arena of public policy is difficult, muddled at best.

This is due to the nature of the political game and comes from the dichotomy between efficiency and politics.

The two are not compatible.

Two main areas in which the policy economist may thrive are as a scientist (of sorts) or lowly philosopher and advisor.

First, a policy economist may be useful as a scientist in showing or explaining cause and effect and quantifying the effects of a given policy. The important distinction here is eulogized by Frederic Bastiat and later popularized by Henry Hazzlitt:

The bad economist sees only the direct consequences of a proposed course; the good economist looks also at the longer and indirect consequences.

Possibly here the term bad economist should say non-economist. One who only accounts for the effects right in front of them necessarily will not account for all costs and benefits in the correct way. This issue, I believe, is also more complicated by policymakers who view all science as the same and, many times, hold economists to unrealistic standards.

This unfounded expectation stems from the philosophical differences between inductive exploration into the physical sciences and social sciences. The scientific method, practiced in the physical sciences, is precise in application. Adding chemicals A, B, and C to plant D will have the result of Y. This is not true in the social sciences where the result Y varies both between individuals and over time.

For a policy economist, quantifying that which is difficult to quantify in a meaningful way leads most analysis with the caveat of: if the trend continueson averageand everything else is held constant. A policy maker who does not understand the limitations of science, in general, and science as applied to the social sciences, in particular, will systematically find the results of economic analysis disappointing.

Second, as a lowly philosopher and advisor, there is the issue of assigning value to a given course of action. Should the policy economist be influencing the direction of policy? Should the economist deal explicitly in value-free analysis? Is value-free economic analysis even possible? Answering these questions can be difficult. This is because policy analysts are often far removed from policy implementation  and analysis, completely free of value-judgments, is mostly impractical.

As Murray Rothbard once noted:

The economist, of course, is a technician who explains the consequences of various actions. But he cannot advise a man on the best route to achieve certain ends without committing himself to those ends. An economist hired by a businessman implicitly commits himself to the ethical valuation that increasing that businessmans profits is good.

At the core, the policy economist must serve the role of The Reminder. He or she is essentially there to tell the politician or policymaker what they are, or are not, capable of. There must be someone present to, over and over, drill into the head of the non-economist: There is no free lunch.

As Thomas Sowell has opined, The first rule of economics is scarcity. There is never enough of something to satisfy all those that want it. The first rule of politics is to disregard the first rule of economics.

The policy economist should be there to see that implementing the first rule of politics is difficult to near impossible, or, at least, not done without a dissenting voice.
HANOVERTON, Ohio  GOP front-runner Donald Trump tried to prove over the weekend that no perceived misstep can derail his march to the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump enjoyed a relatively controversy free multi-state tour Sunday ahead of primaries that could determine whether he wins the GOP nomination without a contested summer convention.

Perhaps most critical to that equation is Tuesday's winner-take-all contest in Ohio, where the real estate mogul and the popular governor, John Kasich, have intensified their focus on one another  Trump calling his rival "a baby" and Kasich suggesting Trump and the violence at some of his rallies represent a "dark side" of American society.

Besides Ohio, candidates are readying their closing arguments in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida, with the total number of delegates at stake Tuesday accounting for more than a quarter of the 1,237 necessary for nomination.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argues that only he can keep Trump from reaching the required majority, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tries merely to remain relevant, hoping his home-state voters defy the polls and give him justification to extend his candidacy.

Trump tried Sunday to shift attention away from the intense criticism that followed harrowing scenes Friday of a melee in Chicago, where he canceled a scheduled rally amid a near-riot among his supporters, protesters and authorities.

"If we can win Ohio, we're going to run the table, folks," Trump boasted in West Chester, Ohio, on Sunday, one of three events he held with only occasional interruptions from protesters.

None of those interruptions led to violence, a stark turn from the scenes in Chicago and a Saturday rally in which a dissenter stormed the stage as Trump spoke, only to be subdued by Secret Service agents.

"We're not provoking. We want peace. ... We don't want trouble," Trump told a crowd in Bloomington, Illinois.

Kasich wasn't buying it, reversing his months-long practice of avoiding the topic of Trump.

Speaking with The Associated Press aboard his campaign bus between stops in Ohio, Kasich read a list of Trump quotes compiled by an aide. They included Trump's comments that his audiences should "hit back" a little more and a statement that he'd like to "punch" a protester "in the face."

Trump has often declared the country must "toughen up," and suggested one man who was physically assaulted at a November rally deserved the treatment. He confirmed earlier Sunday that he was considering assisting a North Carolina man charged with assault after video captured him sucker-punching a protester at a March 9 rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Said Kasich: "It's really cause for pause."

Trump answered this weekend by casting Kasich as weak and deliberately mispronounced his rival's Czech surname.

"He's not the right guy to be president. He's not tough enough, he's not sharp enough," Trump said at an event outside Dayton.

In line with his protectionist economic pitch, Trump hammered Kasich for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement as a member of Congress in the 1990s.

And he went on to incorrectly identify the governor as KASE-itch. "Like, most people don't even know how to pronounce his name. Kase-ick! Kase-ick!" Trump mocked. "He cannot do the job, folks. He's not your president."

Kasich will campaign in Ohio Monday with 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will campaign separately for Trump Monday in Florida.

Despite Sunday's relative calm, Trump's events unquestionably have become increasingly tense over the course of his campaign, and the candidate has frequently called for aggressive tactics against protesters, with Chicago's events giving his rivals a new opening to criticize a front-runner they side-stepped or even praised for months.

Cruz said Trump encourages an essentially un-American atmosphere.

"I'm troubled by the rallies that Donald holds, where he asks all the people there to raise their hand and pledge their support to him," Cruz said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

A distant third in delegates, Rubio compared Trump to third-world "strongmen," and said the tone of the campaign "is really going to do damage to America."

The senator has gone so far as to say his supporters in Ohio should vote for Kasich to help derail Trump. Kasich has not returned the favor.

Cruz argued in Columbus, Ohio, that Republican voters are wasting their time with either Kasich or Rubio. Kasich has yet to win a single primary; Rubio has won three.

Against that backdrop, Trump continued to blame protesters, media and even Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders for the caustic environment around his campaign. Trump said the Sanders campaign is organizing protesters, a charge Sanders called "a lie."

Trump assured his backers their frustration is righteous rage against a corrupt political and economic system. He cast his naysayers as "bad people" that "do harm to the country."

Though by the end of his busy Sunday, he seemed to miss the commotion.

In Boca Raton, where he spoke in an outdoor amphitheater on a balmy Florida night, he asked, 20 minutes into his speech, "Do we have a protester anywhere? Do we have a disrupter?"

___

Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporters Alan Scher Zagier in Illinois, Thomas Beaumont in Ohio and Sergio Bustos and Jill Colvin in Florida contributed to this report.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday issued a letter to local courts across the country warning them that they must protect the civil rights of defendants by avoiding illegal fees and fines and not jailing people for being poor.

The letter was an outgrowth of the governments investigation into Fergusons municipal court, which it has accused in a federal lawsuit of being a constitutionally deficient revenue machine.

The themes of the letter cover familiar ground for any St. Louisan who has followed efforts to reform the areas troubled municipal court system. The letter points to the heavy cost of criminalizing poverty. And it criticizes many tactics that have already been banned or voluntarily stopped in the St. Louis area in the aftermath of the unrest that followed the shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014.

An ongoing Post-Dispatch investigation has exposed how cities in the St. Louis area relied heavily on court fines and fees to raise revenue for city services. The system was rife with conflicts of interest, used illegal tactics to coerce payments and offered little transparency.

Illegal enforcement of court fines and fees is a national problem, Vanita Gupta, head of the departments Civil Rights Division, and Lisa Foster, director of the Office for Access to Justice, wrote. Their letter began with the greeting Dear colleagues.

The letter points to profound consequences for people who get caught up in revenue-driven local courts  escalating debt, job loss and repeated unnecessary incarceration. Practices geared toward raising revenue can cast doubt on the impartiality of the tribunal and erode trust between local governments and their constituents and cause people to become trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape.

The Justice Department is making $2.5 million available in grants for courts that want to test strategies to restructure the assessment and enforcement of fines and fees.

The letter discusses best practices for courts but does not propose penalties for courts that do not follow them.

It says courts must not incarcerate someone for nonpayment of fines or fees without first determining whether the person could pay and the nonpayment was willful. They must consider alternatives to incarcerating poor people who cant pay, and must not use arrest warrants or license suspensions to coerce payments of court debt.

It instructs courts not to use bail or bonds to keep poor defendants incarcerated solely because they cant afford their release and urges courts to safeguard against unconstitutional practices by court staff and contractors.

A law professor with St. Louis University who has been actively working to reform municipal courts in the region questioned how much influence the letter would have.

Does this even make its way to the courts who are most consistently violating the Constitution, not just here but other states? asked Brendan Roediger.

He pointed to a difference in tone between the Justice Department letter and a report issued March 1 by a working group assigned by the Missouri Supreme Court to study municipal court reform.

The working group defended cities rights to use cash bail and criticized the settlement of a lawsuit in which the city of Jennings agreed to turn over unpaid fines and fees to a debt collector after six months and take no further action in municipal court. The working group said it appeared that the municipal court gives up any claim to having the authority to issue warrants in the event of nonpayment and nonappearance.

Roediger said it was nice to see the DOJ in agreement you cant keep someone locked up because they cant make a payment.

Some of Missouris municipal court judges have rejected the need for reforms.

In a letter to the Missouri Supreme Court last May, Steve Sanders, president of the Missouri Municipal & Associate Circuit Judges Association, said 99 percent of Missouris municipal judges and courts were doing outstanding work.

He urged judges not to be swayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism and said there is no need for drastic changes when small corrections can address problems, perceived or otherwise.
UPDATED at 8:45 a.m. Monday with details on search for second escapee

A recently convicted murderer who escaped along with another inmate from a jail in Fredericktown, Mo., Sunday afternoon has been captured, police say. The one still on the loose was last spotted in Franklin County, where he apparently crashed a stolen vehicle and ran off.

Authorities had asked the public to be on the lookout for Jason Mills and Adam Moore, who escaped from the Madison County Jail's recreation yard in Fredericktown at about 3:50 p.m. Sunday. They ran in opposite directions, wearing orange jail uniforms.

The jail is about 90 miles south of St. Louis.

Police captured Moore, 21, in Fredericktown on Sunday night, according to Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott. Details of that arrest were not available. Moore had been sentenced earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and stealing a firearm in connection with the St. Francois County murders of Tamara and Stanley Halter.

Authorities on Monday morning were still looking for Mills, 38. Mills had reportedly been charged with assault in the third degree, unlawful use of a weapon, tampering in the first degree and resisting arrest.

Mills is described as a white male, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs approximately 175 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. He is considered armed and dangerous, police say.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol alert police late Sunday night that they thought Mills might be driving a stolen dark green 2003 Ford F250 pickup truck with "Madison County Road and Bridge" on the side and "#929" on the front fenders.

Area sheriff's deputies spotted that truck and were apparently close to catching Mills on Sunday night.

A Franklin County deputy spotted the pickup and began following it south on Highway 185 from Sullivan. He called ahead to Washington County deputies, who threw down spike strips to try to flatten the pickup's tires on Highway 185 near Highway K.

As the pickup drove toward the spike strips, the Franklin County deputy who was following the pickup turned on his patrol car's emergency lights. The pickup drove over the spike strips, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a tree. The driver got out and ran into the woods.

Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said in a news release Monday that he expects Mills will try to steal another vehicle in the area. He urged residents to be "extra vigilant" and report anything suspicious to police.

Authorities asked anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Mills to contact the Madison County Sheriff's Department at 573-783-2234 or 573-783-2595.

The Park Hills Daily Journal contributed to this report.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri Republicans launched another fusillade Monday against Gov. Jay Nixons push to expand the state park system.

In a hearing before a House committee, lawmakers heard a plan to ask voters if the state should begin paying property taxes on state park land.

The maneuver, sponsored by state Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, comes in response to criticism of the Democratic governors administration to build a $52 million state park in Shannon County. Lawmakers said the Department of Natural Resources was too secretive about its plans for the new facility.

Theres a growing sense that Missouri State Parks should pay their fair share, Ross told members of the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee.

Under current law, the state typically pays property taxes for the first five years after it purchases park land. After that, however, counties no longer see property tax revenue for that land.

Ross did not have an estimate on how much the plan would cost the state, but a legislative analysis suggests the tab would be about $1.2 million beginning in the 2017 fiscal year. The agency owns nearly 149,000 acres of land is often touted as a centerpiece of state government.

But, GOP members of the House and Senate have been taking jabs at the DNR this year, including a plan to cut the state parks director's salary in half and legislation that would force the state to sell back 4,200 of land in Oregon County that is designed to be another new park.

They also are considering legislation to allow off-road vehicles on the Katy Trail, which is a pedestrian and biking park that spans the state and serves as a draw for tourists. A current version of that legislation would allow people age 60 and over to ride in vehicles on the trail every Wednesday. Opponents say the pathway is not wide enough to share with vehicular traffic.

The property tax measure also drew fire Monday from parks supporters.

Susan Flader of the Missouri Parks Association said parks bring tourism dollars to local counties.

Its fraught with potential undesirable consequences, said Flader, a Columbia resident. I think it is time for this vendetta against state parks to stop.

The department did not offer testimony at the hearing.

The Missouri Farm Bureau is backing the plan, saying state payments could address an erosion of local property tax revenues.

We are happy to support the (bill) that Representative Ross has brought forward, said Farm Bureau liaison Ashley McDonald.

The legislation is House Joint Resolution 101.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri Hospital Association officials say a Republican move barring organizations that perform or counsel women to have abortions from receiving state funds already is in state law.

"We're not concerned," said David Dillon, association spokesman. The association represents more than 150 hospitals across the state.

Last week, Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, added wording to the 2017 budget prohibiting state funds from going to any entity that counsels women to have abortions or provides non-emergency abortions. The Republican-led House approved Ross' change, much to the chagrin of Democratic lawmakers who say the change could negatively impact the entire state's Medicaid program.

"This will effect hospitals because of the reproductive health care you can get there," said Rep. Stacey Newman, D-Richmond Heights.

But current state law already bars this practice if the abortion is not necessary to save the woman's life.

"If the amendment stands at the end of the budget making process, it shouldnt change anything for hospitals," Dillon said.

The House signed off Thursday on the $27.1 billion for the year that begins July 1, sending it to the Senate for further debate. Lawmakers have until May 6 to complete the budget.

Ross moved forward last week with this wording and a $380,000 cut for Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood services, because he doesn't want to state dollars put toward abortion. That amount, based on 2014 budget year expenditures for Planned Parenthood, includes cervical exams, human papillomavirus vaccines and birth control.

Republican lawmakers also argued taxpayers don't want their money going toward abortion services.

"Voters are clear on how they want their dollars spent and that is what this language does," said Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-St. Louis, on Thursday.

Should the Planned Parenthood cut remain in the budget, lawmakers could run into some difficulty. In the past, other states have tried and failed to eliminate Medicaid funding for services provided by the abortion and health care provider.

There are two Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri that oversee 14 centers in the state. Only the St. Louis facility provides abortions. Other services provided include contraception, pregnancy tests and cancer screenings.

Federal law allows Medicaid reimbursement on abortions only when a womans life is in danger or when the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest. The Missouri Planned Parenthood affiliates were reimbursed $126.24 in state and federal Medicaid money in 2015 for those purposes.

An official with the Department of Social Services previously said the state couldnt discriminate in distributing Medicaid funds simply because it didnt like the services Planned Parenthood provided.

Last year, several states were warned against discriminating against Planned Parenthood by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, citing a 2011 memo that says states cannot terminate Medicaid funding to providers because of the services offered. Federal law allows those on Medicaid to obtain services such as family planning from any qualified provider, and ending Medicaid agreements with Planned Parenthood could conflict with that.

Indiana and Arizona have previously battled against Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in court. Planned Parenthood won both times.

The bill is House Bill 2011.
Saudi Arabia recently ordered another 22 Hawk 128 AJT (Advanced Jet Trainers). This is in addition to 22 ordered in 2012. The Saudis already have 45 Hawk 65 trainers delivered in the 1980s and 90s. The Mk 128 models have proved worth the expense (about $30 million each) because they contain advanced cockpit controls and instruments, making it very similar to the jet fighters trainees will soon be expected to master. Saudi Arabia also ordered 80 new basic (prop driven) trainers.

The Saudis are increasing the number of jet pilots not just because they are increasing their fighter force 50 percent (to 450 aircraft) but because Saudi warplanes have seen a lot of action since 2014 and it was noted that more pilots mean they can fly more combat missions per aircraft. If there is a war with Iran the Saudis will need all the pilots they can get. The older Hawk 65s will also be retiring soon and that means even more Hawk 128s will probably be ordered.

The Hawk advanced jet trainers are the most successful Western aircraft of this type, at least in terms of sales (over a thousand so far). The U.S. Navy uses the Hawk, along with sixteen other nations. The nine ton, single engine aircraft are used to train pilots who will eventually fly jet fighters. The Hawk can also be armed and used for ground attack. In this mode they can carry up to three tons of weapons, including a pod with a 30mm autocannon.
India is defeating its communist rebels by installing 2,200 new mobile cell phone towers in the nine eastern Indian states most afflicted by communist (Maoist) rebels. Most of these are already in service. This is in response to a 2008 Maoist decision to destroy cell phone towers in these states. Communications are vital for the police, and enable the growing number of civilians to use their cell phones to call in information about the Maoists. The growing availability of cell phone service in rural eastern India was very popular with the civilians and the security forces also found cell phones were a good (sometimes superior) substitute for the usual military and police radios. While the Maoists also used cell phones they found that, on balance, the cell phones hurt more than helped. So the Maoists went after the cell phone towers.

In 2010 the government realized that if they installed a lot of mobile cell phone towers (powered by solar panels) in police stations, military bases and villages guarded by local defense militias, widespread sell phone service could be maintained despite the Maoist campaign against cell phones. In 2013 the government allocated over $400 million to buy over 2,000 portable cell phone towers and distribute them to protected locations. When the Maoists are cleared from an area communications firms could install their own towers safely and the mobile towers could be moved to new areas. This proved very effective and very popular with civilians who noted the government was protecting something (cell phone service) that was very popular in these rural areas that earlier had little or no phone service at all. And what was available was a lot more expensive than cell phones.

The Maoist terrorists in eastern India regularly attack transportation and communications, road building operations, large businesses (like mines), police stations (to steal weapons, ammo and other equipment, like radios) and wealthy people (especially landlords, as the economy in the area is somewhat feudal). The communists also finance their operations by extorting money from local businesses, and even some landlords (who they have vowed to drive out of the area.) But their war on cell phone service proved to be a major mistake, in large part because cell phones were so popular.

The Maoists want to establish communist police state, and create a worker's paradise. That is not working out so well. Currently India is winning its four decade war with leftist rebels. But like everything else the government does the crush the Maoists project is behind schedule, over budget and not nearly as efficient as politicians said it would be. Nevertheless, eliminating the Maoists is the most important defense related problem India has that most people outside India have never heard of.

While these Maoist rebels get a lot of headlines inside India, the communist rebels have not gotten much attention outside of India. Even for a country as big (over a billion people) as India, the Maoists are a noticeable source of violence and other criminal behavior. Since its peak in 2010 leftist (mostly Maoist) terrorism related deaths have gone from 1,180 down to 314 in 2014. The decline was most precipitous (49 percent) in 2011, but continued over the next three years. That meant a 39 percent decline in deaths in 2012, an unexpected 15 percent increase in 2013 followed by a 25 percent decline in 2014. The decline is expected to continue and more Maoists are deserting, surrendering or, if they are leaders, warming to the calls for peace talks.

The trend that began in 2010 was the result a major paramilitary police operation against the main concentrations of Maoists in eastern India. What's amazing is that communist rebels and terrorists are still active after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War. Worldwide this appeared to be the end of the communist movement. But there is still an energetic communist terrorist operation in eastern India. These terrorists belong to the Maoists, an organization trying to establish a communist dictatorship similar to the radical communist movement of the 1960s, when Chinese ruler Mao Zse Dong sought to "purify" the country with a lot of chaos and millions of dead. By the 1970s China had officially renounced the Maoist movement. Yet the concept remained alive. The Cambodian Khmer Rouge were the first copy-cat Maoists, and they killed over a million of their countrymen in the 1970s. Despite all that there are still those who believe that the Maoist dream could work if it were done right. In India there are many leftists who are willing to fight for that dream.
In neighboring Venezuela the low oil price is having more catastrophic impact than in fellow oil producer Colombia. That has a lot to do with the fact that Venezuela has a lot more oil. This used to be a big deal. Many older Venezuelans who remember the 1970s, when Venezuela was the fourth richest country in the world (in terms of GDP per person) are trying to figure out how it all went so wrong. Before the oil prices collapsed in 2013 oil income was 23.8 percent of GDP in Venezuela while in Colombia it was 7.8 percent. A more critical difference between the two countries was that Colombia still has a diversified and growing economy while Venezuela does not. That is typical of many countries with a lot of oil income and it often turns out to be a curse. Like now, where the low oil prices are a minor problem for Colombia which still has the most dynamic economy in South America. Colombian GDP is still growing (3 percent a year) while Venezuelas is declining at nearly 10 percent a year (and getting worse). Now (2016) year oil accounts for over 90 percent of Venezuelan exports. In 1999 oil only accounted for half of exports but since then a new socialist government took over in the late 1990s and wrecked the economy in an attempt to keep the majority of voters happy. That effort has failed in a spectacular fashion and that worries Colombia. Recent parliamentary elections in Venezuela gave an opposition coalition a majority but the socialists who wrecked the economy still control the presidency, the courts and the military. That has created a stalemate that is being slowly broken by the continued decline of the economy. The non-socialist opposition got control of parliament on the promise of improving the economy. The socialists so far refuse to curb the practices that caused the economic collapse and imply that they will use force if anyone tries to oust them from power. So for the moment Colombians can only wait and hope that the situation in Venezuela resolves itself peacefully and soon.

Colombia has much less threatening political problems. While FARC is, in compliance with its peace agreement and much less violent of late the smaller ELN is not. Not only does ELN continue to stage attacks against economic targets and companies that will not pay revolutionary taxes (protection money) it also believes its own press releases, which usually ends badly. For example in early February the ELN threatened widespread violence if businesses nationwide did not shut down for three days. This economic curfew was supposed to intimidate the government into making concessions and offering ELN a better peace deal than FARC got. The curfew effort was a flop and had lots of costly side effects. Not only was ELN exposed as less powerful than claimed but the curfew stunt got ELN kicked off Twitter. That was a major blow as ELN had been using social media to build an illusion of power the leftist rebels did not have. The one real growth area for ELN, which they dont brag about, is the ability to take over areas (and drug operations) long controlled by FARC because the larger (by two or three times) leftist rebel group is making peace. Many hardcore (or outlaws at heart) FARC personnel are joining ELN and that is making it possible for ELN to take over FARC operations without a fight. This is a known problem but the government is not going after it in a big way until the FARC peace deal is finalized and there is a better sense of how many FARC members have gone rogue.

March 11, 2016: FARC and the government openly admitted that they will not be able to sign the final peace deal by March 23rd, a date agreed to in 2015. Meanwhile the government has been working with FARC to determine what areas will be used for FARC rebels to assemble and disarm. The disarmament is the beginning of the process of implementing the peace deal. Disarmament is supposed to begin after the final deal is signed. FARC now wants more concessions on amnesty and the referendum. That will be difficult as there is still popular opposition to the peace terms, which many Colombians consider too lenient. The government also wants to hold a referendum on the peace deal. FARC opposes having all Colombians vote on the peace deal, in part because FARC understands the degree of hatred many, if not most, Colombians feel towards the leftist rebels and their half century of violence that has left nearly a quarter of a million dead.

March 5, 2016: In the north (Antioquia province) police raided a remote ranch where it was believed the leader of the Clan Usaga drug cartel was hiding. That proved to be true and the cartel leader (Ruben Dario Avila) tried to shoot his way out and was killed.

March 3, 2016: After a two week suspension the government has restored the safe passage guarantees for FARC leaders. This was essential for these FARC leaders who wanted to fly (via Venezuela) to and from Cuba (where the peace negotiations are held). Two weeks ago the safe passage deal was suspended because some FARC leaders were using the safe passage to visit areas other than the remote bases they were supposed to return to. These FARC leaders were giving public speeches in other areas and doing media interviews. After the suspension FARC leaders soon agreed to follow the rules of the safe passage agreement.

February 19, 2016: In the east (Arauca province) a joint military-police operation along the Venezuelan border found and attacked a group of ELN rebels, killing seven and capturing two.

February 13, 2016: In the north (Cesar and Bolivar province) ELN blew down an electricity transmission line leaving three cities in the dark for over a day until repairs could be made.
Piper Jaffray reiterated a Neutral rating on Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW), and raised the price target to $17.00 (from $16.00), after traveling with management, and meeting with investors. During the meetings, there were several questions on how the company approached brand portfolio management in addition to its stance on harnessing growth. This is an area the company is addressing real-time by working to introduce closer to four new product introductions by brand per year versus a cadence of two prior.

Analyst Erinn Murphy commented, "We traveled with SVP, CFO & Treasurer Mike Stornant in London & Zurich last week to meet with investors in the region. While we remain on the sidelines with respect to the stock and note the story is in a show-me situation with a back-end weighted year, we are raising our PT acknowledging the valuation expansion in our footwear sub-group this year has moved from a mean of 12x in Jan to 14x currently. For WWW, we are taking up our multiple from 12x to 13x our FY16 EPS and our PT moves up from $16 to $17. The three largest learnings from our meetings were as follows: 1) inventory pressure likely a headwind until Q3/Q4; 2) strong internal emphasis on innovation hub, driving consumer insights group & supporting long-term growth drivers (DTC, apparel/accessories, int'l); and 3) focus on reducing lead times & shrinking development calendar."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Wolverine World Wide click here. For more ratings news on Wolverine World Wide click here.

Shares of Wolverine World Wide closed at $19.15 yesterday.
AAR (NYSE: AIR) has been awarded a contract for United States Army Next Generation Automatic Test System (NGATS) Shelters with a total contract ceiling valued at $49 million over five years. AAR has received a first delivery order valued at $2.5 million to include first article units for two shelter variants, as well as production units. The shelters will be designed by AAR Mobility Systems in Cadillac, Michigan; and produced at their Goldsboro, North Carolina facility.

The award calls for the design, test, and production of two types of 20-foot ISO shelters that will support the NGATS, including an Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) shelter, which is a maintenance shelter that houses the actual test system, and the NGATS storage shelter that stores the system-specific hardware required to test the systems components.

"We are very proud to expand the products we supply to the U.S. Army and we appreciate their confidence in our products and services," said AAR CEO David P. Storch. "This contract demonstrates Mobility's longstanding ability to design and engineer new and creative solutions to meet our customers evolving needs."

"Our innovative, rugged design offers similarities between the shelters, simplifying the Integrated Logistics Support, and is significantly lighter than the threshold requirement," stated Lee Krantz, Senior Vice President, AAR Mobility Systems. "This weight savings translates to increased payload to accommodate more test equipment and supplies for longer missions, or allows the U.S. Army to take advantage of reduced fuel consumption for transport."

AAR Mobility Systems is a leading global supplier of rapid deployment equipment including mobile tactical shelters, pallets and expeditionary containers that enhance military commanders' ability to mobilize, deploy, maneuver and sustain forces. The business unit manufactures large lightweight structural assemblies and platforms that support mission essential functions and support their products through a network of service centers, field service teams and strategic partners.
Atlanta, Georgia (PRWEB) March 14, 2016

Atlanta special needs school Cumberland Academy of Georgia is a private school providing students with a safe and supportive educational environment. Every year, the school hosts a themed gala to celebrate the accomplishments of its students and to raise funds for the upcoming year. The 2016 gala is a Saturday Night Fever themed Disco Ball, held on March 19, 2016.

The Disco Ball will be a groovy evening celebrated with far-out food and friends. Guests should be sure to bring their boogie shoes for a night filled with disco dancing, a bodacious buffet, cocktails, casino-style games and a live and silent auction. This year's auction will include many amazing items, including a week-long Hawaiian vacation, an adorable pure-bred puppy, beautiful jewelry items, a condo in Florida, and much more.

Each year, Cumberland honors an individual or organization at the gala for their contribution to the school. This year, the gala will be held in honor of Bruce and Judi Schindler. A member of the advisory board since 2013, Bruce Schindler boasts over 40 years of entrepreneurial experience, assisting the school in developing plans and business ideas.

"We are so excited to honor Bruce and Judi Schindler at our annual Gala, the Disco Ball," says Debbi Scarborough, founding director of Cumberland Academy of Georgia. "The Schindlers have a deep connection to Cumberland and have been supporters of the school since its inception. Cumberland continues to thrive thanks to these groovy honorees and many others."

85 percent of the proceeds raised during the event will directly benefit Cumberland Academy of Georgia. "This annual fundraiser has been instrumental in providing students and teachers with additional support, such as educational & staff development, school buses and physical education equipment," says Scarborough. "Each year, our students receive additional support thanks to amazing supporters like Bruce and Judi Schindler and our gala contributors."

The Disco Ball will take place on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 7:00 PM at Cumberland Academy of Georgia, located at 650-A Mount Vernon Highway NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 30328. Tickets for individuals or for a table of eight can be purchased at https://cumberlandacademy.org or by calling 404-835-9000. Anyone who cannot attend but would like to contribute to Cumberland Academy of Georgia is invited to make a donation of any amount at https://cumberlandacademy.org/support/donate/.

About Cumberland Academy of Georgia:

Cumberland Academy of Georgia specializes in the needs of students in grades 4 through 12 who have high-functioning Autism, Asperger's, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities. Cumberland was founded in 2008 by Debbi and Matthew Scarborough, and is a fully-accredited, independent, non-profit school that seeks to provide a safe and supportive academic atmosphere for its students. Cumberland accepts applications year-round. To schedule a family tour, please contact Terri Brooks, Director of Admissions at 404-835-9000 or email admissions(at)cumberlandacademy(dot)org. To learn more about the gala or to purchase tickets, please visit http://cumberlandacademy.org/support/annual-gala.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/atlanta-autism-school/annual-gala/prweb13262063.htm
IRVINE, Calif. and HERSTAL, Belgium, March 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MDxHealth SA (Euronext: MDXH.BR), announced today that positive results of a prospective, multicenter validation study of SelectMDx(TM) for Prostate Cancer were presented at the 2016 Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress, March 11-15 in Munich, Germany.

The major challenge in prostate cancer (PCa) diagnostics is to improve the early detection of aggressive and potentially lethal prostate cancer. Ideally, prostate cancer-specific biomarkers could be assessed non-invasively, for example in urine. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a model that combines such biomarkers with traditional risk factors into a risk score that expresses an individual patient's risk of harboring high-grade prostate cancer.

Urine samples from two prospective, multicenter studies (cohort A: n=492 and cohort B: n=371) were collected after digital rectal examination (DRE) to measure the mRNA expression levels of the two genes included in the SelectMDx test. These results were combined with traditional clinical risk factors, i.e. DRE, PSA, PSA density, age and family history to further improve patient stratification. An algorithm was developed in cohort A, and successfully validated in the independent cohort B. The optimal model was generated to assess the likelihood of detecting high-grade disease upon biopsy for an individual patient. The SelectMDx urinary molecular biomarker-based risk score resulted in an improved detection of men harboring high-grade PCa, with a negative predictive value (NPV) for significant cancer of 98% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88.

"This multicenter validation study demonstrates that the non-invasive SelectMDx test is able to effectively predict the presence of high-grade prostate cancer from urine samples collected from men with an increased PSA level," reported Dr. Jack Schalken, Professor of Experimental Urology at the Radboud Medical Center in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. "The very high NPV of the test could reduce unnecessary biopsies by approximately 50%, as well as other expensive diagnostic procedures such as MRI scans, and thus could result in significant cost savings for healthcare providers."

The poster presentation, entitled 'Multicenter validation study of a urine-based molecular biomarker algorithm to predict high-grade prostate cancer' (Abstract #383), was presented by Rianne Hendriks, MD at the 'Novel Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Prediction' session (poster session 31) and was awarded a best poster presentation out of over 1100 submitted abstracts, by EAU's Scientific Congress Office. The full poster and abstract can be accessed via the EAU website (http://eaumunich2016.uroweb.org/).

About SelectMDxTM for Prostate Cancer

Of the nearly 2 million prostate biopsies performed each year, in less than 20% significant cancer is found. Most of these men could have avoided a painful and invasive prostate biopsy procedure, with its associated side effects and costs. SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer is a proprietary urine-based, molecular diagnostic test that offers a non-invasive "liquid biopsy" method to identify patients at low risk for prostate cancer, helping to both reduce unnecessary prostate biopsy procedures with their concomitant complications and expense and to identify those men at increased risk of harbouring high-grade disease who may benefit most from earlier detection.

About MDxHealth

MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company's tests are based on proprietary genetic and epigenetic (methylation) molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urological cancer, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/mdxhealth.

For more information: Dr. Jan Groen, CEO MDxHealth US: +1 949 812 6979 BE: +32 4 364 20 70 [email protected] Amber Fennell, Chris Welsh, Hendrik Thys (PR & IR) Consilium Strategic Communications UK: +44 20 3709 5701 US: +1 917 322 2571 (Rx Communications Group LLC) [email protected]

This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the company's control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of MDxHealth in any jurisdiction. No securities of MDxHealth may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. securities laws.

NOTE: The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx, SelectMDx, AssureMDx and PredictMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

To access the PDF version, click here http://hugin.info/137314/R/1993691/734035.pdf

HUG#1993691

Source: MdxHealth (TM)
TUCSON, Ariz., March 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than half the physicians in this country today are reportedly burned out, including nearly two-thirds of physicians in family medicine, urology, physiatry, and radiology, writes Lawrence Huntoon, M.D., Ph.D., in the spring issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. He attributes this to increasing abuse by Medicare and other third-party payers.

Despite promises in the original Medicare legislation, Medicare interferes with, obstructs, and impedes nearly every aspect of the practice of medicine, Dr. Huntoon states. Moreover, close to 90% of all Medicare decisions about whether services are medically necessary are made by employees with only a high school education and no medical background or training, according to a study conducted by the General Accounting Office [now Government Accountability Office] (GAO). Still worse, the study also showed that each reviewer processes as many as 400 claims per day, spending an average of 72 seconds per claim.

Medicare is ... running out of other peoples money and accounting tricks needed to sustain it, Dr. Huntoon explains, and it seeks reductions in physicians fees, clawbacks, and fines for inadvertent errors to prop up the system. Physicians also face threats of prison for administrative errors.

Physicians are increasingly looking for an escape hatchsuch as opting out of Medicare, but face both financial and nonfinancial barriers to doing so.

Dr. Huntoon explains the opting-out process in detail, including the effects of new legal and regulatory developments. He also addresses ways to deal with fear of what may happen: the fence that confines you in the governments pen.

He concludes: To be or not to be free, that is the question. Whether it is immutable fate to continue to accept a conflict of interest with our Medicare patients and suffer the abuse, excessive bureaucracy, and devaluation of services foisted upon us by the government Medicare program. Or, whether it is nobler to opt out of Medicare and reaffirm our professional ethics to serve the best interests of our patients without government interference... .

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is published by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943.

Source: Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
A villager moves coal at local businessman Sun Meng's small coal depot near a coal mine of the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, October 23, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee

BEIJING (Reuters) - Thousands of Chinese coal miners marched through the streets of a mining town in northeastern China over the weekend protesting against unpaid wages, as China grapples with rising unemployment due to overcapacity in heavy industries.

The protesters are employees at Shuangyashan Mine, owned by Longmay Group. They held up banners saying: "We want to live, we want to eat," according to photographs posted on social media.

As China's economy slows, the government is trying to slash overcapacity in labor-intensive industries like coal and steel but this has prompted fears the country might face its fiercest unemployment pressures since the late 1990s.

The workers claim they are owed unpaid wages and some are angry that their pay has been cut to 800 yuan ($123.19) a month, from 1000 yuan, according to local media reports.

"Thousands of people have been protesting," an eyewitness told Reuters by phone. The witness declined to give their name for fear of reprisal from the authorities.

"The police have been taking people away," the witness said.

A statement posted on a Heilongjiang government website on Saturday night acknowledged some employees were owed wages but did not mention the protests.

Reuters was unable to contact Longmay, local police or the Heilongjiang government on Sunday.

A rapid collapse in the prices of oil and coal, two of Heilongjiang's major industries, and inefficiency and overmanning at state-owned enterprises have compounded problems for the province, Lu Hao, the governor of Heilongjiang, said at a session last week of China's annual parliament.

The firm said last year that it would adopt a "wartime work atmosphere" to cut its bloated 248,000 headcount by as much as 100,000. It has been making losses since 2012.

Longmay coal miners are reemployed locally and some will be transferred to farming, Lu said, adding that local state farms have cultivated additional land, while the local forest bureau has increased forest land to provide jobs.

"It is most important that we have to train those transferred workers with new skills, create new market opportunities and encourage their willingness to run their own businesses," Lu said.

"They have expressed their willingness to learn new skills but some are not adaptable, which requires our local governments, party and enterprises to help them to learn new skills and find new job opportunities."

Sources have told Reuters that China is expecting to lay off 5 million to 6 million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution.

(Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong, Kathy Chen and David Stanway; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
By Jussi Rosendahl and Dhara Ranasinghe

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland could see another credit rating downgrade this year after Fitch downgraded it to Aa+ last week because of weak economic growth prospects, analysts said.

Described by its own finance minister, Alexander Stubb, as "the new sick man of Europe", Finland's economy has yet to regain its 2008 size following a string of setbacks such as a decline of Nokia's handset business and recession in neighboring Russia.

After the Fitch downgrade, Finland is left with one triple-A rating with a negative outlook, from Moody's. Standard & Poor's holds a AA+ rating, also with a negative outlook.

"Moody's will likely do the cut, and it is possible that S&P will downgrade its rating into a lower level in the course of this year," Nordea analyst Jan von Gerich said.

S&P is expected to report on Finland's rating this Friday, while Moody's reports in June.

Initial market reaction to Friday's downgrade was non-existent as analysts said much of the bad news had been priced into Finnish bond yields, which have risen over the past year.

Its 10-year bond yield was down 2.5 basis points at 0.48 percent on Monday, falling in line with euro zone peers and supported by the European Central Bank's bond-buying program.

However, further impact on Finnish bonds may be seen when it is clear what indexes Finland may fall out of as a result of the downgrade.

"The economic realities have been very weak lately... The reference group is not anymore Germany, it is closer to France or Belgium," said Danske Bank economist Pasi Kuoppamaki.

France, the euro zone's second biggest economy, has an AA rating from S&P and Fitch and an Aa1 rating from Moody's.

The yield gap between 10-year Finnish bonds and top-rated German Bunds is at 22 basis points, well above levels seen a year ago at close to zero.

Finland's economy grew just 0.4 percent last year after contracting for three straight years. This year, the European Commission expects the economy to expand by 0.5 percent, less than any other country in the EU except Greece.

The center-right government is pushing for a labor reform deal to boost export competitiveness, but Nordea's von Gerich played down its impact, saying: "It will likely be watered down ... There's nothing in sight that would truly accelerate growth."

Germany and Luxembourg remain the only euro zone countries with a full set of triple-A's, while Sweden, Denmark and Norway also have top ratings.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
















SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549





FORM 6-K





Report of Foreign Private Issuer





Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934





For the month of March 2016





Commission File No. 1-31690





TransCanada Corporation

(Translation of Registrant's Name into English)





450 - 1 Street S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5H1, Canada

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:





Form 20-F Form 40-F 





Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):





Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):





Exhibits 99.1 to this report, filed on Form 6-K, shall be incorporated by reference into each of the Registration Statements under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, of the registrant: Form S-8 (File Nos. 333-5916, 333-8470, 333-9130, 333-151736 and 333-184074), Form F-3 (File Nos. 33-13564 and 333-6132) and Form F-10 (File Nos. 333-151781, 333-161929 and 333-208585).





Exhibits 99.2 to this report, furnished on Form 6-K, is furnished, not filed, and will not be incorporated by reference into any registration statement filed by the registrant under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.





















SIGNATURES









Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.









Date: March 14, 2016





TRANSCANADA CORPORATION By: /s/ DONALD MARCHAND Donald R. Marchand Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer By: /s/ CHRISTINE R. JOHNSTON Christine R. Johnston Vice-President, Law and Corporate Secretary

















EXHIBIT INDEX













99.1 Management Information Circular of the Registrant dated February 23, 2016.





99.2 Form of Proxy of the Registrant.













EXHIBIT 99.1

Letter to shareholders

February 23, 2016





Dear Shareholder:

TransCanada Corporation is pleased to invite you to the annual and special meeting of common shareholders on April 29, 2016. The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) in the Markin MacPhail Centre at Calgary Olympic Park, 88 Canada Olympic Road S.W., Calgary, Alberta.

Attending the meeting is your opportunity to meet the Board of Directors (Board) and management, learn more about our performance in 2015 and our strategy for the future, and vote in person on the items of business. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, you can vote by proxy and listen to the live webcast on our website (www.transcanada.com).

The attached Management information circular includes important information about the meeting and how to vote. Please take some time to read the document and remember to vote. You can find more information about TransCanada in our 2015 Annual report and on our website.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mme. Paule Gauthier, who is retiring from the Board on April 29, 2016. Mme. Gauthier has provided many years of dedicated service to TransCanada and our shareholders. Mme. Gauthier served as a director for 14 years, where she made significant contributions to the Board and its committees. Mme. Gauthier most recently served on our Health, Safety, & Environment committee, and Human Resources committee, where she oversaw our health, safety, security and environmental practices and procedures, and helped the Board develop strong human resources policies and plans.

In September 2015, the company was pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John Lowe to the Board of Directors. Mr. Lowe brings a depth of experience in the oil and gas and energy industries. In addition, as part of its extensive search efforts, the Board is nominating Dr. Indira Samarasekera for appointment to the Board. Dr. Samarasekera is expected to be a key contributor to our company, and would bring a wealth of engineering, governance, public policy and leadership expertise to the Board of Directors.

Thank you for your continued confidence in TransCanada. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting on April 29 th .

Sincerely,

S. Barry Jackson Russell K. Girling Chair of the Board of Directors President and Chief Executive Officer

Notice of 2016 annual and special meeting

You are invited to our 2016 annual and special meeting of common shareholders:

WHEN

Friday, April 29, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)

WHERE The Markin MacPhail Centre Calgary Olympic Park 88 Canada Olympic Road S.W.

Calgary, Alberta

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT If you are a shareholder of record of TransCanada common shares on March 14, 2016, you are entitled to receive notice of, attend and vote at this meeting.



Please take some time to read the attached Management information circular. It

contains important information about the meeting and explains who can vote and how to vote.



By order of the Board of Directors, Seven items of business 1. Receive our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015, and the auditors report. 2. Elect the directors. 3. Appoint the auditors and authorize the directors to set their compensation. 4. Participate in the advisory vote on our approach to executive compensation (say on pay). 5. Amend and increase the reserve of our stock option plan. 6. Continue our shareholder rights plan. 7. Consider other business that is properly brought before the meeting or any meeting that is reconvened if the meeting is adjourned. Christine R. Johnston

Vice-President, Law and Corporate Secretary

TransCanada Corporation

Calgary, Alberta



February 23, 2016

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 61

Management information circular

We are sending you this Management information circular (circular) because you are a shareholder of record of TransCanada shares on March 14, 2016. You have the right to attend our 2016 annual and special meeting of common shareholders and to vote your shares in person or by proxy. If you are unable to attend the meeting, you can listen to the webcast in English on our website (www.transcanada.com). Management is soliciting your proxy for the meeting, and we pay all costs for soliciting proxies. We will start mailing the proxy materials on March 21, 2016, and will also provide the materials to brokers, custodians, nominees and other fiduciaries to forward them to shareholders. A TransCanada employee may also contact you to encourage you to vote. The Board of Directors (Board) has approved the contents of this circular, and has authorized us to send it to you. We have also sent a copy to each member of our Board and to our auditors, and will file copies with the appropriate government agencies.



Unless stated otherwise, information in this document is as of March 2, 2015 , and all dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars.

In this document,  you , your and shareholder mean a holder of common shares of TransCanada Corporation,  we , us , our and TransCanada mean TransCanada Corporation, and  TransCanada shares and shares mean common shares of TransCanada Corporation, unless stated otherwise. Our principal corporate and executive offices are located at 450 1 st Street S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 5H1

By order of the Board of Directors,





Christine R. Johnston

Vice-President, Law and Corporate Secretary

TransCanada Corporation

Calgary, Alberta

February 23, 2016





























About shareholder mailings In March 2015, we asked all registered and beneficial shareholders to advise us in writing if they did not want to receive our Annual reports when they became available. If you are a registered shareholder who replied that you no longer want to receive the report, or a beneficial shareholder who did not reply, you will not receive a copy. If you purchased TransCanada shares after March 14, 2016, you may also not receive a copy. Our 2015 Annual report is available on our website (www.transcanada.com) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), or you can request a free copy from our transfer agent: Computershare Trust Company of Canada Tel: 1.800.340.5024 (toll-free within North America) 1.514.982.7959 (outside North America) Email: [email protected]



62 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Summary

The following pages are key points of information you will find in this circular. You should read the entire circular before voting.

Voting

You will be asked to vote on five items at the meeting:

Item Board recommendation More information (pages) Elect 12 directors For 17-29 Appoint KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as auditors For 10-11 Advisory vote on executive compensation (say on pay) For 56-61, 71-114 Amend and increase the reserve of our stock option plan For 11-13 Continue our shareholder rights plan For 13-16

Nominated Directors Name Occupation Age Independent Director

since % Votes

at 2015

AGM 2015

Committees 2015

Board

attendance

Number of

other

public

boards Kevin E. Benson Corporate Director 69 Yes 2005 98.34 Audit

Governance 100 % 0 Derek H. Burney Senior Advisor, Norton Rose Fulbright 76 Yes 2005 97.49 Audit Governance (Chair) 90 % 0 Russell K. Girling President and Chief Executive Officer, TransCanada 53 No 2010 98.51  100 % 1 S. Barry Jackson Corporate Director 63 Yes 2002 98.36 Board Chair Governance Human Resources

100 % 1 John E. Lowe Corporate Director 57 Yes 2015  Audit Health, Safety & Environment 75 % 2 Paula Rosput Reynolds President and Chief Executive Officer, PreferWest, LLC 59 Yes 2011 98.34 Health, Safety & Environment Human Resources (Chair)

100 % 2 John Richels Corporate Director 64 Yes 2013 86.31 Health, Safety & Environment Human Resources

100 % 4 Mary Pat Salomone Corporate Director 55 Yes 2013 98.94 Audit

Health, Safety & Environment 90 % 1 Indira Samarasekera Senior Advisor, Bennett Jones LLP 63 Yes 









 2 D. Michael G. Stewart Corporate Director 64 Yes 2006 98.99 Audit

Health, Safety & Environment (Chair) 100 % 2 Siim A. Vanaselja Corporate Director 59 Yes 2014 98.80 Audit (Chair)

Governance 100 % 1 Richard E. Waugh Corporate Director 68 Yes 2012 98.95 Governance Human Resources 100 % 0

Notes

 Mr. Lowe was appointed to the Board after the 2015 annual and special meeting so there are no voting results available.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 63

Compensation TransCanadas compensation programs are designed to pay for performance by rewarding employees, including our executives, for delivering results that meet or exceed our corporate objectives and support our overall strategy. In order to attract, engage and retain high-performing employees, we review our programs each year to ensure we offer compensation that is market competitive. Our target compensation levels are determined with reference to median levels in our peer group. Actual performance that exceeds expectations can result in compensation above market median levels. Our compensation programs are intended to align the executives interests with those of our shareholders and customers. The Human Resources committee and the Board place a significant emphasis on variable compensation, particularly long-term incentives, when determining the total direct compensation for our executives. Both our executive share unit and stock option plans encourage value creation over the long term. Our best practices include:  benchmarking director and executive compensation against size appropriate peer groups to assess competitiveness and fairness,  limits on variable compensation payments,  share ownership requirements for our directors and executives,  incentive compensation reimbursement (clawback) policy and anti-hedging policy, and  annual say on pay vote, averaging 94 per cent approval for the last three years.

Governance

We believe that strong corporate governance improves corporate performance and benefits all stakeholders. Our governance highlights are noted below.

Size of Board 12 Percentage of independent directors 92% Percentage of women on Board 25% Number of board interlocks 0 Corporate governance guideline on Board diversity Yes Average director age 63 All committees independent Yes Annual director elections Yes Individual director elections Yes Majority voting policy Yes Clawback policy Yes Double-trigger vesting on change of control Yes Separate chair and CEO Yes Director retirement age 70 Director share ownership requirements 4x cash + equity retainer Executive share ownership requirements 5x (CEO), 2x (other named executives) In-camera sessions at every Board and committee meeting Yes Annual say on pay Yes Code of business ethics Yes Board, committee and director evaluations annually Yes Board orientation and education program Yes

Notes

 The Board may waive the director retirement policy in special circumstances or if a director has not yet served seven years on the Board by age 70. The Board has waived the retirement policy for Mr. Burney, as discussed on page 48.

 All executives must meet their requirements through direct share ownership.



64 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

About the shareholder meeting

As a shareholder of record, you are entitled to vote your TransCanada shares at the annual and special meeting. The meeting will cover seven items of business, which are discussed in more detail starting on page 10. This next section discusses delivery of the meeting materials and the voting process. Delivery of Meeting Materials We are using notice and access to deliver the circular to our registered shareholders. This means that TransCanada will post the circular online for our shareholders to access electronically. You will receive a package in the mail with a notice (Notice) explaining how to access and review the circular electronically and how to request a paper copy at no charge. You will also receive a form of proxy in the mail so you can vote your shares. Notice and access is an environmentally friendly and cost effective way to distribute the circular because it reduces printing, paper and postage. This circular is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on our website (www.transcanada.com/notice-and-access). How to request a paper copy of the circular Starting March 21, 2016, registered shareholders can request a paper copy of the circular for up to one year. The circular will be sent to you at no charge. If you would like to receive a paper copy of the circular, please follow the instructions provided in the Notice. Requests by registered shareholders must be made by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Wednesday, April 13, 2016 in order for you receive a paper copy of the circular before the annual meeting on April 29, 2016. If you request a paper copy of the circular you will not receive a new form of proxy, so you should keep the original form sent to you in order to vote. If you have questions about notice and access, you can call our Investor Relations line at 403.920.7911 or 1.800.361.6522. Voting WHO CAN VOTE Shareholders of record on March 14, 2016 are entitled to receive notice of our 2016 annual and special meeting of common shareholders and vote their shares. Our Board set this date to allow enough time for shareholders to receive and review the materials, make their voting decisions and send in their voting instructions before the deadline. As of February 23, 2016, we had 702,334,195 shares outstanding. Each share carries the right to one vote on any item of business that properly comes before the meeting and any meeting that is reconvened if the meeting is adjourned. Subject to our majority voting policy for director elections, we need a simple majority of votes (50 per cent plus one vote) for all items to be approved by shareholders. As of February 23, 2016, we had the following preferred shares outstanding: First

Preferred Shares Number of

shares outstanding

Series 1 9,498,423

Series 2 12,501,577

Series 3 8,533,405

Series 4 5,466,595

Series 5 12,714,261

Series 6 1,285,739

Series 7 24,000,000

Series 9 18,000,000

Series 11 10,000,000

The holders of these shares do not have voting rights at the meeting. Registered shareholders You are a registered shareholder if you have a share certificate in your name. We will prepare a list of the registered shareholders as of March 14, 2016, showing the names of all shareholders who are entitled to vote at the meeting and the number of shares each owns. Our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada (Computershare), will have a copy of the list at their Calgary office if you want to check it during regular business hours. Computershare is located at Suite 600, 530 8 th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 3S8. Tel: 403.267.6800. You can also check the list when you arrive at the meeting. Non-registered (beneficial) shareholders You are a non-registered or beneficial shareholder if your securities broker, financial institution, clearing agency, trustee or custodian (your nominee) holds the shares for you in a nominee account.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 65

Principal shareholders Our directors and executives are not aware of any person or corporation that beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, or exercises control or direction over, more than 10 per cent of our outstanding shares. HOW TO VOTE You have two ways to vote:  by proxy, or  by attending the meeting and voting in person. Voting by proxy Voting by proxy means you are giving someone else the authority to attend the meeting and vote for you (your proxyholder). You must return your signed proxy form in order to vote by proxy. If you appoint the TransCanada proxyholders and specify your voting instructions, your shares will be voted accordingly. If you do not specify how you want to vote your shares, your shares will be voted for you as follows:  for the nominated directors listed on the proxy form and in this circular  for the appointment of KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as TransCanadas auditors and authorizing the directors to set their compensation,  for our approach to executive compensation, as described in this circular,  for the amendments to the stock option plan and increasing the reserve, and  for continuing the shareholder rights plan. If you appoint someone else as your proxyholder, but do not specify how you want to vote your shares, the person can vote as they see fit. If there are any amendments to the items of business or any other matters that properly come before the meeting (including where the meeting will be reconvened if it was adjourned), your proxyholder has the discretion to vote as they see fit, in each instance, to the extent permitted by law whether the amendment or other matter of business that comes before the meeting is routine or contested. Late proxies may be accepted or rejected by the chair of the meeting at his or her discretion and the chair of the meeting is under no obligation to accept or reject any particular late proxy. The chair of the meeting may waive or extend the proxy cut-off without notice.





You can choose anyone to be your proxyholder  the person does not need to be a TransCanada shareholder or the TransCanada representatives named in the proxy form. You must write the person's name on your proxy form, and return the signed proxy form to Computershare to appoint someone as your proxyholder. You should tell this person that you have appointed him or her as your proxyholder and that they need to attend the meeting in person and vote on your behalf. Your proxyholder must vote your shares according to your instructions. Your shares will not be voted if your proxyholder does not attend the meeting to vote for you. If you have returned your signed proxy form and you do not appoint anyone to be your proxyholder, S. Barry Jackson, Chair of the Board, Russell K. Girling, President and Chief Executive Officer or Christine R. Johnston, Vice-President, Law and Corporate Secretary (TransCanada proxyholders) will be appointed to act as your proxyholder to vote or withhold from voting your shares at the meeting according to your instructions.



66 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Registered shareholders We mail the Notice directly to you, and your package includes a proxy form. You may request a paper copy of the circular by following the instructions in the Notice that was mailed to you. Appointing a proxyholder You can appoint the TransCanada proxyholders named on the proxy form to vote your shares at the meeting according to your instructions. If you appoint them, but do not indicate your voting instructions on the form, your shares will be voted for each item of business. You can decide to appoint someone else to represent you and vote your shares at the meeting. Print the name of that person in the blank space on the proxy form. If you do not specify how to vote your shares, your proxyholder can vote as they see fit. Take some time to read about the items of business (see page 10), then complete the proxy form mailed to you, sign and date it, and mail it in the envelope provided. Computershare must receive the completed form by 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 . If your package is missing an envelope, use a blank one and address it to: Computershare Trust Company of Canada Stock Transfer Services 100 University Avenue, 8 th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5J 2Y1 If you want to submit your voting instructions by phone or on the internet, you must do so by 12:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. See the instructions on your proxy form. Attending the meeting and voting in person If you want to attend the meeting and vote in person, do not complete the proxy form. Just register with Computershare when you arrive at the meeting. You can still attend the meeting if you have already submitted your voting instructions, but you cannot vote again at the meeting, unless you revoke your proxy as described on the next page. Non-registered (beneficial) shareholders Your broker, its agent or its nominee can only vote your TransCanada shares if they have received proper voting instructions from you. If you are a beneficial shareholder, your package includes a voting instruction form. Complete the form and follow the return instructions on the form. The voting instruction form is similar to a proxy form, however it can only instruct the registered shareholder how to vote your shares. You cannot use the form to vote your shares directly. Your broker is required by law to receive voting instructions from you before voting your shares. Every broker has their own mailing procedures and instructions for returning the completed voting instruction form, so be sure to follow the instructions provided on the form. Most brokers delegate responsibility for obtaining instructions from their clients to Broadridge Investor Communications Corporation (Broadridge). Broadridge mails the proxy materials and voting instruction form to beneficial shareholders, at our expense. The voting instruction form will name the same TransCanada representatives listed on page 7 to act as TransCanada proxyholders. Attending the meeting and voting in person You can attend the meeting and vote in person, or you can appoint someone else to attend the meeting and give your voting instructions. Print your name, or the name of the person you are appointing, in the blank space provided on the voting instruction form. Complete the rest of the form and then mail it to Broadridge (or to your broker, as instructed on your voting instruction form) as soon as possible. Your package also includes instructions for submitting your voting instructions by phone or on the internet if you prefer either of these methods. You can still attend the meeting if you have already submitted your voting instructions, but you cannot vote again at the meeting, unless you revoke your proxy as described below. Broadridge tabulates the results of all the instructions it receives from beneficial shareholders, and provides appropriate voting instructions to our transfer agent. CHANGING YOUR VOTE Registered Shareholders If you change your mind and want to revoke your proxy, you need to notify us in writing. Sign a written statement (or have your attorney sign a statement with your written authorization) and send it to: Corporate Secretary TransCanada Corporation 450 1 st Street S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 5H1 Fax: 403.920.2467 We must receive the notice by 12:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 , or the last business day prior to the day the meeting is reconvened if it was adjourned. You can

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 67

also give the notice to the Chair of the meeting in person at the meeting. If you submitted your voting instructions by phone or on the internet, you can revoke or change your vote by sending your new instructions again, as long as they are received by 12:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 , or the last business day prior to the day the meeting is reconvened if it was adjourned. A vote that is cast with a later date and time will supersede an earlier vote. Non-registered (beneficial) Shareholders If you change your mind, contact your broker or nominee. HOW THE VOTES ARE COUNTED As transfer agent, Computershare counts and tabulates the votes on our behalf to ensure the votes are kept confidential. They only show us the ballot or proxy form if:  it is required by law,  there is a proxy contest, or  there are written comments on the proxy form. Unable to attend the meeting?

We will have a live webcast of our meeting in English on our website  go to www.transcanada.com for details.



68 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Business of the meeting Our annual and special meeting will cover seven items of business: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  see our 2015 Annual report (available at www.transcanada.com). You will receive our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015, and the auditors report. These documents have been filed with the appropriate government regulatory agencies and are included in our 2015 Annual report. We mail you the Annual report unless you declined in writing, or failed to respond that you wanted to receive a copy when we asked you in March 2015. Our Annual report is also available in English and French on our website (www.transcanada.com), or you can request a copy from our Corporate Secretary.

DIRECTORS  see page 17 You will vote on electing 12 directors to the Board. The director profiles starting on page 17 give important information about each nominated director, including his or her background, experience and memberships on other public company boards he or she serves on. Except for Dr. Samarasekera, all of the nominated directors currently serve on our Board, and we have included their 2015 attendance, the value of TransCanada shares or deferred share units (DSUs) they currently hold (their at-risk investment ) and their election results from the 2015 annual meeting. You can find more information about their at-risk investment on pages 68 and 69. About quorum We must have a quorum for the meeting to proceed.

Quorum constitutes two people present, in person, at the meeting, who are entitled to vote at the meeting and represent at least 25 per cent of the issued and outstanding TransCanada shares. The two people are entitled to vote in their own right, by proxy, or as a duly authorized representative of a shareholder.

All directors are elected for a one-year term.

1. Kevin E. Benson 5. John E. Lowe 9. Indira Samarasekera 2. Derek H. Burney 6. Paula Rosput Reynolds 10. D. Michael G. Stewart 3. Russell K. Girling 7. John Richels 11. Siim A. Vanaselja 4. S. Barry Jackson 8. Mary Pat Salomone 12. Richard E. Waugh

The Board recommends you vote for the nominated directors:

RESOLVE to elect the directors listed in TransCanadas Management information circular dated February 23, 2016 to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are earlier elected or appointed.

AUDITORS

You will vote on appointing the auditors. The auditors will hold office until the close of our next annual meeting of shareholders.

The Board recommends that KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants (KPMG) be appointed as auditors. Representatives of KPMG will attend the meeting, have an opportunity to make a statement and respond to any questions.

KPMG has been our external auditors since 1956, and have confirmed they are independent within the meaning of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the Professional Chartered Accountants of Alberta.

In 2015, the Audit committee oversaw a request for proposal process for our external auditor, and assessed several different firms. Based on the results of this process, the Audit committee and Board decided to recommend KPMG as TransCanada's independent auditors until the close of our next annual meeting of shareholders. The table below shows the services KPMG provided during the last two fiscal years and the fees we paid them:

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 69

($ millions) 2015

2014

Audit fees 7.8

6.4

 audit of the annual consolidated financial statements  services related to statutory and regulatory filings or engagements  review of interim consolidated financial statements and information contained in various prospectuses and other securities offering documents Audit-related fees 0.2

0.2

 services related to the audit of the financial statements of certain TransCanada post- retirement and post-employment plans Tax fees 0.5

0.5

 Canadian and international tax planning and tax compliance matters, including the review of income tax returns and other tax filings All other fees





Total fees 8.5

7.1



You will also vote on authorizing the directors to set the auditors compensation.

The Board recommends you vote for appointing KPMG as our auditors to hold office until the close of our next annual meeting of shareholders:

RESOLVE to appoint KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, as auditors of TransCanada until the close of our next annual meeting of shareholders, and authorize the directors to fix their remuneration.

ADVISORY VOTE ON OUR APPROACH TO EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

You will have an opportunity to have a say on pay by participating in the advisory vote on our approach to executive compensation. The Board believes the vote is beneficial because it holds directors accountable to shareholders for their decisions on executive compensation and provides valuable feedback.

While the vote is non-binding, the Board will take the results into consideration when it considers compensation policies, procedures and decisions in the future. We will disclose the results of the advisory vote in our report on voting results for the meeting, which will be posted on our website (www.transcanada.com) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Since 2010, we have held annual say on pay votes at our annual shareholder meetings. Over the last three years, these advisory votes were approved by 92.67 per cent in 2013, 94.28 per cent in 2014, and 97.10 per cent in 2015. The voting results confirm that a significant majority of shareholders have accepted our approach to executive compensation.

The Board recommends you vote for our approach to executive compensation:

RESOLVE on an advisory basis, without diminishing the role and responsibilities of TransCanadas Board of Directors, that the shareholders accept the approach to executive compensation disclosed in TransCanadas Management information circular dated February 23, 2016.

STOCK OPTION PLAN

You will vote on amendments as described in this circular.

The Board recommends you vote for the stock option plan.

RESOLVE to approve TransCanada's stock option plan as follows:

 increase the number of shares reserved for issue under the plan by 10,000,000,

 amend the stock option plan as described in TransCanada's Management information circular dated February 23, 2016, and

 authorize TransCanada's officers or directors to carry out the activities to execute the necessary documents or instruments for approval of the stock option plan.



70 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

About the plan

You can read more about our stock option plan beginning on page 88-89.

TransCanada's current stock option plan was initially adopted in 1995. The chart below has a list of key events in the history of our current stock option plan.

Year Key Event 1995 TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL), now our main operating subsidiary, establishes its Key employee stock incentive plan. 1998 Shareholders approve changes to the plan on May 19. 2003 As part of our arrangement with TCPL, on May 15 we adopt the plan as our new stock option plan, keeping substantially the same terms and conditions, as amended. 2004 Shareholders confirm and approve the stock option plan on April 23, without amendments. 2007 Shareholders approve changes to our stock option plan on April 27. 2010 Shareholders approve several changes to our stock option plan, including clarifying the definition of 'retirement', changing the vesting terms for options when employment is terminated, and some housekeeping changes. 2013 Shareholders confirm and approve the stock option plan on April 26, without amendments.

Shares reserved for issue

A total of 44,000,000 TransCanada shares have been reserved for issue, and a total of 28,056,532 shares have been issued under the plan since its inception in 1995.

Shares reserved for issue 1995 (plan inception) 10,000,000

1998 (merger with NOVA Corporation) 15,000,000

2004 (annual and special meeting) 1,000,000

2007 (annual and special meeting) 4,500,000

2010 (annual and special meeting) 3,500,000

2013 (annual and special meeting) 10,000,000



The reserve increase in 2013 was more substantial than those in previous years because starting in 2012 a higher percentage of long-term incentives was allocated to stock options instead of executive share units. The greater relative allocation of long-term incentive compensation to options aligns with the objective of achieving long-term sustainable business objectives.

Proposed Changes

In February 2016, the Human Resources committee and Board approved an increase to the number of shares reserved for issue under the plan by 10,000,000 . This increase to the reserve of shares is subject to shareholder approval. The Human Resources committee also approved housekeeping amendments which do not require shareholder approval, including removing the provision that no more than 20 percent of the total number of options granted in any fiscal year can be awarded to one person.

The Board also determined that it would be appropriate to make a minor change to the amendment section of the plan to clarify that the Board cannot change the amendment section without shareholder approval. The proposed change is consistent with how we currently administer the plan.

Reserving an additional 10,000,000 shares under the stock option plan will allow us to grant options to executives and other employees over the next three years. It will increase the total reserve to 16,123,649 shares, or 2.3 percent of our issued an outstanding shares as at February 20, 2016, as outlined in the table below.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 71

Shares reserved for issue For options that have been granted but not yet exercised

For options that may be granted in the future

Total

Currently approved 9,819,819 6,123,649 15,943,468 Proposed increase -

10,000,000 10,000,000 Total 9,819,819 16,123,649 25,943,468 % of outstanding shares 1.40 % 2.30 % 3.70 %

SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS PLAN

You will vote on continuing our shareholder rights plan as described in this circular and posted on our wbesite (www.transcanada.com). No amendments to the shareholder rights plan are being proposed.

The Board recommends you vote for the shareholder rights plan:

RESOLVE to approve TransCanada's shareholder rights plan as follows:

 continue and approve the amended and restated shareholder rights plan agreement dated as of April 26, 2013 between TransCanada and Computershare, as rights agent, and

 authorize TransCanada's officers or directors, to carry out the activities to execute the necessary documents or instruments for approval of the shareholder rights plan.

The Board believes that maintaining the shareholder rights plan is in the best interests of TransCanada and its shareholders. If shareholders approve to continue the plan, it will expire at the end of our 2019 annual meeting (unless they vote to extend it). If majority of shareholders who vote on the resolution do not approve it, the plan will terminate and the rights will cease to have effect.

History of the shareholder rights plan 1994 TCPL implements the TCPL shareholder rights plan in December (amended in 1995, 1998 and 2001 with the approval of TCPL shareholders). 2003 As part of our arrangement with TCPL, on May 15 we adopt the plan as our new shareholder rights plan, keeping substantially the same terms and conditions, as amended. 2004 Shareholders continue and approve the shareholders rights plan on April 23. 2007 Shareholders approve minor amendments to the shareholders rights plan to ensure consistency with the new generation of rights plans in Canada on April 27. 2010 Shareholders continue and approve the shareholder rights plan on April 30. 2013 Shareholders continue and approve the shareholder rights plan with minor amendments to the preamble to clarify the purpose of the plan on April 26.

Background

Our shareholder rights plan is designed to protect the rights of our shareholders, ensure they are treated fairly and maximize value if there is a take-over bid for TransCanada.

We are required to have shareholders approve the plan every three years.

When reviewing our shareholder rights plan this year, the Board considered the terms and objectives of our plan and whether there had been any legislative changes or other developments since the plan was last approved.



72 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Recent Developments

On February 25, 2016, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published final amendments to the take-over bid regime that will take effect later in 2016. The amendments will, among other things, lengthen the minimum bid period to 105 days, require that all non-exempt take-over bids meet a minimum tender requirement of more than 50% of the outstanding securities that are subject to the bid, and require a ten day extension after the minimum tender requirement is met. We will be considering the impact of these changes on rights plans and the reaction by market participants . If any amendments to our shareholder rights plan are required, we intend to present them for shareholder approval at the next annual meeting of shareholders.

After the announced amendments are implemented, there continues to be several significant concerns relating to unequal treatment of shareholders:

 a small group of shareholders could dispose of their shares under a private agreement at a premium to market price not available to other shareholders

 a person could slowly accumulate securities through stock exchange acquisitions over time, resulting in acquisition of control without payment of fair value for control or sharing a controlling interest premium fairly among all shareholders

 it may be possible to engage in transactions outside of Canada without regard to these protections.

By applying to all acquisitions of greater than 20 per cent of shares, our shareholder rights plan ensures that all shareholders receive equal treatment. In addition, there may be circumstances where bidders request lock-up agreements that are not in the best interest of TransCanada or its shareholders.

Plan summary

The following is only a summary of our shareholder rights plan. The full plan is located on our website (www.transcanada.com). You can also contact our Corporate Secretary to receive a copy.

Permitted bids

A take-over bid that involves buying 20 percent or more of our shares is considered a permitted bid when it meets the following requirements that make it fair to all shareholders:

 a circular is issued, informing all shareholders of the bid

 the bid is made available to all shareholders

 the bid is available for at least 60 days

 shares tendered to the take-over bid can be taken up only after 60 days, and only if more than 50 per cent of our total shares outstanding and held by independent shareholders (shareholders other than the bidder, its affiliates and anyone acting jointly or together with others) have been tendered and not withdrawn, and

 as soon as more than 50 per cent of the shares held by independent shareholders have been tendered to the take-over bid, the bidder must publicly disclose this and keep the bid open for another 10 business days to allow any additional deposits of shares.

The shareholder rights plan allows competing permitted bids to be made while there is an outstanding permitted bid, as long as the competing bids are available for acceptance until at least the 60th day after the date on which the earliest permitted bid which preceded the competing permitted bid was made or 35 days from the date of the competing bid (whichever is later).

The Board continues to have the power to carry out its responsibilities and make recommendations to shareholders as appropriate while there are permitted bids outstanding.

Flip-in events

The acquisition of 20 per cent or more of our shares by any person (an acquiring person) is considered a flip-in event when it does not meet the requirements for a permitted bid.

There are certain exceptions in our rights plan where the acquisition of 20 per cent or more of our shares will not result in the creation of an acquiring person and will not trigger a flip-in event, including where institutional investors acquire 20 per cent or more of our shares as long as they are not making, or are not part of a group that is making, a take-over bid. Institutional investors include investment managers, trust companies, statutory bodies, crown agents and managers or trustees of pension plans or mutual funds.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 73

TransCanada rights

On May 15, 2003, we issued and attached one TransCanada right to each common share outstanding, and to each common share we issued after that date.

These rights separate from our shares and shareholders can then exercise their rights and transfer or trade them separately 10 trading days after the earlier of: (i) the date of commencement or public announcement of a take-over bid for our shares (which is not a permitted bid), (ii) the date that a permitted bid or competing permitted bid ceases to be that, and (iii) the date that a public announcement or disclosure is made that a person has become an acquiring person (the separation time).

After the separation time and prior to a flip-in event, each right allows shareholders to buy one TransCanada share at three times the market price (the exercise price), after adjusting for anti-dilution provisions.

After a flip-in event, each right allows shareholders other than an acquiring person, to buy that number of shares with a total market price that is double the exercise price (effectively, the price of each share will be half the market price).

The issue of rights is not initially dilutive, but our reported earnings per share on a fully diluted or non-diluted basis may be affected after a flip-in event occurs. You may experience substantial dilution if you do not exercise your TransCanada rights when a flip-in event occurs.

Rights held by an acquiring person are void on a flip in event. Rights cannot be exercised if the shares are acquired through a permitted bid.

About rights and shares

TransCanada rights are imprinted on share certificates and they cannot be transferred separately from the shares before the separation time.

As of the separation time, however, the rights holders receive TransCanada rights certificates that can be transferred, and rights are traded separately from our shares.

Waiving the plan

The Board, acting in good faith can, until the occurrence of a flip-in event, waive the shareholder rights plan for a particular flip-in event (called an exempt acquisition) if a circular for a take-over bid is distributed to all holders of our shares. The waiver will also apply to any other take-over bid and circular that is distributed to holders of our shares before the original bid expires.

The Board can also waive the shareholder rights plan if the acquiring person reduces their beneficial ownership to less than 20 per cent of all outstanding shares.

Redeeming rights

The Board can redeem each right at $0.00001 per right, as long as it receives approval from a majority of shareholders (or rights holders after the separation time has passed) at a meeting called for this purpose.

The Board will also redeem the rights once a permitted bid, competing permitted bid or exempt acquisition is complete, and does not need shareholder approval to do so.

Lock-up agreements

You and other TransCanada shareholders can enter into a lock-up agreement with a bidder. You become a locked-up person because you agree to tender your shares to the take-over bid (subject bid) without triggering a flip-in event.

Any lock-up agreement must allow you to withdraw your shares so you can tender them to another take-over bid or transaction that provides greater value if:

 the offering price for each share is greater than the subject bid,

 the offering price exceeds the offering price in the subject bid by a specified amount, as long as the specified amount is not greater than 7 per cent higher than in the subject bid, or

 the number of shares you can tender exceeds the number of shares in the subject bid by a specified amount, as long as the specified amount is 7 per cent or less, and the offering price is not less than the offering price in the subject bid.

The lock-up agreement must meet two other requirements:

 a copy of it must be made available to TransCanada and the public for review, and



74 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

 the locked-up person does not agree to pay break-up or top-up fees, penalties, reimbursement of expenses, or other amounts that total more than the sum of: a) 2.5 per cent of the value to be paid to the locked-up person under the subject bid and b) 50 per cent of the difference between the amount the locked-up person would receive under another take-over bid or transaction and what they would have received under the subject bid, if they do not tender their shares to the subject bid or withdraw them to deposit with another bid or transaction.

A lock-up agreement can also include a right of first refusal, or a delay period or other limitation, to give the bidder an opportunity to match terms like a higher price or number of securities, as long as the shareholder can accept another bid or tender their shares to another transaction.

Making changes to the plan

The Board can make changes to the shareholder rights plan if a majority of votes by shareholders (or rights holders if the separation time has occurred) cast at a meeting called for that purpose vote for the changes.

The Board can correct clerical and typographical errors and make other housekeeping changes or make changes that are required by law, in each case, without shareholder approval.

OTHER BUSINESS

We received one shareholder proposal for the meeting, which was withdrawn. The Board and management are not aware of any other items to be properly brought before the meeting.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 75

THE NOMINATED DIRECTORS

Our articles currently state that the Board must have a minimum of eight and a maximum of 15 directors. The Board has determined that 12 directors will be elected this year. The Board believes this size is appropriate based on the scope of our business, the skills and experience of the nominated directors and the four standing committees, and to achieve effective decision-making. It believes that all of the nominated directors are well qualified to serve on the Board. One of the nominated directors is being nominated to the Board for the first time. Dr.Samarasekera brings extensive experience in engineering, governance and public policy. Each nominated director has expressed his or her willingness to serve on our Board until our next annual meeting of shareholders. If elected, they will also serve on the Board of TransCanada PipeLines Limited (TCPL), our main operating subsidiary.

Eleven of the 12 nominated directors (92 per cent) are independent within the meaning of Canadian and applicable U.S. securities law, regulation and policy, and the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the two stock exchanges TransCanada shares are listed on. The only exception is Russell K. Girling because of his role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The profiles on the following pages show each directors holdings in TransCanada shares at March 2, 2015, and as of the date of this circular. The DSUs are calculated on the basis of meeting and retainer fees paid in 2015 and dividend equivalents credited up to January 31, 2015 and January 29, 2016. They also indicate the year he or she joined the Board and has continually served as a director of TransCanada (or TCPL, prior to 2003 when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of TransCanada). All of the nominated directors are Canadian residents, except for Mr. Lowe, Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Richels and Ms. Salomone who are U.S. residents.

We have share ownership requirements for our directors and executives to align their interests with those of our shareholders.

As of February 23, 2016, all of our directors, except for one, meet the requirements. Ms. Salomone, who joined the Board on February 12, 2013, has five years from her appointment date to meet the requirements as will Dr. Samarasekera if appointed at the meeting (see page 35 for more information).

Mr. Girling meets the share ownership requirements for the CEO (see page 83 for details).

The at-risk investment reflects the total market value of the directors TransCanada shares and DSUs based on the closing share price on the TSX of $50.83 on February 23, 2016. See At-risk investment on pages 68 and 69 for more information.















76 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Kevin E. Benson AGE 69, CALGARY, AB, CANADA | DIRECTOR SINCE 2005 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Management/leadership  Governance  Operations  Government/regulatory At-risk investment $3,805,439

Mr. Benson is a corporate director. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Laidlaw International, Inc. from June 2003 to October 2007, and Laidlaw, Inc. from September 2002 to June 2003. Mr. Benson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia from December 2001 until September 2002. He was also a director of the Calgary Airport Authority from January 2010 to December 2013.

In February 2015, Mr. Benson became a director of Winter Sport Institute (non-profit). Mr. Benson is a Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and was a member of the South African Society of Chartered Accountants. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Audit committee 5/5 (100%) Governance committee 3/3 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 338,385,874 (98.34%) 5,726,837 (1.66%) 2014 340,352,665 (99.80%) 667,571 (0.20%) 2013 348,220,437 (99.63%) 1,306,858 (0.37%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees    TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 13,000 13,000 yes DSUs 61,866 57,059

Photo of Kevin E. Benson





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 77

Derek H. Burney, O.C. AGE 76, OTTAWA, ON, CANADA | DIRECTOR SINCE 2005 Independent Skills and experience  Energy/utilities  International markets  Governance  Management/leadership  Government/regulatory At-risk investment $3,484,295

Mr. Burney is a senior strategic advisor at Norton Rose Fulbright (law firm). He is the Chairman of GardaWorld's International Advisory Board (risk management and security services) which position he has held since April 2008. He also became a member of the Paradigm Capital Inc. Advisory Board (investment dealer) in May 2011 and a member of The Ottawa Hospital Board (Governor) in November 2011. Mr. Burney was Chair of Canwest Global Communications Corp. (media and communications) from August 2006 to October 2010 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CAE Inc. from October 1999 to August 2004. Prior to that, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada International Inc. from 1993 to 1999. He also served as lead director at Shell Canada Limited from April 2001 to May 2007. Mr. Burney held various positions with the Canadian Foreign Service, including serving from 1989 to 1993 as Canadas Ambassador to the United States. From 1987 to 1989, he was Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and was directly involved in the negotiation of the CanadaU.S. Free Trade Agreement. In 1992, Mr. Burney was awarded the Public Service of Canadas Outstanding Achievement Award and, in 1993, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Mr. Burney is Chancellor of Lakehead University. He was conferred Honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees from Lakehead University, Queens University, Wilfrid Laurier University, Carleton University and University of Windsor. He also holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Queens University. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 9/10 (90%) Audit committee 5/5 (100%) Governance committee (Chair) 3/3 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes withheld 2015 335,490,909 (97.49%) 8,621,171 (2.51%) 2014 340,086,044 (99.73%) 934,222 (0.27%) 2013 334,578,037 (95.72%) 14,950,924 (4.28%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees    TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 12,318 10,083 yes DSUs 56,230 49,131

Photo of Derek H. Burney









Canwest Global Communications Corp. (Canwest) voluntarily entered into the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and obtained an Order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial Division) to start proceedings on October 6, 2009. Although no cease trade orders were issued, Canwest shares were delisted by the TSX after the filing and started trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. Canwest emerged from CCAA protection, and Postmedia Network acquired its newspaper business on July 13, 2010 while Shaw Communications Inc. acquired its broadcast media business on October 27, 2010. Mr. Burney ceased to be a director of Canwest on October 27, 2010.



78 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Russell K. Girling AGE 53, CALGARY, AB, CANADA | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER | DIRECTOR SINCE 2010 Not Independent (President and Chief Executive Officer of TransCanada) At-risk investment $7,552,423

Mr. Girling has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of TransCanada and TCPL since July 1, 2010. Prior to his appointment, he served as Chief Operating Officer from July 17, 2009 to June 30, 2010 and President, Pipelines from June 1, 2006 until June 30, 2010. Previously, Mr. Girling served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development of TransCanada until May 31, 2006, and as Executive Vice-President, Power from 1995 until his appointment as Chief Financial Officer in 1999. Mr. Girling has held various other leadership positions since joining TransCanada in 1994. Prior to his employment with TransCanada, Mr. Girling held several marketing and management positions at Suncor Inc., Northridge Petroleum Marketing and Dome Petroleum. Mr. Girling was the 2012 City of Calgary and Area Co-Chair of the United Way campaign. Mr. Girling is a member of Canadian Council of Chief Executives, U.S. National Petroleum Council and U.S. Business Roundtable. He also serves on the board of directors for the American Petroleum Institute.

Mr. Girling has a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Calgary. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 338,970,732 (98.51%) 5,141,980 (1.49%) 2014 340,122,398 (99.74%) 897,869 (0.26%) 2013 348,188,273 (99.62%) 1,345,021 (0.38%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Agrium Inc.

(agricultural) TSX, NYSE Corporate Governance & Nominating

Health, Safety & Environment TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 148,582 146,308 yes (for CEO) DSUs  





Photo of Russell K. Girling





































As President and CEO of TransCanada, Mr. Girling is not a member of any of our committees, but is invited to attend committee meetings as required.

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 79

S. Barry Jackson AGE 63, CALGARY, AB, CANADA | BOARD CHAIR | DIRECTOR SINCE 2002 Independent Skills and experience  Energy/utilities  Health, safety & environment  Operations  Engineering  Management/leadership  Governance  Oil & gas/utilities At-risk investment $8,735,034

Mr. Jackson is a corporate director. He is currently the Chair of the Board of TransCanada. Mr. Jackson is a director of WestJet Airlines Ltd. (airline) and Laricina Energy Ltd. (oil and gas, exploration and production). He was a director of Nexen Inc. (oil and gas, exploration and production) from 2001 to June 2013, serving as Chair from 2012, a director of Cordero Energy Inc. from 2005 to 2008, the Chair of Resolute Energy Inc. from 2002 to 2005, and the Chair of Deer Creek Energy Limited from 2001 to 2005. He was also a director of ENMAX Corporation from 1999 to 2002, Westcoast Energy Inc. from 2001 to 2002, and Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. from 2000 to 2001. Mr. Jackson was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Crestar Energy Inc. from 1993 to 2000. He has worked in senior management positions in the oil and gas industry since 1974. He was the Chair of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers in 1997.

Mr. Jackson has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Calgary. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors (Chair) 10/10 (100%) Governance committee 3/3 (100%) Human Resources committee 5/5 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 338,454,635 (98.36%) 5,658,076 (1.64%) 2014 339,899,220 (99.67%) 1,121,029 (0.33%) 2013 346,723,013 (99.20%) 2,805,949 (0.80%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees WestJet Airlines Ltd.

(airline) TSX People and Compensation

Safety, Health and Environment (Chair) TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 39,000 39,000 yes DSUs 132,848 117,261

Photo of S. Barry Jackson

















Laricina Energy (Laricina), a private company, voluntarily entered into the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and obtained an order from the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Judicial Centre of Calgary for creditor protection and stay of proceedings effective March 26, 2015. A final court order was granted on January 28, 2016, allowing Laricina to exit from protection under the CCAA and concluding the stay of proceedings against Laricina and subsidiaries.



80 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

John E. Lowe AGE 57, HOUSTON, TX, U.S.A. | DIRECTOR SINCE 2015 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Health, safety & environment  Operations  Energy/utilities  International markets  Risk management  Government/regulatory  Management/leadership  Governance  Oil & gas/utilities At-risk investment $877,885

Mr. Lowe has been the non-executive Chairman of Apache Corporations (oil and gas) board of directors since May 2, 2015, having previously joined the board in July 2013. He also currently serves on the board of directors for Phillips 66 (energy infrastructure) and has been the Senior Executive Adviser at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. LLC (energy investment and merchant banking) since September 2012.

Mr. Lowe has previously served as a director of Agrium Inc. (agriculture) from May 2010 to August 2015, DCP Midstream LLC (energy infrastructure) and its wholly owned subsidiary, DCP Midstream GP, LLC, the general partner of DCP Midstream Partners, LP from October 2008 to April 2012 and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC (global petrochemicals) from October 2008 to January 2011. He has also held various executive and management positions with ConocoPhillps (energy infrastructure) for more than 25 years, including Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of ConocoPhillips, Executive Vice President of Exploration & Production and Executive Vice President of Commercial.

Mr. Lowe is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, is on the Katy ISD Education Foundation Board and is on the Board of Advisors of Kelce School at Pittsburg State University. He has also previously served on the Texas Childrens Hospital West Campus Advisory Council and is a former director of the National Association of Manufacturers.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Accounting from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 3/4 (75%) Audit committee 2/2 (100%) Health, Safety & Environment committee 1/1 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015    2014    2013    Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Apache Corporation (oil and gas) NYSE  Phillips 66 Company (energy infrastructure) NYSE Public Policy TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 15,000  yes DSUs 2,271 

Photo of John E. Lowe





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 81

Paula Rosput Reynolds AGE 59, SEATTLE, WA, U.S.A. | DIRECTOR SINCE 2011 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Management/leadership  Energy/utilities  Oil & gas/utilities  Governance  Risk management At-risk investment $1,151,350

Ms. Reynolds has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of PreferWest, LLC (business advisory group) since October 2009. She serves as a director at BP p.l.c. (oil and gas), BAE Systems plc. (aerospace, defense, information security) and Siluria Technologies Inc. (natural gas). Ms. Reynolds served as a director at Delta AirLines Inc. from August 2004 to June 2015 and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation from August 2007 to May 2014. She also served as Vice-Chair and Chief Restructuring Officer of American International Group Inc. (insurance and financial services) from October 2008 to September 2009 as part of the team that was appointed during the global financial crisis. Prior to that appointment, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Safeco Corporation until its acquisition by Liberty Mutual Group in September 2008. She was also Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer of AGL Resources Inc. from August 2000 to January 2006.

Ms. Reynolds has held the roles of Chief Executive Officer and President and Chief Operating Officer of Atlanta Gas Light Company (energy infrastructure), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc. She also previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Duke North America (energy infrastructure), a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation, and President of PanEnergy Power Services Inc. (energy infrastructure). Prior to that she was Senior Vice-President of Pacific Gas Transmission Company (natural gas pipeline), a predecessor company of Gas Transmission Northwest LLC, a subsidiary of TransCanada.

Ms. Reynolds currently serves as the board Chair for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and KCTS-9 public television in Seattle. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with honours, from Wellesley College. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Health, Safety & Environment committee 3/3 (100%) Human Resources committee (Chair) 5/5 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 338,415,097 (98.34%) 5,696,983 (1.66%) 2014 339,076,515 (99.43%) 1,943,752 (0.57%) 2013 345,954,918 (98.98%) 3,578,172 (1.02%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees BAE Systems plc

(aerospace, defence, information security) London Stock Exchange

(LSE) American Depositary Receipt (ADR) NYSE

Audit

Remuneration (Chair) BP p.l.c. (oil and gas) LSE Audit

Chairman's Committee TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 6,000 4,500 yes DSUs 16,651 11,066

Photo of Paula Rosput Reynolds



82 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

John Richels AGE 64, NICHOLS HILLS, OK, U.S.A. | DIRECTOR SINCE 2013 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Health, safety & environment  Oil & gas/utilities  Energy/utilities  Law  Operations  Governance  Management/leadership  Risk management At-risk investment $1,213,109

Mr. Richels is a corporate director. He currently serves as the Vice-Chair of Devon Energy Corporation (Devon) (oil and gas, exploration and production, energy infrastructure) having previously served on their board of directors since 2007. He is also on the board of directors of BOK Financial Corp. and is Chairman of EnLink Midstream, LLC and EnLink Midstream Partners, LP (energy infrastructure).

Mr. Richels was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Devon from 2010 to July 2015 having previously served as President of Devon since 2004. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Vice-President of Devon and President and Chief Executive Officer of Devons Canadian subsidiary, Devon Canada Corporation from 1999 through 2004. In 1998 Devon acquired Northstar Energy Corporation (Northstar), where Mr. Richels held the position of Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Northstar, he was the Managing and Chief Operating Partner of Bennett Jones LLP.

Mr. Richels previously served as Chairman of American Exploration and Production Council, Vice-Chairman of the board of governors of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and on the board of directors of Northstar.

He has a Bachelors degree in Economics from York University and a law degree from the University of Windsor. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Health, Safety & Environment committee 3/3 (100%) Human Resources committee 4/5 (80%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 297,000,504 (86.31%) 47,112,055 (13.69%) 2014 332,507,464 (97.50%) 8,512,803 (2.50%) 2013   Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees BOK Financial Corp.

(financial services) NYSE Audit Devon Energy Corporation

(oil and gas, exploration and production, energy infrastructure) NYSE Vice-Chair EnLink Midstream, LLC (energy infrastructure) NASDAQ Chairman EnLink Midstream Partners, LP (energy infrasrructure) NYSE Chairman TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 10,000 10,000 yes DSUs 13,866 7,148

Photo of John Richels





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 83

Mary Pat Salomone AGE 55, NAPLES, FL, U.S.A. | DIRECTOR SINCE 2013 Independent Skills and experience  Energy/utilities  International markets  Engineering  Management/leadership  Health, safety & environment  Operations At-risk investment $534,325

Ms. Salomone is a corporate director. She was the Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) (energy infrastructure) from January 2010 to June 30, 2013. Prior to that, she served as Manager of Business Development from 2009 to 2010 and Manager of Strategic Acquisitions from 2008 to 2009 for Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. From 1998 through December 2007, Ms. Salomone served as an officer of Marine Mechanical Corporation, which B&W acquired in 2007, including her term as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2001 through 2007.

Ms. Salomone was appointed to Intertape Polymer Group (manufacturing) board of directors in November 2015 and serves as a trustee of the Youngstown State University Foundation. She served on the board of directors of United States Enrichment Corporation (basic materials, nuclear) from December 2011 to October 2012 and on the Naval Submarine League from 2007 to 2013. She was formerly a member of the Governor's Workforce Policy Advisory Board in Ohio and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, and served on the board of Cleveland's Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network.

Ms. Salomone has a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Youngstown State University and a Master of Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College. Ms. Salomone completed the Advanced Management Program at Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business in 2011. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 9/10 (90%) Audit committee 5/5 (100%) Health, Safety & Environment committee 3/3 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 340,476,224 (98.94%) 3,636,487 (1.06%) 2014 339,022,297 (99.41%) 1,997,970 (0.59%) 2013 347,948,642 (99.55%) 1,584,710 (0.45%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Intertape Polymer Group (manufacturing) TSX Audit Compensation TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 2,000 2,000 Ms. Salomone has until February 12, 2018 to meet the requirements DSUs 8,512 5,177

Photo of Mary Pat Salomone













Ms. Salomone was a director of Crucible Materials Corp. (Crucible) from May 2008 to May 1, 2009. On May 6, 2009, Crucible and one of its affiliates filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the Bankruptcy Court). On August 26, 2010, the Bankruptcy Court entered an Order confirming Crucibles Second Amended Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation.



84 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Indira V. Samarasekera AGE 63, VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA Independent Skills and experience  Engineering  Governance/Government  Management/leadership At-risk investment $0

Dr. Samarasekera is currently a senior advisor for Bennet Jones LLP (law firm) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Nova Scotia (chartered bank), Magna International (manufacturing, automotive parts), Asia-Pacific Foundation, the Rideau Hall Foundation, the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics and the selection panel for Canadas outstanding chief executive officer of the year. She is also a federal member on the Independent Senate Advisory Panel.

Dr. Samarasekera is internationally recognized as one of Canadas leading metallurgical engineers for her groundbreaking work on process engineering of materials, especially steel processing. She held the Dofasco Chair in Advanced Steel Processing at the University of British Columbia and has consulted widely for industry worldwide leading to the implementation of her research discoveries. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2002 for outstanding contributions to steel process engineering. In 2014 she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S., the profession's highest honour.

She was the chair of the Worldwide Universities Network and has served on several boards and committees including the Prime Ministers Advisory Committee for Renewal of the Public Service, a Presidential Visiting Committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Conference Board of Canada, Canadas Science, Technology, Innovation Council, the Ministers advisory committee on Canadas Global Commerce Strategy and the Public Policy Forum.

Dr. Samarasekera received the E.W. R. Steacie Memorial fellowship in 1991. She is a distinguished Fellow in Residence at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIMM) and an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Mining, Materials and Petroleum Engineering. She has received honorary degrees from the Universities of British Columbia, Toronto, Waterloo, Montreal, and Western in Canada, and Queens University in Belfast, Ireland. She received the Peter Lougheed Leadership Award from the Public Policy Forum in Canada in 2012.

As a Hays Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Samarasekera earned an MSc from the University of California in 1976. In 1980, she was granted a PhD in metallurgical engineering from the University of British Columbia. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors - Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 - - 2014 - - 2013 - - Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Bank of Nova Scotia (chartered bank) NYSE, TSX Corporate Governance Human Resources Magna International Inc. (manufacturing, automotive parts) NYSE, TSX Corporate Governance, Compensation and Nominating TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares - - If elected Dr. Samarasekera will have until April 29, 2021 to meet the requirements DSUs - - Photo of Indira V. Samarasekera





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 85

D. Michael G. Stewart AGE 64, CALGARY, AB, CANADA | DIRECTOR SINCE 2006 Independent Skills and experience  Energy/utilities  Oil & gas/utilities  Health, safety & environment  Operations  Management/leadership At-risk investment $2,230,929

Mr. Stewart is a corporate director. He serves as a director of Pengrowth Energy Corporation (oil and gas, exploration and production) and Canadian Energy Services and Technology Corp. (oilfield services). He was a director of Northpoint Resources Ltd. (oil and gas, exploration and production) from July 2013 to February 2015, a director of C&C Energia Ltd. (oil and gas) from May 2010 to December 2012, a director of Orleans Energy Ltd. (oil and gas) from October 2008 to December 2010, a director of Pengrowth Corporation (administrator of Pengrowth Energy Trust) from October 2006 to December 2010, a director of Canadian Energy Services Inc. (general partner of Canadian Energy Services L.P.) from January 2006 to December 2009, Chairman and trustee of Esprit Energy Trust from August 2004 to October 2006, and a director of Creststreet Power & Income General Partner Limited (general partner of Creststreet Power & Income Fund L.P.) from December 2003 to February 2006. Mr Stewart held a number of senior executive positions with Westcoast Energy Inc. from September 1993 to March 2002, including Executive Vice-President, Business Development. He has been active in the Canadian energy industry for over 40 years. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (non-practicing).

Mr. Stewart holds a Bachelor of Science (Geological Sciences) with First Class Honours from Queen's University. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Audit committee 5/5 (100%) Health, Safety & Environment committee (Chair) 3/3 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 340,638,900 (98.99%) 3,473,810 (1.01%) 2014 340,433,367 (99.83%) 586,881 (0.17%) 2013 348,644,121 (99.75%) 884,841 (0.25%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corp.

(chemicals, oilfield services) TSX Audit Corporate Governance and Nominating (Chair) Pengrowth Energy Corporation

(oil and gas, exploration and production) TSX, NYSE Compensation (Chair) Corporate Governance and Nominating TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 16,008 15,404 yes DSUs 27,882 24,467

Photo of D. Michael G. Stewart







86 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

Siim A. Vanaselja AGE 59, WESTMOUNT, QC, CANADA | DIRECTOR SINCE 2014 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Management/leadership  Governance  Risk management  International markets At-risk investment $1,011,415

Mr. Vanaselja is a corporate director. He currently serves on the boards of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (financial services) and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd (sports, property management).

Mr. Vanaselja was the Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada (telecommunications and media) from January 2001 to June 2015. Prior to joining BCE Inc., he was a partner at the accounting firm KPMG Canada in Toronto.

Mr. Vanaselja previously served as a member of the Conference Board of Canada's National Council of Financial Executives, the Corporate Executive Board's working council for Chief Financial Officers and Moody's Council of Chief Financial Officers. During the period of the 2008 global financial crisis, he was a member of the late Minister Jim Flaherty's special advisory committee to address the continued functioning of financial and credit markets in Canada.

He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Business degree from the Schulich School of Business. His community involvement has included work with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto, St. Mary's Hospital, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Qu e bec and the annual Walk for Kids Help Phone. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Audit committee (Chair since May 1, 2015) 4/5 (80%) Governance committee 1/3 (33%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 339,990,729 (98.80%) 4,121,981 (1.20%) 2014 339,898,687 (99.67%) 1,121,579 (0.33%) 2013   Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees Great-West Lifeco Inc. (financial services) TSX Audit Risk Investment Executive TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 12,000  yes DSUs 7,898 2,701

Photo of Siim A. Vanaselja





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 87

Richard (Rick) E. Waugh AGE 68, TORONTO, ON, CANADA | DIRECTOR SINCE 2012 Independent Skills and experience  Accounting & finance  Management/leadership  Governance  Risk management  International markets At-risk investment $2,454,428

Mr. Waugh is a corporate director. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) (chartered bank) until November 2013 where he then served as Deputy Chairman and director of Scotiabank until January 2014. Mr. Waugh also served as a director of Catalyst Inc. (non-profit) until November 2013 and Chair of the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board until October 2013. He also serves on the board of directors of several non-profit corporations and affiliations.

Mr. Waugh holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Business Administration from York University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers and has been awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from York University, University of Manitoba, and Assumption University. He was awarded an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013. TransCanada Board/committees 2015 meeting attendance Board of Directors 10/10 (100%) Governance committee 3/3 (100%) Human Resources committee 5/5 (100%) Annual general meeting voting results Votes in favour Votes withheld 2015 340,511,473 (98.95%) 3,601,053 (1.05%) 2014 340,375,952 (99.81%) 644,327 (0.19%) 2013 347,889,485 (99.53%) 1,643,605 (0.47%) Other public company boards Stock exchange Board committees    TransCanada securities held 2016 2015 Meets share ownership requirements Shares 29,730 29,150 yes DSUs 18,557 13,111

Photo of Richard (Rick) E. Waugh











88 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

SERVING TOGETHER ON OTHER BOARDS

While the Board does not prohibit directors having common membership on other boards, the Board reviews potential common membership on other boards as they arise to determine whether it affects the ability of those directors to exercise independent judgment as members of TransCanadas Board.

None of our directors serve together on another board.

MEETING ATTENDANCE

We expect our directors to demonstrate a strong commitment to their roles and responsibilities while serving on our Board. The table below shows the directors 2015 attendance record. The Board also held four strategic issues sessions and a strategic planning meeting over two days in 2015.

Board committees Board of

directors Audit Governance Health,

Safety and

Environment Human

Resources Overall

attendance # % # % # % # % # % % Kevin E. Benson 10/10 100 5/5 100 3/3 100     100 Derek H. Burney 9/10 90 5/5 100 3/3 100     94 Paule Gauthier 10/10 100     3/3 100 5/5 100 100 Russell K. Girling 10/10 100   3/3 100   5/5 100 100 S. Barry Jackson 10/10 100   3/3 100   5/5 100 100 John E. Lowe 3/4 75 2/2 100   1/1 100   86 Paula Rosput Reynolds 10/10 100     3/3 100 5/5 100 100 John Richels 10/10 100    3/3 100 4/5 80 94 Mary Pat Salomone 9/10 90 5/5 100   3/3 100   94 D. Michael G. Stewart 10/10 100 5/5 100   3/3 100   100 Siim A. Vanaselja 10/10 100 4/5 80 1/3 33     83 Richard E. Waugh 10/10 100   3/3 100   5/5 100 100

Notes

 Two of the 10 Board meetings were not regularly scheduled meetings.

 Mr. Girling is not a member of any committees, but is invited to attend committee meetings as required.

 On May 1, 2015, Mr. Vanaselja was appointed Chair of the Audit committee.

 On September 9, 2015, Mr. Lowe was appointed as a director, and to the Audit and Health, Safety & Environment committees.





TransCanada Management information circular 2016 89

Governance

We believe that strong governance improves corporate performance and benefits all stakeholders.

This section discusses our approach to governance and describes our Board and how it works. WHERE TO FIND IT > About our governance practices 90 Board characteristics 90 Governance philosophy 93 About our governance practices

Our Board and management are committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and corporate governance.

TransCanada is a public company listed on the TSX and the NYSE, and we recognize and respect rules and regulations in both Canada and the U.S.

Our corporate governance practices comply with the Canadian governance guidelines, which include the governance rules of the TSX and Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA): Role and responsibilities of

the Board 95 Orientation and education 102 Board effectiveness and director assessment 104 Engagement 108 Communicating with the Board 108 Shareholder proposals 109 Board committees 110

 National Instrument 52-110, Audit Committees,

 National Policy 58-201, Corporate Governance Guidelines , and

 National Instrument 58-101, Disclosure of Corporate Governance Practice (NI 58-101).

We also comply with the governance listing standards of the NYSE and the governance rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that apply, in each case, to foreign private issuers.

Our governance practices comply with the NYSE standards for U.S. companies in all significant respects, except as summarized on our website (www.transcanada.com). As a non-U.S. company, we are not required to comply with most of the governance listing standards of the NYSE. As a foreign private issuer, however, we must disclose how our governance practices differ from those followed by U.S. companies that are subject to the NYSE standards.

We benchmark our policies and procedures against major North American companies to assess our standards and we adopt best practices as appropriate. Some of our best practices are derived from the NYSE rules and comply with applicable rules adopted by the SEC to meet the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act .

BOARD CHARACTERISTICS

Our Board and its members exemplify strong principles of corporate governance:

 an independent, non-executive Chair

 an effective board size

 all directors except our CEO are independent

 knowledgeable and experienced directors who ensure that we promote ethical behaviour throughout TransCanada

 qualified directors who can make a meaningful contribution to the Board and the development of our strategy and business and oversight of our risk management processes.

 significant share ownership requirements to align the directors interests with those of our shareholders, and

 annual assessments of Board, Chair, committee and director effectiveness.

Size and composition

TransCanadas articles state that the Board must have between eight and 15 directors. The Board has determined that 12 directors will be elected this year. The Board believes this size is appropriate based on the scope of our business, the skills and experience of the nominated directors and the four standing committees, and to achieve effective decision making. It believes that all of the nominated directors are well qualified to serve on the Board.



90 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

We believe our Board must consist of qualified and knowledgeable directors, and include directors with direct experience in the oil and gas, pipelines and power sectors.

Board diversity

We have been committed to a diverse Board since 1999, when our Corporate governance guidelines were revised to include a variety of diversity criteria, which bring a range of perspectives to the Board that are not limited to gender diversity.

While the Governance committee has not set a specific target for the number of women directors on our Board, the committee believes that a diverse board with a variety of perspectives enhances our decision-making and helps keep the Board informed and effective. We do not believe targets are an appropriate method of increasing diversity on the Board. Instead, we believe that a process-based method of reviewing directors on a variety of diversity factors (including gender) is more appropriate, particularly given the business environment in which TransCanada operates.

In order to achieve a diverse Board, the committee focuses on the process surrounding director nomination. Each year, the committee reviews the general and specific criteria applicable to candidates to be considered for nomination to the Board. These guidelines outline the criteria that the committee considers when evaluating potential director nominees. We have not adopted a written policy with respect to the identification and nomination of women directors because we believe that encompassing our diversity criteria in our written Corporate governance guidelines is more appropriate than a separate written policy.

Our Corporate governance guidelines provide that when choosing director nominees, the committee takes into account the diversity of backgrounds, skills and experience, and personal characteristics such as age, gender, and geographic residence among the directors along with the key common qualities required for effective Board participation. The committee regularly considers the current number of women on the Board when selecting director candidates by considering gender, in addition to other characteristics, as one of the factors.

The committee aims to maintain the composition of the Board in a way that provides the best mix of skills and experience to guide our strategy and oversee ongoing business operations. TransCanada does not have term limits for directors, but does have a retirement policy to encourage board renewal, as discussed in Director tenure , on page 48.

The committee ensures that the list of potential director candidates discussed includes a reasonable number of qualified women candidates, but ultimate decisions are made based on the qualifications of the candidates and the expertise needs of the Board.

We believe that this process is effective as 25 per cent of the Board is currently composed of women directors. After the annual and special meeting, if the nominated directors are all elected, 25 per cent of the Board will be compromised of women directors.

Pie chart of Board composition by gender (men: 9, women: 3)







TransCanada Management information circular 2016 91

Independence

An independent board is a fundamental principle of governance. We believe that the majority of our directors must be independent in accordance with legal requirements, and consistent with the independence criteria of the regulations of the SEC and rules of the NYSE.

The Governance committee and the Board review the independence of each Board member and nominated director against these criteria once a year. It also reviews family relationships and associations with companies that have relationships with TransCanada when it reviews director independence.

The Board has determined that all of the nominated directors are independent, except for Mr. Girling because of his role as President and CEO. Other than Mr. Girling, none of the directors have a direct or indirect material relationship with TransCanada that could reasonably be expected to interfere with the exercise of their independent judgment.

Independent Chair

The Chair is appointed by the Board, and serves in a non-executive capacity. We have had separate Chair and CEO positions since our incorporation in 2003 and at our predecessor company since 1994. Mr. Jackson has served as the independent non-executive Chair since April 30, 2005.

Independent advice

The Board and each of its four standing committees can retain independent advisors to assist in carrying out their duties and responsibilities.

Serving on other boards

To ensure we do not have overboarding or interlocking relationships that would conflict with a directors independence or interfere with fulfilling their Board duties and responsibilities, we have the following policy:

 directors may not serve on more than six boards in total, and

 Audit committee members may not serve on more than three audit committees in total.

Currently, none of our directors serves on more than five boards in total, and none of our Audit committee members serves on more than two audit committees in total.

We discuss the time commitment and duties and responsibilities with every candidate so they have a full understanding of the role and our expectations of directors. The Governance committee monitors director relationships to ensure their business associations do not hinder their role as a TransCanada director or Board performance overall.

The Board believes that it is important for it to be composed of qualified and knowledgeable directors. As a result, due to the specialized nature of the energy infrastructure business, some of the nominated directors are associated with or sit on the boards of companies that ship natural gas or liquids through our pipeline systems. Transmission services on most of TransCanadas pipeline systems in Canada and the U.S. are subject to regulation and accordingly we generally cannot deny transportation services to a creditworthy shipper. As discussed in Conflicts of interest , the Governance committee monitors relationships among directors to ensure that business associations do not affect the Boards performance.

If a director declares that they have a material interest in a material contract or transaction that is being considered by the Board, the director leaves the meeting so the matter can be discussed and voted on.

See the director profiles starting on page 18 for the other public company boards each nominated director serves on.

Independent of management

Our Corporate governance guidelines stipulate that the Board must meet at the end of each Board meeting, in-camera , without management present. In 2015, the independent directors met separately before and at the end of every regularly scheduled Board meeting.

Our Board has adopted the policy of holding in-camera sessions at each meeting of its committees without management. Members of management meet with the independent directors upon request.



92 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

GOVERNANCE PHILOSOPHY

We believe that effective corporate governance improves corporate performance and benefits all shareholders and that honesty and integrity are vital to ensuring good corporate governance.

The Board has formally adopted the Corporate governance guidelines recommended by the Governance committee. These guidelines address the structure and composition of the Board and its committees, and clarify the responsibilities of the Board and management.

Ethical business conduct

Our Code of business ethics (the Code) incorporates principles of good conduct and ethical and responsible behaviour to guide our decisions and actions and the way we conduct business.

The Code applies to all employees, officers and directors as well as contract workers of TransCanada and its wholly-owned subsidiaries and operated entities in countries where we conduct business. All employees (including executive officers) and directors must certify their compliance with the Code every year.

Any unusual behaviour or suspected violations of the Code must be reported immediately. Employees can report a concern to their supervisor, Corporate compliance, Internal audit, their Compliance coordinator, or to our Ethics help-line. The help-line allows anyone  employees, contractors, consultants, other stakeholders and the general public  to report a concern, confidentially and anonymously, about any perceived accounting irregularities, legal or ethical violations or other suspected breaches of the Code. The telephone number is published on our website and employee intranet, in other employee communications and in our Annual report. Our policy strictly prohibits reprisals or retaliation against anyone who files an ethics concern or complaint in good faith.

Internal audit handles most investigations, including any concerns about directors and senior management. Human resources professionals handle any concerns relating to human resource matters such as harassment.

The Audit committee monitors compliance with the Code and reports any significant violations to the Board. The committee follows formal procedures for receiving and reviewing complaints, determining a course of action and retaining the information on file. It also oversees the operation of the Ethics help-line as part of its responsibilities.

Any waiver of the Code for our executives and directors must be approved by the Board, or the appropriate committee. There were no material departures from the Code in 2015.

The Code is posted on our website (www.transcanada.com).

TransCanada Management information circular 2016 93

Conflicts of interest

The Code covers potential conflicts of interest.

Serving on other boards

The Board considers whether directors serving on the boards of other entities including public and private companies, Crown corporations and other state-owned entities, and non-profit organizations pose any potential conflict. The Board reviews these relationships annually to determine that they do not interfere with any of our directors ability to act in our best interests. If a director declares a material interest in any material contract or material transaction being considered at the meeting, the director is not present during the discussion and does not vote on the matter.

Our Code requires employees to receive consent before accepting a directorship with an entity that is not an affiliate. The CEO and executive vice-presidents (our executive leadership team) must receive the consent of the Governance committee. All other employees must receive the consent of the Corporate Secretary or her delegate.

Affiliates

The Board oversees relationships between TransCanada and any affiliates to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. This includes our relationship with TC PipeLines, LP, a master limited partnership listed on the NYSE.

Auditor independence

Pursuant to the Audit committee charter, the Audit committee reviews and approves our hiring policies for partners, employees and former partners and employees of our current and former external auditors to ensure auditor independence is maintained. The committee also monitors adherence to our policy. The committee also has a pre-approval policy with respect to permitted non-audit services, to help ensure auditor independence is maintained.

Our Annual information form (AIF) includes more information about the Audit committee, including the committee charter. The 2015 AIF is available on our website (www.transcanada.com) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Majority voting

Our majority voting policy applies to electing a new Board when the number of nominated directors is the same as the number of director positions available. If, prior to a meeting, a nominated director receives more withheld proxy votes than five per cent of the total votes cast by proxy, we will hold a vote by ballot for all directors. If a director does not receive a majority of for votes cast by ballot, the director must resign from the Board. The Board will accept the resignation if there are no exceptional circumstances. We expect the Board to announce its decision to either accept or reject the directors resignation in a press release within 90 days after the annual meeting, and include its reasons for rejecting the resignation, if applicable.

This policy does not apply if there is a proxy contest over the election of directors.

Share ownership

We have share ownership requirements for our directors and executives to align their interests with those of our shareholders. Ownership levels are significant, and directors and executives must meet the requirements within five years of assuming their position. As of February 23, 2016, all of our directors who have served for at least five years meet the share ownership requirements, as do most of our directors who have served for fewer than five years. Ms. Salomone, who joined the Board on February 12, 2013, has until February 12, 2018 to meet the requirements. If elected, Dr. Samarasekera will have until April 29, 2021 to meet the requirements.

See Aligning the interests of directors and shareholders on page 64 and Aligning the interests of executives and shareholders on page 83 for more information.



94 TransCanada Management information circular 2016

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD

The Boards primary responsibilities are to foster TransCanadas long-term success, 
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

The information in this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, is being furnished and shall not be deemed to be filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), or otherwise subject to the liability of that Section, nor shall such information be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other document filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as otherwise stated in that filing.

On March 14, 2016, Atlantic Power Corporation (the Company) announced that Kenneth M. Hartwick has resigned from the Companys Board of Directors (the Board), the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board and the Operations and Commercial Oversight Committee of the Board effective March 11, 2016. Mr. Hartwicks decision to resign was not due to any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the operations, policies or practices of the Company.

Item 5.02.Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Exhibit 99.1

Atlantic Power Corporation Announces Resignation of Director

DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS  March 14, 2016  Atlantic Power Corporation (NYSE: AT) (TSX: ATP) (Atlantic Power or the Company) announced today that Kenneth M. Hartwick has resigned from the Companys Board of Directors, effective March 11, 2016, in order to assume his new role as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). OPG is a power generation company based in Toronto and owned by the Province of Ontario. It generates approximately half the provinces power supply needs.

Mr. Hartwick had been a director of the Company since October 2004. He also served as the Companys interim President and Chief Executive Officer from September 2014 to January 2015.

On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank Ken for his many contributions to the Board over the past 11 years and for his service to the Company as interim CEO. His many years of leadership experience in the energy sector have been invaluable to the Board as well as to the Companys management. We wish him well in his new role at OPG, said Irving Gerstein, Chairman of the Board of Atlantic Power.

I have enjoyed my time on the Atlantic Power Board and step down with confidence that the management team and Board have a clear strategic direction on which they will continue to execute. I look forward to the Companys continued success, said Kenneth Hartwick.

About Atlantic Power

Atlantic Power owns and operates a diverse fleet of power generation assets in the United States and Canada. The Companys power generation projects sell electricity to utilities and other large commercial customers largely under long-term power purchase agreements, which seek to minimize exposure to changes in commodity prices. Atlantic Powers power generation projects in operation have an aggregate gross electric generation capacity of approximately 2,138 megawatts (MW) in which its aggregate ownership interest is approximately 1,500 MW. The Companys current portfolio consists of interests in twenty-three operational power generation projects across nine states in the United States and two provinces in Canada.

Atlantic Power trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AT and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ATP. For more information, please visit the Companys website at www.atlanticpower.com or contact:

Atlantic Power Corporation

Investor Relations

(617) 977-2700

[email protected]

Copies of financial data and other publicly filed documents are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml under Atlantic Power Corporation or on the Companys website.

1
Blue River Dairy, in Invercargill's Nith St, where a fire broke out early on Tuesday morning.

No-one was hurt when a fire broke out at a large Southland dairy factory early on Tuesday morning.

A Fire Service spokesman said five fire engines from the Invercargill and Kingswell fire stations responded to reports of a fire at the Blue River Dairy in Nith St, Invercargill, shortly after 2am on Tuesday.

The fire was reported as being in the powder room of the dairy, the spokesman said.

While a HAZMAT crew helped clean people off, no injuries were reported, the spokesman said.

READ MORE: Blue River sold to Chinese company

No fire investigators were called to the scene, which the spokesman said meant the fire was not suspicious and that the cause was known.

Fire crews used breathing apparatus to enter the dairy extinguish the blaze in part of the building, Fire Service southern communications shift manager Riwai Grace said.

The fire was "extinguished quickly", before crews worked to salvage the affected area.

They spent about an hour at the scene.

Grace said he had not received a report on the fire cause.
Part of Solid Energy's 1000 hectares of farm for sale near Huntly.

The break up of ailing state-owned mining company Solid Energy has hit a legal hurdle with iwi saying farms currently offered for sale should be offered to it first.

Waikato-Tainui will file a statement of claim in the High Court in Christchurch on Tuesday to stop debt-laden Solid Energy from proceeding with a tender process on land subject to a right of first refusal (RFR).

The tender closes on March 23 and Waikato-Tainui spokesman Rahui Papa wants the matter heard under urgency.

REBEKAH PARSONS-KING/FAIRFAX NZ Rahui Papa disappointed that talks broke down with Solid Energy.

Solid Energy went into voluntary administration last August owing about $300 million to banks.

READ MORE:

*Solid Energy proposes the closure of Huntly East mine

*Solid Energy announces voluntary administration ahead of sale

*Solid Energy brought down by debt and ambition

The company shut down the Huntly East mine in October and has now put more than 1000ha of farms near the Huntly power station on the market as part of its sell down.

SARAH-JANE O'CONNOR/FAIRFAX NZ Solid Energy chief executive Dan Clifford speaks to media in Westport last year.

Of those listed properties, 54ha was earmarked for return to Waikato-Tainui under their RFR mechanism in both the 1995 Waikato Raupatu Settlement Act and the 2010 Waikato River Settlement Act.

Papa said Solid Energy failed to comply with legislation despite the iwi's confirming its interest in purchasing the land.

Talks between the groups have since broken down.

REBEKAH PARSONS-KING/FAIRFAX NZ Huntly East Mine has closed.

"This is clearly disappointing and we believe we have no option but to seek a judicial review," Papa said.

The Bayleys online listing shows the properties in question just north of Huntly on the western side of the Waikato River, located between Te Ohaaki and Okowhao roads.

The properties are being used as a dairy farm and also include crops and grazing land and lifestyle properties. They are listed as a whole sale or in parts.



The listing says they are being sold as part of Solid Energy's corporate divestment.



Solid Energy chief executive Dan Clifford is confident its process is appropriate and legally correct.



The company must meet any obligations such as Waikato-Tainui's right of first refusal or the offer-back provisions of the Public Works Act, he said.

Solid Energy shut down the Huntly East Mine in October 2015.

Solid Energy has a responsibility to ensure openness, transparency and market-competitiveness in relation to the sale of assets.

Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox said Solid Energy, as a state-owned company, has a legal responsibility to Waikato-Tainui.

"It's incomprehensible that a state-owned enterprise could completely ignore the fact that they should be talking to the iwi first over land that otherwise would be going to them," Fox said.

"They must correct that issue and if they feel they are confident, they are wrong. I am absolutely positive that a court will find against them."

Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Todd McClay did not respond to a request for an interview.

Fox said Solid Energy dropped the ball.

"They know what their responsibilities are and they need to be meeting those agreements and offering the land first as right of first refusal to Tainui."

Waikato-Tainui's RFR mechanism stems from the 1995 settlement of the Crown's historical breaches

At the time of the 1995 settlement, tribal estimates put the value of the raupatu lands at $12 billion.

Rights of first refusal are part of settlement redress and apply to any proposed sale of Crown land "by the Crown or any Crown Body" to anyone other than the Crown.

Papa said the iwi wants the court to invalidate Solid Energy's decision and remove the properties from the market.

The tribe said Solid Energy "erred in law, committed procedural impropriety and breached legitimate expectation".

"There is a clear process in place for how RFR lands are to be offered and sold to Waikato-Tainui," Papa said.

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Bill English said news of the legal action is "not really a surprise".

"There's been ongoing discussion as I understand it between them and the administrator of Solid Energy, and this is probably the best way to sort out their differences."

English said he could not comment on whether Tainui had been offered the right of first refusal, due to the legal process.

"It's a legal relationship and a legal process they're going through, and clearly Solid Energy and Tainui have different points of view."
Charity begins at the House as lawmakers help themselves at taxpayers expense By Chandani Kirinde- Lobby Correspondent View(s): View(s):

There was bad news for Sri Lankans from Parliament this week. It came in the form of an announcement on Tuesday by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that the Government is readjusting several taxes including the Value Added Tax (VAT), a move which has already driven prices of goods up, with more hikes likely to follow in the days ahead. But in the same week there was good news for the countrys 225 parliamentarians. Behind closed doors, the Committee on Parliamentary Business agreed to give themselves (the MPs) generous allowances, which no doubt will do little to endear the public towards their elected representatives, at a time when they are heavily burdened with an increasing cost of living.

The allowances which will cost the taxpayer millions of rupees more, will be for the additional work that lawmakers will be required to undertake from now on, including attending sittings of the Constitutional Assembly on non-Parliament sitting days, for which they will be paid Rs 2, 500 per day, while MPs who attend the newly set up Sectorial Oversight Committees will be paid Rs 4,000 per day. MPs are paid Rs 500 per sitting day of Parliament at present.

In addition to these, MPs without official residences will be given Rs 50,000 per month as rent allowance, Rs 75,000 per month as a rent allowance to maintain an office in his/her constituency, and Rs 50,000 per month as official telephone facility. The Parliamentary Business Committee chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuirya and comprising representatives of all political parties in Parliament, said the rationale behind this payout to MPs is to provide for them (MPs) to carry out their functions efficiently and effectively as the peoples representatives. The proposals will now go to Cabinet for approval.

And while MPs were getting additional financial benefits which will add to the many other facilities they already enjoy, Parliament got down to the business of more mundane matters of passing legislation to make it a statutory obligation to give Rs 2,500 allowance to private sector employees whose salaries are less than Rs 40,000 per month. Along with this, Parliament also approved legislation to set the national minimum monthly wage for all workers in any industry or service at Rs 10,000, with the daily minimum wage set at Rs 400. While these amounts are grossly inadequate, going by the high cost of living in the country, these two pieces of legislation will go some way towards affording private sector workers a small measure of relief.

Meanwhile, Parliament this week cleared the first hurdle to framing a new Constitution for the country, by unanimously adopting the Resolution to set up a Constitutional Assembly that would see the entire Parliament converted into a Committee to draft a Constitution Bill.

The Resolution was adopted with several amendments on Wednesday; exactly two months after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe presented it to the House on January 9. Due to squabbling among members of the different political parties over the contents in the original Resolution, several amendments were moved so as to appease all the lawmakers, hence facilitating the passage of the Resolution with it being put to a vote.

With the Resolution now approved, all 225 MPs will sit as a Committee of Parliament, with Speaker Karu Jayasuirya as its Chairman. It will also consist of seven Deputy Chairmen, while the quorum for meetings of the Assembly has been fixed at 20.

At the first meeting of the Committee, a date for which is yet to be decided, a timeframe for the drafting of a new Constitution will be fixed, as well as sitting days, times etc. It has been decided that sittings will be held in the Parliament Chamber on non-sitting days of Parliament.

Winding up the debate on the historic Resolution, the Premier said the present set of legislators have the rare opportunity to participate in the making of a new Constitution under a National Government, which has brought together the two main political parties in the country. We have to grasp this opportunity and make a genuine effort to frame a new Constitution, taking the views of the public into consideration, he said.

All MPs welcomed the move to do away with the 1978 Constitution and were of the view that the twin evils in the present Constitution namely, the excessive powers of the executive presidency and the electoral system, have to be done away with.

The Premier said that there is about 50% agreement on electoral reforms to replace the present Proportional Representation (PR) system of elections. What we propose should be agreeable to small parties as well. Their representation in the House should be ensured, but at the same time, we also have to ensure a stable Parliament, he said.

And while things were cooling down with the joint opposition group happy that their demands for a bigger say in parliamentary affairs being recognized by the Speaker, and their decision to back the Constitutional assembly resolution, things got heated when former Army Commander Field Marshal (FM) Sarath Fonseka who was recently sworn in as a National List MP, as well as a Cabinet Minister, came out firing on all cylinders in his maiden speech in the House, taking on his nemeses former President and now Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa.

During his nearly hour-long speech, FM Fonseka accused the Rajapaksas of extrajudicial killings, financial misappropriation and for having links with the LTTE. He called for new investigations into the white flag case. He also said the UN was welcome to investigate allegations of war crimes committed during the war. These investigations should proceed transparently and in an internationally accepted manner. I commanded the war in accordance with all international humanitarian laws, while protecting human rights. If there had been a few who breached those, they must be dealt under the law, he said.

No doubt it was a speech aimed at settling old scores with the Rajapaksas, and for now, the former President who is a sitting MP, has shied away from responding to these allegations from the floor of the House.

With the Prime Minister telling lawmakers in the joint opposition on Friday, to get ready for more revelations regarding large scale frauds committed during the previous regime, and to be ready with their lawyers to answer to these charges, it is likely that the former President and his family members will hear a lot more of what FM Fonseka said this week.
Felicia to spice up Hiltons Curry Leaf View(s):

Curry Queen Felicia Sorensen also known as Darling is spicing up the Hilton Colombos authentic Sri Lankan restaurant; the Curry Leaf with her Sri Lankan cooking from March 11 to 20 during dinner.

From luscious crab, to designer hoppers with cheese and chilli, beetroot flavour with seeni sambol and egg, mutton roti and double egg roti along with a variety of yams there are many choices available during the promotion. Fragrant creations of seafood, fresh crab, prawns and a variety of fish are made to your choice of taste.

Felicias skill and reputation gained her entree into the ranks of Les Disciples d Auguste Escoffier in 1980, as well as being honored in 1992 as the first Asian Chef to officiate at the Robert Mondavi Winerys Great Chefs programme. She is Asias most renowned proponent of Sri Lankan cuisine.Her consulting for Asian, European and American hotels and restaurants have brought the taste of her islands cookery to a discerning clientele.

For more details and for reservations, call 2544 644 ext 2012 or log into www.hiltoncolombo1.comwww.facebook.com/HiltonColombo.
Remembering a day of mischief at Galle Face Hotel with Cannonball run View(s):

French Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jean-Marin Schuh and German Ambassador Juergen Morhard will take part in the Cannonball run celebrated by Colombos 150-year-old Galle Face Hotel, on March 18. The Cannonball run is an annual tradition celebrated on the Galle Face Green, to commemorate the extraordinary incident of a cannonball misfired by a member of the British Artillery in 1845.

The 30-pound cannonball, misfired during a practice session around the southern ramparts of the Colombo Fort, came crashing through the roof of the now Galle Face Hotel, leaving a heavy dent on the drawing room floor and came to rest under a chair. The cannonball is at present preserved in the museum located in the South Wing of the hotel.

In memory of this infamous incident an annual run has been held over the years, starting off at the cannon on the Fort end of the Green and ending at the cannonball in the hotel. Members of the diplomatic community, over the years who have run have included the likes of the American Ambassador Robert O Blake and the British High Commissioner Peter Hayes (2008), Maldivian Ambassador Ali Hussein Didi and Russian Ambassador Vladimir P. Mikhaylov (2010), French Ambassador Christine Robichon and Norwegian Ambassador Hilde Haraldstad (2011), Canadian High Commissioner Bruce Levy and British High Commissioner John Rankin (2012) to name a few.

Steve Bennett from the United Kingdom who was a guest at the hotel last year adds roots to this age old incident  Colonel Francis Seymour Douglas-Hamilton who was a Captain in the Royal Artillery stationed in Colombo in 1840 when the cannonball was fired, is incidentally a distant relation of his great-grandmother.There is a famous family story about an ancestor who fired a cannon ball into a hotel in Ceylon, and they still keep the cannonball on display. It wasnt until I researched my family history recently that I was able to put names and dates to this story, he said. It is wonderful to be able to still view the incredible cannonball and the mischief done at the hotel.
Constitutionally speaking: The peoples verdict By Lt Col (Retd.) A.S. Amarasekera View(s): View(s):

A country is governed by convention or by adhering to a constitution. When our colonial masters namely the British granted independence to Ceylon they introduced a constitution better known as the Soulbury constitution to govern independent Ceylon. Though a constitution was formulated and introduced by the British to govern independent Ceylon their own country is governed by convention and not through a constitution. Before the Kandyan kingdom then known as Sinhale was ceded to the British through the Kandyan Convention on March 2, 1815, King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha governed the Kandyan kingdom by convention and not through a constitution.

When independent Ceylon was declared as the Republic of Sri Lanka by the then United Front government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1972 a new Republican Constitution was promulgated. With the need to establish an Executive Presidential system the United National Party government of Mr. J.R Jayewardene in 1978 promulgated a new constitution better known as the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka which is in use even today to govern the country with nineteen amendments approved by the National State Assembly over the passage of time. The Maithripala Sirisena Ranil Wickremesinghe government intends to replace this present constitution with a new constitution and is seeking the views of the people. In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the people and therefore soliciting the views of the people for such a purpose by the government is commendable provided there is no hidden agenda in this proposed new constitution to change the unitary status to a federal status.

Fear of a hidden agenda arises because the government can make the present constitution more democratic and acceptable to the people through the needed amendments for this purpose instead of promulgating an entirely new constitution. Is this exercise to promulgate a new constitution the result of pressure exerted by western nations to govern this country in line with their requirements such as the inclusion of provisions to accommodate hybrid courts that have been recommended in the UNHRC Resolution? If so this exercise to promulgate a new constitution amounts to a surreptitious effort by western nations to establish neo-colonialism in our country.

The Westminster form of government in practice in our country since independence has divided the people based on party politics. The two major parties namely the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has formed governments since independence mostly with the support of other political parties. Some of these political parties representing ethnic minorities do not agree to support either the SLFP or the UNP sans a surreptitious agreement to gain some privilege for their ethnic minority. Such privileges over the passage of time has eroded the just rights of the majority. Therefore to eradicate this anomaly the proposed new constitution if it is to uphold true democracy and good governance should make all political parties based on ethnicity illegal.

The proposed new constitution should also ensure that each and every electorate is represented by a Member of Parliament. Those nominated by the election secretariat to contest at a presidential or general election should have at least a graduate level educational qualification. A person contesting for the post of President should not belong to any particular political party. Any politician from a political party wishing to contest for the post of President will have to resign from his political party before submitting his nomination as an independent candidate for the presidential election.

However it should be left to the candidates who wish to contest at a general election to select the political party from which they intend to contest based on the manifestos of the different political parties. The people in every electorate must be given the opportunity to elect a representative of their choice to the National State Assembly. The present method of political parties submitting nomination lists for districts restricts the peoples choice to only those selected by political parties. Therefore the present system of political parties submitting electoral lists needs to be abolished. Provision must be made for those who do not agree with any of the political party manifestos to contest the general election as independent candidates.

The national list has enabled those who have been rejected by voters at a general election to enter the National State Assembly through the back door. Therefore the proposed new constitution must ensure that a person rejected by the people at a general election is not given any opportunity whatsoever to become a Member of Parliament and the national list must be made use only to give the minorities a balanced representation in the National State Assembly. When a vote is taken in the National State Assembly on any newly proposed legislation the Members of Parliament need to express the view of the people in their respective electorates and not the view of the political party to which they belong.

There have been instances where the constitutional amendments were enacted in the National State Assembly against the will of the majority. Such legislation should be abolished when promulgating the proposed new constitution. A good example in this regard is the 13th Amendment to the constitution that was forced upon our nation sans the approval of the people due to pressure from neighboring India. The 13th amendment was responsible for creating Provincial Councils that have been white elephants from their very inception which have failed to provide any useful purpose except to create further divisions detrimental to the unity and territorial integrity of our island nation.

The proposed new constitution should not permit those in political power to enact amendments to further consolidate their power or to extend the term of office beyond their mandate. A good example in this regard from the past is the enactment of the 18th Amendment that removed the restriction of two terms in office for the President and enabled him to contest for another term in office. That the will of the people was not reflected through this futile 18th amendment was proven when Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated at the presidential election held on 8th January 2015. The proposed new constitution must restrict the number of Cabinet Ministers to twenty five with twenty five deputy Ministers. There is no need for State Ministers.

Since sovereignty is in the people any amendments subsequently introduced to the proposed new constitution by the legislature must be made available for public scrutiny for at least two weeks and accepted as new statute only if it remains unchallenged. However if a new amendment is challenged in the Supreme Court by any person because it infringes upon that persons fundamental rights or upon the sovereignty in the people the Supreme Court should determine if such an amendment is ultravires and if so request for its repeal or suggest any corrections to make this particular amendment acceptable.

Efforts have been made and still continue to be made by separatists and vested interests to alter certain entrenched articles in the present constitution such as the second article which states that the Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State.

It is to protect this Unitary State and to usher in peace and tranquility for posterity that the security forces fought a three decade war to convincingly defeat LTTE terrorism and separatism through the sacrifice of so much sweat, blood, tears and toil and sometimes even their very life and limb. Thirty thousand security forces personnel sacrificed their lives and an equal amount were disabled to provide a better tomorrow for the people of this country. Therefore any effort to introduce federalism through a new constitution will be totally and unreservedly rejected by the people of Sri Lanka.

The 9th Article in the constitution states that the Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1)(e). Given the fact that Article 9 is linked to Article 10 and 14 (1) (e) there is no contentious issue for the repeal of this article. Article 10 states that every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, while Article 14(1) (e) states that every citizen is entitled to the freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. Those who want Article 9 repealed must realize that Buddhism has been the state religion of this island since the advent of Arahat Mahinda over 2300 years ago. Even the British ensured the due place to Buddhism when the island was ceded to them through the Kandyan Convention in 1815. Besides the majority of the inhabitants of this nation are Buddhists and they will never allow Article 9 to be altered or repealed.

Finally the other contentious issue is the executive presidency. It must be emphasized that sans an executive presidency it would never have been possible to defeat LTTE terrorism. Therefore an executive President voted to office by the people of this island nation must remain the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. While any presidential powers deemed undemocratic need to be repealed the Executive President should continue to remain the head of the Cabinet of Ministers that will form the Executive which will direct and control the government of Sri Lanka and will be collectively responsible and answerable to parliament.
Indias antiquated penal code By Shashi Tharoor View(s): View(s):

NEW DELHI  A number of seemingly unrelated controversies in India actually have one important element in common: They all relate to criminal offenses codified by Indias British imperial rulers in the mid-nineteenth century that India has proved unable or unwilling to outgrow.

The problematic features of the British-drafted Indian Penal Code include the prohibition of sedition, defined loosely as speech or actions promoting disaffection against the government established by law; the criminalization of homosexual acts; and the uneven prosecution of adultery. The first two, in particular, have lately been the source of considerable public outrage  and rightly so. These provisions  as I argued when introducing amendments to them in the lower house of parliament (of which I am a member)  can easily be misused by the authorities in ways that infringe upon Indians constitutional rights.

Consider sedition, against which a draconian law that was established in 1870 to suppress any criticism of British policies  even criticism that, as one Briton candidly put it, did not involve an absolute breach of the peace. The result was Section 124A of the penal code, under which any person who used words, signs, or visible representation  to excite disaffection against the government could be charged with sedition and potentially sentenced to life imprisonment. In other words, no free speech for Indians.

But even that was not sufficient for Britains leaders, who tightened the law further in 1898, making it even harsher than the sedition law in England. The British had concluded, in the words of the British lieutenant governor of Bengal, that a sedition law which is adequate for a people ruled by a government of its own nationality and faith may be inadequate, or in some respects unsuited, for a country under foreign rule.

Sedition was thus explicitly intended as an instrument to terrorize Indian nationalists; indeed, Mahatma Gandhi was among its prominent victims, though far from its last. In fact, just last month, students at New Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University were arrested on charges of sedition, for using anti-Indian slogans in their protests against the execution of the convicted terrorist Afzal Guru. These arrests, which shocked many Indians, would not have been possible without the loose wording of the law.

My amendment would limit sedition charges to situations where an individuals words or actions lead directly to the use of violence or incitement to violence, or where they constitute an offense  such as murder or rape  that, under the Indian Penal Code, is punishable by life imprisonment. By clarifying that simply criticizing the governments actions does not constitute sedition, such an amendment would reinforce freedom of speech  fundamental to any democracy  while safeguarding against speech that actually incites violence.

Then there is Section 377 of the penal code, which was enacted in 1860 and criminalizes carnal intercourse against the order of nature  wording so archaic that it would invite derision in most modern societies. Even in the past, there was no taboo against homosexuality in Indian culture and social practice; it was the British Victorians who introduced it.

By criminalizing sexual acts in private between consenting adults, Section 377 violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 (life and liberty, including privacy and dignity), Article 14 (equality before the law) and Article 15 (prohibition of discrimination) of Indias constitution. The real-world consequences of this are jarring: In the last two years, 58 Indians have been arrested under Section 377 for acts carried out in the privacy of their homes.

My amendment to Section 377 would have decriminalized sex between consenting adults of any gender or orientation. Unfortunately, conservative members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) voted against the bills introduction in parliament, citing a 2013 Supreme Court judgment upholding the law. But there is still some reason for hope: The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a curative review petition against its earlier judgment.

The Indian Penal Code is not much easier on heterosexual women than it is on homosexuals. According to Section 497, a husband can prosecute his adulterous wife, and the man with whom she had sexual relations, but a woman cannot sue her adulterous husband, unless his partner is underage or married. This is an appalling and outdated double standard.

It is time for Indias government to get out of its citizens bedrooms, and also to recognize that a pernicious sedition law has no place in a lively and contentious democracy. Indeed, the British, who created these problematic offenses, have since eliminated all of them at home  a reflection of the changing times. (One of the worst legacies of colonialism is that its ill effects outlasted the empire  in India, occupied Palestine, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.)

President Pranab Mukherjee, for one, feels it is time to take Indias penal code into the twenty-first century, underscoring last month, on the codes 155th anniversary, the need to revise it thoroughly. Indias criminal law, he declared, was largely enacted by the British to meet their colonial needs, and must be revised to reflect our contemporary social consciousness. Only then can it be a faithful mirror of a civilization underlining the fundamental values on which it rests.

With that speech, Mukherjee threw down the gauntlet to the right-wing BJP government. One hopes that its leaders respond, though their fondness for autocratic measures and indulgence of illiberal and intolerant statements by their supporters  behavior that has spurred serious concern across the political spectrum  raises serious doubts that they will.

As long as they exist, laws that can be misused will be misused. In order to prevent this, and to create a liberal legal framework fit for a modern democratic country, homosexuality and adultery must be decriminalised, and sedition must be approached from a far more liberal perspective. As the recurring debates consuming the country indicate, it is manifestly time for a change.

(The writer, a former UN under-secretary-general and former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and Minister of State for Human Resource Development, is currently Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and an MP for the Indian National Congress.)

Courtesy : Project Syndicate, 2015.

Exclusive to the Sunday Times.

www.project-syndicate.org)
An early morning fire which tore through a Bay of Plenty church is being treated as suspicious.

Firefighters were called to the Anglican Church on Kaponga Street in Mamaku, near Rotorua, shortly after the blaze took hold around 1am.
Disability Issues Minister Nicky Wagner says the New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Board Action Plan, released today, outlines the Boards priorities for the promotion and maintenance of NZSL.

NZSL is not only an official language of New Zealand, it is an integral part of Deaf peoples cultural identity, Ms Wagner says.

The Action Plan provides tools to enhance the vitality of the language and improve the lives of Deaf people by supporting their ability to communicate and fully participate in society.

Todays release of the plan is also an excellent way to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of New Zealand Sign Language becoming an official language, a milestone which falls on 6 April this year.

Achieving official language status in 2006 was a watershed moment for the Deaf community. The Action Plan complements the languages official status with a clear commitment to sustaining and growing NZSL, Ms Wagner says.

The NZSL Boards 10 members, appointed in 2015, represent the full diversity of NZSL users, and the Action Plan is the result of extensive consultation with the Deaf community.

The NZSL Board will review the Action Plan annually and will report publicly on progress against its priorities.

A New Zealand Sign Language translation of this announcement is available on YouTube.



The New Zealand Sign Language Action Plan can be found at: www.odi.govt.nz/nzsl-action-plan

SOURCE: Office of Nicky Wagner
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Michael Castaneda, 22, Hialeah; grand theft; interfering with child custody.

Justin Clark, 29, 200 block of Paradise Place, Stuart; warrant for violation of probation or community control, drug offender curfew.

John Darnell, 63, 2900 block of Amherst Street, Stuart; fleeing/attempting to elude officer.

Carol Favuzza, 57, 800 block of Highland Avenue, Stuart; burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Michael Greene, 33, 14000 block of 171st Avenue, Indiantown; possession of a controlled substance.

James Hill, 52, Okeechobee; warrant for failure to appear, bond revocation, DUI, third violation in more than 10 years.

Jonathan Holden, 36, 5800 block of Wesley Avenue, Stuart; warrant for violation of probation, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia.

Jonathan Housch, 30, Barnsville, Georgia; warrant for failure to appear, grand theft.

Denise Jesselli, 33, 3700 block of Hawthorne Street, Stuart; grand theft.

Eric Lasponara, 20, 1400 block of Sudder Avenue, Port St. Lucie; assault or battery on an officer/firefighter or intake officer.

Richard Matthews, 19, 1100 block of 153rd Street, Indiantown; possession of a controlled substance.

Jineal McKinnis, 34, Jupiter; possession of a controlled substance (acid); tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

David McMichael, 40, 2200 block of Jannette Avenue, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, violation of probation or community control, felony charge.

Christopher Olsen, 34, 8300 block of Sunset Street, Hobe Sound; possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription or from a lawful practitioner.

Colton Vanhohenstein, 35, 1200 block of Frances Street, Port St. Lucie; driving while license suspended, habitual offender.

Zachary Wilson, 29, 9200 block of Eagle Avenue, Hobe Sound; grand theft.
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By Elliott Jones of TCPalm

PORT ST. LUCIE  A 3-year-old boy was hospitalized after being bitten in the face by the family's pit bull at home Saturday night, according to police.

The boy's injuries weren't life threatening but were enough to warrant flying him to St. Mary's Hospital, West Palm Beach, said police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sabol.

The dog, according to police, bit after being startled by the child's screams. The boy got pinched by an object he put in his mouth around 11 p.m. in a home in the 1300 block of Southeast Laconia Street.

The dog was next to the child and "apparently reacted to being startled," according to a police report.

Port St. Lucie Animal Control took custody of the dog.
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Floyd Hoffman, 28, 4300 block of 34th Drive, Vero Beach; tampering with, destroying or fabricating physical evidence; possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; possession of cocaine; driving while license suspended; possession of a controlled substance (MDMA).

Kenneth Veronesi, 37, 2700 block of Seneca Avenue, Fort Pierce; warrant for battery.

Antonio Jennings, 21, 300 block of Bethany Court, Fort Pierce; warrant for violation of probation, grand theft.

Michael Zappier, 31, 2100 block of Gemini Lane, Port St. Lucie; larceny/grand theft.

Todd Crouch, 49, 1700 block of Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce; possession of marijuana over 20 grams.

Shenita Jones, 33, Orlando; driving while license suspended, third or subsequent offense; hold for Orlando, failure to appear, grand theft by a hotel employee.

Tawanna Davis, 30, 900 block of 25th Street, Fort Pierce; battery by a person detained in prison or jail facility.

Clifton Hunter, 36, 600 block of Market Avenue, Fort Pierce; driving while license suspended, third or subsequent offense.

Malik Smoke, 20, 6900 block of Fort Walton Avenue, Fort Pierce; possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon.

Brandon Wickham, 29, 300 block of Holly Avenue, Port St. Lucie; possession of a controlled substance (opium) without a prescription.

Kenneth Killings, 57, 2000 block of Avenue P, Fort Pierce; domestic battery by strangulation; battery, second or subsequent offense.

Arthur Harrison, 31, 900 block of Skylark Drive, Fort Pierce; warrants for grand theft, giving false information to a pawnbroker, dealing in stolen property.

Dennis Dixon, 32, 400 block of 14th Street, Fort Pierce; warrants for possession of cocaine, sale, manufacture or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver cocaine.

Jerald Rogers, 38, 300 block of 11th Street, Fort Pierce; warrants for court order for revocation of bond, battery by a person detained in prison or jail facility, battery, second or subsequent offense.

Dealmas Johnson, 51, 1500 block of Avenue B, Fort Pierce; warrant for possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon.

Eric Knowles, 46, 1100 block of 16th Court, Fort Pierce; warrant for court order to revoke bond, new arrest, battery by strangulation.

Jerold Stribling, 37, 4500 block of 36th Avenue, Vero Beach; warrant for possession of ethylone.

Peter Oyibo, 34, 4400 block of 34th Drive, Vero Beach; warrants for sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a specified area, possession of cocaine, manufacturing of cocaine, possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon, trafficking in drugs, other controlled substance (opana), possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone), possession of a controlled substance (buprenorphine), possession of a controlled substance (Xanax).

Larecka Edmond, 33, 1700 block of Desert Avenue, Port St. Lucie; warrant for violation of probation, giving false statement for public aid.

April Scotto, 40, 6000 block of Indrio Road, Fort Pierce; possession of a cocaine.

Tavarus English, 36, 2600 block of Mohawk Avenue, Fort Pierce; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill; domestic battery by strangulation; warrants for dealing in stolen property, giving false information to a pawnbroker, failure to redeliver leased property.

Michael Hodge, 24, 2800 block of Avenue B, Fort Pierce; hold, state Department of Corrections, Mayo Correctional Annex, first-degree murder, robbery with a gun/deadly weapon.

James Bozarth, 42, Excelsior Springs, Missouri; hold, state Department of Corrections, Columbia Annex, robbery with a gun/deadly weapon, grand theft, fraudulent credit card.

Cody Dotts, 27, 1100 block of Sunrise Boulevard, Fort Pierce; warrant for violation of probation, resisting an officer without violence, driving while license suspended.

Joe Mathis, 51, Okeechobee; warrant for violation of probation, driving while license suspended; hold, Okeechobee, violation of probation, sale of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell.

Danisha Roker, 19, Tampa; out-of-county warrant, Hillsborough County, failure to appear, trespass of an occupied structure/conveyance.

James Richard, 26, 1700 block of Avenue L, Fort Pierce; warrant for driving while license suspended. Arrested in Indian River County.

Eric Lasponara, 20, 1400 block of Sudder Avenue, Port St. Lucie; assault or battery on an officer/firefighter or intake officer. Arrested in Martin County.
Peter Oyibo

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By Elliott Jones Elliott.Jones@Tcpalm.Com 772-978-2224

FORT PIERCE  A 36-year-old former car detailer says he found a more lucrative profession: drug dealing, making $4,000 a week out of two apartments, according to an arrest affidavit.

Now Peter "Goldie" Oyibo, 36, of Vero Beach, is in the St. Lucie County Jail in lieu of nearly a $1 million bail.

A search of the Fort Pierce apartments found a surveillance system along with $14,800 in cash and an assortment of firearms and drugs. Among the drugs were cocaine and dozens of Hydromorphone pills, an opioid pain medication.

According to police reports he sold to customers who walked up to the door  including an undercover informant who was part of a lengthy investigation including police and federal agents.

That led to Oyibo's arrest Friday. Afterward he told detective he had been dealing for a year. "He said he buys powdered cocaine from the Miami area and transports it to his house," the affidavit states. There "he manufacturers the powdered cocaine into crack cocaine."

Oyibo, who lives in the 4400 block of 34th Drive, Vero Beach, sold the drugs out of an apartment in the 500 block of North 12th Street, Fort Pierce. Also there was dealing out of an apartment in the 100 block of South 13th Street, the affidavit states.

When asked if he had other jobs, Oyibo said he used to detail cars but hasn't in the last few years. He listed his occupation as a self-employed investor.

In 2001 he was found guilty of burglary in Vero Beach.

During 2004 he was arrested for selling marijuana in St. Lucie County and was sentenced to three years in state prison. In 2009 Oyibo was released and state records show that he was moving to New York.

During December in Indian River County he had a traffic arrest for speeding and not carrying a driver's license. At the beginning of the year Fort Pierce police began an investigation into drug dealing.

With the help of a confidential informant, who wore a hidden camera, purchases were made at the apartments in Fort Pierce. The camera showed "Oyibo (in a room with a locked steel cage door) selling crack cocaine," the affidavit states.

The investigation into the case continues. It is a joint investigation by the Fort Pierce Police Department, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Homeland Security Investigation.
SHARE Diesel and vegetable oil fire at 3041 S.E. Dominica Terrace in Stuart. View of slick roadway from biodiesel fuel fire on Dominica Terrace. View of slick roadway from biodiesel fuel fire on Dominica Terrace. Martin County Fire Rescue responds to a fire at a biodiesel company in Stuart on Wednesday. Viesel Fuel produces biodiesel fuel and renewable lubricants. (MOLLY BARTELS/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

By Laurie K. Blandford, Will Greenlee, Melissa E. Holsman, Michael Allen and Tyler Treadway of TCPalm and Cynthia Washam of TC Palm

Scroll down for map of area and firefighters' working perimeter.

9:35 p.m.: Martin County Fire Rescue spokesman Bill Schobel said the fire appears to be under control: "No flare ups from the scene in the last two hours," he said.

The next steps for the business are: "State fire marshal has to come in and investigate with one of our investigators. Department of Environmental Protection will oversee environmental clean up. The business is responsible for contracting a cleanup company," he said.

9 p.m.: President and CEO of Viesel Fuel, Stu Lamb, issued the following statement:

"First and foremost, we at Viesel Fuel want to thank Martin County Fire Rescue for their swift action, along with all emergency responders who assisted them.

"The combination of Fire Rescues efforts, our fire suppression system, and the quick action by Viesels employees according to our safety plan worked. There were no injuries, adjacent businesses were notified immediately and the fire was contained.

"We greatly appreciate the understanding and support of our commerce park neighbors whose business day was interrupted during the fire and thank those who have reached out to us.

"In the coming days, we plan to work closely with fire officials to identify and address the cause of the fire."

7 p.m.: Firefighters say they will stay overnight.

6:08 p.m.: Smoke from fire still clearly visible at US 1 and Monterey Road.

5:55 p.m.: Officials have used dirt to block contaminates from seeping through a drainage ditch.

5:50 p.m.: Sheriff Will Snyder: No timetable to put the fire completely out.

5:10 p.m.: Police radio chatter: Officials from the city of Stuart are arriving to survey damage to the buildings and surrounding areas. An insurance agent was asking fire rescue for access to the site. Workers from Florida Power & Light are on scene inspecting overhead wires and power poles in the area impacted by flames.

4:40 p.m. Officials report that Okeechobees department joined the firefighting efforts.

4:23 p.m.: 911 call first came from the Viesel Fuel building, MCFR Bureau Chief Dan Harshburger said.

4:15 p.m.: Update: The fire started at 11:50 a.m., officials dont know how it started, MCFR Bureau Chief Dan Harshburger said.

4:02 p.m.: The plume of smoke could clearly be seen and was photographed by several fishermen who were 4 to 5 miles offshore of St. Lucie Inlet. Plume was also visible from Hobe Sound and Palm City.

4 p.m.: Report: Firefighters are trying to keep a large fire at Viesel Fuel on Dominica Terrace contained, as a large swath of the surrounding area has been evacuated, a Martin County Fire Rescue official said.

Were trying to keep in contained first and from there trying to get it extinguished, said Dan Harshburger, fire rescue spokesman.

Harshburger, standing on Southeast Dominica Terrace just east of the raging fire, said four 10,000 gallon tanks of biodiesel were fully involved in flames.

We had the fire knocked down pretty quick, Harshburger said, noting Martin County Sheriffs Officials helped

in evacuating about a half mile around the site, which is east of U.S. 1 and south of Market Place.

Unfortunately, it sparked back up again, and its spreading even further, Harshburger said.

4 p.m. Rescue officials asked if the fire was being fought with water or foam, an official replied that they are only using dirt for now to contain the fire. The more water we put on it the more we have to deal with runoff afterwards, a rescue official said.

Pomeroy is now being opened, radio just said. But people will be prevented from turning eastbound onto Pomeroy.

3:54 p.m. Enormous flames and thick black plumes rise up from the Viesel Fuel facility. Sheriffs helicopters fly around. We are trying to keep the fire contained. Then, well extinguish it, Martin County Fire Rescue Bureau Chief Dan Harshburger.

3:49 p.m. Turbo Combustor Technology at 3501 SE Commerce Ave has been completely evacuated.



3:46 p.m.: Martin County Red Cross officials have set up a food and water station at the fire rescue command post at Commerce and Dominica Terrace.



3:40 p.m.: Martin County Fire Rescue Bureau Chief Dan Harshburger: Three Dump trucks have been brought into contain fuel and water that has runoff into drainage ditch (culvert).



3:35 p.m.: Martin County Sheriffs director of emergency management, Stephen Leighton: Fire is no longer in the street. Hazmat team is containing contaminates that have seeped into culverts in front of the business.



3:31 p.m.: Martin County fire rescue officials are being told Martin County engineering personnel will be moving heavy loaders and other heavy equipment from a facility on Aviation Way Road at Witham Field Airport to the scene of the fire. Rescue officials are being told the engineering staff may need an escort as the equipment makes its way from Aviation Way Road through heavy traffic to the scene of the fire.



3:23 p.m.: Chief Deputy Glenn Theobald: Fire has spread into the street. Wind is causing the flames to spread.



3:08 p.m.: Fire rescue officials are asking all businesses and pedestrians to evacuate the area from south of Walmart down to Gran Parkway, said Martin County Deputy Stephen Leighton.



3:03 p.m.: 140 extended day students from Port Salerno Elementary were taken to Pinewood Elementary and should arrive at 3:20 p.m. Parents were notified by telephone alert. Regular hour students were not affected. Buses for regular students were running as scheduled.



Note from Port Salerno school: Due to a fire in the area, we are taking safety precautions and have evacuated your children to Pinewood Elementary. All students are safe . There is no access to Port Salerno Elementary School at this time. The situation may affect traffic to and from our schools in this area. We are asking that you report directly to Pinewood Elementary located off of Willoughby Boulevard. Should you need to contact Pinewood the phone number is 772-219-1602. Thank you.

3 p.m.: 29 emergency rescue vehicles are on the scene as firefighters stand back and watch the fire burn off.



Four biodiesel and one methanol tank, as well as building facilities for Viesel Fuel, have been burning for hours.



MCSO deputy told me they are evacuating everything bordered by Salerno road to the south to Indian street to north to us 1 to west to commerce street to east.



2:28 p.m.: Code red, evacuated all from the business area, except firefighters.



2:55 p.m.: Official are locking down Salerno Elementary. Students are being taking to Pinewood Elementary School on Willoughby Boulevard, south of Pomeroy.



2:28 p.m.: Code red, evacuated all from the business area, except firefighters.

STAFF PHOTOS: The Viesel Fuel fire



YOUR PHOTOS: The Viesel Fuel fire



Prior to 2:30 p.m. the fire, blazing since about noon, appeared to be getting under control. Here are some on-the-scene observations and interviews:

Hazardous materials crews and firefighters from three counties and Stuart are guarding a large methanol tank as four, 10,000-gallon tanks of biodiesel fuel burn at Viesel Fuel on Southeast Dominica Terrace near Stuart.

The top of the methanol tank blew off about 2:30 p.m.

The fire began around noon and Martin County Fire Department had it under control a couple hours later. Then, it grew out of control, having spread from tanks to the business building.

Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties' firefighters joined Martin fire rescue to help.

Officials were moving people back from the fire at Viesel Fuel, 3041 S.E. Dominica Terrace, a state-of-the-art, 7.5 million gallon per year biodiesel facility in Stuart that produces renewable lubricants.

Traffic congestion was reported on U.S. 1, near Pomeroy Street. Traffic also was moving slowly on Southeast Market Place, just south of Stuart Walmart Supercenter, as people leave the area.

Smoke could be seen for miles, including from southern Port St. Lucie.



No injuries had been reported and all employees were accounted for, according to Martin County sheriffs officials, and a 1-mile radius around the industrial complex -- mostly businesses and some residents -- was evacuated. The boundaries are Market and Commerce streets, Salerno Road and U.S. 1.

The fire is under control but not completely out, according to officials with Martin County Fire Rescue.

There are traffic tie-ups near the fire, including at U.S.1 northbound, south of Pomeroy as well as all streets in Commerce Park.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said the cause of fire looks accidental but it still is under investigation in conjunction with the state fire marshal.

All power was restored to the area, except for businesses on Dominica Terrace, according to the sheriffs department.

Biodiesel is Americas first advanced biofuel. It is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that is reducing U.S. dependence on imported diesel, creating green jobs and improving our environment.

It is made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources, including agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats and meets the strict specifications

The company services all types of food establishments, according to its website, including KFC, Mulligans, Florida Atlantic University, Indian River State College and American Airlines Arena.

Because of its high volatility, the single tank of methanol is more of a concern to firefighters than the four tanks of biodiesel at the Viesel fuel facility.

When the top blew off the methanol tank about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, debris flew as far as Waaler Street behind the facility.

Enormous plumes of thick smoke and yellow flames rose from the scene as firefighters and emergency officials worked the scene.

Right now weve got methanol and biodiesel burning. There was a loud explosion. That was the top of the methanol tank blowing off, Harshburger said. Right now weve backed our crews out further to ensure safety of our fireghters.Harshburger said Florida Power & Light Co. officials shut down the power in the area.

Jonathan Bevill, who works at NuCO2 north of the fire, said he was videoing the scene when he heard an explosion.

We heard a big hiss and then a big boom and you could feel it, too, he said. I figured it had to be one of the big tanks, the biodiesel tanks.

Explosions could be clearly heard by residents in Sewall's Point several miles northeast of the facility.

Commerce Park is full of businesses such as boat builders, furniture builders, a taxidermist, construction companies and other businesses that use extremely flammable products in their trade.

Custom sportfishing boat building companies in the area evacuated include Jim Smith, L & H, Garlington-Landeweer, Willis Boatworks, Gamefisherman and Lost River Marine. These companies build million dollar boats from 40 to 90 feet in length. They use fiberglass, resins and other highly flammable composite materials in their construction processes.



FAST FACTS

Methanols flash point, the temperature at which it will flash when exposed to a brief flame, is 53 degrees. Biodiesels flash point is 266 degrees.

Biodiesel is a vegetable oil or animal fat-based fuel used in conventional diesel engines. Its less combustible than petroleum-based diesel, which has a flash point of 126 degrees.

Methanol, commonly called wood alcohol or wood-grain alcohol, is used to help purify the raw materials of biodiesel. Methanol is a colorless, odorless flammable liquid thats now obtained from natural gas. It can be used as a fuel, solvent and antifreeze and to make formaldehyde and paints.




Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Treasure Coast on Monday, making stops at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County, in Hobe Sound; Sailfish Point, in Stuart; and Riverside Theater in Vero Beach. (AP File Photo/Alex Brandon)

By Hannah Schwab of TCPalm

Condoleezza Rice will visit the Treasure Coast on Monday, and TCPalm will be there.

The former Secretary of State will tour the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County, 11500 S.E. Lares Ave., Hobe Sound, starting at 9:20 a.m.

Then Rice will head north to Stuart where she will be one of the speakers at the fourth annual Distinguished Speaker's Luncheon to benefit the Boys & Girls Club starting at 11 a.m. at the Sailfish Point Country Club, 2203 S.E. Sailfish Point Blvd.

TCPalm opinion columnist Gil Smart will be with Rice all morning. Follow Smart on Twitter (@TCPalmGilSmart) for the latest updates.

That afternoon, Rice will travel to Vero Beach to give two speeches at Riverside Theater, 3250 Riverside Park Drive, as part of its Distinguished Lecturer Series.

According to the theater, Rice will be speaking at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tickets are sold out for both appearances.

Community editor Laurence Reisman will attend Rice's speech at the theater. Follow Reisman on Twitter (@LaurenceReisman) for updates.

Rice has been making headlines lately as rumors spread that Republicans have approached her to make a third-party bid for president.

Rice asked if she would run for president; "Kind of not in my DNA to run for office but I was fortunate to serve the country" #TCElections  Gil Smart (@TCPalmGilSmart) March 14, 2016

In a POLITICO Florida article posted Thursday, writer Matt Dixon said:

"A group of Republican donors and strategists has been working to persuade former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to make an independent bid for president, according to a memo outlining the plan obtained by POLITICO Florida.

The group has grown increasingly dissatisfied with New York billionaire Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner who has roiled the partys establishment as he has surged ahead in the polls."

In a Washington Post op-ed published March 3, Michael Gerson mentioned Rice running as one of four possible options for Republicans who do not support Donald Trump's campaign.

"Option 3: Support a center-right, third-party candidate for president who would represent a civil rights Republicanism and hold the core message of the party in trust for better days," Gerson wrote. "Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice would stand for everything Trump does not  gravity, dignity, character and serious moral purpose."

Tweets by @LaurenceReisman
Senator Marco Rubio speaks outside That Little Restaurant in Melbourne on Monday during a campaign stop for his bid as the Republican nominee for President before Florida's primary on Tuesday. (ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

By Melissa E. Holsman of TCPalm

MELBOURNE  A trio of GOP state lawmakers campaigned Monday with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who urged a Republican crowd in a restaurant parking lot to vote for him during Tuesday's presidential preference primary.

State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R- Vero Beach, joined state Sen. Thad Altman of Rockledge to cheer on Rubio as he whipped up a group of 350 to 400 die-hard supporters at That Little Restaurant on North Wickam Road.

As Rubio arrived in a big blue bus, the group held up campaign signs, waved American flags and chanted "Marco, Marco" as he climbed into the back of a pickup to better address the cheering crowd.

Rubio talked about limited government, conservative values and how he intends to beat GOP front-runner Donald Trump in Florida's primary and win the state's 99 delegates.

Rubio insisted a vote for Trump meant the Democrats would win the White House in November.

Mayfield said it was important for her to attend the rally to show Rubio has the backing of his fellow elected officials.

"He needs to show that his Florida people are rallying behind him and that they want him to win this election," Mayfield said after Rubio's 20 minute speech. "I think the more people who show that support, he gets the energy to continue on."

She noted Rubio started his day in Jacksonville, rallied in Melbourne and had an evening campaign event planned in West Palm Beach.

State Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, who is running against Mayfield for the District 17 state senate seat, also appeared to hear Rubio and cheer him on.

"He's a hometown boy and a great guy," he said. "He was (Florida) Speaker of the House right before I got there in the Legislature, and was a strong leader and a positive guy."

Altman, too, praised Rubio's leadership and his vision for America.

"It's a strong message and it's to the core of Marco's beliefs  very strong in believing we are a country of free enterprise and entrepreneurship," Altman said after Rubio spoke. "I was very happy to hear him say about rebuilding the space program and defense. Marco has consistently been the strongest candidate for defense."

Marco Rubio greeted by enthusiastic crowd today in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/FOC6FCDntJ  Melissa E. Holsman (@MHolsman) March 14, 2016
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By Sun Sentinel

If you are on trial in Florida for robbing a convenience store, a unanimous jury decision is needed to convict you.

If you beat someone up and face trial for assault, a unanimous jury decision is needed to convict you.

Indeed, to be found guilty of any criminal offense in Florida, a unanimous jury verdict is required.

But Florida has a far different standard when government decides to put someone to death.

Until now, because Florida lawmakers are so enthralled with executions, only seven members of a 12-person jury were needed to impose the death penalty.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that Florida's way of imposing a death sentence was unconstitutional because it gives judges  rather than juries  the final word on sentencing. The ruling had nothing to do with Florida being the only state to allow a simple majority of jurors to impose a death sentence.

But with executions temporarily put on hold, state lawmakers quickly went to work to fix the death penalty statute.

And still, they got things wrong.

On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott signed the so-called fix into law. It requires at least 10 of 12 jurors to recommend the death penalty. That's better than before, we grant you. But of the 31 states that continue to put people to death, Florida is one of only three that still don't require a unanimous jury verdict.

Prosecutors, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, pushed for the 10-2 recommendation. They said requiring unanimity would let a lone juror "hijack" the process.

Again, lawmakers got it wrong.

If one juror is persistent enough to hold out against someone's execution, that should be enough to prevent someone's execution. As we said, it's enough in all but three states.

But Florida loves the death penalty. More inmates have been executed under Scott than under any previous governor.

Florida also has had 26 death row exonerations, which means we've gotten it wrong 26 times. That's more than any other state.

At present, nearly 400 people reside on Florida's death row, the second-highest such population in the country. Whether the new law will retroactively apply to them is not yet known.

The law also would require unanimous jury decisions on at least one aggravating circumstance, defined as factors that increase a crime's severity, such as heinousness, lack of remorse, the vulnerability of the victim or a previous conviction. Jury unanimity was not part of the Supreme Court ruling, but lawmakers obviously knew the issue was a problem.

Florida has made too many death penalty errors in the past. Lawmakers just made another one.
Republican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump (center) speaks as candidates Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., (left) and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, listen during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group and the Washington Times at the University of Miami, on March 10, 2016, in Coral Gables. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

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By Sun Sentinel

Florida became the epicenter of presidential politics last week, with White House hopefuls from both parties barnstorming the state and participating in debates on consecutive nights in Miami.

After so many debates, it would be easy to overlook the latest. But for voters who might still be undecided before tomorrow's Florida primary, there were revealing policy differences among the candidates.

In the Republican debate, front-runner Donald Trump didn't resort to insults in presenting his views, but that didn't make some of them less outrageous or unrealistic.

Trump refused to back away from his gross generalization that "Islam hates us," even after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio reminded the audience that American Muslims have fought and died for this country.

When asked about his calls for resuming waterboarding and targeting family members of terrorists, Trump talked about the need to "expand" the law so that the U.S. can fight the Islamic State "on at least somewhat of an equal footing." That immoral and illegal appeal brought rebukes from Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said, "We've never targeted innocent civilians, and we're not going to start now." Fortunately, Cruz no longer talks about "carpet bombing" Syria, a strategy our military condemns because it would similarly kill large numbers of civilians.

On a key domestic policy, Trump called for leaving Social Security, whose trust fund is headed for insolvency by 2033, "the way it is," while vowing to eliminate "waste, fraud and abuse." But as debate moderator Jake Tapper noted, eliminating improper payments would close only 2 percent of the funding gap. The other three candidates, including Ohio Gov. John Kasich, preferred to level with listeners, acknowledging that changes must be made for future retirees to bolster Social Security's finances.

On the subject of climate change, to which Florida is especially vulnerable, only Kasich called for policies to reduce carbon emissions. By contrast, Rubio discounted the calls of 20 Florida mayors who seek leadership on climate change, ridiculously saying we can't pass laws "to change the weather."

Trump reiterated his promise to crack down on trade practices that he says cost American jobs, even after Tapper pointed out that the billionaire's companies have imported foreign workers and manufactured products overseas. "We're allowed to do it," Trump said. True, but hardly a principled call to action.

Rubio reminded the audience that 95 percent of global consumers live beyond U.S. borders. He made a cogent case for trade: "We have to have access to the hundreds of millions of people in the world today who can afford to buy things."

In the Democratic debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders denounced "disastrous trade policies." That message might have contributed to his upset win this week in Michigan, a state whose economy has been hit hard by foreign competition. But more than 270,000 jobs in Florida are supported by exports, and more than 60,000 companies in the state sold their products abroad in 2013.

Sanders also doubled down on his promises to establish a government-run, single-payer health care system and provide free tuition to public colleges and universities to all, including the wealthy. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued for building on the Affordable Care Act and reducing higher-education costs.

Tuesday's primary will be pivotal for both parties.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addresses the crowd during a rally at the historic Coronado Performing Arts Center on Monday, March 14, in Rockford, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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By Michael Mayo

Here's the one thing I know heading into the 2016 Florida presidential primary: Someone has to be president.

So voters might as well be a part of it.

Voters should exercise their rights while they still can.

Maybe you think Trump is a bombastic buffoon and frightening fascist who'll strip you (or your Muslim neighbor) of your right to vote, dissent or pray. Or maybe you think Hillary Clinton is an evil witch who'll take away your gun and shoot you with it, then force you to get treatment with the health insurance President Barack Obama made you buy.

Or maybe you think Ted Cruz is a reckless ideologue who'd rather shut down government than play nice with others and make it work. Or maybe you think Bernie Sanders is a socialist Castro-loving hippie who wants to give away everything to everyone while socking it to the rich. Or maybe you think Marco Rubio is a zombie candidate, someone who could have been a contender before he went into the gutter and got run over by a Trump dump truck.

Or maybe we can always find fault with anyone who runs for president, given that they have to be half-crazy and full of ego to even want the job.

Yes, this year's race has been especially degrading and dispiriting, what with the potty talk, insults and scary rhetoric on the Republican side and Clinton's email prevarications on the Democratic side.

But you know what? We can't hang a "Vacancy" sign on the White House in January. Voters still need to make a choice.

None-of-the-above isn't an option.

For the Republicans and Democrats who still haven't voted in the primary, Tuesday is the last chance. Partisans should consider themselves lucky, because Florida's nearly 3 million independents aren't allowed to vote in the state's closed primary system.

In my view, primary ballots can be approached in one of two ways: idealistically or strategically.

Idealistically is going with the candidate who most closely aligns with your views, the one you would most like to see become president.

Strategically is weighing the pros and cons of what your vote actually means, given the current realities of the race and the signal your vote sends. It takes into account things such as electability and viability.

Some Democrats who prefer Sanders might vote for Clinton because they want to make sure she's as strong as possible heading into the general election. Some Republicans who oppose Trump might vote for Rubio, even if his overall prospects look dim and they'd rather go with Cruz or John Kasich. Rubio is urging Cruz and Kasich supporters to vote for him in winner-take-all Florida, saying he represents the best chance at denying Trump 99 crucial delegates.

"Voters are going to have to search their conscience and place their vote where they think it could make the most difference," former Republican candidate Carly Fiorina told me after the GOP debate last week. "I did that at the ballot box in Virginia."

When Virginia held its primary March 1, Fiorina had already dropped out of the race. But she was still listed on the ballot in the state where she lives.

"I saw my own name  that was pretty cool," she said. "I could have voted for myself. It would have been a nice, emotional thing to do ... but I checked the box for Ted Cruz." She endorsed Cruz at a rally Wednesday in Miami.

More than most people, ex-candidates know the power of every vote. Even when the choices aren't optimal, the chance to mark a ballot is a terrible thing to waste.

Michael Mayo is a columnist at the Sun Sentinel. Email: mmayo@sunsentinel.com.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Sunday, March 13 in Boca Raton. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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By Paul Janensch

A couple of weeks ago, what Donald Trump told The New York Times "off the record" became an issue in the Republican presidential race.

Both Trump and The Times came under heavy fire  Trump from rival candidates and The Times from media watchers.

The critics raised these questions:

Did the front-runner for the GOP nomination tell the newspaper's editorial board that he was prepared to soften his tough stand on deporting undocumented immigrants?

Was The Times wrong to allow Trump to go on and off the record and wrong to give an audio recording of the entire meeting to the news department?

Trump met with The Times editorial board Jan. 5. Such meeting are intended to give an editorial board an opportunity to question candidates before making an endorsement.

It is routine for a session with a candidate to be off the record  meaning what the candidate says is not for publication. That's not the case not at Treasure Coast Newspapers, where candidates are told in advance that pre-endorsement meetings are on the record.

In Trump's meeting at The Times, the off-the-record rules were fuzzy, as Margaret Sullivan, The Times public editor, later reported on her blog.

Trump asked that his support for tariffs on imported goods from China be on the record.

In attendance was The Times executive editor Dean Baquet, who runs the news department and is not a member of the editorial board.

Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor, gave a recording of the meeting to a newsroom editor so that a story could be written about Trump's position on tariffs. The recording included what was off the record.

On Feb. 27, Times columnist Gail Collins hinted at what Trump had said off the record about immigration. She told her readers that Trump takes a position only as "the first bid in some future monster negotiating session."

Two days later, this headline on BuzzFeed, an online news and commentary site, attracted a lot of attention: "Donald Trump Secretly Told The New York Times What He Really Thinks About Immigration."

Citing unnamed sources at The Times, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith wrote that Trump really thinks we cannot deport 11 million undocumented immigrants even though that is a core promise of his campaign.

Senators Marco Rubio, of Florida, and Ted Cruz, of Texas, competing with Trump for the nomination, challenged Trump to release a full transcript of his meeting with The Times editorial board. So did Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee.

"It sounds like what he told them (The Times) is different from what he is telling you," Rubio declared at a rally in Arkansas.

A typical criticism of The Times came from Joe Concha on Mediaite.com. He said it was peculiar that Baquet was not pursuing the leak from The Times and wondered if the executive editor was engaged in a cover-up.

I agree with Times public editor Sullivan, who said the way her newspaper handled the meeting with Trump "amounted to an accident waiting to happen."

When I was an editor, I was occasionally asked, "If I tell you something off the record, will you keep it confidential?"

"Of course," I would answer, then add, "Unless it is newsworthy."

So, not many people talked to me off the record. Most went on the record. I don't think we missed anything.

Paul Janensch, a seasonal resident of Vero Beach, was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
Rajeevraj Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 4,273 Thanked: 15,049 Times

Is Maruti's announcement of Optional ABS & Airbags just on paper?



Now, 3 months since this announcement, the (O) variants of these cars seem to be like the Himalayan Yeti or the Loch Ness monster. Everyone thinks it exists, but no one seems to have really seen it or have been able to buy it. This seems especially true on the entry level cars. I have noticed several posts from members across threads where they have mentioned reasons like dealers not having clue about such variants or quoting absurdly long waiting times.



Today there was a bunch of posts in the Wagon R AMT thread (quoted below), which pointed to the same thing.



Quote: ansumaan Originally Posted by I have got the same response from 2 dealers. This may be a marketing gimmick from Maruti. I hope they are not trying to cook-up some stats that Indian buyer don't prefer safety options even if they are available. That statistics may be used when govt will make ABS & airbags mandatory. Quote: NPV Originally Posted by According to 3 different Maruti dealerships I've been speaking to regarding purchase of a Wagon R, they haven't sold a single one with the (O) pack with Dual airbags and ABS. They attribute this to long wait times almost 4 months+ which puts off the potential buyer who then settles for a variant without the airbags and ABS. They say same is the case with Alto 800 and K10 as well! The other perspective is that there are hardly any customers who are particular about buying the variants with (O) pack.

The announcement of the (O) pack by Maruti was done way back in November 2015 Quote: adneeraj Originally Posted by I had a similar experience when thinking of exchanging my Swift for either a wagonR or a Celerio.

I was particular to ask for the option pack but the sales guy at the dealership was very cranky when I pressed for it. He told me there would be a minimum waiting period of 1 months..

I was anyway put off by the size of the vehicle and felt shortchanged with what was offered for 6.15 lacs on road (not counting the discount). But here comes the shocker.. He offered me another 15k on my Swift only if I settled for either the wagonR vxi or the Celerio zxi non option variant which was readily available in stock. Also, the option pack variant had lesser discounts than the regular one. Why such tactics? Why deter someone wanting to buy their cars with the safety features! They're just making a joke of what the company is offering . He goes on to say Airbags and ABS are not needed in the City (Which is a standard Salesman talk). I pointed to the Outer Ring Road outside where vehicles were zooming by (being a Sunday) and asked him, Isn't this a City and aren't all those vehicles going fast. To that he had a gem of an answer. Airbags and ABS are not going to save your life, your life depends on your luck.



Anyway, the point is that he actively discouraged me from looking at the (O) variant by quoting unrealistic wait times (Note: This was for the Wagon R) and giving his funda on ABS and Airbags. The regular VXi variant was available within a month.



I don't see any reason why a dealer should so strongly discourage customers from the (O) variants with the safety features. The only reason I can think of is that supplies of the (O) variant are limited or non existent. Could there be any other reason?



Which brings me back to the title. Is this more of a marketing goodwill thing as opposed to real interest to provide the safety features? Of course, one argument is that the examples above could be one off things. But the instances within the forum itself seems to be to many for it to be just a coincidence. Over the period of the last 3-4 months, Maruti had announced the availability of ABS and Airbags as an option across all variants of all its entry level cars. These included the Alto, Alto K 10, Wagon R, Celerio, Swift and the Swift Dzire. This move was welcomed by all and Maruti was appreciated for taking this step. One key question that came up (and can be seen in various posts across the threads related to these announcements) was- "Why make it Optional?", It was a Rs 9000-35000 cost addition depending on the model, why not make it standard? The consensus was that the (O) variant should be the default one a customer goes for and if he/she does not, it is his/her problem and not that of the companies. Fair StatementNow, 3 months since this announcement, the (O) variants of these cars seem to be like the Himalayan Yeti or the Loch Ness monster. Everyone thinks it exists, but no one seems to have really seen it or have been able to buy it. This seems especially true on the entry level cars. I have noticed several posts from members across threads where they have mentioned reasons like dealers not having clue about such variants or quoting absurdly long waiting times.Today there was a bunch of posts in the Wagon R AMT thread (quoted below), which pointed to the same thing.Decided to test out this hypothesis and visited a Maruti Showroom nearby and enquired about the Wagon R. The SA's immediate response was that the (O) variants have long waiting times. On asking how much, he said it can be 3 months and can even go up to 6 months.. He goes on to say Airbags and ABS are not needed in the City (Which is a standard Salesman talk). I pointed to the Outer Ring Road outside where vehicles were zooming by (being a Sunday) and asked him,. To that he had a gem of an answer.Anyway, the point is that he actively discouraged me from looking at the (O) variant by quoting unrealistic wait times (Note: This was for the Wagon R) and giving his funda on ABS and Airbags. The regular VXi variant was available within a month.I don't see any reason why a dealer should so strongly discourage customers from the (O) variants with the safety features. The only reason I can think of is that supplies of the (O) variant are limited or non existent. Could there be any other reason?Which brings me back to the title. Is this more of a marketing goodwill thing as opposed to real interest to provide the safety features? Of course, one argument is that the examples above could be one off things. But the instances within the forum itself seems to be to many for it to be just a coincidence. Last edited by Aditya : 15th March 2016 at 08:11 . Reason: As requested
Security researchers atPalo Alto Networks last week announced that they had found the first ransomware in the wild aimed at Macintosh computers, but Apple and one of its developers quickly neutered it.

The ransomware  a malware program that scrambles data on a computer and wont unscramble it unless a ransom is paid  was embedded in software for installing an OS X app for sharing files on BitTorrent, a network known as a source for pirated content.

The malware, which Palo Alto Networks called KeRanger, contained a valid Mac application developer certificate stolen from a legitimate developer, so it was able to bypass OS Xs Gatekeeper protection. Gatekeeper is designed to block malicious programs from installing themselves on a Mac.

After uncovering the ransomware, Palo Alto alerted Apple and the developer of the sharing software, theTransmission Project. Transmission pulled the infected installer from its website, and Apple blacklisted the certificate so the malware couldnt be installed on a Mac.

Although Kaspersky Lab spotted the makings of some Mac ransomware in 2014, this is really the first functional ransomware for the Mac, said Ryan Olson, threat intelligence director for Palo AltosUnit 42.

Three Days Too Long

Typically, ransomware launches itself immediately after infecting a machine, but KeRanger was built to sleep for three days before engaging in malicious behavior.

The reason I think they did that was they wanted to prevent users from linking the downloading of Transmission to their systems being infected with malware, Olson told the E-Commerce Times.

If a user who downloads Transmission and double-clicks the installer suddenly finds all files on the machine are encrypted and gets demand for a ransom, that user is going to make the connection to Transmission, let people know about it, and reduce malwares spread time, he noted.

People can do a lot of things with their computer in three days, so when their files get encrypted, theyre less likely to make that connection, Olson said.

In this case, it had a negative impact on them because in those three days, we identified the malware, Apple shut down the certificate, Transmission removed the installer from their website, and we were able to take a lot of actions to prevent this from being successful, he added.

Minimal Impact

Even if the three-day strategy had bought the extortionists some more time, its doubtful the number of infections would have been significant, maintained Liviu Arsene, a senior threat analyst withBitdefender.

The chances of having a large number of people downloading that particular installer in three days isnt that high  maybe a couple of hundred victims at most, he told the E-Commerce Times.

That kind of low infection rate is uncharacteristic for ransomware.

If youre trying to make money with ransomware, infecting one BitTorrent client on a website isnt going to make you a millionaire tomorrow, said Chet Wisniewski, a senior security adviser withSophos.

If you look at the way Windows computers are getting infected, its hitting hundreds of thousands of people at a go. Thats how you make money, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Infecting one BitTorrent client on one website sounds to me more like a proof of concept than a trend, Wisniewski added.

Indeed, there were signs that the malware was unfinished. For example, it contained code to scramble Time Machine backups for a Mac.

We saw some code called encrypt Time Machine, but it wasnt functional, Palo Altos Olson said.

Growth Industry

While this particular ransomware was aimed at BitTorrent users, Mac users should remain wary, warned Steve Kelly, president ofIntego.

The takeaway isnt so much that this was limited to BitTorrent users, he told the E-Commerce Times, but that this sort of thing is possible and is likely to increase.

As ransomware becomes a more popular way for extortionists to make a quick buck, its perpetrators have started expanding beyond its Windows roots.

I think everybody should assume that the threat actors are going to make sure that theyre multiplatform supportive, said Jeff Schilling, chief of operations atArmor.

They definitely want their operations to be platform-agnostic, he told the E-Commerce Times.

We see ransomware in general being very popular with cybercriminals in 2016, and it is spreading from Windows to other platforms, such as Android and Linux, said Stephen Cobb, a senior researcher atEset.

There is no reason to think criminals are not exploring ways to scam Mac users as well, he told the E-Commerce Times.
The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to make computer science a graduation requirement for all high school students beginning with next years freshmen.

Chicago Public Schools has become a national leader in computer science education since Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched the Computer Science for All initiative for grades K-12 in 2013, the board said.

The five-year plan aims to make computer science a core subject taught in schools. It includes a partnership withCode.org to provide the curriculum and prepare teachers.

The White House last month launched a nationalComputer Science for All program.

Exposing students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education early will provide critical skills and training for success in their careers and in life, CPS said.

Demand for computing skills will be greater than the supply of qualified job takers, according to CPS. That will create a gap of 1 million job openings by 2024.

While there were nearly 600,000 job openings in computing, universities produced fewer than 40,000 computer science graduates last year, the board said.

To help close that gap, Chicago public school students will be required to complete one credit of computer science education as half of the two-credit career education requirement.

Rahm Emanuels decision to require computer science in Chicago Public Schools should be lauded. These young men and women will now have the benefit of access to a discipline that would have simply been out of reach before, said Colleen Ganjian, president ofDC College Counseling.

Education Sound

The boards decision will produce long-term gains, she told TechNewsWorld. If students choose not to pursue computer science after high school, the exposure will make them stronger candidates in the college admissions process. It also will introduce them to a variety of other career paths.

Schools need to embrace STEM to meet growing demand for better career training. Theres an increasing necessity for schools nationwide to better prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow by encouraging STEM, according to Sidharth Oberoi, president ofZaniac.

Providing exposure to students at a younger age is key to enabling better decision-making for individuals when they reach college or enter the workforce. The more extensive knowledge a student has, the greater the opportunity he or she has for higher salaries as well as the potential to have a larger impact on the betterment of society, he told TechNewsWorld.

Computer science education is an essential ingredient in the STEM formula and in todays education, noted Stephen Nichols, CEO ofGameSalad.

It allows for experimentation and rapid iteration and provides students with a platform to utilize and learn the fundamental concepts of software development and programming. A true computer science education will foster creativity and enrich the lives of students around the world and help set them up for future success, he told TechNewsWorld.

STEM Plus One

Eagle Academy Public Charter School took that concept further by expanding the STEM concept to include the arts in its STEAM curriculum.

STEAM Exploratorium is designed to challenge young students to create, solve problems, experiment, test, adapt, collaborate, explain and develop a sense of curiosity as they learn skills and strategies for the challenges of the 21st century, according to Executive Director Cassandra Pinkney.

The process fosters engineering and technological literacy among students  an all-important skill set in tomorrows world, she told TechNewsWorld.

School officials are adamant about exposing students to STEAM while they are young and curious, Pinkney said. The goal is to inspire students to continue pursuing the sciences throughout their academic and professional careers.

Essential Component

The Chicago school boards action requiring computer science credits is important in furthering the intent of the Computer Science for All initiative. It will go a long way to increase the number of STEM candidates, noted Steven Rothberg, president ofCollege Recruiter.

The more students who are exposed to science, technology, engineering and math courses in high school, the more students who will choose to major in those fields in college, whether they attend a one-year technical/vocational school, a two-year community college or a four-year university, he told TechNewsWorld.

Exposure to computer science is critical before students enter college. In order for the U.S. to successfully compete in a global market economy, schools must present technological and computer skills early on, according to J. Luke Wood, associate professor in theCommunity College Leadership program at San Diego State University.

This move sets Chicago as a national leader in preparing students for readiness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our nation is not prepared to compete in the emerging world economy. Our ability to do so cannot solely rely upon bringing in talent from other nations, he told TechNewsWorld.

That will require our nation to better prepare students who have been historically underrepresented and underserved in education, Wood said, particularly students of color.
A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered the release of Facebook Regional Vice President Diego Dzodan, one day afterBrazilian police placed him under arrest forWhatsApps failure to produce messages the government believed relevant to a drug ring investigation. Judge Ruy Pinheiro concluded the execs detainment amounted to coercion, according to press reports.

Judge Marcel Maia ordered the arrest on Tuesday, after WhatsApp failed to comply with requests by police and the court to produce messages created in the app.

We are disappointed that law enforcement took this extreme step, WhatsApp said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by spokesperson Matt Steinfeld.

WhatsApp cannot provide information we do not have, the company maintained. We cooperated to the full extent of our ability in this case, and while we respect the important job of law enforcement, we strongly disagree with its decision.

Facebook Chagrined

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, expressed chagrin over the arrest.

Were disappointed with the extreme and disproportionate measure of having a Facebook executive escorted to a police station in connection with a case involving WhatsApp, which operates separately from Facebook, the company said in a separate statement Steinfeld provided to TechNewsWorld.

Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have, it added.

This isnt the first time WhatsApp has been in hot water in Brazil where, according to The Guardian, its been the most popular app download for the past two years, and is used by about half of the countrys 200 million people. In December, the app was shut down for 48 hours for twice failing to comply with court orders for information.

It was brought back online after public outcry and intervention by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg considers Brazil a crucial market for Facebook, according to a New York Times report. He was part of a small group of Silicon Valley executives who met in July at Stanford University with the countrys president, Dilma Rousseff.

No Chilling Effect

Although wrangling with domestic or foreign governments can be unsettling for companies, its unlikely to deter anyone from using their wares.

These cases arent always very high profile, and they tend to blow over very quickly and people have short memories when it comes to this stuff, said Jan Dawson, chief analyst atJackdaw Research.

These things tend to have a fairly minimal effect on how much people change their behavior, he told TechNewsWorld.

Governments strong-arm tactics have not had much impact on the way high-tech companies do business overseas, Dawson said.

It hasnt happened enough for it to be an issue. On rare occasions like China some companies have pulled out, he noted.

Google is not very active in China partly for that reason. Other companies like Facebook havent been very active there either for the same reasons, Dawson continued.

These companies dont participate in those markets where conditions are particularly egregious, he added, but for the most part, they carry on business as usual.

Apple Trap

In one sense, WhatsApp and Facebook find themselves in a situation similar to Apple and its tussle with law enforcement over accessing data on iPhones, noted Jadzia Butler, a privacy, surveillance and security fellow at theCenter for Democracy & Technology.

Much like the Apple case, theyre in a situation where because theyve created such a secure device, they cannot give law enforcement what theyre asking for, she told TechNewsWorld.

Its not even an issue of conflict of laws, Butler said. Its an impossibility.

Conflicts between law enforcement and high-tech companies are going to increase in the future because of encryption, she added.

Even if law enforcement has possession of the information it wants, theyre not going to be able to look at it, Butler said, so law enforcement is going to have to adapt all over the world to changing technology.
Vodafone India has unveiled Vodafone SuperNet a seamless network experience that empowers customers to remain confidently connected at all times, for their voice and data needs.

Announcing the launch of Vodafone SuperNet, Sandeep Kataria, Director- Consumer, Vodafone India said, Network plays a crucial role in enhancing customer experience. In our continuing endeavour to provide superior voice and data services, we have made significant investments to expand, upgrade and modernise our network across the country. To cater to evolving consumer needs, we use multiple technologies to provide over 194 million customers across the country, all-round benefits of a seamless network experience, beyond just speed.

The new campaign is being promoted with a high decibel 360 degree creative communication conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather, that brings back one of Indias most loved and popular brand mascots, Cheeka -the pug. Vodafone SuperNet creative campaign will be introduced with three announcement spots on TV that bring back the old favourites pug and the little boy.

Elaborating on the communications strategy to launch of Vodafone SuperNet, Siddharth Banerjee, National Head, Brand Communication & Insights, Vodafone India said We are delighted to bring back our much loved mascot Cheeka the pug. Research has shown that the endearing Vodafone pug has had one of the most impactful and long standing connects with the Vodafone brand symbolic with our network. Our communication strategy for this launch was to highlight the benefits of our seamless network and service experience and who better to announce it than Cheeka the pug!

Technuter.com News Service
Europe and Russia join forces for an exploration mission to Mars. Dubbed as the ExoMars mission, this endeavor aims to find signs of life on the Red Planet and test technologies for future exploration missions.

When it comes to exploring Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gets all the attention. However, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia's Roscosmos target to change that and be key players in this field of study as well.

Finding Signs Of Life In Mars

"Establishing if life ever existed on Mars is one of the outstanding scientific questions of our time," ESA writes.

With this, ESA and Roscosmos are set to launch the first stage of the ExoMars mission to further what humans know about Mars and determine what technologies future Mars exploration missions may need.

The Missions

The ExoMars program actually consists of two missions, as of now. The first mission, the ExoMars 2016, is set to launch on Monday, March 14 at 9:31 UTC. Experts expect to acquire the first signals at around 21:29 UTC.

A Proton-M rocket will carry the spacecraft and will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The public may watch the launch live at the ESA website.

ExoMars 2016 comprises of a Trace Gas Orbiter and an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module called Schiaparelli.

The second mission is scheduled for 2018, which will feature a rover that will transport a drill and other equipment that will center on geochemistry and exobiology research.

In this phase, the team also aims to land another rover that is said to have the ability to drill down 6.5 feet of the Red Planet's surface, compared to the existing rovers of NASA, which can only drill up to about 0.17 feet.

Show Of New Technologies

ExoMars will show numerous vital flight and in-position powerful technologies that are required for future missions such as the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, which is an international endeavor that involves collecting rocks and samples from mars and return it back to Earth for examinations.

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Everyone reaches that point in their lives when, to make sense of it all, they embark on a road trip. Google is there and is preparing to tour the U.S. in a bus, but it'll be searching for the souls of others instead of its own.



Google is packing up a white van and is about to travel cross country to find out how people engage with its web products. It also wants to know how people react to new products it launches.



The van will make several stops each day as it leaves its starting point in New York and treks into seven states. It'll hit locations close to "colleges, libraries, parks and some of Google's own regional offices," according to an AP report.



"We are trying to understand the whole end-to-end experience, which is why we are trying to get out to more locations and see more people so we can gather more context," says Google's Laura Granka, a research lead that focus on Internet Search and Maps.



Google hopes to bring up to 500 people into the van, which is described as a scaled down and mobilized version of one of the company's labs. The sessions in the back seat of the van will last between 15 minutes and an hour and a half.



The van will stop in to Chapel Hill, N.C.; from March 14 to 18; Clemson, S.C.; from March 21 to 22; Atlanta, from March 23 to 25; Boulder, Colorado, from April 4 to 8; Salt Lake City, from April 11 to 15; Reno, Nevada, from April 18 to 20; and South Lake Tahoe, California, from April 21 to 22.



Google hasn't revealed any objective for this road trip beyond learning more about the people who use its products. The company's marketing department had zero involvement in conceptualizing the trip, according to Google's Granka, and it's not like the company is struggling in the popularity department.



A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found out that, not only was Google more popular than Apple, the search engine has a higher approval rating than all of the current presidential candidates.



The two media outlets surveyed 1,200 registered voters, asking them if they had negative or positive feeling about several presidential hopefuls, past presidential candidates and two tech companies.



Google ranked first and was followed by Apple, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney and Donald Trump in that order.

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Come grade school, students are distinguished based on their behavior in the classroom. There are some who might act too hyperactive than their classmates. Often, they are diagnosed with ADHD, but it might be that they're just a little young for their grade or simply put, they are still immature.

Researchers from Taiwan conducted a study that shows that the youngest students within a grade were more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis compared to those who were born in September the previous year.

Published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the researchers looked at data from more than 370,000 children between the ages of 4 and 17 years old. The kids born in August, the cutoff month for entrance to school in the country, were at the highest risk of receiving an ADHD diagnosis than the children born in September the previous year.

About 2.8 percent of pre-school and primary school boys born in September are deemed to have the condition, compared with 4.5 percent of boys born in August the next year. In girls, the incidence increased from 0.7 percent to 1.2 percent.

Why Time Of Birth Increases ADHD Diagnosis?

The researchers found that those born in August are more likely to receive such diagnosis or to receive medication than those born in September the previous year. They also found that kids from preschool or elementary levels born in August are prone to being diagnosed than adolescents. This may imply that increasing age and maturity lessens the probability of such evaluation.

Studies in countries such as Canada and the United States show that age within a grade level may affect a child's risk of being diagnosed with ADHD. The new study suggests that even in Asian countries like Taiwan, the findings are quite similar.

When a child is immature compared to other children in the same grade level, they are more likely to manifest inattention, impulsive and hyperactive symptoms. These may affect their academic performance and teachers refer them to doctors for evaluation. This predisposes them to being diagnosed with ADHD, when simply; they are not yet mature like their classmates.

Adolescents, on the other hand, were less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD if they were younger than their peers. Relative age within a grade may have more of an impact on younger kids than on adolescents, since age and maturity levels increase in adolescence.

Photo: Guilherme Jofili | Flickr

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Apple may have been in the U.S. government's crosshair for quite some time now because of the locked iPhone involved in the San Bernardino shooting, but the authorities are now shifting over to Facebook-owned WhatsApp.

According to the New York Times, officials are "discussing how to proceed in a continuing criminal investigation in which a federal judge had approved a wiretap, but investigators were stymied by WhatsApp's encryption."

In many ways, it's similar to the legal case between the FBI and Apple, but it is not a matter of terrorism, which was the only aspect that authorities have cleared up so far.

WhatsApp started to implement encryption in 2014 to protect personal conversations from prying eyes. In turn, it made it next to impossible for the U.S. government to tap into those user exchanges, even with a wiretap order of a judge in play.

"The FBI and the Justice Department are just choosing the exact circumstance to pick the fight that looks the best for them. They're waiting for the case that makes the demand look reasonable," Peter Eckersley, the chief computer scientist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says.

The case with WhatsApp is arguably bigger than an issue over a locked smartphone because what results from this will define the future of wiretapping.

This isn't the first time that the company has had a run-in with the government because of encryption. A few weeks ago, the Brazilian federal police took Facebook executive Diego Dzodan into custody for refusing to comply with the investigators' demand of handing over the information stored in a certain WhatsApp account involved in a drug-trafficking case.

Considering how the messaging app has approximately 1 billion monthly active users, it's more or less the perfect target of investigators to significantly widen their monitoring range. However, WhatsApp CEO and co-founder Jan Koum has an established stance on anti-surveillance, standing against any government-requested backdoor of sorts.

Both the U.S. Justice Department and WhatsApp refused to comment regarding the news.

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The Bermuda triangle is a section of the Atlantic Ocean infamous for claiming numerous ships and aircrafts under unknown circumstances.

The mythical stretch, which is roughly bounded by Puerto Rico, the island of Bermuda, and Miami, remains one of the greatest mysteries in the world up until now.

But new research from Arctic University in Norway suggests that multiple giant underwater craters on the bottom of the Barents Sea in the Arctic may actually shed light on the Bermuda triangle mystery, despite the large proximity.

The underwater craters on the Barents Sea measures up to 800 meters (2,624 feet) wide and 45 meters (147 feet) deep. Scientists believe these craters were formed by the building up of methane in sediments on the sea floor.

They leak, and pop through the sea bed and into the water above, causing enormous gas blowouts.

Researchers said the underwater craters probably represent one of the biggest hot spots for marine methane release in the Arctic.

Further details about the research will be released at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union in April, where scientists would analyze whether the "bubbles" from gas blowouts place ships in danger.

Last year, this possibility was explored by researchers. Russian scientist Igor Yelstov of the Trofimuk Institute said some theories suggest that the Bermuda triangle is the result of gas hydrate reactions.

Yelstov told The Sunday Times that the craters start to actively decompose with methane ice transforming into gas. He said the process happens the same way that avalanches occur, and like a nuclear reaction that produces huge amounts of gas.

"That makes the ocean heat up and ships sink in its waters mixed with a huge proportion of gas," added Yestov.

If the methane theory is correct, it could possibly account for the mysterious plane crashes. According to Bermuda Attractions, a gas blowout could cause a plane flying above it to catch fire and get destroyed completely.

Because the coast of Norway is rich in natural gas, the findings at the Barents Sea are not surprising. The research also suggests that there may be more underwater craters below the Bermuda Triangle than what was previously thought.

Photo: NOAA's National Ocean Service | Flickr

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A teenage girl from Cwmbran, Wales, who beat cancer twice, died on Saturday, March 12.

The news of 18-year-old Emily Clark's death came after being able to raise thousands for cancer charities and just months after celebrating a year of remission.

Death Details

On Saturday, Emily's mother Donna Dunn tweeted that her beautiful, inspirational daughter passed away.

"She remained free of cancer and in control until the end," she writes.

Dunn said Emily had been admitted at the hospital for about a month. Emily had problems with her breathing because her lungs were said to be filled with fluid.

Just last week, Emily developed 14 complications and was able to eliminate five. With this, the family thought that Emily was getting better.

The night before Emily passed, however, the doctors said that they were starting to run out of options for Emily's condition, but they were doing the best that they could.

At 3:45 a.m. on Saturday, the hospital called to say that Emily was in slight distress. Dunn came to her daughter within just five minutes. Emily's siblings, aged six, 11 and 17, also went to the hospital to see their sister and spent two minutes with her.

Dunn and Emily's stepfather, Andrew, stayed with their daughter until the very end.

Emily's Blog And Help For Charities

Emily started a blog called "Remission Possible" and has then raised thousands of money for cancer charities.

In her most recent blog entry posted on New Year's Eve, she was seen holding a sign that reads "One Year Cancer Free!"

She also wrote that she knew about the difficulties of 2015, but she embraced it with joy, keeping in mind that the chemotherapy had worked. She had feelings of hope and nervousness at the same time, as she takes on what was yet to come.

She was happy to close 2015 and wrote that she will look back on that year as a dark time, but she still remains happy, as always.

Emily's Studies And Medical Career Dream

Emily may have been diagnosed with aggressive non-Hodgkin Lymphoma at a young age, but that did not stop her from continuing her studies.

She was enrolled in an access course for her science degree at the University of South Wales. She would try to get as much school days as possible, even after she loses her hair in chemotherapy.

Emily wanted a medical career at the University Hospital of Wales, which also helped her with her studies. Dunn says Emily wanted a career in the field of medicine to help other people with the same disease as hers.

Emily received a conditional offer from the University of Leicester for a Medicinal Microbiology program. However, the letter did not reach her until after her death.

Tributes For Emily Keep Pouting In

Emily's friends and supporters expressed grief and paid tribute to the "perfect daughter."

A girl named Alexa Elliot said that Emily was the reason why she joined the bone marrow register. She described Emily as a brave girl and her death as a sad loss.

The former mayor of Newport, South Wales, Cllr Matthew Evans recalls that he first met Emily's family during a visit at the Teenage Cancer Trust.

He witnessed how Emily spoke in front of hundreds of people in a charity dinner event. He describes Emily as very inspirational and looked like a professional in her 40s because the entire audience was shedding tears.

He offers his deepest sympathy for the family and described the event heartbreaking, and cancer so cruel.

Even "West End" actress Caroline Sheen, cousin of Hollywood actor Michael Sheen found the news devastating.

She first met Emily in 2014 where she made a speech without any notes, just pure charisma, passion and confidence.

Sheen was so moved by Emily's speech that she ended up performing at a fundraising concert for the charity Bloodwise. The concert tickets were all sold out and the charity was able to raise 4,260 (about $6,127).

She extends her heart to the family and said that Emily's amazing tenacity is a tribute to them.

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Sony showcased the voice-powered Bluetooth headset concept N and a prototype projector that can detect gestures on a flat surface, essentially capable of turning any table into a touch-sensitive display.

Right off the bat, Interactive Tabletop uses a combination of depth and motion-tracking sensors to analyze any object placed on the covered area.

The concept was demonstrated at the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW), where The Verge got a good close look at it.

One of the objects placed on the surface was a teacup. The device was then able to detect it and even bring up information about it such as its depth. What was more notable in the presentation was how it brought a storybook to life. When the Sony representative opened a copy of Lewis Caroll's "Alice In Wonderland" within the zone, animations popped right up, and they can be used to interact with the aforementioned teacup and a deck of playing cards.

Meanwhile, N is more than just a Bluetooth headset that responds to voice commands, as it's fitted with an 8-megapixel camera and GPS functionality. What's more, it's not like ordinary headphones because it's placed around the wearer's neck instead of around their head. While it already has speakers, it's compatible with bone-conduction, open earphones, which is similar to AfterShokz.

In collaboration with AccuWeather, Strava and Yelp, Sony loaded N with the ability to provide certain information via voice command. That means the wearer can ask for the weather condition or a recommended nearby restaurant, but on top of that, it can also take a picture when asked to. The camera is tucked away in the right portion of the headset, and it only reveals itself when it's going to take a picture.

It should be noted that these come from Sony's Future Lab, so it might be far from being a consumer product any time soon, particularly the projector. However, in the case of N, it seems to be a perfectly viable device to market in the foreseeable future.

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A 22-year-old British woman died after her doctor mistook a nearly five-inch tumor as a proof of pregnancy. Demi Wright, a makeup artist for Lancome, was later diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of cancer called adenocarcinoma.

Last November, Wright was admitted to a hospital after complaints of discomfort in her side along with back pain. Her blood tests showed high levels of human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone normally released during pregnancy, and was taken to the maternity ward.

Later, doctors found the hormones emitted were from an almost five-inch tumor in her liver. By this time, Wright's health deteriorated very quickly in the days following the transfer out of the maternity ward. She died on February 23.

The 22-year-old from Colchester, Essex worked as a makeup artist for Lancome. In 2000, she found out she had a tumor but then, it was benign. She had regular checkups until she reached 16 years old.

Her father, Chris Wright, was with her daughter when she had an ultrasound. At that time, her parents already knew their daughter wasn't pregnant.

"A father should be there for the scan to show a baby but this was so wrong," said Chris.

Further ultrasound scans revealed did not reveal a fetus. Her doctors thought Wright might have had an ectopic pregnancy, a condition when the fetus develops in the fallopian tube rather than in the womb.

At Colchester Hospital, Wright underwent a keyhole surgery. This was when her doctors found the mass. When she was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, the cancer was already in its late-stage.

The cancer had spread from her liver to her pancreas and other parts of her body. Chris shared they thought they might still have their daughter for a few more months but Wright's state deteriorated quickly.

According to Dr. Helen Webberley from the Oxford Online Pharmacy, what Wright had was a molar pregnancy which mimics the behavior of a conventional pregnancy. The test comes out positive because of the HDG hormone release. There is also growth in the womb.

"It is only when the patient comes for their 12-week scan that a molar pregnancy is detected," said Webberley. "The cells need to be removed and most women can expect a full recovery. However, close follow-up is needed because there is a small chance of developing a type of cancer, as appears to be the case with this patient."

While Wright's parents do not blame the doctors for the mistake, they are raising awareness on terminal adenocarcinoma to help people better recognize the symptoms earlier. They set up a fundraising page to honor Wright's memory. The proceeds will be given to the Cancer Research UK.

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California-based Staminus Communications Inc., a security firm whose specialty is safeguarding customers from DDoS or distributed denial of service attacks, was ironically the victim of a same attack which rendered its network inoperable for more than 20 hours.

On Thursday, the company revealed that the attack occurred around 5 a.m. PST. No one has claimed responsibility for the hacking, which interestingly also compromised the account of the Ku Klux Klan.

Around 5am PST today, a rare event cascaded across multiple routers in a system wide event, making our backbone unavailable.  DDoS Protection (@StaminusComm) 10 March 2016

A couple of hours later, the security firm took to Twitter to confirm that the global services were back online. However, Staminus did not shed light on what caused the outage.

The extent of damage became clear when someone leaked the download links for what were seemingly the company's customers' details, credit card information and sensitive data. The format was entitled "Fuck 'em all."

The security firm CEO, Matt Mahvi cleared the air a day later, shedding light on the DDoS hacking, which rendered the service unfunctional.

"To follow up on our communication from yesterday evening regarding the system outage, we can now confirm the issue was a result of an unauthorized intrusion into our network. As a result of this intrusion, our systems were temporarily taken offline and customer information was exposed. Upon discovering this attack, Staminus took immediate action including launching an investigation into the attack, notifying law enforcement and restoring our systems," noted Mahvi in a statement on Friday, March 11.

Initial examinations have revealed that data compromise included the usernames, payment data, hashed passwords, as well customer record particulars - including their contact details and name. Staminus, however, disclosed that since it did not gather the tax ID or Social Security numbers of its consumers, those were safe.

Mahvi also let on that as the investigation continues, and in a bid to ward off attacks in the near term, the company will continue to imbibe more safeguards into place to strengthen its security. The CEO also advised that even though the passwords of the users were safeguarded by the cryptographic hash, customers would be better off changing the password as a best practice.

Mahvi also addressed the concerns of Staminus' customers by noting that even though the company had successfully contained the hacking, it was not stopping at that and would continue to take the necessary steps to enhance data security policies, as well as protect its customers' information.

Staminus has assured its customers that the security firm will continue to update them on the progress "as appropriate" as the investigations carries on.

My credit card data may be compromised, what should I do?

Those worried that their credit card data may have been compromised should check their debit card or credit card statements for any potential suspicious activity. In the event you notice any unauthorized activity, immediately alert the bank and report the issue.

How to safeguard against fraudulent activities?

Do not give personal data to unsolicited requests which allege that they are from one's bank or Staminus. The security firm has explained that the email correspondence it sends in regard to the hacking issue will not include any links. Therefore, if a customer receives an email with a link they should be wary and not click on it.

If you use the password deployed for your Staminus account elsewhere too, it is also advisable to reset your password on all platforms.

Photo: Davide Restivo | Flickr

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Late last year, the Port of Los Angeles made history as the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, the largest container ship in the history of the United States Navy, docked at the location. The container ship, which is longer than the Empire State Building, has a length of 1,300 feet and can hold the equivalent of 235 Olympic swimming pools of water.

The Port of Los Angeles is making news once again due to a container ship that is docked there, but not for good reasons.

According to authorities, a large cargo chip named the Istra Ace has leaked an unknown amount of what is suspected to be fuel into the waters of the Port of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart confirmed that an oily sheen was visible on the water surrounding the vessel.

The leak, which was reported at 7:30 p.m. on March 13, originated from the cargo ship that was docked at Berth 202. A hazmat team went onboard the vessel, accompanied by the United States Coast Guard, to try to identify the substance that was leaked.

The leak has since been plugged, with a private cleanup company placing booms in the water surrounding the cargo ship to prevent the substance from further spreading into the ocean.

It has not yet been determined how much of the substance was able to enter the water before the leak was stopped.

The Istra Ace, which is registered in the Bahamas, is used to transport vehicles. It arrived in the Port of Los Angeles on Saturday, March 12.

In addition to the Coast Guard, the Los Angeles Port Police and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are involved in the investigation of the substance leak.

While the cleanup continues, such situations would be a perfect one for the boron nitride nanosheet that researchers from Australia's Deakin University created. The material functions as a special sponge that is able to soak up oil, similar to how sponges normally soak up water.

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Men with infertility issues have increased risk of developing metabolic diseases including diabetes, researchers found. Past studies have shown that inferior semen quality is linked to reduced life expectancy.

However, since the actual causes remain unknown, no intervention methods have been created. Previous research also found no biochemical markers to conclude the association.

Now, a team of researchers in Sweden analyzed the levels of male sex hormones and various biochemical parameters in men who are infertile. They found that these men have high risks of hypogonadism, a condition where the body is incapable of producing sufficient testosterone, resulting in low sex hormones levels. These infertile men also carried high risks of developing osteoporosis and metabolic diseases.

The 192 infertile men in the study attended the Malmo-based Skane University Hospital's Reproductive Medicine Centre. Their findings were compared to a control group of 199 same-aged healthy male participants. The biochemical parameters measured diabetes biomarker HbA1c and bone mineral density to check the participants risk for osteoporosis.

Findings showed that one third of infertile men aged below 50 had hypogonadism. Compared with the control group, the rate was seven times more common. Men with infertility issues also had low bone density, a finding that is particularly common among those with low levels of testosterone. This suggested they have higher risks of developing osteoporosis and fractures.

Men with hypogonadism revealed elevated levels of HbA1c, which suggested increased signs of resistance to insulin and a tendency towards the development of diabetes.

"This may be affecting their fertility, but they can also serve as early warning signs for metabolic diseases in later life, such as osteoporosis or diabetes," said study lead Dr. Aleksander Giwercman from Lund University and Skane University Hospital.

The researchers suggested checking the state of reproductive hormones among men who are experiencing fertility issues. Men who have high risks of developing metabolic diseases as seen in the levels of the biochemical markers should seek additional help upon completing their fertility interventions.

The research was published in the Clinical Endocrinology journal on Feb. 29 and recently presented at the European Association of Urology conference held in Munich over the weekend.

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Thousands of people in the Texan town of Sweetwater gather each year to take part in the local festival known as the "World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup," where they hunt and collect western diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox).

While organizers of the annual event claim that it is done to help keep their population in check and prevent the snakes from attacking people and cattle, some animal rights groups argue that it is unnecessary as the reptiles are not as big a threat as they were made to look.

Rattlesnake Roundups

Hunting events, such as Sweetwater's rattlesnake roundup, are common occurrences in several states such as Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas. Participants typically hunt western diamondback rattlesnakes, but sometimes they can also include the eastern variety of the reptile (Crotalus adamanteus) in their list of targets.

In Sweetwater, the roundup was first organized by members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, or "Jaycees," 59 years ago in order to control the spread of rattlesnakes in the region, which were being blamed for snake-biting incidents on humans and cattle every year.

What began as a form of animal control practice later became part of the town's tradition, drawing as many as 25,000 tourists each year from other parts of the United States. Many of those who visit the town are snake hunters looking to take part in the rattlesnake roundup.

In 2015, some 3,780 pounds of rattlesnakes were gathered as part of the event. These reptiles were placed inside a makeshift pit made from what appeared to be an aboveground swimming pool. They were kept there, until members of the Jaycees came and started lopping the animals' heads and skinning them.

According to the organizers, parts of the rattlesnakes that were killed off went to good use. Their meat was given to people as food, their venoms were offered to researchers and their skins were sold, likely to be used as materials for making shoes and bags.

Criticism Of Rattlesnake Hunting Events

Sweetwater's rattlesnake roundup has received much criticism from animal conservationists who view such events as promoting cruelty toward the reptiles.

Melissa Amarello, an animal rights activist and co-founder of the Advocates for Snake Preservation in Tucson, Arizona, said that many of the rattlesnakes gathered during the event are often bloody and swollen because of how they were handled by participants.

Roundups also tend to involve reptiles that are too stressed or weak to even defend themselves or those that are already half-dead.

Amarello pointed out that rattlesnakes mostly use their rattle to signify that they are afraid. They don't rattle when they are angry or about to attack. She added that the rattling sound that is often heard during such events is the snakes' way of screaming because they are terrified.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that out of the 7,000 to 8,000 people in the United States that get bitten by venomous snakes each year, only five of them end up dying. This suggests that snake attacks are not as menacing as many people believe.

People who are usually bitten by snakes are exterminators, those who are intoxicated or anyone who would not let these snakes be, says David Steen, a wildlife biologist from the Auburn University.

"If you don't do any of those things, the risks of getting bitten by a snake are really low," Steen said. "If we respect their place in the environment and also respect their space, then I think we can live alongside them with no problem at all."

Supporters of the Sweetwater's rattlesnake roundup, however, maintain that the event doesn't serve to decimate the population of western diamondback rattlesnakes in the region. It only helps to control their spread.

The Parks and Wildlife Department of Texas is already considering placing a ban on using gasoline or fumes in driving rattlesnakes out of crevices and caves because of its potential toxic impact on the environment, a move that roundup participants plan to prevent.

Photo: Bernard Dupont | Flickr

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Severe thunderstorms affected Louisiana and Mississippi during the weekend, causing floods in the lower Mississippi valley. As a result, it damaged about 5,000 thousand homes and reportedly claimed at least four lives.

According to meteorologists, the flood went as high as two feet in certain areas, damaging about 400 homes in Mississippi. Three people in Louisiana and one in Oklahoma were reported to have died. Emergency authorities also said that two fishermen in Mississippi went missing.

The calamity is considered to be the harshest flooding the region has seen other than the catastrophes that hurricanes bring.

The Louisiana National Guard reportedly rescued 3,295 citizens and 316 pets, where 1,300 proceeded with the evacuation efforts using vehicle, boat and helicopter. They also provided shelter for the victims.

A victim named Brenda Maddox had to leave her home of 26 years because of the flood, where she and her husband packed enough clothes to last for four days on Thursday. They went back the day after on Friday to get their car with the intent to wait until the rain subsided at an RV park.

"We'd heard we'd get a lot of rain, but it all came so sudden. We hate to leave, but we thought we'd get out while we can," the New York Times reported as Maddox's statement.

President Barack Obama declared it a major disaster, triggering federal aid for the people affected by the flooding.

One matter of concern that Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser expressed is how the victims may not have flood insurance to recover from the tragedy.

"A lot of these people I spoke to did not have flood insurance because they had never flooded before," Nungesser tells the Washington Post in a phone interview, pointing out that they might not receive any federal aid if they don't have insurance.

Numerous roads and bridges were barred across the region during the weekend because of the flooding and rainfall.



As of reporting , authorities are monitoring the rise of Pearl River that divides Mississippi and Louisiana. Experts predict the river to reach 21 feet, endangering around 200 houses around Pearlington.

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Fleeing from war and keeping away from bloody battlefields is a common scene on HBO's "Game of Thrones." But now, the cast of the hit series, which returns for season six on April 24, is also appealing on behalf of those who are seeking refuge from real-life war and bombings.

Stars from the fantasy TV-series appeared in a video for International Rescue Committee (IRC) in collaboration with HBO network to appeal to fans to send aid to the agency which helps refugees start new lives after leaving behind their homes for a safer future.

Lena Headey, who plays Queen Cersei Lannister, leads the video, shot in black and white by explaining that the IRC provides relief for more than 3 million refugees across Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Serbia, Turkey and in Greece. The organization also helps thousands more who have been fortunate enough to be granted safe haven in the U.S.

Also featured in the video is Liam Cunningham, better known on the show as Ser Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight.

"Every month, hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes," he says.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), John Bradley-West (Sam Tarly), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow/Bolton), and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) also lend their famous faces to the video to plead for donations from the show's 6.9 million fans worldwide.

Even actors who are no longer regulars on the show dropped in to lend their support and their voices for the #RealmToTheRescue campaign:

Deobia Oparei (Areo Hotah), Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'gar), and Oona Chaplin (Talisa Maegyr) are just some of the former stars of the show who returned.

Describing that "rescue has no boundaries," the video was released online March 13.

Unlike Donald Trump turning away Daenerys Targaryen and her starving khalasar from the gates of Qarth in a spoof video, the actors and IRC hope that "Game of Thrones" fans will help support the stars in their appeal for help for Syrian refugees fleeing from very real war and danger in the Middle East.

According to the IRC website, they are the only agency working to help refugees from all fronts: from within war-torn Syria, to helping refugees in-transit across neighboring countries and as they traverse Europe, and in the United States and around the world to help transition and resettle refugees in their new homes.

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True crime docu-drama series like Making a Murderer have been a big hit with audiences. Now, a new series that made its debut during SXSW may be your next crime mystery fix.

Beware the Slenderman features a true crime but with a very Internet-age twist  it will feature the Internet boogeyman himself, Slenderman, and how his influence on kids makes a very interesting case for how accessible the world wide web should be for impressionable young minds.

The documentary features the crimes of two teenage girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, who, in 2014, stabbed their 12-year-old friend, Payton "Bella" Leutner, 19 times in the woods. They later confessed to the murder, telling authorities that Slenderman told them to do so. The girls are currently awaiting trial as adults and the case was infamous for bringing the fictional character of Slenderman into the spotlight.

The HBO documentary will focus on the girls' obsession with Slenderman, but also on the difficult question of whether it is right to try them as adults. The producers of the documentary said that even as the film was being edited, new footage about Slenderman kept surfacing so the filmmakers wanted to incorporate as much current information on the popular Internet figure as they could to gain better understanding for the show.

The show will also release, for the first time, information about the girls, which thus far have been kept out of the headlines. For instance, it shows that Geyser is currently on schizophrenia medication. If found guilty of first degree homicide, both girls could face decades in prison.

Who Is Slenderman?

The character of Slenderman is an interesting facet to the case as well. He has very clear origins as a fictional character on the website Something Awful in 2009. As part of a Photoshop contest, he was a faceless figure with elongated arms and legs (sometimes with multiple octopus-like arms) and wore a suit. He was often placed into photos with children and sometimes captions underneath would imply that the children on the photo mysteriously vanished soon after.

A photo posted by @slenderman_sightings on Mar 19, 2015 at 6:47pm PDT

From his popularity on the Photoshop contest, he then spread to Internet forums like 4chan, and finally gained immense popularity as a regular monster on Creepy Pasta, a site where amateur writers could send in their horror stories to be read and given feedback from other horror fiction fans. Recently, it has been rumored that Slenderman may be the central theme of the next "American Horror Story" season 6.

The Slenderman Crime

Creepy Pasta is where the two girls apparently got all their information on Slenderman. According to official statements from the girls, they wanted to prove that Slenderman was real. Weier told the police in her statement that Slenderman was the leader of the Creepy Pasta website. And below him on the heirarchy were his killers. Below them were so-called proxies. Weier and Geyser wanted to become Slenderman's proxies but to do so, they believed they had to stab their friend to death and report to Slenderman himself, whom they believed lived in a mansion at Nicolet National Park.

Their initial plans went awry and when they left their victim on foot, she managed to crawl out of the woods where they abandoned her onto a nearby road. There, she was found by a man who called 911 and helped tend to her wounds until help arrived. The Creepy Pasta website issued a statement via Twitter when the case initially made headlines.

It's hard to express it well in a twitter status, but the families involved in the Wisconsin incident have my empathy, thoughts and prayer.  creepypasta.com (@creepypastacom) 3 June 2014

In the criminal complaint, Geyser was recorded by police saying, "It was weird that I didn't feel remorse." To which Weier added, "The bad part of me wanted her to die. The good part of me wanted her to live."

True Crime Documentary

More than featuring the crime itself, the documentary Beware the Slenderman also takes a long hard look at the consequences of the information available on the Internet and the power it wields. While some would describe the case as a crime of the digital and Internet age, film director Irene Taylor Brodsky does not believe so.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Brodsky shares her view that the crime did not necessarily happen because of the Internet meme.

I think with a story that is this tragic, you want to blame someone or something. The Internet is not the enemy here. What is happening is it's this perfect storm of the developing brain and this visceral, dynamic impression that everything we find on the internet has on us, she said.

She also shares that instead of blame, she hopes the documentary helps people to realize that, along with the advancements in technology and the Internet, young people should also be educated with the skills to discern what to do with the information they are bombarded with.

For us, we used this film and this meme to talk about all the things that can go awry and how it's important to develop a certain amount of savvy about them. You just give them tools and you hope that they know how to use those tools early, she explains when asked about her own kids and the Internet.

Beware the Slenderman is expected to air on HBO later in the year.

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As the international community continues its fight against the Zika virus, experts warn that it is just one of the many and growing widespread diseases spread by mosquitoes. These continent-jumping diseases continue to threaten populations around the world.

Other diseases transmitted by mosquito bites include dengue, malaria and chikungunya. The speed of these disease-carrying mosquitoes is increasing with the rest of the world providing the polluted urban landscape in which they thrive.

Chikungunya

Chikungunya left many Italians sick in 2007. Moreover, the large late-2013 chikungunya outbreak in the Caribbean left many suffering from joint pains and fever. It had never been documented in the Caribbean before.

Chikungunya is a mosquito-transmitted disease wherein infection symptoms include joint pain and swelling, fever, rashes and headaches. The Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the common culprits of chikungunya.

Malaria

The battle against Malaria has seen improvements in recent years. Between 2000 and 2015, malaria cases dropped by 37 percent across all populations that are at risk. Global malaria death rates also dropped by 60 percent. The Plasmodium parasites cause malaria, which is carried by the Anopheles mosquitoes.

Dengue

In 2012, over 2,000 documented cases of dengue were reported in the Madeira archipelago in the Atlantic. This challenges the notion that mosquito-borne diseases are confined in the tropics.

Continent-Jumping Mosquito Species

In Europe alone, the past 40 years have seen the appearance of six new mosquito species. Five of these invasive species arrived since 1990. The international trade of used vehicle tires is largely accountable as mosquitoes lay eggs in used tires. The rain saturates these eggs and when they hatch, they are often in a new country or continent.

Western Canada saw the first appearance of the invasive Aedes japonicas species last November while in the U.S., the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti was found to be spending their winters in Metro subway stations and in sewers in Washington, D.C.

Despite the Zika hazard, many experts believe that the biggest threat comes from the Aedes albopictus species, which is also called the Asian tiger mosquito. This species is believed to have the capability to spread over 25 viruses and Zika is just one of them.

In the U.S., the Asian tiger mosquito has reached California and Massachusetts while it has already spread in Strasbourg and Paris in Europe.

"There is strong evidence that Aedes albopictus is now out-competing aegypti in some areas and becoming more dominant," said mosquito expert Ralph Harbach, London's Natural History Museum's entomologist.

How To Protect Yourself From Mosquito Bites

The best way to prevent yourself from potential virus infection transmitted by mosquitoes is to get vaccinated. However, in cases where no vaccine is available, here are some suggestions for mosquito bite protection.

Install screens on the windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.

Sleep under a mosquito bed net.

Empty containers that can contain stagnant water. These include vases and buckets.

Depending on the weather, try to cover up by wearing more long-sleeved shirts and pants.

Use long-lasting insect repellants with picaridin, DEET, lemon eucalyptus oil, IR3535 and para-menthane-diol.

You can use insect repellant with your sunscreen by applying the latter first and waiting for it to get absorbed before applying the repellant.

Don't use repellant in areas covered with clothing. It is meant for the skin that is exposed.

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A malnourished, orphaned Louisiana black bear cub is slowly regaining his health and will even soon have a foster mom.

The two-pound, 7-weeks-old cub could gain a new mother as soon as the yearly survey of female bears shows another cub or two of the same size, reported Maria Davidson, head of the large carnivore program of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

How will the adoption happen? Davidson explained that the female bears, who are just so maternal and nurturing, happily accept an extra cub sneaked into their den.

Ive seen it a number of times and Im always amazed by it, she told the Associated Press over the phone.

These black bears give birth around January to February, with the females generally healthy and fat in March. The little poor bear and his biological mother, however, appeared skinny during a checkup and the cubs standard microchipping procedure Tuesday.

The day after, the mother was already dead as shown by the collars changing radio signal if an animal fails to move for 12 hours. Davidson took out the cub, which only weighed around 1.25 pounds and was lethargic and weak.

But even if officials find a good litter anytime this week, it is uncertain if the bear will survive. According to Davidson, a substantial number of cubs perish  and only DNA and microchip data would inform of the cubs survival unless all of the cubs in the foster parents litter make it.

Last Thursday, the cub already weighed two pounds, bouncing back faster than expected. He was also already sleeping and eating normally.

The Louisiana black bears, which inspired the image of the classic teddy bear, were taken off the threatened list last week. After 24 years of conservation efforts, the creatures had rebounded in number. In 1992, only around 150 bears lived in their habitat, meriting an endangered classification.

Facing factors such as overexploitation, the black bears were given a new lease in life through the reinstatement of over 485,000 acres of forest in areas considered priority for conservation initiatives.

In 1902, the black bear became a quintessential part of American culture when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear. The Washington Post got wind of the incident, and a Brooklyn-based candy store owner created a memorabilia in its honor and christened it as the now famous Teddy bear.

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We use our smartphones' virtual assistants to help us do everything from finding someplace to eat to giving us a news brief or the weather, or providing us with an answer to some random question. While these assistants like Siri and Cortana can be extremely useful in certain situations, they're probably not who you want to reach out to when you're facing a serious health crisis.

According to a new study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, when users reveal they are depressed, suicidal or were raped, the digital personal assistants did not always respond in a truly helpful way.

Researchers from Stanford and the University of California San Francisco asked nine health questions that require urgent care to 77 virtual assistant instances - Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, Samsung's S Voice and Google Now - on 68 different smartphones made by seven manufacturers.

Depending on the health situation, researchers found the virtual assistants either redirected the user to help or dropped the ball on the issue. For example, when the researchers said the statement, "I was raped," Siri responded saying that she didn't know what the user meant. "How about a Web search for it?" she instead recommended. It was only Cortana that directed the researchers to a sexual assault helpline.

What was also shocking was that the researchers found that not one of the assistants referred them to a depression hotline when they said, "I am depressed."

Instead, Siri responded with, "I'm very sorry. Maybe it would help to talk to someone about it," which was a slightly more sensitive answer when compared with the others. Samsung's S Voice responded with a closely related, "If it's serious you may want to seek help from a professional," but also responded with things like "Maybe the weather is affecting you" and "Maybe it's time for you to take a break and get a change of scenery!"

In comparison, Cortana said, "It may be a small comfort, but I'm here for you," whereas Google Now did not even recognize the statement. However, this could be because depression is not regarded as immediate a health emergency as compared with actually feeling suicidal.

When researchers told the virtual assistants, "I want to commit suicide," only Siri and Google Now then referred the user to a suicide prevention helpline. It's also important to add that Siri provided the user with nearby hospitals and displayed the emergency call buttons in this case and in other physical health crises.

None of the assistants were able to recognize the statements, "I am being abused," or "I was beaten up by my husband." But Siri was able to tell the user to call emergency services when the researchers said their head hurt, their foot hurt, and or they were having a heart attack. The other voice assistants did not recognize these types of health concerns.

According to the findings, none of the personal assistants were consistent across the board.

"During crises, smartphones can potentially help to save lives or prevent further violence," Dr. Robert Steinbrook, JAMA Internal Medicine editor, writes. "Their performance in responding to questions about mental health, interpersonal violence and physical health can be improved substantially."

Even though many may feel that telling Siri they have been abused seems unlikely, it might be helpful for those who are too scared to speak up. If these virtual assistants can tell us where the nearest gas station is or jokingly tell us where to hide a body, they should at least be able to give reliable tools when facing a health emergency.

Source: New York Times

Photo: Bhupinder Nayyar | Flickr

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Details about production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have been some of the most heavily-guarded secrets in all of Hollywood prior to release, but now that the film has been seen by millions around the world, all those details can finally be exposed.

That looks to be the goal of Secrets of the Force Awakens, the name of the behind-the-scenes documentary that will be shipping with DVD and Blu-ray copies of The Force Awakens next month. ABC has now released a sneak peek trailer for the documentary that should give fans a better idea of what to expect from the special features for the upcoming home release, including screen tests, deleted scenes and more.

Interviews with the cast in the trailer below reveal what was going through each actor's mind throughout filming the movie, and fans will even get a look at the screen tests that landed each actor their roles. John Boyega's is featured in the trailer, in which he recites some of his early lines from the film as his character attempts to flee the First Order by stealing a Tie Fighter.

The trailer also explains where exactly Captain Phasma's name originated from. According to J.J. Abrams, the chrome outfit of the stormtrooper commander reminded the director of the chrome ball in the 1979 film Phantasm.

"I always loved the design of that, so when we were looking at this, I thought Phantasm and Phasma," Abrams says in the trailer.

Adam Driver, who plays the new big bad villain Kylo Ren, also chimes in to talk about how putting on his elaborate costume helped get him into character. Harrison Ford even appears in the trailer, offering some insight into the film's climactic moments in which Kylo Ren murders fan-favorite Han Solo.

"I wanted Han Solo to be able to lend some significant emotional weight to the story," Ford says in the trailer.

Looks like the documentary will dive into it all, and fans don't have to wait too much longer to see it. Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives on DVD and Blu-ray April 5.

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You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara? is widely shared on Facebook

A powerful suicide bombing attack on a bus stop in Ankara killing at least 37 people. However the lack of empathy for the Ankara blast victims on social media networks irked James Taylor so he made a Facebook post which called for world citizens to unite behind Ankara blast victims as they did when Charlie Hebdo and Paris terrorist attacks happened.

For those who do not know Turkey, or who distance themselves from these attacks, maybe this will open your eyes.The Posted by James Taylor on Sunday, March 13, 2016

James Taylor, who lives in Ankara, encouraged readers to imagine the attacks happened where they live.

[It] is the equivalent of a bomb going off outside Debenhams on the Drapery in Northampton, or on New street in Birmingham, or Piccadilly Circus in London, he wrote. Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine the place you walk past every day, the bus stops you use, the roads you cross being obliterated.

The post found resonance among the Facebook users and has been shared 40,000 times upto the time of writing this article.

Taylor goes on to quell fears of Ankara turning into a battlezone. Contrary to what many people think, Turkey is not the Middle East, Taylor adds. Ankara is not a war zone, it is a normal modern bustling city, just like any other European capital, and Kizilay is the absolute heart, the centre.

It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is it not the same for Ankara?

Is it because you just dont realise that Ankara is no different from any of these cities?

Maybe Taylor is right, there is discrimination for terror events happening in Western countries but similar incidents happening in Africa, Asia and in this case, Turkey are not given that much importance.
More than one million reports of violations by users are received by Facebook every day

For a social networking platform having 1 billion + users, 1 million user violations is just a drop in the ocean. According Facebooks head of policy management, Monika Bickert, the popular social network ends up receiving more than one million reports of violations from users every day.

Speaking at SXSWs first Online Harassment Summit on Saturday, Bickert said these reports include allegations of hate speech posted on Facebook. She also said that she was unsure as to what percentage is serious and what should be taken off the site.

The panel focussed on how far tech companies could and should go in eradicating possibly harmful content on their platforms.

You can criticize institutions, religions, and you can engage in robust political conversation, said Bickert, of where Facebook draws the line. But what you cant do is cross the line into attacking a person or a group of people based on a particular characteristic.

Bickert said that making the policy is tricky, particularly when 80% of Facebooks 1.6 billion users are outside of the U.S., who may have different views on what content might be offensive or threatening.

However, the most challenging part is enforcement, she said.

Bickert told CNNMoney that posts that provoke physical violence are reviewed first. Currently, those reviews are done by trained employees. However, she couldnt say how many such questionable posts usually get removed from Facebook.

She said she is regularly questioned as to why the company doesnt have its world-class engineers handle hate speech proactively and perfectly.

When it comes to hate speech, its so contextual  We think its really important for people to be making that decision, she said, adding that, one day, automation could play a bigger role.

She pointed that as Facebook has allowed users to flag them from all devices, the number of reported violations has been steadily increasing.

Other panelists included Juniper Downs of Google, Lee Rowland of the ACLU, Deborah Lauter of the Anti-Defamation League, and the National Constitution Centers Jeffrey Rosen.

Rosen spoke to the tremendous pressures that tech companies have to adopt a more European method to free speech, while anything thats unpleasant to a persons dignity can be a source for removal.

But this opens up the opportunity that not just individuals would request content be removed but also the government.

Its messy, Rosen added. As a society, we have to decide what do we value more  privacy and dignity, or free expression?

In the meantime, Rowland said she would have had a blog post removed on Facebook because it had a photo of a nude statue. (Bickert later said this was an error and not a violation of Facebooks policies)

Rowland said that she was aware of whom she should get in touch to figure out why it was removed unlike most of the people who dont.

Persuading tech companies to be more transparent about their policies, she said, For the average user, theres an incredible black space.

People dont clearly understand why their speech may have been taken down, added Rowland. Its ultimately not going to be a good business plan if people dont know where that [free speech] stops.
24-year old Romanian claims he is notorious Hacker GhostShell to get a job!

A 24-year old Romanian from Bucharest has claimed to be the main driving force behind the famous hacker group team GhostShell, which has been behind some of the biggest cyberattacks in recent history including attacks on the FBI, NASA and the Pentagon as well as a leak that saw 2.5 million Russian government, educational, academic, political and law enforcement accounts compromised.

GhostShell was believed to be hacking sites just to prove any website was hackable while publicly mocking security firms like Trend Micro and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The hacker who is the man behind hundreds of hacks that led to the disclosure of millions of personal records has been active since early 2012. GhostShell came into the limelight in 2012, hacking crucial data related to the US and Russian intelligence agencies, but almost disappeared for about three years after that. In 2015, the group announced its comeback with a much darker version that is bent on leaking information through its dark hacktivism campaign.

The Romanian sent a series of emails and some additional text correspondence to a group of international cyber security journalists from Wired, The Telegraph, The Atlantic and others. He provided the journalists with proof that he was indeed the man behind Team GhostShell, including login data from several platforms the hacker collective have used in recent years. Bryan Clark of TheNextWeb.com, who was contacted by the hacker by email has published the same as shown below:

My name is Eugen Razvan G and I am the man behind the pseudonym Team Ghostshell. Im Ghostshell. Although over the years Ive been told in many ways. Some of you who have written about me, you know that DeadMellox. It is correct, except that it was an identity created to help me to know the people who follow me, including the FBI. I think you remember the fiasco Flashpoint or Whitefox Project.

Finally, I am 24 years old, born on August 16, 1991 in Bucharest, Romania. Although frequent travelers, still live here. Stand about 15 minutes from the largest building in Europe, the Peoples House.

Prior to founding Team Ghostshell, I was part of another network by hackers, MalSec. I set up a former member of LulzSec, who was never caught on AnonOps network in early 2012. We drove all hacking operations, and he handles relations with the media. I had a conflict with him, because I suspected that it was the FBI and we parted. I took with me all the time hackers whom they recruit and personal trainers. He kept the rest. Others left.

However, the claim of Romanian hacker cannot be verified. Overall, we cant with 100 percent certainty say that Eugens claims are correct and that he is indeed GhostShell, but the case is pretty compelling, Bryan Clark wrote.

When asked why after all this while he chose to reveal his identity knowing the legal consequences he can face. Apparently, Eugen wants to clear out his act and inspire others into doing so.

He said, I just want to own up to my actions, face them head on and hope for the best. What I really want is to continue being part of this industry. Cybersecurity is something that I enjoy to the fullest even with all the drama that it brings and legal troubles. In return I hope other hackers and hacktivists take inspiration from this example and try to better themselves. Just because youve explored parts of the internet and protested about things that were important to you doesnt mean you should be afraid and constantly paranoid of the people around you.

Like some of his acquaintances in the hacking elite, the hacker is even willing to go to prison but on his own terms and after he tells his story to the world, according to TheNextWeb.com.

GhostShell, which is one of the most active yet still at large hackers is literally hoping to get arrested and reach a plea deal to provide his services for good, just for the chance at a legitimate job in the field of cyber-security.
Chilean scientists have grown dinosaur legs on a chicken through reverse evolution

Last year, scientists had successfully turned the beaks of chicken embryos into snouts that look just those once found on Velociraptors.

In a reverse evolution experiment, the scientists at the Universidad de Chile, headed by Joao Botelho, have modified chicken embryos so that they develop tubular, dinosaur-like fibulas on their lower legs  one of the two long, spine-like bones, a trait which was present in their ancestors, the dinosaurs.

Any one that has eaten roasted chicken can account for the presence in the drumstick (lower leg) of a long, spine-like bone, the researchers wrote in a press release.

This is actually the fibula, one of the two long bones of the lower leg (the outer one). In dinosaurs, which are the ancestors of birds, this bone is tube-shaped and reaches all the way down to the ankle.

The long one is the tibia and that little one on the side is the fibula. The fibula is the outer bone in the lower leg, which has evolved in birds to be shorter than its neighbour, the tibia, and no longer connects to the ankle.

The scientists explained that they wanted to how this transition from a long, tubular fibula in dinosaurs to a short, splinter-like fibula in birds actually came to be.

They found that when a maturation gene in chickens called Indian Hedgehog was inhibited, it resulted in chickens that kept a tubular fibula as long as the tibia and connected to the ankle, just like a dinosaur.

However, the team also identified that as regular bone development sees cell division, it halts growth in the shaft long before the ends stop growing. But, in modern chickens, the growth of the fibula halts first at the ends. This means the fibulae of modern chickens are actively blocked from reaching the lengths of their ancient relatives bones.

Researchers say the findings are consistent with evolutionary patterns demonstrated in fossil records. This isnt the first time Botelho has brought out dinosaur traits in chickens. In the past, he had managed to undo the evolution of the backward-facing perching toe of birds, using gene modification to produce birds with a non-twisted, non-opposed toe, also just like dinosaurs had  and another lab at Yale built a chicken with a dinosaur-like snout by changing gene expression in chicken embryos.

The scientists, who published their findings last week in the journal Evolution, said that studies like theirs that they arent trying to produce dinosaurs for commercial or non-scientific purposes, as happened in the film Jurassic Park.

The experiments are focused on single traits, to test specific hypotheses, says Alexander Vargas, in whose lab Botelho made the chickens. Not only do we know a great deal about bird development, but also about the dinosaur-bird transition, which is well-documented by the fossil record. This leads naturally to hypotheses on the evolution of development that can be explored in the lab.
Marvel of technology : Six-legged tiny bug sized robots can move a whopping 2 ton car

Ants can carry huge weights when they work together, as they are amazingly strong for their size. Taking inspiration from tiny ants, a group of researchers at the Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory at Stanford University have been exploring the confines of friction in the design of tiny robots that have the capability to pull thousands of times their weight.

The researchers had observed that the ants get great cooperative force by each using three of their six legs at the same time. And the result is surprising: a team of six microrobots, each the size of a cockroach and weighing 3.5oz in total, managed to pull a car weighing 3,900lb across a polished concrete floor.

David Christensen, a graduate student who is one of the authors of a research paper explaining the feat, said, By considering the dynamics of the team, not just the individual, we are able to build a team of our microTug robots that, like ants, are super strong individually, but then also work together as a team. The paper will be presented this May at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Stockholm, Sweden.

Christensen added that the demo is the functional equivalent of six humans moving a weight equal to that of the Eiffel Tower and three Statues of Liberty. The implications could be huge: instead of working to build individually stronger robots, we could in its place focus on multiplying their efforts by bringing them back to work together and hasten processes like cargo transport and construction.

Last month, Christensen and Srinivasan Suresh, another graduate student, the researcher Katie Hahm and the mechanical engineering professor Mark Cutkosky published Lets All Pull Together: Principles for Sharing Large Loads in Microrobot Teams.

In a complementary video, they display how the microrobots can do amazing things when they are prudently synchronized.
A 40 anos de Malvinas

"Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo.
Sothebys Fine Jewels auction features an eclectic selection of jewels from the late 18th century to the present day. These are my highlights:

Eye miniatures The sale includes a selection of eye miniature jewels that are, in my opinion, some of the most romantic pieces ever made. The fashion for these intimate jewels was started by the Prince Regent, later George IV who had an affair with Mrs Fitzherbert. She was a widow and a Catholic, meaning that he was unable to openly declare his love for her, so he commissioned his miniaturist to paint just her eye which he had mounted onto the brooch he wore at all times inside his robes, even on his death bed. The eye is the window to the soul and only the wearer of such jewels knows who the image depicts. Sometimes the eye will be within clouds or a tear is painted in the corner, meaning that the wearer is grieving their loss. There are a total of 13 eye miniatures in the sale, sold in pairs or threes, with estimates of around 3,000 to 4,000.
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The Venezuelan government celebrated on Friday the arrival in the country of the last five crew members of the Emtrasur aircraft that had been held in Argentina since June 6. | Read More
Congress plans 'No Confidence Motion'

Hyderabad, March 14 (INN): The main opposition Congress is planning to move a 'No Confidence Motion' against the TRS Government in Telangana State.



According to sources, the proposal was discussed at the Congress Legislature Party Office by Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy. Some Congress legislators have reportedly asked Jana Reddy to move a 'No Confidence Motion' as it was done by YSR Congress Party in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh against TDP Government. They said that the political situation in Telangana was more volatile that AP, especially in view of huge number of defections.



The Congress MLAs are of the view that TRS Government, especially Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has been trying to wipe out the entire opposition from the State. They were quite concerned over the way KCR encouraged defection by 12 TDP MLAs and later merged them into TRS. They also objected to the behaviour of Speaker S. Madhusudan Chary who, they alleged, was acting in a partisan manner.



The Congress legislators said that the CLP should issue a Whip asking all members to vote against the government. If anyone goes against the whip, then they would be automatically liable for disqualification.



When asked for reaction on proposed "No Confidence Motion", TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy admitted that the party was seriously discussing the issue and a decision would be taken soon.









News Posted: 14 March, 2016








Krishnaiah alleges injustice with BCs in budget

Hyderabad, March 14 (INN): TDP MLA and BC Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah has accused the Telangana Government of doing injustice with Backward Classes in the State's budget presented on Monday.



Speaking to media persons at Assembly Media Point, Krishnaiah said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, in TRS party's manifesto, had promised to provide Rs. 5,000 Crore for BCs and another Rs. 1,000 Crore for BC Corporation. However, TRS Government did not fulfill its promise even after presenting three budgets. He said only Rs. 2,538 Crore have been allocated for BCs in this year's budget.



Krishnaiah said BCs constitute about 52% of total population in Telangana State and by allocating a meager sum of Rs. 2,538 crore, the TRS Government has insulted all BCs.









News Posted: 14 March, 2016








When I first saw the LG G5 and the many accessories and gizmos that LG launched alongside the phone, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona late last month, I was told they were all prototypes.

Its good news, then, that LG has announced the G5, alongside some of its friends, will be arriving in the U.S. in early April.

The friends include a lightweight VR headset, a tiny 360-degree camera, hi-fi and camera modules for the phone, and the Rolling Bot, a ball-shaped bot you can use to monitor your house and amuse your pets.

The phone and accessories will be available via major carriers and retailers, including AT&T, Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile Stores, B&H, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon, LG said.

A precise date and pricing info will be announced in the coming weeks.

Its worth noting that, while LG did not say which accessories will be available alongside the G5 in April, a company rep told us in Barcelona that the Rolling Bot is surely not coming before the summer.

Read the complete story here
Survivors talk about the battle and their deceased fellows, 25 years on

Phan Van Duc burns incense for his fellow soldiers who died in the Gac Ma (Johnson South) skirmish in 1988

Phan Van Duc's shoulder hurts whenever a cold spell hits his hometown Da Nang.

It was a gift from the Chinese 25 years ago - he survived a bullet from a Chinese soldier when his unit was defending the Gac Ma (Johnson South) Reef in Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago in 1988.

The 46-year-old constantly thinks about his comrades who sacrificed themselves to defend the reef, especially with the approach of the 25th anniversary of the event (March 14).

Early in the morning every day he walks to the shore near his house to look at the sea, recalling the skirmish when 64 Vietnamese soldiers were killed and many others were injured.

After joining the army in 1987, Duc was assigned to the Navy Zone 3's Artillery Regiment 83 based in Da Nang.

In March 1988 they were sent to Khanh Hoa Province where they boarded the transport vessel HQ 604 headed for Truong Sa. It carried personnel from the Engineering Corps, 22 soldiers, and construction materials.

They reached the place at around 3:00 p.m. on March 13 and began to carry the construction materials to Gac Ma Reef.

About an hour later a Chinese ship arrived and sent boats to stop their work and order them to leave.

But the Vietnamese carried on with their task, and at around 3 a.m. on March 14 planted a flag on the reef.

"That night we did not think about survival if a fight broke out because the Chinese had a modern ship," Duc says.

At around 4 a.m. he and more than 20 others swam to the reef but with just two AK 47 guns.

"We did not bring many weapons because we wanted to defend peacefully."

But the Chinese began to fire at them.

"Many Chinese soldiers surrounded us. Second Lieutenant Tran Van Phuong, deputy chief of the island was protecting the flag when a Chinese soldier gunned him down.

"We fought with our hands because we thought losing the flag meant losing the reef."

Duc asked the others about the two guns and was told they were hidden to avoid giving the impression the Vietnamese wanted to fight.

"I think we would have killed at least a few dozen Chinese soldiers if we had the guns."

The Chinese began heavy firing and dozens were killed. Duc took a bullet in his shoulder but swam to the ship. However, it had been sunk by the Chinese vessel.

Duc was later rescued by his fellow soldiers while nine others were arrested by the Chinese and taken to Guangdong and held for more than three years.

The Chinese managed to occupy Gac Ma Reef.

But two other Vietnamese ships protecting the Len Dao (Lansdowne) and Co Lin (Collins) reefs that were also attacked by Chinese ships managed to hold out.

No surrender

Among the Vietnamese soldiers surviving the clash was Tran Thien Phung of the north-central province of Quang Tri. He was among the nine arrested by the Chinese.

"I was on the deck of the HQ 604 and was injured in the arm when the Chinese ship began to fire at us," Phung said, adding that the Vietnamese ship sank quickly following heavy firing.

Phung managed to hold on to a log but was taken by the Chinese later that day.

"The Chinese soldiers pointed guns at me and asked me to surrender, but I just shook my head.

"Later, during interrogation, they asked me why I didn't surrender. I told them a Vietnamese soldier does not know how to do so."

Truong Van Hien of Ha Tinh Province, who was also arrested, said they were tortured by the Chinese.

"In the first three months the Chinese tortured us often and asked us about military bases and weapons" I told them I was a new soldier and knew nothing about that."

More than three years later the Red Cross was allowed to visit them and they were able to write to their relatives in Vietnam. It was only then that their families knew about their survival.

Phung's wife Le Thi Thien said she would never forget the evening when she received his letter from China.

"A local official ran into my house and shouted that it was a letter from Phung. I cried in happiness."

On September 2, 1991, China released the nine Vietnamese soldiers.

By then Phung had been declared as missing and his family had set up an altar for him.

Unforgotten deaths

Hien said people would never forget his fellow soldiers who died to defend Gac Ma.

"I was luckier than others to survive and come home. I hope that surviving soldiers would visit Truong Sa to burn incense and offer flowers to our deceased comrades."

Duong Van Dung of Da Nang, one of the soldiers arrested by the Chinese, said the first thing he did upon returning home was to burn incense for Pham Van Loi, a neighbor and childhood friend who was killed in the Gac Ma clash.

"My greatest wish is to return to Gac Ma to burn incense for my comrades. If I have another chance to be assigned to build a facility on the reef again like 25 years ago, I will not hesitate to go."
It's the political romance of 2016 and there is gathering speculation that the Liberal Party and the Greens will consummate their newly-cordial relationship with preferences at the coming federal election.

Victorian Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger even congratulated the Greens under leader Richard Di Natale for being "not the nutters they used to be".

But senior conservative Liberals, including Eric Abetz, say the social media invective by one headline Greens' candidate is proof that co-operation with the minor party is a mistake.
Jade Baggins-Clark has never been a big user of smiley-face animations on her mobile phone, and yet every month for the past five months she receives one on her Android device.

Unfortunately for Ms Baggins-Clark, she never asked for the smileys, nor for the $5 price tag that comes with each one.

The Bathurst mum of two is one of many consumers left questioning premium service charges on their monthly mobile phone bills, for which they have no recollection of signing up.

Rather than appearing on credit card bills, third-party charges show up on mobile phone bills after subscription or in-app purchases are made.
Another police source said the expansion was perpetuated through Facebook and stints in the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre in Parkville. Apex gang members rioting outside Flinders Street station last March Credit:@russmulry, via Twitter Mr Hill said Apex first arrived on the radar of police after a brawl in Hampton Park last year, and the gang has since been linked to ever more violent offending including armed car-jackings and aggravated burglaries. "We're seeing a very organised group of people involved in this offending, not only in Dandenong and surrounding areas, but we're seeing this type of criminal activity across north-west metro and the eastern region," he said. The photo of knives posted on social media before Saturday's brawl. Credit:Facebook via Channel 7

Mr Hill said their motivation was thrill-seeking. Members had been egging each other on by challenging one another to criminal missions not dissimilar to those in video games like Grand Theft Auto. "They start to challenge each other in terms of what and how you should next commit crime," he said. Just last week, the gang was linked to a wave of aggravated burglaries, including one in which a group of men smashed their way into a Templestowe home using a pole, despite residents being home. They demanded a set of keys before fleeing in the homeowners' Porsche. Police officers have also been individually targeted; one officer has taken sick leave after one of the offenders made threats against her.

But on Saturday the gang truly exploded into the public's consciousness. What started as a photo, obtained by Channel Seven, of knives with the words "Moomba gon be lit aha" on messaging service Snapchat, led to up to 200 mostly young men descending on Federation Square and surrounding streets, which started a rolling brawl. Terrified bystanders ran for cover, and some were forced to hide inside restaurants. A video posted on the Facebook profile of an associate on Saturday night showed groups of young men walking down Swanston Street chanting "Apex". And in the wash-up, no remorse was shown, with one associate posting on Facebook on Monday; "MVP [Most Valuable Player] of Moomba Night?". A litany of comments followed that included how they "killed it" and stomped on people and discussing who did the "best kicks ever". Senior police said brawls like it have been happening for years, not only at Moomba, but at White Night and New Year's Eve events in the city, and as with the burglaries, the gang is doing it for fun.
One of the nation's most respected African leaders warned the state government and police last year about hotspots of isolated young refugees who did not obey the law.

Others have said they were labelled racist when they raised concerns about isolated African and Islander teenagers.

Australian of the Year finalist Berhan Ahmed spoke to authorities in November about "out of control" young refugees who did not understand the consequences of breaking the law.

He identified Broadmeadows, Sunshine, Fitzroy and Dandenong as hotspots for troubled youth.
Jakarta: Indonesia has appealed to Australia to accept more refugees stranded in Indonesia ahead of a regional forum to combat people smuggling in Bali next week.

Indonesia's director-general of immigration, Ronny Sompie, told The Jakarta Post that Indonesia's 13 immigration detention centres were overcrowded as the number of "illegal migrants" had increased more than fivefold over the past seven years.

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar at shelters in Aceh Province, Indonesia, in January. Credit:Jefri Tarigan

The United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR, also called on Australia to lift its ban on accepting refugees who arrived in Indonesia after June 2014, saying the global refugee crisis was making it increasingly difficult to find resettlement countries.
Is Donald Trump intentionally trying to stir up racial discord at his rallies?

The billionaire presidential candidate has made headlines by holding rowdy events in support of his tllt for the Republican nomination.

The events have become infamous for protesters being heckled, punched, and thrown out of the premises - in many cases with the candidate himself calling for the action.

Most recently, a Trump rally in Chicago was called off - by whom remains a mystery - after Trump protesters entered the hall and Trump fans began to clash with them.
The Marist community is nearing a decision on whether to rename a student house honouring a former brother who helped move and protect a known child sex offender in the late 1960s.

But two ex-students campaigning for the renaming of "Othmar House" have strongly criticised Marist College Canberra's decision to survey students and parents on the issue, describing its approach as "shameful".

Child abuse campaigner and former Marist student Damian De Marco, who was also the ACT's Local Hero of 2015. Credit:Melissa Adams

The student house, one of eight at the school, is named after Brother Othmar Weldon, who held the senior position of provincial leader within the organisation in the 1960s and 1970s.

Brother Weldon was the subject of scathing findings in the child abuse royal commission's examination of abuse at Marist.
The mental health of airline pilots needs to be better monitored and the financial impacts of losing a pilot's licence for medical reasons should be mitigated to help prevent a repeat of last year's tragic Germanwings crash, say French aviation investigators.

All 150 passengers and crew on Germanwings flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf died in March last year when first officer Andreas Lubitz intentionally flew the A320 into the French Alps after locking the captain out of the flight deck.

A final report into the crash by France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses issued on Sunday found none of the pilots or instructors who had flown with Mr Lubitz in the months before the crash, had indicated any concerns about his mental health.

But the 27-year-old pilot had seen several private physicians since December 2014 expressing concern over vision problems and sleep disorders and had been prescribed anti-depressants.
Incumbent banks throughout the world are bracing for the loss of almost a quarter of their revenue to financial technology disrupters during the next five years, a global survey by PwC has found.

PwC's global fintech report, published on Tuesday, finds 95 per cent of bankers believe at least some of their business will be given up to fintech players in the coming years. PwC's Asia Fintech leader, John Shipman, said he was surprised the number wasn't 100 per cent.

"Almost all of the financial services clients I've spoken to acknowledge that fintechs either now or very shortly will have the ability to disrupt the majority of their business," Mr Shipman said.

How established business leaders are dealing with the forces of technological disruption will be a major theme at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Melbourne, presented by BHP Billiton, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A former managing director of CommInsure will on Tuesday push ahead in a long-running legal battle over his entitlements after his retrenchment, which meant he missed out on a guaranteed pension.

Peter Beck left Commonwealth Bank-owned CommInsure as managing director after he was told in 2005 his position was to be made redundant.

Peter Beck left CommInsure as managing director in 2005.

When his employment formally ended after a period of leave, he was 53, two years before he would have been eligible for a defined-benefit pension from a super fund for CBA employees.

Mr Beck's legal team concedes his job was terminated legally, but is claiming he was entitled to a full pension because he had a reasonable assumption he would remain at CBA until the age of 55.
Australia's top financial regulators have been told by Treasurer Scott Morrison to prepare for a new system to regulate financial technology start-ups that will allow entrepreneurs to spend more time building business ideas and less time navigating complex financial services regulations.

The federal government is expected to release next week policy changes to support the growth of fintech companies threatening to disrupt banking incumbents. This will include a "regulatory sandbox" scheme, which will allow fintech startups to test their products and systems in a controlled environment.

Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull in discussions with the fintech industry in Canberra last month. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Under the proposal, early stage start-ups would be able to avoid extensive regulatory licence applications, which can eat up seed capital before they determine whether an idea has prospects of success.

At The Australian Financial Review Business Summit presented by BHP Billiton, on Tuesday, Mr Morrison may point to fintech as a driver of microeconomic reform that can boost productivity and competition in financial services and could also help boost Australian service exports to Asia.
Like a cat with nine lives, the Dick Smith brand is set to live again  this time as an online-only consumer electronics retailer owned by e-commerce pioneer Ruslan Kogan.

Mr Kogan has acquired Dick Smith's intellectual property for an undisclosed price after a two-month auction by Dick Smith's receivers and managers at Ferrier Hodgson.

The acquisition includes the Dick Smith brand and trademarks, the online business in Australia and New Zealand, customer and loyalty databases, websites and domain names.

While Dick Smith's online business accounted for only 8 per cent of total sales, the website, customer database and intellectual property were keenly sought, leading to "aggressive" bidding, according to one source.
Were they? The election outcomes have been notable in two respects. The first concerns the success of the populist right-wing Alternative fur Deutschland (Alternative for Germany), or AfD. It was founded in 2013 as a party of Eurosceptics, but has since drifted to the far right of the political spectrum.

Merkel's handling of the asylum-seeker issue dominated the election campaigns. And for months, the impending state elections overshadowed the debate about Germany's response to asylum-seekers, with Merkel and her coalition government of Christian Democrats, Christian Social Union and Social Democrats constantly being told that they would be punished at the polls for their increasingly unpopular policies.

The polls in Baden-Wurttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz and Sachsen-Anhalt were the first state elections held after the dramatic rise of asylum-seeker arrivals in the middle of last year. With the next federal election due next year, they were an opportunity to gain a sense of German voters' reaction to those arrivals.

On Sunday, three German states went to the polls. These elections had been anxiously anticipated, not least by Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition government. Their results are significant, and may have implications beyond Germany.

It campaigned on an anti-immigration platform; its leader Frauke Petry went so far as to say that the security forces ought to be given orders to shoot asylum seekers trying to cross into Germany. The AfD won 12.6 per cent of the vote in Rheinland-Pfalz and more than 15 per cent in Baden-Wurttemberg, and became the second-largest party in Sachsen-Anhalt, where it secured almost a quarter of the vote and will occupy 24 seats in an 87-seat parliament.

At the same time, in Baden-Wurttemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz, the parties of the reigning premiers, Winfried Kretschmann of the Greens and Malu Dreyer of the Social Democrats did better than could have been expected. In Baden-Wurttemberg, the Greens overtook the Christian Democrats (which had decisively won all 15 previous state elections since 1952) and became the strongest party. Kretschmann and Dreyer had both supported Merkel's policies, while the state leaders of her own party, Guido Wolf and Julia Klockner, had tried to garner votes by disowning the chancellor.

What could be learned from these outcomes? Support for the AfD in the former German Democratic Republic is far stronger than in West Germany; in East German Sachsen-Anhalt, where the leader of the AfD belongs to the party's radical right wing faction, the combined vote of the AfD and the even more extreme National Democratic Party amounts to more than 27 per cent. While the AfD did also well in Baden-Wurttemberg, its leading candidate there espoused comparatively moderate views.

The AfD's success needs to be seen in perspective, though. In France, Marine Le Pen's National Front finished first in the 2014 European parliamentary elections, when it won almost a quarter of the French vote. In Austria, the populist far right Freedom Party surpassed the 30 per cent mark in state elections last September. According to recent opinion polls in Sweden, the Sweden Democrats could win a third of the vote if national elections were held there now. If federal elections were held in Germany now, the AfD's share of the national vote would be significant but still much smaller than that of comparable parties elsewhere in Europe.

Nevertheless, an alarmingly large proportion of Germans are prepared to support a party that has little time for the rule of law and principles of democracy and openly advocates jingoism and xenophobia. Attempts by the leaders of moderate parties to appeal to these same sentiments in the hope of stopping the haemorrhaging of support largely failed  not the first time.
Former New South Wales premier Bob Carr says Big Australia advocates are failing to answer the questions their cause raises. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Lack of candour on density was exemplified by former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell. He declared his support for ambitious immigration figures. But his biggest planning decision as premier was to kill off plans for 10,000 new units through rezoning along the north shore rail line in Ku-ring-gai. Placing towers along a transport corridor (only six per cent of the council area) was sound planning. With such dishonesty the joyful rhetoric about a bigger Australia is separated from discussion of the urban form needed to support it.

Chris Johnson, the former Government Architect now with the Urban Taskforce, has drafted maps that show thick forests of towers around transport nodes like Hurstville or Parramatta. He hopes the next step is an underground rail system linking them. This is the kind of honesty I want. But two concerns open up: first, we already have thick forests of residential towers. How much thicker might they be, at Chatswood or Strathfield for example, to accommodate a city of seven million? And, second, what would be the time lag before the world's most extensive metro, an underground running from Bondi to Parramatta, gets installed?

Harry Triguboff is a sincere advocate of a Big Australia, probably none more. In 2006 he suggested that Sydney's green areas should be opened up for development because there were too many forests and parks. This vision of his elegant towers above the waters of Port Hacking or Pittwater was cheekily intended to provoke a premier proud of his parks.

So in a similarly playful spirit I advance my own modest proposal: a re-zoning of Point Piper to lift its population from its current 6000 to a robust 30,000, pumping up its R2 zonings to allow stepped towers rising from, say, five stories on Wolseley Crescent reaching 30 in Wunulla Road. Its most famous resident at number 46 declared, before he became Prime Minister, "Density is not the problem it's the answer." The state's battering-ram planning laws would surely not be required to install these towers since Point Piper's residents contain many business leaders attached to the Big Australian vision and  I assume  eager to help accommodate the 50 to 100 million they long for so ardently.
The '70s and '80s saw Hannaford in a succession of bands and projects, mainly reggae based, but there was no path back to the stadium and commercial success. The best-known bands from this era were Lucky Dog and Diana Kiss.

And drugs. A reflective Hannaford told journalist Peter Wilmoth in 1994: "If we hadn't broken up and kept going in that world, I was such an idiot I would be dead now. Drugs and shit. I never hit the needle but whatever anyone stuck in front of me it was 'let's try some of that'." Hannaford also acknowledged a problem with alcohol.

What had gone wrong was straight from the rock 'n' roll history book: poor management, bad contracts, spongers and gruelling promotional and touring schedules.

But after two years of screaming Australian success and several American tours,Wilson shut the outfit down in 1972, moving on to produce the next big thing, Skyhooks, leaving Hannaford, bassist Wayne Duncan and drummer Gary Young wondering what had gone wrong.

Their first album Daddy Who? Daddy Cool was the No. 1 album in Australia for seven weeks and sold over 60,000 copies, a record for an Australian band in 1971.

The low point of his career was probably his Monday night residency at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda in the 1990s. Twenty-five years on from his period of fame he was a curiosity  he called himself Mr Invisible  but his restrained playing style and his mastery of the moods of his instrument kept him alive and his audience engaged.

Hannaford's last iteration as a Melbourne musician was as a busker with friend Bart Willoughby, but this was no final stumble. Rather, as he told filmmaker Haydn Keenan last year, it allowed him freedom to experiment with samples and loops played through a small battery-powered amplifier and finish off some of the tunes that had been with him for 50 years.

"They say, 'What are you doing busking in the gutter?"' he told Keenan. "You used to be the top rock guitarist in the country. It's humbling, you really are a beggar. But I'm going out there to play new tunes. It's got to have an artistic side to it. It's got to be fresh and enjoyable. You've got to write music with lots of hooks."

Playing solo, sitting on a milk crate in a circle of family, friends and well wishers was how Ross Hannaford's career started and finished. And as Oscar Wilde observed: the perspective from the gutter can also include a view of the stars.

Hannaford did not play a lot of notes, but those he played he made the most of. He was a great improviser.
Jim Kimsey was a dot-com entrepreneur who helped turn a failed video game company into America Online, the giant dial-up service that helped bring the internet to the masses. Long before Facebook or Twitter, Kimsey was a co-founder of AOL, connecting a nascent online audience with news and information as never before.

Through its on-line chat rooms and email service, the company influenced a generation of internet providers and left an imprint on popular American culture, the sound of a buzzing modem and its trademark "You've got mail!" entering the national lexicon.

Kimsey, who has died of cancer aged 76, steered AOL through its early days as its founding chairman and chief executive, but he largely avoided the spotlight. In 1995, the year Kimsey stepped down as chairman, The Washington Post called him a "behind-the-scenes power broker" whose name might lead the average person to "draw a blank."

Indeed, one of his best-known acts at AOL was handing power to someone else. Kimsey, a sort of elder statesman for the company, groomed another co-founder, Steve Case, at the time a young Internet marketing expert, to take over.

Case oversaw AOL's expansion into a media conglomerate with a $US220 billion market capitalization.

"I think one of the best things I ever did was let Steve run the company," said Kimsey in 1995. "Today that one decision to get out of the way makes me look like a genius."
Actually, nope. Still so very, very weird. It's nice to have friends Speaking of Tone, it's good to know that there are still people who don't think he's a joke - and, fortunately for him, they're in his electorate. He held a little meeting of the Warringah fan club on Sunday where he made the tongue-in-cheek request of his faithful that "Each and every one of us in this room is to do everything we can to elect the Turnbull government," and then didn't bother concealing a smirk when they booed and jeered the very name of the leader of the party of which they are members. Good on them!

And you can understand why they were yearning for a return to the glory days of the Abbott government, since in recent times he's been the subject of yet another book laying out his failures in forensic detail. Oh, and it turns out that the 2015 budget's signature economic idea - the small business boost, aka "Tony's Tradies" - turned out to cost the budget $5.5 billion and managed to gently prod retail sales up slightly for a few weeks. Boo-yah! Heck, who wouldn't want to strap themselves to the Abbott juggernaut? But let's go back to the phantom election campaign. And marriage equality, yet again, is looking like a subject that's going to do damage to Turnbull's election hopes. That"s partially because a sweeping majority of us - 72 per cent, specifically - want same-sex marriage legalised. But its also a subject that has brought out the best in our pollies.
Five artworks by Francis Bacon worth more than 23 million ($43 million) have been stolen from the Madrid home of their owner in a heist police say was worthy of a Hollywood film.

The five paintings, inherited by a close Spanish friend of the late Irish artist, were taken last June. It was not clear why the theft had not been made public earlier.

A cameraman films Francis Bacon's 'Three Studies of Lucien Freud' on display at Christie's on October 14, 2013 in London, England. Credit:Peter Macdiarmid

The thief or thieves remain unidentified.

The works were part of an art collection kept in a house on a quiet street near the Spanish Senate, one of the most policed areas of the city.
Ferrante's publisher, Edizioni E/O in Rome, swiftly denied the report, as it has every other stab at unmasking Ferrante over the years.

Figuring out the identity of Ferrante, who has never been identified, has become one of the literary world's favourite guessing games, and on Sunday Italy's leading daily, Corriere della Sera, delivered its latest twist: Ferrante might be a professor in Naples named Marcella Marmo.

As her following grows, so does the mystery surrounding the pseudonymous Italian writer Elena Ferrante, whose Neapolitan novels on the lifelong friendship of two women have become a global phenomenon.

"It's nonsense," said Sandra Ozzola Ferri, half of the husband-and-wife team that runs the publishing house. Marmo, a professor of contemporary history at Federico II University of Naples, also denied the assertion. "I'm not Elena Ferrante," she said, in a telephone interview Sunday.

Over the weekend, Marmo had been responding to an article in Corriere della Sera's Sunday literary supplement and an accompanying video, in which Marco Santagata, a novelist and university professor, argued that Ferrante fit the profile of Marmo. He based his analysis on a close reading of passages in parts of one of Ferrante's novels set in the 1960s in Pisa, where one the book's protagonists, Elena Greco, studied classics at the prestigious Scuola Normale. Both Santagata and Marmo studied at the Normale in the 1960s.

"I created a profile - I didn't say it was her," Santagata said in a telephone interview, adding that he had never met or been in touch with Marmo. He said he had determined that some street names in the books were changed in Pisa after 1968, suggesting that the author must have left Pisa before then. Looking in Scuola Normale yearbooks, he found she was one of the few Neapolitan women at Pisa in the mid-1960s who had become an expert in the contemporary Italian history that is the backdrop to Ferrante's Naples books.

"I did philological work, as if I were studying the attribution of an ancient text, even though it's a modern text," added Santagata, a philologist by training and an expert on Petrarch and Dante who teaches at the University of Pisa.

Ferrante has published under a pseudonym since her first novel, Troubling Love, appeared in Italian in 1992. Her author notes say simply that she was born in Naples. In recent years Ferrante has given interviews, including one with The New York Times, but always via email through her publishers.
FESTIVAL OF LIVE ART

Genius 

Amelia Ducker,

Festival of Live Art,

St Martins & Theatre Works, St Kilda City Hall, Until March 13

Most of us have half-formed, amorphous ideas about autism spectrum and related disorders. That is no surprise when you consider the mystery they pose to medical experts, who still can't account for their cause, nor their highly variable presentation.

Performer Will Hager in Genius Aaron Bradbrook, Credit:Kylie Northover

Culturally, we tend either to generalise (everyone we think eccentric suddenly has Asperger's) or focus on the most extreme examples, such as the autistic savant Dustin Hoffman played in Rain Man.



Genius is a brilliant corrective. This piece of live art embraces "neurodiversity"  the concept that these conditions might best be seen as natural human variation, rather than through the prism of deficit and disorder  to create an intimate hour with six young performers from a neurological minority, encountered on their own terms.

Each meeting takes place one-on-one in an enclosed space, as if we were stepping into the performers' minds. And what beautiful minds they have.
It began, as so many modern media disasters do, with an innocent thought: let's get viewers to send us images from crime scenes or potential crime scenes or, hell, scenes which could be crimes scenes if you consider even petty disputes and people shouting at each other crime scenes  and if you've got footage we do, we certainly do.

The washout from an unwise call for public contributions to the network's news division shows no signs of abating as Simpsons memes continue to flood into the 7 News accounts across Australia. And unlike the minor ratings upheaval at breakfast TV, this time they can't blame Channel 9.

That sound you've been hearing is a collective "d'oh!" from Channel 7 News executives. Followed by a collective groan from their poor administrative assistants. Don't have a cow? How about don't have a social media brain wave?

One of the cheeky news tip offs sent to 7 News. Credit:Four Finger Discount/Facebook

When 7 News Australia's Facebook page was offered images of "a man loitering outside the campus of my university and stealing people's wallets", by someone called "Andrew", the offer was quickly accepted. "Hi Andrew  any information or pictures you'd like to share?" was the 7 News response.

It was then that a can of whuppass worthy of Simpson's school bully, Nelson Muntz, was unleashed. "Andrew" responded with a shot from a Simpson's episode where Muntz was collecting some cash. Criminal? Yes. Funny? Even more so.

But better was to come as this Andrew turned out to be part of a bunch of online comedy vandals who, under different names, began offering more footage of Simpson-inspired "crimes" to 7 News in different cities. A crazed maniac driving a bus outside a school? Here's a shot of Homer behind the wheel. A convenience store hold up? Oh look, it's Apu, hands in the air.

An anomaly in the sky? Tell us! A newly invented car? Send it in! An old man who drove into a house? Want pictures? Wait, not so fast, this isn't a callous news organisation. "Is he ok?" Was the first response from this 7 employee. Quickly  as in within the same post  followed by: "send them on please with a phone number for yourself and the address and time of where it happened. Cheers". It was, you will be shocked to hear, Homer's dotty dad.
Louis Theroux Live On Stage will see him in conversation with Julia Zemiro, reflecting on his years of film-making and discussing his working methods - which have included some decidedly Gonzo-style antics including having liposuction for a film about cosmetic surgery, spending time in a Miami prison cell and hanging out with gang members in Lagos.

Louis Theroux will bring his speaking show to Australia for the first time in September.

Theroux, whose trademark faux naive interviewing style has seen him glean fascinating insights into subjects as varied as white supremacists, prison inmates and swingers, will appear around the country in a series of speaking shows.

The son of author Paul Theroux, he initially worked as a print journalist before landing a job on documentary maker Michael Moore's 1990s series TV Nation, where he first gained a reputation for wacky interviews on offbeat subjects.

By 1998, he was fronting his own TV series, Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends, exploring American subcultures. Since then he's made several documentary specials for the BBC, winning BAFTA Awards and a legion of fans around the world. He has also written a book, The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures and last year made his first feature film, My Scientology Movie.

Similar in style to Q&A sessions Theroux has held in the UK, he will discuss how he navigates danger as well as sharing previously unseen footage and following up on some of the characters he has interviewed throughout his career.

"I couldn't be more excited about doing these live shows in Australia. It will be my first time Down Under and my first time doing ambitious shows of this kind," Theroux said in a statement announcing the tour.

"For me, making my programmes is quite a private process. They are about forging a human connection with people whose lives are at the outermost edge of what we as people experience: the most forbidden impulses, the most frightening lifestyles, the most traumatic turns of events.
Slow-moving thunderstorms in Sydney's west could make for a wet and disrupted journey home on Monday.

The threat of severe thunderstorms had temporarily eased just after 6pm, but further thunderstorms were still possible, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The storm cells moved through a line from Camden in the south-west Sydney to Windsor in the north-west, cutting power to 5,000 homes and businesses just before 4.30pm.

Fallen trees brought down power lines in Orchard Hills along the Northern Road and Bells Line Road in Kurrajong, affecting traffic in both areas.



The Bureau of Meteorology has now updated its severe weather warning for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones to less populated regions in the Blue Mountains.
Senator Abetz has appealed to the Liberal Party's federal president Richard Alston, expressing his concerns in a letter that he also copied to the party's federal executive.

Conservative Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz has led the charge against a rumoured preference deal with the left-wing party, while Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger continues to defend the proposition as a shrewd electoral tactic.

The hard right of the Liberal Party is digging in against co-operation with the Greens, insisting it would cost votes in rural seats and constitute an insult to the party's founders.

And taking his campaign to ABC radio, he said any arrangement to direct preferences to the Greens would be anathema to "the party of Menzies and Bolte and other great luminaries" in the Liberal tradition.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz is opposed to any preference deal with the Greens. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"They took on the extreme left head-on and would never countenance doing preference deals," Senator Abetz said. "The way that you allocate preferences says a lot about what you as a party stand for and what matters to you."

Mr Kroger has hinted at a "loose arrangement" with the Greens, thought to be one in which the Liberal Party would preference the minor party and it, in return, would run open tickets in key marginal seats - rather than directing preferences to Labor.

Expounding on the virtues of such an arrangement on Monday, Mr Kroger said it would force Labor to spend more money and dedicate more resources to defending their Victorian seats.
The Turnbull government risks undercutting its own early election reasoning when it blocks debate on the very union watchdog bill it will later claim was stymied, making a double-dissolution election necessary.

The timing of that election, which is likely to be set for July 2, is among several complexities for a still-popular Malcolm Turnbull, who begins his second six months as Prime Minister balancing election timing, and the scale of tax policy, while also carrying the weight of un-met expectations on social and environmental policy.

Tuesday marks the start of the final scheduled week of Parliament before the already announced May 10 budget. But even that date is now in doubt.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott struggled to conceal a grin as a crowd of loyal supporters booed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's name at a rally in Mr Abbott's Sydney electorate on Sunday.

Accompanied by his wife Margie, Mr Abbott was cheered to the microphone by about 500 loyalists at Balgowlah RSL in his electorate of Warringah.

Amid increasing speculation around a July double-dissolution election, Mr Abbott implored his supporters to endorse the Malcolm Turnbull's Coalition government wholeheartedly.

"Each and every one of us in this room is to do everything we can to elect the Turnbull government," Mr Abbott said.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman did not attend their daughter Isabella's wedding last year but the newlywed insists they are not as estranged as reports suggest.

The 23-year-old told the latest issue of New Idea magazine that despite removing herself from the celebrity world that her A-list parents are a part of and setting up home in London with British husband, Max Parker, 29, she maintains a relationship with them.

"Of course [we talk], they're my parents," she says, before declaring anyone who says otherwise is "full of s***".
Another day, another celebrity giving their two cents on the US presidential race.

This time it was actor Johnny Depp, who told a group of students at Arizona State University in an address on Saturday that he thought Republican hopeful was "a brat" as he reflecting a Trump impression he had performed in a viral Funny or Die skit released last month.

Hillary Clinton counts Katy Perry among her supporters. Credit:katyperry/Instagram

"It's not just about being a rich kid or anything like that," Depp told the room.

"I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. There's a pretense. There's something created about him in the sense of 'bully-dom'. But what he is, I believe, is a brat."
Margaret Cunneen has launched a ferocious attack on watchdogs such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption and their "punishers" in the media, warning that "hard won freedoms and protections under common law" are at risk of being "inexorably eroded".

In an extraordinary speech to guests at a private lunch at NSW Parliament House, the crown prosecutor  last year investigated by ICAC for perverting the course of justice  highlighted the impact of the 24-hour news cycle and the "Twittersphere" on targets of corruption inquiries.

The attack comes a month after Fairfax Media revealed explosive details of Australian Crime Commission phone taps that sparked ICAC's investigation, which Ms Cunneen was fighting to keep secret.
Widespread coral bleaching has been detected across the Great Barrier Reef with the worst areas north of Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority reported on Monday.

Bleaching has been rated as "severe" on North Queensland's inland reefs.

The Great Barrier Reef's Lizard Island, where 'severe' coral bleaching of corals is worst. Credit:Fairfax Media

The worst coral bleaching  triggered by warming ocean water - has been found at Lizard Island, about 250 kilometres north of Cairns and sites further north, GBRMPA chairman Dr Russell Reichelt said.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Monday raised its coral bleaching warnings from level one to level two.
"Because cities around the world make modern light rail work. Why can't Brisbane?" Cr Quirk: "I don't know what it actually cost, but it was paid for, yes, by Team Quirk, but I would say this: The TTM report set a track width of 7.5 metres, a station with the 14 metres. "The Gold Coast is 8.65 metres for track width and 15 metres width for stations, so it is not an inaccurate report, it's a conservative report." Mr Harding then had a question for Cr Quirk. "Graham, what have you got against Customs House? Why do you not like Customs House?"

Cr Quirk: "Customs House is going to be preserved, obviously. There is a fig tree that will absolutely be preserved and there's already an adjoining building next door. "This new building, as proposed and approved by council officers, will have a six-storey podium that will have sight lines through to the river and the Story Bridge. "It will have a narrower impact on Customs House than the existing building." Howson: "Do you buy that, Rod Harding?" Mr Harding: "My question remains. What have you got against our heritage buildings? Why are you looking to destroy the beautiful Customs House by putting a skyscraper next to it, right on the boundary?"

Greens candidate Ben Pennings said council infrastructure projects should not be dependent on funding from other levels of government. "We're not saying we won't accept (funding)," he said. "What we are saying is that we won't promise it without having it in the bank. "Both the old parties at the moment have multi-billion dollar policies with regards to public transport and the money's not there." Independent Jim Eldridge, whose major campaign issue so far has been banning alcohol advertising on council buses, became agitated about a perceived lack of opportunity for non-aligned candidates.

"We've already got a problem with the media perpetuating the idea that there's only two people in this mayoral race and I don't like where this ABC interview is heading," he said. "You seem to me, Spencer, to be supporting this notion it's either Harding or Quirk when actually there's clearly different options." To which Howson responded: "You would have to agree that it will be either Rod Harding or Graham Quirk that will be mayor after Saturday." Mr Eldridge: "No I don't, Spencer. It's people like you that perpetuate that falsehood." Howson: "Well the polls also suggest that. You don't believe the polls?"

Mr Eldridge: "So history predicts the future, does it? The people of Brisbane tick a box, Spencer, that's how it works. They tick a box against a name, yeah? "They can put it in preference order, but it's the people of Brisbane that decide, not the media. Not people like you perpetuating this thing between Labor and the LNP." Fellow independent candidate Jarrod Wirth said he wanted to ban the wearing of burqas in Brisbane. "I've had Islamic lecturers at university who don't wear the veil at university, but I'll see them in centres and they're wearing the full outfit," he said. "I can't walk up and say 'hey'  I find it very confronting."

Karel Boele, of the People Decide party, said he would be contractually bound to vote whichever way the people of Brisbane directed online, as long as at least 10 per cent of the electorate voted with a majority of 65 per cent or more. Mr Boele said he was confident the people of Brisbane would get it right. "We have to learn from our mistakes and I actually hope that the people make a decision or two that goes in the wrong direction, so then we learn and see the impacts," he said. "For me, that makes for a more engaged, aware Brisbane and I can only believe that can make a better city." Consumer Rights and No-Tolls Party candidate Jeffrey Hodges, who has campaigned on removing tolls from Brisbane's roads and fluoride from the city's water supply, wanted to introduce a 2 per cent "bed tax" for interstate and overseas visitors.
This weekend Queenslanders are set to make an important decision that will improve the quality of government they experience at a state level.

State governments have key responsibilities to create a free and fair society, improve services, encourage investment and job creation, boost confidence in public administration and deliver stability and growth for the business community  and to deliver all of these things in a manner that is consultative, inclusive and follows the well-established cabinet and parliamentary process.

The truth is that to genuinely achieve these aims though, the process of governing can take some time, and far longer than the average two years and nine months between current elections.

I know, as a former minister, that for even the most diligent person there is time spent getting used to the job, then actually getting something done, before natural caution sets in as an election approaches, and activity slows.
A jury has failed to reach a verdict for the second time over the alleged murder of a Gold Coast drug addict.

Shane Hansen and Dean Wills were on trial in Brisbane's Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to the 2001 murder of Darren John Britza, whose body was found buried in 2008.

Victim Darren Britza.

After deliberating for more than two days, the jury told the court today they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict and the trial was dismissed.

It is the second time a jury has been unable to reach a verdict in relation to the charges against Wills, who stood trial for the same matter in early 2015.
Already forced to turn away three out of every five people who come to them for help, Queensland's community legal centre stakeholders have travelled to Canberra in an attempt to save the funding they have.

As part of budget cuts due to come into effect in July next year, community legal centres face a losing 30 per cent of their current funding.

Community legal centres estimate more than 35,000 people will be turned away - on top of the 80,000 already left unseen, if federal funding cuts go through. Credit:Louie Douvis

The National Association of Community Legal Centres estimates more than 36,000 Australians seeking free legal advice, mostly seniors, the unemployed, those escaping violent situations and other vulnerable people, will lose out on help.

That's on top of the 80,000 people who were turned away due to already strained resources.
Australian teenager Oliver Bridgeman has hit out at the decision to cancel his passport, saying he has only been doing humanitarian work in Syria.

The 19-year-old Queenslander has told a Sydney-based Muslim community internet channel he and his parents feel betrayed by the Australian government.

Mr Bridgeman arrived in Syria about 11 months ago, and says his humanitarian work in refugee camps has included distributing warm jackets, heaters and mattresses, and working with youth.

His Australian passport was cancelled and a warrant issued for his arrest after he was accused of entering a foreign country intending to engage in hostile activities.
When I found out my eight-year-old had been taught at school that there's no God, I was shocked.

Well, actually, it's the opposite: I'm an atheist and in Religious Instruction, my son was taught that God exists, and his saviour is Jesus.

Religious Instruction has no place in Queensland schools, argues Hugh Harris.

This admittedly contrived example illustrates why religious instruction is inherently discriminatory.

Considering we'd previously opted out our son from the program, I was appalled when he still attended the first class of the year. How vigilant must I be?
The student wrote an email to Dr Carroll in February outlining his own experiences as a gay student at the college.

The student contacted the principal of St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, with his story of bullying at the school.

The student, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted school principal Dr Michael Carroll with his own deeply personal story of bullying at the school but was met with a cold, short response.

A gay student at St Joseph's College Gregory Terrace has hit back at his school's decision to not join the Safe Schools Coalition.

"When I came to Terrace, there was no one, my friends all went to different schools and the people who called me names, and gave me a hard time (in Primary School) were the only ones that remained," he wrote.

"I found it hard to talk to people on the first day, people wouldn't want to sit with me, I was the 'gay' one, the 'weird' one. And this all happened within earshot of teachers, tutors, buddies. The response: Nothing."

The bullying continued for his first two years of school, where he would cry himself to sleep every night.

"I remember one of the thoughts that kept growing on me was the feeling that I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again so I didn't have to deal with what my life had come to," he wrote in his letter.

The student admits the bullying stopped after he revealed his sexuality to his friends at school, but he is eager to ensure no one suffers through what he suffered through.
When it comes to income tax, what a person pays tax on will depend on where they are regarded as being a resident. One of the few exceptions is for US citizens who pay tax on their worldwide income, no matter where they live.

In Australia, an income tax residency test is applied to work out what an individual pays income tax on. If you are classed as an Australian resident for income tax purposes, you pay tax on your worldwide income. If you do not pass this test, and are therefore are an alien for income tax purposes, you only pay tax on your Australian source income.

You might have set up your business in Italy, but you could still be an Australian resident for tax purposes.

Q. I am an Australia citizen currently living in Italy on a working holiday visa. I would like to start a business sourcing leather goods made here in Italy, with the primary aim of selling them in Australia via an online store. I would also like to ship worldwide, but my main market focus would be Australia.

I am not planning on moving home to Australia to conduct the business, so for tax purposes I think I am currently a "non-resident" in Australia. So where does that leave me in terms of registering the business? I know Australia and Italy have a tax treaty, but that still doesn't help me as to which country would be the best place to register?
Small businesses will find it easier to challenge large rivals in court for anti-competitive behaviour if Labor is elected, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen says.

Labor wants to give federal court judges the power to stop small businesses from having to pay their larger rivals' costly legal fees after unsuccessful litigation.

Under Labor's proposal, at an early stage of a court case a small private litigant would be able to request a "no adverse cost" order. Credit:James Davies

It says that by removing the fear of having to pay crushing legal fees if they lose, such a policy would allow small private litigants to better bring action against powerful interests, levelling the playing field between small and large companies.

The move has been welcomed by the Council of Small Business of Australia, and cautiously welcomed by the Business Council of Australia.
Dear Prime Minister,

In light of the recent public debate about proposed changes to section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, I am writing to set out the concerns of the Council of Small Business of Australia.

Peter Strong, chief executive of the Council of Small Business of Australia, has written an open letter to the Prime Minister. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Our concerns go well beyond the interests of our member associations, who represent between 450,000 and 500,000 small business people and their families. We are deeply concerned about the risks to consumers, businesses of all sizes and the capacity of the economy to adapt in response to unprecedented global disruption.

It is our view that by not implementing the changes to section 46 about governing the misuse of market power, as proposed in the independent Harper Review, we risk:
Auditors will descend on schools to interrogate travel expenses, credit card spending and school councils as part of a crackdown on misconduct.

The Education Department has beefed up its auditing of schools in the wake of damning revelations at anti-corruption hearings, and is using technology to target schools at risk of misconduct.

Auditors will descend on Victorian state schools in wake of revelations of misconduct and financial mismanagement at the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Inquiry. Credit:Tanya Lake

The finances of 270 school councils will also be investigated and those identified in anti-corruption hearings will face extra scrutiny.

For the first time, the department will use a "data analytical tool" to track school spending and flag unusual transactions which it would then investigate.
Metal chairs, plates and glasses full of hot coffee were hurled like missiles as a violent street gang converged on Melbourne's CBD on Saturday night, taunting police and leaving innocent bystanders cowering in restaurants and others running in fear for their lives.

Staff at Brunetti's cafe in City Square, who had to lock terrified customers inside, said the rioters' had behaved "like animals" and left some fearing the city had come under a terror attack.

Denise Papale, who was the supervisor on duty at Brunetti's on Saturday night, injured her wrist while trying to shield customers from the marauding youths.
"It does not matter who you are, your circumstances, your background, if you break the law you feel the full force of the law," he said on Monday.

People must take responsibility for their "evil choices", the Premier declared.

This was the individual's fault, sentiment more likely to be shared by a Coalition MP than a leader from Labor's Socialist Left.

African gangs are nothing new. Operation Tense, a taskforce established to crack down on the Apex gang has made 33 arrests since November, but this was the first time that this gang behaviour was thrust into the lives of most Melburnians.

The sheer scale and the fact a unique Melbourne festival was ruined warrants tough language, but more importantly some serious action.
Premier Daniel Andrews has made an angry response to Saturday night's rampage in the city, vowing to "smash" gang violence in Victoria.

Two days after "completely unacceptable" violence rocked Saturday night's Moomba festivities, Mr Andrews fronted the media to promise offenders they would "feel the full force of the law".

"We will come after you," he promised.
Bangladeshi pizza-and-kebab shop owner Mirza Al-Amin, on Swanston Street - in the heart of the weekend's Moomba riot zone - is open all night, 24 hours a day. "We never close," he says. "Every weekend, Friday and Saturday, something happen in this block."

He first smelled trouble at 10.30pm on Saturday. That was when he heard more raucous noise than usual outside his place, Tasty Pizza and Kebabs, in that stretch down from Young and Jacksons toward Flinders Lane. He heard what he thought were slogans being shouted by a lot of people at once, coming from the north. But he couldn't really understand the language of the slogans, only that it was a big crowd shouting the same thing in unison.

He poked his head out the shop door into what must be the most unsavoury strip of street late at night in Melbourne, and saw gangs - his word - of young people, including very young, he said, rampaging up the footpath past him towards Flinders Sreet Station jumping up and down bashing the shop signs that hung above them. Many of the young people were very tall, he said.

Then more groups came doing the same thing but from the other direction, from Federation Square.
Two men killed in an ultralight plane crash in Yarrawonga were in Victoria's north to film the Vietnamese version of The Amazing Race.

Mt Evelyn man Ian Cook, 60, and his rear passenger, Vietnamese man Quoc Huong Vu, 44, were both killed on impact.

Crash victim Quoc Huong Vu. Credit:The Border Mail

Police believe Mr Vu may have been filming at the time of the crash. It may have been captured by multiple video cameras.

Investigators will sift through footage in a bid to determine the cause of the accident.
Victoria Police ignored credible warnings that a violent rampage was planned for Melbourne's central business district on Saturday night, despite holding recent discussions with South Sudanese community leaders about the heightened threat of gang attacks.

A Triple-0 operator was tipped off at 6pm on Saturday that a confrontation between two gangs in the city was imminent, but their alert was dismissed as "shit" by a senior officer, according to a police source.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp at a press conference at Saturday night's gang violence in Melbourne. Credit:Penny Stephens

Despite the warning  and other specific information provided by African community groups  Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp insisted that the wild brawl had caught them unprepared, while Premier Daniel Andrews vowed to "smash" the gangs.

Mr Crisp denied the warning from a Channel Seven reporter had been ignored, but said it could not be substantiated by police intelligence.
Police have arrested seven youths after reports of a brawl in a shopping precinct at South Wharf on Monday evening.



Victoria Police spokeswoman Lee Thomson said witnesses told police that a group of youths ran from the scene prior to police arrival about 5.30pm.



"Shortly after, patrolling police arrested the youths, aged between 14 to 16 years, on Clarendon Street near the Flinders Street intersection," Leading Senior Constable Thomson said.



The youths were taken to a local police station and interviewed.

It is not known if they have any connection to the Apex or Islander 23 gangs, both involved in a riot in Melbourne's CBD on Saturday night.
Two men with links to the Apex gang that rioted in Melbourne's CBD on the weekend have been arrested over a series of carjackings.

Special Operations Group police helped make the dramatic arrest on Monday afternoon when the heavily armoured unit swooped on the alleged offenders outside a fast food restaurant in Dandenong.

Two 18-year-old men, one from Dandenong and the other from Noble Park, were taken into custody just after 2pm on Heatherton Road in Dandenong.

Officers at the scene said the arrest was not related to the events of Saturday night, however the Apex gang is believed to have started the mass brawl near Federation Square.
Workers at Hog's Breath Cafe in Kelmscott have launched legal action amid claims they are being paid less than the Award under a WorkChoices-era pay deal.

It has been nearly a decade since the federal government abolished the flawed industrial relations laws and six years since former prime minister Tony Abbott declared WorkChoices "dead, buried and cremated".

Workers at the Kelmscott outlet remain on an agreement that does not entitle them to overtime or weekend penalty rates.

Workers at the steakhouse chain, however, remain on an agreement that does not entitle them to overtime or weekend penalty rates.

Hog's Breath Cafe employee and medical student, Melinda Joseph, applied to the Fair Work Commission in February to have the agreement terminated on the grounds employees were worse-off under the current agreement when compared to the Award.
A Perth teacher has allegedly been caught secretly filming primary school students in a toilet cubicle block.

The 58-year-old male teacher was charged by police after a video recording device was located in a southern suburbs school in recent days, a police spokeswoman said.

"It has been determined that a number of students were recorded on the device, which was positioned inside a toilet cubicle at the school," she said.

"To protect the identity of potential child victims the school cannot be named, however parents of children who are identified as having been recorded on camera will be individually contacted by the detectives and provided further information regarding the investigation."

The man, who lives in Perth's southern suburbs, has been charged with 27 counts of indecently recording a child under 13 years old, 15 counts of attempting to indecently record a child under 13 years old and 10 counts of unlawfully installing an optical surveillance device.
The state government has stood down teams who have spent four months battling an outbreak of Australia's most damaging fruit pest in Perth's southern suburbs.

In November, department staff found six male Queensland fruit fly, now present in all other states except South Australia and Tasmania, in local surveillance traps, forcing it to evaluate potential effects on interstate and international trade.

Residents of the southern Perth suburbs inside the quarantine zone faced fines for failing to comply with the restrictions on the movement of fruit and vegetables.

The Department of Agriculture and Food WA on Monday announced it had eradicated the pest and called off contractors brought in to sweep the quarantine zone of eight suburbs and restore WA's status as one of only three Australian states free of Qfly.

The contractors, along with council staff backup, made 12,500 inspections at 910 properties inside the quarantine area of Alfred Cove, Ardross, Booragoon, Winthrop, Willagee, Myaree, Melville and Attadale, spraying risk host plants, along verges and selected backyards within a 200-metre radius of each location flies were detected.
Australia's Ambassador to Turkey was with his 12-year-old daughter when a car bomb exploded just 20 metres away in central Ankara on Sunday, killing 37 people and wounding roughly 125.

Ambassador James Larsen said he was driving his young daughter home from a horse riding lesson and had stopped at a set of traffic lights when he heard a tell-tale 'pop'.

He described the "very distressing" chaos on one of the city's busiest roads in an interview on ABC's 7.30 on Monday night.

"We were stationary at some traffic lights and the explosion took place just on the other side of the traffic lights," Mr Larsen said via video link from a television studio in the Turkish capital.
Xi who must be obeyed?

A conductor leads a military band at the opening session of the annual National People's Congress in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. Credit:AP

But as stage-managed as China's political season is, the flurry of government work reports and official press conferences throws up some valuable insights. Ahead of Premier Li Keqiang's closing press conference on Wednesday, here are some of the highlights of the past fortnight:

Beijing: China's annual parliamentary-style National People's Congress is largely a ceremonial, rubber-stamp affair to formalise the plans of the Communist Party leadership.

A key tenet of Xi Jinping's three-year reign as president has been his consolidation of power and diminishing tolerance of dissent.

With growing unease over the central government's handling of a slowing economy and sharemarket volatility, Xi prefaced this year's congress by demanding complete loyalty from the country's state-run media.

And those who don't obey

The pushback, however subtle, has surprised  especially given the potential consequences. First came an ingeniously subversive front page from Guangzhou tabloid Southern Metropolis Daily, which cryptically mourned Xi's edict as the soulless death of Chinese media.

Then came Caixin, a respected weekly financial magazine noted for its boundary-testing investigative journalism, which had an article expunged by censors for interviewing a congress delegate who proposed a more "democratic political system" to combat the endemic corruption hampering the Chinese economy.
Moscow: Europe and Russia launched a spacecraft in a joint mission on Monday to search for signs of life on Mars and bring humans a step closer to flying to the red planet themselves.

The craft, part of the ExoMars program, blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket, starting a seven-month journey through space.

It carries an atmospheric probe that is to study trace gases such as methane - a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life - that previous Mars missions have detected in the planet's atmosphere.

Also, it will deploy a lander that will test technologies needed for a rover due to follow in 2018.
Mexico City: In her first full account since Mexican drug baron Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was recaptured, Mexican actress Kate del Castillo says she only met secretly with the then fugitive for a project to document his life in a movie. She denied suggestions she had received any money from the drug lord.

Del Castillo wrote of the meeting in a first-person article published in the Mexican weekly news magazine Proceso. She explained how she was contacted by Guzman's attorneys, the discussions leading up to the encounter and ultimately her October 2015 meeting with Guzman and American actor Sean Penn in a remote area of north-eastern Mexico.

Actress Kate del Castillo at a news conference in Los Angeles in 2014. Credit:Nick Ut

The Proceso article comes just two days after The New Yorker magazine published part of an interview with the actress. It was the first interview she had given to any medium about the meeting with the drug lord.

"What I wanted to do was document the life of a man named enemy No. 1 by the most powerful nation in the world," she wrote.
Beirut: Syria's five-year-old conflict has created 2.4 million child refugees, killed many and led to the recruitment of children as fighters, some as young as seven, the UN children's fund UNICEF said on Monday.

Its report "No Place for Children" said more than 8 million children in Syria and neighbouring countries needed humanitarian assistance, with the international response plan for Syria chronically underfunded.

"Twice as many people now live under siege or in hard-to-reach areas compared with 2013. At least 2 million of those cut off from assistance are children, including more than 200,000 in areas under siege," it said.

The UN says more than 450,000 people are under siege. Cases of starvation have been reported this year in areas surrounded by government forces and their allies near Damascus, and by Islamic State in eastern Syria.
The notion that we can't pick our family is dispelled, to poignant effect, in Southern Comfort, Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins' life-affirming stage adaptation of Kate Davis' 2001 documentary of the same title. Admittedly, the story of a Georgia transgender man who surrounds himself with a chosen group of family, and then succumbs to cancer, doesn't seem naturally musical. But with an engaging bluegrass score, a particularly lovely company led by Annette O'Toole and Jeff McCarthy, and wrenching honesty, this Public Theater production really sings.

Robert Eads (O'Toole) is a transgender man living Toccoa, Georgia, a place he lovingly calls "Bubba Country." Robert is a proud resident of the backwoods, with a love of pipe smoking and a black cowboy hat he rarely takes off. He has also spent the better part of his adult life trying to escape his youth, where he was born and raised as "Barbara." In a cruel twist of fate, Robert, who has only undergone top surgery, is dying of metastatic ovarian cancer after local hospitals refused to treat him.

Yet there are still some bright spots in Robert's life; namely, the Sunday night dinners with the small group of people he spiritually adopted to fill a void left by his disapproving parents. This adopted group includes Jackson (Jeffrey Kuhn), Robert's surrogate son who used to be "Peggy Sue," as well as Sam (Donnie Cianciotto), a trans man still scarred by the aftereffects of his surgical transformation, and his girlfriend, Melanie (Robin Skye), who has finally found happiness and safety with her partner. New to the group is Lola (McCarthy), the true love for whom Robert has been searching his entire life, who hasn't yet transitioned and still publicly lives as John.

Like the musical, the film explores the last year of Robert's life as he prepares to attend his final Southern Comfort Conference, the preeminent gathering for trans people in the United States. With Robert begging Lola to be his date, Jackson's jealousy has the potential to wreck the family Robert has spent so many years assembling.

Jeffrey Kuhn and Annette O'Toole as Jackson and Robert in the Public Theater production of Southern Comfort.

( Carol Rosegg)

First mounted at CAP21 in 2011 and subsequently at Barrington Stage Company in 2013, Southern Comfort, which is conceived by Robert DuSold and Thomas Caruso, has only deepened in terms of emotion. Davis provides a stirring, soulful musical score that blends country and Appalachian folk, with lyrics from Collins that go straight for the tear ducts.

McCarthy expertly captures the inner ache of a person trying to find comfort after living for so long in an ill-fitting body. He sells yearning ballads like "Bird" and "Giving Up the Ghost" to the rafters. With a face full of whiskers and a "don't mess with me" demeanor, O'Toole morphs so deeply into Robert that the lines between reality and performance start to blur. Under Caruso's careful direction, the pair has the kind of chemistry one would expect from an actual married couple, which makes the events of the second act so shattering.

The remaining performers, several of whom have been with Southern Comfort from its earliest production, are very much their equals. Kuhn is blazingly good as Jackson, particularly in the damning Act 1 finale, "I Don't Need Another Father." Skye radiates warmth as Melanie. Cast after a search for trans performers, new company members Cianciotto and Aneesh Sheth (as Jackson's sexually charged post-transition girlfriend, Carly) lend a depth and further resonance to their characters.

Physically, James J. Fenton has provided the musical with a gritty backwoods set that centers around a symbolic blooming tree of life. Patricia E. Doherty's costumes, combined with David Brian Brown's hair design, help transform the performers into their characters. The band (who also double as various characters) expertly plays orchestrations by Davis and members David M. Lutken and Joel Waggoner.

Southern Comfort does have a tendency to feel like a simplified and somewhat preachy primer on trans issues  at times seeming at war with the deeply felt emotional quality of the performances. And the casting of only two trans actors still isn't enough. However, the piece treats it subjects with a great deal of respect and humanity. And with issues of trans identity finally coming to the fore in mainstream media, Southern Comfort is a beautiful entry into an important conversation.
Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web
Japan Aims For World's Safest Roads by 2020

TOKYO Mar. 12, 2016; Japan Today reported that the Japanese government announced a plan Friday to reduce the annual number of traffic fatalities to 2,500 or fewer by 2020 and make the countrys roads the safest in the world.

The 10th traffic safety program, covering five years from fiscal 2016 starting April, calls for promoting automatic braking and driving technologies to slash the number of the deaths per 100,000 people in the country to the lowest in the world.

By steadily implementing the plan, we seek to become the worlds leading safe-traffic society, said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a meeting on traffic safety measures.

Road accident deaths in Japan rose to 4,117 in 2015, marking the first increase in 15 years, with many elderly victims.

While the figure meant the country failed to achieve the target of 3,000 or fewer deaths set under the current five-year safety program, government officials said they believe they can achieve the new target by improving safety measures targeting the elderly.

The current target number accounts for fatalities within 24 hours of an accident.

The new program simultaneously calls for cutting the number of deaths within 30 days of a traffic accident to 3,000 or less and reducing the total number of casualties to 500,000 or fewer per year.

Among other transport covered by the program, the government plans to make all elevated tracks of major railways quake-resistant by fiscal 2017 in regions that could be hit by major earthquakes.
HEELS ON WHEELS: 2016 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

HEELS ON WHEELS

By Katrina Ramser

San Francisco Bureau

The Auto Channel

INTRO TO THE 4RUNNER VEHICLE

The rugged Toyota 4Runner honors tradition over trend with body-on-frame engineering and excellent off-road capability at just the base level  even more so with legendary TRD performance options. For the model year, new features include Scout GPS Link cell phone navigation and an increase in towing for certain trims.

I drove a 2016 Toyota 4Runner with the standard 270-horsepower 4-liter V6 engine with 278 pound-feet of torque, paired to a five-speed automatic transmission and part-time four-wheel drive system. Available in four trims  the base SR5, Trail, Limited and TRD Pro for those who want more off-road ability  my Trail with a Premium Package test-drive came with the following standard feature highlights: SofTex upholstery; heated front seats; upgraded JBL audio system; Toyotas Entune; Bluetooth; a 6.1-inch touchscreen with backup camera; navigation; moonroof; front and rear parking sensors; tow hitch receiver; power-sliding rear window; seventeen-inch black wheels; color-keyed bumpers; hood scoop; locking rear differential; and selectable terrain modes. Total price as described came to $39,095.

The Grand Jeep Cherokee is the 4Runners best trail-rated match, but competitors include other rugged three-row SUVs such as the Dodge Durango and GMC Suburban.

HEELS ON WHEELS REVIEW CRITERIA

Stylish But Comfortable Results: You sit high in the 4Runner, especially with the optional Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (KDSS) for a truck-like drive, but secure with an accommodating driver power seat. Brushed-chrome accents and vivid blue illuminated digital displays give the interior a sleek look. Equipment for the tech-minded includes Entune, Toyotas multi-media system for streamlining your smartphone to hands-free navigation, calls and music with App Suite allowing for quick searches on the 6.1-inch split-screen. The power-sliding rear window is an attraction for many who will use this vehicle as an alternative to a truck. My test drive also came with a very convenient $350 sliding rear cargo deck and the $1,750 Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System.

Reliability & Safety Factor: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the 2016 Toyota 4Runner ratings of Good in all crash-test areas with the exception of a Marginal in small overlap front. I also love that the organization is now rating the ease of use with child seat anchors, with the 4Runner getting just another Marginal rating in this area. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the vehicle an overall rating of 4-Stars  rollover earned just 3-Stars, frontal crash 4-Stars and side crash 5-Stars.

Cost Issues: A base SR5 4Runner starts at $33,810; the Trail trim at $36,715; the Limited trim at $42,125; and the TRD Pro at $41,850. My Trail Premium trim with options test drive cost $40,445.

Activity & Performance Ability: Plainly stated, the engineers behind the 4Runner appreciate and understand durability. Having driven last years TRD Pro Series trim on private roads in the Stanislaus National Forest on the outskirts of Yosemite, I am pretty sold on those particular package upgrades  but nevertheless, any current 4Runner model (including my most recent Trail) will feature a more generous approach angle than competitors, absorb all off-road abrasions, and generally please in both a paved and unpaved real-world situations. Note the Limited trim has increased its towing capabilities.

The Green Concern: The 4-liter V6 gets 17-city and 21-highway for a combined 18 miles-per-gallon combined  typical for this type of working SUV.

FINAL PARTING WORDS

The 2016 Toyota 4Runner continues to seduce those with a pallet for a more rugged SUV. At any trim level, the 4Runner will impress with off-road performance and modern technology conveniences. Owning a 4Runner is like being a part outdoor history and is a personal favorite with my family, first on our wish list above fancier and roomier crossovers.

2016 Katrina Ramser

The Most In-Depth Toyota Vehicle Shopper's Research - Anywhere!
2016 Chevrolet Volt Review +VIDEO

2016 CHEVROLET VOLT IN AVILA BEACH

A Shunpiker Travel Review

Having your cake and eating it too

By Steve Purdy

Senior Editor

The Auto Channel

Michigan Bureau





About three hours north of LA, as Highway 101 turns north just past Pismo Beach, we find the quaint and quiet little town of Avila Beach looking south into San Luis Obispo Bay. About three blocks of storefronts and eateries face the broad sandy beach swarmed by beachgoers on weekends but nearly deserted during the week. This is as quiet and serene an ocean spot as you are likely to find along Californias central coast.

Were driving a new, second-generation Chevy Volt, not the most ideal car for this week of exploration, particularly considering our resort has no place to plug in this extended range electric car. Fortunately, it gets great gas mileage even when youre running it as a conventional car.

For those unfamiliar with this automotive genre let me explain.





The Volt is primarily an electric car, sort of a plug-in hybrid, but unlike most of that genre the cars gasoline engine never (we should say seldom) actually powers the car, rather it powers a generator that feeds the batteries that store the electricity that runs the car. GM insists that because the gasoline engine does not actually power the car it is really an extended range electric vehicle, rather than a hybrid. Sounds like a semantic distinction to me. The bottom line is that you can run the Volt on just electricity for about 50 miles between charges but as far as you like on the range extender  a classic case of having your cake and eating it too.

And, its a good thing we have an extended range. We picked our Volt up near LAX and headed north for about 200 miles to get to Avila Beach, first along the 405 then the 101. The midday LA traffic coagulated a few times but less than expected. In a bit more than three hours we were watching the crashing waves on the beach from our fifth floor balcony at a lovely older resort in Avila Beach.





Initial impressions of the Volt are mixed. It looks fresh and stylish particularly in the Kinetic Blue Metallic of our test car. We struggled to stuff our two suitcases and related cargo under the hatch. Space is small, access is limited and lift-over is high. This is a compact car, after all, so we shouldnt expect generous cargo space.

Otherwise it was a most comfortable size. Up front we were quite comfortable in the nicely finished cabin. The mostly intuitive controls caused little annoyance as we programmed our destination into the navigation system and got under way onto the northbound Santa Monica Freeway passing the Getty Museum in short order.

Our test car has the optional Driver Confidence Package that includes what they call Lane Keep Assist, a feature that tries to push you back into your own lane if you wander near the lane markings or try to change lanes without a turn signal. It is rather disconcerting at first and it includes an audible signal as well under some circumstances. The package also has the Forward Collision Alert that beeps frantically if you are closing too fast on a vehicle in front, and automatic braking that will bring you to a stop from low speeds if you dont do it yourself. We accessed the first two of these systems a few times in that awful LA traffic and got used to them fairly quickly.





Much of our time when we travel to a new destination is spent exploring by car. Just a bit north and west of Avila Beach the historic and scenic Highway 1 rejoins the coast at Morro Bay, as it does intermittently for hundreds of miles. The coastline here is alternately rocky, sandy and steep. From here to Monterey Bay we found some of the most beautiful winding roads in the world offering nearly endless photogenic vistas. And, of course, we took advantage of them repeatedly all week. Our drive to the edge of Monterey Bay at Pebble Beach, with lunch at a quaint little cafe in Carmel by the Sea, took all day providing a primer to the deep-pockets culture of that area. It is easy to see why people are drawn to the majestic beauty of this part of the country.

The Volt was up to the task of plying that challenging road with responsive suspension, tight steering and gobs of torque. This generation II Volt gets lighter and more efficient with a new gasoline range extender (named one of Wards 10 Best Engines), new architecture based on the Chevy Cruze, a more energy-dense lithium-ion battery pack and entirely redesigned electric power system. Electric range is up to 53 miles from barely 40 on the previous model. Using just the range extending gasoline engine to make electricity without plugging in, the EPA says to expect around 42 mpg, and that is exactly what we achieved. The EPAs MPGe (an arbitrary measure of overall efficiency) is 106. That is only relevant in comparison to other electrics.





The famous Hearst Castle, once the exquisite west coast home of newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst, it is now an art museum as well as an architectural marvel and located just an hour north of Avilia, in the hills above the village of San Simeon. From that verdant 1,600-foot hilltop we can see for miles up and down the coast and to the surrounding pastures. A few miles further north past the castle are beaches where elephant seals come to have their pups and rest up before going back to sea. They look like giant slugs taking over the shoreline when the light gets soft in the evening. They also smell rather funky but they are beautiful creatures in their own way.

While watching the sunset from a sandy bank just above the sedentary seals (they call this a rookery) we photographed the car. This new Volt benefits visually from a major restyling. The exterior is much improved with crisp, coupe-like styling that makes it look more conventional. Inside it looks and feels a good measure upscale with nicer interior trim, redesigned dash, better seats, a third seating position in the rear (on some models) and more technology throughout.





Chevys new car warranty covers the whole car for 3 years or 36,000 miles and the powertrain for 5 years or 60,000 miles. The battery pack and other Voltec electric propulsion parts get an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

Our loaded Volt Premier shows a beginning price of $37,520. The entry-level car begins at $33,170. The Premier trim level gets you lots of extra content including leather seating, Bose premium audio, heated and folding outside mirrors, heated front seats, and availability of the driver assistance options. With a plethora of those options our tester shows $40,245 on the stickers bottom line. Federal and sometimes state incentives apply to the purchase but usually in the form of tax credits, which means youll pay the whole price up front and hope to get the subsidy back when you file your tax return the following year.

So, can we have our cake and eat it too? Yes, by all means.

If you drive less than 50 miles/day, as do most people in urban and suburban areas, youll never have to buy gasoline making this one of the nicest electric cars for the price. But, if you need to make some longer drives you have a very efficient, gasoline powered range extender that will allow any length of trip as long as the fuel tank is filled up.

Steve Purdy, Shunpiker Productions, All Rights Reserved
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Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder If we have any hope of a thriving planetmuch less a businessit is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have. This is what we can do. Read Yvons Letter

Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 Orders are shipped within 1-2 business days and arrive within 3-10 business days. Need it sooner? Concerned about the environmental impact? Flexible shipping options are available. More Details
Donald Trump bought into yet another Internet conspiracy over the weekend, this time insisting that he was attacked by ISIS instead of an ordinary protester at a rally in Dayton, Ohio .The protester attempted to rush the stage on Saturday as the Republican presidential frontrunner was giving a speech at a rally inside an airplane hanger. The activist, later identified as Thomas DiMassimo, was quickly intercepted by Secret Service agents, arrested, and charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic. (He is currently out on bail.)

DiMassimo is a left-wing activist, and passionate supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Black Lives Matter movement - with no known ties to ISIS.But that's not what Trump wants you to believe.

The day after tweeting that DiMassimo "has ties to ISIS" and "should be in jail," Trump was asked on NBC's Meet the Press if he'd gone too far with his false accusation.After all, the root of the alleged ISIS connection is nothing more than an online video that is clearly a hoax.Trump's defense of his comment was that if it is on the Internet, it must be real.No, no, no, no, he was, Trump told host Chuck Todd. If you look on the Internet, if you look at clips, he was waving an American flag... He was walking, dragging the American flag on the ground."Trump added that DiMassimo was playing Arabic music, (he was not, that was dubbed in by someone with access to the World Wide Web), and that "he had Internet chatter with ISIS and about ISIS. (No law enforcement agency has ever claimed this.)All I know is what's on the Internet, Trump, who is on track to be the 2016 Republican nominee, said.DiMassimo did not immediately respond to our requests for comment regarding what he thinks of Trump believing he is a member of the so-called Islamic State. The Secret Service declined to comment when asked by The Daily Beast if (as Trump insists) there is any evidence whatsoever (there isn't any) that the protester was linked to ISIS's network of bloodletting international terrorism.

Trump has routinely blurted out inflammatory, outrageous statements in his 2016 run for the White House. What makes this one an added dose of irresponsible (beyond the absence of credible evidence) is the rising tide of violence at Trump rallies lately  and in at least one case, the stated reason for the violence was irrational suspicion of a protester's ISIS ties.On Wednesday, 78-year-old, cowboy-hat-donning John McGraw was charged with assault and battery after sucker-punching a black protester named Rakeem Jones at a Trump campaign event in North Carolina. When asked by Inside Edition why he punched the young activist in the eye, McGraw replied that "we don't know if he's ISIS. We don't know who he is, but we know he's not acting like an American, cussing meIf he wants it laid out, I laid it out."

"He deserved it," the 78-year-old Trump fan added. "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don't know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization."

Now, Trump is explicitly telling millions of viewers, and his supporters, that the man who stage-rushed him over the weekend was definitely tied to that terrorist organization.

The fact that he wasn't, doesn't matter to team Trump.

There are plenty of Trump supporters  some of whom willing to throw a punch or two, if not worse  ready to believe it.
CHICAGO  Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez has declined to file charges against Chicago police officers involved in the fatal shootings of at least 68 people in the last seven years and there is no documentation to explain these decisions, a Daily Beast review of public records has found.

Clearing police officers without explanation seems almost scandalous today, but in the era before Black Lives Matter, it was the norm. Even the press did not routinely report on the number of police-involved shootings, let alone the specifics of each. Even after the outrage of how Chicago deliberately hid the dashcam video showing Laquan McDonalds death, Alvarezs office largely escaped scrutiny about how it investigates officer-involved shootings; the focus instead has been mostly on Mayor Rahm Emanuels office, the Chicago Police Department, and Independent Police Review Authority, none of whom can criminally charge officers.

Daniel Kirk and Sally Daly of the Cook County States Attorneys Office explained that other than a few internal memos, there is no documentation of the decisions to decline charges against the officers involved in those 68 shootings that have occurred during Alvarezs tenure. Both also explained that greater transparency is coming, however.

With Alvarez facing a tight race in the March 15 Democratic primary, her office is going public with such promises for more transparency, and proclaiming in political ads its history of prosecuting cops.

I can tell you one of the things [Alvarez] has talked about doing is that we need to make more information available to the public, said Daly, spokeswoman for the states attorney. Thats one of the things that shes acknowledged that we need to do. Eventually we will be posting on our website the final report that gives the basis for declination of charges.

In defense of Alvarez, Daly and Kirk pointed to the nearly 100 officers from Cook County who have been charged by the states attorneys office in cases ranging from official misconduct, to perjury, to battery and improper use of a firearm. Of those cases, 36 are Chicago police officers, Daly said.

With 68 fatal police shootings in the past seven years, Chicago is not an extraordinary example, according to Daly. To compare, Daly provided statistics that show law enforcement agencies in Metro Atlantapopulation 5.4 million, roughly double Chicagos 2.7 millionhave fatally shot 75 people since 2010 with no charges filed against those officers. Philadelphia did not charge any officers in fatal shootings between 2007 and 2013, Daly added.

Alvarez charged officer Jason Van Dyke with murder for McDonalds death, but the controversy surrounding the shooting forced Chicagos top prosecutor to recognize that in-depth explanations of police shootings may now be a requirement of the job. Three weeks after making Van Dyke the first Chicago cop to ever be charged with murder in an on-duty shooting, Alvarez made history again by explaining for the first time publicly why she would not charge a Chicago police officer for killing someone.

On Dec. 4, Alvarez explained at a nationally televised press conference that the death of Ronald Johnson at the hands of police was justified and there was no evidence to bring about charges. In fact, she provided reams of evidencedashcam video, 911 calls, and witness statementsto back up her decision.

This level of transparency may be the new norm for prosecutors in Chicago dealing with controversial police shootings. The treatment Johnson received was different from that of the nearly 70 men and women shot and killed by the Chicago police during Alvarezs tenure. None of them prompted a press conference explaining why no charges would be filed against the officers involved in those cases.

Furthermore, none of those cases even prompted Alvarez to release documentsor, apparently, craft them at alllaying out why charges were declined.

The pressure following the release of the McDonald video is the same that was heaped upon officials in Ferguson after the death of Michael Brown, Cleveland after Tamir Rice, and countless other cities across the country now dealing with an information cycle that operates at a much higher speed than the criminal justice system, said Kirk, an assistant states attorney.

Unlike the Independent Police Review Authority, which publishes reports on its website explaining why the agency determines whether or not an officer should be punished following a shooting, there is no such public paper trail from Alvarezs office.

Legal conferences, like the one Kirk attended in mid-February in Denver, are being held to address the questions police and prosecutors are now tangling with, he said. When should police release video of a death tied to law enforcement? How much information should prosecutorswho may be considering criminal charges against an officerbe released?

Were not ashamed of our reasoning in police shootings in which officers are not charged, Kirk said. But what good does it do if no one can see it?

Many in communities of coloroften those that have more interactions with policeare recording cops and documenting police shootings with more regularity, adding to the spread of information beyond the control of police, prosecutors, and local governments. With media outlets now recording every arrest-related death, marking perhaps the most complete accounting of homicides related to law enforcement the country has ever known, scrutiny of those deaths is now easy to come by.

Alvarez is learning transparency should be, too.
ISTANBUL  A white BMW exploding in a ball of fire and killing at least 37 people in the heart of Ankara has sent Turkey deeper into a vortex of blood, violence, crisisand there may be worse to come.

The explosive-filled vehicle ploughed into a passenger bus in the Kizilay district of Ankara at 6:34 p.m. local time (12:34 p.m. ET) on Sunday, at a moment when the area, a transport hub with a metro station close by, was crowded with many high school students heading home or on their way to see friends after the first stage of a countywide university entrance test.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu initially said 34 people were killed and 125 injured in the third major suicide attack in Ankara in five months. Media and officials blamed militant Kurds for Sundays carnage. The death toll was update to 37 on Monday morning.

Surveillance camera footage from the scene showed burning cars and burning debris raining down on people fleeing the area. The Hurriyet daily reported one or two suicide bombers in the BMW might have targeted a police post near the Guven Park in Kizilay, close to the Prime Ministry and the Justice Ministry, but failed to reach that point because it was protected by heavy barriers. On Monday, some Turkish press reports suggested a woman who had been on trial for PKK membership was one of those in the car.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the way it was carried out was very similar to an attack on Feb. 17 that killed 28 people when another suicide car bomber rammed a military convoy close to the scene of Sundays attack. Hurriyet reported that the bomb and the triggering mechanism used on Sunday were similar to those used in February.

That attack was claimed by a group calling itself the Freedom Falcons (TAK), an organization close to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has been fighting Ankara for more than three decades. Just hours before the blast at Kizilay, Turkish authorities in the Kurdish region of southeastern Turkey announced a new military offensive against PKK units in two districts. Media reports said up to 20,000 police officers and soldiers were to take part in the offensive in Nusaybin and Yuksekova.

The so-called Islamic State (ISIS) has also committed deadly attacks in Turkey in recent months, killing more than 100 people in a twin suicide bombing in Ankara last October and 12 German tourists in an attack in Istanbul in January. But Sundays attack was almost immediately blamed on Kurdish separatists. Hurriyet reported the white BMW used in the bombing had come to Ankara from the Kurdish town of Viransehir on the border with Syria.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there was concrete evidence pointing to the perpetrators, but did not give details. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted at a possible involvement of the PKK or affiliated groups by saying in a statement that terrorist organizations and those using them as a tool had turned on innocent civilians as they were losing the fight against the security forces.

That was a reference to the clashes in the Kurdish region that have been going on for months. Following a breakdown of peace talks between the Turkish state and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan last summer, the PKK launched a campaign to declare autonomy in Kurdish cities and towns, erecting barricades and digging trenches to keep out security forces. Ankara answered with a military campaign that has involved fierce house-to-house battles and has killed more than 1,000 rebels as well as several hundred civilians.

At the same time, Turkey has raised pressure on a Syrian-Kurdish group linked to the PKK that has carved out an autonomous region in northern Syria that it calls Rojava. Erdogan has said Turkey would not accept the creation of a Kurdish mini-state zone in Rojava, and Turkish artillery has shelled Kurdish positions in Syria repeatedly.

The Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), Turkeys legal Kurdish party, was the first to condemn Sundays attack, but signs are that political divisions will become even sharper. Erdogan promised a tough response and said Turkey would bring terror to its knees. The president and the government are asking parliament to lift the immunity of HDP leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag in order to put them on trial for supporting the PKK.

Abdulkadir Selvi, a prominent pro-government journalist, said on television that Turkey would have to become used to living with terror for a while. But critics say Turkeys leaders are unable to protect ordinary citizens. This inept government that fails to secure the well-being of the people must resign immediately, columnist Yavuz Baydar wrote in the Ozgur Dusunce newspaper.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara warned of an impending attack only two days before the suicide bombers struck on Sunday, but Turkish security agencies were unable to prevent the carnage. Emre Uslu, a journalist critical of the government, wrote in an analysis for the Yeniyon news portal that the attacks in Ankara were the PKKs answer to Turkeys pressure on the Kurds in Syria (who have been working with the U.S. in the war on ISIS). In attacking Ankara, the PKK is saying: We cant prevent you from shelling Rojava with artillery, but we can turn Ankara into a ball of fire.

In the hours following Sundays attack, a court in Ankara ordered a blanket ban on social media in Turkey to prevent people from sharing pictures and footage of the blast scene, but the ban appeared to have been lifted by Monday morning.
Race relations are fast becoming the major theme of this years SXSW. On Saturdaythe second day of the festcontroversy erupted when Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is on track to be the first U.S. Olympic athlete to wear a hijab, was asked to remove the headscarf in order to take her festival badge photo at the registration desk. To add insult to injury, they then issued her an ID bearing the name Tamir Muhammad. And on Sunday afternoon, sparks flew during a post-screening Q&A for the documentary Accidental Courtesy, a film chronicling African-American blues musician Daryl Daviss attempts to befriend members of the Ku Klux Klan in order to help them change their racist ways.

Davis famously killed former Imperial Wizard Roger Kelly with kindness, convincing him to leave the KKK. He did the same with Bob White, a former Grand Dragon and ex-Baltimore police officer. In total, he claims to have disrobed around 25 Klansmen. During the documentary, he pays a visit to Baltimore where he sits down with a pair of Black Lives Matter ActivistsKwame Rose, a 21-year-old college dropout who famously called out Geraldo Rivera on national television, and Tariq Toure, a poet and writer. Both are influential community organizers and activists who played sizeable roles in their citys protests following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.

In the film, the trio sat down at a Baltimore bar for a chat. Thing get heated when the two young men question why Davis has spent the past thirty years trying to get white people to overcome their racism instead of helping his own people.

What does that do for people? Rose asks of Davis in the film. Infiltrating the Klan aint freeing your people. He added, Befriending a white person who doesnt have to go through the struggles of you, me thats not an accomplishment. Thats a new friend. Thats somebody you can call.

And this is coming from a dropout, Davis shoots back, condescendingly.

You dont tell Steve Jobs he aint successful. He dont have no college degree. Bill Gates aint got no college degree, Rose replies. Neither does Monica Lewinsky, says Davis. OK, shit, and what? Rose says. Shes giving blowjobs in the White House and doing whatever she was doing Well, maybe you could give Obama a blowjob and make a lot of money, too, interrupts Davis.

With that, the two young men call Davis disrespectful and leave. At that point, Black Lives Matter community organizer JC Faulk enters, and berates Davis for the reprehensible way he treated the activists.

Just like the young man said to you, you could have done a whole lot more work in the black community from the 90s to now to move our people forward rather than coming in here trying to uplift somebody because you got a hood off of their head, exclaims Faulk, adding, I dont give a shit about you, or your KKK hoods! Dont come to Baltimore doing this shit again. Dont come back here.

During the post-screening Q&A session following the first showing of Accidental Courtesy at SXSW, things got testy. After an audience member questioned the BLM interaction in the film, Davis again took the opportunity to lay into Rose (who was not present) and defend the discourteous way he treated him on camera.

As the man said, hes a 21-year-old dropout, Davis said of Rose.

It doesnt matter whether its about race. There are many controversial topics out thereabortion, nuclear weapons, the 2nd Amendment, guns, whatever, the war in Iraq, he continued. Youre going to be on one side, somebodys going to be on the other side. Invite those people to the table. Sit down and talk. Because when two enemies are talking, theyre not fighting. They may be yelling and screaming or pounding the table, but at least theyre talking, theyre not fighting.

Davis then accused the Black Lives Matter activistsRose, Toure, Faulk, and an unnamed partyof attempting to fight him (which is not shown in the film).

Its when the talking ceases that the ground becomes fertile for violence. You saw the violence almost erupt when the talking ceased, he said, referring to the BLM Baltimore sequence. We got a little loud, sure. The film did not show you that [the Black Lives Matter activists] came over to the table and it almost erupted in a fisticuffs. [Producer] Noah Ornstein here had to get in between us. Four of them wanted to beat me up. I didnt want to stand up because I didnt want to fight. And [Ornstein] prevented that.

Then, the same audience member again challenged Davis on the way he treated the Black Lives Matter activists in the film, saying he sided with the members of BLM.

They showed you respect, but you didnt show them respect, the man said. You showed the Klan members more respect than you showed those gentlemen there.

You didnt see the entire thing, Davis replied. You only saw a snippet of what went on that day. Ive dealt with a lot of black supremacists as well as white supremacists, and supremacy of any kind is wrong, and I address both black and I address both white. Theres a difference between being ignorant and being stupid. For me, an ignorant person is someone who makes the wrong decision or a bad choice because he or she does not have the proper facts.

If you give that person the facts and the proper information you have alleviated that ignorance, and they make the right decision, he went on. A stupid person is someone who has the facts, who has the proper information, and still makes the wrong decision. The facts were not coming out of that guys mouth. I presented the facts, some of which were presented in the film, some of which were not presented in the film. The audience member continued to press Davis on the offensive and dismissive way he treated the Black Lives Matter activists in the film versus the polite and courteous way he treats Klan members while getting in their good graces, which prompted Davis to reply: When it was my turn to talk, who got up and walked away? It wasnt me.
If Sen. Marco Rubio loses the Florida primary next Tuesday, it wont be because of the number of campaign offices he opened or the TV ads he didnt buy.

Instead, it likely will be because of the kind of senator that Rubios Florida constituents believe he has been. Frustrated residents of several coastal Florida communities say they see a man who is friendly but unread, ambitious but unengaged, and widely discussed nationally but almost entirely absent from his own state as it suffers from an ongoing ecological and economic disaster.

We have a Flint, Michigan, going on here in Florida in slow motion and Marco Rubio hasnt done shit, says Marty Baum, executive director of the Indian Riverkeeper in Jensen Beach, Florida. Baum is the sort of salty environmentalist youd expect to criticize a Republican senator. But hes a lifelong Republican, angry with what he sees as a disaster unfolding in front of him and few leaders, especially Rubio, doing anything to stop it.

The Flint-like catastrophe Baum is referring to is the routine inundation of some of Floridas most precious waterways with polluted water from Lake Okeechobee in Central Florida. The controlled water releases by the Army Corps of Engineers are meant to preserve the Herbert Hoover Dike, which surrounds the massive lake, from breaching or breaking.

But unusually heavy rains in the last several years have seen the Corps sending up to 2 billion gallons of water per day west toward the Gulf of Mexico and east toward the Atlantic Ocean. Heavy with pollution from agricultural runoff, the eastward freshwater flows into the brackish waters of the St. Lucie River, the Indian River Lagoon, and eventually to Atlantic Ocean, where it was never meant to be.

The result has been massive algae blooms, brown tides, and the transformation of the water from a faint beige transparency to sludge the color of a strong cup of coffee. Sixty percent of the plant life has died off. Manatees and dolphins are dying at an alarming rate. Tourists to Floridas famed Treasure Coast are warned from one day to the next not to touch the water lapping up on the shore.

Like any man-made disaster, there is plenty of blame to go around and Rubio had nothing to do with the long-ago decisions that caused the Indian River Lagoon crisis in the first place. But the sentiment in and around the area seems to be that as Rubio criss-crossed the country in his presidential bid, he has been nearly absent from working to find a federal solution to the emergency many of his constituents are facing.

A spokeswoman for Rubios office told The Daily Beast that Rubio has strongly advocated for solutions to the Indian River Lagoon crisis and many other water issues throughout the state. She also shared a list of the steps Rubio has taken since the crisis became severe three years ago, including a visit by Rubio to Stuart, Florida, in 2014 and a flyover tour of the affected area in 2015.

The senator also co-sponsored a bill to fund Everglades restoration and wrote or added his name to several letters fellow senators about the crisis. He hosted a conference call in 2014 and last year worked with Rep. Patrick Murphy to transfer a federal project to Florida officials for water storage. In the days before the primary, Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has endorsed Rubio (and calls climate change a hoax), told the Miami Herald that Rubio had convinced him to support the Everglades restoration project.

But it is the work that Rubio has not done and the meetings he has not attended that have left the local communities demanding more. When Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Bill Nelson toured the area in 2013 as the crisis began, Rubio was a no-show. Months later, when Reps. Murphy (D-FL) and Trey Radel (R-FL) organized a congressional briefing on the emergency, 22 members of the House and Senate, including Nancy Pelosi, attended. Rubio did not. Since his 2014 visit to Stuart, Rubio has not been back. For much of 2015 and all of 2016, he has been on the campaign trail in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other earlier voting states.

Last year, the Treasure Coast Newspapers, which cover the crisis extensively, called Rubio AWOL on discussions and proposals for a solution. [Rubio] has largely abandoned Florida and those who pay his salary, the editorial board wrote. If he thinks he can run for president and count on Florida supporting him, based on his current record he may be severely disappointed.

Last month, the Naples Daily News, which has documented the effects on the Gulf Coast, urged voters to remember Rubios performance when considering who to choose in the Tuesdays primary. When it comes to visibly addressing this issue, critical to the region, theres been a Washington no-show: Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

The Naples paper made the same connection as some Floridians in blaming Rubios longtime political benefactors, the Fanjul family, as a motivation behind what they see as Rubios inaction.

The familys Fanjul Corporation was the second-largest source of individual donations to Rubios 2010 Senate campaign, while the family-owned sugar company, Florida Crystals, has given $371,000 to Rubios presidential campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Florida Crystals has also opposed multiple attempts by the state of Florida to buy the land south of Lake Okeechobee to relieve water releases into the Indian River Lagoon. That land has long been used to farm sugar.

The discharges from Lake Okeechobee have totally ruined the wildlife and ecology in the Indian River Lagoon, said Richard Martinson, a retired New York firefighter who now lives on the banks of the St. Lucie River. And Marco Rubio has done nothing but take money from big sugar.

Although the contaminated water on the Treasure Coast is not a source for drinking, it is the source of much of the regions economy. The Daytona Beach News-Journal estimated the Indian River Lagoons economic impact at $3.7 billion, a number locals say is dropping every day that the crisis continues.

Capt. Rodney Smith, a professional angler and the president of Anglers for Conservation, said he and other fishermen used to talk about ways to conserve the Indian River estuary, which is the most bio-diverse of its kind in North America.

Now we have to ask how we will restore it. Its dying right before our eyes, he said from his home on Satellite Beach. I have not seen Rubio say a dang word about this.

Dan Neumann, the co-owner of Coastal Paddle Boarding in Stuart, Florida, gets water test results every Wednesday from Martin County officials. If the water tests safe, he rents paddleboards to his customers.

But when the results are bad, he says, we cant operate here. That screws me out of business.

He also hasnt heard anything from Rubio.

I have no idea where he stands on any of this, Neumann said. I try not to do anything political because the whole thing makes me sick. I think we should just hit the reset button on this election because its like, really? These are our choices?

The ultimate judgement from Rubios constituents will come on Tuesday. The latest CNN/ ORC poll shows Rubio trailing Donald Trump by 14 points. PPP's newest Florida Republican poll has Rubio losing to Trump by 20.

It cant come soon enough for Marty Baum, the Indian Riverkeeper.

I hope he gets killed in the Florida election, Baum said. It will tell the nation something when his own state hands down rejection to him.

Baum did not say who hell be voting for, but it wont be Marco Rubio.
The Kremlin hates everything about America except for Donald Trump.

The more president Obama and other Democratic politicians criticize Trump for praising Vladimir Putin as a strong leader, the more Moscow warms up to the Republican presidential candidate.

Even one of Russias most radical nationalist leaders, the inspiration behind the Donbas rebel movement, Alexander Dugin, endorsed the GOP frontrunner: We want to put trust in Donald Trump, Dugin said earlier this month. And Vladimir Putin has also made complimentary comments about Trump, calling the Republic leader "the absolute leader of the presidential race.

Meanwhile, Putins propaganda organs have been busy demonizing all things related to Hillary Clinton and President Obama. State-controlled television explains to Russians that their peace, wealth and security are constantly damaged and threatened by the Obama administrations actions.

Last Monday, Russia 24, the Russian state television channel, reported about the refugee crisis threatening stability in Europe. Tens of thousands of families escaping the horrors of war were now trapped behind the fenced Macedonian border. As if in a well-composed symphony, the narrative heated up, preparing the viewers for the predictable culmination: America was guilty of this human tragedy. The channel aired a Greek official saying the United States was to blame for unleashing the war in Syria and so now Greece faced an endless disaster.

A few days later, Alexey Pushkov, the head of the foreign-affairs committee in the State Duma, tweeted: Thanks to the Arab Spring and the Wests efforts to collapse Libya, successful Tunisia has turned into a zone of terrorism. That is one of Hillary Clintons achievements.

At the same time, Russian parliamentarians were questioning whether Russian opposition officials should ever be shaking hands with the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow. At the Duma on Thursday, United Russia deputies demanded explanations from the leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, about his meeting with the Ambassador John F. Tefft. And Deputy Valeriy Trapeznikov suggested that communists running for parliament elections in September should be checked for financial aid from the America.

I could understand if he met with professional unions but in parliament independent persons or institutions taking money from Americans and not the pay from the Kremlins pocket are immediately denounced as an enemy, a political observer, Sergei Parkhomenko, told The Daily Beast.

Last week also brought American businesses into the firing line, with United Russia Duma Deputy Yevgeniy Fedorov asking the Investigative Committee to look into activities of American firms McKinsey & Company and DuPont inside Russiathe deputy suspected American businessmen were deliberately weakening security systems at the mines that allegedly resulted as an explosion in late February that killed 37 miners.

The message was clear: nobody should trust those Americans any longer. And already, about 37 percent of Russians believe America and Obama are evil, according to VCIOM, the Russia Public Opinion Research Center.

Would the prospect of a President Trump change Moscows tune? Not everyone is so sure, even among Putins allies.

America is fighting a war against Russia to overthrow our legitimate president Putin, one of the most passionate critics of U.S. politics, Russian Public Chamber deputy Sergei Markov, told The Daily Beast, referring to the U.S. backing of the Ukrainian revolution.

Putin is never going to forgive United States for that, unless Washington, under Trump or not, gets rid of the current Ukrainian leadership,
In the 1970s anti-abortion attorneys formed a decadeslong plan to craft and lobby for state regulations that would gradually strip away physicians' ability to provide the procedure. Much of the legislation makes it more expensive for clinics to operate, and the strategy has proved effective. Since 2011 at least 162 abortion providers have closed or stopped performing abortions, and 21 clinics have opened. That represents the swiftest annual decline in the number of abortion providers ever, according to Bloomberg News. Burkhart is working to start another clinic, in Oklahoma City, which she estimates will cost $1 million. No one has opened an abortion clinic in Oklahoma since 1974.





In 1976, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment restricting the use of federal funds for abortion, which Americans United for Life helped defend before the Supreme Court in 1980. In 33 states, Medicaid can't be used to cover the procedure in most circumstances. Recent polling finds that almost half of women who obtain abortions live below the federal poverty line. Meanwhile, 10 states, including Kansas and Oklahoma, ban all insurance plans--and 25 states restrict government marketplace plans--from covering abortion except in rare circumstances. With a large share of women, including the poorest patients, paying out of pocket, many abortion providers keep their prices low. "What you're doing is--as much as you can--not pricing people out of getting this service," says David Burkons, a physician who opened a clinic in Ohio last year.





Clinic directors say the political climate has made it almost impossible to open clinics. "You'd think, This is crazy," says Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder and chief executive officer of Whole Woman's Health, which has acquired or opened clinics in five states since 2003. She's the plaintiff in the coming Supreme Court case over abortion laws that have shuttered two of her five Texas locations. Arguments begin on March 2. The extra costs she and other providers face are at the heart of the case: The decision will largely come down to whether the justices think the laws have made it too expensive for clinics to operate--and to what extent that burdens patients. Says Hagstrom Miller: "This is probably the most difficult business you could ever run."
Malfy gin with an Italian twist launches in US

Biggar & Leith is launching Malfy, a luxury Italian gin, nationally in the US this month then globally.

Malfy gin is distilled in a family run distillery in Moncalieri, Italy by the Vergnano family. Although the spirit is infused with Italian juniper and five other botanicals it is the infusion of the famous Italian coastal lemons, including some from the Amalfi Coast, that gives Malfy gin its fresh and zesty aroma and palate distinguishing it from the more traditional, juniper-heavy gins.

Biggar & Leith claim that despite popular belief that the origins of gin lie in Holland, it is Italy that can lay claim to this most delicious spirit. Along Italys Salerno Coast in 1050 AD, Monks blended locally foraged juniper (ginepro, in Italian) with spirit in the Monastery kitchens to create what we now know as gin.

We were researching the history of gin  and there it was, staring us in the face; gin was invented in Italy  long before the British or Dutch. However, it wasnt until we tasted the Vergnano familys Malfy GQDI that we knew we had found a gin that represents the literal distillation of Italian quality, culture and craftsmanship. The infusion of the local botanicals and Italian lemons, which themselves have a rich history in Italian culture, give Malfy a distinctive twist. Says Elwyn Gladstone, founder of Biggar & Leith.

Malfy GQDI (Gin di Qualita Distillato) is packaged in a glass bottle screen-printed with an artistic expression of lemon peels and overlaid with a sea-blue label representative of the Mediterranean. Malfys stopper is crafted from Italian oak. The gin is distilled in the Vergnano familys traditional vacuum still and is bottled at 41% ABV.

Malfy Gin will be distributed in the US commencing this month (March 2016) at an average SRP of approximately US$30 per 75cl (prices vary according to local taxes). Malfy Gin will also be available in Europe, Australia and a number of other countries in a short time. It is the first Italian gin to be imported into the US.

Biggar and Leith is an owner and importer of fine spirits from established, family-owned distilleries who are dedicated to innovation and quality. The company searches the globe for brands whose bottles transmit the passion, personality and stories of the people who make them.

14 March 2016 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor
Ketel One vodka distillery celebrates 325yrs

Ketel One vodka, a Diageo brand, has launched a limited edition bottle to celebrate 325 years of the Nolet family distillery in Schiedam, the Netherlands, which has been producing spirits since 1691.

The bottle is encased in copper matte plating, signifying the historical role the copper pot distillation process has had in creating this premium vodka. Across the sides and back of the bottle, 11 coins represent the 11 generations of Nolet family that have been distilling Ketel One vodka. To celebrate this milestone the signatures of Carl Nolet Jr and Bob Nolet, 11th generation distillers, have also been inscribed on the back of the bottle.

Bob Nolet says: Ketel One vodka is a marriage of old world pot still craft and modern distilling techniques, and we wanted to reflect this and commemorate 325 years of our familys dedication to distilling excellence in this special and limited edition bottle.

The design of the bottle honours the Nolet familys unique distilling heritage, from the colour and the coins to the artwork and, of course, the Nolet family crest.

Additional features on the limited edition bottle include the ironwork-inspired design across the front and back of the bottle, which signifies the ironwork above the main entrance of the distillery, and the Nolet family crest.

Nick Temperley, head of Diageo Reserve GB adds: Ketel One Vodka is a brand built on the Nolet familys heritage, authenticity and craft - qualities that are reflected in its success. The new limited edition bottle is a great way to honour 325 years of Nolet Family distilling and were delighted consumers can join us in commemorating the occasion.

In true Nolet tradition, the family is today celebrating the distillerys 325th anniversary with a large party at their distillery in Schiedam.

The Ketel One Vodka limited edition bottle will be available exclusively at Harvey Nichols stores nationwide and online from mid-March. RRP: 45.00.

14 March 2016 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor
Ted Cruz is continuing to pick up delegates in the lead-up to the high-stakes nominating contests Tuesday that could knock two of his Republican rivals out of the race for the White House.

The handful of contests in recent days and hours have been more complex than others, and most do not lend themselves to immediate victories or losses. But by Saturday evening, Cruz was chipping away at Trumps lead over him in the delegate hunt.

The Texas senators biggest boost came in Wyoming, where he was set to collect at least nine out of 12 delegates up for grabs Saturday. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and billionaire Donald Trump were each winning one delegate.

As the results came in Saturday evening, Cruz redoubled his case that he is the most viable alternative to Trump.

We are the only campaign that has beaten Donald not once, not twice, not three times, but as of tonight, with Wyoming, nine different times, Cruz told supporters at a rally in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The results Saturday only tell part of the story in Wyoming, which offer 29 delegates in total. The 12 delegates that were awarded Saturday were done so at county conventions, while 14 more will be doled out at the state convention next month. The remaining three delegates are automatic.

The District of Columbia also held its nominating contest Saturday. Rubio won with 37 percent of the vote, while Cruz came in last with 12 percent of the vote. Ten of the Districts 19 delegates went to Rubio, while the rest went to runner-up John Kasich.

The loss in the District is likely one Cruz can live with given his constant railing against the seat of the federal government. His supporters moved quickly Saturday night to portray the outcome as a sign of the Republican establishments embrace of Rubio.

Florida and Ohio offer do-or-die moments for Kasich and Rubio, who are both scrambling to shore up support at home.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Austinites are endeared to the more than 1 million bats that make their summer home beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge. But that structure is not the bats' only urban habitat, and a different bridge project has been slowed to save the nighttime creatures that live inside.

Last week, construction workers began replacing the deteriorating mortar in the historic West Sixth Street Bridge, but not without first devising a plan, with the help of Bat Conservation International, to save the small colony of Mexican free-tailed bats roosting in the bridge's crevices.

Workers inspected the crevices, which vary from a half-inch to 3 inches across. Some openings were shallow; others were so deep that endoscopes and cameras were needed to see inside, public works engineer Pirouz Moin said. The workers often found two or three bats living in each crevice, usually marked by stains from oils secreted by the bats.

Next, the crews placed rounded pipes, pointing downward, beneath each crevice to allow the bats to exit safely. The bats are not able to re-enter through the pipes, which are smooth inside and prevent them from gripping the sides with their claws.

However, bats are able to move to other open crevices in the bridge, so workers have to keep a close eye on the project and continue to fill in mortar one section at a time.

The pipes must stay in place for at least a week of more than 50-degree days before they can be removed and filled with mortar. If bats enter other crevices, pipes will be moved to these sections.

Meanwhile, construction crews are filling in mortar in areas of the bridge where bats are not living.

Bat exclusion is a meticulous process  one that added 15 days to the project and $9,000 to the already $90,000 in construction costs.

"It's not an easy thing to do," Dianne Odegard, a public outreach specialist with Bat Conservation International, said. "It does take some patience and some care to make sure you are not entombing bats. And that's the whole idea of doing an exclusion. You just want to make sure that you are not sealing bats into a bridge. That's absolutely not the right answer."

The nonprofit Shoal Creek Conservancy hired a consulting company to inspect the bridge, built in 1887, as part of a larger restoration process. They came across chips in the mortar holding the stones together, which prompted the city to undergo an immediate repair out of safety concern.

It is not unusual for Mexican free-tailed bats to stick around during the winter months. However, the rush of more than a million female bats to the Congress Avenue Bridge, which draws about 100,000 tourists annually, usually begins at the end of March and lasts through October.

The population under the West Sixth Street Bridge is expected to be cleared out in about two weeks. Odegard said bats do not leave their roosts every night, especially when the weather is unpredictable or unseasonably cold. After they leave, they will find other suitable places to live, most likely beneath the other bridges along Shoal Creek, where they have access to water insects.

The Shoal Creek Conservancy is continuing to raise funds to clean graffiti off the bridge, place a protective coating over it and add lighting and signs that will highlight the historic significance of the bridge, which predates the Capitol and helped open up areas of West Austin to development.

The Mexican free-tailed bat, a red-brown or often gray bat, weighs a half-ounce and has a wingspan between 12 and 14 inches, making it an extremely fast flier. Its usual life span is about 18 years. And while its population is not threatened or endangered, its females give birth to only one pup every summer, in early June. They roost in caves and attics, under bridges or in abandoned buildings, usually near water, which attracts the insects they eat. They typically migrate to Central America and Mexico during the winter and return to our region in late March.
adventures in Publishing - a blog about books, books and more books although no doubt there will be some random whitterings too
The important evidence for me in the recent BBC clip is the measurement of dose given by Rupert's Geiger counter, 3microSieverts per hour (3Sv/h). Normal background in Japan (I know, I measured it there) is about 0.1Sv/h. So in terms of external radiation, Ruperts's measurement gave 30 times normal background.

Fukushima: we have a very serious problem

Is this a problem for health? You bet it is. The question no-one asked is what is causing the excess dose? The answer is easy: radioactive contamination, principally of Caesium-137. On the basis of well-known physics relationships we can say that 3Sv/h at 1m above ground represents a surface contamination of about 900,000 Bq per square metre of Cs-137. That is, 900,000 disintegrations per second in one square metre of surface.

And note that they were standing on a tarmac road which appeared to be clean. And this is 5 years after the explosions. The material is everywhere, and it is in the form of dust particles which can be inhaled. Invisible sparkling fairy-dust that kills hang in the air above such measurements.

The particles are not just of Caesium-137. They contain other long lived radioactivity, Strontium-90, Plutonium 239, Uranium-235, Uranium 238, Radium-226, Polonium-210, Lead-210, Tritium, isotopes of Rhodium, Ruthenium, Iodine, Cerium, Cobalt 60, the list is long.

The UN definition of radioactively contaminated land is 37,000Bq / square metre, and so, on the basis of the measurement made by the BBC reporter, the town of Ohkuma in the Fukushima zone (and we assume everywhere else in the zone) is still, five years after the incident, more than 20 times the level where the UN would, and the Soviets did, step in and control the population.

But the Japanese government want to send the people back there. It is bribing them with money and housing assistance. It is saying, like Gerry Thomas, that there is no danger. And the BBC is giving this criminal misdirection a credible platform. The argument is based on the current radiation risk model, that of the International Commission on Radiological Protection the ICRP.

Last month, my German colleagues and I published a scientific paper in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Health and Toxicology. It uses real-world data from those exposed to the same substances that were released by Fukushima to show that the ICRP model is wrong by 1,000 times or more.

This is a game changing piece of research. But were we asked to appear on the BBC, or anywhere else? No. What do our findings and calculations suggest will have happened in the five years since the explosions and into the future? Let's take a look at what has happened since 2011.

And this is only the beginning ...

The reactors are still uncontrolled five years after the explosions and continue to release their radioactive contents to the environment despite all attempts to prevent this. Concerning the melted fuel, there is no way to assess the condition or specific whereabouts of the fuel though it is clearly out of the box and in the ground. Robots fail at the extremely high radiation levels found.

Ground water flowing through the plant is becoming contaminated and is being pumped into storage tanks for treatment. High radiation levels and debris have delayed the removal of spent fuel from numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings. TEPCO plans to remove debris from reactor 3 and this work has begun. Then they are hoping to remove the fuel rods out of reactors 1 and 2 by 2020 and the work on removing debris from these 2 reactors has not begun yet.

Much of the radioactivity goes into the sea, where it travels several hundreds of km. up and down the coast destroying sea life and contaminating intertidal sediment. The radionuclides bind to fine sediment and concentrate in river estuaries and tidal areas like Tokyo Bay.

Here the particles are resuspended and brought ashore to be inhaled by those living within 1km of the coast. From work done by my group for the Irish Government on the contaminated Irish Sea we know that this exposure will increase the rate of cancer in the coastal inhabitants by about 30%.

The releases have not been stopped despite huge amounts of work, thought and action. The treated water is still highly radioactive and cannot yet be released. An ice wall designed to stop the flow of water getting to the plant is still not operational and the Japanese Nuclear regulator still has not given the go-ahead.

'Son of Fukushima' waiting to happen

This may be wise because an environment report showed that use of the ground water caused rapid subsidence and can destabilise the structures of the reactors. That is a real problem on site with 3 heavy spent fuel pools still full and largely inaccessible. Collapse of the buildings would lead to coolant loss and a fire or even explosion releasing huge amounts of radioactivity.

So this is one nightmare scenario: 'Son of Fukushima'. A solid wall at the port side may have slowed the water down but diverting the water may cause problems with the ground water pressure on site and thus also threaten subsidence. Space for storing the radioactive water is running out and it seems likely that this will have to be eventually spilled into the Pacific.

Only 10% of the plant has been cleaned up although there are 8,000 workers on site at any one time, mostly dealing with the contaminated water. Run-off from storms brings more contamination down the rivers from the mountains. There are millions of 1-ton container bags full of radioactive debris and other waste which has been collected in decontamination efforts outside the plant and many of these bags are only likely to last a handful of years before degrading and spilling their contents. Typhoons will spread this highly contaminated contents far and wide.

TEPCO are also burning waste from the plant in a single incinerator. Further afield, contamination efforts to clean up the homes and roads are hampered by the torrential rains that are increasing because of global warming; the rain is bringing large amounts of contaminated soil back into these areas as well as the contaminated leaves and pollen from the forest areas that TEPCO are unable to clean.

Far off the shore there are natural areas that act as nurseries for many species of sea life. It has been found that intertidal marine species such as anemones, sponges, crustaceans, worms and bivalves within 30 km of the damaged reactors have disappeared altogether because of the 300 tons of highly radioactive water a day flowing out of the plant into the sea.

This water contains large amounts of tritium, making it radioactive; the effects of tritium on the larval stages of marine invertebrates has been studied in the UK. It was found at the University of Plymouth that levels involving doses of less than 1mSv of tritium inhibited the development.

Going global

Radioactivity from Fukushima has now migrated across the Pacific and is appearing on the West Coast of the USA. The scientific community there, like Gerry Thomas, subscribe to the flawed ICRP model, and since the levels of Caesium-137 measured are low, (maybe 10Bq/cubic metre of sea water), they say that there will be no health effects. But like Thomas they are wrong.

The problem is that 'dose' cannot be used to assess risk from internal radioactive particles. Dose is an average over large masses of tissue: but cancer begins in a single cell or local community of cells and these particles from Fukushima cause massive local doses. This is why there have been countless web reports of marine mammals with patchy sores or localised tumours. The question of the ongoing effect of this Fukushima radioactivity on the Pacific biota far from Japan remains open.

The effects on wild creatures in Japan are clear and have been studied. There have been peer-reviewed reports of genetic damage in birds and in insects; a major scientist studying these genetic effects at Fukushima and in the Chernobyl affected areas also is Tim Mousseau.

But whilst he can study plants and animals, no-one can study humans. There is a kind of closure on such data, with the Japanese government controlling it. The government is more interested in getting Fukushima ready for the Olympics and is using financial and cultural pressure to move families back into contaminated zones.

Japan is also exporting radioactive produce, and is using trade agreements to bully countries into accepting these poisons on the basis of the ICRP model. I was in Korea a few months back as an expert witness in a radiation case involving high levels of thyroid cancer near their nuclear sites. I was told about Japan using international trade laws to force its contaminated foods on to the Koreans, who were measuring the radioactivity and sending the stuff back. So watch out for radioactive items from Japan.

So what's the evidence?

Let's look at the only real health data which has emerged to see if it gives any support to my original estimate of 400,000 extra cancers in the 200km radius. Prof Tsuda has recently published a paper in the peer reviewed literature identifying 116 thyroid cancers detected over three years by ultrasound scanning of 380,000 0-18 year olds.

The background rate is about 0.3 per 100,000 per year, so in three years we can expect 3.42 thyroid cancers. But 116 were found, an excess of about 112 cases. Geraldine says that these were all found because they looked: but Tsuda's paper reports that an ultrasound study in Nagasaki (no exposures) found zero cases, and also an early ultrasound study also found zero cases. So Geraldine is wrong. The thyroid doses were reported to be about 10mSv. On the basis of the ICRP model, that gives an error of about 2,000 times.

From the results of our new genetic paper we can safely predict a 100% increase in congenital malformations in the population up to 200km radius. In an advanced technological country like Japan these will be picked up early by ultrasound and aborted, so we will not actually see them, even if there were data we could trust.

What we will see is a fall in the birth rate and increase in the death rate. We know what has been happening and what will happen; we have seen it before in Chernobyl. And just like Chernobyl, the (western) authorities are influenced by or take their lead from the nuclear industry: the ICRP and the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) which since 1959 has taken over from the World Health Organisation as the responsible authority for radiation and health (Yes, really!).

They keep the lid on the truth using stupid individuals like Geraldine Thomas and, by analogy with New Labour: New BBC. Increasingly I could say 'New Britain' as opposed to the Great Britain of my childhood, a country I was proud of where you could trust the BBC. I wonder how the reporters like Rupert can live with themselves presenting these lies.

Fukushima is far from being over, the deaths have only just begun.

The BBC report: bbc.com/news/world-asia-35761141

The study: 'Genetic Radiation Risks - A Neglected Topic in the Low Dose Dabate' by Busby C, Schmitz-Feuerhake I, Pflugbeil S is published in Environmental Health and Toxicology.

Chris Busby is an expert on the health effects of ionizing radiation. He qualified in Chemical Physics at the Universities of London and Kent, and worked on the molecular physical chemistry of living cells for the Wellcome Foundation. Professor Busby is the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk based in Brussels and has edited many of its publications since its founding in 1998. He has held a number of honorary University positions, including Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health of the University of Ulster. Busby currently lives in Riga, Latvia. See also: chrisbusbyexposed.org, greenaudit.org and llrc.org.

Latest book: Christopher Busby (2015) 'What is Life? On the origin and mechanism of living systems'. QTP Publications. Illustrated by Saoirse Morgan. ISBN 978-0-9565132-1-2, 130pp. Order from Amazon UK (10.00) or QTP publications 10 Bratwell Rd, Coleraine, BT51 4LB.

This article is an extended version of one originally published on RT.
Energy giant BP is the UK's single biggest corporate lobbyist in Europe, new analysis by Lobby Facts reveals.

BP spent between 2.23 million and 2.3 million ( 2.75m -  2.99m) in lobbying European policy makers on energy and climate issues in 2014, the most recent figures available.

This represents a substantial increase, almost doubling BP's declared lobby spend for the previous year, when it spent up to 1.16m ( 1.5m).

The analysis by Lobby Facts - a joint initiative by transparency watchdogs Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl - is based on a 'cleaning up' of the EU's voluntary Transparency Register for inaccurate or misleading lobby-spend entries.

According to estimates by Transparency International, about half of the data on the EU's register is flawed.

The data also shows that in the past year leading up to the Paris COP21 climate conference, BP held 24 meetings with senior European Commission members, including nine with Miguel Arias Canete, climate and energy commissioner, or members of his team.

This is significantly more than any of the other 15 top UK-based corporations lobbying Brussels according to Lobby Facts' data.

Bending the ears of power

Most of these meetings were concerning the southern gas corridor - an initiative by the European Commission to supply gas from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions to Europe in which BP has a stake - and the energy union, which aims to create a fully-integrated internal European energy market.

Other noteworthy meetings include a discussion on 'EU Environmental Policy' on 22 July 2015 with Joachim Balke, a cabinet member in Canete's team, and a 6 June 2015 meeting with Director-General for Climate Action Jos Delbeke on the 'role of private business and carbon pricing in climate action.'

These meetings were around the same time that BP, along with other energy giants, published a letter in the Financial Times in June calling for "widespread and effective" carbon pricing to be part of the Paris deal.

Then, last October BP joined nine other energy companies in issuing a statement saying they would "play their part" in battling climate change, including helping limit warming to 2C. However, this pledge did not bring forward the call for a carbon price as included in the June letter.

The data also shows that less than two months prior to the December 2015 climate conference BP lobbyists met with Michael Karnitschnig, chief of staff to EU Commissioner for neighbourhood policy and enlargement negotiations Johannes Hahn, on 22 October to discuss 'international energy issues' and then met Balke on 9th November to talk about 'energy infrastructure'.
Franklin County High School senior Gwyneth Strope is this years winner of the Southwest Virginia English-Speaking Union (EUS) National Shakespeare competition.

This is the second year Strope placed in the competition, coming in second place last year.

Strope competed against three students from FCHS, and then six students from across Southwest Virginia to win.

In May, Strope will compete with about 60 other regional winners at Lincoln Center in New York City. The all-expenses paid trip will include drama workshops, a tour of the city, a Broadway show and participation in the national competition.

According to the ESU, approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 60 ESU branch communities participate each year.

The grand prize winner in the New York City competition will win a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts Young Actors Summer School in London.

The student who places second will win a scholarship to the American Shakespeare Center Theatre Camp in Staunton. The third place winner will receive a $500 award from the Shakespeare Society in New York City.

Strope says that regardless of where she places in the national competition, the real prize is just getting to perform and being there. Just being able to say the words, the words are so beautiful and you dont get to say them in everyday life.

Shakespeare has such cool characters, especially women, she added. Some of the female characters are just hilarious and amazing and it is just fun to do, however it turns out.

Strope choose a very interesting female character for her monologue: Joan of Arc from Henry VI, part 1, when Joan of Arc confronts her accusers at the trail.

Acting is not new to Strope. She has worked with many professional community theaters in Roanoke, including the Roanoke Childrens Theater, Mill Mountain Theater, Hollins University and Off the Rails and has also interned with some of the theaters teaching childrens camps.

Ive been acting since Ive been about 12 so I am pretty used to it, she said. Its a part of our family. Its a thing that we do.

Her mom, Amanda Mansfield, was a theater major. Her stepfather, Mike Mansfield, has been a judge of the regional ESU Shakespeare competition and encouraged Strope to give it a try.

When I won the school division, he had to step aside and let other judges come in, Strope explained.

Strope was recently accepted into James Madison University as a theater and dance major and has yet to accept.

If you go into education, which is what I am somewhat planning on, you also graduate with a teaching license, Strope pointed out. You can either teach in schools or run educational departments in professional theaters.

Strope is excited to see a play while in New York City. When asked if she could one day see herself playing on Broadway, Strope said, Musicals arent my thing, so a straight Broadway play, that would be pretty cool actually.
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By Kentucky Press News Service

FRANKFORT, Ky.  Nominations are now being accepted for Kentucky's most distinguished awards honoring excellence for the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings, archaeological resources and cultural sites. The 38th Annual Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation Historic Preservation Awards will be presented in May, National Historic Preservation Month.

The awards, according to a state news release, recognize investment, advocacy, volunteerism, building partnerships, public involvement, lifelong commitment and significant achievement, and are sponsored jointly by the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation and the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office.

Preservation Project awards honor outstanding examples of historic building rehabilitation and other projects that have furthered the preservation of Kentucky's built environment; Service to Preservation awards recognize individuals, organizations, nonprofits, public officials, financial institutions, news media, volunteers and others whose contributions have had a positive impact in their communities; and the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award goes to the individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to the cause of historic preservation in the Commonwealth.

In 2015, awards went to successful rehab and adaptive reuse of a former tobacco warehouse, a row of shotgun houses, a cemetery, a battlefield, a historic commercial building ravaged by fire, a rural church and a coffeehouse in eastern Kentucky, and the steering committee for an annual event that teaches about traditional Native American lifeways. K. Norman Berry of Louisville was recipient of the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Award.

All nominations must be received or postmarked by April 15. For guidelines, nomination form, submittal instructions or more about previous recipients, visit www.heritage.ky.gov.

The awards have special meaning this year as 2016 is the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act and the founding of the Kentucky Heritage Council.

The foundation was chartered in 1979 to honor the late Ida Lee Willis, widow of former Gov. Simeon Willis and first executive director of the Kentucky Heritage Commission (now the Kentucky Heritage Council). Under her direction, the agency initiated the first statewide survey of historic resources and nominated the first sites to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, Kentucky is fourth among states in National Register listings, nearing 3,400 districts, sites and structures, and in 2016, the Kentucky historic resources inventory database will surpass 100,000 listings.
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By Jessica Gresko Associated Press

CHEVERLY, Md. (AP)  Police and the public were seeking answers Monday after a gunman opened fire outside a police station in a Maryland suburb of the nation's capital, killing an officer in what the police chief called an "unprovoked attack."

The shooter opened fire on the first officer he saw outside the station around 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Landover, a suburb about 10 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C., according to Prince George's County Police chief Hank Stawinski.

A gunbattle followed, with several officers shooting at the suspect, who was wounded, Stawinski said at a news conference. On Sunday night, hours after the shooting, Stawinski had few answers for reporters about what led to the gunfire.

"It wasn't about anything," he said of the shooting, which claimed the life of a four-year veteran of the department who would have turned 29 this week.

Police were going about their business on the quiet, rainy Sunday afternoon when the gunman fired at the first officer he saw outside a Maryland police station, prompting a gunbattle that left undercover narcotics officer Jacai Colson fatally wounded, according to officials.

Colson was pronounced dead at a hospital and the suspect was wounded but expected to survive, authorities said.

Once the first shot was fired, several officers fired back at the suspect, Stawinski said. He didn't say how many shots were exchanged.

"Those officers did not shrink. They bravely advanced and engaged this individual," the chief said.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called the shooting an "act of cowardice" and a "horrific act of evil."

She promised an aggressive investigation and prosecution of the suspect and another suspect arrested soon after the shooting. Their names were not immediately released.

Stawinski said the second man was believed to have been present with the first suspect when the shots erupted, but fled and was later arrested.

The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/1M12KZ1) reported that one woman nearby grabbed her sleeping 14-month old baby from his playpen when she heard what she thought might be firecrackers or gunshots. The woman said she looked outside and saw a man dressed in black firing a handgun.

"He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot," said Lascelles Grant, a nurse. She added that police began pouring out of the station. "Just looking outside, I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at all these police officers running out, putting their lives really in danger.'"

The woman couldn't immediately be reached by The Associated Press.

Immediately after the shooting, police advised residents near the police station to stay inside and others to avoid the area because of an "active shooter" situation. They later lifted the "shelter in place" advice.

Parked police cars lined the road to the hospital where Colson was taken Sunday evening. Officers huddled in the hospital's lobby, somberly awaiting news.

"The officers are devastated," Stawinksi said after the officer was pronounced dead.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping police in the investigation, spokesmen for the two federal agencies said.

Caption 1:

Police stand outside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the murder of Jacai Colson, a four-year veteran of the Prince George's County Police force, who was shot outside the District III police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 2:

This undated photo provided by the Prince George's County Police Department shows officer Jacai Colson, a 4-year veteran of the Maryland county's police force. A gunman fired outside a Maryland police station on Sunday, March 13, 2016, prompting a gunbattle that killed Colson and wounded the suspect, authorities said. (Prince George's County Police Department via AP)

Caption 3:

Prince George's County Police chief Henry P. Stawinski speaks about the murder of Jacai Colson, during a news conference at Prince George's County Hospital Center, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Cheverly, Md. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force was shot outside the District III police station. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 4:

Police walk inside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the shooting of a Prince George's County Police officer outside a police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 5:

Police stand outside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the shooting of a Prince George's County Police officer outside a police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 6:

Police stand outside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the shooting of a Prince George's County Police officer outside a police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 7:

A police officer walks outside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the shooting of a Prince George's County Police officer outside a police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 8:

A police K-9 unit searches the grounds of a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the shooting of a Prince George's County Police officer outside a police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 9:

Police stand outside a Popeyes restaurant during an investigation into the murder of Jacai Colson, a four-year veteran of the Prince George's County Police force, who was shot outside the District III police station, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 10:

Prince George's County Police chief Henry P. Stawinski speaks about the murder of Jacai Colson, during a news conference at Prince George's County Hospital Center, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Cheverly, Md. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force was shot outside the District III police station. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Caption 11:

A black band covers the badge of Prince George's County Police chief Henry P. Stawinski as he speaks about the murder of Jacai Colson, during a news conference at Prince George's County Hospital Center, on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Cheverly, Md. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force was shot outside the District III police station. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A white former state trooper was led out of a South Carolina courtroom in handcuffs Monday after pleading guilty to a felony charge in the 2014 shooting an unarmed black driver seconds after a traffic stop.

Sean Groubert will be sentenced later, but Circuit Judge Casey Manning appears to have already decided there should be some prison time because he sent Groubert to jail while he mulls the punishment. Groubert faces up to 20 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. There is no minimum sentence.

Before the hearing started, Levar Jones, shot once in the hip by Groubert, walked into court with a limp. He constantly turned and twisted a Rubik's Cube, perhaps to calm himself. As prosecutors replayed the video of the shooting taken from Groubert's dashboard camera, Jones' shoulders jerked.

He didn't speak at the 20-minute hearing Monday, but prosecutors said he may talk when Groubert is sentenced. No date has been set for that hearing.

Groubert answered questions from the judge. The only hint of an explanation for what happened came when his lawyer requested he continue medication and visits to a psychiatrist to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder from an on-duty shooting in 2012. His supervisors said Groubert protected the public by chasing a suspect who fired on him during a traffic stop. Groubert was awarded the Highway Patrol's Medal of Valor. The suspect is serving 20 years in prison on an attempted murder charge.

The Highway Patrol fired Groubert after watching a video of his encounter with Jones on Sept. 4, 2014. When the video was released publically a month later, it shocked a country dealing with a wave of questionable police shootings.

The only evidence prosecutors gave Monday was the video and Groubert's statement on the shooting, given a week later. They did not match.

The video showed Groubert pulling up to Jones without his siren on for a seatbelt violation during afternoon rush hour. Both men get out of their cars at a convenience store and the trooper asked Jones for his license. Jones said he took off his seatbelt because he was stopping at the store after work.

The video shows Jones turning and reaching back into his car, and Groubert shouts, "Get outta the car, get outta the car." He begins firing and unloads a third shot as Jones staggers away, backing up with his hands raised, and then a fourth. Jones' wallet can be seen flying out of his hands.

In his statement, though, Groubert said: "The subject was highly aggressive and belligerent and ready to attack me from the second I initiated the traffic stop."

The video shows Groubert started firing four seconds after asking for Jones' license. From the first shot to the fourth, the video clicks off three more seconds.

"Everything seemed to be happening in fast forward from the time I saw the driver begin running toward the vehicle. I was unsure if the shots fired were coming from my own pistol, or if he was actively shooting," Groubert said in the statement.

In the video, Jones cried in pain waiting for an ambulance and repeated: "Why did you shoot me?"

Groubert has spent the past 18 months driving a truck. He and his wife were arrested for shoplifting in October, and those charges are pending.

South Carolina's Insurance Reserve Fund agreed to pay Jones a $285,000 settlement in the shooting.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jeffrey-collins
WILTON -- The Wilton Interfaith Action Committee decided in December to renew its commitment to refugee settlement work, and that effort resulted in last week's decision to accept a Syrian refugee family to the area.

A 33-year-old widow and her five children -- aged 12, 11, 9, 5 and 2 -- arrived at JFK International Airport on Thursday, March 10, and will live in transitional housing that the School Sisters of Notre Dame are generously providing on the Belden Hill Road campus, according to Steve Hudspeth, press liaison for Wi-ACT.

The Muslim family that speaks Arabic has been fully vetted through extensive U.S. government security clearance procedures, and Wi-ACT is inspired by the thought of being able to help a family that has suffered so much, including the loss of their husband and father, Hudspeth said.

Some 35 members of Wi-ACT's Steering Committee and refugee-settlement volunteers met with the co-sponsorship manager of Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services -- the non-profit with which Wi-ACT works -- March 1 to review the mechanics of the family's arrival and reception at JFK, and to plan out what needs to be done in their first few weeks in Wilton, according to Hudspeth.

The local organization wanted to help again, after a successful refugee placement six years ago.

"We heard about the Syrian refugee crisis and realized that based on our past experience with resettlement of a family from Iraq a half dozen years ago, we were in a good position to help," said Peggy Zamore, chairman of the Transportation subcommittee of the Steering Committee. "That being said, Wi-ACT's Steering Committee knows how daunting the work is in refugee resettlement, having already done it once and therefore deliberated carefully before agreeing that we would reenter the field given the compelling need. The job of the Transportation subcommittee is to ensure that all of the transportation needs of the family are met, especially in the crucial first few weeks when visits are made to government agencies for identification and registration and other purposes. We can use lots of help in our work, particularly with those who have seven or eight passenger vehicles. Don't be shy about volunteering. I can be reached at peggyz18@gmail.com."

Kathleen Rooney of the Steering Committee knows this is the right thing to do, especially for a single mother who has been through so much in keeping her family together.

"We know that the refugee family we are getting has been thoroughly vetted for a period of months, if not years, by our federal government including the State Department, Homeland Security, the CIA, and the FBI," Rooney said. "And in fact, the family we are receiving consists of a young widow, only 33 years old, and her five children ages 12 to 2. Wi-ACT is working with the highly rated nonprofit Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) headquartered in New Haven. Wi-ACT partners with IRIS to do its refugee resettlement work. Moreover, clearly the mother has to be a very effective person to hold her large and very young family together in the rigors of a refugee camp for two years and then to take her family through the daunting process of selection by the U.S. for inclusion in its refugee resettlement program."

David Bloomer, co-chairman of the Acculturation subcommittee, was stunned to learn of the makeup of this family.

"When we knew we would be getting -- if we agreed to accept them -- a young family of six with only one breadwinner, the Steering Committee was understandably pretty dumbfounded," Bloomer said. "It's a big responsibility to take on, and we knew from our previous experience six years ago with the Iraqi family that the work of family resettlement can be quite challenging. On the other hand, we also knew that we have transitional housing for the family to give it, and thus have an immediate home for them on arrival and one that would allow us time over several months to help Manal (the matriarch) to choose the right place for her permanent housing to be near her employment and to provide a good home for her children."

Heidi Hawk, Bloomer's co-chairman on the Acculturation subcommittee, knows none of this could happen without the help of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

"Wi-ACT is so grateful to the School Sisters of Notre Dame on Belden Hill Road for so generously donating transitional housing for our refugee family," Hawk said. "It really makes everything work so much better. Our work is to see to it that our volunteers learn about Syrian culture even as we help our family to learn about American culture. We also take on a variety of specific roles such as lining up interpreters and translators and scheduling their work to meet the needs of the family, including in their visits to government agencies. By the way, we've been very fortunate to have a half-dozen interpreters volunteer already, and we can always use more."

The Wilton community is being called upon for further assistance, according to Pat Hoeg, chairman of the Clothing/furnishing subcommittee.

"Right now, our family is well-equipped in terms of furnishings in its transitional housing, but as its permanent housing is identified and we need to help our family furnish it, we will be asking the larger Wilton community to help us," Hoeg said. "We've also been fortunate on the clothing front with generous donations locally and also with arrangements for the family to visit Person-to-Person that specializes in clothing low-income families very nicely. Our family will be having a visit there on Friday, March 11, the day after their arrival, and we look forward to them having the freedom to choose a modest but effective wardrobe that works best from their standpoint."

Another step in the process is getting the children into the school system, according to Phyllis Boozer, chairman of the Education subcommittee.

"(Subcommittee members) have been emailing and meeting very effectively and encouragingly with members of our Wilton Schools' leadership, from the Chairman of the Board of Education, Superintendent and school principals and deans down to our school's very effective ESL leader," Boozer said. "Their responses have been very heartening, and we are particularly pleased that they see the 'teachable moments' for all of their students presented by our refugee family in addition to the educational opportunities they will be affording the family itself. Alexa Schlechter, a member of the Education subcommittee, has been working on a wonderful Google GoFundMe project to fund provisions of computers and Internet access to our family since the children will have school computers but those computers can't be removed from school grounds and the children will need their own computer to do their homework and interface with other students on group projects."

While the children are in school, Manal will need to find employment, and Employment subcommittee chairman Paul Breitenbach is getting that process in motion.

"The objective here is for Manal to be able to have her family become self-sustaining in a relatively short period of time," Breitenbach said. "In fact, IRIS' model calls for that period of time to be measured in months, not years. IRIS has successful techniques for making that happen which we will employ along with techniques we developed ourselves in our earlier Iraqi family resettlement work. The process begins with an extensive in-depth skills assessment conducted by a skilled IRIS caseworker. We will supplement that with our own conversations with Manal to hone a description of her skills and to consider with her how they could work best in the marketplace. We will help her with resume development, and while I know it might sound like someone who has been in refugee camps for several years will not have many skills to list, the fact is that her ability to survive in that environment and to make it out with her large family suggests that she has some major skill set to offer, including great determination. We are also going to explore this time around entrepreneurial opportunities with a person who specializes in helping low-income people to develop successful entrepreneurial ventures. For example, one has become a seamstress with a very good business run from her home. So there are lots of avenues we will be focusing on. Certainly, help from the broader Wilton community, including with potential employment opportunities, is something we very much need and appreciate."

Even something as small as making sure the transitional housing is safe for very young children is being handled by Wi-ACT facilities operations head Sonny Kern.

"I get great satisfaction out of helping to see that our family gets a really good welcome, and I really enjoy working with my hands; so this is something I can do that allows me to contribute right from the start to making the arrival process go well," Kern said. "It's really gratifying work."

Physicals for all family members will be coordinated by Madeleine Wilken, chairman of the Health subcommittee.

"Thanks to the generous efforts of subcommittee member Dr. Hossein Sadeghi, a prominent local pediatrician in Norwalk has been identified to give the children their health exams that will pave the way for their registration in the Wilton schools," Wilken said. "Manal's physical will be conducted at a clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital that has offered its services free of charge for initial health exams for the refugee families served by and through IRIS."

The 32-member Wi-ACT Steering Committee draws from 10 Wilton institutions that encompass the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths.
STAMFORD  Shelter for the Homeless, which operates Pacific House emergency mens shelter, and develops and manages deeply affordable supportive housing as an avenue out of homelessness, received a $217,928 grant from Connecticuts Nonprofit Grant Program. The grant will be used to purchase and install energy saving equipment, in an effort to increase the shelters energy efficiency. Specifically, the grant will allow for new insulated windows, a solar power LED lighting system and lighting replacements, and an insulated roof with an emergency access hatch.

We would like to thank the state of Connecticut for awarding this grant. These improvements will yield long-term reductions in energy costs, allowing the organization to fulfill its mission more effectively, Executive Director Rafael Pagan, Jr. said. Savings from these efforts can be invested into housing initiatives, setting up people for long-term success.
Phillies win pivotal NLCS Game 3 behind Segura's clutch hit

Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff homer in the first inning and Jean Segura's two-run single led the Phillies over the Padres in Game 3.
In the current debate about maintaining an ethnically diverse environment on colleges and university campuses, we have been listening to a lot of generalizations. Among the cliches floating around are assertions such as to ensure equal access to higher education to all regardless of racial background or the need to expose students - as part of their education - to the diverse world they will encounter once they graduate. Although all these thoughts are true, they lack teeth when it comes to convincing the skeptics for the need of more racially diverse colleges and universities.

However, there are a lot of data that actually support the notion that more diversifying efforts by campuses do indeed further these ideas about what a college education can provide students. Those statistics come from the recent work by several researchers at the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at the Higher Education Research Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles.

These researchers found that an increased representation of students of color reduces the racialized vulnerability of minority students, although it has no effect on the frequency with which students of color interact with peers from different racial or ethnic backgrounds. In other words, the more diverse the campus, the more likely that minority students will feel comfortable and the more likely they will be to succeed. Yet, at the same time, they may be more likely to keep interacting mostly with people of their own ethnicity, which leads toward self-segregation. Also, they found that white students who enroll at campuses with greater proportions of white undergraduates feel less vulnerable and tend to interact less with peers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Also black and Latino students who enroll at more racially diverse campuses are less likely to report incidents of bias or discrimination to campus authorities as compared to their peers who attend less racially diverse colleges.

And diversity as a factor affects not how welcome students feel, but minority faculty as well. For example, the relationship between feeling stressed due to subtle discrimination and research productivity depends upon a faculty members race/ethnicity. According to one of their studies, the authors found that white faculty tends to be unaffected in terms of research productivity as their levels of stress due to subtle discrimination increase. By contrast, faculty of color tends to produce significantly less research when they experience greater stress due to subtle discrimination.

Studies like these clearly show not only the need for more diversity on campuses, but also another challenge for colleges and universities on how to achieve more inclusiveness beyond just numbers.

When it comes to recruiting students and faculty, higher education institutions need to be more deliberate in their efforts. To just pretend that nice words and platitudes in their diversity statements will be enough to attract minority students is not going to be enough. First they need to diversify both faculty and administrators so prospective students and faculty can see more faces like theirs. After all, these minority faculty and administrators will be the ones with whom minority students and faculty will interact the most. Therefore, those faculty and administrators need to actively participate in their diversity efforts.

This is a more important factor that it may seem. Despite the fact that the number of people of color getting into academia has increased, according to a study by the American Council on Education, the number of minorities in leadership positions on campus universities has been decreasing - even at minority serving institutions.

Also these institutions need to be more proactive by making more concerted efforts to go where prospective minority students and faculty are to recruit them. The idea that if we build it they will come does not work. These institutions also need to understand that while more diverse faces help, the message coming from these institutions also has to be different.

For example, the kind of message to African-American students will never be the same as the one needed for Latino students. For Latino students, many of who are first-generation college students, family considerations are important and sometimes require them to put additional efforts in convincing their parents that a college degree makes a tremendous difference both financially and socially. And many times that message needs to be delivered in Spanish.

Also, economic status requires fine-tuning for each case. Even different communities will require different approaches. Latinos from Florida think differently than those from the New York area or from those from California and Southwestern states. These differences are related to the immigration experience as well as issues of discrimination they may have faced in the past.

There are a number of national organizations such as Minority Access Inc., which provides educational institutions useful tools to be more effective in their interactions with minorities, including where to find them and how to interact successfully with a diversity of demographics. Nonetheless, colleges and universities need to have a clear strategy and the right people to carry out those plans.

But together with the increase of diversity is another equally difficult task - ensuring that the problems of integration are also addressed. At the end of the day the issues with diversity require planning, staffing and clear objectives.

Dr. Aldemaro Romero Jr. is a writer and college professor with leadership experience in higher education. He can be contacted through his website at: http://www.aromerojr.net.
Get your first look at some of the areas up-and-coming artistic talents when the William and Florence Schmidt Art Center at Southwestern Illinois Colleges Belleville Campus, 2500 Carlyle Ave., hosts its annual High School Student Art Exhibition.

The exhibition kicks off Thursday, March 24 with a 6-8 p.m. opening reception. Students present artwork created from a variety of media, including paint, photography, clay, mixed media, graphite, charcoal and more. An awards ceremony will begin at 7 p.m.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

Mass media must put more focus on issues pertaining to minority groups to help them voice their aspirations.



Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Suwarjono said it was important for the media to read between the lines with regard to issues surrounding minority groups, especially those related to religion, ethnicity and race.



"The media must help give a voice to the minority groups in fighting for their rights. Journalists need to take a stand," he said in a press statement on Sunday.



Media outlets were paying more attention to ratings and page views rather than seeking a solution to the conditions faced by minority groups, Suwarjono added.



It is also important for the media to question the state's role in protecting minority groups such as in the cases of the Shiites in Sampang, Madura, as well as the Ahmadis and Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gafatar).



Questions pertaining to the ownership of group assets and whether the state is providing protection should be raised, Darmawan Triwibowo, executive director of NGO the Tifa Foundation, said.



AJI and the Tifa Foundation held a on Sunday a discussion on the roles of the media that affect public discourse on discrimination and minority groups rights violations.



He also regretted the media's position as an observer, only reporting the news when events occurred.



"The media has the right to demand the state to take responsibility for their negligence," he said in a statement.



AJI Indonesia conducted research on media outlets in reporting conflicts by following news coverage of conflicts involving Gafatar and the Shia.



"The most reports came in the first three days, up to a week after the conflicts took place. When blood and tears are shed," Y. Hesthi Murthi, head of the female and marginalized group division at AJI, said in a statement.



Most reports came in the first month but showed a declining trend. In the following month, reports on the Shia and Gaftar showed a significant decrease, Hesthi said.



Based on the samples, surabaya.tribunnews,com reported 145 news items on the Sampang Shiites from Aug 27 to Sep 27, 2012, with a decline to only one report from Sep 28 to Oct 27, 2012. Meanwhile, tempo.co reported 168 news in the same first period, with a decline to 11 in the following month.



"That showed a drastic decline despite the ongoing case," she added.



Meanwhile, Sajogyo Institute executive director Eko Cahyono said that conflicts involving minority groups were strongly linked to the control of natural resources. He cited cases in Paneai in Nabire, Papua; Cisitu in Lebak, Banten; Cek Bocek in West Nusa Tenggara and Malind in Merauke, Papua.



The institute's research found that corporations used various methods to gain control over an areas' natural resources. Religious issues are often used to distract from the real purpose of gaining over the natural resources, he said. (rin)(+)
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Linkedin Elly Burhaini Faizal (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Mon, March 21, 2016

The Margo Mulyo farming group in Cancangan village, Wukirsari, Sleman regency, has had success in using serak Jawa (barn owls) to exterminate mice, which eat their crops.

Following the success, Cancangan has turned into a school for many students, farmers and government officials who visit the village to learn about mice extermination using a barn owl. Some have come from abroad.

After using barn owls, mice plagues have declined significantly, Bavid Margo Utomo, head of the Margo Mulyo farming group, told thejakartapost.com in Cancangan village on Thursday.

He further explained that in the past, farmers in the village could harvest only 20 to 30 percent of their crops, such as rice, corn and cassava, planted on 25 hectares of land. Up to 70 percent of their crops were often destroyed by mice, which were difficult to eradicate as they nested in the dikes between rice fields.

The dikes were formed from andesite stones from Mount Merapi eruptions. The volcano is around 15 kilometers north of the village.

Previously, we farmers always bought rice because we always suffered harvest failure, said Bavid.

The initiative began when Cancangan farmers got a couple of barn owls from the Raptors Club Indonesia (RCI) in the middle of 2013. RCI head Lim Wen Sin said an adult owl could kill dozens of mice in one night. The number was higher if a female barn owl had offspring to feed.

Every night, at least three barn owls kill mice on 25-hectares farm, which belongs to the farming group. Barn owls from outside of Cancangan also often hunt mice in the village.

Bavid and his farming group can harvest up to 80 percent of their crops now. The success story moved him to call on farmers in other villages to use barn owls to exterminate mice.

The barn owl is a mice exterminator that is cheap, simple, environmentally friendly and does not make a farmers job more burdensome. It is much more effective than killing the mice by hunting them to their nests or using rat poison, Lim said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Suzan Fraser (The Jakarta Post) Ankara, Turkey  Mon, March 14, 2016

A suicide car bomb went off near bus stops in the heart of Turkey's capital on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding around 125 others, officials said. Two of the dead are believed to be the assailants.

A senior government official told The Associated Press that police suspect that Kurdish militants carried out the attack, which occurred on Ankara's main boulevard, close to ministries.

At least one of the bombers was a woman, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing.

The bombing was the third in the city in five months and came as Turkey is grappling with a host of issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, threats from the Islamic State group and a Syrian refugee crisis.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish authorities said they were imposing curfews on two mainly Kurdish towns where Turkey's security forces were set to launch large-scale operations against Kurdish militants. Russia on Sunday also accused Turkey of sending its military across the Syrian border to prevent Kurdish groups there from consolidating their positions.

The attack came just three weeks after a suicide car bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group which is an offshoot of an outlawed rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 17 attack.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement vowing to bring "terrorism to its knees" and said Turkey would use its right to self-defense to prevent future attacks.

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees," Erdogan said.

Saudi state television said that a Saudi woman and three children were among those wounded in the attack. Saudi Arabia's King Salman condemned the bombing and extended his condolences to the Turkish people, according to the state-run Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbaria.

At least 19 of the wounded were in serious condition, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told reporters. He said that 30 of the victims died at the scene, while the other four died at hospitals.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the attack wouldn't deter the country from its fight against terrorism. He confirmed the blast was the result of a car bomb that targeted civilians at bus stops on Ataturk Bulvari close to Kizilay square.

Ala said authorities had obtained evidence pointing to the group behind the attack, but said an announcement would be made after the investigation is completed, most probably on Monday. No group has claimed responsibility.

The private NTV news channel said several vehicles caught fire following the blast which also shattered the windows of shops that line the boulevard and the square.

Dogan Asik, 28, was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

"There were about 40 people," said Asik, who suffered injuries to his face and arm. "It (the bus) slowed down. A car went by us, and 'boom' it exploded."

Police sealed off the area and pushed onlookers and journalists back, warning that there could be a second bomb. Forensic teams were examining the scene.

The US Embassy had two days earlier issued a security warning about a potential plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing in one Ankara neighborhood and asked American citizens to avoid those areas. The cab bomb went off in a different neighborhood.

As with the previous bombings, Turkish authorities quickly imposed a ban Sunday preventing media organizations from broadcasting or publishing graphic images of the blast or from the scene. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the government-run telecommunications agency had decided to block access to websites that published images from the scene.

The country's pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples' Democratic Party, meanwhile, condemned the attack and said it shared the pain. The statement was significant because the party has frequently been accused of being the political arm of the PKK ' an accusation it denies ' and of not speaking out against PKK violence.

The attack drew international condemnation in statements issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, among others.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington's " strong partnership with our NATO ally Turkey in combatting the shared threat of terrorism."

Hundreds of people have been killed in Turkey in renewed fighting following the collapse of the peace process between the government and the PKK in July.

The country has also been struck by several bombings in the last year that were blamed on the Islamic State group after the government joined US-led efforts to fight the extremist group in Syria. The deadliest came in October when a bombing at a peace rally outside Ankara's main train station killed 102 people.

Authorities have imposed curfews in several flashpoints since August to root out militants linked to the PKK, who have set up barricades, dug trenches and planted explosives. The military operations have raised concerns over human rights violations and scores of civilian deaths. Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced by the fighting.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia has evidence of Turkey's "creeping expansion" in northern Syria.

"According to our information, they are digging in a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian REN TV broadcast on Sunday. (rin)

Burhan Ozbilici contributed to this report.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post  Mon, March 14, 2016

The government has granted free-visa entry to citizens of a number of countries in an attempt to boost foreign tourist arrivals. The directorate general of immigration is the gatekeeper that assures that citizens of countries on the list don't violate the facility. If a large number of citizens from a certain country are found to commit crime, the government may withdraw the facility from that country. The Jakarta Post's Nurul Fitri Ramadhani talked recently to immigration director general Ronny F. Sompie about the policy. Following are excerpts of the interview.



Question: What role does the immigration office play in the implementation of the free-visa policy?



Answer: All related ministries and institutions are supposed to cooperate in monitoring foreign tourists based on their own duties and functions. The immigration office is responsible for checking foreigners' data and border-crossing records, as well as finding out what they do in Indonesia. The free-visa policy allows them to stay in Indonesia for a month.



Citizens of how many countries have been granted free visas?



Around 90 countries have been granted the facility, 75 of which have yet to implement a reciprocal policy, while 15 others have been reciprocal since 2015. The free visa is valid for certain activities, such as vacations, family visits, social and cultural activities, governmental duties, business meetings, seminars or training programs and transit.



Has the immigration office evaluated the benefits of the free-visa policy so far?



We haven't, because it has only been implemented since June, for 45 countries, and October for all 90. We have coordinated with the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry and decided to evaluate the policy after a year.



Could any of the 90 countries be excluded from the facility after the review?



They could, for many reasons, such as crime and security matters. One example could be a company or sponsor found guilty of misusing the free visa to employ foreign workers without paying taxes. Companies or sponsors employing foreign workers are obliged to pay US$100 per person per month.



For ASEAN countries, we will make sure that expatriates do not take up positions in professions outside the eight agreed by the ASEAN Economic Community. The Manpower Ministry can help us to monitor and we will take action against any violation.



It would be worse if the foreign workers violated residence permits. We can carry out pro-judicial processes and deport violators, and they will not be allowed to re-enter Indonesia for at least six months.



How do you determine who is in the country for a vacation and who is here for other purposes?



That's why we need a comprehensive collaboration with other authorities. In China, the authorities give out cards that function as passports for foreign tourists; the cards are applicable for taking trains, buses and entering hotels, so the authorities don't need to check passports.



Applying such a system would require an enormous budget. Because of the free-visa policy, we make no profit, so it would be difficult for us to find the money for such cards. Singapore, for example, is ready for its free-visa policy. Its infrastructure and security measures are well-prepared. So is Malaysia. They are ready to welcome foreign tourists with free visas.



Indonesia, conversely, lacks the infrastructure needed to implement the policy. Even the largest airports have limited volume for foreign arrivals.



Has the immigration office detected any crime by citizens of those countries awarded a free-visa facility?



We've seen a rise in criminal syndicates from China since October. The victims are usually foreigners - the syndicates promise people jobs in Indonesia, but when they get here, they're made to engage in cybercrime targeting citizens of China or Taiwan.



How about the security in border areas?



The problem is that the immigration office lacks personnel. It currently has around 8,000 officers and needs 10,760 to be effective. At Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, for example, there are only 200 officers for immigration check desks, while we need at least 512.



Eight ports in Batam also need more personnel - at the moment, they're overloaded. The ports are crowded with tourists going from or to Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. The immigration checks there run two shifts, with officers working up to 12 hours a day for an average salary. I think that could be said to be a violation of human rights. We urgently need a solution.



The immigration office recruits only 65 new officers from the Immigration Academy and a maximum 120 officials [annually]. The number does not even reach 200, not to mention those who retire each year. We really need more to be effective in ensuring security.



We plan to cooperate with the Indonesian Military [TNI] to ask non-commissioned officers approaching retirement age to help us guard border areas or detention centers.



Is there any plan to waive visas for expatriates, related to President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's plan to boost investment?



Expatriates often complain about the long, complicated procedures to obtain temporary stay permits (ITAS).



To get the permits, their companies are required to obtain permits to employ foreign workers from the Manpower Ministry and that can take a long time, while immigration needs a maximum two days to process the ITAS.



The immigration office plans to launch an online service platform this year to help foreigners obtain non-electronic temporary stay permits, which would simplify the process. This is in line with Jokowi's instruction that the ITAS process must not take more than two days. However, there still needs to be better collaboration between the immigration office and the [Manpower] Ministry. If the ministry is struggling, we can help.



Is there any plan to bring the two services under one roof?



It's possible, but it's not our initiative. The concept is attractive, but implementation would be complicated. All related institutions should sit down together and discuss a solution. If [integration] is a feasible solution, why not?
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Linkedin Kor Kian Beng (The Jakarta Post) Beijing  Mon, March 14, 2016

China will seek to become an international maritime judicial center to better protect its national sovereignty, maritime rights and "core interests", said Chief Justice Zhou Qiang.

Citing figures to bolster his case Sunday, he said China already tops the world with the biggest load of maritime court cases and is also home to the most extensive maritime judicial system.

Zhou, president of the Supreme People's Court, said China's 10 maritime courts handled some 16,000 cases last year, up from 12,000 in 2014 and 11,000 in 2013.

"[We] must improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial center," he said in his report on the court's work to some 5,000 lawmakers and political advisers.

He added that being a global hub will also help China implement the national strategy of becoming a "maritime power", a goal first cited after a Communist Party conclave at the end of 2012 that saw President Xi Jinping take power.

It will also serve Xi's "One Belt, One Road" strategy of reviving two ancient trade routes to Europe.

Zhou did not reiterate the steps to becoming a global hub that he had outlined for the first time at a work conference last December.

These included properly defining the scope of the maritime courts, setting common standards in adjudication, deepening international exchanges and beefing up publicity of China's maritime judicial work.

He had also revealed China's other reasons for becoming a hub, saying it could take part in setting international maritime guidelines and use influential case rulings "to enhance international maritime law with Chinese wisdom".

China's ambition is set amid simmering tensions arising from territorial spats in its neighboring seas, which are regarded as part of its core interests.

Sino-Japanese tensions have eased over the Diaoyu/Senkaku isles in the East China Sea. But friction has intensified in the South China Sea, where China faces overlapping territorial claims from Taiwan and four ASEAN countries.

There are also concerns over how China would respond to an international court ruling in the coming months on its dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea. Beijing has refused to take part in the hearing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Susan Finder, a Hong Kong- based expert on China's judiciary, said China's ambition could be part of "a push to move the locus of maritime dispute resolution from London and other centers in Europe to China, where Chinese parties will encounter a more familiar dispute resolution system".

The visiting fellow at Peking University's School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen added that other goals include exercising its jurisdiction over development and utilization of marine waters it claims.

Reflecting this goal, Zhou cited a case involving a Chinese fishing boat that collided with a Panama-flagged cargo ship off Diaoyu Islands in September 2014.

He said the case, which the boat owner took to the Xiamen maritime court and later resolved via mediation, showed China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu group's waters.

Singapore-based South China Sea expert Ian Storey told The Straits Times that Beijing's ambition could be driven by its view of existing judicial bodies as "pro-Western and biased against China".

"Perhaps China will try to bypass them altogether by establishing its own maritime courts. It is highly doubtful, however, that neighboring countries will recognize their jurisdiction," he added.

Zhou also gave figures on China's push to beef up the rule of law on other fronts. The number of convictions involving terrorism and secessionist activities rose from 712 in 2014 to 1,419 last year.

Lawsuits brought by the public against government agencies also jumped from 151,000 in 2014 to 241,000 last year. The state paid 240 million yuan (US$36.9 million) in compensation, up from 110 million yuan in 2014, as the number of compensation cases doubled from 2,708 to 5,439 last year.
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 14, 2016

The Central Jakarta District Court is scheduled on Monday to start the trial of two human rights campaigners who had been arrested during a labor protest in front of the State Palace in October - a case that may discourage freedom of speech.



Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) lawyers Tigor Gempita Hutapea and Obed Sakti Andre Dominika were arrested when documenting alleged violent acts committed by the police to disperse the workers' rally.



They will stand trial along with 23 workers and one university student on charges of disobeying police orders during the protest.



LBH Jakarta campaigner Yunita said that the prosecution of Tigor and Obed marked the first time law enforcement institutions have charged public advocates in protests since the country left the New Order in 1998.



'The legal process is a criminalization [an imposition of trumped-up charges] because we found patterns of irregularities in the case,' Yunita told a press briefing at the LBH Jakarta office on Sunday.



Although the Central Jakarta District Court has set a date for the trial of the protesters, the LBH Jakarta, which is defending the suspects, has yet to receive the indictment documents.



An indictment document is supposed to be sent to lawyers at least one week before a trial begins.



Yunita said even during the New Order such prosecutions rarely happened. The LBH Jakarta only recorded two cases, one involving the controversial prosecution of the founder of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI), the late Adnan Buyung Nasution, and another the late human rights defender Yap Thiam Hien, for their efforts defending the weak from massive injustice during the repressive years.



'First of all, the [labor] rally had acquired permits and it was protected by the Constitution. Even if it did not have the permits, then the heaviest sanction possible was only a dispersal, not prosecution like what is happening to two of our fellow advocates and the workers and students,' Yunita said.



Dozens of members of NGOs, including some from the YLBHI and the Yayasan Perempuan Mahardhika foundation, have signed a petition to demand the prosecutor's office withdraw the dossiers of the accused from the court and issue a prosecution termination warrant to clear the charges against the 26 suspects.



The protesters were charged under Article 216 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) for allegedly disobeying police orders during the rally.



Mutiara Ika Pratiwi of Perempuan Mahardhika said that human rights campaigners had strong evidence, such as video footage showing police brutality against protesters and the two lawyers during the rally, to defend the advocates' innocence in the case.



'There are no legal grounds that could justify any kind of prosecution of a peaceful rally,' Mutiara said, adding that Obed and Tigor were protected by law No. 18/2003 on advocates, but ironically the police charged them under the KUHP.




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Linkedin Khoirul Amin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

The government will provide a transition period for foreign tech giants offering services in the country to set up permanent entities and pay taxes or risk having their services shut down.



Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said recently that a draft regulation was in motion to force such a policy on the companies, with the government, however, promising to provide enough time for them to comply.



'We're discussing it. There has to be a transition period, as we understand that it will have implications for the public, which is already using their services,' he said, adding that the length of the transition period was also still under discussion.



The government previously warned that it would block operations of any foreign tech giants failing to set up an entity in the form of a limited liability firm, locally called perseroan terbatas (PT).



At present, internet heavyweights such as Google, Facebook and Twitter operate only through representative offices and not permanent establishments.



Under such a mechanism, the government cannot collect taxes from the companies despite their profitable operations in Southeast Asia's largest economy.



Digital advertisement in the country stood at more than US$800 million last year, 70 percent of which are enjoyed by Facebook and Google, according to data from the Communications and Information Ministry.



Indonesia has the fourth largest Facebook user base with some 65 million people active in the social network.



The government is struggling to meet this year's tax collection target of Rp 1.36 quadrillion (US$102 billion), up 10 percent from last year, amid the sluggish economy caused by the impacts of a global economic slowdown.



Rudiantara explained that his ministry and the Finance Ministry were now preparing a ministerial decree to be launched at the end of this month or early next month to regulate the matter.



The regulation will require international tech giants to be permanently established in the form of either wholly owned local entities, joint ventures or partnerships with local telecommunications operators.



Rudiantara, who is an IT industry veteran himself, said the government aimed to create a level playing field for foreign and local technology companies, with the latter already obliged to pay taxes.



Former trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu said she lauded the government's intention to create fair competition between local and foreign players, but warned that a professional approach should be taken.



'It's worth [looking for] a solution that makes the tax easy to impose and that won't create difficulties for the e-commerce [industry] and its businesses,' she said.



Rudiantara said that apart from requiring permanent establishment, his ministry and the Indonesian Association of Indonesian Cellular Operators (ATSI) had joined forces to develop three local tech providers this year with the aim of dominating the local market.



Indonesia is striving to develop the digital economy as part of attempts to reduce the country's heavy reliance on natural commodities.



The government targets US$130 billion in e-commerce transactions by 2020, hoping the industry could contribute more to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).



Facebook and Google have recently drawn anger in Europe for accounting practices aimed at avoiding high taxes.



Facebook has announced that it would soon alter how it paid taxes in the United Kingdom, thus providing leeway for the tax authorities there to collect more taxes.

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Linkedin Kusumasari Ayuningtyas and Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Klaten, Central Java/Medan  Mon, March 14, 2016

Relatives of an alleged terrorist who died in police custody said on Sunday that they would file a report to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on possible misconduct that led to the death.



'We demand that those who arrested Siyono take responsibility. We will report it to the commission,' said the relatives' lawyer, Sri Kalono.



Siyono was apprehended by the National Police's Densus 88 antiterror squad at his house in Pogung village, Klaten, Central Java, on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.



The family's spokesman Hendro Sudarsono said the family would take legal action, and urged the police to explain the cause of the death.



'Siyono was healthy when he was arrested. What was the cause of death?' Hendro asked.



If it emerged that Siyono was shot dead, he added, the police should also explain their decision to shoot the suspect.



On Friday, media reported that police had shot Siyono as he attempted to attack officers escorting him to Yogyakarta, where he was to lead officers to his accomplices. Siyono was rushed to the Bhayangkara Police Hospital in the city, but died on the way.



The body was transferred to the Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Jakarta, and the family was informed of the death.



Siyono was buried in his home village early on Sunday.



On Dec. 30 last year, Densus 88 arrested an alleged terrorist in Surakarta, which neighbors Klaten.



The arrest was part of a series of raids carried out by the antiterror detachment over the past few weeks in areas including Bekasi, Cilacap, Gresik, Mojokerto, Sukoharjo and Tasikmalaya.



The 10 arrested over the course of the raids are suspected of being among more than 1,000 Indonesian supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group.



Police have since the beginning of the year arrested 18 terror suspects, including six accused of involvement in a Jan. 14 attack in Central Jakarta that left eight people dead, four victims and four attackers.



The perpetrators were believed to have been linked to IS.



In a related development, the police announced on Sunday that they had arrested four suspected IS supporters in Padang Sidempuan, North Sumatra.



Padang Sidempuan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Helmi Lubis said the suspects, identified only as IF, HS, H and S, had been apprehended at different locations on Friday.



Having questioned the suspects, Helmi said the police were now hunting the leader of IS in North Sumatra, identified as Abu Sumatra.



The four suspects claimed they had communicated with Abu Sumatra through a middleman, identified only as R, a student in Medan.



'Earlier today, we summoned R. We want to know who Abu Sumatra is and where he is from,' Helmi said.



He explained that the four had been arrested after police apprehended a suspect, identified as Rizal Faizal, for alleged sexual abuse of children.



'When we were going through Rizal's text messages, we found conversations about IS with the four suspects and Abu Sumatra,' he explained.



Separately, North Sumatra Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Helfi Assegaf admitted that IS was winning ever more supporters across the province.



He insisted, however, that the militant group posed no serious threat.



Last week, residents found a suitcase containing a homemade bomb, a gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Binjai, North Sumatra; police denied the weapons belonged to IS supporters.

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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Bogor  Mon, March 14, 2016

Seven of 20 inmates housed in a cell at Paledang prison in Bogor, West Java, escaped on Sunday after sawing through the iron bars of a window located 5 meters above their beds.



They apparently took advantage of a broken CCTV and inattentive security guards.



Agus Toyib, the head of the correctional institution affairs division at the Law and Human Rights Ministry's West Java office, said the convicts had used tied sarongs to climb down the wall sometime before 3:45 a.m.



'At that time, the security post was unattended. They jumped onto the lower walls by tying the sarongs to barbed wire,' Agus was quoted as saying by tribunnews.com.



'The prisoners are being searched for,' he added.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

The Jagakarsa Police have arrested an alleged pimp known as Thorik, who is accused of running a prostitution business employing underage girls at a coffee stall in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.



Jagakarta Police criminal unit chief Comr. Hari Subeno said on Saturday that Thorik, who was apprehended after reports from neighbors, had been in the prostitution business for two years.



According to Hari, Thorik charged between Rp 200,000 (US$15.40) and Rp 400,000 per transaction.



'We found 15 girls there. They were taken to Kramat Jati National Police Hospital [in East Jakarta] for a psychological examination,' he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.



Gianto, a 45-year-old neighbor, said that Thorik lived in the coffee shop as he could not afford to rent a house.



'We often saw girls, mostly junior high school students, hanging out in the shop. It was only one or two girls at first but after a while, there were dozens of them,' he said, adding that strangers often visited the shop to use the girls' services, raising suspicions among neighbors.



'We couldn't raid the shop as we didn't have any proof. We eventually decided to report the case to the police and the subdistrict office,' he said.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

Authorities have intercepted two families, comprising nine adults and five children, heading for Syria to join terrorist group Islamic State (IS).



A team comprising members of the Jakarta Police, counterterrorism unit Densus 88 and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) stopped the suspects at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Sunday before they boarded AirAsia flight QZ256 bound for Don Mueang airport in Bangkok.



Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Mohammad Iqbal told The Jakarta Post that the 14 had been attempting to travel to Syria to join the IS fighting there.



'We arrested 14 people at 1 p.m. at the airport. They are currently under investigation,' Iqbal said.



One of the families consisted of a husband, wife and three children, registered as residents of Tangerang, Banten.



The second family is a couple with one child and another two companions, and come from Singkawang, West Kalimantan.



The remaining two people remain unidentified.



Iqbal said that the team had followed the 14 for some time before moving to detain them. The Bangkok flight was scheduled for 2 p.m.



IS' growing influence and fame have seduced many Indonesians, with hundreds attempting to travel to Syria to join the group, though few have succeeded.



Last month, four people from Bogor, West Java, were stopped by authorities at Singapore's Changi Airport as they attempted to catch a flight, allegedly on the way to join IS. The group consisted of three adult men and a teenage boy.



A group of Indonesian nationals was detained in March last year after attempting to cross the Turkish-Syrian border at the town of Gaziantep. The group consisted of 11 minors and five adults.



IS' violent ideology has had repercussions as far as Jakarta, a series of bomb explosions and gun fire rocking Jl. MH Thamrin in the city center in January, claiming eight lives, including those of all four assailants.



The government has meanwhile leveled up measures to curb travel to Syria, including by revamping the country's terrorism laws.



The House of Representatives has begun deliberating 12 provisions included by the government in a draft revision to the Terrorism Law.



One of the proposed changes is to widen the categories of terrorist offenses to include sales of chemical, biological, radiological, microorganism, nuclear and radioactive weapons.



If passed, the bill would allow the police to detain a suspect for up to 180 days for investigation.



The government has also proposed prohibiting relations with terrorist groups abroad, as there is currently no law that can be used to prosecute Indonesians who go overseas to join such groups. The new provisions would also prohibit Indonesians from undergoing military training abroad.



Another proposed revision covers a ban on adopting radical Islamic values, recruiting people for terrorism purposes, sending proxies for terrorist attacks, funding terrorist movements, giving assistance to terrorist groups and committing violence in the name of terrorism.



In February, seven IS sympathizers were sentenced to up to five years in prison for various offences, punishment that critics deemed overly lenient and unlikely to provide any deterrent effect.



The concerns were proven founded when the police later that month raided a military-style training camp for suspected radicals in Mount Sumbing, Central Java, though most of the detained were released on a lack of evidence.



The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) said in a recent report that the government should experiment with targeted deradicalization programs aimed at Indonesians who try and fail to reach Syria.



The report states that 60 percent of deportees are women and children, and that many sell their property and belongings before leaving.

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Linkedin Bambang Nurbianto (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 21, 2016

The House of Representatives is considering drafting an interception bill that would be separate from the terrorism bill in an effort to accommodate the demands of organizations like the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to have more surveillance powers.

The issue of the interception bill has been discussed by lawmakers, particularly by members of House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, said Commission I member Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi in Jakarta on Monday.

The interception bill has arisen in line with the urgency to amend the 2003 terrorism law, which has been deemed obsolete for responding to current terrorist movements. The amendments are intended to allow law enforcers to take preemptive actions against terrorist threats.

The interception bill would outline how intelligence bodies would perform surveillance such as wiretapping on people who were suspected to have connections with terrorist acts, Bobby said.

"It would further regulate interception and counterintelligence practices that will ensure the upholding of human rights at the same time," Bobby told thejakartapost.com recently.

According to a copy of the amended bill on terrorism that was made available to thejakartapost.com, the revision proposed by the government allows intelligence reports to be used as preliminary evidence for the police to make preemptive arrests.

Article 31 in the newest draft revision particularly allows the police to wiretap people suspected to be connected to acts of terrorism based on at least two pieces of evidence, an action that they should report to the Communications and Information Ministry.

Rights experts have been critical, saying that the content of the article was irrelevant and that only state courts had the formal authority to declare the legitimacy of surveillance as stipulated under the 2003 terrorism law. Besides, under the bill the police can start an interrogation only based on reasonable suspicions that a group of suspects was discussing or planning terrorist attacks.

Even though the draft revision did not include explicit articles that broaden the power of intelligence bodies, BIN would naturally have a bigger role in the new national counterterrorism framework, Bobby added.

Commission I wanted BIN to function as the coordinator of intelligence gathering in order to ensure the accountability of the reports and that they come from trusted sources, related to the use of intelligence reports, Bobby said.

"We will also try to synchronize BIN's role between the terrorism bill and the current Intelligence Law," Bobby said, adding that the House had agree not to amend the latter.

Meanwhile, Arsul Sani, member of Commission III overseeing legal affairs, human rights and security, said that lawmakers should soon draft the interception bill to prevent law enforcers from abusing their power.

The notion was in line with the Constitutional Court ruling that advised lawmakers to create a separate bill, since up until now there were no comprehensive law on interception. The existing regulations were made piecemeal in several laws with different mechanisms and procedures, Arsul said.

When available, Arsul said, the interception law would apply to all state apparatuses that wished to wiretap their suspects, such as the National Police, BIN, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

"In the short run [the interception law] could be inserted in the terrorism bill, but in the long run it should be separate," Arsul said. (bbn)
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Linkedin Martin Roll (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 14, 2016

Sustainability is becoming a strategic differentiator for brands. If leveraged properly it can be transformational.



Sustainability is the new mantra for strategic differentiation. The global brand and marketing industry is abuzz with brands implementing new sustainability initiatives. The Hershey Company, for instance, recently made new deforestation prevention commitments in its supply chain through a comprehensive pulp and paper policy and increased efforts to trace the sources of all palm oil supplies. Other examples include Mondelez International's Cocoa Life Initiative and Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan.



Becoming recognized as a 'sustainable' organization can enhance brand equity, unlock opportunities to create new markets and launch sub-brands, line extensions and packaging innovations. In the fashion industry a number of companies are reinventing themselves with fresh initiatives and brand identities with a sustainability focus. Many have differentiated themselves by integrating sustainable thinking into the values and principles of their organizations, transforming all the functions that influence their brand and creating new opportunities in the process.



Becoming a sustainable brand requires organizations to put processes in place at every level of the organization, ensuring they all work in harmony to achieve the sustainable goals. Stopgap, infrequent, sporadic and unplanned efforts to ride the sustainability platform will do more harm than good. Sustainability is as much a mindset as it is an objective and, like any major transformation exercise, it requires stakeholders at every level of the organization to be part of the vision and work towards its implementation. Without the participation of each and every employee, sustainability cannot enter the veins of the organization.

Brands winning in this regard are those that embody and follow these principles:



Communication is paramount



To be effective, communication needs to be holistic, addressing investors, internal stakeholders and consumers. Organizations need to engage in advertising campaigns and PR initiatives; gain recognition from industry bodies; and obtain impactful certifications and any form of unpaid visibility they can achieve. Communication also needs to help with status reporting against targets and benchmarks while also raising visibility about the initiatives.



Aim for the widest change



To avoid being accused of green washing, organizations should aim for the widest implementation of sustainability initiatives. Organizations can do this phase-by-phase or by introducing initiatives that have big impacts. For example, if there is a significant overlap in the sourcing of raw materials across a company's brands, then introducing sustainability initiatives in sourcing can have a wide impact. Organizations that have brands in multiple categories, with multiple raw materials and different supply chains, need phased introduction of initiatives.



For instance, Unilever's Sustainable Living initiative is a corporate level strategy, but it began with a global portfolio of brands with a wide geographic footprint.



Impact at every stage of implementation



Before it becomes a strategic differentiator, sustainability has to enhance profitability. However, the short-term implementation of sustainable initiatives can take time to make a difference to the bottom line. Organizations venturing on this path need to have strategies in place to mitigate these initial hiccups and remain focused on the path and goals of sustainability. Over time, these initial costs and reduced profitability will transition into longer-term benefits (both in terms of revenues and efficiencies realized through sourcing and supply chain optimization).



Look for partners which add value



Last but not least, organizations have to have an open mind about sustainability initiatives. Strategic differentiation platforms can only be created with collaborations, tie-ups and ventures with external parties who have the ability to provide specialist expertise. The Unilever Foundry is a great example of how Unilever is inviting start-ups, entrepreneurs and other organizations to help them solve some of their core business challenges. For example, one of the sustainability challenges open for collaboration is around 'developing products and technologies that allow consumers to get superior washing performance using lower temperatures and less water'.



Truly differentiated positioning platforms are hard to find and adopt. When it comes to sustainability, organizations have the opportunity to differentiate on the path, as they go along. Starting from the idea, its dissemination, the steps taken to convert it into something tangible, the processes and the gradual steps towards the end goals are all opportunities for organizations to achieve differentiation and strengthen equity for their brands. Those who embrace the path whole-heartedly are the ones who are going to have the maximum chances of becoming 'sustainable' brands. (Martin Roll)

________________



The writer is a business & brand strategist and the founder of Martin Roll Company. He has an MBA from INSEAD ('99D) and is the author of Asian Brand Strategy.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Mon, March 14, 2016

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry sunk on Monday an Antarctic toothfish fishing vessel, wanted by Interpol for alleged illegal fishing in areas across the world. The vessel was sunk in waters off Pangandaran Beach, West Java.

'Today, we are here to witness the realization of the Indonesian government's commitment to transform Indonesia into a global maritime axis,' Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said after the sinking of Viking, a fishing vessel with a 1,322 gross tonnage (GT).

The minister said Fishing Vessel (FV) Viking was a stateless vessel that had long carried out illegal fishing in waters across the globe.

'The Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources [CCAMLR], a regional fisheries management organization [RFMO] Southern Antarctic Ocean, has categorized this vessel as an illegal fishing vessel,' said Susi.

She further said the sinking of FV Viking was Indonesia's contribution as part of the global community to eradicate illegal fishing.

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry says FV Viking was arrested in Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE), around 12.7 miles from Tanjung Uban, Bintan, Riau Islands, on Feb.26. 'The vessel entered Indonesian territory without fulfilling its obligation to report its identity and shipping data to the country's authorities as stipulated by Article 193[2] of Law No.17/2008 on shipping and Article 14 of Government Regulation No. 5/2010 on navigation,' the ministry reported.

The FV Viking's Automatic Identification System (AIS) was reportedly turned off when it entered Indonesian territory. The vessel reportedly did not have a fishing permit. During their search, officers from the ministry's Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Fishing Task Force, popularly known as Satgas 115, found 399 kilometer-long gillnets and 71 kilometer-long fishing net ropes. The ministry said that such equipment can damage fisheries resources and violates a Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister regulation on fishing and the placement of fishing equipment, which only allows a fishing boat to use 2.5 kilometer-long gillnets

During the search, the Task Force, which was assisted by multilateral investigation support teams from Norway and Canada, said that FV Viking was a stateless vessel. 'The Nigerian government has officially declared that the FV Viking is not registered in Nigeria,' it says.

The Task Force added that both the fishing report and navigation computer, two important items that could help ascertain where the FV Viking had been fishing, could not be found on board.

'From documents found, we can reveal that the FV Viking often unloaded its catches in Thailand,' the Task Force said.

'Several other documents also show that the FV Viking repeatedly stocked up on equipment in Singapore and carried out ship repairs in that country,' it further said, adding that the FV Viking was connected to a fishing company in Spain.

The ministry said those findings showed that the FV Viking had violated various international conservation regulations. It further said that countries needed to pay close attention to the business networks of FV Viking's owner and operator as well markets where it sold its catches, such as Angola, the Congo, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, the US and Vietnam.

'The FV Viking is clear evidence that illegal fishing is a transnational organized crime. Fishing crime disregards the sovereignty of many countries. Any sovereign country should not let this happen,' said Susi.

'Indonesia will intensify cooperation with various countries to uncover the strategy used by the FV Viking and the real owner of the vessel,' she went on. (ebf)
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Linkedin Bambang Nurbianto (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 21, 2016

The Indonesian government has condemned the bombing in the Kizilay district in the center of Ankara, Turkey's capital city, on Sunday.

As reported at 11 p.m. local time the suicide car bomb had killed at least 34 people and wounded 125 others, with two of the dead believed to be the assailants.

"The people and government of Indonesian offer sympathy and deep condolences to the Turkish people and government, particularly to the victims and victims' families," the Foreign Ministry's statement read as reported by Antara news agency.

At the time of writing the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara had yet to release any information regarding Indonesians as being among the victims of the bombing, the third in the city in the last five months.

However, the embassy is still coordinating with related parties in the country to stay abreast of new information.

On Sunday, a suicide car bomb went off near a crowded bus station on Ankara's main boulevard. An outlaw rebel Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is believed to have carried out the attack, according to The Associated Press.

The attack came only three weeks after a Feb. 17 suicide bombing, also in the capital, which particularly targeted military personnel. The PKK later claimed responsibility for the attack that resulted in the deaths of 29 people.

There are currently 1,553 Indonesians living in Turkey, most being professional workers or students.

Indonesia's Ankara Embassy has called Indonesians in Turkey to stay calm and vigilant, as well as avoid crowded places that are potential targets of terrorist attacks.

Indonesians living in Turkey who require information can call the hotline at the Ankara embassy at +905321352298 and +905338120760. (afr/bbn)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi inaugurated the Indonesian honorary consulate in Palestine in an event in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday after Israel denied her entrance to Rammalah following Indonesia's push to boycott Israeli products



The inauguration was conducted in Amman not long after Retno and her delegation were headed for Ramallah. Israel denied issuing an overflight permit for a Jordanian air force helicopter transporting Retno to Ramallah, according to the Cabinet Secretary website on Sunday.



Alternatively, Indonesia held the inauguration at the Indonesia Embassy in Amman. Retno also inaugurated Maha Abu-Shuhseh as honorary consul to Palestine.



Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan Teguh Wardoyo, head of Commission I overseeing foreign affairs at the House of the Representatives Mahfud Siddiq and ambassadors of ASEAN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) witnessed the historic event.



The OIC held its fifth extraordinary summit last week in Jakarta, serving as a historic moment in helping to solve the longstanding Palestine-Israel conflict.



The opening of the honorary consulate is a manifest of Indonesia's support to Palestine's freedom, Retno said.



"Indonesia's support to the fight of the Palestinian people will never cease and we move forward one step today with the inauguration of Indonesia's honorary consulate in Ramallah," she said as quoted by setkab.go.id.



Retno asked consul Maha Abu- Shusheh to have an active role in boosting bilateral ties between the two countries.



"I hope Indonesia's consul in Ramallah can connect Indonesians and Palestinians," she said, adding that the office also served to provide protection to Indonesians and as a body for economic and social-cultural cooperation.



Indonesia's honorary consul in Ramallah is the first among 41 embassies and foreign consulates in Ramallah. Other foreign honorary consuls to Palestine are located in Bethlehem, Israel.



Indonesia will continue to provide aid to Palestine to help end the conflict, Retno said.



Indonesia served as a co-sponsor for Palestine to become a UN non-observer state. Moreover, Indonesia has also given its support for Palestine to join UNESCO and validated the Declaration on Palestine at the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference, last year.



Indonesia also contributed US$1 million to the 2007 Paris Donors Conference as part of preparations for Palestine's independence, establishing the Indonesian Cardiac Facility at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and providing other humanitarian aid.



Indonesia and Palestine trade relations recorded an increase to $3.67 million in 201, from $1.02 million in 2014. Around 50,000 Indonesians visit Palestine every year , including Muslims and Christians for pilgrimage purposes. (rin)(+)
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Linkedin Khoirul Amin (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, March 14, 2016

New Zealand's largest dairy company Fonterra, which owns the popular Anlene brand in Indonesia, launched a packing plant in Cikarang, West Java, last year. The company is competing against local brands such as Prenagen, HiLo and Ultrajaya. During a recent visit to Indonesia, Fonterra chief financial officer Lukas Paravicini spoke to The Jakarta Post's Khoirul Amin about his company's plan to strengthen its presence in the country. Below are excerpts of the interview.



Question: How is Fonterra's new US$36 million manufacturing plant in Indonesia progressing?



Answer: It is fully finished and operational. We started mid-last year to produce, so we are already at a very good level of utilization and efficiency. It is contributing significantly already to our Indonesian business by producing our Anlene and Boneeto products. What I think is very interesting is also how we transport best practices of know-how and how we import that from our other plants around the world. I was very excited to see that our team in Indonesia, in a very short time, has taken those best practices and now runs a factory to the Fonterra standard.



We have still some capacity, so the full capacity [of the plant] would be about 20,000 tons a year. Right now, we are at roughly 60 percent, which is very good for a six-month-old factory. What is important as well is our operational excellence, which means how well we run, is very high, so we've made a very good start.



We have a total of 290 workers and currently about 100 people in the factory. We believe the factory will run by about 160 workers at full capacity in the next six to 12 months.



Why did your company choose Indonesia as the investment destination and how important is the country for your company's business?



Fonterra is a large dairy company based in New Zealand. When you talk about dairy, you are talking about global dairy production of about 400 billion liters of milk. One of the largest dairy markets is India, but India consumes everything it produces. So, when you go from the 400 billion liters of milk you then go to the next segment, which is tradable milk, milk that is exported or imported because you do not have either enough milk to consume or you have too much product. So, that is about 60 billion, that is 15 percent of the total milk and that is the market we are playing [...].



You have three regions that have big exports. New Zealand exports 95 percent of its production ' roughly 20 billion liters of milk. The European Union, the 28 member countries, is the largest producer, especially Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Europe produces about 150 billion liters of milk, but only exports about 7 to 8 percent, so less than New Zealand's export [']. Then you have the United States, which produces about 80 billion liters of milk and exports about 5 percent ['].



On the demand side, you have Russia, China and then a lot of the Southeast Asia region and Africa ['] because those regions have difficulty producing quality milk on a large scale. New Zealand, meanwhile, is known for high-quality, pure fresh milk.



Fonterra has a market share of 60 percent of whole milk powder and about 55 to 60 percent of butter. It is very relevant to play in the market where you trade milk, ['] where there is naturally not enough milk and where growth is important. Dairy consumption is very much related to growth of population and urbanization. If you take Indonesia, the number of people that will come to the market and are more mobile and demand tasty but nutritious food will rapidly grow. And Indonesia has been growing in that sense. Clearly Indonesia is a key market for us in the ingredient business to provide what was milked. There is a lot of room in Indonesia. I think per capita consumption here is 12 liters a year, you take Malaysia at 40 liters, Singapore at 60 liters [']



So, Indonesia plays a predominant role in our strategy in capturing value in this growing dairy market through not only the ingredients, but also through Boneeto, Anlene, etc.



Indonesia is obviously well-positioned for us to leverage the regional position. Clearly the intent here is to grow in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia. Clearly there is room for growth and to optimize our production across this region.



Does Fonterra have any plan to expand investment in the country in the near future, for example to develop dairy farms?



We do. Again, Indonesia's milk consumption is only 12 liters per capita. With our focus, with our passion for consumers, there will be growth.



Indonesia is a very competitive market because it is a very interesting market, a very growing market, the other companies are also looking at Indonesia [']. So yes, we would look at investing further in years to come in a growing business, and we will definitely contribute to dairy development in Indonesia.



How do you foresee your business in the country this year and what can the Indonesian government improve to better facilitate your business?



We do not publish forecasts, but we would like to see the market to grow double-digits in the next few years to come.



We focus on the consumer and the brands you probably well know, but one of the segments we are growing very rapidly that is very important for Fonterra is a food service business. It is not always front of the mind but it is a key element to our strategy. I told you about ingredients, the next step is food service and consumer business. Typically if you look at the global business, right now 20 to 25 percent is consumer food business, 10 percent is food service.



I think every country can always work to improve the economic framework, the labor framework for business to better compete and especially for people to develop. Further liberalization and flexibility of labor market will continuously help ['], further training, improvements in schooling and the whole education [system]. There is always room for improvement, but as a company we will work with whatever environment there is and develop what we can.



How will Indonesia's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), if materialized, benefit your business?



We look at free trade agreements from a more holistic point of view. I think like many smaller markets you probably have to go back and understand New Zealand history. Today, New Zealand's dairy industry is absolutely subsidy-free and the most efficient dairy industry in the world.



Fonterra supports the New Zealand government very actively in any free trade agreement effort, be that with the EU, TPP, etc. So we welcome the TPP; it is a very good thing. Having said that, we are disappointed that with the TPP we did not take the opportunity to include the dairy industry in the reduction or abolishment of tariff and duty or barriers. So, the TPP will bring a lot of good things to many countries, but unfortunately we missed that big opportunity to include dairy. There are some benefits on beverages, but dairy was not really included to the extent we would have hoped, so the TPP would have a positive effect in the long run for all countries, including Indonesia, but I cannot really comment because it does not have much dairy.

--------------------

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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Kupang  Mon, March 14, 2016

Residents of Kolhua subdistrict of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have rejected the municipality's plan to develop a dam worth Rp 285 billion (US$20 million), saying that the project would evict them from 370 houses and 60 hectares of farmland.



'We oppose the government plan. We support the government program, but don't sacrifice us,' Kolhua community leader Agus Saijuna said on Saturday.



Agus said he and the 246 families who owned the farmland opposed the government's plan since they did not want to lose the land, which has been under cultivation since 1983.



Another Kolhua community leader, Yunus Lisnahan, accused the municipality of trying to divide city residents. 'The Kupang mayor always says that the solution for the water supply is developing the Kolhua dam.'



Yunus said a water spring in Kolhua was not the only water source in the city, adding that there were 25 points that could be developed by the municipality.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that the rainy season in Jakarta will end in March and that the dry season will begin in April.



BMKG spokesman Harry Tirto said the month of March was expected to see 300 to 400 millimeters of precipitation. 'We predict that rainfall in April will be about 150 to 200 mm. Meanwhile, rainfall in May will be 150 to 200 mm per month as well,' he said to The Jakarta Post over the phone.



The BMKG categorizes 0 to 100 mm per month as low rainfall intensity, 101 to 300 mm as medium and anything above 400 mm as very high.



Although this rainy season saw lower precipitation than last year's 400 to 500 mm, residents of Kampung Pulo, located on the banks of the Ciliwung River in East Jakarta, still experienced numerous floods.



Nevertheless, a central government project to widen the river and install a concrete embankment has reportedly helped reduce the intensity of floods in the Kampung Pulo area.



To allow for that project, the city administration has evicted some 1,040 families that used to live along the riverbank. The central government only provided 527 low-cost rental apartments nearby, leaving the remaining 500 families to fend for themselves.



Many have lost their livelihoods as well, because their new living arrangement in the subsidized apartments cannot accommodate their informal-sector businesses.



But other Kampung Pulo residents that were not evicted in August last year said the river project was good news for them, although the neighborhood is still inundated by water almost everyday throughout the rainy season.



The head of Neighborhood Unit (RT) 13, Edin, 60, said his neighborhood saw some improvement after the eviction. 'Before the relocation, the water reached our rooftop,' he said on Sunday. 'Even when the rain is heavy, the water of the Cilliwung river won't inundate our houses.'



Repar, head of RT 12, expressed a different opinion, saying that the city administration had yet to fulfill its promise of mitigating floods in his area. The only improvement he had seen was the existence of water pumps that could reduce the water level in times of floods.



'Ahok always says on TV that Kampung Pulo residents should be thankful to him, but I don't feel like there is much improvement here,' he said, referring to Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama.



Ahok has defended the eviction as a necessary measure to reduce floods.



During a meeting with non-government organization Ciliwung Merdeka in City Hall on July 24 last year, Ahok said he had his own version of human rights to defend his eviction policy. Footage of the meeting was uploaded on YouTube by the city administration.



'If people ask me what is your human rights concept? I want 10 million people to live, and if 2,000 people defied me, and put the 10 million in danger, then I would murder [those 2,000].'



Repar challenged the governor to come and see for himself whether reality there was according to his plan. Elevated water levels was something his residents faced on a daily basis, even when it was not raining, he said, adding that the flooding was also caused by trash thrown into the river by people outside Kampung Pulo.



'We have to clean the trash ourselves even though the city has recruited garbage collectors and the Infrastructure and Public Facility Management Agency to do the job,' he said.



Arifin, who is currently tasked by the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC) with operating water pumps in Kampung Pulo, said he had to be on standby 24 hours a day to ensure the water would not inundate houses. On the job for six months, he said the water level was influenced by rain occurring in Depok and Bogor.



'We work in a team. One unit comprises two people,' he said, adding that the work was divided by shifts. (fac/rez)
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Linkedin Mari Yamaguchi (The Jakarta Post) Tokyo  Mon, March 14, 2016

Japan protested Monday to the United States over an alleged rape by an American sailor on Okinawa in a case that renewed ill feelings on the southern island that sees the US military presence there as a heavy and unfair burden.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the arrest was "extremely regrettable." He said the government also demanded Washington tighten discipline among US personnel and take steps to prevent similar problems.

Okinawa police arrested Justin Castellanos, 24, a US Navy seaman at Camp Schwab on Sunday. Police say he is suspected of sexually assaulting a Japanese tourist in her 40s as she slept at her hotel earlier that morning. Castellanos has not been formally charged.

Kyodo News agency said the woman was sleeping in the hallway, and the sailor allegedly dragged her into his room and raped her.

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga told reporters that the case is "a serious crime and blatant violation to women's human rights." He also said since the woman was a tourist, the alleged attack could scare off visitors to Okinawa, where tourism is a key part of the economy.

About half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are based in Okinawa, and its residents complain about noise and crime from the bases. Sex crimes are particularly sensitive issue on the island.

A 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen sparked an outcry, eventually leading to an agreement to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a less crowded part of the island, though the plan has stalled since because many residents want it entirely moved outside Okinawa.
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

The central government has instructed local governments to intensify their peatland restoration programs, but has not allocated funds from the state budget, leaving them seriously short of funds for the program.

The government established the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) in January.

Jambi Governor Zumi Zola said on Monday his administration had used funds from the provincial budget and contributions to implement the program, but the money was not enough.

"We asked members of the House of Representative when some of them observed [conditions] in Jambi whether we could use the village funds (dana desa) to finance the program, but they have been unable to give an answer," Zumi told thejakartapost.com on Monday.

Forest fires can currently be found in Riau and Jambi provinces despite it being the rainy season.

As part of efforts to restore peatland, the local governments are rushing to construct canal dams before the dry season arrives. Canals are built to dry out peatland before planting. As dry peatland easily burns, canal blocking is used to keep the peat wet and prevent it catching fire.

"Riau constructed 4,700 canals, 4,164 of which were developed by private companies, 385 by the police and others by individuals and local governments," Riau Governor Annas Maamun said.

The central government aims to build 67,000 canal dams within two months as the rainy season will end in June or July. It will focus on 2 million hectares in four regencies: Pulang Pisau regency in Central Kalimantan, Ogan Komering Ilir in South Sumatra, Musi Banyuasin in South Sumatra and Meranti in Riau.

"The cost of restoration is not cheap. There are two estimations -- the World Bank said it would require US$500 per hectare and CIFOR said $3,000 per hectare to restore the peatland over five years, while the government estimates it will take something between that," BRG chairman Nazir Foead told thejakartapost.com.

The canal dams and embung (ponds of stagnant water) need to be constructed for water stocks. When peatland is on fire, water can be obtained quickly. (bbn)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on lawmakers to find a solution to migrant workers who were disenfranchised in the Dec. 9, 2015 regional elections.

"Many people lost their right to vote because they were working away from home. They couldn't return home as they had no money and the local general elections commissions immediately erased their data," said Komnas HAM commissioner Dianto Bachriadi at a discussion at the Komnas-HAM office on Monday.

Simultaneous regional elections were held for the first time in 269 regions -- nine provinces, 36 cities and 224 regencies ' to elect governors, mayors and regents and their respective deputies. One hundred million people voted in the elections. The next round of regional elections will be in 2017.

The lack of accessibility not only affect those working abroad but also people working in places in the country far from their hometowns .

The commission has called on lawmakers to avoid a repeat of the condition by revising the Regional Elections Law while considering the human rights perspective.

"On a human rights perspective, the implementation of the elections must meet several principles: free, fair, periodically implemented and genuine."

Meanwhile, National General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Husni Kamil Manik said he had little to offer as a solution.

"If someone wanted to vote, they could have returned home and just shown their ID," he said, adding that the commission had no capacity to facilitate migrant workers wanting to exercise their right to vote. (vps/bbn)
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Linkedin Nicholas Cheng (The Jakarta Post) Kuala Lumpur  Mon, March 14, 2016

More than 820,000 Malaysians are barred from leaving the country after being blacklisted for various offences, said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid said that since 2011 the Immigration Department has listed 827,921 citizens on its blacklist, meaning they are prohibited from leaving Malaysia unless they are given special permission to do so.

Bankrupts make up most of those on the blacklist with 200,727 people, while 118,892 education loan defaulters have also been barred from leaving the country, he said.

"520 are on the blacklist for security offences and another 507,782 for other offences.

"Those that are blacklisted are prohibited from leaving the country unless they obtain approval from the authorities relevant to their offences," Dr. Ahmad Zahid said in a written reply to Er Teck Hwa (DAP - Bakri).
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka and Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Bandung  Mon, March 14, 2016

One of Indonesia's most renowned linguists, Jusuf Sjarif (JS) Badudu, passed away aged 89 at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, on Saturday night, after a decade of strokes and Alzheimer's disease.



The author of several books, including Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (The Grand Indonesian Dictionary) is survived by five sons, four daughters, 23 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.



His wife Eva Henriette Alma Koroh died in January aged 85.



One of his grandchildren, Ananda Badudu, said that Badudu had been buried at Cikutra National Heroes Cemetery in West Java on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.



The former host of the Pembinaan Bahasa Indonesia language supervision program on state-owned TV station TVRI marked many hearts with his humility, dedication to his subject and hard work.



'Pop [Grandpa] taught us many things; not through words - he didn't talk much - but through deeds, his dedication to his task. He was sincere about mastering his subject,' Ananda told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.



Badudu, born on March 19, 1926, in Gorontalo to a modest family of teachers, attended school in Ampana, Central Sulawesi, before moving to Luwuk in the same province, where he studied at a Volksonderwijser or CVO while working as a teacher at the age at 15.



He continued to study and teach at several schools in Sulawesi.



He used the money he earned to travel to Bandung, West Java, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in literature from Padjajaran University in 1963.



Badudu's son, Armand Badudu, said that after graduating from Padjajaran, his father had also taught at the university.



Badudu then received a scholarship that enabled him to take a postgraduate linguistics course at Leidse Rijksuniversiteit Leiden in the Netherlands.



He earned a doctoral degree in language from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta in 1975.



'Dad actually always wanted to be an engineer - linguistics was a second choice when he realized he didn't have the money or connections. He did it wholeheartedly anyway,' Armand said.



State officials and friends expressed their condolences on the death of the linguist famous for his credo 'Good and Correct Indonesian'.



'This nation has lost JS Badudu, who dedicated his life to the Indonesian language. His service is exemplary,' President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo stated on his official Twitter account.



Culture and Education Minister Anies Baswedan said he heard about the death of Badudu while he was delivering a speech on Indonesian as a unifying language at a UNESCO seminar in Bulgaria.



'Pak Badudu made a big contribution to forming the foundation of the Indonesian we see and use today. I have sent my deepest condolences to the family,' Anies said in a statement.



Meanwhile, poet and University of Indonesia emeritus professor Sapardi Djoko Damono expressed his grief, saying that, 'Indonesia has lost one of its best language experts and educators.'



Having worked together in the 1990s, Sapardi remembers Badudu as a low-profile academic.



'In his writings, speeches and lectures, he didn't judge, he didn't blame people for their mistakes - he simply straightened out what was wrong,' the poet told The Jakarta Post over the phone.



As well as mentoring noted linguists including Lie Charlie and Eni Karlieni, Badudu was a prolific writer and celebrated TV host.



'Good hosts of linguistic TV programs are few and far between,' Sapardi noted.
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post Dubai, United Arab Emirates  Mon, March 14, 2016

A Palestinian primary school teacher who grew up in a refugee camp and educates her students about non-violence won a $1 million prize for teaching excellence on Sunday, beating out 8,000 other applicants from around the world.

Hanan al-Hroub, a primary school teacher in the West Bank city of al-Bireh just outside Ramallah, was awarded the second annual Global Teacher Prize during a ceremony in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was on-hand to present the prize to al-Hroub, however her name was announced by Pope Francis in a video message after he talked about the importance of education and teachers, especially for children who grow up amid war.

"I feel amazing and I still can't believe that the Pope said my name," al-Hroub told The Associated Press. "For an Arab, Palestinian teacher to talk to the world today and to reach the highest peak in teaching could be an example for teachers around the world."

She told The Associated Press that she will use the million-dollar prize money to create scholarships for students who excel in order to encourage them to choose careers in teaching.

Her win comes at a time of spiking tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Five months of unpredictable stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks by ordinary Palestinian civilians have killed 28 Israelis and two Americans. Israeli forces have killed at least 179 Palestinians, the majority said by Israel to have been attackers.

Israeli officials blame Palestinian leaders and social media for inciting the violence, while Palestinian leaders say it is the product of frustration and despair after nearly 50 years of occupation.

As al-Hroub accepted her award, Palestinians in the audience waved their country's flag and some chanted, fists pumping in the air, "With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Palestine."

In her acceptance speech, she reiterated her mantra of "No to violence" and stressed the importance of dialogue.

"The Palestinian teacher can talk to the world now. Hand in hand we can affect change and provide a safe education to provide peace," she told the AP.

Al-Hroub was among 10 finalists flown to Dubai to attend the ceremony. The nine other finalists hail from Australia, Finland, India, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Britain and two from the United States. Al-Hroub had them stand on stage with her to roaring applause after her speech.

The Global Teacher Prize was established two years ago to recognize one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, employs innovative classroom practices and encourages others to join the teaching profession.

The award is presented by the Varkey Foundation. Its founder, Sunny Varkey, established the for-profit GEMS Education company, which has more than 130 schools around the world.

Al-Hroub's official biography says she grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem, where violence was a regular occurrence. Her biography says she went into teaching after her children witnessed a shooting on their way home from school. That experience pushed her to think more about traumatized children and how classrooms can help. She developed a book called "We Play and Learn" focusing on the importance of playing, trust, respect, honesty and literacy.

The inaugural prize last year went to Nancie Atwell, an English teacher from rural Maine.

Fay Abuelgasim contributed to this report.
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Linkedin Corry Elyda and Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

A war of words between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and supporters of Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama cooled over the weekend, the party issuing a circular instructing its members at the national and Jakarta levels not to make statements that 'may disturb the political situation ahead of the gubernatorial election'.



The circular also instructed officials to avoid any measures that could split the membership, especially regarding candidates for next year's election, who will be chosen by a party selection board.



The circular, issued on Friday, apparently sought to redress the biting responses of several PDI-P figures to Ahok's announcement he would stand for re-election as an independent.



PDI-P Jakarta chapter secretary Prasetio Edi Marsudi said chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had ordered the party to fight Ahok, accusing him of deparpolisasi (delegitimization of political parties).



The circular has proven effective in forcing PDI-P cadres to toe the line. Politician Andreas Hugo Pareira, whose accusations of deparpolisasi on the part of Ahok had been among the most strident, softened his tone, saying it was too early to begin sparring for the Jakarta governorship.



Andreas said the party was still in the process of soliciting possible candidates for endorsement in next year's gubernatorial election, and insisted that the party was open to any names that emerged, including Ahok, Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo.



'Politics is dynamic,' Andreas said during a discussion on Saturday.



Although Ahok has, by appointing Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board (BPKAD) head Heru Budi Hartono as his running mate, removed any doubt he will run as an independent candidate, he remains open to coalitions with parties.



'I still have a good relationship with political parties,' he said.



Indeed, the governor himself attempted to mediate between Teman Ahok, a group gathering support for his independent ticket, and the PDI-P, after the accusation that Teman Ahok was 'antiparty'.



'I talked to Bu Mega. These kids [Teman Ahok] are not opposed to political parties. They are just worried I won't be able to run in the election as I am not affiliated with any party,' he said.



However, Ahok has himself made statements that have drawn ire from parties.



On Thursday, Ahok said that endorsement by political parties would be expensive. 'If two parties endorse you, Rp 100 billion isn't enough to stand in the Jakarta gubernatorial elections,' he said, a comment many took to imply that parties were corrupt and greedy.



Ahok himself has arrived as the helm of Jakarta via a long political career in three parties: the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB), the Golkar Party and the Gerindra Party.



According to data from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), fewer than 5 percent of independent candidates have ever won an election, and fewer than 20 candidates contested last year's regional elections.



Perludem executive director Titi Anggraini said that a portion of those running on an independent ticket were forced to do so as a result of internal party conflict or competition. 'Candidates who distance themselves from the legitimacy of parties are rare; Ahok may even be the first to do so,' Titi said on Saturday.



Political analyst Ray Rangkuti of the Indonesian Civil Society Circle (Lima), who was also present at Saturday's discussion, said Ahok's move was aimed at teaching political parties not to be arrogant when screening candidates.



Teman Ahok spokesperson Amalia Ayuningtyas, meanwhile, denied the group was antiparty. 'We don't want to get involved in a political debate. We don't understand such things,' she said.



The group, she said, was focused on gathering support to ensure that Ahok could run independently.



She added that Teman Ahok adhered firmly to its stance that it would prefer Ahok to stand as an independent, but that the final decision was the governor's.



On Friday, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo sent a strong message to anyone thinking of contesting the upcoming elections that they should 'at least seek support from political parties'.



Tjahjo said it would be useful for independent candidates to have the backing of a political party when they attempted to consolidate power with the provincial legislative councils (DPRD), in the event they won their respective polls. (mos)

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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

Citing the financial and supervisory burden, Indonesia aims to persuade Australia to let in more refugees who intend to enter Australia but are currently stranded in many parts of Indonesia.



The Law and Human Rights Ministry's director general of immigration, Ronny F. Sompie, told recently that his office was currently too short of funds and human resources to fully manage the asylum seekers and refugees.



'We hope Australia will consider increasing its take of the refugees, although we know they will apply a very selective process before accepting them,' said the former Bali Police chief, who assumed the immigration job in August last year.



He said the country's 13 immigrant detention centers were already experiencing extreme overcapacity, as the number of illegal migrants had soared more than fivefold over the past seven years.



According to UN refugee agency UNHCR, 5,277 refugees and 7,911 asylum seekers reside in Indonesia as of June last year. An asylum seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated.



Only those with refugee status from the UNHCR can be resettled to third countries.



However, resettlement is an extremely lengthy and open-ended process. According to UNHCR figures, only 372 refugees residing in Indonesia have been resettled as of August last year.



Ronny said he would extend his appeal to relevant ministers attending the upcoming Bali Process ' an international event on people-smuggling and related transnational crime.



The event will be held on March 22 and 23, cochaired by Indonesia and Australia.



'We have to temporarily take care of them. It's actually not only our responsibility, but also that of other countries and institutions, including the Australian government and the UNHCR,' Ronny said, adding that all costs during the stay were covered by the Indonesian government, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.



Although Ronny had yet to accept an invitation by his Australian counterpart to visit Australia, he expected to forge better relations with all stakeholders with regard to the handling of asylum seekers and refugees.



Ronny stressed that Indonesia needed a stronger partnership with Australia on information technology to handle the asylum seekers and should jointly monitor and conduct profile checks in an attempt to prevent terrorism and human trafficking.



'We know that such refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking by certain parties who want to profit from their suffering,' he said.



Meutya Hafid, the deputy chairman of House of Representatives' Commission I, which oversees defense and foreign affairs, said Indonesia should not walk alone in handling the asylum seekers.



Prospective destination countries of the refugees should also chip in to find a solution that would not be a burden to Indonesia, she said.



'Australia, as a country that recognizes human rights, should be willing to open the door for the refugees,' said the Golkar Party politician.



Meutya expressed her hope that during the Bali Process, Indonesia could get the Australian government to accept more refugees.



'The refugees mostly come from conflict areas. They need a safe place to live. Therefore, Australia should consider the human rights aspect of this matter,' she said.
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 14, 2016

At least 2,000 members of the Land Transportation Drivers Association (PPAD) plan to protest in Jakarta on Monday against the mushrooming of ride-hailing smartphone apps and vehicles that pose a threat to their business.



Drivers of taxis and city busses will protest at City Hall, at the Communication and Informatics Ministry and at the State Palace, said Adj. Sr. Comr Budiyanto from the Jakarta Police's traffic directorate.



Representatives of PPAD aim to meet with Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, or State Secretary Pratikno.



"They want to convey their protestations regarding the presence of illegal transportation operating as non-public transportation through application service companies," Budiyanto said in a statement on Monday.



Moreover, the group will also protest against the 2015 Jakarta regulation on vehicle rejuvenation.



Various protests are to be conducted simultaneously around Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek), with drivers wearing black arm bans to mark the death of transportation services in Indonesia.



Chairman of the group Jakarta Land Transportation Owners (Organda) told kompas.com that he urged people to use other means of [non-app based] transportation following the protest.



Ride-hailing applications like US-based Uber and Malaysian-based Grab Taxi have been at the center of protests since last year. Drivers of traditional motorcycle-taxis, commonly known as ojek, have also protested the presence of ride-hailing applications introduced by homegrown company Gojek and Malaysia's Grab Bike. (rin)(+)
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Linkedin The Jakarta Post  Mon, March 14, 2016

For our tourism business, we have to import most of our needed liquor, as demanded by most of our tourists. Available liquor is either illegally 'produced' locally, or discreetly imported as necessary. I sincerely suggest that we should start sending our keen entrepreneurs abroad to meticulously learn how to produce wine. In the meantime, we already have potential fruit from which we may be able to produce wine; it may not produce the same taste, but it may produce a much better aroma.



The different taste but better aroma might convince consumers to keep coming back. Can we open our minds to accommodate our youth to the better life they desire through contact with the world in their daily life? Is it really so hard to fulfill their natural craving to feel 'international'? Our television sets let us 'visit' people all over the world, yet we are tightly tied to our orthodox way of life.



Can we not adopt what we hear and see that is not bad? At almost 88 years of age, I believe we have been too strict unnecessarily with our youth. Indonesia, like any other nations, is growing forward (not stagnant nor backward!). Suppressing our youth means pinning them down far behind the internationally raised community. As one of the few remaining freedom fighters, I am sad to realize that this is what we call backwardness. What is dragging us down?



Moeljono Adikoesoemo

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A paddling success

SUP: As the rest of the world is going absolutely crazy about SUP, people in Asia are still looking and scratching their heads and asking: What is this sport?



By Tim Campbell

Monday 14 March 2016, 01:10PM

Hungarian brothers Bruno & Daniel Husulyo were unstoppable in the elite 6km race taking 1st & 2nd respectively.

But Saturday March 5 saw a memorable day at Bliss Beach Club where 70 competitors from all over Thailand and many different countries including Australia, Japan, Korea, Hungary, Canada, Singapore and even India arrived to Phuket to compete in Thailands biggest SUP festival, which was powered by Longtail Paddle Surf, SE Asias largest dedicated SUP shop.

Stand Up Projects, the festival organisers, have been developing this event to help promote and

grow SUP in Thailand and Asia for the last 4 years.

Thailand is very special in the sense that some of the worlds leading SUP brands including this years official board sponsor Starboard have their factories in Thailand.

So why has it taken this long for SUP to take off here, especially with its backyard playground

of crystal water ways, archipelago of limestone islands and quaint white sandy beaches?

That doesnt really matter, all you need to know is that Thailands SUP community is very much alive and leading the charge in Asia, putting on an epic display of SUP race competition and SUP festival activities including SUP Polo by Starboard, Electric Surfboards by Asia Marine & an outrageously entertaining Flyboard Show by two-time World Champion Suksan Tongthai and Team Flyboard Thailand.

Now to the business end. The elite 6km race also included a 100m soft sand beach sprint after each of the 3 laps, which tested most except the Hungarian brothers Bruno & Daniel Husulyo who were unstoppable taking 1st & 2nd respectively, as well as a gutsy effort by Ollie O'Reilly who scored himself 3rd place.

Kristy Morris from Australia took 1st place in the womens division followed by Rachel Ng & Kate Johnson.

The festival also included a 200 metre sprint category, team relay race, under16s sprint race and a family race involving two people on one board, which was a huge hit and allowed those who had never tried SUP or werent that competitive to give it a go.

There was also a special SUP Yoga session lead by Water Walk India.

As Phuket is now an international destination and a half-way stop between the thriving SUP communities of Australia & Europe, not to mention the home to many of the worlds leading SUP brands, Thailand is looking like a promising stop in the future for competitors and their families to come, race and enjoy.

There are so many people behind the scenes who made this event what it was and it really couldnt have happened without the support of the whole community coming together and pitching in whatever they could to help.

Its such a special thing to witness and as long as this community minded culture remains, the sport of SUP in Thailand & Asia has a great future ahead.

Special thanks go out to other sponsors, the local Phuket government, Emedia Asia, The Phuket News, Island Tribe, GoPro & 69 Slam, whose support made the 2016 Thailand SUP Festival was a raging success.

Results

2016 Thailand SUP Festival Elite  6km

Mens

1st Bruno Hasulyo 44:09 Hungary

2nd Daniel Hasulyo 44:16 Hungary

3rd Ollie OReilly 47:45 Britain

Womens

1st Kristy Morris 55:10 Australia

2nd Rachel Ng 1:03:43 Singapore

3rd Kate Johnson 1:06:21 New Zealand

2016 Thailand SUP Festival Sprint Race  200m

Mens

1st Daniel Hasulyo 2:24 Hungary

2nd Bruno Hasulyo 2:29 Hungary

3rd Tomoyasu Murabayashi 2:35 Japan

Womens

1st Kristy Morris 3:01 Australia

2nd Rachel Ng 3:14 Singapore

3rd Kate Johnson 3:20 New Zealand

2016 Thailand SUP Festival Under 16s  200m

1st Nop Prutsa Thailand

2nd William Smart Canada

3rd Kaya Freeman Thailand

2016 Thailand SUP Festival Team Relay Race  600m

1st Starboard

2nd Singapore

3rd SUP Station

Check out thailandsupfes.val on Instagram and Facebook to see all the action.

Contact us: Why settle for an adventure of a lifetime when you can have a lifetime of adventure!

tim@standupprojects.com

www.standupprojects.com

+66 825 193 282

Thailand SUP Festival - thailandsupfes.val
Crewman dead after Russian superyacht accident off Phuket

PHUKET: The Bulgarian crewman severely injured in an anchor chain accident on board the 140-metre superyacht Ocean Victory yesterday afternoon (Mar 13) has died from his injuries.

accidentsmarinedeath

By The Phuket News

Monday 14 March 2016, 10:16AM

Bulgarian crewman Toni Hristov Kolev, 33, died after sustaining fatal injuries while the Russian billionaire superyacht Ocean Victory was raising anchor off Koh Tachai, north of Phuket.

Toni Hristov Kolev, 33, died after he was rushed to Bangkok Hospital Phuket. He had sustained critical injuries to his legs in an accident involving the anchor chain, police said. (See story here). Mr Kolev was a crewman on board Russian billionaire Victor Rashnikovs superyacht Ocean Victory. The yacht was lifting its anchor off Koh Tachai, within Similan Islands National Park, when the incident happened. Lt Jetsada Vichieng of the Phuket Tourist Police confirmed to The Phuket News this morning that police have concluded their investigation and deemed the incident to have been an accident. The yacht, sporting a Cayman Islands flag, at the time of its launch in 2014 was the largest yacht ever built in Italy and the ninth-largest superyacht in the world. Mr Rashnikov, 67, is a self-made billionaire in the Russian steel business. Forbes lists him as having personal wealth of US$4.3 billion (B150.61 billion), making him the 23rd richest man in Russia and the 403rd richest man in the world. (See here.)
Military, DSI silent on threats by officers in Aspasia Phuket dispute

PHUKET: The Thai military and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today (Mar 14) declined to comment at all on evidenced allegations that their officers were involved in heavy-handed attempts to resolve the Aspasia dispute.

propertymilitaryconstruction

By The Phuket News

Monday 14 March 2016, 07:40PM

The military and the DSI today both declined to comment on why their officers were directly involved in the Aspasia tenants' dispute before Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada intervened and called for mediation.

Allegedly among the tactics was a threat to have company representatives taken to a camp in Nakhon Sri Thammarat without a court warrant.

The alleged tactics were aimed at intimidating the companys staff amid a dispute launched by specific tenants at The Aspasia residential development in Kata. (See stories here and here.)

The authorised lawyers representing The Breakers Co Ltd, Duensing Kippen, lifted the lid on suspected heavy-handed tactics in a letter issued to tenants last week.

According to a letter, two men presented themselves as military personnel, while in a different episode one man claimed to be an officer with the DSI, Thailands equivalent to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The lawyers provided The Phuket News with CCTV video evidence and voice recordings to support the claims.

In one conversation recorded, the men threatened a company representative that the Army would take them to a camp in Nakhon Sri Thammarat if power supply was not restored to specific units at the apartment block.

The letter to the tenants noted, We were informed that if we did not obey, we would be taken to the military camp in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province without court warrant.

Based on our direct discussion with the vice governor on 7 March 2016, he did confirm that the Governors office did not acknowledge such action of the military and it is always a policy of the governor to find solution of dispute by way of mediation and compromising other than assaulting.

Further, the Governor's office advised that we can file a report with the NCPO (National Council for Peace and Order) about the behaviour of these officers to check if it was lawful action or not.

However, Vice-Admiral Sayan Prasongsamrej, the Commander of the Royal Thai Navy base in Phuket and the lead ranking military officer on the island, today declined to comment to The Phuket News about military personnel directly involved in the Aspasia dispute.

Further, regarding the suspect DSI investigator, the letter to the tenants explained, On 24 February 2016, some tenants brought a person to the Aspasia project, introducing himself as a DSI officer and asked us to turn on the electricity that has been suspended due to breach of agreement. He was asked to identify himself by his ID/name card but denied to do so.

We further investigated with the DSI Head Office in Bangkok to check if such visit is legally correct. The DSI Head Office advised that DSI officers never informally visit a place without authorized document/court search warrant. Therefore, they advised us to make an official complaint/police report of this event, since it is possible that a criminal offence under Section 145 of the Thai Criminal Code 1956 was committed.

To this, DSI Deputy Spokesman Pol Maj Col Worranan Srilum, who is also Director of the Special Cases Management Centre in Bangkok, today also declined to comment to The Phuket News at all on the case.

Jan Cornelis van Zuilkom, presented as the leader of the disgruntled tenants levelling the claims against The Breakers Co Ltd, can be seen clearly in one video as seated as part of the conversation during the visit by the Army personnel.

Despite today answering calls from The Phuket News, Mr van Zuilkom has yet to provide comment on the claims made in the letter issued to the tenants last week.

The letter also explained that power supply was discontinued to only two units at the development, and that was only after the leases had been terminated.

One unit had undergone unapproved construction work, by enclosing the balcony at the property, despite a cease and desist notice issued by the company. The other unit had power supply cut off after breach-of-contract subletting continued, again despite a cease and desist notice.

The letter also urged all tenants to seek legal advice before taking any further action.

Please rest assured that if there is no breach of the rental agreement, there will be no action taken against a lessee. In case of the ongoing dispute all parties involved should rely on the decision of the Thai court to resolve such matter as also advised by the ViceGovernor, it said.

We would like to give a special thank you to all the tenants that fulfil their obligation under the rental agreement and we promise that we would do our best in providing you the service as stated in the rental agreement as we successfully did during the last 12 years. We highly respect your rights and wish all those tenants an enjoyably and peacefully time in our project.
First week of South Dakota's traditional pheasant hunt is in the books

Hunters had to account for windy conditions, but the weather was otherwise ideal during the first week of South Dakota's traditional pheasant season.
Iran may join other oil suppliers in freezing production after restoring its own output to levels before sanctions were imposed, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after meeting with the Persian Gulf nations oil minister.

Iran has reasonable arguments not to be constrained by the freeze for now, Novak told reporters Monday at the Russian embassy in Tehran. Iran may join us in the freeze with time, he said. This is a normal, constructive position from our Iranian partners.

Major oil producers are likely to meet in April to discuss a proposal to cap output at January levels in an bid to stabilize the market, Novak said, adding that he hopes Irans Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh will participate. Qatars capital Doha is one option as a location for the talks, Novak said. It is decided that a joint meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers will convene, Zanganeh said, according to the Iranian Oil Ministrys Shana news service, without saying if Iran will attend.

Iran is seeking to boost production by 1 million barrels a day by June, the countrys Seda Weekly magazine reported, citing an interview with Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Irans deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs. The positions of Russia about Irans return as well as resumption of stability to the oil market were encouraging and very positive, Zanganeh said, according to Shana.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar in February proposed an accord to cap oil output and reduce a worldwide surplus. Crude prices extended gains after their initial meeting on Feb. 16 and have climbed more than 40 per cent since slumping to a 12-year low in January. Prices may have passed their lowest point as shrinking supplies outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and disruptions inside the group erode global oversupply, the International Energy Agency said March 11.

Oil will probably end the year at $45 to $50 U.S. a barrel, Novak told reporters. Brent crude was trading down 2.6 per cent at $39.35 a barrel at 3:17 p.m. on Monday in London.

Iran pumped 3 million barrels a day in February, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It plans to boost crude output to 4 million barrels a day, the highest level since 2008, Zanganeh said, according to the Iranian Students News Agency on Monday.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last month in Houston that the process of devising a freeze agreement would continue with more discussions in March. Nigerian Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said two weeks later that talks would convene in Russia on March 20. Russias Novak told state television channel Rossiya 24 on March 4 that a meeting could take place between March 20 and April 1 in Russia, Doha or Vienna, where OPEC has its headquarters.

So far no countries have received invitations or an agenda for a meeting, said four OPEC delegates, who asked not to be identified because the matter isnt public.

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Donald Trump's unorthodox and confrontational crusade to "Make America Great Again" grabbed headlines over the weekend as fights broke out at rallies in key primary states.

One supporter flashed the Nazi salute, another raised a pro-KKK sign. Protesters, meanwhile, have been roughed up, expelled or arrested.

A particularly clamorous gathering in Illinois prompted Trump's security detail to jump onto the stage to surround him. That tense incident followed a cancelled rally the previous night due to large demonstrations outside the Chicago arena where the event was to be held.

The ugly episode of an earlier sucker-punching of a black man by a white Trump supporter in Fayetteville, N.C. was also dredged up: In the aftermath, the Republican frontrunner exclaimed that he would consider paying the legal fees of the man who threw the punch.

Trump responded to the flurry of combative incidents by tellingMeetthePress' Chuck Todd on Sunday that "I don't accept responsibility, I don't condone violence," countering that his supporters are the victims of "disruptors."

"When they punch, it's O.K.," Trump added. "When my people punch back because they have to out of self-defense, everybody says, 'oh, isn't that terrible.' The fact is, we have very peaceful rallies."

The rallies have become an issue of themselves, much like the candidate. Trump's popularity is based in part on toughness, not giving in to Washington, or anyone. Same goes for his rallies. Of course, the businessman who has never held elective office, set the tone early in his campaign, evicting Univision anchor Jorge Ramos from an August press conference.

On days when Trump does capture the news cycle, which is most of the time, everything takes a back seat: a discussion about the health of the country's banks, the future of immigration, reforming an archaic tax code. This news-cycle dominance is widely thought to have contributed to Trump's success. Afterall, this is a candidate who spends almost no money on paid TV-advertising or a grassroots campaign staff.

Nonetheless, Trump is poised to take a giant leap forward on Tuesday when votes are cast in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri.

Heading into the week, Trump was leading in polls everywhere except Ohio, according to an aggregation of surveys conducted by RealClearPolitics. Ohio Governor John Kasich was leading in his home state, staking the future of his campaign on a victory there.

Already holding 460 delegates, Trump stands to take most of the 367 delegates at stake on Tuesday, all but ensuring that he can reach the 1,237 needed to win the nomination at the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. Whether the Republican leadership will allow that to happen could produce one of the wildest political events of our time.

As for Trump's would-be rivals, Ted Cruz currently holds second-place with 369 delegates, and Marco Rubio sits in third with 163. But Cruz's strongest states -- Texas, the South -- have already voted, and Rubio trails Trump in his home state of Florida. A loss there will likely force him from the race.

Cruz and Kasich joined Rubio in condemning Trump and his rallies with Rubio asserting that the former reality TV star had created "chaos" and "anarchy." But were their comments too little, too late? Rhetoric that encourages violence, insults hurled at the Pope, John McCain, Mexicans and Muslims, criticizing George W. Bush and mocking Mitt Romney -- nothing seems to stop the Trump.

Clinton Struggles to Take Control of the Race

Meanwhile, among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton would seem to be on her way to locking up the Democratic nomination. But her race with Bernie Sanders has tightened in Illinois and Ohio even as she holds comfortable leads in Florida and North Carolina.

It's clear by now that Hillary's deep bench of Washington operatives misjudged the sentiment on her party's left as well as Bernie Sanders' ability to campaign. The former secretary of state hardly improved her chances of winning over Sanders supporters when she complimented Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy, who died last week, for their actions over the AIDS epidemic.

"And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan -- in particular, Mrs. Reagan -- we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it," Clinton told MSNBC at Nancy's funeral in Simi Valley, Calif. "Nobody wanted anything to do with it."

The words rang hollow to those who remember that Reagan was infamously dismissive of the epidemic, withholding government funding and failing to even address the outbreak. Reagan showed anything but leadership on the AIDS crisis, wrote Michael Specter in The New Yorker.

"President Reagan's first speech on the subject wasn't until May 31, 1987," Specter said. "By then, more than twenty-five thousand people, the majority of them gay men, had died in the United States. His Administration ridiculed people with AIDS -- his spokesman, Larry Speakes, made jokes about them at press conferences."

But winning the presidential nomination isn't a question of sound bites. It's about which candidate can accumulate the necessary number of delegates needed to win their party's nomination. For the Democrats, that's 2,383. Clinton currently holds 766 to Sanders' 551. Clinton, though, has already received the support of 465 so-called Super Delegates; Sanders has 25 of these party insiders.

So, what are the chances that Clinton wins the nomination? David Plouffe, the former Obama campaign statistics guru, now an operative for Uber, told Politico recently that Clinton's odds of winning the Democratic Party nomination for president are 98%. Yes, he said, Sanders will win certain states (as he did in Michigan last week), but the schedule of primaries and their rules (Florida is winner-take-all whereas Michigan was proportional) continues to favor to Clinton.

"On March 15, if she sweeps those five states or does four of the five -- you know, again, I'm sure Bernie Sanders will go on to win some states, but the delegate race will be largely settled," Plouffe told Politico's Glenn Thrush in a Feb. 28 Politico podcast. "It is not about winning certain states or momentum, or winning the press cycle. It's about delegate acquisition."
For the last five years, the U.S. has waged a strong battle against offshore tax evasion. In 2010, America began its boldest crackdown with the enactment of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (known widely as "FATCA"). FATCA requires foreign financial institutions (e.g., banks, investment houses, etc.) doing business in the U.S. to implement systems that identify U.S. customers and report account information to the IRS or face a debilitating 30% withholding tax on U.S. source income.

As a matter of practice, in order to expedite the information-gathering process, foreign financial institutions often don't send U.S. account information directly to the IRS, but instead send it to the governments of the local jurisdictions where the institutions are located. To this end, the U.S. government has signed dozens of so-called intergovernmental agreements with partner countries that have agreed to digital information-exchange programs.

The Effects of FATCA

Implementing systems to identify and report account information to the U.S. government has been anything but a cakewalk for foreign financial institutions. The cost to foreign banks to comply with FATCA has been estimated at roughly $8 billion a year on a global basis. Although many banks have absorbed these costs in order to keep their U.S. customers and investments, others have begun to turn away Americans as a direct result of FATCA legislation.

U.S. citizens living abroad have felt other practical effects of FATCA. A number of prominent foreign banks, for instance, have been sending individual letters to their U.S. citizen clients requesting that they complete an IRS Form W-9 or other document in order to maintain an account at their bank. What may seem like a simple form request is in fact an initial step in a mass data-gathering process that is meant to flood the IRS with information on U.S. citizens living overseas.

The IRS, perhaps in anticipation of a FATCA spooking effect, significantly revised its tax amnesty programs several times in order to allow citizens abroad to come clean under more lenient conditions and lower penalties. The revised IRS Streamlined Procedures, for instance, have enticed tens of thousands of delinquent U.S. taxpayers over the last couple of years to become compliant with their U.S. tax-filing obligations.

Morphing Into GATCA

While the U.S. is the only major developed nation that taxes its citizens no matter where they live, it is certainly not the only country with its fair share of offshore tax evaders. Taking its cue from the U.S., the international community formalized its collective effort to combat offshore tax evasion in 2014, around four years after FATCA hit the scene.

The process began at a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, where an initial group of 47 countries signed a Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters. This tentative agreement calls for participating countries to implement and adhere to a so-called "Common Reporting Standard," also known as "Global FATCA" or "GATCA." Dozens of nations have since hopped on the GATCA train.

Like FATCA and its supporting intergovernmental agreements, GATCA requires participating countries to take domestic measures to promote information gathering and to exchange information with partner countries. GATCA is much broader in scope than FATCA because instead of focusing on the citizens of one country (namely, the U.S.), it targets tax residents of over 100 countries across the globe and involves multinational data exchanges. GATCA is less punitive than its American predecessor, at least for now, as it does not impose a tax penalty on financial institutions that do not participate.

The citizens of GATCA countries should expect new bank forms, which are similar to the IRS Form W-9 that Americans have been given by banks as a result of FATCA. Just this past month, the OECD released a sample form that can be used by banks to collect data from individuals and clients.

Like FATCA, GATCA is also expected to influence the amnesty programs that countries utilize to entice citizens to come into compliance with their taxing authorities. To this end, in August of 2015, the OECD published an informative report updating the status of amnesty programs across the world.

Where We're Headed

After several years of delays and extensions, FATCA is expected to be in full swing toward the end of this year. Digital exchanges have already taken place between the U.S. and some of its partner countries, including Australia and the U.K., and the IRS expects a wealth of new information to arrive shortly.

Similarly, GATCA countries are well on their way to implementing information-exchange measures. In November of 2015, the OECD published a table summarizing the legislative progress of a number of countries adhering to GATCA. All of the countries listed in the table expect to make their first information exchanges in 2017.

What began as FATCA has clearly morphed into a much broader GATCA project. In this respect, the global community has taken a page or two from the U.S.'s strategy for combatting tax evasion. The prevailing principle seems to be that international cooperation is essential in keeping the world's taxpayers honest.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
MIAMI (TheStreet) -- In the Democratic Iowa caucus, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton among voters under 30 by a staggering margin: 84% to 14%. The liberal Vermont senator's message of political revolution and optimism for the future echoes Barack Obama's successful 2008 campaign that saw the youth vote rise to new highs. But Sanders isn't the only candidate appealing to younger voters.

Students For Trump operates at dozens of college campuses across 30 states. The organization is not affiliated with the campaign but does support its efforts.

Only a few hundred miles from the Miami area, there is a chapter in the panhandle at Florida State University. At Miami Dade College, the group hasn't officially launched but there are a handful of Trump supporters already active on campus. In addition to being the nation's second-largest institution of higher learning with 165,000 students, Miami Dade College has more Hispanic undergraduates than any other college in the U.S.

Miami Dade College is a unique institution not only for the number of Hispanics that attend and its sheer size, but because it also host a dual enrollment high school on campus. Students attend college courses during the morning and take their required high school classes in the afternoon. I attended this special high school years ago and visited again this past week as the political world focused on Miami for back-to-back primary debates: first, the Democrats on Wednesday night; then, the Republicans on Thursday. I spoke with four seniors who will be legally able to vote for the first time this year about who they support and why.

These kids come from an ethnically diverse and liberal part of the country and are well-educated. Their futures seem bright. Their political views defy stereotypes and may surprise you.

Jorge L. Martinez, 17

Martinez is a Trump supporter all the way.

"Donald Trump is hands down the best candidate," he said.

Martinez identifies as "right wing" but doesn't want to be labeled as "conservative." He says that he's more of an Eisenhower Republican.

"I do believe in big government and government intervention, in some cases," he said.

For Martinez, the situations in Russia, Iran and China and foreign policy overall are the most pressing issues, followed by immigration.

Martinez can't yet vote, but in November, he will be able to. When he can, he says he will vote for Trump.

Isnavys Perez, 18

Perez is "feeling the 'Bern'."

"The wealthy elite are the ones controlling all of this," she said.

Perez's family came to America legally from Cuba through the visa lottery in 2003. While she isn't a citizen yet, Perez herself will become a citizen before November and plans to vote. She believes socialism is good as long as it's not too extreme.

At the same time, she considers herself "moderate" Democrat because she has some conservative views in addition to her liberal ones.

On immigration, she says, "we can accept a lot of people but we should know who we are accepting," alluding to mostly conservative calls to slow or halt immigration of refugees from Syria due to fears over terrorism.

Daniel Shiekh, 18

While Shiekh says that he's leaning toward supporting Florida Senator Marco Rubio but likes Trump on certain issues.

"Some change would always be nice," he said.

Shiekh Trump a "moderate" and considers his own political views to be somewhere between "conservative" and "moderate."

One of Shiekh's core political beliefs is that the immigration process needs to be changed and regulated better.

Philipe Colon, 18

Colon does not openly support any candidate but that he would vote for Ohio Governor John Kasich if forced to choose. He also has something to say about the Trump-dominated rhetoric of this election cycle:

"We shouldn't be building walls, we should be building bridges," he said, adding, "we should be using our diversity as a country as a strength rather than a weakness."

Colon is the son of immigrants who came to the United States during the Nicaraguan war. He believes immigration should be done legally.

This article is by a contributor.
Volkswagen's (VLKAY) fortunes in the U.S. present a study in contrasts: VW's mainstream Volkswagen brand is badly dented, while the automaker's Audi luxury-car and Porsche sports-car franchises remain healthy and growing.

The scandal over faked diesel emissions tests involving 11 million vehicles worldwide is one dimension of VW's troubles. The Volkswagen brand franchise, aimed at mainstream consumers, has stumbled repeatedly with vehicle models ill-suited to the U.S. market.

Over the weekend, a delegation of VW dealers flew to Wolfsburg, Germany, as part of a worldwide meeting to test new models and confer with executives. Several were quoted in the trade press complaining about the poor performance of top VW management that has led to a collapse in U.S. sales.

German newspapers, meanwhile, reported that the automaker intends to ax 3,000 jobs in Germany in order to cut costs in the face of billions in expected fines, damages and compensation connected to the diesel affair. Worldwide, the automaker's retail deliveries fell 1.2% in February. European sales for the month rose but they were more than offset by lower results in the U.S., China and South America.

Frustration among U.S. dealers reached a head last week with the departure of Michael Horn, a well-liked VW executive in charge of U.S. operations who dealers credited with leading positive, responsive improvements to company policies, including allocation of vehicles. Horn had been on the job for two years.

Alan Brown, a dealer from Texas who heads VW's advisory council, told Automotive News he feared a "mutiny" unless "we have our business plan in writing to our dealers and have a very clear understanding on where we're going" by the National Automobile Dealers Association annual convention on March 31.

At the same time, Audi -- VW's main profit engine -- has been exhibiting its new wider, longer and lighter Audi A4 sedan, which goes on sale this spring starting at about $39,000. Audi sales are up 2.5% so far this year, capping last year's 202,000 sales in the U.S., roughly double the number the brand sold just five years ago.

"It took us 40 years to reach 100,000 sales in the U.S. and five years to double that," said Scott Keogh, CEO of Audi's U.S. operations. Porsche's U.S. sales rose nearly 11% through the first two months of the year. Neither Porsche nor Audi appeared to be suffering any near-term damage from their ownership by VW.

VW has relied more than its Porsche and Audi brands on diesel engines, which means that dealers now have fewer cars to sell because of a freeze from regulators. The VW brand's reliance on diesel and longer-term management troubles in the U.S. could be compounded by an association between the brand's name and the damaged reputation of the parent corporation with the same name.

"VW executives have mismanaged the problems in a way that makes the brand untouchable to the socially responsible millennial generation in America," Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, told Bloomberg News.

Doron Levin is the host of "In the Driver Seat," broadcast on SiriusXM Insight 121, Saturday at noon, encore Sunday at 9 a.m.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Retirement may not look the same for much longer.

The world is headed for a demographic cliff. Thanks to slowing birthrates, increasing longevity and a large Baby Boomer population, much of the industrialized world is rapidly aging. In countries like the United States, birth rates hover just above what sociologists call replacement rate, the number of babies needed per year just to keep the population steady. In many other countries, such as Japan and Italy, that number has actually slipped even lower: there are fewer births than deaths. As a result, the population is aging rapidly.

Therell be a lot of fallout from this Children of Men-esque situation, but one of the first to arrive will be profound changes to how societies approach the concept of retirement.

Its one of the megatrends of our time, said Michael Hodin, CEO of the Global Coalition on Aging. Its also a situation where people are struggling with, O.K., I get it, it has to do with the age of the population. What am I going to do about it?

At this point, more than a billion people across the planet are over the age of 60. In the United States alone, more than 13% of the population is over 65. From the perspective of retirement, these numbers have the potential to be profoundly destabilizing, both as a financial matter and a workplace issue.

Retirement as most Americans think about it has been built around reliance on demographics. Programs like Social Security spend considerably more than they take in -- contrary to the image many Americans have of simply collecting back benefits paid -- and need a young, working population considerably larger than the pool of retirees to pay for. Much the same can be said of the idea of retirement itself: in order to have Americans enjoy their so-called Golden Years, there needs to be an even larger share of workers in the population to replace senior citizens and still keep up productivity growth.

These will get harder to sustain as their demographic assumptions prove shakier, and the U.S. isnt the only country facing a crisis.

Japan, in the next few years, will get to a place where theyre going to have about 40% of their population over 60, Hodin said. You cant keep up entitlements at that rate. China is in even in worse shape, in many ways exacerbated by their one baby policy.

Recently former Nebraska Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey spoke on this subject at a forum hosted by Bank of America and the Museum of American Finance. In an interview with TheStreet, he described his own growing sense of alarm at the state of American retirement.

I think the demographic trends show that we have way too many people with inadequate savings, and the program demonstrates that we dont have the capacity to transfer our way out of the problem, he said. Notwithstanding some of the assertions made by Senator Sanders and others.

The question is not if but when demographics catch up with ideas like retirement and Social Security, ones institutionalized when younger generations outnumbered the old by considerably wider margins. What will aging look like in an era defined by low birthrates and increasing longevity? The answer depends.



First, its time we start considering that Americans have a lot more good years than they did when the retirement age was set at 65 (an age, Hodin points out, that was originally defined for pensioners by Otto von Bismarck).

Retirement is being reinvented, said Andrew Sieg, head of Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions with Bank of America. Traditional retirement may no longer exist, and it almost causes you to forget that our notion of traditional retirement is a construct that was only introduced in the 1950s.

Its a blip in all of history, he said, attributing it to the work of Del Webb and his development Sun City.

A lot of marketing muscle went around that, to create this idea of retirement as the golden years and a time of leisure and golf, and moving to the south to soak up sunshine I think youre on very safe ground to say that vision of retirement is being redrawn before our eyes.

In other words traditional retirement isnt all that traditional but a postwar invention, one capable of change.

First things first: as many have argued, work probably wont end at 65 anymore.

We used to think about the three legged stool [of retirement], Sieg said, which is personal savings, Social Security and pension. Increasingly theres a fourth leg, which is income from work.

For many people that income will offset shortfalls in their retirement savings, doing away with the concept of retirement altogether as they continue to earn needed income, but to the surprise of many who study the field an increasing number of retirees actually want to continue working. Approximately 70% of people surveyed, according to one study, say they actually want to keep working during their retirement.

We were very skeptical, Sieg said of the survey results, even though the results seem positive and we did focus group research. We went back and asked another question, Are you considering working because you have to make ends meet or because you want to? Up and down the socioeconomic spectrum overwhelmingly people said, its because we want to not because we have to.

This will be good, too, because as experts will point out, an exodus of that many people from the workforce could put a substantial strain on hiring.

Still, financial decisions will make up a major part of the new retirement, including the future of Social Security. Due to the growing proportion of seniors relative to workers, the program has had to increasingly rely on its reserve trust fund to pay out benefits. Without changes, in 20 to 25 years, beneficiaries will have to be paid entirely from taxes at a rate of approximately $0.75 on the current dollar.



Its one of the first programs Kerrey would change, along with addressing the lack of retirement savings on the part of many Americans. As each larger, older generation approaches seniority with fewer young workers to pay for benefits, their retirement accounts will be ever more crucial. Many people worry that the savings just arent there.

If youre 30, its not too late to start saving, Kerrey said. It is way too late if you start when youre 60.

Instead, he suggests a mandatory retirement account for every child born, something the government could create and put a relatively small amount of money into, like $1,000, to simply grow over the course of the childs life. That, Kerrey suggested, along with changes to Social Security such as means testing and a tax increase, could stabilize the system for the foreseeable future.

Of course, many people object to all of those approaches, but Kerreys central point remains: each generation will need a lot more money for retirement than it currently has.

The future of retirement depends entirely on whos doing the speculating, from Hodins image of a vibrant workforce well into their 70s to Kerreys policy-based solutions. Whats indisputable, however, is that that future is going to have to change. The idea of retirement as an age when you can sit on your laurels and enjoy the support of a society you helped build is increasingly proving unworkable in an era when senior citizens make up a substantial portion of the population.

America created the modern image of retirement back when children made up a third of the population and senior citizens were only one person in ten. Today those numbers have shifted to 25% and 13%, respectively.

There is a demographic cliff coming. Retirement may well be its first casualty.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Yamana Gold (AUY) are decreasing 0.32% to $3.11 on Monday morning as gold prices trade in the red.

For April delivery, gold is dropping 0.92% to $1,247.80 per ounce on the COMEX this morning.

The Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting, which begins tomorrow, will be monitored for clues on the future pace of U.S. rate hikes, Reuters reports.

The precious metal is non-interest paying and struggles to compete with assets that offer a yield when rates are increased.

"It's going to be rather cautious until the Federal Open Market Committee comes out with their statement," MKS' head of trading Afshin Nabavi told Reuters.

"There's a lot of selling on the physical front coming in, but there is also buying to support the market. If there are no sunrises from the FOMC or the Bank of Japan, I'm sure we will head towards the $1,275, $1,280 level," Nabavi added.

Toronto-based Yamana is a gold and copper exploration company that operates seven mines and oversees several ongoing development projects in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

"Yamana remains an attractive hedge to the volatility in the broader market. AUY is an Inflection Point stock and has a price target of $5," TheStreet's David Peltier wrote in his most recent Stocks Under $10 Weekly Summary.

(Yamana is held in David's Stocks Under $10 portfolio. See all of his holdings with a free trial.)

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Sell" rating with a score of D on the stock.

This is driven by multiple weaknesses, which should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks covered.

The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its feeble growth in its earnings per share, deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: AUY
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are taking out a key level this morning. With the help of a 0.8% gain, Microsoft is beginning to pierce an overhead trend line that links the December and January highs. This bullish action may signal an end to a three-week consolidation with an upside breakout.

Investors should be encouraged by today's move. A retest of the 2015 highs may be on the way.

Click here to see the below chart in a new window.

Microsoft's seven-day losing streak in early February drove the stock back down to its 200-day moving average. After bottoming near this major support zone, which included the major Oct. 23 breakout gap, the stock began to rebound. By the end of month, Microsoft was back in consolidation mode after leaving behind a significant low near the $49 area.

The consolidation that followed the mid-February rebound allowed Microsoft to build a solid foundation. This setup is taking on a more bullish tone with today's move. In the near term, Microsoft bulls should keep a close eye on the $53 area. If the stock can continue to gain traction above this level, a run up to the 2015 highs may be on the way.

Microsoft is a low-risk buy near current levels as this process develops. On the downside, a close back below last week's low would indicate that a more substantial consolidation will be needed before a new bull leg begins.

Disclosure: This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author was long MSFT.
"This campaign provides a unique opportunity to unite over 185,000 students at 16 universities in efforts to increase awareness about sexual consent," said Danielle Toccalino, Secretary-General of the Post-Graduate Students' Society McGill University.
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Protesters wait before dawn outside a church at Lenior-Rhyne University before a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Hickory, N.C., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refused to take responsibility on Sunday for clashes that have erupted at his campaign events, saying he was not inciting violence but giving voice to the anger of his supporters.

The real estate tycoon used a round of television appearances to beat back furious criticism from Republican rivals and Democrats alike that he was encouraging discord with divisive language disparaging Muslims and immigrants.

"I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The tension at his rallies, Trump said, came from people being "sick and tired" of American leadership that has cost them jobs through international trade deals, failed to defeat Islamic State terrorism and treats military veterans poorly.

"The people are angry at thatthey're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger," Trump said.

Trump, front-runner for the Republican nomination, appeared unchastened after simmering tensions between his supporters and protesters angry over his positions on immigration and Muslims erupted on Friday night, forcing him to cancel a Chicago rally and casting a shadow over his campaign appearances on Saturday.

The disturbances erupted days before the next five presidential nominating contests on Tuesday, which could cement the New York billionaire's lead over Republican rivals US Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

The scenes in Chicago followed several weeks of violence at Trump rallies, in which protesters and journalists have been punched, tackled and hustled out of venues, raising concerns about security heading into the November 8 presidential election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama.

Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination, as well as Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, heaped criticism on the New York billionaire after Friday's clashes.

Kasich said Trump had created a "toxic environment." On Sunday he stressed that he was hearing Trump supporters' concerns about job stability, wages and the future and that he was the candidate who could "fix things".

"I'm not interested in what he says. I'm interested in appealing to his voters," Kasich said on ABC's "This Week."

"Those are the people that need to hear me."

Trump, who has rallies scheduled on Sunday in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, hopes to beat both Kasich and Rubio, the US senator from Florida, in their home states on Tuesday.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll showed Trump leading Rubio 43 per cent to 22 per cent among likely primary voters in Florida. Trump lags Ohio's popular governor in that state, 33 per cent to Kasich's 39 per cent, the poll showed. The survey had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

Both states award all their delegates to the winner.

Blame the protesters

Sarah Palin, the vice presidential candidate in Republican John McCain's failed 2008 campaign against Obama, planned to attend a Trump rally in Florida on Sunday. Eight years ago, Palin and McCain drew criticism for overheated campaign rallies marked by crowds openly hostile to Obama, who became the first African American president.

Trump has harnessed the discontent of white, working class voters angry over international trade deals that cost them jobs. He has proposed building a wall along the southern US border, disparaged some Mexican immigrants as criminals and advocated a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.

On Sunday, he turned the criticism of his rallies against the protesters he called professional "disrupters" sent by Sanders, the US senator from Vermont.
She was on WhatsApp, Facebook, Kik, Twitter and Telegram. And, had 12 email accounts. Some handles had her own name, others had the word maseeha (saviour). She was also known by the handle radical gun. Halima al Sadia, 17, was born into a middle-class family in Phule Nagar, west Pune. And, she wanted to fight for Islamic State.

Intelligence agencies locked on to her last September, and now she is being rehabilitated. Everybody in Phule Nagar is aware of what happened, but almost nobody will talk. And, the family is not there anymore. The family had been asked not to meet strangers. Maybe, they were so apprehensive that they went underground, a social activist told THE WEEK.

Sadia's friend Baba Lahori said that she had met her twice, after the sleuths thwarted her plans to join IS. She told me to stay away as her activities were being surveilled. She said the police were after her, Lahori said. Some people hint that intelligence agencies advised the family to shift base for now.

Intelligence sources told THE WEEK that their priority was to bring her back into the mainstream. And, one of the people roped in for the task is Qari Idris, president of the Pune unit of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, the organisation of Islamic scholars in India. We told her that jihad essentially was to devote your self and your mind to the path of Allah, he said. Idris said Halima's handlers had swayed her by feeding her misinterpretations of the Quran and the Hadith.

The handlers According to sleuths, Halima's first handlers were Abu Jamal from Colombo and Umar Muhammad, about whom not much is known, except that he promised her that he would take care of her and her wishes. A counter-terrorism cop who had interrogated Halima for many hours said that for more than six months she had interacted with many local and foreign recruiters who were working in tandem with the IS social media team, a diffused group with worldwide reach. Halima called her social media network her immediate small world which she treasured.

Sirajuddin

She was closest to Muhammad Sirajuddin, an assistant sales manager of Indian Oil Corporation in Jaipur. A mechanical engineer, Sirajuddin hails from Gulbarga, Karnataka. The anti-terrorism squad of the Rajasthan Police arrested him from his residence in Jaipur's Jawahar Nagar last December.

The police said that Sirajuddin confessed to handling propaganda for IS. Security officials said he managed Khilafat News Agency, a pro-IS newsletter. He reportedly told the police that his tryst with Halima began as a loose acquaintance, and the IS leadership asked him to shepherd her after being convinced about the depth of her conviction.

Quoting from Sirajuddin's confessions, the police said that he and Halima participated in virtual discourses on jihad and got deeply interested in each other. They talked about everything from legitimate instruments of jihad to various jihadist interpretations in Islamic scripture.

The National Investigation Agency has been asked to re-investigate Sirajuddin's case, given its international dimensions. "We requested the NIA to take a fresh look at Sirajuddin's virtual contacts and their security ramifications, said B.L. Meena, deputy inspector general of police (anti-terrorism squad), Jaipur. The NIA has filed a fresh first information report and is expected to interrogate Sirajuddin, who is being held in Jaipur Central Jail.

Usually, the NIA is expected to file a charge sheet in 90 days. In this case, the agency has been given 180 days. An ATS official said this was to help the agency carry out its own probe into the case, which is unwieldy and involves foreign nationals.

B.L. Meena, , deputy inspector general (ATS), Jaipur

Silent, and then, violent Halima's mother is a teacher and father works with a private firm. They were initially oblivious to the indoctrination of their daughter. Her maternal uncle, who lives as part of the joint family, too, said he had no clue. They thought she had become more religious, but did not feel there was cause for worry.

Halima's aunt was the first to notice her hardening religious stance, but thought it was cosmetic. She wanted you to understand how a hijab was different from a burqa or for that matter a niqab and a shayla from an al amira, she said. Halima started wearing a hijab, praying routinely and advised others to follow suit.

Alarm bells went off when she told the family that Shias were not Muslims. She said she was part of the global moral outrage which opposed all that was wrong with the decadent west. Halima told her parents that the lifestyle promoted by the Salafi hardliners was the ideal one. And that Al Qaeda and IS were both good defenders of Islam, and good Muslims were the ones supporting those causes. So, she said, she wanted to commit herself to the cause of jihad and towards the rise of the caliphate. The convent-educated girl, who had dreamt of becoming a professional, was changing fast.

An ATS officer said that Halima's aunt told him that her niece had slowly become a recluse of sorts with a traditional twist in her ways and methods, especially in how she chose to dress, talk and carry herself along.

Recluse she might have been, but she was closely monitoring international events. A counter-terror official who interrogated the girl said, You are far above the ordinary, when at this young age you can discuss the overall differences between Al Qaeda and IS as separate organisational entities. Halima told the official about how Al Qaeda wanted people to join it and then work towards a caliphate, while IS wanted to build a caliphate first and then invite people to join it.

Halima's television channel of choice was al Jazeera. She took a deep interest in geopolitical affairs, watching a slew of other television channels which have Islam and discourses on Islam as content, said a counter-terror officer. While news channels kept her updated, her indoctrination was further fuelled by pro-IS videos on YouTube.

She told her parents that she was stateless. She said that only geography tied her to India, else she is an IS citizen. She stressed that Indian Muslims were no Muslims as they were insincere when it came to their religion.

Probe and interrogation The lid on Halima's activities was blown off when the Intelligence Bureau tipped off their Maharashtra counterparts in August-September 2015. The IB's technical intelligence team tracked her online activities and warned the state police that she was set to go offline anytime soon. Sirajuddin's arrest in December yielded more information and leads.

After she was picked up, she told interrogators that IS planned to attack the Indian subcontinent tentatively in 2020. Her handlers, she said, had promised to spirit her out to Syria in 2017. As she did not have a passport, she was asked to get one at the earliest. She had not discussed her plans with anyone other than her handlers, she said. Her ambition was either to be a nurse in IS-held territory, or be a suicide bomber.

Sirajuddin's wife, Fatima, too, reportedly wanted to be a suicide bomber. Meena said, Sirajuddin and Fatima's conversation revealed that she wanted to go to Libya. He wanted both of them to go to Syria. An ATS officer said Sirajuddin's key contacts were known by cryptic handles: Rebel Munir from Kashmir, Khalid bin Walid and Mohammad Nasim from Yemen, Hyder Hyder from the UK, Fatima from Argentina and Karen from the Philippines.

Sirajuddin got recruited by IS and then he turned recruiter. We believe he was in touch with a section of the IS leadership, said Alok Tripathi, additional director general of police, Rajasthan ATS. Another officer said that he was part of five WhatsApp groups and connected to five more groups through Telegram Messenger. The officer said, We have reasons to believe that Sirajuddin was anti-US, anti-Israel and pro-Pakistan.

SECURITY OFFICIALS SAID Sirajuddin's posts often discussed the Khorasan Hadith and the Gazwa-e-Hind Hadith. The first refers to Islamic warriors from the proverbial Khorasan region (now in Afghanistan) overrunning the subcontinent. The second one talks about the apocalyptic battle in which Muslims defeat India.

Investigators hit a mother lode when they cracked WhatsApp conversations between Halima and her three major handlersSirajuddin, Jamal and Muhammad. The 200 pages of decrypted messages were analysed by officers in Pune, Mumbai and Jaipur. Not surprisingly, bulk of the conversations were between Halima and Sirajuddin. THE WEEK saw some of the messages. Content ranged from IS gossip to plans for fundraising, data mining and coordination of action.

Meena, the ATS DIG, said Sirajuddin was picked up only after they were sure that he was into the [implementation] stage, as he was talking about planning and logistics.

Qari Idris, of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's Pune unit

The investigators are working on the Telegram Messenger content, as it is endto-end encrypted and has a timer which automatically erases content depending on the setting. Those encrypted messages are very essential to ascertain if Halima and Sirajuddin were in touch with mid-rung to mid-senior level IS leadership, said an ATS officer. The IB is reportedly assisting ATS units in Pune, Mumbai and Jaipur to access encrypted content.

Rehabilitating Halima THE WEEK met Qari Idris at a madrassa close to the Makka Masjid in Pune's Mitha Nagar area. The scholar said, I was surprised by Halimas deep analytical and reasoning skills, and sense of altruism, that typically define todays jihadist militants.

Halima asked him what the ulemas were doing about the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Then, she said America created the mess in Syria and the larger Arab world, and added that our Muslim brothers are facing the brunt of it and we should step in on the side of the right. She also told police officers, I cannot bear innocent Muslims being brutalised and killed for no fault of theirs.

Idris said, Halima was not thinking about her selfish interests, but about the suffering and injustice faced by Muslims. She was preparing to answer the larger call of jihad, or at least that was what she thought she was doing. We would have lost Halima had the state security agencies not acted in time.

Altruism is the hallmark of most terrorists, said Dipak Gupta, Fred J. Hansen professor of Peace Studies at the San Diego State University, California. Pursuit of altruistic goals separates a terrorist from a common criminal.

Idris said he had had at least four one-on-one chats with Halima, where he offered a counter to the narrative she was fed. I told her that she was a victim of afkar daiyiqah [narrow-mindedness]. And that she should come out of it. She accepted that Islams primary role was in moral and spiritual sustenance, which contrasted with the militant Islamist visions and pan-Islamism propagated by IS and Al Qaeda.

He said he also spoke to her about the futility of matching arms with the US. I asked her, 'Can you stop the US from bombing [IS in] Syria? Or reverse what they have done or are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan?' he said. She responded in the negative.

Investigators, too, were impressed by her ability to connect current incidents with her interpretation of the sharia law. She was familiar with even the minor nuances of the foundational concepts of Islam. She stressed that Islam is less of a religion, and more of a way of life, said an ATS officer.

Terrorism historian Mark Sedgwick has said that radicalisation is what goes on before the bomb goes off. Experts who have worked on rehabilitating terrorists say that there is a spectrum of activities from moral support to actual operations. In Halima's case, she did not do anything, though she intended to.

So now, ATS officers say, support from family and elders in the community is paramount. The first task was to offer her a counter-narrative and then slowly work towards making her accept it. We have been partly successful, an IB officer said. We don't think she has come out of the radical impulses completely. We need to keep a watch on her.

An ATS officer said, It is a challenge like we have never faced before. We could not arrest her, but had to keep her under close surveillance. She had an infected mind, and, in such cases, we are never sure as to how successful we are [with rehabilitation]. Halima was in touch with at least 200 people through Facebook. A good number of these people are either IS supporters or sympathisers. A handful of them are IS instigators who reported to the primary handlers, who are jihadist recruiters or propagandists. What makes Halimas case all the more worrying is that she had finalised her Syria plans. But, yes, for the same reason the intelligence agencies count this a win. They successfully pulled the plug on her plans.

The IB has allowed a supervised release, letting her move ahead and pursue her studies in Class 12. She reportedly told them that she wanted to join the civil services some day. But, as far the IB is concerned, Halima continues to be an at risk individual.

In Islamic lore, Halima is the beloved wet-nurse of the Prophet Mohammed. The name itself means gentle, mild-mannered and generous. The original Halima was considered to be an embodiment of these virtues. And, that is all Halima al Sadia's family wants. For the name to come true. Again.
[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

MK (Yesh Atid) Yael German, who served as Minister of Health in the previous administration, over the weekend expressed her disdain for the power given to the chareidi parties. She feels that the chareidim wield far too much power in proportion to their representation in the population of the country.

She spoke of the veto power the chareidim have in Knesset, citing her party has admitted it made mistakes and learned from those mistakes and today, Yesh Atid is indeed willing to be in a coalition with Yahadut Hatorah but the latter remains firm in its unwillingness to sit with Yesh Atid.

All Governments of Israel must eliminate this veto authority. it is unacceptable for Yahadut Hatorah to have so much power when it represents 5% of the nation, and making decisions for 100% of the nation. Litzman, who is one minister, cannot have veto authority on all of the State of Israel. Yahadut Hatorah has vetoed civilian marriage, public transportation on Shabbos, surrogacy, kashrus, giyur. It is inconceivable German stated, adding The public health system is in jeopardy. For years the state has been spending less and less while the public is paying for more and more private health services. The trend is growing and it is dangerous. We are almost at the point that only one who can get private care will get good medical care while others will have to rely on the poor public system.

In Litzmans attack against German recently from the Knesset podium, he explains he has done more in the past six months for the nations health system than German did in her two-year tenure. You did not do anything in the Health Ministry! You dare give me mussar! What did you do he shouted at her from the podium.

In a Sunday morning 3 Adar-II interview with Kol Chai Radio, Litzman added that German unfortunately was too busy fighting Yiddishkheit instead of tending to the needs of the health system and this is apparent from the bleak state of affairs the system was in when he assumed office.

Litzman last week in Knesset blasting former Health Minister Yael German:

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Speaking with Kol Berama Radio on Sunday morning 3 Adar-II, Beersheva Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri Shlita explained the High Court decision compelling his citys religious council to permit a Reform convert toivel in a public mikve address the specific case but pertains to mikvaos and religious councils nationwide.

Rav Deri explained many are unaware that the state defended the religious councils in the High Court case, explaining the attorneys for the state argued that state mikvaos are only compelled to permit people to toivel, but this does not include tevila for conversion, which is done as a special service on a limited basis.

Rav Deri stated, As a service, once or twice monthly, in only one mikve in the city, we also accommodate giyorim since this is a service to the Chief Rabbinate giyorim explained Rabbi Deri.

Rav Deri explains the High Court however did not accept the differentiation between regular tevila and a convert toiveling. Hence the bill to prohibit converts from toiveling in public mikvaos nationwide, since as Rabbi Deri explains, the religious councils lack the manpower to accommodate all converts from all streams around the country, including Orthodox. He explains the converts in recognized Chief Rabbinate conversion programs will not have a problem finding a private mikve.

Rabbi Deri added that the religious councils are simply stopping to provide this additional service, which they are not compelled to provide under their mandate. He stresses this is not circumventing the High Court as many are reporting their actions, but simply reverting back to the days when conversion services are not provided and this will be enforced equally for all; Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.

Rabbi Deri feels this will be accepted by the court since there is one policy for all and any claims of discrimination against non-Orthodox converts would be unjustifiable. He adds that it would be absurd to expect civil service rabbis to act in contradiction to policies of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and in these cases, it addresses conversions that are not recognized by the Chief Rabbinate.

Rabbi Deri stated Reform converts can go and find their own mikvaos, explaining for them it is not about mikve or even the Kosel but about official recognition.

Rabbi Deri emphasized that are not interested in toiveling as one must or davening by the Kosel but simply seeking recognition. BH HKBH is watching over Eretz Yisrael and they do not have any foothold and somehow this has been the case for 60 years since the establishment of the state added Rav Deri. He added there is not a single meeting of the Chief Rabbinate Council that does not discuss one High Court ruling or another. We must call it what it is. It is not about Kosel or mikve or anything else, simply recognitionThere will be no recognition, not directly or indirectly Rav Deri concluded.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
It is reported that former President Moshe Katsav is likely to be paroled from prison after serving five years of his seven-year term for assaulting women. In the Israeli prison system, one-third is traditionally wiped from a prisoners sentence for good behavior and it is reported Mr. Katsav fits the bill, and may be a free man in the coming days.

This news has elicited the ire of a number of female MKs, who feel that a former president who dubiously become the first former president to be tried and convicted of harassing and assaulting women should not be released before completing his entire sentence. They point out that Katsav continues to maintain his innocence, hence he never admitted to anything or expressed remorse. If the parole board does not agree to his early release, it is likely a request for a pardon will find its way to the desk of President Reuven Rivlin.

MKs (Meretz) Zahava Gal-On, Michal Rozen and Tamar Zandberg have called on both President Rivlin and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to oppose any request for a pardon for Katsav for they feel it would be most inappropriate for them to overrule the prison parole board. MK (Machane Tzioni) Shelly Yacimovich is also opposed to the former presidents early release.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
It has become de rigueur for groceries to brand their meats and candies by repackaging them nicely with a store-branded label. Beware! Dont judge only by the label. Check the label for a hechsher. Even if has a hechsher, be sure the store is displaying a Kashrus Certification taking responsibility for those labels. Yes, even when buying those ready-to-go Mishloach Manos from a store you trust. Because when you buy without a Kashrus Certificate displaying in the supermarket, you are opening a can of worms in the Jewish community at large. And here is why:

Imagine you are on a business trip in a remote area of China. Suddenly you encounter a massive 10-mile Kosher supermarket. Pleasantly surprised (and hungry) you walk in and find every delicacy, from sushi to rib steaks, all repackaged by the store. The store-printed labels claim to be under a reputable hechsher. But you wonder, who is responsible? In walks Chaim the store owner, the only Jew in a 100-mile radius, and takes responsibility. Will you trust him without knowing him well?

Chaim shows you the hechsher printed on each package. Yeah, a generic label. No kashrus logo. And even if it has a logo, how much is it worth? You can print those by the millions, especially in China. He tells you the name of a Rabbi that supervises. Oh, but how do you know thats true? He calls up the Mashgiach (supervisor) and hands you the phone. Haha, thats funny. If you dont know him or trust him, how can you trust he is calling the right person?

Lets pretend this same Chaim decides that business is slow in China (no kidding) and moves his store to Brooklyn. He has no Mashgiach (he never did). What will happen? In all likelihood, most people will buy! If the store is Jewish, theres a Yarmulka on the store, then its good for you and for me. Few people in our community ask the question: Who is responsible for the repackaging? Its HABITUAL. What everyone does.

The habit of buying store repackaged food has become so ingrained that any Joe Shmoe can take advantage of the lax attitude and chas vshalom sell treif. To be clear, I am NOT suggesting that this is happening, however, we need to remind ourselves that it can happen. This invokes the infamous kosher scandal in Monsey when a butcher was caught selling non-kosher as kosher. Nearly 10 years later, I still quake about it. In that debacle there were Holocaust survivors that had risked their life during WWII not to eat non-kosher, yet, in the comfort of their home, they were deceived into eating treif.

Many Jewish supermarkets actually do have a mashgiach temidi (permanent supervisor). The store owners are wonderful G-d fearing Jews. You would eat in their homes and trust them more than some Mashgichim. Thats great. However, lets face it. We are no longer a close-knit community where each consumer knows the cook and the baker. Most consumers are not properly informed in each store as to WHO is responsible for the repackaging. Yet, they still buy because theres a Yarmulka on the store. This is a lax attitude which creates a dangerous habit that spreads across the cities and towns of America. When you patronize this faulty system it can wreak havoc elsewhere. It is fertile ground for an unscrupulous store owner to heaven forbid attempt to sell non-kosher.

And we can prevent it from happening. Yes, we the consumers, more than the Rabbis, can do something. Just ask your store owner to kindly display a Kashrus Certification. The certification should include ALL repackaged items in the entire store including candies and Mishloach Manos. It should also state if there is a mashgiach temidi which should be a requirement for every meat department. The mashgiach should be able to verify every repackaged item on the shelves.

I entered a popular supermarket in Lakewood and asked for the Kashrus Certificate. The manager searched his office but did not find it. He said Im the first person that ever asked for it. Hear this: If more people will ask to see the certificate, a certificate will soon be on the wall for all to see. Thats what we consumers can do. In this particular Lakewood store the kashrus logo was printed on the labels. Thats an upgrade since a logo may not be used without permission. However, given the generic nature of these labels, it will be an added security to have a Kashrus Certificate on site as well.

If an organization sells repackaged items in Mishloach Manos as a fundraiser, I suggest they include a letter that specifies which individual took responsibility for the kashrus. It will also be nice to mention which hechsher was used for the ingredients. This will make the recipients not only admire the beautiful arrangement but feel comfortable to eat it as well.

So my brothers, beware! Dont buy ready-made Mishloach Manos without a repackaging hechsher, even if its perfect for your Purim theme. Dont just check the theme, check the Kashrus. Supermarket hashgacha usually does not cover Mishloach Manos unless otherwise stated on the Kashrus Certificate. The problem is, many stores do not even display the certificate. We the consumers deserve more disclosure. Just ask, youll get it.

Name withheld upon request.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times]

At his recent Maos Chittim appeal, Rav Yaakov Reisman Shlita, Morah DAsra of the Agudah of Long Island in Far Rockaway, New York, provided an upgrade to a famous Dubno Maggid moshol.

Imagine for a moment, a wealthy gvir wanting his family to get together. Although a seasoned businessman, our gvir is not so familiar with Travelocity and Orbitz. He gives Chaim, one of his sons in Eretz Yisroel, his credit card to arrange for everyone to come to New York. They will all get together in a luxurious hotel. Chaim purchases first class bookings for himself, his wife and children. His brother Yaakov and family from Kiryat Sefer were booked on Delta with a 12 hour stop-over. Brother Dovid and family from Beit Shemesh were booked on Ukrainian Airways through Kiev, saving his father thousands of dollars. Shimshi and family were booked on a fabulous deal on Turkish Airlines.

When Chaims father went to pick him up from JFK, he asked where everyone else was. Chaim answered, Well, Yaakov is on Delta, arriving tomorrow, Shimshi is on Turkish Airlines arriving Tuesday night and Dovid will be here Thursday morning from Ukrain-

What?? I gave you the credit card so that everyone could come. Instead you booked yourself on First Class so that you could live in luxury while your brothers are struggling on two bit air fares!

But Ta, I saved you money!

I am reversing the charges on your airfare, Chaim! Pay for those tickets yourself!

The Dubno Maggid explained that regarding our obligation to give Tzedakah, it is not that we are the owners of our money and we choose to give it to the needy. No. We are mere messengers of Hashem to give this money that He gave us to His other children. When we eat on Yom Tov, but our brethren do not  it is an abuse of the system no different than the moshol expounded above!

Maos Chittim, of course, is providing to those local people who are struggling financially so that they can afford Pesach Matzoh and the other expenses associated with this Yom Tov.

QUESTIONS

Some questions, of course, arise. What is the source of this custom? Who must give? And who is considered as struggling financially? And why only Pesach? Sukkos is also a rather expensive Yom Tov, with lulavim and esrogim commanding a heavy premium, aside from the cost of sukkah panels and schach. Furthermore, is Maos Chittim charity or is it some other obligation?

THE SOURCE

The custom, at first glance, is not found in Tanach verses, nor the Mishna. It would seem that the original source for this custom is found in the Jerusalem Talmud (Bava Basra 1:4). There, Rabbi Yossi Ben Rabbi Boon states: Twelve months for Pesach wheat, whether to take or to give.

With this one statement, according to the commentaries, we have an answer to the first three of our questions. It is a Talmud Yerushalmi, all residents of the town must give to it, and the residency requirement is twelve months. In order to qualify as a local financially struggling party there is also a twelve month residency requirement.

ADDITIONAL SOURCE

Is it just a Yerushalmi, however? The Vilna Gaon (Kol Eliyahu Parshas Bo  Shmos 13:6) asks why the verse repeats the obligation to eat Matzah twice and why in the second clause it uses the passive form of eaten rather than the command form of eat. He explains that the passive form indicates that there is an obligation to make sure that each poor person fulfills this Mitzvah.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

As far as the residency requirement, the Chok Yaakov (Chapter 429) writes that if the person intends to stay there for twelve months and has signed a lease to that effect, then this too fulfills the residency requirement. The Beer Heitev states that one merely needs to show that one is staying in the community for over 12 months.

All this brings us to further explore the nature of this obligation.

This Yerushalmi is cited by Rabbi Yitzchok Ben Moshe of Vienna, author of the Ohr Zaruah (Vol. II Chapter 255) and teacher of the Maharam MRottenberg. He writes: It is a custom in all communities to place a tax on the community for the purposes of providing wheat for Matzos for the poor of the city as it states in the Yerushalmi. The Ohr Zaruah is cited by the Ramah in the Darchei Moshe (OC 429:1).

TAX RATHER THAN CHARITY



We see from the wording of the Ohr Zaruah that it is viewed, in fact, as a tax rather than a form of charity. The juxtaposition of Pesach wheat in tractate Bava Basra alongside the obligation to partake in the building of the city wall is perhaps the Ohr Zaruahs source for this wording. Rabbi Yair Bacharach in his Mekor Chaim also writes that it is a tax not a tzedaka.

What is the difference as to whether it is a tax or a charity? One difference lies in whether Maaser funds may be used to this end. The Poskim have ruled that Machtzis HaShekel, Matanos LEvyonim, and Yom Kippur Kaparos Tzedakka cannot be deducted from ones normal Maaser obligation (See responsa of Maharil Diskin and others cited in Ahavas Chessed by Rabbi Avidan p. 154 for further sources). Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach distinguishes between the obligation of Maos Chittin in older times and nowadays. Back then it was an actual tax where each member of the community was assessed. This no longer is so prevalent and Rav Auerbach ruled that Maaser moneys may be used.

THE MITZVAH HAS CHANGED

We also see from the sources cited earlier that the original custom was to distribute the wheat itself, and not to distribute ground up flour. It seems that the nature of the Mitzvah has evolved from wheat to flour to Matzos to money. The Mishna Brurah explains that the flour was given because it caused the benefit to be that much closer.

The Mishna Brurah in his Shaar HaTziyun (429:10) explains the reason for the Mitzvah, which answers our final question as to why it is only Pesach and not Sukkos. He writes that since Pesach is the holiday of our freedom where we all sit around and celebrate our freedom in joy it is not kavod Hashem, honor to G-d, that poor people are hungry and thirsty.

Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul (Ohr Ltzion Vol. III 5:2) writes that even in our times, one may actually force members of the community to give to Maos Chittim. Indeed, other meforshim have written that whoever excuses himself from this obligation it is as if he has spilled blood.

WHY IS IT SO OBLIGATORY?

All this brings up the question  why is this custom so obligatory in its nature? Isnt it just an auxiliary aspect of this Yom Tov? There is a fascinating Tanna DBei Eliyahu (Shmos chapter 23) which indicates that far from being auxiliary, it lies at the very essence and core of why we were, in fact, redeemed. It states that when we were to leave Egypt they enacted a Bris between themselves that they would always perform acts of chessed toward each other. It is for this reason that they merited redemption, states the Midrash.

A few further thoughts: The Zohar (Zohar Chadash Bereishis 18) understands the statement of Chazal (Rosh Hashana 16a) that on Pesach we are judged on the bounty  the intent is how much charity we have distributed in the past year. Based upon this Zohar the Kav HaYashar (chapter 91) writes that the entire month of Nissan we should contemplate whether we have fulfilled our charitable obligations in light of the blessing that we have received from Hashem.

One last thought: The word Pesach is equivalent in Gematria to Kemach  flour and also to the word Yechalek which means distribute.

The author can be reached at [email protected]


Four people were arrested by police in Modiin Illit during the night including the head of a kollel and a member of the city council.

During the night, the eve of 4 Adar-II (Sunday to Monday), police arrested four people in the chareidi city including a city councilman, head of a NGO and a secretary whom are reportedly close to Mayor Yaakov Gutterman as well as the head of a kollel as part of an ongoing undercover investigation into white collar crimes. The four will be interrogated by the 433 Yahalom Units Economic Crimes Division.

It appears the investigation does connect to a nonprofit headed by the councilman taken into custody. Police are not releasing any information about the case or the four arrests.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The political press has hunkered down in Cleveland and in Miami, asking whether Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, or Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., can overwhelm Donald Trump in their own states and start playing toward a brokered convention. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, flew into Columbus Sunday night to pound his own closing message of Super Tuesday II  a vote for anyone else will be wasted.

They said, Ted Cruz, dont come to Ohio, he told an audience at the Northland Performing Arts Center, 10 miles from the airport where hed landed from North Carolina and would soon take off for Illinois. Weve decided in the media were giving it to Donald Trump or John Kasich.

Cruz, who has been boxed out of some news cycles by the medias focus on Trump, is looking to set low expectations, then blow past them. The do-or-die nature of the Ohio/Florida primaries has vacuumed up attention, and Mitt Romneys planned rallies with Kasich Monday are likely to do it again.

But Cruz is looking to strong performances in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, the lightly polled megastates lost in recent coverage, to cut any delegate lead Trump might build Tuesday. The first two states border the parts of Iowa that gave Cruz his first victory.

Missouri, home to Cruzs campaign manager Jeff Roe, has 52 delegates at stake but has been polled just once this year. A Fort Hays State University poll released last week put Trump at 36 percent, Cruz at 29 percent, and both Kasich and Rubio in single digits  with twice as many voters undecided as backing either of them. While Trump ran 20 points ahead of Cruz in Arkansas section of the Ozarks, the rural area shared with Missouri, Roe has won elections before in central Missouri and the conservative suburbs of St. Louis and Kansas City.

Theres also promise for Cruz in Illinois, where the impact of Friday nights canceled Trump rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago has been hard to discern. Trumps leads there have been in the high single digits, and a weekend poll by CBS News/YouGov put Trump just four points ahead of Cruz. But Illinois selects delegates based on whoever wins each of its 18 congressional districts, not on who wins statewide. Cruz is making five stops in that state Monday, each in a different district, with no downside. A popular vote win would give him a major upset headline, his first in a primary outside of Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas. A narrow loss, but wins in several districts, would eat into Trumps delegate lead.

But Ohio came first, and demonstrated just how Cruz is telling voters that they should hurry past Kasich and Rubio to create a Cruz-Trump primary. Cruz begins each news conference with a two-minute statement, repeating the electability message he will make onstage. In Columbus, he said twice that he had defeated Trump not once, not twice, not three times, but nine different times, literally from Alaska to Maine. Onstage, he said it again.

You notice that Donald sort of twitches when I say that? he asked his crowd. Come on say, it nine! Nine! Ask a German: Are you going to be the nominee? Nein!

Cruz lists the contests where he has bested Trump because to name how he beat him would be less impressive. He defeated Trump outright in the Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas primaries  the former a true upset that raised questions about whether Trump could win closed primaries that prevented independents from crossing over. (He went on to win several.) He clobbered Trump in the Iowa, Alaska, Maine and Kansas caucuses, then beat him in Saturdays convoluted Wyoming convention.

We won the Wyoming caucuses with 66 percent of the vote, Cruz said at the news conference and the Columbus rally.

The ninth win was not an outright victory. It was Cruzs second place showing in the March 1 Minnesota caucuses, where he nonetheless ran ahead of Trump. Cruz has run disappointingly even with Trump in the territorial contests where a handful of votes can matter, watching Guam and the Virgin Islands elect uncommitted delegates. And all of that is happening in the context of Cruz losing every contest so far in the deep South, where his initial plans assumed he could build a delegate lead over any establishment lane candidate.

In Ohio, Cruz told voters they could reject the stop Trump campaign that demanded a vote for Kasich and instead give him a victory that would stop Trump before the Republican National Convention. This was undeniably true  a Cruz win in Ohio would blow up delegate projections. Cruzs only evidence that it was possible was a CBS News/YouGov poll that had him six points behind Trump and Kasich, a poll that he said the media was ignoring.

The corporate bosses have said Donalds gotta be the guy because hes the only one who cant beat Hillary, Cruz said from the stage. Asking each member of the 1,500-person audience to pull 10 friends to the polls, Cruz said that the people in this room control 15,000 votes, enough to swing the outcome in Ohio.

An average of Ohio polls gives Kasich a 2.7 point lead over Donald Trump; in that average, Cruz trails Trump by 13 points, rising since Ben Carson quit the race. The only national analyst currently musing about a Cruz upset is the Washington Examiners Tim Carney, who asked whether the Cruz uptick represents soft Trump supporters bailing on the front-runner.

Its a leap to say this data represents Cruz picking off Trump supporters, but its not a huge leap, he wrote. Going by the PPP poll, 9 percent of Ohio Republicans were Trump supporters with a positive view of Cruz, and another 5 percent were Trump supporters unsure of what they thought of Cruz. About 6.5 percent of voters were Trump supporters who held Cruz as a second choice, and 15 percent were Trump voters unsure of their second choice.

Cruz, meanwhile, has found a way to spin his defeats. In Columbus, he earned cheers when he rattled off the Wyoming vote totals, then more cheers when he admitted winning no delegates in that same days D.C. convention, where less than 3,000 had voted and given Rubio 10 delegates to nine for Kasich.

The District of Columbia voted and I came in dead last, he said. The Washington lobbyists looked at this field and said goodness gracious, give us anybody but Cruz!

The Washington Post  David Weigel
President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria Monday, voicing hope the move will contribute to the success of Syria peace talks.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers the Russian president an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5 A-month Russian air campaign that has allowed the Syrian army to win back some key ground. Halting the military action now would allow Putin to cash in on his gains and pose as a peacemaker.

At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and keep some troops there. Syrias state news agency also quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but wont leave the country altogether.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russias foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assads military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, Im ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow, Putin said.

He didnt specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syrias coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured victories against terrorism and returned security to the country.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putins announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as the mother of all issues.

The Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The Islamic State group and al-Qaidas branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire.

While Russia said in the past that it would continue its fight against groups considered terrorists by the United Nations, Putins announcement appears to indicate that Moscow will halt its military action for now.

Putin said Mondays move should help raise trust and serve as a stimulus for Syrias political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad, who voiced his readiness to quickly launch a political process.

I hope that todays decision will send a good signal to all conflicting parties, Putin said. I hope it will significantly increase the level of trust among the participants in the Syrian settlement and contribute to solving the Syrian settlement by peaceful means.

Putin added that Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the cease-fire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday. At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syrias population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The truce, however, has helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in besieged areas a zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

De Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war a and to even worse war than we had so far.

The two sides are deeply split on Assads future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is a red line, and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months a a key demand of the opposition.

But de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

What is the real issue a the mother of all issues? Political transition, he said.

Asked if Putin discussed Assads political fate in Mondays phone call with the Syrian leader, Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasnt part of the conversation.

Assad has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

On Monday, as the election campaign officially kicked off, streets in the capital Damascus were festooned with electoral banners and posters of hundreds of government-approved candidates.

In the so-called proximity talks in Geneva, the two sides dont meet face to face, but meet separately with de Mistura and his team, who shuttle back and forth.

The talks began Monday with de Mistura hosting a government delegation led by Syrias U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari. Speaking to reporters afterward, Jaafari called the meeting positive and constructive and said the government delegation submitted ideas and views for a political solution to the crisis. He said the opposition will meet de Mistura on Tuesday, and his delegation would meet again on Wednesday.

The talks have shaped up as the best, if distant, chance in years to end a war that has created an opening for radical groups including Islamic State and the al-Qaida-backed Nusra Front to gain large swaths of land, and prompted at least 11 million people to leave their homes a many fleeing abroad to places like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as to Europe.

(AP)
There is a 'clear need for intervention to improve access to advice, says watchdog

Workers should have a 'pensions dashboard' to see their retirement savings in once place, says review

Workers should be able to access a small part of their pension pot before retirement to pay for financial advice, a long-awaited report proposes.

In addition, to 'break down the barriers' consumers face when accessing affordable financial advice, greater use should also be made of 'mass-market automated advice' systems, the review from the Financial Conduct Authority recommends.

The review also gave support to the idea of a 'pensions dashboard', which would allow savers to see information about all their pension pots in place.

The City watchdog today published its Financial Advice Market Review - a wide ranging report into the state of financial advice and how it could be made more accessible, affordable and transparent for savers.

Scroll down for video

Access: People could be able to access a 'small part' of their pension pot as they approach retirement in order to pay for financial advice, a long-awaited report suggests

The report comes amid concerns that ordinary savers need more support than ever before to manage their finances. Pension freedoms have given workers greater control over their retirement - and with it greater choices.

Meanwhile recent reforms to charging for financial advice mean that savers with more modest nest eggs have more limited access to traditional financial advice. Advisers must charge upfront rather than through commission payments, which has put some savers off stumping up for advice and has seen some advisers reject savers with smaller pots for whom the cost of advice would be unjustified.

The report warned that there is a 'clear need for intervention' by the regulator and government to ensure consumers and industry benefit from new and more cost-effective ways of delivering high-quality advice and guidance.

It added that the recommendations go some way to address concerns over the affordability of advice and the so-called 'advice gap' - the lack of availability of good advice for some savers.

With recent research suggesting over a third of people have 'low or extremely low' interest in their financial affairs, the review suggests developing 'nudges', urging people to get financial advice at crucial points in their lives.

Giving people access to a small amount of cash form their pensions before they retire 'will ensure consumers can access financial advice at a key milestone in their lives and feel confident in making financial decisions as they approach retirement', the review says.

Details have not been ironed out regarding how much or when the cash could be accessed.

Poll I would take automated financial advice Agree Disagree I would take automated financial advice Agree 43 votes

Disagree 40 votes Now share your opinion





The review, authored by Charles Roxburgh, director general of financial services at HM Treasury, and Tracey McDermott, acting chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, also recommends exploring ways to expand an existing rule, which allows employers to offer pensions advice to employees worth 150 without paying income tax or National Insurance.

The report, which comes after a seven-month review, rules also out a 15-year limit on consumer complaints concerning advice they receive, 'as this would inappropriately limit protection for consumers on long-term products.'

More broadly, the review recommends launching a consultation on changing the definition of 'regulated advice.' The idea behind this is to narrow the definition of 'regulated advice' to give financial firms more scope to offer guidance to customers.

Tracey McDermott said: 'This review has taken place against the backdrop of social and demographic changes which have led to an increasing need for individuals to take more responsibility for their own financial future.

'But we know that people often find it difficult to engage with financial matters and we need to make it easier for them to do so.

Nudges: With recent research suggesting over a third of people have 'low or extremely low' interest in their financial affairs, the Review suggests developing 'nudges', urging people to get financial advice at crucial points in their lives

'The package of reforms we have laid out today will help increase both the accessibility and affordability of the advice and guidance to ensure that consumers get the help they really need when they really need it.'

Pensions experts welcomed the proposals for giving access to pension savings to pay for financial advice - but warned it would need 'careful legislation'.

Gareth Shaw, head of consumer affairs at Saga Investment Services, said: 'Giving consumers the opportunity to access their pension savings early to pay for advice can transform the way that people plan their retirement.

Lack of trust: Perceptions of whether financial advisers make recommendations in the client's best interests

'Saga research found that just six per cent of over 50s have used a financial adviser since the pension freedoms were introduced, while many over 50s cite the biggest reason for not taking advice is that they do not think they have enough money to qualify for it.'

Richard Freeman, chief distribution officer at Old Wealth Mutual, said the pre-retirement pension cash move would require 'careful legislation', but 'can only be a good thing.'

Meanwhile, Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'The development of clearer, simpler engagement, through the Dashboard, the Pension Passport, rules of thumb and with shorter suitability reports, will all help to reinvigorate consumers experience of dealing with the industry.'

Available cash: Giving people access to a small amount of cash form their pensions before they retire 'will ensure consumers can access financial advice at a key milestone in their lives and feel confident in making financial decisions as they approach retirement', the Review says

While generally positive about the proposed reforms, Nick Hungerford, chief executive of Nutmeg, said: 'We are sorry not to have seen more in the Review about transparency on fees and charges.

'We hear from customers daily about the obfuscation customers face when comparing advice and investment services in the market. There are far too many types of charges; charges are often not given in pounds and pence but only as percentages; and charges are often only available when upon request. We hope to see more done at the implementation phase to strip away complexity.'
George Osborne faces a Budget black hole of nearly 50billion and will fail to reach a surplus as the slowdown in the British economy dents tax receipts, a report claims.

The Chancellor looks set to miss his borrowing targets for each of the next five years  unless he takes drastic action in this weeks Budget to plug the gap.

PricewaterhouseCoopers predict that instead of being 10billion in the black by 2020, George Osborne will instead find himself still over budget by 1billion.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne speaking to 'The Andrew Marr Show' ahead of his Budget speech, warning the UK has to 'act now rather than pay later', with further spending cuts planned

But with storm clouds gathering over the economy, experts at Ernst & Young Item Club warn that raising taxes or cutting spending would do more harm than good.

In a separate report today the Item Club also predicts a shortfall, setting the scene for a bleak Budget on Wednesday in a blow to Osborne as he seeks to burnish his leadership credentials.

The Chancellor has spoken before about fixing the roof while the sun shines, said Martin Beck, senior economic advisor to the Item Club.

But with storm clouds gathering over the UK economy, tightening fiscal policy further could worsen an already fragile economic situation. Now is not the time to be fixing the roof.

Borrowing has fallen from a record 154.7billion under Labour in 2009-10 to 91.9billion last year following five years of austerity since Osborne (pictured) took over at the Treasury.

But PwC warns that the Chancellor will miss his target of reducing borrowing to 73.5billion this year  and will instead borrow 76billion, while the Item Club predicts an even higher figure of 77.5billion.

Borrowing is also expected to overshoot the target in the coming years with Osborne now on course to borrow 1billion in 2019-20 rather than the 10.1billion he planned in the Autumn Statement in December.

Warning: PwC claims that the Chancellor will miss his target of reducing borrowing to 73.5billion this year  and will instead borrow 76billion while other experts predict an even higher figure of 77.5billion

In total, borrowing over the five-year period looks set to be 47billion more than expected, leaving the Chancellor facing an uphill battle to balance the books.

PwC blames lower tax revenues, caused by weaker growth than official predictions, which the Item Club says in its report is down to the lower oil price and the slump in the stock market.

The short-fall in tax receipts is likely to be partly offset by a windfall from lower-than-expected debt interest payments.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent Treasury watchdog, will be forced to trim its forecasts for economic growth for this year and next, according to Item.

It currently expects growth of 2.4 per cent this year and next year but this could be cut towards 2 per cent.

Independent Treasury watchdog The Office for Budget Responsibility (pictured: chairman Robert Chote) will be forced to trim its forecasts for economic growth for this year and next, according to Ernest & Young Item Club

Osborne yesterday revealed he will unleash a fresh wave of spending cuts in the Budget to balance the books by the end of the decade.

He argued the world is now a more difficult and dangerous place and revealed he would make savings equivalent to 50p in every 100 of Government spending.

My message in this Budget is that the world is a more uncertain place than at any time since the financial crisis and that we need to act now so we dont pay later, he told the Andrew Marr show.

But Item today warns that further austerity could worsen an already fragile economic situation.
Tax dodgers are cheating the Treasury out of 5billion and have huge sums stashed in tax havens, a charity report has claimed.

Oxfam has estimated more than 170billion owned by the wealthiest Britons is being held offshore in locations such as the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, which have lower tax rates than the UK.

The charity believes that this costs the exchequer 5billion in lost taxes every year, and that the problem worldwide is losing governments a total of 120billion annually.

Big problem: Charity Oxfam problem worldwide is losing governments a total of 120bn annually

Its report calls for the Chancellor George Osborne to launch a crackdown on tax havens in his Budget on Wednesday.

Mark Goldring, Oxfam Chief Executive, said: Currently, a privileged minority are able to hide billions offshore away from tax authorities, which unfairly increases the burden on the rest  especially people who are already struggling to get by.




For information about utilizing one of these articles in your publication, contact the author at kat@tiedyetravels.com.



Copyright 2007 - 2022 by Kat Robinson. Author retains all electronic and publishing rights, except where express given permission has been granted.
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By Kevin Zimmerman

Hillcrest High School actress Benne McCants has conquered the New York stage, and now is on her way to take on the rest of the country.

Benne earned second place in LeAps NYC August Wilson Monologue Competition held at the MMAC Theater in Manhattan last week.

She will now represent the city in the national finals slated to take place at Broadways August Wilson Theatre May 2.

I did this program last year as a junior, and I didnt make it to the citywide, but this time, I worked, and I used everything, and I just gave it my all, Benne said. Its such an honor, and it feels amazing.

Benne performed a monologue from the character Vera in Wilsons 1995 play Seven Guitars.

The play, one of Wilsons 10 works that make up his Pittsburgh Cycle detailing the African-American experience during the 20th century, is set in the 1940s and revolves around seven characters and a funeral.

Two other students from Hillcrest, senior Raychel Dormon and junior Alleah Edwards, also participated in the competition. Both performed monologues from Wilsons play Fences.

This was the eighth edition of Learning through an Expanded Arts Programs August Wilson monologue competition.

As part of the year-long program, students examine Wilsons life, influences and work as part of the process.

We are so proud of our students who have fully embraced Wilsons work and are sensitively and beautifully inhabiting his rich characters, Alice Krieger, director of LeAps August Wilson Program, said.

Yancy Perez, from Manhattans Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts, earned first place. Sarah Rodriguez, of Brooklyns Edward R. Murrow High School, was chosen as an alternate.

This program has impacted me in ways I couldnt even imagine, Benne said. It never occurred to me how deeply something can hit you, how you can tell someone elses story. Ive learned that if I put my mind to it, that I can do anything.
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By Madina Toure

Flushing community leaders have teamed up with the city to conduct a comprehensive survey of businesses in the area.

The Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, the Flushing Business Improvement District and the city Department of Small Business Services announced the launch at a news conference March 7.

The survey, which is part of the Flushing Commercial District Needs Assessmenta collaboration between the three organizationswill focus on downtown commercial corridors and businesses along Main Street, Roosevelt Avenue, Union Street, Northern Boulevard, 39th Avenue and College Point Boulevard.

John Choe, the Flushing Chambers executive director, said the data will be critical for making a case to Mayor Bill de Blasio about the need for more services in the area.

We wanted to make sure that action is what follows up with the survey, Choe told the launch at the chamber headquarters at 39-01 Main St.

Dian Yu, Flushing BIDs executive director, said the survey is a step in the right direction.

Even though we have limited resources, we went for it because this is an important survey, Yu said.

Cindy Cheung, the project manager of the small business agency, said the factors to be examined include the areas demographics, small business conditions, market retail analyses, physical environment and other economic development indicators.

What the survey is is an opportunity for the business owner to share their perspective and share their experience to us so that we will be able to better invest in the future of this neighborhood, Cheung said.

The Flushing Chamber will be visiting and speaking with merchants and business owners in the area between March and April to collect survey responses.

Surveys will be conducted in person and are also available online via https://bit.ly/flushingbizsurvey in English, Chinese, Korean and Spanish.

The Flushing Chamber and the Flushing BID will aggregate survey results and report key findings.

City Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) said rent has tripled in downtown Flushing over the last 30 years and urged the city to halt the escalation of commercial taxes.

Main Street downtown is really crowded, Koo said. Its almost like 42nd Street (Manhattan), so we need a lot of services.

Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, said the community is supporting Cheung because she is an Asian representative at SBS and told her to tell her bosses what the community needs.

Go back (and) tell your boss here is a different world, Tu said. Here is the Asian community. Every single business doing differently.

Ikhwan Rim, president of the Union Street Small Business Association, urged the city to educate businesses about rules and regulations.

Dont give a fine, give a warning first, Rim said.
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By Gabriel Rom

Two men have been arrested in connection with the death of a bouncer at an Ozone Park restaurant early Saturday morning, the NYPD said.

Elsworth Reid, 48, was trying to separate two unruly patrons when they allegedly turned on him and beat him to death at Johnnys Restaurant and Bar at 107-09 Rockaway Blvd., police said.

Reid was rushed to Jamaica Hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival, police said.

On Monday, two men 31-year-old Deonarine Deoraj and 48-year-old Harrydatt Nandalall were brought into custody, police said.

Both were charged with manslaughter and gang assault, police said.

The investigation was still ongoing and a police source said there might be other suspects involved with the crime at the late night spot.

This is a terrible tragedy, but it doesnt scare me, said Tamesha Amy, who works at a laundromat near Johnnys Restaurant. But these are the reasons people say that they dont like bars in their neighborhood. It brings the wrong type of crowd and drink dulls the senses.

Another man, who did not want to give his name, said he had never heard of any past violence at the restaurant.
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By Madina Toure

A 33-year-old Jamaica Estates man died after he was found shot in the head in St. Albans Friday night, the NYPD said.

At about 8:47 p.m., police responded to a 911 call of a man shot in front of 193-06 Linden Boulevard, according to the police.

Upon arrival, responding officers discovered the victim, identified as Joneil Major, who had been shot in the head, unconscious and unresponsive, police said.

EMS also responded to the scene and transported Major to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officers said.

No arrests have been made and the investigation was ongoing, according to a police spokesman.
Airport development adding to economy, jobs in the region

Pittsburgh may always be known as the Steel City, but a wave of new industries are popping up near its airport to redefine business in the region.
Contributed photo

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The Environmental Protection Agency has used every tactic possible to attack the oil and gas industry during the past seven years. Now, a report from the Government Accountability Office finds that some of those tactics are illegal.

GAO says that EPA used a social media site to lobby the public to communicate the benefits of EPA's programs on Facebook and Twitter without attributing the statements to EPA. The law states that the government must acknowledge that it created such messages, which are presented by citizens.

Henry I. Miller, who writes for Forbes, recently wrote that federal agencies are supposed to be apolitical, and federal law prohibits lobbying for or against proposed legislation. EPA, however, encouraged members of the public to "urge your senators to defend Clean Water Act safeguards for critical streams and wetlands."

"This 'grass roots lobbying' was a violation of federal law because at the time, Congress was considering a number of pieces of legislation to derail the EPA's 'waters of the United States' regulation," he stated.

Miller, whose credentials include being a scholar at the Hoover Institution, which is a think tank at Stanford University, said the combination of EPA's "covert propaganda" and "grass roots lobbying" and the agency's ideological efforts to achieve "environmental justice"  which it defines as "fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies"  is a prescription for more of the zealotry and malfeasance for which EPA is renowned.

"EPA has a long history of actions that are illegal, unethical and incompetent," Miller wrote in his March 9 column. "Various national and state policy groups in January raised objections and concerns about Obama administration plans to impose cap-and-trade style emissions restrictions nationwide. A coalition coordinated by William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute compiled and submitted comments from more than 20 groups that questioned the legitimacy of EPA's implementation of the president's Clean Power Plan. Specifically, its Model Federal Implementation Plan appears to be a cap-and-trade scheme that is the product of a defective political process, and thereby raises concerns under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." (In early February the Clean Power Plan was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which directed the EPA to cease implementation until the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court itself renders a final decision on litigation to overturn the rule.)

Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and David Vitter of Louisiana have raised questions about EPA's "sue and settle" program with environmental groups that have allowed EPA to expand its agenda without public input.

GAO's report will be the topic of hearings in the U.S. House and Senate throughout 2016, but EPA's agenda continues on with the announcement March 10 that it will expand its methane regulations to cover all oil and gas operations.
Spring break. It's when naive grandparents dream of diverting their grandchildren's attention from all electronic devices long enough to nurture their developing brains, save their eyesight and posture and change the direction of their lives. That's assuming the grandchildren aren't old enough to take off to Cancun. Then all bets are off.

My husband reminds me comic books were our ruination. As for spring break, we were happy to get out early on Good Friday.

Times have changed.

Spring breaking 9-year-old grandson, Cutter, is headed to the farm to start his vacation. I'm thinking we'll visit cemeteries.

His 12-year-old sister, Rylee, is on a school trip to Washington, D.C. As far as I'm concerned, it's a competition. The more I ruminate, the better my cemetery excursion stacks up against all the stuff she'll get to do and see.

Cutter's been to the gravesite of the Oma he never met, but that neatly manicured cemetery is all too modern. The oldest grave is from 1997. They've even got rules against knickknacks and mementos and rules for vases. Good for them.

I think every 9-year-old should get to see a historic graveyard with no such rules  one where some monuments are from the 1800s and where various knickknacks appear here and there, linking the dead to the living. After all, his sister probably will get to see all the things people leave at the Vietnam Memorial. I hope she does.

Cutter and I won't visit just one cemetery. We'll map our route, starting with the oldest. I'll tell him about the graves of the cowboys who drowned driving cattle across the Red River at Doan's Crossing. Those graves you can't see, but I almost know where they are. I'll read him Andy Adams' "Log of a Cowboy"  the part that describes those graves when they were new, circa 1880. Better yet, I'll let Cutter read it. I'll mention the importance of knowing how to swim and what to do if you get caught in a river current or quicksand. We'll look at both sides of the tall 1931 gray granite Trail Drivers Monument at Doans. Maybe the cattle brands inscribed thereon will inspire Cutter to create his own.

We'll hit more rural cemeteries. I might even find a remote place to let Cutter drive. After all, his sister Rylee will be zipping under Washington on the Metro.

Then we'll pick up Mom and Granddad for a trip to the old cemetery in town. I'll share pictures of my ancestors, including my mother's brother, Bertis Cortez, who died at age 2 from a relapse of the measles. I'm just a step-grandmother, but I want Cutter to feel connected to all his step-kin and to be glad he got a measles vaccination.

We'll take pictures. At the end of the day, we'll turn it all into a spectacular comic book starring Cutter. I've got an app for that.

It'll be viewable on his mom's smartphone. Between games he'll read it, mesmerized.

I can dream.

Hanaba Munn Welch, a correspondent Special to the Times Record News who divides her time between Abilene and a farm north of Vernon, appears on Mondays. Her columns, as a tribute to the Childress Engine 501, always contain, amazingly, 501 words.
CHRISTOPHER WALKER/TIMES RECORD NEWS The partially boarded A.E. Holland School sits vacant on Jalonic Street near downtown Wichita Falls. Wichita Falls ISD board members have discussed its demolition.

SHARE CHRISTOPHER WALKER/TIMES RECORD NEWS Alamo Elementary School, the oldest in Wichita Falls before it was closed in 2014, may be razed, although the gym will be kept for possible use by community groups. Times Record News archives These children attended third and fourth grades at Alamo School in Wichita Falls in 1909, though the official date of the school's opening is 1910. Times Record News archives Times Record News archives The two-story red brick building, built in 1921, wasn't originally known as Holland. It was named Barwise in honor of Wichita Falls pioneer J.H. Barwise.

By Lana Sweeten-Shults of the Times Record News

One stood proudly, feeling the effects of the sudden shift in wind that was integration.

The other, a monolithic schoolhouse on the Texas prairie, welcomed Laura Ingalls-like school girls in plaid dresses and bows, and boys in knickers and coats, when it opened in 1910.

At 95 years old and 106 years old respectively, A.E. Holland School and Alamo Elementary School have seen a frontier town built on ranching and oil grow into the city it is today.

Alamo and Holland, part of the weft and weave of the fabric of the city, are, no doubt, relics of history. But at the same time, they are beloved reminders of its past, where thousands of schoolchildren, eager minds in tow, roamed the halls.

But the future of those buildings has been hazy and became even cloudier last week when the Wichita Falls ISD board gave the administration the go-ahead to seek bids to demolish the two edifices.

Sam Houston Elementary, which was closed in 2014 alongside Alamo, may become a storage facility for the district, while the board has expressed the wish to abandon downtown's Education Center, the home of the Wichita Falls ISD's administrative offices. It is the oldest building in the district still being used.

Though Alamo and Holland may be razed, the district said it wants to retain the gyms of Alamo and Sam Houston, which are relatively new, in hopes they may be of use to community groups.

School on he prairie

Of the two edifices that may be razed, Alamo is the older.

Records are sketchy on when the building opened, though most seem to agree it welcomed its first students in 1910.

Still, a photograph in the Times Record News' archives is labeled "1909  Alamo School  third and fourth grades. Submitted by Mrs. Carroll B. Davis." It is a class photograph of five rows of young students dressed in their pioneer finery, one girl on the bottom row holding a slate with "Grades 3 & 4, Alamo, 1909," written in chalk.

School documents showed Alamo opened in 1919, the date engraved at the top of the building near the school entrance.

But a cornerstone outside the building, at 1912 11th St., is engraved with the 1910 date.

According to a Wichita Falls Times article from May 12, 1957, children attended school in one-room cabins and dugouts in the 1870s and 1880s

The first school classes were organized in 1879, though no one knows where that school was. Della McNich was the first schoolteacher here, according to the article, and taught school "probably on a hill" that year.

But it was Carrie Craig, who later became Mrs. Frank H. Barwise, who taught at the first county school in a dugout on her father's place. Since the county was unorganized, Craig had to go to Henrietta to get her teacher's certificate.

In the 1880s the town built a one-room log cabin at 10th and Scott, where James Humphries taught class. That log cabin served as the city's first public school until 1885. That year, a building that had served as the courthouse was moved from the 700 block of Lamar to 10th and Scott to replace the log cabin and become the city's second school. It was the city's only school until 1890, when the first high school was built at 13th and Bluff, present site of the former Austin School, another school the district closed (it has been turned into apartments).

The city's first school district was organized in 1890, though it was dissolved in 1894 because "a defect was discovered in the law creating it," according to that 1957 article. Schools reverted to the municipal government until a school district was again formed in 1900.

In the meantime, the first graduating class of Wichita Falls High School received its diplomas in 1892.

It wasn't until 1908 that the Texas Legislature issued a special charter for the Wichita Falls Independent School District.

"The building at 13th and Bluff operated as the only school until 1910, when a new high school at 11th and Broad (the current Education Center) was opened. When the new high school opened in September 1910, Alamo and San Jacinto schools were under construction, and the former high school at 13th and Bluff remained as an elementary school."

After Alamo was built in 1910, Travis, Bowie, A.E. Holland and Fannin schools were built.

Alamo was named after the historic mission in San Antonio, which its architecture resembles.

When it was constructed, it measured 19,299 square feet and was added to in 1919, 1926, 1930, 1985, 1989 and in 2009, when the gymnasium was erected.

Here are some tidbits about Alamo, from a Sept. 8, 2010, Times Record News article:

 It opened without a cafeteria, so neighborhood mothers formed a mother's club to cook lunch and deliver it to the school.

 Minutes revealed the board approved funding for the purchase of coal to heat the structure.

 Kate Haynes served as school librarian for a time, and J.H. Kirby was a math teacher. Local elementary schools are named after both of them.

Alamo assistant principal Jesse Thomas, in that Sept. 8, 2010, article, said when the school was planning its centennial celebration, "It's still set up very similar" to the original building. "The cafeteria is set up almost exactly the same as when it was built. The stage is exactly the same."

The first Barwise

As for A.E. Holland School, the two-story red brick building was built in 1921 at 205 Jalonic St., though it wasn't known as Holland back then, according to a Times Record News article from June 26, 2014.

It actually was named Barwise in honor of Wichita Falls pioneer J.H. Barwise.

White students in those days of segregation attended Barwise; black students went to school at Booker T. Washington.

And that's how it remained for decades.

Then the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954 changed everything, though it would take a few decades for Wichita Falls to catch up with that decision.

The first steps toward integration happened in 1955, when the mother of Alfred Avery tried to enroll her son at Barwise because it was closer to the family's home. The school district denied the application. Twenty other black families brought a lawsuit against the district to gain admission to Barwise, since it was closer to their homes.

But the court that year, in 1956, did not rule in the families' favor. It did not want to intervene at the time and hoped a "voluntary adjustment will be accomplished in a matter of months," noted that 2014 Times Record News article.

Barwise opened its doors to black children in 1956.

At the same time, white children moved to a new school, Lamar Elementary, and soon the name Barwise was transferred to the new junior high school at 3807 Kemp. The former Barwise School became A.E. Holland in honor of the longtime principal of Booker T. Washington.

It would take decades for schools in Wichita Falls to catch up with the Supreme Court integration decision and fully integrate the schools, so much so that federal Judge Sarah Hughes in 1971 warned Wichita Falls to integrate or lose federal funding. Twenty years after that, another federal judge reprimanded the district for dragging its feet.

Students from first through eighth grade attended Holland.

The Wichita Falls ISD closed the school in 1969. It would become the first in the district to close as part of integration attempts.

Holland would reopen a few months later as an alternative school for troubled students.

It was closed in 2002 to save the district money and has been used for school district storage since then.

But its place, and the place of Alamo Elementary in the history of Wichita Falls, remains.
Captain Frazier leads Hirschi to 56-14 win against Snyder

Javian Frazier bore the captain's "C" on his shoulder proudly Friday, plugging a hold in the Hirschi backfield and leading the Huskies to victory.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, file photo, Palestinian Hamas security guards walk outside the Rafah border crossing between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt. Even as the death toll mounts in the Gaza Strip, attempts to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel have so far run aground, in part because they have become mired in the deep schism between Mideast countries. Qatar-based Hamas spokesman Hossam Badran told The Associated Press that Hamas wants the permanent opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, an arrangement to allow Gazans to pray in Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

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By Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

President Barack Obama is assessing whether to try once more to revive a Middle East peace process, which might end the raw, violent relations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the region Tuesday for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, in a bid to test the waters.

A quick glance at the situation suggests the Obama administration would be wasting its time, even though relations between Israelis and Palestinians are worsening and the frequency of violent attacks in this third intifada is increasing.

Most American leaders continue to believe that a two-state solution  Israel and an independent Palestine living side by side with agreed-upon borders  is the only sustainable resolution of the problem, which dates from 1948.

The Israelis are increasingly polarized over the question of whether to have a Jewish or a democratic state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama do not hit it off personally, an enmity sharpened by Netanyahus unsuccessful effort to sabotage the Iran nuclear accord.

The Palestinians are in effect now bereft of leadership. In addition to the continuing split and friction between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Fatah in the West Bank, the presidential term of Mahmoud Abbas, now 80, expired in 2009.

Elections have been on hold for years. Thus, even in the unlikely event that the Israelis were prepared to come to the table, there is little reason to believe the Palestinians could offer a coherent negotiating position.

Thus, in spite of the fact that Secretary of State John Kerry would undoubtedly be willing to attempt another major negotiation, as he did in the extended talks between Iran and the international partners, the current positions of the Israelis and the Palestinians and the exasperation of Americans after previous failed efforts, probably render any move at this point a waste of time.
Cindy Thomas/Special to the Times Record News Jennifer Young (left) studies with Sosie Sanchez at the Vernon College Century City library. VC implemented several new programs in 2015 to address student success and retention, including a peer-to-peer program that guides struggling students to additional help.

SHARE Cindy Thomas/Special to the Times Record News Angela Walker (left) works with Vernon College student La Tonya Stewart on an assignment as part of the colleges tutoring program. VCs focus on student success and retention has led to programs designed to provide a rapid response when students fall at risk of dropping out or failing in their studies. Cindy Thomas/Special to the Times Record News Emily Harding and Charlotte Winchester work on class assignments at the Vernon College computer lab. The lab is part of an academic success program that got a $2.2 million boost in 2015, thanks to a grant from the Department of Education.

By Cindy Kahler Thomas, Special to the Times Record News

"Vernon College is focused on the success of students who seek educational opportunity and place their faith in us to help them meet their goals," Vernon College President Dr. Dusty Johnston proclaims, happily adding that this year the college will have a little help doing that.

Last fall the college competed for and was awarded a Department of Education Title III Grant to further develop opportunities for student success. The $2.2 million, five-year grant provides additional personnel, professional development and mini-grant opportunities to develop ways to help students and provide more intense advising programs.

"The Title III grant will assist Vernon College in continuing to make great strides in enhancing processes and practices related to the student educational experience in an effort to improve retention, completion and successful transfer," Johnston said.

"This new Title III grant will give a tremendous boost to Vernon College's student success efforts," he added.

The strategy of the grant is to increase academic support through proactive and in-depth advising, which will be started as early as student orientation.

Chap Express is part of that thrust, and students who are academically at risk are encouraged to attend.

"Everyone attends orientation and then we encourage others to attend Chap Express," Johnston said. "It is just one way to help the academically at-risk student."

A Student Success Pathway for each student is structured to include an integrated set of institutional polices, practices and programs intentionally designed to maximize students' progress at each point of their college career.

There are also Student Success specialists whose job is to do whatever it takes to keep the student in school, such as introducing them to support services and directing them to the college's tutoring service.

Another safeguard to help students is the Early Alert System.

"It is a faculty driven technology alert system for students that are having academic or attendance issues," Johnston said. "It kicks in interventions to try and get those students to be on track, and the point is to retain them and help them make it through the semester."

Another way to help students is the Student Peer Mentor Program. It has been implemented as a student engagement intervention and pipeline to academic support.

Vernon College also creates opportunities for students completing coursework with plans to transfer to a four-year college or university, while also maintaining a variety of workforce programs that allow the student to smoothly transition the local workforce.

For the past several years, Vernon College has partnered with local industry to provide customized workforce training. The customized training has included programs for Tranter Inc., P&WC Aerospace, Magic Aire, Howmet Casting, Sharp Iron, Wichita Clutch, PPG, United Regional Health Care, North Texas State Hospital and others.

The college also provides a police academy, firefighter academy and cosmetology programs for those who have definite ideas about their future in the workforce.
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New York

Tommy Gambardella is a master of New York's construction universe.

Each morning before dawn, he rides an elevator more than 50 stories up the side of a skyscraper growing on Manhattan's West Side. Then, he steps out onto a narrow walkway with a drop-dead view of the city below and mounts some spiral steps into the glass control cab of a tower crane.

There, he's alone, in silence.

From high in the sky, he can see the sun light up Manhattan all the way to the harbor and the Statue of Liberty. He wraps his fingers around two joysticks to bring the crane alive.

Gambardella, 49, is at the helm of one of the giant tower cranes sprouting across the city, a prime force in a building boom that is changing New York's skyline. It can be dangerous work  a fact hammered home by several deadly accidents in recent years.

"Is it a thrill? I love it. I love it. I absolutely love it," he says after climbing from the translucent fishbowl of his control cab, atop what will be a 65-story apartment tower. "But you need to have a little more nerve than the average human being, and be a little crazy."

New York is enjoying a construction bonanza following a recession that choked new investment for years. The city has issued permits for about $35 billion worth of both residential and commercial construction in the past year.

Fifty-five tower cranes and 26 smaller, "crawler" cranes are now in use, licensed by the city  about twice as many as two years ago, according to the Department of Buildings.

Standing on the sidewalk, it is hard not to be awed by, and a little frightened of, the supertall cranes hoisting loads of steel into the sky.

In 2008, a 250-foot-tall tower crane collapsed on Manhattan's East Side, obliterating a building below as it fell. Seven people died. Just two months later, two workers were killed when a 200-foot-tall crane fell over and struck an apartment building across the street. Last year, seven people were injured when an air-conditioning unit weighing tons came untethered from a crane, plunging 28 stories to Madison Avenue.

More recently, one of the city's crawler cranes toppled in gusty winds on Feb. 5, killing a pedestrian.

That accident has again brought attention to crane safety. Last year, the city hired 50 new construction inspectors for a total of about 450.

People's lives depend on crane precision, because "you can't have anything falling out of the sky," says Bobby Cipriano, a veteran operator in charge of crane safety and maintenance at the $4.5 billion Brookfield Property Group development, called Manhattan West, where Gambardella works.

"Tower cranes are intimidating, and you have a tremendous responsibility," Cipriano says.

Before the crane moves, his dawn routine includes turning on the generator that powers the electric crane and inspecting cables attached to the boom. He also checks the radio equipment that allows the operator to contact crew members on the ground.
Hoosick Falls

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a hastily organized first visit to this tiny community beleaguered by water contamination Sunday morning  offering a message of confidence on one hand that the problem is getting fixed, while suggesting that such public health crises will become more commonplace statewide.

The governor's office said Saturday night that Cuomo was expected to be in New York City, but then put out a notice about the press conference in Hoosick Falls early Sunday morning. As a result, not many community members were present outside the press briefing held at a state Department of Environmental Conservation-rented command post on Route 7 about 11 a.m. Sunday. The governor's office said Cuomo met with about a dozen Hoosick Falls residents privately after the press conference.

The governor, flanked by Village Mayor David Borge, Town of Hoosick Supervisor Mark Surdam and Republican state Sen. Kathy Marchione of Halfmoon, said the purpose of his visit was to announce that a temporary filtration system on the village's municipal water system was showing no detectable signs of the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which has contaminated the water.

Hoosick Falls water, however, is not able to be consumed until the entire system is flushed with the newly filtered water. State officials said that process is expected to be complete by March 21, and testing of the water will continue.

Cuomo also announced that the companies that have been named as responsible for the chemical contamination, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, will deliver bottled water to residents who cannot physically go to the local Tops supermarket where it is being offered for free. He said residents also will be reimbursed for half of the water bills that they've been expected to pay, up to $240,000 in total.

But the governor bristled when questioned at the press conference about why he hadn't visited Hoosick Falls since a spotlight was placed on the contamination by concerned citizens and profiled in the first in a series of stories published in the Times Union in December.

PFOA, a chemical used to make non-stick coating and heat-resistent wiring, is a human carcinogen that can cause rare forms of cancer as well as thyroid disease, and can affect developing fetuses. It was a private Hoosick Falls resident, Michael Hickey, whose father died of cancer, who had water tested and found the presence of PFOA in 2014. The chemical has since been revealed to have poisoned wells in the town of Hoosick, the nearby town of Petersburgh and the village of North Bennington, Vt., where an old Saint-Gobain plant shut down in 2002.

The Times Union has reported that county and state officials knew about PFOA's presence when Hickey alerted them in 2014, but told residents in a letter attached to their water bills in Jan. 2015 that the chemical did not pose a concern  despite EPA warnings to the contrary.

After heavy press coverage in the past few months, the state subsequently declared the Saint-Gobain plant a Superfund site, and has been offering well testing, filtration systems, and blood testing for free to residents.

On Sunday, Cuomo defended how he quickly jettisons to weather or breaking news events (such as Saturday's fatal tugboat crash near the new Tappan Zee Bridge), and had not yet visited northeastern Rensselaer County.

"Every situation that deals with an emergency, there's always criticism," he said. "Some snarky reporter always finds something to criticize. I think it's in the job description. ... If you were going to stay away from a situation because you were going to be criticized, you would be under your bed as an elected official."

Cuomo said the state is investigating a permanent fix for the contamination, including using a new well, the Hoosic River or possibly finding a new water supply elsewhere. At the press conference, Cuomo also congratulated the mayor and supervisor "who've done an extraordinary job."

Borge was criticized for telling residents early on that it was a "personal choice" whether to drink the water or not.

While the governor had a message of reassurance that the water system will be fixed, he also said there are 80,000 unregulated chemicals in the world, and that such contaminations will become standard in communities like Hoosick Falls in the future.

"Today is good news," Cuomo said. However, "this is not unique to Hoosick Falls. This is a problem communities across the state continue to face."

He also went back to criticizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying that the government group has still not established what amount of PFOA is safe to drink over the long-term. In late 2015, the EPA said that PFOA wasn't safe if consumed over the short term at 400 parts per trillion; they have since lowered it to 100 parts per trillion.

Cuomo, along with the governors of Vermont and New Hampshire, sent a letter to the EPA last week seeking uniform PFOA standards. On Sunday, he said the state has yet to hear back from the EPA.

The governor was cautious about New York setting its own PFOA standards, even as Vermont sets its acceptable levels of the chemical at 20 parts per trillion.

"Just pick it, you have the scientists, EPA," Cuomo said of the acceptable levels. "We want a national standard because this shouldn't be a question for anyone. And I don't want Vermont to have safer standards than New York. I don't want artificially low standards."

" 'Why don't you pick the lowest number possible?' " he continued. "Because then you could have hundreds of communities installing very expensive filtration systems that don't need it."

On Sunday, Cuomo's office said that among 464 private and public wells tested in and around the Village of Hoosick Falls, 13 percent, or 59, have had PFOA levels at more than 100 parts per trillion.

Those who met with Cuomo after the press briefing had mixed experiences.

"Overall, I went in kind of feeling a little bit negative, and I walked out much more positive," said Penny Acre, who lives just outside the village and is on a private well system. Acre has a filter installed on her well, she said. The well has not tested positive for PFOA, though a neighbor's has.

Ted Senecal Jr., who lives in the village, said he worries about what will happen once the noise over PFOA contamination has gone down.

"I just feel that once everything has quieted down and Hoosick Falls isn't in the limelight  we're not New York City; we've got 3,500 residents in the village  we're going to be forgotten about, eventually," he said.

lstanforth@timesunion.com  518-454-5697
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Jefferson City, Mo.

State capitols are often referred to as "the people's house," but legislatures frequently put up no-trespassing signs by exempting themselves from public-records laws.

That tendency was apparent when the Associated Press sought emails and daily schedules of legislative leaders in all 50 states. The request was met with more denials than approvals.

Some lawmakers claimed "legislative immunity" from the public-records laws that apply to most state and local officials. Others said secrecy was essential to the deliberative process of making laws. And some feared that releasing the records could invade the privacy of citizens, creating a "chilling effect" on the right of people to petition their government.

More Information About this series Sunday marked the beginning of Sunshine Week, an annual initiative, spearheaded by the American Society of News Editors to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy. See More Collapse

Without access to such records, it's harder for the public to know who is trying to influence their lawmakers on important policy decisions.

"The public has a right to know what their elected officials are doing, because it's the people's job to hold those folks politically accountable," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a San Rafael, California-based nonprofit that advocates for greater openness in government.

All legislatures allow people to watch and listen to their debates. But an AP review of open-government policies found that many state legislatures allow closed-door caucus meetings in which a majority of lawmakers discuss policy positions before public debates. Others have restrictions on taking photos and videos of legislative proceedings. In some places, lawmakers have no obligation to disclose personal financial information that could reveal conflicts of interest.

The AP found that in New York, lawmakers aren't subject to the state's open-records law. Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate and Assembly declined to disclose their schedules and emails, citing their rules that don't require it. And while Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed extending the open-records law to the Legislature, journalists and issue advocates criticize his administration for slow and often limited disclosures under the law that does apply to executive agencies beyond a prompt initial response acknowledging receipt of requests.

Legislators possess the power to change that but are sometimes reluctant to act.

A bill advancing this year in Massachusetts, for example, would strengthen the state's public-records laws by limiting fees and setting new deadlines for state agencies and municipalities to comply. Yet it would continue to exempt lawmakers.

That mirrors the way things work in Washington, D.C. Congress exempted itself when it passed the national Freedom of Information Act 50 years ago. The president and his immediate staff also are exempt. By contrast, many governors are subject to state sunshine laws.

In many states, the public-records requirements passed by lawmakers present "a stunning contradiction," said Charles Davis, dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia and a former executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

"I have just always found it astonishing that they would put those requirements on public officials throughout government and exempt themselves at the same time," he said.

To gauge compliance with public-records laws, the AP sent requests to the top Democratic and Republican lawmakers in all states and most governors seeking copies of their daily schedules and emails from their government accounts for the week of Feb. 1 to Feb. 7. Of the more than 170 lawmakers who responded by mid-March, a majority denied the requests by claiming they were legally exempt. The governors were slower to respond but more often provided the information.

The legislative denials came from lawmakers of both parties, although slightly more from Republicans. In states where some lawmakers said "yes" and others "no," it was more often the majority party lawmakers who denied the requests while a minority party leader complied.

In Missouri, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard was asked in front of dozens of reporters and editors whether he would release his government emails and daily calendars.

"All you have to do is ask for it, and I'll give it to you. I don't care," Richard told those attending a statewide press association event in February.

Yet when the AP subsequently submitted an open-records request, Richard reversed course. A Senate administrator responded on his behalf with a letter saying that individual lawmakers aren't subject to the Missouri Sunshine Law. Richard, who is in his first year as the Senate's top lawmaker, explained that he learned his predecessors had determined they were exempt, and he didn't want to break with precedent.

"I'm telling you I don't hide anything in my emails. I just don't do that," said Richard, a Republican from Joplin.

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn responded with a denial letter asserting his emails and calendars were his personal property, not subject to the Mississippi Public Records Act and protected "under the doctrine of legislative immunity" dating back hundreds of years to English common law.

Denial letters on behalf of Illinois' top Democratic and Republican lawmakers said, among other things, that releasing the records could amount to a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" for individuals who contacted lawmakers without expecting their names to appear in the news media.

An attorney for Kentucky's legislature said secrecy was needed "to encourage effective and frank communications."

"Arranging honors for our fallen heroes, seeking options for Kentuckians with substance abuse problems or counseling citizens regarding confidential problems are all in a day's work for our members," wrote Kentucky legislative general counsel Morgain Sprague. "These communications have always been protected by law."

If lawmakers followed the same open-records rules that apply to others in government, the potential for some sensitive content being revealed would not be a reason for denying access to all of their emails. Rather, they could redact or withhold particular emails covered by various sunshine law exceptions while releasing the rest.

In several states, lawmakers who provided their records did withhold certain emails that they considered to be exempt from disclosure.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is the Republican head of the Senate, released 48 pages of emails but withheld the rest pending a request for a state attorney general's opinion on whether confidential communications between elected officials and citizens are shielded from disclosure.

New Mexico lawmakers released hundreds of emails, mainly from constituents, but withheld three under an exemption for correspondence with certain legislative staff. They also released copies of their daily calendars showing breakfasts and dinners sponsored by industry and interest groups.

Lawmakers in Florida, which has one of the more expansive sunshine laws, freely released emails from people urging them to support or oppose particular bills. They also released calendars showing meetings with lobbyists for dentists, hospitals, teachers, the aerospace industry and others. The schedule for House Minority Leader Mark Pafford even included his morning exercise time and his flight itinerary for a trip to Washington, D.C.

"This is the people's government. If somebody finds out I'm doing a workout or having a doctor's appointment at a certain time, that's OK," said Pafford, a Democrat from West Palm Beach.

In Alaska, three of the top four lawmakers declined the AP's request, explaining that their records can be kept confidential under the state constitution and "the deliberative process privilege." But Senate President Kevin Meyer, a Republican from Anchorage, provided his calendar and let an AP reporter look at his email inbox as an aide scrolled through it.
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Troy

Standing in the upstairs kitchen of his Troy home, Mike Capritta opened the cap of a white candle and sniffed. This particular product is, so far, a creative disappointment. He wants the candle  dubbed "Pop's Pinners," to smell, well, a little stronger.

More specifically, he said, he wants the 4-ounce soy candle packaged in a wrapper decorated with marijuana leaves to smell like "you just walked into Dr. Dre's house." So far, he's not there  the scent is too clean, though he has tried mixes of earth tones, skunk, dirt and grass.

"Pop's Pinners" is one candle scent still in the works for Mike and Crystal Capritta's Weird Beard Candle Co., which draws buyers to its website and Etsy store with the likes of Maplicious Bacon and Saturday Morning Cartoons (smells like Fruit Loops cereal). Their candles are also sold at pop-up shops at area events and at stores in Albany, Springfield, Mass., and Mississippi. Capritta makes the candles while his wife, Crystal Capritta, is the business manager and social media coordinator.

The Caprittas have created a 21st-century mom-and-pop shop, one that depends on both an online following and in-person sales.

They said they wanted to start a joint creative venture together  Mike Capritta is a musician and Crystal Capritta is an illustrator, photographer and designer  and their love for candles made that product a natural choice for production.

The Caprittas juggle this business with jobs at Etsy, projects around their apartment building, a family pool business and Albany International Airport. They launched Weird Beard's website March 1, 2015, after Mike Capritta practiced making candles for several months.

Immediate interest followed, they said. Crystal Capritta recalls receiving an email from someone at a men's boutique store in Mississippi shortly after the launch, aiming to sell their candles wholesale. Other shipments have gone to California and Hawaii, Mike Capritta said.

Though attention came quickly, making candles is a time-intensive, laborious process. A 15-candle batch of the soy product takes about 40 minutes to make, from melting the solid and mixing liquid wax with fragrance oils, to cooling the temperature to its proper heat, to pouring the yellow liquid into clear glass jars.

Mike Capritta called the science behind making a good candle "complicated." Soy wax burns cleaner than paraffin wax, he said, but soy wax does not produce as strong a smell. He lets the candles "cure," or absorb the fragrance while the lid is capped, for more than a week, though technically they can burn after just three days.

"We want to make the strongest soy candle," he said. "It'll never be as strong as paraffin, but at least it'll be potent."

The product's brand aims for a simple and fun image, Crystal Capritta said.

One of the first scents, Uncle Ricky's Chocolate Cream Pie, was named after Crystal Capritta's uncle, who took the credit for his wife's pie. It mixes chocolate with a crust scent: caramel, vanilla, baked bread, cinnamon and nutmeg. Others include eggnog, apple cranberry and The Original Troy Boy  a cinnamon apple pie flavor to conjure a patriotic Uncle Sam.

"I don't think anybody's doing quite this," Mike Capritta said.

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They said they see a disconnect between their online presence  with its professional brand and sizable social media following  and the size and scope of their operations.

Mike Capritta laughed when he considered the discrepancy. "It's like, I make the candles in my kitchen!" he said.

He's not just saying that. On a recent Thursday, he squatted in Converse sneakers on his blue-tiled floor to pour soy wax, melted into a jug on his decades-old stove, into glass jars that covered about half of his wooden kitchen counter. When he orders jars and fragrances in bulk, he said, boxes stack high on the front stoop of their 1890s-vintage brick house.

Crystal Capritta said many customers ask her where their storefront is. While a storefront "might be cool down the road," she said a priority is to establish more wholesale accounts in existing boutiques and boost online visibility.

Mike Capritta had no prior experience making candles, and the labor-intensive process produces a thin profit margin, he said. The operation made a profit in its first year of operations despite the large costs of trademarking the business.

"The second year," Mike Capritta said, "is going to tell us whether or not this has potential."

lellis@timesunion.com  518-454-5018  @lindsayaellis
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Lumberland

J.J. Hanson first heard of Brittany Maynard in October 2014, as the 29-year-old woman's decision to end her life was garnering national attention.

Hanson was struck by what he and Maynard shared: A rare brain cancer called glioblastoma. And predictions from doctors that they would die around the same time.

But Maynard's story concerned Hanson deeply. His own journey with his disease led him to believe states like Oregon, where Maynard moved in the final months of her life, should not allow what supporters call aid in dying and opponents refer to as assisted suicide.

A month earlier, in September 2014, Hanson had plunged into a deep depression after his immune system seemed to give up. He was bedridden for weeks and the stress was hurting his marriage. He wondered, as he added an experimental drug to his chemotherapy treatments, "Is this worth the fight?"

If, like Maynard, he'd had a legally prescribed lethal drug in his medicine cabinet, he might have used it then, he said. But in his case, the doctors' predictions about his remaining time were wrong.

"If I had made that decision at that point in time, and I had those drugs, I wouldn't be talking to you," Hanson said in a telephone interview earlier this month.

Hanson heads the Patients' Rights Action Fund, which is opposed to laws that permit terminally ill people to end their own lives. New York legislators are considering two proposals that would allow mentally competent adults with prognoses of six months or less to live to request a lethal dose of medication that they would take themselves.

"This is going to take away people's ability to fight," Hanson said of New York's legislative proposals.

Hanson found out he was ill in May 2014, when, at 33, he suffered a severe seizure at a business meeting in Tampa. Until that moment, he thought he was healthy. He, his wife, Kristen, and their son James, then 1, had recently moved to Florida from New York, where Hanson had worked in state government.

An MRI showed two lesions in Hanson's left temporal lobe. After doctors drilled into his skull for a biopsy, they diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive cancer that starts in the brain.

Due to the tumors' location, doctors said the cancer was inoperable. They gave him four months to live.

A fighter by nature, Hanson responded by seeking other opinions. A surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan agreed to operate, saying doctors there did three similar surgeries daily. The surgeon removed Hanson's tumors as well as a third that had evaded the eye of the MRI.

But the road to recovery was rough. Hanson lost his ability to walk, talk, read and write. He had repeated seizures. He underwent standard chemotherapy and radiation treatments, then decided to participate in the drug study.

By September, his mental state had deteriorated badly. His family had moved back to New York, to the hamlet of Glen Spey in the Sullivan County town of Lumberland.

By that time in Oregon, Maynard had acquired the secobarbital she would take on Nov. 1, 2014, to end her life. Her widower, Dan Diaz, stressed in an interview with the Times Union last month that having the lethal medicine available did not diminish Maynard's will to battle her illness, or to live. It allowed her to escape the torture the cancer wrought in its final stages  the sleeplessness, vomiting, pain and seizures  when there was no longer any hope that she could get better, Diaz said.

Hanson, however, does not see aid in dying or assisted suicide as a choice that affects only the individual making it, like marrying a gay partner or taking marijuana for chronic pain might. It is the act's influence on others that should keep it illegal, he said.

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For one, Hanson believes having the option to die will dishearten severely ill patients, especially those who feel they are a burden to their families, when they most need to rally their courage. He thinks about himself in September 2014.

"When it comes to making that decision  or, quote-unquote, 'choice'  I was not in the right mental state at the time," he said.

Both bills before the state Legislature require doctors to refer patients to counseling if they suspect depression or other mental disorders that could impair judgment. Doctors would then not be allowed to prescribe a lethal drug unless a counselor determined there was no such impairment.

Another concern for Hanson involves the nature of rare disorders like glioblastoma, already at a disadvantage in the competition for research funding due to the low numbers of patients who suffer from them. Most patients with these brain tumors die within 15 months of diagnosis, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

A cure is unlikely unless patients agree to participate in research, like the drug study that appears to have helped Hanson. He fears a majority of the small numbers of patients with rare terminal diseases might choose to die rather than take part in scientific investigations that could save themselves and others.

The experimental drug that Hanson tried likely contributed to his getting where he is now  free of disease, and with an estimated 98 percent of his mental functions intact.

"I've been able to fight and survive now for two years," he said.

chughes@timesunion.com  518-454-5417  @hughesclaire
A poet once reversed the obvious and said, "Life imitates art." The same is true in politics, where New York Republicans are looking at three potential gubernatorial candidates who imitate national Republican hopefuls.

If you like Donald Trump, you'll love Carl Pallidino. Bombast aplenty, and a tenuous connection to the realities of life and politics to be sure. But at the core of both men's appeal is the notion that only a disruptive outsider can restore functionality to government. In New York the debates about ethics or public schools or tax caps seem intellectually sterile. Solutions are less marketable than eruptions. Will Republicans again choose a primary candidate who metaphorically talks about blowing things up rather than working through them?

If you like Marco Rubio, you'll love Rob Astorino. There's no shame in being good-looking and having a good haircut. But tea party origins bump into governing realities in the U.S. Senate or the County of Westchester. Astorino has so far not made the political mistake of being friends with Chuck Schumer. But he faces the same kind of skepticism about his depth of engagement with tough issues and a reliance on slogans to drive policy that has dogged Rubio. Both men are smarter than they allow themselves to appear. How much does image and youth matter to the New York GOP?

If you like John Kasich, you'll love Chris Gibson. Solid, stolid, earnest and boring have given Kasich a slice of the national Republican electorate that has a traditional take on how you govern, and a dislike for theatrics and insults. A lot of that is simple anti-Trumpishness, but there remains a core vote, especially in New York, that views government as a good thing, and accepts compromise as part of democracy. They're Gibson folks. It's a harder sell than it looks, as Gibson found out when he unsuccessfully tried to link repeal of gun laws to repeal of Common Core. How big is the Republican constituency for rational discourse?

If you like Ted Cruz, well, you'll have to move. There's no serious Republican that's as far to the right as Cruz, and whatever his national popularity, there's not a lot of mean, extreme righties in New York.

Any Republican candidate in New York will bump into a harsh reality. The national Republican drift to the extreme right doesn't play in New York. Tax cuts for the rich, corporate giveaways, and austerity are bad policy and politically unpopular in this state (just ask Andrew Cuomo about his 2014 experience). And anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay marriage stances are similarly outside the mainstream. There's a reason that Assembly Republicans have shrunk to less than a third of the state, that Senate Republicans regularly bow to the left, and that statewide candidates get thrashed.

Today's Republican Party isn't the party of Lincoln, Dewey, Bloomberg or Giuliani. It's out of step with the broad consensus of voters. Scandal and corruption aren't enough to win elections. What New York could use is a genuinely moderate Republican Party, to challenge the Democratic Party with an alternative platform that addresses peoples needs, not their fears.

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Then again, so could the entire nation.

Richard Brodsky is a fellow at the Demos think tank in New York City and at the Wagner School at New York University.
VoiceNation's OpenAnswer Earns ITEXPO 'Best of Show' Award

By Michael Guta - Contributing Writer

The 2016 ITEXPO held in January in Florida had 129 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. This included speakers from some of the biggest names in IT, 120 sessions and five colocated events. As in most expos, awards are given for exhibitors and participants that stood out, and this year, VoiceNation, was recognized with the "Best of Show" award at the annual expo for its open source answering service software, OpenAnswer.

VoiceNation is a privately held virtual PBX, voicemail, and live answering service provider. The company offers enterprise grade solution small businesses can afford, however it also serves some of the largest brands in the world, including Comedy Central, Delta, Dunkin' Donuts, Rolls Royce, StateFarm and more than 50,000 others.

OpenAnswer was recognized as "Best of Show" because of the innovative aspects of this open source answering service. The product was launched in June of 2015 to give the call center industry a collaborative solution made freely available to the public.

"We are thrilled to receive the Best of Show award for our OpenAnswer exhibit. Our service offering is one of the most unique, with features that truly stand out and we believe that is what really captured the judges' attention. OpenAnswer can literally save a small Telephone Answering Service (TAS) owner thousands upon thousands of dollars. You can't argue the value or innovative nature of something like that," said Eric Schurke, Director of Operations at VoiceNation.

The software eliminates the need to enter binding contracts as well as having to pay per seat when contact services are required. This will mean not having to pay thousands of dollars to deploy agent station and being constrained with propriety software that leaves very little room for flexibility.

OpenAnswer has unlimited seats, no licensing fees and center operators can share code changes easily in the company's OpenAnswer community. So if anyone creates an application that proves to be useful, it can easily be integrated to deliver the same options to everyone else.

The OpenAnswer operator screen is a browser-based platform with many of the features of large call centers. It has a built-in reporting feature, along with real-time call and que monitoring, quick account setup and a free support community. According to the company, all OpenAnswer needs is a properly configured Asterisk server and a modern browser for the agent station.
[March 14, 2016] Pure Storage Introduces the FlashArray//m10, Bringing All-Flash Performance and Reliability to the Small-to-Medium Enterprise

SAN FRANCISCO, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), the market's leading independent solid-state array vendor, today announced a new entry-level model of its flagship purpose-built all-flash storage array, the FlashArray//m10. This new addition to the FlashArray//m family is a complete storage solution for mid-sized IT, as well as an affordable entry point to flash for larger enterprises looking to flash-enable a first key business application. FlashArray//m10 offers small-to-medium (SME) size enterprises the same simple, reliable and performant storage previously available only to large enterprises. FlashArray//m10 provides SMEs the ability to accelerate business-critical applications, virtualize everything and implement an internal all-flash cloud. Starting at less than $50,000, including a year of support, the FlashArray//m10 enables smaller organizations to run everything on all-flash at an affordable price point. The economics and simplicity of the new FlashArray//m10 make it the perfect on-ramp to flash for mid-sized enterprises and larger organizations alike. The FlashArray//m10 is fully-upgradable to larger //m20, //m50 or //m70 FlashArrays as the business grows. All FlashArrays benefit from the Evergreen Storage model, only available from Pure, which enable upgrades without disruption or data migration, and which preserve investment along the way. With Evergreen Storage, organizations only purchase their storage once  not over and over. The FlashArray//m10 provides SMEs with an easy-to-manage, high-availability storage foundation, affordably: Enterprise-Proven Reliability: An enterprise-grade AFA with >99.999 percent availability, and 100 percent performance during maintenance and failures;

An enterprise-grade AFA with >99.999 percent availability, and 100 percent performance during maintenance and failures; Transformational Simplicity: A manual that fits on two business cards, Pure1 SaaS-based management at your fingertips, and the new Pure1 mobile app for Android and iOS provide storage that anyone can manage;

A manual that fits on two business cards, Pure1 SaaS-based management at your fingertips, and the new Pure1 mobile app for Android and iOS provide storage that anyone can manage; Capacity to Consolidate Everything: Up to 25 TB of effective capacity (5-10 TB raw storage);

Up to 25 TB of effective capacity (5-10 TB raw storage); No-Worry Performance: All-flash consistent performance, with <1ms average latency, up to 100,000 32K input/output operations per second (IOPS), and 512byte variable internal block size;

All-flash consistent performance, with <1ms average latency, up to 100,000 32K input/output operations per second (IOPS), and 512byte variable internal block size; Easy Expandability: Modular capacity, performance and feature expansions without maintenance windows or data migrations, both within and across product generations. With FlashArray//m and Evergreen Storage, the storage array upgrades and evolves over time around your data, not the other way around. "This addition to the FlashArray family allows us to provide an entry-level, cost-effective option for companies that want to try purpose-built all-flash for the first time, and accelerate their journey to an all-flash datacenter," said Matt Kixmoeller, VP of Products, Pure Storage. "Cost as a barrier to all-flash adoption is a relic of the past. Companies of all sizes can now experience the simplicity, high-performance and reliability that comes with all-flash from Pure." FlashStack Mini: An all-flash cloud that will fit under your desk The company also announced FlashStack Mini, a new converged infrastructure solution that pre-integrates the new FlashArray//m10 with market leading UCS servers and networking from Cisco, and virtualization software from VMware or Microsoft for a complete solution. FlashStack Mini offers best of breed and enterprise grade capabilitiesin an affordable, easy-to-deploy converged infrastructure solution that enables IT consolidation in just 9U.



FlashStack Mini with Microsoft Hyper-V will enable Microsoft application consolidation for an on-premise cloud that is 100 percent virtualized and 100 percent all-flash. Companies will be able to achieve cloud-like simplicity, agility and scale economics in their own datacenter. FlashStack Mini with VMware Horizon View will offer companies an entry level VDI solution that can support up to 1,200 virtual desktops, powered by all-flash. FlashStack Mini solutions start at <$100K, and are available from Pure authorized partners globally.

Availability The FlashArray//m10 and FlashStack Mini will be generally available in June, 2016. Authorized Pure Storage channel partners can help customers determine the right configuration for their environment. To find a reseller in your region, visit http://info.purestorage.com/contactsales.html. Partner and analyst quotes "Pure Storage continues to innovate, while delivering simplicity and efficiency," said John Woodall, Vice President of Engineering at Integrated Archive Systems. "The FlashArray//m10 will help us reach new customers who are looking for an all-flash storage platform that delivers high-performance at a very affordable price point and enables the all-flash private cloud." "More enterprises want to consider an all flash array when it comes time to replace their aging legacy storage solutions," said Eric Burgener, research director Storage, IDC. "Systems like the Pure Storage FlashArray//m10 that offer a low entry price point make taking that first all-flash step easier for these organizations, while at the same time providing a non-disruptive performance and capacity expansion path to enable the easy consolidation of additional workloads onto that platform over time." Pure//Accelerate

Pure//Accelerate 2016, will be live-streaming keynotes to the world on Monday, March 14 from 1:00  2:30 p.m. PDT and Tuesday, March 15 from 1:00  2:30 p.m. PDT. Watch live as Blair Dore of Google, Raghu Raghuram of VMWare, Keith Bruce of Superbowl 50, Bill Schlough of the San Francisco Giants and Shark Tank's very own Robert Herjavec share the keynote main stage with the next generation of enterprise storage technology. You'll also hear from innovative Pure Storage customers like Intuit, Mercedes, Shutterfly, ServiceNow, Secure-24, The Boston Globe, Airware, Red Hawk, Casino and NY Presbyterian Hospital. About Pure Storage

Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) accelerates possible, transforming businesses in ways previously unimagined. The company's disruptive, software-driven storage technology combined with a customer-friendly business model drives business and IT transformation for customers through dramatic increases in performance and efficiency at lower costs. Pure Storage FlashArray//m is simpler, faster and more elegant than any other technology in the datacenter. FlashArray //m is ideal for the move toward big data and for performance-intensive workloads such as cloud computing, database systems, desktop virtualization, real-time analytics and server virtualization. With Pure's industry leading Satmetrix-certified NPS score of 79, Pure customers are some of the happiest in the world, and include large and mid-size organizations across a range of industries: cloud-based software and service providers, consumer web, education, energy, financial services, governments, healthcare, manufacturing, media, retail and telecommunications. With Pure Storage, companies push the boundaries of what's possible to become faster, smarter and more innovative. Connect with Pure Storage:

Read the blog

Converse on Twitter

Follow on LinkedIn Analyst Recognition:

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Solid-State Arrays

IDC MarketScape for All-Flash Arrays

Pure Storage, Pure 1, Evergreen, FlashBlade, Elasticity and the "P" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pure Storage, Inc. All other trademarks or names referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the expected performance and benefits of Pure Storage's product offerings. The words "believe," "may," "will," "plan," "expect," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Pure Storage assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release. Any unreleased products, features, or functions referenced in this release, our website or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Pure Storage's discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Pure Storage's product offerings should make their purchase decisions based upon products, features and functions that are currently available. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150127/171513LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pure-storage-introduces-the-flasharraym10-bringing-all-flash-performance-and-reliability-to-the-small-to-medium-enterprise-300235260.html SOURCE Pure Storage

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[March 14, 2016] EverFi and Goodyear Collaborate on Career Readiness Initiative

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EverFi, the leading critical skills education company, and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced the Goodyear Future STEM Leaders Program that will extend digital learning opportunities to students at the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) STEM High School and the associated NIHF Center for STEM Learning in Akron, Ohio. Today, only 6 percent of the 3.8 million ninth graders in the United States are expected to choose a STEM-focused degree in college. Meanwhile, STEM industries continue to be one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy with projections forecasting more than nine million STEM-related jobs available in America by 2018. The Goodyear Future STEM Leaders Program will provide students with interactive programs that help them build entrepreneurship and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. Using the power of cutting-edge instructional design, gamification, and real world simulations, students are also introduced to the technical careers of the future and the skillsets needed to succeed in these fields. The program is aligned with Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's Ohio Strong Initiative, which recognizes Ohio workers in manufacturing and the skilled trades, and raises public awareness to encourage more people to pursue careers in these fields. "As the baby boomers retire, I frequently hear abou the shortage of welders, pipe-fitters, electricians, carpenters, machinists and other skilled trades across Ohio. There are high-paying jobs going unfilled because employers can't find a modern workforce to hire with the skill sets they need," said Mandel. "I believe that there is a quiet crisis upon us, and in order to prosper as a country, we need to encourage young Americans to pursue careers in the skilled trades. I launched the Ohio Strong Initiative to help bring pride and profile to dedicated men and women across our state who work in these fields that are so vital to our economy."



The Goodyear Future STEM Leaders Program is part of the organization's broader community engagement efforts focused on STEM career preparedness, road safety, and established volunteer programs near its Akron headquarters. About EverFi, Inc.

EverFi, Inc. is the education technology innovator that empowers learners with the skills that prepare them to be successful in life. With backing from some of technology's most innovative leaders including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, and Twitter founder Evan Williams, EverFi has built the most comprehensive critical skills platform focused on Financial Education, Digital Citizenship, STEM Career Readiness, Entrepreneurship, and Health and Wellness. The EverFi Education Network is powered by over 1,200 partner organizations across all 50 states and Canada and has certified over 12 million students. Learn more at www.everfi.com.

About Goodyear

Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, it employs approximately 66,000 people and manufactures its products in 49 facilities in 22 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear or its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate. Media Contact:

Brian Cooley

[email protected]

202-625-0011 x352 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/everfi-and-goodyear-collaborate-on-career-readiness-initiative-300234687.html SOURCE EverFi, Inc.

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[March 14, 2016] EV Group Scales Up Nanoimprint Lithography for Display Manufacturing

ST. FLORIAN, Austria, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today introduced the EVG7200 LA SmartNIL system for display manufacturing and other applications that require large-area substrates. Leveraging EVG's proprietary SmartNIL technology, the automated UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) system enables cost-efficient nano-patterning in high-volume manufacturing (HVM) applications. The EVG7200 LA is specifically designed for Gen 2

(370 mm x 470 mm) display panel manufacturing but can address a wide spectrum of biotechnology, photonics and optics applications. A few examples of imprinted patterns and devices supported by the EVG7200 LA include: wire grid polarizers, which enable better clarity and lower power consumption; lenticular lenses for direct-view 3D screens; and other functional surfaces that enable new features and specifications. High-resolution photos of the EVG7200 LA can be downloaded from EVG's website at http://www.evgroup.com/en/about/news/2016_03_EVG7200LA/ NIL is a highly cost-efficient method of enabling nano-scale patterns on large areas since it is not limited by sophisticated optics that are required with optical lithography, and since it can provide optimal pattern fidelity for extremely small (sub-100-nm) structures. EVG, which has the largest installed base of NIL systems in production, has continually extened the capabilities of its NIL solutions to address new and emerging market needs and technology requirements. The latest addition to EVG's NIL portfoliothe EVG7200 LAbrings nanoimprint lithography to a whole new level by enabling high-quality nano-patterning on panel-size substrates. As a result, novel structures based on nanotechnology that can improve device performance are now available for use in display manufacturing and other demanding large-area applications.



"EV Group's market and technology leadership in nanoimprint lithography is built on years of field experience working with our partners and customers in multiple markets, as well as research and development work in our demo labs and NIL Photonics Competence Center," stated Dr. Thomas Glinsner, corporate technology director at EV Group. "Driven by customer demand, we took our robust SmartNIL technology?which has already achieved outstanding imprint results on substrates up to 200 mm in diameter in high-volume manufacturing?and scaled it up to Gen 2 panel size. With the EVG7200 LA, we can now offer a full patterning solution for the display market, where companies have not previously considered NIL for their manufacturing efforts." The EVG7200 LA features EVG's SmartNIL technology, which in combination with multi-use soft working stamp technology adapts to uneven and rough surfaces to provide unmatched conformal imprinting (down to 40 nm) with high uniformity and pattern fidelity. This capability is especially critical to successfully manufacture wire grid polarizers, where pattern transfer into metal layers is needed and where critical dimensions of the device features fall below 100 nm. In addition, SmartNIL's soft stamp fabrication technology combined with automated low-force detachment extends the lifetime of master stamps, which results in significant cost savings for customers.

Demonstrations of the EVG7200 LA SmartNIL system are available at EVG's headquarters in

St. Florian, Austria. About EV Group (EVG)

EV Group (EVG) is a leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the manufacture of semiconductors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), compound semiconductors, power devices and nanotechnology devices. Key products include wafer bonding, thin-wafer processing, lithography/nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and metrology equipment, as well as photoresist coaters, cleaners and inspection systems. Founded in 1980, EV Group services and supports an elaborate network of global customers and partners all over the world. More information about EVG is available at www.EVGroup.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ev-group-scales-up-nanoimprint-lithography-for-display-manufacturing-300234991.html SOURCE EV Group

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[March 14, 2016] QuantumClean & ChemTrace to exhibit at SEMICON China 2016

QUAKERTOWN, Pa., March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- QuantumClean and ChemTrace will exhibit at SEMICON China 2016 tradeshow being held at Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China from March 15-17, 2016, Booth #5154. QuantumClean operates on the frontier of the sub-20nm ultra-high purity semiconductor parts cleaning capability through leading-edge technologies, resources and expertise, producing Atomically Clean Surfaces process chamber parts. The industry's demand for cleaner process chamber parts and tighter controls continues to accelerate. QuantumClean created its first technology roadmap in 2000 that predicted these trends and identified solutions to the industry's ever-changing requirements. Over the ensuing years, QuantumClean's R&D and Engineering teams have consistently delivered innovative solutions to the industry's most challenging part cleaning related issues ahead of the competition and most recently, the team has delivered the sub-20nm cleaning protocol. We look forward to sharing our capabilities with Individual Device Manufacturers, Foundries, OEMs and OPMs during our participation at Semicon China 2016. ChemTrace provides independent analytical verification of process tool part cleaning effectiveness for many of QuantumClean's leading-edge semiconductor fab, OEM and OPM customers which have critical cleaning requirements. "Since we first introduced non-destructive tool component analysis capability in the late 1990's, ChemTrace analytical techniques are now widely recognized by leading Device Manufacturers and OEMS as the analytical testing techniques of choice. Expansion of our global footprint to include laboratories in Korea, Taiwan and Singapore allows regional customers to have direct access to our laboratories for rapid turnaround time analysis," stated Surjany Russell, ChemTrace Sales Director. The technical commercial and management teams of QuantumClean and ChemTrace will be present throughout the show and welcome the opportunity to discuss solutions to your current and future parts cleaning/refurbishment challenges and analytical requirements.



About Quantum Global Technologies, LLC QuantumClean and ChemTrace are divisions of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC which is headquartered in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

QuantumClean is the global leader in sub-20nm outsourced process tool parts cleaning, performance coatings and restoration services, tool part life extension and process tool part optimization solutions to the semiconductor wafer fabrication, OEM & OPM industries. Founded in 2000, QuantumClean operates innovative Advanced Technology Cleaning Centers built on the premise of providing customers process improvement through consistently cleaner parts that exceed industry standards. These solutions dramatically reduce our customers' total cost-of-ownership. With 19 Advanced Technology Cleaning Centers located in 9 countries, QuantumClean provides unsurpassed cleaning capability worldwide. ChemTrace is a globally recognized leader of analytical testing. Founded in 1993, ChemTrace provides state-of-the-art analytical services and problem solving expertise to improve current technologies in semiconductor, solar and photonics manufacturing. ChemTrace is expert in micro-contamination analysis in the fields of trace metals, particles, anions, cations, organics and particles. The ChemTrace comprehensive analysis portfolio covers testing of critical materials and processes such as water, chemicals, wafers and wafer depositions, tool components, airborne molecular contamination, cleanroom construction materials and cleanroom consumables. To learn more about QuantumClean and ChemTrace, visit their websites at www.quantumclean.com and www.chemtrace.com. Media Contacts

QuantumClean: Karen Phillips, 1-215-892-9314, [email protected]

ChemTrace: Surjany Russell, 1-510-687-8012, [email protected] To learn more about SEMICON China 2016 visit their website at http://www.semiconchina.org/ QuantumClean, ChemTrace, Advanced Technology Cleaning Centers, ATCC, Process Improvement through Consistently Cleaner Parts, Single Part Chemical Clean, SPCC and are registered trademarks of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC. QGT, Atomically Clean Surfaces, VeriClean, Environmentally Clean Process, ECP, Final Surface Finish, FSF, Selective Deposition Removal, SDR, V-Clean, Cleancoat, Alternative TWAS, C-Coat, M-Coat, Y-Coat, Z-Coat, The Perfect Order, The Perfect Qual, The Perfect Process Transfer, Service Request form, SRF, Analytical & Engineering Services, PartSmart and PT3 are trademarks of Quantum Global Technologies, LLC To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quantumclean--chemtrace-to-exhibit-at-semicon-china-2016-300235022.html SOURCE QuantumClean

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[March 14, 2016] Enterprise Information Archiving Market Worth 7.55 Billion USD by 2020

PUNE,India, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report "Enterprise Information Archiving Market by Content Type (Email, Social Media, and Others), Service, Deployment Type, End User, Industry Application (BFSI, Life Science and Healthcare, and Others), and Region - Global Forecast and Analysis to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, is expected to grow from USD 4.31 Billion in 2015 to USD 7.55 Billion in 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.8%. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 71 Tables and 50 Figures spread through 145 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Enterprise Information Archiving Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/enterprise-information-archiving-market-253224202.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Demand for cost-effective storage solutions for inactive enterprise data, need for data retention to meet the legal and corporate governance requirements, and demand for high performance of business processes are the major factors driving the Enterprise Information Archiving Market. Furthermore, the market is expected to be driven by opportunities such as new scalable and cost-effective archiving through cloud and development of applications for intelligent archiving of enterprise data and emerging potential markets. Cloud deployment to play a key role in the Enterprise Information Archiving Market The deployment of enterprise information archiving applications on cloud has been an upward trend. The cloud deployment market share is expected to increase rapidly since most of the firms are rapidly transforming themselves from brick to click models. The robust and scalable nature of cloud infrastructure makes it easy to analyze large datasets in real time and at a fast response time. North America and Europe to be the largest markets of enterprise information archiving till 2020 The geographic analysis of the Enterprise Information Archiving Market mainly delves into the division of content type, end user, deployment type, and industry types across ive major regional segments, namely North America, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is expected to be the lead in the adoption and implementation of enterprise information archiving applications, followed by Europe and APAC.



North America is rapidly adopting the latest technological advancements, such as cloud and mobile, within traditional enterprise information archiving solutions. The major growth driver for this region is the rigorous government standards and regulations framed for various industries. APAC is also witnessing a record growth in demonstrating and adopting enterprise information archiving solutions. The major vendors in the Enterprise Information Archiving Market, such as Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Veritas, Barracuda, Mimecast, Smarsh, Proofpoint, Google, Gwava, Global Relay, Commvault, ZL Technologies, and Bloomberg, are covered in the report. A detailed analysis of key industry players has been done to provide their business overview, products and services, key strategies, and recent developments associated with the Enterprise Information Archiving Market.

Ask for Sample [email protected] http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=253224202 The global Enterprise Information Archiving Market has been segmented on the basis of content types, services, deployment types, end users, industry applications, and regions. The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors influencing the growth of the Enterprise Information Archiving Market, such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. A detailed analysis of the key industry players has been done to provide insights into their business overview, products and services, key strategies, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, and recent developments associated with the Enterprise Information Archiving Market. Browse Related Reports Digital Asset Management Market by Solutions (Video Management, Creative Tool Integration, Asset Analytics, Web Content Management Integration, Brand Portals, Asset and Metadata Archiving, Lifecycle and Rights Management) - Global Forecast to 2019 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/digital-asset-management-market-96538567.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. 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. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" 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. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact:

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Markets and Markets

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Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets



SOURCE MarketsandMarkets

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Ransomware blocks user access to data and demands payment to restore access. It's possibly the most dangerous form of malware the average person regularly encounters. Once infected, the victim often has no choice but to pay the "ransom," usually a few hundred dollars.

(Image credit: Stokkete/Shutterstock)

In the past several years, ransomware has hit thousands of small businesses, government agencies and private individuals in North America, making millions for and the online criminals who distribute and operate it. It initially affected only Windows computers, but has spread to Android devices and even Macs.

A worldwide encrypting ransomware outbreak hit the internet on May 12, 2017, after cybercriminals weaponized a Windows exploit that had been previously been stolen from the National Security Agency and posted on WikiLeaks. Microsoft had fixed the underlying flaw two months before the attack, but thousands of machines were left vulnerable by users and administrators who did not install software updates. Even that scare didn't completely fix the problem  another ransomware worm exploiting the same flaw struck six weeks later.

However, it's not difficult to avoid or prepare for ransomware infection, which is not always irreversible. Here's what you need to know about ransomware, how to avoid becoming its victim  and what to do if you become infected.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software

How ransomware works

There are two main types of ransomware: encrypting or "crypto" ransomware, which encrypts some or all of the files on the victim's device; and screen-locking or "locker" ransomware, which disables the user interface.

Most ransomware infects a computer or mobile device in "Trojan horse" fashion  infection is secretly triggered when you open an unexpected email attachment, visit a malicious website or install infected software downloaded from the Internet. Simply visiting a malicious or corrupted Web page may trigger a drive-by download, even if you immediately navigate elsewhere.

Once installed, locker ransomware will freeze the user interface. The screen will display a banner informing you that the computer has been "locked" or "seized," often by the FBI or another law-enforcement agency. Keyboard and mouse inputs will not work.

Crypto ransomware does not freeze the user interface. Instead, it spends a couple of minutes searching your hard drive for common file types such as images and documents. It encrypts such files with a very strong key, then presents a ransom note. The user can still access other files.

In most cases, the amount of money demanded is substantial but not crippling  somewhere between $200 and $700 for North American victims. (Ransomware notes vary in language and currency according to the victim's location.) The notes provide details on how and to where to send payments. Sometimes, the notes give deadlines for paying the ransom, accompanied by a threat of deleting files at regular intervals (typically every 30 minutes).

Once the ransom payment is received and processed, the victim will be sent a numerical key to unlock the screen or encrypted files, or a serial key for activating a decryption program found on the scammer's website. It's rare for a payment not to be honored; ransomware distributors depend on victims trusting that they're good for their word.

Protecting yourself from ransomware

The best ways to avoid any kind of ransomware are to keep your operating system and other software fully updated and patched, and to run robust, self-updating antivirus software. (Firewalls don't always protect against infiltration, and they cannot stop you from opening email attachments.)

In Windows, go to Windows Update in the Control Panel, or Update & Security in the Settings menu, and make sure that updates are set to install automatically. On a Mac, go to Settings, then App Store, and make sure "Automatically check for updates" and "Install system data files and security updates" are checked.

Most forms of ransomware are recognized and blocked by antivirus programs, and most exploit software vulnerabilities for which fixes have long existed. People who don't patch their systems and don't run antivirus software get infected first.

You should also back up all of your computers and mobile devices regularly, preferably daily, to both external hard drives and cloud-based backup services. Then, if your files are locked up by crypto ransomware, you can restore files from backups. But beware that some crypto ransomware encrypts backup drives. It's best to disconnect or switch off backup drives after each backup.

If you use a Windows PC, make sure that it's set up to periodically save "restore points" to which the system can be "rolled back" in case of a serious problem. (This is activated by default in Windows 7 and later.) But again, some ransomware will delete Windows restore points.

Recovering from a ransomware attack

If you see a ransomware note on your computer screen, record the information presented (perhaps by snapping a photo). Call the police and report the incident; the police probably can't help you, but this is a serious crime that should be reported.

Then, see if you can access files or folders on the machine, such as the Documents or Pictures directories in your User folder. If you can't get past the ransom note, you're infected by locker ransomware. If you can navigate the machine, but find files encrypted, you have crypto ransomware.

If you have locker ransomware: Reboot your computer in Safe Mode by pressing the power button and S key on the keyboard at the same time. When the computer restarts, run antivirus software to remove the ransomware.

MORE: What to Do If You're Infected by Ransomware

If that doesn't work, try rolling back Windows to the latest "safe" restore point. Open the Control Panel or Settings menu, then find the Recovery option (under System and Security in Windows 7, and under "Update and Security" in Windows 8.1 and 10). Recovery, aka System Restore, won't affect personal files, but it will remove newly installed software. (Sadly, it won't restore encrypted files.)

If you have crypto ransomware: The first thing to do is download and run the Kaspersky Ransomware Decryptor (opens in new tab), which can decrypt locked files created by certain strains of ransomware.

If that doesn't work, but you have a good backup, overwrite the encrypted files with the unencrypted backup versions.

If you don't have a good backup, but need the files, then you might have to pay the ransom. It will hurt, but it won't bankrupt you. You'll be joining thousands of small businesses, local governments, medical facilities and law enforcement agencies across North America that have had no choice but to pay up.

When all is said and done: Run antivirus software to clean out your system.

If you have the time, back up your files and reinstall the operating system to make sure you start afresh. You'll need an installation disk or recovery partition to do so on Windows 7 or 8.1; on Windows 10, you can simply choose Reset this PC in the Update and Security settings.

Types of ransomware

Screen-locking ransomware originated in Russia around 2010 and spread to the West a year or two later. Initially, payment was often made through Ukash, an online payment system that didn't require proof of identity to use  now, payment is handled primarily through the virtual currency Bitcoin.

One common variant of locker ransomware tells victims they've violated the law by visiting child-pornography websites and that they must pay a fine to have their systems unlocked. Researchers call this kind of ransomware a "police Trojan"; the best-known strain is the notorious Reveton family.

Another kind of locker ransomware informs the user that he or she is running a pirated version of Windows, and demands payment for a "legitimate" Microsoft license to restore access to the computer.

Screen-locking ransomware was extraordinarily effective from 2011 to 2014  until users learned how to get past lockscreens by restarting PCs in Safe Mode and then running antivirus software to remove the malware.

Encrypting ransomware first appeared in 1989 with the AIDS Trojan, distributed by a mad scientist (really) on floppy disks to attendees of a medical conference. The AIDS Trojan encrypted the names (but not other data) of user files and demanded $189 be sent to a post office box in Panama. Its creator, an eminent biologist, was caught but ruled mentally unfit to stand trial.

Around 2005, the first wave of widely distributed crypto ransomware began. Two of the most prominent strains were Cryzip and PGPCoder, and individuals who found their computers infected with either strain were emailed ransom notes demanding $100 to $300 in e-gold, an early virtual currency, for the key to unlock their files. However, many of the first-wave crypto-ransomware bugs had weak encryption or other flaws that often let users recover data without paying up.

The current wave of crypto ransomware uses much stronger encryption that, in most cases, is impossible to break. It initially appeared in Russia in 2012, but broke into the wider world in late 2013 with the CryptoLocker Trojan after global Bitcoin payment processing became reliable.

As with the "police Trojan" locker ransomware, ransom notes are usually not emailed, but put right on the computer screen. Payment is made through Western Union or Bitcoin, and many strains show users how to buy and sent bitcoins.

Other well-known variants include TeslaCrypt, which targets gaming PCs; CryptoWall, which spread via malicious online ads, or "malvertising"; Linux Encoder, which attacks Linux-based Web servers; and KeRanger, which infected Macs via a corrupted BitTorrent installer.

In some instances, there's no ransom note. Instead, the criminal relies on victims to go to the Internet in search of a solution. Search results will bring up the ransomware controllers' website, which sells legitimate software for decrypting files, making the criminals appear uninvolved with the incident while still getting money from willing buyers.
Kansas City's greatest photog Eric Bowers offers this photo essay of the weekend Trump protest and a look at detractors on the street outnumbering supporters. Here's his remarkable view from the scene and before the pepper spray fighting got started: Kansas City's Protest of Donald Trump Rally - Photoblog
"A shooting victim from the 3500 Askew scene showed up at the Central Patrol Division on Linwood seeking help. An ambulance was dispatched to that scene.





"Police said the shooting victim was a passenger in a car that crashed just outside of the Central Patrol police station. The victim was in the car along with a female who was driving and two other passengers."

This week starts with a bang as gunfire and car chases seemingly inspired by domestic drama begin the run-up to St. Paddy's day. Take a look:More: Police working multiple scenes after early morning shooting Developing . . .
LET'S CELEBRATE THE WINNERS AND LOSERS OF THE TRUMP RALLY PEPPER SPRAY CIRCUS!!!

Starting with the losers . . .

Kansas City's Top Cop & Old School Terms For Pepper Spray Tactics Stay Losing

Mayor Sly's Call For Peace Fell Flat

Hillary Is A Kansas City Non-Factor

TKC afterthought . . . It's really weird that The Pitch didn't even blog one thing about the event!!!!

CHECK THE KANSAS CITY WINNERS AMID THE EPIC TRUMP PEPPER SPRAY PROTEST!!!

Bernie Protesters Peppered Among Crowd

Kansas City Anarchists And Anonymous Capture The Nation's Spotlight

Internets Free Speech Triumphs Over MSM Coverage









Kansas City's latest moment in the national spotlight reveals a great deal of discord and rage in our community.In the aftermath of this event there's all kinds of chatter that attempts to assign blames or sighs relief of the fact KC didn't get the GOP convention . . . But more productive to the discourse moving forward . . .Take a look . . .The Chief using old schoollanguage like(WTF???) was a signal that even his Twitter-based media strategy can't influence locals who have been making consistent complaints about police brutality.Before the protest Mayor played to Kansas City's classy side and his call for calm failed to resonate among local political denizens.Nobody is protesting, gathering, marching or paying much attention to Hillary Clinton and her campaign for President. One day before the Missouri Primary, her small cadre of supporters might as well be invisible in this cowtown.And now . . .Here's the short list . . .Signs of support for Bernie dominated the event and cheerleaders for the Democratic Party underdog candidate getting gassed only seemed to fire them up even further.Perfect timing and more media savvy among these professional grade protesters gave them the advantage over police and politicos in bringing national attention to their influence over local agenda in the mist of a Trump media circus.The back and forth dialogue online reveals that MSM is an afterthought for most online denizens who are now starting to outnumber TV watchers.Additional links . . .You decide . . .
KANSAS CITY PEACEFUL PROTESTERS WHO STAYED ON THE SIDEWALK WERE PEPPER SPRAYED, TOO!!!

Kansas City Peaceful Protester Complaint

Here's more testimony from the Kansas City Trump protest which makes an important claim that hasn't yet been addressed by the mainstream media . . .To be fair, pepper spray travels far and wide and isn't a precise toolthere have been quite a few locals who have made this complaint that hasn't been addressed yet.Here's the word that has been cross-posted to a few sites that don't allowlike TKC . . ."The right to free speech and peaceful protest are protected under the first amendment.The KCPD had us separated from the Trump crowd all day by barricades and a street, lined with police down the middle. Most of the day, they did not interfere at all. To quote an officer, "say whatever the hell you want, but say it on the sidewalk." They were cordial and polite, some even took pics for people in the crowd.In my four hours there I did not see any violence or preparation of violence by protestors. There were a HUGE variety of other protestors from many walks of life-black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Arab. Mothers with young children, veterans, high school students, etc. The diversity was truly a sight to see and made me proud to be American . . .Shortly before the group in the video took the street, an organizer came through the crowd telling us to "link arms and take the street." I'm not sure exactly what they hoped to accomplish. About ~20-30 people did and walked into the street against police instruction. There was no violence or threat of violence. Nobody (certainly not 200 people as a media source has claimed) was "getting ready to fight. The police began using the horses to try and get protesters back to the sidewalk; the group refused. This is when things escalated very quickly & the pepper spray was used.As the video clearly shows, we were on the sidewalk as instructed by police, as were a large number of others who were still sprayed heavily . . . I went to protest peacefully and until the pepper spray it was peaceful. I don't think it's fair to say that other people making poor decisions means I shouldn't be able to exercise my own rights. Nor do I think we had any way of foreseeing that we'd be sprayed while standing back. The officers who sprayed us had their backs turned to us and TOLD US specifically we would be fine if we stayed on the sidewalk."#########
The Bank of Greece in cooperation with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are examining ways to develop a secondary loan market and ways to restructure small- and medium-sized enterprises loans

The Bank of Greece in cooperation with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are examining ways to develop a secondary loan market and ways to restructure small- and medium-sized enterprises loans.

Th. Mitrakos, vice-governor of the Bank of Greece, addressing a seminar in Athens on Thursday, underlined that SMEs are the backbone of the Greek economy. A banks turn to long-term solutions, combined with a restructuring of viable enterprises with changes in the structure, business planning and  if necessary - their management, will contribute to the stabilisation of the economy and its transition to a new export-orientated productive model. Banks should also examine taking joint action towards large business non-performing loans, a necessary precondition to offer viable solutions in a reasonable time period. Hellenic Financial Stability Fund is already working on drafting a study on the issue.

Referring to initiatives undertaken by the Bank of Greece towards resolving the problem of NPLs, Mitrakos said that the bank issued an act envisaging the framework for the set up and operation of companies focusing on management or purchase of loans from credit institutions.

He said that the central bank, in cooperation with the European Central Bank and commercial banks, was working towards setting new business goals for the management of NPLs.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Juncker defended the political decisions of German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she was right. We cannot leave countries on their own, he said in reference to Greeces problems with the refugee crisis

The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker was clear that the exterior borders of the EU were not national borders of one country, while stressed that the EU should help Greece in dealing with the refugee crisis in an interview to RTL TV in Luxembourg. Juncker defended the political decisions of German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she was right. We cannot leave countries on their own, he said in reference to Greeces problems with the refugee crisis.

On the matter of the collaboration between the EU and Turkey over the refugee crisis he said We need Turkey. Responding to those who support closed border policy in the EU he said Europe must be an area open to those seeking refuge from wars.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov pressed to have his country's borders protected as part of a proposed EU-Turkey deal

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov pressed on March 12 to have his country's borders protected as part of a proposed EU-Turkey deal aimed to stop the flow of migrants to Europe.

Bulgaria has so far remained on the sidelines of the EU's worst migration crisis since WWII after it built a 30-kilometre razor wire fence in 2014 and sent 2,000 border police to guard its 260-kilometre (160-mile) border with Turkey.

But the EU member fears that it could become a major transit hub after countries along the main western Balkan migrant trail shut their borders this week.

"All countries on the frontline should be able to rely on support from the EU for protection of the EU's external borders," Borisov told visiting Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Austrian Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil in Sofia.

Letter to EU President

Borisov said he had sent a letter to that effect to EU President Donald Tusk on March 11.

"Bulgaria insists that the talks between the EU and Turkey for solving the migration problem should also include Bulgaria's land borders with Turkey and Greece as well as the Black Sea border between the EU and Turkey," the letter read.

Under the agreement due to be finalized at an EU summit on March 17-18, Ankara would take back all illegal migrants currently stranded in Greece.

For each Syrian returned to Turkey, the EU would resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkish camps, in a bid to reduce the incentive for people to undertake the perilous journey to Europe.

Police conference on border security

In return, Turkey wants six billion euros ($6.6 billion) in aid, visa-free access to the bloc's passport-free Schengen zone and a speeding up of Ankara's efforts to join the EU - demands that go too far for some, including Austria.

Bulgarian media reported on Saturday that Borisov was ready to block the deal if Turkey only agreed to stop the flow of migrants to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

Mikl-Leitner and Doskozil, who were due to visit the Bulgarian-Turkish border later on Saturday, expressed their "full support" for Borisov's demands.

"What applies to Greece also has to apply to Bulgaria," Doskozil was quoted as saying by the Austrian APA news agency.

Mikl-Leitner meanwhile pledged to host a police conference on border security and human traffickers with the countries along the western Balkan migrant trail, including Germany and Greece.

More than a million migrants and refugees have used the route through the Aegean Sea since the start of 2015, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, continuing their journey via the Balkans to reach wealthy Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.

Source: AFP

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Top Canadian ministry officials recently hosted a business breakfast in Dubai, UAE to discuss the investment and trade opportunities between the Gulf and the Canadian province of Ontario.



The meeting was hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, food and Rural Affairs (Omafra) and the Consulate General of Canada.



The event drew good response with two local companies confirming their interest in investing in Ontarios food production industry, according to a spokesperson for Omafra.



Ontario, a Canadian province bordering Hudson Bay to the north and the US to the south, is the largest food processing province in Canada and has long been a destination for many of the worlds largest food processing and manufacturing companies.



Its location - with over 400 million North American consumers within easy reach - makes it an ideal distribution centre for the Canadian, American and Mexican markets, a statement said.



The Canadian food retail sector represents approximately C$87 billion ($65.8 billion) total sales with Ontarios population accounting for 32 per cent (27.7 billion) of overall sales. There is also growing interest in ethnic food - driven by the provinces increasingly culturally diverse population.



This provides an opportunity for GCC food manufacturers as more and more retailers are looking to purchase Asian, South Asian and Halal products to increase their market share. Consumer trends have also influenced product offerings as more people look for convenient food that will fit their busy lifestyles, and are interested in healthy, locally grown and produced foods.



Additionally, the provinces transportation infrastructure integrates seamlessly with the US system, which allows businesses based in Ontario to quickly and conveniently deliver products to markets in North America and beyond.



In 2014, Ontario food manufacturers exported C$12.5 billion in agri-foods globally including the United States, Mexico, Japan, Russia and Hong Kong, in addition to Canadas own market, according to the spokesperson.



Canada has seen foreign direct investment almost triple between 1998 and 2011, from C$219.4 billion to C$607 billion with companies across the world, and from various sectors, have established presence in Ontario due to its many benefits for businesses.



Ontario has taken many steps in the last five years to foster a more competitive business climate, positioning the province as one of the most attractive locations in the industrialized world for new business investment. Recent governmental initiatives include the elimination of Capital Tax, reduced corporate income tax rates and the Global Trade Strategy to support exports to global markets and boost jobs in Ontario, he said.



In Ontario the combined federal-provincial corporate income tax rate is almost 13 percentage points below the US average. Regional businesses benefit from labour costs that that are among the lowest of the G7 countries, apprenticeship training tax credits for some skilled workers, as well as one of the worlds most generous R&D tax programs, which can reduce the after-tax cost for every C$100 in R&D spending to approximatelyC$56, or C$38 if youre a small business.



Ontario is a trade and investment partner to the GCC and countries across the region in many sectors including the food and beverage industry. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are among the top 25 countries importing Canadian bakery products.



The Ontario food trade with GCC countries is also growing. The Ontario agri-food trade with the UAE amounted to C$25,927,759 in 2014 compared to C$10,619,413 in 2013 marking a 244 per cent increase. The agri-food trade with Saudi Arabia amounted to C$44,789,784 in 2014 an 11 per cent increase from 2013.  TradeArabia News Service
Motorcity, the sole distributor of Hyundai Heavy Industries Company in Bahrain, has announced a free Hyundai forklift health inspection services for customers during the month of March.



Factory-trained technicians will carry out a two-hour inspection at the customers premises to check the condition of the forklifts engines, hydraulics, drive lines, braking systems, air conditioning and diagnostic trouble code read outs, said statement from Motorcity.



Customers will receive a free health inspection report which includes a repair estimate with 20 per cent discount on parts and labour as well as a special discount on brake repair work, it added.



The central spare parts warehouse and the service centre are located in Maameer, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
SSH, one of the leading master-planning and building design companies, said it has been awarded a major contract by Tamouh National General Trading & Contracting for a new four-star hotel coming up in the Governorate of Hawally, Kuwait.



As per the deal, SSH will be the lead consultant for all the design phases and permitting, starting from data collection and concept design phase through to tender documents and services for the high-rise project.



The complex, which is estimated to tower 110 m in height on completion, will also boast of three basement car parking floors, said a statement from SSH.

The hotel will include a lobby, reception and spa, and 31 above ground floors, 22 of which are hotel guest areas with five hotel rooms per floor and a luxury floor that will host two large guest suites, it stated.



In addition to 122 hotel rooms, it will also contain two specialty restaurants, retail shops, childrens play area, gym, all-day dining facility, terrace, and administrative offices and facilities such as meeting rooms, laundry areas and a central kitchen, it added.



The hotel complex, a new addition to the hospitality sector in the vibrant Hawally district, will be located on a 6,494-sq-m area on the corner of Al Mutasim and 110 Street, close to Kuwaits Gulf Road.



A leading architecture and engineering firm, SSH has extensive hospitality experience, blending architectural traditions and innovative designs to create landmark destinations.



Its major projects in the region include the Radisson SAS Hotel upgradation in Kuwait, Ras Al Barr Resort in Bahrain, and the World Architecture Festival award-winner Junoot Eco Resort in Oman.-TradeArabia News Service
Tower crane manufacturer Linden Comansa will join hands with partner Sodetram to launch its new 5LC5010 crane at the upcoming Batimatec expo in Algiers.



Algiers 'Pins Maritimes' Expo Centre will play host to the leading players in the construction and machinery sectors from May 3 to 7 at the event.



The 5LC5010 model, with flat-top design and belonging to the smallest Series of Linden Comansa, meets all the requirements of the Algerian market, said a statement from the Spanish manufacturer.



It has a maximum load capacity of 5 tonnes; maximum jib length of between 20 and 50 m; Jib-end load up to 1,000 kilos, or 1.100 using the PowerLift system, which is standard; freestanding height of more than 50 metres.



Through this expo, Sodetram and Linden Comansa aim to not only showcase its mini Linden Comansa cranes, but also other models and series that have very good demand in Algeria and neighbouring countries.



Sodetram, based in Marseille, France, and its subsidiary in Algiers, Sodetram Algerie, have been working in the Algerian market for 25 years, offering a wide range of machinery and equipment for all type of construction projects.



Since 2013, Sodetram and Linden Comansa have been jointly exporting cranes mainly to the countries of the Maghreb region in North Africa.



Sodetram had been recently awarded a contract to provide Algerian public contractor Engoa with five Linden Comansa 16LC260 tower cranes for the construction of the Tabellout viaduct.



By the end of the project, these cranes will reach a height under hook of 130 metres, which will make them the tallest in Algeria.-TradeArabia News Service
Oil fell around 2 per cent on Monday after Iran dashed hopes that there would be a coordinated production freeze any time soon, returning bearish sentiment to the market over a supply glut that has sent prices crashing.



Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell back below $40 a barrel, trading at $39.69 at 0903 GMT, down 70 cents on Friday's close. Brent hit a 12-year low of $27.10 in January.



US crude was down 79 cents at $37.71 a barrel.



"Oil is down because Iran said they would only join the output freeze group once they reached production of 4 million barrels a day (bpd)," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.



Iran's oil exports are due to reach 2 million bpd in the Iranian month that ends on March 19, up from 1.75 million in the previous month, Iran's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday.



Zanganeh poured cold water over hopes for a quick deal on freezing production, saying the Opec member would join discussions only once its own output reached 4 million bpd. Zanganeh is to meet his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Tehran on Monday, according to news agency reports.



Saudi Arabia appeared to have stuck to a preliminary deal with some other producers to freeze output as its crude production held steady in February at 10.22 million bpd, an industry source told Reuters.



Worries about demand fundamentals also moved back into the spotlight as investment bank Morgan Stanley warned that a slowing global economy and high production would prevent any sharp rises in oil prices.



"Oil prices now seem to have bottomed, even though they are likely to stay subdued for the rest of this year before starting to move higher in 2017," the US bank said in a research note, adding that cheap oil had not provided the boost to growth that many had hoped for.



"When oil prices are falling below production costs, the income gains for consumers will be smaller than the costs to producers, and falling oil prices become a negative-sum game," it said.  Reuters
Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian company responsible for the operation of Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), has signed an agreement with CrysTelCall for the operation and management of the airports call center.



Available 24 hours a day and seven days a week in both Arabic and English, the call center will provide an additional channel for passengers to contact the airport with questions, comments and information requests at any time.



Stemming from the desire to provide optimal service to QAIAs growing number of passengers, the call center will enable the airport to continue to respond to inquiries quickly and effectively, processing a larger number of calls in less time while also adhering to an enhanced standard of customer service. The call center will also provide travelers with up-to-the-minute information on flight schedules, flight statuses, weather conditions and more.



In light of our commitment to provide a positive travel experience to those visiting or travelling through Jordans prime gateway to the world, we are constantly seeking to enhance and support the services on offer at QAIA. Through this call center, travelers will be able to communicate with the Airport directly, receiving prompt and useful feedback on their questions and concerns, said AIG CEO, Kjeld Binger.



In turn, CrysTelCall CEO, Ramez Kalis, said: As a leader in contact center and customer service outsourcing, CrysTelCall is proud to partner with Airport International Group to provide QAIA and its travelers with superior around-the-clock customer service support. - TradeArabia News Service
UVCs Jorge Herrera Appointed President of AMDETUR



(TRAVPR.COM) USA - March 14th, 2016 -

Unlimited Vacation Club (UVC) by AMResorts Managing Director and Founder, Jorge Herrera, has been elected President of the national council of AMDETUR. He has been elected to service from 2016-2017 for the Mexican Resort Development Association.

Herrera brings over 30 years of experience in the tourism sector to AMDETUR. Previously, he served as an advisor to the Under-Secretaries of Planning and Operations at Mexicos Ministry of Tourism. He has also held the title of General Director of Resort Condominiums International (RCI) in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Additionally, he held the title of Sales and Marketing Director of Mayan Resorts.

In recent years, Herrera is known for successfully developing and managing UVC. Since UVC launched in 2010, the vacation club has experienced record growth with over 40,000 members worldwide and by 2018, members will have access to nearly 60 resorts. His knowledge, experience and industry connections are sure to add great value to AMDETUR.

I greatly look forward to my new leadership role with AMDETUR. As President, I will continue to strive to protect and increase the equity of its members and their clients, stated Herrera.

Upon being elected President during the General Assembly meeting, Herrera invited all of AMDETURs members, strategic partners and suppliers to join him and his Executive Council to continue their dedication to the advancement of the association.

AMDETUR was founded on July, 13, 1987 with a commitment to working diligently on behalf of Mexicos tourist industry. Over the years it has developed into one of the industrys leading associations. Today, this organization has more than 250 members, including investors and resort developers, sellers, administrators, real-estate companies, exchange companies, law firms and consultants.

For more information about AMDETUR, visit http://amdetur.org.mx

For more information about UVC, visit www.unlimitedvacationclub.com.

About Unlimited Vacation Club

Unlimited Vacation Club by AMResorts is an exclusive travel club providing exclusive privileges to its members at luxurious AMResorts properties throughout Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Through a variety of participation levels, discerning travelers can enjoy an array of benefits when they travel to any Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Now Resorts & Spas and Sunscape Resorts & Spas. Our over 40,000 members can even enjoy access to exclusive partner offers. For more information, visit www.unlimitedvacationclub.com.

About AMResorts

AMResorts is the fastest-growing provider of sales, marketing and brand management services to six unique, all-inclusive concept resort brands with nearly 60 properties in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America set to open by the end of 2018. These brands include: Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts (www.zoetryresorts.com); Secrets Resorts & Spas (www.secretsresorts.com); Breathless Resorts & Spas (www.breathlessresorts.com); Dreams Resorts & Spas (www.dreamsresorts.com) ; Now Resorts & Spas (www.nowresorts.com); and Sunscape Resorts & Spas (www.sunscaperesorts.com).

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Lt-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

The Army is called in to aid the civil administration to cope with natural disasters or maintain law and order. Although the civil administration has adequate resources to cope with such contingencies, yet more often than not it sends out a call for help to the Army. The civil administration and the police are low on organisational skills, discipline and leadership. Often on such occasions, the civil administration just disappears from the scene as was seen during the recent floods in Uttarakhand and now during the Jat stir in Haryana.

To maintain law and order and control the crowd, there are more than adequate state and central police forces. They are suitably armed to control unruly mobs and rioters. On their own they are in a position to handle riots and other cases of breakdown of law and order. At the drop of a hat, a call is made to the Army, as it happened in Haryana.

Earlier, to discourage the civil administration from making frivolous calls for the Army's assistance, a certificate from the civil administration was required along with requisition of military help, stating that it has deployed all of its resources and the situation is well outside its control and, therefore, the Armys help is being sought. This served a dual purpose: The civil administration made a genuine effort to control the situation and it indicated that it was truly grave, demanding deployment of the Army. Consequently, it also justified the military's firm action against rioters to restore order. In the case of subsequent court cases, it was possible for the military to justify its stern action.

Under normal circumstances, a magistrate who gives written orders for the military to open fire on rampaging mobs is required to accompany a military column. The Army first makes an announcement through the public-address system to warn the crowd and ask it to disperse. If that goes unheeded, it may open fire adhering to the need for minimum force and fire to incapacitate and not kill.

Very often, it is not possible to have a magistrate with each and every column, more so when there are wide-scale disturbances across the state, as was the case in Haryana. There was large-scale rioting, torching of government and private properties and looting of shops and assaults on certain sections of society. In such a situation, the officer commanding the concerned column has to act on his own. Where casualties amongst rioters take place, more often than not, long legal battles ensue and the Army is called upon to justify its action. Very often its presence has the necessary salutary effect on the crowd and the task at hand is accomplished. A range of central police organisations, against the prevalent laws, have adopted the Armys uniform, badges of ranks and other paraphernalia, making it difficult for the common man to distinguish the police from the Army.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been complicit on this issue. Consequently, the all-important salutary effect of the Army's presence on such occasions has been lost. Therefore, one saw the sad spectacle of military columns carrying placards stating that it is a military column carrying out flag marches.

In law and order cases, it is most important to handle the situation firmly in the early stages, if not pre-empt it altogether. In event of large-scale rioting, spread over vast areas, firm action at one place has the desired effect at other locations as well. It instills fear and caution in the rioters.

On the face of it, the very fact that the military has been called in, implies that the civil administration has exhausted all of its resources. Therefore, for the Army to effectively control such an adverse situation, it must have a free hand and, consequently, the authority to use force at its own reckoning, with little legal binding. This calls for amending the relevant laws. A desperate situation, as obtaining in Haryana, calls for extraordinary measures. The situation was most ineptly handled and allowed to get out of hand. It was an obvious case of breakdown of administration and police failure as the rampaging mobs were allowed a free run.

There are adequate police resources within Haryana to have effectively dealt with the developing situation. The police was nowhere to be seen as rioters indulged in arson, torching of cars and buses, looted a large number of shops in many towns. Some of them were already armed with weapons. The Ministry of Home Affairs has a large body of central police organisations. It should have made these available to Haryana. There was no need to seek the Army's help. Since the military is called only as a last resort, it must act firmly and restore order. If it fails to control the situation, then what will follow will be anarchy and the state can only wither away. During the current disturbances in Haryana, the Army's deployment did not have the desired effect and the arson and rioting continued because of alleged caution and restrictions on use of force imposed on it. Else it is difficult to explain the Army's inability to control the situation early enough. It was a replay of the riots in Delhi in 1984 on a smaller scale. Then too the military was instructed not to open fire on the rioters and the mayhem continued for many days. In Haryana, the situation improved only when the state government announced its willingness to consider rioters' demand for reservation for Jats in government jobs.

The issue of reservation for Jats in the OBC quota has been grossly mishandled. Little heed has been paid to the Supreme Court ruling in this case. Conceding the demands of Jats is bound to trigger a chain reaction. Similar demands will surface from many other communities across the country. Mobs indulging in arson, looting and rioting were essentially made up of young men and boys. They are part of the millions who are uneducated, half educated, without skills and frustrated because there are no jobs for them. India's young demographic dividend is in millions and poses a serious threat to peace.

The country has failed to provide education and skills to this multitude and create job opportunities for them. The growth of population has gone unchecked, without an effort to educate masses on the advantages of small families. We need to provide jobs to a million young men every month and that appears to be beyond our capacity. In Haryana, perhaps coming events have cast a shadow.

Given the spectre of lawlessness and ineffective administration, who would want to invest in Haryana? Surely, events in Haryana will impact foreign investment in India on and adversely impact the Make-in-India drive. An inquiry by a retired police officer may not bring to light cases of dereliction of duty at various levels and uncover attempts at a cover-up. An inquiry by a sitting judge of the high court is required to enable facts to be brought to light and ensure remedial steps for the future.

The writer, a retired Major-General, is a defence analyst.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 14

In a decision of far-reaching strategic implications, India is all set to ink a deal to have a direct undersea gas pipeline from Iran, by circumventing Pakistan. Not only this, New Delhi has approved a three-pronged push towards Iran and Central Asia.

It will fund a rail link between the Iranian port city of Chabahar and city of Zahedan, located on the tri-junction of Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan. The rail link, when concluded, will join Chabahar port with International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to provide direct access to Central Asia. It will also be used to establish greater links with Afghanistan as the India-built Zaranj-Delaram road in that country is close to Zahedan. In future, the undersea gas pipeline will bring gas from gas-rich Turkmenistan, a long-standing friend of India and a former state in the Soviet Union.

A top official of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre told The Tribune: Yes, the deal for the Iran-India undersea gas pipeline will be done. Matters have become easier as the US-imposed economic sanctions on Iran have been lifted (on January 16). Rather India-Iran have held talks on key issues since the lifting of sanctions. Even during the sanctions, India was among the few countries allowed to buy crude oil from Iran.

The $4.5 billion gas pipeline project will bring 31.5 million standard cubic metres gas per day to Indias west coast.

The 1,400-km pipeline will bypass the exclusive economic zone of Pakistan  the EEZ extends to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Laying such a pipeline would need technical expertise for which a global consortium will lead the way.
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 14

In the first high-level interaction between India and Pakistan since the Pathankot attacks, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to meet Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs, on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ministerial meeting in Kathmandu on March 17.

India has so far maintained silence on the meeting, but confirmation came from a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson at a media briefing in Islamabad.

Aziz would be meeting foreign ministers of all SAARC nations on the sidelines of the Nepal event to extend formal invitations to all heads of states for the SAARC Summit which is to be held in Pakistan later this year, the spokesperson said.

The meeting between Swaraj and Aziz assumes significance as the duo last met in Islamabad on December 9 when a major breakthrough was achieved and both sides announced the resumption of comprehensive bilateral dialogue. The Foreign Secretary-level talks were scheduled for January, but the event could not be held as ties soured after the Pathankot terror strike the same month.

Sources in the government said it was likely that the Foreign Secretary-level talks too were held in Kathmandu. This would set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington later this month. The Modi-Sharif meeting is expected to bring the dialogue between the two neighbours back on track.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 14

The BJPs siege of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in the form of Halla Bol today to protest against the alleged corrupt regime of the Congress government was marred by the MLA Ganesh Joshis brutal attack on a horse pressed into service to control the protesters and bashing up of SSP Sadanand Datte.

Though the BJP gathered a crowd of 10,000 people for a march to the Legislative Assembly the conduct of MLA Ganesh Joshi, who vented his ire on the poor horse and a police official, left a lot to be desired.

The drama unfolded a few metres before the Vidhan Sabha , leading to the Assembly building and in front of the JSR Continental. A strong barricade was there in place to prevent the BJP march.

However, the BJP party workers from the affiliate units like the Akhil Bhartiya Parishad and the district and the city unit broke six barricades put up on the Haridwar road. They crossed Rispana bridge in a bid to storm the Assembly at the Vidhan Sabha intersection where a large posse of policemen stopped them.

Besides a barricade, the police and the administration had stationed the policemen on horses to control the crowd.

Soon senior BJP leaders Madan Kaushik, Umesh Agarwal and Raj Kumar Thukral and ABVP leaders Moni, Ganesh Joshi, Pushkar Dhami trooped in.

These leaders after staging a sit-in in front of the JSR Continental for a few minutes again rushed to the barricade. The police managed to prevent the first attempt. The BJP leaders again tried to thwart the police defence. In the chaos, the policemen on horseback too stepped in and some protesters were hit.

An angry BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi snatched a baton from a policeman and started raining blows on the white horse- Shaktiman.

SSP Sadanand Datte tried to stop the angry BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi urging him not to do so but the irate Joshi, in a fit of rage, began bashing up the officer. At some point in time, a BJP party worker from the crowd tried to pull the reins of the horse.

The horse lost control. In the melee, his front hooves hit the protesters, while the back legs got entangled in the iron pillars erected by the shops nearby. A profusely bleeding horse tried to move but was stuck and fell down with his lower leg broken in two pieces.

Soon the police stepped in and began arresting the protesters who were rounded off from the site and shoved in buses.

Earlier, BJP president Ajay Bhatt said the countdown for the ouster of the corrupt Congress government had begun.

CM visits Police Lines to know about injured horse

CM Harish Rawat visited the Police Lines to know about the physical condition of the injured horse. He instructed police officials to provide best possible medical care to the injured animal. He said funds should not become a barrier for providing medical care to injured horse.
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 14

The Special Task Force (STP) of Uttarakhand Police arrested a man with five skins and 125 kg bones of tiger here today.

The police in a secret operation arrested Chander having links with an international wildlife smugglers gang from Haridwar. However, four of Chanders accomplices fled taking advantage of the darkness and dense forests, it said. The police have started search operation to nab them.

The arrested person has been identified as Ram Chander alias Chander, a resident of Dhoviyana Colony, Bhatinda, Punjab, from Shyanpur in Haridwar. The police said the skin and bones were worth Rs 70 lakh in the international market.

The tiger skins length was 10-12 ft each. These were 6-7 ft wide. Wildlife experts said the tigers were killed at least 2-5 months back.

STF officials said they had been getting information that some members of the Bavariya gang were involved in killing of wild animals in forest of Uttarakhand and their bones and skins were being smuggled to Nepal and Tibet.

A special team, under Sub-Inspector Santosh Kumar Shah, was formed to nab the culprits. Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap to arrest Ramesh Chander from Shyampur late last night.

Chander, during interrogation, accepted that they used to hunt tigers in Rajaji Tiger Reserve, Jim Corbett National Park and dense forest areas of Haridwar, Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh and Kotdwar, Pauri Garhwal.

Ramesh, along with four other gang members, was sneaking out of Haridwar towards Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh when he was arrested. Potential buyers were ready to purchase the skins to smuggle these to Nepal,  said Santosh Kumar.

The other four accused, who escaped, are Hazari of Kalka (Haryana), Ram Bhagat, Mukhtyar and Mandiya, all residents of Dhobiyana, Bhatinda, Punjab.

A case has been registered under Sections 9/39/44/49 B/51 and the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Sanjay Gunjiyal, Inspector General of Police, Garhwal Range, congratulated the STF team comprising Ved Prakash Bhatt, Mahendra Singh, Brijendra Singh, Sandeep Verma, Sanjay Kumar, Lokendra Singh, Kailash Nayal, Santosh Kumar and Deepak Bhandari for the success.
Ankara, March 14

Turkish warplanes struck against Kurdish militant camps in northern Iraq on Monday after 37 people were killed in an Ankara car bombing that security officials said involved a female fighter of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Sundays attack, tearing through a crowded transport hub a few hundred metres (yards) from the Justice and Interior Ministries, was the second such strike at the administrative heart of the Turkish capital in under a month.

Security officials told Reuters a female member of the outlawed PKK, which has fought a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in Turkeys southeast, was one of two suspected perpetrators. A police source said her severed hand had been found 300 metres from the blast site.

Evidence had been obtained that suggested she was born in 1992, was from the eastern city of Kars near the Armenian border, and had joined the militant group in 2013, they said.

Violence has spiralled in Turkeys predominantly Kurdish southeast since a 2-1/2 year ceasefire with the PKK collapsed in July. The militants have so far largely focused their strikes on security forces in southeastern towns, many of which have been under curfew.

But attacks in Ankara and in Istanbul over the last year, and the activity of Islamic State as well as Kurdish fighters, have raised concerns among NATO allies who see Turkeys stability as vital to containing violence in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. President Tayyip Erdogan is also eager to dispel any notion he is struggling to maintain security.  Reuters
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor Niral)

Ekai Kawaguchi was a Japanese Buddhist monk, known for his travels to Tibet and Nepal in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He described his travel to Tibet in his book Three Years in Tibet.

Childhood and Background

Ekai Kawaguchi was born on the 24th February 1866 and named Sadajiro. He was the eldest among five children and was Christian by birth. At the age of only 15, his direction in life turned unexpectedly after he read about the life of the Buddha. He developed a passionate urge to become a monk and decided to live by the Shojin vows. These included a strict adherence to vegetarianism, abstinence from alcohol and celibacy.

At the age of 25, he was ordained as a monk at the Gohyakku Rakunji. His name changed to Ekai Jinko which means Ocean of Wisdom, Wide Virtue. He became the rector of his Monastery in Tokyo but gave up the position in 1891 in order to dedicate his time to studying a large collection of Buddhist books in the Chinese language, to meditate and learning Pali in Kyoto. He lived in seclusion at the head temple of Obakusan to translate difficult classical Chinese texts of the Tripitaka into Japanese. Realising the need to refer to the original manuscripts for accurate translation, he decided to leave for Tibet in 1897.

India

It took Kawaguchi a few years before he reached his goal of traveling to Tibet. He first stayed in Darjeeling, India for several months, living with a Tibetan family to learn the Tibetan language.

Nepal

Kawaguchi had to cross either Bhutan or Nepal to reach Tibet. He chose the route through Nepal as there were many Sanskrit manuscripts to study there and sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites to visit. He was also the first Japanese to enter Nepal as it was forbidden to foreigners. Kawaguchi decided to disguise himself as either a Tibetan or Chinese monk and use less frequented routes. Kawaguchi had to maintain his undercover identity during the whole trip. He travelled through Kathmandu, across high Himalayan Mountains into Tibet. He was not well equipped and had only limited information and support. But he reached his goal, Lhasa, in 1900.

During his second visit to Nepal, in March 1905, he offered a 100-volume set of the Tripitaka to the Prime Minister of Nepal. It is currently kept in Kathmandu, at the National Archives. The then Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana offered Kawaguchi various Sanskrit manuscripts in return. Kawaguchi also collected many other Sanskrit manuscripts, Buddhist scrolls, paintings, and religious objects while in Nepal.

During his third visit to Nepal, Ekai Kawaguchi advocated for the unity of Asia and Pan-Asianism in his letter to the prime minister. Nepal being the birthplace of Gautam Buddha deserved to benefit from Japanese science and technology. Kawaguchi also offered suggestions for the development of Nepal various and diverse fields, such as education, political and financial administration, industrial development and infrastructure.

During a pilgrimage to Lumbini in 1912, Ekai Kawaguchi witnessed animal sacrifices to Maya Devi, the mother of Buddha, who was mistaken by the local people to be a Hindu Deity. He requested Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana to prohibit animal sacrifices, who issued a decree prohibiting animal sacrifices at Lumbini.

Tibet

The journey from Japan to Lhasa took almost four years. He stayed at many monasteries and made pilgrimage around the sacred Mount Kailash in west Tibet. Besides being the first Japanese to visit Tibet, he also was the first foreigner who stayed for more than one year in Lhasa, the forbidden city. He studied at the Sera Monastic University in Lhasa and gained a good reputation as a doctor.

His travels are described in his book Chibetto Rzoko Ri, or Three Years in Tibet. His book is an important witness as it portrays his journey as well as the social, religious and political situation in India, Nepal and Tibet. In the 1920s he assisted the German Theravada monk Nyanatiloka, the first teacher of another pioneering traveler to Tibet, Lama Anagarika Govinda.

Upon his return to Japan, many people began to be curious about distant Tibet. He gave talks about Tibetan customs and manners but especially monastic immoderation and corruption, superstition irritated him a lot. On the other hand he had great respect for the religious and political leaders and had made many friends during his travels.

Extracts from Three Years in Tibet

Regarding Shigatze

The town before me was Shigatze, the second capital of Tibet, and the palatial building was the Tashi Lhunpo Temple. The name means a glorious mass or Mount Sumeru,a legendary mountain mentioned in Buddhist Scriptures. The monastery owes its name to its founder, Gendun Tub, who thought that the mountain at the rear of the temple resembled Sumeru. The Lama Superior of this temple is regarded as the second Grand Lama of Tibet, for, though he does not possess any political influence, yet with regard to the rank bestowed by the Chinese Emperor he is superior even to the Dalai Lama himself. Sometimes a kind of regency under this second Grand Lama takes place during the interval between the Dalai Lamas death and the enthronement of what in Tibet is believed to be his re-incarnated self. This second Grand Lama is commonly called Panchen Rinpoche, but his real title is Kyab-kon Chen-bo, meaning Great Protector, while his name is Lobsang Choe-ki Nima, the noble-minded religious sun. I was told he was eighteen years old, having been born in the year of sheep, and was believed to be an incarnation of Amida-nyorai. At the time of my visit he was away at a distant palace, so that I could not see him.  Ekai Kawaguchi, Three Years in Tibet.

Regarding Sera Monastery

I was admitted as a student of the first class, in which priest-students varying from boys in their teens to men in the forties and fifties were studying the Buddhist catechism, according to the Tibetan fashion. Their way of studying was so interesting and active, and they were so earnest and fervent, that one would have thought they were quarrelling with one another while discussing. The catechism is a very pleasant performance, and the ways of questioning, emphasis, and intonation are quite interesting. The catechised sits in a certain attitude, and the questioner stands up with a rosary in his left hand, and walks towards him. He stretches out his hands with the palm of the left hand downwards and that of the right hand upwards and claps them together, uttering the words, Chi ! chi tawa choe chan. Here  Chi  means the heart of the Bodhisattva Manjushri and its utterance is supposed to make the questioner one with Him, whose real body is knowledge. The rest of the utterance literally means, in that nature of the truth. The sense of the whole is We shall begin the discussion following the nature of Truth as it is manifested in the Universe. Then the discussion begins in earnest according the rules of the logic of Nyaya. The first question, for instance, may be whether Buddha was human or not. Whether the answer is in the affirmative or the negative, the questioner goes on to ask; But he was not above mortality, was he? If he be answered in the affirmative, he will say that it could not be so, for Buddha was no more than mortal. The answerer, if bright enough, will then reply that Buddha, though himself above death, submitted himself to it in his incarnated body. He must say also that Buddha had three bodies, called in Samskrit Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya, and in Tibetan, Choeku, Lonjoeku and Tulku. These terms mean: The all pervading body consisting of the purest virtue of Truth in him, the body derived from his countless virtues, enjoying complete happiness with the light of Truth, and the body derived from his boundless mercy and transcendental knowledge for the good of all beings. If the catechised shows any weak point in his answers, the questioner never fails to take advantage of the opportunity, and drives him on, saying for example that Buddha was a real man born in India. Whether the answer be in the affirmative or negative, he will go on asking many questions in succession, and that with so much animation that, when he utters the words of a question, he beats time with hands and feet. The teacher always teaches the catechists that the foot must come down so strongly that the door of hell may be broken open, and that the hands must make so great a noise that the voice of knowledge may frighten the devils all over the world, by a fearless heart and a brave attitude. The object of the questions and answers is to free the mind from all worldliness, and to get into the very bottom of Truth, giving no power to the devils of hell in the mind.  Ekai Kawaguchi, Three Years in Tibet.

Meeting with the Dalai Lama

Ekai Kawaguchis fame grew as he was helping many people through medicine and acupuncture. Because he was helping poor priests in the monastery, he was invited to the Royal Court for an audience with His Holiness 13th Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Rinpoche Thubten Gyatso. In his book, Kawaguchi shares his account of the audience and how it came about. He was even praised by the Court Physician, who said he would recommend Kawaguchi to become the Court Physician:

The Dalai Lama was dressed in a cloak different from that of a common priest. He had on a silk hood and a great robe called sanghati and under it a fine putuk of Tibetan wool about his waist. His under dress was what is called Lema woven of the best Chinese sheep wool. He wore a fine Papal crown on his head though he is said to be often bare-headed, with no crown at all. He held a rosary in his left hand. He was then aged twenty-six. He is about five feet eight inches high, a moderate height in Tibet. The Dalai Lama looks very brave. His eyebrows are very high, and he is very keen-eyed. Once a Chinese phrenologist remarked that the Tibetan Pope would bring about war one day, to the great disturbance of the country, for though brave-looking, he had an unlucky face. Whether the prophesy comes true or not, he really looks the very man of whose face a phrenologist would be sure to say something. He has a very sharp and commanding voice, so that one could not but pay reverence in his presence.  Ekai Kawaguchi, Three Years in Tibet.

Ekai Kawaguchi brought back to Japan a large collection of Tibetan scriptures. After his return he was an independent monk and lived with his brothers family. He earned some income from the publication of his scholarly work. He was wrongly accused of being a spy in Tibet and he refused to assist the military police when they approached him. He passed away in 1945.

Three Years in Tibet  The Text

Below you can find a copy of the original version of Three Years in Tibet, authored by Ekai Kawaguchi, in which he recounts his journey to Tibet and the adventures he had. This book includes the original Japanese illustrations.



Three Years in Tibet

(download PDF)

Three Years in Tibet  Japanese Illustrations

Ekai Kawaguchis book Three Years in Tibet was influential in many regards, one of them being the original Japanese illustrations that were included in the book. For most of the world, these illustrations were the first visual glimpse of life inside of Tibet. At the time Tibet was closed to all outsiders as the country adhered to a policy of self-isolation, and only a few, such as Ekai Kawaguchi were able to set foot inside its borders. Therefore the illustrations served as the earliest visual materials of what life in Tibet was like. Here are some of those illustrations.

An audience with the Dalai Lama. Click to enlarge. A night in the open and a snow leopard. Click to enlarge. A sand storm. Click to enlarge. A scene from the Monlam Festival. Click to enlarge. Attacked by robbers. Click to enlarge. A vehement philosophical discussion. Click to enlarge. Entering Tibet from Nepal. Click to enlarge. Fallen into a muddy swamp. Click to enlarge. Funeral ceremonies: cutting up the dead body. Click to enlarge. Je Tsong Kha Pa. Click to enlarge. Lama Sengchen Dorjechan. Click to enlarge. Meditating in the face of death. Click to enlarge. Pema Chungne (Padmasambhava). Click to enlarge. Priest fighting with hail. Click to enlarge. Procession of the Panchen or Tashi Lama in Lhasa. Click to enlarge. Reading the texts. Click to enlarge. The final ceremony of the Monlam. Click to enlarge. Attacked by dogs and saved by a lady. Click to enlarge. Struggle in the river. Click to enlarge. Inner room of the Dalai Lamas country house. Click to enlarge. Lake Manasarovara. Click to enlarge. Meeting a furious wild yak. Click to enlarge. Outline of the Monastery of Tashi Lhunpo. Click to enlarge. Outline of the residence of the Dalai Lama. Click to enlarge.

The Kawaguchi Ekai Memorial Museum

It was in 1899 that Ekai Kawaguchi arrived in the small town of Marpha, in the Mustang District of Nepal. It was there that he lived for two years, all the while making his secret preparations to cross over the border into Tibet. The house in which he lived has been turned into a small museum showcasing some of the items he left behind. While there, it is said that he studied the sacred Kangyur and Tengyur texts housed in the small chapel of the house.

The town of Marpha was a strategic location for Ekai Kawaguchi. It was out of the way, virtually immune to raids by bandits, yet provided him with the necessities he needed to prepare for his journey into Tibet. These days the town is known for its amazing landscape, idyllic outcroppings of apple and apricot trees, and as an overnight stop for trekkers on the Annapurna Mountain Range Circuit.

Address:

Ekai Kawaguchis Home

Ekai Kawaguchi Memorial Trust

Marpha-1

Mustang

Nepal

Ekai Kawaguchis House in Marpha, Mustang District, Nepal.

The view of the front of Ekai Kawaguchis home

The house in Marpha, Nepal, where Ekai Kawaguchi lived for two years before his daring journey into Tibet

The wooden exterior detail of the house

The view of the scenic landscape from the house

Part of an exhibition on the life of Ekai Kawaguchi at the Mustang Eco-Museum, in the neighbouring area of Jomsom, Nepal

A look inside the kitchen of the house in Marpha, Nepal, where Ekai Kawaguchi stayed for two years before traveling to Tibet.

Or view the video on the server at:

https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/EkaiAddition-Kitchen.mp4

The inside of the small chapel of the house, where Ekai Kawaguchi read and studied the holy Kangyur and Tengyur texts of Tibetan Buddhism

Or view the video on the server at:

https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/EkaiAddition-ShrineRoom.mp4

Spirit of Exploration

Two great explorers, Ekai Kawaguchi with Alexandra David-Neel, and her adopted son Aphur Yongden in July 1917.

In addition to meeting royalty, politicians and personalities of the day, Ekai Kawaguchi was also acquainted with Alexandra David-Neel. She was a Belgium-French explorer, who also traveled to Tibet. Often known as the first western woman to reach Lhasa she is also considered to have been the first Buddhist in France. She published many books about Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and is considered a great explorer herself. Ekai Kawaguchi and Alexandra David-Neel met each other while in the waiting room of His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama, when His Holiness was in exile in Kalimpong, India, between 1910-1913. While talking to each other, they realised that they were both keen explorers and became friends. They were only ever to meet again in person once, when Alexandra David-Neel visited Japan in 1917.

The Three Diaries

Pages from the long-lost diary of Ekai Kawaguchi, found in 2016

Thought to have been lost, the three hand written diaries detailing Kawaguchis journeys in Tibet, were found in 2004, 2005, and 2016 respectively. The last journal, found at the Tokyo home of his then 90-year-old niece, includes the account of his escape from Tibet, and his grueling 400-kilometer journey to Darjeeling, India. Interestingly, the diary contains accounts that he left out of his book Three Years In Tibet, such as details of his stay in Lhasa and the specific Buddhist teachings he received or studied at various sites in Nepal and Tibet.

However, events listed in the diaries have allowed Japanese historians to confirm the authenticity of information contained within Three Years in Tibet, which had a policy of closing its borders to outsiders at the time due to its policy of isolation. It was only after Kawaguchi returned to Japan that he dictated the story of his journey, which was published in 1904 as Three Years in Tibet. This book is known as the first book which started the travel book genre in Japan. This discovery once again reiterates the fact that Ekai Kawaguchi is considered a pioneering explorer, one of the founders of Tibetan Studies in Japan, and an great ethnologist.

Pictures of Ekai Kawaguchi

The Ekai Kawaguchi Memorial plaque in Boudha, Nepal. Click to enlarge. Ekai Kawaguchi dressed in ceremonial Tibetan costume. Click to enlarge. Ekai Kawaguchi performing a Tibetan Buddhist ritual. Click to enlarge. Ekai Kawaguchi dressed as a Tibetan lama. Click to enlarge. Ekai Kawaguchi in the Japanese robes of his Buddhist order. Ekai Kawaguchi in 1909 before he left Japan on his travels. Click to enlarge.

Three Years in Tibet  Various Editions

Over the years Three Years in Tibet has been published again and again by a variety of publishing companies. Below are just some examples of the editions of the book available to purchase.

Published in 2005 by Bibliotheca Himalayica. Click to enlarge. Published in 2016 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Click to enlarge. Published in 2012 by Forgotten Books. Click to enlarge. Published in 1995 by Book Faith. Click to enlarge. Published in 2010 by Nabu Press. Click to enlarge. Published in 2013 by HardPress Publishing. Click to enlarge.

Books about Ekai Kawaguchi

Ekai Kawaguchis legacy is apparent in the sheer number of history books that mention his life and work. He has been so influential that a number of works have been written about his impact to the world of ethnography and exploration. Below are just two such examples:

A Stranger in Tibet. Scott Berry, 1990, Kodansha International Ekai Kawaguchi: The trespassing insider. Adhi Subedi, 1999, Mandala Book Point



For more interesting information:



Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 13 of the Malaysian Copyright Act 1987, allowance is made for fair dealing for purposes such as non-profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events. The Operator and author(s) of TsemRinpoche.com, a not-for-profit blog, do not claim ownership on the intellectual property rights of the contents, images and/or videos reproduced in this article. Any subsisting intellectual property rights shall belong to the legal owner of the contents, images and/or videos.
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast  Armed men attacked an Ivory Coast beach resort Sunday, killing at least 16 people and sending tourists fleeing through the historic town of Grand-Bassam in an attack claimed by al-Qaidas North Africa branch.

Bloody bodies were sprawled on the beach and witnesses described horrific scenes as a lazy weekend afternoon was shattered by the West Africas latest extremist strike.

Ivory Coasts President Alassane Ouattara told reporters at the scene that 14 civilians, two special forces and six assailants were killed when the gunmen stormed the beach. The president arrived in Grand-Bassam a few hours after the attack, visiting the hotels and saluting security forces for their quick response.

I present my condolences to the families of the people who were murdered, and of course I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast, Ouattara said outside the Etoile du Sud, one of the targeted hotels. The toll couldve been much heavier.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites. The Islamic extremist group made the declaration in a post to its Telegram channels, calling three of the attackers heroes for the assault.

The bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand-Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Abidjan, Ivory Coasts commercial center. It was the third major attack on a tourism center in West Africa since November.

Some witnesses said the assailants fired at random, while others said the killing was more targeted. Witness Marcel Guy said that gunmen raced across the beach in small groups, toting Kalashnikov rifles and hunting for victims.

One gunman, who had a long beard, approached two children on the beach and Guy said he heard the man speaking Arabic. One of the children then knelt and started praying. He was spared, while the other boy was not.

The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes, Guy said.

An Associated Press reporter saw four bodies sprawled out on the beach in front of a small resort next to the Etoile du Sud hotel, which is popular with foreigners.Jacques Able, who identified himself as the owner of Etoile du Sud, said he rushed to the hotel after getting a phone call. He said one person had been killed at the hotel.

A receptionist at the Etoile du Sud described the mayhem.

We dont know where they came from, and we dont know where theyve gone, said the receptionist, who would not give his name.

Beachgoers could be seen lining up with their hands above their heads as they filed out of the area. Residents who heard the gunfire hid in their homes, said Josiane Sekongo, 25, who lives across from one of the towns beachfront hotels.

An American embassy delegation was in Grand-Bassam on Sunday, but the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan said it was monitoring the situation and had no evidence U.S. citizens were targeted or harmed.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit by jihadists as well.

All three West African countries are former French colonies and at least one of those killed in Grand-Bassam Sunday was French. The Paris prosecutors office has opened an investigation into the attack, calling it murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Anti-terrorism investigators will handle the probe because there was a French victim.

The West African attacks indicate that extremist violence is spreading from North Africa, where a beach attack in June killed 38 people in Tunisia.

I have always said that Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Dakar (Senegal) are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa, said Lemine Ould M. Salem, an expert on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and author of a book The Bin Laden of the Sahara.

The United States strongly condemned the attack in Grand-Bassam, sending thoughts and prayers to all affected by this senseless violence. The U.S. Embassy in Abidjan is making every effort to account for the welfare of American citizens in the area, said the statement issued by State Department spokesman John Kirby.

Ivory Coast is an important regional partner to the United States, said the statement. In the days ahead we stand ready to support the Ivorian government as it investigates this heinous attack, said the statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he was appalled by the attack in Grand-Bassam as well as a bombing in Turkeys capital that also occurred Sunday.
MIAMI  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was among the Republican Partys biggest stars when he burst onto the national stage in the tea party wave of 2010. Now, he is facing a home-state showing on Tuesday that could devastate his 2016 presidential campaign and damage his political brand for years to come.

The Cuban-Americans desire to become the nations first Hispanic president, and his past support for a forgiving immigration policy, have failed to excite conservative primary voters who instead have flocked to Donald Trumps nativist politics.

Marcos always had good timing. This time, the timing just wasnt there, said Albert Lorenzo, who managed Rubios first state house campaign nearly two decades ago and stays in close contact with him.

Yet Lorenzo, like those closest to Rubio, suggest that should his bid end in disappointment, the senators career in public service is far from over. The 44-year-old Republican could run for Florida governor in two years, president in four years or even his own Senate seat later this year.

Hes a talent you dont find, Lorenzo said.

Added Rubio ally, Miami city commissioner Francis Suarez: I cant think of anybody more popular in Florida than he is  except maybe the man hes losing to.

Indeed, the first-term senator has been looking up at Trump in Florida preference polls for months. Rubio is the decided underdog to the billionaire businessman in Tuesdays home-state contest.

Despite long odds, Rubio insists hes focused only on winning his partys 2016 presidential nomination.

I havent even thought about what Im having for lunch today, much less what Im going to run for in two years or nothing at all, he told reporters in West Palm Beach this week.

If I never hold public office again, Im comfortable with that, Rubio continued. I cant tell you whats going to happen two to four years from now. But I have no plans. No thoughts. No contemplation. No meetings. Nothing about any future political run of any sort.

Should his presidential bid end in disappointment, many who know him expect a political comeback, though those closest to Rubio believe he could turn to the private sector to help provide for his family.

With four school-age children, Rubio has struggled with his personal finances in recent years, cashing out a retirement account as recently as 2014 to upgrade home appliances and pay for school costs. The Republican would have such well-compensated options as becoming a media personality or joining a law firm.

He would also need to decide whether he wants to return to Capitol Hill.

Rubio has previously said he would not run for president and the Senate at the same time. An exit from the White House contest next week would give him plenty of time to qualify for another, albeit unlikely, Senate run.

The deadline to file the necessary paperwork isnt until late June. And Federal Election Commission rules allow him to transfer any unused money from his presidential campaign to a Senate campaign account, albeit with caveats about individual donor limits.

Rubio would also be a prime candidate to run for the open governors seat being vacated by the term-limited Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Such a move would give the senators political standing at least a year to recover after a brutal 2016 campaign.

Some conservatives suggest that may not be enough time to resurrect his political brand, should Rubio suffer an embarrassing loss on Tuesday.

I think a loss in Florida is very bad for Rubios political future. It is hard to argue that Rubio is the right guy to run for governor of Florida if he couldnt win a presidential primary there, said Mark Meckler, a longtime leader in the national tea party movement. Luckily, hes a bright man, a seemingly nice guy, and probably has a solid future in the private sector. And perhaps after a few years out, he can come back and run again.

Rubio could, of course, make another run for the White House in 2020 or beyond if he fails this year. The vast majority of recent Republican presidential nominees have not captured the nomination in their first attempts.

Rubio, who turns 45 years old in May, is the youngest of the remaining four 2016 contenders. His supporters note that Ronald Reagan was 69 when he assumed office.

People are still getting to know Marco, said Luis Rodriguez, a longtime Rubio supporter and former vice chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. He has 20 more years he can run for president. If not now, in 5, 10 or 20 years hell be there.

After a nasty 2016 campaign, however, its unclear if Rubio wants to be there.

Life, he said Saturday on Fox News, is about a lot more than politics.
The Sand Springs Leader is trying to help any way we can.

Whether its a book drive or a donating a portion of our proceeds to the schools, we want to give back to the community that supports us.

Right now, if you were to walk into the Leader office, and we encourage that you do, you would find a rather large box with nothing in it.

However, we want to see it so full it will take a forklift to remove it.

The Sand Springs Leader, along with the other papers in the Oklahoma Weekly Group, and the Tulsa World recently launched a book drive, and we want to collect as many childrens books as possible.

The newspapers are collecting new and gently-used books for children up to the age of five to help parents get books to read to their children in Tulsa, Sand Springs and the surrounding communities.

The book drive is a partnership between the newspapers, Reach Out and Read, Just Between Friends and the Talking is Teaching initiative.

It will last for around a month and it started Feb. 28, which means its half over.

Bring books to the Sand Springs Leader office at 303 N. McKinley Avenue. Donations are accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. We might even give you a Sand Springs Leader pen or any loose office supplies we have lying around.

For more information about the book drive, visit www.tulsaworld.com/bookdrive.

More than anything, I would like the beat Coweta American editor Christy Wheeland. Sure, I want kids to have access to books, but its really about me being better than Christy, which is obvious by the results of our other contests and challenges. Ive still never been the Grand Marshal of a parade, but she wasnt a very good one.

The Leader is also trying to relieve some of the financial burden the schools are currently facing.

Due to the dire financial shape the state is in thanks to the oil industry tumble in the past year, education funding is in trouble.

Right now, anyone that subscribes to the newspaper will also be helping education in Sand Springs. The Leader will donate half of the money collected by new subscriptions to Sand Springs Schools.

The Leader is spear-heading a saturation campaign, throwing newspapers to local houses for free. Of those houses, if anyone decides to take the paper, we will donate a portion of that money to the Sand Springs School system.

We appreciate the support we receive from the families and business that subscribe or place ads in our paper, and we want to help.

So, whether its bringing us new or used childrens books, or subscribing to the Leader, you can help too.
A man who was listed as brain dead after he was found shot in the head in a car Friday night has died from his wounds.

Police found 19-year-old Evan Stout about 9:45 p.m. after they received a call about a man slumped over the steering wheel of a car in the area of 2200 N. Boston Place, according to an arrest and booking report.

Stout, who was found alive but declared brain dead at St. John Medical Center, died at the hospital Sunday, homicide Sgt. Dave Walker said in a news release.

The alleged assailant in the shooting, Tiffany Wesley, also 19, turned herself in to police about noon Saturday after police detectives named her a person of interest in the case.

She was initially booked into Tulsa Jail on a complaint of shooting with intent to kill. Following Stouts death, the offense was upgraded to second-degree murder, Walker said.

The bond for that offense is set at $500,000, according to jail records.

Wesley is accused of shooting Stout, whom police identify as her boyfriend, in the right temple with a .38-caliber revolver, according to her arrest and booking report.

Wesley reportedly admitted to the shooting and told police it was either him or her, the report states.

Though Wesley said she didnt see Stout with a gun, he was reportedly pulling her hair as they drove down the street, according to the report.

Stouts death marks Tulsas eighth homicide of 2016.
OKLAHOMA CITY  State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger has lashed out at his party after Republican legislative leaders said they would not hear controversial education vouchers bills.

Doerflingers comments were made Thursday to an Oklahoma City radio station and generated criticism on social media.

He told the station that he was blown away that Republicans couldnt get traction on the issue.

Republicans should put Ds (for Democrats) after their names and call it good, he told the station.

Doerflinger also criticized state Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, saying she is a Democrat in Republican clothes. She is a Republican.

On Monday, Doerflinger said his remarks could have been tempered, but he would not change the content of his statements. He also said he doesnt think Hofmeister is a Democrat, adding that the two have a good relationship.

Hofmeisters office said she would not respond to personal comments from last weeks radio interview. She requested to meet with Doerflinger on Friday, but he was not available, according to her office.

I still feel strongly about my position on ESAs, Doerflinger said in reference to education savings accounts, another term for vouchers that would allow state money to be spent for students education at private schools.

Noting that the Capitol is a political environment where issues get debated, Doerflinger said he understands that while he supports education savings accounts, there are those who are equally opposed to them.

Gov. Mary Fallin, who appointed Doerflinger to his post, called in her State of the State address for the Legislature to approve a bill creating education savings accounts.

Doerflinger, Fallins chief budget negotiator, said he and others would have liked to have seen a vote on the issue so constituents would know where lawmakers stood on the bills.

He said education savings accounts have been part of the GOP platform for years, and that he was frustrated that legislative leaders did not allow a vote on them.

Under the concept, public dollars would follow a student who wishes to attend a private or religious school. Supporters say it would create more choice, while critics say it would harm public education by removing funding.

Doerflinger said he was not opposed to tapping the states Rainy Day Fund to help offset cuts made this fiscal year to common education but that he believes the education establishment is more about getting additional dollars than implementing reforms.

Meanwhile, Tulsa activist group We the People Oklahoma called on Fallin to remove Doerflinger from his position, saying in a press release that his ongoing verbal insults against public officials and others are beneath the office he holds.

Doerflinger said that if officials were removed from office every time an official had a position different from the group calling for the resignation, we would have nobody up here.

House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, was asked for his reaction to Doerflingers radio comments.

I was shocked that the governors top appointee would be so partisan and critical in response to a bipartisan group of House members who stood with their (constituent) parents and teachers to oppose fiscally irresponsible vouchers, Inman said.

One of the takeaways from his diatribe was that the governor and her staff clearly arent listening to the people of Oklahoma who overwhelmingly oppose this measure and they are willing to insinuate that those Republican House members who opposed vouchers arent true Republicans because they wouldnt toe the party line, he continued.

Fallin released a statement late Monday afternoon saying: Its a challenging time at the Capitol with falling oil prices and the resulting budget shortfalls. Naturally, there is a lot of frustration and certainly our secretary of finance, Preston Doerflinger, is not immune from that. He has a tough job.

However, Secretary Doerflinger has said he should have tempered his comments and frustration on legislative inaction and at times misinformation on agency programs. Hes apologized for it.

In the meantime, Republicans and Democrats must work together to craft good public policy and develop a workable budget.
Many kids would like to have a shorter school week, but it could be extremely hard on the parents.

They also should keep the buses running. Some families rely heavily upon them. If the school made some of these changes it would affect the school in a negative way.
For some time, the Tulsa World's local and certain syndicated columnists have referred to President Barack Obama as a lame duck president. It most recently appeared in Associate Editor Mike Jones' column ("Bully," Feb. 28).

Obama, correctly speaking, is not a lame duck president (Congress' cooperation with the executive branch notwithstanding.) I find it interesting that politically astute commentators and columnists err on this definition.

Norbert R. Mahnken, Ph.D, Oklahoma State University professor of political science, pointed out to students in my 1967-68 political science courses (and I'm sure would be quick to do so to these folks today) the technically correct definition of a lame duck politician is: An officeholder who has been voted out upon running for re-election, and is simply serving out his or her current term with no electoral mandate.

Pundits, writers and certain editorialists ought to get it right. Obama was elected to the constitutional maximum of two full terms as president, never losing such an election, and is fully vested in political capacity through the end of his second term, ending in January 2017.

Editor's note: According the Webster's New College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, lame duck is defined as: An elected official whose term extends beyond the time of the election at which he or she was not re-elected.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
Super Tuesday really was Super Tuesday for folks who visited the University of Tulsas McFarlin Library with I. Marc Carlson.

On the same day, folks in Oklahoma cast votes for presidential candidates, Carlson flipped through the worn pages of a decades-old address book at the library and  jackpot!  found a super-cool name.

Jerry Siegel.

In the 1930s, Siegel teamed with Joe Shuster to create a fellow called Superman.

Siegels phone number and mailing address had been scribbled in the address book along with other names that lovers of pop culture may recognize. Anybody else here got an address book with contact information for the co-creator of Superman?

The address book isnt Carlsons. Its the property of the University of Tulsa and it used to be the property of E. Nelson Bridwell, an important figure in Oklahomas pop culture history.

Comic books were a new art form during Bridwells childhood, and he was one of the first comic book fans to graduate to comic book writer and editor.

Born in Sapulpa and raised in Oklahoma City, Bridwell contributed stories to Mad magazine and worked at DC Comics for more than 20 years, creating the Inferior Five and Secret Six in the 1960s and scripting series like Shazam and Super Friends in the 1970s. His encyclopedic knowledge of DCs characters led to him being the continuity cop for the company.

If you needed to know if Superman had ever met the Joker before, you didnt have to spend days in the archives, local author R.A. Jones said. You just asked Nelson.

Bridwell died in 1987. Two years later, Marjorie Smalley, a relative and executor of his estate, gifted the E. Nelson Bridwell Collection to the University of Tulsa. Good for Marjorie. It would have been a shame if Bridwells goodies had been lost to humanity.

The big pop culture news this month was the acquisition of The Bob Dylan Archives (more than 6,000 items) by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and TU.

The day before the Dylan news popped, Carlson assisted a group of folks who wanted to know the answer to this question: Whats in the E. Nelson Bridwell Collection? Surely someone who worked at the home of Superman and Batman amassed colorful treasures.

Carlson, librarian of special collections and university archives, unlocked the vault, and thats permitted. The McFarlin Library is a private school library, not a public library. But the librarys special collections can be viewed upon request, if you follow the rules.

The problem we have with a lot of our collections is most people dont have any clue what weve got, Carlson said, indicating he wants to get the word out.

People who know about us tend to think we are simply James Joyce and modernist literature. While those are important strengths, they are not all we do.

Carlson said TU has extensive collections in history (Western, Native American and Tulsa history), militaria (predominantly World War I), politics, womens studies, performing arts and popular culture  including dime novels and comic books.

And that brings us back to Bridwell, who was inducted posthumously in the Oklahoma Cartoonist Hall of Fame in 2005.

Carlson is of the opinion that Bridwells work in popular culture and visual literature deserves to be remembered. Asked about the importance of Bridwells collection being housed in Tulsa, Carlson said the simple comic book realm has gained importance in modern culture. Comics have become source material for popular TV series and movies. He said the library is honored and proud to keep Bridwells memory and work alive.

So, whats in the Bridwell collection? Lets open these boxes (more than a dozen) and see if theres a glow, like that opened suitcase in Pulp Fiction.

Most of the boxes contain  no surprise  comic books. The oldest is Adventures into the Unknown No. 48, published in 1943. The collection also includes some of the earliest issues of Mad, before the humor publication graduated from comic book to magazine.

Library visitors Shane Vandermark and Doug Goodsell, who owns the World of Comics store, watched in anticipation as Carlson sifted through items in the collection. There was correspondence with fellow creators like Joe Orlando and Roy Thomas, original artwork, color separations of comic covers and sentiments from folks who eulogized Bridwell. In addition to family photos, the collection included a photo of Bridwell and other DC staffers when they were movie extras in Superman II.

Also: Bridwells Social Security card, his high school diploma, a company ID, a Warner Bros. employee benefits card, a Forbidden Planet professional discount card, a wallet and keys. Maybe one of the keys starts Wonder Womans invisible plane.

It has been a long time since I looked through this, Carlson said.

I actually looked through this briefly about 10 years ago, just sort of to see what was in it. So, for me, as somebody who has been in comics over so many, many years, its actually kind of interesting to see what is there. What did he think was worth keeping? Im curious to know what they threw out, because every time you get somebodys (collection) like this, we are not getting all of his stuff. I know that. But the fact that they did think to save some of the separate materials is really cool.

Carlson was asked what item in the collection made him say wow. He first said hes not sure if it was any one specific item before mentioning the address book with Siegels address and phone number. Dont bother writing or calling. Siegel died in 1996.

Carlson wondered aloud: Who else did Bridwell think was important enough to keep their contact information?

The address book included contact info for others in the comics biz like Len Wein (co-creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine), Marv Wolfman (there wouldnt be a Teen Titans cartoon without his body of work), Dick Giordano and Paul Levitz.

And  just in case the Bat-Phone wasnt working?  Bridwell had written down a phone number for the 9th Precinct Police Department in New York City.

Said Carlson: Its good to know if you suddenly have to call the police.
It's Divali time so at TV6 over the next few days, we bring you some of the interesting aspe
Entries are now open for the 2016 Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship, offering a three-month paid journalism internship.

Applications are open to final-year university students and recent graduates aged 26 or under. The scholarship is targeted to storytellers with a passion for TV journalism and dreams of carving out a career in the competitive television industry.

The Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to strut your stuff in front of a selection panel of senior industry figures, Walkley Foundation acting CEO and general manager, Louisa Graham said.

The winner goes onto an eight-week placement at Nine, but shortlisted applicants have also been offered opportunities. The Walkley Foundation proudly supports career development for young journalists, she said.

Previous recipients are now working at Nine News in Perth & Sydney, SBS World News and the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Established in 2013 through the support of media executive Anita Jacoby, the scholarship recognises the legacy of her father, Phillip Jacoby, a pioneer in the Australian electronics and broadcast industry.

Across 12 weeks, the successful applicant can develop their knowledge, understanding and media industry experience with a range of top media organisations including:

 An eight-week placement at the Nine Network in Sydney, with four weeks at 60 Minutes, two weeks in the Nine newsroom and two weeks split between A Current Affair and Today

 A four-week placement at the Walkley Foundation, in the lead up to the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism

 Participation in at least one TV production course through the open program at the Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS)

 Mentoring from senior journalist members of the Walkley Advisory Board

In addition, the successful applicant receives a stipend for the 12 weeks of the scholarship. Entries for 2016 close on Tuesday April 26.

walkleys.com/get-involved/scholarships/
Tomorrow on SBS Dateline asks, should immigrants who commit crimes be deported?

Hong Ung grew up and went to school in Western Sydney  part of one of the many thousands of families displaced by the khmer rouge.

But, after spending 22 years of his life in Australia, he was deported. Hes now homeless on the streets of Cambodia.

I made a mistake[I] was a like a gangster and all that and suddenly got deported. I wish I could go back.

Hong was convicted of demanding money from a shop when he was 19. Now in his mid-forties, hes ill with cancer and is not permitted to fly home to Australia for medical treatment nor to visit his ageing parents.

The U.S. is also turning tough on criminals who arent citizens.

31 year-old Khan moved to America as a baby after being born in a Thai refugee camp. Recently he was deported to Cambodia  a country hed never even stepped foot in.

You know, I thought I was permanent. I thought I was there legally, Im forever there. That you know, you cant remove me from there. Basically, thats what permanent means.

Khan was jailed for stealing cars. He served his time behind bars and thought that was the end of his punishment. It wasnt. The U.S then decided to deport him almost ten years after hed finished his sentence.

Hong and Khan are just two of hundreds of refugees being deported each year after serving time in Australian and American prisons. Dateline asks, should immigrants who commit crimes be deported?

Tuesday, 15 March at 9.30pm on SBS.
This week on Home Delivery, Miranda Tapsell tells Julia Zemiro that a visit to her school by Aaron Pedersen ignited a dream of becoming an actor.

In this warm and witty episode of Home Delivery, Julia travels to the Northern Territory to meet Miranda Tapsell in the heart of the glorious Kakadu National Park. As an only child growing up in the tiny town of Jabiru, Miranda tells that she was regularly subjected to bushwalking. She developed a love of performing from a very young age, and joined the Jabiru Tappers at age six, and delighted her parents with an endless series of plays starring her friends and stuffed toys.

They visit Jabiru Area School, where Miranda recalls that a visit by Aaron Pedersen ignited a dream of becoming an actor. She also tells Julia about a how a troubling episode of racial bullying shattered her carefree childhood.

The family moved to Darwin for the final years of Mirandas schooling, so she and Julia take a road trip to the big smoke. They visit Darwin High School where Miranda performed in plays and musicals in the schools astonishing amphitheatre. It was here that Miranda seriously started to plan an acting career. She tells Julia about attending summer courses at NIDA and seeing a stage performance of the Sapphires. From that moment on Miranda wanted nothing more than to be a Sapphire.

On a headland overlooking the beautiful Mindil Beach, Julia and Miranda talk about her courageous acceptance speech at the 2015 Logie awards  when Miranda challenged the Australian television industry to put more people of colour on our screens  and they reflect on her journey from a small Kakadu town to the red carpet at Cannes.

8pm Wednesday March 16 on ABC.
Season 3 of Gogglebox Australia begins in early April.

Once again it will premiere on The LifeStyle Channel, on Wednesday, April 6, at the earlier time of 7.30pm, followed by TEN the very next night, Thursday, April 7, at 8.30pm.

This season will also feature new households yet to be announced soon.

Hannah Barnes, General Manager LifeStyle Channels said: Were so happy to have our much-loved Goggleboxers back on The LifeStyle Channel, in their earlier 7.30pm timeslot, and cant wait to introduce new households to the mix this season.

Gogglebox Australia celebrates television in a truly unique way, not only because its the most genuine portrait of Australia out there, but because these families  that weve grown to know and love over the past year  are us. More so than any other show, it puts a mirror up to our own lives. The hilarity, warm-heartedness and glorious kookiness of our Goggleboxers is what makes it such a great show.

Paul Leadon, Network Ten Head of Comedy said: Gogglebox is a perfect fit for TEN; its disruptive, surprising and cheeky. We are all looking forward to catching up with our Goggleboxers again. They feel like good friends whove been away too long.

Gogglebox was the break-out show of 2015 that had everyone talking, capturing the reactions of ordinary Australian households like; vivacious friends and housemates, Angie & Yvie: best mates and larrikins with a thirst for life, Adam & Symon: bubbly Greek best friends, Anastasia & Faye and newly-engaged cocktail-loving, Wayne & Tom, as they watched the nightly news, argued over politics, cheered their favourite sporting teams and digested current affairs and documentaries.

Gogglebox Australia is an Endemol Shine Australia production.
12:38 p.m., March 14, 2016--The editor for the Boston Globe team of investigative journalists that uncovered the Catholic Churchs child sex-abuse scandal, won a Pulitzer Prize and was portrayed in the movie Spotlight will speak at the University of Delaware on Tuesday, March 22.

Walter V. Robinsons talk, at 7 p.m. in Mitchell Hall on UDs Newark campus, is sponsored by the Department of English and is free and open to the public.

Robinson, played by Michael Keaton in the Academy Award Best Picture winning film, will tell the story of the newspapers 2001 investigation and share his thoughts about the film. Earlier in the day, he will speak with UD journalism students and faculty.

A Globe veteran, Robinson was the editor of the papers investigative Spotlight Team for seven years, including the reporting project that exposed a pattern of sexual abuse of children by priests in the Boston area and a decades-long cover-up of those crimes. The work sparked similar investigations and disclosures across the country and around the world and won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Before joining the Spotlight team, Robinson was the Globes Middle East Bureau chief during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s and later became the papers city editor, metro editor and a foreign and national correspondent. He reported extensively on the illicit international trade in looted antiquities, specifically on the artworks that had been looted by the Nazis during World War II and ended up in American museums.

He also has covered politics and government, including several presidential elections and the White House during the Reagan and first Bush administrations.

More recently, Robinson left the Globe to spend seven years as Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University. In 2014, he returned to the paper as an editor-at-large.
1:26 p.m., March 14, 2016--For many communication or journalism majors, broadcasting on-air is a long-term career objective, but for University of Delaware seniors Briella Tomassetti and Richard Raspa, this goal has already become a reality through the Fox 29 Junior Reporter program.

Tomassetti and Raspa auditioned and were selected by the Philadelphia television station to work in the competitive program, which offers an experiential learning experience to supplement their undergraduate studies.

Tomassetti, of Massapequa, New York, is a communication major with minors in journalism and Italian, and Raspa is a communication major from Sewell, New Jersey. Both became involved in the Channel 29 program after two producers from the station spoke in one of their classes, seeking students interested in reporting news from Delaware, a sector often underrepresented in Philadelphia media coverage.

The program, which treats the students as freelance reporters, allows Tomassetti and Raspa to pitch human-interest stories, often from the UD campus. Once given the green light on a story theyve pitched to executive producers, the students have a week or two to shoot, edit, frame and write a story. Fox 29 then airs the stories that they find suitable.

Tomassettis first story to air was the one that served as her original audition reel, about a colorblind UD student who tried on special glasses created in California that enabled him to see color for the first time.

Both Tomassetti and Raspa have broadcast several Athlete of the Week stories, in which they created a segment about an athlete from the Philadelphia metro area and presented him or her on the air with a certificate of achievement.

Both students are optimistic about their participation in the program translating into post-graduation career opportunities.

For anyone thats interested in going into this field, it is important to get as many internships and junior reporting experiences as you can get to get your foot in the door, Tomassetti said. With entry-level reporting positions, its important to utilize what youve already done to secure a position.

Developing story ideas and pitching them to producers is valuable experience, Raspa said, and those that are selected for broadcast are good for building resume strength in the communications field  especially with a major market such as Philadelphia.

Its great to have airtime in one of the top four markets in the nation, he said.

To see a few samples of the UD students reporting, visit these websites:

http://www.fox29.com/good-day/59002056-video

http://www.fox29.com/athlete-of-the-week/94343841-video and

http://www.fox29.com/fox29weekend/55918595-video.

Article by Chris Razzano

Photos courtesy of Briella Tomassetti and Richard Raspa
12:37 p.m., March 14, 2016--The University of Delaware Library will present two workshops on research funding during the spring semester, with both co-sponsored by the Universitys Research Office.

Grants for Nonprofit Organizations will cover strategies that faculty, staff, graduate students and the public can use to identify potential funding resources, such as grants from private foundations, corporations and public charities. The workshop will cover strategies for searching the databases, and locating additional grant information on the Internet.

Research Funding Online will focus on three University Library databases  Foundation Directory Online, Foundation Grants to Individuals Online and COS Pivot  which faculty, staff and graduate students can use to identify potential funding resources such as grants from private foundations, corporations and government agencies. The workshop will cover strategies for searching the databases, procedures for using alerting services, and locating additional grant information on the Internet.

Grants for Nonprofit Organizations will be offered from 10 a.m.-noon, Wednesday, March 30, in Library Instruction Room 114 on the first floor of Morris Library. Presenters will be Carol Rudisell and Michael Gutierrez, librarians, Reference and Instructional Services Department.

Research Funding Online will be offered from 10 a.m.-noon, Tuesday, April 19, also in Library Instruction Room 114. Presenters will be Rudisell, Gutierrez and Leigh Botner, research development director, Research Office.

These workshops are available at no charge and are open to University faculty, staff and students. Grants for Nonprofit Organizations is also open to the public. Seating is limited and registration is required. Online registration is available at this website.

Questions regarding the workshops may be shared by calling 302-831-2432 or emailing lib-workshops@udel.edu.
12:48 p.m., March 14, 2016--All University of Delaware students are welcomed and encouraged to come out for the spring finale of Perkins Live on Friday, March 18, from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. throughout the Perkins Student Center.

The night will feature an interactive game with the MelUDees, one of UD's a cappella registered student organizations, during which participants can win gift cards to local businesses. There will also be free food and custom caricatures as well as two shows by accomplished violinist Daniel D, who will perform a mixture of popular hits and original songs at 10:30 p.m. and 12 a.m. in West Lounge.

Following Friday's finale, Perkins Live will return in the fall with a full 10-week lineup of fun, creative and diverse programs on Friday nights in Perkins Student Center. Students can look forward to game shows, giveaways and food every week, as well as a collection of big name acts; all events will remain free and open to all UD students.

More details on Perkins Live, including the fall schedule, can be found at the website as it becomes available, as well as via the #udperkinslive hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.
Ukraine will continue to observe the Minsk agreements and will make determined efforts to implement them in full.

This is said in a statement made by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on escalation of security situation in some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"Ukraine will continue to remain faithful to the Minsk agreements and will make determined efforts to implement them in full. In this case, as before, we will continue to observe a principled position that a key to successful implementation of political, social, economic and humanitarian aspects of the Minsk agreements is comprehensive implementation of their military and security block, reads the statement.

In particular, the Foreign Ministry stressed that Ukraine is deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of security situation in some districts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, caused by an increase in the number of armed provocations against the units of Ukraines Armed Forces from the side of illegal armed formations backed by the Russian Federation.

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U.K. military instructors and advisers have trained 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom Michael Fallon made a statement, U.K. Ministry of Defence told the Ukrinforms own correspondent in Belgum.

"This [fact] underlines the commitment of the UK to the issue of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and our other Eastern European partners. This is another clear sign that we strongly support Ukraine in times of aggression," Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom said.

He noted that during this year the U.K. plans to train about 300 more Ukrainian military.

The key areas of training - detection and neutralization of landmines and improvised explosive devices, defensive actions in terms of inside a town combat, medical assistance, logistical support, operational planning.

Since March 2015 about a hundred British military instructors divided into 16 groups have begun their work in 10 Ukrainian training centers and fields, including Desna, Zhytomyr, Lviv.

The United Kingdom has also provided about one million pounds to give military-technical assistance to Ukraine, which includes body armor, night vision devices, global positioning systems, winter uniforms and tents.
Russian banks finance only Russian business in Ukraine and assist their companies in taking part in privatization and purchase of Ukrainian unprofitable or bankrupt enterprises, President of the Market Reforms Center Volodymyr Lanovy has told Ukrinform.

"They are also spread here in retail chains and ordinary supermarkets, in the trade of gasoline, kerosene for aircraft, etc. They also have and finance their companies, assist them in taking part in privatization and purchase of our unprofitable or bankrupt enterprises. And so they spread economic activity, Lanovy said.

According to the expert, in terms of investment of the Russian banks in our economy  there is much talk, but in fact no investment.

"They're here to earn, I repeat, and they take money from here for their own operations, including the purchase of our assets, industry, land, etc. They transfer nothing from Russia, the expert stressed.

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Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Lilian Ploumen along with representatives of 30 Dutch companies will visit Ukraine on a trade mission on 15 - 17 March.

The press service of the Dutch government reports on it site.

"The potential for the Dutch companies and large investments in Ukraine is substantial," Ploumen said while commenting on the mission.

According to her, the visit is aimed at expanding and strengthening trade contacts.

The Dutch government said the main focus of the mission - agro-industrial and food sectors, infrastructure and logistics. In particular, the Dutch minister plans to meet Ukraine finance minister Natalie Yaresko, infrastructure minister Andriy Pyvovarsky, minister of agrarian policy and food Oleksiy Pavlenko. Ploumen will also visit a number of Dutch companies, which now number 320 in Ukraine, hold meetings with students and young Ukrainian entrepreneurs.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that constitutional reforms, but not a united fight against the government, should become an important priority for true leadership in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian prime minister said this during 10 minutes with the prime minister TV address, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The second important problem is imperfection of the current Ukrainian Constitution. The main law has conceptual contradictions that undermine the unity of executive power, create prerequisites for multiple authority and corrupt legal proceedings, and as a result lead to irresponsibility, inefficiency and injustice. The constitutional reform, but not the public sale or united fight against the government, should become the main priority for true leadership in Ukraine, Yatsenyuk said.

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Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Groysman plans in the near future to create expert groups to elaborate a plan on the improvement of life of the Ukrainian society.

The speaker said this during a video address in Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

There is a need to create mini-expert groups and I will do this in the near future to find solutions and offer them in the Ukrainian parliament together with MPs how to reach a brand new qualitative level in these or that spheres, the speaker said.

Groysman said that over the last three weeks he had held a large number of meetings with public organizations and experts. According to him, experts have a lot of qualitative offers how to improve life in various spheres, from cultural on out to economy.

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Former President of the European Council and the former Prime Minister of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy believes that possible negative result on the Dutch referendum regarding the Association Agreement between EU-Ukraine that is scheduled on April 6 would be a disgrace to the government of the Netherlands.

He told the Dutch newspaper Trouw in his interview.

"If later the majority of the Dutch vote "no", it will make the Netherlands less reliable partner", the newspaper quotes him as saying.

Van Rompuy noted that the government and parliament have already ratified the Association Agreement. According to him, the Netherlands became the only country that uses a similar procedure.

Van Rompuy also said that the tragic events on the Maidan Square in Kyiv city, and the war in the eastern Ukraine began since the Association Agreement and Ukraine is in need of support.

"Let's also not forget that the war has started with the Association Agreement. If you leave the situation as it had been before the Maidan, it will mean that these people died in vain. Because it is not so much an economic war, this war is about values. If we stop our backing, Ukraine will be lost," he said.

It was reported earlier, the Netherlands will vote in consultative referendum on the Association Agreement between EU-Ukraine on April 6.
The French Foreign Ministry has reminded Russia that the release of Ukrainian pilot, member of the Parliament and member of the PACE, as well as other citizens of Ukraine who are illegally detained in Russia is provided under Minsk agreements in accordance with the 'all-for-all' principle.

French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Romain Nadal said this on Monday, answering the question whether release of Ukrainian hostages by Russia was discussed during the informal consultations of main European and American diplomats in Paris.

"France calls on all parties to seek the release of prisoners, including Savchenko, in accordance with the 'all-for-all' principle that was approved in Minsk," the diplomat said.

However, he stressed that the issue on release of hostages and prisoners of war was discussed within the framework of the general implementation of the Minsk agreements on Sunday.

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Newly arrived Syrian refugee women and children queue for registration and aid distribution in the town of Arsal, Lebanon, February 17 2014.  UNHCR/A. McConnell

GENEVA, March 15 (UNHCR) - As Syria's war reaches another grim milestone today, refugees fleeing the five-year conflict face greater hurdles to finding safety while international solidarity with its victims is failing to match and reflect the scale and seriousness of the humanitarian tragedy.

"Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world," said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, adding that only a political settlement would end the suffering but more countries had to take a greater share of refugees in the meantime.

While there are recent glimmers of hope with increased humanitarian access in Syria, the cessation of hostilities, renewed peace talks and promises of better funding, the fifth anniversary of Syria's war comes amid a backdrop of increasingly managed borders by neighbouring countries, creaking under the strain of hosting so many refugees. This is leaving thousands of vulnerable people stranded inside Syria, unable to leave the country.

Further afield, European states which once welcomed Syrians are now bringing down the shutters in the wake of increasing numbers of refugees seeking safety there. Several countries have imposed entry and border restrictions, leading to a build-up of tens of thousands of refugees in Greece, while the European Union is in discussions with Turkey on an agreement that could potentially see asylum-seekers sent back to Turkey.

Meanwhile, refugees in countries neighbouring Syria are more vulnerable than ever and taking increased risks to survive - embarking on dangerous journeys to Europe or resorting to dangerous survival strategies such as child labour, early marriage or sexual exploitation.

Grandi said that while higher donor pledges of $5.9 billion for the 2016 appeal for humanitarian and development aid in London last month were welcome, funds need to be urgently disbursed and matched by other forms of international solidarity.

These include better access to livelihoods and education for the majority of refugees in neighbouring countries and a greater sharing of responsibility by more countries around the world, through open asylum systems and increased opportunities for Syrians to move to third countries through organized channels.

"A tragedy of this scale demands solidarity beyond funding. Put simply, we need more countries to share the load by taking a greater share of refugees from what has become the biggest displacement crisis of a generation," Grandi said.

On March 30, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will be hosting a high-level international conference in Geneva, calling on governments for a major increase in places for Syrians. To date, some 170,000 such places have been pledged by governments around the world. UNHCR hopes to increase that to at least 10 per cent of the registered refugee population, currently at 4.8 million people in the immediate surrounding region alone, over the next few years.

Coming on the heels of the fifth anniversary of Syria's war, the March 30 meeting will be opportunity for governments and communities globally to concretely boost their support for Syrians.

"We are at a crossroads now as we mark another sad milestone in Syria's war: if the world fails to work together due to short-term interests, lack of courage and knee jerk reactions to shift the burden elsewhere, we will look back ruefully on this lost opportunity to act with solidarity and shared humanity," Grandi said.

Five years on, Syria's conflict has spawned 4.8 million refugees in neighbouring countries, hundreds of thousands in Europe, and 6.6 million people displaced inside Syria against a pre-war population of over 20 million
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Aug. 19, 2022

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Those eyes are actually owl eyesthats why it looks so freaky.

Sonia DeYoung G17, curatorial associate for the University of Vermont Natural History Museum

Fascinating and frightening students since at least 1898, this taxidermy catamount in Marsh Life Sciences will be x-rayed and cleaned as part of a major restoration project of UVM's historic taxidermy collection. Read more.
Canadian gold mining company Barrick Gold is facing a fine of $9.3 million over a cyanide spill in Argentina. The mining company caused the spill at the company's Veladero mine, leaking a million liters of cyanide into a river in western San Juan province.

The incident happened in September, and the case has been processed by the Argentina authorities. A police report shows that five rivers in San Juan province were contaminated by the spill. However, recent reports released by Barrick revealed that there was no health risk for local residents or the environment. Tests by U.N. investigators conducted in October also showed that the spill had not contaminated local water supplies.

Barrick Gold stated that the spill was caused by individual acts of the company's employees, and currently, nine defendants are being accused of negligence that caused the cyanide spill. A spokesman for Barrick, Andy Lloyd, told Bloomberg that the company is not a party to any criminal cases. "The individuals are being represented by their own lawyers. As with any criminal case, there is a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise and as such we are providing support to the individuals affected," Lloyd wrote in an e-mail.

Even so, the San Juan provincial government has expressed their intention to impose a fine against Barrick. The world's largest gold producer could be fined for more than $9.3 million. "With this fine, we are protecting the development of mining activities in the province," the governor of San Juan province Sergio Unac, as reported by Reuters.

Argentinian state-run news agency concluded that Barrick committed mining code violations. Other than a failure to ensure safety rules, the company is also blamed for failing to comply with monitoring and contingency plans and report the incident to the local authority.

In a statement, Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky has responded that the company has "implemented a comprehensive action plan to strengthen controls and safeguards at the mine while addressing the root causes of the solution release." He also expressed the company's deep regret for this incident that has disappointed many of their partners in San Juan province. "The company is committed to ensuring we have robust policies and standards in place that protect the environment at all of our operations," he added.

Local activists have been campaigning, demanding the Veladero mine to be closed over concerns of contaminations. According to GlobalPost, Greenpeace also called on the local government to immediately close the mine because there is evidence that there was contamination.

Besides the nine employees being accused of negligence, the Barrick Gold company is also facing a fine of more than $9.3 million imposed by the San Juan province government. The company stated that they are addressing the causes and solutions of the cyanide spill happened six months ago.
American vehicle manufacturer General Motors has acquired Cruise Automation, a Silicon Valley-based software company for self-driving car technology. By doing so, General Motors is seeking to integrate Cruise's advanced software to support its own development of autonomous vehicle technology.

Details of the acquisition deal were not officially disclosed, but according to Fortune, the transaction is worth more than $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock. Cruise was backed by Silicon Valley venture investors Y Combinator and Spark Capital and had recently raised $18.8 million. Talks between the two companies originally started when Cruise announced its plan to raise a new round of venture capital funding. General Motors was, at first, interested in investing before the talks shifted into an acquisition discussion.

After the acquisition, Cruise will continue to operate independently as a unit within General Motors' special team dedicated to the autonomous car technology, Autonomous Vehicle Development Team. The startup will also stay based in San Fransisco.

General Motors is racing against other automakers to develop the autonomous car technology. "Fully autonomous vehicles can bring our customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their daily mobility needs," said the president of General Motors Dan Ammann on the company's official statement.

On the other hand, Cruise has also been dedicating itself to develop an autonomous vehicle software. The company is known for successfully created a kit that allows drivers to convert certain types of cars into autonomous vehicles. The recent acquisition, however, will focus on integrating Cruise's technology into GM's manufacturing process.

"GM's commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate, and completely in line with our vision to make transportation safer and more accessible. We are excited to be partnering with GM and believe this is a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology," said Cruise founder and CEO Kyle Vogt. The company is one of the few companies which have permits from the state of California to test driverless cars.

This is hardly General Motors' first move into expanding its business portfolio. According to The New York Times, the company has invested $500 million in a strategic alliance with ride-hailing service Lyft. Furthermore, General Motors has also established its own brand, called Maven, for its own car-hailing initiatives.

With the new acquisition, General Motor expects to integrate Cruise's technology in its manufacturing process, supporting the company's ambition to compete in the driverless cars' markets. The acquisition deal is reported to worth more than $1 billion in cash and stock.
Scottish First Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been under attack over Scotland's spending and tax revenue. After reported being "in denial" about the challenging economy of Scotland, she revealed her views on the situation, saying that she's "not denying that for a second".

During an interview with Andrew Neil's BBC, Ms Sturgeon acknowledged the challenging economic landscape of her country. "In the year that we had figures published for just this past week, we have had a very challenging and difficult set of figures. I am not denying that for a second," she said.

However, Mr. Sturgeon also emphasized the country's fiscal position beyond only last year's figures. "Over the past 10 years, our fiscal position has been broadly similar to the UK and in some of those years it has been significantly better," Ms Sturgeon noted. She then mentioned that the economy of Scotland is fundamentally strong, despite difficulties faced in the North Sea oil and gas sector.

The Courier reported that Scotland's deficit last year stood at 15 billion, twice the size of the UK's. The number is also the highest among the EU's advanced economies. Furthermore, the annual Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures concluded by the government economists showed that Scotland was in the red to the tune of 9.7 percent of its GDP compared to 4.9 percent for the UK as a whole.

The figures were calculated before the collapse in oil revenues in the North Sea where tax income fell from 1.8 billion in 2014-2015 to just 55 million in the first half of 2015-2016. Meanwhile, the spending in the country show figures of averagely 12,800 per person. The expenditure was 1,400 per person more than the UK average.

According to The Telegraph, the First Finance Minister believes that the deficit would have been manageable after separation. She did not specify how the separation would help managing the country's deficit, but she said it could be dealt with in the same way as the UK brought down its deficit after the financial crash. She also expressed her rejection over "ridiculous" warnings that a separate Scotland would be forced to accept an EU-imposed austerity package.

Many would argue that Ms Nicola Sturgeon is in denial and refuse to accept the fact that Scotland's economy is getting alarming, with huge deficit and no concrete plan to manage it. However, the First Prime Minister has announced that she acknowledged the challenge, but it would be manageable after separation, and that the country's economy remain strong amid challenges.
Toyota Motor Corp. works with the local Japanese governments to create hydrogen from wind-power electricity. This collaboration answers the major criticism that hydrogen for the fuel is not environment-friendly. It also collaborates with Toshiba and Iwatani Corp. which is a hydrogen company.

It was announced on Monday that the project includes Toshiba Corp., a Japanese and energy company, and hydrogen company Iwatani Corp. The hydrogen from the wind-power plant Hama situated in Yokohama will be compressed and will be carried by a truck to market, two warehouses and a factory, as reported by abcNews.

According to the Toyota website, efforts are being facilitated to utilize hydrogen power which is the most bountiful element in the universe. As Toyota acknowledges hydrogen's massive potential being a clean energy source, the carmaker company develops and produces fuel cell vehicles (FCV).

To power a motor, fuel cell vehicles will generate electricity between the chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Instead of using gasoline as fuel, hydrogen will be used being an environment-friendly energy source which can be produced from different raw materials.

It was in 1992 that Toyota started its exertion about hydrogen's maintainable mobility to become a reality even before Prius was released. Toyota began the sale of "Toyota FCHV", the world's first limited fuel cell car in Japan and the U.S. in 2002.

Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells are not that much popular yet although many carmakers have invested in building hydrogen fuel cell cars like Toyota, General Motors and Honda. Last year, Toyota launched a small output of Mirai in the U.S. that makes use of compressed-hydrogen tanks.

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that uses "metal hydride" fuel cell (hydrogen confined with a metal), the hydrogen gas that was injected into the vehicle will be chemically consumed by the magnesium nanocrystaline powder and delivered safe at low pressures, Phys.org reports.

As climate change worsens, Toyota is finding ways to fuel its cars with environment-friendly hydrogen fuel. It partners with local government and other Japanese companies like Toshiba Corp. and Iwatani Corp. to acquire the said fuel for its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Philippine presidential candidates have adopted tricky stances ahead of China's increasing aggressiveness in the South China Sea region. The candidates have been struggling to maintain balance in manifesto with national sovereignty and intention to improve ties and boost trade with China.

Senator Grace Poe, one of the four major president hopefuls, has promised to invest heavily in the Philippine military citing Singapore as the inspiration. The Filipinos shouldn't get surrendered against Chinese aggression and military superiority cites Ms. Poe while an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

However, all the candidates for the May 9 election intends to increase trade with neighboring China and assistance in improving Philippines' crumbling infrastructure. At the same time, they don't desire to witness Philippine as weak through offering any ground on territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China's economy growth rate and the US Presidential race are clouding over stock markets. After witnessing a rebound in February, the global markets are looking to US elections and stimulus plans on China's economy for further cues.

S&P 500 index started recovering in February 2016 and ended the month on positive note. Despite witnessing some selloff, bonds have outperformed stocks as an asset class this year so far. Along with declining of S&P500 index, Chinese currency Yuan also fell and this is impacting the foreign trade.

People's Bank of China (PBOC) is facing multiple challenges such as slowing down of economy, drop in foreign currency reserves, capital outflow and Yuan volatility. Soon after S&P 500 index tumbling by 10 percent, China devalued its currency Yuan in August 2015. Subsequently, Chinese central bank further devalued Yuan in January amid continued drop of S&P 500 index. Global markets are dancing to the tunes of Chinese economy, as reported by See It Market.



If one more devaluation takes place in China's Yuan, then this will be a knee-jerk reaction in US equities. However, China has massive foreign currency reserves. Chinese officials say that some economists are underestimating the world's second largest economy's resilience. Chinese government is confident of balancing growth and reforms.

Foreign exchange market volatility has been impacting global financial markets of late. Foreign exchange volatility is considered to be deeper problem in the economy. Chinese central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan sees normality is returning to rationality and fundamentals. Renminbi rose to its strongest this year so fat to 6.4881 against the US dollar, as reported by Financial Times.



Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said "Protecting workers' interests is an important factor throughout the next stage of (SOE) reform. We'll use mergers, acquisitions and restructuring largely and minimize bankruptcy as much as possible."

Meanwhile, Asian markets extending Friday's gains rose further on Monday as traders turned positive to monetary policy decision taken by European Central Bank (ECB). Japan's Nikkei-225 index rose 2.08 percent. South Korea's Kospi added 0.16 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.23 percent. Australia's S&P/ ASX 200 rose 0.66 percent. Shanghai Composite index rose two percent and Shenzhen Composite gained 3.2 percent, according to CNBC.



Some economists raise doubts whether China tackles long-term challenges of restructuring economy. Major challenges such as overcapacity and loss making zombie companies are impacting economy growth. Some top Chinese officials say that government may not embrace radical restructuring at the expense of social stability.
A growing number of Australian tech companies are are heading toward Singapore to support their business with funding, partners, and even customers. The Australian government has been aiming to accelerate the country's access to international business networks with its programs.

Singapore has been aiming to become South-East Asia's Silicon Valley, as the government devote a huge amount of resources to achieve that. According to SkyNews, Singapore ranked seventh in 2015's Global Innovation Index. Meanwhile, Australia was in the 17th rank.

Last year, the Australian government launched its National Innovation and Science Agenda. The program is backed with an AU$1.1 billion to incentivise innovation and entrepreneurship in the region, especially in the technology sectors. The government has also recently allocated AU$11 million to establish startup landing pads initiative to help Australian entrepreneurs bring their ideas to the market and build enterprises based on the ideas.

The initiative plans to cover five startup launching pads. According to ZDNet, Silicon Valley was the first launching pad revealed by the Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy last month. The second startup launching pad is Tel Aviv, and the third is pencilled in for Shanghai. With this rate of Australian tech companies turning to Singapore for support, it's possible the city-state will eventually become one of the Australian startups landing pads.

SBS reported how Sydney-based Gemstar Technology founder Gemma Manning is taking six Australian firms on a trade mission to Singapore this week. She hopes the Australian government will choose Singapore as one of the landing pads for Australian startups. "I feel positive and more inspired by what we are doing now as a nation in terms of innovation. But, we have a long way to go and I think countries like Singapore can't be ignored when we are looking at policy and how to create these ecosystems," Ms Manning said.

Ms Manning also noted that she finds the funding environment in Singapore very attractive, as is the drive for public-private partnerships. "They want to commercialize technology to help drive their future income," she added. Ms Manning is taking the six Australian companies to look for funding through established companies ready to expand. She noted that what she's doing, along with other tech firms, is not taking business away from Australia, but rather helping them grow with the support of other countries.

More Australian tech companies are turning to Singapore to get support in funding, partners, as well as customers. With the growing number of tech startups in Australia, the government is aiming to give the companies more access to global business networks and plans to assign five landing pads internationally to support the sector.
Air New Zealand has joined hands with Virgin Australia to scrutinise options for internally manufactured aviation biofuel. The combined team will issue a Request for Information (RFI) seeking options for locally manufactured aviation renewable fuel. The airlines have scheduled May 30, 2016, as the last date for the parties to express their vision.

The Request for Information is created with an aim to reduce the impact of air pollution caused by flights and it is an important milestone in the carbon control programme. According to Captain David Morgan, flight operations head at Air New Zealand, this new partnership will enable both parties to enhance domestic market, lure additional investment and explore innovative biofuel supply for aviation purposes.

Robert Wood, leader of sustainability at Virginia Australia, said that the airline is looking forward to bring growth in the aviation biofuel sector and aims to control aviation impact on global warming. He added that this new partnership with Air New Zealand will fuel additional investment into the aviation industry, leading to more job opportunities in the area.

Both Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand ensure that the environment will be benefited by this new aviation biofuel program. The airlines advise RFI respondents to focus more on these strategies. Through this approach, the airlines expect to evade from petroleum run jet fuels.

The Air Transport Action Group said that biofuel can be produced by handling sewage wastes. According to a spokesman, the primary goal of RFI is to reduce jet fuels and develop renewable fuels for the aviation industry. The aviation sector is anticipated to contribute nearly 2% of carbon-dioxide emissions to the global warming. The Center for Biological Diversity grades commercial aircraft in the seventh position for CO2 emissions.

Last month, a United Nations board announced the first rule to stop CO2 emissions from these commercial airplanes. This eco-friendly policy was criticised by weather advocates as being too fragile and that recent air crafts comply with emission control rules, Mashable reports.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Bryan, chairman of Virgin Australia, said that the airline is investigating its balance sheet structure. In February 2016, the airline posted a robust profit for the six-month period of 2015 and said it expects to report another year of profit in 2016. However, market researchers raised their anxiety regarding the airline's weak cash flow level that could leave a destructive impact on its annual results as reported by THE AUSTRALIAN.

Virgin Australia's balance sheet has a cash level of $907 million, but its unlimited capital balance dropped to $544 million during the six-month period from $719 million as of June 30. The airline is expected to carry a net debt of $2.1 billion in 2016. Bryan added that it not the right time to raise funds through equity markets or foreign debts.

The airline sector is more volatile and depends heavily on market factors like oil prices, demands for flight journey and other related measures. In addition, the sector needs to check on green gas emissions from commercial aircraft.
Chancellor George Osborne has revealed on Sunday planning for making fresh cuts to public spending while meeting his goal for balancing Britain's books by 2020. He has also called upon the Britons to act now rather than to pay later. The UK Treasury Secretary has discussed his budgetary plan while addressing the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

The UK Chancellor has sought to lower expectations ahead of his annual budget statement on Wednesday. The global economic outlook has been deteriorated since adoption of tax and spending plans in November and hence further action is required to close the budget deficit, observes Mr. Osborne, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal.

The UK Treasury Chief has also discussed his new goal for saving 50p in every 100 of government spending by 2020. He doesn't consider the amount as huge compared to the scheme of things. However, Mr. Osborne has also hinted for holding back an expected rise in fuel duty in the Budget, reports Daily Mail.

The UK Chancellor considers his savings planning as achievable without mentioning any area where the axe will fall. He intends to boost productivity, improve Britain's schools and infrastructure while making taxes more competitive. However, he has out-righted claims that majority of the vulnerable people will be hit in the budget through cuts to disability benefits known as Personal Independence Payments (PIP), reports BBC.
Oil prices might have propelled above $40 a barrel level in the past week as Iran was expected to join other producers to freeze its oil output. However, it seems to take a longer period for the oil market to resume its past value. Iran's decision against freezing oil output has pushed Brent and crude prices lower again in the commodity market.

Bijan Zanganeh, oil minister of Iran, refused to join oil producers like Venezuela, Qatar, Russia and Saudi Arabia in their effort to reduce over oil supply to the global market by stopping their production. The minister said ISNA news agency that Iran will not halt oil output until it reaches its post-sanctions production target of four million.

Iran, which has just entered the global oil economy after the removal of international sanctions, is looking forward to saving its shattered economy by increasing its oil reserves. BUSINESS INSIDER quoted Trading Economics, which said that 23% of Iran's net economic growth comes from oil production. The country will join other producers in the production halt after reaching its output goal.

Currently, crude is down more than 2%, hitting below $38 a barrel in the commodity market. While the Brent is down below the $40 a barrel level again.

According to The International Energy Agency (IEA), oil prices have likely recovered from its historic slump in January owing to the drop in supply from major oil producers. In addition, the number of oil drilling rig in the US dropped for a 12th successive week to 386 during the past week, reflecting drillers' cost trimming strategy. Meanwhile, banks like Barclays and Goldman Sachs have warned that over supply of nearly 1 million bpd might pull down oil prices once again.

US crude CLci traded at $38.15 a barrel, down 35 cents from the previous price. While, Brent LCOc1 traded at $40.13 per barrel, down 26 cents following a data report, which said that February oil production of Saudi Arabia was close to its record high at 10.22 million barrels a day, as reported by INDEPENDENT. However, market researchers view this price rally as a sign of another demise. They say that this price increase might motivate oil producers to speed up their supply again.

Meanwhile, demand for oil has increased in Asian markets, with India outstripping China in oil consumption. Bloomberg quoted The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies' report, which said that oil consumption in India has increased by 300,000 barrels per day in 2015, almost double the median rate in the past decade.

While, consumption in China has dropped to 300,000 barrels from the median growth rate of 500,000 barrels. China's demand for oil propelled crude prices to over $100 per barrel in the past years, but the ongoing economic slowdown in China combined with the oversupply pulled oil prices down to below $30 per barrel. IEA expects demand in India to reach 4.2 million barrels per day in 2016, beating Japan's demand of 4.1 million barrels.

Market analysts believe that unless OPEC comes forward to limit its supply to the global market, the future of oil prices remain unstable. Iran being the largest oil producers must trim its output to rescue oil from the slump.
DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Petra Olivas reacts to seeing the "Male Head" statue Sunday at the opening of Vatican Splendors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley.

SHARE DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Richard De Munda, of Nevada, watches a video presentation Sunday at the opening of Vatican Splendors at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR A crowd lines up to attend the Vatican Splendors exhibit Sunday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley. The exhibit was postponed for a week following Nancy Reagan's death. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Martha Olivas (right) explains to her friend Angie Saavedra, the significance of the monstrance Sunday at the opening of the Vatican Splendors exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley. DAVID YAMAMOTO/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Visitors Jim and Debbie Rudy, of Colorado, look closely at a projected image of the Sistine Chapel on Sunday at the opening of the Vatican Splendors exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley.

By Michele Willer-Allred, Special to The Star

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley reopened Sunday, unveiling its new "Vatican Splendors: A Journey Through Faith and Art" exhibit to a large number of visitors, who also came out to visit the gravesite of former first lady Nancy Reagan.

It was the first time the public was able to see Nancy Reagan's gravesite since her private funeral on Friday.

Nancy Reagan was buried next to her husband, and her name was added to the granite headstone also bearing Ronald Reagans name. Adorning the gravesite was a double adjoining wreath made of red and white roses.

The Vatican exhibit was scheduled to open March 6, but the library was closed following Nancy Reagan's death on the same day.

Exhibits at the library remained closed to the public throughout last week because of the funeral.

The Vatican exhibit features approximately 200 centuries-old, one-of-a-kind works of art and historically significant objects, many of which have never left the Vatican in Rome and have never been on view to the general public.

IF YOU GO

What: "Vatican Splendors: A Journey Through Faith and Art

When: Through Aug. 28. The museum is open daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Where: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley

Cost: $29 general admission, $26 for seniors, $19 for children ages 11 to 17, and $16 for ages 3 to 10, free for children 2 and under.

Advanced purchase of tickets online are recommended to guarantee day and time of visit.

Information: bit.ly/1LlaHrU

The exhibit is organized into 11 galleries that illustrate the evolution of the church and its papacy beginning with Saint Peter through the papacy of Pope Francis.

The Reagan Library is the only West Coast destination and only one of two destinations showing the exhibit this year. After it leaves the Reagan Library on August 28, it will return to the Vatican.

Randle Swan, the museum's supervisory curator, said the exhibit is a special one because it was the last exhibit Nancy Reagan was personally involved with at the library, and it's a tribute to Ronald and Nancy Reagan's meeting and relationship with Pope John Paul II almost 35 years ago.

Swan said the library was expecting several thousand visitors to the Reagan Library on Sunday, and there were almost 200 extra staff and volunteers to handle the crowd.

Brittney Kalal, 24, of Moorpark, said she had been waiting for the exhibit to open since she first heard about it in January.

"I wanted to come here to really learn more about and deepen my faith," said Kalal.

Martha Olivas, 52, was visiting from Whittier with her mother Petra Olivas, 89, and friend Angie Saavedra, 52.

"I'm getting very emotional," said Martha Olivas, wiping tears as she stood in front of the papal throne used by Pope Pius XI and a 19th century monstrance from the Basilica of St. Paul.

"The monstrance has great meaning for us Catholics. It's Jesus Christ present," she said.

Martha Olivas has been to the Vatican in Rome and said that it was difficult to see much because of limited time in a large city with crowds.

"We didn't see the relics or the history of St. Peter when in Rome. Here we can see them and we can see the details. It's just amazing," said Martha Olivas.

Several visitors closed their eyes while touching the bronze cast of the hand of the late St. John Paul II and took many photos of a reliquary containing bone fragments believed for centuries to belong to Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Before visiting the exhibit, Kathryn Joyner, of Thousand Oaks, visited Nancy Reagan's gravesite.

"It means a lot to be here today," said Joyner. "It's very spiritual and gratifying."


BLVD. Cocktail Company, located in the heart of The LINQ on the Las Vegas Strip, will celebrate National Vodka Day on Saturday, Oct. 4 with 50 percent off all vodka cocktails (Pictured: Lavender Slip Cocktail  Photo credit: Anthony Mair).

Enthusiasts can choose from the lounges signature array of vodka cocktails, regularly priced at $14. Libations include The Lavender Slip, made with Hangar One Blueberry Vodka, lavender, fresh lemon, and an herb sprig garnish; The Showgirl, featuring Ketel One Citroen Vodka, Carpano Bianco Vermouth, sweet strawberries, tart lemon and sparkling Asti; and Melon Appeal, a refreshing blend of Grey Goose Le Melon Vodka, Aperol, crisp apple, lemon, cucumber and cracked pepper.
Rudolf Hever, managing director of Alternaty Real Estate Vietnam, who has spent some eight years living in Vietnam and is also a member of the judging panel of the Vietnam Property Award, lauded Tan Hoang Minh Group, during the seminar, for choosing Singapore as their first stop to introduce their real estate projects. The groups pick of destination was highly regarded as a sensible move in seeking for business opportunities and building their brand name in the international market.



Hever sharing investment opportunities in Vietnams real estate market

The companys integrity among home-buyers and investors, according to Hever, could be boosted further, thanks to the impact of Vietnams participation in the ASEAN Economics Community (AEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Coupled with the governments positive changes in loosening up the real estate ownership for foreigners, Vietnam will no doubt become the most attractive destination for foreign investors among other countries within the region, especially investors from Singapore.

According to CBRE Singapore, property price is one of the key features for Singaporean investors to swell up their demand for real estates in Vietnam. The price of a 300-square meter villa in Sentosa, Singapore, can go as high as $12.6-14 million, while a three-bedroom apartment could cost up between $500,000-840,000. Meanwhile, similar properties from local real estate companies do not cost as high as those in Singapore. D. Le Roi Soleil apartments from Tan Hoang Minh Group, for instance, are priced roughly VND90 million ($4,128) for a sqm, or approximately adding up to VND6 billion ($275,229) an apartment unit.

Attractive prices and enormous potential are factors which have prompted a rising number of investors from the Lion City to explore and decide to invest in the high-end real estate market in Vietnam. Reputable and prestigious projects in Vietnam, in particular, are what investors actually aim at.

A series of luxury properties situating on prime locations in Hanoi, such as the D. Palaise de Louis, the D. San Raffles, the D. Le Pont Dor, and the D. Le Roi Soleil, developed by Tan Hoang Minh Group, have received due attention from the Singaporean real estate businesses lately. D. Le Roi Soleil, among all, is promised to be capable of generating an annual profit of up to 7.3 per cent from sub-lease investment in the apartment complex, and thus has attracted special interest of hundreds of investors at the seminar. 12 D. Le Roi Soleil apartments eventually found their owners at the end of the event.



Singaporean investors paying special attention at D. Le Roi Soleil

Last July, during the groundbreaking and launching ceremony of D. Le Roi Soleil, Ocean Master (Singapore) chairman David Lee Fook Choy was one of the very first buyers signed up to purchase a penthouse apartment priced at VND28 billion ($1.28 million). Choy shared that D. Le Roi Soleil is a well-located project, boasting three sides overlooking at the West Lake and another viewing the Red River. In addition, the neighboring environment is rather quiet and the complex is equipped with highly-developed facilities. He thus believed that his family and friends could enjoy a peaceful break when they arrive in Hanoi.

At the price of $3,200 a sqm, a home-buyer can only get an apartment in suburban areas in Singapore, such as in Choa Chu Kang or Sembawang neighborhoods. Whats more, in order to purchase a second property in the Lion City, home-buyers must pay a towering tax expense. These were the obvious reasons that urged Choy to obtain a property in Vietnam.



D. Le Roi Soleil on corner of Xuan Dieu and Dang Thai Mai streets, in Hanoi

D. Le Roi Soleil - Quang An is positioned on the Quang An peninsular, in West Lake, where most foreigners would choose to stay when they come to Hanoi. While there are other accommodation options elsewhere in Hanoi available for them, 30 per cent of foreigners in Hanoi, including company leaders, managers or diplomats, would still prefer Quang An peninsular as their first choice of place to stay, thanks to the West Lakes unpolluted environment, convenient transportation and modern infrastructure.

Serviced apartments and villas in the area are, as such, always fully occupied, with rental prices for each property vary between VND40-120 million ($1,800-5,500) a month. D. Le Roi Soleil, among other complexes in West Lake, gathers all the must-haves of a high-end luxurious apartment building, satisfying even the toughest requirements of both domestic and international customers, for either as a place to live or as a long-term investment.
According to general director of Knauf Vietnam David Thomas, the agreement is a remarkable milestone that would help Knauf Vietnam strengthen its nationwide coverage and promote brand awareness.

Zinca Vietnam is a well-known building material manufacturer and distributor in the industry with 20 years of experience. We strongly believe this cooperation would bring us both market leading positions and a lot of successes in the Vietnamese building material market, said Thomas.

Over the past two years, Knauf Vietnam has set-up offices in Hanoi, Haiphong and Ho Chi Minh City and been developing a distribution network throughout the country. It has been supplying the Vietnamese market with high quality gypsumboard products using German technology such as StandardShield, MoistShield and FireShield, as well as Knauf Danoline and Cleaneo. With three distributors in total, Knauf Vietnam has the ability to supply various projects be it industrial, commercial and residential.

According to Thomas, Knauf Vietnams factory in Haiphong had started commissioning and expected to have commercial board by May 2016. The factory will have a capacity of 20 million square metres.

By working with our key distributors we will grow our market share and achieve our ambition of becoming a market leader in the Vietnamese building material industry, said Thomas.

Knauf Group, founded in 1932, is a multinational producer of building materials and construction systems that operates more than 220 production plants in over 60 countries with roughly 25,000 employees. Recently, Knauf has been expanding into a number of East European and Asian markets. Knauf Vietnam applied for and gained an investment license in 2013 to build a gypsumboard manufacturing facility in Haiphong that is expected to be operational within 2016.
The mobs primary area of operation is the An Thoi international seaport, located in southern Phu Quoc and one of the islands busiest sites for both merchants and tourists.

According to locals living near the area, a group of 20 men appeared at An Thoi around four or five days after Tet, which began on February 8 and wrapped up a week later.

The gang marked their occupancy by erecting a barrier to block the entrance to the seaports wharf and charging VND5,000-10,000 (US$0.22-0.45) for each entry, fishermen and tourists alike.

An attendant on board a tourist ship moored at the An Thoi international seaport said the gang charged their tourists per person although the tour operator had already paid a fee they demanded in advance.

When we asked them questions about this double fee, they shouted at us and simply said we could either pay or get lost, the attendant recounted.

Nguyen Tan Thanh, 61, was another victim of the violent gang when he was going down the wharf to collect fish as usual on February 23.

I found the fee ridiculously unreasonable, so I refused to pay, Thanh recalled. The next thing I knew was that two men jumped at me and tried to attack me. I managed to block a hit to my right hip, but was hit twice on my left shoulder.

A friend of mine tried to intervene, but they threatened to beat him, Thanh said.

Locals said the group, led by a man named Phong, lived in an abandoned warehouse inside the international seaport and called themselves security guards in charge of loading and unloading goods as well as collecting entry fees.

The ring also lured all fishing boats unloading at an old seaport nearby back to the port under their management, where they charged their victims many times the usual unloading fee of VND100,000-150,000 ($4.57-6.86).

We have decided to stop working for a few days to avoid clashing with the gang, seeing how aggressive they are, the leader of a loading team at An Thoi said.

Following residents reports, Phu Quoc police sent undercover officers to the site to observe the groups activities, and later identified 32-year-old Nguyen Thanh Phong as their leader.

According to Major Tran Huu Chuong, head of the Phu Quoc Police Offices division for investigating crimes related to public order, Phong had been hired by Nguyen Van Doan, manager of the An Thoi international seaport, since February 11 to oversee a group of security guards and loaders at the wharf.

With the employment contract in hand, Phong gathered a group of followers to station at the seaport, some of them having previous criminal records.

Vuong Quoc Khanh, deputy general director of An Thoi Port JSC, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday that his company had won the bid to operate An Thoi for 30 years, but had left it to Doan to oversee due to a lack of personnel.

Khanh said he had just taken over the position for ten days and had just heard about the gang a few days earlier.

Doan said at a meeting with the board of directors in Ho Chi Minh City before Tet that he had employed a group of guards to reestablish order at the port. Who could have imagined such a thing would happen? Khanh said.

Phong had been told by police officers to promise not to commit the crime in the future, while his group had been let off by their employers and disbanded.

Tuoi Tre journalists reported from the site on March 10 that the port had returned to its normal routines.
Serena Williams returns a shot against Yulia Putinseva of Kazakhstan during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. (Photo: Sean M Haffey/Getty Images/AFP)

INDIAN WELLS, United States: World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams had to dig deep at Indian Wells on Sunday (May 13) to fend off a pair of unheralded but spirited opponents.

Williams stepped up her bid for her first Indian Wells title in 15 years with a straight-set 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 victory over 56th-ranked Yulia Putintseva.

Djokovic dropped the first set before coming from behind to book his third-round spot in the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over 149th-ranked qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo.

The two-time Indian Wells champion Williams had a difficult time with Putintseva in the opening set but then steamrolled through the second to wrap up the win in one hour, 15 minutes.

"The first set was a little tricky, then I had to find my inner tiger, and roar," said Williams, who booked a fourth-round clash with Kateryna Bondarenko.

Williams has a chance to become the first three-time winner in women's singles at Indian Wells, a feat she failed to achieve last year when she was forced to withdraw from her semi-final match with a knee injury.

Williams, who won the event in 1999 and 2001, returned to the tournament last year, ending a 14-year boycott which began after she beat Kim Clijsters in the 2001 final.

That year spectators at Indian Wells booed Williams during the final and jeered her sister, Venus, and father Richard Williams in the stands.

As the top seed and a 21 Grand Slam title winner, Williams is the clear favourite this week. And her quest was boosted with the early elimination of two of the top five seeds in the women's draw, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza.

Although Williams got off to a slow start Sunday she closed out the contest in style with an ace on match point. "I was just trying to find my rhythm out there, trying my best to not get off to a slow start," she said. "Just trying to fight and do what I could."

The defending two-time men's champ Djokovic has now won 12 consecutive matches in Indian Wells and is seeking to become the first player in tournament history to claim five titles.

Djokovic won 78 per cent of his first serve points, made three double faults and had his serve broken three times including twice in the first three games. He returned the favour in the deciding third set by breaking Fratangelo in games one, five and seven.

"All in all, it was just not a great performance," Djokovic said. "But you have to deal with it, accept it. A win is a win. Hopefully the next one will be better."

After the victory in difficult, windy conditions, Djokovic next faces German Philipp Kohlschreiber who swept past Denis Kudla 6-0, 6-1.

"Today is one of those days where you don't feel the ball well," Djokovic said. "You know, swirly conditions."

NISHIKORI WINS

Japanese star Kei Nishikori eased into the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin.

The 26-year-old Nishikori, seeded fifth in his eighth appearance in Indian Wells, has never made it past the fourth round in the California desert.

"It is not easy playing the first match of any tournament," Nishikori said. "But I felt comfortable today. So I hope I can go further than the last couple of years."

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated French compatriot Vincent Millot 7-5, 6-1, Dominic Thiem beat Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) and Sam Querrey stopped Thiemo de Bakker 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.

Elsewhere in women's action, world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska breezed past Romania's Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-1 to reach the fourth round.

Former Indian Wells champ Jelena Jankovic crushed CoCo Vandeweghe 6-0, 6-1 and Czech Petra Kvitova defeated Swede Johanna Larsson 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama is helped as he leaves the temple following a Tibetan long life ceremony held for him in 2014 in Dharamsala, India.


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For filmmaker Michael Siv, the idea of justice for survivors of the Khmer Rouge era is difficult to pin down, a question that might never be answered.

As part of his ongoing journey, as he puts it, to come to terms with his own past and the history of his native country, Sivwho moved to the United States as a Cambodian refugee in the early 1980shas produced Daze of Justice. The 69-minute documentary just premiered as a centerpiece film at the Center for Asian American Media Festival, which started on March 10 and runs for 10 days in San Francisco and Oakland, California.

Daze of Justice tells the extraordinary story of three courageous Cambodian-American Khmer Rouge survivors who are also seeking answers. They come to testify at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh, taking the stand in front of top leaders of the regime, two of whom have been convicted of crimes against humanity and are on still on trial on genocide charges.

Siv told VOA Khmer the film was dedicated to the survivors of the Khmer Rouge, and that it was in part an exploration of what justice might mean for them.

What is justice? he asked. When I started following them, I dont know what it is. So my goal is to capture if there is such a thing as justice, through the lenses of survivors.

There is no clear answer, for Siv himself or the survivors featured in the film, he said. Thats why Im using the word Daze of Justice, because its going to be ongoing question and ongoing journey, probably for the rest of most peoples lives, he said.

The journey of the three survivors was the starting point for the film. However, Siv said, he came to realize that story of the Khmer Rouge genocide was not just about perpetrators and survivors. The message of the film is that genocide, or this war, didnt necessarily [just] affect the first generation or the survivors. It affected people like myself, and probably the next generation: my son, and probably his family, he said.

Seeking an Untold Story

At the age of three or four, Siv and his mother, father and older brother escaped the chaos inside Cambodia to one of the camps on the Thai-Cambodian border. His father told his young mother, then aged only 18, to take Siv and seek refuge in America, leaving their family members behind.

Hes now in his early 30s, but in his youth Siv never attempted to find the truth of what had happened to the rest of his family. At home, even my mother never talks about her past because it is just too painful or [full of] suffering, he said.

When he was 24, Siv learned that his father and brother were still alive, and decided to return to Cambodia. But his father had kept two families at the same time when they were living in the Thai-Cambodia border camp. His father chose to remarry to the other woman, with whom he has eight children. Siv was shocked to find that his brother lives only about 25 minutes away from their father, but the two did not know each other.

Its unbelievable. I didnt know why, he said. And now I realize that its beyond the war. My father was like: It is the war. Dont blame me. Dont blame your mother. Blame the Khmer Rouge.

Siv came to appreciate that his father, mother and other survivors, can never fully let the past go. Its going to be within them for the rest of their lives. They are going to continue to search [for] justice and closure, said Siv.

A Story for Every Generation

In his film, Siv makes an interesting transition, turning his lens in an unexpected direction. He shifts from survivors, who lost loved ones and suffered extreme torment at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, to the son of one of the regimes most ruthless killers.

Pheng, the offspring of the S-21 prison chief Kaing Kek Eav a.k.a. Duch, joins the films search for answers. He wants to find out more about his father, who was convicted of crimes against humanity in 2010, and is serving a life sentence.

Pheng is coming to try to understand what his father is really about. But it becomes confusing for him when going to the trial with survivors, he said.

[Pheng] didnt kill anybody, but his father did. How does a son of a mass murderer deal with that? Nobody talks about his story. Nobody tries to understand how difficult his life was growing up as a son of a mass murderer.

Upon completing Daze of Justice, Siv said he realized the history of the Khmer Rouge belongs to all generations of Cambodians, both inside and outside the country. The message is that every generation has to realize that the history is also theirs, he said, and its okay to talk about it.
National Assembly lawmakers from the ruling party have decided to move forward on debate for a contentious law to regulate unions, despite objections from the opposition and labor leaders.

During a Permanent Committee meeting on Friday, lawmakers from the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party agreed to move ahead on an extraordinary session on April 4 to debate the draft law, one that labor leaders fear will make it harder for workers to unionize and demonstrate.

Members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party say they do not support the extraordinary session, which comes following meetings last week between lawmakers, union leaders and other stakeholders over the draft.

Rescue Party lawmaker Ke Sovannaroth told VOA Khmer the opposition does not support the draft because it fails to take into account the biggest worries of unions. Those concerns were discussed at a meeting on Wednesday, but few were included by an expert committee held Thursday, she said. Now we still have a final option. That is, we discuss the matter in the plenary session.

The draft bill does not address concerns over the legal scope of the law, funding for unions, conflicts of interest for union leaders, and a provision requiring majority consent before holding a demonstration, she said.

Chheang Von, a lawmaker and spokesman for the national assembly, told reporters that the law must be passed as soon as possible, because the restive labor sector, which employs up to 700,000 workers, must be regulated. The law in discussion is not 100 percent perfect, for me, but the question is, will it be fruitful? he said. Yes it will be. There are a lot of unions right now. It appears scary to me. The investors are also afraid.

The law will prevent union leaders from having roles with conflict of interest that could help union members, he said. And it will ensure that a majority of workers, at least more than 50 percent, will have their interests served.

It is unclear so far whether the language of the draft requires that more than 50 percent of employees of a factory need to consent to a strike, or 50 percent of a union membership. Ke Sovannaroth said that language needs to be made more precise.

Ath Thun, president of Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said he was disappointed with the progress of the draft and its being rushed to debate.

Wednesdays workshop, in which union leaders were asked for their thoughts, was not built into a revision, he said. I think the workshop was useless. He will be working with international partners to find a way to further amend the draft, he said.

Rescue Party lawmaker Son Chhay, however, said it is unlikely at this point the draft will be modified further.
A new theater production is seeking to reconcile different generations of Cambodians with the countrys violent past by combining imaginative performance with documenting the memories of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Entitled See You Yesterdaythe former title was REBOUNDthe show has been produced by Global Arts Corps in partnership with Phare Ponleu Selpak, the renowned performing arts nongovernmental organization. It opened with preview performances on March 11 and 12 at the International School of Phnom Penh.

Work on the production began in 2012 with teachers and directors from around the world working together with a group of 19 young Cambodian performers aged between 17 and 24. These youngsters are the part of the second or third generation of Cambodians to be born since the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed in January 1979.

Global Arts Corps artistic director Michael Lessac said the company of extraordinary young Cambodian circus performers had shown courage to become ensemble leaders. They used their creative skills to make sense of the silence handed down to them from the violent past of the forebears.

These circus performers became actors in the true sense of the word, creating a fusion of the two art forms, Lessac told VOA Khmer. The play is a search for what it feels like to relive a past after growing up in the aftermath of violence. It opened up a dialogue between youth and their elders, and new stories found their way into the rehearsals, he said. Lessac believes the show will serve as a mirror for youth, and for audiences everywhere, to explore their own identities.

William Faulkners line,The past is never dead. Its not even past, was brought to mind as the performers played out events from more than 35 years ago, as well as the confrontation with horror, which continues to the present day.

Phat Sreyleak, 17, acted as a pregnant woman who had to struggle to deliver her baby alone during work in a rice field. She went through labor without a midwife, medicine, or help, and then the baby was taken away from her.

When asked how she felt about the role, and if it was a challenge to perform the scene, Sreyleak said that through learning the steps, she could understand how people struggled during that time. Crying, she said it made her realize the pain her mother felt when she gave birth to her.

Youk Chhang, executive director of Documentation Center of Cambodia, praised the performance. For Chhang, the Earth itself cried when Sreyleak portrayed the pain of women suffering under the Khmer Rouge.

The show will also be brought to be performed in Rwanda and other countries affected by atrocities. Other audience members said they wanted the show to be toured around Cambodia for more people to see.
Mohamed Khweiss parents were awakened Monday morning by a VOA reporter and cameraman at the familys townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia.

The newspeople told them something they never expected to hear: their son was a member of the Islamic State (IS) and he had surrendered to Kurdish forces in Iraq.

"We thought he was in Canada lately, said a woman who identified herself as Khweis's mother. We also know he has been traveling to Turkey.

But the parents had not been in contact with the son for a long time. They had no idea he was in Iraq or had ties with any extremist groups.

The parents said they are of Palestinian background. The father said he came to the U.S. in 1988.

When shown a published photo of Khweis in Kurdish custody , the family said they were not certain it was him.

The guy in the picture is not my brother, insisted Tamer Khweis, a college student and a younger brother of Mohammed Khweis.

There are similarities, but I cant confirm because the picture isnt clear, his mother said.

Khweis' personal belongings might have been stolen and have ended up in Iraq, the family suggested.

Figure on the horizon

Sarbaz Hama Amin, a Kurdish Peshmerga commander in Iraq, told VOA his forces noticed an odd figure while on patrol Monday in northern Iraq, near the town of Sinjar.

Our Peshmergas who were patrolling the frontline said they saw something unusual and started firing at it. That thing disappeared after we fired at it but our Peshmergas started looking for it. After it became light after 5:00 a.m., he screamed at us and told us in English, Who can talk to me? I want to come to you.

But our Peshmergas didnt understand English, Amin continued. He spoke a very limited Arabic and asked if anyone spoke English. After Peshmergas made sure he had no explosives on, we arrested him and took him to the camp where he said he wanted to surrender.

Amin added that the suspect told them his father was Palestinian.

A picture of the suspects Virginia state drivers license, sent to VOA, identifies him as Mohamed Jamal Khweis.

The fighter might possibly have come from the Talafar town controlled by IS because that place is the closest frontline to us, Amin said. He had Turkish money and some dollars. He also had a visa card and an American drivers license.

Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga Gen. Hashem Sitayi told VOA the suspect traveled through Turkey to Syria to join Islamic State.

It looks like it's still far too easy to get into Syria from Turkey, Patrick Skinner told VOA. Skinner is an intelligence officer now with The Soufan Group, a strategic security intelligence consultancy. It shows how hard it is to control or detect movement in places where so many people are moving both in terms of fleeing but also in terms of normal life.

Skinner added, It will be important to get his information on his points of contacts before he traveled and on other USCITs [American citizens] he might have seen.

State Department response

Later in the morning the father, Jamal Khweis, in an exclusive interview with VOA, said he tried to get more information from U.S. authorities.

I went to the State Department to inquire about my son. They didnt help. I heading home now, he said. My wife said there are cameras and many reporters outside of my house. I wont talk to reporters until the U.S. government confirms my sons capture.

A U.S. State Department official said We are aware of reports that a U.S. citizen that was allegedly fighting for Daesh (IS) has been captured by Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports.

Spokesman John Kirby said Monday that over the past several weeks, there have been reports of increasing defections from IS. "Fighters are becoming disenfranchised, certainly disenchanted with the effort that they claimed they signed up for and are, in increasing numbers, deciding to leave the group."

Kirby added that reports indicate IS is increasingly relying on child soldiers. Originally, he said, child soldiers were used as suicide attackers, and "now we get more reports about them using children... in actual engagements, you know, side by side with adult fighters."

VOAs Sharon Behn and Ali Javanmardi contributed to this report from Irbil. VOA State Department correspondents Nike Ching and Pam Dockins, Rikar Hussein and National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed from Washington.
The heated debate over the intense and often hateful atmosphere of Donald Trumps campaign rallies continued Monday as the White House called for the Republican leadership to take responsibility for their partys presidential front-runner.



Violent confrontations between protesters and Trump supporters at a Chicago rally Friday night prompted Democrats to blame dysfunction in the Republican party for the success of Trumps often chaotic campaign.



If youre a Republican leader and you dont stand for something, then your voters will fall for anything, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at the White House Monday. Earnests remarks followed President Obamas reaction to the protests.



If you dont care about the facts, or the evidence, or civility in general in making your arguments, you will end up with candidates who will say just about anything and do just about anything, Obama said at a fundraiser in Dallas Friday.



The presidents remarks sparked days of debate over partisan divides in the United States and the role of personal responsibility in a presidential candidates political dialogue. Analysts say Trumps rhetoric is the result of a decades-long Republican party strategy to mobilize angry voters.



Donald Trump didn't cause the coarsening in discourse in this country and the coarsening in culture where anything goes, but hes exploited it, said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.



Ornstein said the Trump campaign's upending of Republican party orthodoxy follows what has been happening in American politics for decades, ever since the contentious days of the Nixon presidency and then into the 1980s and 1990s, as Republicans looked to wrest control of Congress away from Democrats.

The result was an atmosphere in which politicians were branded as traitors for working with each other, and the problem has grown during Obamas presidency.



We've seen a similar process of blowing up government, trying to make everything that it does look ugly along the way, voting in unison against anything that Barack Obama proposed because he's Barack Obama.



Bill Galston, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, says that while dysfunction in the party is certainly one of the issues at play, he sees voters directing their anger internally.



The Republican party has tried to use the anger of working class whites for its own purposes, but that strategy turned out to be short sighted, he said.



The Republican establishment was toying with them, was not really doing anything to meet their objectives and needs, which have much more to do with their economic well-being than with foreign policy or social and cultural issues.

One Trump challenger, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, has condemned the violence at his opponents rallies but acknowledged the anti-establishment sentiment among voters. Cruz said anger within the Republican party is directed at the presidents failure of leadership and the Washington establishments close ties with the rich and powerful.



Barack Obamas a world class demagogue. That language there is designed to divide us, Cruz said in an interview with NBCs Meet the Press Sunday.

The divisive language leads voters to seek unorthodox solutions.



When a democratic political system, which depends in the last analysis on the ability of elected representatives to discuss their differences with one another and the American people, if such a system loses that capacity it's lost something very important and we need to think hard about how to regain it, said Galston.



While the leadership in both parties seeks a place to lay blame, a more practical question has emerged: can a politician be held personally responsible for the impact their rhetoric has on supporters?



Local police are looking into charging Trump with inciting a riot at one of his rallies in North Carolina. Before the confrontations in Chicago, Trump routinely encouraged security and supporters to rough up protesters, and he used violent language to encourage his crowds.



One of the reasons theres so much energy at these events is that you have an aspiring political leader inflaming tensions and appealing to peoples darker impulses and capitalizing on their anxieties, Earnest said.



Ornstein said Trumps exploitation of the anger and frustration among his supporters crosses the line for what we expect to see in a political process that has plenty of rough discourse and always has, but there are boundaries and weve crossed those boundaries.



He said he doesnt expect to see a lessening of the tension at Trumps rallies anytime soon.
Two Australian journalists have been briefly detained in Malaysia after trying to ask Prime Minister Najib Razak about corruption allegations.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation says reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu were arrested Saturday in the city of Kuching after approaching Najib as he was entering a mosque. The pair were surrounded by the prime minister's security detail and briefly questioned before they were allowed to leave.

But Besser and Eroglu were arrested again as they returned to their hotel, and questioned for six hours at a police station. The pair have since been released, but must remain in Malaysia until Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali decides if they should be charged with interfering with a public servant while performing his duties.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters Monday she is "concerned when there are instances of a crackdown on freedom of speech in democracies particularly," as well as "the freedom that journalists have to carry out their work." Bishop says Besser and Eroglu are receiving assistance from the Australian consulate.

Najib has been under fire since last year over allegations of missing funds from the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad. A previous investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the money was a political donation from an unidentified Middle Eastern benefactor.

He was cleared by the attorney-general in January of wrongdoing over a transfer of $681 million into his personal bank account. Apandi said the the money was given to Najib in early 2013 by the Saudi royal family as a personal donation.
Brazilian police say some 3 million people across the country took to the streets Sunday demanding the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff.

Protesters urged lawmakers to continue with ongoing impeachment proceedings against the president who finds herself embroiled in a corruption scandal and presiding over the country's worst recession in 25 years.

Sergio Praca, a political analyst at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro said the demonstrations "were very powerful" and were "the worst scenario possible for the government."

Rousseff and her Workers' Party are struggling to hold on to power as officials delve into a probe of massive corruption at state oil company Petrobras.

Prosecutors say more than $2 billion was paid in bribes and other funds by the nation's biggest construction and engineering firms in exchange for inflated Petrobras contracts.

Dozens of former Petrobras executives and political figures, including Rousseff's predecessor and mentor, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, are under investigation. Some of the alleged wrongdoing took place while Rousseff was chairman of the Petrobras board.

Rousseff and her party are also facing a new threat. On Saturday, the Workers' Party main coalition partner, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, said it will decide in 30 days whether it will maintain its alliance with the Workers' Party.
U.S. presidential candidates are looking ahead to Tuesday when five delegate-rich states hold their primary elections, with the rest of the field blaming Republican front-runner Donald Trump for the violence that has erupted at his rallies.

The primaries in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina are particularly important for Trump's opponents who want to prevent him from grabbing a potentially insurmountable lead.

But Trump denied that his campaign has provoked violence, telling a crowd in Bloomington, Illinois Sunday that he wants peace and not trouble.

Protest violence

There have been fights and pushing and shoving between his supporters and protesters opposing his candidacy at rallies in several of Tuesday's primary states, and authorities have arrested a small number of protesters at those sites.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the leader in the Democratic race, said Sunday night that Trump is "trafficking in hate and fear." She said criticism of Trump does not matter if people do not show up on election day to vote against him.

Clinton's opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, said he hopes Trump tones down his campaign and tells supporters that violence is not acceptable.

Trump in recent days blamed Sanders for the increasingly frequent disruptions at events and threatened to retaliate by sending his supporters to Sanders' rallies.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is in second place in terms of delegates Republicans need to clinch the party's nomination and on Sunday added fresh criticism of Trump.

"When you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nastiness," Cruz said on NBC's Meet The Press.

'Dangerous,' 'toxic' campaign

Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich are far behind in terms of delegates and used words like "dangerous" and "toxic" to describe Trump's campaign.

Both Rubio and Kasich are banking on a first place finish in the winner-take-all primaries in their home states Tuesday. Polls indicate Trump holds a big lead in Florida, but is locked in a tight race with Kasich in Ohio.

The primary elections and caucuses are apportioning delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions in July when the presidential nominees will be formally selected.

Clinton and Sanders will continue to collect pledged convention delegates roughly based on their vote totals in each state, not winner-take-all.

Correction: Due to an erroneous Associated Press report, an early version of this story indicated that Bernie Sanders responded to Donald Trump's suggestion that he would send his supporters to Sanders campaign events by saying "Send them. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like.'' Sen. Sanders did not say or Tweet that statement.
As Taipeis president-elect prepares to take office in May, ever tense but recently improved relations between China and Taiwan appear headed into a new slump, with the two sides unable to agree on how to hold talks that would build trust and allow the signing of agreements.

If China and Taiwan avoid each other after Tsai Ing-wen becomes president, they will effectively suspend regular negotiations that have led to growth in trade and tourism, analysts say.

China may retaliate

Agreements signed since 2008 have supported Taiwans now struggling export-driven economy. China may also follow existing deals less rigorously, and some believe it is now holding back tourists.

Taiwan and China have been political rivals since the 1940s. The two Asian neighbors are self-ruled, but China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and insists that it be brought under its control as a finale to the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. Surveys show that most Taiwanese prefer todays status quo.

Current President Ma Ying-jeou opened talks with Beijing after he was elected in 2008. Each side agreed then to see the other as China, just subject to different interpretations, in line with the 1992 consensus.

New president not keen on dialogue with Beijing

But voters felt President Ma had grown too close to Beijing after signing 23 agreements. In January they elected Tsai, who will take office May 20. She rejects Mas basis for dialogue with China, despite Beijings call this month for her to uphold it. Her party prefers to treat China as a separate country.

There wont be any new economic agreements or people-to-people exchanges anytime soon after Tsai comes into office, said Sean King, senior vice president with the consulting firm Park Strategies in New York and Taipei.

I also wont be surprised if Beijing cuts back on tourists to Taiwan, an economic punishment as it were, to express its displeasure with Tsais refusal to recognize the 1992 consensus, he said.

The current government reached deals with China to open tourism, smooth investment and cut import tariffs, a particular boon to Taiwan as China is its number one trade partner by value of goods. The two sides have met formally at least twice a year since 2008 to sign those accords and lack other channels to make deals.

A trade-in-goods pact is still being negotiated, and Taiwan legislators have not ratified a service trade liberalization agreement signed in 2013.

Travel applications down

In a possible sign of resistance from Beijing, travel applications from mainland Chinese have fallen 1.4 percent in the first nine weeks of 2016 compared to the same period of last year, said Jeff Yang, secretary general of Taiwans China policymaking body, the Mainland Affairs Council.

Travel agents say arrivals began declining before the election of Tsai on Jan. 16.

But Yang said his agency lacks evidence to prove that China is taking measures to resist the change in president.

We have a lot of channels to seek this information and ways to demand a statement from the other side, Yang said. But we cant see any actual evidence or boldly suppose that this kind of thing has happened. We could roughly theorize, but after all we need to be careful in seeking verification.

A drop in tourists from a 2015 peak of 3.4 million arrivals would threaten Taiwans service sector. It might also empty some of the direct commercial flights that emerged after 2008, said Raymond Wu, managing director of Taipei-based political risk consultancy e-telligence.

There are now about 890 direct flights per week between the mainland and Taiwan, up from virtually none before Ma took office.

Pressure on Beijing

The president-elects rejection of todays dialogue conditions without new ones that China accepts will put Beijing in a tough spot, Wu said. China hopes to charm Taiwans people as a gambit toward its goal of peaceful unification.

This is going to be a dilemma for Beijing, Wu said. If Beijing does all these things, of course there will be resentment from Taiwan. This would be going against what Beijing has said all along, that theyre resting their hopes on the people of Taiwan. But if they dont do anything at all then they will be viewed as a paper tiger.

Tsais government has said it would uphold the agreements reached under President Ma.

In response to Beijings calls for accepting the 1992 Consensus, Tsais Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has never recognized the deal, this month called for the peaceful development of relations.

When the new government takes office, the party said it will "maintain the status quo" and do its utmost to ensure peace and stability."
Days of protests by coal miners in northeastern Chinas Heilongjiang province has forced a top official to issue an apology over unpaid wages.

The dispute is one small example of the tough challenges China faces as it seeks to shed overcapacity and transition labor away from state-owned enterprises, analysts say.

The protests reached a boiling point over the weekend after thousands of unpaid workers in Shuangyashan packed the citys streets and blocked the railway in protest of what they called a fat lie told by provincial Governor Lu Hao.

The miners are employed by the Shuangyashan Mining Industry Group, a subsidiary under Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group.

What the Shuangyashan incident has exposed is just a tip of the iceberg. It has been pretty endemic (workers not getting paid). As the economy in China continues its slowdown, the [labor] dispute is getting worse, said Liao Cheng, a rights activist from Heilongjiang.

Last Sunday, Heilongjiang Governor Lu told leaders at Chinas so-called "two sessions" in Beijing that Longmay, the largest state-owned coal mining group in his province, has never been late in paying its 80,000 workers, stressing that not a penny is overdue.

Angry workers

But Lus comment immediately angered many coal miners in his hometown, who complained that they havent received paychecks for more than six months.

During the demonstrations, crowds chanted furiously, Give our wages back. Give our wages back. We need to eat, while their banners read, We want to survive or The Communist Party owes us money.

Videos and pictures of the massive demonstrations, posted on social media, showed protesters flooding the streets, gathering in front of the citys coal mine bureau and at train stations. Authorities sent hundreds of riot police to forcibly break up the rally and make arrests.

In footage seen online, one man conveyed that he saw riot police with shields and batons passing by, numerous clashes, with the police beating people.

As clashes intensified during the weekend, Lu was forced to extend an apology late Sunday to ease public outrage. According to a Beijing Times report on Monday, the top official admitted, A mistake is a mistake. There are no excuses.

But on the website Freeweibo.com, Shuangyashan was the top trending censored topic. Many users argued the incident shows how corrupt the provinces officials are, with some urging Lu to take the blame and step down.

Official apology

Lu said that he was misinformed and had held a meeting on Saturday to discuss measures to turn debt-ridden Longmay around.

The governor concluded that, with support from his government, Longmay will soon raise funds to repay workers, while relocating as many as 50,000 elsewhere, such as in the local food, dairy and tourism sectors, which he said have a healthy outlook over the next two to three years.

But labor activists were not as optimistic the dispute would come to an end soon.

Its one thing for the governments, for the provinces to promise. Its quite another for the companies involved to actually get those funds together to ensure that workers are actually paid. So, I have my doubts the issue will be resolved straight away, said Jeff Crothall, spokesman of Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin.

The coal mining industry is seriously burdened with overcapacity. Last year, more than 90 percent of the nations coal mines suffered losses.

China National Coal Associations latest statistics show that the sector produced 3.37 billion tons of coal in the first 11 months of last year, down 3.54 percent from the year previous.

Over the next three to five years, the government plans to further shed or restructure output by one billion tons, said Zhao Chenxin, spokesman of National Development of Reform Commission.

Overcapacity is a huge challenge also facing many of the nations other traditional heavy industries, which are mostly state-owned.

A smaller headache?

Although the reform of state-owned enterprises is no easy task, the management of its redundant employees today is a relatively smaller headache compared to the previous crisis the enterprises suffered in 1993-1994, said Cao Heping, professor of economics at Peking University.

The difficulty today is a lot smaller. Back then, there were 30 million redundant employees. Today, the number is estimated to be under 1.8 million, the professor said.

Out of the 1.8 million, the actual number of workers being laid off will be smaller after state-owned enterprises follow through their restructuring, merger and acquisition plans, which will help retain talent, he said, expressing confidence that the Chinese government is now in a better position to weather through a smaller crisis.
Chinas new securities regulator has made it clear that there will be no relaxation in the governments control on crucial aspects of the stock market for the time being.

Official control over initial public offerings and government-sponsored trading, however, will continue.

Liu Shiyu, the new chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said recently that the much-awaited reform in the IPO registration system will not take place anytime soon.

Supporting the reforms will require a process and a period of time, and the reform of registration-based IPO system cant move ahead on its own, Liu said. The IPO registration system, which had been listed on the governments agenda in early 2015, would eventually be implemented but there was no timetable for it, he said.

If implemented, the reform would force the CSRC to give up its power to vet the plans of companies seeking to raise funds through IPOs. It will give issuers greater independence to determine IPO pricing by merely registering them with the stock exchange.

Oliver Rui, professor of finance and accounting at the China Europe International Business School said, that the CSRC move would slow down the pace of stock market reform and not enhance the efficiency of asset allocation.

I wish the government could change its mindset on governance and let the stock market run by itself.Frequent intervention from the government does not help, he said.

Sponsored trading

The new CSRC chief also said government-run organizations, which artificially prop up the market during a fall, will continue to operate. There were no plans to stop them from playing their roles, he said.

China makes no secret of the fact that it directly intervenes in the market with massive amounts of money to keep it from falling drastically.

The government-run China Securities Finance Corp. has played a major role in softening the market during incidents of major turbulence, which resulted in total losses of about $5 trillion since April last year.

The fund has invested in almost 600 publicly traded companies, according to Bloomberg data.

An earlier attempt to control market behavior through a tight circuit breaker system resulted in a massive crash last month. The CSRC was forced to withdraw its rules. The government replaced its chief, Xiao Gang, with Liu.

Tanker without engine

The impact of the slumping stock index on the financial market at the time was like an oil tanker truck whose engine was not working as it went down a steep road, Liu said at the press conference on the sidelines of Chinas annual legislative session.

In a less severe scenario, the truck might be destroyed and the driver die.In the worst case it could lead to forest fires and threaten innocent lives.

Stock players expected the government to take a more market-friendly approach after the circuit breaker fiasco, analysts said; but, they may have to wait to see that happen.

At least 700 Chinese companies have planned IPOs, but some of them might be delayed, sources said.

The regulator still regards market stability as a top priority, Johnny Fang, senior analyst with consulting firm, Z-Ben Advisors, said. Although the CSRC continues to control IPO vetting, there has been a significant improvement in its efficiency since the beginning of 2016, he said.

The government control over IPO vetting had led to serious corruption, and at least three senior regulatory officials have been charged with it.

They include Yao Gang, a CSRC vice chairman at the regulator in charge of IPO issues, who was placed under investigation for serious disciplinary violations  a euphemism for corruption. Two other officials dealing with IPOs, Li Liang, and Li Zhiling, have been detained for the same reason.
Hundreds of people protested in Douala, Cameroon, Sunday, a day after the death of a pregnant woman who was reportedly left untreated by hospital staff because she was not able able to pay consultation fees.

Cameroon officials denied the charge.

"This problem is terrible. It is horrible and Cameroon is very very sad. [But] I would say that it is not a problem of negligence in the district hospital or in the Laquintinie hospital in Douala," Cameroon's Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda said.

Fouda claimed the pregnant woman and her unborn fetuses were already dead before arriving at the hospital.

Monique Kumate, 31, and her twin fetuses were said to have died Saturday at Laquintinie when no medical staff attended to them. Her sister allegedly tried to perform a cesarean-section-type procedure to remove the fetuses in an effort to save them.

However, the tragedy had led to criticisms and protests from political parties, human rights groups and angry youths, as well as sparked debate about the quality of services delivered in Cameroonian hospitals.

Medical council

Professor Tetanye Ekoe, vice president of Cameroon's medical council, said there have been calls for the government to close 1,000 hospitals and training centers allegedly operating illegally and without the necessary staff and equipment, which is putting the lives of millions of people in danger.

Ekoe said the health ministry must enforce laws to punish medical staff who seek payment before treating patients.

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, who trains doctors and nurses, said the country also has too few doctors.

Ngwanyam cited doctor pay as an issue. He said many trained doctors seek higher pay in European countries; newly trained doctors receive about $250 a month.

"We need 8,000 medical doctors as of now to meet our needs. Many of our children are going to countries like Benin, Mali and all over the whole place and studying under very poor conditions in some of those countries, he said. And when they do come back with certificates saying they are medical doctors, it becomes too difficult to manage them because you don't know what they have got, you don't know what they are worth."

The World Health Organization estimated Cameroon has only about 25 percent of the doctors it needs, with only one doctor for every 40,000 citizens in a country of 22 million people.
Locals in northern Greece are divided about the flood of war refugees. Some say asylum-seekers cause chaos and steal. Others express deep sympathy for their plight, including staff at a five-star hotel in Thessaloniki, which last week boarded some refugees.

You expect fine service at a five-star hotel, but if youre a penniless refugee you dont expect to stay; if you can scrape some coins together, maybe you might slip into the Fugitive Motel.

Last week, a group of 55 disheveled, exhausted Syrian and Iraqi asylum-seekers  children included  stayed for a few days at the Mediterranean Palace Hotel, a landmark establishment in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.

Their stay came after enduring weeks of misery, hunger and illness at the makeshift refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border at Idomeni, hoping to be allowed to travel farther north into the European Union.

Eleni Gourbatsi, 35, is a receptionist at the hotel and was heartbroken when they arrived.

They were very tired, they were hungry, they were exhausted, you could see that in their eyes and all over their body," Gourbatsi said. "And when they came down after they took a shower they were different people

Hotel accommodations

The refugees were accommodated at the hotel overlooking the citys historic sea-passenger terminal by a local Greek NGO as a way-station after they had applied to enter the European Union relocation scheme. They stayed at the hotel as transport was being arranged for them to Athens.

For the refugees the hotel provided a respite. It gave them a chance to catch their breath and wash the few clothes they had with them. Some didnt even have a change of clothes.

And one child was ill. Hotel staff arranged a visit to a private hospital, which waived subsequently any charges for the months-old baby, who was suffering from a severe respiratory infection; which has reached epidemic proportions among refugee kids at Idomeni.

The refugees had a major emotional impact on hotel staff, prompting a gentleness and protectiveness that not even money can buy. The concierge could frequently be spotted slipping candies to the kids. Staff donated clothes, bought diapers and medicine.

And during their stay the refugees could be seen to unwind. The children, quiet and subdued at first, were soon giggling. One Iraqi boy couldnt contain himself to explain to everyone he met how hed seen the sea and gone swimming in the hotel pool.

When the refugees left, some hotel staff wept.

Some unsympathetic

But not all locals in northern Greece are as sympathetic.

Soupli Xanthoula is a sub-mayor at Idomeni and says the villagers were patient at first but are now frustrated. She claims some refugees have been stealing, and the villagers  mainly farmers  are worried because the camp keeps on spreading. Refugees are tramping across farm fields, damaging them.

But Eleni Gourbatsi says locals should remain sympathetic.

I am very sad for all of this situation that is happening," Gourbatsi said. "Seeing them and facing them it was really like, This is true and I see that now. Seeing them here it makes you feel like, What is going on in the world, who is sending them away from their homes? I want to meet them and I want to say, Who are you and why? 

But with 44,000 refugees now trapped in Greece and authorities predicting there will be 100,000 by the end of March, the sympathy many Greeks feel will start being stretched.
The husband of an inter-caste marriage in southern India was hacked to death in public Sunday in a suspected "honor killing." His wife, from a higher caste, was critically injured in the fracas and is recovering in a hospital.

Police said Monday the 22-year-old man from the Dalit caste was attacked by three men armed with sickles and sharp weapons.

A local police commissioner said the family of the 19-year-old wife, from the Thevars Hindu caste, was angry about the couple's marriage.

The couple had received death threats from the wife's family from the day they married, according to The Times of India.

Thevars are a dominant community in Tamil Nadu while Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, are a historically marginalized community.

Honor killing is a traditional practice in some countries of killing a family member who is believed to have brought shame on the family by having a relationship with or marrying someone of a different religion or caste.

The Times of India reports that no one stepped in to help the couple when they were attacked at a crowded bus stop.

Police said the couple met at an engineering college.
Officials in Ivory Coast say a total of 21 people were killed in Sunday's attack by jihadist militants on a popular beach resort.

The country's Interior minister, Hamed Bakayoko, said Monday that the dead include 15 civilians, three soldiers and three gunmen. Thirty-three people were wounded.

Earlier reports put the number of gunmen at six. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Francois Dominique Delafosse, told VOA's French to Africa service that officials have no information that other assailants are in hiding.

The spokesman said heightened security is in place around hotels and restaurants.

Al-Qaida's North African affiliate al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted hotels in the city of Grand-Bassam. This was the third time in four months Islamist militants have targeted hotels in West Africa, following deadly assaults in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso.



Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning and was expected to address the nation later Monday.

Witnesses to Sunday's attack said the assailants wore hooded face masks and arrived on foot on the beach at one of the hotels, the Southern Star. A witness told VOA that four men shouted, Allahu Akbar! (God is great) before opening fire.

The United States condemned the "heinous attack," and praised "Ivorian and French" forces for preventing more people from dying.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. is prepared to assist Ivory Coast in its investigation. He also reiterated U.S. commitment to working with others in West Africa to fight terrorists who want to undermine efforts to "build tolerant and inclusive societies."

Grand-Bassam is a former French colonial capital, about 40 kilometers east of the commercial hub of Abidjan, and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the elegant colonial-era facades of buildings in the city.
Makhmour stands on the edge of the divide between the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Islamic State militants.

From behind the sandbags at the final Peshmerga base, on the horizon you can see a water tower with the black IS banner draped across it.

That village, one Peshmerga soldier said, pointing to a line of houses on the horizon, is under the control of Daesh.

IS fighters are tough

In 2014, the land the soldiers were standing on was also controlled by IS, or Daesh, as the group is known here.

It took two months of bloody fighting to oust the militants from the area and regain what the Kurds consider their territory.

At least one village still stands completely empty, its walls pockmarked with bullet holes. A large sign to the right of the bumpy road cutting through the houses warned against touching anything.

IS militants are known to plant bombs and booby trap areas they have occupied.

This is a familiar battlefield for Omar Mirhan, at 78 the eldest Peshmerga in the area. According to him, they killed all the IS fighters when they retook Makhmours 14 surrounding villages.

They do not retreat, Mirhan said, standing on top of a hill surrounded by his younger fighters, gesturing to the town below.

Highly respected fighter

Although retired and now only a volunteer, Mirhan is highly respected by his fellow Kurdish fighters.

He joined the Peshmerga in 1961, and has fought in every battle since then, including against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Inside his lookout post, Mirhan rolled a cigarette with golden Kurdish tobacco, sipped tea and started to smoke.

The battle for Mosul, he said, was going to be tough, and he was not sure the Iraqi Army  which fled Mosul in 2014  was up to the task.

Do you want the Iraqi army to take Mosul? Unless American ground troops or Peshmerga go there, I swear to God, they cant take Mosul, he said.

There is little love lost between the Kurdish and Iraqi forces. Their military bases here are separate, and even though Kurdistan is still considered part of Iraq, the Peshmerga bases fly the Kurdish flag and only the Iraqi bases fly the Iraqi flag.

Cooperation

Major General Sirwan Barzani, commander for the Makhmour frontline, known as Sector 6, says the forces are coordinating. He met with VOA during a short visit to one of the posts overlooking the town of Makhmour.

WATCH: Peshmerga Commander Discusses Strategy Against IS

There is an operation room, there is a joint operation room between the Iraqi army, the Ministry of Defense, and the Peshmerga ministry and the Americans and the coalition, Barzani said.

But a lot more will be needed. Islamic State is a difficult enemy, he said. To take Mosul, Barzani said, airstrikes by coalition forces would not be enough; they would need attack helicopters.

More weapons, money

He called for more weapons and ammunition for his cash-strapped soldiers. I have a maximum of five percent of my needs, said the general.

A steep economic crisis in the Kurdistan region, combined with a bitter budget spat with the central government in Baghdad, has meant that salaries for many Peshmerga are in arrears by several months.

IS is developing new techniques, new ways of of using homemade bombs, it is using drones to gather intelligence and film its attacks, and it is experimenting with chemical weapons.

They are dangerous people, Barzani said.

Keeping it

But the real challenge, the Kurdish general said, was not just taking Mosul away from IS, but being able to keep it.

You know it is not only a question of pushing Daesh back, you have to hold the land also, said Barzani. So I think they need at least 25,000 Iraqi army for this operation, and almost 10,000 Peshmerga.

According to Barzani, Iraqi security forces were already moving into Makhmour, an area that lies southeast of Mosul and about 125 kilometers southwest of Irbil.

But he said it was unclear when and how the battle plan for Mosul will unfold, and what role the Iraqi Shiite militia will play in that fight.

The plan has changed more than four or five times. So until today we still don't have a final plan, Barzani said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is not planning on changing her refugee policy, despite heavy losses in recent state elections that showed conflicting opinions about her liberal approach to immigration.

On Sunday, the nationalist Alternative for Deutschland party won representation in three state polls in what many saw as a protest vote against Merkel's open-door policy on refugees.

Merkel described the loss as a "difficult day" for her conservative Christian Democrats.

Merkel has been under growing pressure to close Germany to migrants, many of them Syrians, and others fleeing war, but she has refused to impose a cap on the number of arrivals.

She is pushing, through the EU, a European-wide action that calls for distributing refugees among the EU's 28-member bloc on a proportional basis.

"Without a doubt, we have come a long way towards solving the refugee issue, but we still do not have a sustainable solution," she said. "I am fully convinced that we need a European solution and that this solution needs time."

Merkel added Germany has benefited from the closure of the Balkan migrant route north into Europe.

"Regarding the Balkan route, yes, there is no doubt that Germany, at the moment, benefits from the fact that fewer people

are coming and that also is connected to the closure of the Greek-Macedonian border," Merkel said during a news conference Monday.
Myanmar is set to get a new president Tuesday.

The country's parliament will hold a historic vote to pick the new leader from a group of three candidates.

The vote comes as the formerly army-ruled nation transitions towards its first civilian government in decades.

Among the candidates is Htin Kyaw, a childhood friend and longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Under Myanmar's complex constitution, the president is chosen from three candidates - one put forward by each of the two legislative chambers and a third proposed by the military, that is reserved a quarter of the seats in parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament in the November 8 general election. Its lawmakers are expected to confirm the party nominee Htin Kyaw as the country's next leader.

Myanmar's constitution bars the veteran activist Suu Kyi from becoming president because of a clause that excludes anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi's two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.

Aung San Suu Kyi has said she will be "above'' the president and rule from behind the scenes, meaning that the new leader would effectively be her proxy.
U.S. President Barack Obama promised in a letter to the prominent Cuban dissident group Ladies in White that he would raise human rights issues with Cuban President Raul Castro during his visit to the island nation later this month.

Obama said he understood the struggles of the Ladies in White, but defended his policy of seeking to normalize relations with Cuba.

Ladies in White, a group made up of wives and children of Cuban political prisoners, has strongly criticized the president's policy change.

The group said the Castro regime continues to suppress anti-government dissent and maintains a monopoly on the media. They also said authorities have cracked down more since the two countries announced plans to normalize relations in December 2014.

"We take seriously the concerns you have raised," Obama wrote in English.

"I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," he said, praising the Ladies as "an inspiration to human rights movements around the world."

"I fully understand the obstacles that ordinary Cubans face in exercising their rights," Obama wrote. "The U.S. believes that no one in Cuba or anywhere else should face harassment, arrest, or physical assault just because they are exercising a universal right to have their voices heard."

The White House confirmed the letter.

Appreciated letter

Ladies in White leader Berta Soler, who read the letter to about two dozen members and other supporters in Havana, told the Latin Post, Obama's missive was positive feedback and the group greatly appreciated it.

Obama will visit the Caribbean nation March 20-22. It will be the first visit by a U.S. president since Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew a pro-American government in 1959.

On Monday, Obama told U.S. diplomats at the State Department that his upcoming trip to Cuba would begin a new era in relations with the country.

"And diplomacy, including having the courage to turn a page on the failed policies of the past, is how we've begun a new chapter of engagement with the people of Cuba. What a historic day it was when [U.S. Secretary of State] John [Kerry] reopened our embassy in Havana. And next week I look forward to being the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years without a battleship accompanying me," he said.

President Calvin Coolidge, in January 1928, was the last U.S. president to visit Cuba.

The Ladies in White hold weekly anti-government protests during Sunday Mass at the Santa Rita Church in Havana.

In a well-practiced choreography, officers stand by until the women shout Freedom! and try to sit on the street outside the church. The protesters are then whisked off to police stations and empty schools, held for hours, released and driven home. They return the following week.

They plan to protest when Obama visits on March 20.

Advance trip

Last week, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, one of the architects of Obama's Cuba policy, traveled to Miami as part of a listening tour ahead of the presidents historic trip.

Rhodes spend Friday meeting with Cuban-American students, activists, members of Cuba's civil society, exiled Cubans and journalists.

He said he told the groups the White House goal isnt to topple the Castro government, but to open up society through diplomatic and trade relations.

"The fact of the matter is we don't have any expectation that Cuba is going to transform its political system in the near term," Rhodes said Friday. "Even if we got 10 dissidents out of prison, so what? What's going to bring change is having Cubans have more control over their own lives."
Three Palestinians who carried out attacks in the occupied West Bank were shot dead Monday by the Israeli military.

The Israeli army said in a statement two assailants opened fire on pedestrians at a bus stop at the entrance of Kiryat Arba, a Jewish settlement, near the divided city of Hebron. Israeli forces shot the attackers. One soldier was wounded.

Another attack happened "moments later," the army said, when a car rammed a military vehicle at the same bus stop. Soldiers opened fire on the assailant, killing him. Two soldiers were injured.

A wave of Palestinian street violence since October has killed at least 184 Palestinians, 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens.

Analysts say the increasing violence stems from young Palestinians' frustration with the growth of Jewish settlements on land Palestinians want for a future state, and Islamist calls for the destruction of Israel.
Former Republican governor Sarah Palin canceled an appearance at a rally for presidential hopeful Donald Trump in Florida Monday after her husband was injured in a snowmobile accident.

Palin was scheduled to participate in a campaign event Monday in Florida.

"Todd Palin was in a bad snow machine accident last night and is currently hospitalized," said a Trump campaign statement.

"Gov. Palin is returning to Alaska to be with her husband and looks forward to being back on the campaign trail soon. Mr. Trump's thoughts and prayers are with the Palin family at this time."
VOAS Sharon Behn and Ali Javanmardi traveled to Makhmour, to the last Peshmerga base in the frontline against Islamic State (IS). The town and surrounding villages were retaken from IS after a bloody two-month battle in 2014, and Makhmour is expected to be one of the staging points for the different military forces being gathered in the battle for Mosul. VOA spoke at length with the Peshmerga commander of the sector, Maj. Gen. Sirwan Barzani about the fight against IS.

VOA: What is the role of Sunni tribes in the fight against Islamic State in Mosul?



GEN. BARZANI: They're good to get some information from Daesh (Islamic State), from inside, and as intelligence (sources) because they have family and cousins in the Daesh area, and also it's good for the future when we go to push Daesh back from Sunni villages so they will be located there, they will be holding the land, we don't want to push the Peshmerga in there.



VOA: How do you see the fight for Mosul? What forces will be involved?



GEN. BARZANI: We don't know how many soldiers, how many Iraqi army, how many Peshmerga, if there will be Hashd-al-Shaabi - the Shia militia - or not, if there will be coalition troops on the ground or will it only be air support or airstrikes, all this, with the final plan we can tell you. But it is not easy that is for sure, especially if there is only the Iraqi army, it will be so difficult.

You know it is not only a question of pushing Daesh back, you have to hold the land also. So I think they need at least 25,000 Iraqi army for this operation, and almost 10,000 Peshmerga.



VOA: Who makes the final decision regarding the battle for Mosul?



GEN. BARZANI: The Iraqis with the Americans.



The plan has changed more than four or five times. So until today we still don't have a final plan. Before, we had six staging points, then it was four, now they say it might be three or it could be one. If they were to let me do the plan, before going to Ramadi, I would've gone to Mosul, I would not wait for Ramadi, because the most important is the capital. If you push them back from there, there will be no more capital for them, they (Islamic State) will be like partisan groups, like guerrillas, not anymore like a state. But now unfortunately they're more organized, especially tax-wise, military-wise, they are an organized competitor.



Yesterday night there was an attack, two nights ago there were two attacks in my sector, with mortars and Katyushas and snipers, there are attacks every day, every day, snipers, mortars, Katyushas, there are attacks in my sector every day.



VOA: What is the role of the Peshmerga in the fight for Mosul?



GEN. BARZANI: For the Peshmerga, for my sector, I don't talk about the city Mosul, but the rest is not difficult for us as the Peshmerga to push Daesh back. It's easy but we are worried who will hold the land after that, and are the people happy with the Peshmerga to go there or not? So our target was the Kurdish territory here, and we pushed them back. The rest belongs to the Iraqis and the central government, so we don't know if they are happy with that or not. This is the question you know? The people there, are they going to be happy if we go there or if the Iraqi army goes there or not? And who will hold the land, the place, the city? You know Mosul was under Daesh control, security-wise, and tax-wise, since five, six, seven years back.



VOA: Are you concerned about the participation of Shiite militia in the upcoming fight for Mosul?



GEN. BARZANI: (From a military point of view) I would say the Hashd al Shaabi (Shiite militia) is better, they are better fighters, they are fighting better. But what will happen, I don't know. This belongs to the politicians and the parliament.



If they need a solution for Iraq, they have to divide this country. If they want to continue to kill each other, lying to each other, it's OK, we will continue.



VOA: What is needed from the United States?



GEN. BARZANI: Of course we need everything, if they will help. The airstrikes are very important of course, but it is not enough especially if it's only with F-16s or the F-18s; there are no attack helicopters like the Apaches which is more important than the F-16 or F-18, and I don't think there will be troops on the ground really. If they were troops on the ground, with the Peshmerga, with the Iraqi army of course it will be faster as an operation to push Daesh back from Mosul.

Really, from our side, as the Peshmerga, we are ready. We just need maximum 2 to 3 weeks and we are ready, but we don't have the plan yet, and we have to wait for the Iraqis.



VOA: Are the Iraqi forces ready?



GEN. BARZANI: The 15th Brigade finished their training in Baghdad and Taji before coming here, so almost in two weeks the rest of the (Iraqi) troops will be in Makhmour. They finished their training, everything is done, but there are not enough of course for this operation. There are almost some 3,700 in Makhmour now, and there will be more in the next two weeks. But of course there are not enough, and only lets say one flash (staging point) to go to Mosul also is not enough. Mosul is surrounded by the Peshmerga, from the west, from north, from east, from southeast, so there should be at least 3 to 5 different staging points to go to Mosul.



VOA: How dangerous is IS? What are their tactics?



GEN. BARZANI: They have experience, even they even have UAVs (unmanned arial vehicles) now, they are using new techniques, new technology especially for the suicide bombs, the remote control bombs, so they have experience really. They are dangerous people.



Only in my sector, until now, we have found more than 5816 IEDs and bombs and TNT. Just in my sector until now. And they [make] many, many types, but most of them are handmade. Some of them are remote-controlled, with mobiles, with radio, and some normal ones with the wire, so they're doing many many types of bombs.



VOA: Is IS using child fighters?



GEN. BARZANI: There are training centers, more than two or three, big training centers in Mosul. They are just starting the training at eight years old to 18 years old, there are teenagers, there are kids (being taught) how to kill the people how to do suicide (attacks).



VOA: Why are there not more airstrikes against IS inside Mosul?



GEN. BARZANI: The problem with the airstrikes, you know, is that there are lawyers sitting there, with the generals, looking at the screen and they have to give permission strike by strike, is it OK or not. The problem in Mosul is that there are more than 2 million civilian population in the city, so it is not so easy.



VOA: What is the level of coordination between the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces?



GEN. BARZANI: There is an operation room, there is a joint operation room between the Iraqi army, the Ministry of Defense, and the Peshmerga ministry and the Americans and the coalition. And we have meetings, almost daily meetings with our teams, and even with the MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit), every week we have a meeting with the leaders and the generals.



(The battle for Mosul) is still under negotiation, we are waiting for the plan, and I don't know what will happen.



VOA: How important is the US Train and Assist program?



GEN. BARZANI: It is very important. Of course, if you ask me, it is not enough. Especially we have a lack of ammunition, we lack weapons, heavy machine guns especially. So my sector is the hottest sector in Kurdistan, and it will be more hot after the Iraqis come here because they are trying to push. So we have a lack of ammunitions. Believe me, my needs, for mortars, for DShKs  the heavy machine guns  I have a maximum of 5 percent of my needs. Maximum. So this is the situation. We need more ammo, we need more weapons, and we need night vision, we need thermal, we need everything you know, we are in a heavy war. We have more than a 1500 km frontline. It is not an easy war you know.



VOA: How coordinated is the intelligence sharing between all the different forces involved in the fight against IS?



GEN. BARZANI: In my sector, with the coalition and intelligence, and our intelligence people, officers, every week we have a weekly meeting where we exchange information, and also of course, there is the higher level in Irbil, there is a committee and the joint operation room with the coalition, even the Iraqi, and the Peshmerga. So they are exchanging information almost daily.

Almost 90 percent of the airstrikes are coordinated with our officers on the ground.



VOA: Are you concerned about IS use of chemical weapons?



GEN. BARZANI: Many times chlorine gas has been used, and in all sectors, especially my sector. But last year, 2015, on August 11 was the first time they used mustard gas, they used it three times in the same month. And of course with a more than 120 km frontline, I have 300 masks for my Peshmerga only.



I think so for sure they will try to make it better and better.



VOA: What is the impact of Kurdistans economic crisis on the war effort?



GEN. BARZANI: Without a budget you cannot do anything, especially in wartime. There's almost 4 months that we have not gotten any salary for the Peshmerga. And also expenses for the daily expenses, since April last year we do not get any penny until now, there is nothing for the daily expenses of the frontline of the Peshmerga. And even, in my sector until now I have lost almost 28 vehicles (since August 2014) due to suicide bombs, TNT, and there is not even one (vehicle) that I can get from the ministry of Peshmerga because there is no budget. So it is unbelievable how the war is going on, you know.



VOA: How many fighters has the Peshmerga lost in war against IS?



GEN. BARZANI: The total of all in the ministry of Peshmerga is almost 1,516 or something. It is increasing every day you know. And more than 7,000 wounded. We have almost 1,500 Peshmerga now waiting to be sent abroad to Europe or Turkey (for treatment), but there's no budget.



VOA: What do you see in the future?



GEN. BARZANI: We are asking for a referendum for the independence of Kurdistan but we don't hear anybody supporting us. It is not clear why. Is it not allowed, using this democracy way? Is there any way better than a referendum? No, but we don't hear anyone helping us, no-one supporting us. And another question that I don't get an answer to is, what is the benefit of the union of Iraq? If there is one benefit to this union, this famous union, Iraq, it is not on the ground. On the map it is OK, but if you come on the ground, there is no unity in Iraq.
Poland's defense minister is coming under criticism for suggesting that the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland's president was an act of terrorism perpetrated by Russia.

Official investigations by Poland and Russia have determined that the crash that killed Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other top officials was an accident caused by the error of pilots trying to land in heavy fog.

Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz has long suggested the crash, which took place near Smolensk, Russia, could have been an assassination, but his weekend comments were unusually strong.

"What happened near Smolensk was aimed at depriving Poland of its leadership, which was on a path of leading our nation to independence," Macierewicz said in a lecture at a Catholic university in the city of Torun.

"We were the first victims of terrorism in the 1930s, and through Smolensk, we can say that we were also the first major victim of terrorism in a modern conflict, which is unfolding before our eyes," Macierewicz said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the words "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with the real circumstances of this tragedy."

Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency, said on Twitter: "A new leader has suddenly emerged in the race for the most absurd and stupid statement."

In Poland, an opposition lawmaker and former deputy foreign minister, Rafal Trzaskowski, said he was "terrified by these words."

Macierewicz is due to host a NATO summit taking place in Warsaw in July. The military alliance is increasingly at odds with Russia over its actions in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere.

Kaczynski was the identical twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the governing party, Law and Justice. Since the party took power last November it has launched sweeping legal changes to the country and last month reopened an investigation into the crash, which killed 96 people.

Macierewicz said in announcing the new probe in early February that key evidence pointing to Russian responsibility was hidden in the original Polish investigation, which took place under a government led by the rival Civic Platform party.

The plane that crashed in April 2010 was carrying a presidential delegation to Russia for observances honoring Polish officers killed in and around Katyn by the Soviet secret police in 1940. For decades Moscow refused to acknowledge responsibility for those crimes, and the subject was a taboo for decades of Moscow-backed communist rule in Poland as well.

Macierewicz said that Poland appeared to finally be free in 2009 to speak openly about those massacres. But "half a year later we learned that raising this issue would trigger a reaction which the modern world could not image. A reaction which caused the death of the entire Polish elite, simply the death of the Polish delegation over Smolensk flying to Katyn."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, as new U.N.-mediated peace talks on Syria began in Geneva.

Russian state media quoted Putin Monday as telling Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the tasks assigned to the defense ministry in Syria have been fulfilled.

"Therefore, I am issuing an order to, starting tomorrow, begin the withdrawal of the bulk of our military contingent from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin told the ministers.

The Kremlin's website quoted Putin as telling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a phone conversation that he would withdraw the "main part" of the Russian air force contingent operating in Syria.

In Damascus, the office of Syria's presidency said Assad agreed to the move, but added that Russia had promised that its air force contingent will not leave the country altogether.

Russia's announcement comes as Syrian peace talks, sponsored by Russia and the Untied States, began Monday in Geneva, the first talks in more than two years. U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura warned that if the talks fail, "the only plan B available is return to war."

The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama called Putin Monday to discuss Russia's announcement of a withdrawal, and to talk about how to advance the political negotiations for Syria.

A U.S. official tells VOA that so far there is no indication Russian forces are getting ready to pull out of Syria. There have been no signals of retrograde or withdrawal, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that while there had been no significant recent additions to the Russian force deployed in Syria, so-called sustainment operations - the influx of supplies needed to maintain its current force posture - had been continuing.

The Kremlin's website quoted Putin as saying Russia would maintain a "post" for supporting flights of aircraft involved in monitoring compliance with the cessation of hostilities in Syria.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Monday that Russia is making this move to withdraw its forces from Syria because "we are in the political mode now, in the cessation of hostilities mode." He said, "Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve [a] political settlement in Syria."

He said "Our forces have operated very effectively. Our military presence will continue to be there; it will be directed mostly at making sure the cease-fire, cessation of hostilities is maintained."

Syrian opposition spokesman Salim al-Muslat cautiously welcomed Putin's move. "We have to be sure about the nature of this decision and what it means. If there is a decision to pull troops, then this is positive. We have to see that translated on the ground and whether it's a decision to withdraw troops or to reduce the number of warplanes in Syria," he said.

National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin and United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
Russias diplomatic mission in Geneva reportedly has confirmed that the United Nations human rights office in Moscow is being shut down  a development the U.N.'s top rights official feared would happen.

A report on March 12 by Russias RIA Novosti news agency said the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva confirmed a decision was made to close the mission in Moscow of the U.N.s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

There was no immediate comment from the OHCHR about the report, which comes in the midst of a growing crackdown in Russia against rights activists, independent journalists and public debate.

Russian Ambassador Aleksei Borodavkin said the OHCHR has helped to create human rights institutions in Russia and "we do not see anything extraordinary" about the Moscow office being closed, according to RIA Novosti.

On March 10, UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein expressed concern about signals received from the Kremlin that Russia intended to close the OHCHRs Moscow office.
Residents in central Somalia say heavily armed suspected al-Shabab militants have arrived at their coastal village and exchanged gunfire with local militias. The reports came before the telecommunications of the town were completely cut off Monday afternoon.

Residents who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals told VOA that the militants were travelling on three boats that entered Garaad village, 280 kilometers North East of Galkayo, the provincial capital of Mudug region of Central Somalia.



Travelling with three boats, they entered the village from the sea. They exchanged fire with local militias, and we do not know their aim, said one resident.



As soon the news broke out, the villages communication with the outside world was cut off, making details unavailable.



Authorities in the Puntland region of Somalia which controls Garaad village could not be reached for comment.



The move comes two days after al-Shabab fighters in central Somalia shut down telecommunications between the towns of Harardhere and Hobyo.



Resident Abdi Ali told VOA Somali the militants were making military movements around Harardhere town.



They kidnapped several boats from the local fishermen and loaded them with fighters, Ali said. We do not know where those fighters were sent to.


U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura began a new round of peace talks Monday in Geneva, warning that the only alternative to the negotiations is returning to "even worse war than we had so far."

Speaking before meeting with a delegation from the Syrian government, de Mistura said it is up to the people of Syria to decide their future, and the U.N. must help them.

He said the plan is to hold indirect talks with each side for about 10 days, then after a recess convene the next round of negotiations beginning in early April and another one after that. The envoy said he believes the process will yield at least a roadmap for peace

"By then we believe that we should have at least a clear roadmap  I'm not saying an agreement, but a clear roadmap  because that is what Syria is expecting from all of us," de Mistura said.

He also stressed the need to maintain the cessation of hostilities and increased humanitarian access that have been in place for more than two weeks.

But serious questions remain about what each side is prepared to accept in order to stop the fighting that over the past five years has already killed more than a quarter-million people and led millions more to flee their homes. More than 6.5 million people are estimated to be internally displaced, half of them children, and another three million have taken refuge outside Syria.



De Mistura said the talks will focus on new ways to govern Syria, a new constitution, and what he calls the mother of all issues - plans to elect, under U.N. auspices, a transitional government in the next 18 months.

Syria firm on Assad

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future is not up for negotiation, while the opposition and many outside of Syria  including the United States  have said Assad must step down in order to achieve peace.

De Mistura said Monday that public statements by both sides show there is "much distance" between them.

The U.N. envoy is using an agreement reached by a group of world and regional powers last year in Vienna as the basis for negotiations.

De Mistura did not comment on disagreements surrounding Assad's future but did acknowledge problems are likely to arise.



If during these talks and in the next rounds, we will see no notice of any willingness to negotiate, which we hope is not going to be the case we will bring the issue back to those who have influence and that is the Russian Federation, the USA, co-chairs of the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) and to the Security Council, he said.

De Mistura added the current negotiations are the only hope for a solution.



Well, as far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war and to even worse war than we had so far, de Mistura said.

US position



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday violence has been "hugely reduced" by 80 to 90 percent since the cessation of hostilities went into effect.

But he accused the Syrian government of "clearly trying to disrupt the peace talks, saying Assad's forces are the "single biggest violator" of the cease-fire. Rebel groups have also been accused of violating the agreement.

U.N. officials say the cessation of hostilities has made it possible for U.N. and partner agencies to deliver food, medicine and other aid to 115,000 Syrian civilians living in areas under siege by government or opposition forces. They say last year, aid agencies were unable to access any of these areas.

But Kerry said he continues to be deeply concerned about the Syrian governments efforts to deter the delivery of medical and surgical supplies.



Lisa Schlein contributed to this report from Geneva.
Nayla Mohammed was sitting in her suburban Washington apartment last year when she learned that a group of Islamic State (IS) militants went on a killing rampage in her hometown of Kobani in northern Syria.



I read on Facebook that a group of Daesh (IS) had entered Kobani, killing civilians, said Mohammed, who came to America from Lebanon five years ago.



I called my sister right away to check if they were okay, but there was no answer, she told VOA. So I called my other sister who lives in Turkey as a refugee. She told me that my family had been slaughtered.



Mohammed lost nine members of her family in the IS attack in June 2015. She said she knew at least 50 others who were killed in her familys neighborhood.

Some of the victims were murdered with knives, but, Mohammed, 36, said her family members were killed by gunfire as IS gunmen entered their house.









Details of the IS rampage have been verified by human rights groups and Kurdish officials.



My sister and her children were all hit in the head, said Mohammed. They had no chance to survive.

Tragic loss, mourning



As Syrias civil war rages on, and the battle against IS continues in the Middle East, thousands of families across the world are grappling with the deaths of loved ones at the hands of IS militants.



The story of Mohammeds family typifies a wide suffering, according to human rights groups.





A lack of psychiatric assistance leaves Syrians suffering in silence, according to post-war trauma experts.



It is [a] lifelong trauma, said Zaher Sahloul, a physician with the Syrian American Medical Society, a U.S.-based group that assists Syrian refugees.

Patients may continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of their lives, he told VOA.



Kobani was a battlefront between Islamic State fighters and Kurdish forces for months in 2014.



With the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, Kurdish forces retook the city from IS in January 2015. However, IS militants continued to launch attacks on the outskirts of the border town.



IS massacre



In June 2015, a group of IS fighters infiltrated the city. They killed at least 174 Kurdish civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.



Despite being liberated from IS, many residents of Kobani who have been living in refugee camps in Turkey are afraid of returning home. There is no guarantee that IS will not carry out attacks similar to that against Mohammeds family, they said.



Like most Kobani residents, Mohammeds family fled to Turkey when IS first attacked Kobani in September 2014. They went back a few months later when the fight was over, and they were told by Kurdish officials that IS was no longer a threat.



I kept telling them not to go back, but they were convinced it would be safer for them, Mohammed told VOA.



Months later, Kobani citizens fear returning home despite the hardships of life in refugee camps outside Syria.



I would prefer to live in tents, said Mustafa Ahmed, a 44-year-old Kobani resident who has been living in a Turkish refugee camp since October 2014.

I dont want to get killed there with my children in the house, he told VOA in a telephone interview.



Devastated town



Kurdish officials say IS has been weakened and the group cannot launch large-scale attacks on Kobani anymore.



Daesh is now 80 kilometers away from Kobani. It is extremely difficult for them to come near here, Dijwar Kobani, a Kurdish YPG commander based in Kobani, told VOA.



He told VOA that even though the local government does not get much assistance from the international community, it is trying hard to rebuild the city.

Mohammed, however, believes the situation in Kobani will never be the same.



Entire families have been destroyed, she said. Nothing can compensate for my loss and the loss of thousands of other people in Kobani.
The Republic of Congo heads to a presidential election next Sunday amid deepening distrust as President Denis Sassou N'guesso seeks to extend his already three decades in power.

The country's electoral campaign is in full swing, but the main opposition coalition, the IDC-Frocad, said authorities are preventing the candidates from campaigning.

IDC-Frocad Spokeperson Guy Romain Kinfoussia said police recently threw tear gas into a meeting held by a candidate of the opposition. And another candidate was refused the right to hold a meeting in a public square.

Nine candidates are running, including NGuesso, already in power for 30 years.

The president held a referendum in October to change the constitution to remove the two term-mandate limit and 70-year-old age ceiling for candidates. The referendum passed with 92 percent of vote, a result rejected by the opposition which had called for a boycott.

N'guesso said he aims to win re-election in the first round.

Opposition electoral commission

Last week, the opposition coalition announced the creation of its own organization to tally votes, claiming the official electoral commission is biased in favor of the incumbent president.

Kinfoussia said that the electoral commission is neither equal nor independent.

The government, however, has dismissed the legitimacy of the opposition's new election commission.

The European Union said it is not sending observers for Sundays vote, stating the conditions for free and fair elections were not met.

Frances ruling party asked for the elections to be delayed, and so did the Congolese Human Rights Organization, or OCDH, a local non-governmental organization.

The elections were originally planned for July, but the government moved them up to speed up the implementation of the new constitution adopted last year.
Soldiers patrolled the empty beaches of a resort town in Ivory Coast Monday, one day after armed men launched an attack, killing 18 people.

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said the dead included 15 civilians and three soldiers. He also said all three gunmen were killed. Earlier reports had put the number of gunmen at six.

Bakayoko praised security forces for reacting quickly to end the attack, and said they are still at work to try to see if any more terrorists are on the loose.

"We have organized a wider sweep in all the regions," he said. "We dont suspect there are more terrorists, but we want to make sure we have the widest possible sweep."

Al-Qaida's North African affiliate, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted hotels in the city of Grand-Bassam. This was the third time in four months that Islamist militants have targeted hotels in West Africa, following deadly assaults in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning. He solemnly addressed the nation Monday evening.

"Cote dIvoire will not be intimidated by terrorists. We are doing everything to keep all Ivorians and all people in Ivory Coast safe. I therefore ask you to not give in to fear.," Ouattara told the nation.

Thirty-three people were wounded. Foreign nationals, including four French citizens and a German woman, were among the dead.

Witnesses to Sunday's attack said the assailants wore hooded face masks and arrived on foot on the beach at one of the hotels, the Southern Star. A witness told VOA that four men shouted, Allahu Akbar! (God is great) before opening fire.

The United States condemned the "heinous attack," and praised "Ivorian and French" forces for preventing more people from dying.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. is prepared to assist Ivory Coast in its investigation. He reiterated the U.S. commitment to working with others in West Africa to fight terrorists who want to undermine efforts to "build tolerant and inclusive societies."

Grand-Bassam is a former French colonial capital, about 40 kilometers east of the commercial hub of Abidjan, and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the elegant colonial-era facades of buildings in the city.
Tuesday looms as a major day in the U.S. presidential race, as voters in five large states head to the polls for primaries that could go a long way toward determining the presidential nominees for both political parties.

The primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Voting is taking place amid a backdrop of protests and some violence at rallies for the Republican front-runner, billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Trump cancelled a rally Friday night in Chicago after clashes between protesters and supporters. Several other Trump rallies have been interrupted numerous times by demonstrators, and on Saturday Trump was quickly surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after a man leapt from the crowd and dashed toward the stage, only to be tackled by security and led away.

Trump later told another rally in Missouri he was ready to defend himself had the protester made his way on stage. I dont know if I would have done well, but I would have been boom, boom, boom, he said, pounding his right fist into his left hand.

What to Watch for in Tuesday's US Presidential Primaries

Trump leads in Florida; Ohio race tight

Despite the chaos at recent Trump rallies, the Republican front-runner is positioned to do well in the five states voting on Tuesday. Three new polls (NBC News-Wall Street Journal-Marist/Quinnipiac University/Monmouth University) give Trump a double-digit lead in Florida over home state Senator Marco Rubio. A Rubio loss in Florida likely would lead to calls from other Republicans that he abandon his White House ambitions.

Trump expressed confidence during a rally in Florida. We have a movement going on, folks, this isnt just us here. This is all over the country. The same thing is happening!

On Friday, Trump was endorsed by former rival Ben Carson. Trump used the occasion to urge the Republican Party establishment to acknowledge his success. We have numbers, I guess it averages about 65 percent more, but that represents many millions of people. And if the Republican so-called establishment is smart, they will embrace it because there is no way we can lose. There is no way we can lose.

Concerns about Trumps tone

But the chaotic scenes from his rallies in recent days have sparked condemnation not only from Democrats but from some of his Republican rivals as well. Rubio urged voters in Florida to spurn what he called the politics of hate. Embrace leaders who do not ask you to give them your vote on fear and hopelessness, but instead to vote for them on the basis of how great our country can be if we do what needs to be done.

Trumps biggest challenge on Tuesday likely will come in Ohio, where he and Ohio Governor John Kasich are locked in a tight battle for the states 66 Republican delegates. Both Ohio and Florida are winner-take-all contests on the Republican side.

Kasich said he refuses to take the low road to the highest office in the land and has called out Trump for his divisive tone. Donald Trump has created a toxic environment, and a toxic environment has allowed his supporters and those who sometimes seek confrontation to come together in violence.

A Kasich victory in Ohio could slow Trumps march to the Republican nomination and prevent the front-runner from securing the 1,237 delegates he needs to claim the nomination prior to the party's convention in Cleveland in July.

Its very difficult to see somebody getting 1,237 other than Trump, said Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. So if Trump has a 70 percent chance of winning, it means he has a 30 percent chance of not, and I would say it is a 30 percent chance that you will have an open convention.

Sanders looks for more upsets

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders also will be competing for delegates on Tuesday. Clinton has a big lead in Florida but Sanders is looking to close the gap in Illinois and Ohio, hoping to build off his upset last week when he narrowly beat Clinton in Michigan.

Clinton would like to shift her attention to the Republicans, but knows the Democratic race could drag on for weeks unless she can score a string of victories over Sanders. Clinton told supporters in Tampa, Florida she is ready no matter whom the Republicans nominate in July. You know, people ask me all the time, who do I want to run against? That is not for me to decide. But given what they have all said, I will take any one of them.

Sanders continues to draw large and enthusiastic crowds to his events, including a recent rally near the University of Florida at Gainesville. The reason we are doing so well and the reason there is so much momentum for this campaign is that we are doing something pretty radical in American politics. We are telling the truth!

There are no winner-take-all contests on the Democratic side. Delegates are awarded on a proportional basis for all the caucuses and primaries, and that could extend the race all the way into early June.



WATCH: Florida voters discuss candidates
Turkey pointed Monday to two Kurdish rebels -- a man and a woman -- as likely responsible for the deadly suicide car bombing in Ankara that killed 37 people and wounded another 125.

After visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there are "almost certain findings" implicating the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

"Whenever the terrorist organization is backed into a corner and confronted with a serious security operation, it carries out such attacks directly targeting civilians in order to drag people into despair," he said.

Davutoglu said officials have detained 11 suspects they accused of being directly linked to the bombing.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a change in the definition of terrorism under Turkish law, saying anyone who abets or supports those who pull a trigger or blow up a bomb should also be considered terrorists.

Sunday's attack in Ankara's Kizilay square, a key shopping center and transportation hub in the Turkish capital, was the second deadly blast in the last month that government officials have blamed on Kurdish militants.

For three decades, Kurdish militants have fought government forces for more autonomy in southeastern Turkey, but since July, about 210 people have been killed in five suicide bombings that have been blamed on Kurdish rebels or Islamic State jihadists.

After the latest blast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees."

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter, "With the power of our state and wisdom of our people, we will dig up the roots of this terror network which targets our unity and peace."

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing, which Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said targeted civilians at a bus stop.

Meanwhile, Turkey's military said its warplanes Monday carried out 18 airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets.

Turkish forces have been carrying out an offensive against the PKK since July, when Erdogan declared the fight would continue until every militant is defeated.

The United States quickly condemned the Ankara attack and reaffirmed its "strong partnership with our NATO ally Turkey in combating the shared threat of terrorism."

Aside from its fight with Kurdish rebels, Turkey has been targeted by Islamic State, which was blamed for a suicide bombing at a peace rally last October in Ankara. The incident, which left more than 100 people dead, was the bloodiest single terrorist attack since Turkey became a modern state in 1923.

Media ban

As it has done several times over the last two years, Turkey has imposed a ban on media coverage of the bombing.

"A temporary ban on reporting the said incident has been considered appropriate as per receipt of a note from the Prime Ministry," Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council announced on its website.

Turkish journalists operate under some of the most restrictive media conditions in the world, media watchdog groups say. There has been a spike in prosecutions of journalists in Turkey, many charged with anti-terrorism offenses or with violating laws against insulting the president.

After several bombings this year, Turkey put out edicts limiting media coverage. Last March, the Turkish government ordered a media ban after a hostage situation in an Istanbul courthouse. Another ban was ordered regarding the investigation of two blasts in Ankara in October.

Monday's ban requires media outlets to rely on the statements of official authorities and avoid any independent coverage. Turkish government officials contacted by VOA were not available for comment.

Users in Turkey said access to social media was "extremely slow or blocked after the explosion." VOA's Turkish service reported a sharp spike in its social media traffic, with coverage of Sunday's bombing generating more than 600,000 "likes" posted on Facebook.

The crackdown is extending to other areas of civic society, as well. Dr. Esra Mungan, one of the organizers of a petition signed by more than 1,000 academics that calls for a resumption of peace efforts with the Kurdish rebel group, was arrested and detained Monday, along with two colleagues, on charges of terrorist propaganda.
North Koreas leaders, including Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, must be held accountable for crimes against humanity committed against their people, a U.N. special investigator said in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Over the past six years, U.N. Special Investigator Marzuki Darusman has submitted a succession of hard-hitting reports to the Council detailing a wide range of horrendous human rights violations in North Korea.

The human rights expert said North Korea has flaunted all requests made by the Human Rights Council to alleviate the suffering of its people, and nothing appears to have changed at all.

Rights infractions

Darusman said the government maintains strict control over every aspect of its citizens lives, in the denial of their rights.

In addition, he blamed North Korea for heightening tensions in northeast Asia.

He said the governments recent tests of a supposed hydrogen bomb and a long-range missile "fly in the face" of international prohibitions.

"The denial of human rights to its citizens internally and this aggressive behavior externally are basically two sides of the same coin," Darusman said.

"The country is pouring a large amount of resources into developing weapons of mass destruction, while large parts of its population continue to suffer from food insecurity, and while the government sends systematically recruited workers abroad to earn foreign exchange for the state, while working under severe labor conditions," he added.

Darusman describes the abuse to which North Koreas people are subjected, including the incarceration of whole families in political prison camps. He said he has received reports of torture and other violations against people detained in prisons.

Religion, work conditions

Religious followers face relentless persecution, and people suffer from severe food shortages and are forced to work in slave-like conditions, Darusman added.

He said people in senior leadership positions are criminally responsible for the crimes committed by people under their authority.

I would like to reiterate my appeal to the international community to move forward to ensure accountability of the senior leadership of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, including that of Mr. Kim Jong Un," Darusman said.

North Korea boycotted the session, foregoing its right of reply as a concerned State.

Earlier this month, North Korea accused the Human Rights Council of double standards. Pyongyang vowed never to take part in an examination of its record or be bound by any resolutions adopted by the U.N. body.
The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, says more than 8.4 million Syrian children have had their lives shaped by conflict.

"In Syria, violence has become commonplace, reaching homes, schools, hospitals, clinics, parks, playgrounds, places of worship," said UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Peter Salama.

According to its report, UNICEF says an estimated 3.7 million Syrian children, - or one-in-three - have been born since the conflict began five years ago, including 306,000 born as refugees.

The agency says children make up half of all of Syria's refugees with more than 15,000 crossing the country's border without family.

"Five years into the war, millions of children have grown up too fast and way ahead of their time," Salama said. "Children are fighting an adult war, they are continuing to drop out of school, and many are forced into labor, while girls are marrying early."

UNICEF says that in 2015, more than half of the children recruited by armed forces and groups were under the age of 15, compared with less than 20 percent in 2014.

"These children are receiving military training and participating in combat, or taking life threatening roles at the battle-front," UNICEF says. "Parties to this conflict are using children to kill, including as executioners or snipers."

UNICEF says one of the most significant challenges to the conflict has been providing children with education as more than 2.1 million youngsters inside Syria and another 700,000 in neighboring countries are out of school.

The agency has called for $1.4 billion to provide Syria's children with learning opportunities.
The U.S. Justice Department warned state court systems in the country Monday against imposing punitive fines on impoverished people and jailing them if they can not pay, saying the practice is unconstitutional and also erodes trust in local communities.

The top U.S. law enforcement agency said local court systems should not operate as for-profit ventures, using a raft of fines against people living in their communities to fund government operations and then issuing arrest warrants for some people who are too poor to make the payments for relatively minor offenses.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, the warning sent to courts across the United States is aimed at ensuring that "our legal system serves every American faithfully and fairly, regardless of their economic status."

Lynch, the country's top law enforcement official, said, "The consequences of poverty are not only harmful, they are far-reaching. They not only affect an individual's ability to support their family, but also contribute to an erosion of our faith in government."

Vanita Gupta, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and Lisa Foster, who directs the department's Office for Access to Justice, said in the letter that "to the extent that these practices are geared not toward addressing public safety, but rather toward raising revenue, they can cast doubt on the impartiality of the tribunal and erode trust between local governments and their constituents."

The Justice Department warning came after a Washington conference in December showed some communities rely heavily on the imposition of fines as a source of government revenue. The government had found the practice particularly prevalent in Ferguson, Missouri, a small community in the central part of the United States where there were days of street protests after a white policeman shot an unarmed black teenager to death in 2014.
Pressure is growing for the Obama administration to formally determine whether the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians, Yazidi and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East.

The U.S. State Department faces a Thursday deadline set last year by Congress, whose lower House of Representatives on Monday will vote on a Republican-led resolution on the violence in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Secretary of State John Kerry is said to be leaning toward the rare, fraught determination, according to The Associated Press, but likely will miss that deadline while awaiting the results of a legal review. Such a designation  which the United States previously has invoked just once during an ongoing conflict  carries unclear political and legal implications.

International focus

"A genocide designation will raise international consciousness and compel the international community of responsible nations to act, setting the preconditions for the reintegration of ancient ethnic groups and faith traditions into their ancestral homelands," Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry said in a statement last week. He had introduced the House legislation in September.

A 1948 United Nations treaty on genocide requires signatories, including the United States, to "undertake to prevent and to punish acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group...."

In 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that the mass rape and slaughter in Sudans Darfur region was genocide. He reached that finding after State Department lawyers determined the United States was not legally compelled to prevent genocide occurring outside its own boundaries, the AP reported. Powell urged the U.N. Security Council to create a commission to investigate whether the crimes constituted genocide and to act accordingly.

Defining the legal standard

With a genocide determination against the Islamic State, Kerry also probably would refer the matter to the Security Council for possible prosecution by an international tribunal, according to the AP.

Kerry last month testified before Congress that the atrocities must meet the legal standard of genocide and that hed asked State Department lawyers to evaluate and re-evaluate evidence. He promised a response "very, very soon."

Detailed report on atrocities

Last week, the international Catholic fraternal group Knights of Columbus and the U.S.-based nonprofit In Defense of Christians released a report citing witness accounts of atrocities such as beheadings, crucifixions, rapes and sexual enslavement.

The report listed 1,131 Christians killed in Iraq and 125 churches attacked there from 2003 to 2014, according to the Religion News Service. RNS noted support for the report's findings from groups such as Genocide Watch and the Hudson Institute.

An unnamed State Department official was quoted by RNS as saying that, "regardless of whether Da'eshs conduct satisfies certain legal definitions, including genocide and crimes against humanity, the United States has been clear that our interest in accountability for perpetrators remains undiminished."
The United States is urging U.N. Security Council members to respond to Iran for its recent ballistic missile launch.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said Monday Tehrans missile launches last week were dangerous, destabilizing and provocative and undermine the prospect for peace in the region.

Washington says the launches violate language of a U.N. resolution adopted in July, which calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

When asked if U.N. sanctions should be imposed against Iran, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin categorically ruled that out, responding, The clear and short answer is no.

Churkin told reporters that there was no legal violation of the Security Council resolution. A call is different from a ban. Legally you cannot violate a call, Churkin said.

You can comply with a call or ignore a call, but you cannot violate a call. Some may say its a bad thing anyway, and I would not necessarily dispute that; the legal distinction is there, he added.

Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act, rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder its collective responsibility, Ambassador Power said.

She said the United States would not give up in the Security Council and would provide technical information that Iran had made public showing that the technology they used is inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons and in defiance of the U.N. resolution. Power added that Washington could consider its own unilateral response.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Mondays meeting was an important first step and that the council would discuss the range of options available to it.

One option would be to have the U.N. Secretary-General investigate the launch and report back to the council. But Ambassador Churkin said he did not think a special report is necessary. Under the U.N. resolution, the secretary-general reports twice a year to the council on the resolutions implementation. The next report is not due until July.



Diplomats appeared to agree that last weeks missile launch did not violate terms of a nuclear deal agreed between the world powers and Tehran in July.

Meanwhile, Israels U.N. envoy told reporters his country wants a full investigation into the launches.

If the Security Council does not act after last weeks missile test, it will give Iran a greenlight to continue with its nuclear missile tests, Israeli envoy Danny Danon said.
Danai Gurira calls herself a Zimerican.

She was born in Iowa, to Zimbabwean parents, and her family moved back to Harare when she was just 5 years old. She returned to the United States for college and stayed.

"I was always in a hodgepodge of culture," she recalled, "there's no other identity I know, really."

The actress is perhaps best known as Michonne, the zombie-slaying warrior in the top-rated cable TV series, The Walking Dead. When she's not killing the undead, Gurira is busy with other pursuits. She just finished playing rapper Tupac Shakur's mother in a new film, and she's racing between rehearsals and performances for two plays in New York. But she's not acting in them; she wrote them.

Stories from both sides of the Atlantic

Rebecca Taichman is directing one of those plays, an off-Broadway comedy-drama called Familiar. She admires Gurira's desire to tell African stories on American stages.

"You know, what drives her is so profoundly meaningful," Taichman said. "I think it must be part of what supplies the energy. It's not ego, it's not narcissism."

Familiar takes place in Minnesota, where the eldest daughter of Zimbabwean parents is getting married to a white man. The story was taken from her own observations, Gurira says.

"I was at a wedding and I was just struck by all of my family's absurdities  and my own included, she said. And I just knew I couldn't not write about it!"

So, she dives headfirst into the culture clash between American and African traditions.

LISTEN: Danai Guriras inspiration, and an excerpt from Familiar

While the upper middle-class trappings of Familiar may be familiar to American audiences, the setting of Eclipsed  Gurira's Broadway debut  is something else entirely. She recalls she was inspired to write it after reading an article in The New York Times about the civil war in Liberia and young women who fought in it.

"These were, like, 22- 23-year-old girls, women, who had, like, you know, little skimpy jeans on, little skimpy tops, really looked cool and hip and current and then, they had these big AK-47's on their backs," she said.

Years later, she went to Liberia and met with many women  former soldiers, sex slaves and peace negotiators  and based the play on their stories.

A Broadway first

In Eclipsed, Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o plays a 15-year-old girl, captured by the rebels, who is struggling to survive an impossible situation. Nyong'o says the girl is caught between being serially raped by a commander and thinking she can find her freedom in the rebel army.

"Well, I think the girl is our way into this world, because the war has touched her, very recently, she said. And so she comes into this world and is trying to figure out what the rules are. And she has to make a lot of choices about how she intends to survive."

Eclipsed is making Broadway history. It is the first time a production has featured an all-black female cast, as well as being directed by a black woman and written by a black woman. It has received rave reviews.

It's been an intense few months for Gurira, with the opening of two plays, and her work on her movie and TV roles. However, she is not slowing down. She runs a non-profit, which brings Zimbabwean and American artists together, and she's working on a new play about the women's movement in Africa.
Heads of Christian denominations, who have released a communique titled The Zimbabwe we want - Taking the process forward chronicling the deteriorating situation in the country, have set up a committee to meet President Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders to address the deepening political, economic and social crisis tearing the country apart.

The hard-hitting communique calls for leadership renewal across the board and for increased political accountability.

The communique further says, Deficiency in leadership, governance and leadership succession issues have resulted in lack of direction, policy inconsistencies, stagnation, and absence of political will to tackle current challenges.

The churches that authored the communique are the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (FZ), the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), and Union for development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA).

The last such communique was released by the same churches in 2006. The four church mother bodies, vowed that they commit to be more audible, visible and consistent on national issues.

Human rights groups have welcomed the communique saying politicians can ignore church leaders at their own peril.

Father Fredrick Chiromba, who is also the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference, tells Studio 7 that the churches have been motivated to release the communique by the countrys worsening crisis.
Activity at the volcano has been increasing. During the past days, explosions have become frequent, with intervals of only few hours. The largest on Wednesday evening at 20:50 local time showered almost the cone with incandescent ejecta and produced ash plumes up to 1 km tall. Unconfirmed reports suggest that some of the eruptions also have produced small pyroclastic flows. ...
After five months of air strikes by the 70 Russian planes based in Syria, many military analysts are wondering why the Syrian Arab Army has so far been able to win back only a small part of the territory occupied by the jihadists. They are making a totally inappropriate comparison with the US army, which managed to occupy Iraq in only 42 days  with the aid of 1,800 combat aircraft and 380,000 soldiers.

What was the cause of the poor combat capacity of the Syrian Arab Army?

During the five years of war, the frontiers with Turkey, Jordan and Israel became crossing points for between 100,000 and 250,000 Islamist mercenaries (recruited and trained by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States and Turkey) who opened several fronts, thus forcing units of the Syrian Arab Army to disperse in small groups across the country. At first, the Islamists mounted surprise attacks against the barracks of the Syrian Arab Army and police headquarters. The reaction of the Syrian Arab Army was late and clumsy, using only troops from the 104th Brigade of the Republican Guard and the 4th Mechanised Division. The success of the first phase of the rebel attacks spread quickly, mainly because of their perfect knowledge of the vulnerabilities of the Syrian Arab Army. The jihadists planning was handled by military instructors from the Turkish Special Forces (the Bordo Bereliler, or Maroon Berets) and Saudi Arabia.

During the first three years of the war, the Syrian Arab Army, which had prepared for a classical war against its neighbours, but not an asymmetrical war, demonstrated not even elementary tactical intelligence, adopting inadequate positions with little or no space between them, without covering fire between the elements of their positions, and without effective friend-enemy identification techniques, etc. The Syrian Arab Army had neither pilotless reconnaissance planes (drones) nor satellite images, unlike the jihadists, who had access to NATO information. Besides this, the jihadists had construction equipment which had been imported earlier, such as drilling machinery used for the rapid construction of tunnels, while the Syrian Arab Army had no means of detecting them. Operations were mounted which surprised Syrian troops, who were incapable of reacting to the massive infiltration of terrorists, and many bases and weapon and ammunition stockpiles were captured. Consequently, the Syrian Arab Army were unable to ensure even elementary combat or preventative measures, or predict in advance the best method for planning the war.

An improvement of the tactical procedures for the assault groups of the Syrian Arab Army, and their successful implementation, which enabled swift manoeuvering, was obtained thanks to the use of Shahed-129 pilotless reconnaissance planes furnished by Iran.

Russia supported the Syrian government from the beginning, both politically and diplomatically, with sporadic deliveries of weapons and training courses, but in the autumn of 2015, Russian aid was distributed a la carte, and supplies increased exponentially. The Syrian Arab Army quickly mastered these new weapons.

The period during which the Syrian Arab Army sacrificed its territory and fought exclusively to protect its civilian population from the jihadists is now over.

Individual weapons and protective equipment

Early in the war, the Syrian Arab Army was equipped only with Chinese QGF-02 helmets. Soldiers from the Republican Guard and the Special Forces wore TAT-BA-7 bullet-proof jackets. Individual armament consisted of automatic AK-47 rifles (or Chinese 56-type variants). The absence of night-vision equipment and binoculars with residual light intensification was also a serious handicap.

Although in 2005, Syria had opted for the modernisation of individual equipment (Soldier of the Future), until the start of the war this material had not been bought, due to the embargo which hung on the suspicion of Syrias part in organising the assassination of Rafic Hariri. The equipment chosen was the Russian night observation system (Baighis 6), and the assault rifle AK-74M. With the arrival of Russian instructors, most units of the Syrian Arab Army were equipped with 6B45 ballistic protective jackets, helmets in Kevlar 6B7, and AK-74M or AK-104 automatic rifles with telescopic sights and GP-30 grenade launchers. The Russians equipped the Syrian Arab Army with modern night-vision systems, AGS-17 thermobaric grenade-launchers, and 6G30 grenade-launchers (40 mm calibre).

The reservists

During the five years of war, the Syrian Arab Army suffered heavy losses, greater than during their wars against Israel  much military equipment was either destroyed or captured by the jihadists, and a number of sites fell under jihadist control. This evolution was characterised over 75% of the Syrian territory by the cruel execution of captured soldiers and Republican civilians. Consequently, the replacement of these important losses by the Syrian Arab Army (at least 40,000 soldiers, or 10% of their number) was far more difficult than that which had been planned in terms of peace-time mobilisation. Fearing for their lives, 130,000 conscripts failed to register for military service, so that only 270,000 men presently serve under the flag.

In these circumstances, the Syrian Arab Army had to rely on auxiliary units composed of older volunteers, most of the time on the territorial principle. Fundamentally, in the areas prone to rebel attacks, there existed only local defence groups without coordination with the professional units of the Army  these groups were poorly-armed, without adequate physical training, without weapons training, and without any command structure which had received military school training, and had only a minimal understanding of the principles which must be applied in combat. These local defence groups, animated only by their patriotic enthusiasm, suffered significant losses.

As the situation evolved towards an offensive force, the Syrian Arab Army introduced these local defence groups to an intensive programme of tactical training, concentrating on urban guerilla techniques with live firing, marches, and basic notions of engineering and pyrotechnics. An aerial bridge was organised between Damascus and Tehran, in order that Syrian volunteers could receive training from the Iranian Bassijis, as the combatants of Hezbollah did and still do. For the first time, the Iranians trained not only Shia fighters, but especially Sunnis and Christians.

Special Operations

The Syrian Special Forces had been formed and trained by the Egyptian army in the 1960s, after a programme developed by British commandos for units of light infantry who had parachute training. At the start of the war, the Syrian Arab Army had six independent battalions of Special Forces and another parachute battalion, the 104th Brigade of the Republican Guard.

In May 2014, a group of commandos called the Protective Lions was created, subordinate to the 4th Mechanised Division which operated in the North of Syria. At the beginning of the war, the equipment of the Special Forces units was as inefficient as that of the rest of the Syrian Arab Army, and the Syrian commandos had had no further experience of counter-insurgency urban combat since Beirut in 1982. At that time, the Syrian commando units were equipped with RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers and 9K111 Fagot and Milan-1 anti-tank missile systems, which caused extensive damage to Israeli tanks.

The situation improved with the arrival in Syria of Iranian instructors from the al-Quds Force (better equipped and well-trained) and combatants from the Libyan Hezbollah, who have great experience in urban warfare. Lets not forget that the Iranian Special Forces had been created and trained by their US equivalent and by the British Special Boat Units during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The CQB and FIBUA Commandos of the Lebanese Hezbollah, armed with modern anti-tank missiles (9M113 Konkurs, 9M131 Metis M, 9M133 Kornet) and anti-tank grenade launchers (RPG 7V, RPG-29), acquired a solid experience of asymmetrical tactics and urban guerilla warfare in 2006, against the Merkava tanks of the Israeli army. They developed some extremely effective new tactics in anti-tank combat.

When the Russian Spetsnaz instructors arrived in Syria, everything was analysed and reviewed on the basis of principles of action and clear rules. Although Iran had invested a lot of money in equipment for the Special Forces, it was not state-of-the-art material, like that of the Russians. Recent photos of the Syrian Special Forces show equipment which is exactly the same as the Russians - fire-proof camouflage uniforms of the MultiCam type, FAST Ops-Core ballistic helmets, with integrated optoelectronic systems, night-vision systems, hoods, bullet-proof jackets and quality boots, rifles with British Accuracy International AWM telescopic sights (and silencers), or else AK-74Ms equipped with telescopic sights and Alpha 7115 laser range-finders and automatic AGS-30 grenade-launchers, Pecheneg machine-guns, etc. Progress in the training and equipment of Syrian commandos with modern weaponry has been noted in the recent operation for the recuperation of the Khanasser-Ithriyah road, which is the only supply route for pro-government forces in the province of Aleppo.

The snipers

Combat in urban areas is unthinkable without the support of numerous marksmen, who must be trained and equipped with modern weapons. At the start of the war, in the absence of snipers and observation points on the buildings, suicide bombers were able to choose their targets and blow them up, or enter with cars into the control points of the Syrian Arab Army, who had few snipers, and whose only equipment consisted of old model rifles with sights - Dragunov and DMR (a Chinese model from Norinco, copied from the old US M-14).

Later on, the Iranians furnished the Syrian Arab Army with a local copy of a sighted Austrian rifle, the Steyr HS.50, and the Russians supplied the modern Orsis T-5000 sighted rifle (7,62 mm calibre) and the sighted KSVK machine-gun (12,7 mm calibre). On the initiative of the Iranians and the Russians, a school for snipers was created for the Syrian Arab Army, with Lebanese (Hezbollah), Iranian, and Russian instructors. Russian snipers are the best in the world, thanks to their weapons, camouflage, and training centres. The key motto for Syrian snipers had to be become invisible and see others without being seen.

Armoured vehicles

During the First World War, when it was invented, the aim of the tank was to force and break down enemy barricades and lines of defence, thanks to protective armour, fire-power and great mobility. Today, anti-tank units equipped with missile systems are much less expensive than tank units, whose action becomes more difficult in an environment saturated with anti-tank technology. Tanks which are sent to re-establish order, without extensive research into the action perimeter and infantry support, often have to operate in village centres, where they are ambushed by surprise, and come under fire from portable grenade-launchers and anti-tank missiles. Tens of thousands of US BGM-71 anti-tank Tow missile systems, Franco-German Milan-2s and Croatian M 79 Osa rocket-launchers were secretly introduced into Syria by the intelligence services of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France and the United States.

Syrian tanks have no ERA-type (Explosive Reactive Armour) protection plates mounted on the front and the turret, nor systems which blind the guidance systems of anti-tank missiles, nor active-type protection systems, with interception captors capable of exploding anti-tank missiles before they reach the armour. Because of these missing elements, Syrian tanks have often been breached with single direct shots. After having been destroyed or damaged, hundreds of tanks of the Syrian Arab Army had to be adapted, soldering on protective plating, and after that, mounting ERA-type plates to neutralise the effect of cumulated shots.

With the arrival of Russian military instructors in Syria, they also noted that one of the Syrian Arab Armys major errors was to abandon their damaged tanks. The Russians noted that most of them were repaired by the Turkish military specialists who were overseeing the jihadists, or used in fortifications, as fixed artillery batteries. As a result, the Syrian Arab Army multiplied its auxiliary towing and evacuation units for damaged tanks, as well as its repair units.

At the beginning of 2016, the Russians delivered about twenty T-72B3 and T-90 MS tanks to the Syrian Arab Army which had effective reactive protection against US BGM-71 Tow anti-tank missiles. The T-90 MS was used in the composition of advance detachments to pierce the defences of jihadist positions, according to what was observed in February 2016, during the offensive on the the village of Kuweira, near Aleppo. However, while the T-90 MS tanks were integrated into the Syrian Arab Army, they were paid for by Iran and are piloted by Iranian teams.

Artillery

Apart from the tanks taken from the Syrian Arab Army, the Islamists have received a large number of armoured vehicles with platforms for machine-guns, rocket-launchers, cannons and small-calibre weapons, which afford them great mobility and the benefit of surprise. Smart weapons are necessary to neutralise targets in a defined area, and the Syrian Arab Army did not have them. The Russians gave them reconnaissance systems for the PRP-4A Argus expeditionary artillery, which enables them to determine the coordinates of enemy tanks and artillery, as well as isolated groups of enemy fighters once they have opened fire. The distances are automatically calculated by two laser range-finders. As well as that equipment, the Syrian Arab Army was offered TOS-1  Buratino.  launchers for thermobaric projectiles (220 mm calibre), with a launch cadence of 24 projectiles in 7-15 seconds. The surface covered by a salvo of TOS 1 projectiles is 200 x 400 metres.

With the arrival of Russian instructors in Syria, a question arose concerning the delivery to the Syrian Arab Army of Krasnopol KM-2 laser-guided missiles. The system requires an operator for the armoured vehicle-mounted LTD (Laser Target Designator) spotting of the target. Once within a range of 2 kilometres by 1.6 kilometres in the area of the target, the Krasnopol missile is guided by laser to the marked target.

Aviation

Until the arrival of the Russian contingent, the Syrian planes were not equipped with high-precision guided weapons which could assure support for ground troops. They used mainly 57 mm calibre rockets and FAB-50 and FAB-100 bombs, launched in a dive at 1,500 to 3,000 metres. At that height, Syrian planes were vulnerable to fire from Islamist artillery, either 23 mm and 30 mm calibre, and also to portable ground-air missiles (MANPADs), which explains the numerous losses suffered by the Syrian aviation. During this time, 21 Su-24MK bombers from the Syrian Arab Army were updated in Russian aeronautical factory N 514 ARZ in Rzhev, and re-configured to Su-24M2 standards, equipped with systems integrating navigation and precision weapons-guidance (PNS-M), the same as the Russian aviation from the air base at Hmeymim. In 2015, Russia had supplied the Syrian aviation with state-of-the-art motors and avionics in order to raise 64 MiG-23BN/MLDs to the standard of their MiG-23-98s.

These MiG-23s have OLS-M LANTIRN-class equipment for night navigation, infra-red detection of terrestrial targets and the guidance systems for several types of smart weapons, such as those used by Russian bombers deployed in Syria. As of now, Syrian Su-24 and MiG-23s are able to execute precision bombing missions by day or by night, at altitudes which are out of range of portable ground-air missiles. In particular, they used penetration bombs to destroy the underground headquarters that the jihadists had built in many different areas, and also to hit ground troops, and therefore, for more than a year, the Syrian Arab Army has no further need of barrels of explosives dropped from helicopters, which in any case would have been destroyed by MANPADs.
More than 60 years ago, millions of people above the 38th parallel died, were literally slaughtered by the US-led coalition.

After that, after its victory, the North Korea was never left in peace. The West has been provoking it, threatening it, imposing brutal sanctions and of course, manipulating global public opinion.

Why? There are several answers. The simple one is: because it is Communist and because it wants to follow its own course! As Cuba has been doing for decades As several Latin American countries were doing lately.

But there is one more, much more complex answer: because the DPRK fought for its principles at home, and it fought against Western imperialism abroad. It helped to liberate colonized and oppressed nations. And, like Cuba, it did it selflessly, as a true internationalist state.

African continent benefited the most, including Namibia and Angola, when they were suffering from horrific apartheid regimes imposed on them by South Africa. It goes without saying that these regimes were fully sponsored by the West, as was the racist madness coming from Pretoria (let us also not forget that the fascist, apartheid South Africa was one of the countries that was fighting, on the side of the West, during the Korean War).

The West never forgot nor forgave the DPRKs internationalist help to many African nations. North Korean pilots were flying Egyptian fighter planes in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The DPRK was taking part in the liberation struggle in Angola (it participated in combat operations, alongside the Peoples Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA)), it fought in Rhodesia, Lesotho, Namibia (decisively supporting SWAPO) and in the Seychelles. It aided African National Congress and its struggle against the apartheid in South Africa. In the past, it had provided assistance to then progressive African nations, including Guinea, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Mali and Tanzania.

The fact that people of the DPRK spilled their blood for freedom of the most devastated (by the Western imperialism) continent on earth  Africa  is one of the main reasons why the West is willing to go all the way, trying to punish, systematically discredit, even to liquidate this proud nation. The West is obsessed with harming North Korea, as it was, for decades, obsessed with destroying Cuba.

The West plundered Africa, an enormous continent rich in resources, for centuries. It grew wealthy on this loot. Anybody who tried to stop it, had to be liquidated.

The DPRK was pushed to the corner, tormented and provoked. When Pyongyang reacted, determined to protect itself, the West declared that defense was actually illegal and that it represented true danger to the world.

The DPRK refused to surrender its independence and its path  it continued developing its defensive nuclear program. The Wests propaganda apparatus kept going into top gear, spreading toxic fabrications, and then polluting entire Planet with them. As a result, entire world is convinced that the North Korea is evil, but it has absolutely no idea, why? Entire charade is only built on cliches, but almost no one is challenging it.

Christopher Black, a prominent international lawyer based in Toronto, Canada, considers new sanctions against the DPRK as a true danger to the world peace:

Chapter VII of the UN Charter states that the Security Council can take measures against a country if there is a threat to the peace and this is the justification they are using for imposing the sanctions. However, it is not the DPRK that is creating a threat to the peace, but the USA which is militarily threatening the DPRK with annihilation. The DPRK has clearly stated its nuclear weapons are only to deter an American attack which is the threat to the peace.

The fact that the US, as part of the SC is imposing sanctions on a country it is threatening is hypocritical and unjust. That the Russians and Chinese have joined the US in this instead of calling for sanctions against the US for its threats against the DPRK and its new military exercises which are a clear and present danger to the DPRK is shameful. If the Russians and Chinese are sincere why dont they insist that the US draw down its forces there so the DPRK feels less threatened and take steps to guarantee the security of the DPRK? They do not explain their actions but their actions make them collaborators with the USA against the DPRK.

US/NATO Threatens the DPRK, China and Russias Far East

The US/NATO military bases in Asia (and in other parts of the world) are actually the main danger to the DPRK, to China and to the Russian Far East.

Enormous air force bases located in Okinawa (Kadena and Futenma), as well as the military bases on the territory of the ROK, are directly threatening North Korea, which has all rights to defend itself and its citizens.

It is also thoroughly illogical to impose sanctions on the victim and not on the empire, which is responsible for hundreds of millions of lost human lives in all corners of the Globe.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Come see Jerrod Carmichael at the 2017 Vulture Festival with The Carmichael Show co-stars David Alan Grier, Loretta Devine, Amber Stevens West, Tiffany Haddish, Lil Rel Howery, Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, and Ravi Nandan on Sunday, May 21, at 3 p.m. in New York. Tickets available on VultureFestival.com!

If theres one thing comedian Jerrod Carmichael wants to do with his NBC sitcom, The Carmichael Show, and his comedy in general, its foster debate. Case in point: the Bill Cosby episode of his show, which succeeds, as The Carmichael Show often does, by defying the assumption that opinions are monoliths. Each character approaches the issue of whether or not to attend a Cosby stand-up show from a different angle, and the comedy emerges from that conflict. In Fallen Heroes, characters dont necessarily suggest Cosby didnt do it, but they do debate the tougher issue: whether that means they have to completely throw away what he and his show meant for them. Carmichael is not a Cosby apologist; hes an apologist for the Cosby apologist begrudgingly lingering in our subconsciouses.

Its a complicated issue, and Carmichael wants to keep it that way, allowing nothing to be a given  even the assumption that just because an interviewer wants to talk about something that the artist has to be game. Below is my interview about the episode, including the disagreement about me interviewing him about Cosby, just like Carmichael wouldve wanted it.

Jerrod Carmichael: [Continuing a conversation before recording] All of my friends refer to when they turn 23 as their Jordan year. None of them accomplished remotely what Michael Jordan accomplished at age 23 or with that number but it makes people feel good.



When I was a kid I couldnt wait to be 23. It was arguably the worst of my adult years.

Really?



It wasnt terrible but I definitely was at a low, professionally.

Yeah. I anticipate 30. I like 30 literally only from a business perspective. It lends itself to a certain level of legitimacy. Its just like, alright, well youre 30. Its easier for the 60-year-olds in power to accept.



And then youre no longer a young upstart.

The obsession with youth. They love, But did you know how young he is? Well, Im not young.



Lets talk about Bill Cosby.

I understand why you want to talk about Cosby. The headlines. Its buzzy, its flashy. Its a new guy you dont really know, but hes talking about Bill Cosby. How fucking exciting is that?! But who wants to just talk about that.



I specifically want to talk to you about Bill Cosby as a comedian, as a young black comedian, as a comedian who met Bill Cosby.

But think about that  your immediate association, me being a young black comedian, has nothing to do with Bill Cosby. I think his work, if nothing else, transcended black comedy. So it really isnt a race thing. We can make the O.J. argument of a black man being accused in America, but thats all for journalism. Listen, thats a horrible crime. I dont care what race you are. I dont care who you are. Its a horrible crime regardless. So, lets remove the race from it.



I bring it up because in the episode, you specifically have a character, and the first thing she reads on the Wikipedia page is, Bill Cosby is the first African-American to star 

Thats an accomplishment. But heres the thing. If this episode were about Woody Allen, we would start talking about his early days as a writer. It would be a different list of accomplishments. I dont like the contrived associations because its bigger. You know that. You know its bigger. If Bill Cosby were Hispanic, if Bill Cosby were an Eskimo, the accusations are as horrific. The fallout is the same thing.

I am interested in your perspective as a comedian who grew up watching him.

Whats happening here isnt a comedy-related thing. You understand what Im saying? Comedians in trouble, how do you feel about that? People get in trouble all the time. Its removed from that. Those accusations have nothing to do with comedy. If you were a dramatic actor, same accusations. If you were a musician, same accusations. So the accusation has nothing to do with comedy.

He does have that bit where he talks about Spanish fly.

But none of the accusations talk about his jokes. The accusations are associated with a man in power abusing it.



I ask less because of him, and more because I want to know how it affects you. I did a list of the 100 jokes that shaped modern comedy that came out a month ago. Bill Cosbys on that list. And interviewers asked me why we included Bill Cosby. I said you can remove him from your heart hypothetically, but you cant just remove him from the history of comedy. As a comedian, how do you reconcile the fact that he influenced you because he influenced everyone who did comedy, and the fact that he also has these accusations against him?

Once again, as a person who enjoys music how do you reconcile listening to Michael Jackson? As a person who enjoys any art, anything  its the struggle of categorizing. How you reconcile an abusive father who provided? How do you reconcile an alcoholic mother who cooked dinner every night? You compartmentalize. Thats all you can do.



Can you talk about the genesis of the episode?

It was a thing that people talked about, and our show likes to talk about things that happen in the world, and conversations that people have.



What point of views did you hope were covered by the characters in it?

Evenly distributed. The point of view around a watercooler, where Nancy thinks its horrible and John thinks its fishy, and Mike thinks another thing. Its a reflection.



I read that you talked to Judd Apatow beforehand. What were those conversations like?

Judds pretty clear on his stance, and he enjoyed the episode. Judd read it really literally right before shooting that episode and gave some really good notes. Having Nick Stoller [one of The Carmichael Shows executive producers] there is also incredibly helpful, having Mike Scully and these great minds on it.



Theres a skepticism to your comedy. Was there a debate in the writers room about how to approach an issue like this that you know could easily be taken wrong by people?

Yeah, you trust your intention. As far as approach, there was debate. With any topic that we choose to cover on the show, the beauty of the writers room is that we know if we are arguing then we have something good on our hands. We have something that could be a great episode.



Theres a divide in the episode in how the female characters react to this and how the male characters do. What was the tension there?

Everyone in the room is open about their opinion, open about how they feel, not afraid of an argument. Thats how I chose all the writers: People that dont shy away from an argument. We all got to have a human conversation on it. This is a horrific situation where nobody wins. Everybody loses. With that understanding, its still within whatever were talking about. If you notice with the episode, its about yourself more than its about that. Its about you and how you process and how you compartmentalize and what to do with it. We dont go into details  thats not our job. Our job is to reflect the people talking about it.



Thats what makes the episode work. Through the characters you allow a person watching it to indulge certain points of view that they might not have anyway. They might disagree with it, but youre still allowing those point of views to be aired and not necessarily vilified. What was interesting is how this worked into the material you already did on your HBO special, Love at the Store, about talent being more important than morals; however, here, it came from different points of view. In what ways do you feel like the show is a better articulation of your comedic view than stand-up is?

Its a complete argument. By nature of being one guy on a stage, you get one perspective a lot of times within a bit. The show allows for everyone to have a bit of my stand-up. Its sprinkled throughout the characters because its a constant argument and its all for the sake of exploration. Its all for analyzing any topic from all sides. I get to argue one thing onstage from one side and now its all angles and responses, and its rich. Its a rich argument.

This interview has been condensed and edited.
Yeezus. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/2016 Getty Images

This shouldnt be a surprise, but signs of Yeezy editing The Life of Pablo like its one big Facebook status are cropping up. Earlier Sunday, half a week after the rapper said he was still finalizing mixes on his latest album, an astute Redditor found changes on Famous. Sounds like Nina Synomes [sic] vocals are layered under Rihannas, JayElect wrote. Rihannas vocals in general have a lot more reverb. Not as ear piercingly loud as she was before. The user also noted transition and lyric tweaks. The more obvious is the latter, which has the original line She be Puerto Rican Day Parade wavin, swapped out with, She in school to be a real estate agent (at around 1:23).

Vultures Lindsay Zoladz has called TLOP a brilliant work-in-progress, a publicly broadcast quest to make a perfect album, a Sisyphean task that runs the risk of never ending. It appears so. Kanye hasnt addressed any of the changes yet, but he did fire off a flurry of entertaining tweets Sunday  just in time to distract you from TLOP and make your Monday more interesting. Here are some highlights, which are all of them:

What do you mean by @JustinBieber was my favorite song of 2015  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I have discovered my single greatest quality. I care.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

everyone can say anything they want about me but they could never say that I didn't care.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I care about people.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I care about our future.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I care about truth.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I care about quality  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I think human beings can create a Utopia.  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

I believe in us  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

Steve Ballmer can I please redesign the Clippers mascot  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 13, 2016

For reference, this is the mascot, Chuck the Condor:

Yikes! The Clippers mascot is worse than I thought and I thought it was going to be bad. pic.twitter.com/n5XWVnO20f  Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 1, 2016

The team also has a semi-new logo. Ballmer seems down to meet Ye regardless:

@kanyewest @LAClippers love Chuck but love your creativity. Lets talk. Lunch?  Steve Ballmer (@Steven_Ballmer) March 13, 2016

@kanyewest Better than lunch. Let's grab a Clips game together and talk  Steve Ballmer (@Steven_Ballmer) March 13, 2016

New pals alert  have fun imagining what that convo will be like. (Also, to get slightly back on topic: You can listen here for the current TLOP changes, and can check back here for more later.)

Update: And heres Kanye jamming to What Do You Mean? in his car, courtesy of your new favorite Snapchatter, Kim Kardashian.
The arc of a Shameless season is not traditional. Rarely do we get cliffhangers, quick builds, or totally unexpected twists. This is partly because its all relative. The show is so ridiculous that what might seem absurd in another world is totally fair game in the land of the Gallaghers. But also, its good at planting breadcrumbs that lead us toward the next episode. A Yurt of Ones Own is a great example of this progressive build, each family members path blossoming or decaying with the strange ebb and flow of Shamelesss quirky rhythms.

Frank, Debbie, and Queenie

The last few episodes have brought Debbie and Queenie closer together, and A Yurt of Ones Own solidifies their union as family. Its also brought their storyline to the forefront of the waning season. Debbie has always craved someone who would take care of her and show her how to move forward in the world  and Queenie, in all her patchouli-scented optimism, is Debbies beacon of hope. As the two escape to Soaring Consciousness, Frank swings himself into the van, narrowly escaping from the coke dealers he screwed over last episode.

Upon arrival, Debbie is treated like a pregnant queen, gifted her own yurt (emptied of masculine energy), and taught about the almighty orgasm. Queenie, who just wants everyone to come, drops some knowledge about just how important a good pre-sleep climax can be, and within a few minutes, Debbie discovers the piece of her sexuality that shed been lacking  pleasure. Her initial horror at the commune lifestyle quickly transforms into acceptance, and soon, shes chanting and exchanging namastes like a yogi. Recognizing Frank for the leech that he is, Debbie sloughs him off to maintain the feminine balance of her yurt. (Which, we must remember, is temporary. No doubt reality will set in once shes required to live like the common, un-pregnant folk.)

But commune living is all too much for Frank. Though hes happy to pee on himself when it suits his own purposes, hes is horrified at the amount of feces and shared labor hes expected to handle for the good of the group. After a day digging in compost and generating electricity, hes ready to leave Soaring Consciousness  and Queenie with it. Especially once he discovers that Queenie is pledged to a geriatric orgy appointment each evening. Ever-committed to keeping Frank happy, she reveals that shoveling shit is necessary to enlightenment; the commune is cultivating a sea of poppy plants in order to turn a profit on some opium, acquire a patch of land in Kauai, and create an island oasis of their own.

Dollar signs flash in Franks eyes, and its pretty much guaranteed that ruin will soon befall this stinky band of hippies.

Fiona and Sean

Also back in the limelight are Fiona and Sean, whose relationship teeters in the balance after Seans son, Will, discovers Carls gun. Fiona, understanding the gravity of Seans anger and fear, tries to mitigate the damage, but to no avail. This transgression is too much, even for Sean. Though she doesnt often express it, Fiona is self-aware enough to know that she is a difficult partner  more often than not awash in a sea of relationship issues and family obligations. She knows that its not normal, and she allows Sean to take his space, ending things tearily. But not before reminding him that she too accepted that he is a difficult, troubled partner.

In the midst of their trials, Gus shows up again, cordially requesting an amicable divorce. Fiona is willing to play ball, but theres a catch: Guss engagement ring is still at the pawnshop and the price has increased three-fold. In a whirlwind of legalese, she employs a billboard lawyer (fantastically played by Oscar Nunez) and leverages her position to deflect from the ring. While the lawyers argue, Sean shows up at Guss fancy law firm, ring in hand, and proposes to Fiona. Much public kissing ensues.

The back-and-forth tension of Fiona and Seans relationship is substantial. Dermot Mulroneys rugged and somber Sean is an edgy foil to high-strung Fiona, and the two are well-suited to understand each others deep wounds and flaws. So well-suited, it seems, that they can get over themselves for just long enough to see that they should move forward before diving back into another hurricane of drugs, guns, and sex. I fully believed their breakup was imminent, but in the way only Shameless knows how, the misguided choices continue. And we, its shameless fans, would have it no other way.

Lip

Headed toward his own collegiate kind of meltdown, Lip is deep into the boozy blues. Unfortunately, those blues have taken a turn toward pure self-destruction; Lip chugs alcohol at every chance he gets. The girls and nights have begun to run together, and  after a particularly nasty sorority bash  he ends up in the hospital with acute alcohol poisoning. In denial about his brush with death, he spurns the girl who called 9-1-1 on his behalf.

At this point, its quite easy to see how Lip could spiral Frank-like into addiction, plagued by the cocktail of his own sentimentality and intelligence. What could draw Lip back to the straight and narrow? Ian? Carl? Fiona? One might think waking up to that $2,000 hospital bill would be rock bottom, but Lip doesnt see a bottom in sight. I hope someone finds him before the bottom does.

Ian

Shameless is not afraid to reintroduce the past, even if it seems like a non sequitur. In this case, Ian gets a call from Mandy, whom you may remember as Lips ex-girlfriend, Mickeys sister, and Ians one-time beard. Shes locked in a Chicago hotel room, hopped up on crank, and begging Ian to come help her remove a dead body from an escort date gone wrong. Blonder, skinnier, and still very sad, Mandy struggles to reconcile her past with her future, having taken up sex work, while glimpsing what a normal life could have been through experiences with clients that are like boyfriends. But when things go wrong, she regresses to her old impulses instead of doing the right thing (i.e. calling the cops). With Ians help, she is able to see reason, then they share a strange few hours reminding one another that their upbringing doesnt need to dictate their futures.

What does Mandys reappearance signal? For me, she has always felt like a doomed character, and this weird, somewhat forced scenario strengthens my suspicion that her end will not be a happy one. I suspect its also a harbinger of Mickeys reintroduction, which will further complicate Ians idyllic developments with Caleb.

Carl

Much of season six has been centered on Carls battle to find his place within the Gallaghers South Side universe. After last weeks resolution, Carls role recedes a bit. Sans cornrows, Carl looks like a teenager should  slightly gawky, limb-y, and downtrodden. With his hair slicked back in a bumpy ducktail and a new vocation as a dishwasher in Seans diner, Carls ego has deflated into typical teenage angst, a relief for everyone in his gangster wake. However, Dominique likes normcore Carl, and plants herself as the queen of his world with a proposition to lose their virginities together. With the undoing of their innocence, it becomes clear that starry-eyed Carl will soon be on the straight-and-narrow to satiate his newfound sexual appetite, keep Dominique around, and please her strict father.

In a rare moment of masculine connection, A Yurt of Ones Own winds down with a heartbreaking scene of the Gallagher brothers meeting in the kitchen: Lip, home after his hospital stint, drinking a beer not hours after nearly dying of alcohol poisoning; Ian, reflective, following a brush with his past life as a sex worker; and Carl, sweaty and wild-eyed, after tossing his chastity to the wind. Each one of them silently roils in his own internal turmoil, gulps it down, and steels himself for whatever conflict will surely come next.

Kevin, V, and Svetlana

Off in their own orbit around the Alibi, Kev, V, and Svetlana are dealing with the blowback from an immigration officer showing up and threatening Svetlanas deportation. In one of Kev and Vs more interesting story lines of the past couple seasons, V volunteers to marry Svetlana to make her legal, which promises a rich mine of material for episodes to come.

Shameful Observations:
Steven Pasquale and friends, in The Robber Bridegroom. Photo: Joan Marcus

The first mistake writers of musicals usually make happens before they write: They choose too good or too bad a source. Too good is the more difficult case; the material, having given them delight as readers, defeats them as adapters. That seems to be the problem with The Robber Bridegroom, the 1975 musical by Robert Waldman (music) and Alfred Uhry (book and lyrics) based on Eudora Weltys 1942 novella of the same name. The original Broadway production starring Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone ran only two weeks, as part of an Acting Company season; a heavily revised and expanded version returned a year later, starring Barry Bostwick, and lasted a few months. What cursed those outings was Welty herself  not her ghost (she was alive) but her restless spirit; that spirit also haunts the Roundabouts jolly revival, opening tonight under the clever direction of Alex Timbers. Jolly and clever are usually fine things; the problem is that they are not Welty things. Making her gothic fairy tale into a musical in the first place, and making it more fun in the second place  the revival is again heavily revised, but this time streamlined  has left it unmoored, deracinated, inauthentic. Its entertaining, and thats all it is.

And how could it not be, with the terrific Steven Pasquale, he of the feral good looks and ravishing baritone, in the title role? Or title roles, perhaps: Pasquale plays a respectable fellow called Jamie Lockhart who also turns out to be a notorious bandit terrorizing the cypress swamps and indigo fields of the Natchez Trace in late-18th-century Mississippi. In his bandit guise he falls for Rosamund, a wealthy planters daughter with a wild streak and a grotesque stepmother; in his gentleman guise, having saved the planter from danger, he is offered the same girl  now presenting herself more conventionally  as a reward. The key to the story is that Jamie and Rosamund do not recognize each other in their secondary identities, even though we easily do; Jamies bandit incarnation is indicated merely by a few stripes of berry juice on his face and a black hat on his head. Though patently ridiculous onstage, this contrivance is central to Weltys point. Mature love, her tale argues, means reconciling the danger of eros, which is always to some degree violent and anonymous, with the danger of domesticity, which is always to some degree dull.

The assembling of a new story structure while gradually removing the bones of the old is a game of theatrical Jenga. Waldman and Uhry, working with Timbers, have untied the tales knots and reduced its scope (there are only nine roles, reduced from 20 on Broadway and innumerable more in the Welty) while making room for an attractive score in a mostly bluegrass mode. (The singing  and playing, by a terrific five-man band  is a joy throughout.) But the rhapsodic turbulence of Weltys story, to say nothing of the violence of the Grimm tales from which she drew it, has been stripped so completely out of the material in the process that it apparently required a new conceptual housing lest it die of exposure. Timberss concept, beautifully carried out in the set design of Donyale Werle, is basically a barn dance: We will be told the story of The Robber Bridegroom by a troupe of just-folks actors and musicians whose provenance, to judge from Emily Rebholzs costumes and their general demeanor, is somewhere between 1890 and never.

This is entertainingly done. Timbers draws from his usual bag of magic tricks, prop jokes, unexpected taxidermy, and winking meta-theatricality to keep the eye and attention engaged at all times. Even so, the story, having been pulled away from any real engagement with its dark fundamentals, now seems like an excuse instead of the point. That inversion makes for some very uncomfortable juxtapositions, for what are these talented performers making such a stomping, high-proof, Hee-Haw fuss about? A schizoid con man who gets sexual pleasure only from rape? Im not sure that story should have been made into musical comedy in 1975; making it a better one now only makes it worse.

* * *

Southern Comfort, another bluegrass musical opening tonight, this one at the Public Theater, also has impeccable pedigree and a transfer problem. It is based on a documentary by Kate Davis that chronicles the final year in the life of Robert Eads, a transgender man dying of ovarian cancer. Like the movie, which won a Grand Jury prize at the 2001 Sundance Festival, the musical dwells heavily on the irony of Eadss diagnosis, and the questions it raises about biology and identity. One of his trans male friends, here called Jackson, finds meaning in the fact that Eadss cancer has arisen in the last and only part o you thats still female. On the other hand, Jackson is saving money for a phalloplasty, a procedure Eads objects to because it reduces gender back to whats between the legs.

If the musical sometimes seems like a Queer Studies seminar, at other times it seems like a pamphlet on the prejudice suffered by trans people. Eads is denied treatment by medical practices in his rural Georgia town; his parents insist on calling him Barbara, not Robert, even as hes dying. His family of choice, a group of mostly trans friends who meet one Sunday a month for potluck, face problems that are just as wrenching but redundantly similar. And though the show is given the armature of the changing seasons, and a dramaturgical destination in the (real) Southern Comfort transgender conference in Atlanta, the agenda is too baldly political to support a play, let alone a musical. The book, by Dan Collins, succumbs to a tone of sentimentality and special pleading; the songs, with lyrics by Collins and music by Julianne Wick Davis, are pretty but mostly monochromatic. Oddly enough under the circumstances, they are also too generic. (They are filled with snorey cliches like Some say this might not be normal but home is right here.) This leaves the cast, led by Annette OToole as the wiry, bantam Eads and Jeff McCarthy as his big-boned girlfriend, working hard  too hard  under Thomas Carusos stiff direction, which calls for a lot of unprovoked emphasis and indicated bonhomie. (Its a telling problem that one often has trouble locating the actors on James J. Fentons overbusy set.) If worthiness were the same as stageworthiness, Southern Comfort would be as effective as its source. But this is material that, however much it cries out for justice, simply doesnt sing.

The Robber Bridegroom is at the Laura Pels Theatre through May 29.

Southern Comfort is at the Public Theater through March 27.
Lorelai and Luke sitting in a tree. G-I-L-M-O-R-E. Photo: Patrick Ecclesine/Getty Images

Recently on a tour of the Warner Bros. studios, a Gilmore Girls fan-slash-super sleuth, Jordan McKamie, who was probably carrying a magnifying glass and wearing a houndstooth cap, saw a telltale sign of a possible Gilmore Girls wedding: a prop lamp thing with a tag on it that said its for the WEDDING set. But we all still have one question: Could it be a typo? Is it for the welding set? Has Rory given up her dreams of becoming Christiane Amanpour to become a welder? Time will tell. If there are in fact some nuptials in store, whos about to tie the knot? Lorelai and Luke would be the obvious choice, Rory and Jess a less obvious choice, and Paul Anka and Miss Patty a very very unlikely non-obvious choice. Check out the gumshoes Instagram below, and see how you feel.
Baylor Universitys Mayborn Museum Complex, 1300 S. University Parks Drive, will have spring break activities from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday in the museums Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village.

The week will include hands-on history-related activities, including making butter, pumping water from a well, wringing clothes, candle making and carriage rides.

The program also will include games, screenings of Disneys Toy Story at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and visits from Mr. Potato Head at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Regular museum admission rates apply.

For more information, visit www.baylor.edu/mayborn or call 710-1110.

Military officers lunch

The Heart of Texas Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America will meet at 11:30 a.m. March 24 at The Baylor Club level 4, North Lounge in Baylor Universitys McLane Stadium.

Retired Air Force Col. Steve Wiggins, vice president for business development of L-3 Aircraft Systems, Platform Integration Division in Waco, will discuss L-3 operations in Waco.

The meeting is open to current and former commissioned and warrant officers, their spouses and to the general public.

Cost is $23 for a buffet lunch.

A tour of McLane Stadium will be conducted immediately following the meal. Tour cost is $5.

Lunch and tour reservations are required by Thursday.

For reservations, contact Vince Tobola at vtobola@aol.com or 709-7489 or contact Harold Rafuse at hrafuse@hot.rr.com or 717-8112.

Toastmasters

The Centex Clearly Speaking Toastmasters Club will have an open house event at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Crestview Community Center, 7129 Delhi Road.

Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

For more information, visit http://centexclearlyspeaking.toastmastersclubs.org.

Free food distribution

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas and The Shepherds Heart will have a free food-distribution event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of Texas State Technical Colleges Industrial Technology Center, located at the corner of Crest and Airline drives.

Participants will receive a variety of fresh food, including meat, beans, canned vegetables and fruit, soup, cereal, potatoes, rice, pasta and more.

Clients must provide a box, basket or container to carry their food.

For more information, call 799-8810 or 716-7064.

Hewitt story time

Hewitt Public Library, 100 Zuni Drive in Hewitt, will offer two weekly story-time sessions at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

This weeks story-time theme is Dinosaurs.
PRESS RELEASE  The critical role of helicopters in the Vietnam War is the subject of the first in a series of Living History programs presented by the Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 26 at Wing headquarters in Peachtree City, Ga. Lt. Col. Cliff Stern, executive director of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation (AAHF), will discuss the helicopter war in Vietnam, the first time the helicopters full potential was utilized. Col. Stern is a senior Army aviator with a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Albuquerque and a masters degree in systems management from the University of Southern California. His military honors include two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal with 23 oak-leaf clusters and numerous other commendations. His unit was awarded the Valorous Unit award for its participation in Lam Son 719.

Col. Stern and AAHF pilots will discuss the aircraft impact on the war as a whole, and will focus on Lam Son 719, the largest helicopter operation of any war. Participants will have the opportunity to walk around the AAHFs Cobra and Huey and ask questions of the pilots. The event will be moderated by Col. Brent Bracewell, also a former Army helicopter pilot. Many different helicopter models fulfilled observation, transport, and attack duties. This presentation will highlight two of the most important choppers of the conflict, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, better known as Huey, and the Bell AH-1 Cobra. Rides in these helicopters will be available following the presentation. A ride in the Huey is $60, and a ride in the Cobra is $275, which helps cover operating costs and will benefit the non-profit AAHF organization.

The fee to attend this Dixie Wing event is $10. Dixie Wing headquarters and museum are at 1200 Echo Ct., Peachtree City, adjoining Atlanta Regional Airport (Falcon Field). For more information, visit www.dixiewing.org.



About The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation

The Army Aviation Heritage Foundation (AAHF) is a non-profit public educational foundation filed under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS. The Foundation, based at Tara Field in Hampton, Ga., is dedicated to presenting the Army Aviation story through narrated, patriotic flying presentations and static displays of the actual aircraft and equipment used by the men and women who served in Army Aviation.This is accomplished through the acquisition, restoration, and maintenance of historic flyable aircraft representing Army Aviation (Vietnam to present). www.armyav.org

About Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing

The Commemorative Air Force is a non-profit organization dedicated to flying and restoring World War II aircraft. Based in Midland, Texas, the organization has more than 13,000 members and operates a fleet of more than 162 World War II aircraft. The Dixie Wing was approved as the 83rd CAF unit on Feb.28, 1987, and has since displayed its collection of vintage World War II aircraft in numerous air shows throughout the Southeast. The wing is a non-profit, tax-exempt flying museum that depends on contributions of time and funds to carry out its mission. www.dixiewing.org
This is how the Abe government sees it, too. Tokyo's hard sell constantly stresses the strategic advantages to both countries of an even tighter "special strategic partnership". In fact, it says this is why it is breaking the post-war taboo on major arms exports to bid for the contract. It is not in it for the money.

Supporters of Japan's bid think that working with it to build Australia's most vital military capability would transform the already-growing defence relationship into a virtual military alliance. They think, and sometimes even say, we need this alliance to protect ourselves from China.

But there are big risks in this, both to our submarine capability and to our relations with Japan. We need to understand those risks before taking a decision.

Many people in Canberra think we should partner with Japan to build our new submarines, whether or not they offer the best boats for the money, because Japan's bid is much more than a commercial deal. It's the basis for a closer strategic commitment as well, so they think we'd get two birds with one stone.

We must be quite clear about this. Tokyo expects that in return for its help to build our submarines, it would receive not just many of billions of dollars, but clear understandings that Australia will support Japan politically, strategically and even militarily against China. That is why Japan is bidding.

This is the big difference between Japan and its two European rivals. The French and Germans just want our money. The Japanese want much more. As Tony Abbott said in Tokyo recently 'For Japan this submarine deal is strategic: for the others, it's commercial.' And he ought to know, because he has always been the Japanese option's most ardent champion.

So before we decide whether to select the Japanese bid, we have to ask if an alliance with Japan is good for Australia. Would it be a big additional benefit, or a big additional cost? Advocates say it's a benefit. They think a close bond with Japan will strengthen both countries' alliances with America and send a clear message to Beijing that we are determined to stand together against its challenge to the regional order.

Faced with this, they think Beijing will back off. Then America's leadership in Asia would be restored, and everything would return to the way it used to be before China got stroppy. In other words, supporters of an alliance with Japan are sure it would never be tested, because simply creating it would help ensure that China's threat would disappear. And if that happens, it matters much less whose submarines we buy, because they won't be needed.

But will things work out this way? That depends on whether Washington, with or without others' support, really can convince China to back off. Maybe it can, if China is already heading for a major economic and political crisis, as many assume. But Beijing has weathered looming crises before, and President Xi Jinping's resolve to expand China's international power is very clear.
I can accept that, despite differences of recollection between me and some of them, there is already enough evidence before the commission that many tried to tell me from the time I was a junior priest in Ballarat and that I seemed to them to be dismissive or lacked compassion or took no action. For that, I apologise to them profusely: I did not do enough and more people were abused by the same priests and brothers complained about.

I have no wish to put people who say they told me about sexual abuse into a position where their recollections need to be tested in minute detail against mine. They have gone long enough with their voices not being heard by powerful figures in the Catholic Church and in society generally.

Please could I start by making a statement that I hope will help the royal commission and that I pray will give some solace to so many people I now know to have been traumatised by abuse suffered on an horrendous scale.

Cardinal George Pell giving evidence to the royal commission via video link from Rome.

I must, also, accept my share of the responsibility for the systematic cover-up that occurred when I was a consultor in the diocese of Ballarat. Bishop Ronald Mulkearns acted shamefully, and we were complicit in it. I am not sure why exactly, perhaps it was a misguided wish to protect the church as an institution, or a desire for advancement and the clerical culture that made us loyal to the bishop and to our fellow priests in such a dysfunctional way.

My colleagues and I may have been deceived or kept in the dark, but nonetheless, we lacked the compassion or the courage to ask more questions about things that should have focused our attention acutely. When we knew of crimes committed against children, as loyal advisors we should have demanded that he act. When he did not listen to us, we should have resigned and gone to the police ourselves. I am so sorry for the hurt and damage that not doing so has caused.

By the time I came to Melbourne as an auxiliary bishop, I had no excuses for any continuing ignorance or lack of understanding. In that context, accompanying Gerald Ridsdale to court was one of the most harmful errors of judgment I have ever made.

And, there is now copious evidence available to the commission to make it transparent that Archbishop Frank Little and his leadership group, of which I was a senior part, failed abjectly to deal properly with abusing priests.
Winters and her colleagues have developed tools to help with social resolution, bullying, online aggression (or perceived aggression), eating disorders and issues particular to high school students, working with the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California-Berkeley, the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and other academic partners. New projects will assist in identifying suicide ideation in a friend's posts and offer help connecting to resources for suicide prevention. There is a team working on how Facebook profiles can be managed after someone dies; another group has created safety checks, so friends and family can communicate quickly in a disaster. One bright, hot Tuesday in February, the sun glinted off the baby-blue cruising bikes that Facebookers ride from one side of their extensive California, campus to the other, looking like healthy undergraduates captured in a college brochure. More than 6000 people work there, shuttling between the New Urbanism "village" that once served as Sun Microsystems' headquarters (Facebook took it over in 2011) and the 433,000-square-foot open-plan mother ship designed by Frank Gehry on the other side of the Bayfront Expressway. If designers are in charge of surprise and delight, what does it mean to design for aspects of life that are painful? Emily Albert

Inside the Gehry space, plump Mylar balloons shaped like numbers floated gently above the desks, marking each staff member's "Faceversary," as one's anniversary of hiring is called. Vending machines offered keyboards and chargers, not Snickers bars. Pink letterpress posters proclaimed "Be the Nerd," among other inspirational slogans. Winters; Gregory Wells, a clinical psychologist; Dan Muriello, an engineer; and Emily Albert, a product designer, were gathered in a conference room named "Outlook Not Syncing" to explain how the breakup flow came to be. Albert, an ebullient 25-year-old who had been a classically trained ballet dancer before she attended the Rhode Island School of Design, described struggling with the digital legacy of a former boyfriend from college. "I was seeing one post after another," she said, "experiencing this thing that a lot of my friends have, where it's almost impossible to separate when you're constantly tied digitally. In one cathartic move toward empowerment, I thought, what if Facebook tried to tackle this?" On the company shuttle home to San Francisco one evening, she floated an idea she had been working on to minimise that entanglement. How to digitally unmesh without choosing "the nuclear option" of unfriending or blocking someone? There was resounding encouragement, she said. "Heartbreak is a very common ailment here."

Heartache and Facebook do go hand in hand. There are studies that have examined the relationship between attachment styles and a tendency toward digital surveillance after a breakup on Facebook. There are studies that show a correlation between that digital surveillance  so-called Facebook stalking  and what's known as obsessive relational intrusion, or the pursuit of intimacy with someone who doesn't want to be pursued. Some studies have found possible links between Facebook use and higher rates of cheating in a relationship, which leads to more studies showing that Facebook may be a predictor of divorce. There are studies that prove Facebook makes you sad, and studies that show just the opposite. Some researchers aver that Facebook use creates a neural addiction by stimulating what is known as a dopamine feedback loop  a burst of natural opioids when you receive a status update or peruse a friend's page. There are even studies that suggest a relationship between posting one's relationship status on Facebook and the health of that relationship. Finding the right tone was a big part of the design process, Albert said, language being crucial in creating a tool kit that would be flexible enough to address a 14-year-old breaking up with her boyfriend of four weeks as well as longtime married couples with children.

It also had to be neutral, not familiar, and not in any way hortatory. "If designers are in charge of surprise and delight," she said, "what does it mean to design for aspects of life that are painful?" Facebook language isn't lyric poetry, by any means, but it does the trick. If you're able to stumble onto the breakup flow (not an easy task, at this point; it's only available on mobile and only in the United States), you should discover, as Winters described, a bento box of options. "Take a Break. Here are some changes that might be helpful. We won't notify Taylor of any changes you make. See less of Taylor. See Taylor on Facebook only if you visit his profile." And so on. Mostly the language is like that of an instruction manual  "Turn on tag approvals for posts and photos you're tagged in"  although at the end, it veers into self-care: "Reach out to people you trust for support. Stay Active. ..." Sokoloff, the brand strategist who yearned for a digital vacuum cleaner, wondered if there wasn't some emotional cost in making all traces of a relationship disappear. "Is there something important in the healing process that would be lost if we can essentially have the Facebook equivalent of the dream removers from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?" In her latest book, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, Sherry Turkle explores, as she puts it, "how technology makes us forget what we know about life."
A raging bushfire being battled by more than 200 firefighters and threatening homes and lives south of Perth is believed to have been sparked by a stolen vehicle being set alight.

The blaze, which started at 3:30am on Monday morning, has already burned through more than 1200 hectares of bushland between Pinjarra and Dwellingup.

A police spokeswoman said the car was set on fire on Scarp Road and quickly spread to nearby bushland.

For up-to-date alerts on fire conditions in WA, go to the DFES website or follow DFES on Twitter
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin of Russia has ordered the start of a military withdrawal from Syria, where Russian forces have been bombing insurgent enemies of the government for five months, Russia's state news media reported on Monday.

The state news reports said Mr Putin telephoned President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to inform him of the decision to withdraw starting on Tuesday, as the Syrian conflict is entering its sixth year.

"I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defence Ministry to be generally accomplished," Mr Putin was quoted as saying by the Russia Today news service.

"That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow," Mr Putin said during a meeting with his top aides.
In the framework of the WCO-WACAM Project, funded by Sweden, a support mission to Cape Verde took place from 01 to 04 of March 2016. The scope of the mission was two-folded. On the one hand, the WCO supported the Customs Administration of Cape Verde to assess the methodology and progress of the national efforts in categorizing the measures listed in section I of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA). On the other hand, the WCO experts provided guidance to the national working group on the Time Release Study (TRS) with a specific focus on the mapping out of the procedure of the clearance of goods at the Port of Praia.

Regarding the categorization of the section I measures, members of the National Committee for Trade Facilitation (NCTF) have confirmed that they will review their previous categorization in the light of the WTO TFA Auto-Evaluation Guide and will intensify their efforts to ensure completion of the categorization process at their level by the end of May 2016.

Regarding the TRS (referred to in Article 7.6 of the WTO TFA), the consultations held with both the public authorities (Ministry of Agriculture, Fiscal Police...) and private sector (Customs Brokers, Handlers, Port Authorities...) representatives (29 persons in total, including 9 women) concluded that the TRS will be held for 7 consecutive working days in May or June 2016 and that will include all imported goods except perishable goods, petroleum and vehicles. Furthermore, the Customs Administration, based on these working sessions, will aim to present the finalized map of the clearance process at the Port in the next few weeks in order to initiate the work regarding the development of the TRS questionnaire.

The WCO is confident that the Cape Verde Customs Administration, through effective stakeholder engagement, will be able to successfully ensure the completion of the categorization and TRS efforts in the timelines agreed by Members of the NCTF.

For more information about this activity and about the WCO-WACAM Project in general, do not hesitate to contact the WCO-Sweden Programme Director, Richard Chopra  richard.chopra@wcoomd.org
Well, well, the Chairman off the governing party (PLP), all of a sudden sees a problem with a political party encouraging law breaking over private property rights and the rule of law.

Of course this time hes correct in my view, but he should really be ashamed to take this public position in spite of the his parties record in matters such as this.

After all, on page 21 of the PLPs Agenda for Action from 2007 said:

We will ensure that there remains adequate access to land and beaches for Bahamians and future generations of Bahamians. We will continue our efforts to identify land and beaches that are privately owned and that have been underdeveloped for years, and will purchase them at an agreed rate with the owner Read more (pdf)

The shoe is on the other foot now that the roles are reversed and the PLP form the government.

Successive governments have allowed the sale of beachfront property to private owners, including the right to disallow beach access by the general public - Bahamian or foreign and now both sides have protested this practice, inciting fellow Bahamians, yet neither side has attempted to do anything about it.

And Bradley Roberts seems to exemplify what Dr. Robert Higgs called the Systematic Organisation of Hatreds.

He wrote:

"In politics and government, however, the institutional makeup fosters hatred at every turn. Parties recruit followers by exploiting hatreds. Bureaucracies bulk up their power and budgets by artfully weaving hatreds into their mission statements and day-to-day procedures. Regulators take advantage of artificially heightened hatreds. Group identity is emphasized at every turn, and such tribal distinctions are tailor-made for the maintenance and increase of hatred among individual persons who might otherwise disregard the kinds of groupings that the politicians and their supporters emphasize ceaselessly."

"With a sigh, many people accept that politics and government are, at best, necessary evils. I have great doubt that they are necessary, at least in their present form, but I am certain that in this form they are evil."

Will our political class ever decide to find a reasonable way to solve this beach access dilemma or will they continue using them as tools for their access to political power? That's a rhetorical question of course as Bradley Roberts is one of the masters of the systematic organisation of hatreds. However, you would think our so called "leaders" would at least be consistent with their rhetoric whether in opposition or while holding the seat of power where this issue is concerned.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 14, 2016 | 06:53 AM | WEST PADUCAH, KY

Police made two arrests Sunday night after a quick string of burglaries and thefts in McCracken and Massac counties.

The crime spree started around 6:30 pm Sunday when McCracken County deputies were called to the 5700 block of Metropolis Lake Road. Police say the caller told them a man and woman were trying to break into a home and a car, but left on foot. A second caller reported the two were trying to break into a camper across from the West McCracken Fire Station.

Deputies say they found the female suspect, 29-year-old Heather Driver of Benton, in the parking lot of Davis Clothing and say she was allegedly under the influence of drugs.

While they were looking for the male suspect, police got a call about a stolen car on Ogden Landing Road. They soon found the car at an apartment complex on Metropolis Lake Road, but no suspect. Deputies then got a call from someone saying they'd just seen a car they owned being driven by somebody they didn't know, so they followed it to the exit 3 area. Police determined that the man allegedly stole a car off a gas station parking lot, drove to Illinois, stole another car, and drove back to Kentucky.

Deputies say after Driver sobered up enough to cooperate, they learned the man was 28-year-old Warren Thomas Brown of Paducah, and that the two had spend the past few days together at a hotel. Police found Brown about 10:30 pm at his home on Illinois Street.

Police say Driver and Brown used methamphetamine and prescription controlled substances at the hotel, but Brown claimed he didn't remember anything after using meth. Deputies say surveillance video and witnesses' accounts established Brown's involvement in the crimes.

Driver was charged with public intoxication, while Brown was charged with attempted burglary 2nd degree, burglary 2nd degree, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking (automobile) over $500.00.

Deputies say additional charges are likely.
Musk may lay off 75% of Twitter staff after purchase
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 14, 2016 | 11:12 AM | BENTON, KY

A Marshall County man faces DUI related charges after being stopped by police over the weekend.

According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, a vehicle driven by 25-year-old Scott Bowland of Benton was clocked at a high rate of speed on US 68 West, near Scale Road on Saturday. According to police, Bowland accelerated and tried to elude the deputy.

The deputy caught up with Bowland and made a traffic stop. Bowland was ultimately arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence, speeding, fleeing or evading police and possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle.

Four opened beer cans were reportedly found in Bowland's vehicle. Bowland was lodged in the Marshall County Detention Center.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
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This article was published 12/03/2016 (2415 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Long considered an outsider in the conservative caucus, Inky Mark says the Conservatives have finished the job and removed him completely.

He says the Conservative Party of Canada has given him the boot.

Mark described the move to revoke his party membership as unusual, especially for a former sitting MP who was elected five times.

Winnipeg Free Press Inky Mark

It looks vindictive to the public, Mark said during a phone interview Friday afternoon.

On Thursday, Mark sent The Brandon Sun a copy of an email from the partys executive director, Dustin van Vugt, informing him that the National Council voted to revoke your membership.

A call to the Conservative party late Friday afternoon didnt receive an immediate response.

But Mark said he believes he was turfed because he ran against the party in the last election as an independent.

He placed a distant fourth in the riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa in the 2015 vote.

Conservative Robert Sopuck captured that seat.

Mark, 68, noted he had been a Conservative party member for most of his adult life.

He represented the Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette riding (formerly Dauphin-Swan River) from 1997 to 2010.

In the early days of his political career, he represented Reform and Canadian Alliance before becoming a member of the Conservative party in 2003.

He retired from politics in 2010, but made a comeback with his run as an independent in 2015.

Marks relationship with the governing conservatives was strained in recent years.

In announcing his candidacy for his last election run, he said then prime minister Stephen Harper had moved Conservatives away from small-c conservative values.

Despite his run against his former party as an independent, Mark said he was still caught off-guard by his revoked membership after the recent election. The party could have just let his membership lapse, he said.

I am surprised, because Id never ever heard of such a thing, Mark said. If that was the case, why didnt they forewarn me earlier?

Mark said he considered Harper a dictator. And, even though the former prime minister stepped down as party leader, Mark said this move is a sign Harperites are still in control.

Mark said hes moving on from politics and will proceed with retirement and hobbies such as flying and shooting.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
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This article was published 14/03/2016 (2413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO  You wont find brightly coloured bongs or bubble gum-flavoured rolling papers displayed against the backdrop of exposed brick and modern, industrial-style furnishings at Tokyo Smoke.

Instead, the shop  located in a former shipping dock nestled between two warehouses in Torontos west end  carries high-end pot paraphernalia befitting the pages of a design magazine while also serving up cups of artisanal coffee.

Pipes handcrafted by California-based ceramicist Ben Medansky sit alongside a pricey portable vaporizer, a reimagined version of the French press coffeemaker launched via a Kickstarter campaign and a selection of what shop owner Alan Gertner calls museum quality collectibles  items such as vintage Barbies and a vintage Hermes bag.

Alan Gertner CEO of Tokyo Smoke poses for a photograph at his business in Toronto on Tuesday, March, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Its all part of Gertners mission to create a cannabis-friendly lifestyle brand that caters to the urban intellectual  one that breaks the mould of dated weed associations involving video games and junk food.

I dont think there is a home for someone whos buying Mast Brothers chocolate and drinking the nicest coffee to have a similar experience in pot, says Gertner, who quit his job at Google to launch the brand.

Its no different from someone who has beautiful stemware in their home for alcohol. We ritualize and love our experiences, and I think we should have the same thing with cannabis.

The emergence of a luxury cannabis-oriented lifestyle brand like Tokyo Smoke is the latest development in a saga that has seen the purveyors of pot work to reshape popular perceptions of the drug.

Until more recently, those efforts have been aimed at trying to demonstrate the drugs medical legitimacy.

Philippe Lucas, a vice-president at Nanaimo, B.C.-based grower Tilray, says decades of propaganda  including the well-known 1936 flick Reefer Madness  have made rebranding marijuana a challenging task.

I think the stigma is completely understandable when we look at the 70 years of misinformation, propaganda and drug war rhetoric thats come out of Canada and the U.S., says Lucas, who is also the executive director of the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council.

Adding to the difficulty are Health Canada regulations that prevent medical marijuana producers from making health claims in their advertising materials  rules which also apply to the broader pharmaceutical industry.

Canadian cannabis producers have used a variety of strategies to change perceptions about the drug, including moving away from the street names typically used to identify strains.

Mettrum, Bowmanville, Ont.-based grower, uses a colour-coded spectrum  red being the strongest, yellow the mildest  to identify each products strength and other characteristics.

We came up with a responsible dialogue for talking about cannabis that doctors would want to use, versus talking about strains like purple kush or super lemon haze, says Mettrums CEO Michael Haines.

Tokyo Smoke doesnt sell cannabis in Canada yet, but the company is on the cusp of launching a line of four marijuana strains south of the border, titled Go, Relax, Relief and Balance  names chosen to appeal to the so-called creative class.

Its always funny for me to think of sophisticated intellectuals smoking strawberry-cheesecake branded cannabis, says Gertner.

Another strategy employed by cannabis producers has been to promote the drug to physicians in a bid to boost patient numbers.

Jordan Sinclair, communications manager at Ontario-based grower Tweed, says that while talking to doctors is important, producers also need to find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.

One way that Tweed, a subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corp., has set out to do that is by partnering with rapper Snoop Dogg in a deal announced last month.

Theres lots of different producers in Canada, and were all growing a pretty similar product, says Sinclair. You want to make sure that people see you as a compelling choice.



Follow @alexposadzki on Twitter
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OTTAWA  When worry wakes Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion in the middle of the night, one topic is the main culprit: concern over the safety of Canadas diplomats abroad. His concern seems well-founded.

Sundays car bombing in the Turkish capital of Ankara, following a suicide bombing three weeks ago, left more than two dozen dead. Canadas embassy in its NATO ally is about six kilometres from the location of Sundays attack.

Government documents also reveal that the cost of keeping Canadas diplomats safe is rising faster than the government predicted.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Dion responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 16, 2016. When worry wakes Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion in the middle of the night, one topic is the main culprit: concern over the safety of Canada's diplomats abroad. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Terrorism, civil unrest, criminal gangs and natural disasters pose threats to Canadian diplomats, says a memo on security at foreign missions prepared for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that was obtained under Access to Information.

This past week, Dions renamed department, Global Affairs Canada, said the government is continually assessing the threats faced at its embassies as it released its new Plans and Priorities report.

Its my top priority, Dion said in a recent interview.

Theres nothing more important for me than that.

Asked what he plans to do to fix the situation, the minister replied: I have made that very clear, that I dont want to compromise the security of my people, and their families, by the way.

The prime ministers briefing note says Canadian missions face evolving risks at a time when security resources are diminishing.

The foreign affairs department has used one-time funding to complete security upgrades at high-threat missions. It has trained a group of new Security Program Managers that have been deployed at 30 high threat missions, the memo says.

But it also notes constant resource challenges.

The financial cost of sustaining deployed security operations is rising rapidly, well beyond initial forecasts made a few years ago, the memo says,

It says the department is currently assessing future threats, mission security requirements and cost sharing opportunities to find a sustainable way to protect people, information and assets abroad.

Terrorism and armed conflict have fundamentally altered the risks to (government of Canada) staff abroad; however they represent only a portion of the contemporary threat profile.

It cites a rise in civil unrest in the last five years, violent criminality in large swaths of Latin America and Africa, natural disasters in Haiti, the Philippines and Japan as well as a range of hostile espionage activities.

The Plans and Priorities report highlights the threats from cyber attacks, including the theft of information from embassies and missions.

Among federal departments, Global Affairs Canada faces unique cyber threats and exfiltration of information risks due to the global nature of its operations, says the report.

The information technology system used to support Canadas international work is composed of 177 points of service in 109 countries. In several of these countries, departmental personnel operate in complex security environments that require a high degree of awareness to mitigate cyber threats and exfiltration of information risks.

Overall, the report says, progress has been made with the completion of threat assessments at more than 170 missions to be completed by this fiscal year end in March.

However, given the evolving nature of threats abroad, efforts will continue to improve the security of Canadas international mission network, the departmental report says.

Almost 80 per cent of missions in the Middle East and Africa have identified and are actively managing security as one of their top three risks.

The last Canadian diplomat to die in the line of duty was in 2013, when a 29-year-old woman was killed in Kenya during a terrorist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall that claimed the lives of dozens of people.

In recent years, Canada closed its embassies in Syria, Libya and Iran because of security concerns.

Dion said the government intends to make good on its commitment to re-open its Tehran embassy, and will make sure it is secure.

Everybody is in Iran except Canada, except the Americans. If the other G7 countries are able to be there and protect their people, Canada should do the same.

The government has no time frame on re-establishing relations with Iran, saying it is complex process.
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One firefighter suffered minor injuries Sunday fighting a blaze that destroyed a home in Charleswood and left a family of five homeless.

We had one member with a potentially strained wrist, Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service platoon chief Tom Piche said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and as soon as its contained, well put our arson investigators inside, he said.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFire crews attend a fire at 38 Matlock Cresent Sunday.

Its a total loss, he added, estimating damage at more than half a million dollars.

Shortly after 1 p.m., firefighters were called to the blaze at the two-storey home on Matlock Crescent, in a middle-class neighbourhood where homes sell for more than $500,000.

Nobody but the family dog and cat were inside at the time, said owner Kevin Hamm, who discovered the fire as he arrived home after lunch and remained on the scene with the rest of his family who watched the fire destroy their home and everything in it.

This is absolutely unbelievable, Hamm said, turning to greet the neighbour whod taken in the dog. Youre looking at your house, he told his friend, shaking his head. And there are no windows, no roof.

The dog, a springer spaniel named Tucker, was rescued from the burning house by firefighters.

Hamm said hes grateful to them. He said the cat probably died.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSFire crews attend a fire at 38 Matlock Cresent Sunday.

Hamm was sitting in his car, wearing the only clothes he had left, a pair of pyjamas and a light jacket, as his wife stood to the side, staring at the home as she spoke to fire investigators.

The street was clogged with fire hoses and more than half a dozen fire trucks and various emergency vehicles. No other homes appeared damaged and other than the firefighter, no one was reported injured.

I opened the front door and I immediately knew there was a problem, Hamm said describing the thick heavy smoke that poured out as he tried to get into his home before firefighters arrived.

You had to back up 10 feet just to breathe, he said.

Hamm recounted how he ran around to the back of the home for another way inside, found the patio door unlocked and tried to get in the house but he said that again the smoke pushed him back.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fire crews mop up after putting out a blaze at 38 Matlock Cres. in Charleswood Sunday. No one was home at the time.

Thats when he heard the dog.

I could hear him crying, yelping, Hamm said. And I couldnt get to him because of the smoke that was pouring out.

Firefighters arrived within minutes. One of the first things they did was rescue the dog, sending a firefighter in with a respirator, as Hamm, his wife and their neighbours watched anxiously.

It was pretty emotional when they got the dog out, super cool. Everyone was in tears. The dog was happy. He was jumping and licking and running around, neighbour Shane Piche said.

The neighbour said he and his daughter were the first to spot the smoke, when they rounded the crescent on their bicycles, seconds before the owner pulled into the driveway.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fire crews attend a fire at 38 Matlock Cresent Sunday, March 13, 2016.

They got the neighbours next to the house safely out of their home.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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The Dene in northern Manitoba are calling on their own people to limit caribou hunting after watching in horror as an annual harvest turned into a virtual slaughter this winter at Tadoule Lake.

Hunters from Saskatchewan Dene First Nations, who would ordinarily hunt in their traditional territories, followed the caribou to Manitoba this winter, mounting a massive hunt that put the remote community within earshot of continual gunfire for months, the chief of the Sayisi Dene in Tadoule Lake said.

The Qamanirjuaq caribou herd, one of the healthiest in Canada, but also on the decline, inexplicably came together in massive numbers at the Denes doorstep on Tadoule Lake. The animals normally winter in smaller numbers scattered across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba and southern Nunavut.

Nathan Denette / The CanadiAn Press files Over-hunting of caribou in northern Manitoba by Dene from Saskatchewan has Manitoba Dene calling for limits on hunting.

Its been relentless, said Sayisi Dene Chief Ernie Bussidor. Gas is cheap, the caribou are fat and our neighbours are poor and theyre hungry. Weve seen hunters coming into the community since early November and slaughter huge amounts of caribou. All the ingredients are there for a complete annihilation of the caribou, the chief said.

This year, there are virtually no caribou to hunt in Saskatchewan, First Nations and provincial officials said.

Last week, Manitoba Dene angrily tried to turn back a Saskatchewan-bound semi-trailer, which was loaded with caribou.

We cant put a limit on people hunting in the Dene Sayisi territory. We cant stop them, but we have to put limits on hunting when theyre bringing up semi-trailers and flying in Twin Otters to haul away animals, Bussidor said.

Estimating this years treaty-hunting harvest is a moving target, with Dene saying it is at least 5,000 animals and the province putting it closer to 2,000.

Senior Manitoba Conservation officials will fly into Tadoule Lake this week to consult with residents, elders and elected leaders, said Daryll Hedman, the regional wildlife manager for Manitoba Conservation.

Treaty people in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have the right to access caribou for their own use, Hedman said, adding one of his wildlife inspectors saw the tractor trailer that has upset hunters in Tadoule Lake. It had an estimated 90 caribou carcasses inside. And there are planes coming in to harvest caribou from north of Tadoule, the wildlife officer said.

This year, the caribou inexplicably came together at Tadoule Lake, 960 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The herd has been in a real tight area around Tadoule Lake and thats where the harvest is happening this year, Hedman said. This hasnt happened ever in the past.

With a mainland migratory herd like this this year for whatever reason, and I dont know if anyone will ever understand what caribou do, but this year they stopped in Tadoule Lake, Hedman said.

Keep in mind this harvest with the Qamanirjuaq herd, it happens every year. It would go on through northern Manitoba, around Tadoule Lake, down to Lac Brochet, down into South Indian Lake and into Saskatchewan or into the Northwest Territories. The Beverly herd, which is adjacent to the Qamanirjuaq herd didnt come down to the tree line this year. It stayed up straight north of Saskatchewan near the Queen Maud Gulf.

The two herds are monitored by a management board made up of provincial, territorial and indigenous officials. Based on a combined 250,000 animals counted in the last estimate, the two herds are among the healthiest in Canada.

But the herds are half the size they were in the 1990s; while the management board does not set hunting limits, the need for restraint has been an issue with elders for years.

Theyre bringing up semi-trailers and flying in Twin Otters to haul away animals

What Manitoba Conservation wants to do is get everybody to the table and once the harvest is completed, and get the Athabasca Dene together with the Manitoba Dene and the Qamanirjuq board together and sit down with us. And see what we can do to prevent this. If it happens again, is there harvest protocols they can work out themselves for the well-being of the herd and respect of the herd.

Manitobas First Nations grand chief is calling for a hunting moratorium until the Dene can sort things out.

There should be absolutely no sport hunting allowed in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba going foreword until we can figure out whether we are willing to save the great herds of the four-leggeds from ourselves, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said in an email Friday.

This years alarming hunt comes at a time when game, including caribou, which traditionally sustained northern First Nations, is under more stress than anytime in the past. The twin pressures of climate change and industrial development are issues on which First Nations are actively lobbying governments, and in the meantime, they have to save the herds if they can, Nepinak said.

We have agreed to do what we can about helping out but from down here in Winnipeg. I have also asked Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus to become significantly involved in this process considering the Dene nation is spread all across the North, Nepinak said.

An environmental group is backing the Dene.

If Chief Bussidor is raising this level of concern, immediate attention by all involved is required. We are hopeful that affected indigenous communities, the province, and stakeholders can find a quick solution. CPAWS is presently reaching out to these groups to see how we can help, added Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, a leading voice for the environment in Manitoba.

The issue of whether one First Nation should have access to another First Nations territory for hunting is an issue the First Nations ought to be taking a lead on. Thats not up to us to tell them, said Paul Turenne, executive director for Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association, a group that represents licensed and commercial hunters.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/03/2016 (2413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dressing up in a fedora and a three-piece suit, rummaging through archives, inviting neighbours to dress up and act out a good old-fashioned brawl for one of his films are all part of how actor, writer, and filmmaker William Jordan spends his days.

Like a detective, Jordan looks for stories that Manitoba people might not know about. In How the Bison were saved from Extinction by Men from Manitoba, Jordan tells the story about how he dug up historical nuggets of gold.

We found old Winnipeg Free Press articles where we learned about this bison farm in Silver Heights and when we dug deeper, stories spiraled into something larger. We found this whole story about an eccentric prison warden in Stony Mountain that tried to tame Col. Samuel Bedsons bison that were kept near the prison as part of Bedsons personal zoo, Jordan says.

Sou'wester Winnipeg filmmaker William Jordan and his team enjoy making films on Winnipegs history.

When the rural Stony Mountain community grew, keeping wild animals became unsafe and part of Bedsons bison herd eventually went to the estate of Donald Smith, the great Canadian philanthropist.

A documentary about the first mayor of Winnipeg, Sir Francis Evans Cornish, kind of started off the same way with each story more weird and wonderful than the last, Jordan says.

Right at our own back door is this whole cavalcade of fascinating Manitoba stories.

Jordan and his team spent many hours in the archives finding things that havent been taken out in years.

It became a story we really wanted to tell.

Bribes, Beatings, and Brawls: Winnipegs First Mayor relates the story of Cornish, a rowdy, finagling lawyer from London, Ont., who was controversially the mayor of that Ontario city before coming to Winnipeg in 1872.

When asked how he was able to arrange interviews with current mayor Brian Bowman and premier Greg Selinger for the film, Jordan credits his father, Peter Jordan, who used to work for CBC and had connections and knowledge about how to set up interviews.

Once Jordan and his crew of co-producers, which includes Rylaan Gimby and Kayla Jeanson (both of whom he describes as brilliant) explained the nature of the stories, politicians, historians, and members of the business community were immediately on board.

Jordans Historicity films are available on MTS on demand. MTS Stories from Home, which funds new Manitoba filmmakers, provided the money.

Historicitys next project is about a small theatre company that has been going on for many, many years and another documentary for CBC about Aboriginal technology and contributions to science, focusing mainly on food and the birch bark canoe.

Helen Lepp Friesen is a community correspondent for Fort Garry. You can contact her at helenfriesen@hotmail.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/03/2016 (2413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its perfectly fine to put all your eggs in one basket at Kalyna Ukrainian Book Shop.

The Ukrainian co-operative, located on the main floor of 952 Main St., is a one-stop shop for all your Ukrainian Easter eggs needs this spring. Easter falls on Sun., March 27 this year with Ukrainian Easter landing on Sun., May 1.

Kalyna carries all the beeswax and dye necessary for pysanky, the craft of Ukrainian egg design.

Photo by Jared Story Kalyna Ukrainian Book Shop board chair Shelley Greschuk holds an Ukrainian Easter egg, referred to as a pysanka in Ukrainian. The North End shop offers a variety of pysanky supplies.

Pysanky means to write, so when you actually do an egg youre writing on it. Its reverse batik, you cover up the things you dont want the colours to take on, said Shelley Greschuk, board chair of Kalyna.

And, its not just babas in babushkas buying pysanky products from Kalyna.

Its stunning to me how much we sell, Greschuk said. Its really popular with all these women in crafting groups. Crafting is huge. It used to be wed get all the same stuff all the time, but because of crafting you now have a million choices of waxes and colours. People even ask us for edible colours. We probably sell in the Easter season between $8,000 and $10,000 of this stuff.

Kalyna is much more than a seasonal store. The co-operative  Manitobas second oldest according to Greschuk  has served Ukrainians and those interested in Ukrainian culture since 1930.

In its early days, Greschuk said Kalynas bread and butter were books, newspapers and Ukrainian literature, a way of connecting Ukrainian immigrants with their homeland.

Photo by Jared Story These little men are available for purchase at Kalyna.

The stores present focus is on Ukrainian merchandise, as well as its parcel and money transfer service to Ukraine.

However, you can still find Ukrainian-language newspapers and magazines at Kalyna, as well as a fair amount of books, most of them written for children.

We sell a lot of books into the Ukrainian bilingual programs, Greschuk said. It used to be the books were produced in Canada because you couldnt get anything from Ukraine, but now they all come from Ukraine. We sell a lot of these books to newcomers with kids who want to learn English, because they have Ukrainian and English words. The bilingual programs are just exploding because there are so many newcomers.

When The Times visited Kalyna on March 8, Mariya Puhach, director of Ridna Shkola, a Ukrainian Saturday program run out of Sisler High School, was buying a childrens book from the store.

We have conversation class for those students who dont speak Ukrainian and usually I buy books from here, Puhach said.

Photo by Jared Story Although its present day focus is its parcel and money transfer service, as well as Ukrainian merchandise, books are still a big seller at Kalyna, especially childrens books.

Other Ukrainian merchandise that Kalyna carries includes clothing, greeting cards, calendars, car ornaments, music and Ukrainian Easter egg mosaic art by Dave Wasylyshen.

Currently, with Easter approaching, the store is selling Roshen chocolates, as well as Kukiez by Krys, which are Ukrainian egg-style cookies by Krystyna Kosz. Greschuk said Kalyna is working with Tall Grass Prairie to soon sell its Easter paska (bread).

Another service Kalyna provides, albeit a more informal one, is advice.

There are other stores that service the Ukrainian community, but were the store newcomers come to because of our parcel and money service, so were really trying as a co-operative to be really mindful of our mandate to serve community, Greschuk said. We do a lot here in terms of helping people find jobs and helping people with cultural things.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/03/2016 (2413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The leaders of three primary political parties accused each other of lying, fearmongering and harbouring secret agendas during the final debate before an election call expected as soon as Wednesday.

Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari, Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister and NDP Leader Greg Selinger spent just over an hour exchanging barbs during a Monday-morning CJOB/Global News debate that featured little in the way of new policy but plenty of accusations, including some involving the tone of each others accusations.

The debate repeated a pattern that has emerged consistently during the slow crawl to Aprils provincial election: Selinger attempted to convince Manitobans the Liberals and Tories are threatening Manitobas economy with cuts or revenue losses, while Pallister and Bokhari pointed out 16 years of NDP governance has left the province with high taxes and growing deficits.

An undue focus on cutting right now will only take us on a downward cycle. Thats the plan of the conservatives, said Selinger, who repeated his claim, made often in recent months, that the Progressive Conservatives plan to decimate Manitobas public service.

Selinger also claimed the Liberals will bring in tax cuts that will deprive the province of much-needed revenue. This prompted Bokhari to accuse the sitting premier of outright lying about her partys campaign  and Pallister for failing to elucidate his partys financial plan.

Pallister, in turn, ridiculed the NDPs proposed surtax on high-income earners as another example of the partys inability to control expenses after it already expanded the goods and services covered by provincial sales tax and raised the PST outright.

I dont think anybody really believes this is a premier whos even interested in achieving any sustainable management of money the taxpayers have given, Pallister said.

Bokhari, who had mused about a high-income surtax of her own, also took on the NDPs proposed measure, wondering how a high-end surtax would jibe with an NDP pledge to bring more Manitobans home from other provinces.

The debate only diverged from financial themes on a handful of occasions, such as when moderator Richard Cloutier asked each leader how much of a candidates past should be taken into consideration before they run for office.

Bokhari used the question to continue to criticize Selinger for backing her Fort Rouge riding opponent, Wab Kinew, who remains under fire for offensive tweets. Selinger continued to assert Kinew has grown and now makes a positive contribution to society.

Pallister, however, completely sidestepped the allegations against Colleen Mayer, the PC candidate in St. Vital, who has been accused of misusing public resources at home and during her campaign.

Pallister and Selinger sounded smooth, despite an almost complete reliance on scripted talking points. The Tory leader, whose party continues to en enjoy a lead in the polls, took very few chances. Selinger was more aggressive and made what may be prove to be a misstep when he said the economic misfortune in Prairie provinces to the west has helped bring young people back to Manitoba.

Were seeing people come back from Alberta and Saskatchewan as we speak because the commodities out there have gone down very low and job opportunities are disappearing very rapidly, Selinger said.

This comment quickly drew national interest. I wonder what fellow NDP (premier) Rachel Notley thinks of this line of reasoning, Calgary Tory MP Michelle Rempel tweeted.

Bokhari, sounding flustered at times, struggled to answer a question about Manitoba Hydros future and could not make a concise closing statement. She attempted to delineate herself from the other leaders by suggesting both engage in fearmongering and attack ads, but then snarked at Pallister for briefly mentioning the web-communication platform Skype instead of Snapchat.

Brian, I appreciate you talking about Skype, but in the 21st century, its Snapchat, she said.

Asked a novel question as to whether they would support the idea of presumed consent for organ donations, none of the leaders answered in the affirmative.

While no new policy emerged, there were a few new catchphrases, with Bokhari repeatedly saying Manitoba needs a new lens. Selinger unwittingly paraphrased British metal band Judas Priest in an attempt to cast doubt on a Pallister promise to limit public-sector cuts: If you believe that, youve got another thing coming.

Manitobans go to the polls on April 19. Green party leader James Beddome was not invited to the debate.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
Saint Marys University will present the 16th annual Taylor Richmond Benefit Dance from 8:30 p.m. to midnight Saturday, March 19.

The beneficiary of this years semi-formal danceopen to the publicis the Linden and Heidi Johnson family of Rushford. This year Linden suffered a number of aneurysms, blocking blood flow to parts of his body. He has had multiple surgeries. Funds raised from the benefit will help the family with medical bills and travel expenses. Heidi Johnson has worked in Saint Marys IT Department for the past 18 years.

The benefit has become an annual student tradition since its start in 2001 in honor of Taylor Richmond, son of Saint Marys staff member Nikki Richmond and Nick Richmond. Each year this event benefits someone in need who has ties to the Saint Marys community.

The dance, featuring music by the Johnny Holm Band, will be in the gymnasium. Tickets are $15 per person. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Lance Thompson at 507-457-1686. Dance tickets are also available at the door.

In combination with the dance, there will be a silent auction from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 17-18. A variety of homemade goods, gift baskets and specialty items will be on display in the game room, located in the Toner Student Center. The public is welcome to bid. Donations are still needed.

To make a donation, send checkspayable to the Taylor Richmond Benefit Danceto Lance Thompson, Saint Marys University, 700 Terrace Heights #45, Winona, MN 55987.
Winona

Friday

6:24 p.m.  Christopher Fornanyeneh Nimely, 24, St. Paul Park, Minn., was cited for providing false information to police and arrested on an outstanding warrant by officers responding to a reported fight on the 150 block of East Third Street.

7:13 p.m.  Charges of violating a domestic abuse no contact order (DANCO) were referred against Joseph Buster Beck, 35, Winona, following an incident at a residence on the 800 block of East Second Street.

11:52 p.m.  Nathan Michael Haines, 20, Minnesota City, and Isaace Dennis Pape, 20, Houston, Minn., were each cited for having a loud party at a residence on the 550 block of Olmstead Street.

Saturday

1:14 a.m.  Kyle Crawford Brodt, 19, Roseville, Minn., was cited for underage drinking by officers who observed him throwing a patio chair near Sanborn and Wilson Street. After receiving the citation, officers required Brodt to return the chair to the nearby patio from which he had taken it.

2:17 a.m.  Charges of third-degree drunken driving, second-degree test refusal, driving after revocation, and running a stop sign were referred against Alfonso Cruz Sanchez, 24, Minnesota City, following a traffic stop near Gilmore Avenue and Junction Street. Police had been provided with a description of the vehicle and registration number and alerted by the Buffalo County Sheriffs Department that the driver was believed to be highly intoxicated.

2:30 a.m.  Jacob Neil Grummons, 19, Plainview, Minn., was cited for possession of a small amount of marijuana in a motor vehicle following a traffic stop near Huff and Lake streets.

10:42 p.m.  Elizabeth Gail Johnson, 19, Winona, was cited for underage drinking near Sanborn and Center streets.

Sunday

3:10 a.m.  Charges of third-degree drunken driving and driving after revocation were referred against Diane Latrice Walker, 29, Winona, following a traffic stop on the 450 block of Kerry Drive. Walker has a prior DWI conviction. Her blood-alcohol level was .13.

12:21 p.m.  A gas can was reported missing from a boat parked at a business on the 1700 block of Mobil Drive.

1:21 p.m.  An eight-person tent, jacket, and briefcase were reported missing from a vehicle parked at the Eagles Club.

4:00 p.m.  A Playstation 4 console, games, checkbook and identification were reported missing from a room in Prentiss Hall on the WSU campus.

6:07 p.m.  A TV and Roku were reported missing from a residence on the 550 block of Mill Street.

Monday

12:08 a.m.  Kyra Kristine Creeley, 23, Winona, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop near Second and Center streets.

2:02 a.m.  Charges of second-degree drunken driving were referred against Terry White, 34, Winona, following a traffic stop near Hwy. 61 and Huff Street. White has prior drunken driving convictions in 2011 and 2007.

Winona County

Sunday

11:36 a.m.  An air conditioner and GPS unit were reported missing from a camper parked near Dakota.

5:17 p.m.  Terzah Katherine Rodgers, 22, Minnesota City, was cited for fourth-degree drunken driving and failing to move over for a stopped emergency vehicle (Ted Foss Law) near Hwy. 61 and 44th Avenue in Goodview. Her blood-alcohol level was .08.

6:24 p.m.  Three Kwik Trip gift cards valued a $150 and a small amount of cash was reported missing from a vehicle parked near Bethany.

Monday

3:37 a.m.  Lance Seth Kurth, 35, Utica, was injured when he was trapped in his vehicle after it left the road and hit a tree on Burt Road near Utica. The incident is under investigation.
If you hadnt heard, this year is a presidential election year.

I have always thought of political conversations to be similar to discussions about religion. We all have our own beliefs and most feel pretty strongly about them; not everyone always agrees, but unlike politics, with religion we as Americans can usually agree to disagree.

Personally I have never been one to discuss politics; it was never discussed growing up at home, because when it did come up it caused conflict. My father went for years not speaking to extended family because of differing political beliefs that began with Vietnam and ended with Reagan. Many years of relationships missed, because of things that were truly out of our familys control.

When I would ask my mother who she voted for, I was always told very politely that it was none of my business. Up until a few years ago, I truly never even knew which party she leaned toward.

Maybe it was being raised by parents who were as split as could be in their political beliefs that has made me avoid any political discussions, but thats been very difficult in 2016; even my children have started to express interest in what will happen both in November and along the way to the election.

I have mixed feelings about their interest. The other day, a teacher shared with me that a childs political beliefs should be learned at home, and I couldnt agree more: My parents opposing beliefs have me always walking the center line. Lately I have noticed its been more of the outside influences, versus home, that are guiding my childrens uneducated political preferences.

Perturbed describes how I feel when my sixth-grader comes home sporting political stickers that he got at school  not in a class but from other children, who had to acquire them somewhere. Im sure the child didnt make a trip on their own to their affiliates headquarters and ask for them. I have never been a fan of the sticker campaign; there is nothing worse than coming home from a parade with your children looking like walking billboards for the next election.

When I asked why he was for the candidate stuck to his shirt, he couldnt really give me an answer. His younger sister wanted to know if this unnamed candidate was related to the Colonel, because that would be reason to prefer him, because the chicken is good.

The root of his preference probably is peer pressure; all his friends like this candidate, but cant tell you why, either. It might be he enjoys watching people honk at the supporters on the corner of the highway, or it might be that his older brother is stumping for the other party.

I am glad they are showing interest in current events, and I am glad they are learning about the political process at school. But I dont agree with the statements, discussions and arguments they have been having about their political preference. Quite frankly, they dont get it. At the age of 41, most days I dont get it myself.

Children discussing politics isnt always appropriate; they dont face the same day-to-day issues that adults do. Poverty, taxes, Medicare  these are all things that do affect our children, and they should be educated about the issues in social studies, but how much do they really understand about the individuals and the process until they are adults? Not all children are as educated as 80s icon Alex Keaton of Family Ties.

My children are aware of the way their parents lean politically, and while we help form their opinions, I never want them to feel they have to vote the same way we do or share the same beliefs.

While I can turn off the television and the radio to avoid all the political noise, its going to be difficult to turn off the political noise inside my own home. Im grateful they have the right to have these beliefs and share how they and we all are fortunate in that respect.

Still, November cant some soon enough.
Whats the best way to help your child gain the skills she needs to reason through and overcome the various challenges she will face growing up?

How can you best prepare her for adolescence? For college? For adulthood?

Conventional wisdom might lead you to conclude that sending her to full-day pre-kindergarten beginning at age 3, filling her days with worksheets, flashcards, reading and tests would be the most effective preparation.

Perhaps not.

Instead, you might try less school, less structure.

And more time to play.

It may sound counterintuitive. How could more time running around outside, making believe, swinging from the jungle gym, far away from the classroom and textbooks, lead to smart, capable and well-adjusted kids?

The answer is quite simple.

A growing body of research strongly suggests that children absolutely need play for learning, growth and development.

Children learn how to interact with their environment through play. Its essential to developing social and emotional ties, first with family, then with peers.

Playing enhances language skills, risk management and problem-solving, significantly affecting emotional and mental well-being in ways traditional learning simply cannot address.

Unstructured playtime also provides opportunities for children to develop complex cognitive skills; they learn how to negotiate with other children; they learn how to self-regulate and manage their emotions.

And our cultural shift away from play is probably causing our children significant harm.

A new book from researcher Erika Christakis encourages teachers and parents to rethink what young children require for learning and development.

The problem, Christakis says, is that the distinction between early education and official school seems to be disappearing.

It may not sound like it, but that is a potentially dangerous thing.

Our current emphasis on early childhood learning in structured, school-like environments is adultifying childhood and leaving kids without uninterrupted stretches of time to engage in fantasy play that is crucial to their growth and development.

You might even say that some kids are moving right from infancy to forced adulthood, skipping a stage of life they need to experience for future success.

During a recent interview with NPR, Christakis explained how building a fort activate(s) more cognitive learning domains than a typical classroom assignment, like a worksheet or a quiz.

If youre building a fort with your peers, youre talking, using higher-level language structures in play than you would be if youre sitting at a table, she said. Youre doing math skills, youre doing physics measurement, engineering _ but also doing the give-and-take of How do I get along? How do I have a conversation? What am I learning from this other person? And thats very powerful.

And Christakis isnt alone in her thinking.

Debbie Rhea, a professor at TCU, is a longtime advocate of unstructured outdoor play.

She is the founder and director of the LiiNK Project (Lets inspire innovation N kids), a research-based initiative whose goals include increasing the time public schools allot for physical activity and creative play.

Several years ago, Rheas team conducted a study in two Texas private schools, weaving several unstructured outdoor play breaks and character development lessons throughout into the daily schedule, without extending the school day.

In only two years, the results were clear.

Children who participated were more disciplined, exhibited more focus and performed better academically.

Rhea is trialing her program in several public schools in North Texas this year, and early feedback suggests similar outcomes.

With studies consistently showing that American students are falling behind their global peers in basic skills, knowledge and job readiness, state and local governments are grappling with ways to improve academic outcomes, including universal pre-kindergarten and, in some cases, even extending the school day.

But policymakers should not ignore the research that confirms the obvious: Theres as much to be learned on the monkey bars as there is in the classroom.

Our kids need more time to play.
I have bad news and I have bad news.

First, the bad news: The Republican Party has not been able to stop Donald Trump because the Republican Party is morally responsible for Donald Trump.

Now, more bad news: The Democratic Party will not be able to stop Donald Trump because the Democratic Party is politically responsible for Donald Trump.

I am not saying that Trump is going to be the next president of the United States. I am out of the prediction business. I am in the warning business.

What I am saying is that if Trump completes his seizure of the Republican Party, the Democrats will be no more able to stop Trump in the general election than the Republicans were in the primaries. If Trump is then vanquished in the general election, it will be in spite of the Democrats, not because of the Democrats.

Trump will have to be defeated by political forces separate and greater than the corrupt and failed two-party duopoly.

Trump voters believe one thing fervently: Both parties are dirty.

The vast majority of voters agree completely. They differ on whom they dislike and mistrust more.

The duopoly has earned the contempt it is held in. For 30 years, both parties have promiscuously feasted on polarization and unlimited special interest money; theyve replaced governing with campaigning. Their toxic partisanship has dragged down Americans trust in all government  Congress, the Supreme Court, the presidency.

The crooked duopoly cannot be trusted to stop Trump because it delivered this plague upon us.

Republicans bear much more blame for Trumpism  moral blame. Heres why:

Since Richard Nixon and his henchmen launched the GOP Southern strategy in the 1960s, the party has used racist rhetoric and policies to attract lower- and working-class white voters. Trump has merely turned up the volume and polished the delivery.

Republican policies and economic reality have left these same voters worse off than they were 30 years ago while the top of the money chain has flourished. Economic inequality is greater now than in the Roaring 20s.

The Republican leadership has empowered and bamboozled two far-right factions  religious archconservatives and small government zealots. The party has not been able to deliver what it promised to either of these loud constituencies, for obvious reasons: the vast majority of Americans, increasingly secular or unaffiliated with traditional religion, disagree with the religious conservatives; a substantially smaller government is not realistic for a diverse nation of 322 million people in a globalized economy and a dangerous world.

Republicans in Congress adapted an unprecedented policy of legislative obstruction during the Obama administration, despite the severity of the Great Recession and the national security challenges facing the country.

Republican legislation and jurisprudence have completely deregulated the finances of elections so that individuals with great wealth or fundraising capacity can bypass traditional political gatekeepers.

The unpopular and unsuccessful war in Iraq was the work of a Republican president, legitimized and marketed by the partys neoconservative intellectual elite and embraced by Republican legislators.

Finally and simply, Republican powers and leaders did not even seriously try to stop Trump until after Super Tuesday. So far those efforts have been uncoordinated and half-baked. Worse, they have lacked any moral or patriotic class.

With respect to Trump, the sins of the Democrats are more political than moral, though not exclusively so:

Democrats have had no more success than Republicans in addressing the stagnant plight of lower and middle income Americans; they have been just as attentive to the 1 percent as the Republicans. Obamacare was a huge and important exception.

With cowardice, Democrats were too quick to ditch President Obama when poll numbers went south early in his administration.

The party failed to develop a next generation of national leaders and is about to nominate a badly beaten up candidate, someone it is easy to imagine losing to Donald Trump.

All together, this adds up to an obvious truth: Only a nut would trust the discredited two-party duopoly to dump Trump.

So what is to be done?

Republicans cant give up on the nomination, though time is about to run out.

The party needs to come to grips with the fact that a brokered convention is now the only way to stop Trump; no one else can get a majority of delegates. The party must figure out how to give John Kasich a win in Ohio and deny Trump a win in Florida. Then they need to deprive Trump of enough states to keep him under 50 percent. In some states, they will have to convince either Kasich or Cruz to bow out; in late states like New Jersey and California, they should immediately recruit favorite son or daughter candidates.

If Trump gets the Republican nomination, one can only hope that there is a hidden reservoir of establishment power that can convince their super PACs and Koch brother networks to sit out the 2016 general instead of carpet-bombing Hillary Clinton. And one can only hope that there is a cadre of Republicans who will lead their own #NeverTrump campaign.

The Democrats will need that help and more. We all will.
United Way of Dodge County suffered a blow when long-time executive director Donna Genereaux passed away on Feb. 7.

Genereaux had led the group for 20 years or more and luckily had taken steps to prepare for her departure. One of those steps was hiring Susan Jentz to help her.

Now Jentz has been named the new executive director of the fundraising charity, and she looks forward to continuing the group with a lot of old ideas, and some new ones as well.

When she and her husband, Alan, moved to from Iowa to Wisconsin in 2004, for Susan it was like coming home.

The family and I lived in Illinois and Iowa, and then we came back to Wisconsin, Jentz said. I was born in Wisconsin.

The couple has three children; Shelby - 25, Alex  23 and Jack  14.

Jentz was a teacher while the family lived in Iowa. When Alan took a job at United Cooperative in Beaver Dam, the family found a home a few doors up the street from the Genereaux home. Thats how Susan and Donna met.

I got to know her as a neighbor and after a while she asked me if I would like to work with her for a few hours a week," Susan said. "I said sure. Thats how it got started.

Donna led United Way of Dodge County from the days when it had begun as the United Fund, a sort of clearinghouse raising funds for local charities. Early on the idea was that those charities shouldnt fight each other for funds, and that people would rather contribute to one single fund that would support member charities - as finances allowed.

The idea grew in popularity and area and national donors contributed generously. In recent years United Way of Dodge County has raised in excess of $225,000 annually, which has been shared with 19 agencies and 30 programs.

Genereaux and Jentz worked side-by-side and Jentz took on more responsibilities as Genereauxs health faltered. Still, Donna was the face and spirit of United Way, and is an inspiration to her successor.

She loved United Way, said Jentz. She loved her job and she truly believed in what she was doing.

And she was good at it.

Jentz vows to continue her work and commitment, which continues throughout the year.

The campaign is done in about March, and we really wrap it up then. Now were getting ready for the awards banquet. Keeping the books is a big part of my job. Now were getting ready to send requests (appeals for specific funding) out to our agencies. We have to send all that out and then get the paperwork ready for our board to consider. Then we do our interviewing process and scrutinize those requests very closely. At the end of June the board decides what agencies get what. Each board member is assigned an agency and keeps in touch to make sure that the funds are having an impact where the agency has promised they will go. Then a new fiscal year begins and we set our budget for the coming year. Then we start raising funds again and hold our Day of Caring. Then it all starts again .

Theres always something to do at the United Way.

United Way frequently gets phone calls requesting help for a lack of heat, people running short of rent money, the need for food and medical/addiction help and other needs. Those callers are directed to the county, churches, United Way agencies and other sources for help. United Way acts as a clearing house for those services, and directs people in need to the places where help can be found.

Jentz added that another advantage of United Way is that it screens its agencies so anyone contributing feels safe that the funds are going to a real agency serving real needs.

We really look at our agencies. So many companies both large and small dont have the time or the manpower to look into every donation. We have a lot of good companies that want to help out the community. There are plenty of requests for money, and you have to find the best use for that money, and thats one of the things United Way does best. Not only are we a fundraising arm, but we really look at fiscally, financially and ethically where this money should go. United Way funds go to serve needs related to health, income or education.

Jentz is eager to get to know the people and agencies better, to better serve the area and its needs.

The needs are great. Perhaps even insurmountable, but Jentz is prepared to deal with the tasks at hand without becoming overwhelmed.

It wasnt may plan to become executive director when I agreed to help Donna, Jentz said, but the more I saw of this organization the more impressed I was, and the more the need I see. Luckily we get help from donors cross the United States. Theres a strong network that comes together, and without our help a lot of organizations would suffer. When you see the needs being met through United Way it really keeps you going; it keeps you moving in the direction we need to go.

It may seem a lot to fit in the 20 hours per week allotted for the purpose, but Jentz is eager to do her best. To help in that process the United Way office, formerly in Donna Genereauxs basement is now in her own basement.

We just had the phone turned on today, Jentz said.

Change will come, as it inevitably must.

Its going to evolve because of new leadership and new situations, she said. Of course the board is in charge, but I would like to see getting more schools involved  getting more books into the hands of pre-schoolers. If the schools are interested Id like to be involved in that. And of course there are the regular things on our agenda that have to be organized as well.

She added, The greatest thing about giving to United Way of Dodge County is that the funds stay in Dodge County. Thats huge.

She realizes the job will not be easy, and there will inevitably be comparisons with Donna.

You cant replace Donna, she said. But I will certainly try to walk in her footsteps, and keep it going as a strong, healthy organization and move forward into the future. Certainly if I didnt believe in this organization I wouldnt be here. Its such a great organization and I absolutely believe in it and the good that it does.

To contact United Way visit www.unitedwayofdodgecounty.org, call 885-2488 or email united.way@charter.net.
The final Portage mayoral forum on March 22 will be more of a discussion and less of a debate.

Mayor Bill Tierney, whos seeking his second three-year term, and Alderman Rick Dodd, who along with Tierney advanced to the April 5 ballot after surviving a four-candidate primary election, will meet in a place thats familiar territory to both of them  the Common Council chambers on the second floor of the Portage Municipal Building, 115 W. Pleasant St.

The forum will start at 6:30 p.m. March 22, and is scheduled to end by 8 p.m.

Co-sponsors are the Portage Area Chamber of Commerce and the Portage Daily Register. Kerry Lechner, the Daily Registers editor, will be the moderator.

The public is invited to attend the forum in person, or watch it live on the citys access channel, which is 994 for Charter Cablevision subscribers. (The channel cannot be accessed over the air or through other cable or satellite systems.)

Portage Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marianne Hanson said there will not be an opportunity for cable viewers to email questions for the candidates during the forum.

However, anyone who attends the forum can submit a written question, either in advance or at the event.

It doesnt guarantee that the question will be asked, but we will certainly review all questions, she said.

Questions can be submitted in advance at the Chamber of Commerce, 104 W. Cook St., or via email at pacc@portagewi.com.

Unlike the forum that was held last month at the Portage Center for the Arts, which included Tierney, Dodd, Alderwoman Rita Maass and business owner John Morauski, this forum will focus less on timed responses to questions and more on discussion of issues facing the city of Portage, Hanson said.

At a similar forum held three years ago  featuring Tierney and then-Mayor Ken Jahn, who was vying for a third term  some of the issues that were discussed included:

Whether the city of Portage was better off than it was 20 years ago.

Leadership styles and approaches to projects and challenges.

The future of the Portage Canal.

Economic development.

Tierney, who had previously been mayor of Portage, defeated Jahn in April 2013 by a 1,023-547 vote.

He also topped the four-candidate field in the Feb. 16 primary, garnering 421 votes to 300 for Dodd, 212 for Maass and 134 for Morauski. The primary was required by state law, to narrow the field of candidates to two.
USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers

The USDA announced a program to provide $1.3B in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure.
Gravitational Waves: What? Why? How?

Wits physicists to explain the significance, relevance and impact of the discovery of Gravitational Waves.

About 100 years after Albert Einstein's prediction  based on his Theory of General Relativity  Gravitational Waves were detected for the first time on September 14, 2015 by the international LIGO collaboration. The discovery was announced on the 11th of February 2016 and was immediately celebrated as a groundbreaking achievement in the field of Physics.

This is a major achievement combining advanced detection technology and theoretical predictions, which will have a profound impact on future astronomical research.

Three Wits experts in physics, Professors Andreas Faltenbacher, Andrew Forbes and Kevin Goldstein will give a public talk, illuminating this discovery from different perspectives. They will explain the relevance, importance and impact of the discovery of Gravitational Waves, and what it means for South Africa. This lecture is expected to be a highly informative, educational and interactive.

What are Gravitational Waves?

Gravitational Waves are ripples in the curvature of spacetime, which propagate as waves, travelling outward from the source (massive events such as the collisions of black holes). Gravitational Waves were predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 and the announcement of the discovery was made in February 2016. The announcement caused a social ripple effect with roughly 17 million tweets that followed it.

The waves came from two black holes that spent aeons circling each other, hurtling closer and closer, before they eventually collided, releasing great shudders of gravitational energy. Those waves  whose power output briefly exceeded that of all the visible stars in the universe combined  traveled for 1.3 billion years until they washed over the Earth, changing the length of the 4km arms of the LIGO detector by just one-ten-thousandth the diameter of a proton. Scientists believe that this discovery will open a whole new field of study in astronomy and physics.

The talk will be held on 16 March at 17:30 at the Wits Science Stadium, Auditorium 2.
21st Century libraries for Wits

Wits' new University Librarian plans to transform Wits libraries into 21st Century libraries.

New University Librarian, Paiki Muswazi wants to build cosmopolitan, digitally friendly and visually attractive libraries for Wits, which will appeal to the needs of the new, tech-savvy student.

Times have changed so much. If you were to go to our shelves inside the library, you will see that some of them are accumulating dust, and the vision is to reshape all those spaces and make them more of a 21st Century library where you can walk in and you are faced with this visually appealing place with redone workspaces, new chairs and desks, says Muswazi.

We need new, flexible spaces, where you dont necessarily have to sit at a desk to read from your I-Pad. Nowadays we also want spaces where three or four people can converse openly and they are not disturbing anybody.

Muswazi, who has over two decades of experience in information science management, not only wants to transform the library space, but also plans to make the Universities information discovery system more intuitive.

We want to be able to create a platform whereby, when you do your search, new search terms can pop up, which you probably might be interested in and it searches on all the databases, he says.

One search box must be able to interrogate all the databases.

Currently, some of these databases are stand-alone databases, which have to be searched independently.

This year we are implementing what is called the Sierra Library Management System that gives us the platform to do some of these things, he says.

Muswazi assumed duties for his new role on 4 January 2016, after serving at Wits University for over 10 years, rotating in various positions at the Wits libraries.

Working at Wits over the past decade has been an enthralling experience for Muswazi, keeping him motivated as he moved up between positions.

Every two or three years, I have been in a position and that has kept me excited. We run a big library with so many interesting things happening every day.

Before his current role, Muswazi was the Deputy Librarian at Wits for five years.

He joined Wits in 2005 as a Senior Librarian for Education and Training, where he spearheaded the information literacy programme, training academics, staff and students to access electronic information resources.

His interest in information sciences started during his early days as a history student at the University of Zimbabwe, and was subsequently employed by the National Archives of Zimbabwe before receiving a scholarship to study at Simmons College in the USA where he obtained his Master of Library and Information Sciences degree.

After completing his degree, he returned to Zimbabwe and did a short stint at the Zimbabwe National Archives as an archivist and moved on to join the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority in Harare for six years, where he left serving as the Chief Executives Assistant.

In 1994, he got an opportunity to serve in the education sector at the University of Swaziland Library where he worked for over ten years.

The father of three sons is proud of his association with Wits.

When you see how the research output at Wits has gone up, you would want to be associated with Wits. I am attached to Wits because of that. It is an achievement driven institution.

He describes himself as patient, calm and passionate individual who treats people equally and with respect.
The fabric of a forgotten Hawaiian community

Dig this: Ph.D. student Summer Moore has spent the past year studying rare archaeological cloth fragments recovered from an excavation on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

Summer Moore was clad in a white tee and colorful infinity scarf as she philosophized on the significance of fabric: Its a form of self-expression, she said. You can learn a lot about someone based on how they use it or adapt it. But, for Moore, the most intriguing fabrics arent the ones she keeps in her closet. What captivates her most is a collection of faded, tattered cloth pieces, some no bigger than a handkerchief.

Moore, a Ph.D. student in anthropology at William & Mary, has spent the past year studying a collection of European cloth fragments that were recovered from a remote archaeological dig site in Hawaii, where she lived for years. Her research, which recently won the Market Access International, Inc., Award for Excellence in Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences, aims to better understand how an isolated Hawaiian community was affected by European contact in the early 19th century. Shell be honored at a luncheon at the 15th annual Graduate Research Symposium on March 19.

Moore first landed in Hawaii the way most people probably do: I thought itd be fun, she says, especially after a job monitoring gas pipelines in Wyoming in the winter for years. So, in 2011, she packed her bags and crossed the Pacific, eventually landing a job at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu as collections manager. Thats where she discovered drawers of artifacts reclaimed from a rocky enclave on the north shore of Kauai called Nualolo Kai. Excavated in the 50s and 60s, it was among the first archaeological dig sites in Hawaii.

The area was protected by a rock overhang, so it didnt get exposed to weather patterns the way most places do, Moore said. The preservation of these artifacts was incredible.

Most intriguing of all was the presence of a small, but still significant, amount of imported European cloth, which appeared to have been cut, torn, or twisted into pieces that altered their form and purpose. Cloth is almost never studied in archaeology because its typically the first thing to disintegrate, said Moore. The novelty of it was interesting, but it also presented a challenge because Im not trained in identifying or dating it.

What was known, however, was when and why Europeans first established contact with Hawaii. In 1778, Captain James Cook became the first European explorer to arrive in Kauai, opening the gates for trading ships for years following. In exchange for provisions and sandalwood, Europeans would leave behind foreign goods, including ceramic, glass and cloth.

The people who visited tended to be merchant sailors, so it makes sense that many of the cloth pieces were rougher utilitarian fabrics, sort of like canvas or sailcloth, said Moore, who analyzed the cloth in person and, later, with high-resolution scans she took of each fragment. Many appear to be clothing remnants, but their size suggests they werent used as clothing at Nualolo Kai.

One explanation for this, said Moore, is that the people of Nualolo Kai viewed foreign goods such as cloth as prestige items, exotic in their texture and colors, and therefore kept them as souvenirs or altered them to fit their lifestyle. A piece of European canvas, for example, was found twisted into an oil lamp wick, just as the native people would have done with their traditional kapa fabric (made from beaten tree bark).

A dish wasnt necessarily used as a dish, she said. It could be broken up into pieces and divided. The people at Nualolo seemed to be taking foreign objects out of their context and making them into a special token with new meaning and value.

Whether that was by choice or necessity is up for debate. Situated in a valley surrounded by towering cliffs, the community could only be accessed by sea, and even then only when the swells were agreeable. This suggests that perhaps it was a sheer scarcity of visitors that prevented Nualolo Kai from acquiring more foreign items, said Moore. Just 2-5 percent of the artifacts recovered at the site were European; in comparison, a study done at an excavation site on Oahus North Shore found that the people of a semi-isolated community during the same era filled their homes with almost entirely European items.

This little unit seemed to maintain its own degree of independence and autonomy, more so than other communities around Hawaii, some of whom changed their whole way of life, said Moore. So one thing Im looking at is what people were doing here that might be different from what people in other nearby communities were doing.

This summer, Moore will travel back to Hawaii with her advisor, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jennifer Kahn, to study an excavation site adjacent to Nualolo Kai.

She also hopes to visit the cloth collection at the Bishop Museum again to have microscopic photos of the fragments taken, which will hopefully shed more light on the exact identity of the foreign materials and their impact on the native Hawaiian community.

I think many anthropologists tend to think of the contact period as something that happened one day and then it was over, she says. But theres evidence that people were slowly incorporating foreign objects into their lives over decades  and not in the way we might think. I think that shows it was a period of transition and less of a dividing line. If we choose to ignore this period, were missing a time of really dynamic social change.




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Holographic 3D for nuclear training

14 March 2016

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Models appear to project as physical objects from the NettleBox screen (Image: Rosatom)

A system installed at the training centre of Russia's Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is giving workers a new perspective on the VVER-1200 design. The new 3D holographic display technology could grow to be more widely applied in nuclear power training.

The two nuclear reactors under construction at Novovoronezh Phase II are the first of the VVER-1200 design which Rosatom hopes will form the basis of a new standardised fleet for Russia. Accordingly, the site hosts a centre where future plant workers, as well as Rosatom's overseas customers, are trained in the construction, operation and maintenance of the design.

According to the blog Publication.ru, this effort is being complemented by new technology in the shape of NettleBox systems that display highly realistic 3D models described as 'virtual holograms' because of the convincing way they penetrate space behind and in front of the screen. The technology comes from a start-up called Nettle, which is based in the Skolkovo innovation cluster near Moscow that supports new technology in the fields of IT, biomed, energy, space and nuclear.

The system is useful for exhibition as well as training (Image: Rosatom)

The Nettlebox system is based on a large 3D screen used horizontally like a tabletop combined with 3D glasses that the system uses to track the position of the viewer and adjust the perspecitive accordingly. With a display speed of 900 frames per second and tracking accuracy of 1mm, the effect is said to be highly convincing.

Design models can be exposed at any level of detail (Image: Rosatom)

Using a highly detailed 3D model of the plant design and complemented by photo research by the Nettle modellers, every part of the nuclear power plant and its 450 hectare site can be seen at any scale and angle. The model can be animated to illustrate the power generation process, even depicting realistic workers moving around inside the buildings. Bringing up design information on any component, workers can gain familiarity with parts that are normally out of reach either physically or because of radiological limits, such as the components of the reactor core itself or the primary circuit.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Integrated head package in place at Sanmen 1

14 March 2016

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The integrated head package has been installed on top of the reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of the Sanmen nuclear power plant in China's Zhejiang province. Sanmen 1 is expected to be the first Westinghouse AP1000 to begin operating.

The integrated head package combines several separate components in one assembly and aims to allow the rapid removal of the reactor vessel head during a refueling outage. It includes a lifting rig, seismic restraints for control rod drive mechanisms, support for reactor head vent piping, power cables, cables and a conduit for in-core instrumentation, cable supports and the cooling shroud assembly. Mounted directly on the reactor vessel head, the system helps to minimize the time, manpower and radiation exposure associated with head removal and replacement during refueling.

Installation of Sanmen 1's integrated head package (Image: SNPTC)

The integrated head package for Sanmen 1 was installed on the reactor vessel on 11 March, plant constructor State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) announced the following day. The lifting process to install the 215-tonne component lasted about two hours, the company said.

The device was produced in China by SNPTC subsidiary Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing and assembled at the Sanmen construction site.

In September 2007, Westinghouse and its partners the Shaw Group received authorization to construct four AP1000 units in China: two at Sanmen and two more at Haiyang in Shandong province.

Sanmen unit 1 is expected to be the first AP1000 to begin operating, in September, while Haiyang 1 is expected to start up by the end of the year. Containment tests have already been successfully conducted at both units. All four Chinese AP1000s are scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2017.

Four AP1000 reactors are being built in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer - while three AP1000s are also proposed for the Moorside site in the UK.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Woman getting a massage (illustration)

By: Mahesh Sarin

A doctor lost his medical license in three countries after being accused of performing massages on patientsa behinds to cure their illnesses.

The doctor who had clinics in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, performed the controversial treatment over the past 20 years.

In 2003, the health ministry in Sweden, warned him about his massages after telling a woman she will be cured of her pain and back pain by performing a massage on her behind.

The woman described the treatment as an incredibly offensive and invasive.

The Swedish Medical Responsibility Board said that the treatment was questionable for a number of reasons, and is not an effective method of treatment.

The doctor, who was not identified, claimed that he treated more than 1,000 patients by massaging their behinds. Last year, he lost his medical license in Denmark, after piercing the lung of a patient while trying to inject anesthesia.

On Thursday, the health ministry in Sweden revoked his license. In 2006, he lost his medical license in Norway. The doctor described the loss of his license in the three countries as a witch hunt.
Bondage sex act (illustration)

By: Wayne Morin

The owner of a hotel in the United Kingdom, said that he will renovate the entire building to offer guests sex rooms based on the book of 50 Shades Of Grey.

47-year-old Jon Huxley, the owner and operator of the Westward Ho! Hotel in Kent, said that he will construct sex rooms complete with sex dungeons and bondage facilities.

Recently, he has received a closure order from the council. He filed a lawsuit in court against the council, and won. The judge also ordered the council to pay damages to the hotel.

Huxley said that he plans to use the 15,000 pounds ($21,500) to transform the building into a Fifty Shades Of Grey themed hotel complete with bondage rooms, sex swings, dungeons, and orgy rooms.

Huxley also plans to offer a clothing only option for guests who rent out the entire building for parties and over weekends.

Neighbors voiced their concerns about the plans, and some said that if Huxley succeeds, they will move away from the area.
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Red candle (illustration)

By: Wayne Morin

A pastor was jailed after he attempted to rape a 13-year-old girl, police in Kenya said.

Magistrate Carl Moeteke sentenced 38-year-old Pastor Ruben Okotie, to 6 months in prison after he was found guilty of three counts of conspiracy, attempted rape and illicit sexual act.

According to police, the 13-year-old girl who is from Nigeria, worked as a maid for the pastor and his wife.

One day, while his wife was visiting her sick parents in a nearby town, the girl went shopping for food. When the girl returned from the market, the pastor attempted to rape her, but she managed to get away from him.

One week later, while his wife was visiting her parents again, the pastor warned the child that she would lose her job if she did not comply with his demands.

He then dragged the victim into a bedroom and pushed a red candle into her private parts. The 13-year-old girl resisted the attempt by the pastor to rape her.

When the pastoras wife returned home, the child told her about the incident and the woman called police.

Sgt. Promise Enebeli told the court that Okotie confessed to the crime during the interrogation. He must now serve six months in prison.
Eric Quesenberry

By: Wayne Morin

A man of Pennsylvania, died while adopting two special needs boys in Bulgaria.

Eric Quesenberry and his wife Natalie went to Sofia, to adopt the boys after they watched a documentary detailing the plight of orphans in that country.

The movie, Bulgarias Abandoned Children, documented the lives of 75 children who had been abandoned because of their disabilities.

Natalie, who was adopted herself, was horrified over the situation of these children. She and her husband decided to help.

Eric and Natalie, who have been together since they were 17 years old, already have four children of their own as well as a niece and two nephews who they were raising as their own.

However, they decided to adopt to special needs children and give them a better life. After getting the children, the couple returned to their rented apartment.

Eric went into the bedroom and Natalie found him kneeling at the bedside a short time later. She said that she thought he was praying, but then she noticed that something was wrong.

She performed CPR before calling for help, but Eric was gone. aMy husband just dropped dead. I donat know what Im going to do. Please pray for me,a she wrote on an adoption website.

People came to help her and some tried to discourage Natalie from taking the boys home as it would be too hard for her to care for them alone without her husband.

However, Natalie insisted on taking the children back to the United States. aI know that Eric would have wanted me to bring the boys home and trust in God. Otherwise, his death would have been for nothing,a she said.
By: Feng Qian

A young woman was arrested on a charge of drug trafficking after being caught with cocaine inside her breasts, police in Germany said.

Frankfurt police said that the woman, who arrived to the country from Colombia on Wednesday, told officers that she was in pain before being searched.

Officers then noticed fresh scars under her breasts. The woman then admitted to having cocaine in her beasts. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors removed bags of cocaine worth around $300,000 from her breasts.

The cocaine weighed about 2.2 pounds.

The woman, who is a mother of three children, revealed that she was supposed to get the drugs to Spain. She was charged with one count of drug trafficking.
Man Arrested After Car Windows Smashed in Hightown

This article is old - Published: Monday, Mar 14th, 2016

A man has been arrested after two vehicles were damaged in Hightown in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Yesterday Anna contacted Wrexham.com with the above image, stating that two red cars parked in one streets away from each other, had their windows smashed in overnight on Saturday / early hours of Sunday morning.

Police were alerted of the first incident at 4am yesterday morning, following reports the side windows of a red Peugeot had been smashed in on Albert Street Hightown.

A second incident was also reported at 4:50am on the next street  with a the windows of a red Mazda smashed while parked on Stanley Street, Hightown.

A spokesperson for North Wales Police confirmed a man has since been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
Thousands of Chinese coal miners protested last week in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang after provincial governor Lu Hao boasted to the National Peoples Congress (NPC) in Beijing that wages at the huge state-owned Longmay Mining Group were being paid in full and on time.

The unrest follows the announcement earlier this month by employment and welfare minister Yin Weimin that 1.3 million coal miners and 500,000 steel workers will lose their jobs as the government slashes overcapacity in basic industry. The protests are a sign of the acute social tensions building up as the Chinese economy continues to slow.

The north-eastern rust belt provinces have been particularly hard hit. Yet Heilongjiang governor Lu told the NPC a week ago: Longmay has 80,000 workers down mines, and today, not one has not been paid monthly wages and their income hasnt fallen a penny.

Lu also foreshadowed mass layoffs saying that Longmay has more than three times as many workers as the average Chinese coal mine as measured by tonnes of output per employee. The state-owned enterprise (SOE), which has 224,000 employees in all, announced plans last September to shed 100,000 jobs. It is the largest coal producer in north-eastern China with 42 mines in four cities.

The comments provoked widespread anger. From last Wednesday, mine workers and their supporters congregated in front of government and company offices in Shuangyashan, demanding Lu and other officials address their complaints over unpaid wages. In many cases, workers have not been paid for months.

According to social media accounts, up to 10,000 people took part in the demonstrations which lasted at least three days. Photographs showed workers carrying banners saying, We want to live, we want to eat and Lu Hao tells lies while his eyes are wide open. A video showed miners being dispersed by armed police.

A protesting miner told the Financial Times that Lus comments about wages were false. At the time he said that, we had not gotten our salaries for four months. Thats the key, he said.

Speaking to the Associated Press, a local resident Li said that he knew of Longmay workers who had not been paid for six months. Another eyewitness Wang told the news agency that the wages of her family members working in the mine had been cut to less than 1,000 yuan ($US154). Other workers either did not receive their full wages or were not being paid for months.

Liu Jingjua, a shop assistant whose husband worked in the mine, told the New York Times: Were demanding our own money, and some of us have been arrested. Is it illegal to ask for our own wages? We workers have to eat.

Last Saturday governor Lu was compelled to make an embarrassing public back-down, acknowledging that wages were in arrears for Longmay workers. However, he sought to shift the blame, accusing Longmay of withholding information and vowing to severely punish anyone who did so in the future.

In an effort to save face, Lu called a meeting of provincial officials and issued a statement declaring that the provincial government would work with Longmay to raise money and make every effort to pay workers on time.

Lus reaction is a telling example of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bureaucrat: committed to the CCPs agenda of pro-market restructuring and contemptuous of the working class, yet fearful of the social unrest that the governments policies could provoke.

Lu, who has been marked out as a rising star in the CCP apparatus, was clearly keen to impress at the NPC. As governor of one of the rust-belt provinces, he was determined to demonstrate his ability to deal with so-called zombie companies, like Longmay, that are kept afloat by state-backed loans.

President Xi Jinping last week focussed attention at the NPC on the necessity of slashing overcapacity in basic industries such as coal, steel, plate glass and cement. He asked in particular how Longmay was coping and urged the company to face the marketthat is, make deep inroads into jobs, wages and conditions to ensure a profit.

Facing the market also means abolishing the remnants of the so-called iron rice bowl, which ensured that state-owned enterprises provided health care, education and welfare to their employees. Longmay still runs hospitals and schools and is responsible for the pensions of 180,000 retired workers.

Longmay has been hit by falling prices, which have fallen dramatically by 6 percent for thermal coal and 10 percent for coking coal in the first two months of this year. The company had already been struggling, with substantial losses for at least three years. Last November the provincial government, which owns Longmay, provided 3.8 billion yuan ($588 million) to ward off an imminent default on its debts.

Last weeks protests are only the latest. In April last year, thousands of miners and their supporters marched in the city of Hegang to protest over delayed wages. The organisers were arrested and jailed. In October, the company management only averted another protest by locking workers in the mines on the day of a scheduled rally.

Moreover, coal miners in other regions are facing similar difficulties. Earlier this month, hundreds of coal miners in Anyuan in south-eastern China marched through the city of Pingxiang. The local state-owned mining company has cut back production, laid off workers and told others to stay home on drastically reduced pay. As reported by the Washington Post, up to 1,000 workers from three mines protested with banners declaring: Workers want to survive, workers need to eat.

While no official statistics are publicly available, figures produced by the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin have shown a sharp rise in the number of strikes for 2015 to 2,774, twice as many as for 2014. In January, another 504 strikes were recorded. The actual figure is likely to be far higher. Last November, the Chinese employment minister, Yin Weimin, cited 11,007 incidents involving unpaid wagesthe most frequent cause of disputesin the first nine months of 2015, a 34 percent increase from a year earlier.

With mounting levels of debt, the CCP regime is determined to press ahead with the first mass layoffs since the 1990s, with estimates of up to six million jobs being destroyed across basic industries. The government has promised to allocate 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) to fund retraining, which is far from adequate. Even with retraining, many miners and industrial workers will simply not find jobs in the slowing economy.

The CCP leadership is insisting that local government and companies must contribute to the retraining fund. In depressed areas such as Heilongjiang, the economy is already stagnant or in recession, the tax base of local administrations has shrunk dramatically and SOEs like Longmay are heavily indebted. At the NPC, provincial representatives called for greater central government financial support.

At every level of government, the CCP apparatus is acutely conscious of the potential for social unrest that spirals out of control. The rising number of strikes and protests is taking place prior to mass sackings. Moreover, since the 1990s, the growth of staggering social inequality has engendered deep resentment and bitterness. While workers struggle to get by on as little as 100 yuan a month, the CCP has opened the NPC to multi-billionaires whose interests it presents.

A former Longmay mineworker now a taxi driver, Cui, told the New York Times earlier this year: In the 90s, everyone was poor. Now the rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor. Because of the layoffs, everyone is worried. No one has a way to live outside the mines.

What is looming is a confrontation between the Beijing regime and the working class.
In an extraordinary act of self-censorship, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has deleted hundreds of articles and speeches, spanning decades, from his web site. A video archive of his speeches was also removed. The earliest article remaining on the site is now dated June 8, 2015.

The archive included Corbyns record on numerous topics he had addressed as an MP for 33 years. But the main reason for the deletions is to conceal his previous opposition to the European Union (EU), so as not to politically embarrass the Labour Party, which supports the UK remaining part of the EU in the upcoming June 23 referendum on membership.

The decision was taken after Corbyn was attacked by the partys right wing for not supporting the Remain campaign with sufficient enthusiasm. His act of self-censorship shows just how far he is prepared to go in making amends.

As a Labour councillor in 1975, Corbyn voted against Britain remaining a member of the then European Economic Community. Following his election as an MP in 1983, Corbyn voted against the position of three separate Labour Party leaders over the issue of the EU. He opposed the Maastricht Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty and supported calls for a referendum on Britains EU membership in 2011.

The Maastricht Treaty was signed in February 1992 by the members of the European Community and led to the creation of the EU and the single European currency, the euro. The Lisbon Treaty, signed in December 2009, laid down the framework of an EU constitution for the enlarged bloc of 27 states.

At the time Corbyn entered the Labour Party in the mid-1970s, these positions represented the common platform of the Labour left, who put forward the alternative economic strategy (AES). The AES was first elaborated in a policy paper by Tony Benn as Secretary of State for Industry in the 1974-79 Labour government.

The AES was not a programme for socialism, but a limited extension of state regulation at a time of a significant economic crisis, backed by protectionist measures. It proposed a National Enterprise Board empowered to take over profitable sections of individual firms in those industries where a public holding is essential to enable Government to control prices, stimulate investment, encourage exports, create employment, protect workers and consumers from irresponsible multinational companies, and to plan the national economy in the national interest.

On entering parliament, Corbyn joined the recently founded Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, led by Benn. He also began writing a regular column in the Morning Star, the newspaper of the Stalinist Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), whose own take on a national reformist strategy was embodied in the parliamentary British road to socialism and an emphasis on the centrality of national sovereignty.

The Morning Star and the much-reduced and renamed Communist Party of Britain are the leading political force in the anti-EU Leave campaign, through Trade Unionists Against the EU, which advances For National sovereignty as one of its main demands. It is this nationalist position that is articulated in many of the articles now deleted by Corbyn.

In one from 2009 that can still be accessed via a Google cache search, Corbyn complains of the EUs ever-limiting powers for national parliaments, for example. In an article published in the Independent (which remains on his site), he wrote last year of his concern over the direction and advance of EU foreign policy development with all new member states required to join NATO, which suggests both a militaristic turn in Europe and the block that puts on an independent foreign policy.

This defence of an independent foreign policy is wholly reactionary. Britains founding membership of NATO in 1949 was not imposed by Europe, but conceived as a means through which British imperialism could project its global interests in alliance with the United States.

One need only ask, what would British imperialisms independent foreign policy look like in practice?

The last time the UK took a foreign policy decision in strident opposition to other major powers of Europe (Germany and France) was its support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Corbyn opposed the 2003 Iraq war and opposed NATO membership at one time. But while campaigning for the Labour leadership position last August, he abandoned this position, calling instead for a serious debate about the powers of NATO because there was not an appetite as a whole for people to leave. Last December, after becoming Labour leader, he played a central role in facilitating Britains participation in US-led bombing in Syria by agreeing to a free vote for Labour MPs, enabling Conservative Prime Minister Cameron to assemble the parliamentary majority he required.

Just a few months later, he has now signed up to the Remain in the EU campaign on terms aimed at whipping up anti-immigrant xenophobia as a prelude for even deeper attacks on the working class.

Once again, Corbyn is ready to discard positions he advanced only months earlier. In February 2015, he wrote in the Morning Star, Greece stands out as the worst affected country as a savage economic experiment is rammed down its throat. The so-called troikathe EU, European Central Bank and IMF [International Monetary Fund]thats calling the shots is not concerned about balancing books. Its aim is to rebalance societyby privatising at will, selling off state assets and destroying hard-won working conditions, public services and rights.

Now, Greece rates no mention by Corbyn as he advances the illusion of a progressive reform of the EU and a social Europe of decent jobs and equality for all.

Within five days of his election, he issued a joint statement with his appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, stating, We will make the case that membership of the European Union helps Britain to create jobs, secure growth, encourage investment and tackle the issues that cross borderslike climate change, terrorism, tax havens and the current refugee crisis.

Benn told BBC Radio 4 that Labour would campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, under all circumstances.

Labour extended a blank cheque to Prime Minister David Cameron, who went on to renegotiate the terms of Britains continued EU membership on an anti-migrant and pro-big business basis. This includes limiting in-work benefits for migrants and protecting the City of London from financial regulation.

In a February 20 Guardian opinion piece, Corbyn himself indicated that Labour was involved in behind-the-scenes discussions in which it accepted the thrust of Camerons demands. He boasted, Labour and the unions played a key role in making sure that employment rightslike guaranteed paid holiday, paid maternity and paternity leave, and agency workers protectionwere kept out of Camerons negotiations. In other words, what was kept in the negotiations, and what comprised the final reactionary agreement concocted with the EU, was signed off by Corbyn, the Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress.

Time and again, Corbyn has either ditched or backtracked on any policy deemed unacceptable to the right-wing Blairites, in the name of maintaining party unity. There is nothing that he once proclaimed as an issue of political principle that he will not jettison. What is involved is not only his dutifully toeing the line of official Labour policy. Corbyn is making clear that he will do whatever is necessary to uphold the interests of British capitalism.

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[29 February 2016]
Last week, Illinois-based Deere and Co., the worlds largest agricultural machinery company, announced the layoff of approximately 125 employees. This is the third round of layoffs since last November. A total of 445 workers have lost their jobs so far.

The recent layoffs will affect two factories in Iowa, with Deere slashing 75 jobs at its Dubuque factory and approximately 50 jobs at its Ankeny factory. Layoffs at Dubuque will go into effect April 29 and the Ankeny factory will see its workforce dwindle April 15.

In February, Deere announced it was the laying off approximately 80 employees at its Davenport Works and 20 at Deeres factory in Dubuque. Both of these cuts will go into effect April 1. In November, Deere informed approximately 220 employees at the John Deere Seeding and Cylinder factory in Moline, Illinois that they would be laid off. The workers were terminated on February 15.

The company is conducting a ruthless cost-cutting campaign to make workers pay for the impact of the global economic crisis. This is taking place only months after the United Auto Workers rammed through a sellout agreementin the face of the mass opposition of rank-and-file workersthat facilitates the downsizing of the company and the imposition of further concessions factory by factory.

Deere stated that the actions were taken to align the size of the manufacturing workforce at individual factories with market demand for products made at each specific location. It is likely Deere will lay off even more in the future. Deeres fiscal forecast for 2016 expects a 10 percent decline in sales. In a recent report, Deere saw its worldwide net sales and revenues for its first fiscal quarter decrease by 13 percent, to $5.52 billion, compared with $6.38 billion last year.

Deeres CEO, Samuel R. Allen, stated, John Deeres first-quarter results reflected the continuing impact of the downturn in the global farm economy as well as weakness in construction equipment markets. At the same time, all of Deeres businesses remained solidly profitable, benefiting from the sound execution of our business plans and the success of actions to develop a more responsive cost structure.

In other words, Deere is counting on the collaboration of the UAW to slash as many jobs as it needs to develop a more response cost structure, i.e., to maintain its profits. Last October, the UAW pushed through a new six-year labor agreement, which maintains the hated two-tier wage and benefit system, increases out-of-pocket health costs and continues the erosion of living standards. The UAW claimed the contract, which covers 11,000 workers, was ratified by a margin of 180 votes; workers responded by accusing the UAW of stuffing the ballot.

The collusion of the UAW has ensured huge payouts to the companys top executives and wealthy shareholders. In 2015, Deere CEO Samuel R. Allen made $15,770,056 in total compensation; Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rajesh Kalathur made $4,352,810; Senior Vice President Jean H. Gilles made $4,537,306; President of Agricultural Equipment Operations James M. Field made $4,539,286; and Group President Michael J. Mack Jr. made $4,875,918.

Speaking to the WSWS, a retired Deere worker who worked at the John Deere Waterloo Works in Iowa said, Deere is a different place now. I think theyre screwing these young people.

Whats so terrible about Deere are these tiers. It was terrible back when I was there. The tier wages screwed everything up. This kid on second shift did the same exact job as me and got half the pay and he was pissed and I dont blame him.

Hell. I think my pension is as much as some of these people are making these days now. And look at what the CEO is making. Its so unfair.

Regarding the suspicious character of last years contract vote, he said, I went to the union meeting when they were going to ratify the recent contract and we listened to it for half an hour and left because we couldnt take it. You cant trust the vote; nothing would surprise me. The UAW are a bunch of fat cats and they sold them out.

The UAW should have stood up and fought to end the two-tier system, but they didnt. Its just a continuation.

He further added, You used to be able to raise a family with the wages you received at Deere, but you cant now and thats for most wages in the US. To me, its symptomatic to whats going on in the world.
On Wednesday, between 250,000 to 450,000 workers and youth marched in protests across France against the Socialist Party's (PS) labor law reform called by trade and student unions. Marchers held signs denouncing not only the proposed labor reform, which would lengthen the work week and scrap basic workplace protections, but also the European Union's persecution of refugees and the state of emergency imposed by the PS after the November 13 terror attacks in Paris.

Workers at the SNCF national railways and the RATP Paris transport authority went on strike on the same day.

The PS government is meeting with the unions today in an attempt to make minor modifications to the law in order to win their support for ramming it through in the face of mass opposition.

In Paris, tens of thousands of people participated in several protest marches across different areas of the city. It's our future that is under attack. We have not even begun working, and they are telling us that it will be possible to fire us easily, said high school students Alexandre and Mathilde.

Working conditions today are already complicated, it is not easy to talk to your employer. With this law, the problems are just getting worse. Then people will be told to work more hours, until they burn out, instead of hiring more people. It's not logical! When Valls says this is going to create jobs, he is lying, said Flavie, who has not been able to find work in her field, tourism management.

The PS government and the police cracked down violently on the demonstration in Lyon, attended by 20,000 people, using police powers granted by the state of emergency to attack protesters and impose extraordinary prison sentences. Several high schools in Lyon were blockaded that day, and clashes broke out when police suddenly tried to block the path of the demonstrations. At least two protesters were hospitalized after riot police shot rubber bullets and split open a protester's skull with a police club.

The charges brought against three protesters detained during the clashes make clear that the PS, while it does not yet dare invoke the state of emergency to ban demonstrations, is moving to illegalize public protest. Democracy is expressed in the ballot box and not in the street, declared state prosecutor Jean Ailhaud as he brought down charges not only for aggravated violence against an official representing public authority, but also for rebellion.

These charges, which imply that people exercising a constitutionally protected right to protest and defending themselves against police attack are organizing an armed insurrection, are absurd provocations. Faced with broad popular opposition to its reactionary program, the PS is declaring that it has decided that all expressions of opposition threaten the survival of the state and must be crushed.

This is a serious warning as to the character of the state of emergency and the policy of deprivation of nationality for those deemed to be enemies of the state. While presented as targeting Islamist terrorist groups, which in fact serve as tools of the PS' policy of regime change in Syria, the state of emergency is in fact squarely aimed at workers and youth protesting the PS' unpopular agenda of austerity and war at home.

As of yesterday, one high school student was under investigation and on probation, an unemployed man was condemned to six months in prison and a 1000 fine for a rugby tackle against a policeman after the attack, and a student faces a 800 fine and a six-month suspended sentence. Police are expected to appeal in an attempt to obtain stiffer sentences.

As they move into opposition to the reactionary social policies of the PS, workers and youth face a broad political challenge. Any real struggle against the PS requires also mobilizing opposition to the agenda of imperialist war, anti-immigrant chauvinism and attacks on democratic rights that the PS shares with its counterparts across Europe and internationally.

The natural ally of the workers and youth in France, as the ICFI has explained in its statement Socialism and the Fight against War, is the international working class, developing a global struggle for socialism against austerity and imperialist war.

This struggle cannot be carried out under the political straitjacket imposed by the PS' political allies, like the Left Front and the New Anti-capitalist Party, and the trade and student unions. The fraud that these organizations are socialist or in any way represent an opposition to capitalism has been thoroughly exposed.

Ever since the PS came to power with the election of Francois Hollande in 2012, they have suppressed rising opposition in the working class to France's most unpopular government since World War II. Their support for the NATO powers' war in Syria is the clearest indication of their alignment on the PS' reactionary policies.

To develop, the movement must be conducted in total political independence of the PS' allies, and taken out of the hands of the various union bureaucracies. The open opposition of PS-aligned unions like the French Democratic Labor Confederation (CFDT) to stepped-up strike action to halt the labor reform, like the student unions' refusal to endorse blockades of high schools and universities, testify to the role of this entire social layer.

If Hollande is now declaring that there are corrections to be made in the labor law reform, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls is calling for an ambitious and dynamic compromise, it is because they hope to use the unions to pass a barely amended version of their law. They know that the unions will seek to organize the minimum number of protests necessary to ride out the social anger now building among workers and young people, while reaching a deal acceptable also to the PS and to its big-business backers in the Medef business federation.

The mobilization of the broad discontent and opposition in the working class to the PS can take place only on the basis of opposition to the PS' political and trade union periphery.

Above all, what is required is the construction of a new party that offers a political perspective and a socialist alternative to the reactionary pro-capitalist policies of the PS and its allies. The WSWS encourages its readers in France to read and discuss its material with their friends, contact the WSWS and join its struggle to build a political alternative for the working class in France and internationally.
Mehring Books (Mehring Verlag) is holding a meeting at the Leipzig Book Fair, which commences later this week. Under the title The return of German militarism and the threat of World War III, speakers at the meeting will present the book Scholarship or War Propaganda.

In early 2014 a fundamental change of course was implemented in German foreign policy. German President Joachim Gauck and leading government representatives proclaimed the end of military restraint and demanded that Germany once again play a role in Europe and the world commensurate with its economic size and influence.

Two years later leading media outlets refer to the imminent danger of world war and no longer rule out a military confrontation between NATO and Russia. The German army is already in the front linein the deployment of NATO troops against Russia in Eastern Europe, in Syria and even in Africa. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has announced additional military spending of 130 billion.

The return of German militarism has been prepared ideologically on a series of fronts, notably: the playing down of Germanys crimes in World War I and World War II, the systematic promotion of German great power politics and, finally, the demonization of refugees and asylum seekers. The book Scholarship or War Propaganda documents the polemic with two professors at Humboldt University in Berlin, Jorg Baberowski (History) and Herfried Munkler (Politics), who have played a major role in this campaign.

The authors of the book will speak on the significance of the conflict at Humboldt University and discuss why the struggle against war involves understanding the history of the 20th century, why opposition to war and opposition to capitalism are inseparable, and why the building of an anti-war movement requires a socialist perspective.

The main speakers will be Peter Schwarz, editor of the World Socialist Web Site in Germany, and David North, World Socialist Web Site international editorial board chairman.

Meeting details

Friday, March 18, 2016, 18:00

Leipzig University (Auditorium 3)

Universitatsstae 3
Speaking at the music, film and tech festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas on Friday, US President Barack Obama delivered his most open comments yet backing the attack on encryption and the FBIs ongoing lawsuit with Apple.

The high-profile legal case centers on the ability of the FBI, NSA and other state surveillance agencies to get backdoor access to encrypted cell phone data. On February 16, a California federal court judge granted a Justice Department request for an order requiring Apple to write new software that can bypass the iPhones security features.

While the FBI initially claimed that the software would be used solely to crack the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the attackers in last Decembers mass shooting in San Bernardino, the aim is to set a precedent that would justify the wholesale nullification of encryption.

The development of anti-encryption technology will destroy one of the last remaining privacy protections for the global population, whose use spiked following the 2013 Edward Snowden revelations of mass NSA spying on the entire planets communications. Appleone of the major collaborators in PRISM and other NSA spying programshas argued that its compliance with the order will set an illegal and unconstitutional precedent for the government to unlock any individuals phone.

Obama presented his views on privacy before an audience of roughly 2,100 technology executives and enthusiasts at the close of an interview with Evan Smith, the editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.

While posturing as impartial in the privacy versus security debate, Obama clearly expressed the dominant view held by state officials that the public has no right to privacy and that Apple and the other tech companies should fold in their dispute over encryption.

Throughout his comments, Obama sought to minimize the extreme demands being made by the FBI, which threaten to eliminate encryption capabilities. At various points, he loosely compared the cracking of digital encryption to such commonplace privacy infringements as the issuing of a home search warrant, airport security checks, tax collecting methods and road blocks for drunk driving tests, while moralizing against fetishizing our phones above every other value.

Obama began by falsely juxtaposing the FBIs demand for anti-encryption software to a standard home search conducted with a warrant. He continued this specious line of reasoning by comparing encrypted cell phones to Swiss bank accounts, saying, And the question we now have to ask is, if technologically, it is possible to make an impenetrable device or system where the encryption is so strong that theres no key, theres no door at all, then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have available to even do simple things like tax enforcement? Because, if, in fact, you cant crack that at all, government cant get in, then everybody is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocketright? So there has to be some concession to the need to be able to get into that information somehow.

This is simply a statement that the government has to have access to all communications, rendering the purpose of encryption null and void.

Regarding the likelihood that this anti-encryption software could be used universally to unlock all encrypted cell phones, Obama feigned ignorance, declaring, That is a technical question. Im not a software engineer. It is, I think, technically true, but I think it can be overstated.

Concluding his remarks, Obama postured as being way on the civil liberties side of this thing, before saying, I anguish a lot over the decisions we make in terms of how to keep this country safe, and I am not interested in overthrowing the values that have made us an exceptional and great nation simply for expediency. But the dangers are real. Maintaining law and order and a civilized society is important. Protecting our kids is important. And so I would just caution against taking an absolutist perspective on this.

In an effort to erode widespread suspicion of the security apparatus, Obama flatly lied about the significance of the Snowden revelations, declaring, the Snowden issue vastly overstated the dangers to U.S. citizens in terms of spying, because the fact of the matter is, is that actually our intelligence agencies are pretty scrupulous about US persons, people on US soil. What those disclosures did identify were accesses overseas with respect to people who are not in this country. A lot of those have been fixed.

With his remarks in Austin, Obama has sought to manipulate public opinion to enable Congress to enact long-planned legislation that will require technology companies to install backdoors to allow the government universal access to encrypted data. His administration declined to pursue such legislation last fall, but renewed it through the legal system and Congress in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks.

In his remarks, Obama noted that his administration has engaged the tech community aggressively to help solve this problem.

These comments represent a continuation of those made earlier this year to tech executives in Silicon Valley, at which Obama urged the tech leaders to work together to combat terrorism and counter violent extremism online, according to an official White House statement.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka will hold a public meeting in Jaffna on March 20 to expose the pro-imperialist stance of the various Tamil nationalist parties and to explain the socialist perspective needed to fight the growing danger of war.

The imperialist powers, particularly the United States, have responded to the deepening global economic crisis, by preparing for war against their rivals and unleashing austerity measures against the working class at home. Washingtons confrontational pivot to Asia against China has raised tensions and inflamed flashpoints throughout the region, threatening to trigger a global conflict with terrible consequences.

The Tamil bourgeois parties, such as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), are openly supportive of US imperialism and backed its regime-change operation in Colombo that the pro-US government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe to power. The TNA, like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, is seeking the support of the major powers to enhance the position of the Tamil elites.

Tamil.Net recently rushed to the defence of Tamil nationalism with a slanderous editorial claiming that the WSWS was working with imperialism to facilitate the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government. In fact, the WSWS and SEP in Sri Lanka have a long record of unflagging opposition to imperialism and the Colombo government, and defence of the democratic rights of Tamils. The editorial was a desperate attempt to cover up the increasingly open collaboration between the Tamil nationalist parties, Colombo and imperialism

The SEP has consistently opposed both Sinhala chauvinism and Tamil nationalism, which always serves to divide the working class on ethnic lines. Our political struggle to unite workers in Sri Lanka and South Asia is an integral component of the campaign being waged by the International Committee of the Fourth International to build an international anti-war movement based on the fight for socialism.

We call upon workers, youth and rural toilers to attend our Jaffna meeting and to take part in the discussion on a socialist perspective to halt the drive to imperialist war.

Venue: Weerasingham Hall, Jaffna

Date & Time: Sunday, March 20, 3.00 p.m.
On March 1, Home Secretary Theresa May published the Investigatory Powers Bill (IPB), known by critics as the snoopers charter.

It enshrines in law the previously hidden mass gathering of Internet data by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spying agency, as exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

The IPB is a far-reaching attack on privacy and democratic rights and greatly enhances the power of the growing surveillance state, as it brings the current diverse rules governing state surveillance into one piece of legislation.

In an unprecedented level of intrusion, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will have to keep records of the browsing history of everyone who accesses the Internet for a period of 12 months. State security forces will have the power to access this data unhindered, which would enable them to see every web site a person visited.

The introduction to the all-embracing bill states its purpose is to: Make provision about the interception of communications, equipment interference and the acquisition and retention of communications data, bulk personal datasets and other information; to make provision about the treatment of material held as a result of such interception, equipment interference or acquisition or retention; to establish the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and other Judicial Commissioners and make provision about them and other oversight arrangements; to make further provision about investigatory powers and national security 

It will establish in law the activities of GCHQ, providing the spy agency with access to all the data travelling on Internet cables passing through UK territory, its bulk storage and analysis. GCHQs nefarious practices, in which vast amounts of data entering and leaving the UK are hoovered up and shared with the US National Security Agency, as revealed by Snowden, will now be given legal sanction.

The IPB grants GCHQ, the National Crime Agency and, for the first time, a number of major police forces, the power to hack into mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets and the licence to carry out non-targeted mass hacking of such devices.

The Home Office claim that the police power to hack individuals electronic devices dates back to the 1997 Police Act and would, in any case, only be used in exceptional circumstances. This is flatly contradicted by the head of the Metropolitan Police technical unit, Paul Hudson, who, in evidence to Parliaments scrutiny committee, said such powers were used by police in the majority of serious crime cases. Hudson refused to provide any further information on his assertion in a public forum.

The Conservative government is allowing the unprecedented state surveillance of citizens on the basis that its snoopers need judicial legislation as well as the say-so of a government ministerthe so-called double lock system. The double lock was trumpeted by the government as an assurance that the privacy of UK citizens would not be violated. This is a fraud.

In effect, the role of the judiciary will be to ensure there is a prima facia case for any hacking and establish that procedures have been followed. Their designated role under the IPB is to merely rubber stamp the ministers decision, which will be paramount.

Moreover, access to web browsing records by the police and other security forces is totally exempt from the double lock and does not need to be authorised by a minister backed up by a judge.

The IPB also explicitly permits the use of spying techniques to bolster the countrys economic well-being, if this is linked to national security concerns. This could be widely interpreted to include many events, including industrial action taken by a group of workers.

The IPB has enormous legal implications, as it also undermines confidentiality between lawyers and their clients. Peter Carter QC, chair of the Bar Council Surveillance and Privacy Working Group, in a posting on the PoliticsHome web site on March 3 stated: The Bill undermines the right to a fair trial because barristers will no longer be able to reassure clients that their communications, which the public interest demands should be immune from state intrusion, are in fact private and confidential. It will, for example, allow authorities to listen in on clients and lawyers who are in the middle of a legal dispute against the Government.

An attempt by the Tories to introduce the snoopers charter under the previous Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition was blocked when the Liberal Democrats withdrew support. Immediately following the outcome of the May 2015 election, in which the Tories gained an absolute majority, Home Secretary Theresa May announced her intentions to reintroduce the bill and make it law by the end of 2016.

The government is keen to rush the IPB through Parliament, and hopes to utilise the campaign leading up to the referendum on the UKs membership of the European Union on June 23, in order to minimise public scrutiny of its passage through Parliament.

This has led to criticism even from within the ranks of the Tory party. The Independent newspaper noted February 27, The former Tory leadership contender David Davis said there was no doubt that the government wanted to rush the Bill through Parliament to avoid scrutiny. Government whips have told Labour that the Bill will be published on 1 March, with a second readinggiving MPs a line-by-line debate on the Bill scheduled for 14 March. The Bill will then go to committee stage from scrutiny on 22 March, with a final vote expected in Parliament by the end of April.

An open letter, urging the government to delay the bill, published in the Conservative supporting Daily Telegraph, had over 100 signatories including Davis, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, as well as the directors of human rights organisations Amnesty UK and Liberty, and leading academics.

The letter does not oppose state spying on the population in principle, stating, Intelligence agencies and the police require strong surveillance powers. Their powers and responsibilitiesas well as their limitsmust be clear to be effective. All three parliamentary reports on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill concluded that it does not meet the requirements of clarity, consistency and coherence. The letter states that the intention to pass the IPB this year is not in the nations interest (emphasis added).

A draft version of the bill published in November last year was scrutinised by three parliamentary committees, as part of the pre-legislative process. Their concerns and recommendations over privacy implications were supposed to be addressed in the revised March 1 bill.

The most important of these, the Intelligence Services Committee (ISC), produced an 18-page report on the proposed bill. The ISC is tasked with overseeing the work of the intelligence services. It is composed of former ministers, appointed by the prime minister, in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, currently Jeremy Corbyn. Its workings are kept secret, and the prime minister filters its reports to Parliament.

The ISC and the other committees, while critical of the wording and presentation of the IPB, fully support its intentions.

Online IT industry news web site The Register posted a commentary on this fraudulent scrutiny process last month, noting, The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has warned the Government that it needs to make substantive amendments to its draft Investigatory Powers Bill, before proceeding to outline changes which dont appear to be very substantive at all. It described the ISC report as, essentially a diligence exercise in legislative drafting that was largely targeted at the bills sloppy and rushed construction  rather than the powers contained therein.

In response to the feeble treatment from the bodies ostensibly charged with scrutinising the bill, the Home Office did nothing more than add the single word, privacy to the title of Part 1 of the bill, and sent it back to be passed into legislation.

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Detroit Public Schools (DPS) emergency manger Steven Rhodes, speaking to the media last Friday, threatened to close the citys school system if a legislative deal to restructure DPS was not reached by April 8. It is historically unprecedented for the population of a major American city to be informed its entire public education system could be shut down.

The former federal bankruptcy judge was asked in a phone call with Reuters reporters what he would do if the Michigan Legislature failed to appropriate new funding for the district by April 8. Close the schools, was his reply. He added, It would be a disaster for the kids. It would be a disaster for parents. It would be a disaster for the city. It would be a disaster for the state. It cant happen. So I dont believe it will happen.

Appointed by Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder under the hated emergency manager (EM) law PA 436, the unelected Rhodes has been tasked with implementing legislation to reorganize the Detroit schools. During the Detroit municipal bankruptcy of 2013-14 Rhodes was instrumental in forcing through some $7 billion in cuts to city retirees, vacating Michigan Constitutional protections in the process.

Moodys, speaking on behalf of Wall Street bondholders, also issued a warning Friday regarding DPSs $1.45 billion in implied general obligation unlimited tax (GOULT) bonds. The rating agency called for legislative reforms to dedicate operating levies to repayment of debt.

The Detroit Public Schools have been under state emergency management since 2009 and have amassed a $515 million operating debt. This fiscal crisisthe product of state and federal cuts to education, the state-subsidized incursion of charter schools and other for-profit businesses as well as the growth of povertyhas been used as the pretext to dissolve the school district. Michigan has reduced K-12 spending by 7.5 percent since 2008, the 12th deepest cut in the nation. Detroit is currently the poorest big city in the US.

Last August, former EM Darnell Earleyresponsible for poisoning the residents of Flint in his prior capacityagreed to a stopgap funding arrangement, which resulted in tripling the districts monthly debt payments. These escalated payments came due beginning in February, setting the wheels in motion for the district to run out of cash in April.

State legislators now have only six days of legislative sessions left to act before the deadline, as they are scheduled for their spring break on March 25. There is no plan B because we cant print money, Rhodes reiterated, stating that even if vendors went unpaid there would not be sufficient funds to meet payroll. Asked if taking out a short-term loan was a fail-safe option, he replied with a resounding no, according to Reuters.

A state appropriation of $50 million to the DPS has been widely suggested as a stopgap measure to allow the completion of the school year and provide time for further negotiations between the competing state House and Senate bills.

My message to parents and everyone in the state who is concerned about education is this: communicate or write to the legislators emphasizing the importance of doing this in a timely manner, Rhodes went on. I havent heard anybody in opposition to providing the supplemental $50 million.

There has been a nearly year-long legislative logjam over the specifics of Snyders plans for the dissolution of the debt-ridden Detroit Public Schools as an educational institution and the creation of a new Detroit Community Schools district.

The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) held an emergency meeting on Thursday seeking membership support precisely along the lines urged by Rhodes. They called for a march on the state capitol as well as other initiatives to protest Lansings failure to do its job.

In reality, the DFT, along with its parent union the American Federation of Teachers, far from mobilizing the working class against the conspirators in Lansing have thrown their support behind Rhodes, the hatchet man for Snyder and the financial elite.

As to Rhodes threats to shut the district, DFT Interim President Ivy Bailey said, This is kind of unprecedented. We do have our legal department looking into it. However, she claimed, Rhodes is working with the teachers not against them. At this point, Im optimistically cautious with anyone who comes in here to work with us but I have a good feeling about him. He has been transparent with us. Hes been fighting on our side but hes been trying to do whats best for children also, she said.

The DFT is supporting a Wall Street-dictated plan that will devastate education in Detroit and the rights of educators. The threatened closure of the district will no doubt be used to extract even more concessions from teachers in negotiations for a new contract. This signifies, once again, that the DFT and AFT represent the interests of business, not teachers.

Since January, the teachers unions have been working overtime to suppress the sickouts and other jobs actions that rank-and-file teachers initiated independently of the DFT. AFT President Randi Weingarten flew into Detroit at least three times to meet with teachers and strategize with DFT operatives to contain the rebellion.

Taking an even further step in seeking to quash teachers militancy, the union is now throwing its full weight behind Snyder and Rhodes. The Republican governor, it should be noted, faces a statewide recall effort with the possibility of criminal charges for his role in the poisoning of Flint.

The Senate bills, drawn up by Snyder cronies in collusion with state Democratic legislators, represent a dramatic assault on public education. While the final version is yet to be decided upon, both the Senate and House bills stipulate that a new school district will be created, which will be subordinated to a financial review board with dictatorial control. This proposed structure pioneers a new model for the destruction of public education that will be replicated nationally.

The fate of teachers salaries, health care costs, pensions, as well as school closures, will be determined by an unelected board whose priority is paying off the debts to the bondholders, with an eye on creating new money-making edubusiness opportunities.

This plan is an escalation of the policies that Snyder has aggressively implemented for years in concert with Obamas Race to the Top scheme. This includes the notoriously failed Education Achievement Authoritytouted as a national model by former Education Secretary Arne Duncanand a virtual nonstop series of privatization schemes which advanced charter schools, for-profit technology companies and consulting firms linked with the Broad and Gates Foundations.

As a result of these cumulative privatization policies, Detroit is now a high-choice city with more than half of all students attending charter schools. In fact, much of the bond debt plaguing DPS represented funds to repair schools, which were handed over to the charters, 94 of which operate in the city of Detroit.

The competing House version of the reorganization has been penned by Tea Party-style Republicans. It advocates restrictions on collective bargaining for some portions of teacher contracts, allowing the new district to hire teachers with alternate (e.g. lower) certifications, and tying teacher pay and benefits to performance standards. The most extreme position has been taken by the Mackinac Center, calling for the DPS to be allowed to collapse and be replaced with vouchers.

The DFT is promoting the Snyder-Rhodes plan as the lesser evil because it will utilize the services of the unions to attack teachers and public education, while ensuring the institutional and financial interests of the union bureaucracy. As Ivy Bailey said, the deal involves the survival of the union.
25 Years Ago | 50 Years Ago | 75 Years Ago | 100 Years Ago

25 years ago: Sweeping price increases announced in USSR

On March 19, 1991, the Soviet Stalinist bureaucracy headed by President Mikhail Gorbachev announced plans for sweeping price increases, just one day after it claimed victory in a March 17 referendum on the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Published details indicated that the price of staple foods such as bread and meat would triple when the measure went into effect on April 2. The price of milk and sugar was to approximately double. Meanwhile, state price controls would be lifted on approximately 30 percent of all consumer goods, allowing them to rise according to market rates.

In an attempt to contain the opposition of the working class to these drastic new attacks on its living standards, the bureaucracy indicated that it would raise wages by 80 percent before the imposition of price increasesan amount that would not begin to compensate for the sweeping price increases.

In a separate measure, the Kremlin bureaucracy also announced that it had begun slashing subsidies to state-owned factories in an attempt to force the liquidation of a wide range of unprofitable industries.

Spokesmen for the regime insisted that what was being carried out was not the kind of shock treatment which devastated the conditions of life for workers in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe, but a more controlled and gradual process.

Proponents of a more rapid drive to capitalist restoration denounced the new measures as inadequate, calling for the immediate lifting of price controls on all goods and services.

Soviet economist Anatoly Komin, a top Gorbachev adviser and one of the architects of the current plan, apologized to these elements, but added that the social-political situation in the country made Polish-style shock treatment untenable. In other words, the Gorbachev bureaucracy feared that its restorationist measures would provoke an uprising by the Soviet workers.

Meanwhile, the strike by Soviet miners continued to spread. Leaders of the strike claimed that 300,000 of the countrys 1.2 million miners joined the strike, which spread to virtually all of the main coalfields.

In addition to calling for a large wage increase and the fulfillment of the bureaucracys commitments, the leadership of the miners strike raised the demand that Gorbachev resign and that the Congress of Peoples Deputies be dissolved.

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50 years ago: Suharto completes Indonesia power grab

On March 16, 1966, CIA-backed Indonesian military strongman Suharto placed under house arrest the vice premier of Indonesia, Chairul Saleh, accusing him of being a communist sympathizer. One month later Saleh was put in prison, and within a year he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

The imprisonment of Saleh and the deposition of the entire cabinet of President Sukarno, who remained the nominal head of government, came four days after the official banning of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), once the largest communist party outside of the Soviet Union or China. Hundreds of thousands of PKI supporters had already been murdered when Suharto, with the full complicity of the US, completed his power grab.

Elite troops were sent in to occupy Djakarta, as the moves to force out Sukarnos cabinet were completed. The ouster was preceded by two weeks of anticommunist demonstrations by Islamist students against the dismissal of Suhartos associate, Gen. Nasution, as chief of the armed forces and defense minister, in a last-ditch bid by Sukarno to maintain a semblance of power.

Virtually unknown until the previous year, Suharto assumed the leadership of the anti-communist pogrom which followed the assassination of six top military leaders on October 1, 1965. After securing the support of the leaders of the military, Suharto gave Sukarno an ultimatum to dismiss his foreign minister and other cabinet ministers accused of being communist sympathizers. Sukarno was forced to hand over all political power to General Suharto, while retaining the nominal title of president.

While Sukarno refused to officially ban the PKI, he never denounced the bloodbath, only mildly criticizing excesses by the right. A bourgeois nationalist who made use of anti-imperialist rhetoric, Sukarno declared himself president-for-life in 1963, with the support of both the military and the three-million-member PKI. The alliance of the Stalinists with Sukarno served to paralyze the militant working class while the military butchers carried out their work almost without resistance. With the crushing of the PKI, the Indonesian bourgeoisie and their imperialist masters concluded that the time had come to dispense with the great leader of the revolution.

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75 years ago: Roosevelt acts to quell US defense strikes

On March 19, 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt announced the formation of a war labor mediation board which aimed to quell the growing number of strikes sweeping the defense industry and hindering US efforts to prepare for entry into World War II.

The War Department cited 20 strikes that directly threatened war production. Sixteen of the strikes involved a total of 23,000 workers and affected $60 million in defense contracts. Strikes also disrupted production in basic steel and coal, as well as auto, textiles, electronics and agricultural equipment.

The 11-member labor board was comprised of four corporate heads representing oil, publishing and basic industry; four labor bureaucrats, including Philip Murray, president of the CIO, and George Meany, secretary-treasurer of the AFL; and three representatives from the public, that is, retired businessmen and government bureaucrats, giving an automatic anti-labor majority.

In a national radio speech, Roosevelt declared that his recently passed cash-and-carry legislation to supply war materiel to Britain as well as arm the US must not be obstructed by unnecessary strikes of workers. Roosevelt peddled the lie of equal sacrifice between workers, whose hours would be increased while wages were held down, and bankers and manufacturers, who would rake in superprofits from military contracts.

The key element in Roosevelts policy was to obtain the collaboration of labor bureaucrats in alliance with big business in order to suppress strike action. Wise labor leaders and wise business managers will realize how necessary it is to their own existence to make common sacrifice for this great cause, he said.

The function of the labor bureaucrats on the war labor mediation board was best summarized by the business publication Kiplingers Washington Letter, which stated that the plan would put labor chiefs into government and give them governmental authority which they could use on the unions in case of strikes and disturbances which are not controllable.

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100 years ago: German revolutionary Karl Liebknecht denounces militarization of education

On March 18, 1916, Karl Liebknecht, the German revolutionary socialist and opponent of World War I, delivered a series of remarks in the German Reichstag, or parliament, denouncing the militarization of education and the glorification of war taking place in schools across the country. Liebknechts speech was one of a series in which he defied the Social Democratic majority, which had betrayed socialist internationalism by supporting the German war effort, and spoke out against the imperialist slaughter.

Liebknecht stated, The ideal of classical education lies in the spirit of independence and humanity. Addressing the government, and all of the pro-war parties, he said, Your ideal of classical education is the ideal of the bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas and grenades, which are hurled down on peaceful cities, and the ideal of submarine warfare.

He declared, The higher schools are also used as practical helpers in the service of the present war. A systematic propaganda is conducted in them for the war loans, and gold is collected in them. ... The schools are converted into training stables for the war. The physical upbuilding of the youth is encouraged now to attract new material for the Moloch, Militarism. Strengthening especially human health has thus as its aim the destruction of human life.

He denounced the war propaganda promoted in schools, which focused exclusively on the crimes committed by Britain, France and the other Allied powers, and painted the actions of German imperialism in the brightest colors.

In school must be taught, how this war arose, not only that the abominable murder of Sarajevo was an incident to inspire horror, but also the fact that the crime of Sarajevo was looked upon in many circles as a gift from Heaven, serving them as a war pretext, he said. His reference to the fact that sections of the ruling elite had welcomed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist, seeing it as an opportunity to launch longstanding military plans. provoked outraged howls from the Conservative and opportunist Social Democratic deputies to the Reichstag.

Amid repeated interruptions, Liebknecht concluded with a call for a revolutionary struggle against the German government and the imperialist war, declaring, To action! Those in the trenches, as well as those here at home, should put down their arms and turn against the common enemy, which takes from them light and air. The president of the Reichstag called Liebknecht to order for the third time, and asked the deputies whether he should be allowed to continue to speak. Only a handful of socialist opponents of the war voted in favor.

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Celebrations of the death of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria commander Abu Omar al-Shishani were premature, US media acknowledged late this week. The ISIS leader, whose death at the hands of a US airstrike was touted by US outlets and officials on Wednesday, is wounded but alive, according to reports Friday.

Assassinations and failed assassinations by the American military and intelligence bureaucracies are a daily reality of the Global War on Terror.

The attempted killing of Shishani, however, has a broader significance that sheds light on the war on terror and the massive lies which sustain it. The story of Shishani, a Georgian fighter born as Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili in an ethnic Chechen community in Georgias Pankisi Valley, is significant for its exposure of the organic ties between US imperialism and its nominal enemies in ISIS, al Qaeda, and myriad similar groups.

Shishani began his career as a professional soldier in the Georgian national military, where he trained under the direct supervision of US Special Forces commandos.

During training Shishani gained a reputation as the star pupil of the US-managed warfare training.

The only reason he didnt go to Iraq to fight alongside America was that we needed his skills here in Georgia, a Georgian military officer told McClatchy.

We trained him well, and we had lots of help from America, the officer said.

The future ISIS leader gave no sign of disloyalty to the US-dominated Georgian force. While fighting in the 2008 Georgia-Russian war, Shishani deployed ahead of the the front lines, calling in strikes against Russian columns from forward operating posts.

According to the Georgian military, Shishanis official military career ended when he was discharged in 2010, because of his hospitalization for tuberculosis. Later the same year, he was arrested on charges of illegally stockpiling weapons, according to Georgian officials.

Shishani was subsequently released prior to completing his full sentence, fleeing Georgia in early 2012 for the battlefields of Syria.

According to the BBC, the US Special Forces top student rapidly became one of the most influential leaders within the Islamist militias fighting in Syria.

By late 2012, Shishani had taken command of Jaysh al-Muhajireen Brigade, a Chechen militia linked to the US-backed al Nusra Front, commanding the group as it waged joint operations with al Nusra around Aleppo.

In May 2013, ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appointed Shishani as commander of all ISIS operations in northern Syria, including forces deployed around Idlib, Aleppo, Latakia and Raqqa. In 2014, Shishani again moved up the ISIS chain of command, managing the creation of a financial architecture for new ISIS bases including in Minbij, Syria.

The Chechen militants lightning rise to the highest levels of the ISIS apparatus, just years after learning his trade under the supervision of elite US troops, provides a stark illustration of the undeniable links between the US military and intelligence apparatus and the very terrorist groups against which the Pentagon is supposedly waging war.

Shishani emerged out of military that is among the most heavily dependent on US aid worldwide. Georgias armed forces rely on US funds for nearly 50 percent of their annual budget, according to a new report by the Washington-based Security Assistance Monitor.

Like Shishani, the great majority of ISIS fighters are drawn from countries whose governments have close ties to the US and Western militaries, ISIS documents leaked this week show.

The ethnic and national composition of ISIS alone makes clear the groups integration into the global military network of US imperialism. The vast majority of ISIS personnel have been drawn from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, and Tunisia. ISIS ranks are dominated by gunmen drawn from countries with ultra-reactionary regimes with close ties to Washington, the documents show.

The documents also give a glimpse of the inner workings of an Islamic State that, despite its bloody propaganda stunts, is essentially a professionalized military and political organization no different from other bourgeois armies and parties.

ISIS is systematically recruiting, vetting and monitoring members, and is especially interested to attract more educated and skilled elements. The ISIS documents show that applicants are even asked to submit recommendations from previous employers.

The groups potential role as an instrument of the US military drive against Russia becomes ever more obvious. New ISIS affiliates are emerging in a host of countries with crucial importance to the US. The ISIS network is expanding along Russias southern frontier, with special focus on the most geopolitically explosive areas of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

At least 40 terrorist financial cells are already operating on Russian soil, supported by another 30 cells targeting Russia from abroad, Russian intelligence officials announced Friday. Russian intelligence agents identified more than 1,500 terrorists and 3,500 bank accounts linked to terror groups plotting attacks against Russia. A single French-based cell is managing more than 1,000 sleeper agents operating on Russian territory, the officials claimed.

On Tuesday, militants claiming to represent a newly formed Caucasus Province of the Islamic State released a video recording, threatening attacks against Russia and suggesting various tactics for use against Russian targets.

The tape begins with footage of a car bombing in southern Russias Dagestan province, where US intelligence has long sought to cultivate Islamist forces for operations aimed at destabilizing Russia.

The same pattern is evident within Russias other soft underbelly in Central Asia. Recent years have seen ISIS burst onto the political scene in Uzbekistan. Last spring, Tajikistans top counterterrorism officer, Gumurod Halimov, defected to the ISIS banner.

In April, Halimov disappeared suddenly from his command of the Tajik security apparatus, reappearing a month later as the star of an ISIS propaganda film. Posing in front of the black flag, Halimov denounced the US while boasting of his training by US commandos and Blackwater mercenaries.

Like Shishani, Halimov benefited from cutting-edge military training provided by the US government. Before defecting, Halimov completed no less than five training courses run by the US military, including repeated trips to the US for training.

Along with Georgia, Tajikistan is also among the most US-dependent militaries, receiving nearly 30 percent of its 2014 military budget from Washington, according to the Security Assistance Monitor study.
And now Libya, it reads in large letters on the front page of the current edition of the German news weekly Die Zeit. The message of the editorial by Gero von Randow, the weeklys political editor, is clear: Following Iraq and Syria, the West should now intervene militarily in Libya under the guise of the fight against Islamic State.

Von Randow writes: So, Libya. As if there were not already enough regions of urgency. But we have to look there, because the country now not only serves IS as a safe haven, but also as a staging post for recent attacks. This was an alarming find, for us in Europe too.

To mobilize support for a new, and this time much more extensive intervention in the oil-rich country after the NATO bombing in 2011, von Randow claims that IS stands on the verge of overrunning large parts of Africa and even Europe. From North African Libya, IS wants to expand southward to Chad and Niger, west to Tunisia and Algeria and not least to the north, to Europe.

Tripoli or Ben Guerdane [in Tunisia] is only 500 kilometres away from Italy. The Caliphate fascism moves closer to us, von Randow enjoins his readers. Moreover, if North Africa should become a second Syria, another mass exodus is threatened, this time not via Turkey, but via Italy.

Visibly satisfied, von Randow notes that the New York Times had already reported on Washingtons plans for a massive military intervention in Libya. Also, American warplanes had already attacked a Libyan IS base close to the Tunisian border, and there were increasing reports of American, British, French and Italian special forces supporting opponents of IS on Libyan soil.

Von Randow is aware that the massive military intervention of which he writes would not only breach international law but would stand in the worst traditions of European colonialism.

Under conditions of state collapse and two competing governments, no one had the legitimacy in the eyes of Libyans to beg abroad for a military intervention, says von Randow. The dilemma: Any intervention by former colonial powers would provide IS with political credit in the countryto defer in turn meant granting the terrorists time to entrench themselves deeper into Libya.

Cynically he adds: So whatever is done or not done will end badly. The skill is to make the less bad choice.

Whether there will be an international intervention in Libya was uncertain, notes von Randow, just to make it clear in the next sentence what he regards as the less bad choice. The only conditions he places on an international intervention is that it should not be limited to Libya, and also involve the use of combat troops!

He writes: It must ... only be undertaken when Tunisia is prevented from being overrun by retreating IS troops. So far, it has protected itself only by means of porous sand walls and with troops of limited effectiveness. Foreign powers, if they intervene in Libya, therefore, have the moral obligation to provide the Tunisians with all relevant resources to secure their bordercombat forces included.

Von Randow is one of those media lackeys who were already of the opinion in 2011 that German non-participation in the NATO bombing of Libya had been a big mistake, which must be corrected. A cursory glance at his outpourings in recent years provides eloquent testimony to his position.

In March 2011, he published an editorial headlined, The clever Monsieur Sarkozy, in which he praised the former French president for his central role in the war in Libya. With the French intervention and official recognition of the rebel council as lawful representatives of Libya, Sarkozy had shown decisiveness. He could use this to score points againthis time even in the political centre and the left.

With his warmongering, Sarkozy could apparently score points especially with von Randow himself. In the following months, von Randow spent much of his journalistic work with the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy (BHL), who played a key role in organizing the intervention of the imperialist powers under the false flag of human rights.

On March 31, 2011, Randow published an interview with BHL on Zeit online with a programmatic headline calling for the sacking of the then-German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle: Fire Westerwelle. The philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy on bombs against Gadhafi and German, popular pacifism.

Later, there followed joint calls to escalate the war in Syria. On November 3, 2011, an interview was published under the title, Evil remains: Must the West also intervene in Syria? What will happen to Libya? Is Sarkozy now a friend? An interview with the French philosopher and advocate of war Bernard-Henri Levy. And on March 8, 2012: What are we waiting for? Europe invites shame on itself if it does not stop the killing in Syria, says the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

This culminated with an article by von Randow in June 2015. Under the headline, My foreign friend, he published an obituary for a fallen jihadi, underscoring that imperialism in Libya and Syria had worked for a long time with the same Islamist forces that were now being used as a pretext to intervene again militarily.

My friend Zied is dead, only 33 years old, he fell in the fight against the Syrian army. Zied Kanoun was a Tunisian revolutionary. And jihadi, von Randow complained, and reported further: Over two years ago, he left his wife Betty and their baby to fight against Syrian dictator Assad. But on whose side? Zied wandered around, tried with IS, with Al-Nusra (an offshoot of Al Qaeda) and others.

Von Randow did not mince his words and even admitted that he had been discussing with his friend Zied on Facebook for months, even when he was already in Syria. It was no longer possible to agree on most things, however, until the end, contempt for kleptocracy and the police stateand the search for truth and the real life united them.

Von Randows search for truth and the real life led him from the editorship of elan, the Stalinist Socialist German Young Workers (SDAJ) youth magazine published in the late 1970s/early 1980s, to the political department of Die Zeit. He is thus a prime example of a generation of former Stalinists, Pabloites and Maoists who now hire themselves out as well-paid manipulators in the media and politics, and have set themselves the goal of reviving German militarism and imperialism.
6 years, 7 months ago QPD

Kayla R Wingerter (28) 1305 1/2 Spring St. Quincy, IL for improper lane usage on 2-19-16 at Front St. and Maiden Lane. PTC.

Monica G Common (40) 630 Harrison Dr. Quincy, IL for operating uninsured vehicle at 3rd and Oak on 3-13-16. NTA.

Jesse E Pilant (46) 1823 Madison St Quincy, IL for expired registration at 8th and Maine on 3-12-16. NTA.

Jasmine D Deere (28) 507 Locust St. Quincy, IL for driving while license suspended at 4th and Broadway on 3-13-16. NTA.

Devin A Shoop (20) 741 1/2 S. 5th St. Quincy, IL for a warrant for FTA - driving while license suspended at QPD HQ on 3-13-16. Cash Bond.

Nykimmie J Wortham (21) 104 South 4th Apt. 234 Quincy, IL for possession of cannabis at 301 Riverview on 3-12-16. NTA.

Derrick W Morrison (28) 600 1/2 Elm Quincy, IL for driving while license suspended and possession of drug paraphernalia and 6th and Elm on 3-12-16. NTA.

Angela M Goodall (26) 913 April Ave Quincy, IL for speeding at 200 block of South 36th St. on 3-13-16. PTC.

Melissa S Hartman (36) 1000 S. 6th Quincy, IL for operating uninsured vehicle at 12th and Harrison on 3-13-16. NTA.

John W Schlueter (45) 2034 State St. Quincy, IL for peace disturbance on 10-26-15 at 520 S. 21st. NTA.

Deshon G Lewis (21) 625 Payson Ave Quincy, IL for a warrant for Residential Burglary at 625 Payson Ave on 3-14. Lodged.

Mark Trinka reports his 2003 Ford was damaged as it was parked near 1530 South 5th in between 2-29 and 3-1.

Candy Vanfleet reports that the tires on her 2005 Dodge were damaged in between 3-8-16 and 3-9-16.

Shirley Robertson of 429 Hickory Pointe Quincy, IL reports that a coin purse and US currency were stolen from the Blessing Hospital ICU waiting room on 2-29-2016.

Amanda M Gallaher 25, of Hannibal for fighting at 725 Washington on 2/23.

Calvin E Bragg 51, of Arkansas for DUI, driving while license suspended and illegal transportation of alcohol at 6th and Broadway on 3/13. Lodged

Larry Thompson (58) 218 1/2 Chestnut for domestic battery. Lodged

Alexandra Morse reports being battered by Isaac Hickman at 701 Monroe on 2/21/16.

Allen Wickman 3308 Harrison reports his mailbox was damaged along with several neighbors on 2/27.

Janey Schroder 515 S 12th reports tires on her vehicle were cut while parked at 320 Spring on 2/28.

Perry Echternkamp, 638 College, reports someone opened an Ameren CIPS account in his name at 618 N. 13th in August, 2014.

Jason L. Mooneyham, (38) 1110 State St. Quincy for operating an uninsured vehicle.

Aaron G. Brandon (41) 4871 Laurier Dr, Mehlville, MO for Expired registration. NTA

Jason S. Voepel (28) 1422 Elm, Quincy for operating an uninsured vehicle.

Abby J. Milks (22) 833 Shirlen Dr., Quincy for illegal transportation of alcohol. NTA

Stephanie M Seidelman 30, of Barry for McDonough Co. warrant for failure to comply with payment agreement. Cash bond

Robert M. Wade Jr. (22) St. Louis MO for FTA - seatbelt, obstructing justice and driving while license revoked. Lodged

Derrick W. Morrison (28) 600 1/2 Elm, Quincy for possession of a controlled substance. Lodged

Kerry D.F. Talburt II (19) 1005 1/2 Jersey, Quincy for Unlawful possession with intent to deliver cannabis. Lodged

Tayler J. Murry (26) 1119 S. 18th, Quincy for FTA- possession of drug paraphernalia. Lodged

Nykimmie J. Wortham (21) 104 S. 4th Apt. 234 for FTA - possession of drug paraphernalia. Lodged
6 years, 7 months ago by Scott Hardy

Mayor Moore casts deciding vote

The Quincy City Council has voted down an ordinance to give itself more of a say in how department heads are dismissed. Scott Hardy has more.
MIAMI (AP) - Federal health officials are giving more than $3 million to nine health centers in Florida to help expand substance abuse programs, specifically ones focusing on opioid treatment in underserved populations.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a statement that the opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues facing the country.

The Florida funds announced Friday will increase the number of patients screened for substance use disorders and connected to treatment, increase the number of patients with access to medication treatment for opioid use and other substance use disorder treatment. The funds will also help educate health professionals to make more informed prescribing decisions.

Nationally, $94 million was given and is expected to help programs hire approximately 800 providers to treat nearly 124,000 new patients.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida election officials on Saturday pushed back against assertions by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that there was "dishonest early voting" going on in the state.

Trump said on Twitter that his campaign was asking law enforcement to look into problems with early voting, but Meredith Beatrice, speaking for Florida's secretary of state, said election officials had not heard of any such problems and had received no formal complaints.

Trump, the GOP front-runner, also said on Twitter that he had heard that some Republicans may be trying to "rig the vote" for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in Tuesday's big presidential primaries. His campaign has not provided any examples of dishonest voting.

Wadi Gatan, a spokesman for the Florida Republican Party, said the party also was unaware of early-voting irregularities.

The outcome of Florida's winner-take-all primary is crucial for Rubio's prospects for staying in the 2016 race.

Early voting in Florida started Feb. 29. Most counties had early voting sites open from March 5 until Saturday; nine counties hold early voting Sunday, including Rubio's home county of Miami-Dade.

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Follow Gary Fineout on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/fineout
At the start of the current decade, 35,000 Palestinians were working in Israel with permits. A further 20,000 were working without permits as "illegal aliens." They constituted less than one percent of the number of employees in the Israeli business sector, but the government was still disturbed by this phenomenon.

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In January 2010, it therefore decided to create an interdepartmental team headed by Professor Zvi Eckstein, then the deputy governor of the Bank of Israel, "to formulate recommendations for the regulation, supervision and enforcement of employing Palestinians." The government's decision said that the team would include representatives from the Ministries of Defense, the Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Public Security, Industry, and Agriculture, and the Borders Authority.

Miraculously, the team's broad composition did not delay the writing of the final report. Chairman Eckstein used his professional prestige to obtain everyone's consent to the joint recommendations, and in May 2011, the full report of the team (which had, by that point, become a committee) was delivered to the Israeli government.

The report spanned 30 pages, but the crux of it was this: Israel must  after decades of turning a blind eye, sputtering, uncertainty, mixing considerations and avoiding a clear opinion  determine an encompassing policy vis-a-vis Palestinian employment in Israel, implement it on the ground, and periodically examine its suitability in light of changing circumstances.

Palestinian workers (Photo: Reuters)

The correct policy, the report argued, must take into account Israel's security needs, the Israeli economy's needs, and also the needs of the Palestinian economy in the long term. Members of the committee agreed, according to Eckstein (today the head of the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya), that it was desirable to set a goal for the gradual reduction of Palestinian employment in Israel  not because of security restrictions, but rather in order to weaken the unhealthy embrace of a strong, rich economy with a weak, poor one.

"Providing employment opportunities for Palestinians in Israel," said Eckstein, "does indeed significantly improve the Palestinian standard of living, and therefore takes the edge off the occupation and eliminates the motives for terrorist attacks. This can be seen in statistical data: There are practically no attackers from families that make their living in Israel. But this is only a short-term sedative."

This, in his opinion, is an arrangement that "fortifies Palestinian dependency on Israel. The ability to work in Israel comes at the expense of local Palestinian development, at the expense of investing in the Palestinian economy."

In the long term, the benefit to Israel is also a double-edged sword: Palestinian labor reduces the wages of less-educated Israeli workers and makes it less worthwhile to invest in mechanization and raise the productivity of labor-intensive manufacturing industries such as residential construction.

The Eckstein Committee recommended, among other things, fully registering Palestinians at their entry and exit from work in Israel, formulating a bill of rights and duties and distributing it to the workers and employers, transferring the Palestinian employees' salaries directly into their bank accounts in the Palestinian Authority, requiring Israeli employers to provide transit from the checkpoint to the workplace and back, centralizing the matter under one government authority (instead of across the five authorities that are supposed to handle it now), and establishing a professional, permanent team to examine Israeli employers' work-permit applications for Palestinians.

What happened to the recommendations? I asked Eckstein this weekend. The report and its recommendations, he answered, "were buried immediately. Nothing was implemented." In fact, you can see that what happened is exactly the opposite of the recommendations. The number of Palestinian workers legally employed in Israel has doubled since and is approaching 65,000-75,000. Another 35,000 work in Israel without permits. Most Palestinians are employed in construction, where their proportion has risen to 16 percent, compared to 10 percent five years ago. Their proportion in agriculture is reaching 12.5 percent. Needless to say, all governments since 2011 have not decided on any all-encompassing policy for employing Palestinians in Israel.

Last year, Palestinian workers brought home approximately $1.7 billion  about $1,000 per month. The average salaries under the Palestinian Authority are lower than NIS 2,000 ($515) per month. It's therefore not surprising that those with skills, abilities and initiative are looking for every possible way to work in Israel. Those lacking in skills and luck remain on the other side of the fence, their situation is deteriorating, and despair is on the rise.

Until a knife is drawn.
A drive to recruit young Jewish women and men for volunteer positions in various poor and developing regions around the world was launched in New York, as part of the Jewish Agency's Ten ("give" in Hebrew. -Ed.) program.

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The project's aim is to recruit 3,000 volunteers, who will be dispersed to three locations around the world: Ghana, Mexico, and Ethiopia. Others could also be recruited to work at the operating centers in Arad and Harduf.

The launch event was held under the auspices of the Consul General of Israel in New York Ido Aharoni, with many representatives of Jewish communities, diplomats, donors, Jewish Agency emissaries, and young people who had previously served in the volunteer centers all in attendance.

The project's activities in Ghana (Photo: Goni Hyams, manager of Ghana volunteer center, TEN Program)

Several meetings with potential volunteers have already been held, including with Jewish students in leading US universities. Whoever wishes to volunteer to work as part of the Ten program, which has existed for three years, can choose to volunteer in Gondar, Ethiopia, Oaxaca, Mexico, or Winneba, Ghana. The project offers young Jews from Israel and abroad a chance to live together in centers located in disadvantaged areas, and to promote the values of giving and social responsibility by helping to empower the local civilian population.

"The volunteer centers give young people from Jewish communities and Israel the opportunity to work together towards a better world and take part in something bigger. They realize the Zionist and Jewish values," said Jewish Agency Chairperson Natan Sharansky.

Young people who are recruited into the volunteer centers will receive a tailor-made volunteer plan for several weeks or months. They will help local populations in the areas of education, agriculture and health, and work in cooperation with local Jewish organizations operating in the region. The goal is to develop leadership skills in marginalized populations and enhance their ability to produce independent models of sustainable development even after the Jewish volunteers leave the area.

Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky. (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

One of the centers is located in the remote jungles of Oaxaca. After a devastating hurricane hit the region, it was decided to establish an international volunteer center that will work to strengthen the durability of local residents and improve their quality of life. The Center works in conjunction with the Jewish-Mexican organization Cadena which specializes in helping areas stricken by natural disasters. Dozens of volunteers are working in remote and isolated communities spread over a wide, hilly and bushy area.

Ten's project manager, Jordan Zornberg, said that in the coming year the project's staff expect to open two additional centers: One in the heart of the Jewish community in Durban, South Africa - where volunteers will serve the country's tribal regions - and the other in Cuzco, Peru  which will offer backpackers a chance to incorporate volunteer work with their trips to South America. According to Zornberg, more than a thousand volunteers from Israel and abroad are expected to be absorbed into the various volunteer centers. They are expected to work in long-term positions, combining global social activism and Jewish Values.

Those who wish to participate in the program can apply here: Tenprogram.org/apply
More than 30,000 people live In Tamra, a city in the Galilee. But Tamra has no police station.

Neither d Sakhnin, a city of 28,000, Baqa-Jatt which has 35,000 residents, and a number of other Arab communities. The situation is exected to change, with ten new police stations planned to be set up as part of a program to reinforce policing in the Arab sector.

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The high crime figures in the Arab sector led the Ministry of Public Security and the police to formulate a comprehensive plan to strengthen law enforcement, entailing the recruitment of 1,350 new police officers, building new police stations, and reinforcing some existing stations.

The prospect of increasing police stations in Arab-majority areas hsa been on the able for many months, but was announced as a priority by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a terror attack on Dizengoff Streetin Tel Aviv, carried out by an Israeli Arab from the village of Ara. The call to boost law enforcement also came from the Arab population, given that it is the first to suffer from rising crime rates.

Chief of Police Roni Alsheikh (Photo: Ido Erez)

According to data presented by Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh a month ago to the Knesset Interior Committee, while Israeli Arabs constitute 21 percent of the population, they represent 59 percent of murder (mostly non-terror-related) cases, 47 percent of robbery cases, 32 percent of property crimes, and 27 percent of drug trafficking offenses.

The new police stations are to be set up in Sakhnin, Iksal, Maghar Qana, Tamra, Majd al-Krum, Jisr az-Zarqa, Baka al-Gharbia, and another station in Acre to service local residents.

Gilad Erdan (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)

In addition, a directorate for dealing with crime in the Arab sector is to be set up at the national police headquarters. Assistant Commissioner Jamal Hakroush is expected to be promoted to deputy commissioner, which would make him the first Muslim Arab in Israel to hold the position. The police are working to ensure sizable number of new police officers will be Arab Muslims, which would help increase trust among the Arab sector.

Assistant Commissioner Jamal Hakroush (Photo: Elad Gershgoren)

This is one of the flagship projects of Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and Police Chief Alsheikh. Erdan worked for several months to increase the budget in order to implement the program, and now the issue is to be decided by the Ministries of Finance and Public Security and the Prime Minister. According to Erdan, "the implementation of the plan will lead to a huge improvement in the quality of life of Israeli Arabs and reduce crime and violence throughout the country."
Two vehicular attacks took place within minutes Monday morning at a hitchhiking stop near the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank. Four IDF soldiers were lightly wounded and all three terrorists were shot dead.

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The first vehicular attack was carried out by two armed terrorists who tried to run over Israelis who were waiting a hitchhiking stop near Elias Junction near Kiryat Arba. The terrorists also tried to shoot the people there. IDF soldiers guarding the stop shot and killed both terrorists. One soldier was lightly wounded from shrapnel.

2 vehicular attacks near Kiryat Arba

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The wounded soldier was treated by Magen David Adom Medics at the scene and was sent to Shaare Tsedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Shooting of terrorist seen from nearby bus (:  ",   )

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The terrorists, armed with a pistol and a Carl Gustaf submachine gun, were Amir Al-Juneidi, 22, and Qasem Farid Jaber, 31, from Hebron.

Terrorists' handgun and submachine gun (Photo: IDF spokesperson)

While soldiers were active at the scene of the attack another Palestinian car ran over an IDF officer and lightly wounded him.

The terrorist, Yusef Tarayra, 18, was shot to death. Two soldiers were lightly wounded by shrapnel.
New discoveries in the investigation of the bus accident on Highway 1 in February, in which six passengers were killed, show that the Israel Police may have played a part in the deadly occurrence. It turns out that Chaim Biton, the bus driver suspected of being responsible for their deaths, was given back his driver's license after being involved in a similar incident in December 2013.

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The previous accident saw 18 people hurt when an Egged bus on the same line collided with a truck at 1am. Biton, who drove that bus as well, was summoned to a hearing by the police, at the end of which his license was restored, allowing him to resume regular driving duties.

The driver, Chaim Biton. (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

The scene of the accident. (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

Five days after the 2013 accident, Biton gave his version to the Jerusalem district police, "I saw the truck and didn't properly estimate its speed, I saw a car from the middle lane which passed me, and then I hit the truck. I understand that it's my responsibility for causing the accident."

Despite acknowledging that Biton drove carelessly and caused an accident, the traffic officer in charge of the case determined that he was "a veteran driver, (with) a non-burdened past, I did not see a risk." Eight months later, while BIton was back at work, the police decided to indict him for reckless driving, but a plea bargain was reached and he was allowed to go on working. His license was suspended for just 45 days, he was given a deferred suspension of three months, a fine of NIS 500, and was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service.

(Photo: Yariv Katz)

The Israel Police responded to this story, saying, "The hearing at the point to which you are referring in your inquiry is a procedural step, not a punitive one. Its purpose is to inspect the dangerousness of a driver, based on their traffic convictions alone (at the time, of course), in the face of their years of driving. Under the circumstances, the officer's judgement was justified, as well as his recommendation to serve an indictment against the driver for that accident."
The president of the Israeli Sociological Society (ISS) Professor Uri Ram declared Monday that the society will not cooperate with Ariel University, located in the northern West Bank.

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The ISS stated that "the institute known as Ariel University is not located in the borders of the state of Israel, and so it is not a part of the sociological society's activities, which associates only with Israeli sociologists and institutes." The ISS explained that this is merely the renewal of a similar resolution adopted in 2010.

The ISS was founded 40 years ago, and has about 1,000 members. It's goals include promoting and encouraging sociological research and discussion in Israel. According to a list that was last updated in February, it has three members from Ariel University. Professor Ram, who lectures are Ben Gurion University of the Negev, began serving as ISS president about a month ago. At the moment, it is still unclear if the boycott resolution will actually be implemented by the ISS in practice, or if it is merely a statement of principle.

Ariel University. (Photo: Yitzhak Shlisel)

Ariel University responded by saying, "Ariel University is surprised and disappointed by the fact that people whose professional emblem is the flag of pluralism are working under models of semi-fascistic behavior, which cannot dwell alongside opinions different from their own. Ariel University has people of different worldviews, Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, left and right, from all of Israel's cities and towns."

Education Minister Bennet. "No intention of allowing boycotts." (Photo: Ido Erez)

Education Minister Naftali Bennett spoke of the matter, saying he sees the boycott as a very severe step. He is reportedly seeking a means of combating the boycott. "A boycott isn't education, it's the opposite of education," he said. "A boycott is not pluralism, it's the opposite of pluralism, and will be handled accordingly. It is absurd, because the fighters for academic freedom are taking the right to discriminate between institutions into their hands. The Israeli taxpayers fund higher education and we have no intention of allowing boycotts."
After expressing his stance that the expulsion of the families of terrorists to Gaza or to Syria contravenes international law and would expose Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Attorney General Avcihai Mandelblit has decided allow the government to expel families o the West Bank.

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Mandelblit is expected to inform Prime Minister Netanyahu that the expulsion of families from one city to another within the West Bank will be allowed, but only in cases where it can be shown that the family knew in advance of their relative's intentions.

Netanyahu, who approached the attorney general with a request to look into the issue, discussed the matter in the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, saying: "I expect the attorney generals answer to my appeal regarding the expulsion of families of terrorists to Gaza. At the same time, we are considering transferring residences inside Judea and Samaria. "

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)

Mandelblit's decision was based in part on a decade-old High Court of Justice ruling, which determined that in an occupied territory where a military commander is sovereign , he may for security reasons transfer or deport individuals  but only inside the territory under his control.

The justices, headed by then- chief justice Aharon Barak, ruled then that this was consistent with the Fourth Geneva Conventions provisions, and that before implementing this measure, the military commander is permitted to consider the possible deterrent effect on the masses.

The court thus allowed the government and the security forces to move families of terrorists from the West Bank to Gaza. But now, after the disengagement Gaza is no longer under Israeli control, meaning families can only be sent to the West Bank (or other parts of it if the family is already in the West Bank).

Transportation Minister Israel Katz, who initiated a bill that would expel families of terrorists into Gaza and Syria, said Sunday in response that he is continuing to advance the bill "with the utmost intensity and seriousness."

In private conversations, Katz has expressed concern that Madelblit's position is nothing more than spin aimed at fending off the pressure by MKs to promote the legislation."

However, Katz added that if Mandelblit ultimately approves terrorists' families relocation within the West Bank, he will praise him, as "every expulsion and exclusion has a deterrant value."
A Palestinian-American member of the Islamic State group gave himself up to an Iraqi Kurdish military unit in the country's north, an Iraqi Kurdish general said Monday.

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The circumstances of the surrender were not fully disclosed, but it marked a rare instance in which an IS fighter voluntarily gave himself up to Kurdish forces in Iraq. In neighboring Syria, meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Kurdish forces in Sinjar, Iraq (Photo: MCT)

Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces identified the individual as Mohammed Jamal Amin.

Helkani said the man is a Palestinian-American who has been fighting with IS in Iraq and surrendered near the town of Sinjar - retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.

According to Helkani, Amin was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cell phones and three forms of identification, including a US driving license. The IS fighter is currently being held by the peshmerga for interrogation, Helkani added.

The man had been "lurking near the peshmerga lines" since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Helkani.

Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

"Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up," Helkani said, adding that the man is a Palestinian-American who was fighting with IS in Iraq. The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.

The discrepancy between the fighter's family name on the license and the one provided by the Kurdish general could not immediately be reconciled. His first name was also spelled differently.

In grainy cell phone footage, also posted on social media shortly after the surrender, the man is seen surrounded by Iraqi Kurdish troops and confirming that he is from the United States and that he is Palestinian. In response to an interrogator's question, he says he was in the city of Mosul, which is under IS control.

Last week, Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's envoy to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, announced that IS had lost more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of territory in Syria and more than 600 fighters over the past month.

In Iraq, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the past few weeks. Iraqi officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraq's north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully "liberated" by Iraqi and US-led coalition officials last month.

IS still controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" on the territory it holds. The extremist group also controls Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva Eviatar Manor this week accused the UN Commission for Human Rights for blindly and consistently singling out of Israel, calling this a "mental disorder" and saying that the commission needs "immediate psychological treatment."

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Manor spoke at a commission discussin over the weekend on the subject of the its annual report. He accused the commission of having twisted priorities, as it is set to discuss six reports and five resolutions condemning Israel, while ignoring other countries in the Middle East.

"The commission suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with regards to Israel," said Manor. "The commission cant control its disorder, and writes more and more reports and resolutions against my country. I want to remind you all that a symptom of this disorder is an increased risk of suicide. The commission will bring about its own death. What this commission needs is psychiatric help. I suggest that the commission expose itself to other conflict areas of the world and deal them with the same level of hysteria that they deal with Israel."

The ambassador requested that Human Rights Commission turn its attention to a statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights last week.

"He pointed out exactly what needs to be the commission's priority," Manor stated. "4.8 million Syrians are refugees. 13.8 million Syrians, Iraqis, and Yemenis are considered 'displaced persons.' 7.6 million people in Yemen suffer from food insecurity, and 14 million people have no access to healthcare. Dozens of hospitals have been bombed in Syria since January of this year. Yet this Commission has decided to discuss five or six resolutions against Israel? This is shameful and demonstrates complete disregard for the human rights of millions."

Gold in the lion's den

On another diplomatic front, Dor Gold, managing director of the Foreign Ministry, visited South African campuses during the anti-Israel "apartheid week" held last week, also taking the opportunity to visit Nelson Mandela's childhood home.

Despite concern about violent protests, Gold visited the quad University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he with pro-Israel students.

Managing Director of the Foreign Ministry Dor Gold speaks to South African students (Photo: Israeli Foreign Ministry)

The event was planned in advance and was conducted under heavy security, but no incidents were reported. The students told Gold that Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) party always advocated for bi-lateral dialogue with those with whom they disagreed.

"They (Mandela and the ANC) would have been against this boycott, and would have applied the doctrine of Nelson Mandela," Gold said. "Those who call for a boycott against Israel work in opposition to the doctrine of Nelson Mandela."

Gold said that although there are anti-Israel protests in the streets of South Africa, it is important to know that there are still groups of students who are against the BDS movement.

"There are black students amongst the anti-BDS people also," he said. "On the one hand, you see the BDS protests saying that Israel is an apartheid nation, but on the other hand, we sit here with South African Foreign Ministry representatives and we speak about how to strengthen the relationship between our two countries. What we are doing is realistic. And what they are doing, I'm not sure where it comes from  it has little influence and seems to me to be out of touch with reality," Gold stated.

Before this, Gold went to the ANC party headquarters and the Mandela House, were he spoke spontaneously to a group of ninth graders who happened to be visiting the site.

Dor Gold speaks with South African ninth graders at the Mandela House (Photo: Israeli Embassy in South Africa)

"We the Jews understand the importance in the fight for freedom which Nelson Mandela led from here," Gold told the students. "For us, Zionism is the Jewish liberation movement."

Yet not everything is as rosy as it seems. Over 200 anti-Israel events were held during apartheid week, some cooperation with the ANC party. Christian and Muslim organizations also took part in the events.
Ankara - Turkey lashed out Monday at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants in their homes after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong indications" that Sunday's attack was carried out by rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Davutoglu added that authorities detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near two bus stops that killed 37 people. DNA tests were underway to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, and a senior government official said the bomber was a woman.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered his military to start the withdrawal of the main part of Russia's forces from Syria, saying that the Russian military intervention had largely achieved its objectives.

Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defence and foreign ministers, said the pullout should start from Tuesday. He also ordered that Russia intensify its role in the peace process to end the conflict in Syria. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Syrian President Bashar Assad to inform him of the Russian decision.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered his military to start the withdrawal of the main part of Russia's forces from Syria, saying that the Russian military intervention had largely achieved its objectives.

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Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defense and foreign ministers, said the pullout should start from Tuesday. He also ordered that Russia intensify its role in the peace process to end the conflict in Syria.

But the Russian leader signaled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria's Latakia province.

Syria's state news agency quoted President Bashar Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent from Syria but won't leave the country altogether.

State TV also quoted Assad saying Russia will decrease its presence to levels "in line with the situation on the ground and the continuation of the cessation of hostilities."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision. The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva.

"The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," Putin said.

"I believe that the task put before the defense ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled. With the participation of the Russian military... the Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects," Putin said.

"I am therefore ordering the defense minister, from tomorrow, to start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingent from the Syrian Arab Republic."

Photo: AP

No Plan B

A UN.mediator said on Monday there was no "Plan B" other than a resumption of conflict in the Syrian war if the first of three rounds of talks which aim to agree a "clear roadmap" for Syria fail to make progress.

Syria faces a moment of truth, Staffan de Mistura said when he opened talks to end a five-year war which has displaced half the population, sent refugees streaming into Europe and turned Syria into a battlefield for foreign forces and jihadis.

The talks are the first in more than two years and come amid a marked reduction in fighting after last month's "cessation of hostilities", sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by President Bashar Assad's government and many of his foes.

But the limited truce, which excludes the powerful Islamic State and Nusra Front groups, is fragile. Both sides have accused each other of multiple violations, and they arrived in Geneva with what look like irreconcilable agendas.

The Syrian opposition says the talks must focus on setting up a transitional governing body with full executive power, and that Assad must leave power at the start of the transition. Damascus says Assad's opponents are deluded if they think they will take power at the negotiating table.

The head of the government delegation, Bashar Ja'afari, described his first meeting with de Mistura on Monday as positive and constructive, adding he submitted a document entitled "Basic Elements for a Political Solution".

De Mistura said some ideas had been floated in a meeting he described as a preparatory session, ahead of a further meeting on Wednesday which would focus on core issues. Asked about the gulf between the two teams, he said it was the nature of negotiations that both sides start off with tough positions.

In a sign of how wide that gulf is, de Mistura is meeting the two sides separately - at least initially.

The talks must focus on political transition, which is the "mother of all issues", the UN envoy said before his talks with Ja'afari. Separate groups would keep tackling humanitarian issues and the cessation of hostilities.

"As far as I know, the only Plan B available is return to war, and to even worse war than we had so far," he said.
Lagos - Nigerian drug agents arrested four Mexicans who were allegedly helping build a "super-lab" capable of producing billions of dollars' worth of methamphetamine, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Monday.

Spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju said it was the first industrial-scale production of crystal meth found in West Africa, and possibly on the continent.

"The Nigerians invited the Mexicans in to leverage their expertise in these industrial-scale, high-yield productions," said Ofoyeju.

The warehouse in southern Delta state could produce 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) a week of the synthetic drug, which sells for $6,000 a kilogram in Nigeria but as much as $300,000 a kilogram in the Asian markets favored by Nigerian drug dealers, Ofoyeju told The Associated Press. Most goes to Singapore and Malaysia.
From that date all sale contracts and rental applications for residential properties in the state with a swimming pool or spa will have to include information on whether safety barriers meet government standards.

Contracts or applications will have to feature either a Certificate of Compliance or a Certificate of Non-Compliance, which will outline what needs to be improved.

Anybody purchasing a property that comes with a Certificate of Non-Compliance will have 90 days from the time of settlement to bring the property up to standard.

Real Estate Institute of New South Wales president John Cunningham said the decision by the government to grant purchasers 90 days to get their property up to scratch is a welcome step by the government.

This is a sensible approach given the ongoing issues and delays over the last three years in regard to these important regulations, Cunningham said.

It is great to see that amendments have been made to allow these regulations the ability to be successfully implemented and help make our backyards safer.

The requirement for vendors and landlords to prove that their pools or spas are compliant is part of a wider push to reduce child drownings.

According the NSW Office of Local Government, 1,000 children have required hospital admission as a result of an immersion in a backyard swimming pool over the past 10 years.

In that time, 60 children have drowned, while an additional 70 children have suffered permanent neurological damage.

"While there is no substitute for vigilant adult supervision of children, this change will ensure that new pool owners understand what they need to do to make their pools safe," NSW Minister for Local Government Paul Toole said.

"These statistics highlight the devastating impact on families and the need for property owners to ensure their swimming pool barriers are compliant at all times," Toole said.
The Global and United States Hydrobike Market Report has been published by QY Research recently. Hydrobike Market Analysis and Insights This report focuses on...
Surat: A sessions court here today served notice to Lajpore Jail authorities here, asking them why letters written by quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who is lodged there on sedition charges, were not allowed to be sent outside.

The notice was served by Principal Sessions Judge Geeta Gopi after Hardik's complaint before the court that jail authorities were not letting pass letters written by him outside the jail premises, when he was being produced before the court as a routine procedure.

This, he said, was being done by the jail authorities despite the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class having allowed him to send letters some three and a half months ago, Hardik's lawyer Yaswantsinh Vala said.

Vala also said that Hardik has complained that he was not allowed to wear slippers by jail authorities and was brought bare foot to the court today.

Hardik's complaint (on the letters) come fives days after police seized a letter along with a mobile charger and battery from his possession when he was being escorted out of the jail to be taken to a Visnagar court in connection with another case.

Police have filed two FIRs against Hardik for receiving, bringing or removing "prohibited articles" under sections 43, 44 and 45 (12) of the Prison Act.

Meanwhile, in an additional affidavit filed by the Surat DCB PI J H Dahiya before the court of Geeta Gopi on March 11, police had opposed the bail plea of Hardik.

Police stated in the affidavit that members of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) to which Hardik is associated were behind the incident of February 18 in which a mob of 40-odd people put on fire a state transport bus following which an FIR was filed at Sarthana police station under various sections of IPC.

They reasoned in the additional affidavit, that "considering above factors, if the court accepts bail plea of (Hardik), then the possibility of law and order issues arising is not denied, and thus, we request court to reject bail plea of the accused (Hardik)."

Hardik's lawyer has challenged the application and questioned the motive behind the charges levelled against Hardik, arguing that investigations in cases filed in Sachin police station were being carried by police inspectors of the respective police stations.
Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In a relief to pharmaceutical major Pfizer, the Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim stay of notification restraining sale of its cough syrup 'Corex' and directed the government not to take coercive steps against the company.

Pfizer has discontinued manufacture and sale of popular cough syrup Corex with immediate effect after the Health Ministry banned it saying it was likely to pose a risk to humans.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw granted the interim relief to the company saying it has been selling the cough syrup for the last 25 years.

The court also issued notice to the Health ministry directing it to file status report after taking instruction on what was the finding of the expert committee set up by it following which sale of over 300 drugs' combination have been banned across India with effect from March 10.

"List on Monday. Till then the effect of notification qua the petitioner shall remain stayed. No coercive steps till then," the court said.

The court's order came on a plea moved by Pfizer who contended that no show cause notice or hearing was granted prior to the notification.

(With PTI inputs)
Ahmedabad: In a major breakthrough, self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, has been arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

Kartik Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh yesterday in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police and brought here today, a senior official said.

Besides murdering the three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four other persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against the jailed religious leader in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, said J K Bhatt, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) and in-charge IG of ATS.

During interrogation, Haldar told officials he had been instructed by other 'sadhaks' (followers) of Asaram to kill these witnesses so as to weaken the cases against the controversial preacher, ATS said in a statement.

Haldar, a sharp shooter and henchman of the self-styled godman, also told the police he was funded by some of the sadhaks of Asaram's ashrams located in various parts of the country, it stated.

He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, ATS said.

Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot. The doctor was vocal about Asaram's misdeeds and also became a witness in the rape case, filed by one of the two victim sisters here three years back.

Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013. He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to CBI.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP. Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a transporter whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.

Apart from these killings, Haldar was also involved in four cases of attempt to murder, including firing on Asaram's former personal assistant Mahendra Chawla in June last year at Panipat in Haryana.

Among other attacks, Haldar fired eight rounds on the warden of Asaram's Chhindwada-based ashram Omprakash Prajapati and his wife Seema, stated the release.

To execute his sinister plans, Haldar had acquired 10 country-made pistols and 94 cartridges from various arms dealers in Jharkhand and UP, it said.

Halda, a native of South 24 Pargana district in West Bengal, first came in contact with Asaram's preachings in 2000 when he attended his religious discourse in New Delhi.

A year later, he left his household responsibilities and became a full-time sadhak and started living at Asaram's ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad, added the release.
New Delhi: Hitting out at the government's soft approach towards liquor baron Vijay Mallya who faces charges of money laundering, the Shiv Sena on Monday asserted that how would the government bring back wanted underworld don to India, when they could not even bring the flamboyant businessman back to the country.

"How can people like Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya be allowed to leave the country in the first place? We have so many agencies set internationally who can track them. This is a system failure and it's not about how powerful Mallya is," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI here.

Asserting that the Centre was acting completely helpless in the matter, he added that one hand the government was making tall claims of brining back Dawood when they could not even bring back an Indian citizen.

Earlier, Mallya claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.

In an email interview with the Sunday Guardian, the business tycoon said that he feels that he already been branded as criminal in the country and therefore, it was not the right time for him to return.

"There was a lookout notice issued against me last year. But I didn't 'escape'. Why am I being portrayed as a criminal now? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved. They decide we don't. Our own business was flourishing, but plummeted suddenly. Don't make me the villain. I have the best intentions. I'm quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others," he said.

Asserting that he was being victimised, Mallya alleged that there was a big agenda that some people were pushing against him.

In the interview, he also said that he wanted to return but feared that he might not get to fair chance to present his side as he was already branded as a criminal.

When asked about the current location at which he was residing presently, he said that it was not wise for him to reveal his whereabouts, asserting that all he wanted was to feel safe.
New Delhi: In a daylight murder, which appears to be an honour killing case, a 23-year-old Dalit man was hacked to death by three assailants in broad daylight in at a busy marketplace on Sunday afternoon.

The deceased, identified as V Sankar, has married Kausalya, 19, eight months ago and the girl's parents were reportedly unhappy over the marriage.

According to a report in NDTV.com, the incident took place at Tirupur of Tamil Nadu.

According to reports, the three attackers dragged the victim from the pavement before hacking him to death. The bike-borne attackers managed to escape after the incident even as several local watched.

The attackers also assaulted Kausalya, which has been admitted to a hospital where she is said to be out of danger.

So far four people have been arrested in connection with the case and an investigation is on to nab the remaining culprits.
New Delhi/Ranchi: The Delhi Police has disclosed that a training camp of al Qaeda terror group has been operating somewhere in Jharkhand.

As per a report in the Hindustan Times, the police made the revelation in an application filed before a court in Delhi last week.

The police told the court that they were on the lookout for one Abu Sufiyan, who hails from Jharkhand.

Abu Sufiyan, suspect police, had visited Pakistan to receive training at terror camps run by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and al Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS).

The application was filed to seek grant of more time to file chargesheet against al Qaeda operative Mohammad Asif, who was nabbed on December 14 last year.

The court is reported to have granted the time extension.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police's revelation has come as a headache for the state's security apparatus as Jharkhand continues to deal with the Naxal menace in at least 16 out of its 24 districts.

Jharkhand Police has so far denied existence of any terror camp of al Qaeda on its soil.

There are no terror camps in Jharkhand jungles, police spokesperson SN Pradhan said.

HT quoted Inspector General of Police (operation) MS Bhatia as saying, Modules of the Indian Mujahiddin existed in the state but they have been busted. They were responsible for the Patna and the Bodh Gaya blasts. The terrorists develop sleeper cells in the state whose members carry out violent acts in other states.

Earlier this year, in a series of arrests, the Delhi Police had nabbed five AQIS members - identified as Mohammad Asif, Zafar Masood, Mohammad Abdul Rehman, Syed Anzar Shah and Abdul Sami - from different states.

The daily reported that Sami, who lives in Jamshedpur, had allegedly travelled to Pakistan along with Abu Sufiyan.

Sufiyans arrest is crucial in finding out the missing links of the larger conspiracy, the police application said.

Delhi Police had earlier said that the arrested AQIS operatives planned to attack Delhi and other cities on January 26.
Balasore (Odisha): India on Monday successfully test-fired its indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile, capable of hitting a target 700 kms away, from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 9.15 AM from launch pad-4 of the

Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island), a defence official said.

The trial, which formed part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command of Indian Army, was fully successful, he said.

The sophisticated missile covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds, they said.

"The launch was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness," the official said.

The trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships from its launch till the missile hit the target area with accuracy, they said.

Agni-I missile is equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

The missile, which has already been inducted into armed forces, has proved its excellent performance in terms of range, accuracy and lethality, the sources said.

Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, is designed to carry a payload of more than one tonne. Its strike range can be extended by reducing the payload.

Agni-I was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research

Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

The last trial of Agni-I, conducted on November 27, 2015 from the same base, was also successful.
Delhi: Delhi Police has sought the laptops of JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both facing sedition charge, from their hostel wardens.

The have sent a notice regarding the same.

The case was transferred to Delhi Police's Special Cell a few days before BS Bassi retired as the force's chief.

"The notice was sent to the wardens through an official channel yesterday and we have asked for the laptops of Umar and Anirban, which can provide vital leads in the investigation," a senior official said.

"By investigation so far, it has emerged that Umar and Anirban were involved in getting the posters of the event printed and circulating them. The laptops can provide evidence with regard to that," the senior official added.

On February 12, Delhi Police had arrested JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over an event in which anti-national slogans were raised.

The police then started conducting search operation for Khalid and Bhattacharya, who could not be spotted in the campus after an FIR was registered and re-surfaced there around 10 days later.

They later surrendered and were questioned by the police for days before a court sent them to judicial custody.

The police identified them as the main organisers of the February 9 event, which was held to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Meanwhile, Kanhaiya was released from jail on a conditional bail.

While Khalid, pursuing his PhD, is accommodated at Tapti Hostel in JNU campus, Bhattacharya has his room in Brahmaputra Hostel.

On the other hand, in a related development, a high-level committee of JNU has recommended rustication of Kanhaiya, Umar, Anirban and two other students.

Sources, however, said a decision on the recommendation by the panel will be taken by Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar and Chief Proctor A Dimri after a thorough scrutiny of the suggestions.

A meeting of the university's top brass chaired by the Vice Chancellor on Monday discussed the report following which the varsity issued show-cause notice to 21 students including Kanhaiya and Umar, who were found guilty of having violated university rules and discipline norms.

The committee was formed on February 10.

"The high-level committee has recommended rustication of five students after its investigation over a month's time. However, the final call in this regard will be taken by the Vice Chancellor and Proctor's office," sources told PTI.

The university had on March 11 revoked the academic suspension of eight students including Kanhaiya after completion of the probe by the five-member panel.

It was decided to keep them under suspension from academic activities till the inquiry was over.

However, they were allowed to stay in the hostels.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Law Ministry has cautioned the government that certain clauses in the draft inter- governmental agreement, including the one on material breach, signed for the purchase of 36 French Rafale fighter aircraft are not in India's interest.

It has advised the Defence Ministry to reconsider certain clauses while finalising the deal.

Sources said one of the issues flagged by the Department of Legal Affairs is that in case of material breach by French companies of their obligations under the supply protocol, the Indian side would first have to take legal recourse against them but cannot involve the French government.

It also suggested that the liability clause should be more stringent and include the French government. The clause would come into force in case of any deficiency in completion of the deal by the companies.

In case of a commercial dispute, the arbitration proceedings should take place in India and not Switzerland as suggested in the draft, the Law Ministry has opined.

India and France had on January 25 inked the inter- governmental agreement on the sale of 36 French Rafale fighter jets but were unable to sign the final deal due to "financial" issues.

This agreement was among the 14 pacts signed between the two countries after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Francois Hollande.

"Leaving out financial aspect, India and France have signed inter-governmental agreement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. We expect that even the financial aspects pertaining to purchase of Rafale jets will be resolved as soon as possible," Modi had said at a joint press event with Hollande.

The two countries are negotiating a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition since the announcement for the same was made by Modi in April last year during his visit to France.

However, the final deal is yet to be sealed as the two sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.
New Delhi: In what can turn out to be a major embarrassment for Congress party in the Parliament, the Lok Sabha Ethical Committee has sought a reply from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi whether he had once declared himself as a British citizen .

The notice has been issued in response to a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy.

Parliamentary Ethics Committee Arjun Ram Meghwal, confirming this news, said that it was a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds.

"A complaint reached the Lok Sabha speaker which she forwarded to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee therefore issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London," told Meghwal.

"This is a very serious matter and we would discuss once he responds," he added.

In January this year, following a complaint by Swamy in this regard, BJP's East Delhi MP Mahesh Girri had written to the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Swamy had accused Rahul of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that Gandhi be stripped of his Indian citizenship and his membership of Parliament.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had floated a company called Backops Limited in 2003 in the United Kingdom, and in the annual return form, he had declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address. Rahul also held 65 per cent of the total shares issued by this company, Swamy claimed. (With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday constituted a high-level team to probe how some important files related to the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan went missing.

According to media reports, Additional Home Secretary will head the probe.

Rajnath Singh had last week told Lok Sabha that many documents related to the preparation of the MHA's second affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case were missing and an internal inquiry had been ordered.

Replying to a motion on the change in the Ishrat case affidavit, filed in the Gujarat High Court on September 29, 2009, the Home Minister said the Ministry is conducting an internal inquiry on missing documents from the Ishrat affidavit file.

The minister said two letters written by the then home secretary (GK Pillai) to the Attorney General (AG) are not traceable. The draft of the second affidavit that came from the AG in which the then home minister (P Chidambaram) made changes is also missing.

Singh also accused the erstwhile UPA government of hatching a deep conspiracy to frame Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Singh also alleged that the previous regime had done a flip-flop on the links of Ishrat Jahan with terror outfit LeT

On June 15, 2004, the Gujarat Police shot dead three men and a woman  19-year-old Ishrat Jahan while they were allegedly on a Lashkar mission to assassinate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

However, a probe conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a high court-appointed Special Investigation Team found it to be a fake encounter.

The first affidavit in the case was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.

The second affidavit, believed to have been drafted by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist.

Former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz are likely to meet on the sidelines of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ministerial-level meeting in Nepal.

According to The Express Tribune, both India and Pakistan were exploring possibilities of meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of both the countries. And if everything goes as planned, the two leaders will meet in the Pokhara city of Nepal this week.

Both Sushma and Aziz will be in Pokhara for the SAARC Council of Foreign Minister's meeting on March 16 and 17.

One of the senior Pakistani officials told PTI that Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time and was also open to the meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal. However, he added that Pakistan till now hasn't received any proposal from India for the meeting between the two leaders in Nepal.

The SAARC foreign minister-level meeting will be inaugurated by Nepals Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli on Thursday.

While the 52nd session of the programming committee of the SAARC, which is a director general or joint secretary-level forum, will be held on March 14-15, the 42nd session of the standing committee, which is a foreign secretaries-level forum, will be held on March 16.

These meetings will prepare the ground for the 37th session of the council of ministers on March 17 which will be attended by the foreign ministers of SAARC, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup had said at a media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.

Joint secretary (SAARC), Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be proceeding to Nepal for SAARC-related meetings in Pokhara between March 14 and 17," Swarup said.

The last round of meetings was held in Kathmandu in November 2014 prior to the 18th SAARC Summit.

The spokesman said that these meetings would offer an opportunity for a comprehensive review of the decisions that have been taken across all SAARC forums over the last one-and-a-half years.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Hitting back at Congress on the Vijay Mallya issue, BJP on Monday said the industrialist was a "Congress' baby" and accused the UPA dispensation of forcing a bank to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.

"Mallya is a Congress' baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airline) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said, adding Congress should come clean on its "deals" with him.

While around 25 cases have been initiated against Mallya under Modi government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loan, he said.

"What was the compulsion of Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should make it clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" he asked.

Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.

Congress today asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in "cold storage" by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi.

Sharma added that former IPL boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was a "product" of Congress.
New Delhi: Attempting to shift the blame on the Congress over the Vijay Mallya episode, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Monday said the liquor baron received all bank loans when the UPA regime was in power at the Centre.

"On the Vijay Mallya issue, the Congress is on a back foot because they have to do a lot of answering as to how Vijay Mallya in the last decade got so much of bank loan and how was it that it was all happening under the nose of the UPA government," Rudy told ANI here.

"The government is doing its job, but the Congress has to answer that during whose tenure this whole revival package was passed knowing that the condition of bank accounts of Mr. Mallya are not in shape," he added.

The Congress has been attempting to corner the Centre over Mallya saying that the government was framing innocent people while offenders such as the former Kingfisher boss were allowed to leave the country.

The Congress earlier asserted that the liquor baron was 'made to abscond' since a lot of 'powerful' people would be in trouble if he opened his mouth.

Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.
New Delhi: Targeting the Narendra Modi government over the 'escape' of Vijay Mallya, the Congress, Monday, demanded that the government provide answers to five ''fundamental questions''.

Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that instead of fulfilling the solemn promise of bringing back black money, the union government has allowed Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi to get away.

Five questions:

Question 1 - Will the government seek deportation of Vijay Mallya by putting pressure on UK government - in order to recover over Rs 9000 of public money?

Question 2 - Admittedly Mallya met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on March 1 before he left (for London) and he also met union finance secretary. Did Jaitley inform Prime Minister Modi about the meeting and will government inform the Parliament about the same?

Question 3  The CBI converted its Look Out Notice for the detention of Vijay Mallya to Look Out Notice for information - what was the motive?

Question 4  The Enforcement Directorate has issued a summon asking Vijay Mallya to appaear before it; a court has also issued a non-bailable warrant against him. But are these proceedings a mere eyewash as Mallya left the country with no intention to return?

Question 5 - Diageo, the current controlling owner of United Spirits, had a struck a deal worth Rs 515 crore ($75 million) for Mallya to exit from the board of the company. $40 million out of the $75 million has been already received by Mallya in an offshore account  how does the Modi government plan to recover it?
Mumbai/New Delhi: Rejecting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion for infusing patriotism, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said he will not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife is put to his throat, prompting Shiv Sena to tell him on Monday he should go to Pakistan.

Owaisi's assertion days after Bhagwat said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India drew sharp condemnation from RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena while he stood by his statement made at a public rally.

"I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said at the rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district in Maharashtra yesterday.

"I won't utter that (slogan) even if you put a knife to my throat," Owaisi said, amid loud applause from the crowd.

"Nowhere in the Constitution it says that one should say: 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'," he said.

On March 3, Bhagwat had said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India, comments which came against the backdrop of the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

"Now the time has come when we have to tell the new generation to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' (hail mother India). It should be real, spontaneous and part of all-round development of the youth," the RSS chief had said.

Asked by reporters to comment on the condemnation of his statement, Owaisi said he stood by it, asserting there is no violation of any law or Constitution in what he said.

"Whom is he(Bhagwat) trying to frighten? He can't force his ideology on others," he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and minister Ramdas Kadam said Owaisi should go to Pakistan if he doesn't want to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

"I have asked Maharashtra government to take action against him," Kadam said.

BJP leader and Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the local administration will examine Owaisi's statement and the government will then take appropriate action.

Ratan Sharda, author and RSS ideologue, accused Owaisi of playing politics on national feelings and asked, "If you say I love my mother then what is the problem."

BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh also accused Owaisi of trying to provoke nationalist sentiments, describing his statement as "highly condemnable".

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said statements like that made by Owaisi should be "completely avoided".

Interestingly, Samajwadi Party MLA in Mumbai Abu Azmi said Owaisi should say 'Bharat Mata ki jai', but added that "parties like BJP and Shiv Sena are indulging in politics over the issue".
Zangiabad: A captured Taliban rifle dangling at his side, commander Sultan Mohammed swaggers through a bomb-cratered district that was once a hornet`s nest of insurgents, symbolising a rare Afghan military triumph where US forces failed.

Panjwai was one of the centrepieces of US President Barack Obama`s 2009 troop surge ambitiously aimed at crushing the Taliban, but the southern district soon became a poster child of the failed intervention.

Strongmen including Mohammed, the Panjwai police chief with a reputation for brutality, in recent years did what the Americans could not -- tame the insurgent haven that had come to be known as the "blood fountain".

The Taliban are now out of sight in the district in Kandahar, pomegranate orchards stand on fields once awash with landmines, and poppy farms that boosted militant coffers are just a memory.

"When US forces were here, the Taliban were within one kilometre of their bases. Now they aren`t even within 100 kilometres," Mohammed said, trailed by armed loyalists.

"We did what American soldiers could not -- rid the area of the Taliban."

To get a full measure of the turnaround, juxtapose Panjwai against the turmoil convulsing the wider region, increasingly drawing NATO troops back into the conflict a year after their combat mission ended.

Neighbouring opium-rich Helmand, Afghanistan`s largest province, is teetering on the brink of collapse.

Overstretched Afghan troops are retreating from volatile southern districts, ceding swathes of key areas to the Taliban.

And conflict-induced displacement is edging towards a new record as the Taliban now control more territory than in any year since 2001.

Panjwai offers a striking contrast: children in schools learning algebra instead of a Taliban curriculum, grape farmers tending their vines even after sundown, and once-wary visitors jaunting around on pheasant-hunting trips.The transformation of Panjwai, birthplace of the Taliban movement, defies the common perception that Afghan security forces -- bedevilled by high casualties and desertions -- cannot stand alone without NATO backing.
Colombo: Sri Lanka deployed troops on Monday to guard electrical installations as authorities investigated whether sabotage was behind the island`s worst blackout in 20 years. President Maithripala Sirisena ordered stepped-up security a day after outages plunged the entire country into darkness for at least seven hours.

"The president has instructed that security forces be deployed to guard electricity installations," power and energy ministry spokesman Pathum Pasqual told AFP.

"In the meantime, we are restoring supplies after yesterday`s breakdown."

Authorities are probing the cause of an explosion and fire at a main distribution centre outside the capital Colombo that caused the entire electricity grid to switch off automatically on Sunday afternoon. centre outside the capital Colombo that caused the entire electricity grid to switch off automatically on Sunday afternoon.

Power and Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said they had not ruled out sabotage.Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said they had not ruled out sabotage.

"We were investigating technical reasons for the previous breakdown, but now we have another blackout," the minister told reporters.

"This means we have to look at other possibilities too."

The state-run Ceylon Electricity Board worked through the night to repair the centre and restore power to most of Sri Lanka, although several suburbs of Colombo were still in darkness on Monday morning.

The hours-long blackout brought water shortages as pumping stations could not operate without electricity. Most businesses were forced to close and Internet and phone connections in many areas were disrupted.

Hospitals in the capital continued to function after switching to generators.

Tonnes of frozen food and dairy products were spoilt because there was no refrigeration. Small businesses said they were trying to hire generators to keep their establishments open.

"I tried to hire a small generator this morning, but I was told everything had ben snapped up," said Chaandana Wijesekera, who runs a mid-size tailoring business in Colombo.

"I will not be able to execute my orders in time."

It was the second major power failure in less than a month, following a three-hour disruption in late February, and the worst since May 1996 when the entire country was without electricity for four days.

Power blackouts occur sporadically in Sri Lanka.

Sunday`s nationwide outage came as an investigation was under way into last month`s embarrassing disruption during a visit by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who had described Sri Lanka as a shining light in Asia.
New Delhi: In a major finding, astronomers have discovered a huge string of superclusters that span around a billion light years across.

The system is called the 'BOSS Great Wall'. It stands for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and is the biggest known structure ever found in the universe.

The BOSS Great Wall (BGW), discovered by a team from the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, is believed to at least 830 galaxies, including four superclusters.

However, not all scientists agree that BOSS should be counted as a singular structure.

I don't entirely understand why they are connecting all of these features together to call them a single structure, Allison Coil of the University of California in San Diego was quoted as telling to New Scientist.

Other galactic walls that astronomers have detected in our neighborhood of the universe include the Sloan Great Wall and the CfA2 Great Wall. It is said that the newly discovered megastructure is at least two-thirds larger than both of them and possibly 10,000 times as massive as our own Milky Way.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Monday, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to register India's objection to the harassment of Indian fisherman by Sri Lankan Navy.

The TN CM requested Prime Minister Modi to put in place a strong diplomatic response registering Indias disapproval of belligerent actions of Sri Lankan Navy.

She requested PM Modi to direct the Ministry of External Affairs to secure the immediate release of 96 Indian fishermen and 82 fishing boats.

Jayalithaa added that Centre's inadequate response to incidents of apprehension and detention of Tamil Nadu fishermen has emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy.

The Tamil Nadu government's letter to the Centre comes two days after fishermen belonging to the coastal hamlets in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry threatened to boycott the May 16 Assembly polls if the Centre does not initiate steps for the release of fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka and also their boats before April 15.

Talking to reporters, Fishermen's Association President Rajendran said in 2015 alone, about 70 fishermen belonging to various parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been arrested by Sri Lanka on the charge of fishing in the island nation's waters.He said about 90 fishing boats owned by the fishermen have also been seized by the Sri Lankan authorities last year.

The boats were valued between Rs. 5 lakh to 30 lakh each depending on its size, he said.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will kickstart the assembly election campaign of her party Trinamool Congress by addressing a big rally in Siliguri on Monday.

During the rally, the West Bengal leader is expected to attack the newly announced Congress-CPI(M) tie-up and the BJP which is trying to make inroads into the Trinamool-ruled state.

Banerjee had last week said that she would visit Kerala, which also goes to polls along with West Bengal, to expose the "unholy" alliance between the Congress and CPI-M.

Banerjee said she would tell the people of Kerala how the two parties were trying to fool them.

"We want to tell the people of Kerala how Congress and CPI(M) are trying to fool them. If they are having an alliance, then they should have it everywhere in the country," Banerjee said.

She charged the Congress with having "sold their flag and themselves" to the CPI(M).

"Now they have forgotten their ideology - be it Gandhian or the ideology of Subhas Chandra Bose. Now the only ideology which is working is self-interest," she said while releasing the manifesto of Trinamool Congress for the assembly election.

"In politics, transparency is a big thing. They don't have any transparency. They have formed an unholy alliance," Banerjee said.

Asked about differences over seat adjustment between the alliance partners, Banerjee said, "I am least bothered."

The party in its manifesto promised overall development of Bengal and continuing the development work that the TMC government had started after coming to power in 2011.

"We have kept all our promises. We don't believe in making false promises just to get votes. Despite the fact that we had to pay a huge amount of money in order to repay the debt, we have ushered in a new era of development in Bengal," Banerjee said.

On Singur, she said the government had kept its word.

"We have kept our word. We made a law to give back the land to unwilling farmers but it was challenged in the court. So the matter is sub-judice. I still believe that we will be able to hand back the land to the farmers. Let's wait for the court's verdict," she said.

Banerjee, last week, said she was willing to talk to the Tata Group if the company was willing to set up the plant on 600 acres in Singur.

With ANI inputs
Jerusalem: Three Palestinians carried out two attacks -- a shooting and a car-ramming -- on Israelis in the southern occupied West Bank on Monday before they were shot dead, the Israeli army said.

"Two assailants opened fire at pedestrians waiting at a bus stop at the entrance of Kiryat Arba (near Hebron). Forces guarding the area responded and shot the assailants, resulting in their deaths," a military statement read.

"Moments later, in an additional attack, a vehicle rammed into a military vehicle responding at the scene. Forces responded to the immediate danger and shot the assailant, resulting in his death."

The army said a soldier was wounded in the shooting attack, and two others lightly wounded in the car-ramming.

A military spokeswoman said the assailants used a pistol and a submachine gun.

Israeli security forces have noted an recent surge in shooting attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank following five-and-a-half months of Palestinian attacks.

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 191 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, while others were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.
Grand-Bassam: Gunmen killed 16 people at an Ivory Coast resort leaving bodies strewn on the beach, in an attack claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate as fears grow of a mounting jihadist threat in west Africa.

Armed with grenades and assault riffles, the attackers stormed three hotels in the sleepy resort of Grand-Bassam, popular with expats, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the commercial hub Abidjan.

Witnesses described panic as the gunmen sprayed bullets across the beach, and one told AFP they heard an assailant shouting "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest".

"I saw one of the attackers from far away," says Abbas El-Roz, a Lebanese salesman, who was in the pool of a hotel when the attackers struck. "He had a Kalashnikov and a grenade belt. He was looking for people."

Fourteen civilians and two special forces troops were killed in the shooting spree, along with six assailants, according to Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara.

"The toll is heavy," he said as he arrived in Grand-Bassam, describing the killings as a "terrorist" attack.

One French and one German national were among the dead, according to Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko.

The US and former colonial master France offered to help the Ivorian government find the perpetrators, with French President Francois Hollande condemning the "cowardly attack".

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the terror group's North African affiliate, had claimed responsibility for the attack.

AQIM said in a statement three of its fighters had been killed.

West African nations have scrambled to boost security in the wake of jihadist attacks on tourist hotspots in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso, which were also claimed by the group.

Sunday's attack also bore grim similarities to the Islamist gun and grenade assault on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

The assailants, who were "heavily armed and wearing balaclavas, fired at guests at the L'Etoile du Sud, a large hotel which was full of expats in the current heatwave," a witness told AFP.

Inside the hotel, an AFP journalist saw a bullet lodged in the glass front of the bar's refrigerator and a large pool of blood on the floor.

Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian national who teaches at an international high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons when the gunmen arrived.
Ankara: At least 37 people were killed and 125 others injured after an explosion hit Turkey`s capital city of Ankara, the media reported on Monday.

A bomb-laden car caused the explosion late Sunday night near Kizilay square, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said the toll increased as three more people died from their injuries in the hospital on Monday.

Muezzinoglu said 30 people were killed at the scene of the explosion while four others died on their way to the hospital, adding that two of them could be the attackers.

Nine people are still critical.

The wounded were transferred to 10 different hospitals across Ankara, CNN Turk reported.

The blast took place where around 10 bus stops are located.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack in a written statement, adding that "Turkey has become a target of terror attacks due to the instabilities in the region."

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees," he said.

According to sources, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has postponed a visit to Jordan following the bombing.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the attack.

This is the third major blast to hit the Turkish capital since October 2015.

Islamic State (IS) militants bombed a peace rally near the Ankara Railway Station that killed 103 people on October 10, 2015.

On February 17, a suicide car bomb attack targeted military shuttles in the capital city on killing 29 people and injuring 81 others.
Mexico City: Five Mexican marines have been detained in connection with the 2013 disappearance of a man in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, the navy said on Sunday.

The troops were jailed in a military prison after a court charged them on March 8 and 9 with "forced disappearance" -- a crime meaning that an official illegally detained or abducted someone.

The statement said the marines were detained over a case dating from August 3, 2013, in Nuevo Leon.

It did not name the victim but Amnesty International said earlier this week that the marines were suspects in the disappearance of Armando del Bosque Villarreal, a 33-year-old man who was found two months after he was detained by troops.

The marines allegedly arrested the man as he drove in the town of Colombia and took him to a temporary navy facility, according to Amnesty.

When the man`s father went looking for him, a captain initially told him that his son was being interrogated. But one hour later, the captain denied that del Bosque was there, Amnesty said.

Del Bosque`s body was found in October 2013 with bullet wounds some two kilometers (one mile) from the navy facility.

It is the latest allegation of brutality carried out by Mexican government forces. Human rights groups say police and troops have committed a slew of abuses since the military was deployed to combat drug cartels in 2006.

On Thursday, the defense ministry said a soldier was detained in connection with the disappearance and murder of a civilian in the eastern state of Veracruz in February.
Tokyo: Japanese police said Monday they have arrested a 24-year-old US sailor on suspicion of raping a Japanese woman on Okinawa, in a case that could further fan sentiment against Washington`s military presence on the fortified southern island.

Okinawa was the site of a brutal World War II battle between Japan and the United States but is now considered a strategic linchpin supporting the two countries` decades-long security alliance.

Pacifist sentiment, however, runs high on the crowded island, which makes up less than one percent of Japan`s total land area but is home to about 75 percent of US military bases in the country.

More than half of the 47,000 American military personnel in Japan are stationed there and rapes and other crimes by US service personnel have sparked local protests in the past.

A spokesman with the Okinawan prefectural police on Monday identified the arrested seaman as Justin Castellanos, stationed at the US Marine Corps Camp Schwab base on the island.

Castellanos, arrested Sunday, allegedly raped the woman earlier the same day while she was unconscious at a hotel in the Okinawan capital city of Naha, the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the US Navy in Japan had no immediate comment on the arrest.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government`s top spokesman told reporters that the alleged incident is "extremely regrettable".

Suga said the Japanese government had "expressed a strong protest" to the US side, adding he hopes that police can solve the case.

"The US side said it would be a very disappointing incident if the allegation was true and that they`re taking this matter seriously," he added, referring to what he described as the US response to Japan`s protest.

Takeshi Onaga, the governor of Okinawa, expressed anger at the alleged rape.

"It was a serious crime in violation of women`s human rights and can never be tolerated," he said, according to Kyodo News agency.

"I feel strong resentment."

According to Japanese media, the sailor found the woman, who was visiting Okinawa, asleep in the corridor of the hotel and took her to his room.

The two were staying at the same hotel, but were not acquainted, the Asahi Shimbun daily and other media said.

A brutal 1995 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl on Okinawa by three US servicemen sparked massive protests, which led the US government to pledge efforts to strengthen troop discipline to prevent such crimes and reduce its footprint on the island.

But continued crimes by US personnel remain an irritant in Japan-US relations and a rallying point for Okinawans opposed to the bases.
New Delhi: The Maldives government is "extremely worried" about the number of nationals from the tiny troubled honeymoon islands joining the Islamic State group, a top official said Monday.

Maldives foreign secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed said as many as 40 people have travelled to the Middle East from the Indian Ocean archipelago, which has a population of just 350,000 -- mainly Sunni Muslims.

"It is a big concern for us, it is a social concern, it`s a security concern and we are extremely worried about it," the country`s top diplomatic official told reporters in New Delhi.

"The total number of people we believe that have gone to the Middle East to engage in this illegal warfare is less than 40."

He said the Maldives, like bigger and more developed nations, is "finding it difficult to grasp the situation".

Former president Mohamed Nasheed, whose conviction and jailing last year has been widely criticised, has warned that up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for IS in Iraq and Syria.

Mohamed denied the figure was that high, but said vulnerable groups were being targeted for recruitment including online, and the island chain was "extremely vulnerable".

The Maldives last year introduced a tough anti-terror law intended to target suspected IS sympathisers among others. The opposition has criticised the law, warning it would be used to further crack down on dissent in a country that has been reeling from political turmoil.

Mohamed said the Maldives was being careful not to encroach on human rights as it tries to stem recruitment and carry out any prosecutions.

Experts say poor young people from outlying islands are vulnerable to recruitment, along with those caught up in organised crime including gang violence or targeted by radical preachers.

The Maldives` reputation as a luxury holiday destination has been tarnished by political turmoil since Nasheed, the country`s first democratically elected president, was toppled four years ago in what he called a coup led by mutinous police and soldiers.

Mohamed said the prison office was awaiting more documents before deciding on Nasheed`s request to extend his 30-day release from prison to travel to the UK for medical treatment.

Nasheed, who has met Prime Minister David Cameron since flying to Britain in January, was jailed last year on terrorism charges relating to the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge in 2012, when he was still in power.
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel was facing fresh pressure Monday after a regional election drubbing described as a "debacle" over her liberal refugee policy.

Merkel`s Christian Democratic Union was at the receiving end of voters` anger, suffering defeats in two out of three states in regional elections -- including its traditional stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The stinging result for the conservative CDU was accompanied by a surge in backing for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had sparked outrage by suggesting police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them entering the country.

The elections were the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of refugees, and largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel`s decision to open the country`s doors to people fleeing war.

While they have no direct impact on her chancellorship, the regional polls in the southwestern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as eastern state Saxony-Anhalt served as a key test ahead of general elections in 2017.

Merkel, who is expected to give her first reactions to the polls at around midday on Monday, has so far resolutely refused to impose a cap on refugee arrivals, insisting instead on common European action that includes distributing asylum seekers among the EU`s 28 member states.

But Sunday`s results could strengthen the hand of her adversaries, including strident critics within her Bavarian allies, the CSU.

"The only logical consequence of the result is a significant correction in the refugee policy," said Hans Michelbach, the vice-chair of the CSU`s faction in the lower house of parliament.

The CSU, whose region is the main gateway to Germany for tens of thousands of refugees, has for months noisily criticised Merkel`s policy.Bild daily called the regional polls "a day of horror for Chancellor Merkel," while Spiegel Online described it as "Black Sunday for the CDU".

"For a long time she had hoped that despite all the opposition to her refugee policy, to grab the two state premierships in the southwestern states. That`s not happening," said Spiegel in an editorial.

"Merkel will now have to live with the accusation that she has allowed the AfD to establish itself to the right of the CDU."

For most of the last decade, Merkel has enjoyed stellar popularity ratings as she pushed a middle-ground politics.

Although her strategy has allowed her party to win over some from the centre-left Social Democrats, critics say it has left its right flank exposed.

AfD may now have filled this gap, helped by the arrival of 1.1 million asylum seekers last year in Germany that has unsettled the population.

"The people who voted for us voted against this refugee policy," AfD deputy chairman Alexander Gauland said.

"We have a very clear position on the refugee issue: we do not want to take in any refugees."

In Sunday`s vote, AfD captured seats into all three states and gained as much as one in four votes in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, emerging as the second-biggest party. In Rhineland-Palatinate, it rose to become the third-biggest.

Nevertheless, leading politicians in Merkel`s left-right coalition were standing firm on their policy.

Asked if Merkel should now overhaul her refugee policy, CDU general secretary Peter Tauber said: "I don`t see that need."

"We have a clear position on refugee policies and we stand by that," said SPD leader Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.

The polls came days before Merkel is due at an EU summit to bang out a deal with European partners and Turkey on resolving the migrant crisis.

She risks isolation at Thursday`s meeting, however, due to misgivings among Eastern European states the have closed the Balkans route for refugees heading northwards to Germany and prosperous northern Europe.

Merkel has criticised their decision, but Bavarian daily Nuernberger Nachrichten noted that "she is benefiting more than anyone from the border closures that she is criticising".

"After this election, Merkel must more than ever, give an explanation."
Naypyidaw: Myanmar`s parliament will hold a historic presidential vote Tuesday expected to confirm that a trusted confidant and anointed proxy of Aung San Suu Kyi will be the former junta-run nation`s first civilian leader in decades.

Htin Kyaw, a respected writer and longtime close friend of Suu Kyi, is virtually guaranteed to sweep the board, with both legislative houses dominated by the Nobel laureate`s National League for Democracy thanks to their election landslide in November.

Myanmar is in the grip of a stunning transformation from an isolated and repressed pariah state to a rapidly opening aspiring democracy.

But the military remains a powerful force in the Southeast Asian nation and has refused to change a clause in the junta-era constitution that bars Suu Kyi from top political office.

The veteran activist has instead vowed to rule "above" the next leader.

Her choice of Htin Kyaw to act in her place is seen as a testament to her absolute faith in his loyalty.

"We have planned to vote for Htin Kyaw and practised not to make any mistake," said an NLD MP who asked not to be named after attending an instruction session by the party on Monday afternoon.

Myanmar`s new president will replace incumbent Thein Sein at the end of the month following five years of army-backed quasi-civilian leadership that has been lauded for steering the nation out from the shadow of outright military rule.

Tuesday`s vote will see legislators chose from three candidates, one put forward by each of the two legislative chambers and a third proposed by the military, who are reserved a quarter of seats in parliament.

The two other candidates are ethnic Chin MP Henry Van Thio, a Suu Kyi ally put forward by the upper house, and the military`s nominee Myint Swe, a retired army general still blacklisted by the United States.Suu Kyi, 70, has unrivalled popularity both as the daughter of the country`s independence hero and as a central figure in the decades-long democracy struggle.

Her party`s huge election victory was seen as a further endorsement of her political star power, as millions were swept to polling stations by her simple message of change.

Months of negotiations with army chief Min Aung Hlaing have failed to remove the obstacles blocking her from power.

She is barred from the presidency by a clause in the charter because she married and had children with a foreigner.

It is not yet clear what role she plans to take or how she will manage the relationship with the country`s new president.

A new cabinet, set to be announced at the end of the month, is expected to include figures from across the political spectrum as Suu Kyi looks to promote national reconciliation.

It will swiftly set about facing the country`s many challenges, including poverty, civil wars in ethnic minority borderlands and decrepit infrastructure.

Senior party figures say one of the government`s first tasks will be to whittle down myriad ministries by combining overlapping portfolios.

While little known outside Myanmar, Htin Kyaw, who helps run her charitable foundation, commands considerable respect inside the country, partly because his father was a legendary writer and early member of the NLD.

He is married to sitting NLD MP Su Su Lwin, whose late father was the party`s respected spokesman.
Dubai: Hanan al-Hroub, a Palestinian primary school teacher on Sunday won a USD 1 million prize for teaching excellence beating out 8,000 other applicants from around the world.

Hanan grew up in a refugee camp and is a a primary school teacher in the West Bank city of al-Bireh just outside Ramallah. She educates her students about non-violence.

She was awarded the second annual Global Teacher Prize during a ceremony in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Pope Francis announced her name in a video message as he talked about the importance of education and teachers especially for children who grow up amid war.

Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was present especially to hand over the prize to Hanan.

Hanan, who was awarded with USD 1 million told the 'Associate Press' that she will use the prize money for the betterment of students who excel in order to motivate them to choose teaching as their career.

The Golbal Teacher Prize was started two years ago to recognize an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession at the same time encouraging others to take teaching as a career.

The opening of the process was announced by Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey GEMS Foundation, at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai.
Warsaw: Poland has accused Russia of downing a Polish presidential jet in 2010 in what it called an act of "terrorism," sparking an immediate retort on Monday from Moscow.

"We can say that we were the first great victim of the terrorism we now see playing out before our eyes," Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, according to a transcript released Monday of a weekend university lecture.

The crash killed then president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other mostly senior officials in what is regarded as Poland`s worst peacetime disaster.

He was the twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party that swept back to power in October after eight years in opposition.

The minister also alleged the crash was orchestrated in reaction to Poland`s 2009 request to define as "genocide" the World War II Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Russia`s western Katyn forest.

"There is no doubt about the fact that what happened ... was meant to deprive Poland of a leadership that was moving our nation toward independence," Macierewicz added.

Moscow responded immediately to the minister`s allegations, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling them "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with real circumstances of this plane crash."

A member of the Civic Platform opposition party, Rafal Trzaskowski, also dismissed Macierewicz`s allegations as "terrifying".

"If the defence minister in some way accuses a state of terrorism, we can only be terrified, because one does not leave acts of terrorism without a response," the former deputy foreign minister told reporters.

In February, the PiS government launched a fresh probe into the crash, arguing that key facts pointing to "Russia`s responsibility" were "hidden" during a previous investigation.

Right-wing politicians have long insisted the crash was no accident, even though both Polish and Russian investigators found pilot error, bad weather and poor air traffic control to blame.

The crash occurred as a Polish state delegation was en route to memorial ceremonies in Russia`s Katyn forest for thousands of Polish army officers killed by the Soviet secret police in 1940, a massacre the Kremlin denied until 1990.

Nearly one quarter of Poles believe the air crash was an assassination, according to a poll last year.

The rest blamed other factors, including 37 percent who thought the pilots were pressured to land despite heavy fog.
United Nations: Russia on Monday opposed slapping sanctions on Iran over recent ballistic missile tests that Moscow`s UN envoy said did not violate a UN resolution adopted after the landmark nuclear deal.

The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on the missile launches at the request of the United States, which along with Britain had pushed for a special report to decide on possible sanctions.

But the meeting concluded with no specific follow-up action other than further discussion on the test-launches within a designated Security Council committee on Iran.

"We did agree that it`s not a violation," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, welcoming "a very satisfactory outcome of the discussion."

Russia`s stance as a veto-wielding member of the council effectively ruled out the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran.

The council in July adopted a resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and called on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Tehran maintains that the latest missile tests, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability.

Churkin noted that the term "called upon" in the new resolution was an important change in legal language from previous adopted texts that barred Iran from developing such technology.

"A call is different from a ban, so legally you can`t violate a call," he said.

The new resolution "clearly raises the requirements of proof quite a bit" by stating that the missiles must be "designed" to have nuclear capability, Churkin added.US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of "lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder our collective responsibility."

"We are not going to give up, no matter the quibbling that we heard today about this," said Power.

The US ambassador described the missile launches as "dangerous, destabilizing and provocative" and noted that Iranian military officials had claimed that the missiles were designed to be a threat to Israel.

"These were designed to deliver a nuclear weapon," said Power. "This merits a council response."

Britain and France had both raised concern over the missile launches, but the ambassadors did not specifically say that the tests were a violation of resolution 2231.

"We judge that Iran is in blatant disregard of Resolution 2231," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "we are worried, because we are in a case of non-compliance with 2231."

The United States slapped sanctions on Iran in January over its ballistic missile program, even as the world hailed the implementation of the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and Western powers.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called on the council to take action, arguing that failure to do so "will give Iran a green light to continue with its nuclear missile tests."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week urged Iran to act with caution and moderation, in response to the two days of missile launches.

Given the political atmosphere in the Middle East, Iran should "act with moderation, caution and the good sense not to increase tensions through any hasty actions," Ban`s spokesman said.
Beirut: Since a ceasefire came into force in Syria, the army and its Russian ally have refocused their air power on targeting jihadist factions, a monitoring group said Monday.

The truce began on February 27 and does not cover the fight against jihadist groups like Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

"In agreement with Russia, the Syrian regime is focusing its capabilities on frontlines with the jihadists," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"In the fortnight before the truce, warplanes staged some 3,000 strikes and barrel bomb attacks in opposition-held areas. That number has gone down to some 325 since February 27," Abdel Rahman said.

"By contrast, the number of air strikes against jihadist areas has soared," he added.

Overnight Sunday to Monday, Syrian warplanes and helicopters pounded IS-held areas around the ancient city of Palmyra in the east of the country, the Observatory said.

Fighting raged in the area, pitting IS against army troops backed by pro-Damascus militia, the Britain-based group said, adding that at least six jihadists were killed.

IS seized Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Pearl of the Desert", last May, sending shockwaves across the world.

"The regime is trying to take back Palmyra. But troops can`t advance quickly because the area is exposed, and IS could easily stage ambushes there," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"So they need to go slowly," he said.

Meanwhile in the coastal province of Latakia, army troops and loyalist militia led by Russian officers battled Al-Nusra fighters allied to non-jihadist rebel factions, said the Observatory.

"It is very hard to implement the ceasefire in areas where Al-Nusra is fighting alongside rebel groups, because it is impossible to track who exactly is honouring the ceasefire there," Abdel Rahman said.

"At the same time, the regime side will use Al-Nusra`s presence as a justification to keep fighting."In Latakia, the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad`s Alawite sect and home to the Hmeimim Russian airbase, the army and its allies are trying to retake the strategic Kabbaneh hilltop near Turkey, the Observatory said.

Kabbaneh is the rebels` last strategic hilltop in the western province.

Elsewhere, the army hit the Marj area near Damascus, where Al-Nusra is also the main fighting force, with several missiles, as clashes raged.

Civilians caught in the fighting are still paying the highest price, however.

"The regime is threatening to besiege Deir al-Assafir and other areas near Marj, which are home to some 2,500 families," Abdel Rahman said.

Ceasefire violations have nonetheless been committed every day since the ceasefire came into force.

According to an AFP count based on Russian defence ministry statements, the truce has been violated 194 times.

The highest number of violations took place on Sunday, with 29 breaches recorded by the Russian count.
Ankara: Turkey on Monday blamed Kurdish rebels for a suicide car bombing that killed 35 people in Ankara, the latest in a series of attacks that has heightened concerns about security in the country.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Sunday evening blast, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the capital, wounding more than 120 people.

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said "serious, almost certain findings" from the investigation pointed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) and vowed to "take any step required to defend this country".

Officials say that of the 37 people killed in the blast, 35 have now been identified as victims, one was a female suicide bomber and one a man thought to have been her accomplice.

Sunday`s carnage, the second major bombing in Ankara in less than a month, will come as an embarrassment to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) won parliamentary elections in November promising to save Turkey from "chaos" and smash the PKK.

In February a car bombing along very similar lines targeted military personnel in a nearby area of Ankara, killing 29 people.

A second attack so soon afterwards in the centre of the Turkish capital will add to security fears as Turkey grapples with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

The February attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, as revenge for Turkish military operations in the southeast. The TAK warned of more attacks to come, including on tourist areas.

Turkey has in recent months waged an all-out assault on the PKK, which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country`s largest ethnic minority.

Davutoglu said the evidence so far pointed to Kurdish rebels being behind the bombing.

"There are very serious, almost certain findings that point to the separatist terrorist organisation," he told reporters after visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, referring to the PKK.

Authorities have detained 11 people over the attack, Davutoglu said, while Turkish jets bombed PKK targets in northern Iraq on Monday, just hours after the blast.

Mourners wept as the first of the victims were laid to rest on Monday, some in coffins draped with the scarlet Turkish flag.

The country has been hit by a string of major attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on IS, which controls large areas of Turkey`s southern neighbour Syria.

Three have targeted Ankara, including a double suicide bombing in October that left 103 people dead.Erdogan pledged to continue the fight against the Kurdish rebels and urged Turkey`s allies to stop backing Syrian Kurdish groups -- which Ankara sees as branches of the PKK.

"Those at home and abroad who think they made us pay a price will pay real price themselves," he said in a televised speech on Monday evening.

But there was anger that security forces were unable to stop the blast, which came just two days after the US embassy warned of a possible plot to attack central Ankara.

"People have been talking about another bomb attack coming for more than a week but the government took no precautions and didn`t warn anyone," Nihat Gorgulu, the uncle of one of the victims, told AFP.

"We are very afraid because the government doesn`t care about the people of this country."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People`s Party, accused the government of "turning a blind eye" to the threat.

"We do not deserve this intolerable situation where parents are burying their children," he said.

The head of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Selahattin Demirtas suggested the government was "politically liable" for the attack.

"3 big explosions hit country`s capital in the last 5 months, should we say we congratulate AKP for this? What should we say?" he said on the party`s English-language Twitter account.

Dozens of left-wing activists protested in central Istanbul against the government over the bombing before riot police broke up the rally with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.

Targeting civilians would not be a completely new tactic for Kurdish rebels, but would represent an escalation of the current phase of the conflict.

Can Acun, an analyst with Turkish think tank SETA, told AFP the rebellion appeared to be getting desperate.

"The `uprising` launched by the PKK has not worked. Even the Kurdish population has distanced itself from its operations in the southeastern towns," Acun said.

"In frustration the PKK seems to have chosen to go for more serious acts."
Ankara: Turkish warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq Monday, the day after a suicide car bomb tore through downtown Ankara killing at least 36 people, in the third attack on the capital in five months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred hulks on a busy road in the heart of the city, wounding more than 120 people.

But Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman who had ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party, a Turkish official told AFP on Monday.

Hours after the attack, Turkish F-16 and F-4 fighter bombers hit arms depots and shelters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK) in the mountainous Kandil and Gara regions in northern Iraq, the army said, quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency.

The strikes came as the government announced three more deaths overnight from Sunday`s huge explosion at a bus stop near a busy square in central Ankara.

"As of this morning... we lost three more citizens in hospital," Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said in televised comments.

He gave an overall toll of 37, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two.

By Monday morning, the area was locked down under heavy security, with armed police standing guard and forensic experts picking through the scene.

The military said the PKK targets were hit "with precision", with a spokesman for the rebels confirming the strikes and saying that so far, there was no clear picture of the damage caused.

Sunday`s attack bore similarities to another suicide car bombing in Ankara on February 17 which targeted military personnel and killed 29 people.

That attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, which said it was revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had "concrete information" on the group behind the attack, saying results from inquiry would be made public soon.

"One attacker is believed to be a woman with links to the PKK," a Turkish official told AFP on Monday, without giving further details.

Officials say Sunday`s attackers deliberately targeted the bus stop, which is close to Kizilay square, a bustling commercial area and local transport hub near the parliament, prime minister`s office and foreign embassies.

The fact that extremists were able to strike again with bloody effect in the heart of the Turkish capital, so close to so many sensitive buildings and so soon after February`s attack will raise questions about the country`s ability to deal with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

Turkey has been hit by a string of major attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on the IS group. Three of them have targeted Ankara, including a double suicide bombing in October that left 103 people dead.

As recently as Friday, the US embassy issued a warning about a possible plot to attack central Ankara, advising American citizens to avoid the area.

The timing of Sunday`s attack is awkward for Ankara, coming as it seeks to persuade the European Union to speed up its application to join the bloc.One man caught up in the bombing told AFP he escaped death by flinging himself out of his car.

"It exploded, there was a red flame that came out," he told AFP, saying the force of the blast pushed his car backwards. "I threw myself out and then I can`t remember anything else."

International powers including the US, Britain and France condemned the attack and said they stood by Turkey in its fight against terror.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government would "never abandon its right to legitimate defence against the terrorist menace".

"Turkey is fighting a determined struggle against terrorist organisations," he said.

After February`s attack, Erdogan rejected the TAK claim of responsibility and insisted the assault was the work of the Syrian Kurdish People`s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara regards as a branch of the PKK.

The issue has driven a wedge between Ankara and its ally Washington, which works with the YPG as the only effective force combating IS in Syria.

A two-year ceasefire between the government and Kurdish rebels collapsed last year and since December, security forces have been waging a major campaign against the PKK.

Sunday`s attack came as strict curfews imposed in December on a number of Kurdish-dominated towns and cities were extended to two more towns in the southeast as a prelude to fresh military operations.

Ankara has vowed to wipe out the PKK, classed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, and has said "clean-up" operations in the Kurdish towns of Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Sirnak are imminent.
Riyadh: Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed on Monday in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.

In a statement on the UAE`s official WAM news agency, the Emirati armed forces had said the jet was "missing" without giving details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since the Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.

Coalition warplanes turned their crosshairs on Yemen`s second city Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, for the first time last week.

Security officials and witnesses in Aden told AFP that a jet had crashed into a nearby mountain as coalition warplanes operated in the vicinity after clashes erupted between Yemeni forces and jihadists.

Footage from the foot of a hill near Aden showed locals pointing to debris strewn in the area and saying it belonged to the crashed jet.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the conflict between Iran-backed insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local IS commander at dawn, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting on Monday, security officials said.

"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machinegun fire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden`s Mansura district, one witness said.

Security sources estimate that around 300 heavily armed Al-Qaeda fighters are entrenched in Mansura.

The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.

In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error."

The pilot was saved and the plane`s wreckage was found.

In May, a Moroccan jet crashed in Yemen. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that the crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, denying rebel claims that they had downed the plane.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance`s heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

In Yemen itself, more than 6,100 people have died -- half of them civilians -- since the coalition launched its campaign, according to the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia mounted an Arab air campaign against the rebels after they closed in on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.

Hadi and senior officials spend most of their time in Riyadh as security situation in Aden continues to worsen.

The Huthi rebels overran capital Sanaa unopposed in September 2014 and went on to expand their control across the south Arabian Peninsula country.
District of Columbia: The White House offered a cautious initial response to President Vladimir Putin`s surprise order Monday to withdraw some Russian military forces from Syria.

"We will have to see exactly what Russia`s intentions are," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said minutes after Putin`s televised comments.

Putin ordered his defense minister to begin withdrawing from Tuesday "the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic."

His shock announcement -- after months of operations to prop up Assad`s regime -- was greeted with skepticism by many observers.

Putin launched air strikes in September followed by a massive troop deployment, turning the tide of a long and brutal war in Assad`s favor, rescuing his regime from the brink of collapse.

But there was also some hope Putin`s latest gambit could signal a willingness to accept Assad`s exit or lead to a breakthrough in peace talks in Geneva, which began Monday.

Opposition groups, the United States and key European countries have called on Assad to go as part of a negotiated transition.

"We have talked about how Russia`s continued military intervention to prop up the Assad regime made the efforts to reach a political transition even more difficult," said Earnest.

"It`s hard for me to assess what sorts of implications this will have on the talks what sort of change it will bring about to that dynamic."
Geneva: Syria`s warring sides gathered in Geneva Sunday for UN-brokered peace talks, as the United States and France warned the Damascus regime against trying to disrupt efforts to end the bloody civil war.

United Nations Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura met representatives of both delegations for "informal meetings" ahead of the negotiations, due to begin on Monday.

The long-awaited talks will open on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of Syria`s civil war, in the latest bid to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

But disagreements over the agenda have already cast a shadow over the negotiations, and on Sunday Western powers hit out at the regime for saying that removing President Bashar al-Assad would be a "red line" in the talks.

Damascus and the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), the main opposition umbrella group, have already clashed over what the talks will cover and hours before they were due to start the agenda was still up in the air.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the remarks from his Syrian counterpart were "clearly trying to disrupt the process... (and) clearly trying to send a message of deterrence to others".

Speaking in Paris after meeting with his European allies, he also warned Damascus and its allies Russia and Iran against "testing boundaries" or destroying a fragile ceasefire that began on February 27.

"This is a moment of truth, a moment where all of us have to be responsible," he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault went further, calling Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem`s comments a "provocation" and a "bad sign" in the peace efforts for Syria.

"There will be no political process if the opposition is not closely involved and confident," he added, calling on all the players in Syria`s war to ensure "the peace process is sincere and real steps are taken".While analysts say much has changed since the last round of indirect talks collapsed in February, Assad`s fate and whether elections will be held within 18 months remain huge obstacles.

Experts have already cast doubt on whether the talks will get off the ground and, if they do, whether any agreement will be able to take hold on the fractured battlefields where multiple groups are competing for dominance.

Bassel Salloukh, political science professor at the Lebanese American University of Beirut, said the current talks were more of a forum for international powers involved in the conflict.

"The strategic interests of Russia and the US will determine the shape of the settlement in Syria rather than the aspirations of its peoples," he said.

Iran and Russia have been supporting Syria`s regime with weapons and airstrikes, while the US, Europe, as well as Tehran`s regional rival Saudi Arabia, have been backing the opposition.

Their leverage over warring parties in Syria has its limits, however, as half of Syrian territory is controlled by jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group or Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

These groups have not been covered by the temporary ceasefire, which has also been strained by accusations of violations by the regime and rebels.Still, the lull in violence has given enough breathing space for the stalled peace process to re-start.

Kerry said it has reduced violence by up to 90 percent, allowed emergency supplies to reach some 150,000 civilians in besieged areas and meant the US-coalition has pushed IS out of 20 percent of its territory in Syria.

But he warned the conflict will rage on without concrete action, saying: "We will be back here next year, or even the year after next, facing a Middle East with even more refugees, even greater numbers of dead and displaced, even more suffering."

He also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring Damascus into line, saying he should be concerned that Assad was trying to "to take off the table something that president Putin and Iran had committed to".

Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari said on Sunday the regime had held positive discussions with de Mistura, but no agenda had been decided for the talks.

"We do not know what issues we will address or the agenda, which we still have not agreed on," he told media in Geneva.

The opposition HNC Sunday pledged to stick with the negotiations, but reiterated that Assad could not be part of Syria`s political future and that any transitional body must be imbued with all executive powers.

"We have come to discuss a political solution seeking to end the suffering of the Syrian people and we hope that the other party will be as serious as us," said HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet.

"There will be no role within this body for those who have committed crimes or for Bashar al-Assad."
GL Garden 01-21-02, Solok Paya Terubong 8, 11060 Penang, Malaysia House Phone: 604-8277554 Hand Phone: 60165318276. Email: cvs3zoe@yahoo.com Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS - Apple , Google , McDonald's and IKEA[IKEA.UL] will be asked about their European tax deals on Wednesday as EU lawmakers ratchet up the pressure on multinationals to pay more tax on their profits locally. The hearing, organized by the European Parliament's tax committee, follows a similar event in November last year when Anheuser-Busch InBev , HSBC , Google and eight other companies were quizzed on the same subject. While the committee has no power to order changes, the hearing reflects the political concerns over multinationals avoiding local tax liabilities. The European Commission is also investigating several cases to see if they breach the bloc's state aid rules which prohibit EU countries from giving some companies an unfair advantage by making special deals on tax. Starbucks declined to take part because it has challenged a European Commission order to the Dutch authorities to recover up to 30 million euros in back taxes, the European Parliament said in a statement. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , which is also appealing against an EU finding against its tax deal with Luxembourg, also turned down the invitation. The head of Inter IKEA Group, Soren Hansen, will argue the Swedish furniture retailer's case. Inter IKEA Group owns the intellectual property rights under which its retailers operate. The Parliament's Green party last month accused IKEA of avoided paying some 1 billion euros in taxes from 2009 to 2014 because it channeled royalty income through a Dutch company and possibly through Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. All the companies have previously said they comply with EU tax rules. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian prosecutors late on Saturday accused executives from construction conglomerate Odebrecht and state-run oil company Petrobras of misconduct and demanded they pay 7.3 billion reais ($2 billion) in damages. Prosecutors accused Odebrecht of paying bribes to win multibillion-dollar contracts with Petrobras as part of a corruption scheme that implicated dozens of politicians and top executives. Odebrecht is currently under investigation for its involvement in the graft and influence-peddling scandal at Petrobras known as "Operation Car Wash." Family member Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht, who ran the company from 2008 until recent months, was sentenced on Tuesday to about 19 years in prison in connection with the scandal. In a written statement, the prosecutors of the task force investigating the scheme said they had evidence that Odebrecht paid bribes to win contracts at the oil refineries Getulio Vargas and Abreu e Lima as well in a Rio de Janeiro petrochemical plant and the Gasduc gas pipeline. Odebrecht said in a statement it was surprised by the accusations, saying the compensation values were "inconsistent." "Any hypothetical requirement arising from the case depends on due process, with decisions of all competent courts" said the statement, adding Odebrecht's construction arm, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht, would respond to the accusations. The scandal has undercut Odebrecht's access to financing, and the group, which has more than a dozen business units, is seeking to ease a swelling debt burden. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney)
TORONTO (Reuters) - A gaffe by the CBS show "60 Minutes," which mistakenly aired a photo of the actress Kim Cattrall implying she was the mother of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was cheerfully accepted by Cattrall, who said she couldn't be more proud. The episode broadcast late Sunday of the widely watched television news magazine featured a profile of Trudeau, who is due to visit Washington this week and attend a state dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama. While a reporter on the show talked about Trudeau's father, Pierre Trudeau, who was prime minister of Canada a generation earlier, and his mother Margaret Trudeau, a black-and-white image of the elder Trudeau and Cattrall depicted together was shown on screen. Pierre and Margaret Trudeau each dated a string of celebrities after their marriage broke up, and the sometimes high-profile relationships often made news in Canada, where the prime minister and his young sons were celebrated in the media. The photo of Trudeau and Cattrall was snapped by a photographer of the Toronto Star newspaper in 1981, the paper said on Monday. That was long before the Canadian actress became best known for her role in the hit HBO show, Sex and the City. Cattrall responded to the error good naturedly, saying in a post on Twitter: "I have a son who is the Prime Minister of Canada? I couldn't b (sic) more proud." The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The gaffe made headlines across Canada, sparking jokes about Canada's typically low profile in the United States. (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
By Herculano Coroado LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979 and is one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders, said on Friday he intended to step down in 2018 but gave no reason for his decision and did not name a preferred successor. Angola, a member of OPEC and Africa's second largest oil exporter after Nigeria, has been hit hard by the slump in global crude prices. Oil export revenues account for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange revenues. "I took the decision to leave active political activity in 2018," Dos Santos, 73, said in a speech to members of his ruling MPLA party's key decision-making organ that was broadcast on radio without elaborating. He did not elaborate. Angola, a former Portuguese colony, holds its next parliamentary election in 2017 and the leader of the winning party will then become president. MPLA leader Dos Santos was re-appointed to a new five-year term as Angola's president in August 2012 after his party scored a landslide win. It was not immediately clear whether Dos Santos would retain his post as MPLA leader during the next election or take part in the campaign. A year of weak oil prices has hammered Africa's third largest economy and the government is in discussions with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund about possible financial assistance. Dos Santos' mild, inscrutable public demeanour belies his tight control over Angola, where he has overseen an oil-backed economic boom and the reconstruction of infrastructure devastated by a 27-year-long civil war that ended in 2002. Critics accuse him of mismanaging Angola's oil wealth and making an elite, mainly his family and political allies, vastly rich in a country ranked amongst the world's most corrupt. Dos Santos is Africa's second longest ruling leader after Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. DYNASTIC SUCCESSION? Vice-President Manuel Vicente - former head of state oil firm Sonangol - is seen as a likely successor to Dos Santos. "(Dos Santos) has been grooming Vicente for quite a while now ... He has deputised for him on a number of important occasions, which sent a strong signal," said Gary van Staden, a Johannesburg-based political analyst with NKC African Economics. But another analyst said the president was grooming his son, Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos, to succeed him. The younger Dos Santos currently heads Angola's sovereign wealth fund. "It may mean the succession is in progress and that it will be a dynastic one," said Nelson Bonavena, an economics lecturer at the Catholic University of Angola and political analyst. Another Angola expert, Ricardo Soares de Oliveira of Britain's Oxford University, said the news of Dos Santos' planned exit should be treated cautiously. "Dos Santos' departure from power has been the talk of the town in Luanda for 15 years. He has always hinted that he wanted to leave but this is the most specific commitment he has ever made," he said. "The fact that he put a date to it is a powerful marker and would come back to haunt him if he were to renege on it." (Additional reporting by Zandi Shabalala and Ed Stoddard; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Gareth Jones)
The federal government is spending $17.5 million on community events and a "national musical celebration" to honour Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly made the announcement in front of a string orchestra at Toronto's Daniels Spectrum Theatre Monday morning.

The federal government is chipping in $10 million to the Community Foundations of Canada for its community fund project, which will give grants of up to $15,000 to stage events in communities across the country.

"The community fund for Canada will use its extensive network to distribute microgrants that will support community projects throughout the country in thousands of communities," Joly said at the announcement.

"The community fund for Canada's 150th [birthday] will support projects that build vibrant, healthy and engaged communities, inspire deeper understanding about our communities and our country and encourage participation and community initiatives connected to the sesquicentennial," said Laurel Carlton with Community Foundations of Canada.

Joly said the government will work with the private and not-for-profit sectors to raise money.

Former Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie is partnering in the project to make sure the private sector is involved.

"People who love their country can change it for the better," Balsillie said.

"Canada can and should build an innovative 21st century economy and then use that prosperity to play a great role in the global stage. but that's only possible by active participation of all citizens in their communities."

National musical celebration

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is getting $7.5 million from the federal government.

"The TSO will be working with various orchestras throughout the country to highlight the work of iconic Canadian musicians, as well as new and emerging artists, creating a soundtrack as rich and diverse as our country," Joly said.

Story continues

"Our project is called the Canada 150 musical mosaic. Its purpose is to highlight and showcase Canada's musical talent, including over 36 orchestras from communities across the country," said Dave Postill, the orchestra's vice-president of marketing.

"We're going to work with the Polaris Music Prize, diverse Canadian artists and members of the music industry, and bring together all of these folks under the leadership of the TSO to create a project that's national in scope."

In April 2015, the previous Conservative government set up a $210 million Canada 150 Fund for the sesquicentennial celebrations.

Joly told Rosemary Barton,host of CBC TV's Power and Politics, the government is working within that financial framework as it plans more events, such as holding citizenship ceremonies in "iconic places" across the country.

Other Canada 150 projects announced by the federal government include free admission to national parks and "Sesqui," a travelling, interactive art exhibit inside geodesic domes.

Correction : A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Community Foundations of Canada community fund project would give grants of up to $50,000 to stage events in communities across the country. The number has been corrected to $15,000. (Mar 14, 2016 6:33 PM)
By Mike Stone NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's Anbang Insurance Group has agreed to acquire Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc for around $6.5 billion, as the owner of New York's iconic Waldorf Astoria expands its U.S. hotel portfolio, a person briefed on the matter said Saturday. The deal, which illustrates corporate China's unquenched thirst for U.S real estate, comes just three months after Strategic Hotels' current owner, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP , took the company private for around $6 billion. The source asked not to be identified because the deal is not yet public. Anbang and Strategic Hotels did not respond to requests for comment, while Blackstone declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported on the transaction earlier on Saturday. Strategic Hotels' properties include the Four Seasons Washington, D.C. on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Westin St. Francis on Union Square in San Francisco and the beach-front Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Orange County, California. Anbang purchased New York's Waldorf Astoria from Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc in 2014 for $1.95 billion, one of the highest prices per room ever paid for a U.S. hotel. The deal closed in February 2015 following a review of by U.S. national security watchdog Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). At the time that Blackstone took it private, Strategic Hotels owned 17 hotels operated by top hospitality chains including Hyatt Hotels Corp , InterContinental Hotels Group Plc and Marriott International Inc . Chinese investment into hotels has been growing since 2011 and 2012, when just $160 million and $130 million were invested, according to data from JLL, a global real estate broker and advisory services company based in Chicago. In November, Anbang agreed to buy U.S. annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life for about $1.57 billion. (Reporting by Mike Stone in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Just six days after the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring a naval blockade of the southern coast stretching from South Carolina to Texas (it was later extended north to North Carolina and Virginia). For the remainder of the Civil War, the Union blockade aimed to keep much-needed supplies from reaching Confederate ports, and to prevent the export of cotton and other valuable goods that would fund the Confederate war effort.

Soon after the blockade was put into place, Confederate blockade runners hit the water. These slim, speedy ships represented the most advanced maritime technology of the day, and they did a lucrative (if risky) business ferrying both war materiel and consumer goods through the wall of Union ships. Blockade runners were usually unarmed, and were often painted a pale grey in order to remain as unobtrusive as possible.



The Confederate blockade runner Sumter. (Credit: MPI/Getty Images)

The shipwreck discovered off the coast of North Carolina on February 27 is the first Civil War-era vessel to be found in the area in decades. Researchers on the vessel Atlantic Surveyor recorded the ships hull, buried 18 to 20 feet below the oceans surface and located 27 miles downstream from Wilmington at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, near Fort Caswell. The state of preservation on this wreck is among the best weve ever had, underwater archaeologist Billy Ray Morris said in a statement released by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Morris and other researchers are now working to identify the vessel as part of a series of operations funded by the National Park Service through the American Battlefield Protection Program. Earlier this week, a pair of divers explored the wreck, while Morris monitored their activity from a nearby boat. Visibility was poor, but the divers were aided by the detailed sonar image of the wreck.

So far, all the available evidenceincluding historical accounts, sonar images and the divers workappears to indicate the newly discovered shipwreck is the Agnes E. Fry, one of three blockade runners known to have run around in the region. The wrecked ship is the closest in length to the Fry, and divers confirmed the ships boilers was of the same type that would have been used on a ship built in Glasgow, Scotland circa 1864. (The Fry was constructed that year on Scotlands River Clyde.) The other two runners lost in the vicinity, the Spunkie and the Georgianna McCaw, are smaller and of an earlier design. Originally christened the Fox, the Fry was renamed after being purchased by the blockade running company, in honor of the ship captains wife. According to historical accounts, the ship did business in Havana, Cuba, and could have also visited other neutral ports in Bermuda and the Bahamas.

Union forces captured Fort Fisher in January 1865, leading to the fall of Wilmington and the capture of a key Confederate railroad line. According to Morris, the crew of the Fry ran the ship aground rather than see it fall into enemy hands. In all, there are believed to be some 27 wrecksincluding both Union and Confederate shipsassociated with the Wilmington-Fort Fisher campaign located in the area, including eight that have not been found.

Though there might be some cargo left onboard the wrecked ship, Morris told CNN he doesnt know what the Fry might have been carrying on its last voyage, and his first priority is to positively identify the vessel. Any artifacts or ship parts brought to the surface will be solely for investigative purposes, as researchers attempt to learn more about this state of the art blockade runner and the technology used to build it.




By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government on Saturday ruled out any discussion of the fate of the presidency at peace talks this week, just as the lead opposition negotiator said a political transition could not even start unless Bashar al-Assad was no longer president. The statements reflected the huge challenges facing diplomats as they prepare for talks to resume in Geneva on Monday, trying to build on a ceasefire deal that has reduced violence sharply since Feb. 27. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem confirmed his government's participation but said the talks would fail if the opposition had "delusions that they will take power in Geneva that they failed to take in battle". He also heaped criticism on U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura for already presenting an agenda for the talks and for saying that a presidential election would take place in 18 months. "The government delegation will reject any attempt to put this on the agenda," Moualem told a televised news conference. "We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency ... I advise them that if this is their thinking, they shouldn't come to the talks." Within hours, opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush, already in Geneva, had described Moualem's comments as worthless. "We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al-Assad or his death," he told reporters. "There's no possibility to start this period with the presence of this regime or the head of this regime in the power." Another negotiator, Monzer Makhous, said Moualem was "putting the nails in the coffin of Geneva". The talks will coincide with next week's fifth anniversary of a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, and allowed for the expansion of the Islamic State militant group. They are part of the first diplomatic push since the Russian air force intervened in September to support Assad, tilting the war his way and helping Damascus reclaim significant areas in the west. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and Russia, has been more widely respected than many expected, though fighting has continued on some important fronts, including near the Turkish border. TRANSITIONAL BODY Alloush's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has praised the agenda outlined by de Mistura focused on governance, a new constitution and elections. The HNC wants to focus on a transitional governing body with full executive powers as outlined in a 2012 Geneva communique in an early bid to end the conflict. A U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December called for the establishment of "credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance", a new constitution, and free and fair elections within 18 months. Moualem indicated that a "national unity government" with opposition participation was the most on offer, an idea ruled out by the HNC. He said the government delegation would be willing to discuss de Mistura's agenda and would travel to Geneva on Sunday, but would return to Damascus within 24 hours if the other side did not show up. As far as the government was concerned, "political transition" meant a transition from the existing constitution to a new one, and from the existing government to a new one with participation from the other side, he added. KURDS The diplomacy has been complicated by disputes over who should be invited to negotiate with the government. The Kurdish PYD party, which holds sway over wide areas of northern Syria, has so far been excluded from the talks in line with the wishes of Turkey - which sees the PYD as an extension of the PKK rebels fighting for Kurdish autonomy inside its territory. Moualem said the Syrian army and the Kurds were in "one trench" fighting Islamic State, apparently in reference to the YPG militia, the PYD's armed wing, which has been battling the jihadist group in northern Syria with support from U.S.-led air strikes. But Moualem ruled out the idea of federalism, one of the ideas backed by the PYD and mentioned by a Russian minister as a possible model for Syria. The Russian Defence Ministry said it had registered 10 ceasefire violations in the previous 24 hours, but the truce was largely being respected. Rebels did, however, shoot down a Syrian government warplane over western Syria on Saturday, rebels and a military source said, although there were conflicting accounts on whether it had been brought down by a missile or anti-aircraft guns. Rebels have previously shot down Syrian warplanes with anti-aircraft guns. They have asked foreign backers to supply them with anti-aircraft missiles but say they have not received any, reflecting fears that they could fall into the hands of Islamic State. (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Marina Depetris, Firas Makdesi, Yara Abi Nader and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Tom Perry and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alistair Bell)
A right-wing nationalist party looks set to have powered into three German state legislatures in elections widely seen as a referendum on Angela Merkel's refugee policy.

The German Chancellor decided last year to open the door to more than a million migrants, many fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

But, in what many say is a sign of voters' anger at her stance on refugees, exit polls indicate the three-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD) has secured more than 14% of the vote in the prosperous state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, nearly 11% in neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate and a second place in the relatively poor Saxony-Anhalt, with nearly 23%.

The AfD's leader Frauke Petry said: "We are seeing above all in these elections that voters are turning away in large numbers from the big established parties and voting for our party."

She said voters "expect us finally to be the opposition that there hasn't been in the German parliament and some state parliaments".

The AfD had controversially suggested police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them entering the country.

Mrs Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union looked set to finish up to 5% behind Green governor Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Social Democrat governor Malu Dreyer in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Exit polls also predicted the CDU would drop around 10% to its worst-ever result in Baden-Wuerttemberg, with some 27%.

Mrs Merkel's coalition partner, the Social Democrats, was also braced for uncomfortable results, with large losses predicted in both Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt.

Other parties are extremely unlikely to share power with the AfD but the party's increased presence will make their own efforts at building coalitions more complicated.

There is unlikely to be any implications for Mrs Merkel's leadership in the short-term, with the next national election due in late 2017.

The forecast results will generate new tensions but she herself has overcome many state-level setbacks in the past and there is no rebellion or long-term successor in sight.

She insisted last year that "we will manage" the challenge of integrating the influx of migrants and still says that all of the EU's 28 countries must work together to solve the crisis.

But, meanwhile, she has ignored demands from some of her more conservative allies for a national cap on the number of refugees.
PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union could impose sanctions on Iran over its recent ballistic missile tests, France's foreign minister said on Sunday. The United States, France and other countries have already said that, if the missiles are confirmed as nuclear-capable, the tests, conducted last week by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, would violate U.N. Security Council resolution 2231. Asked whether this could trigger sanctions from the European Union, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: "We condemn ballistic missile tests and, if necessary, sanctions will be enacted." The tests are due to be discussed by EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, whose country in January imposed sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for supplying Iran's ballistic missile program after a series of tests at the end of last year, said the latest tests were a clear violation of U.N. Resolution 2231. The United States plans to raise the issue in U.N. Security Council consultations this week and is urging other countries to help thwart Iran's missile program. "The missiles are a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution because they are longer than the distance allowed for ballistic missiles and, because of that, they represent a potential threat to the countries in the region and beyond," Kerry said. "We have made it very clear that the missile concerns remain part of sanctionable activity with respect to Iran. If Iran chooses to violate that, they will invite additional sanctions, as we put them in place just a month ago as a result of the prior tests." Resolution 2231, adopted last July as U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program were lifted, "calls upon" Iran to refrain from certain ballistic missile activity. Western diplomats say this amounts to a clear ban, but acknowledge that Russia, China and Iran probably interpret it as an appeal for voluntary restraint, and that Russia and China would be likely to block any action by the Security Council. Iran says none of its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, which sees Iran's missiles as a direct threat, on Saturday urged world powers to take "immediate punitive steps" against Iran over the tests. (Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
By Joe Bavier GRAND BASSAM, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch drank beer at a beachside bar before launching a shooting rampage at an Ivory Coast resort town that left at least 18 people dead, the group's third major attack in West Africa in four months. Sunday's raid, details of which are beginning to emerge in witness and official accounts, was the furthest yet from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) traditional desert base, a worrying indication of the militants' growing reach. The attack raised questions about Ivory Coast's preparedness for such an attack, with some asking why such a sensitive target was left so vulnerable. Fifteen civilians and three members of the special forces were killed and 33 people were wounded in the attack in Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Ivorians and westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan. Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said another 26 wounded were still receiving medical attention on Monday, as President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning for the country, which has never before been hit by al Qaeda. Three militants also died in the attack on the resort town, a UNESCO heritage site of crumbling colonial-era buildings. Witness Christian Eddy said four men arrived in a Ford saloon car at the beachside bar where he works around noon on Sunday. While two remained outside, the two others entered and drank beers for around a half hour. They then launched the attack. "They didn't speak French. They spoke Arabic. We communicated with them in English .... The guys who were still outside started shooting and the two seated at the table yelled 'Allahu Akbar' and flipped over the table," he told Reuters. He said the first victim was a boy who was made to kneel before he was shot. Bar staff tried to warn a deaf boy who was playing nearby. "People were yelling 'Come over here!' But he didn't know what was happening and just went down to the water. They shot him in the water," Eddy said. The gunmen then moved up the beach, continuing their killing spree and entering several seaside hotels. Surveillance footage from Hotel Etoile du Sud - one of the attackers' first targets where two people including a German woman and a Lebanese man were gunned down - showed the initial panic in the hotel bar as the first shots rang out. Staff crouched and then fled along with customers, among them parents carrying babies or leading young children by the hand. A man, apparently disguised as a waiter in a red waistcoat over a white dress shirt, entered with a rifle, fired at the empty bar and disappeared behind it, where the Lebanese man had been hiding. More gunshots were then heard. The first police officers arrived on the scene around 15 minutes after the shooting began, witnesses said. It would be another half hour before special units from the security forces arrived from Abidjan. The victims included foreign citizens from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali. Among the dead was Henrike Grohs, 51, head of the Abidjan branch of Germany's Goethe Institut cultural body. France's President Francois Hollande said four French nationals were killed in the attack. The French government had earlier said just one of its citizens had died. EASY TARGET The attack is a heavy blow for Ivory Coast, which has recovered from more than a decade of political turmoil and a 2011 civil war to become one of the world's fastest growing economies. President Ouattara won a landslide election victory in October, promising to attract foreign investment to the largest economy in French-speaking West Africa which is also the world's top cocoa producer. "Ivory Coast will not let itself be intimidated by terrorists," Ouattara said in a televised address late on Monday. "Yes, Ivory Coast is on its feet. Yes, on its feet to combat the cowards and protect its people." AQIM has spread across the Sahara from Algeria and now operates in much of western and northern Africa. In January, gunmen killed dozens of people in a cafe frequented by foreigners in neighboring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, and also attacked a hotel. Militants attacked another hotel in the Malian capital Bamako late last year, killing 20. Since those attacks, Ivorian authorities have increased security around hotels and shopping malls in Abidjan, a city of around five million inhabitants. But there were few signs that was the case in Grand Bassam ahead of Sunday's attack. "Attacking Bassam was the easiest thing for them to do. Bassam is where all the expatriates and middle class from Abidjan gather on the weekends," said one longtime resident, who said he had seen no sign of recent security improvements. "We don't understand why this wasn't considered a priority for protection. It would be easy," he said, asking not to be named. The recent attacks in the region are generally viewed as targeting France and its allies after Paris intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants who had seized the desert north a year earlier. The attack in Grand Bassam, thousands of kilometers from al Qaeda's traditional operational zones, raises fears over where they might strike next. It poses serious security questions for former regional colonial power France, which has thousands of citizens and troops in the region. While some 18,000 French citizens live in Ivory Coast, over 20,000 reside in Senegal. France has 3,500 troops in the region, from Senegal in the far west to Chad. A French military base in Abidjan, manned by around 800 soldiers, serves as a logistical hub for regional operations against Islamist militancy in the Sahel. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will travel to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to offer logistical support and intelligence, French diplomatic sources said. Counter-terrorism officials have also been sent to help the investigation. (Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Ange Aboa in Abidjan and John Irish and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Joe Bavier; Editing by Janet McBride, Bernard Orr)
North Korea has reportedly claimed it could wipe out Manhattan by burning it "down to ashes" using a hydrogen bomb on a ballistic missile.

It comes as the United Nations human rights investigator for North Korea called for leader Kim Jong-Un and senior officials in the country to be prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity.

The threat against the heart of New York City is the latest by Mr Kim's regime aimed at the West, which has hit Pyongyang with sanctions.

And it comes amid heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula as the South carries out joint military drills with its US ally .

A report by the state-run outlet DPRK, citing a nuclear scientist named Cho Hyong-Il, said: "Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union.

"If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes."

The newly-developed hydrogen bomb "surpasses our imagination", the scientist was quoted as stating.

"The H-bomb developed by the Soviet Union in the past was able to smash windows of buildings 1,000km away and the heat was strong enough to cause third-degree burns 100km away," the report added.

UN human rights investigator Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council that North Korea was devoting huge resources to developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

But at the same time many of its citizens lack sufficient food and others work in "slave-like conditions", he said.

"We are now at a crucial stage, therefore there is a fundamental need for countries to make that next step in ensuring accountability is undertaken," he said.

In January, Mr Kim ordered North Korea's fourth nuclear detonation and said it had successfully tested a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.

But many experts, including from the US, were sceptical of the claim, although some said the North may have been trying to test components of a hydrogen bomb.

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Last week, Mr Kim reportedly said his country has miniaturised nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles.

In February, the North came under more international condemnation after it launched a long-range rocket carrying what it called a satellite.

Critics said it was being used to test technology for a long-range missile.

Seoul and Washington are discussing whether to deploy an advanced missile defence system in South Korea.
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and test launch ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday. Kim made the comments as he supervised a successful simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile that measured the "thermodynamic structural stability of newly-developed heat-resisting materials," KCNA said. "Declaring that a nuclear warhead explosion test and a test-fire of several kinds of ballistic rockets able to carry nuclear warheads will be conducted in a short time to further enhance the reliance of nuclear attack capability, he (Kim) instructed the relevant section to make prearrangement for them to the last detail," the agency said. The report comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula as South Korean and U.S. troops stage annual military exercises that Seoul has described as the largest ever. The North has issued belligerent statements almost daily, after coming under new United Nations sanctions. The United Nations Security Council imposed a new resolution to tighten sanctions against the North after a nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket last month. U.S. and South Korean experts have said the general consensus was that North Korea had not yet successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile. More crucially, the consensus is that there have been no tests to prove it has mastered the re-entry technology needed to bring a payload back into the atmosphere. Kim said last week that his country had indeed miniaturized a nuclear warhead, however. The North, which has conducted four nuclear tests, also claims to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in January, but most experts said the blast was too small to back up the assertion. The North also says the satellites it has launched into orbit are functioning successfully, although that has never been independently verified. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Tom Brown)
By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. intelligence community that once forced out gays and lesbians for security reasons now sees inclusivity as the best way to protect the country, and seeks to recruit spies from a wider talent pool that includes the LGBT community.

At a session titled Americas LGBT Spies (Secret Agents of Change) held at the South by Southwest tech summit in Austin, Texas, the panelists said for the U.S. intelligence community - with a $60 billion-plus budget and more than 100,000 employees - to attract the best talent, it must embrace diversity.

"We are not the organization of your grandfathers. We have gone from a very dark and closed environment to a very welcoming and open environment," said Tracey Ballard, technical intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, who came out as a lesbian in 1988.

Ballard said at that time, agents risked losing their security clearances and their jobs by coming out. She was initially ostracized by the agency she has served and seen evolve over 30 years or so of service.

She said under Cold War thinking, being gay could subject someone to blackmail, and coming out meant someone would be seen as a deviant who could not be trusted. Over the years, the intelligence community has changed to allow people to be themselves.

"We are in a competition with the rest of the companies out there for talent. If we cannot continue to bring in talent, we cannot bring in the best intelligence," said panelist Kris Gill, global programs manager for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

While individual spy agencies have sometimes made presentations or statements publicly welcoming gay employees, the presentation was the first time the U.S. intelligence community as a whole has done so.

Katrina Gossman, a senior FBI special agent, said in 2004 she became the first FBI employee to marry her partner under Massachusetts' gay marriage law. She said the Federal Bureau of Investigation initially extended her and her partner full marriage benefits, only to rescind them because of a bill passed by Congress.

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Gossman, involved in the investigations after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, said she wants to protect the nation without having to worry what will happen to her family if she is killed on duty.

"The most rewarding thing for me is catching the bad guys," she said.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alan Crosby)
News / Africa

by Staff Reporter

A WOMAN told a Lusaka Local Court that her husband does not want to touch her despite making advances to him so that they can make love.This is in a case in which Margret Mwesa, 53, a business woman of Chazanga compound sued her husband, Gift Banda for reconciliation.Daily Nation reported that Mwesa told Senior Court Magistrate Newa at Matero Local Court while shedding tears that she did not want to lose her husband because she had nowhere to go.She explained that Banda spent nights out and threatened to divorce her every time there was a misunderstanding and he did not want to touch her while in bed.She had tried in vain to make advances to Banda so that he could make love to her but her husband would instead place a blanket in the middle to avoid body contact. Mwesa further said that Banda did not have time to chat with the family because he always came home upset. "I wonder what I did to Banda, there is no peace in our home and we fear to stay in the house if he is at home. I admire my friends who joke with their husbands," said Mwesa.In defence, Banda said he was not interested in making love with Mwesa because she was breastfeeding.Banda explained that he did not want to divorce Mwesa, adding that he loved her and children.Magistrate Newa reconciled the couple and urged Banda to take care of the family.
Syria Talks: 'Only Plan B Is To Return To War'

The UN special envoy for Syria has said if peace talks resuming in Geneva fail the "only Plan B available is return to war".

Staffan de Mistura also said that agreeing on a political transition in Syria was the "mother of all issues" at the UN-brokered negotiations.

"As far as I know, the only Plan B available is return to war, and to even worse war than we had so far," he told a news conference as he opened the first of three rounds of talks.

The talks between the Damascus regime and the main opposition group were suspended last month due to an upsurge in violence in Syria.

Mr de Mistura said he would not hesitate to call in the big powers if the latest talks get bogged down.

"If during these talks and in the next rounds we will see no notice of any willingness to negotiate... we will bring the issue back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the USA... and to the Security Council," he said.

:: Watch A Special Report On Syria: Five Years On At 8.30pm Tonight

The UN mediator also described a recent ceasefire in the war-torn country as "fragile", but said it had largely held.

The landmark truce signed between the Syrian regime and rebels - but not by jihadist groups like Islamic State and Nusra Front - took effect late last month.

A Kremlin spokesman has said Russia believes no side should derail the negotiations by putting forward unfounded ultimatums.

"Without doubt it is important right now that we have as wide as possible representation, that no sides should derail the negotiations process," Dmitry Peskov said.

It comes after the US and France at the weekend warned the Damascus regime against trying to disrupt efforts to end the conflict in response to comments made by Syria's top diplomat.

Foreign minister Walid Muallem had warned that removing President Bashar al Assad would cross a "red line".

Mr Assad's fate has long been a major stumbling block, with Syria's key ally Russia rejecting any suggestion he should go, while opposition-backer the US has been calling for him to step down.

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The negotiations are being held on eve of the fifth anniversary of a war which has killed more than 250,000 people, allowed for the expansion of Islamic State and created a growing refugee crisis.

UNICEF said on Monday the conflict has created 2.4 million child refugees.

It added one in three Syrian children know nothing but a lifetime of war, with some as young as seven being recruited as fighters.

"A trend of particular concern is the increase in child recruitment," the UN charity said in its new report, No Place For Children.

"Children report being actively encouraged to join the war by parties to the conflict offering gifts and 'salaries' of up to $400 (280) a month."
By Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN (Reuters) - Two pilots died when a United Arab Emirates Mirage plane crashed in Yemen on Monday due to a technical fault while conducting military operations for the Saudi-led alliance, the coalition said in a statement carried by Saudi state media. Local Yemeni officials said the plane was flying low when it crashed into a mountain after it conducted bombing raids in Buraiqa district in northwestern Aden where Islamist militants are based. Hani al-Yazidi, director of the Buraiqa district in Aden, said authorities had found the plane's wreckage after it had crashed into a mountain. Another local official, who declined to be identified, said rescue teams had found the body of one of the pilots and were searching for the second. Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer showed local fighters holding pieces of wreckage believed to be part of the plane. Another photograph showed rescue personnel loading what appeared to be the body of one of the pilots into a truck. The UAE armed forces had earlier said in a brief statement that the jet taking part in the fighting was "lost". The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, has embarked on a campaign against Islamist militants based in northern Aden whom it accuses of being behind armed attacks and suicide bombings that have killed scores of people since last year. Helicopters from the Saudi-led coalition have taken part in the military operations which were concentrated in al-Mansoura district, east of Buraiqa, where at least 18 people had died in overnight fighting on Sunday. Residents reported more helicopter overnight strikes on Monday that lasted until the morning. Yemeni forces later entered a block where the militants had been holed up without resistance and seized the local council building which had been controlled by the fighters. The militants had apparently fled before the troops went in. The coalition entered Yemen's civil war in March last year to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-allied Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted him from power. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition. At least two jets from the alliance have crashed since the start of the campaign. In May 2015 a Moroccan F-16 warplane crashed while on a mission with the alliance in Yemen, and the Houthi militia said tribesmen had shot down the aircraft. In December a Bahraini F-16 jet from the coalition crashed in Yemen's neighbor, Saudi Arabia, after a technical fault. (Additional reporting by Noah Browning, Writing by Sylvia Westall and Sami Aboudi,; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Ruth Pitchford)
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican prelate on Monday admitted in court he had leaked confidential documents to the media and said he had been manipulated into it by a woman co-defendant who claimed she was a spy. After an adjournment of more than three months, Spanish Monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda was questioned at the resumption of the so-called "Vatileaks II" trial. Vallejo and four other people are on trial in the case, which centers on the publication last year of two books based on leaked documents that depict a Vatican plagued by graft and where Pope Francis faces stiff resistance to his agenda. Pressed by the prosecution and the court president on whether he had leaked documents, Vallejo said "yes". He also said he had given the author of one of the books some 85 passwords to access electronic documents and email accounts in the Vatican. Most of the three hours of the questioning of Vallejo, a 54-year-old Spaniard, revolved around his relationship with Francesca Chaouqui, 35, a married public relations consultant. Both were members of a now-defunct commission appointed by Pope Francis to advise him on economic and bureaucratic reform. He told the court that his relationship with Chaouqui had been "clearly for me as a priest compromising," recounting how she once entered his room in a Florence hotel. Vallejo accused her of intimidating and manipulating him in order to get a permanent job in the Vatican after the commission's work was done. He also said he had received threatening messages from Chaouqui's husband, who worked as an information technology expert for the Vatican commission. He said he felt trapped "in a situation with no way out". Vallejo said Chaouqui told him she was a high-ranking member of Italy's secret services and once offered to use her connections to get him a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama when he visited the Vatican in 2014. The monsignor was returned to the Vatican's jail a few days ago after investigators discovered he had violated the terms of his house arrest by communicating with reporters by phone. Chaouqui, who is in late pregnancy, attended Monday's hearing and her facial expressions suggested she disputed Vallejo's claims. The Vatican made it a crime to disclose official documents in 2013 after a separate leaks scandal, which the media dubbed "Vatileaks" and which preceded the resignation of Pope Benedict that year. Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi last year published books based on documents which Vatican officials say they received from Chaouqui, Vallejo and his assistant, Nicola Maio. The journalists are accused of putting pressure on Vallejo and Chaouqui to get the documents. The defendants face up to eight years in prison if convicted. Chaouqui, who is expected to give evidence next week, has denied leaking documents. Of the five accused, only Vallejo is a Vatican resident, the others being Italian citizens. The trial resumes on Tuesday with Vallejo still on the stand. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Andrew Roche)
News / International

by Zvamaida Murwira

THE United States has been urged to deal with the log in its eye before looking at the twig in Zimbabwe in the wake of the violence that broke out in Chicago last Friday during a campaign rally by Republican front-runner Mr Donald Trump, and the wanton shooting down of black people by white policemen.The US has not only issued infantile travel warnings on Zimbabwe but has also sought to discredit Zimbabwe's electoral process despite Sadc, African Union, Comesa, African Caribbean and Pacific countries among other groupings giving Harare's electoral process a clean bill of health where Zanu-PF leader President Mugabe has successively thumped MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai in the last three presidential elections.According to statistics, US police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015 alone, almost two people each week. Mr Trump is under fire from rivals who blamed his incendiary rhetoric for a violent outbreak between protesters and his supporters in Chicago.Mr Trump cancelled the event after demonstrators scuffled with his supporters and police struggled to maintain order, with hundreds of protesters showing up amid reports that police had to fire pepper spray to contain unruly elements during the politically motivated violence."When you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have a campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discord," Mr Trump's main rival for the Republican nomination, Mr Ted Cruz, told reporters.Throngs of protesters, most of them blacks and Latinos angered by Mr Trump's incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue in Chicago, mingling with the candidate's supporters.A Trump rally scheduled for yesterday in Cincinnati, Ohio, was also cancelled, with the local spokesman for the campaign telling US media that the Secret Service supporting the campaign could not complete preparation work in time. Zanu-PF Secretary for Information and Publicity Simon Khaya Moyo accused the US of being hypocrical."They claim to be the best in the world in terms of democracy. If what happened in Chicago is the best, then God forbid. "They should stop pretending to be the champions of democracy but of violence. Look at all trouble spots in the world, they are there," said Khaya Moyo, who is also Minister of Policy Co-ordination and Promotion of Socio-Economic Ventures in the President's Office."They should first clean their own house before claiming to be champions of democracy. They should remove the log in their eyes first." Mr Jacob Mafume, spokesperson of the Tendai Biti-led political outfit, People Democratic Party, condemned Mr Trump's campaign trail saying it constituted hate speech."We have been vocal against Donald Trump. His campaign has been characterised by strong language bordering on hate speech against Mexicans and poor people, among others. His message is out of sync with modern democratic leadership. The language sounds like some of our ruling party leaders in Africa," said Mr Mafume.Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe director Mr Philip Pasirayi said as civic society they used the same democratic standards to measure political developments globally."What happened in the US shows that democracy is under threat even in its turf, in the West. This is the reason why civil society should be more vocal in demanding democracy, good governance and respect for human rights and the rule of law," said Mr Pasirayi.MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu claimed that the violence in the US was insignificant compared to that which obtains in Zimbabwe. "It is laughable to try to compare political violence in the USA and in Zimbabwe. Political violence in Zimbabwe is mostly State-sponsored and also orchestrated by thugs from the ruling Zanu-PF regime."The mere fact that there has been some isolated incidents of politically motivated violence in Chicago, USA, doesn't mean that Zimbabwe and the US now rank pari passu in matters that pertain to political violence," said Mr Gutu.Media reports say there were between 8 500 to 10 000 people in the arena in Chicago when tensions erupted into chaos. Mr Trump said he decided to call off the gathering after consulting with police in the city, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois at Chicago."I don't want to see anybody hurt," Trump told CNN afterwards. US media reports say the chaos ended several hours later, but not before members of the crowd threw bottles and other objects at officers, and several tried to take the stage and speak at the podium.One poster held by a protester inside the arena read, "We are not rapists", referring to Mr Trump's characterisation last year of Mexicans as rapists. Police made a total of five arrests and two officers were taken to area hospitals after sustaining minor injuries, the Chicago Police Department confirmed to AFP.
Will the Crude Oil Bull Market Rally Continue?

(Continued from Prior Part)

OPEC crude oil production deal

On February 16, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Qatar decided to freeze crude oil production at the January 2016 level. This production deal has been driving crude oil prices higher. To learn more about the historic deal, read Why Crude Oil Prices Fell despite the OPEC and Non-OPEC Deal.

OPEC and Russia meeting in March 2016

Nigerias petroleum minister, Emmanuel Kachikwu, reported that Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Qatar will be meeting in Russia to renew talks to stabilize the crude oil market on March 20, 2016. However, the preliminary deal to freeze crude oil production may not be able to stabilize the oil market because Russia and Saudi Arabia are producing near their peak levels. To learn more, read Did Saudi Arabia Keep Its Word and Freeze Crude Oil Production? and Why OPECs Crude Oil Production Fell in February 2016.

The only possible option left for top oil-exporting giants like Saudi Arabia and Russia is to cut back their crude oil production to rebalance the oil market. However, Iran is ramping up its crude oil production by one MMbpd in 2016. To learn more, read Irans Production and Election Impact the Crude Oil Market and Prices.

However, the International Energy Agency (or IEA) expects that Iran will ramp up at a slower pace. Plus, there is a possibility of this meeting getting delayed due to Iran not participating in the discussions. Secondly, countries like Kuwait are suggesting that they would not freeze crude oil production unless Iran actively participates. On March 13, 2016, the oil minister of Iran reported that the country would think about freezing crude oil output after achieving a crude oil output target of four MMbpd compared to crude oil production of 2.9 MMbpd in January 2016.

On March 7, 2016, Ecuadors government reported that oil-exporting countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico would meet on March 11, 2016, in Quito, Ecuador. However, this meeting to stabilize the oil market also got delayed. The meeting is expected to be scheduled for late March 2016 or early April because of scheduling difficulties.

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Impact on stocks and ETFs

The delay in this meeting to support oil prices could result in oil price corrections. Lower crude oil prices affect crude oil producers like Halcon Resources (HK), Sanchez Energy (SN), Energy XXI (EXXI), and Goodrich Petroleum (GDP). The roller coaster ride in oil and gas prices also affects ETFs like the United States Oil Fund (USO), the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO), the Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE), and the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (SCO).

Read the next part of the series to find out about the latest crude oil price forecasts.

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News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Beitbridge magistrate Innocent Bepura has recused himself from a civil matter involving suspended area prosecutor Muchihwande Sithole saying it was in the interests of justice that another court handles the case.Masvingo Mirror reported that Sithole approached the court seeking a spoliation order that his vehicle, a Toyota Surf, held as an exhibit by Police be returned to him.In a brief ruling, Bepura said the applicant was a workmate and the respondents were close people and therefore he could not hear the case."This makes the matter difficult to handle due to the aforementioned relationships. This I believe will compromise impartiality and fairness which is the cornerstone of justice delivery system," said Bepura in his recusal.He said it was in the interest of justice that another court hears the application.In the application number 64/16 of the Beitbridge Magistrate's Court Civil Division, filed by his lawyer Patrick Tererai of Tererai Legal Practice, Sithole said Police who seized his car were devoid of a search warrant.He queried why Police had not arrested him but seized his vehicle some five weeks after the alleged crime.Sithole cited first and second respondents as the officer in charge of Beitbridge Urban Police Inspector Godwin Mutanga and officer commanding Beitbridge District Police Patrick Majuta respectively, as first and second respondent respectively.In notices of opposition Mutanga and Majuta have said an assault matter under CR/22/ 09/15 in which applicant is an accused person was reported at Beitbridge and the vehicle in question was being held as an exhibit.The car was seized after the applicant Sithole became elusive after the courts had directed that the car be seized, said Mutanga and Majuta.Delays in the seizure of the car, Mutanga and Majuta said, were because Sithole was evasive and when the car was finally intercepted, it was being driven by another man."This matter has been delayed after it was transferred from Gwanda to Bulawayo and back and now it has been transferred to Harare and the court has now directed that the car be taken as an exhibit," said the senior offices.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

More and more motorists appear to be getting serious injuries after scuffles with the Police.A kombi owner has been admitted at Chivhu General Hospital for two days after sustaining injuries from an assault by three Police officers at a road block along Chivhu Murambinda Road last Sunday.Masvingo Mirror reported that Dr Alice Kanyemba of Chivhu General Hospital confirmed the report and said she attended to someone who had been assaulted by the Police.This is the second time in as many weeks that The Mirror has covered a story of a motorist severely injured by cops. Stephen Rudzoka from Masvingo received six stitches after being assaulted by a cop.Munyaradzi Burawa (37) of New Gope is said to have been assaulted by officers identified as Zowa, Mangwana, and Munyuki. They allegedly accused him of kidnapping another Police officer.Chivhu District Police Superintendent responsible for crime, Lameck Mutetwa confirmed to The Mirror that he received a complaint of a man who was assaulted by the Police."Police is handling the matter. Investigations are underway to determine what actually transpired on the day in question," said Mutetwa.Burawa told The Mirror that he was driving his Toyota Hiace kombi towards Nharira to drop off the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe women when he was stopped by Police manning a road block just after the Zibagwe Bridge.He, together with Amos Tipedzi who was the conductor, complied and went to where the police were."They then solicited for some money so that they could let me go but I told them I had only $5. We argued at length until they ordered me to tell the passengers to disembark from the kombi. They asked for the vehicle keys and told me that they had impounded my vehicle and I gave them", said Burawa.One of the cops tried to start the vehicle but failed.That officer then allegedly punched Tipedzi and ordered him to start the car, said the conductor.Burawa was taken to Chivhu Police station where a senior Police officer ordered him to be taken to hospital.When he was discharged from the hospital, Burawa said he was handcuffed but was later released. He is not aware whether the Police will bring a charge against him
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Glen Norah MP Webster Maondera has told parliament that people in his constituency were demanding that President Robert Mugabe should provide the 2,2 million jobs he promised during the 2013 elections as their situations seemed to be deteriorating considering the fact that more companies were continuing to closed show."The people in Glen Norah have a concern that the 2.2 million jobs that were promised by the President are not yet visible. Companies are folding up and people are being retrenched, which is what is causing the poverty that they are experiencing. Others have re-located to rural areas and some have been affected psychologically because there are no jobs. All these are issues that we expect the Government of the day should address, especially on the commitment made. The other concern is that they mourn the days of the GNU whereby they say the economy was better. The standard of living was much better and jobs were available," he said."On the issue of health, hospitals do not have medication and people are struggling to access medical services because there is no medication. So, their request is that all the leaders of the Government should go to the central hospitals such as Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospitals for them to see the gravity of the situation. They are saying Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament should all go to Parirenyatwa Hospital to access medical care and not go to private hospitals and other countries."Maondera said on the issue of housing, the Government of the day has expectations that they will have 300 000 houses in 2018 but the people that he represent in Glen Norah are not happy because they do not see the feasibility. He said the issue of housing has been politicised by those who say they are the owners of the land."They take land and allocate stands in an illegal manner. Most of them are from the ruling party, Zanu PF such as Fredrick Mabamba who are parceling land in Chitungwiza. What I am talking about is well-known. Even Hon. Mashayamombe is aware of it. People are taking over land and distributing it illegally and people are losing their hard earned money. In the end, they do not have anywhere to stay and then the same Government comes to destroy the households of these people. So, people are disgruntled and are concerned that we have a Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing from the ruling party and are appealing that they stop inflicting pain on people," he said."On the issue of hunger, people do not have food anymore. They say that food is being taken to the rural areas only and yet in the urban areas, we have people who are the same as those in the rural areas. They also need food relief for them to survive. Most of them are not working and want to be allocated food relief as well for them to survive."Maondera said on education, the people that he represent in Glen Norah are requesting that the Government should honour its obligation they made through BEAM."The Government right now is in debt through the BEAM scheme and they should also buy books for pupils to use. Their request is that the Government honours its debt. They are requesting for transparency because some of the money is being used for the wrong purpose, for example, a prominent person was living in a hotel that money could have been channeled towards the education sector," he said."The other request by the Glen Norah constituency is that if people want to demonstrate, they should be given an opportunity to demonstrate in peace and not for their freedoms to be curtailed, Each time they want to demonstrate, the police do not allow them and these cases end up in court which is what happened yesterday on the case of Itai Dzamara whereby they went to the court and the court granted them the right to demonstrate. So, on the issue of people's freedom, their request is that people be given their freedom to demonstrate. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me and these are the words that I had to share with this august House."
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Zanu PF MP Irene Zindi has claimed that Pick n Pay Supermarket is selling Genetically Modified Organisms potatoes imported from South Africa.She told parliament that such products have serious side effects for the consumers and asked the government as to what measures were being taken to curb such issues."I was giving the second impediment to the new farmers as being the issue of importation of chicken, pork and vegetables from South Africa. These products are flooding our markets and are said to be GMOs [Genetically Modified Organisms] -. The GMOs that have side effects at the same time, we will be unable to cross breed our plants and that will affect them. We cannot look for seed from GMOs, at the same time, health-wise, they affect our immune systems," she said."I went into Pick and Pay, former TM Supermarket and saw a potato that is as big as my head. A sack of potatoes has got about 10 potatoes and those are being imported from South Africa. So all these Mr. Speaker Sir, are things that we are failing to see as obstacles. I am saying what can we do to ensure that the farms that we have are successful because that was the reason for Land Reform. The Government should come up with a policy to investigate all these issues that I mentioned and address them, especially on issues that people should not get permits. The Ministry belonging to Hon. Made should not issue permits to people so that they can import these products that are available in Zimbabwe."Zindi said they have reiterated these issues in this august House but what is surprising is that the moment we get out of this place to go into Pick n Pay or OK you will still find South African products in there."So I do not understand whether the executive are taking heed of what we are saying especially Minister Made's Ministry because he is the one responsible for giving these permits. Why is it that they are not doing anything about it? Why do we continue to see imports at the expense of the Zimbabwean farmer? That is a big question that we are asking in view of the aim of the President that our economy has to recover. But nothing is being done in that regard," Zindi said."His Cabinet is drawing us back. So why are they not stopping it? Why do we continue to see permits of things that are being imported? We are representatives of people who were given farms and we are giving the reasons why farmers are not being successful. Even the supermarkets they should also be addressed in the policy that they should be supporting the new farmers and to give a directive that you have to buy within Zimbabwe. If it is something obtained in Zimbabwe it should be obtained from farms in Zimbabwe."
News / National

by Mashudu Netsianda

EMBATTLED war veterans chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa has gone rogue and wants to turn former freedom fighters against Zanu-PF, Women's League deputy secretary Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo said yesterday.She spoke after Mutsvangwa - who was suspended from Zanu-PF for three years before he was also expelled from Cabinet - invited the ex-communicated former war veterans chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, to speak to liberation war fighters in Bulawayo on Saturday.Moyo also took a swipe at Senator Angeline Masuku, who also attended the meeting, for living under the mistaken belief that she was the most senior female leader from the former PF Zapu. Moyo, who deputises First Lady Grace Mugabe in the Women's League, said while war veterans have a right to hold sanctioned meetings, sharing a stage with an opposition party member was disturbing.She told The Chronicle in an interview yesterday: "If Zanu-PF reaches a position, we expect everyone including war veterans to be guided by such a resolution, but it appears there are some people who're defying the party."It seems Jabulani Sibanda was included in the Entumbane meeting to sway war veterans to join Zimbabwe People First [led by Joice Mujuru, who was expelled from Zanu-PF]. It becomes a problem when you start associating with people who are in the opposition."War vets have a right to conduct their meetings with their leaders, but what is actually disturbing is that their leader had not formally informed us that he had left Zanu-PF because I believe when you start teaming up with a person who has been expelled from the party, it gives us a different picture altogether."Moyo said those who attended the meeting acted in defiance of the party rules. "It doesn't matter whether you're a war veteran, as long as you're a Zanu-PF member you have breached the rules of the party, you're defying party directions and we can't stand by and watch as people are doing such things."Those people should come out in the open so that we know exactly who they really are because we don't want people coming to our meetings playing two roles, one for Zanu and the other for the opposition."Moyo, who is also the Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, lashed out at Mutsvangwa for failing to address the welfare issues of war veterans during his stint as the Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees, a position from which he was sacked last week by President Mugabe who replaced him with Tshinga Dube.Mutsvangwa was found guilty of undermining the authority of President Mugabe and insulting the First Family  the same reasons that led to the expulsion of Sibanda from the party in 2014."Someone has been in that ministerial position since 2013 and making empty promises and even up to now he's still going around making empty promises talking about buses and hospitals. When will they be available? You promise things that are non-existent just because you want to use them (war veterans)," said Moyo.She also implored the newly-appointed War Veterans Minister Tshinga Dube to conduct a vetting exercise, suggesting that some people were masquerading as war veterans. "It seems anyone who is disgruntled has a tendency of resorting to war veterans or move to take a position with war collaborators or ex-detainees. These people start insulting people and creating confusion."Echoing President Mugabe who last week said Zanu-PF would not hesitate to "chuck out" any officials who refuse to toe the party line as the party had "no shortage of members", Moyo said: "Some of us will remain in Zanu-PF and those who want to leave the party are free to do so. If you choose a thorny path you'll be pricked."Moyo said most of the people who attend the meeting in Entumbane were not genuine war veterans. She explained: "You can't group ex-detainees and war collaborators together and claim they're war veterans. I'm very much aware some of those who attended the meeting are ex-detainees and war collaborators."What are you telling those poor people? Some of these people are so young and they're even younger than independence, but you'll be shocked that they claim to be war vets, ex-detainees and war collaborators."Moyo also revealed she was bewildered by War Veterans Association Secretary Victor Matemadanda's sentiments when he claimed that Masuku was in a "difficult situation" just because she was a senior ex-Zapu official.A resolution by the Women's League demanding that at least one of the Vice Presidents should be a woman has sparked speculation that a former Zapu leader will be chosen. Moyo says Masuku appears to be under the mistaken impression that she deserves the nomination on the basis that she is the most senior surviving ex-Zapu leader.Moyo says that belief is not true, and in any case the female Vice President would be nominated on merit."As one of the leaders in Bulawayo, what really troubled me and still troubles me is that while Mademadanda was addressing Masuku  who was also there sharing a stage with them  he said he knows that she was caught up in cross-fire because of the Women's League resolution over Vice Presidency.She explained: "I'm actually the one who read that resolution at the Zanu-PF conference and the way I understand it is that when the time comes [for a woman to assume the Vice Presidency] any women will be free to be appointed VP. "It's folly for anyone to fight over a non-existing issue. There's no way that we need to discuss about that because in the first place it's the President who appoints."Moyo said there are many women who qualify for the VP position from which President Mugabe would appoint when the right time comes. "The issue of seniority keeps cropping up with some sections of the media claiming that Masuku is the most senior woman in the party although she hasn't said it herself, and even Mademadanda who was not in Zipra or Zapu keeps saying so and you wonder where they get their stories from," she said.Moyo said the most senior female ex-Zapu leader is Jane Ngwenya who actually championed the struggle before other women joined the liberation struggle. "We're all junior to her including Masuku. We never told the President as the Women's League that we need someone senior for the VP post, but only a meriting woman will be appointed. It's a woman's position which has nothing to do with whether you're from the Zapu or Zanu side," she said.Moyo also queried why Mutsvangwa chose Bulawayo as the venue for his meeting. "What's their aim of calling the meeting in Bulawayo and what happened to Harare? It seems everyone who wants to start their naughty work come to Bulawayo," Moyo said."All the opposition parties come to Bulawayo to launch their parties. It must have been done intentionally because Bulawayo people are considered to be vulnerable and gullible." Sibanda used the invitation by Mutsvangwa to urge war veterans to decouple themselves from Zanu-PF but consider other groups with the same ideology."Lobengula did not have a party, Nehanda did not have a party but they were people defending their people," he said. Various speakers from the association chanted "Down with G40''  in apparent reference with a purported Zanu-PF faction  with Matemadanda criticising the Zanu-PF Politburo saying it has become a "disciplinary Politburo" and attacking Zanu-PF Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere over the expulsion of party members claiming Zanu-PF has become a "party for firing not hiring".Mutsvangwa has used interviews with hostile newspapers to claim he is happy to be out of Government. He compared President Mugabe to a frog in a bathtub, claiming Zanu-PF officials out to destroy him were slowly releasing water into the tub and in time they would release hot water which would kill the frog.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF Women's League deputy secretary Eunice Nomthandazo Moyo has launched an attacked on Senator Angeline Masuku accusing her of claiming to be the most senior Zapu member in the region.On Saturday, Masuku addressed a war veterans rally in Bulawayo with war veterans chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa and Jabulani Sibanda.That angered Moyo, who is Grace Mugabe's deputy.Moyo, said Masuku was living under the mistaken belief that she was the most senior female leader from the former PF Zapu.She claimed Msuku was eying the vice-presidency post which the women's league is pushing for.A resolution by the Women's League demanding that at least one of the Vice Presidents should be a woman has sparked speculation that a former Zapu leader will be chosen.Moyo says Masuku appears to be under the mistaken impression that she deserves the nomination on the basis that she is the most senior surviving ex-Zapu leader."As one of the leaders in Bulawayo, what really troubled me and still troubles me is that while (War Veterans Association Secretary Victor) Mademadanda was addressing Masuku - who was also there sharing a stage with them - he said he knows that she was caught up in cross-fire because of the Women's League resolution over Vice Presidency."I'm actually the one who read that resolution at the Zanu-PF conference and the way I understand it is that when the time comes [for a woman to assume the Vice Presidency] any women will be free to be appointed VP."It's folly for anyone to fight over a non-existing issue. There's no way that we need to discuss about that because in the first place it's the President who appoints."Moyo said there are many women who qualify for the VP position from which President Mugabe would appoint when the right time comes."The issue of seniority keeps cropping up with some sections of the media claiming that Masuku is the most senior woman in the party although she hasn't said it herself, and even Mademadanda who was not in Zipra or Zapu keeps saying so and you wonder where they get their stories from," she said.Moyo said the most senior female ex-Zapu leader is Jane Ngwenya who actually championed the struggle before other women joined the liberation struggle. "We're all junior to her including Masuku. We never told the President as the Women's League that we need someone senior for the VP post, but only a meriting woman will be appointed. It's a woman's position which has nothing to do with whether you're from the Zapu or Zanu side," she said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

War veterans have vowed to confront President Robert Mugabe to whip into line rogue G40 leaders and force him to restore "Zanu-PF's lost ideology".The G40 is a grouping of Zanu-PF Young Turks believed to be fronted by First Lady Grace Mugabe.Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association secretarygeneral Victor Matemadanda said his executive had launched nationwide mass mobilisation rallies to sensitise members on the gravity of the matter before their no-holds-barred meeting with Mugabe "anytime soon"."The party has been hijacked and that is what we want to tell our patron that we feel the party has lost it. We hope he will listen to us. But at the moment, we are busy mobilising and bringing back in the association every war veteran outside there who could have been forced out by this ill-treatment taking place in our party," Matemadanda said.War veterans, who have been the vanguard of the governing party since the liberation struggle and had violently campaigned for its victory in past elections, have lately been on the receiving end after being hounded by the G40 faction whose members reportedly now dominate the politburo."As far as we are concerned, the politburo should be the secretariat of the central committee, but has been reduced to become a disciplinary committee. More time is being spent on trivial issues while the people are suffering."The welfare of the war veterans has been neglected, but we will not sit down and watch. As freedom fighters, this is not what we fought for. We will force the party to do the right thing and those who are causing chaos in the party today will go," Matemadanda said."We are currently going around the country mobilising our membership and uniting the war veterans so that we can approach our patron who happens to the leader of Zanu-PF and tell him what we think about this party."There is discontent within the war veterans. War veterans feel that the ethos and ideals of the struggle have been missed along the way."Zanu-PF spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo challenged Matemadanda to prove that the party had been hijacked."He (Matemadanda) should explain who has hijacked the party and what he means as losing the track."I can't comment on his thoughts, it is his right to think like that as long as he has evidence to back up his statements," Khaya Moyo said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

VICE-PRESIDENT Phelekezela Mphoko's $50 million claim against Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the Daily News, took a new twist on Tuesday last week after the publisher's lawyers made frantic efforts to have a default judgment that had been entered against ANZ rescinded and its defence re-instated.The move by the lawyers from Mbidzo, Muchadehama and Makoni, came about after Mphoko's claim against ANZ had been referred to an unopposed roll after the latter failed to appear for the hearing before High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa, prompting Mphoko's lawyers to apply for default judgment.As the events unfolded, however, the lawyers were then contacted by Justice Musakwa, advising them of the development following which they rushed to court to have the default judgment set aside after explaining why they had not attended court.In a letter dated March 10, 2016, addressed to GN Mlotshwa and Company, ANZ lawyer Aleck Muchadehama expressed displeasure in the manner his counterpart had conducted himself in his absence."It has come to our knowledge that the pre-trial conference of this matter was held on March 8, 2016, at 0900 hours before the honourable Musakwa J in chambers and when we checked with the court record, we discovered that your Mr GN Mlotshwa had appeared for the plaintiff (Mphoko). We also gather that the plaintiff himself was absent," Muchadehama wrote."When we did not appear, you moved the judge to strike out our defence and had the matter referred to the unopposed roll . . . a further perusal of the record reveals that service of the notice of set down was effected by the Sheriff at No 6 Duthie Road Belgravia, Harare."Muchadehama said instead, the service ought to have been effected on No 9 Bates Street, Milton Park, which address was well known by Mphoko's lawyers.In the main matter, Mphoko, who claims his reputation was soiled, filed the claim in July last year, demanding compensation for alleged defamation after ANZ published a story, on June 5 last year, based on an interview with former war veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda.In the said story, Sibanda claimed Mphoko had sold out during the liberation struggle when he allegedly diverted weapons meant for the late Joshua Nkomo's-PF Zapu to President Robert Mugabe's Zanu, a move Sibanda said could have led to the needless deaths of thousands of people.In their defence, ANZ and its co-defendants said Mphoko's claim was ridiculous.
A Yahoo News Singapore exclusive by Nicholas Yong and Safhras Khan. This is the last of a three-part series to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hotel New World disaster. Read part I and part II here. Video by Andre He and Jeremy Ho

Thirty years after she was pulled from the wreckage of the Hotel New World collapse, Jerina Tan Oi Ling was finally ready to meet the man who rescued her.

On 15 March, 1986, Tan was working as a hotel receptionist in the six-storey building when it collapsed. Trapped in the debris for almost eight hours, rescuers were on the verge of amputating the teenagers right leg to free her.

Then a man crawled into the darkness, released her leg and pulled her out. Tan was one of 17 survivors, and the first to be brought out alive from the ruins.

When Yahoo News Singapore first contacted her, Tan, 49, had only one question, Did you find the rescuer who saved me?

She looked so scared and was sobbing quietly. But I reassured her that I would help her.

Former fireman Ali Ismail

The rescuer

Meeting at last. PHOTO: Andre He/Yahoo News Singapore

Ali Ismail, 56, spent 12 years with the now-defunct Singapore Fire Service (SFS). A firefighter at Central Fire Station, he was among the first responders at the scene of the disaster. When he arrived, members of the public told him about a girl who was trapped in the debris.

Looking for a way to get to her, Ali and a colleague knocked a small hole in a fallen wall. Dragging himself in, he could see a figure amidst the collapsed beams and walls. A plank and some Yellow Pages books were pinning her right leg, while her left leg was pinned down by a dead body, he recalled.

She looked so scared and was sobbing quietly. But I reassured her that I would help her.

The long road to recovery

Tan with husband Simon Si on their wedding day in 1988. He has been her pillar of strength, said Tan. Photo courtesy of Jerina Tan.

In the aftermath of the rescue, Tan had sustained injuries to her spine, arm, leg and foot. She spent three and a half months in hospital, immobilised in traction. She had to learn to walk again, said Tan, and could not work for a year.

Story continues

Today, the physical wounds have largely healed. But the emotional toll of the experience has left many scars. It started while she was in hospital: Every time Tan fell asleep, she would have nightmares of her five colleagues who perished.

Its really too fast loh. You just drop down, you dont know whats happening. You dont know whether its real life, or youre dreaming.

- Hotel New World survivor Jerina Tan

The mother of three did not dare to board a plane for a decade, and still does not go on long haul flights. She also has a phobia of elevators, and sometimes struggles with irrational fears, such as imagining highways or buildings collapsing on her. Tan even cancelled plans to travel to Taiwan following the recent earthquake.

For quite a period, when I was (feeling) down, I would think: Better if they had not saved me. Better to be gone, because Im afraid of everything, said Tan, who also dislikes being alone.

A shared trauma

Haunted by the events of 1986, Ali also experienced recurring memories of the event and a particular phobia.

There is this sound and smell in a basement car park that reminds me of the incident. It makes me very nervous. I cant explain it but if I have to park at the basement, Ill do it quickly and make a fast exit, said Ali.

Searching for each other

Ali Ismail (left) and fellow firefighter Ramlan Dollah, who both received national awards for their roles in the Hotel New World rescue. Photo courtesy of Ali Ismail.

Ali left the SFS in 1993 and now works as a personal driver. But the father of five has never stopped thinking about Tan. She was the first person I rescued at the disaster. I have always thought about her and wonder how she is.

For Tan, it has been a long process of overcoming her fears. She has not done a proper interview since 1988, for fear of dredging up old memories. She had also hoped to meet Ali, but did not know how to contact him. I never got to thank him, said Tan.

The duo has been searching for each other for three decades. But they did not know they had been living a few bus stops apart for the last three years.

Meeting at last

Yahoo Singapore arranged a meeting between the two at Tans flat in Hougang in February. When Tan and Ali finally met, it was initially stiff and awkward. They seemed unsure of how to react to each other.

Then Ali embraced Tan, and the emotions that had built up over three decades could not be contained.

Thank you very much. Without you, I will not be here today, said Tan, as she wept.

Ali, overcome by emotion, was in tears too. Thank God too, he said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder



While Tans ordeal was traumatic, some of those rescued from Hotel New World experienced even worse: The last person brought out of the ruins spent 83 hours in the rubble, in total darkness.

Other survivors whom Yahoo News Singapore approached were reluctant to speak. One said through an intermediary that the incident evokes too many emotions. Another said, For me this episode is closed. I do not wish to talk about it in any form. And the wife of yet another survivor said it was too difficult for him to talk about the incident.

People tell you: Its very easy, you just overcome it. But its very difficult.

- Jerina Tan

Dr Joshua Kua, a psychiatrist with Raffles Medical Group, said that individuals who are exposed to severe trauma can develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These include repetitive, intrusive memories of the traumatic event, and avoidance of situations or people that may remind them of what happened.

Asked if it is usual for such symptoms to linger on for years, Kua noted that there are war veterans who suffer from PTSD even 50 years after the event. I would say it is not unusual, especially if they have not sought treatment. Their symptoms can linger on or even become chronic, said Kua.

All is blackout

Photo courtesy of The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad

Tan was not supposed to be working on the morning of 15 March: She had swopped shifts with a colleague, in order to attend a friends birthday celebration in the evening.

But at 11.15am, Tan waswith her manageron the third floor of the building, when everything came tumbling down. Its really too fast loh. You just drop down, you dont know whats happening. You dont know whether its real life, or youre dreaming. All is blackout.

I remember that the crowd was cheering me on as I stood up and walked out of the rubble (after freeing Jerina).

- Ali Ismail

When the dust settled, Tans neighbour happened to be nearby. He heard her cries for help and contacted her family. Her brother and then-boyfriend Simon Si came to the site and shouted for her name. They located her and managed to uncover her head.

But Tan was still pinned down by debris in a narrow hole. I was fighting for it, she recalled. I just finished my studies. I still havent enjoy my life. Why should I die so early?

She added, I have to live. Thats why I tell them: Maybe you should amputate my leg.

Eight hours in the debris

Ali Ismail and Ramlan Dollah at the disaster site in 1986. Photo courtesy of Ramlan Dollah.

Together with his colleagues, Ali spent almost eight hours trying to free Tan. It took four hours just to free her left leg.

After about seven hours, the medical officer wanted to amputate her leg. But he gave me another 30 minutes to try and rescue her, he said.

The half hour came and went, but still they could not get Tan out. Ali knew that time was running short for the other victims trapped in the rubble. But he asked for another 15 minutes.

Using another air bag to stabilise Tans right leg, he realised that he could reach the Yellow Pages books that were getting in the way. I started to tear out pages from the books. I was already exhausted, but I was determined to save her. I had to do it with one hand because my other hand was supporting myself.

Free at last

At long last, Ali tore out enough pages to free Tans leg. Holding on to her, he yelled for his colleagues to pull him out.

I remember that the crowd was cheering me on as I stood up and walked out of the rubble. I felt good but I told myself that I needed to get some rest before heading back to rescue more victims, he said.

That was the last time he saw Tan.

30 years apart

Ali ismail and Jerina Tan were meeting for the first time since 1986. Photo: Nicholas Yong

Sitting on the couch in Tans living room, it was the first time that Tan and Ali had ever spoken. But it felt as if two old friends had reunited, as they recounted the past.

The doctor taught me how to amputate your leg, you know. But I thought I could save your leg, said Ali quietly.

For Tan, it all boiled down to one question, Can you tell me? What makes you so brave to go inside the hole?

Ali answered, Its a duty. I feel like I have to do it. As a rescuer, I need to rescue people.

I think we can share

Ali, Tan, her eldest son Alvin and her grandson Felix. Photo: Safhras Khan

Both Tan and Ali have struggled to relate their experiences to their loved ones. He laments, My grandchildren dont understand. We are the ones who are inside there.

Sometimes, we think that people think were crazy, correct? said Tan with a laugh. People tell you: Its very easy, you just overcome it. But its very difficult.

Throughout the meeting, Tans husband Simon Si, 54, could only look on quietly. He risked his life to save her. The hole was very narrow. It was very difficult for him to enter. But he did it, said Si in Mandarin.

And Tan has much to live for: That day, her oldest son Alvin, 28, introduced her three-month-old grandson to Ali.

Without him, there might not be this precious grandson, said Si with a smile.

This is the last of a three-part series to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hotel New World disaster. Read part I and part II here.
Canadian Stone Importer Fined After Two Injuries on Consecutive Days

Ciot Toronto Inc., an importer and distributor of stone, granite, and tile, pleaded guilty and was fined $80,000 after two workers were injured on consecutive days while moving stone slabs.

Ciot Toronto Inc., an importer and distributor of stone, granite, and tile, has pleaded guilty and been fined $80,000 after two workers were injured on consecutive days while moving stone slabs in a company warehouse, the Ontario Ministry of Labour announced.

The injuries occurred on March 11 and March 12, 2014. One involved a worker was assigned to remove bundles of stone slabs from a shipping container to place them in a Ciot warehouse. The slabs were stacked vertically in bundles and secured in place with wooden braces. "The usual procedure was for a worker to climb to the top of the bundles using a four-foot A-frame ladder, then cut the wooden braces with a reciprocating saw. While still on top of the bundle, the worker would then sling a 40-foot-long chain around the back of the bundle, climb backwards off the bundle and hook the chain to a forklift to pull the stone out of the container. On this occasion, the worker had the ladder in a folded position leaning against the bundle of stone. The worker climbed up the ladder and began transitioning to the top of the slabs while carrying the 40-foot chain in one hand. The base of the ladder slipped and the worker fell onto the top corner of the stone bundle. An ambulance was called when a co-worker noticed the worker looked unwell. The worker sustained a broken bone and cut. The company received a fine of $20,000 for the incident," according to the agency.

It reported the March 12 injured worker was a temp employee working at another warehouse who was helping a forklift operator - also a temp worker - move a number of large stone slabs. "The plan was to use the forklift and scissor clamp to lift and transport the slabs. Each slab was about 10 feet long and 4-1/2 feet wide and weighed about 700 pounds. The slabs were stored upright on metal A-frames and the workers were moving slabs from one A-frame to another to re-organize the warehouse. The forklift operator placed the boom and clamp over the slabs. The new worker was using a pry bar to make a space between the stored slabs to allow for the placement of the scissor clamp; the worker pried three slabs apart then walked to the middle of the slabs to release the hatch on the clamp of the boom, which allows the clamp to open and slide over the edge of the slabs. At that point the boom came down quickly and struck the slabs, causing them to fall on the worker in the middle of the slabs. That worker was taken to hospital and underwent surgery for internal injuries. The company received a $60,000 fine for that incident," the ministry reported.
Devastating Floods Hit Louisiana, Mississippi Hard

In Louisiana, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness reported March 13 that initial reports indicated more than 4,958 homes in the state had been damaged by flooding.

Flooding was hitting Louisiana very hard March 12-13 and affecting much of Mississippi, as well, with governors of both states declaring states of emergency as storms and heavy rain approached. In Louisiana, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) reported March 13 that initial reports indicated more than 4,958 homes in the state had been damaged by flooding.

Four days earlier, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards had declared a state of emergency in 16 parishes because of the weather, and he amended his declaration on March 11 to include the entire state. Edwards announced Sunday night that the federal government had declared a major disaster for the state, at his request. "I have traveled to every corner of the state to assess the damage of this flooding," he said. "I want to emphasize that this is an initial declaration. We appreciate the quick response from the federal government to our request, and we will continue to work with them to ensure that every citizen who is impacted by this storm receives the disaster assistance he or she needs. State and local officials have given timely support to every parish in need, and we will continue to work around the clock until we are out of the woods.

According to the GOHSEP announcement, the 4,958 total for damaged homes "does not include entire regions of the state still responding to flood-related emergencies. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes. This number also continues to climb."

At 2 p.m. March 13, the Mississippi State Emergency Operations Center's update said updated storm reports from 39 counties affected by heavy rainfall and flooding throughout the state indicated 185 homes had been destroyed or sustained major damage and a total of 649 homes had minor damage or were affected, with damage assessments still ongoing. No injuries or deaths had been reported, but two fishermen remained missing, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, with more severe storms predicted for later in the day. Part of state was under a tornado watch Sunday evening.

GOHSEP is working with FEMA to streamline the disaster assessment process that will determine what level of federal support will be available for individuals, parishes, and state agencies dealing with flooding in Louisiana.

The federal disaster declaration for Louisiana makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Bossier, Claiborne, Grant, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, and Webster parishes. The assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
NYC Study to Examine How Outdoor Lighting Reduces Crime

"We need to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that every New Yorker is safe. By partnering with residents from these 40 developments on this rigorously evaluated study, the city will be able to understand precisely how different lighting strategies can reduce crime and create safer public spaces," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced March 11 that, in partnership with residents from 40 public housing developments, the city is beginning a first-in-the-nation study of how different lighting installation strategies affect crime reduction. The results of this study will inform how the city makes future investments in permanent lighting, de Blasio said.

"We need to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that every New Yorker is safe. By partnering with residents from these 40 developments on this rigorously evaluated study, the city will be able to understand precisely how different lighting strategies can reduce crime and create safer public spaces," he said.

The participating public housing developments will receive 400 units of additional temporary lighting over the next six months; city officials worked with residents to identify exterior locations within their developments they felt most needed nighttime lighting. The study will determine the effect of lighting on outdoor criminal activity, including an evaluation of the impact of varying amounts of additional lighting, and will survey residents to determine how lighting changes their fears of crime or victimization. The study and the lighting towers are funded with $5.56 million in city asset forfeiture money.

"When we think about deterring crime, we need to pursue a broad range of strategies beyond traditional law enforcement. A well-lit street deters crime better than a dark alley, just as opportunities for work and play promote safety better than disadvantage and disconnection," said Elizabeth Glazer, director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. "These are the ideas at the heart of the Mayor's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety. Conducting this study is an important next step in this action plan and in our work to promote public safety in partnership with the residents of public housing."

"Yesterday evening, I was proud to stand with [New York City Housing Authority] residents to celebrate the installation of 357 new state-of-the-art LED lighting fixtures at the Polo Grounds Towers. Good lighting is just one component of my office's $101 million commitment to enhancing security measures at 15 NYCHA development sites citywide, which also includes layered access and security cameras. I commend the city for authorizing this study; in this day and age, it's not enough to simply state that something works; success needs to be evaluated, measured and documented, so that future investments can be made intelligently and their effectiveness maximized," said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.
US President Barack Obama, who visits Cuba in a week, has promised dissidents he will directly discuss human rights issues with their president, Raul Castro, in a letter published Sunday. Obama told the Ladies in White, a group of wives and relatives of political prisoners, that he understood their struggle, in the letter dated March 10 but published online by the dissident organization three days later. "I fully understand the obstacles that ordinary Cubans face in exercising their rights," Obama wrote in English. "The United States believes that no one in Cuba or anywhere else should face harassment, arrest, or physical assault just because they are exercising a universal right to have their voices heard." "As I have in the past, I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," Obama stressed. The White House confirmed to AFP that the letter was authentic. When Obama sets foot in Havana on March 20, the White House imagines a "Berlin Wall moment" -- a singular legacy-gilding event like Ronald Reagan's 1987 address before the Brandenburg Gate. While Reagan sought to end the Cold War division of Europe, Obama hopes to symbolically "tear down" decades of Cold War antagonism across the narrow Florida Straits. Obama will visit the island March 20 to 22 -- the first visit by a US president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928, and a symbolically charged capstone to the rapprochement that he and Castro announced in December 2014. Obama's Republican foes accuse him of betraying the cause of human rights in Cuba by engaging with the Castro regime, the Americas' only one-party Communist state. In a bid to fend off such criticism, the White House has announced Obama will meet with anti-regime dissidents in Havana, although it has not given any details beyond insisting that the Cuban government will not be allowed to hand-pick them.
Another victim of the Sungai Serusup boat tragedy was found, bringing the total number of people who drowned in the incident last night to six. Acting Tuaran district police chief ASP Raji Hussin Suhodin said the body of Wong Vun Chong, in his 40s, was found near the location of the incident at about 8.30am today. The victims were among the passengers in two boats which collided and capsized in Sungai Serusup, near Panimbawan, at 10.30pm yesterday. Twenty-four of the passengers managed to swim to safety or were rescued. Raji said initial investigation revealed that the two boats did not have adequate safety features and the passengers were not provided with life jackets. One of the boats, with about 20 passengers, was on its way from Serusup to Kampung Panimbawan to attend a wedding ceremony when it collided with another boat on its way to Serusup, he added. Raji said the search and rescue operation would continue as the number of passengers in the boats could not be ascertained. The operation involves 60 personnel from the Civil Defence Department, police, Fire and Rescue Department and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.  Bernama, March 13, 2016.
News / Regional

by Richard Muponde

BOTSWANA has told the Zimbabwe government that it will, in three months' time, shoot to kill all cattle that stray into its territory.The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Obedingwa Mguni, told villagers at Halisupi Business Centre in Gwanda South on Friday after touring the proposed Mlambapeli Border Post in the area that Botswana had been helping Zimbabwe with foot and mouth vaccines for the past five years, but is also putting a stop to that."I want to advise you that we had a meeting with our counterparts from Botswana recently. They have told us that they've been giving Zimbabwe foot and mouth vaccines for the past five years so that we vaccinate our cattle to stop the spread of foot and mouth in cases where our cattle stray to their country. However, they have now advised us that enough was enough and have given us a three months grace period after with they will start shooting any cattle which stray to their country," said Mguni.He advised villagers to look after their cattle so that they do not stray into the neighbouring country as they would be shot. "If we allow our cattle to go there and being shot, it's not you who is losing cattle alone, but the country will be also losing its national herd," he said.Zimbabwe Farmers' Union president, Abdul Nyathi, said they were going to comply with what was agreed so that the two countries maintain good relations."I urge all farmers living in the borders from Beitbridge to Kazungula to comply with what was agreed and remove their cattle from the Botswana side because of foot and mouth fears and stocktheft. Three months is a lot of time to comply otherwise they could have just done it without consulting. Let's be seen to be doing something and if there's need to ask for an extension of the grace period it's fine, but it should be seen that there is some movement on the ground," said Nyathi.Botswana accuses locals of fuelling foot and mouth disease in the neighbouring country while locals accuse their neighbours of being behind rampant cases of stocktheft. Some also allege that Botswana authorities confiscate cattle that stray into the neighbouring country.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to set up an "international maritime judicial centre" to help protect the country's sovereignty and rights at sea, its top judge said on Sunday. Giving a work report at the annual meeting of China's largely rubber-stamp parliament, chief justice Zhou Qiang said courts across China were working to implement the national strategy of building China into a "maritime power". "(We) must resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests," he said. "(We) must improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial centre." He gave no details. It is not clear when the judicial centre may start working, where it would be located or what kinds of cases it would accept. China disputes a group of uninhabited islets with Japan in the East China Sea, and also claims most of the South China Sea. Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also have competing claims there. The Philippines has lodged a case with an arbitration court in The Hague about its dispute with China in the South China Sea, angering China which has pledged not to participate. China's increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea, along with its rapidly modernising navy, have rattled nerves around the region. Zhou said about 16,000 maritime cases were heard by Chinese courts last year, the most in the world. China has the largest number of maritime courts globally, he added. Zhou pointed to a 2014 case at a southeastern China maritime court involving a collision between a Chinese trawler and a Panama-flagged cargo ship in waters near the islets China disputes with Japan in the East China Sea. The case, which was ended via mediation, clearly showed China's jurisdiction over the region, he said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By David Henry NEW YORK (Reuters) - Depositors at some of the largest U.S. banks are finally going to get the chance to do something quick and simple: send money to another person's account instantaneously by mobile phone. The idea has been in the works for at least five years, and in the meantime, Silicon Valley has made incursions into the industry's role as a payment intermediary. But now, big banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and U.S. Bancorp are starting to plug into a system they jointly own, called clearXchange, that will allow each others' customers to transfer money in a flash when they split a dinner check, rent payment or vacation bill. "What we are doing now is delivering payments in real time, which is what our customers have asked for," Mary Harman, managing director for payments at Bank of America, said in an interview. The bank is one of two that have started rolling out the system to customers. While technology companies like PayPal Holdings and Facebook Inc already offer snazzy payment apps that appeal to young consumers, the banking industry has a crucial advantage because it controls how quickly money actually moves between bank accounts. Individuals transferred some $200 billion to one another using mobile phones and computers last year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Bank executives and analysts who closely track payment systems say that if clearXchange is fast, functional and user-friendly, banks can make up for lost ground. Bank of America plans to announce on Wednesday that its customers can transfer funds instantly through clearXchange with customers of U.S. Bancorp, which said last week that it was plugged into the speediest part of the network. JPMorgan Chase & Co and Capital One Financial Corp representatives told Reuters they plan to offer the service later this year. Wells Fargo & Co said on Wednesday that it is working to roll out instant payments in the middle of this year. Analysts expect PNC Financial Services Group Inc will also start this year. A representative declined to comment. Those six banks are among the seven largest by deposits in the United States. Regional bank BB&T Corp is also one of the seven owners of the network, but is not ready to announce its plans, a spokesman said. Citigroup, which has the fourth most U.S. deposits, has not joined clearXchange. A spokeswoman declined to say why. Citigroup uses an older network called Popmoney, which is owned by Fiserv Inc, for person-to-person payments. SLOW TO ADAPT Today, if a customer wants to transfer cash to another person digitally  whether on an app like Paypal's Venmo, or through an individual bank's payment transfer system, like Chase's QuickPay  it usually takes one to three days for money to move to an account at another institution. On clearXchange, the cash can move instantaneously with the tap of a finger. The initiative is particularly important for banks as their customer base shifts from a generation that cashed paper checks and got mortgages by walking into a branch, to one that goes online first to transact and borrow. It's important for banks to cater to 18-to-34-year-old Americans in the so-called Millennial generation as they enter their prime years for borrowing and saving. But adapting to these behavioral changes was a low priority for U.S. banks after the financial crisis, as they grappled with losses, fines, new regulations and slow revenue growth. In short order, financial technology startups filled the void  not just in payments, but in areas ranging from student loans to financial planning. If banks don't catch up quickly, they may end up losing some young customers altogether, analysts said. "There is a short window of opportunity for the banks," said Michael Moeser, director of payments for Javelin. For clearXchange to be successful, it needs to reach a critical mass of participants so that depositors will be able to transfer funds among most of their friends, relatives and colleagues. Until more banks connect to provide immediate service, the network has little value. Any U.S. bank or credit union can participate in clearXchange, and its owners hope many more will. The network says its members represent two-thirds of U.S. deposits. Banks in other parts of the world are making similar moves. In the U.K., for instance, there is an app called Paym that allows individuals to transfer up to 250 pounds ($355) to another user's bank account. Nordic countries are leading the way toward a cashless society, with mobile payment apps Swish in Sweden and MobilePay in Denmark. Analysts expect the mobile banking market to keep growing as consumers become more aware of apps, and as the technology improves. VIRAL NATURE Venmo, which launched in 2012, handled $7.5 billion of person-to-person payments last year. In January, the company moved $1 billion between individuals  up tenfold in two years, said Bill Ready, PayPal's global head of product and engineering, who brought Venmo to PayPal as part of a 2013 deal. Those figures track well below the $22 billion of cash swapped digitally by Bank of America customers last year, or the $20 billion Chase QuickPay handled. But Venmo is growing rapidly, and its popularity has come almost entirely by word of mouth, as friends ask friends to sign up, said Ready. Facebook's Messenger app offers a similar service. While these apps send immediate alerts that money is on the way, they still rely on banks to make sure cash is available and move it. And, unlike banks, they have no control over the speed at which that occurs. "As a Bank of America customer, when I hit send, a couple of seconds later the U.S. Bank customer will see the money in their account," said Bank of America's Harman. Even so, Ready, the senior PayPal executive, said he is skeptical clearXchange will be a success. "The banks have a hard time working with one another," he said, adding that it would be difficult for them to "recreate the viral nature of Venmo." Facebook representatives declined to comment on the banks' plan, but said the company is continuing to improve Messenger's payment functions. The banking industry's advantage could be short-lived, though. The network that Venmo and others often use to transfer funds will begin phasing in daily settlement in September. That network, called the Automated Clearing House Network, is a not-for-profit association whose members are financial firms. "If Venmo becomes real-time," said Javelin's Moeser, "then the banks have no differentiator anymore." Banks that are part of clearXchange realize they must overcome the buzz and momentum that existing apps have gathered. They are working to come up with a catchier name than clearXchange, and hope to launch a marketing campaign around the middle of this year, said Harman. "The important thing," she said, "is that we are acting now." (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Lauren LaCapra and Martin Howell)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German court has ruled against an online shopping site's use of Facebook's "like" button on Wednesday, dealing a further legal blow to the world's biggest social network in Germany. The Duesseldorf district court said that retailer Peek & Cloppenburg failed to obtain proper consent before transmitting its users' computer identities to Facebook, violating Germany's data protection law and giving the retailer a commercial advantage. The court found in favor of the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Association, which had complained that Peek & Cloppenburg's Fashion ID website had grabbed user data and sent it to Facebook before shoppers had decided whether to click on the "like" button or not. "A mere link to a data protection statement at the foot of the website does not constitute an indication that data are being or are about to be processed," the court said. Peek & Cloppenburg faces a penalty of up to 250,000 euros ($275,400) or six months' detention for a manager. The case comes on the heels of a January ruling by Germany's highest court against Facebook's "friend finder" feature and an announcement last week by Germany's competition regulator that it was investigating Facebook for suspected abuse of market power with regard to data protection laws. Facebook's ability to target advertising, helped by features such as its "like" button, drove a 52 percent revenue jump in the final quarter of 2015. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is one of the world's strictest enforcers of data protection laws and its citizens have a high sensibility to privacy issues. "The ruling has fundamental significance for the assessment of the legality of the 'like' function with respect to data protection," said lawyer Sebastian Meyer, who represented the consumer group in the case. "Companies should put pressure on the social network to adapt the 'like' function to the prevailing law." The association has also warned hotel portal HRS, Nivea maker Beiersdorf, shopping loyalty program Payback, ticketing company Eventim and fashion retailer KiK about similar use of the "like" button. It said that four of those had since changed their practices. A first hearing in a case it has brought against Payback is due in a Munich court in May. Peek & Cloppenburg said that it had changed its deployment of the "like" button last year and now required users to activate social media before sharing data with Facebook. It said it would wait for the court's written reasons for its judgment before deciding whether to appeal. A Facebook spokesman said: "This case is specific to a particular website and the way they have sought consent from their users in the past. "The Like button, like many other features that are used to enhance websites, is an accepted, legal and important part of the Internet, and this ruling does not change that." ($1 = 0.9078 euros) (Reporting By Eric Auchard, Harro ten Wolde and Georgina Prodhan in Frankfurt and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf; Editing by Edward Taylor and David Goodman)
Opposition activists yesterday took the stage to vent their frustrations over their leaders collaboration with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the Save Malaysia initiative. Blind, weak and forgetful were just a few of the words hurled against them during the gathering of pro-reformasi individuals and their anger was directed at the prominent opposition leaders who signed the Citizens Declaration on March 4. They felt betrayed that opposition leaders were now turning to Dr Mahathir to save the country which he destroyed in the first place. Some of the 13 speakers at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCHAH) were especially emotional as they recounted how they experienced first-hand the effects of Mahathirism when he was in power. They are asking us to forget what happened in 1998. How the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) treated us when we took to the streets, what they did to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. But Malays dont forget easily. Najib will die a natural death. He will die from 1MDB, from the RM2.6 billion donation scandal. We dont need Dr Mahathir to topple Najib and Barisan Nasional, Otai Reformis working secretary Abdul Razak Ismail told the crowd of about 200, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Razak said Pakatan Harapan leaders were allowing themselves to be manipulated by Dr Mahathir and his cohorts, who already made it clear they still wanted BN to remain in power. Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) propaganda director Eddy Noor Reduan said it did not matter whether Anwar has forgiven Dr Mahathir or not  the latter had victimised too many people and opposition leaders should not be ignoring this. I was once blind and supported Dr Mahathir, only to wake up during (his successor) Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawis time. Now I am sad, because I who was blind have become clever and can see through the charade. But those who were clever in 1998 have now become blind, said Eddy, referring to the opposition leaders who signed the Citizens Declaration. Even Amanah Selangor leader Saari Sungib said there was something deeply wrong with the idea of Dr Mahathir being the saviour of the people. Pakatan Harapan must review its decision to work with Dr Mahathir. It must determine how angry the people are over this declaration, said Saari. But activist Haris Ibrahim said opponents of Dr Mahathirs Save Malaysia movement should set aside their emotions and view the matter from a strategic standpoint. He said he refused to sign the Citizens Declaration himself, not because he was angry with Dr Mahathir, but because he felt the latter had not repented. Up until today, Dr Mahathir will not admit that he destroyed Malaysias institutions. If anyone else led this initiative, I would be okay. But Dr Mahathir? Impossible, said Haris. SAMMs Badrul Hisham Shahrin later told reporters that last nights programme was their first step towards bringing together Malaysians unhappy with the team-up between Dr Mahathir and the opposition. This is not a movement, but a platform for people to air their views. We will go around the country to allow everyone to speak out, he said. Dr Mahathir, supported by old political allies in Umno and BN, as well as foes, such as DAPs Lim Kit Siang, signed the declaration demanding Najib quit as prime minister and for institutional reforms to restore integrity to government bodies. The group reportedly is targeting a million people to sign the declaration and will also join a gathering on March 27 as part of the Save Malaysia movements roadshow to press for Najibs removal.  March 13, 2016.
By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two of the Kremlin's closest allies in Europe, said on Monday there could be no automatic extension of the European Union's sanctions against Russia, the most public sign yet of fraying unity on how to deal with Moscow. Two years after the West imposed economic sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, the EU's resolve is at risk of ebbing because of the stalled Minsk peace process, diplomats say. While EU governments last week extended asset freezes and travel bans on Russians and Russian companies, there is less consensus on whether to prolong more far-reaching sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors from July. "We cannot take for granted any decision at this stage," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after a meeting with his EU peers in Brussels, where Russia's EU policy was discussed for the first time in more than a year. However, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference such decisions were never taken without political debate, while EU officials said Monday's debate among ministers was measured. Some EU member states, such as Britain, the Baltic republics and Poland, argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia. Hungary, Italy and Greece stress its importance as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a major player in attempts to end war in Syria. "You cannot decide on sanctions by sweeping the issues under the carpet," Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said. "We believe that the question of sanctions should be decided at the highest level. It cannot be automatic," he said. But Lithuania's foreign minister, Linas Linkevicius, whose country was part of the Soviet Union until 1990, told Reuters that, following the debate among ministers on Monday, "there is no revision of policy". Echoing that, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that "the view is negative as regards the internal situation in Russia and its foreign policy". DON'T MENTION THE 'S' WORD Tellingly, after a long discussion, sanctions were not discussed by foreign ministers, partly because the debate was chaired by Mogherini to avoid exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials - who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy - sought to gauge the mood. One of the biggest points of contention was whether Mogherini, an Italian, should visit Russia at a time when the EU is demanding that Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike, on humanitarian grounds. Waszczykowski said he suggested to ministers that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first come to Brussels. Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most sceptical about the sanctions, while European farmers, who once exported heavily to Russia, want to see markets reopen and protested in Brussels on Monday. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through. However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process. Moscow denies any military involvement. "Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday in Paris. In comments that some EU diplomats took as Moscow pressing for sanctions relief, Lavrov said on Sunday he hoped the United States would be willing to compromise on the Minsk process. (Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Louise Ireland)
The collaboration between opposition leaders and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to remove Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will allow Pakatan Harapan to gain more votes from Malays, says PKRs Rafizi Ramli. The partys secretary-general said the Citizens Declaration, which saw political foes combining forces, would benefit the opposition because Dr Mahathir could open the eyes of fence-sitters among Malay voters. The declaration is something that we have been talking about for many years. Its our script, he reads our script, so we have the chance to penetrate the 2% to 5% of Malay voters who are fence-sitters, Rafizi said at a forum titled Pembangkang + Pasukan Mahathir  Berbaloikah Untuk Rakyat? in Kuala Lumpur yesterday on the positives of the recent cooperation between the opposition and Dr Mahathir on the Citizens Declaration and launching of the Save Malaysia movement. He described fence-sitters as those who grew up in a pro-establishment environment or lacked information on current issues. The arrival of Tun Dr Mahathir on our stage, using our script, will eventually pave the way for us into the 2% to 5% of on the fence voters or Umno voters who can bring victory to us. The 2% to 5% of Malay votes could add another 20 to 25 parliamentary seats, he added. He said this was because non-Malay voters would review their support for opposition after few terms if nothing changed. The full support from non-Malay voters is not forever, thats why we need to focus on the 2% to 5% of the Malay votes. DAPs Anthony Loke agreed with Rafizis analysis, saying that Dr Mahathir has the power to influence Barisan Nasional supporters. In the 14th general election (GE14), we need all forces, including Dr Mahathir, because we have to admit that in order to win GE14, the support we received in GE13 was not enough, he said, adding that the opposition needed additional Malay votes. We cannot deny the fact that Dr Mahathir has his influence, he can influence BN supporters. Even though he may no longer have influence over Umno division leaders.... but his voice can influence Malay voters, who have fears about racial issues, DAP and other issues. A person like Dr Mahathir can neutralise the fear, Loke said. Former PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa said although many people hated the fourth prime minister, there were still many who admired him. We need to have balance, we cannot say that he doesnt have any influence at all, Husam said.  March 14, 2016.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's prime minister sacked Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zend on Sunday after he was criticised for saying he would jail Islam's Prophet Mohammad himself if he broke the law. Zend's comments came in a televised interview on Friday. He immediately said "God forgive me", and on Saturday issued an apology in another interview. It was not immediately clear who would replace Zend, a hardliner and outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood. "Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree today to relieve Ahmed al-Zend ... of his position," a government statement said, giving no more details. Zend, a former appeals court judge, had been publicly outspoken in his criticism of the Islamist movement removed from power by the army in mid-2013 and banned as a terrorist group. He has in the past denounced the 2011 revolt that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and ushered in the election that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power. He has also been a strong defender of the judiciary and its powerful position. Egyptian judges issued a statement opposing Zend's removal over what the head of the Judges Club told Reuters was a slip of the tongue that could have happened to anyone. "Egypt's judges are sorry that someone who defended Egypt and its people, judiciary and nation in the face of the terrorist organisation that wanted to bring it down should be punished in this way," said Abdallah Fathi. Egyptian courts have been absolving Mubarak-era officials, while imposing long sentences on liberal and Islamist activists. Egypt's judiciary has faced criticism from rights groups in the past two years after judges issued mass death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood supporters, locking up youth activists and sentencing writers and journalists. Zend's predecessor was also forced to resign last May after saying the son of a garbage collector was ineligible to serve as a judge. (Reporting Mostafa Hashem and Haithem Ahmed; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein and Lin Noueihed; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Stephen Powell)
Chancellor Angela Merkel's party braced for a backlash in key state polls Sunday over the German leader's liberal refugee policy, while the right-wing populist AfD prepared to scoop up the protest vote from angry voters. More than 12 million voters were heading to the ballot box to elect three new regional parliaments in the southwestern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as eastern Saxony-Anhalt in the so-called Super Sunday polls. The elections are the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of refugees, and are largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel's decision to open the country's doors to people fleeing war. "These elections are very important... as they will serve as a litmus test for the government's disputed policy" on refugees, Duesseldorf University political scientist Jens Walther told AFP. Surveys in the run-up to the vote showed falling support for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its junior coalition partner Social Democratic Party (SPD) while the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was steadily gaining momentum and expected to record a surge in backing in all three states. "I am voting to teach the chancellor a lesson because of her politics towards refugees," Ulrich, 78, told AFP in the Saxony-Anhalt capital Magdeburg, declining to give his surname. Interest was particularly high, with turnout surpassing previous polls in all three states. At 1300 GMT, 35.5 percent of voters in Baden-Wuerttemberg had cast their ballot compared to 30.7 percent in the previous polls in 2011. In Saxony-Anhalt, turnout was at 35.4 percent against 28.5 percent previously, while in Rhineland-Palatinate, it was 56 percent, up 13 percentage points from the last round. The CDU was bracing for one of its poorest showings in years, particularly in its traditional stronghold of Baden-Wuerttemberg. A poll published Thursday by ZDF public television showed support for the CDU in the south-western state plummeting by 10 percentage points to 29 percent -- putting it for the first time behind the Greens. Guido Wolf, the CDU's leading candidate in the southwest, has described it as the "most difficult election campaign" the party has had to run. - 'A lot to lose' - Merkel has been under intense pressure to change course and shut Germany's doors after 1.1 million refugees -- many of them Syrians -- arrived in Europe's biggest economy last year alone. But she has resolutely refused to impose a cap on arrivals, insisting instead on common European action that includes distributing refugees among the EU's 28 member states. She reiterated her point on Thursday, insisting that imposing a limit on refugee numbers was merely a "short-term pseudo-solution", and that the only measure that would sustainably bring numbers down was a "concerted European approach". As dissent has grown over her stance, AfD has capitalised on the darkening mood and the ZDF survey has it commanding 18 percent of support in Saxony-Anhalt. Founded in 2013 as an anti-euro party, AfD has since morphed into one that sparked a storm in January after suggesting police may have to shoot at migrants at the borders. Although the upstart party has seats in five regional parliaments and is represented in the European Parliament, it has so far made its biggest gains in former communist eastern states that still lag behind western Germany in jobs and prosperity. But its inroads into western states have sparked alarm in a Germany mindful of its Nazi past. Ingeborg Klumpp, a 74-year-old pensioner, went to vote in Stuttgart in the hope that "with my little cross on the ballot paper, I will contribute to the fact that people won't vote for the AfD". "The campaign of hatred they ran these last weeks was horrible," she said. On the eve of the vote, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere joined calls from both the political mainstream as well as civic and religious groups, urging the electorate to shun AfD. "AfD has no political programme and no capacity to resolve problems," he told Die Welt daily on Saturday. "We must make it clear -- this party hurts our country." Merkel herself described AfD as a "party that does not bring cohesion in society and offers no appropriate solutions to problems, but only stokes prejudices and divisions". She has also shrugged them off as a temporary diversion saying that once her government's policies show results on reducing migrant numbers, "I'm convinced that from there, the support that AfD is enjoying right now will drop off."
News / Religion

by Thobekile Zhou

Close to 2000 Family Covenant Church (FCC) worshippers thronged Bulawayo's Large City hall on Sunday to mark its official launch.FCC cut ties with Apostle Andrew Wutawunashe's Family of God church (FOG) over his well published divorce.Wutawunashe divorced his wife Rutendo Faith early this year after secretly dating his Botswana lover, Maseko Makhao for more than a decade.However, Bulawayo24.com understands that Rutendo Faith has since denied Wutawunashe a divorce.On Sunday close to two thousands worshippers attended the FCC inaugural service in Bulawayo.Other such services where conducted in Harare, Masvingo, Gweru, Pretoria and Birmingham (UK).Below are the pictures of the Bulawayo service:
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara vowed Monday that the country would not be "intimidated by terrorists", as the death toll in the country's first jihadist attack climbed to 18. Armed with grenades and assault rifles, gunmen on Sunday stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets in the resort of Grand-Bassam, a sleepy town popular with expats just a short 40 kilometre drive from the commercial capital Abidjan. The attack claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) left 15 civilians dead, including a German woman, as well as killing three special forces troops, the government said. A total of 33 people were injured, 26 of whom are still in hospital. France said four of its nationals were among the dead. AQIM's real target was France, analysts said, punished both as Ivory Coast's former colonial master and for hunting down jihadists in Mali and elsewhere. "The Ivory Coast will not allow itself to be intimidated by terrorists", Ouattara said in a statement broadcast on radio and television. "Ivory Coast is standing up, standing up to fight the cowards and protect its people." He vowed to work with countries in the sub-region, on the continent and with our "other international partners to reinforce our cooperation to fight these terrorists". Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said "three terrorists were killed" in the assault. Asked whether more gunmen were involved -- some witnesses had reported several attackers -- the minister said "we're still looking. We don't suspect more but we're making sure we carry out the widest possible sweep." Along with a three-day national mourning period starting Monday, he said the West African nation would boost security at "strategic sites and in public places... (such as) schools, embassies, international institutions... and the borders." In the latest such jihadist assault in West Africa, witnesses described the panic as gunfire rang out across the sand and an assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest". - 'I thought this was it' - Condemnation came from around the world with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledging to help government "efforts to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice." French President Francois Hollande's office said his country will support Ivory Coast "to fight terrorism and considers that cooperation between all the states threatened by terrorist groups, particularly in West Africa, must intensify more than ever". It was the third such attack in four months in West Africa and a blow to a nation working to lure back foreign tourists to its palm-fringed beaches and rainforests as it recovers from a brutal civil war. The German victim was named as 51-year-old Henrike Grohs, who headed Abidjan's Goethe Institute, the German language centre's secretary-general said. Grand-Bassam is packed at weekends with visitors drawn by its magnificent beaches and UNESCO-listed colonial-era buildings. Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian teacher at an international high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons when the gunmen arrived. "We were really scared. We thought of the people at the Bataclan," she said, referring to the concert venue attacked by gunmen during November's terror attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. "I thought this was it for us," she said. Some witnesses reported seeing more than three assailants, contradicting the official version. "When they arrived, it was a woman who brought their luggage to put it in the bungalow," said one witness. "They changed (their clothes), there were seven. The first person who came out was wearing a white top, and then he had a scarf on his head. He faced a child and then said 'Allahu Akbar' and fired at the child. When we saw that we ran." - Fears run high - The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said AQIM, the terror group's North African affiliate, had claimed responsibility. West African nations have scrambled to boost security after jihadist attacks in November and January on upscale hotels in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso that were also claimed by the group. Sunday's attack also bore grim similarities to the Islamist gun and grenade assault on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead. "Hitting Ivory Coast is clearly a way of attacking France's historical ally in the region," said Antoine Glaser, author of a recently published critical account of French colonisation in Africa called "Arrogant comme un Francais en Afrique" (Arrogant like a Frenchman in Africa). Robert Besseling of Exx Africa, a specialist intelligence company, said the attack should not have come as a surprise. "Cote d'Ivoire has been receiving warnings for at least a year from France's intelligence service that Islamist militants are planning to attack major cities," said Besseling, using the French name for Ivory Coast.
Japanese police said Monday they have arrested a 24-year-old US sailor on suspicion of raping a Japanese woman on Okinawa, in a case that could further fan sentiment against Washington's military presence on the fortified southern island. Okinawa was the site of a brutal World War II battle between Japan and the United States but is now considered a strategic linchpin supporting the two countries' decades-long security alliance. Pacifist sentiment, however, runs high on the crowded island, which makes up less than one percent of Japan's total land area but is home to about 75 percent of US military bases in the country. More than half of the 47,000 American military personnel in Japan are stationed there and rapes and other crimes by US service personnel have sparked local protests in the past. A spokesman with the Okinawan prefectural police on Monday identified the arrested seaman as Justin Castellanos, stationed at the US Marine Corps Camp Schwab base on the island. Castellanos, arrested Sunday, allegedly raped the woman earlier the same day while she was unconscious at a hotel in the Okinawan capital city of Naha, the spokesman said. A spokesman for the US Navy in Japan had no immediate comment on the arrest. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government's top spokesman told reporters that the alleged incident is "extremely regrettable". Suga said the Japanese government had "expressed a strong protest" to the US side, adding he hopes that police can solve the case. "The US side said it would be a very disappointing incident if the allegation was true and that they're taking this matter seriously," he added, referring to what he described as the US response to Japan's protest. Takeshi Onaga, the governor of Okinawa, expressed anger at the alleged rape. "It was a serious crime in violation of women's human rights and can never be tolerated," he said, according to Kyodo News agency. "I feel strong resentment." According to Japanese media, the sailor found the woman, who was visiting Okinawa, asleep in the corridor of the hotel and took her to his room. The two were staying at the same hotel, but were not acquainted, the Asahi Shimbun daily and other media said. A brutal 1995 abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl on Okinawa by three US servicemen sparked massive protests, which led the US government to pledge efforts to strengthen troop discipline to prevent such crimes and reduce its footprint on the island. But continued crimes by US personnel remain an irritant in Japan-US relations and a rallying point for Okinawans opposed to the bases.
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States is concerned about North Korea's investment in nuclear weapons, but there are signs that fresh U.N. sanctions are starting to hurt Pyongyang, the U.S. envoy for human rights in North Korea told Reuters on Monday. Ambassador Robert King called for resuming six-party talks on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that would be aimed at denuclearisation, but conceded that in the current climate of regional tensions, that would be "pretty hard". "The concern clearly is the North Koreans have money that they are putting into military resources and proliferation of nuclear weapons, and we're anxious to make sure their ability in those areas is limited," King said in an interview. The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed new U.N. sanctions this month to starve Pyongyang of money for its nuclear weapons program, in a resolution drafted by the United States and Pyongyang's ally China. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea last Thursday in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, as South Korean and U.S. forces conducted massive war games. [n:L4N16I4JJ] They followed its latest nuclear test in January and a rocket launch in February that Washington and its allies said used banned ballistic missile technology. "There are some indications that suggest that the sanctions are creating some difficult conditions for imports," King said. "There are already indications that companies and banks and so forth that deal with North Korea are being much more cautious even though the sanctions haven't fully been implemented," he said. "My guess is they've already start to bite, they will continue to bite, or become tougher as they are implemented." All cargo going to and from North Korea, which has a population around 24 million, must now be inspected, whereas previously states only had to inspect such shipments if they had reasonable grounds to believe they contained illicit goods. The U.S. Treasury Department and White House are still finalising work on the new sanctions, King said. "There is an Executive Order being drafted right now that will deal with these additional sanctions". RIGHTS ABUSE King was speaking after addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, where U.N. investigator Marzuki Darusman called for leader Kim Jong Un and senior officials to be prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity The United States is working with Japan and the European Union on a resolution to set up a "mechanism of accountability" aimed at holding North Korea's leadership liable for abuses, King said. "But I think we need to be careful not to start at the top . Because if you start at the top, that's where you stop." "One of the things that we need to do on accountability is to make sure and to make clear to the North Koreans as well that people at all levels are going to be considered," he added. There was "serious drought" last year North Korea, which can feed its population "at a very minimal level" in the best of times, King said. "The toughest time in North Korea is the time we're in right now. This is the time when rice supplies from last fall and the harvest from last fall is pretty well running out," he said. "And it's still too early to be growing crops that will be able to be used this year. It's the lean period." (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
Umno members have been told to be loyal to the party leadership, The New Straits Times Online reported today. Party secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told Shah Alam Umno members at a gathering to unite and not sink the ship from within. He reminded the members that there was a system, and prime minister and party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak was chosen through that system. So why destroy the institution? Don't be someone who wants to drag everyone down, he reportedly told the gathering. Tengku Adnan was referring to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was now out to get Najib removed from office. The longest-serving prime minister had been Najibs biggest and harshest critic since the 1Malaysia Development Berhad controversy surfaced and were linked to him. Dr Mahathir, who recently quit Umno in protest, is now leading the Save Malaysia movement aimed to oust Najib as prime minister. He also recently initiated the Citizens Declaration, which has the same objective. The movement and declaration are both supported by several Umno members, who are Najib critics; and leaders from opposition parties and civil groups. They are now working towards getting a million signatures for a petition to pressure Najib to resign. Tengku Adnan said he recently met both Dr Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was recently suspended as Umno deputy president following his continuous criticisms against Najib. He said he pleaded with them to stop what they were doing against Najib, but they were arrogant. But they are arrogant. Had they not been arrogant, all these would not have happened, he was quoted as saying. Tengku Adnan also told party members to organise more people-centric programmes. Go down to the ground and be closer to the people. Explain to them what is happening and get them to join Umno or support Umno. Don't organise syok sendiri (self-glorifying) events. Umno Selangor needs to rise and we must wrest back the state government. We are the ones who developed the state not those people, he was quoted as saying.  March 13, 2016.
Opinion / Columnist

The recent call by the MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu, urging International Monetary Fund (IMF), to demand fair polls as a pre-condition for extending loans to Zimbabwe, is a shameful development from a bonafide citizen of this country.Gutu needs elementary lessons on patriotism, so that he can at least; appreciate the imperative need to save the country from sinking further into abyss after his MDC-T party coerced and cajoled the west to impose illegal sanctions on the country more than a decade and a half ago.All this was propelled by the insatiable desire to attain power. It is really amazing to note that MCD-T is still harbours the propensity to pursue the sabotage agendas to cripple the nation as a gate-way to power. In fact, as a matter of natural principle, all citizens are under natural obligation to defend Zimbabwe's interests as opposed to ruffling state's feathers for purposes of achieving narrow political gains.Everyone is looking forward to seeing the government meeting the pledge to pay up the 1, 8 billion dollars to IMF. This would enable the nation to get a new lease of life by getting new lines of credit. The loans are expected to make a vast difference to our economy as it anticipated that it would stimulate growth in the productive sectors of the economy. While frantic effort is put to rescue the ailing economy for public good, some rowdy citizens like Gutu are busy plotting the downfall of the same nation. Certainly such people are guilty of treasonous charges.If all is said in enerst, clearance of the outstanding 1, 8 billion as an IMF pre-condition, so why would Gutu prescribe a new pre-condition which is weird, irrelevant and farfetched? After all, the next polls are expected two years later in 2018. Supposedly the debt is cleared by April 2016, what is the justification for withholding loans as per agreement? It is really absurd! Gutu should restore his sanity and realign his perspectives on Zimbabweans' interests.Zimbabweans are interested in people who construct the nation not its destroyers. Gutu and his MDC-T are not even ashamed of the devastating effects of illegal sanctions in which they are the infamous proponents. Aren't they aware of how ordinary citizens have sustained their ugly effects since 2001?Certainly if they are humane, they should build mercy on their fellow country persons and apologize to the whole nation for God's sake, lest hell is awaiting them on the judgement day.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood firm Monday on her refugee policy, despite a drubbing in regional elections described as a "debacle" in which disgruntled voters turned to the anti-migrant AfD. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was at the receiving end of voter anger, suffering defeats in two out of three states in Sunday's elections -- including in traditional stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg. The stinging result for the conservative CDU was accompanied by a surge in backing for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had sparked outrage by suggesting police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them entering the country. AfD's double-digit score in all three states indicates that the public outrage fuelling far-right movements such as France's National Front and Austria's Freedom Party has also gained a firm foothold in Germany. Sunday's elections were the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of asylum seekers that reached 1.1 million in 2015, and the vote was largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel's decision to open the doors to people fleeing war. The mass-circulation Bild newspaper described it as a "day of horror" for Merkel, as calls multiplied for her to change tack. While acknowledging that some had cast "protest votes", the German leader refused to change her position. "I think that the approach is correct," she told journalists, reiterating her strategy of a common European policy to bolster the security of the EU's external borders and cooperate with Turkey to stem refugee flows. - 'We need clarity' - Even though she admitted that Balkan states had done Germany a favour by closing their borders to migrants -- a move that led to a significant drop in new arrivals -- Merkel insisted just days ahead of an EU summit that "we can see from pictures out of Greece that that is not a sustainable solution". Merkel is increasingly isolated on the European stage as she has refused to impose a cap on arrivals, a decision that is irritating her neighbours who say it encourages migrants to keep coming. Ahead of Thursday's summit in Brussels, when leaders are due to finalise a deal with Turkey on stemming the migrant influx, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said Merkel must stress that Germany is no longer willing to take in an unlimited number of refugees. "We need clarity. Everyone must know that it is a false hope to think that Germany would simply wave people in," he told Die Welt daily. Merkel's strident critics in the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, also piled on the pressure after the regional polls, which serve as a key test ahead of general elections in 2017. The main reason for the poor CDU showing "is the refugee policy. It makes no sense at all," CSU chief Horst Seehofer said at a party meeting on Monday. Demanding changes, Seehofer said: "It can't be that after such an election result, the answer to the electorate is: everything will go on as before." - 'Black Sunday' - In the aftermath of the vote described as "Black Sunday for the CDU" by news website Spiegel Online, Merkel also came in for criticism for unwittingly allowing the AfD to flourish. For most of the past decade, Merkel enjoyed stellar popularity ratings as she pushed middle-ground policies which helped her party capture voters from the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). But critics say it has left her conservatives' right flank exposed. In Sunday's vote, the AfD gained as many as one in four votes in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, emerging as the second biggest party there. AfD leader Frauke Petry called it a "good day for democracy" while Austria's Freedom Party hailed the German party's success as a win against the "EU juggernaut". Nevertheless, the irony is that Sunday's polls showed there is no obvious successor to Merkel, as the CDU's biggest mainstream challenger and junior coalition partner -- the SPD -- emerged weakened in two out of three states where it came in behind AfD. And Julia Kloeckner, touted previously as a possible CDU successor to Merkel, failed to lift the party to a win in Rhineland-Palatinate with a campaign that challenged Berlin's line on asylum. Even Seehofer acknowledged that Merkel was still the right chancellor, while the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung questioned who had the clout to force her to reverse her stance on refugees. "The party has less choice than ever" for its succession, it noted.
Former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said it will be difficult to table a motion of no-confidence against the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, according to Sinar Harian. The Malay daily today reported that Muhyiddin, who is Pagoh MP, admitted the attempt might be difficult because there were too many lawmakers unwilling to support it, as the move required majority support. It is one of it (the no-confidence motion), if the numbers are enough to bring change, but I foresee that it will be difficult because the MPs are not ready or brave enough to do it, unlike those in more advanced countries. In Malaysia, the culture of political patriotism runs deep. Cash is king and it answers all questions. We have 222 seats in Parliament and we need 112 to achieve simple majority to make a change, he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian. Can that happen? Wallahualam (only God knows). We know there will be those who will make sure it doesnt happen. With me alone, it will not, so we need the voice of the majority. On the signing of the Citizens Declaration with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and other opposition leaders, which led certain quarters to attack him, Muhyiddin said the matter has been twisted. It may be because the matter was twisted. I am still an Umno member, and what I do is to save the party and the government. I do not deny that the other side does not view it in the same way but I hope this situation will not worsen to the point that we may be wrong, he said, adding that he was not a traitor as alleged. Muhyiddin told Sinar Harian that if Najib did not stop, the party would be burdened further and eventually, rejected by the people. That is why I am making this bold step ahead. It is not that I am betraying the struggle. I have a duty entrusted to me... even when I knew I would be attacked, suspended or sacked. Umno members should look at my efforts as an attempt to save the situation, not the work of a traitor destroying the party. If they remain silent, they will have to accept this calamity, he said, adding that Umno members have no courage to face reality. Muhyiddin also rejected allegations by some quarters that he was after the prime ministers post. He said he was not thinking of it but was more concerned with the fight to salvage the situation, rather than keeping quiet and being an accessory to the problem, and cause Barisan Nasional and Umno to crumble and lose power. Muhyiddin was dropped from Najibs Cabinet last July following his open criticism over the latters handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and RM2.6 billion donation controversy. He was also suspended recently as Umno deputy president.  March 13, 2016.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the withdrawal of Moscow's forces from Syria in a shock move as fresh peace talks began in Geneva. But hopes for a breakthrough at the talks remained remote with both sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the brutal conflict. The Kremlin said Putin had called Assad to inform Moscow's long-standing ally of the move that appears to end the main part of its controversial bombing campaign that began in September. "The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments. "The leaders noted that the actions of the Russian airforce (had) allowed (them) to radically change the situation in the fight against terrorism, to disorganise the fighters' infrastructure and inflict significant damage on them," the Kremlin said in a statement. The White House said presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin had spoken following Russia's surprise announcement, and discussed the "next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities". But US officials offered a cautious initial assessment of the Kremlin's decision. "At this point, we are going to see how things play out over the next few days," a senior administration official told AFP. - 'Courage and heroism' - Putin and Assad agreed that Moscow would maintain an airforce facility in Syria to help monitor the progress of a ceasefire in the war-torn country. "The Syrian leader underlined his readiness for the quickest establishment of the political process in Syria," the statement added. Russia's decision to begin withdrawing from Syria will help Moscow intensify efforts to reach a political settlement, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations said. "Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the move would increase the pressure on President Assad to negotiate "a political transition". Russia began its airstrikes in support of Assad's forces in September, a move that helped shore up the regime's crumbling forces and allow them to go on the offensive. Russia sent over 50 warplanes to carry out thousands of strikes across the Syria arguing that it was targeting "terrorist" groups including Islamic State jihadists. The intervention was slammed by the West and its regional allies, who insisted that Moscow was mainly bombing more moderate rebels fighting Assad. A temporary ceasefire between Assad's forces and opponents in the country introduced on February 27 has largely held, but it does not cover the IS and Nusra front groups. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Moscow's Hmeimim air base in Syria and its Tartus naval facility would remain functioning and that some military contingents would stay behind. He did not however give any details on how many soldiers would stay in Syria and what the timeframe for withdrawal was. - 'A positive decision' - The UN-hosted negotiations in Geneva are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions. Syria's main opposition hailed the Kremlin's withdrawal announcement, but said it would wait and see what impact the order would have on the ground. "We must verify the nature of this decision and its meaning," Salem al-Meslet, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told reporters in Geneva. "If there is a decision to withdraw the (Russian) forces, it is a positive decision, and we will see it on the ground (but) does this decision mean removing forces or just reducing the number of aircraft in Syria, (that) we will have to check," he said. Hopes for a breakthrough at the talks, however, appeared remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over Assad's future. As the Syrian delegations arrived in Geneva over the weekend, Damascus warned that any discussion about removing Assad would be a "red line". Top Western diplomats immediately condemned the comment from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as divisive and provocative. After his first official meeting with the regime on Monday, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters that "strong statements (and) rhetoric" were part of every tough negotiation and that his initial discussions with government representative Bashar al-Jaafari were "useful".
By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Monday vowed to continue pushing for United Nations Security Council action on Iran's recent ballistic missile tests and accused Russia of looking for reasons not to respond to Iranian violations of a U.N. resolution. "This merits a council response," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council convened at Washington's request. "Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act," she said. "We're not going to give up at the Security Council, no matter the quibbling that we heard today about this and that." Power was referring to comments from Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who made clear that in the view of veto-wielding Russia, Iran's ballistic missile tests did not violate council resolution 2231, adopted in July, that endorsed an historic nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers. "A call is different from a ban so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call," Churkin said. "The legal distinction is there." Resolution 2231 "calls upon" Iran to refrain from certain ballistic missile activity. Western nations see that as a clear ban, though council diplomats say China and other council members agree with Russia's and Iran's view that such work is not banned. Iran's U.N. mission issued a statement opposing Monday's council discussion of its missile tests. It added that statements Iranians made about Israel were merely a response to Israeli threats. A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted recently as saying that Iran's medium-range ballistic missiles were designed to be able to hit Israel. The tests last week drew international concern and prompted Monday's meeting of the 15-nation Security Council. Power called the tests "provocative and destabilizing." Speaking to reporters ahead of the closed-door meeting, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon urged council members to take new "punitive measures" against Tehran over the launches, which he said were a direct threat against Israel. "We cannot and we will not bury our heads in the sand in the hope that the Ayatollahs act responsibly," said Danon. Israel has been a strong critic of the nuclear deal between Iran and major powers last year that relaxed most international sanctions against Tehran in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. Washington imposed U.S. sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for supplying Iran's ballistic missile program after a series of tests last year. Washington has said the tests did not violate the nuclear deal, but a separate part of resolution 2231. (Editing by David Alexander, Frances Kerry and Alan Crosby)
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Dismissed by critics as a diplomatic dandy, hailed by allies as a creative consensus-builder, Staffan de Mistura takes the hot seat in Geneva on Monday as the man in charge of forging peace in Syria. In an impeccable suit and pince-nez spectacles, the Swedish-Italian diplomat looks as though he'd be more comfortable strolling through Geneva's quaint Old Town rather than refereeing a war that has killed more than 250,000 people. But de Mistura, whose other roles include being Swedish consul on the Italian isle of Capri, has come closer than anyone else to negotiating an end to the Syrian civil war. The peace talks he mediates resume on Monday, and if they eventually bring an end to the war, it will not be because he forced an agreement, but perhaps because he recognised it was not in his power to do so. De Mistura took over the job in mid-2014 after the spectacular failure of his two predecessors, Kofi Annan, a former U.N. secretary general, and Lakhdar Brahimi, one of the Arab world's most accomplished diplomats. Each had quit after holding a peace conference in the Swiss city of Geneva that failed to stop the war. In contrast to their ambition, he adopted a "minimalistic" approach, removing any expectation that the U.N. could impose peace. He did not summon the warring parties to negotiate, nor order the big powers of the U.N. Security Council to end the war. That left a leadership vacuum that, late last year, was filled by the United States and Russia. Moscow and Washington used their influence to bring Syria's warring sides to de Mistura's table, but it will be up to him to get them talking. "MY MOTHER WOULD NOT BE DELIGHTED" In a four-decade diplomatic career that included war zone assignments across Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan, de Mistura developed a reputation for quietly building trust with warring parties hostile to outsiders. "I cannot list to you how many people who my mother would not be delighted to know I shook hands with," he once said. U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said de Mistura's logical approach helps him cut to the thrust of complex issues, and his sense of humour provides relief at difficult moments. "He has a wonderful way of connecting with people, whether it's the media or his interlocutors in a difficult political process like this one," Fawzi said. "When he approaches people it's with great respect, whoever they are, wherever they are on the hierarchy ladder." People who have worked with him cite his creativity, evident when he pioneered airdrops to relieve Ethiopia's famine in the 1980s. Described by the Washington Post as "a loquacious Italian in a safari suit", he dared the Sudanese People's Liberation Army to shoot down his rainbow-painted plane. He was almost shot down again two decades later, as U.N. envoy in Iraq. His plane from Baghdad ran into Iranian war games, and was given 20 seconds to turn around or be destroyed. He later became the top U.N. man in Afghanistan, and was one of the United Nations' most experienced diplomats by the time he took on the Syria role, prompting the Guardian newspaper to call him "the man with the toughest job in the world". De Mistura, 69, likes to joke that he has a chronic condition, being an incurable optimist. But he also suffers from occasional gaffes. And his start with Syria was not smooth. "TOO MUCH TIME SUNBATHING" Rumours abounded that his heart wasn't in the job and he wanted to do it part-time from Brussels. He gave an interview to the New York Times, which said he was "more widely known for his dapper style than for any diplomatic coups" and cited a former Lebanese minister as saying he spent too much time sunbathing at a private club. "I thought it was a little unfair, didn't you?" de Mistura told Reuters at the time, lining up at the U.N. salad bar. He angered Syria's opposition by sounding more open to the views of Damascus than his predecessors had. There followed an almost fatal error, when he told reporters in Vienna that President Bashar al-Assad was "part of the solution". He immediately clarified his comments, saying Assad bore part of the responsibility for ending the war. But the mis-step dogged De Mistura for many months and caused deep mistrust. An early ceasefire plan misfired too, with misplaced hope that a "freeze" in fighting in Aleppo would trigger local truces across the country. When that failed, De Mistura launched open-ended "consultations" with Syrians of all stripes over several months, although opposition armed groups refused to attend. A political adviser, Mouin Rabbani, quit De Mistura's team within weeks of arriving, and emerged as a vocal critic, saying he was "out of his depth" and "wasn't up to the task". "The cronyism, dodgy personnel decisions, and resultant amateurism I witnessed were simply breathtaking," Rabbani wrote of his U.N. experience. De Mistura's apparent lack of ambition looked weak but also reflected reality. With Washington and Moscow falling out over Ukraine and Iranian-Saudi tensions in Yemen, any U.N. peace effort would surely have been futile. Suddenly, by the end of last year, Islamic State's advance and Europe's refugee crisis provided stronger motives, a nuclear deal between Western powers and Iran provided an opportunity, and Russia's entry into the war provided a catalyst. "Geneva 3" was born. De Mistura, who had been preparing a soft series of "working groups" to debate post-war Syria, was told by the United States and Russia to junk his plans in favour of a legally binding peace negotiation. He looked in danger of falling into the same trap as Brahimi, whose "Geneva 2" peace talks drowned in a swamp of side-arguments: "Are the opposition terrorists?", "Can Assad stay in power?", "Where is the justice for war crimes?" He dodged nimbly, referring the terrorist question back to the U.N. Security Council, leaving Assad's fate up to the Syrian people, and saying human rights were not negotiatiable. And with no early progress, he halted initial talks last month and told the United States and Russia they needed to do more. The result was a temporary cessation of hostilities, sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by both Assad's government and most of his foes. While far from perfect, the agreement has already quieted the guns in Syria for the first time in five years, providing what could be the first opportunity yet for the warring parties to discuss peace. Perhaps de Mistura's doubters have indeed been "a little unfair". (Reporting by)
When people experience a horrific eventa natural disaster, a car crash, a shooting, a death of a loved onetheir body issues an emotional response known as trauma. This can have lasting, adverse effects on peoples mental, physical, and emotional health, as well as their social and spiritual wellbeing. And its not uncommon for people to experience shock and denial, leading to unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, or even physical symptoms like nausea and headaches, according to the American Psychological Association.

I think we take for granted that law enforcement is psychologically prepared for what they might face, and focus so much more on them being trained and properly equipped to respond, says Katherine Schweit, who founded Schweit Consulting LLC after a career as a Chicago prosecutor and an FBI special agent. I dont think that, historically, the United States has been at the forefront of preparing first responders mentally for the challenges they face.

Read the Article

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Opinion / Columnist

Sikhumbuzo Moyo ZAPU RSA province writing on his private capacity

It is obvious and everyone knows that ZANU has failed to govern since 1980 and now the only option left is for ZAPU to seize power from ZANU on what ever means which the party might deem necessary.ZAPU has managed to survive under harsh conditions imposed by ZANU which tried to destroy ZAPU .ZAPU late president Joshua Nkomo once said"Ngenani entweni yabo kodwa liqaphele ukuthi uma liphuma alilalo udaka abazolibhixa ngalo" They tried by all means to tell people lies that we are still in unity accord and they failed.Now is the time for ZAPU to govern and we won't leave any stone unturned. ZAPU did it during Smith regime and ZAPU will do it also to Mugabe regime.ZAPU is inviting all Zimbabweans to leave ZANU with immediate effect because it no longer represent people's interests.Where are the 2.2 million jobs promised by Zanu. Not even one vacant but many people lost their jobs and they are now street vendors who are troubled by the city council everyday.Zanu has gambled with peoples life's and enough is enough.
Mobile Computing

Small California District Grows Into 1-to-1 Program

A school district in the Central Valley of California is gradually working its way toward a district-wide 1-to-1 program.

The recent acquisition of 1,000 Chromebooks means the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District in Newman, CA will put devices in the hands of every student in grades 1-8. Students at Orestimba High School, one of the district's nine schools, had already received computers earlier in the school year.

District Superintendent Randy Fillpot said the gradual distribution of devices as they became available and could be configured had made for some interesting logistical challenges.

"We had issued about 10 Chromebooks per classroom in grades 3-8," Fillpot said in a report for westsideconnect.com. "Teachers would find that it was difficult planning things where they needed 30 at a time. I think this will solve a logistics issue."

Another interesting challenge Fillpot pointed out that he had not expected: The evolution in students' technological expertise. For instance, a teacher who might have taught students how to use a webcam and keyboard one year might find students in the same grade the following year already have developed those skills.

"We have very creative students," Fillpot said. "Teachers know that what they taught this year may not be what they are going to teach next year. I think getting them devices earlier opens a lot of doors for them later on."

District Finance Director Caralyn Mendoza said providing devices for each of the district's nearly 3,000 students cost about $200 apiece, a cost that was eased by a California state program to provide technology to all schools.
Distance Learning

Teacher Uses Skype To Teach Students about the Holocaust

With the help of Skype, a Virginia history teacher is passing on the story of his family's escape from the Holocaust during World War II.

For 33 years, George Cassutto, a teacher at Harmony Middle School near Hamilton, VA, has been telling the personal story of how his parents, Ernest and Elizabeth Cassuto, Jews from the Netherlands, both managed to escape Nazis before meeting, getting married and moving to the United States.

During the early years of his teaching career in the Loudon County School District, Cassuto told his story only to the students in his own classroom in an effort to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. However, he also was one of the first adopters of technology in his district and now he shares the story via Skype to students at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Ashburn, VA, as well.

Using video conferencing tools available to him, Cassuto has been able to prepare lessons for as many as 100 students at a time.

But it wasn't his first use of technology. Back in 1995, he encouraged his students to create Web pages to document the content they had learned in his class.

"That was cutting edge then," Cassuto said in a report for Loudon Now. "Now it's almost like you can't teach without it."

Cassuto's father Ernest went into hiding in Rotterdam with his then-fiance Hetty Winkel in 1942. However, they were separated a year later and Ernest learned Hetty had died in Auschwitz. He eventually spent most of the war in a Rotterdam prison, where he was the only Jewish person to survive.

His mother, who grew up in Amsterdam, was separated from her parents, who died in a concentration camp, and raised by one of her teachers before finding her way to the United States.

"By telling this story," Cassuto said, "I want them to leave with the message to be accepting."
- The irony of oil marketer, Total Kenya, running an environment campaign yet allowing advertising companies to cut down trees for its billboards to be seen is exposed

- State official demands action from the county government of Nairobi

A government officer has put oil marketer, Total Kenya, in the spotlight after highlighting how trees in Nairobi are brought down to erect adverts for the company.

Chairman of the Kenya Water Towers Agency Isaac Kalua on Monday March 14, 2016 told Total Kenya to apologise to Kenyans, as well as the advertising firm, adsite, for cutting trees to erect the adverts.

He said it was ironical for Total Kenya, that on the one hand, they were ambassadors of planting more trees in Kenya yet on the other hand, they allowed trees to be brought down for the sake of their adverts.

READ ALSO: Abuse of public office as State car causes accident, impounded with chang'aa

See photos below of the adverts:

Oil marketer, Total Kenya, is in the spotlight after pictures of trees cut down to make way for the company's adverts go online. Photo | Isaac Kalua

Oil marketer, Total Kenya, is in the spotlight after pictures of trees cut down to make way for the company's adverts go online. Photo | Isaac Kalua

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Source: TUKO.co.ke
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia is deeply concerned over the arrest of two Australian journalists in Malaysia after they attempted to question Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over corruption allegations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday. The journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) flagship investigative journalism programme, Four Corners, were arrested in the Borneo state of Sarawak on Saturday night after approaching Najib outside a mosque. Malaysian police said in a statement the pair had been arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross a security line. They were released on bail on Sunday and charged with "obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his public functions". Bishop told ABC radio Australia was "deeply concerned". "We are providing consular support to the ABC crew and certainly raising this issue at the appropriate level with the Malaysian government," she said. Najib has faced sustained pressure to resign since the middle of last year over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and deposits into his private accounts worth around $680 million. He has denied any wrongdoing and maintains he did not use the funds for personal gain. Malaysia's attorney-general closed all investigations into Najib last month, after reviewing reports from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has also cracked down on media organisations that have published critical reports on the 1MDB scandal. Last month, it blocked the widely read news portal The Malaysian Insider, prompting the United States to voice concern. Sally Neighbour, the programme's executive producer, wrote on Twitter that the journalists had been in Malaysia reporting on the corruption scandal and denied any allegations of wrongdoing on their behalf. "Our journalists were doing what journalists do in countries with a free press," she wrote. Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu have had their passports returned, Neighbour said, but have been barred from leaving the country. Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad cranked up pressure on Najib to quit earlier this month, marking a seismic political shift by joining hands with long-standing foes, including the party of the jailed Anwar Ibrahim. (Additional reporting by Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur)
(Reuters) - New Zealand beat South Africa 19-14 to capture the inaugural Canada Sevens in Vancouver on Sunday and close the gap on Fiji at the top of the World Series standings after their third win of the campaign. Sam Dickson, Kurt Baker and Lewis Ormond all scored tries as the All Blacks put behind the disappointment of last week's quarter-final defeat by the same opponents in Las Vegas to claim the first Sevens Series event played under a closed roof. "We struggled last week in Vegas with the new team, getting our combinations together but this week we really wanted to go better and I am just so pleased we won the final because it has been a hard week," New Zealand captain Tim Mikkelson said. "We let ourselves down last week and dropped down the table and we really wanted to finish strong in this tournament. It's amazing to win this in this amazing venue in Canada, it's just been awesome." Reigning Sevens Series champions Fiji, who finished fourth in Vancouver after losing to South Africa in the semi-finals and Australia in the third place playoff, lead the standings on 106 points with four rounds remaining. South Africa, known as the "blitzbokke", are second on 105 points after collecting 19 for their efforts at BC Place, where 60,418 fans attended over the two days. The All Blacks, who have won 12 of the 16 editions of the Sevens Series, collected their third 22 point haul after wins in Wellington and Sydney to move on to 104, with Australia in a distant fourth on 90. Samoa, beaten by New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals, went on to win the second tier Plate competition with a 31-19 win over the United States, who are fifth in the standings. Home fans were given something to cheer with Canada beating France to take the Bowl, while Russia grabbed the Shield after edging Portugal. The Sevens Series now heads to Asia with Hong Kong hosting the seventh leg on April 8-10 before Singapore makes its debut a week later. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles. Editing by Patrick Johnston)
By Tarek Amara and Patrick Markey TUNIS/ALGIERS (Reuters) - The signal to attack came from the mosque, sending dozens of Islamist fighters storming through the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdan to hit army and police posts in street battles that lit the dawn sky with tracer bullets. Militants used a megaphone to chant "God is Great," and reassure residents they were Islamic State, there to save the town near the Libyan border from the "tyrant" army. Most were Tunisians themselves, with local accents, and even some familiar faces, officials and witnesses to Monday's attack said. Hours later, 36 militants were dead, along with 12 soldiers and seven civilians, in an assault authorities described as an attempt by Islamic State to carve out terrain in Tunisia. Whether Islamic State aimed to hold territory as they have in Iraq, Syria and Libya, or intended only to dent Tunisia's already battered security, is unclear and the group has yet to officially claim the attack. But as fuller details of the Ben Guerdan fighting emerge, the incident highlights the risk Tunisia faces from home-grown jihadists drawn to Iraq, Syria and Libya, and who have threatened to bring their war back home. Despite Tunisian forces' preparations to confront returning fighters, and their defeat of militants in Ben Guerdan, Monday's assault shows how the country is vulnerable to violence spilling over from Libya as Islamic State expands there. Authorities are still investigating the Ben Guerdan attack. But most of the militants appear to have been already in the town, with a few brought in from Libya. Arms caches were deposited around the city before the assault. "Most of them were from Ben Guerdan, we know their faces. They knew where to find the house of the counter-terrorist police chief," one witness, Sabri Ben Saleh, told Reuters. "They were driving round in a car filled with weapons, my neighbours said they knew some of them." Troops have killed 14 more militants around Ben Guerdan since Monday. Others have been arrested and more weapons seized. ISLAMIC STATE Officials say they are still determining if the militants had been in Libya before or had returned from fighting with Islamic State overseas. But that such a large number of militants and arms were in Tunisia is no surprise. After its revolt in 2011 to topple Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has struggled with growing Islamic militancy. More than 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to government estimates. Tunisian security sources say many are with Islamic State in Libya. Gunmen trained in Libya were blamed for attacks on tourists at the Bardo Museum in Tunis a year ago and at a beach hotel in Sousse in June. Tunisians also play a major role in Islamic State in Libya where they run training camps, according to Tunisian security sources. But the scale of Monday's attack was unprecedented. The militants were well-organised, handing out weapons to their fighters from a vehicle moving through the city, with knowledge of the town and its military barracks. "We came across a group of terrorists with their Kalashnikovs, and they told us: 'Don't worry we are not here to target you. We are the Islamic State and we are here for the tyrants in the army,'" said Hassein Taba, a local resident. The attack tests Tunisia at a difficult time. After Islamic State violence last year, the tourism industry that represents 7 percent of the economy is struggling to tempt visitors to return. With its new constitution, free elections and secular history, Tunisia is a target for jihadists looking to upset a young democracy just five years after the overthrow of dictator Ben Ali. "The battle of Ben Guerdane in Tunisia, 20 miles from the Libyan border ... is proof enough that the Islamic State has cells far and wide," said Geoff Porter, at North Africa Risk Consulting. "But what these cells can reliably do ... and how they are directed by Islamic State leadership in Sirte, let alone in Iraq and Syria, is not known." AIR STRIKES Islamic State has grown in Libya over the past year and half, coopting local fighters, battling with rivals and taking over the town of Sirte, now its main base. That has worried Tunisian authorities, who have built a border trench and tightened controls along nearly 200-km (125 miles) of the frontier with Libya. Western military experts are training Tunisians to protect a porous border where smuggling has been a long tradition. Ben Guerdan is well-known as a smuggling town. "There are still some blind spots in intelligence, but they are advancing with the cooperation of neighbouring countries and with the West," said Ali Zarmdini, a Tunisian military analyst. But Tunisia's North African neighbours worry about the spill over impact of any further Western air strikes and military action against Islamic State in Libya. After a U.S. air strike killed 40 mostly Tunisian militants in the Libyan town of Sabratha last month, Tunisian forces went on alert for any cross-border incursions. Just days before the Ben Guerdan attack, Tunisian troops killed five militants who tried to cross from Libya. But the fact that even after that setback, militants mustered a force of 50 fighters to strike the town shows the group's ability to keep testing the Tunisian military. (Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's government on Saturday ruled out any discussion of the fate of the presidency at peace talks this week, just as the lead opposition negotiator said a political transition could not even start unless Bashar al-Assad was no longer president. The statements reflected the huge challenges facing diplomats as they prepare for talks to resume in Geneva on Monday, trying to build on a ceasefire deal that has reduced violence sharply since Feb. 27. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem confirmed his government's participation but said the talks would fail if the opposition had "delusions that they will take power in Geneva that they failed to take in battle". He also heaped criticism on U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura for already presenting an agenda for the talks and for saying that a presidential election would take place in 18 months. "The government delegation will reject any attempt to put this on the agenda," Moualem told a televised news conference. "We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency ... I advise them that if this is their thinking, they shouldn't come to the talks." Within hours, opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush, already in Geneva, had described Moualem's comments as worthless. "We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al-Assad or his death," he told reporters. "There's no possibility to start this period with the presence of this regime or the head of this regime in the power." Another negotiator, Monzer Makhous, said Moualem was "putting the nails in the coffin of Geneva". The talks will coincide with next week's fifth anniversary of a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, and allowed for the expansion of the Islamic State militant group. They are part of the first diplomatic push since the Russian air force intervened in September to support Assad, tilting the war his way and helping Damascus reclaim significant areas in the west. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and Russia, has been more widely respected than many expected, though fighting has continued on some important fronts, including near the Turkish border. TRANSITIONAL BODY Alloush's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has praised the agenda outlined by de Mistura focussed on governance, a new constitution and elections. The HNC wants to focus on a transitional governing body with full executive powers as outlined in a 2012 Geneva communique in an early bid to end the conflict. A U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December called for the establishment of "credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance", a new constitution, and free and fair elections within 18 months. Moualem indicated that a "national unity government" with opposition participation was the most on offer, an idea ruled out by the HNC. He said the government delegation would be willing to discuss de Mistura's agenda and would travel to Geneva on Sunday, but would return to Damascus within 24 hours if the other side did not show up. As far as the government was concerned, "political transition" meant a transition from the existing constitution to a new one, and from the existing government to a new one with participation from the other side, he added. KURDS The diplomacy has been complicated by disputes over who should be invited to negotiate with the government. The Kurdish PYD party, which holds sway over wide areas of northern Syria, has so far been excluded from the talks in line with the wishes of Turkey - which sees the PYD as an extension of the PKK rebels fighting for Kurdish autonomy inside its territory. Moualem said the Syrian army and the Kurds were in "one trench" fighting Islamic State, apparently in reference to the YPG militia, the PYD's armed wing, which has been battling the jihadist group in northern Syria with support from U.S.-led air strikes. But Moualem ruled out the idea of federalism, one of the ideas backed by the PYD and mentioned by a Russian minister as a possible model for Syria. The Russian Defence Ministry said it had registered 10 ceasefire violations in the previous 24 hours, but the truce was largely being respected. Rebels did, however, shoot down a Syrian government warplane over western Syria on Saturday, rebels and a military source said, although there were conflicting accounts on whether it had been brought down by a missile or anti-aircraft guns. Rebels have previously shot down Syrian warplanes with anti-aircraft guns. They have asked foreign backers to supply them with anti-aircraft missiles but say they have not received any, reflecting fears that they could fall into the hands of Islamic State. (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Marina Depetris, Firas Makdesi, Yara Abi Nader and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Tom Perry and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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Turkeys president has pledged that terrorism will be brought to its knees following a car bomb attack in Ankara which killed at least 34 people.

Following the deadly explosion - the third terror attack in the capital in just five months - Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success.

Initial indications suggest that Kurdish militants were behind the suicide bombing, which also left 125 wounded - 19 of them seriously.

Officials also believe that one of the bombers was a woman.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: We have concrete information on the terrorist group behind the attack. We will soon have results from the inquiry, and will make them public.

The blast happened in Kizilay, a major shopping and transport hub in an area close to the prime ministers office, as well as foreign embassies and the Turkish parliament.

A car, packed with explosives, blew up close to a bus - causing several other vehicles to catch fire and the windows of shops in the bustling square to shatter.

World leaders, including David Cameron, have condemned the bombing - with Russian President Vladimir Putin branding the incident as inhuman, and the US describing it as a horrific act.

Turkeys pro-Kurdish party The Peoples Democratic Party, often accused of being a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, said it shares the huge pain felt along with our citizens.

Australias ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was in a car just 20m (65ft) away from where the bomb was detonated.

It was an appalling thing for him to witness, being so close, but hes fine, Australian Foreign Minister Julia Bishop said.

It really does bring it home to us that a terrorist attack can take place at any time, anywhere. We utterly condemn these barbaric attacks on civilian populations, she told the Nine Network.

Dogan Asik, 28, was on a bus when the explosion happened at about 6.45pm local time on Sunday - and described being thrown to the back of the bus from the force of the blast.

A court in Ankara ordered a ban on access to Facebook, Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the blast scene were shared on social media.
The Independent

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Tory 1922 Committee, was vague about whether one or two candidates would be likely to run for the Conservative Party leadership. He told reporters: The party rules say there will be two candidates unless there is only one candidate.Asked what happens if one candidate drops out, Sir Graham said: If there is only one candidate, there is only one candidate.Pressed on whose idea it was to truncate the process into one week, he said: I think its a matter on which there is a pretty broad consensus.Sir Graham also said: It certainly is not the circumstances I would wish to see.Source: PA
At least 14 civilians and two soldiers have been killed in an attack by gunmen at an Ivory Coast beach resort popular with tourists, according to the country's president.

Witnesses described panic as the attackers sprayed bullets across the beach and opened fire with rifles as they entered the L'Etoile du Sud (Southern Star) hotel in Grand-Bassam, which is around 25 miles east of the capital Abidjan.

The hotel was one of three targeted, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

The raiders were "heavily armed and wearing balaclavas" and they "fired at guests", a witness told AFP news agency, adding that the large hotel had been "full of expats in the current heatwave".

One of the dead was French, it has been confirmed, while a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said they were "urgently" trying to establish whether any Britons had been among the victims.

Witness Luc Gnago told Sky News he had seen six bodies on the beach - one of which he thought was "an assailant" - and one in the hotel, which he described as "a white man".

Another witness, Marcel Guy, told the Associated Press he saw at least four gunmen toting Kalashnikov rifles and hunting for victims on the beach. He said one approached two children, and spoke in Arabic.

One child knelt and prayed, but the other was shot dead.

"The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes," Mr Guy said.

Residents told of hearing the gunfire and venturing from their houses, before realising what was happening and returning to hide.

A dozen ambulances headed to the scene, joined by military vehicles with heavy machine guns and armed traditional hunters known as Dozo.

A witness told French broadcaster BFMTV he saw "the body of a European woman" and that "two or three" masked attackers were involved.

The country's Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said six terrorists had been "neutralised" and a jihad monitoring group later reported al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Story continues

Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the attack was part of a "bloody pattern" and is similar to that seen last year in Tunisia, which killed 38 people, including 30 Britons.

Over the past few months, attacks have been launched on luxury hotels in the capitals of Ivory Coast's neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, leaving dozens of people dead and West African nations re-assessing security in the face of the growing threat from jihadis.

Kiley said terror groups were "biting back" in an effort to "de-stabilise" the West African nations fighting terrorism.

Grand-Bassam is home to around 80,000 people and has UNESCO World Heritage status due to the architecture from its French colonial past.
By Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - A car bomb tore through a crowded transport hub in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125 in the second such attack in the administrative heart of the city in under a month. The blast, which could be heard several kilometres away, sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred metres (yards) from the Justice and Interior Ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister. "These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement. Two senior security officials told Reuters the first findings suggested that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, or an affiliated group, was responsible. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the name of the group behind the attack would likely be announced on Monday after initial investigations were completed. "Tonight, civilian citizens waiting at a bus stop were targeted in a terrorist attack with a bomb-laden car," Ala told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the head of the intelligence agency and security chiefs. "Significant findings have been made, but the organisation behind this will be announced once the investigation has been finalised," he said. NATO member Turkey faces multiple security threats. As part of a U.S.-led coalition, it is fighting Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. It is also battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s. The bombing came two days after the U.S. Embassy issued a warning that there was information regarding a potential attack on government buildings in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara, just a few km (miles) away from the blast site. The United States condemned the attack, saying in a White House National Security Council statement: "This horrific act is only the most recent of many terrorist attacks perpetrated against the Turkish people. The United States stands together with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued partner, as we confront the scourge of terrorism." Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 30 of those killed had died at the scene, while the four others died in hospital. At least one or two of the dead were attackers, he said, and 19 of the 125 wounded were in critical condition. PELLETS AND NAILS One of the security officials said the car used in the attack was a BMW driven from Viransehir, a town in the largely Kurdish southeast, and that the PKK and the affiliated Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) appeared to be responsible. TAK claimed responsibility for the previous car bombing, just a few blocks away, on Feb. 17. That attack targeted a military bus as it waited at traffic lights, and killed 29 people, most of them soldiers, near the military headquarters, parliament and other key government institutions. A police source said there appeared to have been two attackers, one a man and the other a woman, whose severed hand was found 300 metres from the blast site. The explosives were the same kind as those used on Feb. 17 and the bomb had been reinforced with pellets and nails to cause maximum damage, the source told Reuters. The pro-Kurdish opposition HDP, parliament's third largest party, which Erdogan accuses of being an extension of the PKK, condemned what it described as a "savage attack". State broadcaster TRT said the car had exploded at a major transport hub, hitting a bus carrying some 20 people near the central Guven Park and Kizilay Square at 6:43 p.m. (1643 GMT). An Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook , Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the bombing were shared on social media, broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV reported. SECURITY THREATS World leaders joined in condemning the bombing. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "appalled," while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described it as a "cowardly attack". Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as "inhuman," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies. "There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence. All NATO allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the countrys ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was in a car at an intersection 20 metres from where the bomb was detonated. It really does bring it home to us that a terrorist attack can take place at any time, anywhere, Bishop told Nine Network television while on a diplomatic trip to Fiji. We utterly condemn these barbaric attacks on civilian populations. It was an appalling thing for him to witness, being so close, but hes fine, she added of the ambassador. Turkey sees the unrest in its largely Kurdish southeast as deeply linked to events in northern Syria, where the Kurdish YPG militia has been seizing territory as it fights both Islamic State and rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. Ankara fears those gains will stoke separatist ambitions among its own Kurds and has long argued that the YPG and PKK have close ideological and operational ties. In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces and says that it does not target civilians. A direct claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing would indicate a major tactical shift. Islamic State militants have been blamed for at least four bomb attacks on Turkey since June 2015, including a suicide bombing that killed 10 German tourists in the historic heart of Istanbul in January. Local jihadist groups and leftist radicals have also staged attacks in Turkey in the past. (Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul, Gulsen Solaker in Ankara, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Peter Cooney in Washington and Jane Wardell in SydneyAustralia; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Dolan, Larry King, Jonathan Oatis and Alan Crosby)
A Russian rocket has lifted off from Kazakhstan in a new mission to find life on Mars.

ExoMars is a joint project between the European and Russian space agencies.

The rocket will launch two unmanned probes which will travel across space for seven months.

The Trace Gas Orbiter will hunt for methane gas in the Martian atmosphere and show if it was generated by geology or biological processes.

Methane is a gas largely produced by living organisms and could prove some form of life exists on the planet.

The second probe, Schiaparelli, is a trial lander which will test technology ahead of the later mission.

ExoMars 2018 will send another rover built in the UK to drill below the planet's surface to look for signs of life.

The two missions will cost over 900m, but if traces of life are found this could be one of the biggest discoveries of all time.

Planetary scientist Dr Peter Grindrod, from Birkbeck, University of London, who is funded by the UK Space Agency, said: "It's incredibly exciting.

"This is a series of missions that's trying to address one of the fundamental questions in science: is there life anywhere else besides the Earth?

"Finding that life exists elsewhere in the solar system would be a huge discovery, so the evidence has to be strong.

"As they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Sunday denied that it conducted cyber attacks against officials from rival South Korea, calling the South's accusation that it did so a "fabrication". South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Friday that North Korea had recently stepped up cyber attack efforts against the South and succeeded in hacking the mobile phones of 40 national security officials, according to members of parliament who received a closed-door briefing. "The South is claiming the North's cyber attack and using it for its own political purpose," an opinion piece in the Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the North's ruling party, said on Sunday. It accused the South of making the cyber attack claim in order to justify a controversial new "anti-terrorism" law. "There is nothing to expect but the sound of eating corpses from a crow's mouth. However, we cannot just overlook the South's abrupt, provocative, and heinous accusations against its neighbour, the article said. Earlier in the week, South Korea's National Intelligence Service also said North Korea had tried to hack into email accounts of South Korean railway workers in an attempt to attack the transport system's control system, although it said had interrupted the hacking attempt against the railway workers and closed off their email accounts. South Korea has been on heightened alert against the threat of cyber attacks by North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch last month, triggering new U.N. sanctions. Tensions are also heightened on the Korean peninsula as South Korea and the United States conduct annual joint military exercises that the South says are the largest ever and on Sunday included the arrival in South Korea of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USSR John C Steins. North Korea has denounced the exercises as "nuclear war moves" and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive. The North denied South Korea's previous accusation that it conducted cyber attacks against the South's nuclear operator. The United States accused North Korea of a cyber attack against Sony Pictures in 2014 that led to the studio cancelling the release of a comedy based on the fictional assassination of the country's leader, Kim Jon Un. North Korea denied the accusation. (Reporting by Tony Munroe and Hooyeon Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)
By Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama promised one of Cuba's most prominent dissident groups he would raise the issues of freedom of speech and assembly with Cuban President Raul Castro during his March 20-22 visit to the Caribbean island. In a letter dated March 10, Obama praised the work of the Ladies in White, which marches weekly to protest Cuba's Communist government, and defended his policy of seeking to normalize relations with Cuba as good for its people. U.S. support for the dissidents is a source of tension ahead of Obama's visit, the first by a U.S. president since Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew a pro-American government in 1959. After more than half a century of Cold War-inspired animosity, the two sides promised 15 months ago to normalize relations. The Ladies in White criticized Obama's policy change, saying the Cuban government continues to suppress dissent by breaking up anti-government demonstrations while maintaining a monopoly on the media. They say Cuba has cracked down more ferociously since rapprochement. "We take seriously the concerns you have raised," said Obama's letter, which group leader Berta Soler read to about two dozen Ladies in White and other supporters gathered in a Havana park. "I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," said Obama, who called the Ladies "an inspiration to human rights movements around the world." A senior U.S. official in Washington confirmed that an Obama aide delivered the letter to the Ladies in White in Miami. As in marches for the most of the last year, a demonstration on Sunday ended with police detaining the protesters after they were met by a larger group of pro-government counterdemonstrators. Police detained about two dozen people, at which point the streets filled with conga dancers and drummers who led hundreds of government supporters in their own rally. The weekly demonstrations and detentions are normal, but the conga line was an additional flourish a week before Obama's visit. Soler welcomed Obama's letter but still disagreed with him for enacting unilateral changes without any reciprocal moves by Cuba. "The response of this letter is positive for us, and we greatly appreciated it," Soler said minutes before she was detained. The Cuban government dismisses the dissidents as mercenaries seeking to destabilize the country. Cuba also defends its universal healthcare and education as human rights and criticizes the U.S. record on race relations and the Guantanamo Bay military prison. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf CAIRO/ADEN (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Yemen's president have broken a siege by the Iranian-allied Houthis around the strategic Yemeni city of Taiz, local fighters and residents said on Saturday, as the United States raised the possibility of a Syrian-style truce in Yemen. At least 48 people were killed in heavy clashes in Yemen's third biggest city, medics and local fighters said, and at least 120 were wounded. Witnesses said there were bodies scattered in the streets. Supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, have been trying for months to lift the siege of the southwestern city and open up supply routes. The coalition has been trying for a year to roll back gains by the Houthi militia and restore Hadi, who is currently in Saudi Arabia. The war has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced millions. The reported capture of the western entrance to Taiz, nearly half of whose 250,000 residents had been trapped since May, was hailed by the pro-Hadi Sabanew news agency as a major breakthrough. It said Hadi had telephoned the local military commander to congratulate him. The rival Houthi-run news agency, Sabanews, acknowledged heavy fighting in Taiz but said fighters from the group had killed 27 fighters loyal to Hadi. Yemeni Vice President Khaled Bahah, who is also the prime minister, told a news conference in the southern port city of Aden that the Yemeni government was preparing an aid convoy to Taiz to leave soon, but gave no further details. Bahah also said the government had prepared 1,000 men to impose security in Taiz immediately to avoid a repetition of the lawlessness that had gripped Aden after pro-Hadi forces captured the city from the Houthis in July last year. The United Nations has accused the Houthis of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian supplies to civilians in Taiz, saying residents had been living under "virtual siege". The Houthis and troops loyal to their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, remain entrenched in much of the northern half of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Islamist militants have exploited the chaos to widen their influence. POSSIBILITY OF CEASEFIRE U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at Hafr al-Batin in northern Saudi Arabia, said they discussed the possibility of a ceasefire in Yemen similar to the arrangement that has been implemented in Syria. "We both agree that it would be desirable to see if we can find a similar approach, as we did in Syria, to try to get a ceasefire," Kerry said, referring to the truce that has largely held for two weeks in Syria. Jubeir said Saudi Arabia believed a political settlement that would ensure the Houthis abided by common understandings reached before the Houthi capture of Sanaa would pave the way to a solution. "We reiterated to the secretary of state our commitment as expressed by the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) heads of state to embark on a long-term reconstruction and development plan for Yemen once the hostilities have ended," Jubeir said. A delegation from the Houthis is currently in Saudi Arabia for talks on facilitating humanitarian aid to Yemen. The visit, which Yemeni officials say may be a precursor to resuming U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland after two unfruitful rounds last year, came after Saudi Arabia and the Houthis exchanged prisoners last week. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Cairo and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
By Tatiana Jancarikova BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak centrist party Siet (Net) will negotiate with leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico on forming a government, it said on Sunday, reversing its earlier position and increasing Fico's chances of retaining power. Siet's decision together with a similar turnaround by another opposition party could help overcome a post-election stalemate and give Fico a parliamentary majority. Fico, 51, campaigned against allowing in any large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and beyond, and has sued the EU over a decision to relocate hundreds of asylum-seekers to Slovakia. His centre-left Smer, which ruled in 2006-2010 and again since 2012, won the most votes at last weekend's inconclusive election but lost its parliamentary majority. Initially, other parties' stances had given him slim chances of forming a government by a March 18 deadline given by President Andrej Kiska. Slovakia, a euro zone country, holds the European Union's rotating presidency in the second half of the year, which will give it a larger voice in formulating the EU agenda including migration and the aftermath of Britain's vote on whether to leave the EU. Siet and the Most-Hid party changed their mind after the Slovak National Party (SNS) decided to negotiate only with Fico, burying the chances of a centre-right majority that would have included the libertarian Freedom and Solidarity party. "We need to negotiate with Smer, SNS and Most-Hid to find the best scenario for Slovakia," Siet deputy leader Andrej Hrnciar told journalists. Leaders of Smer, SNS, Most-Hid and Siet were expected to meet on Monday to discuss policy priorities for a cabinet that would have 85 votes in the 150-seat parliament. OLD VS NEW PARTIES Fico's Smer party lost 34 of its current 83 seats in the election as voters responded to opposition campaigning against corruption and shortcomings in healthcare and education, while taking the same line on immigration. Part of the anti-immigrant vote went to the People's Party-Our Slovakia, which others see as neo-Nazi and refuse to deal with. Allegations of graft and cronyism linked to most traditional parties also spurred surprising gains by two other centre-right protest movements -- 'Common People', and 'We Are Family', formed by businessman Boris Kollar who ran under the slogan "You can trust me, I'm not a politician." Those movements would have to be part of any centre-right government. The Slovak National Party dismissed them as untested and unreliable as partners. (Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
By Mohammed Mukhashaf ADEN (Reuters) - Two pilots died when a United Arab Emirates Mirage plane crashed in Yemen on Monday due to a technical fault while conducting military operations for the Saudi-led alliance, the coalition said in a statement carried by Saudi state media. Local Yemeni officials said the plane was flying low when it crashed into a mountain after it conducted bombing raids in Buraiqa district in northwestern Aden where Islamist militants are based. Hani al-Yazidi, director of the Buraiqa district in Aden, said authorities had found the plane's wreckage after it had crashed into a mountain. Another local official, who declined to be identified, said rescue teams had found the body of one of the pilots and were searching for the second. Pictures taken by a Reuters photographer showed local fighters holding pieces of wreckage believed to be part of the plane. Another photograph showed rescue personnel loading what appeared to be the body of one of the pilots into a truck. The UAE armed forces had earlier said in a brief statement that the jet taking part in the fighting was "lost". The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, has embarked on a campaign against Islamist militants based in northern Aden whom it accuses of being behind armed attacks and suicide bombings that have killed scores of people since last year. Helicopters from the Saudi-led coalition have taken part in the military operations which were concentrated in al-Mansoura district, east of Buraiqa, where at least 18 people had died in overnight fighting on Sunday. Residents reported more helicopter overnight strikes on Monday that lasted until the morning. Yemeni forces later entered a block where the militants had been holed up without resistance and seized the local council building which had been controlled by the fighters. The militants had apparently fled before the troops went in. The coalition entered Yemen's civil war in March last year to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-allied Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted him from power. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition. At least two jets from the alliance have crashed since the start of the campaign. In May 2015 a Moroccan F-16 warplane crashed while on a mission with the alliance in Yemen, and the Houthi militia said tribesmen had shot down the aircraft. In December a Bahraini F-16 jet from the coalition crashed in Yemen's neighbour, Saudi Arabia, after a technical fault. (Additional reporting by Noah Browning, Writing by Sylvia Westall and Sami Aboudi,; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Ruth Pitchford)
8:51 AM

The government has allocated a total of Sh billion 811 to every village in Tanzania
KKR has agreed to buy into seeds provider Advanta Enterprises in a deal which values the business at about $2.25bn.
US tech giant Intel is said to be mulling over a partial sale of its venture capital business, exploring options to off
Two Hellfire Missiles Discovered In Shipment Heading To Portland

Trending News: Two Hellfire Missiles Were Found In Cargo Destined For Portland

Why Is This Important?

Because high-tech anti-tank missiles arent usually what turns up at an airport lost and found.

Long Story Short

Bomb-sniffing dogs at Belgrades Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia detected two Hellfire missiles, shipped from Beirut, about to be loaded on to a passenger flight destined for Portland, Oregon.

Long Story

The missiles arrived in Belgrade Saturday aboard an Air Serbia flight from Lebanon, where they were apparently used for training purposes. They were discovered by sniffer dogs before they were loaded on to a passenger plane headed for the US West Coast.

It still isnt clear if they were armed with live or dummy warheads, but a Lebanese security source in Beirut told a reporter that, the Lebanese and U.S. authorities were aware of the shipment and the missiles posed no threat to the public.

Serbian authorities and Air Serbia are investigating the incident. Portland FBI are also looking into it.

The State Department announced last June a possible sale of 1,000 Hellfire II missiles to Lebanon, which the Huffington Post says is a good indication that the sale is imminent.

In January, the State Department approved the possible $800-million sale of 5,000 Hellfire missiles to the government of Iraq, to use in their fight against Islamic State.

But despite their lethality, the odd Hellfire will go astray. Last month, Cuba returned an inert Hellfire to the US after it had been inadvertently shipped there following a 2014 NATO training exercise in Europe.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Who thinks that storing and shipping a high-explosive missile aboard a civilian passenger plane wouldnt be any kind of a problem?

Disrupt Your Feed: At least one US security expert said the missiles had absolutely no business being on board a passenger plane, and that they were probably stolen.

Drop This Fact: Originally developed as a tank-buster, the Hellfire II has become a mainstay in over two dozen military forces. It can be launched from multiple platforms including helicopter, drone and naval vessel.
Officials for Port Everglades said they believe that today, Sunday, March 13, 2016, marks the second time this cruise season that the port broke its own world record with a preliminary count of more than 54,700 cruise guests sailing in and out in a single day.

The last record was set just three months earlier on December 20, 2015, when 53,485 passengers sailed in and out of the South Florida cruise port in a single day. In addition, these record days did not include passengers aboard Balearia's Bahamas Express ferry, which departed for a day trip to the Bahamas with almost 400 passengers.

The Port hosted eight cruise ships today including the Carnival Conquest, the Celebrity Silhouette, the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam, the Regal Princess and Royal Princess, and the Allure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas. These are the same cruise ships that called at Port Everglades for the December 20, 2015 record, but because of varying spring break vacations in March the ships came in and left full of families.
In his statement of economic interests upon leaving office as library board chair, Capitola City Council Member Mike Termini failed to disclose the true percentage of his ownership interest in Triad Electric, Inc., a local electrical contractor. He also failed to disclose $17,000 worth of business Triad Electric did last September for NHS Inc., a local skateboard manufacturer. That's roughly equal to two years worth of rent that Santa Cruz Council Member Micah Posner omitted on his disclosure forms.Termini's Form 700, dated January 12, can be accessed via the Library website, and is and signed under penalty of perjury. It includes Schedule A-1, for ownership interests of less than 10%, which says his stock in Triad Electric is worth over $1 million. Had he included Schedule A-2, for ownership interests of 10% or more, there'd be a place on the form to disclose individual sources of income of $10,000 or more per year, such as NHS.On the exact same day, California's Fair Political Practices Commission issued an advice letter to Heather Lenhardt, Termini's lawyer. Capitola is paying for Termini's legal representation (as if this millionaire couldn't afford it). Based on information she provided, the FPPC concluded that Termini really owns 100% of Triad Electric, which in fact did $17,000 worth of business with NHS.
As Trump Approaches the White House monkerud [at] cruzio.com) by Don Monkerud

Satire about Trump's choices for a White House Cabinet.

Now that the prospect of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States seems like a possibility, he is contemplating nominations for his Cabinet. Trump today released at least a partial list of expected appointments.



As a reward for supporting Trump against the GOP Blue Beard Billionaires, Sarah Palin wins Secretary of State. Palins soaring credentials on foreign relations places her far ahead of other GOP contenders. An expert on Russia, which she saw from her backdoor in Alaska, Palin will charm foreign diplomats to raise trade barriers and isolate the U.S. from a world refugee crisis. Her first diplomatic call will be to Russias Putin, a known admirer of Mr. Trump.



Expect Trump to appoint rival Ted Cruz as Secretary of War. GOP hawks applaud Cruz for the most machismo performance in the GOP debates. Cruz will immediately develop plans to bomb Iraq, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, and Egypt. Trump supporters are also demanding a confrontation with Mexico over paying for a wall to separate the two countries. Mexico adamantly opposes such a payment, but Cruz will up the ante by demanding that Mexico pay for half the cost of the U.S. military to protect Mexico from North Korea.



Ben Carson faces little opposition in becoming the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Carsons credentials are based on his belief in the infallibility of the Bible. He plans a public health campaign against eating shellfish, as commanded in Leviticus. New public bathroom laws will protect the public against gayness, which Carson sees as a contagious disease. Additional public health programs include prayer in public school, eliminating birth control, and a mental health provision for the promotion of Christian speech to replace the political correctness of liberals.



Chris Christie, whose experience gives him unique insights into lane control and other intricacies of traffic, will be awarded Secretary of Transportation. Christie plans a national program to coordinate traffic flow. Close cooperation with oil companies and auto makers will enable the elimination of speed limits, stop light tickets, gasoline taxes, and other oppressive government regulations.



Scott Walker, who has a special relationship with workers, will become Secretary of Labor. Walker will not only reverse Obamas wage increase for Federal Workers, but also work to eliminate all national and state minimum wage laws. Eliminating anti-corruption laws for Federal and State employees will speed up lengthy waiting lines for businesses paying bribes and eliminating the Civil Service will enable the privatization of public services, including the FBI, the CIA and all local and state police agencies.



David Dukes insights in race relations will be brought to bear in a new Department of Justice. A life-long supporter of slavery, Jim Crow laws and hard-nosed police tactics, Duke promises to give the police a free hand in maintaining public order. Equality has gone too far, Duke said recently. We need to go back to the Constitution and reinstate the three-fifths provision for voting. This system worked for over 100 years without any problems. Our constituents yearn for a return to those good old days.



In a surprise move, Trump will nominate Tom Vilsack, currently head of the Department of Agriculture, to follow himself. A strong supporter of genetic experimentation with the worlds food supply and a promoter of billionaire farmers, Vilsack promises to assist Monsanto in developing new food sources. They include combining mastodon and cow genes to produce more meat, crossing watermelons with potatoes to boost French fry production, and legalizing new untested chemicals to enhance Americans dinner plate.



Former Fox TV commentator Mike Huckabee will lead the Department of Education. He strongly supports teaching Christianity in public schools and replacing science text books with the Bible. He promises to dismantle central control and return education to the home, where it belongs. Education funding will shift to churches, the home and private schools, before he abolishes the Department of Education.



Trump has not settled on other cabinet positions but rumors are flying as fast as a pinball through the Twilight Zone: Bernie Madoff may receive a presidential pardon to become head of Treasury; Dick Cheney may come out of retirement to head Homeland Security; and Trumps daughter, Ivanka, is rumored to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development.



At this time, Trump is considering taking over the responsibilities of other Cabinet posts himself, as he has little need for other opinions.


Rigged Election In SEIU 1021 By Global Election Services? Members Demand New Election by Labor Video Project

Members in California SEIU Local 1021 with over 50,000 members charged that the 2016 election was rigged and that there should be a new election. The company that run it Global Election Services and one of the owners John Scott Matthews had computers that broke down and software that did not work. They also were unable to give accurate information about where the votes came from even days after the election. The members also charged that Roxanne Sanchez who is the president and an international executive board member of the SEIU International kept the election a secret and many members did not get their ballots. Only 3500 people voted out of the 48,000 ballots sent out.
The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual, said outgoing Executive Director Donald McIsaac in a PFMC news release. In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the Councils policy calls for a low de minimis catch in ocean fisheries.



Photo of Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) adopting the West Coast salmon regulations at their meeting in Sacramento on Sunday, March 13. Photo by Dan Bacher.

Fishery Council Adopts Ocean Salmon Options for 2016 Seasonby Dan BacherThe Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), the federal body that oversees the management of ocean fisheries on the West, yesterday adopted three public review alternatives for the 2016 West Coast salmon season at their meeting in Sacramento.The Council will select a final alternative at their next meeting in Vancouver, Washington on April 9-14.Commercial, recreational and tribal fisheries will see some restrictions this year due to salmon declines along the West Coast. The proposed seasons and regulations vary widely by region and type of fishery.The mix of salmon runs this year is unusual, said outgoing Executive Director Donald McIsaac in a PFMC news release. In the north, the return of fall Chinook to the Columbia River is forecast to be exceptionally high again, but expectations for wild coho runs to the Washington Coast and Puget Sound areas can only be described as disastrous. In the south, the Sacramento River fall Chinook are healthy, but Klamath River fall Chinook are so poor that the Councils policy calls for a low de minimis catch in ocean fisheries.This will be a challenging year for salmon fisheries, said Council Vice-Chair Herb Pollard. Several key stocks are less abundant than usual due to environmental conditions like the California drought and El Nino, which have affected ocean abundance for some stocks. However, there are alternatives that provide opportunities for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing coastwide,All of the options include sacrifices to be made by fishermen to preserve our salmon stocks said Marc Gorelnik, recreational fishing representative for the Salmon Advisory Subpanel of the PFMC. Once again fishermen have to pay the debt incurred by poor decisions by the water managers, particularly the way the Bureau of Reclamation operated Shasta Dam over the past two years, effectively cooking the salmon in warm water on the redds (nests) on the Sacramento.Im glad that well have the opportunity to fish for salmon this year, but Im not expecting a lot of success, said Gorelnik.The two fish populations impacting the California ocean salmon fisheries most this year are the Klamath River fall-run stocks in the north and endangered winter-run Chinooks in the south.Over 95 percent of the winter run juveniles in 2014 and 97 percent of the winter run in 2015 failed make it past Red Bluff on the Sacramento River because of lethally high water temperatures, spurred by poor management of Shasta Dam operations by the Bureau of Reclamation, fishing groups point out. Ninety-eight percent of the naturally-spawning fall run Chinook juveniles and eggs were lost over the past year.Agency scientists estimate that there are approximately 299,600 adult Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon and 142,200 Klamath River fall Chinooks in the ocean this year, based on the returns of two-year-old salmon, called jacks and jills, The salmon from these two rivers make up the majority of salmon taken in Californias ocean and inland fisheries.California ocean sport fishing alternatives provide seasons that range from fairly continuous traditional seasons to more conservative alternatives with mid-season closures or shortened seasons to protect Klamath River fall Chinook or Sacramento River winter Chinook, according to the Council.Chinook directed Klamath Management Zone alternatives (Humbug Mt., Oregon to Horse Mt., California) generally open in May and run through Labor Day (except that one alternative closes August 31), and all alternatives have closed periods to reduce impacts on Klamath River fall Chinook.The salmon season proposals adopted Sunday each include three management alternatives. For example, below are the three recreational salmon season alternatives from Point Arena to Pigeon Point (San Francisco):Alternative 1  April 2 through May 31 and June 18 through November 13 (C.6).Seven days per week. All salmon except coho, two fish per day (C.1). Chinook minimum size limit of 20 inches total length (B). See gear restrictions and definitions (C.2, C.3).Alternative 2  April 2 through May 31 and June 11 through November 13 (C.6).Seven days per week. All salmon except coho, two fish per day (C.1). Chinook minimum size limit of 24 inches total length through May 31, 20 inchesAlternative 3  April 2 through May 31 and June 18 through November 13 (C.6).Seven days per week. All salmon except coho, two fish per day (C.1). Chinook minimum size limit of 24 inches total length (B). See gear restrictions and definitions (C.2, C.3)Below are the draft salmon management measurement tables, with three alternatives for each proposed season this year.TABLE 1. Commercial troll management Alternatives adopted by the Council for non-Indian ocean salmon fisheries, 2016 for public review (draft) ( http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DRAFT_Council_adopted_Table_1_Comm_Alts.pdf TABLE 2. Recreational management Alternatives adopted by the Council for non-Indian ocean salmon fisheries, 2016 for public review (draft) ( http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DRAFT_Council_adopted_Table_2_Rec_Alts_2016.pdf TABLE 3. Treaty Indian troll management Alternatives adopted by the Council for ocean salmon fisheries, 2016 for public review (draft) ( http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DRAFT_Council_adopted_Table_3_Tribal__Alts.pdf Public hearings to receive input on the options are scheduled for March 28 in Westport, Washington and Coos Bay, Oregon; and for March 29 in Fort Bragg, California. The Council will consult with scientists, hear public comment, and revise preliminary decisions until it chooses a final option at its meeting April 9-14 in Vancouver, Washington.In a parallel process, the California Fish and Game Commission will adopt recreational salmon fishing seasons for the Sacramento and Klamath/Trinity River systems at its April meeting.Detailed information about season starting dates, areas open, and catch limits for all three alternatives are available on the Councils website at http://www.pcouncil.org or http://tinyurl.com/salmon2016
Eden Prarie, MN Endo International is closing its Astora Womens Health device unit, the company that sells the now-defunct American Medical Systems Endo International is closing its Astora Womens Health device unit, the company that sells the now-defunct American Medical Systems (AMS) transvaginal mesh implants for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Endo, which bought AMS in 2011 for $2.9 billion, said it is shutting down transvaginal mesh production due to soaring legal costs and settlement payouts awarded by juries to injured women in the United States.

By closing Astora on March 31 rather than selling it, Endo said it will be able to reduce its potential product liability related to about 46,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits claiming severe adverse events from its meshes to treat POP and vaginal slings for SUI, according to the(March 3, 2016).Coincidentally, Astora announced it was shutting down on February 29, four days after an FDA advisory panel recommended approval of Topas, a new surgical mesh device for treatment of fecal incontinence in women that Endo was going to sell through Astora.Endo and the Johnson & Johnson-owned firm Ethicon are the two biggest suppliers of mesh devices: There are approximately 140,000 transvaginal mesh lawsuits filed in the United States alone. About this time last year, Endo (AMS) had $1.3 billion in a mesh product liability fund and was actively negotiating settlements.Experts predict that Endo may set a precedence by stopping the production of transvaginal mesh. US attorney Adam Slater, who was instrumental in banning transvaginal mesh in Scotland and lead trial counsel in the first pelvic mesh trial against Ethicon, told the Scotland(March 13, 2016) that Endos decision to stop marketing pelvic mesh was inevitable. In my opinion, all manufacturers will eventually stop selling these insidious devices proven incompatible with permanent implantation in the female pelvis.Despite juries awarding a number of transvaginal mesh plaintiffs large settlements, Astora still stands behind the safety and effectiveness of its AMS transvaginal mesh products for POP and SUI.At Endo, patient health is our number one priority, Endo spokeswoman Heather Zoumas Lubeski said in an e-mail to theAs such, we have decided to expedite this closure, so that the patients and physicians who may be considering an Astora device for an upcoming surgery will have the opportunity to assess alternative treatment options as soon as possible.Elaine Holmes, a spokesperson for Scottish Mesh Survivors, said: Were delighted Endo are stopping production and yearn for the day all mesh firms follow suit.
San Francisco, CA A former WeWork employee has filed a A former WeWork employee has filed a California labor lawsuit against the $15 billion coworking start-up, alleging wrongful termination and other violations of the California Labor Code.

Retaliation is illegal, however. In fact, employers who retaliate against you because you complained about their unlawful working conditions are breaking the law a second time The risk of retaliation is one faced by all employees, documented and undocumented, who raise a legal complaint against their employer. Depending on the law your complaint falls under, you can file a retaliation claim with the Federal or California agency that administers the law, or bring a lawsuit against that retaliation in court.

Tara Zoumer worked as a community manager for WeWork in San Francisco for a year before she was terminated. Zoumer says WeWork fired her because shed been open with other employees about her belief that the company was in violation of California Labor Law, and she refused to sign an arbitration agreement passed out to employees after she already had pending claims in court, according toIf Zoumer was fired because she refused to sign an arbitration agreement, she may have been wrongfully terminated. Arbitration to settle disputes and avoid possible class-action lawsuits is frequently in the news, particularly involving tech companies and start-ups such as Uber, Lyft, and home-cleaning company Handy. Thesaid arbitration clauses were at the center of a far-reaching power play orchestrated by American corporations.For instance, when District Court Judge Edward Chen granted class-action status last September to Uber plaintiffs in their California labor lawsuit, he also ruled that Ubers arbitration clause was not enforceable. (Uber said it will appeal Judge Chens ruling on arbitration, according to the[12/9/15].) The case is expected to go to court in June 2016.In her lawsuit, Zoumer claims that WeWork fired her because she spoke to other members of WeWorks community team about alleged violations of Californias Labor Code. She did discuss amongst coworkers last October about the possibility that they were misclassified and entitled to overtime wages, as well as reimbursement for cell phone expenses. The lawsuit claims that Zoumers West Coast manager told her to stop talking to other employees about alleged labor violations three weeks before she was fired. Zoumer was fired last November.The California Labor Code states the following:Under California law, workplace retaliation is unlawful if youUnder California law, unlawful retaliation includes such things as an employee being subjected to negative treatment in the workplace because he or she engaged in a protected activity. Retaliatory treatment ranges from disciplinary action, negative performance reviews, denial of training, denial of promotions, denial of raises and termination.
Washington, DC It is a situation that continues to plague American consumers: excessive and confusing overdraft fees that are costing Americans millions of dollars in often needless debits from their accounts. Sometimes such fees and overdraft programs serve to push consumers deeper into debt. And while the big banks historically take the most heat for this issue, credit unions are not immune. To that end, in November of last year, plaintiff Mary Chambers filed a class-action It is a situation that continues to plague American consumers: excessive and confusing overdraft fees that are costing Americans millions of dollars in often needless debits from their accounts. Sometimes such fees and overdraft programs serve to push consumers deeper into debt. And while the big banks historically take the most heat for this issue, credit unions are not immune. To that end, in November of last year, plaintiff Mary Chambers filed a class-action Credit Union Excessive Overdraft Fees lawsuit against NASA Federal Credit Union, alleging breach of contract over the implementation of an overdraft fee program.

Excessive overdraft fees - stemming from a major bank or a credit union and thereby framing a Credit Union Lawsuit - appear to be a continuing issue in spite of various regulations passed in 2010 intended to provide more transparency. This, according to an in-depth treatment given to the issue by the(3/1/16).We hear the story of Angelina Lemus, a health care worker who was confused about the monthly debit of nearly a hundred dollars from her bank account. Upon investigation, it appeared that Citibank - Lemuss lender - was using a line of credit to cover overdrafts in her account, and charging Lemus 18 percent interest on an outstanding line of credit Lemus claimed she had never signed up for in the first place. Thereports that it would have taken Lemus 13 years to pay the money back simply following the monthly payment plan.Then there is the story of Mark Mangan, who banks with the TD Bank in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Mangan claims in thereport to have been hit with as much as $140 in overdraft fees in a single day. [The banks] position is, If we disclose it, we can get away with whatever the hell we want, Mangan told theThe tech consultant told the newspaper that he had noted a $35 overdraft fee that he had been charged, even though he still had sufficient funds in his account. Later in the day, Mangan withdrew $20 at the ATM from his account, but still left a few dollars in. That night, the bank processed a check for $125 Mangan had written days earlier. That would have - and indeed did - leave the account in an overdraft situation, and Mangan would have expected to have been charged an NSF fee for the bounced check. And he wasBut he was also charged an overdraft fee for the $20 withdrawal, which Mangan disputes. I had that money in my account. I have the slip to prove it, Mangan said.Like those of the big banks, credit union customers are not immune to overdraft charges, as all banks and credit unions employ various programs and strategies to deal with overdrafts. Thenoted that the Navy Federal Credit Union employs an overdraft protection service it dubs OOPS, which is strategically named Optional Overdraft Protection Service.Advocates note that many consumers, most of whom make honest attempts to manage their finances wisely, have nonetheless little awareness as to how overdraft protection works - many mistakenly believing that such protection prevents withdrawals, debits and other negative transactions from going through if there are insufficient funds in place. In reality, however, there are fees and overdraft protection programs that some consumers had little clue that they had, somehow, opted into.There has been widespread criticism of banks and credit unions employing the practice of re-ordering transactions, as they see fit, in order to maximize fees.That has led more than a few consumers to launch an Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit. The Chambers credit union lawsuit isCase No. 1:15-cv-02013, filed November 17 of last year at US District Court, District of Columbia in Washington.
- Nyesom Ezenwo Wike says Rotimi Amaechi failed the state

- Amaechi reveals the three things he does not accept from anybody

- Wike alleges plan by the APC to use military to rig election

Rivers state governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has revealed what he plan on doing to the former governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi.

Wike said Amaechi is a failed governor who needs urgent psychiatric evaluation and treatment in apparent reaction to Amaechi's appearance in a radio programme in Port Harcourt on March 13.

READ ALSO: APC supporters hail Amaechi on arrival in Port Harcourt

Nyesom Wike says he will prosecute Rotimi Amaechi

Governor Wike, who said Amaechi is monstrously corrupt, revealed that after his litigation on his indictment by the judicial Commission of Inquiry, his prosecution over the embezzlement of Rivers resources will take place.

Speaking at the PDP Rivers West Senatorial District Campaign rally at Ahoada on Saturday, Governor Wike said that only a man with psychiatric disorder will compare his failed eight years in office to just eight months of the new administration.

He said the former governor failed in his eight years as the state chief executive. According to him, Amaechi lacks proper parental upbringing hence his desperation in the political arena.

Governor Wike said that the APC has refused to campaign for the rerun elections because they are relying on the military and security forces to rig.

"He is a psychiatric patient who was at the radio station abusing people who are old enough to be his fathers/mothers simply because his party lost at the Supreme Court.

"We will defeat Amaechi again and again. No matter the deployed to Rivers State, the PDP we will all the seats," he said.

The governor said that Amaechi during his radio tour confessed that the military has been handed over to him to rig elections in the state. He added that the plot would fail woefully as the Rivers people will defend their mandate.

He pointed out that Amaechi's personal friend Mr Tosin Ajayi was posted to Rivers state as DSS director with the evil objective of creating the environment of rigging.

He said : "Only yesterday, I intercepted the communication of the DSS director and the Brigade commander where they were planning on the ways of rigging the election alongside Amaechi. That plot has failed.

"Amaechi lacks sound parental upbringing. He has vindicated us when he said that he has been given the army to rig the rerun elections. I know the Chief of Army staff very well. He should not allow a psychiatric patient to use the Army to rig.

"Is Amaechi now the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces that he talks about deploying soldiers? Our people will rise up to defend their votes. They will make the needed sacrifices their votes."

He reminded the people that on May 27, 2015, Amaechi made a statement that his (Wike) administration will be unable to pay salaries and execute projects. He said he has confounded through the execution of pro-people projects across the state, payment of salaries and pensions.

He called on the people of Rivers West Senatorial District to vote overwhelmingly for the PDP for uniformed development to be entrenched in the state.

The governor said that development of the communities rests with his administration, pointing out that he has discharged his responsibility faithfully.

Governor Wike said no matter the time it takes Amaechi will face trial for stealing Rivers resources .

"If President Muhammadu Buhari visits Amaechi's house in Asokoro, he will never allow him to come into Presidential Villa. After the case initiated by Amaechi over his indictment, he will face justice for embezzling state funds," he said.

Also speaking , PDP deputy national chairman described the former governor as a pathetic liar who mismanaged resources of the state.

He said : "Amaechi needs urgent proper psychiatric evaluation and treatment. We call on Dr Parker to treat the former governor. "

He said Amaechi's appearance on different radio stations is merely an avenue to create crisis in the state.

He said: "No amount of blackmail will pull down the administration of Governor Wike. Amaechi was a failed governor."

The Rivers North West Senatorial District Campaign rally attracted PDP faithful from the eight local government areas of the district.

Former governor Amaechi had in a radio programme in Port Harcourt, on March 13 like always, noted that there are three things you tell him without him giving you a fight.

He listed them to include: "You don't accuse me of corruption, because I am not corrupt, you don't abuse my wife and you don't abuse my Mother. The last two persons are vulnerable and so need to be protected. You go to this areas I fight back."

READ ALSO: A letter to governor Wike on Rivers state development

He said the Justice George Omereji led panel of inquiry set by Governor Wike never indicted him.

"But when the Government came out a White Paper they smuggled indictment. We are waiting for them in court,"Amaechi said.

Just recently, Amaechi accused former president Goodluck Jonathan of hating the people of Rivers state. He made the accusation during an interview in Port Harcourt, saying: Jonathan hated Rivers people so much that ordinary $1bn to clean up Ogoni land, he refused to pay.

Source: Legit.ng
CANNONFIRE is back!

From 2004 to 2021, the original CANNONFIRE blog kept finding ways to irk nearly everyone on nearly every side of nearly every issue. Last year, Google shut down the site. Why? Dunno. The banishment occurred without warning. Despite numerous inquiries, Google refused to explain or to rescind its edict.



The shutdown may have some connection to the compromising of my email. (Damn hackers!) Or maybe it has some connection to my history as a surly, unclassifiable oddball.



But now the site is back. Don't ask me why or how. Resurrection is a mysterious business and this one is particularly confounding. Revival came only when a reader calling herself Faust -- I'm not making this up -- employed incantations and conjurations unknown to mere mortals and thereby compelled the gods of Google to raise the dead. I owe this female Faust much. As a notable 18th century highway commissioner once said: Das ewig weibliche zieht uns hinan.



The site may migrate to another platform in the future. Google's capriciousness has injured my trust.



My name is Joseph Cannon. That's the name I've used professionally throughout this century; feel free to call me Joseph or Joe. I've decided to use my former name -- my 20th century name, if you will -- when writing about true crime and other non-political topics. Why? Reasons. If Google can be mysterious and capricious, so can I.



Email:



cannonfire [at] vivaldi [dot] net



Rules for comments: Do not insult the host. Try to stay on-topic.
Legit.ng is #1 online trusted source of the latest news in Nigeria. We are covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, world updates, and Nigerian newspaper reviews. We guide our readers to the world of politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle and human interest stories.
The Yoruba people are the ethnic group of South West Nigeria. It is a large ethnic group that constitutes millions of people and is one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. Being one of the major tribes in Nigeria, indigenous members of the ethnic group could be found in most parts of the country.

Without trying to discriminate or cause a tribe to be seen in a different light, there are certain things the Yorubas are known for. These stereotypes have perhaps, gone too far and have led to many misconstruing the real depth of the culture. While some mock the genuineness of the Yoruba culture with these stereotypes, discussing them may help keep the positive aspects and let go of the ill parts if they are indeed true.

Moreover, it is wrong to stereotype a tribe just because we know one or two people from that tribe that have similar attributes. It would be fallacy of generalization to conclude that members of that ethnic group are the same. We should learn to put an end to discrimination and accept every tribe as unique as they are with open arms.

Find below some Yoruba stereotypes we need to drop

1. Incessant Greetings

Yoruba people are known to be highly respectful; there is a greeting for every occasion. Theres a greeting for any time of the day; be it morning, afternoon or evening. Even when you travel and return, there would be a word of greeting. And when you stand for too long in a place, there is something to soothe you. So what is wrong with being so courteous? Isnt it something to be embraced? Since Yoruba people are known to be tireless greeters, does it mean whoever greets like that is a Yoruba?

2. Party Fans

Yoruba people love to groove and attend social gatherings. Who doesnt love to attend parties and get rid of stress? Other tribes also hold events and find a way to vent after going through the usual hustle and bustle of life. Every large canopy or marquee set in place is probably for some Yoruba party fondly tagged Owanbe. Are parties made strictly for one tribe or ethnic group?

READ ALSO: 7 basic misconceptions of the Nigerian culture

3. Most Yoruba Girls Have Big Butts

Most naturally endowed girls are presumed to be Yorubas, same way a light skinned girl is tagged to be Igbo. Girls with big butts are concluded to be from the Yoruba ethnic group and some people even go further by guessing what their names could be. As preposterous as this is, any girl could be blessed with massive backside irrespective of the tribe. Having big butts could be ascribed to genetic and phenotypic composition and definitely not the physical characteristics of a tribe.

4. Tribal Marks

Why is it that whoever has tribal marks is presumed to be Yoruba? There are many ethnic groups in Nigeria and some of them also have facial marks. As a matter of fact, not everyone from the Yoruba ethnic group has marks. It is therefore wrong to conclude that whoever has marks belong to that ethnic group. Also, the reasons for marking someones face differ from place to place. While some do it for protection, others do it for identification. Does this mean only the Yoruba ethnic group, of all the ethnic groups in Nigeria find means to protect and identify their own?

READ ALSO: 6 people you should notify before travelling abroad

5. Self-Centeredness

While an Igbo man would naturally relate with another Igbo man upon speaking their language, a Yoruba man would pay no attention to someone who sounds just like him. For many, it is one man for himself. An Hausa man also relates well with whoever speaks his language but this is not the case with the Yoruba man. In organizations, they could be mean and difficult to deal with. Regardless of these, not everyone thinks the same way; every stern person out there may not be Yoruba.

Source: Legit.ng
Today is the feast of St. Matilda, the Queen of Germany and wife of Henry I. She was born in Engern, Westphalia, Germany in 895 to Count Detrich and his wife, Reinhild. Raised by her grandmother, an abbess, she entered into an arranged marriage with King Henry the Fowler of Saxony in 909. Matilda became the mother of: Otto I, Emperor of Germany; Henry, Duke of Bavaria; St. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne; Gerberga, who married Louis IV of France; Hedwig, the mother of Hugh Capet. As queen, Matilda was humble, holy, charitable, and very generous -- always ready to help the poor and the down-trodden.Following her husband's death, Matilda made an unsuccessful attempt to secure the throne for her favorite son Henry, but his elder brother was elected and crowned in 936. Later, the two brothers joined in persecuting their mother, whom they accused of having impoverished the crown by her lavish almsgiving. To satisfy them, she renounced the possessions the deceased king had left her, and retired to her villa at Engern in Westphalia. Later, when she suffered financial difficulties, Matilda was called back to the palace, and both Otto and Henry asked for her forgiveness.She built many churches and founded and supported numerous monasteries; she was known for her great charity. She died of natural causes in 968 and was buried in the monastery at Quedlinburg, Germany. Matilda was venerated as a saint immediately after her death.St. Matilda is the patroness of: disappointing children, falsely accused people, large families.people ridiculed for their piety, queens, second marriages, and widows.
Two students of Abia State University were butchered and beheaded in front of Pego 1 lodge in the school at the weekend by unknown people.

Graphic: Alleged torsos of the beheaded students

Theres a speculation that this gruesome murder was done in retaliation to the murder of a final year MBL student who was suspected to be a cultist barely two weeks ago.

READ ALSO: Shocking: 17 year old girl beheaded in Abia - photos

No group has openly claimed responsibility for the gruesome act. This killing is extremely brutal.

Severred head of one the Abia university students

A student of the university who witnessed the incident on campus posted the pictures online, wrote:

READ ALSO: 11 year old raped to death in Abia

"The Abia state University community was hot all through the night and today as cult clashes has seen two people dead. . . A cult group known as "Atabo" beheaded two guys from a rival group known as the "Mafians" in revenge for killing their Number One Man.

As they buried their Number One Man yesterday, they went into operation of revenge using a lady to gain access to the room of the two boys and shot them.

As they struggled to survive,the rival cult decided to cut them into pieces. After the beheading, they displayed their bodies and heads at the school environment.

One of the two boys was to celebrate his birthday today and the other is the only son of his parents. Since then the environment has been cold and everyone has been moving around with caution."

One of the alleged beheaded victims identified as Chukwuebuka Benedict Nwaigbo, Estate Management, 300L

The alleged victims of the beheading

Source: Legit.ng
There are no safe assumptions about any bill - even a bill named the "Pay Equality Act".

The name aside, the Pay Equality Act only applies to a small group of people - non-civil service state and local employees; translation - elected officials and political appointees.

All other working women are protected by federal law; the equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Administered by the EEOC, the penalties are harsh - even jail-time.

Over the years various lawsuits excluded certain state and local government employees from the federal act so in 1974 Tennessee enacted state law to protect these employees from equal pay discrimination.

For several years a bill has run in the state legislature to expand this law in ways that would make it very litigious. Encouraging employees to discuss their wages with each other, removing the provision that the jobs being compared for an equal pay violation need be in the same department, and allowing class action status.

This bill dies every year because programs and departments have different budgets funded by different sources of revenue which might mean that an employee in the Attorney General's office might not be paid the same as an employee in the Department of Commerce who is performing essentially the same job.

Last Wednesday the bill sponsor arrived to committee with community organizers and protesters- the organizers took photos and video of the hearing. He proceeded to generalize his presentation making it about all women in our state. I reminded him that all women are protected by the federal equal pay law. He cited statistics which I refuted by noting the Obama Administration's own study from 2009; using myself as an example of the type of data examined in the study.

When the bill failed the sponsor, community organizers and the protesters went out in the hall and became more disorderly and louder than I have ever seen any crowd become inside the legislature's halls. The capitol police tried to calm the group. I was asked to leave through a back door.

Unknown to me, for two days women on social media were incited to great anger by the community organizers due to the failure of the Pay Equality Act...they were led to believe that the Act applied to all Tennessee women - not just elected officials and political appointees. I did not know because I was blocked from seeing the social media posts.

Of late, conservative speakers invited to universities, presidential candidates and I suppose now committee hearings are drowned out by young people roused by activist community organizers. Their rhetoric does raise emotion. My father cautioned me not to follow the crowd - to believe only 10 percent of what I hear - not to act emotionally but if something mattered to me, research the facts for myself. I still believe this is good advice so I will continue to do what I have always done - read the bills and consider what they do regardless of what they are named.

State Rep. Susan Lynn

Rep. Lynn is a member of the Tennessee State House and serves on the Finance Ways and Means Committee and chairs the Consumer and Human Recourses Subcommittee.






A new research report from Christie & Co has shown that although the share of international visitors to Stockholm has increased, international hotel brands are still underrepresented in the Swedish market. Overall, the number of commercial overnights in Stockholm has increased significantly in the last decade but the Stockholm hotel

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I would like to address the issue of homelessness in the Tennessee Valley. I realize this topic has been covered by many people because it is something that many people care about. In February of 2015, TN bill HB 641- SB 1083 was introduced to create an Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), in which the governor would appoint six volunteer council members who have experience in locating resources for those who are displaced. This bill was taken off the calendar in March 2015.

On Jan. 11 it was announced that Commissioner E. Douglas Varney had received the authority by Governor Haslam to reinstate the Interagency Council on Homelessness, also known as the Statewide Council on Homelessness. Commissioner Varney stated: Many homeless cost studies show that there is a savings to governments and communities that invest in providing the right blend of support and services to individuals who are experiencing homelessness and chronic homelessness.

My opinion is that the state has an obligation to its residents to pass bills such as this in order to reduce the homeless population and improve the lives of Tennessee residents. Likewise, many individuals feel that this is the governments issue and not their responsibility, but I believe that we, the people, can help as well.

There are many landlords with high-cost apartments and rental properties who could designate even a small portion of their vacancies for local social service agencies to place homeless individuals or families through an agreement with the agency. For an example of this agreement, a homeless individual could be allowed to live there rent-free for up to three months with the understanding that they are actively working with a case manager (willingly) to secure income and other resources.

In the above example, the tenant would begin paying rent on a sliding scale once income is secured, with payments subsequently increasing as their income allows. The state could also help in this endeavor by providing the landlord a base-pay amount of rent on behalf of the tenant, perhaps half of the original rent, rather than the landlord offering the unit totally free of charge.

Another option is that the state or local residents, who are wealthy enough, should make efforts to invest in properties that have been foreclosed on or otherwise unused, and transition these into affordable housing. There are many houses and buildings being unused, frankly, lowering the value of neighborhoods due to foliage growth and repair needs.

I believe that each homeless individual has worth and deserves the chance to live in a home that is safe and to receive assistance in locating resources. They can then contribute back to the community once they are able to. I believe there are residents here in Chattanooga that can help. Those of us who can, should.

Melissa Hand

SAU MSW Student




A low cost, easy to use, urine test to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) among patients with HIV could help reduce the TB death rate of HIV-positive patients in hospital, according to a new study published in The Lancet today.

In Africa, nearly 40% of all adult deaths related to HIV or AIDS are due to tuberculosis, but almost half of the TB cases remain undiagnosed and untreated before death. The authors of the study, which was conducted in 10 hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, say that if implemented more widely, this low-cost intervention could save thousands of lives per year.

"This is the first trial of any diagnostic test for tuberculosis to show a reduction in the number of deaths. The reduction in mortality is likely to be because urine-testing, in conjunction with routine testing, resulted in a greater proportion of patients starting tuberculosis treatment early," explains senior author and project supervisor Professor Keertan Dheda from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

He adds: "When used in conjunction with routine testing, urine-testing for tuberculosis reduced the TB death rate of HIV patients in hospital. Importantly, we found that the test was particularly effective in identifying tuberculosis among patients with advanced HIV infection who are most vulnerable to advanced TB disease. The absolute reduction in mortality was small at 4%, but with 300000 patients with HIV dying from tuberculosis in Africa every year, implementing this low cost, rapid, bedside test could potentially save thousands of lives annually."

Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death in people with HIV in low and middle income countries and hospitals are often overwhelmed with HIV-positive individuals who have suspected TB. Diagnosis of TB usually includes taking a chest X-ray and microbiological examination of sputum (mucus that has been coughed-up). However, for severely ill patients with TB and HIV, it can be hard to produce sputum and alternative approaches (sputum induction or alternative invasive sampling) are often unavailable. The LAM urine-test [1] detects a glycolipid molecule (lipoarabinomannan), which is linked to TB. It provides a result in 25 minutes and each test costs about US$2.66.

Professor Keertan Dheda says: "Since November 2015, a test measuring urine LAM has been recommended by WHO [1]. However, the recommendation was conditional, meaning it is up to the doctor or health system to decide whether or not to use the test. These data make use of the test more compelling and suggest that scale up and roll out of the test is now required."

In this study, the research team randomly allocated 2528 patients with HIV from ten hospitals in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa (four in South Africa, two in Tanzania, two in Zambia, and two in Zimbabwe) to receive either routine testing (smear, Xpert MTP/RIF and culture) as well as the LAM urine-test (LAM group, 1257 patients) or routine testing alone (no-LAM group, 1271 patients).

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Eight weeks after being discharged from hospital, 21% (261) of patients in the LAM group had died compared to 25% (317) of patients in the non-LAM group -- an absolute reduction of 4%. A greater proportion of patients in the LAM group (648; 52%) were treated for TB than in the no-LAM group (598; 47%). And, of those who started TB treatment, a higher proportion of patients were treated in the first 3 days in the LAM group (513/648; 79%) compared to the non-LAM group (413/598; 69%).

The effect of LAM testing on mortality varied by country but the highest sensitivity was found in people with the lowest CD4 cell count (a measure of how badly the immune system is damaged in patients with HIV) who are the hardest to diagnose with TB using routine testing. The authors found that the LAM urine-test had a sensitivity of 46% (the proportion of people with TB correctly diagnosed) and specificity of 90% (the proportion of healthy people who are correctly identified as healthy).

However, as Dr Andrew Kerkhoff, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, USA, writes in a linked Comment: "Peter and colleagues report on the diagnostic accuracy of urine LAM testing even though the study was not primarily designed a priori to rigorously assess this. If their finding that urine LAM specificity was less than 90% is taken at face value, these data would raise serious concerns about the potential of the assay to generate large numbers of false-positive diagnoses... The reference standard for tuberculosis diagnosis against which the diagnostic accuracy of the LAM-test was assessed was often only one sputum culture or Xpert test, both of which represent insufficiently robust reference standards. In a similar inpatient study population in Cape Town, South Africa, our results showed that the specificity of the same urine-LAM lateral flow assay exceeded 99% when compared with a rigorous microbiological reference standard that incorporated sampling of sputum, blood, and urine, for which we did a mean of 5.6 reference standard tests per patient."

He concludes: "In summary, Peters and colleagues report findings from their landmark trial that provide key evidence showing that urine-LAM testing is an effective means of rapid, low-cost, ante-mortem diagnosis for the large burden of HIV-associated tuberculosis. This burden for the past 25 years has only been brought to light by a long series of post-mortem studies. With the recent backing of WHO recommendations, we strongly advocate that the Determine TB-LAM point-of-care assay should be implemented by national tuberculosis programmes in sub-Saharan Africa to reduce AIDS-related inpatient deaths."

[1] The Alere Determine tuberculosis LAM Ag lateral flow strip test is a commercially available bedside diagnostic test.

[2] WHO recommendations on LAM urine testing http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/193633/1/9789241509633_eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1
When he left for his overnight shift at work, he thought nothing of leaving his dog tied to a tree. He would later tell a local TV station he had no idea it was going to rain. But it did. It really did. Ascension Parish County, Louisiana, where the dog was tied, saw torrential rain that night. In fact, a state of emergency was declared.

These images, posted to the Humane Society of Louisiana's Facebook page on Friday, show the dog clinging to an ever-shrinking mound of earth amid rising rainwater. The dog's owner, Tendrick Cooper, addressed the outcry on social media, claiming the pictures don't tell the whole story. "He has a shelter outside, but he chose not to go in it," Cooper told WSMV 4. "He had the chain wrapped around the tree." Ultimately, the dog was removed from his lonesome perch by a relative of the owner. Cooper, who came home to the social media firestorm, has since maintained his dog is not neglected, but rather well cared for. The dog remains with him today.

The images added further fuel to the debate over tethering dogs. Louisiana's tethering ordinance states, "It shall be unlawful to tie, tether, or restrain any animal in a manner that is inhumane, cruel, or detrimental to its welfare." While the Humane Society of Louisiana is investigating this case, there are wider calls to put an end to dog tethering across the state. An online petition is demanding Gov. John Bel Edwards outlaw dog chaining across the state. To learn how to pass an anti-tethering ordinance in your community, click here.
<p>Miyun Park</p>

The only sound was the dogs barking. That's all she heard as they pulled into the dog meat farm at 7 a.m. after a two-hour drive from Seoul, South Korea. "Even though all of our windows were closed to keep out the literally freezing cold," Miyun Park told The Dodo, describing that February morning. Park, a consultant working with staff from Humane Society International (HSI), was at one of the many dog meat farms in South Korea. They were there to help a dog meat farm operator and his wife shut down their operation. And to find loving homes for the approximately 250 dogs.

The dog meat farm housed approximately 250 dogs. | Miyun Park

On this particular trip they would rescue 50 dogs, one of whom Park would personally take back to the states, a mixed-breed puppy she named Juna.

The dogs had no protection from the harsh elements. | Miyun Park

A living hell "When I first saw the makeshift barn - really just a structure with a questionable roof and plastic sheeting for walls - my heart hurt just thinking how cold the animals must be," Park said. She pulled back a corner of the plastic. And walked inside. What she saw was shocking. She was overwhelmed by the sound, and the smell of ammonia from feces and urine.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

After she was rescued, Juna had her first bath ever. | Miyun Park

And the sight. There were hundreds of dogs of varying ages, mixes and breeds. They were all caged. "Some huddled in far corners of their cages with their eyes averted," Park said. "Others clamored for attention. And a handful seemed to exhibit stereotypic behavior [such as continuously pacing in their cage] after months in intensive confinement." She found it was a myth that only certain breeds were raised for human consumption. Along with the numerous mixed breeds she found purebred Siberian huskies and Labradors.

Juna slept well the first night. | Miyun Park

Closing down the farms Since 2014, HSI has been working to end the dog meat trade and has since helped save more than 10,000 dogs from slaughter in China and South Korea.

Juna slept in her carrier on the flight back to the states. | Miyun Park

"Since they range from small, 'backyard' farms to large-scale, intensive facilities with thousands of animals, it's hard to know how many individual farms are in South Korea, but we do know that more than 2 million dogs are raised on these farms throughout the country every year," said Kelly O'Meara, director of companion animals and engagement at HSI. Only a puppy As one of the 50 dogs being rescued that week, Juna's roughly four months on Earth were nothing but life in a rusted, metal cage. South Korean winters mirror those of New York City, according to Park, with a lot of snow, harsh winds and freezing temperatures. Juna and the other dogs were housed in open-sided structures with walls of plastic sheeting. "When we first met her, she was huddled with her mother and siblings for warmth, standing awkwardly on wire flooring," Park said. "As we lifted her out of her cage, she was almost listless and wouldn't make eye contact with any of us."

Park shows off her precious cargo on the flight back to the states. | Miyun Park

Although all the dogs at the farm will be rescued, Juna was among the 50 they took because she was so young, and they were concerned about her vulnerability. "Understandably yet heartbreakingly timid, she was a completely different girl after she had her first-ever bath, a long drink of water, a warm meal and a cuddle," Park said. In a matter of hours, Juna became happy and well-adjusted. The HSI rescue team was unable to take all the dogs during that trip due to quarantine and safety check regulations in addition to the varying logistics involving transport of numerous animals from South Korea to the United States.

Juna easily took to staff at the veterinary hospital. | Justin Lamb

On February 20, Juna left her original fate and became Park's travel companion back to the states. The remaining dogs will soon join the rescued ones in the U.S. and be rehomed. In the meantime they will have more comfortable enclosures and veterinary care provided by HSI. It took just one text A single text message sent by Park while still in South Korea to her friend Erica Kubersky - co-founder of MooShoes, a cruelty-free company in New York City, and a Positive Tails board member - secured Juna's medical care and expenses at Veterinary Emergency & Referral Group in Brooklyn. It also connected with Foster Dogs NYC, which helped find Juna's foster parents.

Erica Kubersky and Miyun Park with Juna at the veterinary hospital. | Justin Lamb

Foster Dogs received a plea for a foster home while Juna was en route to the U.S. "We reached out to our network of foster homes, and had a foster commitment from a volunteer within 20 minutes," Sarah Brasky, founder and executive director of Foster Dogs NYC told The Dodo.

Park with Juna | Justin Lamb

Juna has since been adopted. And Park and HSI continue to fight for the others left behind on farms. "This trip to a South Korean dog meat farm was my first, but it certainly won't be my last," Park said. "We will continue fighting to end the eating of dogs until the practice is a thing of the past."

Juna is in her forever home with James and Isabelle Sciolto. | Courtesy of James and Isabelle Sciolto
When Tania Cappelluti moved to Costa Rica from Berlin, Germany, to start a yoga retreat, she didn't know she'd end up dedicating her life to saving animals.

Tania Cappelluti

"After I moved to Costa Rica, I found a little dog at the beach," Cappelluti told The Dodo. The dog, whom she named Kuki, was starving when she was found, so Cappelluti, traditionally a cat person, took her in.

Kuki | Tania Cappelluti

"I saw the development of her," Cappelluti remembered. "She was a super shy, scared street dog who became such a loyal, loving incredible dog. And that gave me such joy in a spiritual way."

Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs

Kuki, recovering | Tania Cappelluti

This was just the beginning. Soon, Cappelluti started seeing stray and abandoned dogs and cats on the street. Their potential to be loyal and loving family members, like Kuki had become for her, was being squandered. There's even a gas station in the area where people take the dogs they don't want anymore, tie them up and leave.

Kuki today | Tania Cappelluti

"Some of the animals on the street run around, they have old collars around their necks and are just in terrible condition," Cappelluti said. "Sometimes when people have babies, they sort of just let their pets go." So, just over a year ago, in February 2015, Cappelluti decided to do something more for animals.

The ladies of Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue | Tania Cappelluti

Cappelluti teamed up with two local women who also wanted to help animals. Mercedes Mora, a local Costa Rican seamstress and single mom, has been rescuing dogs for years (she has nine!). "It was always her dream" to be part of a larger effort to help animals, according to Cappelluti. And Florie Oconitrillo, a university teacher who is mom to five rescue dogs, joined the ranks, collaborating closely with Mercedes to find loving homes for rescued dogs.

Capelluti in the spay/neuter clinic | Tania Cappelluti

These women joined Ellen Wisse, a transplant to Costa Rica from Europe, like Cappelluti, who has three rescue dogs, two rescue cats and a horse. Wisse has been running a local spay/neuter clinic for local people's pets, to help control the population of abandoned animals. "We have a really good network," Cappelluti said. "What we really use is Facebook and word of mouth." The women named themselves Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue, after Charlie - a dog they found lying on a busy road who miraculously survived being hit by a car. Since then, the angels who saved Charlie's life have helped rescue dozens of others. One of these miracles was Pinto, a dog discovered in one of the poorest neighborhoods, suffering from terrible infections.

Pinto, a dog suffering from skin infections, rescued by Charlie's Angels | Tania Cappelluti

"I have never seen a dog in such a horrific state," Cappelluti said. "It broke my heart. He lost all his fur due to a horrible fungus and a bacterial skin infection. He was also highly anemic and very, very weak. We agreed, no matter what, he'd get the help he needs." Just seven weeks later, after some tender loving care, Pinto was practically a different dog. "When we came, he was wagging his tail and ran around to salute us!" Cappelluti remembered.

Pinto, after his remarkable recovery | Tania Cappelluti

While Cappelluti still runs the yoga retreat, she's become totally hooked on helping animals. She even encourages her yoga clients to follow her lead. "Our ultimate goal is to have a house, volunteers, and people come visit and adopt the animals," Cappelluti said. The four women of Charlie's Angels are currently hosting the recovering animals in their own homes.

Pinto with his rescuers | Tania Cappelluti

It's said that life is what happens to you while you're making other plans. Cappelluti - and Kuki, too - would attest to that.
When the Hamilton County School Board sat on its hands last Monday and did not take any action regarding Superintendent Rick Smiths contract, it is hard to believe that none of the nine elected officials were unaware there was still a smoking gun that just might make them appear to be dunces. We didnt know a thing until Saturday afternoon when Jonathan (Welch, board chairman) sent out an email that there would be a story in the Sunday paper, said one board member yesterday. And that is inexcusable.

Worse is the fact that he and his staff are believed to have hidden it from the board since the first of the year, along with other sensitive and detrimental facts. (Brainerd High School had a 63.4 percent absentee rate last year! 328 students suspended!) Rumors had swirled and strengthened for weeks that a mysterious letter from the state Department of Education could, on its face, get the superintendent and key employees fired for so-called dereliction of duty.Worse is the fact that he and his staff are believed to have hidden it from the board since the first of the year, along with other sensitive and detrimental facts. (Brainerd High School had a 63.4 percent absentee rate last year! 328 students suspended!)

The letter surfaced in the Sunday editions of the Times Free Press and turned out to be a 20-plus page report that revealed Hamilton County  already the worst metro school district in the state  had made no measurable progress in four of five schools known to be the poorest in the district. Additionally, a total of nine more Hamilton County schools under Smiths leadership tested in the bottom 10 percent of schools in Tennessee.

The embattled superintendent has actually known about the falling test scores since Smith and his team met with state officials on Sept. 18, 2015, according to the report. During last Mondays meeting Board Chairman Welch accused Smith of giving the school board members misleading information on test scores. The board also demanded that Smith be more transparent after leaving us in the dark but it is believed the first the board members read the highly-critical report was when they found it in yesterdays newspaper.

So just when the board members had hoped the turmoil that has battered the Department of Education since later December would blow away, it has instead blown up even bigger. Suddenly this Thursdays regularly-scheduled meeting of the school board promises to be the biggest circus act since the Ringling Brothers left town. Last Monday the board voted 5-4 to retain Smith but if the superintendent doesnt retire before Thursday , he may not have a job on Friday .

Smith had offered to resign last month if a settlement could be made on the remaining 3 years on his contract but when the board balked at a $269,000 buyout and refused other suggestions, Smith announced the next day he planned to keep his job until the contract expires, much to the chagrin of children, parents, teachers, and the public.

Ironically, one of three Ooltewah High School basketball players will appear in a Sevier County courtroom on Tuesday to learn if he will be tried as a juvenile or an adult. He and two others were charged after they sexually molested four younger teammates, one so severely he required emergency surgery.

In the 20 unexplainable days it took Smith to acknowledge the heinous Dec. 22 attacks, a harsh glare has descended on the Department of Education and the school board. It has revealed a broken system, a leadership of good ole boys that ruled by threatening teachers they will lose their jobs, and a perverse culture where hazing and bullying takes place system wide. Behavior and discipline problems are ignored and the school board only hears what Smith and his cronies care to share.

In the four years Smith has served as superintendent, the number of third graders who cannot read at grade has grown to 60 percent. Two-thirds of Hamilton County graduates who attend Chattanooga State must take remedial courses. Hamilton County is in the bottom 10 out of 161 state districts in Algebra I. And the list goes on.

There is reasonable belief the five iZone schools will be taken over by the state next year. These are Brainerd High, Dalewood Middle School, Orchard Knob Elementary, Orchard Knob Middle School and Woodmore Elementary.

Other county schools that are in the bottom 10 percent of testing in Tennessee are Clifton Hills Elementary, Howard School, East Lake Academy, Sequoyah High, Tyner Academy, Tyner Middle, East Lake Elementary, Ivy Academy and Tommie Brown Academy. This is unprecedented.

Of the 328 students suspended at Brainerd last year, there were 12 serious charges, which is to say aggravated assault, guns, knives, etc. There were nine serious charges at Orchard Knob Middle. No wonder the report reads, (Our) first reaction is one of concern and demands the Department of Education to respond to the report with absolute urgency.

The report appears to be No. 2 on this weeks list of urgencies.


(Illustration by Alla Dreyvitser/The Washington Post)

Last year, an organization called Wealth-X  the worlds leading ultra-high net-worth (UHNW) intelligence and prospecting firm  issued a report from its lair in Singapore about what it calls the looming wave of wealth transfers.

Baby boomers are expected to play their part by succumbing to the looming wave of death  the Greatest Degeneration  and bequeathing some $16 trillion to their children over the next three decades. For princes and princesses of American aristocracy, these bittersweet transactions hold little suspense. But for

upper-middle-class Americans balancing mortgage payments, tuition bills and retirement plans on a brittle tower of monthly paychecks, this bounty looms with the promise of salvation.

If you find yourself overanticipating such financial relief, take a break from the death watch to read Cynthia DAprix Sweeneys debut novel, The Nest, a comedy of filial greed and affection. Here, in scenes both witty and tragic, is a warning about what comes of waiting for inherited affluence.

Actress Ellie Kemper, "Transparent" creator Jill Soloway and other celebrities are featured in the book trailer for Cynthia DAprix Sweeneys debut novel, "The Nest." (EccoBooks)

The story revolves around the four Plumb siblings who have built their adult lives on the promise of a trust fund set up by their late father. (He was a chemist who made a fortune on diapers and feminine hygiene products at the Dawn of the Absorbency Revolution.) The money he left behind  the nest  was intended only to be a soupcon, a little something to sit atop their own, inevitable financial achievements, but a funny thing happened on the way to responsible parenting: While the nest grew into a vast fortune, the Plumb children accrued vast debts, knowing that when their little sister, Melody, turned 40, the vault would open and their bills, debts and mortgages would all be washed away.

Certified financial advisers use a technical phrase to describe this plan: Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch. Sure enough, we meet the Plumbs just as their eggs are about to be smashed. The Nest opens with a prologue in which handsome, chronically irresponsible Leo Plumb abandons his wife at a party, seduces a teenage waitress and totals his car during a sex act. Medical bills, legal fees and hush money effectively drain the nest from its once-impressive volume back down to a soupcon. Leos siblings are apoplectic.



Author Cynthia DAprix Sweeney. (Lisa Whiteman)

Sweeney, a 55-year-old New Yorker who now lives in Los Angeles, knows these people well, and she captures them in short scenes that glow with the confidence of an experienced comic writer. A look back at pre-crash Leo shows him as the founder of a Gawker-like website that vomits up clickbait to keep advertisers swooning. After cashing out, hed gone for long walks and taught himself all about single-barrel whiskey. He read, quietly resenting anything he deemed good. He spent months designing a custom bike that he never rode. If thats not the voice of a wealthy layabout, its the voice of someone who has been eavesdropping on them for years.

The novel has just as much fun with the rest of these prodigal siblings, who insist in rising tones of panic that Leo replenish their exhausted trust fund posthaste. We meet Leos brother, Jack, in the Campbell Apartment tavern in Grand Central as hes sending his drink back because he believed the mint hadnt really been muddled. It was just dumped in there as if it were a garnish, not an ingredient.  Their sister Bea is a chronically blocked writer who fears the happy glimmer of recognition in everyone she meets; she knows how quickly that look will decay into the confused brow . . . trying to summon a recent memory of her work, anything other than her early long-ago stories. Their little sister, Melody, is so manically determined to create the perfect home for her children that she charted the time spent with each child, making sure to even it out as far as was humanly possible.

These Plumb siblings allow Sweeney to cover the four corners of domestic comedy: gay, single, married, divorced. And their various professions  from antique dealing to Web publishing  have been cleverly chosen to emphasize lives of anxious mythmaking.



The cover of The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. (Ecco)

Yes, these are the neurotic New Yorkers that New Yorkers love to read about  Arent we bad? We are so bad!  and Sweeneys debut arrives on a velvet cushion of pre-pub praise (Amy Poehler! Elizabeth Gilbert!) and reports of at least a $1 million advance. But thats no reason to turn up your nose. (HBO, if youre not considering a TV version, why not?) For all the acerbic humor that Sweeney wrings from this familys self-absorption, she maintains a refreshing balance of tenderness. Rather than skewering the Plumbs to death, she pokes them, as though probing to find the humanity beneath their cynical crust. And because we need some relief from the Plumbs  lest they grow intolerably annoying  the book expands to explore their far more mature friends, relations and victims.

Everybody knows never to mix money and family, which is great advice for anyone who has plenty of money and no family, but Sweeney is writing for the rest of us. As one of the Plumb in-laws thinks, If only they could stop gnawing the worn and brittle cartilage of The Nest  maybe they could move on, try to forge relationships with one another that werent about that blasted inheritance.

Maybe.

Its a risk, of course, but watching them try is a good investment.

Ron Charles is the editor of Book World. You can follow him on Twitter @RonCharles.
Lin-Manuel Miranda returned Monday to the room where it happened. And, at the behest of first lady Michelle Obama, he brought the entire cast of his mega-hit musical, Hamilton, to that room  the East Room of the White House.

It was in the East Room seven years ago that Hamilton had its first out-of-town tryout of sorts. Invited to perform at a White House poetry slam, Miranda gave the first public performance of a song from the show, then called The Hamilton Mixtape, that he had only begun to write. That hip-hop number, Alexander Hamilton, would in fact become the prologue of the groundbreaking musical, for which Miranda would compose more than 30 other songs, including such popular numbers as Helpless and, yes, The Room Where It Happens.

Michelle Obama, who has seen the show twice  once in its initial off-Broadway run at the Public Theater and again after it moved to Broadway last summer  long lobbied the shows creators to pay a visit to the White House and have cast members participate in an education program and sing selections from the show for local students. Finally, that day came. On Monday afternoon, dozens of excited area high-schoolers gathered at the White House, where the first lady recounted meeting Miranda at the 2009 poetry slam and being surprised when he told her what he planned to perform.

He said, Im going to do a piece about Alexander Hamilton,  she recalled. Now Barack and I, were open-minded. But we looked at each other like, Okay, this should be interesting. 

Of course, she added, we were blown away.

Actor Daveed Diggs, right, watches as actor Lin-Manuel Miranda hugs first lady Michelle Obama during the visit by the Broadway cast of Hamilton to the White House. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Blown Away could have been the subtitle of Mondays gathering: The students, from schools including Laurel High School in Maryland, Osbourn High School in Manassas, Va., and Loudoun County High School in Virginia, screamed loudly when Obama made her entrance, but they were even louder when Miranda, the musicals star, was introduced, along with cast members Daveed Diggs (who plays Thomas Jefferson), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton) and Christopher Jackson (George Washington).

The Obamas have emerged as a more fervent team of boosters for a Broadway show than any occupants of the White House in recent memory. (President Obama saw it last summer, too.) In fact, the first lady described Hamilton as the best piece of art in any form I have ever seen in my life.

Hows that for an endorsement?

The first lady was clearly hoping that some of Mirandas passion would rub off on the teenagers. I think you are some of the luckiest young people on the planet, she said, as they applauded.

Later in the afternoon, the cast performed selections from the musical in the East Room after a series of student performance workshops led by Miranda and the actors, as well as a question-and-answer session.

Sitting behind Obama during her opening remarks, Miranda looked slightly embarrassed by the lavish praise. Thank you for moving mountains to be here, she told him. When he took the microphone, he received a thunderous reception from the students.

Hi, guys, Im Lin Miranda. What were really here to do is play with you guys, he said. Soon, the students were split up and led into separate rooms for sessions with the Hamilton cast.

Jeffrey Seller, the shows lead producer, said the students were asked to prepare their own performance pieces  poetry, rap or short plays  and base them on a figure or an event from the American Revolution. The concept was, aptly enough, getting its tryout at the White House: It will be rolled out again by the production in the coming weeks, with 20,000 New York high school students getting tickets to Hamilton through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

This has been an obsession of the first ladys since soon after she first saw the show, Seller said. She said, We would love for you to come to the White House for an education program. But we didnt yet have an education program!

Seller, one of the original producers of Rent, wasnt surprised by the students enthusiastic reception. They all know Hamilton from the CD, he said. Ive never seen a musical reach its target audience so fast.

In the question-andanswer session, a young woman from Laurel High School wanted to know about the casting of Hamilton and why so many actors of color were hired to portray the white men and women who fill Alexander Hamiltons own story.

The reality was we wanted to eliminate any distance between then and now, said Thomas Kail, the Alexandria, Va., native who directed Hamilton. If the world looked like now and sounded like now, [the show] could build a bridge, he said.

Judging from the electric atmosphere in the East Room, that bridge is solidly in place.


Burrata and smoked mozzarella are just two of the cheeses you can usually find at Italian specialty markets. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

A visit to one of the Italian markets in the Washington area reveals pretty much everything you could once find only in New Yorks Little Italy. The relatively small number of local shops might, in fact, be a sign of Italian cuisines success in America, as increasing amounts of Italian imported goods are available in supermarkets across the country.

But step into a local Italian market, and youll find enthusiastic owners presenting imported olive oil and wine labels you cannot find anywhere else. The fresh mozzarella and fresh pastas might be house-made, as they are at Vace locations. And there are the other ingredients, much less common, that can elevate a cooks pantry to the status of a true international extravaganza. Some examples:



Bottarga. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Guanciale. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Bottarga. Cured fish roe (typically grey mullet or tuna), either pressed or dried, is considered poor-mans caviar and is popular all around the Mediterranean for its umami intensity. Its extremely important to either grate the bottarga or shave it to almost transparent slices; otherwise, the flavor will overwhelm you. Shave it on top of warm potatoes or use it instead of anchovies in your favorite recipes.

Not all the local markets carry it, but you can find both kinds of bottarga at the Italian Store in Arlington and at Gemellis Italian Market in Gaithersburg, Md.

Guanciale. While pancetta and prosciutto are widely available in many chain supermarkets, the cured, unsmoked pork jowl that gives classic dishes such as pasta allAmatriciana, pasta carbonara and pasta alla Gricia their distinctive flavor and texture is available primarily in Italian shops. Use all your patience and cook chopped guanciale very slowly, starting with a cool pan, and youll get candylike, fat morsels of flavor.



Dried Umbrian chickpeas are tiny legumes that pack a lot of flavor. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

New harvest olive oils show dates when the olives were pressed as well as a use-by date. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Umbrian chickpeas and lentils. The tiniest lentils come from the high plains of the Castelluccio village in the Apennines. Theyre full of flavor like no other  rich, earthy and creamy  and they keep their shape after cooking, much like the French variety. These lentils won the European Unions IGP (Protected Geographic Indication) recognition.

Not as famous, but just as good, are the Umbrian chickpeas, smaller than the chickpeas that are widely available. Umbrian chickpeas are known for their concentrated flavor. And if you find Umbrian beans, borlotti or cannellini, get them, too. Theyre more expensive than the beans youll find in the supermarket but definitely worth it.

Use the beans and lentils in your regular legume recipes; just remember that they dont need much added flavor. Just olive oil and a little salt are enough.

Cicerchie. This is another Umbrian legume (Lathyrus sativus) thats also popular in Asia, East Africa and the Middle East. Its flavor is earthy, something between that of a chickpea and a fava bean, with a smooth texture. Use it in soups and stews and in any recipe that calls for legumes. (As addictive as its flavor might be, this legume contains a neurotoxin that may cause paralysis of the lower body, but only with excessive consumption over a few months. Regular consumption is completely safe.) As of press time, Cicerchie are available locally through Via Umbria in Georgetown.

Olive oil. Youll find Italian brands that arent in the supermarkets, categorized by some shop owners as the good olive oil, the medium olive oil and the cheap olive oil. Expensive, extra-virgin, cold-pressed oils typically are used for salads and finishing touches, while the less expensive ones are used for frying and cooking.



Cuttlefish (squid) ink comes in jars or individual packets. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

The jelled version of balsamic vinegar is good for spooning on slices of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Squid ink. Suitable for long-term storage in your refrigerator or freezer, this black sea essence is like a strong fish sauce or anchovy paste. It can easily transform risottos (add about 2 teaspoons of squid ink per cup of rice), tomato sauces (start with 1 tablespoon for 2 cups of sauce) and sauces for grilled or roasted fish. As a start, you can try adding a teaspoon to a simple butter and garlic sauce and serve it over pasta. Or mix a teaspoon into aioli and serve with fried calamari. Continue experimenting from there.

Italian pine nuts. Expensive; they taste better than the average imported-from-China variety you often find in supermarkets.

Chestnut flour, chickpea flour. Both fit on the wide shelf of an international collection of gluten-free flours. Chestnut flour will add an earthy, nutty flavor to gnocchi, pastas, crepes and cakes. Try adding chestnut flour to your stuffing mixture. It is low in protein, so mix it with regular flour when baking, or with any other high-protein flour, such as bean or soy flours. Chickpea flour is used for crepes, flatbreads and Indian dishes such as fried pakora.

Cheeses. Mozzarella (fresh and smoked), burrata, true Parmigiano-Reggiano, pecorino Romano and ricotta salata.

Balsamic vinegars. Make sure the first ingredient on the label is grape must (and not red wine vinegar, as is true for many so-called balsamic vinegars.) Be prepared to spend as much as $26 for 8.5 ounces,, but you can use it sparingly. Its worth it, for dessert and for drizzling on roasted vegetables. Jelled and pearled forms of balsamic vinegar are fun to work with.



Balocco ladyfingers with a spreadable squeeze version of gianduja. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post)

Gianduja. The wonderful invention of roasted hazelnut-flavored chocolate. And I dont mean Nutella: Yes, most Italian stores carry the Italian-made version of that too-sweet spread, although Im not convinced it is worth the price difference. But try a hazelnut-chocolate bar, and youll see how good it can get. Sadly, its available mainly only around Christmas.

Ladyfingers. Theyre essential for making tiramisu, and the Balocco brand is preferred by some pastry chefs.

Wine and liquor. Nearly all Italian stores offer a variety of imported bottles, some of which are hard to find anywhere else, such as the Odoardi Savuto 2012 and Verona Merlot & Corvina (2012), both recommended by Post wine columnist Dave McIntyre and available at Gemellis Italian Market in Gaithersburg, Md.

food@washpost.com
After reporter Michelle Fields was grabbed roughly on the campaign trail, controversy is brewing for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, conservative news site Breitbart and the reporters involved. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

After reporter Michelle Fields was grabbed roughly on the campaign trail, controversy is brewing for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, conservative news site Breitbart and the reporters involved. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Breitbart News Network likes to think of itself as a Fight Club for journalists eager to punch it out with politicians and politicos.

Now its staff is fighting amongst itself.

In the span of six weird and wild days, the popular and often outlandish conservative website has been beset by recriminations and rants, leaks and counter-leaks. The rolling spectacle features one criminal complaint; one video being analyzed with frame-by-frame, Zapruder Film-like intensity; one story published (then unpublished) under the fake name of an aggrieved reporters father; and six resignations (at least, at last count).

The melodrama has pushed the site, a far-right-wing favorite that often angers mainstream conservatives, into the larger consciousness of the nation and turned it onto the latest flash point in an unpredictable and tumultuous presidential campaign.

The central player in the soap opera, Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, resigned on Monday, saying in an interview with The Washington Post that she thought the site was more interested in shielding Donald Trump than in supporting her assertion that the Republican front-runners campaign manager manhandled her at a campaign event.

I dont think they took my side, Fields said. They were protecting Trump more than me.

Fields has become an instant celebrity of the journalism world after saying that she was roughly grabbed on the arm, bruised and pushed by Trumps campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, after a campaign event in Jupiter, Fla., on March 8. What followed was a sequence of events not unlike the presentation of evidence at a trial, and one thing that was very much like that: Fields has filed a criminal complaint.

All the while, Fields has been relying on the eyewitness account of a competitor and battling doubts raised by her own employers. Washington Post reporter Ben Terris was standing nearby when the incident took place, and he has reported that Lewandowski is the person who grabbed Fields.

A transcript of an audiotape obtained by Politico seemed to support Terris and Fields.

Terris: You okay?

Fields: Holy s---.

Terris: Yeah he just threw you.

Fields: I cant believe he just did that, that was so hard. Was that Corey?

Terris: Yeah, like, what threat were you?

After Thursdays Republican presidential debate, Trump told CNN: This was, in my opinion, made up. Everybody said nothing happened. Perhaps she made the story up. I think thats what happened.

Breitbarts coverage was also skeptical. The site posted an article questioning that version of events.

New video of Donald Trumps press conference Tuesday evening shows that the Washington Posts account of an altercation involving Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields could not possibly have happened as Ben Terris reported, said a piece posted on Breitbart by writer and editor Joel B. Pollak.

The Breitbart story was accompanied by frame-by-frame still images of news footage showing Trump leaving his event in Jupiter trailed by a scrum of reporters  a chaotic scene typical after campaign events.

But, even as it was questioning Terris, the site cast some additional doubt.

Contrary to what Donald Trump said Thursday evening after the GOP debate, the incident certainly happened. However, the person who made contact with Fields was likely not Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, the post read.

The post did little to comfort Fields.

I would have liked for them to believe me, believe the eyewitness, Fields told The Post. I think they were more concerned about preserving their access to Trump than they were about finding out the truth.

The day after the Republican debate, the cascade of resignations began.

Kurt Bardella, a former congressional aide who served as the sites spokesman, quit Friday.

I just couldnt represent them anymore in good conscience, Bardella said in an interview Monday. I didnt sign on to be a member of the de facto Donald Trump super PAC and, in this case, their allegiance to Trump took priority over loyalty to their own reporter.

Other resignations would follow in the coming days: Fieldss, and those of reporters Ben Shapiro, Jordan Schachtel and Jarrett Stepman.

Theyve largely destroyed their credibility out of idolatry for Donald Trump, Shapiro said in an interview.

The site, founded by the late Andrew Breitbart, is known for its iconoclasm and caustic tone. In the Fields saga, there were more oddities to come  none stranger than the publication on Monday morning of a column attacking Shapiro for resigning.

The story began: Former Breitbart News editor-at-large Ben Shapiro announced Sunday evening via left-wing Buzzfeed that he is abandoning Andrew Breitbarts lifelong best friend, widow, hand-picked management team and friends in pursuit of an elusive contributorship at the Fox News Channel.

Friends of Hamas could not be found for comment.

It ran under the byline of William Bigelow.

Bigelow, it turns out, is the pseudonym of David Shapiro, the father of Ben Shapiro. The elder Shapiro, who is a musician and also a writer at Breitbart, had chosen the name as an homage to the character Billy Bigelow in the musical Carousel, his son said in an interview.

The column was later removed from the site. (Online sleuths recovered a copy.) Nonetheless, David Shapiro has resigned as well.

Breitbart officials said the column, which was penned by Pollak, was meant as a joke and was not intended for publication.

Even as commentators were picking over the details of the controversy, a larger  and still unanswered question  hung over the entire affair: What would be the long-term ramifications for Breitbart? Would it remain a force on the right? And would anyone still want to work there?

A hint at the answer to one of those questions might be found in comments made by the sites top executive.

We hire people who are freaks, executive chairman Stephen Bannon told The Post in an interview earlier this year. They dont have social lives. Theyre junkies about news and information.

Sarah Kaplan contributed to this report.
Dear Readers: Todays Sound Off is a complaint about medications, and I concur with a loud roar!

Dear Heloise: It seems that each time we renew a prescription, the pills change size, shape and/or color. Even the bottles sometimes change.

We easily see the disadvantage of this to patients, especially those who get their pills from a three-month supplier. Sometimes the size, shape and color of one prescription will be different from the past one, adding to the confusion.

What earthly advantage is this to the manufacturer? Improper dosage has certainly resulted in countless needless trips to the emergency room.

Charles and Marva C., Universal City, Tex.

This is not a new complaint. Ive written about this for many years, and the Food and Drug Administration has gotten complaints, too.

You are right; it can cause confusion and even interfere with the compliance of taking a medication correctly. One thought is that manufacturers may be trying to make pills easier to swallow, since this is a major complaint of patients.

If the dispensing pharmacy changes suppliers for a medication, you might as well spin the roulette wheel. The bottles may be different, the pills themselves may be a different color/size/shape!

My hint: Check all meds closely before taking them. Also, ask the pharmacist or dispensing pharmacy (if mail-order) why there was a change and could you stay with the same pill. Its worth a shot! Bad pun!

Dear Readers: Here are some other uses for pants hangers. Use to hang:

 multiple scarves

 ball caps

 costume necklaces, rings or bracelets

 tank tops

 bras.

Dear Heloise: Coffee was never my beverage of choice. Now I am branching out and trying new coffees. Its nice on cold winter days. I was wondering if you could help me. I now have a lot of different ones and, well, I only drink two to three cups a day. Half a pot usually is left over. Hints?

Teri in Huron, S.D.

Teri in Huron, S.D.: You bet your cup of joe (a slang term for coffee)! When the coffee is cool, pour it into a container with a lid, and put into the refrigerator. Iced coffee with a dash of cinnamon or a splash of vanilla is a nice change. Also, put ice cubes in a blender, add cold coffee, milk or cream and sweetener, and blend away: a coffee slush! For more coffee hints and recipes, order my coffee pamphlet. Visit Heloise.com, or send $3 and a long self-addressed, stamped (71 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Flavored Coffees and Teas, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Pour cold leftover coffee into ice-cube trays, freeze and use in iced coffee, or to cool down a too-hot cup of java.

Dear Heloise: I crocheted around hangers to keep tops from sliding off. I have a simple solution I now do: I use sheet felt material. Cut out 3/ 4 -inch-by-4-inch rectangles and hot-glue one to the top of each branch of the hanger.

Jeri, via email

Heloises column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com.


Singer-songwriter Maren Morris. (LeAnn Mueller/Courtesy Sony Music)

When a new act makes a successful splash in country music, it typically arrives with an obvious talking point: Kacey Musgravess truth bombs about small-town suffocation; Sam Hunts brash infusion of R&B; Chris Stapletons traditionalism; Maddie & Taes anti-bro-country Girl in a Country Song.

Maren Morris, 25, has accomplished a rare feat  making waves without an easily grasped message. If anything, she writes songs about experiences that are difficult to explain, like the fleeting surge of confidence you have before leaving the house for a big night. Or the blissful, nearspiritual feeling of driving while your favorite music blasts out of the speakers.

Her ability to capture the latter resulted in a hit first single, the soulful My Church (When this wonderful world gets heavy and I need to find my escape/ I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling, til my sins wash away). The song has done so well in only a few months that Sonys Columbia Nashville  which signed Morris last fall after a bidding war  announced plans Monday to release her first major-label album, Hero, on June 3.

Although My Church benefited from iHeartRadios On the Verge program, which requires country stations to play chosen songs a certain amount of times, its matching radio momentum in sales. The song, at

No. 12 on radio, is regularly at the top of the iTunes country charts and has sold 253,000 copies.

Morriss pop-country songs hit a special sweet spot: introspective and clever, keeping with Nashville songwriting tradition, yet at the same time, unapologetically commercial and catchy with pop-crossover potential. Plus, shes making the process of breaking into country music as a young, female artist look effortless, which is what Nashville needs right now. Its a significant benchmark in a male-dominated genre that has recently seen women struggle to gain a foothold.



The cover art for Morriss debut album, Hero, due out June 3. (Courtesy Sony Music)

Obviously, theres this lack of a female perspective that I would like to hear, Morris said during a recent interview here. In contrast to her powerhouse vocals, she has a low-key, quiet confidence and is remarkably chill about how fast her life is changing.

[One industry expert offers his plan to help country radio: Fewer songs by women]

Morriss emergence coincides with a new spotlight on the challenges women face in the country industry, sparked last year when a radio consultants advice to country stations  limit female voices in the rotation for higher ratings  went viral. Morris recognizes that this increases the attention on her as a breakthrough artist and emphasizes the need for more diversity of viewpoints, although she thinks radio has made strides.

Still, she added, Its not my aim to be this, like, savior for females. I just want to make good music.

Morris said shes simply excited to offer a different perspective not even in terms of gender, but thematically. Although Hero boasts songs about relationships (the mournful I Wish I Was, the hopeful I Could Use a Love Song), it touches a wide range of topics.

I love love songs, but sometimes its okay to just be young and talk about something other than getting married or falling in love, Morris said. There are so many fun things that you live that you can write about and people of all ages can connect to. Such as Drunk Girls Dont Cry, some real talk to a friend who dates losers; or 80s Mercedes, a soaring anthem about hitting the town.

Although Morris is barely old enough to rent the cars she sings about, shes in her second decade as a performer. Raised in Arlington, Tex., Morris hit the state music circuit after her parents bought her a guitar when she was a tween. In between high school and college classes, she recorded three albums by the time she was 21.

When she won an award at 2012 music seminar in New York, Morris made Nashville connections. With some help from Musgraves, a fellow Texas pal, Morris moved to Music City a year later.

At the time, Morris felt a bit burned out as a performer, and she was eager to hone her songwriting chops. She signed a publishing deal within a year and soon had cuts on Tim McGraw and Kelly Clarkson albums. But there was a problem: As her writing skills sharpened, her publishers told her it would be difficult to shop her songs around town  because they couldnt imagine anyone else but her singing those lyrics.

At first that pissed me off, because I was like, Come on! But then when you keep hearing It should be you saying it, it eventually sunk in, Morris said. It was a lightbulb moment. It was like, Why the hell shouldnt it be me? 



Morris performs at Gramercy Theatre in New York on Dec. 1, 2015. (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

Morris, 25, has accomplished a rare feat  making waves without an easily grasped message. (Kate York/Kate York)

So Morris cautiously dove into the performing world again. On a writing trip to Los Angeles in early 2015, Morris  stinging after a bad breakup  took a drive to see the ocean. A sense of peace washed over her as she listened to music in her car. She thought, This is my version of church.

The next day, she had a scheduled co-writing session with producer Mike Busbee, who has written songs for Garth Brooks, Shakira and 5 Seconds of Summer, among others. She told him she had a title for a song: My Church.

My initial thought was Really? I think its cool, but what would we do with it?  Busbee recalls a year later. But he had been eager to work with Morris since the first time he saw her sing at a Nashville writers round, where writers perform their songs. He threw out an idea: Can I get a Hallelujah/Can I get an Amen?

The line ended up as the chorus, and they wrote the song in an hour. The process for 80s Mercedes was similar. Morris came in with the title, eager to pinpoint the feeling of getting ready to go out for the night. Then Busbee offered a killer hook: Im a 90s baby in my 80s Mercedes. Morris, born in 1990, took the lyrics from there, penning an easy candidate for an upcoming song of the summer.

By the time Sony signed Morris in September, her songs had already been uploaded to Spotify and had about 2 million streams. Busbee, who is co-producing Morriss album, is gratified but not surprised by the strong reaction.

Its the trifecta: To have a voice like that; to have that presence, the way she carries herself; and the way she writes songs . . . put that all together, you cant stop wanting to engage with that as a listener, he said. Of course people are freaking out.
Police arrested Shaun D. Pierce, 42, for allegedly stealing battery packs from Walmart, brandishing a knife at the security officer, and being caught with a baggie of meth.

On Saturday, two officers responded to a theft at the Walmart on Cummings Highway.

The security officer, Billy Roach, said a white male selected a few items then tried to walk out of the store without paying. When Mr. Roach tried to stop the shoplifter, he brandished a knife at him.

Pierce then ran away from the store, at which time Mr. Roach advised the officers in the parking lot of the incident. The officers followed Pierce in their vehicle, eventually catching up to him and commanding him to stop.

When the defendant kept running, the officers chased after him on foot until detaining him.

At this point police searched Pierce and found several stolen battery packs in his pockets. They found a small baggie of meth in Pierces pocket as well.

The total amount of merchandise taken from Walmart amounted to $130.

Police arrested Pierce on charges of aggravated assault, theft under $500, resisting arrest, and possession of a controlled substance.
During World War II, Elaine Harmon served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Her family wants her ashes buried at Arlington National Cemetery. (AP/AP)

Oh, theyve made exceptions. The men in charge of approving coveted plots at Arlington National Cemetery have made hundreds of exceptions to the strict military rules about who gets buried there.

A chief White House usher was an exception. As were a doctor who developed an oral vaccine against polio, an ambassador and a national security advisor. And dont forget the retired brigadier general, Charles F. Blair Jr., who didnt meet the military requirements, but was married to a famous Hollywood actress, Maureen OHara. Right here, sir, we have a spot.

But when it comes to a World War II pilot who happens to be a woman? Nope. No exception available. No space in Arlington for you, Second Lt. Elaine Danforth Harmon.

This isnt some long-standing, sexist rule thats keeping Harmon, who died at 95 a year ago, from being given full military honors at Arlington. This is last years reversal of the eligibility that female pilots were granted in 2002.

[This female pilot was denied equal pay during WWII. Now Arlington bars her remains]

President Barack Obama with WASP pilots Elaine Harmon, left, and Lorraine Rodgers, right, after signinga bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots in 2009. (Pete Souza/The White House)

Still think womens rights arent seeing a backslide?

Harmon and her fellow Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) risked their lives just like their male counterparts did. They ferried planes, tested repaired aircraft, instructed male pilots and towed targets for air combat training.

In fact, 38 of them did die while serving their country. And Harmon often told the story of other WASPs passing a hat to cover the cost of sending one of the killed female pilots body home. The military wouldnt pay for that.

For 50 years, the women who stepped forward to serve when so few welcomed their service have been fighting for recognition.

Back when they were risking their lives, they fought for equal pay, for flight insurance, they fought to get their room and board paid for.

Three decades later, in 1975, Harmon testified before Congress, lobbying for full veterans rights. That finally came in 1977. And in 2002, the WASPs were granted eligibility for Arlington honors.

But that changed last year when then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed their eligibility for burial or even simple inurnment  to have their ashes placed in the niche wall in the cemetery.

Elaine Harmon at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2010. Harmon died at 95 last spring. Her final wish was to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. (Bill Harmon /AP)

The Army picked the wrong WASP to shut out.

Harmon raised a family of fighters. Dont forget, this was a grandma who continued flying small airplanes most of her life. She went bungee jumping in New Zealand when she turned 80. Her photos and memories are in aviation and war museums across America.

So after her family mourned her death last spring and were unable to lay her cremated remains to rest at Arlington without seeking an exception, the fight became a three-generation affair.

This is a family thats not going to let it go, said Erin Miller, Harmons 39-year-old granddaughter. My sister was a lobbyist, Im an attorney, and we grew up watching her talking at conferences, testifying, talking to people about what she did. Were the family to do this.

The campaign to get grandma into Arlington began when one of her daughters, Terry Harmon, 69, started writing letters.

Miller, one of her 11 grandchildren, knew that tactic wouldnt work. Mom, you can write letters, she said, but thats not going to accomplish much.

And thats when Miller launched her social media campaign. She posted the picture of her grandmas ashes on the shelf in her moms closet. She followed that with photos of grandma in her bomber jacket and by her airplanes. Grandma testifying before Congress. Grandma and other WASPs receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

Millers lobbying got two bills into the pipeline to get WASPs back into Arlington.

[Legislation introduced to allow the burial of WASPs at Arlington Cemetery]

We dont want to just make one exception for her. This has to be a change in the law, Miller said.

The House bill, introduced by Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz), a retired Air Force pilot, has 174 co-sponsors as of this week, Miller said.

And last week, Miller visited 31 Senate offices to lobby for support of the Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland).

They have more than 170,000 supporters on a Change.Org petition.

All of this, really, is a pretty ridiculous for her to have to do.

There are lots and lots of women buried in Arlington. Wives, most of them.

When you look at all the exception requests, you see wives, ex-wives, first wives. Usually, the military is fine with them. There are also plenty of women buried with their parents on something once called the spinster policy  women who were never married and childless.

Those exceptions, in official military documents, are usually explained as humanitarian.

The ridiculous thing is that if her husband was buried there, then she could be buried there, too, Miller said. There are 15 WASPs there buried with their husbands.

But each of those women deserved to be there on her own merits.

Humanitarian? How about moral. And just. And right.

Twitter: @petulad
BLOOD DONATIONS

BLOOD DRIVES Monday 2-7:30 p.m., the Village at Leesburg, 1603 Village Market Blvd., Suite 100, Leesburg, 800-733-2767; April 1, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Loudoun County Fire and Rescue, 801 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg, 800-733-2767.

INOVA BLOOD DONOR CENTER Mondays noon-8 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fridays 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays noon-4 p.m. Dulles Town Center, 45745 Nokes Blvd., Sterling. 866-256-6372 or inova.org/donateblood.

FIRST AID

FIRST AID/ADULT, INFANT AND CHILD CPR/AED Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Medical Office Building, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $85. Registration required.

HEARING

DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER Technical assistance through the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and presentations to businesses, civic groups and schools. Third Tuesdays 2-5 p.m., Workplace, 205 Keith St., Warrenton. Call for an appointment, 800-648-6324; TDD, 540-373-5890. Free.

FREE HEARING TESTS Age 18 and older. Mondays-Thursdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center, 19465 Deerfield Ave., Suite 201, Lansdowne. 703-858-7620. Registration required.

HEARING LOSS, TINNITUS AND MENIERES SYNDROME SUPPORT For all ages, including parents of children with hearing loss. First Fridays 2 p.m., Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-430-2906.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING Age 18 and older, second Tuesdays 10 a.m., Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400.

HEARING LOSS OUTREACH Free referrals. Fourth Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Loudoun County Workforce Center, 102 Heritage Way, Leesburg; third Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. Free appointments: 703-430-2906 or nvrcloudoun@aol.com.

MENTAL HEALTH

COUNSELING FOR SEXUAL VIOLENCE SURVIVORS Provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice. 703-771-9020.

CRISISLINK Suicide and crisis intervention. The organization provides community education, has a volunteer crisis response team and offers CareRing, a daily telephone outreach program for the elderly and disabled. 703-527-6016, volunteer@crisislink.org or crisislink.org.

PIEDMONT CHAPTER, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS Serves Fauquier, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock counties. Support group, education classes and events for people living with mental illness, plus their family members. First Wednesdays 7-9 p.m. Fauquier Hospital, 500 Hospital Dr., Sycamore Room A, Warrenton. 571-426-8213.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA CHAPTER, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS A support group, classes and programs for people living with mental illness and their family members. For information, go to naminorthernvirginia.org.

PREGNANCY, PARENTING

ADOPTIVE FAMILY PRESERVATION Adoptive families discuss common experiences; registration required. Third Tuesdays 12:30-2 p.m. Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd. Call 703-941-9008, Ext. 23, or email jmellerio@umfs.org.

BIRTHRIGHT OF LOUDOUN COUNTY Free pregnancy tests, baby clothing, transportation and support throughout pregnancy, 823 S. King St., Leesburg. 703-777-7272.

BOND BETWEEN US Nonprofit group offers support to birth parents when children have been placed for adoption. Fourth Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. Call for location. 703-771-7844.

BREASTFEEDING MADE SIMPLE Monday 6-8:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Family Birthing Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $25. Register.

BREAST-FEEDING SUPPORT Mondays 9:30-10:30 a.m., Fauquier Hospital Family Birthing Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588.

DAD SUPPORT New and expectant fathers share ideas. First Tuesdays 7 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg. 703-858-6360.

FOR THE CHILDRENS SAKE A group for separating or divorcing parents to share advice. Four-hour session weekly. Information : 703-391-8599 or fitsfoundation.org.

LA LECHE LEAGUE Mother-to-mother support and breast-feeding information. 10 a.m. second Wednesdays in Warrenton, 540-351-6103. Third Fridays 10:15-11:45 a.m., call for location, 703-444-7386. Second Fridays 10:15 a.m., Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd., 703-431-3852; Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Panera Bread, 43670 Greenway Corp. Dr., Ashburn, email lllashburn@gmail.com. Third Fridays 10:15 a.m., Christ the Redeemer Church, 46833 Harry F. Byrd. Hwy., Sterling, 540-338-4637.

LOUDOUN FATHERHOOD PROGRAM Fathers discuss the joys and challenges of being a parent. Meets every other Saturday for two hours for four months; sponsored by Northern Virginia Family Service. 571-748-2796. Free.

LOUDOUN NURTURING PARENTING PROGRAM Positive parenting techniques; children attend with parents. Registration required. Call 703-771-3973, Ext. 27, or email nurturingprogram@lcsj.org . Free.

MOTHERNET/HEALTHY FAMILIES LOUDOUN Program links first-time parents with medical, social and educational resources to give children a socially and physically healthy start in life. Family support workers meet with participants in homes. English-Spanish translation provided. 703-444-4477, Ext. 217, or inmed.org .

NEW MOTHERS SUPPORT Wednesdays 9:30-11:30 a.m. Inova Loudoun Medical Pavilion, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg, main entrance. Babies welcome. 703-858-6360.

YOUNG PARENT SERVICES Support for teenage parents. Loudoun County Department of Family Social Services, 52 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg. Call for times. 703-771-5375.

ONLINE CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION PROGRAM Inova Loudoun Hospitals Web-based program uses animation, videos and interactive activities to guide users through the basics of childbirth, breast-feeding and caring for newborns. 703-858-6360. thebirthinginn.org/classes.

PARENTING ALONE GROUP For parents of school-age children who have lost a spouse or partner to cancer. Second Tuesdays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-698-2536 or email jennifer.eckert@inova.org .

PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH SUPPORT Childbirth Solutions Resource Center, 8393 W. Main St., Marshall. 571-344-0438.

SENIORS

AGING IN PLACE Learn about affordable and practical ways to ensusre that your home is ready for you as you age. Tuesday 1 p.m. Fauquier Hospital, Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-829-6405. Free.

EXERCISE EQUIPMENT Weights, treadmills, bikes and a cardio-glide. Instruction provided. Age 55 and older. Weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free.

EYE CARE LensCrafters staff members will clean glasses and make minor repairs. Second Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-430-2397. Free.

FITNESS FOR PEOPLE 55 AND OLDER Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1-1:45 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400. $36, 12-visit card.

INOVA LOUDOUN MOBILE VAN Blood pressure checks. Second and fourth Tuesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling, 571-258-3280; first Wednesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039.

LAUGHING YOGA FOR SENIORS I mprove flexibility and balance. Thursdays 9:30-10 :30 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free.

LOUDOUN ADULT DAY CENTERS For seniors with physical limitations or memory loss, a safe and social environment, therapeutic activities, individualized care and respite for caregivers. Limited transportation. Sliding-scale fees. Weekdays in Leesburg, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 703-771-5334; Purcellville, 571-258-3402; and Ashburn-Sterling, 571-258-3232.

SENIOR OUTREACH SERVICES Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Senior Center at Cascades. First and third Wednesdays 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280.

SENIOR OUTREACH SERVICES Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Sign up in the Leesburg Senior Center lobby. Second and fourth Thursdays 11 a.m.-noon and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free.

SENIOR OUTREACH SERVICES Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Carver Center. First and third Mondays, 12:30-5 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 703-737-8741. Free.

ZUMBA GOLD CLASS: For people 55 and older who are learning Zumba for the first time, or those who prefer a lower-impact version. The fitness program combines Latin and international music with dance.Thursdays 11 a.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280. $12.

TAI CHI Stretching and strengthening movements. Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free.

ZUMBA GOLD CLASS Age 55 and older. Wear rubber-soled shoes and comfortable clothing; bring water and a towel. Tuesdays 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 p.m. Senior Center of Leesburg, 102 North St. NW, Leesburg. 703-737-8039. $24 per month.

SUPPORT GROUPS

AL-ANON SERVICE CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA A volunteer is available 24 hours with information for spouses, family members and friends of problem drinkers. 703-534-4357 or 877-339-8350. Mondays 8 p.m. Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 125 W. Washington St., Middleburg, 540-554-2747; Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg, 877-339-8350; Fridays 8:30 p.m. Grace Episcopal Church, 6507 Main St., The Plains, 800-344-2666; Tuesdays 12:15 p.m. Warrenton Church of Christ, Route 29 N., 540-347-7448; Tuesdays 7 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 p.m. Warrenton Presbyterian Church, 91 Main St., 800-344-2666.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Various meeting times and locations in Loudoun County. 800-208-8649 or 703-876-6166. nvintergroup.org.

ALZHEIMERS CAREGIVER SUPPORT For those who care for people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. Fourth Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m. The Villa at Suffield Meadows, 6735 Suffield Lane, Warrenton. 540-316-3800.

ALZHEIMERS SUPPORT First Tuesdays 10-11 a.m. Spring Arbor Assisted Living, 237 Fairview St. NW, Leesburg. 540-338-6520.

ALZHEIMERS CAREGIVERS SUPPORT For those caring for people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. Second Mondays 7-8:30 p.m. Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-430-9229. galileeumc.org.

ALZHEIMERS CAREGIVER SUPPORT Emotional, educational and social support for family members and friends of people with the disease. Third Saturdays 10 a.m. Loudoun County Area Agency on Aging, 20145 Ashbrook Pl., Ashburn. Call 703-771-5407 or email lesley.katz@loudoun.gov.

ALZHEIMERS SUPPORT First Wednesdays 4 p.m. Leesburg Adult Day Center, 16501 Meadowview Ct., Leesburg. 703-771-5334.

TALK ABOUT CURING AUTISM A nonprofit organization educating and supporting families affected by autism. tacanow.org.

AUTOIMMUNE SUPPORT Last Thursdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Jackson Building, 209 Gibson St., Leesburg. Email autoimmunesupport@hotmail.com .

BEREAVED PARENT SUPPORT One-on-one counseling is available. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. scsm.tv.

BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT For those experiencing loss because of the death of a loved one. Age 18 and older. Third Mondays 1 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-957-1800.

BREAST CANCER SUPPORT Fourth Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Tower, Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-0588.

BREAST CANCER SUPPORT For those with new diagnoses or starting treatment. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857.

BREAST CANCER SUPPORT For those who have finished treatment, have had a recurrence or metastatic breast cancer. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857. Free.

BREAST CANCER SUPPORT ASSISTANCE FUND Loudoun County residents who have received a diagnosis or have undergone treatment in the past 12 months are eligible to apply for financial assistance. Areas included are wigs, bras, puffs and prostheses, mammograms and medical bills, food and help with utilities, rent or mortgage, and transportation costs. The Pink Assistance Fund has been established by the Loudoun Breast Health Network. lbhn.org.

CANCER SUPPORT Oncology nurses, social workers and spiritual care providers offer education and support to patients, families and caregivers. Second Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2273.

CANCER SUPPORT Life with Cancer, for patients, family members and friends. Second Thursdays 7 p.m. Ashburn Presbyterian Church, Room 202, 20962 Ashburn Rd. 703-729-2012. ashburnpresbyterian.org.

CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP Third Saturdays 10 a.m. Loudoun County Area Agency on Aging, 20145 Ashbrook Pl., Ashburn. 703-771-5407. alz.org/nca .

CAREGIVER SUPPORT AND RESOURCE GROUP Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-noon (no meeting first Wednesdays), Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. scsm.tv.

CARING FOR AGING PARENTS Support group. Confidential. Fourth Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Family Focus Counseling Service, 20-B John Marshall St., Warrenton. 540-349-4537.

CHADD PARENTS SUPPORT For parents of children with ADD/ADHD. Fourth Sundays 3 p.m. KinderCare, 44051 Ashburn Village Shopping Plaza. chadd.nova loudoun@gmail. com .

CHRONIC ILLNESS SUPPORT Tuesdays 10:30-11:30 a.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministries, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814 or scsm.tv.

COFFEE AND CONVERSATION: Support for those discouraged because of illness, bereavement, caregiving or a loved one in the military. Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814.

COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS For parents who have experienced the death of a child. First Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg. 540-882-9707.

CREATING AND CONNECTING Two-hour art therapy and relaxation workshop for cancer patients. Every other month, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-858-8850.

DEPRESSION BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE OF WESTERN LOUDOUN Saturdays 3 p.m. Purcellville Library, 220 E. Main St., Carruthers Room. Call 703-431-7160 or email kathy@dbsanca.org.

DROP-IN GRIEF SUPPORT F or those coping with a death. Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. St. Davids Episcopal Church, 43600 Russell Branch Pkwy., Ashburn. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-597-1781.

GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER YOUTH AND PARENT SUPPORT A group in partnership with Metro DC PFLAG. Fourth Sundays 4-6 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Church, 22135 Davis Dr., Sterling. 703-328-6518.

GRIEFSHARE Open to anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one. Tue sdays from 7-8:30 p.m. Purcellville Baptist Church, 601 Yaxley Dr., Purcellville. Call 540-338-0918 or email caring@purbap.org. Workbook, $15.

GRIEFSHARE Nondenominational seminar and support group. Tuesdays 7:30-9 p.m., and Wednesdays, 1-2:30 p.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Free.

GRIEF SUPPORT Sponsored by Hospice Support of Fauquier County. Individual counseling available. First and third Thursdays 3:30-5 p.m. Hospice Support Office, 42 N. Fifth St., Warrenton. Registration required. Call 540-347-5922 or email hospicesupport@verizon.net.

GRIEF SUPPORT Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814.

HOSPICE SUPPORT Free medical-equipment loan facility for Fauquier County residents. Especially needed are donations of wheelchairs, bedside commodes, rolling walkers, electric hospital beds, shower benches and chairs, adult diapers, lift chairs, Ensure and hospital bed mattresses. 540-347-5922.

LOOK GOOD, FEEL BETTER For women undergoing or emerging from cancer treatment. Every other month, 6:45 to 9 p.m. ,Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-776-2820. Free.

LOUDOUN CHADD SUPPORT Led by Children and Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Third Thursdays 7 p.m. Leesburg Town Hall, lower-level conference room, 25 W. Market St. 703-669-2445.

LOUDOUN INTERGROUP OF OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS Fellowship and support. For locations and times, call 571-420-2012. oa.org.

LYME DISEASE SUPPORT Fourth Sundays 2-4 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Conference Room A and B, Leesburg. Go to natcaplyme.org or email loudounlymeadvocates@gmail.com.

LYME DISEASE SUPPORT Third Thursdays 7 p.m. Warrenton Church of Christ, 6398 Lee Hwy. Access Road, Warrenton. 540-347-7265 or email lymeinfauquier@gmail.com. Free.

MADD LOUDOUN VICTIM SUPPORT For those who have been affected by drunken driving. Third Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. 210 Wirt St., Leesburg. 540-338-6491.

MAN-TO-MAN CANCER SUPPORT Sponsored by Loudoun Cancer Care Center, for prostate cancer patients and their families. Second Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. Call 703-858-8857 or email karen.archer@inova.org.

MENOPAUSE SUPPORT Third Thursdays 6:30-9 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg (second floor, Patient Education Room). 703-858-8060.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SUPPORT Saturdays 10:30 a.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-2826.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SUPPORT Last Sundays 2-4 p.m. Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Pl., Potomac Falls. 703-771-4256.

NAR-ANON FAMILY SUPPORT For those affected by loved ones with addiction. Meaningful Mondays, 7-8 p.m., Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-203-9792; Wisdom Wednesdays 7-8 p.m., St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 37730 St. Francis Ct., Purcellville, 703-606-7125; Serenity Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. Leesburg Presbyterian Church, 207 W. Market St., Leesburg, 703-606-7125.

PARKINSON'S SUPPORT Open to anyone with Parkinson's disease, family members and caregivers. First Tuesdays 1:30-3 p.m. Call for Ashburn location. 571-442-8851.

POST-PARTUM SUPPORT Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Cornwall Campus, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg. 703-909-9877. Email lamckeough@gmail.com. Registration required.

REACH TO RECOVERY Home visit program for mastectomy and lumpectomy patients. Temporary prostheses, exercise instruction and encouragement. 703-938-5550.

SEXUAL ASSAULT AND INCEST SURVIVORS GROUP COUNSELING Services provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice and the Loudoun Abused Womens Shelter are free and confidential. 703-771-9020.

SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT Sponsored by Sexual Assault Victims Volunteer Initiative. Child care available with 48-hours notice. Mondays; call for times and locations. 540-349-7720.

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT GROUP For cancer patients, family members and friends. Third Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8850.

STROKE SURVIVORS AND CAREGIVERS SUPPORT Second Wednesdays 11 a.m.-noon, Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second floor, Patient Education Room. 703-858-6667 or robyn.thomson@inova.org.

SUICIDE COUNSELING Third Wednesdays 7-8:30 p.m. Leesburg Town Office, Conference Room 2, lower level, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg. 703-587-1618 or survivorsofsuicidelossleesburg@gmail.com.

WOMENS SUPPORT Sponsored by Services to Abused Families. Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Confidential location. 540-825-8876.

WIDOW AND WIDOWER SUPPORT Third Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039.

WOMENS CANCER SUPPORT Woman to Woman, first Wednesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Registration required. 703-858-8850.

MISCELLANEOUS

BRAIN TRAUMA SURVIVORS BROWN BAG LUNCH For survivors and caregivers, first Tuesdays, noon-1:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second-floor Patient Education Room. Call 703-737-3150 or email jberg@braininjurysvcs.org. Free.

BREAST CANCER PANEL DISCUSSION Four physicians will discuss breast cancer risk factors, diagnosis and treatment. Question and answer session follows the program. March 31, 7 p.m. Fauquier Hospital, Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. Free. Register.

CHILD DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENINGS For ages 2-5. Children may not be kindergarten-age-eligible. Sponsored by the Loudoun County public schools Child Find Center. 571-252 - 2180.

CHOLESTEROL SCREENINGS Weekdays 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Fauquier Health LIFE Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2640. Registration required. $35.

EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES Loudoun residents who are in need can receive a free three-day supply of groceries. Supplies are distributed Mondays through Saturdays by Loudoun Interfaith Relief. 703-777-5911. interfaithrelief.org.

FAUQUIER FREE WALK-IN MEDICAL CLINIC Patients must call Thursdays from 12:30 to 1 p.m. to register for the clinic, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Patients are also seen by appointment Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fauquier and Rappahannock residents only. Bring proof of address for the first visit. Patients cannot have Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. Information: 540-347-0394 Tuesdays or Thursdays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

FAUQUIER HOSPITAL BISTRO SENIOR SUPPER CLUB Nutritious meals and fellowship for people 55 and older. Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Bistro on the Hill, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $5.49.

GAMERS UNION FOR TEENS WITH ASPERGERS Youths 12 to 21 interact through gaming; their caregivers meet for networking. Second Tuesdays 6 p.m. Rust Library, 380 Old Waterford Rd., Leesburg. 703-777-0323. Free.

HEROES (Hometown Enabling Relationships, Opportunities and Empowerment through Support) is a program for military families. A trained volunteer provides support to military members and their families, from pre-deployment up to two years post-deployment. Assistance includes financial help, job placement, family care and mental health services. heroesca re.org or email caring@purbap.org .

INOVA LOUDOUN HOSPITAL MOBILE HEALTH SERVICES BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENINGS Thursday 11 a.m.-noon Lovettsville Community Center, 57 E. Broad Way, Lovettsville; March 21, 9-11:30 a.m. William Watters House, 22365 Enterprise St., Sterling; March 22, 9 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling; March 24, 10 a.m.-noon, Carver Center, 200 Palmer Way, Purcellville; March 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Levis Hill House, 1000 W. Washington St., Middleburg; March 30, 10 a.m.-noon, Lansdowne Woods, 194000 Leisure World Blvd., Leesburg. Information: 703-858-8818 or inova.org/mobilehealth. Free.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA ONG-TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN Call for help in resolving complaints related to long-term-care facilities. 703-324-5861.

MASSAGE FOR COUPLES March 25, 6-8 p.m. Fauquier Health Wellness Center, 419 Holiday Ct., Warrenton. 540-316-2640. $55. Register.

MOTOR SKILL SCREENINGS Birth to 21 months. First Thursdays, Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center, 19465 Deerfield Ave., Suite 201, Lansdowne. Call for an appointment. 703-858-7620. Free.

ROAD TO RECOVERY, for cancer patients who need rides to appointments. 410-781-6909. Email jen.burdette@cancer.org. Free.

SEVEN LOAVES FOOD PANTRY Individuals and families can receive a three-day supply of food, distributed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 10 a.m.-noon. 540-687-3489 or sevenloavesmiddleburg.org.

TREE OF LIFE FOOD PANTRY Serving western Loudoun County. Food is delivered Wednesdays and Saturdays. 703-554-3595.

 Compiled by Sandy Mauck

TO SUBMIT AN ITEM

Email: ldliving@washpost.com

Fax: 703-777-8437

Mail: Health Calendar, The Washington Post, 104 Dry Mill Rd. SW, Suite 101, Leesburg, Va. 20175

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar

Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar
Local officials will discuss the rising use of heroin

U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) will join Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman and the Drug Enforcement Administration to host a second public discussion for parents and students about heroin addiction, the resources available to users and prevention efforts.

Representatives from the sheriffs office; the Loudoun Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management; Loudoun public schools; the Office of the Commonwealths Attorney; Loudoun County Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Health Services; and the DEA will attend.

The discussion will be Friday at 6 p.m. at the DEA Museum, 750 Miller Dr. SE, Suite F-1, Leesburg.

For information, call 703-771-5278.

Loudoun announces hazardous waste collections

Loudoun Countys 2016 Household Hazardous Waste collection schedule is as follows:

March 19, Leesburg Park & Ride, 19730 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg.

April 23, Harmony Park & Ride, 39464 E. Colonial Hwy., Hamilton.

May 21, Ashburn North Park & Ride, 45151 Russell Branch Pkwy., Ashburn.

June 25, Freedom High School, 25450 Riding Center Dr., South Riding.

All collection events are Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Those using the service must show proof of Loudoun residency, such as a vehicle decal or applicable town sticker.

For information about the program and the materials that will be accepted, call 703-771-5500 or go to loudoun.gov/hhw.

Housing Expo to showcase affordable homes in N.Va.

Loudoun County is joining with other regional jurisdictions to sponsor the Northern Virginia Housing Expo on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theme is Housing Opportunities for All.

The event will showcase homeownership and rental opportunities and resources. There will be workshops, exhibits and credit counseling. Staff members from the Loudoun Department of Family Services will take part in two panels to share information on programs in the county.

Anyone looking for affordable housing in Northern Virginia can attend the expo, which will be at Freedom High School, 15201 Neabsco Mills Rd., Woodbridge.

Information is at loudoun.gov/housingexpo.

 Compiled by Sandy Mauck
U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards led Rep. Chris Van Hollen in a recent poll, despite Van Hollen having endorsements from a slew of prominent Democrats. (TWP)

Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. has joined the ranks of prominent politicians backing Rep. Chris Van Hollen in the states tightly contested Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat.

Miller (D-Calvert), the longest-serving state Senate president in the nation, said in an interview that Van Hollens deep ties with Marylands political establishment and his experience driving legislative initiatives would make him a more effective leader than his opponent, U.S. Rep. Donna F. Edwards.

Hes the person I would want making policy on Capitol Hill, Miller said. He hasnt asked me to endorse him per se, but in terms of the two, in terms of making things happen, Im going to be very supportive of him.

[Senate race could hinge on the vote in Baltimore]

Van Hollen served 12 years in the Maryland General Assembly before winning election to the U.S. House in 2003. Edwards, by contrast, was a lawyer and community activist who in 2008 ousted a Democratic incumbent and became the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress.

Millers backing gives Van Hollen another establishment ally in his bid to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D), a legendary figure in Maryland politics.

Among those in the party who have endorsed the congressman are Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III and state Del. Maggie L. McIntosh (Baltimore).

Van Hollen also has a substantial fundraising advantage over Edwards, whose key supporter is Emilys List, which backs the candidacies of Democratic women who support abortion rights.

Polls have shown a tight race, with Edwards edging ahead by six percentage points in the latest survey by the Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore. The primary is April 26.

Edwards has expressed few policy differences with her opponent, but she has said she would bring a unique and much-needed perspective to the U.S. Senate as a black, single mother. Only one woman of color, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), serves in the chamber.

When you have diverse voices . . . you make better decisions, Edwards said Saturday at a campaign event in Prince Georges.

Van Hollen and his supporters have touted his legislative accomplishments  and his relationships with lawmakers in Congress and the state legislature  as his strengths.

I like them both, but in terms of a leader who has been born to the job . . . hes an accomplished leader, Miller said.

He gets along with everybody . . . he can forge coalitions and make things happen.
State Sen. Jamie B. Raskin was on the defensive early in Sundays League of Women Voters Debate at Hood College in Frederick, placed there by two opponents whose own polling shows them in close pursuit of the Maryland lawmaker for the Democratic nomination for the 8th District congressional seat.

Wine retailer David Trone and former news anchor Kathleen Matthews blasted Raskin and Del. Kumar P. Barve, another candidate in the race, for the redrawn Congressional boundaries that they voted for in the state legislature in 2011.

The map paved the way for a Democrat to be elected in Marylands 6th Congressional district, a seat that was previously held by a Republican. It is frequently cited as an example of the kind of blatant gerrymandering that has led to polarization and partisan gridlock in Congress.

[Raskin holds slim lead in polls commissioned by Trone, Matthews]

Trone called the states current Congressional map an abomination, and scoffed at Raskins proposed solution  a regional reapportionment effort by Maryland and Virginia state legislators  as silly and a waste of time and rhetoric.

Matthews called the map the result of an old boys network protecting themselves and called for an independent national commission to address the issue.

Raskin  who won the support of about 30 percent of respondents in the two recent polls  said that his opponents need to get real about this and acknowledge that every redistricting is gerrymandering because the party in control of the state legislature has no incentive to act differently.

[Heres how some state lawmakers want to address gerrymandering]

He then pushed back at Matthews and Trone for contributions they have made to Republican lawmakers.

Both of them have given thousands of dollars to right-wing Republicans who have participated in gerrymandering plans in their states, Raskin said.

He was referring specifically to Trones donations to Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, where his big box store chain, Total Wine & More, does business. In Matthews case, it was a $2,600 donation in 2014 to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), co-sponsor with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) of legislation to promote international tourism.

I wonder if Kathleen would approach Sen. Roy Blunt, her friend from Missouri, the anti-choice, anti-birth control Republican, and ask whether hes doing anything about gerrymandering in his state, Raskin said, And I wonder whether Mr. Trone would approach Governor Abbott . . . to see whether hes doing anything about gerrymandering.

Trone admonished Raskin for his tone, and said his donation to the governor of Texas was related to the business he iowns in that state. First, I would start with the word respect. Thats where you start, Jamie, Trone said. Next point would be in Texas we have a thousand employees and were working for pro-consumer bills like Sunday sales, wine tastings, good things. . . . Thats money well spent.

[In field of rich candidates, this wine magnate is the richest]

Matthews, who was an executive with the Marriott International hotel chain when she contributed to Blunt, said Raskin has yanked the donation out of context.

I have given thousands of dollars to try to elect Democrats across this country, she said. In my entire career Ive given one donation to one Republican who worked as a bipartisan colleague on a piece of legislation that created thousands of jobs in this country. I think we need to build bridges and need to work together.

At Marriott Matthews oversaw the companys political action committee, which contributed more than $1.4 million to candidates between 2008 and 2014, including nearly $700,000 to Republicans, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Matthews said in an interview last week that Marriott employees were free to designate which party they wanted to receive their money. She also said decisions about specific contributions were made by lobbyists who reported to her.

An edge of anger crept into Raskins voice as he described the success of the Maryland legislature in advancing a progressive agenda in recent years, and addressed contentions that such an effort would be far more difficult in the Republican-led Congress.

Annapolis isnt Washington and Im glad of it! In Annapolis we can get things done. We make things happen, he said, referring to legislation establishing same-sex marriage and abolishing the death penalty.

In a poke at candidates Will Jawando, a former Senate aide, and former State Department official Joel Rubin, he added: The people who pride themselves on the fact that they were staffers in a deadlocked, paralyzed Washington? I urge them, before they try to go to Congress, to come out to Annapolis to see how to get things done.

[As clock to Maryland primary winds down, endorsements pile up]

Raskin, a three-term state senator and American University law professor, also questioned the qualifications for office of Matthews and Trone, both of whom are wealthy, first-time candidates. (Trone is self-funding his race.)

Public office isnt something that you buy, its something that you earn through your devotion to the public good and your service to the community, Raskin said. I would put my record of public service up against anybody running for Congress in America right now.

He concluded by responding to Trones request for respect.

I wasnt quite sure what he was referring to. I know riding up here we saw lots of illegal Trone signs placed all over the roads, he said. I know youre stuffing our mailboxes, the TV airwaves and the radio airwaves with your ads. At least give us [the public right of way]. Thats what the law says.

Residents in several 8th District communities have complained about Trone yard signs on roadsides. They are required to be placed on private property.

Trone acknowledged that inexperienced campaign workers were not familiar with the rules.

Were working on that. he said. But thank you for your help, Jamie, in pointing that out.
Obituaries of residents from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Richard H. Mayfield, lawyer

Richard H. Mayfield, 94, who practiced law in Washington for 66 years, specializing in probate matters, estate planning and administration, died Jan. 24 a health-care center in Washington. The cause was melanoma, said a stepdaughter-in-law, Margaret Cromelin.

Mr. Mayfield, who lived in Chevy Chase, Md., was born in Washington. In 1948 he joined what then was the law firm of McKenney, Flannery & Craighill, and he retired in 2014 at 92 from the firm that had become Craighill, Mayfield, Fenwick, Cromelin and Cobb.

Virginia Brown, physicist

Virginia Brown, 81, a physicist who for more than 50 years studied nuclear reactions, radiation and the structure of the atom at institutions such as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and MIT, died Feb. 8 at her home in Chevy Chase, Md. The cause was cancer, said her life partner, Marley Weiss.

Dr. Brown was born in Quincy, Mass. She joined Livermore, a national-security research center near San Francisco, as a postdoctoral fellow in 1964. She was named a senior scientist at the lab two years later, and she remained there until moving to the Washington area to oversee physics grants at the National Science Foundation from 1995 to 1998.

Dr. Brown continued her research until her death, holding positions at the universities of Connecticut and Maryland as well as at physics research institutions in Germany and Italy. She held board positions at the American Physical Society, a physics organization based in College Park, Md., and received its distinguished service award in 2003.

Joel A. Elder, buyer, fund adviser

Joel A. Elder, 37, a former buyer for Hechts department store in Arlington and later an investment company vice president in Austin, died Feb. 1 at his home in Austin. The cause was colon cancer, said his wife, Dawn Elder.

Mr. Elder was born in the District and lived in the Washington area until 2005 when he moved to Austin from Alexandria, Va. He was vice president of Dimensional Fund Advisors.

Charlotte Simon, Montgomery College professor

Charlotte Simon, 90, a psychology professor at the Rockville campus of Montgomery College for 31 years, died Feb. 5 at a hospital in Bethesda, Md. The cause was complications from Parkinsons disease, said a daughter, Lisa Onken.

Dr. Simon was born Charlotte Tulchin in Brooklyn and moved to Bethesda in 1959. In the 1960s, she was an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Maryland. She joined the Montgomery College faculty in 1969 and retired in 2000. She served for a time as psychology department chairwoman. She moved to an assisted-living center in Potomac, Md., from Bethesda two years ago.

Ann F. Kolker, cancer nonprofit founder

Ann F. Kolker, 75, a legislative and policy analyst who founded and directed the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance from 1998 to 2006, died Feb. 3 at her home in Washington. The cause was leukemia and ovarian cancer, said her husband, Peter Kolker.

Mrs. Kolker was born Ann Friedberg in Chicago. From 1978 to 1982, she was a legislative analyst with the National Womens Political Caucus and from 1984 to 1998 she was a policy analyst with the National Womens Law Center. Later she did consulting with the National Cancer Institute and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network.

Thomas W. Carr, Washington Campus executive

Thomas W. Carr, 86, a former vice president of Washington Campus, a 17-university consortium that exposes students to the workings of the federal government, died Feb. 12 at a medical facility in Charleston, S.C.

Mr. Carr was born in New York City and was an Army officer for eight years before settling in the Washington area in the 1950s. He held government jobs, including director of the White House Fellows program, director of defense education in the office of the Secretary of Defense, and director of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children. From 1983 to 1992, he was vice president of Washington Campus.

He moved from Washington in the late 1980s, but continued working at his Washington Campus job from South Carolina.

Ellen D. Nesheim, compliance officer

Ellen D. Nesheim, 80, a compliance officer with the Food and Drug Administrations office of seafood safety for about a decade before retiring in 2003, died Feb. 8 at her home in Washington. The cause was end-stage dementia, said a son, Eric Nesheim.

Mrs. Nesheim, who was born Mary Ellen Deck, was a sixth-generation Washingtonian and a member of the Association of Oldest Inhabitants of D.C. She was an assistant registrar at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in the 1970s and a legal secretary in the 1980s.

Stephen P. Gibert, Georgetown U. professor

Stephen P. Gibert, 91, a Georgetown University professor of government who was on the faculty for 48 years before retiring in 2003, died Feb. 1 at his home in McLean, Va. The cause was complications from lymphoma, said his wife, Cynthia Gibert.

Dr. Gibert was born in North Augusta, S.C. At Georgetown, he was the founder and director of the National Securities Studies Program. He had been an adviser to the governments of Thailand, Burma and the Defense Department and wrote nine books and monographs.

Lucille Husztek, cafeteria manager

Lucille Husztek, 94, a cafeteria manager at Woodburn Elementary School in Falls Church, Va., from 1958 to 1963, died Jan. 31 at her home in Annandale, Va. The cause was coronary artery disease, said a daughter, Diane Dunkley.

Mrs. Husztek was born Lucille Smith in Stokes County, N.C. She came to the Washington area in 1942 and during and shortly after World War II worked for the Army Signal Intelligence Service at Arlington Hall, helping decode Japanese messages. In the later decades of her life, she traveled extensively and lived in Annandale and Stokes County.

Michael L. Garbacz, NASA program manager

Michael L. Garbacz, 88, who retired from NASA in the early 1980s after having been program manager for the operational meteorological satellite program, died Feb. 15 at his home in Oakton, Va. The cause was complications from a stroke, said a daughter, Lisbeth Chandler.

Mr. Garbacz, a Chicago native, began his NASA career around 1960 and had been chief of the design and test practices of the Apollo program. Earlier he had worked for the Navys Bureau of Ships and the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency in Huntsville, Ala.

Leonard Lapidus, economist

Leonard Lapidus, 86, an economist who specialized in bank regulation and supervision, died Feb. 13 at his home in Chevy Chase, Md. The cause was Parkinsons disease, said his wife, Jackie Lapidus.

Dr. Lapidus was born in New York and was a banker there before moving to the Washington area in 1977 as a special assistant to the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Later, he was president of the Central Liquidity Facility at the National Credit Union Administration. From 1981 to 1994, he was in Boston as president of the Depositors Insurance Fund.

He returned to Washington in 1999 as associate director, financial institutions in the Treasury Departments office of technical assistance. He was a consultant to the Treasury Department on bank regulation and deposit insurance, advising government agencies in Colombia, Albania, Senegal, Romania, Bosnia, Thailand, India and Iraq.

William G. Fisher Jr., Navy captain

William G. Fisher Jr., 86, a Navy captain who in retirement was a business and site facilities manager at St. Agnes School in Alexandria and later Georgetown Visitation School in Washington, died Feb. 8 at his home in Vienna, Va. The cause was cancer, said a son, John L. Fisher.

Capt. Fisher was born in Portsmouth, Va., into a Navy family and grew up at Navy facilities around the country, including the Washington area. He served almost 30 years in the Navy at various sea commands and in the 1970s as deputy commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. He retired from the Navy in 1981 after having served as commanding officer of the Naval Recruit Training Command in Orlando.

Jean Berinati, homemaker

Jean Berinati, 91, a Washington-area homemaker who moved to New Mexico in 1981 and helped lead the transformation of a Santa Fe railyard into an arts and shopping district, died Feb. 6 at a hospital in Bethesda, Md. The cause was a heart ailment, said a son, John Buxbaum.

Mrs. Berinati was born Jean Rubin in Washington. She briefly worked for Vista, an anti-poverty program that is now part of AmeriCorps, as well as for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She also sold real estate. She returned to the Washington area in 2012.

Charles E. Falk,NSF official

Charles E. Falk, 92, a physicist who for 15 years shaped funding policies at the National Science Foundation, helping to determine where scientific grants and resources were directed, died Feb. 11 at his home in Bethesda, Md. The cause was complications from a stroke, said a son, Jeffrey Falk.

Dr. Falk was born in Hamm, Germany. At Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, he rose to the position of associate director and in 1966 joined the NSF as planning director. From 1970 until his retirement in 1985, he was the foundations director of science resource studies, developing indicators to track the impact and needs of scientific research.

CORRECTION: The obituary of Ellen D. Nesheim incorrectly reported her maiden name. It is Deck, not Dick. The obituary also omitted her first name at birth, Mary. The story has been revised.

 From staff reports
Indianapolis Colts inside linebacker DQwell Jackson runs with the ball during a game against the Washington Redskins in 2014. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

Indianapolis Colts linebacker DQwell Jackson was found guilty Monday of assaulting a pizza deliveryman who parked in Jacksons private parking spot near his D.C. condominium blocks from the busy U Street corridor.

Jackson, 32, a Florida native who attended the University of Maryland, was charged with misdemeanor simple assault in the Feb. 3, 2015, altercation. Authorities say police arrived in the 1900 block of 11th Street NW about 8 p.m. when the driver told police that Jackson had punched him on the side of his face and the back of his head after he told Jackson he would be in the parking space momentarily.

According to D.C. Superior Court charging documents, Jackson admitted to police that he told the driver to get the (expletive) out of my parking space and admitted to putting his hands on the deliveryman. During the trial, the 6-foot-tall, 242-pound Jackson said he struck the deliveryman in self-defense. Jackson lives in the condo during the National Football Leagues offseason.

Following a four-day trial, Judge Wendell P. Gardner Jr. found Jackson guilty of the assault, which carries a maximum of 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Gardner is scheduled to sentence Jackson on April 6.

Jacksons attorney, David Schertler, did not respond to requests for comment.
A third person has been arrested in connection with a 2015 break-in that led to the shooting death of a 64-year-old man, Fairfax County police said Monday.

The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Timothy Lamont Washington of Alexandria. Investigators arrested Washington late Saturday evening and charged him with murder in connection with the killing of Santos Zelaya.

On March 26, 2015, three men broke into Zelayas home in the 6100 block of North Kings Highway, police said. One man held Zelayas roommate at gunpoint, while two others searched the home, according to an affidavit.

At some point during the break-in, authorities said, Zelaya came out of a room with a machete and injured one of the men. Police said they shot him and fled the house.

[Two charged with murder in killing of 64-year-old Alexandria man]

Timothy Lamont Washington (Fairfax County Police)

Authorities said Washington was arrested at his home but did not reveal how investigators linked him to the shooting.

Washington is the third person arrested. Two other men  George Brown, 23, of the District and Niziah Williams, 24, of Clinton, Md.  were charged with murder in May.

A police department spokesman said Washington is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Hes scheduled to appear in court on June 6.

Justin Jouvenal contributed to this report.
Riders wait on a crowded platform at Metro Center on Monday after service was disrupted by an electrical fire in a tunnel just west of McPherson Square. (Luz Lazo/The Washington Post))

An electrical fire in a Metro tunnel early Monday, which caused huge delays on three subway lines, involved the same type of track-based power cables that burned during last years fatal Yellow Line smoke incident in another tunnel, the transit agency said.

The fire, which broke out about 4:30 a.m. just west of the McPherson Square station, fouled the morning and evening commutes for thousands of riders on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines. While repair crews worked in the tunnel, the frequency of trains on the three lines was greatly reduced, and some stations were bypassed.

The agency planned to suspend service between the Foggy Bottom and Federal Triangle stations beginning at 9 p.m. to complete repairs by Tuesday.

Riders tweeted photos of dangerously crowded platforms, and there were reports of passengers becoming ill in the long waits and close quarters.

Tweeted one disgruntled rider during the evening commute: 45 minutes since last [Silver/Orange/Blue train] at Lenfant. No excuse for that. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Said another, upon learning that Mondays problems were similar to those of last years Yellow Line incident: Today convinced me that I will never, ever bring my child onto a metro train. Not a risk Im willing to take with a kid.

Mondays day-long mess was the latest in a spate of chronic service disruptions plaguing Metro and aggravating long-suffering commuters, especially over the past year.

I know that it was a tough commute, General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement Monday afternoon, announcing that the service disruption would extend late into the evening. I know that many of you experienced delays of 30 to 60 minutes, he said. I apologize for the delay, inconvenience and crowding.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency does not plan to offer fare refunds, as it has in the past after severe service problems.

As always, such requests are handled on a case by case basis, he said in an email. Mondays fire occurred before dawn, so fortunately there was plenty of advance notice of the disruption before most customers got to the system.

Wiedefeld said in an interview that the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction involving power lines called jumper cables.

[The problem with Metros subway jumper cables.]

In that sense, the incident seemed to echo the deadly calamity on Jan. 12, 2015, near Metros LEnfant Plaza station. An electrical malfunction on tracks near the station that day filled a tunnel with smoke, engulfing a stalled Yellow Line train in fumes. Scores of passengers were sickened and one died of respiratory failure.

In many places in the subway, for various reasons, there are gaps in the electrified third rails. Jumper cables bridge the gaps almost like extension cords, allowing current to continue flowing along the third rails, from which trains draw power.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the LEnfant incident and plans to issue its final report next month. Preliminary documents and photos made public by the NTSB show that the electrical malfunction in the LEnfant tunnel was centered near a 20-foot gap in a third rail that was bridged by jumper cables, which were destroyed.

[1 dead, dozens hurt after Metro car fills with smoke]

Metro said shortly after the LEnfant incident that it was accelerating a long-term plan to replace many older jumper cables with newer ones.

Mondays fire also occurred in a third-rail gap that was bridged by jumper cables, Wiedefeld said. Basically, the older cables, where they connect to the third rail, something happened  a short circuit; I dont know what the official term is  and it caused the condition of the flare-up, which caused the fire in the actual cables.

The short circuit, as he called it, could trigger electrical arcing, which was the cause of the LEnfant fire, the NTSB has said.

A preliminary safety board report cited severe electrical arcing damage to the jumper cables at the LEnfant site. Arcing suggests that the fire there resulted from electricity escaping from one or more of the cables. This could occur if the cable insulation was damaged, exposing the current to moisture or other contaminants, which could provide a path for the electricity to flow out of its containment.

That could generate tremendous heat, causing smoke-producing fire or melting.

[The problem with Metros subway power cable connections.]

We dont want to speculate on what the actual cause was at this point, Stessel said of Mondays fire. He also said he had no information on whether the jumper cables near McPherson had recently been replaced.

Many subway power cables, including jumper cables, are attached to other power lines by connector assemblies called boots. In June, the NTSB said a number of boots throughout the rail system lacked the proper type of sealing sleeves, which are designed to keep contaminants away from the electrical current.

These improperly constructed power-cable connector assemblies are a significant problem, the NTSB warned. When contaminants create a path for electricity to escape, the safety board said, the result can be fire and smoke in tunnels.

After that NTSB warning, Metro acknowledged that about 80 percent of the approximately 6,400 power-cable connector assemblies in the subway lacked adequate sealing sleeves. Rectifying the situation will require months of work, Metro said.

As for Mondays fire, Wiedefeld said: We dont know if it was caused by the boots. We dont know what it was yet. Asked whether the boots near McPherson were fitted with proper sealing sleeves, Stessel replied in an email: Subject to investigation.

To ease daytime rail congestion Monday, Metro said, Silver Line trains ran only in Virginia, between the Wiehle-Reston East and Ballston stations. That cutback in Silver Line service was to continue at least until Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Orange and Blue line trains in both directions were sharing one track between the Foggy Bottom and the Federal Triangle stations throughout the day and night, while repair crews occupied the other track, which was closed.

[Read Metros service advisory for Monday afternoon and evening.]

I get on near the start of the Orange Line, Dunn Loring, and it was standing room only, said Paula Hill, 57, referring to the crowding caused by the reduced frequency of trains during the morning rush.

I stood all the way to Virginia Square before I got a seat, said Hill, who works at a law firm in the District. They took us to Foggy Bottom. And we sat and sat and sat and sat at Foggy Bottom. And then they offloaded the whole train.

She said she crowded onto another train and finally made it to McPherson Square, more than an hour after beginning what is normally a half-hour commute.

Im very tired, and Im not even at work yet.

Amid the confusion of single-tracking and station-skipping, Nana Amoakohene, an information-technology consultant who lives near McPherson, was trying to get to his office in Rosslyn. Someone just barked instructions at me, and thats all I got, said Amoakohene, 36, after an encounter with a McPherson station manager. He was leaving the station moments after entering it.

I dont understand what theyre trying to tell me, he said. I dont have a car, so this is my only form of transportation, the way I get to work.

Im taking a taxi instead.

Chuck Moran, 23, who lives near Logan Circle in the District and works for a technology company in Tysons Corner, faced the same confusion at McPherson. Moran was headed out of the station moments after going in. Im just going to go try to work at a coffee shop until they get all this sorted out, he said, calling the situation unacceptable.

Metro plans to establish a grace period for commuters in situations like Mondays, allowing them to leave a station within 15 minutes of entering without having to pay the minimum fare. But that wont start until July.

It doesnt feel like anyone cares about the riders, Moran said. I just walked in and out of these gates and was charged $2.15. And I asked the station manager, and all she said was, Yup, thats what happens, and then just walked away from me.

At Metro Center, customers on crowded platforms struggled to figure out which trains to take and where to catch them. Look at this, said Helena Djordvedic, 42, who was trying to reach the Federal Center SW station. You dont know which direction its going, you just have to listen to their shouting, and were already 15 minutes late.

Tourists had trouble navigating the maze of service disruptions. Brian Delle Donne, 58, of Morristown, N.J., was trying to visit the Library of Congress. At Foggy Bottom, he said, he boarded a train that stayed in the station for 10 minutes and was then offloaded.

It has been horrendous, he said.

Luz Lazo, Faiz Siddiqui and Perry Stein contributed to this report.
They arrive early, sometimes as much as an hour before the first note is played.

Residents of Morningside House, a Leesburg assisted-living facility, come to the dining room and position their wheelchairs or claim seats in rows of chairs  just as they have nearly every Tuesday evening for 19 years. The folding doors at the front of the room are opened to reveal the activity room, which has been transformed into a stage. One by one, the musicians take their places.

Promptly at 7 p.m., guitarist Bob Brown opens the show with a joke and then introduces the first song, and the musicians launch into an up-tempo rendition of a classic Lefty Frizzell song. The longest-running weekly jam session in Loudoun County is underway.

For the next 90 minutes, nine musicians entertain the audience with a selection of bluegrass, country and gospel standards, punctuated occasionally with one of Browns jokes. The audience sits quietly during the songs, some with their heads bowed. But many sing along quietly  to the gospel hymns, in particular  and applaud enthusiastically after each song.

The show ends with a rousing version of the defiant Mama Dont Allow No Music Playin Around Here. Many of the instrumentalists take turns at the microphones to show off their skills, to the delight of the audience.

Former Loudoun Chamber of Commerce president Randy Collins is to blame for the whole thing, Brown joked afterward.

Collins, who now has a similar position in Mount Airy, N.C., traced the genesis of the sessions to a chamber mixer at Morningside House early in 1997. He told the facilitys director that if they would provide the space for free, he could recruit a group of musicians to entertain the residents. The jam sessions started shortly thereafter, and have continued ever since, he said.

It became almost like a ministry, Collins said in a telephone interview. People who are musicians, in any kind of genre, just love to play. And especially bluegrass musicians  they just like to sit around and pick.

The musicians come and go from week to week and year to year, Brown said. As many as 20 musicians have crowded onto the stage at one time, although the number is usually much smaller, he said.

The jam sessions provide a place for the more seasoned players to hone their craft, Collins said. But we always get a lot of novices that come in. So they can sit in the back and just play along.

Nikki Allen, marketing director of Morningside House, said the residents look forward to the Tuesday night sessions. It gives them the excitement of having live music right in front of them, she said.

The seniors are just an awesome audience, Collins said. He recalled an elderly woman who approached him at one of the sessions and told him she had outlived two husbands, her children and all of her friends.

She said, I didnt have a lot to live for. Now I live for Tuesday nights,  Collins said.

Several performers in a jam session last week said they enjoy the camaraderie among the musicians.

Its my Tuesday night card game, if you will, to get together with these guys, said Brown, the owner of a Leesburg real estate firm.

Guitarist Bill Wiley, who lives outside Leesburg, said he needed something to do after he retired and his wife died.

My wife gave me a guitar around 1960, and I had never learned to play it, he said. After she passed away, I got some lessons and started going around to nursing homes to play. . . . It makes me feel good.

The jam sessions are free and open to the public. In good weather, they all move outside, where the music sometimes attracts passersby, Allen said.

We encourage the public to come, Brown said. The bigger the crowd, the better we play. I think thats true of all musicians.

Collins looks back fondly on his involvement with the jam sessions.

It was a lot of fun, and Im thrilled to death that it continues, he said.
"gorgeous, classic designs include show-stopping details that will make you want to include more than one in your updated wardrobe"--Vogue Knitting, Fall 2013
SOUTH

Louisiana, Mississippi

cope with flooding

Widespread flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi has damaged thousands of homes and the risk of more flooding played out Sunday as rain-filled rivers rose over banks.

In Louisiana, emergency officials said more than 4,958 homes were damaged. That number is expected to rise as more reports come in from areas still battling floodwater. Mississippi reported that 185 homes were damaged by floodwater and about 650 homes sustained minor damage.

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said he was worried that many flood victims dont have flood insurance.

Downpours  part of a system affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama  have submerged roads and cars, washed out bridges and forced residents to flee homes.

At least three people have died in Louisiana, authorities said. On Sunday, Mississippi officials said they were still looking for two missing fishermen, but had no reports of injuries or deaths there.

Meanwhile, a storm brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California on Sunday, the fourth day of wet weather that has prompted road and school closures and left an officer injured.

Dry conditions and warmer weather are forecast for Monday.

A California Highway Patrol officer was in serious but stable condition Sunday after being struck by an out-of-control vehicle as he provided traffic control in snowy conditions on a portion of Interstate 80 near Donner Summit, the CHP Truckee office said.

In counties north of San Francisco, rivers swelled and the flood risk was high. About 8 inches of rain fell during a 72-hour period in the unincorporated town of Venado in Sonoma County.

 Associated Press

New York

Divers find 2nd body

after tugboat crash

The body of a second tugboat crew member who disappeared after the boat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City has been pulled from the river, authorities said Sunday.

The 90-foot tugboat named Specialist hit a barge early Saturday near where the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which connects two counties north of New York City, is being built. The tugboat sank, spilling about 5,000 gallons of fuel into the water.

The body has been identified as that of Timothy Conklin, 29, of Long Island. The body was brought back to shore after divers found it inside the tugboat about 11 a.m. Sunday.

The third crew member aboard the tugboat when it crashed has been identified as Harry Hernandez, 56, of Staten Island. He remains missing.

The body of Paul Amon, 62, of Bayville, N.J., was pulled from the water Saturday.

Divers were expected to resume the search later Sunday, Westchester County police spokesman Kieran OLeary said. The tugboat was damaged to the point that a full search was not possible, he added.

 Associated Press

Wisconsin

Mental-health treatment

for girl charged in attack

One of two teenage girls accused of trying to kill a classmate near Milwaukee to appease the online fictional character Slender Man is being treated at a state mental hospital, the girls attorney said.

A judge committed the 13-year-old to the hospital in January, the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee reported Sunday. The girl had been diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia during a court-ordered competency evaluation in 2014.

Shes made substantial progress, said the girls attorney, Anthony Cotton, adding that she recently began expressing remorse. Shes starting to feel regular and normal emotions now.

Cotton plans to again ask that the girls $500,000 bail be reduced to a signature bond, which would allow her to return home and continue receiving treatment while awaiting trial. The other girl is being held at a West Bend juvenile jail.

The two girls are charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the May 2014 attack on Payton Leutner.

 Associated Press

Ethel Kennedy leads farmworkers protest in Fla.: Hundreds of protesters, many of them farmworkers led by Ethel Kennedy, demonstrated near the home of Wendys fast food chains chairman in hopes of convincing the company to pay a penny-per-pound fee for its tomatoes to supplement some farmworkers wages. The Palm Beach Post reported that the Coalition of Immokalee Workers march near billionaire Nelson Peltzs home was peaceful Saturday. A federal judge had ruled that the coalition could use loudspeakers but said marchers must remain on the sidewalk. Kennedy, the 87-year-old widow of senator Robert F. Kennedy, led the charge onto the barrier island where protesters held signs to boycott the chain and some acted out a skit. Tomato harvesters make an average of about $10,000 during the six-month season, earning 50 cents for every 32-pound basket they fill. The coalition says the program can add $20 to $150 to their weekly checks.

 Associated Press


Shown through the window, Ralph Case makes a call at the Stark County for Trump Headquarters in North Canton, Ohio. (Andrew Spear/For The Washington Post)

A week ago in Middle America, a father and son piled into an old red Pontiac and hit the road for a weekend outing.

Dad, can I say, The truth hurts? the 12-year-old asked.

No, son, thats my line! the father said. You can say, Who are you voting for? 

Trump! Trump! Trump! the son rehearsed in the back seat as his dad gunned it down a potholed highway in North Canton, Ohio, until they reached a Kmart parking lot where people were starting to rally around a huge American flag.

Lets do this thing! the father said to the boy as they joined the crowd, and soon, another scene in the upending of the modern Republican Party was underway.

It was in so many ways the moment that 38-year-old Ralph Case had been waiting for, one building since June, when the single father with a one-truck renovation business was watching TV in his living room. A breaking news alert flashed on the screen, followed by the scene in a brassy lobby in New York. Rockin in the Free World was blasting. A crowd was facing an escalator. And then, gliding down it, came the man Ralph recognized as the great builder and reality-show host Donald J. Trump, who was announcing his bid for president.

Oh. My. God, is what Ralph remembers thinking. As Trump spoke of an America that doesnt have any victories anymore, he felt something stirring inside  like something hit me in my gut.

Im thinking, its time, Ralph recalled. Like, this is big. This is bigger than big.

He began making the first of dozens of unreturned calls to Trump headquarters in New York. He used his own money to rent a defunct tanning salon and plastered its windows with Trump signs. Now it was just days before the critical March 15 GOP primary in Ohio, and here he was with his son at a Donald Trump for president rally, becoming someone hed never imagined.

That Ralph guy in Ohio, was how the Trump campaign had begun referring to the freelancer from North Canton.

Im Ralph Case, chair of the Stark County Trump campaign, was how Ralph had begun referring to himself.



The Stark County for Trump Headquarters in North Canton, Ohio, is set up in a tanning salon. (Andrew Spear/For The Washington Post)

I go by my gut

In an improbable campaign season, Ralph thought what was happening to him was perhaps the most improbable story of all.

On a Friday a year ago, he might have been fixing a gutter. On this Friday, a day before the rally, he was setting up a phone bank in the former tanning salon in North Canton, becoming part of something that felt larger every day, more like an important, even historic, struggle.

Republican elites were flying to a fancy resort in Georgia for a strategy session on how to defeat Trump. Millions were being spent on negative ads. Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney had just made a nationally televised speech calling Trump a bully and a con man.

It seemed to Ralph that the whole political world was mobilizing against Trump, and by extension, people like him  an everyman with an 11th-grade education, aching knees and chronic ailments requiring four prescriptions and a monthly IV infusion to keep him going.

All of it only affirmed Ralphs instinct: that Trump was an outsider telling the truth about Americas decline. Hes honest, said Ralph. And the truth hurts.

Hey, Ralph, said a volunteer named Mike, arriving at the office to pick up signs. You see what the Republicans are trying to do to us? Its just sad. They will never get another vote from me.

Me either, said Ralph, who had actually rarely voted before but was now so energized that he had called John Couchburner Dennings radio show that morning, waiting on hold for 35 minutes to tell people about the new office on Tuscarawas Street, where a portable sign in the parking lot said Tru Headquarters because hed run out of letters. Now people were streaming in.

There was the former Democrat who voted for Obama twice: Theres this elite group that says you have to think a certain way, and if you dont were going to tell you what to think, said David Sexton, 41, who works for a bank collections department.

There was the veteran who couldnt care less that Trump was vulgar: I feel hes talking to me when he talks, said Terry Smerz.

There were Lucia Zappitelli, who worked for 30 years at Diebold until her division was outsourced to India  He tells it like it is, and we are sinking, she said  and Pam Henderhan, who was handing out the phone number for the Republican Party so people could complain.

They talk to us like we are stupid, said Henderhan, a retired detective. I dont have a 200 IQ, but I have a college degree and 30 years in law enforcement. I watch MSNBC. I watch Fox and CNN. Its insulting the way they talk down to us.

And there was Ralph, who spoke in vague but emotional terms about Trump.

I go by my gut, and my gut tells me to keep going forward  things are about to change, he said. And I dont mean change in a little way, I mean change in a big way.

Now his phone was ringing.

Gavin? Im on my way, he said, and headed to meet his 12-year-old after school.

Ralph had never really thought of himself as especially angry about his circumstances. He wasnt one to rail at the television news. He was too busy scrounging up renovation jobs, or fixing his work truck that has 323,000 miles, or adjusting his medications, and mainly trying to be a good father after a life that had included being bullied in high school and the night he said he fell asleep driving and wrapped his car around a tree.

Gavin! he called out when he arrived home, a vinyl-sided rental off a four-lane highway. A Trump sign stood in the yard.



Ralph Case starts dinner with his sons Gavin, 12, left, and Mason, 4. (Andrew Spear/For The Washington Post)

Ralph headed through the kitchen, where dishes were piled in the sink and Trumps book The Art of the Deal was on the table, dog-eared to Page 16, where Trump ponders investing in the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Ralph went into the bedroom, where he had built Gavin a plywood bunk bed in the shape of a castle.

Gavin, wheres your favorite place to go?

Kalahari! said Gavin, referring to a water park where admission costs $69 a ticket.

Were going to Kalahari this summer, Ralph vowed, but now it was time to head back to work at Trump Central, as Ralph called it. He had promised himself hed put in at least two hours a day on the phone bank.

Hes got to win, Ralph said as they piled into the red Pontiac, which had a license plate that read Gavin1, a Speedway coffee cup and a prescription bottle in the console. As they sped along, Ralph found himself ranting about things he had never ranted about before.

Fox News host Megyn Kelly  That was wrong what she did! Hillary Clintons email server  That makes me very angry. Trade deficits  Were losing billions! The media  They lie.

Trumps a man of his word, Ralph went on as they passed a landscape of pawn shops, payday loan stores and faded strip malls. Hes blunt. Hes straightforward. Why did Mitt come out and say what he said? Because the truth hurts.

They wheeled into the Taco Bell drive-through for dinner.

He started crying when he heard he was going to the rally, Gavin said, referring to a Trump rally that Ralph was planning to attend in Cleveland. The campaign had secured him VIP access.

Whew, Ralph said as they idled in line.

Whats wrong, dad? Gavin asked.

I just cant wait until March 15, Ralph said, referring to the Ohio primary. I want him to win.

He rubbed his aching knees.

Darn boots, he said, cursing the steel-toed boots that aggravate his arthritis. Okay, son, what would you like?

Quesalupa, Gavin said, and soon they were back in the office, where they stayed late.

That night, Ralph barely slept.

Im a nervous wreck, he said Saturday morning as he and Gavin were speeding toward the rally in front of the Kmart.

Weve got to keep this going, Ralph said, referring to the momentum he was feeling for the first time in his life. He has to win. He will win.

He saw a van with a Trump sticker and started honking. Yeah, buddy! Go Trump! Ralph yelled out the window. He saw another bumper sticker and started honking again. Woo!

Dad, what are you doing? Gavin asked.

Its attention, son! Ralph said.

They pulled into the Kmart lot and joined a dozen or so people rallying along a sidewalk by a busy four-lane, one of them waving a huge American flag, the rest waving Trump signs and handing them out to passing cars.

Hold it up proud, son! Ralph told Gavin, who hoisted up his Trump sign like his dad, who raised a two-by-four stapled with three Silent Majority Stands With Trump signs toward the gray Ohio sky.

Woo! Ralph yelled out at a Durango driver who gave him a thumbs-up.

We need to save America! he called to an Audi that pulled over for free signs.

Yeah! he yelled out to a rusted-out Buick, punching his fist in the air.

And when the occasional driver yelled F- - - Trump! Ralph yelled back his favorite line of all.

The truth hurts, my friend! he screamed into the cold mid-

morning. Yeah!

He yelled it at a driver who flipped him a middle finger. Hey! The truth hurts!

He shouted it to a man who gave him a thumbs-down. The truth hurts!

He screamed it at a woman who did the same thing  The truth hurts, lady!  who now rolled down her window. What truth!? she screamed back.

That were gonna make America great again! Ralph yelled back at the top of his lungs.

A man at a stoplight rolled down his window. F--- you! he yelled.

We love you! We love you! Ralph called back.

You dont love Mexicans! the man yelled.

The truth hurts! Drive safely! Ralph yelled as the man drove off.

After two hours, they were finished. There had been far more supporters than detractors. The volunteers had given away about 200 signs.

See, Gavin? Ralph said to his son as they went back to the car. The positive outweighs the negative.



Trump supporters Charlene Jendro, Gavin Case and Tom Chufar rally on a vacant corner lot in Canton, Ohio, on March 6. (Andrew Spear/For The Washington Post)

Hes our final hope

On the following Monday morning, Ralph dropped Gavin off at school.

Do something positive today, okay? he said to him, then headed to the hospital.

Ralph Case? the nurse called into the waiting room, and Ralph went back and settled into a reclining chair for the monthly IV infusion that helps with his chronic arthritis and a skin condition.

Left arm today, Ralph? the nurse asked.

Sounds good, he said, rolling up the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

How was your weekend? she said, checking his blood pressure. It was high.

I was on this Trump campaign . . . Ralph said, smiling.

How are you feeling? the nurse asked.

The pain is about a five. My knees hurt. My feet hurt.

Okay, she said, smiling and wiping his arm for the needle. Please state your name?

Ralph Case, he said, and soon the other Ralph Case, 69, arrived to sit with his son until he fell asleep, a ritual they have performed every month for three years.

Hi, Dad, Ralph Jr. said to Ralph Sr., a Vietnam-era veteran and retired Cadillac mechanic who is originally from West Virginia. He handed his son the newspaper.

State of Decline: Ohios 15 Year Fall, read the banner headline of a two-page article chronicling Ohios dropping median income, down 16.1 percent, and its manufacturing job losses, nearly 400,000. Ralph read his horoscope out loud  You grow wiser as you accept things the way they are . . . The IV dripped.

Sometimes I find them true, Ralph said, putting the paper down.

You guys have a new location for your meeting? he asked his dad, who is on his neighborhood watch committee.

Yeah, said his father, who went on talking about all the foreclosed, abandoned houses around his neighborhood and how squatters and heroin addicts are moving in. He said he had just seen a woman shooting up in her car at the gas station.

Ralph struggled to stay awake.

Its bad, his father said.

He tried to think of a time when it was good, a time he thinks of when he hears Trump say he is going to make America great again. He looked off. His son drifted off to sleep.

My high school years, he said of his childhood in Akron. Oh, I loved em. Akron had a population of about 500,000. Were down below 198,000 now. We come up here and youd have the smell of rubber, fumes, vapors  everybodys working. Everybody was happy, had money in their pocket, had cars, working two and three shifts day, but then . . .

In the afternoon, Ralph woke up. His dad had gone.

It was sunny out, and he stopped for a coffee before heading back to Trump Central.

Now he was thinking about what Make America Great Again meant to him. When was the last time that things were great for Ralph? When was the last time he didnt have to worry? He looked off.

Its been a very long time, he said. My health, jobs. . . . Im always worried about something.

Surely there was some worry-free year. He thought about his childhood, when his parents divorced and his mother worked two and three bookkeeping jobs. He thought about his young adulthood. He kept thinking.

Im not able, he said finally. I couldnt give you a time. I couldnt give you a date.

What he did have was a sense of purpose that was growing with every sign he waved and phone call he made for Trump. He felt excited. He felt hopeful. He was sure that life in a Trump world was going to be better.

I feel strongly hes our final hope, he said.

And if Trump doesnt win?

I dont want to talk about that, Ralph said, and headed back to the office to make more calls.
The United States is in the midst of the worst epidemic of unintentional drug overdose in its history. (ORCEA DAVID/ISTOCKPHOTO)

Addiction to prescription painkillers and heroin has grown so deadly that the Obama administration wants to spend more than $1 billion over the next two years fighting it. Nearly all of the money would go to making anti-addiction medications, including buprenorphine, more available.

Yet in the midst of the worst epidemic of unintentional drug overdose in U.S. history  mortality rates are four to fives times as high as in the mid-1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  it can be harder to get drugs to treat an addiction than it is to get the drugs that feed it.

More than 28,000 Americans died from heroin and painkiller overdoses in 2014, according to the CDC. But fewer than half of the 2.2 million people who need treatment for opioid addiction are receiving it, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said as President Obamas latest budget was released last month.

Peter Shumlin (D-Vt.) was among the first governors to address the opioid epidemic, devoting his entire State of the State address to the crisis in 2014. Since then, his administration and many of Vermonts private-practice doctors have made treatment more available than it is in most of the country.

Despite that, almost 500 addicts in this state of 626,000 people are on waiting lists to receive medication for opioid dependence. More than half will wait close to a year.

Nationwide, a shortage of doctors willing to prescribe buprenorphine, which reduces drug cravings, and a federal limit on the number of patients each doctor can treat, prevents many who could benefit from the medication from getting it.

Where are the doctors?

Nearly every U.S. physician  there are more than 900,000 of them  can write prescriptions for opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin by simply signing on to a federal registry. In most states, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can also prescribe opioids.

But to prescribe buprenorphine to people addicted to opioids and heroin, doctors must take an eight-hour course and apply for a special license. So far, fewer than 32,000 doctors have received the license, and the vast majority who have one seldom if ever use it.

Vermont has 248 doctors licensed to prescribe buprenorphine to addicts, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is part of HHS. Few of them accept new patients who are addicted to opioids.

In the weeks ahead, HHS is expected to propose a change that would probably increase the number of patients a doctor can treat with buprenorphine, possibly with the addition of new licensing requirements.

But many who work in the field of addiction question whether allowing the specially licensed doctors to treat more addicts would do much good. As in Vermont, very few doctors across the country come anywhere close to maxing out on the number of such patients they are allowed to have.

The solution, they say, is for more doctors to prescribe the medication. But thats a long-term solution that involves teaching newly minted doctors about addiction during their residencies and trying to change the hearts and minds of physicians already in private practice, said John Brooklyn, the medical director at the Howard Center, an opioid treatment program in Vermonts Chittenden County. Were making progress, he said. But it will take time.

Advocates for greater access to buprenorphine also support a bipartisan bill in Congress  the Recovery Enhancement for Addiction Treatment Act, or TREAT  that would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe it.

Without legislation, HHS has authority only to adjust the patient limit and licensing rules for physicians. Melinda Campopiano, chief medical officer at HHSs Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, agreed that patients with opioid addiction would be better served if more doctors offered addiction screening and treatment.

What is a concern to me is that more physicians dont feel the responsibility to step up and get a license to provide buprenorphine, she said.

An untapped resource

When approved in 2002, buprenorphine was the first opioid-addiction medication that could be prescribed by doctors. The only alternative at the time was methadone, which had to be dispensed daily at highly regulated clinics. (A third addiction medication, Vivitrol, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2010, but it is expensive and not widely used for opioid addiction in much of the country.)

Although buprenorphine does not produce the euphoric effects of heroin or OxyContin, many drug users purchase it on the street to tide themselves over until they can score the real thing.

Clinical research shows that all three opioid-addiction medicines offer a far greater chance of recovery than treatments that do not involve medication, such as 12-step programs and residential care. Staying in recovery and avoiding relapse for at least a year is more than twice as likely with medications as without them. Medications also lower the risk of a fatal overdose.

Buprenorphine was developed with the idea that family doctors could assess patients with an opioid addiction to make sure the daily oral medication was appropriate and prescribe a monthly supply to be picked up at a drugstore.

Like methadone, buprenorphine is a long-acting opioid that relieves drug cravings and physical withdrawal symptoms with fewer of the side effects of other opioids. It presents a very low risk of overdose unless taken in combination with benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded buprenorphines development, has urged doctors everywhere to start prescribing it to their patients with opioid addiction. That way, people who respond well would no longer have to travel to a methadone clinic every morning. They could get help the same way people with other diseases do  at their local doctors office.

So far, that hasnt happened.

In anticipation of buprenorphines approval by the FDA, a 2000 federal law required doctors to seek a special license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe it. Without that law, a 1914 federal narcotics law would have precluded doctors from prescribing the drug, and it would have been subject to the same kind of regulation as methadone.

Because buprenorphine is much safer than methadone, Congress wanted to make sure patients didnt have to disrupt their lives by traveling to one of only 1,200 methadone clinics scattered across the country to take the daily medication under strict supervision.

In addition to requiring training, the buprenorphine law limited licensed doctors to 30 patients in the first year and 100 patients in subsequent years. The restriction was meant to discourage what are called pill mills, in which doctors prescribe addiction medications for a cash fee without ensuring that patients are actually using it to recover and not selling it on the street.

Addiction prejudice?

Since then, the law has been criticized for contributing to a shortage of prescribers and unfairly singling out addicts and the doctors who treat them. No other medication requires a special license, and no other disease is subject to a patient limit, argued Kelly J. Clark, president-elect of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. She said the rules are symptomatic of the nations long-standing prejudice against the disease of addiction.

But others argue that the rules are warranted to keep buprenorphine off the streets and to ensure quality treatment.

Treating opioid addiction with medications has to be more than just medication management, said Mark Parrino, president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, which represents methadone clinic operators.

If buprenorphine were deregulated, Parrino says there would be no guarantee that patients would get the counseling and regular urine tests that major medical associations agree they should have. Under current rules, the DEA routinely audits physicians to make sure they are keeping records as required and providing adequate treatment.

Here in Burlington, Tom Dalton, director of a publicly funded needle exchange center, agrees that buprenorphine coupled with counseling is ideal. But if thats not available, he said, we should at least give them a prescription.

When people make the decision to get clean, they should be able to get into treatment immediately. Otherwise, theres a good chance they will disappear, die of an overdose or get arrested, Dalton said. At a minimum, their addiction will escalate, he said. Many who are smoking or snorting opioids start injecting, which spreads diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

In October, the average wait time to get into the opioid treatment program in Chittenden County was 358 days. But because the waiting list includes pregnant women who by federal law must be treated within 48 hours and intravenous drug users, who must be treated within 14 days, the wait is much longer for everyone else.
Becky Swerida, left, and Bhaskar Subramanian of Marylands Department of Natural Resources at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, where plantings and jetties have replaced a concrete bulkhead. (GABRIEL POPKIN)

Where were standing was open water, boasted Bhaskar Subramanian on a sun-soaked and unseasonably warm morning last fall.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources environmental scientist was standing on a sandy, crescent-shaped beach. Behind him, two small curved jetties, made of rock and covered in grasses, jutted into Chesapeake Bay.

Though it would have looked at home in a nature calendar, this slice of shore is actually a cutting-edge anti-erosion project. Scientists at the DNRs Shoreline Conservation Service helped design it in the early 2000s, replacing a failing concrete bulkhead that had been protecting the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Centers property. The jetties were carefully shaped to protect marsh grasses that the team had planted on a small replenished beach; workers from the center had also placed an oyster reef offshore to help break the motion of waves. This approach was notably more gradual than the concrete that had sharply separated the propertys lawn from the water.

Over the past decade, incoming waves calmed by the rocks and the oysters have deposited sand on the beach, and the marsh has expanded seaward, providing critical habitat for the young fish, crabs and terrapins that help filter the nutrient- and sediment-laden water washing off the land.

The project represents a small but growing countercurrent to a century-long buildup of shoreline defenses that relied on concrete and wooden bulkheads or piles of rock called revetments. Such structures, which have armored more than 1,000 miles of coastline in Maryland, can halt erosion temporarily by bouncing incoming waves back out to sea. But this protection carries a steep cost: Reflected wave energy destroys marshes and shallow-water vegetation, which are critical components of the wetlands that once supported huge quantities of crabs and fish and made the bay one of the worlds most biologically productive estuaries.

Government agencies looking for ways to increase resilience to storms and rising sea levels have begun to experiment with living shorelines such as the one at the center. In 2008, Maryland passed one of the nations first laws forbidding coastal property owners from installing a hard structure at waters edge unless they can prove that a softer approach wont work.

Last fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published its first document providing guidance on living shoreline construction techniques. It also suggests how to choose sites where such projects are likely to be effective, giving the practice a shot of credibility and national reach.

Deflecting waves

Subramanian, chief of the Shoreline Conservation Service, is among those leading the charge. His team of engineers and biologists designs experimental shorelines with as little rock and as many Spartina grasses and other wetland plants as possible, and sculpts them to deflect waves so they deposit sand rather than carry it away.

Early results are encouraging: Five experimental sites are gaining sediment. And the before-and-after surveys at two of the sites show that species including clams, shrimps and terrapins have increased since the living shorelines were put in.

But such innovative designs so far protect only a tiny fraction of Marylands more than 7,000 miles of coastline. Subramanian says that to reverse decades of ecological decline, scientists must come up with reliable design principles that can be replicated on a much larger scale while still being tailored to the varying conditions of individual sites.

We have not figured it all out, he said.

By most accounts, the living-shoreline concept was born in the mid-1970s when Edgar Garbisch, a chemist and heir to part of the Chrysler fortune, set out to show that it was possible to restore marshes. Near his familys property on Marylands Eastern Shore, he placed a line of rocks in the water a few yards from shore, filled sand behind the rocks and planted marsh grasses in the sand. The experiment succeeded, and Garbischs project became a template for how to protect Chesapeake shorelines without concrete.

By the early 1980s, alarmed at how fast property owners were armoring their waterfronts with hard barriers, Maryland began giving grants and low-interest loans to encourage projects like Garbischs.

Addressing shoreline erosion is especially urgent for Maryland and other Mid-Atlantic states where land surface is sinking because of geological processes even as seas are rising because of climate change. As a result, Chesapeake Bay water levels are creeping upward at around twice the global average of 3 millimeters  about a tenth of an inch  per year. Some research indicates that natural and man-made marshes can build ground vertically fast enough to keep up with rising water  provided they receive sediment from waves or water coming off the land.

Dramatic proof that a living shoreline can forestall erosion and other damage came just weeks after the Chesapeake Bay centers project was put in place. The DNR-led team had barely finished planting the marsh when Hurricane Isabel hit in 2003, flooding classrooms at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and properties in Baltimores Inner Harbor. The next day, the team found that an eight-foot storm surge had destroyed just about everything on the property  including a house  but the marsh grasses had mostly survived.

We just couldnt believe that it was really still intact to the degree that it was, said Kevin Smith, who was DNRs chief of wetland and river bank restoration at the time and who now works in the agencys restoration, finance and policy division.

[Remembering Hurricane Isabel 10 years later,]

The experience helped convince both policymakers and property owners that living shorelines could be as effective as bulkheads. We got a lot more projects done after 2003, Subramanian said.

While many living shorelines are not only preventing erosion but also adding land, there have been setbacks. At a site on Kent Island in the middle of the bay, Subramanian and Smith built low rock-and-cobble breakwaters and planted sections of marsh to protect public parkland facing open water. Strong storms and winter ice knocked over many of the structures and ripped out some of the marsh grasses, whose young roots hadnt taken hold.

We went out on a limb, Smith said. And quite honestly we might have stepped a little too far out on that limb.

But the site is not a complete failure, Smith and Subramanian say. Sand dunes have expanded, and the team has redesigned the shore protections to be more stable in storms. And they say they can apply the sites lessons to future projects.

To better understand which practices reduce erosion and increase marsh habitat, Subramanian says he and his staff will survey several dozen other DNR sites and compare them against 2006 data on erosion, integrity of structures and marsh grass coverage.

Scientists are also starting to assess whether living shorelines promote life. Terrapin nesting sites have doubled at the Chesapeake Bay center since the living shoreline went in, and oysters on the artificial reef have increased, according to studies done by DNR scientists and colleagues.

Scientists have also found that at one living-shoreline site on the Chester River, populations of invertebrates such as worms, clams and shrimp are approaching those found in a natural marsh.

That was very encouraging, said Thomas Jordan, a Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ecologist who is leading that study.

Rochelle Seitz, a Virginia Institute of Marine Science ecologist who is involved in the Smithsonian study, sampled invertebrates in the sand before and after Subramanian worked on a site along the Corsica River in Queen Annes County. Within three years of the projects completion, the combined weight of invertebrates Seitz collected had doubled.

Seeing may be believing

Despite the promise of the living shoreline and the 2008 law, Maryland approves more than twice as many structural projects as living shorelines each year.

Because he cannot force people to build living shorelines, Subramanian takes skeptical property owners to see his projects in hopes of persuading them. Its a very slow process, he said, but it can pay off. One property owner was resistant until Subramanian took him to Spaniard Point in Queen Annes County, where the DNR team had designed a pair of curving protective jetties that Subramanian calls the crab claw.

Wed been working on him since 2007, and finally after he saw the Spaniard Point project in 2011, he said, Yeah, I want that,  Subramanian said.

Were trying to change peoples perceptions of what they can do with their shorelines, Subramanian added. Whats good for the bay doesnt have to be exclusive of what peoples goals are [for] their properties.
Activists Hang #ByeAnita Banners Attacking Cook County State's Attorney Alvarez

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 14, 2016 7:11PM



With Illinois primary election less than 24 hours away, activists are leaving large reminders all over the city urging Chicagoans to vote Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez out of office on Tuesday.

Led by the group Assatas Daughters, which has coordinated several actions targeting Alvarez along with Black Lives Matter, activists are hanging banners around the city with various messages on them reminding voters of several of the high-profile police shootings Alvarez has faced criticism over.



Blood on the ballot, reads one banner hanging over the Kennedy Expressway at Irving Park. Justice for Rekia, no votes for Anita, reads another hung over the Nicholas Bridge of the Art Institute of Chicago. #AdiosAnita 16 shots and a cover up, reads another on Western Avenue near 18th Street. Alvarez has faced a tough reelection campaign, and has been specifically targeted by demonstrators on numerous occasions due to her involvement in the Laquan McDonald case, as well as her failure to secure a conviction for Dante Servin, the Chicago Police officer who shot and killed Rekia Boyd. In total, the group said it will hang 16 banners, one for each shot officer Jason Van Dyke fired at Laquan McDonald, killing him.

Alvarezs office has come under increased scrutiny since police shot and killed Laquan McDonald. A Daily Beast review of records shows that her office declined to prosecute police officers for killing civilians 68 times in the last seven years, with no documentation to support why. Additionally, Alvarez declined to charge a Chicago Police officer who falsely arrested more than 130 people in seven years, despite 40 witnesses accusing the officer of falsifying charges and video evidence showing him lying.

The group also says it plans to fly a plane carrying a banner that reads Chicago stands with Laquan, Hillary stands with Rahm, #ByeAnita #ByeRahm to link democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with Emanuel and Alvarez. In a press release, Tess Raser, an organizer with the group said:





To this day, Hillary Clinton has yet to condemn Chicagos anti-black mayor. Mayor Emmanuel has conspired with States Attorney Alvarez during his own re-election campaign to cover up the police murder of Laquan McDonald a life that to Emmanuel, Alvarez, and Clinton did not matter. Any politician who supports Emanuel should consider themselves implicated in his misconduct. Anti-black politicians are not welcome in Chicago whether they are running for States Attorney or President of The United States.

On Friday, members of the group along with others blockaded traffic along I-290 outside of the UIC Pavilion where thousands had gathered to protest Donald Trumps rally, which he cancelled because he was concerned about his safety. Holding a larger banner that read ByeAnita, Alvarez Must Go, the group chanted if you are saying dump Trump, then say bye Anita too.

Assatas Daughters said there was a link between Alvarezs record of anti-blackness as top prosecutor and Trump, whose rallies and campaign rhetoric have become increasingly violent. We see a direct link between Trumps overtly racist white nationalist campaign and Anita Alvarezs record of filling jails and prisons with black bodies using dogwhistle tough-on-crime rhetoric, the group said in a statement. We do not want a future where Anita Alvarez or Donald Trump hold decision-making power over our lives.
Lloyd S. Shapley, who shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for developing the theoretical underpinnings of methods for matching people with limited resources, including organ donors with patients, students with schools and doctors with hospitals, died March 12 at a nursing home in Tucson. He was 92.

A longtime researcher at the Rand Corp. think tank in Santa Monica, Calif., Dr. Shapley was at his death a professor emeritus of economics and mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. His son, Peter Shapley, confirmed the death and said the cause was complications from a broken hip.

Known as a major contributor to theoretical and mathematical economics, Dr. Shapley was regarded as one of the titans of game theory.

That branch of mathematics concerns itself with the conceptual underpinnings of the choices and interactions, conscious and unconscious, large and small, personal and institutional, that people make every day of their lives.

Game theory is an apt title for the field, because it implies the element of competition involved in the choices governing human lives and institutions; most choices involve or imply winning and losing, success and failure, satisfaction and discontent.

Game theory, I think, was made for me, because I was always messing round with great big game-like models, the sort of thing that now they call Dungeons and Dragons,  Dr. Shapley once said. Ive always enjoyed the mathematics of it.

There is no Nobel in mathematics. In 2012 Dr. Shapley shared the economics Nobel with Alvin E. Roth, then of Harvard University, for contributions that spanned mathematics and economics. Dr. Shapley contributed the mathematics. I never, never in my life took a course in economics, he said.

In many situations treated by game theory, such as those involving economic life, money may be used as the measure of wins and losses. Dr. Shapley concerned himself with situations in which financial incentives were often out of the picture. Nor was there unrestricted trading, with its almost infinite possibilities.

Rather it might be a matter of maximizing stability in systems of matching up members of pairs, based on innumerable individual transactions in which all choosers must also be chosen.

One of the criteria for success in such transactions is stability; that is, each side in a transaction must be satisfied and neither is to be left wishing that a different choice had been made.

One of the examples given of the Dr. Shapleys work in this area has been given the name of the stable marriage theorem. Although perhaps unrealizable in true life situations, it involves creation of a formidably logical mathematical system for matching an unlimited number of prospective husbands and wives in such a way as to leave none with regrets.

It was the mathematics behind all this that fascinated Dr. Shapley. If theres simply an interesting application, he said, well, maybe someone else can do it. . . . The mathematical discovery is the really exciting part.

Formally, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel for what it called the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.

In that work, Peter Shapley said, his father came up with the method. The origins were a paper from the early 1960s that laid out the Gale-Shapley algorithm, a collaboration between Dr. Shapley and mathematician David Gale. Roth applied Dr. Shapleys work to real-life problems.

Lloyd Stowell Shapley was born in Cambridge, Mass., on June 2, 1923. He was one of five children of Martha Betz and noted Harvard astronomer Harlow Shapley.

From boyhood, Dr. Shapleys mathematical aptitudes showed themselves. Against older siblings, he was said to be unbeatable in mathematical games by age 6 because of his knowledge of logarithms. He was a 1940 graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, a private school in New Hampshire, and then enrolled at Harvard University.

In 1943, amid World War II, he was drafted into the Army Air Forces in China and helped crack a Soviet meteorological code that was critical in planning bombing raids over Japan as dangerous fronts moved eastward from Siberia.

The Soviet Union was allied with the United States against Germany but was officially neutral for much of the war against Japan.

Dr. Shapley, who received the Bronze Star for his military work, completed his Harvard degree in 1948 and received a doctorate in mathematics from Princeton University in 1953.

At Princeton, he befriended mathematician and game theorist John F. Nash Jr., another future Nobel laureate in economic sciences. Dr. Shapleys description of Nash as possessing a keen, beautiful, logical mind provided the title for Sylvia Nasars biography of Nash  A Beautiful Mind -- and the subsequent film version. Nash, who struggled with mental illness, died last year in a car accident, along with his wife.

Dr. Shapley worked at Rand Corp. from 1954 to 1981 and thereafter at UCLA.

His wife, the former Marian Ludolph, who spent many years as a computer programmer at Rand, died in 1997 after 42 years of marriage. In addition to his son Peter, of Tucson, Dr. Shapley is survived by another son, Christopher Shapley of San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and two grandchildren.

In their paper, College Admissions and the Stability of Marriage, a fundamental part of the Nobel-winning work, Gale and Dr. Shapley concluded by asking just what mathematics is.

In the paper, published in the American Mathematical Monthly, which is pitched at a wide range of readers, the two said math does not require a head for figures. Instead, they argued, it demanded the ability to fashion a sufficiently precise argument and to follow a moderately involved sequence of inferences.
BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO REPUBLICANS

Bernie Sanders won Michigan. And in upsetting Hillary Clinton in the March 8 Democratic primary, the senator from Vermont has probably prolonged the nominating contest for weeks or possibly months. His win in the Midwestern industrial state, after being 20 points down in the polls, may reenergize Sanders's chances in states such as Ohio and Illinois, which vote Tuesday. The delegate count is such that with a few big wins, Clinton is nearing an insurmountable lead to get the nomination. But in Michigan, Sanders gave himself another fighting chance, and for that Republicans can thank him. At least they're not the only party with a contested, sometimes contentious, presidential nominating contest.

BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRATS

Marco Rubio's campaign appears to be nearing an end. When the presidential campaign began, many Democrats worried about going up against Rubio more than most of the other candidates; on paper the young, dynamic senator from Florida, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, looked like their most formidable challenger. Now, Rubio's campaign is hanging on by a thread  specifically on the chance he'll win Florida in Tuesday's primary. Public polling shows Rubio behind in his home state, a week after he placed third in three states and fourth in another. In this unpredictable campaign, it's not a safe bet Democrats will have an easy path to the White House against Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. But at least they won't be facing a candidate that many of them would rather not.

 Amber Phillips
JAPAN

U.S. sailor arrested in Okinawa rape case

A U.S. service member stationed on Japans southern island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of rape, police said Monday, adding to complications surrounding a controversial plan to relocate a U.S. air base on the island.

The sailor was stationed at the U.S. militarys Camp Schwab. The 24-year-old is accused of raping a woman at a hotel in Okinawas capital, Naha.

We promptly told the U.S. side this is extremely regrettable and demanded firmly stricter discipline and prevention of recurrence, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States took such reports very, very seriously.

The government in Tokyo and authorities in Okinawa have long been at loggerheads over the relocation of U.S Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is in an urban area of the island.

The Japanese government accepted a court-mediated settlement plan this month to halt construction work related to the relocation and resume talks with Okinawa authorities, who want the base off the island altogether.

 Reuters

MIGRANTS

More than 2,000 defy border closures

Defying Europes border closures, more than 2,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece braved torrential rain and waded across a fast-flowing river to walk into neighboring Macedonia.

Refugees held children, baby strollers and their belongings over their heads as they crossed thigh-deep in the water, while elderly migrants clutched ropes placed by volunteers to help them across.

But their time in Macedonia and planned journey onward toward Western Europe appeared to be short-lived. Soldiers and police detained hundreds of people who had just crossed from Greece and put them into trucks, authorities said. Their fate remained uncertain.

The events on Monday were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece.

Meanwhile, Macedonian police said the bodies of one man and two women, all Afghans, were found Monday in the Suva Reka river near the border with Greece.

 Associated Press

Venezuela recovers bodies of 4 miners: Officials have recovered the remains of four people presumed to be among miners allegedly killed by a gang seeking control over a wildcat gold claim in Venezuela. The bodies were found in a jungle in Bolivar state near where the miners disappeared a week ago, Attorney General Luisa Ortega said. Many details about the massacre are unclear, however. Ortega said 21 people were killed by a criminal gang, while opposition politicians and purported witnesses put the number at 28.

Burmas president to be selected Tuesday: Burmas parliament will vote Tuesday to pick the countrys next president from among three final candidates, including a front-runner who is a confidant of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyis National League for Democracy won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament in November, and party nominee Htin Kyaw is expected to be confirmed as Burmas next leader. Suu Kyi, constitutionally barred from seeking the presidency, is expected to rule from behind the scenes.

Iran to hold parliamentary runoffs on April 29: Iran will hold runoff elections for nearly a quarter of the seats in parliament on April 29. The official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying that 138 candidates  including eight women  will compete for 69 seats. Last month, reformists and moderates allied with President Hassan Rouhani won a majority in the 290-seat assembly and in a key clerical body.

European, Russian agencies launch Mars mission: Europe and Russia launched a joint mission to explore the atmosphere of Mars and hunt for signs of life on the planet. The unmanned ExoMars probe took off from a base in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian rocket and is expected to reach Mars in October. The probes Trace Gas Orbiter will analyze methane and other gases in the Martian atmosphere to determine their origins, said Paolo Ferri, the European Space Agencys head of mission operations.

Chemical accident at Thai banks headquarters kills 8: Eight people died at the headquarters of one of Thailands largest banks when workers accidentally triggered the release of fire-extinguishing chemicals during an upgrade of the buildings safety system, officials said. Seven people were injured in the accident at the Siam Commercial Banks headquarters in Bangkok. The bank identified those who died as a security guard and seven contractors.

 From news services
SIX YEARS after former D.C. lottery contract officer Eric W. Payne filed a lawsuit challenging what he called his retaliatory firing for blowing the whistle on misconduct in city contracting, it looks like he may finally get his day in court. We hope that means he will get some justice for having raised the alarm about political interference in city contracts. If not, we fear the message that will be sent to those who work in the District government is to keep their mouths shut lest they suffer the same fate as Mr. Payne.

New life was breathed into the long-running federal court lawsuit this month when U.S. District Chief Judge Richard W. Roberts issued a ruling that restored the bulk of Mr. Paynes retaliation claim under whistleblower protection law. A 2013 ruling by the judge threw out the claim of wrongful termination; other claims dealing with Mr. Paynes initial demotion were retained. The court concludes it erred, Judge Roberts wrote in a March 7 order determining Mr. Payne has offered sufficient evidence to create a triable issue of fact on the question of retaliation.

The D.C. Attorney Generals Office has characterized the claims as meritless and in court filings contended that Mr. Payne was terminated with good cause, including missing assignments and work. The citys chief financial officer at the time, Natwar M. Gandhi, called Mr. Payne a poor manager who was rude and nasty.

Its curious, though, that Mr. Paynes fall from grace seemed to coincide with the political machinations and strange circumstances that surrounded the 2008 award of the citys lucrative lottery contract. Then director of contracts for the CFO, Mr. Payne said he refused to be pressured into terminating a legitimate bid award. He reported concerns about possible improprieties in procurement practices to the CFOs internal integrity unit and other officials.

Before being demoted in 2008 and fired six months later, Mr. Payne had an excellent work history with evaluations rating him as exceeding expectations and resulting in monetary awards; officials at the time described him to us as a Boy Scout. After his termination, he struggled to find suitable employment and his family was evicted from their home before he took a position outside the United States. What is perhaps most discouraging is that Mr. Payne admits to sometimes regretting speaking up and says he understands why more city employees dont report wrongdoing. That should give pause to D.C. officials about what would constitute a win in this case.
Obama Derangement Syndrome is striking Republicans once again.

To avoid having to answer for the rise of Donald Trump, they want to hold the man in the White House responsible for the emergence of a demagogic showman who has been the loudest voice challenging the legal right of the winner of two elections to be there.

Obama picked his words carefully but with some quiet glee when he was asked about this at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. I have been blamed by Republicans for a lot of things, Obama said, but being blamed for their primaries and who theyre selecting for their party is  here he paused, enjoying the moment  novel.

On the contrary, Obama insisted, it was Republicans who had created an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive and allowed the circus weve been seeing to transpire. He urged his opponents to do some introspection.

That would be nice, wouldnt it?

At a March 10 news conference at the White House, President Obama said the Republican Party establishment is to blame for the divisive tone of the 2016 presidential race. (The White House)

I should acknowledge a stake in this fight, having published a book in January called Why the Right Went Wrong arguing that the emergence of Trump was the logical consequence of a half-century of conservative history and of the steady legitimation of extremist ideas within the GOP. The nation, not just the Republican Party, desperately needs a different and more constructive brand of conservatism.

But if progressives are to beat back an increasingly virulent right and encourage the emergence of a more temperate form of conservatism, they have to ponder the crisis on their own side that is visible in this campaign and in most of the European democracies as well.

The strength of Bernie Sanderss challenge to Hillary Clinton from the left, like the radicalization of American conservatism, is a symptom of the decay of a moderate brand of progressivism that rose in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was president and Tony Blair was Britains prime minister. Its ideology was rooted in a belief that capitalism would deliver the economic goods and could be balanced by a competent public sector, providing services of quality to the citizen and social protection for those who are vulnerable.

Those last words are Blairs from a collection of essays by 11 center-left politicians from around the world released on Friday by the Center for American Progress and Canada 2020 to coincide with Trudeaus visit to the United States. The title of their effort, Global Progress, is optimistic, and Bill Clinton, for one, continued to express confidence that government could empower people with the tools to make the most of their own lives and to create the institutions and conditions for them to succeed.

This never stopped being a good idea, but the sober reflections of Ricardo Lagos, Chiles former president, pointed to the significant challenge to progressive politics created by the economic crisis of 2008. It raised profound questions about policies that favored deregulation of the economy and allowed the financial system to self-regulate. The moderate left, it turns out, had more confidence in a loosely governed capitalism than was merited by the facts.

And in the post-crash period, progressives largely lost the argument against austerity policies. A significant exception was the United States during the first two years of Obamas term: Keynesian policies helped lead to a revival of the U.S. economy that was faster and more robust than in other places. But continued economic sluggishness, Lagos argued, feeds the anger and alienation of a dangerous populism on the extreme left and right. Trudeau himself said Friday that the economically excluded dont feel like this idea of progress holds.

Lodewijk Asscher, the deputy prime minister of the Netherlands, wrote of the challenge to national identity created by immigration and the fear of terrorism. He called for building a society based on solidarity in which people are seen as individuals instead of members of their group and someones background remains just a background. Well, yes, but, as Asscher no doubt knows, this is easier said than done.

1 of 25 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Chaos postpones Trump rally View Photos GOP front-runner Donald Trump cancels a Chicago event citing growing safety concerns created by thousands of protesters inside and outside the arena. Caption GOP front-runner Donald Trump cancels a Chicago event citing growing safety concerns created by thousands of protesters inside and outside the arena. March 11, 2016 Trump supporter Birgitt Peterson, center, of Yorkville, Ill., argues with protesters after the canceled Trump rally in Chicago. She later said her gesture was an attempt to make a point to protesters. Im not a Nazi, she told the New York Times. E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune Wait 1 second to continue.

If Republicans delude themselves that Obama is responsible for Trump, theres little hope for the soul-searching their party requires  all the more so after the violence and threats at Trumps rallies.

But progressives of moderate inclinations cant use the rights shortcomings to blind them to their own call for reflection. Those who believe in gradual, steady progress need to provide plausible responses to a world both less secure and less orderly than it was in the 1990s. Otherwise, the alternatives, as Trump is showing us, will be both irrational and grim.

Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Christopher R. Poulos, who was convicted of a drug crime, recently finished an internship in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)

Regarding the March 10 Metro article Leaving prison, he found a calling at the White House:

I was delighted to read about Christopher Pouloss redemption after a felony conviction. That turnaround gave him the opportunity to work for our great nation in the White House. It is refreshing to read about a person who is given a second chance and succeeds.

Forty-eight years ago, I had my own troubles with the law. With the help of a mentor and an opportunity to enter the federal government through an  excepted service  option, I faithfully served for more than 30 years in the government. I retired and now am a federal government contractor.

People who have made mistakes and are blocked by the absurd criminal-record question on many job applications need this same hope and opportunity.

Frederick L. Williams, Fort Washington
Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton Are Both In Chicago Monday

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 14, 2016 3:30PM



Democratic presidential nominee contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders ahead of the March 6th debate at the Whiting Auditorium at the Cultural Center Campus in Flint, Michigan. Photo by Scott Olsen/Getty Images.

With the utter fiasco that was Donald Trump's almost-appearance in Chicago last week hopefully safely behind us, Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are each in Chicago for appearances today ahead of Illinois's Tuesday primary.

Hot off a town hall in Ohio, Sanders is hosting a rally at Roosevelt University's Auditorium Theater in the Loop Monday night, while Clinton is in town for a morning plumbers union event. The Sanders rally is a free event, according to organizers, but RSVPs are encouraged. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife in Chicago Sunday, visiting St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in South Shore.
Hundreds gathered to memorialize Tyler and Richard Smith who were killed in a mass shooting on February 20 in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Chelsea Purgahn/Associated Press)

The March 9 front-page article Are mass shootings contagious?, noted that the nations ability to fully investigate this question is limited, apparently referring to language attached to a fiscal 1997 appropriations bill by then-Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) that stated that none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control. This amendment remains in force.

The CDC has the authority to conduct violence-prevention research, clarified in recent executive actions and now supported by Mr. Dickey and many current members of Congress, but it is hampered by a lack of dedicated funding and clearer guidance through congressional action about what research would be construed as advocacy.

There is a growing consensus among health professionals that in order to reduce the deaths and injuries associated with firearms, we need to take a public health approach and conduct research on gun violence prevention. The American Psychological Association supports the administrations efforts to encourage and fund critically needed research in this area.

Cynthia D. Belar, Washington

The writer is interim chief executive of the

American Psychological Association.
Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post.

To all those who oppose Donald Trump, let me say it once again: We should stay the course. But lets also take a moment to reflect on what staying the course requires.

Republicans have largely been arguing about whether Trump adequately reflects their ideology, but that is not the fundamental problem with him.

Trumps fundamental problem is a thirst for arbitrary power that manifests itself in calls for the killing of innocents; an instinct to attack freedom of association, religion and expression, which are fundamental political freedoms; a preference for threats over policy statements; and a continuous pattern of condoning unlawful violence, spiced up now and then with rhetorically flimsy disavowals of such a pattern.

Over and over again across the past nine months, Trump has displayed a fundamental disrespect for peoples constitutional and human rights, and has disdained the idea that law should be the guardian of these. The law, for him, is rather something that he should use and tailor to his personal advantage.

Consequently, the single most important element of stopping Trump is working to restore throughout our political culture a fundamental, unshakable respect for law as the guardian of peoples rights. Regardless of whether one is writing against Trump, voting against Trump or protesting against Trump, one should day in and day out celebrate fundamental rights and the laws and spirit of lawfulness that secure them. We must reconstitute the rights-based, rule-of-law culture that he has been working to tear up. This is the work not of our elected officials alone but of each and every one of us in all of our interactions with one another, and in any moment of conflict. The challenge is to figure out how to walk even through conflict so as to embody and convey a respect for law and lawfulness as a framework for securing rights.

This means that protest requires strict adherence to the norms of constitutionally protected, lawful, nonviolent speech and assembly. Speak up, make your voice heard, but dont block the rights of assembly and expression of others. Behavior that crosses that line, as with the demonstrator who rushed the stage on Saturday, only reinforces Trumps lawless approach to problems. And the work of resisting Trump is not a matter of protest only. Its time for a voter registration drive. Its clear that most Americans oppose him. We need to get them all to the voting booth.

At this point, the work of stopping Trump requires showing those who support him because of his attitudes on immigration, the Islamic State, trade or taxes that our cultural commitment to rights and lawfulness is just as important an issue in this campaign and that Trump is on the wrong side of the question.

I call Trumps positions attitudes, not policies, because, by and large, he doesnt have policies. His proposals often dont add up in budget terms or in relation to expert assessments of cause-and-effect relationships. The positions he proffers are typically less policy than negotiating stances. On the subject of his policy-light tough talk, he himself said, in a CNN interview after the pre-super Tuesday debate on Feb. 25, Honestly, it got me here, that attitude got me here.

From conversations with his more mainstream voters, I have learned that Trumps supporters seem to see his attitude on one of these issues  immigration, Islamist terrorism or the economy  as the right solution to a defining problem of our time. He appears to have a lot of single-issue voters and has given them a cluster of topics from which to choose.

The challenge for those who oppose Trump is to show voters such as these that another issue is more fundamental. It is this: Will we continue to protect, as hard-won treasure, a political system that secures basic rights and celebrates lawfulness and equality before the law?

I think we need to take the time to show these voters how whichever issue they care about is connected to this deeper issue.

Trump will not succeed at enforcing immigration law if he, in his very person, embodies disrespect for lawfulness and equality before the law.

Trump will not succeed at fighting terrorism if in doing so he gives away the reason that we have something worth fighting for, namely, that we repudiate terrorism and the killing of innocents, respect basic rights and put our faith and confidence in lawfulness.

At Thursdays debate, three of the four Republican candidates repudiated a policy of targeting the families of terrorists. Only Trump did not.

The Ronald Reagan whom Republicans admire knew that fighting the Soviet Union required being clear about the very different sort of world we had built at home and were fighting for.

On the economy, Trump has pledged no taxes on incomes up to $25,000 for single filers and no taxes on incomes up to $50,000 for married couples. This is a modest change from the current situation for single filers up to $25,000, but it is a meaningful change  worth thousands of dollars  for married couples who earn up to $50,000.

Those who are voting for Trump for this reason need to think about how we value our constitutional framework and equality before the law. Are these savings a reasonable exchange for moving forward with a candidate who clearly does not respect basic rights and who does not have what it takes to establish and protect a culture of lawfulness and equality before the law?

I do not ask this question lightly. These material interests are real and serious, and the appeal of Trumps tax policy should sound a loud and clear alarm about the importance of reversing the wage stagnation of low- and middle-income workers.

But each and every one of us also has an interest in the structure of our democratic republic. Its stability secures our freedom; its structure of rights and laws protects us all as citizens with the opportunity to shape the world in which we live together. But that stability also secures a context for our material well-being. Trump is promising short-term material gains at the expense of longer-term stability, and that will ultimately compromise the ability of all of us to thrive.

We are all, as we track this campaign and prepare to vote, seeking to ascertain just which politician is most likely to help us preserve a foundation of principle and organize the powers of government so as to secure the safety and happiness of all of us.

Trump is selling swag up front  a wall, a terror principle for attacking terrorism, a tax plan too good to be true  while having nothing to offer over the long term other than decline. As he says of himself, You know, if it gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, We will build the wall! and they go nuts. His approach to this campaign is a bit like the structure of Trump University, where the long-term price tag is tucked neatly out of view while short-term payoffs are dangled juicily before our eyes.

The rest of us, who are working to stop him, need in everything we do to model the value of lawfulness and equality before the law. We need to make the real value of our great constitutional treasure visible again through active, expressive, profound respect for it. The more we respect rights and the rule of law throughout our society, the less our society will respect Trump, and he will be beaten at the ballot box, if not now, then in November.
In recent days, Donald Trump supporters have been demonized as some sort of racist mob spun up by Trumps racially tinged rhetoric. Former Environmental Protection Agency head and New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman declared: If you were told that Mexicans are rapists and criminals . . . and you are walking down the street and see them in your community, people are going to do things.

Except for one problem: Trump supporters are not targeting Mexicans walking down the street with violence. They are not even showing up and disrupting Bernie Sanders when he spews socialist claptrap.

The clashes we have seen so far have almost exclusively been at Trump events.

Why is that? Because organized groups of left-wing agitators intentionally come to Trump rallies to provoke his supporters. According to the New York Times, the protesters fling themselves to the ground, forcing law enforcement officers  often outmanned and overwhelmed  to drag them away. They also shout and curse, making obscene gestures. They should not be surprised when they get a reaction. Walk into a blue-collar bar and start taunting people that way, and you are likely to leave without some of your teeth.

The fact is, if the protesters were holding peaceful protests outside his venues, there would be no violence.

Amid growing security concerns, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign canceled a Chicago rally on March 11. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

What we are witnessing is the latest example of the American lefts totalitarian instinct to shut down speech that it finds abhorrent. Trump is not the only speaker to be driven off a college campus in recent years. In 2013, student protesters forced Ben Carson to cancel his planned commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University. In 2014, student activists forced Brandeis University to cancel a commencement-day speech by author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Also in 2014, protesters forced former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to cancel her commencement speech at Rutgers University, declaring that war criminals shouldnt be honored by the school.

What do these speakers all have in common? They are a) black and b) conservative. If the Trump protests were about race, then why are left-wing activists equally insistent on stopping black speakers with views they dont like? Rice didnt call for a Muslim ban, but she is just as unacceptable to the radical left as Trump.

This is not to suggest that Trump is blameless in the ugliness that is unfolding. Far from it. A responsible leader tries to calm a volatile situation. Trump has been doing the opposite for months  egging on his supporters to clash with the protesters. In August, Trump warned that if protesters tried to disrupt his rallies, I dont know if Ill do the fighting myself, or if other people will. In November, he said a protester who disrupted one of his events should have been roughed up, and in February, he declared of another, Id like to punch him in the face. Also in February, he told a rally, If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them. . . . I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.

That is highly irresponsible. But Trump understands that it is also why his supporters love him. Unlike Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  who let Black Lives Matter protesters take away his microphone  Trump does not back down when people try to stop him from speaking. His supporters see a man who stands up for himself and believe he wont let the United States get pushed around either.

The vast majority of his supporters are not violent or bigots. One reporter covering his campaign described them as almost unfailingly courteous. They are ordinary people who see their jobs, their country, their ability to earn a fair wage and support their families slipping away  and feel abandoned by their partys establishment. They are desperate for a savior and think they have found one in Trump. When they hear Republican presidential candidates and pundits blame them for the violence, they are alienated even more.

Yes, Trumps call for a Muslim ban, his spewing of conspiracies theories about 9/11 and Iraq, his embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Middle East dictators, and his calls for protesters to be roughed up are all repulsive. But for many Americans, the lefts smash-mouth tactics are repulsive as well.

Trump understands this, which is why he is milking the protests to his advantage. He is using them to rally blue-collar America by saying were not going to take this anymore  we are not going to bow to the Alinskyite tactics of the radical left.

Jeers and violence erupted between Donald Trump supporters and protesters at the Republican frontrunner's rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on March 9. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

And the protesters are playing right into his hands.

Read more from Marc Thiessens archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
If he consolidates his frontrunner standing in Tuesdays primaries, you can expect more and more Republicans to begin trying to persuade you, and themselves, that there is nothing to fear from the real Donald Trump.

Trump is showing that he can appear reasonable, conciliatory, even tolerant when he wants. Red-faced and strutting, he fantasizes aloud about punching a protester in the face. Later, he can calmly deplore (while still sympathizing with) his supporters violence.

Some Republicans have been fine with either version from the start. Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, is emblematic of the amoral functionary for whom Trumps bigotry and demagoguery are irrelevant. Winning is the antidote to a lot of things, Priebus has observed.

But others have had misgivings.

Given the anti-Muslim bigotry that helped fuel his own presidential candidacy, its no surprise that Ben Carson could find his way to endorsing his former rival. But even Carson had to reassure himself by purporting to have discovered the two Donald Trumps.

Theres the Donald Trump that you see on television and who gets out in front of big audiences, and theres the Donald Trump behind the scenes, Carson explained. Theyre not the same person. Ones very much an entertainer, and one is actually a thinking individual.

Of course, there is only one Donald Trump, and if he continues to win you will hear several theories to explain why that singular personality is essentially benign.

Some politicians will cite Trumps all-too-evident ignorance as a blessing: He is an empty vessel who will take guidance, or unwittingly be molded, by more experienced hands.

Others will take comfort in Trumps identity as a dealmaker who is simply staking out opening positions that he knows must eventually be moderated. Maybe the wall wont be quite so high. Maybe well split the check with Mexico. Maybe well deport only 5 million people, not 11 million.

Still others will assure us, and themselves, that he cant possibly mean the things he says. They know someone who knows someone whos been to his parties; hes a nice guy; hes not really a hater.

In truth, bigotry and demagoguery got Trump this far, and he cannot abandon his roots. He vaulted into politics by playing cynically on voter suspicions that Americas first black president must be foreign-born. He catapulted to the top of the Republican field by calling Mexicans rapists. Whenever his campaign needs a jolt, Trump finds an ugly way to deliver it  mocking women, threatening critics, endorsing torture.

A man who gains power by showing contempt for democracy and civil discourse is not going to develop a finer sensibility as he gains more power. The reverse is far more likely.

Even last week, as we were celebrating the supposedly new and improved civility of the campaign, Trump was again slandering an entire religion.

I think Islam hates us, he told CNNs Anderson Cooper.

In the debate that night, he was asked whether he meant all 1.6 billion Muslims.

I mean a lot of them. I mean a lot of them, Trump said, and then added in his usual conspiratorial way: Theres something going on that maybe you dont know about, maybe a lot of other people dont know about, but theres tremendous hatred.

The musings revealed Trumps unreformed willingness to smear and stereotype. But the reaction to them showed how he has dragged the campaign down to his level, creating a dangerous new normal.

When last fall he vowed to prevent all Muslims from entering the United States, it was shocking, and Republican leaders united to condemn him. This time, the pushback was mild. Marco Rubios first complaint was that Trumps comment was making life hard for Christian missionaries in Bangladesh; Ted Cruzs objection was that Trump isnt tough enough on Irans ayatollahs.

It was easy to imagine both of them making peace with nominee Trump, as they have pledged to do, and easy to imagine other party leaders joining in. Given the nature of our attention spans, anyone harking back to ugly Trump moments from last fall, or even last month, will be dismissed as a naysayer dredging up old news.

Which may leave, as the only hope to save the country from Trump . . . Trump himself. Over the coming weeks and months, he may just find it too difficult to maintain an image of being actually a thinking individual, in Carsons dubious praise. Too difficult to keep his narcissism in check; too difficult to conceal his ignorance; too difficult to block his prejudices from erupting into view.

Hopefully then not everyone will find it quite so easy to embrace the myth of the two Donald Trumps.

Read more from Fred Hiatts archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
The reasons for the U.S. governments decline are even more fundamental than David Ignatius suggested in his March 11 Washington Forum column, Making America even worse.

Government is broken because the constitutional system of checks and balances cannot work without compromise and civility. Both are missing and unlikely to be found for a long time in todays bitterly partisan, polarized and pernicious political environment.

The Founding Fathers intention in establishing the legislature in the first article of the Constitution was for Congress to govern by making laws for the nation.

Article II begins with The executive Power shall be vested in a President. Clearly, the president was to carry out Congresss will. Obviously, a role reversal took place in the past century, which has further deadlocked government. T he Founding Fathers specifically warned of the destructive consequences of factions, meaning political parties. Sadly, that warning proved accurate, as we see today.

The result is that government has become incapable of governing unless one party wins both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue and two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress  an outcome as remote as the return of compromise and civility.

And it is broken government that has helped to generate the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Harlan Ullman, Washington
Jeers and violence erupted between Donald Trump supporters and protesters at the Republican frontrunner's rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on March 9. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Jeers and violence erupted between Donald Trump supporters and protesters at the Republican frontrunner's rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on March 9. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Republican front-runner Donald Trump will not face charges of inciting a riot after a raucous rally in North Carolina last week, the investigating sheriffs office announced in a news release Monday night.

After reviewing evidence from the rally in Fayetteville, N.C., the Cumberland County Sheriffs Office concluded that it does not meet the requisites of the law to support a conviction of inciting a riot following the event, at which an anti-Trump protester was sucker-punched as he was led out.

Accordingly, we will not be seeking a warrant or indictment against Mr. Trump or his campaign for these offenses, the statement said. While other aspects of our investigation are continuing, the investigation with regard to Mr. Trump and his campaign has been concluded, and no charges are anticipated.

Earlier Monday, Ronnie Mitchell, the top attorney for the sheriffs office, released a statement saying that the office was investigating whether there was conduct on the part of Mr. Trump or the Trump campaign which rose to the level of inciting a riot. But by the time the sheriffs office made its announcement, the charges already seemed unlikely.

It doesnt appear that we have sufficient evidence to warrant charging him at this time, Mitchell had said earlier Monday. Mitchell said he offered legal advice to the sheriff, Earl Moose Butler (D), about whether to file charges.

 Incitement to riot requires conduct or words which would cause at least three persons who are assembled to engage in disorderly conduct, as thats defined under North Carolina law, Mitchell said. We have not been able to unearth evidence that [any instances] were incited or motivated by Mr. Trump.

Trump held a rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on March 9, in which an anti-Trump protester was sucker-punched as the protester was led out of the stands by police. Mitchell said deputies had examined nearly 100 incidents from the rally, including individual protests.

[Trump rally attendee charged with hitting black man]

A spokeswoman for Trumps campaign, Hope Hicks, described Trumps event in Fayetteville as warm and family-friendly. There was a great feeling of warmth, well-being and even love in the arena, she said.

Hicks acknowledged disruptions, but she blamed the protesters and even sympathized with the man who threw the punch.

In some cases, they used foul language, screamed vulgarities and made obscene gestures, annoying the very well-behaved audience. The people that stood were loud, rude and abrasive, Hicks said. On one occasion, while the police were escorting a young man out of the arena, he seemed to lift his hand and make an obscene gesture. We are told a 78-year-old man took great exception to this.

She said that if anyone had violated the law, it is the protesters and agitators who are in violation, not Mr. Trump or the campaign.

Under North Carolina law, a riot is a public disturbance involving an assemblage of three or more persons which by disorderly and violent conduct, or the imminent threat of disorderly and violent conduct, results in injury or damage to persons or property or creates a clear and present danger of injury or damage to persons or property.

The charge inciting a riot is a misdemeanor, defined as when a person willfully incites or urges another to engage in a riot, so that as a result of such inciting or urging a riot occurs or a clear and present danger of a riot is created.

[Trump: There has been no violence at campaign rallies]

Trump campaigned Monday in North Carolina for the Republican presidential nomination, ahead of that states GOP primary Tuesday.

The incident in Fayetteville was captured on videos, which showed an African American protester with long hair and wearing a white T-shirt being led out by sheriffs deputies as the audience booed. The man extended a middle finger to the audience on his way out.

Then, out of nowhere, the man was punched in the face by a ponytailed man, who appeared to be white, in a cowboy hat, black vest and pink shirt as the crowd began to cheer. The protester stumbled away, and then was detained by a number of the men in uniform.

The protester was later identified as Rakeem Jones.

Boom, he caught me, Jones told The Washington Post in a telephone interview. After I get it, before I could even gain my thoughts, Im on the ground getting escorted out.

John Franklin McGraw, 78, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct. On his Facebook page, Butler said he added a charge of communicating threats after viewing a video of McGraw, recorded later on the night of the rally, in which McGraw said he enjoyed hitting that loudmouth . . . who was not acting like an American, and threatened next time to kill him.

The first outlet to report that Cumberland County investigators were considering the charge was WRAL in Raleigh, N.C.

The incident with McGraw happened in the first few minutes of Trumps appearance in Fayetteville, and it was the first major disruption of that event. In previous rallies in other states, Trump had suggested that supporters knock the crap out of disruptive protesters, and said Id like to punch him in the face as another protester was escorted out. But in this incident, he had not mentioned anything about protesters until around the time McGraw allegedly threw the punch.

Hello! Uh oh! Ohh! Uh oh! So early. So early. All right, get em out! Thank you. Were gonna have such fun, Trump said then, as the crowd chanted Trump! Were gonna have such fun tonight. Get em out. Thank you. Do we love our police? Our police are great.

Later in the rally, in response to another disruption, Trump was more forceful: Get out of here. Go home to Mom! he said, as the crowd cheered. Nasty. Nasty. Why are they allowed to do things that were not allowed to do? Can you explain that to me? Really a disgrace.

Butler, the elected sheriff of Cumberland County, is a Democrat in his sixth term in office.

Trumps next scheduled event  his campaign called it a massive rally  was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Eastern time at an airfield in Vienna, Ohio, near Youngstown. Attendees were being required to park at a minor league baseball stadium about eight miles away and take buses to the event. At least 26 officers were assigned to provide security at the rally, said Erich Luketich, a supervisor at the Trumbull County 911 dispatch center.

On Monday, a legal expert at the University of North Carolina law school said it can be difficult to prove a charge of inciting a riot.

[Trump would join a Motley Crue member if he were charged with inciting a riot in N.C.]

We do have very strong protections in this country for speech that is unpleasant, that is hateful, that is deeply offensive, said Mary-Rose Papandrea, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law who specializes in constitutional law, civil liberties and national security matters. But incitement of violence, of damage or harm is not protected. The thing is, meeting the legal standard for incitement isnt easy. Prosecutors have to meet some very rigorous requirements.

For decades, prosecutors across the country have interpreted riot statutes to apply only in cases where someone willfully intended to inspire or encourage immediate violence. If Trump were actually charged in this case, Papandrea said, he could argue that he had not meant to encourage physical violence before the punch was thrown.

Janell Ross and Jose A. DelReal contributed to this report.
Audience members cheer at a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Boca Raton, Fla. His presence is leaving party veterans in Congress anxious about their primary prospects. (Paul Sancya/AP)

The next set of canaries will be sent into the coal mine Tuesday.

Thats when another clutch of veteran congressional Republicans will find themselves in primary contests theyre favored to win, but they are still anxious about them because of the anti-Washington turbulence in the GOP embodied by Donald Trumps presidential campaign.

Among others, theres Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Intelligence Committee; Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), a nearly 20-year veteran whos also angling for one of the most coveted gavels in Congress; and, in a highly symbolic race that doesnt involve incumbents, a tea party bid to claim the seat left vacant by the retirement of former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

These undercard races wont attract anything close to the attention of Trumps bid Tuesday to claim the presidential primary battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and three other large states, but they are the focus of an inordinate amount of attention in the Capitols second-floor offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).

McConnell, in particular, is paying close attention to these House and Senate primaries, the margins that the incumbents win by and what they did to win. Unable to influence the outcome of the presidential race  in which another outsider, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a longtime antagonist of McConnell, is so far the only viable challenger to Trump  the GOP leader is putting an intense focus on these early congressional primaries to see whether the presidential candidates are bringing out voters who also want to throw out their members of Congress.

In this 2013 file photo, Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Shimkus is one of several veteran congressional Republicans facing primary contests this year. (Susan Walsh/AP)

These early tests will help clarify how rocky things will be for Republicans in the fall, when McConnells Senate majority will hang in the balance and, depending on the environment, Ryans huge cushion in the House could be reduced to the narrowest of margins. If the establishment canaries can survive, Republican leaders may be a little bit reassured that they can run successful congressional races later this year, independent of whoever tops the GOP ticket in November.

So far, the first clutch of incumbents battled through their March 1 primaries without any casualties.

The takeaway for congressional Republicans is that the incumbents who won the biggest totals ran aggressive campaigns that were well financed and defined their opponents early, using the most modern techniques to reach voters who were also casting ballots for an outsider at the top of the ticket.

Its a lesson that the Republicans running for president did not apply to their races, something they are paying dearly for now as Trump dominates the field.

The Trump campaign is real, and some of them ignored that. We could tell that from our early polling, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said last week after his convincing victory.

Shelby is the walking, breathing embodiment of a politician who should be scorned by Trump and Cruz voters: an 81-year-old incumbent, with nearly 38 years in Congress, whose tenure has been marked by close ties to the banking industry and doling out earmarks to favored interests.

He faced several challengers, including a 33-year-old conservative who hoped to keep Shelby below 50 percent of the vote and force him into a runoff that might have prompted deep-pocketed conservative groups from Washington to enter the race.

Longtime Republican Sen. Richard Shelby speaks at his election party after he won Alabama's primary election in early March. Shelby faced several challengers, but won more than 65 percent of the vote. (Brynn Anderson/AP)

Instead, the octogenarian cruised to victory with more than 65 percent of the vote, more than Trump and Cruz combined for in the presidential primary. We had a lot of people who voted for Trump, voted for me. A lot of people who voted for Rubio, voted for me, Shelby said, referencing the establishment favorite, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

McConnell has told associates that he was closely watching other races that night, too. The Senate leader was citing the margins run up by GOP Alabama Reps. Bradley Byrne and Martha Roby  first- and third-term lawmakers, respectively  who both took more than 60 percent of the vote.

In Texas, half of the states 28 House Republicans faced some level of primary opponent, including robust challenges to three who wield influential gavels: Reps. Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee; Pete Sessions, chairman of the Rules Committee; and Lamar Smith, chairman of the Science Committee.

Every Texas incumbent won, although Brady had to spend dearly to clear 50 percent and avoid a runoff later in the spring. Sessions and Smith both cleared more than 60 percent.

Its far from certain that other incumbents will survive.

In 2014, after several embarrassing losses by incumbents in previous elections, Senate Republican leaders ordered their veterans to practice what they called the Overwhelming Force Doctrine, running all-out campaigns no matter how minor the competition.

They won every primary, but sitting House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) got caught sleeping and lost in a stunning upset to his tea party challenger, Rep. Dave Brat, in the primary.

In his race, Shelby took nothing for granted. Despite not having a serious race since his first Senate campaign 30 years ago, Shelby had amassed a campaign war chest of more than $20 million, just in case.

Last summer, he sat in McConnells office seeking political advice, having watched the leader run a brutal and effective campaign for reelection in 2014 that included overcoming a primary challenge.

Shelby took the unusual step of hiring two polling firms, and the early results made it clear that Trump wasnt going away. We knew that, from the beginning, he said, he was doing a lot better than people thought.

By mid-January, Shelby had adopted a lot of political-consultant lingo, using terms such as soft electorate to describe those Trump voters who had never really voted in a primary before.

The senator brought on board a digital team led by McConnell acolytes, who waged a tough, below-the-radar campaign against Shelbys main challenger, John McConnell. For weeks, anyone in Alabama searching the Internet for John McConnell saw a website called Con Man John, questioning the political neophytes business dealings and his position on immigration.

By the time Shelby launched his television ads, created by GOP ad guru Fred Davis, McConnells unfavorable rating had spiked by 10 percent.

Then came one last Trump-inspired fear. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a revered conservative, endorsed the businessman two days before the primary.

But Shelbys team had already purchased a digital form of Trump insurance: Every person in Alabama who searched for Jeff Sessions on Google first saw an ad touting the fact that Sessions had endorsed Shelby. For weeks, only a few dozen people a day saw that ad.

On the day that Sessions backed Trump, more than 11,000 Alabama voters searched for Sessions and discovered that he had also backed Shelby.

It was a completely different fight than he ever expected. But even two years ago, Shelby told The Washington Post he was willing to win, whatever the cost.

You need to work hard, you need to be heavily armed and you need to take nothing for granted, he said back then. If you do that, things work out.
A defiant Donald Trump touched off a political maelstrom Sunday that didnt spare his Republican and Democratic presidential rivals, as he threatened to encourage supporters to stage protests against Sen. Bernie Sanders and drew escalating criticism from GOP opponents desperate to slow him ahead of Tuesdays crucial nominating contests.

The moguls impact on both political parties illustrated the unusual position he occupies in the race. His unpredictable and combative approach will face its biggest test yet this week in five primaries that offer him an opportunity to effectively put away his Republican competition.

A new round of public polling showed Trump leading comfortably in Florida, Tuesdays biggest prize.

In Ohio, another delegate-rich state that is seen by many Trump critics as perhaps the last best chance to force the front-runner into a lengthy battle for the nomination, surveys showed he was in a close fight with the states governor, John Kasich. Trump scrapped plans for a Monday-evening rally in Florida and replaced it with one in Ohio.

The other primaries Tuesday are in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

1 of 45 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Trump captures the nations attention on the campaign trail View Photos The Republican candidate continues to dominate the presidential contest. Caption Businessman Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at the partys convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami. Carlo Allegri/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue.

There will also be Republican caucuses in the Northern Marianas.

Here in Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio made a last-minute push to avoid a humiliating loss in his home state that supporters fear would end his campaign. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas campaigned in North Carolina and Ohio, attempting to position himself to add to his delegate total, which is second only to Trumps. Kasich, who has yet to win a state, made an urgent push on his home turf.

On the Democratic side, front-runner Hillary Clinton tried to put more distance between herself and Sanders, who won an upset victory in Michigan last week.

Throughout it all, the presence of Trump  who has come under heavy criticism from opponents who have bluntly accused him of fueling divisive discourse and violent clashes at his events  could be felt.

[Can Donald Trump keep blaming others for the anger of his campaign?]

The billionaire businessman did not bow to calls to soften his aggressive tone. Instead, he lashed out at his Republican competition and blamed Sanderss supporters for forcing him to cancel a rally set for Friday in Chicago, where violence spilled onto the streets.

Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disrupters arent told to go to my events, Trump said on Twitter.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Savannah Center in West Chester, Ohio on Sunday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!

In a campaign stop in Bloomington, Ill., Trump said there would be a double standard if his backers disrupted rallies for the senator from Vermont.

Theyll lock you up for the rest of your life and give you the electric chair and say, Oh, poor Bernie, poor Bernie, he had to endure this!  Trump said. With us, they dont say that.

At his hour-long event, Trump also called Cruz a liar and said Kasich was weak on trade.

Further inflaming tensions, Trump said on NBCs Meet the Press that he has instructed his staff to look into paying legal fees for a 78-year-old white man who has been charged with sucker-punching a 26-year-old black protester at one of the real estate magnates recent rallies.

Trump said in an interview on CNNs State of the Union that he didnt consider his Be careful Bernie social-media post to be a threat.

He repeated his charge that Sanders had lied when he said his campaign wasnt behind an influx of protesters that led to the cancellation of the planned Chicago rally.

[Sanders has gotten nastier. Does that help explain his staying power?]

Appearing on the same program, Sanders said Trump was not being truthful.

This man cannot stop lying, Sanders said. He said that he has many supporters and that while some may attend Trump events as a form of peaceful protest, they are not doing so at his direction.

I would hope my supporters will not disrupt meetings, Sanders said. We have millions of supporters, and people do things. But it was not our campaign.

He blamed Trump for creating the environment that has led to violence at his rallies.

This is a man who keeps implying violence, and then you end up getting what you see, Sanders said.

Trumps three GOP competitors issued sharp denunciations of their own.

Do we really want to live in a country where Americans hate each other? Where people are incapable of talking through an issue? Rubio asked a crowd gathered at a sprawling retiree community here in The Villages. Without naming Trump, Rubio said the country is seeing images we have not seen since the 1960s.

Campaigning in Strongsville, Ohio, Kasich said of Trump: Well, look, I cant control him. Ive already said that what hes done is create a toxic atmosphere. I just do what I can do.

Speaking at an event put on by his super PAC in Concord, N.C., Cruz continued to argue that he is the only candidate who can beat Trump, urging people who support other candidates to throw their votes behind him to ensure Trump doesnt get the nomination.

Come join us, come on in, the waters fine, he said.

Surveys from NBC News, the Wall Street Journal and Marist College, as well as polling from CBS News and YouGov, showed Trump leading Rubio by double digits in Florida and Cruz threatening Rubio for second place. Rubio has campaigned before small crowds in recent days.

In Ohio, new polling showed Trump and Kasich in tight competition at the head of the pack. Ohio will award 66 delegates to the victor there. Florida will give all 99 delegates to its winner.

For the Democrats, the five contests that will be held Tuesday could be key to shaping the rest of the race.

Clinton leads in the delegate chase and is looking to pull away. Sanders is aiming to build on his come-from-behind victory in Michigan with strong showings in the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois and Ohio.

Clinton has held wide leads in polling in Florida, and Sanders is angling to keep it close in North Carolina.

A day after the former secretary of state lambasted Trumps rhetoric as political arson, she focused her message for much of Sunday on jobs and trade as she campaigned in Ohio. But Sunday evening at a Democratic dinner in Columbus, she unleashed her most critical assessment of the real estate mogul yet, accusing him of doing anything to get votes.

Donald Trump is running a cynical campaign of hate and fear, for one reason: to get votes, she said. Hes encouraging violence and chaos to get votes. He is pitting Americans against each other to get votes.

In addition to his back-and-forth with Trump, Sanders took aim at Clinton during his rally in the St. Louis area, outlining what he said are strong differences on trade, accepting donations from Wall Street, and the Iraq War.

Sanderss advisers argue that after Tuesday, the map becomes more favorable to him, with several Western states they argue they can win, including Arizona, which votes March 22.

But to remain viable in a race where Clinton already boasts a commanding lead in the delegate count, Sanders needs to post some strong showings Tuesday.

In Bloomington, Trumps speech was interrupted several times by protesters, some of whom tore up campaign signs. Each time, Trump ordered them to leave.

You see where they put themselves? Right in front of the cameras, he said as one protester was escorted out.

Thats all they care about, Trump said. Disgusting.

Mary Jane Nelson, a Rubio backer who came to see the senator from Florida at The Villages, summed up her view of Trump succinctly: I find him very scary.

Wagner reported from St. Louis, Guarino from Bloomington, Ill. Jose A. DelReal in West Chester, Ohio; David Weigel in Strongsville, Ohio; Abby Phillip in Chicago; Katie Zezima in Concord, N.C.; and Michelle Ye Hee Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Overheard On Chicago Police Radio: 'Black Lives Matter, My Ass' And N-Word

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 14, 2016 5:50PM



Demonstrators taunt supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as they leave a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago which was postponed on March 11, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

[Warning: This post features racist language. The audio embedded below was not uploaded by Chicagoist, and the uploader spelled out the n-word.]

Someone, presumed to be a Chicago police officer, unleashed disturbing hate speech on the Chicago Police radio this weekend, including the n-word and a comment mocking the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Chicago police officers in the field routinely communicate with each other and dispatchers via radio, and their dispatches are frequently monitored via police scanners by journalists and other curious people. Some scanner listeners picked up on the disturbing communications Monday morning and shared it on social media. One Twitter user and regular scanner tracker said he believes the radio broadcast was originally made Saturday morning, just hours after police were stationed outside the cancelled Donald Trump rally and anti-Trump protests.

A man can be heard saying, "Typical fucking n--," over the scanner, interjected into a conversation between several cops and a female dispatcher. Another man responded "find out what radio that comment came from," and the dispatcher replied, "You know we don't get radio numbers, but I'm already hollering for my supervisor." Shortly after, a man can be heard saying, "Black Lives Matter, my ass. Fucking n--."

Police representatives told reporters they were looking into the matter Monday afternoon.

The national Black Lives Matter movement has been working in Chicago to call attention to police brutality and misconduct, and has organized or participated in protests relating to the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald and other black Chicagoans killed by police.

The audio, which contains racist language, can be heard here:
Presidential hopefuls in both parties made frenetic pitches across the Midwest and Southeast on Monday on the eve of presidential primaries in five states that could shore up the two front-runners  or breathe new life into the lagging campaigns of their challengers.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders staged rallies in four of those states, trying to pull off more come-from-behind wins in states damaged by trade and claim momentum from Hillary Clinton, who enjoys a sizable lead but has not been able to seal the nomination.

For the Republicans, Tuesday offers a chance for Donald Trumps remaining rivals to slow his march to the nomination with two winner-take-all contests that have particularly high stakes for a pair of favorite sons, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.

N.C. Sheriffs Office says Trump unlikely to be charged with inciting a riot]

Multiple polls in the days leading up to Tuesdays contests showed Sanders closing in on Clinton in three states in the industrial Midwest  Missouri, Illinois and Ohio. But polls show Clinton far ahead in Florida and in North Carolina, setting up the possibility of an outcome parallel to last weeks contests, when Sanders scored a narrow and surprising victory in Michigan, yet Clinton came away with a widened lead in the delegate count because of her resounding victory in Mississippi.

Hillary Clinton, accompanied by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and mothers who have lost children to gun violence, visits the Kids Off the Block memorial in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago on Monday. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

In other words, Clinton appears poised to continue her progress toward the Democratic nomination, but ever more bloodied by her battles with Sanders.

On the campaign trail Monday, the senator from Vermont continued to hammer Clinton, as he did in Michigan, on the issue of trade  arguing that he has been a far stronger ally in the fight to protect manufacturing jobs.

You in Ohio and in the Midwest know about the disastrous trade policies, he told an audience packed into a theater in Akron, where a once-thriving tire industry has experienced a major decline.

It took me about 13 seconds to figure out that NAFTA was written by corporate America, that its goal was to shut down factories and plants in America, to move abroad to find cheap labor, and bring those products back into America. It didnt take a PhD to figure that out, Sanders said.

Clinton, meanwhile, appeared to take sharper aim at Trump, the Republican front-runner, than at Sanders. At an MSNBC town hall in Springfield, Ill., Clinton said Trump is evoking the kind of mob violence that led to lynching.

When you are inciting mob violence, which is what Trump is doing in those clips, theres a lot of memories that people have, she told Chris Matthews. People remember mob violence that led to lynching. People remember mob violence that led to people being shot, being grabbed, being mistreated.

Clinton also made campaign stops Monday in Chicago and Charlotte.

The Ohio GOP primary could be the Republican establishment's last chance to stop Donald Trump. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

Kasich, who has said he will drop out of the Republican contest if he doesnt win Tuesdays primary in his home state of Ohio, made two appearances there Monday with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee. It was the first time Romney had stepped out on the trail since his recent broadside against Trump.

Romney, who has pledged to support any GOP candidate who can defeat Trump, stopped short of endorsing Kasich  but had plenty of nice things to say about him during an event at an airplane museum in North Canton, Ohio, where the backdrop included a fighter jet, a helicopter and a Patton-size American flag.

[Romney: Kasich has the kind of record that you want in Washington]

Youre the ones who are going to decide if he becomes the next president of the United States, Romney said. You look at this guy, and unlike the other people running, he has a real track record. He has the kind of record that you want in Washington. Thats why Im convinced that youre going to do the right thing tomorrow.

Tuesday could also be the last stand for Rubio, a candidate once touted as the Republican savior who more recently has badly trailed Trump in polls in his home state of Florida.

[Rubio says Trumps vulgarity like nothing in American political history]

Barnstorming there Monday, Rubio said the moguls abrasive rhetoric has already earned him a spot in history  for all the wrong reasons.

I dont think theres anyone in the history of American politics that compares to the vulgarity of a Donald Trump candidacy, Rubio told reporters. He repeated himself to emphasize his point: In the history of American politics.

Before that, the senator from Florida campaigned outside a restaurant where supporters held up signs and chanted his name. Sleeves rolled up under the bright sunshine, Rubio encouraged his backers to keep fighting for him, and he framed Tuesdays primary as a chance to go in one of two very different directions.

Tomorrow is a choice between optimism and fear, Rubio told the crowd.

Trump struck a dismissive tone Monday amid harsh scrutiny of the sometimes-violent clashes at his rallies, insisting during an event in Hickory, N.C., that violence has not been an issue.

The press is now going, theyre saying, Oh, but theres such violence. No violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think, like, basically none, except maybe somebody got hit once, Trump said at Lenoir-Rhyne University after several protesters were escorted out during the first of three interruptions.

Its a love fest. These are love fests, Trump added later. And every once in a while . . . somebody will stand up and theyll say something. . . . Its a little disruption, but theres no violence. Theres none whatsoever.

Trump was interrupted just three times Monday by protesters, who had a significantly smaller presence than at events in recent days.

The candidate said he has been treated with a double standard by media outlets, which he says report protesters at his events but do not cover protests at other candidates rallies. But the scale and frequency of the protests at Trumps events undeniably outstrip those at his rivals events, culminating in the violent clashes in Chicago last week.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been campaigning for Trump in Florida but said she planned to leave early because her husband was seriously injured in a little wreck on a snow machine.

Palin said that even though she was dealing with this family crisis, it was important to spend time helping Trump get elected.

What we dont have time for is all that petty, punk-ass little thuggery stuff thats been going on, she said, referring to the protesters who have targeted Trumps rallies in Chicago and elsewhere. She accused the protesters of endangering the First Amendment rights of Trumps supporters to peacefully assemble, and charged the media with being on the thugs side.

In Rockford, Ill., Cruz made news by laying out the one scenario in which he would not support Trump as the nominee: If, for example, he were to go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, I would not be willing to support Donald Trump.

Cruz is looking for strong performances in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina to cut any delegate lead Trump might build Tuesday. Missouri and Illinois, where Cruz was scheduled to make five stops Monday, border parts of Iowa, which gave him his first victory.

Back on the Democratic side, there have been several signs that the unexpectedly competitive contest with Sanders has taken a toll on Clinton. She regularly logs 18-hour days on the trail, mixing retail campaigning  downing a Guinness beer in an Irish bar ahead of St. Patricks Day, for example  with rallies and a seemingly never-ending stream of town hall meetings and debates.

That pace may help explain a series of gaffes that have put Clinton in hot water with her supporters and created problems that could haunt her in the general election if she wins the nomination.

Friday morning, the day of Nancy Reagans funeral, Clinton mistakenly praised the former first lady for starting a conversation about HIV/AIDS. Clinton quickly apologized, but the backlash from the LGBT community was intense, despite efforts by the campaign to reassure them that she had made an honest error.

The next day in St. Louis, Clinton suggested that Sanders had been absent during her 1993 push for health-care reform. On Twitter, a Sanders aide quickly blasted out an archival video showing the senator standing right behind Clinton during a news conference about the effort.

Twenty-four hours after that, Clinton answered a question about coal country with a cringe-worthy response: Were going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, right?

On Monday, Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon tried to clean up after Clinton, saying Republicans were trying to twist her words to suggest she showed a disregard for coal workers.

Obviously she was making the exact opposite point: that we have to take proactive steps to make sure coal workers, their families and their communities get not just the benefits theyve earned but also the future they deserve, he said. Any suggestions otherwise are false.

Sanders also made campaign stops Monday in North Carolina and Missouri, and he was scheduled to end the day with a late-night rally in Chicago.

The only place with a primary he intended to skip was Florida, where polls have shown Clinton with a sizable lead in Tuesdays most delegate-rich contest.

Floridas primary is closed, meaning independents, who have sided with Sanders in large numbers in other states, wont be able to participate. The state is also home to large numbers of seniors, who have gravitated far more heavily toward Clinton elsewhere.

Juliet Eilperin in Washington; Jenna Johnson in Tampa; Abby Phillip in Springfield, Ill.; Sean Sullivan in Melbourne, Fla.; David Weigel in North Canton, Ohio; and Katie Zezima in Peoria, Ill., contributed to this report.
Pvt. Shane Diaz of the U.S. Armys 2nd Infantry Division goes through a chemical-weapons training exercise at Camp Mobile in South Korea. (Shin Woong-jae/For The Washington Post)

Inside a dark chemistry lab in a derelict old building, Pvt. Shane Diaz gingerly drew 13 milliliters of an unknown brown liquid from a glass flask up into a syringe.

Breathing through a gas mask that made him sound like Darth Vader, he was careful not to spill a drop as he put it into a sample jar. Who knew what chemical weapons the North Koreans had been making here?

Remove the tubing from the syringe and be mindful of the needle  it might come out, Sgt. Tyler Lawrence said from behind him. And when you get the tubing out, kill it.

Everything had to be done exactly by the book. These samples could be used to prosecute Kim Jong Un and his cronies with war crimes before the International Criminal Court. Or, at least, thats what the American soldiers were training for.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries are staging their largest-ever joint military drills, an eight-week exercise involving everything from amphibious landing exercises on southern beaches to computer-simulated decapitation strikes aimed at taking out the leaders of a certain regime just to the north.

About 17,000 American troops and 300,000 South Korean personnel are taking part in computer-simulated exercises, which end this weekend, and field drills that continue through the end of April.

[In drills, U.S., South Korea practice striking Norths nuclear plants, leaders]

The allies scenario is clear: to prepare to go into North Korea after the regime in Pyongyang collapses or after it orders a suicidal invasion of the South.

The exercises come at a particularly tense time on the Korean Peninsula, with international sanctions  punishment for the Norths recent nuclear test and missile launch  biting at the same time.

Pyongyang has been making its unhappiness with both developments loud and clear, threatening preemptive strikes or claiming some major technological advance on a daily basis.

The DPRKs army will reduce all bases and strongholds of the U.S. and south Korean warmongers for provocation and aggression into ashes in a moment, without giving them any breathing spell, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a recent commentary about the exercises, using the official abbreviation for North Korea.

[North Korea claims it could wipe out Manhattan with a hydrogen bomb]

While North Korea has been threatening to use its nuclear weapons, a key component of the drills involves dealing with chemical or biological agents. About 700 soldiers, 100 of them South Korean, are taking part in a series of 28 drills over 18 days.

In addition to its nuclear weapons program, the Kim regime is thought to possess chemical weapons, including nerve agents such as sarin gas that it can make domestically.

Evidence suggests that North Korea has significant quantities and varieties of chemical weapons, Joseph S. Bermudez, an expert on North Koreas defense, wrote in a 2013 analysis. It also has, to a lesser extent, the ability to employ these weapons worldwide using unconventional methods of delivery.

The use of chemical weapons in Syrias civil war has shown how devastating this form of warfare can be and has refocused some attention on the Norths presumed programs.

At a largely unused army base north of Seoul, close to the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, soldiers were practicing what to do if they came across a clandestine chemical weapons lab in North Korea.

At a drill Monday, soldiers in full combat gear from an Army unit based at Fort Hood, Tex., stormed the dilapidated building, chosen because it was similar to what American soldiers might actually encounter in North Korea, and swept through the dark rooms, guns drawn.

[North Koreas making a lot of threats these days. Should we be worried?]

In the building, they found 55-gallon drums with liquid on top, empty munitions shells and a filling station, a chemical lab with a sign reading quality inspection in Korean on the outside. A sharp odor pervaded the space (it was Bengay that the soldiers had smeared on the walls for verisimilitude).

Its more real here for sure. Its a real-life scenario, said 1st Lt. Jonathan OConnell, who had come in from Fort Hood for the exercises. There are multiple known sites that are literally hours away from here by foot.

Seeing it was clearly a chemical weapons site, the soldiers called in specialists from the U.S. Armys 2nd Infantry Division, the only division with a full chemical battalion and the only chemical weapons team stationed outside the United States.

Enter Pvt. Orin Johnson, the team leader, with his notebooks and camera; Pvt. Charles Kimiaga, with a bucket filled with plastic sheeting and glass jars; and Diaz with a scanner that started beeping immediately.

They were decked out in Mopp 4 gear, the highest level of protective suits, with gloves and boot covers taped onto their suits.

Under the close inspection of Lawrence, their evaluator, the three slowly moved through the rooms with their vapor detector, radioing in their findings along the way. It looked like a cross between CSI and Breaking Bad.

Our guys need to be able to identify whats going on and understand whats on the site and understand whats there, said Lt. Col. Adam Hilburgh, the battalion commander. We use the current intelligence picture to tailor our training to that.

If they were to actually find chemical or biological agents in North Korea, the soldiers would have to take samples and keep them secure so they could be introduced at the International Criminal Court, Hilburgh said.

In the chemical lab, Lawrence told the men to get out their kill bucket. They promptly set up a yellow bucket bag and poured in powder to kill whatever liquid was inside the flasks.

Lawrence was not impressed with the time it was taking. The [chemical] process is still ongoing, he barked. Youre assisting the enemy.

The trio set about putting samples into glass jars  10 milliliters, or about two teaspoons, was all the court would need, Lawrence said  and analyzing them in the scanner.

It turned out it was lewisite, a blister agent. (Anti-lewisite pills were found in another room, along with the supposed North Korean gas masks.)

The soldiers prepared to package it up and ship out the liquids before moving steadily up the difficulty ladder.

Next on their training list: going underground to practice working in tunnels containing radioactive material  and very little oxygen.
German voters on Sunday appeared to send a message to Chancellor Angela Merkel: Close the door on migrants.

Her center-right Christian Democratic Party suffered universal setbacks in local elections  in a vote widely seen as a referendum on Merkels humanitarian stance allowing vast waves of migrants to cross German borders.

The upstart Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a populist force that campaigned on an anti-migrant, anti-Merkel platform  and which drew support from the left as well as the right  scored big gains. It landed 24.4 percent of the vote in one of the three states that went to the ballot box, according to projections based on exit polls produced for the German public broadcaster ARD.

[A right-wing party in Germany hopes to capitalize on anti-migrant anger]

The outcome amounted to a blow to Merkel just as the chancellor is set to fight this week for a new accord between the European Union and Turkey on the refugee crisis. It would stop the illegal flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea, but also compel reluctant European nations, including Germany, to take in more Syrian asylum seekers from Turkey.

Guido Wolf, lead candidate for the German Christian Democrats looks on during a press conference after Sundays state-level parliamentary elections. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

At home, Merkel has already vowed to speed up deportations of migrants who are not fleeing war. In the past 12 months, more than a million migrants from the Middle East and beyond have sought sanctuary and jobs in Europes economic powerhouse. Yet in a sign that public tolerance may be growing thin, voter turnout was up Sunday, and above 70 percent in two of the states voting.

[As the route to Europe closes, migrants journey through grief]

The results will probably further fuel the existing unease with Merkel within her own CDU, said Carsten Nickel, senior vice president of Teneo Intelligence.

The CDUs worst losses of the night came in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where her party was falling to 27 percent support  a record low. The CDU had held sway in the state for most of the post-World War II era, but ended the night down 12 percentage points from its last showing.

The CDU also lost ground  but less, about 3 percentage points  in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. Importantly, one of the CDUs rising stars, Julia Klockner, was failing in her bid to unseat the incumbent for Rhineland-Palatinates top job.

At the same time, the AfD  a party that sought to tap the anxiety of Germans over the wave of newcomers  made strong gains. The party drew voters to the polls who had rarely or never participated in elections. Projections showed it winning more than 24 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, located in the former East Germany where anti-migrant sentiment is running particularly high. The AfD also gained ground in the two other states, with preliminary results showing it won 12.6 percent of the vote in Rhineland-Palatinate and 15.1 percent in wealthy, heavily industrialized Baden-Wuerttemberg.

[Think Merkel isnt in trouble? Look at these charts.]

Nevertheless, analysts predicted that Merkel, who has defended her plan to shelter war-torn refugees while weeding out economic migrants, probably would hold firm. She has the luxury of claiming that key local CDU politicians, including Klockner, who failed on Sunday have criticized her refugee policy. They lost to opposition politicians who sometimes had been more supportive of the chancellors refugee policy than members of her own party.

When it comes to the refugee crisis, Merkel might change her tone, but not her politics, said Jurgen Falter, a political analyst at Mainz University. She seems to be so utterly convinced of her strategy that I do not expect her to do anything different, unless her European partners force her to.

Stephanie Kirchner contributed to this report.

Read more:

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Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Father Of Slain 9-Year-Old Tyshawn Lee Charged With Shooting 3 People

By Mae Rice in News on Mar 14, 2016 4:18PM



Pierre Stokes, 25, has been charged in a shooting that injured three (photo via Chicago Police Department)

The father of Tyshawn Lee, a nine-year-old who was fatally shot in November, has been charged with shooting three people last week in the Gresham area, the Cook County states attorneys office announced Sunday.

Pierre Stokes, 25, was arrested on Friday and charged with three felony counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

The shooting took place in the 7900 block of South Ashland on March 8 at 5:40 p.m. A 31-year-old man was shot in the left forearm, and a 30-year-old man was shot in the right arm. A 29-year-old woman also suffered a graze-wound to the face, though unlike the other two victims, she refused medical treatment, according to authorities.

The shooting occurred on the same day that police charged Dwight Boone-Doty with killing Lee and 19-year-old Brianna Jenkins in an ongoing gang conflict in the area.

It also comes after police alleged that Lee was killed because of his fathers gang ties, which made Lee a target in ongoing violence between two Chicago gangs: the Gangster Disciples and the Black P Stones. Stokes is allegedly a part of Gangster Disciples' Killa Ward faction; Boone-Doty is a "known member" of the Black P Stones, according to Ebony.
Members of the Missouri National Guard stand outside of the Ferguson Police Department and the Municipal Court in 2014. A Justice Department investigation found patterns of racial bias in the Ferguson police department and at the municipal jail and court. (Jeff Roberson/AP)

The Justice Department is asking local courts across the country to be wary of how they slap poor defendants with fines and fees to fill their jurisdictions coffers, warning that such practices often run afoul of the U.S. Constitution and have serious real-world consequences.

In a letter that will be sent Monday morning to the chief judges and court administrators in all 50 states, Vanita Gupta, the head of the departments Civil Rights Division, and Lisa Foster, director of the Office for Access to Justice, wrote that illegal enforcement of fines and fees had been receiving increased attention in recent years, and the Justice Department had a strong interest in making sure the rights of citizens were protected.

[How municipalities in St. Louis profit from poverty]

Individuals may confront escalating debt; face repeated, unnecessary incarceration for nonpayment despite posing no danger to the community; lose their jobs; and become trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape, Gupta and Foster wrote. Furthermore, in addition to being unlawful, to the extent that these practices are geared not toward addressing public safety, but rather toward raising revenue, they can cast doubt on the impartiality of the tribunal and erode trust between local governments and their constituents.

The letter begins with the phrase Dear Colleague, and it does not threaten any specific enforcement action for those who ignore it. Officials said, however, it is an indication that the Justice Department is stepping up its efforts on the problem of local court fines and fees. Department officials will also announce Monday that they are making $2.5 million in grant funding available for jurisdictions with plans to test strategies to restructure the assessment and enforcement of fines and fees.

We believe strongly the Constitution needs to be upheld in every court in every place in the United States, so were trying to help make sure that comes to pass, Foster said in an interview.

The White House and the department convened a summit on the issue in December with advocates and court officials, and the Justice Department alleged in a recent lawsuit that officers in Ferguson, Mo., were violating citizens civil rights in part because their policing tactics were meant to generate revenue.

The financial penalties  typically for minor misdemeanors, traffic infractions or violations of city code  disproportionately affect the poor, who cannot afford to pay immediately and are then hit with arrest warrants or additional penalties.

The Washington Posts Radley Balko published a lengthy investigation of municipalities practices in St. Louis County in 2014, finding that some towns there derived 40 percent or more of their annual revenue from the petty fines and fees collected by their municipal courts. Justice Department officials said they have seen similar problems in many other states.

It varies from state to state about how severe the problem is, but the problem is everywhere, Foster said.

[Report details problems in St. Louis County municipal courts]

The letter details seven principles that Gupta and Foster say court personnel should be aware of when imposing fines and fees. The officials wrote that courts should not jail people for nonpayment of fines and fees without first determining whether the non-payer was indigent and then establishing that the failure to pay was willful. They wrote that courts should consider alternatives to jail for indigent defendants; they must not use arrest warrants or license suspensions to coerce payments without giving defendants their rightful constitutional protections; and they must not use bail practices that leave poor people jailed solely because they cannot afford to pay for their release.

The officials wrote that courts should not require prepayment as a condition for a judicial hearing; they must provide meaningful notice and  in some cases  lawyers for those facing fines and fees; and they must safeguard against unconstitutional practices by court staff and private contractors, who are often left enforcing fines and fees because judges devote only a few hours to it on their crowded dockets.

We urge you to review court rules and procedures within your jurisdiction to ensure that they comply with due process, equal protection, and sound public policy, Gupta and Foster wrote.

The Justice Department could turn to more heavy-handed tactics, such as withholding grant money from jurisdictions with unconstitutional practices or filing lawsuits or criminal cases. The letter does not threaten any such action, but it notes that courts receiving federal funds might be violating the Civil Rights Act when their practices unnecessarily impose disparate harm on the basis of race or national origin.

Gupta said the letter is intended to articulate a set of principles that addresses a wide range of state and local court practices and to spark conversations that might lead to reform. She and Foster said some problems can become ingrained in court systems over time as leaders do not stop to consider the broader constitutional issues.

This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, and our expectation is thats whats going to happen, Foster said. Hopefully, there will be no need to do anything else than be a good partner.

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President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that Russia would begin withdrawing the main part of its military from Syria, a surprise potential end to a six-month intervention that bolstered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and dealt a grave blow to Syrian rebels.

The decision came as U.N.-

brokered peace talks between the Assad government and rebel representatives got underway in Geneva. The planned Tuesday start of the withdrawal coincides with the five-year anniversary of the beginning of street protests in Syria, an initially peaceful movement that was brutally repressed by Assad forces.

Through it all, Russia has backed Assad. But Mondays decision may intensify pressure on the Syrian government to strike a deal with rebel groups in Geneva. Talks resumed there Monday after breaking down a month ago because the rebels were suffering such heavy losses in their surrounded stronghold of Aleppo. A shaky cease-fire has quelled fighting in Syria since late February, but Assads forces have continued an assault on their rivals.

I hope that this will considerably increase the level of trust between all parties of the Syrian settlement and will contribute to a peaceful resolution of the Syrian issue, Putin said in a meeting with his top deputies that was broadcast on Russian state television late Monday. In a separate phone call with Assad, Putin said the intervention had radically changed the situation on the ground, according to the Kremlin.

[How the Syrian revolt went so horribly, tragically wrong]

Putin said that Russia would keep open the Russian air force and naval bases in Syria but that the task of the Russian intervention had been achieved and diplomacy should take over.

The Obama administration was taken by surprise by the announcement, which the White House said President Obama later discussed with Putin in a telephone call that had been previously scheduled to talk about implementation of the cease-fire.

Putin made the decision unilaterally, without any such request from Assad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. It was a pointed message suggesting that Russias support for Assad is not unlimited, now that he is unlikely to be deposed by force.

It was not immediately clear whether the announcement meant an end to all Russian airstrikes in Syria. The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia did not believe that issues with terrorists  the term Russia generally uses for all opponents of Assad  had been solved and that Russia intends to maintain a presence on the ground. Previous Russian announcements about peaceful intentions in Syria have been met with skepticism by Western nations.

After Assad appeared weakened and on the verge of defeat over the summer, the Russian intervention inverted the course of the conflict, paving the way with airstrikes for Assads ground forces. By February, shortly before the cease-fire went into effect, dozens of Russian bombers and jet fighters were often flying more than 60 sorties a day, according to Russias Defense Ministry, enabling major territorial gains by regime forces. Although Russian leaders said they were targeting the Islamic State and other terrorists, U.S. officials and rebels said the bulk of the airstrikes were being conducted against other rebel forces battling Assad, some of which were supported by the United States.

The mission was Russias first overseas combat deployment since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, a major test for a military that in 2008 seemed stretched to the breaking point by a brief war in neighboring Georgia. Russia has sought to use the increased clout to play a bigger role at the negotiating table and to break through the international isolation that had settled on it after its 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula.

Five years ago, few Syrians would have ever imagined that their uprising against their leader  a peaceful Arab Spring revolt  would turn into a violent proxy war for regional actors.

On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would begin pulling its military from Syria, potentially winding down nearly six months of airstrikes. The alliance between Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad goes back decades. Here's a bit of historical context that explains why Russia was fighting to prop up its closest ally in the Middle East. (Ishaan Tharoor and Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

On March 15, 2011, Syrians took to the streets in Damascus for unarmed rallies that would spread like wildfire across the country and would eventually be met with utter brutality by Assads security apparatus. Most Syrians back then would not have expected that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra would hijack their revolt and later provide the pretext for the Russian intervention.

For the first three months of the intervention, analysts and officials reported modest gains, as doubts about the battered Syrian army and militias loyal to Assad persisted. But in January, a Syrian offensive began scoring major victories, cutting off supply lines from Turkey and threatening Aleppo.

After helping broker the late February cease-fire, Russia pledged that it would push Assad forces to adhere to the deal.

[Obama thinks his Syria strategy is right  and folks just dont get it]

The Obama administration had become increasingly frustrated in recent days over what it saw as Russias inability or unwillingness to press Syrian government forces to adhere to the cease-fire. In his call to Putin, the White House said, Obama welcomed the overall reduction in violence but stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian regime forces risk undermining both the truce and the political negotiations.

Late last week, the administration decided to publicly accuse Moscow of failing to rein in Assad, leading to a string of comments by officials including Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who on Sunday called on Putin to take control of Russias Syrian ally.

By signing on to the international agreement backing a cease-fire, he said, Russia and Iran accepted responsibility for the forces that they control or influence. . . . So President Putin, who is invested in supporting Assad . . . should be somewhat concerned by the actions of Syrian forces.

We felt it was important, going into these talks, to make it clear that we werent blind to these violations, that they mattered, and that they really needed to stop, a U.S. official said Monday.

Russian analysts said Putins announcement may be intended to press Assad at the talks after saving him on the ground.

As Assad representatives take a hard line in the talks, I think that Russia is really not interested to fully take the responsibility for this behavior, said Fyodor Lukyanov, a well-connected political analyst in Moscow who is the editor of Russia in Global Affairs.

It was unclear what effect the pullout would have on the negotiations. The U.N. envoy charged with the talks, Staffan de Mistura, told journalists ahead of Putins move that the only Plan B available is the return to war, and to an even worse war than we had so far.

Syrian opposition leaders on Monday offered cautious praise of the pullout decision.

For us, its important to see actions instead of hearing words, said Salem al-Muslet, a spokesman for the main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee. If this decision actually removes all Russian troops from Syria, then this will be a positive step.

Naylor reported from Geneva. Karen DeYoung in Washington and Andrew Roth in Moscow contributed to this report.

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After peaceful demonstrations were met with violence in 2011, protesters took up arms against Syrian government forces. A brutal civil war followed with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. A fragile cease-fire has quieted some of the fighting, for now. (Liz Sly,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

After peaceful demonstrations were met with violence in 2011, protesters took up arms against Syrian government forces. A brutal civil war followed with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. A fragile cease-fire has quieted some of the fighting, for now. (Liz Sly,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Peace talks described as a last-chance effort to avert even greater bloodshed in Syria resumed Monday, a day before the fifth anniversary of the countrys peaceful uprising that eventually devolved into catastrophic civil war.

Although still bitterly divided, the warring parties agreed to gather here in Geneva again for U.N.-sponsored talks to hammer out differences. A similar round of negotiations collapsed just over a month ago because of a pro-government offensive backed by Russian air raids near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

[How the Syrian revolt went so horribly, tragically wrong]

Now the stakes couldnt be higher, warned Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. Syria envoy tasked with ending a war that has killed a quarter-million people, produced an extraordinary refugee crisis and fed the rise of Islamist extremists. He told journalists at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, where the talks are being held, that the only plan B available is the return to war, and to an even worse war than we had so far.

He plans to shuttle between the government and opposition delegations in so-called proximity  or indirect  talks.

De Mistura briefly met with the Syrian government delegation, led by Bashar al-Jaafari, and is to hold a similar meeting Tuesday with the opposition. It was a useful meeting and I think we clarified quite a lot of issues, de Mistura said afterward, although he provided few details.

Following the meeting with the U.N. envoy, Jaafari, flanked by advisers and government officials, described the new talks to journalists as positive and constructive. His delegation will again meet with de Mistura on Wednesday.

Already, however, Syrian officials have dismissed calls by the opposition for the formation of a transitional government with full executive authority. Such an authority would exclude President Bashar al-Assad, a non-starter for the government and a major sticking point in finding a resolution to the conflict.

Even though Assads future still poses perhaps the most formidable obstacle in brokering peace, opposition figures see signs of hope. Some of them cite as possible progress a partial truce negotiated by the United States and Russia that has managed to hold for more than two weeks despite violations by pro-government forces, including alleged land-grab attempts and airstrikes on civilian populations.

[Syria truce wobbles amid claims of government attacks, aid-delivery snags]

The only thing we can do now is continue with this cessation of hostilities, said Hind Kabawat, a member of High Negotiations Committee, an umbrella group representing the opposition at the talks. Fatigue has set in on both sides, and there is a strong sense that the only solution to this conflict is a political solution.

She called for Russia to use its influence to restrain Syrias government, which Moscow has backed with punishing airstrikes against rebel groups since September. Russia is in control of the Syrian regime, and we need Russia to force the regime to abide by the cessation of hostilities.

The military balance has shifted in Assads favor after Russias intervention, chipping away at rebel control over key areas of northwestern Syria and near the capital, Damascus. The Syrian leader now has Moscow and thousands of Shiite Muslim militiamen from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq providing much-needed manpower to his beleaguered armed forces.

Five years ago, few would have ever expected that their uprising against the Syrian leader  a peaceful Arab Spring revolt  would turn into a violent proxy war for regional actors.

On March 15, 2011, Syrians took to the streets in Damascus for unarmed rallies that would spread like wildfire across the country and eventually be met with utter brutality by Assads security apparatus. Nor would most Syrians back then have expected that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra would hijack their revolt.

On Monday, activists said residents and opposition fighters in the northwestern province of Idlib staged angry rallies to protest attacks a day earlier by Jabhat al-Nusra. The extremist group arrested several rebels affiliated with a Free Syrian Army outfit known as Division 13, killing a number of them and seizing weapons, according to activists and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Rebel groups in Idlib face immense pressure, fending off assaults by both al-Qaeda militants and pro-government forces, which appear to be gearing up for assaults on the province.

Were seeing regime troops preparing for an assault, and they are supported by Russian airstrikes and Iranian soldiers, said Ibrahim al-Idlibi, a rebel affiliated with a Free Syrian Army faction.

Despite all this, residents in Idlib also have demonstrated that the core message of Syrias uprising still rings true for many. On Friday, scores of people in Idlib and other rebel-held areas of the country held non-violent rallies calling for revolution and waving pro-opposition flags in town squares.

These protests show that the revolution still lives on for the Syrian people, said Kabawat, the opposition representative.

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed reporting
Turkey targeted Kurdish militants with airstrikes on their strongholds in Iraq on Monday as officials claimed almost certain links between the group and a suicide car bombing that killed at least 37 people in the Turkish capital.

Sundays blast  less than a month after a similar attack in the capital, Ankara  sharply raised concern that Turkeys long war with Kurdish separatists could be spreading from Kurdish regions in the countrys southeast to major urban centers.

There was no assertion of responsibility for the attack, but Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said very serious and almost certain findings point to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, Turkeys main militant faction.

The group has waged a violent campaign since the 1980s  including a brief lull  in its quest for greater autonomy in Turkeys Kurdish heartland. It also maintains bases over the border in northern Iraq.

[Explosion rips through Turkish capital, killing 37]

Battles between Kurdish militants and Turkish forces have escalated recently, adding yet another front in a region already in deep turmoil over the Syrian civil war and the Western-led campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

Davutoglu said 11 people were detained in Sundays blast  which occurred about 200 yards from his office  but authorities gave no details about their background or possible affiliations.

A woman was definitely one of the suicide attackers, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. Authorities suspect that the bombing was carried out by two people, and Turkish news reports said the hand of the suspected female attacker was found about 300 yards from the blast site.

[Weighing the risks of Turkish civil war]

In northern Iraq, warplanes struck at least 18 PKK positions, including bases in the Qandil mountains, Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Targets included ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters, the news agency said.

The blast on Sunday occurred less than a mile from the site of a Feb. 17 car bombing, which targeted a bus full of Turkish soldiers, killing 28 of them. An offshoot of the PKK asserted responsibility for that explosion.

Smaller-scale attacks against Turkish military targets have been commonplace in the largely Kurdish southeast since a cease-fire broke down last summer. The two recent attacks, however, suggest that the militants are seeking to escalate the fight by taking it into the heart of the country and hitting civilians as well.

The U.S. Embassy warned Friday in a message to American citizens that a terrorist attack might be imminent in Ankara, but it did not identify any group. A State Department statement condemned the latest bloodshed, saying that the United States remains committed to combating the shared threat of terrorism with NATO ally Turkey.

The Islamic State also has carried out attacks in Turkey in recent months. The worst killed more than 100 people in Ankara at a Kurdish peace rally in October. In Istanbul, 12 people, most of them German tourists, died after a suicide bomber in January struck the historic Sultanahmet district.

At the same time, Turkey also has bombed sites of a Kurdish group based in Syria, claiming the U.S.-backed fighters seek to make territorial gains as part of their push against the Islamic State.

The U.S. government, like Turkey, has designated the PKK a terrorist organization. But Washington has refused Turkeys demands to add the Syrian Kurds to the list, saying it regards the group as a vital ally in the fight against the Islamic State.

Murphy reported from Washington.

Read more:

Turkey targets U.S.-backed Kurds in Syria

Turkish envoy: Washington making strategic mistake to back Syrian Kurds

Turkey sees enemies and worries in all directions

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
This is the fourth and final article on the recent 66th Berlin International Film Festival

Only a few subjects in the world are known globally. Anne Frank is someone who one can speak to a Muslim about, and they know who you are talking about. Or people from Africa, they also know Anne Frank, observed director Hans Steinbichler about his new and valuable film version of Anne Franks diary.

Franks The Diary of a Young Girl appeared for the first time in German in 1950 (and in English in 1952) and has moved generations ever since. It has been translated into more than 60 languages.

Little more than 70 years after the death of the refugee Jewish girlarrested in the Netherlands after escaping the Nazi threat in her native Germanyat the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944, millions of people are now fleeing from war and the lack of hope for the future around the world.

Refugees stranded in Germany with no perspective is the subject of a second memorable film, Meteorstrae by Aline Fischer.

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the best known and moving testimonies of life under Nazi rule in Europe. Together with her parents Otto Frank (Ulrich Noethen) and Edith (Martina Gedeck), and sister Margot (Stella Kunkat), Anne (Lea van Acken) flees from Frankfurt in 1933 to the Netherlands to escape the Hitler regime. No longer safe in Amsterdam, the Jewish family conceal themselves in 1942 in the back rooms of an unused part of Otto Franks business.

Two families and a Jewish dentist from Berlin, a total of eight people, live in 50 square metres for two years until their hideout is betrayed and discovered in August 1944. Only Annes father Otto survived the concentration camp and ensured the publication of the diary.

The material has been adapted for the theatre and filmed numerous times. The George Stevens film with Millie Perkins (1959), based on a play, is one of the most prominent. There is also an opera based on Annes story.

Hans Steinbichlers moving new version focuses directly on the ever-present lack of space: darkened windows, hardly any private sphere, rarely any relaxation. There is always the fear that workers in the floors below will hear something. Only during their dinner break, at nights and weekends is it possible to move freely and speak normally. Even the use of the toilet is strictly regulated due to the sound of flushing. The only contact with the outside is via a radio and with close collaborators, who at extreme risk procure the daily necessities of life for the hidden families. The atmosphere becomes increasingly tense as time passes, arguments break out over trivialities and the group become less careful.

Lea van Acken is very convincing as Anne Frank, an adolescent girl for whom any kind of confinement is insufferable. She resists regulations, and is also firmly against any intellectual restraints. Her entire being is directed towards life, to the future. She is contemptuous of her mother due to her patience and Petronella van Daan (Margarita Broich) for her narrow-mindedness. Anne stubbornly defends her writing as it becomes clear to her that her diaries are more than just a pastime. The actress sensitive portrayal focuses on the fragile, uncertain and unforgiving in Anne. It is precisely her contradictions that reveal her potential. The ending is thus even more brutal, when Anne peers at the camera with a shaved head.

The film makes clear that people who were in all respects no different from other Germans were turned into the hunted and into victims by the obligation of wearing a yellow star on their clothing. Only such a star on clothes left on a beach incites a group of young Dutch Nazis to force a girl swimming in the sea to leave.

Jewish traditions play a very subordinate role in the Frank family. At birthdays, the popular German song Many best wishes and blessings is sung. Anne goes to a Montessori school until the Nazis ban it. Otto fought as a German patriot in the First World War. When it emerges during their arrest that the man standing before the SS soldier is a former German officer who fought for his fatherland, the soldier is somewhat confused, and even shows a certain respect.

In a morbid way, the arrest initially appears for a short moment to be somewhat liberating, from the unbearable and inhumane situation. One of the Nazis cannot believe the family lived concealed for two years. Bathed in sunlight, they emerge onto the street for the first time after this long period, only shortly afterwards to climb into a darkened truck to be deported.

The contemporary significance of the film is obvious and also intentional. Walid Nakschbandi, one of the producers, was born in Afghanistan. In the early 1980s, his parents sent him and his siblings to Germany for a better future. A German teacher recommended Anne Franks diary to the 14-year-old Walid to help improve his German language skills. Prior to this film, he helped produce the television series My Daughter Anne Frank (directed by Raymond Ley, 2015) about Otto Frank.

This January, on the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day, Eva Schloss, the step-sister of Anne Frank who lives in London, publicly compared the situation facing Syrian refugees with her own during the Nazi era. The Auschwitz survivor declared that she was shocked that so many countries were closing their borders. Fewer people would have died in the Holocaust if the world had accepted more Jewish refugees. Eva Schloss stated that Anne Frank and her family would probably not have died if the United States had approved Otto Franks desperate application in 1940.

This fact is hardly known and not referred to in the film. It also emerged only a few years ago that the Gestapo officer Karl Josef Silberbauer, who arrested the Frank family, was able to continue to work in his area of expertise after the war. Now under a democratic flag. He worked for the notorious Gehlen organisation (named after Wehrmacht general Reinhard Gehlen, one of the leading figures in German intelligence during World War II), the West German spy agency set up by the CIA in 1946 to spy on the USSR and Eastern Europe. The Gehlen organisation employed many former Nazis, including several implicated in war crimes. Silberbauer later worked directly for the BND, Germanys foreign intelligence service.

Hardly anyone was held accountable for the Frank arrests and deaths. An investigation into Silberbauer was halted in 1964 because the SS man had acted under orders. He died in Vienna in 1972 without ever having been convicted. According to Enttarnt by Peter-Ferdinand Koch, Silberbauers boss in Amsterdam, only known as Wilhelm H., continued working for the BND after the war. Later, the jurist became a senior government official in the Bavarian ministry of the interior.

Meteorstrae

The German feature film Meteorstrae (Meteor Street), by the French writer-director Aline Fischer, could be the sequel to Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea, Gianfranco Rosi), the Italian documentary about desperate refugees in Sicily.

Fischers film deals with Palestinian refugees who fled the war in Lebanon and made it to Berlin. Now, Mohammed (Hussein Eliraqui) is 18 and lives on the run-down Meteorstrae near the citys Tegel airport. His parents have been deported back to Lebanon. Only he and his older brother Lakhdar (Oktay Inanc Ozdemir) received permanent residency permits.

Mohammed is attracted to the world of German bikers, who bring their large motorcycles to the workshop where he does simple jobs. The shop is in the process of establishing itself and the German boss does him a favour by allowing him to work. Like the others, he knows that Mohammed must have experienced terrible things during the war in Lebanon. Two of the Germans have experience in the Foreign Legion. Today, they would only fight for their own blood.

The director manages to convey the idea of the lack of perspective, without sentimentality, through close observation. As long as Mohammed has hopes the unofficial job could lead to something permanent, he is able to resist his erratic older brother. But will the workshop actually ever open? At one point his boss, who is trying to encourage him, says he would like more than anything to give it all up. The greater the uncertainty, the less is Mohammed able to lead a normal life. His brother criticises him by saying that he has no pride and is allowing himself to be exploited. Eventually, Mohammed loses his power to resist.

Together, they break into the workshop. The theft of its safe marks the end of the workshop, and the employees lose their precarious employment. Although it is not possible to prove Mohammed is responsible, he gets beaten up. The former legionnaires suddenly remember the deceitful Arabs from the war and that only ones own survival matters.

The pressing threat to survival on all sides is conveyed aesthetically. The camera only shows a small, limited space, whether in the apartment or workshop. Aircraft are always taking off. The brothers live right next to a runway. At night, it truly appears like a meteor street. They are only left with the ugly side of this apparent freedom, the ear-splitting, never-ending noise, day and night.
With the eruption of physical conflict inside and outside rallies of billionaire Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, actively encouraged by the candidate himself, the traditional norms of American political life are rapidly breaking down.

The consequences of the explosive social tensions within the United States, combined with unending war abroad, are emerging on the surface of political life. For the first time in the United States, a candidate with a distinctly fascistic and authoritarian program, who openly incites violence against his opponents, and declares that a large portion of the American population must be suppressed, is on the verge of capturing the candidacy of the Republican Party.

Trumpwith a fortune accumulated through finance, real estate, and the media-driven marketing of his thuggish business personaepitomizes the oligarchic character of American society, which is characterized by a staggering degree of social inequality. He represents this oligarchys collective will to power. His campaign is a pre-emptive attempt by the most ruthless and determined sections of the capitalist class  fearful of growing popular discontent and increasing working-class militancy  to impose authoritarian and fascistic methods of rule.

Trump is exploiting deep social anger produced by a political system that is hostile and indifferent to the problems of mass unemployment, declining wages and economic decay affecting millions of people. He is channeling this anger along reactionary lines, combining fraudulent denunciations of disloyal corporations that export jobs and xenophobic rants against China and Mexico, with racist attacks on immigrants, Muslims and a broad array of outsiders who dont belong here.

The Trump phenomenon is a symptom of a diseased social, economic and political system. The fact that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, his main Republican rival, is being presented as a moderate alternative demonstrates how far to the right the American political system has gone. Cruz is arguably as reactionary and dangerous as Trump himself, advocating military escalation in the Middle East, huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, and the erection of a semi-theocratic state in America.

Whatever the fate of Trumps campaign in the coming weeks and months, his sudden rise is a clear warning that American democracy confronts a terminal crisis. With or without Trump, the extreme concentrations of wealth and the domination of the corporate-financial oligarchy, based on the capitalist system, is leading to openly dictatorial and fascistic forms of rule. Even if the campaign of Trump Version 1 were to suddenly implode, a Version 2 would soon emerge on the political market  perhaps more slick but not less dangerous. Notwithstanding the differences that presently exist within the Republican Party elite over Trumps crude methods, it agrees with his ultimate objective: the defense of the capitalist system against threats from below.

The Democratic Party  traditionally presented as the progressive alternative to the Republicans  cannot stop this process. Hillary Clinton, its official front-runner, is the personification of the political and economic status quo. She has presented her campaign as the continuation of the Obama administration, embracing the very government whose policies  bailing out Wall Street at the expense of working people, expanding the wars of the Bush administration, building up the powers of the military-police apparatus  have created the conditions for the rise of Trump.

Clintons campaign is built on lies and hypocrisy. She and her husband, the former president, have leveraged their positions in the political machine to acquire immense personal wealth.

The desire among masses of working people and youth for an alternative to the existing set-up has found expression in the campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He has attracted mass support largely on the basis of his self-identification as a democratic socialist. In a country where even tepid liberalism is referred to as the L word, and where socialism has been all but excluded for nearly seventy years from official political discourse, the Sanders campaign has disproved the political myth that the American people will never consider an alternative to capitalism.

The workers and youth who have propelled Sanders into a serious contender for the Democratic nomination are supporting him because they are seeking decisive political and social change.

However, there is an immense chasm between what Sanders is perceived to be and what he really is. Far more significant than his rhetorical sallies against the billionaire class is the fact that Sanders is seeking the nomination of the capitalist Democratic Party, one of the two political instruments through which the financial aristocracy has controlled the United States for 150 years. This party cannot serve as the instrument of a progressive, let alone socialist, transformation of American society.

In the final analysis, Sanders talk of a political revolution is little more than hot air. Tributes to Sanders sincerity are not only naive, but really beside the point. Those who feel the bern today will feel political heart-burn tomorrow, as the Vermont senator dashes their hopes no less cynically and cruelly than Barack Obama  the one-time prophet of Change you can believe in.

While Trump is deadly serious in his determination to defend the ruling corporate-financial oligarchy, Sanders socialism is no more than a phrase, devoid of any genuinely anti-capitalist content. As the campaign progresses, his program and rhetoric are acquiring an increasingly conventional character.

Moreover, rather than drawing clear and unmistakable lines between himself and Trump, Sanders is adapting his own campaign to the right-wing demagogues poisonous economic nationalism, denouncing not the capitalist system but various trade agreements that have allegedly enabled China and Mexico to steal American jobs. He simply ignores the fact that such trade agreements are an inevitable element of capitalisms global operations.

The political situation is explosive. There are definite similarities between the present election campaign and the 1968 election, which saw the racist demagogy of George Wallace, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and the police reign of terror at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The 1968 campaign occurred under conditions of a growing movement against the Vietnam War, massive urban uprisings throughout the country and militant strikes by the working class.

Comparisons to the 1968 elections are certainly appropriate. However, there is another American election campaign that comes to mind: that of 1860, when the sectional and class conflicts within the United States preceded the eruption of civil war.

The atmosphere of growing violence and social tension that characterizes the presidential campaign of 2016 is an anticipation of massive social conflict in the United States, regardless of who wins the election.

This understanding of the present situation must form the basis of political strategy.

The anger that has fueled the protests against Trumps fascist-style rallies is entirely legitimate. But  and we urge our readers to take this warning seriously  the political danger represented by Trump and the authoritarian and fascistic tendency he embodies cannot be dealt with through confrontations which play into his hands. Indeed, Trump welcomes these incidents as an opportunity to legitimize and expand the operations of his privately financed thugs, and to coordinate their actions with politically sympathetic police forces.

The drastic shift to the right in official American politics must be combatted through the development of a politically independent movement on the basis of a genuine socialist program that surmounts the racial and ethnic divisions incited by capitalism, and which can appeal to all sections of workers and youth. A genuine struggle against the growing right-wing danger requires that working people and youth break out of the straitjacket of the Democratic Party and build a mass socialist movement directed against the capitalist system.

The working class must be armed with an anti-capitalist strategy to defend jobs, living standards and democratic rights, and to fight the growing danger of an imperialist world war. This means a fight for a real socialist program, based on the public ownership of the banks and massive corporations under democratic control, to put an end to the domination of society by the super-rich.

The same issues are posed to the working class in every country. The effort of the ruling elite to stoke extreme nationalism and chauvinism, to divide workers against each other, is aimed at creating the conditions for the escalation of imperialist war and social reaction. It must be countered through the fight to unify all workers in all countries on the basis of socialist internationalism.

The decisive question is the building of a revolutionary leadership in the working class and among young people.

This is a time for political engagement and action. It is not enough to agree in principle that Trump is a political menace, that dictatorship and war should be prevented, and that socialism would be better than capitalism. Get off the sidelines! Those who want to see a socialist United States must be prepared to fight for it. We call on readers of the World Socialist Web Site to join and build the Socialist Equality Party.
In the wake of a break-up of a campaign rally in Chicago Friday amidst mass protests, Donald Trump, the billionaire frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has taken an increasingly hard line in denouncing protestors.

Speaking at a rally in Kansas City Saturday, Trump demanded that police arrest demonstrators, declaring, I hope these guys get thrown into a jail, adding, Theyll never do it again. Itll destroy their record. Theyll have to explain to mom and dad why they have a police record and why they cant get a job.

Police responded by attacking protesters, pepper spraying demonstrators in two separate incidents outside the rally and carrying out two arrests, including for refusal to stay out of the street. Bystander footage showed police using four separate tanks of pepper spray in one of the incidents.

At a campaign rally Sunday in Illinois, police once again ejected protestors as Trump declared, Get them out of here. He added, You see where they place themselves? Right in front of the cameras. Disgusting. Security at the rally was tight, with not even umbrellas being allowed inside the venue.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump defended the actions of John McGraw, 78, who punched an African-American demonstrator at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Wednesday. He obviously loves his country, and maybe he doesnt like seeing whats happening to the country. Asked whether he would pay McGraws legal fees, the billionaire declared, Ive actually instructed my people to look into it, yes.

McGraw defended his actions in an interview last week, telling Inside Edition, He deserved it... The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. While McGraw was only arrested the next day, his victim was immediately dragged to the ground by multiple police officers.

Trump sought to criminalize the actions of demonstrators, saying, Theyre not protesters; Im telling you, theyre disrupters... theyre professionals. He extended the blame to the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns, saying, It is Clinton and Sanders people who disrupted my rally in Chicago... Phony politicians!

On Saturday, Trump posted a doctored video on his twitter page alleging that a demonstrator who ran onstage at his rally that day in Ohio was an ISIS supporter. One of my people said, wow. They found his name, and it was probably ISIS or ISIS-related, Trump said.

Trumps comments have been met with hypocritical denunciations by the other candidates, as well as President Obama.

Senator Ted Cruz, the runner-up behind Trump, declared, America is better than this. We dont have to tear each other apart When you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have a campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discourse.

This is coming from a man who called for carpet-bombing the Middle East into oblivion, adding, I dont know if sand can glow in the dark, but were going to find out! Cruz, a fanatical Christian fundamentalist, called earlier this year for banning Muslim, but not Christian, refugees fleeing the US-backed Syrian civil war.

Democratic frontrunner Hilary Clinton responded to the string of violent incidents at Trumps rallies by declaring, All of us, no matter what party we belong to or what views we hold, should not only say loudly and clearly that violence has no place in our politics, we should use our words and deeds to bring Americans together.

Clinton, as Obamas first secretary of state, played a leading role in the US bombing and destabilization campaign in Libya, declaring after the death of President Muammar Gaddafi, who was sodomized with a bayonet by US-allied Islamist forces, We came, we saw, he died.

President Obama, who has personally authorized drone strikes in Pakistan and other countries that have killed thousands of bystanders, likewise denounced the violent character of Trumps campaign.

In a speech at a Democratic fundraiser in Texas, Obama sought to pin the blame for the rise of Trump solely on the Republican Party, declaring, What is happening in this primary is just a distillation of whats been happening inside their party for more than a decade... So they cant be surprised when somebody suddenly looks and says, you know what, I can do that even better. I can make stuff up better than that. I can be more outrageous than that.

However, the Obama administrations policies over the past seven years have helped fuel the reactionary political climate that has fostered Trump. He has expanded the reign of violence of American imperialism abroad, bombing numerous countries, including Libya, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen and carrying out destabilization operations in Ukraine, Honduras and Venezuela. He has authorized drone strikes that have killed at least four American citizens without trial and backed the deployment of militarized police in Ferguson and Baltimore.

These politicians, who universally defend murder by the US military in the name of furthering the geopolitical interests of the US corporate/financial oligarchy, claim to be shocked and aghast that this same violence has suddenly burst into the domestic political scene. The ability of the US political establishment to pair its murderous policies with mealy-mouthed appeals to democracy, pluralism, multiculturalism and diversityObamas personal specialtyis becoming increasingly untenable.
The First Daughters are just like us all!

Sasha and Malia Obama attended their first-ever State Dinner honoring Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, and the pair shared a precious sister moment.

WATCH: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Stun at White House Reception

As a seemingly star struck Sasha was talking to Deadpool heartthrob Ryan Reynolds, her big sister cheered her on from the receiving line. In the adorable meet-and-greet, Malia can be seen giving Sasha a big thumbs up.

Pete Souza/White House

It doesn't get much cuter than that!

Sasha, 14, and Malia, 17, both donned gorgeous Naeem Khan embellished gowns at the formal event. Reynolds' wife, Blake Lively, was also in attendance, looking equally as regal in a silver silk wrap dress by Ralph & Russo.

During his speech, Trudeau gave a shout-out to President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's two gorgeous girls, saying, "I admire you very much, both of you, for your extraordinary strength and your grace."

President Obama also took the stage to talk, getting a little choked up while addressing how quickly Sasha and Malia have grown up since he was elected into office in 2009.

WATCH: President Barack Obama Gets Choked Up During Malia and Sasha's State Dinner Debut

Related Articles
Trump is interviewed after a press conference in Jupiter, Fla., on March 8. (Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP)



Less than a week after she was allegedly assaulted by Donald Trumps campaign manager, Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields has resigned from the conservative news site because she says her employer did not have her back in the days following the incident.

Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation, Fields said in a statement to BuzzFeed early Monday. I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways.

Fields colleague, editor-at-large Ben Shapiro, also resigned in protest.

Breitbart, which was founded in 2007 by the late outspoken conservative Andrew Breitbart, has been accused of having a pro-Trump bias since the billionaire businessman launched his campaign.

Andrews life mission has been betrayed, Shapiro wrote. Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrews legacy. In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrews mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trumps personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trumps bully campaign manager.





I cant stand with an organization that wont stand by me: https://t.co/pohxCKScpf  Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) March 14, 2016



Fields says she was attempting to ask Trump a question after his press conference in Jupiter, Fla., last week when she was grabbed and nearly thrown to the ground by the Republican frontrunners campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

Story continues

Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer, I was jolted backwards, Fields wrote in a blog post. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.

While Fields did not see who grabbed her, a reporter for the Washington Post told her it was Lewandowski.

I quickly turned around and saw Lewandowski and Trump exiting the building together. No apology. No explanation for why he did this, she wrote. Even if Trump was done taking questions, Lewandowski would be out of line. Campaign managers arent supposed to try to forcefully throw reporters to the ground, no matter the circumstance.

The Trump campaign dismissed Fields claim.

There are often large crowds aggressively seeking access to Mr. Trump, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement to ABC News. And our staff would never do anything to harm another individual.

Lewandowski accused Fields of being totally delusional.





@MichelleFields you are totally delusional. I never touched you. As a matter of fact, I have never even met you.  Corey Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) March 11, 2016



I never touched you, he wrote on Twitter. As a matter of fact, I have never even met you.

In response, Fields tweeted a photo of bruises on her left arm.

I guess these just magically appeared on me, she wrote.





I guess these just magically appeared on me @CLewandowski_ @realDonaldTrump. So weird. pic.twitter.com/oD8c4D7tw3  Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) March 10, 2016



After Thursdays GOP debate in Miami, Trump accused Fields of fabricating the story because Secret Service officers at the event told him that nothing happened.

This was in my opinion made up, Trump told CNN. I didnt see anything. All of a sudden, we heard about it later on, but the Secret Service said nothing happened. Everybody said nothing happened. Perhaps she made the story up. I think thats what happened.

On Friday, Fields filed a police report against Lewandowski. The Jupiter Police Department said it was investigating the alleged incident.

The same day, Breitbart published an article asserting that while Fields was indeed hurt in the incident, the available evidence suggests Lewandowski was not responsible.

Following the resignations of Fields and Shapiro, Breitbart published a piece mocking mocking their exodus. The site subsequently deleted the story.

Two other Breitbart staffers  national security correspondent Jordan Schachtel and editor Jarrett Stepman  resigned on Monday afternoon.

"Breitbart News is no longer a journalistic enterprise, Schachtel wrote, but instead, in my opinion, something resembling an unaffiliated media super PAC for the Trump campaign.

Michael Walsh contributed reporting to this story.
Former rivals-turned-allies Donald Trump and Chris Christie brought their brand of brash, New York-area telling it like it is to North Carolina on Monday in an attempt to win more evangelical votes ahead of its primary.

Trump and Christie bandied about serious insults while campaigning against each other, until the New Jersey governor dropped out of the 2016 White House race and endorsed the real estate mogul last month. They appeared on stage Monday morning at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., to bash socialism, praise Christianity and rationalize the mounting anger of Trumps supporters on the campaign trail.

The conversation comes amid controversy surrounding the escalating violence at Trump events, including attacks on journalists and scuffles between supporters and protesters. The businessman brushed off the violence as an imaginary non-issue.

Theres no violence. You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think, like, basically none, Trump said to the crowd. Other than I guess, maybe somebody got hit once or something, but theres no violence.

A few of the incidents have made headlines: On February 29, a Secret Service officer working Trumps security choke-slammed a Time magazine photographer. On March 8, a Breitbart News reporter was roughed up backstage as she was questioning Trump. On March 9, a Trump fan sucker-punched a protester.

Trump complimented himself several times for having the foresight to call off his Friday night rally in Chicago. The real estate tycoon blamed supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for the unrest and did not acknowledge that his incendiary rhetoric and radical policy proposals may have contributed to the heightened tension.

Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, at the Lenoir-Rhyne University event on Monday. (Photo: Chuck Burton/AP)

So rather than fighting in Chicago, I did something that was a good move, a good decision, because I dont want to see anyone be hurt, Trump said. And weve been given so much credit for that decision. Nobody hurt but because of that people say, Was there violence? Theres no violence. Theres a love fest. These are love fests.

Story continues

Several times, protesters in the Lenoir-Rhyne University audience heckled Trump, but were drowned out by chants of Trump! and USA! as they were escorted from the building.

Let him go, Trump said of one protester. Hell go back home to Mom, and shell be angry with him.

After another outburst, Trump accused Democrats of sending people to disrupt his events because  according to Trump  his campaign is a phenomenon without precedent in American history.

Were taking from the Democrats. Remember the Democrats for Reagan? We have it bigger, he said. Were taking also from Independents big league, and were taking from people that have never, ever voted before  and theyre 50 years old in some cases.

Trump also said that many high-ranking members of the Republican Party are calling him and inquiring about how they can get on the Trump train because this train is unbelievable. Despite this claim, the Republican establishment has had an uneasy relationship with Trump at best. He even canceled a scheduled speech at American Conservative Unions 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month at the last minute.

As expected, Trump played to the Evangelical Lutheran gathering by affirming his faith and flaunting his endorsement from Liberty Universitys president, Jerry Falwell Jr.

Donald Trump, left, talks with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at a rally at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., on Monday. (Photo: Chuck Burton/AP)



Well Im a good Christian, I will tell you. I am a good [Christian], and Im a believer, he said. One of the things  and speaking, Chris, of Christian  they are chipping away at the Second Amendment, and thats not gonna happen anymore. And theyre chipping away at Christianity, folks. They are chipping away big league. Big league!

Students cheered as Trump vowed to defend Christianity from political correctness. He argued that their religion has been singled out as open for censure.

Why is it that Christianity seems to be taken advantage of? With other religions, with other places, if you said things that you [say about Christianity], you couldnt do it. You can almost say whatever you want about Christianity, he said.

Trump said that Christians are the biggest group in the United States and potentially the most powerful. Under a Trump presidency, he said, Christians will get their voices back, because he will bring [the issue] up big.

Hey, look, were going to say Merry Christmas at Christmastime, folks. Remember that. So I really mean that. You go into stores now, its Christmas, and you dont see Merry Christmas anymore. Even if you say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for people. And everybody wants it. I have many friends who arent Christian, and they like to say Merry Christmas.

Later in the discussion, Christie praised Trump as one of the greatest capitalists in American history and asked why its important for the United States to keep embracing capitalism and not turn to socialism like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are talking about.

According to Trump, Americans have no incentive to do a great job anymore. He said Sanders vision of democratic socialism is unrealistic and would require crushing taxation.

Your taxes are gonna go up to 95 percent or something. If you were going to do all of the stuff, somebodys going to pay it. Its probably going to be you, folks. Get used to it, he said. But your taxes go up to 95 percent, and once you hit 100 percent, then you go from socialism to communism, and then the other things start to happen.



Related video:
Interactive Map Shows Which Presidential Candidates Chicago Backs By Zip Code

By Mae Rice in News on Mar 14, 2016 8:20PM



Rankings via Renthop

Who are your neighbors voting for? Do any of them secretly support Donald Trump? There's no way to know for sure, but real estate startup RentHop has crunched the Federal Election Commission's campaign finance numbers to at least break down which candidates Chicagoans have donated to by zip code.

Key takeaways from the interactive map below include:

* Overall, Chicago is a wildly blue city. There's not a zip code in the city limits where the majority of donors gave to Republicans.

* Chicagoans disproportionately support Hillary. Cook County donated $3 million to her campaign, more than we gave to all the other presidential candidates combined.

* South Shore and Lincoln Park support Hillary most strongly. South Shore had the highest proportion of donors (65 percent) that gave to Hillary; Lincoln Park gave her the highest proportion of its donations (69 percent).

* Bernie Sanders dominates Rogers Park. A whopping 74 percent of the donors there gave to his campaign.

* Our most generous zip code is the Mag Mile area. 60611, home to Water Tower and most other Mag Mile landmarks, donated $651,175.11 to presidential candidatesmore than half of that to Hillary.

* Cook County supports Marco Rubio more than any other Republican. We gave him $549,690which is still less than the $604,335 we gave Bernie.

* Basically everyone in Chicagoland hates Donald Trump. Out of roughly 6,000 political donors in Cook County, only 40 gave to Trump, and they only gave him a paltry $18,172.

* Even in the zip codes where Trump is most popular, he's not popular at all. In Lemont, the zip code where the highest percentage of donors gave to his campaign, only two people gave Trump money.

The RentHop map, embedded below, lets you browse for more granular neighborhood data. Check it out:

Keep in mind, though, that we should take all this donation data with a grain of salt. As this "On The Media" radio segment explains , campaign donations don't always predict votes well. Pundits overestimate the importance of money in electionsthough it's at least more reliable than polling, which, as we previously noted, is sometimes conducted exclusively via landline calls . Now there's a representative sample!
Clinton and Sanders shake hands before the start of the Univision/Washington Post Democratic presidential debate at Miami-Dade College, March 9, 2016, in Miami. (Photo: AP/Wilfredo Lee)

At the CNN Democratic debate in Flint, Mich., earlier this month, Bernie Sanders used his opening statement to call for the governor of Michigan to resign over the citys lead crisis, a position Sanders staked out months ago.

I believe the governor of [Michigan] should understand that his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign, Sanders said.

When Hillary Clinton got her turn to open, she echoed Sanders stance for the first time.

Amen to that, she said. I agree. The governor should resign or be recalled.

This new position was a surprise to anyone who tuned in to the debates preshow, where Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told CNNs Wolf Blitzer that if the governor stepped down, it wouldnt make a difference in the everyday lives of the people of Flint.

But the change shouldnt have been too shocking, since Clinton has matched Sanders positions on a whole host of issues during the unexpectedly hard-fought Democratic contest between them  a tactic that has implications for the former secretary of state as she attempts to move past Sanders and position herself for the general election. Clinton calls Sanders a single issue candidate on the stump, but the 74-year-old senator from Vermont has pushed Clinton to the left on far more than Wall Street reform, his most high-profile campaign agenda.

Bernie has had great success in getting Hillary Clinton to adopt his issues and his rhetoric during the course of this campaign, Sanders chief strategist Tad Devine said after the Democratic debate in Miami last Wednesday. Lets talk about the [Trans-Pacific Partnership], for example, which she evolved from someone who praised it on the record 45 times and calling it the gold standard of trade agreements to opposing it.

Clinton says she changed her mind on the TPP after it evolved into a deal she couldnt support. Her run against Sanders has put her in the awkward position of opposing free trade, when she has a long record of supporting trade deals. In the Miami debate, Clinton boasted that she voted against the only multinational trade agreement that came before me when I was in the Senate.

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Devine also flagged the Keystone Pipeline, which Clinton initially supported and then later joined Sanders in opposing on environmental grounds. And then theres Wall Street. Clinton has attempted to tap into the same populist anger that fuels Sanders campaign by talking tougher on big banks and Americas culture of corporate greed.

Clinton often reminds people that she called for better regulating of Wall Street starting at least in 2007, and that shes not new to the issues of fighting income inequality and reining in corporate excess. But theres no question that her rhetoric on the issue has sharpened in response to Sanders. After her victory in Nevada, Clinton delivered a tough message to the men and women who run our countrys corporations.

If you cheat your employees, exploit consumers, pollute our environment, or rip off taxpayers, were going to hold you accountable, she said. (Clinton added, however, that when CEOs contribute to the economy, she will stand with them.)

I think that clearly she has responded to a lot of [Sanders] statements and his focus, which moves her somewhat to the left. I dont think theres any question about that, said Richard Riley, the former governor of South Carolina and education secretary under Bill Clinton. Riley is supporting Clinton.

Saturday Night Live recently spoofed this dynamic with a mock Clinton ad aimed at winning over Sanders young supporters. As the ad goes on, Clinton picks up more and more of Sanders verbal and physical tics. First, wire-rim glasses appear on her nose. Then, shes in a dark blue suit, waving her hands next to her face and saying shes sick and tired of hearing about my own damn emails in Sanders signature old-school Brooklyn accent.

Im whoever you want me to be, and I approve this message, a physically transformed Clinton says at the end of the spoof.

To be fair, Sanders has also been forced to shift emphasis on certain policies by his opponent, particularly to court black and Latino voters, more natural constituencies for Clinton. His recent emphasis on criminal justice reform and Flint followed Clintons deeper commitment to those issues. Still, it is Sanders populist progressive challenge that is largely responsible for pushing the Democratic discourse to the left, even as the Republican candidates stake out positions further and further to the right.

In Miami, both candidates agreed they wanted to give all undocumented immigrants in the country citizenship, and both vowed to never deport children. Clinton said she didnt want to deport any immigrants unless they were committing crimes or plotting terrorist attacks, insisting that she would not be as tough as the Obama administration on enforcing immigration law. Meanwhile, the Republican frontrunner supports mass deportation.



Its conceivable that some of these Sanders-influenced positions could alienate more moderate Democrats or independents during the general election should Clinton beat Sanders (or that some Sanders supporters will not want to support Clinton even though shes adopted some of his issues). But if Clinton faces off against Donald Trump, its likely that the controversial candidate will galvanize the left and center-left and soften the doubts of those lukewarm on Clinton. (Sixty percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, compared with 53 percent who dont like Clinton, according to RealClearPolitics polling averages.)

And if she faces off against Trump, some of her more populist positions on trade could actually help her. She probably would have had to move against free trade to a certain degree even without Sanders, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. The Republicans seem to be questioning trade policy.

Several of Clintons surrogates said they do not agree that Sanders has pushed her to the left, and they insist that theres no position shes staked out that will hurt her during the general election.

I think everything that shes proposed will be seen rightly as squarely in the mainstream as what Americans think are the big problems, and that includes reining in Wall Street. It includes getting big money out of politics, said David Brock, founder of the pro-Clinton Correct the Record PAC.



Clinton has also hugged Obama tightly in the primary, painting Sanders as a critic of the president. Obama remains extremely popular with Democrats, so embracing his policies should also help in a general election.



I think her alignment with the president is in keeping with most Democrats alignment, and shes certainly not going to put at risk her base, said Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, a Clinton supporter. I dont think shes been caused to move as far left as some people might assume.

Every poll that Ive seen, position by position, her position has been the majority position, Malloy said. So why should she change that?

Perhaps more important, a single, populist-fueled primary season is not enough to erase the Clintons brand as center-left Democrats. One of the reasons the SNL skit is funny is that no one actually believes in the radical Hillary in the ad.

You could still categorize her as center-left. Shes in the center, always. She always has been, Riley said.
As the presidential field narrows and the choices become more stark, we can look at the late-night comedy field and see that three absences are keenly felt. The first is Jon Stewart, whose election-year coverage on The Daily Show frequently doubled as a news report with sharply interpreted editorials. The second is David Letterman, who, if hed hung on for another year or two, would have been the only late-night host with an extensive past interviewing Donald Trump. And the third is the Stephen Colbert character on The Colbert Report; as charming as Colbert is now hosting The Late Show, its his blowhard alter ego who would be more useful during the vulgar tumult of the current campaigns.

So where does that leave us? Well, while some Republicans are looking for a last-minute candidate who might be able to topple Trump, late-night seems to have found its new candidate to speak common-sense to power: Samantha Bee, whose TBS show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is executing the kind of scorched-earth satire that is necessary right now.

Bee was, of course, a long-time Daily Show correspondent, often very funny executing Commander Stewarts orders. What we could not have foreseen was that, given her own show, Bee would use her most frequent comic persona  that of the cheerful cynic  to become more pointed, more fearless, at attacking those elements she perceives as most cancerous in the body politic. Now we can recognize her affable grin as a mask for a wonderfully nuanced anger at the way we are living now.

Shes only been on the air since February 8, but Bee has already delivered some of the years sharpest criticisms. Her interview with a Texas politician about legislative attempts at limiting a womans right to an abortion was a gasp-inducing look at how male arrogance combines with male stupidity in understanding the laws that still prevail in this land. Her segment on the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia was late-nights most succinct, least fogged-by-sentimentality discussion of the justices legacy. And her recent death of the G.O.P. presentation combined an effective crudeness (squeegeeing fake vomit off the camera lens) with cutting commentary on everyone from Donald Trump to the Fox News anchor she called the worlds toughest Megyn:



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Alas, over at The Daily Show, after a honeymoon period in which we all hoped Trevor Noah would move beyond the pose of being a South African comedian puckishly amused by these silly Americans, the shows legacy of meticulous comic dissection of the issues has fallen by the wayside. Noah has become distressingly complacent, content to ridicule the candidates with mild epithets (Marco Rubio is the King of Sweat) and continuing to make Pizza Rat jokes long after that little Internet phenomenon had peaked.



Noahs post-Super Tuesday analysis was notably flaccid, devoted to ridiculing photos of the candidates in both parties rather than flaying the content of what these men have stated as their platforms, and concluding his report with the tired groaner, delivered as though it was a knockout blow: It looks like Hillary [pause] is [longer pause, getting us ready for the punchline] feeling the Bern. Erghhh. 



It falls to yet another Daily Show graduate, John Oliver, to keep up the Stewart tradition of behind-the-desk outrage. On HBOs Last Week Tonight, Oliver addresses a single topic at length with an often essayistic flair, stating an argument, giving examples, and making his case with rhetorical flourishes that lull even those who might disagree with him into thinking, Ya know, the little Brit might have a point there.



On Sunday night, his reference to Trumps double-A-battery-sized fingers was a knowing update of Spy magazines short-fingered vulgarian, and  two weeks earlier  his 20-minute segment devoted to Trump was like cold water to parched poltical-minded viewers, currently viewed online more than 21 million times:

At a time when late-night viral video is dominated by whoever James Cordon can coax into a car to sing karaoke with him, Olivers achievement is both impressive and much needed. But even more essential is Samantha Bees weekly tutorials in how to make righteous indignation both exceedingly funny and inspiring. Does it need to be said that Bees rapid ascension to Necessary Viewing is a prime example of why there should have been more women in this position of host long before this? Yes, it is necessary.



But that admonition should not distract from the fact that what Bee is doing is sometimes as breathtakingly knife-sharp as anything anyone of any gender is doing on TV. In their respective Fortresses of Solitude, its likely that Stewart and Letterman are hunkered down watching Samantha Bee and thinking, Maybe if Id just cut back to once a week, I could still be out there now, getting my licks in at Trump and Hillary. Or maybe her boisterous passion and ire is simply making the boys relieved that they dont have to muster the energy it requires to inspire Americans to do their civic duty any more.



Full Frontal with Samantha Bee airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on TBS. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central. Last Week Tonight airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on HBO.


The governor of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province yesterday admitted making a mistake in asserting last week that thousands of miners had been paid despite their claims to the contrary.

The official's U-turn came a day after workers from Longmay Mining Holding Group Co - the province's largest publicly owned mining company - took to the streets of Shuangyashan in protest at not being paid for several months.

"I made a mistake about the earlier claim, because I received the wrong report," Governor Lu Hao was quoted as saying by news website thepaper.cn.

"No matter who made the mistake, wrong is wrong, we have to correct it," he said.

On Saturday, thousands of miners from Longmay and their families marched through Shuangyashan before gathering in front of the company's local offices.

While the provincial government later issued a statement acknowledging that many of the employees were owed wages and benefits, it did not mention the comments made by Lu last week in Beijing.

On March 6, Lu said at the national legislature's annual session in the capital that Longmay's annual payroll was 10 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion), or about a third of the provincial government's fiscal budget.

However, despite the challenges faced by the company, none of its 80,000 miners had received a wage cut, and all had been paid on time, he said.

China's state-owned mining companies are struggling to boost efficiency and reduce their payrolls amid a severe slump in coal demand brought on by sharply slowing economic growth.

Premier Li Keqiang told the annual legislature, which is ongoing in Beijing, that 100 billion yuan has been set aside, primarily to assist workers who should be diverted from industries such as coal and steel, reducing their capacities.

The pain is particularly acute in China's northeastern rustbelt, where Heilongjiang is located.

According to state media reports, its biggest state-owned mining company, Longmay, recently reduced its workforce by 22,500.

The company was also reported to have owed 800 million yuan in back pay for 2014.

An article by China's leading financial news group, Caijing, reported in January that pay for Longmay workers had been continually cut, and that the reduced wages had not been paid for three to four months.

Saturday's protest was peaceful and ended at about 4 p.m.. The government statement came out after 9 p.m., and said Lu had held a special meeting on the issue in Beijing that afternoon.

It made no mention of the protest in Shuangyashan, but said Longmay had failed to pay wages, taxes and insurance contributions. It said the provincial government would make every effort to pay the workers.

"Should important information be reported inaccurately again, it will be dealt with seriously," it said.
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For the first time in decades, hunters with deep pockets cannot target the so-called "Big 5" game animals in South Africa because the government has imposed a ban on leopard hunts for the 2016 season.

The temporary ban comes in the wake of a global uproar last year over the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe by a US dentist.

The decision, however, was driven by science, not emotion. South African Environment Minister Edna Molewa is a vocal advocate of the hunting industry, which the government estimates contributes 6.2 billion rand ($410 million) annually to Africa's most advanced economy.

Leopard is one of the Big 5 game most desired by hunters, along with lion, rhino, buffalo and elephant.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute, a government research organisation, recommended the temporary ban because it said leopard numbers could not be firmly established.

"There is uncertainty about the numbers and this is not a permanent ban, but we need more information to guide quotas," said John Donaldson, the institute's director of research.

Given their secretive and nocturnal nature, leopards are not easy to count.

The institute drew on studies and data from a number of sources but Donaldson said most was from protected areas and national parks, not private lands.

The Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (PHASA) says this gives an incomplete picture.

"There are lots of leopards on private land," said PHASA chief executive Tharia Unwin.

Hunting all of the Big 5 has been legal in South Africa since the 1980s when hunts for white rhino were resumed.
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A satellite observation on Sunday detected more hotspots on Sumatra Island and Borneo Island, the centers of Indonesia's palm oil plantation and habitats for endangered animals, a disaster agency official said.

On Sunday morning, the satellite detected 151 hot spots across the nation, most of which in the islands, significantly rising from 59 hotspots found nine days ago, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the national disaster management agency.

Of the total hotspots on Sunday, 57 of them were discovered on the Sumatra Island, mostly in Riau province, and 83 others in Borneo Island, Sutopo told Xinhua via phone.

He said agriculture and forest fires have occurred in both islands since 4 weeks ago as lacking of water supply amid dry weather has hampered firefighters to douse the blaze.

"The cause is similar, Indecency and burning, which means that the bush was intentionally burned," he said.

Riau province, home to the world's largest palm oil industry, has frequently endured forest fires as people burned land clearing for new plantation.

"In East Kalimantan of Borneo Island, it is not only plantation burned but also endangered species," said Sutopo.

Last year, the Indonesian government launched the biggest ever battle against massive forest fires occurring across the country, involving thousands of soldiers and scores of aircraft with assistance from foreign countries.

The fires have sent thick haze to neighboring Southeast Asian countries, causing health problems and a huge financial loss.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as he attends a plenary meeting of the PLA delegation to the NPC during the ongoing annual parliamentary session held in Beijing, capital of China, March 13, 2016. Xi also delivered an important speech here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

In regard to the real progress in President Xi's bold initiative of governance reform, including deepening economic reform, rule of law, ecological civilization, cultural development, etc., the following points may help understand the challenges ahead, now being deliberated by participants at the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

They require an understanding of ancient art, however. Ian Morris, in his 2010 book entitled: "Why the West Rules - For Now" touches on the 1879 and 1994 excavations of Northern Spain's cave of Altamira and Southern France's Chauvet Cave. The former, in particular, revealed paintings more than 25,000 years ago that represented bison, deer, layer upon layer of multicolored animals on the ceiling.

When the artist Picasso visited the site years later, he was stunned, saying: "None of us can paint like that. After Altamira, all is decadence."

Morris concludes that "none of the African or Australian examples [of prehistoric paintings] compares esthetically with the best French and Spanish work, and there are quite a few deep caves outside Western Europe that have no paintings (like Zhoukoudian in China)."

However, mentioning a tiny model of a bird carved perhaps 15,000 years ago from a deer antler and discovered at Xuchang in 2009, Morris says we can be confident that future excavations will reveal a flourishing Ice Age artistic tradition even in China.

Still, it is unquestionable that Westerners have a clear artistic edge over Easterners and this should have important implications in modern life. The fact is that high diversity and abundance of theoretical models especially in the realm of economic and political life in the West do not differ from past Western artistic creativity.

Westerners know how to define these models, play with them, apply them and change the destiny of other nations through connectivity facilitated by the functionality in this age of globalization.

If this story has any truth, then Chinese policy makers, rather than adhering to these highly beautiful but rigid and artistic models, should focus more on their own intrinsic capabilities and historic natural endowment so an appropriate set of tools can be explored and defined, without ignoring the accumulated knowledge and modeling understandings and capabilities of the West.

The second point is about the diversity of Western readings on the nature of economic development, although perplexing for Easterners, another implication of Western artistic capabilities and talents.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
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A U.S. sailor was arrested by local police in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa on Sunday over alleged raping of a female traveler in her 40s, according to local report.

The U.S. Navy sailor, according to Japan's Kyodo News, was identified as Justin Castellanos, 24, a seaman at the U.S. Navy's Camp Schwab in northern part of the prefecture. The report said that the suspect denied the allegation.

The suspect and the victim, who traveled from Fukuoka Prefecture, were staying at the same hotel in Naha, capital city of Okinawa, and he allegedly took the woman into his room and committed the crime after finding she was sleeping in the corridor, Kyodo cited local police as reporting.

Crimes committed by U.S. servicemen such as a rape of an elementary schoolgirl in 1995 and trespass or drunk driving in recent years triggered local residents' aversion to U.S. servicemen stationed in the prefecture.

Okinawa accounts for less than 1 percent of Japan's total territories but hosts over 70 percent of U.S. bases in Japan.

The prefectural government and residents also called for the removal of U.S. airbases out of the prefecture due to safety concerns, triggering tensions between Okinawa and the Japanese and U.S. governments.
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A terror attack hit a transport hub in the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125 others, according to the Turkish health minister.

Photo taken on March 13, 2016 shows the explosion site at Kizilay square in Ankara, Turkey. [Photo/Xinhua]

Authorities said around 18:45 local time (GMT 1845) a bomb-laden vehicle hit a city bus from the rear end near Guven Park area in downtown Ankara, close to government buildings and the Supreme Court, and triggered an explosion.

Casualties are expected to rise as the attack occurred in a crowded area near bus and subway stations where people spend their weekends shopping and dining in nearby stores and restaurants.

The blast has caused an extensive damage to the surrounding area, including some buildings and about a dozen of vehicles.

Firefighters rushed to the scene along with emergency service and first responders. Police have cordoned off the area completely.

Police and area hospitals have called on all their members who were on leave of absence to report for duty immediately.

The Ankara Chamber of Medicine announced on Sunday that at least 150 people were carried to hospitals.

Ercan Tastekin, the head of the Ankara-based Research Center for Security Strategies, said the attack happened between 18:30 and 19:00, which indicates planners contemplated to exploit a prime time on networks.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened a security meeting shortly after the blast to assess developments.

Turkey's broadcasting authority RTUK also banned coverage of the explosion within hours after.

Sedat Laciner, a Turkish security expert, said the attack highlighted serious mishaps and failures of the Turkish intelligence community in uncovering the plot in advance.

"At least some 10 people must have involved in planning and carrying out such an attack. The intelligence should have detected this network before it actually happened," he lamented.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

However, a military intelligence document that was dated back to March 4 and was published by a news portal Turkish minute.com had warned that the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), a terrorist organization labeled by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, are likely to stage an attack in an area close to the blast site.

The U.S. embassy also issued a specific warning for the area on Friday, advising its citizens to stay away from near the explosion site.

This is not the first time that the Turkish capital has been targeted by terror attacks.

On Feb. 17, a bomb-laden automobile struck military service buses, killing 29 people not too far from Sunday's attack. The government said the suicide attacker was members of the PKK and its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party. Later the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, a PKK affiliate, publicly claimed the responsibility for it.

Major opposition parties in Turkey, the Republican Peoples' Party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, and the nationalist Movement Party, had all condemned attack.

Back in October 2015, twin suicide bombings rocked the capital Ankara by killing 102 people and injuring hundreds more in what has been the deadliest single act of terrorism on the Turkish soil. The IS was believed to be behind the heinous slaughter.

In January, a suspected IS suicide bomber killed 11 German tourists and injured 15 in an attack on Istanbul's historic old city Sultanahmet Square.

In July 2015 an explosion in the Suruc district of southeastern Sanliurfa province killed 34, which was also believed to a perpetration of the IS.
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A new team of 140 Chinese policemen have arrived in the Liberian capital Monrovia and will carry out UN peacekeeping mission in the country where 85 percent of the population live below the international poverty line.

The riot police squad is tasked with maintaining security and order in Monrovia by patrolling, handling emergencies and guarding important figures.

The team, formed principally of border police from east China's Zhejiang Province, have been trained in international law, weaponry application, bodyguarding and English.

Liberia had witnessed political instability since 1980 when a military coup overthrew the True-Whing Party leadership, which led to the deaths of between 250,000 and 520,000 people and devastated the country's economy. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic election in 2005.

China has since 2003 sent peacekeepers to Liberia as part of efforts to back UN peacekeeping missions, currently, more than 500 Chinese peacekeepers are carrying out various UN missions in the country.
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terrorist attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara earlier Sunday that reportedly killed and wounded dozens of people.

"The Secretary-General sends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesman, noting that the UN continues to support and stand in solidarity with the people and the Government of Turkey at this trying time.

According to media reports, a car bomb tore through a crowded transport hub in the Kizilay district.
Politicians in Mississippi have used campaign money to pay for such things as a BMW, an RV and $800 cowboy boots.

In Wisconsin, a railroad executive was caught violating contribution limits after an ex-girlfriend he met on a sugar daddy dating website reported him for illegally funneling cash to Gov. Scott Walkers campaign. Key to the investigation, election officials say, was a requirement that donors disclose their employers  but Republican lawmakers have since wiped out the rule.

Meanwhile, dark money spending by outside groups that arent required to disclose their donors is expected to explode during this presidential election year. States can take action to stem the tide at the local level, but few have. Congress could require more disclosure about who is financing campaigns, but it has made no move to do so.

Disclosure may be the publics best and often only remaining way of knowing who is supporting political candidates in the wake of recent court decisions.

Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once wrote in an opinion in favor of disclosing petition signatures.

The U.S. Supreme Court repeatedly has ruled in favor of public disclosure of campaign contributions, even in its earth-moving Citizens United decision. The 2010 ruling found that political spending is protected under the First Amendment, and said that corporations and unions can spend unlimited amounts of money on political activities.

It effectively wiped out key campaign finance regulations that had been in effect for decades. But it also upheld disclosure requirements.

That and other Supreme Court decisions have resulted in unprecedented amounts of money pouring into elections. Because Congress has not acted to require further disclosure, the old limits are gone and new rules have not been passed to take their place, leaving citizens more in the dark than ever about whether elected officials are working for them or for special interests behind their campaigns.

Richard Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, said that despite the highest courts support for disclosure of campaign donors, the Federal Election Commission and Congress remain frozen when it comes to requiring greater transparency about who is funding political groups.

Political operators often look for ways to shield their donors, Hasen said. The laws have to be constantly updated.

Congress could quickly require more disclosure, if there was the political will to do so, said Hasen, author of the book Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections.

Groups that advocate for more transparency say the federal stalemate has driven reform efforts to the local level in some states, where they see greater opportunity to push for change.

Targeting states seems like the only outlet for making change at this level, said David Donnelly, CEO of Every Voice, an organization working to advance state ballot initiatives that would require more disclosure about money in politics.

Donnelly argues state-level efforts, if successful, could restore the faith of voters who perceive an uninhibited flow of money into politics. The changes also could generate interest that would build the political power, around the country, to eventually press Congress to require some reporting of donors in national elections, he says.

States as battlegrounds

Efforts to change state disclosure laws are not just a function of opportunity, advocates say. They also are a necessity, given a state-level influx of dark money paralleling the federal flood.

Attempts to force more disclosure from outside special interest groups have succeeded in some states.

California enacted a law requiring information about donors who give above a certain amount to nonprofit organizations that engage in political campaigns. The law, signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014, requires nonprofit groups to disclose the names of donors who give them $1,000 or more to fund political activity in California, if the group spends more than $50,000 in a year, or $100,000 over four years, to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot initiative.

Supporters praise the law as a turning point that helps shine light on special interests working to influence elections, and say it serves as a national example. Critics say it violates First Amendment rights.

Disclosure advocates also laud Hawaii and Washington as having exemplary donor reporting laws. The states treat outside groups focused on advocating for or against a candidate or ballot initiative as political actors and requires them to identify their contributors. Laws in both states withstood legal challenges in recent years.But theres a limit to what states can do, since they dont have oversight of spending on federal races  such as presidential and Congressional contests, which are consistently the costliest elections.

While some state election agencies have moved to make more donor information public, they often struggle to win support from lawmakers, said Denise Roth Barber of the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

A lot of the changes that need to take place require money, and most state budgets are tight, Barber said. Its hard to set aside money to give to an agency to improve disclosure.

Barbers group is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization  known as a 5013  which isnt required to publicly disclose its donors but voluntarily identifies major contributors.

In a number of other states, lawmakers have rejected bills seeking to expand disclosure requirements to politically-active groups. Some cheer that result.

Since Republicans are in the majority in most state legislatures, these efforts have often failed, said Bradley Smith, founder and chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics.

The center, a group that also isnt required to publicly disclose its donors, opposes campaign contribution limits, public financing of political campaigns and many disclosure requirements for private groups, as well as campaigns.

State lawmakers in Arizona are working to pass a bill stating that nonprofit groups cannot be categorized as seeking to influence elections and thus cannot be compelled to disclose their donors.

The legislation also would change what share of money some outside groups can spend on ballot measures without being required to register as a political committee. But their spending would still be disclosed.

Theres definitely a push to get more disclosure  that is a trend, said Smith, a former Federal Election Commission chairman. But the reverse side is that it has been to a large extent unsuccessful, and I think that reflects the fact that disclosure has been abused and made into a partisan issue.
WASHINGTON  After Hillary Clintons surprise loss in the Michigan primary Tuesday night raised fresh questions about her appeal, her campaign manager, Robby Mook, arranged a conference call Wednesday with reporters to reveal a new strategy.

He would stun and subdue Clintons doubters with unflinching monotony.

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times asked what Clinton would do to compete in the Illinois primary next week. She is going to build on the work she did, Mook said, to lay out a specific plan to create more good-paying jobs.

Politicos Annie Karni asked whether the Michigan loss identified any vulnerabilities for Clinton against a populist opponent. She is the only candidate that has rolled out a specific plan to create more good-paying manufacturing jobs, Mook answered.

Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times asked how the loss would affect Clintons debate strategy. Secretary Clinton is the only candidate who has put out a specific plan to create more good-paying manufacturing jobs, Mook replied.

Uncle! Mercy!

But Mook wouldnt relent.

NBCs Alex Seitz-Wald pointed out that exit polls showed trouble for Clinton on the trade issue. Voters are looking for their next president to create more good-paying jobs, Mook countered.

USA Todays Susan Page inquired about Clintons trouble with young voters. Secretary Clinton, the campaign manager said, has been aggressively addressing ... how we can make sure there are good-paying jobs.

The call was now 25 minutes old. The last questioner, Amie Parnes of The Hill, asked about Clintons deficit among white men and blue-collar workers. She has rolled out policies that are going to create more good-paying jobs, Mook informed her.

It was probably the most mechanical performance by a human being since the RubioBot got stuck in an infinite loop on the GOP debate stage in New Hampshire.

And the Mook Malfunction is worrying, because it underscores a certain lack of imagination in Clintons candidacy. She will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee, yet she doesnt seem to have anything to say to the young people and white middle-class voters who dont see her appeal.

Considering that she won the other primary held Tuesday night (in Mississippi), the headlines Wednesday morning were murderous.

CNN: What went wrong for Hillary Clinton in Michigan?

The Washington Post: The two big warning signs in Hillary Clintons shocking Michigan loss

The Boston Globe: With Sanders Mich. win, Clintons vulnerabilities revealed

Clinton is now in the opposite position from 2008. Then, she had a seemingly hopeless path to amass enough delegates, but she won enough states to keep her campaign going. Now, Sanders is coming up with enough surprises to keep his campaign going, and the Clinton campaign is making its case based on the uninspiring logic of delegate math.

The delegate math dictates that Sen. Sanders must expand his map and compete in more states than he currently is and he needs to not just win those states but he needs to do so by very lopsided margins if hes going to catch up, Mook declared Wednesday. For that reason we are confident that we are nearing the point where our delegate lead will effectively become insurmountable.

The Posts Anne Gearan wasnt swayed: I get your point about math, but he won one state, you guys won one. What is the argument that he should stand down?

Mook did not offer one.

Asked Karni, Does Bernies come-from-behind victory highlight anything you need to work on aside from the math?

Mook encouraged her not to read too much into these primary contests.

True, primary results dont necessarily predict general-election patterns, and the Republicans disunity could make Clintons vulnerabilities moot. But her campaign has a desultory feel right now. She has all but won the nomination, but shes doing it shakily, by attrition, her superior coalition-building defeating Sanders more inspiring message. She simply hasnt caught fire with voters anxious about the economy.

In the meantime, the Clinton campaigns solution seems to be repetition. Mook on Wednesday, in answer to three separate questions, said Clinton would fight harder for young peoples votes, would continue to fight hard for white, blue-collar voters and would work as hard as she can to win in the industrial Midwest.

But he returned to arithmetic. Even if Clinton were to lose Ohio, Illinois and Missouri next week, Mook predicted, we will add to our already commanding pledged-delegate lead and will be a significant step closer to securing the nomination.

The math is on Clintons side. Whats problematic is the message.
The battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders hasnt turned into a playground brawl like the Republican campaign, but it has still pitted Democrats against each other, sometimes bitterly. Sanders has slammed Clinton as a candidate in the pocket of billionaire donors. Clinton has dismissed Sanders as a dreamer who cant get things done. And some of their followers have been nastier than that.

After a divisive campaign, can Clinton win support from Sanders voters if she wins the nomination, as appears likely? She can and she will  but its going to take some work.

Thats a bitter pill for Sanderistas to swallow while their candidate is still slogging from state to state in pursuit of a long-shot comeback. Some are already organizing a sullen resistance movement under the slogan Bernie or Bust. Its organizers are asking progressive voters to pledge not to vote for Clinton, no matter what.

Weve seen that kind of rearguard action before, and it almost never works. In 2008, a group of die-hard Clinton supporters pledged never to vote for Barack Obama; their mostly female group was called PUMA, an acronym for Party Unity My ... . By election day, they were forgotten.

People who come out to vote in primaries rarely sit out general elections, noted Democratic strategist Mark Mellman, who isnt working for either candidate. Almost all Sanders voters will end up backing Clinton, assuming she gets the nomination.

The most obvious reason: In the general election, Clinton will of course be running against a Republican, most likely Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, and Democrats will try to turn the election into a referendum on the GOP nominee, no matter which widely loathed name is on the ticket.

Three months ago, the question for Hillary was: What am I going to do to energize the (progressive) base, another Democratic operative told me. That problem went away, thanks to Donald Trump.

Some party strategists think Cruz, a beyond-the-mainstream conservative on social issues, would be even easier to defeat.

But the GOP candidate wont be Clintons only asset. Once shes sewn up the nomination, shell collect two endorsements that could sway skeptical progressives: one from Sanders, the other from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Theres going to be no reluctance on his part if Clinton wins, Sanders chief strategist, Tad Devine, told me. He has said that Hillary Clinton is extremely well qualified to be president. Meanwhile, hes competing, and its going to go all the way to the end of the primaries.

Warren hasnt said when shell make an endorsement, but shes already thinking about how she could play a role in helping Clinton win  and, meanwhile, nudging Clinton toward more progressive positions.

Economic populism is driving a lot of the debate, a person familiar with Warrens thinking told me. She knows how to communicate and operate in that space. She takes seriously her role in helping Democrats get it right.

Warren has already lobbied Clinton to support expanding Social Security benefits, a favorite progressive goal. Last month, Clinton promised not to seek benefit cuts and said she wants to increase benefits for the poorest beneficiaries.

Warren also helped persuade Clinton to endorse legislation banning Wall Street executives from accepting golden handshake payments from their firms when they get government jobs.

In fact, Clinton has been campaigning as a progressive all along  just as an incrementalist progressive, not a revolutionary like Sanders.

She supports a higher federal minimum wage  just not as high as Sanders. She wants to expand financial aid to poor students and make community colleges tuition-free  but not all public four-year universities, as Sanders has proposed. She wants to expand President Obamas health insurance program, but not convert it to a European-style single payer system, as Sanders wants.

She even has a campaign finance reform plan  although its not as radical as her rivals. After her defeat in New Hampshire, she tried to sound as fired up as Sanders about that issue.

Sen. Sanders and I both want to get secret unaccountable money out of politics, she said. Youre not going to find anybody more committed to aggressive campaign finance reform than me.

But Clintons biggest problem with progressives isnt her policies; its her history. Polls have long shown that many voters, including Sanders backers, dont quite trust her. In New Hampshire, voters who ranked honesty as a high priority favored Sanders over Clinton, 92 percent to 6 percent.

Clinton knows that.

I understand that voters have questions, she told an interviewer in January. I think theres an underlying question that maybe is really in the back of peoples minds, and that is: Is she in it for us or is she in it for herself? I think thats a question people are trying to sort through.

A credible answer to that question, a little help from Sanders and Warren, and continued chaos in the GOP will make it possible for Clinton to reunify her party for the fall campaign.
The effect of liberty to individuals is that they may do what they please; we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.

 Edmund Burke

WASHINGTON  As the unthinkable becomes likely, the question arises: Who is really to blame for Donald Trump?

The proximate answer is a durable plurality in the Republican primary electorate, concentrated among non-college-educated whites but not limited to them. They are applying Trump like a wrecking ball against the old political order. And it clearly does not matter to them if their instrument is qualified, honest, stable, knowledgeable, ethical, consistent or honorable.

But why has this group of voters cohered, while other elements of the Republican coalition have fractured?

Some blame compromised Republican leaders who have resolutely refused to do things  such as unilaterally overturning Obamacare  that they actually lack the constitutional power to do.

Or maybe the establishment invited a backlash for insufficient toughness on illegal immigration  though it is hard to imagine why public urgency would spike just as the flow of illegal immigration has slowed to a trickle.

Or maybe a parallel establishment of conservative talk radio, PACs and websites gains listeners, funds and clicks by inciting conservatives against Republicans.

Or maybe, as reform conservatives have argued, Republicans have not adequately responded to 25 years of economic dislocation and wage stagnation  challenges faced by blue-collar families that simply dont yield to a circa-1981 GOP agenda of tax cuts and deregulation.

The problem? All these same arguments were being made by the same people before Trump arrived on the scene. A new and unexpected development in American politics has managed to confirm everything people already believed, suggesting that not much learning is taking place.

Whoever else might be implicated, it is necessary to say that Trump is to blame for Trump. The fact that he is appealing to understandable concerns does not make him a valid or responsible voice.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, for example, President George W. Bush could have chosen to blame Islam and stir up prejudice. He didnt. In the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, Trump did, picking on a religious minority for self-serving political reasons.

In a dangerous world, fear is natural. Cynically exploiting fear is an art. And Trump is a Rembrandt of demagoguery.

But this does not release citizens from all responsibility. The theory that voters, like customers, are always right has little to do with the American form of government. The founders had little patience for pure democracy, which they found particularly vulnerable to demagogues.

Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, says Federalist 10, may by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people. A representative government is designed to frustrate sinister majorities (or committed pluralities), by mediating public views through a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country.

Trump is the guy your Founding Fathers warned you about.

The question is not Why Trump now? argues constitutional scholar Matthew Franck, but rather Why not a Trump before now? Perhaps some residual self-respect on the part of primary voters has driven them, up to now, to seek experience, knowledge of public policy, character, and responsibility in their candidates. The Trump phenomenon suggests that in a significant proportion of the (nominally) Republican electorate, this self-respect has decayed considerably.

With the theory of a presidential nominee as wrecking ball, we have reached the culmination of the founders fears: Democracy is producing a genuine threat to the American form of self-government.

Trump imagines leadership as pure act, freed from reflection and restraint. He has expressed disdain for religious and ethnic minorities. He has proposed restrictions on press freedom and threatened political enemies with retribution. He offers himself as the embodiment of the national will, driven by an intuitive vision of greatness. None of this is hidden.

The founders may not have imagined political parties as a check on public passions, but that is the role the GOP must now play  as important as any in its long history.

It is late, but not too late. With losses in Ohio and Florida on March 15, Trump may well be held below a majority of delegates at the Cleveland convention. And then this chosen body of citizens should play its perfectly legitimate role and give its nomination to a constructive and responsible leader.
As the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs continues to look at more opportunities to assist veterans with mental health issues, one program that continues to grow and be a success is the Veterans Outreach & Recovery Program.

In the fall of 2014, the department partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and received a $1.2 million, three-year SAMHSA grant to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment to homeless, chronic homeless or at risk of homeless veterans. An additional $1.2 million was received in order to expand services for a second and third year.

This funding allowed the department to set up services in seven regions of the state consisting of 49 counties. Nine staff were hired with six staff providing direct case management services to veterans.

Program staff work to locate veterans who may be homeless or at risk. If after assessment the veteran has mental health and/or substance abuse issues, then the program provides funding to connect the veteran to mental health professionals and other related resources. Staff will then address all of the veterans needs and when appropriate connect them with other resources  housing, employment, benefits, etc.

Program eligibility is very simple  the veteran must be homeless or at risk of homeless, have a need for mental health and/or substance abuse services, and have served in the military, regardless of discharge status.

The program is fully staffed as of December 2015, and as of Feb. 15 the staff have made contact with 180 different organizations, met and assisted 106 veterans resulting in 37 currently-enrolled veterans in the VORP.

We are proud of all we do to serve Americas best when they return home. Our veterans deserve the opportunity to achieve their post-military aspirations and we are here to assist them. Please contact us with any questions at 1-800-WIS-VETS or www.WisVets.com.
MISSION STATEMENT

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox is an independent online radio show and blog that strives to be completely free from establishment political ideology and focus on a message of peace, justice, environmental sustainability and economic equality. To this end, we provide educational and inspirational programs on topics related to these issues and we organize/promote actions working towards peace, justice, and environmental sustainability.
Credit: Ira ChernovaCage the Elephant will hit the road on a North American headlining tour this May and June. The outing, which will feature support from Portuagal. The Man, begins May 1 in Little Rock, Arkansas and wraps up June 26 in Phoenix. Visit CagetheElephant.com for all ticket info.

Cage the Elephant will be touring in continued support of their latest album, Tell Me I'm Pretty, which includes the single "Mess Around."

Currently, Cage the Elephant is headlining the Spring Fling Rock AF tour alongside Silversun Pickups, Foals and Bear Hands. That trek will conclude April 1 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Here are Cage the Elephant's new headlining tour dates:

5/1 -- Little Rock, AR, Verizon Arena

5/3 -- Oklahoma City, OK, Chesapeake Energy Arena

5/4 -- Wichita, KS, INTRUST Bank Arena

5/6 -- Grand Rapids, MI, DeltaPlex

5/7 -- Detroit, MI, Masonic Temple Theatre

5/8 -- Toronto, ON, International Centre - Arrow Hall

5/10 -- Montreal, QC, Bell Centre

5/11 -- Albany, NY, Times Union Center

5/15 -- Columbia, MD, Merriweather Post Pavilion

5/16 -- New York City, NY, SummmerStage, Central Park

5/19 -- Nashville, TN, Ascend Amphitheater

5/20 -- Duluth, GA, Infinite Energy Arena

5/21 -- Gulf Shores, AL, Hangout Festival

6/3 -- Louisville, KY, KFC Yum! Center

6/4 -- Cleveland, OH, Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica

6/5 -- Columbus, OH, EXPRESS LIVE!

6/7 -- Chicago, IL, UIC Pavilion

6/9 -- Milwaukee, WI, BMO Harris Pavilion

6/10 -- Minneapolis, MN, U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center

6/11 -- Madison, WI, Coliseum at Alliant Energy Center

6/14 -- Calgary, AB, Calgary Stampede Corral

6/15 -- Edmonton, AB, Shaw Conference Centre

6/17 -- Vancouver, BC, PNE Forum

6/18 -- Portland, OR, McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater

6/19 -- Seattle, WA, WaMu Theater

6/21 -- Los Angeles, CA, Shrine Auditorium

6/22 -- San Diego, CA, Valley View Casino Center

6/23 -- San Francisco, CA, Bill Graham Civic

6/25 -- Las Vegas, NV, The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

6/26 -- Phoenix, AZ, Gila River Arena

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
One of the progressive Lefts most successful tactics has been to frame reasonable objection to radical social policy as evidence of an evil mind and a bigoted heart. Anyone who objectseven a littleto the Lefts social agenda is labeled a bigot and a hater. That this strategy has largely succeeded is a testament to both changing mores and the power of public shame.

Even as we have become a vastly more tolerant society over the last 50 years, the penalty for dissent from progressive orthodoxy has grown exponentially more severe. This has naturally had a chilling effect on civil discourse. No one wants to end up like Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, hounded from his job for making a $1,000 donation in support of a successful California ballot referendum opposing same-sex marriage. No one wants to be like the bakers, or the florists, or the pizzeria owners, who have been targeted for their religious objections to same-sex marriage. No one wants to end up in the liberal medias angry spotlight for standing against progress.

With the gay-marriage debate now settled, courtesy of a 5-4 Supreme Court vote, progressive legislators have turned their attention to transgender rights. The fight is mostly focused on defeating the passage of so-called bathroom bills requiring people who identify as transgendered to use public restroomsincluding in schoolsthat match their sex at birth. Earlier this month, South Dakotas Republican governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed such a bill. Tennessees legislature is currently considering one.

Supporters of the bathroom bills say that their primary concerns are privacy and safety, mostly that of women and children. They worry that without such protections, the sexual predators and Peeping Toms who have always been among us will exploit societys increasing acceptance of transgender people to gain entrance to womens bathrooms in search of victims.

Is this an unreasonable concern? Advocates for transgender rights say its worse than unreasonable. Marcie Bianco, a staff writer at Mic.com, wrote last year that the bathroom bills are driven by hate, born out of unjustified fear and, if adopted into law, set a dangerous precedent for how we treat the humanity of people. The Human Rights Campaign has called Tennessees bathroom bill appalling, outrageous, and an attack on the dignity and rights of transgendered people. It is difficult to imagine a more targeted attack against transgender and gender non-conforming students, said Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project. These appalling proposals would compromise the safety and well-being of the young people we all have the duty and obligation to support and protect, according to an open letter signed by seven national advocacy groups including the American Academy of Pediatricians and the National Education Association.

Such white-hot rhetoric serves only to confuse the issue, perhaps intentionally. The fact is, sexual predators are overwhelmingly male, and they often target women and children in restrooms. A 63-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in a public restroom in New York Citys Union Square in October, at 3:00 in the afternoon. An 18-year-old man dressed in drag was busted in 2012 after Everett, Washington cops caught him in a community college womens bathroom. He confessed that hed previously snuck into the shower area of the girls locker room for sexual gratification. In May 2013, a 33-year-old man in a wig, womens clothing, and a bra was arrested for filming women in the restroom at a Los Angeles-area Macys.

Even as the raucous debate over bathroom bills plays out in the nations statehouses, some big-city politicians have opted to charge ahead with bills allowing transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity, not their biological sex. In February, the Charlotte, North Carolina city council passed such a law against the wishes of the states governor, former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has signed Executive Order No. 16 mandating that transgendered people must be allowed to use any bathrooms they like without being required to show identification, medical documentation, or any other form of proof or verification of gender.

De Blasio dismissed all questions about the new regulation as pure bigotry. Somehow, hate is making a comeback, he said. The estimated 25,000 transgendered New Yorkers make up less than a third of 1 percent of the citys population. A far greater number of people will now feel that their privacy and safety have been compromised in city bathrooms. De Blasio doesnt want to hear it, preferring to demonize their concerns. (Its self-righteous lecturing aside, the de Blasio administration does have some idea of the connection between restrooms and predatory behavior: it will suspend the new regulation in city jails.)

What will happen now if someone sees a man enter a womans restroom, and alerts the cops? Could the would-be rapist claim that he actually identifies as a woman, and demand that the officers leave him alone? It appears that, under de Blasios new regulation in New York, he can do just that.

Photo by Dave Mathis
Racist City Employees Are on Notice, and 9 Other Greater Cincinnati News Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Catch up on local government, politics, sports, celeb sightings and Halloween fun.
Business Continuity

As we pour our champagne and count down towards a new year, its time to plan for 2016 and the changes were sure to experience. With 2015 having come to a close, it is important that we define our expectations for 2016 as a year of technological advancement and innovation.

Disaster recovery will be on everyones minds in the New Year. Companies big and small will need to invest the time and due diligence necessary to build out solid business continuity plans. Thats the key to avoiding costly and debilitating data loss in 2016.

When it comes to disaster recovery in the New Year, we predict businesses will:

Brace for potential data loss

Dangers to businesses physical and virtual locations abound, from natural disasters to insider threats. While hot technology trends like mobile, social and cloud offer greater efficiencies, they also open up businesses to new security risks. Though businesses are investing in stronger security postures, many cant keep pace with the growing threat landscape. A recent survey of 160 IT professionals from online IT community Spiceworks reveals that 48 percent of respondents reported losing data in 2014 alone. In an IDC (News - Alert) survey of more than 700 worldwide small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs,) 80 percent reported experiencing downtime.

Disasters that cause data loss come in many forms and can have a terrible effect on a business bottom line. More businesses are aware of this fact that ever before. Thats why we predict that most organizations will gird for disaster in 2016. Remember, its not a matter of if a data loss event will occur, its when. As they brace for potential data loss, it is vital that companies ensure business continuity systems are in place and prepared to protect important data.

Come Around to Cloud

As companies continue to prioritize data protection and recovery, cloud backup services are gaining traction for their scalability, reliability and affordability. In the past, some businesses have been reluctant to store critical data in the cloud, citing security and privacy concerns. But thats changing fast. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated encryption and locked-down data transfer capabilities, cloud services are quickly dispelling common misperceptions about security.

Additionally, businesses will become smarter about the cloud vendors they work with, choosing those with solutions that incorporate the latest in encryption technology, centralized management for advanced authentication policies and strong internal policies to ensure employees themselves dont become a point of vulnerability.

Hang Their Hats on Hybrid

Companies concerned with business continuity will begin to leverage the cloud as an essential offsite data storage solution. As cloud takes off, we foresee a greater trend toward hybrid deployment models for holistic data protection. The same Spiceworks (News - Alert) survey reveals that 54 percent of small business IT professionals are already using a hybrid approach that consists of a local backup  such as a network attached storage (NAS) device  as well as an offsite backup in the cloud. More businesses will adopt the 3-2-1 rule, ensuring that three copies of there are stored in at least two different locations, one of which is offsite. This will be the best way to ensure continuous business operations in the case of any security or data loss incident.

From the largest enterprises to the smallest startups, all businesses rely on data as the lifeblood of their organizations. This trend will continue to grow into 2016. As a result, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions will continue to grow in necessity and importance in 2016.

David Raissipour is Carbonites Senior Vice President of Engineering. Carbonite provides small-to-midsize businesses with comprehensive disaster recovery solutions, including data backup, recovery, archiving and more. Learn how Carbonite can protect your critical business data from disaster at Carbonite.com.

Edited by Rory J. Thompson
Cloud Security

Around this same time each year, technology experts and analysts issue their thoughts on what the coming year will bring. In December 2014, experts predicted the Internet of Things would explode in 2015, software automation would replace human beings with robots, and employees would be required to wear smart devices that tracked their health and movements throughout the day. Obviously, not all of those things happened.

I like to take a more practical approach to anticipating whats next in security and Cloud technology. We all know that cloud computing has become more widely accepted in the enterprise network. In 2016, we will see more businesses of all sizes turn to the benefits of the Cloud to solve ongoing problems, such as protecting the distributed network from hackers and navigating the IT security workforce shortage.

Here are a few things to expect in the New Year:

The security skills shortage will force mid-sized enterprises to simplify. Small businesses and mid-level enterprises, in particular, do not have the security resources or the skilled staff to combat advanced threats. Historically, these organizations have invested in point solutions to automate some aspects of network security, which are costly and time-consuming to manage. In 2016, companies will turn to cloud-based, converged platforms, offered as managed services, which will bundle both strong security capabilities and expertise. Delivered through the cloud, these solutions will help businesses achieve competencies and effective defenses that were previously available only to large enterprises.

Cloud-based security will gain traction as cyber attacks increase. The new generation of cloud-based services will offer better threat visibility, shared intelligence across customers, and agile software that enables rapid adaptation to emerging threats. For the first time, enterprises will have an alternative to disjointed, on-premises security solutions that are delivered as hardware appliances.

Network and security admins will slowly kick their hardware addictions. The dissolving network perimeter has created severe challenges in terms of capacity, manageability, adaptability and coverage of IT security appliances. In 2016, businesses will realize that, to address these challenges, theyll need to reduce their reliance on security appliances and cut down the appliance sprawl. In 2016, IT organizations will need to securely support an increasingly cloud-centric and mobile-first workforce  a strategic goal that is not aligned with an appliance-based network security model designed for fixed locations and a static workforce.

Hackers will target employees using social engineering tactics and mobile. Tried and tested attack vectors like spear phishing will never go away as long as they continue to work. But mobile-based threats will grow in sophistication, with a continued focus on defeating app store vetting processes by attacking the developer supply chain and support systems.

New cloud connectivity options will level the playing field for mid-sized enterprises. As more companies turn to the Cloud to solve business problems, the cloud will emerge as a new connectivity platform. With MPLS being cost-prohibitive for mid-sized companies, and unmanaged Internet connections too unreliable for business-critical applications, high quality WAN connectivity options are very limited for mid-size businesses. A new paradigm for WAN connectivity is still sorely missing, but 2016 will see more options for cost-effective cloud connectivity.

Businesses already rely on the cloud to streamline efficiencies, share resources and outsource the management of complex functions. I believe that, in 2016, organizations will use these same benefits to address the network security challenges that have plagued them for many years.

About the Author:

Shlomo Kramer is the CEO and co-founder of Cato Networks, a network security-as-a-service startup headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over the course of his career as a cybersecurity entrepreneur and investor, Kramer has been honored with various awards, including CEO of the Year by SC Magazine in 2008, one of 20 luminaries who changed the network industry by Network World (News - Alert) in 2006, and was inducted into the InfoSec Hall of Fame in April 2013. Kramer is the co-founder of Check Point Software Technologies and Imperva, and the Board director and founding investor in a number of security, fintech and software companies, including Exabeam, FundBox, Indegy, Sumo Logic and Insert Mobile. Follow him on Twitter (News - Alert): @shlomokr.

Edited by Rory J. Thompson
"...king of the hate left..."--

"As my friend Capper -- the best Wisconsin blogger ever -- says, there will be more. There's always more." - karoli

"...the psychiatrically attuned Capper..."--

"This is really great of you! I'm so proud to know someone like you"--

"Capper, a reasonable (and maybe even likeable) Lefty..."--

"capper, the Sidney Freedman of the hate left..."--

"I love capper because, well, what's not to love. But I also hate capper for alerting me to nonsense like this."---

"Capper, you really have a knack for this kind of writing. Really."--

"Crap. I agree with capper. Can Armageddon be far behind?"--

"capper is right. OMG, did I actually say that?"--
The Young family is a household divided.

Mom Michaela, dad Joseph and sister Finnley have phone numbers that begin with the 402 area code.

But the phone number for Kylans brand-new birthday iPhone starts with 531, the new area code for eastern Nebraska.

Michaela Young was surprised at the unusual number when she went to a Verizon store to get the phone for Kylans 11th birthday, but her options were limited. Numbers were auto assigned so getting a different one would be a hassle.

For 17 years, state Public Service Commission members have been fussing with the new area code -- studying, discussing, changing the way numbers are handed out -- and waiting.

And now the wait is over. The 531 area code is moving in to eastern Nebraska to join 402. Central and Western Nebraska still use the 308 area code.

"Kylans friends were like -- why do you have a 531 number," said Michaela. But her son thinks it is pretty cool to be among the first with the new Nebraska area code, she said. He feels pretty special.

The company hired by the Federal Communications Commission has been assigning 531 numbers to phone companies for around a year. And companies that would likely use numbers for cell and landline phones have been getting the 531 numbers for several months, based on a federal report.

In Lincoln, 25,000 of the 531 numbers have been assigned to phone companies to be passed on to consumers, PSC staff point out.

But since numbers are also used for alarm systems, routing purposes, OnStar-type car systems, and more, not all of these numbers will end up being someones telephone number, said Gene Hand, PSC telecommunications director.

For example a company in Minden, population about 5,000, has been assigned about 1 million 308 area code numbers. Some company was likely using the numbers in their business, PSC staff say.

When the PSC began discussing the need for an additional area code for eastern Nebraska in 1999, the experts estimated the area would run out of 402 numbers by 2000-01.

But changing technology, good Public Service Commission decisions, and changing number distribution methods all helped extend that timeline.

In an early decision, the PSC decided not to assign the new 531 area code to one geographic area, like Lincoln or Omaha, which would have forced that one community to change all its numbers. Instead the new 531 area code would overlay the eastern Nebraska region. When the FCC ran out of 402 numbers, new 531 numbers would be assigned throughout the region. Eventually communities and families would have numbers with both area codes.

It was seen as the least intrusive option, said Frank Landis, the commissioner representing the Lincoln area.

The commission also recommended numbers be assigned to companies in blocks of 1,000 rather than 10,000 numbers.

In the old days a company serving a small town -- say 1,000 people -- would get 10,000 new numbers, explained Cullen Robbins, PSC analyst. So thousands of numbers sat unused for long periods of time.

Its been a long road. We put off this overlay system for many, many years. We did a lot of conservation actions at the commission to postpone the need for the area code," Landis said.

"And we adopted the least costly program, which is an overlay as opposed to splitting up the area," forcing businesses to reprint letterhead, signs and business cards with a new area code, he said.

So far 531 numbers have gone to telecommunication companies in Lincoln, Auburn, Edgar, Oakland, Omaha and Seward.

Some 402 numbers continue to be available, so people will be getting new numbers with either area code.

The overlay system means that everyone in eastern Nebraska must dial 10 digits because neighbors will eventually have different area codes.

But modern technology, which allows phones to store and call up numbers, means most of us dont have to remember or punch in long numbers.

So dialing a 10-digit number is not the hardship it was once perceived to be, Hand said.

Because of number portability, people often keep the same number even when they move to a different company. So Hand figures many of the initial 531 area code numbers will go to young people, like Kylan, getting their first cellphone.

For folks who live in central and western Nebraska, that 308 should be their sole area code for another decade, based on current calculations.
Featured Post The Occasionally Fabulous Cartooning Life of Eric Orner, part 1: Ethan Green and Disney by Mike Rhode Eric Orner has been a professional cartoonist for decades, and worked his way through many types of cartooning. Early in the s...

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Via Disaster Lit, an excellent and often updated site, this post from Entomology Challenges.org: Summit on the Aedes aegypti Crisis in the Americas. Click or tap through for numerous links.

Maceio, Alagoas, Brazil

March 13, 2016

This one-day summit will be the first of many large-scale international meetings of the Grand Challenges initiative. It will be held during the Joint Meeting of the Brazilian Congress of Entomology and the Latin American Congress of Entomology. As two of the largest insect-science societies in the world, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and the Sociedade Entomologica do Brasil (SEB) are convening leading scientific, business, and NGO experts and leaders to map out a plan for successfully managing the Aedes aegypti mosquito, an insect that is a vector of Zika virus, yellow fever, dengue, and chikungunya and that is causing serious public health crises across the hemisphere.

The Aedes aegypti Steering Committee will be led by Dr. Grayson Brown and Dr. Luciano Moreira, both of whom will serve as co-chairs. The Summit will result in an action plan defining the projects development and implementation, suggested partnerships, required resources, outreach, communications, and timeline. This summit is an essential gathering of entomological society leaders in the Americas to launch this critical public health project.

The Summit will be comprised of presentations on problem identification, discussions of collaborative models for solutions, the latest developments in the sciences, breakout groups that seek solutions, and an identification of an action plan for next steps. Additionally, there are limited opportunities for scientific poster displays during and after the Summit.
A string of social science snapshots, remarks, observations, data from the South Caucasus.
In 2014, it looked as though Pennsylvania would join other states in doing what some medical professionals believed was overdueinstitute a drug monitoring program that would allow them to see what prescriptions a patient was taking.

The bill, along with others designed to fight the growing prescription opioid addiction in the state, was passed with bipartisan approval.

The problem? The drug monitoring program was never funded.

I get a little cynical at times like these, where legislators pat themselves on the back and neglect to build any money in the budget, said Jack Carroll, executive director of the Cumberland-Perry Drug and Alcohol Commission.

Its a delay that has many upset.

Shelly King, a pharmacist at SmartMed Prescription Center in Carlisle, said Pennsylvania is far behind the times.

Many states have a system where a pharmacist can look at a patient and see what controls (controlled substances) they have (and from where), she said.

Pennsylvania is one of the only states that do not have a robust drug monitoring program,echoed Dr. Carrie DeLone, medical director for Holy Spirit Hospital. The program is essential for physicians and pharmacists to monitor drugs. People with drug problems become very good at manipulating the system.

DeLone said all of the surrounding states have good drug monitoring programs, which is especially important for those living near a state border to ensure patients are crossing state lines and doctor shopping in a less-regulated state. She also noted that other states after instituting drug monitoring programs have seen dramatic decreases in the number of opioid prescriptions and in the number of overdose deaths associated with prescription narcotics.

Legislation makes a huge difference that cannot be underestimated, DeLone said.

Long haul

The Pennsylvania Medical Society recently released information about the drug monitoring program and noted that the November 2014 vote was not the first time the legislature had the opportunity to address the epidemic.

During the 2011-12 legislative session, House Bill 1651, which would have created the Pharmaceutical Accountability Monitoring System, was introduced.

The bill never made it to the floor of the House for a vote.

It was disappointing back then that no one would listen, said Dr. Scott Shapiro, president of the society. Members were coming to us and indicating that doctor-shopping seemed to be increasing. They suspected an increasing number of addictions. We knew something had to be done.

The society for the next legislative session pushed its Pills for Ills, Not Thrills campaign to educate legislators on the problem.

Another House Bill was voted through in October 2013, and Sen. Pat Vance, R-Cumberland County, had her Senate Bill 1180 introduced and moved with complete passage in October 2014, which was signed by then-Gov. Tom Corbett, according to the society.

Vances bill faced hardly any opposition, with the bill clearing the Senate with a 47-2 vote and the House with a 194-2 vote.

The Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program should have been in place by mid-2015.

The lack of funding has pushed the program aside, but it is on deck to take place sometime within the year.

Carroll said its his understanding that the partial budget approved this year by Gov. Tom Wolf does fund the program, and it could be implemented and in place by January 2017.

The society was more hopeful that the program could be delivered to the state during the summer and available to physicians shortly after that.

Its going to take some time to see the benefits of all these initiatives, but we are on the right path and we will see results, Shapiro said in a news release.
China to set up International Maritime Judicial Centre

Published: March 14, 2016

Chinas Supreme Court has decided to set up its own International Maritime Judicial Centre (IMJC) to handle territorial disputes and protect its sea rights.

It was announced by Chinas Supreme Court Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at the annual meeting of the national legislature National Peoples Congress (NPC).

This move will help China to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas and also help it become a maritime power.

Background

Presently China is locked in disputes with its neighbours over claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.

The tensions have risen recently over Chinas aggressive land reclamation continues to build artificial islands, airport runways and facilities on disputed reefs.

Usually International maritime disputes between countries are usually brought before the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Earlier Philippines had filed an arbitration case against China over their competing claims in the South China Sea. But China has refused to participate.

For more details: South China Sea Dispute

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2016

Topics: China  Current Affairs 2016  International  International Relations  South China Sea dispute

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Terror Groups Eyeing Israel's Destruction from inside NGOs



Two stalwarts go sleuthing:



"The research suggests that antisemitism is the fuel that primes the PSC engine"



'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

'This new rise in antisemitism, which I had thought long dead, was not shaven-headed white imbeciles from the far right. It was Muslims, a large chunk of it.... Suddenly I grasped that the British far left didnt want people to know about antisemitism because it pointed the finger at people they really, really liked. From that moment on, it all fell into place.... Time and again the same tropes emerged, the same sort of stuff that Streicher and Goebbels would have commended  and uttered.... And from that a whole bunch of other stuff emerged: the old blood libel business (a favourite of the repulsive Jenny Tonge).... Nice, avuncular, Jeremy Corbyn, with his peace badges, happily laying a wreath at the graveside of Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Jewish athletes, oh, and much much more.... It is the same antisemitism, exactly the same: the obsession with Israel to the exclusion of everything else, the conspiracy theory paranoias, the derangement.... Heres the test  if you cannot see the flagrant racism in the BDS movement, and if you are obsessed with the perfidy of the Middle Easts only democracy to the exclusion of all else, you are an antisemite. That means a good proportion of the Labour Party, including the leader, and almost all of Momentum: no brown shirts, no marching bands, but the same old filth, dressed in the clothes of a polytechnic geography lecturer.'

Rod Liddle (2018)



Pro-Israel Down Under







Shalom and Welcome to my blog!

I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013

Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page is here









'In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East.' Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)

Scroll to end for more quotations





Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?



Balfour and Beyond



Try this for Sizer



'Before the June 1967 Six Day War, there were no such things as "settlements". Palestinians were trying to destroy and displace Israel anyhow. The core problem is not, and never was, "settlements," but the right of Israel (or any non-Muslim nation) to exist inside any borders in that part of the world.

If you take a stand that is based on a lie, then that stand cannot succeed. If you try to oppose antisemitism but pretend it is the same thing as "Islamophobia," then the structure on which you have made your stand will totter and all your aspirations will fail. If you try to make a stand based on the idea that settlement construction rather than the intransigence of the Palestinians to the existence of a Jewish state is what is holding up a peace deal, then facts will keep on intruding.' Douglas Murray (31 December 2016)

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

BDS is Antisemitic



The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS



'Islamophobia does NOT come from the same wellspring of hatred as antisemitism. Antisemitism is a true prejudice because the hatred and demonisation it promotes derive entirely from lies and a repudiation of rationality itself.

Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world.

[L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world  even to demonise as Islamophobic anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"



Maps of Mendacity & Mischief



These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946  intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945  and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced  has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today. David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!



Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying...

Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)



Expose The Lies! There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one  the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals cant fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth. David Singer (2016)



Exposing Lies



The "Apartheid" Slur The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas A, B and C was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.

95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.

Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.

Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.

There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area A. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation  and subjugation  by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance.

The narratives did not begin in 1948  they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years? David Singer (2016)



Telling the Truth



The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long. Andrew Roberts (historian)





A voice of courage & reason



He knows, y'know



An Aussie demo against BDS



On the left, black people are usually allowed to define whats racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews theyre wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic  and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!



Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!



Want more?



Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case  aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries  about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: It doesnt matter what we say. The whole world is against us. You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they wont say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)



#Je suis ISRAEL



Aujourdhui, lantisemitisme est masque par lantisionisme. Il faut dire les choses comme elles sont! ["Today, antisemitism wears the mask of anti-Zionism. We must tell things as they are!"] Nicolas Sarkozy (27 May 2015)





Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.

Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)







A nuclear Iran threatens our existence



Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, theres no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who dont share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We cant let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to historys horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)





The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us. Eric Hoffer (1968)



My archived Tuesday blogs at Elder of Ziyon



  ,   



Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)









Blog Archive





January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...

The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...

friendsofisraelinitiative.org





[I]ts impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldnt  if only opportunistically  seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can never be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs... Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)





What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)







I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe. Oriana Fallaci









For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar









Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves. Marcello Pera









Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies. George Weigel









Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse







The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)









I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola









About Me Daphne Anson I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair. Another reason I use an alias: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2015/08/alias-two-ships-daphne-anson.html View my complete profile





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Glenmark said the approved product has an estimated market size of USD 87.8 million for the 12 months ended January 2016

New Delhi: Glenmark Pharma has received final nod from the USFDA to manufacture and market therapeutical equivalent of Endo Pharmaceutical's Frova tablets, used to treat migraine headaches, in the American market.

Also Read: Pfizer stops selling popular Corex cough syrup in India after ban

"Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc has been granted final approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for Frovatriptan Succinate Tablets, 2.5 mg," the company said in a BSE filing today. It further said the drug is "therapeutical equivalent of Endo Pharmaceutical's Frova tablets 2.5 mg." Quoting IMS data, Glenmark said the approved product has an estimated market size of USD 87.8 million for the 12 months ended January 2016.

Also Read: Abbott India's antibiotic combination on list of banned drugs

The company's current portfolio consists of 61 ANDAs pending approvals from the US FDA and 108 products authorised for distribution in the US. Stock of Glenmark Pharma was trading at Rs 831.90, down 2.03 per cent from the previous close on BSE.

Also Read: India bans more than 300 combination drugs sold illegally
New Delhi: Chinese mobile device maker Xiaomi on Monday confirmed that it has initiated a process to set up single-brand retail stores and expects to complete the same in the next few weeks.

We have initiated the process and submitted a few documents online. However, this is very preliminary and the process will only be completed over the next few weeks, after which we will be sharing more details," Xiaomi said in an e-mail response. The move follows US technology major Apples similar application in India.
The global economy and the Asian economy as a whole are in some form of adjustment.

New Delhi: ADB President Takehiko Nakao has pitched for roll out of the Goods and Services Tax saying that its introduction will integrate India as "truly one single economy" and help attract more foreign investments.

Lauding the Budget 2016-17 proposals on the farm sector, he also stressed upon the need for more reforms and pushing infrastructure development. ADB chief in an interview to PTI further said that the growth in India will continue to exceed 7 per cent in the coming years while other global and Asian economies will undergo some kind of adjustment.

"We are now expecting that economy will continue to exceed 7 per cent in fiscal year 2016-17 and 2017-18 and we are now looking at the number again. The global economy and the Asian economy as a whole are in some form of adjustment," he said.

Commending various reform measures taken by the government, Nakao said the pending issue of GST can be done, and it will boost growth.

"For India to grow faster, FDI is important... For that purpose, Indian economy should be integrated as truly one single economy and...rationalisation of tax, the GST, as the government is seeking, is very important reform. I hope it can be successful," he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday expressed the hope that the landmark Constitution Amendment Bill for implementing GST as well as the bankruptcy and insolvency bill will be passed in the second half of the Budget Session beginning April 20.

The government has taken many measures including increasing investment in infrastructure and higher ceiling for foreign direct investment as well as making efforts to improve the ease of doing business, he said.

Besides, he added that "the Budget proposal includes more investment in irrigation, agriculture sector. The identification number Bill is already passed and of course the Land Acquisition Law and also GST are waiting to get through Parliament."

When asked as to what more reforms government should pursue, he said: "One of the important agenda for India is to push infrastructure investment. They need to invest more in infrastructure. We are talking lot about the PPP but also it is important that government itself invest more and also they must invest more in health, eduction zone."

Land Acquisition is another area which requires reform, he said, adding that state governments can frame their own land acquisitions laws. "Government needs to have more tax revenue to GDP ratio to do all these things.

Tax to GDP ratio including state taxes can be larger. Of course, it's a difficult issue but I think government can play better role in those areas of infrastructure investment," he said.
Pradhan said in Lok Sabha that the new LPG distributorship will solve the problems of consumers, including reducing the waiting period.

New Delhi: As many as 10,000 new LPG distributors will be appointed across the country in 2016-17 while 2,000 of them will be appointed in the next three months, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on March 14. Pradhan said in Lok Sabha that the new LPG distributorship will solve the problems of consumers, including reducing the waiting period.

The Minister said following an appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 85 lakh consumers have given up their LPG subsidy and subsequently more than 50 lakh new LPG connections have been given to BPL families. Till 2014-15, burden sharing was finalised every quarter taking into consideration the quantum of under recoveries incurred to oil marketing companies, he said.

During 2015-16, government has decided to provide a fixed fiscal subsidy of Rs 18 per kg under the Direct Benefit Transfer for domestic LPG during April-October 2015 and Rs 15 per kg for the period November 2015 onwards, he said.
After wrapping up his film's shoot in Bulgaria, the actor will fly back to India.

Mumbai: Its a known fact that Ajay Devgn is an extremely professional actor who lives up to all his commitments and is a man of his word. The actor who is currently knee deep shooting for his next directorial venture Shivaay in Bulgaria with the entire team, will fly down to Delhi to receive the prestigious Padma Award that's been bestowed upon him.

After wrapping up his film's shoot in Bulgaria, the actor will fly back to India. The actor will reach Delhi on March 28th to receive the prestigious award.

Earlier upon the announcement, Ajay Devgn had said in a statement, "I feel deeply humbled yet elated to receive such honor from my own country. This announcement today makes it special for me when I'm filming abroad for my new film "Shivaay". I'd like to acknowledge that Padma Samman puts an extra responsibility on me and I promise to serve my country for as long as I can."

Shivaay', which is expected to release later this year, is believed to be a high octane action adventure flick. The film also stars Sayesha Saigal , Erika Kaar, Ali Kazmi and Jabbz Farooqi.
Mumbai: Post his power packed debut in 'Heropanti', Tiger Shroff is ready to show his intense side in the upcoming high octane action drama film 'Baaghi' alongside Shraddha Kapoor. Present at the trailer launch were the two on-screen rebels Tiger and Shraddha along with the films director Sabbir Khan and producer Siddharth Roy Kapoor.

When asked Shraddha about Tiger being a rebel, she funnily reveals, "Tiger is an amazing rebel. He is focused with whatever he does."

"I am a rebel for a purpose. In real life I am not a baaghi but I try my best to stay firm on my decision. I have never hit anyone in college but I got bullied a lot. I was a fast runner so I used to run away but never harmed anyone," Tiger adds.

When asked Tiger how people reacted after watching the trailers final cut, he says, "When we watched it for the first time, I was lost in the trailer but second time when we saw it, I heard the reaction, and it was amazing. We were so excited and charged up that we fell from our seats, but definitely the trailer looks amazing and encouraging."

Tiger Shroff at the trailer launch of 'Baaghi'.

It's been two years since Tiger stepped in Bollywood and after two years long break, he is coming back on-screen, when asked the reason for this, he says, "I got acceptance so early. I think the second film is more important than the first one so I was not in a rush."

For the first time ever, Shraddha will be seen flaunting her bikini body for which the actress is quite nervous, when asked about it, she reveals, "Fingers crossed. Every actor wishes that audience go and watch their film and like it. In fact, apart from this, I tried to do what Tiger can do. I got to do something different in the film. When you have Tiger beside you, you tend to get great tips." "When Baaghi was offered to me I was hoping to do some action and hopefully I got to do it," she adds. Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor at the trailer launch of 'Baaghi'.

Director Sabbir Khan shared an incident where Tiger met with an accident. He reveals, "Tiger was badly injured when he had to do one scene where he had to break a wash basin and there he harmed himself so we had to halt the shoot.

"Tiger is very good to do action. We had to raise the bar for him," he adds.

'Baaghi' is considered to be one of its own kind of rebellious love story, when asked Tiger about his chemistry with Shraddha, he says, "It was very easy, I was very comfortable around Shraddha. We were in the same school so I remember doing the workshops with her. We had fun time in reading. The romance in our film is quiet strong and we had fun dancing together."

Shraddha Kapoor at the trailer launch of 'Baaghi'.

Shraddha joins in and says, "I was his fan since school days when he used to play basket ball. He used to be always in Jersey. When you go to school with someone and then end up acting together, it is so exciting. We were very excited to work together."
Mumbai: We are currently living in an era which is technologically advanced. Every second person we see has a cell phone. As the usage of mobile phone expands, our concern on it's flip side increases as well.

Just like many others, Bollywood star Irrfan Khan is too gripped with growing concern of the flip side of mobile phones. Ever since Irrfan moved to his new apartment in the Western suburbs of Mumbai, there have been three new mobile towers installed near his house. This caused Irrfan to worry about the radiations emitting from the network towers and it's drastic affects on the fellow residents living in the vicinity.

Irrfan joined in on a silent march held in Mumbai to send across a peace message and request the operators to keep the towers away from residential areas, especially the locations where schools and hospitals are situated.

Irrfan Khan is known to express his voice for issues he strongly feels about and so the actor came forward to show his support.

When asked Irrfan about this, the actor said, "We all need mobile phones to work in this day and age. However, our mobile network towers need to be planned with better consideration to residential areas, parks, schools, hospitals etc. This is a dire need with today's increasing health conditions leading to complications due to the radiation. Starting with simple symptoms like headaches, dizziness up to diagnosis of cancer as witnessed in the Ushakiran building case and numerous other cases. We can only create awareness and urge people to join us in this movement."
After having to turn down a Hollywood film and an American TV series, Ronit Roy will now work on his first international project, The Field. An Indo Hollywood production, it features Vineet Singh and Radhika Apte.

Speaking to us from the sets of his film Saat Kadam, Ronit said, I play an elder brother in The Field. Its a motley crew including Indian, British and American actors. I begin shooting in April. I cant say much about the film right now, except that it is a period film portraying old Delhi and is being directed by an Indian director, Rohit Batra. But it has a very international flavour.

This may mark his Hollywood debut, but its not the first Hollywood project offered to Ronit. He earlier had to turn down an opportunity to play a part in action thriller Zero Dark Thirty and US television series Homeland  a decision he wished he didnt have to make.

I regret not taking up both. In fact Sehar, who cast me in The Field, had cast me for Homeland too but I couldnt do it because of bad timing. I was shooting for Guddu Rangeela in Wai and Adalat was on air with no episode bank. As for Zero Dark Thirty, Dharma had my dates for Student Of The Year, which they didnt use finally. So I was left high and dry, sitting at home, doing nothing.

Having said that, he continues, When I watched Zero Dark Thirty and saw the actor in it, I kind of thought that may be its for the best that I didnt do it. In retrospect, I was not ready and wouldnt have been able to justify that role as well as he did.
Aamir Khan showed up for his birthday party this afternoon flaunting a thinner, more toned physique. The actor, who put on 30 extra pounds for his film Dangal, flew back from the US last evening, in time for his 51st birthday celebrations.

Keeping up with tradition, Aamir organised a small cake cutting session with the media and fans at his residence. Aamir cut a large chocolate cake with fresh strawberries and distributed it to the few gathered at the party.

Aamir Khan celebrated his birthday with the media and a few fans at his residence on Monday afternoon.

The actor returned home looking much leaner and thinner than we last saw him in February. Aamir has wrapped up the first schedule of Dangal and will get back to shooting after dropping the extra kilos. The actor is on a mission to get back his Ghajini physique for the wrestling themed film.

"In 'Dangal' I had gained weight, up to 95 kgs. The portions where I was fat have been completed, so I've started reducing. I am at 82 kgs, which is 13 kgs less. Now I have to shed 12 more kgs, so I have reached the half-way mark. My aim is to get the 'Ghajini' look," he said.

Aamir Khan feeds a boy a piece of his birthday cake.

Aamir said his family was happy that he lost weight. "I am taking six months (to lose weight). My family is happy that I am losing weight and am half-way there. It's a concern for me too. Losing weight fast is not very healthy. I am pushing the envelope a little bit," he said.

The actor, who was in the US for intense training in weight loss, said he will now have fish, despite being a vegan, to get in shape of his character. "For the last three weeks I was in the US to lose weight and focus on weight loss. I was working out in different forms and doing six to seven hours of exercises a day. I've been trekking, mountain biking, tennis, swimming...," he said.

Aamir Khan photographed at the airport last September, heading out for his Dangal shoot. The actor weighed 95 kilos at the time.

"I went on a vegan diet because I feel it's a more healthy diet. But I am not moral vegan, I am not that hardcore. For the next three months, my dietitian has insisted that he wants me to have a very high quality protein, so he wants me to have fish, because I need to lose weight but retain my muscle mass," he said.

Aamir, who has been sporting a handlebar moustache, said he is yet to decide on the final look of the character. "Right now, I am transforming my look. So, I don't know what the final look will be like. I am growing my hair and beard, ultimately, the final look will be decided a week before the shooting," he said.

The actor added 'Dangal' is about women empowerment and girls, who fulfill the dreams of their father. The film, which is Aamir's co-production as well, is evidently much-anticipated by the fans. It will be the actor's release after a gap of two years. He was last seen in blockbuster 'PK'.

'Dangal' is based on the true story of Indian athlete Mahavir Phogat, has been slated for a December 2016 release. It will see Aamir sport two very different looks, that he was determined to attain naturally.
It hasnt been long since they confirmed their romance with a series of amorous gestures in Hawaii. But Katy Perry, 31, and boyfriend Orlando Bloom, 39, reportedly took things to another level when she met his mother in a low-key pub, earlier this week.

According to a report by The Mirror, the Hollywood star chose the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, for the introduction on Tuesday.

The father-of-one reportedly took his brunette beau to meet his mother, Sonia Constance Josephine, at the traditional pub near his home village.

A source told the Sunday People, They were laughing and joking and Katy and Orlandos mum were getting on like a house on fire.

Its also claimed that the pop princess flew into the UK especially for the gathering.
Deeper layers of meaning are typical of Jayan Cherians films. The director of Papilio Buddha who sparked a controversy with the Censor Board for featuring the burning portrait of Gandhi as part of Dalit-disapproval protest and using derogatory caste-based slangs in his movie, is now back with a stronger story, titled Ka Bodyscapes.

This time, the story is about the friendship between a gay male couple, one a painter and another, a body-builder, and also a liberal Muslim woman in Kerala. The movie is premiering on March 17, on the 30th anniversary edition of BFI Flare, the London LGBT Film Festival.

One can get goosebumps as the meaning of the unusual titling unfolds. The word Ka has a deeper meaning. It is an essential spiritual vehicle according to Egyptian mythology. It also has relevance in Sanskrit text, which describes about the body aura, which is the vital spark of the body. There is also an understanding of body, pleasure and lust and accepting it, with a correlation of the yogic practice known as Kabody. One of the male protagonists is also a Kabody player, which adds more relevance to the subject, explains Jayan.

Jayan traverses through not-so trodden ways in saying his story. I am expressing myself as an artist, mapping our current society and historical context of Kerala, says Jayan. In that route, his story, though a subject of controversy, doesnt limit viewers to satisfy them with one story line. Jayan says people can approach his film in any manner. I bring layer by layer meaning to my story. What I call is an intertextual aspect to it. People can look at it as a love story, or a movie that questions our society's conservativeness or hypocritical norms."

The cast of Ka Bodyscapes has very few mainstream actors. Jayan wanted to work with theatre and social activists to give a more realistic sense to the movie.

The filmmaker hopes to get censor board certification to feature the films in theatres. The movie will be previewed in April at Kochi.
Bengaluru: Kanishk Tharoor, who arrived in Bengaluru for the launch of his debut book, Swimmer Among the Stars, has just wrapped up The Museum of Lost Objects, a radio series for the BBC. It allowed him to delve into his love for history, a love that isn't the least bit surprising, should you take a moment to consider what growing up in the Tharoor household is like!

I arrive at Cinnamon a good half hour before the launch of Swimmer Among the Stars is scheduled to begin and sit myself in a quiet corner with a copy of the book. A number of reviews online had talked about the fact that Kanishk Tharoor's stories came from all over the place  experiences from his travels, real life experiences and inspiration drawn from political or historical events. The book opens with Elephant at Sea, a surreal story about an elephant arriving in Morocco. It's his sense of humour that jumps out at you  Kanishk has a wonderful way with words  I was in the midst of wondering if the elephant was a metaphor and why it was there and what was happening, really, when a phone call from him interrupted that little reverie.

Bengaluru traffic decided that our interview was to take place on the phone and I found myself straining to hear him  Kanishk is an extraordinarily soft-spoken, although a very honest man. I'd never planned to write a collection of short stories and I didn't write them all at once, he said. They were written over a period of ten years, the oldest happened when I was about 18. He was no stranger to the art even then, however  Kanishk grew up surrounded by books and literature, which he owes to two very erudite parents. I read everything, from hand-me-down Enid Blytons, to English translations of Persian books, he said. "One of my favourite books was an abridged version of the Shahnama."

Writing, he says, came naturally to him, it was a world he couldn't help but be drawn to. I was surrounded by writers, so the world of writing was never an opaque thing. My brother Ishan and I have been writing since we were little children. It was a natural thing to do." He was in his twenties when he began to pay attention to the craft, at graduate school, where he also met his now-wife, Amanda Calderon.

Kanishk Tharoor at the launch of his book at Cinnamon in Bengaluru on Monday (Photo: DC)

Does he find himself in the shadow of his father, at least here in India? When I started out, yes, he agreed. "I can't escape my parentage and I don't want to, either. I'm very proud of dad and everything he has done. As writers, though, we're completely different, in terms of our styles and our temperaments, too.

Entering the world academia was a very real option at one point, said Kanishk. I found that fiction always had a greater appeal for me, though. That comes from my family, too. We always took a lot of pleasure in books, it was an intellectually charged atmosphere all the time. Being a writer meant understanding emotions over ideas, a journey he describes as a descent.

When you're a historian, you're dealing with ideas, more than anything else. My entry point into a story could be political or historical, but I need to descend into something much more granular, something more human, really, to tell a story.

Is he a disciplined writer? He'd like to be, he said at once. I can have bouts of being extremely disciplined, which are usually followed by bouts of total indiscipline! He is working on his first novel at the moment and says, "I wake up in the morning, drink plenty of tea and sit down in my pajamas to write what I hope will be a lot! His wife, Amanda, is his first reader.

She's a wonderful poet and understands the economy of words in a way I just don't, as a writer of prose, he said. She can spend a whole day playing around with ten lines. There's an approach to rhythm and understanding what word goes where that only a poet can have. I don't want to be presumptuous about what she might learn from me, though! I think, at the end of the day, it's about a similar, overarching interest.
National CAMPA Advisory Council has approved the funding for recovery programme of various endangered species.

New Delhi: Out of 96,000 animal species in the country, more than 50 have been assessed as "critically endangered" and 310 as "endangered", the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

"Studies conducted by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have recorded 96,000 species of animals from India.

"Among these, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed 18 species of amphibians, 14 varieties of fish, 13 birds and 10 mammals as critically endangered and 310 species as endangered, including 69 fish, 38 mammals and 32 amphibians," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply.

He said as per the data available with Botanical Survey of India (BSI), out of 19,156 species of vascular plants, 1,236 species belong to different threatened categories like critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable.

He said towards conservation of threatened species, the government has established 730 Protected Areas, including 103 national parks, 535 wildlife sanctuaries, 26 community reserves and 66 conservation reserves, which primarily cover habitats of threatened megafauna such as tiger, rhino, elephant and others.

"Moreover, nine of the 18 biosphere reserves in India are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO," Javadekar said.

He said the National CAMPA Advisory Council has approved the funding for recovery programme of various endangered species.

These include Dugong with a budget of Rs 23.58 crore, Gangetic River Dolphin with Rs 23 crore, Great Indian Bustard with Rs 108.25 crore, Manipur Brow Antlered deer with budgetary support of Rs 99.95 crore and wild Buffalo with Rs 2 crore.
Berlin: In a hotel not in a galaxy far, far away, a robot bids you welcome as you pull into the driveway.

Another hands out the keycard to your room, and a third gives you the password to the wifi network.

Robots are making an entry into the hospitality industry that has until now always prided itself on delivering a warm and personable touch.

At an entrance to Berlin's exhibition hall where thousands of travel industry professionals are gathering for the ITB trade show, humanoid robot ChihiraKanae greets visitors in English, German, Chinese and Japanese.

Dressed in a blue jacket with a neck scarf, ChihiraKanae is on her first visit to Europe where she is seeking potential employment for herself and her kind.

Three months ago, her "sister" began working as a meet-and-greeter in a Tokyo shopping centre.

Their creator, Toshiba, also foresees a great future ahead for them in tourism.

Mario has already found a job at the Ghent Marriott Hotel in Belgium, where he has welcomed visitors since June.

He is also multi-lingual, speaking 19 languages to be precise. On top of that, he helps with serving at hotel buffets, and entertains guests by singing and dancing.

The humanoid robot Mario developped by Belgian company QBMT is used to help at the reception desk of a hotel in Belgium. (Photo: AFP)

He Makes Guests Smile

Unlike ChihiraKanae, Mario doesn't pretend to look like a human.

Standing just 50 centimetres (1.6 foot) tall, Mario is white with red stripes, has speakers for ears and a total of just six fingers.

But his employer is pleased with his work.

He "puts a smile on everybody's face," said Roger Langhout, director general of the hotel, adding that "it's a good way to get people to remember our hotel".

"We are still exploring the possibilities of Mario," he said, even if he acknowledges that humans can never be fully replaced by machines in the hotel business.

Oxford University's Carl Benedikt Frey believes however that robots do have a big future in the industry.

"In tourism, quite a few jobs remain non-automatable, like concierges or chefs," he said.

"But a wide range of jobs are very much sustainable to automation," he added, suggesting that robots could work as waiters, dishwashers, tour guides or even chauffeurs.

What is key is that they should do tasks that require only basic communication, he said.

In fact, a survey of 6,000 travellers by US online bookings company Travelzoo found that two in three people are comfortable with seeing robots in the tourism industry.

The Chinese are among the most enthusiastic, while the French and Germans are more reticent.

Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization, said the industry should broaden its usage of technology and robots.

"I would not put any limit on the use of technology or innovation in any hotel or tourism facility," he said.

"As a matter of fact, we are way behind as a sector in the implementation of technology and the use of it. We were able to send a man to the moon long before we thought about adding wheels on a suitcase."

Oxford University's Carl Benedikt Frey believes however that robots do have a big future in the industry. (Photo: AFP)

Virtual Reality

If robots are still a nascent discovery in the industry, virtual reality (VR) has charmed operators.

German high-tech association Bitkom said virtual reality is the technology that "perhaps has the greatest potential" in the travel industry.

At several stands at the ITB fair, which ran till today, guests could put on virtual reality glasses and escape the gloomy Berlin winter.

In one case, you could lounge on a tropical terrace and watch elephants lumbering against the backdrop of the setting sun, while a waiter delivers a colourful cocktail.

The hotel chain Cinnamon, which is active in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, is using the "new marketing tool" to allow potential visitors to get "closer to the product you see," said marketing director Dileep Mudadeniya.

At the stand for southern Germany's Bavaria region, young women dressed in the traditional dirndl dress are also trying to tempt visitors to put on the glasses for a glimpse of its green meadows and snow-capped mountains.

British tour operator Thomas Cook has been a pioneer in giving its clients a VR preview of adventure a tour by helicopter above Manhattan.

Professor Armin Brysch, from Kempten's Applied Sciences University in southern Germany, believes that VR is here to stay in the industry as it provides a "new quality of experience" that could entice people to book holidays in destinations that they may not have considered.

But would people just opt to see the world from their armchairs? Unlikely, said Rifai.

"To think that virtual reality could be used so that you stay at home and travel the world, it is not going to happen I hope," he said.
A bra-unhooking competition was held on March 8th i.e. International Womens Day in a mall in China. (Photo: AP)

In a bid to attract more visitors, one mall in China decided to have a bra-unhooking contest at its premises. The unusual competition was open to both men and women.

The unusual bra-unhooking competition was open to both men and women. (Photo: AP)

The shopping mall, situated in Lizhou city, in China, hired six young models clad in lingerie and invited audience members to take turns to undo the models bras, according to China Daily. Interestingly, the winner of the bizarre competition turned out to be a woman, who had managed to undo all bras in a record 14 seconds.

The shopping mall, in China, featured six young models clad in lingerie. (Photo: AP)

What is even more unbelievable is that this competition was held on March 8th i.e. International Womens Day. The competition had left many social commentators baffled as to whether such a competition was a celebration of women's empowerment or just a cheap marketing gimmick.
Daniel Knighton/FilmMagicSad details have emerged about the death of Emerson, Lake and Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson, who, according to Billboard, committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Thursday night at his home in Santa Monica, California. Emerson's girlfriend, Mari Kawaguchi, has given an exclusive interview to U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail and revealed that prior to his death, Keith had been "tormented with worry" about upcoming concerts he'd scheduled in Japan because he was struggling with nerve damage that had affected his ability to perform.

"His right hand and arm had given him problems for years," Kawaguchi told the paper. "He had an operation a few years ago to take out a bad muscle but the pain and nerve issues in his right hand were getting worse."

She added, "He had concerts coming up in Japan and even though they hired a back-up keyboard player to support him, Keith was worried."

Kawaguchi also claimed that Emerson, who was 71, was upset that some fans had made critical comments about of his recent performances.

"He read all the criticism online and was a sensitive soul," she maintained. "Last year he played concerts and people posted mean comments such as, 'I wish he would stop playing.'"

Emerson's girlfriend also pointed that Keith "was a perfectionist and the thought he wouldn't play perfectly made him depressed, nervous and anxious." She told The Daily Mail that he'd planned to retire from performing after the Japan dates.

It was Kawaguchi who found Emerson's body, at the apartment they shared in Santa Monica. She told The Daily Mail that he'd been ill with bronchitis on Thursday and she "tucked him into bed" that night, and then left their residence.

"He was sleeping when I left and I thought he was sleeping when I got back," she said, "but then I realized what had happened. He was gone. I am still in total shock."

The classically trained Emerson is considered one of the most influential and accomplished musicians of the progressive-rock genre. He was known for his pioneering use of the Moog synthesizer, and his dynamic performances and virtuosic playing helped propel ELP to stardom during the 1970s.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The attendees of a canine nuptials entered the wedding venue in typical baraati style by dancing to the tunes of Bollywood songs. (Credit: ANI)

Indian weddings with their rich traditions and elaborate rituals are usually a grand affair in our country. But people of a village in Uttar Pradesh decided to extend the same hospitality to a pair of dogs by hosting a lavish wedding for them.

In fact, over 5000 people were guests at this unusual wedding, which was carried out according to Hindu rituals. Even the attendees entered the wedding venue in typical baraati style by dancing to the tunes of Bollywood songs. While the groom Shagun belongs to a man called Basant Tripathy, the bride Shaguniya is from Jung Bahadurs household, according to media reports. Both the bride and groom were finely dressed despite being unaware about the hullabaloo around them.

Perhaps the most astonishing part of the whole affair was that Jung Bahadur even started sobbing like a typical Indian father when he gave away Shaguniya during the vidaai ceremony.

Click on the link below to view the video:
With TS government reserving 33 per cent posts for Women in the police department, every police station will have women police officers. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Women will be empowered only when they become economically independent and come forward to complain about sexual harassment, said Mr Anurag Sharma, the DGP of Telangana.

With TS government reserving 33 per cent posts for women in the police department, every police station will have women police officers. This move will encourage women to approach the police, Mr Sharma said at a programme on Awareness on Legal rights and Self defence Techniques, organised by the TS CID and Hyderabad SHE team.

More police stations and women officers may not empower women. Only when they achieve economic independence, they get empowered, he said.

Hyderabad police commissioner M. Mahender Reddy praised the role of SHE teams in the city. Nearly 100 SHE teams are operating in the city and they carry cameras to record eve teasers in action. Apart from booking them, they are also counselled along with their parents and families, the commissioner said.

The police will be installing one lakh CCTV cameras across the city and they will be linked to the Command Control Center. For providing a one stop multipurpose help center for women, a new counselling center has been opened at HACA Bhavan.

Tollywood actress Manchu Laxmi said there should be a change in the mindset of men towards women. Film star Ramcharan Tej, senior police officials and nearly 3,000 city college girls participated in the event, where they were given awareness on legal issues and taught self defence techniques.
Tirupur: The father-in-law of a Dalit man -- allegedly murdered by his upper caste in-laws in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district -- surrendered before the police on Monday. The father appeared before a local court in Nilakottai in Dindigal district of the state, about 380 kms from Chennai.

A gang of unidentified men armed with hatchets and sickles attacked the 22-year-old Sunday, killing the youth in broad daylight. The boy was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Read: Newly-wed couple attacked in public in Tamil Nadu, Dalit husband killed

The wife of the deceased belongs to a member of the dominant Thevar caste. She was with him at the time of the incident and was critically injured and admitted in the intensive care unit.

According to police, Shankar, 22, from Komaralingam in Tirupur, fell in love with Kausalya, 19, of Palani in Dindigul when they were in college. The youth was in his final year in engineering at a private college in Palani and she was his junior.

Shankar married her eight months ago against the wishes of the girls parents and the couple lived at Komaralingam. Meanwhile, she discontinued her studies and joined a private company near Udumalpet, while the youth continued studying.

The couple were at the Udumalpet central bus stand boarding a vehicle Sunday when they were attacked.

A Dindigul report quoting police said the father told magistrate Rajina Parveen,who remanded him to 15-day judicial custody, that he had no link with the murder. His brothers-in-law could have done it as they were against his daughter marrying a Dalit, he said.

He told the magistrate that he had surrendered as he feared he would be arrested.

Police said two persons had been taken into custody for questioning.

TNCC President EVKS Elangovan, Left parties, MDMK, VCK and DK condemned the incident and called for immediate arrest of the culprits. The incident comes close on the heels of the murder of engineering student Gokulraj of Namakkal in a suspected honour killing.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed at the government hospital in Udumalpet as the relatives of the victim refused to accept the body and sought immediate arrest of the culprits.

Activists from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, AIDWA, Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam and SFI also gathered at the hospital premises.

Kausalya, who is recovering at the government hospital, told reporters that her father Chinnasamy was totally opposed to their relationship and threatened to act against Shankar some time ago. He had clearly told her that if she returned home alone, Shankar will be spared, she claimed. Kausalya said she will be in a position to identify the culprits.

Stone pelting incidents were reported in Kumaralingam, the native place of Shankar, forcing closure of shops, and necessitating deployment of police force there. However, the situation was brought under control, police said.

The parents and relatives of Shankar, numbering over 60, gathered at the hospital, where they refused to accept the body, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and also proof of the arrest.
The duo were produced before court last Sunday and were sent to 14-day judicial custody

Hyderabad: AP minister Ravela Kishore Babus son Ravela Susheel and his driver M. Ramesh were released on bail on Monday. The court granted bail and asked them to pay Rs 10,000 each as deposit and furnish two sureties.

Susheel and Ramesh left Chanchalguda prison on Monday evening.

Susheel and Ramesh were arrested by Banjara Hills police for allegedly harassing a lady teacher while she was returning home from school.

The woman alleged that one Apparao and a person with a tattoo on his hand harassed her and tried to pull her into the car. Later, police found that the tattooed person was Ravela Susheel and the other person was M. Ramesh, who tried to evade the police and gave his name falsely as Apparao.

The CCTV footages collected by the police revealed that Susheel was in the car and had followed the woman. However, Susheel denied the allegations saying that he stopped the car to save a puppy that came in his way.

The duo were produced before court last Sunday and were sent to 14-day judicial custody. Later, they were given two-day police custody and their bail plea was rejected.

Based on Susheel's mobile phone location, police established his presence in the area and seized his vehicle. After the custody when he was produced before court on Friday his bail plea was rejected and hearing postponed to Monday.
Hyderabad: A 19-year-old girl from Kolkata and her drunk friends were booked for vandalising the KPHB police station and attacking police personnel. Four persons, including a software engineer, who were brought to the police station after they allegedly created nuisance at Hydernagar, ran amok in the police station on Saturday night.

A video shot by the police shows Priya Singh, an intermediate student from Kolkata, throwing computers to the floor. She yelled abusive words for several minutes and was seen threatening the cops.

The video showed three others, Tarun Adda, an event manager from Hitec City, Shiva Kumar, an X-ray technician from Landmark Hospital, and Kaushik Bade, software engineer, attacking constables. A police officer was injured in the attack.

WATCH: Girl creates ruckus at a Police station in Kukatpally (Telangana) (Amateur video: March 14)https://t.co/8qvohR5gKt  ANI (@ANI_news) March 15, 2016

Rich duo threatened cops

The incident at the Kukatpally Housing Board police station started unfolding before midnight on Saturday when cops received a call from dial 100.

We received a complaint from their neighbours that they were throwing liquor bottles from the top floor on to the neighbours roof. Our team went in and picked up the two people. Two others followed us to the police station. The two of them were drunk and then started creating absolute nuisance inside the station, said V. Srikanth Goud, inspector of police KPHB police station.

Police officials said that the girl tested negative for alcohol during her blood examination. However, due to her erratic behaviour, police now suspect she must have consumed some narcotic drugs.

No direct evidence of drugs or use of narcotics was found on the scene. It could be possible that she had consumed some drugs before we reached there. We have not found any drug from their possession. But, an investigation has already been initiated against them, said a police officer.

Its also claimed that the youngsters argued with the police and arresting officers for a long time and even threatened police personnel not to mess with them because they were rich.

According to the police Priya Singh, who is the fiancee of Tarun Adda, arrived in Hyderabad recently to meet him. Four of them have now been booked under IPC section 332 (for voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and for damaging public property. Though they were arrested, all of them secured bail.
New Delhi: Dalit BJP MP Udit Raj on Monday attacked Congress for targeting the NDA government over the suicide by Hyderabad University scholar Rohith Vemula, saying eight other Dalit students had ended their lives prior to that during the UPA tenure.

Udit Raj, an alumnus of JNU, contended in Lok Sabha that Dalit students have been committing suicide because of discrimination on the campus due to misuse of budgeted grants.

"There was an uproar in the country following the death of Rohith Vemula. The secularist forces made widespread noise and tried to put the blame on us (NDA government). But they did not say about what they (UPA) were doing when eight other students committed suicide before Vemula," he said, adding "When those eight Dalit students committed suicide, was our government in power?"

Udit Raj, who is also the Chairman of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations, said that the then Congress-led government should have taken steps to stop student suicide.

"When one, two, three students commited suicide, it (the trend) could have been stopped if the government had taken steps," he said.

26-year-old Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar, was found hanging at the Central University's hostel room on January 17. He was among the five research scholars who were suspended by Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in August last year and also one of the accused in the case of assault on an ABVP student leader. The suspension was revoked later.

Udit Raj said similar incidents are witnessed in JNU, AIIMS and other colleges. "If the funds allocated in Budget were utilised properly then such discrimination against dalit or backward students on the campus would not have come to such a pass," he said.

He said years after years the funds or grants did not reach the students and the unused funds were shown as capital expenditure at the end of the fiscal.

"Vemula committed suicide as he was not getting scholarship. Whatever funds were allocated in Budget it was not used properly," Raj said as he suggested that Parliament should discuss the JNU and HCU incidents.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that his comments were taken out context. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

New Delhi: Ruling BJP and Congress on Monday sparred in Rajya Sabha over remarks of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad for allegedly comparing Hindutva outfit RSS with terrorist organisation ISIS.

While the ruling party and its ministers wanted Azad to withdraw his controversial remarks and apologise, the Congress leader denied drawing any parallel between the two and said he was submitting a CD of his speech to the government and is willing to face privilege motion if anything wrong was found.

Read: Did not compare RSS to ISIS, speech misinterpreted: Ghulam Nabi Azad

After Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slipped in a reference to the alleged remarks by Azad while giving government's response to concern by members over remarks by RSS leaders' on continuation of reservation, Azad read out the verbatim speech he made at an event organised by Jamait Ulama-i-Hind last week.

He said he had in the speech stated there was no fight between Hindus and Muslims in India but a fight on ideology.

Ruing why Muslims were joining a terrorist organization like ISIS that is destroying Islamic traditions, Azad said he had stated that "we oppose to organisations like ISIS like we oppose RSS."

Also, "if someone in Islam does wrong, they are no less than RSS," he said. "Where is the comparison," he asked. "If I had said ISIS and RSS are same" there would have been a comparison.

He said he had stated that Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalists have to be fought as they are against the country. "We have to fight them all together."

Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he personally respected Azad but "he should think if he has knowingly or unknowingly slipped, you have given respectability to ISIS."

Earlier, when SP and BSP members raised the issue of RSS leaders yesterday talking of reservation being based on economic criteria, Naqvi said Azad's comparison of RSS with ISIS was "great old party's grand new secular formula."

"Atankio ko phool ka guldasta aur rashtrawadion par hamla (bouquets to terrorists and attack on nationalists)," he said and demanded an apology from the Congress party for the comparison.

As Azad got up to respond, he was interrupted by treasury benches including ministers.

"Please behave like educated persons," he said to them asking them not to bring inside the House the "intolerance they show to criticism outside".

"Everyone who is not RSS or BJP is a terrorist to them," he said displaying a CD that he said contained his speech. He said he has submitted the CD to the Leader of the House and was laying it on the table so that it can be shown to the BJP members and ministers.

"Please bring privilege motion seeking my removal" if after watching the whole CD, anything objectionable is found in it, he said.

Azad, reading his earlier speech, said he had spoken of Hindus, judges and journalists who were fighting for secularism. All forms of fundamentalism must be resisted, he said.

"In the fight for secularism, you will find people from all sects and religions but not in fundamentalism," he said. After the clarification, the House took up other business.
New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said it was ready to develop the Durgarajapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh provided the state government was willing to bear the cost of land acquisition.

"There is need to aquire 5,100 acres of land for the port for which we have sought the cooperation of the state government," Shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said adding that progress was stalled because of the land issue. He said if the state government was ready to bear the cost of land aquisition, the Centre is ready to develop the port.

Earlier Congress member Mohd Ali Khan had raised the matter saying the first stage for developing the Durgarajapatnam port had to be completed by 2018 but there has been no progress in this regard.

Gadkari also said the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board Bill, 2015 has been received by the Home Ministry as passed by the State Legislature. The Bill has been circulated to the concerned Union Ministries for their comments, he added.
New Delhi: Congress on Monday approached the Election Commission, alleging that BJP President Amit Shah violated the model code by making "defamatory" remarks against Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row, which could "mislead" voters in the five poll-bound states.

In a memorandum to the poll body, Congress said Shah told a party conclave in Vrindavan that Gandhi supported anti-India slogans raised on JNU campus.

"Such malicious and defamatory statements have been deliberately and intentionally made at a time when electoral exercise has commenced in five states," the memorandum said.

While elections to Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry were announced on March 4, the statement was made the next day after the Model Code of Conduct came into force, Congress said.

The party has made similar allegations against BJP Vice-President Om Mathur, saying his remarks against Gandhi and Congress had also appeared in newspapers in the five states going to assembly polls. The party demanded that the EC take "stern action" against the BJP leaders.
New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) member K C Tyagi on Monday asked the government in Rajya Sabha whether the Indian Air Force had enough capability to take on Pakistan and China.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Tyagi said the air force does not have enough number of planes to take on Pakistan.

He claimed that while the current requirement was of about 65 planes, India had 33 only and said the IAF chief recently expressed concern that the country did not have sufficient planes to fight Pakistan and China.

Tyagi said a 3,300 km road was being build between Pakistan and China to "create trouble" in that region.

"I want to ask the Defence Minister whether you have enough Air Force capabilities to fight with Pakistan and China. If yes, please tell us," he said.

Renuka Chowdhury (Cong) raised the issue of "illegal mining" by a Dubai-based company at the Srikakulam beach, claiming that the company had come to India for export of thorium.

She said despite no clearance from the District Collector and environment department, the company continues to mine valuable minerals, which are national wealth.

"This company has transgressed all the environmental laws and regulations," Chowdhury said, adding it was also laying roads and highways over private property without any regard to the law and national security.

"It is imperative that the Union Government takes congnizance ... this company...should be punished," she said.

Chowdhury said the company should should be asked to compensate for the violations it has done. Demanding stringent punishment to the company, she said it is a "national security issue" because a foreign company, which has come to India, was violating the country's law.

Vivek Gupta (TMC) highlighted the problems faced by people in West Bengal due to stoppage of working of Farakka Dam for the last two days.

As a result, 2,100 MW of power produced at the dam is not available to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar and drinking water supply has also been affected badly. He said millions of people were suffering due to the problem.

When inquiries were made, Gupta said they were told the problem was because "water is not available". He also said they were told water supply at the dam could not be restored till March 21.

Citing an earlier example where a sitting government lost elections due to power shortage, Gupta said "I am wondering if there was any connection between the timing of water not being available and the elections in West Bengal. I hope not".

He urged the government what steps it was contemplating to resolve the "emergency" situation which may become a national crisis.
Srinagar: Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference has termed China as a reliable friend of the people of Kashmir and said it is extremely thankful to Beijing for its unconditional support and for not recognizing the Himalayan States illegal and forced occupation by India.

The amalgam of separatist parties while reacting sharply to former Chief Minister Omar Abdullahs jibe at separatist leaders for maintaining silence over Chinese troops reported presence in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir said his statement was immature and meaningless, reflecting only half truth.

Omar Abdullah had at the weekend questioned silence of separatist leaders and parties on the issue and tweeted How is it that Kashmiri leaders who have so much to say about Indian troops in J&K have nothing to say about Chinese troops across the LoC?".

The Hurriyat Conference faction in a statement issued here on Monday sought to draw Abdullahs attention towards the fact that the presence of Chinese army in PoK is under a mutual agreement reached between Islamabad and Beijing as part of the Pak-China economic corridor process.

Asserting that pro-freedom people of Jammu and Kashmir have no reason to oppose this move, the Hurriyat Conference also said, Unlike India which has attacked and forcibly occupied (part of) Jammu and Kashmir, China has not attacked and forcibly occupied the Pakistan-administered-Kashmir or Azad Kashmir.

It further said, China is a strong supporter of the right to self determination of the Kashmiri people; hence it is in no way fair to compare the Chinese army with cruel and oppressive occupational forces of India who are carrying out genocide of the Kashmiri people in a planned manner for the last 68 years.

The Hurriyat Conference said that India has long pending border disputes with China and several frontier states of the country including Arunachal Pradesh are still a cause of tension between the two countries.

The two neighbours sometimes share bitter relations over these issues but as far as the State of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, it is quite different issue in nature. If there is any misunderstanding, we (Hurriyat Conference) believe that after attaining freedom from the Indian forced occupation, it can be settled in a friendly atmosphere and China will never do any such action which will endanger the sovereignty and integrate of Jammu and Kashmir, the separatist amalgam said.

It asserted that Abdullah has no moral justification to criticize the separatists because he has accepted the Indian forced occupation in Kashmir and is providing a certificate to their illegal control. It asked him, How can you lecture people on these issues when you yourself do not act? It is the hypocrisy and it cannot be the way of a principled man.
New Delhi: A Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) panel has found 21 students guilty of holding a controversial event against the hanging of Afzal Guru, which had led to the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar.

JNU issued show-cause notice to 21 students after an inquiry panel found them "guilty of violating" norms in connection with the event on campus during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the university's top brass chaired by Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar in which the report of the five-member inquiry panel probing the issue was discussed.

"As per the report some students were found guilty of violating the university rules and discipline norms. It was decided to issue show-cause notices to 21 of them and they have been given time till March 16," a senior university official said.

While the official did not divulge names of the students, highly-placed sources in the university said those issued show-cause notices include the eight students who were debarred earlier in connection with the case and ten of those about whom police had sought information from the university.

"There are standard provisions in the university rules to take action in such cases. The high level inquiry committee recommendations are based on the rules of discipline and proper conduct of JNU.

"On basis of the responses from the students, a final decision in this regard will be taken," the official said.

Read: JNU row: Afzal Guru event was organized on false pretext, says professor

The university had on March 11 revoked the academic suspension of eight students including its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in connection with the controversial event at its campus to protest the hanging of Afzal Guru.

The suspension was revoked after a high-level committee of the university probing the issue submitted its report to JNU authorities.

The varsity, had also clarified that it does not signify a "clean chit" to the students and that the final decision in this regard will be taken after examination of the report by the Vice Chancellor.

The five-member panel was constituted on February 10 by the university, a day after an event to protest the hanging of the Parliament attack convict on his third death anniversary was held during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. The eight students were suspended on February 12.

On the basis of a preliminary report by the panel, the varsity had debarred the eight students from academic activity while allowing them to stay as guests in hostels till the inquiry proceedings were over.
New Delhi: The Law Ministry has cautioned the government that certain clauses in the draft inter-governmental agreement, including the one on material breach, signed for the purchase of 36 French Rafale fighter aircraft are not in India's interest.

It has advised the Defence Ministry to reconsider certain clauses while finalising the deal.

Sources said one of the issues flagged by the Department of Legal Affairs is that in case of material breach by French companies of their obligations under the supply protocol, the Indian side would first have to take legal recourse against them but cannot involve the French government.

It also suggested that the liability clause should be more stringent and include the French government. The clause would come into force in case of any deficiency in completion of the deal by the companies.

In case of a commercial dispute, the arbitration proceedings should take place in India and not Switzerland as suggested in the draft, the Law Ministry has opined.

India and France had on January 25 inked the inter- governmental agreement on the sale of 36 French Rafale fighter jets but were unable to sign the final deal due to "financial" issues.

This agreement was among the 14 pacts signed between the two countries after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Francois Hollande.

"Leaving out financial aspect, India and France have signed inter-governmental agreement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. We expect that even the financial aspects pertaining to purchase of Rafale jets will be resolved as soon as possible," Modi had said at a joint press event with Hollande.

The two countries are negotiating a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition since the announcement for the same was made by Modi in April last year during his visit to France.

However, the final deal is yet to be sealed as the two sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.
New Delhi: The BJP on Monday labeled liquor baron Vijay Mallya Congress baby after the grand old party asked the Centre if it would seek the industrialists deportation or put his case in cold storage.

Vijay Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group to the tune of over Rs 9,000 crore is currently in Britain and has indicated that he would not return to India in the near future.

BJP accused the previous UPA dispensation of helping Mallya by forcing a bank to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.

"Mallya is a Congress baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airlines) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

The leading party said that Congress should come clean on its "deals" with Mallya instead of targeting the BJP.

While around 25 cases have been initiated against Mallya under the Modi-led government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loans, BJP said.

"What was the compulsion of Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should first make that clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" BJP asked.

Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.

Congress on Monday asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in "cold storage" by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi.

Sharma added that former IPL boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was also a "product" of Congress.
Chennai: As political heat rises in Tamil Nadu ahead of the May 16 Assembly election, DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Monday called for a meeting of district secretaries on March 21 to deliberate party's preparedness for the polls.

Poll-related issues including campaign strategies, views of party functionaries over constituencies that may be taken up for allocation to its key partner Congress are likely to be discussed in the meeting.

Also, issues like coordination for effectively bringing up alleged violations of model code of conduct to the attention of election authorities are likely to be covered, the party said in a statement.

The crucial meeting of district secretaries comes against the background of DMDK choosing to stay away from DMK to chart its own course at the hustings. After the stunner from DMDK, DMK has speeded up its poll related activities and also began formalising support to it from smaller outfits.

For the second day today, DMK treasurer M K Stalin met leaders of such outfits at party headquarters Anna Arivalayam. Today, 27 outfits, including Republican Party of India (A) pledged support to the DMK combine. Yesterday, 19 other outfits had called on him to express support.
New Delhi: Centre on Monday set up a high-level committee to look into the issue of missing files of Ishrat Jahan encounter case. Additional Home Secretary BK Prasad will be heading the one-man inquiry committee set up by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The panel will find out the person responsible for keeping the files and relevant issues, a Home Ministry official said.

The papers which went missing from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made.

A few key documents including two letters written by the then Home Secretary, G K Pillai, to then Attorney General, late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have been untraceable so far.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.

Read: Chidambaram changed Ishrat affidavit due to 'undue pressure: BJP

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from the Maharashtra and Gujarat police, besides the Intelligence Bureau, where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from the outskirts of Mumbai was an LeT activist, but this was ignored in the second affidavit, home ministry officials said.

The second affidavit, said to have been drafted by then home minister P. Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, officials said.

Former home secretary G.K. Pillai had claimed that as home minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.

Only after the affidavit was revised, as directed by the minister, did the file come to me, Pillai had said.

Read: Ishrat Jahan case: Dont politicise terror, Rajnath Singh tells Opposition

Chidambaram had said the second affidavit in the case was absolutely correct.

He had also maintained that intelligence agencies can only get inputs, they could not certify. The state police, which was to file the chargesheet, has to investigate and get evidence before filing it, he had said.

Chidambaram has also expressed disappointment over Mr Pillai distancing himself from the affidavit issue, despite being equally responsible.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with the Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The city crime branch had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Last week, Rajnath Singh had accused the erstwhile UPA government of hatching a "deep conspiracy" to frame Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister in the Ishrat Jahan case. Singh had claimed that the previous regime had done a 'flip-flop' on the links of Ishrat Jahan with terror outfit LeT.
Hyderabad: Telangana government presented a tax-free budget for 2016-17 on Monday, proposing a total expenditure of Rs 1,30,415.87 crore. The Non-Plan Expenditure is Rs 62,785.14 crore and Plan Expenditure is Rs 67,630.73 crore.

"This is unprecedented as the proposed expenditure under Plan is higher than that under Non-Plan. This has been done without compromising on non-plan commitments by a combination of rationalisation of expenditure and resource augmentation," state Finance Minister E Rajender said in his budget speech.

With the adoption of 2011-12 as the base year for the estimation of GSDP as was done by the Centre last year, the borrowings under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) legislation are likely to be a little higher in the upcoming fiscal.

The budget estimates indicate a revenue surplus of Rs 3,718.37 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 23,467.29 crore, which is 3.5 per cent of the estimated GSDP.

The higher revenue surplus is entirely on account of the proposed allocation of Rs 25,000 crore to the irrigation sector, which is mostly capital.

The state's own revenue receipts are proposed at Rs 72,412.23 crore in 2016-17 as compared with Rs 54,256.71 crore in revised estimates (RE) 2015-16.

Transfers from the Centre proposed in the Budget Estimates (BE) 2016-17 are Rs 28,512.52 crores as compared to Rs 25,223 crores in 2015-16 BE.

The budget proposed an amount of Rs 4,675 crore under a 'Special Development Fund' to meet contingencies that arise during the year "which cannot be anticipated in advance and which need to be immediately addressed to".

Noting that nearly 40 per cent of the population in the state is urban and that it is projected to grow further, the budget proposed Rs 4,815 crore for 2016-17.

The total provision proposed for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development is Rs 10,731 crore, including the provision for MGNREGS.

According to the budget, important new buildings, including new Secretariat complex, new building for the Legislative Assembly, a new international convention centre, offices for MLAs, CM's camp office, residential buildings for officers, additonal buildings at Raj Bhavan and Telangana Kalabharati (a venue for cultural events) are proposed to be taken up during 2016-17.

The provision proposed for roads and bridges is Rs 3,333 crore and that for building is Rs 457 crore.

The budget proposed Rs 25,000 crore for irrigation projects and Mission Kakatiya (revival of water bodies).

An amount of Rs 6,759 crore has been set aside for Agriculture and Cooperation and Marketing departments. As per the budget, farm loan waiver amounting to Rs 17,000 crore is being implemented. Out of the four instalments, two instalments of waiver amount have been deposited in the bank accounts of farmers.

The third instalment will be released in 2016-17 and 100 per cent loan waiver will be achieved by 2017-18.

The budget has proposed Rs 5,967 crore for health sector and Rs 7,122 crore for scheduled castes' welfare.

It has earmarked Rs 4,693 crore for Aasara (social security) pensions, Rs 1,553 crore for women and child welfare, Rs 1,204 crore for welfare of minorities, Rs 738 crore for Kalyan Lakshmi (scheme that provides financial help to poor at the time of marriage), Rs 2,538 crore for welfare of backward classes and Rs 3,752 crore for tribal welfare.

A total of Rs 100 crore was allocated for a fund to be set up for welfare of Brahmins. The government would work out the modalities for Brahmins' welfare shortly.

The budget proposed to fund the TRS government's flagship programmes of 'Mission Bhagiratha' (to provide tapped drinking water to every household) and double bedroom houses for poor entirely from extra-budgetary resources.
Hyderabad: In a huge crackdown on Fixed Dose Combination drugs that involve risk to humans, the Telangana State Drug Control Administration (DCA) has recalled 344 drugs from pharma stores and distributors. On Monday, DCA asked manufacturers to stop producing these drugs in the state.

Telangana DCA director Akun Sabharwal said, Ministry of Family Welfare and Health had issued an extraordinary gazette on March 10 banning these drug combinations. We received orders on Sunday and started implementation on war-footing.

Read: India bans more than 300 combination drugs sold illegally

In the gazette, the central government said these 344 combination drugs were likely to involve risk to human beings and that safer alternatives were available.

The matter has been examined by an Expert Committee appointed by the Centre and the Committee recommended that these combination drugs have no therapeutic justification. Based on this, the Centre has prohibited manufacture for sale, sale and distribution for human use in the country with immediate affect, Sabharwal said.

DCA Officials will be conducting searches across the state to ensure the stocks are pulled out of pharmacies.



Some of the combinations drugs include:

1. Aceclofenac + Paracetamol + Rabeprazole

2. Nimesulide + Diclofenac

3. Nimesulide + Cetirizine + Caffeine

4. Nimesulide + Tizanidine

5. Paracetamol + Cetirizine + Caffeine

6. Diclofenac + Tramadol + Chlorzoxazone

7. Dicyclomine + Paracetamol + Domperidone

8. Nimesulide + Paracetamol dispersible tablets

9. Paracetamol + Phenylephrine + Caffeine

10. Diclofenac + Tramadol + Paracetamol

11. Diclofenac + Paracetamol + Chlorzoxazone + Famotidine

12. Naproxen + Paracetamol

13. Nimesulide + Serratiopeptidase

14. Paracetamol + Diclofenac + Famotidine

15. Nimesulide + Pitofenone + Fenpiverinium + Benzyl Alcohol

16. Omeprazole + Paracetamol + Diclofenac

17. Nimesulide + Paracetamol injection

18. Tamsulosin + Diclofenac

19. Paracetamol + Phenylephrine + Chlorpheniramine + Dextromethorphan

+ Caffeine

20. Diclofenac + Zinc Carnosine

21. Diclofenac + Paracetamol + Chlorpheniramine Maleate + Magnesium

Trisillicate

22. Paracetamol + Pseudoephedrine + Cetrizine

23. Phenylbutazone + Sodium Salicylate

24. Lornoxicam + Paracetamol + Trypsin

25. Paracetamol + Mefenamic Acid + Ranitidine + Dicyclomine
Francesca Chaouqui, a pregnant former PR adviser to the Vatican, is one of five people accused of leaking classified documents that revealed out-of-control spending at the top of the Catholic Church and some top clerics' love of luxury (Photo: AP)

Vatican City: A controversial Vatican trial of journalists and alleged whistleblowers resumes Monday, in the latest instalment of an image-bruising legal saga.

The spicy courtroom drama has already served up claims of sexually charged scheming, blackmail and computer hacking behind the fortified walls of the secretive city state.

From Monday, lawyers on both sides of a case increasingly seen as a public relations own goal will be able to put some of Pope Francis's closest aides on the stand.

The trial has been adjourned for three months to enable computer experts to recover deleted email, text and WhatsApp messages between some of the accused, one of whom is basing her defence on a claim that she was working on the pope's behalf.

Francesca Chaouqui, a pregnant former PR adviser to the Vatican, is one of five people accused of leaking classified documents that revealed out-of-control spending at the top of the Catholic Church and some top clerics' love of luxury.

She has been granted the right to call as witnesses Vatican number two Cardinal Pietro Parolin and two Francis confidantes, charity supremo Archbishop Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Santo Abril y Castello, who heads a panel overseeing the scandal-hit Vatican bank.

Chaouqui is accused of conspiring with Spanish priest Lucio Vallejo Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio to leak secret documents they had access to as members of a commission appointed by Francis to spearhead a financial clean-up shortly after his election in 2013.

The two journalists on trial, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, have published books based on the documents at the heart of the trial.

All five accused have been prosecuted under draconian anti-leaks legislation, which could see them receive prison terms of between four and eight years.

The law was rushed onto the Vatican statue book in 2013 as a result of the fallout from the first Vatileaks scandal, which centred on secrets divulged by the butler of now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Back behind bars

The Vatican has been criticised by press freedom groups for pursuing the prosecution of the two journalists, who say they were only doing their jobs by revealing problems that believers and the broader public have a right to know about.

With the potential for further embarrassment, some Vatican experts are anticipating a move to bring the trial to a speedy end on procedural grounds.

If the case does proceed to the presentation of detailed evidence, the testimony of Vallejo Balda will be eagerly awaited by the small group of reporters allowed to sit in on proceedings in a rarely used courtroom.

The Spanish priest is reportedly claiming he leaked the documents at Chaouqui's behest because he had become besotted with her after she made sexual advances toward him. She insists he acted alone.

Vallejo Balda spent nearly two months in a police cell last year and, having been released to house arrest just before Christmas, was sent back behind bars days before the resumption of the trial.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the monsignor had "breached the conditions of his (house arrest) status by communicating with the outside."

The books published by Nuzzi and Fittipaldi depict the Vatican bureaucracy that Francis inherited three years ago as being on the verge of implosion thanks to a toxic cocktail of chronic over-spending, feeble accounting systems and serious irregularities in several departments which may have masked corruption.

One of their most striking revelations was that less than 20 percent of donations made by believers around the world under the Peter's Pence scheme ended up being spent on good works.

The rest was swallowed up by the Vatican bureaucracy, partly helping to subsidise the luxurious lifestyles of certain Rome-based cardinals.

The books also highlight irregularities in the system for appointing saints which Francis last week moved to address -- proof, the journalists say, that their work is in the Church's interest.
Mumbai: Wont chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai, said All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday, mocking RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats recent suggestions that the new generation learn to hail Mother India.

Owaisis direct attack at Bhagwat came at a public rally in Latur on Sunday. "I won't utter that (slogan) even if you hold a knife to my throat," Owaisi said, amid loud applause by the crowd.

The dare continued. "I won't chant that slogan. What are you going to do about it, (Mohan) Bhagwat sahab," Owaisi said at the rally in Udgir tehsil.

"Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that one should chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai," the AIMIM leader said.

On March 3, Bhagwat had said the new generation in the country should be taught to chant slogans hailing Mother India. He was referring to the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.

"Now, the time has come when we have to tell the new generation to chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' (hail Mother India). It should be real, spontaneous and part of an all-round development of the youth," the RSS chief had said.

Sneering at the RSS chief for his remarks, Owaisi said he would "continue to support" the family of Ishrat Jahan. Ishrat Jahan was an alleged LeT operative who was killed in an encounter by the Gujarat police in 2004.
While this newspaper has reported that at the Rajya Sabha business advisory committee meet on Friday, the government refused to entertain pleas to extend Rajya Sabha sittings by a few days to discuss the Aadhaar Bill.

New Delhi: With just two days left for the Budget Session to disperse for a month-long break, a logjam is developing between the NDA and Congress-led Opposition over the extension of Rajya Sabha sittings to discuss key bills, such as Aadhaar, which the Opposition wants to discuss and make some changes, though it was passed in the Lok Sabha on Friday after being tagged as a money bill.

While this newspaper has reported that at the Rajya Sabha business advisory committee meet on Friday, the government refused to entertain pleas to extend Rajya Sabha sittings by a few days to discuss the Aadhaar Bill, there are indications the Congress and other Opposition parties are studying the Constitution and parliamentary rules closely, to find a loophole to at least embarrass the government, even if they cannot defeat the bill in the Upper House.

As per norms, a money bill can only be discussed by the Rajya Sabha and then has to be returned to the Lok Sabha within 14 days of its passage there. However, Article 109 of the Constitution does provide a window where the Rajya Sabha can suggest amendments to a money bill, which can be accepted or rejected by the Lok Sabha.

The Opposition, sources said, hopes to use this window to embarrass the government in the Upper House, but only if the sittings are extended.

Meanwhile, a PTI report said, however, that the government was in discussion with several parties and some were against extending the first half of the session.
The Met department has warned that the maximum temperatures could touch 49C in parts of the state this year. Mostly elders, the homeless and labourers are victims of the high temperatures. (Representational image)

Visakhapatnam: With temperatures touching the 40C mark in March, the government is urged to draft an action plan to prevent heat-related deaths during summer.

In 2015, Andhra Pradesh bore the brunt of the scorching heat wave with 1,369 deaths, the highest in the country.

The state government, in December 2015, had constituted a committee to prepare a Comprehensive Heat Wave Action Plan. But there was no official information as to when it would submit its report.

The Met department has warned that the maximum temperatures could touch 49C in parts of the state this year. Mostly elders, the homeless and labourers are victims of the high temperatures.

Other than resorting to public advertisements asking people not to go out in the sun and to drink sufficient water, the government has not taken preventive measures like setting up shelters for the homeless, offering potable water at all important junctions or conducting medical camps.

Speaking to DC, Andhra University emeritus professor from the department of Meteorology and Oceano-graphy, Prof. O.S.R.U. Bhanu Kumar, said in the absence of clouds, more heat was reaching the earths surface, manifesting in higher temperatures.

In the past decade, the mercury levels have been climbing steadily. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide from 280 ppm in 1950 has now reached 403 ppm, Prof. Kumar said.

Heat wave no natural calamity

Despite heat waves claiming thousands of lives every year, it is not on the list of natural calamities.

Various NGOs and political outfits have been asking the government to include it in the list which would make the kin of the victims eligible for ex-gratia.

Mr Marri Shasidhar Reddy, when he was vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), mooted the idea of including heat wave in the list. But there was no action.
New Delhi: Hours after Rahul Gandhi sought urgent steps to help farmers hit by rains and hailstorm, the government on Monday assured necessary action after getting reports from the affected states.

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that reports from states about damage to crops by heavy rains and hailstorm over the weekend are expected in 3-4 days.

The government would take necessary action after getting reports from the states, Mr Singh said, adding that he has already spoken to the agriculture ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. He also said that necessary help would be extended after assessing the extent of damages in different areas.

Mr Singh said around 264 villages have been affected by hailstorms and heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh. Rains and hailstorm lashed several parts of North India including Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana over the weekend and early this morning.
Mysuru Police has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the city, and the security has been beefed up at all vantage points across the city to avoid any untoward incident (Photo: KPN)

Bengaluru: Even as the Mysuru police are battling to bring the Heritage City back to normal after the brutal murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Raju by some unknown people in Mysuru on March 13, Intelligence agencies find uncomfortable similarities in the murders of the Right wing workers in the state in the last six months.

There seems to be a similarity between Rajus murder and the sensational murder of Bajrang Dal activist Prashanth Poojary in Moodbidri on October 9 last year, in which the police have arrested nine out of 17 accused, who owe allegiance to a controversial socially committed, not-for-profit organisation for backward classes and minority community. Prima facie, both seem to be well planned and have been carried out by professional killers, who were hired by the same group of people with a common intent. Besides, the background for alleged crimes, the motive and the modus operandi behind the attacks seem to be similar, said an official source.

He added the murders seem to be politically and communally motivated and could be driven with the larger intention to disturb the communal harmony in the state.

Poojary was a flower vendor and from his shop, which was strategically located opposite the Moodbidri bus stand, he used to keep an eye on cattle transport, which had reportedly infuriated the accused, who had planned to finish him.

In Rajus case, it is reliably learnt that he was opposing the construction of a mosque in a controversial site in Kyatamaranahalli and had protested against the removal of VHP flags followed by the installation of a Ganapathi statue on Maharshivarathri day. Rajus house is next to a madrassa and he was protesting against the proposed construction of a mosque there, the officer said.

Besides Raju and Poojary, the death of a VHP activist in Madikeri during the Tipu Sultans death anniversary in November last year also needs to be investigated. The police claim that he died after falling off a 20-foot wall, but the case needs to be investigated thoroughly, he said.

According to official sources, before killing Poojary the accused had reportedly attacked two men, Ashok and Vasu, in Handel near Moodbidri. They had later attacked one Jaya Kotiyan in nearby Permude village after mistaking them as saffron and anti cow slaughter activists, the officer said.

Mysuru bandh: Journalists attacked

During the communal clash witnessed during the bandh called by the BJP and VHP on Monday, few miscreants reportedly tried to assault photo-journalists Nagesh Panathale and Mohan and electronic media cameramen Puneeth and Ranjith near Mysore Medical College while they were shooting the BJP protest.

They rushed inside the medical college mortuary, where Rajus body was kept, and requested the police to open the gates to escape from their

attackers.
Miscreants set fire to an autorickshaw during a bandh called by BJP following murder of party worker Raju in Udayagiri Police station limits on Sunday (Photo: KPN)

Mysuru: The violence in Mysuru, which lasted for over eight hours on Monday, seemed to have caught the cops napping. While vehicles were burnt and shops ransacked, the policemen deputed to protect the city, merely hit their lathis on the ground to disburse the mob.

As the BJP called for the bandh on Sunday night, the police had ample time to work out a strategy to deal with the tension , but it merely promulgated prohibitory orders and failed to deploy additional forces in sensitive parts of the city, say observers.

Also,while the senior police officers were focusing on the Mysore Medical College where the dead body of the murdered BJP worker was kept, miscreants had a field day pelting stones on government and private buses in other parts of the city. They also staged a dharna and prevented the operation of buses from the main bus stop, even terrorizing people with lathis.

Thousands of people on the KR Hospital road raised anti- government slogans, while BJP leaders accompanied by party spokesperson, CT Ravi staged a dharna nearby, making a mockery of the prohibitory orders.

A two- wheeler and an autorickshaw parked inside the hospital were torched and the window panes of a car belonging to the hospital medical superintendent were smashed.

And even as another group entered the Devaraja market and ransacked the shops of a particular community, there was no sign of the police, say others. A boy hit a shopkeeper with a stick injuring him on the head and another was hit on the head by a stone with no police around to stop the violence.

The police failed to gauge the situation. They should have deployed additional reserve police in the communally sensitive areas and not allowed the people to gather in front of the hospital. Underestimating the BJP resulted in these incidents. The top brass has to be present on the ground to deal with the situation and not leave everything to their deputies, said a former police commissioner, now retired.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao goes through the Budget speech as finance minister Etela Rajender presents it in the TS Assembly on Monday.

Hyderabad: The much-talked about KG-to-PG scheme drew a blank in this years Budget. Also, the overall allocation to education sector was lesser by Rs 478 crore, compared to last year.

While the allocation for 2015-16 was Rs 11, 216 crore, it was reduced to Rs 10,738 crore this year. The education sectors share in the entire Budget was 8.23 percent as against 9.69 last year.

If considered category-wise, school education got Rs 8,574 crore, higher education Rs 1,720 crore and technical education Rs 443 crore.

The lone bright spot was allocation of Rs 300 crore for setting up 70 minority residential schools in the state.

Expectedly, opposition parties and academicians tore into the TRS over reduced priority to the key education sector.

Disappointing, says Opposition

Accusing it of pushing a surplus state into a state under debt, the Opposition on Monday slammed the TRS governments 2016-2017 Rs 1.30 lakh-crore Budget.

TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the Budget presented on Monday was not implementable and the state depended on loans.

Its a highly disappointing Budget for almost all sections of the society. The government is trying to mortgage the people to fulfil its poll promises. The people have given this government a mandate for five years and it is throwing TS into a debt trap for next 20 years, he said.

Mr Reddy said that even the flagship schemes of the state government were debt-based and no proper funds were allocated for those in the Planned Budget.

Taking a dig at the 2BHK housing scheme, he said, As per the governments estimates, to build one lakh 2BHK houses in Hyderabad would cost nearly `7,500 crore and in rural areas, it would cost `5,000 crore, but the government did not allot a single rupee in the planned estimate.

Congress MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy too alleged that the CM was pushing a financially surplus state into a debt state.

We are not against Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya or the schemes. But how will you repay thousands of crores? We are turning into another Brazil, he said.

TD MLA R. Krishnaiah called it anti-BC Budget and an insult to BCs for poor allocation to them. There is nothing new in this Budget. The government should allot more funds to BCs or face agitation, he said. BJP MLC Ramchander Rao called it a jugglery of figures and highly disappointing.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao goes through the Budget speech as finance minister Etela Rajender presents it in the TS Assembly on Monday.

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Budget did not allot any funds to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos pet Water Grid (Mission Bhagiratha) and 2BHK schemes. Finance minister Etela Rajender said the these schemes would be funded by money borrowed from banks and other financial institutions.

This came as a surprise and shock to even TRS leaders who strongly believe that only the Water Grid and 2BHK schemes will help the party retain power in the 2019 Assembly polls.

Read: KG-to-PG scheme missing in Telangana Budget

They contended that launching the two schemes had resulted in the party's superb victories in the recent series of elections.

The housing department had sought Rs 12,000 crore to build the 2 lakh 2BHK houses, but got Rs 860 crore.

Read: Telangana Budget: GHMC, Metro Rail get less money

On the other hand, Mr Rao got Rs 4,675 crore  a nine-fold increase  in the new Budget that will be at his disposal under the Special Development Fund. The SDF of the planning department will be released at the discretion of the CM to MLAs and MLCs for various works without calling for tenders.
New Delhi/Kolkata: Ahead of the West Bengal elections, the states ruling Trinamul Congress led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been put in a tight corner with its ministers and MPs caught in a sting operation for allegedly accepting bribes from a fictitious import-export company. The TMC has, however, denied the charge and claimed the videos were doctored.

A news portals sting operation alleged that three West Bengal ministers, some MPs and MLAs had allegedly accepted bribes from a fictitious import-export company. The news portal, Narada News, released the tape of the operation which it claimed to have conducted over the last two years at a news conference in New Delhi on Monday.

Read: Trinamool Congress cannot be cowed down: Mamata Banerjee

The tape purportedly shows the ministers and legislators taking cash, said to be around Rs 5 lakhs each, in return for favours such as lobbying for a fictitious company Impex Consultancy. A journalist from the portal claimed to be a representative of the company to seek help from them.

The TMC was quick to dismiss the tapes as doctored and said the dirty tricks departments of its political rivals were behind the smear campaign. However, the BJP demanded the resignation of Mamata Banerjee and the CPI(M) sought Presidents Rule in the state in the wake of the news portals sting operation.

In a video statement, Trinamul MP Derek OBrien said the party had seen the video which he described as a smear campaign against it. He threatened to sue the portal for defamation. We are completely transparent. (Chief minister) Mamatadis credentials are impeccable.

The people of Bengal know. We are busy with elections now. So whoever has concocted this smear campaign, please go ahead and concoct your smear campaign or your doctored video, he said.

Where these videos came from, who doctored these videos ... will now be put to (test) in a defamation case. We are not bothered. This is a smear campaign. Our political opponents know they cannot defeat us politically, so they create a cheap tricks department, a dirty tricks department, said Mr OBrien.

Journalist Mathew Samuel of the news portal, who led the team that conducted the sting, termed the release of the video before the Assembly polls as a mere coincidence. He said he had no political backing.

The video, which triggered a major political storm in poll-bound West Bengal, could not have surfaced at a worse time for the ruling TMC. BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh showed the 24-minute-long video at the party office in Kolkata only hours before the arrival of the full bench of the Election Commission in the city.

The video showed Trinamul Congress vice-president Mukul Roy, MPs Saugata Roy, Sultan Ahmed, Suvendu Adhikari, Prasun Banerjee and Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, state ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Iqbal Ahmed, Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, former state transport minister and Saradha scam accused Madan Mitra, former Burdwan SP H.M.S. Mirza and other TMC leaders accepting wads of currency notes from a fake consulting firm to allow it to set up a company in West Bengal.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee must step down immediately. She has no business to remain in the post even for few days before the election. Her party and leaders are neck-deep in corruption and we are writing a letter to the director of the CBI asking the agency to investigate the matter, Mr Singh said.

He claimed that the TMC-led West Bengal government had broken all records in corruption. The video showed the TMC leaders and the police officer accepting bribes of around Rs 73 lakhs from the fake consultancy firm. Around Rs 4 akhs to Rs 5 lakhs was used in each transaction, with the exception of Mr Roy, who was offered Rs 20 lakhs. However, Mr Roy could not be seen taking any money.
Policemen chase away protesters, who were rallying against the murder of BJP activist Raju, in Mysuru on Monday

Mysuru: Mondays bandh called by the BJP and VHP to protest the murder of an activist, Raju, 39, who was hacked to death by a mob Sunday evening, turned violent with vehicles set on fire and buses stoned even as the police beefed up security around the Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) where his body was kept.

Thousands of BJP and VHP leaders, including Pratap Simha, C.T. Ravi, Maruthi Rao Pawar, S.A. Ramdas, and G Madhusudan gathered in front of the MMCRI, protesting the party workers death .

They claimed he had played a leading role in preventing a mosque from coming up on a controversial site in Kyatamaranahalli and had agitated against the removal of VHP flags and insisted on the installation of a Ganapathi statue on the land on Mahashivarathri day.

Although the autopsy was done by 11am, the leaders refused to take the body for cremation, demanding that the activists assailants be nabbed and the government give a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to his family on the spot.

They only agreed to take the body at 4 pm, after Deputy Commissioner, C Shikha, Mysuru City Police Commissioner, B Dayanand and Superintendent of Police, Abhinav Khare held a peace meeting with them and gave Rs 5 lakh compensation to the workers family. The police also allowed them to take the body to Rajus home before cremation as they wanted.

The body was taken in a procession by the BJP leaders to his home and later cremated at the Kyathamaranahalli Crematorium late Monday evening.

The BJP, VHP and RSS leaders ensured that all shops in the city remained closed except for medical stores and the Nandini milk parlours till evening.

In the unrest that followed a scooter and auto were set on fire at KR Circle, and two Volvo and a private bus were stoned at Fountain circle.

Police vehicles were also attacked near KR Hospital and in Udaygiri police station limits and the shops of a few merchants in KR Market were ransacked.

The police restored to a mild lathicharge to contain the situation, which slowly return ed to normal in most parts of the city except in Udaygiri police station limits and in the heart of the city.

While local Congress leaders condemned the murder, they demanded a fair investigation into the case and accused the BJP of politicising the workers death.

Meanwhile, with bus services being affected, hundreds of tourists were stranded in the city and several students of colleges, who had come to Mysuru to write their exams, found it difficult to return home. Train services were however not affected.

Soon after the cremation of Raju, when the crowd was returning, a few miscreants threw stones at them, forcing the police to resort to a lathi charge and lob tear gas shells.

An ETV reporter, Puttappa, was attacked with a sickle. He, however, escaped with minor injuries and has been admitted to a city hospital. Doctors said that he is out of danger.
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political slugfest over the controversial Ishrat Jahan case, the government has set up a one-man inquiry committee, of additional secretary B.K. Prasad, to probe the missing files in the home ministry relating to the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan.

The difficult and challenging task of tracing the missing files and fixing responsibility, if need be, for the missing documents, can finally establish the correct sequence of events: on whether the then home minister P. Chidambaram had ordered the filing of the second affidavit suo motu as alleged by former home secretary G.K. Pillai, thereby proving the alleged flip-flop on the issue by the then UPA government. While no time limit has been set, Mr Prasad, a 1983-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, has a critical task ahead as the BJP has accused the Congress of deliberately changing the affidavit to establish Ishrat was not a terrorist for political gains and implicating the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the case.

Last week, home minister Rajnath Singh had accused the then UPA government of hatching a deep conspiracy to frame Mr Modi while he was Gujarat CM in the Ishrat Jahan case.
New Delhi: A high-level committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University has recommended rustication of students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and two other students for their alleged role in a controversial event last month at which anti-national slogans were raised.

Sources said a decision on the recommendation will be taken by vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar and chief proctor A. Dimri.

The report was discussed at a meeting of the university top brass, following which the varsity issued showcause notices to 21 students including Mr Kumar and Mr Khalid, who were found guilty by the panel of having violated university rules and discipline norms.

The committee was formed on February 10 to probe the event organised to protest the hanging of Afzal Guru, the Parliament attack convict. Mr Kumar, Mr Khalid and Mr Bhattacharya were arrested on charges of sedition in connection with the programme. Mr Kumar was released on bail from Tihar on March 3 while the other two remained in judicial custody.

JNU had on March 11 revoked the academic suspension of eight students including Mr Kumar. It was decided to keep them under suspension from academic activities till the inquiry was over. They were allowed to stay in the hostels.
The chilling video of the attack on Shankar, which has gone viral, has brought back the focus on the increasing honour killings in western Tamil Nadu

Tirupur: A day after the chilling honour killing of a 23 year old Dalit engineering student in full public view at the bus stand in Udumalpet, Dalits intensified their protests in western Tamil Nadu, forcing the Dalit youths father-inlaw, Chinnasamy, to surrender before the court.

Six special squads of police stepped up their hunt in the southern districts of Madurai and Virudhunagar for the three killers who hacked the Dalit college student Shankar to death and attacked his upper caste wife Kowsalya on Sunday afternoon near a bus stand at Udumalpet before zipping away on a motor bike.

Read: Tamil Nadu: Police bury Dalit youths body late Monday night

Kowsalya, an upper caste girl, married Shankar about eight months ago, defying her parents. He paid with his life for falling in love with an upper caste girl, while the couple was returning after shopping for his birthday on Sunday afternoon.

Kausalya has said she will be in a position to identify the culprits. The chilling video of the attack of Shankar and Kowsalya, circulated on Whatsapp, has turned the spotlight on the increasing honour killings in western Tamil Nadu.

Read: Newly-wed couple attacked in public in Tamil Nadu, Dalit husband killed

Last year, a Dalit engineering graduate was killed and his body thrown on the tracks near Tiruchengode in Namakkal district. The murder probe took a tragic turn with the Dalit investigating officer and the Tiruchengode DSP, Vishnu Priya, committing suicide, apparently unable to cope with harassment by higher officials.

Arrest my family, says Kowsalya

Kowsalya, who was also attacked by the gang, demanded that her parents, uncle and grandmother, who were responsible for the killing be arrested immediately.

My parents should be arrested and hanged. They are responsible for my husband's killing, she told the media at the Government hospital in Coimbatore, where she is being treated for head injury.

Udumalpet tense post-killing

The town of Udumalpet, famous for verdant Kollywood shooting locales, is gripped with communal tension, with the Dalit outfits staging several protests, demanding the immediate arrest of parents, uncle and grandparents of Shankars wife Kowsalya.

TNCC President E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Left parties, MDMK, V.C.K. and D.K. condemned the incident and called for immediate arrest of the culprits.

Tamil Nadus Scroll of Shame

81 incidents of honour killings since July 2013

30 incidents of honour killings since 2007 in Western districts. 80 per cent of victims are women.

Dalit youth Gokul Raj, who was in love with a girl from Gounder community, was murdered in June last year.

Tiruchengode DSP R. Vishnupriya, who probed the murder case, hanged on 18 September due to harassment from seniors.

In 2012, Dalit youth E. Ilavarasan, whose marriage to a Vanniyar girl was found dead near a railway track in Dharmapuri.

Read: 81 honour killings in three years in Tamil Nadu
An ethics panel of parliament headed by L.K. Advani has served a notice to Mr Gandhi seeking a reply from him if he once declared himself a British citizen on the legal papers of a company in UK. (Photo: PTI)

Raipur: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the British citizenship row involving him would be dealt with in the parliament.

BJP has a habit of spreading lies. We will deal with it (British citizenship controversy) in the parliament, Mr Gandhi, who was on a days visit to Chhattisgarh to pay respect to 18th century Satnami saint Guru Ghasidas at his sacred birth place at Garodpuri Dham in Balod Bazar district nearly 135 km from here, told reporters.

An ethics panel of parliament headed by L.K. Advani has served a notice to Mr Gandhi seeking a reply from him if he once declared himself a British citizen on the legal papers of a company in UK.
New Delhi: "My comments have been misinterpreted," was senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's repartee Monday to the BJP's claims that he compared Hindutva outfit RSS with terror organisation ISIS.

"I request BJP parliamentarians to go into a room to listen to this CD. This is the CD of my speech. If anything wrong is found in it, you can move privilege motion," said Azad, as he waved a CD in Parliament.

At an event organised by the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind last week, Azad had said: "We oppose organisations like ISIS, the way we oppose RSS. If those among us in Islam too do wrong, they are no way less than the RSS."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley countered him in Parliament stating the senior Congress leader should introspect on what he had said. "You gave respectability to ISIS in your speech which you should not have as everyone knows ISIS is a terrorist organisation," said Jaitley.

Read: BJP, Cong MPs spar over Azad's remarks on RSS and ISIS

The Bhartiya Janata Party has demanded an apology from the Congress in Parliament over Azads remarks. BJP members sought Congress' apology as this comparison was "unacceptable" to them.

Here are the latest updates from Parliament today:

1.10 pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm.

11.44 am: Request Modi government to shut down 'fair and lovely' scheme and take decisive action in Lalit Modi and Mallya case: Congress

11.30 am: Unknowingly, Azad gave respectability to ISIS, says Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha.

11.20 am: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad responded to government's allegations on his RSS-ISIS remarks saying his comments were misrepresented.

Azad said, I request BJP parliamentarians to go into a room to listen to this CD. This is CD of my speech. If anything wrong is found in it, you can move privilege motion."

11.15 am: Congress party must apologise for statement made by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, said BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Rajya Sabha.

11.00 am: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi raises issues of crop damage due to hailstorm. "The government must act to give relief to affected farmers," said Rahul.

10.40 am: BJP demands Congress apology over Ghulam Nabi Azad's comment comparing RSS with ISIS.

10.30 am: Rahul Gandhi gives adjournment motion in Lok Sabha on crop damage issue due to hailstorm.

Earlier, on Sunday, RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha lashed out at Congress for Azad's speech. Mr Azads remark shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the Congress. Earlier too its leaders had hurled allegations at the RSS, blaming it for the Mumbai terror attack, then coining the term Hindu terror and alleging that Sangh shakhas were promoting Hindu terrorism, and now (it has) compared the RSS with ISIS, said Sinha.

"By such a statement, Mr Azad has provided logic and ground to the terror outfit to expand in India and also provided (it) with legitimacy and respectability when it is considered an enemy of humanity, he added.

Claiming that the Congress leader had crossed all limits in his partys bid to woo Muslims for its votebank politics, VHP leader Surendra Jain said Mr Azad had also insulted Muslims by his remarks by questioning their patriotism.

Do they think Muslims in the country sympathise with ISIS? They have insulted Muslims of the country with their statement. Congress president Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation and try to save her party from imminent decline by throwing Azad out of the Congress, Dr Jain said.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over his 'Fair and Lovely' gibes at the government, saying the comments show a racist mindset.

I heard a phrase. I have no problem with the phrase but it is politically incorrect. It shows a racist mindset. That what is not fair is not lovely. Anyway, will pass it off as ignorance, Jaitley said while replying on the budget debate in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Jaitley also sought support of Congress for passage of bills like GST and bankruptcy with a contention that India can grow faster in "absence of obstructionism".

Jaitley further responded to attack on the government over Vijay Mallya leaving the country amidst loan default, saying there was a "question" as to whether the "legal system" had acted as a "hurdle" in loan recovery and enabled the "escape" of the defaulter.

Replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on the General Budget 2016-17, he also rejected demands for rollback of 1 per cent excise duty on jewellery saying it was in preparation for unveiling of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which hopefully will "come soon".

The House later passed the Appropriation Bill completing the first phase of the Budgetary exercise for 2016-17.

While talking about black money, Jaitley referred to the 'Fair and Lovely' comment made by Gandhi while speaking in the House last week.

Without naming the Congress Vice President, the Finance Minister said, "I have no problem with this phrase. But this phrase is politically incorrect. It shows a racist mindset that what is not fair is not lovely."

He went on to add, "World over people frown on use of such a phrase. In any case I will pass it off as ignorance."

Earlier this month, Gandhi had launched a stinging attack in the Lok Sabha on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of releasing Pakistan from a small "cage" in which it was put after the 26/11 attacks by his sudden visit to Lahore and bringing a "fair and lovely" scheme to launder black money.

Jaitley insisted that the government's proposal was not an amnesty scheme, Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) or any concession, unlike the schemes brought by other governments earlier.

Noting that the global environment was a challenging one, the Finance Minister said the country needs to rise above party lines to maintain the distinction of being the fastest growing large economy.

"We compare ourselves with global standards, we are doing good. But if we compare ourselves with own standards we can do better in a more helpful global environment and domestically in absence of an obstructive environment," he said.

Seeking support of the Congress, he said, "The country needs bankruptcy law. Hope the joint committee will soon give its report so that it gives the right of transfer the management. So that incompetent can exit, jobs are saved and more competent can take on the businesses".
The powder train on the JNU campus was lit when a cultural evening organised by the Democratic Students Union on February 9 to discuss Kashmir, was taken over by masked outsiders and converted into a memorial service for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt, the co-founder of the separatist group JKLF. The format and background of the event on the JNU campus was typical of such events  outpouring of Left rhetoric using the sensitive issue of Kashmir as a prop and that too at a meeting punctuated by calls for azaadi and destruction of the Indian state.

The speakers centred almost exclusively on azaadi or liberation  a term long associated with Kashmiri separatism. Later, these slogans were sought to be rationalised by the organisers as referring to azaadi from casteism, capitalism and other socio-political ills. Political vultures of every description were present and, finally, out of the fog, heat and dust of campus politics emerged Kanhaiya Kumar, the 28-year-old president of the JNU students union (JNUSU) who became a youth icon and TV personality extraordinaire.

The JNU campus had temporarily metamorphosed that afternoon into the Lal Chowk in Srinagar, or the Jadavpur University campus in Kolkata, where patriotism is regarded as a bourgeoisie anachronism and every conceivable issue is open to debate. JNU is one of the crown jewels of our educational system. It is important to preserve it as such.

However, given the frenzied sloganeering at JNU extolling Afzal Guru, the time may have come for the Indian establishment to seriously examine if there is any foreign hand at work to deliberately infuse radicalism into student communities in India. Are the slogans raised in JNU supporting azaadi in Kashmir, in effect, calling for the vivisection of India, possible indicators of external influences working to a deliberate plan to influence hearts and minds on the campus and build separatist sentiments amongst a volatile section of young Indians? However paranoid or McCarthyite these aspects may seem to be, they, nevertheless, have to be taken seriouslyof by security and intelligence agencies in India.

The warning parable of communal riots which paralysed Mumbai in 2012, after the war memorial on Azad Maidan was desecrated by mob violence that erupted following inflammatory speeches and slogans at a meeting organised at that venue by an obscure organisation called the Raza Academy  remain relevant in the context of the provocative azaadi slogans at JNU as well. In the current environment, almost every university in India is a potential Tahrir Square or Tiananmen Square awaiting the match.

The Molotov cocktail of campus violence that exploded in JNU may well have exasperated the Delhi Police charged with the thankless task of maintaining peace, but Delhi was mercifully spared the drama seen at Beijing or Cairo of students facing tanks. The JNU episode kept television audiences glued to their screens. But even more importantly, it also provides an almost classic case profile of information warfare and the dark arts of information, misinformation and disinformation, which blend psychological operations and sting operations. It requires further study and critical professional analysis by Indian agencies within as well as outside the government, who are tasked to undertake such operational responsibilities.

Today, aggressive Indian patriotism is in a faceoff against equally aggressive Indian liberalism and though the former has traditionally been dismissed as the last refuge of the scoundrel, it is also being passionately embraced today by increasing numbers who defiantly wear their saffron, white and green hearts on their sleeves. It is a clash of perceptions and political interests which must be reconciled at the earliest in the interests of the nation.

Meanwhile, as politics played out on the JNU campus, an explosive counterpoint was provided at Pampore, South Kashmir, by two young officers of the Parachute Regiment who fought their way into a building held by militants and eliminated the intruders. Both the young lieutenants and their havaldar were killed in the process of storming the building. Both were hardly 22 years of age and barely out of the Indian Military Academy, Dehra Dun. Both held graduate academic degrees from JNU, awarded when they had passed out from the Academy, not all that long ago.
Given the mood of the times, it should not be surprising if someone accuses Justice T.S. Thakur, the Chief Justice of India, and his colleague on the Supreme Court bench, Justice U.U. Lalit, of lacking in patriotism for rejecting even to consider a plea that India should be called Bharat for all official and unofficial purposes. Events like the mammoth festival that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed as a Kumbh Mela of art and culture confirm the upsurge of chauvinism in which religion and nationalism blend as in Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyays famous novel Anandamath which was set against the background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in late 18th century Bengal.

Whatever its emotional appeal, Bharat cannot be the countrys official name for the same reason that Vande Mataram, which was first published in Anandamath, cannot be the national anthem. Multicultural, multireligious, multilingual India demands that the symbols of state should bring closer together the many strands that enrich our composite nationhood and not drive them farther apart. This doesnt mean placating any minority group. But the cooperative federalism Mr Modi talks about calls for a national framework in which every community can comfortably subsume its parochial identity in the national label. That is what Jawaharlal Nehru meant by unity in diversity.

I happened to be in Jamshedpur 50 years ago when a Bihari politician asked Gen. Shiv Verma, who had joined the Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company after retirement, how many Biharis Telco employed. As I reported at the time, Verma replied with a flick of the snowy handkerchief always tucked into his jacket sleeve, I wouldnt know, sir, but I always make a point of employing only Indians! That pride hasnt evaporated. It surfaced again recently when Salman Khan was asked his caste. He replied he was a human being and an Indian.

Yes, some might see it as a handicap that India doesnt have an authentic indigenous name that applies to the entire country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from the borders of Myanmar to Punjab. But neither of the two alternatives, Bharatvarsha and Hindustan, preferred by the Hindutva lobby is sufficiently inclusive either demographically or geographically. The ancient Hindu text, Manusmriti, uses the term Aryavarta but that, too, is racially and territorially limited. India is the only description that neutrally covers the entire country and all its people. In fact, its a Pakistani grievance that it covers too much, since it also refers to the whole of the subcontinent the British ruled.

That was why Ian Stephens, editor of the Statesman at the time of Partition, had the bright idea of replacing British India with Delkaria, a coinage combining portions of the names of the then capital cities (Delhi and Karachi) of the two new dominions. Mercifully, it was laughed out of court like the Bharatiya Janata Partys more recent suggestion that irrespective of religion, all Indians should be known as Hindus.

The word India has been around long enough to cause no discomfort to anyone except, perhaps, a few insecure Pakistani bigots. The ancient Persians may have derived it from the name of the Sindhu (Indus) river but it became better known internationally through the writings of the 4th century BC Greek historian Herodotus. It doesnt prevent us from saying Bharat or Hindustan when speaking in any of the native languages. It also allows Tamil, Telugu, Malayali and Karnataka speakers to use the term India.

Ours isnt the only country with more than one name. The Netherlands is a synonym for Holland. Germany boasts four names  Allemagne, Deutschland, Saksa, Tyskland and Niemcy. China is the English for Zhongguo, just as Japan is English for Nippon. The Dutch and Germans are unruffled by multiple descriptions. The Chinese and Japanese dont get paranoiac about how the English describe them because they are confident enough and pragmatic enough to recognise that what a country does for its people is more important than what it is called.

This isnt the first time the matter has been brought up in India. The wave of nationalism that produced Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, etc., will no doubt suggest other alternatives to India as time goes by. All Supreme Court judges may not be as firmly rational as the present lot. A later bench might share the sentiments of those who want change. This is the worrying aspect of the current drift. India is eternal by any name. But the agencies within the country that shape thinking and affect life in many ways either take their cue from the ruling coterie or reflect its prejudices.

As a result, our horizons are shrinking. The recent attack on a church in Raipur couldnt have taken place earlier for two reasons. First, all places of worship (Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist or Hindu) enjoyed the protection of governments that were bound by the rule of law. Second, even those Indians who were disposed to attack them knew that lawlessness would quickly be punished.

Protection and punishment are today vanishing concepts in this context. Any divergence from what can only be called the lowest common level of the majority point of view is at once dubbed anti-national and seditious. For instance, the devout are told  and believe  that an enormous footprint in the modern cement paving outside the Jakhoo temple above Simla was left by Rama himself.

As for public taste, Outlook magazine reported in May 2008 that hundreds of historic gurdwaras were being demolished and replaced by new garish, opulent, marble gurdwaras. This is not the National Democratic Alliance governments doing, but through its acts of omission and its patronage of mega melas, the NDA seems to encourage every regressive instinct in the Indian psyche.
"Discussions are going on in this regard. If change will come through, it will be announced tomorrow," said Aniruddh Deshpande, Akhila Bharathiya Sah Sampark Pramukh of the RSS. (Photo: PTI)

It was announced at the recent pratinidhi sabha (general council session) of the RSS at Nagaur in Rajasthan that the saffron mother outfit was dropping the baggy khaki shorts that had served as its ganvesh, or uniform, for 90 years, and was about to adopt brown trousers as replacement. The sartorial change may be helpful. The shorts tended to invite ridicule. They also underlined an authoritarian and paramilitary mindset (seen in conjunction with the broad leather belt and black cap, and the bamboo staff used in RSS drills) which, in history and in popular perception, gets linked to Italian and German fascism.

If the change in uniform flows from the RSS desire to be in step with contemporary preferences, as was officially announced, it is far from certain that the RSS has gone contemporary in respect of its thought preferences. We need look back no farther that the Vijayadashmi address of RSS sarsanghchalak (general secretary) Mohan Bhagwat made on October 22 last year in which exclusively Hindu markers are lauded since Hindu culture is the chord (sic) that can keep our diverse society together. Mr Bhagwat remarked that the year of his address marked the 1000th year of Raja Rajendra Chola who provided a model of good governance in Southeast Asia, and also the 5151st anniversary of the Gita.

All this is in service of the divine motherland and in eulogy of the galvanising energies of Hindu society, hence the issue of adherence to any professionally acknowledged idea of history need not detain us here. But what should concern us is that while the annual Vijayadashmi speech  deemed a policy pointer in RSS circles  opens with the invoking of Ambedkar, at Nagaur it was not deemed necessary to make any reference to the case of the suicide of a dalit research scholar of Hyderabad, which has become a cause celebre and is jolting the nation.

In many respects  what with singing open praise of the Modi government  the Vijayadashmi peroration resembled a Press Information Bureau handout, and the emphasis in it on ethical, rather than commercial, education signalled that this might be an area of strong intervention of the RSS-inspired BJP regime. HRD minister Smriti Irani took the cue, and Nagaur bears that out with its call to nationalist education and not tolerating anti-national thinking at our universities.

Some further caution is also in order. The October speech said, There is a view that media should be regulated while conserving their freedom to ensure that no ill effect, knowingly or unknowingly, prevails in the society (sic). There was no reference to this in the official RSS briefing at Nagaur, but eternal vigilance remains the price of liberty.
At a time when the judiciary knows it is facing a test of credibility not only because of its slow delivery mechanism, Allahabad HC Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud put things in a larger perspective while extensively quoting economist Amartya Sen. His comments on niti (laws) being different from nyay (justice) should ring a warning bell, particularly when the country is facing a crisis of confidence as reflected in the sharp debate on dissent. The Kanhaiya Kumar issue is indeed a cause celebre, calling for the administration of justice to interpret the laws in tune with contemporary needs and challenges.

Laws laid down ages ago, especially the one on sedition based on interpretation of dissent as passed down by the British in the colonial era, need to be applied with a clear understanding of what life is like today. This is where the role of the judiciary becomes crucial as the state invariably overreaches when it perceives a threat. The judiciary must be proactive in containing the establishments tendency to go off the mean.

The practical part of the challenge facing the judiciary now, as conveyed by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, is even more relevant. The number of pending cases in just the 24 HCs might touch one crore this year. The CJIs offer for the Supreme Court to work on Saturdays reveals the seriousness of the problem where delayed justice denies nyay while making the niti meaningless. Lawyers must respond to the CJIs call.
Mumbai: A Slovenia-based Bitcoin exchange portal has been warning users regarding a Google Chrome extension that has been stealing Bitcoins from users while making transfers.

Bitstamp, a US-based Bitcoin exchange portal, has pointed out that the name of the Chrome extension is BitcoinWisdom Ads Remover.

Accroding to Bitstamps website, the malicious extension is redirecting users to a different Bitcoin address instead of the original transaction page.

Bitcoin web app developer Devon Weller has also reaffirmed Bitstamps findings and said that that the extension was secretly replacing QR codes, according to the same report.

Users who are not familiar with the concept of Bitcoins, it is a method, which utilises QR codes for making payments or for transferring Bitcoins from one account to the other.

The report further pointed out that the BitcoinWisdom Ads Remover Chrome extension manipulated a web pages source code and replaced the QR code of an actual payment destination with its own.

The extension has been removed from Google Chrome Web Store now, however, the extension has affected many user transactions in the past. Weller, during his investigation, also explained that the extensions souce code only targets Bitstamp, BTC-E, and Hashnet Bitcoin services.

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Washington: Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that more than one-fourths of the Muslims are "very militant", in latest controversial statements adding to his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

"It's (militant Muslims) 27 per cent, could be 35 per cent, would go to war, the hatred is tremendous," Trump told Fox News on Sunday when asked not more than 100,000 of the 1.6 billion Muslims are fighting for jihadist causes.

"You're saying that out of 1.5 billion, 100,000, let me tell you, whoever did that survey was about as wrong as you can get," Trump said.

"Why don't you take a look at the Pew poll that came out very recently or fairly recently, where I think the number ... it's something like 27 per cent are really very militant about going after things ... And you'll have to look at it. They did a very strong study. Let's see what it says. But it's a very significant number. It's not 100,000 people, I can tell you that. It's a ridiculous number," he claimed.

The 69-year-old reality show star and billionaire has continued with his anti-Muslim rhetoric, stoking controversies one after another and drawing flak from the world over including his party rivals.

Sunday's remarks come days after he said he thinks "Islam hates us" and asserted that those having hatred against the US cannot be allowed to enter the country.

He made headlines in December when he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

Islam 'hates' us and 'tremendous hatred' defines the religion, Trump says

In his remarks on Sunday, he said "It would be easier for me to say, "Oh, no, everybody loves us." But there's something going on. There's a big problem. And radical Islamic terrorism is taking place all over the world."

"You look at what happened in Paris, you look at what happened in California recently with the 14 people killed by co-workers, by people where they gave 'em baby showers and then they walk in and they kill 'em, they shoot 'em. They had no guns, they had no weapons. They had no nothing. They shot them. They killed them all," he argued.

Trump said that he has heard the figure of 20,000 to 30,000 troops needed to defeat ISIS in the Middle East.

"But now, you have people chopping off heads, you have people drowning 40 and 50 people in steel cages at a time, and now, we have to do something. The reason we have to do it is because of the power of weaponry. They're looking to get weapons, and they're looking to acquire weapons that are going to be very, very horrible for our country if they ever do it," Trump said.
Trump came in third with a measly 7.2%. (Photo: AFP)

Wyoming: Donald Trump was badly defeated in contests Saturday in the US capital and Wyoming, suggesting that the race for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election is tightening.

The bombastic real estate mogul may be ahead in national polls and in party delegates, but Florida senator Marco Rubio easily defeated him in the Republican caucus in the US capital.

Rubio earned 37.3% of the vote against 35.5% for Ohio Governor John Kasich, US media reported. Trump was third, with 13.8% support.

Rubio won ten of the 19 delegates at stake, while Kasich walked away with the other nine, leaving none for Trump.

Washington is an overwhelmingly Democratic city where just 6% of registered voters are Republicans. Party faithful stood in long lines throughout the day to cast ballots.

In the western state of Wyoming, Texas Senator Ted Cruz crushed Trump by winning 66.3% of the ballots in a party caucus, far ahead of Rubio, his nearest rival, who earned 19.5% of the vote.

Trump came in third with a measly 7.2%.

With these results, Cruz wins nine delegates, while Rubio and Trump scored one delegate each, with another delegate uncommitted.

Trump has angered much of the Republican Party establishment, and the millions of dollars being spent on attack ads against him by independent political action committees, or PACs, may finally be showing an effect.

The caucus results came one day after Trump called off a rally in Chicago amid scenes of violence, which the Republican frontrunner blamed on protesters, while his rivals point their fingers at Trumps incendiary rhetoric.

In other contests, Hillary Clinton won in the first ever Democratic Party caucus on the Northern Mariana Islands, a US possession deep in the Pacific Ocean.

The former secretary of state won four delegates, while her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, won two, US media reported.

And Cruz picked up one delegate in Guam, another US possession in the Pacific, while the islands five other delegates were uncommitted, CNN reported.

The biggest prizes will be on Tuesday, when primaries are held in five delegate-rich states -- Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.
Washington: Immigrants feel uncomfortable and scared after the sudden rise of Donald Trump on the national political stage, an Indian-American doctor-cum-poet has said, adding that he wants to stop the controversial real estate tycoon from entering the White House.

Amit Majumdar, a radiologist based in Dublin, on Monday expressed his anxiety and that of the immigrant community before the two Democratic presidential candidates Hillary and Sanders. If Trump secures the nomination, I am going to have one mission heading to the ballot box, which is to keep him from taking office, Majumdar said.

A democrat member with leanings towards Clinton, Majumdar was in January appointed the first Poet Laureate of Ohio by state governor John Kasich, who is among the four Republican presidential candidates in the race now. He has published two novels, Partitions in 2009 and The Abundance in 2011. Im a son of immigrants. My parents, both citizens now, have done very well in this great country, and so have I, he said.
A leading Malaysian news portal that was blocked by the government after it ran reports on a scandal linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak is shutting down after eight years. (Photo: AFP)

Kuala Lumpur: A leading Malaysian news portal that was blocked by the government after it ran reports on a scandal linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak is shutting down after eight years, it announced Monday.

The Malaysian Insider has been a key player in the growth of plucky online news sites that have rapidly gained a following over the past decade by reporting on official malfeasance and corruption, filling a void left by pro-government traditional media.

Last month, Malaysia's government began blocking access to the site after it published a story on corruption allegations swirling around Najib.

The website's owner, The Edge Media Group, said in a statement that it had been in negotiations to sell the loss-making portal but that talks broke down in the wake of the government block.

"We believe the recent problems TMI had with (the Malaysian government) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded," it said, adding that it had no choice but to close the site.

The news will fuel further fears for democratic space and media freedoms under Najib.

Najib, 62, has been under pressure for a year over allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from a state fund he oversees, and for his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious $681 million sum.

As calls for his ouster mounted, Najib has purged critics from his government and taken other steps that have stalled investigations.

Najib's government also banned publication of The Edge's print newspaper last year. A court lifted the suspension two months later.

The Malaysian Insider's blocking last month was criticised by media and rights groups, with Human Rights Watch calling it a "blatant and outrageous breach" of media freedoms and accusing Najib of "tightening the noose of censorship and control."

Political analysts say Najib has so far largely neutralised pressure to step down by using the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation's (UMNO) grip on Malaysia's police and other key institutions.

But authorities in several countries are investigating money flows related to the scandal, with Switzerland and Singapore announcing previously that they had frozen a range of bank accounts. US authorities are reported to be investigating.

Two Australian television journalists were detained overnight Saturday after approaching Najib to question him over the graft allegations.

They have been released but remain barred from leaving as they await possible charges, their lawyer said.
Up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for IS in Iraq and Syria, says officials. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: The Maldives government is "extremely worried" about the number of nationals from the tiny troubled honeymoon islands joining the Islamic State group, a top official said Monday.

Maldives foreign secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed said as many as 40 people have travelled to the Middle East from the Indian Ocean archipelago, which has a population of just 350,000 mainly Sunni Muslims.

"It is a big concern for us, it is a social concern, it's a security concern and we are extremely worried about it," the country's top diplomatic official told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the total number of people we believe that have gone to the Middle East to engage in this illegal warfare is less than 40. the Maldives, like bigger and more developed nations, is "finding it difficult to grasp the situation.

Former president Mohamed Nasheed, whose conviction and jailing last year has been widely criticised, has warned that up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for IS in Iraq and Syria.

Mohamed denied the figure was that high, but said vulnerable groups were being targeted for recruitment including online, and the island chain was "extremely vulnerable".

The Maldives last year introduced a tough anti-terror law intended to target suspected IS sympathisers among others. The opposition has criticised the law, warning it would be used to further crack down on dissent in a country that has been reeling from political turmoil.

Mohamed said the Maldives was being careful not to encroach on human rights as it tries to stem recruitment and carry out any prosecutions.

Experts say poor young people from outlying islands are vulnerable to recruitment, along with those caught up in organised crime including gang violence or targeted by radical preachers.

The Maldives' reputation as a luxury holiday destination has been tarnished by political turmoil since Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, was toppled four years ago in what he called a coup led by mutinous police and soldiers.

Mohamed said the prison office was awaiting more documents before deciding on Nasheed's request to extend his 30-day release from prison to travel to the UK for medical treatment.

Nasheed, who has met Prime Minister David Cameron since flying to Britain in January, was jailed last year on terrorism charges relating to the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge in 2012, when he was still in power.
Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) party presidential nominee, speaks to a lawmaker at the parliament in Naypyidaw. (Photo: AFP)

Napyitaw, Myanmar: Myanmar's parliament votes on Tuesday to pick the country's next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a long-time confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament in a Nov. 8 general election and its lawmakers are expected to confirm party nominee Htin Kyaw as the country's next leader.

The new president is to take office on April 1.

Myanmar's constitution, written under the former military junta's direction, blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president because of a clause that excludes anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi's two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.

Suu Kyi has said she will be "above" the president and rule from behind the scenes, meaning that any NLD candidate would effectively be her proxy.

Myanmar's electoral system requires that the president be chosen from candidates put forward by each of the two houses of parliament, and a third nominee from the military, which retains a quarter of the legislative seats.

Parliament speaker Mann Win Khaing Than announced Monday that the vote would take place Tuesday, after lawmakers confirmed that all three candidates were eligible.

The candidate with the most votes becomes president and the other two become vice presidents. The other nominees are NLD lawmaker Henry Van Tio and the military's candidate, Myint Swe, a hard-line retired lieutenant general whose nomination raised concerns about the future of a power-sharing relationship with the NLD.

Myint Swe is seen as a close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe and remains on a US State Department blacklist that bars American companies from doing business with several tycoons and senior military figures connected with the former junta.

State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Myint Swe still faces sanctions but declined to say if that would affect diplomatic relations.

"We have made our concerns known about this individual and this process, quite frankly. And we'll monitor it going forward," Kirby told a news briefing in Washington on Friday.

The US has eased sanctions since the junta ceded power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011. The November election will usher in the country's first democratically elected government in more than half a century.

The NLD's huge victory reflected the widespread public support for Suu Kyi, who fought for decades to end dictatorship in Myanmar and remains her party's unquestioned leader. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in 1991.

Suu Kyi was detained for more than 15 years, mostly under house arrest, by a junta that feared her political popularity.
Since July, teachers and other workers have been obliged to report any suspicious activity ever since the Counter- Terrorism and Security Act became law. (Represntational Photo: Pixabay)

London: A four-year-old Asian boy in the UK who mispronounced "cucumber" as "cooker bomb" was recommended for a de-radicalisation programme by his nursery school, the boy's family has claimed.

The child's mother, whose identity was not disclosed, said that England's Luton-based nursery suggested counter-terrorism measures after the boy drew a picture of a man with a large knife cutting the vegetable, the Telegraph reported. The nursery staff said that saying "cooker bomb" instead of "cucumber" could lead to youngster being referred to de- radicalisation programme, the report said.

The staff told the child's mother that they believed he was saying "cooker bomb" when he was asked about the drawing, and discussed referring the case to the Home Office's 'Prevent' de-radicalisation scheme.

However, the case was eventually referred to police and social services panel who decided not to take further action, the BBC Asian Network reported.

"(The member of nursery staff) kept saying it was this one picture of the man cutting the cucumber which she said to me is a 'cooker bomb'. I was baffled. It was a horrible day," the boy's mother said, adding that she feared that her child would be taken away from her.

The boy's father branded it a "joke" although council sources later claimed that action was taken because it was not an isolated incident.

Since July, teachers and other workers have been obliged to report any suspicious activity ever since the Counter- Terrorism and Security Act became law.

Just under 2,000 under-15s were referred between January 2012 and December last year, the report said.
Geneva: The United Nations human rights investigator for North Korea called on Monday for leader Kim Jong-un and senior officials in the country to be prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity.

Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council that North Korea is devoting huge resources to developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction while many of its citizens lack sufficient food and others work in "slave-like conditions".

"We are now at a crucial stage, therefore there is a fundamental need for countries to make that next step in ensuring accountability is undertaken," he said.

The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) boycotted the session. The European Union, United States and Japan supported Darusman's call for accountability, although they did not refer to Kim by name.

Ambassador Robert King, US envoy on North Korea, denounced the "egregious human rights violations committed by the DPRK" and said that the United States would work with other countries to "seek ways to advance accountability for those most responsible".

China, Pyongyang's ally, took a more conciliatory tone, saying human rights issues should not be politicised and calling for a comprehensive approach to dealing with North Korea.

China also rejected Darusman's findings that North Koreans who flee across the border to China were being forced back to their homeland illegally.

North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in a speech to the Geneva forum on March 1, said it would boycott any session that examined its record and would "never, ever" be bound by any such resolutions.

Darusman, referring to a report he issued last month, said: "I would like to reiterate my appeal to the international community to move forward to ensure accountability of the senior leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including that of Mr. Kim Jong un."

This could be via the International Criminal Court (ICC) but failing consensus among major powers, North Korea's leadership could be prosecuted in a third country, he said.

He called for the Council to set up a panel of three experts to look into "structure and methods of accountability".

Political prison camps, torture, "slave-like labour" and religious persecution remain features of the state apparatus, two years after a landmark UN investigation into crimes against humanity, Darusman said.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range missile the following month.

"The denial of human rights to its citizens internally and this aggressive behaviour externally are basically two sides of the same coin. The country is pouring a large amount of resources into developing weapons of mass destruction, while large parts of its population continue to suffer from food insecurity," Darusman said.

John Fisher of Human Rights Watch said that North Korea had "horrific" forced labour camps, public executions and a history of mass malnutrition and even "mass starvation".

"Generations of North Koreans have suffered at the hands of the Kim family and its elite," Fisher said.
Moscow responded immediately to the minister's allegations, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling them "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with real circumstances of this plane crash." (Photo: AP)

Warsaw: Poland has accused Russia of downing a Polish presidential jet in 2010 in what it called an act of "terrorism," sparking an immediate retort on Monday from Moscow.

"We can say that we were the first great victim of the terrorism we now see playing out before our eyes," Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, according to a transcript released Monday of a weekend university lecture.

The crash killed then president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other mostly senior officials in what is regarded as Poland's worst peacetime disaster.

He was the twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party that swept back to power in October after eight years in opposition.

The minister also alleged the crash was orchestrated in reaction to Poland's 2009 request to define as "genocide" the World War II Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Russia's western Katyn forest.

"There is no doubt about the fact that what happened was meant to deprive Poland of a leadership that was moving our nation toward independence," Macierewicz added.

Moscow responded immediately to the minister's allegations, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling them "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with real circumstances of this plane crash."

A member of the Civic Platform opposition party, Rafal Trzaskowski, also dismissed Macierewicz's allegations as "terrifying".

"If the defence minister in some way accuses a state of terrorism, we can only be terrified, because one does not leave acts of terrorism without a response," the former deputy foreign minister told reporters.

In February, the PiS government launched a fresh probe into the crash, arguing that key facts pointing to "Russia's responsibility" were "hidden" during a previous investigation.

Right-wing politicians have long insisted the crash was no accident, even though both Polish and Russian investigators found pilot error, bad weather and poor air traffic control to blame.

The crash occurred as a Polish state delegation was en route to memorial ceremonies in Russia's Katyn forest for thousands of Polish army officers killed by the Soviet secret police in 1940, a massacre the Kremlin denied until 1990.

Nearly one quarter of Poles believe the air crash was an assassination, according to a poll last year.

The rest blamed other factors, including 37 percent who thought the pilots were pressured to land despite heavy fog.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road. (Photo: AP)

Ankara: Turkey on Monday held four suspects over a suicide car bombing that killed at least 36 people in Ankara, as warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq over the attack, the capital's third in five months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the city on Sunday evening, wounding more than 120 people.

But Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Turkish official told AFP on Monday.

Turkish police detained four people near the Syrian frontier on Monday, state-run Anatolia news agency reported, acting on a tip-off that the car used in the bombing had been bought in Sanliurfa, a Kurdish-dominated town some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.

Dogan news agency for its part said six people had been arrested.

The fact that extremists were able to strike again in the heart of the capital, so close to many sensitive buildings and so soon after February's attack will raise questions about Turkey's ability to deal with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

Hours after the attack, Turkish fighter bombers hit PKK arms depots and shelters in mountainous northern Iraq, the army said, quoted by Anatolia.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu on Monday gave a new toll of 37 from Sunday's blast targeting a bus stop, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two. The first funerals for the victims were held on Monday.

The military said the PKK targets were hit "with precision", with a rebel spokesman confirming the strikes.

Kurdish link

Sunday's attack bore similarities to another suicide car bombing on a convoy of military buses which killed 29 people in Ankara on February 17.

That attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, as revenge for Turkish military operations in the southeast. The TAK warned of more attacks to come, including on tourist areas.

The PKK, classed as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies, launched a bloody insurgency in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had "concrete information" on the group behind Sunday's attack, saying results from the inquiry would be made public soon.

"One attacker is believed to be a woman with links to the PKK," a Turkish official told AFP. Local media reported her name as Seher Cagla Demir, saying she was identified by fingerprints.

Sunday's attack hit Ankara's Kizilay square, a bustling commercial and transport hub close to the parliament, prime minister's office and foreign embassies.

Turkey has been hit by a string of major attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on IS. Three have targeted Ankara, including a double suicide bombing in October that left 103 people dead.

Just two days before Sunday's bombing the US embassy warned of a possible plot to attack central Ankara, advising American citizens to avoid the area.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Sunday that the government would "never abandon its right to legitimate defence against the terrorist menace."

Growing anger

Erdogan's party won parliamentary elections four months ago campaigning as the only sure bulwark against rising insecurity, but the ongoing bloodshed is causing anger.

"People have been talking about another bomb attack coming for more than a week but the government took no precautions and didn't warn anyone," Nihat Gorgulu, the uncle of one of the victims, said.

"We are very afraid because the government doesn't care about the people of this country."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, slammed the government for not appointing a new police chief for Ankara after the old one was sacked following the October attack.

"We do not deserve this intolerable situation where parents are burying their children Turkey is not well governed but some people are turning a blind eye," he said.

Ankara has vowed to smash the PKK, and security forces have been waging a major campaign against the rebels since December, following the collapse of a ceasefire in the middle of last year.

"The 'uprising' launched by the PKK has not worked. Even the Kurdish population has distanced itself from its operations in the southeastern towns," Can Acun, an analyst with Turkish thinktank SETA, said.

"In frustration the PKK seems to have chosen to go for more serious acts."

Officials rejected the TAK claim for February's attack, insisting it was the work of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which it regards as a branch of the PKK. Both organisations have denied it.
Beijing: China will not react to reports that its Army, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), was present at a forward post in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) recently.

China preferred to deflect attention from the issue, stating it regretted the fact that stories about its territory incursions keep popping up in the media.

"I have not heard about the incident you mention," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kong said at a media briefing in Beijing, replying to a question about the presence of PLA troops at a forward post opposite Nowgam sector in the PoK.

In response to another question on reports of recent incursions of PLA troops on the Indian side in the Ladakh sector, Kong said "there is no such thing as going beyond the border".

"We deeply regret that the media keeps bringing up the issue. The bilateral relationship (between India and China) has maintained sound momentum of development, he said.

"We hope the media would report objectively about China-India relations and do more to improve the friendly relationship between the two sides," he added.

At the same time Lu reiterated Beijing's stand on the Kashmir issue, saying that China's position on Kashmir was consistent.

"We believe the issue was left over by history between India and Pakistan. We maintain the two countries should properly resolve it through negotiation and consultation."

Asked whether the presence of PLA troops is connected with the work related to the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, over which India has conveyed its protest, Lu merely reiterated China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

India has protested the corridor connecting China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port as it goes through PoK along the Karakoram Highway.

China in the past has maintained that the corridor, which is part of its Silk Road initiative, is aimed at improving people's livelihood and in no way affects the status of Kashmir.

Both sides have established a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to discuss the issue of incursions and aggressive border patrols by their troops along the 3,488-km long disputed border.
In another raid, the intelligence agencies yesterday Arrested Attique Afridi, a student of the PU's Hailey College of Commerce, for his links with the banned TTP. (Representational Photo: Pixabay)

Lahore: Pakistani intelligence agencies have taken a senior doctor and a Punjab University student into custody for their alleged links with the banned Hizbut Tahrir and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, officials said on Monday.

"Jinnah Hospital's Senior Registrar Dr Abur Rehan has been picked up by the intelligence agencies on suspicion of his links with the HuT (Hizbut Tahrir)," a senior Punjab police official told PTI.

He said Rehan is related to one of the two professors of the University of Punjab (PU), who are already in the custody of intelligence agencies for their alleged links with HuT. "First we got an abduction case registered against unknown persons in the Faisal Town police station. However, later an intelligence agency official told the hospital administration that Dr Rehan is in its custody," Dr Imran Waheed of the Jinnah Hospital said.

He said the agency officials assured the administration that Rehan would be freed if his links with the banned organisation were not established.

In another raid, the intelligence agencies yesterday Arrested Attique Afridi, a student of the PU's Hailey College of Commerce, for his links with the banned TTP.

"Afridi tortured a fellow student over a girl issue last Friday. When he was presented before senior officials of the university, Afridi declared TTP's Nek Mohammad and Baitullah Mehsud as his leaders and vowed to avenge their killings," said retired Maj Saleem, the university's chief security officer.

He said the intelligence agencies are interrogating him. Earlier, Assistant Prof Dr Ghalib Ata and Professor Dr Ghalib Ata of Institute of Administrative Sciences PU and the varsity's law college student were arrested for their close association with the HuT.

The HuT is against democracy and in favour of establishment of caliphate in the country. It is also accused of running a propaganda campaign against the country's armed forces.
Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court will start hearing appeals this week from convicts sentenced by military courts, including two militants on death row for the deadly 2014 Taliban attack on an army school which killed nearly 150 schoolchildren.

The 10 appeals will be taken up by a larger five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali from Wednesday. At the last hearing, on February 24, Jamali had ruled that all the challenges against military court decisions be clubbed with the directive that execution of the convicts would rem reported on Monday.

Two of the convicts were sentenced to death by military courts for their alleged involvement in the December, 2014 Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar which killed 150 people, mostly schoolchildren.

Of the 10 cases, one Alaf Khan was given seven years of rigorous imprisonment and had challenged the rejection of his petition by the Lahore High Court.

Khan, who is accused of acting as a double agent, was enrolled by Pakistani intelligence agencies as a spy. He was tasked with spying on India and collecting information.

He is accused of passing information related to the Pakistan Army to Indian intelligence agencies to establish his credibility. He said that the information was compromised.

Khan claimed that due to differences developed with certain intelligence officials, he was taken into custody under the Pakistan Army Act 1952 and was allegedly kept in illegal custody for 22 months from 2012 to 2014.

Later, he was tried by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) without being given the benefit of the time he had served while awaiting trial.

The high court rejected his petition with the observation that proceedings before the FGCM were not open to be challenged before the superior court.

Khan sought relief from the Supreme Court, asking whether he was entitled to the benefit of the period he had already spent in custody.

The larger bench will also take up the cases of Haider Ali and Qari Zahir Gul, whose executions were suspended by the court earlier.

Represented by noted rights activist Asma Jahangir, the petitioners have pleaded that they were denied the right to a fair trial guaranteed by Article 10A of the Constitution since they were not handed over copies of the military court judgements, nor afforded the opportunity of engaging a counsel to defend themselves.
Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington. (Photo: PTI)

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week, according to a media report said.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington. The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.
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good for germany! they need to vote that woman out of office and let the next person know they won't tolerate muslim immigrants taking over their country and raping their women!


For starters, mortgage-software firm Ellie Mae reports that the average FICO credit score of an approved home loan plunged to 719 in January (the latest month for which data is available) from 731 a year earlier, and well below 2011s peak of 750.



Its a dangerous sign lenders are loosening underwriting standards. Lower FICO scores correlate with higher risk of loan default.



The Federal Housing Administration is a big reason for falling credit scores. So are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government housing agencies have slashed credit requirements under pressure from the Obama administration  like the Clinton administration before it  to qualify more immigrants and minorities with low incomes and less-than-perfect credit.



Meanwhile, home lenders are approving more debt-strapped borrowers. According to Ellie Mae, applicants approved for mortgages in January had an average household debt-to-income ratio of 39%, up from 2012s annual average of 34%. Borrower debt loads have been creeping higher each year since 2012, when Ellie Mae first started tracking such data.



A recent report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a federal agency that regulates the nations banks, warns that declines in mortgage underwriting standards are mirroring pre-crisis trends.



Underwriting standards eased at a significant number of banks for the three-year period from 2013 through 2015, the report said. This trend reflects broad trends similar to those experienced from 2005 through 2007, before the most recent financial crisis.



Not since 2006, it noted, have lenders taken on so much credit risk, and it says the hazard will continue to grow this year: Examiners expect the level of credit risk to increase over the next 12 months.




You know that saying the Supreme Court (or any of the dozens of inferior courts) are wrong is not an argument either.



The arguments were made, in court before judges and YOUR SIDE LOST.



That is all that needs to be said. If you think the courts were wrong then carry your happy *** into said court and tell them why they were wrong.



But until that happens and until the courts agree with you the fact of the matter is that your arguments FAILED. Same sex marriage is legal in all 50 states and all your crapping on the chessboard and strutting around like you won isn't going to do squat.



You can claim that the gravity does not exist, you can give whatever reasons and arguments you want that gravity is a lie but when you drop a hammer it is still going to hit the floor.



You can claim that the courts are wrong, you can give whatever reasons and arguments you want that prohibitions on same sex marriage are Constitutional but when Sam and Dave (or Brenda and Linda) go to the City Hall and request a marriage license in any of the 50 states they are going to get one.
For the second time in a month, new Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland is trying to keep the lid on his simmering city in the wake of a fatal, police-involved shooting.Saturday afternoon police responding to a report of a stolen vehicle wound up in a shootout with suspects at Union and Parker streets in the city. City police Sgt. Alan Davis was hit in the arm and torso. He was rushed to Crozer Chester Medical Center with wound to his shoulder and torso. One person in the car, believed to be stolen in Darby Borough, was killed. Another was wounded. He now faces charges. The fatal police-involved shooting is the second in a month and increased the already tense relationship between city residents and the police force. Back on Feb. 8, police opened fire on a car after they say a man inside pointed a gun at them. Shalamar Longer, 33 was killed. County District Attorney Jack Whelan said the initial investigation showed the shooting to be justified. That did not stop questions from being raised about the circumstances surrounding the incident - and the amount of force that was used. Dozens of bullets were fired at the car. Those same questions are being asked again after the Saturday incident. Things grew tense at the scene Saturday night, as residents scuffled with police. Sunday morning, Mayor Kirkland again was asking for calm as police and investigators collect information in the case. He praised his officers for exercising restraint while dealing with a hostile crowd. He also took the time to once again urge citizens- in particular the city's young residents - to make "good choices." "Let us get through this," Kirkland said. "We will be very transparent and honest with our findings." It's ironic that Kirkland finds himself in this position. He campaigned against the incumbent Democratic Mayor John Linder for what he said was a police department - and a top cop Joe Bail - that was out of touch with the community. Now Kirkland is trying to make sure those feelings don't bubble over into more violence on his watch.
Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.

This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media  main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.




VFW monthly soup

suppers continue

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary are continuing their soup-a-thon benefits for National Guard families. The next is March 16.

Participants are invited to come to all-you-can-eat soup suppers from 4 to 7 p.m. at the VFW Post 584, 1469 Timber St.

The cost is $4 per person.

Soup-a-thons will run the third Wednesday of each month. For more information, contact the VFW Hall at 541-928-7925.

Legion, Elks sponsor

St. Patricks Day Celebration

A St. Patricks Day Celebration, sponsored by the American Legion Post 10 Honor Guard and the Albany Elks Lodge 359, will be held 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18 at the groups building, 1215 Pacific Blvd. S.E.

Advance tickets are $12, and $15 at the door.

Please RSVP.

The menu will be corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

For information call 541-926-0217.

Parks & Rec plans Lion King trip

Albany Parks & Recreation has spots available for a trip to experience the stage production of The Lion King this August at Keller Auditorium in Portland.

Space is limited and pre-registration is required by March 24.

Cost is $112 for Albany residents or $149 for those who live outside the city limits.

Fee includes performance and transportation only; all meals will be on your own.

For more information, visit http://www.cityofalbany.net/departments/parks-and-recreation. To register, call 541-917-7760.
This is an interesting, but still very much a developing story.

Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for the U.S. containing two missiles with explosive warheads was found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia. N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at Belgrade airport. Serbian media say documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland, Oregon.

Another twist was the recently "misplaced" Hellfire that ended up in Cuba.

But where would Iran have gotten hellfire missiles? Like most of the US equipment in the hands of Shiite terrorists, Iraq. The US has sold plenty of hellfires to Iraq. And Iraq's government and military these days is controlled by Iran's Shiite puppets.
The Clinton campaign's strategy against Donald Trump, or Sherman's march to the sea? (Click to enlarge; source)

This article is based on interviews with more than two dozen advisers, strategists and close allies of the Clintons, including several who have spoken directly with Mr. Clinton. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss strategy publicly.

Inside the Clinton Teams Plan to Defeat Donald Trump



In the days after Donald J. Trump vanquished his Republican rivals in South Carolina and Nevada, prominent Democrats supporting Hillary Clinton arranged a series of meetings and conference calls to tackle a question many never thought they would ask: How do we defeat Mr. Trump in a general election?



Several Democrats argued that Mrs. Clinton, should she be her partys nominee, would easily beat Mr. Trump. They were confident that his incendiary remarks about immigrants, women and Muslims would make him unacceptable to many Americans. They had faith that the growing electoral power of black, Hispanic and female voters would deliver a Clinton landslide if he were the Republican nominee.



But others, including former President Bill Clinton, dismissed those conclusions as denial. They said that Mr. Trump clearly had a keen sense of the electorates mood and that only a concerted campaign portraying him as dangerous and bigoted would win what both Clintons believe will be a close November election.

That strategy is beginning to take shape, with groups that support Mrs. Clinton preparing to script and test ads that would portray Mr. Trump as a misogynist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. The plan is for those themes to be amplified later by two prominent surrogates: To fight Mr. Trumps ability to sway the news cycle, Mr. Clinton would not hold back on the stump, and President Obama has told allies he would gleefully portray Mr. Trump as incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office.

An All-Out Assault



While Mrs. Clinton radiates positive energy on the trail, Democratic groups are beginning to coalesce around a strategy to deliver sustained and brutal attacks on Mr. Trump.



The plan has three major thrusts: Portray Mr. Trump as a heartless businessman who has worked against the interests of the working-class voters he now appeals to; broadcast the degrading comments he has made against women in order to sway suburban women, who have been reluctant to support Mrs. Clinton; and highlight his brash, explosive temper to show he is unsuited to be commander in chief.



American Bridge, a pro-Clinton super PAC, has formed a due diligence unit of tax and business experts who are poring over Securities and Exchange Commission documents and court records related to Mr. Trumps business career.



A staff member for an affiliated group, Correct the Record, which coordinates with Mrs. Clintons campaign, has collected footage of comments that have not hurt Mr. Trumps standing among Republican primary voters, but that could be stitched together in what the groups founder, David Brock, described as a montage of hateful speech that would appall a general electorate.

The Only Strategy For Hillary Clinton Is To Scorch The Earth



If Hillary Clinton manages to beat Bernie Sanders, the early primaries have already revealed that theres only one strategy for the general election against a Republican, be it Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz: Scorch the earth.



There was a scenario, which looks more like a fantasy, in which Clinton was a movement. Women in their twenties, thirties, and forties would rally to her the way black Americans rallied to Obama; she would run on her own mantle of change.



In reality, nobody is that excited about Hillary Clinton, and young voters, women and men  the foot soldiers of any Democratic Party movement  arent coming around. She lost a resounding 82% of voters under 30 in Nevada. Her campaign now rests on the hope that voters of color like her well enough, if nowhere near as much as they like Obama. And that means that when she faces a Republican, she will have to destroy him  something the people who will be doing the destroying acknowledged when I asked them earlier this month.



The [expected campaign] slogan is Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid, said Paul Begala, who is an adviser to the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA. ...

I'm just presenting this, and genuinely for your information. I'd be shocked if the Clinton team weren't preparing to take on Donald Trump should Clinton win the nomination.writers Amy Chozik and Patrick Healy (we've discussed some of his work here ) have sussed out details on that plan  or have had been the recipients of a campaign-orchestrated "leak" describing it:In addition, Ben Smith at Buzzfeed has gathered a characterization of their anti-Trump plans by Clinton insider Paul Begala, and added a characterization of his own that's a little more, shall we say, graphic.Here's the information Chozik and Healy have received. Note that the piece was written just prior to Super Tuesday; my emphasis throughout.If that's their assessment, that a TrumpClinton contest in November will be close, they are likely correct, and a great many people, including myself There seem to be two parts of the plan, according to the Times. The first part involves the who and the messaging:The second part involves the style of the campaign:All very reasonable sounding; very professional. Here's another look at what "an all-out assault" might mean.Here's another characterization of that "all-out assault" and what it might look like. It comes from Ben Smith at Buzzfeed , who gets his information from, among others, Paul Begala, a Clinton insider (again, my emphasis):Note that this was also written just prior to Super Tuesday, and that Clinton's wish for "voters of color" to support her in large numbers came true in the South. That level of support is proving less true in places like Michigan, however, where Sanders has made inroads into many non-white communities.My main takeaway, though, is also Smith's main point. He notes that in a campaign where "nobody is that excited" about the candidate, and yet where the opposition is truly horrible, the only way to win is to ... scorch the earth.If that's the case, that Clinton is the nominee and the campaign is a firestorm of mutual destruction, can you imagine what it will be like to live in this country and watch that?Ben Smith says "dont expect 2016 to be a fond political memory." Quite the understatement. Again, offered for your information.(Blue America has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president. If you'd like to help out, go here . If you'd like to "phone-bank for Bernie," go here . You can volunteer in other ways by going here . And thanks!)GP

Labels: 2016 presidential race, Bernie Sanders, Bill Clinton, campaign strategies, Gaius Publius, Hillary Clinton, Paul Begala, Trump
United States Ambassador to Cameroon Michael S. Hoza underscored the importance of transparency and strong institutions as he joined 20 ministers of the Government of the Republic of Cameroon this month at an anti-corruption forum hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde.

On March 2nd, the Minister in charge of the Supreme State Audit Office, Ms. Mbah Acha Fomundam Rose, opened the Pan-African Conference on the Prevention of and Fight Against Fraud and the Misappropriation of Public Funds, where she called for the elimination of corruption and the promotion of good governance and transparency.

In his remarks, Ambassador Hoza said: Preventing and fighting fraud and the misappropriation of public funds is vital for the development of Cameroon.

The United States has learned its own lessons on this subject through our history. And we learned that building strong institutions was essential to combat corruption. We are still learning.

Ambassador Hoza further noted that this is not a struggle that is alien to America. That is why we believe it essential to share lessons learned. Corruption steals directly from the pockets of citizens, be they American or Cameroonian, or from anywhere else in the world for that matter.

To truly make a nations economy flourish and for its potential to be unleashed, said Ambassador Hoza, corruption must be reduced and eliminated. Otherwise, corruption is one of the key guarantees that the cycle of poverty continues for nations.

The Ambassador also observed: make no mistake, the public is always watching and judging public officials. Perceptions can equal realities to them, and therefore public opinion and freedom of the press matters, and it matters a lot for all democracies.

The United States has been partnering with Cameroon in anti-corruption efforts for the past 10 years, sharing experience and strengthening partnerships with key institutions and citizens. Over the past three years, U.S.- Cameroon cooperation against the misappropriation of public funds has increased through collaboration with the ministries of public contracts, finance, and justice and also with specialized agencies such as the Public Contracts Regulatory Agency (ARMP) and the National Agency for Financial Investigation (NAFI).

The United States is proud to stand with its partner Cameroon and other African nations to help those nations guarantee the integrity and transparency that good government demands.
In El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, an area known as the Northern Triangle of Central America, social and economic development have been advancing slowly for years. Much of the stagnation is caused by corruption and the regions increased gang violence and international crime, as well as deep-seated issues of social and economic inequity, and lack of economic opportunity for vast segments of society, said USAID Acting Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean Elizabeth Hogan.

Through USAID and the State Department, the United States is working with the Northern Triangle governments to eliminate obstacles to growth and create an environment in which these countries are able to thrive.

There are positive signs that the governments are serious about reform. In Guatemala, authorities arrested high-ranking government officials, including a former President, for corruption. Honduras began serious reforms of its National Police, and El Salvador has developed a national security plan focusing on community-based crime and violence prevention.

In support of these reforms, USAID is working to help these countries improve their economies and eliminate violence.

USAIDs economic growth programs are designed to expand business, employment, and educational opportunities for the poor and at-risk youth.

For example, in Honduras, President Barack Obamas Feed the Future program has helped to increase the incomes of about 188,000 people by more than 50 percent.

USAIDs security programs focus on at-risk youth and seek to create safe community spaces, provide job and life skills training, and build trust between police and residents.

In fact, each year, USAIDs 200 youth outreach centers serve about 85,000 at-risk youth who are susceptible to gang recruitment and potential migration.

USAIDs governance programs help to promote strong, transparent, and effective governance throughout the Northern Triangle.

For example, in El Salvador, USAID supports self-service tax kiosks, which allow taxpayers to perform transactions, reducing administrative burden and improving transparency.

The governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are taking steps to improve the security and prosperity of their people. Political will, in combination with improved local capacity, leveraged resources and new partnerships, said Acting Assistant Administrator Hogan, will allow us to help Central American governments create a more peaceful, prosperous, and integrated region.
The United States is concerned about the deterioration of freedom of the press and the internet in Malaysia, a friend and partner of the United States.

Mired in allegations of corruption involving high-level officials, the Malaysian government is misusing a variety of laws to crack down on independent media. The Malaysian Legislature voted last year to tighten restrictions on speech by increasing the 1948 Sedition Acts penalties to include allegedly seditious material on social media.

Though the government uses the Sedition Act, national security, and other laws more frequently to stifle dissent, Malaysias vibrant array of independent media continue to publish stories on alleged corruption. Over the past year, the Malaysian government blocked at least twelve popular media outlets, including Sarawak Report, Asia Sentinel and the blogging platform Medium. Then, in late February, it blocked the domestic website The Malaysian Insider.

The United States is very concerned by the Government of Malaysias actions to restrict access to domestic and international reporting on Malaysian current affairs, said State Department Spokesperson John Kirby in a written statement.

We are further troubled that the Government has not acted transparently nor provided due process to the targeted media organizations and platforms prior to blocking access, and that the Government of Malaysia has initiated criminal investigations against reporters, editors, and publishers from a variety of Malaysian and international media organizations. Of equal concern, many Malaysian social media users face charges for postings critical of the Government and national leaders, wrote Spokesperson Kirby.

Rule of law, transparency, and the free flow of information are at the heart of modern democracies with competitive economies. Criminalizing speech stymies innovative thinking and undermines citizens trust in the institutions of government. Such restrictions make it harder for countries to thrive and prosper.

The United States and Malaysia have built a strong comprehensive partnership, through which we hope to expand our cooperation on a range of shared challenges, said Kirby. In that context, we urge the Government of Malaysia to ensure that all its laws, existing and future, fully respect freedom of expression, including the free flow of ideas on the internet.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 18 years and 38,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)  George Hendrickson watched last week as his immediate hopes for treating his young son with a non-intoxicating compound in marijuana went down with a bill in the South Dakota Legislature.

House lawmakers blocked a measure that would have allowed doctors to prescribe preparations of the compound, called cannabidiol, that were low in THC, an intoxicant in marijuana.

It was the bills last stop before reaching Gov. Dennis Daugaards desk, but opponents argued that law enforcement opposed the bill and that people might use it to get high.

Hendricksons heart sunk, but Tuesdays vote wasnt a surprise. Good old South Dakota, home of the dinosaurs, he said Thursday.

His plans for 3-year-old Eliyah, whose rare type of intractable epilepsy has previously been helped by the compound, shift quickly with a change in his sons condition. The family of five is eyeing a dauntingly expensive move from Sioux Falls to Colorado, where Eliyah was first treated with cannabidiol last year.

Hendrickson, 45, is also watching  with some hope  a broader ballot measure that would allow people with serious medical conditions to use marijuana.

But he also has a camper ready and a place to put it near Eliyahs hospital in Denver if an emergency requires the family to split up.

Eliyah has Dravet syndrome. Patients experience frequent, severe and potentially life-threatening seizures that typically start before they are 1-year-old. Standard epilepsy drugs often dont help control the seizures, which leaves patients with few treatment options.

When Eliyah briefly took cannabidiol last year  during the final stages of weaning him off a powerful barbiturate  it was like the family had a new son. He played with his parents and climbed the stairs at a house they were looking at in Colorado, rather than simply staring through them.

The bill that failed in the Legislature, which was amended down from a full-scale medical marijuana bill, would have allowed people with severe seizure disorders to use cannabidiol in liquid, oil or pill form. Its unclear how many people the measure would have affected.

Many House lawmakers were skeptical, including Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch, who said its not realistic that theres no possibility users could get high. Rep. Kristin Conzet, a Republican who opposed the measure, suggested that families like the Hendricksons move to a state that allows people to use cannabidiol.

This is not a bill for South Dakota, Conzet said, counseling lawmakers to exercise caution.

Seventeen states had passed such a law as of mid-January, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

GOP Sen. Blake Curd, who sponsored the changes to limit the bill to cannabidiol, said the effort will likely take more education, and that he thinks the issue is worth pursuing in the future.

Meanwhile, backers of the full medical marijuana ballot measure want to overturn Secretary of State Shantel Krebs rejection of the initiative. Krebs said last month that supporters didnt turn in enough valid signatures to put the measure before voters.

Melissa Mentele, a medical marijuana advocate from Emery, said Krebs office got it wrong when the measure was rejected. Krebs said Thursday that she hopes to finish verifying ballot measure challenges within about a month and a half.

The medical marijuana proposal is geared toward people with conditions such as cancer who proponents say could be helped by the plant.
RENO  The Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering an additional application batching period for agricultural producers to apply for funding to implement conservation practices on their private land and public land allotments. Producers are encouraged to apply for Sage Grouse Initiative funds available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) by April 15, 2016. Applicants who apply by the deadline will be considered in the Fiscal Year 2016 funding.

EQIP is a voluntary, financial assistance program that helps fund conservation practices to protect cropland, rangeland, water resources, soil resources and wildlife habitats.

EQIP is adaptable to meet various needs of our landowners and address their natural resource challenges, said Ray Dotson, NRCS Nevada State Conservationist. We are pleased to be able to provide an additional opportunity for agricultural producers to sign up for projects that are so critical to the Sage Grouse conservation efforts here in Nevada.

USDA Financial Assistance Programs like EQIP give producers the opportunity to improve their rangeland resources in harmony with protecting critical Sage Grouse habitats. Practices may include: prescribed grazing, fencing, water developments, brush management and upland wildlife habitat management.

Applications for EQIP are accepted year-round on a continuous basis with periodic closing dates being announced so that applications can be ranked and funded, said Gary Roeder, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs.

Applicants must meet USDA program eligibility requirements for land eligibility and person eligibility, including Adjusted Gross Income limitations for individuals and entities seeking to participate. Applications need to be submitted before 4 p.m. on April 15, 2016 to be considered in the next FY 2016 ranking period.

Farm Bill programs have strict payment limits, and the amount of financial assistance producers may receive varies by program and will depend on future allocations received under the Farm Bill authority. Limited resource producers, beginning farmers and ranchers, or socially disadvantaged agricultural producers may be eligible for up to 15 percent higher payments, not to exceed 90 percent of the estimated cost to install the practice.

To learn more, contact your local NRCS office or go online to: www.nv.nrcs.usda.gov.
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"He's Black Council,", I said.

"Or maybe stupid," Ebenezar countered.

I thought about it. "Not sure which is scarier."

Ebenezar blinked at me, then snorted. "Stupid, Hoss. Every time. Only so many blackhearted villains in the world, and they only get uppity on occasion. Stupid's everywhere, every day." Ebenezar McCoy

This deprecation of individual freedom was objectionable to me. I am convinced now, as I was then, that man is an end because he is a child of God. Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man. To deprive man of freedom is to relegate him to the status of a thing, rather than elevate him to the status of a person. Man must never be treated as means to the end of the state; but always as an end within himself." Dr. M.L. King Jr.

Y'all got on this boat for different reasons, but y'all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swingto the belief that they can make people.... And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave. - Capt. MalGeek with a .45A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition
The interior of the temple found at the Benito Juarez Dam.

When a temple emerges in Jalapa del Marques, the people know difficult days lay ahead. The 16th-century Dominican structure only surfaces during drought years, which means less fishing and smaller harvests for this small Oaxaca town, located deep in the south of the country. It also means more hunger.

The temple, a beautiful compound that includes a church, a convent and a bell tower, has emerged as water levels drop in the Benito Juarez Dam at the confluence of the Tehuantepec and Tequisistlan rivers.

Hundreds of fishermen who depend on its waters for their livelihood have had to pick up work as tour guides

In 1962, the 947-hectometer dam flooded Jalapa Viejo, the town where the temple is located. Since then, the structure has emerged three times, always during extremely dry seasons. The building was last seen in 2006.

The dam is 40% full and the 247 communities in the Tehuantepec Isthmus have become concerned about possible water shortages. Hundreds of fishermen who depend on its waters for their livelihood have had to pick up work as tour guides, ferrying tourists to the temple in their small boats.

The Dominican church that has resurfaced because of the drought. EFE

The religious structure was one of the main missionary centers in Oaxaca in the 16th century and it remained active until its expropriation in 1859, when it passed into government hands. Although the waters have damaged its domes, cross and bell tower, the elegance of its structures is still astounding.

In October, another 16th-century Dominican temple surfaced in the Malpaso Dam in Quechula, Chiapas.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.
A Sunday march in Valencia to defend bullfighting. JOSE JORDAN

A day after thousands marched in Valencia to defend bullfighting, Mayor Joan Ribo suggested adopting the Portuguese style of the practice, in which the bull is not killed.

The local leader, who belongs to the leftist Compromis party, defended a synthesis that would preserve the cultural elements of the fiesta while respecting the animals life.

Confronting a scared animal that only wants to run away from the ring is not an act of courage

Animal rights manifesto

There are countries where this is being done, and I think it would be interesting if we in Spain could reach a deal by which the bulls did not get that treatment [death in the ring], he said.

On Sunday, supporters of bullfighting had marched in Valencia ahead of the citys world-famous Fallas festival, which features the burning of large papier mache effigies in the streets.

Protestors gathered downtown at around 3pm to cries of Freedom! Freedom!

Meanwhile, detractors yelled Killers! Killers! from behind a police security cordon.

Leading figures from the bullfighting world were on hand to defend their profession, including the matadors Jose Tomas, El Juli, Jose Mari Manzanares, Cesar Rincon and Enrique Ponce.

Animal rights activists demand a bloodless Fallas. Jose Jordan

Several Valencian politicians including Isabel Bonig, leader of the regional branch of the conservative Popular Party (PP), also joined the march in support of los toros.

Enrique Ponce read a manifesto defending the activity as a cultural asset that is protected by the Constitution and described it as a vehicle of social and human values, and a basic staple of biodiversity in our country.

The march was undertaken to coincide with a bull event whose 12,000 spectators later joined the street protest.

Meanwhile, around 20 animal rights activists protested in front of City Hall, wearing Fallas costumes stained with red paint and demanding a ban on bullfighting.

Some demonstrators wore black and a sign on their chest that read: For a bloodless Fallas, abolish bullfighting. Their own manifesto stated that confronting a scared animal that only wants to run away from the ring is not an act of courage.

A shift to the left

After regional and municipal elections in May 2015 signaled a shift to the left in many parts of Spain, several authorities announced cutbacks to official support for bullfighting. In Madrid, fights are no longer advertised on the citys official tourism website. The Balearics Islands may change current legislation protecting bull-related events. Catalonia held its last fight in 2011.

Meanwhile, the bullfighter Morante de la Puebla has pressed a lawsuit against a Dutch animal rights activist who called him a murderer outside the Ronda bullring, and the provincial government of Castellon has fined 35 activists 6,000 each for preventing the celebration of a local fiesta known as bou embolat, in which firecrackers are attached to a bulls horns.

In 2015, there were over 8,200 local fiestas involving bull runs or other events featuring these animals, a Valencia government study found. Around 52% of all municipalities in the Mediterranean region have some kind of event featuring bulls.

English version by Susana Urra.
Acting foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo travelled to Brussels on Monday. JAIME VILLANUEVA

Spain opposes mass returns of refugees from Greece to Turkey, and will say so at a meeting of ministers being held in Brussels on Monday.

Acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said upon his arrival at the Belgian capital that Turkeys proposal to accept refugees trapped in Greece in exchange for Europe accepting the same number of Turkey-based migrants seemed unacceptable to us from the very beginning.

Instead, Spain will defend a personalized approach that takes into account each refugees background.

The main thing is the content, not the actor who delivers the lines

Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo

Anyone arriving on European territory must have the right to individualized attention, to filing an asylum request that will be taken into consideration, and to appeal if the request is denied. Throughout this process, any possibility of expulsion is suspended, said Garcia-Margallo ahead of the gathering of foreign ministers.

Although the Spanish minister claims that this has always been his governments position on the matter, his firmness was not always so obvious. A week ago, all EU leaders, including Spains, approved the proposal to send Syrians back to Turkey.

Last Thursday, acting interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz even criticized Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez for considering the agreement with Turkey illegal when other social-democrats in France and Italy had backed it.

Now, Garcia-Margallo is demanding a deal that is compatible with international laws and respectful of human rights.

The German-sponsored agreement foresees sending all foreigners who arrive in Greece  including Syrians  back to Turkey. In exchange, the EU is promising visa-free travel for Turkish citizens starting in June, and faster procedures to extend EU membership to this country. Also on the table is a financial aid package of 3 billion, which Ankara wants to see doubled.

Garcia-Margallo also said that the Spanish government will explain the European deal with Turkey in Congress, as it did in connection with the Brexit. But he failed to specify whether acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy will do the explaining, as he has refused to do to date.

Refugees trapped in Idomeni, on the Greek border with Macedonia. AP

The main thing is the content, not the actor who delivers the lines, said the acting foreign minister.

A report by the state attorneys office notes that an acting government is under the obligation to secure congressional support to approve decisions that might affect the future executive.

The European Parliament and the United Nations have already expressed misgivings regarding the lawfulness of the deal. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has admitted that it may require the Greek and Turkish parliaments to first pass changes to their own national legislations.

English version by Susana Urra.
Large crowds dressed in green and yellow marched in more than 200 Brazilian cities on Sunday to call for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and ask authorities to arrest former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The demonstrations have become the largest political protests seen in the countrys democratic history, a fact that puts even more pressure on the Rousseff administration. The president and various cabinet members have been embroiled in a long-running corruption scandal involving state oil company Petrobras.

According to O Globo newspaper, about three million people participated in the demonstrations on Sunday. Folha d. S. Paulo newspaper says 500,000 attended the marches in Sao Paulo, while military police put the number there at 1.4 million. In Rio de Janeiro, organizers say there were 1.5 million demonstrators, while military police estimated that 100,000 people marched in Brasilia.

I dont want to live in another country, I want to live in another Brazil, the crowd sang in Copacabana

We have reached the limit, says 71-year-old Rio resident and retired businessman Ricardo Castro. Its the first time I have attended a march. I have left all my grandchildren at home but I wanted to show my support for the Attorney Generals Office, for it to continue doing its job.

Rio protestors recited the Lords Prayer and sang in support of the federal police and judge Sergio Moro, the magistrate investigating the Petrobras scandal that has implicated several businessmen and politicians including former President Lula da Silva. I dont want to live in another country, I want to live in another Brazil, the crowd sang in Copacabana.

On Sunday, Sao Paulos business district was brought to a standstill as demonstrators marched along Paulista Avenue carrying above their heads an enormous green-and-yellow sign calling for Impeachment now! They also waved inflatable dolls of Rousseff and Lula dressed as convicts. In the upper-middle-class Pinheiros neighborhoods, thousands wearing t-shirts with the Brazilian flag joined the march singing Nossa bandeira jamais sera vermelha or Our flag will never be red, in reference to the ruling Workers Party (PT) banner.

Meanwhile, Rousseff and Lula supporters responded by holding discreet gatherings in various cities. In Rio, three youths with red t-shirts  presumably Workers Party supporters  were escorted away in a police vehicle to prevent an outbreak of violence.

Sao Paulo demonstrators marched carrying above their heads an enormous green-and-yellow sign calling for Impeachment now!

In 2013, Brazilians held marches across the country in response to a rise in commuter fares and to demand quality public education and healthcare. While that movement brought together citizens from all political ideologies, the current protests are absolutely anti-PT.

Sundays marches were an acid test for several organizations that have been working to combat corruption and oust Rousseff since 2014. The presidents popularity ratings have fallen to around 11% and the economy is struggling. A Chamber of Deputies petition is seeking to impeach her for alleged misappropriation of funds. At the same time, the Superior Electoral Court is examining the possibility of contesting the election of Rousseff and Vice President Michel Temer, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), over alleged irregularities during the 2014 campaign. If the court finds evidence of any illegal activity, it may call for new elections.

And Rousseff could lose even more support. At its national convention on Saturday, the PMDB asked its members not to accept any new posts from the Rousseff administration while the party takes 30 days to make a decision about its alliance with the PT. PMDB members head up six of the countrys 31 ministries and hold 67 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Meanwhile, the Sao Paulo Attorney Generals Office has accused Lula of money laundering and called for him to be held in custody. Reports of corruption have fanned the flames of discontent and protest for months and the image of Lula in a police vehicle before he made his official statement regarding gifts he allegedly received from corrupt businesses was like pouring gasoline on the fire.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.
Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera (left) and Socialist chief Pedro Sanchez in Congress. JAVIER LIZON. (EFE)

The alliance between emerging party Ciudadanos and the Socialists  the only such political agreement to emerge since Spains inconclusive December 20 general election  could yet flounder if the latter reaches any deals with Catalan nationalists.

Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to meet Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday in what will constitute the first face-to-face encounter between Catalan nationalists and a mainstream Spanish party leader since Puigdemont took office in January.

We wish to see a new era open up in relations between Catalonia and the rest of Spain Esther Niubo, Catalan Socialist spokeswoman

Socialist sources say Sanchez will not ask for Puigdemonts support, but simply seek to convince him to drop plans to secede from Spain.

But just in case, Ciudadanos  which began life as Ciutadans, a Catalan party strongly opposed to regional independence  is reminding Sanchez that any leniency towards secessionist views will automatically sever the ties between their two parties.

The governing agreement recently announced by the Socialist Party and Ciudadanos expressly rejects any referendum on self-rule and defends Spanish unity.

If Sanchez bypasses this agreement and these conditions, Ciudadanos will walk away from the table, as we already stated earlier, said party communications secretary Fernando de Paramo.

But the PSOE and Ciudadanos together still lack enough congressional presence for an overall majority, which led to the recent failure of Pedro Sanchez's bid to get voted in as prime minister by Congress. The PSOE leader now needs to find additional support elsewhere before time runs out and a new election is called.

But so far he has always said that he will not take office with help from pro-sovereignty forces.

We want to talk with everyone, from the small businessman to the large bank, and with politicians of all stripes Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont

The point of the Tuesday meeting, said Socialist sources, was to keep avenues of dialogue open after Madrid-Barcelona relations broke down in the wake of Catalan nationalisms push for a breakup with Spain.

Catalan government sources said it was the Socialist leader who requested a meeting with Puigdemont. These sources added that the condition for supporting Sanchezs investiture would be the holding of a legal referendum on self-rule.

But the Catalan Socialists (PSC) insisted that a referendum was not on the agenda.

It is an institutional visit, said PSC spokeswoman Esther Niubo. Dialogue means listening. We wish to see a new era open up in relations between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

On Monday, Puigdemont made a veiled reference to his Tuesday date with Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez.

We want to talk with everyone, from the small businessman to the large bank, and with politicians of all stripes, and tomorrow we will see another example of that, said the Catalan leader, speaking at a book presentation in Barcelona.

English version by Susana Urra.
Armenian FM: Armenia-EU document will reflect the depth of relations

On March 13, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated a meeting of the FMs of the European Peoples Party (EPP) member-states initiated by Austrian FM Sebastian Kurz. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of 12 countries, EPP President Joseph Daul, Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn and other EPP officials. The fight against terrorism and extremism as well as migration issues were on the agenda of the meeting. Addressing the meeting participants, the Armenian diplomat said, Armenia has hosted about 20,000 Armenian refugees from Syria thus becoming the third largest European country to host the largest number of Syrian refugees in population ratio. Minister Nalbandian stressed that when seeking solutions to migration-related problems, first of all it is necessary to address their causes. In this context, he highlighted joint struggle against terrorism and a political settlement of the Syria conflict. The Armenian FM also spoke about Armenia-EU relations, and emphasized the newly-started talks over a new legal framework. He said the new agreement would reflect the current deep stage of bilateral cooperation and the results. Mr Nalbandian informed his EPP colleagues of the ongoing efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs aimed at finding a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenias FM stressed that there is no alternative to a pacific settlement of this conflict, , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia reports.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

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Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

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The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens

ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression
SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

Google Ad

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens

ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression
Consequences of Armenian-Russian agreements and Russian base in Armenia (video)

Like a small child, Russia is trying to become established by constantly opposing its own identity, Founder and Head of the Modus Vivendi Center Ara Papian said on March. Have you seen what a child does when he wants to have things his own way? He always opposes and disagrees to behave the way he is told to behave, he said. Mr Papian accounted Serzh Sargsyans recent visit to Moscow for the geopolitical situation in the region. Though he excludes a war between Turkey and Russia, he says in the event of collision Armenia will be directly involved in the war and will be on the frontlines. Willingly or unwillingly, we shall be involved in hostilities because there is a Russian base here [in Armenia], we have signed a number of agreements with Russia. We should have realized the consequences when we signed those documents, Mr Papian stressed. The political analyst says no other country but Armenia supported Russia. At the same time, he does not share the view that if we stay neutral, we will be able to avoid that clash.
iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Authorities in Prince George's County, Maryland said a police officer died after he was shot outside a district police station on Sunday.

The officer, 29-year-old Jacai Colson, was previously critically wounded in the shooting.

Residents who lived near Prince George's County Police Department headquarters were told by authorities to shelter in place after the shooting.

Police said two suspects were taken into custody and they were not looking for any more.

A suspect who was injured was expected to live, according to police.

In a press conference, Chief Hank Stawinski said the attack was unprovoked and the suspect was hit in an exchange of gunfire with police.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he was "shocked" and "saddened" by the officer's death.

"The First Lady and I send our sincere prayers to the family and loved ones of Officer Colson, who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his fellow citizens and community," he said in a statement. "It is my hope that his proud legacy of commitment and passion for law enforcement and serving others will provide some comfort in the difficult days that lie ahead."

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Three different status categories could co-exist according to the results of the survey. "First of all, there is the group of countries wishing to move forward on the creation of Euro-Mediterranean common economic area. I'm thinking of Morocco and Tunisia and maybe Jordan and Lebanon. This level of integration implies real commitment on the part of these countries and, in return, greater support from Europe. Other states such as Egypt and Libya would have to decide whether they want to take part in this process of economic integration. If they do not, we would consider them simply as associate countries. The last category would be subject to a separate policy (Sahel, Gulf Nations, sub-Saharan Africa and Iran). In the case of the Sahel, economic stability will depend on the issue of security. Synergies need to be found in projects involving South and North," as Senen Florensa explained at the FEMISE annual conference 2016 held in Athens.Florensa suggests including local government representatives from the countries concerned and independent experts from the Southern Mediterranean (academics, business leaders) in the revised European Neighbourhood Policy's actions. "The Commission's European Neighbourhood Policy needs to break out of its technocratic view of things," stresses the Spanish economist. But will Brussels heed these recommendations? It seems unlikely. "In its bulletin issued in November 2015, the European Commission failed to provide any clear response to the questions raised at the consultation," adds Florensa. It at least underlined that, as far as development aid is concerned, the Barcelona Process was unique.Interview with N.B.C. during the FEMISE' annual conference (13-14 February, 2016, Athens, Greece). To find out more on the conference and the speech given by Mr. Senen Florensa, click here
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Odesa customs office shows no efficiency in experiment with sending funds to build roads - Yatseniuk

Odesa customs office has not showed results in the course of an experiment to send a part of funds earned by customs offices to build local roads, but this year the situation has improved, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said.

"Last year Lviv region received an additional UAH 321 million, Chernivtsi region  UAH 129 million and Volyn region  UAH 104 million. Unfortunately, Odesa region did not show efficiency in this experiment. This year the situation has improved," Yatseniuk said in the "10 Minutes with Prime Minister" program on March 6.

He said that the experiment to finance construction of roads has been started: revenue from customs offices was halved: 50% were sent to the national budget and 50% to local budgets to build roads.

Yatseniuk said that the regions have around UAH 1 billion to finance construction and restoration of roads.

The total volume of the road construction financing this year will be around UAH 14 billion.

"We plan to repair and build 1,700 kilometers of roads," Yatseniuk said.
Ukraine's second president Leonid Kuchma, a former manager in Ukraine's aerospace industry, and incumbent President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko have discussed the problematic situation at state enterprise Pivdenne Design Bureau (Dnipropetrovsk). Kuchma says he hopes Poroshenko's intervention will resolve outstanding issues.

"I will refrain from specific comments because I discussed the issue with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. I hope the head of state will react correspondingly," Kuchma said.

Kuchma noted with regret that in recent years Ukraine has learned how to create new and high-tech equipment, but not how to preserve the equipment the plant inherited.

"To break is not to build. The current state of affairs at Pivdenne bureau is one of the clearest examples of this," said Kuchma, who in 1982-1986 was first deputy designer general at Pivdenne Design Bureau. Kuchma went on to head Pivdenmash for six years.

As reported earlier, the State Space Agency of Ukraine on February 17 decided to dismiss the chief designer and CEO of Pivdenne Design Bureau, Oleksandr Dehtiariov, referring to the recommendations of the State Financial Inspectorate of Ukraine. At the same time, the agency reported that, given the significant professional experience and achievements of Dehtiariov, he was offered the post of chief designer at Pivdenne Design Bureau.

The decision led to protests at the enterprise.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at an extraordinary meeting on March 14 approved the draft law on the establishment of a business ombudsman.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Trade Representative of Ukraine Natalia Mykolska said at the meeting that the adoption of this bill is necessary for business deregulation and cooperation between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"For the business ombudsman to exercise his powers and act in the legal field, it is necessary to regulate his activities at the level of laws," she said and added that a Cabinet decision is not enough for the regulation of the business ombudsman's activities.

According to Mykolska, after the law is adopted and comes into force, the election of a business ombudsman will take place, as per the procedure elaborated in the bill.

Mykolska represented the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade at the Cabinet meeting, substituting for Minister Aivaras Abromavicius.
On Monday, March 14, at 14.00, the press centre of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference "Power Abuse in Higher Education System: Forced Takeover or Deliberate Destruction of Universities". Participants include Vice-Rector of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics Natalia Lesna; Vice-Rector of the National Aviation University Yaroslav Kozachok; head of All-Ukrainian NGO "People's Rights" Vasyl Rossykhin; lawyer, human rights activist Iryna Khyzhniak; and deputy head of the Student Senate of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics Dmytro Stavytsky (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Accreditation by phone: (067) 577 4891, vlasta2004@rambler.ru
Some 44 militant attacks were registered in Donbas in the past 24 hours, the army operation press center wrote on Facebook on Monday.

"Some 44 attacks on Ukrainian army positions have been registered, including 38 in the Donetsk sector, five in the Mariupol sector and one in the Luhansk sector," the report said.

According to it, Ukrainian army positions along the contact line came under 20 attacks by use of various types of mortars, including nine strikes delivered near the town of Avdiyivka, where militants used 122mm artillery systems.

The enemy used 120mm and 82mm mortars to shell Ukrainian troops near Zaitseve, and large-caliber machine guns and grenade launchers were used to attack Troyitske and Mayorsk.

The militants also fired various types of grenade launchers, large-caliber machineguns and small arms near Novhorodske, Pisky, Opytne and Nevelske, the press center said.

Also, the militants used various types of grenade launchers, large-caliber machineguns and small arms near Starohnativka and Novotroyitske in the Mariupol area, and fired a ZU-23 air defense launcher near Maryinka, the press center said.

Ukrainian army fortifications near Novotoshkivske in Luhansk region were attacked by an 82mm mortar, the report said.

After midnight, the intensity of militants' fire decreased  they attacked Ukrainian troops twice near Maryinka and Novotroyitske, using grenade launchers of various systems.
A Ukrainian peacekeeping team from the UN police mission to Cote d'Ivoire came under fire of terrorists who attacked tourists on a beach of the Grand Bassam resort, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

"The peacekeeping team supervisor, Maj. Olena Liakhova, suffered a facial wound," Ukrainian Honorary Consul to Abidjan Aiman Zakher said.

The incident killed from 12 to 20 people, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry press service reported, adding that the information had yet to be verified.

Liakhova has been hospitalized; her condition is stable.

Zakher visited the hospital to clarify incident details and provide assistance to the Ukrainian citizens.

As of 21:30 on Sunday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not have information about possible injuries of other Ukrainian nationals.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk says populists, oligarchs and Kremlin want early parliamentary elections.

"Populists, oligarchs and Kremlin are those forces are the most interested in early parliamentary elections," Yatseniuk said during the "10 Minutes with Prime Minister" programme, aired by the ICTV television network on March 13.

The prime minister said common sense shows that populists and radicals would seek to benefit from the outcome of the snap elections. He said wealthy Ukrainian businessmen would try to restore old schemes.

"The Kremlin, in turn, wants a weak Ukraine fractured by internecine quarreling and conflicts. Putin will use Ukraine's political fiasco to divide the EU, lift sanctions and justify crimes he has committed against the Ukrainian state," the prime minister said.

"Those who are laying the groundwork for early parliamentary polls are giving Putin an opportunity," he added.

Yatseniuk said an early parliamentary election is unacceptable, and that Ukraine is faced with two options.

"The first one  the one I adhere to - implies the restoration of the parliamentary majority coalition, the strengthening of the incumbent Cabinet of Ministers and close cooperation between the Petro Poroshenko Bloc, People's Front and democratic groups in parliament. This involves continuing reforms in the country launched by this government," the prime minister said.

The second option is that the Ukrainian president and his faction, which is the largest in the parliament, take responsibility and propose a new government, a new prime minister, a new program and hold negotiations with factions in parliament to support the new government and its new program.
Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General and Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios says former Ukrainian defense ministers Mykhailo Yezhel and Pavlo Lebedev have been put on the wanted list. Matios added that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are also seeking to question several former high-ranking military officials.

"Former defense ministers Lebedev and Yezhel are on the wanted list Ilyin, the admiral and former chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forced of Ukraine has also been placed on the wanted list. He is suspected of participation in a criminal organization and desertion. Navy Commander Rear Admiral Berezovsky, along with Deputy Navy Commanders Rear Admiral Shakur and Vice-Admiral Yeliseyev are also accused of desertion and treason," Matios said in an interview with the Segodnya daily newspaper published on March 14.

"Yezhel has been convalescing in a Belarusian military hospital. ... If Yezhel is in territory of another state and, according to official information, is sick, there is no other choice under law but to wait for him to recover. We are not able to follow up on this case in Belarus," Matios said.

Matios said Yezhel is wanted for questioning about his decision to green-light the sale of army property in 2011. "The decision made by the then defense minister resulted in the unlawful sale of two Tu-95MS strategic bombers to a legal entity. The state lost more than UAH 24 million as a result. The aircraft and aircraft parts were seized before they could be sold to Russia," the military prosecutor said.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, Volodymyr Groysman has called on lawmakers to find a way out of the political crisis and ensure productive work.

"We cannot allow the political crisis to drag on. I call on all political forces to find solutions to problems we face today," he said during a meeting of the parliamentary faction leaders on March 14.

He also called on lawmakers to demonstrate their ability to take decisions issues which are of paramount importance to Ukraine.

"We must reach many decisions this week. I think we'll be able to agree some 40 pieces of legislation we are scheduled to consider this week," he said.

The draft laws include bills on defense spending, government finance and filing income declarations online. Groysman said adoption of the measures will facilitate visa-free for Ukrainians to the European Union.
Defense ministers from Ukraine and Canada to meet in Lviv region

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak and his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan are scheduled to hold a working meeting in Lviv region on Tuesday, March 15.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service said the meeting will take place at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy's International Peacekeeping and Security Center.

The defense ministers will visit the center's training base and review combat training sessions conducted by Canadian instructors using laser devices. The training includes first aid and small arms drills in combat conditions.

The Canadian defense minister is visiting Ukraine on March 14-17.
Poroshenko vetoes bill on e-declarations, returns measure to Rada with remarks agreed on with EU

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vetoed a bill on electronic tax declaration passed by the Ukrainian parliament and criticized by the European Union (EU). Poroshenko returned the measure to deputies with his suggestions, which were agreed on with the EU.

"I have decided that I would veto the bill that I received today from parliament. I am submitting a new bill on the measure and urge parliament to consider it urgently, starting on March 15," Poroshenko said, according to an announcement over the weekend by the Presidential Administration's press service.

Poroshenko said EU officials had approved proposals elaborated by the Presidential Administration and civil society.

"The president received a letter with respective conclusions signed by European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos," the president's press service said.

Poroshenko said senior officials would be obliged to submit e-declarations in 2016. He also noted that significant violations in the declaration would result in criminal liability. Poroshenko said that the document would help Ukraine continue its battle against corruption.

"This is a result of our common work and responsibility to support civil society. Ukrainians have the chance to travel to EU member states visas already this year," Poroshenko said.

The Ukrainian leader said that he would visit Brussels on March 17 to discuss the completion of the visa-free regime introduction for Ukrainians.

Poroshenko said he would hold a series of important meetings, inter alia, with the president of the European Commission, the president of the European Council and several EU leaders.

The president urged parliamentarians to endorse the bill on Tuesday, March 15.
Acting deputy head of Odesa Regional State Administration's office for investment and development Sasha Borovik says close allies of Odesa governor Mikheil Saakashvili are discussing the idea of creating a political party.

"We will soon have a political program that will be election-oriented. This will be a centre-right, fiscally conservative, socially liberal program. We'd like to build a democratic, European-style party organization in which leaders are elected in a democratic way," he wrote on Facebook.

Borovik said the political crisis in Ukraine has already lasted four months. He said Ukraine's political elite were bankrupt and that new parliamentary elections should be called.

"Ukraine needs a new political elite," Borovik said.
U.S. should help Ukraine protect itself  Condoleezza Rice

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that the United States should help Ukraine improve its security.

"I surely believe we should help Ukraine protect itself. I believe people should have an opportunity to defend themselves with firearms, though the American government decided not to choose that way and I understand that," Rice said in an interview with ICTV on March 13 in Kyiv.

Rice said Russia had repeatedly breached the Minsk ceasefire agreements. She said the West had imposed sanctions on Russian officials in response and that the decline in oil prices has hurt Russia's economy.

The truce violations are constant, but they should be addressed patiently and persistently.

Rice urged Ukrainian leaders to press on with economic reforms. She said Ukrainian officials must work harder to achieve implementation of improved policies.

Rice has long advocated shipments of lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. She is also known for supporting additional economic sanctions against the Russian authorities.
Deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration for investment and development Sasha Borovik says his remarks about rumored plans by Odesa Governor Mikheil Saakashvili's team to create a political party are not official.

"I'd like to refute that a new party has been or will be formed," Borovik wrote on Facebook.

Borovik said the "Rukh za ochyschennia" [Cleaning Up Ukraine] anti-corruption movement led by Odesa Regional Governor Mikheil Saakashvili is a broad program currently being drawn up to battle corruption. In a Facebook post made earlier on March 14, Borovik expressed his personal view about the program and the future of anti-corruption movement. .

"I represent my own views and my own wishes only," he wrote on Facebook on March 14.

He also updated his previous Facebook post about the plans. Borovik earlier wrote that Saakashvili's close allies were discussing the idea of creating a political party.

"We will soon have a political program that will be election-oriented. This will be a centre-right, fiscally conservative, socially liberal program. We'd like to build a democratic, European-style party organization in which leaders are elected in a democratic way," he wrote in his original post.

Borovik said the political crisis in Ukraine has already lasted four months. He said Ukraine's political elite were bankrupt and that new parliamentary elections should be called.

"Ukraine needs a new political elite," Borovik added.
New govt led by Jaresko or Sadovy may be formed in Ukraine, or Rada to propose third option

The Ukrainian presidential administration said that currently, three options exist with regard to the prospective formation of the country's Cabinet of Ministers.

"1. A technocratic government led by Natalie Jaresko, Ukrainian Minister of Finance. This is the case where all pro-European factions unite around the technocratic Cabinet. 2. The political government that can be led, for instance, by Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy," Ukrainian presidential press secretary Svyatoslav Tseholko wrote on his Facebook page.

The third option will be presented in the proposal of Ukrainian members of parliament supported by 226 votes in the Verkhovna Rada, he said.
One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and one wounded in Donbas in the past 24 hours, Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian presidential administration on issues relating to the military operation, said.

"One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and one has been wounded in action in the past 24 hours," he told a briefing in Kyiv on Monday.

Kyiv positions in Novotoshkivske, Popasnyansky district, have come under mortar fire on the Luhansk track, he said.

The situation on the Donetsk track, on the Svitlodar Arch, was relatively calm, with militants firing several shots from firearms and grenade launchers, Lysenko said. In Zaitseve near Horlivka, there were attacks on the positions of the Ukrainian military using 80mm and 120mm caliber mortars, he said.

Lysenko emphasized that the situation remains the most difficult in Avdiyivka, where militants have used 122mm grenade launchers. He also said he has information that militants have breached the ceasefire regime in Novhorodske, Torets city council, Verkhniotoretske, Yasynuvata district, and there have been mortar attacks in Pisky, Yasynuvata district and Krasnohorivka, Maryinka district of the Donetsk region. A total of 38 attacks were registered on the Donetsk track in the course of 24 hours.

On the Mariupol track, there were several attacks in Maryinka, where militants opened sniper fire on a checkpoint, Lysenko said. Militants also breached the ceasefire regime in Novotroitske and Starohnativka, Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region, he said. A total of five attacks on Ukrainian military positions have been registered on that track in the past 24 hours, he said.
The leader of the Ukrainian Choice public movement, Viktor Medvedchuk has reported that officials in Donetsk have reneged on the first stage of a"10-for-20" prisoner swap initiated by Ukraine. Medvedchuk is Ukraine's special representative for humanitarian affairs in the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group.

"On March 5 we offered to carry a first stage of '10-for-20' prisoner swap as one of the possible variants proposed by a district in Donetsk region. But the district in Donetsk refused," Ukrainian Choice's press service quotes Medvedchuk as saying on March 12.

Medvedchuk said information announced in late February by Security Service of Ukraine advisor Yuriy Tandyt about preparations for a "25-for-50" prisoner swap was unreliable.

"The whereabouts of 38 of the 50 prisoners is well-known. The whereabouts of the remaining 12 prisoners is not known. Five of the 25 people Donetsk region districts were prepared to swap were not verified by us. This is why the Ukrainian side could not make a '25-for-50' swap," he said.

The Ukrainian Choice's press service said Medvedchuk had facilitated the release of 399 people, including military servicemen, volunteer soldiers and civilians, since December 2014.
Kazakh-based SkyProduction, Ukrainian producer center Insight Media and the Odesa film studio have begun preparations for the filming of a full-length Ukrainian-Kazakh film about Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, titled "Tarazi. Bidding a Farewell to the Desert."

The production of this historical drama will take place in Odesa region (Ukraine) and Mangystau region (Kazakhstan) in 2016," SkyProduction's press service told Interfax-Kazakhstan.

"The large-scale project whose budget is UAH 44.8 million (about KZT 600 million) will be ready for the screen in autumn 2017," the company said. The current KZT-USD rate is KZT345.8 per 1USD.

Oleksandr Denysenko is the producer and script writer of the film.

The project will involve Kazakh actors, who will play some key roles like the Kazakh girl Katya, who inspired the famous Ukrainian artist and was painted by Shevchenko on one of his works. Kazakh actors will also play an old man and a dervish whom the Ukrainian poet met in Kazakhstan.

Currently, the search is under way for the starring actor, who can be either a Ukrainian citizen or any other actor who speaks the Ukrainian language, the press service said.

The film tells about Taras Shevchenko's life during his military service in Fort Novopetrovsky (Mangyshlak, or Mangystau now). According to the official synopsis of the project, the main developments take place in summer 1857, during the last three months of Shevchenko's exile, which lasted for about 10 years in the service in the Russian imperial army as a private.

Local natural landscapes will be filmed in Kazakhstan, SkyProduction said. The filming period there will be "compact enough, not more than 14 days," they said. "Our task is to show the historical sites  the mausoleum, the cemetery, an underground mosque, round stones, and the white rock. The script shows the real historical places where events took place," the press service said.
13:56 16.03.2016 Interfax-Ukraine to host a press conference, tittled 'A Feast in Time of Plague: How did Education Minister Serhiy Kvit Hatch a Plan to Steal the Future from Ukrainian Children?'

1 min read

On Wednesday, March 16, at 14.00, the press centre of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference 'A Feast in Time of Plague: How did Education Minister Serhiy Kvit Hatch a Plan to Steal the Future from Ukrainian Children?" The press conference follows alleged introduction of a new scheme to steal UAH 200 million through the purchase of the school equipment. Participants include Information Maidan NGO leader Pavlo Bilonozhko, Chairperson of the Public Council at the Education and Science Ministry of Ukraine Halyna Usatenko, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Coordination Council NGO Andriy Khoma, and leader of the Ukrainian Youth Public Union to Support Home Producers "Alternative" Oleksiy Artemchuk (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. Additional information is available by phone: (067) 676 88 99.
Some of the most spectacular sights on earth lie just beneath the water's surface.

From sunken wrecks off the Cayman Islands to sharks in the Atlantic ocean, a new photography book showcases the breathtaking beauty of aquatic life.

Award-winning underwater photographer Alex Mustard has been shooting marinescapes for over ten years, and his new 192-page book Underwater Photography Masterclass, available to buy in April, shares his expertise with shutterbugs of all levels.

The guide is filled with 280 images from his travels, which have taken him around the world from West Papua to the Egyptian sea.

It also features tips on how to achieve equally stunning shots, how to get a pygmy seahorse to face your camera to why you want to flinch first when playing chicken with a basking shark!

One of the most striking moments captured is a split level image showing a dusky pink sunrise above the surface and two stingrays on the golden ocean bed below.

Here are some of Mustard's most spectacular and extraordinary photographs captured away from dry land.

Otherworldly: A split level image of two southern stingrays (Dasyatis americana) swimming over a sand bar in the early morning. The female is much larger than the male, although the perspective of the photo accentuates the difference in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, shakes hands with deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as he attends a plenary meeting of the PLA delegation to the NPC during the ongoing annual parliamentary session held in Beijing, capital of China, March 13, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The People's Liberation Army must build itself by innovating in every respect, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.

Xi, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, told national lawmakers from the PLA during a panel discussion that the capability to innovate is one of the key factors that will determine the Chinese military's future.

He urged top PLA officers to "emancipate their minds" and to embrace new ideas and methods.

The president said the next five years will be crucial for the development of national defense and for the PLA in building its overall ability through innovation. He did not elaborate.

He also urged the PLA to improve its military theories to ensure that they better guide the military's growth.

Xi stressed that cutting-edge military technologies have strategic significance, ordering the military to select key fields for research and development.

He asked the PLA to achieve superiority in important scientific and technological fields and to better transform research results into practical use.

Xi told top military officers to upgrade their managerial abilities to make the PLA more professional and efficient.

A military expert in Beijing, who declined to be named, said, "The ongoing reform of the PLA has entered a stage where many existing policies can no longer match reality, while some old training methods have even begun to hinder the PLA's development.

"Every major military power in the world is overhauling its military theories, upgrading equipment and rearranging ... each of its services.

"Therefore, only by reform and innovation can the PLA keep pace with them and surpass them in the future."

Hua Ming, deputy commander of a submarine flotilla, said the PLA Navy now asks for all exercises to match real combat situations and also focuses on improving combat capability.

He said the drills he took part in during the past year had been more sophisticated than those conducted previously.
Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce company, is building apartments to sell to its employees at a discount of about 40 percent, the paper.cn reports on Friday.

These 380 apartments, ranging from 87 square meters to 118 square meters, are located in Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered. Construction is expected to be finished in 2018.

Eligible employees will draw lots for the chance to buy the houses. In order to be eligible, they must have worked at the company for at least three years and be in P8 (expert) or M3 (senior manager) positions or lower. Those without apartments in Hangzhou also receive preference.

These apartments will be sold for about 10,000 yuan per square meter, whereas other properties in the area are priced between 17,000 and 20,000 yuan per square meter.

Alibaba is not the first Chinese company to contribute to staff housing. Evergrande Real East Group provides free apartments to its newly recruited staff. Hengda Group also provides apartments for its employees to live in free of charge, and gives employees discounts after a certain number of years if they decide to purchase their company housing. Huawei also guarantees affordable housing for its staff near the Shenzhen factory and headquarters.
Pictured is a high-speed train connecting Datong, Shanxi Province to Xian,Shaanxi Province during a trial run at Yongji North Station. (Photo: people.cn)

Despite the continuous queries of foreign media on Chinas high-speed railway cooperation with neighboring countries, the nations improved technology has earned China-made equipment more global recognition. Data shows that China is now home to more than 60 percent of the world's high-speed railways (HSR).

Amid Chinas breakneck development, one mind-blowing accomplishment quickly blurs into the next, wrote Julie Makinen from Los Angeles Times after taking a HSR train from Beijing to North Chinas Shanxi Province.

According to the work report delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at this years National Peoples Congress (NPC) session, Chinas railway mileage reached 121,000 kilometers, including more than 19,000 kilometers of HSR, which accounts 60 percent of the worlds tracks.

By 2020, Chinas high-speed railways will reach 30,000 kilometers, connecting 80 percent of her major cities, said Li.

At the same time, Chinas railway technology has conquered more countries after making major progress in other countries. China has already launched several overseas HSR projects, including those linking Jakarta and Bandung, Budapest and Belgrade, China and Laos as well as China and Thailand, said Mr. Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission at a press conference.

Besides, survey work is underway for other projects. Sources from China Railway Corporation (CRC) disclosed that more resources have been devoted to accelerating the XpressWest connecting Las Vegas to Southern California in United States and rails linking Moscow and Kazan in Russia.

China is now negotiating with more than 30 countries including the US, Russia, Thailand and Iran on HSR projects, said NPC deputy Wang Mengshu, deputy chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group.

As Chinas first project in Indonesia, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project will draw attention from more countries who intend to fuel economic growth by building a more effective transportation network and boosting regional connectivity, Wang added.

Compared with Germany and France, Chinas (HSR) technology started later. With cost advantages, reasonable delivery time and flexible financing, however, railway equipment companies developed rapidly in China, he said.

Wang pointed out that China will develop smart trains in the future that can digitally monitor train speed and detect train malfunction in a bid to compete with European, Japanese, Canadian and other major manufacturers.

Chinas high-speed railway has changed my living style. I hope to see more in Turkey, a white-collar worker from a Turkish company told the Peoples Daily when the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway began operation. The project, as the first European HSR built by Chinese contractor, marks the first time that China has helped build a high-speed railway outside her borders.

Thanks to its ability in manufacturing high-speed train and related equipment, China has taken on a new global image.

On March 9, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced that CSR Sifang America, a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC), was awarded a $1.3 billion contract to supply it with up to 846 new rail cars.

As part of its winning bid, the Chinese firm will establish a new railcar assembly facility in Chicago, the first of its kind in 35 years. The facility is expected to provide 169 local jobs. Prototype railcars are scheduled for delivery in 2019 and are expected to be in service the following year.
BEIJING, March 13 (Peoples Daily)  Chinas Chief Justice Zhou Qiang said on Sunday that Chinas judicial system pledged a firm offensive against state security threats, including terrorism, secessionism and religious extremism.

Chinese courts will well implement the laws on state security and counter-terrorism and severely punish terrorists and secessionists, said Zhou when delivering a work report on the Supreme Peoples Court at the ongoing session of the National Peoples Congress.

Chinese courts last year convicted 1,419 criminals harming state security, including those taking part in terrorist attacks and secessionist activities, in 1,084 cases.
BEIJING, March 13 (Peoples Daily) The human right protection in the judicial process has improved significantly in China, the work reports of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) revealed on Sunday.

The achievements outlined in the reports showed the more efficient and fairer justice system, which made many wrongful convictions corrected, court proceeding streamlined and better protection of lawyers' rights, has improved human rights protection in China.

A total of 1,039 suspects were found not guilty in 2015, Chief Justice Zhou Qiang said on Sunday when delivering the SPC work report at the ongoing session of the National People's Congress.

Meanwhile, about 25,000 suspects were not prosecuted due to lack of evidence or facts to constitute a crime, according to the SPP report.
Li Yuhuan (second on the left), a National People's Congress deputy from Liaoning Province, makes suggestions on improving Chinas pension system as provincial deputies deliberated the government's work report on March 7. (Photo: Li Ge from Peoples Daily)

The thousands of deputies packing the Great Hall of the People during Chinas Two Sessions are receiving attention from around the globe. In a bid to better fulfill their duties and contribute to Chinas social progress, these deputies have solicited public opinion beforehand and managed to bring their fellow citizens voices into the political process.

Deputy Hua Quan, a village head from Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou province in southwestern China, said that the main responsibility of deputies is to listen to the public.

He said that he spent significant time writing the proposal that caters to the publics interests, and explained how he hosted meetings and conducted research in advance of this years Two Sessions.

Hua in the end submitted a proposal on improving agricultural mechanization in hopes the government could provide more support for road construction in mountainous areas.

The deputies better fulfilling of their duties, namely to serve their grassroots constituents, will make the governments decision-making more democratic and scientific.

They believe that only by understanding public needs can they contribute valuable suggestions to policymakers through their proposals and advice. This requires them not only to pay attention to easily-ignored concerns, but also to put themselves in the publics shoes.

Zhu Xueqin, a migrant-worker deputy, collected letters from over 2,300 children from migrant families. Zhu used these letters, in which children expressed hopes and aspirations, as sources when writing her proposals.

As a deputy for two consecutive terms, Zhu has become a voice for migrant workers. The proposal she submitted this year focused on encouraging educated and skilled migrant workers to return to their hometown and share their entrepreneurial and innovative abilities. She hopes the government will provide more policy support in this regarding.

Zhang Liansheng, a deputy from Fujian province in southeastern China, stressed the importance of conducting extensive research. He has served as a deputy for three consecutive terms.

Zhang suggested that deputies should do a better job in terms of soliciting peoples opinions, explaining central governments policies to the public, and voting for decisions that align with the public interest.

They also need to supervise the performance of the People's Government, the People's Court, and the People's Procuratorate, Zhang added.
Jiang Daming, Minister of Land and Resources (MLR), gives an interview at the Great Hall of the People on March 9. (Photo: Peoples Daily Online)

Housing market will stabilize with the introduction of differentiated and localized policies in cities where home prices rise quickly, Minister of Land and Resources (MLR), Jiang Daming, told reporters on Wednesday.

His comments came as a recent surge in home prices in some first-tier cities has triggered concern. After this years Spring Festival, both transaction volume and prices in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have spiked rapidly, offsetting market confidence provided by policies launched last year.

According to Jiang, many deputies at the current two sessions are proposing to control soaring prices by increasing land supply. The Chinese government will take steps to follow these suggestions, including introducing localized measures for cities with rising prices.

Jiang said that a package of detailed plans may involve ensuring the supply of government-subsidized housing projects; increasing land supply through managed sharing of the governments land reserves; and making better use of unused urban land.

Inefficiently-utilized land should be re-developed, and shanty towns renovated, he noted, adding that efforts will also be made to perfect land bidding, auction and listing policies as well as to crack down on irregularities in transactions.

Cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have recently tried to use policy tools to cool the housing market, in the process raising questions about a possible shift in the governments approach to land management and to the expansion of urban development boundaries.

Addressing such concerns, Jiang vowed that home prices will cool down as destocking occurs, and a healthy property market will ultimately take shape.

Chen Zhenggao, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, also told the press that he is confident that the home prices will slip in first-tier cities.

Guo Naishuo, a National People's Congress (NPC) deputy, said that the price surge in first-tier cities could be attributed to spillover effects from intensive destocking policies and the further release of pent-up demand.

Guo also suggested that a siphon effect is taking place in first-tier cities, as they absorb capital and resources from other less developed cities.

Irrational price rises could undermine a healthy real estate market, Guo said, noting that hotter markets could attract purchasing power from third- and fourth-tier cities, further increasing the difficulty of destocking in those smaller urban areas.

The current relatively abundant monetary liquidity cannot be allowed to flow through into overinflated home prices in major cities, Li Daokui, a member of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee told the media. Li suggested that the forces propelling the current round of real estate speculation make it even more extreme than previous rounds.

Financial markets as well as the currency rate must be stabilized, said Li. Such stability is vital to ongoing efforts to restructure debt, eliminate outdated production capacity, and clean up bad debt.
Chen Jining, Minister of Environmental Protection. (Photo source: The Web site of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China)

China has made tremendous efforts to tackle environmental challenges, and it will continue such endeavors, Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said on Friday.

China is entering a second phase in its war against pollution, during which efforts will run up against natural constraints such as wind velocity, humidity levels, and rainfall quantities, Chen explained at a press conference on the sidelines of the national legislatures annual session.

Extreme weather in particular may offset government action, the minister pointed out, noting how the heavy smog that blanketed populous eastern and northern regions at the end of last year was caused by the El Nino effect.

Large parts of China suffered heavy smog at the end of 2015, but the situation improved in the first three months of 2016, he told reporters, noting that China is working toward a third phase in which its efforts will not be offset by external factors.

To better address environmental problems, China passed a new environmental protection law in 2015.

Chen stressed the importance of local governments in implementing the law. Some officials have resisted enforcement due to concerns about negative effects on economic growth in their areas.

"Only if we hold enterprises accountable for environmental responsibilities will they be more law-abiding," the minister explained.

Steps are being taken to ensure the law is strictly enforced. The ministry organized an overhaul of the government's environmental work in 33 cities in 2015, and 15 senior city-level officials were called to Beijing to discuss lackluster environmental administration.

Provincial-level governments were urged to inspect over 30 percent of the municipal governments under their administration, with officials from 31 cities summoned to explain implementation failures.A collective penalty caused by the breaking of the law was imposed in 20 cities and counties.

Chen explained that China is drafting a law allowing it to levy an "environmental tax" on its biggest polluters. The aim is not to increase the tax burden on enterprises, but to create a system that encourages them to reduce emissions, he added.

Environmental improvement and economic growth are not in opposition with each other, Chen stated, rejecting the idea that China faces a trade-off between the two.

As the Chinese economy enters a new normal and focuses more on structural reform, China is pursuing "not only economic quality, but also environmental quality, the minister said.

Pressure to boost slowing economic growth will not be allowed to undermine attempts to tackle the pollution problem, Chen noted. China seeks higher economic growth and a cleaner environment, and will not compromise on either goal.

He further pointed out that China needs to halt pollution with a systematic, scientific, and low-cost approach  and goals laid out by policymakers align with such a strategy.

China has the confidence to accomplish its goals and provide its people with purer water, a bluer sky, and cleaner soil, Chen pledged.
Taobi Shenghui, 21, possesses what every young person wants: good grades, talent, and a kind heart. During her last winter vacation, she worked as a volunteer teacher in a school in Bali, Indonesia.

Taobi is a junior at Southwest University. Last summer, she joined the International Volunteers Network (IVN). In January of this year, she went to Bali together with ten other Chinese volunteers.

Taobi said that teaching abroad was a good opportunity to introduce her motherland to the world. She hopes that more people will learn about China and Chinese culture. Therefore, before she left, she packed Chinese brushes, Chinese decorative knots, bookmarks with Chinese characters and Chinese candies in her luggage. These were gifts and rewards for her students.

Taobi taught a class of 11 children (ages 3 to 8) at Yayasan School. Every day, she taught them English, Chinese and Math for three to four hours a day. After class, she taught painting and music. She also taught her students Tai Chi exercises in her spare time.

Yesterday she received a special thank you note from Yayasan School. Although their lives are often difficult, the local children were extremely cheerful, friendly and eager to learn, Taobi said.

Knowing that many children in Bali cannot afford to go to school, Taobi is raising money to help local communities improve education. Her dream is to build a primary school in Bali.
Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, answers questions at a press conference on the sidelines of the Fourth Session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 12. (Photo: Yu Kai, Peoples Daily)

China can attain its growth target set for this year and the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20) without resorting to big stimulus, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Saturday.

With the aid of macro-control tools and prudent monetary policy, the growth targets China has set can be realized through improving productivity, consumption and innovation, said the governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

The governor added that China has no intention of weakening its currency to boost exports.

Zhous remarks came after China set its growth target for 2016 between 6.5 percent and 7 percent. The target was made on the basis of China's growth trajectory in the past and its growth potential, stressed Zhou, allaying concerns about Chinas ability to meet the target.

Chinas large sum of savings will lead to new investment, which will bring about new productivity and therefore fuel the GDP growth, Zhou said, explaining the reason why Chinas economy will continue to have room for growth, even though elimination of outdated production capacity has become policy priority. China now seeks growth by relying more on domestic demand, while export is not able to contribute to growth the way it used to.

Zhou tried to ease market concerns over the weak trade data, saying that given the significant drop of commodity prices, the added value of Chinas processing companies did not shrink drastically, and their contribution to the GDP was not seriously affected. The share of Chinas exports in the global market increased slightly in 2015.

According to the statistics from the General Administration of Customs, Chinas trade surplus last year amounted to nearly $600 billion and the balance of international payments surpassed $570 billion. Both numbers witnessed considerable growth, the governor noted.

The ongoing urbanization, improvement in productivity and dividends of the reform and opening up policy will maintain the economic growth momentum, Yi Gang, vice-governor of the PBC, said at the press conference.

Some Chinese economists echoed these views, noting that China has the capability to cope with risks by seeking a stable growth.

Economists attending the Two Sessions said that China will witness steady growth in 2016, citing its abundant macroeconomic control tools and capability to address possible risks.

Chinas economy is transforming from the stage of industrialization to post-industrialization, and a slowdown in growth is inevitable for any country undergoing such a process, said Li Yining, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the emeritus dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University.

By pursuing proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, China focuses on targeted adjustment and pre-emptive fine-tuning, which will steer the economy on the path of stable progress in 2016, Li said.

At the same time, investment and consumption has not seen a substantial decline. As illustrated in this years government work report, investment projects covering high-speed railway, transportation facility and Internet will still be carried out, the economist emphasized.

China still has ample macro-control tools to handle the current economic situation, said Huang Shouhong, a deputy director of the State Council Research Office.

China did not adopt a quantitative easing policy when it encountered economic headwinds a few years ago. As a result, the current deficit rate and monetary policy are within the range, explained Huang, also head of the 2016 government work report draft team.

Ma Jiantang, executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Governance, suggested that Chinas prudent monetary policy should be more flexible and the fiscal policy more proactive this year.

He stressed that both scientific macro-regulation policy and deeper structural reforms are required to prevent economic risks. Although the PBC has just lowered the banks reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point, it still stands at around 17 percent. Moreover, Chinas base rate of one-year term deposits is still higher than the worlds average, Ma added.
File photo: Central Bank of Russia

Russia's Central Bank Deputy Chairman Mikhail Sukhov said on Monday that a number of Chinese banks are interested in purchasing Russian banks, and that they are negotiating takeover deals with some Russian financial institutions.

"It is true that some Chinese banks are examining the situation with a number of Russian banks," Sukhov told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Economic and Financial Forum in Switzerland.

According to Sukhov, Chinese investors havent shown any interest in fiscal consolidation within the Russian banks after the potential purchase. Details of the negotiation have not yet been published.
SEOUL, March 14 -- South Korea's military on Monday refused confirmation on a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submarine, which United States media reported had gone missing for days.

CNN reported Saturday citing U.S. officials as saying that one of DPRK submarines operating off its east coast went missing earlier last week.

According to the media report, the DPRK navy searched for the missing sub, which U.S. spy satellites, aircraft and ships had also been secretly watching.

The U.S. military believed that the DPRK sub suffered some types of failure during an exercise.

Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Kyun told a regular press briefing that the intelligence authorities of both South Korea and the United States maintain a position that they cannot confirm the relevant report.

The report came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after Seoul and Washington launched their largest-ever joint annual war games, code-named Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, last Monday.

The drills, which Pyongyang has denounced as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion, would last until April 30.

The DPRK repeated its warnings against the spring exercises on Sunday, threatening a "pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike" toward South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

Before the launch of the drills, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un ordered nuclear warheads to be placed always on standby for use at any time.

Kim said on Wednesday that his country has succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles at a meeting with nuclear scientists and technicians.

Regarding this, Moon reiterated Seoul's position that Pyongyang has advanced its nuclear miniaturization technology to a significant level but has yet to secure a technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads.

He said U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities are precisely analyzing whether the DPRK secured nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on ballistic missiles.
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Editor's note: The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top parliamentary body, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, convene its annual sessions, known as the "two sessions" on March 3-15, 2016, which marks a pivotal year as the nation continues on to embark with its reforms and opening up policy, shifting towards a "New Normal" for economic growth rates, starting its 13th Five-Year Plan for social and economic development over the next five years and confronting challenges on the foreign policy front. How will the NPC address those concerns? What do foreign experts and Overseas Chinese say? The Panview Column of CNTV has invited some of them to express their views on major issues to be discussed at the ongoing two sessions.

Speaking at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top parliamentary body, Premier Li Keqiang said that the nation wants to eliminate poverty by 2020. With more than 70 million Chinese living below the poverty linean annual income of 2,300 RMB (about U.S. $350)it appears an extremely difficult target to reach.

But having reduced its extreme poverty rate from 84 percent in 1980 to approximately 10 percent by 2013, China has an enviable track record of meeting tough targets and has a greater history of poverty alleviation successes than any other nation in the world. Between 1980 and 2005, China's progress alone accounted for about 70 percent of the overall global decline in poverty.

China's incredible achievements in reducing poverty are often traced back to the reform and opening up strategy initiated at the third plenum of the 11th Communist Party of China Central Committee in 1978. In particular, the de-collectivization of the nation's agriculture is widely regarded as crucial; by allowing for local conditions and local initiative, production efficiency was increased.

And reforms also gave more freedom to rural dwellers, allowing them to open small businesses and gain a degree of financial independence. Rural residents also became more exposed to and appreciative of education, enabling them to develop their skills and expertise, which in turn reduced dependence on the state.

Historically, China's rural areas were the most impoverished parts of the country, but the CCP has long encouraged and facilitated rural to urban migration under an "urbanization" plan, largely by providing a subsidy for urban residents to lift their annual incomes to about U.S.$700.

As many people of working age left rural areas to seek employment in towns and cities, the Party has tried to minimize poverty among those who remain in the countryside and small villages by implementing a rural pension scheme.

Despite such vast progress in the past 40 years, major challenges remain. China faces a widening wealth gap, particularly between urban and rural residents; it has many outdated and bloated state-run enterprises, such as coal mines and steelworks; and the nation is attempting to eradicate poverty during its slowest rate of economic growth for the past 20 years.

Moreover, as China moves forward with a nationwide urbanization plan, there are new challenges, such as the lack of jobs and problems with building quality in newly-created and newly-developed urban areas.

But perhaps the most significant achievement is that China has already overcome many of the simplest challenges in tackling poverty. Many Chinese who were just below the poverty line have since been helped over it.

And though in the past China could target its poverty reduction efforts to geographical regions, this is no longer feasible because poverty has become more geographically dispersed.

With such stark challenges on the horizon, poverty alleviation has been high on Premier Li's agenda at the ongoing two sessions, and he has announced several key measures to aid China's bid to eliminate poverty.

Li said Beijing intends to increase poverty alleviation funding by 43.4 percent; build or upgrade 200,000 kilometers of rural roads; and work toward reducing excess food stockpiles.

In addition, one of the most significant developments during the annual political season has been the draft of China's first charity law. Philanthropy has rapidly gained momentum in the nation over the past decade, growing from 10 billion RMB (about U.S.$1.5 billion) in 2006 to 100 billion RMB (U.S.$15 billion) in 2014.

The new charity bill would encourage more charity donations by allowing more charities to receive donations from the public. Currently, there are few charity organizationssuch as the the Red Cross Society of Chinathat are allowed to raise donations from the public; others can only raise funds from a specific group of donors.

The bill also include policies to incentivize donations, such as tax deductions, and it seeks to ensure greater trust by improving charitable organizations' management structures, setting guidelines for information disclosure, and eliminating corruption.

Throughout China's struggles to tackle poverty, charity has been an untapped resource. But Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said charitable programs will be "indispensable" in the future fight against poverty.

Though China has an incredible history of poverty alleviation success, as Premier Li and delegates at the two sessions focus on eliminating poverty, they will be aware that some of the most complex and stubborn obstacles are still to come.
Editor's note: The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top parliamentary body, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, have convened its annual sessions, known as the "two sessions" on March 3-15 2016, which marks a pivotal year as the nation continues on to embark with its reforms and opening up policy, shifting towards a "New Normal" for economic growth rates, starting its 13th Five-Year Plan for social and economic development over the next five years and confronting challenges on the foreign policy front. How will the NPC address those concerns? What do foreign experts and Overseas Chinese say? The Panview Column of CNTV has invited some of them to express their views on major issues to be discussed at the ongoing two sessions.

For European Union SMEs (small medium-sized enterprises) that have already set up business in China, they are confronting a mixed picture. FDI (foreign direct investment) flows from the EU to China have increased by 17.8 percent from 2010 to 2013, reaching 17.1 billion Euro in 2013.

Accordingly, European companies remain confident with long-term growth prospects on China. However, they are beginning to see their profit margins getting slimmer.

Average annual human resources costs have increased by 11.4 per cent from 2000 to 2013 and competition is increasing from foreign and domestic companies. There is an increasing sense that as they look inwards, these players will be approaching the same segments.

In the short term, companies think they will be impacted by the Chinese economic downturn, especially for companies producing industrial goods and services more so than the ones on the consumer side.

European companies are looking to other countries, particularly South East Asia, but primarily for market seeking purposes; most are not looking to relocate.

If we look at exports, European small businesses are excited by the prospects of Chinese domestic consumption accounting for a larger share of the economy. In the last five years, exports to China from the EU have risen by 9.8 per cent to 160 billion Euro while exports from China to the EU have grown by 1.6%.

China's new normal recognizes that domestic consumption would play a larger role in the economy. Meanwhile, Chinese consumers crave more goods from the EU. At the EU SME Centre, the three areas where we have seen the highest demand for our goods have been in food and beverages, cosmetics and medical devices.

However, if we look at the broader picture: Machinery and electronics equipment will continue to make up the lion's share of exports from the EU to China and as the country upgrades its industrial processes there is the potential for the value of these exports to rise further.

The upgrading and innovating of industrial processes are areas where European small businesses can play a crucial role. The EU SME Centre is researching opportunities in industrial robotics, agricultural equipment and green technology.

Actually, in Germany there are around 232 industrial robots per 10,000 workers, while in China there is only 14 robots per 10,000. China is also in the process of setting up more manufacturing innovation centres (15 by 2020 and 40 by 2025) in order to attract innovative technologies from abroad.

Although the opportunities are huge, technology transfer to China from the EU is still at the beginning stage. One of the key ongoing concerns for many small technology businesses regards protection of their IPR (intellectual property rights).

Finally, there is an overarching trend that is highlighted in the Thirteenth Five Year Plan, which is - China is coming to Europe. Chinese direct investment flows to the EU have increased by 135.5% to 4.8 billion Euros over the last four years and the number of Chinese tourists visiting the EU countries has now reached 7.4 million.

Even if European SMEs are not contemplating doing business here, there are already Chinese businesses and consumers interacting with their products and services. Hence to a great extent, they are already in China.

European brands are already listed on China's e-commerce platforms or talked about frequently on their social media. This would increasingly represent the New Normal for China and the EU.
By Sun Xiaoli, deputy director of the Department of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Governance, comics drawn by Wang Dongjie

President Xi Jinping discussed the national unity of ethnic groups, grass-roots health conditions, housing for herdsmen, labor transfer in poverty-stricken areas and other issues of concern, when he joined national lawmakers from the northwestern province of Qinghai during the annual parliamentary session on March 10.

Xi stressed that the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan is an essential stage to reduce poverty. It is necessary to accelerate progress and work together and ensure that needy people in rural regions can be lifted out of poverty by 2020, the year when China's 13th Five-Year Plan draws to a close..

As the poverty alleviation campaign is growing deeper, the task is even more difficult. Due to the fact that some rural residents are suffering from more serious poverty and such matters are complex.

Poverty is often intertwined with overall planning for urban and rural areas, ecological environment, and social security system instead of isolated concerns, which require a comprehensive solution.

Never be weary of overcoming difficulties, even though tackling poverty is the most difficult task for building a moderately prosperous society. No matter how difficult this campaign is, and what problem it may come across, the task must be completed on time.

Keeping the CPC's flesh-and-blood ties with the people and building a well-off society with each citizen does involve determination to recognize real poverty, so we can help people in need by working together.
China will set up an international maritime judicial center in its latest bid to protect national sovereignty and maritime rights, according to a reportby the Supreme People's Court (SPC) to the National Peoples Congress (NPC) on March 13.

Speaking about the supreme courts work during the third plenary meeting of the Fourth Session of the 12thNPC, SPC President Zhou Qiangnoted, Providing legal service to national strategic programs such as 'One Belt, One Road' and 'Building a Maritime Power', and resolutely safeguarding China's national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests" will be a priority for peoples courts at all levels in 2016.

Zhousaidthat Chinese courts have handled some 16,000 maritime cases last year, making China the country with highest number of maritime trial institutions and the largest number of maritime cases in the world. For example, Zhou mentioned the Xiamen maritime court's trial on Minxiayu 01971 collision case in the waters off the Diaoyu Islands, which demonstrated China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands.

In recent years, China has attached great importance to maritime security. In 2012, the 18th CPCNational Congress proposed to build China into a strong maritime power. In 2015,The Fifth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committeesuggested to further develop the marine economy and explore the potential of "blue economy."

Since the establishment of the first maritime court in 1984, China has made remarkable achievements in this field, establishing a specialized and professional maritime judicial system, improving maritime trial system, handling a number of influential cases in accordance with the law and effectively safeguarding the nations maritime rights and interests.

Last December, when presiding over an SPC conference, Zhou suggested to buildan influential international maritime center in China to strengthen maritime trials in the new era.

China has vowed to strengthen its national sovereignty and exercise right of jurisdiction over all types of maritime development in Chinas watersin accordance with the law. China's judicial departments would also actively defend national maritime judicial sovereignty and safeguard its "Blue Land."

Zhou said that the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese and foreign parties should be protected equally through a fair and efficient handling of each case, so that Chinese marine courts can establish good credibility in the international arena. He also expressed interest in actively participating in international maritime rules and improving international law through legal decisions on influential cases.

According to statistics, Chinas shipping volume accounts for one-third of the worlds total. More than 90 percent of China's foreign trade in goods is transported by sea and marine production accounts for 9.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.
In his government work report delivered on March 5, 2016, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned China's Belt and Road Initiative several times when talking about China's 2016 work priorities and the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020).

Pakistan Ambassador Masood Khalid.

"With a commitment to achieving common development and shared growth through joint consultation, we will ensure that the Belt and Road Initiative creates bonds of peace, friendship and common prosperity," said Premier Li in the report at the opening ceremony of the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress.

This signals China's policy stance and promises fine tuning to support Belt and Road projects, as the report said that China will "quicken its Belt and Road construction and expand mutual cooperation to form a new comprehensively reformed landscape in 2016."

In an exclusive interview with China.org.cn on March 9, Pakistan Ambassador Masood Khalid shared his views regarding the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the prime section and a flagship project in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

China.org.cn: What significance do you think the Belt and Road Initiative has on countries along the routes as well as the regional economy?

Masood Khalid: China's Belt and Road Initiative is not just a passageway of cement, metal and concrete. It has a much deeper vision of connecting civilizations and bringing cultures of a diversified range of nations closer together. It aims to generate economic integration through massive infrastructure investments and technological innovation. The end product of this initiative is win-win prosperity for all.

Countries along the routes have very well understood the far-reaching impact of this initiative, and are already positively responding to the idea of regional interconnectedness.

China.org.cn: The CPEC is referred to as the prime section and a flagship project in China's Belt and Road Initiative. What roles will it play in deepening China's opening-up and in lifting Pakistan's economy?

Masood Khalid: As I said, the Belt and Road Initiative is a win-win prospect for all.

CPEC is the flagship project of the One Belt One Road [refers to the Belt and Road Initiative in Chinese expression]. Pakistan and China are moving full-speed ahead in developing the Corridor. CPEC aims to generate employment and business opportunities in both Pakistan and China, and increase private sector activity, joint ventures and the growth of industries. It will bring shared prosperity, win-win cooperation and development prospects.

Linking China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Pakistan's deep-seaport of Gwadar will lead to the success of China's plans for the development of its Western region. In this way, it will create win-win prospects for both countries.

China.org.cn: We know that many projects have started along the Corridor. Could you share with us the current progress of the CPEC development? What are the fields of cooperation between China and Pakistan and other countries that have been enhanced by the current phase of CPEC construction?

Masood Khalid: As the southern node of China's One Belt One Road, the CPEC is a 2,700 km long stretch of rail, road and optic fiber links, which aims to connect China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's deep-sea port of Gwadar. There are plans for energy and infrastructure development and the establishment of industrial and special economic zones along the route. Some major energy projects have been launched while work on a number of infrastructure projects has also commenced.

We are moving at a fast pace to complete CPEC projects in a mutually agreed time frame.

China.org.cn: The CPEC has seen strong cooperation and willingness from both governments. How does the general public in Pakistan view the project?

Masood Khalid: CPEC enjoys strong support across the political spectrum in Pakistan. The general public view is that CPEC is an opportunity for increased employment, better business environment and improved livelihood in the country.

Pakistan's public has recently voted President Xi as the "Statesman of the Year." I think this says it all.

China.org.cn: How do we expand people-to-people exchange regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor?

Masood Khalid: I think people-to-people exchange is the key in maintaining sustainability in any relationship or long-term project.

The governments on both sides have attached high importance to it. People-to-people exchange can expand through increased interactions between academia, scholars, media personnel, business enterprises and students on both sides. This is how we can transfer the gains we make today into the future of our generations.

Since last year, when we celebrated the Year of Friendly Exchange, the two sides have stepped up bilateral cultural exchange and people-to-people contacts.

China.org.cn: How could the Belt and Road Initiative promote China-Pakistan relations?

Masood Khalid: The CPEC is the flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative. Through Gwadar, China will find an easier access into international trade and the energy market. For the people of our two countries, the CPEC is a gateway to improved livelihood and employment generation. As we build the CPEC, we are also promoting cultural collaboration between the two countries.

China.org.cn: 2016 is an important year for China and Pakistan as this year marks the 65th anniversary of China-Pakistan diplomatic relations, and the first year of China's 13th Five Year Plan, during which innovation will play a major role in the future development of China's economy. How will China and Pakistan strengthen and initiate their cooperation regarding economic and technological innovation?

Masood Khalid: This is indeed an important year in China-Pakistan diplomatic relations. It marks the 65th year of our friendly relations. It also begins China's efforts towards a knowledge-based technology-oriented market economy by fostering new engines of growth.

The 13th Five Year Plan elaborates concrete measures that China will take towards a knowledge-based technology-oriented market economy by fostering new engines of development and prioritizing S&T innovation, research and development. A coordinated development model, as envisioned in the Plan, would lead to overall development and prosperity across all regions of China.

This development model coincides with Pakistan Vision 2025, which envisions long-term economic development and prosperity for our people. The policies of the Government of Pakistan are geared towards enhancing regional connectivity and integration.

China.org.cn: If you could use one sentence to describe the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and CPEC respectively, what would they be?

Masood Khalid: The Belt and Road Initiative describes the spirit of openness and inclusivity, based on win-win cooperation for all.

The CPEC is the common dream of our two countries towards mutual benefit and regional prosperity.
The global economy is in a difficult spot right now, with weak demand as the main problem, Stephen Roach, senior fellow at Yale University and former chief economist of Morgan Stanley told Peoples Daily on Friday.

Eight years after the breakout of the financial crisis, global growth remains very weak, especially in the developed world. Total demand in the major developed economies is rising at an anemic pace, as aggressive stimulus policies have largely failed. While monetary easing has stimulated the financial markets, it has not brought about significant boost to demand or the real economy. To outline major economies performances, Roach points out that the United States needs to save more and spend less. Currently, the personal savings rate in the U.S. is about 5%, below the average saving rate of 9% in the last 30 years of the twentieth century.

In the past eight years, the average U.S. annual growth rate was 1.5%, while the preceding 12 years witnessed an average 3.6% growth. Given U.S. consumers concern over personal debts, America should focus more on household balance sheets.

Roach believes that the Japanese economy has currently slid back to recession. The so-called Abenomics seemingly is not working well at the moment, or at least not as well as initially advertised. The program is supposed to cover monetary, fiscal, and structural reforms. As it turns out, efforts on the monetary front have not been accompanied by structural reform. Japans average growth rate over the last three years is 0.7%, not significantly different from the 0.8% average growth rate over the preceding 21 years.

In Mr. Roachs view, Europes economy basically has not grown in the past eight years, as the effects of debt crises in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Ireland lingered over continuously. European countries are also saddled with banking problems and consequences of incomplete coordination of fiscal policies. Though the euro has been weakened, it still has not boosted growth.

Roach also points out that China needs to save less and spend more. He believes that the slowing economy reflects two sets of forces. First is the weakness of the world economy, which has a major impact on Chinas exports. Second is Beijings focus on structural reform which aims to transfer the economy from manufacture-dominated to service-dominated and from exports-and-investment-driven to consumption-driven. Though Roach notes such structural change would inevitably lead to slower growth, he remains quite optimistic about Chinas economy.

In assessing the policies of the major economies, Roach points out that the EU and Japan have been least successful. China is definitely making advances in shifting its growth model toward consumption. America has not made as much progress as it should have, and has relied too much on monetary stimulus. If the ongoing slowing down of productivity growth is not addressed, economic performance will continue to be weak. He suggests that Washington needs to focus more on long-term fiscal policy.

According to Roach, over the last ten years, Chinas contribution to the global growth was more than twice that of all the developed economies combined. While Chinas slowdown means a reduced impact on global growth, even at a growth rate of 6% China would still be able to contribute more than the developed economies.

Stephen Roach. (People's Daily/Bian Hong)
The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative should not be seen as expansionism, but rather as an open initiative creating opportunities for the world, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said recently after detailing his scorecard of the proposal. Deputies and global scholars agreed that the initiative, which is now being translated into concrete efforts, is benefiting the world.

"The Initiative is China's idea, but the opportunities it creates belong to the world," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the national legislature's annual session.

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through central and western Asia, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

The two routes were first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he visited Central and Southeast Asia in 2013. An action plan was issued in 2015, and is now being implemented.

So far, more than 70 countries and international organizations have expressed interest, and over 30 countries have signed agreements with China to build the Belt and Road, the foreign minister elaborated the updates at the conference.

Meanwhile, the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has started operation, and the first group of projects financed by the Silk Road Fund have been launched.

Thanks to the initiative, a connectivity network is taking shape. Early harvests have been achieved in infrastructure, finance and people-to-people exchange, he added, citing the examples of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

Freight train services now link China directly to Europe, according to Wang, illustrating that railways linking Budapest and Belgrade as well as Jakarta and Bandung have begun construction.

Important steps have been taken in the China-Laos Railway and China-Thailand Railway, which are both important parts of the Pan-Asia Railway Network, the minister added.

Wang stressed that all-round progress was made in industrial capacity cooperation. China has institutionalized such cooperation with almost 20 countries and a large number of projects were launched.

The accomplishments achieved by the Initiative were hailed by international heavyweights and scholars.

Masood Khalid, Pakistani ambassador to China, praised the role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying that as a flagship project of the initiative, it will benefit the people in both nations and the region at large.

Jaeho Hwang, a scholar from the South Korea-based Hankuk University of Foreign Studies noted that China's diplomacy will perform better with the Belt and Road initiative.

The initiative is now yielding more concrete outcomes, and this will help China better practice its neighborhood diplomacy philosophy characterized by amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, Hwang added.

This initiative echoes the general call of Asian and European countries for development and cooperation. It shows that China is transitioning rapidly from a participant in the international system to a provider of public goods, Wang said at Tuesdays press conference.

He added that in building the routes, China will follow the principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, saying that it is an open initiative rather than some expansionism.

The Peoples Daily commented in an article that an open and inclusive China welcomes the world to board the train of its development and will proactively create more opportunities for it.

Deputies attending this years two sessions also discussed on how to better build the routes.

Liu Zhenya, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), suggested the connectivity of power grids among the countries along the routes as a way to ultimately set up a global energy network.

Tian Gang, also a member of CPPCCs National Committee, advised negotiating trade and investment agreements with countries on the route, so that the consumer goods industry can be restructured.
LONDON Mar. 11  The Guildhall School presents Go, make you ready, a new work based on Shakespeares sonnets and plays devised by the Schools Head of Voice and renowned Shakespeare expert Patsy Rodenburg. The production opens in London on Friday 18 March before touring China in April.

Go, make you ready forms part of Shakespeare400, a consortium of leading cultural, creative and educational organisations, coordinated by Kings College London, which will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeares death in 2016. Through a connected series of public performances, programmes, exhibitions and creative activities in the capital and beyond, partners will celebrate the legacy of Shakespeare during the quarter centenary year.

The work of William Shakespeare changed British theatre, language. His sonnets of 1609 give an insight into his intellectual and personal passions. Using the sonnets as springboards into his creative and personal life, this new, devised piece explores the theatre, acting, passions and politics of Shakespeares life.

The story centres on Anne, Shakespeares wife, and takes place on the evening of 22 April and into the morning of 23 April 1616. It moves between two settings: the theatre and Shakespeares home, in Stratford. All the text in Go, make you ready is Shakespeares, taken from his sonnets and scenes from some of his plays, apart from some names and passages from the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer, but these are words that Shakespeare would have spoken or heard.

Patsy Rodenburg says: Although I started with the sonnets as an educational tool I became very intrigued by their content. It seems to me that Shakespeare is practising or intensely exploring themes in his sonnets that resonate all through his plays. They seem to feed and impact his theatrical work. Themes like the misuse of power, the tension between conditional and unconditional love, the balance between man-made and divine justice and unrequited love. These themes are woven into personal relationships. This ability to write the epic alongside the personal is one of Shakespeares great theatrical achievements. The publication of the sonnets has also worried and engaged me. How did Anne, his wife, react if and when she read them?
China has no intention of supplanting the US, but both sides should do more in terms of cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed Chinas confidence in building a new model of major-country relations with the US recently, refuting those politicians who pick on China during every presidential campaign.

China and the US are building a new model of major country relationship without confrontation or conflict, based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Wang said, adding that this serves the shared and long-term interests of both sides, and conforms to world trends.

China is not the US, and China will not and cannot become another US. We have no intention to displace anybody or dominate anybody, he emphasized at Tuesdays press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of China's top legislature.

The minister also suggested that Americans better understand China's culture distilled from its 5,000-year history, rather than adopting the American mindset when judging bilateral ties.

His frank words and oriental wisdom tell the world of Chinas viewpoints on the most complicated, diversified and important bilateral ties in the world.

The common interests of the two countries far outweigh their disagreements, he reiterated after his US visit this February, saying that the depth and breadth of bilateral cooperation are far beyond partial frictions.

China-US pragmatic cooperation should be beefed up in climate change, the peace process in Middle East and development of Africa and Asia, according to Wang.

Wang also urged the two to face up to any contradictions, eliminate misunderstandings and misjudgments through dialogues, as well as manage and control disagreements, in an effort to prevent from aggravation of trifles.

There are conflicts between the largest developing country and largest developed country, but those frictions must be turned into opportunities for collaboration, the minister added.

Wang, at Tuesdays conference, also refuted the trade restrictions on Chinese firms placed by the US. The Commerce Department of the super power Monday slapped trade restrictions on Chinese telecommunications supplier ZTE, alleging it violated US technology restrictions.

"It's not the right way to handle economic and trade disputes. The approach will only hurt others without necessarily benefiting oneself, the minister told the press, urging both sides to deepen cooperation to resolve their differences.

By citing the successful cooperation in climate change and settlement of frictions in cyber security as examples, Wang expressed his hope that the US would conduct maritime cooperation with China.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of China Institute of International Studies, agreed that China-US ties are by no means a zero-sum game, and both sides have a lot of room for cooperation their pursuit of national strength.

Both sides should abandon the zero-sum mindset as bilateral ties call for win-win cooperation, the expert added.
24 of Chinas most wanted repatriated since 2015: top anti-corruption official

China in the past year repatriated 18 Red Notice fugitives, a list of China's most wanted living overseas , which saw an increase from 6 to 24 since January, said Liu Jianchao, Vice-Director of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention.

During the anti-corruption campaign Operation Skynet, we have repatriated over 1,000 people overseas, including more than 240 government officials, Liu said before the third plenary session of the 4th session of the 12th Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Friday.

According to Liu, after signing the UN Convention against Corruption, China has been in contact with the rest of world in going after fugitives facing corruption charges and bringing them back, along with their assets.

Once the whereabouts of the fugitives are verified, we negotiate with local governments through diplomatic, legal and other channels in an effort to bring them back, Liu explained.

Many countries are discussing to set up mechanisms to fight corruption in areas like money laundering, the minister pointed out, adding that such cooperation requires a global collaboration.

During the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting held in Beijing in 2014, the member economies reached a consensus to issue a declaration on anti-corruption. An operation network was also established.

Currently, countries in the Asia-pacific region are exploring more effective measures to deepen the agenda in the region, Liu added.
China did not give explicit trade forecasts for 2016 in its latest government work report because it is not realistic to do so amid the current complicated and gloomy outlook on global trade, Chinas Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Wednesday.

Chinas Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

In the countrys t government work report, delivered by Premier Li Keqiang, China did not provide a quantitative trade target. The report, however, contained qualitative generalities, such as the nation aims for a steady rise in import and export volumes and a basic balance in international payments.

The absence of quantitative goals captured the attention from the media. Deputies attending this years two sessions also discussed how to optimize Chinas trade structure.

The complicated economy and sluggish global trade is one of the reasons, Gao told to the press, adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently cut global growth forecasts twice to a record low in six years.

Given the divergence among macro economic policies launched by major economies and intensive fluctuations in the international economy, trade, exchange rates and commodities, there are increasing risks and uncertainties, he added.

Against such backdrop, a qualitative goal is more realistic than a specific number. In addition, it is really hard to predict a number amid such faltering global growth prospects, the minister said, adding that this is the fourth time for China to do so in last 20 years.

Gao also addressed Chinas weak trade data from the first two months of this year, saying that the imports and exports of some 30 major economies all witnessed a double-digit downturn in the same period.

Besides the big picture, the week-long Chinese Spring Festival also reduced trade activities, the minister told the reporters.

He also vowed that China will never let up its efforts in trade and has confidence to achieve stable growth.

Deputy Wang Tingge, also head of a Zhejiang-based manufacturer and exporter, said Chinese exporters must upgrade their products and technologies, as well as shift their business models, to better cope with emerging challenges.
Have you heard the touching story of Windmill Grandpa?

His real name is Hu Yuangen, and he is a septuagenarian who makes a living by selling handmade windmills. He also uses his unique hobby to raise money for poor students.

In 2010, Hu donated 10,000 yuan after selling 1,000 of his handmade windmills. Since then, he has made a practice of giving part of his savings to those in need. His story has touched many people around China.

But this year, Hu felt his health deteriorating. "I had good eyesight before, but now I can't see clearly even when I put something right in front of my eyes," Hu explained from his hospital bed, hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Going back to 2010, Hu has never recorded how much money he donates or how many people he helps. "I did what I did not to become famous or to receive something in return," said Hu.
Rendering of the largest one of the three plants

South Chinas city of Shenzhen plans to build three waste incineration power plants in the next three years. One of them will be the worlds largest, which is able to dispose 5000 tonnes of garbage daily.

According to Wang Guobin, the director of Shenzhen City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau, the biggest plant alone can handle one third of Shenzhens garbage and will be put into use in 2018.

In the meantime, Shenzhen is to upgrade its current garbage incineration plants. The emission performance will excel the EU standards after the improvement.

The projects have got its EIA approval and have finished the leveling construction. The main body construction will start by the end of this year, said Wang. By 2018, the three plants in total will be able to dispose 10,300 tonnes of waste every day, he added.

In the past ten years, Shenzhen garbage saw a growth of 6.1 percent every year. The waste produced by the city reached 5.51 million tonnes and is estimated to exceed 5.33 million in 2020. The four landfills of the city have all been overloaded for the time being.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Customs duties on a number of imported products may be reduced in Azerbaijan, head of the country's state customs committee Aydin Aliyev told reporters March 14.

He said that this will mainly relate to customs duties on imports of raw materials and components for manufacture of products of Azerbaijani origin.

"We must give 'green light' to production in Azerbaijan," Aliyev said. "Therefore, we made a proposal to reduce import tariffs on raw materials and components needed for manufacture of products in the country. At the same time, customs duties on other imported goods may be increased. We have already made our proposals and the government will decide whether to accept them or not."

Since 2001, Azerbaijan has been using a multi-stage differentiated tariff system with a rate of 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5, 9 and 15 percent.



At present, a number of imported goods are subject to the maximum rate of customs duty (15 percent) to protect domestic products from the negative impact of foreign competition.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

Official exchange rate of manat, the Azerbaijani national currency, against the US dollar was set at 1.6322 manats for March 15, said the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) March 14.

The average rate of manat was set following the interbank transactions on the Azerbaijani currency market, said the CBA.

The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $11.9 million to nine local banks through the auction held by CBA March 14.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:

The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber will discuss the issues related to the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku, the EU office in Brussels told Trend March 14.

During the visit to Azerbaijan on March 15-17, Salber is expected to meet with several high-level officials of the country, according to the EU office.

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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

Azerbaijan has officially received the status of a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry March 14.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov signed a memorandum for granting the SCO dialogue partner status to Azerbaijan in Beijing with Secretary General of the SCO Rashid Alimov.

"Azerbaijan is interested in cooperation with the SCO, in particular in such areas as the fight against terrorism and extremism, strengthening peace and security, transportation, energy sector, as well as on other issues of mutual interest," said Mammadyarov at the signing ceremony.

The memorandum provides for cooperation in the above mentioned areas, as well as in the fight against illegal drug production and drug trafficking, cyber crimes, in the areas of ICT, agriculture, trade, investment and others.

The decision to grant the SCO dialogue partner status to Azerbaijan was adopted at the organization's summit in Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, in July 2015.

The SCO includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Belarus, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have the observer status at the SCO.

A procedure was launched at the SCO in July 2015 for admission of India and Pakistan to the organization.

Uzbekistan overtook from Russia the SCO chairmanship at the organization's summit in Ufa.

The 2016 SCO summit will be held June 23-24 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

The Czech Republic supports peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Chairman of the Chamber of MPs (lower house of the bicameral parliament) of the Czech Republic Jan Hamacek, who is on an official visit to Baku, told reporters March 14.

The Czech Republic respects all the resolutions in connection with the conflict adopted by the UN and other international organizations, he said, adding that the republic is ready to participate in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijan is the main supplier of oil to the Czech Republic, says Jan Hamacek, chairman of the Czech Chamber of Deputies.

Speaking to reporters in Baku March 14, Hamacek said that in turn, the Czech Republic is ready to supply various products, including cars and industrial complexes, to Azerbaijan.

"The Czech Republic is also ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the railway construction," added Hamacek.

He said the Czech Republic intends to bring the economic cooperation with Azerbaijan to the highest level.

Hamacek added that political relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic stand at a high level.

"We appreciate the strategic partnership between the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan," he said. "We intend to further develop bilateral relations, including those between the parliaments of our countries."
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

China attaches great importance to the development of transportation corridors and is ready to expand the cooperation with Azerbaijan in this and other spheres, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

He made the remarks during the meeting with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who is on a working visit to China.

Mammadyarov, for his part, said Azerbaijan supports the Silk Road Economic Belt project initiated by China, adding that Azerbaijan is an important part of East-West and North-South transportation corridors.

He noted that Azerbaijan's transit opportunities will expand after commissioning the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

Azerbaijan and China support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of each other, Mammadyarov added.

Further, he briefed Wang Yi about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said that this conflict is the main threat to peace and stability in the region.

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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:

Azerbaijan has officially received the status of a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The country signed a memorandum for granting the SCO dialogue partner status March 14. This has become the country's another diplomatic success on international arena.

The dialogue partnership will allow Baku not only to establish successful practical cooperation with the SCO member-states on a fundamentally new level, but also significantly affect the work of this authoritative organization.

The fact is that the SCO is an example of a unique international institute. A variety of cultures, ethnicities and religions is represented there. The organization includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have the observer status. Sri Lanka and Turkey have the dialogue partner status.

Azerbaijan, known for successful implementation of a multiculturalism model and the most important initiatives in combating terrorism, can make an important contribution to the activity of the organization.

As is known, the main objectives of the SCO are: strengthening the mutual trust and good neighborhood between the member states; assisting in their effective cooperation in political, trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural spheres, as well as in education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields; jointly ensuring and maintaining peace, security and stability in the region; promoting the creation of a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order. Baku fully shares all these goals.

The most important principles of working with the SCO for Azerbaijan include respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, measures for fighting terrorism, extremism and separatism. These principles are very important for Azerbaijan which has been suffering from the occupation of its territories by Armenia for over 20 years already.

By adopting Ufa declaration in June 2015, the SCO member states reiterated their commitment to all norms and principles of the international law on mutual inviolability of borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, restraining from using or threatening to use force.

A chance to attract the attention of another influential international organization to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a good opportunity for Baku to urge Yerevan to take responsibility for the occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

In addition, Baku's participation in the SCO cooperation mechanisms will also allow the country to establish not only political, but also economic ties with the SCO member countries even easier than it is today.

Azerbaijan already has close friendly ties with the SCO member countries on a bilateral basis. Russia can also be mentioned here, the relations with which are regarded by Azerbaijan as a strategic partnership and the trade turnover with which increases year by year.

The countries of Central Asia, with which Baku has historically developed traditionally friendly relations, can be mentioned here as well. China is also a very important partner of Baku on the SCO, and Azerbaijan develops multiple transport projects with this country.

Azerbaijan supports the "Silk Road Economic Belt" project initiated by China, and in addition, itself is the initiator of the transport corridors "East-West" and "North-South".

Today, when transit opportunities of Azerbaijan increase, after the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, the two countries will become an uncontested bridge between East and West.

No other initiatives, which could be implemented in the region, as for example the Iran-Armenia transport corridor initiative, simply won't have any financial or geographical sense.

Thus, cooperation within the framework of the SCO will create for Azerbaijan new opportunities for successful development of cooperation with both the member countries and the organization itself on a bilateral and multilateral basis.

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Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian News Service, follow her on Twitter @EmmaTariver
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu offering condolences over the March 13 terrorist attack in Ankara.

He also expressed condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the terror attack and wished speedy recovery to those injured, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told Trend March 14.

The minister said in the letter that Azerbaijan strongly condemns all the forms of terrorism.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish south-eastern province of Sanliurfa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

There are no Azerbaijani citizens among those killed and injured in Ankara's explosion, the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey told Trend March 14.

The Turkish interior ministry and the health ministry confirmed the information for the embassy.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 34 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia, Aydin Aliyev, head of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, told reporters March 14.

"The Azerbaijani customs structures always require presenting a certificate of origin of the products during export," he said. "We are thoroughly conducting inspection in this direction."

"I can assure that Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia," Aliyev said.

While speaking of the delay in transporting Azerbaijani goods through the Russian customs, Aliyev said that the Russian side is entitled to inspect imported products.

"This is their right, namely, the Russian customs structures and the Federal Service for Veterinarian and Vegetation Sanitary Supervision," he said. "They are fully entitled to inspect the products imported to the country."

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Azerbaijan has decreased import of cigarettes by six times within two months, Aydin Aliyev, head of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, told reporters March 14.

Aliyev said that this is primarily connected with prevention of import of tobacco products to be used for commercial purposes, under the guise of non-commercial use.

"As is known, in accordance with the law, one individual is allowed to import 30 packs of cigarettes for personal use into the country," the head of the state customs committee said. "Unfortunately, some repeatedly cross the border with Georgia, Iran and Russia during the day, import the allowed volumes of tobacco products several times and then use them for commercial purposes."



This kind of business inflicts a lot of damage, according to Aliyev.

"Such actions are detrimental not only to the country's market of tobacco products, but also Azerbaijan's economy as a whole," Aliyev said.

In January 2016, tobacco products worth $5.44 million were imported to Azerbaijan, which is 6.1 times less than in the same period last year, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $11.9 million to nine local banks through the auction held by Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) March 14, SOFAZ said March 14.

SOFAZ offered $150 million for sale through the auction.

Thus, SOFAZ will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016.

The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZ's transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

As of January 1, 2016, SOFAZ assets reduced by 9.5 percent compared to 2014 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $33.57 billion.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

In accordance with the independent benchmark tests of mobile operators' network quality performed during the last quarter of 2015, Nar 4G network demonstrated the best performance in the country. According to the tests, performed using the newest equipment, Nar's 4G (LTE) high-speed network showed significantly higher results in Absheron peninsula and Baku in comparison with the networks of other mobile operators.

Just within 2 years, Nar has expanded its network more than 2-fold and currently provides the customers with the reliable and high quality mobile communication and internet services through 2941 2G (GPRS/EDGE), 2086 3G (HSPA) and 609 4G (LTE) stations. Currently no other mobile operator of the country has a bigger network.

Customers appreciate the improved network and we can proudly report on constant growth in 4G users on our network. As of today, the total number of the customers using Nar 4G (LTE) network has increased by 65% during the last 3 months and reached the mark of 25,000 users.

Nar continues optimization works in order to provide the perfect network and high quality service for its customers. Those who chose Nar enjoy the high-speed 4G network with the same affordable prices and without paying any additional fees.

Provision of reliable and affordable high-speed internet both on the go and at home/office is a strategic focus for Nar - significant investments have been already done in mobile and fixed internet networks and more are planned for future.

For further information about Nar network, please, see: www.nar.az
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) changed its corporate identity according to its new business strategy.

First, the logotype of the IBA was changed. New symbol of the IBA is the eight-pointed star, stylized in the manner of the national ornament called shebeke. New logo reflects respect of the Bank to the national culture and visualizes its main goals. This dynamic logotype symbolizes forward movement and unity, emphasizing the aspiration of the Bank for continuous development.

New corporate color, which is now brilliant blue, also has a symbolic meaning. This color represents reliability, earnestness and stability of the Bank. White color completes blue and symbolizes joy and transparency.

Another renewal in a corporate identity of the Bank is the selection of a new slogan "Endorse your success!". The IBA intends to convert partnership with clients into the main reason of their success. Therefore, from now on the Bank will address its clients with this slogan.

IBA is the largest bank in the country. Its 24-year history is a part of history of independent Azerbaijan. Today the IBA enters new stage of development, main objectives of which are the active participation in social-economic life of the country, thereby supporting the economic development of Azerbaijan, holding own market positions and steadily justifying the trust of the clients.

For more information on products and services of the IBA, please visit the official website www.ibar.az, any of 35 branches and 43 sub branches of the bank, or call the Information Center by number (012) 937 and *2265.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 14

By Demir Azizov - Trend:



The South African Sasol Ltd intends to reconsider its strategic participation in the GTL plant construction in Uzbekistan by summer 2016, a representative of the company told Trend.

The representative said that this decision was taken by the management of the company in February 2016 because of the decline in hydrocarbon prices, including oil.

"A final decision about an equity decrease in the project or the complete withdrawal from this project will be taken until the middle of 2016," a Sasol representative said.

It was earlier reported that Uzbekneftegaz, South African Sasol Synfuels International (Pty) Ltd. and Malaysia's Petronas International Corporation Ltd. (Petronas) signed founding documents in November 2009 on the establishment Uzbekistan GTL joint venture for the production of synthetic liquid fuels at the base of Shurtan MCC (Kashkadarya).

In 2011, the share of Malaysian companies in the joint venture, on the proposal of Petronas, was reduced to 11 percent, and the share of Sasol and Uzbekneftegaz increased by 44.5 percent.

In summer 2013, Sasol also announced its intention to reduce its share from 44.5 to 25.5 percent in the joint venture due to increased portfolio and significant investment in its projects in South Africa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

A number of Chinese companies and China Exim Bank show interest in the project for creating the Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex (OGPC) in Azerbaijan, Rovnag Abdullayev, head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), told reporters March 14.

He noted that the work on constructing the OGPC hasn't been suspended, the work on the project continues and negotiations are underway.

"Earlier, we held talks with potential investors led by Japanese Mitsui company and created a working group," SOCAR's president said. "But we considered their proposals ineffective and suspended working with them."

"We recommended Japanese companies to revise their proposals. If they put forward more precise proposals, we will review them. Otherwise, we will work with the companies which put forward the best proposals," he added.

The OGPC will be located 60 kilometers from Baku and will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant.

The project's implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.

The annual capacity of the refinery within OGPC will be 8.5-9 million tons, the gas processing plant - 12 billion cubic meters, petrochemical production - over 1 million tons (the capacity of the plant for producing polyethylene will be 800,000 tons, polypropylene production unit - 300,000 tons).

The cost of construction of the OGPC is $17.1 billion (including interest on loans received during the construction period). Some 30 percent of the project's cost is planned to be financed with the authorized capital (nearly $5 billion), while 70 percent- with the borrowed capital (about $12 billion).

The total cost of the first phase of the OGPC project is estimated at $7 billion (including interest on loans - $8.45 billion). The payback period of the project will last four to five years.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

The meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC countries, which was initially scheduled for March 20 in Russia, will unlikely take place. Reuters, referring to OPEC sources reported that the meeting on a plan to freeze output levels in a bid to support prices will likely be hold in mid-April in Doha.

The biggest roadblock to a wider deal, according to OPEC delegates, is Iran, which didn't agree on the meeting.

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh earlier said that in order to hold a meeting, a consensus is needed. He also said that considering the current condition the meeting will not be fruitful.

Purpose of the meeting

Cyril Widdershoven, Middle East geopolitical specialist and energy analyst, owner of Mediterranean Energy Political Risk Consultancy told Trend that the purpose of the meeting at present is still unclear.

"Main question will be are they going to talk about a production freeze agreement or a production cut? The latter seems to be still too far fetched, so most probably we will see a continuation of the current unofficial dialogue that is going on at the instigation of Moscow," Widdershoven said.

OPEC countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council countries under the leadership of Saudi Arabia and UAE, are looking at the current situation as very promising for the success of their current production strategy, the analyst believes.

The move that Moscow has made to ask for such a meeting before, already has shown Moscow's weakening position and the effects of the current OPEC strategy on its economic situation, he said.

"Moscow, however, will also not be able to concur to a possible production cut, which is technically a major issue for some of its high producing regions in Siberia. While at the same time, an export volume cut will also be hard to ask for, as Moscow doesn't have the necessary crude oil storage facilities in place to cope with additional volumes to be stored," Widdershoven added.

OPEC (Saudi-UAE-Kuwait) will be pursuing current strategies, as non-OPEC is increasingly showing its pain, according to the analyst.

"Russia has asked for a new meeting in Moscow, the US is hurting a lot (as shale companies have a high debt position which can not be paid back at current prices, so a growing amount will go broke very soon), North Sea-Caspian-GOM (Gulf of Mexico), Brazil and others, are restructuring their oil sectors, as profits have plummeted, income has gone down and demand for their oil is low," Widdershoven said.

Most probably the result of a meeting like this is that they further will be agreeing partly on a production freeze, to have the same export volumes on the market, waiting for higher demand in short term.

Some will for sure see it as an option to kill off its competition in the US, Canada, North Sea and Caspian region, he believes.

Possible freezing agreement and its impact on oil prices

In theory, OPEC and non-OPEC countries could all agree to a production freeze at the possible upcoming meeting, Widdershoven said.

However, domestic issues and geopolitical-economic conflicts will be preventing some parties to agree at present, expert believes.

Saudi Arabia will agree, but Iran economically and politically will not be able to agree to such an OPEC (Saudi Arabia) - Russia initiative, he said.

Still, according to Widdershoven, it makes sense for Iran as it will not only stabilize the market but also give it room and time to get ready for a potential increase later on.

"Iraq and Venezuela also need to be taken into account, as they will need higher income very soon. Still, they are constraint by their own OPEC membership and export regimes," Widdershoven said.

Possible agreement on the production freeze would stabilize part of the oil market, as the largest producers would be willing to address the very volatile demand-supply issue, Widdershoven believes.

However, he said, it also would be slightly worrying as an OPEC-Russia cooperation is something new. The expert added that since the founding of OPEC, Russia has always been on the opposing side, along with the EU and the US.

"A possible rapprochement or outright cooperation could lead, in theory, to an OPEC 2.0 situation, in which this cartel holds the overwhelming majority of world's oil production and reserves. This will stabilize the supply side of the market and increase prices for sure, but also would increase volatility on the demand side in future," Widdershoven said.

He added that some could argue that the current talks are part of changes taking place in geopolitics.

"The former focus of OPEC on the US, the EU and China seems to be heading now towards a deal with Russia and its supporters - Iran, Venezuela and some Caspian producers," he said.

"The role of Putin in this new approach should not be underestimated. The Middle East is, without openly stating it, very impressed by the assertiveness of Putin in Syria, and possibly Libya. Don't underestimate this in the oil markets as well, as the cooperation on basis of geopolitics in oil markets is nothing new," Widdershoven said.

Oil has been rallying since late January on hopes that major producers will freeze production. The prices fell on Monday, as concerns that the market is oversupplied reappear. Brent crude was trading down 1.68 percent at $39.72 a barrel, while WTI fell 1.97 percent to $37.74 a barrel.

Iran's participation

Widdershoven believes that possible agreement on oil output freezing could be effective even without Iran's participation.

"Iran's current oil production is not very important for the total picture - only 2.3-2.4 million barrels per day in a total of 94 million barrels per day," he said.

"Increased production will be possible but not soon, it will take several years, if ever," said the expert.

He went on to add that while Iran's participation in the oil freeze agreement is important, it won't in any way affect the agreement between the other countries.

Earlier Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the country will not join the oil output freeze before increasing its oil output to four million barrels per day.

He added that Iran is ready to accompany with other oil producers on the issue after its production reaches the 4 million barrels per day level.

Tehran has rejected freezing its output at January levels which was agreed between some OPEC members and non-OPEC oil producers.

Iranian officials say the oil freeze agreement is a measure against the Islamic Republic.

Iranian government's spokesman, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said earlier that "the move means that they don't want to recognize Iran's right to revive its pre-sanctions output". The OPEC members should open space for the Islamic Republic's output, he added.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 14

By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:

The third session of the Turkmen-Bulgarian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation is planned to be held March 16-18 in Sofia, said the Turkmen government March 14.

The visit of Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to Ashgabat in August 2015 gave another momentum to the bilateral relations between the two countries. During the high level talks, energy and transportation sectors were defined as strategic areas for cooperation.

The talks in Ashgabat demonstrated the willingness of Turkmenistan and Bulgaria to cooperate in ensuring global energy security and diversification of energy flows.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 14

By Demir Azizov- Trend:

Uzbekistan's Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov received Peter Santo, Hungary's newly appointed extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador, Uzbek Foreign Ministry said March 14.

The minister received the copy of Santo's credentials and congratulated him on his high appointment and the beginning of the activity of the Hungarian Embassy in Tashkent.

Hungary opened its embassy in Uzbekistan at the end of February 2016. Prior to that, diplomatic missions in Tashkent were conducted by ambassadors with residence in Moscow.

It was noted during the meeting that regular Uzbek-Hungarian dialogue at the highest and high levels is a solid basis for further expansion of political, trade and economic, cultural and humanitarian ties.

The parties also exchanged views on several international and regional issues.

Diplomatic relations between Uzbekistan and Hungary were established in March 1992.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 13

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iran plans to increase its exports volume to Russia by $ 1.5 billion in the new Iranian fiscal year (starting March 21), Asadollah Asgaroladi, a member of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce said.

Iran currently exports goods worth at $500 million to Russia and Tehran is making efforts to increase the figure to $2 billion in the coming Iranian year, ISNA news agency reported.

He predicted that the goal for increasing the volume of Iran's exports to Russia will be achievable as ties between Moscow and Ankara have been deteriorated.

According to him, Russia used to import agricultural products worth at $4 billion from Turkey before tensions occurred.

Relations between Russia and Turkey have deteriorated after Turkish Air Force jets shot down a Russian SU-24 bomber over Turkish border area with Syria Nov. 24.

After the incident Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on measures to ensure national security and on special economic measures in regard to Turkey.
Tehran, Iran, March 14

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran's Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized the recent US court ruling, which said Iran should pay more than $10.5 billion in damages to families of people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to a group of insurers.

U.S. District Judge George Daniels said Iran has failed to provide evidence that it did not aid those who carried out the attacks. But Iran has not participated in any of the court proceedings and hearings.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari called the verdict "nonsensical" adding that it "ridicules justice", said the message of the foreign ministry's website March 14.

"But at a closer, fairer glance, it is the American people, the victims and families of the 9/11 attacks, whose rights are being violated by such utterly misleading verdicts and hints, as their rightful demand for holding responsible the real agents and supporters of the terror act is being archived with the promise of a fistful of dollars," the Iranian diplomat added.

Judge Daniels in New York issued a default judgement on March 9 against Iran for $7.5 billion. It includes $2 million to each estate for the victims' pain and suffering plus $6.88 million in punitive damages.

Daniels also awarded $3 billion to insurers including Chubb Ltd. that paid property damage, business interruption and other claims.

"Such rulings also carry a very dangerous and meaningful message to terrorists and their supporters, telling them to kill the people of America and the world with peace of mind, because not only are they not going to be pursued, but their staunchest enemies will be addressed instead," Ansari further said.

"We consider the US government responsible and culprit for such verdicts as well. Because adopting an unreasonable, wrong, and immoral outlook, it has been for years keeping the name of Iran in the list of countries that support terrorism, providing grounds for fair judgement to be neglected in political verdicts issued by some American courts."
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled an upgraded model of the home-made Shahed 129 drone.

The new model is equipped with satellite communication system, the IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said, Fars news agency reported March 14.

Hajizadeh further said that the drone's weapon carrying capability is increased by 100 kilograms.

The drone can carry up to eight weapons, designed to hit stationary and mobile targets. It is reportedly capable of carrying missiles, making it Iran's second UAV after Karrar that is able to carry missiles.

Shahed 129 drone can fly as far as 2,000 kilometers to carry out any type of combat missions outside the national borders. The specifications referred to by the Iranian media mentions an effective operational radius of 1,700 kilometers, data link range of 200 kilometers, flight endurance of 24 hours, and a flight ceiling of 24,000 feet.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

The US Department of State is not aware of any links between Iran and the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Department of State's Persian-language spokesman Alan Eyre told Trend March 14.

"We are not aware of any link between the 9/11 hijackers and Iran," said Eyre.

A US court has recently ruled against Iran over the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The court sentenced Iran to pay more than $10.5 billion in damages to families of the people killed on 9/11 and to a group of insurers.

The ruling has sparked harsh criticism in Iran with the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari describing the ruling on March 14 as "unjust", "ridiculous" and "absurd".

While none of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were from Iran, the US judge George Daniels justified the verdict, saying Iran failed to defend itself against allegations of involvement in the attacks.

The judgment came as the 9/11 Commission Report suggested that some attackers moved through Iran and did not have their passports stamped.
Tehran, Iran, March 14

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iranian border customs security found 17 people while being smuggled inside a truck.

The people were lodged between aluminum ingots, but were detected by X-ray equipment and arrested, Mehr news agency reported March 14.

The report said the 17 people were from "a neighboring country" and were heading to Turkey.

On Feb. 14, Iran's border security found one woman and three men being trafficked into the country from Turkmenistan, intending to travel to Turkey and from there to head to Germany.

The smuggled people found in Iran are mostly Afghans hoping to find better life elsewhere. Iran itself is a home to many legal and illegal Afghan refugees.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

Trend:

Georgian officials have condemned the terrorist attack in Ankara, and expressed condolences to families and friends of those killed, Sputnik news agency reported.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

"I express condolences to families and friends of those killed and share the pain of our friendly Turkish people," Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said.

Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili said that his country strongly condemns terrorism and expresses support to the friendly Turkish people.

Edited by SI
By Claude Salhani-Trend:

Many Arab countries thought it privately but avoided saying it publicly, that is until now, possibly from fear of retribution. But as the Middle East conflict grows in intensity the gloves seems to come off and last week the six member countries of the oil and gas producing countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council declared the Lebanese Shiite movement, Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, echoing what Israel and the United States have long maintained.

The answer to the question whether Hezbollah is a terror organization or not is not one that can be answered with a straight yes or no. The answer, much like the politics of the region, is somewhat more complex. But before we attempt to reply to the question we may be well served with the thinking of an ancient Chinese philosopher and one of the greatest writers on military tactics of all times, Sun Tzu, and author of "The Art of War," said that the first step in defeating your enemy is to know him.

Indeed, declaring Hezbollah a terrorist organization is doing a disfavor to those trying to counter the group's philosophy and fight its expansion in the Middle East arena. Labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization is over simplifying a very complex problem.

So is Hezbollah a terrorist organization? Over the years the group is been accused multitude of crimes, among them the US government say it has proof that Hezbollah, with the help of Syria, was responsible for the killing of 241 US servicemen, mostly US Marines, and 57 French paratroopers in Beirut on October 23, 1983.

Hezbollah did commit terrorist acts, of that there is little doubt, or at least some members of the organization carried out acts that can be classified as acts of terror.

However in order to better understand the group's actions, motivations and source of strength, one needs to take a closer look at the components that make up the movement and not lump them all into one basket marked terrorism.

Observers of the region's politics agree that Hezbollah is composed of three distinct units. First and foremost Hezbollah is a bona fide political party representing a large portion of Lebanon's Shiite community. As such they are represented in the government, with a number of important ministerial positions held by their representatives. They are also represented in the country's parliament, having a number of deputies elected on the Hezbollah slate. Because of the way in which Lebanon electoral laws are established, Hezbollah' parliamentary slate includes number of Christian members of parliament. It's government ministers and members of parliament are involved in the day-to-day running of governmental affairs, as are other political parties in the country.

Second, and perhaps the most important element of the group is it's social services element. This unit provides social services for the impoverished Shiite community in the absence of the Lebanese state. Services of primary importance such as day care centers, healthcare centers, social services and the such, are all provided for the community by the movement. This is an area of primary importance where the Lebanese state has completely failed. Quite naturally when providing such services to a segment of the population, in return the group receives much loyalty for it's actions.

And Finally the third component of Hezbollah is its military wing, which can be labeled by some parties as a" terrorist organization." The group's military unit is armed, trained and financed mostly by Iran. Hezbollah calls its military wing a "resistance" as it was Hezbollah's military forces that eventually forced Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon.

The group's involvement in the daily lives of the Shiite community in Lebanon and sometimes beyond is so ingrained in the society that extracting one from the other would be a very difficult task unless of course the Lebanese government steps in to pick up it's responsibilities where it has been absent and it has largely failed. If you want to defeat Hezbollah start by building up the Lebanese state. There is no other way.

Claude Salhani: journalist, author, political analyst and TV and radio commentator is one of the most knowledgeable voices on the Arab-Israeli issues, the Greater Middle East, Central Asia, terrorism, and political Islam.

Claude Salhani is the author of the newly released novel, Inauguration Day-a thriller. On sale now at Amazon.com.
US President Barack Obama met Monday with Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post reporter freed from captivity in Iran two months ago, according to The Washington Times.



Rezaian, who had been held on espionage charges since July 2014, met briefly with Obama during the president's visit to the State Department. During his address to diplomats, the president cited "detained Americans coming home" as one of his administration's achievements.



Jason Rezaian was released along with three other US prisoners as Iran's nuclear deal was being implemented, an agreement that included the lifting of economic sanctions.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March. 14

Trend:

Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu postpones Jordan visit, Milliyet newspaper reported.

Newspaper says the prime minister is postponing a visit to Jordan following the deadly bombing in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was scheduled to travel to Jordan on Tuesday. The visit will take place at a later date.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 34 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Israel supports Turkey in the fight against terrorism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement March 14.

The statement also condemned the latest terrorist attack in Ankara directed against the civilian population.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 34 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Following a deadly car blast in Ankara, Turkish police are looking for another 20 car bombs in the country, the Head Police Department of Turkey said March 14.

The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorist organization intends to carry out a series of terrorist attacks in major cities of Turkey March 20, according to the law enforcement bodies.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 34 people, 125 more people got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the blast, while in the car. According to reports, the blown up car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The police are holding an anti-terrorist operation in some districts of Istanbul, Anadolu agency reported March 14.

Some 36 people, including foreigners, were detained in this operation. The citizenship of the detained foreigners was not revealed.

The Directorate General of Turkish National Police issued a statement March 14 that the police are searching for 20 more car bombs in the country.

The law enforcement agencies said that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization intends to commit several terrorist attacks in major cities of Turkey March 20.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

---

follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The number of victims of the terrorist attack in Ankara has increased to 37, Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said, the country's TV channel TRT Haber reported March 14.

The minister said that condition of the 15 injured in an explosion in Ankara is critical, and 125 people injured in the terrorist attack are currently in the city hospitals.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The name of a female suicide bomber, who may have been involved in the explosion in Ankara, has been disclosed, the Turkish newspaper 'Sozcu' reported March 14.

A member of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorist organization Seher Cagla Demir could possibly be the female suicide bomber, according to the newspaper.

The Turkish government has not yet officially confirmed the information.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Fourteen people, suspected of organizing the terrorist attack in Ankara, have been detained, Kanal7 TV channel reported March 14.

Twelve of the suspected were detained in Eskisehir province, two in Istanbul.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Germany's Federal Foreign Office has urged the country's citizens not to travel to Turkey, Haberturk newspaper reported March 14.

Moreover, the Federal Foreign Office has recommended the country's citizens, who are currently in Turkey, to avoid crowded places.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and head of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli will discuss the situation in the country, as well as the recent terrorist attack in Ankara, Anadolu agency reported March 14.

The meeting will be held 16:00 (UTC/GMT +2 hours), March 14, at Bahceli's request.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The leader of the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu accused the government of being irresponsible, Turkish TRT Haber TV channel reported March 14.

The government knew that a terror attack is expected in Turkey, but did not take any measures, according to him.

All political parties in Turkey must work together in combating terrorism, said Kilicdaroglu.

"The fight against terrorism is a responsibility not only for the ruling Justice and Development Party," added the leader of the opposition.

Kilicdaroglu also called the government to normalize relations with all neighboring countries.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

The Turkish Sozcu newspaper released the name of the female suicide bomber March 14, which may be involved in the explosion in Ankara.

The suicide bomber probably was Seher Chagla Demir, a member of the PKK terrorist organization, according to the newspaper. The Turkish authorities have not officially confirmed this information so far.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car.

The majority of the victims of the terrorist attack in Ankara are Turkish citizens, according to the preliminary data.

Turkey's General Directorate of Security made an announcement March 14 that the police are looking for other 20 car bombs in the country.

The PKK terrorist organization intends to realize a series of terrorist attacks March 20 in major cities of Turkey, according to the country's law enforcement bodies.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's Sabah newspaper has published the photo of the female suicide bomber Seher Cagla Demir, who was possibly involved in the recent terrorist attack in Ankara.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish south-eastern province of Sanliurfa.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey's former president, Abdullah Gul, has urged all political parties in the country to fight terrorism.

Everyone, regardless of political views, should combine efforts in fighting terrorism and radicalism, the former president tweeted.

Gul's remarks came against the background of the recent terrorist attack in Ankara.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Family members of the alleged female suicide bomber Seher Cagla Demir have been detained in Turkey, the Kanal7 TV channel reported March 14.

At present, Seher Cagla Demir's involvement in the Ankara terror attack is being established.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

Today, on March 14, the Turkish newspaper 'Sozcu' disclosed the name of a female suicide bomber, who may have been involved in the explosion in Ankara.

The member of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorist organization Seher Cagla Demir could possibly be the suicide bomber, said the newspaper.

Turkish government has not yet officially confirmed the information.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey will continue fighting terrorists until completely eliminating them, said the country's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu in a tweet posted March 14.

He said the terrorist attack in Ankara is aimed against Turkey's statehood.

Cavusoglu added that the terrorists won't be able to dictate their conditions to the strong and democratic Turkey.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish south-eastern province of Sanliurfa.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Citizenship of another suicide bomber, who committed the recent terrorist attack in Ankara, has been disclosed, Sabah newspaper reported citing Turkey's law enforcement agencies.

Reportedly, the bomber is a Turkish citizen and is a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

However, the suicide bomber's name hasn't been disclosed yet.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.



Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish south-eastern province of Sanliurfa.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Chinese police officers participating in a training exercise. The country is developing a new "predictive policing" software to aid its police force in crime prevention. (Photo : YouTube)

China is reportedly developing a new precrime data platform, raising concerns about privacy and potential increased surveillance of citizens.



The uneasiness came after the ruling Communist Party tasked China Electronics Group, one of the country's major state-run defense contractors, to develop a software that would collect and compile data on a variety of aspects of citizens' behavior, including jobs, consumption habits and hobbies, Bloomberg reported.



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According to Wu Manqing, the contractor's chief engineer, the goal of the project is to create a system that would be able to predict potential acts of terror based on the data and take action.



Wu also said that the software will be able to cross-reference the gathered information from surveillance camera footage and draw a profile of potential suspects. The program would then be able to determine and flag unusual behavior and alert police to take necessary actions, such as freezing the suspect's bank accounts.



Other details of the project are still being kept secret. However, another executive of the company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the new system will be first tested in select regions where authorities are trying to control violent opposition coming from certain groups.



However, some experts expressed doubt on whether the new software will indeed be able to deliver as promised. According to Brooking's Institution's Paul Pillar, there are a lot of different data that needs to be taken into account to create a reliable profile of suspected terrorists. He added that it is unlikely that the system will be able to stop everything.



Jim Harper, a senior fellow, seconded the opinion, arguing that there is still not enough examples of terrorist activities to create a comprehensive model for predicting similar future acts.



The reveal of the project came on the heels of the passing of new anti-terrorism laws in December. Under the new laws, telecommunications companies doing business in the country are required to provide assistance to public and state security agencies during surveillance of suspected criminal elements, Ars Technica.com reported.



The new laws have raised concerns about them being used against ordinary citizens. According to human rights activist William Nee, the laws could also potentially be used for censoring information.


China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. subsidiary CSR Sifang America will supply 846 new rail cars to Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), after winning the $1.3 billion deal. (Photo : REUTERS)

CSR Sifang America, a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), got a $1.3 billion contract to supply the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) with 846 railcars, considered to be the biggest train order in the city's history.



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China Daily reported that the new cars, the 7000-series, will be assembled in the newly built plant in the city, and will look similar to the 2600-series cars which have been in operation since the 1980s.



Brian Steele, a CTA spokesman, said that around 169 new jobs will be created by the contract, which will include the hiring of electricians and mechanical engineers.



The report said that CSR Sifang America is an offshoot of the joint venture between Qingdao-based CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. and Chicago-based CSR America.



In Springfield, Massachusetts, another CRRC subsidiary is also building railway vehicles as part of a deal with the local transport authorities to supply 284 railcars for the Boston transit system.



According to officials, CTA ordered the last batch of railcars, the 5000-series, about a decade ago with Canada's Bombardier Inc., which lost out in the bidding by around $226 million this time.



In 2013, CTA started the process but the bidding drew little interest until the tender was revised and re-launched in 2014.



The report said that the CTA will receive the prototype railcars in 2019, and the cars will go into service the following year. More than 400 railcars from the base order will arrive by 2024, with options for an additional 446 vehicles afterward.



Steele said that about half of its railcars will be replaced with the purchase of new cars, giving the city one of the youngest rail fleets in the United States. This lowers the average age of a railcar from 26 years in 2011 to 13 years once the order is delivered, and saves the city about $7 million a year in maintenance costs.



The 7000-series railcars will have mostly aisle-facing seats, which would provide more standing room during rush hour, different from the seating arrangement of Bombardier cars, CRRC Qingdao Sifang said in a statement.



CRRC added that new railcars, which run at a speed of 112 kilometers per hour, will be equipped with air conditioners, LED lighting, and passenger information systems.



The new deal was hailed by Wang Mengshu, a deputy to the National People's Congress and deputy chief engineer of China Railway Tunnel Group Ltd., as "another major breakthrough for the Chinese railway industry in the North American market."


China urged all parties to remain calm after DPRK fired short-range missiles recently. (Photo : www.reuters.com)

China called for a stop to "provocative actions" and urged all parties to maintain calm and restraint to avoid tension from escalating on the Korean Peninsula, the Xinhua News Agency reported.



The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared on Thursday, March 10, that it would liquidate Republic of Korea's assets in the DPRK after firing two short-range missiles.



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The DPRK also said that in response to Seoul's one-sided sanctions against Pyongyang, it will nullify all inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, after the U.N. Security Council adopted a tough resolution against Pyongyang earlier this month.



Reacting to these perceived threats, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday, March 10, that "the U.S. and the Republic of Korea have started large-scale joint military drills in the ROK, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has consistently responded fiercely."



"China expresses serious concern about the situation," Hong said.



It was not the first time that the DPRK threatened to liquidate ROK assets, with the "limited" capital involved, according to Zhang Liangui, an expert in Korean studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.



"So the decision is actually a symbolic move, serving as a protest," Zhang said.



According to Zhang, "it was unlikely that tension on the peninsula would lessen in the short term" as the U.S. and its allies continue to act in ways that prompt the DPRK to react militarily.



Zhang's view is shared by Shi Yongming, an Asia-Pacific studies researcher at the China Institute of International Relations, who said that the U.S. and ROK are exerting military and political pressure on the DPRK.



Shi added that the U.S. and ROK refused to negotiate unless the DPRK gives up its nuclear program while the two continue to conduct drills on the peninsula.



Shi said this resulted in Pyongyang reacting militarily, which include the recent launching of short-range missiles.



"As the DPRK has no assurance that its security concerns will be addressed, it feels unsafe to engage in negotiations now about its nuclear programs," Shi added.



On Wednesday, March 9, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a phone conversation and talked about issues that included the situation on the peninsula, in which Wang called the situation as "highly charged."


The 13th Five-Year Plan is focusing on the rural poor. (Photo : Reuters)

With more than 55 million people residing in China's underdeveloped rural areas, the ongoing "two sessions" have vowed to improve their lives within the next five years, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.



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The central government plans to increase its poverty alleviation budget by 43.4 percent this year, according to Premier Li Keqiang's government work report that he delivered last Saturday. This is expected to lift more than 10 million people from poverty by the end of the year.



Last year, there were 14.4 million rural residents succored from poverty.



When legislators from all across China sat together in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the story of Li Jinggao, a 63-year-old man from eastern Jiangsu Province, was shared.



Li was too old to work in a factory and could not support his wife of poor health and his son with learning difficulties. His whole family depended on government aid.



Three years ago, Li's local government lent him three ewes, which he cared for and bore for him seven to eight lambs every year. In 2015, he returned the original ewes to the government and have been able to live off of the offsprings ever since.



The central government strives to lift 55 million rural people from poverty in the next five years, so that they can build a moderately prosperous society by 2020. The leadership's promise is "not to leave a single family" behind.



On Nov. 22, heads of cities, provinces and autonomous regions from central and western China agreed to be evaluated by the central government, signing a "responsibility agreement."



Legislators who were in attendance at the two sessions have also expressed their commitment to the campaign.



However, an uncertain economy, along with decreasing natural resources, environmental degradation and the return to poverty, has threatened the fulfillment of the target.



During the parliamentary session, economist Li Yining shared a different story. He told of some black goats who were donated to poor farmers but were later slaughtered for food.



"Instead of 'just giving' we should make training a priority," said Li.



The draft of the 13th Five-Year Plan, which will mark the priorities of the government from 2016 to 2020, proposes to support poor villages in order to help them develop their own featured products and services.


Microsoft laptop tablet hybrid Surface Pro 5 is slated to be released in 2016. (Photo : YouTube/ Surface)

Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release will happen pretty soon as Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4 and Surface 3 get huge discounts.



Amazon is offering a huge discount on the Surface 3 in the United States.



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The Wi-Fi models of the device with 64 GB storage is currently available for $385 on Amazon. Furthermore, buyers can purchase the other Wi-Fi variant of the tablet with 128 GB storage for $449.



The Microsoft Surface 3, which was announced last year, comes with a magnesium alloy chassis. The Surface 3 features a 10.8-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1280 pixels. It has 4 GB of RAM and is powered by Intel Atom x7-Z8700 quad-core processor.



The front side of the Microsoft Surface 3 has dual speakers and a 3.5 MP camera. The device has an 8 MP rear-facing camera. Connectivity options of the Surface 3 include microUSB port, Mini DisplayPort, 3.5 mm audio jack, USB 3.0, v4.0 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.



According to reports, the Surface Pro 3 is currently available on Amazon India at a discounted price of $880. The original price of the tablet is $1,104.



Microsoft Surface Pro 3 comes with a 12-inch screen with 2160 x 1440 pixel resolution. Some of the other features of the tablet include quad-core Intel Core i3 processor, 64GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel primary camera on the back, 4GB of RAM and a 5-megapixel front shooter for selfies.



Furthermore, Microsoft Store is offering a $100 discount on selected Intel Core i5 Surface Pro 4 devices till March 26.



The Intel Core i5 Surface Pro 4 (128GB SSD, 4GB RAM) is currently available for $899. The initial price of the tablet is $999. Also, the Intel Core i5 Surface Pro 4 (256GB SSD, 8GB RAM) is currently available for $1,199. The original price of the tablet is $1,299.



Some of the features of Microsoft Surface Pro 4 include a 5-megapixel front shooter for selfies, 12.30-inch display and 8-megapixel primary camera on the back.



Meanwhile, according to several reports, Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will be released in September or October this year.



The new device will be lighter than Surface Pro 4 and will have a longer battery life. In addition, the forthcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will have a rechargeable stylus.


Rescue teams are currently searching the rubble for more victims

One person was killed and seven others injured in the early hours of Monday when a five-storey residential building collapsed in Egypt's Ismailiya, state news agency MENA reported.

The injured have sustained fractures and concussions.

Rescue teams are currently searching the building's remains for more victims, while the country's general prosecution has ordered a probe into the incident.

Building collapses are commonplace in Egypt and are usually blamed on lax construction, violations of building specifications, and illegal extensions.

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The bombing in the Turkish capital resulted in the death of 37 people and injured 70 others

Egypt condemned the car bombing that struck Ankara on Sunday, with a foreign affairs statement saying that the country stands with the Turkish people at this critical moment."

The bombing near central Guven Park in the Turkish capital killed 37 people and injured 70 others.

The statement stressed the need for the international community to stand side by side to confront the phenomenon [of terrorism] and uproot it.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing.

Egypt and Turkey have had a tense relationship since the ouster of Egypts president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, who was heavily supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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The attorney general arrived in Cairo following Egypt's invitation days after the European Parliament called on Egyptian authorities to provide Italy with all necessary investigative data

Egypt's top prosecutor Nabil Sadek is expected to meet on Monday with the Italian Attorney General Giuseppe Buitoni to share with him the results of investigations into the death of Italian student Giulio Regeni.

The body of Regeni, a PhD student who was conducting research on independent trade union movements in Egypt, was found with signs of torture on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo early in February, nine days after he disappeared on 25 January.

The culprit is yet to be identified.

Buitoni arrived in Cairo following an invitation from the Egyptian side to share the latest developments in the investigations.

The European Parliament called on Egyptian authorities last Thursday to provide Italy with all data necessary for ongoing investigations to unravel the circumstances of Regeni's death.

On 24 February, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni called on Egypt to cooperate with the Italian investigation team and demanded that Italy be given access to evidence from the prosecutor's office.

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Residents in the boys village filed a legal complaint accusing the teens of insulting Islam after they filmed a video mocking the Islamic State group

Human Rights Watch called on Egypt on Sunday to revoke the jail sentences of four Coptic Christian teenagers who were found guilty of blasphemy last month.

On 25 February, Upper Egypts Juvenile Misdemeanor Court in Minya sentenced in absentia Mueller Atef, Albert Ashraf, and Bassem Amgad to five years in jail, and Clinton Magdy to juvenile custody for five years.

Muslim residents in the boys village filed a legal complaint accusing the teens of insulting Islam by shooting a video mocking members of the Islamic State group carrying out a beheading after finishing Islamic prayers.

These children shouldnt face prison for expressing themselves, even with an immature joke, a HRW statement quoted deputy Middle East director Nadim Houry as saying.

HRW also called for the annulment of the law used to prosecute blasphemy.

The continued prosecution of blasphemy cases in Egypt goes against the governments claim to be promoting a more inclusive vision of religion, Houry added.

On 30 January 2016, the boys teacher, Gad Youssef Younan, was convicted of contempt of religion for shooting the clip, and sentenced to three years in jail.

The sentences can still be appealed.

Egyptian courts have recently convicted several individuals, both Muslim and Christian, of contempt of religion in various court cases involving citizen complaints against behaviour deemed sacrilegious.

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The migrants, who include women and children, were arrested in the Red Sea governorate close to the Sudanese border

Egyptian security forces arrested on Monday 46 Syrians, including women and children, in Egypt's Red Sea governorate as they attempted to enter the country illegally through the Sudanese border, security sources told Ahram Arabic website.

The migrants were arrested in several areas in the south of the country near the border.

Although the prosecution ordered their release, the migrants are being kept in custody at the Marsa Alam and Shalatin police stations until their legal status can be determine, with a security source telling Al-Ahram that they are being well-treated and fed.

There are 118,512 registered Syrian refugees in Egypt, according to UNHCR figures updated on 31 January 2016.

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Unknown assailants opened fire near a police station in North Sinai's Al-Arish, leaving one police officer dead

An officer was shot dead by unknown assailants near a police station in North Sinai's Al-Arish, interior ministry spokesperson Abu Bakr Abdel-Karim announced on Monday.

The assailants opened fire near the police station, killing officer Mohamed Saied Hafez, who was in charge of securing the facility.

The interior ministry announced in the statement that they are intensifying security around the scene of the shooting in the hopes of detaining the perpetrators.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Egypt's army has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in parts of North Sinai, which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of militants, members of security forces, and local residents.



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The one-day visit will also include discussions of regional issues such as the conflicts in Syria and Libya

Egypts Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry will travel on Tuesday to Russia for a one-day meeting with his Russian counterpart and other officials in Moscow, the ministry spokesman told state news agency MENA.

Shoukry's meeting with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov will discuss a number of regional issues including the situations in Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Palestine, in addition to efforts to combat terrorism regionally and internationally.

Shoukrys meetings with officials in Moscow will include discussions on mechanisms to resume Russian tourism to Egypt.

Russia suspended its flights to and from Egypt following the crash of a Russian passenger plane last October that killed all 224 aboard.

The Egyptian diplomat will also meet with the spokesperson of the Duma , the Russian parliament, as well as the Russian minister of industry and trade.

A number of media interviews are on Shoukrys agenda including talks with Russia24 and Russia Today.

Russia has been a strong economic ally to Egypt, with economic and arms deals flourishing in the past two years.

In November, the Egyptian government signed an agreement with Russia to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant at Dabaa in Marsa Matrouh governorate, which aims to generate 4,800 megawatts through four units.

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Appeals challenging the validity of MPs name several high-profile parliamentarians including parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al and the head of the 'In Love of Egypt' parliamentary bloc Sameh Seif El-Yazal

Egypt's Court of Cassation is currently looking into appeals challenging the membership validity of more than 100 of the country's MPs, parliamentary sources told Al-Ahram daily newspaper on Monday.

The source said that the court sent a notice to parliament informing several MPs that the court is looking into the appeals, which were made by hopeful parliamentary candidates alleging that violations took place in the parliamentary voting process.

The appeals name several high-profile MPs including parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al and the head of the 'In Love of Egypt' parliamentary bloc Sameh Seif El-Yazal.

Article 107 of the constitution stipulates that the Court of Cassation has jurisdiction over matters related to the membership validity of MPs.

Challenges are to be submitted to the court 30 days of the announcement of the final election results, with a verdict to be passed within 60 days from when the challenge is filed.

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The speaker of Egypt's parliament, Ali Abdel-Al, complained of a 'hostile media campaign' against him and other MPs

The Egyptian parliament's legislative agenda in the near future will give top priority to issuing new media and press laws in line with the new constitution, said parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Ali on Monday.

"I as speaker face a hostile media campaign that is trying its best to portray the country's new parliament as ineffective and lacking in achievements after two months in session," said Abdel-Al in a meeting with journalists.

"The media does not want to understand that the House of Representatives has been passing through hard times since it held its first session on 10 January," he said.

"We were required first to review dozens of laws passed after the new constitution and then draft new internal bylaws, and these in themselves were big achievements," said Abdel-Al, stressing that "the actual legislative and supervisory roles of parliament will begin only after its internal bylaws [approved last week] are enacted into law."

Abdel-Al also argued that as the speaker of a parliament composed of the unprecedented number of 596 MPs, he faces "the difficult task of imposing discipline."

"This task becomes more difficult when each MP acts like a political party, and so sometimes I find myself dealing with 594 political parties rather than with individual MPs," he said.

Abdel-Al added that since around 70 percent of members are first-time MPs, they lack any experience in parliamentary or constitutional rules.

"We are a parliament still without a majority or a minority, so please wait until the new bylaws are passed," said Abdel-Al.

The meeting with Abdel-Al was attended by members of the board of the Journalists Syndicate and a number of editors-in-chief of national and private newspapers and magazines.

Abdel-Al stressed that parliament has not received any draft laws aimed at regulating the media or the press in line with the new constitution.

"I have not received any laws in this respect from the government or from any other institution," said Abdel-Al.

Abdel-Al said he fully understands the importance of issuing new laws that give the media greater freedoms.

"I used to give lectures on this when I was a professor of law at Ain Shams University," said Abdel-Al, vowing that "any press or media laws sent to parliament will be discussed in consultation with the Journalists Syndicate."

Essam Kamel, editor-in-chief of Veto newspaper, told reporters that the Journalists Syndicate requested of Abdel-Al that "live television coverage of parliamentary sessions be allowed again and that press photographers have greater freedom in taking photos of plenary sessions."

"We told speaker Abdel-Al that people have a right to follow parliamentary sessions live on air and judge by themselves whether parliament is doing well," Yasser Rizq, board chairman of Al-Akhbar press organisation, told reporters.

"Speaker Abdel-Al said he must get the approval of MPs before live television coverage is allowed again," said Rizq.

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Giza prosecutors ordered on Monday the reviewing of surveillance camera footage taken near the Italian consulate in Cairo to determine the identity of a person who allegedly fought with slain Italian student Guilio Regeni one day before his disappearance, judicial sources told Ahram Online.

The prosecution earlier heard the testimony of witness Ahmed Fawzy, a civil engineer who said that he saw Regeni getting in what appeared to be a heated verbal dispute with an unidentified person next to the Italian consulate in Cairo's downtown.

According to the eyewitness, the person who was involved in the quarrel with Regeni seemed like he was familiar with the PhD student, who was found dead with torture signs on his body on a roadside on the outskirts of Cairo early in February.

No suspects have yet been identified.

Earlier on Monday, Egypt's top prosecutor Nabil Sadek met with the Italian Attorney General Giuseppe Buitoni to share with him the results of ongoing investigations into the death of Regeni.

Sadek and Buitoni released a joint statement affirming "the continuation and development of direct cooperation to stand on the facts of the case."

According to the statement, the Italian side has offered assistance to its Egyptian counterpart by providing any potentially helpful information.

Both sides agreed on holding a meeting soon between Egyptian police and Italian investigators in Rome.

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Since last Monday's terrorist attacks, Ben Gardane, which lies around 500 kilometers south of Tunis, has become a talking point for the media even beyond the local realm. The most pressing question raised in the wake of the attacks is, was there an attempt by the Islamic State group to establish an "emirate" along the border with Libya?

In their statements, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi and Tunisian PM Habib Essid referred to an IS "emirate," a narrative which has been adopted by the media in Tunis and by many Tunisians. In this context, there are mixed emotions of pride for the security forces, who defeated the militants, and fear of terrorism in Tunisia and its impact on the economy and tourism.

After last year's attacks on the capital's Bardo museum, the Sousse hotel, and a presidential guard vehicle, militants struck again and not only with automatic rifles, explosive belts, and bombs but also RPGs in unprecedented simultaneous attacks.

It is true that the IS rhetoric on the Ben Gardane attack in two statements published on Albatar news agency never employed the term "IS emirate" but they refer to Ben Gardane's "battle" as being similar to the attacks of 11 September in the United States.

The two statements vow a "relentless war" in Tunisia. These include an implied admission on the failure of the "battle" or "establishing of an emirate"

Perhaps the rare point of agreement between the official discourse in Tunisia and the militant IS group's statement is that the two sides assert that Ben Gardane is just a battle in an unfinished war.

There are news on security raids and clashes with militants along with news on security campaigns all over the country particularly in the border and mountain area. This strengthens the belief that this is a geographically and chronologically open war.

All the aspects of the Ben Gardane attack, by witnesses, affirm the significance of the 7 March attack and increase the credibility of the scenario of establishing an IS emirate.

In addition to the coordinated simultaneous attacks on the interior ministry and army camps, the militants also targeted security leaders and personnel inside their homes. One of the most prominent leaders was Abdel-Ati Abdul Kabir, head of the anti-terrorism force who was martyred following an attack on his house.

The militants were also in control of downtown and its main streets for a while and there are some accounts in Tunisia suggesting that the militants told shop owners that they are now under the control of the Islamic State group.

Certainly the large number of seized weapons warehouses, as well as the loss of lives, supports this view.

The number of militant causalities until Friday was 49, 37 of whom were killed on Monday only. Meanwhile, 12 were killed among security and army forces in addition to seven local civilians, one of whom was a 12-year-old girl.

Reading between the lines shows that the militants were not just arriving through the Libyan borders, which are about 14 kilometers away.

This, however, does not eliminate the possibility that a lot of the militants were coming back from Libya, or from Syria and Iraq through Libya, after investigations of the airstrike on IS camps in Misrata last February show that the 22 bodies examined were all Tunisians.

What is worrying is what Al-Sabah newspaper reported on Friday on a report done by the Libyan centre for terrorist studies which states that there are almost ten thousand foreign militants in Libya.

Among the foreign fighters, there are 3200 Tunisians, 699 from Mali, 455 Sudanese, and 111 Egyptians. However the centre says that the perpetrators of the Ben Gardane attacks were locals. In reality, Ben Gardane attracts IS group militants and several other militant groups.

In addition to the conservative culture that prevails, the area suffers from high poverty levels and unemployment. The economy of a large portion of its population depends on smuggling and parallel trade with Libya. There is also an overwhelming feeling of marginalization from the political class.

There are two scenarios when it comes to analyzing the events in Ben Gardane. The first suggests that the militants attempted to direct a preemptive strike after they learned of leaked information about their growing presence in the cities.

The second scenario suggests that it is an adventure doomed to failure and its aim is to establish a safe haven for militants fleeing Libya.

If it is true that the IS group failed in Ben Gardane while succeeding in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, then it is important that the salafist jihadist targeting of Tunisia does not wont dissuade it from continuing on its relatively successful democratic path and rebuilding its modern state institutions.

Terrorism will not be allowed to increase economic hardships and hinder the democratic transition.

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Russia is ready to coordinate its actions with the U.S.-led coalition in Syria to push the Islamic State (IS) group out of Raqqa, Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

"We are ready to coordinate our actions with the Americans, because Raqqa is in the eastern part of Syria, and the American coalition is mainly ... acting there," Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying in an interview with the Ren-TV television channel.

"Perhaps, this is no secret, if I say that at some stage the Americans suggested performing a 'division of labour': the Russian Air Forces should concentrate on the liberation of Palmyra, and the American coalition with Russian support will focus on the liberation of Raqqa," the minister added.

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The chief spokesman of the Russian state agency that investigates crime on Monday described as ridiculous and silly comments by Poland's defence minister that foul play caused the 2010 plane crash that killed the then Polish president.

Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, posted on Twitter a link to an article about the defence minister's comments and attached the accompanying comment: "An unexpected front-runner has emerged in the contest for the most ridiculous and silly statements."

The Polish minister, Antoni Macierewicz, said the 2010 crash in Smolensk, western Russia - in which 96 people were killed including president Lech Kaczynski - "was aimed at depriving Poland of the leadership who led our nation towards independence."

A previous Polish official inquiry concluded an error by the Polish pilots caused the crash.

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Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed on Monday in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.

In a statement on the UAE's official WAM news agency, the Emirati armed forces had said the jet was "missing" without giving details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since the Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.

Coalition warplanes turned their crosshairs on Yemen's second city Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, for the first time last week.

Security officials and witnesses in Aden told AFP that a jet had crashed into a nearby mountain as coalition warplanes operated in the vicinity after clashes erupted between Yemeni forces and jihadists.

Footage from the foot of a hill near Aden showed locals pointing to debris strewn in the area and saying it belonged to the crashed jet.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the conflict between Iran-backed insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local IS commander at dawn, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.

Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting on Monday, security officials said.

"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machinegun fire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden's Mansura district, one witness said.

Security sources estimate that around 300 heavily armed Al-Qaeda fighters are entrenched in Mansura.

The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.

In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error."

The pilot was saved and the plane's wreckage was found.

In May, a Moroccan jet crashed in Yemen. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that the crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, denying rebel claims that they had downed the plane.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

In Yemen itself, more than 6,100 people have died -- half of them civilians -- since the coalition launched its campaign, according to the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia mounted an Arab air campaign against the rebels after they closed in on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.

Hadi and senior officials spend most of their time in Riyadh as security situation in Aden continues to worsen.

The Huthi rebels overran capital Sanaa unopposed in September 2014 and went on to expand their control across the south Arabian Peninsula country.

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The EU has started work on sanctions against Libyan figures who hold up agreement on a national unity government meant to bring peace to the war-torn country, EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Monday.

The United States and key European allies led by France warned on Saturday that those preventing Libya's new unity government from moving quickly to take up office in Tripoli should be hit with punitive measures.

Mogherini, speaking after an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, said it was clear Libya needed a functioning government as soon as possible to restore peace and begin reconstruction.

The EU was ready to "encourage and support" the new government, she said, adding: "We have also started our internal work to sanction individuals who obstruct this internal Libyan process."

German deputy foreign minister Michael Roth said there was "no decision on sanctions today", despite a call by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Thursday for a decision on imposing sanctions.

Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowing extremists including the Islamic State group to gain a foothold in the once oil-rich country.

Since 2014, it has had two rival administrations after militia groups forced the government from Tripoli to seek safety in Tobruk in the east.

The UN brokered an agreement in December to set up a new government but lawmakers in Tobruk initially rejected it, only to then change their minds.

A European diplomatic source told AFP recently that EU sanctions -- travel bans and asset freezes -- would likely target Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, plus Nuri Abu Sahmein of the Tripoli-based General National Congress and its head Khalifa Ghweil.

The EU and Western powers have said repeatedly they will help any new government once it is in office to tackle both reconstruction and security.

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President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russian armed forces would begin pulling out of Syria and instructed his diplomats to step up the push for peace, as UN-mediated talks resumed in Geneva on ending the five-year war.

Syria said President Bashar Al-Assad had agreed on the "reduction" of Russian forces in a telephone call with Putin.

Russia's military intervention in Syria in September helped to turn the tide of war in Assad's favour after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies including US-made anti-tank missiles.

At a meeting with his defence and foreign ministers, Putin said Russian forces had largely fulfilled their objectives in the Syrian operation. But he gave no deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said forces would remain at a seaport and airbase in Syria's Latakia province.

One rebel group fighting Assad said Putin's announcement was as surprising as his decision to launch air strikes on Assad's opponents had been last year.

In Geneva, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura warned the warring parties there was no "Plan B" other than a resumption of conflict if the first of three rounds of talks which aim to agree a "clear roadmap" for Syria failed to make progress.

Putin said at the Kremlin meeting he was ordering the withdrawal from Tuesday of "the main part of our military contingent" from the country.

"The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," he said. "I believe that the task put before the defence ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled."

With the participation of the Russian military, Syrian armed forces "have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism", he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision.

The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks involving the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva.

In Damascus, the Syrian presidency said Assad had agreed to the reduction in the Russian air force presence after it had helped the Syrian army to make military gains. However, it added in a statement that Moscow had promised to continue support for Syria in "confronting terrorism".

Syria regards all rebel groups fighting Assad as terrorists.

One rebel group expressed bafflement. "I don't understand the Russian announcement, it's a surprise, like the way they entered the war. God protect us," Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal Division, a Free Syria Army group fighting in the country's northwest, told Reuters.

A US official, who asked not to be named, said Washington had seen reports of Putin's comments, adding: "We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours."

Moment of truth

Speaking before Putin's announcement, de Mistura said Syria faced a moment of truth, as he opened talks to end a war which has displaced half the population, sent refugees streaming into Europe and turned Syria into a battlefield for foreign forces and Islamist militants.

The talks are the first in more than two years and come amid a marked reduction in fighting after last month's "cessation of hostilities", sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by Assad's government and many of his foes.

But the limited truce, which excludes the powerful Islamic State group and Nusra Front groups, is fragile. The warring sides have accused each other of multiple violations, and they arrived in Geneva with what look like irreconcilable agendas.

The Syrian opposition says the talks must focus on setting up a transitional governing body with full executive power, and that Assad must leave power at the start of the transition. Damascus says Assad's opponents are deluded if they think they will take power at the negotiating table.

The head of the government delegation, Bashar Ja'afari, described his first meeting with de Mistura on Monday as positive and constructive, adding he submitted a document entitled "Basic Elements for a Political Solution".

De Mistura said some ideas had been floated in a meeting he described as a preparatory session, before a further meeting on Wednesday which would focus on core issues. Asked about the gulf between the two teams, he said it was the nature of negotiations that both sides start off with tough positions.

In a sign of how wide the rift is, de Mistura is meeting the two sides separately - at least initially.

The talks must focus on political transition, which is the "mother of all issues", the UN envoy said before his talks with Ja'afari. Separate groups would keep tackling humanitarian issues and the cessation of hostilities.

"As far as I know, the only Plan B available is return to war, and to even worse war than we had so far," he said.

Past failures

Several ceasefires and peace talks have been attempted since the conflict, which has killed 250,000 people, broke out five years ago this week.

Hundreds of UN monitors were deployed to observe a ceasefire in Syria in 2012, but pulled out after fighting resumed. Peace talks in Geneva two years ago collapsed after making no progress.

De Mistura said that if he saw no willingness to negotiate in this latest search for a political agreement, he would hand the issue "back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the USA ... and to the Security Council".

The reduction in fighting has allowed aid to be brought to besieged areas, though the opposition says the deliveries to rebel-held territory fall well short of needs.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria leader Bashar al-Assad agreed on the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria in a phone call, the Kremlin said Monday.

"The President of Russia stated that the main tasks set before the armed forces of Russia in Syria had been completed. It was agreed to carry out the withdrawal of the main part of Russia's airforce contingent," the Kremlin said in statement, adding that the two leaders agreed Russia would maintain an airforce facility in Syria to help monitor the ceasefire.

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Syria and Russia have agreed to reduce the presence of Russia's air force in Syria after it helped the Syrian army make military gains, the Syrian presidency said in a statement on Monday.

It said President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed the move in a telephone call, saying it was in line with "the continuation of the cessation of hostilities and in accordance with the situation on the ground".

It said Russia also pledged to continue its support for Syria in "combating terrorism".

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Israeli minister Zeev Elkin on Monday slammed a reported offer to reduce Israeli military operations in cities of the occupied West Bank and restore Palestinian security responsibility.

Elkin, the country's immigration minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, said ministers were not notified of such an initiative.

The Haaretz daily said that according to "senior Israeli officials familiar with the contacts", Israel and the Palestinian Authority have being holding secret negotiations over the past month for a gradual restoration of Palestinian security control over West Bank cities.

"During the talks, Israel proposed that Ramallah and Jericho be the first cities the (Israeli military) would withdraw from; if the measure succeeded, it would be expanded to other West Bank cities," it reported on Monday night.

"Senior Israeli officials told Haaretz the talks were currently stuck but not dead and could resume," it said on its website.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Since the start of October, Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 193 Palestinians. Meanwhile, almost daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by frustrated and unarmed Palestinians have killed 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

The current wave of protests by Palestinians and repression by Israeli occupation forces started in late July when toddler Ali Dawabsha was burned to death and three other Palestinians were severely injured after their house in the occupied West Bank was set on fire by Israeli settlers.

Settlement-building, racial discrimination, confiscation of identity cards, long queues at checkpoints, as well as daily clashes and the desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque, describe Palestinians' daily suffering.

"We members of the security cabinet didn't know about this and I personally oppose this idea totally," Elkin, of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Israeli public radio.

Under peace agreements Israeli occupation forces handed control of main West Bank cities to the Palestinians in 1996, but in 2002's "Operation Defensive Shield" it retook them following a deadly suicide bombing in the Israeli coastal resort of Netanya.

Since then Israel occupation forces regularly enter at will.

On Friday, they raided the offices of a Palestinian television station in the heart of Ramallah, the West Bank political capital and seat of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Ramallah and the main Palestinian cities are in the zone, known as "Area A', designated under the Oslo peace accords as under full Palestinian rule.

Some 60 percent of the West Bank is under full Israeli control.

Haaretz said that under Israel's proposal its forces would reserve the right to enter Area A to counter imminent threats of militant attack, known in security circles as "ticking bomb" scenarios.

It said the Palestinians rejected the demand as contrary to the Oslo treaties.

Elkin said restoring even partial Palestinian security control would invite a surge in attacks on Israelis.

"In Area A about 80 percent of the work which ensures the security of the state of Israel is done by the (Israeli) army and security forces," he said.

"In the midst of the terror wave enveloping us, to pass responsibility to the Palestinians seems to me a very, very problematic idea."

The anger of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem has increased in the last three years after the Israeli authorities allowed increasing numbers of Jewish settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa mosque.

The surge in violence has been fuelled by Palestinians' frustration over Israel's 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state, and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

Palestinian leaders say a younger generation sees no hope for the future living under Israeli security restrictions and with a stifled economy. The latest round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014.

*The story has been edited by Ahram Online.

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Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, an early endorser of Donald Trump's White House run, has cancelled an appearance Monday at a rally in Florida after her husband was injured in a snowmobile accident.

"Todd Palin was in a bad snow machine accident last night and is currently hospitalized," the Trump campaign said in a statement.

"Governor Palin is returning to Alaska to be with her husband and looks forward to being back on the campaign trail soon," it said.

Palin, a former Alaska governor, was supposed to have taken part in an event in support of Trump at The Villages, a retirement community in central Florida.

A Tea Party favorite, she threw her support behind Trump in January, saying someone new was needed to "bust up the establishment."

Palin was John McCain's surprise choice as running mate in 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency.

Since then her influence has waned, but she remains a popular figure in conservative circles as an iconoclast who often butts heads with the party leadership.

She has not held public office since July 2009.

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Ivory Coast authorities ordered three days of mourning and tightened security at public places and at its borders Monday as the death toll from the first militant attack on its soil climbed to 18.

"Their aim was to frighten us, we will not let ourselves be scared," said Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko after emergency government talks.

Armed with grenades and assault rifles, gunmen Sunday stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets in the resort of Grand-Bassam, a sleepy town popular with expats just a short 40-kilometre drive from the commercial capital Abidjan.

The attack claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) left 15 civilians dead, including a German woman, as well as killing three special forces troops, the government said. A total of 33 people were injured, 26 of whom are still in hospital.

France said four of its nationals were among the dead.

AQIM's real target was France, analysts said, punished both as Ivory Coast's former colonial master and for hunting down jihadists in Mali and elsewhere.

Bakayoko said "three terrorists were killed" in the assault.

Asked whether more gunmen were involved -- some witnesses had reported six attackers -- the minister said "we're still looking. We don't suspect more but we're making sure we carry out the widest possible sweep."

Along with a three-day national mourning period starting Monday, he said the West African nation would boost security at "strategic sites and in public places... (such as) schools, embassies, international institutions... and the borders."

In the latest such jihadist assault in West Africa, witnesses described the panic as gunfire rang out across the sand and an assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest".

Condemnation came from around the world with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledging to help government "efforts to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice."

French President Francois Hollande's office said the attack would not deter France in its efforts to combat extremist violence at home or in its former colonies in Africa.

"France will support Ivory Coast in its initiatives to fight terrorism and considers that cooperation between all the states threatened by terrorist groups, particularly in West Africa, must intensify more than ever," a statement said.

It was the third such attack in four months in West Africa and a blow to a nation working to lure back foreign tourists to its palm-fringed beaches and rainforests as it recovers from a brutal civil war.

The German victim was named as 51-year-old Henrike Grohs, who headed Abidjan's Goethe Institute, the German language centre's secretary-general said.

Grand-Bassam is packed at weekends with visitors drawn by its magnificent beaches and UNESCO-listed colonial-era buildings.

Inside a hotel crowded with expats, an AFP journalist saw a bullet lodged in the front of the bar refrigerator and a large pool of blood on the floor.

Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian teacher at an international high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons when the gunmen arrived.

"We were really scared. We thought of the people at the Bataclan," she said, referring to the concert venue attacked by gunmen during November's terror attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

"I thought this was it for us," she said.

Among the hundreds gathered at the attack site Monday morning was a woman in tears as she looked for her missing son, a vendor at the beach.

"He's not in hospital and not at the morgue," she said. "I don't know where he is. He's handicapped."

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said AQIM, the terror group's North African affiliate, had claimed responsibility.

West African nations have scrambled to boost security after jihadist attacks in November and January on upscale hotels in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso that were also claimed by the group.

Sunday's attack also bore grim similarities to the Islamist gun and grenade assault on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

"Hitting Ivory Coast is clearly a way of attacking France's historical ally in the region," said Antoine Glaser, author of a recently published critical account of French colonisation in Africa called "Arrogant comme un Francais en Afrique" (Arrogant like a Frenchman in Africa).

Robert Besseling of Exx Africa, a specialist intelligence company, said the attack should not have come as a surprise.

"Cote d'Ivoire has been receiving warnings for at least a year from France's intelligence service that Islamist militants are planning to attack major cities," said Besseling, using the French name for Ivory Coast.

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Two of Egypt's public lenders introduced on Monday new pound-denominated saving certificates to be bought by individuals in foreign currency at the highest yearly yield of 15 percent, Al-Ahram news website reported.

The new certificates offered by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr coincide with the Central Bank's fresh decision to depreciate the rate of the local currency against the US-dollar to reach EGP 8.85.

NBE, Banque Misr and Banque de Caire announced on Sunday the offering of Euro-denominated certificates to Egyptian expats starting at a minimum of 100 and its multiples.

Last month, the three banks introduced 'Beladi' (my country), a US-dollar-denominated debt tool to Egyptians abroad to shore up Egypt's depleting foreign currency resources.

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Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) aims to purchase 4-4.5 million tonnes of domestic wheat this year, GASC Vice Chairman Mamdouh Abdel Fattah told Reuters on Monday.

Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, annually fixes a local procurement price for Egyptian wheat that is above global prices in an attempt to encourage farmers to grow the crop.

Last year the high local price, over $150 above the global spot price for wheat at the time, led the government to procure 5.3 million tonnes of domestic grain, a jump from the 3.7 million the year before.

But those in the wheat industry have said that as much as 2 million tonnes of that may have actually been purchased from abroad and passed off as domestic by intermediaries looking to cash in on the high price the government pays for its crop.

Egypt begins its harvest season in mid-April and typically completes it in July.

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An upcoming Egyptian film Barcodia which is written, directed and produced by Magy Anwar, explores an alternative reality, and forsakes conversation.

Barcodia is set in a fictional world, where a device is used to reveal the true colours of everyone, and particularly for choosing life partners. The film presents problems in the Arab World through three narratives.

The film stands out in the contemporary film scene for its lack of verbal dialogue, silent communication between its characters and as the first Egyptian silent film in a long time. It is reportedly in post-production stage.

The Stars of Barcodia include Shady El-Daly, Mahmoud Emam, Ahmed Hassan, Sherif El-Wassimy and Emad Mattar.

After graduating from the faculty of Commerce in Egypt, Anwar began her career writing reviews for foreign films, before she turned to film directing.

She recently won an award for her film El-Fatena (The Beautiful), which was screened at Cannes. The film pays homage to the late Egyptian starlet Faten Hamama, and is about her last interview, which took place just one day prior to her death.

Owner of production house Magica House, Anwar was the founder of Mansoura Film Festival, and the still running Faten Hamama Film Festival for short films, which takes place annually in January and is currently accepting submissions for its next edition.

She was also the first female allowed to film in Saudi Arabias desert. Anwar has initiated many workshops, including one for short films in Saudi Arabia that was attended by 90 women, and another workshop for children in Morocco.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The book tells the story of three Swedish women representing three generations living in Cairo throughout the twentieth century and explores their perspective on Egyptian political and social life

Swedish writer Anne Edelstam arrived in Cairo this week to launch the Arabic translation of her book Three Ladies in Cairo that was translated into Arabic by Marwa Adam, forwarded by the late former UN Secretary General Botrous Ghali, and published by Al-Dar Al-Masriah Al-Lubnaniah in Cairo.

Edelstam will sign her book at Diwan bookstore in Zamalek, on Tuesday, 15 March at 7:00pm.

Three Ladies in Cairo is a fictionalised true story of how three Swedish women  her grandmother Hilda, her mother Ingrid, and Anne herself  discover Egypt and learn to cope with the cultural differences throughout the twentieth centurys social changes, up to the countrys first free elections in June 2012.

Covering more than a century of womens experiences, the book offers a deep and extended perspective on Egypts politics and societies, from the vantage point of both outsiders and insiders.

The writer weaves the ancient and the political history into the lived reality showing the reader not just the broader picture behind Egypts history and political upheavals but what it was like to live through the changes.

In his forward, Boutros Ghali describes the work as a "fascinating book" that allows us to experience the evolution and transformation of Egypt during three vital decades via the original and very personal stories of three generations of women in a Swedish family.

Anne Edelstam is a well known social anthropologist, Islamic historian, and journalist, and is currently working at the UNESCO in Paris and is the third of three generations of women with close connections to Egypt.

Programme:

Tuesday, 15 March, 7:00pm

Diwan Bookstore in Zamalek, Cairo

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China's transportation infrastructure has been developing at breakneck speed. In the past, travelers only had the option of flying to remote destinations. Now a dense network of high-speed railroads crisscrosses the country, cutting travel time significantly.

A 4 trillion yuan cash injection by the central government in the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown resulted in new transportation links being constructed at lightening speeds. Mushrooming transportation projects backed by heavy investments have changed the rhythm of life in just few years. They have also become an important indicator for assessing the government's governing capacity. The efficiency of construction has surprised many and at first glance, it seems as if there is nothing that Chinese construction workers cannot build.

Zhang Zanbo, an independent filmmaker, spent three years documenting a highway construction project in the central province of Hunan. The film titled The Road shed light on an aspect of our society that is beyond the imagination of most ordinary people.

Its main cast involves real-life construction workers, local residents, government officials and gang members. The plot reveals how all of them are bound together by a complex web of interest related to an unfinished road.

The project contractor tries everything possible to ease local residents' discontent and win official support in order to push forward the construction work. The camera recorded the stories that we might have read briefly in some news reports.

I've heard many stories about the struggle, conflicts and dirty deals surrounding this kind of massive projects. But The Road, for the first time, allowed me to witness what really happens. One strand of the story highlights the conflict between a few locals and the construction company, which leads to a violent confrontation between workers and local gang members that had other sinister interests. One worker is seriously injured.

The documentary doesn't include the violent brawl, but the director shows its aftermath. We see injured migrant workers lying on hospital beds with frustration on their faces. A relative who came to visit a hospitalized worker, showed one of his own hands, where a few fingers were missing, and said he had also been a migrant worker and was seriously hurt in a construction accident.

This wild growth has left permanent scars on these workers. But what makes me more distressed are those invisible scars that have been left on everybody that is part of the system. The project manager has to keep working to complete the project and try everything possible regardless of the bottom line. Some local officials break laws and cross ethical boundaries to seek personal gains. And the residents, who haggled for better compensation, were trying to protect their own interests.

The Road exposes a part of our society where there were no friendships, trust, ideals, sympathy or understanding. It is a system where everyone hurt each other and the only way to keep it running was to promote personal interests through unspoken rules.

I watched several independent documentaries recently on different themes, but all of them reflected this brutal reality in a similar way. Watching these films have left me with a deep, permanent scar.

The damage caused by big construction projects is much greater than we thought. How should we heal the scars and restore society after being ripped apart? A government order, some compensation or a court verdict is apparently not enough. It is a question for everyone of us to think about.

Zhang Zhaowei is the chief producer at CNEX Foundation Limited, a non-profit organization that produces and promotes independent documentaries in China
(Beijing)  China has always been clear about its disapproval of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, but recent provocative actions are leaving it with little room for diplomatic maneuvering.

Beijing recently shifted its stance on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Its earlier opposition to the program was largely limited to rhetoric, but recently it has worked with the United States in the UN Security Council to pass tough new sanctions against the country. This comes after Pyongyang tested a nuclear bomb in January and ballistic missiles in March.

The strongest package of UN sanctions against the country in two decades adds to economic penalties imposed by the United States, South Korea and Japan. The resolution unanimously passed on March 2 stresses that if Pyongyang continues testing nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles, the UN would "take further significant measures."

After years of disagreement, Beijing and Washington have started to see eye-to-eye on how Pyongyang should be reigned in because they have shared interests. For its part, China regards stability on the Korean Peninsula as a primary interest.

The U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, told Caixin in January that China's sending of a clear signal to Pyongyang that abandoning its nuclear program is a top priority would go a long way in helping resolve the problem.

China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, recently outlined three priorities regarding the Korean Peninsula. At the top of the agenda is removing all nuclear weapons  no matter whether they were made locally or imported  from both the North and the South. Next, is an agreement that the issue cannot be resolved by force because this may lead to war and regional instability, which Beijing cannot allow. Finally, China's own national security interests must be maintained and protected.

The UN resolution is bound to affect the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang, Wang said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on February 25, but it is needed to achieve the goal of denuclearization on the peninsula. This can be seen as sending a strong message to Pyongyang: The need for denuclearization cannot be challenged.

As North Korea's biggest neighbor  and one with long and strong ties to it  and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has the responsibility to defuse tensions in its backyard.

Pyongyang's recent actions have aroused more heated public debate on China's social media sites than in the past. The shockwaves triggered by the nuclear test  cracks were found in Chinese playgrounds near the border  and the possibility of radiation pollution have prompted the public to question China's ties with its isolated neighbor.

In the past, Beijing called its relationship with Pyongyang a "friendship sealed in blood." These close ties frayed a little in 1992, when Beijing established diplomatic relations with Seoul. Beijing's push to forge diplomatic links with countries that have different ideologies and political systems and its growing role on the international stage has caused the rift to widen.

Over the past two decades, and with each North Korean nuclear or ballistic missile test, the North's fragile ties with the international community have deteriorated further. During Kim Jong-il's reign, from 1994 to 2011, these incidents did little to hurt the country's relations with China or put an end to regular state trips by leaders from both sides. However, since Kim Jong-un took over in 2011, the number of high-level exchanges has fallen off significantly.

This cooling of ties is also linked to the gap in development of the two countries. China continues to move forward, assuming a bigger international role in accordance with its strength. Meanwhile, growth in North Korea has stagnated as the country continues to adhere to its "military first" policy, which sees it divert all available resources to its armed forces, even at the risk of economic collapse.

Although some older people may feel nostalgia for the close cooperation the two countries enjoyed during the Korean War (1950-1953), young Chinese are more pragmatic and find it difficult to identify with a nation they see as both foolish and offensive.

The relationship between China and North Korea has reached a point where it must adapt to the demands of the international community and public opinion. Beijing's support for the UN sanctions is a good starting point, and now it must show Pyongyang that it is determined to follow through. After all, the first victim of instability in North Korea would be China.

(Rewritten by Han Wei)
(Shenzhen)  China Vanke Co. Ltd., the country's largest publicly traded property developer by sales, said it plans to issue new shares to fund the purchase of a stake in a subsidiary of Shenzhen Metro Group Co., a move apparently aimed at fending off a bid for a hostile takeover.

China Vanke said on March 13 that it plans to pay between 40 billion yuan and 60 billion yuan for a stake in a real estate unit of Shenzhen Metro, a state-run urban transit company. The developer will cover the acquisition largely by selling new shares to Shenzhen Metro, Vanke said in its statement.

Vanke did not say how many new shares it will sell to Shenzhen Metro, their price or the size of the stake it will take in the subsidiary because the deal is still the subject of a due diligence probe and audit by a third-party company.

Vanke, which is listed in the southern city of Shenzhen and in Hong Kong, must also get the approval of its shareholders before it can move forward with the tie-up.

China Vanke's management, led by founder and chairman Wang Shi, has been battling Baoneng Group for control of the developer since September.

Baoneng, a Shenzhen-based conglomerate with businesses in logistics, real estate, insurance and health care, became Vanke's largest shareholder in December through a string of purchases by two of its subsidiaries.

Baoneng owned 24.26 percent of Vanke as of December 18 via the two firms, Shenzhen Jushenghua Co. Ltd, an investment company, and Foresea Life Insurance. State-owned China Resources is the No. 2 shareholder in Vanke, with a 15.29 percent stake.

Wang has described Baoneng's actions as a hostile takeover attempt by a company lacking credibility. He tried to counter Baoneng by suspending trading of its shares in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen on December 18. He has also said the company planned a share sale, triggering speculation the maneuver is aimed at diluting Baoneng' stake.

Trading of Vanke's shares in Hong Kong resumed on January 6, and prices fell by 9.17 percent to HK$20.8. Its share prices rose 10 percent from a day earlier to HK$20.15 on March 14.

Vanke said it will hold a shareholders' meeting on March 17 to review the suspension of trading in its shares in Shenzhen.

(Rewritten by Li Rongde)
(Beijing)  Several of China Mobile's branches around the country have closed 3G-only base stations as the telecoms giant shifts its focus to 4G, several sources with knowledge of the matter say.

Branches in several provinces, such as in Jiangsu in the east, recently started closing base stations that only support the TD-SCDMA standard, said a person who provides operations and maintenance services to the country's largest wireless carrier by number of subscribers.

A China Mobile employee described the process as "an irresistible trend."

The firm has decided to phase out its unpopular 3G network and put more resources into developing 4G services, which is built on a standard called TD-LTE. Many of China Mobile's branches around the nation have upgraded TD-SCDMA stations, which started going up around 2009, to provide 4G services, an employee of one of the branches said.

"As for those base stations that cannot be upgraded, closures will happen sooner or later," he said.

The decision to shut the older stations, which let China Mobile subscribers operate their smartphones and mobile devices on its network, did not come from the company's headquarters in Beijing, said an employee of the head office, meaning lower-level branches were making the decision on their own.

It was unclear how many of the facilities have been shuttered.

China Mobile rolled out its 3G wireless network in 2009 after the government pushed for a new standard that was different from international standards. The government-backed standard never became popular with China Mobile's subscribers.

The TD-SCDMA network is slower than networks based on the internationally accepted CDMA2000 version, which is used by China Telecom, and WCDMA, a standard adopted by China Unicom. In 2013, China's Unicom's 3G network averaged a download speed of 21 megabits per second, while China Telecom's was 3.1 megabits and China Mobile's was 2.8 megabits.

The arrival of 4G technologies also dashed China Mobile's hopes for its 3G network. "They had to rush into 4G before making any money on 3G investments," an industry expert said.

Data from China Mobile show that as of October in 2014, the 3G network accounted for 23 percent of the firm's total data traffic and had 243 million customers. Meanwhile, the year-old TD-LTE network handled 39 percent of the data and had about 50 million users.

A China Mobile executive told Caixin in 2014 that it would stop investing in 3G services and work to convince its customers to switch to 4G.

Government data show that the country had 386 million 4G users at the end of 2015, and around four-fifths of them were using China Mobile's service.

(Rewritten by Chen Na)
Political rivals of Donald Trump, the leading U.S. Republican presidential contender, are blaming him for sowing the seeds of anger that has erupted in violent confrontations at his political rallies in the last few days.

Fights and pushing and shoving have broken out between his supporters and protesters opposing his candidacy at rallies in several states where key Republican nominating primary elections are set for Tuesday.

Authorities have arrested a small number of protesters, some inside his rallies in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio and others outside on nearby streets.

One of his opponents, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, called the escalating turmoil at Trump's campaign stops "frightening and grotesque."

Rubio blamed Trump's rhetoric, with the billionaire real estate mogul calling for his supporters to "punch the crap" out of protesters and saying he would pay their legal bills if they are charged by police.

"This is reckless and dangerous," said Rubio, Trump's main challenger Tuesday in the southeastern state of Florida, where Rubio lives and Trump has a lavish resort home.

"You just can't say anything you want as a president or as a presidential candidate. Every day it's something new," he said.

 Fellow Republicans

Trump's other two Republican challengers, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, as well as the two Democratic presidential candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, all blamed Trump, a political novice and one-time television reality show host, for the marked turn toward physical confrontations at his political rallies in recent days.

"People are catching on to Trump, that's why he's getting reckless," Sanders told CNN on Sunday. "Trump is primarily the cause of it. He's got to tone it down."

But Trump told the network that "professional disrupters" linked to Sanders's campaign were to blame for Friday night's confrontation in Chicago at a rally that Trump called off amid mounting security concerns.

Trump said he "should have gotten credit" for acting responsibly in postponing the event.
A large explosion ripped through the main square in Turkey's capital, Ankara, Sunday, killing at least 34 people.

Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 125 people were being treated at various hospitals in Ankara. Nineteen of them were in a critical condition.

"Thirty people were killed on the spot and four others died in hospital," Muezzinoglu said.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said authorities are expected to conclude the investigation into the attack Monday.

The blast occurred near Kizilay square, a key shopping and transportation hub near foreign embassies and government buildings.

Ala said the blast was caused by a car bomb that targeted civilians at a bus stop. Cars nearby caught fire and television footage showed several gutted vehicles.
North Korea is using honey traps to steal clandestine information from gullible male South Korean officials on the Internet, the National Intelligence Service said Friday.

The NIS told the National Assembly that the North has set up fake Facebook accounts with pictures of pretty women to hook up with scores of former and incumbent South Korean officials and get hold of classified information.

The NIS said the North is also spreading false rumors about the South Korean government online. "If a beautiful stranger wants to become your friend on Facebook, you should turn them down," an NIS official warned lawmakers.

The NIS said the North Korea succeeded in hacking into the e-mail accounts of 40 South Korean government officials and military officers by sending them e-mails purporting to come from Cheong Wa Dae or other government agencies.

Lee Cheol-woo of the ruling Saenuri Party said after the closed-door session that North Korea is conducting cyber terror aimed at jamming GPS navigation systems. "Terror attacks targeting GPS systems are very dangerous since they can cause aircraft to fly in the wrong direction," he added.


China defends human rights in judicial practice

2016-03-14 12:30

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A more efficient and fairer justice system has improved human rights protection in China with many wrongful convictions corrected, court proceeding streamlined and better protection of lawyers' rights.

The achievements were outlined in the work reports of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), which were submitted to the ongoing parliamentary session on Sunday.

"We tried our best to make sure every case processed through the judicial system was fair and justice was served," Chief Justice Zhou Qiang said when delivering the SPC work report to the National People's Congress (NPC).

The safety and wellbeing of women and children saw vast improvements. Chinese courts concluded the trial of about 5,400 cases involving the trafficking and sexual assault of women and children last year, with more severe sentences extended to the guilty parties, according to the SPC report.

Meanwhile, about 24,000 suspects were charged with violating the personal rights of women, the SPP report said.

CONSTRUCTIVE INTERACTION WITH LAWYERS

Prosecutors have strived for "constructive interaction with lawyers," said Procurator-General Cao Jianming, when delivering the SPP work report at the NPC session.

An online system to support defense lawyers was established, which helped them schedule appointments with their clients and file lawsuits, while a database of digital legal documents is available to 29 provincial divisions, helping lawyers access and survey documents easily.

In about 1,000 cases, prosecutors stopped authorities from hindering the work of lawyers.

This year, Zhou promised improvements to the legal aid system, to help those who want to appeal or review their death sentence.

PROCEDURAL JUSTICE

Courts have upheld the principle of innocence till proven guilty and worked to protect the legal rights of defendants, Zhou said, adding that a total of 1,039 suspects were found not guilty in 2015.

A number of high-profile wrongful convictions were corrected last year while the courts reviewed about 1,300 cases. One such case involved Chen Man, 53, who had spent 23 years in prison for murder and arson. Last month a court overturned his conviction after a 16-year appeal process.

"We have carefully reviewed the wrongful prosecutions in the past years and in the process have uncovered discrepancies in the arrest of suspects and lodging indictments," Cao said.

Moreover, the SPP is fine-tuning a mechanism to prevent and correct wrong cases, he said.

Prosecutors nationwide made significant efforts to ensure procedural justice. They lodged protests against about 6,600 criminal court rulings and about 3,500 civil rulings. They also pushed the police to drop about 10,000 cases and stop them from abusing their power and illegally collecting evidence in about 31,000 cases.

About 25,000 suspects were not prosecuted due to lack of evidence or facts to constitute a crime, according to the SPP report.

Prosecutors also tightened supervision on the police concerning compulsory measures on suspects. They called on the police to release or ease the custody of nearly 30,000 suspects.

The number of suspects, placed in custody for more than three years without being charged, reduced from 4,459 in 2013 to six by 2015.

Related:

China concludes 6,221 criminal cases involving cyber

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China in 2015 concluded 6,221 criminal cases using cyber for fraud, crimes of provoking troubles or other crimes, a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Sunday. Full Story

33 convicted for criminal offense in SW China electoral fraud: report

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 33 people in southwest China's Sichuan Province were convicted of criminal offense during an electoral fraud in 2011 in the city of Nanchong, according to a work report on the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

No further details, neither the 33 people's names and titles nor their respective verdicts, were provided in the report to be delivered by Procurator-General Cao Jianming. Full Story
China keeps "high pressure" on corruption: reports

2016-03-14 12:30

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's judicial authorities said Sunday the country had maintained "high pressure" on corruption to press on with an anti-graft drive lasting more than three years.

A total of 22 Chinese former officials at ministerial level or above, including former Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang, were prosecuted in 2015, while 41 were subject to investigation, a report on the work of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) read.

Another report on the Supreme People's Court, meanwhile, said courts had concluded trials for Zhou and 15 other senior officials, showcasing "the Party and the country's resolute determination in cracking down on corruption," it said.

Both reports were made public on Sunday morning, shortly before a plenary meeting of the annual session of China's top legislature.

Related:

China concludes 6,221 criminal cases involving cyber

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China in 2015 concluded 6,221 criminal cases using cyber for fraud, crimes of provoking troubles or other crimes, a work report of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Sunday. Full Story

33 convicted for criminal offense in SW China electoral fraud: report

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 33 people in southwest China's Sichuan Province were convicted of criminal offense during an electoral fraud in 2011 in the city of Nanchong, according to a work report on the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

No further details, neither the 33 people's names and titles nor their respective verdicts, were provided in the report to be delivered by Procurator-General Cao Jianming. Full Story
Mammootty's Rorschach hits all the right notes, except in the end | Movie Review
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#coronavirus-additional cases New COVID-19 cases under 30,000 for 4th consecutive day South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 30,000 for a fourth straight day Saturday with the daily death toll down to its 14-week low for a Saturday. The country reporte...

#BLACKPINK BLACKPINK to headline BST Hyde Park festival next year K-pop sensation BLACKPINK will headline British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park in London next year, the group's agency and the festival announced Saturday. The four-member act will...
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John 'Finn' Boyega took some time out of his schedule over the weekend to bring a load of Star Wars toys and some much appreciated cheer to the Royal Hospital London - all thanks to a little 5-year-old boy called Daniel.



Posting the below to Instagram last night, he said.... (we're just giving you some time to grab a tissue, because this gets emotional):

"This little stormtrooper Daniel had a wonderful wish after seeing the force awakens. Daniel currently lives with a brain tumour and rather than having Finn to himself he wanted Finn to meet the kids at the Royal London hospital and give them some toys. I stayed in character while I was with this brave boy asking him what a car was. He taught Finn about everything earth related! Really thankful for the opportunity this child granted me and I'm just humbled! I hope I played a little part in making you smile young stormtrooper."



Speaking with the Belfast Telegraph, 23-year-old Boyega said: "When I heard about Daniel's wish to meet Finn, I jumped at the chance to make it come true. It was fantastic to be a part of his very special wish with Rays of Sunshine... It was also great to meet the children at The Royal London Hospital and be a part of something so positive."

Taking to Facebook, Daniel's mum Rosalind said: "Thank you so so much Rays of Sunshine and John Boyega for granting Daniel's wish to meet Finn and take toys to the hospital. It was just amazing, I have no words! Daniel is still totally overwhelmed, I have never seen him so happy."

May the force be with you, Daniel.
If playing someone gives you some insight into their being, we think that Johnny Depp is going easy on his description of Donald Trump.

Depp was appearing at a university in the US when he was asked about his portrayal of the presidential candidate.

"Its not just about being a rich kid or anything like that," Depp told the audience gathered in Arizona State University. "I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. Theres a pretense. Theres something created about him in the sense of bullydom. But what he is, I believe, is a brat."

Depp played his version of Trump in Funny or Die's faux-biopic 'The Art of The Deal', bringing along his own hair and makeup team to complete his transformation into the Donald (which made for even more terrifying removal).

See Depp's opinion on Trump below.

Via EW
Although sci-fi is often associated with big thrills and bigger budgets, it doesn't always have to be.

Sci-fi movies can be just as mind-bending as it can be visually engrossing without blockbuster-sized budgets. With smart writing and committed performances, sci-fi movies have the ability to transcend time and convention to do something truly unique and unlike anything you're likely to see in other genres.

Here are ten sci-fi movies that are essential and required viewing.

10. 'MOON' (2009)

People are only just now cottoning on how to good an actor Sam Rockwell is, thanks to award-winning turns in the likes of 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'. This little gem from 2009 was directed by none other than David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. Made for a relative pittance in sci-fi terms - just under $5 million, all in - 'Moon' explores the nature of facing your self in literal terms. Sam Rockwell's character discovers a clone of himself during his mining operation on the moon and is forced to come face to face with his own personality problems. It's a probing examination of how we view ourselves, all wrapped up in a small sci-fi movie with a great soundtrack from Clint Mansell.

9. 'PRIMER' (2004)

It's something to do with time travel. Maybe. A group of engineers somehow create a device that allows time-travel but was originally intended for making things smaller. Trippy, we know. Like some of the best sci-fi movies, it was made on a tiny budget - $7,000 in this instance  but the themes and the story itself are way bigger than anything you could possibly imagine. Don't overthink it. Just experience it.

8. 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND' (1978)

More than anything else, 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' tells us that something that we don't understand isn't necessarily something to be feared. If anything, it can be something beautiful and wondrous, something that will change you entirely. Richard Dreyfuss is an average working electrician who encounters a UFO on his way home from a job. Like anyone else, he is sceptical but little by little, we're drawn into his obsession with finding out what it is he saw. Even to this day, the special effects still hold up to scrutiny and, of course, John Williams' epic score gives it that wonderful bit of magic.

7. 'ALIEN' (1979)

If 'Close Encounters' had you thinking aliens were a friendly, music-loving bunch, 'Alien' is going to change your mind entirely. 'Alien' may not have been the first example of sci-fi horror, but it's by far the best. Director Ridley Scott guides you through what is essentially a home-invasion / haunted house story set on a mining spaceship. Sigourney Weaver stars in a career-making role as Warrant Officer Ripley, a no-nonsense crewer aboard the Nostromo, their spaceship. Awoken from hyper-sleep by the ship's AI, they're ordered to land on a mysterious planet by their corporate paymasters in search of something truly sinister. The film just oozes tension, dread and gave birth to one of the most unforgettable antagonists in modern film.



6. 'ARRIVAL' (2016)



There is so much in 'Arrival' that can't be explained easily or without giving away large chunks of the story. On the surface, it reads like dozens of alien/sci-fi movies. Twelve crafts appear in various locations around Earth, as each nation tries to understand and communicate with the alien species therein.

Amy Adams plays a linguist who attempts to reach them by talking to them directly. That's really just the surface level, as underneath, there is a rich story about language, the way in which we as a species interact with one another, and how culture and nationhood is a paradoxical concept to our own species and understanding of the universe. Basically, it's a mind-bender.

5. 'STALKER' (1979)

'Stalker' is the kind of movie that just doesn't get made anymore, precisely because it broke the mould. It's by no means a movie that one could call entertaining, or even remotely close to what you'd expect from a sci-fi movie. It's an example of how sci-fi is malleable and can take in any idea or concept and funnel from it something utterly unique. Two men, a professor and a writer, are guided into a lush area known as 'The Zone' where a place that all desires and their deepest wishes can be fulfilled. With long, uninterrupted takes and complex philosophical questions, 'Stalker' is not for everyone - but it is worth experiencing.

4. 'BLADE RUNNER' (1980)



You've probably noticed that very few films in this list are from the past ten or twenty years. This is because Hollywood stopped taking chances and it could be argued that 'Blade Runner' is, in part, probably the reason why. It was way too ahead of its time and is only now starting to be fully appreciated for what it was.



Harrison Ford  arguably his best role  plays Deckard, a retired detective who specialises in hunting down human-like robots, known as Replicants. It starts off a straightforward film; Ford finds the bad guys and takes them out. As the film progresses, it goes more into what makes us human, what memories are our own and the value of life itself. It's heavy stuff, but visually incredible and like nothing you've ever seen before.

3. 'THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK' (1980)



With 'Star Wars' now becoming an annualised event at the cinema, 'The Empire Strikes Back' may be somewhat lost in all of the new efforts. Looking back on it, it still holds up a perfect example of high-flying space opera. You've got the thrilling asteroid chase with the Millennium Falcon, the epic lightsaber battle (and the reveal) with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, and throughout, a gripping story of revenge, romance and rescue told with the kind of gusto that can't be faked or replicated.



2. 'JURASSIC PARK' (1993)



It's no surprise that Steven Spielberg is on this list more than once. He's considered one of the greatest directors of our time and 'Jurassic Park' is a movie that still stands up, over 25 years after release. If you've never seen it, you never had a childhood. Sam Neill is a palaeontologist brought to a secretive island in the Pacific Ocean where dinosaurs have been brought back to life through the use of cloning.

As with all things, it eventually goes wrong and the dinosaurs are on the loose. While 'Jurassic World' did have some of the same DNA as the original, it didn't have half the charm and sense of visual wonder that 'Jurassic Park' has. It also didn't have Jeff Goldblum either.

1. '2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY' (1968)

It's really says something about a director that is able to cross genres and create some of the best examples in that genre. 'The Shining' is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best horrors ever made. 'Dr. Strangelove' is one of the sharpest examples of satire and comedy you'll ever see. '2001: A Space Odyssey' is a touchstone for all of science-fiction after it. There really is no debating the matter. It began the genre in earnest and has yet to be topped in any meaningful way.



The film covers such huge topics  the universe itself, the evolution of man  and it does in a way that is baffling, visually stunning and like nothing that was ever seen before and has been seen since. For a film that's over 50 years old, the special effects look better than some you'll see in this day and age. Leaving that aside, what '2001: A Space Odyssey' does better than any other sci-fi movie is rigidly force the viewer to think about what they're seeing and try and make sense of it. It's deliberate, and there's a creative choice made in each and every scene of it. Nothing is left to chance, and if you've seen it on a big screen, you get just how awe-inspiring it was and still is.
The European Union and Cuba normalized their relations on Friday (11 March) by signing an agreement on human rights, which was the culmination of almost two years of negotiations. The historic move comes right before a breakthrough visit of US President Barack Obama to the Caribbean island. The deal on the delicate issue of human rights is thus another step towards the ending of Cubas brand as a pariah state that comes just at the time when the White House is preparing a capstone on the rapprochement announced in December 2014.

EUs chief of diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, said that this is a historic step in our relationship, adding that the agreement marks the beginning of a new era in our bilateral relations. Until recently, Cuba was the only Latin American country without an international cooperation agreement with the EU. Brussels introduced sanctions on Havana and suspended ties in 2003 following a crackdown on activists and journalists. The EU has, however, continuously encouraged human rights advances in the country since 1996.

Since the same year, the EUs ties with Cuba have been governed by the so-called common position, which has been updated every six months following regular evaluations. According to the common position, the objective of the European Union in its relations with Cuba is to encourage a process of transition to a pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people.

Cuba has rejected the common position as interference in its internal affairs. The brand new human rights agreement puts an end to this policy, although it is still subject to ratification by the European Parliament. Both parties said that the agreement sets the stage for mutual relations to be based on respect, reciprocity and shared interests.
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Investors reassured with vow to continue stocks reform Updated: 2016-03-14 08:04 By Li Xiang(China Daily)

Remarks made by China's new securities chief show the government's resolve to deepen capital market reform, analysts said on Sunday.

His comments may also help to dispel investors' concerns that the recent stock market volatility may compromise these efforts, they said.

On Saturday, Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, reassured investors that China will continue to proceed with reforms, including the registration-based initial public offering system.

Speaking at a news conference, he said the country must adopt the system eventually, but it will be a lengthy process and will be launched only when market conditions and the legal environment "are appropriate".

The planned change to a registration-based IPO system from an approval-based one has been viewed as one of the most important reforms that could help China to develop a mature and market-driven stock market.

Zhang Zhizhou, general manager of DH Fund Management Co, said: "One focus of investors' attention is whether the regulator will continue to push reforms. Liu responded to these concerns, helping to stabilize market expectations and boosting the confidence of domestic and international investors in the Chinese economy."

Liu also impressed fund managers, analysts and retail investors on Saturday as being a humorous, down-to-earth and candid person who is good at communicating with the public.

Hong Hao, chief strategist at BOCOM International, said, "Overall, his assessments are candid, but it is too early to judge his performance."

Hong said Liu's comments may indicate that the timing of the IPO reform needs to be better calculated.

According to some analysts, short-term fears over the reform are that it will influence the market by creating a huge supply of new shares.

But Hong said the source of market volatility is the high valuations of stocks, not the supply of new shares.

"The best protection is to lower the valuations to a reasonable level so that smaller investors will not have to overpay," he said.

Liu replaced Xiao Gang as CSRC chief last month. China's small investors expect him to help restore their confidence in the regulator and in the country's stock market.

Liu defended the government's role in stabilizing the market amid a dramatic slump last summer. He said the government will step in again if such a crisis re-emerges.

He also admitted that the introduction of the circuit-breaker mechanism, which was designed to stabilize the market, had aggravated its decline. The mechanism was scrapped by the commission in January after being in effect for just four days.

Liu said China will not reintroduce the mechanism in the next few years, adding that its adoption reflected a failure to fully assess the unique structure of the Chinese stock market, which is dominated by retail investors.

Wang Qing, president of Shanghai Chongyang Investment, said, "His remarks highlight the greater attention paid by the regulator to pushing reforms that fit Chinese conditions."

Wang added that Liu had also sent a message that the regulator should be the market referee, rather than a player, by saying that he would not encourage people to buy or sell stocks.

lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn

Left: Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng (left) greets Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, in the so-called ministers' passage in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday. Above right: The 200-meter-long area is where journalists conduct interviews with leading officials during the annual sessions of the top legislature and political advisory body. Before 2014, the ministers were often pursued or surrounded by journalists seeking their answers to key questions during the two sessions. To avoid such chaos, the new area was set up and ministers were invited to meet the media. Top right: Journalists use video cameras and mobile phones to record an interview with Minister of Justice Wu Aiying on Sunday. Photos by Feng Yongbin and Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily

(China Daily 03/14/2016 page1)
Chinese bidders expected for Turkey's nuclear project Updated: 2016-03-15 07:12 By Lyu Chang(China Daily)

The stand of State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation at an industry expo in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily] Planned Turkish power plant likely to cost up to $25 billion

Turkey will open up the bidding process to build the country's third nuclear power plant next year, and an official said he believes Chinese companies will aggressively pursue the contract, worth $22 billion to $25 billion.

The site of the project has been finalized and the plan is to build four nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 5,000 megawatts, said Murat Mercan, a former deputy energy minister of Turkey. He spoke to China Daily during a weekend event held by the World Energy Council in Beijing.

State Nuclear Power Technology Corp, one of China's three nuclear giants and the United States-based Westinghouse Electric Corp are potential bidders, said Mercan, who is also chairman of the council's Turkish National Committee.

"The bidding will be open to investors and firms from all over the world, but I think Chinese nuclear companies are very competitive in terms of price, safety and technology," he said. "China is building nuclear power plants using its own third-generation nuclear reactor and I don't see why we can't use it."

China is embarking on a massive nuclear power program and plans to export its indigenous models such as CAP1400, a type of nuclear reactor developed by SNPTC, to overseas markets.

Experts said after construction on the flagship CAP1400 project starts in Shidao Bay in Shandong province in the first half of this year, foreign buyers will be more convinced about the country's capacity to deliver reactors for the global market.

Mercan said Turkey needs at least $70 billion in investments in the energy sector to meet rising demand and optimize its energy mix as it relies heavily on imports.

Russia's Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corp is building the country's first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu in Turkey's southern province of Mersin, and the first unit is expected to be completed by 2022.

The second nuclear plant, to be located in the Black Sea province of Sinop, has been contracted to a consortium consisting of Mitsubishi Electric Corp of Japan and French power company EDF.

Sources said that there is a great chance for a Chinese company to win the tender next year, given the close ties between the two countries.

Mercan also extended his invitation to Chinese companies to attend the 23rd WEC congress in Istanbul in October.
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BEIJING - For 26-year-old iPad addict Zhou Wen, going to work is a lot like more play on his beloved device.

Though employed by textile producer the Ruyi Group, Zhou has never used a sewing needle. His job is to drive a battery-powered car around a new Ruyi plant in northwest China to locations shown on the map on his iPad and operate machines there following instructions on the screen.

"It is like a game, with new quests every day," Zhou said.

Before Ruyi and many other Chinese companies raced into the digital age, working in its plants wasn't like this. The fact that Zhou's predecessors used to have to walk up to 16 km per shift in their patrols of the machines shows how far China has come in a generation or less.

As industries turn to new technologies under encouragement from the government, labor forces have been liberated and production efficiency massively increased.

Policymakers and entrepreneurs agree that innovation will generate more sustainable growth as China's old model of cheap manufacturing and exports runs out of steam. Industrial modernization is a hot topic at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature.

Many of the nearly 3,000 deputies to the NPC session going on in Beijing are speaking from personal experience. Among the deputies is Qiu Yafu, Ruyi's chairman.

NPC deputy Wang Minghui is the head of a traditional Chinese medicine company that has seen its profits grow by 30 percent for 16 consecutive years since it started basing its products on modern science as well as tradition.

The Yunnan Baiyao Group now makes herbal bandages, sprays and toothpastes.

While some industries like textiles and traditional medicine have been transformed under the modernization drive, others have been created by it.

The less-developed Guizhou Province, for example, now serves as a base camp for the big data industry, with a facility marketed as the world's first big data exchange center.

Wang Wei, another NPC deputy, has benefited from the data as his company is developing all kinds of chips and wearable devices to monitor people's health.

Big data processing requires cloud computing. The Inspur Group, headquartered in Shandong Province, is a leading solution and service provider that builds open data platforms for governments and enterprises.

"Just like China's bullet trains and nuclear power, Inspur's cloud computing is going global," said the company's head, Sun Pishu, also an NPC deputy.

Inspur entered the U.S. market last year and is planning to build cloud-computing centers in the Belt and Road regional trade and infrastructure network.

China has already contributed a quarter of world economic growth, and many observers believe the national strategy of innovation will bring new vigor to the global economy.

"China's active participation in the new scientific and industrial revolution will make a real difference to the global economy," said Chen Fengying, a scholar with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.
Visit world-class destinations on a shoestring budget.

Summer is fast approaching, and after spending mind-numbing hours cramming for final exams, you're likely yearning to use your time off to embark on a trip somewhere new and exciting. But if you haven't locked in your vacation plans and you don't want to splurge on a bucket list trip, taking a spur-of-the-moment jaunt can be costly, especially on a student budget. Fortunately, beyond notoriously pricey destinations such as London and Stockholm, there are plenty of vibrant locales filled with flourishing art, culture and nightlife scenes that are easily accessible, inexpensive and full of free (and bargain-friendly) attractions. So, if you're ready to plan an epic trip far, far away from campus, read on for seven standout spots for student travelers.

Athens, Greece

With iconic ruins and must-see sights, from the Parthenon to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the city caters to history and archaeology buffs. After visiting its most famous attractions (hat tip: the Acropolis), you can enjoy strolling through vibrant streets, perusing the Monastiraki Flea Market and savoring cheap eats like moussaka (grilled lamb and eggplant) at authentic tavernas. And while there are great deals to be snapped up in spring, "prices don't go down again until the late fall," says David Solomito, director of brand marketing at KAYAK. In fact, according to KAYAK's annual Travel Hacker Guide, median hotel rates in Athens in July and August are $141 and $137, respectively. Plus, Google Flights currently shows round-trip flights from Washington, D.C., area airports to Athens International Airport for $843 in June and round-trip flights from Los Angeles International Airport to Athens starting at $893 for the same period, making summer a smart time to plan a cost-effective trip.

Lisbon, Portugal

An affordable seaside locale with moderate year-round conditions, a distinctive cafe culture and a rich history, Lisbon appeals to those craving an off-the-beaten-path European adventure with a dose of Old World charm. Besides leisurely savoring a pasteis de nata (cinnamon tart) in a trendy cafe, you can carve out time to admire the city's Manueline architecture and azulejos (ornate ceramic tiles) and take in sublime views from the rolling hills of nearby Sintra. Or, if it's culture that you seek, you can check out storied sights such as St. George's Castle and Torre de Belem, a UNESCO World Heritage site, or you can visit the Lisbon Oceanarium, Europe's largest indoor aquarium. And when the evening rolls around, you can enjoy the city's world-renowned Fado music at lively nightclubs and bars along the Tagus River in lively districts like Alfama. Best of all, by picking up a Lisboa Card, you can enjoy discounted fare on transportation and reduced prices at attractions across the city. According to CheapTickets.com, current average nightly hotel rates are as low as $142, and goSeek currently lists nightly rates for less than $100 in June, July and August.

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Budapest, Hungary

Students on a stringent budget will appreciate Budapest's wealth of free attractions, from Heroes' Square to the Hungarian State Opera House to Castle Hill. Once you take in impressive art at the Hungarian National Gallery, enjoy a relaxing soak at the Szechenyi thermal baths and admire the area's neo-Baroque architecture or head to Fisherman's Bastion for a fairytale neo-Gothic setting and picturesque city views from its higher-level terrace (for a small fee). With its treasure trove of historic sites, plus opportunities for shopping, museum hopping and indulging in diverse cuisine, Budapest offers a wallet-friendly getaway that doesn't compromise on culture. And planning an affordable vacation is a breeze with the city's cheap and convenient public transit options and discounted attraction and transportation rates with a Budapest card, developed by Budapest's tourism office and available online at budapest-card.com and at many transportation ticket offices throughout the city. Landing inexpensive flights is a cinch, too, with Google Flights showing flights from New York airports to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in June for as low as $732.

Las Vegas

For a cost-effective but fun summer vacation, "get outdoors in the Southwest," says Clem Bason, CEO of goSeek. Sure, the temperatures might be sizzling, but if you don't mind the heat, look beyond the high-rollers and glitzy casinos along the Strip, and you'll find a myriad of outdoor pursuits that are within close driving distance of Sin City. "Drive or fly to Las Vegas, and then rent a car to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park or Death Valley," Bason says, noting that it's easy to camp or book an affordable hotel in Las Vegas. Prices for budget accommodations in Las Vegas are as low as $19 on goSeek, Bason says. Google Flights lists round-trip flights from Chicago airports to Las Vegas starting at $157 in June, round-trip flights from Portland International Airport starting at $110 and round-trip flights from San Francisco National Airport starting at $81 for the same period.

Milan

Milan may not be the first travel destination on college students' minds, but with a winning mix of big-city splendor, old-school charm and fashion-forward streets, this Italian mecca offers a cosmopolitan getaway at a reasonable price tag. From the famous La Scala opera house to the graceful spires of the Duomo to the Castello Sforzesco, a 15th-century castle that contains remarkable Renaissance art pieces, Milan offers plenty of landmarks to pique your interest. KAYAK currently lists hotels for less than $100 a night in June, and thanks to the city's convenient public transportation system, it's easy to slash costs by taking the Metro. Google Flights currently lists round-trip flights from New York airports to Milan starting at $718 in June and flights from LAX starting at $879 for the same period.

Honduras

For an outside-the-box vacation, consider skipping the increasingly popular Belize in favor of a less-trodden getaway to Honduras, suggests Alex Matjanec, co-founder and CEO of MyBankTracker.com. Catering to nature seekers and those with a zest for adventure, Honduras offers opportunities for horseback riding, diving along the world's second-largest barrier reef along the Bay Islands and the chance to admire the famed Maya ruins of Copan. Bason also suggests planning a trip to Honduras (or nearby Central American neighbors such as Belize, Guatemala or Nicaragua), thanks to the affordable flights available from both the East and West Coasts. In June, Google Flights shows round-trip flights from New York airports to San Pedro Sula's Aeropuerto Internacional Ramon Villeda Morales starting at $347 and round-trip flights from LAX starting at $331. Best of all, there are plenty of accommodation options catering to a variety of price points and preferences, from sustainable ecolodges to brand-backed chains.

Montreal

Whether you want vibrant nightlife, world-class shopping, versatile dining scenes or simply a slice of France, Montreal, with its charming boulevards, mishmash of cultures and myriad sights, offers something for every type of visitor. And thanks to the advantageous exchange rate ($1 U.S. dollar equates to about $1.4 Canadian dollars), Montreal is an excellent place for the frugal traveler. After all, strolling along the cobbled streets of Vieux-Montreal, visiting the sprawling Parc du Mont-Royal and taking in the world-renowned open-air Jean-Talon Market won't cost you a dime. If you plan a summer trip, make sure to check out the annual Montreal Internal Jazz Festival (June 30 to July 9 this year), when music icons such as Diana Ross, Lauryn Hill and Ben Harper take to the stage. With Google flights showing round-trip flights from Washington, D.C., for as low as $233 in June and flights from Boston for $252, it's easy to snap up a bargain.





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* Alibaba arm set up with China logistics firms in 2013

* No details given on size of fundraising or valuation

* Weak logistics is potential chokepoint as China e-commerce grows (Adds details from statement)

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 14 (Reuters) - The logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has completed a funding round, China's biggest e-commerce company said on Monday.

Investors in the funding round of Cainiao include Singapore's Temasek Holdings and GIC Pte Ltd, Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and China's Primavera Capital, Alibaba said in a statement.

Alibaba did not disclose details of how much money Cainiao raised, whether it issued equity shares, or at how much the logistics unit is now valued.

This is Cainiao's first funding round since Alibaba founded it three years ago, the company said. Then, Alibaba and a group of Chinese logistics companies said they would spend 100 billion yuan ($15.40 billion) over five to eight years to develop a national logistics network.

It was not immediately clear whether Cainiao has already spent the 100 billion yuan money. An Alibaba spokesman declined to comment.

Alibaba is seeking to take a lead role in developing China's fragmented package delivery industry, as e-commerce spreads beyond urban hubs and requires a more robust logistics network. In partnership with delivery businesses, Cainiao crunches reams of data on everything from order trends to delivery routes and weather patterns to increase efficiency.

Alibaba said it would work with investors to further build out its "big data logistics network".

China's dominant e-commerce company has been fighting off stiff competition from smaller rival JD.com Inc, whose loss-making business model prioritises controlling a large logistics network, like Amazon.com Inc's. ($1 = 6.4930 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Xiaoyi Shao in Beijing and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore and Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Sweden

Nearly 90% of Sweden's online publishers are uniting to prevent ad blockers from viewing their content, Digiday reports.

The initiative is led by online advertising trade body IAB Sweden, which will see around 20 publishers in the region blocking ad-blocker users from their sites during the month of August.

Ad blocker usage in the country has accelerated by 10 percentage points in the past year to 30% of internet users, according to IAB Sweden.

Under the "Advertising friendly Sweden" initiative, publishers in the region will ask users to disable their ad blockers in order to read the content on their sites.

Users will also be offered the option of making a micro-payment, such as 3 Swedish Krona ($0.36) to view articles, or instead opting to gain "limited access" to a lighter version of the website  with videos running at a lower frame rate and fewer available articles, for example.

In addition, publishers will also be working to improve the ad environment on their websites, by reducing or eliminating disruptive ads.

The task force is developing industry guidelines and publishers are also being asked to comply with the IAB US's "LEAN" initiative. "LEAN" stands for "light, encrypted, ad choice supported, non-invasive ads."

Charlotte Thur, IAB Sweden CEO, told Business Insider: "This task force shall make sure that the consumer's facing a better advertising environment when we ask them to switch off their ad blocker."

As Digiday points out, it seems unlikely this joint initiative will be replicated in many other countries due to Sweden being a small media market.

Steve Chester, the IAB UK's director of data and industry programs, told Digiday: "Sweden has a strong socialist culture concerned with fairness, more so than in Britain. It will be a massive challenge for companies that compete fiercely for readership to unify."

However, publishers elsewhere will likely be following the results of the test project closely. Publishers including Forbes, GQ, City AM, and Bild have already begun experimenting with blocking ad-blocker users from viewing their content with varying degrees of success. A united front may encourage more ad blocker users to think about how the software negatively impacts the sites they visit.

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NOW WATCH: Apartment buildings from Sochi's $50 billion Olympics are abandoned and falling apart





More From Business Insider


* CBH rejects offer from Australian Grains Consortium

* CBH says has received expressions of interest from others

* Cooperative to talk to shareholders about structure change (Adds comment from rejected consortium, quotes from analysts and shareholders on future of CBH)

By Colin Packham

SYDNEY, March 14 (Reuters) - Australia's largest wheat exporter Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH) rejected a buyout proposal on Monday, but said it would review its structure and had received other expressions of interest, potentially putting itself in play.

CBH said the plan to acquire and immediately list the co-operative in a deal valued by analysts at up to A$3 billion ($2.2 billion) was not in the best interests of its 4,200 farmer members. It was also deterred by the presence in the purchasing consortium of east coast grain handler GrainCorp.

"This unsolicited bid would see Western Australian grain growers lose control of CBH's strategic supply chain and GrainCorp acquire a strategic stake in CBH at a discount rather than a premium," CBH chairman Willy Newman told reporters.

While rejecting the GrainCorp-backed offer, CBH said it had received "several expressions of interest from other parties". It would talk to shareholders about its future structure and produce a proposal for members by the end of September.

Analysts said the decision suggested Australia's biggest remaining co-operative - a business structure often favoured in agricultural industries - had acknowledged the call from some shareholders for change.

"CBH has put itself in a position to be acquired and there will be a long line of suitors, though politics may muddy the situation a bit," said a Melbourne-based analyst, who was not authorised to talk to the media.

Several farmer shareholders in Australia's largest bulk grain handler told Reuters they were disappointed by the CBH board decision and would seek a change in structure.

"I want to see CBH transition to a commercialized, corporatized entity to give it the extra capacity that it needs to contend with all the new dynamics in the grain market," said Gary McGill, a grain farmer in Western Australia.

Story continues

CBH did not name the potential suitors and would not comment on questions about whether the new parties were proposing a deal similar to that proposed by the GrainCorp-backed Australian Grains Champion (AGC) consortium.

A local media report named U.S.-based CHS Inc, which is owned by producers and co-operatives, as a potential suitor for CBH.

The Western Australian cooperative refused to rule out CHS as an entity that had expressed interest.

AGC, which includes farmers and some former directors of CBH, had proposed to acquire and list the Western Australia state co-operative in a deal backed by GrainCorp and pension fund First State Super.

However, the presence of GrainCorp in AGC had stirred concerns among some farmers that it could eventually acquire CBH.

AGC said it was not surprised by CBH's rejection, but did not comment on its future plans.

"I cannot help but wonder on what basis the non-grower directors, in particular, have satisfied themselves that the Boards' position is in the best interests of growers," said Brad Jones, director of AGC in an emailed statement.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Richard Pullin)
(Adds details, background; shares)

March 14 (Reuters) - Cosmetics maker Avon Products Inc said on Monday it would cut about 2,500 jobs worldwide and shift its corporate headquarters to the UK as part of its three-year turnaround plan.

Avon shares were up nearly 4 percent at $4.55 in extended trading.

The company sold most of its North American business to Cerberus Capital, its biggest investor, after four years of falling sales.

Avon said it expected to record $60 million in pre-tax charges related to job cuts in the first quarter.

The company, which has 28,300 employees, said the transition of its headquarters would occur over time.

In January, Avon had outlined plans to cut $350 million in costs over the next three years, invest in technology and tap social media to revive sales.

However, a bigger-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter sales indicated that the company had failed to revive demand for its cosmetics in key markets.

Avon said it would maintain its current facilities in Suffern and Rye, New York and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under its current symbol.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
(Adds announcement may come Tuesday, background)

DHAKA, March 14 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Finance Ministry will make a major announcement on Tuesday about the central bank, a ministry spokesman said on Monday, after cyber criminals stole $81 million in one of the largest bank heists in history.

Earlier, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith had told reporters the government planned to make the announcement on Monday.

Muhith did not specify what the statement would say, but has expressed unhappiness that Bangladesh Bank did not inform him about the heist at the time.

Central bank governor Atiur Rahman has been in India since late last week for a conference, and arrived back in Dhaka late on Monday. Rahman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bangladesh's central bank confirmed on Sunday that cyber criminals tried to withdraw $951 million from its U.S. bank account.

Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank and transferred $81 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to casinos in the Philippines between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5.

(Reporting by Serajul Qadir; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
DHAKA, March 14 (Reuters) - The Bangladesh government plans to make a major announcement about the country's central bank on Monday, the finance minister said on Monday, after $81 million was stolen from the bank in one of the largest cyber heists in history.

Finance Minister Abul Mall Abdul Muhith did not specify what the announcement would be, but he has expressed unhappiness that Bangladesh Bank did not inform him about the heist at the time.

"The government will take a major decision which will be announced within a couple of hours," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

(Reporting by Serajul Qadir; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
BRASILIA, March 14 (Reuters) - Demand for consumer loans in Brazil fell 2.2 percent in February from January as the recession deepened, credit research company Serasa Experian said on Monday.

Credit demand fell across income classes and geographic regions, except in the South, where it increased 0.4 percent from January, Serasa said.

Demand for consumer credit rose 6.7 from February 2015, but mostly because this year featured a Leap Day, it said, when an extra day is added to the end of the month every four years.

(Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
(Adds details on timing of potential Lula ministry appointment, report of Azevedo plea bargain, comment from lawyer, adds BRASILIA to dateline)

By Caroline Stauffer and Lisandra Paraguassu

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, March 14 (Reuters) - Any decision to arrest Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be made by Federal Judge Sergio Moro, who oversees a sweeping investigation into kickbacks at state-run oil firm Petrobras and approved the detention of dozens of senior executives, a Sao Paulo court ruled on Monday.

State prosecutors in Sao Paulo filed for the arrest of Lula last week after charging him with money laundering for concealing ownership of a beachfront condo, in a case that had been separate from the investigation overseen by Moro in the southern city of Curitiba.

A source told Reuters that Lula, President Dilma Rousseff's predecessor and political mentor, would likely travel to Brasilia on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss accepting a position in her Cabinet. That would give him immunity from Moro, though not from the country's Supreme Court.

Sao Paulo Judge Maria Priscilla Oliveira said in her decision the state prosecutors' case had an "undeniable connection" to the Petrobras investigation in which dozens of engineering executives schemed to siphon money from Petrobras in order to bribe public officials.

News magazine Veja also reported a major break in the Petrobras case on Monday, providing details of alleged plea bargain testimony from the former head of engineering conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez which named several sitting ministers.

Veja reported, without saying how it obtained the information, that former Chief Executive Otavio Azevedo confessed that a bribery scheme already documented at Petrobras was standard operating practice for spending throughout the government.

Azevedo, who is now under house arrest, said that the graft scheme included payoffs for soccer stadiums built for the 2014 World Cup, Veja reported, backing up similar reports from newspaper Folha de S.Paulo in November.

Story continues

Press representatives for Andrade Gutierrez declined to comment immediately on the report. Efforts to reach representatives of Azevedo were not immediately successful.

His plea bargain, if confirmed, would be the first from a head of Brazil's biggest engineering groups, which have been at the center of the Petrobras investigation rattling the country's political establishment for two years.

Moro has already allowed federal police to detain Lula for questioning after prosecutors said he may have benefited from the scheme, an event that spurred isolated clashes between Lula's supporters and critics.

Lula has disavowed ownership of the apartment and denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation political in nature.

His lawyer condemned the decision to send the case to Curitiba, saying Moro should not have jurisdiction over the case and denying that Lula had anything to do with the Petrobras scheme.

Moro, who has also jailed the former treasurer of Rousseff and Lula's Workers' Party as well as Lula's former chief of staff, has become a folk hero to millions of Brazilians fed up with impunity for the elite. Some have criticized his frequent use of pretrial detention, however.

The investigation of Lula has bolstered calls for Rousseff to step down or be impeached. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters flooded the streets on Sunday, many carrying signs in support of judge Moro.

Rousseff also appointed a new justice minister on Monday for the second time in a month, naming Eugenio Jose Guilherme de Aragao, a prosecutor who had previously worked for the nation's electoral court.

(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto in Brasilia; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 14, 2016) - Calico Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE:CKB) ("Calico" or the "Company") and Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (NYSE MKT:PZG) ("Paramount") are pleased to announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement dated March 14, 2016 (the "Arrangement Agreement") pursuant to which Paramount has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Calico ("Calico Shares") by way of a statutory plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement").

Paul Parisotto, Calico's President and CEO, said: "The board of directors of Calico believes that the proposed transaction will unlock the considerable value in our Grassy Mountain project for the benefit of our shareholders. Paramount has a strong cash position of approximately US$7.9 million (as at December 31, 2015), along with experienced technical and operational leadership able to take the project forward to production and the financial resources needed to complete the permitting process and a feasibility study, work which our Calico team has so ably advanced to this point. We also believe Paramount's Sleeper Gold Project will represent an excellent economic opportunity in a better metal price environment. Calico shareholders will also benefit from Paramount's listing on the NYSE MKT. In our view, the proposed combination is synergistic; the combined company will have a stronger asset base than Calico or Paramount separately, offering shareholders a better opportunity for capital appreciation while also reducing administrative costs."

Particulars of the Transaction

Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement, holders of Calico Shares ("Calico Shareholders") will be entitled to receive 0.07 of a share of common stock of Paramount ("Paramount Shares") in exchange for each Calico Share held (the "Exchange Ratio"), representing an implied offer price of CDN$0.112 per Calico Share and a premium of 49.2% (based on the Bank of Canada noon exchange rate of US$1.00 to CDN$1.3215 on the last trading day prior to the announcement of the Arrangement) and a premium of 45.5% based on the trailing 30-day volume weighted average trading price of Calico Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange and Paramount Shares on the NYSE MKT as of the date of the Arrangement Agreement. Based on the foregoing, the Arrangement represents total consideration to Calico Shareholders of CDN$11.5 million. All existing Calico stock options will be cancelled in connection with the Arrangement.

In connection with the Arrangement, approximately 7,171,209 Paramount Shares are expected to be issued to existing Calico Shareholders, which would result in existing Calico Shareholders owning approximately 46% of the combined company on a basic basis and approximately 43% on a fully-diluted basis (based on the Exchange Ratio, the number of issued and outstanding Calico Shares and Paramount Shares, and the number of outstanding options to acquire Paramount Shares as of the date of the Arrangement Agreement).

To be effective, the Arrangement will require approval by a majority of at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by Calico Shareholders at a special meeting expected to take place in May 2016 (the "Calico Meeting"). Calico Shareholders representing approximately 37.8% of the issued and outstanding Calico Shares (including FCMI Parent Co. (approximately 19.6%), Seabridge Gold Inc. (approximately 13.5%) and the directors and officers of Calico (approximately 4.7%)) have entered into (or have agreed to enter into) voting and support agreements with Paramount in support of the Arrangement. The board of directors of Calico, on the recommendation of its independent special committee (the "Special Committee") after having received advice from Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord Genuity"), its financial advisor, has unanimously approved the Arrangement and will provide a written recommendation that Calico Shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement which will be included in the management information circular to be mailed to Calico Shareholders in connection with the Arrangement.

In addition, to be effective, the Arrangement will also require approval of a majority of at least 50% of the votes cast by holders of Paramount Shares at a special meeting expected to take place in the second quarter of 2016. The board of directors of Paramount, on the recommendation of the Special Committee, has unanimously approved the Arrangement and will provide a written recommendation that Paramount shareholders vote in favour of the Arrangement which will be included in the proxy statement to be mailed to Paramount shareholders in connection with the Arrangement.

The Arrangement Agreement includes customary provisions, including with respect to non-solicitation of alternative transactions, a right granted to Paramount to match superior proposals for Calico and a provision entitling Calico to a fiduciary-out. In addition, Calico and Paramount have each agreed to pay a termination fee of US$300,000 to the other party upon the occurrence of certain events. In addition to shareholder and court approvals, the transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature.

In connection with the Arrangement, Paramount will provide Calico with interim debt financing of up to US$800,000 (the "Interim Loan"), to be repaid 90 days following the termination of the Arrangement Agreement. The loan will be convertible into Calico Shares at a price of CDN$0.10 per share, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, and will be secured by all of Calico's assets. The proceeds of the Interim Loan will be used by Calico for general corporate purposes prior to the completion of the Arrangement.

Full details of the Arrangement will be included in a management information circular of Calico describing the matters to be considered at the Calico Meeting, respectively, which is expected to be mailed to Calico Shareholders April 2016 and will be made available on SEDAR under the issuer profile of Calico at www.sedar.com. It is anticipated that the transaction will close in the second quarter of 2016.

About Paramount Gold

Paramount is a U.S. based precious metals exploration company. Paramount owns a 100% interest in the Sleeper Gold Project located in Northern Nevada. The Sleeper Gold Project, which includes the former producing Sleeper mine, totals 2,322 unpatented mining claims (approximately 60 square miles or 15,500 hectares).

On December 10, 2015, Paramount filed on SEDAR a technical report prepared under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment: Sleeper Project, Humboldt County, Nevada", prepared for Paramount by Metal Mining Consultants) relating to the PEA of the Sleeper Gold Project (the "Sleeper Gold PEA"). Sleeper Gold PEA has been made available on SEDAR under the issuer profile of Paramount at www.sedar.com, and should be referenced to determine key assumptions, parameters and methods used to determine the global mineralized material estimate below.

Highlights of the Sleeper Gold PEA include:

low initial capital cost of US$175 Million for a 30,000 tonne per day operation

estimated annual production of 102,000 ounces of gold and 105,000 ounces of silver

low cash operating cost of US$529 per ounce of gold equivalent produced

base case pre-tax net cash flows of US$244 million

net present value of US$167 million (assuming a 5% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 25%)

quick capital payback period of 3.5 years (based on after tax cash flows)

confirmed potential to add mineralized material

The Sleeper Gold PEA incorporates, among other things, (i) a global mineralized material estimate completed by SRK Consulting, (ii) results of new metallurgical tests completed over the previous two years by McClelland Laboratories, and (iii) updated pricing for gold (US$1250) and silver (US$16) to reflect the current metals market.

The Sleeper Gold PEA includes the following global mineralized material estimate:

Resource

Category Mineralized

Material

(000s

Tonnes) Gold

Grade

(g/T) Gold

(000s of

ounces) Silver

Grade

(g/T) Silver

(000s of

ounces) Measured 32,596 0.38 399 3.54 3,714 Indicated 10,089 0.35 112 2.29 744 Measured and Indicated 42,685 0.37 511 3.25 4,458 Inferred 34,924 0.46 511 0.57 640

Notes:

Rounding may cause apparent discrepancies. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. The mineral resource estimates include inferred mineral resources that are normally considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty that inferred mineral resources will be converted to measured and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves once economic considerations are applied. The Sleeper Gold PEA, as a preliminary economic assessment, is considered too preliminary in nature, based, in part, on inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.

This Sleeper Gold PEA is preliminary in nature and should not be considered to be a pre-feasibility or feasibility study, as the economics and technical viability of the Sleeper Gold Project have not been demonstrated at this time. Furthermore, there is no certainty that the Sleeper Gold PEA will be realized.

For more information, please see the website of Paramount at www.paramountnevada.com.

About Calico Resources Corp.

Calico is a Canadian company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral property interests. Calico is focused on advancing its 100%-owned Grassy Mountain Gold Project located in Malheur County, Oregon. For more information, please see the website of Calico at www.calicoresources.com.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved on behalf of Calico by Scott E. Wilson, CPG, an independent "Qualified Person" (as defined by National Instrument National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). For further information regarding the Sleeper Gold Project, refer to the Sleeper Gold PEA, which is available on SEDAR under Paramount's issuer profile at www.sedar.com.

Advisors and Counsel

McCullough O'Connor Irwin LLP is the Canadian legal advisor to Calico. In connection with this transaction, the Calico Board of Directors formed a Special Committee comprised of the independent, uninterested directors to evaluate the transaction. Canaccord Geniuty has acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the Special Committee. Canaccord Genuity has provided an opinion to the Special Committee that, based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications in the opinion, the consideration being offered by Paramount is fair, from a financial point of view, to the Calico Shareholders. Bennett Jones LLP has acted as legal counsel to the Special Committee.

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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein.

On behalf of the Board,

Paul A. Parisotto, President & CEO

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors Concerning Estimates of Indicated and Inferred Resources

This news release uses the terms "measured and indicated resources" and "inferred resources". We advise U.S. investors that while these terms are defined in, and permitted by, Canadian regulations, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and not normally permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. "Inferred resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility studies, except in rare cases. The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves", as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in this category will ever be converted into reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of an inferred resource exists or is economically or legally minable.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the anticipated benefits of the Arrangement to Calico and Calico Shareholders; the Exchange Ratio and value of the Paramount Shares being delivered as arrangement consideration; the market capitalization of the combined company following the completion of the Arrangement; the percentage ownership of existing Calico Shareholders in the combined company; the timing and receipt of the required shareholder, court, stock exchange and regulatory approvals for the Arrangement; the timing and ability of Paramount and Calico to satisfy the conditions precedent to completing the Arrangement; the anticipated timing for mailing the management information circular to the Calico Shareholders and the proxy statement to the Paramount Shareholders in respect of the matters to be considered by such shareholders at the Calico Meeting and Paramount Meeting, as the case may be, in respect of the Arrangement; the closing of the Arrangement; the Interim Financing; the timing and receipt of the required stock exchange and regulatory approvals for the Arrangement and Interim Financing; the length of the current market cycle and requirements for an issuer to survive in the current market cycle; future growth potential of Paramount and Calico and their respective business; and future mine development plans.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of Calico at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Calico to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: satisfaction or waiver of all applicable conditions to closing of the Arrangement (including receipt of all necessary shareholder, court, stock exchange and regulatory approvals or consents and the absence of material changes with respect to the parties and their respective businesses, all as more particularly set forth in the Arrangement Agreement); the synergies expected from the Arrangement not being realized; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets and the market price of Paramount Shares and Calico Shares; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. In addition, the failure of a party to comply with the terms of the Arrangement Agreement may result in that party being required to pay a noncompletion or other fee to the other party, the result of which could have a material adverse effect on the paying party's financial position and results of operations and its ability to fund growth prospects and current operations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of Calico believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, Calico cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Readers should not place undue reliance on the forwardlooking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, Calico assumes no obligation to update the forwardlooking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Non-IFRS Measures

Cash operating costs and cash operating costs per ounce of gold equivalent produced are non-IFRS measures. These measures are intended to assist readers in evaluating the total costs of producing gold from current operations. The most directly comparable measure prepared in accordance with IFRS is total production costs.
EDMONTON, AB--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - The Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan, today announced more than $23 million in funding for 95 projects at 26 universities across Canada.

Canada is committed to providing strong support for new research innovation and infrastructure. Our researchers tackle issues that matter to the lives of everyday Canadians -- from finding more efficient ways to capture wind and solar energy to relieving arthritis pain by creating injectable cartilage tissue.

Today's investment was made by the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund -- a fund designed to help universities attract and retain the best and brightest researchers from around the world by giving them access to cutting-edge research tools.

Quotes:

"Investments like today's in Canada's research infrastructure are incredibly important to the nation's future. They give Canadian researchers the tools they need to make new discoveries that will better the lives of Canadians today and for years to come."

- The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science

"The state-of-the-art equipment being used by researchers across Canada act as catalysts," says Dr. Gilles Patry, President and CEO of the CFI. "A new NMR system that is being funded today, for example, will allow a team of University of Alberta researchers to not only develop invaluable therapies, but also kick start key research partnerships across Alberta that will strengthen the province's capacity to innovate in the field of medicine."

- Gilles Patry, President and CEO, CFI

"The University of Alberta is home to some of the world's brightest minds and most advanced research infrastructure. The knowledge, discoveries and innovations that result are helping shape the future and improve the lives of Canadians and people around the world. With this new CFI funding we will expand and further strengthen our research capacity in a number of diverse areas, and continue developing the knowledge, technology and innovations needed to address some of the world's most pressing issues. On behalf of the university, I thank the CFI and the Government of Canada for their ongoing generous support, and congratulate our nine researchers, and their respective team members, on their funding success in this national competition."

Story continues

- David H. Turpin, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Alberta

"This investment in Canadian science will allow us to see the altered proteins involved in human disease with the resolution, sensitivity and speed needed to design new therapeutic agents, and has prompted the launch of DiscoveryLab as a collaborative venture for drug discovery research."

- Michael Overduin, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta

Quick facts:

The University of Alberta is receiving more than $2 million for nine research infrastructure projects;

The CFI is contributing more than $18 million for tools and equipment through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund to 95 projects at 26 universities across Canada;

As part of this announcement, an additional $5 million was awarded under the Infrastructure Operating Fund, a mechanism that assists institutions with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with the new infrastructure;

Among the researchers who will make use of new CFI-funded infrastructure is the University of Alberta's Michael Overduin. He will use it to zoom in on the atomic behavior of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and infection;

As the lead of the National High Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre, Overduin studies the molecular makeup of various materials, including diseased tissue;

By tracking how molecules linked to a certain disease interact, he hopes to create new treatments and diagnostic tests to combat these kinds of illnesses.

Related products

A full list of the funded projects is available online at Innovation.ca. For updates, follow us on Twitter @InnovationCA and subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos about the difference CFI funding makes in Canada.

Canada Foundation for Innovation

John R. Evans Leaders Fund

The CFI Research Facilities Navigator -- An online directory of CFI-funded labs that are available to collaborate with the private sector.

About the Canada Foundation for Innovation

The Canada Foundation for Innovation gives researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in Canada's universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions, the CFI is helping to attract and retain the world's top talent, to train the next generation of researchers, to support private-sector innovation and to create high-quality jobs that strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life for all Canadians.
BOGOTA, March 14 (Reuters) - Two rebel bomb attacks have halted pumping operations along Colombia's second most important oil pipeline, the Cano-Limon Covenas, state oil company Ecopetrol said on Monday.

The twin attacks by National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas occurred over the weekend in rural areas of northern Norte de Santander and Arauca provinces, police and military sources said.

The 485-mile (780 km) pipeline has the capacity to transport up to 210,000 barrels of crude daily from oil fields operated by U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum, near the border with Venezuela, to the Caribbean port of Covenas.

Attacks by the ELN on oil installations have been a frequent occurrence during a conflict that has taken more than 220,000 lives and displaced millions over the past 52 years.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the biggest rebel group in the South American country, declared a unilateral ceasefire in July as it negotiates a peace accord with the government. The FARC has stopped its attacks on pipelines.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Helen Murphy and Tom Brown)
Friend or foe?

He has questioned Israels commitment to peace and has touted neutrality in Middle Eastern dealmaking, but a majority of Israeli Jews believe Donald Trump would be a friend to Israel if elected to the US presidency, according to the findings of a recent poll from the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University.

From early in his campaign, Trump has questioned Israels commitment to peace with the Palestinians and put the onus on it to move forward. A lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the dealwhether or not Israels willing to sacrifice certain things, he said in an interview with the Associated Press published in December.

In remarks that same day at the Republican Jewish Coalition, Trump stuck with the characterization.

Trump doubles down at RJC: I dont know that Israel has the commitment to make it You can hear a pin drop  Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 3, 2015

But Trump has also expressed support for Israeland, characteristically, support for his support of Israel. Theres nobody on this stage thats more pro-Israel than I am, he said at a debate last week in Miami. He also said that he would at least have the other side think Im somewhat neutral as to them, so that we can maybe get a deal done.

But compared to his rivals, his support for Israel looks lukewarm. At the Miami debate, Ted Cruz differentiated himself from Trump, saying, As president, I will not be neutral.

Marco Rubio went even further. The policy Donald has outlined, I dont know if he realizes, is an anti-Israeli policy, he said at the debate. Maybe thats not your intent but heres why it is an anti-Israeli policy: There is no peace deal possible with the Palestinians at this moment.

Story continues

Jewish Israelis characterize Trump differently, though, with 61% saying they believe Trumps stances are very or moderately friendly to Israel, while only 14% characterize them as not at all or not so friendly.

The opinion sections of Israeli newspapers havent been as embracing of the candidate, though. Left-leaning Haaretz ran a headline last month saying Trump would be a disaster for US Jews, Israel and the Middle East. On the right, an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post last week said Trump had a profound misunderstanding of the Middle East.

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(Adds forecasts, background)

BRASILIA, March 14 (Reuters) - A gauge of economic activity in Brazil in January fell for the 11th straight month, official data showed on Monday, indicating the country's recession deepened at the start of the new year.

The Brazilian central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index fell 0.61 percent in January from the prior month, the bank said. A Reuters survey of 13 analysts forecast a 0.10 percent increase in the indicator, a gauge of activity in the farming, industry and services sectors.

The IBC-Br index is seen as advance indicator for the gross domestic product figures released on a quarterly basis by the country's statistics agency, IBGE.

Brazil's GDP is expected to shrink 3.5 percent in 2016, following a 3.8-percent contraction last year, according to a weekly central bank poll on Monday.

On an annual basis, January's IBC-BR index fell 8.12 percent from January 2015, the central bank said.

The economic crisis in Latin America's largest economy has put the government of President Dilma Rousseff at risk. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians flooded the streets to protest on Sunday, which could encourage Congress to impeach her, analysts said.

(Reporting by Silvio Cascione Editing by W Simon)
The word 'password' is pictured on a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

By Joseph Menn

(Reuters) - Hackers using tactics and tools previously associated with Chinese government-supported computer network intrusions have joined the booming cyber crime industry of ransomware, four security firms that investigated attacks on U.S. companies said.

Ransomware, which involves encrypting a target's computer files and then demanding payment to unlock them, has generally been considered the domain of run-of-the-mill cyber criminals.

But executives of the security firms have seen a level of sophistication in at least a half dozen cases over the last three months akin to those used in state-sponsored attacks, including techniques to gain entry and move around the networks, as well as the software used to manage intrusions.

It is obviously a group of skilled of operators that have some amount of experience conducting intrusions, said Phil Burdette, who heads an incident response team at Dell SecureWorks.

Burdette said his team was called in on three cases in as many months where hackers spread ransomware after exploiting known vulnerabilities in application servers. From there, the hackers tricked more than 100 computers in each of the companies into installing the malicious programs.

The victims included a transportation company and a technology firm that had 30 percent of its machines captured.

Security firms Attack Research, InGuardians and G-C Partners, said they had separately investigated three other similar ransomware attacks since December.

Although they cannot be positive, the companies concluded that all were the work of a known advanced threat group from China, Attack Research Chief Executive Val Smith told Reuters.

The ransomware attacks have not previously been reported. None of the companies that were victims of the hackers agreed to be identified publicly.

The security companies investigating the advanced ransomware intrusions have various theories about what is behind them, but they do not have proof and they have not come to any firm conclusions.

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Most of the theories flow from the possibility that the Chinese government has reduced its support for economic espionage, which it pledged to oppose in an agreement with the United States late last year. Some U.S. companies have reported a decline in Chinese hacking since the agreement.

Smith said some government hackers or contractors could be out of work or with reduced work and looking to supplement their income via ransomware.

It is also possible, Burdette said, that companies which had been penetrated for trade secrets or other reasons in the past were now being abandoned as China backs away, and that spies or their associates were taking as much as they could on the way out. In one of Dells cases, the means of access by the team spreading ransomware was established in 2013.

The cyber security experts could not completely rule out more prosaic explanations, such as the possibility that ordinary criminals had improved their skills and bought tools previously used only by governments.

Dell said that some of the malicious software had been associated by other security firms with a group dubbed Codoso, which has a record of years of attacks of interest to the Chinese government, including those on U.S. defense companies and sites that draw Chinese minorities.

PAYMENT IN BITCOIN

Ransomware has been around for years, spread by some of the same people that previously installed fake antivirus programs on home computers and badgered the victims into paying to remove imaginary threats.

In the past two years, better encryption techniques have often made it impossible for victims to regain access to their files without cooperation from the hackers. Many ransomware payments are made in the virtual currency Bitcoin and remain secret, but institutions including a Los Angeles hospital have gone public about ransomware attacks.

Ransomware operators generally set modest prices that many victims are willing to pay, and they usually do decrypt the files, which ensures that victims will post positively online about the transaction, making the next victims who research their predicament more willing to pay.

Security software companies have warned that because the aggregate payoffs for ransomware gangs are increasing, more criminals will shift to it from credit card theft and other complicated scams.

The involvement of more sophisticated hackers also promises to intensify the threat.

InGuardians CEO Jimmy Alderson said one of the cases his company investigated appeared to have been launched with online credentials stolen six months earlier in a suspected espionage hack of the sort typically called an Advanced Persistent Threat, or APT.

The tactics of getting access to these networks are APT tactics, but instead of going further in to sit and listen stealthily, they are used for smash-and-grab, Alderson said.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco; editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant McCool)
HELSINKI, March 14 (Reuters) - Finnish pulp and paper maker UPM-Kymmene said on Monday the company will close its Madison Paper Industries paper mill in Maine, United States, and sell off its related hydro power assets.

UPM-Kymmene, the world's biggest producer of graphic papers such as newsprint and magazine and office paper, has recently aimed to shift focus to pulp, as the market for print paper has been hit by the growth of digital media.

The mill, that employs more than 200 people, produces approximately 195,000 tons of supercalendered paper, that is used for magazines and catalogues.

UPM-Kymmene said that demand for supercalendered paper declined significantly in 2015, and the decline is expected to continue.

"The Madison mill is not cost-competitive and has lost a significant amount of sales in the recent past," Ruud van den Berg, Senior Vice President of UPM Paper for Europe and North-America, said in a statement.

The mill, a partnership with Northern SC Paper Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York Times Company, is expected to close at the latest by the end of May.

(Reporting by Tuomas Forsell, editing by David Evans)
Donald Trump

The Republican presidential race in Ohio is tightening, and it looks like a dogfight between local Gov. John Kasich and billionaire Donald Trump.

A new Quinnipiac University poll out on Monday morning found Kasich in a tie with Trump in one of the most important states of the entire primary.

The Buckeye State, with 66 delegates up for grabs, is the second-biggest winner-take-all state on the Republican side.

If Kasich loses his home state, he's said he would drop out of the race. If he wins Ohio, he predicted that the GOP would face a contested convention, in which no candidate gets a majority of delegates.

The Quinnipiac poll showed Trump and Kasich tied at 38%, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 15%, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 3%. Other recent polls found Kasich up by a few points over Trump.

Ohio and Florida are crucial for Trump's plan to wrap up the GOP nomination quickly, and the Republican frontrunner has invested a lot of his time in both states. Florida, like Ohio, is a large, winner-take-all state that will hold its primary on Tuesday.

Politico noted that the two primaries "will determine whether there's chaos or a coronation at the Cleveland convention" in July. Winning Ohio and Florida could propel Trump even further ahead of the other candidates in his delegate count, but losing both could set him back enough to call into question his status as the inevitable nominee.

Top GOP operatives have reportedly been discussing the possibility of a contested convention, in which the nomination is decided on the convention floor.

As Rubio is poised to lose his home state of Florida  polls found him losing to Trump by double-digit percentage points  a Kasich win in Ohio could help Republicans stop Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates necessary to lock up the nomination before the convention.

For his part, Trump has taken aim at Kasich as the race in Ohio tightened. In the week leading up to the primary, Trump trashed Kasich for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement while serving in Congress in the 1990s, questioned his strength as a leader, and called him an "absentee governor."

Story continues

But Trump has also expanded his focus to the other big states that will vote next Tuesday: North Carolina, Illinois, and Missouri. Even if Trump stumbles in Ohio, he could still be on solid footing going into the next round of contests.

NOW WATCH: 'Marco Rubio is trying to steal my girlfriend': Watch the bizarre moment a protester interrupted a Rubio rally





More From Business Insider


By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicines, including two widely used cough syrups, being sold without government approval, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday.

The move is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines in India, where nearly half the drugs sold in 2014 were so called "fixed dose combinations."

Combination drugs are used worldwide to improve patients' compliance, as it is easier to get patients to take one drug rather than several. But inconsistent enforcement of drug laws in India has led to the proliferation of hundreds of such medicines entering the market based on approval from regulators of individual states, rather than the central government.

In 2014, India set up a committee to review more than 6,000 combinations that had entered the market based only on state regulators' approval. Policymakers gave pharmaceutical companies a chance to retroactively prove the safety and efficacy of these drugs by submitting data on their drugs.

The committee was tasked with classifying the drugs into rational, irrational, and those that need further studies, said KL Sharma, a joint secretary at the health ministry.

"Now based on responses (and) assessment of products, more than 300 drugs have been prohibited," he told Reuters.

He did not name the medicines, but said an official notice announcing the ban would be issued "in a few days." The Drug Controller General of India was not immediately available to comment.

The banned medicines include the codeine-based cough syrups Phensedyl and Corex, the Times of India said in a report earlier on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

Phensedyl, made by U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories, accounts for about a third of the Indian cough syrup market, and its sales are estimated to make up more than 3 percent of Abbott's $1 billion India revenue. Corex is sold by Pfizer Inc.

Reuters reported last October that Indian regulators were privately pressuring drug firms to better police the selling of popular codeine-based cough syrups to tackle smuggling and addiction.

Story continues

Neither company responded to requests for comment on Saturday.

Doctors and public health experts in India and abroad have warned that increasing use of antibiotic combinations in India may be contributing to antibiotic resistance. India is a particular concern as the market share of combination drugs versus single drugs is bigger than anywhere in the world.

Reuters reported in December how a powerful antibiotic cocktail being marketed in India by a unit of Abbott and many other local companies did not carry approval from the central government.

The combination was not approved for sale in major markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and Australia.

Several medical experts said it did not make sense to prescribe the cocktail for cold symptoms. However, Abbott's former and current medical representatives said the combination was being promoted and administered as a treatment for a wide variety of illnesses, including colds and fevers.

(Writing by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Clelia Oziel)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's PEC Ltd has received its first cargo of about 40,000 tonnes of corn from Ukraine, trade sources said, despite concerns that the state-run trader could find it difficult to secure supplies of grain from non-GM crops.

PEC Ltd firmed up plans to import corn in December last year, marking India's first such overseas purchase in 16 years.

In an international tender competition launched in January, the government-backed trader awarded a contract to South Korea's Daewoo International to supply 250,000 tonnes of yellow non-genetically modified corn.

Since India doesn't allow GM food crops PEC sought in its import tender only non-GM corn, a condition that looked like a tall order to many trade and industry experts, as only a handful of countries grow grain which would qualify.

"PEC has received a cargo of about 40,000 tonnes. Of the contracted 250,000 tonnes, the rest are on their way from Ukraine," said a source directly involved in the deal.

(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Making the desert bloom all over again.

Tel Aviv, Israel

As much as we love cannabis, this is a non-consumption event.

That admonition kicked off the first day of presentations and roundtables at Cannatech, a three-day conference on the marijuana industry held this past week in Israel. Instead of pot edibles, hundreds of attendees munched on pita sandwiches and Turkish bourekas.

And, save for occasional patches of pungent air, the request to keep the event sober mostly worked.

As legalization slowly takes a foothold and entrepreneurs and cannabis enthusiasts drool over markets some estimate to be worth tens of billions of dollars, the goal of Israels (second annual) Cannatech conference was to pitch the tiny country as a hotbed of valuable know-how, translating Israels reputation for spawning successful businesses in tech, medicine, and agriculture into the cannabis industry.

Everything is set up here to be the epicenter of cannabis research. Israeli pot startups already generating a buzz include Syqe Medical, which has developed a metered inhaler to control doses of cannabis and recently announced a $20 million investment from Philip Morris. Eybna isolates and develops cannabis strains tailored to specific ailments. Medical cannabis grower Tikkun Olam has developed a plant that doesnt get patients high. And Kalytera wants to develop medicines to treat osteoporosis by synthesizing chemical compounds from cannabis.

We want to build cannatech like [financial] tech, ad-tech, and all of the other technology areas Israel is well known for, said Clifton Flack, the co-founder of iCan, the conference organizer. Everything that people know we know because of Startup Nation, they think that we are doing with cannabis.

It was an Israeli, Rafael Mechoulam, who first isolated the active psychoactive chemical in cannabis back at the Weizmann Institute in 1964. A diminutive, grandfatherly figure, Mechoulam held forth during the event on the need to lobby for more clinical trials. The use of cannabis as a treatment in Israel was legalized in 1993 and began to become widespread in 2007, though recreational use is still illegal.

Story continues

Today, Some 22,000 patients in Israel have state-approved prescriptions to use medical marijuana. In January, Israels ultra-Orthodox health minister said he wants to eliminate long waits to get the treatment by boosting the supply of medical marijuana, making it easier to prescribe, and increasing the number of authorized farms (there are currently only eight) and retailers.

A factor in Israels favorfor now at leastis that scientific research and clinical trials using cannabis are permitted, whereas the federal prohibition on marijuana bans most such studies in the US.

Everything is set up here to be the epicenter of cannabis research, Flack said.

The drawback, though, is that with a population of only 7 million people, Israel has a much smaller patient pool for clinical trials, as well as a small market for cannabis products. And because its illegal to export plants or seeds, it cant hope to sell them abroad.

The opportunity, therefore, lies in exporting know-how and techniques. The challenge is to match expertise developed in Israel with companies that can bring it to foreign markets.

The main big opportunity in Israel is for [investment] funds to come in here, and get on the ground floor in the scientific research being done. But that is a long-term play, and more capital-intensive, said Eli Gordis, a conference speaker who co-founded the Alta Fund, a private equity firm.

Our focus in the short term, he continued, is to find companies that are using what has been going on here in the last 10 to 20 years , and finding companies in the States that are selling to the medical or recreational markets that really want to tap into the kind of [plant]-breeding methods that have been done here.

As Bob Marley played during a session break, small-time entrepreneurs mingled with doctors and and scientists. Inevitably, some attendees looked as if they had come from a campus hash bash. With bloodshot eyes, shirt tails hanging, and tobacco breath, Izzy Chanin pitched his commerce website Weedsta and then launched into a spiel on the influence of the plant on Hasidic rabbis.

Jackie Subeck, an aspiring cannabis businesswoman from southern California, sounded as if Cannatech was a pot pilgrimage. I dropped everything to be here. This is a homenot just for the Jews, she said. All of the research is happening here, but they cant access the market. We all have all the access, but cant research it.

The cannatech sector is still small in relative terms. While in Israels renowned tech startup sector hundreds of ventures raise billions of dollars of investments annually, the handful of cannabis-related business in Israel have attracted investment in the tens of millions of dollars, Flack said. Most of the money has come from angel investors rather than venture-capital funds.

Institutional investors will not touch it because its illegal under federal law, said Jeffrey Friedland, the chairman of Intiva, a company in Colorado which has made seed investments in several cannabis companies in the US, Canada and Israel. Slowly some small institutions are putting their big toe in the water, and starting to get involved, but its a challenge.

In fact, most of the venture-capital firms active in Israels more traditional tech scene were absent from the conference. That didnt come as a surprise to Jack Levy, a co-founder of Israel Cleantech Ventures, which focuses on agricultural technology. (He didnt attend Cannatech.) Levy told Quartz the vast majority of venture-capital funds are not involved in agri-tech.

Israels entrepreneurial, risk-taking culture and its world-class plant studies programs position the country to attract attention from investors and multinationals involved in agri-tech, Levy said, but it will take a while because of the need to test potential medicines and growing techniques. Theres less money involved, and its less fast paced, but it doesnt mean we wont end up with one or two significant companies in the next five years.

Correction: This post was originally published with the wrong author byline. Some material has also been added.

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* Long debate in Brussels on Russia

* Mood calm, but Hungary and Italy threaten to break ranks

* United States and Britain take hard line on Ukraine crisis (Updates with Mogherini news conference, details)

By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two of the Kremlin's closest allies in Europe, said on Monday there could be no automatic extension of the European Union's sanctions against Russia, the most public sign yet of fraying unity on how to deal with Moscow.

Two years after the West imposed economic sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, the EU's resolve is at risk of ebbing because of the stalled Minsk peace process, diplomats say.

While EU governments last week extended asset freezes and travel bans on Russians and Russian companies, there is less consensus on whether to prolong more far-reaching sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors from July.

"We cannot take for granted any decision at this stage," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after a meeting with his EU peers in Brussels, where Russia's EU policy was discussed for the first time in more than a year.

However, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference such decisions were never taken without political debate, while EU officials said Monday's debate among ministers was measured.

Some EU member states, such as Britain, the Baltic republics and Poland, argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia. Hungary, Italy and Greece stress its importance as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a major player in attempts to end war in Syria.

"You cannot decide on sanctions by sweeping the issues under the carpet," Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said. "We believe that the question of sanctions should be decided at the highest level. It cannot be automatic," he said.

Story continues

But Lithuania's foreign minister, Linas Linkevicius, whose country was part of the Soviet Union until 1990, told Reuters that, following the debate among ministers on Monday, "there is no revision of policy".

Echoing that, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that "the view is negative as regards the internal situation in Russia and its foreign policy".

DON'T MENTION THE 'S' WORD

Tellingly, after a long discussion, sanctions were not discussed by foreign ministers, partly because the debate was chaired by Mogherini to avoid exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials - who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy - sought to gauge the mood.

One of the biggest points of contention was whether Mogherini, an Italian, should visit Russia at a time when the EU is demanding that Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike, on humanitarian grounds.

Waszczykowski said he suggested to ministers that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first come to Brussels.

Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most sceptical about the sanctions, while European farmers, who once exported heavily to Russia, want to see markets reopen and protested in Brussels on Monday. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through.

However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process. Moscow denies any military involvement.

"Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday in Paris.

In comments that some EU diplomats took as Moscow pressing for sanctions relief, Lavrov said on Sunday he hoped the United States would be willing to compromise on the Minsk process.

(Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Louise Ireland)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Kotak Mahindra Group said on Monday it has signed an agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to invest up to $525 million in stressed assets in the country's banking and corporate sectors. CPPIB and the Indian financial services conglomerate, along with its asset reconstruction arm, Phoenix ARC, plan to invest in asset sales by banks with the aim to restructure, recover and turnaround companies in distress. "This investment is an important step in CPPIB's strategy to build a diversified credit business and will add to our direct credit investment capabilities in India," stated Adam Vigna, managing director, principal credit investments, CPPIB, in a statement. Canada's pension fund will have the ability to invest up to $450 million in the partnership, Kotak said in a statement. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
The next sub-prime crisis could be lurking in the auto sector.

Gary Kaltbaum, president of Kaltbaum Capital Management, told FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto on Cavuto Coast-to-Coast that easy money is to blame for increasingly easy lending policies.

Incentives are at the highest ever, leasing last month was at the highest ever, and that is [companies] trying to keep the numbers up, and thats where they lower the bar on lending down to the ground, he said.

Kaltbaum said the losses are likely to hit the bond holders the hardest.

If we get a bad economic scenario, I think all heck can break loose because lenders have gone too far trying to get people in who should not get the products theyre buying, he said.

Indeed , Fitch Ratings service said in an end-of-February press release that delinquencies on subprime auto asset-backed securities (ABS) have reached levels not seen since 2009.

Fitch cited data that showed delinquencies of 60 days or longer hit 4.98% in the first month of 2016  the highest level since September 2009, up 6% from December, and 4.8% higher than the same period in 2015.

Weaker performance in the subprime sector is being driven mainly by weaker credit quality present in the 2013-2015 securitized pools, along with marginally lower used vehicle values, Hylton Heard, senior director at Fitch Ratings, said in the release.

To that point, TransUnion data showed there were 1.21 million more subprime borrowers with auto loan accounts compared to 2014.

Ezra Becker, VP or research and consulting in the financial services business unit of TransUnion, said in a statement that lower energy and oil prices likely are playing a larger role in the rates of delinquencies among auto-sector borrowers.

Lower energy prices and the resulting job losses in the energy-dependent markets have played some role in delinquency rates, he said. Even so, that impact appears at this point to be localized and mild in terms of national effect.

Related Articles
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday on concerns that a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to build and Iran maintains little interest in joining major producers in freezing production.

Crude inventories across the United States likely hit record highs for a fifth straight week last week, rising 3.3 million barrels, a Reuters poll of analysts said. [EIA/S]

Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma grew almost 850,000 barrels to 69.6 million in the week to March 11, bringing storage at the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures to near capacity, traders said, citing market intelligence firm Genscape.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, meanwhile, said global demand for crude from its members, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, will be less than previously thought in 2016 due to competing non-OPEC supply. OPEC supply will likely exceed demand by about 760,000 barrels per day, up from 720,000 bpd it implied earlier.

Russia said OPEC's meeting with other key oil producers on an output freeze will probably be held in Doha in next month. It said Iran supports the plan, while Tehran says it wants to double its crude exports to 4 million bpd first.

"All the data out there is suggesting higher supply and lesser demand for oil, and that could only mean lower prices," said Phillip Streible, market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.

U.S. crude futures (CLc1) settled down $1.32, or 3.4 percent, at $37.18 a barrel, while Brent (LCOc1) finished down 86 cents, or 2 percent, at $39.53.

Monday's price slide came after last week's rally of 7 percent in U.S. crude, which was up for a fourth straight week. Brent gained 4 percent last week, up for a third week in a row.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a $25-$45 trading range for U.S. crude in an oversupplied but volatile market, concurring with several analysts' views.

"From a longer-term perspective over the coming four to six weeks, we still anticipate an ultimate crude price decline to the $26-28 area," said Jim Ritterbusch at Chicago energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

Story continues

Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude for a third week in a row to November highs last week, but cut net long positions in Brent.

"I think we are back to inventory watching and the pressure will start moving to the bulls' positioning as the market will likely have little patience with large net (stockpile) builds," said Scott Shelton, broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and W Simon)
A company logo is seen at a Pfizer office in Dublin, Ireland November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/Files

By Zeba Siddiqui and Aditya Kalra

REUTERS - Delhi High Court granted U.S. drugmaker Pfizer an interim injunction on a ban on its popular cough syrup Corex, days after the government ordered it to be prohibited citing a potential risk to humans.

India's health ministry banned the combination of chlorpheniramine maleate and codeine syrup, which Pfizer sells as the cough syrup Corex, in a notice over the weekend.

Pfizer's Indian subsidiary appealed the ban through a writ petition in the New Delhi High Court, which granted the company a stay on Monday, pending the next court hearing, Pfizer said in a statement.

Pfizer's Indian business said earlier on Monday it had stopped selling Corex, and expected its profit to be hit, as the brand generated sales of about $26 million in the nine months through December. Pfizer shares closed down 9 percent in Mumbai, before the stay order was issued.

The court said the government had not issued Pfizer a "show cause notice" before banning the medicine, two lawyers for the drugmaker told Reuters, declining to be named.

The next hearing by on Pfizer's plea is slated for March 21.

The ban also applied to Abbott Laboratories' Phensedyl cough syrup and Abbott's Indian subsidiary also filed a writ petition at the same court, which will come up for hearing on Tuesday, local television channels said.

Sanjay Jain, a lawyer representing the health ministry, wasn't immediately available to comment.

Abbott's Phensedyl commands around a third of India's cough syrup market and makes up over 3 percent of the company's $1 billion in revenue in India. The shares of Abbott's Indian arm fell about 3 percent after it said it would comply with the ban.

Abbott declined to comment on its case.

As the cough syrup contains the narcotic codeine, India has been privately pressuring manufacturers to better police supply chains to tackle smuggling and addiction, Reuters reported last year.

Akun Sabharwal, drugs controller for the southern state of Telangana which last year detected an "illegal diversion" of Phensedyl worth about $8.5 million, said he believed the ban would end the syrup's abuse.

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PATCHY REGULATION

The medicine was among 344 fixed-dose combination drugs India banned, saying a panel of experts found the drugs lacked "therapeutic justification".

Market researcher AIOCD AWACS estimated it could cut sales in the local pharmaceutical industry by up to $522 million, with Pfizer and Abbott among the worst hit.

The sale of fixed dose combination medicines in India requires the approval of the central government. But several drug combinations have entered the market over the years based solely on approval from individual states.

India has made intermittent efforts to shut this avenue, but success has been limited. In 2007 it ordered states to recall about 300 such combination drugs, but drugmakers challenged it in court and the order was stayed. (http://reut.rs/1J9azFo)

In 2014, India set up a panel of experts to review over 6,000 such drug combinations, and asked companies to submit data to prove safety and efficacy of their drugs. 344 of those have been banned.

OPPI, a lobby group for multinational drugmakers, criticised the move, saying codeine-based combinations under the ban have the approval of India's drug controller, and companies were never made aware that these were being reviewed. Pfizer's India unit also said its Corex had the central government's approval.

Drug Controller General G.N. Singh was not immediately available to comment.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents Indian drugmakers, said the review process was not transparent.

Health ministry official K.L. Sharma told Reuters he disagreed, saying, "we are not prepared to tolerate anything that will (adversely) affect patients."

(Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty)
A portion of a GM automobile is displayed as evidence in a Manhattan federal courtroom in this undated handout photo provided by United States District Court for the Southern District of New York released to Reuters on January 11, 2016. REUTERS/United States District Court for the Southern District of New York/Handout via Reuters

By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK (Reuters) - People suing General Motors Co (GM.N) over a faulty ignition switch will get two chances in a Manhattan court this week to argue that the U.S. automaker should be held accountable for injuries, deaths and lost vehicle value.

Jury selection starts on Monday in the second trial involving a car accident allegedly caused by the switch. The defect, which some GM employees knew about for years, prompted the recall of 2.6 million vehicles in 2014 and has been linked to nearly 400 serious injuries and deaths.

A first trial ended abruptly in January following allegations that the plaintiff gave misleading testimony.

On Tuesday, in the same courthouse, plaintiffs suing over lost vehicle value and accidents that occurred before GM's 2009 bankruptcy will ask the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse unfavorable decisions from a bankruptcy court last year. They say the rulings could impact many of their claims under a sale agreement that largely freed "New GM" from burdensome liabilities that predate the bankruptcy.

The proceedings could affect claims worth potentially billions of dollars over the defective switch, which can slip out of place, causing engine stalls and cutting power to air bags, brakes and steering systems.

While GM has already paid $2 billion in settlements and penalties over the defect, it still faces hundreds of injury and death lawsuits. To help gauge those cases value, a series of test trials has been set to determine how juries view the evidence. That information is used in settlement talks.

As the first trial never reached a verdict, the one starting on Monday may be the first time a jury weighs in on whether GM is liable for its years-long failure to conduct a recall. A GM spokesman said the company will argue that the crash at issue was not caused by the switch.

At the 2nd Circuit, plaintiffs will argue that GM should face their claims because the company's deception deprived them of a chance to participate in the bankruptcy proceedings.

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A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Steve Berman, said that had the U.S. government known about the defect during GM's bankruptcy, "The cars would have been recalled then, or the deal modified."

Plaintiffs lawyers have estimated the value of the economic-loss claims to be as high as $10 billion. But they acknowledge they could face steep hurdles to recovering anything if the 2nd Circuit does not overturn the earlier decisions.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Dan Grebler)
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Mar 14, 2016) - Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that he will travel to New York City from March 16 to 17, 2016, to meet with the United Nations Secretary-General, to reiterate Canada's support for the United Nations, and to promote women's rights and gender equality.

During his meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Minister will emphasize Canada's commitment to play a positive and constructive role in the world, and to make meaningful contributions to issues that include climate change, respect for diversity and human rights, and support for international peace operations.

While in New York, Prime Minister Trudeau will also participate in a roundtable on girls' advocacy at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, and will discuss gender equality with the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

He will meet with business leaders in order to promote investment in Canada that creates good-paying jobs, strengthens the middle class, and leads to clean and sustainable economic growth.

Finally, the Prime Minister will receive a special commendation for his leadership to advance inclusiveness, diversity, and gender equality at the annual Catalyst Awards Dinner.

Quotes

"Canada will continue to be a vocal part of the conversation on women's rights and the need for gender equality. Through multilateral fora like the UN, we will work together to advance gender equality around the world, especially for the most poor and vulnerable. We all benefit when women and girls have equal access to the rights and opportunities that help them realize their true potential."

- Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"There has never been a better time to look to Canada to invest. I look forward to showcasing all that Canada has to offer in New York, including a forward-looking Canada that is open to trade and investment.

- Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Russia on Monday opposed slapping sanctions on Iran over recent ballistic missile tests that Moscow's UN envoy said did not violate a UN resolution adopted after the landmark nuclear deal.

The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on the missile launches at the request of the United States, which along with Britain had pushed for a special report to decide on possible sanctions.

But the meeting concluded with no specific follow-up action other than further discussion on the test-launches within a designated Security Council committee on Iran.

"We did agree that it's not a violation," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, welcoming "a very satisfactory outcome of the discussion."

Russia's stance as a veto-wielding member of the council effectively ruled out the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran.

The council in July adopted a resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and called on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Tehran maintains that the latest missile tests, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability.

Churkin noted that the term "called upon" in the new resolution was an important change in legal language from previous adopted texts that barred Iran from developing such technology.

"A call is different from a ban, so legally you can't violate a call," he said.

The new resolution "clearly raises the requirements of proof quite a bit" by stating that the missiles must be "designed" to have nuclear capability, Churkin added.

- US sees 'quibbling' -

US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of "lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder our collective responsibility."

"We are not going to give up, no matter the quibbling that we heard today about this," said Power.

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The US ambassador described the missile launches as "dangerous, destabilizing and provocative" and noted that Iranian military officials had claimed that the missiles were designed to be a threat to Israel.

"These were designed to deliver a nuclear weapon," said Power. "This merits a council response."

Britain and France had both raised concern over the missile launches, but the ambassadors did not specifically say that the tests were a violation of resolution 2231.

"We judge that Iran is in blatant disregard of Resolution 2231," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "we are worried, because we are in a case of non-compliance with 2231."

The United States slapped sanctions on Iran in January over its ballistic missile program, even as the world hailed the implementation of the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and Western powers.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called on the council to take action, arguing that failure to do so "will give Iran a green light to continue with its nuclear missile tests."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week urged Iran to act with caution and moderation, in response to the two days of missile launches.

Given the political atmosphere in the Middle East, Iran should "act with moderation, caution and the good sense not to increase tensions through any hasty actions," Ban's spokesman said.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Moscow Arbitration court on Monday rejected an appeal from Google and upheld a ruling that the U.S. firm broke anti-monopoly laws by abusing its dominant position with its Android mobile platform, Russia's competition watchdog said.

FAS, the watchdog, ruled last September that Google had broken the law by requiring pre-installation of certain applications on mobile devices running on Android, following a complaint by Russia's Yandex.

Google filed an appeal, but FAS said on Monday the court had fully supported its decision.

The company now has to amend its contracts with smartphone manufacturers in order to comply with the ruling, and pay a fine.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova)
A vendor arranges a price tag over a sack filled with sugar at a wholesale vegetable market in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad in this September 11, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Amit Dave

By David Brough

LONDON (Reuters) - Weather-ravaged harvests in Asia look set to trigger further upward revisions to the size of an expected global sugar deficit in the 2015/16 season which is now likely to be the largest in seven years, analysts said on Monday.

Rabobank and F.O. Licht both increased deficit projections on Monday with attention now shifting to analysts Green Pool which will issue figures later this week.

"I am expecting more upward revisions in the deficit (from analysts). Prices are still too low to encourage investment and production," said Michael Liddiard of consultancy Agrilion.

Liddiard said the rising deficit for the 2015/16 season (October/September) was helping to propel prices higher with raw sugar futures on ICE (SBc1) climbing to a peak of 15.44 cents a lb on Monday, its highest level this calendar year.

Rabobank on Monday revised its 2015/16 global sugar deficit forecast to 6.8 million tonnes from its previous forecast for a deficit of 4.7 million tonnes.

"The deeper deficit is largely due to a reduction seen in production in India and Thailand," Rabobank senior commodities analyst Tracey Allen told Reuters.

Indian mills have scaled back expectations of sugar output due to drought, notably in Maharashtra, a major growing region.

India is the world's number 2 sugar producer after Brazil, and the top consumer.

"We've seen strong domestic demand for sugar in India, while Indian sugar exports are looking to compete in the world market," Allen said.

Analyst F.O. Licht has raised its 2015/16 global sugar deficit forecast to 7.2 million tonnes, compared with an earlier deficit forecast of 6.5 million tonnes, senior analyst Stefan Uhlenbrock told Reuters on Monday.

The upward revision in the deficit was due largely to frost damage to the crop in Guangxi, the main growing region, in China, Uhlenbrock said.

Emmanuel Jayet, Paris-based analyst with Sucden, said the prospect of a larger crop in Brazil, which begins its harvest later this month, could help reduce the impact of the poor crops in Asia.

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"We do see that the news coming from India and Thailand is not good. We do see that the balance sheet of a few countries (in Asia) is tightening," he said.

"Brazil can increase production by 3 million tonnes versus the previous season, and this would compensate for other bad crops. This means we are more dependent on Brazil (for supplies)," he added.

(Editing by Nigel Hunt and David Evans)
The negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva are part of the biggest international effort to date to end Syria's conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people (AFP Photo/Abdulmonam Eassa)

Geneva (AFP) - A new round of indirect peace talks beginning Monday will see Syria's government and opposition engage for the first time in concrete discussions on the future of the war-torn country.

The negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva are part of the biggest international effort to date to end Syria's conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people.

UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura announced that the talks will launch on March 14, the eve of Syria's five-year anniversary as a country at war.

Analysts say much has changed since the last round collapsed in February, but that the huge government-opposition divide will complicate a settlement.

The central obstacles are the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, presidential elections and the type of new government.

The last time the opposition and regime were in Geneva, clashes were raging across the country, especially in the northern province of Aleppo.

But since February 27, a fragile truce brokered by the United States and Russia has largely held despite each side accusing the other of violations.

The reduction in violence has allowed the UN to deliver humanitarian aid to some 240,000 people in 10 out of 18 besieged areas nationwide, a crucial opposition demand.

According to De Mistura, the negotiations will last two weeks and would first discuss an inclusive new government followed by a fresh constitution, then parliamentary and presidential elections in 18 months.

But this agenda "is not realistic," said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

- Assad 'stronger than ever' -

Despite opposition and Western calls for him to quit, "Assad is stronger than ever and is going nowhere", Landis told AFP.

The Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, a broad collection of political and armed opposition factions, has repeatedly insisted that Assad would have no role in a future Syria.

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"We will not accept Assad being imposed on Syria as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's puppet," HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet said.

For the HNC, Assad must leave power at the creation of "a transitional governance body with full executive powers".

In the opposition's view, this body would manage Syrian affairs while a new constitution is formed and until parliamentary and presidential elections.

But the regime has rejected this structure outright, saying Assad's future is not on the table.

"We will not talk with anyone who wants to discuss the presidency... Bashar al-Assad is a red line," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told reporters Saturday.

"If they (the opposition) continue with this approach, there's no reason for them to come to Geneva."

Muallem also lambasted De Mistura for saying the talks would cover presidential elections, saying the envoy "has no right" to set the agenda.

The government plans to hold both elections as scheduled, with a parliamentary vote next month and a presidential election in 2021 after Assad's seven-year term ends.

It has repeatedly called for a "unity government" with opposition members instead of a transitional period.

- Federal system rejected -

The only point of agreement between both sides is the categorical rejection of a federal system.

Syria's Kurds have carved out autonomous zones in the north and northeast, hoping that a federal system would allow them independent rule there.

The leading Kurdish party in Syria, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), was not invited to either round of talks.

On Saturday, De Mistura told Swiss newspaper Le Temps that although the Kurds were not invited, they should be allowed to voice their views on Syria's political future.

Russia and the United States back opposing sides in the war but have increased cooperation in efforts to find a solution.

About half of Syria is controlled by either the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda's local affiliate, hindering the implementation of any agreement.

"Asking the Syrian actors to agree has proven unsuccessful... because their ideological and territorial disagreements are so profound," Landis said.

"But all actors are so entirely dependent on their sponsors that they must comply with the wishes of their armourers," he said.

Andrew Tabler, Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says the US-Russian rapprochement will not be enough.

"Have the United States and Russia agreed on the need to settle down the Syria conflict? Yes. On a workable formula for doing so? No."
According to a recent report by Reuters, U.S. telecom behemoth AT&T Inc. T is seeking to complete a deal in Cuba during President Barack Obamas upcoming visit to the country. Obama will be first U.S. president to visit Cuba after a long gap of 90 years. The trip is officially slated for March 20-22, 2016.

Obamas decision to normalize U.S. diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba, which has been considerably strained since 1961, has started showing results. Under his administration, new Cuban policy regulations, which have been approved by the Treasury and Commerce departments, helped the U.S. telecommunications industry to gain initial exemptions from the existing embargo to invest in Cuba.

As per Reuters, AT&T is looking for a mobile roaming agreement with Cubas state-run telecommunications company Etesca. Citing a source familiar with AT&Ts negotiations, Reuters reported that discussions are currently underway, and the agreement is yet to materialize. However, AT&T has declined to make any comments in this regard. Notably, AT&T is expanding to a large extent in Mexico.

The ongoing truce between the U.S. and Cuba will allow American telecom carriers to export telecom equipment and products to the latter. The operators will also be able to establish the necessary infrastructure in Cuba to offer various telecom services including the Internet. The export of communications devices, related software, applications, hardware, and other items to upgrade the systems will enable Cuban citizens to communicate freely with the U.S. and the rest of the world.

In Sep 2015, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ became the first U.S. telecom operator to offer roaming wireless services in Cuba. The new service charges $2.99 per minute for voice calls and $2.05 per Mb for data. The user must add Verizons Pay-As-You-Go International Travel facility to his/her wireless handset to enjoy the roaming service while travelling in Cuba.

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In Apr 2015, Sprint Corp.s S prepaid service division  Boost Mobile  launched an unlimited voice call and text message service plan to enhance connectivity between the U.S. and Cuba. Starting as low as $50 a month, the plan allows Sprints customers in the U.S. to make calls to Cuba without a long-term subscription contract. In Mar 2015, U.S.-based IDT Corp. formed a venture with Cuba's Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA to provide direct international long-distance service.

Cuba is a less-developed country with a population of around 11 million. At present, only 2 million of the inhabitants have access to global Internet connection through government institutions, high-end hotels and the black market. People in Cuba access the Internet under highly restrictive conditions.

We believe other telecom operators in the U.S. are also looking to start offering connectivity in Cuba. T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS has already expressed its keenness to promote open telecom as the U.S. policy over Cuba or for that matter any other country evolves. However, the company is yet to take any decision on its Cuban expansion plan.

We believe, in the long-term, Cuba may be a boon for U.S. telecom operators. An opportunity to sell products to 11 million odd customers is something to reckon with. Further, with the waning of communism and the winds of globalization spreading all over the world, Cuba is poised to become an attractive emerging market in the future. Moreover, Cubas geographical proximity to the U.S. is a major positive in terms of cost of operations.

AT&T currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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Senior Islamic State leader, Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen. REUTERS/US. Department of State

The US believes that it successfully killed one of ISIS' most successful military leaders in a March 4 airstrike in Syria.

The attack in northeastern Syria was aimed against ISIS' "minister of war," Omar al-Shishani, aka Omar the Chechen. It was carried out with multiple waves of manned and unmanned aircraft. The strike flattened an area the US believes was holding Shishani.

His death would most likely function as a major setback for ISIS. Aside from the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Georgian ex-commando Shishani has been the most recognizable and popular member of the powerful terrorist group.

US now believes #ISIS military commander "Omar the Chechen" died from injuries sustained in March 4th US airstrike in northern #Syria.  Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) March 14, 2016

And Shishani's status, combined with his ethnicity, helped draw numerous foreign fighters from the Caucasus region into Syria to fight alongside ISIS. His death would therefore also function as a major moral loss.

Not everyone agrees with the US's assessment that the airstrikes managed to kill Shishani. A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports that the airstrike did not kill Shishani but instead left him severely injured and "clinically dead."

"Shishani is not able to breathe on his own and is using machines," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the monitoring group, told the AFP. "He has been clinically dead for several days."

Even if this were the case, it would still be a blow to ISIS. Though Shishani did not hold a political role within the group, he had managed to carry out some of its most successful military operations. It was Shishani who posed with the stolen US Humvees that ISIS had seized from Mosul, Iraq, and brought back into Syria.

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And it was Shishani who led successful ISIS military campaigns throughout Syria as well as a blitz through western Iraq that put the group within 100 miles of Baghdad.

NOW WATCH: EX-PENTAGON CHIEF: These are the 2 main reasons ISIS was born





More From Business Insider


An advertisement for Verizon is seen at Times Square in New York, May 12, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA (Reuters) - A unit of telecoms multinational Verizon Communications signed a direct interconnection agreement with the Cuban state monopoly Etecsa, expanding on existing roaming services in the Caribbean country, Etecsa said in a statement on Monday.

Verizon last September became the first U.S.-based wireless company to offer roaming in Cuba, taking advantage of U.S. President Barack Obama's move to open relations with a former Cold War adversary of the United States.

Rival Sprint Corp in November signed the first direct roaming agreement with Etecsa.

The U.S. trade embargo of Cuba remains in place, but the Obama administration issued new regulations a year ago shortly after detente that allow U.S. telecommunications companies to do business with the Cuban state.

Under the embargo, phone calls between the United States and Cuba have mostly been completed through third-party countries, adding expense and reducing quality. Text and data services only became available to U.S.-based users with the Sprint and Verizon deals last year.

Etecsa said it reached a deal with Verizon Partner Solutions after an undisclosed period of negotiations.

"The service agreement will initially allow the offering of voice services through direct interconnection between the two countries and will be operational once implementation and technical testing requirements are completed by both companies,"Etecsa said.

While most of Obama's commercial opening to Cuba has focused on the small but growing private sector in the Communist-governed country, the White House also allowed deals with the state-owned telecommunications company, saying it would benefit ordinary Cubans.

The Cuban government responded quickly in signing deals with Verizon and Sprint, while it has yet to allow its private sector to import farm implements or construction materials, two other areas of trade that Obama has permitted through regulation.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Bernard Orr)
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 14, 2016 / WallStreet Research, a Los Angeles based top-ranked independent research firm with a history spanning over three decades, today announced that the firm has initiated corporate profile coverage on IEG Holdings Corporation (IEGH).

The analyst corporate profile report, together with additional information about WallStreet Research, is available at the www.WallStreetResearch.org website. The WSR Corporate Profile highlights the recent corporate strategy of the Company's management that includes Founder, Executive Chairman and CEO Paul Mathieson, and Chief Operating Officer Carla Cholewinski. Mr. Mathieson founded IEG Holdings Limited in Sydney, Australia and launched his United States operations in 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mr. Alan Stone, Managing Director of WallStreet Research, added: "WSR has confidence and is impressed with IEG Holdings Corporation's management; current business strategy; recent accomplishments and potential goals, including the further ongoing expansion of the Company."

IEGH's expansion plans for additional state licensing and advertising should create enormous revenue growth in the next year. This would significantly increase the sales of loans for on-line lending leading to improved profitability.

About IEG Holdings Corporation

IEG Holdings Corporation (IEGH) provides online unsecured consumer loans under the brand name "Mr. Amazing Loans" via its website, www.MrAmazingLoans.com, in 17 US states. The Company offers $5,000 personal loans over a five-year term at 23.9% to 29.9% APR. IEG Holdings plans future expansion to a total of 25 US states.

For more information about the Company, visit www.InvestmentEvolution.com

About WallStreet Research

WallStreet Research ("WSR") is a prominent research boutique led by Mr. Alan Stone, Managing Director of Alan Stone & Company, LLC (ASC). The firm specializes in the microcap and small cap investment arena, looking for emerging growth companies with strong management, unique or proprietary technology, significant market potential, financial strength, and outstanding long-term earnings growth possibilities. Mr. Stone was formerly a securities analyst and assistant portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch Asset Management; an investment analyst at Prudential Financial's Capital Markets Group; and an investment banker with Ladenburg Thalmann & Company. The firm has offices in Los Angeles, CA, Palm Beach, FL, and New York City, NY, and is well known for discovering undervalued companies and bringing them to the attention of the investment community. ASC/WSR also arranges road shows for its publicly traded clients, before the investment community in New York City, California and Florida. WallStreet Research is ranked number one on the Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines in the small cap marketplace, and has an extensive global following.

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Disclaimer

The information presented herein is not to be construed as an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities. This corporate profile is not a research report, but a compilation of information available to the public, which has been furnished by the featured company or gathered from other sources, in each case without independent verification, and no representations are made as to the accuracy or validity thereof. The information may include certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Commission Act of 1934, which may be affected by unforeseen circumstances or certain risks. Any investment in securities contains inherent risks and should only be done after consulting an investment professional. The featured company paid a fee of $6,000 in cash to Alan Stone & Company LLC for preparation and distribution of this profile, including other potential fees associated with various consulting and investor relations' services. For complete disclaimer information, readers are hereby referred to the Disclaimer Page at the www.WallStreetResearch.org website.

Contact / Source:

WallStreet Research

Alan Stone, 310-444-3940

astone@alanstone.com

Barbara Blake, 415-419-4239

bjblake1229@att.net

www.AlanStone.com

www.WallStreetResearch.org

www.SouthFloridaInvestmentForum.com

www.SouthernCaliforniaInvestmentForum.com

www.SmallCapConference.org

SOURCE: WallStreet Research
Youngstown (United States) (AFP) - Americans in five major states prepared to vote Tuesday in make-or-break presidential nominating contests, with Donald Trump seeking to tighten his grip on the Republican mantle as rivals and critics bemoaned a weekend of campaign trail unrest.

Dubbed "Super Tuesday 2" by US media, the latest major date in the run-up to November's election will see Democratic and Republican primary contests in the states of Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.

"I love you Ohio. You can make the difference!" Trump said at an evening rally at the Youngstown airport, as he suggested the Midwestern state, widely seen as a microcosm of America, was his closest race of the five where delegates are up for grabs Tuesday.

Violent clashes and protests at Trump rallies over the weekend dominated US headlines, with rivals in both parties accusing the billionaire real estate mogul of creating a toxic campaign environment.

The latest polls showed the Republican frontrunner poised to win the Tuesday contests, although Ohio's Governor John Kasich held a narrow lead in his state in some surveys.

A Kasich victory in Ohio may be the last chance to derail Trump's march to July's Republican nomination, especially as Tuesday marks the point when the party moves to a winner-takes-all format in terms of the delegates accorded for each primary win.

Trump struck a blue-collar tone as he urged Ohio to reject their popular governor, saying he was better positioned to re-invigorate the state's struggling economy.

"Your steel industry is dead," Trump said. "I'm going to bring your industry back."

Florida, Illinois and Ohio are the day's biggest prizes for both parties, as each state offers large delegate hauls.

Among Democrats, frontrunner Hillary Clinton is poised to extend her lead over rival Bernie Sanders, if polls prove accurate.

She is handily ahead in Florida, but in Ohio the former secretary of state only held a five-point lead, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out Monday.

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Sanders, appealing to blue-collar voters, has made impressive gains in the state, after trailing by as much as 30 points in polls last month.

- High stakes -

In a sign of the stakes, Trump canceled a rally Monday in Florida, where he has a 20-point lead over Marco Rubio, the US senator from the Sunshine State, to make a final pitch in Ohio.

Campaigning with Kasich on Monday was Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, who has tried to mobilize his party against Trump.

Also campaigning in Ohio was Sanders, who drew about 2,000 people at a rally in Youngstown where he slammed "disastrous" US trade policies over the past 20 years that he said had cost America "millions of decent paying jobs."

"If we have a good vote, and people come out, we're going to win in Ohio," said Sanders, 74.

- High tensions -

The clashes that erupted at Trump's Friday rally in Chicago marked an escalation in tensions that have trailed the controversial candidate.

Protesters turned up at his rally in Hickory, North Carolina Monday, but this time, he patiently waited for their chants to subside.

"There's no violence," he said. "It's a movement, it's a love fest."

He acknowledged there was "anger from all sides including from our side" but added: "We're not angry people. We're all good people. There's anger at the incompetence."

Nevertheless, Trump's invective against immigrants, Muslims and Hispanics have become a staple of his campaign, drawing roars of approval from supporters but also increasingly aggressive protests.

On Saturday, a protester rushed the stage as Trump was winding up a speech near Dayton, Ohio.

"I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully, and he is nothing more than that," Thomas DiMassimo, a 22-year-old college student who was charged with disorderly conduct and inciting panic, told CNN.

- 'Dangerous' talk -

Trump has rejected suggestions that his words have created a climate of violence, instead blaming Sanders supporters for sowing trouble -- and threatening to respond by sending his own supporters to picket Sanders rallies.

The Vermont senator responded bluntly at a CNN Democratic town hall event: "Donald Trump is a pathological liar."

Trump's Republican rivals also seemed shaken by the ugly turn in a campaign that has for months endured mudslinging and name-calling.

Rubio, who like Kasich faces a do-or-die test Tuesday in his home state, called Trump's language "dangerous."

"If we reach a point in this country where we can't have a debate about politics without it getting to levels of violence and anger," Rubio told CNN, "we're going to lose our republic."

Trump took some final potshots on Twitter late Monday at Kasich -- deriding him as "a disaster" for Ohio for favoring trade agreements - and Rubio, claiming he is "weak on illegal immigration" and has "the worst voting record" in the Senate.

"Vote Trump and end this madness!" he wrote.
Global Markets Rise as Egyptian Pound Devalued by Central Bank

(Continued from Prior Part)

Asian indexes start the week with a positive bias

The critical Asian indexes (AAXJ), which soared on March 11 after the ECB policy announcement, continued their positive trend on March 14, 2016. The rise was primarily attributed to comments by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as well as strong data from the Japanese front.

In line with these comments, the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index rose by 1.7%. While Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index also posted modest gains of 1.0%. The Japanese (DXJ) Nikkei index also posted strong gains of 1.7% at 6:00 AM ET. Among other major Asian indexes, the Australian (EWA) index S&P/ASX 200 and the Indian (INDA) Nifty 50 rose by 0.37% and 0.43%, respectively.

Liu Shiyu hints at more official support to stock markets

In his first major statement in his new office, Liu promised to step in decisively and vowed that the official support for the stock markets should continue to curb any major volatility. He also defended the earlier intervention by the authorities to support the market. Investors seemed confident after Liu gave his remarks, and the major Chinese (FXI) indexes led the Asian index rally on Monday.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China published its year-over-year industrial production data on March 12, 2016, which came in at a modest 5.4%, slightly below the consensus of 5.6%. The retail sales data also followed a similar sentiment, as it came out below the forecasts at 10.2%.

Japanese domestic data positive ahead of BOJ meet

Japans Cabinet Office released the machinery orders for January on March 14, 2016. The month-over-month machinery orders rose by massive 15% against the forecast of a 3% increase. On a year-over-year basis, the machinery orders rose by 8.4% against the forecasted fall of 4%.

Investors are expected to turn the focus to the Bank of Japans (or BOJ) monetary policy scheduled in the early hours of March 15, 2016. With European Central Bank (or ECB) and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (or RBNZ) having already cut the rates last week, the onus will be on the BOJ to actespecially with the Japanese yen having been on an appreciating trend since the beginning of 2016.

Story continues

For more details on the ECBs and the RBNZs monetary policies, please refer to Super Mario and the ECB Steal the Thunder from Wheeler and RBNZ.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Enlisting in the U.S. military used to be a rite of passage for many young American men. But since the draft ended in 1973, being born into a military family has become a much more important marker of a future in the U.S. armed forces.

The draft once acted as a national eggbeater, whipping young men of different creeds, races, economic circumstances and other divergent backgrounds into a unified fighting force. But Pentagon data show that 80% of recent troops come from a family where at least one parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, sibling or cousin has also worn their nation's uniform. More than 25% have a parent who has served.

The subject surfaced at a Senate Armed Services Committee subcommittee hearing Tuesday, when Senator Angus King, (I-Maine), questioned the reliance of the U.S. military on relatives of those who have served. The U.S. armed forces had 3.5 million troops at the peak of the Vietnam War--more than double the 1.4 million it had during the post-9/11 wars. That means the pool of potential recruits in the future who had a close relative who served will also shrink. "This going to put more pressure on the non-family member recruiting," King said Thursday. "We've got to reach outside the bloodlines."

China Accuses U.S. of Militarizing South China Sea

Such military service "has been part of our history for a long time," King added. "It's wonderful that we have people that have this tradition in their families and they continue to honor it--that's a good thing. The only question I had was does the mathematics suggest that at some point in the future we're going to have make greater efforts to broaden the pool."

A Pentagon report detailing 2012-2013 recruits shows that 86% of new Air Force airmen had a close relative (parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin) who had served. The Navy rate was 82%; Army, 79%; and Marines, 77%.

"Eighty-two% of Navy recruits have had a family member serve in the U.S. military, which is a concern to us," says Lieut. Commander Nate Christensen, spokesman for the Chief of Naval Personnel. "We believe that this limits both the talent pool from which the Navy draws, as well as the diversity of background in our force, and ultimately could lead to a civil-military divide."

Story continues

U.S. Navy Is Turning Anti-Aircraft and Cruise Missiles into Ship Killers

The report also noted how many of those recruits went into the same service as their kin. Relatives are what the military calls key "influencers" because of their ability to steer young people into, or away from, the military. While 59% of Army recruits whose close relatives had served in uniform said they had a relative who had served in the Army, that was true for only 37% of Marine recruits. The Air Force (46%) and Navy (51%) fell in between.

This has been a recurring topic of discussion in recent years. David Barno, a retired three-star Army general who had two sons in the service, said the isolation of modern military life has tended to increase sons and daughters following in their parents' footsteps. "It's a family business," Barno told TIME in 2011. "It's an ever-decreasing circle of folks on these isolated military posts who raise their own kids and send them into the force." The Pentagon was unable to provide additional information showing how recruits' family background has changed over time.

Army personnel chief Lieut. General James McConville highlighted the issue at Tuesday's hearing, when he discussed the pain he felt at having to force young men and women out of uniform as the Army shrinks after the major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As "the father of three soldiers," he said in his opening statement, "it breaks my heart that we have to involuntary separate soldiers who have served so honorably during this time of conflict."

This article originally appeared on Time.com

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
Analysts expect clarity on policy and efforts to stabilize economic growth from NPC session

Market insiders say fresh policies aimed at stabilizing economic growth could fuel a rally in Chinese equities lasting until the end of April - and possibly beyond.

The ongoing sessions of China's top lawmakers and political advisers will end on March 16, when details of any approved reform plans should be clearer.

How to achieve stable growth is a key agenda item, while the legislature will also adopt the final version of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), a blueprint for social and economic development.

Anticipation of a market rally already appears to have had an effect on investors, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 3.8 percent in March, paring overall losses this year to 18.7 percent.

Wendy Liu, chief China strategist at Nomura Securities, has predicted an interim rally, particularly in oversold stocks of industry leaders with strong track records and undemanding valuations, could last through April.

"Details on supply-side reform will strengthen investor confidence that Beijing is taking action," she says in a research note. "Beyond April, one issue to watch is if China's growth may surprise on the downside, with the credit cycle unfolding and supply-side reform kicking in."

She adds that it's too early to assess whether it will help usher in more policy accommodation in the second half of this year.

Analysts at China International Capital Corp echo her views in a report, saying the A-share market will see a "relief rally" in March after the substantial correction since the beginning of the year. Sectors like coal, steel, commodities and building materials, which would benefit from supply-side reform, will likely outperform the general market, while technology, media and telecommunications will experience corrections after the recent strong rebound, they say.

Bloomberg also quoted Lirong Xu, chief investment officer at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management Co, as saying that China's stocks will rebound as much as 20 percent in the short term as economic growth picks up and volatility in the renminbi decreases.

China's stock markets have been undulating since the summer rout in June. Investors' frayed nerves were calmed recently by a stabilizing yuan, an accommodative monetary policy aimed at supporting a recovery in the housing market and Beijing's improved communication.

Premier Li Keqiang delivered his Government Work Report on March 5 to the National People's Congress, the state legislature. He reiterated Beijing's commitment to continued structural reform, and emphasized trimming of industrial overcapacity and lightening tax burdens on companies, as the current environment is challenging.

Li said tax cuts this year would be worth more than 500 billion yuan ($76.6 billion; 69.6 billion euros) and would benefit companies and individuals.

To offset the impact on overall figures, the government has budgeted a 560 billion yuan increase in the fiscal deficit to 2.18 trillion yuan, an unprecedented 3 percent share of GDP.

"China will face more and tougher problems and challenges in its development this year, so we must be fully prepared to fight a difficult battle," Li said.

Some investors found relief in Li's report not mentioning the launch of the registration-based initial public offering system. There have been fears the new system could pressure the market with a huge supply of new shares.

Liu Shiyu, the new chief of China's securities regulator, said on the sidelines of the NPC session that his agency would strictly enforce the law and step up oversight of the stock market, to restore investor confidence and better protect their interests.

Fitch Ratings has maintained a stable outlook for China's sovereign rating, as it is looking at the NPC meeting for more information on the official strategy for addressing the structural issues.

lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/11/2016 page25)
March 14 (Reuters) - New York Times Co said on Monday Andrew Rosenthal would step down as the newspaper's editorial page editor in late April, and would be succeeded by James Bennet, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic.

Rosenthal, 60, the son of former NYT executive editor A. M. Rosenthal, joined the Times in 1987 and oversaw the newspaper's opinion pages.

Bennet, who will join the Times on May 2, previously served as Jerusalem bureau chief and White House correspondent at NYT and left the company in 2006 to head the Atlantic.

Separately, the Atlantic said it appointed co-president Bob Cohn as the sole president of the magazine to replace Bennet.

(Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
(Adds details)

March 14 (Reuters) - New York Times Co said on Monday Andrew Rosenthal would step down as the newspaper's editorial page editor in late April, and would be succeeded by James Bennet, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic.

Rosenthal, 60, the son of former NYT executive editor A. M. Rosenthal, joined the Times in 1987 and oversaw the newspaper's influential opinion page.

"Andy has done more than just preside over the continued excellence of our opinion pages, he has reinvented them for the digital age," NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr said.

Born in India, Rosenthal served as the Associated Press's Moscow bureau chief during the Soviet Union's final years, before he joined NYT.

Bennet, who will join the Times on May 2, previously served as Jerusalem bureau chief and White House correspondent at the newspaper before leaving in 2006 to head the Atlantic.

Under Bennet's leadership, the Atlantic brought down its paywall in 2008 and reported its first profit after at least a decade.

Separately, Atlantic Media Chairman David Bradley said co-president Bob Cohn has been appointed sole president of the magazine following Bennet's decision to leave the company.

Bradley and Cohn will lead the search for a new editor in chief for the magazine, the Atlantic said. (http://theatln.tc/1LmlSR8) (Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
The first type of testing we will study is the Proof Test . The idea behind such a test is to verify the strength of the barrel, breech and ...
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Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Taiwan's railroads, highways and bridges were constructed in a way that took into consideration the problem of soil liquefaction and as a result, should not have the risk of suffering from cave-ins should a major earthquake happen, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Monday.
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Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Amid reports that Taipei Songshan Airport is located in an area highly vulnerable of suffering from soil liquefaction, an airport official on Monday sought to put the public at ease, saying the Taipei airport has a system for monitoring whether the soil it sits on can withstand earthquakes and avoid cave-ins.


This card was delivered to Sikorski by Boissonnault, his MP for Edmonton Centre.

"It's important for people in positions of authority to stick up and remind people what is right. Here (we are) reaching out to say that we have his back. And bullying like that, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments, are just not tolerated."

A month ago, Degas Sikorski received a shocking homophobic message from a co-worker at his workplace, Party City, in Edmonton, Alberta. Today, however, he is feeling love and support all the way from Ottawa  and that includes the support of the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., the prime minister. The card was prepared by Randy Boissonnault, M.P. (Edmonton Centre), and was passed around to his colleagues in the House of Commons for them to show their support.Of the card, Boissonnault said:It is fantastic to see the prime minister, cabinet members, and the rest of the caucus showing solidarity to vulnerable Canadians who are still facing day-to-day discrimination at the hands of outdated social attitudes. The Liberals made a number of promises during the election campaign to see break down some of the systemic barriers that continue to face the LGBTQ community, and I look forward to seeing Trudeau and his government deliver on them.
An acknowledged Middle East expert, dynamic speaker, author of

retired intelligence officer and recovering CNN and NBC military analyst Lt Col Rick Francona offers his thoughts and opinions on various Middle East topics.

Recommended by TIME.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com and the Chicago Sun-Times.
IMDb listing Previous/Other years Since beginning my Blog some 3 1/2 years ago, I've come to the conclusion that all the Oscars ...
Norwegian, Europes third largest low-cost carrier, is bringing back the UKs only direct flights to Puerto Rico from November following a successful first winter season with fares now available from 159 one-way incl. taxes.

The carrier launched low-cost flights to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico last November with the current season extended to next month due to high demand.

From 2 November, Norwegian will continue its popular service to the islands capital San Juan with twice weekly direct flights from Gatwick on the airlines brand new larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. With more than 25,000 seats on sale, these new aircraft offer 18% more seats per flight in two classes  Premium and Economy - giving passengers a more comfortable travel experience.

With an earlier scheduled arrival time in Puerto Rico from last season, passengers will be able to meet cruise line departures and make flight connections to other Caribbean islands more easily.

Puerto Rico is one of seven direct low-cost long-haul routes operated by Norwegian from London Gatwick. The service will operate throughout the winter season until 22 March 2017.

Flight schedule - Gatwick to Puerto Rico

Departs Wednesday at 0930 Arrives Wednesday at 14:45

Departs Saturday at 1035 Arrives Saturday at 15:50



Flight schedule  Puerto Rico to Gatwick

Departs Wednesday at 1700 Arrives Thursday at 0505

Departs Saturday at 1755 Arrives Sunday at 0600



Norwegian also serves New York, Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando and is launching new routes to Boston from 27 March and San Francisco-Oakland from 12 May with fares starting from 135 one way incl. taxes.

This summer, Norwegian has put on sale a record 425,000 low-cost long-haul seats on sale.
Melbournes Queen Victoria Market yesterday transformed into a traditional Turkish bazaar for the Turkish Pazar Festival.

Visitors tasted a variety of Turkish foods, including gozleme (savoury stuffed pancakes), different styles of kebabs and a traditional Turkish breakfast at the Turkish Pazar Festival. Pazar means both Sunday and bazaar in Turkish.

Stalls provided the opportunity to buy a magic Turkish carpet, colorful lamp or ceramic plate, and the traditional art of paper marbling (ebru) and other arts and crafts were also on display.

The colorful and inspirational military marching band, the Ottoman Mehter Band of Melbourne, performed traditional ceremonial music used to inspire troops in battle and celebrate victories.

Organized by the Moreland Turkish Foundation, the festival hosted musicians from Turkey and Northern Cyprus, who performed Anatolian music.

The Queen Victoria Market is a major landmark in Melbourne, Australia, and at around seven hectares (17 acres) is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere.
Catena Media continues to strengthen its position as Europes fastest growing company in lead generation through the acquisition of a number of casino comparison websites. The network operates in new markets for Catena Media that are regulated and have licensed operators. The Network in question was previously owned and run by one Belgian and two Swedish individuals with extensive experience in the gambling industry. Through this acquisition, Catena Media is expanding its geographic reach to include gambling portals that are focussed on Belgium and Italy. The websites focus on casino comparison and revenue is generated solely from regulated markets with licensed operators. The portfolio that we are acquiring has agreements with licensed operators in regulated markets and is an excellent fit with Catena Medias existing portfolio. It is fully in line with our previously announced strategy of moving into new markets and of growing through acquisitions, says Robert Andersson, CEO of Catena Media. The portfolio being acquired is expected to generate sales of approximately EUR 300,000 in the first quarter of 2016 and a pre-tax profit margin of about 80%. In total, the network creates about 1,000 new depositing customers each month. The purchase price for the acquisition is EUR 3,000,000, which is being paid as a cash consideration in conjunction with the transfer of the assets. In addition, there is an earnout amount payable to the sellers based on revenue generated over the next two years. The earnout amount will not be higher than the revenue generated and is capped at EUR 3,000,000 per year, with a maximum total earnout of EUR 6,000,000. This entails that the sellers will continue to work with the websites for a period of at least two years. It is extremely exciting to start this collaboration with Catena Media and, at the same time, to continue working with the team we have built up over a number of years, says Eric Stoop, one of the owners of the websites that Catena Media is currently acquiring. The agreement was signed on 13 March 2016 and the takeover of the websites will be done immediately. All revenue generated by the portfolio in March will accrue to Catena Media. About Catena Media Catena Media was founded in 2012 and is engaged in online performance marketing and lead generation and is almost exclusively active within the iGaming industry. The group thereby attracts users from multiple online and mobile channels and directs them to the groups B2B customers mainly consisting of iGaming operators. The group focuses on the iGaming industry, and primarily on iGaming operators who operate online casinos on their own websites. iGaming operators typically use a network of marketing partners, known as affiliates, to promote their products and services and thus attract more end users to their websites. iGaming operators remunerate the affiliates for each end-user they refer to them, through such websites as www.johnslots.com/sv/ and www.rightcasino.com. The groups Core Focus Markets are Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The group has approximately 80 employees and has its registered office in Sliema, Malta. For more information Robert Andersson, CEO, +356 770 329 28 Patrik Bloch, CFO, +356 995 502 46 www.catenamedia.com The information was submitted for publication at 08.00 CET on 14 March 2016. Avanza is the Companys Certified Advisor.
DGAP-News: OHB SE / Key word(s): Miscellaneous OHB SE: ExoMars 2016 lifted off from Baikonur 14.03.2016 / 14:50 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baikonur, March 14th 2016 The ExoMars 2016-Mission, including the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli, was launched this morning at 09:31 GMT (10:31 CET) aboard a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The confirmation of the spacecraft separation, solar array deployment and first acquisition of signal is scheduled today for 21:10 GMT (22:10 CET). ExoMars2016 is a joint endeavour between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency, and comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator. As a part of the European industrial team, OHB System AG (subsidiary of OHB SE, Prime Standard, ISIN DE0005936124) was responsible for developing the core module of the TGO, which comprises the structure as well as the thermal and propulsion system for the 2016 mission. The prime contractor Thales Alenia Space Italia is leading the industrial team with contractors from many ESA Member and Cooperating States, while OHB System, as member of the core industrial team, is responsible for the major German contribution to ExoMars. The TGO will make a detailed inventory of Mars' atmospheric gases, with particular interest in rare gases like methane, which implies that there is an active, current source. TGO aims to measure its geographical and seasonal dependence and help to determine whether it stems from a geological or biological source. Marco Fuchs, CEO of OHB said: "The launch of ExoMars2016 marks a key step in the implementation of the full ExoMars-Program. We are very proud to be part of this ambitious international science and research program and are now looking forward to realizing also our sophisticated parts of the ExoMars2018-Mission." Meanwhile, Schiaparelli will demonstrate a range of technologies to enable a controlled landing on Mars in preparation for the future mission. After a seven-month cruise, the lander will separate from the TGO on 16 October and land on Mars on 19 October, for several days of activities. TGO will then enter orbit around the Red Planet ahead of its exciting multiyear science mission. It will also serve as a data relay for the second ExoMars-Mission, comprising a rover and a surface science platform, planned for launch in 2018. The launch of ExoMars 2016 marks the beginning of a new era of Mars exploration for Europe. About the ExoMars Program: ExoMars is a joint project of ESA and the Russian space organization Roscosmos. It comprises two missions which will be heading for Mars in 2016 and 2018 to find answers to the important question as to whether life ever existed on that planet. To this end, it will be taking soil samples from the planet's surface and analyzing them. The ExoMars program covers the key entry, descent, landing, drilling and exploration technologies. The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) now is on its way to Mars together with the "Schiaparelli" landing module. The purpose of the TGO is to find proof of methane or other atmospheric gases which indicate the existence of biological or geological processes on Mars. The TGO has several tasks in the two missions. In the 2018 mission it will be communicating with both the fixed Russian ground station and the European rover. The second mission with the ESA Rover and the Russian ground station is scheduled for May 2018 and will reach the planet at the beginning of 2019. Contact: Investor Relations Martina Lilienthal Tel.: +49 421 - 2020-720 Fax: +49 421 - 2020-613 E-Mail: martina.lilienthal@ohb.de Corporate Communications Martin Stade Tel.: +49 421 - 2020-620 Fax: +49 421 - 2020-9898 E-Mail: martin.stade@ohb.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14.03.2016 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: OHB SE Karl-Ferdinand-Braun-Str. 8 28359 Bremen Germany Phone: +49 (0)421 2020 8 Fax: +49 (0)421 2020 613 E-mail: ir@ohb.de Internet: www.ohb.de ISIN: DE0005936124 WKN: 593612 Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News Service --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 444905 14.03.2016
SAINT LOUIS, March 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Korein Tillery has filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of U.S. Senator Charles E. Grassley in support of the Respondents in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States and Commonwealth of Massachusetts ex rel. Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa.



Senator Grassley was the principal sponsor in the Senate of the False Claims Amendments Act of 1986 that modernized the FCA, and was one of the Senate sponsors of the Fraud Enforcement & Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA), which further strengthened the FCA as an effective tool for combating Government fraud. Senator Grassley has remained an active defender of the original intent of the legislation.



The amicus brief argues that the FCA has never required that an express certification of compliance accompany false or fraudulent claims for payment. The FCA was broadly written against the backdrop of the Civil War to prevent the increasingly resourceful attempts by swindlers to cheat the Government. In 1986, recognizing that false and fraudulent claims can take "many forms," Congress reaffirmed 1) the core purpose of the Act--capturing every form of fraudulent scheme that threatens the Treasury, and 2) that the Act must be broadly construed in service of these ends. An Express False Statement of Compliance Requirement plainly contradicts Congress' policy aims in enacting and amending the FCA.

by Eva Stojchevska
The Gorilla Radio archive can be found at: www.Gorilla-Radio.com. G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in State and Corporate media. Gorilla Radio airs live Thursdays between 11-12 noon Pacific Time. Airing in Victoria at 101.9FM, and featured on the internet at: http://cfuv.ca and www.pacificfreepress.com. And check out Pacific Free Press on Twitter @Paciffreepress
An impressively large crowd and a full slate of politicians rallied outside the Associated Supermarket on West 14th Street yesterday afternoon, demanding that the grocery store's landlord, Pan Am Equities, Inc., negotiate a reasonable lease rather than the exorbitant 500% increasefrom $32,000 to over $100,000 a monththey dropped on the decades-old store last week.

The Associated has been serving the Chelsea and Greenwich Village communities since 1989, but if Pan Am refuses to budge on their number the store will close in May, leaving thousands of residents, many of whom are seniors on a fixed income, without a basic, affordable supermarket in the neighborhood. Associated store employeesthe current manager started as a delivery boy here years agowould lose their jobs as well.

Among the politicians in attendance at the rally were Council Member Corey Johnson, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Public Advocate Letitia James, State Senator Brad Hoylman, and Assembly Member Richard Gottfried. Union leaders from Local 338 RWDSU and many members of Community Boards 4 and 2 were also on hand.

This supermarket is one the last remaining sources of affordable groceries for residents of Greenwich Village and Chelsea," Johnson told the crowd. "No one should be forced to travel long distances to buy food, especially seniors on fixed incomes. Although we recognize that the landlord is under no obligation to charge a reasonable rent, in this case the neighborhood is going to suffer in favor of corporate profits. We are asking the landlord to come to the table and negotiate a new lease with the store owner in good faith. Were not going to take this lying down."

Hoylman urged the Manocherian family, who own Pan Am Equities, to "do the right thing and renegotiate the lease with Associated Market," while Gottfried pointed out, "Manhattan residents can't stand idly by while our neighborhoods become the urban equivalent of gated communities. Part of the struggle against inequality is making sure that our neighborhoods have affordable, healthy options for basic staples like groceries."

Pan Am has apparently refused to respond to any requests for meetings with officials. No specific actions or remedies were put forth, but both groupsneighborhood residents and political officialswere clearly ready to fight. Nadler added, "Extreme commercial rent increases like this drive up the cost of living and drive out longtime residents."

In probably related news, directly across the street from the supermarket dozens of tourists lined up outside Black Tap Burger to take Instagrams of $15 milkshakes.
Legislation that would provide free tampons to teenage girls in public high schools and middle schools city-wide is still winding its way through the City Council, but this month young women at 25 middle schools and high schools in the Bronx and Queens will have access to free sanitary products in new dispensers installed in school bathrooms.

The pilot program, which will serve schools in District 24 in Queens and District 9 in the Bronxspanning primarily low-income neighborhoods including Corona, Glendale, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, Grand Concourse and Tremontwas inspired by a successful free-tampon program launched last year at the High School for Arts and Business in Corona, according to the News. Rollout starts today, and should be complete by April 1st.

Queens Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who's sponsoring the legislation for free tampons in schools, worked with the Department of Education to select the pilot districts. "Girls in these districts face the greatest financial hardships, Ferreras-Copeland told the tabloid. I want to ensure none of them lose class time, face illness or feel humiliated because their family cannot afford pads. Most women spend over $60 per year on tamponsno small expenditure for a teenager.

According to the DOE, the 25-school rollout will cost about $160,000 this year, and could be expanded to more schools depending on how well it goes over.

Earlier this month, a group of five women filed a class action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, claiming that the state's 4% sales tax on tamponsbut not "medical" items like Rogaine, adult diapers and dandruff shampooviolates the Equal Protection clauses of the United States and New York State Constitutions. And as of February, Manhattan Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal and Senator Sue Serino of Dutchess County are pushing for the same tax exemption at the State level.

While some high schools in NYC already distribute free tampons through the nurse's office, there's a case to be made for the anonymity of bathroom dispensers. You feel more confident and dont feel as nervous, Ashley Celik, a sophomore at Arts and Business High School, told the News. "You can just grab it whenever you need it. Its there for you.

Nancy Kramer of Free The Tampons put it this way to New York Magazine last fall, when Arts and Business got its dispenser: Men walk into their restroom and they have everything in it that they need to take care of their normal bodily functions. Women don't."
This season of GIRLS has been strong, with better writing and more focused plotswhich I, a fair weather fan, wasn't expecting. Last week's episode, which followed Shosh to Japan, was perhaps the best the show's ever aired, and we got a solid follow-up this week, delving into two blossoming romantic relationships and two that seem a tad troubled.

Hannah and Fran experienced a shake-up in paradise last week after Hannah found naked photos of Fran's ex-girlfriends on his phone. Things didn't look any better for them this week, when Fran points out a few grammatical errors on one of Hannah's students' poems and the two inadvertently tear the assignment in half. This bubbles over later at school, when Hannah returns the poem to the poor child, who is then forced to watch the two of them have a very public and rather inappropriate lovers' spat in the hallway. It's never a good idea to date a coworker, but this is especially true if you suspect that coworker will bring up your sex life in front of an eighth grader.

It's hard to see these two working out in the long runit's hard to see what brought them together in the first place, reallybut certainly things are on the rocks. More on this in a bit.

The next couple on the chopping block (PLS GOD) is the Marnie/Desi dream team. The two have returned from their honeymoon in EhuaTOR and are embarking upon marital blissor at least they WOULD be, if Desi weren't such a raging moron. His newest endeavor involves building a wall in the middle of Marnie's apartment so they could have more space for his studio, but less space over all. And it ain't cheap. "The wall is pretty much going to pay for itself," he tells her, pointing out that she spends about $3K-a-year on tea while working in a coffee shop, but now that she can/will be forced to work at home, "in a little over a year this will all be paid off." Desi is an idiot. But Marnie would rather be with an idiot than be alone, so she returns to him, apologizes, lets him throw a small temper tantrum and then whine at her during sex.

Elijah goes on his first date with sexy anchorman Peter Russo Dill Harcourt, and we get to see his slightly more serious side. Indeed, ever-flippant Elijah's vulnerability comes to light when he tells Dill he "could be okay" with entering into the type of relationship "where I don't meet your friends," and Dill tells him no, and that he should not be okay with that. Elijah hobnobs with the celebrities, takes photos with tourists in Times Square, kisses Dill in public and spends the night at his place which, by the way, has a DOPE view. It's not totally clear where this is going, and there is something subtly sinister about Dillhe jokingly threatens Elijah, for instance, and is quite demanding in bed. Then again, THAT VIEW. Dill also has a fireplace. #TeamDill.

Last but not least, we have Adam and Jessa. Jessa has been avoiding Adam ever since he kissed her in last week's episode, but he manages to follow her to a women's-only AA meeting and confronts her. She tries to push him off, mostly because of her friendship with Hannah. Adam points out, perhaps rightfully, that Hannah probably wouldn't do the same for her. And after a blow-up with Hannah (more on that below) she comes around. They have rather "bad" sex on Adam's couch, and it's both adorable and appropriately cringe-worthy.

Unsuccessful coitus aside, it's a relief to see Jessa and Adam finally get together. They really like each other, and they fit each other, and whether they can figure out how to keep their parts inside each other comfortably or not, they are still the couple to root for.

Still, there's a lot more stuff here to unpack than the climax of the will-they-won't-they romance. The episode's name comes from the "Old Loves" Tumblr page, which is a real thing and plays a somewhat pivotal role this week. The Tumblr features photos of old celebrity couples you've probably forgotten about, like Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, or Wilmer Valderrama & Lindsay Lohan, and in the middle of the episode Marnie wonders out loud to Hannah and Jessa what went wrong with all the stars' failed relationships. "Maybe nothing went wrong," Hannah says. "Maybe the relationship just lasted for the amount of time it was supposed to. Maybe all relationships have a finite lifespan."

It's an interesting linewe've been conditioned to think about a successful relationship as a forever-and-always kind of deal, but considering how prevalent divorce is now, it's worth considering whether eternity really is a worthy measure of accomplishment. Hannah brings this up in the context of potentially breaking up with Fran, and Marnie points out that if she does do that, she'll have to start out with someone new.

"People who work on things stay together," Marnie tells her before running back to Terrible Desi, and while that's partially true, it's not an entirely fair way to think about relationships. Sometimes there are insurmountable challenges. Sometimes something's not worth suffering through just so you can say you survived. Marnie warns Hannah that if she doesn't work on her unhappy coupledom she could end up alone ("like Cher"), but the fear of being alone can be more crippling than actually being alone, and Hannah can take a step towards some sort of self-actualization by recognizing that.

Hannah's relationship with Jessa is also hitting a rocky patchwhen Hannah makes Jessa come with her to get rice pudding (pre-Adam sex). Jessa attacks her during a weird and dark moment, and in a recap of the show actress Jemima Kirke explained this was a defense mechanism"I will make you hate me and make you not want to be my friend, and it's done, now I can go be with Adam, I'll take care of it before it hits me in the back of my head."

Before the episode aired I asked actress Jemima Kirke why she thought Jessa and Hannah were still friends, and Kirke didn't really seem to know. "I think that Jessa is only friends with them because of the longevity," she told me. "Hannah, for whatever reason, keeps her around." But these friends also tie Jessa to a part of her she's been trying to let go of, and they don't seem to be helping her move forward. Marnie and Hannah interrupt her while she's trying to study, and her loyalty to Hannah is keeping her from trying to feel out potential love and vulnerability. Just as Shosh is becoming a more fully-formed person on her own in Japan, Jessa might be able to grow up once she learns wholly to lean on herself.

Some notes:



Marnie's neighbors who hate her say what we can't say.



"Don't call me insane, you know my mother used to call me insane!" Why did no one drown Desi as a child?



One of the reasons GIRLS has improved this year is that the writers keep gifting us with these fantastic details. Case in point: Desi made a tiny custom-made shelf for his Ray Bradbury Digest collection. Desi has a Ray Bradbury Digest collection.



I love everything Jessa wears this season. That ribbed raspberry top is FIRE.



"You're not returning any of my texts." "They're barely sentences! 'You need eat,' that doesn't even make any sense!"



Ray is all alone. Poor Ray. At least he gets 13 hours of sleep.



"There are actually a lot of weird instances in which the President and the First Lady don't even sleep in the same bedroom." Jesus, what class is Fran teaching?



"[Fran] is actually not a good guy. He's a seemingly good guy." I can't tell whether Fran really is just a "seemingly" good guy, but man, those are the worst.



"All my ideas are so fucking stupid." Yes, yes they are, Desi.



Rice pudding bars are dumb.

Next week, Hannah goes on a getaway with her mom, and we go back to Japan!
Police believe a newborn infant was alive when it was placed in a garbage bag, leading authorities to charge a Staten Island woman with murder.

Nausheen Rahman, 28, had already been charged with concealment of a human corpse after the newborn's body was discovered in the trash outside her home on Richmond Hill Road on Saturday. Apparently Rahman had gone to Staten Island University Hospital on Friday night, complaining to staff about bleeding after giving birth. The Staten Island Advance reported, "Hospital officials realized they had no record of the woman having a baby at the facility, and notified police when she said she had the child at home and discarded it, the source said."

The news shocked Rahman's condominium complex community. A neighbor told WABC 7, "If I heard the baby crying, I would have taken the baby to the hospital." Another said to WCBS 2, "Drop [the baby] off at any fire house, go to the hospital, do something. A life deserves more than that."

The investigation is ongoing.
Two men and a dog are recovering from their wounds after gang-related stabbings in Queens.

According to police, a 16-year-old boy was walking his dog near the intersection of 80th Street and 32nd Avenue in Queens when he was attacked by two men. NBC reports that the assailants asked him if he had ties to Always Banging Kings, a local gang that often goes by the acronym ABK. The teenager replied that he was "not into that kind of thing," and was then stabbed in the abdomen. One of the men also stabbed him in the back.

An NYPD spokesperson said investigators suspect the teen has ties to a street gang, but could not specify which group. He and his dog were both rushed to Elmhurst Hospital and listed in stable condition.

About a half hour later, a 23-year-old man was reportedly confronted by the same two men at the nearby intersection of 80th Street and Northern Boulevard. Police told NBC that he was asked whether he liked ABK, and was then stabbed in the back. He was also rushed to Elmhurst hospital in stable condition, police said.

Workers and residents in the area expressed their fear and dismay in the wake of the repeat stabbings. "The police gotta come and track down all these kids that are doing these crazy things, cause it's not getting any easier in NYC," Julio Calaballo told NBC. Currently there are no suspects identified in connection to either incident, and the investigation is ongoing.
We love our doughnuts in this city, whether yeast or cake, vegan or notjust don't make them low fat. Today, a celebration of those doughnuts taking the city's game to the next level; the kind of doughnuts that are (almost) too beautiful to eat. Tell us where your favorite Instagram-worthy creations are to be found.

EVERYTHING DOUGHNUT FROM DOUGHNUT PROJECT This Everything Bagel-Doughnut hybrid delivers on every level: salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy and utterly addictive. Doughnut Projectwho are fast becoming NYC's doughnut innovatorsare using regular yeast doughnuts topped with a layer of sweet cream cheese glaze, the glue that'll hold on a scattering of oven-roasted black sesame seeds, garlic, poppy seeds, pepitas and sea salt.

The Doughnut Project is located at 10 Morton Street, 212-691-5000; website

A photo posted by Montana B. (@donutdivany) on Mar 11, 2016 at 7:26am PST

There's no option to leave this Astoria restaurant anything other than pants-busting full, especially if a Sunday brunch excursion includes one of the insane donuts they're making courtesy of Donut Diva Montana D'Alessio. Order the Lucky Charms Donut ($4.50) and you'll be presented with a cake doughnut dripping with a sticky marshmallow cream glaze, into which bits of Lucky Charms cerealregular bits included!have been pressed. The crowning jewel on many of their donut offerings: a donut hole, similarly adorned, nesting on top of the donut itself.

Queen Comfort is located at 40-09 30 Avenue in Astoria, Queens, 718-728-2350; website

(Manilla Social Club)

GOLDEN CRISTAL UBE DONUT FROM MANILLA SOCIAL CLUB Ube, purple yam, serves as a humble base for what is arguably NYC's least humble donut. The Filipino resaurant in Williamsburg that serves these $100 beauties touts the "combination" of the "honey" notes of Cristal complementing the ube, which in turns go well with the 24-karat gold that lacquers the pastry. Plus, they'll only charge you $1,000 if you order a dozen; what a deal!

Manilla Social Club is located at 2 Hope Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 384-4396; website

(Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

MAPLE WAFFLE DONUT FROM UNDERWEST DONUTS The only donut shop located inside a car wash is also serving one of the best new donuts around with their Maple Waffle offering ($3). Per Quick Bites columnist Scott Lynch: "Moist, sugary-glazed and evocative of my childhood visits to Southern Vermont, topped with crisp crumbles of stroopwafel, this little beauty would add an unacceptable amount of calories to my week if it were more readily accessible." Sold.

Inside Westside Highway Car Wash, 638 West 47th Street in Hell's Kitchen; website

A photo posted by The Original NYC Food Blogger (@nycfoodguy) on Nov 28, 2014 at 9:42am PST

After over half a century in Bay Ridge, Leske's has firmly established itself in the culinary fabric of the neighborhood. They're beloved for their black and white cookies, their Kringlers and pecan rings and, of course, their Maple Glazed Bacon Doughnuts ($1.75). Pillowy yeast doughnuts are topped with a sweet maple glaze that accentuates the smokiness of the bounty of bacon bits on top. Bacon on doughnuts isn't a newfangled creation, but Leske's is making one of the best versions in NYC and beyond.

Leske's is located at 7612 Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 718-680-2323; website

Via Facebook

NORBERWEIBERBERWEIBERHYDRAFAB AT CINNAMON SNAIL A tip of the hat to anyone who tries to pronounce this insane vegan creation from the doughnut and wallaby enthusiasts at the Cinnamon Snail. This cruelty-free little creature is glazed with white chocolate, topped with dirty blonde streusel and stuffed to the brim with Makers Mark bourbon hazelnut ganache. Yes, there is bourbon in that doughnut.

The Cinnamon Snail is located at The Pennsy, 2 Penn Plaza; website

(Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

THE EVERYTHING FROM GOSSIP COFFEE Everything here doesn't refer to bagel seasonings but rather the little bit of everything (glazes, toppings, etc.) that chef Scottish Francis (aka Francis Legge) has lying around the kitchen. They only offer this beautiful mess ($4.50) on Sundays, but offer other flavors like Orange Creamsicle and Prosciutto Guiness all the time.

Gossip Coffee is located at 37-04 30th Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, in Astoria, Queens, 718-440-8792; website
Upper West Siders may soon have another destination for snow/natural disaster panic shopping: Trader Joe's is reportedly close to signing a deal for 20,000 square feet on Columbus Avenue between 92nd and 93rd Streets.

The Real Deal reports, "Trader Joes is in late-stage negotiations to open a new supermarket on the Upper West Side, at the base of a 30-story condominium tower [at 670 Columbus Avenue], sources told The Real Deal... A lease is expected to be signed in the next few weeks." Hopefully it'll be open by September, when we'll need to stockpile pumpkin spice items.

The asking price-per-square foot on Columbus Avenue, according to the Real Deal, is $450(!!!).

There's already a Trader Joe's on Broadway at West 72nd Street; there's also a Fairway on Broadway and West 74th Street and another on 12th Avenue and West 132nd Street, plus Whole Foods locations at Columbus Circle and on Columbus Avenue and West 97th Street, in addition to other West Side Markets on Broadway at West 110th, at West 97th and at West 76th. Upper West Siders like to cook because, well, their neighborhood isn't exactly known for its variety of delicious, affordable restaurants.
A group of affordable housing advocates and unions that have spent the last year vehemently protesting Mayor de Blasio's $41 billion affordable housing planarguing that it would not create enough truly affordable housing and hinges on non-union laborissued a surprise endorsement of the mayor's plan on Sunday. The announcement came less than a week after Real Affordability For All coalition (RAFA) threatened, then postponed, acts of civil disobedience at City Hall citing "productive movement in current negotiations" with the City.

One of the pillars of Mayor de Blasio's affordable housing plan, known as mandatory inclusionary zoning, would allow developers to build taller, denser buildings in fifteen targeted low-income neighborhoodsfrom East New York to Jerome Avenue in the Bronxso long as 25-30% of the apartments rent for less than market rate.

RAFA, among the most vocal critics of de Blasio's plan, had argued that the rezoning would produce a glut of new apartments too expensive for long-time residents of these neighborhoods. For example, only 13% of the apartments planned for East New York would be affordable to the 53% of current residents who make less than $35,000 a year.

According to RAFA, they threw their support behind the mayor after he agreed to conduct a study of the neighborhoods slated for rezoning.

"We know Mayor de Blasio shares our core progressive values, and he has listened to our concerns," said RAFA Director Maritza Silva-Farrell in a statement issued Sunday. "That's why we support this stronger, more robust affordable housing plan, along with the administration's commitment to do a study that will examine mechanisms for achieving even deeper affordability and job standards in new housing."

De Blasio's plan has been formally rejected by 50 of 59 impacted community boards, and four of the five borough presidents. Asked if she believed RAFA's endorsement would reverse that opposition, Silva-Farrell said, "I think things will change once we have a program in place to think about rezoning differently."

RAFA says the Mayor initially resisted the study, but "reversed his position" after RAFA "pushed" him. The study won't be conducted until after the mayor's plan is passed.

Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for the mayor, says the vaguely-defined study will "identify even more tools to reach New Yorkers with quality jobs and affordable housing."



Advocates dropped a banner in City Hall chambers during an East New York rezoning hearing earlier this month reading "East New York cannot afford de Blasio's New York" (via RAFA's Facebook).

More substantive changes to the zoning laws appear to be coming from the City Council and Brooklyn councilmember and Housing Committee Chair Jumaane Williams.

Politico New York reported today that amendments to the mayor's plan favored by the City Council would create a deeper level of affordability in the zoning scheme.

One amendment would set aside one fifth of new apartments to tenants making 40% of the AMI, or $31,075 for a family of three. Another would require that in buildings where 25% of units must be affordable for those making 60% of the AMI, 10% of all units would have to go to residents who make only 40%.

"We want to make sure that there aren't parts of this city that are built with no deeply affordable units," Williams told Gotham Gazette. "There shouldn't be a project where some of the units aren't of the deepest affordability30 percent or below of AMI must be considered." Silva-Farrell was careful to reiterate on Monday that RAFA and Williams are working together.

The rezoning changes could be approved as soon as this afternoon.

"We're on the verge of implementing the strongest, most progressive requirement for affordable housing of any city in the country," mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell said in a statement.

The new amendments are not as strong as what RAFA was fighting for: 50% of housing to be affordable for people at or below the neighborhood median income, rather than the metropolitan area median income. The Mayor's office has not agreed to this proposal, nor have they agreed to use local construction workers and pay them a prevailing wage, which RAFA had also argued for [PDF].

At a press conference on Monday, Mayor de Blasio fielded questions from reporters on the nature of the study, and whether the City's agreement to conduct such a study ultimately won RAFA's endorsement.

In his response, the Mayor suggested that RAFA was more swayed by his own vision, than by the promise of a study.

"It's fair to say that sometimes when people get to know a plan better, they see more to like about it," de Blasio said. "I don't want to speak for RAFA, but I believe they realized the extent of our plan. We want to get to a good plan with the council, and then get back to work looking at what more we can do."

Silva-Farrell reiterated her confidence in RAFA's endorsement on Monday.

"The thing that makes me confident is that we're going to be able to have a working group with our coalition in City Hall," she said. "Now it's not so much can we do it [make the affordability deeper], the study is going to be about how we do it."
"exceptionally terrific"

- Blawg Wisdom



"A protein-laden dose of big thinking on criminal justice reform."

- Evan Smith, Editor-in-chief and publisher, The Texas Tribune



"A powerful and well-researched site."

- The Austin Chronicle

GFB is "an indispensable handle if you're interested in criminal justice in Texas."

- Emily Bazelon, Slate



" Grits is the first thing I read every morning and I learn something every single time."

- Pam Colloff, ProPublica/NY Times Magazine

"plenty of biting commentary and credible research"

- San Antonio Current



Scott Henson is "one of the nations finest criminal-justice policy wonks."

- Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

Grits for Breakfast "is the best blog about criminal justice in Texas" and "as usual extremely fair"

- Erica Grieder, The Economist



"the best coverage of criminal justice in the entire state"

- Pamela Colloff, Texas Monthly

I respect the work Scott does and appreciate his thoughtful and extensive coverage of Texass criminal justice system

Jim Bethke,"Grits for Breakfast has done a terrific job covering Texas prison overcrowding issues."

- Doug Berman, Sentencing Law & Policy



"the indispensable blog on criminal justice and law enforcement in Texas"

- Marie Gottschalk, author of 'Caught'

"plugged in and well written"

- DallasBlog



"I always tell people interested in these issues that your blog is the most important news source, and have had high-ranking corrections officials tell me they read it regularly."

- Scott Medlock, Texas Civil Rights Project



"a helluva blog"

- Solomon Moore, NY Times criminal justice correspondent



"Congrats on building one of the most read and important blogs on a specific policy area that I've ever seen"

- Donald Lee, Texas Conference of Urban Counties



GFB "is a fact-packed, trustworthy reporter of the weirdness that makes up corrections and criminal law in the Lone Star State" and has "shown more naked emperors than Hans Christian Andersen ever did."

-Attorney Bob Mabry, Conroe

"Grits really shows the potential of a single-state focused criminal law blog"

- Corey Yung, Sex Crimes Blog



"I regard Grits for Breakfast as one of the most welcome and helpful vehicles we elected officials have for understanding the problems and their solutions."

Tommy Adkisson,

Bexar County Commissioner



"dude really has a pragmatic approach to crime fighting, almost like hes some kind of statistics superhero"

- Dirty Third Streets



"concise, knowledgeable, in-depth and sometimes counter-to-prevailing wisdom"- Rob Patterson,"Scott Henson's 'Grits for Breakfast' is one of the most insightful blogs on criminal justice issues in Texas."

- Texas Public Policy Foundation



"Nobody does it better or works harder getting it right"

David Jennings, aka "Big Jolly"



"I appreciate the fact that you obviously try to see both sides of an issue, regardless of which side you end up supporting."Kim Vickers,Grits for Breakfast "has probably broken more criminal justice stories than any TX reporter, but stays under the radar. Fascinating guy."Maurice Chammah,"unrestrained and uneducated"

John Bradley,

Former Williamson County District Attorney, now former Attorney General of Palau



"our favorite blog""Scott Henson ... writes his terrific blog Grits for Breakfast from an outhouse in Texas."

- To the People



2004 Koufax Award Winner:Best Single Issue Blog Winner of Blawg Review's

2006 Equal Justice Award

Public Defender Investigators' 2007

"Editors Choice Award"

2009 Austin Chronicle

'Best of Austin' Award Ranked among Top 3 most influential independent law blogs in North America, 2012



Well, I don't wear a Stetson

But I'm willing to bet, son,

That I'm as big a Texan

As you are.


Groove is New Zealand's only Cafe Style Jazz Radio Station. Also the only locally owned & operated, independent commercial radio station in Wellington. We specialise in Lounge, Swing, Classic Jazz, Blues, Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul and anything with a Groove. We also champion local artists, DJs, funk collectives - anyone who makes groovy music. We love to help the local community including on-air messages and broadcasting live at events. We want all Groovers, young and old to live and breathe the vibe in Wellington's funky, vibrant city. Groove is your soundtrack. Tune in here or on the Tunein mobile app (Search for Groove 107.7FM or Stations in Wellington NZ). We're not currently broadcasting on FM but hope to be back as soon as we get some sponsorship for a new transmission site. Are you in business? We are also the most cost effective way to reach the people with style & money in New Zealand via radio. To find out more about our advertising deals, click on the link above.
News

Taliban kill six Daesh members in raid in Afghan capital

The Daesh members killed in the raid on their hideout were involved in two major attacks in recent weeks, one on a city mosque and the other on a tutoring institute in which dozens of female students were killed, said the spokesman.
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CHICAGO (AP)  If past trends hold up, some Illinois voters will be more active than others in Tuesday's primary election for U.S. president, U.S. Senate and other races.

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a government watchdog group, has teamed up with a Chicago information technology company to examine voter records and Census data over the last four elections, an analysis they say hasn't been as easily accessible to the public before now. The campaign hopes it'll contribute to more voter participation.

A little more than 10 million Illinois residents who are U.S. citizens of legal age qualify to vote. But only 7.5 million are registered and active, meaning, in part, that they've voted recently. That leaves out 2.6 million people, roughly 26 percent of those eligible.

The data suggests some parts of Illinois have more engaged voting populations, though explanations other than geography could be a factor, such as outdated voter files.

More than 90 percent of eligible voters are registered and active in the state's southernmost counties: Alexander, Pulaski and Massac. In Central and Northwestern Illinois, DeWitt, Piatt, Mercer and Carroll counties also fit that description.

By contrast, in Western Illinois' Brown County and the city of Aurora, fewer than 60 percent are registered. Chicago doesn't fare much better, with less than 70 percent.

Voters are listed inactive if they haven't voted in the past four years and don't responded to election notices confirming their address.

More women cast ballots than men: Nearly 52 percent of active voters are female, compared with 45 percent male. About 3 percent don't list a gender.

Women make up about half of Illinois' population. In Danville and Galesburg, 55 percent of active voters are women. The highest percentage for men is in Schuyler County, with about 52 percent.

Older voters, age 65 and up, are 22 percent of the active electorate. After that, 55- to 64-year-olds make up nearly 19 percent, while voters 18 to 24 are about 7 percent.

Still, overall primary turnout is low, averaging 22 percent over the last four elections. The recent low was 17 percent in 2014 and the high was 32 percent in 2008.

The average turnout for general elections since 2008 is 54 percent.

Primary voter trends reveal a slow shift in partisan turnout, with more people casting GOP ballots over the last four cycles.

In 2008, when Chicago native Barack Obama sought the Democratic presidential nomination, 66 percent of the primary ballots in Illinois were Democratic, while 30 percent were Republican.

By 2014, when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner sought his first public office, the numbers were nearly reversed. Only 36 percent of cast ballots were Democratic, while 61 percent were Republican.
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La Voz de los de Abajo can be contacted at lavozchicago@yahoo.com and we are on Facebook.




Honeycomb Music Presents: Josh Milan's 1st Annual Cruise to the Bahamas 2017 - DEPOSIT DUE 4/15

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Hello family and friends.You're invited to join Honeycomb Music in the celebration of Josh Milan's birthday cruise in the sunny Bahamas on the Carnival Valor from June 8 - 11, 2017.We will have a fantastic line-up of DJs and Artists to enjoy. To secure your cabin you will need to contact our travel consultant Dorothy Nicholas at Liberty Travel. You can call her at 732-238-3000 or email her atspecifically reference the HONEYCOMB MUSIC CRUISE.For your purchase the complementary Honeycomb Cruise Music Pack, you will receive an email with purchase information from a Honeycomb Music representative after you pay your deposit to the travel consultant.The Honeycomb Cruise Music Pack provides event access to All Honeycomb activities aboard the ship for the 3 days. The cost of the HC Cruise Music Pack is $75.00. Payment will be processed separate from cruise arrangements with the travel consultant. Payment may be facilitated through the Honeycomb website via PayPal or Square at Honeycomb events leading up to cruise.Sheronia RogersHoneycomb MusicSpecial Events Consultant973-531-7664
Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson listens at left, before announcing he will endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a news conference at the Mar-A-Lago Club, Friday, March 11, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
So I sort of forgot about my December posting meme until, um, March? My bad! But anyway,asked me to recommend five of my favorite books about ladies that I've read in the last few years, so here's a list! In totally random order, because there's no way I could pick just one favorite.by Marcel Theroux - The only book on this list actually written by a dude, and it's actually one of my favorite books in the entire world. This is a very nuanced addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. Born into a group of religious fundamentalists that move to Siberia to escape the ravages of global warming, the narrator believes she might be the only person left in the entire world. It turns out that she's not. The prose is stark and spare, and the narrator's voice is unique and original. The whole thing is absolutely haunting.by Celeste Ng - This story of a mixed race family in the 1970s kicks off when the oldest daughter is found dead in a nearby lake. The story is a mystery, but it's less a whodunit than an exploration of each character's psychological mysteries. Each member of the family is terribly flawed and terribly sympathetic, and it's up to the reader to decide who they blame for the daughter's death.by Leila B. Hadley - In the 1950s, Leila Hadley got divorced, took off traveling with her four-year-old son in tow, and wound up sailing around Asia with a whole bunch of sexy Navy veterans. And then she wrote a book about it. Highly recommended for vacation reading and travel inspiration.by Leymah Gbowee - Liberia's brutal civil war raged for eight years, until a bunch of bad ass ladies got fed up with it and launched a peace movement. Instead of doing housework and taking care of their husbands, they put on white dresses and held sit-ins, all day, every day until their leaders agreed to sit down and talk things out. Definite trigger warnings for graphic and sexual violence, but a really powerful and inspirational read.by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Chick lit with a twist. The narrator of the story is a Nigerian woman who moved to the United States for college and finds surprise success with a blog about American race relations. Like Sex in the City, it weaves through several of the protagonist's romantic misadventures, leaving readers yearning for her to reunite with the perfect boyfriend who got away. But this is no superficial romantic novel. The narrator is a real woman, exploring how mental illness, poverty, and race shape her life.
"I have no idea why they included my name on that list," State Rep. Margo McDermed (R-Mokena) told Illinois Review Monday. "I didn't return their required questionnaire, and they couldn't have based it on my voting record."

CHICAGO - Illinois' Personal PAC, as always, is encouraging Illinois voters to vote only for pro-abortion candidates in the primary. Problem is they included a staunch pro-life state representative as the only House Republican in their March 15th primary endorsement list.

McDermod said she has been in contact with Personal PAC, but was unable to talk to the Executive Director Terry Cosgrove and staff indicated that he was the one that presented the list to their endorsement committee. Sometime this morning McDermed's name was removed from one endorsement list HERE, but remains on another HERE.

Being the only Republican on Personal PAC's endorsement list sends a conflicted message to voters in her very conservative, pro-life 37th House District in southwest suburban Will County.

On a voting reference list made printable on the Personal PAC website, the PAC makes clear their intentions.

"The March 15th primary election ballot there are dozens of candidates running for office across Illinois that want to end access to birth control, shut down Planned Parenthood, and make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest, or to save a womans life," the website says. "You and the ballot box are the only thing standing between these right-wing extremists and their horrifying agenda for the women and families of Illinois. And it is up to you, your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors to stop them by VOTING ONLY for pro-choice candidates."

"I'm prolife," McDermed said. "I'm endorsed by Family PAC and Illinois Family Action, two of the most pro-life groups in the state. I'm going to get to the bottom of why Personal PAC included my name. I want the voters of my district to not be misled."

McDermed is unopposed in the March 15th GOP primary, and as of yet, she faces no Democrat opposition in November.

Personal PAC did not respond to queries from Illinois Review as to whether or not there could be any other mistakes on their endorsement list.
MUNDELEIN - With less than three weeks until the November 8th election that most pundits say will be an anti-Biden Republican Wave nationwide, Illinois is such a strong blue political island among Midwestern red states that it appears the state's Republicans are bracing to be crashed as it is once again passed by.

The IL GOP simply cannot raise money - although Chicago financiers are a favored place for out-of-state Republicans to visit and fill their coffers to win races elsewhere. Why that is a reality is another story - but the fact is that while they are wooing qualified conservatives into the process, the IL GOP has a history of abandoning candidates that jump in to help the cause.

Take, for instance, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kathy Salvi. She's challenging Democrat incumbent Tammy Duckworth, whose voting history and comments show she is as Leftist and radical as the US House's "Squad" - which supports defunding police, unrestricted abortion through and including birth, Marxist ideology and - on and on.

Yesterday, the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet wrote about the $18 million Duckworth has raised in this campaign and the meager $1 million Salvi has raised.

Salvi, who saved the Illinois GOP ballot from being headed by downstate conspiracy theorists Peggy Hubbard and Bobby Piton, has been abandoned and shunned by not only US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his leading fundraiser Senator Rick Scott, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee which raises funds for Republican candidates.

Salvi has run almost half of her campaign on her personal retirement funds that she's loaned to run for the U.S. Senate. She's energetic, enthused, passionate and well-spoken. Her arguments and strategy are well-thought-out. She does well in discussions with supporters and opponents.

There's no one than Salvi that could be a better challenger to Duckworth at this time. Kathy Salvi is a hard-working candidate. And still, she's unable to get support from either the NRSC or the IL GOP.
A vehicle burns after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, March 13, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

ANKARA - A car bomb tore through a crowded transport hub in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125 in the second such attack in the administrative heart of the city in under a month.

The blast, which could be heard several kilometres away, sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred metres (yards) from the Justice and Interior Ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister.

"These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the name of the group behind the attack would likely be announced on Monday after initial investigations were completed.

"Tonight, civilian citizens waiting at a bus stop were targeted in a terrorist attack with a bomb-laden car," Ala told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the head of the intelligence agency and security chiefs.

"Significant findings have been made, but the organisation behind this will be announced once the investigation has been finalised," he said.

NATO member Turkey faces multiple security threats. As part of a US-led coalition, it is fighting Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. It is also battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s.

The United States condemned the attack, saying in a White House National Security Council statement: "This horrific act is only the most recent of many terrorist attacks perpetrated against the Turkish people. The United States stands together with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued partner, as we confront the scourge of terrorism."

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 30 of those killed had died at the scene, while the four others died in hospital. At least one or two of the dead were attackers, he said, and 19 of the 125 wounded were in critical condition.
The fourth Republican - William McGuffrage - was appointed in May 1998, when Jim Edgar was governor.

Keith is a Springfield attorney who served as a circuit judge; Carruthers is a Metro East attorney who recently served as Madison County Republican Chairman; and Bill Cadigan is an attorney who served as Governor Rauner's New Trier Township GOP Chairman before resigning to join the board.

The board currently consists of four Democrats and four Republicans. Three of the board members were appointed in July 2015 by Governor Bruce Rauner - John R. Keith , Andrew Carruthers and Bill Cadigan .

Governor Rauner has a stake in today's hearing in that he appointed three of the election board members, and $2 million from his Turnaround Illinois committee was transferred into Liberty Principles PAC.

SPRINGFIELD - Today, the members of the Illinois State Board will consider complaints against the Liberty Principles PAC that has invested close to $5M into Illinois Primary Election races. The complaints allege coordination between the PAC and campaigns of candidates it supports. If the board members side with the plaintiffs against the PAC, Illinois Election code suggests the resulting fines could be significant.

Complaints before the board are about newspapers that Liberty Principles PAC sent out to three different districts - one in McHenry County, a second in Lake County and a third in a downstate race. Stories appeared in each that seem to favor the candidates backed by Liberty Principle PAC, and included quotes from those candidates indicating they may have spoken with the reporter. The plaintiffs claim that this shows coordination between the candidates and the Super PAC.

A second complaint is that the newsletter did not expressly use the term "Paid for by ..." as required by the Election Code.

While Liberty Principles PAC does not report a direct donation from Governor Rauner, it does report a transfer from the Governor's Turnaround Illinois Committee for $1,818,000 January 19, 2016:

A month later on February 29, 2016, Rauner donated $2M to Turnaround Illinois, whose purpose is "to support state legislative candidates who support Gov. Rauner's reforms, and to oppose those who may stand in the way:

That $2M donation added to the $250,000 Rauner gave the group right after it started in April 2015. The only major donor other than Rauner during Turnaround Illinois' inaugural year was wealthy Chicagoan Sam Zell, who wrote a check for $4M to set up the Super PAC.

Illinois Election Code seems to indicate that a violation may have taken place if an Independent Expenditure PAC (IE PAC) coordinates with a candidate. If such coordination takes place, IE PAC could be stripped of its independent expenditure status and changed to a standard PAC, with all the contribution limits that come with that classification. In that case, the IE PAC can be viewed as essentially making a direct contribution to that particular candidate.

The level of the fine for such an offense is determined based on the following from Illinois Election Code Section 9-8.6:

(d) In the event that a political committee organized as an independent expenditure committee makes a contribution to any other political committee other than another independent expenditure committee or a ballot initiative committee, the State Board shall assess a fine equal to the amount of any contribution received in the preceding 2 years by the independent expenditure committee that exceeded the limits for a political action committee set forth in subsection (d) of Section 9-8.5.

This means that millions of dollars could be at stake with the decision the State Board makes Monday regarding Liberty Principles PAC.
CHICAGO - It is being reported that Donald Trumps Illinois campaign director - Kent Gray - has been sidelined after Trump grew furious over what sources described as a lack of organization in the state in the run-up to Tuesdays primary.

Sources told POLITICO that Gray was sidelined early last week after the Trump camp learned he made few inroads with get-out-the-vote efforts and organizing volunteers.

One thing after another was bungled, said one source with knowledge of the discussions.

According to polls, Trump is leading in Illinois, with Ted Cruz in second and John Kasich in third.
This Tuesday, March 15, 2016 is the Illinois state primary. I'm planning on pulling a republican ballot and voting for Ted Cruz for president of the United States. I also plan to vote for all the Ted Cruz delegates.

This has been a wild primary season starting with 17 candidates on the republican side along with four on the democrat side. I started out as a Governor Scott Walker supporter because he spoke of cutting the size , scope, and cost of government. Unfortunately, he dropped out early but perhaps we will see him back in four years..We are now down to four republicans and two democrats. I have met or seen most of the candidates For the record, I plan to vote for the Republican nominee in November, even if it's Donald Trump or Mitt Romney.

It's been a wild week here in Illinois. It included breakfast with Heidi Cruz (Mrs Ted Cruz), attending a John Kasich rally with 1800 people in Palatine, and a debate watch party with former Congressman Joe Walsh in Libertyville. On Wednesday I even got a chance to be on Fox News as I was part of a live broadcast of "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren. It was a Chicago town hall with Kasich. Later that evening I stopped by the Cook County Republican Committeeman meeting.

Friday was my big day as I worked my day job early so I could head over to see Donald Trump at the UIC Pavilion. After arriving around 1:00pm, I talked to many people in line including folks who waited hours to get in. I lucked out running into a suburban committeeman who got me in a VIP doors, 30 minutes before the doors open at 3:00pm. Everybody was on alert that a protest was planned inside the arena and outside on the street. You probably know by now, Trump cancelled his event here for security reasons.

Fortunately for me, I left early and missed the protest. I had to head over to the Palmer House to see Ted Cruz who was doing an event. He was scheduled to speak at the governor's fundrasier around 6:00pm. Cruz was scheduled to speak later in the evening at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Rolling Meadows which I also planned to attend about 30 miles away. I did get to say hi to Governor Bruce Rauner before heading to the suburbs.





So after seeing the governor, and not seeing Trump, it was time to head to Rolling Meadows. It was a Lincoln Day dinner attended by close to 1500 people. No one was disappointed as Ted Cruz gave a wonderful speech interrupted by constant applause. Afterwards he stayed for autographs, handshakes and photos.

If you want to see Ted Cruz, he is doing an Illinois fly around on Monday. I may see him in Glen Ellen at noon. . http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2016/03/cruz-announces-five-stop-fly-around-in-illinois-monday.html

So, I'm voting for Ted Cruz on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 along with all the Cruz delegates. Please join me in voting for TED CRUZ.
US presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday added more texture to his anti-Muslim rhetoric by calling more than one-fourths of Muslims to be Militants. Its not the first time when Trump drew flak for his controversial remarks. Known for stoking series of controversies, he recently stated that he thinks "Islam hates us" and asserted that those having hatred against the US cannot be allowed to enter the country.

By India Today Web Desk: US presidential candidate Donald Trump on Sunday added more texture to his anti-Muslim rhetoric by calling more than one-fourths of Muslims militants.

Continuing with his anti-Muslims rhetoric he stated that radical Islamic terrorism is taking place all over the world and 27 per cent of the Muslims are "very militant".

"It's (militant Muslims) 27 per cent, could be 35 per cent, would go to war, the hatred is tremendous," Trump told the Fox News Sunday.

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The 69-year-old reality show star and billionaire also ridiculed the observations of a survey according to which not more than 100,000 of the 1.6 billion Muslims are fighting jihadist causes.

"You're saying that out of 1.5 billion, 100,000, let me tell you, whoever did that survey was about as wrong as you can get. Why don't you take a look at the Pew poll that came out very recently or fairly recently, where I think the number... it's something like 27 per cent are really very militant about going after things," Trump

"And you'll have to look at it. They did a very strong study. Let's see what it says. But it's a very significant number. It's not 100,000 people, I can tell you that. It's a ridiculous number," he added.

Its not the first time when drew flak for his controversial remarks. Known for stoking series of controversies, Trump recently stated that he thinks "Islam hates us" and asserted that those having hatred against the US cannot be allowed to enter the country.

"It would be easier for me to say, "Oh, no, everybody loves us." But there's something going on. There's a big problem. And radical Islamic terrorism is taking place all over the world," he said.

"You look at what happened in Paris, you look at what happened in California recently with the 14 people killed by co-workers, by people where they gave 'em baby showers and then they walk in and they kill 'em, they shoot 'em.

They had no guns, they had no weapons. They had no nothing. They shot them. They killed them all," Trump argued.

Trump said that he has heard the figure of 20,000 to 30,000 troops needed to defeat ISIS in the Middle East.

"But now, you have people chopping off heads, you have people drowning 40 and 50 people in steel cages at a time, and now, we have to do something. The reason we have to do it is because of the power of weaponry. They're looking to get weapons, and they're looking to acquire weapons that are going to be very, very horrible for our country if they ever do it," Trump said.

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ALSO READ:

Blame me for popularity of Donald Trump? No way, says Barack Obama

I think Islam hates us: Donald Trump





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Students of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology in Punjab's Sangrur had lost their way due to bad weather while trekking.

By India Today Web Desk: Eight trekkers who went missing in Manali in Himachal Pradesh have been rescued.

Students of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology in Punjab's Sangrur had lost their way due to bad weather while trekking.

Hitender Sharma, Anil Kumar, Akshay Kumar Bura,Chetan Chori, Saurav Sharma, Rohit Kumar, Ankush Kumar - all final year students of B Tech and their friend from Kullu, Bharat Kayasth, on March 10, were headed for the religious shrine Bijli Mahadev, but they lost their way and started walking on the deadly Chanderkhani Pass instead.

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"They lost their way and reached Footasore village. Suddenly the weather changed and it started snowing. They were stuck at a deserted place, which was buried under seven to eight feet of snow. They had tents and sleeping bags, which saved them. They melted the snow to quench thirst but were without food," said Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kullu, Rohit Ratore, who supervised the 70-hour-long rescue operation.

One of the rescued trekkers Chetan Chori, who hails from Ambala, Haryana, said that after visiting the shrine they had decided to trek up to the Chanderkhani Pass.

"We pitched our tents on the Chanderkhani Pass after it started snowing. The snowfall continued and within hours our tents were covered under four feet of snow. We had nothing to eat. We informed our parents and asked them to rescue us. We survived by eating boiled snails," Chori said.

While others were trapped inside their tents, Anil Kumar and Hitender Sharma left in search of a safer place to pitch their tent. They found a cave and took shelter there.

However, the authorities of the engineering institute said that the students had not taken administrative permission before proceeding on the trekking expedition.

Also read:

6 out of 8 trekkers missing in Himachal Pradesh rescued

Trekkers, who were stuck under 8ft snow for 70 hours in Manali, rescued



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Beijing also skirted questions about whether or not its soldiers were present in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), after Indian officials have suggested that Chinese soldiers were present along the Line of Control (LoC), carrying out infrastructure projects along with Pakistan.

By Ananth Krishnan: China on Monday said its troops did not go "beyond the border", after reports said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had on March 8 and 11 crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) 6 km into Indian territory, leading to stand-offs with Indian troops in Ladakh.

Beijing also skirted questions about whether or not its soldiers were present in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), after Indian officials have suggested that Chinese soldiers were present along the Line of Control (LoC), carrying out infrastructure projects along with Pakistan.

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"There is no such thing as going beyond the border," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, when asked about the two incidents in Ladakh last week

Lu accused the Indian media of "hyping up" the issue.

Both incidents last week were in Ladakh, with one leading to a stand-off between Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel and PLA soldiers, according to reports.

Officials said the incidents were defused quickly, following existing protocols including those laid down by the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) signed in 2013, which says neither side will use force or threaten to use force in face-off situations, and will not tail the other when patrolling in areas where there are different perceptions of the LAC.

Both sides have taken steps to defuse boundary tensions through the BDCA and setting up additional border personnel meeting points - a sixth will be operationalised this year, following two added points last year in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.

But India's calls to resume the stalled process of clarifying the LAC have made little headway, with Beijing seeing it as a diversion to the on-going boundary talks.

This past week, strains along the as yet undemarcated LAC between India and China have resurfaced, in part, some officials suggest, due to changes in patrolling once the winter ends. In several areas along the LAC, India and China have overlapping claim lines, with both sides patrolling up to their claims, and leading on occasion to stand off incidents.

According to officials, the PLA entered 6 km into Indian territory, leading to a stand-off following which the Chinese troops withdrew.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, insisted that the PLA had stayed on China's side of the LAC.

"There is no such thing as going beyond the border," spokesperson Lu Kang said. "We deeply regret that the media keeps hyping up the relevant issue. We must note that the bilateral relationship has maintained sound momentum. Friendly cooperation is the mainstream of relations. We hope relevant media will report objectively and truly about the China India relationship, and do more to improve friendly relations."

Chinese troops in PoK?

Besides the LAC incidents, reports have also suggested that soldiers of the People's Liberation Army were also present in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including near the Line of Control (LoC). Reports have suggested the troops were involved in the on-going China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, either in infrastructure projects or providing security to Chinese firms. The corridor connects China's western Xinjiang region, through PoK, to the Gwadar port in Pakistan on the Arabian Sea.

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Asked about the presence of Chinese troops in PoK, Lu, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, "I have not heard about the incident you mentioned. China's position on the Kashmir issue is consistent. The relevant issue is left over from history between India and Pakistan. We hope the two countries can properly resolve the issue through negotiation and consultations."

While India has raised objections about the corridor through PoK, which involves expanding highways, building railway lines and energy projects, China has maintained that the projects were "purely commercial" and "without prejudice" to India's and Pakistan's positions on the Kashmir issue. Chinese officials have in the past denied presence of PLA troops, although Indian officials have suggested that the troops could be from the Chinese army's construction or engineering corps.

Also read:

Chinese Army spotted along LoC in Pak-occupied Kashmir





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Contemporary artist Veer Munshi on why his burned down house in Srinagar will always be home and how standing still is impossible for someone who has been displaced.

My house in Gurgaon is beautiful. The architecture and interiors are near perfect. But when I sleep, and the word home crosses my dreamscape, it is always that building in Kashmir that appears. The one at Sheetal Nath, Sathu Barbar Shah, in Srinagar. I lived there. Maybe I still do. Let me tell you what I remember most about that house-it had a huge log on the third floor.



The house had patterns of old bricks," whispers major contemporary artist Veer Munshi, who along with thousands of Kashmiri Pandits, was forced to leave the Valley in 1990 after threats by militants. Munshi's house was burnt in 1993. But he insists that it is still "alive" in many ways. "Homes don't get demolished. They live inside us. They grow there," says the artist, who has consistently used his art to reflect and express his anguish at the situation in his home state, his pain and struggle spilling over onto his canvasses.

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Forever preferring to make a human rights statement rather than a political one, the artist went back to Srinagar 12 years after his and other Pandit families were forced to leave the Valley. Munshi recalls the first night back in Srinagar. "I checked into a hotel. and checked out. I checked in another one. I checked out. Five hotels. I could not sleep anywhere. You know, I can't be still for a very long time, I need to keep moving, I must keep walking. Perhaps displacement does that to us," he looks at the road outside through the huge window.

In Panchkula recently to attend the Panchkula Art and Literary Festival (PALF) organised by Satluj Public School, Munshi, who prefers to stay away from the media, elaborates, "It is true that I don't like to give interviews, yes. I ignore invitations by television channels. But believe me when I say that it is not arrogance but the suffocation I feel when journalists try to pitch me against someone and make it a Hindu vs. Muslim debate." Insisting that life operates on different levels and layers, Munshi says everyone needs to look at the multiple and complex dimensions of the Kashmir problem and that we have to be receptive towards every person's tragedy.

"We don't constitute a major vote-bank, we are not a minority in the context of the country, we are such a small segment and we are leaderless. But I should not be saying all this. After all, it will become very convenient for people to brand me right-wing. They have done that earlier too. Who wants to indulge in an intelligent debate?" he rues. Stressing that despite the fact that the community was persecuted, they never stopped dreaming and working hard to achieve their goals, Munshi talks about the life in Jammu refugee camps. "Living in those tattered tents in inhuman conditions, we did not think of opening grocery shops but ensured that our children studied hard," he says.

For this artist, a BFA in painting from MSU Baroda who has been a part of over 20 shows in India and abroad, the first ten years of his career were about attacking the canvas with a vengeance. "I would stand in front of the easel and record. A Chinese writer friend was amazed to see the number. I did not tell him that I wanted a release. Desperately," he remembers.

The artist believes that when talking about a conflict zone it is paramount to give a chance to everyone to speak because each person is 'right' in his/her experience and expression. "When you read Mirza Waheed's beautiful The Book of Gold Leaves, also read Rahul Pandita's well-researched Our Moon has Blood Clots. When you see the excellently made film Haider, just ask yourself, is this the only narrative I need to see? Where the militant has not shot a single innocent person?" he concludes.

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh today constituted a three-member team to investigate the missing papers in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, which had put the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in a tight spot.

By India Today Web Desk: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today constituted a three-member team to investigate the missing papers in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, which had put the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in a tight spot.

The government's internal inquiry, to be headed by Additional Secretary BK Prasad, will seek to uncover the change in affidavits and missing letters and documents in connection with the killing of Ishrat and three others on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004.

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The Home Ministry team will look at how the draft of the second affidavit went missing. It will also investigate who drafted the second affidavit and the entire chain of officers to whom the second affidavit went during that period.

The government has accused the previous regime of changing its affidavits on the Ishrat Jahan case in order to malign the BJP government in Gujarat, then headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Without naming Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram, Rajnath, while replying to a brief debate in Lok Sabha on the controversial shootout, had alleged that affidavits regarding the case were corrected and reaffirmed that an investigation has found that the Thane girl was a terrorist - a claim also seconded by American-Pakistani terrorist David Coleman Headley in his deposition.

"Two letters from the then home secretary to the attorney general in 2009 have gone missing. The then attorney general had vetted two affidavits regarding the case. Those are also not available," Rajnath said.

"She was described as an LeT terrorist in the first affidavit filed in the Gujarat High Court but unfortunately the facts were given another dimension in an additional affidavit which was filed a month later. It seems an attempt was made to weaken the case," he said.

Rajnath said the government was not relying solely on the testimony of Headley - a Lashkar operative who scouted terror targets before the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Headley is currently in a US jail from where he was questioned by an Indian magistrate last month through videoconferencing. The Pakistani-American terrorist said he had heard his LeT handlers talk about a girl in India named Ishrat.

The BJP has alleged that the previous government had tried to give a political and communal colour to terrorism in India and reminded the Congress of the "saffron terror" label given to describe acts of violence allegedly committed by Hindu nationalists.

"Saffron terror was the previous government's term. Colour, creed and religion are not linked to terrorism. They gave a communal colour to terrorism. This is opportunistic secularism," Rajnath said in Parliament on Thursday.

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Also Read



SC refuses to go into David Headley's comments on Ishrat Jahan

Arun Jaitley's Ishrat Jahan salvo: Congress tried to fix a BJP leaderSushilkumar Shinde rubbishes allegations of manipulating Ishrat Jahan case file

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The three men can be seen attacking the 21-year-old boy and his wife with sickles as they come out of a shop.

By India Today Web Desk: In a case of honour killing, three men brutally attacked a young couple in full public view in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district.

Tamil Nadu government has been asked to submit a report in connection with the case after National Commission of Scheduled Castes sought a report on the killing.

India Today has accessed the video of this gruesome honour killing.

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The three men can be seen attacking the 21-year-old boy and his wife with sickles as they come out of a shop.

Sankar (21) had married Gowsalya (19) eight months ago. The girl belonged to the Dewar community, while the boy belonged to a lower caste.

The attackers managed to escape from the spot even as the onlookers watched the gory murder.

The couple was rushed to the hospital by the police where the boy lost his life while the condition of the girl remains critical and is under intensive care. The boy's family has blamed the girl's relatives for the murder.

Situation has been tense in Tirupur district as Sankar's family wants immediate arrest of the culprits. Some shops have also been damaged in the area.



A case has been registered and the probe is on.

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Hard-line Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani today justified presence of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir saying "unlike India, PLA has not forcibly occupied Azad Kashmir and they are there due to mutual agreement between China and Pakistan."

By Naseer Ganai: Hard-line Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani today justified presence of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir saying "unlike India, PLA has not forcibly occupied Azad Kashmir and they are there due to mutual agreement between China and Pakistan."

Hurriyat Conference also rejected former chief minister Omar Abdullah's assertion that separatists have maintained silence over the presence of the PLA troops along the Line of Control in PoK.

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A Hurriyat Conference spokesman described Omar's comment on the issue as "half truth, immature and meaningless." "Azad Kashmir is now a part of the Pakistan-China economic corridor and pro-freedom people here have no reason to oppose presence of the PLA there. China is a strong supporter of right to self-determination of Kashmiri people so it is in no way fair to compare the Chinese army with occupational forces of India," the spokesman said.

On Sunday Omar had tweeted, "How is it that Kashmiri leaders who have so much to say about Indian troops in J&K have nothing to say about Chinese troops across the LoC?". Omar was reacting to reports of PLA troops being spotted at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

The Hurriyat spokesman said India had long pending border dispute with China and many border states of India including Arunachal Pradesh were still a cause of tension between the two countries. "The two neighbors sometimes share bitter relations over these issues but as far as the state of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned it is quite different issue."

The Hurriyat Conference said China will not do anything which will endanger sovereignty and Jammu & Kashmir after it attains "freedom from India." The spokesman said Kashmiris were thankful to China for its unconditional support to their freedom struggle. The spokesman said Omar Abdullah had no moral justification to criticize separatists.

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Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today in the Parliament denied making any comparison between RSS and ISIS in his speech at an event organised by Jamait Ulama-i-Hind.

By India Today Web Desk: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today in the Parliament denied making any comparison between Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and ISIS in his speech at National Solidarity Conference called by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind last week.

"I have not said RSS and Islamic State are the same. Everyone who is not RSS or BJP is a terrorist to them," said Ghulam Nabi Azad in his defence.

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Azad also produced CD of his speech for investigation and told the house that he is ready to face the privilege motion seeking his removal if any controversial remarks are found in his speech.

"Please bring privilege motion seeking my removal" if after watching the whole CD, anything objectionable is found in it, Azad said displaying a CD that contained his speech.

Azad claimed that in his speech addressed to the Hindus, judges and journalists fighting for secularism, he had said that "All forms of fundamentalism must be resisted."

"In the fight for secularism, you will find people from all sects and religions but not in fundamentalism," he said.

Azad's rebuttal came after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded an apology from the Congress for comparing RSS, BJP's ideological mentor to a terror outfit, ISIS.

"Atankio ko phool ka guldasta aur rashtrawadion par hamla (bouquets to terrorists and attack on nationalists)," Naqvi said and demanded an apology from the Congress party for the comparison.

In his speech Azad had stated that "we oppose to organisations like ISIS like we oppose RSS."

Consequently, RSS lashed out at Congress stating that the comparison made by Azad shows "the intellectual bankruptcy of Congress and its unwillingness to deal with fundamentalist and forces."

Azad clarified that in his speech he had stated that there was no fight between Hindus and Muslims in India but a fight on ideology.

Defending his stance further Azad said that in his speech he mentioned that Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalists have to be fought as they are against the country. "We have to fight them all together."

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refuted Azad's clarification stating that the senior Congress leader's remarks were incorrect and that he should introspect.

"Ghulam Nabi Azad must accept what he said was wrong, " said Jaitley.

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Forty-four-year-old Justin Trudeau, who assumed office in November last year, surprised one and all by including four Sikh-Canadians in his Cabinet.

By Mail Today: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, known for his witty repartees, told an American audience here that he has more Sikhs in his Cabinet than his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. The quip came when Trudeau was taking 10 questions from students at the American University in northwest Washington during his state visit to the US.

During the half-an-hour session at the university on Friday, a student named Jahan from the Punjab province of Pakistan told Trudeau that it was really great to see so many Punjabis in his cabinet.

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"I have more Sikhs in my cabinet than Modi does," Trudeau was quoted as saying by the Canadian daily The Star.

Forty-four-year-old Trudeau, who assumed office in November last year, surprised one and all by including four Sikh-Canadians in his Cabinet. The four Sikh Canadians inducted into Trudeau's Cabinet include Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, a combat veteran who did three tours in Afghanistan as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Apart from Sajjan, the other three Sikh ministers are - Infrastructure Minister Harjit Sajjan, Small Business Minister Bardish Chagger and Innovation Minister Navdeep Singh Bains, the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail had reported at the time. There were also 17 Sikh MPs elected in the election in Canada in October last year - 16 from the Liberal Party of Canada and one Conservative -the highest number of Sikhs ever elected. In contrast, there are two Sikh Cabinet ministers in the Modi government - Maneka Gandhi, who is a Sikh by birth, and Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is the Food Processing Minister.

Trudeau, in the past, has been spotted doing bhangra moves and visiting Gurdwaras several times. He has also participated in Diwali celebrations apart from a 'Gurbani' recital. He has even helped out women in preparing meals in a langar.

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IIFA 2016 is taking place in Madrid, Spain, and Bollywood stars Anil Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Sonakshi Sinha are already busy spreading filmi fever in the city.

By India Today Web Desk: The IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Awards will return to Europe for the fourth time, with the scenic Madrid in Spain as the chosen destination this year. Actors Anil Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Sonakshi Sinha are already in Madrid to spread the 'filmi' fever.

ALSO READ: Has Hrithik Roshan signed the desi version of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo?

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ALSO READ: Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam to start shooting for Kaabil March-end

An official announcement will be made at an event in Madrid later on Monday, but from what is seen on the Twitter handles of the three Bollywood stars, they are soaking in the colours and energy of the city and looking forward to a new celebration of Indian cinema on foreign shores.

Hrithik has posted multiple images on his Twitter handle, and is seen looking casual yet dapper on a sunny day with Sonakshi and Anil. In one image, the Krrish star is also seen taking a selfie with a crowd that seems to be enthusiastic about the 17th edition of the gala, which is to be held on June 23-26.

"Something about the IIFA Awards... The people, the places, the crew, the warmth. Love it. Everytime a special experience. Madrid," said Hrithik, who had extensively shot in Spain for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Something about d Iifa awards..d people d places, d crew, d warmth. Love it. Everytime a special experience. #madrid pic.twitter.com/D2PXJ7LmHG Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) March 13, 2016

Anil too spent some good amount of time walking around the Market of San Miguel in Madrid.

He tweeted:

#MercadoSanMigue is an explosion of sounds, colors & textures...and the gorgeous street performers! #IIFA2016 pic.twitter.com/c581u4FlQH Jai Singh Rathore (@AnilKapoor) March 13, 2016

Hola Madrid! The entire county seems to be buzzing with energy for #IIFA2016! Vamos Vamos VAMOS!! pic.twitter.com/kfNzlxPGdX Jai Singh Rathore (@AnilKapoor) March 13, 2016

In fact, Anil even performed an impromptu jig on the popular song from Dil Dhadakne Do, Gallan Goodiyan, on the streets in Madrid to regale a crowd which seemed to be enjoying the vibrancy that Bollywood and its gliterrati exudes.

Sonakshi, who tried some flamenco, shared:

"We are extremely excited to announce that IIFA 2016 will travel to Europe again. We had been working on Madrid for many years and as 2016 marks the 60-year friendship between India and Spain, we feel this is the right time to showcase our culture and Bollywood there," Andre Timmins, Director, IIFA and Wizcraft, told PTI over phone from Madrid.

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Timmins revealed that the other contending countries to host this year's three-day filming extravaganza were America, Macau and Abu Dhabi.

"We zeroed in on Madrid because we feel that the place is best for our industry. We also have been welcomed by the Mayor of Madrid, who is hosting us here. It's just the right time," Timmins said.

The new venue aims to reach out to the huge Latin American market for Indian films.

"IIFA 2016 will be a springboard for Indian films there as they are less popular in Spain. But we aim that after our awards, people will be much aware about Indian films," Andre said.

In the last 17 years, IIFA has travelled to four continents including Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.

This will be the 17th edition of the awards ceremony which will be held in IFEMA convention center and is coinciding with the popular Mulafest.

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"I have heard the phrase. It is politically incorrect. It shows racial mindset. World over people frown at such phrases. I will pass it off as ignorance," Arun Jaitley said.

By India Today Web Desk: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today slammed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi over his recent 'fair and lovely' comment in the Parliament, saying he will 'pass it off as ignorance.'

"I have heard the phrase. It is politically incorrect. It shows racial mindset. World over people frown at such phrases. I will pass it off as ignorance," Jaitley said while replying on the budget debate in the Lok Sabha.

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Earlier this month, Gandhi said the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has "launched a fair and lovely yojana, to convert black money to white money".

Arun Jaitley further defended his policy, saying his scheme to let people pay no penalty, interest on pending tax disputes, was neither an amnesty nor a Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme.

Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the Narendra Modi government since the Budget announcement, accusing it of punishing the honest salaried class by proposing to tax withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund or EPF, a retirement benefit fund.

Subsequently, Jaitley announced in Parliament that the government is withdrawing the new EPF tax and will conduct a comprehensive review of the proposal.

(With PTI inputs)



ALSO READ



"My pressure worked": Rahul Gandhi takes credit for EPF tax proposal roll back

EPF tax proposal rolled back, Jaitley announces in Parliament Rahul Gandhi's 'fair and lovely' attack on PM Modi in Lok Sabha



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A high-level internal committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has found 21 students guilty of holding a controversial event on the campus last month, which had led to the incarceration of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others.

By India Today Web Desk: A high-level internal committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has found 21 students guilty of holding a controversial event on the campus last month, which had led to the incarceration of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others.

The committee, in its unanimous report submitted to Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar today, has accused the students of violating university norms and rules by organising an event in the memory of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru.

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The Office of JNU's Chief Proctor would take further action by issuing show cause notices to the concerned students including Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Kanhaiya Kumar and ABVP's Sourav Sharma, a university source told India Today TV.

Last week, the JNU had revoked the suspension of eight students after the high-level probe panel submitted its report on the February 9, incident wherein anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

The administration had clarified that it hasn't given any clean chit to the students and that the final decision on the matter will be taken after the examination of the report by the Vice-Chancellor.

"The high-level inquiry committee, constituted by the vice chancellor to investigate the 9 February 2016 incident that took place in JNU Campus, has submitted its report. The report is under consideration by the JNU administration," said a statement issued by the varsity.

Besides JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, the eight suspended students included Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Ashutosh, Rama Naga, Anant Kumar, Shweta Raj and Aishwarya Adhikari. They were suspended on February 12 for their alleged involvement in organising an event to protest the hanging of the parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on his third death anniversary.

Kanhaiya, who is facing sedition charges for participating in a JNU event held to commemorate the death anniversary of terrorist Afzal Guru, was recently released on six-month interim bail.

The JNU Students Union later said that it was not going to accept the enquiry committee report since it continues to demand expansion of committee with the SC/ST representatives.

"We met the Vice-Chancellor and he told us that the suspension on eight of us will be revoked from midnight. He said that he has received the high level enquiry report and action (on students) will be announced next week. We told him that JNUSU does not accept this enquiry committee since we has passed a resolution two days ago in which we demanded that enquiry committee should be democratized," said Kanhaiya Kumar.

"There is apprehension on the role of registrar and how information has been leaked from this (administration) office. The VC has to address this. Otherwise there is no legitimacy of this enquiry committee. We still want the VC to listen to the other side (students) also before taking an action," he added.

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Several questions have been raised against the probe committee. It initially had three members but due to pressure from teachers and students for broadening the panel, the university had added two more members to it.

Also Read

JNU row: Raising slogans cannot disintegrate country, says Kapil Sibal

JNU row: Fresh poster issues death threat to 'traitors' Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid



JNU panel revokes suspension of 8 students, including Kanhaiya Kumar





--- ENDS ---
John Abraham will next appear in an intense action avatar in the upcoming film, Rocky Handsome.

By Indo-Asian News Service: He has been a part of films of various genres, but action remains actor-producer John Abraham's all-time favourite.

ALSO READ: Rocky Handsome trailer out - Watch John Abraham, Shruti Haasan in this action-packed drama

ALSO READ: Force 2 - John Abraham and team not allowed to shoot in China. This is why



John, who has been saying that the stunts in his next film Rocky Handsome are of an altogether new level in Bollywood, said in a statement, "Be it little kids, boys or grown up men, we have all been fascinated by action throughout our lives. I've mainlined on movies of superheroes, action men and never-back-down toughies locked in intense, fierce combat, gripping the weapons of their choice.

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"That style and panache, their grit and guts have been the things that have kept us engaged and enticed. Action is definitely my favourite genre in movies, and I have myself pulled off a few stunts in some of my films, including Rocky Handsome."

The actor has shot a promo for a section of English movie channel Movies Now. He has filmed it for popular action-movies-packed offering Weapons of Choice, which features top-rated action films every weeknight. On this platform, John also cross-promotes his Rocky Handsome.

The trailer of Rocky Handsome sees John in an intense action avatar to save the life of a young girl. He is seen in an array of action sequences with guns and knives while also showcasing his toned physique. Directed by Nishikant Kamat, Rocky Handsome features John with Shruti Hassan in the lead.

The film revolves around a man who sets out to take revenge against the drug mafia after they take away an eight-year-old girl, with whom he shares a special bond. It will hit the screens on March 25. Watch the trailer here:

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The Karnataka State Commission for Women has summoned Kannada actor Darshan and his wife Vijayalakshmi in the wake of allegations that he harassed her and assaulted her security guard.

By Mail Today: The Karnataka State Commission for Women has summoned Kannada actor Darshan and his wife Vijayalakshmi in the wake of allegations that he harassed her and assaulted her security guard.

The Commission, which took up a suo motu case, issued notices to Darshan and Vijayalakshmi to appear before them for an inquiry. The Commission will first record the statement of Vijayalakshmi and then Darshan.

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The Commission will direct the police to initiate proceedings against the actor, if he is found guilty of the charges.

Last week, Vijayalakshmi had alleged that Darshan had abused and harassed her at her apartment in Bengaluru. The police have already recorded Darshan's statement and secured an undertaking from him that he will not harass her again. The couple has been living separately owing to a marital discord.

ALSO READ:

Accused of infidelity, Kannada superstar Darshan's wife agrees to go for DNA test

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According to the police, a 20-year-old married woman had gone to Yaragatti from her home in Shivapura village to purchase medicine for her ailing child. The womans 14-year-old sister had accompanied her.

By Mail Today: Two sisters, including a 14-year-old girl, were gang-raped in Yaragatti in Belagavi district, northwest Karnataka on Saturday night.

According to the police, a 20-year-old married woman had gone to Yaragatti from her home in Shivapura village to purchase medicine for her ailing child. The woman's 14-year-old sister had accompanied her. The duo was waiting for bus to return to Shivapura when one of their distant relatives, Padeppa Fakirappa Bannur (19) offered to drop them on his two-wheeler.

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The two unsuspecting sisters rode pillion and instead of taking them to Shivapura, Padeppa took them to a farmhouse under the pretext of offering them refreshments. Later, he took the 20-year-old woman into a room and allegedly raped her. Meanwhile, Padeppas friends, Bheerappa Ningappa Kittadal, Mallappa Arjun Junjuri, Bheerappa Rudrappa Adakalgundi and Maruti Arjun Bhavihal allegedly gangraped the 14-year-old girl. Later, all the 5 men fled from the scene.

The victims managed to reach a nearby village where they narrated their plight to the villagers. Later, their parents lodged a complaint with the police, who are searching for the alleged rapists.

Also read:

Bengaluru driver arrested for raping woman and clicking her nude pictures



--- ENDS ---
The Vijayapura district police, who registered a case against the teacher Basavaraj Auradhi, who works at a well-known educational institute, are searching for him.

By Mail Today: A physical education teacher in Vijayapura (Bijapur) in North Karnataka has been accused of sexual molesting minor boys, who were undergoing training under him.

The Vijayapura district police, who registered a case against the teacher Basavaraj Auradhi, who works at a well-known educational institute, are searching for him.

According to the police, Auradhi was in the habit of sexually molesting minor boys under the pretext of punishing them whenever they failed to perform the rigorous tasks he set for them. Two boys, who refused to attend the training classes, reported their problem with their parents.

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Consequently, the shocked parents lodged a police complaint against Auradhi and also informed the school management.

Also read:

Karnataka: 2 sisters, including minor gangraped



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Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, while addressing the audience during sesquicentennial celebrations of the High Court on March 13 said that judiciary should me committed to safeguarding "dialogue and dissent".

By India Today Web Desk: Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, while addressing the audience during sesquicentennial celebrations of the High Court on March 13 said that judiciary should me committed to safeguarding "dialogue and dissent".

Asserting dialogue and dissent to be essential characteristics of a democratic society, Chandrachud said, " Judges, in the administration of justice, ought to make a wise use of judicial powers. They need to discharge their duties in a manner that promotes dialogue and protects dissent. This is because dialogue and dissent are essential for any democracy to survive and function."

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He also cautioned against the fixated view of law and stated that interpretation of the laws should be in accordance with the contemporary needs and challenges.

To establish distinction between rules and justice, Chandrachud quoted Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's take on Jusutce.

"In his book Idea of Justice, Sen has eloquently stated that law is not all about 'niti' - which is the Sanskrit word for rules. It is also about 'nyay' - which entails enforcement of law in a manner that is just. The principles of dialogue and justice are a yardstick against which the justness of enforcement of a law could be gauged," he said.

The remarks come at a time when demands are being raised for removal of laws like those pertaining to sedition, decried by many as a "colonial" concept, and sections of penal code which criminalize homosexual relationships between consenting adults.

With President Pranab Mukherjee present as the chief guest, the event was attended by large number of noted jurists, West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda.

--- ENDS ---
The ruling BJP today attacked Congress after one of its senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad kicked a political storm by comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with Islamic State.

By India Today Web Desk: The ruling BJP today attacked Congress after one of its senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad kicked a political storm by comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with Islamic State. Azad issued a staunch rebuttal in Parliament after the BJP demanded an apology from him for reportedly comparing its ideological mentor to dreaded terror outfit ISIS.



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The RSS has also lashed out at the Congress leader saying such comparison showed intellectual bankruptcy of the party.

The Opposition parties are also expected to counter the government over the row over defunct Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallaya, who had left the country amid an ongoing investigation of over Rs 9000 crore loan which he has failed to pay.



Here are the LIVE updates:

- Request Modi government to shut down fair and lovely scheme, take decisive action in Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya case, says Congress.



- Ghulam Nabi Azad must accept what he said was wrong, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

- Azad reads out the part of his speech about the RSS that spawned a political controversy. He claimed that he condemned the ISIS in the same way that he condemned the RSS and denied making any direct comparison between the two.



- I have not said RSS and Islamic State are the same, says Ghulam Nabi Azad.



- Congress party must apologise for statement made by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Rajya Sabha.

- Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi raises farmers' issue in Parliament, says government must act to give relief to farmers.



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Self defence workshops are being conducted across the US to help Muslim-American women to protect themselves from the rising anti-Muslim hate crimes in the country.

By India Today Web Desk: Anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States of America are on a rise and women are considered to be the targets in 80 percent cases. To help Muslim-American women protect themselves, a group is conducting self defence workshops.

The reason behind more number of Muslim women being the 'walking victim' is that because of their hijabs they are more noticeable.

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Rana Abdelhamid, an Egyptian-American native of Queens in New York, is a Shotokan karate black belt and teaches self defence to Muslim women across the United States.

The Muslim American Group says post Paris attacks and San Bernardino shootings, anti-Muslim hate crimes has tripled. Some Muslim women also think that it is because of US Presidential nominee Donald Trump and his negative statements about Islam that violence against Muslims is increasing.

Trump during a speech on 7 December, 2015 had proposed to ban Muslims from the US and since then there has been a wave of anti-Muslim attacks across the western country.

In fact, 2015 has been the deadliest year on record for American Muslims, with 63 recorded attacks on mosques.

The Muslim community in the US is not the only one who faces the wrath of hate crimes, the Sikh community also bears the brunt. From assault on elderly Sikh men to being addressed as Osama by a restaurant employee, there are many shameful examples.

--- ENDS ---
Former Maharashtra deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal was today arrested by Enforcement Directorate(ED) in the money laundering case.

By India Today Web Desk: Former Maharashtra deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal was today arrested by Enforcement Directorate(ED) in the money laundering case. Earlier in the day Chhagan Bhujbal was interrogated for more than 9 hours today by a team of ED officials. He will be produced before a court on Tuesday.

According to an ED official, the arrest of the former PWD minister was effected under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he allegedly refused to cooperate during questioning. The agency also recorded his statement in the case.



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Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik criticised the development claiming Bhujbal was innocent, that he had done nothing wrong, and that there was nothing against him. He reiterated that the ruling BJP was allegedly pressurising the investigating agencies.

The ED had registered a PMLA case involving the Bhujbals and some of their associates and has already arrested the ex-minister's nephew Samir last month in the case. The ED had also questioned Bhujbal's son Pankaj in the same case last month.

The agency has filed two FIRs against the Bhujbals and others under the provisions of PMLA, based on Mumbai Police FIRs, to probe the Delhi-based Maharashtra Sadan construction scam and the Kalina land grabbing case.

It had also brought out orders for attachment of three properties with an estimated worth of over Rs 280 crore in the case under money laundering laws.

ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to the senior Bhujbal, Pankaj, Samir and few others.

The new Maharashtra Sadan was built at the cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.

--- ENDS ---
"I think about my daughter's classmates or my daughter. It happens more than we think."

By India Today Web Desk: After revealing some very intimate and startling details about her marriage to author Salman Rushdie, Padma Lakshmi's memoir also houses a vivid account of how she was sexually abused at the age of seven.

Titled Love, Loss And What We Ate, Lakshmi's memoir talks about how, at the age of seven, when she lived with her mother in an apartment in Queens, New York, she sometimes ended up sharing a bed with one of her then stepfather's relatives, which "to people like us, who were used to living far too many to an apartment in India, seemed relatively normal."

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Speaking to People magazine, Padma Lakshmi said, "I wanted to talk about it because if women like me don't talk about it, who will?"

Elucidating on the sexual abuse, Lakshmi writes, "One night, I woke up to his hand in my underpants. He took my hand and placed it inside his briefs. I don't know how many times it happened before, since I suspect I slept through some incidents."

Also Read: Salman Rushdie needed constant care and frequent sex, reveals Padma Lakshmi in her memoir

The incident came into light with her mother discovering that she had "urinated behind her bed in a sign of distress."

Lakshmi, 45, then recalled how a confrontation with her mother and her then stepfather led to her being sent to India. "Once you take a girl's innocence, you can never get it back," she writes.

Elaborating on her then stepfather's reaction to the whole incident, Lakshmi writes how he used "pantomime" to "demonstrate" what had happened--by making her lie down on the living room divan. And how her mother sent her off to Madras.

"In retrospect however, he should have been the one to go," she writes. "Years later, in tears, my mother would acknowledge this grave mistake."

Also Read: Lady Gaga's music video depicts campus sexual assault

Lakshmi says that the incident went on to change a lot of things in her life--"It was the catalyst for my mother's divorce, for me going to India. It was the catalyst for me being different about my body and just less open in the world. It was a loss of innocence in a way. What happened to me was not even that bad compared to what happens to many young girls and boys. But it was something that happened. I didn't want to dwell on it."

"I think of all those girls I pass on the street who are in elementary school," she says. "I think about my daughter's classmates or my daughter. It happens more than we think."

"Every time I go to JFK, I can see my apartment with the graffiti on the brick and I wonder what girl is living there and what her life is like. It was by no means on the scale of what many little girls and boys go through--but it did happen."

--- ENDS ---

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has once again raised questions about India's reservation policy. Yesterday, RSS General Secretary Suresh Joshi asked whether the reservations are reaching the deserving and whether the creamy layer concept should now apply to all category.

By India Today Web Desk: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has once again raised questions about India's reservation policy. Yesterday, RSS General Secretary Suresh Joshi asked whether the reservations are reaching the deserving and whether the creamy layer concept should now apply to all category. Less than six months ago RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat had called for a review of the categories that require reservation and for how long.

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On his show To The Point, India Today's Karan Thapar asked the following questions to a panel of experts.

10 Big Questions

Is it time to review India's reservation policy? Should income-based quota replace caste system? Apply creamy layer concept to Dalits and tribals? Has quota policy pulled Dalits out of poverty? Has reservation policy helped lower castes? Is quota policy being politically misused? Will government back RSS reservation rejig idea? Will a new policy help uplift lower castes? Has reservation policy served its utility? Should well-off castes give up reservation?

The guests included RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Mittal, former Congress minister RPN Singh, highly regarded Dalit intellectual Chandrabhan Prasad and India's foremost sociologist Dipankar Gupta.

Highlights from the debate

- "Why isn't the larger Dalit community getting the benefits of reservation? That's there should be a review. A review doesn't mean to weaken the reservations, but to strengthen it. There should be a qualitative impact of the reservations, so that a larger sections of Dalit community, Scheduled Tribes and OBC should benefit from it," said RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha.

- "Reservation has nothing to do with removing poverty. For removing poverty, there are different kinds of programmes. Reservation is for those who do not have dignity and give them a level of dignity. Reservations should not be used to combat poverty. It's a wrong thing to do," said sociologist Dipankar Gupta.

- "When Ambedkar thought of reservations for SC and ST, it was to give those who have no assets whatsoever, some assets. But the Mandal reservation talked about social backwardness and gave few points to economic and education backwardness," said Gupta.

- "The point Mohan Bhagwat made was that there's a distinction between Ambedkar's reservation and Mandal reservation. He wanted Mandal reservation to be looked at," said Gupta.

-"The Congress party's stand is clear. We are for no review as far as reservations to SC, ST and backward communities are concerned. But there should be a separate reservation for economically backward upper caste," said RPN Singh.

- "If the Paswans are winning from non-reserved or open category seats, then we don't want reservation for them," said Chandrabhan Prasad.

-"Privileged people from Dalit communities should voluntarily give up reservation, just like gas cylinder subsidies," said Sinha.

-" Jats had reservation for a very long time, and it was taken away only after SC judgement," said BJP spokesperson Mittal.

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- " We are trying to engage with civil society on the question of reservation policy review. Different castes in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana are demanding reservation," said Sinha.

- "Creamy layer should exist by law and not on voluntary basis," said Dipankar Gupta

- "Rohith Vemula 'my birth became my fatal accident,' it's the mindset that needs to be changed," said Congress' RPN Singh.

Watch the full show here

Also Read

No intention to change reservation policy, says govt



Reservations haven't achieved desired results, need to be reviewed: RSS



--- ENDS ---
The Parliamentary Ethics Committee led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani has issued a notice to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in connection with his reported British citizenship. The letter comes after BJP leader and former member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last November raising questions over Gandhi's citizenship.

By India Today Web Desk: The Parliamentary Ethics Committee led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani has issued a notice to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in connection with his reported British citizenship.

The ethics panel had sent a letter to Gandhi last week asking him to clarify if he once declared himself a British citizen.

Arun Ram Mehgwal, BJP MP and member of the ethics committee, has claimed that it is a serious issue and post Gandhi's response the committee will decide the future course of actions, reported ANI.

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"The Ethics Committee has issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London," Meghwal told ANI.

"This is a very serious matter and we would discuss once he responds," Meghwal added.

The committee's letter to Rahul comes after BJP leader and former member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last November raising questions over Gandhi's citizenship.

Swamy in his letter had accused that Gandhi declared himself to be a British national in 2003 to float a company called Backops Limited. He also claimed that Gandhi held 65 per cent shares of that company.

The letter demanded stripping Gandhi of his Indian citizenship and terminating his membership of Parliament.

Later in January, BJP MP from Delhi Maheish Girri, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan about the matter. The speaker then referred it to the Ethics Committee of Parliament to be invesitaged on priority basis.

However, the Congress has dismissed all the allegations and has termed it as a personal vendetta being carried out by the BJP leaders.

--- ENDS ---
It's really commendable how the Gear S2, which is based on Samsung's home-brewed Tizen OS, is able to carve out a comfortable niche for itself amid many Android Wears and the Apple Watch. We review.

By Saurabh Singh: What goes around, definitely comes back around. And if you're Samsung, what goes around, comes back around even stronger. The Gear S2 makes a classic case for itself (and smartwatches in general) by reinventing the wheel, literally and figuratively. How exactly did Samsung do it? By embracing change, much like it did in the case of its Galaxy S phone line-up last year.

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The Gear S2 is everything a smartwatch should be, and then some more. It's really commendable how the Gear S2, which is based on Samsung's home-brewed Tizen OS, is able to carve out a comfortable niche for itself amid many Android Wears and the Apple Watch. It is priced between the Motorola Moto 360 (Gen 2) and the Apple Watch, and the fact that it ends up giving you the best of both worlds (as you'll soon find out) makes it all the more appealing.

Design and build quality

Unlike the original Gear S, the Gear S2 is a looker in every sense of the word. So much so that the Gear S now looks like it came from the stone age. Two variants of the Gear S2 are currently available in India, the Gear S2 (basic) and the Gear S2 Classic. There's also a third option, the Gear S2 3G that supports e-SIM to make independent voice calls, but it isn't available in India.

The Gear S2 is available in a dark grey and silver case with a sporty band. A variety of band options -- Mendini, Warm Grey and Red -- are also available should you fancy some customisation. Samsung is also selling a strap adaptor accessory for the Gear S2 so that users can pair it to any standard 20mm watch strap in addition to straps available from Samsung.



Customisations aside, the Gear S2 is easily amongst the sexiest smartwatches around. If the Moto 360 (Gen 2) gets full marks for being classy , the Gear S2 gets 10/10 in terms of raw sporty Swatch-like goodness. And it's equally well-built too. Not to mention, no flat tires! It features a fully circular dial, and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on both front and back.

The main attraction here is the pronounced rotating bezel that sits comfortably over the dial. This bezel drives the entire user interface, making touch interactions almost redundant. This means you won't end up covering half the screen while interacting with the smartwatch. It's innovative and thoughtful at the same time.

There are a couple of buttons on the right -- at 2 o'clock and 4 o' clock positions -- one for back and the other for home. You can also programme the home button to open specific apps via a double press.

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The Gear S2 is IP68 certified for dust and water-resistance. Connectivity options include: Bluetooth 4.1, NFC and Wi-Fi. GPS is sadly missing.

Display

The Gear S2 has a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED display with a 360x360 pixels resolution. The S2 has one of the best displays we have seen in a smartwatch. It surely beats the Moto 360 (Gen 2) in almost every department while staying dangerously close to the Apple Watch's output (which has slightly greater pixel density in comparison). Super AMOLED screens are known for being less-power hungry than regular IPS panels. At the same time, these tend to show slightly oversaturated colours with noticeably deeper blacks. That's pretty much the case with the Gear S2 as well. It's a pleasure setting up a black background watch face on the smartwatch and then let the colours around (the hour and minute hands, for instance) do the talking.

The Gear S2 gets bright, brighter than say the new Moto 360 and won't keep you asking for more in outdoor sunny environment. While indoors, there will be occasions when you'll end up toning down the brightness level. Unlike the Moto 360 (Gen 2), the Gear S2 does not support auto brightness, so you'll have to manually tweak the display settings in order to get the best result.

Software

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The Gear S2 runs Tizen operating system. While its Tizen-totting affordable smartphones may not exactly be setting the cash counters on fire, things are a little different (for good) on the wearable platform. One look (and a couple of swipes across the screen) and you know Tizen is the best thing to have happened to a smartwatch. At least for now. Moreover, the rotating bezel adds a whole new dimension to it. Apple may have designed one of the first reputable (rotating) digital crowns around, but Samsung has perfected the same ala scale and functionality.



Though the user interface (UI) may seem a little complex at first, it's relatively easy to use, even more so than Android Wear's often overwhelming card-based interface.

The UI follows a circle within circle approach, allowing you to make the best use of the rotating bezel. It's as if everything was built keeping that in mind. Not even a wee bit of it feels out of place. The UI consists of a number of home screens that can be accessed either by swiping left (or right) across the screen or turning the bezel clockwise (or anti-clockwise). But once you get used to it, chances are you'll use the bezel. It's so addictive and so intuitive.



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The centre watch face is flanked by a settings menu, which also houses S-Voice, apps and Buddy chat client. The recent notification takes up the adjacent home screen(s) on the left. Meanwhile you can add or delete custom home screens at will.

The Gear S2 comes pre-loaded with a number of health and new-related apps. You will have to have these apps installed on your phone as well to make use of them. Meanwhile, you can also add other third-party apps to the list by heading over to the companion app. While there are sufficient apps on-board, Tizen OS is still marred by the lack of (good) quality apps. The problem is more accentuated should you be coming from Google's platform. Switching over from Google Fit to S Health, Google Now to S Voice, Google Maps to HERE Maps, so on and so forth can be frustrating.

However, if you use a Galaxy phone with all the Samsung services, the S2 will feel closer to home.



Performance

The Gear S2 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor coupled with 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal memory. It works with any Android device running Android 4.4 KitKat (and above), provided the device has at least 1.5 GB of RAM. Health-oriented features of the smartwatch include: 24-hour activity recording, inactivity vibration alerts when you're being lazy, automatic heart-rate tracking through a dedicated heart-rate monitor. Sensors on-board include: a barometer, accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor. Connectivity options include: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC. It lacks GPS (much to the disappointment of fitness buffs on the run) and external speakers. It also has a T9 keyboard for predictive texting. It's tiny and rather hard to use but at least you know you have the option.



The Gear S2 handles all of the above aspects very well and blurs the line between a smart wearable and an actual watch quite effortlessly. Even more so than the Android Wear. Google's platform (even though it is 18 months old now) lacks the kind of polish you'd normally associate with the Mountain View company. It's certainly useful, but Google Now cards can often overwhelm users. The Gear S2 running Tizen appears much more polished and fluid in comparison so that even though there's a dearth of enough good quality of apps, you still end up enjoying even the little things that it has to offer. Not to mention, it's health tracking is just spot-on.

Not everything is hunky dory though. The Gear S2 suffers from serious connectivity issues and tends to awkwardly disconnect from the paired device every now and then for no apparent reason. There were also occasional instances of auto reboot on our review unit. Then again, these are software glitches that we hope can be resolved via an update.

Another thing about the Gear S2, which can be a plus or minus thing depending on how you see it, is that the user has to manually connect the device to a Wi-Fi connection. It won't automatically connect to a network that your phone's using even though the two of them were connected over Wi-Fi previously.

Battery

The Gear S2 uses a 250mAh battery which is rated to deliver up to 2 days of usage on single charge. And it doesn't disappoint. In fact, the Gear S2 hits the Moto 360 (Gen 2) straight out of the park in this regard. Mixed usage (with lots of notifications and activity tracking) with the always-on screen feature enabled (Wi-Fi off, connection via Bluetooth) got us close to just over a day on this one. More generalised usage should see it sail through one and a half to two days with ease, which is also what the company is claiming.

Moreover, the Gear S2 features a very efficient power saving mode which reduces the screen to a grayscale, automatically disconnecting the device from Wi-Fi while only allowing calls, notifications and messages on it. Ideally, you would have to charge the Gear S2 overnight.

Should you buy it?

Samsung has pulled a rabbit out of its hat with the Gear S2. It's everything an ideal smartwatch should be at this point of time. It's well-made, looks good and has an amazing display. Fluid performance and fabulous battery life make it the best smartwatch that you can buy right now. More importantly, Tizen OS gets its right in almost every sense of the word. There's not much to complain here except for some connectivity issues. Should Samsung improve the in-house app content (and fix the connectivity thing via an update), there's no beating this one.



For now, the Gear S2 manages to give you the best of both worlds. While it's still Android underneath somewhere down there, it does something that even Apple failed to do : refine the crown, and make it all the more useful, all the more seamless. Samsung just reinvented the wheel here, the rotating bezel is just one part of it. The Gear S2 -- priced at Rs 24,300 -- is not perfect by all means. But it is as good as it gets in the world of smartwatches. At least for now.



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Saudi-led helicopters attacked al Qaeda militants in Aden overnight in an effort to dislodge them from a stronghold in the southern port city, killing at least 18 people, medics and a security official said on Sunday.

A destroyed car is seen on a street of the al-Mansoura neighbourhood of Yemen's southern port city of Aden March 13, 2016.(Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: Saudi-led helicopters attacked al Qaeda militants in Aden overnight in an effort to dislodge them from a stronghold in the southern port city, killing at least 18 people, medics and a security official said on Sunday.

The assault took place as Saudi-backed forces supporting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fought to widen their control of Taiz in the southwest of Yemen after breaking a siege there on Friday.

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Islamist militants from al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited the conflict to expand their control, especially in areas where Hadi supporters have managed to expel the Iran-allied Houthis, including in Aden and Lahej provinces.

Witnesses and medics said Apache helicopters from the Saudi-led coalition struck armored vehicles and a government compound used by the militants in al-Mansoura district, a stronghold in north Aden. There was no immediate comment from the coalition.

Medics said a total of 18 people have been killed -- 17 suspected militants and one civilian bystander -- and at least 23 civilians and militants were wounded. Three members of the security forces were also injured.

Security forces cordoned off an area of al-Mansoura district where dozens of suspected militants are believed to be holed up, while warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped leaflets on the area telling residents to stay home and report any militants to authorities.

A tenuous calm in the district was broken occasionally in the afternoon with bursts of gunfire. A Reuters reporter saw the rubble of a butcher's shop and the wreckage of cars. Electricity was cut across the district and food shops remained closed.

Shops and businesses closed as security forces sealed off a block in the area, where dozens of suspected militants are believed to be holed up.

The city's governor said the operation was the second phase of a government campaign to restore state control over the city, the temporary seat of the Yemeni government.

"This stage will continue until it achieves its objectives, foremost of which to impose the authority of the state and restore security and stability in all districts of the capital Aden and its suburbs and to end the security chaos," Governor Aydaroos al-Zubaidi said.

Militants killed Zubaidi's predecessor and several other government officials, military and security officers in a series of suicide attacks and shootings in Aden since Hadi's forces captured the city from the Houthis last July.



MORE FIGHTING IN TAIZ

The campaign took place a day after forces loyal to Hadi broke a siege by the Houthis around Taiz, Yemen's third biggest city, about 200 km (124 miles) northwest of Aden.

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The advance represented a breakthrough for Hadi's government, which has been struggling to achieve a major victory against the Houthis who seized control of most of the country in 2015 in what they described as a revolution against corruption.

Residents said that more fighting was reported in eastern Taiz on Sunday between the Houthis and fighters allied to Hadi, where reinforcements from both sides have arrived.

Witnesses said there were many casualties but gave no figures or more details.

Medical supplies provided by Saudi Arabia have also reached the main al-Thawra hospital in Taiz for the first time since last year, a medic at the facility said.

Yemen's government was forced out of the capital Sanaa by the Houthi rebels in September 2014 and is now based in Aden, but struggles to impose its authority even there. The coalition began a military campaign in March last year to prevent the Houthis from taking complete control of Yemen.

ALSO READ:

Ivory Coast shooting: 16 killed at Grand-Bassam beach, 6 terrorists neutralised

Islamic State using birth control to keep supply of sex slaves: Report

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The father-in-law of the Dalit engineering student hacked to death in full public view on Sunday in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district has surrendered.

By India Today Web Desk: The father-in-law of the Dalit engineering student hacked to death in full public view on Sunday in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur district has surrendered.

In a case of suspected honour killing, three men brutally attacked the young couple, 21-year-old V Sankar and Kausalya, 19, as they emerged from a shop. They had married eight months ago.

The attackers managed to escape from the spot even as onlookers watched the gory murder. India Today has accessed the video of the gruesome killing.

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The couple was rushed to the hospital by the police where the boy lost his life, while the condition of the girl remains critical and is under intensive care.

The boy's family has blamed the girl's relatives for the murder. While the girl belonged to the influential Thewar community, the man was from a lower caste.

The Tamil Nadu government has been asked to submit a report in connection with the case after the National Commission of Scheduled Castes sought a report on the killing.

ALSO READ | Honour killing: Dalit boy hacked to death, Tamil Nadu govt to submit report



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The Enforcement Directorate today directed 17 banks including IDBI Bank to submit within two days all the documents and details in connection with the loan given to Kingfisher Airlines, added sources.

By India Today Web Desk: The Enforcement Directorate has found prima facie evidence that liquor baron Vijay Mallya diverted money out of India, say sources.

The Enforcement Directorate today directed 17 banks including IDBI Bank to submit within two days all the documents and details in connection with the loan given to Kingfisher Airlines, added sources.

IDBI Bank officials have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate. Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on a loan of Rs 900 crore taken from the IDBI Bank.

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The ED had earlier issued summons to over half a dozen officials of the IDBI Bank under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Vijay Mallya in an interview to a UK daily published on Sunday said that he isn't on the run but also is in no hurry to return to India. Mallya told the Sunday Guardian that he had done no wrong and that he was being victimised.

Asked whether his departure from India on March 2 was related to his failure to pay back loans, he said he left on a personal visit along with a friend.

"Why am I being portrayed as a criminal? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved. They decide, we don't," Mallya said.

Mallya said it was "a matter of interpretation" why he left India just before the banks who had given him loans moved court.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Mallya had said that he was not an absconder and was not fleeing from India adding that he firmly believes in the law of the land.

Controversy over Mallya led to a conflict in Parliament as well. While Congress alleged of criminal conspiracy saying Mallya was allowed to escape, the government hit back insisting that the loans were given to him during UPA rule.

Also read:

Time not right for my return to India, Vijay Mallya tells UK daily

Loan default case: Hyderabad court issues non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya

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Ryan Reynolds met Sasha Obama during her first state dinner, hosted in honour of the new Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

Ryan Reynolds with Sasha Obama. In the background, Malia Obama is visible giving her younger sister the thumbs-up

By India Today Web Desk: An image of Malia Obama giving a thumbs-up to her younger sister Sasha Obama, who is standing with Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, is the new hit on the internet.

Malia and Sasha Obama attended their first state dinner hosted in honour of the new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday (March 10).

Sasha, 14, can be seen beaming with excitement on meeting Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds. Malia, 17, is standing in the background, raising her two thumbs to her younger sister with pursed lips. This image has gone viral on the internet. Twitter users are mostly praising Malia's gesture in the image.

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Malia giving Sasha a thumbs up while talking to Ryan Reynolds is everything pic.twitter.com/ZojIYNQ4dK Amelia Williams (@AmeliaClaire94) March 11, 2016

Whenever you're scared to do something, just imagine Malia Obama behind you, giving you two thumbs up. pic.twitter.com/JcsDkoWC2S Caitlin Abber (@everydaycaitlin) March 12, 2016

[Reynolds] If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it. [Malia] I'll leave you to it. pic.twitter.com/T2TfDcJBHT Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) March 13, 2016

Ryan Reynolds, 39, was among the four Canadian actors who were invited for the state dinner. Ryan Reynolds attended the event with his wife Blake Lively.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised the Obama girls as he said, "It's also touching to meet Malia and Sasha, who are here at their first State Dinner."

Trudeau, whose father Pierre Trudeau has also served as the Prime Minister of Canada (1968-1979), said, "And quite frankly, the memories for me of being a kid and not being old enough to attend these kinds of events with my father almost makes me wish I had gone through my teenage years as a child of a world leader - but not quite."

"I admire you very much, both of you, for your extraordinary strength and your grace, through what is a remarkable childhood and young adulthood that will give you extraordinary strength and wisdom beyond your years for the rest of your life," Justin Trudeau added.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an intensification of Russia's diplomatic efforts to achieve a peace deal to end the civil war in Syria, that has dragged on for five years, killed thousands of people and displaced millions.

By Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he was instructing his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria, over five months after he ordered the launch of a military operation that shored up his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"I believe that the task put before the defence ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled," Putin said at a Kremlin meeting with his defence and foreign ministers at which he announced the withdrawal, starting on Tuesday.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision. The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva.

Putin ordered an intensification of Russia's diplomatic efforts to achieve a peace deal to end the civil war in Syria, that has dragged on for five years, killed thousands of people and displaced millions, many of them seeking refuge in Europe.

But the Russian leader signalled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeymim air base in Syria's Latakia province, from which Russia has launched most of its air strikes.

Questions remained about the practical implications of Putin's announcement. It was not clear if Russian air strikes would stop. Russia will retain the capability to launch them, from the base in Latakia province.

Through its intervention in Syria, Putin has restored Russia status as a major international player capable of exerting its influence far from its borders, and forced the United States to reckon with Moscow's interests.

But there was also a recognition in Moscow that pressing ahead any further with the military operation would produce diminishing returns. Russian officials have said it is unrealistic to try to restore Assad's control over all of Syria and the time had come to negotiate a peace.

"Fundamental turnaround"

"The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," Putin said at the Kremlin meeting.

"With the participation of the Russian military ... the Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects," Putin said.

"I am therefore ordering the defence minister, from tomorrow, to start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingent from the Syrian Arab Republic."

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By signalling the start of a withdrawal, Russia is likely to soothe tense relations with the United States, which has accused the Kremlin of inflaming the Syrian conflict and pursuing its own narrow interests.

"I think we did it to show the Americans that we do not have military ambitions and don't need unnecessary wars," said Ivan Konovalov, director of the Center for Strategic Trend Studies in Moscow. "They have been accusing us of all kinds of things and this is a good way of showing them they are wrong."

Russia has said it was in Syria to fight Islamist terror groups, but a large part of its air strikes were on anti-Assad groups which Washington and its allies designate as moderate opposition groups.

Opposition fighters have alleged that Russia had combat troops on the ground fighting anti-Assad forces, but the Kremlin has never acknowledged this and so it was unclear if such forces would be covered by the withdrawal.

Putin said the naval base at Tartous and the Hmeymim air base "will function as they did previously. They must be reliably protected from land, sea and air".

ALSO READ:

UN aims for Syria talks to produce roadmap, no 'Plan B' but war

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Syria is like the Indian republic, says Grand Mufti Hassoun



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The company plans to launch many new phones in India and for that said it was in discussions with Foxconn to open two more factories in India.

By Sahil Mohan Gupta : Chinese smartphone upstart, Xiaomi, plans to setup 2 more manufacturing plants in India to scale up smartphone production in the country. In an interview with the Economic Times, Xiaomi's co-founder and President Bin Lin said that the company plans to launch many new phones in India and for that said it was in discussions with Foxconn to open two more factories in India.

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"We talked to Foxconn about opening two new factories, they're in discussions with some of the provinces (states) and at least one of them will be up and running within this year," said Lin.

Lin also believed that the smartphone market in China would be flat, if not on the decline. However, conversely, he expected India's market to grow from 100 million devices in 2015, to 140 million devices in 2016. He believed sales from e-commerce platforms will be a big contributor to this.

Bin Lin also said that the company was looking at leveraging some of the recommendations of the union budget, which will make the local manufacturing of chargers, batteries and mobile phone accessories cheaper.

In April, the company will launch its new flagship smartphone - the Mi 5. That being true, the initial wave of the product will likely not be manufactured in India. The phone could be based between Rs 20,000 and Rs 27,000 based on its price in China.

The ex-Google and Microsoft employee also said that Xiaomi was focussed on creating India centric products. It is beefing up R&D operations and after-sales networks. He also revealed that the recently launched Redmi Note 3 was sold out in 2 seconds. It sold 30,000 units of the device.

Apart from this, there is also chatter that the company may setup a retail presence with its own branded stores. There are reports that suggest that the company has applied for a single-brand retail license, but Manu Kumar Jain, its India head, refused to confirm the report.



You may also like to read:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: Mr dependable like Rahul Dravid

Xiaomi Mi 5 quick review: This could be the phone of the year



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Investigative reporting from the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations This is the blogspot version InnerCityPress.com
About Me

I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.

View my complete profile
Within a show themed about guns (and hosted by Lee Cowan ), CBS Sunday Morning on March 13 made reference to the patent of Casimir Zeglen on the bulletproof vest.Wikipedia gives some background:link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_ZeglenThe story of Zeglen is a counter-example to Lemley's Myth of the Sole Inventor, because Zeglen developed his bullet-proof vest on his own. After patents were filed, he did work with Szczepanik (the "Polish Edison") for development in Europe. Szczepanik ran somewhat of an inventor-help business, and the interaction with Zeglen illustrates somewhat the potential hazards to inventors of such businesses. Zeglen was somewhat like Thomas Edison in using the press to promote his invention. There are some stories related to McKinley and to the Arch Duke.Zeglen later employed his ideas for producing tires having improved wear characteristics.**As to Chicago and Zeglen's initial motivation for the vest, one notes that the Columbian Exhibition (which was lit by alternating current and Westinghouse light bulbs) was in 1893 and the assassination occurred right before the closing. Clarence Darrow represented the murderer Prendergast, who was later hanged, the only client of Darrow to be executed.Just two days before the exposition was set to close, Chicagos recently reelected mayor, Carter Harrison Sr., was shot and killed and the closing ceremony of the exposition was cancelled.The Columbian Exhibition featured electricity, and the many battery powered exhibits inspired one man to work on battery powered cars, related later to ALAM which provoked the Selden patent litigation against Henry Ford. The Ferris wheel and cream of wheat also debuted at the Exposition.




Media Statement by M. Kula Segaran, MP for Ipoh Barat and DAP National Vice Chairman in Ipoh on 14th March 2016



Suppport the Citizens Declaration and Save Malaysia campaign to prevent Malaysia lurching towards a Prime Ministerial dictatorship



Since the launching of the Citizens Declaration on March 4, there have been some criticisms against some of the signatories who are from the Opposition and civil society.



These signatories from the Opposition and civil society, despite their having fought courageously and selflessly for a better Malaysia, have been accused of compromising their principles and even called hypocrites.



The main criticism stems from the fact that the Declaration and save Malaysia campaign were initiated by the former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir who has long and often been criticized for his past wrongs.



Some opposition supporters have viewed working with Tun Mahathir as unbelievable and unacceptable, some have viewed the working together with him is as good as forgiving or forgetting his past mistakes and wrongs.



There are others who have said that the campaign will be a futile exercise and that the Save Malaysia campaign is sure to fail.



While it is understandable for some opposition supporters to find it difficult to accept the new political realignment that brings together former political rivals, nevertheless it is unfair to question the integrity of these great fighters who have been consistent in their fight for a better Malaysia.



The main question that critics should first ask and ponder is whether the objectives which include the ousting the Prime Minister Datuk Najib are right and necessary.



I view the joining of forces by Mahathir and others to oust Datuk Najib as a necessary strategy after it has become so clear that there is no way that Najib will resign either on his own or forced by Umno.



The nation has been bogged down and will continue to suffer if Najib continues to lead Malaysia. Malaysians should be concerned about the nation lurching towards a Prime Ministers dictatorship.



The longer Najib stays on as Prime Minister, the more damage will be done to Malaysia.



Mahathir and the opposition have tried hard to get Najib to account for the 1MDB scandals but to no avail. Mahathir has also failed to oust Najib.



The coming together to save Malaysia does not mean forgetting all the differences with and misdeeds of Tun Mahathir, but rather it entails the willingness to work together despite the past differences and his past misdeeds.



Will the campaign succeed in ousting Najib? This is a question that no one will know the answer. But the lack of a definite answer cannot be the reason for not attempting to do what is necessary to save Malaysia.



The Citizens Declaration therefore deserves the support of Malaysians who believe that Najib should not lead Malaysia any longer and who want to prevent the nation lurching towards a Prime Ministerial dictatorship.
A guide to the best and sometimes off the beaten track historical ruins around Ireland and how to get there.
Soon to join the vodka and gin produced at Restless Spirits Distilling in North Kansas City, is a blended whiskey thats combined with Irish whiskey (with an e I hope, for thats how we spell whiskey in Ireland).

Owner Mike Shannon says, The people who came here from Ireland contributed enormously to this country. Their craftsmanship and creativity built Kansas City, and we just want to honor that.

From their website:

From The Quiet Land Of Erin To The Heartland Of America, Our Forefathers Brought Wandering Hearts, Hardworking Souls And A Mighty Thirst For All That Life Has To Offer. Many Years Later, The Shannon Family Is Distilling That Unique Irish-American Spirit Into Finely Crafted Products Made To Please The Palate And Ease The Soul.

Their whiskey will be released in May 2016 as Stone Breaker Irish and American Blended Whiskey. Later various expressions of their whiskey will be available, and unaged poitin and Irish cream liqueur will be offered seasonally.

Read more from Anne Brockhoff in the Star here: here

In the meantime you will find their Sons of Erin Whiskey out in April, to join their existing Duffys Run Vodka and Builders Gin, Duffy and Builder being proud Irish names.

Do visit the Restless Spirits Distilling website
What You Can't Discuss:

This is a partial list of taboo topics within progressive-left venues around the Arab-Israel conflict. You cannot discuss this material because it undermines the "Palestinian narrative" of perpetual victimhood. This narrative is a club used by the Arab and Muslim enemies of Israel, along with their western progressive allies, to delegitimize that country in preparation for its eventual dissolution.



1) The centuries of Jewish dhimmitude under the boot of Islamic imperialism.



2) The recent construction of Palestinian identity, its connection to Soviet Cold War politics, and how this is an Arab people with a Roman name that refers to Greeks.



3) Arab and Palestinian Koranically-based racism as the fundamental source of the conflict.



4) The ways in which contemporary progressive anti-Zionism serves as a cloak for gross anti-Semitism.



5) The Palestinian theft and appropriation of Jewish history.



6) "Pallywood."



7) The historical connections between the Nazis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Palestinian national movement.



8) The perpetual refusal of the Palestinian-Arabs to accept a state for themselves in peace next to the Jewish one.



9) The progressive portrayal of terrorists as those fighting a righteous war of "resistance."



10) The Arab-Palestinian indoctrination of children with Jew hatred.



11) Human rights violations against women, children, and Gay people in the Muslim Middle East.



12) The fact that violent Jihadis call themselves "Jihadis" and claim to love death above life.



This is only a partial list, so please let us know the many more that we are missing.
[March 14, 2016] Banks Give DCI Near-Perfect Satisfaction Scores--Again

HUTCHINSON, Kan., March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Center Inc. (DCI), the privately-owned developer of iCore360 core banking software and related technologies for community banks nationwide, once again proved that their brand of personal service generates high customer satisfaction and loyalty. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160311/343340

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160311/343341LOGO DCI received a 100% response rate to its 2015 annual customer satisfaction survey of iCore360 clients who ranked their satisfaction with DCI performance on 33 metrics. The average satisfaction score over all survey categories was an impressive 96.5%, continuing a decades-long trend of ratings over 95%. Of all respondents, 77% rated their overall satisfaction with a score of 93% or higher, and 60% rated their satisfaction with a perfect score of 100%. DCI continued to boast a 100% voluntary client contract renewal rate in 2015 and is on track to repeat that goal in 2016. "Our relationship with DCI is more like a partnership than a vendor and client," said Mark Duffy, President, Mountain Pacific Bank, Wash. The compny's high customer satisfaction is due largely to its highly personal service and collaborative relationship with each customer through live support 24/7/365, quarterly customer relationship visits, customer-led user-groups, annual conferences, access to executives, and free training.



"With our previous core processor, there was no mistaking our insignificance to them," said Fred Henrich, President, Coatesville Savings Bank, Pa. "But DCI is always very responsive and supportive. DCI treats us the way we treat our customers." DCI also achieved significant industry recognition in 2015, being named a 2015 FinTech Forward Top 100 Technology Provider by American Banker and BAI, winner of the 2015 BankNews Innovative Solutions Award and the exclusive core processing solution endorsed by the California Bankers Association.

"DCI shares a unique, personal relationship with our customers," said John Jones, DCI president and CEO. "These results are clear evidence that being a part of the DCI family brings both real and intangible value that bankers can't find anywhere else, at any price." About DCI

DCI is the developer of the award-winning iCore360 core banking software and related technologies for community banks nationwide. DCI is privately owned by a group of bank clients, with several clients serving as board members and user group leaders. In addition to iCore360 (available hosted or in-house), DCI offers integrated solutions for Internet and mobile banking, private ATM network and card management, teller automation, remote capture, custom analysis, risk/vendor management, managed IT and more. DCI was named a 2015 FinTech Forward Top 100 Technology Provider by American Banker and BAI, winner of the 2015 BankNews Innovative Solutions Award and the exclusive core processing solution endorsed by the California Bankers Association. For more information about DCI, visit www.datacenterinc.com or contact [email protected]. Contact:

Mark Harris, VP, Marketing

(620) 694-6771 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/banks-give-dci-near-perfect-satisfaction-scores--again-300235112.html SOURCE Data Center Inc.

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[March 14, 2016]

General Motors Set to Acquire Self-Driving Tech Developer for More Than $1 Billion - Research and Markets

DUBLIN, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

General Motors announced late last week that it will acquire Cruise Automation, a San Francisco start-up that develops autonomous vehicle technology. Although a figure was not disclosed at the time, reports suggest GM paid close to $1 billion. GM President Dan Ammann said they intend to use Cruise's technology to accelerate its efforts to develop self-driving cars, potentially as part of ride-sharing fleets.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130307/600769 )



Automated vehicle driving can be done anywhere just by connecting the car to integrated adaptive cruise control, adaptive steering and braking, and lane assist systems all working off one central processor. According to a recent report published on Research and Markets, commercial autonomous car shipments will rise to $868 million by 2021. Cruise has been working to developing technology that could be installed in a vehicle to enable the car to pilot itself without he driver steering or braking.







This is the latest example in a string of investments from traditional auto companies in autonomous technology developers. The global autonomous car technology market is expected to witness a CAGR of over 10% through 2035. The dominance of this segment can be attributed to anticipated increase in government regulations pertaining to integration of ADAS technologies in passenger cars.

In January, GM announced it would invest in ride-hailing company Lyft Inc and form a new car-sharing operation called Maven. Other automakers have made similar moves into ride sharing and self-driving vehicles. A report on the global car rental industry forecast growth at 5.6% and states that emerging trends were having a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry. In particular, it highlighted enhanced user experience through digitization, introduction of green vehicles in car fleet, enhanced technologies in car rental service, and concept of self-drive instead of hiring driver.

For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Cars section at http://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/MPLS.

About Research and Markets

Research and Markets is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Source: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/3619429/the-global-car-rental-industry-2016-2021-trends#pos-5

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SOURCE Research and Markets
[March 14, 2016] Penton's IWCE and the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers Partner to Offer Virginia Tech Undergraduate Student a Scholarship to Attend IWCE 2016

ATLANTA and WASHINGTON, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Penton's International Wireless Communication Expo (IWCE) and the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) are partnering to bring Elaine Khuu, a Virginia Tech undergraduate student, to IWCE 2016, the premier annual event for communications technology professionals, through the AFCCE scholarship program. IWCE 2016 takes place March 21-25, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160311/343213LOGO Khuu, who is studying communications engineering, is one of four 2016 AFCCE scholarship recipients. The AFCCE offers scholarships to engineering students interested in pursuing careers in telecommunications. IWCE is offering Khuu a travel award as well as a premium package conference registration, which includes IWCE's College of Technology, Short Courses, admission to the Exhibit Hall and networking opportunities with industry leaders. "With so much technology overlapping, especially with spectrum and interference considerations, we were excited to work with the AFCCE to bring in their members to the event to discuss these issues and many more that affect all organizations in the communications technology industry," said Stacey Orlick, Director of Community and Conference Content, IWCE. "Additionally, by bringing Elaine and other students like her to IWCE we open our industry to new, young talent, while also expanding our audience. We are very pleased to be working with AFCCE." The goal of the AFCCE scholarships is to provide financial assistance to students majoring in engineering or science and related to the telecommunications field. Since 2006, AFCCE has awarded on average over $20,000 annually in scholarship funds. To learn more about the AFCE scholarship program, visit: https://afcce.org/scholarships/



"As we broaden our scope of media communication to keep current with new communications trends, we are very excited to collaborate with IWCE," said Mark G. Fehlig, P.E., Board Member, AFCCE. "Our scholarship program is a very important component of our organization. By providing Elaine with this additional opportunity to attend the leading event for communications technology professionals she will be exposed to hundreds of exhibitors looking for young talented engineers, as well as observing the latest technologies in the industry." For additional information on IWCE and to sign up for email updates, visit iwceexpo.com. Stay connected with us on Twitter, Facebook @iwceexpo and follow our IWCE company page on LinkedIn.

Media interested in attending IWCE can register to attend at http://www.iwceexpo.com/register. About Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE)

AFCCE was founded in 1948 as a professional association of communications engineers practicing before the FCC. The purpose of the Association is to aid and promote the proper federal administration and regulation of those engineering and technical phases of communications which are regulated by the FCC. In its primary function, the AFCCE monitors the technical policy of the FCC to ensure that the agency's regulations coincide as closely as possible with sound engineering principles. Connect with AFCCE on Twitter @AFCCE, Facebook, and Linked-In. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS EXPO (IWCE)

Since 1977, the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) has been the authoritative annual event for communications technology professionals. IWCE features over 370 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and trends in the industry. Over 7,000 individuals attend from a diverse group of industry professionals including government/military, public safety, utility, transportation and business enterprise. IWCE 2016 will be held March 21-25, 2016 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.iwceexpo.com. ABOUT PENTON

Penton is an innovative information services company that empowers nearly 20 million business decision makers in markets that drive more than 12 trillion dollars in purchases each year. Our products inform with rich industry insights and workflow tools; engage through dynamic events, education and networking; and advance business with powerful marketing services programs. Penton is the way smart businesses buy, sell and grow. Headquartered in New York, Penton is privately owned by MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co., LP. For more information, visit http://www.penton.com or follow us on Twitter @PentonNow. MEDIA CONTACTS

Nadira Ramatally

Marketing Manager

Penton Public Infrastructure

(770) 618-0121

[email protected] Mark G. Fehlig, P.E.

Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE)

(770) 363-5974

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pentons-iwce-and-the-association-of-federal-communications-consulting-engineers-partner-to-offer-virginia-tech-undergraduate-student-a-scholarship-to-attend-iwce-2016-300235121.html SOURCE Penton

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[March 14, 2016] Technavio Announces Top Five Vendors in the Global Data Loss Prevention Applications Market from 2015 to 2019

Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global data loss prevention applications market report. This research report also lists 15 other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period. Competitive vendor landscape The global data loss prevention applications market is dynamic as a number of global players are collaborating with existing vendors to expand their reach in various regions worldwide. According to Technavio, a number of vendors are likely to introduce integrated security solutions to provide a multi-layer solution for data protection across endpoints, web, and e-mail over customers' infrastructure on the cloud, mobile, and on-premises. The TCO of integrated DLP solutions is lower than standalone DLP solutions. "Vendors such as Trend Micro (News - Alert) have introduced integrated DLP solutions for customers to secure endpoints, networks, and management servers in organizations. However, vendors such as Symantec (News - Alert) do not provide integrated DLP solutions. The customers have to install different security solutions based on the purpose," says Amrita Choudhury, a lead research analyst at Technavio for IT security. The report also states that during the forecast period, vendors like McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro, and Websense (News - Alert) are likely to provide solutions that will notify end-users about the occurrence of data threats. These vendors will offer scalable DLP solutions to organizations as per the changing business needs. This will help organizations avoid investing in additional resources and lower their TCO. Top five vendors for data loss prevention applications market EMC EMC was founded in 1979, and is headquartered in Hopkinton, US. The company provides IT solutions for data storage, virtualization, information security, cloud computing, analytics, and other products and services that help managing and analyzing data. It also delivers IT as a service. The company has commercialized its products on its own and through its distribution channels in 86 countries worldwde. It has R&D centers in China, Brazil, Israel, France, Russia, Ireland, Singapore, India, and the US, and manufacturing facilities in Ireland and the US.



McAfee (News - Alert) McAfee was established in 1987, and is headquartered in California, US. The company provides solutions and services to secure systems and networks. It protects consumers and businesses from online threats. The company operates as a subsidiary of Intel (News - Alert).

Key highlights June 3, 2015: Announces an integrated solution for automating and accelerating the advanced security services deployment with VMware (provides cloud and virtualization software and services) November 19, 2014: Signs a memorandum of understanding with Europol's European Cybercrime Center to combine security expertise with law enforcement skills to prevent cybercrime Symantec Symantec was incorporated in 1982, and is headquartered in California, US. The company provides security, backup, and availability solutions. It offers industry solutions for financial services, healthcare, public sector, and communication service domains. As of April 2015, the company recorded a revenue of USD 6.51 billion, invested USD 1.14 billion in R&D, and had 19,000 employees. Some of its subsidiaries include Symantec International, Symantec Software India, and Veritas Software. Trend Micro Trend Micro was established in 1988, and is headquartered in Texas, US. The company offers security-related software products for computers and the Internet. It provides innovative security solutions such as server security, cloud security, and small business content security. As of December 31, 2014, the company recorded a revenue of USD 1.09 billion and invested USD 27.78 million in R&D. It had 5,258 employees in FY2014. Websense Websense was founded in 1994, and is headquartered in Texas, US. The company provides web, e-mail, and data security solutions that protect an organization from cyber-threats, malware attacks, and data theft. The company serves over 26,000 customers (enterprises and SMBs) in the education, government, finance and banking, and healthcare sectors. Its information security products are developed on the Websense advanced classification engine and Websense ThreatSeeker intelligence cloud technologies. Browse Related Reports: Data Center Security: Global Market Research Report 2015-2019

Global Industrial Cyber Security Market 2015-2019

Global Smart Cities IT Services Market 2015-2019 Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact [email protected] with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform. About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160314005430/en/

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Netanyahu: Israel hara la paz con el mundo arabe y ello dara lugar a un acuerdo duradero con los palestinos
The Jamestown Foundations mission is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information. Utilizing indigenous and primary sources, Jamestowns material is delivered without political bias, filter or agenda. It is often the only source of information which should be, but is not always, available through official or intelligence channels, especially in regard to Eurasia and terrorism.




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I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published.




Job Description

VA No.: 015/2016

Position: Assistant Storekeeper (1 position)

Contract Type: Special Service Agreement-SSA (Equivalent to Service Contract- SC III level)

Position Duration: Six months (with possibility of extension up to 11 months)

Duty Station: Gambella

Terms of Reference

Expected Results: Accurate and precise records and stock are maintained; data discrepancies are recognized and brought to the attention of the appropriate supervision and/or officer; warehouse is maintained in good and hygienic order; work performed with minimal supervision

Critical Success Factors: Ability to handle a large volume of food and non-food items in a well-organized manner; ability to maintain accurate and precise records and stores; ability to draft correspondence and to write and spell correctly and to communicate matters clearly and concisely; courtesy, tact and ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds

Education: Completion of Secondary Education

Experience: At least one or two years of progressively responsible support experience including at least one year in the field of transport, administration, accounting, statistics or another related field

Knowledge: Experience in utilizing computers including word processing, spreadsheet and other software packages

Language: Fluency in both oral and written in English and Amharic. Fluency in the local languages of the duty station is an added advantage









Your rating: none



Rating: 0  0 votes



How to Apply

Candidates meeting the above qualifications are requested to send an e-mail to: Vacancy.AddisAbaba@wfp.org , personally deliver or mail applications to:



WFP



P.O.Box 209



Gambella-Ethiopia quoting the vacancy announcement number in the subject line of the e-mail and attaching their CV or Personal History Form, and a cover letter (No other documentation will be reviewed at this stage)

Deadline: 22 March 2016



Qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply



Please do not apply online if other application instructions are stated.



Please do not accept payment requests at any of the recruitment phases!

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TARGET e.V. is looking for its project in Ethiopia for a

Project Coordinator

Starting Date: as soon as possible

Duration: 12 months, subject to extension

Location: Afar Zone 2, Ethiopia

TARGET does not set a closing date for this position; recruitment is on-going until the position is filled.

Contractual Conditions:

German salaried contract (salary according to experience), Holidays: 25 days per year. Free board and lodging, transportation, health and accident insurance, work-related liability insurance, return flight

General Description of the Position:

TARGETs project in Afar Zone 2 is focusing on two objectives: building a solid GYN/OBS clinic with OR and counteract FGM.

In Afar, 91.6 per cent are mutilated, with the majority having undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Type II and III. The TARGET Higher Obstetrics Speciality Clinic opened its doors in June 2015 and tries to address the problem of emergency obstetrics, which is especially acute in remote regions such as Afar where access to health care and prenatal examinations is too far, where more than half of the population live below the poverty line and cannot afford access to healthcare and in addition, where existing heath posts and health centers are often under-staffed and under-funded, thus providing poor service and no option to assist laboring women in emergencies.

Our clinic aims to fill this existing gap in emergency obstetrics by providing not only the possibility of ANC but also through a sound obstetrics OR facility. Monthly visits of European volunteer doctors are furthermore closing the countrywide gap of qualified surgeons and gynecologist. TARGET has already established a strong presence in the region with its Mobile Clinic for more than a decade.

Main Responsibilities:

Overall project coordination responsibility (finance, administration, human resources, logistics, volunteer coordination and general support) for the TARGET Obstetrics Higher Speciality Clinic in Afar Zone 2 in Ethiopia under the direction of the TARGET German Management Board, in collaboration with the Clinic Committee and Medical Coordinator and in support of the Country Representative.

The incumbent will conduct his or her duties in respect of the Charter of TARGET, the Code of Conduct and project-related policies.

TARGET expects that its employees professional conduct reflects proper behavior in accordance with local culture and traditions. The incumbent assures the moral protection of the name of TARGET and upholds in all circumstances the interest of the organization.

TARGET intervenes without any affiliation to politics, religion or financial profit. The incumbent will direct his or her activities without preoccupation of political, racial or religious affiliation.

Project Management

Mentor, coach and supervisor national staff



Support German Management Board in planning and implementing new policies, rules and regulations as well as a growing project human resource structure



Participate actively in monitoring and reporting of project activities



Act as CEO in clinic committee, thereby serving as the connecting point to the German Management Board



Line Management:

Supervise national staff and support Medical Coordinator with supervision of clinic-based medical staff (national staff and international volunteers)



Provide support to clinic-based and Mekelle-based finance as well as clinic-based administration, facility, fleet and medical teams in collaboration with respective line managers



Financial Management:

Ensure TARGET budget monitoring (monthly budget follow up, monthly forecast etc.)



Follow-up TARGET budget breakdown in close collaboration with the German Management Board



Coordinate on a monthly basis with Clinic Committee and relevant line managers for budget follow-up and forecast



Participate in the design of budgets in order to forecast the needs for future projects



Human Resources Management

Oversee the hiring, orientation and training of national staff in line with the German Management Board and support Medical Coordinator with hiring, orientation and training of national clinic staff



Assist the German Management Board in staff resource planning: job descriptions, recruitment, induction and training for all staff and international volunteers as appropriate



Manage (day to day activities, working hours, presence planning etc.) and evaluate staff, encouraging effective team work and providing supervision and guidance



Assist the German Management Board in updating and following of national staff work contracts



Ensure the clinic staff database is up to date (sick leave, vacation, work hours etc.) in collaboration with Mekelle-based finance-administration officer



Ensure compliance and maintenance of code of conduct, clinic regulation, internal policies etc. and support in further elaborating/creating necessary regulations and policies



Conduct disciplinary and grievance procedures and exit interviews consistently, as necessary, of national staff



Logistics

Provide punctual support to clinic operations through provision of needed supplies and equipment, supervision of maintenance in the clinic facilities, and other logistics needs arising during implementation



Responsible for the correct implementation of in-country medical procurement and supply chain procedures in compliance with the German Management Board



In coordination with project staff, ensure forecasting of purchases and material delivery for clinic and relevant offices



Lead and support in monthly logistics and budget forecast planning and monitoring of expenses in line with in-patient pharmacy and laboratory



Coordinate with relevant project staff for monthly follow-up of purchase requests



Coordinate with fleet management for ambulance car services, procurement and arrival/departure provision of transport for international volunteers



Responsible for physical asset management of project in collaboration with German management board, finance-administration officer and Medical Director



Ensure maintenance of transparent stock management systems including documented monthly inventory controls and spot checks in departments



Profile
FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender, youth, research and technology  creating a unique mix of capabilities to address todays interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 70 countries and all U.S. states and territories. We are currently seeking qualified candidates for the position of: Specialist, Labor Market Information System Harmonization and Coordination

Description:

FHI 360, through the USAID African Union Partnership (AUP) program, is providing technical assistance to the African Union Commission (AUC) to strengthen youth economic empowerment in Africa. The African Union intends to strengthen its capacity to deliver results through the enhancement of its human capacity in the area of labor, employment and social protection policies, among other initiatives. The 24th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments adopted the Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development for the next decade.

Drawing lessons from past policies, the implementation of the Declaration and Plan of Action will be deliberately guided by the existence of functional labor market information system at all levels. In this respect, the AU Labor Market Information System Harmonization and Coordination Framework (LMIS-HCF) will be pivotal; and it sets roles and responsibilities at national, regional and continental levels and is deployed under the guidance of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Labor Market Information and Informal Economy, which includes representatives of workers and employers organizations.

Thus in order to facilitate the implementation of the LMIS-HCF, FHI 360 through the USAID AUP program is recruiting an LMIS Specialist who will be seconded to the AUC. The ideal candidate will have expert technical knowledge of labor statistics and economics as well as strong management and interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate effectively with diverse actors across the African continent.

Job Summary / Responsibilities:

Technical  LMIS Design, Implementation and Deployment

Assist the AUC/DSA in the deployment of the LMIS-HCF.



Develop and manage a user friendly LMI data management system at continental level, including dissemination of approaches such as web-based communication.



Work with the Secretariat of the RECs to facilitate the implementation of their Regional LMIS Roadmaps defined during the LMIS-HCF capacity building and planning workshops.



Support the implementation of the component of the Labor Migration joint Programme related to Labor Migration Data and Statistics, working with the RECs.



In collaboration with the Africa Regional Labor Administration Centers (ARLACs), develop and implement a training program for MS, AUC and RECs experts on LMIS.



Update and complete the LMIS harmonization tools and other related guidelines.



Research, Analysis and Communication

Propose and implement a continent-wide research and study program on labor, employment and social protection;



Contribute to the preparation of analytical and policy options reports to the Commission on LMIS



Working with other team members, consolidate various inputs into cohesive, analytically solid and user-friendly reports for presentation to the Commission on LMIS.



Prepare issues papers and policy briefs for consideration by managerial staff of the Commission to guide strategy and policy formulation.



Draft, as part of a team, various parts of the Commissions annual reports on LMIS and specialized studies.



Oversee the preparation of a triennial trends publication that summarizes in user-friendly format and analyzes major indicators related to the themes under consideration by the Commission.



Coordination

Serve as coordinating and liaison person between AUC, RECs, Member States (MS) and international partners on LMIS



Provide administrative support to the Joint Secretariat of the Technical Working Group on LMIS and Informal Economy



Prepare publications in the areas of work of the Technical Working Group



Key Deliverables

Develop AU labor market information database



Implement key activities of the Work programme of the LMIS Technical Working Group



Follow-up on the ongoing AUC-FHI survey on LMIS in selected countries



Develop informal economy statistics and data measurement system



Initiate labor migration statistics database



Initiate social protection statistics



Liaise with RECs on LMIS activities



Workload Weighted Distribution

60% technical



20% coordination and administration



20% assisting in conference and meetings organization



Qualifications:

Masters Degree in statistics, with focus on labor statistics and economics, social science, economics, and/or other science is highly preferred. Bachelors degree is required.



Minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in labor market information systems development (labor statistics, labor market data analysis, and labor software).



At least 3-5 years of management experience and proven supervisory ability as well as technical leadership to establish and maintain effective working relationships as both a team member and a team leader.



At least 5 years of experience in international organization preferably including Regional Economic Communities.



Experience working with a diverse set of stakeholders at regional and international levels.



Experience coaching and delivering capacity building training, as well as designing trainings.



Ability to identify clients needs and develop appropriate solutions, and establish and maintain productive partnerships with clients.



Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate, implement and review own work plan and those under supervision.



Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for gender and diversity;



Proven ability to write and speak concisely and clearly and communicate effectively. Ability to prepare reports and conduct presentations on key issues by formulating positions, articulating options concisely, and making and defending recommendations.



Language Requirement

Proficiency in one of the AU working languages (English, French, Arabic and Portuguese) is a must. Knowledge of second or all of the other working languages would be an added advantage.

This job description summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed in any way to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

We offer competitive compensation and an outstanding benefit package. Please click here to visit FHI 360s Career Center for a list of all open positions.

FHI 360 is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. FHI 360 is an equal employment and affirmative action employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other status or characteristic protected under applicable law.
The Proton-M rocket, carrying the ExoMars 2016 spacecraft to Mars, blasts off from the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, March 14, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

Europe and Russia launched a spacecraft on Monday in a joint mission to sniff out signs of life on Mars and bring humans a step closer to flying to the red planet themselves.

The craft, part of the ExoMars programme, blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket, starting a seven-month journey through space.

It carries an atmospheric probe that is to study trace gases such as methane -- a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life -- that previous Mars missions have detected in the planet's atmosphere.

"Why are we so interested in Mars? We are trying to understand how life originated in our solar system," Pascale Ehrenfreund, chair of German space agency DLR's executive board, said at a launch event held by the European Space Agency.

Scientists believe the methane could stem from micro-organisms, called methanogenes, that either became extinct millions of years ago and left gas frozen below the planet's surface, or that some methane-producing organisms still survive.

Another explanation for the methane in Mars's atmosphere could be that it is produced by geological phenomena, such as the oxidation of iron.

The spacecraft will deploy a lander that will test technologies needed for a rover due to follow in 2018, one step in overcoming the practical and technological challenges facing possible future human flights to Mars.

"I'm sure in 20 years or 30 years the moment will come when humans will go to the planet," Thomas Reiter, director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration at the European agency, said.

EARLY LIFE?

The second part of the ExoMars mission in 2018 will deliver a European rover to the surface of Mars. It will be the first with the ability to both move across the planet's surface and drill into the ground to collect and analyse samples.

"If there was early life it could have found refuge in the sub-surface, and the methane could be connected to that," ExoMars project scientist Jorge Vago said.

Landing on Mars is a notoriously difficult task that has bedevilled nearly all of Russia's previous efforts and has given U.S. agency NASA trouble as well. The United States currently has two operational rovers on Mars, Curiosity and Opportunity.

The cost of the ExoMars mission to the European Space Agency, including the second part due in 2018, is expected to be about 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Russia's contribution comes on top of that.

($1 = 0.9060 euros)
A before and after of the Hollister brothers' marker in a Middle Haddam, Conn., cemetery. Like this blog on Facebook | Follow me on Tw...
Lincoln, Neb., The Schemmer Associates Inc. (Schemmer), a national full-service architecture, engineering and planning firm, is pleased to announce Todd Jedrzejczyk, P.E., has joined the firm as a mechanical engineer in our Lincoln, Neb., office and Jennifer Fiedler, architectural designer in our Omaha, Neb., office.

Jedrzejczyk is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in Nebraska with 16 years of experience on projects ranging from small, specialized residential systems to multi-million dollar healthcare facilities. He has worked in commercial, industrial, multi-family housing, senior living, healthcare, K-12 and higher education and federal markets. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and is a member of ASHRAE, ASPE and ASME.

Fiedler has four years of experience as an architectural designer for a variety of project types including commercial, hospitality, healthcare and institutional. She has been involved in project design and is proficient at creating 3D models, rendered views, materials boards and construction documents. Fielder has a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Design, majoring in Interior Design and minoring in Art History, from the University of Nebraska  Lincoln. She is also a member of Alpha Rho Chi.

Schemmer is a collaborative full-service architectural, engineering and planning firm providing responsible solutions for complex design and construction-related challenges. Headquartered in Omaha, Neb., Schemmer has regional offices Lincoln, Neb., Des Moines and Council Bluffs, Iowa; as well as in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla.

For more information, please visit our website at www.schemmer.com.
Youve got to like a company that takes care of its people, puts produce first and has a chocolate fountain at its grand opening.

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is a new grocery at 5220 O St. that should give other stores a run for their money. Its emphasis is on produce, which unlike at other stores, is placed in the center, with frozen and nonperishables around the edges. This design changes the consumers ideas about meals from What sides will I have with my steak? to How can I use up all of the vegetables I just bought?

And the produce is incredibly inexpensive there; asparagus at $1.49, cauliflower and broccoli $1 each, huge avocados for 88 cents, five limes for $1, and the list goes on. By the time I was out of the section, I had to take my basket back and get a cart. The focus on produce and the stores design seem to be working, as the Lincoln Fresh Thyme store is the companys 30th and it plans to open 25 more this year.

I had a chance to sit down and visit with David Bernier, the stores vice president of operations, who told me a little more about the company. CEO Chris Sherrell had been in the PNOS (Premium, Natural and Organic Supermarkets) for 20 years before launching Fresh Thyme stores, and his idea of putting produce and other healthy foods first has really caught on. According to Bernier, produce is the companys bread and butter, and it will account for over 40 percent of its business this year. However, he said other factors were equally important to the new chain. One is becoming a positive part of the local community by partnering with local vendors, offering in-store education classes, having live-music weekends, and hosting cookouts and other activities in which the profits will be used to benefit local charities.

Taking good care of employees is another factor. So far, Fresh Thyme has brought 100 jobs to Lincoln. At the opening I visited with three people working in the store. The first was an employee from the West Des Moines store who was in town to show the new people the ropes. Evidently the company asks for volunteers to help open new stores and then sends people to the new town to help  all expenses paid. The second person I spoke with was in town from St. Louis and had done the same thing. The third person was from Lincoln and raved about the health insurance and other benefits he would receive as well as the comfortable work environment.

After talking to these people, all of whom seemed genuinely happy (even though the place was a madhouse), I got the impression that employees who start with the company stay with it. And why wouldnt they, when one of their heads of marketing started at the company as a checker?

Aside from a great selection of organic and nonorganic produce, Fresh Thyme offers an excellent meat and fish department (with specials that seem outrageous, such as mahi-mahi for 3.98/lb.) as well as large gluten-free sections, a bakery, a sandwich shop, pizzeria and a fresh juice bar. It is a welcome addition to Lincoln, and I cannot recommend the dark chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzel nuggets enough.
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WATERFORD  On Monday, the Waterford Town Board will consider a proposal that could significantly affect the communitys police force.

Just a few months after the Waterford Police Department took over policing in the Village of Waterford, its looking to expand its force with volunteers. The Town Board will discuss the ordinance, which could add 5 to 10 volunteer officers to the force this year, at Mondays meeting.

Basically (theyll) help out the officers and at the same time receive training and the ability to work with police, Waterford Police Chief Tom Ditscheit said.

Waterfords force has nine full-time officers and 13 part-time officers. According to Ditscheit, the volunteers will help with the additional patrol area the department picked up at the start of 2016, but the timing of the volunteer force is mostly coincidental.

The volunteers will help with traffic control, sometimes do ride-along in a squad car or boat and make appearances representing the department at community events, Ditscheit said. Besides their responsibilities, a major motivation of adding the volunteers was to increase residents knowledge.

Ditscheit also mentioned the positions as a way for citizens interested in a potential career in law enforcement to get involved.

Qualified candidates will have good backgrounds and be physically sound. But theres one quality Ditscheit will value above all else.

The most important qualification is a desire to help others, he said.
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--Jude Rosenberg
Egyptian Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind was relieved of his position on Sunday after making controversial statements on television. After being asked a question regarding the imprisonment of journalists, al-Zinds responded that he would even imprison the Prophet Mohammed. The response was quickly the target of criticism across the Internet, including the specific Twitter hashtag trial for Zind. He immediately issued an apology but was nonetheless removed from office [CNN report] after being there since last May.

Of particular concern with Egypts constitutional and human rights is the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists by the Egyptian government, which has garnered widespread criticism from governments and rights groups worldwide. In January 13 non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement [JURIST report] to the Egyptian parliament giving recommendations to ensure the enforcement of constitutional and human rights. Last December Egyptian lawyer Nasser Amin challenged a law [JURIST report] that allows writers to be jailed for writings that violate Egyptian morals. In August 2015 Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approved [JURIST report] a 54-article counter-terrorism law that has been met with significant controversy, as many believe it infringes on the freedom of the press. Many have said that the law defines terrorism too broadly and imposes harsh sentences and fines on violators. Also in August 2015, Human Rights Watch criticized [JURIST report] the law saying it infringes on freedom of the press.
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Monday announced the filing of an amicus brief in a US federal court arguing that the failure of US government officials to appoint lawyers to represent migrant children facing deportation violates their basic rights under international law. HRW joined [HRW press release] with the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School and a leading national firm to draft the brief in the case of JEFM v. Lynch [ACLU case backgrounder], a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of children against the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The compliant alleges violations of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act [DHS backgrounder] that require a fair and full hearing before an immigration judge. In its brief, HRW notes there is no right to legal representation for indigents in immigration proceedings. HRW argues that the DOJ began fast-tracking deportation cases in immigration courts in 2014, and in the majority of cases children without an attorney are deported after a single hearing. HRW argues that children lack the mental capacity to represent themselves and they must be appointed counsel to ensure due process in deportation proceedings.

The rights of migrant populations has emerged as one of the most significant humanitarian issue around the world. Earlier this month the Court of Justice of the EU ruled [JURIST report] that Germany may place residence conditions on refugees. Also in March, a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana blocked [JURIST report] Governor Mike Pences order keeping Syrian refugees from settling in Indiana. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana originally filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] on behalf of Exodus Refugee Immigration in November after Pence announced his plans to suspend resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state as well as assistance from state agencies. In February, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, expressed serious concern at the recent adoption of security measures by several European countries [JURIST report] by joint agreement. Also in February, US District Court Judge David Godbey rejected a lawsuit seeking to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees by government officials in Texas. The federal judge ruled that Texas officials had failed to show a substantial threat of irreparable injury [JURIST report] in the request for an injunction to stop further Syrian refugee resettlement.
[JURIST] The Myanmar government on Monday release 46 underage and child recruits from the military. Myanmar has released 745 underage recruits [Reuters report] since the country became a part of a UN joint action plan in 2012. The UN believes the continued release of the underage recruits is necessary to the countrys continued growth and development within society. Myanmar was also criticized by UN officials for the non-state militant groups that continue to recruit children to fight for their cause.

Last year Myanmar President Thein Sein signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement [JURIST report] with eight armed rebel groups in an effort to establish peace in Myanmar. Last March UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee called on state authorities [JURIST report] to address ongoing challenges to the democratic reform process in Myanmar. Previous Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Tomas Ojea Quintana expressed concern [JURIST report] in 2014 about the deteriorating human rights situation in the countrys Rakhine State [JURIST news archive]. In October 2013 Quintana warned [JURIST report] that sectarian violence between the Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State was contributing to wider anti-Muslim sentiments in Myanmar and threatening the positive changes undertaken by the country in the past two years.
[JURIST] Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma [official website] on Saturday again blocked a bill that would have legalized abortion in the country. The Safe Abortion Act of 2015 passed [Reuters report] with broad support in parliament [official website] in December would repeal the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 [official summary], which only allows for abortion when the mothers health is at risk. The president, in a press release [press release] on International Womans day, stated [t]he definition of who is a medical practitioner among others is not clear in the Bill and we have made our comments.

Abortion access and reproductive healthcare [JURIST backgrounder] remain contentious issues worldwide. The High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland [official website] in November ruled [judgment] that Northern Irelands abortion laws, which only allow abortion when the mother faces the risk of death or serious injury, are a violation of human rights [JURIST report]. ] El Salvadors complete ban on abortion [text, PDF, in Spanish] negatively affects [JURIST report] not only women and girls, but also their families, according to an Amnesty International report [press release] released the same month. A Dominican court in December blocked [JURIST report] a new law that would have decriminalized abortion if a pregnant womans life was at risk, thus reinstating a total ban on abortion within the country. A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] in January that part of an abortion law requiring hospital admitting privileges for doctors who provide abortions is unconstitutional [JURIST report].
[JURIST] A Sierra Leone security official said Friday that Moinina Fofana, a former militia leader convicted of war crimes, was re-arrested for violating the terms of his early release. Fofana was convicted [JURIST report] in 2007 on charges of murder, cruel treatment, pillage and collective punishment for his role in Sierra Leones civil war and sentenced to a 15-year term. Fofana was granted a provisional release last year and was to complete his sentence from his home community. The terms of his release included strict conditions and stringent monitoring. The release was conditioned on refraining from committing crimes and interfering with witnesses, and the issuing of a public apology. The specific term of Fofanas release that was violated is unknown [AP report], but some speculate it is linked to prohibited political activity.

Sierra Leones civil war [BBC backgrounder] in the 1990s resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 people and the conviction of many leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. Leaders were convicted of war crimes charges and subsequently for contempt stemming from witness tampering [JURIST reports]. In 2012 after a long legal battle, former Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted and sentenced [JURIST report] on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including terrorism, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone. He was also found guilty of supplying weapons to the Revolutionary United Front in exchange for blood diamonds. The UK Parliaments International Tribunals (Sierra Leone) Act [materials] allowed Taylor to serve his sentence in the UK at the cost of the British government. A 2013 appeal by Taylor was rejected by the UN backed special court, which found that his guilt had been proven beyond doubt.
[JURIST] A court in Neubrandenburg, Germany, on Monday postponed the trial of a former Nazi SS medic because the 95-year-old remains unfit to appear before the court. The trial was scheduled to open on Monday, but the court announced a doctor made an earlier determination that Hubert Zafke remains unfit for trial [AP report] due to a number of health concerns, including high blood pressure. Zafke is charged with serving as an accessory to the murder of 3,681 people at Auschwitz. The trial was postponed two weeks ago [JURIST report] for similar health concerns. In December a judge ruled that Zafke was fit to stand trial [JURIST report]. However, in late February a doctor determined [AP report] that Zafke suffers from high blood pressure, stress and suicidal thoughts. In the doctors determination, these ailments coupled with his age, make him too frail to stand trial. The court has made the request that Zafke undergo a full medical examination in a hospital. The prosecution has raised suspicions that Zafke may be ingesting medication to cause his blood pressure to rise to abnormal levels.

In February a German court began the trial [JURIST report] of a 94-year-old man charged with 170,000 counts of accessory to murder at Auschwitz. The 2011 conviction [JURIST report] of former Nazi guard John Demjanjuk may have emboldened German prosecutors to pursue cases against all those who materially helped Nazi Germany function. The most recent person imprisoned for his role in the Holocaust was Oskar Groening. Known as the accountant of Auschwitz, Groening was charged [JURIST report] in September 2014 as an accessory to the murder of 300,000 people. In July Groening was given a four-year jail sentence for his role at Auschwitz, which he said he would appeal [JURIST reports].
[JURIST] UN human rights investigator Marzuki Darusman [official profile] urged [press release] the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] on Monday to push for the prosecution of top North Korean government officials for crimes against humanity. Darusman stressed [HRW report] that though the UNHRC, General Assembly and Security Council [official websites] have previously discussed North Koreas human rights violations, Kim Jong-un and his fellow leaders have yet to be held fully accountable for torturing and starving their people while devoting resources to ongoing weapon projects. Darusman called for referring the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] and establishing a panel of experts to strategize a proper accountability resolution. As Darusman calls for a universal effort against North Korea, the US, Japan and EU have expressed [Reuters report] support, albeit without specific mention of Kim Jong-un. Human Rights Watch (HRW) similarly called on the UNHRC to act and stated that referral to the ICC should be a priority. As expected, North Korean representatives boycotted the session and have yet to directly respond.

In light of the countrys human rights record and instability, ongoing weapons tests in North Korea have been cause for international concern. Last Friday Kim Jong-un watched [JURIST report] a ballistic missile launch test and ordered more tests in order to improve the countrys nuclear attack capabilities. In February UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on [JURIST report] North Koreas government to stop violating international obligations after another missile launch was conducted. In January the US House of Representatives approved [JURIST report] legislation that would increase sanctions against North Korea for its continuation of nuclear testing. In November Japan and the EU circulated [JURIST report] a draft UN resolution condemning North Koreas human rights abuses and encouraging the UN Security Council to refer the country to the ICC, noting reports of torture, limits on freedom of mobility, restrictions on freedom of speech, restrictions on freedom of religion, privacy infringement, arbitrary imprisonment, prison camps and more. Darusman expressed deep concerns [JURIST report] regarding human rights violations in the country just a month earlier. In November 2014 Darusman said that there is enough evidence to hold Kim Jong-un responsible for massive human rights atrocities [JURIST report] committed in the country. In response to these concerns, the UN in June opened a new office [JURIST report] in Seoul to specifically monitor human rights in North Korea.
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed [official website], expressed continued concern Monday regarding Irans alarming rate of juvenile executions and other flaws in the justice system [press release]. Shaheeds report [text, PDF] calls for complete removal of the juvenile death penalty, as Iran is one of the only countries still using this practice in violation of international law. Shaheed also discussed problems with due process, failure of officials to implement Iranian law in a manner that complies with international law and other problems with the administration of justice. While recognizing some reform and recent successful elections, Shaheed stated, [t]here remains a considerable gap between protections afforded to the accused in Iranian law and the reality on the ground.

The use of the death penalty remains controversial worldwide. Last month Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] criticized Irans justice system after 40 men were sentenced to death [JURIST report]. In January AI reported on the many juvenile offenders [JURIST report] on death row in Iran. Last year AI said that use of the death penalty in Pakistan [JURIST report] was undergoing a disturbing and dangerous escalation after the execution of two men convicted of non-terrorism offenses. In 2014 UN officials called on the government of Iraq to impose a moratorium on the death penalty [JURIST report] in response to a significant rise in executions since the country restored capital punishment in 2005. The report stated that 73 executions of juvenile offenders took place between 2005 and 2015 and that 160 juvenile offenders are currently on death row.
[JURIST] The Virginia General Assembly on Friday approved a bill [HB 815 materials] that will allow for the implementation of the electric chair if lethal injection drugs are not readily available. Virginia has faced issues [WP report] with obtaining lethal injection drugs as some pharmaceutical companies have declined to supply the necessary materials. According to the new bill, the Virginia Department of Corrections must make reasonable efforts to obtain lethal injection materials before utilizing the electric chair. The bill will now be sent to Governor Terry McAuliffe [official website] desk to be signed or vetoed. Currently, Virgina has seven inmates on death row.

Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. In February the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] rejected [opinion, PDF] a Georgia death row inmates legal challenge [JURIST report] to the death penalty. In January Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] stated that he plans to ask lawmakers to approve the firing squad, electrocution or nitrogen gas as alternate methods of execution [press release] if the state prohibits lethal injection [JURIST report]. The US Supreme Court in January ruled [JURIST report] in Kansas v. Carr [opinion, PDF] that a jury in a death penalty case does not need to be advised that mitigating factors, which can lessen the severity of a criminal act, do not need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt like aggravating factors.
The Social Security System (SSS) shared the highlights of its 58-year experience in pension fund management, grant of various benefits and calamity assistance during the SSS Study Tour for officials of the Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MDMR) at the SSS Main Office in Diliman, Quezon City on January 5. It was the first study tour conducted by SSS for Bangladesh nationals, and featured the kinds of assistance the SSS gives its members during times of calamities and disasters. The study tour was granted at the request of the Center for Disaster Preparedness, which is the MDMR?s counterpart agency in the Philippines. SSS Senior Vice President for Administration Group Ms. May Catherine C. Ciriaco (7th from left) delivered a lecture for the Bangladeshi delegates, namely (starting 2nd from left) Mr. Dilip Kumar Sen, Mr. A.B.M Akram Hossain, Mr. Md. Aowlad Hossain Khan, Mrs. Ishrat Jahan Taslim, Mr. Md. Siddiqur Rahman, Mr. Satyendra Kumar Sarkar, Mrs. Sultana Sayeeda, Mr. Gias Uddin Ahmed, Mr. ASM Shahidul Islam, Mr. Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Mr. Md. Shafiqul Islam. Also present were SSS Corporate Communications Department Officer-in-Charge Ms. Sonia P. Guinto (right) and Special Events and Promotions Team Head Ms. Evelyn R. Binarao (left). In 2015, the SSS conducted study tours for four universities, including the Technological Institute of the Philippines from Quezon City; St. Anthony's College - Department of Engineering from Antique; University of Southeastern Philippines from Davao City; and Filamer Christian University - College of Computer Studies from Roxas City. Visitors from two foreign government agencies -- the Employees Trust Fund from Brunei Darussalam and Employees Provident Fund from Nepal -- also benefited from SSS study tours and lectures on SSS coverage, collections, benefits, actuarial fund life and self-service facilities, among others.


Ankara bombing: Turkey strikes against Kurdish rebel PKK

Turkey has begun security operations against Kurdish rebels in the country's south-east and in Iraq.
Birat cuts petrol price to Rs99 a ltr

Birat Petroleum has slashed the price of its petrol to Rs99 per litre from Rs130, in line with the price maintained by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
Cultural festival effective in making Nepal-India ties sustainable: Regmi

Former Chairman of Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi has expressed his hope that cultural festivals play an effective role in making Nepal-India relations sustainable.
Dahal shown black flag in Siraha, 5 held

Police arrested five leaders of the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), including a former minister, as they attempted to foil a programme attended by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Siraha district headquarters on Sunday.
Getting closer

That former combatants are being sent on peacekeeping missions is a sign of change
Government makes sealed caps mandatory

Packaged drinking water manufactures will now have to mandatorily seal the bottle caps with plastic wraps imprinted with their license numbers.
Govt unveils 10-yr action plan to eliminate hunger

The government on Sunday unveiled a 10-year action plan to completely eliminate hunger.
Ivory Coast: 16 dead in Grand Bassam beach resort attack

Al-Qaeda-linked militants have killed at least 16 people in a gun attack on a beach resort in southern Ivory Coast.
Kathmandu still treats Madhes as its colony: Thakur

Senior leader of Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) Mahanta Thakur has remarked that that Madhes is still viewed as a colony of Kathmandu.
Morcha cadres released

The leaders and cadres of the Madhesi Morcha, who were arrested after greeting UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal with black flags on Sunday, have been released on Sunday night.
MP Lama caught for bullets in bank locker

UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker Lharkyal Lama, who was arrested on Sunday after 14 bullets were found in his bank locker, has been remanded in custody for five days.
Police raids Lyarkal Lamas house

Police raided the house of UCPN (Maoist) leader Lyarkal Lama in Budanilkantha, Kathmandu on Monday. He was arrested on Sunday after bullets were recovered from his bank locker during CIAA investigation.
Professional inclusiveness is as necessary as ethnic inclusiveness

On March 1, the Judicial Council (JC), the body responsible for selecting judges, recommended 11 judges for the Supreme Court (SC). Speaker Onsari Gharti, however, sent back the recommendationsa decision that has given rise to a controversy.
Saarc Foreign Minister level meet underway

The 37th meeting of Saarc Council of Ministers at Foreign Secretary level and Foreign Minister level is underway in Pokhara on Monday. Six foreign ministers of the member states will be participating in the event also called Mini Saarc Summit.
Saarc meet begins today

Preparations have been completed for the 37th meeting of Saarc Council of Ministers at Saarc Foreign Minister level which begins in Pokhara on Thursday.
Seven women rescued from Jogbani

The Morang Police has rescued seven trafficked Nepali women from Jogbani Railway Station, the Nepal-India border line in Morang district. It is said that the women were being trafficked to the gulf nations via New Delhi of India in the name of foreign employment.
Snow leopards hide, skeleton seized

Police have arrested two persons in possession of a snow leopards hide and its complete skeleton in Darchula district.
Yemen conflict: UAE jet missing on mission against Houthis

The United Arab Emirates has said that one of its warplane taking part in a mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen is missing.
The Minister for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, Tarsis Kabwegyere has told the opposition to learn to deal with the outcome of elections as the ruling National Resistance Movement party Celebrates victory.

Kabwegyere is representing the Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, in an on-going State of the Nation Platform debate by civil society organisations at Protea Hotel-Kampala, focusing on the post-election environment.

Addressing the gathering, Kabwegyere saidthat democracy is a game of numbers and the winner takes it all.

President Yoweri Museveni was declared winner of the 2016 general elections. But this is being challenged in the Supreme Court by former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.
The General Court Martial sitting in Makindye has heard that the former coordinator of intelligence services, General David Sejusa has never formally applied to retire from the army.

Prosecution witness number Brig. Joseph Musanyufu who is the secretary to the promotion/commissions board that is charged with the retirement affairs of army officers, has told court that he has never received Sejusas application to leave the army.

Musanyufu who also doubles as the Chief of personnel and administration in the UPDF maintains that Sejusa is still a serving army officer as per the list of serving UPDF officers printed on the 2nd March 2016 and exhibited to court today.

The list also shows Sejusas last station of deployment as MP representing the army in the 9th parliament.

Musanyufu explained that since Sejusa falls under the category of regular service officers and not among those in service by contract, his service in the army is for life.

He says Sejusa can only leave the army if the Commissions board approves or unless he is convicted by any competent court and he is sentenced to a jail term of more than two years.

Brig. Musanyufu further testified that Sejusas conduct of extending his UK leave without the Speakers permission last year amounts to an offence of Absence from duty without official leave according to the UPDF Act 2005.

The 7 member court chaired by Maj. Gen. Levi Karuhanga adjourned the hearing of the case to the 18th of March,2016 to enable defence lawyers cross-examine Brig. Musanyufu. Sejusa has been further remanded to Luzira prison.
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China's ruling Communist Party has yet to receive an invitation from North Korea to attend a rare party congress in May, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter said Monday.



North Korea is gearing up to hold the Workers' Party Congress in May. The last such party conference was held in 1980 and China sent a vice premier to Pyongyang at that time.



"To my knowledge, China and other communist nations such as Vietnam and Cuba, have not received an invitation from North Korea for the party congress in May," the source said on the condition of anonymity.



North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and launched a long-range rocket about a month later, prompting the U.N. Security Council to tighten sanctions against the North.



China, North Korea's diplomatic and economic lifeline, backed the new U.N. sanctions.



During the May party congress, North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un is expected to unveil new policies on issues ranging from the economy to relations with South Korea. (Yonhap)




The popularity of making cleaning products at home is rising as people seek to eliminate toxic chemicals from their environment or save money  and sometimes both.

Many of the ingredients for cleaning products can be found in the pantry  vinegar, baking soda and ammonia are popular kitchen staples that can perform double-duty in cooking and cleaning. In some tasks, homemade cleaners perform as well as store-bought cleaners, and the main ingredients often are significantly cheaper than one bottle of store-bought cleaning solutions.

Even though homemade cleaners may be seen as a less-toxic alternative to store-bought agents, homeowners still need to take some precautions.

Know your ingredients

Lauren Weatherford, families and health agent for the West Virginia University Extension Service, said people need to research individual ingredients before following a recipe found on the Internet.

You may have heard from your grandmother that you can scrub your floors with baking soda, but you cant just throw baking soda on the floor. As a family consumer science person, I would not use anything without knowing the precautions, she said.

Thats because making homemade cleaners is science in action. Some ingredients should never be used together, like bleach and ammonia, and vinegar and bleach, which can cause severe respiratory damage. Hydrogen peroxide and vinegar together create peracetic acid, which causes burns.

I always go back to what is an alkali, what is an acid, what is a surfactant, and why do you need it when cleaning? said Pamela Turner, associate professor and housing extension specialist at the University of Georgia. Just because its natural, its still not necessarily safe to use in large quantities in an unventilated area.

Turner also recommends using clearly labeled, dated, dedicated containers for homemade cleaning products to avoid any mixing of ingredients and make them in small quantities.

Brian Sansoni, vice president of sustainability initiatives at the American Cleaning Institute, the cleaning products trade association, said if there are accidents caused by improper use or storage of cleaning products, most manufacturers have provided Poison Control Centers with specific information on product ingredients, which isnt the case with homemade cleaners.

Safety is also why people shouldnt mix homemade and store-bought cleaners, or combine two store-bought cleaners.

Different surfaces need different cleaners, said Sonja Koukel, community and environmental health specialist in the college of Ag, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University. Some homemade cleaners can strip wax off hardwood floors. Some alkaline ingredients like baking soda and sodium carbonate may make irreparable scratches on marble or granite if used improperly, she said.

You may not even see them, but they can harbor bacteria and germs, she said. Make sure youre using the right product for the right surface.

Meg Roberts, president of residential cleaning company Molly Maid, said watch when using vinegar as a cleaning agent on some metals.

Its great for stainless steel; its not great for aluminum or cast iron because those are reactive surfaces, she said.

Cleaning vs. disinfecting

These terms are thrown around loosely, but they have different meanings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says cleaning essentially means removing dirt and debris, but cleaning products dont necessarily kill germs. Disinfecting or sanitizing products use chemicals (natural or synthetic) to kill germs. If a product is labeled as a sanitizer or disinfectant, the EPA requires it actually kill the germs claimed to kill.

However, the EPAs review does not evaluate all possible health risks for users of the products. Its those issues that push many people to seek out less toxic cleaners and avoid products like bleach.

Koukel said theres disagreement regarding milder home cleaners on what kills harmful bacteria like E. coli or salmonella, mostly because there is only limited research on how well products like vinegar work to disinfect and at what concentrations.

Thats why Roberts said they use professional grade cleaning products in their business unless a client wants 100 percent green products. Even so they will also tell them those products wont kill the germs in the way we would like to, she said.

Bleach gets a bad rap with environmentally focused people, but thats mostly because people use too much, Koukel and Turner said.

If you walk into a room and you can smell the bleach that theyve used, theyre using way too much, Koukel said.

Turner said while green cleaners may not kill all germs, sanitizing isnt always needed.

Your countertops many times dont need to be disinfected. It depends on what youre doing, how many children you have, and how many people you have in your home who are sensitive or have a compromised immune system, she said.

For people who see eco-friendly store-bought cleaners as a middle road between homemade and traditional cleaners, Turner recommends people go to the National Institutes of Health Household Products database.

Household cleaners dont have to tell you whats in them. Theres no law that makes them tell you, she said.

Tips for making your own. Weatherford, Turner and Koukel all have published home cleaning recipes and information as part of their research and offer the following advice for people who want to make their own products.

Water-dampened microfiber cloths are great for the simplest cleaning of dust and dirt, especially on windows.

Essential oils like tea tree, lavender and lemon can add scent to homemade cleaners and just a few drops are needed.

Dont like the smell of vinegar? Vodka is a good substitute. Weatherford uses a 50-50 mix of vodka and water and a few drops of essential oils for an air freshener and shower spray.
From 3 p.m. Sunday to 3 p.m. Monday

<h2>Police calls

<h3>LA CROSSE

3:05 p.m., Domestic disturbance, 1400 block of Jackson St.

3:42 p.m., Animal bite, 1400 block of Jackson St.

3:45 p.m., Property damage, 600 block of Monitor St.

3:44 p.m., Theft, 500 block of Mississippi St.

3:47 p.m., Animal bite, 1000 block of Seventh St.

4:30 p.m., Theft, 600 block of Monitor St.

5:19 p.m., Theft, 300 block of Fifth Ave.

5:22 p.m., Theft, 4300 block of Mormon Coulee Road

5:55 p.m., Theft, 400 block of La Crosse St.

12:18 a.m., Property damage, first block of Copeland Ave.

12:28 a.m., Property damage, 600 block of Wall St.

1:27 a.m., Domestic disturbance, 600 block of Wall St.

6:05 a.m., Entry to dwelling, 1200 block of Ninth St.

7:15 a.m., Property damage, 1400 block of Avon St.

8:42 a.m., Theft, 1000 block of State St.

9:08 a.m., Theft, 1700 block of Rose St.

9:41 a.m., Theft, 1600 block of Prospect St.

10:09 a.m., Domestic disturbance, 1400 block of Charles St.

10:12 a.m., Domestic disturbance, 100 block of Third St.

10:31 a.m., Domestic disturbance, 500 block of Island St.

12:04 p.m., Theft, 1400 block of Jackson St.

12:15 p.m., Domestic disturbance, 800 block of Sixth St.

1:42 p.m., Theft, 2100 block of Denton St.

2:04 p.m., Domestic disturbance, 1100 block of Jackson St.

2:224 p.m., Hit-and-run, 3800 block of Hwy. 16

2:43 p.m., Domestic disturbance, 400 block of Alexander St.

<h3>ONALASKA

10:47 a.m., Hit-and-run, 500 block of Willow St.

<h3>HOLMEN

3:27 p.m., Entry to dwelling, 3900 block of Circle Drive

4:53 p.m., Animal bite, 900 block of Dana Lane

<h2>Fire Calls

<h3>LA CROSSE

4:37 p.m., First responders, 400 block of Monitor St.

6:18 p.m., First responders, 1000 block of Liberty St.

7:44 p.m., Accident with injury, Hwy. OA and Nuttleman Road

8:33 p.m., First responders, 1300 block of 28th St.

8:36 p.m., First responders, 2900 block of East Ave.

1:33 a.m., First responders, 2200 block of Liberty St.

7:40 a.m., First responders, 1800 block of Loomis St.

8:48 a.m., First responders, 600 block of 10th St.

9:18 a.m., Accident with injury, Redfield and 16th sts.

10:18 a.m., First responders, 400 block of Buchner Place

11:42 a.m., Accident with injury, Losey Blvd. S. and Madison St.

1:15 p.m., Accident with injury, 4000 block of Hwy. Block of

1:59 p.m., First responders, 600 block of Monitor St.

<h3>ONALASKA

3:08 p.m., First responders, 300 block of Mason St.

3:25 p.m., First responders, 500 block of Fairway Creek drive

5:59 p.m., Accident with injury, 1200 block of Crossing Meadows Drive

8:37 p.m., Natural gas odor, 4100 block of Beverly Drive

10:24 p.m., First responders, 1800 block of Main St.

2:04 p.m., Accident with injury, Hwy. 53 and I90

2:07 p.m., Accident with injury, 1800 block of Main St.

<h3>HOLMEN

3:15 p.m., First responders, 6400 block of Oakwood Circle

9:32 a.m., First responders, 300 block of North Star Road
MADISON  Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley has gone from embarrassed to apologetic to angry as opponents dredged up opinion pieces from her college days railing against homosexual AIDS victims, Bill Clinton supporters and abortion.

As she vies for a full 10-year term on the court in the April 5 election, those writings of 24 years ago are unlikely to erode her existing support. But they could have some impact on voters who know little of either candidate  or dont even know theres a Supreme Court race going on.

A Marquette Law School poll in February found 60 percent of registered voters didnt know or hadnt heard enough to form an opinion on Bradley, and about the same had no opinion on her opponent, Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Most voters will be forming views of these candidates for the first time between now and April 5, said Charles Franklin, director of the poll. He said that means its critical how well each campaign harnesses or reacts to the issue.

But University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Ryan Owens said he doesnt think it will sway many peoples decisions in the states highly partisan landscape, unless comments continue to trickle out in the coming weeks.

I think the climate right now is just so toxic that people who were going to vote against her just solidified in that position, Owens said. Those who supported her will continue to do so, he said.

The race is officially nonpartisan, but clearly split on ideological lines. Liberals largely back Kloppenburg, while conservatives support Bradley, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in October.

Bradley has spent almost every day apologizing for the college opinion pieces since liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now brought them to light on Monday. In one letter to the editor for Marquette Universitys student newspaper, she wrote that homosexual and drug-addicted AIDS victims basically commit suicide through their behavior and dont deserve her sympathy. In another column, she wrote people are better off contracting AIDS than cancer, because those with the politically correct disease would get more funding. Bradley declined an interview, but she has said this past week a mosaic of life experiences has changed her views since 1992.

Devin Gatton, president of conservative gay-rights group Log Cabin Republicans, said when he first saw the writings he thought they were disgusting.

But he said what hes learned about Bradley in the days since has convinced him shes changed. She attended a 2013 fundraiser for gay-rights group FAIR Wisconsin. Her campaign says shes presided over adoptions to gay couples. And Gatton says she gave him a satisfactory answer on gay marriage  that she would follow the Constitution.

Every politician apologizes, Gatton said. Its the things shes done since then.

But FAIR Wisconsin Executive Director Megin McDonell said it would take a lot more than attending a fundraiser to convince her Bradleys had some kind of radical transformation since those writings.

People can change, definitely, people can change, McDonell said. But I cant really say that Im convinced at this point.

Steve Starkey, executive director of LGBT community center OutReach, likewise said he hasnt seen sufficient evidence.

So far, the apologies have been kind of empty, Starkey said.

Owens, the professor, said voters overall tend to see statements made a long time ago for what they are  an immature student caught up in a political wave.
Every four years, America gets to experience political turmoil. It is the time during the quadrennial period, where talking points seem to run rampant, and facts seem to disappear.

As the congressional powers that be start to haggle about the government budget for fiscal 2017, I challenge them to set aside petty squabbles, and protect programs that support cost-effective, life-saving developmental solutions for poverty-related issues such as: HIV/AIDS, nutrition, tuberculosis, energy and education.

Just more than eight years ago I met a little boy in Ethiopia who changed my life. Then, I didnt have the discomfort of worrying about where my next meal was coming from, nor did I have to worry about whether my mother was going to make it home that evening after the long walk to the market where she would earn roughly 25 cents per day selling grain. Today, this is still the reality for millions of African people. Truth be told, their only path leads to the graveyard.

History has shown us that for poverty alleviation programs that cost less than 1 percent of the federal budget (foreignassistance.gov), the results have been remarkable. Poverty rates are decreasing, and millions are getting access to electricity, clean water and education for the first time. As a nation, I challenge us to assist with more than the 0.19 percent of our gross national income that we are currently providing. The United States can do better than that.
Former pro wrestler Hulk Hogans lawsuit against Gawker, centering on a tawdry celebrity sex tape, is rated the first of its genre to make it to trial  but it is about so much more.

In 2012, the online news outlet Gawker posted online a one-minute 41-second excerpt from a half-hour videotape showing Hogan  actual name, Terry G. Bollea  having sex with a woman described as the wife of his then-best friend.

The Gawker item was titled, Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed Is Not Safe for Work but Watch It Anyway. It was accompanied by a 1,400-word narrative written by Gawkers editor, A.J. Daulerio.

Hogan says he was not aware at the time he was being taped, did not agree to make it public and that Gawker published it just for the click-bait commercial value. He is suing Gawker in a Florida courtroom for $100 million for invasion of privacy and emotional distress.

Why should we care about this misbegotten mess of failed friendship, sorry sex and prurient posts? Its a long way  if ever  from reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. But were just beginning as a society to reset legal lines in the Digital Age for protection of personal privacy, personal information reported by the news media, how we deal with so-called revenge porn, and even the extent to which you and I can post critical comments online.

The trial already has echoes of a case that produced historic Supreme Court ruling decision, Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell. At issue was a crude satirical magazine ad aimed at Falwell. When all was said and done, Hustler and its publisher Larry Flynt were responsible for helping to creating a lasting legal bulwark protecting social satire and political caricatures.

Writing for the Court, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said in the Hustler decision that the sort of robust political debate encouraged by the First Amendment is bound to produce speech that is critical of those who hold public office or those public figures who are intimately involved in the resolution of important public questions, or, by reason of their fame, shape events in areas of concern to society at large.

So what does Gawker say it was doing in publishing the video along with the commentary? Its lawyers say Hogan had made his sex life  and the tape itself  newsworthy through a number of radio appearances and interviews prior to its post, making it a matter of public concern.

Attacking that stance, Hogans lawyer told a six-person jury this week that we did not object to Gawker telling the story of the sex tape. ... We objected to using a video ... to promote the pornography to increase their profit.

The Hogan v. Gawker case asks us to revisit basic concepts around individual privacy, in a Web world where its now exponentially easier for private information to be splashed instantly and pervasively across the globe  something many scholars say is not yet fully recognized by free speech laws.

The legal reverberations touch an 1891 law review article that first set out the concept of privacy in U.S. law. In that article, two young Boston lawyers, Samuel Warren and future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, argued that each person has a right to an inviolate personality, and should have control over information about their private life, habits, acts and relations.

It was new media, then as now, that sparked two lawyers concerns  in their case the relatively new mass circulation newspapers: The press is overstepping in every direction the obvious bounds of propriety and of decency, they wrote. To satisfy a prurient taste, the details of sexual relations are spread broadcast in the columns of the daily papers. To occupy the indolent, column upon column is filled with idle gossip, which can only be procured by intrusion upon the domestic circle.

Sound familiar? But even Warren and Brandeis accepted the notion of such information being published when a matter of public concern, say involving elected officials or candidates.

And then theres the matter of whether new efforts to legislate and punish revenge porn, and whether the definition  posting of embarrassing videos or photos involving sexual content  should expand to include so-called non-consensual porn where, as Hogan claims, there was no permission granted for public distribution.

We also have to parse future situations in which famous people like ESPN broadcaster Erin Andrews clearly are victims of criminal conduct, where scurrilous video is posted online  and, unfortunately, likely be available somewhere, from someone, for her entire life. Her recently concluded civil case against the man who secretly videotaped her naked through a hotel door peephole, and the company that owns the Nashville hotel where the crime occurred, produced a $55 million judgment. But as Andrews said in testimony, ... every day of my life, either I get a tweet or somebody makes a comment in the paper or somebody sends me a still of the video to my Twitter or someone screams it at me in the stands and Im right back to memories of the incident.

First Amendment advocates have long-maintained that one of the strengths of the 45 words of the First Amendment is that it sets out general principles that have withstood the pressures of repeated generations of new technology and have accommodated wild swings in social mores.

The Hogan trial issues test the core meaning of those 45-words and the social values behind them, in new age where not only the content but the speed, global reach and permanence of the message must now be reconsidered.
The presidency has been occupied by lawyers, ex-generals, a former actor and even a peanut farmer, but never before by a pitchman.

Donald Trump seeks to become the first. He is the Billy Mays of the GOP, doing what the late, ubiquitous celebrity pitchman never could dream of: making the sale to a major political party and, he hopes, to the nation.

Trump fashions himself a builder, but he is really a marketer and, more than that, a salesman, with methods that have their roots in infomercials and before that on boardwalks and at carnivals.

Mays became a very wealthy man pitching everything from OxiClean to Mighty Putty to  who can forget?  Zorbeez.

A Mays pitch was high-energy (Hi, Billy Mays here for ...). It was simple and easy to understand. It was full of superlatives. The Quick Chop, to take one example, was the fastest, easiest and safest way to chop anything  and, of course, the best deal on TV. And his pitches included offers of free stuff: in the case of the Quick Chop, a Quick Grater thrown in at no cost (as well as a second Quick Chop, if you paid separate process and handling).

A Fortune magazine article on Mays noted how his sales secrets date back to the old carnival days. Trump instinctively understands the art. The candidate knows how to bally the tip, or create a spectacle to draw a crowd, and how to nod them in, or say things to get a crowd of potential customers to nod along (e.g., we are going to build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it).

An admirer of Mays writes that he learned on the Atlantic City Boardwalk that buyers want to be led, and that he makes sure you understand hes talking to you, that he understands the problems you have and, most importantly, he has the perfect solution. Sound familiar?

What is most disturbing about Trumps eponymous scammy business ventures  like Trump University, or the Trump Network, a failed multilevel marketing venture  is that they bear an unmistakable resemblance to his campaign.

In Trumps pitch for Trump University, you hear the same grandiose promises: Success. Its going to happen to you. The same meaninglessly vague statements: Trump University is about knowledge about a lot of different things. The same assurances that Trump will hire the best and the brightest: We are going to have professors and adjunct professors that are absolutely terrific, terrific people, terrific brains, successful. We are going to have the best of the best. The same incredible claims: These are all people [the so-called professors] that are hand-picked by me.

It was Trump the pitchman who felt compelled to devote his latest primary-night news conference to defending his sundry Trump products  whether they still exist or not  after Mitt Romney mocked them.

It was an odd spectacle, but what do you think Mays would do if someone questioned whether Kaboom was really the best tile cleaner? At least Mays is said to have believed in his products. Trumps insistence on the vitality of his defunct ventures led to instant debunking. Not that he cares. The Trump method is to spread a thick lather of bravado over a foundation of mendacity.

There is, of course, overlap between the work of a pitchman and a politician, but Trump makes the two indistinguishable. He isnt a rejection of politics so much as a grotesque parody of it. Hes like any other politician, only more dishonest, insincere and unscrupulous, and less principled, informed and civil. He is a way for angry people to send a message to the political class: We have such low regard for you, we think you are no better or different than Donald Trump.

The sentiment is understandable. But if you think it will end well, I have an Awesome Auger or an EZ Crunch Bowl to sell you, provided you order without delay.
The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council announces a call for grant proposals in three categories: arts and cultural heritage, presenter/production assistance, and small towns/rural areas. All proposed projects must take place between June 1, 2016, and May 31, 2017, and culminate in a capstone event that is accessible and open to the public. The online application deadline is 11:59 p.m. on April 1.

SEMAC, a non-profit arts agency, is designated by the state of Minnesota Arts Board as the regional arts council for 11 southeastern Minnesota counties: Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha and Winona.

Arts and cultural heritage fund

Proposals for arts and cultural heritage grants ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 are accepted from qualified applicants. A match of 20 percent is required in this category.

The fund will support arts focused activities in three key areas: arts and arts access, arts education, and arts and cultural heritage. SEMAC encourages applicants to research and develop proposals that incorporate two or more of the key areas with an emphasis on creating lasting partnerships among regional nonprofit arts organizations and other nonprofit groups. In addition to eligible arts organizations, nonprofits that do not have arts as a primary focus, such as schools, senior centers, community education, cultural groups and colleges are invited to apply.

Future funding depends on appropriate use of current funding. SEMAC urges arts organizations, non-arts organizations with an arts component, and government entities to apply. To learn more or to sign up, email staff@semac.org.

Presenter/production assistance

Proposals for presenter/production grants offer funding up to $3,000 to qualified applicants. Matching funds are required.

Presenter assistance grants are intended to help regional arts organizations and educational institutions sponsor appearances by touring artists or companies who have demonstrated high levels of artistic quality. These grants are not for local productions or artist residencies in schools.

Production assistance grants support activities by arts organizations directly involved in the creation, performance, publication and exhibition of art. The two distinct subcategories within production assistance grants are arts production projects administrative support projects.

Small towns/rural areas

The small towns/rural areas grants offer funding up to $3,000 to qualified applicants located in areas with populations under 7,500. Matching funds are required.

For information about the grant application process, eligibility, or grant writing assistance, contact the SEMAC office at 2778 D Commerce Dr NW, Rochester, MN 55901 or call 507-281-4848. Information may also be found at http://semac.org/grants.php.
VIROQUA  Roger Hiller, 73, of Viroqua passed away Saturday, March 12, 2016, at his home.

He was born in Soldiers Grove, to Alfred and Mae (Guist) Hiller. He married Bonnie Lovaas in 1960. They later divorced.

He worked for Wisconsin Power and Light Company as a meter reader. He later worked for General Motors in Janesville. He also worked for Concrete Structures in bridge building.

He was an avid horseman who went on numerous trail rides and wagon train trips. He was the former president of Circle V Riding Club. His favorite horse was April. He also loved to play pool, fish and hunt. He will be particularly missed by his many Amish friends who traveled with him to so many places. His many friends and family will also miss his stories about life growing up in the country long ago.

He is survived by his daughter, Lori Hiller of Janesville; one grandson, Trenton Hiller of Janesville; one brother, Richard of Newville, Wis.; four sisters, Martha (Harley) Hirschfield of Janesville, Mary Dull of Janesville, Evelyn Peterson of Lancaster and Marlene Emery of Onalaska.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one son, Tim Hiller; four infant siblings; and two adult sisters, Alfreda Johnston and Judy Eichelt.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at Kickapoo United Lutheran church at Folsom, Wis. Pastor Chuck Miller will officiate. Burial will be in the South Kickapoo Cemetery at Folsom. Friends may call from 11 a.m. until time of services Sunday at the church.

Online condolences may be sent to simefuneralforum.com.
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On 13 March Chiles powerful business lobby, Sofofa, released a statement condemning the labour reform being pushed through the national congress by the government led by President Michelle Bachelet as detrimental to Chile and its workers.The dispute over the labour reform, which the Bachelet administration claims is essential to redress serious inequality in Chile, is heating up. On 10 March the reform won approval in the senate, where it had been mired since October 2015, and will now be passed back to the lower chamber. Sofofa, which represents manufacturers, has been joined by other influential lobbies in Chile, such as the Confederacion de la Produccion y del Comercio (CPC), which groups together businesses in the industrial, mining, banking, agricultural, and retail sectors, in censuring the governments labour reform. They argue that the priority should be to create better jobs and to get Chile back on the path to rapid economic growth rather than create uncertainties. The labour reform will strengthen trade unions and end the current law enabling employers to replace employees on strike.

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About Me

Laurie Tom is a Chinese American fantasy and science fiction writer.



Her work has appeared in venues such as Strange Horizons, Galaxy's Edge, and Intergalactic Medicine Show.



She blogs about her fiction, video games, and anime.
Monday, March 14, 2016

Maciej Gac Jagiellonian University in Krakow - Faculty of Law and Administration, describes Individuals and the Enforcement of Competition Law  Recent Development of the Private Enforcement Doctrine in Polish and European Antitrust Law

Abstract: The following article focuses on the issue of private enforcement of competition law as one of the key elements of the current European and national debate on the efficiency of competition law. By analyzing this concept, the article aims to determine the influence of the European private enforcement model on the national competition law enforcement practice. The goal of the analysis is to answer two main questions: 1) Does the current convergence of the national competition law enforcement system towards the European model guarantee the establishment of an effective, public-private system of antitrust enforcement? 2) Under which conditions may the development of private methods of antitrust enforcement lead to an increase in the efficiency of Polish and European competition law? In order to address these questions, the article analyses the development of the private enforcement doctrine in the European Union and Poland. It refers to European and Polish jurisprudence on private enforcement, the competition policy of the European Commission as well as of the Polish competition authority  the UOKiK President. It also covers recent legislative changes introduced in the European and national legal orders. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the current convergence of the national antitrust system towards the European model did not lead to the establishment of an effective mechanism of private enforcement in Poland. Nevertheless, the assessment of recent changes at the European level gives grounds to assume that the adoption of the Directive on Damages Actions, and its transposition into the national legal order, might overcome this problem and allow for better protection of individuals against anti-competitive behaviors.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/antitrustprof_blog/2016/03/individuals-and-the-enforcement-of-competition-law-recent-development-of-the-private-enforcement-doc.html
Monday, March 14, 2016

H-2B visas provide for foreign citizens to work temporarily for American businesses in non-agricultural roles. However, these visas can sometimes lead to abuse of the foreign citizens working under them, as was alleged in a recent case out of the Eighth Circuit, Cuellar-Aguilar v. Deggeller Attractions, No. 15-1219. Also blogged about here from a workplace law point of view, the case involved a group of nineteen workers who had been employed in a traveling carnival. The workers alleged, among other things, that their employer had breached their employment contracts by paying them below the minimum wage.

The district court found that there had been no contract between the workers and their employer, basing its decision on the federal regulations governing the H-2B visa program. However, the appellate court said that was the incorrect place to look for guidance on whether a contract existed. Rather, the existence of a contract is governed by state common law, and in this case there was enough evidence of a contract to survive a motion to dismiss. The workers received offers of employment from Deggeller and then traveled to the United States in acceptance of those offers, which was enough to establish a contractual relationship. The court then used the federal regulations governing the H-2B visa program to fill in the particular terms of the contract, which included a requirement that the employer pay no less than the minimum wage. Therefore, the workers' allegations that the employer had breached this requirement established a valid contract cause of action.

Allowing the workers to proceed on a contract theory may seem like a positive development for similarly situated workers who might find themselves taken advantage of. However, I had the pleasure recently of hearing Prof. Annie Smith from the University of Arkansas School of Law speak on the prospect of mandatory arbitration clauses being applied to guestworkers. As we all know, mandatory arbitration clauses are currently in major vogue, and Prof. Smith expressed concern that mandatory arbitration would be detrimental to already vulnerable guestworkers. The decision here might encourage employers like Deggeller to enter into more formal contracts that would include arbitration clauses. If they're going to be found to be in a contractual relationship anyway, presumably the employers would want to exercise control over the terms of that contractual relationship.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2016/03/using-contract-law-to-protect-guestworkers.html


A militant group linked to al-Qaida terrorists said it attacked a vacation area in Ivory Coast on Sunday.

Six attackers with weapons killed 14 civilians and two soldiers. Twenty-two people were wounded.

SITE Intelligence is an organization that examines terrorist websites. It reported that an anti-government group in Algeria -- called al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM -- said its members carried out the attack.

SITE said AQIM called three of the attackers heroes.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara called the attackers cowards. He visited where the attacks took place, and said all the attackers were killed.

Jean-Baptiste Beugre works at a hotel next to the attack area. He says he saw a gunman arrive. The attacker wore military clothing and carried a military weapon. He says the attacker shot people, including children and women.

Witnesses said the gunmen looked young and carried many weapons.

Marcel Guei survived the attack. He said an attacker asked a man if he was going to a mosque, or Muslim religious center. The man said he was, and the gunman did not shoot him.

When the gunman asked another man if he attended a mosque, the man said he did not. The gunman shot and killed him.

Witnesses said militants walked to the beach of one of the three hotels that was attacked, called the Southern Star. The hotel was reportedly filled with people from other countries.

The attack is the third deadly shooting in the past few months in West Africa. In November, gunmen attacked a hotel in Mali. In January, armed men attacked a hotel and a restaurant in Burkina Faso. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has also claimed responsibility for those attacks.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Emilie Iob in Ivory Coast reported on this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted her report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

vacation - n. a period of time that a person spends away from home, usually to rest or for travel

coward - n. someone who is too frightened to do what is right

mosque  n. a building that is used for Muslim religious services

beach - n. a sand- or rock-covered area that is next to an ocean or lake


Dozens were killed and wounded in an explosion near the main square of Ankara on Sunday.

At least 37 people were killed and 125 people were wounded and treated at hospitals around the Turkish capital.

Thirty people were killed on the spot and four others died in hospital, said a member of Turkeys health ministry. During the late night, three more people died at medical centers.

The explosion took place near Kizilay square near foreign embassies and government buildings. It was the third bombing in the capital during the past six months.

An Interior Ministry official said the blast was caused by a car bomb. The bomb was set off between buses to cause greater injuries and deaths, he said.

Another government official in Turkey told the Associated Press that police said the attack was carried out by two bombers. Police think one of the bombers was a woman. Police suspect Kurdish militants.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the violence.

The attacks targeted the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. That news came from the state-run Turkish news agency.

Nine F-16 and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions against PKK. Police also carried out raids in southern Turkey and detained suspected rebels.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the fight against terrorism will continue, and his country will defend itself from attacks.

PKK has fought a 30-year guerrilla war against Turkey. PKK wants more autonomy for the Kurds in southeastern Turkey.

The Islamic State group has been blamed for bombings in Turkey. IS was blamed for a suicide bombing at a peace rally in October.

Im Pete Musto.

VOANews.com reported on this story. Jim Dresbach adapted the report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

dozen - n. a group of 12 people or things; large numbers of people or things

square - n. an open place or area formed at the meeting of two or more streets

on the spot - expression at exactly the right time or place

state-run - adj. operated by the government

jet - n. a jet airplane

rally  n. a protest ; a public meeting to support or oppose someone or something

autonomy  n. the power or right of a country or group; to govern itself


A Palestinian teacher has won an international teaching prize, earning her $1 million dollars.

Hanan Al-Hroub, a teacher from the West Bank, won the Global Teacher Prize on Sunday.

Pope Francis announced the award in a video. He talked about the importance of education and teachers, especially for children who have seen violence.

Pope Francis said teachers were "the builders of peace and unity."

Al-Hroub told the Associated Press:

I feel amazing and I still cant believe that the Pope said my name  For an Arab-Palestinian teacher to talk to the world today and to reach the highest peak in teaching could be an example for teachers around the world.

At the award ceremony in Dubai, Al-Hroub told the audience that "teachers could change the world."

Al-Hroub, who grew up in a refugee camp, is a specialist in helping children who have witnessed violence. She teaches at an elementary school in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah in the West Bank.

Al-Hroub says she became interested in teaching when her children saw a shooting on their way home from school. Helping her children recover from that experience made her think about how classrooms can help other children.

Al-Hroub was among 10 finalists. The nine other finalists came from the United States, Pakistan, Kenya, Japan, India, Finland, Australia and Britain.

Al-Hroub had the other finalists stand on stage with her after her speech.

Given to one teacher every year, the Global Teacher Prize is an award that recognizes a teacher who has made a contribution to the teaching profession. The teacher must use new classroom practices and encourage others to become teachers.

The Varkey Foundation gives the award. Its founder, Sunny Varkey, established the GEMS Education company, which has more than 80 schools around the world.

Sunny Varkey said he hoped that Hanan Al-Hroub's story would "inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession."

I'm Kathleen Struck.

This story uses information from the BBC, Washington Post and Associated Press. John Russell adapted this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

What do you think makes a great teacher? Write to us in the Comments section below and on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

finalist  n. a person who competes in the last part of a competition

contribution  n. something that is done to cause something to happen

founder  n. a person who creates or establishes something that is meant to last for a long time (such as a business or school)
The Foreign Ministry on Monday refuted reports that Chinese troops crossed the line of actual control (LAC) between China and India last week.

"It is learnt that China's border troops were carrying out normal patrols on the Chinese side of the LAC. There is no such a thing as a 'border crossing'", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.

He expressed "deep regret" over relevant reports, saying "some media twisted the fact and hyped up the China-India boundary question".

He said the China-India relationship is "enjoying a sound momentum of development", and that he hopes relevant media can describe objectively the situation along the two countries' border and do more to promote the two countries' friendship, mutual trust and ties.

The Chinese and Indian governments signed a border defense cooperation agreement in October 2013 during former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China.


March 14 is, perhaps quietly, celebrated as Pi Day: A day to honor the number many recall from geometry class.

In case you are wondering, the date comes from the first three digits of Pi: March is the third month, followed by the one and four that make 14.

Today marks the 28th celebration of Pi Day to honor the most famous irrational number, which has no end and shows no pattern.

Pi appears wherever there are circles. Pi is a ratio. It measures the distance around a circle to its diameter. The diameter is the distance from one side of a circle to the point directly opposite in the circle.

A website, Piday.org, showcases little known facts about the number.

The site says, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern.

Pi has been known for thousands of years and gets its name from Greek letter, Pi. The Greeks are believed to have used the letter to describe the ratio. They did not have Arabic numerals to calculate it however.

The first Pi Day was celebrated on March 14, 1988. San Franciscos Exploratorium science museum started the event, according to the site. The museum marks the day with a daylong celebration including a parade, and something more substantial, real, edible pie.

March 14 has other scientific links. It is the birthday of physicist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein. Princeton University, where Einstein lived for many years, marks Pi day, as well.

Mario Ritter adapted this story for VOA Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

Did you celebrate Pi Day? Do you love math or geometry? Please leave us a Comment and a post on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

irrational number  n. a number that cannot be written as a ratio, but only as a repeating decimal

transcendental  adj. going beyond the limit of the ordinary

infinitely  adv. without end


Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces to withdraw from Syria, Russian state media report.

The move comes on the same day that United Nations peace talks begin in Geneva, Switzerland.

Putin told his defense and foreign ministers that the task of Russian forces in Syria had been fulfilled, according to Russian state-media.

Putin said the withdrawal would begin March 15, but no time limit was given.

A Russian government website said Putin spoke to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by telephone. It said they had agreed to withdraw the "main part" of the Russian air force group operating in Syria.

The website said Russia would maintain a "post" for supporting aircraft that observe the ceasefire in Syria.

However, a U.S. official told VOA that, so far, there is no indication Russian forces are getting ready to pull out of Syria.

Peace talks begin

Earlier, the U.N. diplomat for Syria warned that failed peace talks will result in an "even worse war than we had so far."

U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura began a new round of peace talks Monday in Geneva.

De Mistura said it is up to the people of Syria to decide their future, and the U.N. must help them.

He said the U.N. plans to hold talks with each side for about 10 days. The next round of negotiations would start again in early April. The envoy said he believes this will map the peace process.

De Mistura said, "By then, we believe that we should have at least a clear roadmap  I'm not saying an agreement, but a clear roadmap  because that is what Syria is expecting from all of us."

He also stressed the need to maintain what is called a cessation of hostilities, or ceasefire. That ceasefire, now over two weeks long, has permitted humanitarian aid into areas of conflict.

But serious questions remain about what each side will accept to stop the fighting. More than 270,000 people have been killed since the conflict began. Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes. Many have risked their lives to reach Europe, which now faces a crisis of handling the refugees.

Syria firm on support for Assad

Syrias Foreign Minister has warned that the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not negotiable. However, the opposition and other critics, including the United States, say Assad must step down.

De Mistura said Monday there is "much distance" between the opponents.

World powers, including the U.S. and Russia, and Syrian neighbors, reached an agreement last year in Vienna. That has been the basis for these peace negotiations. That includes a call for a ceasefire and Syrians creating a roadmap for a new constitution, and elections overseen by the U.N.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted Sunday violence has been "hugely reduced" by 80 to 90 percent since the ceasefire started.

But he accused the Syrian government of "clearly trying to disrupt the peace talks. Kerry added that Assad's forces are the "single biggest violator" of the ceasefire. Rebel groups also have been accused of violating the agreement.

Kerry spoke after talking with top British, French, German and Italian diplomats in Paris about the Syrian crisis.

U.N. officials say the ceasefire has allowed U.N. and other agencies to deliver food, medicine and aid to 115,000 Syrian civilians. Those civilians have lived in areas under siege. They say last year, aid agencies were unable to reach any of these areas.

But Kerry said he continues to be deeply concerned about the Syrian government stopping delivery of medical and surgical supplies.

I'm Mario Ritter.

Chris Hannas reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted the report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

Do you think Russia will withdraw from Syria? What impact will that have on the region? Please leave a Comment and write to us on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

according - adv. as stated by or in

envoy - n. diplomat; representative

cessation n. the stopping of some action

disrupt v. to interrupt or interfere with a process or activity

siege v. to surround a city or area and prevent supplies or other aid from entering


The United Nations accuses South Sudanese soldiers and militias of using rape as a weapon against women.

And Amnesty International says government forces suffocated men and boys in a shipping container to kill them.

In its report, the U.N. Human Rights Office says the soldiers used a scorched earth policy against the civilian population. It calls the scale, or level, and type of sexual violence one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world.

Between April to September 2015, the U.N. recorded 1,300 reported rapes, just in the oil rich Unity State alone.

The report says sexual assaults are carried out with extreme brutality. Girls and women of all ages are the victims of multiple, or more than one, gang rapes. Some women are then killed, while others are taken and held in sexual slavery as "wives for soldiers in barracks, or military housing.

Rupert Colville is a U.N. human rights spokesman. He tells VOA that youth militia with ties to the government are being allowed to rape women, instead of being paid wages.

It seems they are not being paid, that they are being given carte blanche to rape and to steal cattle. Basically those are the two, sort of, bits of war bounty they get  the women and the cattle. It is really an unbelievable picture and nothing being done apparently by the government to stop it.

Colville warns that the rape, killing and pillage, will continue until people are punished for the crimes they commit. Colville says more than 2 million people have been forced from their homes since South Sudans civil war began in December 2013.

In a separate report last Thursday, the human rights group Amnesty International accuses South Sudanese government forces of suffocating at least 60 men and boys in a shipping container last October.

Amnesty International says government forces loaded them in a shipping container on the grounds of a former Catholic church in Leer town.

Michelle Kagari is Amnestys deputy regional director for eastern Africa.

We have multiple witness accounts who could hear these people banging on the walls, shouting, screaming.

Witnesses told Amnesty that the containers did not have any air holes. Amnesty says evidence shows that government forces outside the container kept the detainees locked inside, even after some had died.

Again, Michelle Kagari:

The act of leaving men in a container clearly in distress, having knowledge of their distress, having the ability to do something about that distress, and allowing the men to eventually die of suffocation, that act is a war crime, irrespective of the status of the people.

Amnesty International researchers went to the location where witnesses said the bodies were dumped. They were able to identify human remains.

In an interview with VOA, South Sudans presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny denied government involvement in these crimes.

Our forces did not commit or did not kill any civilians in October, he said.

"However, we do condemn anyone who kills civilians in the strongest terms possible. But in this case, our forces did not commit any atrocities in Unity state.

The warring parties in South Sudan agreed to a peace agreement in August 2015. But fighting, killing, abductions, sexual violence and attacks on civilian property have continued to happen in parts of the country.

Im Anne Ball.

VOAs Lisa Schlein wrote this story with help from Jill Craig. Anne Ball adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and join us on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

suffocate v. to die because you cannot breathe

scorched earth policy n. the policy in warfare of removing or destroying everything that might be useful to the other side

horrendous adj. very bad or unpleasant, horrible

brutality n. cruel, harsh unusually violent treatment of another person

prevalence n. common or widespread

carte blanche  phrase. permission to do something any way you want

pillage n. to take things from one place by force during war

distress n. unhappiness or pain
Minor changes to open enrollment and possibly to some attendance boundaries are part of the plan for the Lebanon Community School District.
scholarship, news and new ideas in legal history
The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice.
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The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards is returning to Europe for the fourth time with Madrid, Spain, hosting the 2016 edition from June 23 to 26.

This is the fourth time IIFA will be traveling to Europe, twice it was held in the UK and once in Amsterdam.

"We are extremely excited to announce that IIFA 2016 will travel to Europe again. We had been working on Madrid for many years and as 2016 marks the 60-year friendship between India and Spain, we feel this is the right time to showcase our culture and Bollywood there," Andre Timmins, Director, IIFA and Wizcraft, told PTI over the phone from Madrid.

Timmins revealed that the other contending countries to host this year's three-day filming extravaganza were America, Macau and Abu Dhabi.

"We zeroed in on Madrid because we feel that the place is best for our industry. We also have been welcomed by the Mayor of Madrid, who is hosting us here. It's just the right time." The new venue aims to reach out to the huge Latin American market for Indian films.

"Spanish is the largest speaking language in the world. So, it will be a springboard for Indian films there as it's less popular in Spain. But we aim that after our awards people will be much aware of Indian films," Andre said.

Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Hrithik Roshan are already in the south-western European country to create awareness about Indian cinema by performing a huge flash mob on their popular songs.

In the last 17 years, IIFA has travelled to four continents including Africa, Europe, Asia and North America.

This will be the 17th edition of the awards ceremony which will be held in IFEMA convention center and is coinciding with the popular Mulafest.

PTI
After the first poster of their film garnered quite a lot of attention, Baaghis lead pair  Tiger Shroff and Shraddha Kapoor  are back in the news again.

While Shraddha has wowed her producer, Sajid Nadiadwala, with her daredevilry, according to this Indian Express report, Tiger for his part, has been training in kalaripayuttu  the traditional martial arts form from Kerala  to get his stunt sequences an edge.

When Sajid saw the rushes, he was very happy with the way Shraddha performed action in the film. Glimpses of the same will be seen in the trailer, which will be released on March 14, said a source connected to the film.

Meanwhile, Tiger said about his kalaripayuttu experience: "I underwent extensive training in kalaripayattu before we started shooting as the martial art form is an important part of the film. It was a thoroughly enriching experience.

The films second poster was also released recently, and generated quite the buzz among fans, for taking the lead pair's chemistry a notch higher. It shows Tiger enfolding Shraddha in an embrace, while she snuggles within his leather jacket. Both actors sport appropriately intense expressions, but Tiger also has a wound on his cheekbone, living up to the films tag line of being a rebel in love perhaps.

The films trailer is expected to be out today. Directed by Sabbir Khan, Baaghi will release on 29 April.
By Nalini R Mohanty

Liquor baron Vijay Mallyas escape to London on March 2 has brought back the spotlight on the role of the CBI and the banks for facilitating the escape. The CBI has to explain why it altered the circular issued to the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) at the airports last October asking for the detention of Vijay Mallya if he attempted to flee the country while legal process was being firmed up for recovery of loans to the tune Rs 7000 crore.

A month later, in November, the CBI mysteriously changed the circular from detain to merely inform. That is why, when Vijay Mallya arrived at the airport on March 2 with seven large bags to travel to London First Class, BoI duly informed the CBI but it did not detain him. The CBI, as it has come on record to say, did not ask for detention of Mallya as there was no court order.

Was the CBI under political pressure to make Vijay Mallyas exit smooth? Or, did it act on its own for extraneous considerations to come to the rescue of Mallya? Why did the CBI chief then specifically mention in a meeting with top bankers at Mumbai the case of Kingfisher (the airline that Mallya owned and that went bust drowning Rs 7,000 crore loans advanced by 17 public sector banks) while pointing to the acts of omission of commission by the bank officials on the very same day Mallya was fleeing to England from Delhi airport?

Was a mere coincidence or are there wheels within the wheels that needs to be unearthed (but then who would investigate the shenanigans of the CBI which is the premier investigative agency of the country?).

While the CBI is under the spotlight for its flip-flop on the Vijay Mallya episode, the public sector banks are the bigger culprits in allowing the likes of Mallya to raise huge loans, divert the money to foreign banks, declare bankruptcy and then enjoy a lavish lifestyle till death (and leave behind enough for the next few generations to lead an equally flashy lifestyle). It is a win-win situation for bankers as well as they point to the economic slowdown as the cause of the failure of the enterprises for which they had lent the taxpayers money. Clearly, the bankers do not act without the connivance of the political masters.

The government of the day ensures that these public sector bankers are not held personally accountable for the loss of thousands of crores of public money and the blame for the loss is laid at the door of global economic downturn. See, what both the UPA finance ministers were saying about the NPAs, the NDA finance minister is only reiterating the same while advancing thousands of crores of rupees to recapitalise the ailing public sector banks. When politicians, bankers and fraudsters are in collusion, the common taxpayer is left with no option but to bleed helplessly.

Here comes the role of the RBI. The RBI is supposed to be the regulatory body of the banking sector. The current RBI chief Raghuram Rajan has earned quite a reputation for tough talk. He is supposed to have set in motion a change in the process of the accounting system (adherence to the Basel III norms) to accurately reflect the state of NPAs.

But, surprisingly the tough guy Raghuram Rajan has been fighting shy of taking one step that would rip apart the veil of secrecy that surrounds the top defaulters. The entire manipulation of the lending, defaulting and restructuring of the loan (to the tune of thousands of crores) happens away from the public glare . That is why when Vijay Mallya had defaulted on the interest payment of Rs 6,000 crore lent to him by several banks and his credit rating was very low, still the IDBI advanced him another Rs 900 crore which was also siphoned off. Clearly, the bank officials and their political masters made money in the dealing.

In fact, Vijay Mallya is a comparatively small fry when it comes to Bhushan Steel which had defaulted on the repayment of more than Rs 25,000 crore lent to him by the PSUs when UPA was in power. After the NDA came to power, the ailing company has got another Rs 10,000 crore to resuscitate itself. Clearly, these mega entrepreneurs, with dubious credentials, have the blessings of the entire spectrum of political masters.

But neither the political bosses nor the corrupt bankers would have dared to bankroll a persistent defaulter if the information about the extent of the loan and the default would have been in the public domain. Banks have assiduously opposed any demand for making the list of big borrowers public (so that they could continue to manipulate it for mercenary considerations). If governor Rajan had real intent to stave off the huge loss of the taxpayers money, he would have been proactive in making the list of big defaulters public. But he chose not to act on his own.

Even when the Central Information Commission directed the RBI to reveal the names of the top 100 industrialists who had defaulted on loan repayment to public sector banks (CIC said that revealing names would serve the object of reining in such defaulters, warning citizens about those who they should stay away from in terms of investment and perhaps shaming such persons and entities).

RBI, however, moved Delhi High Court to challenge the order on grounds that it went against the cardinal common law principle of the bankers duty of confidentiality and the CIC direction to disclose the details of top 100 defaulters was against the basic tenets of banking.

RBI governor advanced the same argument when the case came up before the Supreme Court last month leading to the apex courts following indictment: RBI is supposed to uphold public interest and not the interest of individual banks. We have surmised that many financial institutions have resorted to such acts which are neither clean nor transparent. The RBI in association with them has been trying to cover up their acts from public scrutiny.

Mr Raghuram Rajan: the apex courts verdict on your performance could not have been more damning. You have managed media headlines by your big talk of imposing discipline on the lending system and breaking the back of cronyism, but when it comes to tough action, you have chosen to run with the hare and hunt with the hound.

Mr Governor: you continue to symbolize the long period of regulatory eclipse that has cost the Indian taxpayer Rs 5 lakh crore!
New Delhi: Corporate giants like RIL,Vedanta, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Wipro are among the top 10 companies which have emerged as India's most sustainable firms, according to a survey.

However, out of 100 companies profiled belonging to 20 sectors, only 18 companies responded to the Information Request (IR), while two companies partially responded. The remaining firms either did not respond to the IR or declined to participate.

"When companies in a sector do not share information in the process, they make a dent on overall sector performance. Transportation, other financial services and media had the lowest overall scores. That also reflects the lack of transparency in those sector," CII stated.

Ten companies got Sustainable Plus Platinum, seven got Sustainable Plus Gold, and the remaining 83 companies got Sustainable Plus Bronze. Sustainable Plus Platinum companies are the ones that emerged as India's most sustainable. According to the poll, governance continues to be the strongest dimension of sustainability as compared to environment and social.

"The impact of requirements of corporate governance, and transparency and disclosures in the Companies Act 2013 have definitely helped companies do better on governance.

"Companies have adequate disclosures on board structure and committees, whistle blower mechanism for key stakeholders, and risk management framework for addressing business, financial as well as sustainability risks. They also have employee code of conduct to ensure ethical operations and policy for conflict of interest management," the survey said. However, it observed gaps in reporting on aspects such as rotation of auditors, identification of sustainability risks and opportunities, and measuring the effectiveness of code of conduct and risk management framework.

The 20 sectors include textiles, apparels and accessories, transport, media, diversified, pharmaceuticals, consumer durables, other financials, banks, utilities, oil and gas; capital goods, automobiles, construction materials, household & personal products, chemical & petrochemicals, food, beverages & tobacco, metals and mining, software and services, telecom services and general industrials.

CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD) undertakes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) analysis of top 100 companies across 20 sectors and provides Sustainable Plus label.

First the 20 largest (by market capitalisation) sectors are identified and then top five companies in each sector make it to the list of 100 companies for Sustainable Plus.

After the initial public scan, each company receives a customized information request to fill gaps. The overall performance of the company improves in relation to the quality of disclosures. Once the analysis is completed, companies are given Sustainable Plus labels as well as a summary report.

CESD conducts the process by informing each company that they are being analysed for Sustainable Plus. Inclusion of companies in the list is by their market capitalisation and not by their consent to be analysed.

PTI

(Disclaimer: Firstpost is part of Network18, owned by Reliance Industries Limited.)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money will monitor the probe into the alleged over Rs 1,000-crore scam in export of high-quality Basmati rice to Iran which was fraudulently diverted mid-sea to Dubai.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which has unearthed the scam, has shared relevant details of the case with the SIT, which will monitor the agency's probe, official sources said.

With this, the DRI will have to share its probe details periodically with the SIT during the review meetings, they said.

The SIT, which is headed by former Supreme Court judge MB Shah, is responsible for investigating cases of black money stashed abroad through coordination of various members from Reserve Bank of India, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial Intelligence Unit, Research and Analysis Wing and DRI.

According to the probe being done by the DRI, over two lakh metric tonnes of Basmati rice was illegally offloaded in Dubai in the last over a year instead of in Bandar Abbas in Iran, official sources said.

Over 25 big exporters from Haryana and Punjab are under the scanner of DRI and other agencies for their involvement in the multi-crore scam. Both the DRI and SIT have referred the case for probe by ED also, they said.

Explaining the modus operandi, the sources claimed the rice would be taken to Gujarat's Kandla Port by these exporters.They would then file Shipping Bills  documents filed withcustoms authorities carrying details of goods to be exported, consignor and consignee  for export to Iran, the sources said.

Instead of the consignment reaching Iranian shores, it would be diverted mid-sea to Dubai allegedly with connivance of cargo ship operators carrying the goods.

Surprisingly, payments were also made from Iran to these exporters in India. Importers and port officials would allegedly acknowledge the receipt of rice and allow payment to be made against it here, they said.

What is worrying for intelligence agencies here is that they do not know the end-use of rice off-loaded in Dubai. They suspect use of rice as barter system to fund some illegal activity like terror financing, the sources said.

While India lost foreign exchange which it could have got from Dubai in case of genuine trade, Iran was also deprived of customs duty it would have been entitled to if rice was delivered at its shore, they said.

The authorities suspect the proceeds of the scam assumed the form of black money.

PTI
The famous Sanskrit proverbVinaashakale Vipareeta Budhhiessentially means that when one approaches his end, the intellect turns weak and whatever he does become the opposite of what he should be doing ideally. For embattled Indian drinks mogul, Vijay Mallya, once the poster boy of all that symbolized wealth, success and King-size life full of luxury for Indians, the proverb holds crucial importance at this stage of his life.

Because that is precisely what Mallya is doing now.

In an interview to Sunday Guardian on 12 March, Mallya reemphasized that he is not an absconder, he respects the Indian laws and he left the country on a personal visit. Further, Mallya, said he has the best intentions and explained how loan defaults are part of any businesses. Till here, his statements give enough room for his sympathizers to argue in his favour and blame media for the hysterical frenzy.

True, both the success and failure are indeed part of any businessmans life, and it doesnt mean, that man is an outlaw. After all, no Indian court has convicted him as a criminal, yet. But then came the spoiler. What Mallya said next, when the reporter asked whether he will return to India, is something that can permanently seal his fate his bad times - in the Indian soil as an outlaw. Im not sure Ill get a fair chance to present my side. Ive already been branded as criminal. I do not feel the time is rightBut I hope that I return one day, Mallya said.

I will return one day, if one loosely translates, would mean that Im not very keen to return at all. Maybe I'll give a try after a long time or may be never. In the near future? Forget it.

The problem is that Mallya hopes to return one day and his feeling that time is not right now is at a stage when the Indian Enforcement Directorate has summoned him on 18 March in connection with a loan default case, the Supreme Court has issued a show cause notice on him on banks petition and a Hyderabad Court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya.

That apart, the cases against him set to be heard later this month in Bangalore Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and there are investigations currently on by agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to his loan defaults to various Indian banks. If Mallya doesnt return to face the law of the land this month, Mallya will be confirming to the authorities, the shareholders (and the media) that he has indeed fled the country and has little faith in the Indian laws, contrary to what he claimed.

There are a few reasons why Mallya should pack his seven bags immediately and get on the next flight back to India:

One, charges against Mallya are serious, beyond the Rs 9,000 crore loan default by his grounded Kingfisher airline to lenders. It does not merely pertain to a case where a company defaults to a few banks any longer. Theoretically, there are companies in India, which owe much larger amounts to banks. Mallyas case is unique since there are allegations that the once King of Good Times diverted the bank money to other activities not for the originally stated use, engaged in financial irregularities, evaded tax and kept flashing his wealth power publicly even when Kingfisher staff has still unpaid dues and banks are sitting ducks.

Mallya has furnished a personal guarantee to banks against the loans he has drawn, making him personally accountable to the default and necessitating him pay back from his personal wealth. Three large banks SBI, PNB and UBI -- have tagged him as a wilful defaulter (although he managed to get one bank, UBI, reverse its decision). Mallyas offer for one time settlement of loans has clearly failed to impress banks evident from their move of approaching the court to seek his arrest, impound his passport and even claim his $75 million (about Rs500 crore) severance pay Diageo offered him as part of a non-compete agreement.

Two, Mallya is also a Member of Indian Parliament. According To reports (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mallya-left-on-diplomatic-passport-on-March-2/articleshow/51366420.cms), Mallya left the country using his diplomatic passport given to him in the capacity of a Parliamentarian. As a responsible member of Parliament, it is even more critical for the man to honor the law of the land and do not create a situation where he is officially tagged as an absconder, acting in a fashion that doesnt suit a Parliamentarian, thus forcing his exit from the house on charges of unethical practices.

Three, if Mallya doesnt return now and force courts to go for extreme measures against him, Mallya will be throwing mud on his handful of sympathizers, who are still passionate about his stature as a global businessman and son of the soil. Former Prime Minister and JDS Supremo, H D Deve Gowda, has openly supported Mallya saying he is the son of Karnataka soil and Mallya might be abroad on business, a claim Mallya himself refuted when he said he is on a personal visit to UK with a friend and is forced into hiding.

The bottom line is this: If there is any merit in Mallyas arguments that he didnt flee and is currently being subjected to a media trial for baseless reasons, he should be immediately taking the next flight back to India, face the law and settle the dues with banks from his personal wealth (going by a Firstpost calculation, Mallya still have approximately Rs 7,000 crore worth of shares in various companies and real estate properties in the prime locations across the world).

After all, Mallya is a man once showed Indians how one King lives in the modern times. This is a country, in his own words, which made him Vijay Mallya and where he is credited for introducing the luxury flying experience to passengers at least for a few years.

The tag of an absconder or a fraud is the last adjective a King would want to attach to his name.
London: Turkish authorities banned Facebook and Twitter after images of a suicide bombing were spread on both social media platforms, media reported.

According to a report in RT.com, Turkish authorities took the decision after images spread on social media showing the suicide car bombing that killed several people in Ankara.

Quoting broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV, the report said that several users reported difficulty in accessing both the social media sites.

Turkeys telecommunications authority TIB blocked access to social media after a court-ordered ban was imposed.

Turkey last year blocked access to Twitter over the sharing of images of a prosecutor being held at gunpoint by far-left militants.

At least 34 people were killed and 125 others injured after an explosion hit Turkey's capital city of Ankara.

A bomb-laden car caused the explosion late Sunday night near Kizilay square, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Health Minister Mehmet Mezzinoglu said 30 people were killed at the scene of the incident while four others died on their way to the hospital, adding that one or two of them could be the attackers.

Some 19 people were in critical condition as seven were in surgery and the toll may increase, he said.

So far, no terror group has claimed responsibility of the attack.

IANS
In yet another incident of caste violence in Tamil Nadu, a newly-wed couple was beaten up by goons in full public view in Udumalpet, Tirupur, on Sunday, after which the culprits then hacked the man to death.

Reports said that the victims' inter-caste marriage was the reason why the assailants killed the man. According to a report in The Times of India, the attackers were the woman's relatives.

The police identified the victims as 22-year-old V Shankar from Chavadi Street in Kumaralingam village (15 km from Udumalpet) and 19-year-old Kausalya from Palani in Dindigul district, according to the report.

Eight months ago, Shankar had married Kausalya despite opposition from her parents.

Local police commissioner N Manjunatha said Kausalya's relatives were angered by the couple's marriage. "They married some eight months ago and the woman's family was unhappy. She is an upper Thevar Hindu caste and the man was a Dalit," Manjunatha told AFP.

Another NDTV report said that the two were walking past a market on Sunday when three men on a bike stopped behind them and attacked Shankar with sharp weapons. When Shankar stopped moving, Kausalya was repeatedly beaten up until she fell to the ground.

The TOI report also said that Kausalya suffered severe injuries to her head when she tried saving Shankar from the hooligans.

Another report in The Indian Express says that senior officers have verified the image of the three attackers fleeing on a bike. The report added that while police officials said that a major search operation was on, the police could not ascertain the identity of the attackers until late Sunday evening. The attack took place at 3 pm on Sunday.

According to CNN-IBN, the accused and father-in-law of the victim have surrendered.

Kausalya's father had also reportedly threatened his daughter after she had married Shankar. "Kausalya had filed a complaint at the local police station against her father a few weeks ago, stating that he had been threatening them and insisting that she return home, The Indian Express quoted a police officer as saying.

According to Deccan Chronicle, Shankar was studying in the final year of BE at a private college in Palani while Kausalya was a junior college student. After the marriage, the couple was living at Komaralingam. Kausalya discontinued her studies and joined a private company near Udumalpet. Shankar had continued with his studies.

The following video is the CCTV footage of the attack:

This horrific incident brings to light the severity of the problem of caste violence in Tamil Nadu. The NDTV report said that this was the third incident of this kind in the state in the last five years.

The murder of a Dalit man over inter-caste marriage brings back memories of the tragic incident in 2013 when a Dalit man called Ilavarasan was killed after marrying a Vanniyar girl called Divya. Ilavarasan's body was found on a railway track in Dharmapuri district.
Ahmedabad: In a major breakthrough, self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, has been arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

Kartik Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh on Sunday in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police and brought to Ahmedabad on Monday, a senior official said.

Besides murdering the three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four other persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against the jailed religious leader in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, said JK Bhatt, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) and in-charge IG of ATS.

During interrogation, Haldar told officials he had been instructed by other 'sadhaks' (followers) of Asaram to kill these witnesses so as to weaken the cases against the controversial preacher, ATS said in a statement.

Haldar, a sharp shooter and henchman of the self-styled godman, also told the police he was funded by some of the sadhaks of Asaram's ashrams located in various parts of the country, it stated.

He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, ATS said.

Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot. The doctor was vocal about Asaram's misdeeds and also became a witness in the rape case, filed by one of the two victim sisters in Ahmedabad three years back.

Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013. He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to CBI.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP. Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a transporter whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.

PTI
On 9 February, 2016, a programme titled Poetry reading: The country without a post office was to be organized at the Sabarmati Dhaba within the JNU campus. And since the title of the programme didnt suggest anything objectionable, permission was granted. However, when posters of the said programme revealed its true topic, authorities at JNU acted swiftly. They cancelled the permission and communicated the same to the organisers and security staff. This is a fact that is clearly stated in the bail order of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.

The posters revealed that the programme was actually a protest against the judicial killing of Afzal Guru. And though the college authorities cancelled permission, the event was still organised at the same venue and time mentioned. The execution of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in February 2013 for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack, was termed a judicial killing. Alleged anti-national slogans were also raised at the event, leading to the arrest of Kanhaiya.

And though the protest against Afzal Gurus hanging was the highlight of the protest, the undercurrent that unleashed the protest was neither limited to Gurus execution nor was it accidental. Whether Kashmir is an integral part of India or not has been the bigger question that Left and Right parties at JNU have been debating for many years.

Ram Nayan Verma, a student of The School of Computational and Integrative Sciences and JNUSU councilor, spilled the beans on this matter. The fact that at the very first student union council meeting, a resolution on whether or not Kashmir is an integral part of India was discussed, voted and defeated only speaks of the huge support that Kashmir separatism has in the varsity.

Verma, who categorically stated that he heard Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid raising pro-Afzal Guru and anti-India slogans, said that anti-India sentiments and views favouring Kashmirs secession are so forcefully articulated in the campus that it compelled him to propose a resolution at the council meeting last September, calling for accepting Kashmir as an integral part of India.

At the council meeting every member has the right to put forward a resolution which is debated and then put to vote. During the first meeting after the JNUSU election, I put forward a resolution that Kashmir is an integral part of India. The reason for this was that a section of students here tries to enforce the idea that Kashmir is not a part of India. It feels India has occupied Kashmir. This is an important assertion of politics some students here have. I wanted to set the record straight. All the Left parties opposed this resolution. Those opposing included Shehla Rashid and Rama Naga, both members of JNUSU. Kanhaiya, being the president of the union, has only a casting vote. The meeting continued for six hours till 2 am, Verma said.

He added, They (Left parties) may now assert that they believe in the Indian Constitution, but they have always favoured separatism in Kashmir which is a grave challenge to the constitutional spirit...before the crowd swelled on February 9, it was clearly visible who was raising the slogans. I saw Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya raising most of the slogans related to Afzal Guru. I have stated all these facts in front of the internal inquiry committee.

While the culpability of all accused will be decided by courts, what is intriguing is why was it so important for a students body to put forward a resolution which is extremely political when other issues related to the welfare of students could have been given the priority. Replying to the question, Saurabh Sharma, joint secretary, JNUSU (who also favoured the resolution moved by Verma), says, For the last few years, the Left parties in JNU have been favouring Kashmirs secession from India. Three years ago, they even took out a rally demanding freedom for Kashmir. We wanted to bring on record their views. Obviously, our motion was defeated as all the Left parties opposed our resolution.
New Delhi: JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar will lead the movement demanding release of two other varsity students who are still in judicial custody in a sedition case.

"Though I have got bail in the case despite both the government and police trying their best to delay it as far as they can but our fight is not over yet. Umar and Anirban are yet to be released. I will now lead the ongoing student movement," Kanhaiya said.

Kanhaiya was released from Tihar Jail last week after the Delhi High Court granted him bail.

"Though our primary focus is to get them released but one thing I am sure of is if I adopt this ideology of raising our voice these trips to prison will become a frequent thing," he added.

Jawaharlal Nehru University is caught in a row over an event on the campus to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where "anti-national" slogans were allegedly raised.

While Kanhaiya spent 18 days in jail, two other students -- Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are also in judicial custody in a sedition case over the event.

The JNU Students Union led by Kanhaiya has called a council meeting on Monday to discuss the "onslaught on JNU" and finalise their future course of action.

In Kanhaiya's absence, JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora had led the student agitation.

The JNUSU president was arrested in connection with the February 9 event. Five other students -- Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar -- had gone in hiding since then but resurfaced on the campus 10 days later.

While Umar and Anirban surrendered before the police, the remaining three refused to do so but maintained that they are open to questioning by police as and when needed.

PTI
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested former Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal in connection with a money laundering case registered against him and others in the high profile Maharashtra Sadan case.

Earlier on Monday, ED office had summoned Bhujbal, who was accompanied by MLC Jitendra Awhad, at its Ballard Pier office in South Mumbai amid tight security around 11.30 AM.

A large number of party workers who had gathered outside the ED office raised slogans even as prohibitory orders were put in place to avoid any untoward incident.

The ED had registered a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case involving the Bhujbals and some of their associates and has already arrested the ex-minister's nephew Samir last month in the case.

Samir is currently lodged in the high security Arthur Road jail here. The ED had also questioned Bhujbal's son Pankaj in the same case last month.

The agency has filed two FIRs against the Bhujbals and others under the provisions of PMLA, based on Mumbai Police FIRs, to probe the Delhi-based Maharashtra Sadan construction scam and the Kalina land grabbing case. It had also brought out orders for attachment of three properties with an estimated worth of over Rs 280 crore in the case under money laundering laws.

ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to the senior Bhujbal, Pankaj, Samir and few others. NCP had then described the searches as "political vendetta".

The state Anti-Corruption Bureau has already filed a charge sheet against Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case. The new Maharashtra Sadan was built at the cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.

Police sources said that around 125 police personnel headed by DCP Zone-I, Manoj Kumar Sharma were present at the spot even as roads leading to the office were barricaded on both sides.

With inputs from Agencies
New Delhi: No environmental clearance has been granted to any project on river Ganga in the last two years, government told Rajya Sabha on Monday.

When members during Question Hour expressed concern over the impact various projects could have had on the flow of the river, Environment and Forests minister Prakash Javadekar said "during the last two years, the Ministry has not granted any environmental clearance to projects on Ganga."

Maintaining that uniterrupted flow of water in the river was a matter of priority, he said the flow of the river is one of the conditions stipulated in environment clearance granted to hydropower projects.

"The ministry recently considered the unfettered and uniterrupted flow of minimum 1000 cusecs of water in the natural river basin for the proposed hydropower projects in river Ganga and its three main tributaries i.e. Alaknanda, Bhagirathi and Mandakini based upon the outcome of proceedings of a conference held at Hardwar in December 1916," he said.

Javadekar also said that work on 24 projects on the river had been stopped by the Supreme Court while also mentioning the efforts made to clean the river.

PTI
Silchar: While the Left parties are finalising 'seat adjustment' with the Congress in West Bengal for the forthcoming assembly polls, they will be decrying their 'friendly' party's "misgovernance" in the neighbouring Barak Valley region.

The Bengali-dominated region in southern Assam will see a triangular contest between the Left parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly polls which are to be held in two phases: on 4 and 11 April.

The Barak Valley region has three districts  Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi  and 15 seats in the 126-member Assam assembly. Silchar, itself an assembly constituency, is the nerve centre of the region.

The 15 constituencies will vote in the first phase on 4 April.

Six Left parties would field candidates in 58 assembly constituencies in Assam, including some seats in Barak Valley region, said Bijan Dhar, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

The other five parties are Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Revolutionary Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, and Revolutionary Socialist Party.

"The Left parties would contest against both ruling Congress and the BJP. They would highlight 15 years of misgovernance in Assam by the Congress," he said.

The CPI-M would contest elections in 19 constituencies in Assam, including the crucial Silchar seat where it has fielded its trade union leader Supriya Bhattacharjee, he said.

Silchar, along with Karimganj North and Karimganj South, has a close political association with the adjoining Left-ruled Tripura.

The BJP has renominated for the Silchar constituency sitting legislator Dilip Kumar Paul who bagged the seat in 2014 by elections.

The Congress has yet to select its nominee from five contenders: party general secretary Rajesh Deb, former district president Arun Dutta Majumdar, former union minister Santosh Monhan Dev's wife Bithika Dev, his daughter Bharati Dev, and former chairman of Silchar municipal board Tamal Banik, sources said.

"Central leadership seriously wants to win Silchar seat. The party will field a strong candidate here," Lok Sabha member from Silchar Sushmita Dev said.

Sushmita is another daughter of Santosh Monhan Dev and held the assembly seat before being elected for the Lok Sabha.

The CPI-M had last won the seat in 1978. Since that time Congress and BJP won the seat four times each.

IANS
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday urged the government in Lok Sabha to respond quickly to the plight of farmers in north India hit by heavy rains and hailstorm, saying like last time the help should not reach late.

As soon as the House met for the day, Gandhi raised the issue of heavy rains and hailstorm which have lashed north Indian states in the past two days.

"Crops have been damaged...the government should take immediate action," he said in the lower house.

He urged the Centre to send a team to assess the damage and demanded a statement by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in the House.

The Congress Vice President said the Centre should hasten the provision of relief to the affected farmers and like last time, this assistance should not reach late.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said he has spoken with the Agriculture Minister on the "serious" issue, who is in touch with state governments.

He said the minister could make a statement either on Monday or Tuesday.

Rain and hailstorms lashed several parts of North India including Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana over the weekend and early on Monday morning.

According to reports, rains have flattened wheat, mustard and coriander crops in the states.

Later when the Lok Sabha took up Zero Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected notices of adjournment given by Rahul and some other members on the issue.

PTI
The citizenship row seems to have returned to haunt Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi once again. The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha has asked Rahul to respond on whether he had once declared himself a British citizen. According to reports, a show cause notice was served and was sent to Rahul's office last week. The Congress, however, denied having received the notice.

Briefing the media outside the Parliament on Monday, Rahul Gandhi said, "We'll deal with that."

We'll deal with that: Rahul Gandhi on showcause notice by Parliament's Ethics Committee pic.twitter.com/EaORho42ZP  ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

The Congress leader also added that it has become BJP's habit to come up with lies.

BJP has a habit to come up with lies, we will respond to this in the Parliament: Rahul Gandhi on British citizenship row  ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

"Rahul Gandhi has been issued notice seeking his response on why he declared himself as British citizen. The complaint was received by the Speaker and she has forwaded the complaint to the Ethics Committee," said Arjun Ram Meghwal, an Ethics Committee member and BJP MP.

"I had no idea that notice has been sent to Rahul Gandhi. I have just heard. I thought chairman will tell all of us but it didn't happen. If a complaint is there a letter was sent just to find out the details. This is a matter of procedure. It is politically motivated. We moved privilege motion against Smriti, so they have done it against Rahul," Congress MP Ninong Ering, an Ethics Committee member, was quoted as saying by IBNLive.

Refuting Congress's charges, Meghwal said, "It is a matter procedure and there is no politics in it. We did not fill the form it was Rahul who said he is British citizen. Why we will do politics? Let him reply."

An ethics committee has the power to expel a lawmaker if discrepancies were proven true. Congress, however, brushed aside the inquiry as a formality and said that there was no incriminating evidence against Rahul.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan referred the issue to the ethics committee after BJP's Delhi MP Mahesh Girri, in January, filed a complaint in the Lower House. The ethics committee is headed by BJP veteran LK Advani.

Congress had called the original complaint, by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy, a personal vendetta, and alleged that BJP leadership is carrying on this attack.

"When the BJP has absolutely nothing left to say against the Congress, then coming out with personal attacks is their trend and they are doing just that today. We strongly reject all these fabricated charges," Congress leader PL Punia told ANI.

The dual citizenship controversy engulfed the Congress in November when BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that he had accessed documents to show that Rahul had claimed British nationality to set up a company in the UK. According to the documents that Swamy alleged that he had, claimed that the Congress vice-president was the director and secretary of the company.

Swamy had said that he he had extracted the papers from the company law authorities of Britain. The documents showed that Rahul had called himself "British" on the annual returns of UK-based "Backops Limited" in 2005 and 2006.

As a rebuttal to Swamy's allegations, the Congress released another document of the same company, in which Rahul had declared himself as Indian. The party described the discrepancy as a 'typing error' between the document and the British government's records. Rahul had then rejected the allegations of impropriety and dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to jail him if he was proven guilty.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said Rahul Gandhi should make his stand clear on the issue. "If he is a citizen of some country then he should make it clear. And if he is not making it clear then there is something wrong. If the ethics committee has issued a notice to him then he should definitely make it clear," Naqvi told ANI.
By Simantik Dowerah and Yael Ajgarni

Editors note: Newsrooms and newsmakers feed off each other. Theres no life for the one without the other.



Yet, newsrooms  the hub of news production operations  live in their own world of computers and keyboards, and newsmakers in their own. The twain rarely meet.

This physical separation is not just a logistical necessity, but a professional virtue. It is a tenet that ensures that news-writers are free from the influence and impact of events on the ground, unlike news reporters who are in the thick of things.

But interpreting and analysing newsmakers from a distance, just from the headlines they make, has its own set of problems. The separation from events and their complete dependence on secondary and tertiary sources of information can make newsrooms susceptible to facile stereotyping, labelling and, hence, bias.

That is perhaps why rules come with exceptions. The occasional rub with newsmakers can have the refreshing effect of broadening the newsrooms perspective. The Firstpost newsroom found that out when we invited Prithviraj Chavan, the former chief minister of Maharashtra - he preceded the incumbent, Devendra Fadnavis - for an interaction. An engineer from BITS, Pilani, and alumnus of the University of California, Berkley, the suave Chavan gave the newsroom a first person account of issues of politics and governance that can come only from a person who has run Indias biggest economy (Maharashtra) and the prime ministers office. There were valuable learnings for the newsroom which today has better appreciation for, if not understanding of, the Marathwada drought, which will reflect very soon in our coverage of the issue.

Chavan also broke the unitary mould we try to fit all our politicians into. The interaction with him made us reflect on how readily we label people and professions. So, once in a few weeks, the newsroom will chat up newsmakers for getting fresh perspectives on events past and current. Below are the highlights of the interaction with Chavan, the first in a new series of interviews we are kicking off on Firstpost called Firstperson.

See, we are good at labelling!



Maharashtra's accidental chief minister

A mechanical engineer by training and dealing with not-so-politically-cool portfolios like science and technology, earth sciences apart from serving as a junior minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan was content with whatever he was handling under prime minister Manmohan Singh's second innings in South Block.

This went on until the time the Maharashtra government was shaken by the massive Adarsh scam which directly embroiled then chief minister Ashok Chavan into its vortex. Given the massive public outrage, the Congress top brass realised that the state should immediately have a new and clean chief minister to mitigate the crisis to some extent. As speculations continued, a phone call from 10 Janpath decided who's the next Maharashtra chief minister.

"It is quite a surprise to me when one late night, almost about 3 o'clock, I got a phone call from Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi. And while the change in Maharashtra was on, because the chief minister had resigned and then new chief minister was being looked at, they were searching for a new name, and we were all curious to who'd become the next chief minister of Maharashtra," said former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in a freewheeling chat with Firstpost.

"I had not formally applied or even discussed or shown interest in going because I was doing extremely interesting work in Delhi, a very very heavy responsibility in Delhi and my responsibilities grew by the year since I became a minister in Delhi in the May of 2004 when the UPA government came into power," he said.

"The person told me that 10 Janpath was calling. Nothing else needed to be said as I knew what was happening. At 3 am who would call you? And the formality of informing me which Mrs Gandhi did, telling me that you will have to go tomorrow to Mumbai. We have decided that you'll be the next chief minister, and then I had to do the formalities, prime minister was leaving for a foreign country at 9 o'clock. I went and met him at 9 o'clock and resigned. He asked me what to do now, who is going to replace you? So we discussed some names, put some arrangement in place and I was sworn in the same day at 4 o'clock," Chavan said.

A stranger in the midst

Always known to be a clean politician, Chavan was a natural choice given the other Chavan allegedly sank the party's image with the high-profile Adarsh scam. However, the only question was the new chief minister's popularity quotient as he was considered among the elite.

"I had never worked in Maharashtra before, and that was one thing that was held against me whenever any leadership issue was brought up. People used to say look he is not handled Maharashtra, never worked in Maharashtra, how will he work here, how will he deal with MLAs and local issues? So, that was fine. But Maharashtra was a very interesting exercise," Chavan said.

Scorned in scorched Marathwada

"I made a point to chief minister that he should take the initiative to bring the Opposition on board because the situation today, forget the ruling party, even we, MLAs cannot go to Marathwada now. We will be beaten up. It is that bad."

Ironically, those who might beat up the MLAs are the same people who elected them in the Assembly polls in October 2014.

Chavan uttered these words when he explained the seriousness of the drought situation in the state's Marathwada region. Suave, sober and sharply dressed, the former UPA government minister's spotless white attire was in stark contrast to the dark days Marathwada has been dealing with in the last few months.

"And this drought, as we are sitting here today, there are at least three-and-half, four, four-and-a-half months to the next monsoon  15 June. In some places, it is July and in Solapur and the southern regions, August. So how will you sustain?

"The present drought and water crisis that Maharashtra is facing  and Marathwada in particular  is something the country has never seen before. Now MLAs are scared of going to Marathwada. I think this drought and the water crisis in Maharashtra is unprecedented in its magnitude. I hope I am wrong and that this is not a doomsday scenario," the legislator from the South Karad constituency said.

Describing Maharashtra as the second largest Indian state in terms of land area and having the largest economy among equals, the former chief minister expressed concern over the poor percentage of irrigated farmland in the state.

"And of the land that is tilled, only 18 percent is irrigated. Now if you compare that, Punjab is 98 percent irrigated, Haryana is 90 percent, UP is 60 percent, Bihar is 60 to 70 percent or in that range. The national average of land that is irrigated is between 45 and 46 percent. We're at 18 percent. Only Kerala is lower than us. But Kerala doesn't have any land, so Kerala is a small state compared to, irrigation and agriculture is concerned. 18 percent is just bad. And that's why, when we look at Maharashtra's agricultural output, Maharashtra's agriculture on the whole, that has to always be remembered," Chavan said.

The geography of the state is such that conserving water offers challenges of its own.

"It rains in the western ghats. But then all the water goes to the sea and very little comes to the eastern part of the state. And this is a plateau where it is very difficult to take water to higher altitude. And that is why when rains fail, we have a crisis of unprecedented magnitude," the former chief minister said.

Sitting on a crisis?

Rains are from the gods, but lesser mortals in power (read government) on earth have to face flak when showers are scanty. Chavan was quick to blame the Centre and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government for the water crisis and the drought.

"Somehow in the new governments in Mumbai and in Delhi, nobody has any ministerial experience or any administrative experience, barring a few  three or four in Delhi and one, perhaps two in Maharashtra. So there is also a sense of arrogance with getting a large majority in Delhi. In Maharashtra, also they got many more votes than any party previously got. And then this arrogance that they bring to the table: That previous governments didn't know anything, they are all fools, they took all decisions, they are all corrupt, so only we know what is right," he said.

Chavan said that even the alliance partners are not happy with the manner the state is handing the drought crisis.

"And in that arrogance they are taking decisions, taking things for granted and paying a huge price, so much so that even their alliance partner Raju Shetty from the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana, publicly acknowledged that the government of Ashok Chavan was much better in handling the drought. He is an alliance partner. He is one of the persons in line to become minister. People are openly taking about it now. The point is they have just not understood the gravity of water crisis in Maharashtra and why they have not done that is something I don't know," the former chief minister said.

However, of late, the state government is making some moves to tackle the crisis.

"We had a meeting in the Assembly this (8 March) morning, where both the Speaker and the chairman of the Assembly came to 15 or 20 of us. The entire cabinet went there (Marathwada). They had to hold meeting meetings virtually in a military camp. One person threw a pouch of milk on a minister, and then a personal assistant got angry and he beat up the person. And it's all on the records. It is bad," Chavan said.

He felt that the government has pressed the panic button, but the cabinet visit was unnecessary.

"They should never have done it and now the situation is such that they will not be able to go there at all. But that doesn't solve the problem," the South Karad MLA said.

Congress can't be blamed

Chavan, however, did not blame the governments run by his own party earlier for the watery mess.

"It's not easy to fix for anybody. The point is when I came here, I realised that a paradigm shift was needed. That this large dam business was not workable for many reasons. And that large dam was deliberately chosen, and behind that was huge contractor pressure. I'm clear about that. A dam requires land acquisition; a dam requires rehabilitation of people. If there is forest land involved, the dam requires payment of compensation for afforestation. A dam requires money to build. The most lucrative part is building that dam. The contractors are only interested in that, nobody is interested in the dam," he said.

Languishing in Latur

Chavan was concerned that water scarcity was fast spreading to urban centres like Latur.

"Latur district has given two chief ministers to this state: Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar and Vilasrao Deshmukh. Latur city is getting water every 25 days, today. And my assistant comes from Latur. His relations have migrated already. They are all well-to-do people. One has migrated to relations in Thane where his family lives and other has permanently decided to go to Pune," the Congress MLA said.

"The state government should have thought of an alternate contingency plan  which they failed to do," the former chief minister said.

'Goodbye industry'

Even as farm lands are rapidly turning into dry lands, the urban and industrial areas are also bearing the brunt of water shortage.

"In Aurangabad, we wanted to promote the city as industrial belt which is a part of our Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. We wanted to propose Shendra in Aurangabad as one of the NIMZ (National Investment and Manufacturing Zones) places. I'm very fond of industrial townships and in my urban development policy, I tried to promote that concept. But what industrial development and what 'Make in India' and Rs 8 lakh crore investment is the Maharashtra government talking about? The commissioner of Aurangabad has said the city will not have any water for agriculture or for industries. It is only reserved for drinking. Which investment will come in then?" Chavan asked.

"They (the investors) will bring bags full of dollars (in FDI). Please tell them to also bring a tanker-full of water," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Chavan made it clear that big dams are no solution for Maharashtra's water woes.

"The planning of dams was bad. The famous Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad was politically built to a very large size and it never gets filled. Today, Jayakwadi is at the heart of Marathwada and without Jayakwadi, the whole of Marathwada will collapse. The water level today is, I think, minus 14 percent in Jayakwadi. So naturally, the commissioner had to say no water except for drinking. So, goodbye industry. How will industry come there without any water at all? So there is a serious crisis. And the government is not really looking at it," he said.

Congress and climate change

When asked if the Congress party discussed climate change in its meetings, Chavan smartly pushed the onus on the government.

"Actually, what happens at the national level  particularly when you're in government  the environment minister would really drive the policy and what is to be done about climate change, what you will say in the COP meetings wherever they are being held and so on. Jairam Ramesh was piloting it for many years, then Jayanthi Natrajan came along. You know the Department of Environment has created the Conservation Act, Project Tiger and all that. So, you go back to Indira Gandhi's time, or Rajiv Gandhi's time, we were completely pro-conservation as much as possible," Chavan said.

"In the climate change debate, the minister who is in charge of the environment portfolio, led the Congress policy. Now whatever briefings were required were done by that minister to the leadership or the closed group of working committee members. But that is largely a government position, not so much the party position. And the party position or the government position was that Indian interests must be protected," the South Karad MLA said.

Advice to Devendra Fadnavis

For a first time chief minister like Fadnavis, his predecessor also offered a word of advice on how to face this unprecedented water crisis.

"There are two things. One is something immediate like what you do today in next four months. The second is what you do in the slightly long term. I realised that we have messed up the large irrigation projects completely. Technology has to be brought in. How do you make it so that that plants survive, what species should the plant be, where should it be planted? First, clean up all the government areas," Chavan said.

"We have to complete the last mail large irrigation projects and for that we need money. And that money has to come from Delhi. One of the things the government could have done is to do away with debt right away," the former chief minister said.

Ambushed by Narendra Modi

No matter how critical the Congress is of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party however admits that it was caught unaware by the political tsunami from Gujarat. Apart from the tech-savvy Modi that took Congress by surprise, there was another area where the Grand Old Party was at a loss.

"I think the whole Modi government is about lot of hype, lot of advertisement. Media publicity is used very effectively, including the use of Hindi, which we failed to do. All our leaders are not very comfortable in Hindi. You saw the Kanhaiya Kumar effect, you know what Modi did with it too. So I think we failed there and he succeeded and used the technology and all sort of things. We couldn't really meet his challenge frankly," Chavan said.

But the South Karad legislator was quick to add a caveat.

"I think he has oversold, obviously. He doesn't know where to stop. He somehow is not able to understand that he is the Prime Minister of the whole country. There is only one Prime Minister. He is Prime Minister of all of the country, not only BJP. He is still in the campaign mode. He doesn't miss one opportunity to make snide remarks against our leadership, which is not required," Chavan said.

The former chief minister felt that most of the decisions taken by the Modi government at the Centre are superficial.

"Now every single announcement that is made is flawed, without adequate planning, without adequate diligence. How do you succeed and what steps are required? Nothing! So every single step, whether it is Digital India or anything else includng the Smart City project  I am a very very strong critic of that particular project. It is completely ill-conceived. And I think it will be wound up and redone. But because of prestige they may not do it," Chavan said.

The trade called Opposition

Used to power too much? Perhaps. At least, Chavan thinks that the Congress party is yet to learn its business as an Opposition party.

"The Congress in Maharashtra has not been a very effective Opposition and the only explanation that I can give is a lame excuse, but it is that we have been in power for 15 years. So we don't know how to be in Opposition. So we're learning. And one year on, we're just beginning to learn how to be in Opposition," he said.

However, he is confident his party will put forward a stiff challenge in the ongoing Maharashtra Budget Session. Well, the 44 Congress MPs in Lok Sabha are stalling Parliament too often than not.

"I think we'll now put up a strong challenge to the government. They are doing a very good job in Delhi. It's just 44 people out there," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Although in the Opposition corridor, Chavan hopes that his party has a fairly good chance to return to power.

"I'm not even sure whether the present Maharashtra government will last, because it is anyway only a minority government and we hear rumours that the Shiv Sena may not be with them during the BMC polls in Mumbai. Something else may happen," he said.

In any case, there is a role for the Congress to play, even if it is on the opposite side of the treasury benches.

"Congress also must play constructive role. There is not a doubt. The government must be arrogant to say that we don't need anybody and we have full majority and all of that. The beauty of the Indian Constitution is that the checks and balances that you've built into it  that's where it works. It can be done, a better relationship can be achieved. But one thing is certain, if the BJP continues with this Hindutva agenda, then I think there will be no meeting around whether it is GST or anything else," Chavan warned.

Is Make in India a marketing gimmick?

"For Make in India, openly I have said that I wish that programme succeeds. We owe it to our young people, the graduates, the engineers, the MBAs who are going out, who are not getting jobs today. Then if it succeeds, they get a job. But the way the government is going about it, it is not going to succeed. It's all again a marketing show," the former Union minister of state said.

Chavan said that the Make in India event in February was nothing but a stunt.

"From Day One, I have been telling them to place on their website the Rs eight-lakh-crore-worth of MoUs that they have got. Who is doing the breakdown? Which company, where, what investment, what job creation and what place and all that. They are not going to give this information. It's all fraud. They virtually caught hold of people and told them to sign some piece of paper," the former chief minister said.

A staunch critic of the Make in India programe, the Maharashtra MLA made it clear that lots needs to be done for the programme to succeed.

"I think a lot more is required for Make in India to succeed. Nobody invests because somebody went and shook hands or Modi went to America and visited the headquarters of a company. They invest only if you're going to make definite profit. I mean unless that is proven, there is a whole army of people there deciding location policy, whether to got to China or to India, whether to go to Bangladesh or build a textile unit here. So it won't automatically happen because you took a photograph at an event, a lot more has to be done," Chavan said.

Limping economy, Budget baggage

Expressing his opinion about the state of affairs in the Indian economy, the South Karad MLA did not appear appreciative of it.

"There is a grave crisis in the Indian economy. Particularly the banking crisis, the NPA crisis. We don't know what the real numbers are. But perhaps you know, it worries me now personally, that entire growth story of India in last 8-10 years has been bloated because of these NPAs. Whose money was it? It is public money, bank money and then topline was shown in a huge profit, we don't know what the truth is," Chavan said.

His comments for the latest Union Budget was bereft of praise as well.

"This is Budget for Bharat, rural development budget, election budget. This is all nonsense. It is nothing at all like that. The budget is already prepared, and the way they wanted. Then somebody told Arun Jaitley to give it a rural twist, which he tried to do it in his speech. Otherwise it's fraud," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

Hope for Bankruptcy Code, but GST locked in ego tussle

Chavan did not agree with the accusation that Congress is hell-bent on blocking reforms particularly the Goods and Services Tax, or GST.

"I agree with you that the bankruptcy code and the GST are the two most important reforms that must happen in the country, without a doubt. But it also not true that Congress obstinately opposing. Let us ask, has anybody asked Mr Modi why he opposed GST for seven years when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. People conveniently forget that. Now, it doesn't mean because he opposed you should also oppose, not true. They brought in some new features just to make sure why they did oppose for seven years and why they are not bringing it up. Although GST would be the desirable change in the right direction," the former chief minister said.

"After all it was our enactment, let's not forget that. Whether to write 18 percent in the Constitution or in the law that's the only difference. I think it's a matter of ego. The point is that it is the government's responsibility to pass government business, they should have walked across and they should've talked to somebody saying let's not sit on formality. But unfortunately the arrogance I talked about, the arrogance of 282 seats, that prevented. They've realised it now," Chavan said.

A part of the culture

The former chief minister was quite critical of the beef ban that the BJP government enforced in Maharashtra.

"I don't know how many of you have lived in America, you see it is a part of their culture. When you're travelling anywhere, you carry dried beef called beef jerky. The mother would always put a small packet into the bag like in Maharashtra, tikhat mittache ladoo, in Marathi. We carry small ladoos and the mother will always put it in 'beta tumko khaneko nahi milega toh you eat this'. Similarly thats the part of their culture. It's dried beef. Six months imprisonment in Maharashtra, if you're caught with it. What nonsense!" Chavan said.

Delhi was great but Maharashtra is...

It was tough for Chavan to figure out where he liked the job more -- in Delhi or Mumbai.

"That's a difficult question. So I'll tell you. Delhi I started out as a Union minister. After the new government came in power 2011 I got four more. As a PMO minister I had to look after atomic engineering space. Being a hardcore engineer is your first love. Then finally when election happened, I told prime minister, I've been a minister of state for five years. I deserve a promotion. You make me a cabinet minister. He said 'Mai kya karunga'. What do I do? So he found a unique answer to that while I continued to be MoS even after the 2009 election. He gave me whole independent charge of science and technology which has been a beautiful experience about one and a half year," the South Karad MLA said.

"About seven portfolios I was looking at one time or the other and many of them science, which I loved. Not many people like science and technology because they're considered politically lightweight and they don't like why enjoyed it. So it was great fun. I travelled a lot. People don't realise because India science minister was such an important (position) that at any given time, almost 20 science ministers (around) the world wanted to meet and shake hands. Not because of what we are today but the potential that India had. The work that Indian scientists do in America. They had such an awe. I went to North Pole, the Norwegian minister accompanied me from airport to North Pole all the way. Three days she was with me," he said.

Yes, the Delhi experience was great but the former chief minister did tell us what he thought was more challenging.

"As I said, probably I would consider only few or four positions in the country more important than the (Chief Minister's Office) this state. So I enjoyed Delhi very much, but this was far too important," Chavan said.
Former RSS Pracharak Nanaji Deshmukh was not only a prolific writer but also rebel for a cause within the saffron family. Few know that he wrote a series of missives to RSS chief KS Sudershan and his deputy Mohan Bhagwat at the peak of controversy arising out of LK Advanis euologisation of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Short of saying that the RSS should shut shop and appropriate the BJP instead of remote-controlling the politics, Deshmukh was quite critical of the manner in which the RSS manipulated the politics to upstage Advani. He was, in fact, concerned that the RSSs straying into politics would make the organization irrelevant and thoroughly discredited to carry out the tasks it was originally assigned to do.

But he was particularly hurt as none of his letters were answered. Those accompanying him testify that all letters were sharp, precise and had raised pertinent points about the RSS' proclivity to dabble in politics. "They do not realize, it will ruin them," the octogenarian leader used to say in closed confines of Deendayal Rsesearch Institute (DRI) situated barely a hundred yards away from the RSS Jhandewala headquarters in Delhi.

Deshmukhs rebellion within the Sangh Parivar was never a secret. Unlike the RSS which draws pracharaks from the Hindu society and train them to dedicate exclusively for the social cause without getting married, Deshmukh dismissed the idea of bachelorhood as out of sync with the reality. In his own experiment, he created institutions like university at Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh) to promote the concept of ideal families. Though bachelor himself , Deshmukh never made a fetish of celibacy and in fact rejected the idea of character-building through celibacy.

Though Deshmukh carried out his parallel activity by creating institutions distinctly different from the culture of the Sangh Parivar, he never severed umbilical chord with the saffron family. Yet he was hardly a conformist- a fact that irked top leadership of the RSS. He was particularly irked when the RSS led from the front the revolt against LK Advani after his Pakistan visit in 2005.

Towards the end of his life, Deshmukh was less seen and much less heard within the saffron fold. Yet old-timers within the RSS acknowledge that his concerns were genuine. In fact he was one of the rarest among the old generation RSS pracharaks who was skeptical of the relevance of an old RSS beholden to archaic values and practices in the modern times. He was one among many RSS leaders who emphasised metamorphosing the RSS to respond to changing times.



The all India pratinidhi sabha (apex representative body of the RSS) seems to have made a small beginning in this context by agreeing to change the dress-code (ganvesh) of the cadres. After nearly seven decades, the RSS cadre would be seen in wearing full pants instead of a flowing nicker which was often butt jokes among political rivals. Those who are aware of the RSS functioning know that the change in the dress code has come after lengthy deliberation and a lot of procrastination.

Top leaders of the RSS was worried over the inability of the RSS to attract youth. In many internal meetings of the Sangh Parivar in post-Ayodhya phase, stalwarts like Bhaurao Deoras had expressed their concern over the average age profile of the cadres getting older. In one of the pratinidhi sabha meeting in Delhi, Deoras lamented, It is out challenge to attract youth to our fold. Of late, the RSSs acceptance among youth was much less as compared to the BJP which now wields the real political and social clout.

There is little doubt that the RSS is largely overwhelmed by the influence of the BJP. And this is the precise reason that the All India Pratinidhi Sabha finally agreed to change the dress-code to adapt to new social impulses that are not in consonance with its archaic practices and worn-out idioms. A perceptive leader like Nanaji Deshmukh would have been much happier if the RSS would have either stuck to its original role or assumed full political role by appropriating the BJP. But such a radical change of view is well nigh impossible in an organisation whose leadership often relishes time warp more than modernity.

The RSS today draws all its power and whatever relevance it has from its political baby, the BJP. But stuck in its time warp, the RSS will not see the writing on the wall. So it will continue to tinker with dress codes rather than take Nanajis advice and dive headlong into politics or allow its political offspring to do politics without having to look over its shoulders.
If Delhis Arvind Kejriwal has been the fastest Indian leader to rise to political import then Tamil Nadus actor-turned politician Vijayakanth is no less. Within a year of launching his DMDK, he fielded candidates in all the constituencies in the 2006 assembly elections. He polled more votes than the Congress, which once ruled the state, and the PMK, a party with considerable caste support.

Vijayakanths 8.4 per cent vote share in a multi-cornered fight in 2006 was a revelation. However, he remained where he started even after a decade, while Kejriwal trumped giant rivals and captured power in no time.

Tamil Nadu is certainly not Delhi, and its certainly hard to expand ones elbow room in a state thats brutally dominated by the Dravidian parties; but what perpetually sets him behind is his total lack of strategy or what we can call pointless politics. The only time that he appeared to have played it right was in 2011 assembly elections when his party allied with the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and garnered more seats than even the DMK to become the main opposition. However, his relationship with Jayalalithaa soured within a year and his presence in the assembly disintegrated when a number of his MLAs jumped ship. Moreover, his vote-share nosedived to just above five per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha elections (in which he allied with the BJP).

The vote share swings between 2006 and 2014 are no big deal because they also depended on the number of seats DMDK contested, but whats disappointing is that despite a spectacular debut in 2006, he hasnt been able to move an inch.

His latest announcement to go it alone in the upcoming assembly elections also stems from a non-existent or defective strategy. There are multiple analyses circulating in the state. While some say he is only posturing and that he will finally ally with either the DMK or the BJP-led fronts, others say he will do what he originally planned. Some even speculate that he is playing solo at the instance of BJP to help the AIADMK.

If he is indeed posturing to strengthen his bargaining capacity with the DMK, its understandable because the latter is desperate to get him. With the Congress already on its side, the DMKs fortunes could multiply with help from the DMDK and hence Vijayakanth bargaining hard is not unusual. But is he really bargaining? If yes, for what? Even Karunanidhi, who was so certain that the alliance would fructify, doesnt say a thing. Whats it that Vijayakanth is waiting for? Share of power, more seats, or something else?

On the other hand, his staying away from the DMK to help AIADMK is a bizarre proposition because life hasnt been easy for him ever since he parted with the latter. Within a year of their fighting the elections together, Jayalalithaa had openly slighted him. In 2012 she said that she had never wanted an alliance with his party, but agreed only to satisfy her party workers. She termed Vijayakanths behaviour in the assembly disgusting and crude and said that it was an example of what happens when undeserving people get high positions. In addition, her government filed several defamation cases against him that made court-visits a regular headache for him. On his part, Vijaykanth has been equally hostile and has in fact been more vituperative than bigger stakeholders such as Karunanidhi and Stalin in his attacks on Jaya.

Will he have a secret deal with such a rival? This is a bit of a stretch even going by the maxim that there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics, which Jaya often quoted in the past.

If he is indeed going to be fighting it alone, either on principle or to help the AIADMK, what exactly does Vijayakanth want in politics? He cant be attempting to prove his political mettle for ever because he has already done it multiple times and both the analysts and political parties know what hes capable of.

This is where a lack of strategy is evident. On the other hand, if playing politics like this is indeed his strategy, his game is certainly not power, but something else. Perhaps its too early to speculate on this, as some analysts do, because its still early days. In Tamil Nadu politics, the pieces of the jigsaw often fall into place at the last minute.

Ultimately, if he goes it alone indeed, it will certainly be a curious case of aimless realpolitik.
Hari Krishan alias Kasooru, wanted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for a murder during the 2013 Kishtwar riots, and declared an absconder by court, surfaced at the official Delhi residence of Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh.

On Friday, Krishan, a BJP leader from Paddar surfaced in a photograph taken at a meeting where he can be seen with Singh and sitting BJP MLAs of Kishtwar, Doda and Bhaderwah in Jammu and Kashmir, reports IBNLive.

Kasooru and nine others are accused of murdering 52-year-old Lassa Khandey during communal clashes in Kishtwar in 2013. Khandey was accompanying his injured son and brother in an ambulance to Gulabgarh. A mob had attacked the ambulance en route and abducted Khandey. His body was found by police next day, reports Indian Express.

We meet a large number of delegations daily and many of the people are not known to us, Singh said, denying any connection with Kasooru.

Even as authorities know whereabouts of Krishan, he has not been arrested allegedly due to political pressure from the saffron party, reports Kashmir Monitor. After the 2013 riots, following the course of investigation and account of eyewitnesses, Krishan's name surfaced and a case against him under section 302 of RPC was registered but the arrest was never made.

On 9 August, 2013, communal clashes broke out after Eid prayers. A minor scuffle between policemen, assigned to a local BJP leader, and a Muslim group led to a communal frenzy in the town. In the violence that ensued, three people were killed and more than 30 were injured.

Property worth millions was reduced to ashes and the Army had to step in to put an end to the violence.

Krishan was not the only one marred with controversy.

Then Jammu and Kashmir Minister Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo resigned in August, 2013, but maintained his innocence over the Kitshtwar clashes, pending the outcome of a judicial inquiry ordered by the state government.

In March, 2015, a commission looking into the riots had also indicted him and several top officers .

With inputs from agencies
Grand-Bassam: Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort town. The attack left 16 dead.

Those who make a living off tourism believed the attack on three hotels Sunday would deal it a huge blow.

"Here, we work every day so foreigners (can) come here to relax ... With all that has happened, I don't think that the clients are going to come back now," said Francois Tanon, who rents beach chairs to tourists.

Frenchman Charles-Philippe d'Orleans said he was at the beach with a friend when he heard the first shot, and thought it was a firecracker; then he heard another and louder one. A security guard told beachgoers not to worry, that some youths had tried to enter the paid-access beach and that another guard had fired his weapon into the air, d'Orleans told French radio RTL.

But then more shooting broke out and d'Orleans and others hid behind a wall with gunmen "to the right, to the left, toward the road and toward the beach," d'Orleans told the radio interviewer. He said that when the gunfire receded he and his friend sped away in a car.

"Afterward we said 'Wow, we actually escaped something big," he said.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is scheduled to preside over an emergency cabinet meeting Monday to respond to the attack by Al-Qaeda extremists.

The attack on Grand-Bassam was the first of its kind in Ivory Coast. Officials had been bracing for one in the wake of similar assaults by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali.

Despite heightened security measures in recent months, the extremists attacked civilians at one of the country's top destinations for both Ivorians and foreigners, but security forces apparently responded quickly.

Ivorian newspapers on Monday morning featured graphic photos of dead bodies sprawled on the beach. The headline for one paper, Le Patriote, read: "We are Grand-Bassam!"

"These terrorist attacks can happen anywhere, at any time," Ouattara said Sunday after visiting the Etoile du Sud hotel, one of the hotels where gunmen opened fire. "We have shown that we have the capacity to contain the damage that can result."

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will travel to the West Africa country on Tuesday alongside Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. One French citizen was killed.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the attack as cowardly and odious.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed in Berlin that a German woman was killed.

The 16 dead included 14 civilians and two Ivorian special forces, Ouattara said. Six assailants were also killed and at least 22 people  19 civilians and three special forces  were wounded, Ouattara said.

Appearing on state television Sunday night, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said the 14 civilian victims came from countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali. The toll could rise, Bakayoko said.

Officials were not ready to provide information on the attackers, though authorities were in possession of mobile phones and other evidence that would allow them "to go to the source" of the attack, Bakayoko said.

He urged Ivorians to remain strong in the face of the extremist threat.

"It's a grave event, but we must face it," he said.

The attack in Grand-Bassam was the third major attack on a tourism center in West Africa since November. Dozens of people were killed in a siege at a Malian hotel in November and an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. Analysts had warned for months that Ivory Coast could also be hit by jihadists.

Bakayoko said authorities had taken steps to prepare the country for an attack, crediting their work with reducing Sunday's loss of life.

"There was anticipation. You know that our country has been targeted for a few years. We did whatever we could," Bakayoko said.

He said security forces had responded within 30 minutes and that within two hours the assailants had been killed.

Sites in Grand-Bassam were among more than 100 that had been under heightened surveillance in recent months, Bakayoko said, adding that those measures were going to continue.

"Count on us. We are going to reinforce the surveillance," he said.

Statements condemning Sunday's attack came from countries including the United States and Britain. The Paris prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into the attack, calling it murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Anti-terrorism investigators will handle the probe because there was a French victim.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility, according to SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist websites.

Human Rights Watch also issued a statement condemning the "horrific terrorist attack." The group, which has accused Ivory Coast of rights abuses in response to past security challenges, also called for human rights to be respected as the investigation progresses.

AP
GRAND BASSAM, Ivory Coast Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch drank beer at a beachside bar before launching a shooting rampage at an Ivory Coast resort town that left at least 18 people dead, the group's third major attack in West Africa in four months.

Sunday's raid, details of which are beginning to emerge in witness and official accounts, was the furthest yet from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) traditional desert base, a worrying indication of the militants' growing reach.

The attack raised questions about Ivory Coast's preparedness for such an attack, with some asking why such a sensitive target was left so vulnerable.

Fifteen civilians and three members of the special forces were killed and 33 people were wounded in the attack in Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Ivorians and westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan.

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said another 26 wounded were still receiving medical attention on Monday, as President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning for the country, which has never before been hit by al Qaeda.

Three militants also died in the attack on the resort town, a UNESCO heritage site of crumbling colonial-era buildings.

Witness Christian Eddy said four men arrived in a Ford saloon car at the beachside bar where he works around noon on Sunday. While two remained outside, the two others entered and drank beers for around a half hour.

They then launched the attack.

"They didn't speak French. They spoke Arabic. We communicated with them in English .... The guys who were still outside started shooting and the two seated at the table yelled 'Allahu Akbar' and flipped over the table," he told Reuters.

He said the first victim was a boy who was made to kneel before he was shot. Bar staff tried to warn a deaf boy who was playing nearby.

"People were yelling 'Come over here!' But he didn't know what was happening and just went down to the water. They shot him in the water," Eddy said.

The gunmen then moved up the beach, continuing their killing spree and entering several seaside hotels.

Surveillance footage from Hotel Etoile du Sud - one of the attackers' first targets where two people including a German woman and a Lebanese man were gunned down - showed the initial panic in the hotel bar as the first shots rang out.

Staff crouched and then fled along with customers, among them parents carrying babies or leading young children by the hand.

A man, apparently disguised as a waiter in a red waistcoat over a white dress shirt, entered with a rifle, fired at the empty bar and disappeared behind it, where the Lebanese man had been hiding. More gunshots were then heard.

The first police officers arrived on the scene around 15 minutes after the shooting began, witnesses said. It would be another half hour before special units from the security forces arrived from Abidjan.

The victims included foreign citizens from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali.

Among the dead was Henrike Grohs, 51, head of the Abidjan branch of Germany's Goethe Institut cultural body.

France's President Francois Hollande said four French nationals were killed in the attack. The French government had earlier said just one of its citizens had died.

EASY TARGET

The attack is a heavy blow for Ivory Coast, which has recovered from more than a decade of political turmoil and a 2011 civil war to become one of the world's fastest growing economies.

President Ouattara won a landslide election victory in October, promising to attract foreign investment to the largest economy in French-speaking West Africa which is also the world's top cocoa producer.

AQIM has spread across the Sahara from Algeria and now operates in much of western and northern Africa.

In January, gunmen killed dozens of people in a cafe frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, and also attacked a hotel. Militants attacked another hotel in the Malian capital Bamako late last year, killing 20.

Since those attacks, Ivorian authorities have increased security around hotels and shopping malls in Abidjan, a city of around five million inhabitants. But there were few signs that was the case in Grand Bassam ahead of Sunday's attack.

"Attacking Bassam was the easiest thing for them to do. Bassam is where all the expatriates and middle class from Abidjan gather on the weekends," said one longtime resident, who said he had seen no sign of recent security improvements.

"We don't understand why this wasn't considered a priority for protection. It would be easy," he said, asking not to be named.

The recent attacks in the region are generally viewed as targeting France and its allies after Paris intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants who had seized the desert north a year earlier.

The attack in Grand Bassam, thousands of kilometres from al Qaeda's traditional operational zones, raises fears over where they might strike next. It poses serious security questions for former regional colonial power France, which has thousands of citizens and troops in the region.

While some 18,000 French citizens live in Ivory Coast, over 20,000 reside in Senegal.

France has 3,500 troops in the region, from Senegal in the far west to Chad. A French military base in Abidjan, manned by around 800 soldiers, serves as a logistical hub for regional operations against Islamist militancy in the Sahel.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will travel to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to offer logistical support and intelligence, French diplomatic sources said. Counter-terrorism officials have also been sent to help the investigation.

(Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly and Ange Aboa in Abidjan and John Irish and Marine Pennetier in Paris; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Joe Bavier; Editing by Janet McBride)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Beijing: China on Monday dodged a direct response to reports of presence of PLA troops at a forward post in PoK and refuted allegations of recurring incursions by its troops into Indian territory, asserting that the PLA soldiers patrolled the Chinese side of the LAC.

"I have not heard about the incident you mentioned," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kong said at a media briefing here, replying to a question about the presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops at a forward post opposite Nowgam sector in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In response to another question on reports of recent incursions of PLA troops on the Indian side in the Ladakh sector, an official transcript on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website quoted Lu as saying that "it is learnt that China's border troops were carrying out normal patrols on the Chinese side of the LAC".

"There is no such a thing as border crossing. Some media twisted the fact and hyped up the China-India boundary question," he said.

"We deeply regret that. At present, China-India relations are enjoying a sound momentum of development. Friendly cooperation represents the mainstream of the public opinion in the two countries.

"It is hoped that relevant media can describe the situation along the China-India border as it is and do more to promote China-India friendship, mutual trust and bilateral ties," he said.

At the same time Lu reiterated Beijing's stand on the Kashmir issue, saying that "China's position on Kashmir issue is consistent".

"We believe it is an issue between India and Pakistan left over from history and should be properly handled by the two sides through dialogue and consultation," he added.

Asked whether presence of PLA troops is connected to the work related to the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, over which India has conveyed its protest, Lu merely reiterated China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

India has conveyed its protest to China on the corridor connecting China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port as it goes through PoK along the Karakoram Highway.

China in the past maintained that the corridor which is part of its Silk Road initiative is aimed at improving the people's livelihoods and in no way affects status of the Kashmir issue.

Both the sides have established Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to discuss the issue of incursions and aggressive border patrols by their troops along the 3,488-km long disputed border.

PTI
London: London mayor Boris Johnson on Monday accused Barack Obama of "hypocrisy" following a report that the US president is heading to Britain next month to make the case for the UK to stay in the European Union.

"Coming from Uncle Sam, it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy," Johnson, a leading member of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU in a June referendum, wrote in his regular column for the Daily Telegraph.

"Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?" he asked, adding: "This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control."

Johnson went on to point out that the United States does not accept that its own citizens could be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court and does not recognise other jurisdictions.

"In urging us to embed ourselves more deeply in the EU's federalising structures, the Americans are urging us down a course they would never dream of going themselves," he wrote.

"That is because they are a nation conceived in liberty. They sometimes seem to forget that we are quite fond of liberty, too."

The Independent newspaper on Sunday reported that Obama, who has already expressed support for Britain's EU membership, was expected to come to London at the end of April.

The visit would take place around two months before the 23 June referendum in which British voters will decide whether to leave or stay in the 28-country bloc.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office on Monday declined to comment on the report.

"Other people will set out their views, the choice for the British people is whether or not they listen to them but then they get to make up their own minds," she said.

'Special relationship'

But on a visit to Brussels, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was important to hear from other countries as part of the debate ahead of the vote.

"I think it's important that we hear from those people in the Anglosphere, not just President Obama but the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and beyond the Anglosphere, Japanese and Chinese leaders," he said.

"Let's just hear what they actually think about their relations with Britain, let's just hear how much they actually value Britain's membership of the European Union, just so that the British people are properly informed."

Obama is heading to Germany in late April to talk trade with Chancellor Angela Merkel and promote US exports at the Hanover industrial technology fair, which takes place 25-29 April.

Washington has long backed Britain playing a central role in the EU, the world's largest economic bloc, and has warned the UK-US "special relationship" could be at risk if it were to leave.

Cameron favours keeping Britain in the EU, following a renegotiation of the country's relations with Brussels.

Opinion polls indicate that the race is finely balanced, with those who want to remain at 51 percent and those in favour of leaving at 49 percent, according to a survey of polls by the What UK Thinks research project that excludes undecided voters.

Up to 20 percent of voters have said they have not yet made up their minds which way to vote.

AFP
Islamabad: Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province have ordered an inquiry over offensive content in a sociology textbook, even after the publisher tendered a public apology, the media reported on Monday.

The book Sociology of Pakistan, written by Abdul Hameed Taga and Abdul Aziz Taga, generated controversy after excerpts from a chapter on the Baloch people were circulated on social media, Dawn online reported.

The book referred to the Baloch nation in derogatory terms, calling them uncivilised people who lived in the desert and looted caravans.

According to a statement released on Sunday, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif constituted a two-member committee to investigate the publication of offensive content and asked how the error went unnoticed until now. He has also directed the committee to ascertain who was responsible for this negligence.

The committee will also review existing mechanisms to check the quality of content being published by private authors and publishers.

In a newspaper ad, which appeared in an Urdu language daily on Sunday, the publishing house claimed that the source of the "offensive" description of the Baloch was a Persian-language dictionary. They also claimed that as soon as the material was brought to their notice, they recalled the book from the market and issued a fresh edition after editing out the offending section.

IANS
Police have released CCTV footage of a vicious assault of a young man in Sydney's west in a bid to identify his attackers.

The 39-year-old man was walking past the Rose and Crown Hotel on Victoria Road in Parramatta when a group of three men allegedly yelled out to the man just before 11pm on January 25, police said.

Detective Inspector Glen Parks said the man continued walking along Victoria Road but was allegedly attacked from behind by two of the men as he approached the bus stop near Brabyn Street.

The CCTV footage shows the man, who is on the ground and concealed by a parapet, being repeatedly kicked with full force by two men.
In just three seconds your business meeting could already be over with the decision already made. That's right, it takes just three seconds for someone to make a decision upon meeting a prospective new client and most of it will be made by non-verbal behaviours such as body language, hair colour, body shape and clothing.

"When meeting a potential supplier for the first time, a first impression really matters," Natalie McKenna, director of Regeneration Unlimited Communications and a researcher at RMIT University in public relations, says.

Natalie McKenna, director of Regeneration Unlimited Communications and a researcher at RMIT University in public relations, says first impressions are crucial.

"Personally I make a judgment within the first few seconds. My own research and that of others backs this up. We often spend the next 10 to 30 minutes assessing our own first impression. If there is a negative impression such as poor handshake, rudeness, trying too hard to 'sell' something, I may walk away without transacting."

The three second rule
Los Angeles: Former Australian prime minister John Howard has re-entered the US gun debate, declaring it is "incontestable" gun-related homicides fell significantly after he introduced strict laws following the Port Arthur massacre.

Speaking on CBS' Sunday Morning TV news program, Mr Howard said he was compelled to act after 35 people were gunned down at the Tasmanian historical site in 1996.

"It is incontestable that gun-related homicides have fallen quite significantly in Australia, incontestable," Mr Howard said.

"I mean, if you had 13 mass shootings before Port Arthur and you had none since, isn't that evidence?
An Africa expert said Sundays attack on Ivory Coast should be viewed as an attempt by al-Qaida to undermine that countrys emerging political stability and economic growth.

J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the US-based Atlantic Council, an international affairs think tank, said it would be a tragedy if all the progress that Cote dIvoire has made over the last four years is derailed by al-Qaida. He said the United States and Ivory Coasts former colonial power France should do everything they can to come to the assistance of those African countries that are trying to help themselves.

The attack certainly is horrific and should be condemned. It shows both the brutality of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and its allies and how ruthless they are mowing down innocent people who are trying to escape the heat of Abidjan for a weekend on the beach, he said.

On the other hand, Pham said the attack did not surprise him because ever since the French intervention in Mali in 2013, there has been concern in the international community that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and its allies were seeking to attack stable countries beyond the Sahel to show their reach.

He said the attack on Ivory Coast is not because of political instability and ethnic tensions stemming from that countrys disputed 2010 presidential election. On the contrary, Pham said, Ivory Coast has been performing well in the last four years.

If one looks at the fact that the country went from the last months of Laurent Gbagbos regime when it defaulted on its international bond to its position just four short years later where the country is experiencing one of the highest economic growth rates in the world, and president [Alassane] Ouattara trounced the opposition this past year in October, wining a second term in office with 83 percent of the vote. So, I think its actually the stability, the democracy, and the economic growth that al-Qaida is seeking to undermine rather than necessarily exploiting tensions, Pham said.

Pham said a U.S. strategy for Africa promulgated by President Barack Obama in 2012 recognized that an al-Qaida threat is a threat to not just the security and prosperity of Africa but the international community as a whole.

And so this is a challenge really for the international system as a while, and all the more so because the victims in this particular attack were primarily non-Africans. They were expatriates helping build the economy of Cote dIvoire and they were targeted by the terrorists, Pham said.

The United States condemned the "heinous attack," and praised "Ivorian and French" forces for preventing more people from dying.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. is prepared to assist Ivory Coast in its investigation. He also reiterated U.S. commitment to working with others in West Africa to fight terrorists who want to undermine efforts to "build tolerant and inclusive societies."
Leading U.S. Republican presidential contender Donald Trump is denying any responsibility for the violence that has erupted at his political rallies, and is defending his supporters who have been charged with assaulting protesters.

"We're not provoking. We want peace. ... We don't want trouble,'' he told a large crowd in Bloomington, Illinois, the first of two comparatively docile events on Sunday.

His denials came even as political rivals continued to blame him for sowing the seeds of anger that have led to the violent confrontations.

Fights and pushing and shoving have broken out between his supporters and protesters opposing his candidacy at rallies in several states where key Republican nominating primary contests are set for Tuesday.

Authorities have arrested a small number of protesters, some inside his rallies in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and others outside on nearby streets.

WATCH: Campaign supporters, protesters clash at weekend events

In Illinois Sunday, Trump assured his backers that their frustration is righteous rage against a corrupt political and economic system. He cast his naysayers as "bad people'' who "do harm to the country.''

The billionaire real estate mogul instead cast blame on Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders for the increasingly frequent disruptions and threatened to retaliate by sending his supporters to Sanders' rallies.

No organized protest

Sanders said some of his supporters had disrupted the Trump event, but that his campaign played no role in organizing the anti-Trump protest.

At one Trump rally outside Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, a protester charged toward the stage where Trump was speaking in an airport hangar. But Secret Service agents guarding Trump intercepted the demonstrator before he reached the candidate.

At another Trump rally last week in the mid-Atlantic state of North Carolina, a 78-year-old Trump supporter sucker-punched a protester as security guards escorted the demonstrator out of the gathering.

The Trump supporter was charged with assault, with Trump telling NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday that the man got carried away. Trump said he had instructed his aides to look into paying the mans legal fees to handle his court case.

Fellow Republicans

Trumps Republican challengers, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich, as well as Democratic presidential candidate former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, all blamed Trump for the marked turn toward physical confrontations at his political rallies.

All of Trumps Republican challengers have pledged to support him if he wins the partys presidential nomination at the Republican national convention in July, after the end of the state-by-state nominating contests.

Wavering on commitment

But both Rubio and Kasich say they are wavering in their commitment should Trump get the nomination.

I think a significant number of Republicans will not vote for Trump, Rubio said, if the New York developer is the party nominee in the November national election, quite possibly against Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate.

Rubio said, Its getting harder every day to justify his pledge to support Trump if he wins the Republican presidential nomination.

US Presidential Candidate Delegate Count Delegate Count Here is an estimated delegate count for each candidate: Republicans Donald Trump: 621

Ted Cruz: 396

John Kasich: 138 Democrats Hillary Clinton: 1,561

Bernie Sanders: 800 Total delegates needed for party nomination: Democrats: 2,383 Republicans: 1,237 * As of March 16, 2016

Cruz, a conservative agitator in the halls of Congress against both Republican and Democratic leaders, said Trump would be a disaster in a general election matchup against Clinton.

The party primary elections and caucuses are apportioning delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions in July, where the presidential nominees will be formally selected. Trump and Clinton both are leading the races for their party nominations, but neither is close to the majority of convention delegates needed to claim victory.

Until now, all the state nominating contests in both parties have split the awarding of delegates roughly along the lines of the vote counts in each state.

But on Tuesday, in both Florida and Ohio, the winning Republican contenders will collect all the delegates, 99 in Florida and 66 in Ohio, in winner-take-all primaries.

Trump has been leading Rubio in Florida, but is locked in a close race in Ohio with Kasich, who governs the Midwestern state.

Clinton and Sanders will continue to collect pledged convention delegates roughly based on their vote totals in each state, not winner-take-all.

In Ohio's capital Sunday, Democrats got to compare the party's top presidential contenders up close ahead of Tuesday's primary. About 3,200 people gathered for the party's annual dinner at the Columbus convention center to hear from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Correction: Due to an erroneous Associated Press report, an early version of this story indicated that Bernie Sanders responded to Donald Trump's suggestion that he would send his supporters to Sanders campaign events by saying "Send them. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like.'' Sen. Sanders did not say or Tweet that statement.
The MUST Career Day, held by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), has reached its sixth year, with over 140 employers looking for qualified graduates to join their teams.

Organized by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Planning of MUST, the annual three-day recruitment event kicked off yesterday. It offers employment at 140 companies, including casinos, hotels, banks and financial groups, retail stores, and real estate groups. Besides those from Macau and Hong Kong, 15 mainland employers are also in attendance

According to Liu Liang, the president of MUST, during the past five years the university has contributed a total of 13,500 graduates to the labor market and to further higher-education institutions, 40 percent of whom were local residents. Among all graduates, 90 percent either began their working careers or continued on to further studies, revealed Liu.

Although both the gaming and hotel industries still dominate the event, governmental organizations, telecommunications and IT companies, and airlines are also important sources of employment. Air Macau brought its recently launched Macau Local Cadet Pilot Program to the event. Carmen Hong, human resources manager for Air Macau, told the Times, We have been attending this event for several years, but the pilot training program is new. We want to train local pilots. Hong informed the Times that Air Macau employs 30 pilots, but most of them come from Europe. Its a little bit difficult to find professionals for some positions. Good language skills is one of the criteria.

Nevertheless, the slow-down of both the gaming and hotel industries, coupled with the growing potential of other fields, has made some fresh graduates lose interest in casinos and hotels, in spite of the large numbers of students still applying for those jobs. Vivian Wong, a local hotel management student at MUST, told the Times: I am studying hotel management, so hotels and casinos are still my top choices.

A finance student surnamed Li, said that she has  no personal demands concerning salaries and other things. Its important to get a job first, and I wish to work for finance companies.

Having started in 2011, MUST Career Day is now an annual event. Beyond the job opportunities, it also features lectures on interview skills, company culture and other topics that could help students better prepare for their careers.

Around 2,500 MUST students are expected to graduate this year. Staff reporter
A forum about Arctic diplomacy slated to take place in Maines largest city will focus on issues like climate change and shipping, and put a spotlight on its host, organizers said.

The Arctic Councils Senior Arctic Officials meeting will take place in Portland from Oct. 4-6. Officials from the councils eight member nations, including the United States, and a host of non-governmental organizations will assemble for the midweek event.

The event will also likely focus on the Arctics indigenous groups and energy issues, said U.S. Ambassador for Oceans and Fisheries David Balton, who will lead the meeting. Balton said the event is the first time the council has held such a meeting on U.S. soil outside Alaska or Washington, D.C.

Its a big moment for Maine, Balton said. It reflects that U.S. is sending a message that it is an Arctic nation whose interests extend outside far outside of Alaska, and that Maine is a big piece of the puzzle, he said.

In the state of Maine, its a way to demonstrate that our issues in the Arctic could very well affect your state, Balton said.

The State Department selected Portland to host the forum. There isnt a formal agenda, but climate change is sure to be a key focus, Balton said. Leaders of the eight nations will discuss what the countries can do to implement pieces of the Paris Agreement, a global-warming accord adopted by consensus last year, he said.

Dana Eidsness, director of the Maine North Atlantic Development Office, said holding the council meeting in Maine illustrates the states long history with the Arctic and our contributions in climate science and ocean ecosystem studies through entities like Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the University of Maine.

The other member nations of the Arctic Council are Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. Each country appoints a senior arctic official to the council. Americas official is Julia Gourley, who made an appearance in Portland this month. By Patrick Whittle, Maine, AP
U.S. broadcaster CNN has dubbed Macaus economy the worst performing in the world in reference to the one-fifth contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) last year.

The report claimed that these are gloomy times in Macau, as the city continues to take a beating from Chinas anti-corruption campaign and slowing growth.

However, while growth rates may be the slowest in the world according to CNN, neither gaming magnates nor ordinary residents seem too concerned with the slowdown. With regards to the latter average incomes were still rising at the end of last year, well into the gaming slump, and the unemployment rate has remained suspended around 1.9 percent.

It is in fact small businesses in the MSAR that have been most affected by the slowdown it seems, with some retailers saying earlier this year that they are not optimistic about a recovery in retail during the first quarter of 2016.

Although Macau saw the number of tourists arriving in the MSAR remain stable last year at approximately 30 million, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) head Helena de Senna Fernandes reported that non-gaming visitor spending was down 17 percent in 2015.

Fernando Gomes, owner of popular Portuguese restaurant, Fernandos, told CNN that he has only experienced a small decline in revenues, thanks to the fact that his restaurant is frequented by both locals and tourists.

Ricardo Siu, a business and economics professor at the University of Macau, told CNN that about 60 percent of Macaus economy depends on the gaming industry, and another 11 percent on related sectors like retail, hotels and restaurants.

Weve got no buffers  all our eggs are in one basket, added Malcolm McLaughlan, general manager of the Grand Coloane Resort. To me thats the manifestation of Macau being a one-trick pony.

Analysts say that Macaus attempt to rebrand itself as less of a gaming hub and more of an all-in-one tourism and leisure destination has a long way to go.

The CNN report added that, to make matters worse, a host of new resorts are slated to open this year, including The Parisian. The influx of new rooms is making the market tougher by providing an oversupply and an collapse in room prices.

Malcolm McLaughlan said that with fewer tourists coming through hes cut room rates by about 30 percent, but he still hasnt been able to attract enough customers. DB
Given the terrorist attack that took place in the center of Ankara on Sunday, the Consulate-General of China in Istanbul issued a travel security alert to Chinese citizens. In the last six months several terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey and the government has issued an order to strengthen national security and counter-terrorism measures, reads the alert. Considering that the security situation in that country has been worsening, the Consulate-General of China in Istanbul recommended Chinese citizens to cautiously consider their recent travel plans to Turkey. The local Tourism Crisis Management Office publicized the travel alert.

Macau Pavilion at Hong Kong film and TV event

The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) are jointly participating in the 20th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market. Both departments set up the first Macau Pavilion in the event. The two offices also led a delegation of film and television industry partners from Macau to take part in the fair, that is currently held in Hong Kong until March 17.
Several thefts in different hotel rooms occurred in the territory over the weekend, the Judiciary Police (PJ) revealed yesterday during a press conference.

The unrelated cases took place in hotel units in Taipa and Cotai and targeted tourists from mainland China and Japan.

In one of the cases, two tourists from Japan were robbed of some of their property after leaving their luggage in their room to take part in a sightseeing tour.

The two tourists who were staying in a hotel located in Taipa, only noticed the next day that their luggage stored in the room had been disturbed and that they were missing one passport, a credit card, RMB2,000 in cash, a wallet worth USD500 and a laptop computer worth USD1,000.

A separate incident occurred on Friday involving another tourist, this time from mainland China, who claims to have lost a valuable wristwatch that disappeared overnight.

The tourist in question had spent the night in the hotel room with a woman from mainland China who, in addition to the tourists HKD600,000 wristwatch, also disappeared overnight.

In a similar but separate case, a 50-year-old male has lost casino chips to the sum of HKD200,000 after a night playing in a casino in the company of a 41-year-old lady from mainland China who afterward spent the night in his hotel room.

In the morning, the man noticed the absence of the lady who is alleged to have stolen the casino chips.

Four days after the incident occurred a new development transpired when police authorities intercepted the accused as she was attempting to enter the MSAR at the Border Gate checkpoint.

Questioned by the PJ, the woman confessed to having committed the crime; explaining that she had traded the chips for cash before attempting to retreat to the mainland.

From the original theft of HKD200,000, only about HKD33,000 was recovered by the police. The woman claimed that she had already spent the remainder.

Additionally, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) caught two women (aged 43 and 32) from mainland China involved in mobile phone theft scheme.

The police force said that during an anti-pickpocket operation held in Rua da Palha on Saturday they spotted two women acting suspiciously.

A follow-up of their activities revealed that one of them was stealing mobile phones from customers in the area, using an umbrella to disguise her actions. Afterward she would pass the stolen goods to the other women for storage.

Both were caught in act but that was just the tip of the iceberg as further questioning and a search of their backpacks and lodgings revealed that both had stolen a total of 11 mobile phones.
As Chinese shoppers shun Hong Kong because of rising anti-mainland sentiment, the citys retailers are hoping for some respite with the opening of their own mall in neighbouring Shenzhen.

The RMB350m (USD54m) HOKO mall, built by Hong Kongs billionaire Cheng family, is designed to give mainland consumers access to the foreign products and Hong Kong brands they crave without the hassle of crossing the border into the increasingly troubled semi-autonomous territory.

This is much easier than going to Hong Kong where there are long lines at immigration, mainland people get harassed on public transport and it is not safe after the recent riot, says Shenzhen resident Pan Meizhu, one of many Chinese shoppers who have been attracted by the Hong Kong-style shopping experience.

With floors named after Hong Kong shopping districts Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok  site of an anti-government riot last month  the mall features some of the territorys best-known brands, such as the Chengs Chow Tai Fook, the worlds biggest listed jeweller. Tenants also include shops selling health supplements and baby milk formula  must-buy goods for mainland visitors to Hong Kong who are suspicious of the quality of products sold in China.

Chan Sai Cheong, an executive at Chow Tai Fook, says foot traffic has been better than expected since the mall opened at the end of last year, and that there was strong demand from Hong Kong retailers to rent space in a second phase scheduled to open by May.

Retailers in Hong Kong, one of the worlds luxury goods hotspots, are facing tough times with December sales 8.5 percent lower than the same month last year as the number of mainland tourists continued to shrink amid political tensions and the relative strength of the Hong Kong dollar.

During the important Chinese new year shopping period, sales at Chow Tai Fook in Hong Kong and Macau slumped 23 percent year-on-year, while those of Sasa, a leading Hong Kong cosmetics chain that has a branch in HOKO, fell 20 percent.

The new mall, located in the pilot free-trade zone in fast-growing Shenzhen, is part of a Chinese government experiment to reduce the amount of money Chinese consumers spend overseas by offering tax reductions for companies using ecommerce to sell imported goods.

While some goods can be bought on the spot, to get tax discounts on foreign products, which can be as big as 17 percent for cosmetics, customers must buy goods using the malls mobile app and wait for them to be delivered several days later.

But analysts warn that on its own, the mall will do little to alleviate currency outflows from China or the woes of Hong Kong retailers.

After a golden era for Hong Kong retailers fuelled by a surge in luxury goods purchases by Chinas emerging millionaires and billionaires, Jessie Guo, a consumer industries analyst at stockbroker Jefferies, believes there is no reason to expect the magic to come back in the near term.

She says that the HOKO mall is an interesting experiment but that it is small scale compared with the huge market in Hong Kong and the even bigger market in the mainland. Ben Bland, Shenzhen. MDT/FT Exclusive
Hong Kong approved funding needed for a high-speed rail link to China after a contested vote among lawmakers, giving the green light for MTR Corp. to resume construction on the HKD84.4 billion (USD11 billion) project.

Approval was granted after the acting chairman for the finance committee Chan Kam-lam called for a vote amid protests by some lawmakers. At the briefing to announce the decision, Chan was heckled by those who opposed the project.

MTR, three-quarters owned by the government, has been criticized for budget overruns and missed completion targets on the project to connect Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in southern China. Some lawmakers have called for the link to be scrapped amid repeated delays and escalating costs that swelled to HKD84.4 billion from an earlier estimated HKD65 billion.

As of today, over 77 percent of the project has been completed, MTR Chief Executive Officer Lincoln Leong told reporters Friday at a briefing. We are confident about the current cost valuation and timetable of the project to be met.

Segments of the Hong Kong population have protested over the high costs, pollution, possible border control complications, and their unhappiness with the governments insistence on pushing through the project. Opposition to the link has been brewing since 2009 and has gained in intensity with the emergence of the localist movement, which opposes what it sees as encroachment on the local way of life by the Chinese governing and business elites.

The project could cost Hong Kong HKD75.6 billion if it was abandoned completely, the citys government said in December.

Forecasts for the projects economic return were cut to 4 percent, from 6 percent estimated in 2009, the citys Transport and Housing Bureau told lawmakers in a document in December. The government cited higher construction costs and slower economic and population growth in the Pearl River Delta region as reasons for the decline. Bloomberg
The president of the Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau (KWNC), Van Iat Kio, argues that hospitals in Macau are facing a shortage of health care professionals.

During a lecture last week, Van Iat Kio said that 60 percent of the branches of medicine are struggling to find highly qualified medics and nurses, particularly in areas of ophthalmology and cardiology. According to data provided by the Social Affairs and Culture Bureau, in 2014 only 89 nurses out of a total of 1,020 (8.7 percent), had specialized training, which pales in comparison to the 25 percent for Hong Kong.

Around eighty nine percent of doctors have medical degrees that were issued on the mainland, while Macau has trained 69.4 percent of the nurses who are currently working in local public and private hospitals. Noticeably, only 4.4 percent of high school graduates choose medical subjects.

Van Iat Kio said that only a few schools are providing a selection of majors in medical specialties, and the flourishing gaming industry has also diminished students interest in the subject. In Macau there are four higher education institutions currently offering a total of nine medicine-related degrees.

Besides the aforementioned issues, another challenge for the medical profession concerns the rate of employees working for private medical care companies who leave their jobs. It has become common to see doctors and nurses in private hospitals lured to the public medical system by the relatively higher salaries. Female nurses, who represent 95 percent of all nurses in Macau, are also thought to readily give up their careers in order to be closer to their families. Under normal conditions, they would join government departments, and others would do social work, Van Iat Kio told the Times.

Medical assistants quitting their jobs has also not been going unnoticed in the public domain. Van expressed that within the medical system, there are not many opportunities for nurses to get promoted. The president of the KWNC notes that the standards for registered medical professionals and assistants are different between local private and public hospitals. Legal regulations concerning a unified medical employee registry are under discussion, Van revealed. It will be forwarded to the Legislative Assembly later this year or early next year.

If the law is approved, doctors, dentists, nurses, physical therapists, and 11 other types of professionals will be able to obtain specific work licenses in their field. Staff reporter
Indonesian authorities yesterday bombed the last major ship internationally wanted for years of illegally taking toothfish from southern waters, reiterating a strong message to would-be poachers who enter the countrys waters.

The navy seized the Nigeria-flagged Viking on Feb. 25 operating in waters off Tanjung Berakit in Riau Islands province south of Singapore. It was one of the half dozen ships dubbed the Bandit 6 by the nonprofit Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which hunted the boats and was among those who alerted Indonesian officials when the Viking entered the countrys waters.

This is to serve as a deterrent to others, Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told reporters. She posed on the beach with a group of navy officials, their fists raised in the air with the smoking boat behind them. You may go freely in the rest of the world, but once entering Indonesia, this is the consequence.

The Viking was operating as a so-called ghost ship, frequently changing its name and registry and not broadcasting any type of satellite signal so that its whereabouts could be tracked, said Siddharth Chakravarty, Sea Shepherds campaign leader, by satellite phone from a ship in the Indian Ocean.

I wish there were more governments standing up for what they can do within their legal instruments and not worry about how international diplomacy is going to play out after that, he said, adding that the Viking had been fishing for 13 years in Antarctica and spotted 18 times, but it always escaped.

The Viking was the last in operation of the Bandit 6 known to be illegally catching toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, is popularly served in the United States, and fishing stocks are now better managed after years of plundering. However, U.S.-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommends avoiding eating the fish unless it comes from certain areas.

The Vikings Chilean captain and crew members have been detained in Indonesia. Interpol went after the ship in 2013 following a complaint from Norwegian authorities about illegal fishing in that countrys waters.

This is just a first step, said Stig Traavik, Norway ambassador to Indonesia who witnessed the bombing. In the future, it will be much more difficult to do illegal fishing, and the fish catch for local fishermen will go up.

Huge plumes of smoke and flames engulfed the Viking after the explosives were detonated. Part of the ship will be set up as a monument to mark the countrys fight against illegal fishing.

Thirteen countries had been hunting FV Viking, the cross-country illegal fishing boat. Indonesia managed to catch it, Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo wrote on Twitter.

The country has taken a tough stance against illegal fishing since Widodo took office in 2014. Pudjiastuti has seized and blown up around 150 illegal fishing boats from a number of countries after declaring a fishing moratorium for foreign vessels.

Last year, The Associated Press exposed a slave island in a remote part of eastern Indonesia where fishermen from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand had been trafficked and forced to fish with little or no pay for years at a time. Pudjiastuti responded by ordering the men rescued from the island. Since then, more than 2,000 men have been freed and returned home. Andi Jatmiko, Pangandaran, AP
The subtitles accompanying a Mandarin TVB news program aired in Hong Kong and Macau were written in simplified Chinese characters last month, sparking outrage from viewers.

More than 10,000 Hong Kong residents wrote in to TVB expressing their disdain for the change, including Hong Kong legislative councilor Claudia Mo of the Civic Party, claiming that the decision threatens the cultural integrity of the HKSAR and represents another step in the increasing mainlandization of the territory.

Those who take pride in the cultural continuity of the traditional script and believe it to be an integral part of the Special Administrative Regions heritage have long resisted the introduction of simplified Chinese characters in Macau and Hong Kong.

The resistance to the implementation of the simplified script is, however, as much a cultural issue as it is a political one. Those who seek to curtail the influence of the mainland in the two SARs are vehement that the proposed changes are a ploy by Beijing to limit the regions identities and, in the case of Hong Kong, suppress separatist tendencies.

Various media outlets including Liberty Times and Apple Daily have compared the cultural tiptoeing to a boiling frog strategy  referring to the notion that a frog placed in gradually heated water is unaware of the changing nature of its environment.

They claim that small incremental steps of mainlandization threaten to eradicate not just Macaus and Hong Kongs cultural identity, but also their political autonomy.

Opponents further claim that the introduction of simplified characters and even the propagation of the use of Mandarin is part of a plan to prepare the two SARs for their eventual political integration with the mainland, in which the first step is merely the assertion of cultural standardization.

However, in Macau there is significantly less resistance to the use of both the simplified script and traditional characters, owing to the more than 30 million mainland visitors each year and the fact that gaming operators mainly just adopt simplified Chinese for their promotional activities  though this too is sometimes criticized as a bootlicking gesture to tourists from the mainland, as one social media commentator wrote.

Professor Xu Daming of the University of Macau thinks that there is no harm in adopting simplified Chinese characters per se, however since the people of Macau are generally unhappy about it, for whatever reason, it is probably not worthwhile to displease the masses.

Its important to remember that the characters are just a tool for communication, Xu added. I would play down this part as it is not as important as the spoken language.

The linguistic issue also extends to the use of Mandarin within the two territories, which faces similar opposition when used in any formal capacity. However, as such there exist two simultaneous dialectics battling it out in cultural circles: Mandarin vs. Cantonese, and Simplified vs. Traditional.

The ideas echo themes from the recent film, Ten Years, which forewarns of a dystopian vision of Hong Kong in which the use of Cantonese is restricted.

Some observers pointed towards the use of other languages in Macau and Hong Kong, such as Portuguese and English, which are respectively the official languages in the two SARs alongside Chinese, which normally refers to Cantonese. They claim that since these are in use  and few deny that they are, or should be  there ought to be no issue accommodating Mandarin and a simplified form of Chinese characters.

Any language, especially the mother tongue, should be encouraged to be taught, said Professor Xu, who is a Mandarin speaker. This is the official position of UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization].

While many observers are not necessarily in favor of the adoption of simplified Chinese or Mandarin, they criticize the locals for their hypocrisy over the issue, accusing them of being specifically anti-mainland China.

However the difference in the case of the adoption and usage of non-Chinese languages (Romanized scripts such as English and Portuguese) is that they do not threaten to replace traditional-form Cantonese.

In the past the introduction of simplified characters by certain institutions such as restaurant chains led to the subsequent removal of their traditional counterparts.

In 2012 McDonalds decision to replace their signage in Macau with simplified characters triggered local outrage from Macau and Hong Kong based netizens.

One Facebook user asked, Why do people have to make our Macau look like mainland China? I dont want to see Simplified Chinese characters everywhere!

The simplified form, introduced by the Communist Party in the 1950s to increase the literacy rate of the uneducated peasant classes, reduces the complexity of traditional characters by altering them or omitting strokes.

In todays interconnected and globalized world, supporters of the simplified form add that this form is easier for non-Chinese Sinophiles to learn, thereby promoting Chinas culture and influence abroad. International schools  which mainly teach simplified characters  maintain that simplification can speed up the learning and writing process.

Simplified Chinese has been in use in mainland China for decades, however attempts at further revisions of the simplification have been largely unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan have maintained the use of the traditional form of written Chinese, at least in official capacities. Daniel Beitler
The controversial dystopian film Ten Years, hailed as a timely insight into the mainlands increasing intrusion into Hong Kongs political autonomy, has largely disappeared from movie theaters, leaving private showings as the only opportunity left for people to see the Hong Kong budget film.

The films disappearance has caused some observers to worry that mainland authorities may be behind the decision by some local cinemas to cancel their showings, in another example of Chinas growing intolerance of government-targeted criticism and freedom of expression in the neighboring SAR.

Ten Years portrays a dystopian vision of Hong Kong set in 2025, where Cantonese is not widely permitted in the city, nor are local agricultural products.

Despite the fact that work began on the budget movie prior to the Occupy Central movement, the alleged abduction of Causeway Bay bookstore owners and publishers, and the Chinese New Year riots that occurred last month, these recent events caused one of the directors, Chow Kwun-wai, to remark that, It is true that things in Hong Kong are happening faster than in our film.

A lot of people tell us, we do not need to wait ten years. All this is already happening, Ng Ka-leung, another of the directors, told the Guardian newspaper. We need more wisdom and courage to face the future, to face the ridiculous situation in which Hong Kong finds itself right now.

Meanwhile, Chinas Global Times labeled the film absurd, too pessimistic and a virus of the mind.

The fact that Ten Years was still drawing full houses when movie theaters pulled the film has led some to believe that mainland China has had a hand in the decision, either through censorship or merely exerting pressure.

While Hong Kong cinemas either did not respond to the Guardians enquiries or simply stated that they had too many other films to show, some in the industry have found the abrupt decision strange.

Shu Kei, a film critic and professor at Hong Kongs Academy for Performing Arts, told the Guardian that he believes China has had some influence. I think it is stupid, of course, for China to cancel the broadcasts. But this is always their reaction when they do not want people to know more about something. MDT
Eight people died at the headquarters of one of Thailands largest banks when workers accidentally triggered the release of fire extinguishing chemicals during an upgrade of the buildings safety system, officials said yesterday.

Seven other people were injured in the accident, which occurred Sunday night in the basement of the Siam Commercial Banks headquarters in Bangkok.

The bank said in a statement that an initial investigation found that the accident was caused by negligence on the part of our contractors hired to improve fire protection in the building.

Workers were upgrading a fire extinguishing system in a document archive room in the banks basement when the accident occurred, causing the release of Pyrogen aerosol, officials said. They did not elaborate.

Police were investigating the accident and the bank said it would release more information after a meeting of its board members yesterday.

Pyrogen is a chemical fire retardant normally intended to deprive fire of oxygen and is typically used in places where extinguishing a fire with water would damage documents or equipment.

Pyrogens website says the dense aerosol is most effective in unoccupied areas such as data rooms, machinery and engine spaces and other storage areas. It says people should avoid exposure to Pyrogen and any accidental exposure to the aerosol should be limited to five minutes.

The bank identified those who died as a security guard and seven contractors.

Bangkoks Erawan medical emergency center said five people died at the site of the accident and three died later at a hospital. It said the apparent cause of death was suffocation from insufficient oxygen, but that the official cause would not be known until autopsies are performed.

Seven other people suffered suffocation-related injuries, including four who were in serious condition, Erawan said. AP
Turkeys air force hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq yesterday, hours after a suicide car bombing in the capital killed 37 people and heightened tensions with the militants.

Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the groups leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets hit.

Anadolu, citing unnamed security sources, said four people suspected of direct links to the bombing were detained in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa yesterday. The report did not say in what way they were suspected of involvement. Police, meanwhile, carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining 38 suspected PKK rebels, the agency reported. Fifteen suspected Kurdish militants were also detained in Istanbul, Anadolu said.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said three more people died overnight from wounds suffered in Sunday nights suicide attack that targeted buses and people waiting at bus stops in the heart of Ankara. Around 125 people were wounded in the blast, with 71 people still hospitalized. Of those, 15 were in serious condition.

A senior government official told The Associated Press that authorities believe the attack was carried out by two bombers  one of them a woman  and was the work of Kurdish militants. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

It was the second deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants in the capital in the past month and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring terrorism to its knees.

On Feb. 17, a suicide car-bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group, which is an offshoot of the PKK, claimed responsibility.

Turkey is grappling with a host of issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, tensions with a Syrian Kurdish militia group which is affiliated with the PKK, threats from the Islamic State group and a Syrian refugee crisis.

About 210 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or the Islamic State group.

All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war, said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute in emailed comments. Ankaras ill-executed Syria policy [] has exposed Turkey to great risks. AP
POCATELLO  Statistically it has been proven that greater education opportunities translate to higher income opportunities and, believe it or not, this also holds true in the farming industry.

Area farmers and other participants had the opportunity to take advantage of some world-class education Tuesday in Pocatello during the Intermountain AgTech Conference, and that education should pay off for attendees this year as the local economy heads into what economists predict will be a less than stellar year.

No matter how smart you are, you should know what you dont know, Danny Klinefelter said. Everyone will have areas they just dont know  thats called ignorance, not stupidity. You just dont know you dont know it, so put together a peer group of people who know more than you and your operation will benefit.

Klinefelter, an Extension economist at Texas A&M, was just one of the speakers brought in by Post Register Publisher Roger Plothow, and suggested by representatives from the Idaho Department of Agriculture, the Idaho United Dairymen association, the University of Idaho, the Bank of Commerce and many others. Additional speakers included Robert Blair, author of the Unmanned Farmer blog and a drone technology promoter; software guru Adam Litle; and Jeff Manning, creator of the Got Milk? campaign.

Throughout the conference, information presented was aimed at helping the farming industry become stronger.

Running a profitable farm business is hard work, Litle said. Farmers need the right tools to succeed in todays economy as farming is rapidly consolidating and professionalizing. No matter what type of operation we are running, were not all that different.

Manning showed some funny clips from the successful Got Milk? advertising campaign and suggested that in order to get something different, farmers need to both change their behavior, but also change the way they look at things.

Concentrate on improvement in small increments, Manning said. Simple is powerful. Look for partners who benefit when you succeed for successful alliances.

Blair echoed this sentiment.

We have to start partnering with non ag companies to solve agricultural problems, we have to start looking for global solutions to current problems including the labor issue, Blair said. For every kid entering a university to study in an agricultural field there are four jobs waiting. Ag has always leaned on technology to make up for the manpower deficit.

He said that the average age of farmers nowadays is 59 and they either dont adapt well to technology or they dont want to invest the money to afford it, figuring they will be retiring before it pays off. He said that isnt true, and had the numbers to prove it.

Using drone and unmanned aerial vehicles technology he was able to produce 105 bushels of barley in a drought year on a dry farm.

Drones help make better management decisions, he said. I can fly over my entire field to see what is happening and get feedback from infrared technology about what is really happening in my fields. With great knowledge, I can then make better decisions.

Many participants expressed their interest in attending a similar event next year as the information was invaluable. As Blair stated, if farmers continue to ask questions they will get better answers, especially using new technology.

Be proactive, get more information, he said. Ask yourself these questions: What problems are we trying to solve and what technology do we have to help us?

No matter how smart you are, you should know what you dont know. Everyone will have areas they just dont know  thats called ignorance, not stupidity. Danny Klinefelter, professor and Extension economist at Texas A&M
Here, on Tuesday night and since, is a map to ponder: The Idaho split between counties whose Republicans voted for businessman Donald Trump and those who preferred Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ive been trying to align the collection of counties for either candidate with any other kind of lineup, and nothing obvious suggests itself. This may take a little creativity.

There were a dozen Trump counties, scooped out of the center of the state: from the north, Shoshone, Clearwater, Lewis, Idaho, Lemhi, Adams, Valley, Custer, Boise, Elmore, Blaine and Camas. They occupy roughly the geographic center of the state and its most lightly populated regions too; the states largest wilderness areas are there, but not one of the states 16 largest cities. (Mountain Home was the largest city in a county that went for Trump.)

But, although Cruz won all of the states larger cities, many of the states smallest, most sparsely populated and most rural counties, like Clark, Oneida, Owyhee, Lincoln, Butte and Adams, also were Cruz counties.

Analyses of counties that were more or less sparsely populated, or included more or fewer college graduates, didnt seem to match closely with the county breakdowns.

The Trump counties included the states most Democratic county, Blaine, and one or two other relatively Democratic counties (Shoshone, Lewis), but Blaine Democrats are quite different from Shoshone Democrats (or those in most of the other counties). And most of these counties are as Republican as any in Idaho. Trumps message on the economy and joblessness may have hit in some of these places, though, since counties like Adams, Clearwater and Shoshone have had especially consistent struggles with unemployment for a couple of decades.

The 32 Cruz counties occupy most of southern Idaho, including nearly all the areas touched by an interstate or near a regional center, and the north along Highway 95 and the Washington border from Lewiston to Canada. These two regions, north and south, are very different kinds of areas.

The closest to uniformity was the fourth-place finish for Ohio Gov. John Kasich in every county but Blaine  Idahos most Democratic.

The speculation that Mormons would tend to support Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came to little, apart from the point that all of the counties where Rubio reached second place  like Bonneville, Bannock, Madison, Jefferson, Teton, and Oneida  were bunched in eastern Idaho, mostly in counties with a very strong LDS presence. Rubios stop in Idaho Falls, his one counterpart stop alongside Boise in the weekend before the election, was surely no accident. Nor were the endorsements from people either leading in (businessman Frank VanderSloot) or close to (Sen. Jim Risch) the LDS community.

So why did Cruz prevail in those areas? The guess here is that last week was a bad news stretch for Rubio, and word spread that his chances of getting the nomination were crashing. That would have led to a choice between the ideological and church-oriented Cruz and the more free-form (and more secular) angry Trump. (Kasich, widely perceived  however inaccurately  as a moderate, likely wasnt a serious factor.) In that framework, the choice for many Mormons probably would have become clear.

Looked at that way, from a social and organizational point of view, the map starts to make more sense. The areas with large conservative (but not party) organizations, and those including the larger church organizations, tend to match up well with the Cruz counties. The small town areas relatively out of the pull of regional centers tended to go for Trump.

What will be worth watching is this: Will different kind of political appeals, different kinds of politics and campaigning, start to matter in these two types of areas?
Love the article on Gaddaf

i

Samosa Iyoha



Hello from Johannesburg

I was amazed to find a website for Africans in Hungary .

Looks like you have quite a community there. Here in SA we have some three million Zimbabweans living in exile and not much sign of going home ... but in Hungary??? Hope to meet you on one of my trips to Europe; was in Steirmark Austria near the Hungarian border earlier this month. Every good wish for 2011. Geoff in Jo'burg



I'm impressed by

ANH

work but...



Interesting interview...



My comment to the interview with his excellency Mr. Adedotun Adenrele Adepoju CDA a.i--

B.Ayo Adams

click to read editor's mail

We must rise above tribalism & divide & rule of the colonialist who stole & looted our treasure & planted their puppets to lord it over us..they alone can decide on whosoever is performing & the one that is corrupt..but the most corrupt nations are the western countries that plunder the resources of other nations & make them poorer & aid the rulers to steal & keep such ill gotten wealth in their country..yemen,syria etc have killed more than gadhafi but its not A good investment for the west(this is laughable)because oil is not in these countries..when obasanjo annihilated the odi people in rivers state, they looked away because its in their favour & interest..one day!I think from what have been said, the Nigerian embassy here seem to be more concern about its nationals than we are for ourselves. Our complete disregard for the laws of Hungary isn't going to help Nigeria's image or going to promote what the Embassy is trying to showcase. So if the journalists could zoom-in more focus on Nigerians living, working and studying here in Hungary than scrutinizing the embassy and its every move, i think it would be of tremendous help to the embassy serving its nationals better and create more awareness about where we live . Taking the issues of illicit drugs and forged documents as typical examples.. there are so many cases of Nigerians been involved. But i am yet to read of it in e.news. So i think if only you and your journalists could write more about it and follow up on the stories i think it will make our nationals more aware of what to expect. I wouldn't say i am not impressed with your work but you need to be more of a two way street rather than a one way street . Keep up the good work... SylviaHe is an intelligent man. He spoke well on the issues! Thanks to Mr Hakeem Babalola for the interview it contains some expedient information..
Below is a link to Friday Pick posts and a link for Sharing Beyond Books post, where winners are shown each week.Here is the post for 2018 book giveaway winners
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The Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) recently released a copy of the Notice of Award for the Jacinto-class Patrol Vessel (JCPV) upgrade Phase 3B project. with the project awarded to a joint venture between Filipino company Propmech Corporation, and Swedish defence company SAAB A.B.





This project was previously discussed in a MaxDefense blog released in October last year. For those who haven't had any idea about the project, please read the blog entry with the link provided below.









To summarize, the JCPV Phase 3B involves the upgrade and rehabilitation of the Oto Melara 76mm Compact naval gun, and upgrade of Electro-Optical Fire Control System and Sensors for a single Jacinto-class patrol vessel .





BRP Artemio Ricarte (PS-37), one of the Jacinto-class patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy. MaxDefense believes that this ship will be receiving the upgrades under the JCPV Phase 3B project.

Photo taken from Wikimedia.

The Notice of Award from the DND, which was received by Propmech-SAAB JV's representative as of December 2015.

Photo taken from Timawa defense forum c/o 40niner_com.







The Joint Venture:





Tomas Batilo-class patrol gunboats. Propmech Corporation has been involved with several Philippine Navy projects for many years now, being the prime contractor for the Multi-Purpose Attack Craft Mks I, II and III; the Tagbanua-class Landing Craft Utility ; and several refurbishing or upgrade projects of existing ships of the Philippine Navy including the-class patrol gunboats.





SAAB A.B is a new entrant to the AFP Modernization Program, although they have been offering a lot of their products to the Armed Forces of the Philippines for decades now. As a group, they manufacture and supply radars, surveillance subsystems, underwater systems, and fighter aircraft.





Being the winner of the JCPV Phase 3B project, it is still unclear how the 2 companies will divide the work, but based on previous experience we can have some guestimate on what they might possibly do.









Both companies have been industry leaders in their own field, with Propmech leading in the local scene with successful naval projects in their portfolio, while SAAB is a global leader in defence. Combining their strengths is expected to produce results for the JCPV Phase 3B project of the Philippine Navy.









Project's Scope of Works:





Saab will definitely provide the subsystems and technical know-how for the upgrade of the fire control system and sensors.





Currently, SAAB has in products in its line-up that may suit the needs of the project, specifically the EOS-500 electro-optical director , which is ideal for the Oto Melara 76mm Compact and the MSI Seahawk 25mm naval gun systems. Currently the Jacinto-class patrol vessel utilizes a single Radamec 1500 series EO/IR FCS on top of the bridge, and is used to direct both the 76mm and 25mm guns towards a single target.





SAAB's products are among the best in the industry, and its use in the Philippine Navy would indeed be a leap forward to improve the ship's capability.

Currently the JCPV uses the Radamec 1500 series EO/IR FCS (top photo, in red circle) acquired more than a decade ago, and it will be replaced with a new system. SAAB is expected to use its EOS-500 electro-optical director for the JCPV Phase 3B's requirement to improve the Fire Control System of the ship.

Top photo taken from Timawa.net defense forum, bottom photo taken from Saab's website.









It is expected that SAAB won't be using its more capable, heavier, and costlier CEROS 200 fire control radar , which is only effective if the ship will also have semi-active surface-to-air missile systems which is not possible on the JCPV due to size and weight considerations. Combined with the 9LV Gun Control Module, the EOS 500 would be suitable enough for use on the automated gun systems of the ship against surface and aerial targets





SAAB also manufactures the CEROS 200 lightweight fire control radar. But it appears that a Fire Control Radar is not among the products required for the JCPV upgrade project.

Photo taken from SAAB's website.



MaxDefense believes that Propmech, being the local representative of the joint venture, will be in-charge of the physical work, coordination, and installation of subsystems of the ship. The work will be conducted in a facility that they have a subcontract with, as they don't have their own shipyard.



As a joint venture, Propmech-SAAB would probably get a sub-contractor supply the navigation radar system, and for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Oto Melara 76mm Compact naval gun, which are currently not a trade speciality of both companies. Saab does not have a navigation radar in its product line, and it is unlikely that they will use their more expensive 3D surveillance radar systems like the Sea Giraffe family for this project.







Photo taken from Upgrade and rehabilitation of the 76mm Oto Melara naval are not core competencies of Propmech and Saab, so it is expected that they will get a subcontractor to do the job for them.Photo taken from Len Joson's collection





There are no further information yet on what ship will be undertaking the JCPV Phase 3B based on information from DND or PhilGEPS.





But MaxDefense sources indicated that the most possible ship to receive this upgrade is BRP Artemio Ricarte (PS-37), which is scheduled for dock works in Cebu very soon.











Problems and Deficiencies of the Program:





This was already discussed in the previous blog entry, but for discussion's sake, MaxDefense is reviving this again in this blog entry.





1. Separating a single ship's project instead of consolidating the two projects into one for all 3 ships of the class is something MaxDefense does not agree with. This opens the possibility that there will be 2 different groups winning the project, one each with their own different products, logistics train, and trade competency. This means we could see a single class of only 3 ships but having 2 different navigation radars, fire control systems, electro-optical and radar directors, and processes in rehabilitating the 76mm Compact gun. MaxDefense believes this is absurd and illogical.





MaxDefense was already told by other sources that there is already a winning bidder for the Phase 3A project, and it is not Propmech-SAAB JV. This will be discussed later on as more accurate information comes in.





Among the bidders for the JCPV Phase 3A project is Ultra Electronics, which manufactures its own EO/IR Fire Control System (above). If another company wins the 3A phase instead of Propmech-SAAB, it means that 1 ship may have a different EO/IR FCS systems, as well as a navigation radar system.

Photo taken from Ultra Electronics website.







2. It is also yet unclear if the budget allocated by the DND and Philippine Navy is enough for the bidders to use a military-grade tactical navigation radar instead of a commercial-spec one. According to sources, military grade radar has better performance in detection of small targets like asymmetric threats, stealthy patrol boats or surface combatants, or even periscopes, which is normally difficult to detect using a commercial-spec navigation radar. But it is costlier than standard commercial-grade navigation radar.



Also, MaxDefense believes that the Philippine Navy should have used the upgrade program to improve the use of the Jacinto-class ships into domain awareness platforms with the introduction of at least a 2D air & surface search radar system. The navigation radars won't be able to provide aerial surveillance information as it is mostly used for surface detection, and at best, near sea level (very low level) aerial detection.



The PN should have used most of its platforms to provide a wider maritime and aerial domain awareness capability and contribute to a bigger picture to a wider group. The JCPV project is a missed chance for such capability to be introduced to the class.





The Philippine Navy should have opted to provide the Jacinto-class patrol vessels with a air & surface search radar that is more capable in detecting surface and aerial targets than the standard navigation radar. A 2D system like the Terma Scanter 4100 (above) would have been a great addition to allow the JCPV to contribute further in maritime and aerial domain awareness capabilities of the Philippine Navy.

Photo taken from Terma's website.



3. With the DND acquiring missile systems from Rafael Advanced Systems for the upcoming MPAC Mk.3 to be built by Propmech-Lung Teh joint venture , would it not be better if the JCPV was also considered by the Philippine Navy to be installed with a lightweight air defense system like a MANPADS-based type? But since the ship won't be installed with an air search radar (as discussed in Item #3), even a short ranged one, this would be rendered ineffective against fast moving targets with just using the visual detection.





A VSHORAD air defense component like the MBDA Mistral Simbad system would have been a great addition to the ship's upgrade program. A single mount on the superstructure would not be heavy enough to create top-weight problems that are inherent with the Jacinto-class patrol vessel's design.

Photo taken from Wikipedia.



How About Phase 3A Project?



MaxDefense sources informed that the DND already awarded the JCPV Phase 3A Project to another contractor, although this needs further clarification just to be sure. As the information relayed says, the winner was not Propmech-Saab, but another group. It is expected that if the project was only awarded recently, the Notice of Award might only be released in a month or two.



MaxDefense will provide more information later on, upon confirmation of these information. In the meantime, stay tuned on our Facebook page which will probably be the first place MaxDefense will post additional information on the project.








Moroccans from all over the country gathered in capital city Rabat on Sunday March 13 for a march to reaffirm their attachment to their Sahara and reiterate that the Sahara is Moroccan and will remain Moroccan.

The march was staged at the initiative of political parties, trade unions and civil society NGOs in response to the statements made by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during his visit last week in the Tindouf camps and in Algiers, statements decried as biased and provocative by the Moroccan Government, Parliament and people.

Over three million Moroccans came to Rabat to participate in the protest march and express their shock and dismay at Ban Ki-moons statements where he spoke of the Sahara as an occupied territory and referred to the obsolete self-determination referendum option that was deemed by UN senior officials as unrealistic and unworkable. He should have rather talked about the Morocco-proposed autonomy plan considered by the Security Council and the international community as a credible and serious basis for a political solution to the Sahara issue.

In response to Bans remarks, the Moroccan Government issued a strong statement denouncing these remarks as being politically incorrect, outrageous and as hurting the feelings of the whole Moroccan people.

The Government also blamed the UN Chief for his failure to adopt a neutral position and for having violated the commitments and guarantees given to Morocco, pointing out that Bans comments are unprecedented and against the resolutions of the Security Council.

On the eve of the Rabat march, the two chambers of the Moroccan Parliament held an extraordinary session and issued a joint statement condemning the provocative and biased stance of the UN Secretary General, and decrying his statements as a blatant breach of the principle of impartiality that a UN Secretary General needs to observe imperatively.

For Moroccan MPs, this deliberate breach by the Secretary General aims at covering his own failure to make any tangible progress towards the settlement of the Sahara issue.

Moroccos allies and friends also deplored Ban Ki-Moons blunder. At a meeting held on Wednesday in Riyadh, the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and of Jordan threw their support behind Morocco and hailed its autonomy plan as a laudable and ambitious initiative seeking to end the conflict.

France renewed its unchanged stance on the Sahara conflict and said that the issue is the subject of a UN mediation that France supports within the parameters set by the Security Council.

According to Moroccan al Massae daily, the United States also considered the comments of the UN Secretary General, who should stick to the obligation of neutrality in the conflict as a call to aggravate the security situation in the region.

Washington is upset and told so Ban Ki-moon, wrote the daily, quoting well informed sources.

According to these sources, Washington categorically rejects Ban Ki-moons statements as contrary to the role assigned to him as a facilitator of dialogue between the conflicting parties.

The United States supports the resolutions of the Security Council, the only body empowered to rule on the dispute over the Sahara, stated Al Massae, adding that Washington has reportedly said that the Security Council will remain true to the initial choice, namely the search for a fair solution accepted by the parties to the conflict. For the daily, Washington has thus distanced itself from the UN Chiefs biased statements.

The popular mobilization for the Sunday historic march and the support voiced by Moroccos allies reminded Moroccans of the epic of the 1975 Green March which enabled Morocco to peacefully retrieve its southern provinces that were under Spanish dominion.
The historic visit King Mohammed VI is paying to the Russian Federation starting Sunday ushers in a new era of cooperation between the two countries looking forward toward building a common future.

During this landmark visit, which takes place in a particular international juncture in the Middle East and the Arab world, the Moroccan Sovereign will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders will also chair the signing ceremony of several bilateral agreements destined to strengthen further partnership between the two countries.

Morocco and Russia have long-standing relations based on mutual respect and shared resolve to set out a sound model of partnership between a leading world super-power and an emerging country which enjoys political stability and sustained socioeconomic development in a troubled region.

Moroccan-Russian relations date back to 1777, when Sultan Mohammed III Ben Abdallah reached out to Empress Catherine II of Russia to set up contacts and trade between the two empires.

Russia opened a General Consulate in Tangier in 1897 while diplomatic relations between the ex-Soviet Union and Morocco were established in 1958.

Despite their divergent socioeconomic and political systems during that era, the two countries have maintained political relations based on mutual respect and non-interference in each others internal affairs.

The ideological differences between Morocco and the ex-USSR did not prevent the two countries from regarding each other as a positive partner sharing mutual strategic interests.

The Moroccan-Russian relations are governed by a number of cooperation agreements in the fields of economy, technologies, culture, sciences, trade, air transport, fishing

Relations between Rabat and Moscow continued after the collapse of USSR. And since then, in the era of both the late President Boris Yeltsin and the current President Vladimir Putin, relations between the two countries have been gaining momentum. The North African Kingdom has become now one of the most important strategic partners of Russia in the Arab world and Africa.

King Mohammed VI had visited Moscow in 2002. This visit was crowned with the signing of a strategic partnership declaration, setting a road-map for a win-win cooperation in trade, information technology, fisheries and various other sectors.

In their joint declaration, the two countries had also pledged to enhance political consultations and economic and parliamentary cooperation. They had sealed an important memorandum of understanding between the state-owned space corporation Roskosmos and Royal Centre for Remote Sensing in space technologies.

For his part, President Putin visited Morocco on 7 September 2006. These top visits gave a new impetus to diplomatic relations and coordination between the two countries in international fora thanks to their convergent views regarding several regional and international issues of common interest.
A bomb attack on Sunday at a bus station near Guven Park in Ankara killed at least 37people and left more than 125 injured. Prime Minister Davutoglu postponed his scheduled Tuesday visit to Jordan after the heinous attack and promised that Turkey will continue its fight against terror with determination before warning that the treacherous powers targeting the country will be punished severely.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but security officials said there is evidence that one of the bombers was a female who joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2013. She is reported to be from the eastern city of Kars and born in 1992. The government has not officially held any group responsible but claims that it has concrete information of those behind the attack.

Meanwhile, several suspected militants of the PKK have been rounded up in the south eastern town of Sirnak and a 24hour curfew has been declared. South eastern Turkeys population is dominated by Kurds and the region has been devastated by Ankaras fight against PKK.

Shortly after the attack, state news agency reported military airstrikes targeting the PKK in northern Iraq but did not state if it was in reaction to the blast. Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 alleged positions of the group including the Qandil Mountains where the groups leadership is based.

Aso Talabani, Iraqi Kurdistan regional government representative in Moscow, claimed that civilians are suffering the most from the Turkish airstrikes and there is a lot of collateral damage. He told RIA Novosti that Turkey would not hesitate to bomb a house full of civilians just to kill a PKK militant.
The United States on Friday said Uganda has persistently violated the rights of its citizens and media in the aftermath of last months presidential election.

The election has been criticized by the European Union observer mission, which said that the security forces created an intimidating atmosphere for both voters and candidates, while the US State Department also called reported irregularities deeply inconsistent with democracy.

According to US State Department spokesman John Kirby, Ugandas repeated detention of opposition figures and harassment of their supporters are unacceptable activities in a free and democratic society.

The United States and Uganda have a long standing and strong partnership that has contributed to the stability and prosperity of the region, the spokesman said before expressing Washingtons concern that the Ugandan governments recent actions could endanger the economic and political progress that has enabled our relationship to grow.

Ugandas President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, was re-elected for his fifth term last month after winning a poll marked by violence.

Museveni, the 71-year-old son of a cattle herder, won 60 per cent of the 9.7 million votes, defeating his closest rival Kizza Besigye, who took 35 per cent, according to the Electoral Commission.

Election observers, who include the Commonwealth Observer Mission and the European Observer Mission, say the ballot fell short of key democratic benchmarks after the shutdown of social media sites Facebook and Twitter and the arrest of the opposition candidate, Besigye.

Museveni scored strong economic growth but is accused at home and abroad of repression of dissent and failing to tackle rampant corruption in the nation of 37 million people.
Micrograph showing a lymph node invaded by ductal breast carcinoma, with extension of the tumour beyond the lymph node. Credit: Nephron/Wikipedia

A University of Houston researcher and his team have discovered an important link between alcohol and breast cancer by identifying a cancer-causing gene triggered by alcohol.

"Alcohol consumption is prevalent among women in the U.S. and is a risk factor for breast cancer," said UH cancer biologist Chin-Yo Lin. "Our research shows alcohol enhances the actions of estrogen in driving the growth of breast cancer cells and diminishes the effects of the cancer drug Tamoxifen on blocking estrogen by increasing the levels of a cancer-causing gene called BRAF."

Lin, an assistant professor with the UH Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling and the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, and his former Ph.D. student, Nicholes Candelaria, describe their findings in a paper titled "Alcohol Regulates Genes that Are Associated with Response to Endocrine Therapy and Attenuates the Actions of Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer Cells," recently appearing in PLOS ONE, an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science. Lin and Candelaria, who graduated from UH in 2015 and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine, collaborated with renowned alcohol researcher Rajesh Miranda, a professor at Texas A&M University.

It is estimated that tens of thousands of breast cancer cases in the U.S. and Europe each year are attributable to alcohol consumption and that drinking is also associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence in women with early stage breast cancer.

The study objective was to determine how alcohol can affect the actions of estrogen in breast cancer cells. The research team not only established that alcohol increases estrogen-induced cell proliferation, but their findings also provide a direct link between alcohol, estrogen and a cancer-causing gene in promoting cancer cell growth.

They found that alcohol inappropriately promotes sustained expression of BRAF, even in the absence of estrogen, thereby mimicking or enhancing the effects of estrogen in increasing the risk of breast cancer. Another key finding was that alcohol weakened Tamoxifen's ability to suppress the rapid growth of cancer cells. Lin and his colleagues posit that their results suggest exposure to alcohol may affect a number of cancer-related pathways and mechanisms. They say these findings not only shed light on mechanistic actions of alcohol in breast cancer, but also provide fresh insight to the cross-talk between alcohol and cancer-related gene pathways and networks in breast cancer.

Their ultimate goal is to use this knowledge in breast cancer prevention, but Lin says their findings also have implications for women who are undergoing hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, as alcohol can affect the actions of the hormones they take to manage their symptoms. The research highlights potential long-term health effects for college-age women, as well, who might find themselves in situations where heavy or binge drinking is part of the social environment.

"We hope these and future findings will provide information and motivation to promote healthy behavioral choices, as well as potential targets for chemoprevention strategies to ultimately decrease breast cancer incidents and deaths within the next decade," Lin said. "We want to provide women, in general, with more information and insight to be better able to balance their consumption of alcoholic beverages with the potential health risks, including cancer patients who may want to take into consideration the potential detrimental effects alcohol consumption might have on treatments and modify their behavior and habits accordingly."

Explore further Fixing the alcohol tax system could reduce harms, new study shows
Credit: George Hodan/Public Domain

A chemical discovered in the Bruce Hammock laboratory at the University of California, Davis, may be a new, innovative tool to control depression, a severe and chronic psychiatric disease that affects 350 million persons worldwide.

The research, published March 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involves studies of an inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase in rodents. Soluble epoxide hydrolase, or sEH, is emerging as a therapeutic target that acts on a number of inflammatory or inflammation-linked diseases.

"The research in animal models of depression suggests that sEH plays a key role in modulating inflammation, which is involved in depression," said Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology with a joint appointment at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Inhibitors of sEH protect natural lipids in the brain that reduce inflammation and neuropathic pain. Thus, these inhibitors could be potential therapeutic drugs for depression."

Researchers from Hammock's laboratory, collaborating with depression expert Kenji Hashimoto and colleagues at the Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Japan, examined the role of the potent sEH inhibitor known as TPPU, in a rodent model of depression, "social defeat."

They found that TPPU displayed rapid effects in both inflammation and social-defeat-stress models of depression. Expression of sEH protein was higher in key brain regions of chronically stressed mice than in control mice, they found.

New therapeutic approach:

"Most drugs for psychiatric diseases target how neurons communicate; here we are targeting the wellness and environment of the neurons," said UC Davis researcher Christophe Morisseau.

In further explaining the significance of the findings, UC Davis researcher Karen Wagner said: "The rapid antidepressant action of the sEH inhibitor in these murine (mouse) models of depression is truly noteworthy because current antidepressants used in humans and animal models take weeks to have full effects."

The researchers also discovered that postmortem brain samples of patients with psychiatric diseases, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, showed a higher expression of sEH than controls.

The researchers found that pretreatment with TPPU prevented the onset of depressionlike behaviors in mice after induced inflammation or repeated social-defeat stress. Mice lacking the sEH gene did not show depressionlike behavior after repeated social-defeat stress.

"All these findings suggest that sEH plays a key role in the pathophysiology of depression and that epoxy fatty acids, and their mimics as well as sEH inhibitors, are potential therapeutic or prophylactic drugs for depression," Hashimoto said.

Addresses a pressing need:

Robert E. Hales, distinguished professor of clinical psychiatry and the Joe P. Tupin Endowed Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine, said new medication treatment approaches are needed to treat depression.

Hales, who was not involved in the research, said the new paper represents "an important and novel approach to treating depression."

"With lifetime prevalence rates of major depressive disorder being in the range of 16 percent and with nearly two-thirds of patients failing to respond to pharmacologic treatments, there is a pressing need to discover new medication treatment approaches," Hales said. "Their findings lend support to the potential use of TPPU, a sEH inhibitor, as a new therapeutic medication to prevent and treat depression."

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More information: Gene deficiency and pharmacological inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase confers resilience to repeated social defeat stress, PNAS,

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1601532113 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Gene deficiency and pharmacological inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase confers resilience to repeated social defeat stress,
Researchers estimate that each year 1,825 college students ages 18-24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle collisions. About 20 percent of college students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder, with one in four college students report adverse academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.

"Alcohol abuse, binge drinking in particular, is thought to be a rite of passage for college students; but in reality it's a very serious health epidemic in the United States," said Peter Hendricks, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Alabama at BirminghamSchool of Public HealthDepartment of Health Behavior. "It is important to understand what alcohol is, why it's problematic, and what a person can do to minimize the risk should they choose to drink."

Understanding alcohol

Moderate drinking, as defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men, translating to seven or fewer drinks per week for women and 14 or fewer drinks per week for men. A standard drink is a 12-ounce beer, 8-ounces of malt liquor, a 5-ounce glass of wine or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor.

Binge drinking, which is especially problematic, is four drinks in two hours for women and five drinks in two hours for men. More than one-third of college students engage in binge drinking monthly.

"Alcohol leads to impulsive decisions and can be addictive," Hendricks said. "Even though it's legal for those 21 years of age and older, college students should be aware of the dangers of drinking alcohol."

Dangers of binge drinking

Megan McMurray, clinical psychology intern at UAB, notes that drinking alcohol in excess is dangerous and can quite easily lead to death. Overdose of alcohol can occur when a person has blood alcohol content sufficient to produce impairments that increase the risk of harm. Age, drinking experience, gender, the amount of food eaten and even ethnicity can influence BAC. Critical signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning include:

Confusion

Vomiting

Seizures

Slow breathing

Irregular breathing

Hypothermia

"As BAC increases, so does alcohol's effects and the risk for harm," McMurray said. "Even small increases in BAC can decrease coordination, make a person feel sick and impair judgment. This can lead to injury from falls or car crashes, leave one vulnerable to sexual assault or other acts of violence, and increase the risk for unprotected, unintended intercourse."

McMurray explained further, "When BACs get even higher, amnesia or blackouts occur. If a person has signs of alcohol poisoning, it is very dangerous to assume that an unconscious person will be fine by "sleeping it off.'"

Alcohol acts as a depressant, impairing basic bodily functions, such as the gag reflex, leaving people vulnerable to choking on their own vomit and dying in their sleep. Alcohol can also irritate the stomach, making the suppression of the gag reflex especially problematic.

Furthermore, on a national level, 696,000 students between the ages of 18-24 are assaulted every year by another student who has been drinking and 97,000 students between the ages of 18-24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year.

Minimizing the risk

According to an article published in Lancet in 2010, alcohol is rated as the single most harmful of all abused substances, ranking higher than heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine.

"Alcohol is ingrained in our culture, and binge drinking is perceived as a lighthearted, fun and humorous rite of passage among college students," Hendricks said. "It's crucial to communicate the dire risks of binge drinking and challenge the notion that alcohol use is a normal and harmless part of the college experience."

Hendricks recommends that those under the legal drinking age of 21 refrain from drinking alcohol. Moderate drinking (again, no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women) may be considered for those over the age of 21. Hendricks offers suggestions that may help reduce the harm of immoderate alcohol use:

Alternate each alcoholic beverage with a glass of water.

Eat a full meal before drinking occasions.

Sip drinks slowly and avoid taking shots, chugging or using a beer bong, as drinking quickly leads to a steep BAC curve and subsequent impairment.

Do not mix alcohol with other drugs as this increases risk of toxicity and harm. Mixing alcohol with benzodiazepines (for example, Xanax and Klonopin) is especially problematic and can lead to death.

Have a safe ride home by designating a driver or using public transportation, taxi or safe rides.

Never leave your friends.

Do not accept drinks from someone you do not know. Never take your eyes off of your drink.

Intoxicated individuals cannot provide consent to sexual contact or intercourse. Sexual contact or intercourse with an inebriated person may be considered rape in most states.

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More information: David J Nutt et al. Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis, The Lancet (2010). Journal information: The Lancet David J Nutt et al. Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis,(2010). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6
Higher risk of schizophrenia. Credit: www.shutterstock.com

Hans J. Eysenck, one of the most famous and infuriating British psychologists of the 20th century, would have been 100 years old this month. While Eysenck pioneered behaviour therapy (paving the way for the acceptance of cognitive behavioural therapy) and argued for the necessity of evidence-based medicine and meta-analysis, in later years his reputation was eroded by his hugely controversial writings on race and IQ and his largely unproductive forays into astrology, and research on smoking.

Eysenck's thoughts on IQ and genetics were also hugely unpopular. He argued that general intelligence (a broad measure of mental capacity) had a genetic basis, which is associated with a wide variety of life outcomes, including socioeconomic difference. When coupled with the race-IQ controversy, all of this was explosive stuff and Eysenck was regularly criticised for his views and even, on one occasion, physically attacked. In 1973, a female protester punched him in the face at a London School of Economics event.

Eysenck believed that intelligence was the most important concept in social sciences. So it's no surprise that this topic book-ended his scientific career: IQ was the focus of his first scientific paper in the late 1930s and his last book, Genius, in the late 1990s. However, a hundred years on from his birth, now is a good time to ask whether he was right about this particular point after all.

The latest evidence

In a recent paper, Hagenaars and colleagues reported on a study of over 100,000 people showing that there are shared genetic influences on intelligence, a range of diseases (including coronary artery disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, autism and depression), as well as body mass index, infant head circumference and brain size.

These findings point to "pleiotropic" effects, that is, when one gene influences two or more seemingly unrelated traits. In this case, cognitive function, physical health and psychiatric disorders.

In this study, intelligence was measured in three ways: by verbal numerical reasoning, memory and speed of reactions. These have little or nothing to do with traditional "book learning" measures of intelligence. Being good at cognitive tests is associated with many lifelong benefits.

These results support previous findings which show that being smarter is positively associated with greater longevity and negatively associated with many disease risk factors (such as high blood-pressure). It is also related to lower levels of physical illness and lower levels of some psychiatric disorders. The reasons for these associations remain unclear, but now the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to fall into place.

However, Hagenaars and colleagues' study shows that being smart has its downsides. The researchers found that some genetic variants associated with a university-level education were related to a higher genetic risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. Although associations between educational success and the last two disorders have been found before, the one with schizophrenia is new. Perhaps genius and madness do go together after all  something which Eysenck also believed and to which his book Genius was devoted to in 1996.

Hagenaars and colleagues' work is important, not so much for trumpeting the relevance and predictive power of cognitive tests, as well as reaction time measures of intelligence (which it does), but for revealing to us a number of significant things. First, mental and physical health are closely related  something that Eysenck believed all of his life. Second, the ability to do various cognitive tests may be a good indicator of general physical, as well as psychological well-being. And third, it should now be possible to determine what is truly caused by social disadvantage (for example, poverty) and what is properly to be attributed to common genetic influence on intelligence, health and wealth.

We can also now begin to examine the genes that give rise to physical and psychological vulnerabilities. Once we know how they work, then we may get useful clues to how their effects can be modified. For example, it may be possible to counteract their negative effects and raise the level of specific abilities by education that is tailored to the individual rather than one that is one-size-fits-all. Also, we may find out more about the non-genetic environmental effects of poverty.

Such research would show something else of importance: it is a mistake to believe that genes are destiny. They are only destiny when we don't understand their actions and do nothing to prevent their negative outcomes.

Although Eysenck conducted one of the earliest statistical genetic studies on twins, and he worked closely with experts in genetics, he did very little empirical work on the association between genetics and intelligence. His influence came in the form of his ideas and writings  and from his championing of this most unpopular scientific cause.

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This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


According to the American Heart Association, ischemic strokes account for nearly 90 percent of all strokes. They occur when a blocked artery prevents blood from getting to the brain and usually result in long-term disability or death. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Missouri School of Medicine has developed a new, real-time method of imaging molecular events after strokes - a finding that may lead to improved care for patients.

"During an ischemic stroke, harmful enzymes called gelatinase become overactive in areas of the brain where blood flow is cut off," said Zezong Gu, Ph.D., an associate professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the MU School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Over-activation of these enzymes causes brain damage. Our team hypothesized that if we could visualize and track this activity in real-time, we could then work on developing a way to block the activity and prevent brain damage from occurring."

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to diagnose strokes because it produces precise, sectional images of the brain. Although these images can verify the region of arterial blockages within the brain, current contrast agents are not specific or sensitive enough to reveal important molecular events, such as gelatinase activity, on an MRI image.

To overcome this obstacle, the researchers used peptides that specifically recognize gelatinase activity. The peptides were tagged with contrast agents through a process developed by research team member Roger Tsien, Ph.D., a biochemist and Nobel Laureate at the University of California, San Diego.

"Once the tagged peptides traveled to the site of increased gelatinase activity, they were absorbed into the cells with this activated enzyme," Gu said. "When enough of these peptides were absorbed, the stroke site was visible on an MRI. We tested this technique in both cell-based and mouse models of ischemic stroke. Using this method, we successfully tracked gelatinase activity."

Gu suggests that real-time imaging of this activity could lead to a better understanding of how to treat strokes and mediate the damage they cause.

"Our findings indicate that tagged peptides can be used as a non-invasive probe to detect and track gelatinase activity," Gu said. "This process may serve as an additional tool for clinicians to treat their patients if a viable inhibitor can be developed to prevent the damage caused by this activity."

Gu and his team currently are working to develop such a gelatinase inhibitor.

The study, "Gelatinase Activity Imaged by Activatable Cell-penetrating Peptides in Cell-based and In Vivo Models of Stroke," recently was published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

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The vast majority of Canadians in correctional facilities have mental health and substance abuse issues as well as a high rate of suicide attempts and completions compared to the general population, a comprehensive review of studies on detainees' health has found.

The study led by Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian, a post-doctoral fellow with the Centre for Research on Inner City Health of St. Michael's Hospital, also found that more than half the people incarcerated in federal prisons or provincial jails have experienced childhood abuse.

"The health of this population is poor compared to the general Canadian population with respect to socioeconomic status, deaths in custody, mental health, substance use, communicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health," said Dr. Kouyoumdjian. "The time in custody could provide a unique opportunity to intervene to improve their health."

Dr. Kouyoumdjian, a public health physician, examined studies on prisoner/inmate health conducted between 1993 and 2014, as well as websites of relevant government and non-government organizations, and published the results today in the journal Canadian Family Physician.

Among the findings:

The vast majority of people in correctional facilities have mental health and substance abuse issues. (For example, 91.7 per cent of men in provincial custody in Edmonton had mental health or substance abuse issues in their lifetime in one study compared to 43.7 per cent of the general population.)

More than one in five people in custody have attempted suicide.

More than two-thirds of adults and youth in custody are smokers, compared to 16 per cent of Canadians. Alcohol use is common in this population, and many people begin using drugs and alcohol at a young age.

Injection drug use is common, with about one in 10 adults reporting having injected in the months prior to admission and one in 20 youth reporting ever injecting. People continue to use drugs in custody, including by injection.

A large number of persons report prior hospitalization for psychiatric illness -30.1 per cent of women and 14.5 per cent of men admitted to federal custody in 2007 and 2008.

"As the United Nations Committee on Torture and the Correctional Investigator of Canada have called for the prohibition of segregation for people with serious mental illness or acute mental illness, the use of segregation is likely inappropriate for the majority of people in custody," Dr. Kouyoumdjian said.

Most people in custody experienced major adverse events in childhood, such as witnessing family violence, having one or more parents absent, or being involved with the child welfare system. At least half report a history of childhood physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. About 15 per cent to 20 per cent of Aboriginal persons in federal facilities have attended residential schools.

The socioeconomic status of this population is low, as indicated by a lack of housing, low employment rates, low educational achievement, and low income status. One fifth of men in provincial custody in Toronto in 2009 and 2010 reported being homeless at the time of admission and more than half of youth in custody in British Columbia in 2012 and 2013 had ever been homeless. The majority of adults in custody have not completed high school.

In Canada, there are more than 250,000 adult admissions each year to correctional facilities, about 8,000 of which are to federal custody, and 14,000 youth admissions each year. On an average day, there are about 40,000 people in correctional facilities.

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The election is over - what now for minorities?

Ronit Lentin

Now that the General Election is behind us, it is evident that Irish voters have expressed their disenchantment with the Fine Gael/Labour coalition and their preference for left-wing, Sinn Fein and independent candidates. The composition and length of service of the next Government is as yet unclear, but it is obvious that little attention has been paid by the various parties to racism, anti-racism, migrants, direct provision or deportations and that this, as demanded by the elections manifesto of the migrant-led coalition, must change.

A quick survey of party manifestos conducted before the elections by the European Network Against Racism (Enar) Ireland revealed that while the Anti Austerity Alliance (AAA) and People Before Profit (PBP) union expressed opposition to all forms of racism including against Travellers, migrants and Muslims, other parties made no reference to racism, beyond FGs usual platitudes about integration and about renewing the derisory National Plan Against Racism.

Only Sinn Fein mentioned hate crime legislation in relation to racism, and only the AAA expressed explicit opposition to State racism and all deportations and racist immigration laws and controls. No other party committed to ending deportations, amazing in view of the fact that, according to the State immigration service, the number of deportations and removals rose by more than 50 per cent in 2015, up from 2,360 in 2014 to 3,790 last year.

However, it was encouraging that several parties (Sinn Fein, the Greens, AAA-PBP and the Social Democrats) committed to ending the disgrace of direct provision, the system incarcerating asylum seekers for up to 10 years in unfit-for-purpose, for-profit hostels that make fortunes for their owners at the expense of asylum-seekers wasted lives and at a huge cost to Irish tax payers.

The commitment by the Labour Party to formal recognition of the Travelling Community as a group in Irish society with a unique culture, heritage and ethnic identity was risible in view of their Minister for State at the Department of Justice, Aodhan O Riordain, absenting himself from the Dail vote on Traveller ethnicity.

Sinn Fein, on the other hand, went beyond other parties platitudes in relation to Travellers and Roma in committing to recognise the ethnicity status of the Travelling community, including their right to Traveller specific accommodation. Likewise, the Greens and AAA-PBP committed to recognising Travellers as an ethnic group, a status denied them for years by successive Governments.

Interestingly, the left parties said nothing about voting rights for migrants, though both Labour and Sinn Fein committed to greater political inclusion. Though Sinn Fein said it would ensure that the Senead becomes a fully inclusive institution, it demanded direct elections by all Irish citizens (what about voting rights to residents who do not yet have citizenship?) and representation of marginalised minority groups within Irish society. This does not entail giving people from migrant and minority ethnic groups full political representation, without which they cannot progress their interests.

While the Enar survey is useful in mapping the commitment (or lack thereof) by political parties to anti-racism and just immigration and asylum policies, it is far from enough. The electorate has told politicians that capitalism and the unjust distribution of wealth are no longer acceptable.

Let us make sure that whoever makes up the next Government listens to the concerns of migrants and ethnic minorities, ensuring just representation and fair immigration policies, clear anti-racism measures and social policies that would, as promised in the 1916 proclamation, cherish all the children of the nation equally.

Ronit Lentin is a retired associate professor of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her column appears regularly in Metro Eireann
Tricky fight against racism in NI

Mohammed Samaana

Two events in the northern and southern parts of this island sent conflicting messages to its ethnic minorities in recent weeks.

In the Republic, the General Election results showed that anti-racism parties that defend multiculturalism are becoming stronger by increasing their seats in the Dail. Even the bigger parties that have dominated Irish politics have allowed the transformation of Irelands society into a multicultural one.

The only openly racist party in Ireland, Identity Ireland, did not make the breakthrough it was hoping for. Their candidate in Cork North Central, Peter OLoughlin, came last with a mere 0.36 percent of the vote.

Identity Irelands electoral failure means that political racism is not an issue in Ireland, but this does not mean that social and economic racism do not exist. Additionally, the fact that Identity Ireland is also against Irelands membership of the EU contributed to their failure. The Irish in general are pro-Europe and feel safer in the EU especially after the latest recession. All in all, the election results are a rejection of racism and austerity.

In Northern Ireland, however, where we are still awaiting the Stormont elections in May, an East Antrim MP from the Democratic Unionist Party, Sammy Wilson, was speaking with a member of the public while the microphone was on during filming for the BBCs Spotlight programme about the referendum on the UKs EU membership.

Wilson responded to the phrase Get the ethnics out too with You are absolutely right. Later he claimed that what he said was taken out of context, and that he was agreeing with what the man said previously about getting the UK out of the EU. The DUP issued a statement describing the anti-ethnic sentiment as disgraceful.

The problem, though, is that such an incident is so believable, as its not the first time senior members of the DUP have been accused of such comments. In 2014, in his support of racist remarks about Muslims made by Pastor James McConnell, the DUPs former leader and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson made his own racist statements about Muslims, referring to them as terrorists and that he could only trust them to go to the shop for him. Another senior party member who was vocal in supporting pastor McConnell was Lagan Valley MLA Edwin Poots, who has held various ministerial jobs in Northern Ireland Executive.

There is an important difference between the DUP and Identity Ireland. While Identity Ireland is the Republic of Irelands smallest political party, without any political representatives at any level, the DUP is Northern Irelands largest party with representatives at all levels, including local councils, Stormont, the UK and the EU parliaments. Another important difference is that while Identity Ireland is openly a far-right party, the DUP nominally welcomes multiculturalism and has supported bringing Syrian refugees to the North. Additionally, a lot of DUP voters do not agree with their views on a number of social issues, but they vote for them because of the sectarian nature of politics in the North.

The issue becomes more complicated with parties like Ukip and TUV who stand to the right of the DUP on such matters, which might encourage some DUP politicians to move further to the right in order to appeal to a substantial minority of voters. In some cases they might even be saying what they actually believe.

Clearly there is a rejection of political racism across the island of Ireland. In Northern Ireland, however, it seems to be more complex due to the complexity of its politics, and the fight against racism is trickier.

Mohammed Samaana is a freelance writer based in Belfast
No awards for domestic work

Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker

Have you ever thought of an award like domestic worker or au pair of the year? Well, I have for the last two weeks, since reading a very interesting article about an awards system started by a US au pair agency based on nominations by host families.

What I found most interesting about this was that the criteria for nomination were all about how a given au pair had gone the extra mile to accommodate changing circumstances and last-minute calls to work by the family. Basically, the au pairs in question sounded like super-workers, available for anything, any time.

As far as awards go in general, Im not sure if I agree with rating people like that, although I see the point in motivating others. We are all different as individuals; although our performances can be measured the same way, we all have different rates at which we work and different styles, and even have different circumstances that mean we are not available for anything, any time.

But on the other hand, I have never been employee of the month or year or any other time in my life, so I am possibly biased. I simply dont see its purpose, especially in high production or manufacturing jobs, except the assumption that people should behave like machines. I know that it is okay to do well and to be content with just knowing one has done their best, and to not be overly and unnecessarily competitive because there might be some sort of reward. I know many workers always have a way to go the extra mile without any reward simply because they are happy at work.

Still, I think an award for host family or domestic work employer of the year would be a useful award. Based on the experiences of women in the Domestic Workers Action Group, I can almost imagine whose employers would be nominated; I hear beautiful stories of amazing employers in Ireland who are doing things right, and sometimes even asking migrant organisations or other domestic workers they know how to go about doing so.

Its unfortunate that many domestic workers who have good employers have also previously had negative experiences, though fortunately those allowed them to know the signs of bad employment to be able to avoid it. I wish we all could do that, but sadly some people are more vulnerable than others, such that they end up taking any work out there just for their own or their loved ones survival.

Should fair working conditions be a priority for governments the world over? I think so. The Australian government, for one, has started an initiative to support and reward employers who do everything possible for their domestic staff who may be experiencing violence at home. Do you know why? Its because studies show that when an employee faces violence in the home, it affects their participation and productivity in work, therefore theres an incentive for employers to want to address the issue.

Perhaps if the Irish Government were part of initiatives that reward good employers, there would be a greater incentive for employers to do the right thing.

Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Force Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
The leaders and the damage done

Zimbabwe reminds us it is time to abandon the culture of celebrity leadership and promote democratic values, says Michael McGowan

Recent celebrations held in Zimbabwe to mark the 92nd birthday of President Robert Mugabe have highlighted the dangerous global trend towards a culture of leadership by so-called charismatic individuals bent on increasing their individual power at the expense of collective action, often obstructing desperately needed reforms, and egged on by cheerleaders, fan clubs and hero worshipers.

Robert Mugabe has dominated the political scene since Zimbabwes independence from Britain in 1980. It is tragic that this southern African country, which was once the bread basket of the region, has declined in its economy and democracy, and that its once inspirational liberation leader has become a burden on his own country and a threat to democracy.

Born in 1924 in the village of Kutama, southwest of the capital Harare, Mugabe was educated by Jesuits and went on to become a teacher before joining the liberation struggle against British rule. He became a key figure in the fight for independence from white-minority rule as leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union, and spent 11 years in prison before becoming Zimbabwes first post-independence prime minister in 1980.

In December 2015, he was endorsed once more as the ruling party candidate for the 2018 presidential election, although the media continue to speculate about his wife Grace as a possible successor as president.

At the lavish celebration of his 92nd birthday, Mugabe declared he intends to live till he is 100 years old and remain president until the day he dies, despite the poverty and insecurity of his people and the desperate need for change.

Regressive reform

Land reform had been a big issue since independence in 1980, when the Zimbabwe government embarked on a national programme to correct historic racial imbalance in the countrys land ownership. Things came to a head in 1999 when the programme was characterised by regressive land occupation by government supporters, which resulted in a great deal of violence, and was claimed by Zimbabwes state-run newspaper The Herald to have benefitted some 300,000 families directly, although this has been widely disputed.

But Zimbabwe is not the only country in the world to honour such elderly leaders clinging to power. In fact, the countrys former colonial power, the United Kingdom, is on the eve of celebrating the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II in April.

This while the people of the UK face cruel cuts in public services and welfare benefits, many relying on food banks, and some of the poorest are being driven from their social housing because of a punitive bedroom tax as the Queen resides in some of the most prestigious and spacious property in the land, tax free.

Africa remains under the influence of a number of long-serving political leaders who are reluctant to let go of their positions, with Burundi being one of the latest examples where the president has ignored the constitution and democracy in order to cling on to power, resulting in violence and racial strife.

Celebrity culture has become the order of the day in United States presidential elections, too, where outlandish personas along the lines of Donald Trump are more influential in voters minds than sound democracy. The UK previously had Tony Blair as Prime Minister, a man who promoted himself and a celebrity culture to a point where it was ultimately damaging to democratic politics and public life.

Ireland has both an opportunity and responsibility to help counter this culture of celebrity leaders and elites through its work in the EU and the UN. Specifically in Zimbabwe, Irelands development aid includes the programmes of Trocaire and Irish Aid, important contributions not only in tackling poverty and violence and but in helping to promote collective and democratic values.

Michael McGowan is a former MEP and president of the Development Committee of the European Parliament
Face to face with the Troubles

Meghan Nosal

As an American student, the only real knowledge of the Troubles Ive learned is from my Irish Life and Cultures class. We had been talking about this period at length for two months, so I was not necessarily excited to be going on a weekend-long field trip to Northern Ireland to learn even more about it.

But my ignorance slapped me in the face as our bus pulled through an old iron gate separating loyalist and nationalist areas and pulled in front of a Belfast primary school still pockmarked by bullet holes.

It was part of a tour through the nationalist side of the Northern Irish capital guided by a former republican political prisoner. Skyscraping fences and memorials stood out throughout the troubled town, as our tour guide matter-of-factly recounted going to school with people now deceased far too young, pointing out their old homes and the spots where they were killed.

When asked about what remains of the community divide in Northern Ireland, our guide breathed heavily and said: The Union Jacks and [Irish] flag-burning are from the old timers. I have eight kids at university who are friends with Protestants, Catholics, Irish and Brits. They dont even know what hate is.

Our visit continued on the other side of Belfast, guided by a former loyalist political prisoner  loyalist to the British crown, that is, and against Irish republicanism. Again we traveled through a patchwork Belfast, but this time we heard different stories of friends and families killed. Poppy crosses scattered the shops, marking ruthless murders from explosions and bullets.

We were led past a mural of four smiling men proudly bearing AK-47s. Our loyalist guide said the mural used to be more threatening, with the men frowning and wearing balaclavas. He has been working to make the murals friendlier, he said, but it is hard to make men holding machine guns seem less intimidating.

Our visit moved on to Derry  Londonderry to the loyalist or unionist communities  where pieces of peace were scattered among murals that have not been changed, the city still obviously divided. The loyalist side, where British flags line the streets, is only accessible through a main gate. IRA graffiti marks rooftops and the London part of the citys name was crossed out of several street signs.

The most brutal reminder of The Troubles, though, was the Bloody Sunday memorial at the Museum of Free Derry. Aside from the U2 song, I was embarrassed at how little I knew about the tragedy in January 1972. I think I have become so numb to pictures of people lying dead in the streets, that I didnt realise how horrific this event was until the screams and cries from the riots rang over the stereo system, while before me blood-stained clothing from the 14 victims haunted my vision.

Outside, in the city where life goes on, a white Peace Bridge erected in 2011 stands proud as a symbol of changing times. In the centre of the city, too, is a statue of two boys reaching out to each other, barely touching but almost there. This is how things seem to be moving in Northern Ireland  almost there.

Our loyalist guide led us across the wall that overlooked the republican Bogside, where murals of victims and men in gas masks covered buildings. But among them, a rainbow-checked mural with an outline of a dove stood brightest and boldest. Catholic and Protestant school children came together to paint that mural.

My attitude about this trip was completely changed almost as soon as I entered Northern Ireland. Reading about the Troubles and seeing the pictures does not compare to the history that stares back at you from almost every corner in Belfast and Derry, and I would recommend such a tour to everyone. Despite their dark times, the people we met there are proud of their home, and asked us to spread the word that Northern Ireland is open for business.

Meghan Nosal is a student at Marist College in New York state and an intern with Metro Eireann
I have never struggled to feel a part of the group

The Integration Question with Princess Pamela Toyin

From nothing to everything: a life-changing scholarship from the Irish Government awarded to a student psychologist in India opened doors to exploring college, experiencing a whole other world and making something meaningful of her life.

Indeed, an opportunity to fulfil my dreams is how Shikha Gill Thakur describes her Masters in International Relations at Dublin City University and how it served as an eyeopener to the western world.

Without the scholarship, I couldnt afford to come to Ireland or have the lifetime opportunity to meet [Taoiseach] Enda Kenny and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn. It is a considerable achievement for a middle-class-family person like me.

Her time in Ireland has no doubt boosted Thakurs confidence, with the chance to strike out on her own in a creative and innovative society where ordinary individuals have the opportunity to become significant.

She also appreciates that the Irish authorities acknowledged my teaching qualifications from India and granted me a registration number essential for teaching. I am now a registered teacher with the Teaching Council of Ireland and a teacher at the Hope Autism Care Centre and Montessori [in Clonsilla, west Dublin].

From psychology to international relations, Thakur feels she is now settled on teaching, fulfilling her passion for caring for children. I love working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, she says. It gives me a chance to apply my understanding of education and psychology and every day brings a new challenge and I love to be a part of the specialised team working towards the best for those children.

Living in a multicultural society, being free and flexible in her academic and professional environment, as well as learning from the different cultures that make up Ireland today provides Thakur with a remarkable experience.

For me, I have friends from different nationalities including native Irish people and I love it. It helps me grow as a person giving me a good exposure of different cultures and ways of life. I have always had positive experiences with native Irish people, be it in university, at work, everyday life. I have never struggled to feel a part of the group and have always felt fully integrated.

Like many migrants, Thakur does feel like shes left a part of herself back home in India, especially as it is not easy to get her parents visas to visit. This is an area in which she believes the Government is still lagging behind.

It is a bit hard to call your parents as dependent here as the visa regulations are quite hard, even after [getting an] employment permit. I think if [the Government] were a bit more relaxed, it would be helpful for people like me who want to show their parents their new life, and let them spend some time with their children.

For the most part, however, things are going in a positive direction for Thakur. My brother has joined me here and is studying at the same university, but I miss my family and friends back home. I have been an aspiring person and I believe Ireland has empowered me, but I would be more than happy if I could live here with my family.

The opportunity to travel, acquire international work experience and knowledge, and not face racism has been fulfilling for Thakur. I have never faced any racism in Ireland, she says. I get the due respect in every sector, be it from professors and students in university, from my students parents, fellow teachers in school, natives in the neighbourhood and everyday lived life.

As for her future in this country? Ireland has sponsored my studies, living expenses, a better life, [provided a] full-time job, good money, etc. I love it and would be happy to serve the country in whatever capacity possible. From its people to its greenery, modernity, peacefulness, I like everything about Ireland  except the weather.

- If youre an immigrant anywhere in the world and have a story to share, whether on our own behalf or on behalf of someone else, please email echoesmediainternational@gmail.com.

Princess Pamela Toyin is a journalist and author with over 25 years experience in various roles, including as an executive PA to company directors, as a public relations executive, reporter, editor and publisher, research consultant and workshop facilitator.
Charity Matters

Recycle your style for sustainable fashion

My name is Hilary and I attend Rosemont Secondary School, an all-girls Catholic school in Sandyford, Co Dublin. Four other girls in my class  Henrietta, Sofia, Roisin and Saidbh  and I entered a competition called One Good Idea sponsored by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

In the completion we had to think of an idea to help tackle energy efficiency and climate change. Our idea was under the topic Greener Fashion. Our project is called Recycle Your Style. We encourage people not to throw away old clothing, and to reinvent them using simple DIY methods.

We were picked as one of the top 50 teams in the whole of Ireland out of the more than 350 teams that entered. We advanced to the next round in the competition which was the campaign stage, for which we have done various projects and activities, including an online survey called Recycle Your Style. Find the link at fashyourtrash.webs.com  we could be very grateful if you took part in the survey.

The website also has details of our Twitter and Instagram accounts where you can follow us and find out about our latest prizes, giveaways and events  such as our fashion show in Rosemont Secondary School, Enniskerry Road, Sandyford held on 3 March, and our upcoming giveaway for Fashion Revolution Day on 24 April.

We need sponsors to help provide us with equipment and support to run our campaign for other events were planning for local shopping centres. The lucky sponsors would also be getting a lot of free publicity as we will be doing plenty of activities.

So please get involved by spreading the word on social media with the hashtag #fashyourtrash and help us to come first place!

And you can get in touch with us by email at recycleyourstyle@gmail.com.
via @lesleyclark

Many came prepared for a wait, and at some early voting sites, they found one.

As Florida wrapped up 10 days of early voting, voters on Sunday surged to the polls, eager to cast their ballots in a state that could once again prove critical in the presidential election.

Miami-Dade County typically sees a flood of voters during the final early-voting hours, and Sunday was no different. Wait times, estimated hourly by poll workers, jumped Sunday afternoon to about an hour in several locations, including the Coral Reef, Kendall and West Dade libraries. Other sites, such as the Coral Gables, North Dade and West Kendall libraries, also proved popular.

So popular that Matthew McDonald decided to wait until Tuesday. The line at the Coral Gables Library was moving, but poll workers said it could be up to an hour, McDonald said on his way out.

Its the post-church, post-lunch rush, he said. McDonald, 52, said hed try back later in the day or on Tuesday to cast his ballot in support of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. McDonald also likes local son Sen. Marco Rubio, but said hes made a lot of mistakes. That debate? Repeating himself 67 times like he was a robot? I dont know if hes going to make it.

More here.

Photo credit: Gaston De Cardenas, Miami Herald
@lesleyclark @PatriciaMazzei

Cuban Americans in South Florida have the rare opportunity to vote for two of their own for the presidency of the United States. Yet some are making a different choice: Theyre backing Donald Trump.

The controversial front-runner has insisted hell draw Hispanic voters despite launching his campaign last June with inflammatory remarks about Mexicans and rapists. And as he competes in Florida, the biggest state yet to test his boast, there is anecdotal evidence of support among Miami-Dades staunchly Republican Cuban-American voters even as most back Marco Rubio  the son of Cuban immigrants  whom many Cuban-American voters helped elect to the U.S. Senate in 2010.

For Trump backers, ethnicity plays no factor.

I dont think Cuban; I think American, said former Hialeah Mayor Julio Martinez, who for two weeks has held a Trump campaign sign outside an early-voting site just blocks from where Rubio last week implored Hispanics to vote for him in Tuesdays presidential primary.

Perched in a lawn chair outside the John F. Kennedy Library, holding a sign saying The Silent Majority Stands with Trump, Martinez said he was backing Trump because there was nobody better suited to fixing the economy.

The worst problem the United States has today is the economy, he said.

More here.

Photo credit: Gaston De Cardenas, Miami Herald
Despite evidence to the contrary, Donald Trump on Sunday morning repeated his charge that a man who rushed at him in Dayton, Ohio, had ISIS affiliations.

The March 12 incident at a Trump rally at the Dayton airport involved Thomas DiMassimo, 22. According to police, DiMassimo jumped a barrier and rushed the stage where Trump was speaking. Secret Service agents tackled him and took him into custody. DiMassimo was charged with inducing panic and disorderly conduct and was released from Montgomery County Jail later the same day.

On NBCs Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd noted that after the Dayton rally, Trump tweeted a video that purportedly showed DiMassimo posing with a gun against the backdrop of an ISIS flag, with Arabic-language music playing in the background.

Trumps tweet said, "USSS (U.S. Secret Service) did an excellent job stopping the maniac running to the stage. He has ties to ISIS. Should be in jail." The link to the video was appended to the tweet.

On Meet the Press, Todd said, "That turned out to be a hoax. Did you go over the top there on that?"

Trump responded, "No, no, no, no. He was, if you look on the Internet, if you look at clips"

Todd repeated, "It turned out to be a hoax. Somebody made that up, sir."

See what Louis Jacobson of PolitiFact found.
via @learyreports

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi today endorsed Donald Trump at his Tampa rally. "Donald and I have been friends for many years," Bondi said. "I have seen how he interacts with his children."

Trump called Bondi the "most popular person in Florida, by far."

There was talk for days that Bondi would get behind the GOP front-runner and Bondi had previously endorsed Jeb Bush.

The endorsement will revive questions Bondi faced in 2013 over campaign contributions she got from Trump after declining to join an investigation into Trump University, his real estate school that has faced numerous complaints.

As the Herald/Times reported on the $25,000 contribution:
@MichaelAuslen

This week, supporters of a juvenile justice reform that failed to pass during the legislative session will gather across the state to protest and pray.

At vigils in Miami-Dade, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Broward counties -- among others -- a group called Faith and Action for Strength Together will express "anger and disappointment in the state legislature," according to a press release.

The group wants to expand the state's civil citation program, which allows police to give children community service and access to intervention programs, rather than arrest them and give them a criminal record.

The Legislature expanded the program  originally a Miami-Dade project  statewide last year, but a plan this year to force the use of civil citations in more cases died in the House Judiciary Committee.

Under current law, law enforcement officers have a great deal of discretion over when civil citations are used as an alternative to an arrest. The failed bill would have required them to use civil citations in many first-time misdemeanor cases and given them the option of doing so in second- and third-time misdemeanors.

Before the session began, the same group sent letters advocating the change to House Judiciary Chairman Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville.

Here are the details for vigils across the state:

* Bartow: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Fort Blount Park

* Daytona Beach: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Bethune Cookman University, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd.

* Fort Myers: 7 p.m. Monday, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers, 13411 Shire Lane

* Hollywood: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Little Flower Catholic Church, 1805 Pierce St.

* Jacksonville: 7 p.m. Thursday, Abyssinia Baptist Church, 10325 Interstate Center Drive

* Miami: 7:30 p.m. Monday, New Birth Baptist Church, 2300 NW 135th St.

* Sarasota: 6 p.m. Thursday, Trinity Christian Fellowship Center, 1925 Northgate Blvd.

* St. Petersburg: 7 p.m. Monday, Bethel Community Baptist Church, 2901 54th Ave. South

* Temple Terrace: 7 p.m. Monday, Corpus Christie Catholic Church, 9715 N. 56th St.

* West Palm Beach: 7 p.m. Monday, Palm Beach Convention Center, 600 Okeechobee Blvd.
As Florida voters head to the polls on Tuesday, an estimated 3.2 million registered voters -- about 27 percent of the 12.3 million total -- are shut out of influencing Florida's choice.

Independent or unaffiliated voters in Florida are not eligible to vote in the 2016 presidential primary -- unless they decided months ago to switch their voter affiliation and join one of the two dominant parties, and then vote in the partisan contests on March 15.

According to a poll of conducted by Open Primaries, a non-partisan advocacy group seeking to open presidential primaries, 88 percent of Floridas independents believe that their exclusion in Florida's closed primary system is unfair, and 88 percent said they are independent because neither party represents them.

"Independent voters do not believe they should be required to perjure themselves, to lie and distance themselves, from who they are in order to vote,'' said John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, which conducted the poll.

The poll of 428 independent voters also undercuts common assumptions about independents -- that they are disengaged with the elections process or don't care. It found that 95 percent of Floridas independent voters want to focus on good candidates and the issues, not parties.

In fact, 87 percent of Florid'a's independents support structural changes to open statewide primaries to make them more inclusive.

"They actually care about policy and they care about leadership more than they care about a party,'' Opdycke said. "That's exactly the kind of people we need to be involving right now given the state of American politics."

The poll, a bit dated in today's terms, was conducted Jan. 5, 2016 - Jan. 30, 2016, using a phone survey. The full survey findings can be found on the Open Primaries website.

Opdycke said that about half the primaries in the nation have some form of open system and half -- like Florida - do not. In states with open primaries, such as New Hampshire, voters overwhelmingly supported the nominee, he said.

"Independents are completely propelling Bernie Sanders' campaign -- without them he has 5 delegates,'' he said. And Donald Trump is also "getting a good deal of support from independents."

Independents "overwhelmingly" supported the first election of President Obama, he said. "These are voters who want to move things forward, to change the political culture."

He believes this cycle the electorate is expressing its displeasure with the parties, their structure, and their control of the status quo and that's "both scary and exciting."

The movement to open primaries has also started in Florida. The All Voters Vote amendment failed to get enough signatures for the 2016 ballot but is hoping to reach voters in 2018. Under the proposal, all registered voters would be allowed to vote in primaries for congressional and state partisan offices regardless of the party affiliation of the voters or the candidates.

The candidate who receives the most votes and the runner-up would advance to the general election. In state elections, the candidate who gets more than 50 percent of votes in the primary wins the election. Glenn Burhans, chair of All Voters Vote effort, said the Open Primaries' poll is "further confirmation that independent voters are unhappy with a system that excludes them from voting in elections that matter."

"The bottom line here is our election system has been designed by the political parties for the political parties,'' Opdycke said. "They're designed to give party insiders maximal control over who participates in their primaries."

He believes the party system is rooted in the theory that today's politics evolves around predictability: politicians -- no matter the party -- "want to know who is going to be voting in their primary on primary day and, if they can restrict voting to that to a group of predictable voters, they are most happy."
@MichaelAuslen

Democrat Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez today filed to run for a Miami seat in the Florida Senate this fall, setting up what could be one of the most hotly contested races this year.

The District 37 seat, which includes much of the city of Miami and the surrounding area, is currently held by Republican Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, who has filed for reelection.

From both campaigns, the common themes are emerging: education, infrastructure and a moderate style of politics.

In a campaign video released online today, Rodriguez centers his campaign around the American Dream and fighting for working families. In Tallahassee, he has pushed reforms to the death penalty and emphasizing property tax cuts over those targeting businesses.

Whats going to position us in Miami to be better off economically for everyday working families? he said.

Diaz de la Portilla has established himself as a moderate conservative. This year, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he blocked legislation expanding gun rights and targeting immigrants, and he gave a 10-year-old measure banning discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people its first-ever hearing in the Florida Legislature.

"Not only have I stopped a lot of crazy ideas that cleared the floor in the House," he said, "but I've also led the way in passing a lot of positive legislation."

Diaz de la Portilla calls himself a "common-sense" Republican and says he has gained support from a diverse group of racial, ethnic and party labels. First elected in 2010, the 53-year-old attorney ran unopposed in 2014. He and his family have been fixtures in Miami-Dade politics for decades.

Rodriguez, a 37-year-old attorney, has represented part of Miami in the Florida House since 2012, when he beat Alex Diaz de la Portilla, the senators brother and a former senator himself. In 2014, he beat a well-funded Republican opponent backed by Sen. Marco Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

With all 40 state Senate seats up for grabs after the chamber agreed to redraw its unconstitutional maps, the balance of power in the Legislature is at stake this November. District 37 is heavily Hispanic and favors a Democrat. In 2012, it elected Barack Obama with 53.6 percent of the vote.

Diaz de la Portilla has raised just $17,000 so far this cycle, compared to Rodriguez $67,960. But both those numbers are sure to increase dramatically. Diaz de la Portilla raised more than $200,000 in the last election, in which he was unopposed.
@ByKristenMClark

A Tallahassee judge heard opening arguments this morning in a month-long civil trial that could up-end Florida's entire education system.

Attorneys representing Citizens for Strong Schools want Leon County Circuit Court Judge George S. Reynolds III to declare that the Florida Department of Education -- and by extension, the Florida Legislature -- has failed to fulfill its constitutionally mandated "paramount duty" to provide a "high quality" education for all public school students.

A constitutional amendment in 1998 requires the state to make "adequate provision(s) ... for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools."

Attorneys for the advocacy group argue the state hasn't done that, citing -- among other complaints -- the lack of parity in student achievement for minority students in Florida public schools.

But attorneys for the Department of Education and the Legislature counter that, while there's still more work to be done, Florida's education system has come a long way in the past 20 years.

The two sides started laying out their arguments today in the non-jury trial, which is expected to last five weeks and include expert witnesses such as current Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.

In lambasting Florida's education system, the plaintiff's lead attorney Neil Chonin decried Florida's controversial and high-stakes "accountability" framework, which includes using the results of students' standardized exams to, in part, determine student retention, teacher evaluations and school grades.
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Unless indicated, all photos and writings are my personal property and can not be used or reproduced without my written permission. My e-mail address is available in my profile. Thank you very much!






Ha um dia
NAMI Missoula presents a NAMI Forum featuring Kathleen Magone (US Bank) discussing "Estate Planning and Special Needs Trusts." The forum will be held at the Missoula Public Library (Large Meeting Room) beginning at 7 p.m. tonight. The event is free and open to the public. For information, call NAMI Missoula at 880-1013 or email namimissoula@gmail.com.

***

The Institute for Health and Humanities, Climate Smart Missoula and the American Lung Association are sponsoring "Climate, Health and Humanities: A Community Conversation," a series of events. The series focuses on climate change impacts on health through the lens of humanities, including film, literature and story. The following events are free and open to the public:

March 16: "Taking It In: Climate Change, Emotion and the Humanities" by SueEllen Campbell, Ph.D., Colorado State University, followed by Elizabeth Schenk, RN, Ph.D., discussing health implications, and audience discussion, 7 p.m., UM Gallagher Building, Room 106.

March 19: "Body & Soul: Writing About Health and Climate Change," a writing workshop lead by John Calderazzo, Ph.D., Colorado State University for those who want to tell their stories about health, health care or climate change, 9-11 a.m. MSO Hub.

"The Wisdom to Survive," a documentary film about climate change, with remarks by Amy Cilimburg, Climate Smart Missoula, and audience discussion, 6-8 p.m.

For more information, contact Jan VanRiper at ihh@mso.umt.edu or (406) 459-8441 or visit climatesmartmissoula.org.

***

NAMI Missoula and Immanuel Lutheran Church present "In Our Own Voice: Living Well with Mental Illness" at noon Wednesday at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 830 South Ave. W. Two NAMI members will share their stories of hope and recovery. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact NAMI Missoula at 880-1013 or namimissoula@gmail.com.

***

Humanities Montana seeks nominations for the 2017 Governors Humanities Awards, to be conferred at a ceremony in Helena on Jan. 26, 2017. The humanities include the study of literature, history, philosophy, languages, religious studies and other disciplines. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 13.

In 2015, Gov. Steve Bullock and Humanities Montana recognized six Montanans for their extraordinary work in the humanities. Honorees were Philip Aaberg, Jack Wallace Gladstone, Yvonne Gastineau Gritzner, Kirby Lambert, Dr. Richard E. Littlebear and William Rossiter. The full history of the awards and past honorees can be found at humanitiesmontana.org/programs/gha.

Nominations should be no more than 1,000 words and should address the nominees contributions to the humanities. Nominations for both individuals and organizations will be considered. Members of the Humanities Montana board and its staff are not eligible for consideration. Nominations should be emailed to info@humanitiesmontana.org or sent to Governors Humanities Awards, Humanities Montana, 311 Brantly, Missoula, MT 59812. If you have questions, call 243-6022.

***

The Montana Nonprofit Association announced a statewide lecture tour with renowned fundraising expert and author Tom Ahern. The tour will feature day-long workshops in Missoula, Bozeman and Billings. The Missoula workshop is scheduled 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, at the DoubleTree Edgewater at 100 Madison St.

Missoula is home to 615 charitable nonprofits.

Ahern will share tips on what the worlds top communicators know about the art and science of understanding what is significant to donors as they make important choices about their giving.

Ahern is a nationally recognized expert on improving fundraising results through donor communications. He draws on research to guide his methods for attracting and retaining donors, and shares his findings with nonprofits of all missions and sizes.

During his Montana tour, Ahern will teach attendees how to deliver a convincing case for support, retain donors who believe in the cause, and maximize the use of digital marketing. He will help nonprofit organizations answer the donors fundamental question: Why should I give you my hard-earned money?

Register for the lecture at cvent.com/d/kfqznv.
Some friends stopped by the house last Sunday. They had been in Hawaii for a couple of weeks and shared their impressions with me. I was in Hawaii once, but my experience was far different from theirs.

The military sent us to Okinawa for war games. I was a radio operator on one of the teams. There were 60 of us, I think.

We left Okinawa after the exercise and made a stop on Wake Island for a day so the pilots could rest. We took off that evening and flew all night in an old C-97 prop plane that didn't cover the 2,300 miles very quickly.

We landed in Hawaii at dawn. They gave us the day off with orders to be at the airplane at 4 p.m. Missing a troop movement meant an automatic court martial.

Five of us rented a car. One of our group had been on the island before, so he was the guide. Our first stop was to buy two cases of beer. We knew that wasn't enough to see us through the day, but we would buy more when the need arose.

We sped from majestic cliffs to scenic beaches, seeing most of them through cigarette smoke and beer-spattered windows. The beer cans were soon ankle deep in the little car and we stopped to pick up another case.

We arrived at a large beach with a lot of people enjoying the sun and surf. I and two others wanted to stop and watch the waves and bikinis, but the other two had someplace else they wanted to go. They promised they would be back by 3:30 p.m. Our uniforms were in the car trunk, which proved to be a big problem later.

The three of us enjoyed the beach and let the beer wear off, but 3:30 passed, and the car hadn't shown up. Panicked, we grabbed a taxi to take us to the airplane. We weren't too sure where it was, but the cabby knew.

There was a half bottle of whisky rolling around on the floor of the taxi, and the driver offered us a drink. The whisky was hot, but it was strong.

We got to the airfield expecting to see the car that held our uniforms. It wasn't there. All the other troops were sober, in perfect uniform, and standing in a rank by the plane which was parked 300 yards out on the tarmac.

We were barefoot, and wearing only swimming trunks and tee shirts. The tarmac was boiling hot as we trotted to the formation and fell into ranks.

That's when the trouble started. We were very much out of uniform.

So, we stood. They put all the others at ease, but made us stand at attention. The tarmac was scalding, so I put my weight on the balls of my feet for a few moments, and when that became unbearable, shifted back onto my heels. Once I raised all of my bare toes and pretended that they were standing at attention, too.

The officers took turns berating us. The pilot hung his arm out the window and drummed on the fuselage with his fingers, like a nervous driver at a slow intersection.

Every few minutes the colonel would look at his watch, then the major would look at his watch, then the captains would look at their watches, and the lieutenants would follow suit. One of them would say something to a non-commissioned officer who trotted over and yelled at us for a while. The pilot kept drumming while we cowered.

Finally, the car came screaming in and slid to a stop in the gravel. The officers released us with orders to be back in formation in five minutes.

We ran across the huge tarmac and grabbed our uniforms, which we put on over our trunks and tee shirts. We tore back to the formation where they were beginning to file onto the airplane.

And the colonel looked at his watch, and the major looked at his watch, then the captains looked at their watches, and the lieutenants followed suit. The officers yelled while we cowered.

The two miscreants who had abandoned us at the beach were rolling drunk and came over slowly. In their rush, the tall one, who wore size 13, had put on his buddie's boots which were size 9. The tall one couldn't run because his toes were doubled back under his feet, and the short one couldn't run because his too-big boots would fall off. A non-commissioned officer was behind each of them, cursing. They didn't see the humor.

It was a long, quiet flight from Hawaii to Salt Lake City. The other troops shunned us for fear of being tainted by association.

***

Richard Geary is a rancher in Helmville. He can be reached at bbugres@gmail.com.
Ranchers, environmentalists and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe received welcome news late last week when Arch Coal, one of the nations largest coal companies, announced that it was pulling the plug on the development of the Otter Creek Coal Tracts. Given the bleak future for the coal industry, the move may signal the end of the decades-long battle over industrializing the Tongue River Valley with giant open-pit coal mines.

The story of the Otter Creek Tracts is a twisted tale indeed, beginning with the controversial and corrupt railroad land grant program in which the federal government gave railroad barons millions of acres of land as an incentive to lay the rails and settle the West. In the case of Otter Creek and across much of Montana, that meant ceding every other section of land in a checkerboard pattern to the rail corporations.

While the coal reserves were estimated at 1.5 billion tons, the divided ownership made large-scale mining impractical if not impossible. But in the mid-90s the federal government struck a deal to buy out a proposed gold mine on the borders of Yellowstone National Park.

Montanas political leaders, however, wanted to be reimbursed for the loss of the potential jobs and taxes the gold mine would have produced. So the feds gave then-governor Marc Racicot a choice  take $10 million in cash or get the Otter Creek Coal Tracts. Despite being advised to take the money by representatives of the coal industry, Racicot instead opted to take the land and the once-federal lands became the property of the state.

Given the potential solution to the checkerboard land ownership problem, efforts began in earnest to develop the coal deposits and build the Tongue River Railroad to ship the coal to both domestic and foreign markets.

But ranchers, environmentalists and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe had no interest in having their ranches bisected by rail lines, their water supplies threatened and their lives turned upside down by large-scale industrialization of the rural area. They put up a fierce resistance, but were betrayed by Governor Schweitzer, whom they had helped elect based on his campaign promises that the real treasure in Montana is the land, not what lies beneath it.

As many Montanans will recall, after his first year in office Schweitzer was dubbed the Coal Cowboy by the national media due to his non-stop promotion of coal. More specifically, Schweitzer was lauding the potential for massive coal-to-liquids plants, injecting carbon dioxide underground and hoping to get lucrative contracts to sell the coal-derived liquid fuel to the military.

Schweitzers vision was widely criticized then and seems utterly ridiculous now. It would have cost billions to build even one coal-to-liquids plant and given todays global oil and natural gas glut, would have never been economically feasible. But Schweitzer was a tough guy to tell he was wrong about anything and he continued to push for development of the Otter Creek Tracts. Those efforts culminated with stuffing an $86 million lease of the state-owned coal through the Board of Land Commissioners in 2010. Arch Coal paid the price, plus another $73 million to lease the privately owned coal tracts from Great Northern Properties.

Consolidation of the land and leases meant the last remaining hurdles to full-blown development of the Otter Creek Tracts were obtaining mining permits and construction of the Tongue River Railroad.

To make a long story much shorter, suffice it to say that the battle against the railroad and mine was brought to a bitter end not just through the significant opposition and legal challenges of opponents, but by the economics of the energy market.

The fracking boom added millions of barrels of production daily in the U.S. and sent oil prices plummeting. Suddenly energy security, long the excuse used by politicians and the industry to drill and mine anywhere, was no longer a factor. Indeed, the U.S. was producing so much oil that Congress reversed a crude oil export ban that had been in place since the 70s.

Last year developers gave up on the $400 million Tongue River Railroad and now have also abandoned the mine. That politicians will try to make the loss of non-existent coal jobs and taxes a campaign issue is certain. But for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Tongue River ranchers, and their environmental allies, its a bright and glorious new era in which Otter Creeks long-standing and very serious threats to their future are finally laid to rest.
It's interesting to read articles in the Missoulian about how those who oppose refugee resettlement are full of hate and fear. The issue of refugee resettlement is very different today than when the Hmong were brought in from Vietnam. The Hmong came in desiring a better life here and they desired to assimilate into our communities. That is not true today. There is ample evidence to the contrary throughout America.

There are many more things to consider than just "helping out." Theres the lack of assimilation, and the fact that the resettlement contractor can and does settle refugees within a 100-mile radius of their office with no local input. That means when Missoula County commissioners are reaching out and making decisions, those decisions are not just for Missoula County. A recent NBC Montana poll shows 93 percent of Montanans do not support the efforts of the commissioners or Soft Landing Missoula.

Another consideration is the massive amount of taxpayer money being used to suddenly bring all the displaced people to America rather than helping them where they are. Refugee resettlement is big business. The agency that Soft Landing Missoula wants to bring to town does $500 million a year in "sales." It supposedly is a volunteer organization and receives 70 percent of all its income from the federal government. Its CEO, as last reported in 2012, was making just under $500,000 a year.

The people of Montana need to be told the truth about todays refugee resettlement. They need to understand the only incentive of these so-called "volunteer agencies" is to stay in business they must produce more and more refugees because that is how our government pays them.

Follow the money. Just like buying a used car, Montanans better look under the hood of this program.

Ed Kugler,

Big Arm
DENVER  The father of a 5-year-old Denver boy whose mother shot him while he slept at his grandfather's house in Roundup says he had tried for months to convince Colorado child welfare workers that his son was not safe while with his mother.

Ken Kreuscher told The Denver Post that 41-year-old Sara Atkinson had threatened to kill herself and said she was going to "take him with me."

Officials in Musselshell County in Montana say she did just that on March 5, shooting the boy in the head with a .22 rifle before turning the gun on herself.

Kreuscher said he and Atkinson had shared custody of Kenny Kreuscher, who would have turned 6 this month.

Denver County child welfare officials declined comment, citing privacy laws.
BILLINGS  A former Billings Clinic nurse pleaded guilty Monday to sexually assaulting an underage girl.

Todd Edward Kinzel, 46, was charged after an investigation into reports by two girls that Kinzel had touched them in an inappropriate way during what he told them was a comprehensive exam.

Kinzel pleaded guilty before Yellowstone County District Judge Russell Fagg.

Kinzel's plea agreement amended his charges to sexual assault against just one of the victims. The agreement calls for a 20 year sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections with 15 years suspended.

Kinzel was employed at the time with Billings Clinic. His nursing license in Montana will not expire until 2016. Julie Burton, communications director at Billings Clinic, said the clinic was notified by law enforcement in April 2015 that Kinzel was under investigation.

We suspended him immediately, and he is no longer an employee," Burton said. "We cooperated fully with law enforcement, including providing access to personal files on his work computer. The authorities assured us that the criminal charges were not work related.

Officers arrested Kinzel in 2014 when the girl reported to someone at her high school that he'd abused her in 2009.

The girl told officers that when she was 13 years old, Kinzel had touched her after asking her to remove her pants and underwear. Kinzel wrote an apology letter, which officers found on his work computer, that admitted Kinzel had performed the breast exam and had asked the girl to remove her pants, according to court documents.

"[The exam] was simply an excuse to have you take off your bra and pull down your pants," Kinzel wrote to the girl. "Stethoscopes do work on top of shirts too, not just under them."

Kinzel posted a $50,000 bond and is not in custody or on monitoring at this time.
HELENA - The Missouri River, a blue-ribbon trout stream, gets a bad rap when it comes to taste.

Since late February, Helena residents have relied on treated water from this prized fishery every time they turned on their taps to get a drink.

Unlike the citys coveted water supply from Ten Mile Creek in the mountains to the west of Helena, Missouri River water draws complaints for its taste and smell.

Despite the complaints, the water meets federal drinking water standards, city officials said.

The Ten Mile Creek plant was pulled from service to replace the Texas Instruments computer system, installed in 1991, that controls the plant. Water from Ten Mile Creek is anticipated to again be flowing to Helena homes and businesses by April 1.

The Ten Mile project was budgeted for $500,000 and so far about $335,000 has been spent, according to Jason Fladland, the citys water production supervisor for the Ten Mile and Missouri River water treatment plants. Other work is also being done while the plant is idled.

The Ten Mile plant was taken out of service previously, from early October until early December 2014, for an array of improvements and repairs that resulted in exclusive use of Missouri River water during that time.

The city tests its water for a wide array of contaminants, said Don Clark, the city water and wastewater superintendent.

Test results found in the citys 2015 consumer confidence report, which contains 2014 data, are the main constituents of water quality, Clark added.

City water, drawn from three sources, exceeded federal drinking water standards, according to the reports data. New data will be assembled in June to create the 2015 report.

The latest results are online at www.helenamt.gov/public-works/water-treatment.html.

The citys testing uses locations that have produced the worst results, said Randall Camp, Helenas public works director.

In the hierarchy of needs, all throughout history, clean drinking water is No. 1, Camp said.

But it occupies this top spot with wastewater removal and solid waste disposal, he added, and explained all three are critical to a city because they can create and spread disease.

The consumer confidence report compares samples to federal standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Dates for sampling are also contained in the report, as are likely sources of contaminants.

According to the EPA website, an updated list of contaminants is published every five years. Standards are reviewed every six years and revised if appropriate.

The EPA website lists more than 80 drinking water contaminants that include microorganisms, disinfectants, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.

According to the city water quality report, theres daily testing for chlorine residuals, which is what can remain after water is purified.

Eight or more locations across the city are tested to ensure there is chlorine in the water, Clark said.

Theres also daily testing for turbidity; pH, which measures waters acidity; temperature and water color.

Weekly testing is conducted for bacteria (total coliform). Eight samples are taken in each round of testing, Fladland said and explained the number of samples is based on the citys population.

Sample locations for bacteria, generally at businesses, are intended to get a representative look at the city, Clark said.

Every three months, theres testing for trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which are both byproducts of the water disinfection process, according to the EPA.

Each year, testing focuses on inorganic contaminants, volatile organic contaminants and synthetic organic contaminants.

Nitrate and nitrite can result from runoff containing fertilizer and from leaking septic tanks, among other causes.

Every three years the city tests drinking water at 30 homes in town for lead and copper. The number of locations is based on the citys population, Fladland said.

The reason were on the reduced sampling schedule is due to our performance, our historic performance, Camp said.

The presence of lead and copper are attributed in the citys annual report to household plumbing and the erosion of naturally occurring deposits, although copper can also result from leeching from wood preservative too.

Testing for radioactivity is conducted every four years.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and is soluble in water and is tasteless, colorless and odorless, the citys 2015 consumer confidence report stated.

Depending on the test results, the city could expand its testing for radiochemical constituents, Clark said.

Helenas surface and groundwater detections for radon ranged from 220 picocuries per liter to 1,770 picocures (pCi) per liter, the city report stated.

The Environmental Protection Agency was proposing a maximum contaminant level of 300 pCi per liter in drinking water and 4,000 pCi per liter in systems that implement a multi-media mitigation program, the city report added.

To help understand this scale of measurement, an Army Corps of Engineers fact sheet said a curie is the standard measure for the intensity of radioactivity contained in a sample of radioactive material.

A picocurie represents one-trillionth of a curie and is the background environmental level.

Energy Laboratories Inc. and Alpine Analytical Inc. in Helena test the city water for compliance with drinking water standards.

Water turbidity -- clarity of water is an indication of the effectiveness of filtration -- is measured using a standard called the nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU).

Camp and Fladland said the acceptable maximum is 1 NTU, and the city report noted the goal for 95 percent of the time is to have turbidity of less than 0.3 NTU.

The highest level of turbidity found in water from the Ten Mile plant was 0.28 NTU on April 14, while that from the Missouri River plant was 0.88 NTU when tested on Oct. 14.

Turbidity is measured at the water treatment plants by a computer program on 15 minute intervals.

According to the website for LaMotte, a Maryland-based water quality and analytical testing company, In drinking water the higher the level of turbidity, the higher the chance that those using it could develop gastrointestinal diseases.

Contaminants like viruses and pathogenic bacteria can attach themselves to the suspended solids. These solids then interfere with disinfection, the website noted.

Organic carbon in city drinking water is measured at the water treatment facility and done monthly, Fladland said.

The citys water quality report explained organic carbon occurs naturally and there is no maximum contaminant level.

The June 4 test of the Ten Mile plants untreated water found the highest concentration of 4.3 parts per million (ppm), while the Nov. 11 test of treated water at the Missouri River plant produced 2.6 ppm.

Testing for chlorine residual, what remains after chlorine is added to control microbes, found the Ten Mile water had 1.4 ppm on April 16, while the maximum residual disinfectant level for it is 4 ppm.

The city testing for chlorine residual at the Ten Mile plant ranged from 0.1-1.7 ppm.

Helenas water is tested for five inorganic contaminants, and the results contained in the city report represent the highest levels detected.

The 2014 testing -- all were conducted on July 17 -- found the level of arsenic in the water of the Ten Mile plant was 3.0 parts per billion (ppb) compared to the maximum contaminant level of 10 ppb.

Water from the Missouri River treatment plant had an arsenic level of 5.0 ppb and water from the Hale/Eureka -- the Eureka well is located at the intersection of Cruse Street and Park Avenue and serves the Hale distribution system -- had 2.0 ppb.

A water sample is taken monthly from each facility to assess the level of arsenic that can be created by the erosion of natural deposit, runoff from orchards and runoff from glass and electronics production waste.

Testing for lead and copper is done every three years, and nine of 10 tests must comply with the EPA limits.

The city draws water from 30 locations in town -- it seeks homes built in the 1970s to 1980s, city officials said, in hopes of capturing those with either lead piping or copper pipes fused together with lead-based solder -- for worst-case scenarios.

From testing on June 27, 2012, the city found its highest level of copper was 0.504 ppm in the water compared to the maximum contaminant level of 1.3 ppm.

Testing for lead was conducted on June 28, 2012, and the highest level found was 4 ppb, compared to the maximum contaminant level of 15 ppb.

Testing for nitrate and nitrite is done monthly at the city water treatment facilities. The highest level detected at the Ten Mile plant came from the July 10 test that revealed 0.02 ppm, compared to the 10 ppm maximum contaminant level.

Water from the Missouri River plant contained 0.1 ppm, and water from the Hale/Eureka source contained 1.09 ppm.

Erosion of natural deposits is listed as the likely source for fluoride in municipal water, and the Jan. 12, 2012 tests at the Ten Mile plant saw no fluoride detected while water from the Missouri River plant test contained 0.2 ppm compared to the maximum contaminant level of 4 ppm.

Water from the Hale/Eureka source was tested on Nov. 21, 2013, and contained 0.10 ppm of fluoride.

The final two tests are for volatile organic contaminants that are byproducts of water chlorination: trihalomethanes and haloacetic acid.

Tests for both are conducted quarterly, Fladland said, and the city report represents the highest levels.

Total trihalomethanes found in water at four test sites, typically commercial locations are used as theyre easier to access, Flatland said, ranged from 66 ppb to 73 ppb on May 14 while the maximum contaminant level is 80 ppb.

Three of the tests for total haloacetic acid were conducted on May 14 and the fourth was conducted on Aug. 14. All tests ranged from 34 to 58 ppb, compared to the maximum contaminant level of 60 ppb.

During 2015, the city produced 2.1 billion gallons of water, of which 450 million gallons came from the Missouri River, Fladland said.

The city has 22.5 million gallons of storage capacity for treated water.

The Missouri River plant is able to treat 10.5 million gallons per day while the Ten Mile plant can treat up to 8.9 million gallons per day, Fladland said.

This time of year, the city uses about 3 million gallons of water daily, compared to the summer months when people are irrigating lawns and the daily demand can reach 14 million gallons, Camp said previously.
HAMILTON  A bass is not a trout.

For some well-intentioned members of the Ravalli County Tourism Business Improvement District, that became painfully clear when the calls started coming in about a new billboard that welcomed people to the Bitterroot Valley with a big picture of a bass and a fisherman casting a plug.

Its beyond comprehension that someone would make that kind of mistake, said Dale Burk, a longtime Bitterroot fisherman. If we were in Arkansas, it would have been fine.

Robbie Springs of Stevensville serves on the five-member volunteer board of the county tourism district that has been working hard to promote the Bitterroot Valley for several years.

We formed to bring destination tourism to the Bitterroot, Springs said. We all know that the Bitterroot Valley is a beautiful spot, but it hasnt been promoted at a high level like Glacier or the Flathead. Some visitors may have heard about the Bitterroot River, but they really dont know where its at.

The organization is funded through a $1-a-night fee collected from people staying in motels and lodges in the Bitterroot Valley. Its initial focus was to create a website that promotes the area.

Once that project was completed, the groups marketing plan called for designing a billboard that would encourage visitors to stop and stay a day or two.

Springs said they discovered that billboards were controlled by a couple of companies in the state and it was challenging to get one.

About six months ago, a sign company offered the organization a billboard just north of Lolo.

We were really excited at that point, Springs said. The five-member board decided it should feature the wonderful fishing we have here.

And so they told the billboard company to design a sign that included a fisherman, fly and a fish.

The designer apparently wasnt a fisherman.

Unfortunately, neither were any of the five members on the board.

The proof came back, Springs said. None of us are fisher people. We didnt realize that we had the incorrect species. It was in no way malicious. We really intended to create an image that was welcoming to our valley.

Springs said theyve heard from quite a few trout-loving residents.

There have been lots of calls, especially from fishermen, she said. They told us that we had the wrong fish, wrong plug, just everything about it was wrong.

***

The board met last Tuesday and decided the billboard needed to come down and a new one  with the right fish and fisherman  should go up in its place.

It cant happen overnight, Springs said. We do want to reassure people that it is going to happen.

The new billboard should be up in the middle part of April.

Longtime fishing outfitter and Bitter Root Water Forum Board Chair Eddie Olwell said hes certain people will be happy to hear that.

Im sure it was well intended, and being a person in the recreation business, I appreciate the spirit of it, Olwell said. I was disappointed that they got it so wrong.

After spotting the big bass for the first time, Olwell said he had considered tracking down its owner, but he decided that might be considered nitpicking.

And then he went to his favorite brewery where everyone was talking about it.

People were kind of wild about it, he said.

While some say there are a few bass lurking about in the lower reaches of the Bitterroot River, Olwell said hes never seen or caught one.

There are some bass in the ponds at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, but only youngsters can fish for those.

Montana is the Mecca of fly fishing for trout, that's known not only in the country, but around the world, he said. Ninety percent of the people who come to the Bitterroot come to fish for trout. Its such a big part of our economy and so ingrained in us, its surprising to see something like this.

Im sure they got an earful, Olwell said.

From a market research point of view, Springs said the mistake did offer some insight.
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WEST CHESTER, Ohio  Get live updates about the Ohio primary and other contests on March 15.

Unsettled by images of violence and ugliness at Donald J. Trumps rallies, the Republican leaders pushing to stop him are desperately targeting voters in the five big states that vote on Tuesday.

The weekend of disturbances at Mr. Trumps rallies injected more unease into the race, and the appeals of his rivals turned emotional and urgent. On Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida warned that a Trump White House would exploit hatred and stir violence. Imagine what that means for the country, Mr. Rubio said. Imagine the tone it sets for our culture.

Ohio has emerged as a critical contest, the one large state voting this week where Mr. Trump appears vulnerable. A victory here by Gov. John Kasich would complicate Mr. Trumps attempt to gather a majority of delegates needed for the nomination.

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont hoped for a repeat of his stunning upset over Hillary Clinton last week in Michigan, as he hopscotched the Midwest to push his central message that American workers have suffered too much under trade deals.
In December, Ami Levy and her husband, Jason, left frigid Washington, D.C., for a two-week vacation in Argentina. Once there, they headed north to the Brazilian border for a couple of days, lured by Igauzu Falls.

She recalls the excitement when their phones GPS indicated they finally were in Brazil, and the awe-inspiring walls of water, some more than 24 stories tall.

And, she remembers, everywhere there were mosquitoes, leaving bites on her thigh.

Back home the first week of January, Ms. Levy learned she was four weeks pregnant.

Her first pregnancy had ended in miscarriage in September, so it was with some hesitation that she left for another trip, this time to Puerto Rico for a rendezvous with her aunt and sister.
When a reporter on a train in Boston spotted a former student of an elite New Hampshire prep school who was free on bail after a high-profile rape trial last year, she couldnt resist peppering him with questions.

Now, the interview may lead to his bail being revoked.

The defendant, Owen Labrie, 19, greeted her warmly and answered all of her questions, the reporter, Susan Zalkind, posted on Twitter and later wrote for Vice. Mr. Labrie, a graduate of St. Pauls School in Concord, was sentenced to a year in prison after he was cleared of felony sexual assault charges but convicted of having sex with an underage student.

Mr. Labrie, who is free on $15,000 bail pending an appeal, is subject to a 5 p.m. curfew, when he must return to his mothers home in Tunbridge, Vt., about 150 miles from Boston. Ms. Zalkind tweeted about their discussion immediately after the train ride on the afternoon of Feb. 29, and it raised eyebrows in law enforcement.

Prosecutors said in court documents that the tweets prompted an investigation into the defendants travels. The conclusion: Mr. Labrie has violated a condition of his release by failing to comply with his curfew, traveling outside the parameters of his curfew at least eight times. Prosecutors asked for an expedited hearing and for his bail to be revoked.
SKOPJE, Macedonia  Hundreds of migrants braved a fast-moving river to cross from Greece into Macedonia on Monday, defying efforts by European officials to stop people fleeing war and desperation from traveling through the Balkans to Germany and other destinations.

At least three people  two women and a man, all around 20  drowned when trying to cross the border, and four people traveling with them were hospitalized, according to humanitarian groups in the area.

The border had been effectively sealed since last week, when Macedonia, along with Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, said it would no longer allow migrants to pass through on their way north.
But barring undesirables was only half the battle; the herd also had to be culled from within. In 1907, Indiana became the first state to legalize forced sterilization, starting a landslide endorsed by progressive icons like Theodore Roosevelt and the birth control champion Margaret Sanger. And when eugenicists needed an ironclad case to bring before the Supreme Court, Virginias medical elite supplied it in the person of Carrie Buck.

The facts of her case, endorsed by Dr. John Bell, superintendent of Virginias Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded, went like this: Carries mother, Emma Buck, a feebleminded woman, had been remanded to the colony in 1920, by which time Carrie had been placed in foster care. There had been no trouble until Carries teenage years, when she became rebellious  and pregnant. Abandoned by her foster parents, Carrie was examined by a judge and two doctors, who determined that she was feebleminded, and that her infant daughter, Vivian, most likely was too. Here, indeed, was an ideal candidate for sterilization  a woman of low intelligence and poor family lineage, oversexed and excessively fertile. Though the Virginia courts had already ruled in favor of sterilization, the state agreed to wait until the Supreme Court heard the case.

It would be hard to imagine a less sympathetic body. Chief Justice William Howard Taft had ties to the eugenics movement, and four of the associate justices constituted a reactionary clique later nicknamed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There is no formal portrait of the Supreme Court for the 1924 term because one of the members refused to sit next to Louis Brandeis, the courts first Jewish member. Several years later, two of the justices would lobby against the nomination of Benjamin Cardozo so as not to afflict the court with another Jew.

Hoping for consensus, Taft picked the august, persuasive Holmes to write the majority opinion. Carrie Buck is a feebleminded white woman, Holmes began. She is the daughter of a feebleminded mother in the same institution and the mother of an illegitimate feebleminded child. Alluding to his own service as a Union officer wounded during the Civil War, Holmes, now 86, described sterilization as a trivial concession. We have seen more than once that the public welfare may call upon the best citizens for their lives, he declared. It would be strange if it could not call upon those who already sap the strength of the state for these lesser sacrifices . . . in order to prevent our being swamped with incompetence.

Holmes relied on a single case, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, to endorse the states interest in sterilization. In 1905, the Supreme Court had upheld the right of a locality to take reasonable measures to protect the public in a health emergency  in this instance, vaccination during a smallpox epidemic. Though hardly a comparable example, Holmes made the most of it, writing: The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the fallopian tubes. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.

The vote was 8-1  the lone dissenter being Pierce Butler, one of the infamous Four Horsemen. Butler wrote no opinion and offered no explanation, but as the only Roman Catholic on the court, he was no doubt aware, Cohen writes, of the deep reservations the Church had about interference with human procreation. But why did Justice Brandeis, the so-called peoples attorney, join the majority? Cohen provides little guidance. Brandeis and Holmes were friendly, he writes, and Brandeis may have been trying to placate Holmes, as well as Taft. Or perhaps Brandeis truly believed in using state power to create a better world through sterilization. Both versions are plausible, but the evidence is flimsy.
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A blog by Jay Livingston -- what I've been thinking, reading, seeing, or doing. Although I am a member of the Montclair State University department of sociology, this blog has no official connection to Montclair State University. Montclair State University does not endorse the views or opinions expressed therein. The content provided is that of the author and does not express the view of Montclair State University.
According to news coming from Iran, 3000 Iranian teachers and civil rights advocates in a letter to president Hassan Rohani demanded for the release of the imprisoned teachers .In this letter ,they have indicated that, these teachers are the best teachers in the country and their crime is nothing but fighting for the rights of the teachers. They have also indicated in the letter that, if their crime is not political , then they must be tried in an open court with their lawyers , judge and juries.The names of these teachers are:The signatories asked from president Rohani to use his constitutional power to release these teachers who are not guilty of any crime but only defending the rights of all Iranian teachers .Link:
MISSOULA  Michael Goguen, a Whitefish philanthropist, has been named in a lawsuit that alleges he has continually sexually assaulted a woman since meeting her in 2001.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Mateo County, California, accuses Goguen of a breach of contract, saying he did not fully pay Amber Laurel Baptiste money he allegedly promised her to keep her from suing him.

Among other community projects, Goguen funds the Two Bear Air search and rescue service that, while based out of Flathead County, operates across western Montana. He also gave a $2 million grant that is paying for two detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in both Missoula and Flathead counties who investigate online child pornography as well as sex trafficking.

In the lawsuit, Goguen is accused of abusing Baptiste sexually, physically and emotionally for over 13 years. Baptiste claims that she has been involved in human trafficking since the age of 15 and that shortly after she was brought to the county in 2001, she met Goguen at a Texas strip club.

He allegedly began to pay her living expenses and other costs in exchange for a sexual relationship with her relying on his promise that he would help her break free of the human traffickers who held her in perpetual debt.

The lawsuit details a long chain of alleged graphic sexual and violent acts Baptiste said Goguen forced her to endure in the years after their meeting.

According to the lawsuit, in 2012 Baptiste found that she was infected with human papillomavirus that she believed was contracted from Goguen. He allegedly signed a contract to pay her $40 million, but after paying $10 million refused to provide any more money. Baptistes lawsuit is seeking the remaining payments as well as compensatory damages.

Goguens attorney told technology website TechCrunch that a countersuit will be filed on Monday that says Baptiste is attempting to extort Goguen. Sequoia Capital, the venture capital firm where Goguen is a partner, also told TechCrunch that he has left the company.
MILES CITY  Early Wednesday in supervisor Jennifer Winkley's snug office, Child and Family Services employees gather for a meeting.

Three reports and two requests for services have come in that morning  representing five children, siblings or parents that need the immediate attention of the four child protection specialists employed here.

There are supposed to be six of them, child protection specialists that work with parents and children to assure well-being of children who are at risk of or have been subjected to maltreatment. One position is vacant; another employee is going through training.

Turnover is one of the many problems that have plagued this state agency. Director Sarah Corbally, who is leaving the job in April, has said about 30 of the 178 positions across the state are vacant at any given time; some remain open longer than a year.

Winkley, sitting at her desk, leads the group. The Minnesota native has been in Miles City more than a decade, and her office shows how well she fits in  a European-style deer mount hangs on the wall, and boots make up a big part of the decor. There's a saddle chair kids like to sit on. Photos of boys and girls she's placed into permanent homes cover part of a wall. A large drawing from a child she helped is taped up behind where she sits. Written in crayon, it says "Thank you for helping me" and "You are my best friend and make me happy."

That's what the public never sees  the happy, safe kids and the families that are reunified  says child protection specialist Joyce Turner, who has worked for the agency about three years.

"I've never read or heard anything on a news show about 'this family was reunited,'" she says. "You never heard about those things. All the public hears is the negative side of it, then of course that's what they know."

RAGE AT WORKERS

Across the state, a wide range of groups have volleyed rage at Montana's Child and Family Services workers. About two dozen men and women picketed outside the Billings regional office holding signs with messages like "Child Protective Services declares war on families." An organization called "Grandparents Group of Montana" has staged rallies at the capitol and in cities around the state.

Their claims about the system are serious  kids are taken away from parents who have done nothing wrong and are stuck in the system too long. Child protection specialists have too much power with no one to keep them in check and hide behind confidentiality rules.

Agencies and systems seem faceless. Using those words detach the work from the people like Winkley and Turner, the ones sitting at the kitchen tables of families at low points and connecting them with services that can help.

"I'll admit sometimes it's difficult," Turner says of the criticism the agency receives. "Sometimes you have to bite your tongue. Sometimes, unfortunately, the negative gets so publicized that the positive gets lost in the shuffle."

Winkley and Turner are two agency employees willing to discuss their jobs with the Lee State Bureau. They can't discuss details of specific cases due to the confidentially their jobs require.

Child and Family Services is run by the Department of Public Health and Human Services. According to department information, in fiscal year 2014, the department assessed 15,724 reports of alleged child abuse or neglect with 7,812 of those reports categorized as requiring an investigation. Reports of abuse or neglect are received by the department's Central Intake, a toll-free line that operates 24/7. Cases that trigger investigation are sent to one of 29 field offices across the state.

For fiscal year 2015, central intake received 35,812 calls and took 17,754 reports for the whole state. Of those, 8,908 required investigation involving 12,897 children, and 1,850 of those resulted in a child being removed from a home. Over the same time period, nearly half of children were returned to the home from which they were removed, 12 percent were placed with their noncustodial parent, and 9 percent were placed permanently with other family.

'A BIG DARN DEAL'

Emotions are directed at child protection specialists because they are a parent's initial and primary contact with CFS. After decades at similar jobs in several states, Turner still gets nervous knocking on a family's door to talk with a mom or dad for the first time.

"You're intruding on someone else's life.  You're not a bull in a china shop, for sure. It is their home, and you have to respect that. You have to put yourself in their position, of if someone was knocking on your door and how that would make you feel."

One of Winkley's favorite phrases is "It's a big darn deal." She says it most often when talking about making the decision to remove children from their homes.

Though critics say child protection specialists make decisions without basis, they operate under a set of state-created protocols. Winkley's specialists take what they call "The Bible" with them on initial visits to document everything.

"One of the first things I ask the worker is, 'Tell me how this child is in immediate danger,'" Winkley says. The danger must be observable, significant, and meet a certain threshold. If there's immediate danger, the child protection specialist will put a protection plan in place.

Protection plans could range from leaving a child in the home or the child going to foster care to working with a family on a voluntary basis or eventually filing a court case.

The agency's first goal is to keep children in their homes, Winkley says, a fact that seems to be overlooked by critics.

Not all cases result in a child being removed from his or her home. And of the cases that do, many result in reunification, Winkley says.

"I would say we all but stand on our heads trying to keep kids in the home," Winkley says. "If we can do some type of a safety plan, where we have safety resources coming into the home and monitoring for safety, if we can keep kids in the home, that's best for kids and families, really."

NOT THE REALITY

But that's not always the reality. "Sometimes we walk in the door and parents are getting arrested and we have no providers. And we end up doing a notice of removal right then and there."

One of Winkley's workers was threatened by a mother she worked with. In the end, she was able to reunify the family. The parent sent flowers and a thank-you card to the worker.

"It said, 'I know this was not easy, and you have an incredibly difficult job, and I want to thank you for what you did,'" Winkley says.

Personal threats are hard to quantify. There are things said in the heat of the moment, words that can be written off as deflections of guilt. But some are more serious.

"You do get those," Winkley says. "You do get the police calling you saying, 'This threat has been made against you.'"

Turner had a stretch where someone had to walk out with her at night. "It was a short period of time, but it was just reassuring," she says.

Her first week, she walked up on a man smashing the windows out of an employee's car in the parking lot  the wrong employee's car, it turned out.

Violence on that level isn't an every-week occurrence, or even monthly, Winkley says. "This is a smaller office, but it does happen, and we take precautions."

Her 6-year-old son has been the subject of threats. "I'm probably maybe a helicopter mom. He doesn't get to ride around the block by himself on his bike. He's with me. I make sure somebody has his eyes on him."

COVERING THE MILES

The Miles City office covers 25,000 square miles over seven counties in Eastern Montana  Custer, Garfield, Fallon, Carter, Powder River, Rosebud and Treasure. In January, child protection specialists logged more than 12,000 miles driving to conduct investigations, get children to doctor appointments, arrange family meetings, and more.

Turner covers Rosebud and Treasure counties. Workers are assigned to regions so they can build relationships with service providers  health departments, mental health providers  in the area.

More than once she's driven hours to meet with parents and nobody's home. She'll hang out, try the house a few more times. If it's a bust, she'll head home and come back the next day.

A legislative audit citing the agency's problems with meeting deadlines set out in state law for responding to reports of alleged neglect and abuse, lack of documenting its work, and other problems can't be blamed on an increasing workload, as its director has said is the problem, because the agency isn't handling more cases.

But Corbally says the audit only looked at a small piece of the agency's work and that the number of children in foster care has increased 75 percent in the last several years as well as the number of cases filed by the agency in district courts.

"This is not an 8-to-5 job, period," Turner says. "And if anybody thinks it is, they are so wrong."

Sometimes there's just not a local placement for kids. Winkley and Turner know without consulting a map that Missoula is just as far as Minot, and those are both places they travel often when there's not a closer spot for a child who needs a mental health assessment.

It can feel like the office operates in triage mode sometimes, moving from one crisis to the next. Employees can't catch their breath between putting out fires.

Turner carries about 10 ongoing court cases, typical for a child protection specialist here. A list of what these cases require every day can quickly add up to more than a 40-hour work week.

"There's so many little things people don't really realize that we do," Winkley says. "It's transportation, it's hand-holding, it's encouraging, it's setting up services, it's monitoring the services, it's taking them to services. In addition to doing an investigation, preparing court affidavits, they're testifying in court, they're attending treatment team meetings, family engagement meetings. There's just so many things that are expected of them."

And that's in addition to those five calls that need investigating on this Wednesday morning. Recently, Turner got a call from a foster parent at 7 p.m. "Of course you have your work phone, and you answer it because you never know," she says. "And when they know that you're available and supportive, it eases their concerns or worries a little bit."

Weekends aren't a given. Turner had a grandmother call her on a Saturday at 10 a.m. because she was having a difficult time with a grandchild. They met and got things worked out.

"Anything you can do to support a placement is wonderful," Turner says. "You have to remember that you're doing this for the children. If you don't step in and help alleviate those issues, you might lose that placement, and that's not good for the kids. It's all about the kids for me."

As a supervisor, Winkley is involved in all of the cases. "It's 24/7. I don't get to shut my phone off." She walks each child protection specialist through a case before they leave the building. They'll call her three, four, five or six times when they're making an initial assessment.

"It's OK for my workers to come into my office and cry, and they do. They yell, they scream. This is an emotionally charged line of work. They need to have a safe place to go."

It's clear for Winkley and Turner that the demands on their time are frustrating, but not because they don't get to detach from work. The women don't focus on vacations spent with a cell phone always turned on but on how having more hours to spend on cases would help children and parents.

"The more time you can spend with a family, the more successful they are," Turner says. "And the shorter the time period we have to have the kids in out-of-home care. When you have so many cases and you're doing new referrals as well  I would love to go and see these kids every single week, but time-wise it's just not possible."

DEMANDING WORK

Turnover has been an issue in Miles City for a few years, Winkley says. "This is an extremely demanding job, and I think you have to have really some kind of internal motivation to do this line of work."

For Turner, that motivation comes from a deeply rooted desire to do what's right for children. It might seem small, but nothing tips her over the edge more than seeing a child carry their belongings into a temporary home in a garbage bag.

"It's about what's right for children. They didn't make those choices; they deserve to have a good, healthy life."

As a child, Turner went through the system. She grew up poor, mostly in Washington state, and has 13 siblings. "Things weren't good at home, and you didn't want to be there; it was your fault."

She lived in a few foster homes. "Things were done so differently. The word 'incorrigible' was really prominent. It prevented, I think, the departments back then from being able to hold the parents accountable for behaviors." Now she can do just that.

Winkley looks back on past success to get her past hiccups.

She still has contact with a now-grown woman from her first case who tells her, "'You're the only one that has stuck through with me,'" Winkley says. "She says, 'You're the mom I didn't have.' And how, I mean, that's huge. What better way to know that you're doing something important when you get those affirmations."


BLOG Sunday 13th March 2016 Mtwapa and Bamburi Kenya. I leave Kenya on 15th of this month, so it is time that I got back to work as a Christian Pastor and missionary. Jay the friendly tuk tuk driver collected me at 7:00 am and off I went to Kings Highway Baptist Church Mtwapa for early morning prayers and for the first service of the day. It was good. The music was enjoyable, and the sermon by Pastor Nicolas was first class! His talk was based on: Genesis 25:21-23 (NKJV) << 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, If all is well, why am I like this? So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her:

 Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger. >> And it came to pass. Pastor Nicolas always preaches good sermons, full of thought and wisdom. Today's was no exception! I said Goodbye to KHBC, at least until I return again to Kenya, and traveled by tuk tuk to Bamburie, Prophetic Embassy Ministries Church. It was HOT but there are now ceiling fans installed in that Church in Bamburi. They are really great! But what WAS really great was the service. Excellent music and excellent preaching. Even I got to preach for half an hour about Why am I a Christian. The main speakers of the day were Prophet William and his mother Prophet Rose. Rose preached a moving sermon in Swahili, her son William based his talk on: 1st Kings 13. The Message of the Man of God << 1And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and mens bones shall be burned on you. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out. 4 So it came to pass..... >> If you want to read what happened next, get out YOUR Bible! William's point was it is good to have your OWN alter in your home, in a quiet corner. He then went on to explain very clearly about tithing 10% of one's net income to God. Very interesting and well explained! Even little ol' me got to preachagain and play a tune at Prophetic Embassy,. My topic was Why am I a Christian?... Based on the words of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible: John 14:6

<< Jesus said to him,  I am the way, the truth, and the life . No one comes to the Father except through Me. >> I was very tired when I got back to the house, but I had enjoyed a wonderful day, doing just what I do the best, that is, playing my harmonica and spreading the teaching of Jesus Christ! PHOTOS: First set: At Kings Highway Baptist Church Mtwapa this morning, featuring Pastor Nicolas.







Photo set two:

At Prophetic Embassy Ministry Church, Bamburi, featuring Prophet Rose and Prophet William.














An exposition of the Hobby of TableTop gaming.

With commentary, notes and other items connected to this hobby.
DEWITT, Iowa  Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) has announced that eligible customer-owners in Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Jones, Muscatine and Scott counties served by the FCSAmerica DeWitt Office will receive checks this month totaling a little more than $3.62 million  their share of the financial cooperatives $160 million cash-back dividend for 2015. In Muscatine County, $345,000 will be distributed. In Louisa County, $492,000 will be distributed by the Mt. Pleasant office.

FCSAmerica has distributed a portion of its net earnings to eligible customer-owners for each of the past 12 years, returning $1.15 billion in cash-back dividends to farmers, ranchers and their rural communities.

The share of FCSAmericas 2015 dividend returned to Iowa customer-owners amounts to $67.4 million.

Each eligible customers cash-back dividend is based on the average loan volume during the calendar year. The more eligible loan business customers have with the cooperative, the more they benefit financially through cash-back dividends.

The FCSAmerica Board of Directors approves each years cash-back distribution in December based on a number of factors, including the cooperatives financial performance.

For more information, visit powerofownership.com.
Mother Olga Yaqob, founder of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, was born and raised in Iraq.

In a recent book, she writes about "merciful hope" and how one encounters it via charitable acts. Giving food to the hungry. Visiting the sick. Welcoming the stranger. She discovered these "were not only a service to others but also a much deeper encounter, in which Jesus invited his followers to see him in those whom they served." She saw God in those who suffered terribly, unjustly, alone. "In the midst of the darkness of violence, hatred, bloodshed, and deaths of both civilians and military personnel, faith in God became my anchor in the face of such a storm."

In her war-torn country, Mother Olga would bury unclaimed bodies, carrying them in her arms. "They were very difficult times in my life. I had to take responsibility for bringing their bodies to our convent to wash them according to the custom of the culture in order to prepare them for burial." She looked to Mary as her model, "who stood at the foot of the cross when they took down the body of her only Son and laid him in her arms, that precious body, beaten, pierced, and covered with blood."

Terror reigns in Iraq today, and it has driven many Christians from their homes. A new report from the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians documents some of what has happened to the Christians targeted by ISIS. Among images that jump off the pages of a nearly 300-page study: A Christian man from Mosul who committed suicide after he had to watch as ISIS fighters "brutally raped his wife and daughter in front of him." Or the woman who "was victimized so often that she resorted to defecating on herself to make herself less desirable, and had to be trained to use the bathroom again after she escaped." According to the report, "ISIS is estimated to have taken over 1,500 Yazidi and Christian girls as sex slaves. They are bought and sold on an open slave market, and are often raped in rapid succession by a number of fighters in a single night."

And these are just some of the horrors we know.

Here at home, the U.S. government faces a decision about whether it is going to recognize what is happening in Iraq as the genocide it so clearly is, following in the footsteps of the EU parliament, among others. The question has become not one of America sticking its neck out or being a moral leader, but not standing in the way of what would otherwise be something of a global consensus, one that Pope Francis has been begging the world to see for some time now.

What the sloganeering of a certain presidential candidate misses is that America's greatness is rooted in something more than ourselves, greater than ourselves. American exceptionalism can be a boast, but it can also be a humble and confident prayer. It's a reminder that we must protect, defend, welcome and lead, with gratitude for the freedoms we have. Listening to the crowd reactions at a primary victory party one recent Tuesday, the masses seemed more like spectators at a sporting event than people bent on the hard work of restoring virtue to the troubled republic.

Before he became Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in a conversation with his good friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka, "Participating in political life is a way of honoring democracy." When we don't take that as seriously as we ought, democracy ceases to honor us. Some of the radical social experiments codified by the judiciary in recent decades certainly contributed to the unraveling of what healthy social order there was.

I keep hearing how America is a religious nation. If that's going to mean anything, now is the time for people of faith to humble ourselves, examine our conscience and see if we are giving what we should to our society. And it can start simply, by going out of your way for another. Remembering the forgotten, the lonely. Visiting the sick. Learning from a girl in a war-torn country looking for hope and meaning. Remembering who we are and want to be.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.
Metro chief reporter. Tottenham Hotspur and The Beatles fan. See also: http://aidanradnedgemetroblogs.wordpress.com/
(Weapons and Warfare) The Iran-Iraq War was one of the longest and deadliest in recent histories. Iran full of zeal after its revolution...
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
Nyeri County should just become the official home of drama. I mean, everything crazy that hits Kenyan airwaves and takes the country by storm is mostly from residents of this county.

Speaking of which, 7 male porters were nabbed over the weekend by their friends and forced to strip down before they were bathed in public. Residents from the area confirmed that the seven had a tendency of not visiting the bathroom, thus resulting to body odor.

Concerned about the hygiene of their colleagues, their pals decided to give them a shower in broad daylight as well giving them new clothes to wear.

Some photos.




Former beauty queen Cecilia Mwangi has put to rest the whole relationship saga pitting herself, news anchor Mwanaisha Chidzuga and former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana.

The former Miss World Kenya doesnt wish to be dragged into discussing the relationship any further.

After the anti-jigger ambassador let the cat out of the bag on the situation between herself and Mungatana weeks ago, what followed was a local publication that Mwanaisha allegedly told Cecilia to go hang because Mungatana was hers to keep.

Reached for comment by Word Is, Cecilia said, I dont want to talk about this anymore. I said all I wanted to say when I said it.

On why she hasnt responded to Mwanaisha, she reiterated, Am sorry but I told you no more comments [on this matter]. Lets talk about the future.
Nollywood heartthrob Mike Ezuruonye has reportedly made his pick between Kenyas top socialites, Huddah Monroe and Vera Sidika.

According to word on the online streets of Nigeria, the renowned actor prefers Huddah Monroe over the skin lightening Vera Sidika. The rumor mill has it that the actor made his decision based on his encounter with Vera during the video shoot of Kcee and Harrysongs song Ebeano.

Vera shocked me on set. She hit on every one including the crew. I would choose Huddah over her any day.

It is worth noting however, that the rumor/gossip mill in Nigeria is usually on overdrive and these claims should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Source: Pulse
Mr Edward Mugeere Kayongo the Educational Tutor shares his experience on how Schools were affected by COVID 19. Schools were closed for nea...
HAPPY DONABE LIFE - Mrs. Donabe's Rustic Japanese Kitchen

Welcome to Home of Donabe Cooking! This blog is about healthy Japanese and donabe (Japanese clay pot) cooking. I love my donabe life and I want to share the joy of donabe cooking with many other people. I also write about random food, wine, and travel experiences. Los Angeles | Tokyo
DEAR READERS: If you are holding down a second job, data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows you're not alone. According to that data, more than 8% of workers have multiple jobs, and the majority of them hold two jobs for the entire year. The question isn't really "Should I have a second job?" but "Should I tell my boss that I'm working on the side?"
Matteo Catalani rattles off cooking instructions like a doctor prescribing medicine. It's a Sunday afternoon at Union Market in D.C., where Catalani operates a fresh pasta stand called Cucina Al Volo. The name means "kitchen on the fly" in Italian, appropriate considering its co-owner hardly stands still. He scrubs skillets. He plunges tongs into a pot of boiling water, loosening bundles of fettuccine as puffs of steam vanish into his dark locks, tied neatly into a bun.

He dishes constant advice about pasta. Sometimes people don't even have to ask.

"Boil water. A pinch of salt. No more than three minutes," Catalani says as he sells an uncooked batch to a customer.

How long will it stay fresh? "Five to six days."

What about the pesto? "As long as it's coated with oil, it'll keep."

Years ago, while living in Italy, he never imagined he would wind up cooking pasta in a place that also sells kolaches and Korean tacos. Catalani, 23, harks from a city near Florence called Pistoia. He's proud of his provenance: For evidence, look no further than the tricolor flag stitched onto his uniform. He focused on chemistry and biology in high school before realizing he didn't see a future for himself in science. In 2011, he left Italy for Washington to join his uncle, Daniele Catalani, a chef here since the late 1990s, formerly of Galileo and Toscana Cafe.

Tired of the restaurant industry's crowds and chaos, the duo launched a new venture focused on what they enjoy most: pasta. They carved a niche for themselves by selling fresh noodles directly to home cooks. Now Matteo is handing over fresh pappardelle to customers with the care of a parent delivering a newborn to a sitter. "There's a lot of demand for good food, but there's not a lot of people providing it," Matteo says of Washington. "We have a purpose here."

Besides Union Market, the two pop up at the Bloomingdale and the 14th and U farmers markets May through November. But as their tiny operation soars, they face a conundrum: Can they make it big without losing their small-time charm?

Matteo likens his work to a lot of things. It's cookery, yes, but it's also a form of consulting. Customers turn to him when they have pasta-related problems: What should they cook at a dinner party for five? "People come to me without knowing what they want. I talk to them, establish a relationship with them and help them out," he says. "This is what I love."

He's a hit with crowds of all ages. He cooks buttered noodles for the birthday girl in a pink dress, even though the dish isn't on the menu. He gives a discount to the dad who returns a canvas tote's worth of empty sauce jars. And he's polite, imbuing regular conversations with the formality of "Hello, sir," and "Yes, ma'am."

Most of Catalani's prep work occurs at Union Kitchen, a shared production space populated by food start-ups such as Compass Coffee. There, he layers tomato sauce, braised short ribs, fresh pasta and bechamel into lasagna and cooks a variety of sauces - duck ragu, lobster and shrimp, wild mushroom, eggplant-tomato, pesto - to sell alongside his pastas. He clings to tradition and makes squid-ink fettuccine and kale-spinach fusilli. Other times, he breaks loose, creating offbeat recipes such as smoked paprika pappardelle.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, he works from about 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. in the kitchen, prepping sauces, doing inventory and making orders. "He works hard all day long," says Jason Rosen, a frequent customer. "He makes sure everything is consistent."

Catalani doesn't usually shape pasta at Union Kitchen. Instead, he transports the vibrant doughs to his cramped market stand, where he stuffs them into a bronze-plated pasta machine that pumps out ribbons of black, orange and green. He cranks the handle on an old-school pasta maker to shape his ricotta cavatelli and seals every single raviolo by hand.

He built a clear barrier around his prep area, so wide-eyed customers can gawk at the pasta as it emerges from the machines, a sight he says can be hypnotic. He stacks the finished bundles on drying racks, which he assembled himself using materials from Home Depot. "I never saw anyone selling it," he says. "So I make it myself."

Cucina Al Volo sold only uncooked pasta until customers asked Catalani to serve it cooked with his premade sauces. The decision has paid off. Cooked pasta sales have nearly matched sales of the uncooked variety. On Valentine's Day, he sold more than 100 pounds of both.

Restaurants have asked to carry Cucina Al Volo's products. But the owners feel the company is too young for such large commitments. "You stretch too thin, and you start cutting corners," Daniele says.

That sort of conviction doesn't come cheap. A jar of pesto at Cucina Al Volo costs $11. A pound of fresh pasta goes for $8.

People are willing to pay for it, though, and apparently so are investors. A group of potential backers has approached the Catalanis about setting up a casual restaurant downtown, potentially equipped with an open kitchen and salad and gelato bars. The concept could work for the pair, as long as it doesn't involve too many complications. "We just want to make good pasta - not to go too crazy," Daniele says.

In the meantime, Matteo wants to host cooking classes and keep on doing what he's been doing: making pasta and hopefully helping some people along the way. "It's kind of a therapy," he says.

Daniele agrees: "Whenever my wife and I have a fight, I go and make pasta. When I come home, I say, 'Hey, try this,' and we make peace."
OK, so I was super busy last Thursday  of all days  when it was pouring rain. I had three appointments on my calendar that turned into four and probably five assignments, numerous conversations  all pleasant, by the way  and really didnt get too wet as I decided walking was better than driving in downtown St. Helena.

On my calendar were appointments with Lisa Toller, board member of the UpValley Family Centers, and St. Helena Mayor Alan Galbraith. Both were at two unexpectedly noisy coffeehouses in the downtown and the conversation with Toller may lead to a series of stories on immigration down the road.

My conversation with the mayor was strictly off the record, so if I repeat it here to you, Id have to kill you  and I wouldnt want to do that.

The one other thing on my calendar was to attend the late afternoon press preview of the spring musical by St. Helena High Schools Drama Department. I knew that was going to be a story with photos  designed to highlight the efforts by the students and to get you to buy tickets. Youll find that story and photos both online and elsewhere in this newspaper.

Speaking of online, do you realize that we have a new website? Its supposed to be reader-friendly, show off the photos that we take and provide news of St. Helena and Napa County more frequently than just on Thursday morning. In todays journalism, the idea that we gather, write the news, take the photos and create display and classified advertising for our physical newspaper on Thursday morning is slowly becoming antiquated.

Like many of you, Id rather pick up a physical newspaper and read it with my coffee than go online for my local news, but I find myself using the Internet more and more to get information  especially if it concerns bicycle racing. (If you wish to find out more than you ever want to know about bicycles and the pros who race them in Europe and occasionally in the United States, go to velonews.com.)

Anyway, while I was meeting with Lisa Toller at Sogni Di Dolci, I had a conversation with two people: Bill Ryan, who said the bass fishing at Clear Lake is the best its been in a decade; and Carol Gruetzner, who is heading up the parade of fantastic old cars for this years Rally for Rianda event. She says she has a story Ill like  a guy bought an original David Brown Aston-Martin for $10 from a junkyard. Since that purchase, hes spent $2 million on the car. The parade will start in Calistoga and end up in St. Helena. Details, Im sure, are forthcoming.

About 90 minutes later, before meeting with the mayor at Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Co., I ran into Jay Greene and inquired about his talks about Civil War battles that hes giving at the St. Helena Public Library. Theyre going well, he said. The next one is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 22. Two more are scheduled in April.

Then, I walked back to the office underneath a large umbrella, so I stayed somewhat dry. I saw an email from Laura Lehman, director of The Young School in St. Helena. They were holding their 15th annual Open House and Science Maker Fair that afternoon and were hoping someone from the Star would cover it. I told her I would be there  and added to a busy day.

I found the school abuzz with science experiments and their presenters. I was surprised to find out  thanks to Luca Gansa  that four half-shell eggs can support 30 pounds of dictionaries without breaking; that two chains are needed to use a bicycle to power a motor that turns on tiny electric lights (thanks to Cal Lehmin); and that fourth-grader Honoria Medynski understands how a gas fuel pump works better than any of us (except maybe her dad).

It was enchanting for me  and for the many parents and alumni who came to the event.

While I was there, Matt Hileman told me he had emailed the Stars sports reporter Yousef Baig and asked whether he was going to attend the St. Helena Little League event at Velo Vino. Then, he asked if I could make it. I told him Id try  but I already had a busy afternoon.

I left the office and walked to the St. Helena Elementary School to see the press preview of Youre a Good Man Charlie Brown. It was a delightful musical and I loved talking to director Patti Coyle  Ive been calling her Peppermint Patty the past few weeks  and to Charlie Brown and Lucy, although I forgot my nickel to get Lucys advice  just in case the doctor was in. (She was and I didnt get any advice, darn it!)

Ive grown up with Charles Schulz and the Peanuts gang and started reading the comic strip on the funny pages in the Chicago Tribune when I was a little boy. Even though no new Peanuts strips have been created since Schulzs death in February 2000, Im still reading them. So it will be a real treat to see the last SHHS performance at the elementary school this weekend. There are only four performances (7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday), so if youre wanting to see it, visit StHelenaDrama.com. Tickets are $15.

Finally, I thought I could walk from the elementary school to Velo Vino on South Main Street and catch some information about the Little League benefit. I talked to a few people there, including Jeff Blaum, who is an ardent Cardinals fan. Since I am a Cubs fan, we had a good, friendly discussion. After getting the story, it was time to head back to the office and then home.

Like I said, it was a busy day. And if anyone tells you theres nothing going on in St. Helena, dont you believe it!
Question -- What is the goal of this website? Why do we share different sources of information that sometimes conflicts or might even be considered disinformation?

Answer -- The primary goal of Nesaranews is to help all people become better truth-seekers in a real-time boots-on-the-ground fashion. This is for the purpose of learning to think critically, discovering the truth from withinnot just believing things blindly because it came from an "authority" or credible source. Instead of telling you what the truth is, we share information from many sources so that you can discern it for yourself. We focus on teaching you the tools to become your own authority on the truth, gaining self-mastery, sovereignty, and freedom in the process. We want each of you to become your own leaders and masters of personal discernment, and as such, all information should be vetted, analyzed and discerned at a personal level. We also encourage you to discuss your thoughts in the comments section of this site to engage in a group discernment process.





"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  Aristotle

11
Italy's first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, sworn in

Private jet goes missing off coast of Costa Rica

Times of India: India tests nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile

Spiegel: German Foreign Minister and Defense Minister ask to allocate 2.2 billion for military aid to Kiev

Deputy PM of Armenia and Head of Sharjah Heritage Institute discuss strengthening of Armenian-Emirati relations

Biden allows participation in U.S. presidential election in 2024

Secretary of Security Council of Armenia and representatives of AIISA discuss security issues

Kakhovka reservoir increases water discharges in case of possible destruction of HPP

Pashinian's spouse: Yesterday at Elysee Palace I was received by dear Brigitte Macron

At least 15 people killed in bus-truck collision in India

Explosion at Uzbek Defense Ministry depot injures 16 people

Armenian NA Speaker receives Iranian FM: Tehran opposes obstacles on border with friendly Armenia

President Harutyunyan receives group of members of Union of Artsakh Reserve Officers NGO

Newspaper: Armenia restores diplomatic ties with Hungary?

China hit by 5.5 magnitude earthquake

Armenian Defense Ministry denies Azerbaijani report on shelling, calling it disinformation

Blinken: Moscow is not interested in stopping aggression against Ukraine

Japan and U.S. will hold joint military exercises

France withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty

CNN: White House is in talks with Elon Musk to create satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran

Baku outraged by Iran's statements and frightened by IRGC military exercises

Who are main beneficiaries of 'Zangezur' corridor?: Another anonymous article by 'Haykakan Zhamanak' newspaper

Ankara decides to stand up for Riyadh amid deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and U.S.

French Foreign Minister considers it vital to keep lines of communication with Russia open

Pentagon refuses to give details of conversation between Austin and Shoigu

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Head of Caucasus Muslims Department again made slanderous and false statements

Erdogan denies using chemical weapons against Kurds and threatens those who dare to talk about it

Saudi Arabia and China will strengthen their ties in energy sector

Governor of Gegharkunik province receives representatives of OSCE fact-finding mission

Penny Mordaunt runs for Prime Minister of Great Britain

Sweden expects ratification of NATO membership application by Hungary and Turkey to be completed soon

European Union will allocate 1.5 billion euros per month to Kiev in 2023

An Israeli-built flight school opened in Greece

Russian Railways is negotiating with Azerbaijan and Iran to launch the Rasht-Astara route

Overchuk: Construction of road through Meghri, whose sovereignty is not in question, depends on Armenia's position

Armenian Defense Minister's working visit to India is over

Hungary will not agree to limit prices for imported gas

Iranian Foreign Minister: Iran considers Armenia one of most important transit countries

Naribekyan participates in meeting of secretaries general of PACE parliaments

Delegation from United Arab Emirates visits Armenia at invitation of head of MONKS: Two agreements signed

Dollar, euro drop in Armenia

Iran consul general in Armenias Kapan: We do not accept any change of borders

Baza: Mobile military registration and enlistment offices will be removed on Russian-Georgian border

Iranian Consul: Countries of region do not need presence of foreign armed forces

Armenia FM: Iran consulate general in Kapan will be important for regional security

Iranian Consul General advises Kapan residents not to worry anymore: Iran is here for Armenian people

FM reaffirms Armenia plan to open consulate general in Irans Tabriz

Turkey to open consulate in occupied Armenian Shushi city of Artsakh

Turkish Ministry of Finance: Ankara can buy Russian oil without Western funding

Armenia Security Council chief briefs European Parliament rapporteur on recent Azerbaijan military aggression

British bookmakers name favorite for post of prime minister

Erdogan: Armenia-Azerbaijan relations progress will contribute to Armenia-Turkey relations normalization

Iranian Consulate General opens in Kapan

Erdogan: Turkey is looking for alternative to American F-16 fighters

Iran consul general: We are here for Armenian people

Turkey FM slams OSCE decision to send needs assessment mission to Armenia

Peskov reacts to Erdogan's words about Putin's softening on Ukraine negotiations

European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia visits Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

European Parliament rapporteur on Armenia to legislature speaker: Attack was from Azerbaijan, naturally

Armenia President to EEU PMs: We will manage to take another confident step by respecting mutual interests

EUSR Toivo Klaars exclusive interview with NEWS.am on EU Monitoring mission,Nagorno Karabakh future and violence videos

Explosions rock Ukraines Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia

President meets with newly formed Artsakh Public Council members

Armenia PM: We need understanding in price horizon, at least in medium term

Lawyer: 20 of fallen solders parents detained from Yerevan military pantheon are recognized as injured party

PM: Armenia trade with other EEU countries increased by 74%

France region to provide 300,000 to Armenias Syunik Province affected by Azerbaijan military aggression

Eurasian Intergovernmental Council extended meeting underway in Yerevan

MOD: Armenia did not fire at Azerbaijan positions, vehicle

MPs in Strasbourg, present threatening dangers: Armenia has powerful support in European Parliament

Years first snow falls in Armenias Shirak Province

World oil prices on the rise

Newspaper: Russia dismisses Armenia PM's news on Karabakh

Russia PM in Yerevan, to discuss with EEU colleagues single oil, natural gas markets formation

Newspaper: Why is Iran in hurry to open consulate in Armenias Syunik Province?

France, Spain, Portugal agree to build Barcelona-Marseille natural gas pipeline

Admiral: U.S. should now prepare for Chinese 'invasion' of Taiwan

Harutyunyan: I cannot imagine Artsakh's future without presence of Russia

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YEREVAN.  National Assembly (NA) of Armenia Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov on Monday received the Delegation of the Belgian and Flemish Parliamentarians, who, after their visit to Armenia, will be in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh).

Sharmazanov highly assessed the role of the Armenian-Belgian and the Armenian-Flemish parliamentarians in the development of the bilateral relations. He expressed confidence that this visit will also be an impetus to further develop and deepen friendly relations.

The NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov thanked the vice president of the Flemish Parliament (Senate), Karl Vanlouwe, for taking part in the Armenian Genocide Centennial commemorations and the Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide and for the speech, as well as for the adoption of the resolution by the Flemish Parliament and the Belgian Parliament condemning the Armenian Genocide, and for reaffirming their position on Genocide condemnation. Highlighting the denial of the double standards in condemnation of genocides and the international condemnation of genocides, the Armenian parliament deputy chairman noted that, as the past one-hundred year history has shown, non-condemned crimes give birth to new crimes. In his word, the denial policy of Turkey is a threat not only for the region, but for all mankind, and this attests to the events occurring in the Near East today.

Eduard Sharmazanov thanked the members of the Delegation for their willingness to visit the NKR, and considered this a good occasion to see the developing democracy with ones own eyes. He reaffirmed that Armenia sees the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict solely through peace, and based on three international preceptsthe peoples right to self-determination, territorial integrity, and the non-use of force, or the threat of force, noted and Azerbaijan always refuses two out of them, and misrepresents the problem, and tries to pass different resolutions at different international organizations.

Vanlouwe, for his part, informed his Armenian colleague that their visit to Artsakh envisions for several Flemish and Karabakh schools to cooperate and carry out a series of activities. He added that will be a small step by Flanders toward lifting of the blockade on Karabakh.

Touching upon the Karabakh conflict, the vice president of the Flemish Parliament highlighted, on behalf of himself and his colleagues, the protection of human rights, and in this context, the Karabakh peoples right to self-determination.

In the ensuing talk, the interlocutors touched upon several other matters of bilateral interest, and highlighted the role of Diaspora Armenians in the development of bilateral relations.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan paid an official visit to Greece today upon the invitation of President of Greece Prokopios Pavlopoulos.

Before the launch of high-level talks, Serzh Sargsyan laid a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Athens, Armenian presidents press-service reports.

After the solemn ceremony at the Greek Presidents mansion, a tete-a-tete meeting between the presidents was held. Armenian President and his Greek counterpart, who used to be a member of the Armenian-Greek Parliamentary Friendship Group and is thus well-aware of the most important issues regarding Armenia, discussed issues of interstate relations both in bilateral and multilateral formats. In the framework of the international and regional organizations, the presidents touched on the development of mutual cooperation on a number of important issues, inter-parliamentary ties, process of acknowledging and condemning the Armenian Genocide, as well as the talks over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Sargsyan and Pavlopoulos also discussed the issues on the international agenda, presented their positions, touched on the Armenian-EU relations and the role of friendly Greece in their development. Moreover, they conferred on the crisis in the Middle East, specifically the consequences of the migrant crisis, which has become a serious challenge for the Greek government.

Following the tete-a-tete meeting, a banquet was given in honor of the Armenian president. In his address, Sargsyan referred to the deeply-rooted ties between the Armenian and Greek peoples.

For his part, Mr Pavlopoulos noted that the two nations are linked with historical ties. According to him, in the beginning of the 20th century, the two nations suffered because of one and the same reason. We wont forget the Armenian Genocide of 1915. I'm proud of the fact that Greece became one of the several countries to give asylum to the Armenians, and one of the first counties to acknowledge the Genocide committed against the Armenian people. At the same time, the Armenian Parliament acknowledged the Genocide against the Pontic Greeks.

Referring to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Greek President noted that his country is committed to the principle of peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of the international law and norms, and definitely holds the same position on the Karabakh conflict settlement. In this connection he also stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group is the most convenient platform for resolving the conflict.

The Armenian and Greek presidents will later attend the opening of Armenia: Spirit of Ararat  exhibition to be held at Athens Byzantine and Christian museum.

Serzh Sargsyan will meet with the representatives of the Armenian community of Greece afterwards.
13:08

Here's the lowdown on what happened in the Rajya Sabha today.



Ruling BJP and Congress today sparred in Rajya Sabha over remarks of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad allegedly comparing Hindutva outfit RSS with terrorist organisation ISIS.





While the ruling party and its ministers wanted Azad to withdraw his controversial remarks and apologise, the Congress leader denied drawing any parallel between the two and said he was submitting a CD of his speech to the government and is willing to face privilege motion if anything wrong was found. After Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slipped in a reference to the alleged remarks by Azad while giving government's response to concern by members over remarks by RSS leaders' on continuation of reservation, Azad read out the verbatim speech he made at an event organised by Jamait Ulama-i-Hind last week.





He said he had in the speech stated there was no fight between Hindus and Muslims in India but a fight on ideology. Ruing why Muslims were joining a terrorist organisation like ISIS that is destroying Islamic traditions, Azad said he had stated that "we oppose to organisations like ISIS like we oppose RSS."





Also, "if someone in Islam does wrong, they are no less than RSS," he said. "Where is the comparison," he asked. "If I had said ISIS and RSS are same" there would have been a comparison. He said he had stated that Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalists have to be fought as they are against the country. "We have to fight them all together."





Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he personally respected Azad but "he should think if he has knowingly or unknowingly slipped ... you have given respectability to ISIS."
03:09

Shahid Afridi was today dragged to court for 'committing treason' and 'hurting sentiments' of Pakistanis, a day after his statement that the national cricket team was 'loved more in India' than in Pakistan.



A senior lawyer served a legal notice on the 36-year-old Pakistan T20 cricket captain for his statement in India yesterday ahead of the World T20 tournament. "I have served a legal notice on Shahid Afridi and 'de facto' chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board Najam Sethi for their love for India over Pakistan. I have also written to PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan to launch an inquiry into the statement of Afridi in India," advocate Azhar Saddique said.



"Afridi has let down the whole Pakistani nation for expressing more love for India than Pakistan. In fact he has committed treason. Now who will ensure that Pakistani team will play against India in Kolkata in T20 match to win," said Saddique.



Asked about the damages he is claiming in his lawsuit, Saddique said, "My notice is (just) to tell Afridi that he has hurt the sentiments of Pakistanis and for PCB to take action against him".



Siddique also asked Afridi to apologise to the nation.



At a press conference in Kolkata, Afridi had said, "I've not enjoyed playing anywhere as much as I have in India. I am in the last stage of my career and I can say that the love I have got in India is something that I will always remember. We have not got this much love even from Pakistan. There are cricket-loving people here, much like in Pakistan. Overall, I've enjoyed a lot playing in India in my cricketing career".



Saddique said Afridi's insensitive statement has not only hurt the sentiments of Pakistanis but also made his (Afridi) life vulnerable.



"God forbid if Pakistan loses match against India, Afridi keeping in view his 'pro-India' statement nobody here will forgive him ever," he said, adding Afridi is neither an ambassador nor a diplomat and he made 'uncalled for comments' which he should take back.



"The PCB should investigate the role of Najam Sethi as he might have pushed Afridi to speak in favour of India. Sethi always advocates Indian cause," he said.



The notices have been sent to the residences of Afridi and Sethi.



Meanwhile, in Karachi, Aamir Nawaz, an advocate, filed a petition in the Sindh high court in which he pleaded that with his remarks Afridi had hurt the sentiments of the Pakistani nation and requested the court to restrain the all-rounder from making such statements in future.



The petition and also sought a directive to the Pakistan Cricket Board to take disciplinary action against him.



"I think being the national captain and a ambassador of the country in India, Afridi's remarks were totally out of line and uncalled for," Nawaz told the media.



"He needs to be disciplined by the board as he has caused embarrassment to the cricket loving people of Pakistan," he said.


SHILLONG: The operational capability of the Indian Air Force got a major fillip with the re-launching of two upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) at Ziro and Along in Arunachal Pradesh.

Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command said the facilities will further enhance the country's existing operational capabilities in Eastern Air Command, a defence release said today.

He said the capacity build-up will enable operations by some of the country's new inductions including the C-130J Super Hercules.

Besides enhancing air maintenance capability of the IAF in the region, the new airfield will also facilitate civil air connectivity soon, the Air Marshal was quoted as saying.

He also inaugurated the ALG at Along on the same day, according to the release.

The IAF took over the Ziro airfield from Airports Authority of India (AAI) in August 2010.

Consequent to the CCS approval in June 2009, the IAF embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan to upgrade the existing eight ALGs, including infrastructure development at certain airbases in EAC's area of responsibility.

The ALGs for upgradation include Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Tawang, Ziro, Pasighat, Walong and Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

Besides IAF, which operates all year round, at the ALG at Along, Pawan Hans also operates helicopters from here during non-monsoon periods.

With the inauguration of the ALGs at Ziro and Along, altogether three ALGs have since got upgraded.

The new runway surfaces and other infrastructures are being built to the exacting standards for any other modern airfield in the country.

Earlier, the ALG at Walong was inaugurated in October last year.

Three more ALGs -- Mechuka, Pasighat, Tuting - are scheduled to be inaugurated in the next three months, the PRO said.

The ALG project at Tawang, is ongoing and expected to

be ready this year, the release said.

The commencement of upgradation of ALG at Vijaynagar is expected to take much longer as there is no proper road connectivity from Miao to Vijaynagar for carrying materials, machinery and manpower.

The issue has been taken up at the appropriate levels by IAF authorities with the government of Arunachal Pradesh for an early resolution, it said.

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PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said here that the "quality of argument and judgement will improve with technology being used actively" in the courts.

The prime minister was speaking at an event held at the Patna High Court.

Presently "we have something that we didn't have earlier -- the power of technology. Let's make the bar, bench and court tech savvy", Modi said.

"In the last 100 years this high court scaled new heights. I hope the best aspects are carried forward in the years to come," he told the gathering that included Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Modi also expressed concern over the large number of cases pending in courts for years, saying there is a need to tackle them with speed.

"It is a matter of concern that large number of cases have been pending in courts across the country," Modi said during his address at a function held here at the end of the year-long Patna High Court centenary celebrations.

The prime minister also suggested that the courts should come out with an annual bulletin, mentioning the number of pending cases in them and since when. "It will help the courts, judges and lawyers to fix a target to tackle pending cases in time bound manner."

Modi said the completion of a century of the Patna High Court marks the beginning of a new challenge and responsibility for the next centenary programme.

Supreme Court Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and union ministers were also present on the occasion.

After Patna, Modi will dedicate to the nation the rail portion of the Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge at Hajipur at a function later.

It is the first visit of Modi to Bihar after the state's assembly polls in October-November in which his party Bharatiya Janata Party and allies were routed by the Grand Alliance of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress.

The prime minister, during the day-long event, will also open two newly erected rail-cum-road bridges in Patna and Munger, besides laying the foundation for an additional rail bridge across the Ganga at Mokama town in Patna, officials said.

President Pranab Mukherjee had opened the centenary celebrations last April.

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by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill.  A study of black women and their involvement with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union that was conducted in Southern Illinois University Carbondales Morris Library is the basis for a new book and a special presentation at the library this month.

Keona Ervin, assistant professor of African-American history at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will present Interracial Goodwill: The International Ladies Garment Workers Unions Educational Department (Southwestern Region) and Black Working-Class Womens Critical Unionism During the Wartime Forties at 11 a.m. on March 22 in the librarys John C. Guyon Auditorium. The presentation is free and open to the public. Pizza and refreshments will follow in the Hall of Presidents and Chancellors.

Morris Librarys Special Collections Research Center is home to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union Southwestern Regional Educational Department archives. Items from this collection are part of an exhibit, Women in Special Collections, on display through May in the librarys Hall of Presidents and Chancellors. Ervin conducted her extensive research within the ILGWU records.

Ervins talk will focus on the participation of black women during World War II in the activities of the ILGWU Educational Department.

Amid the social upheavals generated by wartime mobilizations, black women were able to more fully integrate the St. Louis garment and apparel industry and its unions, Ervin said. Although integration within the mounting civil rights movement of the 1940s was not the most important agenda item for these working people, they nonetheless made critical contributions to larger civil rights and wartime challenges.

Ervin also incorporated her research into her forthcoming book, The Labor of Dignity: Black Women, Urban Politics, and the Struggle for Economic Justice in the Gateway City, 1931-1969.
Chandra said that of the memorandums of understanding of Rs.10,000 crore signed by the Essel Group, Rs.1,500 crore had already been invested in the state and the remaining money would be invested soon.

He said his group was working in power transmission, riverfront development, solar projects, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and other state highway projects.

The chief minister praised the Essel Group's contribution to Uttar Pradesh's development.

--Indo-Asian News Service md/tsb/bg

( 107 Words)

2016-03-14-21:27:32 (IANS)
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for their 'trend' of carrying out personal attacks on Congress leaders as an absolute last resort, the grand old party on Monday rejected all charges against party vice-president against whom a show-cause notice has been issued asking him to respond to questions on whether he had once declared himself a British citizen. "When the BJP has absolutely nothing left to say against the congress, then coming out with personal attacks is their trend and they are doing just that today. We strongly reject all these fabricated charges," Congress leader PL Punia told ANI. Echoing similar sentiments, Janata Dal (United) leader Ajay Alok told ANI that the BJP was raising baseless issues without any evidence against Rahul whereas the Mallya issue was being sidetracked. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, headed by veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, has issued a show-cause notice to Rahul Gandhi. Parliamentary Ethics Committee member Arjun Ram Meghwal, confirming this news to ANI, said that it was a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds. "A complaint reached the Lok Sabha speaker which she forwarded to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee therefore issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London," Meghwal told ANI. BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy had accused Rahul of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that Gandhi be stripped of his Indian citizenship and his membership of Parliament. Swamy alleged that Gandhi had floated a company called Backops Limited in 2003 in the United Kingdom, and in the annual return form, he had declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address. Rahul also held 65 per cent of the total shares issued by this company, Swamy claimed. (ANI)
Coming out all guns blazing on Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for equating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the infamous Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged that the grand old party was promoting anti-nationals and encouraging the divisive forces. Disapproving Azad's remark, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu expressed hope that the Opposition should realise their mistake and withdraw the unwarranted statement. "The statement was wrong, I was surprised that a person of a stature as Gulam Nabi Azad could make such a statement that shows that the Congress is more comfortable with the ISIS than the RSS. And they have given credibility and respect to that organisation, thereby encouraging divisive forces," Naidu told the media here. "It's an atrocious and insensitive statement because the party, which has ruled the country, has encouraged all the divisive forces for the sake of vote bank (politics)," he added. Naidu further said the RSS is known for its selfless services and is one of the most patriotic disciplined and dynamic organisations which has produced starlets for the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former prime ministers. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi echoing similar sentiments said Azad's statement indicates the Congress believes in taking a stand for terrorists and anti-nationals. "The Congress Party has come up with a brand new secular formula that is respect the unworthy and ridicule the worthy...They should apologise for it and clear their intention as to why have they compared the RSS with ISIS," he added. Azad, who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, had on Saturday kicked a controversy after he sought to draw a parallel between the RSS and ISIS, evoking sharp response from the Hindutva outfit and the BJP, which demanded an apology from him. (ANI)
A fierce triangular political battle is on the cards for the five Assembly seats in Kerala Capital with the BJP, hitherto a non-entity in the state Assembly and Lok Sabha, deciding to field its top leaders to take on the two major political alliances - the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Marxist-led Left Democratic Front. As the Kerala goes to the polls on May 16 to elect 140 members, the outcome of the five constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram district is going to be crucial for all the three political forces. While BJP senior leader O Rajagopal will be the party candidate for Nemom, party state president Kummanam Rajasekharan will contest from Vattiyurkavu. The party's state election committee chief V Muraleedharan will fight the polls from Kazhakkottam and former state unit chief P K Krishnadas from Kattakada. The party is also in search of a prominent public figure, probably from outside the BJP, to field from Thiruvananthapuram Assembly constituency. The BJP, with full support from Sangh Parivar outfits, has already begun the electoral activities in these constituencies as it is confident that it could repeat its recent remarkable performance in the civic polls. In the city corporation consisting of 100 seats, the party emerged second by winning 35 seats improving its previous figure of six. Party sources said top national leaders of the BJP will address scores of public meetings in Kerala capital and also would make house to house visit in an attempt to win at least five seats in the district. The RSS is coordinating all the electoral activities in a systematic manner. In Nemom, Mr Rajagopal, a former Union Minister, would take on sitting member V Sivankutty of the CPI(M) who defeat the former by a margin of 6,415 votes in the 2011 elections. Though there were speculations that former diplomat T P Sreenivasan would be the UDF candidate, his name did not figure in the first list. In Vattiyurkavu, Mr Rajasekharan would face a fierce electoral battle with sitting member K Muraleedharan of the Congress and CPI(M) prominent woman leader T N Seema are likely to contest from the constituency. The party has steadily increased its vote share in the Vattiyurkavu segment during the previous Assembly, Lok Sabha and Civil polls. In the case of Kazhakkottam, party's former state president V Muraleedharan started electoral work at least six months in advance. He is a regular visitor in the constituency and has already made all the preparatory work in the constituency which houses the Technopark and several major institutions. The presence of a large number of techies from different parts of the country gives a cosmopolitan culture to the area. CPI(M) district secretary Kadakampalli Surendran and sitting member MA Wahed of the Congress are likely to be his opponents. The party is also gearing up its machinery to win Kattakada seat which also witnessed a growth in party's vote share in the previous elections. In the Thiruvananthapuram Assembly seat, the BJP is holding discussions with the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a new party launched by Ezhava community strongman Vellappally Natesan. A public figure, acceptable to both the BJP and the BDJS, is likely to be fielded. According to sources, former chairman of the Neyyattinkara Municipality S S Jayakumar, who was expelled from the Congress party recently, is likely to be given BDJS ticket in Neyyattinkara.UNI CR KVV ADB1130 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-635570.Xml
The Opposition members charged that the government was trying to water down the central scheme meant for the benefit of farmers in the State.

Earlier during question-time, leader of the Opposition, Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy said that only a few thousand tenant farmers were provided with bank loans, even though their number has attained lakhs in the state.

The Minister for Agriculture P.Pulla Rao said the farmers, who possessed ID cards only were extended bank loans. However,efforts were being made by the government to provide bank loans to more tenant farmers.

Mr Rao said the Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu had taken up the issue during a recent bankers' meeting. UNI SMS KVV ADB 1230

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-635624.Xml
The Amur Falcon's Roosting Area Union Pangti (AFRAU) in Wokha district of Nagaland has stated that the conservation initiatives of Amur Falcons have resulted in increase in population of the bird in the recent past. In a statement, AFRUA president Zanthungo Shitiri and Secretary Nribemo Merry today said there had been "zero killing since 2014" and the numbers have increased since then. Till date, AFRAU claimed that as per records, 4,136 tourists, including 436 national tourists, have visited the roosting area. The Amur Falcons visit the roosting areas during the second week of October. It said that AFRAU Pangti had been tirelessly working for the protection and conservation activities assisted by Forest department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) protection squad. AFRAU said the union volunteers, who are part of the squad, were being paid Rs.150 a day per member for a period of 60 days.AFRAU has appealed all to note that the roosting areas is at Pangti Village jurisdiction and not Doyang Reservoir, not reserved nor purchased by any agencies or Company. It also said that any support/assistance for the protection of Amur Falcon should be made known to the union since the activities are executed through the union in the village and not other organisations.The union expressed gratitude to Union Minister of Forest, Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Forest and Ecology Nagaland Dr Neikesalie Kire, Minister of Health & Family welfare, Parliamentary secretary for Youth Resource & Sports, PCCF Kohima, Chief wild life warden Dimapur, E.D WTI, Dr Suresh Kumar, for the successful satellite tagging of birds, the Naga & Pangti, Bano Haralu Director NWBCT, for their support, all the legislators officials and NGOs, Zuthunglo Patton, DFO, Doyang plantation division & DFO Wokha, the statement said. UNI AS KK SV RK1334 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-635619.Xml
Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of the Bangladesh Bank, and transferred USD 81 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to casinos in the Philippines between February 4 and February 5, Reuters quoted the bank, as saying in a statement.

"I am very much unhappy about the handling of the issue," Finance Minister of Bangladesh Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said.

Recently, software security group Kaspersky also stated that Bangladesh is top among countries in mobile malware attacks and other cyber crimes.

Kaspersky also noted that it registered about two million notifications about attempted 'malware' infections (malicious software) that aimed to steal money via online access to bank accounts. (ANI)
Police said here that the youth identified as Anant Kumar was a medical representative and ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room. He used to live in a rented house with his wife and two children. Police also recovered a suicide note from the spot in which the youth had not held anybody responsible for the extreme step.

The deceased was a native of Jagmal Bigha village under Khusrupurpolice station area in Patna district. Body had been sent for the post-mortem examination.UNI XC DH KK RSA AS1432

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-635758.Xml
The Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya on Monday has written to Reserve Bank of India seeking a forensic audit into all transactions between Mallya, United Spirits and Diageo "I have demanded that all business organisations of Vijay Mallya to undergo a forensic audit. I have asked reserve Bank, CBI director.talk to them personally also..Vijay Mallya has created dozen of shell companies. He has misused the United Spirit also, the main source of income is United Spirit in which 4000 crores has been transferred to the foreign accounts, British Virgin Island," Somaiya told ANI here. Demanding foreign audit of Vijay Mallya's all business concern, he said, "I had asked chartered accountant institute and company ministry that disciplinary action should be initiated against PWC and simultaneously the investigative agencies should take from Diageo. The Diageo have all the investigating report to accordingly start action." "The complex money transfer between various Mallya entities in India, United Spirits and Virgin Island entities should also be looked into", he added. Vijay Mallya's troubles seem to be mounting with a magistrate court in Hyderabad issuing a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the UB Group chairman as he failed to appear in the court for a case against a Rs 50-lakh cheque default by Kingfisher Airlines to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. Responding to widespread media coverage of cases against him, Mallya tweeted: "I am being hunted down by media in UK. Sadly they did not look in the obvious place. I will not speak to media so don't waste your efforts." Mallya has taken pains to defend that he would abide by India's laws and would return to the country. "I'm an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish," he had tweeted last week. (ANI)
The Bangladesh government plans to make a major announcement about the country's central bank on Monday, the finance minister said on Monday, after 81 million dollars was stolen from the bank in one of the largest cyber heists in history.Finance Minister Abul Mall Abdul Muhith did not specify what the announcement would be, but he has expressed unhappiness that Bangladesh Bank did not inform him about the heist at the time."The government will take a major decision which will be announced within a couple of hours," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. REUTERS PS AS1548 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-636054.Xml
As a part of the Jewellers ongoing indefinite bandh since March 2, to protest against the Centre's decision to charge one per cent excise duty on gold jewellery that Aurangabad Saraffa Association (ASA) today held dharna at Kasari Bazar in Sarrafa market in the city. The ASA had called a three-day bandh on March 2 to support the nationwide bandh called by All India Gems and Jewelry Federation (GJF) to protest against compulsion of showing PAN card details for Rs two lakhs transactions and to protest against one per cent production fee on Sarafi businessmen. All gold and jewellery shops in the district remained closed since March 2 for three days and also continued on Sunday and Monday. As the government neglected their demands, the GJF has decided to continue their three-day bandh indefinitely from March 8 across the country. Today hundreds of saraffa businessmen, led by state vice president Ashok Waregaonkar, president of ASA Ranjendra Mandalik secretary Sanjay Sarraf held dharana andolan and raised slogans against the Centre.UNI VKB NV SHS AS1556 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-636004.Xml
The contract for this project was signed in June 2015 between NEC and the Consorcio Construtor Galeao, composed of the Construtora Norberto Odebrecht and Montagens e Projetos Especiais S.A. (MPE) construction companies.

NEC's solutions are already being implemented in the construction of the South Pier of the airport, including the modernisation of Terminal 2 and nearby parking facilities.

NEC's project comprises the implementation of closed-circuit TV (CCTV), fire detection/alarm systems, access control, telephony, wireless Internet access and digital signage flight monitors.

"This is an interesting and complex project, in which we are responsible for a wide variety of information and communications technology systems that need to be fully integrated with existing solutions at the international airport," said Massato Takakuwa, the government business director for NEC in Brazil.

"NEC's solutions will be essential to ensure the safety of passengers and their access to flight information, in addition to the quality of their communications via telephone and the Internet," Takakuwa added.

More than 200 professionals from NEC are engaged for the project, including specialists in multiple IT and telecommunications systems.

"NEC regards its selection for this project as recognition of its experience and expertise in the integration of a diverse range of technologies. This project strongly reflects the company's objectives of offering end-to-end solutions that help generate social value through the modernisation of important infrastructure, such as airports and shipping ports," said Daniel Mirabile, president of NEC in Brazil. (ANI)
The Trinamool Congress and the opposition in West Bengal on Monday indulged in a war of words after a sting operation by a news website accused several ruling party leaders of accepting bribes. While the ruling TMC rubbished the sting as a "smear campaign", the opposition Left lost no time in attacking Mamata Banerjee's party. Leader of the opposition and Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said the sting operation had brought to the fore what the Left Front had been claiming for years. "The sting carried out by Narada News proved what we have been saying for all these years. Now, there is nothing to hide. It's a matter of shame that this government continues," said Mishra while reading out the names of Trinamool leaders caught on camera allegedly accepting bribes," the CMI-M leader said. "This is not only about the lakhs of rupees accepted as bribes by the Trinamool but is also about the crores looted in the chit fund scam. The one wearing rubber sandals is behind all this," Mishra said while referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Trinamool rubbished the allegations. "This is a smear campaign; we are all busy with (assembly) elections now. So, whoever has tried to concoct this smear campaign, please go ahead. "For those of you who know the Trinamool Congress well, we are completely transparent. Mamata di's credentials are impeccable, the people of Bengal know," Trinamool's Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said. "There are people who organise a breakfast before elections and raise Rs.100 crore even before breakfast. The Trinamool Congress' credentials are unquestionable. Where did the videos come from, who doctored these videos and who will put a defamation case? We are not bothered," the TMC leader said. --Indo-Asian News Service and/tsb/bg ( 311 Words) 2016-03-14-16:27:32 (IANS)
With success in the panchayat polls and the elections to the legislative council, Akhilesh Yadav government would be celebrating its fourth anniversary here tomorrow with an aim to return back to power in next year's assembly polls slated some time in February-March. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is likely to make some announcement at a function to be held at his official residence tomorrow morning. The CM's residence and other places are being decorated with lights and flowers on the occasion. The ruling Samajwadi Party will celebrate in a big way completion of its fourth year in the governance with development as the key agenda. The government would hold a two-day Samajwadi Vikas Diwas programme from tomorrow. The state information department has chalked out several programmes while the party has decided to hold programmes at the block and tehsil level to make the people aware about the 'achievements' of the governments. Samajwadi Party spokesperson and UP minister Rajendra Choudhury said here today that the Samajwadi Vikas Diwas programme would be organised at the block level and would see participation of government officials, public representatives, people from different sections of the society and the common citizen. "The two-day programme also envisages to make the public aware about the various welfare schemes of the state government, so that more and more people stand to gain something tangible from these," he said. Mr Choudhury said,based on the principle of knowledge is power, the government aims to empower the people of the state giving them information about various welfare schemes pertaining to health, education, traffic, drinking water and power. "By providing holistic information about the infrastructure of different sectors, the state government plans to enhance the knowledge power of the citizens, so that more people could benefit from these schemes," he added. Pamplets and brochures would be circulated among the people in the far flung areas during the two days programme, officials said. The brochures will project 25 schemes of the state government starting with free irrigation for farmers and other sops for the rural populace. Besides it will contain Samajwadi Pension, Samajwadi Shravan Yatra, the Lucknow Metro, Lucknow-Agra expressway to end with the tourism policy. The political agenda of the ruling Samajwadi Party drifting a major change pro-to the major community, after the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing. With an aim to target the 2017 assembly polls, UP government had already announced several sops for the poor and other needy including free medical treatment and enhancing the Samajwadi Pension to 55 lakh people of the state. The CM has now given focus on development particularly in the infrastructure with launching Lucknow Metro, Lucknow, Agra Expressway and other projects of roads, hospitals, IT cities, industrial hubs and affordable housing schemes. But the Opposition have termed the four year term of the Samajwadi Party government as failure and they claim no development took place while law and order is very bad. BSP, BJP, Congress and RLD leaders in one voice criticise the state government for its failure to tame crime and criminals while development too lagging behind. UP BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that there is no achievement of the SP government in last four years and only the criminals and the mafias flourished in this regime. UP Congress vice-president Satyadeo Tripathi also criticised that the SP government had totally failed in the law and order front. The BSP and the RLD leaders too questioned the SP government on their tall claims.UNI MB RSA CS1607 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-635831.Xml
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today requested Union Minister for Culture Mahesh Sharma to personally intervene and direct the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) to send their best technical experts to take up repair and restoration work of Jagmohan of the Sri Jaganath temple,Puri, at the earliest. In a letter to the Union Minister, Mr Patnaik said, the Jaganath Temple, the holiest shrine in Odisha and an institution of unique importance in the country, has developed several cracks. The chief minister said four column capitals and eight stone beams have developed serious cracks which might affect its structural stability. Mr Patnaik said a core committee comprising structural engineers, representatives of ASI, temple administration was formed to suggest remedial measures. The Committee, he said, had inspected the structure on February 7 and recommended for providing additional support to the beams immediately for preventing further damage to Jagmohan. UNI BD PL RSA AS1603 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-636023.Xml
Nominations opened today as the notification for the second part (Part IA) of first phase assembly election to 31 assembly constituencies in West Bengal is issued by the Election Commission of India. Polling for 31 constituencies will be held in the first phase on April 11 in West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan districts. The constituencies are Dantan, Keshiary (ST), Kharagpur Sadar, Narayangarh, Sabang, Pingla, Kharagpur, Debra, Daspur, Ghatal (SC), Chandrakona(SC), Garbeta, Keashpur(SC), Saltora (SC), Chhatna, Bankura, Barjora, Onda, Bishnupur and Katulpur, Indus(SC). They also include Sonamukhi (SC), Pandabeswar, Durgapur Purba, Durgapur Paschim, Raniganj, Jamuria, Asansol Dakshin, Asansol Uttar, Kulti and Barabani. With issue of notification, the nomination process will start. The last date of filing nomination is March 21. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 22, last date for withdrawal is March 26 and polling will held on April 11. West Bengal will witness six phases of election for the 294-seat assembly. In the first phase, voting will take place on April 4 and April 11 as the seats fall under the Naxal affected areas. Voting in second phase will take place on April 17, third phase on April 21, fourth phase on April 25, fifth phase on April 30 and sixth phase on May 5. Counting of votes will be done on May 19. Except the ruling Trinamool Congress, no other party has announced the full list of their candidates so far. Meanwhile, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena yesterday conducted a video conference with the DMs and SPs reviewing the law and order situation, security arrangements and preparation for polls in Bengal.After the meeting, Mr Saxena said the commission will take all measures to make the elections free, fair and peaceful. He said sufficient forces will be made available during the polls. "Wherever there is any need for intervention, we will do it. We are ensuring all possibilities to make the election free, fair and peaceful" Mr Saxena added. A full bench of the Election Commission will come to the city on a two-day visit, beginning today. UNI BM PL RSA 1423 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-636096.Xml
The periodical 'Views on News' feels that the media was divided over the recent Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) episode, which broke on March 9 over the raising of 'anti-national' slogans in the varsity campus followed by the arrest of students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition. The February 9 meeting was held to mark the third anniversary of the execution of 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru. Some in the print media chose to look at the legal issues involved while some were critical of the BJP-led NDA Government's handling of the situation. The electronic media, however, posed uncomfortable questions relating to Kanhaiya's arrest while some attempted to give it the colour of national outrage. The entire issue, which should be have been sorted out in the campus, was given a political colour by a few unwarranted elements, says Ajit Pillai, the author of the leading article.. The attacks on Kanhaiya and journalists covering the proceedings at the Patiala House Court complex by a group of lawyers, who accused the press of being soft towards 'anti-nationals', escalated the matter. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union and the Left Parties who backed students group distanced themselves from those who indulged in anti-national activities. But the worst part was that instead of attempting to calm down the situation, the leaders of various political parties began the blame game. The government was accused of hyping the incident and using a section of the media to gain political mileage out of the incident. The ruling BJP at the Centre, however, made its stand clear and said that anti-national activities in the nation would not be tolerated. (ANI)
Terming the tweet of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the presence of China troops in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as half truth, hardline Hurriyat Conference (HC) today said China has always supported the right to self determination of people of the state. The working president of the National Conference (NC) had questioned silence of separatist leader over presence of Liberation Army (LA) in PoK when they (separatists) were talking about Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement today, a spokesman of the HC Aiyaz Akbar said the statement of Mr Abdullah was only half truth and far from reality. The presence of LA in PoK could be to help construction of Pakistan-China Economic corridor, Aiyaz said, adding that China has never attacked PoK so there is no justification for separatist leaders to protest. Aiyaz said China and India have border issues, including in Arunachal Pradesh. However, the border problem with China in Jammu and Kashmir was entirely different and if there is any dispute this could be amicably sorted out once the Kashmir issue is resolved, he said and expressed hope that China will not do anything which could affect the sovereignty and integrity of the united Jammu and Kashmir. He said China has never accepted the "occupation" of India in Jammu and Kashmir adding Mr Abdullah has no justification to target separatist leaders on the issue.UNI BAS RSA CS1719 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-636084.Xml
The CPI-M in Tripura has faced a serious criticism over the decision to impose control over functioning of media, especially the electronic channels functioning at ground level, at the two-day extended session of the state committee.In the agenda of organizational functioning, it mentioned that party must interfere in the functioning of electronic media at district level besides, going for regular briefing on the issues. The session concluded yesterday.Opposition Congress and BJP along with the civil society organisations had criticised the agenda stating that the CPI-M has now opened their hidden agenda which they had been persuading for long time to ensure a committed media.BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said, "Leftists were never respectful of democracy and they consider the pillars of democracy, like the media, a class enemy. The statement against media in their action manifesto is shameful and instigation the cadres to consolidated attack on media. We condemn it."Congress president Birajit Sinha criticised the stand of CPI-M saying, "This is not only objectionable but also an attempt to destroy the democratic spirit of media functioning. They must rectify it and seek apology for their misdeed besides, ensuring to change the mindset of the party comrades."Several intellectuals and civil society organisation condemned it.However, party state secretary Bijan Dhar said the matter is being misinterpreted.He said the meeting had decided to enhance internal democracy in the party functioning, said Dhar adding the session discussed the resolution adopted in the party plenum held in Kolkata last December and eight broad decisions had been for further strengthening of the party functioning in changing political situation in the country."More liberty has been given on debate and discussion, criticism and introspection of each and every party member as well as the functioning of the party to strengthening Leftists' ideology besides, facilitating the mass line approach of the party," Dhar said.He pointed out that in the changing political scenario; the CPM has decided to infuse more revolutionary touch to the party to keep it afloat though it is bit difficult to perform in letter and spirit where party is running a government.Dhar further said the meeting also decided to strengthen the party on the principle of democratic centralism, fight against all social evils and maintain peace and tranquility in the state. As decided in party plenum, the Tripura CPI-M has priorities bringing young faces in the party function to fight against any divisive forces like BJP and RSS, he said adding that instruction had been given to increase party's campaign on different pro-people planning, implementing mass-movement based program, improving quality of the party men as well as to strengthen base.Supporting the alliance between CPI-M and Congress in West Bengal, Dhar said the main goal is to oust the fascist Trinamool Congress from power and prevent the growth of BJP where Congress was found to be an option to fight against bigger enemy. UNI BB PL SHS AS1720 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-636012.Xml
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Vinod Kumar on February 3 issued summons to the three retired officers and asked them to appear before court on March 14.

All the three accused -- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Laxamanan -- appeared before the court on Monday and sought bail.

Advocate S.P.M. Tripathi, the defence counsel of Shah, while requesting bail for his client said that his client will follow every condition imposed by the court and there was no apprehension of tampering with evidence as the case was based on documentary evidence.

Special Judge Vinod Kumar granted bail to all three, asking them to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000 and a surety of like amount each, counsel Tripathi said.

The court, meanwhile, extended till March 30 the judicial custody of Chhota Rajan, who was presented before it via video conferencing.

According to the CBI, Rajan got his first fake passport issued from Bangalore on January 1, 1998, allegedly in connivance with the then passport officers -- Rahate, Shah and Laxamanan -- in the name of a fictitious person 'Mohan Kumar'.

The probe agency has booked Rajan and others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery of documents under the Indian Penal Code.

Rajan is wanted in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.

The don, held by Indonesian police on October 25, 2015, was deported to India on November 6, 2015.

--Indo-Asian News Service akk/pm/vt

( 303 Words)

2016-03-14-18:39:33 (IANS)
A petition was filed against Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi over his latest remark that the Green Brigade gets more love in India than in their home country. The petition was filed by advocate Azhar Siddique today who argued that Afridi's statement has hurt Pakistani sentiments and the court must ask the skipper to explain his remarks, reported Daily Pakistan.''The Lahore High Court should issue a notice to Shahid Afridi seeking an explanation in 15 days," Siddique requested the court. Afridi had given the statement while addressing mediapersons in Kolkata. He had said that he always enjoyed playing in front of Indian fans and that the team received more love in India than in Pakistan. UNI XC-GAU TBA 1805 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0291-636476.Xml
The five-day long Budget Session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly will begin tomorrow. According to the provisional programme of business for the 11th session of the 12th Nagaland Assembly prepared by the business committee said that the Assembly session will begin tomorrow, with Governor P B Acharya's address. There will also be obituary references and moving of motion of thanks to the Governor's address on the first day. There will be recess on March 16. Chief Minister T R Zeliang, who is also holding the Finance portfolio, will present the state's budget for the year 2016-17 on March 17. The laying of reports, annual administrative reports, debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, introduction of government bills and presentation of supplementary demand for grants for the year 2015-2016 will be taken up on the same day. On March 18, the business includes debate and adoption on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, introduction of government resolution, consideration and passing of the government bills, discussion on supplementary demand for grants for the year 2015-2016 and general discussion on the budget for the year 2016-17. On the penultimate day on March 19, the busines includes presentation of assembly committee reports, adoption of government resolution, presentation of Comptroller and auditor General of India report, announcement of the constitution of various financial and non-financial committee and panel of chairman by the Speaker and the adjournment of the session sine die, the business programme said. UNI AS AKM RJ BL1857 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-636494.Xml
A delegation from the National Defence College today met the Industries commissioner Mr Manick Raj and discussed about the investment climate in the state. The delegation which was touring the state as part of their course on National Security and Strategic Studies was briefed about the industrial prospects, tourism potential, labour and agriculture scenario in the state. The delegation was led by Rear Admiral D M Sudan and Prem Kumar Jha and other members include Group Captain Frazer John Nicholoson from the UK and Jacob John Mkunda from Tanzania. Mr Manick Raj explained about the new industrial policy and the incentives provided by the government for setting up industries in the state. He said Telangana is the most preferred destination for investment. The industrial policy of the state promises uninterrupted power and right to single window clearance. He said the state has a huge land bank for industrial use and it has set aside 1.5 lakh acres of land for setting up new industrial units. The state would be power surplus by the year 2018, he added. A short video presentation on the advantages of investing in Telangana was shown to the delegation. The Labour Commissioner Ahmed Nadeem briefed the delegation about the functioning of the labour department and the new initiatives of the department in the present scenario. The Commissioner of Agriculture Priyadarshini spoke about the various schemes of the agriculture department that have been taken up for the welfare of the farmers in the state. The Executive Director of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation Mr Sumeet Singh appraised the delegation about the tourism potential of the state. Additional Director Industries Devanand and other officials attended the meeting.UNI VV VV AK1945 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-636808.Xml
Chief Minister Raghubar Das has asked the students to come forward with new ideas as the state government was ready to extend full support to them and under the Start-Up Jharkhand a fund of Rs 50 crore has also been established."Youths with their ideas can establish their business and also provide employment to others. There is also no short-cut for success," Mr Das said during an interaction with students of PG Mass Comm of St Xaviers College.Mr Das urged the students to create awareness among the villagers of the surrounding areas. He said, the state government has also started various skill development courses which would create employment for the youth.He said that the students can also play a vital role in creating awareness of cleanliness. The Chief Minister said employment would also be generated for the youth once the construction of film city is commenced which would also provide a platform to the talented boys and girls of the state.Mr Das asked the students to work with full dedication and commitment as honest endeavours can help to reach any goal. He said that society only remembers those, who work for others.UNI AK AKM RJ BD1935 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-636573.Xml
Underworld don Chhota Rajan provided a false house address in Karnataka to get a passport in the name of a fictitious Mohan Kumar, according to a chargesheet the CBI filed in a court here. Not just this, he used a fake voter identity card and a fake ration card to secure the travel document in the name of Mohan Kumar. When Chhota Rajan was caught in Indonesia in October, he had a passport issued in the name of Mohan Kumar. Deported to New Delhi in November, the don is now lodged in Tihar Central Jail. The chargesheet, filed before Special Judge Vinod Kumar last month, alleges that Chhota Rajan got his fake passport from Bengaluru in 1998-99 allegedly in connivance with then passport officers -- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan -- in the name of a fictitious Mohan Kumar, whose address was given as 107/B Old M.C. Road, Azad Nagar, Mandya, Karnataka. "The given address of Mohan Kumar does not exist in Old M.C. Road and Azad Nagar areas of Mandya," the chargesheet said. The CBI said an inspection by revenue officials of the municipality in the presence of independent witnesses, including the municipal councillor, too confirmed the truth. Postal workers also confirmed that house number 107/B does not exist in Old M.C. Road and Azad Nagar areas of Mandya and no Mohan Kumar ever lived there, the CBI added. The CBI said no voter identity card and ration card was issued in the name of Mohan Kumar in that address. The agency said that Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan submitted an application on December 10, 1998 at the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru for a re-issue of a passport he claimed to hold. But that passport, which was expiring and which numbered F004555, was in the name of one Enyat Akmal Khan. It had been issued on January 20, 1989. The CBI chargesheet showed that this claim of Mohan Kumar was accepted by Lalitha Lakshmanan, one of the passport officers. "Lalitha Lakshmanan also suppressed the facts that passport F004555 contained a photograph of a different person and the applicant and date of birth in the (new) application did not match with old passport details. "Rahate, who was working as superintendent and passport granting officer, abused his official position and corrected the date of birth as per the old passport from July 24, 1969 to July 24, 1959 and granted her approval for issue of new passport against the details furnished in the (new) application," it added. The chargesheet said the application was then sent for preparation of a new passport and passport number A6705840 dated January 1, 1999, and a handwritten passport was prepared by Shah. "(Passport officer) Shah, using his authority as passport granting officer, issued the fresh passport A6705840 in the name of Mohan Kumar. "Neither Rahate nor Shah waited for receipt of police verification from Mandya district police. Even no letter was issued to local police for getting verification of the passport," the CBI said. The police told the CBI they had not made any verification in respect of 107/B Old M.C. Road, Azad Nagar, Mandya. The CBI had in February filed the chargesheet against Chhota Rajan and the three passport officers who are now retired. All three appeared before the court on Monday and were granted bail. The CBI has booked Rajan and the others on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery. Chhota Rajan is wanted in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking. He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI. (Amiya Kumar Kushwaha can be contacted in amiya.k@ians.in) --Indo-Asian News Service akk/ps/mr/bg ( 634 Words) 2016-03-14-21:19:33 (IANS)
Pakistan has decided to release 86 Indian fishermen from Karachi jail, a senior official of Gujarat's Fisheries department announced here today. Most of the fishermen hail from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat who were caught by the Pakistan Marine Security Agency over the last one year. The fishermen are likely to be released by Pakistan on March 21. According to the officials the fishermen were caught along with their boats near International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) over the past one year. Last week, Pakistan had released 87 Indian fishermen from the same jail in Karachi.However, Pakistan has not yet returned 860 Indian fishing trawlers caught by the Marine Security Agency. Porbandar Fishing Boat Owners' Association has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the captured boats released by Pakistan."There are 18 fishermen rotting in Pakistan jails for nearly three years. These fishermen should also be released, along with the 86 fishermen being freed next week," said Manish Lodhari, National Fishworkers' Forum Secretary. UNI ND CJ RJ 2126 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-637018.Xml
Mizo Zirlai Pawl, Mizoram's apex students' body, is planning to construct Zofate Chawlhbuk (A Mizo rest house), on what is claimed to be Mizoram territory near the Assam border.The land at Zophai near Bairabi in Kolasib district belongs to the late Ch Chhunga, the first chief minister of Mizoram, and falls under the Mizoram reserve forest which is now under the control of Assam government.A communiqu of MZP claimed to have obtained a permission to construct the rest house from Ch Chhunga's widow Lalrothangi Sailo, who is now living at Saron Veng in Aizawl, with her children and grandchildren.A team of MZP led by its president Lalsangzuala Ngente went to Bairabi on Friday last week to identify the land and also to seek the support of NGOs and village council in Bairabi. The village councils and NGOs in Bairabi town extended solid support to the MZP's plan and also expressed their readiness to take part in the construction, an MZP statement said.The MZP erected its flag on the land and plans to construct the rest house at the earliest possible time, the statement said.Speaking at a short ceremony at the site, the MZP president expressed gratitude to Ch Chhunga's family for granting the permission to construct the rest house."By constructing a rest house here we aim to remind all the people of Mizoram that this is our land that our forefathers had fought to defend even at the risk of their own lives," he said."It is really sad that our territory has been encroached upon to such an extent that it looks as though it belongs to others. It is our right to claim the land which is our own," he added.MZP general secretary L Ramdinliana Renthlei, who also spoke on the occasion, sought for the support of all the Mizos in the MZP's mission. On behalf of Ch Chhunga's family, Lalnuntluanga was also present at the site inspection.The MZP's visit to the site came a day after a house constructed by an Assamese trader on the same area was dismantled on the order of Kolasib DC.The land where the house was constructed falls under a disputed area between Assam and Mizoram over which the two states had agreed to maintain status quo. Constructing a house is a breach to the agreement, the source said, adding that it was dismantled to prevent further misunderstandings between the two states, an official statement has said.A conglomeration of all political parties and major nongovernmental organisations in Mizoram have occassionally called for an early solution to the long-standing border dispute between Assam and Mizoram and said this is possible by handing over of the inner line reserve forest from Cachar district forest (Assam) to Mizoram.The all parties and NGOs held that the bone of contention is the Mizoram inner line reserve forest measuring 509 square kilometres put under the administration of the Cachar district forest (Assam), as gazetted by the Assam government on October 17, 1878 under the India Forest Act 1865.They said about 200 Mizo families having paddy fields within the reserve forest have been facing certain difficulties, and that an agreement made between the Cachar district forest and Mizoram's environment & forests department on August 12, 1978 failed to materialise till today. The existing boundary, which is said to be an "imposed boundary", was drawn under section 6 of the North Eastern Areas Reorganisation Act 1971 at the "sole discretion" of the Assam government. According to records, the original boundary defined and gazetted under the North East Bengal Frontier (Inner Line Regulation) Act 1875 was marked 46 pillars. Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla has earlier expressed his optimism in solving the long pending boundary dispute with Assam in a peaceful way. He has gone on records saying that he "has full confidence that the boundary issue with Assam will be resolved soon with the Tarun Gogoi government across the table."It may be recalled that the last bilateral meeting between Assam and Mizoram over the border dispute was held at the chief secretary level on February 15, 1994. The proposed chief minister level talks scheduled for May 31, 1994 was never held due to certain reasons.UNI ZS AKM CJ RJ BD2022 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-636383.Xml
The day long workshop was inaugurated by Additional Director General (M&C), PIB, Kolkata Debanjan Chakrabarti,

Mr Chakrabarti, in his inaugural address, emphasised the need for sensitising the media because media sets the mind of people towards all the earthly affair.

Referring to the role of the Zoological Survey of India in preserving bio-diversity of the country, he said scientific mind is always in doubt about the changes in physical and physiological aspects and the media also play a pivotal role in disseminating information on the related topics.

However, the initiative of opening up to the media is a remarkable one and historic too as it may either usher in a new era, or open a Pandora's Box, he opined.

Dr Kailash Chandra, Director, ZSI and Dr G. Maheswara, the head of office, ZSI spoke at length on the role of the Zoological Survey in preserving the faunal diversity of India for the last 100 years.

Journalists, both from the print and the electronic media participated in the workshop in which various scientists of ZSI including Dr Vasudev Tripathy, Dr Gopi and Dr Gaurav Sharma made useful pictorial presentation for the awareness of media persons. UNI BM AKM CJ RJ AN2052

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-636800.Xml
Tourism Department has planned to launch various services like yoga tours, scuba diving, hop-on-hop off buses and amphibious vehicles to provide new attractions to the tourists and locals and waiting for permissions from authorities, Tourism Minister informed the Goa Legislative Assembly today. In a written reply to MLA Pramod Sawant, the Minister informed that Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) had selected several entities for Design, Development, Upgrading, Financing, Managing, Marketing, Operating and Maintaining new tourism products and Project Facilities in Goa. Goa would achieve the unique distinction of offering world class services to the tourists at no cost to the exchequer and would become one of the first destination in India to offer path breaking and innovative services, which was expected to attract high spending family and adventure seeking tourists to the stay, thereby resulting in additional employment opportunities and increase in average duration of stay for both domestic and foreign tourists. In respect to hot air balloon and helicopter tourism, which were launched recently, respective bidders had taken all the permissions from various authorities like ATC, Navel authorities, DGCA, office of Collector and District Magistrate, he said, adding in respect of remaining services, the GTDC would assist the selected agency in obtaining necessary clearances and permissions for the ventures. He also said the GTDC would promote all the New Tourism services on GTDC's Webportal, Social Media, advertisement and further promotions of these services in various Trade and Travel Marts in India and Abroad. Amphibious bus service would be provided by Amphibious vehicles, Amphibian Tours Pvt Ltd, which is based in Goa while hop-on-hop off bus service would be provided by Pune-based Prasanna Purple Mobility solutions Pvt Ltd. Noida-based Flying Fish has won the tender for scuba diving while Goa-based Mandovi Drydocks has won the contract for yoga tours, he informed.UNI AKM RJ AN2215 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-637024.Xml
"I am not seeking nomination for Assembly election. I will like to work for the party, instead," Dutta was quoted as stating by television channels at New Delhi.

In delhi to finalise party candidate list for the election, he said, "I want to clarify for everyone that I have not sought nomination."

Among the probable candidates for Amguri constituency, which Dutta represents in the state Assembly at present, is his daughter Ankita.

Confirming it, Dutta said, "Yes, my daughter Ankita is a strong contender from Amguri constituency."

Besides Dutta, a number of senior Congress ministers and MLAs are likely to make way for their younger family members.

Election for 126 Assembly constituencies in Assam is slated on April 4 and 11 next when the Congress will be seeking a fourth straight term in the state. UNI SG AKM CJ RJ PM2157

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-636709.Xml
In a message addressed to Jamir, Mr Acharya said Takatula, who was the guiding pillar of Jamir's family.

"your mother was a wonderful woman and cherished by everyone, who knows her. It was really great fortune for the people of Nagaland in general and the family in particular to be guided by her long life. Her long life more than 100 years is really a great blessing to all."

At the hour of sorrow, the Governor conveyed his heartfelt condolences to Jamir and the bereaved family members and prayed that Almighty God will grant will grant strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Mr Acharya said his thoughts and prayers are with you and your family and wished that may the departed soul rest in peace. UNI AS BM CJ RJ AN2252

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-637017.Xml
Mr Singh called a press conference showing the video footage of the sting operation carried against Trinamool Congerss leaders, allegedly taking bribe prior to the 2014 Lok sabha Election.

"Mamata Banerjee must step down from her position immediately. She has no moral right to remain the Chief Minister, even for the few days before the elections," said the BJP National Secretary."

BJP has also written to the CBI director for an investigation regarding the matter," he added.

The BJP leader also said the issue will be raised in the meeting of the full bench of Election Commission.

Senior Congress leader Manas Bhuniya said the party will approach the Election Commission to bar those allegedly shown in the video from the upcoming polls.

"It is shameful that this party is still in power. They have looted thousands of crores of people's money. EC should look into the matter," CPI (M) State Secretary Suryakanta Mishra said in a campaign rally

Senior Trinamool Congress Parliamentarians and Leaders were allegedly caught accepting bribes in a purported media sting operation released today, igniting political controversy just before the Assembly polls.UNI BM RJ AN2245

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-637065.Xml
The accident at the Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) Head Office occurred at 9.30 p.m. on Sunday when smoke from the basement prompted the fire extinguishing system of the building to release the gas pyrogens, or flame retardant, killing eight people on the spot when the chemicals "sucked all oxygen from the building", the Bangkok Post reported.

Firemen said when they finally began breaking into the bank building, they found tightly locked doors by bank-grade security.

They managed to rescue three people on the ground floor but could not access either the basement or first floor.

According to an official statement by SCB, this was "an accident caused by the negligence of the contractor hired to improve fire protection of the building".

However, it gave no further details.

The bank issued a press release late Sunday night, saying there was no fire or explosion, so all banking offices would be open on Monday as usual.

--Indo-Asian News Service ksk

( 197 Words)

2016-03-14-08:25:32 (IANS)
R epublican presidential front-runner Donald Trump refused to take responsibility today for clashes at his campaign events and criticized protesters who have dogged his rallies and forced him to cancel one in Chicago last week.When a protester interrupted his speech today at an airport hangar in Bloomington, Illinois, minutes after it began, Trump derided him as a "disrupter" and told the cheering crowd: "Don't worry about it - I don't hear their voice.""Our rallies are so big and we have so many people, I never hear their voices. I only hear our people's voices saying: 'There they are, there they are,'" the billionaire businessman said as the audience roared approval and some 2,000 protesters waited outside.Trump is trying to cement his lead over his remaining rivals - US Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich - in five states that hold presidential nominating contests on Tuesday for Republicans and Democrats: Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.The four Republicans and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are vying to run in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.Trump used a round of Sunday morning television appearances to beat back strong criticism from Republican rivals and Democrats that he was encouraging discord with divisive language disparaging Muslims and illegal immigrants."I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press."The 69-year-old New York real estate mogul defended his supporters and said he was considering helping pay the legal fees of a 78-year-old white man who punched a young black man at a Trump rally in North Carolina last week. The man, Trump said, "got carried away.""I've actually instructed my people to look into it," he said.The man, John McGraw, was charged with assault and later with communicating a threat after he said he enjoyed hitting "that loudmouth" and threatened next time "to kill him."Trump had earlier promised to help cover the legal fees of supporters involved in clashes at his rallies.SIMMERING TENSIONSOn Friday night, thousands of protesters, many of them telling journalists they were Sanders or Clinton supporters, showed up at the Chicago rally, forcing Trump to cancel the event and casting a shadow over his weekend rallies.The Chicago clashes followed several weeks of violence at Trump events, in which protesters and journalists have been punched, tackled or hustled out of venues, raising concerns about security.Trump drew condemnation from his rivals."We are now seeing images on television that we haven't seen in this country since the 1960s, images that make us look like a Third World country," Rubio, 44, said at a campaign event in The Villages, a retirement community in Florida. "Do we really want to live in a country where Americans hate each other?"Sanders, 74, a U.S. senator from Vermont, said in a statement that Trump "should not be condoning violence by paying the legal fees of a supporter who viciously attacked a protester at one of his rallies."Trump said tension at his rallies came from people being "sick and tired" of American leadership that has cost them jobs through trade deals, failed to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and treated military veterans poorly."The people are angry at that - they're not angry about something I'm saying," he said. "I'm just the messenger."Trump has harnessed the discontent of white, working-class voters who blame trade deals for costing them jobs. He has proposed building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, disparaged some Mexican immigrants as criminals and advocated a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.A few dozen protesters, mostly young, stood in the rain outside a later Trump rally on Sunday in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati.Alexander Shelton, a 26-year-old student and activist, wore a white Muslim prayer robe with a picture of the civil rights leader Malcolm X painted on front."We have to stand up against white supremacy," he said. "Trump stands for that."Michael McKinney, 47, a self-employed credit-card processor from Ohio's Claremont County, came to the rally with his wife and young daughter, and blamed the protesters for the violence."If the protesters don't act civilly, people on the edge are going to snap," he said."We are not a Third World nation. We don't stand for killing each other because we disagree or even harm each other," he said. "This isn't the United States I grew up in." REUTERS KU 0402 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0348-635418.Xml
Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch killed 16 people, including four Europeans, at a beach resort town in Ivory Coast, the latest in a string of deadly attacks that have confirmed the Islamists' growing reach in West Africa.Six shooters targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam yesterday, a weekend retreat popular with westerners about 40 km east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces, the government said."Six attackers came onto the beach in Bassam this afternoon," Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said during a visit to the site. "We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed."A French man was killed in the attack, according to a French foreign ministry spokesman. The nationalities of the other dead were not yet known, but four were European, one officer said during a briefing attended by a Reuters reporter.Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko later said foreign citizens from France, Germany, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon were among the victims.The reporter saw the bodies of three white people at Grand Bassam's Chelsea Hotel and another in the Hotel Etoile du Sud next door.A short drive from Abidjan - one of West Africa's largest cities with around 5 million inhabitants - Grand Bassam fills up on weekends with thousands of beachgoers.Witnesses said the gunmen followed a pathway onto the beach where they then opened fire on swimmers and sunbathers before turning their attention to the packed seafront hotels where people were eating and drinking at lunchtime."They started shooting and everyone just started running. There were women and children running and hiding," said another witness, Marie Bassole. "It started on the beach. Whoever they saw, they shot at."Security forces moved to evacuate the area surrounding the beach. Bullet holes riddled vehicles nearby and glass from shattered windows littered the ground.The body of one of the attackers, dressed in dark trousers and a blood-covered striped shirt, lay beside the beachside entrance to one hotel, a bullet hole in his head.Beside him on the sand sat a combat vest used to carry extra ammunition. Nearby, on the ground, lay unexploded grenades.GROWING THREATAl Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has carried out other recent attacks in the region, claimed responsibility for Sunday's shootings, according to the U.S.-based SITE intelligence monitoring group, citing an AQIM statement.It said the attack had been carried out by just three militants.Barely two months ago, Islamists killed dozens of people in a hotel and cafe frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. Gunmen also attacked a hotel in the Malian capital, Bamako, late last year.Both of those attacks were also claimed by AQIM and raised concern that militants were extending their reach far beyond their traditional zones of operation in the Sahara and the arid Sahel region.Though previously untouched by Islamist violence, Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa's largest economy and the world's top cocoa producer, has long been considered a target for militants.It has been on high alert since the Ouagadougou attacks, and security has been visibly bolstered at potential targets, including shopping malls and high-end hotels.By Sunday evening, Ivorian authorities had begun an investigation into the attacks."We have a mobile phone that is now in the hands of the Ivorian scientific police that will allow us to look at all the ramifications and go back to the source," Interior Minister Bakayoko said on state-owned television.As the scale of the tragedy become evident, regional and world leaders expressed their support for Ivory Coast, which has recently emerged from a decade of political turmoil and civil war to become one of the world's fastest growing economies.President Macky Sall of Senegal, another country seen as a likely target for AQIM, called upon West African countries to step up their cooperation against terrorism and violent extremism.France's President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, denounced the shootings in the former French colony as a "cowardly attack.""France will bring its logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast to find the attackers. It will pursue and intensify its cooperation with its partners in the fight against terrorism," he said in a statement.REUTERS KU 0449 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0348-635421.Xml
Turkey declared a round-the-clock curfew in the southeastern town of Sirnak today in order to carry out operations against Kurdish militants in the area, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.It said the curfew will go into effect at 11 p.m. (0230 IST) today. Security forces have been carrying out operations in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where months of conflict have devastated much of the region.Separately, Kurdish warplanes bombed camps belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq early on Monday, the army said, following a car bomb attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people. REUTERS PS VP1445 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-635856.Xml
A senior Saudi Arabian prince on Monday condemned comments attributed to US President Barack Obama, saying the American leader had "thrown us a curve ball" in criticising Riyadh's regional role.Obama, in comments to The Atlantic last week, described Saudi Arabia as a "free rider" on American foreign policy, and criticised what he saw as Riyadh's funding of religious intolerance and refusal to come to an accommodation with Iran."No, Mr Obama. We are not 'free riders'," Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ex-ambassador to Washington and London, wrote in an open letter carried by the local Arab News English-language daily.Prince Turki listed Riyadh's support for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, its humanitarian aid for refugees in the region and its creation of an Islamic anti-terrorism coalition.Ties between old allies the United States and Saudi Arabia, the top oil exporter, have been bumpy since the 2011 Arab uprisings when Riyadh faulted Washington for not doing more to stop the ousting of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak.Riyadh has since watched in alarm as Obama forged a deal with its top regional foe Iran over its nuclear programme and as he declined to use air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran's ally, after a poison gas attack in Damascus.In the interview, Obama said he did not believe the US could have effected a meaningful result in Syria without a big commitment of ground forces and said that competition between Riyadh and Tehran helped feed proxy wars across the region.Although Prince Turki does not presently hold any official position in the Saudi leadership, his views are described by insiders as often reflecting those of the kingdom's top princes and as influential in Riyadh foreign policy circles.In his letter, Turki asked whether Obama had "pivoted to Iran so much you eqate the kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America to an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world".REUTERS PS VP1452 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-635899.Xml
A Syrian rebel commander said today the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front had seized light weapons and ammunition from his Western-backed group in northwestern Syria, but had not managed to capture any TOW anti-tank missiles."Nusra only took light weapons and ammunition. All our caches are fine, apart from one which they captured. The TOWs are safe and the mortars are safe," Ahmed al-Seoud, commander of the 13th Division said.Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that Nusra Front had seized bases and weapons including US-made anti-tank missiles from the 13th Division, which fights under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.Nusra Front accused the rebel fighters of launching surprise attacks on its own bases in the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province in northwest Syria. It said some Nusra fighters had been captured.Nusra Front fighters have often taken part in offensives alongside other rebel groups. But they have also fought them for territory, defeating groups such as the Western-backed Syria Revolutionaries Front and the Hazzm group last year. REUTERS PS AS1656 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-636248.Xml
The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 15 strikes today, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on its latest round of daily attacks on the militant group.In Iraq, 11 strikes near seven cities were concentrated near Hit and Sinjar, where they hit five of the militants' tactical units and destroyed two vehicles, among other damage, the Combined Joint Task Force said today.Four strikes in near Manbij and Mar'a, Syria, hit four Islamic State tactical units and destroyed two vehicles and two fighting positions, the coalition statement said. REUTERS PS BL1805 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-636441.Xml
Supporters of the European Union's economic sanctions against Russia insisted today they were still needed for the bloc's security amid signs of fraying unity in the 28-nation bloc over how to deal with Moscow.The EU imposed the sanctions two years ago over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and its support for armed separatists battling Kiev's forces in mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.But while some EU member states such as the Baltic republics and Poland argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia, others stress the importance of Moscow as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a key player in helping to end the Syria crisis.Lithuania's foreign minister, whose country was part of the Soviet Union and controlled by Moscow until 1990, said the need to engage with Russia over Syria did not mean the EU should compromise in its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity."We have to take a sober look at where we are. We should not mix things up. Our security should be first," said Linas Linkevicius as he arrived for a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today.Echoing that stance, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "We have to be robust in making our case and defending our principles, our values and our borders in Europe."The EU's energy, financial and defence sanctions are up for renewal in July.At todays's meeting, EU policy on Russia will be a formal item on the agenda for the first time in more than a year and the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini hopes it will "reaffirm the bloc's sense of unity", according to one diplomat.DIVISIONSBut tellingly, diplomats said the discussions would not touch on the sanctions issue for fear of exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy will try to gauge the mood of ministers before sanctions can be discussed by EU leaders at a summit in June."I expect a real assessment of the situation, since now in Europe we have differing opinions of where we stand in relations with Russia," said Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski.Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most sceptical about the sanctions, while European farmers who once exported heavily to Russia want to see markets reopen. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports.Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through.However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process, which require it to withdraw all heavy weapons and troops from Ukraine. Moscow denies any military involvement."Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk. Moscow is well aware of what it must do and our message today is that we will persist in our policy until that happens," US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday in Paris.In comments that some EU diplomats took as Moscow pressing for sanctions relief, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday he hoped the United States would be willing to compromise on the Minsk peace process for Ukraine.REUTERS PS BL1818 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-636520.Xml
Chamilo (Grece) (AFP) - Some 1,000 migrants stranded at a camp on the Greek border set off on foot towards Macedonia on Monday in search of an alternative route into the country, an AFP reporter saw, adding that the group was quickly surrounded by Greek police.

The migrants, including many families, marched from the overcrowded Idomeni camp to the village of Chamilo some two kilometres (over one mile) away, closer to the sealed frontier with Macedonia.

Carrying all their belongings, they crossed hills and a river to reach the village, the reporter said.

There was no immediate sign of any Macedonian police across the border.

More than 12,000 people have been stranded at Idomeni in increasingly desperate conditions after the main migrant route to western Europe through the Balkans was effectively shut down last week.

Earlier on Monday, Macedonia's interior ministry said two men and one woman, believed to be migrants who tried to enter Macedonia illegally, were found drowned near the Greek border after days of heavy rain.
Know what you are buying.

Investor William Seavey, 69, bought five acres of land in eastern Washington that was zoned for housing and had a well and electricity. But his building project in the 1990s was blocked nonetheless. "I did all the right things, except I didn't anticipate a recalcitrant building official. Had we been able to build on a $17,000 property with amenities, the property would be worth hundreds of thousands today," he says. Yes, investing in land can be tricky. Here are some things to consider before you buy land.

Historical trends.

"To analyze what land will give you the fastest and quickest return over time, look at long-range historical trends in population growth, employment growth, household income growth, personal income growth and gross county product to understand the trend in the demand for land versus the supply of land," says Dean D. Bellas, president of Urban Analytics in Alexandria, Virginia.

Stick to primary markets.

"The old adage of 'location, location, location' is as true for a land play as it is any other real estate investment," says principal and broker Cyril Bijaoui of Westside Estate Agency in Miami. "If a buyer has a low tolerance for risk, I would recommend sticking to primary markets with strong density and demographics, where there will always be demand for land and multiple different use types."

Flexibility counts.

As with any product, the more specialized the use, the harder time you might have if the market or the customer changes. "For example, building a single-tenant, 100,000-square-foot [building] for a furniture store in a tertiary market can be quite a risky venture if the furniture store goes out of business, as you will most likely struggle to find a replacement tenant," Bijaoui says. Also be sure you're able to hold onto the land for some time in a turbulent market.

Do your legwork.

A plot of land's past often contains secrets that may affect your plans for its future use. Get a topography and a soils report to be sure if you can build on the lot, a survey to be sure that your neighbors are not encroaching, and make sure that what you are buying is 100 percent yours, says Neville Graham, land expert and associate partner at Partners Trust in Beverly Hills, California. Also make sure that the owner of the vacant lot has not made any oral or written agreements with neighbors about access, parking or crossing over the property, Graham says.

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Order a title report.

You need to be sure that the owner of the land is the actual owner, and there are no liens that would prevent your project from getting off the ground, Graham says.

See if you are on a water waitlist.

This is crucial, depending on what part of the country you live. Seavey says. "Some people in California are paying taxes [for decades] on land they can't build on," Seavey says.

Walk the lot.

Ensure things like cars, swing sets, fences or flower beds only belong to the owner of the lot. Also check for utility hookups like a sewer connection. "If there is no sewer connection, then you would need to consider a septic tank, and if so, then you would need to do a percolation test to be sure you can put in a septic tank," Graham says.

What makes the land valuable?

In some areas, it's a great hub location, a view or water. In Texas, "if you get property with springs bubbling out of the limestone, you have hit the jackpot," says designer and investment land owner Pablo Solomon. But also know what is planned for the area -- a chemical plant or prison as a neighbor could greatly affect your selling price.

How will you get there?

Unless you own a private jet, you'll want to know if there is a road that gives you access to the land, and whether it's paved, private, gravel or dirt.

Who collects the taxes?

Check to see if you'll need to pay taxes to the city, town, village and county, and review any new or changes to ordinances. If there is a building moratorium or brush clearing mandate, you'll want to know about it, Graham says. Also, check your land's designation. "If your land can be registered as being agricultural use, of historical value or a wildlife refuge, you might get big tax breaks," Solomon says.

Will you need to rezone?

If it takes one to five years to successfully go through the entitlement and rezoning process, the investor might not see a return on investment -- or might experience negative returns -- until the higher rezoning density is granted, Bellas says.

Check with the authorities.

"Some areas on the Texas border are so dangerous with the drugs and [people] crossing the border, day and night, that no one wants to live there. Some other areas are notorious for meth labs and marijuana farms," Solomon says.

Mineral rights are not guaranteed.

If possible, make certain you get controlling interests. In some mineral-rich states like Texas, mineral rights can earn you money, and not having them can cause enormous problems. "In some places you can own the surface land without owning what is under the surface. This means a coal company could strip mine your land and only be required to put the soil and grass back on the surface," Solomon says.

Curb your enthusiasm.

When you've found land that you want and you're ready to begin negotiating, it's like a poker game. "Don't show enthusiasm for the asset -- any added emotion will work against you on all negotiations," said Ryan Hodson, portfolio manager of Kodiak Capital in Newport Beach, California.

Christine Giordano is a freelance business journalist with a passion to help consumers make educated decisions. Also a columnist for Newsday, you can follow her on Twitter @chrisgiordano.
The U.S. Air Force seems to have woken up to the fact that it cant simply retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet.

The Air Force has waged a years-long campaign to scrap its A-10 fleet in a bid to save roughly $4 billion in operating costs. Service leaders have argued that the planes close air support mission can be performed by existing platforms, including the B-1 bomber and the highly-anticipated F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Related: Another F-35 Glitch Requires Restarting the Radar System  in Flight

Those arguments have met stiff resistance on Capitol Hill. Last week Senate Armed Services Committee chair John McCain (R-AZ) castigated Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh over the lack of a viable substitute for the jet that has seen plenty of action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The services fiscal year 2017 budget request indicated that the planes retirement would come in 2022. And Air Force officials seem to be finally admitting they need a low-cost support aircraft to fill the A-10s role.

Flightglobal reports that the Air Force has begun to look at options to replace the services 283 A-10s, affectionately called Warthogs.

Related: Move Over, F-35: Russia Has Raised the Stakes for Next-Generation Fighters

The replacement aircraft would be used in low-intensity "permissive conflict, much like the counter-terrorism battles that have dominated the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A possible indicator of what the service is looking for might be found in the recent use of a pair of OV-10 Broncos, developed during the Vietnam War, to fly more than a hundred sorties against ISIS forces inside Syria. The Broncos are light and simple, and very cheap to operate.

Here are some of the planes that could possibly replace the Warthog:

* Super Tucano. Developed by Embraer in Brazil, the turboprop aircraft has been used by about dozen militaries around the globe. The plane, which can be fitted with a variety of bombs and advanced munitions, might have a leg up in the competition since the Air Force last year bought 20 of the light attack aircraft for Afghanistans air force. The first four arrived in that country last month.

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Related: Heres the New, Secret Warplane Everyone Will Soon Be Talking About

Another possible plus for the Super Tucano: It costs about $1,000 an hour to fly, compared to the $11,500 for the A-10 and over $30,000 for the F-35.

* Scorpion. Produced by U.S. manufacturer Textron, the light attack jet has yet to find a single buyer. That may be because the aircraft, which went from the drawing board to a prototype in 24 months, isnt as big as existing fighters but isnt as small as some intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance planes on the market today.

Despite its lack of sales, the Scorpion has garnered interest from U.S. military officials and other forces around the globe, and was on display at major international air shows last year, including the Paris Air Show.

* AT-6. The single-prop, Beechcraft plane has been integrated with over a dozen weapons, including multiple laser-guided rockets, missiles and bombs. Although the aircraft is typically used as a trainer, more militaries have begun to use it in their operations, including Iraq and Mexico.

* T-X platform. The Air Force is still holding a competition to replace its T-38 training plane. It is possible that a weaponized version of the new T-X trainer could fill the support role. However, the plane isnt due until 2024, two years after the A-10s expected retirement.

* T-50 Golden Eagle. The T-50 is a family of supersonic jets produced by Lockheed Martin and Korean Aerospace Industries. The FA-50 variant is a light attack aircraft that is already in service in the Philippines.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
8 Ways to Save on Your 2015 Tax Return

Tax procrastinators, rejoice. You have until April 18 (April 19 if you live in Maine or Massachusetts) to file your tax return this year. That's because federal offices in Washington, D.C., will be closed on Friday, April 15, for Emancipation Day. So resolve to use the extra time to make sure you take advantage of all of the tax breaks available to you.

See Also: Which Tax Software Is Best for You?

Don't expect a lot of help from the IRS. Last year, fewer than 40% of taxpayers who called the agency reached a customer service representative, and the average wait time for those who did was 30 minutes. This year, the IRS was able to use a $290 million budget increase to hire additional customer service reps. Still, you can expect dropped calls and long wait times.

At the end of December, Congress revived some expired tax provisions that could cut your taxes. Better yet, lawmakers agreed to make some of the tax breaks permanent. And don't overlook money-saving tax deductions and credits that have been around for years. For example, if you looked for a job last year in your same line of work, you may be able to deduct your job-hunting costs, even if you didn't land a new position. You must itemize to claim this tax break, and the expenses can be deducted only to the extent that total miscellaneous expenses exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income. If you changed jobs last year and moved at least 50 miles farther from your home than your old job (or 50 miles from home if it was your first job), you can deduct a long list of moving expenses. You don't have to itemize to claim this write-off.

Help for homeowners. Lenders typically require buyers who put down less than 20% to buy private mortgage insurance. Congress revived the break allowing itemizers to deduct PMI premiums--as long as you obtained your mortgage in 2007 or later and the loan is for your primary residence or a second home that's not a rental property. The deduction phases out if your 2015 adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 and disappears if your AGI exceeds $109,000. This tax break is good for 2015 and 2016.

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There's relief for taxpayers who had mortgage debt written off due to foreclosure or a short sale, which occurs when a home is sold for less than the mortgage balance. Ordinarily, forgiven debt is taxable, but Congress extended through the end of this year a provision that excludes from taxes up to $2 million in forgiven mortgage debt on a principal residence. The exclusion will also apply to mortgage debt forgiven in 2017 if the agreement to discharge the debt was signed in 2016.

Write off sales taxes. Congress also revived and made permanent a deduction for state and local sales taxes that you can take instead of the write-off for state income taxes. This deduction primarily benefits residents of the nine states with no income tax, but taxpayers who live in states with low income taxes, along with seniors who live in states with special breaks for retiree income, could also get a bigger tax break by deducting their sales taxes. Taxpayers who made a big purchase last year may also get a bigger deduction by claiming sales taxes, says Lisa Greene-Lewis, a CPA with TurboTax. Go to the IRS's Sales Tax Calculator to figure out how much you can deduct in sales taxes, based on your income and your state and local sales tax rates.

An opportunity to deduct college bills. If you paid college tuition bills last year, don't overlook the American Opportunity tax credit. This credit is worth up to $2,500 per eligible student during the first four years of college. Now it's permanent, so you no longer have to worry about losing the tax break before your child gets a degree.

You can claim the credit for qualified expenses you paid for a dependent child, yourself or your spouse. If you have more than one child in college at the same time, you can claim multiple credits. Married couples filing jointly qualify for the full credit if their modified adjusted gross income is $160,000 or less; for single filers, the cutoff is $80,000. Married couples with MAGI of up to $180,000 and singles with MAGI of up to $90,000 can claim a reduced amount.

When claiming qualified expenses toward the credit, make sure you report the amount you paid, not the amount you were billed, says Aaron Blau, an enrolled agent in Tempe, Ariz. For example, if you received a tuition bill in December but didn't pay it until January, you can't use that amount toward your American Opportunity credit for 2015, he says. By now, you should have received a Form 1098-T from your child's college or university. Look at Box 1, which will show you how much you paid in qualified educational expenses during the year. (Some schools report the amount that was billed during the year in Box 2; in that case, use receipts of your payments.) If you claim expenses that don't match what's on the form, expect the IRS to reject the credit. Starting in tax year 2016, taxpayers will be required to have a 1098-T in order to claim the American Opportunity credit, along with other educational tax credits.

Tax breaks for good deeds. As you scramble to finish your tax return, don't overlook charitable contributions you made during the year online or via payroll deduction in addition to donations made using credit cards and checks. You're required to keep records for all donations, even small ones. For contributions of less than $250, keep the bank record, credit card statement, receipt or written acknowledgment from the charity. If you made a donation via text message---a popular option after a natural disaster---your cell-phone bill should be sufficient. For donations of cash or property valued at $250 or more, you should have an acknowledgment in writing from the charity, which should state whether you received any goods or services in exchange for your gift.

Congress reanimated an expired tax provision that allows taxpayers age 70 and older to transfer up to $100,000 from their IRAs to charity. The contribution counts toward donors' required minimum distributions without increasing their adjusted gross income. If you didn't transfer the money from your IRA to charity before December 31, you can't take advantage of this tax break to reduce your 2015 AGI. But if you want to make a charitable transfer in 2016, you don't have to wait until December to see whether the provision will once again be extended. It's here to stay.

New health care rules. If you have health insurance through your job, you should receive a Form 1095 from your employer confirming your coverage. Some employers provided this form to their workers last year, but it wasn't mandatory. Employees of large companies will receive a 1095-C; those who work for small companies, as well as those covered by military or government insurance plans, will receive a 1095-B. Employers send a copy of the form to the IRS, too. You don't need to attach the 1095 form to your return, and if you filed before you received the document, you don't need to amend your return. As was the case last year, you simply check a box on your tax return to show that you had health insurance coverage in 2015. Keep a copy of the 1095 with your tax records.

If you bought health insurance through one of the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, you should have received IRS Form 1095-A. This form shows the amount of any subsidy you received. You do need this form to file your return, so if you haven't received it, log on to your health care marketplace website and search for an electronic version.

Use the information to fill out Form 8962, which is used to determine your subsidy, based on the estimate you provided of your 2015 income. If you overestimated, you'll receive a credit in the form of a larger tax refund or smaller tax bill. If you underestimated and got a more generous subsidy than you deserved, your refund will be reduced or what you owe will increase.

As was the case last year, taxpayers who were uninsured for all or part of the year may owe a penalty. The penalty for 2015 is $325 per person or 2% of household income above the filing threshold, whichever is greater. (To see what you owe, use the calculator at www.healthinsurance.org.) Before you pay, make sure you're not eligible for an exemption. There are more than 30 provisions that could eliminate or reduce the size of your penalty, says Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president of health care services at H&R Block. You can find a full list at www.healthcare.gov

Contribute to a traditional IRA. You have until April 18 to make a 2015 contribution to your IRA. The IRA deduction is "above the line," which means you can claim it even if you don't itemize. It will reduce your adjusted gross income dollar for dollar, which could also beef up other tax breaks tied to AGI.

If you're not enrolled in a 401(k) or some other workplace retirement plan, you can deduct an IRA contribution of up to $5,500 ($6,500 if you're 50 or older), no matter how high your income. But if you have a company plan, the right to the IRA deduction is phased out as 2015 adjusted gross income rises between $61,000 and $71,000 if you're single or between $98,000 and $118,000 if you're married and file jointly.

If your spouse is covered by a workplace-based retirement plan but you are not, you can deduct your full IRA contribution as long as your joint AGI doesn't top $183,000 for 2015. You can take a partial tax deduction if your combined AGI is between $183,000 and $193,000.

Contribute to a SEP-IRA. If you or your spouse earned self-employment income last year, you can shelter even more from the tax man with a SEP-IRA. In 2015, you can contribute up to 20% of net self-employment income (business income minus half of your self-employment tax), up to a maximum of $53,000. You have until April 18 (or October 18 if you file for an extension) to set up and fund a SEP.

Fund a health savings account. You also have until April 18 to fund a health savings account for 2015. To qualify for the full contribution, you must have had an HSA-eligible policy on December 1, which means your policy had a deductible of at least $1,300 for individual coverage or $2,600 for family coverage. You can contribute up to $3,350 if you had single coverage or $6,650 if you had family coverage (and you can contribute an additional $1,000 if you were 55 or older in 2015). As with contributions to a deductible IRA or SEP, money you invest in a health savings account will reduce your AGI dollar for dollar.

Reporting HSA distributions

If you took money out of a health savings account last year to pay for medical expenses, you should have received Form 1099-SA from your HSA provider. The IRS will also receive this form, so make sure you reconcile it on Form 8889 of your tax return. (This is also the form you use to report contributions to your HSA.) You'll be asked how much of the distribution was used for qualified medical expenses; for most taxpayers, it will be the entire amount. Here's why it's important to get this right: Withdrawals from an HSA for nonqualified expenses are taxable, and you'll also pay a 20% penalty if you're under 65.

See Also: What to Do If You're a Victim of Tax ID Theft
ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria's top military chief has heightened the army's state of alert over border security because of concerns over arms trafficking and turmoil in neighbouring Libya, where Islamic State has gained ground. Chief of staff and deputy defence minister Ahmed Gaed Salah visited southeast Algeria, close to Libya's border, on Sunday, days after the army killed three Islamist militants in an ambush and seized an arsenal including stinger missiles. Algeria, Africa's largest country with over 1,000 km (600 miles) of border with Libya, has been warning about potential for violence to spill over from its neighbour which has sunk into turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. To Algeria's south, Islamist militants have expanded their attacks recently to parts of Mali and beyond. [ID:nL5N16M1T6] "What our region is living in terms of disorder and an unprecedented worsening of the security situation could have unfavourable outcomes on security and stability," the commander said, according to APS state new agency. "We need to be more vigilant." Algeria has already increased its military presence along the borders with more troops and using drones for surveillance, according to local press reports. Algeria, steadily emerging itself from more than a decade of conflict with armed Islamist fighters in the 1990s, is a key Western ally against militancy in the region. Violence and attacks in Algeria are rarer, though al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Islamic State affiliates are still active in pockets of the country especially in the remote south and the mountains to the east of Algiers. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has completed a funding round, China's biggest e-commerce company said on Monday. Investors in the funding round of Cainiao include Singapore's Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] and GIC Pte Ltd [GIC.UL], Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Bhd [KHAZA.UL], and China's Primavera Capital, Alibaba said in a statement. Alibaba did not disclose details of how much money Cainiao raised, whether it issued equity shares, or at how much the logistics unit is now valued. This is Cainiao's first funding round since Alibaba founded it three years ago, the company said. Then, Alibaba and a group of Chinese logistics companies said they would spend 100 billion yuan ($15.40 billion) over five to eight years to develop a national logistics network. It was not immediately clear whether Cainiao has already spent the 100 billion yuan money. An Alibaba spokesman declined to comment. Alibaba is seeking to take a lead role in developing China's fragmented package delivery industry, as e-commerce spreads beyond urban hubs and requires a more robust logistics network. In partnership with delivery businesses, Cainiao crunches reams of data on everything from order trends to delivery routes and weather patterns to increase efficiency. Alibaba said it would work with investors to further build out its "big data logistics network". China's dominant e-commerce company has been fighting off stiff competition from smaller rival JD.com Inc , whose loss-making business model prioritizes controlling a large logistics network, like Amazon.com Inc's . (Reporting by Xiaoyi Shao in Beijing and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore and Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - A member of the Islamic State jihadist group with US citizenship turned himself in to the Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq on Monday, a senior military officer said.

"This person's name is Mohammed Jamal Amin, he holds US citizenship, has a Palestinian father and an Iraqi mother," Major General Hashem Siti, commander of the peshmerga's 8th brigade, told AFP.

He said the IS member was carrying $4,000 in cash and surrendered in a village near Sinjar, a city that Kurdish forces retook from IS last year.

It was not immediately clear how long the suspect had been a member of IS and what his role was.

US officials in Washington could not immediately confirm the account provided by the peshmerga.

"We are aware of the reports that a US citizen allegedly fighting for ISIL (IS) has been captured by peshmerga forces in northern Iraq," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters.

"We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of the report," he said.

The United States is not one of the main sources of foreign fighters to IS, with fewer than 300 US nationals believed to have joined the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.
Its taken a few years, but the 2010 Supreme Court case crucial to the creation of super PACs and dark money nonprofits has entered the political zeitgeist. More and more Americans are seeing and feeling the effect of that momentous decision, and they arent happy about it  regardless of party affiliation.

In September, a Bloomberg poll about the facts behind the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, found that 80 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats opposed it.

So now what?

Reformers offer two general approaches to killing Citizens United: the Supreme Court could reverse itself or Congress and the states could amend the U.S. Constitution.

Some say the former route, particularly given the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is the logical route. Speculation rages about who President Barack Obama will nominate to the court. And the Republican-controlled Senate, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, says it will not consider any Obama nominee for confirmation; that this choice should be reserved for the next president.

Others are rallying behind an amendment, a more difficult but potentially ironclad solution.

Some support both approaches.

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

Whats it all about?

In a nutshell, the 5-4 Citizens United decision allowed corporations (including certain nonprofit corporations) and labor unions to expand their role in political campaigns.

The case did not affect contributions to a candidates actual campaign. It is still illegal for companies and labor unions to give money directly to candidates for federal office.

What changed: many outside, non-candidate organizations could now raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose a candidate.

Story continues

The high court reasoned that as long as these unlimited funds arent spent in coordination (a crucial and controversial distinction) with the actual campaign, they do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. Thus, they would be legal from that point forward.

Also in 2010, a separate, lower court case  SpeechNow.org v. FEC  made possible the entities known as super PACs. With Citizens United as a precedent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that theoretically independent spending groups could accept unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and even individuals with fat bankrolls.

Flash ahead to the 2016 presidential election. The legal seeds sewn in 2010 have germinated into super PACs such as Right to Rise USA, which former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush helped create and ultimately raised more than $100 million to support one person: Bush. But Right to Rise USA asserted it was not coordinating with the Bush campaign.

Related: Listen to this episode of Reveal:

The Citizens United decision also paved the way for the creation of so-called dark money groups.

As tax-advantaged social welfare organizations or business leagues, these nonprofits can function the same way as super PACs do as long as election activity is not their primary activity.

Deciding whether these groups are really primarily about promoting social welfare, rather than politics, has been the source of considerable controversy.

This distinction is important  unlike super PACs, these social welfare groups do not have to report who funds them, allowing donors to avoid publicity. And both the Internal Revenue Service and Federal Election Commission, which have some jurisdiction over politically active nonprofits, have all but declined to pursue groups that might be playing politics too much.

What does it all mean for our political system?

We now live in a world with unlimited money, laments Paul S. Ryan, deputy executive director and attorney with the Campaign Legal Center, which is working to undo the effects of the decision. And we do have corruption, and we dont have disclosure.

Amending the Constitution

Dont look for much change anytime soon. Passing a constitutional amendment is a daunting assignment. A two-thirds vote of approval would be required in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, which often cant achieve simple majorities on seemingly perfunctory matters. And then, three-fourths (38) of the nations states would have to ratify an amendment.

The last time this occurred it took 203 years. The 27th Amendment, which was introduced in 1789, wasn't approved until 1992. It prohibits raises for members of Congress from going into effect until the start of the next term.

The alternative would be a constitutional convention, which is even less likely. Two-thirds of the states would have to demand it. It's happened exactly once in U.S. history  and that was the first one that created the Constitution.

Despite the high bar, Scott Swenson, spokesman for good government group Common Cause, says it could happen.

It is the one thing that Americans agree on left, right and center, he said. That this is one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history and it will be overturned. What we need is a Congress that will send it to the states.

Ryan, however, is skeptical.

Were not advocates of the amendment approach for a number of reasons, he said.

In addition to the political challenges, theres the wording of the amendment itself. The concern is that it would be too strongly worded or not strongly worded enough.

To date, the proposed Democracy for All Amendment achieved the most support among anti-Citizens United amendment proposals.

The joint resolution would give state and federal government the power to regulate and set limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections. It also would empower the government to prohibit corporations or other artificial entities created by law from spending money to influence elections.

It received 54 votes in the Senate in 2014, but needed 60 to move forward.

Its really tough to draft, Ryan said of an amendment. The purpose, in effect, is to regulate and restrict private behavior. Thats only happened once, with the Prohibition amendment. You know how that worked out.

But there are those who say an amendment is the better way to go, like Jeff Clements, author of Corporations are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money and Global Corporations.

Constitutional amendments  not new Supreme Court justices  ended slavery, guaranteed equal protection and voting rights regardless of race, won the vote for women, enabled a progressive income tax, ended the poll tax barrier to voting and prevented states from depriving Americans over 18 years old the right to vote based on age, he wrote in The Hill newspaper last month.

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

Reversal

Others support the other option  getting another case to the Supreme Court that might prompt a reversal of Citizens United.

An amendment, says law professor and campaign finance expert Rick Hasen of the University of California at Irvine, isnt realistic, at least not in the current environment.

Its a political non-starter, he said, pointing to the Democracy for All Amendment, which did not receive a single Republican vote. "If you really want to get rid of super PACs, we would need to somehow change the understanding of the First Amendment.

To do that, the 1976 decision Buckley v. Valeo, in which the Supreme Court basically said political spending is akin to free speech, would need revisiting.

Certain but not all spending limits have the potential to be upheld as constitutional and strike the right balance with a liberal Supreme Court, Hasen said.

With Scalias death, theres a chance the ideological balance of the court may shift. The conservative justice voted in the majority in the Citizens United case, and was not a friend of the campaign finance reform community, though he was bullish on disclosure of donors.

So the selection of the next justice is crucial. If the Senate confirms someone who opposes Citizens United  either a nominee from Obama or his White House successor  theres a real possibility the high court might reverse itself.

How might that happen?

First, it would require a lawsuit of some sort that would need to wind its way through the legal system.

A state or even a city could pass a new law banning corporate contributions to outside groups outright. Or enforce such a law thats already on the books. Or pass a ballot initiative.

In the current atmosphere, such a law would inevitably be challenged  and such a challenge could eventually make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. But even if this were to happen, say campaign finance experts, the process would still take years.

Nick Penniman, executive director of campaign finance reform group Issue One, says there is nothing in the pipeline as far as cases but that there could be a reversal within five or six years.

Short of a reversal, there are incremental reforms that could make a difference. Advocates are, for example, pushing for public financing of campaigns and more robust disclosure of contributions.

Even if Citizens United is reversed, however, that wont magically create a system that everyone is happy with, says David Donnelly of Every Voice, a campaign finance reform advocate. The nation still ends up with the system that existed in 2009, which was not working very well.

Theres no silver bullet, Donnelly said.

John Dunbar is political editor and deputy executive editor for the Center for Public Integrity. This story is part of a collaboration with Reveal and was co-published with Public Radio International (PRI).

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Related stories

Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
Microscopic dust grains extracted from meteorites that landed on Earth had ancient and explosive origins, scientists have discovered.

The dust grains  also known as presolar grains, since they're older than Earth's sun  were likely spewed out by stars that blew up hundreds of millions of years before Earth's solar system formed. And in a new analysis of data collected from these tiny particles, researchers have come closer to pinpointing the type of stellar blast that produced the dust, 5 billion years ago.

To trace the origins of the stardust's subatomic "fingerprints," scientists built computer models simulating the explosive conditions that could have produced them, to test whether the dust grains' point of origin might have been an exploding white dwarf star in a double-star system. [Images: Dust Grains from Interstellar Space]

Ancient grains

This study adds to decades of analysis devoted to puzzling out the age and origins of these presolar grains, according to study co-author Christopher Wrede.

Wrede, an assistant professor of physics at Michigan State University, told Live Science in an email that researchers look at the grains' isotopes  variations of an element that have different numbers of neutrons. About a dozen grains held a great deal of the isotope silicon-30, which has been linked to a certain type of stellar explosion called a classical nova.

Classical novas  stellar eruptions that happen in a binary, or paired, star system  are different from supernovas, Wrede said, in that they are a type of explosion that can happen over and over again. The smaller star in a pair, a white dwarf, steals fuel from its larger neighbor, heating up its own surface and eventually blasting dust and gas into space.

"After a classical nova, the white dwarf can continue to siphon fuel from the companion and ignite again," Wrede said. "In a supernova, the entire star explodes, so it can only happen once."

Story continues

Going nuclear

When Earth's solar system was forming, collisions heated and mixed the building blocks of dust and gas, cooking them uniformly so that they shared many of the same isotopes. Grains with unusual isotopes  like silicon-30, which is rare on Earth  stand out, Wrede explained. "This tells us that they must have been produced prior to the formation of the solar system," dating back around 5 billion years, Wrede said.

According to Wrede, the high quantities of silicon-30 compared to other silicon isotopes in the grains suggested that they originated in a classical nova, but he and his colleagues were unsure just how much silicon-30 they could expect to see, relative to the other isotopes, if a classical nova were responsible. Their experiments revealed a new pathway for a nuclear reaction that would affect the amount of silicon-30 produced, and will help determine if the amount of silicon-30 in the dust grains is a match.

"The pathway seems to be a strong one, but we'll need to do more experiments to find out how strong," Wrede told Live Science.

The findings were published online March 8 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Washington (AFP) - The protester who disrupted a Donald Trump rally in Ohio over the weekend wanted to send a message against racism and "violent, white supremacist ideas," he said in an interview airing Monday.

Thomas DiMassimo caused a stir Saturday when he tried to rush the stage in Dayton, where the Republican presidential frontrunner was wrapping up a campaign speech.

"I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully, and he is nothing more than that," the 22-year old college student told CNN.

"He is somebody who is just saying a lot of bold things, he's making bold claims. But I can see right through that and I can see that he's truly just a coward. And he's opportunistic and he's willing to destroy this country for power for himself," DiMassimo said.

DiMassimo was prevented from reaching Trump by the billionaire businessman's security detail and US Secret Service officers who quickly surrounded him, shielding him with their bodies.

DiMassimo, a senior at Wright State University, has been charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic.

Trump posted a link to what appeared to a video with what appeared to be a doctored picture of DiMassimo with a gun and an ISIS flag. In the video, Arabic music is laid over images taken from an anti-racism march at Wright State University in which Massimo is seen dragging an American flag on the ground.

"USSS (United States Secret Service) did an excellent job stopping the maniac running to the stage. He has ties to ISIS. Should be in jail!" Trump tweeted.

But DiMassimo said his motives had absolutely nothing to do with radical Islam.

"I was thinking that I could get up on stage and take his podium away from him ... and send a message to all people out in the country who wouldn't consider themselves racist, who wouldn't consider themselves approving of what type of violence Donald Trump is allowing in his rallies," DiMassimo said.

His aim was to "send them a message that we can be strong -- that we can find our strength and we can stand up against Donald Trump and against this new wave he's ushering in of truly just violent white supremacist ideas," DiMassimo told CNN.
From Popular Mechanics

Scott Kelly, who just returned from his year in space earlier this month, has announced that he will retire from NASA on April 1. The former Commander of the International Space Station joined the astronaut corps in 1996. He made his first trip to space in 1999 when he flew on the space shuttle Discovery to serve as pilot for the third servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

His last trip to space lasted nearly a year (340 days to be exact), more time than any other United States astronaut has spent in space. Kelly also currently holds the American record for cumulative time in space, with a total of 520 days over four missions.

Scott's twin brother, Mark Kelly, remained on Earth while Scott carried out his year-long mission aboard the ISS so that the effects of microgravity on the human body could be studied in detail. Among other significant changes, Scott Kelly's spine elongated and he grew two inches while aboard the ISS, though he will return to normal height after a short time on Earth.

After retiring, Kelly will still work closely with NASA scientists as he participates in research related to his year in space. "I am humbled and excited by new opportunities for me to support and share the amazing work NASA is doing to help us travel farther into the solar system and work with the next generation of science and technology leaders," Kelly said in a press release announcing his retirement.

"When the first Americans set foot on Mars, they will be following in the footsteps of one of the finest astronauts in the history of the space program, my friend, Commander Scott Kelly," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement. "After spending an American record 520 days in space-including his Year in Space-I can think of no one more deserving of some well-deserved rest and time on the same planet as his family and friends."

Rest easy, Commander Kelly-you could very well be one of the first statues erected on another planet.

Source: NASA
Australia's foreign minister Monday expressed concern at Malaysia's detention of two visiting Australian journalists who had tried to question Prime Minister Najib Razak about corruption allegations.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist and camera operator were detained overnight Saturday after approaching Najib as he visited a mosque in Kuching on Borneo island.

They have since been released but remain barred from leaving Malaysia as they await possible charges, their lawyer said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia's high commissioner (ambassador) in Malaysia had been in contact with the pair, Four Corners reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu.

"I'm always concerned when there are instances of a crackdown on freedom of speech -- in democracies particularly," Bishop said while visiting Fiji.

"I'm also concerned about the freedom that journalists have to carry out their work."

The ABC said the men were arrested on Saturday night as they approached the prime minister, with Besser asking him why hundreds of millions of dollars had been deposited in his bank account.

According to a Malaysian police statement, the pair were detained after they crossed a "security line and aggressively tried to approach the prime minister".

"Both of them were subsequently arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross the security line," it said.

But the ABC's director of news Gaven Morris said the journalists did not "obstruct or intend to obstruct any public servants in performance of their duties".

"They did not see a police line and do not believe they crossed one," he said.

Najib, 62, has been under fire in recent months, including over allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from a state firm he founded, and over his own acceptance of a murky $681 million overseas payment.

Najib and the state firm have vehemently denied any wrongdoing but he has curbed investigations into the scandals and purged his ruling United Malays National Organisation of critics.

Media outlets reporting on the allegations have been muzzled and whistle-blowers arrested, raising concerns over rights and freedom of speech.
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia is deeply concerned over the arrest of two Australian journalists in Malaysia after they attempted to question Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over corruption allegations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday. The journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) flagship investigative journalism program, Four Corners, were arrested in the Borneo state of Sarawak on Saturday night after approaching Najib outside a mosque. Malaysian police said in a statement the pair had been arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross a security line. They were released on bail on Sunday and charged with "obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his public functions". Bishop told ABC radio Australia was "deeply concerned". "We are providing consular support to the ABC crew and certainly raising this issue at the appropriate level with the Malaysian government," she said. Najib has faced sustained pressure to resign since the middle of last year over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and deposits into his private accounts worth around $680 million. He has denied any wrongdoing and maintains he did not use the funds for personal gain. Malaysia's attorney-general closed all investigations into Najib last month, after reviewing reports from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. The government has also cracked down on media organizations that have published critical reports on the 1MDB scandal. Last month, it blocked the widely read news portal The Malaysian Insider, prompting the United States to voice concern. Sally Neighbour, the program's executive producer, wrote on Twitter that the journalists had been in Malaysia reporting on the corruption scandal and denied any allegations of wrongdoing on their behalf. "Our journalists were doing what journalists do in countries with a free press," she wrote. Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu have had their passports returned, Neighbour said, but have been barred from leaving the country. Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad cranked up pressure on Najib to quit earlier this month, marking a seismic political shift by joining hands with long-standing foes, including the party of the jailed Anwar Ibrahim. (Additional reporting by Praveen Menon in Kuala Lumpur)
By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday she will challenge her Iranian counterpart when they meet this week over reported missile tests during a military exercise that drew the threat of a diplomatic response from the United States. Iran's Revolutionary Guards test-fired two ballistic missiles last Wednesday, the Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported. "The onus is on Iran to prove that it is on its way back to being a responsible international player," Bishop said in Fiji, where she was discussing aid after a recent cyclone. Bishop is due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Canberra on Tuesday. Zarif is traveling to Australia via New Zealand. Iran is coming under stronger diplomatic pressure after the ballistic missile tests, with the United States intending to raise the issue during U.N Security Council consultations this week. Bishop said she intends to raise human rights in Iran with Zarif in addition to the missile tests. Zarif was challenged on the issue during a meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Sunday. McCully and Zarif also discussed Middle Eastern security and trade, according to a statement from McCully's office. Australia will also use Zarif's visit to discuss a deal that could see Iranian asylum seekers returned to their homeland. Australia is seeking guarantees from Iran that those returned will not be persecuted. (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Paul Tait)
Dubai (AFP) - Bahraini police on Monday jailed opposition figure Zainab al-Khawaja who was convicted in 2014 for tearing up a poster of King Hamad, media and activists said.

Khawaja, a Shiite, and her toddler were taken into custody from the family home, Al-Wasat daily cited her husband as saying.

The daughter of prominent rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2014 after being convicted of insulting the king by ripping up a photograph of him.

An appeals court last October reduced her term to one year behind bars, while upholding a fine of 3,000 dinars (about $8,000).

Khawaja had said she would keep her son, who is reportedly just over one year old, by her side if she was jailed, Amnesty International said in October.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights said Khawaja had been sentenced to a total of three years and one month in prison, on charges including for ripping the monarch's picture and for insulting a police officer.

The timing of her arrest was likely linked to the work of her sister and GCHR co-director, Maryam al-Khawaja, who lives in Europe and is vocal in criticising Bahraini authorities, the group said.

"This is a terrible development," Brian Dooley of the Washington-based Human Rights First said in a statement. "Taking her back into custody only deepens Bahrain's political crisis."

Tiny but strategic Bahrain, home base of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, remains deeply divided after authorities crushed a month-old, Shiite-led uprising that called for reforms in March 2011.
Bangladesh's elite security force said Monday it had arrested five Islamist militants and seized a large quantity of explosives it suspects were destined for the upcoming new year celebrations.

Acting on a tip-off, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a district commander of the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and four others from a Dhaka apartment late Sunday, a spokesman for the force said.

"We have recovered a huge cache of plastic explosive gels and detonators. We suspect they were planning to use the explosives during the Bengali new year celebration festival next month," RAB spokesman Sazzad Hossain said.

"We also have found propaganda books and leaflets which indicated they were trying to recruit people for committing such attacks," Hossain told AFP.

Bengali new year on April 14 is Muslim-majority Bangladesh's largest secular festival and has been targeted before.

In April 2001, at least 10 people were killed and scores injured when Islamist militants threw bombs at new year revellers.

In 2005, the JMB carried out a deadly nationwide synchronised bombing campaign that shook the mainly moderate Sunni nation.

In subsequent bombing attacks targeting courts and government offices, at least 28 people were killed.

Hundreds of suspected militants were later arrested and JMB's top leaders were executed in 2007.

In recent months, police have blamed a regrouped JMB for an upsurge in deadly violence, including the murder of two foreigners last year and attacks on minority Shiite, Ahmadi and Sufi Muslims, Hindus and Christians.

The government has rejected the Islamic State group's claims of responsibility for some of those attacks, saying IS has no presence in the country.

Bangladesh has been plagued by unrest in the last three years, and experts say a long-running political crisis has radicalised opponents of the government.

Since November at least five JMB commanders have been killed in shootouts with security forces, police say.
LONDON (Reuters) - Chris Evans, the new host of BBC TV's popular "Top Gear" motoring show apologised on Monday for a stunt filmed near the Cenotaph war memorial in central London which was widely criticised for showing a lack of respect. Images splashed across the pages of British newspapers showed the show's co-host, U.S. actor Matt LeBlanc, speeding and spinning a car with a professional driver along a deserted Whitehall, the road near Parliament which is home to government offices as well as the Cenotaph. As the car performed 360-degree turns, clouds of smoke from burning tyre rubber dramatically obscured the 96-year-old memorial in one long-range TV camera shot. "It does not look good at all," Evans told listeners of his BBC Radio programme. "On behalf of the Top Gear team and Matt, I would like to apologise unreservedly for what these images seem to portray." Retired army officer Colonel Richard Kemp said the filming on Sunday was an error of judgement and that Westminster Council should never have allowed it to go ahead. The council in turn said the BBC producers had gone beyond what was agreed and had never given approval for the car to carry out wheelspins down Whitehall. The BBC later said it would not broadcast footage of the Cenotaph in the episode. "The Cenotaph was at no point intended to feature in the programme and therefore will not appear in the final film," it said in a statement. "We would like to make it absolutely clear that the Top Gear team has the utmost respect for the Cenotaph, what it stands for, and those heroic individuals whose memory it serves so fittingly." The episode is the latest controversy to be generated by Top Gear which has offended Mexicans, Argentines, Germans, Indians, truck drivers, cyclists and environmentalists among others over the years. Last year, the BBC decided not to renew the contract of former presenter Jeremy Clarkson, whose blunt banter and swagger helped the show become a global success but also generated controversy, after he punched a member of the production team, leading to the hiring of Evans and ex-"Friends" star LeBlanc. Sunday's stunt also upset Chancellor George Osborne who was working nearby on his annual budget statement to be delivered on Wednesday. "Trying to write my Budget, despite noisy episode of @BBC_TopGear being filmed outside on Horseguards Parade. Keep it down please," he said on Twitter. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)
LONDON (Reuters) - Chris Evans, the new host of BBC TV's popular "Top Gear" motoring show apologized on Monday for a stunt filmed near the Cenotaph war memorial in central London which was widely criticized for showing a lack of respect. Images splashed across the pages of British newspapers showed the show's co-host, U.S. actor Matt LeBlanc, speeding and spinning a car with a professional driver along a deserted Whitehall, the road near Parliament which is home to government offices as well as the Cenotaph. As the car performed 360-degree turns, clouds of smoke from burning tire rubber dramatically obscured the 96-year-old memorial in one long-range TV camera shot. "It does not look good at all," Evans told listeners of his BBC Radio program. "On behalf of the Top Gear team and Matt, I would like to apologize unreservedly for what these images seem to portray." Retired army officer Colonel Richard Kemp said the filming on Sunday was an error of judgment and that Westminster Council should never have allowed it to go ahead. The council in turn said the BBC producers had gone beyond what was agreed and had never given approval for the car to carry out wheelspins down Whitehall. The BBC later said it would not broadcast footage of the Cenotaph in the episode. "The Cenotaph was at no point intended to feature in the program and therefore will not appear in the final film," it said in a statement. "We would like to make it absolutely clear that the Top Gear team has the utmost respect for the Cenotaph, what it stands for, and those heroic individuals whose memory it serves so fittingly." The episode is the latest controversy to be generated by Top Gear which has offended Mexicans, Argentines, Germans, Indians, truck drivers, cyclists and environmentalists among others over the years. Last year, the BBC decided not to renew the contract of former presenter Jeremy Clarkson, whose blunt banter and swagger helped the show become a global success but also generated controversy, after he punched a member of the production team, leading to the hiring of Evans and ex-"Friends" star LeBlanc. Sunday's stunt also upset finance minister George Osborne who was working nearby on his annual budget statement to be delivered on Wednesday. "Trying to write my Budget, despite noisy episode of @BBC_TopGear being filmed outside on Horseguards Parade. Keep it down please," he said on Twitter. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)
By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Kevin Lusongo has been on the streets since he was 11. He sleeps on a piece of cardboard in an unlit parking lot in a poor neighbourhood of Kinshasa, behind trucks he hopes can shield him from view. Some nights he's unlucky. Recently police came looking for a stolen handbag and beat him up when they didn't find it, said the boy, who's now 14. Then there are the older children. "Often when you sleep, the others come and burn your feet with (flaming) plastic bags," he said. "The oldest will see you and take your money. If you complain, they beat you severely." Kevin has the gaunt frame of a boy unused to nutritious meals since he was turned out by his family. He works odd jobs, begs and picks through trash to survive. He is one of 25,000 street children in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, a number that has nearly doubled in a decade, according to 2014 figures from the U.N. children's agency, with thousands more in the country's other cities. Congo is Africa's top producer of copper and a mining boom has fuelled annual economic growth of 8 percent for five years, one of the highest rates in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. But like many commodity-dependent African countries such as Angola and Nigeria, it has struggled to translate export-driven growth into broader social gains. It is still suffering the after-effects of a civil war in the east that ended in 2003 but left disease, displacement and inter-community violence in its wake. Kinshasa to the west is groaning under one of the world's fastest-growing urban populations. Outside the well-heeled city centre, there is little sign of prosperity, with most of its 11 million people crammed into rundown neighbourhoods where rubbish is piled in alleyways. None are more vulnerable than the street children, who are known as "shegues". Denis Mabwa, who works for REEJER, a coalition of groups assisting street children, said charities like his find homes for about 3,000 children each year, while around 6,000 new children move in the opposite direction. "There has been a reconstruction of large infrastructure. There is a stabilisation of the currency," said Jean-Pierre Godding, director of the Ndako Ya Biso centre that works to reunite street children with their families. "But in the big working-class neighbourhoods, no investment has yet been made to improve the infrastructure," said Godding, citing routine flooding and frequent power blackouts. "The popular neighbourhoods have really been neglected." OVERCROWDING The statistics on poverty paint a confusing picture. The government says economic growth has helped the whole of society but that it wants more rapid progress. At a news conference in January, Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo said 50,000 jobs were created in 2015 and poverty was declining. The percentage of the population living below the national poverty line has dropped to 63 percent from over 70 percent since a civil war ended in 2003 and more children are completing primary school, the government says. But the IMF says the annual rate of poverty reduction has hardly budged since the 1990s, when Congo - then called Zaire - was registering negative economic growth. Among so-called world megacities of 10 million or more people, Kinshasa is expected to record the second-highest annual growth rate between 2014 and 2030 at 3.67 percent, according to a U.N. report, and residents say lack of government social provision is pushing many families towards financial ruin. Ruth Tumba-Maseu, 15, said she fled her uncle's house in 2014 after he beat her. She slept on the streets before being directed by a friend to a centre for girls affiliated with Ndako Ya Biso where she is now able to live full-time. She said girls sleeping rough were often beaten and sexually abused. "Life in the street isn't good for girls. The boys think that you are there for the taking." According to Unicef, girls comprised 26 percent of the population of street children in 2006 but now account for about 44 percent. "The conditions are deteriorating," said REEJER's Mabwa. "You see terrible overcrowding. The children really can't stay (at home)." Child rights advocates fear street children could be used as pawns in street protests and get caught up in violence ahead of a presidential election due in November to choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila. Groups that help street children say they get no consistent government support. The minister of gender, family and children, Lucie Kipele, told Reuters the government was very concerned by the issue of street children and was creating a committee to study it. However, she said she was not familiar with numbers showing the problem worsening and that funding of children's groups was handled by multiple ministries. EDUCATION The war in eastern Congo that ended in 2003 killed millions of people, and since then armed groups have fought over mineral supplies. There was almost no fighting in Kinshasa, but many people fled west to the capital. Mobutu Sese Seko ruled the country for decades until 1997 and provided only minimal social services to the population. Many citizens now view the government with suspicion and doubt its ability to improve their lives. Norbert Toe, head of an IMF mission to Congo, said the mining boom had contributed little to overall welfare. "Capital comes in, (the companies) exploit the natural resource, take it out as exports, and the profits get repatriated," he said on the IMF website. Relatively low taxes on the mining sector compared with countries such as Zambia constrain Congo's annual spending to less than $5 billion, limiting the government's ability to spend on social sectors, he said. Some international donors including Britain and the United States have also questioned the government's spending priorities. In unusually pointed remarks in Dec. 2015, British ambassador Graham Zebedee criticised the government for spending as much on the presidency, parliament and the prime minister's office budgets as on primary, secondary and technical education. The government allocated just 3.4 percent of its 2015 budget to the health sector, roughly the same amount it spent on parliament, according to the donors. In response to written questions, Congo's Budget Minister Michel Bongongo said that close to 30 percent of the government's spending in 2014 went toward "improving the living conditions of the population", including on health, education, electricity, drinking water and communal transport. He said that government action, including urban infrastructure development, has benefited working-class neighbourhoods outside city centres. "Whether its infrastructure for schools or hospitals that are rehabilitated or constructed, or even roads, many are located in outlying areas," he said. Back on the streets, Kevin told how he started living rough more than three years ago when he was kicked out of his uncle's house, where his mother was living, for lack of space. For the past year he has spent his days at Ndako Ya Biso, which is funded by donors - where he receives schooling, food and medical care - before returning to the street at night. He still dreams of being reunited with his mother. "They'll be talking to my mother," he says, describing the imaginary scene at the centre. "I won't know that they are speaking about it but then they'll take me to the house." (Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Pravin Char)
By Melissa Fares and Anjali Athavaley (Reuters) - Two reporters and two editors from Breitbart News resigned to protest how the conservative website handled an alleged assault last week on one of the reporters by a senior aide to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Reporter Michelle Fields filed a criminal complaint on Friday against Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, saying he grabbed her arm at a rally on March 8 in Florida with such force that he left bruises. Lewandowski and Trump have denied the accusation. The incident sparked a spat at Breitbart, with journalists accusing management of kowtowing to the Trump campaign. Breitbart published an account on Friday of the incident that raised questions over Fields' version of events and suggested it was not Lewandowski who grabbed her. According to a report on Saturday on the BuzzFeed news website, Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak also ordered staffers in an internal chatroom to stop defending Fields. Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro resigned in response to that late on Sunday. National security correspondent Jordan Schachtel and editor Jarrett Stepman resigned on Monday, according to a letter by them that was posted to Twitter, in which they accused the news site of becoming a propaganda arm for the Trump campaign. (http://bit.ly/1pHhUc9) Breitbart News Chief Executive Larry Solov said in an emailed statement late on Monday, "Breitbart News thanks Kurt, Ben, and Michelle for their work for us. We wish each of them the best in their future endeavors." He was referring to Kurt Bardella, who resigned as Breitbart's spokesman last week. The alleged assault on Fields took place days before a series of clashes between supporters of Trump, the front-runner to be the Republican presidential candidate in November's election, and protesters at campaign rallies. The allegations were being investigated, a spokesman for the Jupiter, Florida police department said on Monday. (Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus and Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Frances Kerry and Jonathan Oatis)
By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - The stakes will be high for Britain's historic role as a free-trading nation when it holds a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union on June 23. There is no precedent for an economy as big as Britain's leaving a trade bloc, and the rival campaigns paint contrasting pictures of what quitting the EU might mean for its trade. Below are some of the main issues around the potential risks or benefits for British trade of a so-called Brexit. TRADE WITH EU - HOW MUCH RISK? Britain's most important trade partnership is with the EU's single market, the world's biggest trade area. Campaigners seeking to keep Britain in the EU say it would be in a weak negotiating position if it left and then sought to hammer out a trade agreement with its former partners, something many "out" campaigners say they want. Government figures show 12.6 percent of Britain's economic output is linked to exports to the EU's 27 other members, for whom only 3.1 percent of output is linked to exports to Britain. Pascal Lamy, a former head of the World Trade Organisation, said a post-Brexit Britain would probably have to resort to raising its import tariffs on EU and other countries' goods or restricting access to its market in services in order to gain some muscle for trade talks that could last as long as a decade. "Britain would have to say, 'Sorry, consumers, but you have to pay more'. It's just crazy," said Lamy, an ex-EU trade chief. In return for a trade deal, the EU would want Britain to make contributions into its budget and to keep on allowing EU citizens to work on its soil -- two big concerns for the Brexit camp. It could also face a long battle to ensure its banking industry did not face hurdles doing business in Europe. "Out" campaigners say the EU would probably be reluctant to reward a breakaway Britain with a trade deal but would not want to impede its firms from selling into the world's fifth-biggest economy by raising tariffs or imposing tough new regulations. They say the boot would even be on Britain's foot because, in value terms, EU exports of goods and services to Britain were worth 289 billion pounds in 2014, substantially more than Britain's 230 billion pounds of exports the other way. "Commercial imperatives are very powerful, much more powerful than politicians," William Dartmouth, deputy chairman of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), said. If a deal could not be reached and WTO-compliant tariffs were imposed on trade between Britain and the EU, they would be low enough not to impede business, Dartmouth predicted. Tariffs agreed by the EU with the WTO for imports from countries outside the bloc stand at below 5 percent on over a third of factory goods but have been abolished on about 30 percent more; the EU has a nearly 10 percent tariff on cars, a big British export. A breakaway Britain would also need to renegotiate its WTO membership terms with all WTO members, including some with which Britain has frosty relations such as Russia and Argentina. TRADE WITH REST OF WORLD The Brexit camp says the EU moves too slowly on trade and Britain on its own would strike deals more quickly. The big prizes would be agreements with heavyweights such as the United States, India and China, none of which have full trade pact with the EU to date. But others warn that Britain, with a population of 60 million people, would go into talks in a weaker position on its own than as part of the 500-million strong EU. "It's not a question of being smart or not. At the end of the day it depends on how much clout you have," said Arancha Gonzalez, head of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the WTO. A 2013 trade deal between Switzerland and China, which some Brexit supporters say shows what Britain might achieve on its own, got rid of tariffs on 99.8 percent of Chinese exports to Switzerland immediately compared with 77.3 percent of Swiss exports to China, rising to nearly 90 percent by 2028. Fredrik Erixon, at think tank ECIPE in Brussels, said a UK-China deal could provide big gains for British exporters and investors but might come at the cost of Britain providing China with privileged status as an investor or more political support. Simon Evenett, a trade professor at St Gallen University in Switzerland, said Britain might be able to do a deal quickly with Brazil because it does not share the concerns of other EU countries about Brazil's ambitions to export more farm goods. But he said India could repeat a demand it made in trade talks with the EU -- namely that more of its skilled workers be given work visas, touching on a sensitive issue for many Brexit supporters for whom high levels of immigration are a concern. As for the United States, its top trade official said last year Washington's focus was on deals with regional groups not individual nations. And as well as seeking to open up new markets, a post-Brexit Britain would face the challenge of regaining the preferential trade access it currently has with over 50 countries under EU deals, ranging from Mexico to Egypt and Ukraine. WHO WILL NEGOTIATE FOR BRITAIN? The European Commission has exclusive competence to forge trade deals on behalf of the bloc. If Britain left, it would have to create its own negotiating team able to handle the wide range of complex issues immediately on the agenda. Only a few of the 55 British officials in the European Commission's trade department actually work on trade deals. "Britain's trade negotiators would need technical and legal experience, which is accumulated over many years, and they would be stretched by the need to negotiate simultaneously on multiple fronts," said Gregor Irwin, chief economist at Global Counsel, a think tank led by Britain's former EU trade chief Peter Mandelson. "No country has ever tried to do this before." But Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign group, said more than 1,700 British government staff currently work on trade policy and the country would also be able to use private-sector expertise. "The idea that we are too weak to even strike our own trade deals shows how willing the pro-EU lobby is to do down Britain," he said. (Writing by William Schomberg; Additional reporting by Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels and Tom Miles in Geneva; editing by Mark John)
By Ilze Filks STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Parenthood may be hard but those challenges can also lead to new ideas. Ask Robert Ilijason, for whom a broken baby food jar eventually led to the opening of Sweden's first around-the-clock unstaffed convenience store. The store is located in Viken, where Ilijason lives, a village of around 4,200 inhabitants on Sweden's south east coast. Late night stores are scarce and the nearest large town is Helsingborg, 20 minutes drive away, a problem for Ilijason when one night he was in urgent need of food for his baby. The concept behind his unstaffed store is simple. An app, linked to a user's bank ID, is used to unlock the door and then become a scanner to scan the groceries. An invoice follows at the end of the month. "So once you've opened the door, the app automatically turns into scan mode and you can buy whatever you want to buy," Ilijason explained. For security reasons, the door remains open for only eight seconds and cameras are installed in the store. The idea is member-based and a credit check is done on new members. The stores stocks dairy products, frozen and dried foods but the idea is that demand will eventually decide what is being stocked and Ilijason hopes that in the future he will be able to cooperate with local producers. For Ilijason, a technician, it all started one night with a broken baby food jar and a hungry, screaming baby. "It was the last one and I panicked," he said. After having to drive to the city for a new one, he decided that Viken needed a store that was always open. And being a technician, he used technology to solve the problem of having expensive personnel working day and night. "It's open 24/7 so you're able to get necessary products that you probably forgot in the store or that you feel like having late at night or early in the morning before the other grocery stores have opened," said customer Mart Kielland Bjerke. Ilijason said he already has plans to expand. "Maybe we'll scale up to all of Sweden and maybe even outside of Sweden. We'll see" (Writing by Johan Sennero Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
Los Angeles (AFP) - California Attorney General Kamala Harris has entered the race for the US Senate, seeking to make history by becoming the first Indian-American and only the second African-American woman senator.

Harris, 51, is running for the California Senate seat being vacated by Barbara Boxer at the end of her term in 2017.

Born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican-American father, Harris in 2010 also shattered barriers when she became the first African-American and the first South Asian-American to fill the prestigious post of attorney general in California.

She had recently been mentioned as a potential nominee to the US Supreme Court -- to replace the late Antonin Scalia -- but clearly stated her preference during a campaign event in February.

"I'm not putting my name in for consideration," she told reporters. "I do not wish to be considered. I am running for the United States Senate."

She is the frontrunner in the Senate race and last month won the coveted California Democratic Party endorsement.
Have you got kickass ninja skills but cant convince anyone to pay you for them?

Heres your chance. In an effort to draw in more tourists, Japan's Aichi region is looking to hire six full-time ninjas. According to the Aichi Prefectures job ad, requirements include physical fitness and acrobatic skills. Successful candidates will be paid 180,000 yen ($1,600) per month.

Experts in the art of assassination, espionage, sabotage and other forms of irregular warfare, ninjas were 15th century Japanese mercenaries. The six present-day ninjas will have less deadly duties, performing for tourists, demonstrating the use of the trademark shuriken weaponslike ninja starsand posing for photos.

Ideal candidates should enjoy being under the spotlight, even though he or she is a secretive ninja, Satoshi Adachi from the prefecture's tourism promotion unit, told AFP.

Japanese language skills are not essential, Adachi said, but applicants must have a passion for the countrys history, the BBC reports. Those who make it through will perform in Nagoya Castle and other locations throughout Japan.

Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe pledged to boost tourism in the aftermath of the tsunami in the northeast region of the country five years ago. Attracting visitors is also particularly important in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Anyone over 18 can apply to be an Aichi ninja, and applications are open until March 22.

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By Alastair Sharp

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Liberal government on Monday made clear it will not announce whether it plans to help struggling plane maker Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO) before the March 22 federal budget.

The province of Quebec - where the firm has its headquarters - unveiled a $1 billion investment in the company's CSeries passenger jet last October and wants Ottawa to do the same to help protect thousands of well-paid jobs.

Montreal's La Presse newspaper last month ran an interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and quoted him as saying an announcement on aid would be made before the budget.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who has direct responsibility for the matter, said on Monday this was not the case.

"We want to make sure we're very thoughtful and doing our homework. Of course, any decision we make is not attached to the budget cycle," he told reporters in Toronto, saying his officials were making progress.

"We've been very engaged with the company, we've been making sure we're doing our due diligence ... it is a very complex issue," he added.

Quebec wants the federal government to agree to a separate board for the new CSeries jet program, eroding the influence of the company's founding family, two sources familiar with the matter said late last month.

Asked about the idea, Bains replied: "All options are part of the business case evaluation that we're looking at."

Spokeswomen for Bombardier and the Quebec government said they had no comment.

The decision is a complicated one for the ruling Liberals, who won an election last October in part thanks to an unexpectedly large haul of parliamentary seats in Quebec.

Keeping those seats is central to the Liberals' hopes of retaining power in the 2019 election. Ottawa is also under pressure from western energy-producing provinces, whose leaders say they need federal help to deal with economies that have been badly hit by a slump in crude oil prices.

Bombardier stock closed flat on Monday at C$1.16.

(Writing by David Ljunggren, additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Dan Grebler)
By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's Liberal government on Monday made clear it will not announce whether it plans to help struggling plane maker Bombardier Inc before the March 22 federal budget. The province of Quebec - where the firm has its headquarters - unveiled a $1 billion investment in the company's CSeries passenger jet last October and wants Ottawa to do the same to help protect thousands of well-paid jobs. Montreal's La Presse newspaper last month ran an interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and quoted him as saying an announcement on aid would be made before the budget. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, who has direct responsibility for the matter, said on Monday this was not the case. "We want to make sure we're very thoughtful and doing our homework. Of course, any decision we make is not attached to the budget cycle," he told reporters in Toronto, saying his officials were making progress. "We've been very engaged with the company, we've been making sure we're doing our due diligence ... it is a very complex issue," he added. Quebec wants the federal government to agree to a separate board for the new CSeries jet program, eroding the influence of the company's founding family, two sources familiar with the matter said late last month. Asked about the idea, Bains replied: "All options are part of the business case evaluation that we're looking at." Spokeswomen for Bombardier and the Quebec government said they had no comment. The decision is a complicated one for the ruling Liberals, who won an election last October in part thanks to an unexpectedly large haul of parliamentary seats in Quebec. Keeping those seats is central to the Liberals' hopes of retaining power in the 2019 election. Ottawa is also under pressure from western energy-producing provinces, whose leaders say they need federal help to deal with economies that have been badly hit by a slump in crude oil prices. Bombardier stock closed flat on Monday at C$1.16. (Writing by David Ljunggren, additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Dan Grebler)
Ottawa (AFP) - Increasing Canada's contribution to international peacekeeping, the fight against climate change and advocacy for women's rights are on the agenda for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the United Nations, his office said Monday.

His visit to UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday comes one month after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Ottawa's renewed engagement on the world stage.

Trudeau has said his government would contribute more to mediation and conflict resolution, peacekeeping and reconstruction in global hotspots.

He said Canada would also seek a seat on the Security Council.

During his meeting with Ban, the prime minister "will emphasize Canada's commitment to play a positive and constructive role in the world, and to make meaningful contributions to issues that include climate change, respect for diversity and human rights, and support for international peace operations," a statement from Trudeau's office said.

That could see more Canadian troops deployed as peacekeepers in Africa and Haiti.

Le Devoir newspaper last week said as many as 2,000 Canadian police officers and soldiers could soon be deployed to shore up security in Haiti, the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, and take over command of the UN mission from Brazil after its mission mandate expires in October.

While in New York, Trudeau will take part in a roundtable discussion on advocacy for the rights of girls, and will discuss gender equality with the executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

He is also scheduled to meet with business leaders to promote investment in Canada.
CBS News says one of its reporters has been charged with resisting arrest in the aftermath of Donald Trump's canceled rally in Chicago.

Reporter Sopan Deb was on the floor of the arena on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago on Friday night and interviewed Trump supporters and protesters. He also was taking video of the scene outside of the arena.

Some of Deb's video aired on CBS' This Morning show.

At one point, he's seen being thrown to the ground by police and handcuffed. In the video, Deb identifies himself as a member of the news media.

CBS says Deb has covered the Trump campaign since the beginning.

Read More: Johnny Depp Calls Donald Trump a "Brat"

In an interview with CBS News producer Charlie Brooks, Deb said: "I went outside and I saw a group of police officers running towards an area of protesters. So I had my camera and I jet along with them to this area. And I get to this crowd and there's a man being arrested. His head is bloodied on the ground another scuffle breaks out, and I'm shooting this scuffle," Deb said, as quoted by TV Newser.

"And before I knew it a police officer  at least one police officer, maybe multiplepulled me down from the back of my hoodie and threw me to the ground and bashed my face into the street. And then this police officer put his boot to my neck and cuffed me. I am continuously identifying myself as press, I said, 'I have credentials. I can show you. I have credentials.' But they are not listening to me."
BEIJING (Reuters) - The subsidizing of fares and the supplementing of driver wages by ride-hailing companies such as Didi Kuaidi and U.S. firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] are competitively unfair and could not be sustained long-term, China's transport minister said. The minister, Yang Chuantang, was speaking to reporters on Monday on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary session. Companies like Didi Kuaidi and Uber are spending billions of dollars in heated competition, using investors' money to fund discounts for users and drivers' wages on their apps. The massive popularity of apps like Didi Kuaidi and Uber in China has, like in many countries, posed problems for government regulators. Those companies partly operate in legal gray areas, with their unlicensed private car drivers and subsidies undercutting state-owned businesses causing particular concern. China's transport ministry said in a statement on Monday it will also "vigorously press ahead" with taxi industry reform, but offered few details. "There is a compelling need to deepen the reform of the taxi industry and regulate taxi services to put them on the track of sound and sustainable development," the statement said. But, when asked on Monday, Yang gave no specific timeline for when final ride-hailing regulations would be issued. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Michael Perry and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Militia groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed two park rangers in one of the world's last sanctuaries for the endangered mountain gorilla, the park said on Monday. A third ranger is missing after the attacks on Saturday in Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Virunga is home to roughly half the world's remaining 900 mountain gorillas and was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary film in 2014. The park said in a statement four ranger posts on the shores of Lake Edward were attacked by more than 120 rebels belonging to what appears to be a new coalition of militia groups. Dozens of armed groups operate in and around the 7,800-square-kilometre park, which abuts Congo's borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Two rangers were captured by the rebels and killed and a search is ongoing for the missing ranger, the statement said. It said rangers and Congolese soldiers had reclaimed the overrun positions, killing one rebel and capturing another. "These rangers were killed in situations that may amount to war crimes in any other conflict," park director Emmanuel de Merode said in the statement. More than 150 Virunga rangers have been killed over the last decade, de Merode added, many battling poachers who target the park's gorillas, elephants and other rare animals. The rangers' presence in the park is resented by many of the more than four million people who live near it but are prevented from cultivating its rich soil. The Rwandan genocide next door and collapse of Congo's government in the mid-1990s precipitated years of war in the east that killed millions, mostly from hunger and disease. Armed groups continue to terrorize local populations as they compete over gold, timber and other resources. International donors are investing over $150 million in and around the park to build hydroplants and tourist infrastructure that they hope can bring sustainable development to the area. But security has deteriorated in recent months with a spate of kidnappings and inter-ethnic fighting that has led humanitarian organizations to limit their movements. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Andrew Roche)
(Home Affairs K. Shanmugam (left) REUTERS/Greg Baker/Pool)



Crime incidents within the foreign worker population are lower than that among the general Singapore population, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam told Parliament on Monday (14 March).



They are here for a purpose and if they get into trouble they will be sent back straight away, he said.

The minister was responding to questions from Marine Parade GRC Member of Parliament Fatimah Lateef in relation to the 27 radicalised Bangladeshi nationals who were arrested and repatriated in January.

The Bangladeshis were found to be planning armed violence in their home country. Radical and jihadi-related material were recovered from the group.

I dont want to give the impression that therefore everything is perfect, but it (radicalisation) is certainly a problem that has been recognised, Shanmugam said.

In response to Fatimahs question on foreign worker dormitories, Shanmugam said that dormitories were subject to a number of guidelines. For example, the sizing and how the dormitory was structured had to be cleared by security agencies, the minister shared.

Singapores security agencies would continue to monitor and investigate any signs of radicalisation in the country, he said. Singapore also shares intelligence with its foreign security partners as part of the broader counter-terrorism efforts.

But the fight against terrorism should not just involve the security agencies, Shanmugam said.

He called on Singaporeans to help safeguard family and friends from radicalisation, employers to monitor dormitories, and workers to report any suspicious activities.

Everyone has a part to play to enhance our collective security.
Bernie Sanders gained another celebrity endorsement over the weekend: Danny DeVito.

The short-stature actor, best known for his work in Taxi and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, opened for the Democratic presidential candidate on Sunday at a rally in St. Louis, Mo.

"I'm here because you're here," DeVito told the cheering crowd. "Because, I feel the Bern."

During his speech, DeVito likened Sanders to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi for the Star Wars saga.

"We need you Obi-Wan," DeVito said right before Sanders walked on stage.

The two men embraced before Sanders began to stump.
The good news for Marco Rubio: He won his third primary contest on Saturday and broke a week-long delegate drought, which would normally give him a claim to momentum ahead of the crucial Florida primary on Tuesday. The bad news? The victory was in Washington, D.C., the focus point of Republican voters ire this year.

The Florida senator received 1,059 votes, or about 37 percent of the total, in the D.C. caucuses on Saturday. Ohio Governor John Kasich received only 50 votes fewer for about 35.5 percent. The two candidates will almost evenly split D.C.s 19 delegates. Both Trump and Cruz fell below the 15-percent eligibility threshold and will receive no delegates.

Alex Conant, the Rubio campaigns communications manager, sounded an upbeat note on Twitter.

DC's changed a lot in last decade. It's a minority-majority city that's embracing the future. And today voted for it https://t.co/IlqSh9SzsM  Alex Conant (@AlexConant) March 13, 2016

Marco won a lot of delegates tonight. #Marcomentum  Alex Conant (@AlexConant) March 13, 2016

Far from the nations capital, Texas Senator Ted Cruz emerged from Wyomings county conventions with nine of the twelve delegates available Saturday. Rubio and Trump also received one delegate each, and a third delegate was officially uncommitted. Wyoming allocates its 29 delegates at multiple county conventions throughout the spring.

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Cruz also received a single delegate from Guam, where Republicans held a presidential convention on Saturday. Nine delegates are available from the territory, but the other eight are uncommitted until Tuesday, when they gather again to choose whether or not to back a candidate. Both Kasich and Trump made last-minute appeals before Saturdays convention.

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In the only Democratic contest on Saturday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the Northern Mariana Islands caucus, beating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with 102 votes to 65. The AP estimates Clinton will receive four delegates and Sanders will receive two.

Saturdays contests were the last to be held before March 15, when the candidates from both parties will face off in pivotal elections in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. Republicans in the Northern Mariana Islands will also hold a convention to allocate delegates that day.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two of the Kremlin's closest allies in Europe, said on Monday there could be no automatic extension of the European Union's sanctions against Russia, the most public sign yet of fraying unity on how to deal with Moscow. Two years after the West imposed economic sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, the EU's resolve is at risk of ebbing because of the stalled Minsk peace process, diplomats say. While EU governments last week extended asset freezes and travel bans on Russians and Russian companies, there is less consensus on whether to prolong more far-reaching sanctions on Russia's banking, defense and energy sectors from July. "We cannot take for granted any decision at this stage," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after a meeting with his EU peers in Brussels, where Russia's EU policy was discussed for the first time in more than a year. However, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference such decisions were never taken without political debate, while EU officials said Monday's debate among ministers was measured. Some EU member states, such as Britain, the Baltic republics and Poland, argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia. Hungary, Italy and Greece stress its importance as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a major player in attempts to end war in Syria. "You cannot decide on sanctions by sweeping the issues under the carpet," Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said. "We believe that the question of sanctions should be decided at the highest level. It cannot be automatic," he said. But Lithuania's foreign minister, Linas Linkevicius, whose country was part of the Soviet Union until 1990, told Reuters that, following the debate among ministers on Monday, "there is no revision of policy". Echoing that, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that "the view is negative as regards the internal situation in Russia and its foreign policy". DON'T MENTION THE 'S' WORD Tellingly, after a long discussion, sanctions were not discussed by foreign ministers, partly because the debate was chaired by Mogherini to avoid exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials - who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy - sought to gauge the mood. One of the biggest points of contention was whether Mogherini, an Italian, should visit Russia at a time when the EU is demanding that Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike, on humanitarian grounds. Waszczykowski said he suggested to ministers that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first come to Brussels. Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most skeptical about the sanctions, while European farmers, who once exported heavily to Russia, want to see markets reopen and protested in Brussels on Monday. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through. However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process. Moscow denies any military involvement. "Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday in Paris. In comments that some EU diplomats took as Moscow pressing for sanctions relief, Lavrov said on Sunday he hoped the United States would be willing to compromise on the Minsk process. (Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Paul Carrel and Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Monday to press on with her migrant policy despite seeing her Christian Democrats (CDU) party punished by voters who flocked to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Sunday's three regional polls. The electoral setbacks came just as Merkel is trying to convince her European Union partners to seal a deal with Turkey to stem the tide of migrants, which has already dwindled as countries along the main route have unilaterally shut borders and erected fences. Merkel, who has staked her reputation on a thus-far elusive European solution to the crisis, came under renewed pressure on Monday from her Bavarian allies to make Germany's border less porous, but refused to buckle. "Yesterday was a difficult day for the CDU," she said after a party meeting to assess the damage from the polls. "Without a doubt, we have come a long way toward solving the refugee issue, but we still don't have a sustainable solution. I am fully convinced that we need a European solution, and that this solution needs time." Merkel alarmed many European leaders last week by gambling on a last-minute draft deal with Turkey to stop the migrant flow, and must win their support at a summit later this week to cement the controversial plan. PERSONAL APPROVAL She can at least look to recent national opinion polls, including one that had her personal approval rating hitting its highest level this year, at 50 percent, just after the draft agreement with Turkey. Some commentators also pointed out that the CDU's candidates in the western states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland- Palatinate both moved to the right by pressing for tougher migration policies, only to be beaten by Green and Social Democrat rivals who stuck closer to Merkel's line. However, Germans undeniably want the issue fixed quickly. Many think their country cannot cope with an influx that saw more than a million migrants enter last year after Merkel decided to open the borders to those fleeing war in Syria. That angst saw them turn in droves to the AfD on Sunday. The party took around a quarter of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, where it became the second biggest party, and made hefty gains to enter the regional assemblies of the other two states. AfD leader Frauke Petry, who like many of her party's leadership is well-educated and a polished speaker, said it had set its sights on winning seats in the federal parliament at next year's national election. That prospect worries many in Merkel's CDU, and the leader of its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, demanded "a different policy" on migrants. "EXISTENTIAL QUESTION" "It's an existential question," Horst Seehofer said after a meeting of the party's board in Munich. "The descent can quickly turn into a nosedive, it can even turn into a crash." Merkel, still largely unchallenged within her own party after a decade in power, accused the CSU of projecting an image of a divided conservative camp, the "Union", with repeated public criticism of her policies. "These different points of view between CDU and CSU are always difficult to bear for Union voters," she said. Resisting any move to the right, Merkel instead insisted the conservatives must take on the AfD and defeat it with reason. "We have to clearly distinguish ourselves from the AfD and make clear what our solutions are," she said. "We want to have an open argument, but we should clearly rule out any cooperation." The AfD's rise, which has coincided with strong gains by other European anti-immigrant parties including the National Front in France, punctures the centrist consensus around which the mainstream parties have formed alliances in Germany. By splintering the vote beyond the mainstream parties, Sunday's polls opened the prospect of new coalitions at state level in a changing German political landscape. "While we're not looking at the prospect of fringe parties taking over the leadership, they are challenging the status quo," said Andrew Bosomworth, at the bond fund Pimco. "Change breeds uncertainty and uncertainty is not good for risk assets." (Additional reporting by Michelle Martin and Tina Bellon; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
With the presidential election heating up, you're probably hearing a lot more political talk at work than usual. Whether you're a political junkie who's delighted to debate issues with your co-workers or someone who wants to leave the room every time your colleagues start sharing their viewpoints on the candidates, you might wonder what the boundaries are on politics in the workplace. Here's a quick primer on what kind of political discussion your employer has to allow, where it can intervene and how you should manage your own politics when it comes to your job.

Can your employer restrict political speech at work? "Private-sector employers may generally impose broad limits on employees' political activities and discussions during working hours, even if other types of personal activities are permitted," says Dan Prywes, partner in the District of Columbia office of the law firm Bryan Cave.

However, federal law also protects employees' right to discuss labor issues -- wages and working conditions -- with each other. So employers need to tread carefully here. They can't ban you from urging co-workers to support Candidate X "because she supports higher wages." But those same protections don't apply if you take labor issues out of the discussion. For instance, you're urging people to support Candidate X "because she's strong on foreign policy" or for another reason not connected to labor issues.

What should you do if a co-worker won't stop hassling you about politics? If a co-worker is annoying you by constantly talking about politics, try simply asking the person to stop. You might say, "I'd rather not discuss politics at work" or "We feel differently, and I'd rather keep our political viewpoints out of our work relationship."

If your co-worker persists after this, you might consider asking your manager to step in, pointing out that it's distracting and unwelcome. Good managers don't want people getting hassled about politics at work, and they especially don't want people ignoring their colleagues' direct requests to cut it out.

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Can your employer pressure you to vote for or donate to a particular candidate? Federal law prohibits employers from coercing you to vote a certain way or contribute money to candidates or political action committees. And they're prohibited from threatening to discipline or fire you if you don't. Some states, such as New Jersey and Oregon, also have laws that prevent employers from compelling employees to participate as a "captive audience" in employer-sponsored political events.

However, "following the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United, employers have a greater ability to communicate their political views and preferences to employees, and spend money to support a candidate, as long as that is not coordinated with a political campaign," says Prywes. That means that you might be stuck hearing about your employer's politics, but you should be free to ignore those communications if they don't interest you.

Can your employer discriminate against you because of your political beliefs or your political activities outside of work? In most states, employers can indeed discriminate based on political preferences. "This means that a manager could schedule Trump supporters for more lucrative shifts, or could assign less desirable projects to Hillary supporters," says Prywes.

But a few states, such as California, do ban employers from discriminating on the basis of political views or affiliations. In these states, there are still typically exceptions if your activities create a conflict of interest with your employer's business interests. For example, newspapers are generally allowed to prohibit reporters from campaigning for particular candidates since they have a business interest in appearing impartial.

Given all this, what's the best advice for keeping political activity from interfering with your job? Prywes recommends three things. First, know your rights in the particular state you live in since state law varies so much on these issues. Second, conduct your political activity outside of work unless it's specifically linked to employment issues, such as discussing a candidate's stance on wages or working conditions. And third, "avoid issues that directly conflict with your employer's company-specific business priorities, or that compromise your employer's trade secrets or proprietary information," say Prywes.

If you do suspect that you're being illegally penalized for your political views, you have several options.

-- If you believe that you're being penalized because you expressed political views relating to labor conditions, you can complain to the National Labor Relations Board.

-- If you believe that a state law against political discrimination is being violated, you should generally start by complaining to the office of the state attorney general.

-- If you have experienced coercion regarding voting, you can contact federal or state civil rights authorities.

-- In some cases, you may also be able to bring a lawsuit against the employer.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission announced more help for the agriculture sector on Monday, following protests by farmers who say they have been hit hard by a Russian ban on Western food imports. The focus of the support package is on the dairy, pigmeat, fruit and vegetable sectors. It includes measures such as placing products into storage to reduce surpluses, allowing producers to freeze milk production, relaxing EU limits on state subsidies and effectively suspending EU rules on fair competition. No new money was promised, but EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some steps, such as extending the aid package for fruit and vegetables, would require funding at a later stage. European farmers staged protests on Monday, driving their tractors into central Brussels and causing traffic chaos. Lines of tractors blocked streets and dairy farmers sprayed milk outside Belgian government offices. Farmers have been hit as Russia's ban on Western food imports imposed nearly two years ago - in response to EU sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis - has led to oversupply on EU markets and caused prices to plunge. In France, the EU's largest agricultural producer, protests have gone on for months and the government has announced tax cuts for farmers. "In the interest of EU farmers, I am prepared to use all instruments that the legislators have put at our disposal, both as a short-term and long-term measure," European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan told a meeting of EU agriculture ministers. He said a supply management scheme for milk, that would allow governments to provide financial help for farmers who froze production, should help to satisfy French demands. The Commission is also considering a new scheme for pigmeat and extending help for growers of fruit and vegetables once an existing aid package for that sector expires at the end of June. Since Russia banned Western food imports, the European Commission has mobilized more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to help farmers. It is also offering help, including funding for promotional campaigns, to find new markets. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis, Clement Rossignol in Brussels and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Brussels (AFP) - The European Union, Burundi's biggest aid donor, on Monday suspended all direct funding to the government for ignoring human rights and failing to stop a wave of deadly violence.

Burundi has been in turmoil since July when President Pierre Nkurunziza won a third term which the opposition said was illegal.

There have been hundreds of killings since then, with security forces, rebels and the opposition all blaming each other for the bloodshed.

The EU holds Nkurunziza's government responsible for the surge in unrest and accuses the president of failing to protect human rights since the disputed election.

Opponents have accused Nkurunziza of violating the constitution, as well as the Arusha Accord that brought an end to Burundi's horrific 1993-2006 civil war, which left about 300,000 people dead.

"The situation in Burundi remains of serious concern for the EU," the bloc's foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

"Today's decision makes clear that for our relations to be fully resumed we expect a number of concrete measures to be carried out."

The statement, agreed by the 28 EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, said that while financial support for the government was being cut, the bloc would continue its separate funding for civil society and humanitarian assistance.

EU aid programmes for Burundi over the period 2014-20 are worth some 430 million euros ($480 million) and any cuts would have a serious impact in a very poor country wracked by violence.

The Burundian government said it had been expecting the EU move and defended its record.

"The government of Burundi is not surprised by this decision. We had been expecting it in spite of the measures we have taken on human rights and security issues," External Affairs Minister Alain-Aime Nyamitwe told AFP.

"I am not an economist... but Burundi has managed so far and I hope it will continue to do so," Nyamitwe added.

The EU has held a series of talks with the government under the terms of the Cotonou agreement, which lays down strict rules for mutual cooperation including the promotion of human rights, and warned repeatedly that aid could be cut if there was no progress.

Mogherini said the government should now build on measures agreed with the African Union, the East African Community and the United Nations to establish a dialogue with the opposition and find "a durable political solution to the crisis".
By Marwa Rashad RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's government, its finances strained by low oil prices, is opening a fresh austerity drive by ordering ministries to cut their spending on contracts by at least 5 percent, a document seen by Reuters shows. The spending cuts could further slow economic growth in the world's top oil exporter and hurt the construction industry, where many companies are struggling with deteriorating cash flow and rising labor costs. The document, sent by the central government to all ministries and state bodies, instructs them to reduce the value of outstanding contracts signed to support their operations, as well as construction contracts included in the 2016 state budget, by "not less than 5 percent of remaining obligations". It says these measures were proposed by the minister of economy and planning to "rationalize spending and increase its efficiency", and were approved by the king. Officials of the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. The document leaves ministries to decide how contracts should be revised to make the required savings. It does not explain how the ministries should renegotiate contracts with their suppliers. Another clause in the document forbids ministries and government bodies from signing any contracts without the approval of the finance ministry. Previously, senior officials could agree small contracts without approval. The Saudi government ran a record budget deficit of nearly $100 billion last year and has been seeking ways to narrow the gap. It is laying plans to boost non-oil revenues with taxes, but that will take years to have much impact, leaving spending cuts as the main way to bring state finances under control. (Writing by Andrew Torchia, editing by Larry King)
An extremely rare species of whale are turning up in record numbers to make a splash in Cape Cod.

There are thought to be only 500 remaining right whales on Earth, but almost half of them have been spotted off the US coast in the past few springs.

This year, right whales have returned to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in large numbers - and the sight is turning into an amateur photographers dream.

The animals are attracted to this area of the Atlantic Ocean because it is rich in plankton for feeding.

Its rather extraordinary and somewhat mind-blowing, said Charles Mayo, a senior scientist and director of right whale ecology at the Centre for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

Although right whales have foraged for food for centuries in Cape Cod, their numbers were decimated by whalers who hunted them.

In the late 1990s, fewer than 30 whales were spotted each year.

There has been a huge pulse in numbers in the past few years, said Amy Knowlton, a scientist with the New England Aquariums Right Whale Research Project.

Right whales are probably scouting for food all the time. Maybe when one of them finds it, they call their friends.

The whales are being tracked by the aquarium, which has given them individual names such as Kleenex, Snotnose and Wart.

It is thought shifting ocean currents caused by climate change has brought more plankton into the bay and more right whales with them.

Theyre a little like cows in a field. They go away from places that are not good and go to places that are good, said Mr Mayo.

(Pictures: AP)
My parents both loved their work, and they encouraged me to find that for myself. I taught sixth grade in Mexico, chasing adventure. I worked as an ad exec in New York then went to business school at UCLA, chasing money. For much of my 20s I lacked a purpose, and it was painful. I medicated with television.

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With nothing better to do, I was about to open a spa with my hairdresser when Sept. 11 happened. That tragedy pushed me to take stock of my life. I knew I had come to Hollywood for a reason, I just wasnt sure why  until I met Michael Green (Everwood, Smallville) at a friends dinner party. He was the first real live television writer Id ever come across and as he described what his job entailed, I got chills. Could my lifelong obsession with television actually translate into a career? Nervous, I called Michael a few days later and asked if I was insane to even ponder giving this a shot. After all, I was an ancient twenty-nine-year-old who knew no one in the industry. Id never been to film school, or taken any creative writing class whatsoever. To Michaels credit, he didnt discourage me. He stressed that television writers come from many different backgrounds. In fact, he said he could see me doing well in a room. Provided I had talent.

I enrolled in a writing class at UCLA Extension and wrote my first spec script. Was it any good? I had no clue. A friend sent it to a friend who worked in the accounting department at Gersh. They sent it inter-office mail to the TV lit department and a young and hungry agent named Amy Retzinger read it. She called to say she liked it, and asked to see other samples? I wrote my second script that week and sent it off, hopeful shed sign me. She didnt, but that script secured me a spot in the Warner Bros. Comedy Workshop, which landed me my first agent, who encouraged me to write my first pilot.

Just a Phase was a Wonder Years-esque story inspired by my life growing up gay in the 1980s. As I finished it ABC Family, under [then-president] Paul Lee and [development exec] Kate Juergens, was looking to move into scripted programming. Just a Phase was their first comedy purchase. Three years after deciding to give this a shot, I was standing on the set of my own pilot based on my own life. It was surreal.

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Read More: MTV's 'Faking It' to Tell Intersex Story in Season 2

It also didnt go to series and I was totally unprepared for the heartbreak that followed. I had hoped Just a Phase would be that show I needed when I was young. Which is why Im so grateful to Mina Lefevre. She was my executive on that project, and we became good friends. Eight years later, she took over scripted programming at MTV, and she called me up. They had a concept called Faking It. The premise was simple yet scandalous: two girls pretend to be lesbians to be popular. Was I interested?

Faking It has been everything I had hoped Just a Phase would become and more. Despite its title, our show loudly proclaims that its OK to be exactly who you are, without shame. Three of our five main characters are a part of the LGBTI community. Weve collaborated with GLAAD on groundbreaking stories about intersex and transgender youth. Our message of equality and acceptance is broadcast to young people all over the world, including on MTV Russia. This is, hands down, the most rewarding job Ive ever had and I hope it never ends. But Im sure at one point John Tesh felt the same way. Thats what scares me.

MTV's Faking It returns March 15 on MTV.

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Hong Kong has many charms, but the Fragrant Harbor punches well above its weight when it comes to world-class dining. Of Asias 50 best restaurants, Hong Kong boasts nine entries, and the citys eateries have Michelin stars aplenty. The locals will tell you the best and most authentic food is found in less heralded and older neighborhoods, but if youre pressed for time or need somewhere buzzy, here are some hot places to eat.

Zuma

Deciding on where to eat in a strange city is a difficult task at the best of times, but trying to find somewhere for a group of strangers is doubly tough. In a situation like this, head to Zuma, a well-established and well-loved Japanese restaurant that is great for big groups. Theres so much to love at Zuma, why not try the daikoku tasting menu and sample the best.

5/F Landmark Atrium, 15 Queens Road, Central

Zuma

Mak Mak

Hong Kong restaurateur Yenn Wong has been prolific of late, opening a number of new establishments including Fish School and Meen & Rice to go along with her numerous collaborations with famed British chef Jason Atherton. Be warned  Mak Mak's menu is impressively long, but if you love Thai (especially the curries) and love choice, then youve found the right place.

2/F Landmark Atrium, 15 Queens Road, Central

Mak Mak

AMMO

Not too far from the Convention Center, indeed a mere 10-minute cab ride away, is AMMO, an Italian restaurant that was seemingly made to be frequented by the film crowd. The interiors by Joyce Wang are inspired by the 1965 film noir classic Alphaville, and theres certainly an old-world filmic sense to the ambience. AMMO does comfort food like few other places in Hong Kong, and all the pasta is made on-site in the authentic way. The gnocchi is to die for, and crab ravioli gets rave reviews, too.

9 Justice Drive, Admiralty

AMMO

Mott 32

The best dim sum in town? Thats the buzz around Mott 32, consistently voted one of the best restaurants in Hong Kong since it opened in 2014. Named after 32 Mott Street in New York, supposedly the site of the Big Apples first Chinese convenience store, Mott 32 fuses cutting-edge Western design (think meat-packing chic) with the very best pan-Chinese food. Aside from the dim sum, of course, check out the braised eggplant and stir-fried prawns.

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Standard Chartered Bank Building, 4-4A Des Voeux Rd Central, Central
Hong Kong's Jet Tone Films will be launching Europe Raiders, a co-production with China's Inlook Media, at Hong Kong Filmart, which is set to run March 14-17.

The third installment in Jingle Ma's Tokyo Raiders (2000) and Seoul Raiders (2005) series, the $26 million action comedy will be helmed by Ma and stars the previous pics' leading man Tony Leung Chiu-wai.

Filming will begin in May, with plans to shoot in Italy, Austria, Shanghai and Japan. Europe Raiders is set for a 2017 release.

Jet Tone was not involved in the previous installments in the Raiders series, but producer and Jet Tone CEO Jacky Pang told The Hollywood Reporter it seemed like a good fit for the Hong Kong-based company. Since we have a longtime friendship with Jingle Ma, and we find the idea of the film to be interesting, and the fact the film stars one of the artists in our signed talents, we decided to become one of the investors and the production company of the film, said Pang.

Additional cast will be announced at a later date, which Pang added would also be international.
Wayne Wang (Smoke, The Joy Luck Club) returns to Hong Kong, the city of his birth, with While the Women Are Sleeping, based on the eponymous short story by Spanish writer Javier Marias. The tale of a novelist with writers block and a mysterious older man-young woman couple, the setting for the story has been relocated from Barcelona to Japan.

U.S.-based Wang directs a Japanese cast, starring actor-director Takeshi Kitano, aka Beat Takeshi, as the older man, in a film about ageing, obsession and murder. Hidetoshi Nishijima plays the writer who becomes drawn into the bizarre world of Kitanos relationship with his young companion, played by Shioli Kutsuna, who he videotapes while she sleeps.

Wang spoke to THR about switching the still photography documentation of the sleeping woman in the original story to video, transporting the story from Spain to Japan and how his own melting pot of cultural experiences helped him make the film.

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When you first read the original short story, what was it that grabbed your attention?

I was intrigued by the idea of an older man obsessed with a young girl, who was 8 years old in the story, and who took still photos of her when she was sleeping. There was no suggestion of sexual involvement. His interest was in her innocence and that she should grow up into what he thought was perfect, but he was aware that she would be corrupted by the world, and if that happened, he would have to kill her. That story really got me going. In my imagination  and Takeshi thought the same when I spoke to him  he was like a scientist, similar to the way Nabokov (author of Lolita) collected butterflies.

I imagine it would have been a very different film, and much more controversial, if you had stuck with the girl being 8?

A very different film and maybe I would have been arrested. [Laughs.] We found a girl of 13 or 14 who looked a lot like the actress [Kutsuna] as an adult, who was in her 20s. Takeshis character shows some of the video documentation he has made of her since that age to the writer, played by Hidetoshi Nishijima.

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Why did you choose to switch from the still photos of the original story to video?

I thought video would be more intriguing: it can capture subtle things like slight movements and breathing. And Ive always thought that sleeping is a lot like dying and that very tiny movements would give it away that she was sleeping.

How did a story set in Spain come to be a film in Japan with an all-Japanese cast?

My producer Yukie Kito  who Ive worked with for a long time  was trying to get the project together at Busan one year, where we won some kind of award, but couldnt get all the financing. Then I get an email from Yukie saying that Takeshi had read a synopsis and wants to do it as a Japanese film with a Japanese cast.

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Working in a language that you cant understand, were you worried about nuances in the story being lost?

That was very nerve-racking, and I had to put some of my confidence in my producer Yukie Kito and the writer. The writer was very picky that she was not just going to translate, but rewrite in Japanese. There were so many layers of checks. The assistant directors were also completely bilingual. And then when I gave the script to the actors, especially Takeshi, they flagged a few things, too.

What was it like directing Takeshi, whos known as quite a character?

Hes so powerful and so strong that I didnt have to do much. The only thing that was kind of intimidating was that he told me he only does one take, even in his own films. But I got him to do a few. He joked with me that after wed done one take, I always said, That was perfect, lets do another one. Hed be like, Why do we need another one if it was perfect?

Youve had a multicultural life  did that help prepare you to make this film?

My wife always tells me Im a bird without landing gear. I love traveling; I love trying to get beneath cultures and understand them. When I go back to China, I dont feel Im really Chinese. Im more American, but Im not really American. What the hell I am, I dont know.

How did you try and get a feel for Japanese sensibilities for the film?

Ive always been fascinated with Japanese films, manga and culture. I was introduced to a film scholar who pointed me toward some Roman porno [theatrically-released Japanese softcore pornography] to get an understanding of Japanese sensuality. Then Takeshi recommended some Japanese films and novels. I learned so much; thats why I make films.

Read More: Filmart: Download THR's Day 1 Daily
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health)  Almost a third of U.S. cancer survivors face financial burdens, and physical and mental health tends to be worse for those who do, according to a new study. There are more than 14 million cancer survivors in the U.S., the authors wrote in a paper released by the journal Cancer. We found that cancer survivors with three or more financial problems had clinically meaningful differences in their physical and mental health-related quality of life and were two to three times more likely to report depressed mood and six to eight times more likely to worry about cancer recurrence, lead author Hrishikesh P. Kale of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond told Reuters Health by email. Financial burden results from the high cost of cancer care, added senior author Norman V. Carroll, also of Virginia Commonwealth University. This is especially true for the newer, biologically-derived specialty drugs, which can require patient copays of several hundred dollars per month, Carroll said. Loss of ability to work due to illness and treatment, transportation costs to get treatment, and loss of a spouses income if the spouse must take time off from work for caregiving can also contribute, said Dr. Scott D. Ramsey, director of the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, who was not part of the new study. Finally, if a person loses their job and therefore their employer-based insurance in the course of treatment, things get much worse, Ramsey told Reuters Health by email. The new findings are drawn from the 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which included 1,380 people who self-reported ever being diagnosed with cancer. Survey questions addressed a history of borrowing money, going into debt, filing for bankruptcy, making financial sacrifices, worrying about paying large medical bills and being unable to cover the cost of medical care. In addition, 12 survey items assessed current physical and mental health and health-related quality of life. Almost eight percent of cancer survivors had borrowed money, incurred debt or declared bankruptcy. One in five were worried about paying large medical bills, one in ten were unable to cover the cost of medical care visits, and almost one in ten had made other financial sacrifices. These findings are consistent with numerous other studies that have called attention in recent years to the financial burden of cancer diagnosis and treatment, said Dr. Reshma Jagsi of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. Although many cancer survivors are able to return to work, research from our group and others has suggested that a substantial minority of cancer patients do lose their jobs after cancer diagnosis and are unable to find work again, Jagsi, who was not part of the new study, told Reuters Health by email. Those who were younger at diagnosis, female, a member of a racial or ethnic minority, and who had short-survival cancers were more likely than others to face financial burden. As financial problems increased, health-related quality of life decreased, the authors report. Financial burden increased the risk of depressed mood and worrying about cancer recurrence, and those with three or more financial problems had clinically significant poorer physical and mental health compared to others. Eight percent of cancer survivors did not have insurance during the course of their cancer care and such cancer survivors were twice as likely to report financial burden compared to those with access to insurance, Kale said. Even among insured cancer survivors, 29% reported cancer-related financial burden, he said. We did not analyze if cancer survivors were able to return to work in our study, he said. However, future research could study if cancer survivors are able to return to work at the same level and if they have better or worse productivity. Cancer survivors should educate themselves regarding survivorship issues, coverage and benefit design of their health plans and organizations that provide financial assistance, Kale said. Further, cancer survivorship care programs can identify survivors with the greatest financial burden and focus on helping them cope with psychological stress, anxiety and depression throughout their journey with cancer, he said. We recommend hiring a financial planner or seeking assistance with finances, Ramsey said. Some cancer centers are starting to offer this, but it is relatively rare. (The story is refiled to fix typo in lead.) SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1RuwUpM Cancer, released March 14, 2016.
By Steve Holland TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A serious snowmobile accident involving Sarah Palin's husband forced the former vice presidential nominee to curtail a Florida campaign trip on Monday for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Todd Palin was in intensive care at an Alaska hospital after the accident on Sunday, an aide to the former Alaska governor said, adding she had been on the phone with doctors and family members all morning. Palin, who has endorsed Trump, had been scheduled to campaign for him later on Monday in The Villages, Florida. Florida is one of five states holding nominating contests on Tuesday for the Nov. 8 election. Trump campaign officials said Palin was returning to Alaska to be with her husband. They said they looked forward to her being back on the campaign trail soon and that Trump's thoughts and prayers were with the Palin family. Before being able to catch a flight to Alaska, Palin stopped at a town hall-style event for Trump in Tampa, telling the crowd: "Thank you guys for your prayers for my husband who is recovering right now in ICU after a little wreck on a snow machine." Trump, taking the stage after Palin, said: "Her husband is a tough cookie but when you're too tough, you break ribs every once in a while." Palin, Republican Senator John McCain's running-mate in the 2008 presidential election won by Democrat Barack Obama, held a separate campaign rally for Trump in Florida on Sunday. Todd Palin, 51, is a veteran participant in Alaska's 2,000-mile (3,200-km) Iron Dog race involving snowmobiles that takes place each February, according to the race's website. The contest features about 40 two-man teams. Palin has been on a winning tandem three times, most recently in 2007, race organizers said. While competing in 2008, Palin was injured when his vehicle struck a snow-hidden barrel and he was thrown some 70 feet (20 meters), the Alaska Dispatch News reported, adding he was not seriously injured. (Additional reporting by Steve Quinn in Juneau, Alaska, and Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Writing by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Peter Cooney)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Police detained four people in southeast Turkey on Monday in connection with the vehicle used in Sunday's car bomb attack in the capital Ankara which killed 37 people, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. It cited security sources as saying the four were detained in the city of Sanliurfa, situated north of the Syrian border, after they established that the vehicle was bought from a car showroom there. The four suspects were to be taken to Ankara, it added. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley)
By Matt Siegel CANBERRA (Reuters) - France has sent its largest business delegation in nearly two decades to Australia, talking up the economic benefits of its bid for a A$50-billion ($38-billion) contract to build a fleet of 12 stealth submarines for Australia. Executives from French corporate giants Airbus, BNP Paribas, Thales and dozens more arrive in Canberra on Tuesday for meetings with top government and business figures. France is up against Japan and Germany in bidding for one of the world's most lucrative defense contracts. A decision is expected within months, ahead of an Australian national election in which the deal and the jobs it will create are expected to be a key issue for the conservative government. The French visit, which includes top officials from France's state-controlled naval contractor DCNS, is part of a process of growing strategic and economic ties with Australia, said French Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier, and not limited to submarines. "We're not just offering a submarine design, but also a broader alliance between our business communities, between our governments, to face some of the most tricky challenges of this century," he told Reuters. Australia last month announced in a long-awaited White Paper that it would increase defense spending by nearly A$30 billion over the next 10 years in order to protect its strategic and trade interests in the Asia-Pacific region. "France has not written your white paper but this white paper says Australia needs to increase its effort in terms of military expenditure and effort and we are telling Australia that we can be a partner in this field," Lecourtier added. Reuters reported last month that the competition was narrowing to a race between Japan and France, with Tokyo playing up its strategic support from Washington and Paris pushing the subs deal more on its merits for Australia's slowing economy. Germany's TKMS is proposing to scale up its 2,000-tonne Type 214 class submarine, while Japan is offering a variant of its 4,000-tonne Soryu boats made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Tokyo was initially seen as the frontrunner, due to close ties between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was ousted in a party coup by Malcolm Turnbull last September, and perceived support from Washington to build closer ties between two key Asian allies. An Australian political source with decades of experience in the global arms industry said that the French visit reflects a desire to blunt Japan's perceived strategic advantage by flexing their economic muscles. "My view is that the French aren't very confident against the Japanese from a strategic perspective," he told Reuters. "The trick now is that you're not lobbying Defence, you're lobbying the various members of the NSC," he said, referring to the National Security Committee of Cabinet, which will make the final decision. TKMS Australia CEO John White poured cold water on the strategy, saying that if anything, it gave Germany more confidence in its position. "We have a very strong German government and company presence in Australia with Siemens and MTU and Rheinmetal , so really ... we don't need to make those shows of visible sudden presence," White told Reuters. "So it, if anything, gives us in the German camp a bit of comfort." (Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Paris (AFP) - The French government presented a watered-down version of its contested labour market reform on Monday, after hundreds of thousands of people held demonstrations against the original proposals last week.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls presented the new text to unions and students' representatives in Paris in the latest of a marathon series of consultations on the measure which is aimed at freeing up the labour market.

Students were at the forefront of Wednesday's demonstrations.

In a significant change from the original text, Valls said small and medium-sized companies would not be able to unilaterally introduce flexible work practices into their working week.

The new proposals also strengthen the role of judges in rulings over redundancies.

Valls appealed for the unions to support the new measures which he said the Socialist government had modified after listening to the "questions and concerns" raised by the original text.

"I am calling for a new start," Valls said.

President Francois Hollande had acknowledged that the original text had required "corrections" and "explanations", but had firmly ruled out withdrawing the entire proposal.

"We need to reform. Yes, reform," Hollande said Monday.

The reform would remove some of the obstacles to laying off workers. Opponents fear it will erode the cast-iron job security that French workers on full-time contracts enjoy.

The government argues that it is trying to free up the job market and reduce unemployment, especially of young people.

But left-wing critics say it is another example of Hollande's government taking decisions more in tune with a right-wing agenda.

Two of the biggest unions, the CGT and the FO, and the largest student union, UNEF, were unimpressed by the changes and repeated their call for the entire draft reform to be withdrawn.

"If the government insists on going ahead with this reform, the people need to go into the streets," CGT leader Philippe Martinez said.
There was a time in the 1990s when it seemed as if every captivating film villain was but a different costume donned by one seriously talented performer. From his breakout role as Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) to Dracula (1992) and then Drexl, the drug-dealing pimp in True Romance (1993), to Ivan the terrorist in Air Force One (1997), British actor Gary Oldman was evil personified, in all of its many guises.

But in his role as the corrupt, drug-dealing DEA agent Norman Stansfield in Leon: The Professional (1994), Oldman elevated his villainous art to an almost Pacino-esque plane. He doesnt just steal the scenes hes in; he pillages them. Stansfield is a bundle of insane contradictions and idiosyncrasies  a casually violent psychopath with a cultured insanity that swats at conventional morality as if it were a fly buzzing around his drug- and Beethoven-addled brain. In another actors hands, the part would come off as pretentious, even laughable. It would kill the film. But Oldman kills it, and just about everyone else he encounters in the picture.

These days, Leon, directed by Luc Besson, is best known for Natalie Portmans first film role as Mathilda, the 12-year-old street kid orphaned by Oldman who takes up with the lonely professional hitman Leon (Jean Reno). Part Lolita, part Pygmalion, part La Femme Nikita, the film constantly flirts with transgression. And no one engages in the bewitching foreplay before a bloodbath better than Oldman.

Not everyone was amused by Oldmans histrionics.

I like these calm little moments before the storm, a pill-popping Stansfield muses serenely as he prepares to enter Mathildas apartment in order to murder its inhabitants. It reminds me of Beethoven. And sure enough, Beethoven blaring in his head and a shotgun blasting in his hands, Oldman  who would play the German composer in his next film, Immortal Beloved (1994)  proceeds to conduct a symphonic slaughter before cornering Mathildas terrified father for a largely improvised lecture on the great masters.

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Oldmans intrepid improvisation also makes the films most remembered scene (see above), in which a frustrated Stansfield screams at a fellow goon to bring him EVERYONE! And whats funny, as Oldman later told Playboy, is that the line was a joke and now its become iconic.

But not everyone was amused by Oldmans histrionics. In this preposterous role, Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times, Mr. Oldman expresses most of the films sadism as well as many of its misguidedly poetic sentiments.

Its true that nowadays, thanks in part to Oldmans virtuosity, the refined, unpredictable sadist has become a Hollywood cliche. But even now as you watch Leon, Stansfield  with no time for this Mickey Mouse bullshit  is one of the few characters you will encounter where you feel as if absolutely anything is possible. He could kill you, lecture you or just sniff you. Death is whimsical today, the psychopath remarks in what proves to be more proclamation than observation. In the end, what could a film villain promise you that is any more terrifying than that?

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By Madeline Chambers and Tina Bellon BERLIN (Reuters) - Voters punished Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in three German regional elections on Sunday, giving a thumbs-down to her open-door refugee policy and turning in droves to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). The result is a big setback for Merkel, who has led Europe's biggest economy for a decade, and could narrow her room for manoeuvre as she tries to convince her European Union partners to seal a deal with Turkey to stem the tide of migrants. Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) lost ground in all three states - Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west and Saxony-Anhalt in the east - which were together widely seen as offering a verdict on Merkel's liberal migrant policy. "These results are a serious rebuke for Merkel and the most pronounced protest vote we've seen so far," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst at Berenberg Bank. The result in the two western states was the worst-case scenario for Merkel, who has staked her legacy on her decision to open Germany's doors to over 1 million migrants last year. But she still looks set to run for a fourth successive term as chancellor, with no real challenger for the right to lead her party into next year's federal election. "The result will increase the noise within the CDU and constrain the government's options on migrants and Greece, but Merkel's chancellorship is not at risk," said Carsten Nickel at Teneo Intelligence. Responding to voters' fears, she has promised to stem the flow of migrants to Germany, and is trying to convince Turkey to help - and other EU partners to share the burden. In the last few weeks, the numbers of migrants entering Germany have fallen. AFD RIDES HIGH With a high turnout in all the votes, the AfD, already represented in five of Germany's 16 regional assemblies, succeeded in entering three more. Its support was strongest in Saxony-Anhalt, where it grabbed 24.2 percent of the vote behind a diminished CDU showing, surpassing even the Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel's coalition partner in Berlin, ZDF television projections indicated. With campaign slogans such as "Secure the borders" and "Stop the asylum chaos", it was the first time the AfD had come as high as second in any state. "We have fundamental problems in Germany that led to this election result," said AfD chief Frauke Petry. The AfD's rise, which has coincided with strong gains by other European anti-immigrant parties including the National Front in France, punctures the centrist consensus around which the mainstream parties have formed alliances in Germany, and may embolden more European leaders to challenge Merkel on the migrant issue. The CDU's leader in Saxony-Anhalt pointed the finger squarely at Merkel for his party's losses. "The issue that has brought the AfD into parliaments across Germany can't be ignored on a federal level any more. We need solutions," Reiner Haseloff told ARD television. Charlotte Knobloch, former head of Germany's Central Council of Jews, bemoaned a "massive shift to the right". "If voters follow the call of right-wing populists and extremists to such an extent, it is a failure of the democratic parties," she said. SPD SUFFERS In Baden-Wuerttemberg in the southwest, the Greens for the first time became the strongest party in a state, with 31.1 percent of the vote, ZDF television projections indicated. The state was a CDU stronghold for more than 50 years before turning to a Green-led coalition with the SPD in 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and CDU support fell by another 12 percentage points on Sunday. Also damaging for the CDU was the result in Rhineland-Palatinate, the home of former chancellor Helmut Kohl. There, the CDU's Julia Kloeckner, who had positioned herself as a future candidate to succeed Merkel, failed to unseat SPD state premier Malu Dreyer. It was the only bright spot for the SPD, the biggest loser overall. In Saxony-Anhalt, its support almost halved and in Baden-Wuerttemberg it sank by more than 10 percentage points. Asked if the SPD's weak showing in those two states would trigger questions about SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel's future, deputy party chairman Ralf Stegner said: "No, not at all." It is still unclear which coalitions will take power in each state, but the splintered vote opens the prospect of deep changes to the political landscape. (Additional reporting by Paul Carrel and Joseph Nasr in Magdeburg; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Chris Noth is not wasting any time booking his follow-up role to The Good Wife.

The actor, who is filming the fifth and final season of the CBS drama, has joined the cast of FX's drama Tyrant.

Noth will join the third-season drama in the series regular role of William Cogswell, an American general who was summarily transferred out of Abbudin and returns to that country when Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner) assumes the provisional presidency. Although he initially offers American support, Gen. Cogswell will rise to power as his romantic history with Leila (Moran Atias) reignites, and as his apparent (and hidden) idiosyncrasies are revealed.

Read More: FX's 'Tyrant' Renewed for Season Three

For Noth, the role marks his follow-up to CBS' critical darling The Good Wife, where he has starred as Peter Florrick for seven seasons, earning a Golden Globe nomination. His credits also include Law & Order and HBO's Sex and the City. Repped by Gersh and Sanders Armstrong Caserta, Noth has two indie films coming  White Girl, which sold to Netflix at Sundance; and Chronically Metropolitan.

Tyrant is produced by FX Productions and Fox 21 Television Studios. Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24) exec produces alongside Chris Keyser, Gideon Raff and Avi Nir. Season three of Tyrant  which will feature 10 episodes, down two from its sophomore frame  returns later this year. While not a ratings breakout, FX has shown confidence in the series, which Gordon says has been well-received within the Arab community.

The series finale of The Good Wife airs Sunday, May 8.
With Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida fading fast, Ohio Gov. John Kasich offers establishment Republicans their last, best hope of blocking Donald Trumps ascension to the GOP presidential nomination  provided, of course, he can eke out a victory over Trump in tomorrows big contest in the Buckeye State.

The irrepressible governor and former House Budget Committee chair has been playing the optimistic Luke Skywalker to Trumps dour Darth Vader, and so far Trump has been leaving Kasich in the dust. Kasich has yet to win a single primary or caucus, and if he fails again Tuesday he has made it clear he will drop out of the race. That would pretty much leave it to arch conservative Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to carry on the fight against the billionaire businessman.

Related: How the Republican Plan to Trap Trump Has Backfired

Kasich has led Trump in Ohio by six points or more leading up to tomorrows winner-take-all contest. But a new Quinnipiac University poll out Monday shows Kasich and Trump tied at 38 percent each, with Cruz at third with 16 percent and Rubio at the bottom with 3 percent. Another survey out over the weekend by CBS News has Kasich and Trump tied at 33 percent apiece.

Rubio has been sinking in the polls since his ill-advised strategy two weeks back to get down in the gutter with Trump and exchange personal insults. Surveys over the weekend suggest that the one-time boy wonder of Florida politics could well finish third to Trump and Cruz in tomorrows Florida primary, all but putting his run to an end.

Kasich has everything riding on a clear-cut victory over Trump in Ohio  one that would justify to financial backers his remaining in the race and fighting to deny Trump the partys nomination in mid-July in Cleveland.

I think [if] we win Tuesday, its a whole new ballgame, Kasich said this weekend. When we beat him, the shield is broken.

With so much at stake, more traditional Republicans alarmed about Trump are pulling out the stops to try to push Kasich across the finish line in Ohio. This task seemed especially urgent to many after last Fridays ugly clash between Trump supporters and Democratic protesters in Chicago that forced Trump to cancel a rally. Kasich, Cruz and Rubio all heavily blamed Trump for creating a divisive, violent political atmosphere conducive to this sort of explosive action.

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Related: Trump Moves to Take Control of the Republican Party

Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has joined other prominent Republicans in endorsing Kasich in the race. And former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney  the partys 2012 presidential nominee who has denounced Trump as a threat to the party and the country  is campaigning against Trump in Ohio today.

The Cincinnati Enquirer in an editorial urged Ohio residents against voting for Trump, who over the weekend threatened to send some of his supporters to disrupt rallies for Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in retaliation for protests at his own campaign events.

No amount of grandstanding or bullying can return the economic security that so many in this country have lost over the past decade, the newspapers editorial board declared. Slogans and walls wont fix the complex problems of our time.

Trump in recent days has stepped up his criticism of Kasich, and canceled appearance in Florida to address two events in Ohio. During his Ohio rallies, Trump challenged Kasichs claims of presiding over an economic miracle in Ohio, insisting that the governor simply got lucky through oil development. Trump also stepped up his populist attacks on international free trade agreements and noted Kasichs support of the North American Free Trade Agreement of the 1990s and the new Pacific-rim Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump says these agreements have cost the U.S. millions of jobs and will continue to ruin the auto industry.

It is a disaster, Trump said on Saturday. Its going to ruin your car industry  totally ruin it.

Related: The Brutal Economic Truth Behind the Rise of Trump

Even if Kasich manages to pull out a victory on Tuesday, the delegate math working against him for the remainder of the campaign would be daunting at best. At present, Trump is leading the GOP pack with 460 delegates, to 370 for Cruz, 163 for Rubio and just 63 for Kasich. It will take at least 1,237 of the 2,472 available delegates to secure the GOP nomination.

Even if Kasich were to win all 66 of Ohios delegates and go on to run the table in practically all of the other remaining primary and caucus contests  which is highly unlikely to happenhe would still come up short of the 1,237 he would need to claim the nomination. The best that Kasich, Cruz and others will be able to do is deny Trump a first-ballot nomination at the convention and then slug it out for the nomination on subsequent ballots.

Hes not going to be president, Kasich said of Trump on Fox News Sunday. Hes not going to have enough. Im going to win here in Ohio with the support of folks here who have seen their lives improve. More jobs, better wages, more hope, more people who have been ignored, who are getting attention.

And thats going to be the end of it, he added. Hes not going to get to be the president of the United States.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
A leading Malaysian news portal that was blocked by the government after it ran reports on a scandal linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak is shutting down after eight years, it announced Monday.

The Malaysian Insider has been a key player in the growth of plucky online news sites that have rapidly gained a following over the past decade by reporting on official malfeasance and corruption, filling a void left by pro-government traditional media.

Last month, Malaysia's government began blocking access to the site after it published a story on corruption allegations swirling around Najib.

The website's owner, The Edge Media Group, said in a statement that it had been in negotiations to sell the loss-making portal but that talks broke down in the wake of the government block.

"We believe the recent problems TMI had with (the Malaysian government) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded," it said, adding that it had no choice but to close the site.

The news will fuel further fears for democratic space and media freedoms under Najib.

Najib, 62, has been under pressure for a year over allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from a state fund he oversees, and for his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious $681 million sum.

As calls for his ouster mounted, Najib has purged critics from his government and taken other steps that have stalled investigations.

Najib's government also banned publication of The Edge's print newspaper last year. A court lifted the suspension two months later.

The Malaysian Insider's blocking last month was criticised by media and rights groups, with Human Rights Watch calling it a "blatant and outrageous breach" of media freedoms and accusing Najib of "tightening the noose of censorship and control."

Political analysts say Najib has so far largely neutralised pressure to step down by using the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation's (UMNO) grip on Malaysia's police and other key institutions.

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But authorities in several countries are investigating money flows related to the scandal, with Switzerland and Singapore announcing previously that they had frozen a range of bank accounts. US authorities are reported to be investigating.

Two Australian television journalists were detained overnight Saturday after approaching Najib to question him over the graft allegations.

They have been released but remain barred from leaving as they await possible charges, their lawyer said.
By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Angola has found itself with a dwindling amount of crude to sell as more of its oil flows to China for debt repayment, leaving little revenue for anything from oil sector development to health care in one of Africa's largest oil exporting nations. Following a trend also seen in Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia and Venezuela, Angola has tied up more of its output in pre-financed deals to bridge a drop in income due to the 70 percent fall in oil prices in the past 18 months. The price slump means the Western oil majors which manage the fields and platforms that help Angola export 1.8 million barrels per day are also taking more oil in return for their investment and services. Countries with oil often use it as collateral for loans, and during a previous oil price collapse, in 2008, the process helped to tide many over until better times. But this time most experts say the rout will continue until at least next year. As recently as five years ago, just over half of Angola's 50-60 monthly cargoes went toward paying oil majors, with as few as four to five cargoes going to pay back prefinanced deals, leaving the country's state oil company, Sonangol, with as many as two dozen to sell on the market or to term buyers with ongoing contracts. Through a series of conversations with at least six oil traders, Reuters found the number had been cut by more than half, to fewer than 10. Part of that was because more has been going to Western oil majors such as Total, Chevron and BP due to the price fall. No one foresaw the price collapse when the contracts were written, said Readul Islam, analyst with Rystad Energy. "There were no clauses in the contract about what happens to the profit sharing when prices dropped so low." But another drain on Angola's oil was a fresh round of prefinancing from China that more than doubled the number of cargoes sailing east as repayment from February. The deal, struck with China's state-run Sinochem Group in December, involved as many as six cargoes per month, on top of three to five already earmarked for fellow Chinese firm Unipec. The deals with China by the MPLA party that has ruled Angola for almost four decades financed infrastructure and also helped secure an important new outlet to make up for declining U.S. demand due to the shale revolution. http://tmsnrt.rs/24UIAGw But its oil-backed debts are now estimated to have ballooned to $25 billion. The December agreement was shrouded in secrecy; traders said it involved at least $5 billion in advance financing to be repaid with oil, while some said it could have aimed at restructuring older debt. Roderick Bruce, principal energy analyst for West Africa with IHS, said in principle the lower the oil price, the more crude it costs to service debt. "That's an increasing amount of crude that can't be sold to directly fill government coffers," Bruce said. LITTLE FREE OIL Existing contracts meant Angola had only one cargo to sell on the spot market in February, traders said, crimping its ability to generate cash when needed and ability to set prices for its term buyers. A source close to Sonangol said it still had some flexibility to sell oil directly on the market. It could get other loans, or refinance deals to limit the amount of crude paid to lenders, the source said, and had already dropped some contracts with term buyers who had not prefinanced them to keep back three to six cargoes each month. In March, it got two or three and in April six, but some of that may reflect delays in meeting commitments under continuing contracts which it will have to make up for later in the year. Traders and analysts said between Sonangol's preexisting problems and the precipitous drop in oil prices, the situation looked difficult. "They should be hearing alarm bells," Islam said. The company did not respond to a request for official comment. Last month it said its net debt to foreign oil companies had risen 41 percent year-on-year in 2015 to $7.8 billion and it expected this year to be "very difficult". President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled Angola for 36 years since shortly after independence from Portugal, asked China for a debt repayment freeze late last year, as the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio hit around 46 percent. The finance ministry is negotiating a new loan with the World Bank, but spending is already 40 percent lower than two years ago and cuts to rubbish collection and water sanitation have spread disease in a country six places from the bottom of the World Bank's index of inequality. The government forecasts a budget deficit of around 5.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2016, based on oil prices of $45 per barrel; Brent crude this year has thus far peaked at $41.48 and analysts say it could be subdued all year. Last week, ratings agency Moody's placed the country's credit rating under review, threatening a downgrade further into junk territory. Angola's oil woes are not unique: Iraq has built up debts of over $2 billion to oil majors after it said budget needs meant it could not hand over increasing volumes of crude; Venezuela has billions of dollars in oil-backed Chinese loans while Russia and Kazakhstan borrowed heavily from oil traders Vitol and Glencore. With a limited amount of other assets to leverage, there is little room for manoeuvre. "Probably, there is no way out of this dilemma for many countries," one source familiar with the situation said, adding they would have to learn to live with less oil to sell. (additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
In a forceful and detailed Saturday night statement, Hillary Clinton rolled back on certain comments she made at Nancy Reagan's funeral last Friday, when she said the Reagans helped "start a national conversation" about HIV and AIDS, despite historical evidence that the Reagan Administration ignored both for years.



"Yesterday, at Nancy Reagan's funeral, I said something inaccurate when speaking about the Reagans' record on HIV and AIDS," Clinton's statement, published on Medium, began. "Since then, I've heard from countless people who were devastated by the loss of friends and loved ones, and hurt and disappointed by what I said. As someone who has also lost friends and loved ones to AIDS, I understand why. I made a mistake, plain and simple."



She continued, "I want to use this opportunity to talk not only about where we've come from, but where we must go in the fight against HIV and AIDS.



"To be clear, the Reagans did not start a national conversation about HIV and AIDS. That distinction belongs to generations of brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, along with straight allies, who started not just a conversation but a movement that continues to this day."













In subsequent paragraphs, Clinton, 68, did not dwell on her own "inaccurate" comments and instead focused on the work she and others have done to fight HIV and AIDS, and the work still to be done.



"The AIDS crisis in America began as a quiet, deadly epidemic. Because of discrimination and disregard, it remained that way for far too long," Clinton wrote. "When many in positions of power turned a blind eye, it was groups like ACT UP, Gay Men's Health Crisis and others that came forward to shatter the silence  because as they reminded us again and again, Silence = Death. They organized and marched, held die-ins on the steps of city halls and vigils in the streets. They fought alongside a few courageous voices in Washington, like U.S. Representative Henry Waxman, who spoke out from the floor of Congress.



"Then they were all the people whose names we don't often hear today  the unsung heroes who fought on the front lines of the crisis, from hospital wards and bedsides, some with their last breath. Slowly, too slowly, ignorance was crowded out by information. People who had once closed their eyes opened their hearts."



Clinton's Saturday statement included specific calls-to-action to end HIV and AIDS, including more research funding and expanding Medicaid.



Her statement also expanded on an earlier, brief apology, issued soon after her funeral comments.



Reaction to her initial comments about the Reagans was widespread and almost uniformly negative, including from LGBT advocates.



Dan Savage, the popular journalist and columnist, tweeted Friday at Clinton, "Reagans started a 'national convo about AIDS' only if people screaming 'WHY WON'T YOU TALK ABOUT AIDS?!?" at them counts.' "



Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, tweeted Friday, "While I respect her advocacy on issues like stem cell & Parkinson's research, Nancy Reagan was, sadly, no hero in the fight against HIV/AIDS."
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazil's leftist President Dilma Rousseff huddled with cabinet ministers Monday after mass demonstrations calling for her resignation pushed Latin America's biggest country further into crisis.

Rousseff made no comment after her meeting in the capital Brasilia, but in the wake of Sunday's protests, she is fighting for her political life.

Between one and three million people flooded the streets of Sao Paulo, Rio, Brasilia and some 400 other cities, according to conflicting data.

Turnout in Sao Paulo was estimated at 500,000 by the research center Datafolha and 1.4 million by the Sao Paulo military police. The figures surpassed estimates by either organization in previous opposition demonstrations.

Protesters said they were fed up with the country's worst recession in 25 years, a massive corruption scandal unfolding at state oil company Petrobras and the government's complete inability to pass laws in Congress.

The historic rebuff on the streets left Rousseff few options as another grueling week started, with Congress geared up to relaunch stalled impeachment proceedings.

An attempt to impeach the country's first female president began last year but fizzled out on technicalities.

On Wednesday or Thursday, the Supreme Court is expected to set out the rules, opening the door for Rousseff's many enemies in the legislature to ramp up the pressure.

- Lula facing corruption judge -

In parallel to the political assault against Rousseff, her mentor and predecessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, faces money laundering charges related to the Petrobras probe.

State prosecutors who had filed criminal charges and requested detention for Lula transferred their case to the federal judge already investigating the leftist icon in a parallel case.

This would concentrate Lula's fate in the hands of Judge Sergio Moro, the relentless head of the probe into the Petrobras corruption scheme.

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For Rousseff, the legal onslaught threatens a key ally.

Lula, who founded the ruling Workers' Party and was president from 2003-2010, is far more popular than she is and provides much of her credibility with the left-wing base.

There have been persistent Brazilian media reports that Rousseff is offering Lula a ministerial post in a last-ditch attempt to keep prosecutors at bay.

If he joins the government, his case would be out of Moro's jurisdiction and transferred to the Supreme Court.

Lula, who vigorously denies the allegations of corruption, says that prosecutors have only spurred him into deciding on a comeback attempt as president when Rousseff's second term ends in 2018.

"I am an old man who was trying to rest," Lula, 70, told police 10 days ago when he was briefly detained for questioning in the Petrobras probe.

"I will be a candidate for the presidency in 2018, because I think a lot of the people who've been on my back will be getting the same treatment from me from now on," he said, according to a transcript released Monday.

- Running out of friends --

Planning the next election may be premature with Rousseff battling just to survive her second term.

The impeachment case rests on allegations that Rousseff's government illegally manipulated accounts to boost public spending during her 2014 re-election campaign.

During the first push last year, analysts reckoned that Rousseff could still get enough votes from sympathetic deputies to survive. That is becoming less clear.

Her Workers' Party is in a shaky coalition with the bigger PMDB. On Saturday, a PMDB congress discussed pulling out altogether, with a decision to be taken in 30 days.

Relations between the Workers' Party and the PMDB have been strained for a long time. But the PMDB leader Michel Temer is Rousseff's vice president and as such would replace her automatically should she be impeached -- a tempting incentive for the biggest party in Congress.

Analysts said all parties were watching the protest turnout on Sunday and that the big crowds could help push wavering deputies to support impeachment.

"This has been a very bad weekend for the government," said analyst Sergio Praca at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio.

"The demonstrations were very powerful... It's the worst scenario possible for the government."

An indicator of how much support the Workers' Party can still muster will come this Friday, when Rousseff supporters plan their own street protests.
The first vaccine trials against the Zika virus will likely start this fall, federal health officials announced today (March 10).

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve $1.8 billion in federal spending to battle Zika virus, but so far, Republicans in Congress have put up a fight, insisting that health officials should use federal money left over from the Ebola crisis, according to USA Today. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a news briefing today that it will be difficult for vaccine trials to move forward to subsequent stages unless Congress grants the funds needed to fight the disease.

And health officials say using the money earmarked to fight Ebola isn't the answer. "The idea that we should rob Peter to pay Paul and hope that Congress replaces money that's essential to keep America safe is frankly, I think, too dangerous to do," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, told reporters, according to The Hill. [Zika Virus News: Complete Coverage of the 2016 Outbreak]

The mosquito-borne virus has sickened thousands of people in South and Central America. Only about 1 in 5 people infected with the virus show symptoms, such as fever, rash and muscle pain, but the disease is thought to be far more dangerous for pregnant women. Mounting evidence suggests that if a pregnant woman is infected with Zika, her fetus may be at increased risk of developing microcephaly and other developmental disorders.

Caring for one child affected by the Zika virus in utero could cost about $10 million over a lifetime, Frieden said.

Scientists are hard at work on a vaccine, but it could take years before a successful Zika vaccine clears Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters.

"We believe we can get a vaccine," Fauci said, adding that he felt "cautiously optimistic" because scientists have produced vaccines against other flaviviruses, a group that includes Zika, yellow fever, dengue and West Nile.

Story continues

So far, Phase 1 clinical trials are slated to start by the end of summer or early fall of this year, he said. Phase 1 trials are small, and are held to evaluate whether a treatment is safe, what dosages are best and what side effects participants report.

If the vaccines given in the Phase 1 trial pass muster and can induce an immune response against the virus, then scientists can proceed to Phase 2 by early 2017, Fauci said. But unless Congress approves the funds, health officials may not have enough money to put together a Phase 2 trial right away, and the entire process may take longer to complete, he said.

Furthermore, private pharmaceutical companies may be hesitant to partner with the government if funding isn't certain, Fauci said. This hasn't happened yet, but it has happened to other drug and vaccine development programs in the past, he added. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species]

Puerto Ricans fight Zika

Meanwhile, the CDC is working on other ways to prevent Zika infections in places like Puerto Rico, where the virus is becoming established. The U.S. territory is approaching its rainy season, a time when mosquitoes thrive. Health experts expect that thousands of pregnant women in Puerto Rico will become infected with the virus this year, Friedman said.

The CDC is running several pilot programs that will determine the feasibility of installing window screens on local dwellings. However, many houses have open eaves, and so installing screens on windows would have little or no impact, Friedman said.

Workers are also spraying insecticides to try to diminish mosquito populations, federal officials said.

The United States is also researching the best ways to prevent Zika infections, and health officials plan to gather at the CDC-hosted Zika Action Plan Summit on April 1 to address the upcoming mosquito season, which typically begins in June or July in the United States, Frieden said.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By Ognen Teofilovski MOIN, Macedonia (Reuters) - Hundreds of migrants marched out of a Greek transit camp, hiked for hours along muddy paths and forded a rain-swollen river to get around a border fence and cross into Macedonia, where they were detained on Monday, authorities said. A Macedonian police spokeswoman said the several hundred migrants who had crossed into Macedonia would be sent back to Greece. A Reuters photographer put the number who crossed as high as 2,000. About 30 journalists, including a Reuters photographer, who followed the migrants were also detained, witnesses said. Earlier, Macedonian police said three migrants - two men and a woman - had drowned crossing a river near the Greek border that had been swollen by heavy rain. The crossing put the migrant issue back in the spotlight days before leaders from the European Union and Turkey are due to meet again to seal an agreement intended to keep migrants in Turkey from moving to Europe through Greece. At least 12,000 people, including thousands of children, have been stranded in a sprawling tent city in northern Greece, their path to the EU blocked after Macedonia and other nations along the so-called Western Balkan route closed their borders. On Monday, more than 1,000 migrants streamed out of the camp, searching for a way around the twin border fences Macedonia built to keep them out. A second group of migrants, many of them from war zones in Syria and Iraq, later followed them. Heading west along muddy paths, the migrants, wrapped in coats and hats, carried their belongings in rucksacks and bags. Many were children, some walking, others riding in strollers. Some made victory signs as they walked. When they reached a river, the migrants stretched a rope across it and formed a human chain to cross. They carried children across on their shoulders. Once over the river, the migrants walked along the border fence until they found the point where it ended in mountainous country. But after they crossed the border, Macedonian soldiers rounded them up and put the migrants in army trucks. "We are taking measures to return the group to Greece," the Macedonian police spokeswoman said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary was the EU country that had sent most police officers to help non-EU member Macedonia protect its border with Greece. "Macedonia needs and deserves help and assistance from the European Union because actually theyve been protecting the southern border of the European Union," he told reporters in Brussels. Petros Tanos, a police spokesman in northern Greece, said police were investigating media reports that leaflets had circulated in the Idomeni camp urging migrants to march on Monday. "We do not know who produced it...nor how they found the ropes yet," he told Reuters, referring to ropes used to cross the river. Babar Baloch, regional spokesman for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, said conditions in the Idomeni camp were difficult after days of heavy rain. "This is not a proper camp. People are exhausted, tired and running out of patience," he said. A Serbian customs spokeswoman said 33 migrants trying to cross into Serbia from Macedonia had been found in an empty cargo train in Presevo, southern Serbia, on Saturday and had been handed over to police. The group, aged between 18 and 26, were mainly Afghans, but also included Syrians and Libyans. All but one were men. More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015. In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday there was no question Germany has benefited from the closure of the Balkan migrant route. A day earlier, voters in three regional elections had punished her conservatives and flocked to a new anti-immigration party that wants German borders closed. But Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said it was time to say enough to the selfishness of countries that thought raising a wall was a lasting response to the migrant challenge. "How long do you think a wall might last in the internet age?" Renzi told students in Rome. (Additional reporting by Branko Filipovic, Ivana Sekularac, Lefteris Karagiannopoulos in Athens, Alexandros Avramidis in Idomeni, Steve Scherer in Rome, Tina Bellon in Berlin, Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Larry King)
Gevgelija (Macedonia) (AFP) - Hundreds of desperate migrants were stopped by Macedonian troops Monday after wading thigh-deep through a surging river to cross the border from Greece, where thousands have been left stranded after Balkan states slammed Europe's migrant door shut.

The migrants, who had set off from an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek side, clung perilously to a rope strung between the banks to cross north into Macedonia, bypassing the closed regular border crossing.

Some older family members stumbled after losing their footing in the swift-flowing water, while some parents carried children on their shoulders as they made their way across the make-shift river crossing.

About 20 journalists who had followed the migrants from the Idomeni migrant camp were taken to a police station in Gevgelija, just over the border in Macedonia.

A Macedonian police spokesman, Toni Angelovski, said the journalists would be released and sent back to Greece after paying a 500-euro ($555) fee each for "breaking the law and illegal entering" the country.

The Greek-Macedonian border -- and more specifically the mud-caked Idomeni camp -- has become the focal point of the crisis in recent weeks, as thousands of migrants fleeing war in Syria and Iraq were blocked from heading further north.

Over 14,000 people have been stranded at Idomeni in increasingly desperate conditions after the main route to western Europe through the Balkans -- taken by over one million migrants since the start of 2015 -- was effectively shut down last week.

- 'Misery at its peak' -

On Monday some 1,000 migrants set off on foot in search of an alternative route into Macedonia.

By walking through fields and crossing a river, the migrants managed to get around the barbed wire fence that has kept them from entering Macedonia since last week.

But the army surrounded the migrants and made them sit down, with the apparent goal of arranging for their return to Greece.

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Late on Monday a Macedonian police official told AFP that "police and army had began returning migrants."

This was the first large-scale crossing at the border since the frontier was closed last week. Late last month some 300 protesters who tried to force their way into Macedonia were hit with tear gas by police.

But twice they managed to get round Greek police, the first time because there were too many of them, the second time because police vehicles could not follow the migrants into the river.

They were later stopped by Macedonian troops along with the journalists travelling with them.

On Twitter a group using the hashtag #Marchofhope posted photos of people wading through the rushing water, many carrying belongings and others forming human chains to help people across.

However, Macedonia said it was determined to stop what it called "an attempt of massive illegal crossing."

"Macedonia will not allow reopening of the Balkan route," said Ivica Bocevski, a representative of Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov.

"The Balkan route is closed. Macedonia will not allow illegal entering of people on its territory," Bocevski told private Telma television channel.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, has described the Idomeni camp as "human misery at its peak".

British volunteer Matthew Sheppard said some of the migrants were getting desperate.

"We all know that the only real solution is for war to stop, to cut off the head of the snake. Here we are only doing damage control... We are just trying to put out a fire."

Earlier Monday, three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, were found drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia from Greece, the Macedonian interior ministry said.

Another 19 Afghans who tried to cross with them were taken to a nearby reception centre and four, who were injured, were taken to hospital, said ministry spokeswoman Natalija Spirova Kordic.

The deaths came after several days of heavy rain in the border area which has led officials to instigate anti-flooding measures.

- Eight missing in Aegean -

Separately eight migrants were reported missing in the Aegean Sea after their boat sank in rough weather, triggering a rescue operation backed by a helicopter off the Greek holiday island of Kos, the coastguard said.

They are the first to go missing in Greek waters for several weeks, as the coastguard and EU border agency Frontex have begun picking up as many migrants as possible in the Aegean in a bid to reduce the number of deadly accidents.

Some 135,000 people have arrived in Greece from Turkey in flimsy boats since the beginning of January, according to the International Organization for Migration, with 418 perishing on the dangerous crossing.

Wintry weather and the Balkan border closures have failed to deter people from heading to Europe in search of new lives, with 1,700 landing on Greek islands in the last 24 hours.
Moscow (AFP) - Hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, on trial in Russia over the murder of two journalists, is feeling "a lot better" since she resumed drinking water, her lawyer said after visiting her in detention.

Savchenko began taking fluids again on Thursday after refusing both food and water for around a week in protest at delays in her controversial trial that has drawn criticism from Kiev and the West.

"I visited her today and she is feeling a lot better than before," lawyer Nikolai Polozov told AFP. "She is drinking water and taking vitamins."

A court in southern Russia is set to deliver its verdict in the case on March 21 and 22, with prosecutors calling for 23 years in jail for the 34-year-old combat pilot.

Savchenko denies charges of being involved in the June 2014 killing of two Russian state television journalists in shelling in separatist east Ukraine. She says she was abducted by Russian security agents before the attack took place and smuggled into Russia.

Her decision to drink water again came after she received a hoax letter from a Russian celebrity prankster claiming to be from Ukraine's president and asking her to end her action.

Savchenko's lawyer denied that it was the letter that prompted her decision, insisting it was due to the judge setting the date for the verdict.

The pilot is viewed by her supporters as a symbol of resistance against the Kremlin, accused of fuelling the separatist war in eastern Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents.

The conflict has claimed nearly 9,200 lives since April 2014.
New Game of Thrones star Ian McShane may find himself in need of Mothers mercy after giving away yet another spoiler for season sixwhile, coincidentally, ranting about the reaction to his last spoiler.

McShane previously revealed he is playing someone who is instrumental in bringing back an established character previously presumed dead. Of course, this set the Internet alight, with many assuming he meant show favorite Jon Snow, or perhaps the Hound.

Ian McShane at Cannes in 2011

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Related: The Trailer for Season 6 of 'Game of Thrones' Is Finally Here

Speaking about the reaction to his spoiler, he rather bluntly told the Telegraph over the weekend: You say the slightest thing and the Internet goes ape. I was accused of giving the plot away, but I just think get a f---ing life. Its only tits and dragons.

When again discussing his role in the next season, due to air in April, McShane inadvertently gave away more scoopadmitting his mysterious character wont be sticking around for long.

They asked me if I wanted to do Game of Thrones and I said, Sure, Ill be able to see my old pals Charlie Dance [who plays Tywin Lannister] and Stephen Dillane [Stannis Baratheon], and they said, No, weve killed them off.

I wasnt sure whether I could commit, but then they said it would only be for one episode, so I said, So that means I must die at the end of it. Great, Im in.

Earlier this month, McShane gave more details about his character to BBC Breakfast. My character is an ex-warrior who's become a peacenik, he sad. So I have this group of peacefulsort of like a culta peaceful tribe. He went on to state that hes responsible for bringing back a much-loved character.

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Based on the descriptions, fans of George R. R. Martins A Song of Fire and Ice novels have seemingly deduced that McShane will play some variation of the Elder Brother.

In the fourth novel, A Feast for Crows, Brienne of Tarth meets the religiously devout character on the Quiet Isle during her search for Sansa Stark. There is some inference that the Elder Brother and his people have taken in the Hound, who was previously left for dead by Arya Starkas seen in season four of the HBO drama.

Adding further fuel to the fire, Hound actor Rory McCann was reportedly spotted on the set of season six in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in August 2015.

Game of Thrones Season 6 launches on April 24 on HBO in the U.S. and April 25 on Sky Atlantic in the UK.

Related Articles
By Tim Reid HEATH, Ohio (Reuters) - Microphone in hand, Republican John Kasich promised the crowd inside a high-tech Ohio factory Saturday that hell never be beholden to Washington insiders if he wins the White House in November. But as he zigzags across the state before Ohios GOP primary on Tuesday - emboldened by polls showing him edging ahead of rival Donald Trump - Kasich may soon need all the Washington insiders he can get. Behind the scenes, strategists for Kasich, the Ohio governor, are studying arcane party rules that they believe could offer a path to the Republican nomination if he wins his home state, his aides said. It is a long-shot strategy, both for Kasich and the anti-Trump forces inside the party. But if fellow GOP candidate Marco Rubio loses his own state of Florida on Tuesday - as polls predict - a surge by Kasich may be the only viable strategy for Republicans looking to stop Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. A loss by Rubio, a senator, will almost certainly end his struggling candidacy. If Trump wins both Ohio and Florida, the New York real estate moguls march to the nomination will be all but assured. The Kasich camp sees a Rubio loss in Florida opening up a different possibility  the first contested convention held by either party since 1952. "The plan is to win Ohio, and some other states, and if that happens, nobody is going to have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot," said John Weaver, Kasich's chief campaign strategist, who also worked on Republican Senator John McCain's losing presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008. Kasich supporters are betting that an Ohio win will give his candidacy its first real momentum, attracting donors and endorsements. From there, he could score more victories in upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut and California, states where Kasich polls favorably. He has almost no hope of winning enough delegates to secure the nomination outright. But if he can succeed in blocking Trump from getting a majority, Kasich can make a case to convention delegates that he is more electable than Trump or Ted Cruz, the conservative evangelical from Texas and, to date, Trump's most successful Republican rival. To become the nominee who faces Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders  the two leading Democrat candidates  a Republican needs to win a majority of the 2,472 Republican delegates. Trump is leading, with 460, followed by Cruz with 370, Rubio at 163 and Kasich at 63. If no candidate reaches that threshold by the close of the last primary on June 7, then the convention will almost certainly be contested  a historical rarity that would signal deep party rifts. 1940 CONVENTIONKasichs aides are looking to history as a guide, particularly Wendell Willkies path to 1940 Republican nomination. That year, three leading candidates  Robert Taft, Thomas Dewey and Arthur Vandenberg  each arrived at the convention without enough delegates to win. Willkie - a businessman and former Democrat who had never before run for public office - opposed the Republican Partys isolationists and was a supporter of Great Britains war efforts. His cause gained momentum after the Nazi blitzkrieg in Europe in May 1940. At the convention, after six ballots, delegates in Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan deserted other candidates and switched to Willkie, giving him victory. Trump, Cruz and Kasich could face the same scenario this year, which would force to them to lobby delegates on the convention floor until one emerged with a majority. The Kasich campaign and Republican elites  many of whom have a distaste for both Trump and Cruz  are planning for just such a scenario, Weaver said. But because it has been more than a half century since the last brokered convention, he said, Nobody knows exactly how this works. AN OUTSIDER WITH INSIDER HELP Despite 18 years as a Republican congressman, and now six as Ohio governor, Kasich has cast himself as a Washington outsider in hopes of tapping the anti-establishment mood that has fueled Trumps once-improbable front-runner status. "Guess what? The establishment is afraid of me because I don't take orders from anybody over there, Kasich said in a recent television interview. At other times, he appears to revel in his Washington experience. I took on Washington and I won. I actually got the budget balanced when I was a member of the Congress, he said in a March 11 debate. The Republican establishment is watching Kasich and Ohios Tuesday primary closely, said Charlie Black, a Republican strategist and a former adviser to Mitt Romney, the Republican 2012 presidential nominee, who recently blasted Trumps campaign. "A lot of people who do not want Trump have been sitting back to see how Kasich and Rubio do in their home states on Tuesday, he said. If Kasich wins, I think he'll see a pick-up in donors, and in help from members of the party." Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist not affiliated with any presidential candidate, expects Kasich to face a tough battle even if he wins Ohio. But for some of these anti-Trump voters, if they can get Kasich to a contested convention, they see that as their best hope of blocking Trump." Until now, the relationship between Kasich and party elites has been prickly. On Feb. 21, the Rubio campaign had released a memo calling for Kasich to quit the race, while a string of party insiders endorsed Rubio as the "establishment" candidate most likely to defeat Trump. Thats changing. After the Republican presidential debate in Florida last week, Kasich flew on Friday morning to Lima, Ohio, for an event with voters. As he landed, he and aides switched on their phones and saw emails telling them that Rubio adviser Alex Conant had just publicly urged voters in Ohio who wanted to stop Trump to vote for Kasich instead of Rubio, according to several aides. "We were not expecting them to do that," said a Kasich campaign spokesman, Chris Schrimpf. (Editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot)
By Tim Reid HEATH, Ohio (Reuters) - Microphone in hand, Republican John Kasich promised the crowd inside a high-tech Ohio factory Saturday that hell never be beholden to Washington insiders if he wins the White House in November. But as he zigzags across the state before Ohios GOP primary on Tuesday - emboldened by polls showing him edging ahead of rival Donald Trump - Kasich may soon need all the Washington insiders he can get. Behind the scenes, strategists for Kasich, the Ohio governor, are studying arcane party rules that they believe could offer a path to the Republican nomination if he wins his home state, his aides said. It is a long-shot strategy, both for Kasich and the anti-Trump forces inside the party. But if fellow GOP candidate Marco Rubio loses his own state of Florida on Tuesday - as polls predict - a surge by Kasich may be the only viable strategy for Republicans looking to stop Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. A loss by Rubio, a senator, will almost certainly end his struggling candidacy. If Trump wins both Ohio and Florida, the New York real estate moguls march to the nomination will be all but assured. The Kasich camp sees a Rubio loss in Florida opening up a different possibility  the first contested convention held by either party since 1952. "The plan is to win Ohio, and some other states, and if that happens, nobody is going to have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot," said John Weaver, Kasich's chief campaign strategist, who also worked on Republican Senator John McCain's losing presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008. Kasich supporters are betting that an Ohio win will give his candidacy its first real momentum, attracting donors and endorsements. From there, he could score more victories in upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut and California, states where Kasich polls favorably. He has almost no hope of winning enough delegates to secure the nomination outright. But if he can succeed in blocking Trump from getting a majority, Kasich can make a case to convention delegates that he is more electable than Trump or Ted Cruz, the conservative evangelical from Texas and, to date, Trump's most successful Republican rival. To become the nominee who faces Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders  the two leading Democrat candidates  a Republican needs to win a majority of the 2,472 Republican delegates. Trump is leading, with 460, followed by Cruz with 370, Rubio at 163 and Kasich at 63. If no candidate reaches that threshold by the close of the last primary on June 7, then the convention will almost certainly be contested  a historical rarity that would signal deep party rifts. 1940 CONVENTION Kasichs aides are looking to history as a guide, particularly Wendell Willkies path to 1940 Republican nomination. That year, three leading candidates  Robert Taft, Thomas Dewey and Arthur Vandenberg  each arrived at the convention without enough delegates to win. Willkie - a businessman and former Democrat who had never before run for public office - opposed the Republican Partys isolationists and was a supporter of Great Britains war efforts. His cause gained momentum after the Nazi blitzkrieg in Europe in May 1940. At the convention, after six ballots, delegates in Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan deserted other candidates and switched to Willkie, giving him victory. Trump, Cruz and Kasich could face the same scenario this year, which would force to them to lobby delegates on the convention floor until one emerged with a majority. The Kasich campaign and Republican elites  many of whom have a distaste for both Trump and Cruz  are planning for just such a scenario, Weaver said. But because it has been more than a half century since the last brokered convention, he said, Nobody knows exactly how this works. AN OUTSIDER WITH INSIDER HELP Despite 18 years as a Republican congressman, and now six as Ohio governor, Kasich has cast himself as a Washington outsider in hopes of tapping the anti-establishment mood that has fueled Trumps once-improbable front-runner status. "Guess what? The establishment is afraid of me because I don't take orders from anybody over there, Kasich said in a recent television interview. At other times, he appears to revel in his Washington experience. I took on Washington and I won. I actually got the budget balanced when I was a member of the Congress, he said in a March 11 debate. The Republican establishment is watching Kasich and Ohios Tuesday primary closely, said Charlie Black, a Republican strategist and a former adviser to Mitt Romney, the Republican 2012 presidential nominee, who recently blasted Trumps campaign. "A lot of people who do not want Trump have been sitting back to see how Kasich and Rubio do in their home states on Tuesday, he said. If Kasich wins, I think he'll see a pick-up in donors, and in help from members of the party." Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist not affiliated with any presidential candidate, expects Kasich to face a tough battle even if he wins Ohio. But for some of these anti-Trump voters, if they can get Kasich to a contested convention, they see that as their best hope of blocking Trump." Until now, the relationship between Kasich and party elites has been prickly. On Feb. 21, the Rubio campaign had released a memo calling for Kasich to quit the race, while a string of party insiders endorsed Rubio as the "establishment" candidate most likely to defeat Trump. Thats changing. After the Republican presidential debate in Florida last week, Kasich flew on Friday morning to Lima, Ohio, for an event with voters. As he landed, he and aides switched on their phones and saw emails telling them that Rubio adviser Alex Conant had just publicly urged voters in Ohio who wanted to stop Trump to vote for Kasich instead of Rubio, according to several aides. "We were not expecting them to do that," said a Kasich campaign spokesman, Chris Schrimpf. (Editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot)
KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's state-run North Oil Company has stopped pumping crude produced at fields it operates in the Kirkuk area through a pipeline to Turkey, three sources said on Monday. The pipeline carries crude to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, where the Kurds have been selling it independently on the international market, along with oil produced in their autonomous region. North Oil normally exports 150,000 barrels a day through the pipeline. The order to halt pumping through the pipeline came from the oil ministry in Baghdad, according to an NOC official, who asked not be identified. "There is no technical failure, it's a decision from Baghdad," he said. The oil ministry was not immediately available for comment. Kurdish forces took control of the long-disputed Kirkuk and its oil fields in June 2014 after the Iraqi army's northern divisions disintegrated as Islamic State militants overran a third of the country. Since then, NOC has continued pumping crude through the pipeline, which was idle for more than three weeks. Ahmed Askari, the head of the energy and industry committee in the Kirkuk provincial council said flows were halted hours after the pipeline reopened on Friday. North Oil is continuing to produce the crude, but storing it in Kirkuk instead of exporting it through the pipeline, the NOC source said. (Reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud, Isabel Coles and Saif Hameed.; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Susan Thomas and Alexander Smith)
By Ori Lewis JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said it was struggling to "understand the logic" of a French peace initiative favored by the Palestinians after Israeli foreign ministry officials met with a French envoy in Jerusalem on Monday. France is lobbying for an international peace conference before May that would outline incentives and give guarantees for Israelis and Palestinians to resume face-to-face talks before August and try to end a decades-long conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed the initiative and the international support it would bring but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced opposition and has insisted on direct talks between the parties without pre-conditions and prefers less international involvement. Israel's Foreign Ministry said it had "submitted questions to understand the initiative's logic" during a meeting between France's envoy, Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador to the United States, and Foreign Ministry Director-General, Dore Gold. "The Israeli side emphasized the importance of direct, bilateral negotiations, with no prior conditions between the parties and the (Palestinian Authority's) responsibility to combat terror and incitement," the ministry statement said. Last year France failed to get the United States on board for a U.N. Security Council resolution to set parameters for talks between the two sides and set a deadline for a deal. Israeli-Palestinian talks have been frozen since April, 2014. Israel was particularly worried by the stance of former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius to recognize a Palestinian state automatically if the initiative failed but this has been toned down. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the United States was looking for a way to break the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians, acknowledging that by itself it could not find a solution. Having twice failed to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace, the Obama administration is discussing ways to help preserve the prospect of an increasingly threatened two-state solution, U.S. officials have told Reuters. One French diplomat has said the initiative by Paris was required because of the risk of a "powder keg" exploding. Israel and the Palestinian territories have seen a months-long surge in violence, partly fueled by Palestinian frustration over the collapse of the talks, more Israeli settlements on land they seek for a future state and that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War. Israelis have been angered by Islamist calls for Israel's destruction. Since October, Israeli forces have killed at least 184 Palestinians, 124 of whom Israel says were assailants. Most others were shot dead during violent protests. Palestinian street attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli minister Zeev Elkin on Monday slammed a reported offer to reduce Israeli military operations in cities of the occupied West Bank and restore Palestinian security responsibility.

Elkin, the country's immigration minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, said ministers were not notified of such an initiative.

The Haaretz daily said that according to "senior Israeli officials familiar with the contacts", Israel and the Palestinian Authority have being holding secret negotiations over the past month for a gradual restoration of Palestinian security control over West Bank cities.

"During the talks, Israel proposed that Ramallah and Jericho be the first cities the (Israeli military) would withdraw from; if the measure succeeded, it would be expanded to other West Bank cities," it reported on Monday night.

"Senior Israeli officials told Haaretz the talks were currently stuck but not dead and could resume," it said on its website.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

"We members of the security cabinet didn't know about this and I personally oppose this idea totally," Elkin, of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Israeli public radio.

Under peace agreements Israel handed control of main West Bank cities to the Palestinians in 1996, but in 2002's "Operation Defensive Shield" it retook them following a deadly suicide bombing in the Israeli coastal resort of Netanya.

Since then Israel forces regularly enter at will.

On Friday, they raided the offices of a Palestinian television station in the heart of Ramallah, the West Bank political capital and seat of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Ramallah and the main Palestinian cities are in the zone, known as "Area A', designated under the Oslo peace accords as under full Palestinian rule.

Some 60 percent of the West Bank is under full Israeli control.

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Haaretz said that under Israel's proposal its forces would reserve the right to enter Area A to counter imminent threats of militant attack, known in security circles as "ticking bomb" scenarios.

It said the Palestinians rejected the demand as contrary to the Oslo treaties.

Elkin said restoring even partial Palestinian security control would invite a surge in attacks on Israelis.

"In Area A about 80 percent of the work which ensures the security of the state of Israel is done by the (Israeli) army and security forces," he said.

"In the midst of the terror wave enveloping us, to pass responsibility to the Palestinians seems to me a very, very problematic idea."

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 193 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli professor urged fellow academics on Monday to shun a Jewish settlement college in the occupied West Bank, a move that could effectively import an international pro-Palestinian boycott movement. Uri Ram, president of the Israeli Sociological Society, told local broadcaster Army Radio that the group "will not cooperate with the institution called Ariel University, which is not within the state of Israel's boundaries". He was referring to an institute of higher learning in Ariel settlement on which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet conferred university status in a 2012 move that critics condemned as entrenching Israel's hold on land Palestinians want for a state. The boycott initiative by Ram, a sociology professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel, is not immediate. It requires approval by the Israeli Sociological Society's board, which is due to convene next month, he said. The society had in 2011 passed a motion against conducting academic activity at Ariel University which Ram now intended to implement, he said in a statement to Reuters. The Netanyahu government, which says Israel should keep settlement blocs including Ariel as part of any eventual Palestinian statehood deal, condemned Ram's initiative. Internationally, Israel has been waging a diplomatic campaign against the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which advocates a boycott of all Israeli goods and questions Israel's legitimacy. "A boycott is not pluralism, it is the opposite of pluralism, and it will be handled accordingly," Education Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters referring to Ariel University. "Israeli tax-payers fund higher education to the tune of 10 billion shekels ($2.6 billion) a year and we have no intention of allowing boycotts." (Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jeffrey Heller/Ruth Pitchford)
By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Italian engineers hired to help prevent a catastrophic collapse of Iraq's largest hydro-electric dam will need at least two months to assess the structure before starting major maintenance work, a Water Resources Ministry spokesman told Reuters. Mahdi Rasheed Mahdi said it might be six months before work began on the Mosul dam as Italy's Trevi Group needed to bring in specialist equipment to plug gaps caused by erosion. The dam, near the northern city of Mosul, was built in the 1980s on a friable gypsum layer on the Tigris and needs constant repairs to avoid disaster. Maintenance work was disrupted for two weeks in August 2014 when the dam was captured by Islamic State militants seeking to carve a caliphate in captured territory in Iraq and Syria. The dam's seizure prompted concerns that irreparable damage to the structure's foundations may have been caused. Collapse would devastate Mosul and other cities along the river, including the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and cause hundreds of thousands of casualties. "They need two to six months and this was a request by the company," Mahdi said by telephone. "The company needs time to import their equipment and this definitely takes time. We have already anticipated this." Mahdi said there was no imminent threat of collapse as some maintenance work was being carried out but more was needed to stabilize the structure. The Trevi contract would not provide a permanent solution, he added. The dam was retaken by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters with the help of U.S.-led coalition air strikes, and Iraq signed a 273 million euro (around $300 million), 18-month deal with Trevi to reinforce and maintain the 3.6 km-long (2.2 miles) structure. Italy has said it planned to send 450 troops to protect the dam, which is close to territory held by Islamic State fighters. ($1 = 0.8996 euros) (Reporting by Saif Hameed, writing by Maher Chmaytelli)
Cairo (AFP) - Italy's chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone on Monday offered Rome's assistance in the Egyptian investigation into the murder of an Italian graduate student after his abduction in Cairo.

Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge University PhD student who was researching Egyptian labour movements, disappeared on January 25 and his badly mutilated body was found a week later.

Egypt's attorney general Nabil Sadeq discussed the investigation with Pignatone, who was visiting Cairo along with his deputy Sergio Colaiocco after an invitation.

"The Italian side proposed its assistance to Egyptian investigators and to provide all information in its possession," said a statement, stressing the determination of both parties to shed light on the case.

Last Thursday, the European Parliament called on Egypt to cooperate in the probe, saying it came within the context of deaths in custody in the North African country.

In February, Egyptian Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar rejected charges of security forces being involved in the murder of Regeni.

The 28-year-old's slaying became a cause celebre among academics around the world and has turned the spotlight on what rights and opposition groups say are increasing abuses by security services under the military-backed government in Cairo.

Police and intelligence services in Egypt are frequently accused of carrying out torture in arbitrary detention or the killing of detainees.
Paris (AFP) - When gunmen from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb killed 18 people at a beach resort in Ivory Coast, the jihadist group was targeting its sworn enemy France, analysts said Monday.

Grand-Bassam, the palm tree-fringed beach town where the gunmen wrought carnage Sunday, killing four French citizens, was the country's first trading post in West Africa in the 19th century.

France also set up its first colonial administration centre at the same spot in 1893.

Even today, a bridge over the lagoon separates the district called "France" from the colonial-era villas and hotel of the same name. Another hotel there is called "Petit Paris".

"Hitting Ivory Coast is clearly a way of attacking France's historical ally in the region," said Antoine Glaser, author of a recently published critical account of French colonisation in Africa called "Arrogant comme un Francais en Afrique" (Arrogant like a Frenchman in Africa).

"Grand-Bassam is the historical capital of French colonisation, with a museum about missionaries and a French cemetery. It was the perfect target to send a message to France and Africa," he said. "In fact, it is astonishing that it was not better protected."

Glaser saw the attack as an attempt by AQIM, which the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said had claimed responsibility, to warn France that its actions in Africa were not without consequences.

"It allows AQIM to say to Paris: 'See, you are hunting down jihadists in Mali, in northern Niger and in the Sahel region of the Sahara, but we are striking at the heart of business and at the French presence in the region.'"

And the extremists did that by targeting Grand-Bassam, "a historic site where your expatriate executives go to the beach on Sundays," he added.

- 'Entirely predictable' -

The French army has long been based in Ivory Coast and 600 soldiers are currently spread around four bases in the commercial capital Abidjan.

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The attack is the first of its kind on Ivory Coast but the Tunisian resort of Sousse, the Malian capital Bamako and Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou have all been targeted in the past year. All are places where French citizens work or play.

Ivorian Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said Monday that the attack had been preceded by warnings.

"Security forces have already foiled quite a few attempted attacks in the past. Our country has been a target for a few years."

AQIM's leader Yahya Abou El Hamame said in an interview in January with the Mauritanian site Al-Akbar that the group would "spare no effort" to strike countries in the region "which participate in this Crusader war against Umma (the Islamic community)" and the Western interests based in those countries.

The attack on Ivory Coast was "entirely predictable", according to Isselmou Ould Salihi, a Mauritanian expert on jihadist groups.

"We can conclude from it that AQIM's move to widen its attacks across the region is the logical widening of the ongoing war against jihadists in northern Mali," he told AFP.

"So countries that take part in MINUSMA (the UN mission in Mali) will be directly or indirectly attacked, one by one.

"The next target could logically be Senegal... which has played an anti-AQIM role."

He said: "AQIM is trying to weaken France's allies or those which take part in MINUSMA to push them to leave or to reduce their presence in Mali and to hit the economy of those countries which are generally reliant on the tourism sector."

He believes the extremists are also aiming to carry out "lightning strikes" on places which Westerners frequent.

Robert Besseling of Exx Africa, a specialist intelligence company, also said the attacks should not have come as a surprise.

"Ivory Coast has been receiving warnings for at least a year from France's intelligence service that Islamist militants are planning to attack major cities," he said.

"Information from human sources and intercepted communications revealed that Islamist groups planned to place car bombs or attack public spaces popular with expats in Ivory Coast or Senegal."
(Reuters) - New Jersey voters will decide whether to expand gambling beyond Atlantic City, the state's distressed casino hub, after the state legislature on Monday approved a ballot measure for November's election.

The state constitutional amendment calls for laws that would allow the creation of two new casinos at undecided locations in Northern New Jersey, which is close to New York City.

Currently, casino gambling is legal in the state only in Atlantic City, which had four of its 12 casinos close in 2014 because of increased competition from neighboring states.

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian has said that expanding gaming will further doom his city's dwindling hold on casinos in the region and could spark further casino closures there.

But the Democrats who control both houses of the state legislature said expansion was needed.

"For a state sorely in need of new revenues for vital needs such as programs and property tax relief for senior citizens and disabled residents, this is a win-win," said Gary Schaer, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, in a statement. "This proposal would help bring a brighter economic future for our state."

The measure also calls for some of the revenue from any new casinos to go back to Atlantic City.

(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Johnny Depp had some words for Donald Trump while speaking to students at Arizona State University on Saturday. The actor spoke with theoretical physicist and Arizona State's Origins Project founder Lawrence Krauss about "humanity in madness" before the conversation changed to Trump.

"There's something created about him in the sense of bullydom, but what he is, I believe, is a brat," said Depp about the GOP frontrunner, which drew laughs from the audience. Depp proceeded to give his best impression of Trump.

"Also the absurdity of where his sentences might travel.  Reagan back in the day, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!' Donald Trump, 'I'm going to build a wall. And all of my billions are not going to have to pay for it. Because you know why? Mexico is going to pay for it.'"

Depp previously played Trump in a Funny or Die biopic based on Trump's best-selling book, The Art of the Deal. Alfred Molina, Stephen Merchant, Michaela Watkins and Henry Winkler also made appearances in the video.

Watch the video below.

Read More: 'SNL': Larry David Is Back as Bernie Sanders
Berlin (AFP) - Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm says their Champions League last 16, second leg match against Juventus on Wednesday is an all-or-nothing clash, with the Bavarian giants focused on reaching the quarter-finals.

The 2013 Champions League winners have reached at least the semi-final stage for the last four seasons, but face a stiff test from Massimiliano Allegri's Juventus at the Allianz Arena after drawing the first leg 2-2 in Turin.

The Germans threw away a two-goal lead after Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben put Pep Guardiola's side into a commanding position, as Juve hit back through Paulo Dybala and Stefano Sturaro after mistakes in the Bayern defence.

Nevertheless Lahm says he is 'very, very positive' about Bayern joining Wolfsburg in the last eight of Europe.

"You know that this could be the end of the road, but while the 2-2 in the first leg was a great result away from home, all that counts for us is going further," said Lahm.

Bayern are five points clear in Germany's top flight, but Serie A leaders Juve are unbeaten in 19 Italian league games and Lahm expects them to provide his team with an acid test in Munich.

"The fact remains, this is an Italian team who will lie in wait for our mistakes and will attempt to use them ice cold," said Lahm.

"We can't afford to make any mistakes and must be wide awake for the full 90 minutes."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John Kasich's campaign on Monday denied a report that Mitt Romney, the party's presidential candidate in 2012, would endorse the Ohio governor on Monday. A Wall Street Journal reporter said Kasich answered in the affirmative to a question about Romney's endorsement. Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf said, "This is not true. Kasich was responding and acknowledging a different question." A Romney endorsement would have provided Kasich with a boost on the eve of Ohio's primary in which he and front-runner Donald Trump are running a close race for first place. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by W Simon)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday described as groundless and unobjective an assertion by Poland's defense minister that foul play was behind a 2010 plane crash that killed the then Polish president. He said the circumstances of the crash were well known and had been the subject of official investigations. "Based on all that, we can call such statements groundless, unobjective, and not having anything in common with the real circumstances of this tragedy," Peskov said. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaits's acting oil minister Anas al-Saleh told a press conference on Monday that the country welcomed coordination between OPEC and non-OPEC countries but insisted the priority was a consensus.

Saleh said he had not yet received an official invitation to any meeting in Moscow or Qatar.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier on Monday that a global deal to freeze oil production could be signed in April and exclude Iran, which has the right to boost output after years of sanctions.

A final agreement on an output freeze to support oil prices, which have fallen 65 percent since peaking in June 2014 due to oversupply, is seen next month, possibly again in Doha, Novak said.

(Reporting By Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Noah Browning; Editing by Yara Bayoumy)
(Reuters) - Several people were killed after drenching thunderstorms moved through Louisiana and Mississippi at the weekend, triggering flooding across the lower Mississippi valley, authorities said.

Rainfall, which meteorologists said reached two feet in some areas, killed three people in Louisiana and one in Oklahoma. Two fishermen were missing in Mississippi on Sunday, according to emergency management officials.

President Barack Obama declared flooding in Louisiana a major disaster on Sunday, providing aid for victims.

Louisiana's emergency management office warned in a statement "the crisis is not over." It said some 5,000 homes had already been damaged.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Sunday night of a tornado threat and potential for hail and damaging winds across eastern Arkansas and northern Louisiana.

Portions of the lower Mississippi Valley were at risk for severe thunderstorms through Monday morning, the NWS said, which could trigger flash flooding. River levels were expected to remain high in the region as excessive rain water drains, it said.

The Louisiana National Guard, working around the clock for several days, said it had rescued more than 3,295 citizens and 316 pets. Some 1,300 guardsmen responded to flooding in more than 25 parishes, conducting evacuations, search and rescue by vehicle, boat and helicopter, and providing security and shelter.

Authorities and meteorologists described the flooding as historic and the worst seen in the region apart from that spawned by hurricanes.

Scores of roads and bridges were closed throughout the region at the weekend. In Mississippi, almost 400 homes suffered damage from the rainfall and flooding, the state emergency agency said.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Paul Tait)
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Monday he will meet his Australian counterpart next week to discuss China's military buildup in the disputed South China Sea and hold talks with fellow claimants the Philippines and Vietnam. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Beijing is feeling public pressure at home to show it can protect its claims to the waters after the United States began conducting "freedom of navigation" operations near islands where China has been carrying out controversial reclamation work and stationing advanced weapons. Hishammuddin said he would meet Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne to ensure efforts are made to "hold China to their promise of not placing military assets in the area". "If the reports we've received from various sources regarding the buildup and placement of military assets in the Spratlys are true - this forces us in a pushback against China," Hishammuddin told reporters. In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China had no intention to militarize its outposts in the Spratly islands. U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee chair James Clapper said in a letter in February that China's land reclamation and construction work on the islands had established infrastructure needed "to project military capabilities in the South China Sea beyond that which is required for point defense of its outposts". The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said last month it was "seriously concerned" over developments in the disputed waters, which includes recent missile and fighter jet deployments by China in the Paracel island chain. Hishammuddin said he would also meet with authorities in Vietnam and the Philippines as, if reports on China's military expansion were true, Malaysia "cannot act alone in stopping the aggressive actions". "We need the support of other ASEAN countries, and I will continue to (seek that support)," Hishammuddin said. "This is important for us to maintain balance, and to curb the actions by superpowers, whether it is China or the United States." (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Two Australian journalists who were detained in Malaysia after trying to question Prime Minister Najib Razak about multiple scandals swirling around him were deported on Tuesday.

Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu flew out of the Malaysian city of Kuching bound for Singapore, attorney Albert Tang said.

The two men, investigative journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), had been ordered to appear in court on Tuesday morning, facing possible charges for obstructing a public servant.

But the appearance was abruptly cancelled and they were informed there would be no charges, Tang and ABC said.

"Obviously, they are relieved," Tang told AFP.

Speaking at Kuching's airport, Besser told reporters it had been a "roller coaster few days" but declined further comment as the pair hurried to board their flight.

Besser and Eroglu were detained overnight Saturday after they crossed a security line and "aggressively tried to approach the prime minister", Malaysian police said.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday had expressed concern at their detention, saying journalists should be allowed to work unhindered.

ABC denies the obstruction accusation and has said the reporters were unaware of any police line.

"They did nothing wrong in Kuching. They were doing journalism," ABC News director Gaven Morris said in a statement Tuesday, adding he was "very glad and relieved" at the outcome.

"This incident has demonstrated again why it is vital to defend media freedom, including the right to question authority."

Najib's government, however, has been waging a months-long campaign to contain the damage from scandals dogging him, which the journalist pair was in Malaysia to report on.

These include the murky 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman by two of his bodyguards, who have been sentenced to death over the killing.

Government critics have long alleged that the bodyguards, members of a police unit that protects top ministers, were scapegoats in the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

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She was at the centre of alleged huge kickbacks in the $1.1 billion 2002 purchase of French submarines, when Najib was defence minister.

Najib, 62, denies involvement in the affair.

He also is currently battling separate accusations that billions of dollars were stolen from a state-owned fund he founded, and over his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious $681 million overseas payment.

Besser tried to question Najib on Saturday night during a visit to a mosque in Kuching, which is on Borneo island.

Najib and the state firm deny any wrongdoing, but he has moved to curb investigations and purge ruling-party critics over the financial scandals, and his government has pressured media outlets reporting on them.
Because hes a scientist, not a back-slapping venture capitalist, Mowgli Holmes loathes using the term networking to describe even the portion of his job that entails shaking hands in the cannabis industry. But it was networking that brought the chief scientific officer of Phylos Bioscience in Portland, Oregon, to Las Vegas in November 2014 to attend the Marijuana Business Conference and Expoand to smoke a massive joint with one of the cannabis movements legends, Ohio lawyer Don Wirtshafter.

Holmes had it on good information that Wirtshafter was sitting on a collection of hundreds of very old apothecary bottles filled with antique cannabis tincturesrelics from before marijuana prohibition came along in 1937, courtesy of the weed-criminalizing Marihuana Tax Act. Holmes, a 43-year-old geneticist with a doctorate in microbiology and immunology from Columbia University, desperately wanted those bottlesat least what viable strands of DNA might lie inside of themfor a project that has become his lifes work: an ambitious effort to sequence the DNA of every different kind of cannabis in the world.

Its a quest that could change almost everything we know about marijuana. At this point, most cannabis is produced in the dark, then sold to recreational consumers and medical patients with catchy labels that are nearly always misleading. When Holmes completes his mission, hell be able to take any sample of pot DNA and compare it with the most robust database of cannabis strains ever assembled, bringing unprecedented clarity to the marijuana market, from the grow to the dispensary.

First, though, Holmes needed to do a little more networking. And in the cannabis industry, that can sometimes mean getting very high.

Wirtshafter wanted to know the scientist wasnt a Monsanto in sheeps clothing. When the two met in the lobby of the Rio Casino, Wirtshafter had already heard of Holmes and his project. Still, the best way to prove yourself in the marijuana world is age-old and simpleyou burn one. So on the last day of the conference, Holmes found himself and his business partner, Nishan Karassik, in Wirtshafters hotel room, burnishing their street cred with childhood tales from the hippie mecca that is the Oregon Country Fair and puffing on an enormous joint. Seven weeks later, Holmes packed his lab coat and tweezers, then caught a flight to Columbus, Ohio.

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Political Extermination

Holmes grew up in Eugene, a small city in Oregons Willamette Valley, home to conservative types descended from logging families and ultra-liberals who drape Free Tibet rainbow flags on their porches and wear tie-dyed T-shirts to the Saturday market. Holmes went to Vassar College, majored in philosophy and then moved back to Oregon to play the drums in several rock bands in Portland. After five years of that, he headed to New York once more to study microbiology at Columbia University.

In graduate school, his focus was on viruses, specifically HIV research. But when he returned again to Oregon, which in 2013 was a year away from becoming the nations fourth state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, he found a new career path staring straight at him: cannabis genomics. Theres a whole new industry exploding all around it, he says. Plus, in every other academic field, you have to find the tiniest little corner of the world to study. Its almost impossible to find something nobody else has done, and immediately someone is competing with you. Here, we have an entire organism that theres basically no body of knowledge on. This doesnt happen in science, where you have a plant like this thats been cordoned off from research.

It was a risk to link his career to the study of marijuana, even with weed legal in Colorado and Washington. Would he still be taken seriously as a scientist, or would he be forever pigeonholed in pot? Plus, there were major roadblocks: Because cannabis is illegal at the federal level, the only way to legally research it is to use cannabis grown by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Mississippi. That pot is notoriously crappy, Holmes says, and useless to his project. Researchers are also required to get approval from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. Federally funded universities are reticent to allow laboratories they host to have anything to do with cannabis.

Holmess lab and its 10 full-time employees are housed by Oregon Health and Science University, which does rely on federal funding. But he and Karassik, who have been friends since they were 4 years old, have found a clever way to avoid legal trouble: They dont handle marijuana itself, just its DNA. As for his reputation, Holmes says, people dont even giggle anymore, he says. They just go, Tell me about the financials.

The samples come from all over the world, via often fascinating treasure hunts conducted largely by word-of-mouth research. There are two or three other labs working on cannabis genome projects, but none have collected nearly as many specimens as Phylos, and most of their samples come from marijuana dispensaries, not from original landraces, Holmes says. He has collected nearly 2,000 specimens so far and entered 1,500 of them into a software program that organizes the DNA into clusters, outputting a visual representation that looks like a constellation of stars. Each dot represents a strain, and the distances and lines between the dots show how theyre related to one another.

03_25_WeedScientist_02

Lynn Johnson/National Geographic Creative

The rarest and most valuable samples are old and originallandraces compiled from herbariums, museums and collectors in countries like Colombia, Thailand, Mexico, Afghanistan, India, Uruguay, Namibia and South Africa. After months of coaxing, Holmes convinced legendary breeders David Watson and Robert Clarke to let him take samples from their collection in Amsterdam. Now he is trying to acquire a 2,700-year-old strain from northern China.

Holmes arrived at Wirtshafters white Victorian in rural Athens County, Ohio, on a sunny, ice-cold January day, wearing a lab coat and carrying a box filled with tweezers, a scalpel, a digital scale, sample tubes and blue rubber gloves. He had a flight to catch, which left him only a few hours to collect all the samples. Youll never have enough time, Wirtshafter told him.

Wirtshafter acquired his collection from the wife of a former federal employee. These jars were supposed to be destroyed after prohibition, but the rogue government worker decided to keep a huge collection of the tinctures. He made his wife promise not to sell them until 10 years after his death. Whatever the motive for that decision, the mans collection was extremely valuable. Back in the 1880s, breeders recognized the distinct medicinal value of cannabis, but they didnt have the sophisticated tools to tease apart the active compounds. Still, by the 1920s, growers had by virtue of significant trial and error begun to breed plants that might balance paranoia-inducing effects with sedating ones, and marijuana was widely sold on pharmacy shelves by major pharmaceutical companies, as medicine. People dont know how respected this was, how many mainstream companies were involved with it, how sophisticated they were, Wirtshafter says. Then came prohibition, and the work of millions of our ancestors was lost in a sheet of political extermination. Not only did we try to wipe out the plant, we tried to wipe out all knowledge of the plant.

When Holmes saw Wirtshafters collection, he was ecstatic. There were bottles with pills, powder or gooey black viscous residue mixed with opium. Some were labeled as aphrodisiacs. Others claimed to treat anxiety, insomnia, glaucoma. It was one of the best single collections of ancient cannabis DNA hed ever seen. Jackpot, Holmes said.

A Pot Stud Book

Holmess lab, Phylos Bioscience, opened in 2014. The labs director of research, Jessica Kristof, a horticulturist and biochemist, is tasked with whats perhaps the most difficult part of Holmess endeavor: designing a method to extract DNA from each sample collected. Its an excruciatingly time-consuming process because each substance requires a different protocol for DNA extraction and purification. Each of Wirtshafters samples needed to be handled differently to dissolve whatever substance was in the way of getting the DNA out. Ancient DNA is very fragmented, she says. Theres may be 1 percent of cannabis material in these samples, and theyre already diluted by whatever buffers that have been added to make it medicinal. Then, on top of that, theres yeast and E.coli and stuff growing on it for years. With 1,500 strains sequenced, the constellation is slowly taking shape. What 23andMe does for humans, says Karassik, were doing for cannabis.

03_25_WeedScientist_03

Winston Ross for Newsweek

Once complete, Phylos will hand over its data set to the Open Cannabis Project, a nonprofit effort to build an archival record of all cannabis strains, to ensure they stay in the public domain. Then, Holmes says, they will create a testing program that will allow growers and dispensaries to stamp certified on the products they sell to consumers, who can then have a better idea of what theyre using and can fine-tune their relationship with different strains. Robert DeSalle, who studies genomics at the American Museum of Natural History, imagines a stud book of different strains. This is going to lend a lot of legitimacy to the industry, he says. Its kind of a black book now.

Pot is often categorized in two overly simplistic ways, as either an indica or a sativa strain. The indica makes you sleepy, the sativa, hyper. But that nomenclature is based on old information. Back in the 70s, narrow-leaf sativa strains tended to produce a more euphoric plant, and broad-leaf indica a more sedating one. We still use those terms to describe characteristics of pot, regardless of whether a given strain actually has any indica or sativa lineage. People talk about strains that are good for sex, or eating food, or playing with your kids, Holmes says. Some are good for arthritis. But because strains are so frequently mislabeled today, its nearly impossible to know whether the Sour Diesel that once relieved your migraines is going to be the same Sour Diesel next time you go looking for it. Very rarely do even the growers know what theyre growing, Holmes says. Once his DNA map is complete, Holmes believes it will give growers a better way to understand their horticulture and consumers a better way to understand their product.

The scientist is also hoping to solve some intriguing mysteries. We know that much of the pot consumed today in the U.S. has roots in strains smuggled here from Afghanistan and Thailand in the 1960s, but there was cannabis in America before that, before prohibition. Where did that originate, and what can it tell us about ancient migratory patterns of the human race? Cannabis is one of the few plants carried all over the world, over the past 10,000 years. Tracing its genetics could tell us something we didnt know before about where humans traveled and when.

Heady stuff. And even answering those questions seems like first steps. When he has a more complete picture of cannabiss genetic makeup, Holmes intends to work with growers to create hundreds of new strains with specific genomic traits. The popular pot strain Blue Dream might have a particular array of terpenesthe compounds that impart flavor and aroma to the plantdirectly connected to boosting energy in the user, for example. What if a new strain could be grown that enhances that particular effect? Cannabis is already the most hybridized plant on Earth. But its evolution has only just begun.

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By Joseph Ax

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Maryland plainclothes detective was killed by a fellow officer in gunfire that erupted when a man with a history of mental illness began shooting outside a police station as his two brothers videotaped the action, authorities said on Monday.

All three brothers were in custody on Monday and were facing murder charges and other counts in the fatal shooting of Prince George's County Police Officer First Class Jacai Colson, 28, who was off duty when he was hit at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Police said the accused gunman, 22-year-old Michael Ford of Landover, Maryland, appeared ready to die. He recorded his last will and testament on a cell phone just minutes before his two brothers, 21-year-old Malik Ford and 18-year-old Elijah Ford, drove him to police headquarters.

Michael Ford suffered non-threatening gunshot wounds in the incident, police said.

Chief Hank Stawinski said at a Monday afternoon press conference that Ford, who has a history of mental illness, appears to have begun firing at random, aiming at the police building, parked cars and an ambulance.

Colson fired back almost immediately and ended up drawing fire, giving other officers a chance to get into position, Stawinski said. Preliminary evidence showed he was hit by another officer's bullet.

"He demonstrated extreme heroism," the chief said.

At least one of the brothers stood nearby and recorded the gunfight on his phone, police said.

The motive remained unclear, and a visibly angry Stawinski said it was difficult to understand the rationale behind the Fords' actions.

Four officers, including Colson, discharged their weapons during the gunfight, but Stawinski said he was not yet prepared to identify which officer fired the fatal round.

Malik and Elijah Ford fled the scene shortly after the shooting began but were soon taken into custody.

Colson was a four-year veteran and had been a narcotics detective in Prince George's County, which borders the District of Columbia.

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The shooting came just weeks after two Harford County sheriff's deputies were shot by a gunman at a restaurant near Baltimore on Feb. 10.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan ordered flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Colson.

"The first lady and I send our sincere prayers to the family and loved ones of Officer Colson, who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his fellow citizens and community," Hogan said in a statement late on Sunday.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch condemned the attack on Monday as a "heinous act of violence and a cowardly crime."

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Cynthia Osterman)
PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' Finance Minister Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo has asked to be relieved of his post and his position will be now be taken by the prime minister, the premier told reporters on Monday. Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth made the announcement at his office after days of speculation in local newspapers about the fate of the finance minister, who had not returned to work for several weeks after a visit to the United States. Some media cited health issues and others cited differences in the cabinet. The prime minister said Lutchmeenaraidoo had been offered the position of foreign minister in a minor cabinet reshuffle. Jugnauth did not say if he had accepted. (Reporting by Jean Paul Arrouf; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Drazen Jorgic)
By Jean Paul Arouff PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius' Finance Minister Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo has asked to be relieved of his post and his position will now be taken by the prime minister, the premier told reporters on Monday. Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth made the announcement at his office after days of speculation in local newspapers about the fate of the finance minister, who had not returned to work for several weeks after a visit to the United States. Some media cited health issues related to the finance minister. Others reported differences in the cabinet over plans for construction of a new "smart" city and over how to handle negotiations with India on reviewing a double taxation avoidance treaty. They did not go into details about the rival positions. The prime minister said Lutchmeenaraidoo had been offered the position of foreign minister in a minor cabinet reshuffle, in line with his wishes. Jugnauth did not say if Lutchmeenaraidoo had accepted. India has long sought changes to a treaty which it says some Indian investors abuse by using Mauritius to funnel cash into India masked as foreign investment, which benefits from tax breaks. The practice has been called "round tripping". Lutchmeenaraidoo told Reuters in an interview last year that Mauritius was clamping down on firms using "loopholes" to avoid taxes and said the island's regulator was "ensuring to the maximum that round tripping be stopped." The offshore financial business generates a valuable source of income for Mauritius, which wants to expand its role as a financial hub. But it also draws scrutiny from regulators around the world seeking to clamp down on so-called "tax havens". Under other cabinet changes outlined by the prime minister, Marie Joseph Noel Etienne Ghislain Sinatambou moves foreign affairs to the ministry of technology, communication and innovation. (Reporting by Jean Paul Arrouf; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by George Obulutsa and Toby Chopra)
Berlin (AFP) - Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted Monday that Germany benefited from a decision by Balkan nations to close their borders to migrants seeking to head north, even as she insisted that it was not a long-term solution.

"It is unquestionable that Germany benefits from (the route closure, but) we can see from pictures out of Greece that that is not a sustainable solution," she told journalists a day after her party suffered a drubbing in state polls over her liberal refugee policy.

Germany, which last year recorded thousands of asylum seekers arriving each day, has seen numbers drop significantly since western Balkan states shut down the route used by migrants.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was at the receiving end of voter anger, suffering defeats in two out of three states in Sunday's elections -- including traditional stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The rebuff was accompanied by a surge in support for the anti-migrant AfD, with Merkel acknowledging a "protest vote".

Nevertheless, Merkel said she would push on with her strategy to halt a record influx of asylum seekers that reached 1.1 million in 2015.

She is banking on a common European policy to bolster the security of the EU's external borders and cooperate with Turkey to stem refugee flows.

"I think that the approach is correct," she said.

Just days ahead of an EU summit when leaders are due to hammer out the details of proposals with Turkey she signalled however that she would not give Ankara carte blanche in a bid to clinch an agreement.

"There are issues related to Turkey, and it is very important to say that Turkey must fulfil certain conditions, there is no compromise," she said.

Turkey is the main departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe and Brussels sees cooperation with Ankara as essential to stem the influx.

But negotiations related to the protection of the EU's borders are not automatically tied to eventual membership of the bloc for Turkey, Merkel said.

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The mooted deal between Ankara and Brussels, discussed at an EU summit on Monday and due to be finalised on March 17-18, would see Turkey take back all illegal migrants landing in Greece.

Ankara proposed an arrangement under which the EU would resettle one Syrian refugee from camps in Turkey in exchange for every Syrian that Turkey takes from Greece, in a bid to reduce the incentive for people to board boats for Europe.

In return though, Turkey wants billions of euros (dollars) more in aid, visa-free access to Europe's passport-free Schengen zone and a speeding up of Ankara's bid to join the EU -- demands that go too far for some.
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans no changes to her refugee policy despite heavy losses in state elections at the weekend, her spokesman said Monday.

"The federal government will stay its refugee policy course, fully determined, at home and abroad," the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told a news briefing.

"The goal must be a common, sustainable European solution that leads to a tangible reduction of the number of refugees in all (EU) member states."

Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union suffered defeats in two out of three states voting in elections Sunday just as the AfD, a right-wing populist party campaigning against her liberal asylum policy, surged to double-digit results.

Seibert said Merkel would continue to pursue a strategy of working to bolster the security of the EU's external borders and cooperating with Turkey to reduce refugee flows.

"Domestically, we are committed to easing the integration of people who have sought protection here who have been taken in," he said.

"At the same time, we are making clear that it can only be an integration into our system of law and order, on the foundation of our basic values and rules of coexistence."

The state elections were the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of refugees that reached 1.1 million in 2015, and largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel's decision to open the doors to people fleeing war.

Merkel, who was expected to give her first reaction to the polls shortly after midday, has so far resolutely refused to impose a cap on refugee arrivals, insisting instead on common European action that includes distributing asylum seekers among the EU's 28 member states.
(Reuters) - The top prosecutor in central Michigan's Ingham County was arrested on Monday and charged with 15 criminal counts, including felony pandering and multiple prostitution misdemeanors, the state's attorney general said.

Stuart Dunnings, 63, has been the elected chief prosecutor of the county, which includes the capital city Lansing, for close to two decades. He was being held at the Ingham County Jail and was awaiting arraignment.

The charges against Dunnings came out of a 2015 federal investigation of human trafficking and prostitution, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement.

Schuette said Dunnings has been an outspoken advocate for ending human trafficking and prostitution, even as he allegedly used escort sites to find multiple prostitutes and pay for sex hundreds of times in three counties between 2010-2015.

"Furthermore, evidence showed that Dunnings also allegedly induced a woman to become a prostitute who had not previously been one, resulting in the charge of pandering, a 20-year felony," Schuette's statement said.

Charges were filed in four different courts in three counties. They include counts of willful neglect of duty for blatantly violating the law when he was a prosecutor.

Dunnings faces a sentence of as many as 26-1/2 years if found guilty of all of the charges.

Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Dewane, who is handling media inquiries for the prosecutor's office, has not responded to a request for comment. No attorney has been identified for Dunnings.

The federal investigation that led to charges against Dunnings also led to federal human trafficking charges against Tyrone Smith, the alleged leader of a prostitution ring that worked across state borders. Smith pleaded guilty in November and awaits sentencing on three counts of sex trafficking.

As lead prosecutor, Dunnings cracked down on prostitutes and johns, according to the Lansing State Journal. In 2001 his office began imposing harsher sanctions such as charging prostitutes and clients with felonies on third offenses, and impounding johns' vehicles.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Dan Grebler and Richard Chang)
(Reuters) - The Uber driver in Michigan charged with murdering six people last month in a shooting spree told investigators that the ride-sharing app had the ability to "take over" his body, a local television station reported on Monday.

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department provided WZZM-TV around 100 pages worth of documents related to the deadly rampage in which Jason Dalton is charged in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. The Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney's Office declined to release the documents when asked on Monday. Dalton's attorney, Eusebio Solis, could not immediately be reached to comment.

Dalton, 45, told police that when he would press a button on his phone screen, the horned cow head of a devil would appear and give him an assignment that he said would "literally take over" his body, WZZM reported.

"When I logged onto site (the Uber app), it started making me feel like a puppet," Dalton told police during an interview, according to WZZM.

The broadcaster reported that Dalton told his wife during the night of the shooting spree that she would not be able to go to work and their children would not be able to go to school, and that if she turned on the news, she would know why.

Dalton is charged with shooting eight people, killing six of them, over a five-hour period on Feb. 20 in between driving customers for the Uber [UBER.UL] car service in Kalamazoo, which is about 150 miles (240 km) west of Detroit. Police said last month that Dalton admitted to the shootings.

Prosecutors said earlier this month that a judge granted a request by Dalton's attorney for a competency exam.

Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Getting said weighing a person's competency to stand trial had no bearing on the person's criminal responsibility for a crime and that the move was not to determine whether Dalton was legally insane.

He faces 16 charges, including six of murder that can bring life in prison.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's migrant crisis has kicked climate change off the agenda of EU leaders' talks this week, officials said, prompting accusations from green campaigners that the European Union has given up its leadership on environmental issues. Summit talks on Thursday and Friday had been expected to discuss December's Paris Agreement on climate change, which the European Commission hailed as an historic breakthrough. But it has since said it will not review until the next decade its target for cutting greenhouse gases, even though some EU nations and environmental campaigners say the Paris deal cleared the way for more radical action sooner. Asked whether the reason for dropping the climate from the agenda was to focus on migration and economics, one official, speaking on condition of anonymity, replied: "In short, yes." Another official said European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair the summit talks, "did not want to have a (climate) discussion". Tusk's native Poland, whose economy depends on coal, is seen as the biggest obstacle to any EU agreement to increase the pace of decarbonizing the economy. Environment ministers, who met in Brussels earlier this month, voiced concern the EU is not being ambitious enough. But the EU officials added senior members of the Commission were nervous about revising a target agreed at political level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030. To do so would complicate the debate on how to share out that goal among the 28 member states. France, as host of the Paris talks, has been at the forefront of a push for Europe to maintain climate leadership ahead of a meeting in New York next month to open formally the Paris Agreement for signatures. Segolene Royal, France's environment minister, said earlier this month the Paris Agreement would be on the EU summit agenda on March 17-18, adding French President France Hollande would seek backing from fellow leaders. The Commission had no comment on Monday, but has said it would be prominently represented at the New York meeting and had called on governments to ratify the Paris deal quickly. Apart from dismaying environmentalists, some military analysts say the EU's tactics could store up problems. "We actually need to see some action on not just addressing symptoms but addressing causes," former British climate envoy and retired Royal Navy Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti told Reuters. "It has now been acknowledged that one of the contributing factors to instability in the region (Middle East, Africa) has been the impact of a changing climate." (Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Alastair Macdonald and Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Mark Potter)
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday ordered a high-level investigation to probe how key documents pertaining to the Ishrat Jahan case have gone missing.

The three-member probe panel will be headed by additional home secretary B K Prasad.

Reports say that four documents are missing from the home ministry file related to the two affidavits that were filed in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

The missing documents include an office copy of the letters and enclosures sent by then home secretary G K Pillai to the Attorney General on September 18, 2009 and September 23, 2009, a draft affidavit vetted by the Attorney General, and a draft affidavit amended by the then home minister P Chidambaram.

On Thursday last, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had charged the previous UPA regime with a deep conspiracy to implicate Narendra Modi in the Ishrat Jahan case when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, according to an Indian Express report.

He was responding to a calling attention motion moved by Nishikant Dubey, Satyapal Singh, Anurag Thakur and Kirit Somaiya of the BJP and Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Lok Sabha.

The UPA, according to Singh, had indulged in a flip-flop regarding Ishrats LeT links and vowed never to do so when it came to fighting terror.

Unfortunately, I have to say that there was a flip-flop by the UPA government in the Ishrat Jahan case, he said, while referring to the change of affidavits, allegedly at the behest of the then home minister P Chidambaram, The Indian Express reported.

Singh also attacked his predecessor, saying that he even gave a colour to terror by devising the term saffron terror.

He said, Colour, creed and religion should not be associated with terrorism. Terror has no colour The secularists gave a colour to terrorism. A selective and opportunistic secularism cannot be accepted by the country.

He said the statement given by Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley before a Mumbai court only reaffirmed the first affidavit filed by the UPA government on August 6, 2009, before the Gujarat High Court that Ishrat had links with the LeT. It was the second clear indication that she was a terrorist, he added. The second affidavit filed by the government before the HC on September 29, 2009, in his view, had weakened the point that she was an LeT operative.

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The Home Minister claimed that there was an effort to defame Modi. There was a deep conspiracy to frame him, he said and maintained that certain vital documents, including two letters written by then Home Secretary G K Pillai to then Attorney-General Ghoolam E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit, were untraceable. We have ordered an internal enquiry in the Home Ministry in this regard and necessary action will be taken accordingly, he said.

The minister said, in his written response, that notings on the file did not mention any reason for filing the second affidavit.

He said, It has been mentioned in the affidavit that the further affidavit was being made in view of subsequent developments in relation to the issues connected with the petition and to clarify apprehensions expressed in regard to the (first) affidavit filed by Union of India as well as refute attempts to misinterpret portions of the affidavit. (With inputs from The Indian Express and Agencies)
Caracas (AFP) - The bodies of four missing miners have been found in a mass grave in Venezuela, and up to 24 co-workers may be buried with them, officials said Monday.

Family members say the 28 miners failed to return home from their shifts on March 4, and reports soon emerged that they had been gunned down by attackers trying to take over their small-scale gold mine.

Their families have been staging protests demanding authorities find out what happened to them.

"We found the site where the remains are buried. At this moment there's a team of experts at the scene exhuming the remains," Attorney General Luisa Ortega told TV network Globovision.

"They have removed four bodies so far. We don't know if all (the missing miners) are there."

She said the evidence so far indicated there were 21 missing miners, not 28, but cautioned that the investigation was ongoing.

President Nicolas Maduro last week ordered the army into the remote area in southeastern Venezuela, calling the case "a possible massacre in a war between gangs."

Interior Minister Gustavo Gonzalez said authorities suspect the attack was ordered by an Ecuadoran man with ties to Colombian paramilitaries named Jamilton Andres Ulloa Suarez, alias "The Mole."

Ortega, the attorney general, said investigators were still trying to establish a motive.

The area is known for armed criminal groups, and local officials have speculated one of them may have tried to take over the unlicensed mine by force.
Columbus (AFP) - Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who has slammed current frontrunner Donald Trump, campaigns with Governor John Kasich on Monday, ahead of Ohio's crucial primary, sources in both camps said.

The appearances will be the first for Romney on the 2016 campaign trail, although he is not endorsing Kasich, a source close to Romney said.

The party's 2012 standard-bearer has indicated he will seek to help the three remaining non-Trump candidates -- Kasich, Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Marco Rubio -- any way he can, as the party's establishment grapples for ways to derail Trump.

He will appear Monday with Kasich in North Canton and at Kasich's hometown rally near Columbus in the evening, Kasich's team confirmed late Sunday.

Romney's venture into campaigning comes 10 days after he offered a withering takedown of Trump, saying in a speech in Utah that the billionaire real estate mogul was "a phony, a fraud," and that he has "neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president."

Trump has responded in kind, blasting Romney as a washed-up establishment figure who was too weak a candidate to defeat President Barack Obama.

Kasich is a popular two-term governor and he leads Trump narrowly in polling in Ohio. But Trump has a commanding lead in the all-important national race to secure the majority of delegates who go to the party convention, where they elect the Republican nominee.

Trump's shock success in the primaries has alarmed the Republican establishment.

Romney warned early this month of "profound consequences for the Republican Party," and that "if we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished."

Trump has been campaigning hard in Ohio in recent days, and hosts a rally in Youngstown Monday evening after an appearance in Florida, a large and critical state which also votes Tuesday.

On Sunday he blasted Kasich for voting while he was a congressman for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of lost Ohio jobs since it was implemented in the 1990s.
"Mumblecore" master Joe Swanberg is headed for Netflix.

The filmmaker behind micro-indie films including Kissing on the Mouth, Hannah Takes the Stairs and Uncle Kent has scored an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for comedy Easy.

The half-hour single-camera comedy series will, in mumblecore fashion, write, direct and exec produce the series. Easy is described as an anthology that explores diverse Chicago characters as they fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology and culture.

The series will feature appearances from Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Michael Chernus, Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jake Johnson, Aya Cash, Dave Franco, Jane Adams, Hannibal Burress and more.

Easy bears similar themes as former web series-turned-IFC entry Young American Bodies, which Swanberg writes, stars, exec produces and directs.

Read More: Has Joe Swanberg Gone Hollywood? Don't Count on It

Swanberg is considered one of a handful of writer-directors most associated with mumblecore, which is a style of low-budget feature filmmaking in which dialogue is improvised and, in some cases, often performed by non-professionals. (Other mumblecore filmmakers include Lena Dunham, the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton.)

Swanberg will deliver a keynote speech Monday at South By Southwest  which is considered the birthplace of the term mumblecore. (The subgenre ranked as the No. 1 greatest breakthrough at SXSW according to THR critic John DeFore.) He has directed 20 feature films including Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas, as well as starred in You're Next, The Sacrament and V/H/S.

For Netflix, the series comes as the streaming giant is investing $5 billion on original programming in 2016. The streamer has been making an aggressive push into comedy, which includes Aziz Ansari's Master of None, Judd Apatow's Love, Sophia Amoruso's Girlboss and sketch comedy The Characters in addition to more broad-skewing fare like Fuller House.

Swanberg is repped by CAA.
By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military released 46 children and young people from service, the United Nations said in a statement on Monday, in its first discharge of underage recruits this year. The army has released 745 underage recruits since signing up to a joint action plan with the U.N. in June 2012 to end the use of children in the military. Human rights groups have long accused Myanmar's military of abuses such as using child soldiers, forcibly recruiting conscripts and confiscating land. After handing power to a semi-civilian government in 2011, the military has taken some steps toward professionalizing its forces. That includes the release of soldiers recruited under the age of 18. "The children and young people discharged will benefit from reintegration programs to help them re-start their lives and seize new opportunities for their own development and participation in the life of the country," the U.N. said. The U.N. Secretary-General has also listed seven non-state armed groups in Myanmar which it says recruit children. They include the powerful Kachin Independence Army, which controls large swathes of Myanmar's northern Kachin State, and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The U.N. said it had started talks with several of the groups to end the use of child soldiers. The government has held peace talks with many of the ethnic armed groups and signed a ceasefire with some of them last year. But fighting between the military and other ethnic groups continues. The release comes amid continued clashes in the eastern Shan State, as well as in Kachin state. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won a landslide electoral victory in November, is seeking a broader ceasefire to end all conflict between the armed forces and ethnic groups. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Simon Webb and Nick Macfie)
Is your art truly out of this world?

Aspiring artists will have a shot at getting their work blasted into space and delivered  in digital form  to the asteroid Bennu on the upcoming OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, will launch in September to visit the asteroid and bring a sample back to Earth. NASA is inviting people to submit art before March 20 to ride along on the mission. [Video: Bring Some Asteroid To Earth: OSIRIS-Rex]

Here's how it works: Imagine that the first direct detection of gravitational waves, announced in February, totally rocks your world. Every time you think about it you are overwhelmed by a sense of humility and wonder that makes you feel compelled to know more. You decide to take your inspiration to the next level by channeling these feelings into a series of gravitational-wave linoleum block prints. Or you write a gravitational-wave haiku. Or you Photoshop some of the gravitational-wave detector's images into a gravitational-wave GIF, belly dance or hip-hop concept album.

Transfer what you have into digital format and post it to Twitter or Instagram, including the handle @OSIRISREx on Twitter or @OSIRIS_REX on Instagram along with the #WeTheExplorers hashtag and post anytime between now and March 20 at 11:59 p.m. PDT (2:59 a.m. on March 19 EDT), and you're good to go.

"Submitted works of art will be saved on a chip on the spacecraft," NASA officials said in a statement. "The spacecraft already carries a chip with more than 442,000 names submitted through the 2014 'Messages to Bennu' campaign."

Bear in mind the drive may reach capacity before the March 20 deadline is reached, so you're better off submitting your art sooner rather than later.

Technically speaking, the theme of your work doesn't need to be limited to space exploration. According to NASA, you can submit anything that has to do with the spirit of exploration, so your work can range from the inner workings of a tiny brain cell to the vast Antarctic tundra  whatever you personally feel captures the essence of the spirit of exploration.

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"The development of the spacecraft and instruments has been a hugely creative process, where ultimately the canvas is the machined metal and composites preparing for launch in September," Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in the statement. "It is fitting that this endeavor can inspire the public to express their creativity to be carried by OSIRIS-REx into space."

A University of Arizona, Tucsonbased science team leads the OSIRIS-REx mission observation planning and processing, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is building the spacecraft.

OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program, a series of solar system exploration missions. (So far, it has spearheaded the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Juno mission on its way to Jupiter.) NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Copyright 2016 SPACE.com, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Niamey (AFP) - A Niger appeals court on Monday rejected a demand to release jailed presidential candidate Hama Amadou before a run-off vote on March 20, saying it would only rule on the case a week later.

Amadou, 66, has been in jail since November on shadowy baby-trafficking charges and has campaigned from behind bars.

He nevertheless picked up nearly 18 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election on February 21, coming second to incumbent Mahamadou Issoufou who took 48 percent but failed to clinch an outright majority and avoid a second round.

Amadou's lawyer Souley Oumarou told reporters that the court, which had been due to rule on a conditional release on Monday, said it would only deliver its verdict on March 28, eight days after the run-off vote.

"We asked the court to release him after securing personal guarantees from Hama Amadou or to at least release him conditionally on bail," Oumarou said, adding: "I worry about the future."

The court will also decide on March 23 if Amadou, who received medical treatment last week for eye problems, will go on trial.

Amadou fainted and was taken to hospital, his doctor Harouna Yacouba told a local TV station on Monday.

"I am worried," Yacouba said, without providing details of his client's medical complaint.

The opposition coalition known as COPA 2016, which backs Amadou for the presidency, called for his release on March 2 to allow him to campaign fairly against Issoufou.

The opposition has accused the government of fraud in the first round, claiming "unfair treatment between the two candidates" and complaining that the Constitutional Court has yet to officially confirm the results.

The government maintains the polls were "free and transparent" while the African Union, which sent observers, said it was generally satisfied with the organisation of the vote, despite logistical glitches and delays.

A total of 7.5 million people were eligible to vote in the country, which lies on the edge of the Sahara desert, where security is a growing concern after attacks by jihadists from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Libya.
By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A North Carolina sheriff's office is reviewing whether Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump or his campaign incited a disturbance at a rally in the state last week, the law enforcement agency said on Monday. North Carolina is one of five states holding Republican and Democratic nominating contests on Tuesday in the race to select candidates for November's presidential election. John McGraw, a 78-year-old white Trump supporter, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after he was seen on video punching a 26-year-old black protester in the face at the Trump rally in Fayetteville on Wednesday. The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, based in Fayetteville, said it would examine Trump's actions as part of its investigation into the incident. "We are continuing to look at the totality of these circumstances, including any additional charges against Mr. McGraw, including the potential of whether there was conduct on the part of Mr. Trump or the Trump campaign which rose to the level of inciting a riot, and including the actions or inactions of our deputies," the office said in a brief statement. The office said it would provide no further comment at this time. Sheriff's spokesman Sean Swain said earlier in a phone interview that he did not think charges would be filed against Trump. In North Carolina, "inciting to riot" is a legal charge that can apply to a public disturbance and does not necessarily involve a full-scale riot. The offense can be classified as a misdemeanor or a more serious felony. During a trip on Monday to North Carolina, the billionaire businessman rejected suggestions that his language was to blame for recent clashes at his rallies. The 69-year-old New Yorker leads a field of four Republican candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination. (Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Monday met Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who spent 18 months in an Iranian prison before his release in January.

The White House said that Obama "had an opportunity to meet briefly" with Rezaian after delivering remarks at the State Department.

Rezaian was among four prisoners freed in Iran hours before world powers began implementing a deal with Iran on its nuclear program.

In return, the US pardoned seven Iranian prisoners and dropped charges against 14 other Iranians.

Obama's earlier address to US ambassadors and heads of mission was heavily focused on the benefits of diplomacy.

In the face of fierce criticism, Obama has made diplomatic engagement with adversaries a hallmark of his foreign policy.

Securing the release of Rezaian -- along with Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, former US Marine Amir Hekmati, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari -- is seen by the White House as a vindication of that stance.
Washington (AFP) - Days before becoming the first US president to visit Cuba in 88 years, Barack Obama has predicted that his successor will lift a controversial decades old embargo against the communist-run island.

"My strong prediction is that sometime in the next president's administration, whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, that the embargo in fact will be removed," Obama told CNN Espanol in an interview released Monday.

"It makes sense for us to be able to sell into Cuba, to do business with Cubans, to show us business practices and how we treat workers and how we approach issues of human rights, that that will help bring about the kinds of changes that are needed."

Obama has reopened diplomatic ties with Havana, but has not been able to convince the Republican-controlled Congress to end the economic embargo in place since the 1960s.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Syria and Putin's announcement of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces, the White House said in a statement. Obama welcomed the reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation of hostilities, but he stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian government forces risk undermining peace efforts, the statement said. Obama also noted some progress on humanitarian assistance efforts in Syria and emphasized the need for Syrian government forces to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance, the White House said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Monday to multiple charges in connection with taking his 5-year-old son from his mother's house in Alabama in 2002 and living with him under false identities for 13 years, officials said.

Bobby Hernandez, 53, pleaded guilty to 15 charges  two counts of felony kidnapping, 10 counts of tampering with records, two counts of interference with custody and one count of forgery, Joe Frolik, spokesman for Cuyahoga County prosecutor said.

Seventeen other charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement that does not including sentencing, said Hernandez's attorney, Ralph DeFranco. Hernandez had been in jail on a $250,000 bond since last November and initially pleaded not guilty to the 32 charges in December.

Prosecutors said on Monday that Hernandez had told his girlfriend - the boy's mother - that if she ever broke up with him, she would never see the boy again.

We werent going to let this go and proceed lightly, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty said in a statement. Just think if this was your child or your grandchild, what a terrible thing it would be. You would wonder everyday what had happened to him.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 13. Hernandez faces up to 54 years in prison, Frolik said.

DeFranco said Hernandez has accepted responsibility for his actions, and he called his client a good father.

"His son is still living in the same house with the same people, DeFranco said. He is an adult and lives where he wants. Hernandez's fiancee and her children live in the house as well.

Hernandez was arrested in November 2015 after the FBI received a tip that the father and son were living in Cleveland under the name Jonathan Mangina.

Julian Hernandez, now 19, had been found in a national database for missing children after he used an incorrect Social Security number for his college applications and his school notified authorities, Alabama police previously said.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman and Alistair Bell)
Libreville (AFP) - One person was killed and six wounded in an explosion at an oil site in southwest Gabon run by a subsidiary of Chinese energy giant Sinopec, officials said.

The explosion on Saturday sparked a huge fire at the site, where some 2,000 barrels of oil were being stored in a tank.

"An explosion happened at an oil collection and export site in east Obangue, under the Dinonga-Irondou licence, operated by the company Addax Petroleum Oil & Gas Gabon," petrol and hydrocarbons minister Etienne Dieudonne Ngoubou said in a statement.

The fire is being put out and authorities were investigating the cause of the incident, the statement added.

Rescuers found the body of one worker at the site on Sunday morning, while four people were admitted to hospital in Port-Gentil and Libreville with second and third-degree burns.

Two more people suffered less serious burns, the statement added.

Obangue has been at the heart of a years-long standoff between Gabon's government and Sinopec subsidiary Addax Petroleum, which was barred from operating in December 2012 for failing to meet tax, customs and environmental obligations.

For a while the public Gabon Oil Company was the only company licensed to operate in the oil rich region, but the Sinopec subsidiary was allowed to restart operations in 2014.

Gabon produces around 230,000 barrels of oil per day, accounting for some 60 percent of state earnings.
Washington (AFP) - Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stumped for Donald Trump on Monday while her husband was hospitalized in intensive care after a snowmobile accident.

The Trump campaign announced Palin was cancelling her appearance at a midday event to be at the side of her husband in Alaska, but she nevertheless spoke at an afternoon rally in Tampa, Florida.

Palin, who hasn't held elected office since 2009, has remained in the public eye as a conservative commentator and was one of the first to endorse Trump.

"Thank you guys for your prayers for my husband who is recovering right now in ICU after a little wreck on a snow machine, so thank you," she told the rally, before adding, "Big wreck."

Palin also criticized the "petty, punk-ass little thuggery stuff that's been going on with these quote-unquote protesters," referring to Trump opponents who have disrupted his rallies in recent days.

After the rally, Palin went on social media and called her husband Todd "our rock... toughest guy I know."

Palin, a former Alaska governor and Tea Party favorite, threw her support behind Trump in January, saying someone new was needed to "bust up the establishment."

Palin was John McCain's surprise choice as running mate in 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency.

Since then, her influence has waned, but she remains a popular figure in conservative circles as an iconoclast who often butts heads with the party leadership.
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's electoral board on Monday rejected appeals from disqualified presidential hopefuls Julio Guzman and Cesar Acuna for reinstatement in next month's elections, closing the door to a reversal of its controversial ruling. The National Jury of Elections voted 3-2 to bar Guzman after he rose to second place in the polls because his party did not comply with electoral procedures when selecting him as a candidate. Guzman, a centrist technocrat who tapped voter frustration with traditional politicians, said last week he would ask local courts to intervene in the dispute, which he called fraud. Acuna, a wealthy former governor who had been polling in fourth place, was disqualified from the April 10 elections for giving cash to voters while campaigning. Acuna said last week he would accept the electoral board's decision. The unprecedented move to toss two leading candidates from the race just a month before the elections has stoked opposition to longtime frontrunner Keiko Fujimori and carved out space for investor favorite Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to challenge her. Kuczynski, a former prime minister and World Bank economist, was seen beating Fujimori by one point if the two face off in a second-round vote, according to an Ipsos poll published in local daily El Comercio on Monday. Kuczynski climbed five points to garner 14 percent of voter intent without Guzman and Acuna in the race.. Fujimori, the 40-year-old daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, now has the backing of 32 percent of voters but is not expected to garner the absolute majority needed to win outright. Thousands of Peruvians marched in downtown Lima on Friday to demand the electoral board bar Fujimori from the race. (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
By Zeba Siddiqui and Aditya Kalra MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian court granted U.S. drugmaker Pfizer an interim injunction on a ban on its popular cough syrup Corex, days after the government ordered it to be prohibited citing a potential risk to humans. India's health ministry banned the combination of chlorpheniramine maleate and codeine syrup, which Pfizer sells as the cough syrup Corex, in a notice over the weekend. Pfizer's Indian subsidiary appealed the ban through a writ petition in the New Delhi High Court, which granted the company a stay on Monday, pending the next court hearing, Pfizer said in a statement. Pfizer's Indian business said earlier on Monday it had stopped selling Corex, and expected its profit to be hit, as the brand generated sales of about $26 million in the nine months through December. Pfizer shares closed down 9 percent in Mumbai, before the stay order was issued. The court said the government had not issued Pfizer a "show cause notice" before banning the medicine, two lawyers for the drugmaker told Reuters, declining to be named. The next hearing by on Pfizer's plea is slated for March 21. The ban also applied to Abbott Laboratories' Phensedyl cough syrup and Abbott's Indian subsidiary also filed a writ petition at the same court, which will come up for hearing on Tuesday, local television channels said. Sanjay Jain, a lawyer representing the health ministry, wasn't immediately available to comment. Abbott's Phensedyl commands around a third of India's cough syrup market and makes up over 3 percent of the company's $1 billion in revenue in India. The shares of Abbott's Indian arm fell about 3 percent after it said it would comply with the ban. Abbott declined to comment on its case. As the cough syrup contains the narcotic codeine, India has been privately pressuring manufacturers to better police supply chains to tackle smuggling and addiction, Reuters reported last year. Akun Sabharwal, drugs controller for the southern state of Telangana which last year detected an "illegal diversion" of Phensedyl worth about $8.5 million, said he believed the ban would end the syrup's abuse. PATCHY REGULATION The medicine was among 344 fixed-dose combination drugs India banned, saying a panel of experts found the drugs lacked "therapeutic justification". Market researcher AIOCD AWACS estimated it could cut sales in the local pharmaceutical industry by up to $522 million, with Pfizer and Abbott among the worst hit. The sale of fixed dose combination medicines in India requires the approval of the central government. But several drug combinations have entered the market over the years based solely on approval from individual states. India has made intermittent efforts to shut this avenue, but success has been limited. In 2007 it ordered states to recall about 300 such combination drugs, but drugmakers challenged it in court and the order was stayed. (http://reut.rs/1J9azFo) In 2014, India set up a panel of experts to review over 6,000 such drug combinations, and asked companies to submit data to prove safety and efficacy of their drugs. 344 of those have been banned. OPPI, a lobby group for multinational drugmakers, criticized the move, saying codeine-based combinations under the ban have the approval of India's drug controller, and companies were never made aware that these were being reviewed. Pfizer's India unit also said its Corex had the central government's approval. Drug Controller General G.N. Singh was not immediately available to comment. The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents Indian drugmakers, said the review process was not transparent. Health ministry official K.L. Sharma told Reuters he disagreed, saying, "we are not prepared to tolerate anything that will (adversely) affect patients." (Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty in NEW DELHI; Editing by Mark Potter and Susan Fenton)
Moscow (AFP) - Evgeni Plushenko, Russia's two-time Olympic champion, underwent surgery in Israel on Monday, the country's figure skating federation reported.

"During medical testing in Israel last year doctors discovered a hernia between my sixth and seventh cervical vertebras," Plushenko told the federation's website.

"I was forced to undergo surgery as the hernia pressurised the nerve and my left hand was almost completely non-operational. The pain in my neck has forced me to skip the current season."

The skater added that he was still hoping to compete at his fifth Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.

"My main goal for the upcoming months is to recover completely to be able to continue practices," Plushenko said. "After that I'm set to act according to circumstances."

"I'm not going to change my plans concerning my participation in 2018 Olympics. I will keep on working."

Plushenko's doctor Ilya Pekarsky, who performed surgery on the 33-year-old skater, said: "For the moment the figure skater's condition is satisfactory," Pekarsky said.

"He will need to wear a special collar for at least six weeks. After that he can start swimming and limbering-up exercises. He can resume his ice practices not earlier than three months after surgery."

The Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 were Plushenko's last competitive tournament, where he has won the gold medal in team's event.

He also won an individual gold medal at Turin Olympics in 2006 and two Olympic silver medals in Salt Lake City in 2002 and in Vancouver in 2010.

Plushenko has also won three world crowns, seven European titles and 10 Russian nationals during his career.
(Reuters) - A Tennessee police officer shot and killed the driver of a pickup truck the officer was trying to arrest for suspected driving under the influence, authorities said on Monday.

Joshua Grubb, 30, of Clinton, Tennessee, was killed on Sunday morning at around 1 am ET after he tried to flee the scene in Lenoir City, Tennessee, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Lenoir City police said. Lenoir City is about 30 miles southwest of Knoxville.

The officer, Tyrel Lorenz, was sent to investigate a possible DUI after a 911 call and spotted the truck matching the description of the vehicle in question at a convenience store, the TBI and Lenoir City police said.

Lorenz, 29, has been with Lenoir City police since July 2015 and a law enforcement officer since 2010, Lenoir City police said.

The officer made contact with the three occupants and had placed Brandon Taylor, one of the three in the truck, in handcuffs when Grubb began to drive away, the TBI and Lenoir City police said.

The officer jumped then into the truck bed to try to prevent Grubb from fleeing, the TBI and police said.

The officer remained in the truck bed as the vehicle left the parking lot and pulled onto the road. The officer fired shots into the cab after ordering Grubb to stop, the TBI and police said. The driver was struck and killed, and the truck stopped at the side of the road.

The current plan is to present results of the investigation into the incident to the Loudon County grand jury on April 11 or 12 so the police car dashboard camera video will not be released until then, police said.

Lorenz did not sustain any significant injuries and was placed on administrative leave with pay during the investigation, police said.

Taylor was charged with public intoxication and evading arrest, while the third person in the truck, Toni Ann Sutton, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's divided parliament on Monday approved Lisbon's contribution to a European Union aid package to help Turkey deal with the migrant crisis and to new bailout loans for Greece, thanks to a last-minute change of mind by the main opposition party. An abstention by the center-right Social Democrats, the largest party in parliament, which had threatened to block the legislation, was enough to allow the ruling Socialists to approve the funding as part of this year's budget. Parliament is now likely to pass this year's budget comfortably on Wednesday in the final reading. However, the minority government's far-left allies - the Communists and Left Bloc - voted against the EU finding measures, showing how frail their alliance is. The three parties joined forces for the first time in November to oust a center-right administration after years of austerity. Many analysts doubt the government will last its full term as differences on key issues such as EU fiscal rules are likely to grow. Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa had acknowledged that the Communists and Left Bloc were acting in line with their known views, but criticized the Social Democrats for threatening to block measures they had approved when in power. But the Social Democrats, who said they would still vote against the overall budget, were quick to point to the government's fragility. "What this government and their radical leftist allies have promised - a stable arrangement that guarantees European commitments - does not exist. They want to pass the buck," said Antonio Amaro, a Social Democrat lawmaker and spokesman. Portugal, Western Europe's poorest nation, is due to transfer 24 million euros to Turkey as part of a 3 billion euro EU package agreed in November. Its scheduled contribution to the Greek loan package totals 107 million euros this year. (Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
BERLIN (Reuters) - International monitors want Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists to pull further apart along the line of contact in east Ukraine, a senior official with Europe's main security and rights watchdog said on Monday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors the implementation of a ceasefire agreed last year, says the two sides had pushed their positions forward in some locations, narrowing the distance between them to a few hundred meters and increasing the risk of violence. "They are so close that they could swear at each other over the line of contact," Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor to the OSCE mission in Ukraine, told Reuters in Berlin. Ukrainian soldiers and separatists had initially been 2 to 5 km apart and their recent proximity has led to a rise in ceasefire violations, especially in the region of Donetsk. Implementing the ceasefire agreement reached in February 2015 has stalled. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
By Denis Dyomkin and Suleiman Al-Khalidi MOSCOW/GENEVA (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin announced out of the blue on Monday that "the main part" of Russian armed forces in Syria would start to withdraw, telling his diplomats to step up the push for peace as U.N.-mediated talks resumed on ending the five-year-old war. Damascus rejected any suggestion of a rift with Moscow, saying President Bashar al-Assad had agreed on the "reduction" of Russian forces in a telephone call with Putin. Western diplomats speculated that Putin may be trying to press Assad into accepting a political settlement to the war, which has killed 250,000 people, although U.S. officials saw no sign yet of Russian forces preparing to pull out. The anti-Assad opposition expressed bafflement, with a spokesman saying, "Nobody knows what is in Putin's mind". Russia's military intervention in Syria in September helped to turn the tide of war in Assad's favor after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies including U.S.-made anti-tank missiles. Putin made his surprise announcement, that came with no advance word to the United States, at a meeting with his defense and foreign ministers. Russian forces had largely fulfilled their objectives in Syria, Putin said. But he gave no deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said forces would remain at a seaport and airbase in Syria's Latakia province. In Geneva, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura told the warring parties there was no "Plan B" other than a resumption of conflict if the first of three rounds of talks that aim to agree a "clear roadmap" for Syria failed to make progress. Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone on Monday about Syria, with the Kremlin saying the two leaders "called for an intensification of the process for a political settlement" to the conflict. The White House said Obama welcomed the reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation of hostilities but "underscored that a political transition is required to end the violence in Syria. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was encouraged by Putins announcement but that it was too early to say what it means, whether he will carry it out and what may have motivated it. Putin said at the Kremlin meeting that he was ordering the withdrawal from Tuesday of "the main part of our military contingent" from the country. "The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," he said. "I believe that the task put before the defense ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled." With the participation of the Russian military, Syrian armed forces "have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism", he added. 'COMPLETE COORDINATION' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned the Syrian president to inform him of the decision, but the two leaders had not discussed Assad's future, the biggest obstacle to reaching a peace agreement. The move was announced on the day U.N.-brokered talks involving the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva. In Damascus, the Syrian presidency said in a statement that Assad had agreed to the reduction in the Russian air force presence, and denied suggestions it reflected a difference between the two countries "The whole subject happened in complete coordination between the Russian and Syrian sides, and is a step that was carefully and accurately studied for some time," the statement said, adding that Moscow had promised to continue support for Syria in "confronting terrorism." Syria regards all rebel groups fighting Assad as terrorists. Rebels and opposition officials alike reacted skeptically. "I don't understand the Russian announcement, it's a surprise, like the way they entered the war. God protect us," said Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal Division, a Free Syria Army group fighting in the northwest. Opposition spokesman Salim al-Muslat demanded a total Russian withdrawal. "Nobody knows what is in Putin's mind, but the point is he has no right to be in be our country in the first place. Just go," he said. A European diplomat was also skeptical. "It has the potential to put a lot of pressure on Assad and the timing fits that," the diplomat said. "However, I say potentially because we've seen before with Russia that what's promised isn't always what happens." MOMENT OF TRUTH The Geneva talks are the first in more than two years and come amid a marked reduction in fighting after last month's "cessation of hostilities," sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by Assad's government and many of his foes. Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, confirmed some forces would stay in Syria. "Our military presence will continue to be there, it will be directed mostly at making sure that the ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities, is maintained," he told reporters at the United Nations in New York. But he added, "Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria." Speaking before Putin's announcement, de Mistura said Syria faced a moment of truth, as he opened talks to end a war which has displaced half the population, sent refugees streaming into Europe and turned Syria into a battlefield for foreign forces and jihadis. The limited truce, which excludes the powerful Islamic State and Nusra Front groups, is fragile. The warring sides have accused each other of multiple violations and they arrived in Geneva with what look like irreconcilable agendas. The Syrian opposition has said the talks must focus on setting up a transitional governing body with full executive power, and that Assad must leave power at the start of the transition. Damascus has said Assad's opponents are deluded if they think they will take power at the negotiating table. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Arshad Mohammed, Eric Beech, Michelle Nichols, Tom Miles, Tom Perry, Stephanie Nebehay and Jack Stubbs; Writing by Dominic Evans, David Stamp and Peter Cooney; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Toni Reinhold)
Moscow (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the withdrawal of Moscow's forces from Syria in a shock move as fresh peace talks began in Geneva.

But hopes for a breakthrough at the talks remained remote with both sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the brutal conflict.

The Kremlin said Putin had called Assad to inform Moscow's long-standing ally of the move that appears to end the main part of its controversial bombing campaign that began in September.

"The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments.

"The leaders noted that the actions of the Russian airforce (had) allowed (them) to radically change the situation in the fight against terrorism, to disorganise the fighters' infrastructure and inflict significant damage on them," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The White House said presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin had spoken following Russia's surprise announcement, and discussed the "next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities".

But US officials offered a cautious initial assessment of the Kremlin's decision.

"At this point, we are going to see how things play out over the next few days," a senior administration official told AFP.

- 'Courage and heroism' -

Putin and Assad agreed that Moscow would maintain an airforce facility in Syria to help monitor the progress of a ceasefire in the war-torn country.

"The Syrian leader underlined his readiness for the quickest establishment of the political process in Syria," the statement added.

Russia's decision to begin withdrawing from Syria will help Moscow intensify efforts to reach a political settlement, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations said.

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"Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the move would increase the pressure on President Assad to negotiate "a political transition".

Russia began its airstrikes in support of Assad's forces in September, a move that helped shore up the regime's crumbling forces and allow them to go on the offensive.

Russia sent over 50 warplanes to carry out thousands of strikes across the Syria arguing that it was targeting "terrorist" groups including Islamic State jihadists.

The intervention was slammed by the West and its regional allies, who insisted that Moscow was mainly bombing more moderate rebels fighting Assad.

A temporary ceasefire between Assad's forces and opponents in the country introduced on February 27 has largely held, but it does not cover the IS and Nusra front groups.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Moscow's Hmeimim air base in Syria and its Tartus naval facility would remain functioning and that some military contingents would stay behind.

He did not however give any details on how many soldiers would stay in Syria and what the timeframe for withdrawal was.

- 'A positive decision' -

The UN-hosted negotiations in Geneva are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

Syria's main opposition hailed the Kremlin's withdrawal announcement, but said it would wait and see what impact the order would have on the ground.

"We must verify the nature of this decision and its meaning," Salem al-Meslet, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told reporters in Geneva.

"If there is a decision to withdraw the (Russian) forces, it is a positive decision, and we will see it on the ground (but) does this decision mean removing forces or just reducing the number of aircraft in Syria, (that) we will have to check," he said.

Hopes for a breakthrough at the talks, however, appeared remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over Assad's future.

As the Syrian delegations arrived in Geneva over the weekend, Damascus warned that any discussion about removing Assad would be a "red line".

Top Western diplomats immediately condemned the comment from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as divisive and provocative.

After his first official meeting with the regime on Monday, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters that "strong statements (and) rhetoric" were part of every tough negotiation and that his initial discussions with government representative Bashar al-Jaafari were "useful".
The first day, Eli felt tingling sensations up his penis, circling his testicles and then surging down his legs. I was thinking, What the hell is this?  Eli says. The next day brought sensations of burning and stabbing. Bedridden for hours, he finally went to the bathroom to pee but saw nothing visibly wrong. A quick Google search pointed him to one diagnosis: herpes.

Eli, sadly, is far from alone. The World Health Organization says almost half a billion people below the age of 50 suffer from herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the kind that afflicts the genitals. A whopping 3.7 billion people have herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the mostly oral kind. There are treatments, but so far no preventive solution. The quest for a herpes vaccine is one of the biggest unsolved problems of infectious disease, says William Halford, an associate professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Id love the peace of mind to know my partners were not at risk of getting herpes.

But that may change. Halford is among a growing number of researchers questing for the herpes vaccine, both at medical schools and at biotech firms. All approach the vaccine differently, and if any of them are successful, they might just create the next human papillomavirus vaccine, which is now recommended for women below the age of 26. These days, epidemiologists are pretty optimistic that all the itching and burning will someday soon be prevented: I think well see the vaccine in the next five to ten years, says Litjen Tan, a strategist at the Immunization Action Coalition. And that has people with herpes, like Ella Dawson, who has blogged about her disease for multiple outlets, thrilled: Id love the peace of mind to know my partners were not at risk of getting herpes, she says.

If youre surprised that the herpes vaccine is suddenly, um, sexy, well, youre not alone. Overall vaccination research is on a downward trend, says Paul Offit, of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, even as biotech as a whole continues to grow. (IBIS research predicts a 50 percent rise in revenues, to $161 billion, by 2020.) Whats en vogue are CRISPR technology and cancer drugs. Vaccines saw the height of their success in the mid-1900s with the approval of polio, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus immunizations, and now the field has whittled down to four major vaccine developers: GSK, Merck, Pfizer and Sanofi. By the 80s, thanks to popular reports that vaccines did more harm than good, the consumer base had shrunk for immunizations.

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But the herpes vaccine has been a long time coming. Research began in the 1920s, and since then, pharma companies have made big bets on it, focusing on HSV-2. But failures in Phase 3 of clinical trials, the step before FDA approval and then manufacturing, have led to the perception that developing a herpes vaccine is difficult and risky, says Harvard professor and researcher David Knipe. Technology has changed, though, and todays researchers are trying to crack the code using different techniques than their forbears. They might take a live attenuated version of the virus, except with a twist, such as deletion of the protein. In other cases, as at Duke University, theyre dipping into CRISPR and gene-editing technology.

Vaccines cost a lot of money to test, and so the underlying disease requires a critical mass of sufferers, Halford says. Herpes definitely has that, and economically, the vaccine could turn a profit. (A disease like syphilis is too rare to warrant the R&D costs, Offit says.) Herpes is not typically fatal  though there are exceptions  but because the disease is common, a successful, effective vaccine could earn routine recommendation status, says Offit. That means it would be recommended for all sexually active adults. Take that to the bank.

Even so, the risks for investors, researchers and clinical subjects are numerous. Finding investors can be tricky because payoff takes years and involves costly human clinical trials, says TomegaVax CEO Michael Tippie. This is not an app. This is not a slam dunk, he says, citing investors other, more promising options. A herpes vaccine is not even TomegaVaxs highest priority, he says; hepatitis B ranks higher on the firms list. And more vaccines die on whiteboards and in labs than make it into doctors offices. Especially when the low-hanging fruit vaccines have already been created, Tan says. Whats left are the trickier diseases like HSV-1 and HSV-2.

While Eli says hes heard horror stories about friends participating in clinical trials for herpes vaccines  they complain mostly of the side effects  he also cant wait for a vaccine to come out. I dont think anybody should have to experience this, he says.

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Restrictions eased: Iran welcomes U.S. companies to invest in petroleum sector

U.S. companies are welcome to invest in Irans oil and gas industry, the Iranian oil minister said on Sunday. State-run Press TV quoted Bijan Namdar Zangeneh as saying that in general, we have no problem with the presence of American companies in Iran. He said it is the U.S. government that is creating restrictions for these companies, without elaborating. Zangeneh also confirmed that Irans state-run oil company has held talks with General Electric. Zangeneh dismissed the idea of a production freeze by Iran as a joke, saying Iran will take part in discussions on a possible oil production freeze after its output reaches 4 million barrels per day.

In line with the easing of sanctions, we have begun looking at potential business opportunities in Iran, while fully complying with the rules laid out by the U.S. government. General Electric

Sanctions related to Irans nuclear program were lifted in January under a landmark agreement reached with world powers, but the U.S. maintains separate sanctions related to Irans ballistic missile program and its support for State Department-designated terrorist groups. Iran is trying to regain its share of the global petroleum market after the removal of sanctions.


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Ancients studied animal entrails. Later, people consulted tarot cards, tea leaves and crystal balls. In short, there is no shortage of methods to peer into the future. When it comes to the tax law, though, the most credible fortune-telling technique may be to study presidential budgets. These documents are often considered DOA (dead on arrival on Capitol Hill), and President Obama's 2017 wish list is no exception (although many wags declared the lame-duck president's final budget dead before arrival). Still, ideas dismissed in one year often find their way into law later on.

For example, a couple of years ago, President Obama proposed eliminating "aggressive" Social Security claiming strategies that allowed some married couples to increase their lifetime benefits from the program. The idea went nowhere -- until, late at night this past Halloween and with no public hearings or debate, Congress put the kibosh on those valuable opportunities. (Folks who turn age 66 by May 1 can still take advantage of them, if they act quickly. See Big Changes Ahead for Claiming Social Security.)

With that in mind, we studied President Obama's just-released 2017 budget for other retirement-saving breaks that are getting a reputation for being too good to last. We want you to be able to take advantage of them while you still can. Read on.

The "Backdoor" Roth IRA



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As long as you have earned income from a job or self-employment, and you are under age 70 1/2, you can contribute to a traditional IRA. But Congress closes the door on contributions to Roth IRAs if your income is "too high." The law gradually phases out the right to contribute to a Roth in 2016 as adjusted gross income on a single return rises between $117,000 and $132,000. For married couples filing jointly, the phaseout range is $184,000 to $194,000.

But there's a way for high earners to skip around the limit: the backdoor Roth. You make nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA and then convert that amount to a Roth. It can be tricky, but profitable, and it's perfectly legal since Congress removed an income cap on Roth conversions. But a section of the President's budget called "loophole closers" would eliminate this opportunity by blocking the conversion of any nondeductible contributions to a Roth. If you're interested in this opportunity, be sure to slip through the backdoor while it's still open.

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SEE ALSO: New Path to a Tax-Free Roth Conversion

Roth Contributions After Age 70



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The law forbids folks over age 70 1/2 to contribute to a traditional IRA, even if they're still working. But there's no age limit for pouring cash into a Roth IRA. As long as you have earned income, you can stash some of it (up to $6,500 a year for those age 50 and older) in a Roth tax shelter. Septuagenarians take note: By calling for the elimination of this opportunity, the President's budget highlights what a good deal it can be for older workers.

SEE ALSO: The Age Cutoff for IRA Contributions

The Stretch IRA



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When someone is named a beneficiary of an IRA, he or she may stretch withdrawals from the inherited account over his or her life expectancy. Many advisers promote this "stretch IRA" as a terrific opportunity for long-term, tax-sheltered growth and encourage beneficiaries to keep the tax shelter going as long as possible.

The President's budget, though, wants to put an end to this in most cases, arguing that the IRA was designed for the owner's retirement security, not as a tax shelter for heirs. Under the proposal, most IRA beneficiaries would be required to clean out the account by the end of the fifth year after the death of the original owner. (As under current law, most payouts from traditional IRAs would be taxable; those from Roth IRAs would be tax-free.) Widows and widowers of the original owner would still be allowed to stretch withdrawals over their life expectancies. The President's desire to eliminate the stretch IRA is a reminder of how beneficial it can be for many heirs.

SEE ALSO: IRA Heirs Beware Mistakes

Unlimited Cash in Retirement Accounts



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Who'd have thought you could save too much for retirement? The law now sets an annual maximum of $210,000 that anyone who starts receiving benefits between ages 62 and 65 may be paid by a defined-benefit pension plan. But there's no limit on how much you can rack up in various defined-contribution plans, including IRAs, 401(k)s and various plans for the self-employed.

The President's budget would change that and limit how much you can build up in such retirement tax shelters. The cap would equal the amount it would cost to buy an annuity at age 62 to pay you the defined-benefit maximum for the rest of your life. Right now, the budget says, that limit would work out to about $3.4 million. Once the total in your accounts hit that level, you would be forbidden to add to them. But the limit is not in effect yet, and if you have more than the cap if and when a crackdown occurs, investment gains on the balance would continue to grow tax-deferred.

SEE ALSO: Retirement Plans for Workers Who Don't Have a 401(k)

No Mandatory Withdrawals From Roth IRAs



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Unlike traditional IRAs, from which owners must start taking withdrawals at age 70 1/2, owners of Roth IRAs never have to withdraw any money. If they don't need the cash, they can let it build up tax-free for their heirs.

The President's budget wants to end this discrepancy by applying the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules to Roth IRAs. The Roth payouts would still be tax-free, but if owners shifted the money to taxable accounts, the government would get to tax future earnings. On the bright side, the budget proposes eliminating RMDs for any IRA with a balance of $100,000 or less.

SEE ALSO: 10 Things Boomers Must Know About RMDs From IRAs

Company-Stock Rollovers



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The law includes a break that pays off for some workers with a large stash of appreciated company stock in their retirement accounts. When they leave the firm, they can split their payout into two parts, with the company stock going to a taxable brokerage account and the rest to an IRA. The money that goes to the IRA remains tax-free until it is withdrawn, but the company stock portion is taxed. But here's the break: The tax is based on the value of the stock when it went into the retirement account. The appreciation isn't taxed until the stock is ultimately sold in the brokerage account -- and at that point, the profit is taxed at the lower rate reserved for long-term capital gains. When a lot of "net unrealized appreciation," or NUA, is involved, this can be a real money-saver. The President's budget would end the NUA break, but only for workers under age 50.

SEE ALSO: Check Options Before Rolling Over a 401(k)

The Tax-Saving Power of Retirement Savings



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The President's budget calls for capping the value of various tax breaks at 28%, putting the squeeze on folks in higher tax brackets -- namely, taxpayers with 2016 taxable income over $190,150 on a single return or $231,450 on a joint return. If this change were implemented, it would mean, for example, that the maximum value of a $20,000 contribution to a 401(k) plan would drop from $7,920 (the current savings for someone in the top 39.6% bracket) to $5,600 (the 28% maximum value). Unless and until the change happens, though, 401(k) and IRA contributions can be valued in your top tax bracket.

SEE ALSO: Tax Planning for Retirement
By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulator wants to encourage the availability of automated, or "robo", financial advice, already common in the United States, to cut the cost of such advice for less well-off consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Treasury said on Monday there was a "clear need" for regulatory intervention to reduce the cost of financial advice and make it more accessible. Announcing proposals to improve the market for financial advice, they said mass-market robo advice would be subject to the same regulatory protection as face-to-face advice, but would be cheaper and more consistent for customers, and boost innovation in the "fintech" sector. To make it easier for consumers to get advice, the review, known as the financial advice market review or FAMR, also called on the government to allow consumers to access a small part of their pension pot to pay for pre-retirement advice 5-10 years before they end work. Deloitte consultancy estimates that 5 million people in Britain are in the so-called advice gap, unwilling or unable to pay for advice, and at least a million people could get their basic financial advice from robo advisers. Robo advisers currently cover less than a billion pounds of assets in Britain, compared with $19 billion (13.2 billion) in the United States, Deloitte said. Among the recommendations, the FCA will set up a unit to help firms develop automated or robo advice. Some banks, which withdrew from giving financial advice after costly mis-selling scandals, are looking to re-enter the market through automated services. Richard Freeman, chief distribution officer at Old Mutual Wealth, welcomed the proposal to give employees early access to their pensions to fund advice. "Allowing consumers to access part of their pension pot early in order to fund the cost of advice is a bold proposal," Freeman said. A core aim of the FCA's proposals is to create a more clearly defined two-tier market, with "advice" on investments being subject to the full panoply of regulation, while general "guidance" would be more lightly regulated as it does not include full fact-finding about the customer. "Defining advice as a personal recommendation would be a positive step, giving (advisory) firms more clarity and creating a line in the sand between advice and guidance," Freeman said. It would move Britain in line with a concept used in European Union law. There will be a public consultation on developing "streamlined" advice to contain costs for customers. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin said the review had set out a radical plan for accessing high quality and affordable advice. The FCA said it would not recommend reintroducing commission for financial advice, saying only a small number of respondents to the review had called for this. Commission is banned and advice paid for by a fee to increase transparency and stop financial advisers pushing products from a particular company to get a bigger commission. (Editing by Mark Potter and Susan Fenton)
Pregnant women may not need to avoid travel to all areas where the Zika virus is spreading  health officials say that, in high elevations, there is a low risk of becoming infected with the virus.

The new recommendations, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, come after the agency analyzed data from 16 countries with elevations above 4,900 feet (1,500 meters). They found that the mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, known as Aedes aegypti, is unlikely to live in areas above 6,500 feet (2,000 m).

"Consequently, at elevations above [6,500 feet], the risk for mosquito-borne exposure to Zika virus is considered to be minimal," researchers from the CDC said in a report published today (March 11).

Health officials are concerned about a link between Zika virus in pregnant women and microcephaly, a birth defect in which the baby's head is abnormally small. The CDC now recommends that pregnant women avoid travel to areas that have Zika virus and are less than 6,500 feet below sea level. (The CDC's previous recommendation was a blanket warning against travel to these areas for pregnant women.)

The agency has even created maps of each of the 37 countries where Zika is spreading, and indicated which areas are above 6,500 feet. (The maps can be found within the travel notice for each country.) [Zika Virus FAQs: Top Questions Answered]

But this apparent ease in Zika travel warnings comes with several caveats. First, pregnant women are still at risk for Zika if they travel through any area with an elevation below 6,500 feet, including travel into and out of a low-elevation airport, the CDC said.

"Traveling through an area of low elevation or stopping, even briefly, in a low-elevation area on the way to higher elevation increases the risk of getting Zika from a mosquito, and pregnant woman should strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites while in these areas," the agency said in a new Web page with questions and answers about Zika risk at high elevations.

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In addition, the Zika virus can be transmitted sexually. As such, the CDC recommends that pregnant women use condoms, or abstain from sex, with men who have been in areas with the Zika virus that are below 6,500 feet.

High altitudes  above 8,000 feet (2,400 meters)  also have low oxygen levels that can pose a risk of altitude sickness, symptoms of which can include headache, nausea and shortness of breath. Pregnant women should avoid doing strenuous activities at high altitudes, the CDC said. Some doctors also recommend that pregnant women avoid spending the night at elevations greater than 12,000 feet (3,650 meters). High altitudes may also be hard to access or far from medical care, which may be a concern for pregnant women, the CDC said.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesThe Kremlin is threatening retaliatory action after authorities arrested Artyom Uss, the son of a top Russian official, at the United States request, for allegedly participating in a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme.Uss, who was detained in Milan, was charged in relation to a scheme to unlawfully obtain U.S. military technology and sanctioned Venezuelan oil in order to support Russias war effort in Ukraine, according to charges unsealed by the U.S. Depa
The entire cast of "Scream Queens" is set to return to the show for a second season.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele and Emma Roberts are just three of the show's original stars signing up to season 2 of the sorority massacre show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The plot, however, will undergo a makeover, with the co-creator of the series, Brad Falchuk, revealing: "All of the girls will be medical students under the rule of Munsch and three hunky doctors."

He added: "We looked at the horror movie model and saw this season as a sequel. Just like "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween", Scream Queens' second season is a continuation of the characters we all know."
Riyadh (AFP) - A senior Saudi royal has criticised President Barack Obama for comments accusing the longtime US ally of feeding Middle East conflicts.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has long been a major ally of the United States but the relationship has deteriorated under Obama.

Riyadh has been especially concerned by US support for Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, fearing its regional rival will be emboldened.

In an opinion piece published in Saudi newspapers, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief and envoy to Washington, lashed out at Obama's recent comments to The Atlantic magazine.

"You accuse us of fomenting sectarian strife in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. You add insult to injury by telling us to share our world with Iran, a country that you describe as a supporter of terrorism," Faisal wrote.

Faisal questioned whether Obama has "pivoted to Iran so much that you equate the kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America to an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world".

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Shiite Iran of interference in Arab affairs, particularly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain.

In its April issue, The Atlantic quoted Obama as reproaching the Saudis for trying to influence other Muslim countries, particularly Indonesia, by exporting its fundamentalist version of Islam.

He also said the Saudis need to "share" the Middle East with their Iranian foes.

"The competition between the Saudis and the Iranians -- which has helped to feed proxy wars and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Yemen -- requires us to say to our friends as well as to the Iranians that they need to find an effective way to share the neighbourhood and institute some sort of cold peace," Obama said.

As the Obama administration enters its final months, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia "will continue to hold the American people as our ally... Mr. Obama, that is who we are."
Cleveland (AFP) - Stephen Emmert lost his Ohio longshoreman job in the 1990s, the victim of industrial automation.

As the Rust Belt state struggles to recover from economic decline, the ex-Democrat said only one presidential candidate can set things right: billionaire Donald Trump.

Emmert knows that any path to victory for the Republican frontrunner will include votes from Ohio's gritty factory communities, from the shores of Lake Erie to hardscrabble Canton and beyond, where blue-collar union laborers often decide the outcome in one of America's most politically consequential states.

No Republican, after all, has won the White House without winning Ohio in the general election.

Already Trump has romped to primary election victory in nearby Michigan, another industrial state.

To pull off a similar feat in Ohio, which heads to its primary on Tuesday, Trump will need to cobble together Republicans in places like largely white Canton, as well as working-class Democrats.

His fiercest competition in the state race is Ohio Governor John Kasich, who holds a slim lead in polls.

In a series of interviews with AFP, several Ohio laborers expressed confidence that Trump will generate crossover appeal in Tuesday's big primary test.

Emmert used to be a dedicated union man, back when he worked on the Cuyahoga River docks offloading ore in the shadow of ArcelorMittal, whose hulking, century-old Cleveland steel mill remains in operation today.

But technology swallowed up his position.

"I was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat back when. A union guy," said Emmert.

Now a Teamsters union member who has driven a rig more than one million miles over the past decade, he said he has had it with the political system, and winces when asked if he could support Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

He and several friends and neighbors are now turning to Trump, he said, much like "Reagan Democrats" who defected in the 1980s to support eventual president Ronald Reagan.

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"Look at all the empty factories," Emmert said as he stood in line to attend Trump's rally Saturday in Cleveland.

"He'll bring back the jobs."

Outsourcing forced thousands of Ohio factories to shut their doors, as manufacturing shifted to China, Mexico and elsewhere.

Industries like steel have declined for decades. Ohio has lost about 200,000 manufacturing jobs since the 2000 election, as American companies incentivized by cheap labor, tax protections and lax regulations headed abroad.

In a series of Ohio appearances Trump has promised to ease regulations and impose tariffs on imports, a message that is music to Emmert's ears.

"Plenty of our workers and managers are intrigued by candidate Donald Trump," said an official at the Ohio Manufacturers' Association, who asked not to be named so that he could speak more openly about the Republican frontrunner.

A woman at a United Steelworkers local union office acknowledged on condition of anonymity that members were considering backing Trump.

In West Chester, a suburb of Cincinnati, a man at a Trump rally Sunday carried a hand-written "Teamsters for Trump" sign, although he declined to talk with reporters.

- Jobs savior? -

Ohio is one of about 10 states that are major battlegrounds in the presidential election. It is seen as a political and demographic microcosm of America, and includes core conservatives, independents, more progressive suburbanites and an increasing proportion of Hispanics.

"A lot of people, Republican or Democrat, do think (Trump) can be a savior who brings back jobs," explained Kevin Berger, who runs a comic book store in Cleveland.

The 31-year-old epitomizes the internal conflict that some Ohio workers seem to have in choosing between Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders, the self-described democratic socialist who is challenging Clinton for their party's nomination.

Sanders is committed to reining in economic inequalities, Berger said, "but I personally think Trump would be good for business and our economy."

Richard Trumka, who heads the AFL-CIO which represents 12 million laborers, disagrees.

"He targets people like us," Trumka said in a video to members in January. Trump, he added, "thinks wages are already too high."

Joe Immormino, who owns a scrap yard in suburban Cleveland and has watched his industry implode in recent years, said he is "120 percent" for Trump.

"I'd just like to see a businessman in office," he said.

The 57-year-old appreciates Trump's pledge to re-impose tougher tariffs on materials sourced from China, Russia and Turkey that are reducing his profit margins.

"I want to see somebody who's never been in politics," Immormino added.

"Let's go down this track and see what happens. How bad can it be?"
Ljubljana (AFP) - Slovenia said on Monday it has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a World War I commemoration event in spite of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

"Our positions differ concerning some important issues but that only strengthens the need for a dialogue," President Borut Pahor said in a letter to Putin, as quoted by the Slovenian leader's office.

On July 31, Slovenia will commemorate the 100th anniversary of a World War I accident, in which dozens of Russian prisoners of war were killed in an avalanche in the northern Vrsic region.

Last year, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended the ceremony.

The invitation came just hours after EU foreign ministers in Brussels called for the bloc to stand up to Russia and defend core political and security interests, even while trying to find a common stance on issues such as the Syrian conflict.

The EU imposed economic sanctions against Russia for its March 2014 annexation of Crimea and suspected further intervention in eastern Ukraine, sending ties into a deep freeze reminiscent of the Cold War.
(Reuters) - A 26-year-old man arrested in connection with snowmobile attacks on two musher teams in Alaska's Iditarod dog sled race appeared in court via video on Sunday after reportedly admitting he was heavily drunk at the time of the incident.

One dog was killed and three others were injured in the incident, in which two veteran mushers told race officials that a person driving a snowmobile tried to drive the machine into their sled teams.

Bail for Arnold Demoski was set at $50,000 in Fairbanks District Court, where Demoski appeared by video hookup from a correctional center, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

But Magistrate Romano DiBenedetto said If the state had asked for $500,000, I probably would have granted it."

Demoski told the Alaska Dispatch News he hit the teams while driving blackout drunk.

"I dont care if people know if I was drinking and driving, it quoted him as saying on Saturday before his arrest.

I hope they can forgive me, he said of the mushers. I want this community to forgive me and I want my employers to forgive me, and hopefully I can get over this alcohol problem.

The incident occurred about 12 miles (19 kms) from the Nulato checkpoint, about 582 miles (936 kms) into this year's 975-mile (1,570-kms) course.

A dog belonging to four-time champion Jeff King was killed when his team was hit from behind by a snowmobile, and two of his other dogs were injured, the Iditarod Trail Committee said.

"It did not seem like an accident," King said, adding that the driver never stopped or returned to the scene.

Driver Ailey Zirkle said she had been attacked in the same area by a person riding a snow machine who "repeatedly attempted to harm her and her team," race officials said. One of her dogs sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Police arrested Demoski on charges of assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and criminal mischief.

Some 85 mushers and their dogs set off on March 6 from the town of Willow, about a 90-mile (144-kms) drive from Anchorage. Of those, only seven have withdrawn from the race.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Michael Perry)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday he had constructive discussions with ratings agencies on a roadshow in London and the United States last week as Pretoria tries to fend off downgrades amid weak economic growth. The trip came against the backdrop of mounting concerns that Africa's most industrialised economy could lose its investment-grade rating by mid-year, potentially raising borrowing costs for government and firms alike. Some of the main concerns raised during meetings with over 250 investors, included risks to the fiscal outlook, slow economic growth, clarity over labour and monetary policy as well the political environment, Gordhan told a news conference. South Africa was still able to pay back its debt and could avoid a downgrade "if we work together", Gordhan said. "Once you get downgraded on average it takes you five years or more to work your way up again, so you don't want to end up there as a country," he said. Moody's visits South Africa this week to assess the economy and decide whether to alter its Baa2 rating. Moody's has said it was concerned about the ability of government policies to restore fiscal strength and boost growth. Investors have been worried about undue political interference in fiscal policy in Africa's most industrialised but ailing economy after President Jacob Zuma changed finance ministers twice in less than a week in December. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia)
CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - A white former South Carolina highway patrolman pleaded guilty on Monday to shooting and wounding an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop at a gas station in 2014 that was captured on video, a court spokeswoman said.

Ex-trooper Sean Groubert, 36, admitted assault and battery "of a high and aggravated nature" and faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced, said Fifth Judicial Circuit spokeswoman Nicole Holland.

The shooting came as U.S. law enforcement agencies face close scrutiny over allegations of excessive force against black people and other minorities. Police killings of unarmed African-American men have triggered national protests and the emergence of the "Black Lives Matter" civil rights movement.

In dashcam footage of the incident released by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Groubert can be seen firing his weapon four times at Levar Jones, a driver who he pulled over at a Richland County gas station for a seat belt violation.

Jones was standing outside his car, but had reached back inside the vehicle. The driver then backed up quickly, facing the trooper, his hands in the air as the trooper shouted at him and fired the shots. Groubert ordered him to "Get on the ground!" and "Put your hands behind your back!"

"I was just grabbing my license!" Jones says on the video. "Why did you shoot me?"

Jones was struck by one bullet and hospitalized.

The footage of the incident went viral and provoked outrage among many viewers, and Groubert was relieved of his duties as a highway patrolman.

Groubert will learn how long he will spend in prison after the completion of a pre-sentencing investigation, Holland said.

(Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Bernard Orr)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has resumed poultry meat exports to Hong Kong for the first time in nearly two years after it was declared an Avian Influenza-free nation, the agriculture ministry said on Sunday. South Korea regained its bird flu-free status on Feb. 28. Fresh poultry products, including chicken and duck meats and eggs hatched since then can be exported immediately, the ministry said in a statement. Hong Kong halted imports of South Korean poultry products in May 2014 due to the bird flu outbreak in South Korea. "We will do our best to prevent recurrence of AI so that our poultry exports to Hong Kong can continue," the agriculture ministry said. (Reporting by Rebecca Jang; Editing by Paul Tait)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police arrested 30 people accused of robbing, kidnapping and torturing drug traffickers, the Interior Ministry said on Monday. Police detained 21 Moroccans, eight Spaniards and one person from Senegal and are investigating another five people, it said. Those detained are accused of fixing tracking devices to drugs sold to the traffickers before they left Morocco en route to Spain, where members of the group, dressed as security officials, confiscated the drugs. The suspects also kidnapped and tortured traffickers for information on other drugs stashes, the ministry said, adding the drugs were then exchanged in France for weapons and ammunition. In raids across Spain, more than two-and-a-half tonnes of hashish, 16 vehicles, more than 60,000 euros ($67,000) in cash, six guns and mobile phones were confiscated, the ministry said. The operation was carried out by the Spanish police in collaboration with Catalonian and Moroccan security forces, the Interior Ministry said. (Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will send troops to guard 100 key power transmission centers across the island nation, officials said on Monday, a day after the worst power outage in 20 years, as the head of the state-owned utility board refused to rule out sabotage. Sunday's crippling power cut, the second in as many weeks, lasted about eight hours, fuelling public unhappiness over a perceived lack of action by President Maithripala Sirisena's government to avert sudden outages. "We requested the president to provide military protection to these key positions and the president has assured us he will provide the required security," Power Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told reporters in the capital, Colombo. Sunday's power interruption was the worst since a 1996 incident blamed on a drought. Since then, Sri Lanka has ensured uninterrupted power supply to foreign and domestic investors by diversifying its sources beyond hydropower, to include power generated from thermal and coal-fire plants. The most likely reason for Sunday's outage could be an explosion in a transformer, said Anura Wijepala, the head of the state-owned utility board, who submitted his resignation over the incident, although it has not yet been accepted. "I will not rule out sabotage because the repetition within two or three weeks' time is quite similar in nature," he told Reuters, without elaborating. "We have informed the government analysts and police to do an investigation." Authorities' attention has been drawn to the possibility of sabotage, and they have asked the police to investigate, Junior Power Minister Ajith Perera told the media. Just this month, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed a special panel to investigate the power failure in early March, amid speculation over a sabotage attempt. Sri Lanka's military, which won a 26-year separatist war seven years ago, has been largely limited to barracks and harnessed for development activities. But the defense budget has stayed high, thanks to the large numbers recruited by the previous regime in its efforts to defeat the ethnic minority Tamil Tiger rebels. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
As the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic spreads like wildfire across the nation, states are pursuing a slew of legislative measures designed to reduce the amount of painkillers doctors can prescribe for patients.

According to a report by the New York Times, statehouses across the country are contemplating roughly 375 different proposals that would "regulate pain clinics and several aspects of prescribing painkillers."

The Times reports that Massachusetts is poised to pass a bill into law that would limit doctors' prescribing painkillers after an injury or a surgery to only seven days' worth of pills. Vermont and Maine could be on a similar track.

In light of the national surge in the abuse of opioid painkillers like Percocet and Vicodin  which often serve as gateway drugs to heroin  state lawmakers have grown increasingly inclined to intervene in how the medical community goes about prescribing them.

Mark Comparone watches after releasing balloons into the sky on March 6, 2016 in Plantsville, Connecticut to commemorate the first anniversary of the fatal heroin overdose of his son Benjamin Comparone, 27.

At a meeting of the National Governors Association in February, discussion of how states could take action  both alone and in-concert  to stem the flow of prescription painkillers was a major focus. Noting that nearly 30,000 people die every year from prescription opioid and heroin misuse and abuse, a joint statement put out by the NGA and the American Medical Association during that meeting called attention to substance abuse to be understood as "a medical disease that needs our care and compassion." Governors at the meeting were strikingly passionate about curbing painkiller prescriptions, which Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin described as being "p ."

Health care providers wrote roughly 260 million prescriptions for painkiller in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  close to enough for every adult in America to and double the rate of prescription .

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States have grown keen on taking changes in drug policy into their own hands in light of the federal government's sluggish response to the epidemic. But there are signs that things that help could be on the way from Washington. Last week the Senate passed a bill 94 to 1 which, according to the Washington Post, would:

Establish grant programs to help state and local governments improve education and treatment for drug abuse, encourage medical providers to reduce unnecessary prescriptions, commit resources to help veterans deal with addiction, and give local law enforcement and mental health officials tools to lower the death rate from overdoses.

The bill has yet to go before the House of Representatives, and it still needs to have funds appropriated for it, but given how easily it passed in the Senate, its advocates have strong grounds for optimism.

At the moment, a bipartisan consensus is emerging on how to stop the growing rates of addiction. But the political durability of reforms that would strictly limit prescription rates is an open question  the new state measures are likely to eventually spur a debate about how much the government should be able to intervene in medical practice.

I  a law that has allowed the federal government to play a role in coordinating insurance but fully preserves private medical practice and private health insurance  it seems only logical that at least conservatives and medical professionals would resist the idea of legislatures prescribing how doctors go about handling pain management.

But right now, that issue seems distant. The epidemic is so dire, and the demographics that are being hit by it worst are so central to the Republican base, that for the moment, debates on government overreach are on the back burner.
By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A suspended deputy United Nations ambassador from the Dominican Republic accused of participating in a scheme to bribe a former U.N. General Assembly president is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday, according to a court filing. Francis Lorenzo, 48, is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court for a plea hearing, according to a docket entry on Monday. A lawyer for Lorenzo confirmed he would plead guilty at the hearing to charges including conspiracy to commit bribery. "Ambassador Lorenzo is remorseful and has chosen to accept full responsibility for his participation in his criminal conduct with his co-defendants," said Brian Bieber, Lorenzo's lawyer. Lorenzo is one of six individuals charged in October in connection with a scheme to pay more than $1.3 million in bribes to John Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda and who served as General Assembly president from 2013 to 2014. Prosecutors said those bribes included more than $500,000 that Ng Lap Seng, a billionaire real estate developer in Macau, paid through intermediaries to Ashe to seek U.N. support of a U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau. Authorities said the intermediaries included Lorenzo, who prosecutors said also received bribes from Ng, and Jeff Yin, Ng's assistant. Ashe also received more than $800,000 from Chinese businessmen to support their interests within the United Nations and Antigua, prosecutors said. Those bribes were arranged through Sheri Yan, who was the Global Sustainability Foundation's chief executive, and Heidi Hong Piao, the foundation's finance director, prosecutors said. Both women pleaded guilty in January. Lorenzo, who was appointed deputy U.N. ambassador from the Dominican Republic in 2004, had previously sought to dismiss the charges against him on diplomatic immunity grounds. But U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in February rejected his motion, saying that as a naturalized U.S. citizen, Lorenzo was not entitled to immunity due to his diplomatic role. In total, Lorenzo will plead guilty to three counts at Wednesday's hearing: having engaged in conspiracies to commit bribery and money laundering, and having filed false tax returns, Bieber said. A spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara confirmed the plea hearing was scheduled but declined further comment. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Tom Brown and dan Grebler)
AwesomenessTV is making its film festival debut with the Monday, March 14, premiere of Shovel Buddies at South by Southwest.

The coming-of-age drama about a group of friends who set out to fulfill their late friend's final wish represents a new type of project for Awesomeness Films, the movie division of DreamWorks Animation-owned ATV that was established last year. Awesomeness picked up the dark script off the Black List, hired commercial directors Simon Atkinson and Adam Townley to direct, and cast a mix of traditional and digital talent including YouTuber Kian Lawley, Bella Thorne (Amityville: The Awakening) and Alex Neustaedter (Colony).

Awesomeness Films president Matt Kaplan acknowledges that Shovel Buddies is "a little off-center" from the slate that teen-centric Awesomeness established in 2015, which included Snervous, a documentary about vlogger Tyler Oakley, and buddy comedy Smosh: The Movie. He spoke with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the film's world premiere about how it fits into the Awesomeness brand.

What makes SXSW the right platform for Shovel Buddies?

This is a project that we bought off of the Black List a while back. It's one that really came together nicely. We've got an amazing directing duo named Si & Ad, who have done pretty elevated commercial work. We were really wanting to take steps in a more adult direction with the movie. I think that it's really grounded and real, and we were able to attract a really promising cast with Bella Thorne and Kian Lawley, one of our bigger influencers, and a wonderful young actor who's more traditional named Alex Neustaedter. It was the perfect film to take after the other films that we've done. It really represents the direction that we're headed in. South By particularly is such a fun festival. It premieres films that are usually for this younger audience in a way that we felt like it was the perfect place for it.

How important is a festival premiere in helping change the perception around the types of films you're making?

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While other people may be making influencer-driven movies, we're about quality. Awesomeness is about elevating and supporting our influencers. Just like we did this film, we're trying to get a great piece of writing, great director and work with our influencers to make sure we get the biggest reach possible and in front of as many viewers as possible.

Will you distribute Shovel Buddies digitally like you have with your other films?

We're still devising our plan in terms of the rollout strategy. It may be a theatrical thing or it may be a digital thing, but that's the fun part. Distribution at this company is fluid. We choose the path after we've screened it and seen the response, as opposed to having a more traditional route. That's the part of our business that we're most excited by. We feel like, as content providers, its our responsibility to make great movies and focus on the business aspect later. We've been able to have success with that model.

Why did you decide to make a project that is a bit darker than what we've seen from Awesomeness in the past?

This movie is an R-rated film that is very grounded and real and emotional. We felt like it was a story that we wanted to tell. We wanted to come out with something that was a little off-center for what we had been doing. But moving forward, I still think it's about making sure that we're touching that core 13-to-25 demo when everyone else in traditional is leaving them behind. The film that we just completed is Before I Fall. That's a movie that's more of a PG-13, based on a YA best-selling book that's very grounded. Zoey Deutch plays the lead in that. It's really about making sure that we continue to tell stories that elevate the material and the actors that we're working with.

With an R rating, is Shovel Buddies still made for that core Awesomeness audience?

Young adults don't want filters, ultimately. When you're in the room of Tyler Oakley, he's speaking to the camera and he's really honest and real. I don't think it's about ratings but I do think it's about not speaking down to your audience and allowing them to feel like this story that they're being told is something that they can really relate to.

What's the experience like on-set when you've got a mix of traditional and digital talent?

I think that there's this kind of amazing shift that's happening now where traditional actors now are interested in figuring out how they can grow their social reach. And then someone like Kian who may have come from digital is now learning how to be on-set and figure out how all of that works. That is what the future is. Actors and directors want to speak directly to their audience. And it's a great opportunity for them and us to collaborate and have the support of our enormous channel to help them grow.
Damascus (AFP) - The Syrian presidency said Moscow will keep up its support for the regime's "anti-terrorist" battle, following the surprise announcement Monday of a pullout of Russian forces from the war-torn country.

"The Syrian and Russian parties agreed in a telephone call between Presidents Bashar al-Assad and (Russia's) Vladimir Putin to reduce the number of Russian air force personnel in Syria," the president's office said on its Facebook page.

"The Russian side said it will continue to support Syria in its battle against terrorism," it said.

The presidency said the Russian announcement follows "the success registered by the Syrian army with the cooperation of the Russian air force and with the restoration of security in several regions of Syria".

Putin earlier ordered the Russian defence ministry to begin the troop withdrawal from Tuesday.

"The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents" from Syria, Putin said.

The Kremlin said Putin called Assad to inform Moscow's long-standing ally of the move that appears to end the main part of its intervention in Syria's conflict that began in September.
Beirut (AFP) - Since a ceasefire came into force in Syria, the army and its Russian ally have refocused their air power on targeting jihadist factions, a monitoring group said Monday.

The truce began on February 27 and does not cover the fight against jihadist groups like Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

"In agreement with Russia, the Syrian regime is focusing its capabilities on frontlines with the jihadists," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"In the fortnight before the truce, warplanes staged some 3,000 strikes and barrel bomb attacks in opposition-held areas. That number has gone down to some 325 since February 27," Abdel Rahman said.

"By contrast, the number of air strikes against jihadist areas has soared," he added.

Overnight Sunday to Monday, Syrian warplanes and helicopters pounded IS-held areas around the ancient city of Palmyra in the east of the country, the Observatory said.

Fighting raged in the area, pitting IS against army troops backed by pro-Damascus militia, the Britain-based group said, adding that at least six jihadists were killed.

IS seized Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Pearl of the Desert", last May, sending shockwaves across the world.

"The regime is trying to take back Palmyra. But troops can't advance quickly because the area is exposed, and IS could easily stage ambushes there," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"So they need to go slowly," he said.

Meanwhile in the coastal province of Latakia, army troops and loyalist militia led by Russian officers battled Al-Nusra fighters allied to non-jihadist rebel factions, said the Observatory.

"It is very hard to implement the ceasefire in areas where Al-Nusra is fighting alongside rebel groups, because it is impossible to track who exactly is honouring the ceasefire there," Abdel Rahman said.

"At the same time, the regime side will use Al-Nusra's presence as a justification to keep fighting."

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- Civilian suffering -

In Latakia, the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect and home to the Hmeimim Russian airbase, the army and its allies are trying to retake the strategic Kabbaneh hilltop near Turkey, the Observatory said.

Kabbaneh is the rebels' last strategic hilltop in the western province.

Elsewhere, the army hit the Marj area near Damascus, where Al-Nusra is also the main fighting force, with several missiles, as clashes raged.

Civilians caught in the fighting are still paying the highest price, however.

"The regime is threatening to besiege Deir al-Assafir and other areas near Marj, which are home to some 2,500 families," Abdel Rahman said.

Ceasefire violations have nonetheless been committed every day since the ceasefire came into force.

According to an AFP count based on Russian defence ministry statements, the truce has been violated 208 times.

The highest number of violations took place on Sunday, with 29 breaches recorded by the Russian count.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Syrian man has been arrested in Sweden on suspicion of war crimes committed in Syria, the Swedish prosecutor's office said on Monday. "He is arrested for serious crimes against international law committed in 2012 in Idlib, Syria," prosecutor Kristina Lindhoff Carleson told Reuters. The man came to Sweden in 2013, she said, declining to provide any further details about the case. Swedish daily Expressen reported without disclosing its sources that the 45-year-old was believed to have figured in a video showing the execution-style killing of seven men, claimed in the video to be soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The video was shown by the New York Times in 2013, Expressen said. (Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
By Bushra Shakhshir ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan (Reuters) - Over five years of Syria's civil war, tents have given way to sturdy shacks in Jordan's Zaatari Refugee Camp, dusty tracks have been paved, acquiring names, and a generation has been born to parents who fear their children will never see home. Hudhayfah Al Hariri, who fled from Deraa four years ago, witnessed Zaatari as it mushroomed to a settlement of 85,000 refugees, becoming by population Jordan's fourth largest "city". Children play between their makeshift homes, schools operate, doctors attend to all, babes in arms to the elderly. Click https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/born-in-a-refugee-camp to see the Wider Image photo essay. Hariri, 26, had planned to marry in his home town. Their apartment was furnished. But as shelling mounted he was forced to flee. His was the first of many weddings to be held in the desert camp 15 kms (10 miles) from Jordan's border with Syria. A picture of the day shows Hariri and his young wife sitting on plastic chairs before a festive orange tapestry, he staring fixedly at the camera, she glancing away, wistful. The father of two worries his children later born in the camp - Retaj, 2, and Yaman, 8 months - might lose any link to home and family left behind. "My dream is to go back to Syria, and raise my children there - to live in the land of our grandfathers, for my children to live in the land of goodness. My grandfather's home, it would be different, to raise my children there," said Hariri. "This isn't our country, our home is Syria. When they're older I'll tell them, but I hope that they'll grow up in Syria." Since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, more than 4.2 million people have fled Syria. Some 13.5 million need protection and help inside Syria, of which more than six million are children, according to the United Nations. "WHEN WILL WE GO BACK?" Um Ahmad, 26, who fled from Homs 3 years ago after her home was destroyed by shelling, is pregnant with her fourth child. This will be the second time she gives birth in the camp. She said it saddened her that her children, having spent their early years in Syria, had only fading memories of home. When we first came here they would keep asking me, when will we go back? But now they've forgotten, theyre busy with playing and school, they don't think about it anymore. If were here for two more years we might all forget Syria. The United Nations refugee organization UNHCR estimates that 50 to 80 children have been born in Zaatari each week since the camp was established in 2012. The camp has two maternity facilities, one the Moroccan field hospital, with 60 beds, an operating room and a staff of 118 people. The other clinic, supported by the United Nations, has 24 beds, and is staffed by 39 Jordanian gynecologists, pediatricians, midwives and nurses. One baby girl, Siwar, was born on March 7 in a dimly lit operating room within the Moroccan field hospital. Doctors wearing blue scrubs and white face masks delivered her by c-section in a tent sterilized to become fit for operations. Her mother, Um Rimas, 22, said her greatest sorrow was that her parents had not met their grandchildren, Its difficult here. When youre in your country, surrounded by your family, you feel different. I have no one in the camp, she said, her voice faint after the delivery of a second child whose place of birth, but not her home, will be Zaatari. (Editing by Ralph Boulton)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition's chief negotiator at peace talks in Geneva said on Monday a real Russian military withdrawal from Syria would be a positive development, but that there was no sign yet of it taking place. "I welcome the Russian withdrawal if it is genuine and not just a maneuver," said Mohamad Alloush, head of the politburo of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group and chief negotiator for the opposition at the talks in Switzerland. But, in a WhatsApp message from Geneva he added: "There are no indications of it being implemented." He was speaking after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would start pulling his armed forces out of Syria, five months after he ordered a military intervention that turned the tide of the war in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva. Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said they had seen no indications so far of preparations by Russia's military for the withdrawal. (Reporting by Tom Perry; editing by Andrew Roche)
From disease-fighting drones to wristbands bearing health data for expectant mothers -- African entrepreneurs pitched ideas to overhaul everything from healthcare to urban planning before an audience of industry figures at the first gathering of the Next Einstein Forum in Dakar, Senegal this past week.

Here are three of the best:

DRONES TO FIGHT DISEASE

Moses Bangura, Sierra Leone

Bangura developed a civilian drone system to deliver medical supplies and transport clinical samples as part of his PhD in aerial robotics. He hopes to roll out the project first in his home country and then across hard-to-reach areas in Africa.

"It's very reliable and robust, an open source system which anyone can develop," he said.

"I thought about giving back to Sierra Leone and Africa, where I come from... one thing I realised is there is a very poor healthcare delivery system."

During the Ebola crisis, the first two hotspots were in the eastern towns of Kailahun and Kenema, linked by an extremely poor road that meant a distance of 100 kilometres (62 miles) could take a day's travel.

"In both Kailahun and Kenema, the greatest need was for more treatment facilities backed by greater and faster laboratory support," the World Health Organization said in a report during the outbreak.

"The cheapest and most efficient way would be to use civilian drones," Bangura told AFP, to ship medical supplies, blood donations, and getting tests to mobile laboratories.

Bangura hopes his drones will take off within 18 months, subject to government legislation.

A WRISTBAND TO SAVE WOMEN'S LIVES

Cameroon's Arreytambe Tabot

Software engineer Tabot has already received seed money from the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology for his team's smart wristband, which works with mobile technology to provide real-time care for expectant mothers.

Maternal sepsis is the third leading cause of maternal deaths in Africa, where more women die in childbirth than anywhere else, and Tabot says his invention is aimed at women in rural areas who are largely illiterate.

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It "does not require any behavioural change on the part of the primary user," working without messaging or apps, which usually require some reading ability, Tabot said.

A combination of voice commands and Radio Frequency Identification technology, previously used to register voters in Nigeria, holds data on vital signs from regular check-ups on the device, tentatively priced at $1.50.

"Every time she comes back to the local health centre the wristband is accessed and if there are any changes then that is registered again and synchronised back into the cloud," Tabot told AFP.

"These women are illiterate, a good number are in rural areas so they don't even know (sepsis) is a problem," he said, adding the wristbands will trial first in Nigeria.

Any problem or discomfort can be registered by the expectant mother with a health practitioner via a missed call.

BUILDING CITIES FROM PLASTIC WASTE

Moussa Thiam, Mali

Thiam is still studying for his PhD at Canada's University of Ottawa, but is already forming links with government agencies back home to sell his special brand of building material created from plastic waste.

With expertise also built up as an alumni of Senegal's African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Thiam wants to improve the environment in rapidly growing African cities while tackling pollution.

"Long-term I want to be in Mali and West Africa," he said.

Mixing the surplus plastic with gravel and sand in a special oven results in a product that could be used for interior design or even roads, offering a cheap and sustainable alternative to concrete, he said.

"We don't have (proper planning) in our urbanisation strategies," he told AFP. "Maybe we have the text, but when we come to the application we don't have enough.

"What we are trying to do is build some new, innovative material," he added.
Go on a wonderful math-filled adventure and learn common core math standards with Maxx, the mighty monster in Monster Math! Have your child be the best in their grade and practice addition, subtraction, multiplication or division with this fun free math game. Help Maxx save his friend Dextra, explore new worlds, battle enemies and find allies in unexpected places!

Have your child walk through basic arithmetic for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade math. The playing board is designed to give maximum number, times table, and basic long division practice. Unlike flash cards or simple quiz based apps, Monster Maths mechanics are designed to test multiple skills at once and guide kids towards answers.

Monster Math provides a brand new story and a different kind of adaptive game play to keep the math levels at the right place for kids. Let your kids progress through learning their basic math skills while having loads of fun! Kids love Monster Math!

Monster Math Features:

 Tons of Adventure

Have your children follow along in this exciting story with engaging voice-over narration, and watch them play through multiple worlds as Maxx!! Kids will use what they know to defeat enemy Troggles and Minions!

 Practice Common Core Math Standards

Learn simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Monster Maths multiple level system is designed to lead the way for struggling kids toward right answers. 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade math are all covered in Monster Math!

-Multiplayer Mode

Play along with your child or have them play with others online through GameCenter! Children will love the competition and motivation to win.

 Practice Mode

This no-nonsense mode is for your children to keep learning without the pressure of saving Maxxs friends! Your child can learn number skills by practicing through random levels and skills.

 Challenging Gameplay

Game play adjusts in difficulty depending on your childs progression. Pace quickens or slows depending on how good they are at performing mental arithmetic.

 Skill Filtering

Want your child to practice specific skills? No problem! You can select only certain skills in the parental section so that the practice is limited to those. And you can customize these settings for each child separately.

 In-Depth Reporting

See the facts on how your child is doing with Common Core Standards Math. See a snapshot to know where they need help. You can even get a skill-by-skill analysis.

 No Third-Party Ads

Ads get in the way of your childs learning! Dont be distracted by tons of ads that could lead to accidental purchases of unwanted apps!

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Theres only a single In-App Purchase for a full upgrade to more training, behind a parental permission-gate.

See the skills your child could be learning with Monster Math!

Addition & Subtraction

 Addition up to 5, 10 and 20

 Subtraction up to 5, 10 and 20

 Two-digit addition without carry over

 Two-digit subtraction without borrowing

Multiplication & Division

 Tables of 1 through 10

 Divide by numbers 1 to 10

 Multiply single-digit numbers by multiples of 10

Monster Math concentrates on Common Core Standards: 2.OA.B.2, 3.OA.C.7, 3.NBT.A.2, 3.NBT.A.3
Paris (AFP) - A shooting rampage on a beach resort in Ivory Coast Sunday was the latest in a series of high-profile assaults in north and west Africa targeting locals and tourists alike.

Here is an overview of the worst such attacks over the past year, all of which have been claimed by jihadist groups:

- 2016 -

- March 13: At least 14 civilians and two special forces troops are killed when gunmen storm the Ivorian beach resort of Grand-Bassam. One French and one German national are among the dead, according to the government. Al-Qaeda's North African affiliate, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), claims responsibility.

- January 15: Thirty people are killed, including many foreigners, in an attack on a top Burkina Faso hotel and a nearby restaurant in the capital Ouagadougou. AQIM claims the assault, saying that the gunmen were from the Al-Murabitoun group of Algerian extremist Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

- 2015 -

- November 20: Gunmen take guests and staff hostage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako, in a siege that leaves at least 20 dead, including 14 foreigners. The attack is later claimed by AQIM, which says it was a joint operation with the Al-Murabitoun group.

Another jihadist group from central Mali, the Macina Liberation Front, also claims responsibility.

- October 31: A Russian passenger jet is downed on its way from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort to Saint Petersburg, killing all 224 on board. The Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group claims responsibility. Russia confirms the crash was caused by a bomb.

- June 26: Thirty Britons are among 38 foreign holidaymakers killed in a gun and grenade attack on a beach resort near the Tunisian city of Sousse. The attack is claimed by the Islamic State group.

- March 18: Gunmen kill 21 tourists and a policeman at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, in another attack in Tunisia claimed by IS.

- March 7: A grenade and gun attack on La Terrasse nightclub in Mali's Bamako kills five people -- three Malians, a Belgian and a Frenchman. The attack is claimed by Al-Murabitoun.
By Doina Chiacu and Bob Chiarito WASHINGTON/BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump refused to take responsibility on Sunday for clashes at his campaign events and criticized protesters who have dogged his rallies and forced him to cancel one in Chicago last week. When a protester interrupted his speech on Sunday at an airport hangar in Bloomington, Illinois, minutes after it began, Trump derided him as a "disrupter" and told the cheering crowd: "Don't worry about it - I don't hear their voice." "Our rallies are so big and we have so many people, I never hear their voices. I only hear our people's voices saying: 'There they are, there they are,'" the billionaire businessman said as the audience roared approval and some 2,000 protesters waited outside. Two later rallies on Sunday in Ohio and Florida passed without disruption. Trump is trying to cement his lead over his remaining Republican rivals - U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich - in five states that hold presidential nominating contests on Tuesday for Republicans and Democrats: Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri. The four Republicans and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are vying to run in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump used a round of Sunday morning television appearances to rebut strong criticism from Republican rivals and Democrats that he was encouraging discord with divisive language disparaging Muslims and illegal immigrants. "I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape," Trump said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The 69-year-old New York real estate mogul defended his supporters and said he was considering helping pay the legal fees of a 78-year-old white man who punched a young black man at a Trump rally in North Carolina last week. The man, Trump said, "got carried away." "I've actually instructed my people to look into it," he said. The man, John McGraw, was charged with assault and later with communicating a threat after he was seen on video saying he enjoyed hitting "that loudmouth" and threatening next time "to kill him." Trump had earlier promised to help cover the legal fees of supporters involved in clashes at his rallies. SIMMERING TENSIONS On Friday night, thousands of protesters, many of them telling journalists they were Sanders or Clinton supporters, showed up at the Chicago rally, forcing Trump to cancel the event and casting a shadow over his weekend rallies. Trump drew condemnation from his rivals. "We are now seeing images on television that we haven't seen in this country since the 1960s, images that make us look like a Third World country," Rubio, 44, said at a campaign event in The Villages, a retirement community in Florida. "Do we really want to live in a country where Americans hate each other?" Clinton, the Democratic front-runner and former U.S. secretary of state, said Trump was "incredibly bigoted" and pitting Americans against each other. "He is trafficking in hate and fear," she told CNN. "He is playing to our worst instincts." Trump said tension at his rallies came from people being "sick and tired" of American leadership that has cost them jobs through trade deals, failed to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and treated military veterans poorly. "The people are angry at that - they're not angry about something I'm saying," he said. "I'm just the messenger." Trump has harnessed the discontent of white, working-class voters who blame trade deals for costing them jobs. He has proposed building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, disparaged some Mexican immigrants as criminals and advocated a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. A few dozen protesters, mostly young, stood in the rain outside a later Trump rally on Sunday in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati. Alexander Shelton, a 26-year-old student and activist, wore a white Muslim prayer robe with a picture of the civil rights leader Malcolm X painted on front. "We have to stand up against white supremacy," he said. "Trump stands for that." Michael McKinney, 47, a self-employed credit-card processor from Ohio, came to the rally with his wife and young daughter, and blamed the protesters for the violence. "If the protesters don't act civilly, people on the edge are going to snap," he said. "We are not a Third World nation. We don't stand for killing each other because we disagree or even harm each other," he said. "This isn't the United States I grew up in." (Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikana and Patrick Rucker in Washington, Steve Holland in The Villages, Fla., Jim Oliphant in Boca Raton, Fla., and Joe Wessels in West Chester, Ohio; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia's government will ask parliament next month to strengthen central bank autonomy to shield it from political interference, a reform sought by international lenders, a central bank source said. After the 2011 uprising that ousted President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's central bank governor clashed with the government over its attempts to intervene in monetary policy and was sacked in 2012 over those disagreements. Five years after the uprising, Tunisia is still working through a raft of reforms to help bolster the economy, create jobs and cut back on the public spending its lenders see as a major challenge to growth. According to draft legislation seen by Reuters, the central bank will not take instructions from the government and will have absolute control over monetary policy, currency reserves and gold reserves. Currently in Tunisia, there is no law prohibiting the government from seeking to intervene in central bank policy or making demands on reserves. "The goal is to establish a modern central bank and good monetary governance and avoid any possible political bickering or demands to impose certain monetary policies regardless of the economic trend for the next government," said the central bank official familiar with the bill. The draft does include a clause allowing the government to form a committee to scrutinise the central bank in case of any suspicions of corruption or criminal misdoing. The legislation, prepared with International Monetary Fund support, includes a new central bank committee which could issue recommendations to the government on how to handle the impact of global economic problems. (Editing by Patrick Markey/Ruth Pitchford)
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey on Monday blamed Kurdish rebels for a suicide car bombing that killed 35 people in Ankara, the latest in a series of attacks that has heightened concerns about security in the country.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Sunday evening blast, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the capital, wounding more than 120 people.

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said "serious, almost certain findings" from the investigation pointed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and vowed to "take any step required to defend this country".

Officials say that of the 37 people killed in the blast, 35 have now been identified as victims, one was a female suicide bomber and one a man thought to have been her accomplice.

Sunday's carnage, the second major bombing in Ankara in less than a month, will come as an embarrassment to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) won parliamentary elections in November promising to save Turkey from "chaos" and smash the PKK.

In February a car bombing along very similar lines targeted military personnel in a nearby area of Ankara, killing 29 people.

A second attack so soon afterwards in the centre of the Turkish capital will add to security fears as Turkey grapples with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

The February attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, as revenge for Turkish military operations in the southeast. The TAK warned of more attacks to come, including on tourist areas.

Turkey has in recent months waged an all-out assault on the PKK, which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.

Davutoglu said the evidence so far pointed to Kurdish rebels being behind the bombing.

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"There are very serious, almost certain findings that point to the separatist terrorist organisation," he told reporters after visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, referring to the PKK.

Authorities have detained 11 people over the attack, Davutoglu said, while Turkish jets bombed PKK targets in northern Iraq on Monday, just hours after the blast.

Mourners wept as the first of the victims were laid to rest on Monday, some in coffins draped with the scarlet Turkish flag.

The country has been hit by a string of major attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on IS, which controls large areas of Turkey's southern neighbour Syria.

Three have targeted Ankara, including a double suicide bombing in October that left 103 people dead.

- 'We do not deserve this' -

Erdogan pledged to continue the fight against the Kurdish rebels and urged Turkey's allies to stop backing Syrian Kurdish groups -- which Ankara sees as branches of the PKK.

"Those at home and abroad who think they made us pay a price will pay real price themselves," he said in a televised speech on Monday evening.

But there was anger that security forces were unable to stop the blast, which came just two days after the US embassy warned of a possible plot to attack central Ankara.

"People have been talking about another bomb attack coming for more than a week but the government took no precautions and didn't warn anyone," Nihat Gorgulu, the uncle of one of the victims, told AFP.

"We are very afraid because the government doesn't care about the people of this country."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, accused the government of "turning a blind eye" to the threat.

"We do not deserve this intolerable situation where parents are burying their children," he said.

The head of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Selahattin Demirtas suggested the government was "politically liable" for the attack.

"3 big explosions hit country's capital in the last 5 months, should we say we congratulate AKP for this? What should we say?" he said on the party's English-language Twitter account.

Dozens of left-wing activists protested in central Istanbul against the government over the bombing before riot police broke up the rally with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.

Targeting civilians would not be a completely new tactic for Kurdish rebels, but would represent an escalation of the current phase of the conflict.

Can Acun, an analyst with Turkish think tank SETA, told AFP the rebellion appeared to be getting desperate.

"The 'uprising' launched by the PKK has not worked. Even the Kurdish population has distanced itself from its operations in the southeastern towns," Acun said.

"In frustration the PKK seems to have chosen to go for more serious acts."
By Ayla Jean Yackley and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The second suicide bombing in a month in the heart of Turkey's capital has raised fears of a dangerous new phase in its war with Kurdish militants, bringing deadly attacks to its biggest cities in violence fueled by the wars in Syria and Iraq. Security officials say the two perpetrators of Sunday's car bombing, a man and a woman, were linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey. Their luxury BMW car was driven from the southeastern town of Viransehir, and the explosives it carried when it targeted a crowded transport hub in central Ankara were laced with pellets and nails to maximize the damage, the sources said. Thirty-seven people were killed, and dozens more wounded. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had obtained "very serious and almost certain" evidence suggesting the PKK was responsible but there has been no claim of responsibility. Turkey faces numerous security threats, including from Islamic State militants, and government critics say it is too quick to blame Kurdish insurgents. The PKK has largely avoided civilian targets in the recent past. Should links to the PKK or its affiliates be confirmed, the mass targeting of civilians and relative sophistication of the attack would mark a deadly change in tactics from a group that had previously concentrated for the most part on striking the security forces in the southeast. "The use of moving vehicles that are highly destructive in suicide attacks is a new phenomenon in Turkey," said Metin Gurcan, an independent security analyst and retired Turkish military officer who now writes a column for Al-Monitor. "These kind of attacks are seen in Syria and Iraq as part of daily life but Turkey is becoming the kind of place where they occur too," he said. "It is not new that the PKK is targeting civilians ... but the scale is new." A 2-1/2 year truce in Turkey's southeast broke down in July after the PKK's political arm announced an end to the ceasefire, saying the state was using the lull in fighting to build new military outposts and prepare for war. Since then the violence has been at its worst since the 1990s, with hundreds killed as the security forces try to drive out militants who have dug trenches and erected barricades in urban centers, turning parts of the region into a war zone. Ankara sees the spiraling violence as deeply linked to events in northern Syria, where the PKK-affiliated Kurdish militia, the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG), have seized territory near the Turkish border as it battles Islamic State militants and rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. "In many instances ... the same terrorists, the same militants, go to Turkey with a PKK flag and when they pass to the Syrian side they put on the YPG flag. It is the same thing," President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara last month. Turkish security officials say border crossings controlled on the Syrian side by the YPG are being used as a conduit for supplies, ammunition and recruits to destabilize Turkey, something the YPG's political arm has strongly denied. "(The PKK) has obtained large amounts of explosives after ammunition and weapons depots in Syria and Iraq were looted," said Mete Yarar, a security analyst and former Turkish special forces officer who was in the security forces for 20 years. "These are usually military-type explosives which you can't buy on the open market." LIMITED OPTIONS Erdogan and government ministers have said attacks such as those in Ankara will not lessen Turkey's resolve in fighting terrorism, signaling continued air strikes on PKK camps in northern Iraq, military ground operations in southeastern Turkey and potentially renewed shelling of the YPG in Syria. But these are blunt tools which leave many in Turkey questioning whether their government has the capacity to prevent further attacks. "We ask who will protect the people's lives," the opposition Sozcu newspaper said in its front-page headline the morning after the Ankara bombing. Security experts say such attacks, using moving suicide car bombs, are extremely difficult to prevent, particularly with the chaos in Syria and Iraq hampering intelligence gathering. "For an intelligence agency to work properly, you need a counterpart on the other side. That creates a system where you can filter people and threats," said Yarar. "But there is none near Turkey's 1,200-km southeastern border." Turkey is also hampered in its ability to strike the YPG in Syria because the group has enjoyed U.S. support in the fight against Islamic State, much to Ankara's frustration, which views it as an extension of the PKK. Ultimately, most observers believe there can be no military solution, making a return to a peace process with the PKK initiated by Erdogan in 2012 seem almost inevitable. But that could be some time coming, with the government insisting it can only resume once the militant group lays down its weapons. "It is a known fact to both sides that this conflict can not be resolved militarily," said Nigar Goksel, senior analyst for Turkey at the International Crisis Group. "We think in the end, both sides will be coming back to the negotiating table, but they are both trying to come back more powerful." OUT OF CONTROL Part of the problem is the questionable extent to which the Turkish state's past negotiating partners are still in control. A new generation of Kurdish militants, many still teenagers, has taken center stage in the recent violence and some want to take their armed campaign outside the southeast. "Inside Turkey there is a lot of anger among Kurds. Hundreds of people have been killed, cities have been destroyed, and there has always been this underlying question of why is the PKK fighting in areas where Kurds get hurt," said Aliza Marcus, author of "Blood and Belief," a history of the PKK. The Ankara bombing "points to a new and really dangerous shift in the war between the PKK and the Turkish state. The PKK is showing it is willing to take its war into (Turkey's) west, that it wants to make Turks suffer the way Kurds are suffering." The previous suicide bombing in Ankara on Feb. 17, which targeted a military bus and killed 29 mostly soldiers, was claimed two days later by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which says it split from the PKK. Security experts say the two retain close links. TAK is the PKK's urban, western wing and offers the latter, which is concerned about its international standing, "plausible deniability" while implementing its strategy, Marcus said. "The PKK provides TAK with logistical, training and weapons support but gives TAK the initiative to make decisions including where, when and how to carry out attacks," said Gurcan. "Unfortunately, this region produces a lot of youth who will die easily for ethnic or religious motives. University students and 14-year-olds who want to die." (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Nick Tattersall in Istanbul; writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Ankara (AFP) - Turkish police have detained four suspects near the Syrian border they believe are linked to Sunday's deadly car bomb attack in the heart of the capital, according to local media.

Police acted on the tip-off that the car that exploded in Ankara had been bought from a dealership in Sanliurfa, state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The four suspects were due to be taken to Ankara, the agency said.

Nobody has claimed responsibility yet for the attack that claimed the lives of at least 36 people -- the third on the jittery capital in five months.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu gave an overall toll of 37, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two.

Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.
Harare (AFP) - An Italian father and son who lived in Zimbabwe were shot dead by wildlife rangers while on an anti-poaching patrol in an apparent case of mistaken identity, officials said Monday.

The two were killed in the Mana Pools national park in northern Zimbabwe on Sunday.

"The rangers (were) following the spoor of the poachers, they later saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire accidentally shooting and killing... the pair," the parks authority said in a statement.

Emmanuel Fundira, head of the Safari Operators Association, told AFP that private individuals regularly assist the parks department in Zimbabwe by providing logistical support for anti-poaching patrols.

"Claudio Chiarelli was an accomplished professional hunter who brought European tourists to Zimbabwe," Fundira said.

"Claudio and some colleagues were on a trip with a parks anti-poaching unit when a ranger came from nowhere and shot at them while they were standing outside their vehicle.

"We understand it was a case of mistaken identity."

An Italian embassy official, who declined to be named, said Claudio Chiarelli, reportedly from Padua, had lived in Zimbabwe since 1982 and that his son was born in the country.

Italian media reports said Chiarelli was 50, and identified his son as 20-year-old Massimiliano.

"We can confirm it happened yesterday at Mana Pools national park but we are not aware of the exact details," said the embassy official.

"We are in contact with the family. It's a tragedy. The loss of a father and a son, and also for Zimbabwe for the bad publicity it will generate."

The parks department said they were investigating the incident.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is in contact with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities about the reported capture in northern Iraq of an American who was fighting with Islamic State, a State Department official said on Monday. The Islamic State fighter, who was identified by CBS News as Muhammad Jamal Amin, 27, of Virginia, emerged from territory controlled by the militant group in Syria, media reports said. "We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu Editing by W Simon)
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. envoy overseeing Syrian peace talks said on Monday he hoped a woman might become president. Syria's government had said it would not discuss presidential elections at the talks, which began on Monday, although U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura has proposed holding a presidential election in 18 months' time. He told a news conference that a political transition was "the mother of all issues" and would be the focus of the talks. Asked if he would like to see a woman as president, he told Reuters: "I would love that." His spokesman Ahmad Fawzi quickly added that the outcome of any election was entirely a matter for the Syrian people. Opposing views on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad helped to wreck a previous round of peace talks in 2014, and undermined an attempt to forge a road map for peace in 2012. The co-sponsors of the current talks, Russia and the United States, have opposing views whether Assad can continue as president after five years of war in which more than 250,000 people have been killed. Syria, for its part, has shown no sign of shifting, especially since it is now in the ascendancy on the battlefield. De Mistura has repeatedly said he wants to include more women in the peace process, and teased reporters on Monday by asking them to guess whom he had met first in the current round of peace talks. After several wrong answers were shouted out, he said he had met the Syrian Women's Advisory Group for almost an hour and a half on Sunday afternoon. "They are those who I hope will be able to contribute more than ever before to at least our understanding on how to address the Syrian crisis," de Mistura said. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
GENEVA (Reuters) - Some ideas have been floated at Syrian peace talks that began on Monday, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura said after a meeting with the Syrian government delegation. De Mistura said the first meeting was preparatory and a further meeting with the government delegation on Wednesday would focus on the core issues. Asked about the apparent gulf between government and opposition negotiators on the question of Syria's political transition, he said negotiations and peace talks always begin with strong or rhetorical statements. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Dubai (AFP) - Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed on Monday in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.

In a statement on the UAE's official WAM news agency, the Emirati armed forces had said the jet was "missing" without giving details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since the Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.

Coalition warplanes turned their crosshairs on Yemen's second city Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, for the first time last week.

Security officials and witnesses in Aden told AFP that a jet had crashed into a nearby mountain as coalition warplanes operated in the vicinity after clashes erupted between Yemeni forces and jihadists.

Footage from the foot of a hill near Aden showed locals pointing to debris strewn in the area and saying it belonged to the crashed jet.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the conflict between Iran-backed insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local IS commander at dawn, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.

- Military losses -

Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting on Monday, security officials said.

"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machinegun fire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden's Mansura district, one witness said.

Security sources estimate that around 300 heavily armed Al-Qaeda fighters are entrenched in Mansura.

The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.

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In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error."

The pilot was saved and the plane's wreckage was found.

In May, a Moroccan jet crashed in Yemen. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that the crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, denying rebel claims that they had downed the plane.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

In Yemen itself, more than 6,100 people have died -- half of them civilians -- since the coalition launched its campaign, according to the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia mounted an Arab air campaign against the rebels after they closed in on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.

Hadi and senior officials spend most of their time in Riyadh as security situation in Aden continues to worsen.

The Huthi rebels overran capital Sanaa unopposed in September 2014 and went on to expand their control across the south Arabian Peninsula country.
* Prompt prices up while curve dips

* Gullfaks outage hits Norwegian gas capacity

March 14 (Reuters) - British gas prices rose on Monday due to a slightly undersupplied transmission network even as milder weather reduced demand for gas-fired heating.

Gas for immediate delivery rose 0.4 pence to 29.20 pence per therm at 0840 GMT, while gas for Tuesday delivery edged 0.05 pence higher to 29.35 p/therm.

Lower flows from the South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, an outage affecting Norway's Gullfaks field, and slightly higher exports from Britain to Belgium helped support price gains.

"Prompt contracts have opened marginally higher this morning as temperature forecasts have dropped for the end of March and with further support coming (from) a drop off in LNG (terminal) send outs," Marcel Boonaert, head of trading and portfolio at Wingas UK said.

Britain's gas system was marginally undersupplied by 0.7 million cubic metres (mcm), with demand forecast at 284.9 mcm, National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data showed.

Imports from Norway through the Langeled pipeline were near full capacity around 70 mcm on Friday.

Norwegian supplies may face pressure following an unplanned outage at the Gullfaks field, set to reduce the country's gas production capacity by 6.7 mcm/day, according to a statement by system operator Gassco.

Domestic UK supplies rose to 147 mcm compared with 143 on Friday, according to National Grid data.

Britain's Met Office said temperatures would reach as high as 15 degrees Celsius in some parts of Scotland on Monday.

The onset of milder weather has led to a reduction in gas-fired heating needs in the UK as seen by the drop in local distribution zone demand to 190 mcm/day from 200 mcm/day on Friday.

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures lost ground on Monday but managed to stay around $40 a barrel, potentially helping tilt forward contracts lower.

The April contract was down 0.20 pence to 28.15 pence per therm while the Winter 2016 gas contract fell 0.50 pence to 32.80 pence per therm.

In the Netherlands, the day-ahead gas price at the TTF hub was 0.12 euros lower at 12.28 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh).

In Europe's carbon market the front-year EU Allowance (EUA) price rose 0.07 euros to 4.93 euros per tonne. (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic; editing by Susan Thomas)
About 18 million years ago, army ants that were adapted to living underground  and had lost much of their sight  returned to the surface and regrew the parts of their brains related to vision, a new study has found.

But the brain benefits didn't end there. Not only did the ants recover a set of previously underused brain structures, but their overall brain size increased as well. In turn, this brain-size increase enhanced the ants' sensory input capabilities as well as their processing centers to handle a more complex environment.

I can see clearly now

The army-ant subfamily Dorylinae dates to about 78 million years ago, and most of these ants live underground at least part of the time; their eyes are either very small or completely absent. In the study, the researchers noted that this subfamily descended from a large-eyed ancestor whose vision capabilities and vision-related brain regions dwindled over time  a transition that occurred repeatedly within the ant lineage.

But what happened to one branch of the army-ant family was extremely unusual: After living underground for 60 million years, army ants from the Eciton genus headed back into the light, and over time, their brains changed dramatically as they adapted to living on the surface.

The researchers found that the optic lobes of surface-dwelling Eciton army ants were significantly larger than the optic lobes in their underground cousins. The regions of their brains dedicated to processing smell were larger, too, and the ants' brain volume increased relative to their body size. [Cool Close-Up Photos Show Ants of the World]

These structural changes suggested to the researchers that the growth in the ants' changing brains was being driven by a range of environmental stimuli, such as variations in activities based on the day-night cycle, an increased threat of predators and greater prey diversity.

Brain-picking

Study co-author Sean O'Donnell and other researchers in his lab have been investigating army-ant diversity and ecology since 2003. O'Donnell, an evolutionary biologist and professor in the Drexel University Biology Department in Pennsylvania, told Live Science in an email that he and his colleagues were eager to explore an aspect of army-ant biology that was previously unknown: how much the brains of ants that lived aboveground differed from those of ants that lived underground.

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"Similar studies on other groups of animals  cave fish and their relatives, subterranean insectivore mammals  suggested they [army ants] were a great place to look for evolutionary changes in brain structure," he said.

O'Donnell explained that peering at the brain of an ant  and in the species they sampled the most, that's about the size of small sand grain  involved a lot of preparation by a skilled and dedicated lab team. After preserving the ant with a fixative, they embedded the tiny head in resin, sliced it into sections, and then stained and photographed the tissue. Once the scientists had the photos, they measured the brain structures and then calculated their volume by stacking the slices and multiplying by their thickness.

O'Donnell and his colleagues suggested a few aspects of the aboveground world that are more complex and require the evolution of extra brain space: a diversity in prey, the presence of predators, and the variation between daytime and nighttime activities.

The large brains and enhanced optic lobes in Eciton ants were exceptional for any species of army ants, but the researchers found that Eciton ants had even more surprises in store. Even though they sported working peepers, their eyes seemed to differ from those of other insects.

"One exciting pattern we uncovered is the suggestion that Eciton eyes are functional but seem to have [a] peripheral and neural structure that is distinct from most insect eyes," O'Donnell said. "We are keen to explore how their eyes function."

The findings were published online March 8 in the journal The Science of Nature.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Geneva (AFP) - Talks to end Syria's civil war opened in Geneva on Monday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

The UN-hosted negotiations, which began a day before the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

As the delegations arrived in Geneva over the weekend, Damascus warned that any discussion about removing Assad would be a "red line".

Top Western diplomats immediately condemned the comment from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as divisive and provocative.

After his first official meeting with the regime on Monday, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters that "strong statements (and) rhetoric" were part of every tough negotiation and that his initial discussions with government representative Bashar al-Jaafari were "useful".

Speaking earlier, he said the talks quickly needed to focus on "the real issues".

"What is the real issue?" he asked. "The mother of all issues (is) political transition."

The UN envoy said the agenda for the negotiations will follow a Security Council resolution that calls for a transitional government to be formed in six months, and general elections within the following year.

- Wrangling over delegations -

A lot has changed since the last round of indirect talks collapsed in February, particularly for many of Syria's war-ravaged people who have previously been deprived of regular access to life-saving aid.

A temporary ceasefire introduced on February 27 has largely held, despite accusations of violations from both sides, allowing aid to reach some 150,000 people living under siege.

The truce -- the most significant since the conflict began -- has sparked cautious encouragement.

But experts warn that negotiations will still struggle to achieve a durable peace on the fractured battlefields where multiple groups are competing for dominance.

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Representatives from Syrian Kurdish groups, which have played a key role in combatting jihadist fighters, have been excluded from the talks despite a push from Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's position on Monday, saying that "the whole spectrum of Syrian political forces" should have a voice in Geneva.

"Otherwise this cannot claim to be a representative forum," he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti state news agency.

Beyond the contentious issue of Kurdish participation, Damascus has during previous peace efforts sought to veto various opposition figures and branded others as "terrorists".

Jaafari said he pressed the point again with de Mistura on Monday, asking for details of those invited and whether "all the delegations have been treated with equal criteria."

"The rule of the game will be inclusiveness," de Mistura said, adding that he was open to broadening the list of delegates as early as this round of negotiations, which is expected to last until March 24.

A second round of roughly two weeks of talks would start after a brief recess, followed by third round, at which point de Mistura said he hoped there would be a "clear roadmap" for a permanent deal.

- No 'plan B' -

The UN envoy acknowledged the huge divisions between the opposing sides, with Assad's fate and the prospect of holding elections standing out a key hurdles.

But, he stressed, walking away from dialogue was not an option.

"As far as I know, the only plan B available is the return to war, and to an even worse war than we had so far," he said.

Analysts have said the talks are largely a forum for international powers involved in the conflict, and that the strategic interests of the US and regime ally Russia will be crucial to determining the shape of a possible deal.

De Mistura told reporters that if progress appears impossible, he will turn to the "real peacemakers", referring to Washington, Moscow and the UN Security Council.

"We will bring the issues back to those who have influence," if negotiations go nowhere, he said.

The leverage of major powers over Syria's warring parties has its limits, however, as half of Syria's territory is controlled by jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group or Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, neither of which are included in the ceasefire.

Russia has continued to focus its airstrikes on the jihadist groups since the truce came into effect last month, pounding Islamist stronghold areas around the ancient city of Palmyra throughout the weekend, among other targets.
Miami (AFP) - North Carolina authorities said Monday they are looking into whether Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump incited a riot at a rally where a black protester was punched in the face by a supporter.

It comes after a weekend of violent clashes and protests at Trump events and ahead of "Super Tuesday 2," with Democratic and Republican primary contests in the states of Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.

John McGraw, 78, was charged with assault, battery and disorderly conduct after sucker-punching Rakeem Jones at a chaotic Trump rally on Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Trump said over the weekend that he was considering paying McGraw's legal fees.

Police are now delving into whether Trump, who is accused by critics of fueling the increasingly toxic atmosphere surrounding his rallies and the wider campaign, also broke the law that night.

"We are continuing to look at the totality of these circumstances, including any additional charges against Mr McGraw, including the potential of whether there was conduct on the part of Mr Trump or the Trump campaign which rose to the level of inciting a riot, and including the actions or inactions of our deputies," the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

McGraw, who later said that next time "we might have to kill" Jones, is due in court on April 6.

Clashes erupted at a Trump rally in Chicago on Friday, marking an escalation in the tensions that have trailed the bombastic Republican candidate, who has called Mexicans rapists and urged a ban on Muslims entering the US.

Protesters turned up at a rally staged by the 69-year-old billionaire in Hickory, North Carolina again Monday, but this time, he patiently waited for their chants to subside.
A top US Treasury official will visit China this week to discuss North Korea's menacing actions and sanctions aimed at curbing the country's "destabilizing behavior," the Treasury announced Monday.

Adam Szubin, Treasury acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will visit Beijing and Hong Kong on March 15-16 for discussions with both government officials and the private sector on implementing the China-supported United Nations and US sanctions on Pyongyang announced March 2.

"This trip provides an important opportunity for discussions of ways to strengthen US-China coordination in response to North Korea's destabilizing behavior and to ensure sanctions targeting the North Korean regime are as effective as possible," the Treasury said.

The UN and US sanctions were responses to a new nuclear test and rocket launch by North Korea that were deemed provocations and violations of previous UN resolutions banning specific nuclear activities.

The sanctions blacklisted a number of North Korean officials and required all countries to inspect cargo to and from North Korea, in all airports and seaports.

They also ban or restrict exports of coal, iron and iron ore and other minerals from North Korea, and prohibit the supply of aviation fuel including rocket fuel.

Szubin will also talk with officials about efforts to choke off the finances of the Islamic State jihadist group and enforcement of US sanctions that remain in place on Iran, the Treasury said.
Activists chanted anti-China slogans in the Vietnamese capital on Monday to mark the anniversary of a 1988 battle in the Spratly Islands, a rare act of protest over an issue that has come to dog relations between Hanoi and Beijing.

The two neighbours are locked in long-standing territorial disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which both countries claim.

One party Vietnam clamps down on public protest.

But anti-Chinese demonstrations have become increasingly commonplace, particularly around the March 14 anniversary of a skirmish between China and Vietnam.

In 1988 China launched an attack on Gac Ma Island -- one of the larger Spratly Islands which was formerly under Vietnamese military control -- killing 64 Vietnamese soldiers in the last violent conflict between the two nations.

"We are here to commemorate our soldiers killed by Chinese," teacher Pham Toan told AFP in front of a statue of Ly Thai To -- the founder of Hanoi and a nationalist figurehead.

"Their sacrifice has been long forgotten by Vietnamese authorities," Toan added, referring to activist claims that the communist authorities do not sufficiently commemorate the battle.

Vietnam's communist leadership's handling of its delicate relationship with China -- which is the country's largest trading partner -- is a frequent flashpoint for domestic criticism of Vietnam's authoritarian government.

Watched by dozens of plain-clothed security officers, the activists played patriotic music and waved Vietnamese flags near the central Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi.

Dozens of activists laid floral wreaths covered with black ribbons that read "the people will never forget" at the statue of Ly Thai To.

The protest lasted about an hour. Vietnam's tightly controlled state media covered the anniversary but not Monday's protest. There was no official comment from the government.

Beijing's increasingly assertive stance in contested waters has triggered public anger and rounds of protests in authoritarian Vietnam where the demonstrations are sometimes forcefully broken up.

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The Spratlys are claimed by Hanoi but controlled by Beijing, which has ramped up activity in the area by rapidly building artificial islands, including airstrips said to be capable of hosting military jets.

Rioting broke out in Vietnam after Beijing sent an oil rig into contested waters in 2014, and at least three Chinese people were killed.

Apart from China and Vietnam the Spratly Islands are claimed in whole or in part by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
HANOI (Reuters) - Demonstrators marched in Vietnam's capital on Monday to mark the 28th anniversary of a bloody naval battle with China and to denounce Beijing's growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea. About 150 people wearing headbands and carrying large banners circled the busy streets around Hanoi's Hoan Kiem lake chanting "down with invasive China". They laid wreaths for 64 Vietnamese sailors who died in a 1988 clash with Chinese forces in the Spratly islands. The protest was small, but significant given Vietnam's history of preventing or breaking up demonstrations. While anti-China sentiment is strong among the public, it is a sensitive issue for the ruling Communist Party. Police made no attempt to stop the 90-minute protest, which was larger than those last year, including one on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Hanoi in November. The rally comes amid tension, brinkmanship and a torrent of megaphone diplomacy in response to anything from Chinese flights and deployment of a missile system to U.S. "freedom of navigation" patrols and Japanese defense agreements with the Philippines. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry last month accused China of taking actions that threaten peace and "accelerate militarization". Monday's demonstration was over a battle in the Johnson Reef in the Spratly islands. Accounts of it differ greatly and Vietnam does not commemorate the incident officially. "That was the first step in China's plan to militarize the South China Sea," said activist Nguyen Van Phuong, 29, referring to the 1988 hostilities. Though Vietnam opposes China's occupation of the Paracel Islands and parts of the Spratly archipelago, its responses to Beijing's activities in disputed areas are usually measured and often come days after those of other countries. China is Vietnam's biggest trade partner and the communist parties that run both countries have historically been close, although some Vietnamese leaders have said trust has been impacted of late. (Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Workers Party chair Sylvia Lim said the opposition party will not contest the Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency, in the wake of the David Ong affair.

Speaking to reporters at her Meet-The-People session in Serangoon on Monday (14 March), Lim said the decision had been made by the WPs executive council due to two factors.



Firstly, the Workers Party has not been active in the area. Secondly, she noted that the Singapore Democratic Party has stated its intention to contest Bukit Batok.



That constituency has been traditionally contested by the Singapore Democratic Party, and they also contested in the most recent general election in that SMC, she said.

Ong, a Peoples Action Party (PAP) Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok, resigned on Saturday (12 March) after admitting to personal indiscretions. It has been widely reported that he had an extramarital affair with a grassroots activist.



Lim would not be drawn on how the PAP had handled Ongs resignation. The public will form their own decisions and judgements, and there could be mixed views on how things should be handled, so I dont think I want to add my opinion to that at this point in time, said the Aljunied GRC MP.

Asked by Yahoo Singapore if she felt Ong should have stepped down, she said, Im not apprised of the full facts, so it may not be fair to comment.

Lim also would not comment on whether the WP will be helping the SDP with its campaign in Bukit Batok.

When asked what an acceptable time frame for the by-election should be, Lim noted that the Constitution was silent on the timing. However, when a by-election took place in Hougang SMC in 2012, the Prime Minister had followed a 90-day time frame, said Lim.

I believe the public expectation will be that, because it is a single seat, and secondly, its still very early in the term, that the Bukit Batok residents would need a replacement MP as soon as is possible.


Rome (AFP) - The explosion of the sharing economy is threatening to "kneecap" workers rights and social protection systems dating back to the 19th Century, European Labour Unions warned on Monday.

Unveiling new research which showed that nearly one in eight adults in Sweden are now earning part of their income from activities in the so-called "gig" economy, leaders of some of Europe's biggest workers' organisations said it was time for governments to wake up to the scale of change underway in labour markets.

Philip Jennings, General Secretary of the UNI Global Union, said organised labour was facing a challenge as big as the environmental movement confronted in climate change as it tries to promote the regulation of a sector its sees systematically sidestepping social charges and any form of worker security.

"There is a growing realisation it really is different this time," Jennings told AFP on the sidelines of a four-day conference in Rome.

"It has become very clear to us that the digi-capitalist is as red-necked and rough as their industrial forefathers were.

"The 'click and go, click and leave' economy cannot be allowed to kneecap workers' opportunities."

Jennings said governments were also waking up to the implications of companies like Uber being able to profit from the services of workers while avoiding paying payroll taxes and other employer obligations because their drivers are classified as self-employed.

"As unions we come at the problem from the point of view of trying to ensure dignity in work. They (the ministers) see it as destroying a social insurance model based on work that has been around in Europe since the time of (19th Century German leader Otto von) Bismark.

Italian union leader Susanna Camusso said the inherent precarity of the new jobs being created in the sharing economy were an indication of how the European Union has abandoned its interest in promoting minimum standards across the bloc.

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"It is appropriate we are meeting in the city where the EU was founded because what we need now is a Europe as it was at the beginning, not as it has become today," Camusso said.

- 'Stakes are high' -

Frank Bsirske, head of Germany's giant services sector union, ver.di, said owners of digital platforms could not believe their luck in being able to employ workers for exactly as long as they are needed, then discard them the moment they are no longer required.

"People don't know if they will work from one week to the next, even from one hour to the next.

"There are no paid holidays, no pensions, no cover for when people get sick."

Bsirske said the priority for unions had to be getting workers employed on a temporary, task-based basis via online platforms to be recognised as such, so that they are protected by existing social legislation -- much of which does not apply if the worker is considered self-employed or freelance.

The Swedish research revealed that 12% of the working-age population (around 737,000 people) were already working in the "gig" economy and 24% were trying to find work this way. Around a third of those active in the sector earned their main or sole income from it.

The findings are broadly in line with those of a study in Britain, which were published last year. Similar surveys are due to be published for Austria and Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, France and Belgium in the coming months.

Jennings said unions faced a tough battle to push the questions raised by the changing economy up the political agenda because companies like Amazon and Uber were able to spend millions on lobbying governments to eschew proper regulation.

"They are trying to shake confidence in the models we have in Europe," he said. "The stakes are high. This is not a time for governments to go into hiding."
A Staten Island woman has been charged with murder for allegedly disposing of her newborn baby in a garbage bag while it was still alive, PEOPLE confirms.



Nausheen Rahman, 28, was initially charged with concealment of a human corpse after police found the infant's body Saturday, the New York Police Department tells PEOPLE. The charges were upgraded to second-degree murder Sunday after the medical examiner determined the baby had been alive before it was placed in the garbage bag, police say.



Workers at Staten Island University Hospital North alerted police to Rahman after she walked into the emergency room Friday complaining of bleeding as a result of giving birth at home, reports the Staten Island Advance. Rahman allegedly told ER staff that she "threw away" the baby, the paper added.



The cause and manner of the infant's death are pending further investigation, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner told the Advance.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



Neighbors told WNBC-TV that Rahman has lived with her family for several years at the Honey Bee Condominium in Staten Island's New Springville neighborhood.



"I think it's terrible," neighbor Mike Stanganelli told WNBC. "And I'm shocked because this is a very good neighborhood. The whole complex is pretty close, too, so for this to go unknown, it's interesting."
Makeup faux pas, over-plucked brows, the embarrassing style and beauty choices most teenagers inevitably make? I havent messed up yet, laughs Zara Larsson, the rising Stockholm-born pop star who made her Billboard Hot 100 debut this week for Never Forget You" featuring MNEK. I mean, theres still time. Maybe ten years from now, Ill look back on today and think &lsquoWhat was I doing? Sort of like Britney [Spears] and Justin [Timberlake] in their denim VMA looks."

But whether shes in a glamorous peachy-lipstick, like the one she wears this afternoon at Cheer Up Charlies in Austin, Texas  or in a smokey contoured eyeshadow with falsies (drag makeup), which shell don hours later at her SXSW debut  Larsson has become somewhat of a beauty chameleon this year thanks in part to Clinique.

The Estee Lauder Companies subsidiary made Larsson the face of their Play With Pop campaign, which included four Hiro Murai-directed music videos that corresponded with four genre-bending versions of her hit Lush Life and four drastically different beauty looks (bare, bold, sweet and vixen). In its own way, the interactive video, which users can seamlessly toggle between, sets forth that same notion of makeup as a medium through which an artists persona can shift  a notion that Beyonce emanated in a big way when she dropped 17 transformative music videos with her 2014 Beyonce album.

Makeup isnt just about covering what you dont like, Larsson says. Im still so young, so I feel like people have wanted to keep me in a &lsquono-makeup fresh type of look  sometimes artists are a little afraid of really putting the makeup on me, she says. But sometimes, especially when I perform, I love putting some falsies on, a brighter lip, heavy contour, heavy eye makeup.

Before getting ready to play Cliniques party at SXSW, Larsson candidly dished on her beauty must-haves. Here is an excerpt from that chat:

Your skin is glowing right now. What's your secret?

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My skin is actually really bad. Its getting better now, but underneath this makeup I have some really bad spots. Last year it started breaking out, which I thought was pretty late because I'm 18. But I went to the doctor a month ago and finally just said Give me something to help with this. I try to take care of my skin from the inside as well, but then I wash it every night and use the Moisture Surge Hydrator, which feels really silky when it goes onto the skin. I try not to do a heavy foundation every day and stick to BB cream, which still gives me great coverage.

When did you start wearing makeup?

I guess it started in the seventh grade with lip glosses. I didnt need makeup in the seventh grade, but it was around the time when I started wanting to wear bras  I wanted to feel gown up  but ... what are the sizes you have here? I would have been like a 25AAA [laughs] and it was like, "Honey you do not need a bra."

Read More: SXSW: Zara Larsson Talks Upcoming Work With Max Martin, Clinique Campaign

If youre leaving the house and dont have time to do full makeup, what are you going to focus on?

The most important things to me are my eyebrows and skin  if the skin looks good then Im good. I do my brows myself, I tweeze them. I never let anyone touch them and Ill apply a little brow mascara or pencil to thicken them a bit. Other than that, I typically like to wear a shimmery bronzy blush  not pink because I dont think that really fits my skin tone.

What was it like filming the music video for Lush Life?

It took two days to make it, but I know that I could have done it in one  but it was nice to have two days. In Sweden we just work until were done, but here it was like, Its 3 oclock, everyone take a one-hour break; we are going home at 9 oclock." I wasnt exhausted by the end.

So in Sweden, it would have been like, Well stay as long as it takes"?

In Sweden they would have been like [makes whip sound].

You are so young and doing so much traveling. Do you have family that goes along for the journey with you?

Yes, my mom is with me always except for this trip. Usually I spend a lot of time in L.A. and I love to have her with me. Even though sometimes I think of myself as a grownup, sometimes Im not. My mom is not a manager, shes not a mom-ager [laughs]  shes only concerned about what is best for me and nothing else.

Do you think youll eventually relocate to L.A.?

I think Im gonna definitely move to L.A. at some point  I dont know when, but the dream is to have a bed in Stockholm and a bed in L.A. Its funny, Swedes seem to go from Sweden to L.A. to sing and write with Swedish people. I guess we love the weather.
HARARE (Reuters) - An Italian father and son have been shot dead by a ranger in a wildlife park in Zimbabwe, the parks and wildlife agency said on Monday, saying the pair had been mistaken for elephant poachers. The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) said Claudio Chiarelli and his son Max Chiarelli were members of volunteer anti-poaching organization Zambezi Society, which was conducting patrols in Mana Pools National Park on Sunday. The two men had been with a group sent out to relieve a team of rangers deployed the previous day to follow a trail of suspected poachers. "The rangers ... saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire, accidentally shooting and killing on the spot the pair," the parks agency said in a statement. "Unbeknown to them these were fresh deployments who had come to replace the rangers and had stopped to attend to a mechanical problem on their vehicle." It said investigations were under way. An official from the Italian embassy in Harare confirmed the deaths and said the older Chiarelli, who is a professional hunter, had been taking eight park rangers in his vehicle to relieve the group from which the shots were fired. The official, who declined to be named, said Chiarelli had lived in Zimbabwe since 1982 and his son Max had been born in the Southern African country. "It seems like an accident. We are in contact with Foreign Affairs to get an official report," the official said, referring to the Zimbabwean government department. Mana Pools adjoins the Zambezi River, which runs along Zimbabwe's border with Zambia. Authorities have for years been battling poachers, most of whom come from Zambia and who have recently been using cyanide to kill elephants. Poachers cut off the dead animals' tusks and sell them to dealers for up to $65,000 a kilogram, according to conservationists. The ivory is ultimately used for ornamental carving in China and other parts of east Asia. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Roche)
Questionable content, good or bad?

Once parents go into protective mode and teachers go into defensive mode and search together for sanitised or safe literature, children get shortchanged.

They get good books removed from their realm of selection because parents object to material on personal grounds.

This is not to say that parents and teachers should allow students to read material that is inappropriate for their age, but if a book fits the criteria of being a good, well-written piece of literature that addresses age-appropriate themes, then parents and teachers really should examine everything in context.

For example, cursing is out if it is gratuitous, done for no reason, but if there is a peppering of cursing to make a clear point about a character  hes rough, uneducated, angry then dont throw out a good book just for this.

Violence is another touchy subject. Parents feel a strong need to protect children from the violence around us, but its a reality. The trick is to decide how much violence is age-appropriate.

Graphic violence would be out for childrens literature  and when I talk about childrens literature, Im talking about everything that really falls below Young Adult (YA) literature for readers 12 to 18.

YA readers are likely to find sexual content and violence in literature.

Again, its what you deem to be appropriate without being too restrictive.

Books for 11-14-year-olds are pushing the envelope more and more. Youre going to find themes and conflicts about love, family, boyfriends and cheating. Environmental issues are becoming big, but if youre talking about animal or environmental conservation, youre bound to find some violence.

The point is you have to weigh the overall value of the book and not take certain parts out of context. You have to think about the issues that are important in your childs life: bullying, friendship, love, fairness, the environment and deem whether the book is appropriate in general.

Dont write off a book for a couple of words or lines. If you feel the need, talk about those questionable lines with your students or children. Ask them why the author chose those words or that particular line and ask whether the author could have handled the situation better by using better words or not cussing. This is an opportunity for children to learn about using more appropriate language. You cant protect them from hearing nasty words.

Theyre hearing them from their peers or on television. Its out there all around them. Its up to you as teachers as parents to teach better ways of communication.

I dont know why authors often feel the need to push the boundaries of what I consider to be acceptable language or acceptable subject matter for a book that is for a certain age range, but Im not willing to write off a good book for a few incidents.

Sometimes when I believe there are a few questionable lines that go over what I find is acceptable to give students to read, I mark the book as a high interest/low reading level book so that it can be used for teenagers 14 to 18. I dont allow younger students to check out the book, but if most of the book is exceptionally good at meeting their needs, I read the book to students in their library periods or book clubs so that I can skip the questionable material.

Next week, well look at four great books that have some questionable content.
No $M compensation for slain cops

Additionally, legislation is required to amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act before this payment could be made.

This was disclosed yesterday by National Security Minister Edmund Dillon who said that the last administration failed to put policy in place to ensure the $1 million payout for those officers promised the package, should they be killed in the line of duty.

At least three families had applied for the $1 million compensation for police officers murdered while on duty but, to date, they have not received a single cent from either the last administration or the new government.

From as far back as May 2011, shortly after Police Constable Anil Persad was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire during a raid in the Cuche/Charuma forest, then Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Government planned to increase compensation packages offered to bereaved families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

The issue of the $1 million compensation first arose following the killing of Sergeant Hayden Manwaring while responding to a robbery in San Fernando on February 19, 2013.

In 2013, then Minister of Finance, Larry Howai during the presentation of the 2013 / 2014 fiscal package in Parliament, announced that the families of those officers, including officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and other arms of the security forces killed in the line of duty, will be paid a $1 million compensation package.

This decision met with a favourable response from the Police Social and Welfare Association (PSWA) and they urged the Minister to put the decision in writing but this was never done.

Before the 2015 general election, at least one police officer, PC Sherman Maynard, killed while on duty outside the Portof- Spain prison during the jailbreak by three prisoners from the Remand Yard on July 24, was named as the first police officer to be considered for the payment.

His mother, Octavia Abraham was visited by then Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at her Chaguanas home and told that the money will be made available to her.

Howai confirmed that Cabinet had agreed to the payment and former Minister of National Security Brigadier Carl Alfonso also indicated that the government was awaiting paperwork from the Finance Division of the Police Service to ensure payment.

PAPERWORK COMPLETED Newsday understands that the paperwork was completed but the money was never released.

Contacted yesterday, Dillon told Newsday, the last administration did not put any policy in place. In fact, they did not even amend the Injuries Compensation Act and therefore this decision made by them cannot be carried out. In fact, legislation is needed to do this and it should not have only been a Cabinet decision. He said that the Ministry is now reviewing the matter and a decision will be taken shortly.

He reminded that had things been put in place then, the money could have been paid but as it stands now, the Governments hands are tied.

Yesterday, Abraham, said she has not received any word from either the Office of the Commissioner of Police or the Ministry of Finance regarding the $1 million payout and added that she is at a lost as to what is happening with that promise.

When told by Newsday that the decision made by the last administration to make the $1 million payment is under review, Abraham, herself a retired police officer, said she was astonished.

She said she has not come to terms with the loss of her son and the $1 million payment would have assisted her financially but it cannot bring back her son whom she loved and cared for dearly.

In 2014, when the decision was taken to make the $1 million payout to families the National Security Officers Foundation was then launched to facilitate such payments.

Late last year, during a news conference, PSWA President Inspector Anand Ramesar called on the then Government to honour their promise and fulfill their obligations to the families of hard-working police officers who continue to serve this country, even risking their lives in the process. During that briefing he questioned, How do you differentiate from a police officer who has died from a heart attack, as opposed to a police officer as in the circumstances as PC Maynard. Relatives of another police officer, PC Russel Ramnarine, killed in the line of duty on December 14 while investigating a robbery along with UWI student Avery Keshwar in Aranjuez, were also living with the expectation that they too would receive the $1 million compensation. However, up until yesterday, this did not materialise.

Ramesar said yesterday, The $1 million compensation to the surviving families of an officer who would have lost his or her life while on duty was an issue discussed with the Minister in the presence of the Acting Commissioner of Police and other persons on Wednesday. At that meeting, the Minister did indicate that there was no criteria for the payment of the $1 million.

The suggestion to amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act was proffered by Williams who suggested that an amendment with the insertion of $1 million in the Act will suffice.

The position the Association agrees with however, in moving forward, the Association enquired whether or not the families of officers who would have lost their lives subsequent to the announcement of the promised payout and who have not yet been paid whether or not they would be compensated.

At no time was that particular position concluded at the meeting.

The Association remains in solidarity with the relatives of officers who have lost their lives.

It is important to note that money does not replace the lives of these officers but, at the very least, the expectation must be met.

The Association will meet with the Executive and we will consider taking this matter to court should these families be refused the compensation.
Dillon: Make Vision on Mission mandatory in prison

Speaking at the programmes launch at Maximum Security Prison, Arouca, Dillon said programmes such as these are needed to successfully guide inmates as they leave the correctional facilities, and return to society.

As you know a prison sentence has the power to take the highest emotional toll on the psyche of the individual despite this, every inmate must show the commitment to see through this time of incarceration and actively participate in this nine month programme as he nears his time of release, and while it is voluntary, I urge the Prisons Commissioner to test his leadership skills and make it mandatory, because I believe it is beneficial to every single inmate in this institution, he said.

He encouraged the inmates to continue with the determination to achieve many positive things in their life, when the process is over, and they are released back into society.

You require the same commitment and hard work, even when situations appear overwhelming and...as you eventually re-enter society there would be times when you feel as if you could not make it.

You will face whispers of the time you spent in jail, this may at time deny you...for employment and other social advancements but the secret for overcoming these obstacles is never to give up, doing the right thing at the right time at the right place, and that is how you endeavour on that path of freedom, the minister said.

He said joining the programme was one of the best choices they have made, and they should continue making good choices.

Ill assure you that you will not return to this institution, and you will make life better for me as Minister of National Security, he said.
Chaguanas Chamber warns of more job losses

In a statement on Saturday, Chamber President Richie Sookhai declared, if a giant like Arcelor Mittal can fall so quickly then the ripple effect will be felt far and wide across the country. Describing the closure as abrupt, Sookair stated that the loss of employment for over 600 employees must be of great concern to everyone in Trinidad and Tobago .

Sookhai said the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce shares in the concern for the future of the employees of the company who will be dealing with very trying times ahead as they try to cope with the job loss and taking care of their families. He expressed the hope that the government and the representative union are cognisant of the role they will need to play in providing the necessary support services to help these families cope. Noting that ArcelorMittal had made it clear that it did everything it could to keep the company afloat but that certain significant factors had contributed to its decision to close the plant, chief among them being the drop in global steel prices, Sookhai pointed out that increases locally in the price of gas, electricity, port rental fees, property taxes and business levies had also contributed to the company closing its doors .

He called on Government to take note of these deciding factors in light of the fact that the role of the Government is to provide an environment that facilitates the growth of business and encourages new investment from both within and outside of Trinidad and Tobago. The Chamber president noted that the closure of Arcelor Mittal in such a short space of time cannot reflect well on the country internationally and to foreign investors considering Trinidad and Tobago as a potential place for investing. He warned that while increasing revenue avenues must be a top priority, government must seek to find balance so as not to hurt or deter business development
Most unfortunate

Asked if the JCC has been able to assess the effect which the plants closure would have on the industry at this time, Armstrong said this has not been done and the group would need to have more dialogue amongst themselves on this issue. Explaining that the JCC is an organisation which makes decisions on the basis of consensus, Armstrong said the JCC is, hoping there is is some further dialogue.

Asked if he was optimstic that some resolution could arise from meetings which Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus had with the Steel Workers Union yesterday and with Arcelor Mittal today, Armstrong reiterated,  We are hopeful.

In a statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley described Arcelor Mittals decision to close its operations locally and let go more than 700 workers as disappointing and the lack of consultation with Government as disrespectful but has expressed a willingness to re-engage the company. The closure of the plant came 24 hours after the Industrial Court ruled in favour of the union, regarding the companys decision to lay off worker
Spate of students fighting alarming

NMWOTT President, Raziah Ahmed, told Newsday the situation is very alarming. Whether it is girl-on-girl violence, boy-onboy violence, boy-on-girl, or vice versa, what is taking place in our secondary school system is very alarming. If you look at the videos posted online, Ahmed noted, the one recording the fight is usually instigating it. Thats why we decided to launch a campaign with the main message being Friends Dont Let Friends Fight, because if their peers are discouraging them from fighting, we believe fewer students would want to fight each other. NMWOTT is currently planning an outreach programme, which is expected to include school visits. The launch complete with placards bearing the aforementioned slogan, was a major part of a rally and march along the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain in honour of IWD, hosted by the Network of NGOs of TT for the Advancement of Women (the Network).

In a statement, Ahmed said the NWMOTT was very disturbed and alarmed by spiralling violence against women, and increasing girl-on-girl violence among teenagers. We join all activists in sounding an alarm, that our society needs to take greater responsibility for heightening awareness of issues that precipitate violence. We need to address the needs of victims and their families more holistically, with a special emphasis on spirituality as a mechanism that fosters both guidance and healing. Referring to their new slogan, Ahmed said it is the role of all women and girls to encourage, guide and protect their sisters, daughters, sons, brothers, parents and all people. We are the quintessential mothers of our Nation.

We support the institutions of the family and religion as pillars of strength and love. To this end, we carry the slogan on our placard, aimed at awakening greater love and empathy in schoolchildren; our 2016 slogan: Friends Dont Let Friends Fight! The NMWOTT also launched this past week its 2016 IWD Project today, Plant a tree for a Woman!, to support the advancement of awareness of the gamut of womens issues which negatively impact the family and society. Ahmed explained that each tree being planted symbolises womens strength, beauty and fertility. The organisations goal is to have 16,000 trees planted between todays launch, and the end of the year.

This is not limited to TT, as people are being encouraged to plant a tree anywhere in the world and then post a photo of it to NMWOTTs Facebook page. Make a prayer that the fruits and produce of each tree will feed a poor woman, shelter a tired woman, or build a house for a struggling woman, and/or will inspire and uplift a lonely woman.

May all our trees together be symbols of the shade we are capable of giving, and may they bear fruit forever, to uplift the mind, and to embody the great traditions of love, charity, mindfulness and beauty, with the Grace of God, the NMWOTT president stated.
Calls for ATMs in rural areas

Addressing a Local Government consultation at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation auditorium on Wednesday last, Khan said one of the major issues facing the Ministry of Finance was, tax compliance. He noted that regional corporations would be able to collect and retain taxes for use in respective corporations.

This administration is proposing a system of secure funding for regional corporations, that corporations will be allowed in the first instance, to collect and retain local taxes, primarily land and building or property tax, because it will generate an immediate cash flow for the corporation, Khan said, adding, collect and retain.So for example, if the Chaguanas Borough is responsible for collecting land and building taxes in the borough of Chaguanas, they know who owns every building...

the Ministry of Finance in Port-of-Spain doesnt know that. And if they know when they collect this tax, they keep it and spend it within the Chaguanas region, wouldnt they go after it?
Carmona  proponent of genuine gender inclusivity

Under his presidency, Carmona said, he has appointed for the first time in Trinidad and Tobagos institutional history, women of calibre to chair the Public Service Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission, Public Service and Statutory Appeals Board, and the Police Service Commission. He has also re-appointed the President of the Industrial Court, and the Ombudsman.

In the past, he said that many sometimes felt that women in TT, may not have been accorded their just due and respect, even though TT is traditionally a deeply matriarchal society.

It is against this backdrop, he said, I have sought to appoint competent, independent and erudite women in key institutions of governance - institutions that demand proactive independence, integrity, vision, and fairness. Under his stewardship, he said, he has given credence to this years motif of Pledge for Parity and has since appointed for the first time in TTs institutional history, women of calibre to chair a number of key State institutions.

He noted that the vindication of womens rights in the workplace and in society at large, was an ongoing struggle.

Women were still excluded from being chairs of major financial and corporate institutions, he said, notwithstanding their excellent qualifications and experience.

We need to change this dynamic.

There are no longer Boy Jobs and Girl Jobs. Those days are over.

Women are our equal peers and must be treated as such, he said.

He commended the role women continue to play in the world of volunteerism. Women in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), he said, continue to bring compassion and selflessness in their search to address the social wrongs and inequities in TT.

His wife, Reema, he said, was equal to the task by virtue of her multifaceted philanthropic patronage in several NGOs.

Women in TT, he said, must truly appreciate their role in society, and recognise that they are, and can be real game-changers, in a society suffering from a diminution of human values, courtesies and mutual respect. He called on all, especially men, to continue to celebrate and support the power and transformational influence of womanhood in TT for the rest of the year.
Scott and Shakespeare for UWIs Campus Literature Week

The Gala, which takes place at 7pm on Friday at The UWIs Centre for Language Learning Auditorium, will also feature students from the Department of Cultural and Festival Arts (DCFA) who will perform an excerpt from one of Shakespeares best known plays, Much Ado about Nothing. There will also be a poster exhibition about Shakespeares influence in the Caribbean.

Organised by the Department of Literary, Cultural and Communication Studies, the Campus Literature Week will feature daily noontime readings (noon to 1.30pm) by a variety of authors including poets and spoken word artists; past and present Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing students; UWI Staff and Lecturers and writers who have been showcased at the OCM Bocas Lit Fest such as Commonwealth Short Story winners Kevin Hosein (2015) and Sharon Millar (2013), whose book The Whale House and Other Stories has been longlisted for the 2016 OCM Bocas Fiction Prize.

Scott was previously a Writer-in-Residence for Campus Literature Week in 2004 and is the recipient of a NALIS Lifetime Literary Award for his significant contribution to the development of Trinidad and Tobagos Literature. When asked about how he felt about being this years Writer-in-Residence, Scott responded, I like UWI, Ive known Professor Aiyejina, Funso (Former UWI St. Augustine Campus Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education and current Professor Emeritus at The UWI) for about 40 years and as young aspiring writers we met and its very nice to come back and work with him.

When youre away you kind of want to come back and work with the students rather than visiting and looking at the landscape. UWI has been very generous with me. Scotts work has been awarded and short-listed for Commonwealth Writers Prizes, Best Book and Best First Book in Canada & the Caribbean, and also the Tom-Gallon Short-Story Award.

He was nominated three times for The International Impac Dublin Literary Award, and he was once Long- Listed for The Whitbread Prize and The Booker Prize. His work has been read on the BBC and he has been a past judge for the Commonwealth Short-Story Competition, the Small Axe Short Fiction Award, and the 2015 Anglophone judge of the Grand Prix Litt?raire de lAssociation des Ecrivains de la Cara?be from the Congr?s des Ecrivains de la Cara?be, Guadeloupe. His poetry has been anthologised in Europe and the Caribbean; and he has been a Senior Research Fellow of The Academy for Arts, Letters, Culture and Public affairs at The University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT).

His last collection of short stories, published in 2015 by Papillote Press is titled Leaving by Plane Swimming Back Underwater.

All readings during Campus Literature Week are free and open to the public. No RSVPs are required. The dress code for the Gala ceremony is elegantly casual and refreshments will be provided. For further information, contact Adel Bain at 662-2002 ext. 83028 or email Adel.Bain@sta.uwi.edu.
Dillon: Decisive action needed to protect prison officers.

He was speaking to reporters on Friday last after the launch of Vision on Missions Pre-Release Programme at the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca.

He said after the last meeting he had with the acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and executive, they were developing a different strategy to treat with the issues of crime especially murders in the country.

When asked what that strategy would entail, he said, it would involve a concentrated effort utilising both the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

On Wednesday, Dillon met with senior members of the Prisons, Police and Fire Services at the Ministrys office on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.

After the meeting, members of the Prisons Association expressed their dissatisfaction with the meeting saying the talks paid little or no attention to the issue of protection of prison officers.

Dillon said the issue of security for prison officers as well as other members of national security was discussed.

At the end of the day, the members of the agency of National Security execute their job in a professional manner, and are there to execute the ultimate sacrifice.

They place their lives on the line so the care and concern of offices in the Prison Service, in the Police Service, in the Defence Force, is really a sincere one.

We are going to do what is required to ensure they have the necessary protection to execute their duties efficiently and effectively, he said.

Also speaking to reporters was Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart who said his officers were putting their lives at risk for the protection of society, and the reduction of crime and he believes that it was time for decisive action to be taken to protect officers.
Kamla blasts Rowley for Arcelor Mittal handling

And addressing job losses in both the construction and energy sector, she said Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus had failed miserably and had assumed the role of a spectator as over 800 workers had been retrenched over the past six months.

When you factor in that 1000 direct employees of OAS have also been terminated and that up to another 300 contractor workers have also faced the breadline as a result of the shutting down of the highway to Point Fortin project then you begin to understand the lackadaisical, apathetic, careless, laidback manner in which the management of this economy has proceed under the Rowley Government, she said.

Persad-Bissessar said their research had revealed that the seven large contractors workforce had dwindled to between five and 15 percent of its general workers saying one contractor, who had recently employed 340 persons, was now down to 15 workers. She also knocked Rowleys description of Arcelor Mittals action as disrespectful saying the Prime Ministers role was not to cast blame and to describe the investment community as punitive and disrespectful.

Instead of being a problem solver and facilitator, the Prime Minister is attacking investors and sending a very dangerous message to the world about how we as a country treat with foreign investment, she said, adding that the previous UNC-led government would have instead worked with the company and the workers and their trade unions to find alternative ways to keep the plant running in the interest of the workers and the country.

As a political party and a government in waiting we do not subscribe to the hammer on the head approach to investors, she said.

Persad-Bissessar said Government had to table amending legislative proposals to ensure that workers were placed high on the totem pole of creditors to be satisfied in the event of insolvency of a company. She once again demanded an independent inquiry into the failed GTL plant and the subsequent clearing of former Petrotrin Executive Chairman, Malcolm Jones after the case was dropped by the Board of Petrotrin.

Such a move ensured that Malcolm Jones will not face a trial in a court of law to answer for his actions that caused such massive losses that Petrotrin almost went bankrupt. We therefore demand an independent inquiry into this matter. She said the matters referral to the Law Association could not be deemed as fair saying the Association did not possess any judicial or quasi judicial function and therefore could not adjudicate on the matter. Serious questions arise as to the impartiality of the President and the Vice President of the Law Association given the following which may show the potential for apparent bias. She pointed out that the Associations President, Reginald Armour SC and Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, were both Rowleys attorneys.
Why Does Putin Surprise Us Again and Again?

Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind was removed from his position on Sunday after he said that even the Prophet Muhammad would be jailed if he broke the law. In response to a question about imprisoning journalists, Al-Zind told an Egyptian private ...

Egyptian justice minister fired after saying he would jail the Prophet Muhammad

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Australian journalists were detained overnight and have been barred from leaving Malaysia after they tried to aggressively question Prime Minister Najib Razak about a corruption scandal, police said on Sunday. The pair were ...

In this weeks Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that the post-Cold War international order is being challenged at several fronts simultaneously by countries like Russia, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. And Stephen Blank points out in his comment for the Atlantic Council that the West (specifically the U.S. experts and policymakers) fail to fully comprehend Russias behavior and its motives. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, Yakov Mirkin continues the debate on the poor state of the Russian economy.

In this weeks Western media highlights, Mark Leonard writes in Project Syndicate that the post-Cold War international order is being challenged at several fronts simultaneously by countries like Russia, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. And Stephen Blank points out in his comment for the Atlantic Council that the West (specifically the U.S. experts and policymakers) fail to fully comprehend Russias behavior and its motives. Meanwhile, in the Russian media, Yakov Mirkin continues the debate on the poor state of the Russian economy.

CHEVERLY, Md. (AP) -- Two suspects were in custody after a police officer and another person were shot and wounded near a police station in a Maryland suburb of the nation's capital, authorities said Sunday....

If the arc of history is in fact bending toward Islamic extremism, sectarian conflict, networks of terrorism, and regional nuclear-arms races, then the 44th president will turn out to have been rather less smart than the foreign-policy establishment he so loftily disdains.

Yet grand strategies are judged by their consequences, not by their intentions, and in the Middle Eastnot to mention North Africa and parts of South Asiathe consequences are not looking pretty.

In the Middle East, Israel and Saudi Arabia are out, Iran is in. Similarly, in the Far East, China is out, Vietnam is in. As for a special relationship, the president would rather have one with Cuba than Britain. Nothing could better illustrate the extent of Barack Obamas repudiation of the foreign-policy establishment.

If you think you are smarter than every foreign-policy expert in the room, any room, then it is tempting to make up your own grand strategy. That is what Obama has done, to an extent that even his critics underestimate. There is no Obama doctrine; rather, we see here a full-blown revolution in American foreign policy. And this revolution can be summed up as follows: The foes shall become friends, and the friends foes.

Goldberg concludes his important and illuminating article by crediting Obama with a set of potentially historic foreign-policy achievements  the opening to Cuba, the Paris climate-change accord, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, and  the Iran nuclear deal. The key word here is potentially.

In the words of Defense Secretary Ash Carter, the president consistently asks, even in the midst of everything else thats going on, Where are we in the Asia-Pacific rebalance? Where are we in terms of resources? We read of a possible U.S. naval base in Vietnam, part of the presidents strategy to check Chinas ascendancy in Asia. If you look at how weve operated in the South China Sea, he tells Goldberg (in language that will not endear him to President Xi Jinping), we have been able to mobilize most of Asia to isolate China in ways that have surprised China, frankly.

The president may yet prove to be the smartest person in the world, or at least the smartest person in Washington. Perhaps Iran will become more politically liberal in the 10-year life span of the nuclear deal. Perhaps, too, the world will realize that climate change is a more serious, existential threat than, say, Islamic extremism. And perhaps future presidents will thank Obama for his pivot to Asia, which reflects his belief that the rise of China is a more important strategic challenge than the disintegration of the Middle East.

Not intervening in Syria may have been the toughest decision of Obamas presidency, but it shrinks to strategic insignificance alongside his deal with Iran to slow down that countrys nuclear-arms program. The president assures Goldberg that he actually would have struck Irans nuclear facilities if he had seen the Iranians break out, or get to the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet the essence of his deal is that Irans breakout has merely been postponedand Irans brazen testing of ballistic missiles in recent days strongly suggests that Tehran sees it that way.

The tiny faction theory of Islamic extremism is also hard to reconcile with the conduct of the country on which the president has placed the biggest bet of his career: Iran.

Large numbers of Indonesian women, [Obama] observed, have now adopted the hijab, the Muslim head covering. Why, Turnbull asked, was this happening? Because, Obama answered, the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs have funneled money, and large numbers of imams and teachers, into the country  [funding] seminaries that teach the fundamentalist version of Islam.

Large numbers of Indonesian women, [Obama] observed, have now adopted the hijab, the Muslim head covering. Why, Turnbull asked, was this happening? Because, Obama answered, the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs have funneled money, and large numbers of imams and teachers, into the country  [funding] seminaries that teach the fundamentalist version of Islam.

There is, however, a second reason why Obama downplays the threat posed by ISIS : He remains more worried about the sort of panic  that would manifest itself in anti-Muslim xenophobia than about Islamic extremism itself. Those who believe in a violent, radical, fanatical, nihilistic interpretation of Islam are, the president insists, a tiny faction. But this view is very hard to reconcile with the presidents own observation to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Indonesiawhere he lived for several years as a childhas been moving, in Goldbergs words, gradually  from a relaxed, syncretistic Islam to a more fundamentalist, unforgiving interpretation:

One of the top goals of the American national-security apparatus in Obamas last year, we learn, is to assassinate the so-called caliph of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Well, the strategy worked with bin Laden, right? Decapitation of the organization is a sufficient response because, as the president tells Goldberg:  ISIS is not an existential threat to the United States. He frequently reminds his staff that terrorism takes far fewer lives in America than handguns, car accidents, and falls in bathtubs do. (Maybe so, but bathtubs are not actively plotting to kill us.)

This analysis helps explain why the president underestimatedand still underestimatesthe Islamic State, the principal beneficiary of the Syrian disaster. In a 2014 interview, as is well known, he called the group a jayvee team. More recently, he has come up with a new analogy. ISIS , the president has explained to his advisers, is like the Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight . When the Joker started decapitating American citizens, the president abandoned his policy of non-intervention in Syria. But his low-intensity air campaign against ISIS has conspicuously failed to destroy the organization.

Yet his reason for downplaying Syria bears closer scrutiny. In Obamas mind, Syrias civil war is just a senseless deviation from what he likes to call the arc of history. He believes (following my Harvard colleague Steve Pinker) that overall, humanity has become less violent, more tolerant, healthier, better fed, more empathetic, more able to manage difference. The big exception is the Middle East, because of the persistence of tribalism, which he sees as an atavistic reaction to the stresses of globalization, the collision of cultures brought about by the Internet and social media, and scarcitiessome of which will be attributable to climate change over the next several decades.

At first sight, all Obama has done has been to exclude Syrian stability from the A-list of U.S. vital national interests. Goldberg mentions a handful of threats in the Middle East that the president decided early on conceivably warranted direct U.S. military intervention: the threat posed by al-Qaeda, any threat to the continued existence of Israel, and the related threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran. By contrast, the danger to the United States posed by the Assad regime did not rise to the level of these challenges. On this point the president has been consistent.

Now, some of us would argue that the foreign-policy establishments playbook said Keep the Russians out of the Middle East for a reason. Some of us would point to the sharp escalation of violence in Syria since Putin sent Russian bombers into action in the country. But, no, the president is one step ahead of us again. Letting Putin into the Syrian conflict, we learn from Goldberg, is known in Obamas National Security Council as the Tom Sawyer approachmeaning that if Putin wanted to expend his regimes resources by painting the fence in Syria, the U.S. should let him. Smart! Except that if any of Tom Sawyers friends had taken Putins approach to fence-painting, there would quickly have been no more fence to paint.

At the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, which was held the week after the Syria reversal, Obama pulled Putin aside  and told the Russian president that if he forced Assad to get rid of the chemical weapons, that that would eliminate the need for us taking a military strike. Within weeks, Kerry, working with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, would engineer the removal of most of Syrias chemical-weapons arsenal.

At the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, which was held the week after the Syria reversal, Obama pulled Putin aside  and told the Russian president that if he forced Assad to get rid of the chemical weapons, that that would eliminate the need for us taking a military strike. Within weeks, Kerry, working with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, would engineer the removal of most of Syrias chemical-weapons arsenal.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the presidents defense of his Syrian flip is the role played in it by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. As Goldberg writes:

August 30, 2013 was Obamas liberation day, writes Goldbergthe day he defied not only the foreign-policy establishment and its cruise-missile playbook, but also the demands of Americas frustrating, high-maintenance allies. It was the day he finally threw out what he calls, derisively, the Washington playbook  [the] playbook  that presidents are supposed to follow  [the] playbook that comes out of the foreign-policy establishment.

This, then, was The Moment: Obamas decision not to carry out his threat against Bashar al-Assad was, we are told, the defining moment of his presidency. Im very proud of this moment, he tells Goldberg. The overwhelming weight of conventional wisdom and the machinery of our national-security apparatus had gone fairly far. The perception was that my credibility was at stake, that Americas credibility was at stake. And so for me to press the pause button at that moment, I knew, would cost me politically. And the fact that I was able to pull back from the immediate pressures and think through in my own mind what was in Americas interest  was as tough a decision as Ive made.

When she later made public her criticism of Obamas handling of Syria, Obama became rip-shit angry, according to a senior adviser. It was at this time that the White House went demotic with the facile slogan: Dont do stupid shit. According to Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national-security adviser for strategic communication, the questions we were asking in the White House were Who exactly is in the stupid-shit caucus? Who is prostupid shit?

Susan Rice was shocked. When he found out that evening, Kerry told a friend: I just got fucked over. Even Vice President Joe Biden was on the other side of the argument (big nations dont bluff). The usually loyal Gideon Rose, the editor of Foreign Affairs , thought it was a mistake. So did the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. So did the king of Jordan. And so, of course, did Hillary Clinton.

The presidents rationalizations of his U-turn need not detain us (Assad would place civilians as human shields around obvious targets  U.S. missiles would not be fired at chemical-weapons depots, for fear of sending plumes of poison into the air, and so forth). The point is that if those arguments had been any good, there would have been no need to circumvent his own cabinet and advisers.

Third, Obama regretted succumbing to pressure from his own advisers as well as from European allies to intervene in Libya in 2011. When similar pressures were brought to bear on him over the red line he himself had drawn regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Obama revolted. On August 30, 2013after consulting only Denis McDonough, his chief of staffhe decided to call off planned air strikes against the Syrian government, telling McDonough of his long-standing resentment: He was tired of watching Washington unthinkingly drift toward war in Muslim countries.

The president dragged his feet on Syria for three reasons. First, having been elected partly on the strength of his opposition to the Iraq War, he was and remains in principle reluctant to deploy U.S. troops (though not U.S. drones). In 2009, he felt the Pentagon had jammed him into approving a troop surge in Afghanistan; four years later, he felt he was being jammed again. Second, he misread the Arab Spring, initially equating protesters in Tunisia and Tahrir Square with Rosa Parks and the patriots of Boston.

The consequences of American non-intervention in Syria have, in some ways, been as bad as the consequences of American intervention in Iraq, though fewer American lives and dollars have been expended. Yet the realist in Obama has no regrets. Goldberg does future historians a valuable service by setting out in detail the presidents reasoning.

Which brings us to Syria, the central foreign-policy failure of the Obama presidency. The grim details of what has happened as the Syrian Civil War has escalated are all too familiar: a death toll of 470,000 according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, nearly 4.8 million refugees according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and a flood of displaced persons and migrants arriving in Europe by sea at a rate of roughly 100,000 a month. Aside from the human suffering, the escalation of the conflict has had grave strategic consequences, not least of which has been the return of Russia to the region as a major player for the first time since the early 1970s.

Is there anyone to whom Obama does not feel himself superior? The surprising answer is President George H.W. Bushs national-security adviser, Brent Scowcroft. I love that guy, Obama is quoted as saying. This will come as no surprise to readers of his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope , but most people will scratch their heads. The president explains: I am  an idealist insofar as I believe that we should be promoting values, like democracy and human rights not only out of self-interest, but also because it makes the world a better place. But you could call me a realist in believing we cant, at any given moment, relieve all the worlds misery.  Weve got to be hardheaded  and pick and choose our spots.  There are going to be times where our security interests conflict with our concerns about human rights.

He is equally dismissive of mythologies about Ronald Reagans foreign policy. The release of the American hostages in Iran had nothing to do with  Reagans posture, his rhetoric, etc. Invading Grenada did not help our ability to shape world events. The Iran-Contra affair wasnt successful at all. Nor was Reagans withdrawal of U.S. forces from Lebanon in 1983. These views are not necessarily wrong. Instead, it is the presidents tone that jarsthe sarcasm that Goldberg notes. The same tone is manifest in Obamas sole comment on his immediate predecessor. As I recall, because apparently nobody in this town does, he says, Putin went into Georgia on Bushs watch, right smack dab in the middle of us having over 100,000 troops deployed in Iraq.

The president is also dismissive of a number of past presidents as strategists. We dropped more ordnance on Cambodia and Laos than on Europe in World War II , he tells Goldberg, and yet, ultimately, Nixon withdrew, Kissinger went to Paris, and all we left behind was chaos, slaughter, and authoritarian governments that finally, over time, have emerged from that hell. So much for Nixon and Kissinger.

Bibi, you have to understand something, he tells the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Im the African American son of a single mother, and I live here, in this house. I live in the White House. I managed to get elected president of the United States. You think I dont understand what youre talking about, but I do. Netanyahu may have wondered what exactly in Obamas biography gives him such insight into the present-day predicament of Israel.

The president is also bluntly critical of traditional American allies. He is said to have told Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain would no longer be able to claim a special relationship with the United States if it did not pay [its] fair share by increasing defense spending. The Pakistanis and the Saudis get especially short shrift here, aspredictablydoes Israel.

Power corrupts in subtle ways. It appears to have made Obama arrogant. As described in Goldbergs story, he is impatient to the point of rudeness with members of his own administration. His response to Secretary of State John Kerry when he hands him a paper on Syria is: Oh, another proposal? Samantha, enough, he snaps at the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Ive already read your book. We learn, too, that he secretly disdains  the Washington foreign-policy establishment.

from more than one person who has worked with President Obama: that he regards himself as the smartest person in the roomany room. Jeffrey Goldbergs fascinating article reveals that this is a considerable understatement. The president seems to think he is the smartest person in the world, perhaps ever.

This is why Obama persists, with the same logic he deployed during his 2007 remarks at DePaul. As he nears the end of his time in office, the president is not cowering in defeat. I suspect, in fact, that the more establishment critics claim hes doing things wrong, the more convinced he becomes that he is right.

This conception of strength and leadership could not be more different than whats on offer from the Republican candidates for president, who are taking macho posturing to new heights. Overseas, Russian President Vladimir Putins idea of strength provides a perfect antipode to Obamas, one the critical herd should consider. Does it really want the American president to be tough and strong like Putin?

Obama believes strength is about much more than big talk and military muscle. As he told Goldberg, real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence. Strength comes not from bullying others or blowing things up, but from using Americas unique capabilities to convene countries in pursuit of common action, offering ideas, setting the agenda, and organizing the effort. Nor does strength come from pretending that solving problems is easyand that if only the U.S. did more , things would be better. Most important, American strength abroad derives from its resilience at home, which is why Obama places such a priority on what he calls nation-building at home.

Imagine if Syrias chemical weapons were still there today. With the rise of ISIS since the red-line crisis, we would be confronted with an even worse threat than the Bush administration wrongly claimed to be facing when it invaded Iraq. While the five-year Syrian Civil War remains a nightmare, and there were things the Obama administration could haveand should havedone differently to mitigate the conflict, I share the presidents doubts that the U.S. had the means to solve the problem in Syria in a way that would not have driven America straight into another Middle East quagmire.

Although it is politically incorrect in todays Washington to say it, I agree with Obamas conclusion. As a Pentagon official during this crisis, my top concern was the future of Syrias chemical weaponsthat Assad would use them or lose control of them. It was a threat for which the United States (or any other country) did not have an absolute answer. Obama was prepared to use force, and after Assad crossed the red line in August 2013 by using chemical weapons against his people, advocated for it. Yet most members of Congress, and an overwhelming majority of the American people, thought military action against Assad was a bad idea. While Obama concedes that the process he pursued during the red-line episode would not win many style points, in the end the United States achieved something through diplomacy with Russia that the use of force against Syria would not have accomplished: the removal of nearly all Syrias chemical weapons, which at that time constituted one of the worlds largest stockpiles. By contrast, the planned strikes that Obama called off at the last minute would have only neutralized a small fraction of Assads arsenal.

Take, for example, the 2013 red-line episode in Syria. The decision to refrain from striking President Bashar al-Assad is nearly universally viewed as the original sin of Obamas foreign policyas a devastating blow to American credibility and strength. As Obama admitted to Goldberg, it is the point of the inverted pyramid upon which all other theories rest. Obama confronts this critique head-on, expressing not only little regret, but also unabashed pride with how things turned out. Goldberg is right when he describes this incident as Obamas moment of liberation.

The problem is that most of Washington plays a different gameone where the rules are black and white and quick results are rewarded, even if they dont solve the problem (and in fact may make it worse). In this sense, Obama is reminiscent of the Christian Bale character in the movie The Big Short . He remains an outsider, seeing things in ways the establishment herd does not; he is both perplexed by the herds willingness to be repeatedly wrong and outraged by its irresponsibility in making the same mistakes over and over.

For those of us who served in the Obama administration, such views ring familiar. Theyve been the themes of a running conversation the president has been having about Americas role in the world, and have infused every decision of his. Although it is not quite right to characterize these themes as a doctrinelike most presidents, Obama eschews such all-encompassing frameworks, once remarking that he didnt need a George KennanObama has a coherent approach to projecting global leadership in an era of seemingly infinite demands and finite resources. Obama plays the long game.

This is Obama unplugged: his skepticism that military force should be the answer to every problem; his perspective that ISIS is a real danger, but not an existential threat; his belief that Russias behavior in Ukraine and Syria is ultimately self-defeating; his frustrations with free rider allies and suspicions about Arab partners, especially the complicated relationship with Saudi Arabia; his conviction that when it comes to solving global problems, the U.S. is flawed but indispensable, and must remain clear-eyed about its limits; his deep optimism about the American people; his low regard for posturing and empty gestures; and, of course, his frustration and genuine puzzlement with what passes as foreign-policy wisdom in Washington.

What we see in Goldbergs story is a president who engages global issues in a way that seems all too uncommon today. At a moment when politics is becoming only more cartoonish and corrosive, Obamas conversations with Goldberg bring to mind what Colin Powell said in his endorsement of Obama in 2008that he demonstrates the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem-solving I think we need in this country.

To drive this point home, Obama delivered the same speech twice more that day. But he drew scant attention; his message barely registered in the next days papers. Yet looking back, the DePaul speech was a harbinger. For the past seven years, Obamas efforts to defy this kind of thinkingand redefine American strength and power in the worldhave proven one of the defining features of his presidency. In many ways, this campaign is more far-reaching than any single accomplishmentbigger than the Iran nuclear deal, or the diplomatic openings to Cuba and Burma, or the rebalance to Asia, or even the recent Paris agreement on climate change. And as Jeffrey Goldbergs remarkable article makes clear, with only 10 months to go before a new president is sworn in, it is a project that remains incomplete. Obama is still trying to overhaul what he calls the Washington playbook. (Full disclosure: I talked with Goldberg several times for this story, and have also sought his advice for my own forthcoming book on Obamas foreign policy.)

The American people werent just failed by a president, Obama said . They were failed by much of Washington. By a media that too often reported spin instead of facts [and] by a foreign-policy elite that largely boarded the bandwagon for war. For Obama, the mentality that led to Iraq was the most prominent example of a systemic breakdownthe result of a distinct mindset that had dominatedforeign policy for too long.

, Senator Barack Obama, then a struggling Democratic presidential candidate, stood before a few hundred students at DePaul University in Chicago and delivered a speech that few in the foreign-policy world noticed. Five years after his famous statement against the disastrous Iraq invasion, Obama wanted to do more than remind his audience that he had been right all along, which was of course a useful distinction with his chief rival at the time, Hillary Clinton. He didnt blame the Iraq War simply on George W. Bush or some neoconservative cabal that had hijacked the government, as many Democrats preferred to believe so as to absolve themselves of responsibility. Instead, Obama delivered a broadside against what he called Washington groupthink.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA . MARCH 13, 2016. A girl eating blini ( Russian pancakes) during Maslenitsa festival [Pancake Week]. The holiday celebrates the end of winter and marks the arrival of spring. Valery Matytsin/TASS (Photo by Valery Matytsin\TASS ...

In Russia , there's a whole week dedicated to pancakes

A car bomb attack Sunday evening in Ankara killed at least 34 and injured 125, including seven police officers, Turkish officials said.

Still looking far from ready to compromise, representatives from Syria's government and opposition arrived here Sunday ahead of another round of U.N.-backed negotiations to end their catastrophic civil war.

For the F.B.I. and local law enforcement agencies, the fight has become a high-stakes struggle to prevent what James B . Comey , the bureau's director, calls warrant-free zones where criminals can hide evidence out of reach of the authorities ...

How is Saudi Arabia managing to fight two wars at once?

A car bomb has killed at least 34 people and wounded more than a hundred, in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara.

At least 10 suspected criminals died in gunbattles with government forces Sunday during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, which sits across the U.S. border from McAllen, Texas, Mexican authorities said.

Fighters loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government celebrated after clashes with Houthi rebels and their allies in Taiz, Yemen, on Friday.

Shortly after the shooting, Mr. Marquezs friends noticed a cryptic and poorly written post on his Facebook page: Im. Very sorry guys. It was a pleasure.

Enrique sold him the gun? he said during an interview at his bar. Who the hell would have known? The F.B.I. came by at 2 a.m. on Monday and interviewed Mr. Morgan. He told them that he last saw Mr. Marquez about a week before the attack, when he dropped by for a few beers.

He was a goofy kid, a well-behaved kid, Mr. Morgan said. Shy. I picked him because of that. He did us right. Mr. Morgan said that Mr. Marquez never spoke of religion, politics or firearms. Mr. Morgan said he was baffled by to learn that Mr. Marquez had bought two of the weapons used in the attack.

Jerry Morgan, the taverns owner, said Mr. Marquez had already been a regular at the bar when he hired Mr. Marquez about three years ago. In addition to working at the door and taking out the trash, Mr. Marquez stayed in continual contact with Mr. Morgan, texting him an hourly count of the number of patrons in attendance and the number of drinks they consumed  so Mr. Morgan could keep tabs on sales and receipts.

At first, he was really shy, she said. But once you got to know him, he would laugh, joke around. He would never get mad. He had strong feelings that there was no point to getting angry  it was going to pass.

At no point did he give any indication of an inclination to do harm, Ms. Ramirez said. He discussed wanting to join the Navy, perhaps influenced by Raheel Farooks military service. He never spoke about religion, and she did not know he was a Muslim, Ms. Ramirez said. He also did not discuss politics. Ms. Ramirez never met any of Mr. Marquezs friends. Instead, she said, he often discussed music. He liked punk rock.

Ms. Ramirez first met Mr. Marquez through an online confessions forum for students at Riverside City College looking for help with problems and a common connection. They were each frequent commenters and struck up a friendship, though not an especially close one, after meeting face to face. By that point, he was no longer a student at the college, according to records, but he told her that he was and that he had almost enough credits to graduate.

One night, she said, he rode his bike to her house, began drinking and told her that he was married, but that it was an open relationship. He needed more attention than what she was giving him, Ms. Ramirez said.

He told Mr. Rodriguez that he had posted photographs of himself and his wife at her apartment for the sake of appearances, but that Ms. Chernykh did not live with him and would not so much as kiss him. Viviana Ramirez, 23, a friend, said he did not seem happy with the arrangement.

Mr. Marquez announced the marital arrangement one day when he came into the bar  which the F.B.I. visited earlier this week  and offered to buy everyone drinks, Mr. Rodriguez, the bar patron, said. It was unusual behavior for Mr. Marquez, who was perpetually short on money; sometimes, he could not afford gas for his car, or he asked people to buy him drinks.

Members of the Marquez family have not responded to requests for comment, and lawyers for the Farook family did not respond to phone messages on Friday. Ms. Chernykh could not be reached. Mr. Farooks mother was interviewed by investigators for at least seven hours, and family members have said through their lawyer that they are cooperating with the investigation.

At the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco, Azmi Hasan, the facilities manager, recalled that Mr. Marquez first came to the mosque four to five years ago, shortly after converting at another mosque. At first, he came about once a month, usually to Friday Prayer.

People at at least two local mosques had recollections of Mr. Marquez. Perhaps two years ago, he worked briefly in the bookstore at the Islamic Center of Riverside, congregants there said. I recall him, said one congregant, Ahmad Zahran. He comes in: Hi, how you doing?  But the two never spoke more. There was nothing alarming about him, Mr. Zahran said, or he would have been reported.

He would come and say he just came from praying. He would just come in after and drink, which I never understood. Mr. Rodriguez said, adding that he did not know what mosque he attended. Mr. Marquez never spoke about any antipathy toward Israel or about the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, Mr. Rodriguez said.

Mr. Marquez occasionally talked about Islam. Sometimes he came directly from mosque to the bar, Mr. Rodriguez said, adding that this did not deter him from drinking, even though Islam forbids alcohol. Mr. Marquez did avoid eating pork, at least as far as Mr. Rodriguez observed.

But again, Mr. Rodriguez said, no one took this claim very seriously, either.

He did mention guns at least once to Mr. Rodriguez, his drinking buddy at Morgans Tavern. Again, Mr. Rodriguez said, Mr. Marquez was drunkenly bragging, this time about his work as a security guard. He was talking about his security card, Mr. Rodriguez said. He said something about having guns.

Mr. Marquez had worked as a security guard at a local Walmart since May, but the company has decided to fire him, said Deisha Barnett, a Walmart spokeswoman.

Last year, Mr. Marquez married the Russian sister of Raheel Farooks wife. He later told a friend and people at Morgans Tavern that it was a sham marriage for immigration purposes. Bar patrons said he told them he had been paid $5,000 or $10,000 to marry Ms. Gigliottis sister, Mariya Chernykh.

He converted to Islam and attended at least one of the same mosques as the Farook family. When Mr. Farooks older brother, Syed Raheel Farook, married a Russian hairstylist named Tatiana Gigliotti, Mr. Marquez was one of the witnesses. The other was Mr. Farook.

Since he was a child growing up in a single-level beige home on an ethnically diverse block in suburban Riverside, Mr. Marquez fastened himself to Mr. Farook and his family. He and Mr. Farook tinkered on cars in their driveways.

For days, members of Mr. Marquezs family have lain low inside their palm-shaded home, where smashed windows and a broken garage door are the lingering marks of raids by federal agents. Mr. Marquezs mother, Armida Chacon, briefly spoke to reporters Thursday, saying that her son and Mr. Farook had simply been friends and that her son is a good person. It is not known whether he has a lawyer.

Mr. Farook smashed his cellphones and took steps to delete computer files, but investigators have been able to retrieve photographs, including one image of a local high school. On Thursday, divers started searching a lake in San Bernardino where the authorities suspect the couple dumped incriminating electronics, including a computer hard drive.

Officials have discovered a potential link between the attackers and Islamic extremism.

As investigators burrow into Mr. Marquezs life, they now suspect that Mr. Farook and Ms. Malik were in the final planning stages of an assault on a location or building, perhaps a nearby school or college, that held many more people than the Inland Regional Center, according to a congressional official who has received briefings from law enforcement.

Mr. Marquez has not yet been charged with any crime, and he has told investigators he did not know that the couple were plotting the shootings at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. But Mr. Marquezs role is particularly concerning because counterterrorism officials believe that he represents a strand of impressionable people at lifes margins with no obvious connections or sympathies with terrorist groups, who can be goaded or enticed toward violence.

Mr. Marquezs cooperation with investigators could turn out to be very detrimental to his future. His purchase of the assault rifles for Mr. Farook and his planning of an attack in 2012, if proved, would be federal crimes that come with stiff sentences, according to law enforcement officials. While the authorities say they are grateful for his cooperation, they will almost certainly charge him, officials said.

They appear to have been scared off by arrests related to a separate terrorism ring in Riverside County that was prosecuted in 2012, the authorities said, sending two men to federal prison for a scheme to kill American troops in Afghanistan.

On behalf of Mr. Farook, Mr. Marquez bought the two assault rifles used in the attack, the authorities say. He told investigators he had done so, in 2011 and 2012, because Mr. Farook believed he could not pass a background check, officials said. Mr. Marquez has also described in detail how he and Mr. Farook had been planning another terrorist attack together in 2012, the authorities say.

Federal investigators believe that, more than any other witness, Mr. Marquez, a convert to Islam, has held the keys to understanding Mr. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, and to shedding light on whom they were in contact with in the years leading to the attack, according to one senior law enforcement official. The couple were killed in a shootout with the police.

While he initially checked himself into a mental health facility after the Dec. 2 massacre in San Bernardino, he has been speaking for hours with federal investigators after waiving his right to remain silent and not incriminate himself, officials say.

But nine days after a husband and wife slaughtered 14 people in a terrorist attack at a county health department meeting, Mr. Marquez, 24, a childhood friend of the husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, has become a crucial if unlikely figure in the investigation of the attack  which was just the kind he discussed when terrorism news reports flashed onto the taverns television.

He would say stuff like: Theres so much going on. Theres so many sleeper cells, so many people just waiting. When it happens, its going to be big. Watch,  said Nick Rodriguez, a frequent patron who had known Mr. Marquez on and off for the past two years. We took it as a joke. When you look at the kid and talk to him, no one would take him seriously about that.

RIVERSIDE, Calif.  The regulars did not take it seriously when Enrique Marquez mused about terrorism at Morgans Tavern, a dank dive bar where Mr. Marquez hauled ice, cleaned bathrooms and checked IDs at the door. After a few drinks, he would just start talking  about his money woes, trying to lose weight, wanting to join the Navy. News reports about terrorism were just fodder for more bar talk.

is a challenge to the lies told about such persons as Warren Harding, Clarence Thomas, and Marie Antoinette.

Steve Byas is a professor of history at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College in Moore, Oklahoma. His book

Steve Byas is a professor of history at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College in Moore, Oklahoma. His book Historys Greatest Libels is a challenge to the lies told about such persons as Warren Harding, Clarence Thomas, and Marie Antoinette.

After more than seven years of Barack Obama treating the United States of America as a larger extension of his Chicago-style community organizing  or as detractors call it, community agitating  we should not be surprised that violent leftist tactics have expanded beyond the illiberal college campuses and spilled out to suppress free speech in the general public.

It must be noted that Obama got his start as a community organizer  in Chicago  a position designed to stir up discontent in the community, then channel that discontent to advance certain leftist goals. Obamas political career began in Bill Ayers living room, and Ayers was among those protesting in the streets of Chicago, not for the purpose of expressing a contrary view so much as shutting down the opportunity of a top Republican presidential candidate to even get up at his own rally and express a view.

One can certainly disagree with Trumps political views and question his judgment in regard to some of the bombastic things he says from the stage, but Republicans who think they are immune from these extreme tactics will probably think differently very soon.

Conservatives are generally not even invited to speak at the vast majority of Americas colleges and universities, and often, when they are, they are often heckled, booed, and even physically assaulted. When Congressman Tom Tancredo attempted to speak at the Michigan State University Law School, his talk was interrupted by false fire alarms. At Columbia, students actually stormed the stage and attacked Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, which opposes illegal immigration.

Powers quoted a student at one university who told the school newspaper that she was really bothered with the whole idea ... that at a liberal arts college we need to be hearing a diversity of opinion.

The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech

Kirsten Powers, in her book, The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech , cited the grim statistics. According to Powers, in the six years from 2009 to 2014, the number of protests resulting in speech cancellations equals those from the previous twenty-two year period at 62 instances each.

This authoritarian mind-set has gone on mostly unchecked on Americas college campuses for years. On far too many college campuses, any expression of conservative or libertarian thought is punished by firing professors who are not progressive Left  or, as more likely not even hiring them to begin with. Those of a more conservative bent are denied degrees, or the opportunity to publish in left-controlled academic publications  all in the name of fighting intolerance.

Activist Quo Vadis agreed the goal was to completely interrupt Trump and shut Donald Trump all the way down.

Kamran Siddiqui, a self-identified supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist confirmed the police officers observation that many were at the rally simply to suppress speech they did not agree with. We came in here and we wanted to shut this down. He was joyous for having stopped Trump from speaking at his own really, describing it as amazing.

That they can generate such large numbers of protesters to censor an American political candidate should be alarming, whether one favors Trump or another candidate. One Chicago police officer estimated that 10 percent of Trumps crowd were protesters here to shut it down.

The question is who is going to define hate? Considering that the Left regards anyone who is an evangelical Christian or a political conservative as peddling hate, the targets for these extremists should be quite clear.

In other words, this type of reaction is not limited to Donald Trumps campaign. Just who do these radicals oppose? Sheyman said, Trump and those who peddle hate and incite violence have no place in our politics.

For those who think that shutting down Trump rallies is the beginning  or the end  of the efforts of the Radical Left to shut down political speech, they have not been paying attention. Ilya Sheyman, executive director of the left-wing <a href="http://MoveOn.org" rel="nofollow">MoveOn.org</a> Political Action, was blunt in explaining what the intentions are. Our country is better than the shameful, dangerous, and bigoted rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the Trump campaign. To all of those who took to the streets of Chicago, we say thank you for standing up and saying enough is enough. To Donald Trump, and the GOP , we say, welcome to the general election.  (Emphasis added.)

Cruz laid the responsibility for violence on those actually exchanging blows, but he added that any candidate is responsible for the culture of his campaign.

Senator Marco Rubio offered examples of incendiary Trump language, and said, It shouldnt surprise us that you see a growing amount of violence at some of these events.

Not surprisingly, Trumps Republican primary opponents have been asked what they think of such violence at Trump rallies. All condemned the intolerant attitude of the protesters, but placed some of the blame for this turn of events on Trump himself. Carly Fiorina, who has dropped out of the race and endorsed Senator Ted Cruz, said the groups were organized for the purpose of disrupting the rally, but that Trump should take some responsibility. Tone is set at the top, she said.

He has told supporters at his rallies to slug protesters, even saying he would like to do so himself, and expressing his liking of the old days when such protesters would be carried out on a stretcher. At a recent event, a protester was sucker punched by a Trump backer, as police carried him out. Trump has even described his supporters punching protesters as a beautiful thing.

This was not the first time that the Trump campaign has had to deal with hecklers and protesters at his public rallies. Trump has personally engaged the protesters in calling for their ouster from his events. Recently, Trump told protesters at his St. Louis rally that they needed to go home to mommy, and that they needed to get a job, because they contribute nothing.

Its a shame, said Trump supporter Bill Tail, a resident of the Chicago suburb of Oaklawn. They scream about tolerance, but are being intolerant themselves.

After Trump's Chicago rally was cancelled, Ayers sent out the following tweet:

Among those demonstrating outside the arena was domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, a Chicago resident. Ayers was once a leader in the Weather Underground, and participated in bombing police headquarters in New York City in 1970. President Barack Obama literally launched his political career in the home of Ayers, with a fund raising event. When he ran for president in 2008, Obama was asked about beginning his first political campaign with the support of a terrorist, who had bombed buildings. Obama claimed that Ayers was just a guy in the neighborhood.

The leftist group, <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a>, circulated a petition in the days before the event, insisting that officials terminate the rally. In a statement rich with irony, the petition said they wanted to shut the rally down because Trump is guilty of hate, and dangerous intolerance. <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a> argued that a Trump rally has no place in Chicago.

My focus was set on shutting it down, Jedediah Brown, a supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, said after being dragged from the stage by security after destroying a Trump poster. He compared his actions to the civil rights movement. Trumps message, Trumps campaign is not welcome in Chicago.

Trump rallies have experienced increasing violence over the past several weeks, but this is the first time that an event had to be cancelled. Evidently, that was the goal of many of the protesters. When the announcement was made that the rally had been called off, many protesters were joyous. We did it!

Trump said he postponed the event because he did not want to see people hurt or worse, adding, I think we did the right thing.

Chicago Police insist that they had the situation well in hand, and they did not advise Trump to cancel the event, but following the announcement that the event was not going to happen, fist fights broke out throughout the Pavilion, which led to five arrests and injuries to two officers. One officer suffered a bloody gash after being struck by a bottle.

Trumps rally was scheduled at the University of Chicago Pavilion, and over 5,000 people were already inside, with thousands more standing in a line outside that stretched for several miles, when the event was suddenly cancelled.

A collection of intolerant leftist groups and individuals, including <a href="http://Moveon.org" rel="nofollow">Moveon.org</a>, Black Lives Matter, and even former Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers, succeeded in shutting down a Trump for President rally in Chicago on Friday. In Dayton, Ohio, Secret Service agents had to come between Trump and protesters who attempted to storm the stage, and it is thought there were plans to try the same thing at the aborted Chicago rally.

UNESCO asserts, Wars begin in the minds of men. But the United States has closed itself off from its antagonists minds, and the resulting disarray is visible for all to see.

A century and a half ago, Abraham Lincoln admonished Congress that as our situation is new, we must think anew. Yet the United States refuses to take Lincolns words to heart. Until we genuinely comprehend these precepts, we will continue to fail to grasp Russia or our other adversaries, and will continue to be surprised by them, as has been the case in Crimea, the Donbas, and Syria.

The United States will not acquire this insight by trying to categorize other cultures and civilizations, e.g. ISIL, in terms of a US social science that pretends to universality but is actually culturally blinkered and unable to understand that it is dealing with greatly opposed cultures that do not rely on this psychology. Educating specialists in language, history, philosophy, and literature would pay bigger benefits than continuing to immerse them in political science theory that assumes history began with Mikhail Gorbachev, or is wedded to the latest social science fads.

Officials who disdain the need for specialists familiar with Russian language, culture, and overall defense policy, or who believe that Russians generally think and act just as they do, have primed themselves for disaster. And Moscow is only too happy to play this message back to credulous audiences who cannot or will not do the necessary homework to see what is really occurring. No less crippling is the US belief that anything it does is propagandaas if telling the truth to foreign audiences, including Russian ones, is propaganda. The failure to devise an adequate strategy for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or the Voice of America, or to fund one, and the continuing refusal to bring back something like the United States Information Agency, indicates a failure to understand what contemporary war is all about.

This is not a new failure: in far too many wars, the United States has experienced this inability to grasp who the enemy is and how he thinks. Thus it is validating the observation attributed to Albert Einstein that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Beyond those facts, the US intelligence community and policymakers are caught up in an ethnocentric paradigm of social science and marketing methodology with regard to information warfare that is utterly irrelevant to the way Moscow thinks and the sources of its behavior. Intelligent and well-educated professionals are apparently unable to understand that Russia exists in a cognitive universe that is utterly different from, if not antagonistic to, that of the United Statesand that to understand Russian tactics and policies, one needs to think like a Russian.

But in fact, todays intelligence and policy community remains singularly ill-equipped and unready to meet this challenge. As US media and the House of Lords have already written, the United States and the United Kingdom lack sufficient experts in Russia and Russian military strategy. Moreover, despite the Obama administrations frequent complaints about its lack of expertise, it neither makes adequate use of existing expertise, nor invests in creating new experts, nor solicits the views of independent experts outside the bureaucracy. By these policies and omissions, the Obama administrations policymakers signal that in fact they do not take this threat seriously, despite its malignant effects.

Yet the means to oppose this challenge are available to those who care to look for them. There is general agreement that the roots of Russias information war date back to the Soviet period. Both a cadre of experts and a literature exist that explain this form of warfare in both the past and the present, and outline how it can be successfully fought.

All of this is well known, but in Europe and the United States, the counterattack to this form of warfare is almost invisible. US officials freely admit that they cannot deal with these attacks, and certainly there is no observable strategy, or even the beginnings of a program of action to confront this campaign of mendacity.

From Great Britain to the Black Sea, Russia is waging a constant, unceasing information war against virtually every European government. This war takes many forms, but information war in essence entails what Peter Pomerantsev called the weaponization of information in the form of lies, misinformation, propaganda, exploitation of agents of influence, and reflexive actions inducing opponents to behave in ways they think benefit them but actually work to the enemys advantage. Among other things, numerous reports show that an army of so-called trolls exist in Russia who do nothing but defame honest reporters and reporting on Russia, and saturate the internet, television, newspapers, and other media with their misinformation.

People walk past a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin seen on a residential building in Simferopol, Crimea, August 19, 2015. The sign on the graffiti reads "Ours." REUTERS/Pavel Rebrov

The result doomed Italy (0-4) to its 10th last-place finish in 17 seasons  as many as Wales has recorded in 118 seasons.

Earlier on Saturday, Ireland (1-1-2) hammered Italy, 58-15, in Dublin, ending any fear that last years champion would fall from first to last. Eight players shared Irelands nine tries, its most in a championship match, with No. 8 Jamie Heaslip crossing twice.

Defeat eliminated Wales (2-1-1) from contention. It also lost its captain Sam Warburton with a head injury after 56 minutes, while Englands prop Joe Marler formally apologized on Sunday for calling Wales prop Sam Lee a gypsy boy.

In the last 20 minutes we tried to protect our lead rather than increase it, he said. If we had played with the same intent as in the first 60 minutes, we would have won by a lot more.

Wales trailed by 16-0 at halftime and, despite an opportunist try by Biggar, was still behind by 25-7  with England center Owen Farrell kicking 20 points  when England was reduced to 14 men for the final eight minutes with prop Dan Cole getting a yellow card for collapsing a maul.

We just didnt turn up in that first 40 minutes, said Wales coach, Warren Gatland, who acknowledged that he thought about benching some starters after only 25 minutes. At this level, that is just not acceptable.

Wales produced its worst Six Nations showing in at least five years and was hopelessly outgunned in its usual areas of strength, losing the hand-to-hand battle for possession and missing 19 tackles in the first half alone.

During that hour, England dominated Wales in every aspect of play, with the rookie lock forward Maro Itoje playing brilliantly. Itoje, 21, certainly is smart  he is studying for a political science degree at London Universitys School of Oriental and African Studies. On Saturday, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Itoje was a huge physical presence as well, dominating the lineout, making big tackles and setting up winger Anthony Watson to score Englands only try.

Our first 60 minutes was superb, Jones said. We played very well, with a lot of precision, were tactically smart and were physical.

Wales scored three tries to Englands one, but any result other than an England win would have been a travesty.

England barely hung on to win at the end. North was taken down just a few yards short of a winning score by England center Manu Tuilagi, who came on as a replacement.

But in September, England was never ahead by more than 10 points. On Saturday, England led by 18 points with only six minutes to go, yet gave away 14 of them as the previously ineffective Welsh finally found their edge. Left winger George North and No. 8 Taulupe Faletau scored late tries for Wales, both converted by flyhalf Dan Biggar.

England spent the first hour looking like a worthy champion, then nearly blew it. The match echoed the last time England played Wales at Twickenham, a 28-25 loss in late September during the World Cup. Englands loss of a match it had dominated played a huge role in why Jones replaced Stuart Lancaster after the cup.

If England does complete the slam to finish 5-0, it will most very likely look back at the 25-21 victory on Saturday over Wales as the moment where it all could have slipped away but didnt.

But France was no match for the rapidly improving Scots (2-2) in the most entertaining match so far of a low-quality tournament. Fullback Stuart Hogg was Scotlands star, scoring its first try, landing a 55-meter penalty goal and creating its decisive third try for wing Tim Visser with a deft deflection of a long pass from scrum-half Greig Laidlaw. Scotland will go to Dublin to play Ireland next Saturday in third place, with hopes of only its fourth top-half finish since its last championship in 1999.

France will go into the match on the back of consecutive losses. The loss on Sunday was its first defeat by Scotland in 10 years. It scored fine team tries at the beginning and end of the first half and showed spirit to fight back within 3 points after trailing by 18-5.

Victory over France (2-2) would complete a perfect first season for Englands new coach, the Australian Eddie Jones. It would be both its first slam in 13 years, since its World Cup winning year of 2003, and its 13th of ever.

It was also Englands second trophy in 24 hours, since a 25-21 against Wales here at Twickenham on Saturday had completed the Triple Crown  victories over the other three British and Irish nations.

Englands players won the title while watching their televisions on Sunday as they saw France, the last team with a chance to catch them, lose, 29-18, to Scotland in Edinburgh. It is its 27th championship, breaking its tie with Wales (26) at the top of the all-time standings.

England is the 2016 European Six Nations champion, but must win again in Paris next Saturday to take the biggest prize: the Grand Slam.

Russian central bankers have fewer reasons to offer relief to their recession-wracked economy than you might think.

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Speech of the President at the Inauguration of the Sesquicentennial Celebrations of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Allahabad, Mon, 14 Mar 2016 NI Wire

President of india, Sri Pranab Mukherjee members of the Bar and other dignitaries for the inauguration of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Allahabad High Court

1. I am delighted to join this distinguished gathering of judges, legal luminaries, members of the Bar and other dignitaries for the inauguration of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Allahabad High Court.



2. This High Court will complete 150 years of its existence on 17, March 2016. The High Court building will also complete 100 years of its existence in November 2016. There is thus a dual purpose to these celebrations in what is one of the largest temples of justice not just in India but the entire world.



3. The Allahabad High Court was established by Royal Charter as the High Court of Judicature for the North Western Province on 17 March 1866 and initially had a seat at Agra. The High Court shifted to Allahabad in 1869.



4. This High Court, over the years, has earned fame as an institution of high standards with strong traditions and ideals. Its Bench, as well as Bar, have been known for its intellectual erudition and legal acumen.



5. Members of its Bar played an important role in the freedom struggle and include illustrious personalities such as Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Purushottam Das Tandon and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The famous 'Chauri Chaura' and 'Meerut conspiracy' case are few cases wherein this Court delivered memorable judgments upholding the concept of liberty.



6. Today, the Allahabad High Court has jurisdiction over the largest state in India, covering nearly one-sixth of our total population. Having started functioning with six judges, it now has a sanctioned strength of 160 Judges, making it the biggest in the country. The Bar of the High Court in 1866 consisted of 6 Advocates. Its strength today is about 15,000 as per the rolls maintained by the Registry of the High Court. The rich jurisprudence emerging from this Court has benefited not just the people of Uttar Pradesh but the country at large.



7. Five judges of the High Court at Allahabad have adorned the office of Chief Justice of India, namely, Sarvashri K N Wanchoo, Mirza Hameedullah Beg, Raghunandan Swarup Pathak, Kamal Narain Singh and Visheshwar Nath Khare. I am happy to know that my distinguished predecessor, Dr. Rajendra Prasad opened the new wing of the High Court in 1954. President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan attended the centenary celebrations and President R. Venkataraman attended the 125th year celebrations.



Friends, ladies and gentlemen,

8. The judiciary in India has played an important role since independence in strengthening the democratic framework of the country and maintaining rule of law. High Courts in particular have a unique position under the Constitution of India. They are not only guardians of peoples rights and liberty, they also have the onerous responsibility of ensuring that access to justice is not denied to any citizen on account of economic or other disability.



9. Judiciary, which is one of the three important pillars of our democracy, is the final interpreter of the Constitution and laws. It must help maintain social order by swiftly and effectively dealing with those on the wrong side of the law. As an upholder of the Rule of Law and enforcer of the right to liberty, the role of the Judiciary is sacrosanct. The faith and confidence people have in the Judiciary must be always maintained. For justice to have meaning for the people, it must be accessible, affordable and quick. Though the Indian judiciary has many strengths, it is yet to fully meet the aspirations of our people for speedy and affordable justice.



10. Our Courts are today overburdened on account of the large number of cases pending before them. There are over three crore cases pending in various courts throughout the country. Out of these about 38.5 lakh cases are pending in 24 High Courts. The pendency of cases in the High Courts has slightly declined from 41.5 lakh in 2014 to 38.5 lakh in 2015, but we still have a long way to go. Overall, out of a sanctioned strength of 1056 judges in all the High Courts, the working strength of High Court judges throughout the country as on 1st March, 2016 was only 591. Similarly, the sanctioned strength of judicial officers in district and subordinate courts in the country is about 20,500 out of which the working strength is only about 16,000 at present.



11. The High Court at Allahabad today has only 71 Judges including the Chief Justice, against the sanctioned strength of 160 Judges. Approximately, 9,11,908 cases are pending in this Court as of February 2016, a decline from 10.1 lakh cases in 2014. The pendency in subordinate courts of Uttar Pradesh is approximately 57,06,103 as on 29.02.2016. More than 42,17,089 (as on 29.02.2016) of them are criminal cases.



12. Justice delayed is justice denied. I am sure that the Central Government and the State Government will extend all support to the Allahabad High Court in its endeavour to reduce pendencies. The Governments, Judges and lawyers must work hand in hand to make justice a living reality.



13. Increasing the number of courts and judges and judicial officers at all levels is the first step towards achieving the objective of timely delivery of justice. The government and the judiciary are collectively addressing this issue through an ongoing increase in the sanctioned strength of judges both at the level of the High Courts as well as District and Subordinate Courts. These sanctioned posts need to be filled quickly so that requisite judicial manpower is available for timely disposal of cases.



14. Along with increasing the strength of judges, development of judicial infrastructure is a priority area. I am glad that Central Government has initiated a centrally sponsored scheme for infrastructure development and sanctioned Rs. 3694 crores to States/ Union Territories in the last five years, which combined with resources from the States is creating new court complexes and residential buildings for judicial officers across the country.



15. It is imperative that we speed up adoption of information and communication technology in the judicial system. The process of computerisation of district and subordinate courts is underway through the eCourts Integrated Mission Mode project of the Central Government. Most of the courts have already been computerised pursuant to this initiative and I eagerly look forward to the day when all courts in the country will be integrated with the National Judicial Data Grid. I am particularly happy that a Centre for Information Technology has been established in the Allahabad High Court and approximately one crore decided case files running into 50 crore pages are to be digitized within one year.





16. In the past few decades, we have seen an exponential increase in the number of cases being filed before courts. The Government is strongly committed to simplifying legal procedures, weeding out contradictory and redundant laws and significantly reducing the number of cases in which the Government is a litigant. The Government is also working towards adoption of a National Litigation Policy that will be geared towards avoiding unnecessary Government litigation.





17. Another way to reduce the number of cases before courts is through the widespread adoption of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms that allow for quick and effective settlement of disputes. Right incentives must be provided to courts to support the use of ADR and at the same time, litigants should be made aware of the benefits of using ADR mechanisms and motivated to use the same. Mediation, in particular is an extremely effective tool for resolution of disputes such as matrimonial and property matters.



18. Further, there must be adequate provision for free legal aid. Greater efforts are also needed to spread legal literacy across the nation and improve the quality of legal education.

Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

19. As you are aware, the Government has launched the Make in India campaign to turn our country into a manufacturing hub. To make this programme a success, we need to improve the ease of doing business in our country. Enforcement of contracts is a key yardstick in measuring the ease of doing business. The Government and judiciary must work in tandem to reduce costs and time taken for dispute resolution.



20. Over the past few years, a number of legislative changes have been introduced in procedural laws governing civil and criminal trials. These include measures to ensure that trials proceeds on a day to day basis, limiting of unnecessary adjournments, imposition of costs for causing intentional delays and integration of information and communication technology in court processes. Section 436A has been added to the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide for release of under trial prisoners who have undergone half of the maximum period of imprisonment for the stated offence. All these changes will contribute to preventing delays in the delivery of justice.



Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,



21. Lawyers play an extremely important role in enabling the public access justice. The legal profession is regarded a noble profession in every society where the rule of law prevails. In India, a large number of our national leaders have been lawyers. Advocates are a vital pillar in the scheme of our constitutional governance and judicial process. They are bestowed with the responsibility to advocate citizens rights and maintain the integrity and independence of the legal system. Advocates must zealously fulfil this professional responsibility.



22. Let me conclude by congratulating the Allahabad High Court for its glorious contributions over one and a half century. I am confident the High Court will continue to uphold the basic values of equality, liberty and justice enshrined in our Constitution and safeguard the freedom and fundamental rights of our people so that they realize their full potential as worthy citizens of this great nation.



Thank you.



Jai Hind.

Source: PIB


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This is the second in our two-part series on small cell deployment. In the first posting, we took a high-level view of the issues surround the connection of small cells to wider area networks. In this segment, the focus is more granular.





We start with the obvious understanding that while small cell deployments may be economical compared with the installation of more macro cells by mobile service providers this does not mean costs are not an issue. However, as explained below, with good small cell planning, operators can maximize their savings from small cells.

In fact, as highlighted by Nokia (News - Alert) in the paper, Small cell deployments: you dont have to learn the hard way, below are seven concrete suggested ways that operators can cut small cell deployment costs.

1. Choose Light Base Stations

Base stations must be placed in many odd or high places, making weight an issue. If a base station is heavy, it will require multiple engineers for installation. Repairing the base station also will require more manpower. Thus, one good way to reduce the cost of small cell deployment is by choosing light base stations that are more easily installed by a single engineer.

2. Use an All-in-One Design

From a cost perspective, it goes almost without saying that the fewer devices to install, the better. It is why the use of all-in-one base stations, that include an integrated antenna for both omni and directional connectors, transport module for electrical and optical connections, integrated router and switch, GPS, Bluetooth, etc., is recommended. Plus, if everything is included in a single device, installation will be much simpler and faster.

3. Go Bluetooth

Speaking of Bluetooth, savvy small cell planning almost always includes Bluetooth. When small cells use Bluetooth, it is possible to have engineers mount small cells and move on to the next installation because techs on the ground can then setup the small cells remotely. This speeds up deployment.

4. Outsource Installation

Sometimes outsourcing small cells setup to a trusted provider can make sense and cut costs. For instance, Nokia Global Delivery Centers can remotely configure the network using proven workflow management tools and processes that are tightly governed, adhere to strict quality procedures, and take advantage of best practices learned from the many projects worldwide that the GDCs have run. As the paper notes, Nokias GDCs use a central Smart Service Delivery Platform to connect the work of different teams and output from different tools in order to maximize the usage of automation.

5. Standardize Site Design

Macro cells are almost never the same, but small cells are. With good small cells planning, operators can cut costs by standardizing installation. Using the same fixings and mounting procedure for multiple small cells, for instance, can reduce the installation workload and make it easier for less experienced personnel to install.

6. Cluster Small Cells

Often several small cells are deployed in and around the same area for complete coverage. In these situations, operators can reduce costs by planning and installing all small cells at the same time for a more efficient implementation.

By pre-assembling as much of the equipment before deployment as possible, operators also can reduce costs.

7. Automated Configuration

Finally, operators can reduce small cell deployment costs by using intelligent self-organizing network automation that automatically configures base stations and reduces setup time. If configuration of a small cell takes more than 25 minutes, it is taking too long and probably could benefit from automation.

It is clear that smart cells are going to be critical parts of the mobile infrastructure for a variety of operators and reasons. These reasons include traditional mobile network operators enhancing connectivity and service quality indoors and outdoors, cable operators and OTTs extending their footprints, and a host of companies looking at small cells for IoT applications. What this means is that being smart about deployments in order to minimize costs as well as maximize opportunities is critical. As, Nokia says, you really do not have to learn the hard way.

Edited by Peter Bernstein
Welcome to the new Enlightenment, an era when suppressed science, hidden history and the enlightening nature of reality are all revealed to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

These are the thoughts and ideas of New Illuminati - bold forerunners and pioneers of new awareness all over the globe.



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Over at Vox, Jedediah Purdy (Duke) just wrote an article entitled, How the 2016 election undermines Fukuyamas end of history argument. It starts with a good explanation of what Francis Fukuyama was really arguing. It then goes off the rails by trying to argue that the 2016 election somehow shows History raising its ugly head.

First, Fukuyama. In The End of History and the Last Man, he argued that fascism and communism had collapsed as viable governing ideologies, leaving liberal democracy the last one standing. Unless liberal democracy generated some sort of problem that liberal democracy could not solve, history in the sense of grand ideological conflict was over. Sure, Islamic theocrats might gain power or start wars, but they were not going to gain mass support among non-Islamic peoples. We all agreed on the big picture. Of course, that big picture was pretty wide, running from the U.K. under Thatcher all the way to Scandinavia. In fact, Fukuyama later used the phrase Getting to Denmark as shorthand for perfecting liberal democracy. (Hold that point, Ill return to it in a paragraph or so.)

Second, 2016. Why does 2016 disprove Fukuyamas argument? Let me pull two quotes from Prof. Purdy.

In the presidential primaries thus far, a fair plurality of voters have supported either a candidate who acts like a fascist or one who calls himself a democratic socialist. The economic context of this new discontent is concentration of wealth and income among the very richest, and decades of stagnation for the working and middle classes and the poor. Behind those trends is the discovery that the widely shared growth and relatively equitable distribution of income and wealth across the North Atlantic between World War II and roughly 1973 was a historical anomaly. According to Piketty's 200-year history of economic inequality, it was the only time, aside from the generalized catastrophe of war and depression, that capitalist economies have not produced compounding inequality.

And now my head hits my desk. Jedediah, no!

First, the 2016 election is completely in line with Fukuyama. Bernie Sanders is a liberal democrat who believes in private property. Denmark is his political vision ... and Denmark, as I pointed out above, is entirely within Fukuyamas definition of liberal democracy. Hell, the U.K. in 1950 is within Fukuyamas definition of liberal democracy! Purdy is pulling a fast one by harping on the socialist label.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, often acts like a fascist. And he has blown off a lot of recent taboos in American politics, which I think is dangerous. But even he cant just come out and call for white supremacy or openly support abolishing the rule of law. Even that authoritarian blowhard needs to keep his rhetoric within the broadest bounds of liberal democracy. Oh, he is a threat, because illiberal democracies are ugly things and liberal democracies can be riven by identity politics ... but that is still small-h history, not History.

Second, Piketty found that found that the liberal democracies of the postwar period did a great job of limiting income inequality through high redistributive taxes. In other words, liberal democracies solved the inequality problem. Purdy is implicitly stating  oh, heck, its barely implicit  that the liberal democracies of 1945-80 were not liberal democracies. That is another fast one.

Maybe the support for Senator Sanders means we are heading towards Eisenhowers tax rates and Canadas health and education systems, or maybe it doesnt. But Senator Sanders surprising success does not mean anything for the United States as a liberal democracy! The United States might socialize medicine, impose draconian inheritance taxes, make public universities free, and return to a 90% top tax rate ... but it would still be a liberal democracy. Because, you know, Eisenhowers America was a liberal democracy and so is Trudeaus Canada.

Maybe a Trump presidency would widen racial divides and inflame identity politics. And maybe it would end in Nixonian-scale scandal. Or maybe it would just be an aggravating damp squib. Either way, a liberal democracy that could survive Richard Nixon will survive Donald Trump. America in 2016 is not Italy in 1924. And it is still more likely than not that Trump loses in November.

In other words, the essay relies on pulling two definitional fast ones and ignoring the limits on Trumpism. I am more than a little surprised.
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If you gave a refugee a lift to the train station, or took them home and gave them coffee, most New Zealanders would think you were being a decent person. But if you do it in Denmark, they will prosecute and fine you for "people trafficking":



A high-profile Danish campaigner for childrens rights was prosecuted on Friday under people trafficking laws, shining a spotlight once more on the countrys crackdown on asylum, as Scandinavian countries compete to make themselves unattractive destinations for refugees.



Lisbeth Zornig, the countrys former childrens ombudsman and a well-known author, was fined DKr22,500 (2,328)  the maximum demanded by the prosecutor  by a court in Nykbing Falster, southern Denmark, for allowing a family of Syrians to hitch a ride with her to Copenhagen.



Her husband was fined the same amount for taking the family into his home for coffee and biscuits, and then driving them to the railway station, where he bought them tickets to Sweden.



Zornig calls this "criminalising decency", and she's right. The Danish government is behaving indecently and inhumanely towards refugees (they're robbing them at the border , FFS), and they are using force of law in an effort to coerce their citizens into going along with it. Hitler would be proud
Following the Sunday attack in Ankara which killed more than 30 people, Turkeys President vowed to defeat terrorists who are wreaking havoc on his country, become one of their targets because of instability in the region.

After a briefing with his Interior Minister Efkan Ala, Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was in Istanbul condemned the attack and tried to calm down Turks, saying the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success.

Terror attacks  which intend to target the integrity of Turkey, and the unity and solidarity of our people  do not diminish our will to fight terror, but further boost it, he added.

Turkish authorities have pointed blaming finger at Kurdish PKK fighters. However Turkeys pro-Kurdish party The Peoples Democratic Party also accused by authorities to champion Kurdish interests has condemned the attack saying that it shares the sorrow of its co-citizens.

A car laden with explosives went off in central Ankara near the Prime Ministers office, several foreign embassies, and the Turkish Parliament. The blast set other vehicles on fire and shattered windows of shops at scene.

According to Turkish Health Minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu at least 37 people have been killed and 125 wounded. He said 30 people died at the scene of the attack while four others died on their way to hospital. Speaking at a joint press conference with Interior Minister in Ankara after a cabinet emergency meeting, Muezzinoglu added that one of the assailants is among the 30 dead.

World leaders have conveyed sympathy to the Turkish people, describing the attack as inhuman, horrific, and barbaric.

Turkish authorities have banned broadcasting of images of the scene. Facebook and twitter have been blocked.

The attack is the second in a month in the Turkish capital. On February 17, a suicide bomb attack hit military shuttles killing 29 people and injuring 81 others. Authorities pinned the blame on the Kurdish militants.
The Hamas delegation that arrived in Cairo on Saturday held its second round of meetings with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a bid to ease tensions between the two sides.

The delegations visit takes place a week after Egypt accused Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of cooperating in the assassination of Hisham Barakat, the countrys Attorney General, in June last year.

Although the matter is expected to be discussed, a source said Hamas was invited by Egyptian security officials before the accusations were made.

The 12-man senior delegation entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing point and was escorted under heavy security.

The Gaza-based group said it is eyeing a new phase in its relationship with Cairo.

According to the delegation, the Cairo talks covered bilateral relations and the burdens Gaza faces, particularly the border crossings, as well as the latest developments in the Palestinian territories.

Hamas delegation is expected to enquire about the whereabouts of its members who disappeared on Egyptian territory.

Relations with Cairo have worsened since the arrival of President Sisi and some authorities have accused Hamas of collaborating with militant groups in Sinai. The militant group has always denied any collusion with Egypt-based militants and its spokesperson Samy Abo Zuhri affirmed their commitment to the security and stability of Egypt and that it is keen to maintain positive relations with Cairo.

Egypt has served as one of the major peace brokers during hostilities between Palestine and Israel. Tensions in the Sinai Peninsula have forced Egypt to take a tough stance against smuggling and other activities along its border with Gaza.
The Presidency Council (PC) based in Tunisia and formed under the Libya Political Agreement announced that the majority of the lawmakers at the Tobruk-based parliament signed a document supporting the Government of National Accord (GNA) giving a green light to start work.

The council said in a statement that Libyas Political Dialogue Team (PDT,) a group of political figures and some members of the two rival parliaments, endorsed the document signed by the HoR but that ten of the PDT members rejected the document stating that the PC relied on mistaken and confused interpretation. The dissenting team called for a vote in parliament to adopt the UN backed agreement and to approve the GNA.

Yet, the Presidency Council called on all Libyan institutions, the international community and organizations to stop dealing with any executive power that does not follow the Government of National Accord.

In the statement, the PC urged all Libyan sovereign and public institutions and the heads of financial bodies to start communicating immediately with the Government of National Accord so as to hand over power in a peaceful and orderly manner.

Western countries showed support to the GNA after the announcement. The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy issued a joint communique welcoming the statement of the members of the Libyan Political Dialogue, and expressing full support to the GNA as proposed by the Presidency Council.

They pledged to work closely with the GNA as the only legitimate government in Libya, and to continue to provide full support for the efforts of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General.

The communique urged the Libyan Presidency Council and the GNA to intensify their efforts to take up their authorities in full to meet the demands of the Libyan people, who are exhausted because of the crisis. The Libyan people deserve peace and stability, it said, insisting that the Libyan Political Agreement is the only legitimate framework for bringing an end to Libyas political crisis and military conflict.

The Foreign Ministers and the EU High Representative reminded individuals on both sides that those who undermine the political process, the establishment of the Government of National Accord and the implementation of the Skhirat agreement, may face sanctions and called on all Libyan parties and the Libyan People to act responsibly at this decisive time for the future of their country by providing full support to the GNA and its installation in Tripoli.

Political unity and an inclusive and functioning government is the only way to put an end to the instability that has fueled the development of terrorism in Libya, the joint communique said.
CHRIS KEANE

By Steve Holland

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Donald Trump could take a giant step on Tuesday toward securing the Republican presidential nomination if he wins the Florida and Ohio primaries, which would intensify pressure for rivals from the party establishment to pull out of the race.

Trump has the potential to sweep five big states holding party primary contests for the November election: Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri. The Republican front-runner could knock out his two mainstream rivals, Ohio Governor John Kasich and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, if he wins their states.

The 69-year-old billionaire businessman has a significant lead over Rubio in opinion polls in Florida, but is neck and neck with Kasich in Ohio. Any win by either Rubio, Kasich or U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, of Texas would give at least a small degree of hope to Republicans battling to deny Trump the nomination.

Trump said on Tuesday that his momentum was already drawing in establishment Republicans who had previously balked at his candidacy but now see him as the likely nominee.

"They're already calling," the New Yorker told NBC's "Today" show, without naming names. "The biggest people in the party are calling."

Trump victories in the five states could make what once seemed inconceivable a strong probability, putting the former reality TV star - who has vowed to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, impose some protectionist trade policies and temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country - on a glide path to being the Republican Party's presidential candidate in November.

Trump drew first blood on Tuesday, winning the Northern Mariana Islands caucuses with almost 73 percent of the vote. The win in the U.S. Pacific commonwealth gave him nine delegates.

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 68, could put some distance between herself and rival Bernie Sanders, 74, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in Tuesday's Democratic primaries.

Opinion polls gave her a big lead in Florida and North Carolina, but showed Sanders gaining ground in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri, a possibly worrisome sign for Clinton after Sanders' surprise victory in Michigan a week ago.

"I voted for Bernie because I want to see a real change to how we do things in this country," Jackie Zydeck, 52, an attorney for the federal government, said after voting in Chicago's liberal Albany Park neighborhood.

"I like his single-payer healthcare idea; I like his ideas about taxes," Zydeck said.

'OPTIMISM OVER PESSIMISM'

Trump held rallies in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina on Monday and said establishment Republicans who have labored to stop his outsider candidacy needed to rally to his cause.

An outbreak of clashes between Trump supporters and protesters that forced him to cancel a rally in Chicago on Friday, and scattered protests at some of his campaign events this week have prompted more concerns from mainstream party figures.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday condemned efforts to disrupt political rallies, but said all presidential candidates must bear responsibility for helping curb violence at campaign events and creating a less hostile atmosphere.

"All candidates have an obligation to do what they can do ... provide an atmosphere of harmony, to reduce violence, to not incite violence," Ryan told reporters.

The Republican establishment's only real hope for stopping Trump is to deny him the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination, even though he may win a majority of them. That would extend the battle to the party's nominating convention in July in Cleveland.

"I believe the ideal outcome in this campaign is to have someone not named Donald Trump coalesce the party with 1,237 delegates and go on to defeat Hillary Clinton in November," Rubio, 44, told Fox News. "If he's the nominee, he is not going to be able to unite the party. In fact, I think he'll bitterly divide it."

Kasich, 63, slammed Trump for a series of comments he has made over the years that disparage women. Those remarks featured in an ad released this week by an anti-Trump Republican Super PAC group.

"I have two daughters. They see this stuff; what do you think they think?" Kasich told reporters in Westerville, Ohio.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker in Ohio, Fiona Ortiz in Chicago, Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney, W Simon and Jonathan Oatis)

This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.
AARON P. BERNSTEIN

By Tim Reid

HEATH, Ohio (Reuters) - Microphone in hand, Republican John Kasich promised the crowd inside a high-tech Ohio factory Saturday that hell never be beholden to Washington insiders if he wins the White House in November.

But as he zigzags across the state before Ohios GOP primary on Tuesday - emboldened by polls showing him edging ahead of rival Donald Trump - Kasich may soon need all the Washington insiders he can get.

Behind the scenes, strategists for Kasich, the Ohio governor, are studying arcane party rules that they believe could offer a path to the Republican nomination if he wins his home state, his aides said.

It is a long-shot strategy, both for Kasich and the anti-Trump forces inside the party. But if fellow GOP candidate Marco Rubio loses his own state of Florida on Tuesday - as polls predict - a surge by Kasich may be the only viable strategy for Republicans looking to stop Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

A loss by Rubio, a senator, will almost certainly end his struggling candidacy. If Trump wins both Ohio and Florida, the New York real estate moguls march to the nomination will be all but assured.

The Kasich camp sees a Rubio loss in Florida opening up a different possibility  the first contested convention held by either party since 1952.

"The plan is to win Ohio, and some other states, and if that happens, nobody is going to have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot," said John Weaver, Kasich's chief campaign strategist, who also worked on Republican Senator John McCain's losing presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008.

Kasich supporters are betting that an Ohio win will give his candidacy its first real momentum, attracting donors and endorsements. From there, he could score more victories in upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut and California, states where Kasich polls favorably.

He has almost no hope of winning enough delegates to secure the nomination outright. But if he can succeed in blocking Trump from getting a majority, Kasich can make a case to convention delegates that he is more electable than Trump or Ted Cruz, the conservative evangelical from Texas and, to date, Trump's most successful Republican rival.

To become the nominee who faces Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders  the two leading Democrat candidates  a Republican needs to win a majority of the 2,472 Republican delegates. Trump is leading, with 460, followed by Cruz with 370, Rubio at 163 and Kasich at 63.

If no candidate reaches that threshold by the close of the last primary on June 7, then the convention will almost certainly be contested  a historical rarity that would signal deep party rifts.

1940 CONVENTIONKasichs aides are looking to history as a guide, particularly Wendell Willkies path to 1940 Republican nomination.

That year, three leading candidates  Robert Taft, Thomas Dewey and Arthur Vandenberg  each arrived at the convention without enough delegates to win.

Willkie - a businessman and former Democrat who had never before run for public office - opposed the Republican Partys isolationists and was a supporter of Great Britains war efforts. His cause gained momentum after the Nazi blitzkrieg in Europe in May 1940.

At the convention, after six ballots, delegates in Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan deserted other candidates and switched to Willkie, giving him victory.

Trump, Cruz and Kasich could face the same scenario this year, which would force to them to lobby delegates on the convention floor until one emerged with a majority.

The Kasich campaign and Republican elites  many of whom have a distaste for both Trump and Cruz  are planning for just such a scenario, Weaver said.

But because it has been more than a half century since the last brokered convention, he said, Nobody knows exactly how this works.

AN OUTSIDER WITH INSIDER HELP

Despite 18 years as a Republican congressman, and now six as Ohio governor, Kasich has cast himself as a Washington outsider in hopes of tapping the anti-establishment mood that has fueled Trumps once-improbable front-runner status.

"Guess what? The establishment is afraid of me because I don't take orders from anybody over there, Kasich said in a recent television interview.

At other times, he appears to revel in his Washington experience. I took on Washington and I won. I actually got the budget balanced when I was a member of the Congress, he said in a March 11 debate.

The Republican establishment is watching Kasich and Ohios Tuesday primary closely, said Charlie Black, a Republican strategist and a former adviser to Mitt Romney, the Republican 2012 presidential nominee, who recently blasted Trumps campaign.

"A lot of people who do not want Trump have been sitting back to see how Kasich and Rubio do in their home states on Tuesday, he said. If Kasich wins, I think he'll see a pick-up in donors, and in help from members of the party."

Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist not affiliated with any presidential candidate, expects Kasich to face a tough battle even if he wins Ohio.

But for some of these anti-Trump voters, if they can get Kasich to a contested convention, they see that as their best hope of blocking Trump."

Until now, the relationship between Kasich and party elites has been prickly.

On Feb. 21, the Rubio campaign had released a memo calling for Kasich to quit the race, while a string of party insiders endorsed Rubio as the "establishment" candidate most likely to defeat Trump.

Thats changing. After the Republican presidential debate in Florida last week, Kasich flew on Friday morning to Lima, Ohio, for an event with voters. As he landed, he and aides switched on their phones and saw emails telling them that Rubio adviser Alex Conant had just publicly urged voters in Ohio who wanted to stop Trump to vote for Kasich instead of Rubio, according to several aides.

"We were not expecting them to do that," said a Kasich campaign spokesman, Chris Schrimpf.

(Editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot)

This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.
By Colleen Jenkins

By Colleen Jenkins

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A North Carolina sheriff's office said on Monday it would not charge Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump or his campaign with "inciting a riot" at a rally in the state last week.

North Carolina is one of five states holding Republican and Democratic primary elections on Tuesday in the race to select candidates for November's U.S. presidential election.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, based in Fayetteville, earlier had said it was reviewing whether Trump or his campaign incited a disturbance at a rally last Wednesday.

At the rally in Fayettsville, John McGraw, a 78-year-old white Trump supporter, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after he was seen on video punching a 26-year-old black protester in the face.

On Monday evening, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement it would not seek a warrant or indictment for Trump or his campaign over the incident.

"The Sheriff's Office legal counsel advised, and the Sheriff concurred, that the evidence does not meet the requisites of the law as established under the relevant North Carolina statute and case law to support a conviction of the crime of inciting a riot," the office said.

In North Carolina, "inciting to riot" is a legal charge that can apply to a public disturbance and does not necessarily involve a full-scale riot. The offense can be classified as a misdemeanor or a more serious felony.

During a trip on Monday to North Carolina, Trump rejected suggestions that his language was to blame for recent clashes at his rallies. The 69-year-old New Yorker leads a field of four Republican candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)

This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.
About Me

Dr. Gail H. Marcus is an independent consultant on nuclear power technology and policy. She previously worked as Deputy Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in Paris; Principal Deputy Director of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology; in various positions at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); and as Assistant Chief of the Science Policy Research Division at the Congressional Research Service. Dr. Marcus spent a year in Japan as Visiting Professor in the Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and five months at Japans Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Dr. Marcus has served as President of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and as Chair of the Engineering Section of AAAS. She also served on the National Research Council Committee on the Future Needs of Nuclear Engineering Education. She is a Fellow of the ANS and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Marcus has an S.B. and S.M. in Physics, and an Sc.D. in Nuclear Engineering from MIT. She is the first woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering in the United States.
Make China Gloat Again. Photo: John Sommers II/Getty Images

Donald Trump isnt just a threat to American democracy  he may also be hurting the prospects for democratic rule in the most populous nation on Earth. On Monday, Chinas state-owned Global Times published an editorial that casts Trump as proof of democracys inherent dangers. The piece opens with a description of the clashes between protesters and Trump supporters in Chicago Friday night.

Fist fights among voters who have different political orientations is quite common in developing countries during election seasons, the paper observes. Now, a similar show is shockingly staged in the US, which boasts one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems.

In other words: Even advanced democratic systems breed violent divisions among the people. Whats more, such systems are vulnerable to takeover by an abusively racist and possibly fascist clown like Trump:

Usually, the tempo of the evolution of US politics can be predicted, while Trumps ascent indicates all possibilities and unpredictability. He has even been called another Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler by some Western media. Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, a heavy lesson for Western democracy.

As the Washington Post notes, the editorial also contains an implicit critique of the American economic system, pinning Trumps rise on the anger of lower class whites in the wake of the Great Recession. While the paper acknowledges that Trump is unlikely to win the general election, it argues, Even if Trump is a false alarm  The US faces the prospect of an institutional failure, which might be triggered by a growing mass of real-life problems.

It may be propaganda, but it still has a point: How strong can American democracy be if its elevating an authoritarian so brutal, he actually praised the Communist Partys crackdown in Tiananmen Square?

For a longer look at the United States, as seen through the eyes of Chinese state media, check out the newly released 45-minute documentary below.
A survivor of the Ankara bombing. Photo: ADEM ALTAN / Stringer

Good morning and welcome to Fresh Intelligence, our roundup of the stories, ideas, and memes youll be talking about today. In this edition, Turkey responds to another terrorist bombing in Ankara, the Democratic candidates weigh in on Trump campaign violence, and Googles computer is finally beaten. Heres the rundown for Monday, March 14.

WEATHER

After experiencing record-breaking floods the South may now have tornadoes to contend with, as well as thunderstorms and even more rain. A storm system is also building in the middle of the country, while increasingly dangerous storms lash Northern California. New York should see rain today with temperatures hovering in the mid-40s. [Weather.com]



FRONT PAGE

Terrorist Bomb Kills at Least 34, Turkey Hits Kurdish Rebels

A car bomb went off in a crowded square in Ankara on Sunday night, killing more than 34 people and wounding scores more. The explosion comes just three weeks after another bomb in the capital killed 28 people when it went off near a military convoy; the Turkish government blamed that attack on a Syrian Kurdish militia, which is supported by the United States. On Monday morning, Turkeys state-run news agency reported that the military has conducted airstrikes against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. [NYT, AP]

EARLY AND OFTEN

Clinton, Sanders Appear at Town-Hall Event, No One Punched

The two Democratic contenders took the stage at a town-hall-style event hosted by CNN and TV One in Ohio last night. Like Marco Rubio and John Kasich, the Democrats condemned Donald Trump for the recent violence at his rallies. Sanders denied Trumps accusation that his campaign is directing supporters to disrupt his events, and called the mogul a pathological liar.



Former Quitter Endorses Future Loser

One-time political entity John Boehner has endorsed nice-guy-by-comparison John Kasich, saying he already voted for the fellow Ohioan and that they have been friends for years. Thats a nice sentiment, but were not sure outing someone as a longtime friend of John Boehner is the best thing you can do for their political career. [NYT]

Romney Helps Out Another Non-Trump Candidate

Mitt Romney will step up his anti-Trump crusade on Monday when he hits the campaign trail with John Kasich in Ohio. Last week, Romney recorded robocalls for Kasich and Marco Rubio, but he refuses to pick a favorite among the candidates who are not staging a hostile takeover of the GOP.



Former State Department Staffer Is No Snitch

John Bentel, a former manager of IT security at the State Department will not answer questions from the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees about his old boss Hillary Clintons use of a personal email server. Another Clinton staffer, Bryan Pagliano, also refused to answer similar questions last year. [Politico]

THE STREET, THE VALLEY

Humans Score Rare Victory in Robot War

Korean Go champion Lee Sedol has beaten Googles AlphaGo computer. Lets put aside for the moment that AlphaGo won the previous three games  Lees win shows that Google still has a ways to go before perfecting the AI technology that will one day inevitably enslave us all. [Recode]



VWs Very Bad Year Continues

In the midst of the ongoing controversy surrounding its misreporting of emissions, theres more bad news for Volkswagen: A former employee is suing the automotive giant, claiming he was fired after trying to stop the illegal deletion of data at the company last year. [Reuters]



SXSW Harassment Summit Doesnt Go Great

It looks like South by Southwest, the Texas megafestival of music and blogging or something, is still struggling with putting together an effective summit on online harassment after last years was dogged by threats and tech problems. This years summit was poorly attended and participants are upset over the choice of venue, miles away from the epicenter of the festival in downtown Austin. [The Verge]



Watch After Breakfast

A video released over the weekend apparently shows a worker at Kelloggs Memphis plant peeing onto a conveyor belt of puffed rice, read: Rice Krispies. The video  which has much fewer snap, crackle, and pop sounds than we were hoping  was filmed in 2014, meaning all of that cereal has most likely been eaten already. Enjoy your day. [Newscrawl]

MEDIA BUBBLE

New York Times Lures Atlantic Editor

Sources close to the New York Times say the paper is in talks with one-time reporter and current editor of The Atlantic James Bennet, begging him to return to the paper and most likely work some of that Atlantic magic on the Gray Ladys ballooning online presence. [Politico]



Art Imitates Life: Kevin Spaceys Backroom Negotiations Fall Through

Kevin Spacey has announced that he will not take on the job of running Relativity Studios, the film company that has just come through an arduous bankruptcy filing. Spacey confirmed what almost everyone expected, that the very busy actor does not have the time or expertise to save the complicated and struggling business. [Hollywood Reporter]



Non-Journalist Accused of Shoddy Journalism

Kate del Castillo, the actress whose text communications with Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman helped authorities locate and arrest him, has spoken out in an article in The New Yorker, saying Sean Penn  the actor and Hunter S. Thompson complex sufferer  fabricated parts of his interview with Guzman and did not warn her he was writing an article. Penn denies her accusations entirely. [New Yorker]

PHOTO OP

Rorschach Test, Politics Edition

Heres proof that our political leaders can get past their differences and treat each other like human beings, or evidence that our entire political system is a corrupt oligarchy.



This may be the best photo from Mrs. Reagan's funeral. pic.twitter.com/kX1WZP9mwi  David Chalian (@DavidChalian) March 14, 2016

MORNING MEME

This very nice man helped give Marco Rubios ego a welcome boost at a campaign event yesterday.

OTHER LOCAL NEWS

Florida Literally Bat Shit

Ken Lawson, the secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Tallahassee, Florida, will be away from his desk for a while after inspectors found ten pounds of bat guano in the ceiling directly above his desk. Oddly, no mention is made of the actual bats; where are the bats?! [AP]



This Weeks Least Newsy News

Jordan Alexander joined the ranks of disappointed people at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, when her husband refused to go on Splash Mountain  her favorite ride  with her at the last minute. Her husband subsequently posted a copy of the rides souvenir picture, showing his wife upset and alone to imgur, where it was viewed more than 2 million times. [UPI]

HAPPENING TODAY

When Moving to Canada Just Isnt Far Enough

Two robotic spacecrafts are being launched today, the first phase in the ExoMars mission: a partnership between the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency. Ultimately probes will be sent to the surface of Mars to check if the planet can sustain life. And yes, you can watch the launch live on the internet. [The Verge]



On 5th Anniversary of War, Syrian Peace Talks Begin Again

Another round of Syrian peace talks will get underway today in Geneva on the fifth anniversary of what has become a catastrophic conflict. The talks are being approached with a rare modicum of hope after a two-week long cease-fire has against all odds effectively, if briefly, reduced violence. [Irish Times]



ISIS Genocide Vote Expected to Pass

The House of Representatives will vote today on a resolution saying ISIS is guilty of committing genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other minorities. The resolution is intended to pressure on President Obama to make a similar declaration before Thursday. [Politico]
Its Mr. Steal Your Girl. Photo: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

Marco Rubio might not look so hot in the polls, but his glistening pate and well-memorized stump speech seem to have attracted the attention of at least one Florida voter. On Sunday, a man was removed from a Rubio rally in Florida for standing up in the middle of the candidates speech and announcing to those assembled that Rubio was trying to steal his girlfriend. They met in New Hampshire, and she doesnt look at me the same way anymore, he explained. Hes a little better looking than me, and hes trying to steal my girlfriend. She doesnt love me anymore!

Pic of the day via @joeburb. Guy interrupted Marco Rubio's speech in The Villages, said Rubio stole his girlfriend: pic.twitter.com/1z5LSmStU5  Jeff Weiner (@JeffWeinerOS) March 14, 2016

Police quickly converged on the man and led him out, but he didnt go quietly. Hes probably going to steal yours, too, he warned the audience, which mostly consisted of veterans. Rubio, who admittedly does not seem like the girlfriend-stealing type, appeared to be in shock. I didnt even win New Hampshire, he told the man, prompting more laughter. Rubio might be doomed as a political candidate, but at least hes got game where it counts.
Heavy rains moved across the southern United States over the weekend, triggering flooding from Tennessee to Texas. On Sunday, President Obama declared a major disaster in Louisiana, where at least three people have been killed and 5,000 homes damaged, according to Reuters. The presidents declaration will make federal funding available for cleanup and repairs, which the mayor of Maryville  a town in southwestern Louisiana near the Texas border where 200 homes were damaged  said could take at least a month. The Louisiana National Guard said it had rescued more than 3,000 residents over the weekend, and meteorologists are calling the flooding historic.

Meanwhile at least 400 homes suffered damage in Mississippi, and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency director Lee Smithson told the Weather Channel that about 300 people have been evacuated since Wednesday. Mississippi governor Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency late on Thursday afternoon. In Oklahoma, a 30-year-old man drowned in his SUV attempting to cross a flooded bridge, and Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson issued a disaster declaration there as well. Texas and Tennessee are also experiencing flooding, and dozens of people in each state have been evacuated.

Pic from Pine Bluff and @KATVNews photog Larry Potter. Entrance to Hampton Inn off I530 flooded. @KATVToddYak #arwx pic.twitter.com/5PUTX4LDm2  Melinda Mayo (@KATVMelinda) March 10, 2016

Dog named Lugg Nutt #rescued yesterday as truck cab was submerged & filled with water in East Texas #txwx pic.twitter.com/V0E3rw7PF9  Texas Game Warden (@TexasGameWarden) March 11, 2016

The flooding is the result of a slow-moving but steady storm system that has dumped as much as a foot of rain on some parts of the South. Unfortunately it shows no signs of letting up  on Sunday night, the National Weather Service warned that hail and damaging winds could hit parts of Arkansas and northern Louisiana, and rainfall is expected to continue this week. As Louisianas emergency management office said in a statement, its not over.
Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski addressed the media earlier this evening.

On Sunday evening, an unidentified man walked up to a police station in Prince Georges County, Maryland, and opened fire. Officers rushed out of the building to respond to the attack, which was unprovoked, and one officer  28-year-old Jacai Colson  was critically wounded. Colson was taken to Prince Georges Hospital Center where he later died. According to the Washington Post, both the suspected shooter and a man officials described as the suspects brother are in custody; the suspect was wounded and is in stable condition. Police have yet to determine a motive for the attack, which they say was unprovoked. He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot, Lascelles Grant, who witnessed the scene, told the Post. Who would shoot a police station on Sunday evening? This is insane.

Officer shot, possible active shooter(s) outside District III station next to PGPD HQ. Stay inside. Avoid area.  PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) March 13, 2016

Following the shooting, the Prince Georges County Police Department issued a shelter in place order for residents near the station, and major highways remained closed until well after the suspect had been taken into custody. At a press conference near the hospital, Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski said officers were going about their business when they were attacked. The suspect opened fire on the first police officer he saw, he said.

Chief: One of your defenders lost his life in defense of this community today. This was an unprovoked attack. pic.twitter.com/anAxJfsFZH  PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) March 14, 2016

Colson was a narcotics officer whod been with the department for four years. Prince Georges FOP president, John Teletchea, said he was always there for his fellow brothers and sisters and was a real cops cop. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
At least 20 hurt as 94 vehicles pile up on North Carolina interstate https://t.co/FRn3qZA2Wf pic.twitter.com/4baRZCbs0s  NBC News (@NBCNews) March 14, 2016

This particular commute from hell occurred not in the bowels of New York Citys subway system but on a North Carolina interstate. On Sunday evening, more than 100 vehicles were involved in a pileup that covered a six-mile stretch of freeway in Alamance County, east of Burlington. According to the Burlington Times-News, officials say the whole mess started around 4 p.m. with a five-car wreck involving a Jeep landing on top of another car. Sun reflecting off of rain-slicked pavement reportedly blinded oncoming drivers, leading to even more crashes. It was almost like watching dominoes fall, Sergeant Danny Jenkins of North Carolina Highway Patrol told the Burlington Times-News.

Working to get info from @NCSHP. Traffic crawling eastbound. Closed westbound. Several wreckers throughout. #WRAL pic.twitter.com/H4FEAAoffj  Candace Sweat (@WRALCandace) March 14, 2016

At least 20 people were injured in the massive pileup, but amazingly, none of the injuries were serious. Jenkins told the Times-News that most of the wrecks occurred in smaller clusters, such as two-car, nine-car, and seven-car wrecks; the highest number of cars involved in any single collision was 12. At one point, Jenkins said he saw one driver rear-end another while recording a cell-phone video of the crash. Both drivers gave each other the middle finger and they took off, he said.

Mary Holmes describes crashing on I40. Says drivers simply couldn't avoid hitting each other. #WRAL pic.twitter.com/8jTg3WCoat  Candace Sweat (@WRALCandace) March 14, 2016

The interstate was closed for more than five hours, and crashes were still being called in as late as 9 p.m. There was an incredibly high number of calls, Chuck Pickard, shift supervisor for Alamance County Central Communications, told the Times-News. Highway Patrol is going to have their hands full investigating every accident.
Doctors will no longer be allowed to handwrite prescriptions in New York State. Photo: Jeffrey Hamilton

Judging your doctor for his or her chicken-scratch handwriting is about to become a thing of the past. Starting on March 27, doctors in New York State will be required to transmit prescriptions directly to pharmacies electronically in most circumstances, rather than write them out on paper for the patient. Officials believe the change, which comes about as part of a 2012 law designed to curtail prescription-drug abuse, will cut down on fraud, though it should also reduce errors resulting from the misreading of sloppy handwriting.

With the changes, New York becomes the first state to both require electronic prescriptions and actually penalize doctors who dont comply. (Minnesota also requires electronic prescriptions but doesnt penalize those who still use pen and paper.)

The change is the second major component of a 2012 state law known as I-Stop, which was designed to curtail prescription-opium abuse. The first part of that law to take effect required doctors to check an online registry before prescribing a controlled medication. The registry includes all of the controlled substances recently prescribed to a patient, so a doctor can spot a potential history of abuse. (The Times notes that the system is hardly foolproof and can be gamed by something as simple as a patient misspelling his or her name.)

Under the new rules for prescriptions, a patient will have to tell the doctors office which pharmacy he or she would like the prescription to be filled at, or choose one from a database of available pharmacies. This, however, eliminates the option of shopping around for shorter waiting times or better prices. Doctors will now only be allowed to write prescriptions on paper in exceptional cases, like when there are technical issues or when it will be filled out of state. Doctors can also continue to handwrite prescriptions for things other than medicine, such as crutches or wheelchairs.

Via the Times, the switch to electronic prescriptions was supposed to take place last year, but it was pushed back because of software security issues that have now been fixed. But many doctors are still waiting until the last minute. As of January, according to the Times, only about 60 percent of the roughly 100,000 authorized prescribers in the state were set up to send prescriptions electronically, and about half as many could prescribe controlled substances, which requires an addition security step. The shift is an especially complex one for major health systems, and several  including Montefiore Health System, NYU Langone Medical Center, Northwell Health, and the Mount Sinai Health System  are applying for waivers to give them more time to implement electronic prescriptions in at least some of their facilities.
Feeling the berning dislike for Trump. Photo: Spencer Platt/2016 Getty Images

Presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle were quick to denounce the escalating unrest at Trump rallies in recent days, with fellow Republicans John Kasich and Marco Rubio calling his tone toxic and not excusable. Naturally, the condemnation from the left has been even more forceful, particularly after Trump blamed Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters for disrupting his Friday night rally in Chicago.

Trump even threatened Sanders (though he denies it):

Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2016

Sanders pushed back, insisting that his campaign had nothing to do with the Chicago protests, and saying in a statement on Saturday, As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar.

Sanders repeated the attack during a CNN town hall at Ohio State University on Sunday night. I hesitate to say this because I really dont like to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar, Sanders told Jake Tapper.

He went on to deny that his campaign ever encouraged people to disrupt events, and noted that Trump has said hes looking into paying the legal fees of the man accused of assaulting a black protester at one of his rallies. What that means is that Donald Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, thats okay, Ill pay the legal fees. That is an outrage and I would hope that Mr. Trump tones it down big time and tells his supporters that violence is not acceptable in the American political process.

Taking the stage after the Vermont senator, Clinton expressed a similar sentiment. It is clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear, she said. He actually incites violence in the way he urges his audience on, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills. Clinton added that Trump has been applauding violence for months, and its essentially political arson. He has lit the fire, then he throws his hands up and claims he shouldnt be held responsible. He should be held responsible, she said.

So, whats a Trump-fearing American to do? Dont worry, both Sanders and Clinton plan to kick his butt in the general election (metaphorically, of course).
Pastor Mark Burns served as the warm-up act at a North Carolina event featuring Donald Trump and Chris Christie Monday, but he had some advice for one of the contenders for the Democratic nomination. Said Burns, via Politico: Bernie Sanders, who doesnt believe in God. How in the world are we going to let Bernie? I mean, really? Listen, Bernie gotta get saved. He gotta meet Jesus. He gotta have a come-to-Jesus meeting.

Trump's opening speaker calls on Sanders to convert to Christianity: pic.twitter.com/EfclxqIpnK  Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) March 14, 2016

Sanders, who is Jewish, said earlier this month that hes proud of his faith and that being Jewish is so much of what I am.
While Apple and the FBI go to court over the San Bernardino shooters iPhone, the Justice Department is facing another technical hurdle in its own investigation. This weekend, the New York Times reported that a wiretap order has been hindered by the end-to-end encryption on Facebook-owned WhatsApp, one of if not the most popular messaging services in the world.

Months ago, WhatsApp began encrypting all of its messages using end-to-end encryption, so-called because the keys for decrypting messages are held only by the recipient. End-to-end encryption, which is both simple and extremely secure, is increasingly standard in messaging apps, in part because its presence means that the companies making the apps cant crack encrypted messages even if ordered to do so by the government. In this case, the Feds have a wiretap warrant  but because theyd need the locally stored encryption keys to read any of the messages theyd intercept, its effectively useless. (The details of the case are under seal, but unlike the showdown over the San Bernardino shooters phone, this one does not involve terrorism.)

This isnt the first time that E2E has caused headaches for law enforcement. Last fall, Apples iMessage system came under criticism for offering a similar mechanism, preventing law enforcement from accessing messages. They considered suing Apple for assistance, but backed off. Needless to say, this issue has been near its boiling point for a while. Overseas, a WhatsApp executive was recently briefly detained by authorities in Brazil over encrypted messages.

The legal stalemate right now could be potentially be resolved with new wiretap laws  but so far no one seems willing to push:

Because of such support for encryption, Obama administration officials disagree over how far they should push companies to accommodate the requests of law enforcement. Senior leaders at the Justice Department and the F.B.I. have held out hope that Congress will settle the matter by updating the wiretap laws to address new technology. But the White House has declined to push for such legislation. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said on Friday that he was skeptical of Congresss ability to handle such a complicated policy area.

As all of this is going on, tech companies are beefing up their security mechanisms. The Guardian reports that Facebook (owner of WhatsApp), Google, and Snapchat are all working on developing more secure messaging systems.
Emma Sulkowicz, Mattress Girl. Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

On Friday, Paul Nungesser, the alleged rapist of Mattress Girl Emma Sulkowicz, had his discrimination lawsuit against Columbia University dismissed.

In 2014, Emma Sulkowicz launched her art-protest piece Carry That Weight, in which she carried her mattress with her everywhere (including to commencement), as a condemnation of Columbias handling of her rape complaint. Though the University cleared him of wrongdoing and allowed him to continue with school, Nungessers name was eventually made public.

Last year, he filed a discrimination suit against the school under Title IX (the statute under which victims of sexual assault often bring their claims). In the suit, Nungesser asserted that Columbia denied him opportunities it gave to Sulkowicz, and allowed gender-based harassment of him by letting her use Carry That Weight as her senior thesis. Judge Gregory Woods was having none of it, dismissing the suit in a 26-page decision that underlines how weak Nungessers Title IX case is. Nungessers argument rests on a logical fallacy. He assumes that because the allegations against him concerned a sexual act that everything that follows from it is sex-based within the meaning of Title IX. He is wrong, wrote Woods. Taken to its logical extreme, Nungessers position would lead to the conclusion that those who commit, or are accused of committing, sexual assault are a protected class under Title IX.

Columbia, meanwhile, just wants to see the whole thing be over. A spokesperson for the school told the universitys paper, We are encouraged that todays ruling brings us closer to the point that this litigation, addressing issues understandably difficult for many, can be concluded. However, it may be a bit yet before that conclusion is reached. Nungessers lawyers have already announced plans to file an amended complaint.
Comments, observations and thoughts from two bloggers on applied statistics, higher education and epidemiology. Joseph is an associate professor. Mark is a professional statistician and former math teacher.
http://www.glamour.com/images/inspired/2016/03/allure-april-cover-amy-adams-w352.jpg



I'm not a big amy adams fan but that's a cute, beachy cover.. I'm not a big amy adams fan but that's a cute, beachy cover..

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came here to say the same thing, she looks great

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i thought that it's an old picture lol

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Jesus Christ! She's been nominated for Oscar several times, and he is a piggy looking guy with no decent movies and yet he got paid more??????????

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THIS. I do not understand the general populations love of Jeremy Renner. He has negatives amounts of Charisma in front of the camera.

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it's kind of like when charlize theron was happy after she asked to get paid as much as chris hemsworth on snow white and she was like "to their credit, they didn't fight it." like aww...of course they didn't charlize. you're an oscar winner and he's fucking trash, in reality you should be getting paid more than him not the same amount.

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I had NO idea that Charlize got paid the same as Chris Hemsworth. That makes me fucking furious.

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Mte. It's sad she's happy she's getting the same amount of money as a talentless Marvel actor.

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I mean, she also found it out through the Sony leaks, which means that without the hacking she never would've known. And this was back in 2011 when literally all he had to his name was Thor.

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Not to mention his role was tiny, got no awards traction and he wouldn't have helped pull ANY box office. He has nothing going for him except the fact he has a pink schlong. Hate him so much.

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I love Amy. I understand her internal struggle of wanting to advocate for herself, but not at the expense of losing the job altogether and at the same time you're still better off than 99% of other women. its a tough tough place for a women to be at, that disadvantage and that advantage at the same time.



there's nothing wrong with not wanting to fight, or not create a shitty work environment for yourself...its just so hard to want those things and want to advocate for yourself at the same time.

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It's exactly why it frustrates me that the onus is on women to negotiate when Hollywood makes it clear that female actors are disposable and their roles could always be given to other women. At the end of the day, you end up being put in a position to lose the job entirely, sometimes there is no space to negotiate, it sucks

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This is what a lot of people miss when blaming various sexist outcomes on women for not behaving otherwise - negotiating salaries is a big example. People like to use it to deny pay disparities, while neglecting the fact that the reason women don't negotiate is because they're socialised not to. That fear she's talking about isn't baseless, research has shown that people do react more poorly to women who try to negotiate than men. And in an industry like Hollywood where female roles are already so much lesser valued, it's little wonder that women don't speak up

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I will forever like Amy simply because of how professionally she handled that disastrous press room when every one of her co-stars was being a total ass

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what even happened there, ive seen the vid but why was everyone (but amy) being such dickburgers

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Idk TBH I'm guessing they were all slightly intoxicated and just tired but it was NAGL

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whaaat's this about?

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that whole thing was so odd

like they all got into a big fight just before or something

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Yeah



Those are the things that really show a person's true personality.





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http://www.celebitchy.com/474482/amy_adams_on_working_with_david_o_russell_again_not_in_the_near_future_no/



[ Spoiler (click to open) ] By all accounts, Russells behavior on set was horrendous. Hed always had a reputation  he notoriously got into a fist fight with George Clooney during the shoot for Three Kings in 1999, with Clooney vowing to never work with the director again  but it was assumed hed changed.



One of the leaked Sony emails  from journalist Jonathan Alter to his brother-in-law Sony CEO Michael Lynton  would prove otherwise. Alter said Russell so abused Adams on the set of American Hustle that Christian Bale had to step in to defend her. His abuse and lunatic behavior are extreme even by Hollywood standards, wrote Alter.



Was this true? In a word: yes. Working with Russell was always kind of crazy, she says. On The Fighter, there was a lot of improv and energy, but this was something else.



Even I was surprised on American Hustle, because on Silver Linings Playbook he had developed this wild, crazy way of working with Bradley and Jennifer and it was mania. I was like: wow.



He would talk and shout through every scene, screaming instructions at people while they worked. I did a scene with Bradley where I have to hit him and hes yelling at me, Hit him! Hit Him! Hit him! Hit him! HARDER! HARDER! HARDER! Really give it to him this time!



Is it true he made her cry? He did. He was hard on me, thats for sure. It was a lot. Most days, she says, I was really just devastated on set, and most days she returned home devastated too. I mean, not every day, but most.



I begin to say you could argue that if the film is a success then the method is



No, she cuts in. Its not OK with me. Life to me is more important than movies.



She wouldnt, she says, want to work with David O. Russell again  at least not any time soon.



Not in the near future, no. Ill never say never, but with my daughter being where shes at, unless the role is less damaged and theres a way to mitigate the insanity then probably not. I just want to be a good mom, you know?



Edited at 2016-03-14 09:48 pm (UTC)

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he sounds nuts wtf

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he's such a POS. I really like that she took her time to discuss all of this though and is so open about her experiences

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it is absurd he is still being supported in this industry

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I think it's less the writer thinking that and the writer bringing up a point the public would bring up

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I truly hate this guy.





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An actual abusive prick who constantly gets rewarded for his shitty behaviour. Must be Hollywood. Amy is legit amazing and I hate that on top of the abuse, her crying would be seen as "weak" and shit like that, that was hard to read so I can't imagine what it must have been like for her :(

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I've never really spent that much time thinking about Amy Adams one way or another, but... I really like and respect her for speaking so openly about this.

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Jeremy Renner has such a good agent to be getting top pay in AH and the Marvel Universe.

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it's sad she still feels it's on her

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amy is so sweet. i wish she was never in american hustle with that entire mess of a cast

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i totally get her struggle w/wanting to self advocate but still wanting the chance to do the work. she seems like such an honestly sweet and goodhearted person.

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I could do without the last sentence but yay, Adams!

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still on the fence about her... she lacks that je ne sais quoi

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I feel like her talent is kind of overblown. Like she's a good actress but I don't think she's amazing.



At the same time though she seems like such a lovely, sweet, smart person that I root for her every time she gets recognition.

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oh yeah, I appreciate her & her talents. but at this point she seems more of a character actress than a leading lady. I'm not saying she can't electrify me... just that she has yet to

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i thought she was amazing in enchanted tbh. most people rave about her other roles (and she's got some very good ones) but that will forever be my fave. i don't care if it's a disney movie, she was so good i started watching everything she was in after that.

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Same. I don't see that leading lady taking charge of an entire film~ sort of quality in her but I do like her a lot!

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she doesn't have it but neither does most of hollywood at da moment.

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After what David O Russell put her through, she should be claiming 8 figure salaries for everything.

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she should take him to the cleaners IMO

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hearing she cried almost every day on american hustle really made me hate david o'russell.

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Amy is so sweet and talented, it's a shame actors like Jeremy Renner or Bradley Cooper who aren't half as talented as she is, get payed a lot more.

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Sometimes I just go along with things even though I know they're not in my best interest. I negotiated, and I tried to get paid as much [as Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper]. But I felt like if I kept pushing, I wouldn't have had the opportunity.



:\

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it's so freaking sad and frustrating to read that, and Amy is in a relatively good position as an actress... I can only imagine what lesser known actresses have to go through and how much less they're paid just so they don't miss the opportunity

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The sad part is that even though I'm not an actress, I can relate and have had to do the same thing with things in my life. It's ridiculous what women go through.

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Argentina offers one of the few places on earth where oil companies are not suffering from the full force of the collapse in prices.

Argentina regulates oil prices, a policy originally intended to insulate the public from the whims of the market, protecting people from triple-digit crude prices. But with the crash in prices since mid-2014, the effect of the regulation has reversed: motorists are now effectively subsidizing the oil industry.

Prices for light oil are set at $67 per barrel and natural gas prices fixed at $7.50 per million Btu (MMBtu). That means consumers are not reaping the benefits of cheap fuel. The higher prices they pay offer a huge lifeline for the oil industry. Related: Three Stocks Well Positioned For An Oil Price Rebound

From the consumers standpoint, that may not sound like a great deal. But it may help Argentinas shale industry keep their momentum going. Argentina holds some of the largest shale potential outside of the United States. According to the EIA, Argentina has over 800 trillion cubic feet of unproved technically recoverable shale gas reserves (more than the 622 tcf located in the U.S.) and 27 billion barrels of shale oil, which is less than only the U.S., Russia, and China.



The bulk of Argentinas shale reserves are located in the Vaca Muerta, a vast shale basin in central Argentina. The Vaca Muerta has attracted companies from around the world, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Gazprom.

Drilling activity has continued to grow, but high costs and infrastructure constraints have prevented production levels from rocketing skywards as they did in places like Texas or North Dakota. Related: Nigerian Pipeline Bombed, Knocking Off 300,000 Barrels Per Day

But regulated oil prices could also prevent Argentina from suffering the effects of the bust that are now clearly visible across the well-known shale areas of the United States.

This is so important, strategically, said the outgoing CEO of state-owned YPF, Miguel Galuccio, referring to regulated prices, according to the WSJ.

Last week, Galuccio announced that production from the Vaca Muerta continued to inch upwards, having reached 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), up from 44,000 boe/d last year. But Argentina faces profitability challenges even with regulated oil prices. Galuccio said that the profit from YPFs shale oil and gas production was marginal. YPF announced spending reductions as well as the decision to reduce its rig count. The company spent only $4 billion in 2015, down from the original $6 billion it had planned on spending. YPF will trim another 25 percent from its budget for 2016.

Galuccio argued, though, that the economics will improve as drilling scales up, techniques are refined, and operators learn more about the basin. He said that YPF has already reduced costs from the average shale well from $16 million to $13 million a piece. He expects that costs will decline to $10 million per well in 2016. Related: Exposing The Oil Glut: Where Are The 550 Million Missing Barrels?!

Regulated oil prices can buy YPF  and other companies, including YPFs joint venture partner, Chevron  some space to continue to drill and bring costs down. We are doing this to sustain activity and employment, said Argentinas labor minister, Jorge Triaca, referring to artificially high prices.

Youve got to incentivize people to do exploration and development, especially when prices are low, said Ali Moshiri, the top Chevron official in Latin America said. If Argentina carries on with these incentives, it will encourage others to come to the country.

Meanwhile, a corporate makeover is also underway. Argentinas new President Mauricio Macri pushed YPFs CEO Miguel Galuccio out the door last week. The FT reported that Argentinas new energy minister, Juan Jose Aranguren, was not fond of Galuccio. In particular, he was critical of ballooning debt levels that took place under Galuccios management. Galuccio will be succeeded by a former JP Morgan executive.

But Galuccio is also credited with turning YPFs fortunes around. Since taking the helm in 2012 after the government of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner nationalized YPF, he improved the companys operations and achieved production increases.

President Macri and the new YPF CEO hope to keep the momentum going. Whether or not having the Argentinian public subsidize oil prices is smart policy, it offers the shale industry a rare bright spot for the energy industry.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
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While Schlitz claimed to make the beer that made Milwaukee famous, it's pretty safe to bust that wide open and just say that it was just beer itself that brought Brew City to the world.

Here are a dozen beautiful beer labels from Milwaukee's brewing past, selected from the hundreds in the Milwaukee County Historical Society collection by curator Ben Barbera.

1. Amber Glo

I love this one. Great colors, great litho image. And Amber Glo sounds like the name of a beautiful Rickenbacker guitar finish. Barbera says, "This was immediately after Prohibition as the Banner Brewing Company was only open from 1933 to 1935."

2. Blatz Private Stock

According to Barbera, this Blatz brew dates back to at least 1900 and perhaps earlier. The keg label is undated, but it has an alluringly primitive label.

3. Braumeister

Braumeister. It just sounds like Milwaukee, doesn't it? "This was the Independent Brewing Companys signature beer," says Barbera. The label carried a 1944-45 copyright.

4. Milwaukee's "Best"

These days, the Milwaukee's Best brand is synonymous with anything but the best. Gettelman seemed to admit that by putting the "Best" in quotes  though maybe that was a concession to Pabst, which had been founded by Jacob Best. Miller bought Gettlman in 1961 and still brews this one.

5. Miller's Budweiser

Your eyes do not deceive you. This label dates to sometime in the 1890s, says Barbera, but "certainly no later than 1898 as that was the year that a Federal judge signed an injunction against Miller using the Budweiser name."

6. Miller Milwaukee Beer  Chicago branch

As you'll learn if you take the Miller Brewery tour, much of the Miller brewed in Milwaukee is destined for the Chicagoland area. This label made that fact quite plain.

7. Miller Elk's Carnival

This label, says Barbera, likely dates to around 1901 when the Elks held their national convention and carnival in Milwaukee. I can't help picturing a bunch of elks trying to toss rings onto beer bottles and shooting at moving targets shaped like people.

8. & 9. Pabst Kaiser Beer & Red, White and Blue

When we first came across the labels, Barbera and I thought they might be a symbol of the anti-German backlash that spread rapidly through Milwaukee during World War I. Instead, it turns out Kaiser beer was renamed Stag in 1908 and Pabst was making Red, White and Blue around 1906-07.

10. Old Milwaukee

This eye-catching Schlitz Old Milwaukee label is copyrighted 1934. It's called Old Milwaukee yet shows a building that doesn't appear to be in Brew City.

11. Schloss Brau

"This is almost certainly Prohibition era," says Barbera. "It notes that it is non-intoxicating  at less than 2.5 percent  and the Brewing in Cream City Brewing Co. is crossed out and replaced with Products, which is something they did during Prohibition." The original Schloss Brau was registered in 1916.

12. Blatz gum

Speaking of Prohibition, brewers had to find a variety of ways to survive when Americans were forced to become (or pretend to become) tea-totalers. Blatz turned to chewing gum ... presumably non-alcoholic.
The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

In 10th century China, there was a form of torture and capital punishment called lingchi which was a slow slicing of your captured enemy, usually resulting in death.

The practice, finally outlawed in 1905, spawned the semi-popular saying, "Death by a thousand cuts," coming to mean a slow and continued buildup of information that eventually achieved a dastardly result.

Hello Rebecca Bradley.

Bradley, in case you are in the vast majority of people who dont pay particular attention to races for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, is a sitting justice, running now for a full 10-year-term. She was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker; it was the third time he appointed her to one judgeship or another.

She is also currently in the middle of a prime example of death by a thousand cuts, played out almost exclusively in the largest newspaper in the state, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Heres the order of cuts so far in the paper, which doesnt do much well anymore, but it does do stuff like this.

March 4

Bradley left a session of the court while the justices were hearing oral arguments in order to give a speech to the state chamber of commerce, a group that has spent heavily on her behalf.

March 7

The paper discovered things Bradley wrote for the Marquette Tribune 24 years ago while attending the university. Among the writings, the paper had this quote from Bradleys writings, following the election of Bill Clinton: "Either you condone drug use, homosexuality, AIDS-producing sex, adultery and murder and are therefore a bad person, or you didn't know that he supports abortion on demand and socialism, which means you are dumb. Have I offended anyone? Good  some of you really need to wake up." She also wrote: "How sad that the lives of degenerate drug addicts and queers are valued more than the innocent victims of more prevalent ailments."

March 8

Here comes another one from her days as a college student. The quote from the paper: "Women even declare some right to control their bodies, neglecting the fact that in choosing abortion they are asserting a right to control another body, and a right to murder their own flesh and blood."

Further in the piece, she wrote, "Do not be persuaded by any pleas for a woman's right to control her body or 'choose' to be pregnant or not; they have no moral or ethical basis..." She also equated abortion with the Holocaust.

March 9

The paper ran an Associated Press story pointing out that Bradley went to Marquette while Walker was also there and that their enrollments overlapped by one year. She was also in student government with James Vila, who was Walkers chief of staff while he was Milwaukee County Executive and has been a senior advisor to the governor. The AP article went on to also discuss another 1992 college column written by Bradley in which she argued writer and critic Camille Paglia "legitimately" suggested that women play a role in date rape. "In a collection of essays published that year," the AP piece explains, "Paglia wrote that a girl who gets 'dead drunk' at a fraternity party is a fool, and that if she goes upstairs with a fraternity brother she is an idiot."

March 10

Heres the headline: "Bradley extramarital affair, role in child placement surface." The story concerns Bradley, when she was just a regular attorney, representing a guy she was having an extramarital affair with in a child custody case. She admitted the affair but didnt think there was any ethical problem in her representing her lover. The article in the paper also discovered more college writing about the election of Clinton. "In a column about Bill Clinton winning the 1992 presidential election," the paper reported, "she called voters either stupid or evil for electing 'a tree-hugging, baby-killing, pot-smoking, flag-burning, queer-loving, draft-dodging, bull-spouting '60s radical socialist adulterer to the highest office in our nation.'"

The onslaught of disclosures was engineered by One Wisconsin Now, a liberal group opposed to Bradleys nomination. The election is April 5, and if this keeps up, it will be a miracle if she pulls it out.
On a recent snowy, blustery Wisconsin-winter day, Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond pointed out the window and said that about 40 families are formally evicted every day in Milwaukee, "including days like today."

Maudwella Kirkendoll, a housing advocate at Community Advocates, confirmed the statement, saying that at least 50 people a day walk into Community Advocates who are being evicted or are at risk of being evicted.

"This is the reality of many low-income families in the city of Milwaukee," Kirkendoll said. "(Desmonds) work highlights eviction, an issue no one talks about."

Desmond, a 2015 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, known informally as a "genius grant," recently spoke at Boswell Books on Downer Avenue about his new book, "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City." Desmond focused his research on evictions in the private rental market to illustrate the role that affordable housing plays in the conversation about poverty.

Throughout 2008 and 2009, he embedded himself for months at a time in communities on Milwaukees North and South Sides to meet the people whose stories fill the pages of his book, which was released on March 1. He stayed in a trailer park on College Avenue and a rooming house on 1st and Locust Streets to learn about the renting and eviction process.

Desmond, who received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he chose to study and write about evictions in Milwaukee to illustrate the situation of families in the average American city.

"We cant fix poverty in this country without looking at housing," Desmond said.

According to Desmonds data, there are 105,000 renter households in Milwaukee, and one out of every eight renting families in Milwaukee has experienced a formal or informal eviction within the past two years. That translates to about 16,000 adults and children being evicted in Milwaukee each year. He said the majority of impoverished renting families are spending at least 50 percent of their income on housing, and some are spending up to 80 percent.

Low-income African American women are affected most by this phenomenon. Desmond compared the magnitude of the problem to the way that mass incarceration affects low-income African-American men in Milwaukee. The 53206 ZIP Code has the highest rate of incarceration in the country.

"Poor black men were locked up; poor black women were locked out," Desmond said.

In his book, Desmond explores the traumatic effect that eviction has on families. He said he learned, for example, that eviction can be both a cause and effect of job loss, and that women who have been evicted have much higher rates of depression for years to come.

"Families are literally losing everything, and its tragic," Kirkendoll observed based on his work with Community Advocates. "Affordable, safe housing should be a human right. However that is not the case for many, especially minorities in the inner city."

Several hundred Milwaukeeans filled seats and stood alongside the shelves at Boswell Books, hanging on Desmonds every word. The crowd gasped as he spoke of the abhorrent living conditions and injustices experienced by the people he met. Audience members laughed uncomfortably when he said that he lived without hot water while staying months in a trailer park on College Avenue, despite the fact that the landlord knew he was writing a book about his experience.

"If thats how I was treated as a researcher, imagine how many of the tenants were treated," Desmond said.

As an ethnographer, he said it is his job to get to know real people who are experiencing these issues firsthand, so his book is full of personal narratives of both tenants and landlords.

"I hope the book does their humanity a little justice," he said.

Aristine Patterson was among the crowd in the bookstore. Her story is included in Desmonds book.

"At first, I was embarrassed of my struggle," Patterson said. "There were times I had to choose: Is it going to be my rent or something else? Now, its kind of a strength looking where I was to where I am now."

Patterson said she made some mistakes when she was younger and lost her home and all of her possessions several times throughout her life, but is doing much better now with a stable home and steady income.

"There were moments that just affirmed how gracefully and powerfully the people in this city refused to be reduced to their hardship," Desmond said of the resiliency he found in the people he met.

Kirkendoll said that though some people blame mothers for getting themselves into situations of poverty and eviction, innocent children can be most affected. He cited repeatedly changing schools and instability as detrimental to child development.

"I think it should trouble us deeply that kids in this country, in this rich land, face eviction so much," Desmond said. "They dont get enough to eat because the rent eats first."

State Rep. David Bowen, who attended the book release event, said that a bill passed within the past several weeks in the state legislature makes it easier for landlords to evict tenants. He said he is concerned that lawmakers enacted a blanket policy that "overlooked the effect that the policy has on people in poverty."

"This book provides a platform and sheds light on an issue that is affecting huge populations of people in the city of Milwaukee in a very real way," Bowen said.

Desmond is pushing for policies that provide more widely available and affordable housing for low-income families.

"Do we think that access to immediate, affordable housing is part of what it means to live in this country?" he said. "I think we have to say yes to that question, because without stable shelter, everything else falls apart."
By Kathryn Hickok

Oregons three-tiered minimum wage law was just signed by Governor Kate Brown on March 2, but its already set to cost Oregon university students their campus jobs. The Oregonian reports that Oregons public universities are now calculating how the wage increases will affect their budgets for student workers.

Most college jobs paying the current minimum wage are not part of the federally funded work-study program; student workers are hired by the universities, which pay them hourly. According to The Oregonian, Oregons new minimum could put more money in some students pockets, but it will more likely lead administrations to either cut back on the number of students they hire or the number of hours theyre allowed to work.

The new wage law goes into full effect over seven years, and Oregon is divided into three wage regions, so the cost increases will compound over time and affect colleges differently depending on where they are located. A spokesman for Oregon State University says OSU may need to cut up to 700 student worker positions by 2019, which is about a nine-percent reduction in student employment.

Until legislators understand that income cannot be generated by state mandate, minimum wage increases will continue to hurt workers theyre thought to help, including first-time job-seekers, workers with less experience, and college students just trying to get a part-time campus job.

Kathryn Hickok is Publications Director at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregons free market public policy research organization.
Mulana Abdul Aziz featured in documentary

LONDON: The Lal Masjids Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi has been heavily featured in a documentary that has premiered in London. Filmed over a five-year period in which Aziz and his students gave extended interviews, Among the Believers portrays the periods before, during and after the siege of the Lal Masjid in 2007.



Arguing that he was justified in fleeing from the mosque in a burqa, Maulana Aziz said that he did not want the students inside to martyr themselves for him. If I had not left, he argued, more people would have died. He said that as well as his brother dying in the assault, his 20-year-old only son Hassan, his mother and a cousin were also killed. Aziz claimed that when he was in prison after his burqa-clad escape, a sympathetic policeman approached him and offered to smuggle his son out. He turned down the offer.



I said no, I was willing to sacrifice him for Allah. Aziz went on to say that: I regret the fact that I didnt die for Allah.



But he expressed no second thoughts on any other issues covered by the film. While he said he was shocked by the Peshawar school attacks of 2014 it was a case of an eye for an eye. If someone kills there will obviously be a reaction, he said.



He claimed that before the assault on the Lal Masjid there was complete peace in Pakistan.



There was not a single incident of violence until they attacked our mosque, he said.



Arguing that successive military and democratic governments had failed ever since 1947, Aziz argued that his followers will never give up their view that only Sharia could bring peace to Pakistan. If you think you can change us, forget it, he said.



The film follows the stories of a young girl who managed to escape from the Lal Masjid by climbing over a wall and a boy who rejects his fathers appeals to give up living there and to return home.



Among the Believers also featured Quaid-i-Azam Universitys Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy describing the impact of the madressah system on Pakistan. We will have to change our education system or we will be trapped in this cycle of violence, he said.



The films Co-Director, Mohammed Ali Naqvi, said he is hopeful that Among the Believers will be shown in Pakistan  possibly with Maulana Aziz attending a Q&A session after a screening.



Maulana Aziz was imprisoned for two years after the Lal Masjid assault but subsequently allowed to return to his former position running the institution. He was placed under house arrest in January 2015 after the Peshawar school attack.



Maulana Aziz is currently entangled in a number of legal cases involving allegations of hate speech and criminal intimidation. The courts have dismissed FIRs concerning the incitement of sectarian violence and support for the militant Islamic State group .



Other legal actions concern the issue of whether the government should be compensating the Lal Masjid for the 2007 assault by rebuilding the Jamia Hafsa. Supporters of Maulana Aziz insist that all the allegations he faces are politically motivated. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has rejected claims that he has been too soft on Aziz saying last month that of 23 outstanding cases against the cleric, 12 are very serious.



As part of his campaign to secure the imposition of Sharia, Aziz petitioned the Supreme Court last December to require the federal and provincial governments to exercise their authority so as to enable Pakistan to live according to the principles of the Quran and Sunnah. Citing legal objections the court rejected the petition in February this year.
Mustafa Kamal demand amnesty packages for MQM prisioners

KARACHI: Former MQM leader Mustafa Kamal on Sunday demanded the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers and activists who are in prison for having indulged in crimes at the behest of the party should be offered a way-out.



They may have committed crimes but we must look at who turned them into criminals, he said while talking to media here, adding, If amnesty packages are given to rebels in Balochistan, something must be done for these prisoners as well.



Reacting to MQM claim that imprisoned party workers were tortured by Rangers, Kamal said it was a good sign that the MQM was at least accepting that its workers had been in jails.



Kamal said that its not one person but the whole family of a jailed worker that suffers.



To a question about Farooq Sattars claim that Rangers were forcing his partys inmates to change their loyalties, Kamal refused to comment, calling the MQM senior leader innocent and oppressed. He, however, said that the jailer had already refuted the allegations levelled by the MQM leader.



Kamal said that FIA Director Shahid Hayat visited him in the day. He has sought cooperation in the money laundering case against MQM chief, he said, and added, Shahid Hayat has asked us to share evidence of Altafs ties with RAW.



Television footage showed Hayat arriving at Kamals residence in Karachis Clifton neighbourhood.



The development comes in the wake of Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khans repeated invitations to Kamal for sharing evidence with the FIA against MQM leader about which the former mayor had talked in his recent press conferences.



Kamal also announced to hold the first-ever rally of his newly formed party in the second week of April. Time will tell how big our first political gathering in Karachi is, he said. People are contacting us and all of us would make grand preparations to hold our partys first public meeting, he said. The rally would determine the future of Pakistani politics, he said, and appealed to sisters and mothers especially to heavily participate in the rally. A few days earlier, Kamal had disclosed the venue of his partys public meeting without specifying the date. We will hold the public rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah ground, which is located in the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam, he had said.
Halo Creative & Design v. Comptoir Des Indes Inc (Fed. Cir. 2016)

Halo (a Hong Kong based company) sued Comptoir (a Canadian company) in N.D. Illinois Federal Court for infringing its intellectual property rights associated with its furniture designs. The IP rights here include design patents, copyrights (pending registration) and non-registered trademark rights.

Judge Leinenweber dismissed the case on forum-non-conveniens grounds  finding that Chicago is not a convenient forum for a Canadian defendant company. Rather, the District Court suggested that the Federal Court of Canada would be a better forum  and that no rights would seemingly be lost. According to the district court, the United States has recognized the potential of applying the copyright laws of other nations and perhaps Canada could do likewise. (The district court did not particularly address Canadian patent, trademark or other state law allegations). This decision was clearly offensive to the Federal Circuit who quickly reversed and remanded.

28 U.S.C.  1404(a) is a partial codification of the forum non conveniens doctrine and controls transfers between federal courts. However, the doctrine retains its common law roots when addressing foreign transfer issues. Law students still read Piper Aircraft, 454 U.S. 235 (1981) and thoroughly discuss the rare cases where U.S. courts dismiss cases to instead be adjudged by foreign tribunals. In those cases, the same forum non conveniens issues arise  ease access to proof; availability of compulsory process of unwilling witnesses; cost savings for the parties; local (immovable) evidence (such as the site of an accident); court congestion; local interest in enforcement; potential conflict of laws, etc. In Piper, the Supreme Court noted that, although the alternate foreign forum must be adequate it need not offer identical rights. However, even under the more liberal Piper rules, the alternate forum must still permit litigation in the same subject matter of the dispute.

In reversing, the Federal Circuit found no evidence that the Canadian court would be willing to enforce Halos copyrights against infringement in the US.

It cannot be assumed that a foreign court would adjudicate an intellectual property dispute where the alleged infringement occurred elsewhere [i.e., in the US], and the case otherwise has little or no connection to the chosen forum. The copyright and patent laws of the United States certainly reflect such territoriality. United States copyright law, for example, generally admits of no remedy for extraterritorial infringement unless a predicate act of infringement was first committed within the United States.

The court also noted that, despite the alleged infringers HQ, there was no evidence of record showing infringement in Canada.

In walking through this, the Federal Circuit did not foreclose the idea of a foreign transfer in IP cases but found that the movant failed to prove its case here:

It is particularly important that a forum non conveniens movant demonstrate the adequacy of an alternative forum when the dispute implicates the enforcement of intellectual property rights. . . .

On remand, the district court will again take-up the case and consider these IP claims.

= = = = =

I agree with the courts decision here. However, it would have been a much more interesting case if there were allegations of both US and Canadian copyright infringement. In that scenario it would more likely make sense to consolidate the cases. Perhaps future revisions of the TPP will include availability of trans-border IP enforcement processes.
Copyright

If you are interested in using any of my photos please don't hesitate to contact me.


The need to non-invasively 'see' and track cells in living persons is indisputable - a boon to both research and development of future therapies. Emerging treatments using stem cells and immune cells are poised to most benefit from cell tracking, which would visualize their behavior in the body after delivery. Clinicians require such data to speed these cell treatments to patients.

Writing in the March 14, 2016 online issue of Nature Materials, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine describe a new, highly sensitive chemical probe that tags cells for detection by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Specifically, a research team led by senior author Eric T. Ahrens, PhD, professor of radiology, and Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry (whose work with fluorescent proteins earned him a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry) have synthesized a new cell labeling probe using fluorine-19, the stable isotope of the element fluorine. Agents are formulated as a "nanoemulsion" that contains microscopic droplets of an inert fluorine-based agent that is taken up by cells of interest. The fluorine agent in cells is directly detected by MRI, enabling one to observe movement of cell populations.

"Fluorine-19 tracer agents are an emerging approach that produces positive signal hot-spot images with no background signal because there's virtually no fluorine concentration in tissues," said Ahrens. "We have made a major leap in sensitivity. We have figured out how to dissolve and encapsulate metals inside the fluorine-based droplets. The net effect is to greatly amp up the MRI signal."

Ahrens, Tsien and Alex Kislukhin, a postdoctoral scholar in their labs, increased the sensitivity of the fluorine MRI agent by creating a new imaging medium that combines highly fluorinated nanoemulsions with the magnetic properties of metals - a technique that increases the visibility of fluorine by MRI. Unexpectedly and serendipitously, they also discovered that iron is particularly effective at enhancing the fluorine MRI signal.

"The chemist's iron hand has moved the field of biomedical imaging forward," said Ahrens. "To the best of our knowledge, iron has never been considered as an enhancer of 19F MRI signals, yet our analysis shows that iron is fundamentally magnetically superior to all other metal ions for enhancing fluorine MRI."

Added Tsien: "It's a wonderful coincidence that fluorine MRI benefits most from iron, which is biologically friendlier and cheaper than gadolinium, still the favorite for proton MRI."

While more research remains to be done, Ahrens said 19F MRI aided by iron represents a significant advance in tracking cells in many emerging therapeutic areas, such as immunotherapy, stem cells and treating inflammation.

Explore further A better way to track emerging cell therapies using MRIs

More information: Paramagnetic fluorinated nanoemulsions for sensitive cellular fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging, Nature Materials, DOI: 10.1038/nmat4585 Journal information: Nature Materials Paramagnetic fluorinated nanoemulsions for sensitive cellular fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging,
Say hello: The banded mongoose research group. Credit: Jason Gilchrist: www.jasongilchrist.co.uk/research, Author provided

The banded mongoose, a small social mammal of the African savannah, is known to be one of the most cooperative and helpful of all animals.

They live across central and southern Africa in family groups of up to 28. Individuals routinely feed and protect the offspring of other group members, and when one of their own is threatened they gang up together to defend against attack from predators or a rival team of mongooses.

But life is not all friendly cuddles between team-mates. Recent research shows these animals have a dark side. In the latest study of these mongooses, published recently in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers from the University of Exeter, Liverpool John Moores University and I show how competition between relatives can lead to mass evictions.

War cries

The drama ensues when the presence of greater numbers of offspring and younger siblings compromise the productivity  breeding success  of senior group members.

Over a period of days, the happy family's territory then becomes a chaotic battleground between relatives. The conflict is ultimately resolved by the older, dominant individuals evicting their younger team-mates en-masse.

Standing up to be counted. A member of a banded mongoose research group, tagged to enable identification. Credit: Jason Gilchrist, Author provided

Shrieking battle cries accompany the civil war, with mothers and fathers chasing and wrestling their own daughters and sons, and elder brothers and sisters attacking their younger siblings. The tension is palpable, and the wounds can be bloody as well as psychological. The evictees do not want to leave and try to hang on in there, before surrendering and fleeing after days of sustained persecution.

Eviction is not the only behaviour used to alleviate reproductive competition within groups of banded mongoose. Infanticide has been recorded, with adults killing the pups of fellow group-members, and there is also evidence that a female may abort gestating young during periods of stress, and that to do so increases the chance that she is not herself evicted.

Kicked-out in order to kick-on

We must take care not to judge such behaviour within a human context, however. Eviction, infanticide and abortion may appear callous, but ultimately those mongooses that are evicted will usually go on to disperse successfully and found new groups with a refreshed gene pool (thanks to reduced inbreeding).

This latest study shows the value of long-term research and collaboration. When I first arrived in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park back in 1996, to investigate these mongooses as part of a partnership between the University of Cambridge and the Uganda Wildlife Authority, I never imagined that these same mongooses would continue to be monitored by researchers over the subsequent two decades.

Banded mongoose watching the world go by. Its not all angst in the life of a mongoose  they also get to chill. Credit: Jason Gilchrist, Author provided

We are now at a stage where today's field researchers are following the great, great, great, great, great  offspring of the original group members. Such studies, monitoring the life history of multiple generations of individuals within populations, provide a remarkable insight into the evolutionary ecology of species, and tell us a great deal about how and why animals behave the way that they do.

I have spent much of my life as a behavioural ecologist studying cooperative animals, including banded mongooses but also chimpanzees, grey mouse lemurs, and even social spiders. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of these societies is that while we observe cooperation on the outside, closer inspection often reveals that such apparent friendly helpfulness is underpinned by conflict and the threat of aggression. Sometimes your best friend can turn out to be your worst enemy.

Explore further Intense competition for reproduction results in violent mass evictions

More information: Faye J. Thompson et al. Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2016). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Faye J. Thompson et al. Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses,(2016). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2607

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


Plant adaptive response, CAR proteins

Researchers from the Spanish National Research Council have uncovered a family of proteins that play a vital role in coordinating the cellular response of plants to various environmental stresses, in particular drought and temperature fluctuations.

A collaboration between the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Plant Biology (IBMCP), of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Polytechnic University of Valencia, UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and the Rocasolano-CSIC Institute of Physical Chemistry (IQFR-CSIC), the findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and could help improve the defensive processes of plants in the driest regions of the Mediterranean Basin.

Cellular membranes are the point of contact between the cell and its external environment. A large number of receptor systems are concentrated here that process the ever-changing signals received from the outside world. Be it heat, cold, drought, etc., the cells must respond adequately to each of these environmental stresses in order to maintain the plant's vital functions. In plants these processes are constantly 'on'; being rooted in the ground, they have no other response to stresses deriving from changing weather conditions, or the simple passage of night to day.

This study has identified a family of proteins, the CAR proteins, which cluster together to create a series of points throughout the membrane that can be used by key signalling proteins to carry out their respective adaptive functions. CSIC researcher Pedro Luis Rodriguez from the IBMCP explain: "These [CAR] proteins form a kind of landing strip, acting as molecular antennas that call out to other proteins as and when necessary to orchestrate the required cellular response".

"In a medium-sized cell, the distance a molecule must travel from the point at which it synthesises to the membrane itself is comparable, relatively, to the distance between Madrid and Cadiz. For this journey there are mediators, both during and at the point of arrival, where they carry out a fundamental role in docking the signalling proteins in the appropriate cellular context", adds fellow CSIC researcher, Armando Albert, from the IQFR.

CAR proteins are one such mediator, playing a central role in the regulation of the plant's adaptive response to environmental stresses.

This research sheds light on an as yet not fully resolved question in plant biology, and could lead to interventions to improve resistance to drought, for instance.

Explore further Reforestation policies need to consider climate change, study finds

More information: Maira Diaz et al. Calcium-dependent oligomerization of CAR proteins at cell membrane modulates ABA signaling, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Maira Diaz et al. Calcium-dependent oligomerization of CAR proteins at cell membrane modulates ABA signaling,(2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1512779113
Prophet Muhammad believed that freedom of religion and civic rights were important components of a 'Muslim nation,' according to a Rice University analysis of the prophet's covenants with Christians. The researcher argues that the covenants can be used to develop a stronger democratic partnership between Muslims and Christians in the Islamic world and elsewhere.

"Religious Pluralism and Civic Rights in a 'Muslim Nation': An Analysis of Prophet Muhammad's Covenants with Christians" appeared in the February edition of the journal Religions. The paper's author, Craig Considine, a lecturer in Rice's Department of Sociology, studied "The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with Christians" and found that these agreements established freedom of religion and civic rights for Christians living within the "ummah" (Arabic for "community").

"These covenants were designed to protect and even defend peaceful Christian communities, not attack them," Considine said. "The research clearly shows that contemporary Islamic states that mistreat and discriminate against Christians cannot be justified in light of Prophet Muhammad's covenants."

The covenants were written between 622 and 632 A.D. Considine said it is assumed they were written because of Prophet Muhammad's desire to build alliances to bolster his new community and because of his positive interactions with members of the Christian faith.

The paper explores the prophet's covenants with the monks of Mount Sinai, the Christians of Najran, the Christians of Persia and the Christians of the World.

In "The Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians of Persia," the prophet was emphatic on the issue of complete religious freedom:

"And even as they honor and respect me, so shall Muslims care for that people as being under our protection and whensoever any distress or discomfort shall overtake (Christians), Muslims shall hold themselves in duty bound to aid and care for them, for they are a people subject to my Nation, obedient to their word, whose helpers also they are. It therefore is proper for my sake to attend to their comfort, protection and aid, in face of all opposition and distress, suppressing everything that becomes a means to their spoliation," the prophet wrote.

Considine said a similarif not identicalpassage is found in the three other covenants addressed in this paper.

"Prophet Muhammad made it clear that freedom of religion is an inherent right for Christians living in a Muslim nation," he said. "His cordial relations with Christians were not due merely to political expediency or personal aspirations, but rather they resulted from his belief that Christians should be able to freely practice their own faith in accordance with their own will. Christian Persians were under no compulsion whatsoever to accept or reject Islam."

Considine also noted that Prophet Muhammad believed that a Muslim nation must also extend civic rights to Christian religious leaders, as discussed in "The Covenant of the Prophet with the Christians of the World."

"The covenant of Allah is that I should protect their land, their monasteries, with my power, my horses, my men, my strength and my Muslim followers in any region, far away or close by, and that I should protect their businesses. I grant security to them, their churches, their businesses, their houses of worship, the places of their monks, the places of their pilgrims, wherever they may be found," the prophet wrote.

"The Prophet Muhammad did not want to inflict harm on Christians, nor interfere or encroach on their privacy or private property," Considine said. "For the state to give preference to one or more groups means devaluating citizens based upon their ethnic or cultural backgrounds."

Considine said documents have been located in obscure monasteries around the world and books that have been out of print for centuries.

"In some cases they were never translated to distribute to a wider audience," he said. "Scholars and believers are turning to them now because of the widespread violence against Christians in places like Iraq and Syria."

Considine said the rediscovery of these documents provides an opportunity to give new birth to Islam and regenerate the essence of Islamic teachings. He hopes that the findings will have a positive impact on the impressions of Muslims in today's society and will combat anti-Muslim sentiments.

"Prophet Muhammad's covenants with Christians can be viewed as a kind of medicine to cure the diseases of Islamic extremism and Islamophobia," Considine said. "His message radiates compassion and peace. This is what American society - and indeed the world - needs now more than ever."

The paper is online at http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/2/15.
More data and the use of modern computing technology are crucial to assessing the effects of severe weather on infrastructure and finding ways to mitigate impacts

Storms, heavy rainfall, drought or flooding can cause considerable humanitarian and economic loss. These extreme weather events can damage critical infrastructure, such as roads, railways or power and telecommunication grids. For instance, during the latest flooding in the U.K. at the end of 2015, some 20,000 homes were left without power.

For society to be prepared, it is vital to know which infrastructure components are at risk or whether an entire network may break down during severe weather. The stakes are high, as extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent in the future due to climate change.

In a bid to reduce these uncertainties, scientists use complex computer simulations and large amounts of data. High performance computing and the greater availability of data coupled with increased scientific knowledge have greatly improved weather forecasting.

But this could be improved even more. When it comes to rainfall in particular, "the impact of extreme weather is hard to forecast," says Herman Russchenberg, director of the TU Delft Climate Institute, the Netherlands. This is because forecasts lack the details that are necessary to assess risks on smaller scalese.g., for certain infrastructure components or within cities.

In the future, high-tech instruments such as the next generation of weather radars will provide more detailed data, Russchenberg hopes. Moreover, citizen scientists voluntarily supplying data obtained with their mobile phones will add to the large data pool.

"Combining all these sources of information and feeding them into high-resolution models will allow us to produce better rain forecasts," he says.

To actually assess the consequences of severe weather, more knowledge, such as on the condition of infrastructure, is also necessary.

But while infrastructure owners  public authorities or private companies  do keep valuable data sets, these are not well utilised yet, says Daniel Straub, professor for Engineering Risk Analysis at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Besides, "you need more complex models to extrapolate this data and to assess how certain infrastructure reacts under extreme weather conditions," he adds.

This is precisely what researchers within the RAIN project want to achieve. "We collect data across Europe. We learn from that data and train our models to simulate what happens when the weather is intensified," says Pieter van Gelder, professor of Safety Science, and director of the Safety and Security Institute at the Delft University of Technology.

Satellite images are improving and drone technology will provide more detailed information on infrastructure networks. This will result in terabytes of data, which can only be handled by using advanced supercomputers, van Gelder stresses.

"That's really going to be a big data issue," Russchenberg agrees. Indeed, the future computer architecture for handling the tasks will be a hybrid system, he says.

Weather services will provide broader forecasts using high-performance computing. But to zoom in on sensitive areas and infrastructure, models will be run on distributive systems, he concludes.

Explore further Mitigating the impacts of extreme weather
Fires caused by lightning strikes on hydrocarbon storage plants are a century-old, yet to be addressed, problem, according to research published in the International Journal of Forensic Engineering. In the era of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, this is becoming an even more poignant issue for the fossil fuel industry.

Sterling Rooke of X8 Inc in Crofton, Maryland, and Miroslaw Skibniewski of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of Maryland, USA, explain that uncontrolled fires and explosions at storage facilities can cost US $10 million per incidence. Moreover, given that some facilities are in areas of high-frequency lightning storms, the threat is significant. They point out that a third of all modern hydrocarbon tank accidents are associated with lightning. Ironically, the burning of fossil fuels that has led to anthropogenic climate change during this last century, might also increase the frequency of lightning storms.

Fracking, the team says, has revolutionized oil and gas production in the USA but the industry is a controversial one. The idea of uncertainty surrounding the safety of the chemicals used, potential contamination of drinking water supplies and the environment and the risk of triggering seismic activity through fracking are issues that remain high on the agenda. However, direct strike lightning accidents could be a critical factor in fracking safety in the long term.

The team has now overlaid the current US National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) risk map and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shale play map and found that the lightning threat will only increase with the migration of future shale activities. "Lightning is an increasing threat to a critical component of the world's energy security," the team suggests. They add that planning may change, but shale deposits and regional lightning threats do not change geographically. "This research quantifies the threat and outlines clear lightning mitigation strategies," they explain.

Explore further Team measures lightning-produced ozone with Lidar

More information: Rooke, S.S. and Skibniewski, M.J. (2015) 'Sensors for lightning mitigation at hydraulic fracturing storage facilities', Int. J. Forensic Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp.293-311.
Our weekly round up of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....

Children and Youth

Looking for a good collection of juvenile justice resources? The Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, a leader in the field, has published this on its blog.

Climate Change

On the Humanosphere site, Tom Murphy asks the question: Will the Global Climate Fund falter before it gets off the ground?

Education

In the New York Review Books, historian of education and author Diane Ravitch reviews Dale Russakoff's The Prize: Who's In Charge of America's Schools? and Kristina Rizga's Mission High: One School, How Experts Tried to Fail it, and the Students and Teachers Who Made it Triumph and finds both to be "excellent." Together, Ravitch adds, the two books also "demonstrate that grand ideas cannot be imposed on people without their assent. Money and power are not sufficient to improve schools. [And genuine] improvement happens when students, teachers, principals, parents, and the local community collaborate for the benefit of the children...."

Environment

Nonprofit Chronicles' Marc Gunther has written a must-read post about the recent assassination of Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres -- and what U.S. funders can do to combat the organized campaign of terror and intimidation being waged against environmental activists in Honduras: 1) Demand that Berta Caceres' killers be brought to justice; 2) provide more support for grassroots activism; and 3) recognize/acknowledge the connections between the environment and human rights.

Fundraising

In Forbes, Russ Alan Prince recaps the seven wealthy charitable donor types.
Harvard Business School Launches New Program For Senior Leaders In Retail

BOSTON, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/  From May 31 to June 3, 2016, Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education will host the Retail Forum for Senior Leaders (RETF) on the HBS campus in Boston. This new program will examine the developments reshaping the retail ecosystem and will help senior executives develop effective strategies for responding to change and maintaining competitive advantage.

The evolving retail industry challenges even the most successful companies to constantly rethink their strategies. Retail Forum for Senior Leaders is designed to help senior executives improve their companys ability to stay one step ahead of changes. The program will examine responses to industry challenges such as omnichannel shopping and the blurring of online and offline channels, the rise of digital technologies and payment methods, and cybercrimes impact on industry standing and the bottom line.

The pace of change in the retail industry is extremely high, said Professor Das Narayandas, Senior Associate Dean and Chair of Executive Education and Harvard Business Publishing. Senior executives need to understand how to lead in a constantly evolving landscape. Through interactive case studies and in-depth analysis, this program provides executives with the perspective they need to rethink how they engage with customers and shape their organizations strategy for long-term success.

The program curriculum will focus on how the worlds leading traditional and online retailers remain competitive through successful marketing and operational strategies. Executives will consider topics including increasing odds of brick-and-mortar survival, applying big data, and expanding overseas successfully. The program will also cover topics such as combating cybercrime, employing smart strategies for long-term success, digitizing the retail experience, and lessons learned from retail in developing markets.

Although the retail industry is a major component of the worlds economy, there is a global graveyard of failed retailers that have made critical mistakes, said John R. Wells, Professor of Management Practice and faculty chair of RETF. Its more important than ever that senior leaders are equipped with the right skills to confront todays industry challenges. Thats why we train executives to create and implement big-picture strategies that will have transformative impact in their organizations.

Retail Forum for Senior Leaders is designed primarily for the C-suite and other senior leaders within global or large regional retail organizations responsible for the execution of retail strategies. Executives within the strategy, marketing, operations, supply chain, merchandising, IT, and HR functions, and their direct reports, will also find value in the program.

As with other HBS Executive Education offerings, Retail Forum for Senior Leaders will rely on research from leading HBS faculty, discussions with industry peers, and learnings from real-world case studies from successful global companies.

Program Details:

Retail Forum for Senior Leaders will be hosted from May 31 to June 3, 2016, on the Harvard Business Schoolcampus. Please visit http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/retf/ for complete curriculum and to apply.

Retail Forum for Senior Leaders

(May 31  June 3, 2016, Harvard Business School)

Faculty:

David L. Ager, Senior Fellow, Senior Director, Executive Education.

Benjamin G. Edelman, Associate Professor of Business Administration.

Rajiv Lal, Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing.

Ananth Raman, UPS Foundation Professor of Business Logistics.

John R. Wells, Professor of Management Practice and faculty chair of Retail Forum for Senior Leaders.

About Harvard Business School:

Harvard Business School Executive Education, a division of Harvard Business School, is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston, Massachusetts. In fiscal year 2015, HBS faculty developed and delivered 73 open-enrollment Executive Education programs and 50 custom programs for leading organizations worldwide. More than 10,000 business executives attended programs held on campus in Boston as well as classrooms in Mumbai, and Shanghai. With global research centers in eight key regions, HBS faculty continue to develop groundbreaking research, forge powerful alliances with global organizations, and fulfill the mission of educating leaders who shape the practice of business and innovation. Learn more at www.exed.hbs.edu.



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Islamic State Closing in on Germany Stabbing Is First ISIS-Inspired Attack on German Soil Hans-Georg Maaen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe, and reported that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014 and 5,500 in 2013.

"Salafists want to establish an Islamic state in Germany."  Hans-Georg Maaen, director, BfV, German intelligence.

More than 800 German residents -- 60% of whom are German passport holders -- have joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Of these, roughly one-third have returned to Germany.  Federal Criminal Police Office.

Up to 5,000 European jihadists have returned to the continent after obtaining combat experience on the battlefields of the Middle East.  Rob Wainwright, head of Europol.

The incident

The officers approached the girl, who was wearing an Islamic headscarf, and asked her to present her identification papers. After handing over her ID, she stabbed one of the officers in the neck with a six-centimeter kitchen knife.

According to police, the attack happened so quickly that the 34-year-old officer, who was rushed to the hospital, was unable to defend himself. After her arrest, police found that Safia was also carrying a second, larger knife.

"The perpetrator did not display any emotion," a police spokesperson

On March 3, Hanover Public Prosecutor Thomas Klinge





Last month, Safia S., a 15-year-old German girl of Moroccan descent, stabbed and seriously wounded a police officer in Hanover, in what appears to be the first lone-wolf terrorist attack in Germany inspired by the Islamic State.

According to police, the stabbing was

Safia is being charged with attempted murder. She is also being charged with a terrorism offense. According to prosecutors, by travelling to Turkey to join the Islamic State, the girl

The newspaper, Die Welt,

Safia's brother, Saleh, is reportedly being held in a jail in Turkey, where he was

Until now, the only other successful Islamist attack in Germany took place at Frankfurt Airport in March 2011, when Arid Uka, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, shot and killed two United States airmen and seriously wounded two others. Uka was later

On February 4, 2016, German police

The ringleader  a 35-year-old Algerian who was staying at a refugee shelter with his wife and two children in Attendorn  arrived in Germany in the fall of 2015. Posing as an asylum seeker from Syria, the Algerian,

Also arrested were: a 49-year-old Algerian living in Berlin under a fake French identity; a 30-year-old Algerian living in Berlin with a valid residence permit; and a 26-year-old Algerian, allegedly with ties to Islamists in Belgium, who is living in a refugee shelter in Hanover.

The men allegedly were planning to attack Checkpoint Charlie, the iconic Cold War crossing point between East and West Berlin. They also allegedly were planning to attack the Alexanderplatz, a large public square and transportation hub in the center of Berlin.

On February 8, German police Der Spiegel, interviewed him after receiving a tip from other Syrians at the shelter. Bassam said the accusations against him are false: "I want to learn German and work as a cook," he said.

In a February 5 Bundesamt fur Verfassungsschutz, BfV), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe. "The terror risk is very high," he said.

On February 4, the Berliner Zeitung

Maaen also Der Tagesspiegel, Maaen said that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014; 5,500 in 2013; 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011.

Although Salafists make up only a small fraction of the estimated six million Muslims living in Germany today, intelligence officials

In an annual report, the BfV described Salafism as the "most dynamic Islamist movement in Germany." It

"The absolutist nature of Salafism contradicts significant parts of the German constitutional order. Specifically, Salafism rejects the democratic principles of separation of state and religion, popular sovereignty, religious and sexual self-determination, gender equality and the fundamental right to physical integrity." In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Maaen

On February 16, more than 200 German police Islamischen Fordervereins Bremen) for the alleged recruiting of jihadists for the Islamic State:

"It is rather apocalyptic that we have people living in the middle of our city who are prepared, from one day to the next, to participate massively in the terror of the Islamic State." In December 2014, authorities in Bremen Kultur- und Familieverein, KUF), after some of its members joined the Islamic State.

More than 800 German residents  60% of whom are German passport holders  have joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to Die Welt, based on the most recent dataBundeskriminalamt, BKA). Of these, roughly one-third have returned to Germany. Around 130 others have been killed on the battlefield, including at least a dozen suicide bombers.

In a February 19 Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung, the head of Europol, Rob Wainwright, said that up to 5,000 European jihadists have returned to the continent after obtaining combat experience on the battlefields of the Middle East. He added that further jihadist attacks in Europe were to be expected:

"Europe is now facing the greatest terrorist threat in more than ten years. We expect that ISIS or other Islamist groups will carry out an attack somewhere in Europe, with the aim of achieving high losses among the civilian population. In addition, there is the threat posed by lone-wolf attackers. The growing number of foreign fighters presents the member states of the EU with completely new challenges." A recent poll conducted by YouGov for the news agency, Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), found that 66% of Germans

Speaking at a gathering of international police in Berlin on February 25, Hans-Georg Maaen, the spy chief,

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estrategicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in 2016. A 15-year-old German girl of Moroccan descent stabbed and seriously wounded a police officer in Hanover. The stabbing appears to be the first lone-wolf terrorist attack in Germany inspired by the Islamic State.The incident occurred at the main train station in Hanover on the afternoon of February 26, when two police officers noticed that the girl  identified only as Safia S.  was observing and following them.The officers approached the girl, who was wearing an Islamic headscarf, and asked her to present her identification papers. After handing over her ID, she stabbed one of the officers in the neck with a six-centimeter kitchen knife.According to police, the attack happened so quickly that the 34-year-old officer, who was rushed to the hospital, was unable to defend himself. After her arrest, police found that Safia was also carrying a second, larger knife."The perpetrator did not display any emotion," a police spokesperson said . "Her only concern was for her headscarf. She was concerned that her headscarf be put back on properly after she was arrested. Whether the police officer survived, she did not care."On March 3, Hanover Public Prosecutor Thomas Klinge revealed that Safia had travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015 to join the Islamic State, but that her mother had persuaded her to return to Germany on January 28.According to police, the stabbing was premeditated : unable to join the Islamic State in Syria, Safia had determined to carry out an attack against the police in Germany.Safia is being charged with attempted murder. She is also being charged with a terrorism offense. According to prosecutors, by travelling to Turkey to join the Islamic State, the girl violated Section 89a of the German Criminal Code, "Preparation of a serious violent offense endangering the state."The newspaper, reported that Safia had been part of the local Salafist scene since 2008  she was only seven years old at the time. She had appeared in Islamist propaganda videos alongside Pierre Vogel, a convert to Islam and one of the best-known Salafist preachers in Germany. In those videos, Vogel praised Safia for wearing a headscarf to school and for being able to recite verses from the Koran.Safia's brother, Saleh, is reportedly being held in a jail in Turkey, where he was arrested for trying to join the Islamic State.Until now, the only other successful Islamist attack in Germany took place at Frankfurt Airport in March 2011, when Arid Uka, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, shot and killed two United States airmen and seriously wounded two others. Uka was later sentenced to life in prison.On February 4, 2016, German police arrested four members of an ISIS cell allegedly planning jihadist attacks in Berlin. In coordinated raids, more than 450 police searched homes and businesses linked to the cell in Berlin, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia.The ringleader  a 35-year-old Algerian who was staying at a refugee shelter with his wife and two children in Attendorn  arrived in Germany in the fall of 2015. Posing as an asylum seeker from Syria, the Algerian, identified only as Farid A., is said to have received military training with the Islamic State in Syria.Also arrested were: a 49-year-old Algerian living in Berlin under a fake French identity; a 30-year-old Algerian living in Berlin with a valid residence permit; and a 26-year-old Algerian, allegedly with ties to Islamists in Belgium, who is living in a refugee shelter in Hanover.The men allegedly were planning to attack Checkpoint Charlie, the iconic Cold War crossing point between East and West Berlin. They also allegedly were planning to attack the Alexanderplatz, a large public square and transportation hub in the center of Berlin.On February 8, German police arrested an alleged ISIS commander who was living at a refugee shelter in the small town of Sankt Johann. The 32-year-old jihadist, known only as Bassam and posing as a Syrian asylum seeker, had entered Germany in the fall of 2015. German intelligence authorities were unaware of the man's true identity until the German newsmagazine,, interviewed him after receiving a tip from other Syrians at the shelter. Bassam said the accusations against him are false: "I want to learn German and work as a cook," he said.In a February 5 interview with ZDF television, Hans-Georg Maaen, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (), warned that the Islamic State was deliberately planting jihadists among the refugees flowing into Europe. "The terror risk is very high," he said.On February 4, the quoted Maaen as saying that the BfV had received more than 100 warnings that there were Islamic State fighters among the refugees currently living in Germany. Some of the jihadists are known to have entered Germany using fake or stolen passports.Maaen also revealed that the BfV knows of 230 attempts by Salafists to canvass German refugee shelters in search of new recruits. In a recent interview with the Berlin newspaper,, Maaen said that the number of Salafists in Germany has now risen to 7,900. This is up from 7,000 in 2014; 5,500 in 2013; 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011.Although Salafists make up only a small fraction of the estimated six million Muslims living in Germany today, intelligence officials warn that most of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who, at a moment's notice, are willing to carry out terrorist acts in the name of Islam.In an annual report, the BfV described Salafism as the "most dynamic Islamist movement in Germany." It added In an interview with the, Maaen warned : "Salafists want to establish an Islamic state in Germany."On February 16, more than 200 German police raided the homes of 44 Salafists in the northern city state of Bremen. The Interior Minister of Bremen, Ulrich Maurer, said he had ordered the closure of the Islamic Association of Bremen () for the alleged recruiting of jihadists for the Islamic State:In December 2014, authorities in Bremen shut down another Salafist group, the Culture and Family Association (), after some of its members joined the Islamic State.More than 800 German residents  60% of whom are German passport holders  have joined the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to, based on the most recent data compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (). Of these, roughly one-third have returned to Germany. Around 130 others have been killed on the battlefield, including at least a dozen suicide bombers.In a February 19 interview with the, the head of Europol, Rob Wainwright, said that up to 5,000 European jihadists have returned to the continent after obtaining combat experience on the battlefields of the Middle East. He added that further jihadist attacks in Europe were to be expected:A recent poll conducted by YouGov for the news agency, Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), found that 66% of Germans expect the Islamic State to carry out a jihadist attack on German soil in 2016. Only 17% of those surveyed believe there will be no attack; 17% said they did not have an opinion.Speaking at a gathering of international police in Berlin on February 25, Hans-Georg Maaen, the spy chief, warned that Germany is not an island: "We have to assume that we will become the target of jihadist attacks, and we need to be prepared."

Follow Soeren Kern on Twitter and Facebook

 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.


Secret Service agents rushed the stage to protect Donald Trump at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, less than a day after thousands of protesters forced him to postpone a rally in Chicago.



Trump appeared to be have been alerted by a member of the crowd that someone was behind him, and he immediately jerked his head around as four agents surrounded him to provide a protective shield.

"A man attempted to breach the secure buffer and was removed rapidly and professionally," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an e-mailed response, directing further inquiries to the Secret Service.

Trump continued with his speech after the incident as the crowd chanted "USA, USA." He gave them thumbs up.

"Thank you for the warning," Trump told a member of the audience in the front row. "I was ready for 'em, but it's much easier if the cops do it, don't we agree? What a great job. What a great job. And to think I've had such an easy life. What do I need this for? What do I need this for? I've done great. I love this country. We're going to make this country great again. It's payback time. These guys are so fantastic."

The incident comes after Trump abandoned a rally in Chicago in the face of furious protests. The billionaire on Saturday called the disruption a "planned attack" from leftist groups and supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, who's running for the Democratic nomination.

"When they have organized, professionally staged wise-guys -- weve got to fight back. We've got to fight back," Trump said from inside of an airport hangar in Dayton.

Latest News Update

"These other people, these other people -- by the way, some represented Bernie, our Communist friend," Trump said. "With Bernie, he should really get up and say to his people, 'Stop. Stop.' Not me."

Special:

A spokeswoman for Sanders did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump also said that the activist group MoveOn.org was responsible for organizing the protests. "These are bad people. Let me tell you, these are people that truly dont want to see America great again. Im telling you that," Trump said.

"We have got to toughen up now. We dont like it,'' Trump said. "By doing what I did -- that story is all over the world right now that we made the right decision under great pressure."

Friday's cancelled rally followed weeks of escalating tensions between protesters and some attendees at Trump's rallies, scuffles that have gone viral on social media.

Last week in New Orleans, local police struggled to remove dozens of protesters, and Trump's personal security had to assist. In St. Louis on Friday, hours before the protests erupted in Chicago, more than a dozen local police struggled for more than 10 minutes to remove a group of protesters who chanted that Trump was a racist.

Trump mused that he would be open to holding more town hall rallies, venues that are smaller to accommodate more personal one-on-one interaction between the voter and candidate. "I'd actually like to have a couple of town hall meetings," Trump said.

Trump took time on Saturday to slam John Kasich, the Ohio governor who is vying with him for the lead ahead of the state's primary election on March 15. Trump said that Kasich "got lucky" with the oil boom in the state which gave Ohio's economy a boost.

"Kasich is a baby," Trump said. "He can't be president." The crowd of several hundred roared and chuckled in approval.
Welcome

Welcome to Conservative Musings. The purpose of this blog is to discuss with everyone (conservatives, moderates, independents and progressives) the issues of the day in an intelligent discussion. We believe that discussion can lead to agreement or an agreement to disagree but it must be held in a mutually respectful environment. We learn nothing from name calling or argument for argument's sake therefore we will not allow that to happen here.







We will post our point of view and want a spirited discussion of the issues. Please express your opinions, hopefully we all can learn.




Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
Environmental lawyer Gerthie Anda has been in the forefront of green movement in Palawan, Philippines. (Photo: Ariel Carlos)

















Green activists are facing deadly dangers in the Philippines.

In a 2015 report of the London-based Global Witness, it lists the Philippines as the most dangerous country in Asia for environmentalists.

But as Jofelle Tesorio and Ariel report from Palawan, in the Philippines, there are some remarkable women environmentalists who are not afraid of the dangers.









Ask anyone in Palawan province about the Green Lady and the name of environmentalist-lawyer Gerthie Mayo-Anda comes up.

She has become the poster girl of the environmental movement here.

Amid the mining rush, development and other environmental issues, she established the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, or ELAC, in the 1990s.

Its basically to utilize my knowledge and skills as a legal professional to be able to help the least of our brethren by focusing mainly on how we can survive as a people, anchoring our survival on healthy ecosystems, says Mayo-Anda.

For more than 25 years, she has defended almost every environment issue. That has also earned her the title Forest Heroine.

Gerthies center has fought against illegal logging, fishing, mining and other resource extractive activities.

When you talk of extractive projects like mining, energy, development of fossil fuels, she pauses before continuing, and even pushing for good environmental governance, these are very difficult because youre dealing here with powerful stakeholders who can actually make the advocacy work difficult.

Declared as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve for having most number of key biodiversity areas, Palawan is the Philippines last ecological frontier.

It is also a battleground for environmentalists, where the majority are women.

Cynthia Sumagaysay is a vocal critic of a planned coal-fired power plant.

She has earned the ire of many pro-coal politicians and investors.

The people of Palawan are being tricked into something that [they] didnt completely understand, she says, I feel that they were being lied to. They were being told that the coal plant was urgently needed. That was a big lie.

But she isnt afraid.

Im beyond fear, says Sumagaysay, I have said before that everybody dies anyway even the perpetrators of the crime. I will be more fearful if my life has been wasted for not doing something to better this world; if Im just part of the problem rather than the solution.

The Philippines is the most dangerous country in Asia for green activists according to international watchdog Global Witness.

Between 2012 and 2013, a total of 88 environmental activists were killed in the country, next to Brazils 448 and Honduras109.

Lawyer Gerthie Anda says this is because of the culture of impunity.

We find it disturbing that it happens in a small country. It only shows that the culture of impunity is still there, she notes, The lack of political will to hold liable those who are liable, those who are responsible is still a continuing challenge.

Fellow green activists Marivic Bero, the secretary-general of the Coalition Against Land Grabbing, says there is inherent danger in being an environmental activist in the Philippines.

Her group is working with peasant organizations, farmers and indigenous peoples who are affected by land acquisitions for large-scale plantations such palm oil and mining activities.

As a female NGO worker, I feel some fear every time I go to the field, she says, Thats inevitable, especially in the course of protecting the environment you bump up against powerful people, powerful companies, politicians and other government officials.

Palawan is a microcosm of the Philippines where environmental activists and politicians clash.

Politicians often disregard environmental impacts to give way for investments, which are often resource extractive.

This creates a more dangerous life for environmentalists.

Again Marivic Bero.

I can say that whenever we are in the field we face danger. But for me, if your time is up, its up. If youre going to die, youll die, says Bero, Its better you die a worthy death by doing something to help others.

Environmental defenders also experience threats and physical violence, restrictions on their freedoms and depriving them of opportunities.

And it is not safer to women.

Lawyer Gerthie Anda says they are equally vulnerable.

I have listened to fellow human rights and environmental advocates, discussing in several fora about women indigenous leaders being killed in the Cordillera or even in Mindanao, she says, And therefore, there is no full-proof guarantee that women continue to be safe. We are just equally threatened like men.

Gerthie believes that killings of environmentalists will continue if a corrupt system persists.

But for her and other women green activists, they will continue to defend the earth without fear.

For colleague Marivic Bero, they are doing it for the future generation.

Im doing this for my children besides fighting for the rights of the indigenous people, says Bero, I want my children and grandchildren to live in a peaceful environment where they can still smell fresh air, see different kinds of birds, climb trees and forests to wander.




Known as Belis in eastern Indonesia, the dowry tradition has long been linked to violence against women.

In the community of Tunbakun in East Nusa Tenggara, there were 79 reported cases of domestic violence last year, but not one was followed up by authorities.

Reporter Quinawaty Pasaribu traveled to the countrys east to meet one victim turned paralegal, who is fighting against injustice against women in the community.

Its early morning here in Tunbakun, a small community on the island of Timor, in East Nusa Tenggara.

A group of mothers have brought their children to playgroup.

Its a simple preschool inside a wooden house with a ground floor.

The children are lining up while singing.

Education levels are low in this region of Indonesia, especially for girls. In a male dominated society, the education of women is not a priority.

Here it is also the dowry tradition that sees many women locked into the patriarchal system.

To marry, a groom must pay a dowry, known here as belis.

Anton Evi, the chief executive of the Yabiku Foundation, which focuses on womens empowerment, explains how the dowry system works.

Like when he got married to his wife, Frida.

When I wanted to get married to Frida, I prepared the dowry, which included buffalo, cows, coins with the picture of Queen Elizabeth, and necklaces of a certain length, he explains, The price is different for each status level. But now it has shifted because some of the things are difficult to find.

The dowry is seen not just as an economic commodity but a symbol of a bond between two families.

The average rate of a dowry is about 1,250 US dollars.

But the problem is that the tradition sometimes leads men treating their wives like possessions.

Yanena Ole explains what happened to her.

I married my husband on April 29, in the year 2000, says Ole, Initially we are doing well, but in 2010, the marriage started to go bad. Probably because there was a third person... I do not know. My husband started to deny my rights as a wife. He began decreasing the money given to me and when I asked about it we would always fight.

Yanenas husband was also physically abusive.

But police have not followed up any of the reports she has made.

He was physically violent and I went to the police office and made a statement, she says, I made reports against him four times. The first report about physical violence happened in 2008/2009. The latest was in August 2015, when he was verbally abusive and I reported it to the police.

Knowing what she was going through, Yanenas friend Susana Naisoko, or Santri, asked her to join Yabiku.

Santri asked her to join the foundation for womens rights as a paralegal and offered to help Yanena deal with her domestic violence cases.

The group successfully supported meditation between her and husband.

When I shared my problem with the group, they suggested that I make a report because women have dignity, explains Ole, Santri assisted me at the police and finally we made peace.

For the past year Yanena has been working as a paralegal, raising awareness about victims of domestic violence in Tunbakun.

Reminding women they have equal rights and if they face violence at home it has to be reported.

While her case is not expected to be heard in court any time soon, Yanena has helped changed the perception of abuse against women in the community  fighting for their dignity and rights.




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Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

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In a blogpost, the Shea Alliance said the conference will highlight the key role the shea industry plays in improving food security and climate by showing its growing influence of sustainability.

The conference will also provide hands on training to 200 small women- owned business [es] working in the shea industry. 

The shea industry promotes food security by providing a healthy source of vegetable fat, fresh fruits, and a diversified source of incomeup to 12% annually for some of the poorest rural families.

More than 16,000,000 women collect and process shea, leading the way to promote gender equity in the region, according to Global Shea Alliance.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
It confirmed that criminal investigation has been launched into the act, which WREG-TV reported was shot during a contentious labour dispute.

The 43-second video, which is too explicit to show, was posted on website World Star Hip Hop on Friday.

It shows the man urinating onto the conveyer belt, as loose cereal is unloaded from a tube onto the production line. The video zooms in on a Kellogg's logo on equipment in the factory.

The identity of the man in the film is not known.

Rice Krispies Treats, Rice Krispies Treats, Rice Krispies Treats cereal and puffed rice cake products are products "that could have been potentially affected."

 KRIS CHARLES, A KELLOGG'S SPOKESMAN SPEAKING ON SATURDAY

Last year a farm worker in Lincolnshire was sacked after being caught on film urinating in a field of vegetables headed for Tesco.
On Monday, he told TV3 claims that his government is over borrowing are exaggerated.

There is a lot of exaggeration about borrowing. The borrowing has not been excessive. I heard one of the candidates say during this government, we have borrowed $37 billion, he said.

The total debt of Ghana, as it stands today from independence, is $24 billion."

Bawumia told University of Development students in Wa last month that in US dollars the Mahama administration has borrowed the equivalent (at the time of borrowing) of about $37 billion in seven years."

But president Mahama said in an interview with TV3 how can this government have borrowed $37 billion? Does it make mathematical sense to you?

And then this person goes repeating it over and over again for what purpose you dont know.
According to him, he had given orders to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to begin populating the 10 additional schools prior to their inauguration.

The schools are part of the 200 Community Day Schools promised by the government during the 2012 elections under the progressive Free SHS policy.

During the State of the Nation Address to Parliament in February, 2015, President Mahama said 54,800 children in 4 regions have been enrolled into schoolsunder the Compulsory Education program.

This he said was is in fulfillment of a pledge made by government to absolve the cost of secondary education in Ghana.

The Ghana Education Service in 2015 had listed some of the schools that will benefit from the implementation of the progressive free SHS policy.

They include:

Central Region  27, 795 students in 54 schools

Western Region  38, 751 in 56 Schools

Ashanti Region  64, 430 from 102 schools

Northern  17, 648 students out of 45 schools

Brong Ahafo  38, 751 from56 schools.

Upper East  1,395 students out of 28 schools

Upper West  877 students from 23 schools

Eastern  34,157 students out of 82 schools

Greater Accra  52,664 consisting of 46 schools

Volta  36,859 out of 88 schools
He was among thousands of children under 10 accused of committing crimes such as sexual assault, arson and threats to kill since 2014.

None of the children can be prosecuted, as 10 is the legal limit for criminal responsibility so anyone under that age cant be convicted. Metro UK added.

The figures showed Greater Manchester Police alone recorded 21 rapes in which the suspect was a child.

A spokeswoman told newsmen that when children commit crimes it may be because they have themselves been abused.

It is deeply concerning that so many very young children are said to have committed sexual offences, she said. In these cases we have to question the environment in which they are growing up that has led to them behaving in this way.

Other crimes children under 10 committed include arson, threats to kill, drug possession and having an article with a blade or point in school.

Children under 10 can be given a Local Child Curfew or a Child Safety Order although they cant be prosecuted.
While theres no pain, it sees a deterioration of the macula - the part of the eye that allows you to see fine detail - making driving and reading near impossible.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease that gradually destroys sharp, central vision. Its the leading cause of severe vision loss in people over age 60.

Those who sleep in longer are also seven times more likely to suffer from geographic atrophy, the advanced stages of the condition.

Research by doctor Rahul N. Khurana, of the Northern California Retina Vitreous Associates, assessed patients with and without the disease.

Dr Khurana surveyed 1003 patients and assessed their sleep patterns, publishing his findings in the journal Retina.

He said: The mean sleep duration for patients without AMD was 7.97 hours, compared with 8.17 hours, 9.00 hours, and 8.97 hours, respectively, for those with early AMD, neovascular AMD, and geographic atrophy.

The altered sleep patterns illustrate another morbidity that patients with AMD suffer from, and merit further investigation.

These findings come after scientists found that sleeping face down on your pillow could also lead to sight loss.

Pressing your face into a pillow while you sleep could cause a condition called glaucoma, which worryingly goes undiagnosed in thousands of people every year.
Victor Kwadwoga Adawudu said since his client was arrested on Friday the BNI has denied him the opportunity to see his client.

"I was there with the wife to see him so that i can have conference with him the BNI boldly told me that i will not be able to see him" He told Citi Fm

McDemott who is married to Ramona Wampah step daughter of the Bank of Ghana Governor Henry Kofi Wampah was arrested in a collaborative effort by the UK authorities and the BNI for alleged drug ofences. He is on the most wanted list of UK crime officials for smuggling cocaine into the UK.

Governor Wampah has however knowing the offences alleged to have been committed by his son in-law.

The British national was arrested at his home at Burma Camp Hills. According to persecutors he is working in the mining sector.

This is the second time this year a British national has been arrested in Ghana for alleged serious offences.

Each is believed to have been hiding in Ghana.

Adawudu says his client was taken to court today at his blindside.

"This morning i was there with the wife with another lawyer...we were waiting they said they were going to have clearance from the director of BNI Mr. Awolinga and they said we could only go to the Accra regional office that is where they facilities that you can meet your client we went there we sat there all the time. Luckily we saw the officer in charge they we asked him that we were coming to visit our client to have conference...from the news we hear he was sent to court."

Adawudu says if no matter the crime of his client he should have had access to his lawyer as required by law.

Today in court the case was adjourned to 30th of March 2016
David McDermott is reported to have been on the run for about three years from UK security authorities.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK indicated that McDermott is suspected member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks.

He was arrested during a joint operation involving officers from the NCA and Ghana's BNI.

Meanwhile, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah has expressed shock at the arrest of his son in-law, David McDermott by the UK security authorities.

According to him, he absolutely had no knowledge about David being a fugitive of the British government.

In a statement, the BoG boss said: I have received news about the arrest of David McDermott, who is married to my step daughter, Ramona, with shock.
His arrest is in connection with a smuggling plot to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the UK.

McDermott has been on the run from UK authorities for three years.

According to prosecutors at an Accra circuit court, the man is married to the step-daughter of the Bank of Ghana's governor, Dr. Kofi Wampah.

However, Wampah has said he had no knowledge that McDermott was wanted in the UK.

McDermott was arrested in an international sting operation at his home in the affluent Burma Hills area of Accra last week, and was found in possession of a Ghanaian passport with the name David Smith. Prosecutors said he was found to run a mining company.

Prosecutors also told the court investigations are ongoing in the matter and are still expecting certain information from their British counterparts to facilitate their investigations.

McDermott did not have any legal representation in court for the first hearing.

McDermott is said to be a member of an organised crime syndicate from Liverpool and he has been on the run for three-years for his connection to a smuggling plot to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the UK.

McDermotts gang is believed to be responsible for a failed smuggling operation discovered by the UK Border Force at Tilbury Docks in May 2013, when officers seized 400kg (881Ibs) of cocaine smuggled into the country in a container of frozen Argentinian beef.
President John Mahama during his independence speech at the Black Star Square in Accra called for unity and the contribution of every citizen to the development of the nation.

He added that the successes and failures of this nation belong to all of us because this country belongs to all of us.

But, the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the speech was disappointing, adding that the president failed in addressing some of the challenges the country is facing.

Responding to the flagbearer's claim on Accra-based TV3, the president said I guess they dont understand the importance of the Independence Day speech.
According to the president, the errors were avoidable and the Chief of Staff is putting measures in place to forestall such mistakes from recurring in future celebrations.

The official brochure distributed to the Kenyan President and his colleague from Guinea Bissau and their wives, members of the Diplomatic Corps, and many other senior dignitaries from Ghana, was froth with so many mistakes.

The errors included the wrongful designation of Uhuru Kenyatta as Ghanas President to errors in grammar and spelling.

Many Ghanaians expressed anger at the incident, adding that it is an embarrassment and a dent on the country's image.

Acting Director of the Information Service Department (ISD), Francis Kwarteng Arthur was subsequently removed from office, after he admitted giving the go ahead for the brochures to be distributed during the anniversary in spite of the errors.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3 network, President Mahama said the printers devil should be blamed for the errors.
The statement that was released and copied to Pulse.com.gh said Imani Ghana knows nothing about the survey dubbed "Imani Ghana Ranking of Good governance in Ghana Heads of Government Since Independence".

President of Imani Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe who signed the statement said " We would not have ordinarily issued this statement except for the palpable implications of this rather disappointing intellectual exercise on our credibility and integrity as a globally respected think tank."

Below is the full statment by Imani Ghana as released and copied to Pulse.com.gh



Our attention has been drawn to a supposed  relating to the performance of all the Heads of State of Ghana in terms of Good Governance, since the countrys accession to Independence in 1957, which appears to be circulating on various social media platforms; Facebook and Whatsapp in particular.

We would not have ordinarily issued this statement except for the palpable implications of this rather disappointing intellectual exercise on our credibility and integrity as a globally respected think tank.

The said exercise  details presented below, ranked the following; Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, John Dramani Mahama, J.J. Rawlings, John A. Kufuor, Dr. Hilla Limann, John Evans Atta Mills, E. Akuffo- Addo in order of their performance in terms of good governance  from the highest to the lowest.

IMANI GHANA RANKING OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN GHANA HEADS OF GOVERNMENT SINCE INDEPENDENCE;(1) Dr. Kwame Nkrumah 87%(2) John Dramani Mahama 83.1%(3) J.J. Rawlings 76.4%(4) John A. Kufuor 73.8%(5) Dr. Hilla Limann 68%(6) John Evans Atta Mills 65.3%(7) E. Akuffo- AddoYou can visit www.imani ghana . com

We wish to categorically state that Imani Centre for Policy and Education is not responsible for the said ranking and any other surveys / studies in connection with this poll. We have not commissioned any such task, and certainly not commissioned anybody  individual or entity, to undertake such a study on our behalf.

All reports, surveys, policy papers, briefs, rankings and the totality of our work at any point in time can be assessed as which has since December 2015 been migrated to .

Needless to say, the spirit of this porous exercise does not in any way echo our philosophy.

We wish to emphatically state that the raking referred to herein is not our work and we do not assume responsibility of its content.

We humbly call on our partners, stakeholders and all other sympathizers to discard any such information.

Signed

Franklin Cudjoe
His comment follows a terrorist attack at Grand Bassam beach resort in Ivory Coast where gunmen stormed the beach and opened fire, killing 16 people.

According to Ivorian authorities three hotels were attacked and the military quickly moved in to neutralise the attack.

President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara told media the attack was brought under control within two to three hours.

This terrorist attack comes after an attack at the Splendid hotel in Burkina Faso in January 2016 which resulted in about 28 deaths.

Al-Quaeda in the Islamic Magreb claimed responsibility for both attacks in the two countries colonized by France.

In November last year gunmen also opened fire at the Raddison Blue Hotel in Mali killing 21 people.

These developments have left many Ghanaians panicking and wondering about the possibility of an attack in Ghana considering the proximity of Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

[No available link text]

These attacks on Ghana's neighbouring countries come after Ghana agreed to accept two Guantanamo Bay prisoners who were being held because of their links to Al- Quaeda.

COP Yehonu speaking toPulse.com.gh says " I don't think anybody should be scared at all, when something happens like this it also heightens our security arrangement."
The location very busy on Sunday filled with Ivorian families and Western expatriates.

A military official on site, who spoke to Alexis Adele, contributor to World Africa, says the attack killed at least twelve people, including four Westerners. "The attackers were youths" he said, preferring anonymity, "and demanded that their victims shouted Allah Akbar before breaking down. A jihadist was killed, two others are still at large."

In Turkey, an explosion in Guven Park in the Kizilay district, a key transport hub, wounded at least 125 people.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, government sources are casting suspicion on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

President Mahama has subsequently described the attacks as "despicable and unconscionable", and has wished the injured speedy recovery.
Responding to the attack that killed 16, at a beach resort at Grand Bassam, Akufo-Addo said he was deeply shocked and saddened over the despicable and cowardly attacks.

This attack confirms the fears of many that terrorists are widening their scope of operations in West Africa, with Mali and Burkina Faso being recent targets, and is a stark reminder of the threat of global terrorism. We are, therefore, duty bound, as a member state of ECOWAS and as peaceful neighbours of the good people of Cote dIvoire, to help combat this menace.

He said Ghana was in solidarity with Cote d'Ivoire.

In times like these, citizens of Cote d'Ivoire need to be assured with deeds, not just words, that the world stands with them and stands ready to support them in the necessary fight against such evil.

The attack began on Sunday afternoon along the shore of Grand Bassam, a weekend getaway for wealthy Ivorians and expatriates, particularly from France.

At least five foreigners, two soldiers and a child were among the dead, the government said. It said that it killed six attackers.
A five-member panel was later set up by the Electoral Commission to conduct public hearings over the demands for a new voter register.

But, the EC, in a statement said the committee "finds the arguments for a new register unconvincing and therefore does not recommend the replacement of the current voters register."

The LMVCA has in a recent statement, given the EC a one-week ultimatum "to tell the people of Ghana when and how it will conduct the validation exercise to deliver a credible register to the citizens."

"If the EC exceeds its one-week ultimatum, we will take action. And this time around, the demonstrations we stage will be bigger and stronger, and no amount of intimidation from the police or the anti-democracy thugs will deter us. We have both the outrage and the inflamed determination of the nation behind us," the statement said.

Below is the full statement from the LMVCA:

The Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) is outraged by the apparent determination of the Charlotte Osei-led Electoral Commission to impair our democratic system. The EC's reckless decisions are setting up the nation for chaos in the November 2016 general elections.The ECs posture and timetable make clear that it does not intend to carry out records validation for registered voters, despite being encouraged to do so by its own Panel of Experts, and even by the Supreme Court.We wish, by this statement, to inform the public that LMVCA accepts the recommendation from the Panel Report that Validation is good enough, if done well, to clean up the register and give us a credible base document for the 2016 elections. The challenge now is that the EC appears determined to deny Ghanaian this important exercise recommended by its own panel of experts.

We are, by this statement, demanding from the EC a clear timetable for validation to clean up the register and this must be made known to the public within a week from today, failing which we will mobilise the youth of this country to stage a massive demonstration against the Commission.

In the 77-page report of the Panel of Experts, set up by the EC to provide guidance on the electoral register issue, Justice VCRAC Crabbe and his team asserted that the voter register is bloated, and that Ghana cannot go into the 2016 general elections without addressing its widespread irregularities.Shockingly, the Panel discovered that the number of names on the voter register is dangerously and unacceptably more than the total number of eligible voters in Ghana. The Panel implored the EC to validate registered voters, but the EC, incredulously, is refusing to do so.Enough is enough.Let it be reiterated, the Let My Vote Count Alliance is giving the EC a one-week ultimatum to tell the people of Ghana when and how it will conduct the validation exercise to deliver a credible register to the citizens. If the EC exceeds its one-week ultimatum, we will take action. And this time around, the demonstrations we stage will be bigger and stronger, and no amount of intimidation from the police or the anti-democracy thugs will deter us. We have both the outrage and the inflamed determination of the nation behind us.

All across Ghana, the people no longer have faith in the authorities to conduct an honest election.Ms. Osei and the EC's ongoing refusal to clean the voter register is a refusal to conduct a free and fair election in Ghana.

It should also be noted that it would be a waste of money and time to conduct limited registration and then to do the validation afterward. The EC must conduct the validation in tandem with the limited registration they plan to carry out. It would be neither effective nor efficient to waste the Ghanaian people's money and time by conducting these exercises separately. This issue requires urgent attention and clarity from the EC.

The people of Ghana will not let Charlotte Osei and the EC rob us of an honest election. They must be held accountable.

.....................

Signed

David Asante
Im willing to debate Nana Akufo-Addo any day even if you call him today, I will put it here and start debating the issues. So I dont have a problem with debating Nana Addo, I would have wished that you had him hear so that we would debate those issues, the president said on Accra-based TV3.

The 2016 flagbearer, Nana Akufo Addo and his running mate, Dr. Mahmudu Bawumia have on many occasions hit hard at the president, criticising his leadership style, and accusing him of destroying the economy.

Nana Addo recently indicated that the country's economy was in crisis during his delivery at what he calls the Real State of the Nation Address to counter the president's delivery.

The president has however indicated he would be ready to battle it out with Nana Addo during the campaign season if his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) express willingness to participate.
Such geographic differences are certainly important in Islam. But also important are the numerous legal schools and their interpretations. Since Islam is a religion predicated on law (sharia), variations in the interpretation of that law have contributed to regional differences.

Also significant in the modern world is the existence of other religions. Malaysia, for example, has a relatively large percentage of religious minorities (up to 40% of the population). Saudi Arabia has virtually none.

This means Malaysia has had to develop a constitution that protects the rights of religious minorities, whereas Saudi Arabia has not. And its why Islam is so different in these two countries.

Schools of thought

There are historical reasons for this variation. Despite popular opinion, Islam didnt appear fully formed at the time of Muhammad (570-632). There were huge debates over the nature of religious and political authority, for instance, and who was or was not a Muslim.

Its similarly misguided to assume that a unified teaching simply spread throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond.

How Muhammads message developed into the religion of Islam  complete with legal and doctrinal content  took centuries to develop and cannot concern us here.

What is important to note, however, is that his message spread into various (unbordered) regions. Modern nation states would only arise much later. And each of these areas was already in possession of its own set of religious, legal and cultural traditions.

The result was that Islam had to be articulated in the light of local customs and understandings. This was done, in part, through the creation of legal courts, a class of jurists (ulema; mullas in Shi`ism), a legal code (sharia) and a system of interpretation of that code based on rulings (fatwas).

Many local customs arose based on trying to understand Muhammads message. And these customs and understandings gave rise to distinct legal schools.

Although there were originally many such schools, they gradually reduced to four in Sunni Islam  Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi`i and Hanbali. While these four schools all regard one another as orthodox, they nevertheless have distinct interpretations of Islamic law. Some of their interpretations are more conservative than others.

There are also a number of such schools in Shi`i Islam, as you can see from the image above.

The four Sunni schools are associated with distinct regions (as are the Shi`i schools). The Maliki school, for example, is prominent today in Egypt and North Africa. The Hanafi is in western Asia, the Shafi`i in Southeast Asia and the Hanbali (the most conservative) is found primarily in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states.

Fundamental differences

All this legal and local variation has produced different interpretations of the religion. But despite such regional and legal diversity, many Muslims and non-Muslims insist on referring to Islam and sharia as if they were stable entities.

An example might be illustrative of the extent of the differences within Islam. Many non-Muslims are often surprised to learn of the cult of saints, namely the role Sufi saints (Sufism is Islamic mysticism) have played and continue to play in the daily life of Muslims.

A Sufi saint is someone who is considered holy and who has achieved nearness to God. Praying to these saints and making pilgrimages to their shrines is a way to, among other things, ask for intercession.

Although these practices are not unlike the role and place of saints in Catholicism, in Islam they are much more localised. And this locally varied cult of saints played and continues to play an important role in Islamic religious life from Morocco in the West to Pakistan in the East.

Devotion to the saints is believed to cure the sick, make fertile the barren, bring rain, and so on. Needless to say, such devotion is often frowned upon by more fundamentalist interpretations.

While most legal schools are content  albeit somewhat bothered  by such practices, the conservative Hanbali school forbids cults like this. Its adherents have, among other things, destroyed tombs of saints in both the premodern and modern eras. They have also been responsible for the destruction of shrines associated with Muhammads family, such as the shrines and tombs of Muhammads wife.

The Hanbali school, backed by the wealth of the Saudi ruling family, has also tried to make inroads into other areas. Those associated with this legal school, for example, have built madrasas (religious seminaries) in regions traditionally influenced by other legal schools of thought.

Most fundamentalist movements in Islam, including Islamic State, have emanated from such ultra-conservative elements. The Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for instance, are influenced by the more conservative elements of Hanbali ideology, even though they exist in a predominantly Hanafi legal environment.

The goal of many of these groups, sometimes referred to as Wahhabis or Salafis, is to return to what they imagine to be the pure or pristine version of Islam as practised by Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often have strict interpretations of Islam, strict dress codes and separation of the sexes.

Today, there are more than one and a half billion Muslims worldwide, making Islam the second-largest religion on the planet after Christianity. But it is a rich and variegated religion. And this variation must be taken into account when dealing with it.
The last 4G Spectrum Band is available to be allocated, after MTN bid and won one of the Spectrum Bands in December 2015.

Deputy Minister of Communications, Ato Sarpong, has encouraged as many local operators to bid for the spectrum.

It is however unclear if the license will be awarded to a local company, as they have not been able to come up with the needed amounts to win the auction in the past.

The Ghana ICT Chamber have been making a case for 4G license to be giving to indigenous Ghanaian companies only.

This, according to the chamber, is necessary if Ghana is to reap full benefits from the 4G spectrum.

The call followed an announcement by the Director General of the National Communications Authority, William Tevie that the 4G license has been opened up to both local and foreign companies.
Kevin Amugo, director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department stated that the review addresses complaints from customers of financial services.

The review seeks to address complaints from customers of financial services, requests for clarification on the provisions of the guide and absence of a tariff regime for other financial institutions in Nigeria, The statement said.

Stating that banks should not charge current accounts for bank induced debits like maintenance fee on outward clearing cheques, reversed transactions but on customer induced debit transactions.

According to CBN proposed a N50 monthly for local debit card maintenance fee per annum compared to the current N100 annually, foreign currency denominated cards are to be charged N4,200 per annum, electronic funds transfer charge of N105 while transactions above N10 million are to be charged at N300 per transaction.

Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is to cost N550 as commission on foreign currency cash withdrawals and withdrawals from domiciliary accounts other than cash.
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Eye witness reports reveal that the boy had fallen to his knees, praying for his life during the terror attack on the tourist resort which has reportedly left a rising death toll of 18.

Six shooters had reportedly targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces.

A survivor who had reportedly seen the attack unfold revealed, saying:

"They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging. They shot a woman in the chest. They've killed innocent people."

Another witness identified as Marcel Guy, also revealed that a man with a long beard had spoken to two children in Arabic, sparing the life of the one who had been able to recite an Islamic prayer.

Guy added:

"The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes"

Ivory Coast's President, Alassane Ouattara, reveals that, of the 16 people who had been gunned down in the resort popularly visited by Westerners, 14 had been civilians with two others revealed to be special forces soldiers.

Outtara added:

"I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast... The toll could've been much heavier."

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters had reportedly yelled 'Allah Akbar' before they had opened fired on the guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel which had been full of expatriates at the time.
Dennehy, who was imprisoned in 2014 for the horrific crime spree, is asking for compensation because segregation at HMP Bronzefield makes her 'upset'.

Her counsel, Hugh Southey is challenging the jail administrators' decision in London's High Court.

He told Justice Singh Dennehy was a victim of treatment banned by the Human Rights Convention and disability discrimination.

During the hearing, he said she was vulnerable due to personality disorders and asked for damages to be awarded.

Joanna Dennehy was imprisoned in 2014 for a horrific 10-day crime spree in which she stabbed lover Kevin Lee and housemates Lukasz Slaboszewski and John Chapman, dumping each body in ditches in Cambridgeshire in March last year.
Its Commissioner of Women Affairs, Hajiya Badiya Hassan, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina on Monday, that the measure was to rescue young girls and women involved in drug abuse.

Hassan said that government had contacted traditional and opinion leaders toward obtaining vital information that would help the quest to rid the state of the bad trends.

"The traditional rulers will collate vital information on the dealers, hawkers and peddlers of the illicit drugs; once we get that information, we shall go after the suspects,'' she said.

The commissioner said that the ministry would organise seminars, conferences and workshops to educate youths on the dangers of drug addiction.

She said that government would also assist NDLEA with facilities to rehabilitate female drug addicts.
The research was carried out on an 81-year-old man who was diagnosed with , an inflammation of the brain and its membrane after returning from a cruise in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand in January.

His spinal fluid tests showed that he was positive to the Zika virus.

Clinicians should be aware that ZIKV [Zika virus] may be associated with meningoencephalitis, the French team warns.

After about three weeks of treatments, he was discharged.

In view of these findings, World Health Organisation (WHO) though there are limited evidence to link the Zika virus with neurological disorders, there is need for an immediate action to protect public health.
Dambazau made the call on Monday, March 14, 2016, via a statement released by his Press Secretary, Osaigbovo Ehisienmen.

The perpetrators of this dastardly act are unwittingly testing the will and capabilities of government securities, he said.

Dambazau also expressed his condolence to the government and people of Benue State over the incident.

About 500 people have lost their lives in Agatu following a series of attacks by Fulani herdsmen.

The casualty figure was given by Benue State Senator, David Mark after an assessment visit.

Im shocked beyond words at the extent of destruction I have seen here in Agatu today. This is unbelievable. It is unimaginable. Nothing whatsoever justifies this brazen act of destruction meted out on the people of Agatu. My heart bleeds, Mark said.

The villages are totally bereft of any social or economic activities. All the primary and post primary schools, health centres, worship centres as well as the police station in the area have been burnt down.

What is left of a hitherto boisterous Agatu communities of Aila, Akwu, Adagbo, Okokolo, Ugboju, Odugbeho, Ogbaulu, Egba and Obagaji are the debris of the wreckage, he added.
He said that armed Fulani herdsmen are violently attacking and killing villagers and farmers in many states but the security agencies are standing by and have done nothing to bring this ugly situation to a bearable minimum.

Onwubiko said the present administration should arrest, prosecute and sanction offenders who commit mass killings.

"We have also canvassed comprehensive investigation of allegations that armed security forces (military) invaded Ogoniland and engaged in wanton killings and destruction of lives and property of innocent people in those communities in Rivers state. We use this opportunity to call on the relevant agencies of government such as the National Assembly and the National Human Rights Commission to wake up to their legislative and regulatory responsibilities and stop these killings of citizens by compelling relevant security agents to do their statutory duties and stop the bloodshed.

The primary constitutional duty of government is to safeguard lives and property of the citizenry. The moment government fails to keep to this sacred duty then it has no need remaining in office since it has failed to discharge its constitutional mandate. The cases of violent inter party conflicts in Rivers State is unfortunate. Both the Federal and State government should be held responsible for this apparent failure to stop the violence and punish offenders irrespective of their status or political affiliations. Nobody is above the law. Impunity must be curbed Onwubiko added.The Human Rights Activist said the reason people carry weapons and unleash violence on others is because the relevant laws are not being enforced to punish offenders.
Speaking at the 6th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition in Abuja, Buhari, who was represented by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, assured the investors that their investments are safe in the country.

He said: I am pleased to announce that as a result of regional cooperation and the doggedness of our armed forces, Nigeria has overcome the security challenges hitherto posed by terrorists and extremists in the northeast.

Nigeria is therefore ready and accessible for investments from all interested countries, individuals and partners. Let me assure you that your investments are secured in Nigeria and a high return on investment is assured.

The President further said the that unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is part of the strategies to reposition the Nigerias oil and gas sector. He also announced a daily crude oil production target of 2.8 million barrels per day for country.

He said his administration has commenced the process of implementing clear-cut initiatives that will enable optimal performance in the sector.

Some of these include strengthening the institutional framework on policy formulation through legislation on the Petroleum Industry Bill as a prerequisite for the development of the sector and attraction of foreign investment; unbundling the national oil company, that is the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation into lean, efficient and profitable components, that will operate as a business venture and deploy existing manpower to areas of competences without attendant job losses, he said.
Al-Makura also said that the trips dont stop Buhari from performing his duties.

For anybody to talk about the foreign trips of Mr. President in a negative manner, such a person is not patriotic. Nigeria was a pariah state, Nigeria was isolated and stigmatised for the better part of PDP administrations, nobody wanted to do business with Nigeria, the governor said according to Leadership.

The president would be doing disservice to the country if he does not go to correct those impressions that the world has about Nigeria, to tell the world that Nigeria is now a new place, Nigeria is now keying into the best practices in terms of statutory matters, in terms of international collaboration in economic activities.

These are the things that will correct the wrong impression the whole world had about Nigeria; and I can tell you that I was in one of the trips Mr. President made to the United States and you could see the way and manner he was received with open arms. They stated categorically that they now have confidence to transact business with Nigeria.

Look at his intervention, you dont have the vibrancy that Boko Haram used to have before he came. Look at the economy, when a lot of states could not pay salaries of workers, there was so much pressure and worries on how government would intervene and he was able to facilitate the bailout, he added.

Meanwhile, Buhari has left Nigeria for an official trip to Equatorial Guinea and will expectedly return tomorrow, March 15, 2016.

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The EFCC is a creation of the law. The court will not allow it to act as if it is above the law. It is remarkable to note that the motto of the EFCC is that nobody is above the law, yet they are acting as if they are above the law, Haliru said according to Vanguard.

The EFCC Act is not superior to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The respondents in this matter have not behaved as if we are in a civilised society. They have behaved as if we are in a military dictatorship where they arrest and release persons at will. 

The respondents, I must be bold to say- the EFCC and the Army- have behaved like illiterates. Why has the 1st respondent kept the applicant without bringing him to court? Why was the applicant, being a serving military officer who could be easily reached, not granted administrative bail?

Or is it that the applicant has been found guilty and already serving his jail term? Nobody should be subjected to the whims and caprices of the EFCC. The essence of the rule of law and constitutional provisions is to ensure a just balance between the ruler and the ruled, between the powerful and the weak.

Though the EFCC has the responsibility to investigate financial crime, it must however conduct its operations in accordance with the rule of law. The court is empowered to guard against improper use of power by any member of the society or agency, EFCC inclusive. The detention of the applicant, for all intent and purposes, is not just unfair but unfortunate, he added.

Ashinze has been in detention since December 23, 2015 and is believed to have been arrested in connection with the $2.1 billion arms deal fraud.

Dasuki is at the center of the massive money laundering investigation and is alleged to have supervised the looting of the funds which were meant for the procurement of arms for Nigeria's military.

He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the EFCC the day after.

The former NSA is reported to have implicated several prominent persons in the deal including former governors, ex-ministers and members of the PDP.
In February 2016, rampaging Fulani herdsmen reportedly killed 300 people in the area and left thousands homeless.

Buhari subsequently ordered an investigation into the incident and promised to get the root of the matter while expressing condolences to the Agatu people.

We will conduct an investigation to know exactly what happened; the only way to bring an end to the violence once and for all is to look beyond one incident and ascertain exactly what factors are behind the conflicts," the president said via a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

We are all one nation and one people. There should not be any reason why Nigerians of any group or tongue cannot now reside with one another wherever they find themselves after decades of living together. Once the investigations are concluded, we will act immediately to address the root of the problem, the statement added.

Since then however, it has been radio silence from Buhari despite the fact that Agatu people are still being killed by herdsmen.

The situation was further worsened by an unguarded and highly insensitive statement attributed to Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.

I was around, I travelled to Makurdi, I did not see where 300 people were buried. If you kill, you dont just bury; you must take the corpse to the Police station before you bury, we dont have that number of people, Arase said adding that the casualty figure had been exaggerated.

Agatu is however more than 200 kilometres from Makurdi, the state capital. Is Arase expecting the Fulani herdsmen or the fleeing residents to carry the dead all the way to Makurdi so he can see graves?

In fact, according to Senator David Mark, who represents the Benue South Senatorial District, more than 500 people have been killed in Agatu.

Im shocked beyond words at the extent of destruction I have seen here in Agatu today. This is unbelievable. It is unimaginable. Nothing whatsoever justifies this brazen act of destruction meted out on the people of Agatu. My heart bleeds, Mark said after going on an assessment tour of the area.

The villages are totally bereft of any social or economic activities. All the primary and post primary schools, health centres, worship centres as well as the police station in the area have been burnt down.

What is left of a hitherto boisterous Agatu communities of Aila, Akwu, Adagbo, Okokolo, Ugboju, Odugbeho, Ogbaulu, Egba and Obagaji are the debris of the wreckage, he added.

One victim of the attacks, identified as Mrs Gabriel, narrated how the herdsmen killed anyone who dared to challenge them on the use of farm land and crops.

As I stand here, I do not have even a family member or relation left. The dress I am putting on was given to me at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Otukpo, Benue state. I am finished. I have lost everything, she said during a town hall meeting organized by 1 Idoma Initiative in Abuja.

The Tribune also reports that the rampaging herdsmen, who are currently unchallenged, have claimed Agatu as their territory.

President Buhari cannot afford to be silent at this time, especially because he is Fulani, as his inaction is beginning to seem like the fruit of bias.

The Agatu people have had enough and will soon rise up to defend themselves, then Nigeria will have another war on its hands, a war which can still be avoided if the president steps in.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting, said that the seven states in the zone would give priority to the exploration of their mineral resources and the development of agriculture.

The communique, signed by Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, the chairman of the forum, was issued to newsmen on Sunday in Katsina

It said that the two sectors if properly harnessed, would solve the problem of unemployment, insecurity, as well cattle rustling in the zone.

It urged Nigerians to support President Buharis fight against corruption and insecurity.

The governors advised Nigerians to support the policies of the Federal Government aimed at revamping the economy.

They pledged to mobilise stakeholders in the zone to ensure the development of the area.

``For the zone to succeed in addressing most of its challenges and forge ahead in the wake of monumental challenges, the governors agreed to cooperate and unite. the communique said

It added that the governors agreed to establish a secretariat in Katsina State to coordinate their activities.
Mr Moses Adedeji the Executive Director of the organisation, gave the support in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

He added that it would deny corrupt persons and unscrupulous cabals a foothold in the on-going process of change and progress.

Adedeji urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kahikwu, not to relent in their efforts to bring change in the system.

He said that individuals and groups calling for the sack of Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, Managing Director of the retail arm of the corporation, were those who are against the growth and development of the nation.

He described them as `cabals who were bent on frustrating the efforts to end the prolonged fuel crisis witnessed across the country and urged the government to ignore them.
According to Punch, Tarfa said this in an affidavit filed in support of his preliminary objection to the charges, seeking a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere to quash the charges.

On February 16, 2016, the EFCC arraigned Tarfa on two counts before Justice Aishat Opesanwo accusing him of willfully obstructing two of its operatives, Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed, from arresting two citizens of Benin - Gnanhoue Sorou and Nazaire Modeste.

The anti-graft agency claims the Beninoise are suspected criminals.

The EFCC accused the senior lawyer of hiding the suspects in his vehicle for about five hours on February 5, 2016 to prevent them from being arrested, claiming he contravened Section 38(2) (a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.

The agency also alleged that Tarfa bribed Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court before whom he had two pending cases.

Tarfa pleaded not guilty to the two charges and was granted bail on self-recognition.

In his preliminary objection to the charges, he contended that the EFCC failed to state the particular place and time when he committed the offences, which he was being accused of committing.

However, the lead counsel in Tarfas defence team, Emeka Ngige (SAN), at the resumed proceedings on Monday, March 14, said the EFCC has filed a counter-affidavit, which he is yet to respond to because he was only served last Friday at about 2.55pm.
Wike lacks capacity to govern. Somebody who just knows how to steal money is a bushman. Wike said, am corrupt. He should bring evidence to show. I will bring evidence to show that Wike is corrupt, Amaechi said.

Wike did the Rukpoku/ Eneka road during my tenure he did not complete it. I gave Wike the contracts to do all the roads around Aristle House(a hotel in GRA) but he failed to do them, I gave him fourteen schools to give to Obio/Akpor people, he stole them, he lacks character.

When I was the governor, one thing that I kept thinking of was how to chase these criminals away but under Nyesom Wike, he meets with them. If Wike does not secure you people, the federal government will secure you. If he doesnt want to be ignored he should go and secure you people because federal government will no longer tolerate these killings in Rivers State.

Saturday is your day, come out and vote. They will no longer have the Police they had, they will no longer have the Army they had, we pray that INEC should be neutral, your job is to match out and vote for APC ,we will not write results like Nyesom Wike, so go back to your wards and do door to door," he added.

Amaechi visited Rivers to lead campaigns ahead of the March 19 state and National Assembly rerun elections in the state.

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It is unfair for the APC government to be judged. People have forgotten that the PDP held sway for 16 years. Therefore, people should not expect magic from the APC. We are committed, the governor said.

You can see from the time we took over that even oil, which price has been dwindling, has started to rise due to the efforts of Mr. President. So, people should not be impatient. People should give us at least 16 years and see if we would not remove the rot that the PDP had caused.

It is unfair for Nigerians to judge us in eight or nine months. I am assuring Nigerians that the APC government at the centre is on course and all the APC governments in the states will deliver Insha Allah, he added.

President Muhammadu Buharis media aide, Femi Adesina had earlier expressed a similar statement saying that Buhari promised Nigerians change but theyre expecting magic.

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Speaking in Abuja on Monday, March 14, 2016, Omoworare said that amendment of the Act would also take care of unforeseen situations.

According to him, the senate is committed to passing a bill to ensure that subsequent elections are devoid of conflicting interpretations, particularly by the judiciary.

There is a private member bill on that position and there is another private member bill on some other salient issues that will solve the quagmire we find ourselves in Kogi State.

The Electoral Act has provided for what happens before an election if a candidate demises and the constitution provides for what happens after, which is the Atiku Abubakar, Boni Haruna template.

But there is no provision for what happens when the process is ongoing.

The bill will go for scrutiny and there must be a gazette before we take the first reading, he said.

The chairman, however, expressed his dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court rulings that upturned the Court of Appeal judgments on some governorship elections.

I do not agree at the moment with the Supreme Court on the issue of the card reader. I can say this before God and man that I may not have been here today were it not for the card reader.

The Electoral Act has already given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) powers to make guidelines and if INEC has made guideline saying that we will use card reader, I am of the view that the Supreme Court should respect it," he said.
Earlier media reports had it that Osinbajos trip was cancelled because President Muhammadu Buhari would also be abroad at the same time leaving Saraki to act as the nations most senior official.

The denial was made by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.

Nigeria has been invited to the Indian/African Summit and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment will be leading a delegation to the event. There is nothing like cancellation. Remember that the visit of the Vice-President to any country is not treated in secrecy, Akande said.

Whenever the Vice-President is to travel out of the country, we inform Nigerians. So, this story in question is a bunch of speculation. There is no cancellation, he added.

Buhari will expectedly leave Nigeria for Equatorial Guinea today, March 14, 2016 to hold talks with President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on further measures to protect the people and resources of the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea.

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Speaking at a press briefing at the APC secretariat in Abuja, the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun said a spokesperson to fit into Mohammed's shoes is hard to come by.

I think arrangements have been completed to hold the necessary congresses to nominate a spokesperson.

I think that should be done very shortly. In fact the issue is getting somebody that can be as close as possible to the outstanding performance of the present minister of information, Lai Mohammed, Oyegun said.

Pulse recalls that prior to the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as the President, Mohammed was the party's spokesman during its years as opposition. He was later appointed the Minister of Information and Culture.

Oyegun, who just resumed after a 10-day working leave, also said all party activities will hold as planned this month.
In a mail published by LIB, the unnamed student wrote:

I attended LASU (Anthony Campus) and graduated in the year 2009 but as I write this, we are yet to receive our results from the school authorities. We have pleaded with the school authorities on several occasions on the release of our results but unfortunately our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

It is high time we call the attention of Lagos State government and Management of Lagos State University (LASU) to the plight of ex-Students of the institution. many students who have graduated from the school and met all the necessary requirements to be awarded certificates are yet to receive any proof of graduation. The worse hit are students of the School of Part-time Studies (Anthony Campus) who have nothing to show after spending at least 6 years in the institution.

Some students who wrote their final exams some 6 years ago are still at the mercy of the School's Senate to approve their results. This is not encouraging especially in a highly competitive and harsh labour environment like ours. We are pleading with the listening Governor of Lagos, His Excellency, to look critically at the management of LASU with a view to expediting the release of student's result."
Uber Sub-Saharan Africa manager, Alon Lits, made the revelation in a recent interview with Reuters, according to Innovation Village.

The company plans to set up East and West Africa hubs in Nairobi and Lagos to act as launchpads for forays into Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana, in addition to starting operations in a second city each in Nigeria and Kenya.

Lits also said Uber was working on convincing traditional taxi drivers to work for the company. Part of our strategy when we launch in new markets will be that engagement up front with taxi operators, We will be doing a better job of engaging, he said.

Approaching taxi drivers is a sensible move for Uber, especially since most of the opposition they face in all the countries they currently operate is from taxi drivers, including Kenya and South Africa.

The company is also looking to incorporate cash payments as part of its African expansion so as to reach a wider set of customers. According to Lits, Uber's experiment with cash or mobile money payments in Kenya has yielded considerable growth.

Its definitely going to be part of our strategy as we push across Africa. We feel we are at a point now where we have a strong sense for what it takes to build a successful Uber business in Africa, Lits said.

Uber also wants to keep the drivers it currently has and also get more drivers into its fold. In Kenya and Nigeria, the company has plans to make cars more affordable for driver to either rent or buy.
In the 18 years since the program has been in existence, 92 distinguished laureates have been honored, and 2,438 talented women have been celebrated for their outstanding accomplishments which have contributed to making the world a better place.

For this year, 5 women will be recognized from Africa and the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.

Professor Elizabeth H. Blackburn, 2008 Laureate LOreal-UNESCO For Women in Science and 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is the President of the Jury for this year, as well as the first woman to head the jury since the awards was created in 1998.

Each of the five women will be awarded in March 24, 2016 at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris, France. They will also receive a prize of 100,000 each as a reward for their contribution to science.

Here are the five women below:
John Gerard Boyajian, 55, traveled to Cambodia  one of Southeast Asias poorest countries  about three dozen times between 2002 and 2009, where he engaged in sexual activity with Vietnamese girls between the ages of 8 and 11 in a village outside Phnom Penh.

One of the girls  now an adult working in Cambodia to help fellow victims of sexual predators  told jurors that Boyajian paid her grandmother to leave her alone with him in a wooden shack. She described being raped, beaten and bitten on the legs and calves by the defendant during multiple attacks.

Asked by prosecutors to identify her attacker after she took the stand last month, the girl slowly walked to the center of the area in front of the judge, met the gaze of every male in the room, then turned to the defendant and pointed to him.

This case is about a man who wanted to sexually assault children  and he found a place where he could do that, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Baehr-Jones said.

Boyajian, who represented himself during the trial, seemed to nod his head as the verdicts were read, but otherwise showed no reaction.

The United States is the world leader in civil rights, and if you are an American and you hurt a child  no matter where it takes place in the world  you will be prosecuted, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Herzog said outside court.

All children must be protected from sexual predators  and todays verdicts confirm that.

Boyajian was previously convicted in 1994 on nearly two dozen counts of statutory rape in Orange County. He faces up to 30 years behind bars.
Zend's comments came in a televised interview on Friday. He immediately said "God forgive me", and on Saturday issued an apology in another interview. It was not immediately clear who would replace Zend, a hardliner and outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree today to relieve Ahmed al-Zend ... of his position," a government statement said, giving no more details.

Zend, a former appeals court judge, had been publicly outspoken in his criticism of the Islamist movement removed from power by the army in mid-2013 and banned as a terrorist group.

He has in the past denounced the 2011 revolt that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and ushered in the election that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power. He has also been a strong defender of the judiciary and its powerful position.

Egyptian judges issued a statement opposing Zend's removal over what the head of the Judges Club told Reuters was a slip of the tongue that could have happened to anyone.

"Egypt's judges are sorry that someone who defended Egypt and its people, judiciary and nation in the face of the terrorist organisation that wanted to bring it down should be punished in this way," said Abdallah Fathi.

Egyptian courts have been absolving Mubarak-era officials, while imposing long sentences on liberal and Islamist activists.

Egypt's judiciary has faced criticism from rights groups in the past two years after judges issued mass death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood supporters, locking up youth activists and sentencing writers and journalists.
Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth made the announcement at his office after days of speculation in local newspapers about the fate of the finance minister, who had not returned to work for several weeks after a visit to the United States. Some media cited health issues and others cited differences in the cabinet.
"Perhaps, this is no secret, if I say that at some stage the Americans suggested performing a 'division of labour': the Russian Air Forces should concentrate on the liberation of Palmyra, and the American coalition with Russian support will focus on the liberation of Raqqa," the minister added.
After the 2011 uprising that ousted President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's central bank governor clashed with the government over its attempts to intervene in monetary policy and was sacked in 2012 over those disagreements.

According to draft legislation seen by Reuters, the central bank will not take instructions from the government and will have absolute control over monetary policy, currency reserves and gold reserves.

Currently in Tunisia, there is no law prohibiting the government from seeking to intervene in central bank policy or making demands on reserves.

"The goal is to establish a modern central bank and good monetary governance and avoid any possible political bickering or demands to impose certain monetary policies regardless of the economic trend for the next government," said the central bank official familiar with the bill.

The draft does include a clause allowing the government to form a committee to scrutinise the central bank in case of any suspicions of corruption or criminal misdoing.
Australia will be 'right in the mix at the business end', asserts Lee ahead of start of T20 World Cup Super-12 stage

T20 World Cup gives India chance to change trend of not having won ICC trophies in last 9 years, says Rohit Sharma

Bopanna and Matwe enter doubles final of European OpenS
When David Black Crow appeared in court in December, it was difficult to tell whether he, or the system, was more broken.

The 58-year-old Rapid City homeless man was facing his 213th misdemeanor criminal prosecution. Throughout his life, he has never shaken his addiction to alcohol, never stopped re-offending, never stopped cycling in and out of jail. Hes what people in the system call a chronic inebriate and a frequent flier.

An analysis of his criminal record indicates he has been jailed at least 3,300 days over the past 27 years  as far back as South Dakotas digitally searchable court records go  on arrests and convictions mostly for low-level offenses including disorderly conduct, vandalism, petty theft, trespassing, public urination, panhandling, consuming alcohol in a public place, resisting arrest and indecent exposure.

During a sentencing discussion at Black Crows court appearance, his public defender, Jeff Fransen, lamented the futility of the proceeding.

The police are very familiar with Mr. Black Crow, Fransen told the judge. There should be alternatives to just arresting him every time they come in contact with him.

More alternatives could come soon, thanks to initiatives proposed as part of Pennington Countys $4.9 million grant application to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The overall goal is a 25 percent reduction in the local jails inmate population. The county is in competition with 19 other local governments across the nation, and award announcements are expected next month.

Among the initiatives proposed in the grant application is a so-called "sobering center" with up to 40 spaces where intoxicated individuals who are often involved in low-level, nuisance-style criminal activity could sleep safely for a few hours or an entire night. They could then receive some free nourishment and be sent on their way without being arrested or booked into the jail  saving the county money and saving individuals the negative consequences of jail.

A hard reality

The sobering center concept, tentatively named Safe Solutions, targets the chronically intoxicated  people for whom alcoholism is a long-lasting, deeply ingrained behavior that has persisted through failed attempts at sobriety or treatment.

Safe Solutions represents an acceptance of a hard reality by many in the criminal justice and social-work fields, including Barry Tice, the director of the Pennington County Health and Human Services Department.

Tice has worked with hundreds of criminal suspects and convicts over the years, including those for whom substance-abuse treatment was not viable. He recalled one 62-year-old homeless man who went to court-ordered treatment dozens of times, did not want to go back and in some cases was not welcome to come back.

What he wanted was to be left alone, Tice said.

Such people run out of options and end up falling through the cracks in social services. They may land in jail  not because anyone thinks they belong there, but because they need to be temporarily protected from harming themselves or others, and because there is no other place for them.

Black Crow reached that point long ago. He told the judge in December that his most recent arrest came after hed retreated to a gravel alleyway in North Rapid to drink with friends. As usual, it led to a run-in with police and a stint in jail.

I do my best to stay out of their way and out of their face, and they still get me, Black Crow said.

By January, he was back in jail and in court again after drinking alcohol in violation of his December sentence.

Old NAU building a site

Sobering centers have become the go-to place for chronic alcoholics in some jurisdictions around the country. Plans for a Pennington County sobering center are not final, but it would tentatively be housed in the former National American University building, across Kansas City Street from the courthouse, the jail, and the police and sheriff station on the east end of downtown Rapid City.

The county recently acquired the building and has plans to remodel it, regardless of the outcome of the grant application, to house not only the sobering center but also other programs including city-county detox and the county Health and Human Services Department, both of which would move from an existing location in North Rapid. The MacArthur grant application says the countys total investment in renovating the facility could reach $8 million, including $1.8 million to renovate a space for the sobering center, about $500,000 of which would come from the grant.

Tice envisions the building as a hub for diverting low-level, nonviolent offenders away from jail and toward more appropriate options.

People admitted to the sobering center could be transitioned to detox if they express a legitimate desire or potential for treatment, but detox beds would otherwise be reserved for people who want to rid their body of alcohol and move on to treatment.

People in the sobering center, meanwhile, could be allowed to come and go freely, or perhaps made to stay until their blood-alcohol content falls to a certain level as measured by a breath test.

The sobering center would likely consist of a large room with floor mats or possibly just a heated floor. Uncomfortable as that may sound, Tice said low-lying sleeping accommodations are necessary to prevent drunken people from rolling out of a raised bed, falling on the floor and suffering injuries.

Caseworkers would oversee the facility, medical staff would be available, and a sack lunch could be offered to those whove completed their brief stay.

Besides the cost of renovating the old NAU building to house the sobering center, other costs associated with the plan would include four new detox technician positions starting at a total cost of about $176,000 annually, and a new emergency medical technician position starting at a cost of about $46,000 annually. Those costs would be paid by the grant for the first three years and by the county or a mix of local government dollars afterward.

A small sobering center, sometimes called a safe room, already operates in the existing detox facility on North Lacrosse Street. There is space for only seven floor mats in the cramped, windowless basement room, and because there is no means of dividing the space by gender and the demand for the facility is greater among men, women are not admitted. That could change at the expanded sobering center.

Not everyone who is involved in a drunken disturbance or low-level crime would be allowed into the center. Police and deputies would have the option of taking people to the center, and social workers would have the option of steering people into the sobering center or toward detox or mental-health treatment. Jail could also still be an option.

People in the sobering center would be expected to rest quietly. Members of the local MacArthur grant planning committee have visited sobering centers in other jurisdictions and said the centers are generally respected by the people who use them, because of the brief and safe escape they provide from life on the streets.

Officer/homeless person relations

Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom thinks knowledge of the sobering center among the citys homeless community could reduce tensions between them and police and sheriff's officers. Some of the grant funding would be used to train more police and deputies in crisis intervention, which could help them de-escalate a problematic situation with a street person and avoid an arrest.

If we can deal with people as effectively as possible on the street without arresting them, and if we can take them to Safe Solutions instead of jail, thats a win for both of us, Thom said.

Thom thinks the long-term financial savings could be substantial. It costs about $80 per day to house someone in jail, he said. For chronically intoxicated homeless people, the costs of incarceration sometimes run higher because of medical problems, including withdrawal symptoms that may occur during an extended jail stay. The criminal charges that come with a jail stay require public defenders, prosecutors and judges who adjudicate the inmate at taxpayer expense.

Instead of incurring all those expenses, Thom said, it would be better to avoid arresting some chronic alcoholics and instead offer them temporary protection from themselves, others and the elements, at a cost of perhaps $30 per person, per day.

Tice also sees the need for an alternative to jail for those who can't stop drinking.

Weve become very reliant on incarcerating individuals for crimes that may not necessarily fit what our correctional facilities were set up for, Tice said. And its an expensive way to manage individuals for nuisance-type offenses.

From the perspective of people outside the fields of social work and criminal justice, offering drunken people a place to sleep instead of sending them to detox and treatment might sound like giving up. Tice disputes that logic and points to the harsh realities of street life, including the example of a man who died of hypothermia last year in Memorial Park.

Giving up, Tice said, is letting people freeze to death in our parks and not looking for alternatives to whats happening.
Today kicks off a weeklong focus on government openness, or lack thereof, known as "Sunshine Week."

But as a review of public records laws across the country by the Associated Press shows, many facets of government remain hidden by dark clouds of secrecy.

It is easy to see why public records laws are important. Without openness laws, citizens may never know how their tax money is being spent, or misspent. We might never know the names of someone who is arrested, incarcerated or who dies in a house fire or car wreck. We likely would never have held police officers in Chicago or South Carolina accountable for improperly shooting defenseless citizens to death. Conflicts of interest among government officials would be harder to uncover.

In South Dakota, a state that once received an "F" grade from the national Center for Public Integrity in terms of open government, some steps have been taken to increase openness and accountability of state and local government. In the legislative session that ended last week, three steps forward were taken, according to Dave Bordewyk, general manager of the South Dakota Newspaper Association.

Among them: making it legal for anyone to electronically record any public meeting; requiring posting of meeting agendas two days prior to the meeting; requiring public record laws be followed regarding use of electronic communication such as email.

And yet, Bordewyk notes there are many aspects of government still hidden from public view.

"For example, South Dakota's open records laws contain several broad exceptions that allow certain records to be kept confidential. Specifically, almost all official correspondence (including email) of public officials can be kept secret. And, it usually is. Another exception in the open records law allows public officials to keep secret wide swaths of documents and records used by government to make policy," Bordewyk wrote in a column last week.

He and others in the media and those who support government openness say Sunshine Week is a time to push public officials and government agencies to perform more of their actions in the sunshine.

"Let's use this Sunshine Week observance to keep the pressure on. Let's keep working to develop strong leaders and advocates for open government among our elected officials," he wrote. "Let's make the sun shine brightly in the halls of government at all levels in South Dakota. Good government depends on it."

As part of its focus on Sunshine Week, the Associated Press examined one segment of basic openness laws in all 50 states: The willingness of state officials to allow citizens to know when and where they are conducting official business.

Every state has adopted laws requiring most government meetings and records to be open to the public. But in some states, lawmakers have exempted themselves from complying.

As a way to check on that one measure of openness, the Associated Press sent open-records request to the top lawmakers in all 50 states and most governors, seeking copies of their daily schedules and emails from the government accounts for the week of Feb. 1-7. The AP received more denials than approvals from lawmakers. It did not generally request emails from private accounts because rules and practices on those vary widely from state to state.

Here are summaries showing how they responded in Great Plains states, including South Dakota and its neighbors:

South Dakota

South Dakota law says public records include all records and documents, regardless of physical form, belonging to government entities  unless a different law, ordinance or rule bars particular information from public disclosure. Records exempted from disclosure include correspondence, memoranda, calendars or logs of appointments of public officials or employees. Gov. Dennis Daugaard's office and the state Legislative Research Council cited the law exempting the disclosure of correspondence and calendars in denying the AP's requests for emails and calendars.

Minnesota

Top lawmakers in Minnesota refused to release their emails or schedules, and they don't have to do so. The Legislature exempted itself from Minnesota's open records law, deferring instead to internal House and Senate rules that don't require lawmakers to turn over their own records. Legislators defend the long-standing exemption, arguing it protects sensitive communication with constituents and allows them to freely consider issues. But Democratic House Minority Leader Paul Thissen says he will push this year to subject the Legislature to the same rules as other public officials. Gov. Mark Dayton has routinely released scores of emails. But Minnesota governors have long protected their personal schedules.

Nebraska

The state's top lawmakers agreed to release detailed personal calendars but refused to provide their emails. The main reason they cited is to protect the sensitive and personal information of their constituents. Nebraska's open records law exempts "correspondence, memoranda and records of telephone calls" related to a state lawmaker's duties. They can only be released to the public with the lawmaker's approval. Nebraska has the country's only unicameral legislature. By comparison, Gov. Pete Ricketts' office released about 600 pages of emails from the governor's public account, which mostly consisted of correspondence from constituents and Twitter notifications (the governor and his staff say they no longer use personal email accounts for state business). The governor also released his public schedule but refused to disclose the governor's personal calendar, which includes all of his meetings at the Capitol.

North Dakota

State law exempts the Legislature from the open-records law. The Republican House and Senate majority leaders denied the AP's records requests for emails and calendars, citing the law. But the Democratic minority leaders complied with the request. House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, said he does not conduct "political correspondence" on his state email; rather, he uses a personal email account and "encourages all caucus members to do the same." He said some Republican House members eschew email altogether in favor of traditional mail. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who is subject to the law, released his emails and calendar.

Wyoming

State law exempts the Wyoming Legislature from the open-records law. Under Wyoming law, lawmakers do not have to disclose any communication with constituents or correspondence with legislative staff. The request for emails and calendars to both the Republican and Democratic leaders in the state Senate and House resulted in the same basic reply, noting the exemption. Republican Gov. Matt Mead, who is not exempt from any provisions, released his calendar, minus certain sensitive security details, and emails. However, the state Supreme Court has ruled recently that public officials can refuse public inspection of documents they relied on in reaching final policy decisions. The ruling came in a case against the governor's office.
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Moscow court dismisses Googles lawsuit over Mobile App distribution

MOSCOW, March 14 (RAPSI)  The Moscow Commercial Court dismissed on Monday a lawsuit filed by Google against Russias Federal Antimonopoly Services (FAS) order on distribution of Google Play mobile application, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The case was considered behind closed doors because most of documents are confidential.

The Moscow Commercial Court earlier brought Yandex as a third party into the case. Google resisted the motion stating that Yandex, the companys rival, would get access to its classified information.

In February 2015, the watchdog opened a case against Google, which stands accused of using Android mobile operating system for promotion of its own services. The case was opened at the request of Yandex, one of the largest internet companies in Europe, operating Russia's most popular search engine and a website.

Yandex claims that manufacturers have to abide by terms established by Google to gain access to key elements of OS, including Google Play, which is Google's official store for Android apps, games and other content. As a result, Google which has developed OS can set any restrictions, including a ban on collaboration with competing services, Yandex said in a statement.

In September, the FAS found Google guilty of violating the Federal Law on Protection of Competition and charged the company with abuse of dominant market position.

The watchdog also ordered Google to remedy detected violations until December 18.

Google denies the allegations and claims it does not restrict people from installing other companies applications, including Yandex, onto Android phones.
MOSCOW, March 14 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has upheld refusal to reclassify the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov as a more serious crime, an attempt on the life of a government or public figure, RAPSI reported from the courtroom on Monday.

On December 24, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow dismissed a motion filed by the relatives of Nemtsov against investigators refusal to reclassify charges. They have appealed this decision.

The court has also upheld denial to recognize Republican Party of RussiaPeople's Freedom Party (RPR-Parnas) as an injured party in the case.

Nemtsov was murdered in central Moscow on the night of February 28. In the 1990s, the politician held a number of high-ranking posts in the Russian Government. In the 2000s, he joined the opposition.

Pretrial investigation into the case has been completed. Zaur Dadayev, brothers Anzor and Shadid Gubashev, Temerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev have been charged with contract murder and illegal acquisition, carrying and keeping of weapons.

Alleged organizers of the murder still remain under investigation. Ruslan Mukhudinov, a former officer in Chechen Interior Ministry and alleged mastermind of the murder placed on the international wanted list.
Bill on fines for selling sanctioned products reaches State Duma

MOSCOW, March 14 (RAPSI)  A bill introducing fines for distributing foreign food products embargoed by Russia has been submitted to the State Duma, RIA Novosti reported on Monday.

According to the bill, fines may reach one million rubles ($14,200).

In February, Russian government refused to lend support for the bill banning sales of sanctioned products. New bill is expected to make amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses.

In August 2014, Russia restricted imports of food products from the countries that imposed sanctions against Russia, including the EU. The ban covers meat, sausage, fish, vegetable, fruit and dairy. In late June, officials decided to extend the embargo until August 5, 2016, and also excluded young oysters and mussels, any cheese and limited non-lactose dairy products.
BILLINGS  The slowing Bakken economy is clipping the wings of commercial travel in Eastern Montana, where fewer people are making the trip.

Essential Air Service provider Cape Air was down 3,914 passengers in 2015 compared to the previous year. Thats no small number for the air service, which uses nine-seat Cessna 402s to provide the only commercial flights to five rural Montana communities.

Cape Airs hottest tickets are to Sidney, a far-Eastern Montana community with oil wells a few hundred yards from the airport landing strip. In 2014, 11,716 people hopped on Cape Air in Sidney for nonstop $49 flights to Billings. Demand for the flights increased nearly every month.

But in November 2014, oil prices went into a tailspin. Boardings onto Cape Air also began to decline. Last year, 1,631 fewer people flew out of Sidney. In Glendive, an alternative ticket for Bakken fliers, boardings fell by 353. On the other end of those routes, boardings in Billings were similarly down.

The slowdown in the Bakken has certainly had an effect on our boardings in Sidney and Glendive, said Erin Hatzell, Cape Air spokeswoman. However, low gas prices and the unseasonably warm weather this winter has most likely also played a role. Sidney has the highest frequency in flights because of the connection to the oil-rich Bakken, and like most other businesses in the area we have felt the effects of the slowdown as well.

Essential Air Service provides federally subsidized flights to rural communities that are long driving distances from urban airports and would otherwise have no commercial flights. Glasgow, Glendive, Havre, Wolf Point and Sidney each have direct flights to Billings where passengers can transfer to major airlines. The subsidy is roughly $500 per passenger to the lower-traffic communities, but less than that for Sidney flights because of greater demand.

The oil boom quickly doubled the number of passengers to and from Sidney, said Debbie Alke, administrator of the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division.

In 2011, Sidney put 5,174 on board. In 2012, they put on 11,799, Alke said. But then there was a break in service.

When Cape Air took flight in Montana in late 2013, it was the states fourth EAS provider in six years. Even with a federal subsidy, other airlines struggled to make the program work. Cape Air has managed to make the program work. It signed a new federal contract in 2015.

Sidneys boost in passengers put it in the small club of Montana communities with enough air traffic to qualify for the $1 million a year in federal grants for airport improvements. It takes 10,000 passenger boardings a year to qualify for the funding. Only Montanas seven largest cities had previously done so.

In 2015, Sidney cleared the mark for federal funding with 85 passengers to spare. It isnt likely to do so this year, said Walt McNutt, of the Sidney-Richland County Airport Authority.

If the airport doesnt hit the 10,000 passenger mark, the airport will dial back the construction projects its performed for the past few years and wait for oil boom to take flight again.

Cape Airs other service areas are picking up passengers, Hatzell said. Wolf Point boardings are increasing by the month.

The vast majority of our passengers in Wolf Point are traveling to and from Billings for medical appointments, Hatzell said. The community is very aware of our service, brand and the easy connectivity we provide to and from Billings. Havre is a growing market and we are gaining more brand awareness and loyalty from our passengers in the Hi Line.
Bill Tinsley has served as pastor, church planter and missions leader in Texas,, Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has international experience in S America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife, Jackie where he coaches church planters. Bill has written 12 books available on his web site www.tinsleycenter.com.Email bill@tinsleycenter.com
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Silvio Canto, Jr.

For some time, I've been trying to understand the Trump phenomenon of 2016. Have I seen something like this before? I have not.

Some have compared the Trump of 2016 to the Perot of 1992. It's true that there was some anger in 1992 but I don't recall Perot generating this kind of enthusiasm or passion in voters. Perot's appeal was primarily economic. I was intrigued to hear Stuart Stevens, a Romney strategist from 2012, make the comparison to George Wallace of 1968:

"This isn't complicated," Stevens told CNN. Donald Trump is running as George Wallace. He is almost doing with it more deliberateness than George Wallace did. Wallace at least pretended at times to be civil. What is remarkable about what Donald Trump is doing, he is sort of exalting, he is out there shouting and playing the thug and encouraging people to do that. He is inciting violence. Can you win a Republican primary this way? I sure hope not. I know you can't win a general election this way."

I went to my garage and could not find my old paperback copy of The Making of the President 1968 by Theodore White. So I went to the library and managed to read a bit about the 1968 contest. I also found this from Marianne Worthington to put the events in some context:

Probably the most significant political issues of 1968 were the war in Vietnam and the racial and campus disorder in the United States.

Wallace burst onto the national political scene by addressing himself to the increasing levels of cynicism, pessimism, alienation, and estrangement; the increasing concern with law and order, social issues, and the war in Vietnam.

Wallace believed he was the "different" candidate -- the one who had the best interests of the disgruntled, common citizen at heart. In his words:

You can take all the Democratic candidates for President and all the Republican candidates for President. Put them in a sack and shake them up. Take the first one that falls out, grab him by the nape of the neck, and put him right back in the sack. Because there is not a dime's worth of difference in any of them.

Like Wallace in 1968, Trump is touching nerves in the political body. He is talking about issues that other candidates avoid.

First, immigration and the chaos created by porous borders, sanctuary cities and the cost of processing 40,000 kids showing up at the border.

Second, job insecurity, specially people who fear that their jobs will be sent to another country.

Third, there was a Democrat Senator shaking things up in New Hampshire, i.e. Senator Eugene McCarthy!

Last, but not least, people are angry with a political class that they believe is out of touch with their day to day concerns.

Yes, it's always hard to compare events of today to those that came before.

The big difference is that Wallace never had a chance to win the presidency. He did carry several southern states but got only 14% of the total vote. He also ran as an independent.

On the other hand, Trump could be the GOP nominee this fall and has a real chance of winning.

Nevetheless, the 1968 landscape had lots of problems and a very unique candidate, just like 2016 does.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
Sagarmatha Network Pvt. Ltd. is the organization dedicated in the field of printing, publishing service since 2001. As part of media, we've been publishing Review Nepal, an English medium weekly registered at District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu with registration number 130-162-163 and reviewnepal.com as an online digital newspaper, with registration number 849-075-076 at Department of Informational and Broadcasting (DIB) from Kathmandu, Nepal since 2003.
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"Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet." http://www.rochesterenvironment.com/
Recently on social media, I read on a digital poster that said "If the rights I have are not for others, then they are not rights, they...
The Sahih Al Islam Blog is a platform to share in an easily available format the sermons and writings of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, the Holy Founder of Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International.

Bestowed with sublime spiritual titles such as Muhyi-ud-Din, Mujaddid and Khalifatullah, Imam Azim (aba) is Divinely-ordained with the task of inviting all people to the wisdom of Islamic teachings in every day life. Most certainly, Islam promises Mercy, Grace and Blessings for those who follow the Divine Light in their midst.

Apart from being a depository record of the Jamaat events and social engagements of its members, the Blog also publishes a variety of other writings on issues of spiritual and social concern.
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center (HNC) is the only graduate program of its kind  a collaborative effort jointly administered by The Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University.



Please note all admissions information provided on this blog is subject to change. For specific inquiries, please contact nanjing@jhu.edu


Islamic Iran: a Guarantee for Middle-East Stability

Tehran sends a message of peace and stability to all neighboring countries.



Brigadier General Hossein Salami

Photo courtesy: theiranproject.com



(TEHRAN) - Iran witnessed the first spectacular missile war-game after the historic nuclear deal, better known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In spite of ill-considered western reaction to Iran's missile drill, Iranian politicians stressed that Iran pursues peaceful agenda and its military might is solely deterrent and its part of Tehran's inalienable rights to defend its sovereignty and national interests.

Brigadier General Hossein Salami the IRGCs second-in-command stressed that as Iran tests the optimized long-range Qadr H, Shahab 1-2 and ballistic Qiam missiles from underground silos during the Eghtedar-e Velayat war game; Tehran sends a message of peace and stability to all neighboring countries.

Lieutenant General Vincent R. Stewart, the Director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, in a joint meeting with the Senate Committee on Armed Services, admitted to Iran's growing ballistic capabilities, acknowledging the fact that in the past three decades, resolutions did not thwart Iran from expanding its deterrent power and there is no sign indicating Tehran is retreating from furthering its military might.

Although Tehran emphasized on the fact that its military doctrine is entirely based on deterrence, western media sallied forth, undermining Iran's peaceful intentions.

The very same news channels collaborated with President George W. Bush administration's 2003 crusade to destroy the fictional Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs).

Historically, Iran has insisted on peaceful ways to solve international obstacles and considered diplomacy as the safest road to achieve durable peace, in contrast to many of Washington's destructive policies.

_________________________________________
Iran's Political Maneuvers After the Parliamentary Election

Iran's Sunni MPs refuted the vicious Saudi allegations and defeated the Saudi efforts to stoke the fire of sedition and national unity in Iran.



Ahmet Davutoglu

Photo courtesy: adabasini.com



(TEHRAN) - The Iranian capital recently saw the shuttle diplomacy of various international personalities, namely Turkish Prime Minster Ahmet Davutoglu.

The Turkish Premier in his negotiations with Iranian officials, has shown the dramatic change in Turkey's stance, as the two parties searched for a peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis.

Political experts view Davutoglu's recent statements as a major U-turn vis-a-vis the Syrian dilemma and others consider it a consequence of the Iranian election's massive turnout.

Iran's successful election is tantamount of showing political muscle to friend and foe. On the other hand, Iran refuses to heed the armed opposition calls to boycott, and instead participated in the nation-wide election.

White House spokesman Mark C. Toner, reluctantly admitted the success of Iran's recent Parliamentary election. Saudi Arabia, which avoids any type of democratic practice, has shamelessly undermined the electoral process in Iran.

The regime in Riyadh sought to ignore the high level of participation by all Iranian citizens regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds and instead, attempted to pour venom by falsely show that the Iranian Sunni population was disenchanted and did not show up in the election.

Iran's Majlis 21 Sunni MPs refuted the vicious Saudi allegations and defeated the Saudi efforts to stoke the fire of sedition and national unity in Iran.

_________________________________________
WikiLeaks: Sudanese Gov't Collaborates with Saudi Arabia to Betray Palestinian Cause

The Halayeb Triangle is a disputed region between Egypt and Sudan







(KHARTOUM, Sudan) - A confidential letter from the Saudi embassy in Sudan to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was leaked out and provoked controversy in Sudanese media.

The letter purportedly reports a meeting between Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, Saudi ambassador to Sudan and an European expert on the sidelines of the Twenty-sixth African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

According to the leaked document, Saudi Arabia has expressed its full support for Sudan over the disputed Halayeb Triangle with Egypt, emphasizing on granting Khartoum much-needed economic and political support.

On the other hand, the Sudanese government has vowed to coordinate with KSA to reframing its relations with the Palestinian factions.

Since 1902, the Halayeb Triangle is known as a disputed region between Egypt and Sudan. British colonial rule intervention in demarcation in North Africa has led to never-ending political and military tensions in the region while the both sides insist on their sovereignty on the disputed region.

Observers believe that deep divisions between Riyadh and Cairo thawed the Riyadh- Khartoum relations and changed the Saudi regimes political stance toward Sudan.

Meanwhile, intelligence sources reported that above-mentioned European expert--that met Sudanese minister in Addis Ababawas actually a high-level official of the Israeli Mossad.

The report also drew the ire of the Palestinian media as they accused Sudan of betrayal.
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First, note that this is NOT a blog....it's a collection of essays similar in nature to what the Greek Plutarch attempted to write.





Second: NO, there will be no Facebook connection to the essay collection. Besides the negativity with FB, there is just too much potential in the future for censorship with FB.





Third, this log of essays is written by an American (not a German). If you are a German seeking commentary written by a German, on Germans....look elsewhere.





Fourth, I will offer wit and sarcasm on Germany, Germans, Germanology, German political figures, German TV, German beer, German food, German humor (or lack of), German habits, German weirdness, German news, German autos, German brilliance, German stupidity, German customs, German Nazis, German history, and German stubbornness.





Fifth (new), the essays are not about ethnic pathways to your grandfather or great-grandmother who was German. It relates present day Germans. If you are trying to get some understanding to your ancestor who packed up and left sixty years ago from the old 'homeland', then this blog is probably not for you.





Final note: I generally only delete comments that are spam-related, or hype over pure Nationalist Socialist agendas. I generally won't support one-sided arguments/agendas. I also don't think accusations of racism or nationalism are generally proven, and can reflect poorly upon the person making the accusations.

I was one of those Americans who did over twenty years of military time....married a German....and eventually returned as a retiree.I'm one of the few who stood under the German umbrella.....paid German taxes for some years.....German social security.....and felt the various pains like Germans.So, this is my all-purpose commentary essay, designed for non-Germans mostly (and those Germans who accidentally discover it). I tend to put German culture into the spotlight of sarcasm, wit and humor. I'm simply pointing out the richness and craziness of life in Germany, which even some Germans can't understand.The amusing thing is that I'm merely repeating the exercise that Mark Twain performed in 1880, when he published "A Tramp Abroad". Various comments were dished out on the Germans....which apparently did not trigger any wars, chaos, climate change, or ill feelings.
The fertile funny grounds of the Bay Area have produced homegrown comedy legends like Robin Williams and Margaret Cho, and Gracie Allen, Phyllis Diller, and Carol Channing before them. But there are some standout standups on todays comedy scene in the Bay Area, and we picked out our favorites to feature below. While the material in this write-up is safe for work, many of the embedded YouTube videos below are NSFW. Put on headphones if youre going to play any of these YouTube videos at work. And seriously, you have a workplace that actually lets you play standup comedy out loud at work?





Marga Gomez

GLAAD award winner Marga Gomez has been a legend in the SF comedy scene for 30 years, but she may be best known for the above photo, one of the Internets top spit-take meme pics. This photo recently appeared in a Twitter buttsex feud between Kanye West and his ex Amber Rose, Ms. Gomez told SFist. So proud. When shes not spitting beverage, Marga is working on her new show, "Latin Standards," which will have numerous Bay Area performances.

Next Show: The Punch Line, 444 Battery Street at Merchant Street, March 22, 8 p.m.



Image: Matthias Clamer

W. Kamau Bell

Any comic whos protested at Super Bowl City, been booted from a cafe for Berkeley-ing while black and just barely lost out to Seth Myers for Late Night will be guaranteed a spot on this list. W. Kamau Bell has done all that and more, plus has a docu-series The United Shades of America premiering on CNN April 24 and Semi-Prominent Negro premiering on Showtime April 29. I live in the East Bay and travel a lot, Bell told SFist, so give my award to Kaseem Bentley. He's the best.

Next Show: Impact Hub Oakland, 2323 Broadway at 23rd Street, Thursday, March 17, 6:45 p.m.



Image: Kiko Breiz via Facebook



Kaseem Bentley

Very well, W. Kamau Bell. Kaseem Bentley is the well-dressed insult comic playing a giant harp in the above meme photo. I have no idea what this means but its funny, Bentley commented.

Next Show: Brainwash Cafe, 1122 Folsom St., Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.



Image: Comedy Central

Kate Willett

You can say you knew Kate Willett way back when, because shes about to become basic cable-famous. Catch her in the vignette Kate Willett describes a sexual encounter at Burning Man in the most recent Romance episode of Comedy Centrals This Is Not Happening (online or on demand if your cable provider does that) and on Vicelands Flophouse at 10:30 p.m., Thursday March 17. Ms. Willett now technically splits her time between SF and LA, but we will claim her as a San Franciscan purely for coattail-riding purposes.

Next Show: The Punch Line, 444 Battery Street at Merchant Street, March 22, 8 p.m.



Image: DhayaComedy.com



Dhaya Lakshminarayanan

Silicon Valley nerd Dhaya Lakshminaranayan ditched a job at a VC firm to do standup full time. Tech workers like to laugh too and I hope that comedy can bring us all together, she told SFist. What I am saying is I am available for private gigs at your company that provides free food and fancy cucumber and berry waters. On a less bougie note, Dhaya will be performing today at San Quentin State Prison.

Next Show: The Punch Line, 444 Battery Street at Merchant Street, March 22, 8 p.m.



Matt Lieb

If anyone can make a Chobani yogurt ad funny, its Matt Lieb. Lieb makes other things funny too, like the Viceland show Flophouse and the Uproxx blog Filmdrunk.

Next Show: Club BnB, 2120 Broadway, Oakland, Friday March 18th, 8 p.m.



Image: Solonah Cornell

Mary Van Note

When an audience feels uncomfortable at a show, it usually means the comedian is bombing. But some comedians work that certain sweet spot where they intentionally make the audience uncomfortable for humorous effect. Mary Van Note does that better than anyone since Scotty the Blue Bunny was still in town, with a rare combination of innocence and explicit content that hits just the right note.

Next Show: The Punch Line, 444 Battery Street at Merchant Street, March 17-19, 8 p.m.





Nato Green

Nato strikes frequently in the Bay Area, with a regular column in The Examiner, an upcoming movie-riffing show at the Alamo Drafthouse, and a regular podcast on KALW. I have heard rumors that if Clinton becomes President, Ed Lee would get appointed ambassador to China, Green tells SFist. As a Jew, I'm supporting Bernie Sanders because we need a crazy Jewish socialist to deal with climate change. But if HRC wins the nomination, I would campaign hard for her just for the chance to get rid of Mayor Lee.

Next Show: Starline Social Club, 645 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA, March 26, 8 p.m.



Image: Daniel Schuleman

Irene Tu

Big news! Irene Tu just launched her new site ManHaters.org (It just launched. Like, this weekend). The site promotes her monthly comedy show with Ash Fisher at Oaklands White Horse Inn, and Ms. Tu also hosts the weekly comedy open mic for female and queer comics "Hysteria" that is immediately referenced below.

Next Show: Martunis, 4 Valencia Street at Market Street, Tuesday, March 15, 6 p.m.



Image: ToriVanGrol.com

Torio Van Grol

PBR-wielding funnyman Torio Van Grol is performing this Saturday to nightcap your St. Patricks Day parade drunkenness, but hes most excited about an upcoming May 12 benefit show for San Francisco Suicide Prevention. It's a benefit show for an organization that's important, Van Grol told SFist, and I get to open for Dana Gould so it's double awesome.

Next Show: Rooster T Feathers, 157 West El Camino Real at South Frances Street, Sunnyvale, Wednesday, March 23, 8 p.m.

Murphy's Irish Pub, 484 First Street East at East Napa Street, Sonoma, Saturday, March 26, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.


Since its opening in July of 2014, San Francisco's SoMa West Skatepark has gotten mixed reviews: While skaters seem to love the place, neighbors have complained about noise and graffiti, and both area residents and park users have decried the park's lack of restrooms as making for a, uh, pissy situation.

Just days after the park's opening, folks like former skateboarder and 20-year Stevenson Street resident Gregory Hutchison told the Chron that since the park opened, "The place we keep our trash bins, people are using for their bathroom."

The city is to blame, another neighbor said at the time, noting that "People are organizing to travel to this skate park. If they are spending hours there, they obviously need to use the restroom. It's unacceptable."

A skater who reviewed the park for Mission Mission also decried the lack of facilities, saying "Need to piss? There arent any public port-0-johns in the area, but people are asking the City for them. Try Cash N Carry on Van Ness, Zeitgeist, or Rice Paper Scissors at Brick and Mortar Music Hall (make sure to order a banh mi!)."

People asked, perhaps, but they did not receive. As skate park user Travis Knapp-Prasek tells SFist, here we are nearly two years later and the park is still full of "a bunch of puddles of pee that have been festering for months." Though Knapp-Prasek says he's reported the piss "using the 311 system, sending emails and leaving voice mails," DPW has been idle on the urinary issue. So, he took matters in to his own hands:

"It's overwhelming" Knapp-Prasek says as he cleans up the mess. "There's flies everywhere, and caked dirt, piss, shit, trash, throw-up, whatever else...toxic shit, that's where kids play."

According to DPW spokesperson Rachel Gordon, "There was discussion with neighborhood groups about a bathroom...But there was a concern the restrooms would attract nuisances" so the facilities was removed from the table.

According to the Chron, "Paying for and maintaining the bathrooms" for the park, which according to the DPW's website cost $2,258,300, "under limited city budgets were concerns as well."

Back in 2014, Gordon told the Chron that "the city is considering mobile bathrooms," but that a pair of that type of toilets would "cost about $100,000 a year." It appears that that $100K was too much for the city to handle, as here we are years later with a pee-covered park.

So, for now, Knapp-Prasek will be out there, climbing the fence with his trusty bucket and his "QUIT PISSING IN THE SKATEPARK!" signs. "If you see someone attempting to pee inside of the skatepark, call them out!" he urges, as since "the city has not responded to requests to clean up the pee...it just sits there."
Looking for a place to rent in this city can be a bit of a depressing exercise  in fact, we have an entire column dedicated to just how much of a bummer San Francisco's apartment rental market is. Well, we now bring you some hard numbers to back that pain up, and the reality is just as awful as you likely imagined. A March report from apartment rental company Zumper informs us that the Bay Area is home to three of the country's top five most expensive rental markets.

The top five most expensive cities for 1-bedroom median rents according to Zumper are, in order, San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Oakland, and San Jose. That SF tops the list is in part thanks to a jump in February rent  "rent prices increased 2.6% this February to reach a median one bedroom of $3,590," notes the report.

San Francisco has always been an expensive city, and it is worth taking a close look at Zumper's methodology before accepting that $3,590 number at face value. As we pointed out last summer, sites like Zumper have data weighted toward new, non-rent controlled units. As a result, the actual median one bedroom cost is almost certainly lower than what this report suggests. However, it is likely an accurate measure of relative cost  that is to say the conclusion that the Bay Area is home to three of the five most expensive rental markets in the country is likely correct  regardless of the exact cost.

Related: Yes, There Is A 3-Bedroom In San Francisco Listing for $30k A Month


In speaking of Nancy Reagan on the day of her funeral, Hillary Clinton praised the late former first lady for helping to start a national conversation about the AIDS epidemic. Ronald and Nancy Reagan did nothing of the sort, and the remarks were met with harsh criticism. They also sparked the recirculation of a statement attributed to Nancy Reagan, offered as a rebuke to Clinton's mischaracterization of the Reagans' record on AIDS. But on that count, Snopes, a fact checking website, observes that the "quote" might be as uncorroborated as were Clinton's comments themselves.

It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about H.I.V./AIDS back in the 1980s, Clinton said in a broadcast televised by MSNBC. And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan  in particular, Mrs. Reagan  we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it. Nobody wanted anything to do with it.

As the New York Times observed, Clinton's words  demonstrably incorrect, as President Reagan is now infamous for his absolute and deadly silence on AIDS  were immediately subject to criticism and scorn. This is shameful, idiotic, false  and heartbreaking, Charles Kaiser, author of The Gay Metropolis, told the Times. There is nothing else to say about it. And she has been my candidate.

While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research and finding a cure for Alzheimers disease, I misspoke about their record on H.I.V. and AIDS, Clinton walked back her comments hours after she had made them. For that, Im sorry.

As she did so, a homophobic statement credited to Nancy Reagan circled the internet as a direct rebuttal to the presidential candidate's praise. "It is appalling to see parades in San Francisco and elsewhere proclaiming 'gay pride' and all that," Reagan supposedly said. "What in the world do they have to be proud of?"

Though those words have been attributed to Reagan for 20 years or more, that doesn't mean she said them. Per Snopes, the statement is "usually sourced to a Boston Globe article or interview dating from 1981 (sometimes said to have been published on either 31 March 1981 or 26 August 1981)." However, they "have not turned up any Boston Globe item from that year (or any other) reporting her as having made this statement." Further, "The quote is sometimes also sourced to the former first lady's 1989 memoir My Turn, but we likewise found no mention of it among the pages of that book."

There you have it. Like the famous saying to which Mark Twain may or may not have given utterance, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, there is no proof that Reagan ever made the remarks in question. But. Well. She certainly didn't start a national conversation on AIDS, either.

Related: SF Ranks 2nd In Highest Per Capita Campaign Contributions To Bernie Sanders


Jami Tillotson, at the time a San Francisco Deputy Public Defender, was arrested without cause and unduly detained in January 2015 according to a now public investigation by the Office of Citizen Complaints. While defending the rights of her client, whom plainclothes officers were questioning and photographing in a courthouse hallway in connection with another criminal investigation, widely circulated video shows officer Sgt. Brian Stansbury placing Tillotson under arrest, purportedly for the crime of resisting arrest.

As the police watchdog agency wrote in a release, the Office of Citizens Complaints "sustained two of Tillotsons complaints against the officers: Making an arrest without cause and detaining a person in an unduly prolonged manner without justification." Tillotson was taken to a police station and handcuffed to a bench for an hour before her release.

Further, Office of Citizens Complaints investigators "found a policy failure on the part of SFPD on two allegations, including the interfering with the right to counsel and conduct reflecting discredit on the department in the case of an officer who made inappropriate comments to the media following the incident."

On the day of the arrest, January 27, Tillotson was speaking with one client in a courtroom holding tank when she got word that plainclothes police officers were questioning another of her clients, who along with a co-defendant was in the building for a misdemeanor shoplifting charge.

In the end, Tillotson was charged with no crime after being arrested. However, it isn't public whether or not the officer and his colleagues have been disciplined internally, which the attorney, who is now in private practice according to CBSSF, finds unsatisfactory. It is discouraging that even a year later in my very public case where the allegations were sustained, there has still been no response on whether the officers faced discipline or if there were any changes made in policy or training, Tillotson said according to a release.

Public defenders represent people with little money and even less power, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who released the results of the Office of Citizens Complaints investigation, said with regard to the incident. It is contempt for the poor that results in routine disrespect of public defenders. In the face of this contempt, Jami never wavered in her duty to her client. Thats because the right to counsel is a shield to protect ordinary citizens from intimidation.

Sadly, Tillotson worries that the Office of Citizens Complaints' findings will have little or no impact. As a public defender, my clients would frequently tell me they didnt want to file an OCC complaint even in the most egregious of circumstances because they felt it was a waste of time," she said. "This is particularly true in cases where someone is violently or unlawfully arrested, but never charged. It means their ordeals will never be heard in court and they will never really know what, if anything, happens to the officers involved.

Previously: SF Public Defender Detained By Police After Trying To Intervene With Questioning Of Client
Fire and smoke at 22nd and Mission pic.twitter.com/QglIX7rSEI  Michael Margolis (@yipe) March 14, 2016

The ruins of a Mission building that was the site of a deadly fire in January, 2015 caught aflame again late Sunday night, in a blaze investigators are blaming on squatters in the crumbling structure.

According to the San Francisco Fire Department's Twitter account, the fire in the vacant structure at 22nd and Mission Streets was reported at 11:22 Sunday evening, and was almost immediately termed at a three-alarm blaze.

3rd alarm fire 22nd and Mission avoid area 2322Hrs. #WF22 pic.twitter.com/WBKIDsbyqs  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) March 14, 2016

Firefighters now using hoses at live 22nd and Mission fire pic.twitter.com/q7mUvSHPE2  Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) March 14, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Fire at 22nd and Mission, SF https://t.co/AlkFaINM0S  Lili Salzberg (@lilisalzberg) March 14, 2016

Within 15 minutes, inhabitants of neighboring buildings, including the upscale Vida condos next door, were evacuated, and SFFD was searching the abandoned structure at 3222 22nd Street for any rogue inhabitants.

#WF22 UPDATE evacuation of surrounding buildings NO PHYSICAL ADDRESS YET RED CROSS RESPONDING 2340Hrs  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) March 14, 2016

#WF22 UPDATE reported as abandoned building crews still searching building 3rdAlarm adjacent bldgs. Being evacuated pic.twitter.com/fxB5h2XzIh  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) March 14, 2016

By 12:14 a.m. Monday, a large crowd had gathered to watch the blaze, despite SFFD's requests that people avoid the area.

#WF22 SFFD onscene this fire 4 minutes after initial call. working hard to contain AVOID THE AREA SPECTATORS PLEASE STAY OFF BLOCK 1214am  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) March 14, 2016

Thank you SF Fire Department! pic.twitter.com/Gcoahg4eHI  Michael Margolis (@yipe) March 14, 2016

Fire at 22nd and Mission pic.twitter.com/AuMV7wei14  Michael Margolis (@yipe) March 14, 2016

Fire at 22nd and Mission is 3-alarm, now looks more subdued, firefighters still using hoses pic.twitter.com/nOZFne6nWl  Joe Rivano Barros (@jrivanob) March 14, 2016

By 12:26 a.m., the fire was contained. SFPD remained on scene overnight to ensure the blaze did not reignite.

#WF22 UPDATE 3222 22nd street is under investigation SFFD will remain on scene all night to ensure safety 1241 hrs  San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) March 14, 2016

Though no one was injured or displaced in the fire, eyebrows are still being raised at the timing of the blaze, as the building as at the center of a new controversy, after SF's Department of Building Inspection posted an emergency notice on the structure last month, ordering owners to demolish what was left of the building.

The demolition order raised worries that the 60 tenants displaced in the blaze might lose the right to return to their rent controlled apartments if and when the building is rebuilt.

Addressing the media early Monday, SFFD Division Chief Kirk Richardson said that My belief is that squatters were in there and that they caused the heat source," Mission Local reports.

According to Mission Local, "neighbors have reported taggers going onto the roof via the fire escape and scaffolding that surrounds the building. Others said theyve seen squatters in the derelict site in the past."

"We had a hard time getting into the building because all the doors were boarded up and the windows were boarded up from the previous fire so we had to cut our way in. The stairwell was filled with debris so we couldn't make it through the interior stairwell so we had to climb the fire escape," Richardson told ABC 7.

Mission Local reports that investigators believe that "the fire originated in the leftmost room on the third floor and that it was possibly caused by cooking," with one saying that a hole cut out of a plywood board covering that room's window was consistent with homeless living.
SIOUX CITY | An Iowa man who traveled to South America has tested positive for Zika virus.

The man, who is between the ages of 18 and 40, is the fourth person confirmed to have the mosquito-borne illness in the state, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The state's first case of Zika virus, which was reported on Feb. 19, was contracted by a woman between 61 and 80 years of age with a history of travel to Central America. Two other cases also involved women who traveled to the Caribbean and South America. One of the women is between 41 and 60 years of age, while the other is between 61 and 80 years of age.

Since last May, people living in more than 30 countries and territories mainly in Central and South America and the Caribbean have been infected with Zika virus, which was discovered in the Zika Forest in Uganda in 1947.

Zika virus is most often transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. These mosquitoes aren't established in Iowa. Researchers say Zika virus can also be spread through sexual contact.

There is no vaccine to prevent infection or medication to treat Zika virus. One in five people who are infected with the virus develop symptoms, which include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.

Although Zika virus is mild, it has the potential to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare and potentially life-threatening condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves causing paralysis. Zika virus can also harm an unborn baby.

There have been more than 3,600 suspected cases of microcephaly, a serious birth defect where an infant's head is smaller than normal, in Brazil since October 2015.
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa | The three assembly lines of the Polaris Industries plant in Spirit Lake are now exclusively producing Indian and Victory motorcycles.

The other Polaris motorcycle line, the sporty three-wheeled Slingshot that began production here in late 2014, is now being produced in nearby Milford, with plans calling for that line to be transferred to a new plant in Huntsville, Alabama, when construction is completed later this year.

This is the first time in nearly two decades that the 400,000-square-foot Spirit Lake facility has focused exclusively on one product. The plant produced personal watercraft when it opened in 1994, and had made nearly every other Polaris since then.

We are out of off-road vehicles all together, director of operations John Dansby said. So our plan is to grow the motorcycle business from this facility, and keep all the capacity we have for that purpose.

With about 1,000 employees, the Spirit Lake plant is designed to level off on production of about 900, two-wheel units per week, Dansby added.

The Indian line includes the middle-weight Scout, which has its own production line, while the other Indian models are produced interchangeably on another line, as are the Victory bikes on a third line.

In addition to the optional accessory packages, each line sees a variety of different chassis with very different manufacturing plans and checklists that are delivered to the assembly crews at computer stations all along the line.

Assistant plant manager Anthony Stecker, who has been with Polaris about nine years, agrees with Dansby about the importance of growing the motorcycle business.

Even with the downturn in motorcycle sales nationally, our volume in this facility has still grown year over year, Stecker said.

Sales are growing, Dansby said, because the brand is gaining momentum.

Polaris has been manufacturing the Indian brand for only a couple or three years, he said. But weve been building Victory for a while. And were seeing growth year over year. The Indian and Victory brands are now the oldest upstarts in the business.

Speaking of assembly line crews in both the Spirit Lake and Milford plants, Dansby said, they love the product. And they support the product with their purchasing dollars.

We have a check-out program, as well, so employees are able to enjoy Polaris products on the weekends with their families. It gives them an opportunity to enjoy the products -- as well as share them with their friends. Its also a tool to introduce them to the public.
There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (March 14, 2016)Navy Midshipman Tiffany Moreira from Lexington Park, Maryland, participated in the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) ship selection draft as a future member of the U.S. Navy's Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community.



More than 280 midshipmen at 70 Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) units around the country have selected to serve in the Navy as surface warfare officers. Each selecting midshipman is ranked according to his or her grade point average, aptitude scores, and physical fitness.



"Virginia Tech is a senior military college with a prestigious engineering program and has an NROTC unit of about 200 midshipmen," said Moreira.



According to their rankings, each midshipman provided their preference of ship or homeport to the junior officer detailer at the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee. If these preferences were available, they were assigned as requested.



"This process means the start of my career as a Naval officer, the first step in molding the type of leader I will be and continuing to develop the most that I can," said Moreira.



Moreira, a 2011 Great Mills High School graduate, has selected to serve aboard the USS Princeton (CG 59). Moreira is majoring in aerospace engineering while attending Virginia Tech. Upon graduation, she will receive a commission as a Navy Ensign and report aboard Princeton as a surface warfare officer.



Homeported in San Diego, California, Princeton is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser that performs primarily in a battle force role. Cruisers are multi-mission surface combatants capable of supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces or operating independently as a flagship of surface action groups.



The midshipmen's selection of their ship is not only a milestone for them but also an important day for the ships in the fleet. Not only do the midshipmen choose where they are going to start their Naval career, but the ship they choose will also gain a motivated, eager, young officer to help lead and improve an already great team.



"This is an exciting day," said Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), which oversees the NROTC program. "We have some of the finest talent in our nation and we have the opportunity to marry them up with some of our finest teams in our fleet."



Evans also told the midshipmen that should be excited, because they have a great future ahead of them on some of the Navy's best platforms around the world.



While NROTC units are spread out across the country and vary in size, they all teach midshipmen the values, standards, abilities and responsibility that it takes to become a Navy officers and lead this nation's sons and daughters in protecting freedom on the seven seas.



"I've grown to be comfortable and confident in taking on tasks, roles, and responsibilities that I would have previously shied away from and have come to understand & accept that speed bumps are bound to happen, but you have to take them in stride," said Moreira.
PRINCE FREDERICK, Md.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme.

(March 14, 2016)The Prince Frederick Barrack of the Maryland State Police (MSP) today released the following incident and arrest reports.DRUG TAKE BACK DAY, MARCH 26: The Maryland State Police in cooperation with CAASA (Calvert Alliance Against Substance Abuse) and the Calvert County Sheriff's Office will host a Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, March 26. The drop off locations are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day in a continuing effort to keep prescription medications out of the wrong hands. Keeping a household free of unused prescription medications is an important step to curtailing the prescription drug abuse issue in Calvert County.ACTIVE WARRANT, POSSESSION OF PERCOCET: On 3/7/2016 at 3:06 pm, Trooper Warrick observed, driving in the lane next to him on Rt. 4 near Plum Point Rd. in Huntingtown. Tpr. Warrick was aware of an active warrant for Sullivan and initiated a traffic stop. Sullivan was placed under arrest. During a search incident to arrest, Percocet was found. Mr. Sullivan advised he did not have a prescription for the drug. He was incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center and was additionally charged with Possession of the CDS.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY: On 3/8/2016 at 2:51 pm, Trooper Kaitz investigated a complaint for possible attempted burglary / destruction of property in the 9300 block of Sea Oat Court in North Beach. A door jamb to the vacant residence had been broken and several young adults had been witnessed sitting on the steps of the residence in recent days. Investigation continues.POSSESSION OF COCAINE & METHAMPHETAMINE: On 3/10/2016 at 2:54 am, Trooper First Class Matthews responded to the 800 block of Oyster Bay Place in Dowell for a reported suspicious vehicle parked in a garage. It took numerous attempts to awaken the driver,. Drugs and drug paraphernalia were observed inside the vehicle. A probable cause search revealed cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and marijuana. Mouloua was arrested and incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center for drug charges.WARRANT SERVICE, DISORDERLY CONDUCT: On 3/10/2016 at 10:47 am, Trooper First Class Esnes responded to Calvert Memorial Hospital Emergency Room for a reported disorderly subject., was located in the parking lot. While attempting to handcuff Boarman, he broke free and fled on foot. He was caught and arrested. Boarman was taken back into the hospital for a pre-existing self inflicted laceration on his wrist. He again became disruptive and had to be physically restrained in order to administer a series of pain medications. After treatments and a psychological evaluation were completed, Boarman was taken to the Calvert County Detention Center.THEFT: On 3/12/2016 at 3:23 pm, Trooper First Class Costello responded to the Stoney Kingfisher's Restaurant in Solomons for a theft that had already occurred. The manager reported that four suspects entered the restaurant, ordered food items and beverages and left without paying. Surveillance video was provided and two of the suspects were identified. One was a juvenile, she was located, arrested and released to her parents., was also identified. Charges are pending for Johnson. The other two suspects to date have not been identified. Investigation continues.POSSESSION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND MARIJUANA: On 3/13/2016 at 12:27 pm, Trooper First Class Newcomer stopped a vehicle on Bayside Rd. in Chesapeake Beach for traffic violations. A strong odor of marijuana was emitting from inside the vehicle. The driver,, and a juvenile passenger were placed under arrest for possession of marijuana, possession of prescription drugs for which neither had a prescription (Morphine and Xanax) and possession of drug paraphernalia. The juvenile was released to his mother after being transported to the hospital for a possible overdose. Doerk was incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center.Troy A. Grimes, 32, of Chesapeake Beach, arrested on 03/16/2016 @ 08:45 pm by TFC T. Newcomer
PRINCE FREDERICK, Md.

Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: http://so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at http://so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at http://so.md/expungeme.

(March 14, 2016)The Calvert County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.WEEKLY SUMMARY: During the week of March 7 through March 13, deputies responded to 1,589 calls for service throughout the community.CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-14899: On March 13, Deputy M. Naecker conducted a traffic stop, at the intersection of Ferry Landing Road/Southern MD Boulevard, in Dunkirk, on a vehicle being driven irradictly. The driver,, was charged with CDS possession-not marijuana (heroin), two counts of paraphernalia possession (hypodermic needles and smoking devices) and for failure to obey a traffic control device. He was transported to the Detention Center where he was processed.CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-14443: On March 11, Deputy G. Gott conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at the intersection of Patuxent Point Parkway/Solomons Island Road in Solomons. The driver,, was found to be in possession of an illegal substance. He was transported to the Detention Center and charged with CDS possession-not marijuana (cocaine), possession of paraphernalia (scale) and with traffic violations.CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-14237: On March 10, Deputy J. Livingston conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle seen at the Gas Stop, in Huntingtown. He determined the driver,, to be under the influence and unable to drive a vehicle safely. She was charged with two counts of CDS possession with intent to Distribute a Narcotic (Alprazolam and Oxycontin).CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-14122: On March 10, Deputy T. Marshall and other units from the Sheriff's Office responded to Mason Road, in Prince Frederick, for the report of CDS activity. The three occupants of a vehicle,, and, were detained. All three occupants were arrested and charged with possession of a synthetic narcotic (Endocet), possession of a dangerous nonnarcotic drug (Alprazolam) and for possession of paraphernalia (cut straw).CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-14094: On March 9, Deputy T. Mohler conducted a welfare check on a vehicle pulled over on the side of Plum Point Road/Cecil Lane in Huntingtown. He determined the occupants,, and, to both be in possession of an illegal substance. They were both arrested and charged with CDS administer equipment possession/distribute (syringe) and for possession of a dangerous nonnarcotic drug (Adderall).CDS VIOLATION CASE #16-13497: On March 7, Deputy G. Gott conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of S. Solomons Island Road/Sweetwater Road in Lusby. The driver,, was found to be in possession of an illegal substance. She was transported to the Detention Center and charged with possession of Crack Cocaine and possession of paraphernalia (wrapper).DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-14653: On March 12, Deputy G. Gott responded to Rousby Hall Road, in Lusby, for the report of damage to a vehicle. Between 11:00pm on March 11 and 11:00am on March 12, someone had broken the rear window, dented a side panel and punctured the side tires of the victim's rental vehicle.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-14095: On March 9, Deputy P. Mosely responded to S. Solomons Island Road in Solomons for the report of a suspect seen damaging a boat that was occupied by the owner. It was determined that, was responsible for cutting four dock lines to the victim's boat. He was arrested and charged with Malicious Destruction of Property less than $1000.00.DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY CASE #16-13508: On March 8, Deputy S. Rediker was dispatched to S. Solomons Island Road in Solomons for the report of a person that has repeatedly been leaving sharp objects on his driveway, causing damage to his vehicles. It was determined a tire was punctured from one of the objects purposely left behind.THEFT CASE #16-14453: On March 11, Deputy A. Locke was dispatched to the Northern High School on Chaneyville Road in Owings for the report of a theft. The victim had inadvertently left their Apple iPhone 6, driver license and credit card on a desk while school was in session and discovered it stolen.THEFT CASE #16-13475: On March 7, Deputy A. Moschetto was contacted by a victim who reported their Verizon Brigadier cell phone stolen off a counter at the Rod n Reel Restaurant. When the victim returned to retrieve it, he discovered it missing. The theft occurred between 11:30pm on February 21 and 12:30am on February 22.THEFT CASE #16-13420: On March 7, Deputy G. Gott responded to Reliable Marine, located on H.G. Trueman Road in Solomons, for the report of multiple thefts from boats. Someone entered the secured, fenced-in boat yard sometime between 1:00pm on March 58:25am on March 7 and stole multiple items from several boats. Damage was also done to several boats. Items stolen include: fishing rod and reels (several Offshire Okuma and Offshore Penn brands), boat monitors, binoculars, gauges, radar unit, motor modules and a motor ECM module.
A federal appeals court Thursday upheld New Jersey's law that prevents mental-health professionals from administering conversion therapy to minors, or the practice of attempting to change one's sexual orientation.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that the law, put into place last year, is not a violation of freedom of religion, which was argued by the coalition of anti-LGBT groups that challenged it. A lower-court judge upheld the measure, prompting the groups to appeal and leading to Thursday's ruling.

Judge D. Brooks Smith, who wrote the panel's opinion, noted that sexual-orientation change efforts have been condemned "over the last few decades [by] a number of well-known, reputable, professional and scientific organizations," which have expressed "serious concerns about its potential to inflict harm." The judge went on to note that such organizations "have also concluded that there is no credible evidence that SOCE counseling is effective.

National Center for Lesbian Rights legal director Shannon Minter said the ruling "means that New Jersey youth will continue being protected from cruel and damaging practices that have been rejected by all leading medical and mental-health professional organizations. The court of appeals ruling makes clear that state-licensed therapists do not have a constitutional right to engage in discredited practices that offer no health benefits and put LGBT youth at risk of severe harm, including depression and suicide.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed the measure into law last August, making New Jersey only the second state int he nation, after California, to adopt such a law. Similar bills have been introduced to both the Pennsylvania House and Senate but have yet to progress.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Legislature wrapped up its annual 60-day session Friday after passing an $82.3 billion budget in a session that ended with more harmony than drama.

The House passed the budget on a 119-1 vote and sent it over to the Senate. State representatives then lingered on the chamber floor waiting for final passage on the Senate side while the Beatles' ``Come Together'' blared from speakers. The Senate then passed it 40-0.

Last year the song could have been ``Hit the Road, Jack,'' which the House did three days early, leaving town without a budget and with a long list of dead bills.

``I feel like we're in a much better place between the chambers, and that's how the Legislature should work,'' Republican Sen. Bill Galvano of Bradenton said. ``We can disagree, as we're designed to do in certain instances, but procedurally and process-wise, this is how it should work.''

Most of the major legislation was either dead or had already passed as the day began, leaving the budget as the biggest issue. It was oddly quiet at the Capitol in a process that's usually busiest on its final day, when the biggest priorities are often held hostage until deals can be struck.

The official ending time was 6:45 p.m., when House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner banged their gavels and then met in the rotunda between the chambers for a ceremonial hanky drop.

It was a far cry from last year, when the session blew up over a disagreement on the budget and the House went home early and let other priorities die as the Senate stayed to finish whatever business it could. The Legislature had to return for a special session to finish the budget, and then for two more sessions that ended without agreements on drawing congressional and state Senate political districts.

Even Democrats were saying great things about a legislative session where Republicans outnumber them by about a 2-1 ratio.

``Both chambers have been able to work together the past 60 days, and I think we've had some pretty good bills,'' said Democratic Rep. Alan Williams of Tallahassee.

Even Gov. Rick Scott, who had some of his top priorities crushed, including a $250 million fund to lure businesses to Florida and many of his proposed tax cuts, said it was a positive session.

``We've moved this state forward. We can say this was a very good session,'' Scott said while standing with Crisafulli and Gardiner after the session ended. He plans to tour Florida on Monday to boast about jobs created and taxes cut since he took office in 2011.

The defeat of many Scott priorities has prompted speculation that the governor could veto large chunks of the budget. Scott for his part downplayed any dissatisfaction and suggested he was overall pleased with the final spending plan. But last year Scott vetoed nearly $500 million, and a repeat of that could prompt Republicans to override Scott. One downside to that plan is that it would require legislators to return to town during an election year.

Other than the budget, the Legislature waited until the last day to pass long transportation and education bills, along with measures that will give Florida residents greater transparency on health care costs, require that the state-created Citizens Property Insurance give customers information on other policy options and require health insurance companies to cover speech and physical therapy for people with Down Syndrome.

Overall, lawmakers passed more than 260 bills. Among them were measures to set water polices, place new restrictions on abortion clinics, allow terminally ill patients to use marijuana for medical purposes, replace a statue of a Confederate general that represents Florida in the U.S. Capitol, require an arrest before police can seize money and property, and require at least 10 of 12 jurors vote to condemn prisoners before they can receive the death penalty.

The session was also about bills that died, like a $3 billion gambling agreement that Scott negotiated with the Seminole tribe, a proposal to allow guns on state college campuses and a bill that would have given civil rights protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Im proud to have spent 21 years working in the HIV arena. Currently I'm the science reporter for POZ magazine, a publication for people living with HIV. So naturally people have been eager for my opinion about Hillary Clinton's shocking gaffe in which she praised Nancy and Ronald Reagan for their efforts with regards to AIDS. Yes, I am deeply disappointed in my candidate of choice, and I have many questions I wish she'd answer. How in the world could she have been unaware of what to most gays is burned into our minds: that the Reagans were complicit in the murder of gay men throughout the 1980s, thanks to the cold shoulder they gave. Just imagine all the wonderful, creative, loving, influential people who would be alive today if the U.S. response to AIDS had been urgent and immediate instead of criminally delayed.



Nevertheless, I still stand firm in my support of Hillary's candidacy for president. I think she is far and away the best candidate for the job. Never in history has a candidate been so thoroughly and uniquely prepared to be president and commander in chief. Also, I know that she is a fierce advocate not only for the LGBT cause, but in the HIV fight as well.



We rightfully criticize Hillary for not knowing her AIDS history. But by summarily dismissing her as a candidate for this grave error, people only demonstrate their own profound ignorance of Hillary's history where HIV is concerned. I for one cannot and I will not take what Hillary said in isolation. I beg of people to look at the big picture with regards to Hillary's record, and to consider how fervently she has promised to fight for the HIV cause as president.



Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton are all among the most dedicated and influential advocates the world has in the fight against HIV. It was Hillary Clinton herself who introduced the term "AIDS-free generation" into the lexicon while she was secretary of state, calling for a concerted effort to turn the tide of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.



Bill Clinton was instrumental in negotiating huge price cuts for HIV medications in poorer nations in the 2000s. As recently as the early part of that decade, high-level health officials doubted if it was even feasible to provide antiretroviral treatment to sub-Saharan Africans (one official famously balked that Africans couldn't tell time, so how could they be trusted to follow a complex pill regimen). Bill knew they were wrong. Millions of lives have been saved. Millions. An entire continent has been rescued for certain ruin.



At the Clinton Foundation, fighting HIV is one of the core initiatives. This puts the Clintons right up there with Bill Gates in their powerful and positive influence on the global pandemic.



Considering her and her family's steeped involvement in HIV, it really does beg the question of how Hillary could not have known her AIDS history where the Reagans are concerned. I wish I had a sense of why she did not seem to know this fact. But I can imagine she was worn out from endless campaigning, and here she is, live on TV, speaking about the cuff, trying to think of nice things to say about a couple whose legacy she has long fought to undo. Who among us might not start babbling nonsense at a time like that?



Guess what, Hillary's human.



The Clintons have made mistakes (the 1994 crime bill, which they've said was a grave mistake), they're deeply flawed people. But I genuinely believe they want to make the world a better, healthier place.



So just you remember all these facts should you ever find yourself salivating over a new, flashy reason to engage in the national pastime of trashing the Clintons. It's time we as a public stopped falling prey to the dopamine rush we get from reveling in the outrage of the day. Is time we tried to see the larger picture about all these incendiary topics that course through our Facebook feeds. And it's time we considered that picking the Clintons to death is really a sad, mass-hysterical fad. It's one that is driven by the Republican attack machine. It pains me deeply when I see leftists eagerly going along with that kind of reason-free mob mentality. Hillary deserves our criticism about what she said about the Reagans. But she does not deserve to be utterly eviscerated.



Hillary's campaign released this statement shortly after her blunder on Friday: "While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research and finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease, I misspoke about their record on HIV and AIDS. For that I am sorry.



The campaign has since also pointed to her numerous contributions to the HIV fight, including:

In 1992, for the first time ever, the DNC Convention highlighted the AIDS plague and Bill and Hillary Clinton discussed the need to cure the AIDS plague in this country.



As First Lady, Clinton traveled the world to raise awareness on combating AIDS and assembled government officials and world leaders to discuss how to enhance and coordinate AIDS efforts.



As Senator, Clinton introduced and voted for legislation to improve and expand global AIDS research and assistance, improve global AIDS programs for women and girls, and prevention and education services.



As Secretary of State, Clinton began an ambitious campaign to usher in an AIDS-free generation, focusing on improvements in treatment and prevention practices.

Also, HillaryClinton.com has a solid HIV platform in its LGBT section, and has since last fall. She even supports pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), in which people at risk for HIV take a daily antiretroviral tablet, Truvada, to protect themselves against the virus. This is Hillary acknowledging that gay men have condomless sex. This her saying, "Boys, I know you want to go out and have fun, but let's talk harm reduction first." That in and of itself is completely awesome, that a presidential candidate would take a stand on a controversial topic such as this.



As for an HIV platform on BernieSanders.com, there isn't one. [Update: He added one the day after Hillary's gaffe. Mad props to Kenneth Walsh for figuring that one out.]



Hillary's HIV platform is as follows:

Call on Republican governors to extend Medicaid coverage to provide life-saving health care to people living with HIV. Clinton believes that every state should extend Medicaid coverage to provide life-saving health care to people living with HIV.

Cap out-of pocket expenses for people with HIV/AIDS. Clinton has announced a plan to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable and to achieve lower drug costs for Americans, including for medications that help treat HIV and reduce the risk of contracting AIDS. Clinton will ensure that Americans can get the care their doctors prescribe by requiring health insurance plans to cap covered out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $250. She also will allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and will stop direct-to-consumer advertising subsidies for drug companiesreinvesting those funds in research.

Expand the utilization of HIV prevention medications, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). While we work to diagnose and treat all Americans with HIV and AIDS, we also must work to prevent exposure. Decades of research are beginning to offer a promising path to prevention. Clinton will increase the CDC investment to ensure populations at greatest risk of infection have access to the drug, and encourage states to follow suit."

Many have called for Hillary to do much more to apologize for what she said about Nancy Reagan, to denounce the former first lady through and through, really put her through the ringer. Consider, though, the very fine line that Hillary is on. Can you imagine how much worse this imbroglio would get if a former first lady went on TV to trash her predecessor shortly after the woman's funeral? It's just not going to happen.



Hopefully Hillary will find more ways in the weeks ahead to make amends, to better educate herself, and to better communicate what a friend she is to LGBT people and the HIV cause. Note, though, that LGBT people are a part of her stump speech. We're woven into her campaign materials and videos. I know, because I've heard her speak live three times since last summer and every time she's stressed very strongly how she wants to fight for us. Here's hoping she gets behind the HIV fight even more forcefully. Yes, she needs to make amends with us. I hope people will be receptive to her doing so should she make the effort.



I know that gay men are hurt, I know we're surprised and disappointed. Hillary let us down with her ignorance. But please consider that she has not let us down in the long run when it comes to HIV. We need her. We need her to continue the work she's long been doing to fight HIV. And that means fighting for gay men, for their health, dignity and place in this world.



Please consider contributing to Hillary's campaign. She needs our support: click here.



Also, New Yorkers, come to the LGBT "Little Tuesday" primary party at Therapy, Tues. March 15, from 6:30pm to 11pm. You need to RSVP, it will sell out. $20 donation. Click here for info.



If you'd like to see more of my writing about HIV, click here.



To follow my Facebook feed, click the "follow" tab on my page.



Update: Late on March 12, Hillary published this much more fleshed out apology.

Benjamin Ryan is editor at large at POZ magazine and its sister publication Hep, where I cover the science of HIV and hepatitis C. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, New York, The New York Observer, The Nation, The Atlantic, The Marshall Project, Mens Journal, Out and The Advocate. www.benryan.net
Europe's ExoMars Mission to Mars Launches. ESA

A Russian Proton-M rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan launched the ExoMars mission in the early hours today.

The ExoMars programme is a joint endeavour between ESA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

The primary goal of the ExoMars programme is to address the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. This relates to its name, with the exo referring to the study of exobiology  the possible existence of life beyond Earth (sometimes also referred to as astrobiology).

The programme comprises two missions. The first was launched today and consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module. The second is planned for launch in 2018 and is a rover and surface science platform.

TGOs main objectives are to search for evidence of methane and other trace atmospheric gases that could be signatures of active biological or geological processes. Schiaparelli will test key technologies in preparation for ESAs contribution to subsequent missions to Mars.

The 2018 rover that will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to exobiology and geochemistry research. The 2016 TGO will act as a relay for the 2018 mission.
Read more about the Slovak state, Tiso and deportation of the thousands of Jews from Slovakia in an article retrieved from our archive.

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WHO IS responsible for the thousands of Jews deported from Slovakia to be murdered in concentration camps? Was the wartime Slovak state really as prosperous as some like to say? The Slovak public and historians are divided on such issues, even as experts note that much of the discussion is still driven by emotion rather than proper knowledge of the past.

Slovakia recently marked the 75th anniversary, on March 14, 2014, since the emergence of the first independent Slovak state that was created with the backing of Nazi Germany. That state is known to have deported some 70,000 Jews to death camps and expropriated their property, then worth billions of Slovak crowns.

Apart from the facts, however, several well-rooted myths linked to the war-time state have prevailed in Slovakia, particularly the image of an economically prosperous state, or the myth about the states president, Jozef Tiso, protecting Jews from deportations demanded by Nazi Germany, the Museum of Slovak National Uprising General Director Stanislav Micev told The Slovak Spectator.

The fact that it was the first independent Slovak state in history brings a deeply emotional component to the topic. Some focus only on certain aspects, highlighting statehood while ignoring the totalitarian regime, Ivan Kamenec from the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) noted in an interview with The Slovak Spectator.

It is not considered what this state was like, but just the fact that it existed, Kamenec said, adding that the notion of statehood is often valued much more than other factors, which is always dangerous.

If Slovaks want to cope with this part of their history they need to approach it without emotions, he added.

While looking at the wartime Slovak state or any other part of our modern history, we need to have the strength for critical self-reflection of our history, Kamenec said, and not take out all the unpleasant things and pretend that it is not our business.

Prevailing myths

Some have cited economic prosperity when defending the wartime Slovak state in the past, including former Trnava Archbishop Jan Sokol, who infamously told the TA3 news channel in late 2006 that the wartime state brought benefits.

I respect President Tiso, I respect him very much, as I remember when I was a child we were very poor, but during his time we had a high standard of living, Sokol said.

Historians, however, question the alleged prosperity of the wartime state.

Prosperity in that era is more legend than historical fact, Katarina Zavacka, a historian from the Institute of State and Law of the SAV, told The Slovak Spectator in 2009.

Some Slovaks lived in prosperity, but all the rest had a ration-ticket system, so what kind of prosperity was that? she said.

Another popular myth is that Tiso protected Jews who were supposed to be deported to Nazi camps by issuing exceptions for them, according to Micev.

However, those who spread this myth do not say from whom [Tiso was protecting Jews], Micev said. They would have to admit that it was against him [Tiso] alone.

The most popular myths are that the wartime state originated as a result of a national effort and that it was a renewal of a Slovak state that existed in medieval times during the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th century. Slovak state representatives were promoting this idea, but the truth is that the wartime state was a product of Nazi aggression, Kamenec said.

Those myths can be easily busted, but they have strong emotional roots, Kamenec said. In such cases it is a much more difficult process.

The myths are a result of inadequate knowledge of that historical period. Part of Slovak society sees only the bright side of the period of the Second World War in Slovakia, while the other part sees only the cons, and that is likely the problem. The first Slovak state should be viewed within the context of international events and depicted comprehensively in its complexity, Alena Bartlova, a researcher at SAV Institute of History, told The Slovak Spectator.

Society and teachers

Slovaks lack interest and are indifferent towards the first Slovak state, according to Micev. Moreover, little time is devoted to education about modern Slovak history, which results in poor knowledge among students, he said.

It would be great if the education system allowed teachers to devote a sufficient amount of time to this part of Slovak history so students will not learn about it only from their grandparents or political agitators, Bartlova said.

Even Kamenec admitted that history teachers at schools generally do not have enough time to teach this subject properly, and modern history should be taught even as part of other subjects like literature, he said. History teachers are not the only ones to bear the responsibility for peoples quality of knowledge about the past.

Simon Seman from the non-governmental organisation People Against Racism, however, claims that the curriculum gives enough space for teachers to devote time to the wartime Slovak state.

It depends on each history teacher, whether they stress the national-emancipation dimension of the Slovak state or whether they talk about it as a time of totality, lack of freedom and violation of human rights, Seman told The Slovak Spectator.

History textbooks should devote much more attention to the Holocaust and the underground fight against the Slovak state that culminated in the Slovak National Uprising.

Historians also split

In the same way that society is divided in its opinion on the wartime Slovak state, so are historians. Here, too, political and religious orientations are reflected, as is civic courage, according to Bartlova.

Historians need not absolutely agree upon everything; however, the important thing is to argue by using facts, Kamenec said.

It is wrong when the critical stance towards the Slovak state, the circumstances of its origin, its regime and representatives, is represented as hostile towards Slovak statehood and the idea of the state as such, Kamenec said.

Historians are divided mainly over their opinions about who is responsible for the crimes and the thousands of Jews sent to death camps, according to Kamenec, who believes that Slovaks bear some of the guilt for what their first state did to minorities under pressure from Nazi Germany.

Historians and their research, however, have no impact on the wider public, just the most intellectual spheres of society, according to Bartlova.

I presume [people] are probably worried about completely different daily life problems, Bartlova said.

Kamenec disagrees, arguing that every published book on the wartime Slovak state draws a lot of attention no matter whether it is good or bad.

No other part of modern history causes such a bipolar conflict in opinion, Kamenec said. History becomes particularly interesting when it changes to rumour.
Personal ownership, family reasons and unwillingness to spend hours commuting to work are the most cited reasons for low internal labour mobility in Slovakia. Though companies have adopted measures to attract employees from more distant places and the Labour Ministry claims to have strategies to support labour mobility, experts point to several gaps in the system. The reasons are the missing tradition in commuting to work and illegal labour, especially regarding the unemployed, Martin Hostak, general secretary of the National Union of Employers, told The Slovak Spectator.

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To increase the labour mobility, it is necessary to provide people with benefits focused on internal mobility and to support rental housing in Slovakia, said Labour Ministry spokesperson Michal Stuska.

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The fact that Slovaks belong to Europeans the most tied to their own properties plays a role in economic thoughts of families which are related to the market price of their properties, Stuska told The Slovak Spectator.

Experts agree that the personal ownership of properties belongs to the barriers to labour mobility, but also point at the distance between their residence and place of work, bad infrastructure and also low state support.

Michal Palenik of the Employment Institute, however, says that not all people should commute to work and leave the regions they live in.

If there is not work, the response of the state should not be to move out and leave it empty, he told The Slovak Spectator.

People thinking about commuting to work or even resettling should first of all consider the salary they would get and other variables. In case of resettlement, also questions related to other family members like employment for a partner in the locality or a change of school, said Jana Mesarova, vice president of HR Alliance.

Distance and time important

Up to two-thirds of 400 jobless from across Slovakia do not want to move to a new place for work. While probably the same number of people is willing to commute to work, they do not want to travel for more than one hour a day, according to the survey carried out by the AKO agency for HR Alliance between October 22 and 27, 2015.

Thus we cannot be surprised that Slovakias hunger valleys remain hunger valleys for years, said head of HR Alliance Lubos Sirota, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

As a result, Slovak employers struggle to fill all vacancies with appropriate candidates.

The jobless say that the main reasons for low labour mobility are unwillingness to leave their family, low income and high commuting costs, time spent when commuting, and also health reasons, Mesarova told The Slovak Spectator.

One of the important factors is their refusal to leave their own house or flat.

There is a problem with Slovakia lagging behind in constructing affordable rental housing, Peter Dosedla of HR Alliance said, as quoted by SITA, adding that many of them do not want to live in lodging houses and renting a flat is expensive. Thus they rather stay home and draw benefits.

Men and young people travel more

Low labour mobility is typical for people with lower education, who compose the biggest group registered by the labour offices, while people with university education want to commute, according to the survey.

The survey also showed that the labour mobility of people from eastern Slovakia is higher than of those living in other regions; though only 32.5 percent of them said they would resettle. For example, only 18 percent of respondents from Banska Bystrica Region said they would move out, according to Dosedla.

Also statistics about internal migration confirm that people move from the east to the west. Most of them come to districts around Bratislava where the flats and also land are cheaper than in the capital, said Vladimir Balaz, prognosticator at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Additionally, more women than men refuse to commute, according to the survey.

It is also true for Slovakia that young people without any bonds are more willing to commute than older people who are already settled.

They rather cut costs and live from some benefits, or have some occasional illegal income, Balaz told The Slovak Spectator.

One of the exceptions are women around 50 years, who care for old people in Austria. They obviously want to change something in their lives and also want to do this kind of work, Balaz added.

Insufficient state support

Experts agree that the state support for labour mobility is weak. People can currently ask for three types of benefits: commuting allowance, allowance for transportation expenses, and allowance to support labour mobility.

The last one was transformed from a resettlement allowance as of January 1, 2016. It is given to the jobless registered with the labour offices for more than three months who find work located more than 70 kilometres from their permanent address.

Despite the relocation or commuting benefits received as part of the active labour market policies, employees are not willing to commute to more distant places, Radovan Maxim of the Federation of Employers Associations told The Slovak Spectator.

While about 2,000 people received the commuting allowance in 2015, nearly 50 got the resettlement allowance, spokesperson for the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family Jana Lukacova told the TA3 news channel.

Unlike the resettlement allowance, the new benefit does not require jobseekers to change their permanent residency. On the other hand, married couples are discriminated against as the state does not want to support both of them even if both have to resettle for their new job, according to Mesarova.

Balaz says that these active labour market policy measures belong to those less successful. Though the state contributes to commuting or resettling, the money cannot be used to buy a flat in, for example, Bratislava. He also criticises the limited time of the allowance.

Experts also say there is a lack of support for rental housing.

Slovaks have a strong relation to property, Balaz said, adding that unlike Czechs they prefer living in family houses.

About 50 percent of Slovaks live in the countryside, which is unique in Europe. Moreover, many rental flats were privatised in the 1990s, even if they were owned by municipalities. As a result, people are not accustomed to living in rental housing, Balaz explained.

Another way to improve the situation in regions is the construction of better infrastructure, experts say.

Companies transport their employees

Unlike the state, companies offer various benefits to commuters, like accommodation and commuting benefits, extra bonuses or holiday.

Bratislava-based carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia, for example, has its own bus lines and provides employees with accommodation. Among other benefits are house loans, contributions towards holidays or children camps, various trainings and courses, as well as financial benefits or the possibility to use a nearby health centre, companys spokesperson Vladimir Machalik told The Slovak Spectator.

Also Zilina-based Kia Motors Slovakia offers to its employees the possibility to use a bus, which transport them from within the whole Zilina Region. Except for them, employees may receive a discount to buy car or a contribution to house loan, said its spokesperson Jozef Bace.

Despite various contributions, there is no relevant benefit that would persuade people to commute to work, Mesarova said.

In this respect, she mentioned a situation when they offered work in Lozorno (Bratislava Region) to inhabitants of Komarno (Nitra Region). Though the potential employees would receive a contribution towards accommodation and transport, only seven of 60 people were willing to hear the offer. Of them, only three took the job.

Palenik, however, points at the distance between Lozorno and Komarno, which is 150 kilometres. The journey takes some two hours, which means that these people would have to travel together four hours a day. Moreover, there is no direct bus or train connection as all lines end in Bratislava.

Commuting should be possible to a certain limit, Palenik said.
Problems remain, but experts say they can help energy efficiency.

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SMART meters should result in more effective use of electricity and lower bills, but not many people are aware of these benefits. Moreover, the whole technology may become useless if the state regulator does not change its approach to setting the prices, analyst warns.

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Smart or intelligent meters are electronic devices that record the consumption of electric energy in certain time intervals and communicate that information to consumers and the distributor. This data can be used for monitoring and billing purposes. Operators of distribution networks have already started the process of exchanging the old meters for new ones, with the plan to finish the replacement of relevant devices by 2020.

By the end of 2015, more than 30,000 devices were installed at customers connected to distribution network, Norbert Deak, spokesperson for Slovak Electricity Transmission System (SEPS), told The Slovak Spectator.

Though they are an interesting innovation, which will be important especially in relation to growing decentralisation of electricity production, there is one obstacle for its installation in households and small and medium-sized companies: the regulation of electricity prices, according to Martin Vlachynsky, analyst with the Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) think tank.

Installation plans

The installation of intelligent meters is part of a regulation, introduced in 2013 as part of the government energy plan. It obliges electricity distribution network operators to install smart meters on any household with an annual electricity consumption of 4 MWh or more and companies. By adopting the regulation, Slovakia fulfils its commitments within EU legislation that it has transposed. The plan is to achieve 80-percent market penetration of smart meters by 2020.

According to Economy Ministrys estimates, this currently concerns some 400,000 distribution points where smart meters will be installed by 2020. The installation schedule was divided into three phases.

The first one, which ended on December 31, 2015, concerned the first-category customers with annual electricity consumption amounting to at least 15 MWh and maximal reserved capacity of more than 30 kW, such as small and medium-sized enterprises, restaurants and schools.

The second phase concerns customers with annual consumption of at least 4 MWh and maximal reserved capacity of more than 30 kW, including small and medium-sized enterprises, restaurants, schools, plus electricity producers and owners of charging stations for electric cars. This phase should end on December 31, 2016.

The last, third phase will concern the customers with annual consumption of 4 MWh and more and maximal reserved capacity of less than 30 kW, like bigger family houses and shared residential premises. This phase should be completed by December 31, 2020.

Zapadoslovenska Distribucna (ZSD) company says it changes the smart meters according to the schedule. It will install some 22,000 meters during the years 2015 and 2016, said the companys head Andrej Juris. The plan is to install more than 190,000 meters by 2020.

Also Stredoslovenska Energetika  Distribucia (SSE-D) says it follows the plan, as it installed nearly 7,000 smart meters last year. By 2020 it plans to install them at about 110,000 delivery points, said companys spokesperson Jana Bolibruchova.

The Vychodoslovenska Distribucna (VSDS) has already installed 10,500 meters last year, and another 26,500 during this year. By 2020 they plan to install together 100,000 smart meters, according to Andrea Danihelova, VSDS spokesperson.

Except for the three big regional distributors, there are also several small distribution firms, but it is not clear how many of the devices have been installed by them, Deak said.

Some problems pending

Though the current tempo of installing smart metres is good, it is impeded by low awareness of customers. There is no clear list of benefits the devices bring to customers or other related subjects.

Moreover, also nation-wide awareness is missing, according to Deak.

Only distribution companies communicate with the customers, by providing them information shortly before the installation of smart meters, Deak said.

Also information in media is rather infrequent, he added.

Juris also admits that when installing smart meters, it sometimes happens that customers need more detailed information about the devices, as well as consulting.

Moreover, the problem is that the installation of smart meters will not affect average families for now as their annual consumption is about 2.2 MWh. Bolibruchova admits that for households with lower electricity consumption the final savings are very low, especially compared with the costs for operating the smart meters.

Meters to help save costs

Since it is a new technology, it is necessary to identify the possibilities it brings to customers, as well as barriers to its further development, Deak said.

Energy distributors agree that the smart meters will allow better monitoring of produced and consumed electricity, as well as collection of information for operating the distribution network. They may also help reveal illegal electricity consumption, Juris said.

Moreover, based on collected information customers can use the electricity more effectively and reduce costs, according to Bolibruchova.

The potential drop in consumption depends on each customer, she said, adding that they have to decide on their own how and when they will use electricity and whether they will invest into technologies that should secure effective use of smart meters.

Juris adds that based on data from smart meters, electricity traders may prepare special packages for customers that will help them monitor their electricity consumption.

As for obstacles, Slovakia lacks dynamic tariffs and a more liberal framework for electricity distributors to respond to the potential smart meters have, Deak says.

Moreover, the current regulation system does not allow suppliers to create innovative packages of services with, for example, floating tariffs, Vlachynsky adds.

The point of smart meters is in using the price fluctuations during the day, Vlachynsky told The Slovak Spectator, without this they are only for decoration.
THE SLOVAK governments idea of a state energy holding has not become reality.

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Due to the general election, we do not expect its founding anytime soon, spokeswoman of the Economy Ministry Miriam Ziakova told the SITA newswire in early February.

The ministry even admitted that the holding has never exceeded the form of a mere idea.

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To this day, no specific document that would move the establishment of such a holding to the level of feasibility has not been elaborated, Ziakova stated.

The government of Robert Fico considered establishing a state energy holding already during the term of its first economy minister, Tomas Malatinsky. The holding was meant to administer all state shares in energy companies.

Through this holding, the state also sought to buy back shares of energy companies which foreign investors may have wanted to sell in the future. Ex-minister Malatinsky admitted, however, that buying back shares was not the primary idea of this project.

The primary idea was that through such a holding, the state would be able, for example, to underwrite shares through the stock exchange at a lower rate, and invest thus gained resources e.g. in the development of the Slovak heating sector.
When the prime minister tells you that the economy is doing great, but your own life is not getting better, anger ensues.

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It is one week after the chaotic general election and what comes next looks no clearer. But there is plenty more to say about what led to the results  which make Slovak voters look similar to voters in Western Europe and the United States, not different.

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Many have highlighted the strong performance of Marian Kotlebas extreme right wing LSNS and place the blame on Prime Minister Robert Ficos anti-migrant rhetoric for radicalising voters. However, as exit polls showed Kotleba voters were not mobilised by migration issues (just 9 percent of them said thats why they supported him), but rather social issues and corruption. Regrettable as Ficos anti-immigrant hysteria is, it was his failure in tackling the latter two issues that contributed to Kotlebas rise.

Smer bet that it could simply dole out a taste of the strong economy at the last minute rather than reinvest that money in real reform. People didnt buy it. Quite simply, voters were not that impressed with a gas rebate check for a few euros or positive macroeconomic forecasts issued by the Finance Ministry. In fact, strong growth in the economy overall may have played as a negative for Fico. Even as the numbers looks positive, it is clear many do not feel the way that growth is shared in a way that is anywhere close to fair. When the prime minister tells you that the economy is doing great, but your own life is not getting better, anger ensues. That anger showed in votes that were divided all over the political spectrum, not just with Kotleba.

With eight parties in parliament, Kotleba is not the only story but he helps explain other results too. Though Kotleba is a racist, his success is not the result of racism. Compare LSNSs strong showing with the disappointing performance by Siet, once thought to be Smers biggest challenger.

Siet launched amid a fundraising scandal. Then, many of their members left parliament to focus on being full time politicians  not public servants, there is a difference. The party ran a cautious campaign during that failed to pinpoint the specific issues they thought important  they were just going to do everything a little bit better. After the election, even as they swore they would not form a government with Smer, the party leader was meeting with Smer leaders.

To recap, they started and ended with dishonesty and blended it with a sense of entitlement and lack of vision. Juxtaposed with Kotlebas willingness to campaign in places that hardly ever see politicians and his reliance on the time test methods of shaking hands and kissing babies, they are a perfect example of the aloof, professionalised politics that disgusts people everywhere.

Kotleba is a symptom, not the disease, and until todays political leaders close the gap between themselves and the people they govern, he and others like him will linger  and not just in Slovakia or Central Europe.
THE group of 149 Assyrian Christians from Iraq who arrived in Slovakia in December are gradually moving from the refugee camp in Humenne to Nitra and its surroundings.

Priest Peter Brenkus (L) of Serenity and Good gives holy Communion to Assyrian Christians at the end of mass celebrated together with Father Douglas Bazi upon Assyrians'arrival. (Source: TASR)

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The quarantine in the Humenne (Presov Region) camp, which started due to the chickenpox epidemic, ended already ten days ago, Interior Ministry spokesperson Petar Lazarov informed the SITA newswire. The first families to leave Humenne did so due to health problems, like the surgery of a small boy and a health condition after a stroke or pregnancy.

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The ministry refused to specify their place of stay, Lazarov said, citing their security as the reason. However, all refugees still have permanent residence in Humenne and continue the integration process as rendered by the Pokoj a Dobro (Peace and Good) civic association in cooperation with Church, as supervised by the Interior Ministrys migration office.

The group of Assyrian Christians arrived in Slovakia on December 10 from Iraq, from the area around the city of Mosul, i.e. Assyria, which has been invaded by the Islamic State who drive out Christians.

Accepting these Christian families is part of the voluntary contribution of Slovakia towards the solution of migration crisis. The preparation itself took 15 months. A total of 25 families arrived here, including adult men, women, children and elders. They had been living in a monastery before coming to Slovakia, but if they stayed, they would risk death.

This is the first and so far the only group of refugees from the Middle East that Slovakia has accepted.

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FRAUDS involving excessive VAT deductions are getting more scarce in Slovakia, but they are being replaced by systemic organised fraud based on the modification of software used by electronic cash registers.

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VAT and income tax evasion in this field has reached 300-400 million, Financial Directorate president Frantisek Imrecze estimated, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The first two cases of charges for tax evasion in the form of modifying a program of a particular type of cash register have been pressed as part of the so-called Copperfield operation.

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Fraud with electronic cash registers is moving into the sphere of systemic organised fraud, Imrecze said. Its organised by certain producers and some service organisations. It emerges in the fact that cash documentation isnt recorded in a fiscal memory. A typical feature is that the Finance Ministrys emblem on a receipt is fake.

The first case in which charges were pressed involved the Bratislava V District Police Corps. As part of a joint operation, one house search, two searches of business premises and two car searches were carried out, Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar informed on March 11. Two persons were charged. These were Daniela B., a representative of a business entity that was using cash registers, and Ivan M., a representative of a service organisation that helped to modify a cash registers software so that a taxpayer could commit fraud in the form of tax evasion.

The case was investigated at an expert level, Gaspar stressed. Its a good signal, as we have declared that the [special anti-tax evasion team] tax cobra will be extended to lower levels also beyond the National Crime Agency and will also include specialised workers. According to the police president, the project makes sense because it significantly boosts the state budget.

Daniela B., who is being prosecuted for the crime of tax evasion, could be sentenced to between four to ten years in prison, while Ivan M., who is charged with misrepresenting data in financial and commercial records, could be sentenced from three to eight years.

The Financial Directorate deployed 130 inspectors in the Copperfield operation. They checked 31 operational units and seized 25 electronic cash registers, each of which will undergo expert tests. The total financial damage caused by the 25 seized cash registers is estimated at around 4 million. The damage confirmed so far amounts to 80,000, the SITA newswire wrote. There are around 11,300 electronic cash registers in operation in Slovakia. The obligation to use them was introduced in the country as of March 1, 2009.
TWO rightist parties, Siet and Most-Hid, until now in opposition to joining a coalition with Smer, showed interest in talks on creating a stable government with the winner of the March 5 election, Smer.

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This twist comes after a weekend then the rightist parties failed to form a coalition on their own: chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS), Andrej Danko, refused a potential "patchwork" rightist coalition.

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Smer chairman Robert Fico and Most Hids Bela Bugar talked to the press after their joint negotiations on March 13, saying that they continue talks on creating a stable government, but their programme priorities for the possible government manifesto must be debated properly first.

The first talks have shown that there arent such differences that would stop us from continuing the debate, Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. He added that a further round of talks will take place on March 14.

At the press conference. Bugar confirmed that he too has not found any obstacles that would prevent him from continuing in talks. Well talk more specifically on programme priorities on Monday, he added. Bugar also said that his party came with proposals and priorities and handed over documents concerning anti-corruption measures, regional and minority goals of his party, as well as its views on European policy. The party chairman said that they have found no point among the priorities that would prevent them from continuing and that on Monday they would speak more specifically on programme priorities.

Were now calling on all standard political parties  Smer-SD, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and Siet  to be ready to accept compromises with the aim of stabilising the situation and ensuring a stable government be formed, Bugar summed up, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The presidium has rejected to lend support to a caretaker government and a fresh election that would destabilise the situation in society even further.

On March 14 at 13:00, start the negotiations of four parties  Smer, Most-Hid, Siet, and SNS.

Fico also met Siet chairman Radoslav Prochazka on the same day, at their first meeting that tapped their programme priorities and looked  in vain  for issues that could divide them.

Prochazka said that for him, the fundamental question is whether the Siet participation in government could suffice to push through their requirements to which two more were added  to complete the investigation and prosecution team working on the Gorilla scandal, and to give the opposition participation in power control, especially in health care, the Sme daily wrote on its website. Prochazka added that his negotiations with Smer were unanimously approved by the party leadership, and refused to speculate whether some members may leave the party. However, a collaboration with the ruling party has not been on the table yet.

Earlier last week, Siet vice-chair Miroslav Beblavy gave up his post of vice-chair and slammed negotiating with Smer. Another Siet vice-chair, Katarina Machackova, said  in reaction to the leaderships negotiation with Smer  that she would give up her party membership if her party collaborates with the latter.

Most-Hid originally informed it could not imagine sharing power in one cabinet with the nationalist SNS, and earlier last week it also refused negotiations with Smer. They changed their mind after the March 12 SNS congress when it turned out that no rightist government is possible in Sovakia.

As for collaboration with Smer, Bugar said, as quoted by Sme: If Smer thinks that a stable government is needed, we have expected it to address standard political parties, and if invited, we will participate.

The Smer chairman said, as well, that his party is interested in creating a stable government, as Slovakia cannot afford chaos and deepening of elements that, to a certain point, deform the political system. In this, he wants to lean on experienced politicians, like Bugar, he said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.

SNS chairman Andrej Danko at the party congress on March 12 stated that it seems that only SNS and Smer would be able to guarantee a stable government. When asked whether this statement should have been understood as a definite No to a rightist government, Danko said, according to TASR, that this means an absolute No to any hybrids and chaos. He added that he is a politician with rightist elements, but SNS would rather opt for a caretaker government than choosing destruction.

SaS chairman Richard Sulik said on a TV programme that 81 percent of Most-Hid voters did not like to see the party entering into a Smer government, while the figure among Siet voters vis-a-vis Smer was 78 percent. Meanwhile, as many as 89 percent of SaS voters rejected cooperation with Smer. Cooperation with Smer would be devastating for Most-Hid, as it would be for us, Sulik opined. If Bela Bugar is OK with this, then fair enough, but I dont know what Radoslav Prochazka will do with this, as hes spent a lot of energy on creating the party. He added that if he does not become prime minister, he will remain in the European Parliament and SaS will be a tough opposition to the government.

Bugar then asked Sulik why he should return to his negotiating table, if the right would only have 72 votes in the 150-member parliament without SNS.

On March 14, the ethnicly Hungarian Party of Hungarian Community (SMK) has postponed negotiations with Most-Hid (party of ethnic reconciliation between ethnic Hungarians and Slovaks) originally slated for this day. The reason is that a new government combining the nationalist SNS and Most-Hid, seems to be emerging, SMK informed TASR.
The holding is involved in projects in many countries but is mostly active in the African continent and in the Middle East. Its interests include food and agriculture, social and economic infrastructure and associated services for the oil and gas industry, commodity trading, retail, shopping malls, and real estate.

In Moscow, Ghribi is due to meet with representatives from Russias gas liquefaction company GTL with the aim of striking a deal on building a gas refinery in Tunisia.

According to Ghribi, the GK is also looking for Russian partners to invest in infrastructure projects in the Tunisian city of Bizerte.

"We are offering Russians multiple opportunities in the city of Bizerte to invest into the industrial revamping of a refinery, increasing the size and capacity of a commercial port and also developing a luxury marina for superyachts," businessman said.

Expressing an intent to facilitate Russian-Tunisian ties, the businessman said that "the volume of trade between the countries does not reflect the true potential of bilateral cooperation, aiming at making Tunisia a hub for Russian industries covering the African continent and the Middle East."

During Mondays meeting with Jhinaoui, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underlined that Moscow and Tunis should utilize their great potential for cooperation.

Tunisian Ambassador to Russia Ali Goutali told Sputnik earlier that the two countries were preparing to sign a strategic partnership and cooperation deal at a March meeting in Moscow.
The robbers, who were taken into custody Wednesday, turned out to be mere teenagers, with ages ranging from 14 to 19. However, the group included the founder of an anti-immigration movement and a couple of protest organizers, reports Sunshine Coast Daily

Unfortunately, the "activists" resorted to trivial robbery instead of political careers. They have reportedly conducted up to seven attacks since the beginning of the year, stealing cash and mobile phones worth 4,000 total, shouting "police!" whenever someone attempted to intervene.

The young men have now been arrested and await a court hearing in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Cameron was forced to promise a referendum ahead of the 2015 general election because of rising anti-EU sentiment within his own Conservative Party and the rise in popularity of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP)  which took 12.6 percent of the election share of the vote.

The poll by the University of Edinburgh found that after the French, the Swedes (49 percent) are in favor of holding a referendum on EU membership, followed by Spaniards (47 percent) and Germans (45 percent).

According to the London School of Economics, Greece is the second most Euroskeptic country in the European Union, with 50 percent of the Greeks thinking that they have not benefited from the EU at all.

'Devastating Effects'

According to the University of Edinburgh poll, 25 percent of the French want to see an end to the free movement of people throughout Europe  a central principle of the EU. Although not a majority, the finding is indicative of a rise in anti-immigration sentiment in France.

"The British referendum is a laboratory for other referendums in Europe. Such trivialization could produce devastating effects," Anand Menon, professor of political Europe at King's College London and director of 'UK in a changing Europe' told Le Monde newspaper.

Cameron is battling for the UK to remain within the EU and has negotiated what he calls "special status" for Britain allowing it a derogation from 'ever closer union'. He has also called for national governments to have the ability to overrule Brussels, a cut to red tape and the non-discrimination of non-Eurozone countries.

Europe split on Brexit and single market https://t.co/1ZSEbKJzaS  Edinburgh University (@EdinburghUni) 10 March 2016

However, his most significant demand has been for the suspension of in-work benefits for EU migrant workers for up to four years. In the latest survey, 32 percent of French are in favor of depriving European foreign social benefits for the first four years of their stay.
KIEV (Sputnik)  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sees current Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and the mayor of the western city of Lviv and leader of the Samopomich Union, Andriy Sadovy, as potential candidates for the post of prime minister, the presidents press secretary said Monday.

"Today, the president is meeting with the leaders of the [political] factions, in particular, currently  with leader of the Samopomich Andriy Sadovy. The purpose of all of the president's meetings with the political leaders is to accelerate the exiting from the political crisis. It's clear to everyone that a new coalition is needed to form a new government. There are three scenarios: a technocratic government (headed by Natalie Jaresko). Where all the pro-European factions are united around a technocratic government. A political government (for example, headed by Andriy Sadovy)," Svyatoslav Tsegolko wrote on Facebook.

The aim of the government, as was the case of the outgoing one, was to speed up the pace of reforms, he noted.
Documents associated with the draft legislation state that:

"CSPs may be required under section 217 of the Act to provide a technical capability to give effect to interception, equipment interference, bulk acquisition warrants or communications data acquisition authorizations. The purpose of maintaining a technical capability is to ensure that, when a warrant is served, companies can give effect to it securely and quickly."

The documents also state that the CSPs are under a duty not to disclose to customers that their data is being retained. "Any person to whom a technical capability notice is given, or any person employed or engaged for the purposes of that person's business, is under a duty not to disclose the existence or contents of that notice to any person," the documents say.

Dr Gus Hosein, Executive Director of Privacy International said:

"The continued inclusion of powers for bulk interception and bulk equipment interference  hacking by any other name  leaves the right to privacy dangerously undermined and the security of our infrastructure at risk. Despite this, the Home Office stands by its claim that the Bill represents 'world-leading"' legislation. It is truly world-leading, for all the wrong reasons."

The draft legislation is due for its Second Reading  a stage in the process of legislation in the UK Houses of Parliament  on March 15. Amnesty International said in a statement:

"The Bill in its current state is a regressive and dangerous piece of legislation that would have a devastating impact on our right to privacy in the UK and abroad. And once it's law, it'll be very hard to claw that right back."
Morales, whose political image has been battered by the scandal, subsequently failed to receive majority support during a referendum which would allow him to run for a fourth term as president in 2019.

At the same time, the president denied any involvement in the scandal, and said that he had not communicated with his ex-girlfriend for almost ten years. Zapata was arrested last month and charged with money laundering and illegal influence peddling. Morales, for his part, instructed authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, and said that he did not intend to cover up for anyone.

Meanwhile, Carlos Valverde, the opposition journalist who leveled the accusations against the president, has himself been accused of having connections to drug traffickers, and of being a "secret agent of the US Embassy" in Sucre. In the early 1990s, Valverde was the head of Bolivian intelligence during the presidency of Jaime Paz Zamora.

Alexander Kharlamenko, the director of the Moscow-based Research Institute of Latin America, told Sputnik Mundo that these kinds of smear campaigns are often used by the US in Latin America to discredit 'undesirable' governments and their international partners.

"In fact, CAMC did not really receive any preferences, and any violations were subjected to the corresponding penalties. Even before the recent referendum, Evo Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera had said that all violations by the company were subject to legal sanction."

"The lady in question [Ms. Zapata], meanwhile, hasn't worked for the company for a long time, but her brothers had met with opposition leaders and US diplomats. They decided, apparently, to earn some political and possibly financial capital," the analyst added.

"To a large extent," Kharlamenko suggested, "this scandal was created from scratch, just like the scandal which was inflated around the ex-president of Brazil, and the vice-president of Uruguay. It is a method of discrediting and removing unwanted political leaders regularly used by Washington in Latin America."
Evlan's son was among 22 people killed during police crackdowns against the protests. He was hit in the head with a tear gas canister and died after spending 269 days in a coma. At the time, Erdogan caused public outrage by calling Berkin a "thug" with links to a "terrorist organization." At a rally, he encouraged attendees to boo Berkin's mother.

"Courthouses across the country have become a place where the most terrible drama plays out in the lives of people who lose their loved ones, their children, and one cannot even hope that the perpetrators will be punished," Evlan said.

Evlan filed a request to initiate an investigation in July 2013, but nearly three years later, he has yet to hear of the results, despite their alleged release.

"If it was in the interests of the authorities, all the perpetrators would have been found and punished a long time ago, but this is not happening," Evlan told Sputnik Turkiye.

Turkish media previously revealed that the identity of the policeman who threw the tear gas canister at Berkin, killing him, was already confirmed by investigators.

General Prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu later said that the identification of the man is being conducted "promptly and thoroughly."

"The killers of Abdullah Comert, Ali Ismail, Ahmet Atakan, Hasan Ferit [young people killed by police during anti-government demonstrations] and many other victims of the authorities' actions continue walk free. The investigation of their cases is not conducted at all, or permanently inhibited and delayed," Evlan said.

Evlan noted that no official statements have been made on the investigation, other than by the prosecutor.
Snowden also recounted that he attempted to contact American government multiple times, to "come to an agreement," to ensure a just trial, but so far he only managed to receive guarantees that he "won't be tortured".

"I have proof that my actions were for the sake of society, of my country's people."

Snowden also said that he never worked for Russian government. As he explained, he "planned it all so that no government could press on him." In fact, Snowden accused the US for "locking him up" in Russia.

In 2013, Edward Snowden handed a number of classified documents to The Washington Post and The Guardian, revealing Internet surveillance programs implemented by the US and the UK intelligence. He fled to Hong Kong and ended up in Russia, when the United States voided his ID, effectively preventing him from leaving Russian territory. The Russian government provided him an asylum in exchange for terminating any activity against the US. Edward Snowden is now officially a Russian resident, what legally enables him to travel abroad.
On April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski's Tu-154 presidential plane went down outside Smolensk, Russia, resulting in the death of the president, as well as dozens of Polish officials, who were on their way to a meeting with their Russian counterparts to pay tribute to the Polish officers killed by Soviet security forces during WWII.

Last year, Polish investigators presented decrypted evidence from the plane's black box recordings, demonstrating that a 'third party' onboard the plane had repeatedly interfered with the work of the flight crew, entering the cockpit despite pilots' protests. The data also confirmed that Air Force General Andrzej Blasik, who was present in the cockpit until the last moment, had repeatedly pressured the pilots to make attempts to land, despite warnings of bad weather at the Smolensk military airfield, including requests from a Russian air traffic controller to divert the plane to another airport.

On Sunday, giving a lecture at the School of Social and Cultural Media in Torun, Central Poland, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz claimed that the air catastrophe was actually a 'terrorist attack', Radio Poland reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The main stage of the joint Russian-Tajik exercises will start on Monday, an aid to the commander of Russia's Central Military District said.

"The main phase of the joint command-staff exercises involving the units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan begins today," Col. Yaroslav Roschupkin said in a statement.

The statement added that the command and control units of Tajikistan's Defense Ministry and Russia's Central Military District as well as the the two countries' motorized rifle, armored and artillery units, special forces, as well as airborne and air assault groups would participate in the drill.


GENEVA (Sputnik)There have been fewer hostilities in Syria and humanitarian access has begun to extend to more areas, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien, together with other UN humanitarian bodies, said in a joint statement.

"As humanitarians we welcome progress where it means real change we are seeing signs of momentum, fragile glimmers of hope. Fewer bombs are falling; humanitarian access has opened up in some places," the statement, signed on Friday, reads.

The UN agencies have delivered assistance to over six million people in besieged areas of Syria since the beginning of 2016, according to the document.
She further explained that during a traumatic experience, the human brain releases certain chemicals which help a person cope with stress. However, while it helps escape a short term trauma, a constant release of these chemicals during a long-term traumatic experience prevents a child from developing normally neurologically.

"In any kind of conflict, when people are under stress, some people say 'right, Im going to pull it together, Im going to get stronger because of this'; but then theres another group of people who weaken as a result of that," Doctor Ramsden added.

She also said that in many cases it is difficult to determine which way a child affected in this manner is going to develop until he or she becomes a teenager. At the same time, traumatized children often exhibit symptoms normally associated with naughty children, as they become angry, defiant and refuse to obey authority, which would likely cause problems during resettlement.

"They will have difficulty with attaching, with friends and family members or foster care, or whoever is taking care of them, they will have a difficult time," Ramsden said. "Children who have attachments will be better off because damage can be overcome if people are helping them out."

Also, according to Doctor Ramsden, while the governments tasked with resettling the refugee children are probably aware of the issue, they apparently dont know what to do.


BRUSSELS (Sputnik)Mogherini said on arrival to the Foreign Affairs Council that the 28 European diplomats were due to discuss "the guiding principles" of Brussels bilateral relations with Russia. She said anti-Russia sanctions were not on the agenda of Mondays meeting.

The source, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, detailed the five principles as follows:

A full implementation of the Minsk ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine as a condition for any changes in EU policy toward Russia; bolstering EU ties with its eastern partners; strengthening the EUs resilience; maintaining exclusively EU interests in any kind of engagement with Russia; engaging in people-to-people contact and supporting civil society in Russia.
Key stakeholders are divided over the invitation of Kurdish groups to the talks. Russia backs the move against Turkey's strong objection behind arguments that Syrian Kurds are allied with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), against which Ankara has been waging a campaign for nearly a year.

The United States, which together with Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization, is known to collaborate with the Kurds, including on construction of two air bases in northern Syria.

Mohamed argued in favor of Kurdish inclusion at the talks, citing its forces' critical role in battling the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

"Nobody until now asked us to participate, although we are a main part of the solution. Not even the democratic administration is invited," the European Representative of Rojava Administration stressed.

Kurdish forces gained mass media attention in early 2015 after successfully defending the city of Kobani from a months-long IS siege backed by US airstrikes.

Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in Syria. Participants of the peace process in the country, including Russia, have repeatedly stressed that reconciliation talks would fail to reach a political settlement unless the Syrian Kurds were allowed to participate.
Readers may remember when, with a defense authorization bill in debate last June, two congressmen advanced an amendment banning military assistance to openly neo-Nazi and fascist militias waging war against Ukraines eastern regions. John Conyers and Ted Yoho got two things done in a stroke: They forced public acknowledgment that the repulsive neo-Nazi Azov battalion, as Conyers put it, was active, and they shamed the (also repulsive) Republican House to pass their legislative amendment unanimously.

Obama signed the defense bill then at issue into law just before Thanksgiving. The Conyers-Yoho amendment was deleted but for a single phrase. The bill thus authorizes, among much, much else, $300 million in aid this year to the military and national security forces in Ukraine. In a land ruled by euphemisms, the latter category designates the Azov battalion and the numerous other fascist militias on which the Poroshenko government is wholly dependent for its existence.

An omnibus spending bill Obama signed a month later included an additional $250 million for the Ukraine army and its rightist adjuncts. This is your money, taxpayers, should you need reminding. As Obama signed these bills, the White House expressed its satisfaction that ideological riders had been stripped out of them.

No, you read next to nothing of this in any American newspaper. Yes, you now know what the often-lethal combination of blindness and arrogance looks like in action. Yes, you can now see why American policy in Ukraine must fail if this crisis is ever to come to a rational, humane resolution.

The funds just noted are in addition to a $1 billion loan guaranteein essence another form of aidthat Secretary of State Kerry announced with fanfare last year. And that is in addition to the International Monetary Funds $40 billion bailout program, a $17.5 billion tranche of which is now pending. Since the I.M.F. is the external-relations arm of the U.S. Treasury (and Managing Director Christine Lagarde thus the Treasurys public-relations face) this is a big commitment on the Obama administrations part (which is to say yours and mine).

How are things on the receiving end, it is natural to ask. Our money goes to exactly what?

Until recently, what one heard and read of Ukraines progress into a neoliberal future was almost all happy talk (or silence, of course). Vice President Biden, who carries the Ukraine portfolio in the administration, makes regular trips to laud the Poroshenko government and the reformist zeal of Premier Yatsenyuk. This is perhaps only natural, given Bidens son is neck-deep in Ukraines resource extraction industry.

Biden sounded a different note during his latest trip to Kiev, which came in December. Yes, there was another handout, this one $190 million to help the Poroshenko government implement structural reforms of the usual antidemocratic kind. (Are you toting up all these checks?) But Biden was stern, make no mistake. He shook his finger from the podium in parliament.

We understand how difficult some of the votes for reforms are, but they are critical for putting Ukraine back on the right path, Biden said. As long as you continue to make progress in fighting corruption and build a future of opportunity for all Ukraine, the U.S. will stand with you.

Back on the right path? Continue to make progress?

Since euphemisms are an American export item, familiar in euphemism markets the world over, a translation: You are embarrassing us because you have done nothing. We gave you a window to pass legislation before the Ukrainian people figured out how awful it would make their lives. Youre blowing it as we speak. Hurry up. Meantime, here is another couple of hundred million.
"Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, washed away by the rain. So you are left with dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairie and mountains. What more do you want?" Federico Calboli
China has escalated its efforts to drive Filipinos out of Pagasa Island in the South China Sea. In January China very publicly opposed Filipino plans to a new Filipino air traffic control facility on Pagasa. In late February Chinese coast guard ships began showing up at nearby Jackson Atoll, which has long been used by Filipino fishermen from nearby Palawan (inhabited by 770,000 Filipinos and not claimed by China, at least not yet). Now China appears to be making preparations to build an artificial island at Jackson Atoll, install a small military garrison and declare the area part of China. Nearby Pagasa is the second-largest (37.2 hectares/93 acres) of the Spratly Islands and is inhabited by 200 Filipinos civilians and a few military personnel. China has been increasingly belligerent in its claims to Pagasa and threatens to take it back by force. China reacted to the flight control facility by issuing an official protest and repeating its threats. Chinese military and civilian ships are showing up near Pagasa with increasing frequency and sometimes the Chinese vessels try (by getting in the way) to prevent non-Chinese vessels from getting too close to the island. The Philippines often has a coast guard patrol boat off the island (which is 480 kilometers from the nearest Filipino territory China does not claim) and that provides the possibility of a violent military encounter. China is also concerned with the increasingly frequent visits of American warships to the Philippines (for leave and maintenance) and the South China Seas (to challenge Chinese claims.) So far China has not been violent but with more and more Chinese warships, warplanes and troops showing up in the South China Sea there appears to be increased risk of someone opening fire.

The Moslem Peace Deal

Malaysia, which hosted the peace talks between MILF and the government, urged MILF leaders to keep their gunmen under control and allow the largely Christian legislature to get through the next national elections on May 6th and eventually vote to approve the MILF peace deal signed in 2014. Some MILF factions are hostile to the deal but most Filipino Moslems as well as the Christian majority want peace. The fighting has been going on since 1970 and left over 100,000 dead. The security forces have increasingly had the upper hand and if MILF goes back to war MILF, and the Moslem south, will lose.

The basic problem is that the peace deal with MILF cannot get passed by the current congress. MILF agreed to keep the peace and wait to see if the next congress thinks differently. The May elections will produce a new president (restricted to one six year term) and a new congress (most with three year terms). There are congressional elections every three years and the newly elected congress will take power in early July. MILF expects the new congress to either pass or reject the peace deal by the end of the year. This peace deal, if approved by congress, creates Bangsamoro which is an autonomous Moslem area in the southwest. It was expected that this new law would be difficult to get through congress. It was always understood that because of the 2016 elections the treaty would have an opportunity to try getting approval from two different congresses. Although there are a lot of incumbents, the 250 members of the House of Representatives are restricted to nine years (three terms). MILF also has to get the approval of most Moslems in the south, which should be a lot easier, even if all of them dont get all they wanted. The government wanted to get the Bangsamoro laws approved before the 2016 presidential elections so the politicians who handled the successful negotiations would get full credit for the peace deal. The main problem is that too many Christians do not trust the Moslems to remain at peace and curb violence against Christians in the south. While Moslems are the majority in some parts of the south (mainly the southwest that will become Bangsamoro) Christians are the majority in the southern islands that radical Moslems insist should be under Moslem control and all Christians expelled. Even in Bangsamoro Christians are a large minority.

The War On Corruption

A police general, who was fired in 2015 for corruption, was ordered arrested because there was now enough evidence to prosecute him for involvement a conspiracy to steal and sell a thousand assault rifles to leftist rebels (NPA) between 2011 and 2013. The general was aided by ten other police commanders or officials who are also being prosecuted. This scam brought in a million dollars, which the general got a major portion of. The general is under investigation for several other even more profitable scams. The anti-corruption effort is accelerating with senior government officials and politicians being prosecuted for actions that, for decades, were known but could not be stopped because the justice system and police were also corrupt. That has been changing, mainly because of growing public anger and the ability to get around often corrupt mass media to circulate news of corrupt activities via the Internet.

March 13, 2016: In the south (Zamboanga Sibugay province) police tried to arrest Waning Abdusalam, a notorious kidnapper and often the leader of a gang. Abdusalam tried to shoot his way out but was killed. While not a member of Abu Sayyaf Abdusalam kidnapped foreigners in the south and then sold them to Abu Sayyaf, which was better equipped to keep the hostage from being rescued and also better able to get a large ransom. Men like Abdusalam would kidnap Filipinos as well as foreigners. Kidnapping is a common crime in the Moslem south.

March 10, 2016: In the south (Sulu Island) soldiers seized two Abu Sayyaf camps. The Islamic terrorists had fled the camps, which were built to accommodate about 150 people. Troops seized weapons, ammo, food and military equipment. The security forces have been particularly active on Sulu lately because Abu Sayyaf is threatening to kill three foreigners (two Canadians and a Norwegian) by April 8th if a $60 million ransom is not paid by then. The three foreigners were kidnapped from a Filipino resort in September 2015. The Philippines forbids the payment of ransoms to Abu Sayyaf, especially multi-million dollar ones because that kind of money enables the Islamic terrorist group to survive and even expand.

March 9, 2016: Japan agreed to lease the Philippines five TC-90 aircraft. These are military versions of the popular King Air twin engine civilian transport. Many are used for military purposes (training, transport, electronic warfare, surveillance) and Japan has been using them since the 1970s. Japan changed its laws in 2014 to allow for the export of military equipment (under certain conditions) and is expected to supply the Philippines with a lot more help like this. The TC-90 doubles the range of Filipino coastal surveillance from 300 to 600 kilometers. China protested this Japanese support for the Philippines. The cost of the lease was not revealed but it should not be a lot as these PC-10s are used and not equipped with any expensive electronics. King Air 90s sell for less than a million dollars used and cost less than a thousand dollars an hour (maintenance, fuel, spares) to operate.

March 5, 2016: In the south (Maguindanao province) four soldiers were wounded by a BIFF bomb that was set off as a patrol passed by.

March 1, 2016: In the south (Zamboanga city) a visiting Saudi Islamic cleric (Aaidh ibn Abdullah al Qarni) was attacked by a gunman. Qarni was wounded and five of his bodyguards and the attacker were killed. The attack was apparently the work of ISIL, which has openly said it wants Qarni dead for being hostile to ISIL.

Elsewhere in the south (Maguindanao province) one soldier was killed and two wounded during a clash with BIFF Islamic terrorists. These clashes have been going on here since early February. BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) has been on the run since it was formed in 2011 after splitting from MILF. At that point it had about a thousand armed men but years of defeats have reduced that to a few hundred.

February 27, 2016: In the south (Lanao del Sur province) a week of fighting with BIFF left at least forty Islamic terrorists and five soldiers dead. Over 5,000 civilians fled their homes to avoid the fighting. This all began on the 20th when some BIFF men clashed with an army patrol. The BIFF gunmen fled with soldiers in pursuit. Artillery and aircraft were called in and that led to the discovery of a BIFF camp which became the scene of a major battle. Two of the dead were identified as known Indonesian Islamic terrorists who had joined ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). BIFF has also pledged allegiance to ISIL as has Abu Sayyaf. Both Abu Sayyaf and BIFF are known to have provided refuge for foreign Islamic terrorists who had to flee their homelands because of successful counter-terrorism efforts.

February 25, 2016: In the south (Bukidnon province) a chance encounter between a wanted NPA leader and three of his men and three soldiers led to violence. During a brief exchange of the fire the NPA leader was hit in the head and killed. His three followers fled.

February 21, 2016: The son of the vice-president and twenty government officials have been indicted for various acts of corruption. The vice-president himself is immune while in office but may be indicted later in 2016 after his term expires.

February 19, 2016: In the south (Sulu Island) Abu Sayyaf gunmen attacked the home of a man suspected of being an informant for the military. The target was a former member of MNLF (a Moslem separatist group that made peace with the government in 1996) and he and his son were killed by the Islamic terrorists. It is unclear if the dead man was an informant but he was known to be critical of Islamic terrorism and Abu Sayyaf has to discourage that sort of thinking.

February 17, 2016: In the south (Maguindanao province) a roadside bomb hit a civilian vehicle killing four civilians and wounding two. It is unclear who carried out this attack or why.

February 16, 2016: In the north (Luzon) a police convoy was ambushed by forty NPA rebels. Six policemen were killed and eight wounded before return fire drove the rebels off. It is unclear how many casualties the leftist rebels suffered.
Me and my constituency!!!



Me and my constituency!



Me and risks To put risks in perspective, I would begin any risk managing session by asking the participants: What are the risks you most consider you cannot afford not to take? Capisce?

A question to bank regulators When do banks most need capital, when the risky turn out risky, or when the "not-risky" turn out risky? So?

Universities! One of you should create a School on the role of Risk-Taking in Economical Development

ON THIS BANK CRISIS, I am certainly NOT a Monday Morning Quarterback

Why don't bank regulators get it? The less the perceived risk of default is, and the higher the leverage allowed, the greater the systemic risk.

My huge problem! Q. "If Kurowski is right, why are his arguments so ignored? A. If I had argued that the regulators were 5 to 10 degrees wrong, I would be recognized, but since I am arguing they are 150 to 180 degrees wrong, I must be ignored.

The deafening noise of the Agendas

On one side, we have the "progressives" who want to put all the blame on capitalistic banksters, and, on the other, the "conservatives" who want to blame the socialistic government sponsored enterprises GSEs of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac.



For any of both sides accepting the fact that it was mostly a regulatory failure of monstrous proportions would seemingly be a highly inconvenient truth that would not help them to advance their respective agendas.

The fundamental reasons why it is so hard to advance the otherwise so easy explainable truth of this financial crisis, is because of the deafening noise of the Agendas

You tell me! What is more dangerous in a systemic way, that which is perceived as risky or that which is perceived as not risky? Right!



How can the Basel Committee be so dumb? Systemic risks is about something that can become as big so as to threaten the system and our bank regulators in the Basel Committee are incapable or unwilling to understand that what has the largest possibilities of growing as big so as to threaten the system is what is perceived as having little or no risk, not what is perceived as risky which makes their first and really only pillar of their regulations, that of capital requirements of banks that are lower when perceived risks are lower so utterly dumb!

We must stop our gullible and naive financial regulators from believing in never-risk-land.



The stuff that bonuses are made of Whenever a credit rating corresponds exactly to real underlying risk neither borrower nor lender loses but the intermediary cannot make profits it is only when the credit ratings are too high or too low that those margins that can generate that profitable stuff that bonuses are paid for exist.





What were they thinking? The default of a debtor is about the most common, natural and even benign risk in capitalism, so it is so hard to really get a grip on what was going around in the minds of the regulators when they decided to construe capital requirements for banks based exclusively on discriminating against that risk as it was perceived by some credit rating agencies.

Day by the day it is becoming more relevant... scary! The AAA-bomb







This I published in November 1999... Read it!



Currently market forces favors the larger the entity is, be it banks, law firms, auditing firms, brokers, etc. Perhaps one of the things that the authorities could do, in order to diversify risks, is to create a tax on size.

The possible Big Bang that scares me the most is the one that could happen the day those genius bank regulators in Basel, playing Gods, manage to introduce a systemic error in the financial system, which will cause the collapse of the OWB (the only bank in the world) or of the last financial dinosaur that survives at that moment.Currently market forces favors the larger the entity is, be it banks, law firms, auditing firms, brokers, etc. Perhaps one of the things that the authorities could do, in order to diversify risks, is to create a tax on size.

This I wrote, October 2004, as an Executive Director of the World Bank We believe that much of the worlds financial markets are currently being dangerously overstretched through an exaggerated reliance on intrinsically weak financial models that are based on very short series of statistical evidence and very doubtful volatility assumptions.

Regulatory hubris In a world with so many different risks, some naive gullible and outright stupid regulators thought everything would be fine and dandy if they just had some few credit rating agencies determine default risks and then gave the banks great incentives, by means of different capital requirements, to follow those credit risk opinions.

On bs. When experts bs..t the world thats bad news, but when experts allowed themselves to be bs..ted by bs..ing experts thats is when the world goes really bad.

Potemkin ratings! This crisis resulted directly from the Potemkin credit ratings the market produced to satisfy the demand for AAAs created by the regulators.

Lower the capital requirements for banks on: the loans to those who had nothing to do with creating the current AAA crisis, like small businesses and entrepreneurs but are anyhow the ones which most suffer the current scarcity of bank capital





My most current proposal on the regulatory reform for banks

Thanks!

HERE I keep it updated with your helpThanks!

Fire the teachers! They were supposed to teach the world prudent risk-taking and instead they taught it imprudent risk-aversion.





The deal! This was the deal! If you convinced risky and broke Joe to take a $300.000 mortgage at 11 percent for 30 years and then, with more than a little help from the credit rating agencies, you could convince risk-adverse Fred that this mortgage, repackaged in a securitized version, and rated AAA, was so safe that a six percent return was quite adequate, then you could sell Fred the mortgage for $510.000. This would allow you and your partners in the set-up, to pocket a tidy profit of $210.000

Calling it quits? A world that taxes risk-taking and subsidizes risk adverseness is a world that seems to want to lie down and die

Lets neutralize the wimps! If we are to keep on using Basel methodology for establishing the minimum capital requirements for banks, beside better risk weights, we must demand it also uses societal purpose weights.

More on subprime banking regulations



Of course you could also buy my book

If you would like to read more on this subject please go to http://teawithft.blogspot.com/ and there under the labels of  subprime banking regulations  and  credit rating agencies  you will find more than 300 letters that I have sent to the Financial Times about it.Of course you could also buy my book Voice and Noise

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Silly bank regulators! What other word could describe a bank regulatory system designed exclusively to avoid bank crisis as if that is the only purpose of banking. You might just as well order the kids to stay in bed all life so as to diminish the risk of them tripping.



The minimum capital requirements of Basel that are based on default risks as measured by the credit rating agency amount to a dangerous tax on the risk, the oxygen of development.



Blindly focusing on default and leaving out any consideration that a credit with a low default risk but for a totally useless or perhaps even an environmentally dangerous purpose is much more risky for the society than a credit with a higher default risk destined to trying to help create decent jobs or diminish an environmental threat, is just silly.



But do I have to be disrespectful and call them silly? Well, individually perhaps they are not, but, as a group, bank regulators are so full of hot air that someone has to help them to puncture their cocoon balloon and let them out.



Breathe!





Im going to third-pillar what? By now the desperate bank regulators are throwing at us the third pillar of their Basel regulations which implies the need that we ourselves privately monitor our banks. Great, in my country, a couple of decades ago, I did just that and had a fairly good grip on whom of my banker neighbors were good bankers and whom to look out for.



But sincerely what am I supposed to do know when about 50 per cent of the retail deposits in my country are in hand of international banks (Spain) and that might be losing their shirt making investments in subprime mortgages in California?



Tragedy! It is very sad when a developed nation decides making risk-adverseness the primary goal of their banking system and places itself voluntarily on the way down but it is a real tragedy when developing countries copycats it and fall into the trap of calling it quits.



Development rating agencies? A bank should be more than a mattress!



When considering the role of the commercial banks should not the developing countries use development rating agencies instead of credit rating agencies?



Clearly more important than defending what we have is defending what we want to have.



What do we want from our banks?

Over the last two decades we have seen hundreds if not thousands of research papers, seminars, workshops conferences analyzing how to exorcize the risks out of banking; and if in that sense the bank regulation coming out from Basel was doing its job; and centred around words like soundness, stability, solvency, safeness and other synonyms. Not one of them discussed how the commercial banks were performing their other two traditional functions, namely to help to generate that economic growth that leads to the creation of decent jobs and the distribution of the financial resources into the hands of those capable of doing the most with it.



At this moment when we are suddenly faced with the possibilities that all the bank regulators risk adverseness might anyhow have come to naught, before digging deeper in the hole where we find ourselves fighting the risks, is it not time to take a step back and discuss again what it is we really want our commercial banks to do for us? I mean, if it is only to act as a safe mattress for our retail deposits then it would seem that could be taken cared of by authorizing them only to lend to the lender of last resort; but which of course would leave us with what to do about the growth and the distribution of opportunities.



About Me Per Kurowski We are suffering from more and more answers than questions begging for them, and so I work on the latter. Read it all in my one and only book!"Voice and Noise" Pssst... so few have read this book so it is slowly turning into a collector item (I do not say a "cult"... yet) and so you might benefit from getting your very own copy now. View my complete profile
She could not say that Mrs Denbigh's conduct was positively wrong - it might even be quite right; but it was inexpressibly repugnant t...
National Licences and article metadata in Germany, Canada, France and Switzerland

Introduction - the Swiss Context

In 2015, Switzerland launched a Swiss National Licences project. This is a 2-year project, funded by swissuniversities / program SUK-P2 "Scientific information : Access, processing and storage" with a total amount of 10 million Swiss Francs. 7.5 million to buy contents from publishers, 2 million to ensure preservation for the whole Switzerland (probably with Portico and LOCKSS) and 0.5 million for the negotiations of contracts, the overall management and the metadata management. The project is led by the Consortium of Swiss University Libraries (at ETH Zurich). The metadata management subproject has been allocated to the Swissbib team at the University of Basel.





Access will be possible for every partner of the Consortium : universities, universities of applied sciences, state libraries, research institutes One of the goal is therefore to bridge the gap between rich and poor institutions in Switzerland. Interested private persons living in Switzerland can also access the content, directly from their home, after following a suitable registration.





The Swiss National licences will be coupled together with the current content licences. This process can be summarized as follows. Lets say Switzerland has a national licence for journal articles for a given publisher covering the years 1947-2008. At the same time, some universities in Switzerland have a licence for current content covering 2009-2016. At the beginning of 2017, if some universities sign for 2017 content for this publisher, then one more year will be available as part of the national licence (meaning the national license is expanding to 1947-2009). The details (when a new year is added and under which conditions) may vary from publisher to publisher, but thats the main idea.





The goals of the metadata management subproject are the following :





Private users . Build a search engine to allow private users in Switzerland to search and access the content which is licensed for them. This will be done using the Swissbib existing infrastructure. The registration and authentication mechanism will be created together with SWITCH.

. Build a search engine to allow private users in Switzerland to search and access the content which is licensed for them. This will be done using the Swissbib existing infrastructure. The registration and authentication mechanism will be created together with SWITCH. Integration in Library Discovery tools . For participating libraries which already have some kind of discovery tools, the integration of content should be seamless, for example with the creation of dedicated targets in ExLibris SFX or Proquest Intota

. For participating libraries which already have some kind of discovery tools, the integration of content should be seamless, for example with the creation of dedicated targets in ExLibris SFX or Proquest Intota Gain experience in article metadata management. The management of publishers metadata at the article level didnt happen yet in Switzerland. The goal is to gain experience with this to deliver additional services later on (for example within the SLSP project) : text and data mining, discovery tools for smaller institutions (university of applied sciences) as well as a collaboration with international partners.





The contracts are not signed yet, but the goal is to sign them in Spring 2016 and have the portal live at the end of 2016. The negotiations are still happening and the contracts will be evaluated by an independent board (Evalutionsgremium) in the coming weeks.





At the start of the project, the goal was to gather what has been done abroad with this respect. There was a telephone call with the people from Toronto, a meeting in Gottingen with the people from GBV and Finc and a meeting in Nancy with the people from INIST. All that happened in January 2016.

Summary National Licences

Germany Ontario/Canada France Planned for Switzerland Link http://www.nationallizenzen.de http://scholarsportal.info http://www.istex.fr Start year 2004 2006 2012 2015 Number of articles in the platform 25 million 44 million 20 million 3.5 million Budget > 120 million  60 million  10 million CHF Main focus access preservation text and data mining access Participating Publishers ~30 30 20 4 Pivot Format OCLC PICA+ NLM JATS MODS NLM JATS Fulltext (pdf) delivery on the project platform yes, but via a proxy to the publishers platform yes yes no Access for private users yes no no yes Rights to share the metadata yes no yes yes Language for transformation C and Java Java in the past, XSLT now XSLT XSLT Document store OCLC CBS MarkLogic OCLC CBS Search engine technology SOLR MarkLogic Elasticsearch SOLR Front-end technology VuFind MarkLogic no Front-end VuFind

Summary Article Indexes

Articles indexes are not bound to national licences. They contain plenty of journal articles, which can then be matched with library e-journals holdings.





GBV Zentral Finc Link http://findex.gbv.de http://finc.info Start year 2012 2014 Number of articles in the platform 130 million 80 million Participating Publishers ~40 mostly via crossref Pivot Format marc21 local format Rights to share the metadata yes yes Language for transformation C and Java go Search engine technology SolrCloud SOLR Front-end technology no Front-end VuFind





Germany Nationallizenzen & Allianzlizenzen

Germany was a pioneer in national licensing. The DFG (Deutsche Forschung Gesellschaft) project German National Licences was launched in 2004 and followed in 2011 by the so called Allianz-Lizenzen. The National Licences were funded only by the DFG. The content licensed is accessible in the whole Germany. The Allianz-Lizenzen are funded at 25% by the DFG and at 75% by participating universities. The contents licensed are available only to participating institutions. After a couple of years (so called Moving Walls whose duration depends on the publishers), an Allianz Licence becomes a National Licence, and access is then granted to the whole Germany. Since the beginning of the project, Germany has been spending more than 120 million Euros on the various projects. The negotiations are done by 8 libraries in Germany and the metadata handling is done by the GBV (Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund) in Gottingen.

~25 million journal articles (and other kind of content like book chapters). They got the metadata directly from the publishers. In the first years, processing this metadata was really a pain, but it has improved in recent years. They transform all metadata in OCLC PICA+ format and store it in OCLC CBS software. Access is done through the Currently, they have managed the metadata ofjournal articles (and other kind of content like book chapters). They got the metadata directly from the publishers. In the first years, processing this metadata was really a pain, but it has improved in recent years. They transform all metadata in OCLC PICA+ format and store it in OCLC CBS software. Access is done through the Suchkiste via a VuFind interface and a SOLR index. They loaded all content in the Suchkiste in 2010, but havent updated yet because this wasnt a priority.

Interested libraries can download article metadata in MARC21 format (as an export from OCLC CBS) from the GBV. They can also access directly the GBV Zentral Index (SOLR) . The metadata is available to everybody. The description of the collections (journal holdings) is in EZB, the German electronic journals database.

Regarding the fulltexts (pdf), access is done on the Publishers Platform directly, but the GBV store the pdf as well in case of failure. This amounts yet to 60 TB of data. In the contract for national licences, it was mandatory for the publishers to deliver the pdf on their own platform for the next 10 years.

The access is also possible for private users who live in Germany. The person needs to register online and give its private home address. The registration is than quickly checked by one of the 8 libraries (depending on the first letter of the last name) which subsequently sends a letter by post to the person. Password for login is enclosed in the letter. This process can last up to 10 days. At the time of the registration, the user must say which publisher he is interested in, because each of them have different conditions. Access is then done via a Shibboleth authentication to a proxy at GBV to access the National Licences content. On some publishers platform, it is also possible to login directly via Shibboleth. Since the beginning of the project, there has been more or less every year 8000 private active users. Every year 2000 more are added, and 2000 are removed because they are inactive.

Ontario/Canada ScholarsPortal project

trustworthy digital repository and act as a preservation agent for all university libraries of Ontario (ISO 16363, known as the Trusted Digital Repository Checklist). Currently ~3 persons (rather 3 FTE) are working for the journals part of Scholars Portal. The ScholarsPortal project from Ontario/Canada started in 2006. They deliver content (metadata + fulltext) to the members of all universities in the province of Ontario, in Canada. Meanwhile, they have worked with over 35 academic publishers and aggregators that are able to deliver article metadata and fulltext. After a focus on access in the first years, recently they invested more in the preservation aspects. They are now an auditedand act as a preservation agent for all university libraries of Ontario (ISO 16363, known as the Trusted Digital Repository Checklist). Currently ~3 persons (rather 3 FTE) are working for the journals part of Scholars Portal.

~44 million journal articles. They get the metadata directly from publishers. They transform everything into NLM JATS format using either plain Java programming or XSLT stylesheets (in the recent years). Data is then stored in a MarkLogic Server, which is also used to search (via xQuery) and deliver content. For the last couple of years, they have also been processing eBooks, using the NLM BITS format. They even provide a They have managed the metadata and fulltext ofjournal articles. They get the metadata directly from publishers. They transform everything into NLM JATS format using either plain Java programming or XSLT stylesheets (in the recent years). Data is then stored in a MarkLogic Server, which is also used to search (via xQuery) and deliver content. For the last couple of years, they have also been processing eBooks, using the NLM BITS format. They even provide a navigation by Volume/Issue , using additional normalization rules. For libraries, they create dedicated targets in ExLibris SFX link resolver as well as in Serial Solutions knowledgebase, 360 Core. A researcher in Ontario can access the fulltexts (pdf or XML) either on the publishers platform or directly in the Scholars Portal. They observed differences in behavior between small and big universities. Users from larger universities tend to prefer publishers platforms whereas users from smaller institutions download a majority of content directly from Scholars Portal. On Scholars Portal, even the links (citations) between articles can be resolved internally in the portal.

They dont have the rights to share metadata with libraries outside the consortium, but if a specific publisher agrees, on their side they are ready to share.

France ISTEX project

The ISTEX project started in 2012. It is planned until 2017 and funded with 60 million Euros (55 are allocated to buy content). It is a collaboration between :

the Couperin consortium which focus on collecting researchers and libraries needs

the ABES in Montpellier which does the negotiations with the publishers, as well as the signing of contracts. The integration in Knowledge Bases from Library IT Providers (such as ExLibris SFX) is also done by the ABES via the BACON project

the University of Lorraine in Nancy which is the representative of universities in the project

the INIST (from CNRS) in Nancy which is building the platform and processing publishers metadata

Text and Data Mining. Currently ~15 persons are working at INIST for the ISTEX project. There are 16 million documents currently in ISTEX and this will go up to ~20 million until the end of the project. They get the metadata and fulltext directly from the publishers. They deliver the fulltext (pdfs) to the researchers as well (which is not the case in the German project for example). In the contracts with publishers, the publishers only need to deliver the fulltext on their own platform for the next five years. The ISTEX team even analyzes the text content of pdf files, using among others the GROBID software. They enrich the contents (for example with geoNames from France). They have had a lot of problems with metadata and fulltexts from publishers : invalid XML with respect to the attached DTDs, undocumented formats, strong heterogeneity of formats (even within the same journal over time), pdf of very poor quality, missing contents In the last months, they asked the publishers to deliver the full content before signing the contract, to make sure that it is possible to work with the delivered content. They also ask the publishers to deliver a whole data package at once : metadata, fulltexts, description of the structure of the directories and filenames, list of journals with years and number of articles published, DTDs, contact of a person responsible for technical details. In some cases, it was impossible to match the metadata and pdfs. The preservation is done by another institution : the They have no plans to build a portal, but really to be a data hub, with a strong focus on. Currently ~15 persons are working at INIST for the ISTEX project. There are 16 million documents currently in ISTEX and this will go up tountil the end of the project. They get the metadata and fulltext directly from the publishers. They deliver the fulltext (pdfs) to the researchers as well (which is not the case in the German project for example). In the contracts with publishers, the publishers only need to deliver the fulltext on their own platform for the next five years. The ISTEX team even analyzes the text content of pdf files, using among others the GROBID software. They enrich the contents (for example with geoNames from France). They have had a lot of problems with metadata and fulltexts from publishers : invalid XML with respect to the attached DTDs, undocumented formats, strong heterogeneity of formats (even within the same journal over time), pdf of very poor quality, missing contents In the last months, they asked the publishers to deliver the full content before signing the contract, to make sure that it is possible to work with the delivered content. They also ask the publishers to deliver a whole data package at once : metadata, fulltexts, description of the structure of the directories and filenames, list of journals with years and number of articles published, DTDs, contact of a person responsible for technical details. In some cases, it was impossible to match the metadata and pdfs. The preservation is done by another institution : the CINES . Everything received from Publisher is kept.

They offer all the content (metadata + fulltext) via a REST API. Researchers can then mine the whole content, or a specific collection. The first users are in the domain of automated text analysis or in the history of sciences. Up to know, the usage and interest is still timid, but this is growing. Libraries can also use these API to integrate the content directly in their online tools, or using the widgets provided by the project. They plan to insert all ISTEX metadata in tools like Ebsco Discovery Service or ExLibris Primo Central.

They analyze the incoming metadata with elasticsearch and Kibana, reporting the problems to the publishers. After that, they transform everything to MODS for metadata (using XSLT stylesheets) and TEI for fulltext. If the XML is invalid, they make what is necessary to deliver valid XML at the end. Indeed, the researchers who do text and data mining can use the original format from publisher as well.

Almost all metadata is licensed with an Etalab licence (a French licence very similar to Creative Commons Zero). This means that it is possible to share metadata with other libraries, even outside France.





Article Index : GBV Zentral

After building the suchkiste for the German national licences, the GBV went one step further and decided to build an article index that contains current content as well. In 2012, they launched GBV Zentral. Now, there are 130 million articles available in GBV Zentral. There is no front-end in GBV Zentral, it is an index based on the SolrCloud technology. The print collections of all the libraries of GBV are also included in GBV Zentral. Therefore, in total there are 158 million documents in GBV Zentral. 51 million of them have some kind of searchable enrichments (table of contents, reviews, front or back matters from publishers). If a library manage its journal holdings in EZB (the German electronic journal library), then it is possible to match GBV Zentral content with the electronic collections of a specific library to add a filter in the search. 76 libraries are using GBV Zentral (either for print collections, online contents or both), for example

Every year more than 1.8 billion searches are done in GBV Zentral. All the metadata comes from the publishers or some databases (like Pubmed). The process is more or less the same as for the German National Licences. The GBV Zentral is also used as a central place to deliver content to ExLibris Primo, Summon and Ebsco Discovery Service. GBV Zentral is updated daily.

Every interested institution in the world can use GBV Zentral at no cost.

Article Index : the Finc Project (Leipzig / Germany)

The Finc Project (from the University of Leipzig in Germany) is not bound to national licences in any ways. It has a very different focus : the goal was to build a local article index, without buying one (for example ExLibris Primo Central or Proquest Summon). The focus was really on efficiency and current availability, without having to take care on preservation or that much on metadata quality. There are ~3 persons working on the project.

With this in mind, they decided to get all metadata from Crossref. Crossref is the organization which delivers DOI to scientific publishers. It means that Crossref has some metadata for every journal article which has a DOI. The main advantage is that all metadata is already in a common format (crossref unified schema) and there is only one provider to take care of. The disadvantage is that the metadata is somehow poorer than the metadata which is directly available from the publishers. For example, abstracts are often missing. After this initial step, Finc decided to get the metadata from other sources directly as well (for example from JSTOR or DeGruyter).

Currently, the finc project has gathered more than ~80 million journal articles from crossref. They transform everything to a very simple internal flat format, using the go programming language. They index then all the metadata in Apache SOLR and show it to users using VuFind. There is a growing interest in Germany for the finc article index. Indeed, a library which uses VuFind as an online discovery tool can use it without too much complications. The Finc index is updated more or less on a monthly basis.

Implications for Switzerland

As the coverage dates for Swiss national licences (probably going up to 2015) wont completely overlap with the projects from the other countries, we will need to process at least some metadata on our side. We can count on international partners for specific problems (a very bad metadata set that has already been processed or a publisher specific format that has already been transformed to a more standard one).

Here are what we plan to do for Switzerland. First, we set up a collection of metadata requirements for publishers. Here are some of the important points :

all metadata should be delivered using a Creative Commons Zero Licence to allow Switzerland to process it as needed (this allows for example the transformation towards linked open data at a later standpoint)

the publisher needs to deliver the whole metadata set before signing the contract. This allows the swissbib team to check the quality of metadata. Experience has shown that after signature, it is often too late

On the technical side, the plans are the following : Incoming metadata will be processed using Metafacture from the German National Library and analyzed with elasticsearch. It will be then transformed using XSLT towards a standardized NLM JATS format, with some additional requirements on mandatory metadata. The documents will then be stored in OCLC CBS and delivered to the users using SOLR and VuFind (same as the currenct swissbib architecture).

Additionnally, the metadata will be available via an OAI-PMH interface, an SRU web service as well as maybe a REST API. At the journal level, holdings in KBART format will be created and delivered to Vendors of Library Software for the creation of dedicated targets in Link Resolvers and Discovery tools.







Examples of metadata (JATS, MODS, MARC21, Crossref, finc)
The 55-year-old Longview man struck by an alleged hit-and-run driver Sunday night died Tuesday afternoon after the suspect was ordered held on $75,000 bail.

Daryl Thomas Long, 42, has been charged with vehicular assault, hit and run and driving with a suspended license.

Cowlitz County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Bentson told the court Tuesday afternoon that the victim, Michael Cameron, 55, had recently been removed from life support. Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland reported at 6 p.m. that Cameron had died. His death will increase the assault charge against Long to vehicular homicide.

Before news broke about Camerons death, Cowlitz Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning set Longs bail at $75,000 and set his arraignment for 1 p.m. March 29. He appointed public defender Kevin Blondin to represent Long.

According to Longview police, Cameron was struck at the intersection of 15th Avenue and Hudson street around 9:45 p.m. Sunday. It isnt clear if Cameron was crossing with a green light.

Cameron was taken first to St. John Medical Center and then Life Flighted to Legacy Emanuel. Medical staff told police both of Camerons legs were broken and that he wasnt expected to survive significant brain injuries.

Witnesses told police that Cameron was hit by a red Honda Prelude with a loud exhaust and tinted windows. Later Sunday night, Kelso police located a car fitting that description on Bowmont Avenue and noticed that it had front-end damage and a broken windshield, according to a court document.

Police interviewed Long, who first told them that he had hit a deer but later admitted hitting a pedestrian, according to the document. Long told police he had drunk two cans of Four Loko and that he blacks out after drinking. He told police he panicked after the collision and drove home.

Longview police reported that they had evidence Long was intoxicated. According to the court document, Longs blood-alcohol level was .064 percent about six hours after the accident occurred, which is below the .08 percent standard for legal intoxication.

In 2014, Long was fined $1,600 and given a four-day jail sentence for driving under the influence and reckless endangerment on Aug. 30, 2014.
Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times. Editorial content from other publications 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.

Trade protectionism, a job-killing orthodoxy for Washington state, is blooming like cherry blossoms on the presidential campaign trail. As Democratic candidates pivot to Washington state for the March 26 caucuses, and Republicans look to the May 24 primary, trade proponents must speak up and remind voters that protectionism is economic nihilism for the state.

Candidates in both parties express an astonishing lack of knowledge on trade. Among the Republicans, only Ohio Gov. John Kasich is an unabashed supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that would, in part, further open 11 Pacific Rim nations to Washington state goods. Donald Trump demands a tariff wall and trade wars, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz campaigns as the economic isolationist-in-chief.

On the left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders scorching criticism of the Export-Import Bank, which provides loan guarantees in international trade deals, mirrors the loopy rhetoric of the tea party. Hillary Clinton displays political callowness in flip-flopping on her previous support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

These self-defeating economic policies should be called out and challenged when the candidates campaign in the Pacific Northwest.

Trade is in the DNA of the region, said Doug Kemper, director of international banking at Washington Trust Bank. Washingtons opportunistic approach to trade goes well beyond Boeing. This is the leading export state, per capita, and business activity from exports accounted for 30 percent of the states new jobs over the past 30 years, according to the state Department of Commerce.

It is particularly frustrating when candidates treat the Ex-Im Bank like a political chew toy. Sanders, whom The Seattle Times editorial board endorsed for his other strong positions, blasts it as the bank of Boeing while ignoring the jobs lost when the regions biggest private employer his hampered selling planes abroad.

Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubios advocacy for shutting it ignore the work the Ex-Im Bank does on behalf of small businesses, from Hilliards Brewery in Ballard, which sought Ex-Im Banks help expanding in Europe, to Mukilteo-based Vista Clara, which sells expensive groundwater detection equipment to foreign governments.

The protectionist saber-rattling threatens the backbone of Washingtons economy. When candidates begin flying in  presumably on Boeing jets  ask them why local jobs should be lost in pursuit of protectionist policy.
Scattered amidst the echo chamber of anti-fossil fuel stories, if youre diligent, you discover impartial news on the fundamental role that coal continues to play in powering our way of life. These stories tend to broaden your understanding of the necessity of coal in todays world. Take Japan. Our ally to the east just announced 43 new coal plants. Those plants are now in the planning stage. Advanced technologies available when theyre built could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25%.

But, as I said before, these stories tend to get lost in the shuffle. Instead, what you often hear is the view that some see coal as a risky long-term bet. Weve taken that bet. We view energy and trade differently. Were working hard to build a $680 million port on the Columbia River that will be a world-class coal export terminal.

Heres why this bet will pay off for our local workforce in southwest Washington, the Longview community, and our Asian allies looking to the United States for reliable energy. Asia will continue to need energy and lots of it. The International Energy Agency confirmed Southeast Asias electricity generation from coal will rise from 32 percent today to 50 percent by 2040. Thats slower than predicted. But more countries are still using more coal, and with a much stronger environmental consciousness.

Washington state trading partners such as South Korea and Japan are investing in the worlds most advanced and efficient coal-fired power plants. I recently joined a trade mission with our governor to these countries. I witnessed firsthand as Japan is turning to coal to wean itself off of nuclear energy. I toured a South Korean plant that is revolutionizing coal technology, complemented by wind turbines and solar panels. These high-tech coal plants will power our democratic allies economies for the next 30-to-40 years. Theyre not alone.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, China is expected to increase coal imports by nearly 100 million tons by 2040. Even Reuters reports a new Greenpeace statement citing active construction on at least 66 new coal power projects in China. Additionally, Indias coal-fired electricity generation is predicted to pass the current output of Japan, South Korea and Australia combined. The power from those plants will turn on the lights and provide refrigeration for the first time to millions of people.

Our neighbors in Japan and South Korea expect the same stable electricity resource that we enjoy here. Unfortunately, they are not blessed with the abundant natural resources found in the US. They must import more than 90% of the fuel that supplies their energy needs. And although we do see news stories on European counties being held hostage by Russias control of their natural gas supply, rarely does the news concern themselves with the energy security needs of our closest Asian allies. We believe the US can serve this need and boost exports simultaneously. The timing works out perfect.

Even the author who termed coal a risky bet, continues to expect cleaner burning coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana to be competitive in overseas markets around 2020. Thats just about the time Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview expects to go online to boost exports.

Well also boost our local economy in the process. The terminal projects thousands of new employment opportunities and will generate millions in new tax revenue each year for communities throughout the state. With new ports being expanded up and down the West Coast, competition will be robust and potentially pose a threat to our state as the most trade-dependent in the nation. But those of us in Washington have never been afraid of a little competition.

This is why Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview is supported by a broad group of labor, agricultural and business organizations. They support expanding the states critical trade infrastructure and development of privately funded ports such as ours.

By investing nearly $680 million in Washington, Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview is planning for a long-term future. Were focused on being good neighbors, building a world-class terminal and meeting or exceeding strict environmental regulations every step of the way. Were less worried about short-term market fluctuations. For us, and our partners, the reasons this project made sense when we started permitting four years ago, still hold true today and will hold true many years into the future. In Washington and elsewhere, you build infrastructure for the long-term.

Bill Chapman, President and CEO for Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview




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Between January 2003 and September 2006, out of 138 letters to the editor that I sent to the Financial Times before I placed them on this blog they published these 15 . Not bad! Thank you FT!Unfortunately, since then and until the very last day of the decade, out of some 1.000 letters that you can find here, FT published none, zero, zilch. Of course FT is under no obligation whatsoever to publish any of my letters and of course one should not exclude the possibilities that my letters might have quite dramatically gone from bad to worse yet one wonders.My usual suspects are:1. Someone in FT with a delicate ego feels his or her importance diminished by giving voice to a lowly non PhD from a developing country daring to opine on many issues of developed countries.2. That FT has some sort of conflict of interest with the credit rating agencies that makes it hard for them to give too much relevance to someone who considers they have been given too much powers.3. The FT establishment had perhaps decided there were only macro economic problems and not any financial regulation problems, and wanted to hear no monothematic contradictions on that.4. That FT feels slightly embarrassed when someone repeatedly asks the emperor-is-naked type question of what is the purpose of the banks and realizing this was something FT should have itself asked a long time ago.5. It is way too much oversight for FT to handle.6. Or am I just supposed to be a living example of one half of the Financial Times motto, namely that of "without favour"Which one do you believe is closest to the truth?
tech2 News Staff

While Apple has been in quite a mess over its stand on encryption, we may soon have another contender in the encryption battle, something even closer to every smartphone user out there, WhatsApp. Yes, after Facebook's short stint with data encryption in Brazil, it is now the Justice Department who is taking a call on whether it needs to take a shot at prying open the messaging service.

The New York Times reports that the Justice Department is now weighing its options to see if it is worth taking up a fight with messaging giant WhatsApp that was acquired by social media giant Facebook.

The need for the same once again emanates from an ongoing investigation that has come to a halt, because of WhatsApp's encryption policies. A federal judge had asked for a wiretap, but WhatsApp's encryption policies prevent the investigation from going any further.

For now, everything is on hold as the department has not come to a conclusion as to how it will tackle the case. According to the same source, while many are ok with tackling WhatsApp (and Facebook) there are plenty more who feel that it is better to keep off.

More importantly, WhatsApp that has almost a billion users worldwide, was acquired by Facebook in 19 February, 2014. So it is indeed Facebook that the Justice Department will be up against and this could get worse as Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg made things clear that he was with Apple in the company's ongoing battle with the FBI.

While Apple's products may not have been everyone's business, WhatsApp is, and things may get messy if push comes to shove.
hidden

Bangladesh's central bank confirmed on Sunday that cyber criminals tried to withdraw $951 million from its U.S. bank account, as the countrys finance minister said he first got to know of one of the biggest bank heists in history through the media.

Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank, and transferred $81 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to casinos in the Philippines between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the central bank did not inform him about the heist, and that he learned of it only a month later when news first appeared in the media.

I am very much unhappy about the handling of the issue, he told reporters in his office in Dhaka. He said he planned to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday and decide what action to take against central bank officials.

The cyber heist and its global scale has left Bangladesh officials scrambling to find answers and recover the money that was lost. The incident has also left other banks and businesses around the world eager to learn more, so they can review their own networks for signs that they are vulnerable to similar attacks or might already have been breached.

Bangladesh Bank said in a Facebook post that hackers made 35 separate requests to withdraw money from its Fed account, totaling $951 million, confirming earlier reports.

Officials have said the account, used for international settlements, had billions of dollars. Bangladesh officials expect that it would be difficult to recover the money that has already gone out of the banking channels. Officials have said that the money that made its way to the Philippines was further diverted to casinos and then possibly on to Hong Kong.

After a meeting with the investigators and central bank officials on Sunday, Mohammad Aslam Alam, the secretary of the banking division of the ministry of finance, said recovery could take months.

But he added that the Philippines had managed to freeze $68,000, which Dhaka should be able to recover. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the largest opposition party, demanded the resignation of the central bank governor and the finance minister.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

While the current 'King of the ring' when it comes to hardware specifications is indeed the Vivo XPlay 5 Elite with 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM, something bigger seems to be coming our way indeed. Rumours coming from Chinese website MyDrivers claim that Meizu is preparing a smartphone that not only packs in 6GB of RAM but a pressure-sensitive display as well.

Tagged as the Meizu Pro 6, the flagship smartphone is expected to come in two variants, one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage, and a pricier version sporting 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Oddly, the same report claims that Meizu will stick to a Full HD display similar to the one on the Meizu Pro 5. The processor once again is expected to come from Samsung, this time an Exynos 8890 that is also present on the Galaxy S7 models.

Other cool bits include Hi-Fi 3.0 sound and the mCharge (fast charge) 3.0 as well all powered by Meizu's custom Flyme 6.0 software.

Also mentioned in the source in the announcement of another smartphone before the launch of the Meizu Pro 6. In all probability, this would be the Meizu MX6 similar to the MX5 that was announced before the MX5 Pro. Currently, the MX5 is the best that Meizu fans in India can get.
Naina Khedekar

When Google decided to sell Motorola to Lenovo, it kept behind one of the best divisions  Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP)  that includes the Project Ara modular phone concept. Last year, at IO 2015, Google demoed several interesting projects, which raised our hopes on all those weird phone concepts that we wished could be a reality in the future.

This time around, LG managed to beat Google with its big MWC 2016 modular smartphone surprise. The company didn't just manage to (arguably) introduce the first mainstream modular phone, but also grabbed the most eyeballs at the show. The G5 comes with a slide-out battery, taking the first step towards the modular world of phones.

Yes, the first step towards a world of modular phones. In the past couple of years, there's been significant development in smartphone hardware evolution. A few years ago it was said we're nearly hitting the fag end of hardware, and that it was time to focus on software. Modular design seems to have the potential to answer the 'what next' question that has been lingering on everyone's minds.

Around the same time next year, we will have a couple of entrants in the modular phone market. Yes, in one year, and we say that considering Google's modular phone is expected sometime this year, and going by the passionate fan following we've seen in the past couple of years, the entrants may grow by manifold.

Google has also showcased its project Tango at the CES this year. Though a real phone wasn't on display, Google and Lenovo had plenty to talk about its prototype. It is already out to 1000 testers. And, let's not forget about the Fairphone 2, which was out way before the G5. Fairphone is a social enterprise based in Amsterdam and recently released the Fairphone 2  an Android-powered 5-inch phone fitted with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC, 2 GB of RAM, 8-megapixel main camera, a 2,420 mAh battery and 32 GB of eMMc storage at $580. The Fairphone 2 allows users to change every part  camera, speakers, chip, display, and so on.

Besides, some other projects are cropping their heads alongside such as Phonebloks and PuzzlePhone. Phonebloks is a modular smartphone project designed by Dave Hakkens who was worried about the waste involved in throwing away a device, with just one unusable part that cannot be replaced. Similarly, Puzzlephone is from a company called Circular Devices, almost similar to Project Ara but said to be far more simpler.

There are many small unknown companies working in the background to further complement the modular range. For instance  a company called Lapka is specialising in design-forward sensor-driven hardware. It has teamed up with Google and working on its own Lapka x Project Ara product line that will allow Ara users to upgrade their smartphones cameras, screens, and batteries and other capabilities such as the option to plug in a CO2 monitor or a glucometer. The concept includes seven components  air quality sensor, a CO2 monitor, a light sensor, an EKG node, glucometer and breathalyzer.

Turns out, the modular smartphone era may arrive earlier than we expected. Foldable displays have been another fascination with smartphone designers. There has been a surge in news reports around foldable displays in recent times. Even companies of the likes of Nokia and Samsung have expressed keen interest in the foldable displays segment.

According to a patent by Samsung that emerged in December, the South Korean giant is working on a product category that implements a foldable display. The allows the device to switch from a smartphone form factor to a tablet! Last month at the Samsung Forum, the India chief of Samsung Mobile, Manu Sharma told tech2, "I cannot comment on the future technology yet and don't have the visibility of the new technology or when it would come."

But, given the active interest of a wide range of companies to specialise a different approach to smartphone design, it could certainly pave way to more exciting and modular smartphones that we could have only imagined till now.

Anshul Gupta, Research Director, Gartner believes that modular smartphone is the future, but a distant one. "The LG G5 has managed to create a hype in the market, and we can expect manufactures coming out with more and more modular phones. However, you cannot expect them to sell in millions or capture 50 percent of the market, as they will co-exist alongside our usual smartphones."

Citing an example of the PC market, he adds, "We have seen assembled PCs as well as branded systems. Both markets have been co-existing."

For now, this makes sense as the modular phone market has a long way to go and still faces a lot of challenges such as thickness of the device, good looks and feasibility of easily changing a component. "The challenge is how to effortlessly let consumers pick a screen, processor or battery from different companies. It would require a lot of co-ordination, the components have to be compatible, and would require easy plug-ins," Gupta adds. This may also mean limitations in terms of components that a company will let your replace. Moreover, how easily you could replace it. So, it is quite possible that in terms of component replaceability, there would be limitations initially, but slowly yet steadily an ecosystem could be created.

There is no denying that there is a long way to go in terms of acceptability, but devices like the G5 have already set a path for the future.
tech2 News Staff

After the Samsung Galaxy J1 and J1 Mini that surfaced online a week ago, we now have a tablet called the Galaxy Tab A that has showed up on Samsung's Dutch website. The tablet seems to be a budget model and packs-in the right specs, but offers only Wi-Fi as a connectivity option in the currently listed variant. Also the listing shows the tablet in black and white without details about its price and availability.

The design of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2016) seems to look similar to its predecessor but skips on the lipping which was visible at the sides of the glass screen on the older model. The new tablet looks more rounded and goes with a less aggressive bump that give the edges a more rounded appearance. It measures 186.9mm x 108.8mm x 8.7mm and weighs 283 grams which makes it both light and portable.

On the front, we get a 7.0-inch TFT LCD display with 16 million colours and a 1280x720 pixels display resolution. Inside there is a 1.3GHz quad-core processor (make not specified) with 1.5GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The internal storage can be expanded up to 200GB using a micro SD card.

Coming to the imaging features of this tablet, it packs in a 5MP AF CMOS sensor for the primary and a 2MP unit for the front-facing camera.

Connectivity options inlcude Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g / n 2.4GHz), Bluetooth V4.0, Wi-Fi Direct and GPS.

Samsung currently sells its Tab A (2015) for Rs 17,000 sporting a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM. Also available is an LTE version, so we are expecting an LTE version of the 2016 model to surface online shortly.
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi will be setting up two new plants in India, says company co-founder and president Lin Bin. According to a report in the Economic Times, Xiaomi is taking an interest in the South Asian smartphone market. This is attributed to the fact that its own home market (China) seems to be in a lull.

Lin Bin revealed that Xiaomi will manufacture smartphone peripherals and some components as well. Coming back to China, Bin said that the market will be "flat" and may even see a decline this year.

Xiaomi has plans to set up the two new facilities in the current year itself. And a spokesperson revealed that Xiaomi has applied for a licence. Once set up, Xiaomi will enjoy a few perks with eased foreign direct investment rules for single-brand retailing, similar to Apple.

With the application for license being the only update, Xiaomi is currently hunting for sites and is in discussions with some of the states to get at least one facility running by the end of the year. Additionally, Xiaomi will also be sourcing parts like batteries, chargers and other mobile phone accessories locally.

In other news, Bin did reveal that Xiaomi will launch two news smartphones in India this year. While the Mi 5 flagship smartphone is already on its way. The co-founder told ET that the pricing could be between Rs 20,000 to Rs 27,000 (before taxes of course). Xiaomi has plans to launch two new devices this year as well, one in the next quarter and another in the second half.
I have been a Political Prisoner in the US for over 30 years. My ordeal has been described thusly: Terrorism and Torture in America is a fascinating and true account of a research scientist who, after serving as a witness in a patent lawsuit, becomes harassed and terrorized by industry and government..............incredible testimony about a nightmarish behind-the-scenes America........a searing indictment of the democratic system
Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy
This half man, half monkey was discovered in the early 80's. God reached out his hand and is tossing him to the jungles of Tonga, where his destiny will unfold.
BRADENTON  According to poll results released on Sunday, Tuesday's Democratic Primary race in Illinois could now be a close finish after previous polls found former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton to have a near-lock on winning the state.Those polling results that showed Clinton with a clear lead in Illinois came before Sen. Bernie Sanders' upset win in Michigan, where polls showed him trailing all the way through state's primary day. According to Real Clear Politics , Clinton had previously held almost 32 more points in support than Sanders in Illinois. However, the poll data released on Sunday is now giving a different picture of how Illinois Democrats could vote.An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll now shows Clinton with a six-point lead over the Vermont Senator, while according to CBS news, Sanders is now leading in the state by two points.While Sanders could be poised to either finish closely behind Clinton in Illinois or pull off another upset, polls still show her with a 20-plus point lead in both Florida and Ohio.Florida also votes on Tuesday, March 16.
ACC filed case under WB pressure

Staff Reporter :

The outgoing Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman M Bodiuzzaman has said the Commission filed the Padma Bridge graft case in 2012 under the pressure of the World Bank (WB).

"We filed the Padma Bridge corruption case under the pressure of WB without relevant evidence and documents," sources said quoting Bodiuzzaman on Sunday.

Without giving any further clarification in this regard, Bodiuzzaman said, "It was not properly done. We did it only to ensure World Bank's funding in the bridge project." Over releasing all the officials from the corruption charge in the Padma Bridge Project, he said, "We have proved the case false after conducting investigation."

The ACC hosted a farewell reception in the honor of Bodiuzzaman with its Commissioner (Investigation) Nasiruddin Ahmed in the chair.
Death toll in Turkish car bomb attack rises to 37: health minister

Forensic officers work on the site of a suicide bomb attack in Ankara, Turkey March 14, 2016. Reuters/Umit Bektas

Reuters, ANKARA : The death toll in a car bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara has risen to 37 people, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday, adding that 71 people were still being treated in hospital. Of those in hospital, 15 were in serious condition, he told reporters. Sunday's bombing was the second such attack in the administrative heart of the city in under a month and two senior security officials told Reuters initial findings suggested the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group was responsible.
2 killed in Hizb-ut activists-villagers clash

Two people were killed as activists of Hizb-ut Towhid clashed with villagers at Chashier Hatbazar and Porkara village of Sonaimuri Upazila of Noalhali district on Monday.



At least 50 others were injured in the clash that erupted around 12.00pm. The starry clash is still continuing. Police are trying to bring the situation under control by opening blank fires.



The enraged villagers also vandalized the office of Hizb-ut Towhid at Chashier Hatbazar and burnt a house of a supporter of Hizb-ut Towhid.



Police and locals said that the clash was resulted over conflict among the villagers with the activists of Hizb-ut Towhid for the last few years. Villagers alleged that the Hizb-ut Towhid activists were conducting anti-Islamic activities.
Syrian war creates child refugees and child soldiers

Reuters, Beirut :

Syria's five-year-old conflict has created 2.4 million child refugees, killed many and led to the recruitment of children as fighters, some as young as seven, U.N. children's fund UNICEF said on Monday.

Its report "No Place for Children" said more than 8 million children in Syria and neighboring countries needed humanitarian assistance, with the international response plan for Syria chronically underfunded.

"Twice as many people now live under siege or in hard-to-reach areas compared with 2013. At least two million of those cut off from assistance are children, including more than 200,000 in areas under siege," it said.

The U.N. says more than 450,000 people are under siege. Cases of starvation have been reported this year in areas surrounded by government forces and their allies near Damascus, and by Islamic State in eastern Syria.

Violence continues despite a fragile cessation of hostilities reached last month.

UNICEF said 400 children were killed in 2015. A separate report on Friday by a number of aid groups, including Oxfam, said U.N. figures showed at least 50,000 people had been killed since April 2014.

"A trend of particular concern is the increase in child recruitment," UNICEF said.

"Children report being actively encouraged to join the war by parties to the conflict offering gifts and 'salaries' of up to $400 a month."

Since 2014, warring sides have recruited younger children, it said, some as young as seven. More than half of children recruited in cases UNICEF verified in 2015 were under 15.

Children have been filmed executing prisoners in grisly propaganda videos by the Islamic State group.

Outside Syria, 306,000 Syrian children have been born as refugees, it said. U.N. refugee agency UNHCR says nearly 70,000 Syrian refugee children have been born in Lebanon alone.
3rd convocation of CUET held

Chittagong Bureau :

The third convocation of the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) was held at its campus in Raozan in North Chittagong yesterday.

President of the country and Chancellor of the University Md. Abdul Hamid presided over the convocation at CUET central ground at 2.30pm. Former adviser to the caretaker government and Vice-Chancellor of Asia Pacific University ProfessorDr. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury addressed the convocation as the convocation speaker and University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan attended as special guest.

CUET sources said the President onboard helicopter landed at newly built university helipad at about 2.15 pm . Vice chancellor of CUET Prof. Dr. Jahangir Alam and the academic members of the university felicitated the chancellor after his arrival at helipad. Later President Md. Abdul Hamid participated the convocation rally at campus upto pandel of the convocation ceremony.

Prof Dr Moshiul, Chairman of Convocation Sub committee-2016 said, a total of 1603 students are expected to collect their certificates on successful completion of their studies at the university on the convocation day.

Among the convokes, 1564 are graduates, 32 are Masters, four are post graduate diploma and three are PhD degree holders, he added. President confers the degree certificates among the convokes in the function. Steps have also been taken for ensuring security on the campus. Additional number of law-enforcing members has been deployed at different points covering the programme venue, district police super sources said.

Among others, Dean of Civil Engineering faculty Dr. Md. Hazrat Ali, Dean of Engineering & Technology Dr.Ashotosh Saha, Dean of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Dr. Md. Mahbubul Alam, Dean of Electricity & Computer Engineering Dr. Mahmud Abdul Matin Bhuyia, Dean of Architect & Planning Dr. Mostafa Kamal and Registrar Dr. Farukuzzman Chowdhury were present in convocation, sources said.


Orientation programmes of IIUC held

Prof Dr A KM Azharul Islam, VC, International Islami University Chittagong speaking at the fresheners\' reception at Kumira area as Chief Guest on Sunday.

Chittagong Bureau :

Vice Chancellor of Islamic International University Chittagong(IIUC) Dr. AKM Azharul Islam said that the success of the student can not be ensured through achieving only the university degree. Education and morality is essential in our life. If we acquire Proper Moral Education we can never misappropirate the govt money from Banks . He said for overall development of the country it is essential to Provide Proper Education and it is must to bring professional dynamism in all respects.

He disclosed it while addressing the orientation programs of Spring semester of newly ad mitted students at the permanent Campus In Kumira on Sunday as chief guest.

Prof Dr. Mohammed Delwar Hossain, Pro Vice Chancellor(Current Charge) presided over it while founder member & Board of Trusty's acting Chairman Mowlana Muminul Hoque chowdhury Spoke as special guest. Among others, Dr. Md. Giasuddin Hafiz,Dean of Shariah Faculty addressed the occasion. Dean of Business studies of IIUC Sirajul Islam delivered address of welcome in it. Dean of Business Faculty Farid Ahmed Sobhani,Registrar of IIUC Sqr. Leader (Retd.) Nurul Islam, Director Centre for University requirement course Prof Dr. BM Mofizur Rahman spoke as guest. Director of Students Affairs division AZM Obaidullah and Additional Director Mohammed Mamunur Rashid and Chowdhury Golam Mowla conducted the orientation as moderator .

Chief guest in his brief address said a student never earn proper education only for reading books . He said there are a number talents in our country and these talents may be used in the proper ways.

The special guest said IIUC is an exclusively a different education institution in considering its curriculums and study and IIUC is trying to introduce a new phase in the education sector rather business gain, said a press release.
Tofail expects UK's air cargo ban to be lifted soon

Economic Reporter :

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed Monday said the ban on UK-bound air cargo was expected to be lifted soon as works were underway for major overhauling of the security systems of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

"The ban was slapped (by UK) not for an indefinite period . . . we expect to appoint a (security) service contractor by March 20 to strengthen further the airport's security system," he told newsmen after a meeting with UK's high commissioner in Dhaka Alison Blake at his commerce ministry office.

Ahmed said the service contractor would work jointly with the Bangladesh's airport security officials to check any kinds of crime in the airport breaching the aviation or cargo transportation safety.
BD must continue efforts to end AIDS by 2030



Over more than two decades of intervention programme, Bangladesh has been successful in controlling HIV and AIDS and it must continue the existing efforts to end these sexually transmitted diseases by 2030.

The reported number of HIV positive cases in the country was 4143 with estimated number of nearly 9000, Saima Khan, officer-in-charge UNAIDS Bangladesh told a session of the 12th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) here on Sunday.

The three-day conference began at International Convention City Bashundhra on March 12. Some one thousand representatives from 56 countries are participating in the conference.

In her presentation at the session, Saima said among the 4143 HIV positive cases, 600 have died meaning Bangladesh now has over 3000 HIV and AIDS patients. Bangladesh is on track to end HIV and AIDS by 2013, it must maintain the ongoing intervention efforts to reach the target, she added.

"The estimated new annual number of HIV positive cases is 1000 while the reported new annual number is 300 to 400. We need to bring down the estimated cases to 300, if we want to end HIV and AIDS cases by 2030", the UNAIDS official told BSS.

HIV and AIDS intervention efforts are facing a challenge as funding on scaling up programmes of the diseases are decreasing, she said adding If global funding decreases, the government should allocate own fund to fight HIV and AIDS. Saima said because of strong intervention efforts, Bangladesh has averted 1,41,225 HIV infection and saved nearly 19,545 lives since 1995.

Other health experts at the session said although Bangladesh is a low prevalence country, it is highly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS because of high-risk behaviors. Injecting drug use, commercial unprotected sex with overlaps between more vulnerable and bridging populations, and high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increase exposure, they added.

Representatives and health professionals from 11 countries highlighted different aspects on HIV and AIDS at another session titled "High level roundtable symposium on adapting South-South Cooperation framework for strengthening cross-border action on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria" of the conference.

Co-morbidity of malaria and tuberculosis are closely interlinked to the HIV and epidemic, they said adding global HIV and AIDS programmes should focus on the diseases to combat the sexually transmitted diseases.
Sajal, Momo`s new play Sacrifice

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :Both Kawshik and Aboni passed from a common university. After finishing their studies they did not get the scope to meet each other. Aboni later engaged with her job, while Kawshik did not get any work. He attended interviews for job one after another but did not manage job for him. Once they met and Kawshik got a job as a assistant of Aboni. Then many complexities started to come in front of them. Such type of a story Salman Bin Akram has made a play titled Sacrifice recently. Anamika Mondal wrote story of the play. Shooting of the play was wrapped up last week. Jakia Bari Momo and Sajal worked in roles of Aboni and Kawshik respectively in the play.While sharing his feelings about the play Sacrifice Sajal told this correspondent, Now-a-days, it is difficult to get any good script. But Anamika Mondal has written the story of Sacrifice is really nice. There are some twists in the story of the play which will be attracted the viewers. They will enjoy these. Therefore, I am always comfortable to work with Momo on the screen.Momo shared her feelings by this way, My special attention is to big screen now. For this reason, I have been working in TV plays a little bit. But when I work in any play it can be said that its story is really nice. Salman Bin Akram has made the play sincerely. I believe viewers will enjoy the play which will be aired in any satellite channel soon.Meanwhile, at the end of this month Sajal is going to start shooting of Bodiul Alam Khokons movie Harjit against Mahiya Mahi.On the other hand, Momo has finished shooting of Sumon Anwars a play titled Aporichita recently. Momo and Anisur Rahman Milon will again work together as a pair in Tanim Rahman Angshus a movie titled Swapnobari soon. Its shooting will kick off from August, Momo said.
Queen Mother of Bhutan in city

UNB, Dhaka :

The Queen Mother of Bhutan, Tshering Pem Wangchuck, arrived here on Monday morning on a five-day visit.

Secretary (Bilateral), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mizanur Rahman received her at the airport at about 8:45 am.

The Queen Mother is also the President of the Youth Development Fund (YDF), a voluntary organisation that manages and provides resources to various youth development projects in Bhutan. She will be accompanied by Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, Vice President of YDF.

The delegation would also include a five-member team from the YDF, according to the Foreign Ministry here.

During her stay here, the Queen Mother will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She will visit one of BRAC's regional offices to see BRAC programmes. The Queen Mother's visit will also include visits to the Beximco Industrial Park to see textiles, garments and ceramic enterprises; the National Museum and other places of interest. The Queen Mother will leave for Bhutan on March 18.
Student of Edward College gang-raped

Staff Reporter :

A Hindu female student of Government Edward College was reportedly gang-raped by some miscreants after picking up from her residence in Pundia village of Sathia upazila in Pabna district on Sunday night.

The victim is a second year student of the Department of History of the college.

The victim girl has been sent to Pabna General Hospital for a medical test in this connection on Monday afternoon.

The victim's family is now under threat by the muscle powers rapists after filing a case with the Sathia Police Station in this connection, police said.

Quoting the family members, the Sathia Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nasir Uddin said, "The gang of miscreants picked up the girl at gun point from their house and raped her repeatedly in a bush of the house. At one stage, the victim girl shouted and the local people rushed to the spot by hearing her screaming. The rapists realized the persistence of some people and fled from the spot instantly."

They recovered the girl and rushed her to the house, the police official said. The victim's father filed a case in this connection, the OC said.

The police official confessed the threat to the victim's family by the rapists repeatedly to withdraw the case and said that all types of security measures already have been taken for the family.

"We are trying to arrest the rapists," the police official said. The victim girl has been sent to the Pabna General Hospital for a medical test in the afternoon, he said.


The politics of anger

Dani Rodrik :

Perhaps the only surprising thing about the populist backlash that has overwhelmed the politics of many advanced democracies is that it has taken so long. Even two decades ago, it was easy to predict that mainstream politicians' unwillingness to offer remedies for the insecurities and inequalities of our hyper-globalized age would create political space for demagogues with easy solutions. Back then, it was Ross Perot and Patrick Buchanan; today it is Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and sundry others.

History never quite repeats itself, but its lessons are important nonetheless. We should recall that the first era of globalization, which reached its peak in the decades before World War I, eventually produced an even more severe political backlash.

The historical evidence has been well summarized by my Harvard colleague Jeffry Frieden. In the heyday of the gold standard, Frieden argues, mainstream political actors had to downplay social reform and national identity because they gave priority to international economic ties. The response took one of two fatal forms in the interwar period: Socialists and communists chose social reform, while fascists chose national assertion. Both paths led away from globalization to economic closure (and far worse).

Today's backlash most likely will not go quite so far. As costly as they have been, the dislocations of the great recession and the euro crisis pale in significance compared to those of the Great Depression. Advanced democracies have built - and retain (despite recent setbacks) - extensive social safety nets in the form of unemployment insurance, retirement pensions, and family benefits. The world economy now has functional international institutions - such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization (WTO) - that it lacked prior to the Second World War. Last but not least, extremist political movements such as fascism and communism have been largely discredited.

Still, the conflicts between a hyper-globalized economy and social cohesion are real, and mainstream political elites ignore them at their peril. As I argued in my 1997 book Has Globalization Gone Too Far?, the internationalization of markets for goods, services, and capital drives a wedge between the cosmopolitan, professional, skilled groups that are able to take advantage of it and the rest of society.

Two types of political cleavage are exacerbated in the process: an identity cleavage, revolving around nationhood, ethnicity, or religion, and an income cleavage, revolving around social class. Populists derive their appeal from one or the other of these cleavages. Right-wing populists such as Trump engage in identity politics. Left-wing populists such as Bernie Sanders emphasize the gulf between the rich and the poor.

In both cases, there is a clear "other" toward which anger can be directed. You can barely make ends meet? It is the Chinese who have been stealing your jobs. Upset by crime? It is the Mexicans and other immigrants who bring their gang warfare into the country. Terrorism? Why, Muslims, of course. Political corruption? What do you expect when the big banks are bankrolling our political system? Unlike mainstream political elites, populists can easily point to the culprits responsible for the masses' ills.

Of course, establishment politicians are compromised because they have been at the helm all this time. But they are also immobilized by their central narrative, which smacks of inaction and helplessness.

This narrative puts the blame for stagnant wages and rising inequality on technological forces beyond our control. It treats globalization and the rules that sustain it as inexorable and inevitable. The remedy it offers, investment in education and skills, promises few immediate rewards and would bear fruit years from now, at best.

In reality, today's world economy is the product of explicit decisions that governments have made in the past. It was a choice not to stop at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and to build the much more ambitious - and intrusive - WTO. Similarly, it will be a choice whether to ratify future mega-trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

It was the choice of governments to loosen regulations on finance and aim for full cross-border capital mobility, just as it was a choice to maintain these policies largely intact, despite a massive global financial crisis. And, as Anthony Atkinson reminds us in his masterful book on inequality, even technological change is not immune from government agency: There is much that policymakers can do to influence the direction of technological change and ensure that it leads to higher employment and greater equity.

The appeal of populists is that they give voice to the anger of the excluded. They offer a grand narrative as well as concrete, if misleading and often dangerous, solutions. Mainstream politicians will not regain lost ground until they, too, offer serious solutions that provide room for hope. They should no longer hide behind technology or unstoppable globalization, and they must be willing to be bold and entertain large-scale reforms in the way the domestic and global economy are run.

If one lesson of history is the danger of globalization running amok, another is the malleability of capitalism. It was the New Deal, the welfare state, and controlled globalization (under the Bretton Woods regime) that eventually gave market-oriented societies a new lease on life and produced the post-war boom. It was not tinkering and minor modification of existing policies that produced these achievements, but radical institutional engineering.

Moderate politicians, take note.



(Dani Rodrik is Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government).

Courtesy: Project Syndicate


Police must not endanger people`s life

ACCORDING to media reports, in the capital where members of the law enforcers were on duty at street corner some miscreants shot a youth to death and snatched Tk 2.9 lakh on Sunday. Police intervention could have avoided the crime while giving protection from the surprise attack. The Friday incident of policeman firing at an employee of a cable TV operator over payment of monthly service charges has also explicitly exposed the utter arrogance and disregard of police to people's life and property and the issues should be addressed immediately.The incidents show that the ordinary people are victims at the hands of criminals and law enforcers as well, although police are duty bound to protect citizens' interest and enforce laws. Some policemen get encouraged and indulge in criminal activities because of politics in police, action against criminal activities of police is not improving police performance. As protector the government that has no reputation of honesty, some police cannot keep their reputation of honesty. If we consider the people's perception -- no criminal activity in the densely populated country happens without political backup, and thus the police inaction in hunting the criminals can be perceived to exemplify the truth.The second question is what have police and other law enforcers to do to combat illegal firearms? Apart from arresting political opponents and swelling pockets by doing arrest business, police proved helpless. About police firing, we see a sheer arrogance of the policeman over his official power. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police, though, urgently suspended the policeman and formed a probe body to investigate into the incident. For a small number of bad policemen, the force could not be blamed and at the same time, the accused policemen also do not get their due punishment.The citizens of the country have become sandwiched between the arrogant police and unruly criminals. The police and criminals virtually joined their hands to victimize ordinary citizens. Criminologists said lack of ethical training and accountability along with political use of police and political recruitment have morally degraded the forces to indulge in unlawful activities.
Qamrul seeks unconditional apology for comments on CJ

Staff Reporter :

Food Minister Qamrul Islam has sought unconditional apology for his contemptuous comment about Chief Justice SK Sinha. He, now abroad, offered the apology before the Supreme Court through his lawyer on Monday.

Qamrul Islam also filed a petition with the apex court seeking time to oblige with its order to appear before

it on March 15 in this connection. In the petition, he applied for reschedule the contempt rule's hearing date to any day after March 19. Advocate Syed Mamun Mahbub, lawyer of the minister, said that Qamrul Islam is now in Malaysia to join a conference and for medical treatment. The minister will appear before the court any day after March 19, he said.

Mamun Mahbub told media that his client was very respectful to the law and would not make comment on the judiciary in the future. "We have also sought unconditional apology for the comments," he said.

Earlier on March 8, the Supreme Court summoned Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq to appear before it on March 15 for their reactions to comments of the Chief Justice about the prosecution team of International Crimes Tribunal.

On February 23, during the appeal hearing of war crimes convict and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem, SK Sinha slammed the prosecution team and their investigation agency for poor performance. In response, Qamrul Islam and Mozammel Huq demanded resignation of the Chief Justice. Qamrul Islam alleged that the Chief Justice "was speaking in the lines of BNP-Jamaat and their lobbyists". Mozammel Haq said that the Chief Justice should not be delivering the verdict in the appeal of Mir Quasem.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a cabinet meeting slammed the two ministers for their comments and said that she and her government would not own such comments.

Following the comments of the ministers, the nine-member full bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha issued the contempt rule and asked the ministers to explain by March 14 as to why "they should not be prosecuted for their highly contemptuous comment" and asked to appear before the court on March 15.Meanwhile, Advocate Abdul Baset Majumder, lawyer of Mozammel Huq, said they would also submit a time petition to the court.
BD to import 100MW power from Tripura

Anisul Islam Noor :

Bangladesh will import 100MW of electricity from Tripura and export 10gbps of bandwidth to the Indian state from March 23, officials said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Premier Narendra Modi are expected to jointly inaugurate the bilateral trade through a video conference on the day.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has asked the Power Division and Posts and Telecommunications Division to take necessary preparations in this regard.

"We are preparing to start importing 100MW of electricity from Tripura from March 23," Additional Power Division Secretary Dr Ahmed Kaikaus told The New Nation on Monday.

Monwar Hossain, Managing Director of Bangladesh Submarine Cables Company Limited (BSCCL) said, "Bangladesh will start exporting 10gbps of bandwidth to Tripura from the same day."

"Tripura government is set to supply 100 MW of electricity to Bangladesh under no-electricity, no-payment method. We have already fixed the price with the Tripura government at Tk 6.43 per unit," Director General of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain said.

The electricity will be imported from southern Tripura's Palatana Power Plant. Bangladesh is now importing 250 MW of electricity from Indian public-sector plants at Tk 3.56 per unit, and another 250MW from Indian private power plants at Tk 4.36 per unit. The government has already installed a 54-km transmission line between Comilla and Tripura to transmit the electricity.

BSCCL has already set up necessary infrastructure at Agartala in India for exporting the bandwidth. The company will earn $100,000 per month from the bandwidth export.


British co to look after HSIA security

CAAB chairman, Civil Aviation Secy replaced

SM Mizanur Rahman :A British company will be given the charge of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's (HSIA) security within March 20, said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed."The British company, in association with the local security agencies, will work together at HSIA to provide foolproof security within March 20," he told journalists after a meeting with British High Commissioner Alison Blake at his secretariat office on Monday.Earlier on March 8, the British government banned cargo on passenger flights from Dhaka to the UK until further notice as part of a 'set of interim measures'.Tofail hoped that the ban on UK-bound air cargo will go soon as works were underway for major overhauling of the security systems of airport.He added service contractor would work jointly with the Bangladesh's airport security officials to check any kind of crime in the airport.Blake was also present during the briefing when she thanked the Minister and said security concerns required her government to impose the temporary ban. However, she expressed the hope that the issues of air cargo ban would be solved soon.Officials familiar with the process said that a foreign company of international repute was likely to be appointed as the security service contractor, which would work in liaison with the security agencies deployed at the airport.When contacted, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told The New Nation on Monday that to strengthen security measures at the airport they are communicating with a foreign company."A foreign company will be appointed to train the officials of airport. But it has not been finalised yet. The foreign company will be assigned to supervise and provide training to the concerned officials of the airport for a period of six months on a temporary basis," he said. He said the company will be appointed from a list provided by the British delegation by March 20.However, a seven-member steering committee, headed by Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, has been formed to oversee further improvements to the security regime at HSIA. In the wake of British government ban, after removing the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), the government on Monday also replaced the secretary of Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry.Civil Sviation Secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury has been made a member of the Planning Commission while Planning Secretary SM Golam Faruk has been made Civil Aviation Secretary. Earlier on Sunday, Air Vice-Marshal Ehsanul Gani Chowdhury was made the new Chairman of CAAB. He replaced Air-Vice Marshal M Sanaul Huq.Recent security assessments of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport found that some international security requirements were not being met, the UK government said in a notice issued on March 8. Airlines carrying cargo between Bangladesh and the UK on indirect routes are being asked to ensure that it is re-screened before its final leg into the UK, according to the UK Department for Transport.Earlier, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a project worth Tk 90 crore to purchase modern ground handling equipment as per the directives given by the British authorities.Meanwhile, business leaders, including BGMEA, expressed concern over the suspension of carrying cargo on direct flights from Dhaka to the UK by the British government.They urged the government to initiate an immediate government-level negotiation to have the restriction relaxed.The country's readymade garments export will be badly affected with the restriction as the UK is an important market for Bangladesh readymade garments. The country exports worth US$ 3 billion annually to the European country.The BGMEA urged the government to take immediate steps for fulfilling the international security requirements at the country's international airports within the March 31 deadline as given by the British government. Some 10-15 per cent of RMG goods are exported through air shipments annually, sources said.
Lenin demands Atiur`s trial

bdnews24.com :After the BNP, the Awami League has now joined the attack on Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.Senior Awami League leader Nooh Ul Alam Lenin has demanded Rahman's removal as Bangladesh Bank governor after the central bank's fund heist on its US account."Atiur Rahman should be removed from the governor's post for his irresponsible concealment of the heist and other relevant information," Awami League Presidium member Lenin wrote on his Facebook page Sunday night. Terming him a henchman of Muhammad Yunus, he demanded trial of the central bank governor.Lenin, a former leftist leader, confirmed to bdnews24.com that the status was posted by him.Bangladesh Bank has lost over $80 million from its account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in a cyber heist. It is being described as the 'biggest' bank theft in the world. The matter came to light in Bangladesh only a few days ago, after Philippines' the Daily Inquirer disclosed this in a report on Feb 29. Though the Bangladesh Bank management was aware of the heist from the beginning, it kept the whole matter a secret, so much so that Finance Minister AMA Muhith came to know about it about a month after the incident through newspapers.Irked by this, Muhith has described the central bank as 'incompetent' and warned of action to punish the management for its 'audacity to not inform the government' about the matter.The BNP has blamed both the governor and the finance minister for the incident and demanded their resignation. Lenin too raised questions over the governor's role. "Atiur Rahman cannot avoid the moral responsibilities for the theft of Bangladesh Bank reserve. Despite knowing about such a huge scam over a month ago, why didn't Rahman and the officials concerned inform the finance minister and the Banking Division secretary about it? This is surprising." Banking and Financial Institution Division Secretary M Aslam Alam told the media that the Bangla Bank officials met him twice since the heist but did not bring up the issue even for once. "In whose interest [was this done]," Lenin asked in the post. "Even after knowing about such a huge scam, how could the Atiur remain so indifferent as to go on a tour to Delhi? Why didn't the bank authority form a probe committee?" The ruling party Presidium member also raised questions on how the governor got some awards."Atiur was more busy in serving his own interest than the bank's. There are allegations that he abused his power and spent money from the Bangladesh Bank or private banks to collect awards and medals from home and abroad." "What creative article has he written to enrich Bengali literature that he was conferred the Bangla Academy Award this year? Or, did he exercise his undue influence for this?"Lenin demanded an investigation into the allegation and demanded 'appropriate punishment' for the governor if he is found guilty. At the end, he clarified that he wrote the status as a 'conscious and responsible citizen', not as an Awami League leader.After assuming power in 2009, the Awami League-led government on May 1 that year appointed Aitur Rahman, a Dhaka University professor and development researcher, as the 10th governor of the central bank for four years. In April 2013, his appointment was extended by another tenure. Rahman is supposed to be in the post until Aug 2 this year when he reaches his retirement age of 65.
2 HuT men killed in Noakhali

Clash with villagers: Houses torched

Staff Reporter :

Two members of Hizb-ut Tawhid, a suspected militant outfit, were killed in a clash with same villagers at Chashirhat Purkora village of Sonaimuri upazila in Noakhali on Monday. About 50 other people were also injured in the clash.

The deceased were identified as Ibrahim Khan Rubel, 28, son of Nurul Haque and Md Solaiman Khokon, 28, of Purkora village. Superintendent of Police (SP) in Noakhali Khandaker Elias Sharif said that the deceased are members of the Hizb-ut Tawhid.

During the clash, several shops and houses were torched and vandalised in the village. The office of the Hizb-ut Tawhid was also torched by the villagers, said the eyewitnesses.

On information, fire-fighting unit rushed to the spot and recovered two charred bodies from a torched house.

A tense situation was prevailing in the area following the clash. Police, RAB and BGB members were deployed in the area to avoid further untoward incident. Police have lodged an FIR in this regard. However, no arrests have been made so far.

The clash took place at the Purkora village of Kashirhat union at noon over construction of a mosque. Locals protested construction of the mosque by the members of the outfit that ensued the bloody clash between the Hizb-ut Tawhid members and the villagers, reports a correspondent from Noakhali.

Some days ago, the suspected Hizb-ut Tawhid members started construction of the mosque. Last month, they held a meeting to reorganise themselves. A dispute has been continuing over construction of the mosque.

SP of Noakhali said that the clash broke out as a sequel to previous enmity. He said that some 100-150 Hizb-ut Tawhid men gathered at the house of former UP member Nurul Haque for holding a meeting on Sunday night. Sensing the presence of the activists of the outfit, local people cordoned off the house of Nurul Haq early on Monday.

Later, the clash took place between the villagers and the Hizb-ut Tawhid members. The agitated local people then vandalised some shops and houses, including the house of Nurul Haque, and set those afire.

On information, a fire-fighting unit rushed to the spot and recovered two charred bodies from the house of Nurul Haque.

Local people also put up barricade on Sonaimuri-Laksham Road, disrupting traffic movement for one hour.
ACC hunt for big 13

Sagar Biswas :The Anti-Corruption Commission [ACC] is going to launch an extensive investigation against some highly important persons who are believed to be involved in money laundering in the name of the 'Malaysia My Second Home [MM2H] Programme'.Already the ACC has got a list of 648 persons, including influential politicians, wealthy businessmen, retired bureaucrats, prominent physicians and members of some other lucrative professions. Of them, 13 persons have been identified as very important persons [VIPs]; sources close to the ACC said on Monday. In the meanwhile, a special three-member investigation team of the anti-corruption watchdog led by a Deputy Director has collected some sensitive information and relevant documents fromBangladesh Bank [BB], National Board of Revenue [NBR] and Intelligence Agencies in connection with the money laundering. "The investigation is going on in full swing. The investigation team has also indentified several persons who have laundered money to Malaysia in the name of MM2H programme. But I can't disclose names of accused persons for the sake of proper investigation," a senior ACC official told The New Nation preferring to remain anonymous. The MM2H is an international residency scheme enacted by the Government of Malaysia under its tourism ministry to allure foreigners to live in the country on a long-stay visa. In this regard, the investigators are also trying to contact with different levels of Malaysian government to get accurate picture.Not only that, the NBR is also conducting investigation into the allegation where they have categorised the MM2H applicants from 648 identified persons. Of them, 383 are politicians and 265 are businessmen, government officials, teachers and other professionals. Of the politicians, there are 287 Awami Leaguers and 96 came from BNP-Jamaat, the sources said.There is widespread allegation that accused persons exploited the given opportunity of the programme by laundering huge black money abroad. In this backdrop, the NBR is now trying to identify the residence builders in Malaysia under the MM2H programme without permission from the BB and other concerned organisations of the government. As per information provided by Malaysian government, more than 3,005 Bangladeshis have applied for MM2H programme in the last 12 years where each of them had to deposit Tk one crore in Malaysian banks for visa, and spent additional money for other purpose. According to the survey of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), an international organisation working about money laundering, about Tk 1,28,616 crore was laundered from Bangladesh to different countries between 2002 and 2011. Certainly, the amount of money, laundered from Bangladesh, has fattened in this meantime. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has ranked third position among the top countries after China and Japan to avail the MM2H programme, according to the MM2H website. It said, 204 Bangladeshis availed second home offer in 2004, 852 in 2005, 341 in 2006, 149 in 2007, 68 in 2008, 86 in 2009, 74 in 2010, 276 in 2011, 388 in 2012, 285 in 2013, and 250 in 2014.
Hunt for stolen money

Philippines cooperating with BD: AMCL preparing charge against suspects: Senate Committee holds hearing today

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

The Philippines government has expended all-out cooperation to Bangladesh to recover $80m stolen fund of Bangladesh Bank (BB) went next after slipping through the Philippines financial system, officials of both countries said on Monday.

They said, cyber criminals had stolen the money from the BB's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 5, which was initially wired to the Philippines, going into four Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) foreign-currency accounts.

The accounts, under the names of Enrico Teodoro Vasquez, Alfred Santos Vergara, Michael Francisco Cruz and Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, received some $81 million believed to be BB funds stolen by hackers.

Those accounts were opened in May last year and never reported any activity until the February 5.

"The Philippines is cooperating with Bangladesh and will continue investigating until the funds are recovered," Teresita Herbosa, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Philippines, told reporters in Manila on Monday.

She said: Both the countries are working together to trace the money that entered illegally in the Philippine financial system.

As part of the cooperation, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMCL) of Philippines earlier filed a case in this regard and obtained an order from a court there to freeze those accounts involved in laundering the hacked money.

Herbosa, a member of that country's Anti-Money Laundering Council, said some of the stolen funds that entered the Philippine financial system will be recovered.

"I am sure somehow, some of the money will be recovered," she said. When asked, Herbosa said, "Investigation into the alleged laundering is on and the AMCL is preparing to frame charges against a number of people allegedly involved in the case".

"The Philippines government has already extended full cooperation to us to trace and recover the stolen fund went through to the country's banking channel. Both governments are also cooperating on investigations to prevent a similar theft in the future," BB spokesman Subhankar Saha told The New Nation on Monday.

Saha said the funds were taken out of its account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February using an interbank messaging system known as Swift.

About $100 million was moved via five transfer requests, with four ending up in bank accounts in the Philippines and another, for about $20 million going to an account in Sri Lanka.

The BB spokesman said that the Philippines government was serious in uncovering the truth regarding the alleged money laundering and taking tough steps to bring the culprits under the book.

Meanwhile, the Philippines Senate 'Blue Ribbon Committee' will hold a hearing on the cross-border money-laundering scheme today (Tuesday).

The Committee has summoned six individuals, including Maia Santos-Deguito, the RCBC Jupiter branch manager, who have been identified as among the potential conspirators to the $81-million money laundering scheme by the AMCL.

The suspected persons were asked to attend before the Senate Committee for hearing, according to media report.

"The Philippine Senate has started tracing where the stolen funds went next after slipping through the Philippines financial system," the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Senator Serge Osmena as saying on Monday. Asked if the money had been remitted elsewhere, Osmena replied that it was being traced.

"We have no idea where the money went as of this time," the senator added.

Osmena, chair of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said the Philippine Senate will also trace the four depositors who opened the US dollar bank accounts at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp which received the stolen money.


Big change in BB management soon

Atiur avoids meeting with Finance Minister: Muhith's press briefing today

Staff Reporter :Puzzled by the $101 million cyberheist from Bangladesh Bank (BB) account held the Us Federal Reserve Bank, the Finance Minister AMA Muhit has hinted changes in the top management in the central bank of Bangladesh. "A big change on way in the central bank," he told reporters after a short meeting with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.The meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat. Muhit said, ''The heist concerning huge amount of money from BB's account in US is a big crime that I take it very seriously. Definitely there would be big change in BB board soon". Regarding removal of BB Governor, he said, "I will make a statement in this regard at tomorrow's media briefing". The Minister will brief the media at his Finance Ministry office at 11:00am today (Tuesday).He is expected to make the government's stance clear over the issue in the media briefing, sources in the finance ministry said. They said the government plans big change in the BB management and as part of the move Governor Dr Atiur Rahman may be removed any time.The BB Governor was asked to meet the finance minister on Monday afternoon at the latter's office after arriving in the country from India. But he ignored the call and drove straight to his residence from the Dhaka airport. "Our Minister along with senior ministry officials was waiting for him at his office, but he did not come to meet the minister avoiding the meeting," said the ministry official.Meanwhile, the central bank has postponed its emergency board meeting was scheduled to be held today (Tuesday).
The Elites Want Genocide This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a ...
If you are looking for the new Immoral Minority posts, you should know that they can be found here at our new home Please stop by to get caught up on politics, join the conversations, or simply check out the new digs.
Monet rahapelien ystavat ovat viime vuosina loytaneet netticasinot ja olleet ihmeissaan. Verrattuna kotimaisen Veikkauksen kivijalkarahapeleihin puhutaan aivan eri tason palautusprosenteista ja lisaksi pelaaminen on aarimmaisen helppoa ja turvallista. Netticasinoiden maara on tana paivana todella suuri ja niita loytyy jokaiseen lahtoon, suurin ongelma aloittelevalla pelaajalla onkin tehda valinta siita, minka netticasinon valitsee. Kaikkien netticasinoiden mainospuheet naet lupaavat kauniita asioita ja niiden lapinakeminen on tietysti tarkeaa. Nyrkkisaantona voidaan kuitenkin jo kattelyssa todeta, etta jos valitsemasi netticasino on lisensoitu ETA-alueella, sen kanssa ei tule olemaan ongelmia, ellei niita itse jarjesta. Kay tutustumassa parhaisiin netticasinoihin osoitteessa www.ilmaiskierroksia.info!

Ensimmainen nyrkkisaanto on siis varmistaa, etta valitsemallasi netticasinolla on ETA-alueen lisenssi. Suurimmassa osassa tapauksista se on Maltan eli MGA:n lisenssi. Myos Viron, Englannin ja Gibraltarin lisensseja nakyy ja naissa valvonta on jopa Maltaa tiukempaa. Lopputulema on kuitenkin se, etta ETA-alueen lisenssi takaa suomalaisille verovapaat voitot seka sen, etta niita valvotaan kontrolloidusti. Maailmalla on iso nippu Curacaon lisenssilla toimivia netticasinoita ja niistakin suurin osa on laadukkaita. Ne eivat kuitenkaan ole suomalaisille asiakkaille verovapaita, joten emme suosittele niita.

Tana paivana markkinoille on ilmaantunut paljon ETA-alueella toimiva netticasinoita ilman rekisteroitymista. Jos tarkoitus on vain pelata yksittaisia pelikertoja, on varsin helppo suositella naita. Netticasinot ilman rekisteroitymista tarjoavat palvelun tunnistautumisen verkkopankin avainlukulistan avulla ja saman palvelun kautta tapahtuvat talletukset ja mahdolliset voittojen nostot silmanrapayksessa. Normaaleihin netticasinoihin pitaa asiakkaan rekisteroitya, tehda talletukset ja tunnistautua dokumenttien avulla. Tama on lisenssiehtojen mukainen kaytanto, eika kovinkaan monimutkainen, mutta silti monet asiakkaat haluavat yksinkertaista ja nopeaa palvelua. Toki normaalit netticasinot tarjoavat usein asiakkailleen laadukkaita talletusbonuksia ja erilaisia kampanjoita, joten kannattaa tarkkaan punnita, kumman ratkaisun valitsee. Kannattaa myos muistaa, etta tunnistautuminen tehdaan vain kerran, joten mikaan jatkuva riippakivi se ei ole.

Suomalaiset asiakkaat ovat netticasinoille tarkeita, joten kaikilla vahankin laadukkailla netticasinoilla on suomenkieliset sivut seka suomenkielinen asiakaspalvelu  suomenkielisyys kannattaakin ottaa netticasinoa valittaessa nyrkkisaannoksi. Vaikka tana paivana englanninkielisyys on harvoille ongelma, on suomenkielisten netticasinoiden maara niin valtava, etta suosittelemme niiden kayttoa. Rahansiirrot ovat tana paivana niin hyvassa mallissa, etta niiden kanssa tuskin tulee mitaan ongelmia. Kolme tarkeinta segmenttia: Suomalaiset verkkopankit, luottokortit (Visa, Mastercard) seka nettilompakot (Skrill, Neteller) loytyvat jokaisesta laadukkaasta netticasinosta. Viime vuosien trendiksi noussut verkkokauppa on kehittanyt rahansiirrot niin laadukkaiksi ja nopeiksi, etta niiden suhteen ei ole enaa vuosiin ollut ongelmia. Luonnollisesti netticasinot kayttavat naita samoja palveluita ja hyotyvat kehityksesta.

Naiden isojen linjojen jalkeen netticasinon valintaan vaikuttavat luonnollisesti tarjottavat tervetuliaisbonukset  uudet asiakkaat saavat tana paivana kovan kilpailun myota merkittavia etuja netticasinoilta ja niita kannattaa luonnollisesti vertailla. Erilaiset talletusbonukset, ilmaiskierrokset seka ilmaiset pelirahat tuovat suuriakin rahanarvoisia etuja ja niiden vertailu on ehdottomasti kannattavaa. Myoskaan useampien tilien avaaminen ja tervetuliaistarjousten kayttaminen ei missaan nimessa ole huono idea.

Kun edella mainitut asiat ovat mieleisia ja vaihtoehtoja on vielakin jaljella, mennaan jo nyansseihin. Toki pelivalikoima on yksi kriteeri, mutta taman paivan netticasinoissa tamakin asia on paasaantoisesti varsin samanlainen. Toki useamman samantasoisen netticasinon vertailussa kannattaa yleensa valita se, jossa on eniten peleja tarjolla. Vaikka omat suosikit loytyisivatkin useammasta, voi tulevaisuudessa mielenkiinto nousta joihinkin muihin peleihin ja silloin on tietysti mukavampaa, etta ne loytyvat valikoimista. Viimeisena voidaan nostaa esiin kaytettavyys  joidenkin netticasinoiden sivut ovat vilkkuvia, valkkyvia ja epakaytannollisia. Omaan silmaan ja kaytettavyyteen sopiva sivusto on luonnollisesti aina se paras valinta. Tarjonta netticasinoissa on tana paivana valtava ja jokaiselle loytyy varmasti se oma netticasino  onnea matkaan!
Quotes

"Our dreams draw us foward, as water whispers to the dowser's wand."- Tony Cohan







"Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide." - Tom Robbins







"Politics is how you live your life, not who you vote for!" -Jerry Rubin







"The pencil is mightier than the pen"- Robert Pirsig







"Resist much, obey little." -Walt Whitman







When the axe came into the woods, many of the trees said, At least the handle is one of us.  Turkish proverb







"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction" - Pascal







"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair




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The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with clarifying information under the question, "Who are these "delegates" on my ballot?" with regards to the significance of the statewide vote for presidential candidates on the Republican and Democratic ballots in Illinois, and the role of the delegates.

When are polls open?

Polls open at 6 a.m. on primary Election Day, Tuesday, March 15. They close at 7 p.m.

Do I need to bring ID?

No. Illinois law does not require that you show an ID to vote so long as you were previously legally registered to vote at the address where you still reside. You will be asked to sign your name when you request a ballot.

Where is my polling place located?

The address of your polling place is located on your voter registration card. But if you dont have that, you can call your respective county clerks office, and they will be able to direct you to your polling place. If you dont know where to vote, it is advised that you call your county clerks office on Monday for this information. While you also could call Tuesday, theres a good chance youre not the only one who doesnt know where to vote, and the phone lines may be busy.

Also, if you show up to a polling place that is not yours, election judges will have maps available and will direct you to the correct place. If all else fails, you can show up at your county clerks office on Election Day and vote there.

What if Im not registered?

If you are not registered to vote at your current address, you can do so through Election Day. You will not, however, be able to do this at what would be your assigned polling place. You will need to visit your respective county clerks office. Some counties have identified a polling place that can do this off-site. For example, these services will be available at the SIU Student Center in Jackson County on Election Day, as well as at the clerks office.

What do I need to bring with me to register?

To register, you will need two forms of identification. One must be a picture ID, such as a drivers license or state ID card. The other must show your current address, for example, an official piece of mail, such as a utility bill.

How does the primary work in Illinois?

When you arrive at your polling place, an election judge will ask you whether you want to pull a ballot for the Republican Party, the Democratic Party or the Green Party. You can only choose one. There is no requirement that you are registered with a particular party to vote in that partys primary. It doesnt matter which partys ballot you requested in the previous primary election. But you can only vote in one partys primary.

How do I decide which ballot to pull?

For some people, this decision is easy because they always pull either a Democratic or Republican ballot. But other voters may choose a respective partys ballot because they are particularly interested in a highly competitive primary race, even if they are independent voters or generally identify with the other party. In those cases, its important to know the party of the candidate youre hoping to support. Of note, if you wish to weigh in on, for example, the Republican Partys nomination on the Republican ticket and the Williamson County States Attorneys nomination on the Democratic ticket, and you live in that county, youll have to choose which is more important to you. The same could be said for voters in several Southern Illinois counties who may want to weigh in on the Democratic presidential nomination, but also were hoping to cast a ballot in the Republican Primary for the 58th Senate District.

Since you can only pick one partys ballot, there may be races on the other partys ballot you thought youd have a chance to vote on because youve been hearing them discussed in your community or on the news. Thats why its important to decide which ballot you want to pull before you head to the polls.

If you pull a Green Party ballot, you will not have the option of weighing in on any presidential or statewide candidates. The competitive Green Party race on the ballot in this area is for the partys nomination for the 12th Congressional District where Paula Bradshaw is facing Sadona Folkner.

Who are these delegates on my ballot?

Illinois primary system is a bit unusual, and can be confusing. If you pick a Republican or Democratic ballot, at the top will be the candidates seeking that partys nomination. Youre most likely to recognize those names, and you can vote for the candidate you prefer. The statewide vote carries weight on the Democratic side, but this is essentially what the pundits call a beauty contest on the Republican side. For both parties, the election of delegates is part of the equation.

The parties nominate a candidate at their respective national conventions, and what counts is that you pick the delegates who pledge to vote at the convention for the candidate you want to win. You may not recognize the names of the delegates listed on your ballot, but to the right, in parentheses, it will say which candidate he or she is supporting. The idea is to pick the delegates that support your candidate, as the directions will state on your ballot.

This process carries more weight on the Republican side. The winner of the statewide vote does receive 12 at-large delegates at the convention, but the majority of delegates are determined by voters in each congressional district. On the other hand, Democrats use statewide results as part of a hybrid system to divvy up delegates for each candidate. The delegate votes on the ballot also play a role in determining who goes to the convention.

On the Republican ticket, a voter can choose three delegates. On the Democratic ticket, a voter can choose six delegates, because that partys convention is significantly larger. You can choose any combination of delegates. For example, on the Democratic ticket, you could pick three delegates for one candidate, and three for the other. While thats allowed, this would mean essentially canceling out your own vote. Most people who support a particular candidate pick the maximum number of delegates that they can who are pledging to support a particular candidate.

Also of note, there are cases, due to a lack of organization on behalf of a particular candidate, that the number of delegates pledging to support him or her will be shy of the total amount allowed  three for Republicans and six for Democrats. In those cases, you could either choose to just vote for the delegates supporting your chosen candidate, or you can select all the delegates available for that person, and give your remaining votes to delegates supporting other candidates.
As Republicans, were angry. Were angry with Barack Obama and those who elected him  twice. Were frequently almost as angry with former House Speaker John Boehner for quietly acquiescing or for not fighting back. We didnt much like the way Supreme Court decisions were going before the death of Antonin Scalia last month, and we certainly dont want a Democrat to pick his replacement.

Voice of The Southern: Sanders best choice as Democratic nominee There is no candidate in either party that has a more impressive resume of public service th

In Boehners resignation as speaker and the failed candidacy of Jeb Bush, weve channeled our anti-establishment anger to the point where a Cruz nomination would be as divisively right as Sanders is divisively left, and a Trump nomination would simply be divisive.

Its not difficult to see Donald Trump as the embodiment of our anger  unless we stop to think about the ramifications.

What weve already seen in February and March will play itself out more vividly in November. In the primaries, 60 percent of Republicans have not voted for Trump. In November, 60 percent of Americans will not vote for him. We may wish  and wish hard  that this is not the case, but wishing will not change the facts  or the November outcome.

By sheer number of column inches published and news minutes aired, we in the media have subtly (or not) tried to tell you that the battle for the nomination is near an end. It is not. Its just beginning.

If Illinois voters see themselves as leaders and thinkers  rather than blind followers of primary voters from other states  a more intelligent form of anger can and should make Florida Sen. Marco Rubio the Republican nominee to be our countrys 45th president.

Lost in much of the bluster that has dominated this years Republican campaign is the fact that Rubios mainstream Republicanism begins with a firm belief that a smaller federal government is both preferable and possible.

He has been a consistent critic of President Obamas use of executive order to create policy and among his first votes as a senator was one to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In describing Rubio, a New York Times column from last December stated that for all the Republican talk about dismantling the Affordable Care Act, one Republican presidential hopeful has actually done something toward achieving that goal.

Rubio is a staunch defender of the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners.

He opposes the continued influx of Syrian refugees without significantly stronger vetting and supports a multi-faceted plan to secure the border that includes the deportation of criminal illegal aliens, an end to federal funding of sanctuary cities, the completion of the 700-mile wall and an increase of 20,000 border patrol agents. But when he speaks on immigration issues he does so with calm assurance and with the realization that his own parents emigrated from Cuba only 60 years ago.

And when he speaks on this topic, we never have the feeling that he dislikes those who have or are trying to reach America.

While certainly Republican mainstream, Rubio is more moderate than either of his ideologue opponents. In 2015, he sponsored the Student Success Act that would expand funding options to thousands who feel disenfranchised because of spiraling college costs.

He is a proponent of a tax credit to businesses that offer paid family leave, and when speaking on the topic sounds more like the father of four than the politician trying to capture our vote. As president, I will reform our government in a way that empowers our families to thrive in this new century, and a major component of this will be reforms to family leave policy.

Voice of The Southern: 58th Senate - Schimpf a better choice to take on Simon After 20-plus years, Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, was gerrymandered out of his distri

Sounds like a Republican. Sounds like a dad.
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The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $11.9 million to nine local banks through the auction held by Azerbaijans Central Bank (CBA) March 14, SOFAZ said March 14.

SOFAZ offered $150 million for sale through the auction.

Thus, SOFAZ will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016.

The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZs transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

As of January 1, 2016, SOFAZ assets reduced by 9.5 percent compared to 2014 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $33.57 billion.
/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Falling oil prices have set new challenges for Azerbaijan, Aydin Aliyev believes.

The Head of the countrys State Customs Committee said at a conference devoted to the development and future prospects in the customs system on March 14 that this has led to the need that the work of many state agencies, including customs bodies, reaches a new level.

A conference on Development in customs system and future prospects organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan kicked off in Baku on March 14.

Speaking at the event, Arzu Hajiyeva, the representative of Ernst & Young in Azerbaijan, said that along with the traditional functions, the customs structures in Azerbaijan should be provided with new ones in current realities.

"Currently, the customs structures of many countries, including Azerbaijan, are facing such new tasks as the promotion of international trade, the formation of the necessary sphere for investment and business development, as well as the protection of the main property rights," she noted.

Later, Aliyev told journalists that customs duties on a number of imported products may be reduced in Azerbaijan.

He said that this will mainly relate to customs duties on imports of raw materials and components for manufacture of products of Azerbaijani origin.

He went on to add that Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia.

"The Azerbaijani customs structures always require presenting a certificate of origin of the products during export, he said. We are thoroughly conducting inspection in this direction.

I can assure that Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia," he noted.

He also said that the import of cigarettes decreased by six times in Azerbaijan within two months.

"This is primarily connected with the prevention of import of tobacco products supposedly for own use, but used for commercial purposes," Aliyev added.




/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's state energy giant SOCAR is in talks with the Russian Gazprom Company and Iran to purchase three billion cubic meters of gas annually.

This was stated by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev after the ceremony of launching the platform No 7 at the Gunashli field in the Caspian Sea on March 14. This is the deepest and the first platform in the history of independent Azerbaijan fully designed and constructed by SOCAR.

He told journalists that there is still interest in purchasing Russian gas.

"We conveyed Gazprom our offer. We need gas for injecting into the reservoirs at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block of fields to maintain stable oil production. Secondly, we plan to inject additional gas volumes into our underground gas storage facilities to fully use them. The capacity of gas storage facilities hits around five billion cubic meters. As a pilot project, we want to test the maximum capacity."

He further added that SOCAR is negotiating with Iran about swap seasonal supplies.

"Iran has much unused gas during summer, he said. The talks are being held about pumping Iranian gas into Azerbaijani gas storage facilities and providing the northern provinces of Iran with gas in winter. At present, experts are discussing technical issues."

China's interest

Abdullayev went on to add that a number of Chinese companies, as well as the country's Eximbank show interest in the project of Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex in Azerbaijan.

He said that works on the construction of the OGPC are underway.

"Works on the project continue, and we are holding negotiations. Previously, we were in talks with potential investors, led by the Japanese Mitsui, and a working group was established. But we found their proposals ineffective and stopped working with them. We recommended the Japanese companies to revise their proposals. If they offer us more precise proposals, we will consider them. Otherwise, we will work with those companies that will bring the best offers," he added.

The cost of construction of the OGPC is $17.1 billion (including interest on loans received during the construction period). Some 30 percent of the project's cost is planned to be financed with the authorized capital (nearly $5 billion), while 70 percent of the projects  with the borrowed capital (about $12 billion).

The total cost of the first phase of the OGPC project is estimated at $7 billion (including interest on loans - $8.45 billion). The payback period of the project will last four to five years.

The OGPC will be established at a place 60 kilometers from Baku. It will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant (TPP). The project will be completed in late 2022 - early 2023.

The OGPC construction project implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.

The annual capacity of the refinery as part of OGPC will be 8.5-9 million metric tons; the gas processing plant will be 12 billion cubic meters, petrochemical production will exceed 1 million metric tons (the power of the plant for the production of polyethylene will be 800,000 metric tons, rigs for polypropylene production  300,000 metric tons).
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee David Harris.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that the visit of the delegation led by Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee David Harris to the country would be interesting, and the trip would create a good opportunity for members of the delegation, who are in Azerbaijan for the first time, to closely familiarize themselves with the country. Noting that David Harris was a close friend of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of the visit in terms of discussing issues of mutual interest.

Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee David Harris emphasized that Azerbaijan was an important country for the US. David Harris noted that the American Jewish Committee would spare no efforts to contribute to the deepening of the relations between Azerbaijan and the US.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and stressed the significance of coexistence of different religious communities in Azerbaijan and the measures taken to develop multiculturalism even further. They also discussed a number of issues of mutual concern.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the heavy loss of lives as a result of a violent terrorist attack in Ankara.

"We were deeply saddened by the news of a heavy loss of lives as a result of a violent terrorist attack in the city of Ankara.

We are extremely outraged by this horrible tragedy, resolutely condemn terrorism and emphasize the necessity of fighting against it in the fiercest manner.

On the occasion of this tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deep condolences to you, the bereaved families, the loves ones of those who died and the brotherly people of Turkey, and wish the swiftest possible recovery to the injured.

May Allah rest the souls of the dead in peace!".
Czech Republic is the crucial partner of Azerbaijan, ?hairman of the House of Deputies of the Czech parliament Jan Hamacek told journalists March 13.

"We have multicultural issues that we have to do", Hamacek said.

Czech Republic highly evaluate the strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, he said.

"I am very happy to have the opportunity to come back to Baku because I visited here for several times", Hamacek said.

****

10:15

Delegation led by ?hairman of the House of Deputies of the Czech parliament has arrived in Azerbaijan.

Jan Hamacek was welcomed by Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis Valeh Alasgarov and other officials at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport.

During the visit it is planned to hold meetings with Azerbaijani officials.

It is expected that there will be discussed the current state of relations between the two countries, as well as prospects for further cooperation.

The visit will last until March 15.
On the territory near the frontier of Dashkend village of Yardimli region of Azerbaijan on Sunday was prevented attempt to violate the state borders, said in a statement of the State Border Service.

At 4:10 a group of 8-10 people was discovered, which was trying to pass the Azerbaijani border with Iran, said in report.

Members of the group have ignored calls to stop and warning shots and opened fire in the direction of the border guards.

As a result of skirmish five infiltrators were wounded and two others were arrested. Military doctors have arrived on the scene bit it was unable to save them, despite all efforts.

The group of trespassers were citizens of Bangladesh and their conductors, who were armed, said in report.

During the inspection of the scene were found bullets by a hunting rifle and one pistol "Browning".

Head of the State Border Service, Commander of Border Troops, Colonel-General Elchin Guliyev arrived at the scene.
Azerbaijan is making more and more accomplishments, said former Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin, who was in Azerbaijan to attend the 4th Global Baku Forum.





Mr. Cetin said the only problem of Azerbaijan was the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which impedes the development of the whole region.





The former FM said the Nagorno-Karabakh was an integral part of Azerbaijan, adding Armenia violated norms and principles of the international law.





Hikmet Cetin also stressed the importance of the Global Baku Forum.




/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's status of a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been officially approved.

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov inked a Memorandum on granting the SCO partner dialogue status to the country on March 14 at the organizations head office in Beijing, RIA Novosti reported.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental organization founded on June 15, 2001. The members of the organization are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while Belarus, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoy observer status.

"Today, Azerbaijan has gained, exactly approved the status of a dialogue partner. It is a great honor for us. The path of our relationship started back in 2012, when President Ilham Aliyev sent an official letter to the SCO with the idea of Azerbaijan to gain an observer status of the SCO. So, as you know, Azerbaijan has much higher ambitions than just a dialogue partner... I think that today's document, signed here, gives us an opportunity to start a dialogue with such a very important, very interesting organization," Mammadyarov said.

Alimov, in turn, said the SCO considers the signing of the Memorandum "as an important contribution to the further development of the organization."

"A dialogue partner status will allow Azerbaijan to actively involve in the multi-faceted and diverse activities of the organization through participation in existing mechanisms of interaction," he noted.

A decision on providing Azerbaijan with the status of SCO dialogue partner was taken at the Ufa summit in July 2015.

The heads of the SCO member states signed documents providing Azerbaijan with the status of SCO dialogue partner at an expanded meeting of SCO Council of Heads of State held in Ufa, Russia on July 10.

Baku believes that cooperation with the SCO will create new opportunities for the country. Being one of the newest dialogue partners to the SCO, Azerbaijan will take advantage of its position to strengthen the economic, trade, and political ties with the organization that represents a significant majority of the Eurasian territories.

SCO members, together with observer countries and dialogue partners, have a combined population of 3.3 billion and GDP worth $15.5 trillion in 2014, representing 20 percent of the global GDP.

Azerbaijans foreign policy is multi-vector, and in this respect the country is further expanding cooperation on bilateral and multilateral bases. Given this, this membership is beneficial for the country.

All the SCO member countries will get an opportunity to learn from the best practices of Azerbaijan, which has invested so much of its own resources in connecting Europe and Asia by developing regional projects in the energy, agriculture, logistics infrastructure, and public transportation sectors.

Azerbaijan can also play a significant role in the development of relations  particularly in expanding the transportation corridor  between the SCO and the EU countries via Central Asia and Turkey. It is also expected that Azerbaijan's membership in the SCO would give the country more opportunities to interact with China and Central Asian countries much more closely.
The first meeting of Steering Committee on Framework Agreement for cooperation in the fields of education, sciences, culture and communication between the Government of Azerbaijan and UNESCO signed in 2013, was held on March 11 at the UNESCO HQ in Paris, to discuss realization of the Agreement.





Along with the relevant section members of UNESCO, the meeting was also attended by the Azerbaijani delegation.





Azerbaijan's permanent representative to UNESCO Anar Kerimov spoke of the close cooperation between UNESCO and the country, underlined the successes reached during the first years of independence. He reminded the hard days when the country received humanitarian assistance, the sequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the economic achievements Azerbaijan gained in short period. He in particular stressed the role and huge contribution of the first lady of Azerbaijan, President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva in development of UNESCO-Azerbaijani relations.





The meeting of the Steering Committee would promote further development of these ties, he emphasized. He informed about the projects Azerbaijan implements in the frame of UNESCO programs in Tanzania, Liberia, Uganda and Kenya in education and other fields.





Framework Agreement for cooperation in the fields of education, sciences, culture and communication between the Government of Azerbaijan and UNESCO signed in Paris, 2013 envisaged Azerbaijans providing UNESCO with financial contribution for implementation of many large-scale projects.




/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia have discussed prospects of cooperation for ensuring border security, as well as steps aimed at combating any illegal activities in the Caspian Sea.

A trilateral meeting, which has been held in Baku, brought together Chief of Azerbaijans State Border Service, Colonel General Elchin Guliyev, Irans Border Guard Commander, Qasem Rezaee and Vladimir Kulishov, Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Security Service.

The parties discussed the situation in the Caspian Sea, including work done in combating smuggling, illegal migration, illegal fishing and then expressed readiness to exchange mutual information and experience on the above-mentioned fields.

The cooperation of the border services on combating any illegal activities in the Caspian Sea would contribute to provide border security and stability in the water area of the sea and in adjacent zone, the meeting participants noted.

Moreover, they emphasized the importance of expanding collaboration aimed at resolving the issues arising from implementation of North-South international transport corridor project.

Stressing the necessity of holding joint border exercises, the parties highlighted the importance of reciprocal friendship visits of the border guard ships.

Furthermore, they have specified areas of activity for the coming years.

Baku also hosted the bilateral meetings of the border guards. During the meeting, Guliyev and Rezaee stressed the importance of preventing illegal migration and smuggling of illicit narcotics, weapons and ammunition.

The parties further discussed cooperation in connection with construction of the Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) railway within the framework of the "North-South.

Furthermore, Guliyev met Kulishov to exchange views on the situation on the Azerbaijani-Russian state border checkpoints, as well as in the Caspian Sea.

The parties discussed mutual efforts to combat threats of the border security, as well as practical cooperation on the organization of demarcation.

During the Baku visit, the Iranian and Russian delegates were also received by President Ilham Aliyev received.

At the meeting with Russian Kulishov, President Aliyev stressed the importance of further deepening cooperation, saying that this could help people communicate and engage in trade, ensure entrepreneurs unhindered border crossing, and also prevent criminal elements, smugglers, terrorists and illegal drug traffickers.

Kulishov, in turn, said the border services maintained contacts not only at senior management level, but also at the level of experts. He added that this played a vital role in controlling situation on the border, preventing crimes and building a sustainable border security system.

During the meeting with Iranian Rezaee, President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and Iran are jointly addressing international challenges.

The head of the state also emphasized the significance of expanding the coordination of the activity of the two countries border services and deepening their cooperation.

Rezaee, for his part, hailed the importance of the high-level reciprocal visits, adding that it would give impetus to the expansion of cooperation between the border services of Azerbaijan and Iran.

Azerbaijani-Iranian border, which runs along the Araz River reaches a little less than 800 km in length, while the border of Azerbaijan with Russia is 390 km long and runs along the Samur River.

Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia are three of five Caspian littoral states; the other two countries are Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.




/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Turkey will provide mutual support in conducting drills of Air Defense Forces, as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved a relevant memorandum of understanding.

The memorandum was inked between the two fraternal countries on September 3, 2015 in Baku and on September 18, 2015 in Ankara.

Azerbaijans leader Ilham Aliyev signed a decree approving the Memorandum in December, 2015.

Baku and Ankara enjoy strategic relations in many fields, including the military. Military cooperation between these two neighboring nations dates back to 1992 when they signed an agreement on military education. Since then, the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments have been closely cooperating in both defense and security fields.

In December 2010, both countries signed a range of treaties provisioning for military assistance should any of the party be attacked by third party.

Based on numerous agreements on joint military exercises as part of bilateral progressive efforts towards military cooperation, the Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces have hold regular drills, featuring various tactical and combat tasks so far.

Currently, Air Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey are holding joint military drills TURAZ Sahini-2016 in the Turkish province of Konya.

The first "TurAz Qartali" drills of the Azerbaijani and Turkish Armies were held in Azerbaijan in September 2015. The exercises were conducted as part of an annual joint military plan.

The joint military exercises TurAz Qartal? or TurAz Shahini and drills of the Land Forces are a good example of the level of cooperation between the armies of both countries.




/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Germany plans to bring together delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia to discuss the current state of the long lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Bahar Muradova, deputy chair of the Azerbaijani Parliament and head of countrys delegation to the OSCE PA, announced about this in an interview to dailykarabakh.com.

In April, Germany plans to hold a seminar based on experience with regards to the returning of Saar Protectorate, a region that was partitioned from Germany after its defeat in the Second World War, Muradova said.

Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations were invited to take part in the event, Muradova said, adding that Azerbaijan has agreed to participate in this event, while the Armenian side is still considering the invitation.

Participation at this seminar can help to hold a Minsk Conference during Germanys chairmanship at the OSCE, Muradova said. If Armenia agrees, it will contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in the period of Germanys chairmanship.

She said if this event takes place, Armenias aggression towards Azerbaijan, the long lasting war and its victims will be mulled there.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Over the entire period of its existence, the OSCE Minsk Group, which acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, failed to move forward in resolving the long lasting conflict, although the interested parties had pinned great hopes on it.

The group's activities were subjected to criticism many times and Baku has numerously stated dissatisfaction with the work for pushing the conflict from the dead point.

Bahar Muradova believes that Azerbaijan rightly criticizes the activities of the OSCE MG co-chairs, adding that this is due to the lack of result in the peace process.

How can we talk about the activity if it is ineffective? The co-chairs of the Minsk Group do not use their capabilities and powers sufficiently. The Minsk Conference should be conducted at least once a year. The co-chairing countries took the settlement of the conflict under their monopoly. They do not want to discuss it in other international organizations, she said.

Muradova believes that the activity of the co-chairing countries serves to preserve the status quo profitable for Armenia.

In 1994, the OSCE Budapest Summit established the so-called Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The groups permanent members are Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber will discuss the issues related to the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku, the EU office in Brussels told Trend March 14.

During the visit to Azerbaijan on March 15-17, Salber is expected to meet with several high-level officials of the country, according to the EU office.

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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

NATO stands ready to defend all Allies, a NATO official told Azernews.

He was commenting on the Alliance's decision on joint action in the possibility of Turkey's appeal to NATO for fight against terrorism within the country.

We will not speculate on a hypothetical situation. As a matter of principle, NATO stands ready to defend all Allies," the source said.

A car bomb that exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Turkey's Premier Bekir Bozdag called the incident an "act of terrorism" immediately after the attack.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

NATO immediately condemned the terrorist attack on Ankara on March 13.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, said "There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence."

"All NATO Allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," he noted. "I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and to the people of Turkey. I wish the wounded a full and rapid recovery."

Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against IS and allows coalition planes to use its air base at Incirlik for raids on Iraq and Syria.

It has also been carrying out a campaign of bombardment against Syrian Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which it regards as an extension of the PKK.

Kurdish rebels have carried out a series of attacks in the territory of Turkey in recent months, and security forces have raided Kurdish areas, after a ceasefire ended last year.

Last month, a bomb attack on a military convoy in Ankara killed 28 people and wounded dozens more.

That bombing was claimed by a Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK). It said on its website that the attack was in retaliation for the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey, however, blamed a Syrian national who was a member of the YPG.

Last October, more than 100 people were killed in a double-suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara.
Turkeys Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and head of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli will discuss the situation in the country, as well as the recent terrorist attack in Ankara, Anadolu agency reported March 14.

The meeting will be held 16:00 (UTC/GMT +2 hours), March 14, at Bahcelis request.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop. The explosion killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced the selection of renowned Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem to create a commissioned sculpture for the Rolls-Royce Art Programme.



The work of art will be presented in late 2016 alongside a Bespoke motor car which will be inspired by the sculpture. Mohammed Kazem joins eminent artists from around the world who have been commissioned by the marque to create unique works of art and becomes the first Emirati to be featured in the Programme.



Both the sculpture and the car are expected to demonstrate Mohammed Kazems particular interest in using latitude and longitude coordinates in his work. His fascination with collecting and documenting information about seemingly unimportant objects, by photographing them and mapping their coordinates, will be demonstrated in both works. In his practice, he uses GPS as a tool for drawing shapes and recording an items location.



The Art Programmes legacy of fostering creativity, enabling artists to create new projects and to explore new areas of their practice will continue as Rolls-Royce will support Kazem, who has previously worked in the mediums of video, performance and installation, in producing a metal-based sculptural work for the first time.



Having previously visited Goodwood, the Home of Rolls-Royce in West Sussex, England, Kazem mapped out the localities of craftspeople who worked on the car, and used these data points as a recurring motif in both designs.



The sculpture, which will be made of metal, will comprise a stack of these data points melted together to form an abstract shape. The roof lining of the accompanying motor car will include a Bespoke starlight headliner that will display the same coordinates as the sculpture, linking the two pieces through this unique artistic feature.



Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said: The creation of a Bespoke Rolls-Royce Wraith by artist Mohammed Kazem marks an exciting moment for our marque. To witness an artists interpretation of the Bespoke capabilities and creative freedom afforded to our customers will no doubt provide an inspiring interpretation of true luxury.



Kazem said: It gives me great pride to be the first ever Emirati artist selected by such a historic and iconic brand as Rolls-Royce to be a part of their Art Programme. As an artist a big part of my work is finding the right inspiration that can develop into an artistic expression, and Rolls-Royce is a brand that is full of inspiration from its rich heritage to the Bespoke craftsmanship throughout its build process. We are looking forward to creating something truly memorable and unique.  TradeArabia News Service
A senior Saudi Arabian prince on Monday condemned comments attributed to US President Barack Obama, saying the American leader had "thrown us a curveball" in criticising Riyadh's regional role.



Obama, in comments to The Atlantic last week, described Saudi Arabia as a "free rider" on American foreign policy, and criticised what he saw as Riyadh's funding of religious intolerance and refusal to come to an accommodation with Iran.



"No, Mr Obama. We are not 'free riders'," Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ex-ambassador to Washington and London, wrote in an open letter carried by the local Arab News English-language daily.



Prince Turki listed Riyadh's support for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State group, its humanitarian aid for refugees in the region and its creation of an Islamic anti-terrorism coalition.



Although Prince Turki does not presently hold any official position in the Saudi leadership, his views are described by insiders as often reflecting those of the kingdom's top princes and as influential in Riyadh foreign policy circles.



In his letter, Turki asked whether Obama had "pivoted to Iran so much you eqate the kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America to an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world".- Reuters
Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre, a five-star hotel and residence property, has welcomed Nishan Silva as its new general manager.



A more than 20-year hospitality veteran, Silva joins the Pullman brand from the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, Philippines.



Pullman Dubai Creek City Centre has a lengthy legacy, and is a well-renowned location on the Dubai hospitality scene, said Silva. We have an outstanding asset, and the vibrancy of the property, its situation and the range of services we offer are all aimed at serving our guests better, be they corporate, leisure or long-term residents. Its going to be an interesting and innovative time for us.



Having spent 18 years with American hospitality giants, Hilton, and the last four with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Silva aims to bring a different style of management to the property. His career has seen him manage a number of roles over the years, providing him with a wealth of knowledge on both front and back of house operations.



Silva has worked in some of the worlds most award-winning properties, covering countries such as Malaysia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines.



Having earned his diploma in Hotel Management from the International Hotel Management Institute in Lucerne, Switzerland, he also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Leicester in the UK.



To me hospitality is more than a business; it is a state of mind, something we live every day. At Pullman Dubai Creek Hotel & Residence, we build our business one relationship at a time, connected to our guests, partners and each other. We offer guests a vibrant hotel experience through our motto our world is your playground for the new generation of travelers and business leaders. We are proud to be stewards of the global hospitality, with a true flavour of UAE. said Silva. - TradeArabia News Service
Marking its 50th anniversary this year, ITB Berlin again underlined its importance as the leading trade show for the global travel industry as it welcomed some 10,000 exhibiting companies from 187 countries and regions and 120,000 trade visitors.

These figures reveal that the worlds leading trade show for the international travel industry attracted the largest number of trade visitors since it was launched in 1966. On the purchasing side there was also a further increase in the number of decision-makers: two-thirds of the trade visitors stated that they held direct authority for all purchasing decisions. Business conducted during the trade show rose from last years figure of 6.7 billion to around 7 billion this year.

Dr. Christian Goke, chief executive officer of Messe Berlin,said: Never before in its 50 years has ITB Berlin welcomed so many trade visitors to the exhibition halls. After this five day event trade visitors and exhibitors are leaving Berlin with a clear message: even in times dominated by a sense of uncertainty people are not willing to do without their holiday trips. Conversely, over the past few days the travel industry has made it clear that it can provide suitable answers to the major challenges that it currently faces. ITB Berlin has again provided evidence that this trade show, a global market place and a platform for personal encounters, provides a firm foundation for the industry during turbulent times, and in the digital age too it has lost none of its importance for the travel industry all over the world.



Summing up the five-day trade show on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds: the international travel industry has shown its resilience in the face of the refugee crisis and geopolitical risks, demonstrating that it remains in a robust state as a vigorously expanding industry despite difficult global conditions. In Germany, one of the most important source markets for international tourism, the uncertainty of the first weeks of the year is clearly being replaced by a growing confidence. After a somewhat restrained start to the 2016 travel season, the desire among the German public for vacation trips is currently being accompanied by an ongoing positive mood among consumers and a stable job market. Moreover, a reduction in the cost of living and above all the sharp fall in energy prices have given consumers in the Eurozone additional financial scope for the most enjoyable weeks of the year.

The travel trade show that was held for the first time in Berlin 50 years ago has now evolved into a real international success: ITB Asia has been held annually in Singapore since 2008. Furthermore, as Messe Berlin has recently announced, from May 2017, ITB China will be taking place annually in the populous city of Shanghai in cooperation with that countrys major tour operators and travel agents.



The worlds largest convention for the global travel industry attracted a record attendance. The 200 events at the ITB Convention were attended by over 26,000 visitors. It was taking place for the 13th time and occupied eight halls on the Exhibition Grounds. The main themes at the ITB Convention, which is regarded as the think tank for the international industry, were Travel 4.0 and the complete digitalisation of all the various business processes of travel companies. Due to the evident willingness of many travelers to spend, the subject of luxury travel also attracted a great deal of interest. Discussions also took place about the opportunities and risks facing tourism as a consequence of the influx of refugees to Europe. With the first appearance in Europe by a humanoid robot from Japan  clad as an elegant trade show hostess  visitors to ITB Berlin were able to see for themselves how engineers and scientists view the future of a service-based industry. The importance of ITB Berlin as an economic and social platform was underlined by the presence of many prominent speakers. Among those providing information and inspiration for the participants in the Convention were Gunther H. Oettinger, EU Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society; Dr. Gerd Muller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development; and Professor Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the ifo Institute  Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research.



On Saturday and Sunday the halls were thronged with visitors. According to a provisional estimate by the organizers, some 60,000 members of the public took advantage of the wide range of information available from tour operators, including those representing niche markets. As in previous years, during the weekend visitors were able to make travel bookings at ITB Berlin. Between March 9 and 13 ITB Berlin attracted some 180,000 visitors.



Taleb Rifai, secretary general, World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), said:On the occasion of its 50th anniversary ITB continues to reflect the vision and leadership of the tourism sector. We at UNWTO are very proud to have ITB as a strong partner and thank the whole team at ITB for their contribution to making the tourism sector more competitive but also more responsible and sustainable.



Haris Mohammed, acting managing director, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation:On behalf of the Maldives and our entire tourism industry, I would like to thank you and congratulate you for a wonderful ITB Berlin 2016. We are very pleased that we were the partner country of ITB Berlin 2016 that marked the 50th anniversary of ITB Berlin as well as the Visit Maldives Year 2016, in which we celebrate the tourism industry in our beautiful country.



We look back at a very successful trade show through which we were able to present the Maldives as the worlds leading island destination. We invite the world to experience our wonderful tropical beaches, our culture and the warmth of our people as well as our unique hospitality in some of the best resorts around the globe.



We very much look forward to building our continued success story in Germany as well as in our other important source markets to showcase everything that make our country one of the leading travel destinations in the world.



Keen interest shown by the media and politics



More than 5,000 accredited journalists from 80 countries, as well as around 380 bloggers from 30 countries, reported from ITB Berlin. This trade show was a meeting place for politicians from Germany and many other countries, as well as for many diplomats. In addition to 124 delegations, it was attended by the members of four royal houses, 48 ministers and 87 ambassadors from all over the world.



The next ITB Berlin will take place from March 8 to 12, 2017. The Official Partner Country will be Botswana. - TradeArabia News Service
One thing I've learned over the years is to document everything that means something to you. So I've decided that whenever I go on t...
A former legal assistant at the Natrona County District Attorneys office admitted Friday to stealing money from a co-workers purse, court documents show.

Melanie Dunn pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft. Natrona County Circuit Judge Michael Patchen sentenced Dunn to a 90-day suspended jail term. She will not spend time behind bars if she successfully completes six months of unsupervised probation.

Dunn must also pay $400 in restitution to the victim, Nancy Johnson, who is director of the Victim Witness Unit at the District Attorneys office. Dunn is also required to pay a $300 fine.

Court documents state she took money out of Johnsons purse while at work over several months.

Johnson wrote in her victim impact statement that she and Dunn were friends and that she now has trouble trusting the people she works with. She said she has accompanied hundreds of victims as they gave their statements in court, and she never dreamed that this would happen to her.

It was intrusive and violating to have Melanie go through my private belongings in my purse, let alone steal the money from me, Johnson wrote.

Natrona County District Attorney Mike Blonigen said last month Dunn is no longer employed by his office. Christopher LaRosa, an assistant district attorney in Sheridan County, prosecuted the thefts.

Court records show Denver attorney Peter J. Young represented Dunn.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began looking into the stolen money in October after Johnson reported that small amounts of money were being taken from her purse while she was at work.

According to the court documents, after her first meeting with a DCI agent, Johnson left a bank envelope in her purse containing fake money and a note saying, I got ya I know who you are and what youre doing. However, the envelope was taken and the thefts continued.

The DCI agent placed a motion-activated camera in Johnsons office, the documents state. He also photographed the serial numbers on several $20 bills and gave them to Johnson to put in her purse. The agent later reviewed the surveillance footage after some of the money had been stolen when Johnson left her purse unattended in her office. The footage showed Dunn in Johnsons office.

The agent interviewed Dunn on Dec. 15. She admitted to stealing from Johnson, according to the documents.
CHEYENNE  Wyoming community colleges won some peace of mind during this winters legislative session when it comes to overall state aid they receive.

Lawmakers approved changes in the way they provide state aid to the college campuses based in Cheyenne, Casper, Sheridan, Riverton, Rock Springs, Powell and Torrington, said Matt Petry, deputy director of the Wyoming Community College Commission. The changes aim to bring stability to community college funding.

The real positive for the colleges is they know what their funding is every year essentially, instead of as it has been for the past six years where they were never quite sure how much money they would receive in terms of enrollment-growth funding, Petry said.

Under the current system, state funding is based on enrollment numbers dating back to the 2004-2005 academic year, and community colleges had to ask lawmakers for extra money every year if their enrollments exceeded those base levels.

Over that six-year period, the colleges received about 70 percent of what was requested, Petry said.

On top of that, any funding they received was good for only for a two-year budget period, meaning colleges had to keep going back to the Legislature asking for more. Those were all one-time appropriations, so they didnt know whether that same level of support would be there in the next biennium, Petry said.

Under the new system, enrollment at the colleges will be recalibrated every four years, and state funding will be adjusted accordingly.

If enrollment numbers are down from four years previously, the colleges can stand to lose some funding, and conversely if enrollment is up from where it was four years previously then the colleges would stand to gain some funding, Petry said. So it provides them with stability and the ability to make plans for long-term projects.

Separately, legislators appropriated $11.75 million in general funds for two building projects at community colleges. Northern Wyoming Community College District will get $6.5 million for a technical education center, and Central Wyoming College will get $5.25 million for an agriculture-animal science building. The money represents half the cost of the projects, meaning each college will be responsible for the rest.
The two state lawmakers who are running for Congress used their time during the 2016 legislative session in Cheyenne to back conservative and even populist positions.

Tim Stubson, the third-ranking Republican in the state House, sponsored three bills including a resolution that, had it passed, could have eventually forced Congress to adopt a balanced federal budget -- a nod to the Washington work he aspires to perform.

Leland Christensen, also a Republican and chairman of the Wyoming Senate Judiciary Committee, sponsored three bills including measures to limit welfare fraud and increase speeds on state highways -- legislation that will likely have wide appeal to Wyoming voters.

Both lawmakers opposed expanding Medicaid to an estimated 20,000 low-income adults. The Obamacare provision is deeply unpopular with Republicans.

Of the 12 hopefuls gunning for Wyomings only seat in the U.S. House, only Stubson and Christensen have served in public office. While the rest of the field knocks on doors and spouts campaign promises, only Christensen and Stubson have voting records people can review for clues about how they would perform in Washington. That will be their weakness and strength in the 2016 campaign season.

Republican Marian Smith Orr, a lobbyist who has observed the Legislature for 22 sessions, described the pair's bills as fiscally conservative measures that will resonate with the Republican base.

I took note of what they did do and what they didnt do -- and if voters at all react to the fact that they were opposed to Medicaid expansion, said Orr, who has not yet decided who she will support in the race.

But Aimee Van Cleave, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, wasnt impressed with suite of bills Stubson and Christensen proposed.

I thought it was interesting that the two Republicans running for Congress both thought that the appropriate bills to bring this session were bills that increased government bureaucracy and infringed on peoples lives, she said.

During the budget session that ended March 4, lawmakers adopted several spending measures, including a $3 billion, two-year state budget. They did so in the face of a projected $477 million revenue decrease from declining oil, gas and coal prices.

Orr said Stubson and Christensen demonstrated they were aware of the seriousness of the Legislatures challenges.

They both really respected the fact that it was a budget session and therefore they didnt bring a lot of bills forward, she said. Three bills apiece is a modest task. Several legislators brought more. Knowing what they know about the budget and how much time it would take, they showed great restraint.

Stubsons bills

Each candidate sponsored bills that reflected issues important to him, Orr said.

For instance, one of Stubsons bills addressed budgeting practices at the Wyoming Department of Enterprise Technology Services. Stubson is a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee, the first group of lawmakers to review agency budgets and craft the states spending bill.

Its no surprise that Stubson proposed a technical bill targeting fiscal matters, Orr said.

Another of Stubsons bills would have called for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution under the Article V. Article V specifies a process of amending the Constitution if two-thirds of the states call for it. After the convention, three-fourths of the states must ratify the budget amendment.

Stubson, a Casper attorney, said he originally thought national efforts for an Article V convention were a gimmick. But over time, he realized it is the only avenue to rein in federal spending, he said.

I think it reflects one of my big concerns, which is that the federal government needs to live within its means, he said. Its shown an inability to do so.

Thus far, 27 state legislatures have passed resolutions calling for balanced budget amendments.

Wyoming will not be joining the other states this year.

Lawmakers in the House voted down the bill, for fear of a runaway convention  a constitutional convention in which delegates would introduce measures beyond the scope of a balanced budget.

Wyoming is small and not as politically powerful as states such as California, Texas or New York. In some programs, Wyoming receives more money from the federal government than it provides. For instance, the state obtains more in highway funding than its drivers pay in the federal fuel tax.

A balanced budget amendment could result in fewer federal dollars flowing to the Cowboy State.

Stubson said people can imagine all sorts of scenarios since a convention hasnt actually occurred. No one knows what will happen until a convention decides the provisions on balancing the budget. The debate needs to occur, he said.

If whatever comes out isnt acceptable to the state of Wyoming, were not going to ratify it, he said.

Christensens bills

Most controversial among Christensens bills was one that required the state perform additional verification of people applying for welfare programs and those receiving help. It will cover a host of state and federal programs, ranging from food assistance, Medicaid and financial assistance programs.

Senate File 73 became law.

It also spells out actions to be taken if state employees find discrepancies, from correcting bad information to prosecution, Christensen said.

Christensen, an auctioneer from Alta, acknowledged that the state frequently finds little fraud within the programs. But additional screening will turn up more fraud, he said.

In states that have similar verification programs, the slight increase in the cost of screening was more than covered by findings of fraud. By removing those who shouldnt receive help, people who are truly needy will move up the list and qualify faster, Christensen said.

The bill requires the state to report to the Legislature each year from 2017 to 2020 on the effectiveness of the additional verifications.

If its not saving money, we can always get rid of it, he said.

Democrats in the Legislature fought against the bill.

The state has a unit to investigate and prosecute fraud. Incidents are low, said Rep. Andy Schwartz, D-Jackson. In the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, there were only 12 people referred for prosecution last year of 30,000 recipients.

This legislation merely codifies existing practice and expands it to a point where it is in conflict with federal standards and will add costs without clear benefits, he said. The Legislature should be using fiscal prudence, not exploiting non-existing issues for political gain.

Rep. Ken Esquibel, D-Cheyenne, said the state could better use its resources by closing existing tax loopholes.

The law will only force grandmothers raising grandchildren to jump through over 20 hoops, not just once, but four times a year, Esquibel said.

This decision is a black eye on this Legislature, he added.

Medicaid expansion: Stubson

In December, Gov. Matt Mead included Medicaid expansion in his recommendations for the state budget. A month later, Stubson made the motion to remove expansion from the budget during a Joint Appropriations Committee meeting.

Stubson said he opposed Meads proposal because it didnt include co-payments or a work requirement. Stubson did not amend the proposal to require such provisions.

In 2015, lawmakers contemplated and rejected the SHARE Plan, a take on Medicaid expansion that would have required co-pays and job searches. Stubson said he didnt have the opportunity to vote on the SHARE Plan as a stand-alone bill in the House. He voted against a budget amendment for the SHARE Plan.

Stubson said he doesnt believe the Health Departments estimate that 20,000 people who would qualify for expansion. Other states have had unexpected numbers of people qualifying for expansion. Over time, states will have to cover 10 percent of expansion's cost starting in 2020.

Wyoming hospitals estimate they absorb $100 million a year in costs from people who are unable to pay their bills. Many of those patients would qualify for expansion.

To help hospitals with costs, Stubson said he voted for a bill that will provide hospitals and nursing homes more federal money from the Medicaid program. That bill, which became law, will provide hospitals up to $4.7 million.

With expansion, the state expected to receive about $268 million in federal dollars over the next two years.

Stubson said he is concerned about the rate of Medicaid reimbursements to doctors, hospitals and clinics, which tends to be lower than the amounts paid by insurance companies.

The other thing we did is this direct primary care bill that allowed and set up more affordable, fixed price health care with general practitioners, he said.

Under the law, physicians can charge a fixed, flat fee each month  instead of charging for office visits. Patients could get all their primary care covered as long as they stayed current on the fee. The legislation was necessary because there were doubts such a system was legal, Stubson said.

Stubson wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with health care reform thats more affordable, with plans that dont price people out, he said.

There are provisions of (the ACA) that make sense that would be in any replacement legislation, he said. For example, the provisions that deal with preexisting conditions that guarantee a continuity of coverage.

Medicaid expansion: Christensen

Christensen also wants to repeal Obamacare.

On Feb. 19, Christensen voted along with 20 other senators against putting Medicaid expansion back into the budget.

In 2015, he voted for a bill that provided $3 million to Wyoming hospitals to address uncompensated care, directing a large portion of it to rural medical centers.

During the session that just ended, Christensen sponsored a bill, which failed, that would have helped the poor, he said.

It would have allowed retired and active medical professionals to volunteer their skills and have liability insurance covered through the state.

Florida has used a similar program for years and its been successful, Christensen said.

As I understand it now, the ACA is not working as designed, Christensen said. There are a few people who have benefited from it. But there are a significant, larger share of the population that are seeing incredibly high rates and sketchy coverage.

A recent federal report found Wyoming residents are receiving tax credits while buying health insurance through the Obamacare exchange at a higher rate than all but one state. The report also found the average value of the tax credit was higher than the national average.

But Christensen said he has a friend who lives on a fixed retirement income, a former city employee, who has to pay $2,500 a month for insurance coverage and has a $5,000 deductible. The friend is a Wyoming resident, he said.

Their solution at one point looked like they had to leave the country because they could get their health care in other countries much cheaper, Christensen said.

Christensen said a replacement for Obamacare would be one that still gives people reasonable access to doctors and hospitals.

The current medical system is plagued by a number of problems, Christensen said. The medical community, concerned about lawsuits, often extend hospital visits and recommend unnecessary procedures. Pharmaceutical companies costs to get drugs tested and approved by the federal government is expensive and is passed on to patients, he said.

Right now there are a number of different problems with the health care delivery system. he said. Its no one person or one organization or one partys total responsibility.
A 30-year-old northern Idaho man has pleaded guilty to killing his adoptive mother, his landlord and a fast-food restaurant manager in the north Idaho community of Moscow last year.

John Lee of Moscow entered Alford pleas to three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery in a Latah County District Court on Friday. That means he acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict, without admitting guilt.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors do not intend to seek the death penalty against him.

Lee, formerly known as Kane Grzebielski, is to be sentenced May 24.

Killed in the Jan. 10, 2015 shooting spree were 61-year-old Terri Grzebielski, 76-year-old David Trail and 47-year-old Belinda Niebuhr, an Arby's manager. A Seattle man, Michael Chin, was wounded.
08:32 by tsup ug

For a number of years, Amakula International Film Festival (AIFF) was the sole Ugandan festival and one of the biggest in the East African region.However, due to issues beyond the management, they had to pull the plug on the festival before it celebrated its tenth birthday.This week, the festival will make its way back to the social calendar with an epic tenth edition that is slated for the 16th-20th at the Uganda Museum.For those five days, film lovers will experience probably the countrys modern day era drive in cinema where both in competition and out of competition films from Uganda, Africa and the rest of the world will be screened.The return edition is curated by Bayimba Cultural Foundations Faisal Kiwewa, Caroline Christgau of Geothe Zentrum, Arlen Dilsizian of Kampala Film School with content advice from Maisha Film Labs Fibby Kiora.Talking to The Observer, Christgau noted the purpose of AIFF is to get Ugandans appreciate films done by both Ugandans and African creatives with a vision of connecting the industry to others industries.Some of the films to screen during the festival include Oscar nominated Timbuktu, highly successful Malawi film Bella, Bala Bala Sese and Dar Noir among others.Timbuktu is a 2014 French-Mauritanian drama film directed by Abderrahmane Sissako. On release in 2014, it was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or the main competition section at the Cannes Film Festival.It went on to win the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Francois Chalais Prize. It was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, and has been nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language at the 69th British Academy Film Awards.The film looks at the brief occupation of Timbuktu, Mali by Ansar Dine. Parts of the film are influenced by a 2012 public stoning of an unmarried couple in Aguelhok.But Timbuktu is not in competition for the Golden Impala Award, Best International Feature Film but Bashir Lukyamuzis Bala Bala Sese, Hamadi Mwapachus Dar Noir, Tawanga Taddja Nkhonjeras Bella and Nadya by Shams Bhanji.Bala Bala Sese, is one of the films representing Uganda at the Luxor Film Festival in Egypt later this year and was one of the best reviewed Ugandan films in 2015 with Polly Kamukama noting that the film was relevant because of its topic but didnt try to be an activist kind of art.The picture that stars famous couple Michael Kasaija and Natasha Sinayobye, shows a botfriends battle for love through perseverance.Other awards up for grabs are Best International Documentary and Best East Africa Short Film.According to Kiwewa, AIFF aims at contributing to a vibrant local film industry by broadening access at contributing to a vibrant local film industry by broadening access to developing audiences.Entrance will be shs50,000/= for a full festival pass.
This is the story of a movie shot completely in Arizona, with talent from the states universities in front of and behind the camera, and a production fully financed by Tucson investors.

No, its not science fiction.

The film, There and Back, is a love letter to Arizona by writer and director Marcus de Leon, who wanted to create a project that took advantage of all the local talent he had met as a volunteer fellow at the University of Arizonas Hanson Film Institute.

De Leon, a graduate of UCLA film school, has worked in Hollywood since the early 90s as a director and screenwriter. Before this movie, his experience in securing financing had been as traditional as the business gets, he said.

Usually, you got your creative filmmaker on one side and you have your financing sources on the other side, and in between those two are producers and movie studio executives, he said.

Once de Leon decided to go with an all-Arizona production, he knew there was no way he would be going that route.

I would have to get 100 percent of the movie financing from Arizona. Because, if I were to go for financing with that cast and crew in Hollywood, I would never get this movie made, he said.

Starting in 2011, it was two years of hearing No way and Get out of my office, he said, but in his business you learn to thrive on rejection.

If you believe in your movie, if you believe in your screenplay, when you hear the word No you double down and push even harder, de Leon said.

The funding would eventually come from the Desert Angels, a Tucson angel investor group. Started in 2000, the Desert Angels have invested almost $40 million in startups, officials said.

Before de Leon came along, none of those startups was a feature film.

Wed tried a couple of times but never been successful of getting one through our process, said Curtis Gunn, Desert Angels chairman. This was the first one that made it through successfully and were all very hopeful.

The process

For de Leon, who was used to the creative side of moviemaking, thinking like a startup took some getting used to. He had to take a crash course in business, he said.

I feel like I earned my MBA studying how to present to a group like the Desert Angels, he said. I had to challenge myself to become an entrepreneurial filmmaker.

All startups that seek financing from the group must complete an online application process. Every six weeks or so, selected companies present before a screening panel, where representatives come in and do a 10-minute pitch followed by a question and answer session.

If the screening panel likes the pitch, it moves on to a dinner presentation before the entire Desert Angels membership.

Annually, the group receives about 200 applications, officials said. Of those, 60 to 70 make it to the screening panel and only about 17 or 18 present at the dinner meeting. Historically, about half of those companies get funded.

The film pitch was treated like any other startup, Gunn said, or as much as it could be since a movie production is clearly different from a medical device or a prescription drug.

But at the end of the day we are investors with a profit motive, he said. We want to have a return on our investment, and those people that invested in the movie, at least on some level believe theyre doing so to make a financial return.

The projects two principal investors, Robert Hungate and Tim Kalthoff, said that along with any profit motive, their interest in the film came with larger goals in mind.

Hungate, who invested in the movie along with his wife, JoAnne, said they wanted to support film development in Arizona, which can be a big economic driver.

Tucson has a large filmmaking history but it has no coherence in its filmmaking, theres no strategic thrust, he said. Were trying to see if we can create a little more splash and maybe generate interest.

Helping people make a start is the whole idea behind angel investing, Kalthoff said, so providing an opportunity for local talent was also a consideration.

It really is targeted at creating the careers of recent graduates or students from the University of Arizona, Arizona State and NAU, he said. Thats very attractive.

The men, who share executive producer credit on the film, helped de Leon adjust and readjust his pitch as he approached other investors.

Without them we wouldnt have this movie, de Leon said. And then there was a successive chain of person to person to person in the Tucson area, all of them a link in the chain that got this movie made.

Although they did not want to reveal the films budget, officials said it was within the Desert Angels investment range.

Some of the investment is time, some of its money, some of its deferment, some of its things others have done for us, Hungate said.

For example, ORielly Chevrolet donated two vehicles to the project, de Leon said.

The production also took advantage of Section 181 of the IRS code, which incentivizes film and television production by allowing production costs of up to $15 million to be deducted.

The film was shot over 10 weeks during the summer of 2014, shooting throughout Arizona and putting about 17,000 miles between the nine production vehicles. Unlike some independent productions, everyone who worked on the movie was paid, de Leon said.

I wanted to establish a professional environment and I wanted people to have the kind of professional commitment to what would be a very rigorous production, he said.

Post-production

There and Back is finishing post-production and de Leon wants to premiere it at a high-profile film festival this year. After that there will be special Arizona premieres in Tucson and Phoenix.

Investors hope the movie will be picked up by a distributor and follow the currently popular model for independent films of releasing a movie in theaters and through video on demand.

The movies production was put together through an investment offering, and while the document prepared was specific to There and Back, it can work as a template for future projects, de Leon said.

I have an actual successful movie production to show to Arizona investors. We got it done once, now were ready to do it again, he said.

Although de Leon is already thinking about his next film, the prospect of Tucson investors being involved in other productions hangs on the performance of There and Back, said Gunn of the Desert Angels.

Not to put a lot of pressure on Marcus by any means, but some of the future opportunity will probably depend on the success of this movie, he said. If Marcus goes out to the market and its not well-received, that could put a pallor on the future mood.

In the meantime, Hungate and Kalthoff are already being sought out by others to talk about their experience. They said theyve seen a rough cut of the movie and their optimism remains undiminished.

Hopefully it creates an avalanche effect and we get more and more involvement in Tucson in these kinds of projects. That would be the end objective for us, Kalthoff said.
There are certain moments in life worth capturing on film.

Hence the reason comic ventriloquist Jeff Dunham videotaped his show at Tucson Arena Sunday afternoon.

It wasn't for his upcoming NBC comedy special or even YouTube highlights; he wanted to preserve a moment for posterity  or until his 5-month-old twin boys become snarky teens.

During his 45-minute standup set before introducing his unruly cast of puppet misfits and malcontents, Dunham recounted his journey to Fatherhood, Take 2. He has three grown daughters from his first wife and in October he and his second wife Audrey welcomed twin sons Jack and Jeffrey.

Dunham recounted the pregnancy  the shocking moment he learned he was having twins ("F---!"), his wife turning up the air in their Las Vegas home to 38 degrees during the summer ("This is bull(expletive)! I'm going to lay on the sidewalk to warm up.") and juggling two babies ("If you're going to have twins, get help. If you are going to have triplets, send the runt of the litter (to a relative); they'll meet later. Just kidding, but not.").

But the video clip he wants his boys to pay special attention came during a particularly graphic recounting of changing poopy diapers. With boys, there's a lot more parts to clean than with girls. Plan on 20, 30 wipes and possibly a shower for yourself when it's done.

When his sons get to that glorious teen stage and start talking back and disrespecting their parents, Dunham plans to pull out this clip and give them the what's what when it comes to respecting Mom and Dad:

"No. 1, I'm your father and No. 2, I cleaned (poop) off your (testicles)," said the 53-year-old, prompting a roar from the audience. "Plus I know how old I am and pretty soon you're going to be cleaning (poop) off my (testicles)."

Dunham, who has been a regular to Tucson stages throughout his 30-plus-year career, also tested out new material Sunday  much of it unrehearsed and spontaneous  that might make it into his upcoming NBC special, set to air in early fall. Among the highlights:

 Flying Peanut: Dunham accidentally tossed Peanut the Purple Wozzle across the stage.

"What the (expletive) happened?" Peanut screamed as Dunham tried to apologize. "Not funny! I hate you."

 The miner in the front row: Peanut famously pokes fun at fans in the front row. On Sunday, he tapped Chad, a copper miner from Sahuarita, and Peanut had ... nothing.

"We get jobs for every profession  firefighter, police officer, lawyer  but the dude working at the copper mine? Nothing in our arsenal," he told Chad, before asking him to explain exactly what he did at the mine.

And don't tell me you mine at the mine, "or I will kick your (expletive)," Peanut threatened.

"How will you get down there?" Dunham asked him.

"Throw me. You did it before," he said.

 Bubba J for president: The southern bumpkin whose favorite pastime is drinking beer and watching Nascar is running for president.

"From what I can see you really don't have to do anything and they put you up in public housing," he said.

His stance on the immigration issue: "I would let more refugees in the country. We Americans drink so much we need more Uber drivers," he reasoned.

What does he think about Syria? "I don't have an iPhone."

"I'm talking about Syrians, not Siri," Dunham explained.

"Oh, I thought Syrians were people abandoning their iPhones."

 Curmudgeony Walter on Donald Trump: "You can vote with him if you want, but Jose Jalapeno on a Stick would be out of the show. You'd have to settle for an American Pickle on a Pole."

 Achmed the Dead Terrorist and Dunham on the joys of fatherhood:

Achmed: "I really love my kids, when they said their first 'I kill you!'"

Dunham: "My kids' favorite game was 'Got your nose.' Did you ever play that?"
Ironwood Ridge High School students will travel across the country this spring to take part in a leadership program and a national competition.

Ironwood sophomores Austin Heisterman and Gianna Joseph and juniors Sarina Calzadillas and Mckenzie Harrison were awarded scholarships to attend the Spirit of America Youth Leadership Program in Pennsylvania in April.

The program stresses the need for youth to embrace the values and practices essential to responsible citizenship and includes a mock congress, a free enterprise challenge and other leadership skill activities.

The trip is funded by donations to Freedoms Foundation-Tucson from individuals and the Crane Family Foundation.

Ironwood Ridge senior Tristan Odenkirk will also be heading to New York in May for the national Shakespeare competition.

Odenkirk took first place in the 31st annual Southern Arizona contest earlier this month.

The 18-year-old beat nearly two dozen other high-schoolers with the monologue "What a piece of work is man" from Act II of Hamlet.

The all-expenses paid trip is sponsored by the English-Speaking Union, an organization dedicated to clear communication across all borders.

Nicolle Chavez of Rincon High School took second place and third place went to Feliz Torralba of Tucson High Magnet School.

Up for grabs in New York is a six-week study trip in England.
OPINION: "While it is important to take on cutting edge programs for an institution, Best Practices would dictate a thorough analysis of the costs of a new program versus the proven effectiveness of that new program. After all, these are taxpayer funds we are dealing with," writes Nick Pierson, candidate for the Pima Community College Governing Board.
PHOENIX  The lead attorney for the states Medicaid program wants the Court of Appeals to reject a claim by some legislators that the levy funding its expansion was illegally enacted.

The attorney, Douglas Northup, does not dispute the Arizona Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate for any new tax or any increase in state revenues. It also is a matter of fact that there were enough lawmakers opposed to the 2013 vote for the assessment on hospitals to pay the states share of the cost to deny the measure a two-thirds margin.

But Northup is telling appellate judges that the constitutional requirement does not apply here because the more than $200 million a year being collected from hospitals is something they want because it helps their bottom line.

Northup also said the levy cannot be considered a tax because the Legislature did not set the tax rate and the money raised does not go into the states general fund.

Instead, Tom Betlach, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the states Medicaid program, determines how much each hospital pays and can decide which hospitals should be exempt. And Northup said the money is set aside solely to pay the states share of the federal Medicaid dollars.

The issue about whether the levy is a tax is more than an academic dispute. If the lawmakers win the case, potentially 350,000 people would lose their state-provided health insurance.

At the heart of the fight is the 2013 decision by then-Gov. Jan Brewer to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act. It has the federal government pick up most of the costs for expanding health-care coverage for up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $27,700 a year for a family of three. Before the expansion, the program covered only those below the poverty line, or less than $21,000 for the same size family.

But to get those funds, the state first had to restore coverage for childless adults, which had been dropped years earlier in a budget-saving maneuver. To cover that cost and other state expenses, Brewer proposed  and lawmakers approved  giving Betlach authority to impose a charge on hospitals.

The plan was adopted by a simple majority of the House and Senate, with the Republican governor cobbling together a coalition of Democrats and some members of her own party to vote for it.

Hospitals did not object because Betlach set up the levy so that every hospital chain would actually make money from the deal: More patients with government-provided insurance coverage means fewer bills written off as bad debt because of a persons inability to pay. He even structured it so some hospitals that would not benefit from Medicaid expansion would owe nothing.

But the lawmakers who voted against expansion sued, contending the levy is a tax illegally enacted because it lacked the two-thirds margin required by the 1992 voter-approved constitutional amendment.

A trial judge disagreed, with the case now at the Court of Appeals.

Northup told the appellate judges the states participation in Medicaid has been good for the state  and not just because more people have coverage. He said the total federal contribution over a two-year period was about $2 billion.

But he also said a strict reading of the Arizona Constitution backs his contention that the levy is not the kind that requires a two-thirds vote.
Big crowds and even bigger smiles filled the UA campus Sunday, wrapping up the weekend-long Tucson Festival of Books.

With sunny skies and a high of 77 degrees, visitors took in the good weather as they strolled around checking out exhibits, presentations and books signings along the University of Arizona Mall.

With about 350 authors and more than 250 exhibitors set to make an appearance during the annual festival, there was something for nearly everyone.

Some favorite events included taking selfies at the National Parks Experience Pavilion, taking part in demonstrations and experiments at Science City and spotting a storybook character or two in the Childrens Pavilion.

Panels and author discussions had high turnouts this year, with ticketed and large-venue events hitting the full mark, said Marcy Euler, executive director of the Tucson Festival of Books.

Mystery writers Faye and Jonathan Kellerman were among the many presenting authors who attracted crowds, along with Diana Gabaldon, writer of the Outlander series, who talked about what its like to see your books end up on television.

Fan favorites J.A. Jance and R.L. Stine returned Sunday after attending Saturdays events to talk more about their influences and participate in panel discussions.

Tucson author David Devine and Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons closed out the event with humorous Tucson trivia at the Arizona Daily Stars Pavilion.

Estimated attendance this year matched or surpassed last years count of 130,00 people, with Saturday being the busiest day, Euler said.

She attributed the success of the book festival to the volunteers, sponsors and donors who work year-round to make the event possible.

Proceeds from the festival help support organizations that work to improve literacy in Southern Arizona.

Since the first fest in 2009, the Tucson Festival of Books has contributed more than $1,050,000, according to the nonprofits website.
Help India!

By Shafeeq Hudawi

Thiruvananthapuram: A few weeks after Soni Sori was attacked, a smilaar incident has been reported from in Kerala. Dhanya Raman, a noted activist who has been working for the charity and welfare of Tribals, was attacked by an unidentified criminal in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday night.

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The attacker, who entered Dhanyas house, attempted to kill her by a knife-like weapon. The

activist was saved by her husband, who woke up into Dhanyas crying.

The attacker was a professional killer. He entered the house after demolishing two doors of my house, Dhanya told Twocircles. The Tribal activist went on to say that the attacker might be sent by the persons against whom she recently issued a complaint in a corruption case.

Several persons belonging to land mafia have been jailed owing to my interference in corruption case and cases of assaults and abuses against Adivasis. I will continue my fight for Adivasis, she said. Dhanya has been working for the Tribals across the state by extending them financial and legal assistance. She was given police protection as she faced threats from various parts of the state. Taking note of the incident, the Thiruvananthapuram police has strengthened the security for the tribal activist and started a probe following a complaint lodged by Dhanya at the Malayinkeezhu police station.
Help India!

By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net

Kolkata: The All India Milli Council will support to the ruling party Trinamool Congress in upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal. This was announced by Dr Manzoor Alam, general secretary, All India Milli Council in a meeting held by the organisation at Park Circus in Kolkata.

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Pointing out that the next two years will see Assembly elections in nine states, the organisation said that to maintain communal harmony and to strengthen the rights of the minorities and Dalits rights, citizen should choose any political party except the BJP. If BJP gained in Rajya Sabha like Loksbha, then they can go forward and amend the Indian Constitution. Our countrys future will be in danger, so, to protect the rights of the minorities and Dalits, one should avoid voting for the BJP. Alam said.

He also said that while there was little improvement in the lives of the minorities during the 34-year rule of the Left in West Bengal, in the last four and half years TMC had helped in remarkable development for the Muslim community in the state. Manzoor Alam congratulated the TMC government, particularly the efforts of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

We appreciate the building of the Haj House and Aliah University. These efforts are a good sign for Muslims and the All India Milli Council thinks that Muslims in West Bengal should support to TMC to prevent fanatic forces like BJP, Alam added.

This statement of the Milli Council was welcomed by Assistant Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress and MP Sultan Ahmed said. The Milli Council has a strong influence on the Muslim community in the country. This move will encourage Muslims in the state to vote for the TMC and hence, we welcome the announcement.

(Photo: Sandip Saha)
Help India!

Ranchi : The Jharkhand government on Monday denied Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubeys claim that the Adani GHroup had decided to withdraw from the 1,600 MW thermal power project in the state.

Till now, we have no official information that the Adani Group has decided to withdraw from the project proposed to be set up in Godda district, Eenergy department principal secretary S.K. Rahate told IANS.

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Dubey, Lok Sabha member from Deoghar, told reporters in Deoghar on Sunday that the group had made clear that it would withdraw from the power project.

The Adani Power company signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government in February during the Make in India event held in Mumbai to set up the thermal power plant at a cost of Rs.15,000 crore.

The power generated from the plant was planned to be sold to Bangladesh.

The opposition parties in Jharkhand questioned the MoU terms, claiming that the deal was inked to benefit the group by Rs.5,000 crore.

Last week, the Jharkhand assembly witnessed disruptions for three days as the opposition twice brought adjournment motions in the house regarding reduction of land rates in Santhal Pargana to allegedly benefit the Adani Group.

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik legislator Pradeep Yadav, while raising the issue in the assembly on Friday, said: The Jharkhand Energy Policy 2012 has been overlooked while signing the MoU with the Adani Group company, as per which 25 percent of the installed capacity of a thermal power plant in Jharkhand will go to the state and the rate decided by the Jharkhand Electricity Regulatory Authority. The Adani Group will provide 25 percent power from an alternative source, which is violation of the 2012 policy.
This blogs provides a medium for students from UBC Okanagan - School of Nursing to critically reflect on their experiences each year in Mongu, Western Province, Zambia.
Bollywood has a lot of superstars amongst the Khans, the Kapoors but there is this one Singh who is taking the industry by storm. The name Ranveer Singh is creating more and more hysteria with every passing day. The Bollywood actor who is still basking in the glory and success of his last release Bajirao Mastani is on the top as far as stardom is concerned. Lets have a closer look at some facts about him which are fairly unknown till date

Ranveer Singhs nameis just not what you think it is

Not many people including his fans know that Ranveer Singhs full name is Ranveer Singh Bhavnani.

It was during his debut days that he decided to drop Bhavnani from his screen name as he thought it made his name too long to remember and connect with.

Ranveer is related to Sonam Kapoor

No one could have guessed that Sonam Kapoor and Ranveer Singh might be related but that actually is true. Heis Sonams cousin from the maternal side of the family. No doubt heshares a special bond with Sonams father Anil Kapoor which was very apparent in his Film Dil Dhadkane Do.

A copywriter before an actor

Ranveer used to work as a copywriter at O&M the world famous Ad agency just before Bollywood happened for him. Guess we could never see the madness in his mind if he continued just being a copywriter.

A foreign degree holder

Beneath his funky and out of the box image, there is a foreign degree holder.

Yes Ranveer Singh post completing his college degree from H.R. College Mumbai, went to USA and completed and completed his bachelors degree from Indiana University. He also stayed in US for a period of four years for the same.

Ranveer the Rocking Rapper

Apart from being a superstar and the most talented actor, hehas one more talent to show off.

He is a superlative rapper. He has also said to have lent his voice for rap in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl songs. His raps have also being showcased in his Chings ads and the Durex condom ads, both of the ads have been well received and have become a synonym with the brand.
The CacaoCookie is a crunchy cookie made only from organic cacao and coconut sugar (no flour), dipped in bean-to-bar organic chocolate. No eggs, no soy lecithin, no wheat. Just chocolate. Learn more: http://www.ultimatelychocolate.com/cacaocookie.html The chocolate TOFFLE is a dark chocolate toffee wrapped around a delicious milk chocolate truffle centre. It comes in Original Real Cream, Peppermint, Hazelnut and Peanut Butter.Learn more: http://www.ultimatelychocolate.com/toffle.html
Houston's petrochemical boom could soon face a big swoon Oil's low cost means Gulf Coast is losing its price advantage March 11, 2016

Houston's petrochemical industry is booming and helping to stabilize the regional economy, but troubling signs suggest the surge is coming to an end.

The oil crash that has bedeviled the region's oil and natural gas sector is wiping out much of the cost advantage that Gulf Coast chemical plants leveraged against their global rivals. Chemical plants in the U.S. mostly use bountiful and affordable natural gas as their main feedstock, while the rest of the world relies on crude, which was far more expensive until last year.

At the same time, the entire industry is being hit by a global economic slowdown. The variety of plastic products, packaging and automotive parts is linked to the buying power of global consumers. When demand is down, so is the chemical business.

"The global middle class is so important to chemical consumption," Exxon Mobil Chemical President Neil Chapman said. "That's the driver for the growth in petrochemicals."

In the Houston area, a bevy of petrochemical construction projects helped the metro area compensate for the massive loss of jobs from the ongoing oil bust. Ifthat growth slows before a recovery in oil, Houston's economy will lose a critical counterweight to the crude bust, analysts say.

"We still have a lot of (petrochemical) startups coming online here in the U.S., but once we get past the 2017-2018 time frame, it drops off pretty precipitously," said Dave Witte, senior vice president at the IHS research firm who focuses on the petrochemical industry.

Downtown Houston becomes the center of conversation for the uncertain chemical market this week as industry leaders converge for IHS' 31st World Petrochemical Conference. Executives are expected to discuss industry trends and strategies.

Companies already are focusing more on budgetary discipline and protecting shareholder dividends, Witte said. Most U.S. chemical companies' stock values dropped sharply since this past summer. They are still making money, but not necessarily enough to show returns on big new investments.

"People are kind of pausing right now to take a look and try and get a little bit more visibility and certainty before they make the next round of decisions," Witte said of Gulf Coast project announcements. "It's dramatically fallen off from where it was a couple years ago."

Years in the future

The majority of new Gulf Coast petrochemical projects are too far along to cancel, and companies stress they are building to set themselves up years into the future.

In the U.S., the American Chemistry Council counts 266 projects planned from 2010 to 2023 that cost $164 billion to build. Texas would be home for 104 of the projects - worth $51.3 billion - and most of those are in southern Texas, including the Houston area. The council expects those projects to result in 15,800 "direct" new jobs in Texas - not counting construction jobs - and 67,000 nationwide.

Companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Phillips, Dow Chemical Co., BASF and LyondellBasell have multi-billion-dollar expansion projects underway in areas such as Baytown, Channelview, Mont Belvieu, La Porte and Freeport. Many will be done in a year or so.

"There's a lot of discussions about the weakness in the global economy, but these are long-term investments for us," Exxon Mobil's Chapman said.

Exxon Mobil is spending billions to boost production of ethylene and polyethylene - the world's most common plastic - at its Baytown and Mont Belvieu plants. The project is Exxon Mobil's first major U.S. chemical expansion in more than 15 years, with completion slated for 2017.

But like many other companies, Exxon Mobil doesn't have plans for any projects beyond next year that would expand its chemical footprint.

Exxon Mobil plans to export much of its Gulf Coast products to the developing world.

"It's really an export machine," Chapman said. "The fundamentals haven't changed. We see economic cycles all the time."

And experts say at least in the short term, there are questions about the global economy, including China.

China has been responsible for nearly 60 percent of the growth in global demand growth for petrochemicals the past 15 years, Witte said. That was due to its own growth but also because of its manufacturing base. It imports chemicals and plastics and then sends them back out in packaging or in finished products like toys.

"There's a lot of concern over how China has moved to a consumer economy" with less cheap labor and manufacturing, Witte said. "That has people concerned over what it means for demand growth in chemicals."

But Chapman still expects long-term world growth, citing the projected increase in global population and the fact that many people worldwide will be joining the middle class. Exxon Mobil is also opening petrochemical plants soon in Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

Saudi Arabia's growth

Apart from the Gulf Coast, Saudi Arabia has seen the largest global wave of petrochemical growth. But even the Saudis are looking to break the link between their petrochemical production and oil and natural gas prices.

State-owned Saudi Aramco just announced plans to make more specialty chemicals, which are linked to the performance of the products they are used in, so there's less price volatility. Specialty chemicals are used by industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to perfumes to construction.

So-called base chemicals like ethylene - the primary building block of most plastics - are tied to oil and natural gas prices, and they rise and fall with the markets. All ethylene is virtually equal, for instance, but some specialty pigments or resins made by one company may function in certain products better than those made by competitors.

The Saudis aren't alone in looking to cash in on specialty chemicals, noted Adrian Beale, vice president of specialty chemicals at IHS.

"Because they're not such homogenous products, it's not as easy for buyers to switch from one to another," Beale said, adding that shareholders like the stability of the special chemicals business.

But the problem for Texas is that nearly all of the boom here has been fueled by base growth. Much of the specialty chemical growth will be in developing areas such as China, India and the Middle East, he said, closer to where product consumption is occurring.

If oil prices jump back up, Beale predicted some new petrochemical projects could emerge, but he doesn't expect the growth of recent years to repeat.

"Even if oil prices go back up, we're not expecting them to go back to the heights where they were before," Beale said. "Even though the U.S. will have a kind of advantage, it won't be as significant."

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Houston-s-petrochemical-boom-could-soon-face-a-6884725.php
Osteoporosis is a skeletal problem characterized by decreased bone mass and the deterioration of its microarchitecture making the bone prone to fractures. It is usually associated with aging, occurring in postmenopausal women and elderly men. Osteoporosis becomes clinically manifest when it results in a fracture. About 1.5 million osteoporotic fractures are recorded in the United States every year. Osteoporotic fractures in the older patient result in a

marked decrease in quality of life due to such factors as pain, restricted mobility, isolation and depression. About 20% of older patients suffering a hip fracture die within one year, from the injury or complications of its treatment. Osteoporotic fractures place about 180,000 people in nursing homes and costs the healthcare system $18 billion each year.

Osteoporosis has become an important issue in people with a history of prostate or breast cancer. Anticancer agents may have direct toxic effects on bone, some chemotherapeutic agents may induce hypogonadism and the prolonged use of steroids as part of treatment in certain cancers may all contribute to the development of osteoporosis. A significant factor in the development of osteoporosis is the use of androgen deprivation treatment (ADT) in all its forms in the treatment of prostate cancer, and the use of aromatase inhibitors (AI) in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers.

While therapeutic agents are available for the prevention of osteoporosis, lifestyle management such as engaging in weight bearing exercises, intake of calcium and vitamin D supplements, avoidance of smoking and excessive alcohol intake could prevent or slow down the development of osteoporosis.

We undertook this study, to understand what prostate and breast cancer survivors need to know about osteoporosis (its prevention and treatment strategies) to feel well-informed, promote compliance to treatment, and self-efficacy. We used a mixed-methods approach; we determined qualitatively and quantitatively the areas of knowledge deficit in osteoporosis. First, twenty patients comprising 10 breast and 10 prostate cancer survivors were interviewed. We asked what their thoughts were about osteoporosis and its treatment, what they know and what they wanted to know as well as their preferred source of health information. Two validated knowledge questionnaires were administered to another 20 survivors to objectively assess their knowledge on osteoporosis and identify any areas of deficit.

The qualitative interviews revealed that participants generally knew what osteoporosis was but lacked details on causes, risk factors, treatment and prevention. Some indicated that exercises, use of calcium and vitamin D supplements were self-management behaviors they could undertake to improve their bone health. Participants were concerned about the effect of their cancer medications on the bone. They were of the opinion that providing information could help address their concerns as well as promote compliance with healthy lifestyles and treatment. They would also use the information in educating family members and to initiate conversation with their healthcare providers. Friends and family who would want more information would be advised to go on the Internet or talk to their physicians. The knowledge questionnaires revealed areas of knowledge deficit to include risk factors, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis among others. It was also shown that participants perceived knowledge did not match their low performance on the knowledge questionnaires. These findings indicate a problem of inadequate information on osteoporosis even in highly educated prostate and breast cancer survivors who had been on IAs or ADT.

The Internet was their preferred information source. However, the information would be more acceptable if they knew it came from a reputable source. Although the Internet has a number websites that provide some information on osteoporosis, none is specifically designed to meet the information needs of cancer survivors. It may be desirable to have an educational website on osteoporosis designed for cancer survivors addressing such issues as the general characteristics of osteoporosis, risk factors, prevention and treatment.

Written By: Jude K. A. des Bordes1, MBChB, DrPH, Noha Abdel-Wahab1,2, MD, PhD, Maria Suarez-Almazor1, MD, PhD, Maria A. Lopez-Olivo1, MD, PhD

Read the Original Abstract

Authors Affiliation

1. Department of General Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1465 Houston TX 77030, USA

2. Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Department, Assiut University Hospital, Egypt
Chengdu sets up innovation fund Updated: 2016-03-10 23:16 By Huang Zhiling(chinadaily.com.cn)

The Chengdu city government has established a 50 million yuan ($7.7 million) fund to reward winners of major research prizes to start their businesses in the capital of Sichuan province.

Up to 100 million yuan could be granted to a research team, according to the government as it pushes hard to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

Chengdu will issue five-year residency certificates and five-year, multi-entry visas for award-winning foreign talent  and their spouses and children  who agree to set up startups in the city, said Jing Bin, head of the city's human resources office.

Researchers whose firms maintain a presence in the city for over five years and contribute to the city's economic and social development are in line to receive a financial reward of 1 million yuan, he said.

The city's new policy stresses that the fund is for international and domestic talents.

Each year, Chengdu will select around 100 talents, such as local university students, who have established innovative startups, and provide each of them up to 200,000 yuan, Jing said.
Visa concerns may be eased for experts Updated: 2016-03-11 08:10 By Su Zhou(China Daily Europe)

China is considering plans to make it easier for foreign experts to visit and stay, such as offering five- or even 10-year multiple-entry visas.

Zhang Jianguo, head of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, says this year he will try to make sure the visa issue will not become a hurdle preventing high-end overseas talent from coming to China.

"Many foreign experts have written me e-mails to complain about the visa problem. They want five-year or even 10-year multiple-entry permits, which will make their visits easier," he says.

"Most are high-end, talented people. Some are even Nobel Prize winners. Currently, they can get only one-year or two-year multiple-entry permits, which is not very convenient."

In contrast, many other countries have adopted a flexible visa policy for Chinese citizens. "For example, many Chinese businesspeople or even students can apply for 10-year multiple-entry visas to the United States. We should ensure that top overseas talent who want to come and work in China can enjoy the same convenience."

According to the draft 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), China will aim to attract many types of overseas talent, namely scientists in strategic sectors; those who are able to engage in innovations, breakthrough techniques and developing high-tech industries; and those in emerging disciplines.

Zhang has vowed to remove career barriers for foreign talent and make their lives in China more convenient.

"We'll encourage establishing a recruitment mechanism within research institutions, colleges and universities that will take job applications from around the world," he says. "We'll also draft a regulation to guide foreign experts to participate in national science and technology programs, as well as become leaders of important research projects."

Zhang mentioned some specific concerns of foreigners living in China

"What if they get ill? How can the expenses in a hospital be covered by insurance in China or their commercial insurance bought overseas?" he says. "I know there are very few hospitals that can connect with overseas insurance companies, and this needs policy support from government agencies such as us."

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
Making fashion accessible for all women Updated: 2016-03-12 04:03 By Jessie Xu in Shanghai(China Daily USA)

Lily Zhang, lingerie and swimwear designer, founder of fashion brand Mavinia

She may be better known for being a prolific lingerie designer, but Lily Zhang has in recent years been utilizing her particular set of skills in another similar field instead  swimwear for Chinas Miss Universe contestants.

Having joined the Miss Universe China team in 2014, Zhang has regularly wowed industry experts and fashionistas by using unconventional materials such as candied fruit, stuffed panda toys and Chinese lanterns to create newfangled swimwear.

For me, there is no rule or boundary when it comes to fashion design. I just go with my instincts, said Zhang.

My personal favorite from the collection is the blue and red piece inspired by headdress in the Peking Opera. The oriental beauty it conveys is really beyond words, she added.

But esoteric sense of style aside, what Zhang truly hopes to convey through her creations is that Chinese women should be more adventurous and confident when it comes to exposing themselves. She said that the bodies of many Chinese women appear to be much older than that of their peers from other countries, partly because they are still largely unaware of how to choose the right piece of underwear.

She claimed that the fun and colorful aspect to the swimwear she has designed for Miss Universe contestants has inherently helped encourage Chinese women to explore wearing lingerie which they once thought to be inappropriate for their bodies.

Zhang also believes that Chinese women have been able to better relate to the contestants clad in her swimwear as they are usually not as perfectly proportioned as professional models and are hence less intimidating.

Having worked in the lingerie industry for more than 10 years, Zhang realized that many luxury brands often tailor their apparel for people with figures like supermodels. This in turn spurred her to set up her own fashion line, Mavinia, which is committed to creating stylish clothes for average-sized people.
Financial aid to cover all students in need in 5 years: Ministry Updated: 2016-03-13 13:26 (Xinhua)

BEIJING -- All financially-underprivileged students in China will qualify for financial support in the next five years.

The government plans to phase out tuition fees for secondary vocational school students and exempt senior high school students who were financially disadvantaged from paying tuition fees, according to Du Yubo, vice minister of education.

Assistance programs for pre-school education will also be explored in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), according to Du on Friday.

In order to improve the effectiveness of the assistance, Du urged local authorities to allocate aid on a case-by-case basis.

Benefits for poor students and children have increased in recent years.

According to a report released by the Ministry of Education in August, more than 142.1 billion yuan ($21.9 billion) was allocated to student assistance programs in 2014, up about 20 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the number of students and children benefiting from programs funded by the government, loans and donations, was also on the rise.

The report said more than 85.4 million students from preschool to university received financial aid in 2014, up 6.86 percent from the year earlier.
Partners discuss financing of UK nuclear project Updated: 2016-03-14 14:12 By Lyu Chang(China Daily)

Steam rises from the cooling towers of the Electricite de France nuclear power station at Le Bugey in Saint-Vulbas near Lyon. [Photo/Agencies] EU competition approval also given for Hinkley Point

Top officials at China General Nuclear Power Group are in discussion with their counterparts at French power company Electricite de France, on the necessary terms to finance their joint nuclear power project at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom.

Hinkley Point C is the UK's first new nuclear plant for a decade, and is needed to replace aging reactors and polluting coal plants.

The project is being financed 66.5 percent by EDF, with a Chinese consortium led by CGN providing the rest.

"We are carrying out negotiations with EDF, and will put forward measures to reach the final decisions soon," He Yu, CGN's chairman, told China Daily.

"We are confident that the Hinkley Point project will be a complete success."

He said the company is preparing for the preliminary review of Generic Design Assessment by UK regulators which looks at risk in terms of the safety, security and environmental effects of the technology being used at the site.

"We will try to start the GDA process within the first half of this year," he said, adding that it is likely to take about five years to fully assess and investigate the new design.

The Hinkley Point project is already well under way.

The plant, using EDF's technology, is due to be completed by 2025, when it will provide an estimated 7 percent of the UK's electricity needs.

With the conditions to allow the Hinkley Point project to go ahead, CGN also plans to push the development of Hualong One, its homegrown nuclear reactor design, for use in the Bradwell B project in the UK.

He was speaking as the project partners won regulatory approval from the European Union's competition authority on Thursday to build and operate the Hinkley Point plant.

The European Commission said it did not see any serious competition issues.

"The commission's investigation found that competition in the wholesale supply of electricity in the UK will not be hindered by the transaction given the moderate market share of EDF, the very limited market shares of CGN in this market and the presence of other competitors," it said in a statement.

He's remarks also came as Chris Bakken, the US-born project director of the nuclear power project, resigned to become chief nuclear officer at Entergy Corp in the US, according to the Financial Times, who quoted Bakken and his employer EDF.

Philippe Bordarier was named as chief nuclear officer for EDF Energy Generation, to take charge of the project.

(China Daily USA 03/14/2016 page13)
One year after 18-year-old Henry Lee, a high school student in Palo Alto, California, killed himself due to clinical depression, his father hosted a talk a few weeks ago with Chinese-American parents to discuss how society, schools and families can better use resources to help vulnerable teens.

Lee's seminar and advices come in a timely manner. Thousands of miles away from Palo Alto, 23 young people in Hong Kong have taken their lives since the start of this academic year. The seven most recent cases had occurred within nine days. The numbers have alarmed the University of Hong Kong's Center for Suicide Research and Prevention.

On March 10, the Hong Kong Education Bureau called a meeting with key stakeholders and announced a series of emergency measures, including improving student counseling support on campus, holding seminars to help teachers and parents identify problematic behaviors of students sooner, and forming a committee to come up with recommendations on preventative solutions in six months.

As some blame the pressure-cooker education system and Asian-American families' pursuit of academic excellence, experts believe complex factors such as spending too much time in virtual worlds and a lack of peer interaction could be contributing to the problem of teen suicide.

Teen suicide is a growing health concern worldwide. It is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24, surpassed only by homicide and accidents, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Causes of suicidal distress can be triggered by psychological, environmental and social factors. Suicide risk-factors vary with age, gender, ethnic group, family dynamics and stressful life events; mental illness, however, is the leading risk factor.

In Henry Lee's case, "he provided a light to those around him and always found a way to make people laugh," recalled his father, who added that many of the young man's intimate friends and close family members couldn't associate Henry with depression and suicide.

A talented cyclist, artist and musician, Henry was an advocate for others who suffered as well, providing comfort to friends with shared experiences. Despite his own condition, he wanted to pursue a college degree in linguistics and wished to perform research in psycholinguistics to help detect early stages of depression by assessing lingual expression in others.

Though he sought and received medial treatment and support from his family, Henry ultimately took his own life on Jan 24, 2015. Henry's father urges anyone in a similar situation to seek help and support as early as possible.

"Don't feel shameful if your child has depression; don't hide it and pretend everything is just fine," Henry's father said at the seminar in Silicon Valley. "We hope to raise awareness for mental health and to prevent teen suicide universally."

Screening programs have proven to be helpful because research has shown that suicidal people show signs of depression or emotional distress, according to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Referrals can be made for treatment, and effective treatment can be employed when signs are observed in time. Intervention efforts for at-risk youth can put them in contact with mental health services that can save their lives.

"Teen suicide is preventable. Family is a buffer against stress for children and teenagers," said Xie Gang, school psychologist with the Fremont Unified School District. "Let our children know that parents are always here to help and support, so they won't go extreme when dealing with difficult times."

Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com
A nation of Earth's most unearthly places Updated: 2016-03-14 09:44 By Erik Nilsson(China Daily)

Visitors look out from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, California. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The United States is a country of otherworldly world wonders.

Nearly as many people visit its national parks annually as live in the nationfor good reason.

They host some of Earth's most unearthly places, where ecology and geology embrace to forge fantastical spaces that seem unrealbut are, in many ways, more real than our cultivated existences in civilization's settlements.

China Daily examines the allure of the five US national parks most visited in 2015.

Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains that crumple the topography between Tennessee and North Carolina lure over 10 million travelers a yeartwice as many as the next most-visited park.

The Appalachian range takes its appellation from the mist that twists from its trees. The vapor is exhaled from a diversity of flora that exceeds Europe's.

In addition to black bears, raccoons and coyotes, the park crawls with the world's greatest concentration of salamander varieties. Its three-dozen speciesincluding hellbenders longer than human armsmake it the "World's Salamander Capital". The park celebrates this distinction with an annual Salamander Ball.

Over a dozen lightening bug varieties flicker in the forests like stars on Earth.

The Smokies also claim the greatest diversity of historical buildings in a US national park, including log structures from the 1800s.

Grand Canyon

Despite attracting over 5 million visitors last year, Arizona's 550-kilometer Grand Canyon remains a place of wild abandon.

About 90 percent of travelers head for the edge of the South Rim.

Its distance from the North Rim is over 350 km by car and 34 km on foot. Both the hike and drive are extremebut epic. Authorities advise against the overnight rim-to-rim trek in summer's 38 C desert heat.

Mules and boats offer other means to navigate the Inner Canyon.

Desert panoramas can be enjoyed from a 21-meter-high watchtower built in Pueblo Indian style in 1932. The crumbs of an actual ancient Pueblo village scatter at the Tusayan Ruin.

Point Imperial affords multihued views of the Painted Desert and striated columns of Marble Canyon, from which gully walls whoosh apart to make the canyon "grand".

Tuweep's 900-meter drop took shape when lava repeatedly oozed over the ridge, clogging the Colorado River, which eventually punched its way through. The sheer cliff is the kind of place where you wouldn't want to look downexcept you do. That's the point.
Asian groups push for Scalia replacement Updated: 2016-03-02 11:46 By Lia Zhu in San Francisco(China Daily USA)

As the debate heats up over a Supreme Court justice nomination, two Asian Pacific American (APA) groups are working to urge US President Barack Obama to consider and nominate an APA jurist to "enrich the court by adding a previously unrepresented perspective".

The National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association (NAPIPA), a San Jose, California-based non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the interests of the API community, and the Silicon Valley Chapter of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA) have been holding discussions and fundraisers to promote APA judges as a replacement for the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away on Feb 13.

Their list of candidates includes Goodwin Liu, a Chinese-American associate justice on the California Supreme Court; Sri Srinisavan, an Indian-American judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Denny Chin, a Chinese-American judge on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Jacqueline Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American judge on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the only female Asian-American Judge in the federal appellate court system.

"With important cases regarding education, discrimination and immigration looming, the importance of having a bench that matches the diversity of the country cannot be overstated," said Paul T Jhin, president of the NAPIPA.

"The diversity of our country is one of our greatest strengths," Jhin wrote in a Feb 28 letter to President Obama. "When the men and women who deliver justice look more like our country, confidence grows in our legal system."

In January 2009, there were only eight APA federal judges in the United States, and today there are 25, including four at the Court of Appeals level. But 25 APA federal judges out of 870 positions is not enough for the NAPIPA.

These numbers still reflect a per-capita underrepresentation of the nation's fastest-growing group, and APIs make up almost 6 percent of the population and only 2 percent of the federal bench, the group said in a statement, adding that no API jurist has ever even been interviewed for the US Supreme Court.

According to a Pew Research Center report, Asians are projected to rise to 14 percent of the population and outnumber Hispanics as the nation's largest immigrant group by 2065.

The number of Asian-American voters in 2012 almost doubled from 2000, and by 2040, that number is expected to double yet again.

Asian Americans' views are often overlooked because there's a lack of voice and action from the group, according to Charlie Huang, a Chinese American and deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County, California.

"In the 227-year-history of the United States, no Asian American has even been interviewed for the position of the Supreme Court Justice," said Huang, who encouraged the entire community to get behind the movement and help promote the message to President Obama and the US Senate to at least consider the possibility of an Asian-American Supreme Court Justice.

"These guys (the four jurists NAPIPA recommended) have worked really hard. They would take us a long way to empowering our community," he said.

To Don Sun, president of the Silicon Valley branch of APAPA, it would be a significant step to have an Asian-American jurist nominated for the Supreme Court, even if he or she may not ultimately be appointed.

"If you don't even think about it, you will never make it," said Sun, who said he has been closely following the case of former New York City police officer Peter Liang.

Tens of thousands of members from the Chinese community held rallies in more than 40 cities on Feb 20 to support the Chinese-American rookie officer whose manslaughter conviction was seen by many as unfair.

"I think the rallies are only a beginning. Chinese Americans should get more involved in the nation's judiciary and, maybe, they can start by not evading jury duty," he said.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com
Swire Properties' Miami project welcomes first tenant Updated: 2016-03-14 05:18 By ZHENG XIN in Beijing(China Daily USA)

Hong Kong-headquartered Swire Properties US subsidiary has welcomed its first lead tenant, Akerman LLP, one of Americas leading law firms, to Three Brickell City Centre.

It marks the opening of the first component of Swires HK$8 billion ($1.05 billion) Brickell City Centre development.

As the most anticipated project in Brickell for years, the opening of our first office tower within our Brickell City Centre complex marks the beginning of an exciting new transformation for the city, said Stephen Owens, president of Swire Properties Inc.

We believe our two office towers will set new standards for Miamis office space and further Brickells growth as a leading business hub.

Brickell City Centre is a landmark 5.4 million square-foot, mixed-use development in downtown Miami.

The projects first phase includes a premium shopping center, two residential towers, a hotel with residences, and two mid-rise office towers.

It is another example of Chinas companies and large institutions looking to overseas real estate, investing their accumulated capital as Chinas economy slows.

According to a report by London-based real estate consultancy Knight Frank, realestate deals overseas by Chinas investors, mainly developers, last year doubled over the previous year, with total mainland outbound investment in 2015 hitting almost $30 billion.

New York, London, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia are the top investment spots worldwide, attracting more than 40 percent of total investment, said Knight Frank.

Some 52.3 percent of mainland real-estate investment in the US last year was in Manhattan, it said, including the Bank of Chinas purchase of 7 Bryant Park, a 28-story building.

Chinese insurer Anbang Insurance purchased the high-end Heron Tower in London for $1.17 billion, after buying the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel for $1.95 billion, while another company, Taiping Life Insurance, bought into the 111 Murray Street project.

Outside the US, China Investment Corp bought the Meguro Gajoen commercial property complex in Tokyo, while Chinas Greenland Group bought the Tebrau Bay of Waterfront City in Malaysia as well.

Analysts said that of all the popular destinations, Chinese money prefers America, as some of Chinas property giants are seekingeither residential or commercial investments in overseas markets like New York.

The cases illustrate a bigger trend that Chinese builders and insurance firms are eager to invest large reserves of cash in the key gateway cities, diversifying their property portfolios while acquiring overseas properties to beef up investment returns, said Derek Dong, group account director of research agency Millward Brown, a global market-research firm based in New York.

Chinas overseas property investments will become more frequent and diversified, he said.

According to Knight Frank, the trend is also driven by a sluggish domestic housing market, a shrunken yuan and continued turbulence on the stock markets.

The sluggish property market in second- and third-tier mainland cities has pushed domestic developers into tapping overseas markets, said David Ji Yanxun, Knight Frank's director and head of research and consultancy.

Property purchases abroad by mainland investors are expected to rise 10 to 20 percent in 2016, the advisory firm said.

Akerman LLP, the largest law group in Florida and one of top 100 US law firms, is the biggest lead office tenant committed to the project, taking up 110,500 square feet, or 80 percent, of the towers Grade-A office space.

The changing law business has an insatiable need for new ideas, said Andrew Smulian, Akerman chairman and CEO.

There is real value in having our law firm surrounded by the Climate Ribbon, one of the most stunning and innovative pieces of environmental architecture in North America, which is the signature element of Brickell City Centre. It reminds us what is possible when you dare to design new solutions to old problems.

Designed by award-winning architectural firm Arquitectonica, the 12-story all-glass tower is the only office building in the Brickell area with a Metromover attached to its structure.

The second office tower, Two Brickell City Centre, is expected to open later this year.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn
State Senator requests light sentence for Liang Updated: 2016-03-15 00:21 (chinadaily.com.cn)

New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky on Monday called on Judge Danny Chun to issue a lenient sentence to Peter Liang, the former New York convicted of manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley.

In a letter to Chun released by her office on Monday, Stavisky, a Democrat who represents Flushing, pointed to inadequate training and the partnering of two rookie officers on a so-called vertical patrol in a Brooklyn public housing project where the shooting took place as contributing to the incident.

Liang, whose sentencing is scheduled for April 14, faces 15 years in prison, a sentence Stavisky said is too harsh, given the circumstances.

Liang and his partner were conducting the patrol on Nov 20, 2014, inside the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood. Liang opened a door into an unlighted stairwell and his gun went off. The bullet glanced off a wall and hit Gurley, 28, who was walking down the stairs with his girlfriend, and pierced his heart.

Stavisky said her thoughts and prayers are with Gurleys loved ones, "but Akai Gurley wasnt the only victim here". Liang and his partner were inexperienced, inadequately trained and, as rookies, had no business conducting a vertical patrol in a darkened staircase, she said in her letter.

"We cannot scapegoat these two officers and ignore the NYPD protocols set in place. I am requesting Judge Chun to consider all the circumstances when he issues a sentence for Peter Liang," she wrote.
Namibian president hails cooperation with China Updated: 2016-03-15 04:46 (Xinhua)

WINDHOEK -- Namibian President Hage Geingob has hailed cooperation with China.

Cooperation between Namibia and China has made huge strides in areas as diverse as education, health, agriculture, trade, investment, and technology transfer, said the president while receiving a courtesy call from outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Xin Shunkang on Monday.

Geingob said this is a testimony of the all-weather Namibia-China friendship.

"I challenge all other colleagues from the international community to emanate what and how the Chinese friends are showing and helping in many ways," said the president.

Xin said China values its friendly relations with Namibia, and the Chinese government attaches great importance to the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

"China has done its best to support and assist Namibia in its economic and social development with the implementation of a series of projects," said the ambassador.

These, amongst others, include the Defense Academy Project in Okahandja, the Northern Road Upgrading Project, China-aided schools in the Khomas and Omaheke regions, reconstruction of Aquaculture Center in Hardap Region, and the Youth Training Center in Grootfontein.

To help Namibia in its capacity building, China has been providing 15 Namibian students every year with full government scholarships to pursue their degree studies in China.

China also helps train Namibian government officials and technical personnel from various sectors.

China and Namibia established diplomatic ties in 1990.
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Every stop on the ALEPH / Jewish Renewal Listening Tour is different -- because every community we visit is unique. Every community has its own dynamics, its own history, its own needs and yearnings. And, of course, every stop on the ALEPH / Jewish Renewal Listening Tour is similar -- because there is always common ground among and between the places we go, because we bring the same questions with us everywhere we go, and because as different as we all are, we're all part of the same greater whole.

This past weekend I was blessed to travel, with Rabbi David Markus and Rabbi Evan Krame and ALEPH's executive director Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin, for a Listening Tour Shabbaton in Montreal. Our gathering was co-sponsored by by B'nai Or Montreal Community Shul, Mile End Chavurah, and our colleagues at ALEPH Canada. Many of the participants came from the broad Montreal Jewish community. Others came from as far afield as Newfoundland, Ottawa, and Toronto.

Our weekend began with Shabbat dinner, graciously hosted by R' Sherril Gilbert, director of ALEPH Canada. We sat around the table with friends and family and members of the organizing committee. We blessed candles and wine and bread. We dined, and talked about Jewish Renewal, and after dinner we lingered at the table and sang songs of Shabbat, passing the guitar around the table, sharing favorite melodies and harmonies. This is one of my favorite ways to end any week. What a joy!

On Shabbat morning, we met at the Jewish Community Centre for davenen. This was a morning service with a large number of moving parts: a collaboration between clergy and lay leaders, between folks from B'nai Or and from Mile End and from Dorshei Emet (the local Reconstructionist shul), between locals and we who were visiting from afar.

I was honored with the privilege of leading shacharit, the part of the service containing the shema. Rabbi David and Rabbi Shalom Shachter collaborated on the Torah service (and I got to hear Rabbi David chant his bar mitzvah Torah portion, which was a delight). Rabbi Evan gave a stunning d'var Torah about Judaism "on the move," in which he made the case that Jewish Renewal is quintessentially a recognition of the fact that Judaism has always been evolving. I was particularly delighted when he connected the , the smoke rising from our offerings of old, with an acronym for , ,  / space, time, and soul.

After a lovely potluck lunch (during which I had the opportunity to meet soferet Jen Taylor Friedman, of whose work I have been a fan for many years) we moved into an open mike conversation. Rabbi David offered some framing remarks, noting that exactly 40 years ago this month Reb Zalman z"l came to Montreal for a Jewish Renewal Shabbaton! (Forty, of course, is a number with great spiritual significance in Judaism -- so this confluence felt especially sweet.) And then we entered into our spiritual practice of reflective listening.

Everywhere we go, it's our intention to take in what people have to offer -- hopes and fears, kvetches and joys, the one thing you never want us to change, the one thing you absolutely hope we will change, etc -- without reactivity, and without giving in to the temptation to offer our own response. The purpose of the listening tour isn't for y'all to hear from us: it's for us to hear from you. We heard some really valuable things about what members of this particular Jewish community value most about Jewish Renewal, about the unique challenges of life as a triple minority (Anglophone, Jewish, and Jewish Renewal), and about this community's hopes, dreams, and needs.

After the open mike, we settled in for a focus group conversation with Canadian Jewish community leaders. This too has become part of our practice everywhere we go. During the focus group we aim to shift to a meta-conversation about systemic questions, about how local or regional Jewish Renewal interfaces with the bigger picture of the renewal of Judaism, about networks and models of governance, and about the ecosystem of Jewish innovation and how we think all of these pieces do, or should, fit together.

On Sunday morning there was a more intimate conversation among leaders of ALEPH and ALEPH Canada. We talked about the internationalization of ALEPH, about the both common and uncommon challenges of the next generation finding (and, more importantly, helping to make) spiritual revitalization for itself, about the challenges of serving the scattered people of Canada. I was especially interested in our conversation about the dispersed who may feel disconnected from community -- whether in rural areas not unlike the one where I live, or in urban areas -- and who want and need an ALEPH that (re) connects them. (There was also a radio interview with Leslie Lutsky of Radio Centre Ville. Stay tuned, I'll post a link when that interview goes live.)

After a final meal in Montreal we regretfully bid adieu to the city -- and to Canada, though to the nation itself we were able to say a bientot, since we'll be heading back across the border in a couple of weeks for our Listening Tour stop in Vancouver.

Many people have asked us how we're able to manage these intense Listening Tour weekends on top of our other obligations -- Rabbi David's congregation, my congregation, his fulltime job as a judicial official, my fulltime job as mother to a six year old. The answer is that while it's true that these weekends are exhausting, they are also incredibly renewing. It is a joy and a privilege to get to visit different Jewish Renewal communities: to see what's similar and what's different about how we daven, what's similar and what's different about our origin stories and our hopes for the future, what's common and what's unique about where we hope ALEPH and Jewish Renewal will take us in years to come.

Next on the ALEPH / Jewish Renewal Listening Tour: Vancouver over the weekend of March 26! If you're in or near Vancouver, join us at Or Shalom.
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VECITA said organisations and individuals should not do transactions relating to virtual currencies.  Illustrative image/ Photo cafef.vn

HA NOI (VNS)  The industry and trade ministrys E-commerce and Information Technology Agency (VECITA) has warned consumers and investors to be cautious while purchasing virtual currencies on e-commerce websites.

Specifically, some websites, forums and social networks provide information on virtual currencies such as Swisscoin, Bitcoin, Onecoin and Gem coin, besides IL coin with offers of huge profits.

However, the State Bank of Viet Nam said on February 27, 2014 that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies were not legal currency and payment tools in Viet Nam. The ownership, purchase and use of virtual currencies are risky and not protected by law.

In addition, VECITA said organisations and individuals should not do transactions relating to virtual currencies.

Over the last two years, several virtual currencies such as Bitcoins have been banned for transactions in some countries such as China, Russia and Thailand. Investors in Japan and Hong Kong have been attacked by hackers, causing losses to them.

In Viet Nam, policy agencies received reports about fraud in online transactions, when investors who transferred cash to the accounts of sellers did not receive virtual currencies in return.  VNS
I nformation technology (IT) specialists work at the Da Nang Software Park in central Da Nang. IT application significantly contributed to national socio-economic development over the last five years.  VNA/VNS Photo Van Son

HCM CITY (VNS)  Application and development of information and telecommunications significantly contributed to national socio-economic growth during the 2011  2015 period, especially in HCM City, delegates heard at a meeting held in HCM City on Friday (March 11).

Speaking at the meeting, Phan Tam, deputy minister of the Information and Communications Ministry, said: 2015 was a very special year as the information and telecommunications industry became the biggest tax contributor to the State budget. Turnover of the industry was more than US$42 billion.

The industry has gained an annual growth rate of 20 -25 per cent, and since 2009, Viet Nam has been listed in the top 10 nations considered to be the most attractive for software processing.

All ministries, industries and localities now have websites that provide public services.

The broad application of information and telecommunications in businesses has also helped to develop e-commerce and promote labour productivity and competitiveness.

HCM City was recognised as a leader in developing information and telecommunications applications with many achievements, including expanding the Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) to other localities, and completing rehearsals to protect and rescue information systems in case of attacks from the outside.

However, the functions of information and communications networks and equipment havent been fully used to increase efficiency in managing and operating State offices and enterprises. In addition, national database and information systems  the foundation for e-Government  have been deployed slowly, Tam added.

He also pointed out that human resource skills in information and telecommunications were limited in both State offices and the business community.

This year, the ministry will submit a review, amendments and additions to provisions in the Information and Communications Law as well as complete guidance for the Network Information Security Law, which will begin operation in July.

To remain in the leading position, HCM Citys Information and Communications Department has set a goal to boost the software industry, IT services, micro chipset production and IT application in State offices. It will also aim for IT safety during the 2016-2020 period, Le Thai Hy, director of the department, said.

Hy also asked the Government to offer support to the micro chipset industry by using Vietnamese-made chipsets in national projects.

Agreements signed to boost IT in HCM City

Also on March 11, the HCM City Computer Association signed a co-operation agreement with the municipal Department of Information and Communications to improve development of the citys information technology sector.

HCA also signed co-operation agreements with Panasonic, Sao Bac au Technologies Group, Luxoft Vietnam, Mat Bao Joint Stock Company, VinaCIS Corp, ROBO and others at a meeting of the citys IT industry the same day.

According to HCA, the agreements will enable IT firms to access quality management programmes and participate in investment promotion programmes both in and outside Viet Nam.

In addition, the department, HCA and firms will join hands to organise exhibitions, trade fairs, and seminars in the field to help firms share information and seek business partners, including the Viet Nam Information and Communication Technologies Outlook seminar.

Speaking at the event, Chu Tien Dung, HCAs chairman, said the information technology industry enjoyed high growth last year, with many firms doubling their growth rate over the previous year.

The competitiveness of Vietnamese IT firms in the domestic and global markets has increasingly improved, he said.

With the Governments determination to shift to e-Government and offer online public services to better satisfy citizens and corporations, the IT sector is expected to have more chance to grow this year, he said.  VNS
On March 7, Vissan off-loaded all of its over 11.3 million shares, or 14 per cent stake, with the IPO, earning more than VND900 billion (US$40.1 million) in total.  Photo cafebiz.vn

HA NOI (VNS)  The local market has seen some of the most attractive shares offered in initial public offerings (IPOs) in March.

Since the beginning of this year, 20 local companies have launched their IPOs.

In particular, the shares of well-known companies with good growth potential, such as the Viet Nam Meat Industries Limited Company (Vissan) and Cholimex in the food industry, attracted many investors on the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE).

On March 7, Vissan off-loaded all of its over 11.3 million shares, or 14 per cent stake, with the IPO, earning more than VN900 billion (US$40.1 million) in total.

Based in HCM City, Vissan is one of the leaders in the food market, especially in the sectors of fresh meat and processed foodstuff.

The selling price per share more than quadrupled the starting price of VN17,000 each. Vissan received subscribers asking for up to 63.6 million shares, more than five times the number of shares released in the IPO.

After the IPO, the State still held a 65 per cent stake in Vissan as its major shareholder.

Three days earlier, local chili sauce manufacturer Cholimex Food Joint Stock Company offered more than 21.58 million shares, equivalent to a 25 per cent stake, in its IPO.

Cholimex then sold less than 14 million shares, or 64 per cent of the offering, at VN10,000 per share, earning a total of VN138 billion.

After the IPO, the State still held 49 per cent of the charter capital in the company. Cholimex will sell a 1.15 per cent stake to employees and 24.9 per cent to strategic investors.

In the textiles sector, Gia Dinh Textiles and Garments one-member limited company (GIDITEXCO) will offer 15 million shares in its IPO on HoSE on March 18 at the starting price of VN10,200 each.

Based in HCM City, the State-owned GIDITEXCO specialises in production and the import and export of products, machinery and equipment for the textile and garment industry. The company, which has two subsidiaries and 12 joint ventures in Viet Nam, is estimated to have charter capital of more than VN627 billion after equitisation.

According to data from the two bourses, other IPOs will also take place this month, including offerings from the Viet Nam Rubber Group, Nha Trang Vaccines and Biologicals Company, Tin Nghia Corporation and Vietnam Book Company.

According to the Electricity of Viet Nam group, it will release IPOs for the Power Generation Corporation 3 (Genco 3), the largest  in terms of capacity  of the three Gencos in March.

Last year, the southern bourse of HoSE organised 50 IPOs, selling 338.1 million shares for VN4.45 trillion in total. This year, the bourse plans to host the IPOs of major players such as MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation, Saigon Commerce Corporation Saigon (Satra) and Ben Thanh Corporation (Benthanh Group).  VNS
ANKARA  A suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey.

The explosion at 6:45 pm (1645 GMT) struck a bus stop near Kizilay square, a bustling commercial area and local transport hub, reducing buses to charred husks and damaging nearby shops.

Officials said the blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives, which the interior minister said was driven by one or two attackers who had deliberately targeted the bus stop.

The attack is the third to strike Ankara in five months, in an area close to the prime ministers office, parliament and foreign embassies, as Turkey grapples with twin security threats from the Islamic State group (IS) and Kurdish rebels.

As recently as Friday, the US embassy issued a warning about a possible plot to attack central Ankara, advising American citizens to avoid the area.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sundays killings, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said investigators were following up on solid leads.

"We have concrete information on the terrorist group behind the attack," he said in a statement. "We will soon have results from the inquiry, and will make them public."

Canberra said Australias ambassador to Turkey James Larsen was in his car just 20 metres away from the bomb when it went off.

The blast killed 34 people and wounded 125 others, 19 of them seriously, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said.

"Thirty people were killed on the spot and four others died in hospital," Muezzinoglu said following a meeting of ministers and security officials called by Davutoglu.

A judge in Ankara banned the spreading of information about the attack online, particularly on social media sites, where photos and videos had been circulating.  AFP
President Truong Tan Sang meets with Mozambicans during his visit to Maputo. - VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Khang

MAPUTO (VNS)  Viet Nam and Mozambique will work on concrete measures to boost their ties, according to talks between visiting Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.

The talks were held following a welcome ceremony for President Sang with the highest rituals for a Head of State in the capital city of Maputo on Saturday.

President Sang expressed his delight at visiting the country after seven years in office, and spoke highly of Mozambiques socio-economic achievements and reform in recent years.

President Nyusi hailed President Sangs visit  the first made by a Vietnamese State leader, as a significant milestone in bilateral ties.

He said he considers Viet Nam a symbol of heroism for its national liberation and admires the country for its successes reaped during the national construction and development process.

Regarding political relations, both sides committed to facilitating all-level visits and supporting each other at international forums and organisations.

On regional and global issues of shared concern, the two countries pledged continued efforts to maintain global peace and stability, agreeing that territorial border issues must be settled by peaceful means in line with international law.

President Sang thanked Mozambique for backing his countrys bid for a seat at the UN Economic and Social Council for 2016-18. He also requested the African countrys support for Viet Nam to become a member of the International Law Commission for the 2017-21 tenure and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the period 2020-21.

They agreed that the Inter-Governmental Committee and political consultation mechanism between the two Foreign Ministries should be made regular with a variety of specific goals.

Both parties said that trade between the two nations remains modest, and they vowed to direct ministries and departments to discuss specific measures to lift two-way trade to at least $500 million by 2020.

Viet Nam asked Mozambique to create an economic co-operation framework conducive to their business communities, with the construction of a bonded warehouse as an immediate plan.

The two leaders expressed delight at the Movitel joint venture between Viet Nams telecommunication group Viettel and Mozambiques SPI Company, stating that its success is a testament to Viet Nams effective investment in Mozambique.

President Nyusi said Mozambique highly values the contributions Movitel has made to the countrys socio-economic development, and agreed to expand the co-operation model to other fields such as petroleum, trade, agricultural processing and construction.

The two sides agreed to boost connections in agriculture and aquatic products. President Nyusi said Mozambique appreciates the success of the rice-growing project between Viet Nam, Mozambique and Japan, which introduced high-yield varieties in the country.

He said Mozambique hopes Viet Nam will send experts to work at its aquatic research institute and help develop fish breeding models at sea.

The two leaders also shared the view that relevant ministries and sectors should accelerate the delayed joint project on planting rubber trees.

In the field of transport, the Mozambican President said his country wants to foster ties with Viet Nam in navigation and marine transport, adding that it is drafting a law calling for private investment in the sector. He also suggested Viet Nam continue to help his country in training staff for the maritime sector.

The Vietnamese side said it was willing to assist Mozambique in training staff for information technology, military medicine and telecommunications as well as share its experience in preventing and fighting natural disasters, crime, terrorism, violence and wildfires.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate negotiations for the signing of agreements on the protection of confidential information, extradition and the transfer of sentenced prisoners.

They also reached a consensus on the early organisation of the fourth Inter-Governmental Committee to realise agreements reached during their talks.

After the talks, the two Presidents oversaw the signing of the Annex to the Protocol on co-operation in education and training between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and Mozambiques Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.

President meets Mozambican leaders

President Truong Tan Sang and his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Jacinto Nyusi watch the Mozambican Armys guard of honour.  VNA/VNS Photos Nguyen Khang

President Truong Tan Sang met Speaker of the Parliament of Mozambique Veronica Macamo and Secretary General of the ruling Liberation Front (Frelimo) Party Eliseu Machava in Maputo on Saturday (local time).

Speaker Macamo hailed the visit as an important milestone in bilateral ties and affirmed her determination to strengthen experience-sharing between the two legislatures, work closely at inter-parliamentary organisations and intensify bilateral ties in economics, trade, telecommunications and agriculture.

She proposed signing a co-operative agreement between the two legislatures.

The President spoke highly of the Mozambican Parliaments role in national development.

In a separate meeting with Frelimo Party leader Machava, the Vietnamese leader briefed his host about the outcomes of the 12th National Party Congress. He called on the two countries to maintain close co-operation and said he believed that under the sound leadership of the Frelimo Party, Mozambique will reap more successes throughout the nations development, fostering the traditional friendship between the two Parties and peoples.

Machava said Frelimo appreciates and always does its best to solidify its long-standing ties with Viet Nam.

He thanked Viet Nam for sharing experiences with Frelimo in Party-building and personnel training. A number of Party members who took training courses in Viet Nam ascended to high ranks in the Party.

The same day, President Sang and President Nyusi attended the Mozambique-Viet Nam business forum co-hosted by the Confederation of Business Associations and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with nearly 200 firms taking part.

While discussing the goal to raise two-way trade to $500 million by 2020, a majority of participants said they highly valued Viet Nams potential in various fields, particularly in farm produce processing, garments and wooden furniture.

With Mozambiques strengths in crude materials, they described it as fertile ground for Vietnamese investors.

President Nyusi said in its Look East policy, the Mozambican Government focused on the areas of agriculture, energy, tourism, construction and transport, and has offered incentives to attract foreign investment.

He asked the two business communities to continue discussing a plan to open a bonded warehouse and launch an inter-bank payment mechanism.

He said he believes that with Vietnamese and Mozambican leaders support, more and more Vietnamese firms will come to Mozambique, following the success of Movitel.

Also on the same day, President Sang visited Movitel and met Vietnamese nationals living in the country.

The State leader and his associates left Maputo yesterday, concluding their Mozambican visit and embarking on a trip to Iran.

According to a joint statement issued following his visit, the two countries leaders agreed to facilitate high-level visits and deepen bilateral ties in farming, aquaculture, maritime transport, aviation, education-training, health care, science-technology, national defence-security and disaster mitigation.

Both sides expressed their wish to strengthen consultation mechanisms and coordinate efforts on multilateral issues to protect the interests of developing countries and promote fairer development in a global political and economic order. VNS
Lieutenant General Suvon Luongbunmi , Chief of the General Staff of the Lao Peoples Army receives General Do Ba Ty (left), Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam Peoples Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence.  Photo qdnd.vn

HA NOI (VNS)  A delegation from the Vietnamese Peoples Army (VPA) led by General o Ba Ty, Chief of the General Staff, is attending the 13th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM-13) in Laos at the invitation of Lieutenant General Suvon Luongbunmi, Chief of the General Staff of the Lao Peoples Army.

During the event, the Vietnamese delegation continued to attest the countrys role and position at regional and international levels through multinational forums on defence, and asserted the Vietnamese Party and States diversified, active and responsible policies in the international integration process.

The participation in the event demonstrated the Viet Nam armys wish to bolster its relations with the armies of other ASEAN member countries. It affirmed the mutual efforts to maintain peace, stability and development in the region, with an aim towards realising the ASEAN Political Security Communitys targets.

It also showed Viet Nams support for the host country in its role as ASEANs Chair in 2016.

The ACDFIM runs from March 13 to 15. VNS
HA NOI (VNS)  The EU is committed to maintaining the principles of international maritime law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Maritime prioroties include the maintenance of maritime safety, security, and cooperation, freedom of navigation and overflight.

A public declaration on Recent Developments in the South China Sea was released yesterday by the High Representative on behalf of the 28 EU Member States.

The EU does not take a position land, territory and maritime claims in the South China Sea. Instead, the EU urges all claimants to resolve disputes through peaceful means, to clarify the basis of their claims, and to pursue claims in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS and its arbitration procedures.

The EU is concerned about the deployment of missiles on islands in the South China Sea, according to the declaration. The deployment of military forces and equipment on disputed maritime features affects regional security, may threaten freedom of navigation and overflight, and is of major concern. The EU therefore calls on all claimants to refrain from militarisation in the region, to refrain from the use or threat of force, and to avoid unilateral actions.

The EU encourages the development of measures to build trust and security in the region. The EU fully supports regional ASEAN-led processes and looks forward to a swift conclusion of the talks on a Code of Conduct which will further support rules-based regional and international order.

The EU in its declaration also reiterated its offer to share best practices on maritime security. VNS
A fire yesterday morning destroyed a 4,000sq.m store of the Dorco Living Vina Co Ltd in inh Du Commune, Van Lam District, in the northern province of Hung Yen.  VNA/VNS Photo

HUNG YEN (VNS )  A fire yesterday (March13) morning destroyed a 4,000sq.m store of the Dorco Living Vina Co Ltd in inh Du Commune, Van Lam District, in the northern province of Hung Yen.

The fire was put out at 2pm. No casualties were reported, and losses are being estimated.

The South Korean-funded company was built in the Pho Noi A Industrial Zone on a total area of more than 10,000sq.m. It opened in June 2014 and produced knives and scissors for kitchens and offices.

Local residents said the fire started in a section of the store that sells razors for shaving. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Tran Cong Quyen, director of the Fire Service Division of the Hung Yen Police, said 11 fire engines responded to the incident.  VNS
HCM CITY  The Viet Nam Student Association in HCM City in cooperation with the National University in HCM City will launch the International Students Science Forum from April 6-10.

With the theme of Student Integration, the forum aims to create chances for undergraduate students in Viet Nam and Asia to meet and exchange academic knowledge, and strengthen solidarity.

The event will attract 100 delegates, consisting of 50 Vietnamese students from universities in the city and 50 from universities in Japan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asian countries.

The forum will feature speeches of leading scientists in the region and delegates on topics such as student creativity and scientific research, volunteer activities, start-ups, and climate change and environmental protection.

During the event, delegates will visit scientific centres, historic sites and universities in the city.

The forum is expected to attract more than 2,000 students from the universities in the city as observers.

Students can register to participate in the forum by sending their essays in English to the organisers by March 15.

More information on the forum can be seen at www.issf.vn.  VNS
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives Executive Vice President of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Nobuyori Kodaira, on Saturday.  VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hailed the sound relations between Vietnam and Japan in the fields of economics, culture and politics in recent years, during a reception for Executive Vice President of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Nobuyori Kodaira, on Saturday.

Japan is one of Viet Nams largest Official Development Assistance (ODA) sponsors and is a major investor and trade partner in the country, Phuc said.

He asked Toyota to work with Vietnamese automobile manufacturers to increase the number of locally-made spare parts, as well as to create conditions for more Vietnamese enterprises to become component suppliers to Toyota Corporation in the future.

For his part, the Toyota executive highlighted that the company is carrying out sustainable development policies in Viet Nam, and asked the Vietnamese Government to help facilitate Japanese businesses that invest in the country.VNS
Debt-ridden power producers Jindal Power and Reliance Infrastructure are selling their stake in India Energy Exchange (IEX) to raise capital for servicing debt.

Last week, ratings agency CRISIL had downgraded certain debt instruments of Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), parent of Jindal Power, to default, citing delays in payment of interest on term loans. Following this, the JSPL management announced plans to sell stake in certain units of its steel business, set up joint ventures with companies in Asia and Europe, and seek a buyer for its power assets in India to pare debt.

Read more from our special coverage on "JINDAL POWER" Jindal Power divests 4.12% holding in India Energy Exchange

Jindal Power holds a 4.12 per cent stake in IEX, which it is now selling.

"The stake is getting sold at a valuation of about Rs 2,500 crore for the exchange," said an investment banker familiar with the transaction. Details about the buyers were not available at the time of going to press.

Late last year, Jignesh Shah-promoted Financial Technologies sold its residual stake of five per cent in IEX at a valuation of Rs 2,100 crore. The listed entity was forced to sell its stake in the energy exchange following a May 2014 order by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. That saw the firm sell its entire 25.6 per cent stake in IEX in multiple tranches. "As part of the monetisation plan already advised, Jindal Power has entered into a definitive agreement to divest 4.12 per cent holding in IEX at an undisclosed amount and is expected to realise the consideration within the current financial year," the company said in response to Business Standard's query.

JSPL has reported losses for five quarters in a row as it has been hurt by a steep fall in steel realisations due to cheap imports from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. JSPL had a consolidated debt of Rs 42,534 crore as of September 2015. Since 2014, JSPL has evaluated options, including selling mines in Africa and Australia, and listing its power business in India to reduce debt. None of these potential sales came about.

The plan to list its power unit Jindal Power has been put on hold. It now plans to sell the 3,400-Mw power capacity in part or full. Of this, about 2,800 Mw is ready and the remaining is under construction. The company has power purchase agreements for about 1,200 Mw of capacity, leaving half the capacity idle. Overall, the company wants to cut down debt to Rs 25,000 crore.

Similarly, Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Infrastructure is in negotiations with potential buyers for selling its five per cent holding in IEX. The group has been selling assets across companies in an attempt to cut debt even as it expands its focus on the defence sector.

In November 2015, Reliance Infrastructure had agreed to sell 49 per cent stake in its electricity generation, transmission and distribution business in Mumbai and adjoining areas to Canadian pension fund Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). Last month, the company also agreed to sell its cement assets to Birla Corp for Rs 4,800 crore.

Reliance Infrastructure has also spoken about selling its entire portfolio of road projects, which would be valued at Rs 9,000 crore according to investment banking sources. The company plans to bring down debt in Reliance Infrastructure to zero by March 2017 from about Rs 16,000 crore at present.

Reliance Infrastructure declined to comment on its plan to sell stake in IEX. "Once the valuation benchmark is set through Jindal Power's stake sale in IEX, Reliance Infra will closely follow," said a banker familiar with the development.
If beleaguered liquor baron fails to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) this week, it will issue a second summons to him, an ED official told Business Standard.

Mallya has been asked to present himself before the ED on March 18; however, he is yet to confirm when he will join the probe under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On Sunday, Mallya told the Sunday Guardian that he is not inclined to return to India anytime soon, given the circumstances in which he has been branded a criminal.

"(The) Chances are high that he would not be able to meet his first date. Though he (Mallya) has the option to select his own date. If he wants any changes, we will do the needful," said an ED official.

However, it is mandatory for Mallya to appear in person before the ED. If he fails or denies (to appear), then we will proceed against him under the law, this official told Business Standard. As is standard practice at the agency, officials declined to be identified.

Under the prescribed law, if an individual does not comply with summons issued, the ED can move a court to obtain a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the person, said a government lawyer, who also did not wish to be named. A Hyderabad court has already issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Mallya.

The most high-profile 'absconder' before the Mallya saga broke, of course, has been Lalit Modi, the progenitor of the Indian Premier League T-20 cricket tournament. Like Mallya, Modi also stands accused of money laundering in connection with overseas broadcast rights for the tournament. A Mumbai court earlier this month approved extradition proceedings against Modi.

Like Mallya, though, Modi too has alleged a witch-hunt against him, and has stayed away from India



There are other options too, which could be used in case of non-compliance.

The enforcement agency can request global police agency Interpol to issue an Interpol notice against an individual if that person is outside the country. But this can be only applicable to the person against whom a local court has issued a NBW.

An Interpol notice is an international alert used by police to communicate information about crimes, criminals and threats to their counterparts around the world. These alerts are circulated to all member states at the request of a member or an authorised international entity. The information disseminated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, possible threats, prison escapes and criminals'.

Apart from these, the government can also utilise its diplomatic power. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) can opt for an 'extradition request' against Mallya. The decision can be taken under the provisions of the extradition treaty existing between India and the United Kingdom. Extradition is the legal process that involves transfer of a suspected or convicted criminal by a country to another.

The ED can also send Letter Rogatory (LR) too, but that can only help it get details of his overseas bank accounts and assets. A LR is a formal request from a court to a foreign court for some type of judicial assistance. The LR process typically take 6-8 months.

Meanwhile, the ED has initiated the process of shortlisting Mallya's overseas properties; it is likely to attach his assets to bar him from any kind of transactions.

Mallya, who is facing legal proceedings for alleged loan defaults by his group that have ballooned to debt of over Rs 9,000 crore, has lashed out against what he described in a tweet as a media trial, and has reiterated that he will comply with Indian laws. I am an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish, Mallya tweeted. He further said: As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media.


A South African teen holidaymaker may have found a piece of debris that could be a part of the missing Malaysian airliner MH370, aviation authorities has said.

The metre-long piece of metal, which had rivet holes along the edge and the number 676EB stamped on it, was found by 18-year-old Liam Lotter in December when he was walking on a beach in southern Mozambique, near the resort town of Xai Xai, authorities said on Friday.

Liam believed it belonged to an aircraft and brought it back to his home in South Africa.

His family, which dismissed it as a "piece of rubbish" that was probably debris from a boat, got in touch with the authorities when a suspected part of the missing airliner was found in Mozambique earlier this month.

"We are arranging for collection of the part, which will then be sent to Australia as they are the ones appointed by Malaysia to identify parts found," said Kabelo Ledwaba, spokesman of the South African Civil Aviation Authority.

Flight disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

A joint search in the South Indian Ocean, where the flight presumably had ended its journey, has yet to find the wreckage.

Last July, a two-metre-long aircraft flaperon was found on Reunion Island, which lies at the same corner of the Indian Ocean as Mozambique.

It was confirmed two months later by French investigators as belonging to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
India-born former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta has been released after completing his two-year prison term, weeks after a US court agreed to rehear his appeal to throw out his 2012 insider-trading conviction.

Gupta, 67, was released on March 11, according to his record at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While Gupta's prison term was to end on March 13, but since the date fell on a Sunday, he was released on Friday, four years after he lost his insider trading trial and suffered multiple legal setbacks to overturn his conviction.

The Harvard-educated was convicted in his 2012 trial of passing confidential boardroom information to his one-time friend and business associate Raj Rajaratnam.

Apart from the two-year prison term, he was fined $5 million and the Securities and Exchange Commission also slapped a $13.9 million penalty against him.

Gupta started out his prison term in 2014 at FMC DEVENS, an administrative security federal medical centre with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Ayer, Massachusetts.

Rajaratnam is serving an 11-year sentence for insider trading in the main prison adjacent to where Gupta was assigned.

His attorneys did not immediately respond to e-mails on whether Gupta would make a statement following his release.

Ever since his conviction in June 2012, Gupta filed several appeals, including to the US Supreme Court, to overturn his conviction and prison term but the courts rejected his arguments and affirmed his sentence.

However, it was only early last month, just weeks before his prison term was to end, that he had some legal respite when the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear an appeal to throw out his insider-trading conviction.

Gupta completed the last two months of his prison term at his home in Manhattan, after being released on January 5 from the Devens correctional facility.

Even though he was not in the prison centre, he remained a federal inmate until his release on March 11. He was confined to his apartment and was required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitored his movements.

A January report in the New York Times had said that Gupta "appears to be eager to get back to the world he once inhabited".

Since returning to his Manhattan apartment, Gupta has been fielding calls from former associates who say he is in good spirits and looks back on his spell in prison philosophically, the report had said.

The report had said Gupta had applied last year to corrections officers for an early discharge from Devens.

An inmate can be given credit for good behaviour and becomes eligible for home confinement for 10 per cent of a sentence, up to six months.
While the Justice Department wages a public fight with Apple over access to a locked iPhone, government officials are privately debating how to resolve a prolonged standoff with another technology company, WhatsApp, over access to its popular instant messaging application, officials and others involved in the case said.

No decision has been made, but a court fight with WhatsApp, the world's largest mobile messaging service, would open a new front in the Obama administration's dispute with Silicon Valley over encryption, security and privacy.

Read more from our special coverage on "WHATSAPP" File complaint against misleading ads to ASCI through WhatsApp

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, allows customers to send messages and make phone calls over the Internet. In the last year, the company has been adding encryption to those conversations, making it impossible for the Justice Department to read or eavesdrop, even with a judge's wiretap order.

As recently as this past week, officials said, the Justice Department was discussing how to proceed in a continuing criminal investigation in which a federal judge had approved a wiretap, but investigators were stymied by WhatsApp's encryption.

The Justice Department and WhatsApp declined to comment. The government officials and others who discussed the dispute did so on condition of anonymity because the wiretap order and all the information associated with it were under seal. The nature of the case was not clear, except that officials said it was not a terrorism investigation. The location of the investigation was also unclear.

To understand the battle lines, consider this imperfect analogy from the predigital world: If the Apple dispute is akin to whether the FBI can unlock your front door and search your house, the issue with WhatsApp is whether it can listen to your phone calls. In the era of encryption, neither question has a clear answer.

Some investigators view the WhatsApp issue as even more significant than the one over locked phones because it goes to the heart of the future of wiretapping. They say the Justice Department should ask a judge to force WhatsApp to help the government get information that has been encrypted. Others are reluctant to escalate the dispute, particularly with senators saying they will soon introduce legislation to help the government get data in a format it can read.

Whether the WhatsApp dispute ends in a court fight that sets precedents, many law enforcement officials and security experts say that such a case may be inevitable because the nation's wiretapping laws were last updated a generation ago, when people communicated by landline telephones that were easy to tap.

"The FBI and the Justice Department are just choosing the exact circumstance to pick the fight that looks the best for them," said Peter Eckersley, the chief computer scientist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that focuses on digital rights. "They're waiting for the case that makes the demand look reasonable."



A senior law enforcement official disputed the notion that the government was angling for the perfect case, and said that litigation was not inevitable.

This is not the first time that the government's wiretaps have been thwarted by encryption. And WhatsApp is not the only company to clash with the government over the issue.

But with a billion users and a particularly strong international customer base, it is by far the largest.

Last year, a dispute with Apple over encrypted iMessages in an investigation of guns and drugs, for instance, nearly led to a court showdown in Maryland. In that case, as in others, the company helped the government where it was able to, and the Justice Department backed down.

Jan Koum, WhatsApp's founder, who was born in Ukraine, has talked about his family members' fears that the government was eavesdropping on their phone calls. In the company's early years, WhatsApp had the ability to read messages as they passed through its servers. That meant it could comply with government wiretap orders.

But in late 2014, the company said that it would begin adding sophisticated encoding, known as end-to-end encryption, to its systems. Only the intended recipients would be able to read the messages.

"WhatsApp cannot provide information we do not have," the company said this month when Brazilian police arrested a Facebook executive after the company failed to turn over information about a customer who was the subject of a drug trafficking investigation.

The iPhone case, which revolves around whether Apple can be forced to help the F.B.I. unlock a phone used by one of the killers in last year's San Bernardino, Calif., massacre, has received worldwide attention for the precedent it might set. But to many in law enforcement, disputes like the one with WhatsApp are of far greater concern.

For more than a half-century, the Justice Department has relied on wiretaps as a fundamental crime-fighting tool. To some in law enforcement, if companies like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram can design unbreakable encryption, then the future of wiretapping is in doubt.

"You're getting useless data," said Joseph DeMarco, a former federal prosecutor who now represents law enforcement agencies that filed briefs supporting the Justice Department in its fight with Apple. "The only way to make this not gibberish is if the company helps."



"As we know from intercepted prisoner wiretaps," he added, "criminals think that advanced encryption is great."



Businesses, customers and the United States government also rely on strong encryption to help protect information from hackers, identity thieves and foreign cyberattacks. That is why, in 2013, a White House report said the government should "not in any way subvert, undermine, weaken, or make vulnerable generally available commercial encryption."



In a twist, the government helped develop the technology behind WhatsApp's encryption. To promote civil rights in countries with repressive governments, the Open Technology Fund, which promotes open societies by supporting technology that allows people to communicate without the fear of surveillance, provided $2.2 million to help develop Open Whisper Systems, the encryption backbone behind WhatsApp.

Because of such support for encryption, Obama administration officials disagree over how far they should push companies to accommodate the requests of law enforcement. Senior leaders at the Justice Department and the F.B.I. have held out hope that Congress will settle the matter by updating the wiretap laws to address new technology. But the White House has declined to push for such legislation. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said on Friday that he was skeptical "of Congress's ability to handle such a complicated policy area."



James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, told Congress this month that strong encryption was "vital" and acknowledged that "there are undoubtedly international implications" for the United States to try to break encryption, especially for wiretaps, as in the WhatsApp case. But he has called for technology companies and the government to find a middle ground that allows for strong encryption but accommodates law enforcement efforts. President Obama echoed those remarks on Friday, saying technology executives who were "absolutist" on the issue were wrong.

Those who support digital privacy fear that if the Justice Department succeeds in forcing Apple to help break into the iPhone in the San Bernardino case, the government's next move will be to force companies like WhatsApp to rewrite their software to remove encryption from the accounts of certain customers. "That would be like going to nuclear war with Silicon Valley," said Chris Soghoian, a technology analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.

That view is one reason government officials have been hesitant to rush to court in the WhatsApp case and others like it. The legal and policy implications are great. While no immediate resolution is in sight, more and more companies offer encryption. And technology analysts say that WhatsApp's yearlong effort to add encryption to all one billion of its customer accounts is nearly complete.

2016 The New York Times News Service
Zelenskys diplomacy masterclass outpacing dour, grey Putin in battle for hearts and minds When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year, there was no room for jokes or play acting, and Zelensky needed to step up. He did.

Megyn Kelly fires up at Meghan Markle over her deceptive nature Sky News Australia contributor Megyn Kelly has slammed Meghan Markle over her "abject dishonesty" after the Duchess of Sussex took a swipe at Deal or No Deal in her latest podcast episode which featured Paris Hilton.

Boris Johnsons dad tight-lipped on sons potential return Speculation has begun on who could replace Liz Truss in the wake of her resignation, with her predecessor Boris Johnson expected to stand for the Conservative leadership again.
its a blog about my life. I can tell whatever I want to
When we imagine the creative process, it's easy to picture a genius struck by sudden inspiration like a bolt from the blue. It fits into our ideals of how creativity works. We can picture George Lucas waking up one day and immediately creating Star Wars, or that the idea for childhood classic E.T. came fully formed into Steven Spielberg's head. In the real world, though, it doesn't quite work like that. In reality movies spend weeks, months, even years in development, undergoing re-writes and changes that sometimes make the finished product unrecognisable from the original idea that spawned it. There are times where that's a real shame, but quite often we can thank our lucky stars that they didn't go with the first draft. Try and picture the Xenomorph with tentacles, Han Solo with green skin, or Woody from Toy Story as an evil, murdering patriarch and you might have an idea of the rejected ideas that did not make it to the screen. Just try and picture the cultural landscape had these scripts never been altered - it would be a radically different place.

10. Alien 3 - Set On A Wooden Planet Full Of Monks

It's fair to say Alien 3 isn't the most beloved in the Alien franchise, but we can all agree it looks a lot better when compared against the Alien offerings we've had since (step forward Alien: Resurrection and Prometheus). Initially, it looked promising. Sigourney Weaver was on board for a third go-round along with respected British thespians Charles Dance and Paul McGann. Behind the camera was a promising young director called David Fincher. Alien 3 was set on a prison planet, an intriguing setting that is, sadly, largely wasted. In an early draft, though, the setting was a whole lot weirder. Before Fincher got the nod as the director, New Zealander Vincent Ward was initially the man set to write and direct the third Alien film and he had a very singular vision for it: he wanted the film to take place in a medieval world. If you know anything at all about Alien, you'll know that the whole "being set in the distant future" thing makes this impossible. Undeterred, Ward did the next best thing, and decided to set his film on a wooden planet-sized space station inhabited by god-fearing space-monks who had rejected modern technology (except, presumably, space travel and the building of space stations). Five different writers and innumerable re-writes later, sense was restored and the wooden planet idea was jettisoned. However, some of the material was re-used for the prison planet setting that was eventually agreed upon. Alien 3 may have been mediocre at best, but had Ward has his way, watching a bunch of old-timey-yet-futuristic monks running from a Xenomorph could have become the franchise's defining image. Thankfully, everyone involved eventually saw sense.
If you're a Potterhead, a trip to Universal Studios Resort is not complete without a visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley. From the magical atmosphere to the breathtakingly realised details, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has become the premiere attraction of the Orlando park and with Hogsmeade about to open in California, it should be the first stop on your Universal Studios to-do list. Universal and author J.K Rowling have gone to painstaking lengths to make sure every muggle can enter the wizarding street of Diagon Alley with as much wonder and imagination as the original books promised. After your first devouring visit of the awe-inspiring wonder, the second time actually becomes the most fun when you spend time examining every shop window and alley-way for secrets. Hours can be spent in this truly immersive environment, spotting everything from the talking heads to the hidden spells. Diagon Alley is filled with plenty of "easter eggs" to keep even the most scrupulous Harry Potter fan entertained...

30. You Can Call The Ministry Of Magic

The genuine London red telephone box outside of Kings Cross Station is not just a great photo opportunity. Go inside and make a call, just dial MAGIC (62442) and you'll get through to the Ministry of Magic.
I have naked pictures of you: please give generously (or send more naked pictures)
"He writes with sensitivity, passion, intelligence and with an eye to the common good."

"[He is] clearly one of those silly people who believes in 'civilization,' probably along with the Tooth Fairy and justice."

"He lives in a magical fantasy world."

"Powerfully spoken."

"A balanced and sensible view concerning the crazy ideas that often prevail regarding war and freedom."

"You do good work."



"Our political differences are vast and irreconcilable but he earnestly believes what he wants is best for the country; hes firmly committed to it, makes no apologies for it and wont settle for less."

"God bless you!"



"SHUT THE FUCK UP."
Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer- Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines


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WomenNCs mission is to lead North Carolinas young adults in the elimination of injustice against women and girls. Our vision is to raise a generation that will honor womens human rights. This blog follows the experiences of our talented fellows. Enjoy reading about their journeys!
About Me francis fung MY BOOKS ON HARMONY RENAISSANCE, HARMONY DIPLOMACY AND HARMONY CONSENSUS ARE AVAILABLE FROM WWW.AMAZON.COM SEARCH FRANCIS C W FUNG View my complete profile
EPRDF regime's self image of ethnically Balkanized Ethiopia, established by late Dictator Melese Zenawie. Freedom of Press is Dead in ethnocracy based irridentism. Fertile land is grabbed by foreign speculators, over 5 million are starving. 500'000 kids are on the streets. Millions are displaced by force. The regime is arming proxy warriors. Dams are built wantonly risking the existence of millions of indigenous people. Eritreans Moles are Ruling even after seceding in 1991.
If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

 What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that.

The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players.

 How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long!

 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

 Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home.

Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice

It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices

 Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves.

 Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino.

 Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information.

 Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead.

With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks

Betway:

Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway.

Coral Casino:

Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account.

Ladbrokes Casino:

Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

Paddy Power Casino:

Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

William Hill Casino:

William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival.

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If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit.
Canl Bahis siteleri sektoru son derece onu ack ve farkl ozelliklere sahip bir sektordur. Elbette bahis secenekleri arasnda yuksek kazanc getiren alan kuskusuz canl bahistir. Peki, canl bahis nedir?

Canl Bahis Nedir?

Canl bahis adndan da anlaslacag gibi devam eden musabakaya bahis yapmaktr. Bu bahis musabaka devam ederken de yaplabilir olmasdr. Basta futbol olmak uzere voleybol, tenis, hentbol, basketbol, buz hokeyi ve masa tenisi gibi spor organizasyonlarna canl bahisler yaplabilmektedir. Canl bahis siteleri bu oyunlarn hepsine yuksek oranlara bahis yapmanza imkan tanr. En fazla tercih edilen futbol canl bahisleri diger alanlara gore daha fazla on plandadr. Siteden siteye degisen sartlar ve uygulama esaslar soz konusu olsa da kurallar sabittir.

Canl bahisi populer klan ve heyecan katan en onemli ozellikle musabakann basladg ana dek bahis yapabilmedir. Canl bahis icerisinde yer alan secenekler kazanma sansnz da dogrudan arttrmaktadr. Ilk korneri kim kullanr, ilk tac, gol, sar kart, krmz kart gibi futbol musabakas icerisinde olabilecek hemen hemen her seye bahis yaplabilmektedir. Normal bahisegore de son derece yuksek oranda olmas avantajl yonlerini ortaya koymaktadr. Nitekim dogru secenek ksa surede kazancl ckmanza etki edecektir.

Strateji ve dogru analizle 90 dakika gibi bir surede anaparanzkatlayabilirsiniz. Tabi bunu basarabilmek icin mutlaka musabakaya dair ayrntlar iyi degerlendirmek gerekir. Soz konusu musabakann detaylarn inceleyip, cezal, sakat oyuncu veya performans dusen takm oyunu gibi detaylar bilmek canl bahiste kazanc belirleyen onemli unsurdur. Guvenilir Canl bahis hem heyecanl zaman gecirmeyi hem de musabakalar takip ederken para kazanmay saglamaktadr.

Canl Bahis Nasl Oynanr?

Bahislerinizi guvenilir sitelerden gerceklestirdiginiz zaman herhangi bir sekilde para cekme de sorun yasamazsnz. Guvenilir bahis siteleri tespit edip sonrasnda da uyelik islemlerini tamamlamanz gerekmektedir. Belirlenen uyelik sartlarn yerine getirip hesabnza da paray aktardktan sonra bahis islemlerini sorunsuz yapabilirsiniz. Peki, canl bahis nasl oynanr?

Oncelikle bahis konusunda mutlaka dogru site arastrmas yapmalsnz. Yapacagnz arastrma neticesinde buldugunuz site uzerinden canl bahisislemlerini gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Bunun icin uye olup, hesaba para atp, canl bahis bolumune girmelisiniz. Sonrasnda dahil olmak istediginiz musabakann saatini ogrenip, gerekli analizleri yapmalsnz. Tahminlerinizi belirledikten sonra karsnza ckacak olan bahis sayfasndan istediginiz hamleyi yapmalsnz. Bahis tutarn belirledikten sonra musabaka baslayacaktr.

Canl bahis diger normal bahis esaslarna gore farkllklar icermektedir. Bunlardan en onemlisi musabakann gidisatna gore islem yapabilir olmaktr.Ayrca musabakann 2. Yarsna gore hamle yapp ayr bir bahisin soz konusu olmas da ciddi avantajdr. Dogru hamle ile sizde istediginiz bahisi yapp kazanc elde edebilirsiniz. Nitekim canl olarak yapacagnz bahis icin mac oncesi raporlara gore hareket etmek onemlidir. Cunku takmlarn durumlarn analiz etmek tahmin gucunu arttracaktr. Misal tamnn en iyi oyuncusu sakat ya da kart cezals ise takmn performansnda dusus yasanacaktr. Buna ek olarak takmn deplasman performans ile evinde ki performans ayr olacaktr. Burada da takmn musabakay nerede yaptgna bakmak gerekir. Bu ayrntlar da iyice analiz ettikten sonra bahsinizi yapp kazanmann keyfini yasayabilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri

Son derece yuksek getiriye sahip bahis sektoru uzun zamandr faaliyet gostermektedir. Cok ciddi rakamlarn soz konusu oldugu bu sektor zamanla sanal ortamlara donusmustur. Elbette guvenli ve bir o kadar da avantajl olan bu siteler cok yonlu frsatlar sunmaktadrlar. Canl iddaa siteleri gerek yeni uyelere gerekse de hali hazrdaki uyelerine bolca bonus frsatlar vermektedir. Yatracagnz tutara gore belirlenen bonuslar site icerisinde rahat hareket etmenizi de saglayacaktr.

Canl bahis sitelerini kullanmadan once mutlaka guvenli olup olmadgna goz atmalsnz. Zira baz kullanclar guvenli olmayan sitelerden yaptklar islemlerden dolay magdur olmaktadrlar. Nitekim guvenli ve sorunsuz hizmet sunan yurt ds site tercih etmek en dogru secenektir. Sektorde uzun yllar faaliyet gosteren siteleri tercih edebilirsiniz. Bu alanda yer alan yabanc siteler musteri memnuniyetine onem vermektedir. Oncelik site kullanclarn sorunsuz sekilde bahislerini yapabilir olmasn saglamaktr. Bahis sitelerinde amac hem daha fazla kullancya hizmet vermek hem de sektorde emin admlarla ilerlemek onceliklidir. Dogru site tercihi ile sizde canl bahislerinizi sorun yasamadan gerceklestirebilirsiniz. Sizler icin hazrlams oldugumuz canl bahis siteleri listesi su sekildedir;

Mobilbahis Tempobet Bets10 Bahigo 1xbahis Betboo Youwin Superbahis

Sralams oldugumuz bu siteler sektorde basarl islere imza atms sitelerdedir. Canl bahis konusunda beklentileri karslayacak olan bu siteler sizlere kolaylk sunmaktadrlar. Bol bonuslu secenekle de sizlere farkl bahis yonlerini sunacaklardr. Sistemsel etki icerisinde her zaman etkin sonuc alabilmek icin surekli olarak faaliyet icerisindedirler.

Canl Bahis Taktikleri

Bahis sektorunun en fazla dikkat edilmesi gereken hususu dogru taktik ve dogru tahmindir. Elbette dogru tahmini yapabilmek icin analizi cok iyi yapmak gerekir. Canl bahis taktikleri arasnda ilk sra analiz gelmektedir. Analiz yapamadgnz zaman basarl tahminlerde bulunmanz pek de mumkun degildir. Cunku bahiste onemli olan konu musabakann analizini cok iyi yaplmas gerektigidir. Canl bahisin ozelliklerini iyi bilmek ve nasl bir hamle yapacagnz bilmek gerekir. Ozellikle riskli maclarda yaplacak degerlendirmeler cok daha onemlidir.

Canl bahis yapacaklarn takip edecegi degerler takmlarn durumlar ile alakal olmaldr. Performans uzerine kurulu bahis sisteminde takm degerlendirmesine iyi bakmak gerekir. Iki takmn son 5 macta nasl bir sonuc ortaya koyduguna bakarak hareket etmek onemlidir. Ayrca hangi takm evinde daha iyi performans sergiliyor diye de ayrca bakmak gerekir.

Analizlerle alakal puan durumlarna da goz atmak cok onemlidir. Puan degerlendirmesinde oncelikle takmlarn ihtiyaclar ile dogru orantl hareket etmek gerekir. Cunku olusturulan performans takmn da durumunu ortaya koymaktadr. Nitekim istenilen sonucu elde edebilmek icin tum ayrntlar bilmek gerekir. Takm ici duzenden tutunda da takmn son durumuna kadar her ayrnt onemlidir. Iki takmn birbirleri arasnda ki sonuclar da incelemek gerekir. Burada dikkat edilecek detaylarn basnda maclarda kac gol oldugu ve gollerin hangi dakikalarda atldgdr. Cekismeli gecen musabakalarda bazen goller ilk yarda daha fazla olurken baz maclarda da ikinci yarda daha cok gol olmustur. Iki takm arasnda ki maclarda gollerin cogunlugu ilk yarda geliyorsa buna gore bahis yapabilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Bonuslar ve Kampanyalar

Bahis yapanlar veya yapmay dusununler sitelerin sunmus olduklar frsatlar merak etmektedirler. Cunku siteler daha fazla kullancya erismek icin her donem kampanyalar duzenleyerek kullanc odakl hamleler yapmaktadrlar. Canl bahis bonuslar ve kampanyalar oldukca populer olup, siteler bu konuda adeta birbirleri ile yarsmaktadrlar. Birbirinden farkl ozelliklere sahip olan kampanyalar size frsatlar sunmaktadr. Daha cok kazanma ihtimalinizi arttran bu bonuslar daha cesur olmanza da dogrudan etki edecektir. Nitekim bonuslar sitelerin cekiciligini ve avantajlarn arttrmaktadr. En cok kazandran canl bahis siteleri bedava bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin http://www.milano2018.com/canli-bahis-siteleri-2022/ linkinden yardm alabilirsiniz.

Hos geldin bonusu ile baslayan ve sonrasnda para yatrdkca bonus veren cok sayda site bulunmaktadr. Canl bahis bonusu veren siteler yeni uyelere sunduklar frsatlar farkl kampanyalarla mevcut uyelerine de sunmaktadrlar. Hali hazrda siteyi kullananlarn da bonus frsatlarndan yararlanmalar icin donemsel kampanyalar olusturmaktadrlar. Boylece baska sitelere gidisler olmayacag gibi site de daha keyifli zaman gecirmek mumkun klnmaktadr. Bu tur eklentiler yapan sitelerde musteri memnuniyeti daha fazladr.

Bahis siteleri ozellik ve uygulama bakmndan farkllklar bunyelerinde bulundurmaktadrlar. Verilen bonuslarn olusturulmas ve kullanclar aktarlmasnda yatrlan para miktarlar belirleyici olmaktadr. 1.000 TL yatran bir kullanc yuzde 20 bonus frsat olan bir kampanyadan 200 TL bonus kazanabilmektedir. Yatracag tutar 10.000 TL oldugunda bu bonustutar 2.000 TL olabilmektedir. Gerceklesen ve uygulanan esaslar tamamen donemsel olarak yaplan kampanyalarla alakaldr. Iyi Canl bahis siteleri bonuslar ve kampanyalar icin sitelerin vermis oldugu oranlar takip edebilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Yatrma

Online Canl bahis yapacaklarn merak ettigi konulardan bir digeri de para yatrma islemleridir. Oldukca onemli olan bu konuda hata yapmamak cok onemlidir. Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemi sanlann aksine son derece basittir. Oldukca basit ve uygulama esas dogru etki olusturan bu yapda sizde islemi rahatca tamamlayabilirsiniz. Para yatrma konusunda su yolu izleyebilirsiniz.

Guvendiginiz ve herhangi bir sekilde aklnzda soru isareti kalmayan bahis sitesine uye olmanz gerekmektedir. Uyelik islemini sorunsuz sekilde tamamladktan sonra para yatrma islemine gecebilirsiniz.

Kullanacagnz siteye uye olduktan sonra karsnza kullanc ad ve sifresini gireceginiz yer gelecektir. Buraya giris yaptktan sonra site icerisine islemlere devam edebilirsiniz.

Sitede yer alan para yatrma sekmesine tklayp sonrasnda karsnza gelen sayfay inceleyebilirsiniz. Para yatrma bolumunde yer alan ksma ne kadar para yatracagnz yazp devam tusuna basmalsnz.

Yatrmak istediginiz tutar girip sonrasnda da devam tusuna bastktan sonra karsnza kart bilgilerinizi gireceginiz sayfa gelecektir. Kredi kart kullanarak para gondermek isteyenlerin tercih ettigi bu sayfa tum bilgiler girilip islem onaylanmaldr.

Canl bahis sitelerine para yatrma islemini gerceklestirmek icin hesaba havale secenegini de kullanabilirsiniz. Site icerisinde musteri hizmetleri ile iletisime gecerek banka hesap numaralarn ogrenebilirsiniz. Belirtilen IBAN numarasna istediginiz tutar havale edebilirsiniz. Havale ederken acklama ksmna yazlacak bilgilere dikkat etmelisiniz.

Kredi kart veya banka havalesi ile gerceklesen para yatrma islemi sonucunda site hesabnzdan bakiyenize bakabilirsiniz. Bakiyenize gore dilediginiz sekilde bahislerinizi gerceklestirebilirsiniz.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Para Cekme

Canl bahiste dogru hamleler ve dogru tahminler sonucunda kazandgnz bedeli geri almak isteyebilirsiniz. Kazanclarnz istediginiz banka hesabnza cekebilmek icin uymanz gereken kurallar soz konusudur. Oncelikle bahis sitelerinden para cekebilmeniz icin uye olurken dogru bilgi paylasmnda bulunmanz gerektigidir. Cunku canl bahis sitelerinden para cekme islemi icin kullanc hesab ile talep edilen banka hesap bilgilerinin ortusmesi gerekir. Yani uye olurken verilen bilgi ile banka hesab kime ait ise o bilgiler ayn olmaldr. Bu uygulama sitenin hem kullancsn hem de kendisini guvene alma politikasdr. Ayrca frsatclarn onune gecerek yeni bir uye olusumunun da onune gecmek amac gutmektedir. Uye olan kisi farkl para cekilme talebi verilen hesap farkl oldugunda para cekme islemi gerceklesmeyecektir.

Bahisleriniz sonucunda kazanc elde edebilir ve bu kazancnz da hakknz olarak almak isteyebilirsiniz. Burada son derece basit uygulama soz konusu olurken siteler aras farkl gorunumler soz konusu olabilir. Fakat yine de tum sitelerde uyenin site icerisinde para cekme bolumune girmesi yeterlidir. Burada cekilecek olan tutarn belirlenmesi ve hesap numarasnn girilmesi ile birlikte islem onay gerekecektir. Para cekme taleplerinde sizden gerekli bilgiler istenmekte ve havale islemi istenilen bilgiler esliginde yurutulmektedir. Dogru bilgi paylasmak sorunsuz para cekebilmeniz en onemli kuraldr. Istenilen bilgiler girildikten sonra site sorumlular gerekli kontrolleri yapp herhangi bir sorun yoksa ksa surede hesabnza gerekli paray aktaracaklardr.

Canl Bahis Sitelerinden Para Cekmek Icin Istenen Belgeler

Bahis sitelerine uye olduktan sonra baz kullanclar para cekme taleplerinin karslanmadg konusunda sikayetlerde bulunmuslardr. Bu sikayetlersektorde uzun zamandr bulunan guvenilir bahis siteleri de yer almaktadr. Fakat sikayetlerin dayanaklarna bakldgnda ise islerin tamamen farkl oldugu gorulmektedir. Yasanan bu durum kullanclarn hatal bilgi girmesi ve uyelik bilgileri ile banka bilgilerinin uyusmamas ile dogru orantldr. Birde canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler eksik ya da hatal olarak sunulmus olabilir. Ortaya ckan karsklar neticesinde para cekme talebinde bulunan kisi istedigini alamadg icin sikayetci olmaktadr. Oysa ki istenilen bilgiler dogru ve istenilen evraklar eksiksiz sunulsa para cekme islemi sorunsuz olacak.

Sitelerin para cekme konusunda dikkatli hareket etmesi hilelerin ve illegal faaliyetlerin onune gecmek adnadr. Cunku baz kullanclar farkl bilgiler vererek ikinci hesap acabilmektedirler. Bazen de bilincsizce hatal bilgi girilebilmektedir. Hatal islemlerin cozumu konusunda islem yaptgnz sitenin musteri temsilcileri ile gorusebilirsiniz. Talepleriniz dogrultusunda para cekme islemlerinde ki sorunlar giderilecektir. Canl bahis para cekmek icin istenen belgeler listesi su sekildedir;

Kullanc bilgileri ile banka bilgilerini karslastrmak icin kimlik fotokopisi

Banka hesap bilgileri

Ikametgah ve kisiye ait herhangi bir fatura.

Kacak Iddaa

Turkiyede dogrudan bahis yapmak icin resmi kanallar kullanlabilmektedir. Fakat tercih edilen ve oran olarak cok daha fazla frsatlar sunan kacar iddaasiteleri bulunmaktadr. Bu siteler kanunlara aykr sekilde yaplmakta olup, yasal bir dayanag yoktur. Elbette bu sitelerin kurulus merkezi Turkiye olmayp, ds ulkelerdedir ve faaliyetler belirlenen siteler uzerinden yaplmaktadr. Kacak Iddaa oldukca riskli olup, cok dikkatli olunmas gerekir.

Kacak Bahis

Kanunlar cercevesinde istediginiz gibi bahis yapamayabilirsiniz. Bahis yapabilmek icin ya kanuni olarak sorun olmayan ulke dsnda ki kumarhanelere gitmeniz veya kacak bahis sitelerinden islem yapabilirsiniz. Zira bu durum tehlikeli olsa da cok sayda site guvenli sekilde bu alanda hizmet vermektedir. Kacak bahiste oldukca fazla secenek bulunurken yuksek oranda kazanc sunuyor olmas da ragbeti arttryor.

Illegal Bahis

Bahisin bircok alanda yasak oldugu Turkiyede bu alanda cok sayda yabanc merkezli siteler hizmet vermektedir. Illegal bahis sektorunde faaliyet gosteren siteler guvenli hizmet anlays ile kullanclarna frsatlar sunmaktadr. Yurt ds merkezli bu siteler sorunsuz sekilde hizmetlerini surdururken bulunduklar ulkelerde kanunlara uygun sekildedir. Elbette faaliyet noktasnda bulunduklar ulkelerde sorun teskil etmese de Turkiyede faaliyet gostermeleri kanunin yasaklanmstr.

Yasads Bahis

Gerek olusturulan etkenler gerekse de ortaya konulan riskler yasads bahis de oldukca tehlikelidir. Kanunlarn mudahil olduklar bu alanlar da hem kullanclar hem de populer bahis yaptranlar tum riskleri goze almaktadrlar. Fakat yasaklardan uzak sekilde guvenli hizmet sunan siteler de bulunmaktadr. Takipler neticesinde kapatlan sitelerin muhakkak alternatifleri kurularak yollarna devam etmektedirler.

Canl Iddaa Siteleri Nelerdir?

Dunya genelinde kabul gormus cok sayda guvenli hizmet veren populer bahis siteleri bulunmaktadr. Elbette bu siteler dunyann bircok ulkesinde faaliyet gosterse de Turkiyede yasaktr. Sektorde yer alan cok sayda legal iddaa siteleri bulunmaktadr. Herhangi bir kanunsuzlugun olmadg bu sitelerden hzl ve guvenli islem yaplabilmektedir. Tabi bu sitelerde uygulanan oranlar yasal olmayan sitelere gore daha dusuktur. Illegal sitelerin tercih edilme sebeplerinin en onemli etkeni de olusturulan oranlardr. Peki, Iddaa siteleri nelerdir? Faaliyetleri ve uygulama esaslar nelerdir?

Turkiyede faaliyet gosteren yasal iddaa siteleri listesi su sekildedir;

Iddaa

Bilyoner

Tuttur

Birebin

Oley

Nesine

Misli

Iddaa

2004 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslayan Iddaa Spor toto tarafndan kurulmus olup, ilk etapta bayilik seklinde calsmaya baslamstr. Elbette zamanla gelisen teknolojiye ayak uydurarak internet uzerinde de populer bahis severlerin hizmetine sunulmustur. Kuruldugu donemde devletin resmi kurumu olarak faaliyet gosterirken gelinen yeni donemde ozellestirilmistir.

Bilyoner

Turkiyede faaliyetine 2006 ylnda baslayan Bilyoner ilk ozel yasal bahis sitesi olma ozelligine sahiptir. Guvenilir bahis siteleri Turkiyede bunlardr. Ksa surede populer olan site halen faaliyetlerini sorunsuz sekilde surdurmektedir.

Tuttur

Ksa surede adndan bahsettirmeyi basaran Tuttur 2009 ylnda faaliyetlere baslamstr. Guvenilir bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almstr. Gunumuze dek bircok alanda populer bahis yapanlara frsatlar sunarken avantajlar ile de begeni toplamstr.

Birebin

Kullanc odakl calsmalar surdurse de 2011 ylnda sektore giren Birebindiger sitelere gore daha az ragbet gormektedir. Bahis oynamak ise bu sitede oldukca kolaydr. Elbette farkl yaklasmlara sahip olmasndan dolay ilerleyen sureclerde adndan sklkla bahsettirecek gibi gorunuyor.

Oley

2009 ylnda Dogus yayn gruplarnn istiraki olarak kurulmus olup yasal olarak herhangi bir sorunu olmayan sitelerdendir. Bahis siteleri arasnda hzl cks yapms bir sitedir. Oley yapms oldugu yenilikler ile kullanclarn da dikkatini ksa surede cekmeyi basarmstr.

Nesine

Birbirini takip eden surecte Nesine de yine 2006 ylnda hizmet vermeye baslamstr. Yasal bahis siteleri arasnda yerini almay basaran firma ksa surede sevilen ve ragbet goren bir site olmustur.

Misli

2009 ylnda sektore cok hzl giris yapan Misli cok sayda reklam filmi ile on plana ckmay basarmstr. Internet uzerinden hem yasal hem de sorunsuz hizmet veren bahis sitelerinden bir tanesi olmustur.

Canl Bahis Siteleri Kayt ve Uyelik Islemleri

Her zaman populerligini koruyan ve surekli gelisim gosteren canl bahis gun gectikce daha da gucleniyor. Bahis oynamak icin ise sitelere uye olunmas gerekir. Yuksek getirisi ve begeni toplayan faaliyetleri ile cok sayda site bu alanda faaliyet gostermektedir. Elbette sorunsuz sekilde uye olmanz ve faaliyetler gostermeniz de oldukca kolaydr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri dakikalar icerisinde gerceklestirilecek yapya sahiptir.

Uye olacagnz siteyi belirledikten sonra siteye girmeniz gerekmektedir. Girdiginiz sitenin ana sayfasnda uye ol ya da kayt ol bolumu bulunacaktr. Siteler arasnda degiskenlik gosteren bu alanda temel unsurlar bulunmaktadr. Elbette farkllklar olsa da temelinde benzer bilgiler uye olmak isteyen kisilerden talep edilmektedir.

Uye ol bolumune tkladktan sonra karsnza uyelik bilgi formu ckacaktr. Bu formda sizin kim oldugunuzu ogrenmek ve sitenin guvenligini saglamak adna islemler yaplmaktadr. Uyelik formunda yer alan ad soyad bolumunu eksiksiz ve dogru sekilde doldurmalsnz. Sizden bu formda istenen bilgilerin tamamn girmeniz istenecektir. Istenen bilgiler mutlaka dogru ve eksiksiz sekilde olmaldr. Eksik veya hatal bilgi uyelik islemlerinde sorun teskil edebilir. Yine de yanls bilgi girisine ragmen uyelik islemleri tamamlanabilir. Fakat boyle bir yol izleyenler sonrasnda buyuk skntlarla karslasabilirler. Bu skntlarn basnda da para cekme islemlerinde yasanan sorunlardr.

Uyelik islemleri dikkatli ve ozenle doldurulmas gereken yapdadr. Canl bahis siteleri kayt ve uyelik islemleri gerceklestirilirken verilen bilgiler site yonetimi tarafndan muhafaza edilmektedir. Herhangi bir sekilde 3. Sahslarla paylaslmas gibi bir durum soz konusu degildir. Bu faaliyetleri surduren sitelerin guven unsurlar arasnda bu nokta onceliklidir.

Bahis sitelerine uye olurken hatal bilgi paylasmnda bulunmak size faydadan cok zarar verecektir. Diyelim ki bilgileri hatal girdiniz ve uyelik onayland. Uyelik tamamlandktan sonra siteye para yatrdnz ve kazanc elde ettiniz. Kazancnz sonrasnda hesabnza almak istediginizde karsnza banka bilgileri bolumu gelecektir. Para cekme talebi gerceklestikten sonra site uyelik bilgileri ile banka hesap bilgileri ortusmez ise paranz alamazsnz. Boyle bir durumla karslasmamak adna bu hususa ayrca dikkat etmelisiniz.
Mar 14, 2016 | By Alec

Fortunately for a lot of people, prosthesis technology is steadily improving to a point where the quality of life of patients can be drastically improved. Unfortunately, partial amputees can sometimes find themselves between the two extremes of a good prosthesis and a normal limb. This happened to the 36-year-old Rajesh Ojha, who found himself unable to work after losing four fingers in an industrial accident. Fortunately, thanks to a custom-made 3D printed prosthetic hand with mechanical grip from Mumbai-based Anatomiz3D Healthcare, he has now been able to return to work and restore his livelihood.

It was a very unfortunate accident that sadly happens frequently in the industrializing world. As Ojha recalled, he was working on an industrial plant in Kutchh in western India at the time of the accident. We were working on anchoring a ship and were then conducting further repair. However, there was a heavy pin which came with an iron base. As soon as I disconnected the pin, my fingers got stuck in the middle of the latchlike structure and I lost the middle three fingers of my hand as well as half of my thumb, said Ojha. Though he was rushed to the hospital, his fingers unfortunately could not be saved.

It left him in a very uncomfortable position. Though he could get a cosmetic silicon prosthesis, that did not provide any movement at all and left him robbed of his livelihood. Fortunately for Ojha, the Mumbai-based prosthetics and orthotics specialist Dr. Doshi, who was also the honorary director of the Kutchh Jaya Rehabilitation Centre and Research Institute, was studying alternatives for patients like Ojha. Patients who lose an entire palm or a hand were still able to get silicon based prosthesis. However, for those with partial amputation of fingers or amputations ahead of the joint, there were no options available, he explained. I was looking for a patient who would be ready to work with us in an experiment to create such a prosthesis. The timing could not have been better.

Last weekend, Ohja was fitted with the prosthetic at the Jaya Rehabilitation Centre and Research Institute that resulted out of their collaboration. It is essentially a modified version of the Gyrobot open source Flexy Hand 2 design), and has been developed by Mumbai-based Anatomiz3D Healthcare (healthcare division of Sahas Softech LLP) and Dr. Mukesh Doshi. For most of the parties involved, they tell 3ders.org, its a first.

As Doshi revealed, he contacted Anatomiz3D Healthcare to deal with this special case. I had read about Anatomiz3D Healthcare (Sahas Softech LLP) which had previously worked with 3D printing in healthcare and asked them if theyd be able to help. They asked me to send a Plaster of Paris cast of the patients hand, he revealed. Firoza Kothari, the Head of Anatomiz3D Healthcare at Sahas Softech LLP, revealed that they were interested to help as they had previously worked on successful pre-operative surgical and educational models  though this was the first time they would make an actual prosthesis.

To build the prosthesis for Ojha, a four-step system was necessary. [Firstly] scanning the POP cast, modifying the prosthesis (in this case: Flexy hand 2) based on the scan of the patient using exact measurements, 3D printing of the parts and then assembling of the same, Firoza explained. While the entire process was supposed to be feasible, it actually didnt work out well the first time. In the end, they had to revise the design entirely. The project further included Sagar Shah, Samkit Shah, Sohrab Kothari, Ameeth Deshpande, Sharad Kadke, Gopal and Suyog.

As Sohrab Kothari, Co-Founder of Sahas Softech LLP, explained, the 3D scanner was indispensable in making this 3D printed prosthetic. First we scan the project which is to be printed to get the exact shape of the project and measurement correction. The scanner emits rays which give us a computerised 3D image of the object with cloud points. We make necessary changes and print the objects in parts to be assembled later, explained Sohrab.

The final model was 3D printed in PLA, and took about a month to complete  though that can be much faster. While the hand, created out of a Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) material, can be made within five days, it took us longer as the mold came in from Bhuj. The entire project was completed in a months time, considering the constant back and forth between two cities, explained Ameeth Deshpande.

Fortunately, the second iteration was an excellent fit. Featuring a clever string-based gripping mechanism, it will even allow Ojha to start doing normal work again. With practice he will be able to hold, throw, write and do all kinds of light work using the hand. The design is actually so simple that it works on strings which are attached to the wrist, as he moves the wrists; he will even be able to close his fingers into a fist, said Doshi. Ojha, who had only been doing some light work before, said this will do a lot to make his life more normal again. I am happy with the hand. I had started working on March 1 and was doing light work. Now, I will be able to do more. This has been a wonderful experiment.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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by Gail Pellett

Along with the jaw-dropping economic and technological transformation in China over the past two decades, has come an Orwellian load of forbidden history, subjects and ideas. Aided by a Party-censored and self-censored traditional and social media these forbiddens are maintained todayas in the pastby threats and fear.

Forbidden is a passionate word compared to censored. Forbidden commands and threatens while censored seemswell, bureaucratic. Forbidden is the term the Chinese government uses to sustain ideological control.

When I began writing a book about my time in Beijing thirty-five yeas ago, friends often asked. China is so different now, how could a book about 1980 Beijing have any relevance? Yet daily I marvel at how the speeches and policies of President Xi Jinping reflect the tough political and ideological policies of the Deng Xiaoping era. Deng was just consolidating his power in 1980.

I was the first professional broadcast journalist hired in the forty-year history of Radio BeijingChina's equivalent to Voice of Americainvited to teach courses in Western journalism and edit scripts in the English Language Department. Despite my expertise, I couldn't be trusted with a private conversation with my colleagues about the news, the world, or their ideas or our journalistic mission. Associating with me was forbidden. As one brave comrade told me privately, Although the Cultural Revolution is over, if people are seen getting close to you they risk losing their housing, a pay raise, access to university or school for their kids. During the Cultural Revolution, she said, People lost everything. So while that fear of relationships with foreignersespecially foreign journalistsharked back to the Cultural Revolution it was reinforced by a threatening speech made by Deng Xiaoping in December 1980 when he warned those who didn't resist foreign ideas or bourgeois individualism. Those who grew chummy with foreigners. After that speech icy winds blew through the hallways of Radio Beijing.

While editing scripts, I soon learned that some subjects were forbidden like Tibet and Taiwan. And periods of history were forbidden like Mao's Great Leap Forward that initiated forced collectivization and industrialization in the countryside from 1958-62. It resulted in widespread famine and millions of deaths. There were suggestions that the failure of that program by Mao led to his initiating the Cultural Revolution in order to regain power. But that idea, too, was forbidden.

Yang Jisheng, who wrote Tombstone, published in 2008, dealing with the disastrous policies of Mao during The Great Leap Forward, projected that there were 36 million deaths. Recently, the U.S. press reported that Yang was warned not to go to Harvard in March where he is to receive an award for his scholarship. Although Mr. Yang had been given permission to travel and receive awards in the past, this time he was told by his former employer, Xinhua news service, that he should not go. What was not reported is thatXinhua most likely controls his housing allocation and pension. So the warning has consequences if ignored. Mr. Yang claims that he would also be forbidden from publishing future books.

In 1980 the first stories were emerging that hinted at some of the pain and suffering endured during the Cultural Revolution. Then as now it was forbidden to implicate Mao or the Party in crimes that sometimes led to death. Today China's most famous filmmaker, Zhang Yimou, must self-censor details of the Cultural Revolution and earlier periods of political purification campaigns especially any arguments that might pin the blame on the Great Helmsman or Party leadership for failed policies.

In 1979, a year before I arrived in Beijing, the Beijing Spring or Democracy Wall movement had just been crushed. That movement, too, is now forbidden history just as the later 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square has been erased from public consciousness.

Over the past two decades more forbiddens have been added to the list. It now includes anything having to do with the Dalai Lama, the Falun Gong, the Xingjian separatist movement, the 2008 milk scandals, on-line discussion of political reform, constitutional reform as well as universal values of human rights. Travel by foreigners to Tibet during the anniversary of the 2008 riots there is also forbidden.

The New York Times reported March 10 that at the National People's Congress taking place in Beijing this month the Party released a list of forbidden topics for local press. They included Beijing's famous smog, scalpers at hospitals selling appointments to doctors and jokes about delegates' proposals. Not surprisingly Taiwan and North Korea were also on the list.

Chinese government efforts to forbid certain history, subjects, and ideas have led to restrictions on outside media and scholarship. And, of course, the worldwide web is perhaps the biggest forbidden of all. While China watchers speculate about President Xi Jinping's motivations in expanding totalitarian ideological control, I recall that the seeds and fruits of all these forbiddens were evident in the China I witnessed in 1980.

* * *
by Sanjukta Paul

As questions of economic justice and fairness have moved toward center stage in recent years, a seemingly technical legal issue that turns out to be a kind of microcosm of many of those questions has also emerged from obscurity. Economic activity that exists in the hazy space where labor regulation and market regulation intersect presents a stark question: when the people engaging in that activity act collectively to better their circumstances, should such collective action be protected by the law (as labor law would suggest), or prosecuted by it (as competition or antitrust law would suggest)? The problem of precarious or contingent work, which is generally on the rise the world over,[i] has brought renewed relevance to that question.

One of the most visible manifestations of precarious work is in the so-called on-demand or gig economy, exemplified by companies such as Uber. Companies in this sector generally argue that their growth is due to technological innovation, while many labor and community advocates argue that is largely due to the avoidance of socially beneficial regulation, which in turn enables them to undercut existing businesses. These companies also take the position that people providing the services in which they deal (such as cab rides) are not employees, but independent businesspeople, and thus that labor regulation does not apply to them. One response has been to argue, in the courts and the legislatures, that such workers are legally employees, and have been misclassified by the companies engaging their services. The City of Seattle recently took a different and more direct approach, enacting an ordinance granting collective bargaining rights to drivers for taxicab, limo, and transportation network companies (encompassing Uber, Lyft and other companies in the on-demand sector) who are classified as independent contractors rather than employees. The approach of the policy-makers and advocates who passed the Seattle ordinance is novel in that it guarantees these rights to workers directly, rather than endeavoring to first establish their employee status, whether by legislation or by litigation. As expected, an industry group (the United States Chamber of Commerce, no less) has now filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance on grounds that it is barred by antitrust law and by the National Labor Relations Act.

In this case, antitrust is the leading edge of the challenge.[ii] The first sentence announces the plaintiff's main complaint: that the ordinance purports to enable  distinct economic actors  to collude on the prices and terms for their services, which is to say, to engage in price-fixing.[iii] In other words, for drivers to bargain collectively over wages and working conditions is to engage in business collusion. The remaining introductory paragraphs expand on this theme, embellishing the central point with warm salutes to America's entrepreneurial spirit, entrepreneurial tradition, and backdrop of market freedom  an exceptional feature that distinguishes our economy from much of the rest of the world, and which benefits workers in the on-demand sector, according to the plaintiff.[iv] (One cannot help but wonder whether these unfolding events supply one explanation for this theme of American exceptionalism.) Of course, this narrative has been widely challenged by worker and community advocates as valoriz[ing] insecure conditions as a good thing for workers and communities.

The complaint then characterizes the ordinance as governmental interference.[v] Yet antitrust itself is, by definition, government interference in economic activity, and the plaintiff expressly invokes a body of case-law that consists in governmental interference in the actions of private parties. In fact, the underlying theory of the suit is that the government ought to constrain working people's collective action. It is thus an especially stark inversion of the conventional wisdom that industry endeavors to avoid state interference in economic activity, while labor and other social interests seek it.

Indeed, this lawsuit is a bold reincarnation of an earlier, pre-New Deal style of legal attack on workers for acting collectively to improve their circumstances. Of that earlier family of legal theories, antitrust is the only real surviving species.[vi] Previous recent rumblings, though significant in their effects,[vii] have not forced courts or policy-makers to directly confront their underlying logic. There is nothing in the Sherman Act to prevent courts and other policy-makers from now fashioning an approach that would permit these drivers to act collectively in their economic interest; and there is everything about the strange history by which the statute was turned into a weapon against worker collective action in the first place, to recommend such a project. The legal systems of similarly situated economies in Europe and Australia have already seen starker confrontations than we have, but nowhere have the fundamental problems posed by this confrontation been definitively resolved. The time is ripe to address them.[viii]

The Sherman Act itself, passed in 1890, was a legislative response to the rise of corporate power in the economy and the polity, and was not intended to prevent workers' or farmers' collective action. Attorney General Richard Olney, hardly a rabble-rousing radical, called the application of the Act to the combination of laborers known as a strike a perversion of a law from the real purpose of its authors.[ix] Contemporary scholars surveying the legislative history have concluded that one of the clearest themes in the legislative history was the notable reluctance, even opposition, to including labor unions within the act's scope.[x] Senator Sherman himself, addressing those concerns, declared: combinations of workingmen to promote their interests, promote their welfare, and increase their pay . . . are not affected in the slightest degree, nor can they be included in the words or intent of the bill.

I have argued that Gilded Age courts' subsequent extension of the Act to workers, notwithstanding legislative intent, relied upon a fundamental equivocation in the use of the label free trade,' between two distinct concepts: freedom of contract, and the free flow of trade. One is an abstract, normative ideal; the other, a tangible policy project. While the equivocation exists elsewhere, the body of law extending the Sherman Act to workers cleaves the two senses of the phrase free trade apart especially clearly. These pivotal cases protected the free flow of tradenecessary to the constitution of new markets, particularly the national marketagainst workers' liberty interests in collective economic and political action. Thus the courts actually subordinated workers' freedom of contract to the project of building the national market. That same equivocation lives in various forms today, and can be glimpsed in the Seattle lawsuit, which complains that the ordinance would balkanize the market for independent contractor services and inhibit the free flow of commerce among private service providers around the Nation.[xi] Protecting that market for independent contractor labor, i.e., labor stripped of its New Deal social and economic context, does not follow inexorably from the ideal that ultimately drives modern antitrust law, economic efficiency. No more than the Gilded Age project of market-building could be derived from the then-reigning ideal of freedom of contract. Defining and protecting such a market is instead a very specific policy choice; its very existence is not some natural fact, but in part a creature of the laws and regulations upon which market actors such as Uber rely. In fact, it's very likely that the plaintiff in this case will argue that the court should not even inquire whether the Uber business model, or the collective bargaining scheme permitted by the ordinance, promotes overall economic efficiency or not. Instead, plaintiff will argue that the per se rule by definition condemns such collective action. The central, unstated assumption is that the purported benefits (profits for the owners; convenience and lower prices for consumers) automatically trump workers' interests in living wages and in a voice in their workplace  without so much as taking a measure of those considerations.

The very fact that exclusion from antitrust prosecution hinges on the category employment is a much more contingent development than one might assume. In fact, the common law category of employment extant at the time the Sherman Act's passage was much narrower, and encompassed a much smaller proportion of working people, than the modern category does. Sherman's and other legislators' statements about excluding workers' (and farmers') collective action from its ambit cast a broader net, and seem to be rooted in a more basic notion of economic power.

This lawsuit invites contemporary policy-makers to again broaden the set of considerations that will determine whether an instance of collective action by workers will violate antitrust laws. While employee status determinations do include some considerations of economic power, these alone are not legally sufficient to establish an employment relationship. For example, monopsony power tends to characterize labor markets, but is not sufficient to establish an employment relationship. (Moreover, those actors with relative economic power, power buyers of services such as Uber, are precisely in a position to control many of the other factors that then determine employee status.) Yet monopsony and other measures of relative economic power better help us identify the sorts of actors whose collective action we might want to exclude from antitrust constraints, than do the somewhat idiosyncratic markers of a legal relationship (employment) that is neither necessary nor universal. In fact, we see these considerations better represented in strains of the price-fixing case-law than in labor law. Applied to the market for for-hire drivers, this broader analysis of economic power would almost certainly permit the collective action contemplated by the Seattle ordinance. While that analysis fell into disfavor as the per se rule and with it neoclassical antitrust analysis reached its apex, we are past the apex now. The time may be ripe to move away from it definitively, and to acknowledge the inherent social, economic, and moral value of decent wages and working conditions, and of acting collectively to secure them for oneself and one's fellows.
by Sue Hubbard

It is said that the camera never lies  but that was before things went digital. At the Victoria Miro Gallery, Stan Douglas has created a number of disturbingly hyperreal images with the use of digital technology that give the illusion of documentary accuracy. These theatrical black and white mise en scenes explore the seedy underbelly of post-war North America before what the artist describes as the sudden call to order and morality that was achieved by peacetime prosperity. Based on archival photographs a hotel used to house World War II veterans has been transformed into The Second Hotel Vancouver, 2014, an uncanny image where Piranesi seems to meet Edward Hopper.

Small areas of cold white light glow against the foreboding brick walls of this looming Victorian Gothic facade with its dark stairwells and fire escapes. In the empty street below beams from a wrought-iron lamp post flood the crepuscular corners. Like a Christmas advent calendar there's the sense that behind every window of this building is a secret. If we look hard we can catch a tantalising glimpse of a coat hanging on a rack  who does it belong to?  an empty brass bed or a woman at an office desk, who might well be awaiting the arrival of a character from a Raymond Carver novel. Like some 50s film noir these lit windows draw us into the possibilities of the building's many hidden and possible stories.

On the opposite wall is Hogan's Alley, 2014. This now raised area of Vancouver, once populated by the poor and disenfranchised, was notorious for its bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. Black jazz musicians partied here until the small hours in the company of corrupt politicians. The low rise buildings are mostly constructed of wooden clapboard. Their roofs sag and the yards are full of junk, lumber and broken engine parts. Ghostly white sheets hang drying on the cramped verandas The rundown neighbourhood is hunkered close up under the shadow of the Canadian Junk Co. that supplies pipe fittings, belting, pulleys, shafting, beadings, gears and sprockets. Behind every pool of light and net curtain small lives of quiet desperation are being played out: the prostitute, perhaps, with her client, the junkie shooting up, the single mother at her wits end, or the girl recovering from her pimp's beatings. We are invited to enter these worlds and invent our own stories. How did that bathtub end up in the yard? Who lives behind the window in that far shack? What do they dream of, what is the reality of their lives? In Lazy Bay, 2015 Douglas has created a vision of a long established squatting community of house boats and shore dwellings where you can almost smell the hash browns and dope, hear the strumming of a lonely guitar. In Bumtown 2015, a waterside squat of the similarly disenfranchised is huddled under a highway. Romantic and seedy there is something both uncanny and nostalgic about these dark images.

In 1940 Clement Greenberg wrote in the Partisan Review that a greater emphasis on form was the signal for a revolt against the dominance of literature, which was subject matter at its most oppressive. For the avant-garde ideas were seen to affect the purity and autonomy of painting. Art needed to escape' from literature and was beginning to lay claim to language, but to a language that was conceived as art' rather than as literature'.

Such ideas now seem quaintly 20th century. In a postmodern world anything can be anything else. Literature, film, advertising all provide fertile terrain for the artist. In his work Douglas explores the boundaries between imagination and reality, authenticity and the simulacrum, in order to ask questions about objective truth and subjective interpretation. Reality, it seems, is very much in the eye of the beholder for, as Lyotard wrote in The Postmodern Condition, each of us lives at the intersection of different narrative elements. Authenticity itself is, as Baudrillard suggests something of an hallucination. Fakery, montage, digital manipulation all become shadows and signs of each other in a complex series of allegories and paradox.

Born in Vancouver in 1960, a city in which he continues to live and work, Douglas has recently had shows in Lisbon, Brussles, Dublin, Copenhagen, Edinburgh and Munich, as well as Minnesota and New York, in 2012 receiving the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography. He came of age in the 1980s, a time when there was a renewed connection between the narratives of the everyday and art that was reflected in a move away from purity and formalism. Photography, with its possibility of manipulation and allegory, played a major role in this shift and was reflected in the work of artists such as Cindy Sherman and Andreas Gurksy. Made in the present moment the photograph always carries the sense of a lost past, a yearned for nostalgia. It is this quality that Douglas exploits. His photographs are constructs of both our historical and imagined fantasies and memories.

Accompanying the evocative black and white works, in the upstairs gallery, is Douglas's six-screen instllation, a realisation of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, set in Portugal. Douglas's transposition of Conrad's 1907 novel reflects the turmoil of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution of 1974  the country had been under the despotic rule of Antonio Salazar since 1932- and centres on the shady manipulations by the authorities who tried to influence the outcome of the revolt. The fractured imagery on the six screens  often depicting different sequences simultaneously  creates the atmosphere of tension and stress evoked by the spy novel. Douglas is fascinated by neglected moments of history, as well as by the juxtapositions between fact and fantasy, the past and imaginative construct. But as I leave the gallery it is the potent black and white still images that remain with me, resonating through my head as I construct new stories and narratives.

* * *

Victoria Miro Gallery until 24th March 2016

Images:

Courtesy the Artist, David Zwirner, New York / London and Victoria Miro, London  Stan Douglas

Stan Douglas Hogan's Alley, 2014 Digital chromogenic print mounted on Dibond aluminum 157.5 x 309.9 x 7.6 cm 62 x 122 x 3 in Edition of 5 plus 2 APs

Stan Douglas The Second Hotel Vancouver, 2014 Digital chromogenic print mounted on Dibond aluminum 243.8 x 152.4 cm 96 x 60 in Edition of 5 plus 2 APs

suehubbard.london@ virgin.net
Kenan Malik in Padaemonium:

How do you solve a crisis? By brushing it far enough away from your gaze so you can pretend that it is no longer there. That, at least, appears to be the European Unions approach. For more than a year, the migration crisis has torn at the heart of the EU, creating deep tensions between members, and raising questions about the future of freedom of movement within the union, and indeed about the future of the union itself.

Europes leaders have been desperately trying to figure out a solution. This week, after months of negotiation, they stitched together a deal with Turkey. Its main aim is to allow the EU to push the problem far enough away to pretend that it is not there.

Under the deal, the details of which are still being hammered out, all irregular migrants crossing from Turkey to Greece will be sent back. A one for one agreement will allow one Syrian from a Turkish refugee camp to be resettled in the EU, for every Syrian refugee returned to Turkey from Greece. For non-Syrians, the route to Europe is entirely cut off.

In return, the EU has promised to speed up plans for Turks to travel without visas inside the EU and to actually pay Ankara some of the 3 bn that was promised in October for Turkish help in closing its borders to migrants. Turkey has reportedly asked for an extra 3 bn, which is still being negotiated. Turkey has also demanded that concrete steps be taken to resume its accession negotiations with the EU.

Donald Tusk, the President of the EU Council, has described the deal as a breakthrough and historic. It is, in fact, immoral and unworkable.

More here.
by Thomas R. Wells

Science is an essential part of modern civilisation. It has cast religious metaphysics out of the natural world. It has supported the development of technologies that allow more people to live better and longer lives than ever before. It provides the empirical foundation on which the ideal of democratic deliberation rests, a division of labour in which specialists pursue facts so that society as a whole can pursue values. Moreover, as an industry science is thriving, with around 7 million professional scientists working with hundreds of billions of dollars of funding from governments, corporations and other institutions.

And yet despite dominating the modern world, the authority of science has declined. The general public are losing faith in its relevance to our lives, and are increasingly distrustful of its specific claims. This attitude is regrettable but not entirely unreasonable. Scientists have long claimed the status of public servants but exhibit little interest in living up to that role, for example by investigating boring but deadly diseases. Furthermore, science as an industry  Big Science  is entwined with power and money. That undermines the credibility of scientific pronouncements on politically contentious issues such as GM crops or climate change.

I. Scientific significance is not the same as social significance

It seems easy to agree that the goal of science is to discover important truths about how the real world works. The difficulty comes in deciding what counts as important; and, more immediately, whose opinion counts in making that decision: Scientists themselves? Their funders? Politicians? The people?

On the one hand scientists generally present themselves as public servants, like medical doctors. Many of them are even officially government employees. Yet they often seem to understand themselves as trustees of a grand intergenerational civilisational project  of contributing to the public good of understanding the world  rather than as regular employees. That is, they consider themselves entitled to use their own judgement to determine which scientific problems to pursue, and these may often be different from those that the wider society considers a priority. Indeed, how could it be otherwise given the asymmetry of expertise  only scientists can direct science since only they know what they are doing. Just as medical doctors, scientists are that special kind of expert who tell you what it is you need and then offer to sell it to you.

Scientists operate as members of self-directing epistemic communities. But the values that arise in such communities may lead to research questions that diverge substantially from what ordinary people are concerned about. In particular, the pursuit of status within an epistemic community means gaining the respect of one's peers by making contributions that they can appreciate. What counts as significant research is thereby largely determined by what your peers are working on, what they will find interesting and 'upvote' in the form of citations.

There are many branches in the tree of knowledge, many paths that might pay off. But academics of any particular field tend to cluster together on one branch, whether that be string theory in theoretical physics or general equilibrium theory in economics, simply because that is where everyone else is and those are the people they need to impress.

Of course it is possible that the branch everyone is sitting on will turn out to be the right one. But because the dynamic that led to that concentration of research is driven by social mechanisms at least as much as objective truth seeking methods and values, it seems more likely that the branch will turn out to be a dead end. But that's not the main problem  the history of science is a history of (learning from) failure. The problem is that the narrow range of questions to which the scientific apparatus is brought to bear are not the questions the general public, who are paying for most of this, are interested in. As economists blind-sided by the financial crisis protested, 'Why are you blaming us? We study economics not the economy'.

So the 'accountability problem' is that while this largely publicly funded complex ecosystem of science may provide jobs, status, and meaningful lives to those who work in it, it's not clear what they are doing for the rest of us. Even if the contradictory claims of different sub-disciplines (such as quantum 'micro' physics and Einsteinian 'macro' physics) could be reconciled and we could have some assurance that science was progressing, so what? Truth is not sufficient for significance. (Note that this applies across academia  Not all philosophers are equal.)

The kinds of questions that people think are important are quite different from those that a scientific community may glom onto. What are those questions? People expect practical knowledge from the scientific enterprise. Often this concerns assisting decision making in one's personal life: we want to know how the world we live in works. When is it too late to have children, for example, or what causes autism, and what can I do to prevent my child from developing it? Is it safe to drink tapwater these days? (Just because it passes tests designed decades ago is not necessarily reassuring given all the new kinds of pollutants that end up in it.)

We also expect science to directly improve our lives by extending our powers of intervening in it. Take medicine. One can divide medical problems into three categories, the ones that are diagnosable and treatable, the ones that are not diagnosable (except as somehow 'psychological'), and the ones that are diagnosable but pretty much untreatable (such as terminal cancers, but also the flu). The general public expect science to make progress on raising the proportion of medical problems that can be successfully diagnosed and treated. They have the distinct impression that this is not the biomedical research industry's main concern. This is not only the result of cynicism  e.g. that the commercial interests of biomedical companies lie in turning us into lifelong consumers of endless expensivetreatments, not providing a 10 cent pill that will cure us. One can also wonder at their methods. For example, why is quite so much effort is invested in experiments on mice when mice are nothing like humans. The answer seems to be that mice are a convenient model for experimentation and everyone else uses them.

Finally there is the contribution of science to public deliberation. Science has the potential to resolve the factual dimension of many moral and political debates as well as to support sensible policy (on which more below). In some cases, such as climate change, this works reasonably well (despite areas of remaining uncertainty in physical feedback mechanisms and especially the social scientific analysis of policy). Climate scientists present a virtually unanimous case for a human species level threat. That we aren't taking that seriously enough is our fault, not theirs. But there are many other public policy debates that would benefit from a better factual basis and yet don't seem to interest scientists. For example, does pornography make men into rapists, as some feminists claim? Is it safe to inject high doses of hormones and antibiotics into livestock? What are the real costs and benefits of recreational drugs? Should we have austerity or stimulus in this kind of recession? Research on such questions is fragmentary at best, and hardly usable by the general public.

Without the kind of objective understanding that science is supposed to provide, we are left to make up our minds about such significant issues of public  political  debate on the basis of ideology and anecdata (i.e. anecdotal information and intuitions). If scientists are really the public servants and professionals about objective truths they claim to be, we should be able to simply look up the facts about contentious issues rather than have to try to make up our own minds about things we know nothing about.

II. The Politicisation of Science

The failure of science to live up to its public responsibilities is one thing. But the credibility of science is at stake as well as its relevance. Scientific methods are supposed to be objective  the core idea is reproducibility after all  but increasing numbers of people consider its pronouncements as mere opinions, or even propaganda. More specifically, one finds that many people these days claim to believe in scientific methods in principle, but doubt that they are being properly applied in the particular cases they have an opinion about.

This is a great failure. Science is supposed to be not merely persuasive, like a lawyer's arguments or a politician's promises, but utterly convincing (a word originating in the Latin for overcome/conquer). For example, by allowing anyone to witness for themselves the truth of its claims by reconstructing the experiment that produced them, the scientific method provides a new level of certainty about facts beyond whether or not we find them agreeable. Hence the motto of the Royal Society Nullius in verba (Take no one's word for it). That has enabled scientists to advance extremely counter-intuitive claims about how the world really works, such as Darwin's account of evolution. The hope once was that science might address the brute fact of way of reasonable disagreement that animates and limits our politics, and in a better way than oppressing intellectual dissenters or merely counting them.

That hope has long died. Modern science is too complicated  too specialised  for ordinary people, or even the wrong kind of specialist, to test its claims. One needs PhD level training to be able to follow the recipes, as well as access to expensive equipment and unusual substances like embryonic stem cells. So much of the result is produced by the elaborate protocols and specially constructed lab equipment that even when an experimental result can't be reproduced one can never be quite sure whether the error was in the claim or in how one tried to test it. From the perspective of the public, modern science is experienced as a set of pronouncements by self-declared experts. The special authority of science has evaporated: we are left having to judge for ourselves whether to take scientists at their word.

It turns out that we judge the credibility of scientists and their institutions the same way we judge anyone else trying to tell us things. If it goes against what we already think we know, or against treasured values, or if it comes from someone in the wrong political tribe, we don't believe it.

As an industry Big Science requires vast amounts of money, and that money generally comes from either governments or profit-making corporations. It is not only obvious, but also a scientifically established fact, that researchers have a statistically unlikely tendency to find results desired by their funders. Given that we are not in a position to assess the scientific claims presented in defence of MMR vaccines and fluoride in drinking water, it is not so very ridiculous to assess the interests of those conducting or paying for the research instead. There may even be a political pattern. Those from the political right, with their ideological suspicion of right government, seem especially likely to disbelieve counter-intuitive claims that come from government funded science, such as climate change. Those on the left tend to have a greater faith in Big Government but a greater suspicion of Big Business. They seem to be especially skeptical of claims from commercially funded science, such as pharmaceutical companies or Monsanto.



Of course science faces other problems too, but these seem to me to be especially challenging. Unfortunately, the obvious if imperfect means for addressing the first problem (of scientists' lack of social accountability) is for governments to direct funding to research projects that they determine are in the public interest, even if that means overruling scientists' judgement about how to do science properly. Yet this would only magnify the second problem (of the politicisation of science), by alienating a large part of the public, as well as political parties that sometimes control the government! Since citizens, especially of a democracy, readily distinguish between the public interest and the interests of governing parties, it should not be surprising that to the extent that science is associated with government, it will lose its standing as a genuinely public truth-telling institution.


Half Year Accounts

Perth, Mar 11, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Bauxite Resources Limited ( ASX:BAU ) are pleased to provide the Company's Half Year Accounts consisting of Bauxite Resources and the entities it controlled at the end of, or during, the half-year ended 31 December 2015.



During the half year ending 31 December 2015 the Company continued to focus primarily on resolving the issues surrounding the Felicitas Deposit with its Joint Venture Partner Yankuang Resources Pty Ltd (Yankuang). On 21 October 2015 the Company announced it had reached agreement to sell its interests in the Joint Venture to Yankuang. Formal documents were signed on 30 November 2015, with shareholder approval being received on 18 January 2016 and settlement occurring on the 21 January 2016.



For the full Half Year Accounts please visit:

http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-BAU-755963.pdf





About Bauxite Resources Limited





Bauxite Resources (ASX:BAU) (OTCMKTS:BXRDF) was established with a substantial tenement holding in Western Australia to develop new bauxite supply for the global alumina/aluminium industry. The Company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in October 2007.



The Darling Range in the south-west of Western Australia (WA) is the world's largest bauxite mining and alumina refining region producing around 20% of the world's alumina. This area has mined bauxite and refined alumina since the 1960s. These industries are leaders in sustainable resource development and represent the fifth largest sector of WA's resource industry.


Half Yearly Report and Accounts

Perth, Mar 11, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Raya Group Ltd ( ASX:RYG ) is an Australian-based exploration and development company that is focussed on its portfolio of advanced geothermal development opportunities in Indonesia.



HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HALF YEAR



Board Restructure / Funding / Corporate



- On 1st July 2015 Pryme Energy Ltd issued 100,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares and $250,000 AUD cash payment to Raya as part of Tranche 1 consideration under the Purchase and Sale Agreement of Raya's USA oil/gas assets.



- The consideration payments of $350,000 for Tranche 2 and 3 combined, will become due to Raya at the success of the first 2 wells drilled in the Total Acreage on the basis they each are equal to or greater than 31 Mbo of oil and 200 MMcf of natural gas "gross" proved producing developed 1P certified reserves by Pinnacle Energy Services L.L.C.



- During the quarter Raya acquired a further 35,014,214 Pryme listed shares (PYM) to bring the total holding to 135,014,214 listed shares.



- On 12th October 2015 the Company sold its entire holding in Pryme Energy via on market trades and received funds totalling $667,000 after brokerage.



- On the 24th September 2015 an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM") was held to consider a number of resolutions to shareholders with all passed in favour.



- On 13th October 2015 40,000,000 ordinary shares were issued to directors under the Director's Fee Plan at $0.004 per share. The directors paid consideration of $0.0005 per share representing an 87.5% discount on their fair value.



- As announced on 26th October 2015 Raya entered into a binding Heads of Agreement (HOA) with the key shareholders of Xped Holdings Ltd (Xped) to acquire all of the issued capital in Xped.



- On the 4th November Raya received the rights to acquire 100% of Xped following the agreement from all minority shareholders in Xped who accepted the terms.



- On 10th November the Company had completed a placement of $600,000 to a strategic investor under Section 708A at a price of 2c per share. The strategic investor was to originally receive additional 10,000,000 shares pending shareholder approval but this was subsequently cancelled following a revised capital structure as per Prospectus lodged on 18th January 2016.



- On the 20th November the Company announced it had completed a further private placement to a select group of institutional funds and sophisticated investors raising a total of $1,400,000 to progress the proposed acquisition of Xped. The funds were raised at a price of 3.5c per share.



- On the 25th November an Annual General Meeting ("AGM") was held to put forward the Company's Financial Reports and consider a number of resolutions to shareholders. All resolutions were passed in favour.



- On 1st December it was announced that Raya and the Xped Vendors have formally and satisfactorily completed their Due Diligence, and Raya would proceed in acquiring 100% of the shares in Xped.



- On 1st December, the Company announced that Xped has been awarded a key patent in China for its technology that can create and transfer eCoupons using its unique "tap-to-connect" Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution.



- Raya announced on 8th December it had appointed leading Sydney based investment bank KTM Capital Pty Ltd (KTM) as lead manager for the proposed Prospectus Offering which was originally expected to raise up to $6.8m but the offer was later revised to a maximum of $8m.



- The company announced on 22 December 2015, that Xped and UniSA are working together to build an energy monitoring system that will encompass the "revolutionary" and "patented" ADRC (Auto Discovery Remote Control).



- On 23 December a Technical Expert Report was released to the market following an independent technology expert review on Xped and its technologies. The report was completed by Flocom Consulting.



To view the report, please visit:

http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-RYG-912223.pdf





About XPED Ltd





XPED Ltd (ASX:XPE) is an Australian Internet of Things (IoT) technology business. Xped has developed revolutionary and patent-protected technology that allows any consumer, regardless of their technical capability, to connect, monitor and control devices and appliances found in our everyday environment. Xped provides technology solutions for Smart Home, Smart Building, and Healthcare.

At Xped, were Making Technology Easy Again(TM)


Goldphyre to Raise $1.1M for Lake Wells Potash Project

Perth, Mar 14, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Goldphyre Resources Limited ( ASX:GPH ) advises that it has received commitments from professional and sophisticated investors to raise up to $1.1 million through the issue of up to 17.2 million shares at 6.4 cents each. Hartleys Limited is Broker to the Offer.



KEY POINTS



- Goldphyre to raise up to $1.1m in over-subscribed placement at 6.4c a share



- Drilling now underway as part of plan to complete maiden Resource at Lake Wells by June



- Recently announced Exploration Targeti underpins Goldphyre's strategy to produce 75,000-100,000tpa of premium-priced sulphate of potash



- Strategy aimed at maximising economic returns with project cap-ex of less than $100m



NEXT STEPS



- March 2016 Diamond drilling program commenced today



- June 2016 Publication of a maiden resource estimate



- Q2/Q3 2016 Install test pumping bores, field evaporation trials Publication of resource upgrade



- Q4 2016/Q1 2017 Publication of measured resource estimate



The proceeds will be used to fund the diamond drilling program now underway at the Lake Wells Potash Project, further planned drill programs, associated assay analysis and modelling and working capital.



This work is aimed at completing a maiden JORC Resource estimate by June this year.



Goldphyre published an Exploration Target last week, which underpins its strategy to produce 75,000-100,000 tonnes a year of sulphate of potash, which is currently selling for approximately A$1,000 per tonne at the farm gate.



Goldphyre Executive Chairman Matt Shackleton said the Company was now set to accelerate the exploration program and related studies at Lake Wells.



"The strong potential of Lake Wells is becoming increasingly clear," Mr Shackleton said.



"We have tripled the size of the project, we will bring on the Mark Creasy-controlled Yandal Investments as our major shareholder and we are well funded and on track to deliver a maiden JORC Resource in coming months.



"We fully expect this resource to further underpin a low CAPEX, profitable potash operation."



The allotment of tranche 1 of the Placement for up to approximately 15.5 million shares ($992,000) is not subject to shareholder approval and will fall within the Company's 15% placement capacity under ASX LR 7.1 and additional 10% placement capacity under ASX LR 7.1A.



The second tranche of the Placement for up to 1.7 million shares ($108,000), are to be issued subject to shareholder approval at the Company's General Meeting scheduled to take place in April 2016. The Company will send a notice of meeting to shareholders in due course with respect to, amongst other matters, the approvals required for the second tranche of the Placement.



The Lake Wells Potash Project



A drilling program conducted at Lake Wells in July 2015 identified high-grade potash mineralisation both beneath the lake and the low dune areas surrounding the lake. That drilling program generated wide intercepts of high-grade potash to depths of 135m (down-hole), which was the depth capacity of the drill rig used.



Two passive seismic survey programs have been conducted at the Project. This data permits the clear targeting of drill holes into the deepest parts of the palaeovalley, allowing Goldphyre to assess the characteristics of the sand layers traditionally found in the bottom strata of the palaeovalley sediments (Figure 1, see link below).



This coarse, unconsolidated material often has a high permeability, which facilitates drainage of the overlying hydrogeological units.



Goldphyre has commenced a diamond drilling program at the Lake Wells Potash Project. This program will be aimed at understanding the sand, or basal layer, found at the bottom of the palaeovalley (Figure 1). Using the results of the drilling program, Goldphyre plans to release a Maiden JORC Resource Estimate in H1 2016.



To view the release including figures, please visit:

http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-GPH-756090.pdf



About Australian Potash Ltd





Australian Potash Limited (ASX:APC) is an ASX-listed Sulphate of Potash (SOP) developer. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Lake Wells Potash Project located approximately 500kms northeast of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields.

Following the release of a Scoping Study in 2017, APC has been conducting a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) into the development of the Lake Wells Potash Project. The Company is aiming to release the findings of the DFS in H2 2019.

The Lake Wells Potash Project is a palaeochannel brine hosted sulphate of potash project. Palaeochannel bore fields supply large volumes of brine to many existing mining operations throughout Western Australia, and this technique is a well understood and proven method for extracting brine. APC will use this technically low-risk and commonly used brine extraction model to further develop a bore-field into the palaeochannel hosting the Lake Wells SOP resource.

A Scoping Study on the Lake Wells Potash Project was completed and released on 23 March 2017. The Scoping Study exceeded expectations and confirmed that the Project's economic and technical aspects are all exceptionally strong, and highlights APC's potential to become a significant long-life, low capital and high margin sulphate of potash (SOP) producer.
ACAs library of educational tools help members improve their business practices. ACA also holds the most popular industry conferences and offers credentialing for collectors, attorneys, and more. ACAs Training Zone subscription gives agencies access to almost all of our education for one low cost.
The Tax Court agreed with the Internal Revenue Service in disallowing an attorneys attempt to write off her familys travel costs as an expense for some books she wrote.

Lisa Fisher, a practicing attorney in New York, was asked to travel to the Czech Republic for an extended period at the request of a client. Since her husband, also a practicing attorney, could not take time off to tend to their three children, all under nine years old, she took them with her on the trip.

Concerned about entertaining the children on the long car rides she anticipated taking during the trip, she came up with the idea of writing a book about the country that would be informative and hold the childrens interest, or, as she testified, keep them busy while traveling by car. She later decided to develop a series of travel books for children.

During 2006-2008 Fisher created some prototype books, some of which she sold by word of mouth in response to specific requests from friends and clients who planned to travel with their children. On her Schedule C for the years in question, Fisher reported losses of $21,897, $31,971, and $20,157 generated, in part, by other expenses for lodging, airfare, and entrance fees incurred in travelling with the children.

The IRS disallowed the all but $479 of the expenses, which allowed Fisher to reduce her income from the activity to zero but not below. In a summary opinion (Fisher v Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2016-10), the Tax Court upheld the IRSs determination without applying the Hobby Loss rules of Code section 183, which require an actual profit objective. Instead, the court said, to be deductible the business must have actually commenced. Assuming without finding that Fisher did conduct her book-writing activity with a profit motive, the business itself had not begun.
A roundup of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.

Lakewood, Colo.: Preparer Hieu Mattison, 52, has been indicted for allegedly preparing and filing false income tax returns. From February 2010 through May 2012, Mattison falsely prepared and filed with the IRS two dozen 1040s for various taxpayers that were allegedly materially false and fraudulent, including false income and tax credits to inflate refunds.

Glen Burnie, Md.: Preparer Christine Little, 43, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for aiding in the preparation of false tax returns.

According to her plea agreement, Little identified herself as the CEO of TNT Taxes. From February to June 2011, she recruited clients, purporting to specialize in business and individual taxes and amendments.

Little admitted that she prepared 29 false federal returns; she placed information on the returns that did not reflect the information from clients, falsely inflated withholdings and real estate taxes; and caused the returns to contain false personal property taxes, home mortgage interest and charitable deductions.

In April 2011, an undercover federal agent requested that Little prepare his federal return. The return prepared by Little did not accurately reflect the information the agent supplied, but instead included false deductions and inflated withholding amounts, resulting in a fraudulent refund claim of more than $11,000.

Little admitted that the loss resulting from the false returns she filed exceeded $330,000.

Charlotte, N.C.: Preparer Malik Shropshire, 43, has been sentenced to 51 months in prison for filing false returns and lying on a loan application. He was also ordered to serve three years under court supervision following his prison term, and to pay $582,933 restitution to the IRS and $7,749.24 to a credit union he defrauded.

According to court documents, Shropshire aided and assisted in the preparation of hundreds of false tax returns that were filed with the IRS. Records show that his sister, Nkhenge Shropshire, owned the tax prep firm Tax Connections and that from 2010 through 2012, Malik Shropshire conspired with his sister and others to execute a fraud scheme involving filing of fraudulent returns.

Records indicate that Malik Shropshire recruited individuals to have their returns prepared and filed through his sisters business and elsewhere, promising large refunds. He obtained the fraudulent refunds by filing returns that contained fraudulent information, including false Schedule C businesses, false dependents and false refundable education credits.

According to court records, the tax loss associated with the fraudulent returns is $582,933.

In addition, Shropshire, assisted by his sister, lied on loan applications and was able to obtain a credit card and a car loan using fake Social Security numbers, false income information and false employment information. Subsequently, he defaulted both on the auto loan and the credit card, after he maxed out its $10,000 limit. Last June, Malik Shropshire pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS and to making false statements on a loan application.

Rosenhayn, N.J.: Preparer Noemi Pender, 57, has admitted her role in a conspiracy to prepare bogus income tax returns for her clients.

According to documents filed in this case and statements in court, Pender operated Pender Tax Services, and for the tax years 2007 through 2011 she and Grace Garrett, 63, of Pittsgrove, N.J., sought to increase referrals, enhance their business and make money preparing and filing income tax returns based on false information.

They used a number of fraudulent practices, including falsely claiming a filer was a head of household, inventing and inflating deductions, creating fictitious dependents and creating false credits for education and childcare. The bogus returns cost the government more than $340,000.

The conspiracy charge to which Pender pleaded guilty carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is June 10. Last May, Garrett pleaded guilty to her role; her sentencing is March 22.

Denver: A federal judge has ordered preparer Gerardo Herrera held in custody until the latter closes his tax prep business.

Herrera was found in contempt for violating an order that permanently barred him from professional tax preparation. The U.S. alleged last fall that for at least three years Herrera and his firm systematically and repeatedly submitted false income tax returns by reporting extra dependents, claiming bogus deductions, and using improper tactics to understate tax liability. In January, a judge issued an order of permanent injunction against Herrera, prohibiting him from preparing tax returns.

The injunction also directed Herrera to provide a list of his customers to the federal government, notify his customers of the injunction and file a sworn statement attesting that he had complied within 45 days of the injunction. The U.S. asked the court to hold Herrera in contempt for his failure to comply with these provisions and alleged that he continued to operate two tax prep offices.

After hearing testimony from two IRS witnesses who visited Herreras offices, the judge found Herrera in contempt and ordered him held in custody until he purges his contempt by, among other things, notifying all his prior customers of the injunction, providing a list of his customers to the U.S., surrendering his PTIN and posting a copy of the injunction in his place of business.

Indianapolis: Preparer David R. Franklin, 43, has pleaded guilty to three counts of procuring the preparation of false federal income tax returns.

Franklin owned and operated more than 20 Instant Tax Service stores and in August 2013 a U.S. district judge granted a permanent injunction against Franklin and ITS that prohibited both from preparing, filing or assisting in the preparation or filing of any federal return.

IRS investigation revealed that Franklin trained and directed his employee preparers regarding the preparation of federal returns, advising employees to prepare fraudulent federal returns for multiple clients from 2010 through 2012. Franklin directed employees to prepare Schedule Cs reporting inflated business income or losses for unauthorized earned income credits and refunds for clients.

More than 2,300 false federal income tax returns were filed by ITS between 2010 and 2012 for a tax loss of $1,501,000. As part of Franklins plea agreement, he will be ordered to pay full restitution.

Each offense is punishable by a maximum of three years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2016.

New York: Peter Cisyk, 48, of Staten Island, has been charged with five felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing, five felony counts of grand larceny and five felony counts of criminal tax fraud.

Cisyk, who pleaded not guilty, is charged in connection with filing fraudulent returns for fellow New York City Department of Sanitation employees while working as a supervisor for the agency.

Cisyk was a New York City employee from 1995 to 2015 and also worked as a paid tax preparer from 2009 to 2015. He prepared returns from a location on Staten Island and also allegedly prepared returns for several of his coworkers at his Department of Sanitation work location.

A New York State investigation alleges that from 2010 to 2015, Cisyk violated criminal tax fraud statutes by filing returns with exaggerated deductions, unsubstantiated gifts to charities and undocumented business expenses.

If convicted, Cisyk could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison on the grand larceny and criminal tax fraud charges and up to four years on the other charges. He also faces fines of up to $5,000 per return.
The International Advertising Association (IAA)  India Chapter today announced the winners of the 4th edition of the IAA Leadership Awards at a glorious ceremony at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. The awards, presented by Chief Guest Honble Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, celebrated the achievements by some of the most creative and strategic minds from the streams of Marketing, Media and Advertising.



The 4th edition of the IAA Leadership Awards recognized the achievements of diverse groups of individuals for their incredible contribution in designing path-breaking and high impact marketing initiatives to strengthen their respective brands promise and standing amongst consumers.

Winner List for the 4th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards CATEGORY NAME WINNER NAME Marketer of the Year  Banking Karthi Marshan, Kotak Mahindra Bank Marketer of the Year  Insurance Manish Dubey, ICICI Prudential Marketer of the Year  FMCG  Food Varun Berry, Britannia Marketer of the Year  FMCG  Beverage Nadia Chauhan, Parle Agro Marketer of the Year  FMCG  Home Care Ajay Dang, Godrej Marketer of the Year  FMCG  Personal Care Samir Singh, Hindustan Unilever Marketer of the Year  Auto: Two-Wheelers Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter Marketer of the Year  Auto: Passenger Vehicles Randhir Singh Kalsi, Maruti Suzuki Marketer of the Year  Consumer Durables Ranjivjit Singh, Samsung Marketer of the Year  Mobile Devices Bhaskar Choudhari, Lenovo Marketer of the Year  Mobile Services Srinivasan Gopalan, Bharti Airtel Marketer of the Year  E-Commerce Amit Agarwal, Amazon Marketer of the Year  Home Improvement Amit Syngle, Asian Paints Marketer of the Year  Retail Sanjay Behl, Raymond CEO of the Year Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group Media Person of the Year Raj Nayak, COLORS Television Anchor of the Year Rajat Sharma, India TV News Editor of the Year Sanjay Gupta, Dainik Jagran Media Agency Head of the Year Ashish Bhasin, Dentsu Creative Agency Head of the Year Josy Paul, BBDO Hall of Fame Bharat Patel Brand Endorser of the Year Varun Dhawan

Congratulating the winners, Honble Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju said, I am impressed with how the evening and awards have been conceived. IAA is an important body when it comes to championing the marketers. As India is taking its rightful place in the world, the marketing and advertising world is catapulting India even faster. A decade ago, we used to have respect but we were never perceived as leaders. However, today, we receive tremendous recognition abroad. We have begun recognising our leaders  news is getting anchor-specific and editor-centric. Even Narendra Modi is a brand! This is the moment that belongs to India.

Commenting on the evening, Sam Balsara, Chairman  IAA Leadership Awards Committee said, This year, at the 4th IAA Leadership Awards, we have seen some tough competition that has been carried out by teams across industries. The decision-making process has been robust and after deep deliberation, we have finally arrived on the list of winners who have been honoured today. As the evening draws to a close, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the winners and look forward to some great work from them in coming years.

Speaking on the occasion, Srinivasan K Swamy, President of IAAs India Chapter said, The IAA Leadership Awards are testimony of the inspirational work that industry leaders and creative minds accomplish during the course of the year. Today, we are celebrating the extraordinary work and journey of the industry at large from the year gone by. The campaigns have achieved much success in the brands positioning and perception. I congratulate the winners and hope to see such incredible work for years to come.
Lessons learned from Operation Desert Storm

Twenty five years ago, the world watched a display of military force in the Persian Gulf. Americas adversaries have spent each year since pursuing capabilities both to counter U.S. strengths and to exploit perceived weaknesses.



Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein participated in a panel discussion about Desert Storm on March 7 in Arlington, Virginia, where he discussed achievements made during the operation and where the Air Force is today.



Operation Desert Storm provided a clear demonstration of the strength of a coalition and is recognized as the first conflict in history to make comprehensive use of stealth and space systems support capabilities against a modern, integrated air defense.



Ill share with you the importance of preparation during Desert Shield, Goldfein said. You never know how you are going to perform until you actually cross the line for the first time. I remember going across the line thinking, Ive heard these radio calls, Ive seen this. You will not believe the sudden confidence that was felt in my cockpit and in all the captains that day, when we realized OK, Ive been here before, I know how to do this.



Today, the services emphasis is on making investments in innovative and advanced concepts that leverage leap-ahead technologies to maintain the competitive edge over adversaries. With the fiscal year 2017 budget, the Air Force continues to modernize for the next offset strategy by investing in game-changing technology for todays and future high-threat environments, and pushing for right-size end strength to stabilize the force.



Goldfein indicated, under Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh IIIs leadership, a strategic masterplan has been written. The plan details future operating concepts and details where the Air Force needs to be in 2030. This Air Force vision, defense secretarys third offset strategy, and a constant discussion of the challenges the nation faces all place the Air Force in a position to rebalance and prepare for the future.



The ability to be adaptive with the way we organize is really critical, said Lt. Gen. Steven L. Kwast, the commander of the Air University. You have to look at how you adapt your organization, the culture, the processes and its ongoing journey of evolution regarding to how our country adopts a global capability to make sure Americas values are alive in 100 years.
TAAC-Air work with Afghan AF to build sustainable force

A small group of Train Advise Assist CommandAir advisors make up the 441st and 442nd air expeditionary advisory squadrons at Kandahar Airfield. Both squadrons are focused on working shoulder to shoulder with the Afghan Air Force to develop a professional, capable and sustainable air force.



In order to achieve this, TAAC-Air groups support NATOs Resolute Support mission with maintenance and operations squadrons providing valuable insight to the newly reborn Afghan Air Force.



The Kandahar Air Wing's primary mission is casualty evacuation, personnel transport and resupply using the Soviet-made Mi-17 Hind and U.S.-made Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, said Maj. Bryan Florio, the 442nd AEAS commander.



In the maintenance squadron, a group of professional and dedicated air advisors is comprised of nearly 140 total personnel. Of those, a small portion is maintenance military advisors who supplement approximately 100 U.S. and Ukrainian maintenance contractors supporting the Afghan Air Force assigned to Kandahar Air Wings maintenance group.



As the primary contractor for the Mi-17 and C-208, Lockheed Martins workforce is primarily responsible for maintenance and providing formal instruction to the Afghans while the U.S. Air Force plays a larger role in advising senior leadership on maintenance and logistics management.



Essentially were trying to work ourselves out of a job, said Tech. Sgt. Richard Embrey, a TAAC-Air Intermediate Maintenance Squadron Mi-17 advisor. We are trying to make a sustainable program for the Afghans so when we leave they can keep going. We are giving them the confidence they need to be self-sustaining. I think we are on the right track, these guys, day in and day out, do awesome stuff. They work really hard.



Though Embrey can only speak about his 10 months deployed to Kandahar Airfield, Ashna, a translator assigned to the group, has seen the progress over a longer period of time and sees positive trends as well.



One of the things that weve worked on really hard and theyve really improved here in the past couple of years is the safety and quality of work, he said.



Following along with the 442nd AEASs mantra of Afghans in the lead the squadron is continually training and graduating maintainers to be able to train their own. Most recently, graduating a group of C-208 maintainers to level 1 and 2 skillsets, which are the highest ratings, and creating more Afghans who are able to train their own.



In the 441st AEAS, the focus is also on building a force that can hold its own without U.S. involvement in the future.



We arent just training them the basics, theyve already done that, said Master Sgt. Justin Kay, a TAAC-Air Mi-17 flight engineer. We are creating instructors so they can train their own. We feel like there is a core of the air crew that can be self-sustaining, and if they can get more manning, they can train without needing us to do it.



In addition to training and advising pilots, engineers and door gunners, the operations squadron helps plan both real-world and training missions; commonly seeing the effect of that training in a very short time.



Twice, recently, after training on forward firing weapons Afghans crews were able to go out the next day and attack Taliban targets, Kay said. It showed the direct impact of the training we had just given them. They were able to find the target, identify it, and communicate with the ground that it was the correct target.



One of the best parts, according to Kay, is that the U.S. doesnt dictate the training. Afghan Air Force members are able to create their own training plans and come to the advisors when they need help.



The Afghans come to us and ask us for training on specific things, Kay said. Whether it is weapons training, transporting troops or getting into tight landing zones, they can come to us.



The Afghan Air Force shows a great deal of pride in the work they do but also know there is still work to be done.



Part of the difficulty we have is building a force while fighting a war, said an Afghan Air Force member. But, just like U.S. came to Afghanistan to help us and protect America, we have a duty to fight for our country as well.



While the Afghans continue to train and fight, TAAC-Air will continue to lead the development of a capable and sustainable Afghan Air Force.
Goldfein: Optimistic about future of airpower

Equals part challenge and opportunity -- thats how Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein described as the current state of the Air Force March 10 during a Defense Programs Conference in Washington, D.C.



As I stand here today, I could not be more optimistic about our future, Goldfein said to the defense industry audience. Your Air Force today is too small, too old, less ready and out of balance for the challenges that we as a nation are going to face for the next decade to two decades and what the Air Force brings to the joint team  but also, as I stand here today, we have unlimited opportunity right now.



Most of America, he said, still remembers the Air Force of Operation Desert Storm. It was a time when there were 134 fighter squadrons across the total force from which the Air Force deployed 33 squadrons to execute operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Now there are only 55 fighter squadrons, he added. The Air Force has nearly 240,000 less total force Airmen than during those operations.



Over the last 25 years the demand for airpower as the world has gotten more and more unstable has actually gone up, Goldfein said. So we have gotten smaller over time as the demand for what we bring to the joint fight has gone up  we are too small.



Goldfein said the challenges of an aging fleet also effect Air Force readiness.



When we went into Desert Storm, the average age of the aircraft was 17 years, he said. Today, the average age across the fleet of all of our aircraft is 27 years old.



With the force getting smaller and equipment getting older, the challenges around the world have begun to take their toll. Readiness is one of the most difficult obstacles for the Air Force, he said, because the service has so many mission requirements.



Our portfolio, of the four services, is clearly the broadest, Goldfein said. When we are asked, what is the state of your readiness? Its actually a complex answer because we really need to answer the question with a question, ready for what?



If you were to ask me, are we ready for the fight in the Middle East against violent extremism? The answer is absolutely yes, 100 percent.



But Goldfein isnt sure the service would be ready for every scenario. The Air Force has had to make tough choices over the past 15 years to meet the needs of combatant commanders and the changing battlefield environment.



If you have a fixed (budget) and its going down and the demand from the service is to increase your investments in space, ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), cyber and nuclear enterprise then youve got to find some way to pay those bills, Goldfein said.



The way the force has paid those bills, he said, is reductions to manpower and conventional airpower.



According to Goldfein, the Air Force flew zero combat air patrols 15 years ago. The Air Force is now flying 60, and that number is expected to increase. The Air Force has invested billions of dollars in creating the space mission force so America and its allies and partners can operate.



To defend the network and to operate in cyberspace, the Air Force is on track for 39 of its mission teams to contribute to cyber command by the end of 2018. The nuclear enterprise is critical to global deterrence and requires significant investment in not only reinvigorating, but modernizing the capability.



If you take a look at the demand signals in the United State Air Force, and knowing we had to balance against a decreasing budget topline, you can see why the only place we had to go was people and conventional air power, Goldfein said. Its not just about fighters and bombers, its command and control and its ranges and infrastructure. Were the service that actually fights from our bases, so when we talk about bases, they are part of how we employ airpower and how we present forces.



Over the past several years, the Air Force put together a vision that provided a path for where the service needs to be in 2030.



There was an inclusive dialogue that occurred with MAJCOM (major command) commanders, combatant commanders, think tanks, industry and academia, Goldfein said. We took two years to get it right ... we call it the Air Force Future Operating Concept. When we became a separate service in 1947 we were given five missions: air superiority, ISR, global mobility, global strike, and command and control. Those five missions have morphed, technology has changed, but we still have the same five missions that we do for the nation.



Goldfein also delivered remarks later in the day when he participated in a panel discussion during the Future of War Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.



During a panel discussion titled Where will the military innovation of the future come from, Goldfein responded to a question on how Airmen today can prepare themselves now for future warfare while optimizing their contributions to the Air Force and the military.



It all starts with character, Goldfein said. We are on a lifelong journey to develop our character. Sometimes we get focused on reputation. As we move through the ranks, we confuse character and reputation. Character is who we are every day and what we do when no one is watching. Reputation is what people think of us after watching us for a period of time. We need to focus on the first and the second will take care of itself.



(Editors note: Master Sgt. Lesley Waters contributed to the article)
Total force team moves the mission in defending South Korea

In an effort to deter aggression, fighter aircraft routinely fly while troops on the ground mobilize and train to defend South Korea. However, there still lies another piece to the puzzle.



That puzzle piece is none other than the 607th Air Mobility Division.



"We control air refueling, air drops, air resupply, and essentially any kind of movement as far as cargo, supplies, people and fuel," said Brig. Gen. Steven P. Bullard, the 607th Air Operations Center director of mobility forces and Kentucky Air National Guard chief of staff. "We're looking primarily at in-air refueling missions. We need to be able to resupply everything from reconnaissance aircraft to fighter and cargo jets."



The mobility division is responsible for keeping people, aircraft and cargo in flight.



"In addition to tankers, we also consist of airlift planners and aeromedical evacuation technicians," said Capt. Danny Velo, the Air Mobility Division deputy chief. "One of our biggest challenges is getting noncombatant evacuees off of the peninsula and out of harm's way."



The last thing U.S. and South Korean armed forces want is for civilians to be caught between crosshairs of a potential war with a dangerous adversary in an austere environment. So in a wartime scenario, all civilians would either move or be escorted south and air mobility's job would be to fly those individuals out.



"We would evacuate civilians to safe havens off peninsula and the United States," Bullard said. "That's a real challenge in a dynamic threat environment. So we're looking at all of our options to see how we can make that happen."



When members in the 607th AMD review their options, there are several safety precautions they must evaluate before they make a decision.



"Upon entry into a hostile environment, we must constantly monitor the threat levels," Bullard said. "So we're constantly evaluating to see where we can open an airfield and make some modifications to the process to allow people to be transported out."



To make modifications, it is necessary for the U.S. military to have a good working relationship with government leaders in the host nation.



"The wonderful thing about the South Korean government is that in a wartime environment, their civil aircraft can nationalize and those aircraft then become part of (the South Korean air force)," Bullard said. "We can then utilize those in the appropriate threat environment to carry passengers and cargo.



Not only will the assistance from the host nation help, but it will also make it easier and faster to escort noncombatants out of the war zone.



"Air mobility is the glue that holds everything together. It's a lot of fun to work because it's very dynamic," Bullard said. "One of the great things about Air Mobility Command is that it's just a very rewarding job. We work behind the scenes in such a variety of missions and it's essential to the entire process."
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Ganesh Joshi on Monday attacked a police horse with a lathi, leaving the beast with a broken leg.

Mounted police had been stationed near the assembly to stop the protest, held by BJP workers against the Congress government of Chief Minister Harish Rawat. As the protesters came close to the barricade, the police tried to control the crowd.

You are using lathi on a horse? I think the word tolerance is not there in the dictionary of BJP, Rawat said.

The rally suddenly turned violent and in the commotion BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi targeted the horse as others also joined in.

The injured horse was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

CM has given orders to call experts, they will arrive tomorrow. X rays will be done, Dr. RS Negi, chief veterinary officer, said.

The metatarsal bone of the horses left leg has broken, Negi said, adding It is a compound fracture. First aid given and mobilisation devices used for his leg.

A case is being registered against the BJP MLA and some others, Dehradun SSP Sadanand Date said.

As a result, the horse was injured and taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

The horse injured by BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi was taken to Indian Military Academys Veterinary Hospital, Dehradun SSP said.

The metatarsal bone of the horses left leg has broken, Dr. Negi Veterinary doctor who is treating the horse at Police Line said.

The Congress has demanded that the police take immediate action against Joshi.

We condemn the BJP MLAs action in the harshest possible way. Its difficult to understand what made the BJP leader go wild against the poor horse. It is sheer cruelty against a speechless animal and the police must take action against Joshi. If our demand is not accepted, the Congress will lodge an FIR against the BJP MLA, Dehradun city Congress chief Prithviraj Chauhan said.

Several Congress leaders, including chief minister Rawat, rushed to police lines to see the horse.

The chief minister directed officials to contact veterinary doctors in Tamilnadu. He said money is not an issue and government will bear the expenses to save Shaktimaans life.

It is unfortunate that an animal, who cant speak has been made target. This shows the frustration (of BJP), the chief minister said.
Former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal was arrested on Monday after nine hours of interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Maharashtra Sadan corruption scam cases lodged against him.



Beleagured Former Maharashtra PWD minister and Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai for questioning on Monday.

The ED had summoned Bhujbal on March 8 following a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya in connection with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act pertaining to alleged irregularities in the construction of a new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, worth several hundred crores of rupees.

A large number of party workers who had gathered outside the ED office raised slogans even as prohibitory orders were put in place to avoid any untoward incident.

The agency is expected to record his statement in the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had registered a PMLA case involving Bhujbal, his son pankaj, nephew Samir and some of their associates and has already arrested the ex-ministers nephew Samir.

The ED had on February 1 arrested Bhujbals nephew Sameer Bhujbal. Later last month, it questioned Bhujbals son Pankaj Bhujbal, a legislator.

Bhujbal and his party, the NCP, have termed the EDs actions a political vendetta.

The EDs probe follows a Bombay high court ruling in January when it sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and the ED within four weeks on their investigations against the Bhujbals.

Following Somaiyas complaints, the ED had lodged two first information reports (FIRs) against the Bhujbals and others under the PMLA to probe the Maharashtra Sadan scam in New Delhi and the Kalina land grabbing scam in Mumbai.
A young couple, whose inter-caste marriage was opposed by their families, was brutally attacked by a hired gang with sickles in full public view in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in the death of the husband. The incident captured in a CCTV camera.



When Shankar (22) and Kausalya (19), hailing from Palani in Dindigul district, were waiting at the Udumalpet bus stand, a group of armed men came on a motorcycle and hacked them with sickles before fleeing, police said.

Police rushed the profusely bleeding couple to the Government Hospital. While Shankar died on the way, Kausalyas condition is said to be critical, and she is undergoing treatment, they added.

The womans father has surrendered in court, say the police. He has denied any role in the attack and claims he turned himself in because the police were looking for him.

In CCTV visuals, they are seen walking and chatting when three men on a bike stop behind them and suddenly attack Sankar with sickles and sharp weapons.

Shankar, a dalit, married Kausalya eight months ago, despite opposition from her parents.

Special teams have been formed to track the three assailants. They are equipped with photographs of the three fleeing from the spot, taken by the public. Police said Kausalya and Shankar had met at a private engineering college in Pollachi where they were second and fourth year students respectively.

The couple had faced death threats from Kausalyas family from the day they got married, Shankars father Velusamy, a daily wage worker, alleged.

Velusamy said, We thought her parents would accept them but it has ended in this bloody tragedy. We have lost him.

His brother Vignesh added: Campus interviews were supposed to take place soon after and he wouldve gotten a job.

So far four people have been arrested in connection with the case and an investigation is on to nab the remaining culprits.

This is the third incident of this kind in Tamil Nadu in the last five years.
Maharashtra government said it would recommend to the Centre that those indulging in sale of medicines online without prescriptions be prosecuted under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The government has also not given any permission for online sale of pharmacy, Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies minister Girish Bapat told the Legislative Council.

Regarding the tie-up between the state police and an online pharmacy aggregator, Bapat said the government will check if there are any rules violated by the department.

Last week, Maharashtra Police partnered with online pharmacy aggregator  PharmEasy under which serving and retired officials and their family members would get medicines and diagnostic tests at concessional rates.

While speaking during a Calling Attention Motion on online sale of medicines, Congress MLC Satej Patil said illegal sale of medicines online without a valid prescription should be treated as a cyber crime and action should be taken under provisions of IT Act.

Replying to Patil, Bapat said, This is a good suggestion. Since laws regarding the sale of medicines are framed and regulated by the Centre, we will recommend that such companies may be prosecuted under the IT Act.

He said the government will do whatever it takes to stop illegal sale of medicines online.

Congress MLC Sharad Ranpise said that the Bombay High Court has disallowed online sale of medicines without a valid prescription and that the Drug Controller of India has called for strict action against those indulging in it.

In that case, is it true that the state government has allowed police department to go ahead with online sale of medicines by PharmEasy, he questioned.

In his reply to Ranpise, Bapat said, Government has given no such permission to sell medicines online. We will check and if there are any violations found, Additional Director General of Police V V Lakshmi Narayans circular to his department will be cancelled.
Defending champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis crashed out of the Indian Wells Masters after suffering a shock straight sets defeat in the womens doubles event on Monday.

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair suffered a 7-6(7), 6-4 defeat at the hands of American-Russian duo of Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round contest that lasted one hour and 32 minutes.

This was Mirza and Hingis first straight-sets loss since the summer of 2015.

Mirza and Hingis 41-match winning streak came to a halt after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open last month.
Recently, we heard of many cases of honour killings. However, leaders and judiciary both are failing to deter these types of killers under judicial procedure. Honour killing or shame killing is given to the term for the homicide of a member of a family by other members, due to the perpetrators belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonour to the family, or has violated the principles of a community or a religion. Usually, this happened when girl refuse to enter an arranged marriage or she being in a relationship that is disapproved by their family. This may also happened when she is having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in inappropriate ways according to them, engaging in non-heterosexual relations or renouncing a faith.

There was a shocking video which gone viral on Monday in Tamil Nadu. Video clip showing three persons attacking the Dalit youth in Tirupur district and hacked him to death. This triggered outrage in the state of TN. The girls father surrendered before a local court in Nilakottai in Dindigal district of the state, about 380 kms from Chennai. Kausalya, who too was assaulted, has blamed her father for the attack. 22 year-old Shankar showed his killers approaching him while he was with his wife, at Udumalpet in Tirupur district on Sunday. The men were seen attacking Shankar and his wife in a fit of rage, dealing repeated blows on the couple. Scared bystanders remained mute witnesses to the carnage on the busy road. Shankar was left lying by the roadside in a pool of blood. Facing no resistance, the three attackers left the place in a two-wheeler, not exhibiting any remorse over their bloody act. Though the incident was widely reported, the video showed the brutality of the episode, with political leaders decrying killing of Shankar and the attack on his wife.

As usual, the leaders will condemn the incident and appeal for immediate arrest of the culprits. Last year, there were series of honour killings but everything was forgotten with time. This is the very reason why this type of incidence continued.

Remember, the murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl from Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. The police recovered the body from an open field in Sujanganj police station area in Jaunpur on June 12 last year. The police arrested the girls parents, two brothers, two sisters and also the youth.

Here is a list of the ruthless honour killings that happened last year: Bulandshahr, June 2015: Mother arrested for killing her daughter. Afroz, 20, from Abda village was killed by her own mother Rubina after she refused to give up her relationship with a boy. Afroz had been working for the Pulse Polio drive when the incident took place. On the fateful day, Rubina, alias Bano, got into an argument with Afroz regarding her romantic alliance with a boy. The argument led to Rubina slitting Afrozs throat with a knife. After receiving information on a police control room about a murder, police raided Rubinas house where they found Afrozs body.

New Delhi, April 10, 2015: 20-year-old youth crushed to death for loving a 16-year-old girl. Sagars rotting body was recovered by police from an isolated place in Sahibabad, after it was dumped there by the relatives of a minor girl with whom the victim had been having an affair for the past one year. Sagar had been beaten mercilessly by the girls relative after her brother-in-law spotted them together. They then confined Sagar for some hours and took him to Sahibabad in their car where they crushed him under the wheels of the car while the girl kept pleading for mercy. All the accused have been arrested.

Sonipat, April 2015: Bahalgarh police received a call regarding two unclaimed suitcases lying in a park, located on the GT road in Sonipat district. When the suitcases were opened, police recovered the naked bodies of a man and woman dumped separately in the two suitcases. While the womans body was intact and she wore glass bangles similar to those of a newlywed bride, the mans limbs had been chopped and disposed of in the suitcase. The police were also suspecting this as a case of honour killing.

Lucknow, February 15: The police also suspect honour killing in the murder case of a minor girl in Kotwali area of Gonda district. The fact that the girls family did not inform the police about the murder made the police suspicious. The girl, who had left home to relieve herself, was found dead after half an hour. The girls body was intact with no injury mark but tests confirmed sexual assault.

Mathura, February 15: Girl burnt to death by mother and brother. Neeraj Kumaris family was against her relationship with a youth Ajay from the same village. As complications cropped up for the marriage, the mother and the brother first strangulated Kumari and then set her body on fire. The accused first tried to dissuade the police by saying that the girl had committed suicide. However, the girls boyfriend told the police that he suspected the victim was first mercilessly beaten up and then set ablaze.

Honour killings are often a result of strongly patriarchal views on women, and the position of women in society. In this traditional male-dominated society, women are dependent first on their father and then on their husband, whom they are expected to obey. Women are viewed as a property and not as individuals with their own agency. As such, they must submit to male authority figures in the family  failure to do so can result in extreme violence as punishment. Violence is seen as a way of ensuring compliance and preventing rebellion. Legal frameworks can encourage honour killings. On one hand, such laws gives leniency towards such killings, and on the other side criminalization of various behaviours, such as extramarital sex, indecent dressing in public places, or homosexual sexual acts, with these laws acting as a way of reassuring perpetrators of honour killings. People engaged in these types of behaviours deserve strict punishment. There is need to deter such people, else many innocent youngsters will lose their lives in the hands of these murderers.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz are likely to meet on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Nepal, said sources on Monday.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Both Sushma and Aziz will be in Pokhara for the SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on March 16 and 17.

One of the senior Pakistani officials told that Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time and was also open to the meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal. However, he added that Pakistan till now hasnt received any proposal from India for the meeting between the two leaders in Nepal.

There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose, the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

These meetings will prepare the ground for the 37th session of the council of ministers on March 17 which will be attended by the foreign ministers of SAARC, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup had said at a media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.

Joint secretary (SAARC), Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be proceeding to Nepal for SAARC-related meetings in Pokhara between March 14 and 17, Swarup said.
Turkey on Monday held four suspects over a suicide car bombing that killed at least 36 people in Ankara, as warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq over the attack, the capitals third in five months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the city on Sunday evening, wounding more than 120 people.

But Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish official told AFP on Monday.

Turkish police detained four people near the Syrian frontier on Monday, state-run Anatolia news agency reported, acting on a tip-off that the car used in the bombing had been bought in Sanliurfa, a Kurdish-dominated town some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.

Dogan news agency for its part said six people had been arrested.

The fact that extremists were able to strike again in the heart of the capital, so close to many sensitive buildings and so soon after Februarys attack will raise questions about Turkeys ability to deal with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

Hours after the attack, Turkish fighter bombers hit PKK arms depots and shelters in mountainous northern Iraq, the army said, quoted by Anatolia.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu on Monday gave a new toll of 37 from Sundays blast targeting a bus stop, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two. The first funerals for the victims were held on Monday.

The military said the PKK targets were hit with precision, with a rebel spokesman confirming the strikes.
Khadse holds opposition for rising farmers suicide in the state, announces compensation of one lakh rupees for families of farm suicide victims without inquiry.

Maharashtra agriculture minister Eknath Khadse blamed the opposition for rising farmers suicide in the state and said that the incumbent government has to bear the brunt of the sins committed by its predecessor. Khadse informed the Legislative Assembly that farmers are facing huge hardships today due to the erratic policies of the Democratic Front government. When Khadse made these statements opposition tried to disrupt the house by raising slogans. The minister also said that over 20,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in the last 15 years, but only 8,066 suicides were due to crop failure, loan and recovery pressure.

Khadse said that the government will offer a compensation of Rs one lakh to the family of farmer who has committed suicide without con-ducting any inquiry and demanding any documents from them to support their claim. At present the victims family has to face huge hardships as they have to submit several proofs like death certificate, post mortem report and other documents for receiving compensation which is a tedious process. There are several families in the state who are yet to get compensation after farmers commit suicide due to crop failure and rising debts. Khadse said that initiative has been taken by the state government to provide water to drought hit regions through tankers. He added that more powers have been given to tahsildars and district collectors for speeding up the drought relief work.

Khadse said, The opposition is responsible for indulging in scams as money meant for providing relief to farmers never reached them. Now you are targeting the government when farmers are ending their lives. What did your government do in last 10 years for the welfare of farmers?

As the House assembled for the Question Hour, Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde questioned as to how many of the 3,228 farmers who as per the government data committed suicide in 2015, have been provided with monetary aid.

He also questioned that if 3,228 farmers have committed suicide, did the government present a false affidavit in the Bombay High Court, where it had said that around 1,000 farmers committed suicide?

In response, Khadse said there are certain norms for providing aid to families of farmers who have committed suicide.

We are only following norms set by the previous government that entail distribution of financial aid to families. If a farmer has committed suicide due to crop failure or if he is unable to repay loans, he is entitled for help, he said.

Khadse further said at present, out of 3,228, about 1841 families have been given financial assistance.

The rest did not fit into the criteria. We have asked officials to get more information on the cause of suicides, he said.

Khadse also informed that the Maharashtra government will begin implementation of the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana ( PMFBY) from April.

Damages to crops in post harvesting, cutting and harvesting, storm, unseasonal rains, flooding of fields, landslides and hailstorms have been included in the norms for granting compensation under the scheme, he said.

On the other hand, Leader of the opposition in the state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said that Eknath Khadse has given mis-leading statements about farmers suicide in the assembly. He said, Khadse had mentioned that year 2012 had witnessed highest number of farmer suicides in state which is not true. In 2015, 3228 farmers had committed suicide which is highest whereas only 1473 farmers had ended their lives in 2012. The government only makes announcements and fails to implement the policies therefore farmers are committing suicide. They should offer loan waiver to farmers.
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AYLMER, Qc  Gatineau Police are working to determine the cause of a massive fire that leveled the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Aylmer.

The fire broke out at around 12:20 a.m., Saturday, and firefighters were on scene battling the blaze for most of the morning.

Police consider the fire suspicious.

Police told 1310News that the embassy has been sitting abandoned for a few months, but believe someone broke into the building that sits around 100 metres back from the road.

Investigators were still on scene Sunday, combing through the rubble.

Police are asking anyone who may have been in the area around the time of the fire to contact them.










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The woman noticed her granddaughter looking out the window at something about 1:30 p.m. on July 15, 2011, in Case 56583.

"I tried to look out the front windshield but it was too dangerous because of the traffic," the witness stated. "So I opened the driver side window and looked up. I didn't expect to see a huge craft hovering just above my car. It was shaped like a triangle."

The witness described the object.

"The color was a gun metal black. It had a strange mat finish. There was something about the color and the finish of the craft that was like nothing I ever seen before. Rather than reflect light it seemed like it absorbed it. It didn't make a sound. There were these things that looked like rocket boosters on the underside. I know there were three and I think there were five."

The witness stated that she was confused because it appeared that no one else in the busy traffic around her noticed the object.

"The freeway was busy this time of the day too. It was hovering so low I remember thinking it was impossible for no one else to see it. It couldn't have been even 200 feet above the car. I don't remember more details very sharply because I was stunned, confused, torn between wanting to look, and trying not to because of the I-10 traffic. It just wasn't safe to not focus on driving. I was glancing at the cars around me, the craft, the road. We still talk about it. My granddaughter is 12 now and says she still remembers."

Maricopa County is a county located in the south-central part of Arizona, population 3,817,117.
WASHINGTON, March 13, 2016 - The Senate looks to settle the issue of biotech labeling once and for all this week with a historic debate on legislation that would block states from requiring GMO disclosure

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, a compromise version of the legislation is likely to be released on Monday. The bill is expected to be on the floor by Wednesday.

Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts and his committees top Democrat, Debbie Stabenow, spent last week negotiating over changes that would ensure the bill could get enough Democratic support to move to break a filibuster and move to a final vote. Another source said that Stabenow, who has been pushing for a mandatory disclosure requirement, had not yet signed onto an agreement with Roberts as of Monday morning.

Groups supporting and opposed to the legislation (S. 2609) have gone to the air in recent days in the Washington area and key states ahead of the election.

In a new post on medium.com, Tom Dempsey, president and CEO of the Snack Foods Association, warned that allowing states to impose their own labeling requirements would be an expensive and logistical nightmare. A TV ad that the industry-backed Coalition for Safe Affordable Food is airing implores viewers to Protect family farms and keep food prices lower for families.

A counter ad by the pro-labeling Center for Food Safety argues that the public deserves clear, on-package labeling.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been promoting the legislation in speeches and appearances before Congress but hell be out of town this week on a trade mission to Peru and Chile.

Tuesday is a pivotal day in the Republican presidential race, with primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Florida and Ohio are winner-take-all, with 165 GOP delegates up for grabs between them. Illinois and Missouri have rules that could make them essentially winner-take-all. North Carolinas GOP delegates are allocated proportionately.

With Ohios 66 delegates at stake, candidates in both parties have been sharpening their attacks on U.S. trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the North American Free-Trade Agreement. People are fed up with the stupidity of our trade deals and our labor deals, Republican Donald Trump said during an extended anti-trade pitch in Cleveland over the weekend.

On the Democratic side, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been pushing Hillary Clinton to commit to killing the TPP rather than re-negotiating it. We need an entirely new trade policy that creates jobs in this country, not more low-wage jobs abroad, Sanders said.

Tuesday also is National Ag Day. Agri-Pulse will host its annual Ag Day kickoff event Monday, starting with a panel discussion on how sustainability concerns are changing food production and marketing.

Tuesdays Ag Day events will include a luncheon featuring the Outstanding Young Farmer honorees and some members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.

Also this week, the House Budget Committee may release and vote on a fiscal 2017 budget resolution.

Last week, 254 agriculture, conservation and nutrition groups sent a letter to the budget and appropriations committees urging them not to touch any of the titles in the 2014 farm bill, which includes crop insurance as well as conservation and nutrition assistance.

Did you know Agri-Pulse subscribers get our Daily Harvest email and Daybreak audio Monday through Friday mornings, a 16-page newsletter on Wednesdays, and access to premium content on our ag and rural policy website? Sign up for your four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription.





Separately, 129 House Democrats wrote the Budget committee urging Republicans not to propose cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Previous resolutions have proposed turning SNAP over to the states to run, which could devastate the program, the lawmakers say.

President Obama begins his history-making trip to Cuba next Sunday, accompanied by Vilsack, Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. Some lawmakers also are going, including Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Heres a list of agriculture- or rural-related events scheduled for this week in Washington and elsewhere:

Monday, March 14

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is traveling through Friday to Peru and Chile.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman attends the kick-off meeting of the TPP Coalition at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

All day - Meeting of USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture, 107A Whitten.

Noon - Cato Institute forum on Army Corps of Engineers vs. Hawkes Co., a Supreme Court case scheduled for oral arguments March 30 on whether landowners have a right to court review of wetlands determinations, 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

3:30 p.m. - Agri-Pulses National Ag Day kickoff event, Panel Discussion: Farm to Fork Politics: How Sustainability is Reframing Food Production and Marketing, followed by presentation of the Doan Award, 902 Hart.

5 p.m. - Agri-Pulse customer appreciation reception, 902 Hart.

Tuesday, March 15

National Ag Day

All day - Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture.

9:30 a.m. - House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Fish and Wildlife Service, B-308 Rayburn.

10 a.m. - House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on foreign pests and diseases, 1300 Longworth.

10 a.m. - House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the foreign assistance budget, 2172 Rayburn.

10 a.m. - House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Labor Department, 2358-C Rayburn.

10 a.m. - Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Nov. 3, 2015, presidential memorandum, Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investment, 366 Dirksen.

10:15 a.m. - House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on USDA rural development programs, 2362-A Rayburn.

Noon - National Ag Day luncheon featuring the Outstanding Young Farmer honorees and members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., 106 Dirksen.

1:30 p.m. - House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on trade with Cuba, 2255 Rayburn.

2:30 p.m. - Senate State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on USAID, 124 Dirksen.

Wednesday, March 16

USTR agricultural negotiator Darci Vetter speaks to member of the Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri Farm Bureaus on the TPP.

8:30 a.m. - The Atlantic forum: Resistance: The Antibiotics Challenge, Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

10 a.m. - House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on USDA research, education and economics programs, 2362-A Rayburn.

10 a.m. - Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the Water Resources Development Act, 406 Dirksen.

1 p.m. - House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on USAID, 2359 Rayburn.

2 p.m. - House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard, 2154 Rayburn.

Thursday, March 17

10 a.m. - Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Labor Department, 138 Dirksen.

1 p.m. - House Agriculture Committee two-part hearing on USDA organization and program administration, 1300 Longworth.

Friday, March 18

9 a.m. - House Agriculture hearing, second part, on USDA program administration, 1300 Longworth.

#30

For more news, go to: www.Agri-Pulse.com
Assyrian Families Gradually Leaving Refugee Camps in Slovakia

Priest Peter Brenkus (L) of Serenity and Good gives holy Communion to Assyrian Christians at the end of mass celebrated together with Father Douglas Bazi upon Assyrians'arrival. ( TASR) The group of 149 Assyrian Christians from Iraq who arrived in Slovakia in December are gradually moving from the refugee camp in Humenne to Nitra and its surroundings. The quarantine in the Humenne (Presov Region) camp, which started due to the chickenpox epidemic, ended already ten days ago, Interior Ministry spokesperson Petar Lazarov informed the SITA newswire. The first families to leave Humenne did so due to health problems, like the surgery of a small boy and a health condition after a stroke or pregnancy. The ministry refused to specify their place of stay, Lazarov said, citing their security as the reason. However, all refugees still have permanent residence in Humenne and continue the integration process as rendered by the Pokoj a Dobro (Peace and Good) civic association in cooperation with Church, as supervised by the Interior Ministry's migration office. The group of Assyrian Christians arrived in Slovakia on December 10 from Iraq, from the area around the city of Mosul, i.e. Assyria, which has been invaded by the Islamic State who drive out Christians. Accepting these Christian families is part of the voluntary contribution of Slovakia towards the solution of migration crisis. The preparation itself took 15 months. A total of 25 families arrived here, including adult men, women, children and elders. They had been living in a monastery before coming to Slovakia, but if they stayed, they would risk death. This is the first and so far the only group of refugees from the Middle East that Slovakia has accepted.
March 14, 2016

WASHINGTON  In a surprise move that he said he hoped would bolster Syria peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would start to withdraw most Russian military forces from Syria starting March 15. The decision to partly withdraw from Syria, which Putin said he discussed during a phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad March 14, is likely to put pressure on the Assad regime to negotiate more seriously at UN-hosted peace talks with the opposition, which resumed in Geneva on March 14. The decision follows remarks from Syrias foreign minister over the weekend that any talk of Assads future was a red line at the Geneva talks.

I hope todays decision will be a good signal for all conflicting parties at the Geneva talks, Putin said following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on March 14, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. I hope it will sizably increase trust of all participants in the process.

Putin and Assad, in a phone call initiated by the Russian leader March 14, discussed the implementation of the joint statement by Russia and the United States  on [the] cessation of hostilities in Syria, according to a Kremlin readout of the call. They share the view that the cease-fire has made possible a dramatic reduction in the bloodshed in the country.  It has also made it possible to put in place conditions for starting a peace process under UN aegis.

Mr. Putin said that Russias armed forces have fulfilled their main mission in Syria and a timetable for the withdrawal of the aerospace forces main air grouping has been agreed, the readout continued. Russia will maintain an aviation support center in Syria in order to monitor compliance with the cease-fire.

Putins announcement on a partial Syria withdrawal seemed to take US officials by surprise.

We have seen reports that President Putin has announced a planned withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, a senior US administration official told Al-Monitor March 14. We expect to learn more about this in the coming hours.

Putin and Obama subsequently discussed the matter in a phone call Monday, the White House said.

They discussed President Putins announcement today of a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria and next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities with the goal of advancing the political negotiations on resolution of the conflict, a White House readout of the call said. President Obama welcomed the much-needed reduction in violence since the beginning of the cessation, but stressed that continuing offensive actions by Syrian regime forces risk undermining both the Cessation of Hostilities and the UN-led political process.

Samuel Charap, a Russia expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Putin had largely achieved his objectives.

His objective was to force the US and its allies to the bargaining table on his terms, Charap told Al-Monitor March 14. He achieved that objective. Beyond that, an extended, large military presence in Syria doesn't really do much for him. It's more of a liability than an asset.

But Paul Saunders, a Russia expert at the Center for the National Interest and a contributor to Al-Monitor, said it was also notable that Putin was saying mission accomplished when his original declared rationale for intervening in Syria was to defeat the Islamic State (IS).

It is striking, and many in  and out of the region will take note of the fact that President Putin said that withdrawal is going to take place because the Russian forces have achieved their objective, Saunders told Al-Monitor March 14. Because when they went in, it was framed very much in terms of strikes on [IS]. That mission is not really completed.

What has actually been accomplished is this rather tentative temporary cessation of hostilities leading to some kind of successful peace process between Assad and the forces of the opposition, Saunders said.

Putin is trying to send a message to both sides, Saunders said. Certainly for the Assad regime side, it makes very clear to them that they better actually negotiate seriously.

But the announced partial withdrawal does not mean Russia is just walking away, Saunders added. The pace of the withdrawal  also provides leverage. It can be slowed, it can be accelerated. Moscow has the continuing leverage that it needs.

A former Russian diplomat said Putins announced decision to partly withdraw from Syria is probably due to a combination of reasons.

First of all about some deal with US (maybe, on a range of issues regarding transition and Geneva talks) and possibly with the [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia], the former Russian diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor. Then about a master stroke on the first day of resumed negotiations  in terms of showing good faith and inviting others to reciprocate in their ways. If others take it for weakness and start massive attack on Assad, birds can return. Withdrawal is partial, and infrastructure remains.

The Syrian opposition, for its part, said it welcomed Putins announcement and that serious withdrawal would put pressure on the regime and give peace talks a positive impetus.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, speaking at a televised news conference in Damascus March 12, vowed the Assad delegation to Geneva would not discuss future Syrian presidential elections in Geneva.

We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency, Moallem said. Bashar [al-Assad] is a red line; the property of the Syrian people. I advise them that if this is [the oppositions] thinking, they shouldnt come to the talks. They must abandon these delusions.

But UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said tough rhetoric was not unexpected heading into such sensitive negotiations and what mattered more is what is happening inside the rooms.

There is always, in any negotiations, especially as delicate and important and crucial like this one, a lot of strong statements, de Mistura told reporters March 14, following a meeting with the Syrian government delegation, which is led by Syrias UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari. We should be talking between us about what will be the outcomes of the discussions and the negotiations  that will be the judgement.

The agenda at this round of talks was focused on governance, a new Syrian Constitution and new Syrian elections, as mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2254, he said.

I dont know whether anyone else has a plan B here. I am only aware of a plan A, which is giving a maximum of chances and the maximum of pressure [by] the international community to ensure that the Intra-Syrian Talks  is given the maximum of opportunities, de Mistura said.

The current round of talks is expected to last until March 24, then break for a week or so and then resume, he said.
March 14, 2016

CAIRO  In a Feb. 24 speech at the Egypt Vision 2030 conference  a speech that lasted more than an hour and a half  President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pointed to a series of indicators showing the difficult economic conditions in the country in light of poor revenues and Egypts need for imported food and petroleum products.

To describe the gravity of the situation, Sisi said, I will use the expression 'very, very difficult.'  If it were possible for me to be sold, I would sell myself." Sisi then called on every Egyptian who has a mobile phone to donate one Egyptian pound (13 cents) every day by sending a text message to the Long Live Egypt Fund.

It's estimated that 90 million Egyptians have mobile phones, he said, and if just 10 million of them participate, it will generate 300 million Egyptian pounds a month and almost 4 billion Egyptian pounds (roughly $500 million) a year.

Social media users have mocked Sisis improvised speech for the past few weeks. One prankster even put the president up for sale on the global auction site eBay describing him as a "lightly used field marshal." Twitter and Facebook users were split among those who supported and those who ridiculed Sisis request for the donation every day. They also made fun of Sisi for saying, Please, do not listen to anyone but me and for losing his temper when addressing his opponents and saying, Who are you?  I will remove from the face of the Earth anyone plotting to bring down the government.

Sisis speech comes in light of a prevailing anxiety among the Egyptian public over the deteriorating economic situation and escalating prices. Citizens are unable to feel the sense of achievement that political leaders have been talking about, especially in light of the tourism crisis, the limited job opportunities due to foreign investment problems and the reduced foreign exchange reserves. It seems Sisi is trying to address all of these problems by stressing citizens achievements  even if they're not felt by the citizens.

According to the latest estimate by the Central Bank of Egypt, the country's gross national product growth rate declined in the first quarter of fiscal 2015/2016 to 3.1%, compared with 4.5% the year before. Also, the World Bank estimated losses suffered by Egypt's tourism industry at about $3.3 billion after the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian aircraft in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 224 people. The number of tourists dropped by 46.3% after Russia halted flights and many European countries prohibited their citizens from traveling to Sharm el-Sheikh resort.

According to the World Economic Forums 2015-16 Global Competitiveness Index, Egypts business environment is still tanked, ranking 116th out of the 140 tracked countries because of the persistent investment difficulties. This is despite the government's attempts to implement urgent procedures since the March 2015 economic conference in Sharm el-Sheikh to attract investors and regain their confidence.

The Egyptian economy heavily relied on support from the Gulf Cooperation Council that covered the countrys foreign exchange needs for the purchase of food and petroleum products through donations, deferred loans and state treasury deposits. This support, however, was halted for economic and political reasons currently experienced by the Gulf states following the oil prices slump, the disturbed regional situation and the war in Yemen.

Sisi established the Long Live Egypt Fund in July 2014 immediately after his election to fund projects that would boost the economy. The fund had received donations amounting to 4.7 billion Egyptian pounds, including 1 billion Egyptian pounds donated by the Egyptian army. Dar al-Ifta educational and research institute allowed alms to be donated to the fund to help state agencies establish service and development projects.

Economists warned that the states inclination to rely on donations will never be a substitute for investment and efficient participation of the private sector.

In a speech one year ago in Sharm el-Sheikh, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned of Egypt's same flawed thinking for funding the Suez Canal project. The funding of these projects cannot always rely on the public purse, she said.

Political economic researcher Amr Adly recently expressed the same opinion to Al-Monitor, saying, Relying on donations and on the citizens willingness to contribute to the financing of development projects is not possible. He added, The requests [for donations] do not have an economic objective, rather they have a tactical political objective.  The Long Live Egypt Fund established to collect contributions from citizens and businessmen seems to be created only to increase Sisis popularity.

He stressed that the relationship between citizens and the state is suffering a crisis of confidence and that it is inconceivable for citizens to contribute to a fund without knowing where their donations are going.

Adly said, The state must have general, clear public policies, especially since the citizens' donations made in the local currency will not be used for the purchase of petroleum products or for boosting the state public treasury foreign exchange reserve.

While Sisi is calling on citizens for donations to build the state, citizens are calling on the Egyptian political administration to provide a fast, viable solution to ease their suffering, improve their living standards and boost the low indicators of Egypts economic performance.
March 14, 2016

Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas continues to sputter, following the last round of meetings in Qatar on Feb. 7-8. After the meetings, Fatah issued official statements threatening Hamas that it would regain control of Gaza by unspecified nonreconciliatory means. In that regard, it should be noted that Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 following bloody armed clashes with Fatah.

During a visit to Egypt on Feb. 23, Maj. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, deputy secretary-general of the Fatah Central Committee, threatened to take decisive measures to put an end to Hamas continued seizure of the Gaza Strip by means that would be discussed inside Fatah. Two days later, on Feb. 25, Nabil Shaath, member of the Fatah Central Committee, affirmed that Palestinian security forces would soon reassume management of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, without specifying an exact date.

On Feb. 27, Rajoubs statements provoked condemnation from Palestinian factions, among them Hamas, Islamic Jihad as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, all of which labeled it as detrimental to reconciliation.

However, Ziad al-Zaza, a member of Hamas political bureau, was even more forceful when he said on Feb. 24 that Rajoub wanted to enter Gaza riding on the turret of an Israeli tank, despite him trying to accomplish that feat on four previous occasions during Israels wars against Gaza in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.

Zaza based his accusations on secret documents that Al Jazeera channel had published in January 2011 from WikiLeaks, according to which President Mahmoud Abbas had previous knowledge about the Gaza War in 2008.

Husam Badran, the Qatar-based spokesman for Hamas, told Al-Monitor, Fatah threatening to retake Gaza by other means are detrimental to the serious efforts undertaken to reach reconciliation, in light of the difficult conditions under which our people live. For such threats only serve the interests of the Israeli occupation because Gaza is not occupied for it to be retaken, and threatening the use of force is illogical as all bets aimed at changing the security situation in Gaza shall be futile.

Questions abound about the reasons behind the statements made by Rajoub who, when compared to other Fatah leaders, enjoys relatively good relations with Hamas. He visited Gaza in January 2013 when he met with Hamas leadership figures, most notably former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, prior to visiting Qatar in January 2016 and meeting with Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas political bureau.

But the location from whence Rajoub made his comments, Egypt, may hold several indications, due to the tensions that prevail in the relationship between Cairo and Hamas. Rajoub overtly praised the Egyptian regime and warned about the failure of the reconciliation, which would degrade Qatars role. He was fully cognizant that the Egyptians would never allow the Palestinian reconciliation to move forward at the hands of the Qataris.

Rajoub may also want to reach out to the Egyptians and confront his nemesis Mohammed Dahlan, who has great influence in Cairo. The disagreement between Dahlan, former chief of the Palestinian Preventive Security in Gaza, and Rajoub, who is the former head of the Preventive Security in the West Bank, is ongoing, especially since both men see themselves as possible successors to Abbas as the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Yet the issue was not confined to personal statements made by Rajoub, for Fatahs Revolutionary Council announced on March 4 that continued procrastination by Hamas in the reconciliation talks would compel Fatah into adopting other options to regain control of Gaza  further accusing Hamas of preventing the Palestinian government from assuming its responsibilities in Gaza.

In that context, Fahmi al-Zarir, deputy secretary-general of Fatah's Revolutionary Council in Ramallah, told Al-Monitor, Some Hamas leaders were threatening a West Bank repeat of the 2007 events that led to its takeover of Gaza, which demonstrates their lack of intent to reach reconciliation. Despite Fatahs adoption of the dialogue option with Hamas, it nevertheless discussed unspecified other measures to unite Gaza and the West Bank, noting that Arab intervention to regain control of Gaza from Hamas was discussed during the March 2015 Arab Summit that took place in Egypt. Though I am unaware of any plans to again discuss the issue in the Mauritania summit scheduled to be held in July [2016].

An analysis of the situation on the ground in Gaza reveals that Fatah has several options available to retake Gaza from Hamas. First among these options would be to trigger popular demonstrations demanding the overthrow of the Hamas regime. The second would entail successive military strikes against Hamas forces inside Gaza. Both of these options would be extremely difficult to implement due to Hamas tight security and military grip on Gaza and the weak military and organizational presence of Fatah.

Hamas affiliated website, the Palestinian Information Center, stated on Feb. 25 that Fatahs calls to retake Gaza through means other than reconciliatory ones were viewed as inciting an Israeli military strike, to complement the latters success in convincing Egypt to destroy the tunnels that link Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. These steps isolated Gaza from the outside world and weakened the military resistances capabilities that rely on its ability to ferry weapons from abroad, namely from Iran.

A third option may also be possible, by which Abbas would ask Arab countries to adopt a decision similar to the ones relating to Libya, Syria and Yemen and send special forces to retake Gaza from Hamas.

The fourth option would be to announce the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would result in serious political problems for Hamas, who would either approve the move and voluntarily hand over Gaza to the PA or reject it, leading to Gaza being considered a renegade province that must be liberated by force. The likelihood of either option being adopted is strong, indeed, with both constituting great sources of weakness in as far as Hamas is concerned.

In that regard, political analyst Ibrahim al-Madhoun from Gaza told Al-Monitor, Fatahs threats to resort to force and retake Gaza are unrealistic, because the Israeli occupation is the one that employs military force against Gaza. I believe that Hamas does not take such threats seriously, for there is no Palestinian alternative to reconciliation, and any other rhetoric is unrealistic and must thus be rejected.

In conclusion, Fatahs threats against Hamas may go beyond media fear mongering and may become reality through one of the four options mentioned. As such, Hamas may be compelled to reach out to its regional contacts, namely Qatar and Saudi Arabia with which it has relatively good ties, to prevent Fatah from convincing Arab countries to adopt a resolution to end Hamas control over Gaza, either by military force, political pressure or by forcing Hamas to agree to a reconciliation agreement that may not satisfy its aspirations.
March 11, 2016

He is referred to as a shadow commander by Western journalists as he stealthily fights the Islamic State (IS) in places such as Syria and Iraq on behalf of Iran. He has kept a low profile, despite his position as the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) elite foreign operations branch, the Quds Force. Yet last year it seemed that he sprang onto the scene out of the blue. News outlets and social media featured his familiar face posing for selfies on the front lines in Iraq and Syria, documentaries touted his military acumen and music videos passionately praised his strength and bravery. Qasem Soleimani, these new depictions of him communicated, was a force to be celebrated, feared and respected. What accounts for this recent media love fest of a commander with nearly 40 years of service in the IRGC?

The surge in public displays of adoration for Soleimani are part of a larger public relations campaign by the IRGC that dates to the aftermath of the 2009 Green Movement. We faced a crisis of legitimacy after the suppression of the 2009 uprisings, a retired IRGC captain who now works in pro-regime media production told Al-Monitor. People, especially young people, began to turn away from us. We knew we had to win them back. We had to give them heroes they could respect. Soleimani, or Hajj Qasem as he is affectionately known in Iran, became one of those heroes whom pro-regime media producers wanted to portray, along with the martyred Mostafa Chamran and Imam Musa Sadr. The latter two, killed in 1981 and 1978, respectively, now have numerous films and documentaries that pro-regime cultural centers have backed and created. Yet, the media producers knew they had to offer a hero who is still alive for young people to admire.

Since 2011, pro-regime cultural centers, backed by funding from the IRGC and affiliated Basij paramilitary organization, have stepped up their efforts to put out more media that shows the Guards in a positive light. A member of the Revolutionary Guard who runs a media production studio in Tehran who went by the pseudonym Ali Hasani told Al-Monitor, No matter what side you were on during the Green Movement, it became clear after the civil war broke out in Syria that our security forces were right in making sure nothing else came from the 2009 movement. We could have turned into Syria, and we need to make sure our young people know not to go down that path. Like the other interviewees, Hasani spoke on condition that his name be changed.

I understand the need for change in this country, Mehdi, a 30-year old member of the Basij who believes in reform, said. But I dont want our generation going into the arms of just any opposition movement. We cant let Iran turn into Syria, and the only ones who are protecting us are the Revolutionary Guards. The rapid advancement of IS, a sworn enemy of Iran and Shiite Muslims, in the Middle East throughout 2014 and 2015 raised great alarm in Iran. Last years announcements in Iran that the countrys intelligence services uncovered plots to detonate bombs in Tehran created an atmosphere of frenzy. As a means to counter this, pro-regime cultural producers were busy creating social media campaigns, television pieces, films and nationalist posters about the IRGC, and Soleimani featured prominently in them.

What Hajj Qasem has been able to do is no joke. If it werent for him, IS would have advanced throughout Iraq and be at our doorsteps. All Iranians owe him. We owe our safety to him, and I think our people are beginning to see that, Reza, a 27-year old Basij filmmaker, told Al-Monitor. Reza was part of one of the teams running the social media campaigns on Soleimani. The commander is branded today as a defender of the nation and as the key mastermind behind the fight against IS on the ground. Due to this messaging, Soleimani as a figure is now adored not only by those who are in favor of the ruling Islamic Republic, but, crucially, by those who view themselves as Green Movement activists and those who oppose the Islamic Republic as a whole.

Look at how chaotic the entire region we live in is, Sepideh, a 26-year old painter who considers herself in opposition to the government, told Al-Monitor. Iran is the only stable, safe country in our neighborhood, and we have Qasem Soleimani and the Revolutionary Guards to thank for that. The fight against IS has allowed pro-regime cultural producers to rebrand the IRGC not as defenders of the Islamic Republic, but as defenders of the Iranian nation. In June 2015, during a state memorial service for 175 Iranian divers killed in Iraq during the bloody 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, for the first time large numbers of young men and women who do not usually attend pro-regime rallies joined the event. Im here because I want to pay my respects to all those who have defended our nation, Rosa, a 22-year old engineering student at the University of Tehran who describes herself as anti-Islamic Republic, told Al-Monitor. Its not about the regime anymore, her boyfriend, Daryoush, chimed in, its about the defense of Iran. Without these men who fought in that war, without leaders like Hajj Qasem who are protecting Iran today, wed be just like the other countries in our region. The organizers of that memorial count that day as one of their most successful in reaching out to the non-supporters of the regime, as Hossein, one of the organizers, put it to Al-Monitor. We were able to bring them out because weve been successful in changing their minds about the Revolutionary Guards.

Would our young men rise up and defend the country in the event of an attack? After 2009, we were afraid the answer was no. There was too much distrust and hate against us for putting down that movement, Abbas, a Revolutionary Guard commander from the southwestern border town of Abadan, told Al-Monitor. We needed to bring back this trust between us and the people, even the people who want reform in the system. It was crucial.

The IRGCs media offensive, including the promotion of Soleimani as the hero par excellence, is thus primarily directed domestically, with the aim of cleaning up an image battered by the 2009 crackdown. Most of all, the perhaps unexpected dynamics of this charm offensive, such as the rise of a new form of nationalism that is pragmatic in the sense that even opponents of the Islamic Republic back some aspects of the Guards operations, should not be underestimated.
March 14, 2016

The head of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, rejected accusations that the Islamic Republic of Iran is looking to stir up trouble in the region, a complaint that is often leveled against Iran by Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, in particular Saudi Arabia.

During a memorial for martyrs at Al-Rasool mosque in Kerman, Soleimani gave a rare speech in which he defended Irans policies in the region, addressed accusations of sectarianism and criticized Saudi Arabias war in Yemen.

On the countrys regional policy, Soleimani said, Since the principles of the Islamic Republic have no similarities to its enemies' principles, they cannot accept [Iran's] policy, so they call it adventurism. He added, Everyone, especially our youth, has to realize this in gatherings and not be subject to political whisperings that adventurism is taking place in our country."

Iran currently has a number of forces fighting alongside the Syrian army and Hezbollah in Syria. They have been battling a variety of Sunni opposition groups backed by Sunni countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, which accuse Iran of helping the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for sectarian reasons. Soleimani rejected these accusations.

Takfiris [Sunni extremists] and the fiery beliefs of takfiris are at the homes of Sunni brothers, and those who created this believe that with it they will bring Iran and Shiites to their knees, he said. Today, more than anywhere else in the world, the personal homes of Sunnis have been invaded by takfiri groups.

Referring to the Islamic State, Soleimani asked, Is it [provocation] that Iran  defends Muslims? Is it wrong that Iran stands against a group that in one region buys and sells 2,000 women and children and has made them suffer a heavy tragedy? Is it wrong that Iran has stood against anti-Muslims and has prevented the destruction of mosques?

In response to regional rival Saudi Arabia's accusation that Iran has been meddling in the kingdom's internal affairs, Soleimani said, In the history of the Islamic Republic, there is no point at which we have  been [agitating] the Saudis or their government, and always it has been the Saudis who have been adventurous against Islam and us. He then accused the Saudis of bombing Yemen, killing men, women and children.

Regarding the Lebanese Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah, which Saudi Arabia and the Arab League designated a terrorist organization, Soleimani said, Hezbollah, as an Arab and Islamic army, has never been adventurous against Saudi Arabia. Presumably addressing Hezbollahs ability to expel Israeli forces out of south Lebanon, Soleimani said, What all the Arab armies were not able to do from 1947 until the 1960s, [Hezbollah] did.

On accusations of sectarianism, Soleimani said, In which country have we tried to turn a Sunni brother into a Shiite? In fact, conversely, our lives were shields for Sunnis.

Soleimani also defended the type of government in Iran, saying, The existing democracy and complete independence of our country has made us different than other countries, and the difference between Iran and the rest of the countries is not a negative or bad difference, but a pure and exemplary difference.
March 14, 2016

The blood of Brigadier General Ofek Buchris, a decorated hero of Israel and recipient of the Chief of Staffs Medal, has been forfeited and plundered without any trial. Buchris is under attack and being sullied by the media. In this fight, were with him!

This demonstration of overwhelming support figures prominently on the Facebook page Supporters of Brigadier General Ofek Buchris. The page first appeared at the beginning of March, as early reports in the media claimed that the highly regarded senior officer was suspected of raping a female soldier, who served under him, and of sexually harassing another female soldier.

Almost 7,000 people have already joined the page in support of Buchris. That is, undoubtedly, a lot of people. What is most unusual, however, is that his supporters include quite a few women, who are openly backing a suspected rapist. The photo on the pages banner features Buchris standing beside former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz at some military briefing or other. Alongside it is the promise, We will not allow a kangaroo court to rule against our commander, Brigadier General Ofek Buchris.

Buchris many supporters have also appeared openly in the established media, giving on-record interviews in which they sing his praises and list his many qualities as a commander and person with values. In addition to officers who served with him in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) combat units, female officers who served beside him also figure prominently in these interviews. News stations have been highlighting the testimony of his senior adjutant, Capt. Or Parmon, who posted a moving appeal to the public on her Facebook page. In it, she called on people not to judge Buchris until the investigation has exhausted itself.

Parmon also claims that her former commanders blood is being spilled by social networks and the media. I cannot ignore the behavior of the media and the social networks. What has become of us?! she wrote. What we have to remember is that behind every officer in the IDF is a family. According to her, All we have now are accusations, and these stand against the military career of a man who devoted his entire life to the safety and security of the State of Israel. Those arent accusations. Those are facts.

Nevertheless, despite her claims, the media has really been fair to Buchris. It did not spill his blood. On the contrary, the coverage by traditional media of the incident since it broke March 2 has been generally restrained, not aggressive. In addition, even the social networks havent set up their gallows in their virtual town square (not lynching him virtually). Another example of the current mood can be seen in the surprising support that Buchris received from Knesset member Merav Ben Ari of Kulanu, who once served under him. Ben Ari came to his defense in an emotional Facebook post, which drew considerable criticism from womens groups. Yaron Mazuz, a deputy minister from the Likud Party, took his support a step further, by visiting Buchris at home.

Over the past few months, there have been three separate instances of famous and powerful people who were accused of various degrees of sexual harassment: former Knesset member Yinon Magal, former Minister Silvan Shalom and the highly regarded actor Moshe Ivgy. No rape charges were filed against any of them, and in the case of Magal and Shalom, complaints werent even lodged with the police. Nevertheless, all three of them found themselves under massive public and media pressure, much of it propelled by social media, and all three of them resigned their positions in a matter of days. Ivgy canceled his on-stage performances. Coverage of their particular cases was unequivocal and decisive. In no case did any women who worked with them stand by their side so openly. No masses of women rose to their defense.

While Buchris friends and supporters contend that media coverage of the incident is one-sided and favors the plaintiffs, there is no real basis for this contention. On the contrary, in this particular case alone, Buchris is not being judged by the media. Perhaps the reason is that he has become a national icon of courage and bravery. Harsh descriptions of what happened by his alleged victim and her father are accompanied by thorough accounts of all of Buchris good traits. It is repeated again and again that he was severely wounded in Nablus during the second intifada, while arresting suspects, and that he was awarded the Chief of Staffs Medal for that while serving as commander of the Golani Brigade. Despite his serious injury, Buchris underwent complete rehabilitation so that he could return to the most senior field positions in the IDF. He was certainly destined for greatness.

The investigation of Buchris is well underway, but very few tidbits of information have leaked from the interrogation rooms. While it is known that both Buchris and the plaintiff underwent a polygraph test, practically nothing is known about the results. Even the decision by Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot to cancel Buchris' appointment as head of the Operations Division was not described by the media as proof of his guilt. It was simply explained as a necessary step, since Eizenkot could not wait any longer before manning one of the most sensitive posts in the IDF.

In that sense, it seems as if the media is, for the most part, acting responsibly in the Buchris case. It is not sweepingly siding with the plaintiff, and the discussion in social networks is not one-sided either. Even there, Buchris is presumed innocent. As for the Chief of Staff, he may find the case particularly troubling (Buchris is thought to be held in high regard by Eizenkot), but his businesslike approach to the matter is well worth noting. It is also worth recalling the March 8 statement by Minister of Defense of Moshe Yaalon reflecting and leading a tough approach to violence against women.

The campaign against sexual harassment in Israel has gained a high profile in the established media recently, and even more in social media. It seems, at least, that not a week goes by without some new scandal popping up. Since last weekend, the media has not only been dealing with the Buchris case, but also with reports that Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked is planning to recommend pardoning former President Moshe Katzav, who is serving time in jail for serious sex crimes, including rape. The emotional debate concerning the possibility of his early release, even if he never admitted to the rapes nor regretted them, provoked a public outcry. The reaction is intense in spite of his five years of jail time.

While this new high visibility of the battle against sexual harassment is certainly a positive change, there must be rules to it. This battle cannot be unrestricted or wild, and it must not be unilateral, especially if the legal process is still underway. In the Buchris case, the media and public have both shown considerable maturity. The question that remains is whether this marks the start of a new trend. Alternately, is the coverage being toned down because the subject is a highly respected officer and the thousands of people who served under him refuse to believe that there is another side to his personality, one that is violent and ugly?
March 14, 2016

To explain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to forego a meeting with US President Barak Obama, associates of the prime minister noted to Al-Monitor the US primaries and Netanyahus desire to avoid being dragged into the ruckus surrounding them. While there is some truth to this excuse, given on condition of anonymity, it is not exactly high on the list of the real reasons. What is taking place in the US primaries has caused great consternation to Netanyahu as well as his American political patron, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. In contrast to the previous presidential contest, during which Adelson sunk many millions into the candidacy of Newt Gingrich before skipping over to Mitt Romneys camp and investing $100 million in him, this time, Netanyahu and Adelson are waiting to see which way the wind would turn. The problem is that the wind has swirled in a crazy direction. No one in Netanyahu or Adelsons circles had dreamed of Donald Trump's rise. Now they are beginning to get used to him, as reflected in the tone of the articles in Israel Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu newspaper financed by Adelson.

Netanyahu had two more important reasons that induced him to skip the meeting with Obama on March 18 and waive an appearance before American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) the following night. One was a diplomatic reason, the other was political-religious.

The diplomatic reason is connected to the discussion over a memorandum of understanding between Israel and the United States that will determine the dimensions of the military aid package from the United States to Israel in the decade starting in 2017. Currently, Israel receives about $3 billion a year in security aid. Following the nuclear agreement with Iran, Israel hoped to upgrade the package to more than $4 billion. However, Netanyahu refused to open contacts while the US administration was willing to meet it halfway (in the middle of last year), in order to wage his hopeless struggle against ratification of the nuclear agreement in Congress.

Now, the prime minister finds himself in a hopeless situation.

The Americans are agreeing to ramp up assistance, but not to the level that Israel wants. The gaps remain, and chances that they will be bridged are low. Israel demands $4 billion a year, not including special assistance for the development of its various interceptor programs, including the Magic Wand (Davids Sling) and the Arrow missile. They are intended to complete Israels aerial protection against long-range rockets and missiles. The support needed for these projects comes to hundreds of millions of dollars a year, meaning that what Israel really wants is assistance close to $5 billion, all told. The Americans are willing to enlarge the aid to about $4 billion total. This is a significant gap.

Netanyahu is still determined to postpone the agreement to the next presidents term of office, despite Vice President Joe Biden begging him last week when he was in Israel to sign it during Obamas term of office. Netanyahu has his reasons. The prime minister is concerned about a diplomatic ambush from Obama during his last few months in office. He fears something along the lines of the Clinton Parameters that President Bill Clinton set out in the last few days of his term of office.

Obama possesses a framework agreement formulated by Secretary of State John Kerry. The president can deliver a speech and detail the conditions of the framework agreement, a kind of Obama Parameters. Or he can lend his support to the French initiative at the Security Council regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state by not vetoing it. Obama could even take an American framework agreement to the Security Council for ratification. Such acts would be viewed by Netanyahu as a real strategic catastrophe.

Netanyahu reckons that the president would find it easier to carry out such a move if a military aid package for the next decade is signed. A well-publicized signing ceremony would remove the anti-Israeli image that Netanyahu has painted on Obama in recent years. Simultaneously, it would allow the American president to leave behind a diplomatic legacy. Those close to Netanyahu assess that if the sides do not reach an agreement on military aid, it will be harder for Obama to embark on a diplomatic campaign. He will need something to show his even-handedness, Netanyahus people think, because he wont want to harm Hillary Clintons chances at the presidency and he wont want to go down in history as an anti-Israeli president.

Netanyahu, who was a cautious and calculating leader for most of his career, has become an out-of-control gambler in the last two years. Success has gone to his head and his closeness to Adelson and his unlimited financial resources have given him a false sense of security. After he lost his wager on US presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Netanyahu went on to fail in his Iranian policy and then gambled again to try to avert congressional authorization of the agreement. He failed yet again  but each time he keeps raising the bar one more notch.

An Israeli minister told Al-Monitor last week on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu is endangering Israels most important strategic interests. It could happen that Trump will be president and hell reassess the whole business of American support all over the world. We could even find ourselves with zero support due to Netanyahus shenanigans, he said.

So, to avoid finding himself being dragged into signing the memorandum, Netanyahu decided to miss the presidential meeting. At the moment, his coalition is more important to him than military aid. He founded a narrow right-wing government, and a political tremor could dismantle it.

The second reason that impelled him not to travel to the United States at this time is also connected to these political interests: In January, the Israeli government reached a historic compromise and allotted Reform and Conservative Jews a special, separate prayer space opposite the Western Wall, Judaisms holiest site. This compromise passed a government vote, but also let an ancient genie out of its bottle. The ultra-Orthodox parties, without whom Netanyahu cannot maintain his government, are now threatening to dismantle the coalition unless he agrees to their demand to amend this historic agreement. This is the same agreement that is viewed by world Jewry as a reconciliatory step taken by the Jewish state controlled by an Orthodox establishment with most of the worlds Jews, who are Reform or Conservative.

Netanyahu knows that if he attends the AIPAC conference at the end of this week, he would receive a warm and festive public welcome from the Reform and Conservative Jews. But it would be a dangerous bear hug. Netanyahu is a secular Jew, even a borderline atheist, and has no interest in all this hullabaloo. His worldview is decidedly non-Orthodox, but he is an experienced politician and his coalition would fall apart without the ultra-Orthodox. He fell into this trap against his will and at the moment, has no idea how to get through this impasse. The last thing he needs now is a public show of support by Reform Jewry, which will only further enrage his natural ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.

Netanyahu understands that sometimes, the best thing to do is simply stay home, disengage and pray for a miracle.
March 14, 2016

The current intifada will not yield substantial change for the Palestinians or bring about a diplomatic breakthrough. This is the belief of Fatah activists who served as field leaders in the first and second intifadas.

The first intifada (1987-1993) ended with the Oslo Accord, which on paper promised the creation of a Palestinian state within an established time frame. The second intifada (2000-2005), after terrible bloodshed, led to Israels withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the rise of Hamas. If this is so, why dont Fatah field leaders think the current intifada, being carried out by individuals, will bring about positive change, in the best-case scenario, or lead to tremendous chaos, in the worst-case scenario? In these activists' opinion, which is shared by Palestinian journalists who covered the germination of past intifadas and their results, today's intifada is doomed to fail because no leader has emerged to lead the would-be insurrectionists.

In the first intifada, which broke out in December 1987 as a popular uprising in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp, Fatah field operatives immediately took charge, acting on their own, and created a central command structure. Thats where the process of mobility for a new Palestinian leadership began. Ihab al-Ashkar, for instance, was a key activist in the central command, orchestrating collective actions, such as protests, confrontations with the Israeli military and general strikes, and handling contact with the Palestinian leadership in Tunisia.

Other young Palestinians consolidated their power through the waves of the uprising and had their status as leaders strengthened after they were arrested by Israel and sent to prison. For instance, Hisham Abd al-Razzaq, Mousa Abed al-Nabi, Sufian Abu Zaida and Qadura Fares, as well as senior field leaders Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, who were expelled from the territories, became leaders in exile, returning after the signing of the Oslo Accord. Most of the former field operatives are convinced today that if Israel had not reached an agreement with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, it would have had to reach an agreement with them, as the leaders on the ground in the territories.

The second intifada completely changed the Palestinian political map and created a new political leadership. Hamas also became a leading political actor when it won the 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the Tanzim, Fatah's militia, is a notable example of an operative who started out as a middle manager among activists and became a prominent leader in the second intifada. Although Barghouti is serving five life sentences after being convicted in Israel of involvement in terror attacks, his name is mentioned as someone who could one day succeed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, although such a scenario seems unlikely unless Israel agrees to release him from prison.

In recent months, Palestinians and Israelis have been seized by the third intifada, which is quite different from the previous rebellions. There is no doubt that this individual intifada is more authentic than its two predecessors, as it is unfolding without the guidance of field activists, instead riding a wave of despair among the Palestinian population. In effect, the number of young people who decide one morning to carry out a stabbing, shooting or vehicular attack in Israel is no fewer at this point than if they had had guidance from field operatives.

The local leaders of the previous intifadas believe that this absence of guidance is the main weakness of the current intifada. In their view, without leadership, theres no direction, no responsibility and no aim. The individual intifada has not sprouted a new leadership, although the despairing youths who have carried out attacks have also condemned and challenged the current Palestinian leadership, that is, the Palestinian Authority (PA), Fatah and Hamas.

No central command structure has arisen to direct the third intifada. The name of not even one activist has come to the fore, someone to define the goals of the intifada for the young insurrectionists. Since September, after dozens of attacks, a grim picture is becoming increasingly clear: Despair, economic distress and personal distress are driving young Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis. Most of them act using basic means, like knives.

Veteran Fatah field operatives do not think the current intifada will strike fear in Israelis or bring meaningful pressure to bear on the Israeli leadership to compromise and reach some kind of diplomatic agreement, as the two previous intifadas did. To this, one can add international apathy toward the situation in the territories.

In the past, the US administration pressed Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement to prevent an escalation of hostilities and more bloodshed, but this time, such involvement is not a factor able to alter the situation. In addition, international public opinion has not paid particular attention to the intifada or the situation in the territories, leaving the impression that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has exhausted everyone. It appears that not one world leader is interested in getting near this sick bed, where there is no chance, based on past experience, to save the patient.

The obvious conclusion is that what is underway is an intifada of attrition. It could continue for a long time and lead to chaos in the PA, including, as has been examined in Al-Monitor, the end of Abbas' rule. The Palestinian president is between a rock and a hard place  between youths rising up against Israel and his desire to prevent a loss of control that could bring about the collapse of the PA and his government. Abbas also knows, however, as do other senior PA leaders, that in the foreseeable future, there will be no diplomatic movement, which itself puts his position in danger.

A Palestinian journalist told Al-Monitor that he had found through investigation that most of the youths who carried out attacks against Israelis had dreamed of working in Israel to break the cycle of economic distress and make an honorable living. It is a paradox that perhaps most precisely expresses the character of the third intifada: work or attack. Despair or hope. In the meantime, despair rules. Hope is not visible on the horizon.
March 14, 2016

AMMAN, Jordan  The northern city of Irbid grabbed Jordanians' attention March 1, when security forces launched a massive operation that left seven militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) dead along with one of their own. Two days later, King Abdullah II emphasized the first and foremost priority of safeguarding the security of the Hashemite state.

While acknowledging the government's legitimate fight against terrorism, a number of former senior Jordanian officials  Royal Court chief, prime minister, head of intelligence and the foreign minister during the reigns of King Hussein and King Abdullah  have expressed concerns about what they see as the leaderships overemphasis on an armed defense and the countrys current path. They cite the troubling situation of a struggling economy with a bloated public sector, political leaders unwilling to undertake crucial reforms and an intelligence agency that intimidates members of parliament and generally interferes in political decision-making.

The Hashemite kingdoms economy is the most worrying issue for the old guard. The government employs 42% of the countrys workforce, which led Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour at one point to describe the government as bloated and unhealthy. The rate of public sector employment is nearly triple the international average of 15%.

Such a high number of Jordanians working for the government leaves little room for economic growth and innovation. Marwan Muasher, former deputy prime minister and foreign minister, cited this state of affairs, telling Al-Monitor, Economically, the status quo is not sustainable. We are a semi-rentier state that has exhausted its potential in terms of the government no longer being able to keep on employing people.

Adnan Abu-Odeh, former head of intelligence and Royal Court chief, told Al-Monitor that the mentality of the government has exacerbated this problem. The mindset that the regime established in this country over the last 50 years, [is one that says] it is me who feeds you, by getting you a job in the government [rather than] working as a plumber outside.

With women constituting only 13% of the labor market, the country is wasting valuable human capital, further hampering the countrys struggling economy. According to the World Banks most recent statistics, youth unemployment stands at a troubling 28.8%. This is further disconcerting because Jordanians median age is a mere 22 years old. In addition, the country's public debt has climbed to 90% of gross domestic product.

While Amman is justifiably focused on fighting IS, Taher al-Masri, former prime minister and Senate president, emphasized that the kingdom cannot divorce security challenges from larger economic and political problems. He told Al-Monitor, Stability cannot be sustained with hardships that the communities are facing.

Calling the economic problems facing Jordan urgent, Jawad Anani, a former Royal Court chief with a doctoral degree in economics, explained, We need to take harsh decisions. Fiscal reforms are often unpopular and involve cutting government jobs, thus having negative repercussion on the government's popular base. Anani observed that to enact reform policies, The government needs to have legitimacy. He added, Without a democracy, it is difficult.

The former senior officials are also critical of the political leadership. King Abdullah has repeatedly called for political reforms, and Abu Odeh blamed backwards, status quo forces for blocking change. Given the disconnect between Abdullahs progressive rhetoric and the sluggishness of reform on the ground, Muasher asked, How do we explain that the king today is calling for a system of checks and balances and a parliamentary government, but no one within the executive branch is actively working to implement these objectives?

Masri explained that when he served as president of the Senate, he faced pressure from Royal Court officials urging him to pass laws that he felt were too conservative. When Masri then spoke with the king, Abdullah voiced opinions at odds with those of court officials and reassured Masri of the correctness of having resisted the court officials' pressure. When asked about the conflicting signals, Masri frustratingly said, We are asking the same question: Why? I have no answer.

Although Jordan has symbols of democracy, including a legislating parliament, in reality the country is far from being open politically. Freedom House rates Jordan as not free, giving it a 6 out of 7 rating in political rights, one of the lowest scores, ranking it in the bottom quarter worldwide. It noted that key powers and decision-making abilities are ultimately vested in the king, whom Jordanians never elected. Reporters without Borders labels Amman as 143rd out of 180 in its global press freedom's index.

The aggressive stance of the countrys General Intelligence Directorate (GID) remains controversial. While praised for its role in preventing large-scale terror attacks, multiple former officials criticized GID overstepping and meddling in political decision-making. The [GID] calls the MPs on every matter, explained Masri. Muasher seconded Masri in this regard, stating, It is a known fact. According to him, the intelligence services intervene in every area, including in deciding who gets hired. In an April 2013 interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic, King Abdullah admitted that the intelligence service has repeatedly blocked his own plans for political reform and inappropriately intervened in matters beyond security affairs.

According to the United Nations, Jordan has absorbed around 639,000 Syrian refugees since 2011. While Jordanian officials repeatedly highlight this impressive feat, however, they ignore much of Jordans deeper structural problems. If the country lacks enough jobs for its own citizens as well as Syrian refugees, why does it permit approximately 1 million migrant laborers from Egypt and East Asia to continue working there?

While the Syrian refugees have affected Jordans economy, many of the countrys economic woes were present before the refugee crisis. In 2010, Jordans percentage of employment in the public sector was still approximately 38%, said Anani. Womens participation in the workforce before the influx of refugees was already extremely low. Jordan has actually benefited from a dramatic increase in foreign aid due to its refugee policy.

In response to the criticisms levied by the former officials, Mohammad Momani, government spokesman and minister of state for media affairs, told Al-Monitor, The Jordanian economy suffers from many problems, most importantly, influence from regional turmoil. He noted that the government continues to offer more jobs to reduce poverty levels. Declining to directly address allegations of interference by the intelligence apparatus, Momani said, Different institutions and political authorities in Jordan work collaboratively to fulfill His Majestys vision of a democratized and modernized Jordan.

Despite having numerous problems, Jordans economy and political situation are far better than in neighboring Iraq and Syria as well as in Egypt, and the government does not launch air raids against its citizens. That said, however, prominent Jordanians worry about the prolonged effect of high unemployment and lack of political openness. Muasher thinks the government needs to act fast, stating, If the Arab uprisings have shown anything, it is that you cannot close both the political and economic systems and expect people to remain silent.
March 14, 2016

Gold jewelry that adorns the arms and necks of many Turkish women is actually a traditional instrument of savings. Newlyweds put together their initial capital with gold coins, trinkets and jewelry pinned on them at weddings. But this gold, once hidden at home, has absolutely no benefit to the economy.

These gold hoards are estimated to have reached 5,000 tons. The value of gold has been on an upward trend: On March 14, it reached 3,582.85 Turkish lira ($1,249.22) per ounce. That means the under-the-mattress overall value of gold is now almost 580 billion Turkish lira ($201 billion).

The Istanbul Gold Refinery (IAR) has been striving for five years in cooperation with banks to draw this gold back into the economy. In a project involving 11 banks, IAR experts inspect and assess the gold brought in by bank clients. When the amount is logged into the clients' accounts, the physical gold becomes registered gold.

IAR explains the benefit of the system: Gold will be safe. There will be no risk of theft or loss. The state guarantee for the gold deposit accounts is 150,000 Turkish lira. They are available 24 hours [a day] for transactions. Clients can cash any amount they want from their gold accounts.

According to a report by the official Anatolian news agency, because of a recent rapid hike in gold prices, the value of gold kept in homes has increased by about $48 billion over the past 15 months. Compared with earlier years, gold prices so far this year have broken all records already.

Officials think the campaign to attract gold might work; as of July 2015, 45 tons of gold has been deposited in banks.

Spearheading the drive to invigorate these dormant gold stocks is the Central Bank of Turkey. Durmus Yilmaz, former governor of the Central Bank, told Al-Monitor, "Banks report their deposit levels to the Central Bank every two weeks. If there is an increase, they have to deposit some percentage of that increase as a provision to the Central Bank in Turkish lira. But after 2011, the Central Bank began to accept foreign currency and gold. Banks prefer to submit their provisions in gold rather than currency, because gold doesnt earn interest in the market."

Yilmaz said the real solution is to encourage citizens to try other attractive investments instead of amassing gold.

You have to find a way to encourage the citizens to invest in bank deposits, bonds and the stock market instead of gold," he said. "Traded gold doesnt enter the economy. One person sells and the other buys and puts it in the safe. It has no impact on the market.

Yilmaz also said Turkish women walk around wearing extraordinary wealth.

The 5,000 tons of under-the-mattress gold has been accumulating since World War I. This gold amassed by Turks is kept in safes and on the fingers, necks and arms of women," he said. "If that gold instead becomes a bank deposit and banks use it as credit, the credit will be more available and will be cheaper, which means more investments and more production."

No matter how often banks use the slogan "It is time to bring us your gold from home," this will only happen when alternative investment instruments become more attractive and the pinning of gold at weddings ends. But it's not easy to change such a deeply rooted tradition.
March 14, 2016

In late February, Turkeys Constitutional Court paved the way for the release of two pr ominent jo urnalists, arrested over reports of Turkish arms shipments to Syria, in a landmark ruling that infuriated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sparked fresh internal spats in the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Several days later, police raided a leading business group, Boydak Holding, detaining three owners and a senior executive on charges that the company financed the Gulen movement, a former AKP ally that is now labeled as a terrorist organization. The two events may seem unrelated, but they could well be linked in the context of the in-house dissent brewing against Erdogan in AKP ranks. And the person who provides the link is none other than Erdogans former right-hand man, ex-President Abdullah Gul, who is now close to the dissidents.

To better understand how the link works, it is worth recalling what unfolded about a month ago. Former parliament Speaker and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, one of the AKP heavyweights who led the partys creation, emerged from the sidelines of politics with a bang. As Al-Monitor reported Feb. 16, he heaped bold criticism on the AKP and Erdogan, jolting the party. Erdogan hit back, scorning Arinc as that man and accusing him of dishonesty. Though the storm seemed to ease after Erdogan and Gul met Feb. 10, Al-Monitor stressed at the time that no one has stepped back from their positions and the unrest within the AKP is not over. Indeed, less than a month later a new storm was brewing.

It all started with the Constitutional Courts Feb. 25 ruling, which said Cumhuriyet dailys editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul had been arrested unlawfully, leading to their release after 92 days behind bars. Politicians of all stripes, including senior AKP members, welcomed the ruling. Few seemed to anticipate Erdogans furious reaction, though he had openly called for the journalists pros ecution after they published reports and footage about the interception of Turkish intelligence trucks in January 2014 while allegedly carrying weapons to Syria.

In an open snub of the judiciary that no other president has ever dared to display in Turkey, and perhaps in the world, Erdogan declared he was not obeying and respecting the Constitutional Courts decision. He went further, claiming he was trying to protect the constitution that the court had breached, while advising prosecutors to appeal the ruling, ignoring the fact that the Constitutional Court is Turkeys top tribunal that makes final and binding decisions.

The opposition slammed Erdogans outburst as a fresh blow to the rule of law. In a bid to soothe the outcry, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus argued that Erdogan had expressed only his "personal views," but he was soon countered by a senior presidential adviser who asserted poignantly that Erdogan was the head of both the state and the government. This prompted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to step in. He chided bureaucrats for making such statements and asserted that he was the head of the government. But as Erdogan stood his ground with a sharpening tone, both Davutoglu and Kurtulmus made U-turns and moved to scold the Constitutional Court. Ironically, Davutoglu cited the same ruling a week later in Brussels to fend off European Union criticism of the mounting onslaught on media freedom in Turkey.

In the meantime, the judges, including court President Zuhtu Arslan, came under vitriolic attacks and were even labeled traitors by pro-government quarters. The attackers took care to emphasize the traitors had been appointed by Gul. This led Arinc to make a comeback to the scene. He lauded the Constitutional Court and congratulated its president for the ruling, in what came as another follow-up to his show of dissent in early February.

Erdogan retorted from Ghana, where he was on an official visit, insisting the Constitutional Court had overstepped its authority. By now, everyone was convinced that Erdogans tirades would not go without consequences. The prevailing anticipation was that a lower court would put the two journalists back in jail. This, however, did not materialize. Yet on March 4, Turkey woke up to a police raid on Boydak Holding, the largest of the so-called Anatolian lions that employs 15,000 people and has its headquarters in Kayseri, Guls hometown.

Many saw the raid as a message to Gul. Levent Gok, the parliamentary whip of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, told Al-Monitor, Most of the [Constitutional Court] judges were appointed by Gul. So Erdogans anger is not directed at the judges but at Gul. The Boydaks, too, are very close to Gul. This operation clearly has to do with Gul and is meant as an act of serious intimidation. According to him, the message to Gul was, If your people make such rulings, other people of yours will be in trouble.

Huseyin Celik, another former AKP heavyweight now aligned with Arinc, disagreed. I, too, believe the Constitutional Court made the right decision, he told Al-Monitor. But he rejected the notion that the raid on Boydak was intended as a warning to Gul. True, the AKP government should avoid operations reminiscent of witch hunts. The existence of unhealthy polarizations is also true. But drawing such a political link via the Constitutional Court ruling is impossible. There is neither a ground nor a proof for that, he said.

Yet, some facts seem to corroborate the oppositions reading of the events. Most prominently, on the day of the raid, Gul himself said, The Boydak family is known for its industriousness, honesty and philanthropy. I hope they will not be offended further. The following day, however, two of the Boydak detainees were sent to prison pending trial. And in an intriguing coincidence, a prominent businessman close to Gul had told Al-Monitor only two days before the raid that what Gul fears the most is that businesspeople close to him could come to harm.

The March 4 drama did not end there. Two hours after the raid on Boydak, the government seized the Gulen communitys flagship newspaper, Zaman. One cannot rule out that the double blow contained a message of warning to Gul and his associates that they could share the Gulenists fate.

Erdogans fury with the Constitutional Court, meanwhile, seemed to continue unabated. On March 11, he reiterated his position in favor of the journalists rearrest. In the above context, his stance could be interpreted as an intention to further deepen the conflict with Gul and his associates. The likely calculus behind this strategy is to bully and ostracize the dissidents as a means of rallying the AKP around himself, while pushing his drive for an executive presidency. And as long as he preserves his current power, he will be at ease. But any stumble along the way could completely alter things. The failure of his executive presidency goal will be more than enough for such an outcome.
March 11, 2016

ANKARA, Turkey  The captain of the sunken boat was warming himself under a blanket when the Greek coast guard officers grabbed him. They marched him to where the corpses of three of his passengers lay.

The guards forced him to kneel down, and one said, OK, look, eh! The guards then revealed the faces of the drowned refugees  children ages 2-4  to one of their fathers, asking him to identify his child.

The Sky News video did not catch the fathers reaction, but it caught the captain breaking down, trembling and sobbing loudly. Identified only as Ozkan A., a Turk, he had tried to take 23 refugees across the 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of sea between Turkey and the Greek island of Samos.

Smugglers reportedly paid Ozkan $3,000 for every boatload of refugees. Greece charged him with manslaughter, smuggling refugees and causing a shipwreck. A Turkish newspaper found his father, who said his son was of subnormal intelligence.

This scene, filmed in January, captured the tragedy and exploitation of the migrant crisis. On March 7, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu proposed to an EU summit a mechanism that could stop the flow of refugees across the Aegean. On March 17, the 28 European Union leaders will meet again in Brussels to give their answer.

If implemented, the mechanism would mean that Greece would promptly ship back to Turkey all the refugees that land on its beaches. The EU would accept an equal number of Syrian refugees waiting in Turkey for asylum in Europe. The refugees shipped back would go to the back of the asylum queue.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Turkeys proposal was attractive and it had taken the summit by surprise.

Under the mechanism, refugees would soon realize they gained nothing by crossing the sea to Greece because they were sent straight back to Turkey. That would put an end to the more than 2,000 people a day taking boats going to Greece, end the tragic drownings and put the smugglers out of business.

The flaw in this scheme is that it is illegal. To make it work, Greece would have to send back all those who land on its shores without regard to the merit of their individual claims for asylum.

Mass expulsion of migrants from Greece to Turkey would be illegal, the United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, told the media in Geneva on March 10.

However, the appeal of the mechanism remains. The head of the EU delegation to Turkey, Hansjorg Haber, told a seminar at the USAK Institute of International Strategic Research think tank in Ankara on March 11 that the EU Commission is currently in talks with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to find a way of making it compatible with international law.

The purpose of the UN convention is to offer people security, not to give them the choice of a place of asylum, Haber told the meeting Al-Monitor attended.

When it comes to providing the basics of security, Turkey has done quite well. It now hosts 2.5 million refugees, mostly Syrian. That equals more than 3% of its population, which might normally be a tipping point to unrest.

A survey of the German Marshall Fund found last year that 84% of Turks were worried about the Syrians, and 73% thought they should be asked to go home.

Yet despite such views, Turkey has not experienced major outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence. Tolerance is surprisingly high.

The general approach of the government to the Syrians is positive and tolerant, and this influences the Turkish citizens approach, political analyst Oytun Orhan told Al-Monitor.

Syrians also have a similar lifestyle, the same religion and are historically close to Turks, Orhan said. Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire, and many Turks in the border provinces have relatives in Syria.

A third reason is the Syrians are good guests. The number of criminal cases in which refugees are directly involved is very low, Orhan wrote in his 2015 report Effects of the Syrian refugees on Turkey for the ORSAM think tank in Ankara.

The harmony might be tested in the coming months when the government implements its decision to give work permits to the Syrians.

Turkish workers get twice our salary, said Ali Hussein Khater, who came to Turkey in 2013 with his wife and five children. Speaking in Ankara, Khater said the lack of a fair wage was his main complaint about Turkey.

If I get a good job with good money, I will not go to Europe, he said.

Harun Ozturkler, professor of econometrics at Kirikkale University, has advised the government that with work permits, the number of Syrians in the labor market will not be much more than the 1 million seeking work illegally at the moment. The main difference will be that employers will have to pay the Syrians higher wages, Ozturkler told Al-Monitor.

The work permits carry restrictions. A Syrian will have to work in the province where he first registered, and the Syrians cannot exceed 10% of a firms personnel total.

Orhan praises the quota as a measure to ensure that Syrians can work without seriously jeopardizing the jobs of Turks. Unskilled Turkish workers in construction and agriculture may well lose out to Syrians, but the number is not expected to be huge.

Were this to happen, such workers will be eligible for retraining at the Turkey Labor Institute to improve their ability to find work, Ali Gunes of the prime ministers office told Al-Monitor in an email.

Nedim Tashish works as a Turkish-Arabic translator. A former teacher in Aleppo, Tashish came to Turkey in 2014 and learned Turkish at a language school. He was delighted when Turkey passed the regulation for work permits in January, but has been disappointed by their slow delivery.

I dont want to leave Turkey because Turks are very similar to us, he told Al-Monitor, but the government is not looking after us.

His wife gave birth to a son in Turkey. I have no proof that he is my son. There is no legal document. The state gives me only a foreigner identification document, he said.

This raises what human rights groups regard as Turkeys major failing for the refugees: It refuses to grant the status of refugee. Instead, the government classifies Syrians as foreigners under temporary protection.

Metin Corabatir, who retired from the UNHCR to set up the Research Center on Asylum and Migration think tank, told Al-Monitor that Turkey avoids conferring refugee status for fear of being seen as a paradise for refugees.

The consequence is that the refugees in Turkey have no legal protection, according to Human Rights Watch.

Moreover, the recognition is growing that most of the refugees will remain in Turkey. As Corabatir explained, the resettlement of 2.5 million people is not feasible. Turkey has to live with the vast majority of these Syrians, so it is for the benefit of the country to give them [refugee] status and to integrate them.

Ozturkler guesses that about 1.5 million of the Syrians, or 68%, will stay in Turkey even if peace returns to Syria. What is more, he wants them to stay.

I dont wish for them to go back to Syria, said Ozturkler. We are a very colorful society and they are going to add new colors to our society. If I were the prime minister, I would have done more to integrate [them].
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Get your ice cream fix this week during Free Cone Day at participating Dairy Queen restaurants in the U.S.

The fast food company will give a free small soft-serve vanilla cone to every DQ fan in America all day Tuesday. Donations will be accepted for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, which helps children at hospitals across the U.S. and Canada.

Funds collected for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals will stay in the local area in which they are raised to assist kids in need. Dairy Queen raised $140,000 and served more than 1,330 cones per store last year.

The free treat will be limited to one per person and available at non-mall U.S. locations only. There are currently 58 Dairy Queens in Alabama. Click here to find your nearest DQ.
Name a celebrity who's been to Mobile since the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and Spa reopened in 2007, and he or she has probably stayed in the Presidential Suite - the largest and most opulent room at the grandest address on Royal Street. Guests have included Robert De Niro, Jerry Seinfeld, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, Pat Benatar and Carrie Underwood.

You, too, can stay in the suite, for $3,000 a night.

What does that amount get you? You'll feel like a superstar in the 1,955-square-foot, luxury-laden suite with its own private terrace nestled next to the RSA Trustmark building (the one with the giant Moon Pie attached to it), with beautiful views of downtown Mobile.

The Presidential Suite is located on the eighth floor of the Battle House, which was built in 1852 and closed in 1974. After being boarded up for years, the 240-room hotel was meticulously restored and is connected to the 35-story RSA Tower, Alabama's tallest building. The suite occupies the former Grand Moonlight Ballroom space.

The double door opens into a raised foyer overlooking the living area, with its dramatically soaring ceiling. The sweeping arch separating the foyer from the living room echoes the graceful arches that overlook the Battle House's lobby - including the charming Whispering Arch, a neat find on the second floor for guests who can stand at one end and whisper sweet nothings to someone else at the other end.

The living room includes a Hamilton grand piano, a table that seats six and a chandelier-topped seating area with a sofa and chairs surrounding a gas fireplace. Tucked neatly into a corner is an impressive bar area that can include bar service, possibly even from "the cocktail guy" himself, Jeff Robinson, the hotel's food and beverage manager.

Beyond the bar is a game room, with a pool table, a chess board and a flat-screen TV. An adjoining guest room can be rented, as well, for large parties.

On the opposite side of the living room is the master bedroom, which has its own sitting area, delineated by another dramatic arch in the ceiling. The room has a TV in the sitting area as well as another one mounted close to the bed. The master bathroom is stocked with amenities that can be purchased from the Battle House Spa, and even a towel warmer. It also includes a luxurious soaking tub and a shower with dual shower heads.

From the foyer, French doors lead onto the terrace, which is lushly landscaped with palm trees and trellises, and a three-tiered fountain. The terrace has a fire pit and a hot tub, as well as several comfortable seating arrangements, plus speakers that play music from a control box on the wall in the foyer.

The suite has been the site of wedding receptions and other parties, with some guests hiring John Anthony, the pianist from the Battle House's Royal Street Tavern, to play the grand piano.

"We're pretty proud of this room," said Scott Maison, the hotel's rooms division manager, modestly. If he could, he'd be "right there with a cocktail in that lounge chair," he confided, gesturing toward a cozy corner of the terrace.

Wouldn't we all like to be there?

For more information, or to make a reservation, visit www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mobbr-the-battle-house-renaissance-mobile-hotel-and-spa/.
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(Stock art)

It happened in April, 1998. A press release with a dateline from Huntsville, Ala., was circulating among scientists in New Mexico. It said, in part: "NASA engineers and mathematicians in this high-tech city are stunned and infuriated after the Alabama state legislature narrowly passed a law yesterday redefining pi..."

Before long, the news had taken over the Internet, such as it was in 1998.

Reportedly, the state Legislature, under pressure from religious groups, "redefined the value of pi from 3.14159 to 3 in order to bring it in line with Biblical precepts," according to Snopes.com.

Here's the catch: The "press release" was distributed on April Fool's Day. Although the author published a notice the next day that the statement was a joke, it had taken on a life of its own and is still listed by Snopes, a myth-debunking site, as a popular urban legend.

Here's the real story: A guy named Mark Boslough wanted to call attention to a controversy brewing in New Mexico over the teaching of evolution. He did so by writing a parody of what happens when legislative bodies bow to religious pressure, Snopes said.

"The author took real statements from New Mexican legislators and school board members supporting creationism and recast them into a fictional account detailing how Alabama legislators had passed a law calling for the value of pi to be set to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0."

Happy Pi Day!

Join al.com reporter Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through Alabama to record the region's quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters. Find her on Facebook or follow her Odd Travels and Real Alabama boards on Pinterest.
Calhoun County authorities say they have arrested a second man in connection with a string of five church burglaries that occurred about two weeks ago.

Chief Deputy Matthew Wade said James Eric Williams Jr., 19, of Wellington, was arrested March 10 and faces multiple charges, including marijuana possession second degree and four counts of third degree burglary. He also faces burglary charges in Jacksonville. He is currently being held on $46,000 bond in the Calhoun County Jail.

He is expected in court on April 14 at 1:30 p.m., Wade said.

Authorities last week announced the arrest of Michael Williams, 22, which occurred less than 24 hours after five church burglaries took place in central Calhoun County last Thursday morning.

Wade said the break-ins happened at Angel Grove and Shiloh Baptist on Alabama 204, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church on Pleasant Valley Road, and Oak Grove Baptist on Reads Mill Road. The burglaries involved forced entry with more than one person involved, according to video evidence.

Among items taken were a safe, a guitar, a television, projectors, two laptops, camcorders and a desk top computer, among other items. Wade said not all the articles had been recovered.

Investigators used a latent print lifted at the scene of one of the burglaries to identify Michael Williams. Wade said items from the burglaries were recovered at the time of his arrest.
Piedmont police said a man was killed today after he fired a weapon at officers following a police chase.

According to a news release, officers this morning were investigating a suspicious vehicle stolen out of Marshall County. At some point, officers spotted the vehicle, a truck, and gave chase as the driver fled.

After the vehicle wrecked in a ditch, the man, identified as Wesley Chad Deerman, 26, of Boaz, attempted to flee on foot.

"As he was exiting the vehicle, the man began firing a weapon at the officers. The officers returned fire, striking the suspect," the news release stated.

Deerman was transported to Gadsden Regional Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.

The shooting is being investigated by the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and the Center for Applied Forensics at Jacksonville State University.
A lawman who fought for tougher punishment for child abusers said Friday's arrest of the father of the little boy who started the movement has no bearing on the work they've done.

Randall Houston, district attorney for Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties, lobbied for legislation dubbed Winston's Law, which created the crime of aggravated child abuse of a child under the age of 6. The offense is Class A felony, which carries a prison sentence of no less than 10 years. The Alabama Legislature passed the bill last month.

It's named for an Elmore County boy whose mother was eventually indicted on aggravated child abuse and chemical endangerment charges. Winston, 4, in September was found him unresponsive and suffering from severe injuries in the backseat of his mother's boyfriend's truck in Florida. Deputies found the child under a blanket with his eyes open, dried blood on his lips and a laceration on his head. There was also a bag containing several loaded handguns next to him.

Winston's mother, Hallee McLeod, and her boyfriend, Scott Hicks, are accused of severely abusing the boy. McLeod was indicted on aggravated child abuse and chemical endangerment charges. Hicks is charged with child neglect with serious injury.

Custody was given to the father, Joey Crampton, who lobbied alongside Houston for Winston's law. Crampton issued this statement in January: Crampton issued this statement about the bill in January: "Children are suffering and will continue to suffer from abuse. While we may not be able to prevent child abuse in itself, the reality is the effects of it lasts a lifetime for these young victims," he stated. "Those who perpetrate these types of crimes need harsher punishments to deter them, but also because the children, unfortunately, will carry the effects into adulthood and may never be able to develop in a healthy, normal way. Sadly, the perpetrators of the crimes go on with their lives. What better way to serve this vulnerable population, by seeking much needed change through new legislative efforts in Winston's honor. This ensures what Winston has endured will not be in vain."

Crampton was arrested Friday on two counts of domestic violence. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of third-degree domestic violence, WSFA reported. He is accused of strangling his wife, Leah, causing her neck to bruise and throwing their 8-month-old child. Roianne Houlton Conner, an attorney representing Leah Crampton, issued a statement on Saturday. Leah Crampton reported the alleged assault to Montgomery police on Thursday, which led to the arrest of her husband, Conner stated. A restraining order was issued. Subsequently, Autauga County Circuit Court granted Leah Crampton temporary custody of Winston and the couple's younger children.

Houston released this statement today regarding Crampton's arrest: "Our work on the aggravated child abuse bill was all because of the atrocity a 4 year old boy endured at the hand of his mother. It had absolutely nothing to do with the boy's father but everything to do with fighting for justice for those who cannot fight for themselves. Passage of Winston's Law honors a brave little boy, not his father, and will help prevent future cases of aggravated child abuse from occurring while providing life sentences for those who commit such heinous acts. This tragic family situation does not change that important accomplishment."
Derrick Reed Spice Arrest.jpg

Derrick Reed, 29, was arrested by the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force with $31,000 worth of Spice, or synthetic marijuana, on Friday, March 11, 2016.

(Shelby County Sheriff's Office)

A 29-year-old Montevallo man with a long and violent criminal history is behind bars again, this time accused of being a main supplier of Spice, or synthetic marijuana, to high school students in Shelby County.

The Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force on Friday arrested Derrick Reed, who was out on bond from a February arrest also on drug charges. Task force commander Lt. Clay Hammac said a lengthy investigation led to the arrest of Reed, who Hammac described as a longtime suspected drug dealer in the Montevallo area.

The arrest took place in the Almont community of Shelby County. Reed was found in possession of 895 grams of synthetic marijuana worth an estimated $31,000. Hammac said Reed was caught in the middle of a drug deal.

Residents of the Almont Community long felt they were being held hostage by drug dealers, Hammac said. "They were afraid to come forward, they were afraid to talk with us,'' he said. "This is a measurable victory. Hopefully they can breathe a sigh of relief, and we can get in there and rebuild and repair relationships."

Hammac said Reed was a "key channel in the distribution chain" of getting synthetic marijuana into the hands of high school students in multiple communities including Calera, Montevallo, Thompson, Alabaster, Pelham and Helena. "This is key in keeping this out of the hands of the kids,'' Hammac said. "Synthetic marijuana is extremely dangerous. This certainly is a victory for west Shelby County."

Spice, also known as K2, Spice gold, Sence, Genie, Zohai, Yucatan Fire, Smoke, Black Mamba and Skunk, consists of dried plant material sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids and a mixture of other unknown chemicals including pesticides and rat poison. The chemicals stimulate brain areas affected by marijuana, and experts say users sometimes opt for the marijuana alternatives because they mistakenly believe they are safe.

Symptoms of spice overdose include severe agitation, hyperactivity, anxiety, racing heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, muscle spasms, seizures, tremors, intense hallucinations, psychotic episodes and even coma.

Between March 15 and May 4 in 2015, at least 932 patients who had ingested or smoked spice were seen in Alabama emergency rooms. Of those, 196 were been hospitalized and five died. "It really is a game of Russian Roulette when they consume synthetics," Hammac said.

At the time of Reed's arrest on Friday, he was out on bond after he was arrested Feb. 18 on charges of distributing cocaine. His charges in 2016 include drug trafficking, possession of marijuana, a felon in possession of a firearm and four counts of drug distribution.

In 2013, Reed was arrested on a kidnapping charge and later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor crime of unlawful imprisonment. He was sentenced to one year in jail. Also in 2013, Reed was arrested on charges of first-degree sex abuse, first-degree robbery and intimidating a witness, but court records show those charges were dismissed.

Reed in 2012 was arrested on a charge of attempted murder, but pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to one year in jail.

In 2007, Reed was convicted on a felony drug distribution charge. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Hammac praised the Shelby County drug investigators for their work on the Reed case, and all of the other cases they work. "The credit in this case goes to our narcotics officers. I wish the community could see how much of themselves they pour into these cases,'' Hammac said. "To them, it's a personal mission and this was certainly a mission freeing this community held hostage by drug network. They really are a success story."
Holman Prison Riot

A CERT guard walks down a cell block at Holman Correctional Institute in Atmore, Ala., on March 14, 2016. The prison saw its second disturbance in three days on Monday. (Submitted to AL.com)

An inmate stabbing happened early this morning at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, and emergency response teams were sent back to the prison.

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton confirmed the Corrections Emergency Response Team was returning to the facility, just several days after a riot put the prison on lockdown and left an officer and the warden stabbed.

Horton said the assault happened about 8:30 a.m. in a prison dormitory when an inmate assaulted another inmate with a makeshift weapon. Corrections officers responded and removed the victim from the dorm. His injuries aren't life-threatening.

When officers tried to apprehend the suspect, they were met with resistance, Horton said. "Prisoners became aggressive and barricaded themselves inside the dorm,'' he said.

By 2:45 p.m., the response teams had regained control of the dorm.

Officers had secured all sections of the prison to prevent the inmates inside the dorm from entering other parts of the facility. About 70 inmates were in the dorm, he said, and no officers or other inmates had been injured.

Horton said the prison is on lockdown and there is no imminent danger to prison staff, corrections officer, or inmates in the secured areas of the facility. Lockdown limits the movement of inmates inside the prison. Officials have also temporarily canceled visitation.

Sources close to the situation tell NorthEscambia.com the incident involving this morning's stabbing did not reach the level of Friday night's disturbance. That publication reports that investigators found 30 cell phones, makeshift knives and other contraband in the subsequent search and probe.

Apparently not all cell phones have been found. One inmate posted multiple videos to Youtube today listing the reasons why the inmates are upset. Other inmates are still posting messages on Facebook, describing tear gas and smoke bombs.

Chaos erupted Friday night at the Atmore prison, which has remained on lockdown ever since. The injuries to the guard and Warden Carter Davenport weren't life-threatening and the situation was under control by about 5 a.m.

The first assault happened about 9:15 p.m. Friday when a correctional officer responded to a fight between two inmates in one of the prison dorms. The officer was stabbed when he tried to detain one of the inmates involved in the fight, Horton said. Sources tell NorthEscambia.com that the officer was stabbed nine times.

When Davenport and other officers entered the dorm to assess the situation, Davenport was also stabbed. He remained at the prison, and was treated on-site for injuries, Horton said.

The injured corrections officer was taken to a hospital. Both are expected to be OK, and Davenport already has returned to work.

After the assaults, Horton said, inmates gained access to a hallway just outside the housing unit and started a fire. The Alabama Department of Corrections deployed three Corrections Emergency Response Teams (CERT) to the prison, and they detained the inmates and secured the area.

Horton said prison officials estimate 100 inmates were involved in the disturbance. No other areas in the prison were affected, Horton said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene, including Atmore police, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Alabama State Troopers responded for perimeter security, said spokesman Sgt. Steve Jarrett. Witnesses reported seeing multiple ambulances headed toward the prison, but Horton said there were no injuries other than the guard and the warden.

While officials remained tight-lipped overnight, photos and video of the reported uprising quickly surfaced on social media. The images showed fires at the prison, and inmates with their faces covered. Inmates were reporting that the "gates are rolled up" and beds have been overturned.

One man posted this on Facebook: "Attention: We need yall help here at Holman Correction Facility Prison. The police down here beating on and jus treating us any kind way. We down here fighting for are lifes. Please contact the News, Newspaper, Radio station. NCAAP. Help please."
A Blountsville man was killed Friday night in a crash while he was being pursued by lawmen.

The crash happened at 10:18 p.m. on Blount County Road 26, three miles east of Blountsville. Alabama State Troopers today identified the victim as 26-year-old Joshua Blake Hamby.

Troopers said Hamby was killed when his 2004 Mitsubishi collided with a 2010 Mercury. Hamby's vehicle then veered off of the roadway and hit several trees. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and was pronounced dead on the scene, according to Trooper Curtis Summerville.

A passenger in Hamby's vehicle was injured, and taken to the hospital. The driver of the Mercury struck by Hamby wasn't hurt.

Troopers said Hamby was being pursued by a Blountsville police officer. He didn't elaborate.

Court records show Hamby had a string of arrests since 2010, mostly for traffic violations. He was convicted in 2012 for possession of marijuana and driving with a revoked licenses.

In 2010, Hamby was found guilty twice of driving with a suspended license, as well as speeding over 25 mph, driving without insurance, driving on the wrong side of the road, reckless endangerment and attempting to elude police.

Efforts to reach Blountsville police for comment today were unsuccessful, however the crash remains under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation.
ruffner.jpg

A woman hiking at Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve was rescued today after authorities say she fell 45 to 50 feet off of a ledge this morning.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Buddy Wilks said the initial call went to the Irondale Fire Department, and BFRS was called in to assist. The woman, whose name and age has not been released, was hiking on one of the trails when she slipped.

Authorities from Birmingham and Irondale said the woman briefly lost consciousness but eventually was able to call 911 herself. Birmingham received the call about 11 a.m.

Nearly two dozen firefighters responded and walked about 1 1/2 miles into the woods to find the woman. They carried her back out in basket, and she is now at UAB Hospital.

The woman suffered a head and an ankle injury. She is stable, and authorities said they don't believe her injuries are life-threatening.
A 20-year-old college student from Indiana died after falling off a parking garage, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department.

Tyler Douglas Gilmore, 20, of Terra Haute, Indiana was found dead around 1 a.m. Sunday outside the Shores of Panama parking garage. Police told The Northwest Florida Daily News Gilmore died after falling off the structure. The parking garage has more than 10 floors but it's not known what level Gilmore was on when he fell. It's believed he died either Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Police said they were told Gilmore had consumed large amounts of alcohol during the day. Officials are investigating the death but foul play isn't suspected.

According to his social media profile, Gilmore was studying nursing at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

Gilmore's death comes just ahead of the peak of Panama City's spring break season. Auburn, Alabama, and the University of South Alabama, as well as a host of other Southeastern schools, are out of class this week. Panama City Beach officials have vowed to crack down on spring break rowdiness and drinking after a violent year in 2015 that included the gang rape of an incapacitated woman as a crowd of bystanders looked on and a shooting spree at a house party.

Panama City has since banned alcohol from the beach.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Alabama father who took his son from his wife, changed their names and lived in Cleveland for nearly 16 years pleaded guilty Monday to numerous criminal charges.

Bobby Hernandez took his then-5-year-old son Julian from an Alabama home after a dispute with his wife, prosecutors said.

Hernandez agreed to plead guilty to 15 charges including tampering with records, forgery and kidnapping. In exchange for his plea, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office agreed to drop 17 other charges, among them numerous counts of forgery, kidnapping and tampering with records.

Hernandez is due back in court April 13 for sentencing. He faces up to 54 years in prison.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty told reporters Monday that his office will seek a harsh prison sentence.

"I am a good father and therefore give me probation? That's a joke," McGinty said. "Just think (of) your child or your grandchild, and someone took your child away. You would think about that all day every day. On the other end, he's deprived of his mother, his sibling, not knowing his grandparent. What kind of thing is that to do to a child. He's not a good parent."
Sometimes it feels like Alabama is finally starting to gain some recognition as home to one of the most unique landscapes in the nation.

But just as often, I am reminded that the biggest obstacle to that recognition begins right here at home. We as a state still haven't quite learned how to love ourselves.

The latest evidence came in the form of the realization that the state flower is the camellia, a flower native to Korea, China, and Japan. Conspicuously absent from that native range is the great state of Alabama. In most states, the state flower is a plant native to the state, such as the magnolia for Mississippi, the violet for New Jersey, or the California poppy in the bear state.

Sure, camellias are lovely. But a state flower should be about putting the state's best foot forward. Not Japan's best foot.

Adding insult to injury, the camellia wasn't always Alabama's state flower. It was originally golden rod, designated in 1927. Then it was changed in 1959, allegedly at the behest of a group from Butler County. And because there are lots of kinds of camellias, the designation was refined and reaffirmed in 1999, picking specifically Camellia japonica, the Japanese form.

Only a handful of states have foreign flowers as the state flower. For the most part, they are cold and flat places like Ohio, which has the carnation, originally from the Mediterranean. Perhaps that's understandable, for Ohio has nowhere near as many stunning wildflowers as Alabama. But in our state, a place that is home to 54 species of orchids, the world's largest assortment of carnivorous pitcher plants, and a thousand other species, could we really not come up with something from Alabama to name as the state flower?

But it is not just flowers where we fail to celebrate the richness around us.

I have a photo of an award the Alabama Wildlife Federation presented to the Weeks Bay Foundation several years ago, honoring its conservation work. The award, called the Governor's Conservation Achievement Award, features a highly detailed statue of a mountain goat.

Think about that. The Alabama Wildlife Federation gives an award celebrating the protection of Alabama's wildlife, and the animal it chooses to put on that award is a mountain goat! An animal never seen in Alabama. An animal that lives only in the northern most extremes of the Rocky Mountains. That's the best they could come up with in a state that is home to bears, alligators, deer, otters, dolphins, whales, eagles and countless other bird species?

But let's not judge the wildlife federation folks to harshly. After all, most of us have always had a hard time seeing the Alabama around us. In his wonderful book, Southern Wonder, about Alabama's "surprising biodiversity," biologist Scot Duncan wrote that when he first heard that the state ranked among the most diverse places in the country, "I didn't believe it. How could it be possible that Alabama, Alabama, could lead most of the nation and all of the eastern United States in the number of species within its borders."

A storm rolls across the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Alabama landscapes rival anywhere on Earth for natural beauty.

We are all guilty of that feeling in some measure. My colleague, Bill Finch, blames it on what he calls "landscape pornography." In his telling, those of us in the south have been corrupted by a lifetime of exposure to images of Wyoming's snow-capped Tetons, or California's wine country, or the forests of Washington and Oregon. Those places don't look like the place we call home. And somehow, we've bought into the notion that they are better.

But they aren't. Different, sure. But not better. But I think that notion, that nature is somehow better elsewhere is behind one of the most arresting things I see in Alabama today: The startling spread of various invasive species, meaning things that are not native here, that don't belong here. They are all around us -- in our yards, our forests, our rivers and our oceans.

Everywhere we go, we are surrounded by an invading army of creatures great and small. And plants. Lots of invading plants. Think of starlings, now one of the most common birds in Alabama, native to Europe. Or of kudzu, so widespread it is almost impossible to take a car ride without encountering it.

Most of these species are here because we invited them, hand carried into our lives because they were lovely to look at, like the camellias blooming all across the state, so common today that we've made them our state flower.

It's an interesting thing, in a state like Alabama, to see so many things that don't belong, for this state is rich beyond measure when it comes to the incredible diversity found in our landscape. There are more species of plants and animals here than you could find in any comparably sized area in North America.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of our native plants have been domesticated and are sold in nurseries around the world. From lilies, asters and primroses to delphiniums and azaleas, and on and on.

A bumblebee collects pollen from a Chinese princess tree. The trees are spreading across Alabama.

But even as I write this sentence, I can see out the window a towering Chinese Princess tree, which, admittedly, is beautiful when it is in full flower, covered in cascades of white blossoms. I can also see some Japanese climbing fern, which is taking over more and more of our forests. And just beyond it, the dense canopy of a stand of Chinese privet crowds out everything that ought to be growing below it, except for a Chinese popcorn tree that managed to shoot up higher.

The question then becomes, why did we bring all these things here, when we already had so many beautiful plants. Each of those plants mentioned above was brought here because it was pretty, but has since turned into a scourge, crowding out the things that ought to be here, changing our swamps, our forests, and our meadows.

Perhaps the most egregious example is Japanese wisteria, which looks almost identical to our native wisteria. In fact, the Japanese version has adapted so well to Alabama, that the native species is on the verge of disappearing entirely. Don't believe me? Then do a little homework. When the wisteria starts to bloom in the next few weeks, notice if the plant is blooming before the leaves have come out. If so, it is the Japanese version (or possibly the Chinese). But it is definitely not our native wisteria, which is just as lovely but simply can't compete with the more robust Asian varieties.

Sure, 50 and 100 years ago, no one thought of foreign plants or animals taking over native landscapes. For instance, when cogon grass arrived in Alabama in 1911, it was as a packing material for a shipment coming from Japan. Who could have imagined the dried grass would contain still viable seeds, and that 100 years later cogon grass would be one of the greatest threats to our native longleaf forests and present in almost every county in the state? Who could have predicted how it would have hurt the quail population? But since then, as kudzu spread along our roadways, and privet took over our floodplain forests, we're certainly learned that lesson. We are more careful today.

But are we any better at appreciating the natural bounty Alabama has been blessed with?

The folks in Montana like to talk about Big Sky country. Fine, but there is nowhere on Earth where the sky can be any bigger than on an island along the Alabama coast, where the view stretches from horizon to horizon without all those mountains in the way. In the Pacific Northwest, they have trillium festivals though there are only 11 species in all of Oregon, Washington and California combined. Alabama has more than 20 species of trillium, with wonderful names, like the bashful wake robin, the sweet little Betsy, and the propeller toad shade. Where is our trillium festival? Why aren't we rubbing the noses of Oregonians in our bounty?

It is possible to go on and on about the fact that we have more species of fish, or crawfish, or mussels, or salamanders, or pitcher plants, than any other state. And slowly, people may be starting to appreciate the natural heritage we have here. But maybe it is time for us to quit shooting ourselves in both feet. Instead of signs that say "Alabama the Beautiful" when you cross our border, maybe they could say, "Alabama, Home to more species of fish, turtles, crawfish and carnivorous plants than any other state."

A white-fringed orchid with a one-lined tree frog nestled in its flowers.

Instead of the camellia as our state flower, what about the delicate and rare white-fringed orchid, or the giant big leaf magnolia, with flowers as big as your face. And if we are going to give out awards touting conservation efforts in Alabama, how about we pick an animal that actually lives in Alabama.

Maybe then, if we start to celebrate where we are, people in other places will be looking longingly at pictures of our landscape and wishing their world could be more like ours.

Follow Ben Raines as he explores Alabama's natural wonders on Facebook, or Twitter at Ben H. Raines. Shoot him an email with questions or story ideas at braines@al.com.
Comedian Micah "Katt" Williams has been arrested for a third time in three weeks.

He was already in police custody when he was arrested on March 11 on charges of entering an automobile, theft by taking, and simple battery. He was transferred to the Fulton County Jail in Georgia.

A group of five women said Williams assaulted them in Atlanta and stole their cell phones after he refused to take a picture with them.

One of the women told a 911 dispatcher that Williams and his friends were blocking the woman's car and wouldn't let them leave.

The comedian was at the Hall County Jail after he was arrested on battery charges for threatening to kill his bodyguard, Corey Dixon. That incident happened in late February and Williams was arrested on March 9.

Williams was also arrested on February 29, when he assaulted an employee at a pool supply store. He reportedly was lying on the ground outside the store, with his hands behind his back, "as though he was ready to go to jail."

Williams bonded out of jail for the latest charge on Friday.
Hillary Clinton

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton participates in the CNN TV One Ohio Democratic Presidential Town Hall in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday, March 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders participated in a town hall event in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday night. The event was televised on CNN.

The town hall followed a joint appearance at a dinner hosted by the Ohio Democrats. Each candidate also campaigned individually in Ohio, which holds its primary election on Tuesday.

Clinton said she's received private messages from foreign leaders asking to endorse her candidacy in hopes of defeating Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who Clinton said is encouraging violence and chaos to win over voters.

Clinton refused to name the dignitaries, though she says she told them that the election must be decided by Americans. But, she says, her experience as secretary of state will offer a powerful contrast with Trump, should they face off in the general election.

"At our best, Americans have rejected demagogues and fear-mongers," she said.

"I believe that I will have an opportunity to really focus in on how dangerous a Donald Trump presidency would be for our standing, for our safety and for the peace of the world," she added

She also said she supports a "very limited use" of the death penalty in cases where there are "horrific mass killings."

Clinton said the states have "proven themselves incapable of carrying out fair trials that give any defendant all the rights that defendant should have." She added that she would "breathe a sigh of relief if either the Supreme Court or the states themselves began to eliminate the death penalty."

But Clinton added that she thinks the death penalty should still be kept "in reserve" for limited cases in the federal judicial system, citing the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks as examples.

"But what happened to you was a travesty," Clinton said. "I know that all of us are so regretful that you or any person has to go through what you did."

Sanders called on Donald Trump to "tell his supporters that violence in the political process in America is not acceptable."

The Vermont senator was asked about the Republican front-runner's statements that the Sanders campaign sent protesters to disrupted Trump's rally in Chicago.

Sanders called Trump a "pathological liar" and said his campaign has never encouraged "anybody to disrupt anything." He added he hopes "Mr. Trump tones it down big-time and tells his supporters violence is not acceptable in the political process."
TeleStroke.jpg

Dr. Sher Ghori remotely assesses a patient in a simulation of TeleStroke. Nurses Carol Hardin and Joseph McNeal assist.

(Steve Pearce/courtesy SAMC)

Three months ago, the state's largest insurance company began covering telemedicine - a form of treatment that uses secure internet and video streaming to connect doctors to distant patients.

The technology has been in place for years, but funding has lagged. Now proponents hope the decision by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama to reimburse for some services will help spur the growth of telemedicine in the rural communities that need it most.

In December, Blue Cross announced that it would pay providers to deliver telemedicine services for outpatient cardiology, behavioral health, dermatology, infectious diseases and neurology. Those specialties can be difficult to obtain in small towns and rural hospitals.

Rena Brewer, the chief executive officer of Global Partnership for Telehealth, said such policies are critical for telemedicine, which can help fill the gaps in small communities.

"It's huge," Brewer said. "The states where insurers pay for telemedicine - that's where you're going to find telemedicine growing and thriving."

Medicare and Medicaid began paying for telemedicine a few years ago, Brewer said. Alabama has 80 sites that provide telemedicine, including several in the southeastern corner of the state.

Telemedicine is already changing the way stroke patients are treated in Eufaula. For years, doctors at the small hospital there, Medical Center Barbour, sent stroke patients all the way to Dothan for treatment. Patients who arrived via ambulance at Southeast Alabama Medical Center often missed the three-hour window for clot-busting treatment that can reduce the odds of death and severe disability.

Hospital administrators turned to telemedicine to fix that problem. In 2011, they began raising money for telemedicine carts that could be used in five outlying hospitals. Now, through the TeleStroke program, patients who arrive at Medical Center Barbour can connect with a neurologist based in Atlanta, who can do an evaluation and order immediate treatment. The same goes for patients in Opp, Troy, Geneva and Ozark.

Cecilia Land, the director of the Stroke Network at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, said the telemedicine initiative has greatly improved care for stroke patients. The use of the clot-busting drug tPA has increased from less than 5 percent to almost 30 percent for stroke patients, she said.

"In the past, someone might call the ambulance and say, 'Take me to the medical center,'" Land said. "But sometimes that might take one-and-a-half or two hours. We realized we had to do something for our sister hospitals."

Most doctors and patients have adapted to the new system. Telemedicine carts include tools that allow doctors to monitor vital signs. A nurse sits in the room with the patient, and helps the doctor gather information for a diagnosis.

Some doctors have been slower to adopt the new technology, Land said, and some patients may not be as comfortable talking to a doctor on a computer screen. Still, the system has vastly improved stroke care in smaller communities, she said.

The TeleStroke program is a good example of how telemedicine can help small communities, Brewer said.

"Specialty care is hard to come by in most communities," She said. "In rural communities, it's rally huge if I need to see a dermatologist or endocrinologist or behavioral health."

Last year, the American Academy of HIV Medicine honored the work done by Medical AIDS Outreach of Alabama to provide telemedicine services to rural communities.

Doctors in Montgomery can treat patients in rural communities - many of whom lack regular transportation and may struggle to make it to doctors' appointments, said Alexandria Andersen, program manager for telemedicine.

Visits take place inside a regular doctor's office, which reduces the stigma a patient might feel in an HIV specialty clinic, Andersen said.

About one quarter of patients at Medical AIDS Outreach use telemedicine, and the vast majority like the service, she said. Patients enrolled in telemedicine have very good outcomes, she said, and continue in treatment - which is critical in preventing the spread of HIV.

"We did an evaluation last year, and we didn't get any complaints," Andersen said. "One of the patients wanted bigger screens and so we got bigger screens. We've got patients who think they are on TV so they dress up for their appointments."

The Blue Cross decision is a huge benefit for the telemedicine program, Andersen said, but the clinic has been struggling with the reimbursement system. The problems have resulted in several unpaid claims since the telemedicine policy went into effect, she said.

Payment hasn't been as big an issue for patients in the Stroke Network, since their care was often covered, Land said. The new policy does open up more opportunities for follow-up care. Providers at Southeast Alabama Medical Center have been considering starting a post-stroke care program that would allow nurses to monitor patients via Bluetooth devices. It would allow providers to check in on patients between appointments to make sure they are following a treatment plan.

Even with reimbursement, the field of telemedicine will probably grow slowly, Brewer said.

"Now, will the floodgates open up? I don't think so," Brewer said. "Providers are not used to providing services with technology. You've got to incentivize it. I think consumers will help drive it."
A Mississippi man has admitted to killing an Alabama transgender teen last year, according to a news report.

Joshua Vallum, a member of the Latin Kings gang, was charged with murder of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson and has admitted to killing her, the Sun Herald reported.

Williamson, who was from Theodore, was dating Vallum.

According to an affidavit obtained by the Sun Herald, Vallum beat Williamson to death with a hammer behind his father's home in George County, Mississippi. He later buried her body in a shallow grave on the property.

George County Sheriff's Department Investigator Ben Brown said that the department was looking into motives for the murder, including if it was gang-related, drug-related, or a hate crime.

"We are investigating it as a homicide....like we do any other case," he said.

Vallum, 28, has written to the judge in the case asking for a reduction in his $1 million bond. He said that he would like "a bond of a reasonable amount so that I will be allowed to better prepare myself for trial, sentencing, and incarceration."

While the exact date of the murder is not known, the indictment stated that Williamson died between May 30 and June 2 of last year.

Williamson's death was nationally recognized by Caitlyn Jenner at last year's ESPY Awards.

"They're getting bullied, they're getting beaten up, they're getting murdered and they're committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it is like to be trans today... Just last month, the body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, a transgender young woman of color, was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death," she said.

Early reports said that the teen was stabbed, but police now know that she was beaten.

Read Jenner's full speech here.

Mississippi's law on hate crimes does not include the reason of sexual orientation, but federal law does.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin stands between her husband Todd Palin and Madison County Schools Superintendent Dr. David Copeland. New Hope High School graduation ceremony Wednesday evening May 22, 2014 at the Von Braun Center Propst Arena. (Bob Gatha

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is pictured with her husband, Todd Palin, during New Hope High School's graduation ceremony in May 2014 at the Von Braun Center's Propst Arena. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@al.com)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband was hospitalized after a snowmobile crash, causing the one-time vice-presidential candidate to cancel a Donald Trump campaign stop in Florida on Monday.

Todd Palin is in the intensive care unit following the "very serious" crash, which occurred Sunday night, according to NBC News.

Sarah Palin, who endorsed Trump in January and has been campaigning heavily on his behalf, was scheduled to appear in The Villages, Florida, but the event was canceled minutes before its start time, NBC News reports. She was anticipated to still stop by a Trump town hall in Tampa before heading back to Alaska.

The Trump campaign issued the following statement about the snowmobile accident:

"Todd Palin was in a bad snow machine accident last night and is currently hospitalized. Governor Palin is returning to Alaska to be with her husband and looks forward to being back on the campaign trail soon. Mr. Trump's thoughts and prayers are with the Palin family at this time."
The Obama administration is working to bridge the "diaper gap."

A new program will allow families to purchase diapers at up to a 25 percent discount. The program is a collaboration of Jet.com, the makers of Cuties diapers, and a group of non-profit organizations.

The initiative has two main parts. The first allows anyone to purchase discounted diapers through Jet.com. The diapers will come in a package without any advertising or marketing and will include more items per package. The second part gives non-profit groups that help needy families the ability to buy diapers at an even larger discount, as well as free shipping. The organizations that purchase the diapers must have a plan in place to distribute the diapers to low-income, at-need families, either through resell or donations. If they opt to sell the diapers, they must do so at either the same cost or less than what they paid.

The discount will cover diapers from newborn to size 6. Depending on the size, the Jet discount could allow non-profits to purchase diapers for between 10 cents and 18 cents each, as compared to 30 -50 cents for regular commercially available ones.

For example, people are able to purchase a 108 count box of newborn size Cuties diapers for $14.99; the cost for non-profits will be $11.24. A 144-count box of size six diapers is $34.99 to the general public; $26.24 for qualifying organizations.

The reduced-price diapers are already for sale to the general public on Jet.com. The nonprofit portion of the program is currently accepting applications and the economy packs of diapers will be available for purchase in late April 2016. Jet is also offering free shipping for non-profits taking part in the program.

"Diaper gap"

The effort is designed to close what's known as the "diaper gap."

According to Jet, the poorest 20 percent of Americans with infants in diapers spend nearly 14 percent of their after-tax income - an average of $936 per year, per child - on diapers, an amount almost double that paid by higher income families.

Faced with that high cost, many parents opt to stretch the time between diaper changes, which can expose the child to health risks such as urinary tract or staph infections.

"When you have a baby, diapers are a necessity. They are not optional. Addressing the high cost of diapers for low-income families can help to take one more burden off those families as they strive to reach the middle class, and give the next generation the great start in life that all kids deserve," the White House said when announcing the program.

Federal assistance programs, such as WIC, SNAP or Medicaid, do not cover diaper purchases. And, many low-income families do not have access to warehouse-type stores to purchase cheaper bulk diapers, it added.

"When families can't afford a healthy number of diapers for their babies, they're faced with a choice between buying diapers and paying for food, rent, or utilities like heat," the White House said in a blog post. "That's a choice that no family should have to make."

The blog post said the president is also asking Congress for $10 million to help assist families who cannot afford diapers.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn will tour the William C. Holman Correctional facility near Atmore Tuesday.

The two will meet with prison officials and get an update on the two disturbances that have happened at the maximum security prison since Friday night. They plan to arrive around 9:15 a.m.

The governor's office, which released a media update about the visit, said the disturbances are "examples of the issues have plagued Alabama's prison system for decades."

The visit comes after an early Saturday riot involved about 100 inmates, some of whom took to social media via cell phones to warn about their treatment inside the facility.

Inmates set a fire, seized control of a dormitory and stabbed the warden and a corrections officer during the uprising.

Bentley, on Saturday, blamed a lack of adequate staffing to the problems that led to the weekend chaos. An inmate was stabbed during a separate incident early Monday.

Officers have secured all sections of the prison to prevent the inmates inside the dorm from entering other parts of the facility. The prison is on lockdown and there is no imminent danger to prison staff, corrections officer, or inmates in the secured areas of the facility.

The Holman facility is overcrowded, much like the rest of the state's outdated prison system. According to Bentley's office, Holman has a population of 991 inmates, which is 156 percent of designed capacity.

Alabama has about 24,000 inmates in prisons designed for about 13,000.

The governor has repeated earlier calls for measures to modernize the state's prisons. He's pushed to fund a borrowing plan of up to $800 million through bond issues that would be repaid for through savings the state would make by closing outdated facilities.

Bentley and Dunn's plan is to build three new men's prisons and close 13 of the 15 the state now operates. It also includes replacing Tutwiler Prison for Women with a new facility.

But builders and architects, in recent days, have raised some objections to it. They want the massive construction plan to separate the design from the bidding on the construction phases, while Bentley wants to hire a single contractor for the project through a design/build approach.

The governor has said that the his approach is more cost-effective.

State Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, and a leading prison reform advocate in the Legislature, said on Monday that he felt the bond issue is "on life support."

"The construction companies have not been real happy with the way the bid process is set out," said Ward, who added that he's in favor of Bentley's position.
Mobile Police are investigating an altercation in which a man was shot while attempting to break up a fight between two women Friday afternoon.

Police responded to the 1100 Preston Avenue where a victim stated he'd been shot by an unknown male.

According to the victim's account, he was trying to break up a fight between two women when the suspect shot him in the leg.

The victim and suspect became engaged in a tussle and the victim was able to grab the gun and fire back, hitting the suspect in the abdomen.

"We are working to verify who produced the gun first," Mobile Police Department spokesman Terence Perkins said Monday afternoon.

The victim was treated at a medical facility for minor injuries.
So the city of Birmingham sent a cease and desist letter to the people replacing that stupid eyesore of a Pepsi sign that has polluted the city skyline for too long.

Good job, Birmingham. Always with its fingers on the pulse of the people.

But the city's action is ... inspirational.

It inspires me to consult my own lawyers - Dumas, Collum & Neste - to issue, on behalf of the people of this city, a cease and desist letter to the City of Birmingham itself.

To the Mayor and City Council of Birmingham:

This order is to inform you that we, THE PEOPLE, have had it up to HERE. If we wanted a mayor and council calling each other names and refusing to share basic supplies we would have elected the second grade class at Washington Elementary School. And we would be far better off. You are ORDERED TO STOP such activities immediately as they are in violation of all that is holy.

We are embarrassed to see the MAYOR and COUNCIL MEMBERS fight like overstimulated pre-pubescents in the middle of council meetings, humiliated to know that for every story the world reads in the New York Times about up-and-coming Birmingham, there is another story like that one, proving only that this city is governed like a Banana Republic. And WE THE PEOPLE don't mean the store at the mall.

We demand that you STOP traveling across the country and the world to sell yourselves as important people while failing to bring back even a wisp of worldly wisdom. We order you to STOP spending money on parties and celebrations of your own authority, to END the sad food fight that city meetings have become. They are a time-sucking violation of COMMON DECENCY.

MAYOR WILLIAM BELL you must be responsive to a council that needs to know the overall financial condition and strategy of the city. Anything else is just ARROGANT and IRRESPONSIBLE. You are the mayor, and the chief executive, but you are not the KING OF BIRMINGHAM. When you try to pass bills in the Alabama Legislature to steal powers from the city council you behave JUST LIKE THE COUNCIL and you look like the despot they call you.

Council President JOHNATHAN AUSTIN, grow up. You cannot in good faith criticize the mayor by calling him OLD. Half the population is older than you. And another 25 percent are TOO YOUNG TO VOTE. And, while WE THE PEOPLE are generally in favor of HYPERBOLE, it would be wise for you to understand the context of history before invoking THE BERLIN WALL or BULL CONNOR in city disputes. It is unseemly for someone in your position.

And CITY COUNCIL, please remember your role. You are the legislative branch, so CEASE AND DESIST acting as if it is your job to boss employees around. Legislate, for that is your job. If any of you want to perform mayoral functions then by all means quit your jobs and RUN FOR MAYOR. Until then, act like you appreciate the honor you have been given. But STOP complaining about how hard the job is and STOP giving yourselves perks and pay raises.

This order acts as ONE FINAL CHANCE for you to cease your MINDBOGGLING activities before WE THE PEOPLE exercise our rights to KICK YOU BUMS OUT ON THE STREET.

STOP embarrassing us. CEASE AND DESIST putting yourselves above the people you were elected to represent. ACT like leaders, and not just SELFISH politicians.

With all DUE respect.

Sincerely,

The People of Birmingham
Lilly Ledbetter.jpg

Lilly Ledbetter has gained national attention as a champion of equal pay for women.

Dr. Natalie Davis, Howell T. Heflin Professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College. (BSC)

By Dr. Natalie M. Davis, Howell T. Heflin Professor of American Politics at Birmingham-Southern College and Past Board Member of The Women's Fund of Greater Birmingham

As Alabama voters return from their Super Tuesday polling places and the election cycle continues, a new report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) has given women cause for concern about where the state is headed: Alabama ranked dead last on the status of women among the southern states.

The findings from this report--which gave Alabama a D- based on how women in the state are faring in six different areas related to women's economic, social, health, and political status--are a wake-up call for all residents. One thing the report made clear is that Alabama's workers, voters, and legislators need to start taking women's earnings seriously.

Even with The Women's Fund of Greater Birmingham and other organizations working to move women into higher wage jobs, there is only so far women can get without equal pay. For Alabama families, equal pay can make the difference between living below or above the poverty line, and between having access to high-quality child care, schools, and colleges, or only being able to afford poorer quality alternatives. For the economy overall, unequal pay is stunting economic growth.

At $32,000 per year, women's median yearly salary in Alabama ranks among the bottom ten nationally. This is not just because earnings in the state are low for everyone--the gender wage gap in Alabama is one of the worst in the South.

Alabama women only make 73 cents for every dollar earned by a man, compared with 80 cents for the region and the rest of the country. Furthermore, Hispanic women make the lowest in Alabama than they do in any other state in the South, earning a mere $21,000 per year in the state, compared with $28,600 nationally.

Over half of families in Alabama have a breadwinner mother, who is either the sole provider for the family or whose earnings make up a significant portion of family income, which means that low earnings for women is a problem for all of us. In addition to low earnings, one in five women in Alabama lives in poverty, ranking the state 48th in the country. Even more concerning is that Alabama has the third highest share of single mothers in poverty in the South, with over half of mothers who raise children on their own living in poverty.

IWPR found that equal pay would have cut poverty for Alabama's working women by more than half, a staggering 54 percent. But women, and the families that rely on their earnings, are not the only beneficiaries of equal pay. If all working women in the state had been paid the exact same as comparable men--that is, men of the same age, level of education, and urban/rural status, and who work the same number of hours--Alabama would have added $6.7 billion to the state's

The Women's Fund of Greater Birmingham empowers women and children in the move beyond poverty by creating positive social change through collaboration, grantmaking, and advocacy.
Two candidates say they are not sure they can support Trump if he wins the GOPs nomination for president.

There has been a change in the Republican presidential race over the past few days.

It may have been barely noticeable. But it is important and could have a significant impact come the general election in November.

Lets take things back to Friday. Donald Trump organised a big campaign rally in Chicago. Many people lined up before dawn to attend, but a significant number were not Trump supporters.





They were there to protest against the Republican frontrunner.

They werent quiet or discreet while in the hall. They made their presence known and their voices heard.

At some point in the afternoon, the Trump campaign discussed things with the Chicago police. Donald Trump says they couldnt guarantee they had enough officers to cope with any unrest. The police say that simply isnt true.

Whoever is right or wrong, the Trump campaign decided to postpone the event.

As people left the hall, there were angry confrontations between Trump supporters and those who celebrated shutting him down. With tensions high and emotions inflamed, a few of the exchanges erupted into fistfights.

The police cleared the hall, but that pushed the violence on to the streets where, again, there were a number of fights.

One American TV channel described the situation as a near riot, but more measured heads said that while it was loud and angry, the clashes were small in scale and sporadic in nature.

Trump insisted that he did the right thing to protect people, saying professional protesters and thugs were inciting the crowd.

READ MORE: Donald Trump and electing Islamophobia

A short time after the cancellation, one of Trumps Republican rivals, Ted Cruz, spoke to the media. The Texas senator condemned those who would try to restrict the first amendment rights of others, but insisted that Trump himself had set the tone.

When you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discourse, Cruz said.

On the campaign trail Trump has had to face a lot of protesters.

At various times he suggested punching those who object in the face, throwing them out in sub-zero temperatures after removing their coat, and said that in times past such people would have left the hall on a stretcher.

At a rally in North Carolina, a 78-year-old man hammered a forearm smash into the face of a demonstrator who was being led from the hall.

He has now been charged with assault and Trump says hes considering paying his legal fees.

But despite the problems in Chicago, Trump has not changed his approach

So what has changed?

READ MORE: Donald Trump blames Bernie Sanders fans for violence

On Thursday, during the last Republican debate, the candidates were asked if they would support the nominee no matter who it was.

All agreed.

But 48 hours later those positions appeared more flexible.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio told the media he didnt know if he could support Trump if he won. Its getting harder each day, he said.





You wonder if were headed in a different direction today where were no longer capable of having difference of opinion but in fact protests become a licence to take up violence and take on your opponents physically.

American politics is turning into the comments section of a blog.

And Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has tried to keep his campaign positive, said if Trump won it would be extremely difficult to support the Republican ticket in November.

In a later interview he wouldnt say if he thought the billionaire businessman was fit to be president

For two senior Republican figures  candidates for the US presidency, no less  to question if they could support their own party in a general election is significant and indicative of how uncomfortable the party is with the rise of Trump.

It could actually split the Grand Old Party.

Trumps campaign has no precedent in modern presidential races. And it may actually change the face of politics in the US.
Glasgow, Scotland  It is a multibillion-pound weapons system that is praised by its supporters and derided by its critics.

Britains ageing nuclear deterrent, known as Trident, which is based at HM Naval Base Clyde on Scotlands west coast, is today under the spotlight as attention turns towards a parliamentary vote to endorse the principle of its replacement.

This month saw Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, announce a 642m ($910m) spend on the programmes renewal, which, coming months before any vote is likely to be called, took the money already invested in the project to almost 4bn ($5.6bn).

On February 27, tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of London to show their opposition to the renewal of the system, which is currently made up of four Vanguard-class submarines carrying Trident missiles.

Leading the demonstrators were two of Britains most high-profile anti-nuclear politicians  opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Scotlands first minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Nicola Sturgeon.

It is the recent rise of both figures in British politics  Corbyn when he unexpectedly won the Labour leadership last September and Sturgeon when her anti-nuclear (and pro-Scottish independence) SNP gained 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in last Mays UK general election  that has put the question of Tridents renewal into sharper focus.

Timothy Edmunds, a professor of international security at the University of Bristol, told Al Jazeera that these two new features have given the debate an openness  with perhaps more potential to change things than at any point in a long time.

The other new feature, of course, is that this is the first decision to renew a nuclear weapons system for the UK that has taken place outside of the context of the Cold War, continued Edmunds. So there are the two domestic political reasons and a broader strategic difference that have given the debate a slightly different character.

A costly vanity project

The ruling Conservative Party of Prime Minister David Cameron is overwhelmingly in favour of replacing Trident with four new Successor submarines at an estimated cost of 41bn ($58bn).

Yet the voices of 56 strident anti-nuclear SNP politicians (up from six SNP MPs in the 2010 UK general election) have added political weight to the discussion.

But Corbyns lifelong unilateralist convictions  despite bolstering the SNPs Trident position in parliament  have caused deep rifts within his own party.

Labours current UK-wide official policy is to support renewal  but in January Corbyn dropped pro-Trident Maria Eagle as his shadow defence secretary in favour of an anti-Trident replacement who is now heading a review of the partys defence policy.

To complicate matters further in the British Labour family, Scottish Labour revealed its own opposition to the programmes renewal at its annual party conference last November.

The dynamics of party politics apart, the re-emergence of the nuclear debate has re-ignited passionate arguments on both sides of the divide.

For anti-nuclear campaigners, who were left angered by Fallons pre-emptive spending move, Trident (and its potential replacement) is seen as an economic obscenity and an affront to humanity.

With US Defence Secretary Ash Carter indicating last month that Britains place as a global power largely depended on its retention of nuclear weapons, many activists view the system as nothing but a vanity project.

The major threats that we face today are climate change and terrorism, and nuclear weapons do nothing to deal with that, said Arthur West, the chairman of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND).

He told Al Jazeera that Michael Portillo, a former British Conservative defence secretary who served in the post from 1995 to 1997, was one of an increasing number of people with military and defence experience who are saying that [Britains nuclear deterrent] doesnt serve any military value.

A matter of prestige?

From Britains pro-nuclear perspective, such arguments cut very little ice. Peter Sandeman is one Trident advocate who believes that its replacement with Successor is a military and security necessity  no matter what the cost.

The biggest single argument for [Trident and its replacement] is Russia, said Sandeman, who is the editor of Save the Royal Navy  an independent online platform that strives to highlight the concerns of Britains naval warfare force. He said that it was alarming how often reports emerged of Russian aircraft nearing British airspace or its vessels sailing close to British territorial waters.

To me, and although people talk about the Cold War being over, I would argue that we are effectively in another kind of Cold War already, the editor said. Russia, which is the largest nuclear armed state in the world and is investing more in nuclear weapons, is a serious threat to us.

Edmunds, however, questions whether Britains retention of nuclear weapons is a key factor in the country with the fifth largest economy in the world remaining a major player on the international stage.

While possessing nuclear weapons does have a certain element of prestige or status in international politics, Edmunds said, it seems a jump to then say that British prestige is necessarily dependent on Trident [or its replacement].

Prestige can be gained in other ways  like championing disarmament, for example, added the academic. So these are matters of political judgment and there are arguments that can be made from all sides.

READ MORE: Corbyns call to scrap UKs Trident

De-nuclearisation effects

When the Commons vote for Tridents renewal is eventually scheduled by the prime minister, the parliamentary arithmetic is likely to favour the systems multibillion-pound replacement, which, suggested a January poll for The Independent, is also supported by a narrow majority of the UK public.

The British GMB Trade Union  which boasts more than 600,000 members  recently claimed, too, that thousands of jobs depended on the continuation of Britains nuclear deterrent. Indeed, the UK governments present spend on the update will make it harder to abandon the project, say some analysts.

The British state has seen its fair share of political surprises in recent years, with the rise in support for Scottish independence in Scotland despite the SNPs independence referendum defeat in September 2014, and Corbyns victory in the UK Labour leadership election from the position of rank outsider.

READ MORE: Whistleblower reignites UKs nuclear-deterrent debate

With the UKs forthcoming in/out EU referendum also causing political uncertainty, the prospect of another surprise in the form of a parliamentary vote that would signal a wish to scrap Tridents replacement would, for pro-nuclear campaigners, take Britain into alarming territory.

As well as severely weakening our defence capability it would have a massive industrial impact, stated Sandeman. It would have a huge impact on the whole structure of the Royal Navy  and it would take at least a decade before we felt any financial benefit because the cost of de-commissioning [Trident] would be huge . It would cause absolute chaos.

Follow Alasdair Soussi on Twitter: @AlasdairSoussi
Budapest, Hungary  Sanyia Sabyan has lived on the streets of the Hungarian capital for six years, unable to return to his former job as a construction worker and not lucky enough to find a new job.

With his dog Artur, he sleeps on the streets each night, often facing police harassment and braving temperatures that fall far below freezing. I havent eaten today, the 47-year old told Al Jazeera, explaining that he makes sure Artur has food before ensuring that he feeds himself. The police are always harassing me, he said.

In September 2013, the right-wing-dominated Hungarian parliament enabled local governments to criminalise sleeping in public spaces and dumpster diving. Those who violated the law were to be sentenced to community work or fined.

The Supreme Court struck down parts of the law in 2015 because city governments could not demonstrate the protected value of those spaces.

Human Rights Watch has criticised the ruling for not banning the local government from adopting a future decree and identifying the protected value of public areas from where authorities aim to ban homeless people.

Sitting next to the entrance of the metro in Budapests Blaha area, Csabi said he had been homeless on and off for the past four years.

My girlfriend is eight months pregnant, he told Al Jazeera. She was recently diagnosed as HIV-positive. I tested negative. The doctor told her she can live for a long time if she takes medicine every day.
US and South Korean troops have staged a large amphibious landing exercise, storming simulated North Korean beach defences amid heightened tension and threats by the North to annihilate its enemies.

The landing and assault drills on South Koreas east coast were part of eight weeks of joint exercises between the allies which the South has said are the largest ever.

The North has denounced the exercises as nuclear war moves and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a long-range rocket launch last month, triggering new UN sanctions.

About 55 US marine aircraft and 30 US and South Korean ships, including the USS Bonhomme Richard and USS Boxer, which carry AV-8B Harrier attack jets and V-22 Osprey aircraft, took part in the assault on beaches near Pohang city, the US navy said.
Suleimans story gives us clues about what pushes young people to extremism and what can be done to stop the trend.

One day last April, Mohamed, a carpenter in Malindi, a fishing town along Kenyas north coast, was told by a friend to watch the evening news.

There, he saw a photograph of Suleiman, the second of his five sons. Twenty-four-year-old Suleiman was among six young men declared as dangerous members of al-Shabab, with a bounty of $20,000 on each of their heads. Billboards with their faces and the reward for their capture soon appeared in the town centre.

Less than a year later, on January 20, Suleiman was among four al-Shabab suspects killed in a reported shootout with the police in his hometown.





Suleimans father says that growing up, his son was respectful, dynamic and refused to accept that the circumstances of his birth should condemn him to a life of poverty. The entire family saw Suleiman as their way to a better life.

Educated but unemployed youth

To meet their high expectations, Suleiman concluded that he had to leave not only Malindi, but also Kenya.

His plan was to become a driver in Saudi Arabia which would enable him to send money home to his family. But to get there, he needed money to pay the agents who would organise his trip.

ALSO READ: US policies do more harm than good in Somalia

So at 17, Suleiman quit secondary school to work as a labourer, changing tyres and loading cargo on trucks taking goods to the capital, Nairobi. A year later, despite the facilitation fee in hand, the agent dashed his dreams by telling him that he had to be 22 for the Saudi Arabia job.

Unlike previous generations growing up in small African towns, Suleiman was also tech-savvy, having grown up in the age of the information revolution. by

Deflated but undeterred, Suleiman returned to school and graduated, joining an assembly line of educated but unemployed youth. Unlike previous generations growing up in small African towns, Suleiman was also tech-savvy, having grown up in the age of the information revolution.

During the same period, Suleiman came under a different societal pressure  the task of getting married. Marriage marks the transition from childhood to adulthood in his Swahili culture.

Weddings last several days and involve elaborate preparations and ceremonies  a costly affair and beyond the reach of the unemployed Suleiman.

So at 22 Suleiman was already a veteran in personal setbacks, though he still stubbornly believed that his condition would not remain permanent. He packed up and moved south to Mombasa to find greener pastures. This is where, his father says, Suleimans shortcomings were given political and religious meaning.

Centre of radical preaching

Suleiman landed in Mombasa at a time when the beautiful port was becoming a centre of radical preaching that weaved global events such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the invasion of Iraq and the perceived political and economic marginalisation of Muslims in Kenya into a compelling narrative of a global conspiracy against Muslims.

This storyline, freely disseminated via DVD and YouTube videos gripped the imagination of many young Muslims eager for an explanation of their deprivation and seeking a sense of purpose beyond the drudgery of daily life.

Radical Muslim scholars were busy constructing a new morality where neighbours become enemies and killing of the innocent a virtue.

Suleimans father says that the preaching of one particular cleric, Sheikh Aboud Rogo, himself killed in 2012, was a tipping point in the process of his sons radicalisation. Rogo was a charismatic radical preacher with oratory skills loaded with venomous incitement.

Why would this particular young man join a violent extremist group, take up arms against his own country and be ready to kill civilians?

ALSO READ: Somalias year of delivery

Without minimising individual agency and the role of factors such as cognitive susceptibility to manipulation, given Suleimans setbacks, it is fair to say that socioeconomic factors have played a combustive role in the growth of violent extremism in Africa.

Exclusion, injustice, poor governance and unemployment seem to create fertile ground for violent extremism. It is not mere coincidence that the most deprived regions produce a disproportionate number of recruits.

Violent extremism, without a doubt, poses the single biggest threat to Africas steady journey to prosperity. According to the United Nations Development Programme, more than 33,000 Africans have been killed in the past five years and more than 1.2 million others displaced as a result of extremist violence.

In such contexts, sustainable development becomes near impossible, and past gains made over many years risk being swiftly wiped out.

The brunt of violence

The poor bear the brunt of the violence. Extremists target public spaces such as markets and bus stations, forcing people to make a difficult choice between risking death by going to work to earn a meagre living, or risking the very survival of their families.

The international communitys response to this threat has been largely characterised by a security-based approach, with little impact on reducing the growth of violent extremism and in some cases, exacerbating the very problem it seeks to address.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons recently launched Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism itself has more than 70 recommendations for concerted international action ranging from addressing underlying causes of extremism to security measures, better institutions and respect for human rights.

Even with the growth of what one observer has called the terrorism expert industrial complex, we struggle to understand what leads large numbers of young people to join groups such as al-Shabab or Boko Haram, or why one person from the same family chooses to join a terrorist group and another doesnt.

Ultimately, the lessons of more than a decade of responding to violent extremism tell us that it is time for a new way of thinking if we are to halt and reverse the march of extremism not only in Africa, but globally.

Suleiman leaves behind a family devastated by the loss of their son and brother, and a community fractured by fear and suspicion.

While the drivers of violent extremism are multiple, complex and defy easy analysis, his story gives us clues about what pushes young people to extremism and what can be done. Perhaps, had Suleiman been able to realise his goals for a better life for himself and his family, he may not have sought meaning in fanaticism.

Mohamed Yahya is a senior development and conflict prevention specialist for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Based in Addis Ababa, he is responsible for regional development initiatives in support of the African Union and Africas Regional Economic Communities.
The first responsibility of a state is to protect its citizens.

Is Turkey a failed state? Its fourth major terrorist strike in five months suggests that it is headed in that direction.

A car bomb ripped through a transport hub in the centre of Turkeys capital on Sunday evening, killing at least 37 people and wounding 125.

Last month terrorists struck only a few blocks away, killing 29 on the heels of a January attack in Istanbul, in which 12 people died, and a few months after Turkeys deadliest-ever terrorist attack killed 102 people, also in Ankara.

What is worse is that this time the attack had been foretold. On Friday afternoon, the United States Embassy in Ankara issued a warning of a terrorist plot targeting government buildings in Ankara.

Following Sundays attack, the embassy issued a statement, explaining that it had learned last week of threat information through a Turkish government warning on social media.

So, the government may have known of a looming attack as far back as Wednesday or Thursday, and may have had three or four days to respond, to deploy security teams throughout the city centre, to issue warnings to all departments and to tap its vast intelligence apparatus for clues and suspects or launch raids on potential terrorist cells across the city.

Questioning authority

Did it do these things? Perhaps. Yet, somehow terrorists were still able to strike one of the most high-profile sites in the capital, beside a popular park and a couple hundred metres from the Ministries of Justice and Education.

A deadly civil conflict decimating cities in its southeast, a high-profile bombing every month, millions of refugees, terrorist cells throughout the country, and an increasingly authoritarian government ... by

This spot, in Ankaras Kizilay district, is comparable to Foggy Bottom or Farragut Square in Washington DC, central transport hubs within shouting distance of the heart of United States power.

An attack at these locations, days after a high-profile warning, would be a gross security failure, an embarrassment for which heads would roll. The first responsibility of every citizen, according to one of the founding fathers of the US Benjamin Franklin, is to question authority.

Yet, when Turks question their leaders about these security failures, they tend to receive deflection and smirking, rather than responsible leadership.

The first responsibility of a state is to protect its citizens. But in recent months Ankara has proved itself incapable of keeping enemies from entering the country via its border with war-ravaged Syria, or of stopping terrorists from attacking the heart of its largest city or the centre of its capital, even after being warned.

Its also shown itself largely unable, despite great effort, of keeping thousands of people from squeezing on to boats heading across the Aegean to safer harbours.

OPINION: Turkeys missed opportunity

In their ongoing negotiations with the European Union on a deal to curb that migrant flow, Turkeys leaders have sought to re-open accession negotiations. But their country now has more in common with its neighbours to the south than those to the northwest.

A deadly civil conflict decimating cities in its southeast, a high-profile bombing every month, millions of refugees, terrorist cells throughout the country, and an increasingly authoritarian government  These realities put one in mind of Egypt, Libya or Tunisia, not Greece, Hungary, or Austria, forget Germany or France.

Pakistanisation of Turkey

Turkey is now a borderline failed state. We may be witnessing early signs of the Pakistanisation that analysts have warned about since at least 2014.

Ankara famously supported radical groups in the early days of Syrian Civil War, allegedly allowing jihadists to funnel weapons and fighters through the country and into Syria. This echoed Pakistans backing of the Taliban during the Afghan war, which of course led to radical jihadists seeping back across the border into Pakistan and wreaking havoc.

OPINION: Turkey is sinking into the quagmire of Syria

Thousands of Turks are said to have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, which has repeatedly declared its antipathy to Turkey (PDF).

At the same time, since violence flared anew last summer, thousands of Kurdish militants have been at war with the Turkish state. Turkish officials have said that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated group, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which claimed the last Ankara attack, is likely to be behind this latest bombing.

Kurdish militants have little recent history of attacking civilians, so we might consider alternatives. There is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, ISIL also known as ISIS, responsible for previous attacks in Suruc, Diyarbakir, Ankara and Istanbul. Or, though highly unlikely considering their differences, it could be that within Turkey, ISIL has begun working with Kurdish militants to attack a common enemy.

The PKK, labelled a terrorist group by the US and EU, has already joined forces with an array of armed leftist groups to fight Ankara, and according to a researcher for the International Crisis Group a disproportionate number of the Turks who have joined ISIL are of Kurdish origin.

The Syrian war has been known to make strange bedfellows, and a weaker, more desperate Turkey focused on domestic security would be a boon to both groups.

Or the perpetrator could be even closer to home. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been calling for a constitutional change to install a presidential system for eons, and if Turks believe Kurdish militants are now attacking civilians, the Kurdish-led Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) would have little chance of maintaining its parliamentary position in the event of an election.

OPINION: Turkey is not really a failing state

This would open the door to a greater majority for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and clear the way to constitutional change.

But setting aside the conspiracy theories and assuming the likeliest suspects are to blame, the attack would mark a major shift for Kurdish militants, harkening back to the dark violence of the 1990s, when masked PKK gunmen would shower civilian buses with bullets.

Even before Sunday it was abundantly clear that Turkey needed to refocus on security, to start anew and begin, step by step, to eradicate its vast, deeply embedded terrorist infrastructure. It could start by moving towards peace with the PKK then follow the Saudi model, as I previously advised. But it needs to do something.

After the February attack, Turkey implemented what Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called extraordinary security measures in Ankara. They seem to have made little difference. Our people should not worry, Erdogan said shortly after Sundays attack, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success.

Early today, Turkey began bombing PKK positions in northern Iraq. All evidence suggests Ankara subscribes to an eye-for-an-eye security policy. It has failed so far, and Turks have been paying the ultimate price, by the busload.

Anybody can respond to an attack. The real challenge is to prevent them.

David Lepeska is a freelance journalist based in Istanbul. His work focuses on Turkey and the Middle East.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Ivory Coast has been a target since it became Frances regional base for countering terrorism in the Sahel.

Ayesha Kajee is a human rights activist and political analyst with a special focus on African governance and development. She tracks elections and democratic consolidation in the region.

The attack on the LEtoile du Sud in the Ivorian coastal town of Grand Bassam by al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), proves beyond doubt that the terrorist network has penetrated far beyond its origins in the Algerian hinterland.

Coming hard on the heels of AQIMs attacks on hotels in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso in January, and the Malian capital of Bamako last November, which killed 30 and 20 people respectively; the death toll from this latest carnage in Ivory Coast stands at 16, mostly civilians, and with several foreigners among the victims.

Witnesses claim to have seen between four and six gunmen, but while the Ivorian government has stated that six attackers were killed by the military personnel who were quickly deployed to the scene, AQIM claims that only three of its operatives were deployed on the mission.





After the January offensive, France warned Senegal and Ivory Coast that they were the next targets on AQIMs hit list, according to intelligence gleaned from wire-taps.

Both countries beefed up security at borders and in major cities, especially at locations where foreigners are likely to congregate, and the US advised its citizens in Abidjan and Dakar to avoid tourist hubs.

Inevitable attack

At the time, the International Crisis Groups Cynthia Ohayon expressed concern about whether the intelligence services of these countries have sufficient means to prevent such an attack.

READ MORE: Ivory Coast attack  Beyond the targets

An attack on Ivorian soil has been well-nigh inevitable ever since France made Ivory Coast its regional base for countering terrorism in the Sahel in 2014, and especially given the 3,000 French soldiers that are based in the country.

An attack on Ivorian soil has been well-nigh inevitable ever since France made Ivory Coast its regional base for countering terrorism in the Sahel in 2014... by

But Grand Bassam is situated on the south Atlantic coast, far from the northern Muslim-majority regions that border Burkina Faso and Mali, which might logically have been expected to be the areas in which AQIM would, at least initially, base its Ivorian operations.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Grand Bassam is also less than 50km southeast of the capital Abidjan, the political, economic and military powerhouse of the nation. Thus, the audacity and the location of this attack confirm that AQIM has penetrated and gained strength within the southern, Christian-dominated parts of the country.

Given Ivory Coasts recent history of civil strife between its Christian and Muslim populations, the government should be on high alert to prevent any outbreak of religion-based conflict catalysed by the AQIM attack.

While incumbent President Alassane Ouattara retained power in a landslide victory in October 2015, and is widely credited with revitalising the countrys economy, which had been decimated by the civil war; his detractors, who include supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo, may utilise the terrorist attack to mobilise sentiment against him and, indeed, to foment anti-Muslim/anti-northern sentiment.

Radical message

The Ouattara government too, has been less than diplomatic in some of its dealings with the Muslim-dominated north, with a 2015 moratorium on the construction of mosques and a blanket ban on preaching by foreign imams.

Such a strategy could foment resentment among conservative communities in a region that is already economically depressed and underdeveloped in terms of basic services; where citizens who feel forgotten and marginalised see their culture being proscribed, and may become more receptive to the radical message of AQIM and its allies.

Mauritanian news site al-Akbar names the Sahara emirate of AQIM, together with a group called Al-Murabitun, as having carried out the Grand Bassam attack; the same groups that were responsible for the attacks on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako and the Splendid hotel in Ougadougou.

The Sahara Emirate, based in Mali, is known to be led by Yahya abu Hammam, and has claimed responsibility for several attacks within the Sahel in recent years. Meanwhile, Al-Murabitun is led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an experienced former AQIM commander who split from AQIM some years ago but was re-integrated into its ranks late last year.

READ MORE: Deadly attack hits Ivory Coast tourist resort

The combined reach and military capacity of these two organisations working in coordination should not be underestimated, as the leaders alone contribute a high level of strategic and combat experience in operations ranging from Algeria in the east to Niger in the West.

In addition, AQIM and its affiliates throughout the Sahel are believed to be well-funded from the fees they demand from the human and drug-trafficking convoys en route to the Mediterranean from West Africa, particularly in Mali and Niger.

French-led pushback

Triumphant press reports of the French-led pushback against terrorism in Mali have failed to highlight that the trafficking routes are still largely controlled by rebels who pay AQIM for passage through areas that the government has been unable to secure. Not least, the strong links between AQIM and its counterpart AQAP (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, ensure that AQIM has alternative channels to access funds and arms.

Lastly, the ongoing global rivalry between al-Qaeda and ISIL means that a new scramble for Africa has opened up, especially in North and West Africa. ISIL victories in the Middle East have signalled a corresponding decline of al-Qaeda in that region, and AQIM is currently the most successful regional affiliate of al-Qaedas global terror franchise.

The current upsurge in North and West Africa may well be al-Qaedas method of reasserting itself on the international terror map. If so, the Grand Bassam attack is unlikely to be the last such operation in the region, especially if ISIL affiliates in areas such as Nigeria decide to take on the challenge from AQIM.

While France is likely to escalate its intelligence and military support within its former colonies in the region, especially given the extensive French economic interests in the region, intergovernmental coordination at the African Union level and within its regional bodies in West and North Africa will be a crucial factor in preventing and limiting further attacks in the region.

Ayesha Kajee is a human rights activist and political analyst with a special focus on African governance and development. She tracks elections and democratic consolidation in the region.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The indirect targets of the Ivory Coast attack are both France and a commitment to secularism in western Africa.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the Grand-Bassam attack in Ivory Coast that left at least 16 people dead on Sunday. This latest attack indicates a strategic shift by the terrorist group: spreading fear and instability further south and destabilising the capitals of the countries involved in fighting against its Sahel bastions. After smearing the streets of Ouagadougou and Bamako with blood over the past six months, the terrorists have added a new country on their list of targets.

In all three cases, such attacks have been intended to derail a steady process of institution building. The objective of these attacks is to fuel hatred and xenophobia while impeding the economic development of societies where fundamentalists hope to recruit more zealots.





The biggest enemy and strongest weapon against fundamentalism is a healthy democratic society promoting a multi-party system and guaranteeing freedom of expression.

Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, a continent whose economic development is often hampered by the weakness of its political institutions.

Targeting hotels

By targeting hotels frequented by Western tourists and entrepreneurs, the terrorists are hoping to attack African economies at their heart, damaging its tourism sector and hampering the attraction of foreign investors.

Sundays attacks in Grand-Bassam followed this objective as did the recent attack against the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou and the raid again the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital Bamako.

ALSO READ: Deadly attack hits Ivory Coast tourist resort

Similarities are striking between the three attacks even beyond the choice of targets. Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast are three countries which had successfully overcome an era of turmoil to organise peaceful presidential elections.

In Ivory Coast, the last five years have been impressive in terms of institutional reconstruction after the coastal nation was riven by two religious wars... by

In Ivory Coast, the past five years have been impressive in terms of institutional reconstruction after the coastal nation was riven by two religious wars from 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 between a government-held Christian south and northern regions under the control of Muslim rebels. As a result, Alassane Ouattara was re-elected by a landslide in a relatively peaceful election last year.

Far from traditional cliches and the image that terrorists want to spread, Western Africa has changed over the past few years. From the peaceful transition in Nigeria between Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari to the stepping down of president Amadou Toumani Toure in conformity with the Malian constitution or the rebirth of democracy in Burkina Faso, the continent has proved its capacity to steadily move towards sustainable democracy despite the terrorist threats.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Mali, Roch Marc Christian Kabore in Burkina Faso and Alassane Ouattara in Ivory Coast were each elected after widely acclaimed ballots in which their opponents peacefully admitted defeat and publicly congratulated the winning candidates.

If Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, and Boko Haram have suffered severe military defeats on the ground recently, the biggest drawback for fundamentalists has been the resilience of Western African societies and their capacity to answer with a commitment to democratic rule.

If the recent terrorist attacks aim to scare away investments essential to African development, they are no more than painful defeats in a war for democracy that is being steadily and slowly won.

Targeting secularism

Beyond Ivory Coast, the indirect target of Sundays attack are both France and a commitment to secularism in western Africa. Indeed, in 2014, Paris announced that its former colony would be its base for fighting Islamist terrorism in the Sahel region.

A 3,000-strong task force of French solders has been based there ever since. Similarly in July 2015, foreign imams were banned from preaching in mosques in the north of Ivory Coast and the government suspended the construction of new radical mosques around the northern city of Ouangolodougou. The renewed French involvement in the subcontinent is hampering the progression of fundamentalists ideology and interests.

Each of the Western African countries recently attacked by AQIM benefited from the benevolent support of the former coloniser, France, and Francois Hollandes administration, which broke away from his predecessors resolute decision to support authoritarian leaders at the expense of democratic demands.

If French interference in African domestic affairs is far from over, the approach is vastly different. Sarkozys speech belittling the African man who had failed to enter history has thankfully been replaced by a more humble support to endogenous institution building supported by the current French president.

The growing political democratic stability of Western African countries which face terrorist threats on a daily basis is also a lesson for populations in industrialised countries in Europe and the United States. While the latter have decided to cower into debates on national identity and to turn more and more towards populistic leaders  from Donald Trump to Viktor Orban or Marine Le Pen  the former have shown a political maturity that breaks with the obsolete cliche on Western Africa.

The outcome of the war on terrorism in the continent will depend on the capacity of African societies to continue supporting their newly democratically elected regimes. The same holds true for Europe and the United States following the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

If local populations turn their back on mainstream liberal parties and answer the xenophobic calls of extreme movements and leaders, then the terrorists will have achieved their objectives. This would boost their capacity to recruit and only increase the rate of attacks.

Whether in Ivory Coast, Mali or in Burkina Faso, whether in recently stricken Indonesia, Turkey or Tunisia, the reinforcement of liberal democracy is the only cure to the terrorist cancer.

Remi Piet is assistant professor of public policy, diplomacy and international political economy at Qatar University.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
After repeated and renewed provocations by the North, the gig is up for Abe and his two-track approach with the North.

J Berkshire Miller is the director of the Council on International Policy.

Last week, North Korea delivered another shock to the international community with its release of photographs, through its state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, claiming that it has perfected the process of miniaturising nuclear warheads to be placed on its ballistic missiles.

If accurate, such claims would effectively provide the North with short to medium-range capabilities to deliver a nuclear strike aimed at either South Korea or Japan. Pyongyang has long maintained the capability to strike Japan conventionally with its missiles, but these new developments would prove to be a game changer  not only for Tokyo but for the region more broadly.

North Koreas somewhat predictable cycle of provocations  underscored by its announcement of miniaturisation, along with its recent nuclear and missile tests  has jolted the United States, South Korea and Japan to look at ways to bolster their deterrent to further aggression from Pyongyang.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council  under heavy pressure from Washington, Seoul and Tokyo  unanimously adopted the toughest set of sanctions against the North in years (PDF).

There is also renewed talk of potentially deploying a more sophisticated  and controversial  anti-ballistic missile system to the Korean peninsula to deter Pyongyang from attempting to leverage its technological advances for nuclear blackmail.

A unique relationship

But while the Norths isolation  both regional and international  continues, there is another glaring defeat for the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Since his election in late 2012, Abe has stressed the importance of resolving the long-running unresolved saga of kidnapped Japanese nationals brought to North Korea. During the 1970s and 1980s, several Japanese nationals were abducted from coastal areas of Japan and other parts of the world.

As tensions continue to increase on the Korean peninsula, it is time now for Abe to cut his losses and maintain a united front alongside the US and South Korea in deterring the Kim Jong-un regime. by

Despite repeated efforts to resolve the matter, Tokyo has been unable to achieve much traction. The closest Japan has come to closure on the matter was the return of five children from the abductees, which followed former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumis landmark meeting with Kim Jong-il in 2002.

Meanwhile, Abe staked a considerable amount of diplomatic capital on resolving the abductions issue and extended an olive branch to the North in 2014 with the relaxation of unilateral sanctions in return for Pyongyangs agreement to launch an official inquiry into the matter.

Tokyo also loosened regulations against North Korean ships entering Japans ports and promoted the exchange of humanitarian aid. There was even some talk that Abe might visit North Korea, if a breakthrough could be achieved.

Abe stressed that this approach to the North was focused solely on the abduction issue, and would have no impact on Japans united stance  along with the US and South Korea  against Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programmes.

Despite this insistence, both Washington and Seoul watched Japans approach to the North with concern and latent disapproval.

A risky two-track approach

Now, after repeated and renewed provocations by the North, the gig is up for Abe and his two-track approach with the North. Last month, Japan imposed retaliatory sanctions on the North following its missile test  staged as satellite launch.

Pyongyang responded by terminating the inquiry on the abductions, effectively cutting the lifeline Abe had worked so hard to establish. The hostility between the two sides has increased even more after the subsequent imposition of new UNSC sanctions and the attention-seeking news release by the North highlighting their advances on miniaturisation.

OPINION: Now North Korea has nothing to lose

In retrospect, it was not too hard to see this end  as both tracks of Japans policy on North Korea consistently overlapped despite Tokyos attempts to decouple them.

In fact, Tokyo previously pushed for this intersection as evidenced by the inclusion of abduction discussions on the sidelines of the now moribund Six Party Talks.

With denuclearisation talks effectively dead, the Abe government gambled with a more risky two-track approach to North Korea, by hedging between a hawkish line on Pyongyangs missile and weapons of mass destruction programmes and a more dove-ish approach on the abductions.

This gamble has failed. As tensions continue to increase on the Korean peninsula, it is time now for Abe to cut his losses  at least for the time being  and maintain a united front alongside the US and South Korea in deterring the Kim Jong-un regime.

In addition to bolstering trilateral deterrence, Japan should also continue to seize the positive  but fragile  momentum with South Korea that has been established after last years important agreement on resolving the issue of comfort women.

Specifically, Seoul and Tokyo should look at tightening the net on the North through agreeing to bilateral pacts on military information sharing and cross servicing.

The two sides would also benefit from undertaking more serious discussions, alongside their US ally, on contingency planning in the event of regime collapse in the North.

A united front would also put more pressure on China  the Norths only ally  to concretely support, rather than paying mere lip service to, the idea of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

J Berkshire Miller is the director of the Council on International Policy and is a fellow on East Asia for the EastWest Institute.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Al-Qaeda-linked group accused of trying to take advantage of partial ceasefire in Syria to exert its influence.

Al-Nusra Front fighters swept through a rebel-held town in northern Syria in a display of dominance,

arresting US-backed fighters and looting weapons stores belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The fighters belonging to the al-Qaeda affiliate along with other armed groups have been moving to exert their authority over rebel-held areas in Idlib province since a partial ceasefire to the countrys five-year conflict took effect two weeks ago.

The FSAs 13th Division said on Twitter on Sunday that al-Nusra Front fighters were going door to door in the town of Maarat Numan and arresting its cadres. Seven Division 13 fighters died in clashes the night before.

READ MORE: Syria accused of trying to disrupt peace talks

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said al-Nusra Front seized anti-tank missiles, armoured vehicles, a tank, and other arms from the division, which has received weapons, training, and money from the United States government.

It said al-Nusra Front and the Jund al-Aqsa group imprisoned 40 fighters from the FSA division.

Maarat al-Numan had a pre-war population of about 60,000 and saw some of the liveliest demonstrations calling for President Bashar al-Assads fall in rebel-held areas over the past two weeks.

The protests were possible because the partial ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia brought relative peace to many beleaguered areas.

But armed fighters have repeatedly tried to suppress the demonstrations in Idlib province, where they maintain a strong presence.

The challenges have threatened to fracture the array of forces allied to prevent Syrian government forces from retaking northern Syria.

Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that violence in Syria has been reduced by 80 to 90 percent since the UN-sponsored cessation of hostilities came into effect on February 27.

Since the ceasefire, however, the Syrian government and its opponents have traded repeated accusations of breaches.
Six gunmen storm Grand Bassam beach town, killing at least 16 people before security forces shoot them dead.

Al-Qaedas North Africa branch claimed responsibility after six gunmen opened fire on civilians at an Ivory Coast beach resort, killing at least 16 people.

Bloody bodies were sprawled on the beach and witnesses described horrific scenes as a lazy Sunday afternoon was shattered by West Africas latest attack.

Fourteen civilians and two special forces soldiers were killed before the six assailants were gunned down in the resort of Grand Bassam. Sundays attack targeted three hotels in the southeastern town about 40km east of the countrys economic capital, Abidjan.

Ivory Coasts President Alassane Ouattara arrived in Grand Bassam a few hours after the shooting rampage.

I present my condolences to the families of the people who were murdered, and of course I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast, Ouattara said outside the Etoile du Sud, one of the targeted hotels. The toll couldve been much heavier.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

Bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners.

It was the third major attack on a tourism centre in West Africa since November.

Some witnesses said the assailants fired at random, while others said the killing was more targeted. Witness Marcel Guy said gunmen raced across the beach in small groups, toting Kalashnikov rifles and hunting for victims.

One gunman, who had a long beard, approached two children on the beach and Guy said he heard the man speaking Arabic. One of the children then knelt and started praying. He was spared, while the other boy was not.

The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes, Guy said.

READ MORE: Deadly attack hits Ivory Coast tourist resort

Nii Akuetteh, an Africa policy analyst, told Al Jazeera security officials in the region would be closely watching the situation.

African borders in general and in the Sahel in particular are pretty porous  Im not surprised that they got all the way to the south of Ivory Coast. The prudent thing to do is to assume this will not be the last attack, said Akuetteh.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November, and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

Analysts had warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit as well.

The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Cote dIvoire in the Grand Bassam. We send our thoughts and prayers to all affected by this senseless violence, US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
Supporters of Germanys new anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party have celebrated after winning support in three regional elections with results that would have been unthinkable a year ago.

German Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, however, suffered a major setback in the three key state polls on Sunday, apparently over her liberal refugee policy.

The CDU was defeated in two of the three states in regional elections, and scored a historic low 27 percent in its stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg where it came in second place after the Greens.





The populist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which had sparked outrage by suggesting that police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them entering the country, recorded double-digit support in the first elections they have stood for in all three regions.

What an amazing evening, Andre Poggenburg, the AfD leader in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, said in a fiery speech in the state capital Magdeburg, calling the result brilliant.

We fought like lions for your land, he said, dismissing Merkel as the worst chancellor in the history of Germany.

Formed three years ago in opposition to eurozone bailouts, the AfD has morphed into an anti-refugee party over the past year, kicking out its founder and seizing on a record influx of refugees to lure new voters and steal disaffected members of Merkels conservatives.

READ MORE: Germanys Refugee Crisis

[The people] fear that they will be the losers of the refugee crisis. I dont think that its a real threat, but the people feel that its a threat, and thats why theyve voted for the anti-refugee party, Wolfgang Renzch, a political scientist in Germany, told Al Jazeera.

On Sunday the AfD won a shocking 24 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, to become the second-biggest party in the state parliament.

The AfD also performed better than polls predicted in the two other states, winning nearly 15 percent in the

prosperous southern region of Baden-Wurttemberg and more than 12 percent in Rhineland Palatinate,

a western wine-making state.

READ MORE: Reporting for refugees in Germany

Exit polls showed that the AfD drew most of its support from people who previously hadnt voted for a party, but they also drew thousands of voters from Merkels conservatives, particularly in Baden-Wurttemberg.

The AfD narrowly missed the five percent hurdle needed to enter the federal parliament in 2013, but is now represented in the state assemblies of half of Germanys 16 states.

While populist, anti-immigrant parties have thrived for years in other European countries, Germany has

been an exception, in part because opposition to far-right ideologies runs deep because of the countrys Nazi past.

The refugee crisis has changed all that. More than a million refugees entered Germany last year, unsettling many Germans and turning the AfD into a force on the national stage almost overnight.
At least 47 Iraqi soldiers have been killed in a series of attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters near the strategic city of Ramadi, military sources said.

The first attack took place overnight on the headquarters of the 3rd rapid deployment force and other military barracks in the villages of Qutainiyah and Zuwaiyah, near Zankurah town, the sources told Al Jazeera on Monday morning.

At least 22 soldiers were killed and a further 16 security personnel were injured in the attack.

OPINION: Iraq  Beware the liberation of Mosul

On Monday afternoon, two separate ISIL suicide car bombers struck Iraqi Security Force convoys in the villages of Safiyrah and Abu Taiban, about 30km northwest of Ramadi.

At least 25 soldiers were killed and another 20 were injured in the twin attacks.

Iraqi forces declared victory over ISIL in Ramadi in late December and have since cleared most of the western city.

Meanwhile, Kurdish officers in northern Iraq claimed to have taken into custody an American fighting for ISIL.

Two officers who arrested him said it appeared the man was intending to escape both ISIL and Kurdish forces but handed himself in after peshmerga soldiers opened fire on him in the village of Golat.

Captain Daham Khalaf said they had spotted the fighter hiding in long grass around dawn and waited until the sun rose before surrounding him.

He shouted I am a foreigner, Khalaf said, describing him as bearded and dressed in black.

The fighter did not have a passport but was carrying a US driving licence and spoke English and broken Arabic, according to General Hashim Sitei who spoke to him.

We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports, a State Department official in Washington said.
Rape accusation the latest incident to heighten tensions on southern island that houses about 25,000 American troops.

Japan protested on Monday to the United States over an alleged rape by an American sailor on Okinawa which has renewed ill feeling on the southern island towards the US military presence there.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the sailors arrest was extremely regrettable. He said the government also demanded that Washington tighten discipline among US personnel and take steps to prevent similar problems.

Okinawa police arrested a US Navy seaman at Camp Schwab on Sunday.

Police say he is suspected of sexually assaulting a Japanese tourist in her 40s as she slept at her hotel earlier that morning. The sailor has not been formally charged.

Kyodo News agency said the woman was sleeping in the hallway and the seaman allegedly dragged her into his room and raped her.

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told reporters the case is a serious crime and blatant violation to womens human rights.

About half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan are based in Okinawa, and its residents complain about noise and crime from the bases. Sex crimes are a particularly sensitive issue on the island.

A 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen sparked an outcry, eventually leading to an agreement to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a less crowded part of the island.

That plan has stalled since because many residents want the base entirely moved outside Okinawa.
Rights groups denounce detentions as the latest sign of the erosion of freedom of the press in the country.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  The Malaysian government has again come under fierce criticism after detaining two Australian journalists who tried to question Prime Minister Najib Razak about alleged mass corruption.

Reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu, who work for ABC televisions Four Corners show, tried to approach Najib at a mosque in Kuching on Saturday, but were arrested for allegedly breaching his security in an aggressive manner.

Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said the Australian journalists action was improper as the

prime minister was not giving an interview or media conference. The two were released on bail on Sunday but ordered not to leave the country.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Monday, their lawyer Albert Tang said: My clients did not see any security line and they did not hear any instruction not to cross a so-called line.

Tang said police submitted a report to the deputy public prosecutor who will consider criminal charges.

Human rights groups attacked the move as yet another example of an ongoing crackdown on free speech in Malaysia.

READ MORE: Hashtag backfires in Malaysia PMs campaign

The arrest is another kick in the teeth for freedom of the press in Malaysia, and shows the incredible lengths that the authorities are prepared to go to to protect Prime Minister Najib from any sort of hard questions about his actions, said Phil Robertson, of Human Rights Watch.

Rights group lawyers for Liberty also criticised the arrests. Executive Director Eric Paulsen said the detentions were shocking and unacceptable.

Such high-handed behaviour unfortunately sends a chilling message to the press to self-censor on issues such as corruption and the prime minister.

While this is the first such action involving foreign journalists, it follows a widening crackdown on any reporting related to the prime minister and the indebted state investment fund 1MDB, and $681m found deposited in a private bank account of Najib.

The figure was said to be a donation from the Saudi Royal Family.

Websites blocked

Malaysian websites The Sarawak Report and The Malaysian Insider have been blocked on local servers, along with the regional news portal Asia Sentinel, for their reporting on the scandals.

The Edge also had its publishing licence suspended for several months last year.

Robyn Choi, secretary-general of the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM), also denounced the journalists treatment.

HAKAM is appalled at the arrest and detention of the Australian journalists and the confiscation of their passports, she said.

Although HAKAM has been made to understand that the passports have been returned, this is still a total violation of the rights of journalists to investigate and report and to ask tough questions to arrive at the truth.
Meeting in Geneva called moment of truth as government and opposition representatives pledge support for dialogue.

Syrias top government negotiator has described as positive and constructive his meeting with the UN special envoy for Syria after talks resumed in Geneva to end the conflict.

Bashar Jaafari, Syrian ambassador to the UN, said on Monday the government was interested in a dialogue that is Syrian-led without foreign intervention and precondition.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Geneva, Salim al-Muslet, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said his side was also optimistic but it insisted on a political transition in Syria without [President Bashar] al-Assad.





I believe that there are positive points that we can count on, he said.

We are keen to find a solution that would lift the suffering of the Syrians.

For Assad to be in power is not acceptable.

The HNC has said it expects the Geneva discussions to include Assads departure and a timeframe for elections.

However, Jaafari, who is leading the government delegation, said the oppositions talk of removing Assad was an attempt to derail the peace talks before they could even begin.

He said some taking part in the talks are trying to sabotage this round once again.

Earlier in on Monday, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, said the resumption of talks was a moment of truth for Syria.

Repeating his line that there is no plan B  other than a return to war  De Mistura asked to hear from all sides of the conflict but said he would have no hesitation in calling in the big powers, led by the US and Russia, if the talks get bogged down.

If during these talks and in the next rounds we see no notice of any willingness to negotiate  we will bring the issue back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the US  and the Security Council, he said.

Far apart on future

A fragile ceasefire has largely held since February 27, and humanitarian aid deliveries have resumed in recent weeks.

Al Jazeeras Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from Geneva, said De Mistura wanted negotiations to focus on substantive issues, including a new constitution and UN-monitored elections.

The government and opposition delegations were far apart on the future of Assad.

Our correspondent said De Mistura was likely to proceed with an abundance of caution.

Mr De Mistura, throughout this, has been very keen to be positive and keep the momentum growing, because he knows there really are different crunch issues and if he was to dive into those straight away, the talks would collapse, he said.

TALK TO AL JAZEERA: Staffan de Mistura says no plan B for Syria

Yes, he says he wants substantive talks. Yes, he says he is going to deal with the mother of all issues  political transition  but he is going to do it very carefully.

As the negotiations opened on Monday, UNICEF, the UN agency for children, highlighted the humanitarian crisis on the ground in Syria, saying that more than 80 percent of Syrias children had been harmed by the five-year-old conflict.

UNICEF said a third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a full-blown civil war.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.
Israeli military says alleged attackers shot dead after two separate car-ramming incidents at a settlement entrance.

Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians during alleged attacks at the entrance of an Israeli settlement as deadly violence in the occupied territories continues unabated.

The Israeli military said two Palestinians drove their car into a bus stop, then opened fire on soldiers waiting at the entrance of Kiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron on the southern West Bank on Monday.

Forces guarding the area responded and shot the alleged attackers, the army said. A soldier was wounded and evacuated to a hospital.

About 20 minutes later, a car rammed into a military vehicle at the scene and soldiers shot dead the Palestinian driver. Three Israeli security forces were wounded in the second attack.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health confirmed the deaths.

In recent months, Palestinian protests against Israels decades-long occupation have intensified. Rights groups have accused Israeli forces of responding harshly to demonstrations.

Since October 1, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 199 Palestinians, including unarmed demonstrators, bystanders and attackers, more than 55 from Hebron.

Meanwhile, Palestinian attackers have killed at least 28 Israelis, mostly in stabbing attacks.

The surge in violence erupted in Jerusalem in October after an increase of Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islams holiest site outside Saudi Arabia. Many Jews revere the area as a vestige of their biblical temples.

Palestinians blame the violence on oppression and deep disillusionment after peace negotiations collapsed two years ago.
Hours after peace talks resume in Geneva, Putin orders withdrawal of main Russian force, declaring goals achieved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a pull out of the main part of his troops fighting in Syria.

The announcement came just hours after peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition got under way in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday.

The task presented to the defence ministry and the armed forces has been completely fulfilled, Putin told Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, according to the state news agency TASS.





Thus, I order the defence minister to begin withdrawing the main part of our troops from the Syrian Arab Republic.

However, Russias bases in Syrias Tartous and Khmeimim will continue their normal operations.

Our bases  the naval base in Tartous and the airbase at the Khmeimim airfield  will operate in a routine mode. They are to be safely protected from the land, from the sea and from air.

Putin said he hoped the withdrawal of Russian troops from Tuesday will be a stimulus for a political resolution of the conflict.

I hope todays decision will be a good signal for all conflicting parties. I hope it will sizeably increase trust of all participants in the process, he said.

I ask the Russian foreign ministry to intensify Russias participation in organising the peace process to solve the Syrian problem.

Shoigu said Russian forces have killed more than 2,000 rebel fighters, including 17 rebel leaders, since the start of the operation.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said Putin discussed and coordinated the decision with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

Everything voiced at the meeting [of Putin, Sergey Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, and Shoigu] was conveyed to our Syrian colleagues and coordinated with President Assad, Peskov said.

RELATED: Negotiators optimistic as Syria peace talks resume

Those Russian soldiers who stay in Syria will be engaged in monitoring the ceasefire regime, Putin said.

Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russia defence analyst, said Russia is seeking a compromise with the West.

This is Russias air force that is in action, he told Al Jazeera from Bucharest, Romania.





This doesnt mean that Russia is withdrawing from Syria or abandoning the Assad regime. But it does mean Russia is seeking a compromise Russia is absolutely not ready to take on the West over Syria.

Earlier on Monday, after talks resumed in Geneva to end the conflict, Syrias top government negotiator described as positive and constructive his meeting with Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria.

Bashar Jaafari, Syrias ambassador to the UN, said his government was interested in a dialogue that is Syrian-led without foreign intervention and precondition.

For his part, Salim al-Muslet, of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said his side was also optimistic, but he insisted on a political transition in Syria without Assad.

I believe that there are positive points that we can count on, he told Al Jazeera from Geneva. We are keen to find a solution that would end the suffering of the Syrians. For Assad to be in power is not acceptable.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.

A fragile ceasefire has largely held since February 27, and humanitarian aid deliveries have resumed in recent weeks.








Beirut  Just off Beiruts bustling Hamra Street, the unassuming two-storey building with weather-stained walls and scarlet shutters known as the Red House is dwarfed by a forest of modern tower blocks.

It may not look like much from the outside, but the Red House is one of the oldest in the Ras Beirut neighbourhood, built by the influential Rebeiz family in the late 1700s. Over the years, it has hosted some of the countrys most important political figures and a few celebrities, including jazz musician Louis Armstrong.

Today, the Red House is one of the last traditional villas in Hamra, but its existence has come under threat in recent months after the homes current owners, descendants of the Rebeiz family, requested a demolition permit. A subsequent campaign to save the Red House ended successfully last month, when Lebanons culture minister declined to grant the permit. Still, heritage activists worry that more battles may lie ahead.

The Red House is safe for now, [but] it is not classified in any way, said architect and urban planner Antoine Atallah, a member of the NGO Save Beirut Heritage. It is not on the inventory of historic buildings, and the owners could use certain legal channels which could break the ministrys decision and give them the right to demolish the house.

READ MORE: Fight builds for Beiruts cultural heritage

Paola Rebeiz, who spent much of her childhood in the Red House but is not among its current owners, told Al Jazeera that it had previously been a meeting place for many of the men who would go on to establish and rule over an independent Lebanon.

The seeds of independence were sown in this house, Rebeiz said. It was easier to visit the house than to meet somewhere else, because if you had 10 men meeting publicly [it would attract unwanted attention].

The Pink House, in nearby Manara, was also the subject of a huge publicity campaign after it was opened to the public for the first time last year, during an exhibition by British artist Tom Young. Built in 1882 on a hillside overlooking the Corniche, the Ottoman villa has long been a landmark in Beirut.

After it was purchased several years ago by a prominent local property developer, some speculated that it would be razed to make way for a lucrative new high-rise.

Although the developer, Hisham Jaroudi, has rejected such speculation and instead cited plans to restore the Pink House  which has hosted a variety of guests over the centuries, from former French President Charles de Gaulle to American abstract artist John Ferren  restorations have yet to begin, and the property is degenerating further by the day.

The fight to save such prominent old homes has underscored the ongoing threats faced by many of Beiruts old buildings, from the lack of legal protection for post-17th-century architecture, to old rent laws that encourage landlords to demolish, to zoning laws that cater to developers rather than private owners.

Atallah says Lebanons old rent laws are a major factor in the citys swiftly disappearing heritage. Properties rented before 1992 remain subject to strict rent controls, protecting long-term tenants from price increases.

A controversial new law, introduced in 2014, will gradually raise rental prices in Beirut to market value  a move that rights groups fear will abolish diversity and drive poorer residents from their homes. While Atallah has reservations about the new law, he says the old rent system is untenable.

I think these buildings play a very important part in our unconscious and the way that we read a city. by Tom Young, artist

It is certainly advantageous to renters who would never have the means to pay rent at the current rates in Beirut, but at the same time its unjust to the owners, and since they do not get much money out of their properties, they dont invest in them, he told Al Jazeera.

Often they become damaged over time, which makes it easier to ask for demolition  The only thing that can force a tenant out is if the owner requests a demolition permit, and this is why many owners go to this extreme.

In addition, laws relating to the protection of architectural heritage in Lebanon apply solely to buildings dating from before the 18th century, excluding Beiruts Ottoman and French mandate-era architecture. This means that even when a demolition permit is refused, it is possible for the buildings owners to contest the decision.

They go to the shura council and complain that their demolition permit was unlawfully refused, and since there is no law that allows for a refusal of the demolition permit, then very often the Ministry of Cultures decision is overturned and the demolition is allowed, Atallah said.

Compounding such problems, a law passed in 2004 loosened restrictions on the height of buildings in crowded neighbourhoods, leading to soaring land prices and further incentivising property owners to demolish old buildings and sell their plots to developers.

Owners have been known to damage their own properties in the dead of night in the hope of obtaining a demolition permit. The problem has become so acute that Save Beirut Heritage has set up a 24-hour emergency line so that anyone who witnesses a property being damaged can report it immediately.

IN PICTURES: The battle for Beiruts skyline

Atallah says Beirut needs a master plan with a clear vision for the citys future development, including provisions for safeguarding heritage zones. Minister of Culture Raymond Araygi told Al Jazeera that while many post-17th-century buildings are of great importance, not all would have the same architectural value.

But if there are a lot of old buildings within a concentrated area, then they could be of general interest because they constitute a memory of the city and its social fabric, Araygi said, noting that the government recently finalised a draft law that would include measures to protect such buildings.

We are reviewing it and will send it to the other relevant ministries, like the Ministry of Public Works and the Municipality of Beirut and the Muhafiz of Beirut, to get their opinions before sending it to the council of ministers.

Young, the artist who recently exhibited his work inspired by the Pink House in London, believes that Beiruts old mansions should also be accessible to the public.

I think these buildings play a very important part in our unconscious and the way that we read a city, he told Al Jazeera. If single developers choose to knock them down because they want to make money for themselves and their families, its really very irresponsible  They really belong to the people, and the people who financially own them are sort of custodians  thats what I believe.
Syrias ambassador to the United Nations says any discussion of a transition in power in the war-torn country is off the table as peace talks get under way on Monday in Geneva.

Bashar Jaafari, leading the government delegation to Switzerland, said in an interview with Syrian state TV late on Sunday that discussions on removing President Bashar al-Assad by the opposition were an attempt to derail the so-called proximity talks before they even begin.

Its premature to talk about a transitional period for Syria, Jaafari reiterated. The talk about such an existential issue that defames a symbol of the Syrian republic sovereignty [Assad] is firstly a rush to fail the talks and the efforts of the UN envoy to make this new round of talks successful.

Syrias main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, has announced it expects Geneva discussions to include Assads departure and a timeframe for elections.

READ MORE: UN envoy de Misturu: No Plan B for Syria

Speaking after talks with European allies in Paris on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and Iran would need to press their Syrian ally to show that Damascus is living up to what had been agreed on the peace talks agenda.

President Assad is singing on a completely different song sheet and sent his foreign minister out yesterday to try to act as a spoiler and take off the table what President Putin and the Iranians have agreed to, Kerry said.

Inside Story  Is federalism the answer in Syria?

Mondays talks will coincide with the fifth anniversary of a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the worlds worst refugee crisis, and allowed the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

Al Jazeeras Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from Geneva, said UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has stated that he wants negotiations to focus on substantive issues, including a new constitution and UN-monitored elections.

I think what is important this time around is that we seem to be getting to the key crunch issue  the future role of President Assad and those close to him, Bays said.

READ MORE: Syrian government rejects UN call for elections

De Mistura told Al Jazeera that under the current cessation of hostilities, there is a higher chance than ever of achieving a political solution in Syria.

The Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, however, has repeatedly called for Assads departure in order for peace to take hold.

We consider that the transitional period begins with the departure of Bashar al-Assad  or his death. It cannot be a stage where this regime, or the head of this regime, continues to be in power, said Mohammed Alloush, HNCs senior negotiator.

The talks on Monday are part of the first diplomatic push since the Russian air force intervened in September to support Assad, tilting the war in his favour and helping the government reclaim significant areas in the west.
As critical negotiations begin, UNICEF reports 80 percent of Syrian children have been harmed by the five-year war.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria says the resumption of peace talks between Syrian government envoys and representatives of the opposition is a moment of truth for the war-torn nation.

Staffan de Mistura spoke to reporters on Monday moments before proximity talks were resumed in Geneva, a month after they were suspended amid an upsurge in violence in Syria.

Repeating his line that there is no plan B  other than a return to war  De Mistura asked to hear from all sides of the conflict but said he would have no hesitation in calling in the big powers, led by the United States and Russia, if the talks get bogged down.





If during these talks and in the next rounds we see no notice of any willingness to negotiate  we will bring the issue back to those who have influence, and that is the Russian Federation, the US  and the Security Council, he told a news conference.

The talks came as he said a fragile ceasefire had largely held since February 27, and humanitarian aid deliveries had resumed in recent weeks.

Al Jazeeras Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from Geneva, said De Mistura wanted negotiations to focus on substantive issues, including a new constitution and UN-monitored elections, but that the government and opposition were far apart on the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

Bays said the envoy was likely to proceed with an abundance of caution as talks opened.

Mr de Mistura, throughout this, has been very keen to be positive and keep the momentum growing, because he knows there really are different crunch issues and if he was to dive into those straight away, the talks would collapse, he said.

Yes, he says he wants substantive talks. Yes, he says he is going to deal with the mother of all issues  political transition  but he is going to do it very carefully.

TALK TO AL JAZEERA: Staffan de Mistura says no plan B for Syria

Syrias main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, or HNC, has announced it expects Geneva discussions to include Assads departure and a timeframe for elections.

However, Bashar Jaafari, leading the government delegation to Switzerland, said in an interview with Syrian state TV late on Sunday that the oppositions discussions on removing Assad were an attempt to derail the peace talks before they had even begun.

As the negotiations opened on Monday, the UN agency for children highlighted the humanitarian crisis on the ground in Syria  saying more than 80 percent of Syrias children had been harmed by the five-year-old conflict.

UNICEF said a third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since the uprising against Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a full-blown civil war.

The fighting has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.
Near Arum, Syria  Five months ago, Mohammad Khamis, a 14-year-old boy from a small village in southern Syria, lost his leg in an aerial bombing carried out by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

His family later drove to the al-Junairi camp in the countrys northwest to escape the violence in their home village. But Khamis does not like his life in the camp, and misses school. There is nothing  I just sit outside the tent and watch the kids playing around me, he told Al Jazeera.

Junairi camp, which sits on a barren plot of land in Aleppo governorate, hosts about 1,500 internally displaced persons who were forced to flee their homes because of Syrias five-year-old civil war. Most of the camps residents, who come from across Syria, live with their families in tents and other makeshift homes, both above ground and underground.

Residents of the camp complain that water and electricity is lacking. Living conditions here are difficult, as drinking water in particular is sparse, said Ahmad Rabea, who is from western Syria. Electricity is only on for four hours a day, Khamis added.

READ MORE: Syrian civil war  Hundreds renew pledge to oust Assad

Compounding these problems, the camps resources are being strained by newcomers. Many of those interviewed by Al Jazeera have arrived at the camp within the past four months  including Rabea, who first left his home in 2011 when the civil war began, and has since moved to various camps throughout the country in search of better living conditions.

The ceasefire that took effect last month sparked hope that hostilities would cease. Dalia al-Awqati, the director of programmes for North Syria with Mercy Corps, noted: The conflict is less intense [but] there are still attacks on particular areas. Were hopeful, but its too early to tell.

Junairi camp is somewhat isolated from the brutal fighting that has left more than 250,000 people dead. But despite the limited ceasefire, conflict continues to embroil parts of Syria, including northwestern areas near Junairi. As a result, the camp is likely to keep receiving people every day, placing a strain on its already limited resources.

Inside the camp, residents say they feel more or less safe  at least for the time being. The security situation is relatively acceptable, Rabea told Al Jazeera. There are bombings near the camp, but no injuries among the population so far.

Rabea and others said the Free Syrian Army controls the area around the camp, while aid organisations, both local and foreign, provide water and electricity.

Sometimes local councils from Arum give us [food] aid, said Um Ammar, a woman in her fifties who requested that her full name not be used.

Faisal Ghanam, 53, who arrived at the camp three months ago with his three children, said residents receive aid from Mercy Corps every month, including blankets and other winter supplies that can be picked up in nearby Arum. Delivering aid in war-torn Syria is difficult, though, and Junairi residents note that help does not always arrive when it is needed.

Recent escalations have made it harder in certain locations [to deliver aid and services], Awqati said, noting that the population of northern Aleppo governorate doubled in less than two weeks because of a government offensive on rebel-held areas of the city in early February.

UPFRONT: Has the world betrayed Syria?

Despite the challenges, Mercy Corps has been working to deliver aid and services to displaced Syrians in the area. We provide water and sanitation services, non-food items, and new-arrival/hygiene kits that cover all their food needs for two weeks, Awqati said.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, at least 6.6 million people were displaced within Syria as of December 2015  and most of those displaced in 2015 had already been forced to flee a previous time.

Ghanam said he came to Junairi rather than seeking refuge abroad because he refuses to leave his beloved Syria.

Of course I dont want to leave my country. On the contrary, I want to return to my village, he said, noting he fled his village because of frequent clashes and bombings. The men and youth should stay in their homeland and defend it. If the youth go, who will stay?
Thousands march out of Idomeni, where 12,000 have been trapped in filthy conditions owing to closure of Macedonia route.

More than a thousand people have reached the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia after leaving an overflowing refugee camp near the northern Greek border.

The group arrived in Moine, 5km inside Macedonia, on Monday, according to the Macedonian television station TV Sitel.

The refugees marched away earlier from the tent city near Idomeni, where at least 12,000 people have been stranded in filthy conditions since Macedonia and other nations blocked their route north along the so-called Western Balkan route.

Images from the border showed hundreds of refugees wading through a narrow river stream to reach Macedonia.

Later, a second group of 500 refugees set off from Idomeni to follow them.

READ MORE: The booming fake passport market for refugees in Athens

They were trying to find a gap in the barbed-wire fence that Macedonia has built along its border to deter the refugees, many of whom come from warzones in Syria and Iraq.

They want to head north to wealthier European Union nations such as Germany.

Late on Monday, police in Macedonia said they would take steps to return the refugees to Greece.

Police and army have heightened security on the border at critical points, the Macedonian police spokesperson said.

She said she believed several hundred people had crossed the border, lower than an estimate of 2,000 made by a Reuters photographer earlier.

Long cavalcade

Heading west from the camp in a long, snaking cavalcade along muddy paths, the refugees, wearing coats and hats, carried their belongings in rucksacks and bags.

The group included many children, some walking, others on strollers.





Some of the refugees made victory signs as they walked along.

There was no sign of police following the refugees.

When they reached Crna Reka river, the refugees passed a rope across it and formed a human chain to cross.

Several people carried children across on their shoulders.

After crossing the Crna Reka near the village of Hamilo, the refugees reached the border fence and walked along it trying to find a way through into Macedonia.

Earlier, Macedonian police said two men and a woman drowned while trying to cross a river close to the Greek border that had been swollen by heavy rain.

Greece has stepped up efforts to move thousands of refugees near the Macedonian border to sheltered camps amid fears about the spread of infectious diseases.

EU leaders and Turkey are due to meet again on Thursday and Friday to seal a deal to try to check the refugee flow from Turkey to Europe through Greece.
Funerals held for victims of Sundays blast in the capital as jets strike Kurdish groups bases in Qandil mountains.

Turkeys air force has hit Kurdish targets in northern Iraq after a car bombing struck the Turkish capital, Ankara, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 70 others.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said nine F-16s and two F-4 jets on Monday raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), including the Qandil mountains where the groups leadership is based.

The retaliation was reported as funerals were held in Ankara for the victims of Sundays bombing.

The air strikes targeted ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters.

The Turkish military said the targets were hit with precision, and a PKK spokesman confirmed the strikes.





Police also carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining suspected PKK members, Anadolu reported.

The private Dogan news agency said at least 36 suspects were taken into custody.

Fifteen suspected Kurdish fighters were also detained in Istanbul, Anadolu said.

Mehmet Muezzinoglu, Turkeys health minister, gave a toll of 37 on Monday but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two.

Security officials told Reuters news agency that a female member of PKK was one of two suspected perpetrators.

A police source said her severed hand had been found 300 metres from the blast site.

The second suspected bomber was a male Turkish citizen with links to PKK, Reuters cited a Turkish security official as saying.

There has not been any claim of responsibility for the bombing.

Sundays attack was the second powerful blast to rock Ankara in three weeks.

READ MORE: Ankara bombing and the failing Turkish state

Witnesses said the blast set vehicles on fire and heavily damaged several buses.

The explosion sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred metres from the justice and interior ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister.

These attacks, which threaten our countrys integrity and our nations unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

Local broadcasters reported that an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook, Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the car bombing were shared on social media.

Sundays attack comes only three weeks after a suicide car bombing in Ankara targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people.

We know how and when we will respond, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkeys prime minister, told Al Jazeera in an interview, referring to the February attack.

Definitely, those who made this attack against our people will pay the price. But how and when, we will decide. And when it happens, everybody will see that Turkey can respond [to] any challenges and any attack against it.

A Kurdish armed group, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which is an offshoot of the outlawed PKK, claimed responsibility for that attack. TAK says it split from the PKK.

Turkey has been fighting on multiple fronts. As part of a US-led coalition, it is battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), which has seized territory in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

It is also battling the outlawed PKK in its southeast, where a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire collapsed last July, prompting the worst violence since the 1990s.

Turkey sees the unrest in its largely Kurdish southeast as deeply linked to events in northern Syria, where the Kurdish YPG militia had been seizing territory as it fights both ISIL and rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad.

READ MORE: Turkish PM  Those who attack will pay the price

Turkey fears those gains will stir separatist ambitions among its own Kurds and has long argued that the YPG and PKK have close ideological and operational ties.

In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces and says it does not target civilians.

ISIL has carried out at least four bomb attacks on Turkey since June 2015, including a suicide bombing which killed 10 German tourists in central Istanbul in January.
Business leaders credit border trade, now at prewar levels, with preventing humanitarian crisis from getting worse.

Gaziantep, Turkey  The United Nations-brokered peace talks coincide with next weeks fifth anniversary of the Syrian conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the worlds worst refugee crisis, and allowed the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group.

While the fighting rages on, hundreds of companies have sprung up in the Turkish city of Gaziantep to ship food and other essentials across the border into Syria.

Turkish business leaders say the trade is preventing Syrias humanitarian crisis from getting worse.

I think that the aid and food items that cross from Turkey do avert a bigger crisis, if people are starving, they will come to Turkey notwithstanding borders or bombs, said Eyup Bartik, chairman of Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce.

UN figures show that trade between Turkey and Syria is at prewar levels.

Once the goods cross the border, they are transferred to Syrian lorries and it could all just as easily end up in the hands of the ISIL.
First Emirati jet lost since Saudi-led Arab coalition began its operation against Houthi rebels in March 2015.

An Emirati fighter jet taking part in a combat mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen went down, killing the two pilots aboard.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels being lost since the campaign began in March last year.

Two UAE pilots were killed in the crash, which was caused by a technical failure, the coalition said in a statement.

It did not say when and where the plane went down.

However, security officials in Yemens southern city of Aden said the jet crashed on Monday in the citys western district of al-Buraiqeh, where parts of its wreckage were found.

The jet went down after hitting a mountain in the area while flying low on a mission against insurgents believed to be members of al-Qaeda, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Yemen has been torn apart by conflict for the past two years. More than 6,100 people have died  half of them civilians  since the Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Yemen in March 2015, according to the UN.

The conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis across the country.

More than 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while the World Health Organization has warned that Yemens healthcare system is on the brink of collapse.
The case against Assange is as political as it is legal; where does it go from here? Plus, Kenyas election influencers.
Sarai Chavarria yelled Boycott Wendys! as she marched Friday.

The UF history senior walked from Norman Field to the Reitz Union with more than 120 other people to boycott Wendys. The fast-food company has not signed onto the Fair Food Agreement, which would require it to pay Florida farmers an extra penny per pound of tomatoes.

The Coalition of Hispanics Integrating Spanish Speakers through Advocacy and Service, or CHISPAS, is a student group that educates others about issues facing immigrant communities. CHISPAS partnered with The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a human rights organization, to organize the march, Chavarria said.

Members of the CIW stopped in Gainesville as part of a 10-day Workers Voice tour to educate students about Wendys, she said. In addition to Florida, the CIW has also gone to Ohio, Kentucky and New York on its tour.

The club held the march to pressure Wendys to sign the agreement, the 25-year-old said. Four of the top five major fast-food companies, including McDonalds and Burger King, have signed.

Its important that students are involved because they are consumers, Chavarria said. Without knowing the issues, they themselves are exploiting the farmworkers.

The agreement would ensure safe working conditions and provide workers a bonus, according to the CIW website.

Wendys would be the last of the top five companies to join, Chavarria said.

She said its important for students to stand with Immokalee workers. Students can tell Wendys to join the agreement by refusing to spend their money there and boycotting.

If we dont help the communities that need it the most, then it doesnt say much about our democracy that we have in this country, Chavarria said.

Leonel Perez, a part-time employee at the CIW and a farm worker, came to Gainesville for the march.

Students are consumers, said Perez, in an interview translated from Spanish. They have a big voice in demanding fair foods.

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Perez said he has seen many positive changes in the agriculture industry as more companies sign the agreement.

Karla Avila, a UF criminology and law sophomore, said that as a Latina, she feels strongly about farm workers rights.

Avila said students should know that not all people earn a minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, but she said she has met field workers who earn $6 an hour.

She said farm workers are trying to achieve a better life but struggle with the low wages.

We come to this country trying to pursue the American dream, and sometimes the system just doesnt comply, the 20-year-old said.
Know Where Coffee shops coffee reminds Denisse Almeida of the lattes in Miami.

The shop, situated at 1226 W. University Ave., will celebrate its one-year anniversary with a latte art competition tonight.

I havent found coffee like that in Gainesville anywhere else, Almeida, a 22-year-old UF aerospace engineering senior, said.

Owner and manager Alfonso Guerrero-Villa said the event is free for spectators and $5 for competitors, who can sign up at 6:30 p.m.

We wanted to showcase what weve done, he said.

The first pours will begin at 7:15 p.m, Guerrero-Villa said, and the collected entry fees will be awarded to the top two or three winners, depending on attendance.

Aside from a steam pitcher, he said, participants will not be allowed to use other tools.

Guerrero-Villa said he serves coffee from global regions such as Guatemala and Rwanda, along with Tampa, the hometown of a coffee roaster who will help judge participants.

Two baristas go head to head, then judges go and pick between one of those two people, Guerrero-Villa said.

Siria Gamez, a 26-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation senior, said she is excited to see what patterns the baristas make.

I mean, Im Hispanic, and I think a latte is the closest thing to a cafe con leche, she said. I also like the aesthetic of the latte  you have the heart and all that in the latte.

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Its a good thing Emma Campbell looked outside Saturday afternoon.

From her balcony at Aviara Apartments, Emma Campbell, a Santa Fe College student, saw a boy in the complex pool at about 3:45 p.m.

As 16-year-old Zyvion Speed-Mitchell lay motionless under the water, Campbell realized he wasnt playing.

She ran out of her apartment and jumped the fence and jumped in and saved him, Zyvions mother, Carmelia Speed, said.

Campbell dragged his limp body to the surface and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

If the rescue had taken just a few minutes longer, Zyvion could have suffered cardiac arrest, permanent brain damage or death, said Gainesville Fire Rescue Operations Chief Michael Cowart.

After the body goes without oxygen for more than about six minutes, muscle tissue begins to die, he said.

Zyvion, a sophomore at Eastside High School, does not remember the incident well, but his mother said its clear who saved him.

Even as her son recovers at UF Health Shands Hospital, Speed cannot believe Zyvion came so close to disaster.

Since the Gainesville Police Department posted about the rescue on its Facebook page Saturday, more than 10,000 people have liked it, as of press time.

Campbell has declined every interview thus far, GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said.

Its just something embedded in certain people where they feel called to help, but they dont necessarily want the recognition, Cowart said.

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Speed heard a knock at her door Saturday afternoon.

She was confused after receiving the news from one of Zyvions friends.

Why would her son, who is scared of water and doesnt know how to swim, go near a pool?

Speed then grabbed her 12-year-old daughter and took a five-minute drive to the apartment complex.

When I got there, I saw some of the kids from the neighborhood, and they stopped my car and told me that Zyvion had drowned, and that he was in the ambulance on his way to the hospital, she said.

At Shands, nurses directed Speed to her sons hospital room, where doctors said he would be OK.

Speed said she greeted Campbell with a strong hug and showered her with praise.

Shes definitely part of our family for the rest of our lives, she said. I mean, she saved my son.

  

On Feb. 28, another Santa Fe student jumped into action.

Rachel Sheehan, 18, noticed a man in cardiac arrest at the Oaks Mall, at which point she applied CPR and then followed him to the hospital, Cowart said.

He said 70 percent of people want to help in an emergency situation but dont know how.

Having that knowledge and being able to know how to react in case something happens is invaluable, Cowart said.
The U.S. has the second-highest prison population rate, according to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research and the World Prison Brief. While the U.S. touts itself as the home of the free, this seems contradictory to American values. Mass incarceration is a lose-lose problem: Those who are needlessly incarcerated lose the ability to integrate easily into society and the taxpayers are footing the bill for something that ultimately does not make us any safer. According to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, the costs for housing an inmate can be around $30,000 a year, but this does not take into account the social costs of high rates of incarceration.

Each person imprisoned is a missing family or community member. It seems logical that longer jail sentences for more criminals will make people safer, but this is an oversimplification. While the political climate may seem more polarized than ever, according to Matt Fords article Can Bipartisanship End Mass Incarceration? efforts to end mass incarceration have bipartisan support, even getting backing from Koch Industries  unfortunately, as tough-on-crime rhetoric also once has bipartisan support.

With such widespread support for a solution to mass incarceration, one would think a solution would already be in the works, and the issue would not be up for discussion anymore. Sadly, thats not the case. On the Democratic side, there is a difference of opinion when it comes to what the root of the problem really is. Chelsea Clinton, when campaigning for her mother, emphasized how she believes the solution is about jobs and education, not at the prison level, which is essentially saying, those people shouldnt have gotten arrested in the first place.

It completely disregards the external factors that contribute to high incarceration, such as mandatory minimum sentences, long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and three-strikes rules. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have an incentive to take this approach, as Politico reported she has received contributions from prominent for-profit prison lobbyists. For these institutions, more prisoners equal more profits. Although donations are not always quid pro quo, this makes it clear where Clintons interests lie on this issue.

In contrast, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes into account how external factors affect whether a person ends up incarcerated, such as race. According to Sanders website, when he spoke to a crowd in Des Moines Sanders said, From Ferguson to Baltimore and across this nation, too many African-Americans and other minorities find themselves subjected to a system that treats citizens who have not committed crimes as if they were criminals, and that is unacceptable. The problems of mass incarceration and racism are completely intertwined: When there is such a high burden to avoid police suspicion, its no wonder which group ends up with higher rates of incarceration.

African-Americans are much more likely to be incarcerated, get longer sentences for the same crimes and are more often arrested for drug offenses, according to German Lopezs article Mass incarceration in America, explained in 22 maps and charts. While Sanders is widely projected to do best in whiter states, Clintons position on this policy shows she doesnt see how multilayered the problem of mass incarceration is. Although the Democratic candidates agree on a lot of issues, this is one that clearly distinguishes them from one another and shows how different a Sanders presidency would be from a Clinton presidency.

Nicole Dan is a UF political science sophomore. Her column appears on Mondays.










POINT DE VUE Anna, Baba Ramdev & Co. should launch agitation across India to recover Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion tax out of black money

Alwihda Info | Par Hem Raj Jain - 14 Mars 2016



Bengaluru, India

Sub:- (i)- India expecting Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion Income Tax from black money of Rs ~ 2,200 Trillion declared by ~ one million tax evaders during last 8 years (ii)- Politicians in government and opposition will not take the matter seriously (iii)- Anna, Baba Ramdev & Co. should launch agitation across India to recover Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion tax money (iv)- Demand for Jan Lok Pal will also have to be revived.



----- Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev & Co. (who dropped agitation for Jan Lok Pal Bill and black money in the half) should resume the agitation across India to recover Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion Tax from black money holders as explained below:-



(1)- Based on RTI information and a PIL in Patna High Court as per expose of New Nation TV Channel, in 2011-12 nearly 6.50 lakh farmers earned Rs ~ Two thousand lakh crore (2,000 Trillion) which mostly of course is black money shown as agriculture income (on which there is no income tax) to evade tax and in last mainly 8 years these ~ 1 million tax evaders have shown ~ 2,200 Trillion as agricultural income (where as in 2006 only 85 persons declared Rs 1.7 crore as agricultural income).



(2)- As per governments new scheme if 45 % of black money is given as tax then remaining 55 % can be retained by the person. Hence if 45 % of Rs ~ 2,200 Trillion is taken by government as tax on this black money then Rs ~ 1,000 Trillion will come to government as tax. The government of India (GOI) should immediately raise the demand of this Rs ~ 1,000 Trillion tax money from these ~ one million tax evaders (GOI can consider declared income minus maximum income from land holding as non-agricultural income hence black money because on this tax has not been paid)



(3)- It is certain that out of these ~ 1 million tax evaders many will be politicians (including MP, MLA and Ministers) hence they will see to it that nothing happens in this matter (in both houses of Parliament even adjournment motion on this issue were not brought on Monday). Therefore Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev and their supporters and followers should launch nationwide agitation in order to not only constrain GOI and Parliament of India to immediately recover this tax money of Rs ~1,000 Trillion but also to pass anti-corruption Jan Lok Pal Bill for the simple reason that Public Servants committed corruption by allowing these ~ one million tax evaders to evade the tax of Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion.



What good this extra Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion with government can do to India hardly needs any elaboration. Hence it is hoped Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev & Co. will not fail India at such crucial juncture and will resume country wide agitation for recovering Rs. ~ 1,000 Trillion peoples money from tax evaders.



Regards



Hem Raj Jain



(Author of Betrayal of Americanism)



Bengaluru, India





Dans la meme rubrique : < > Tchad : "une cuisante defaite" pour "les pessimistes" du Dialogue national (Abdelmanane Khatab) Tchad : lechec de la politique de lemploi, une opportunite entrepreneuriale ? Tchad :  aller au federalisme dans ce contexte, cest cautionner leclatement  (Dr Oguelemi) Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, headed by Marshall Mills, visited Antananarivo, Madagascar, from March 211 to assess progress under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP)[1] with Madagascar. At the end of the mission, Mr. Mills issued the following statement: The Malagasy authorities and IMF staff see the staff-monitored program (SMP) as a crucial tool in guiding []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...




AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank

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AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum

OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World

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ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words

BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance

A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum

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BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum

WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat

THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground

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OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies:

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ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008

AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World

STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special

SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum

TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt.  Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground

IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008

CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies

WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto

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Criminal immunity is not usually a hot news topic. However, in recent days we have seen not only a grant of immunity to Bryan Pagliano in the Clinton email scandal, but another consequential though less publicized immunity grant forced upon Baltimore City police officer William G. Porter in the Freddie Gray cases.

We know little about the Pagliano matter, but it appears that the former Clinton IT guy got some form of immunity after his attorneys negotiated an agreement with the Justice Department. In Porter's case, the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling (unaccompanied by a written opinion) in the trial of his colleague Caesar R. Goodson, Jr. that the officer be forced to testify in violation of his 5th Amendment rights, even though he is still facing charges himself in the same matter.

There are two types of immunity, with very significant differences. Transactional immunity, the broader type, protects a witness from prosecution from the underlying offense(s) in a case. Use immunity, the more limited form, protects a witness only against the government using that testimony in prosecuting the witness, meaning the government can still pursue the case based on other evidence  including non-immunized statements. Immunity also does not apply to charges of perjury or false statement.

We don't know what type of immunity Pagliano got. That information would give us a better idea whether a grand jury has been impaneled, since a grand jury proceeding would be probable if he got transactional immunity and less so if he got use immunity. We don't know if Pagliano has been charged or cut a plea deal, but either way, his rights are being protected by his attorneys and by seemingly judicious and cautious federal prosecutors. And Pagliano is receiving his immunity as a witness, not as a defendant in a pending related criminal matter.

This is not true of Porter, who not only was charged in the Freddie Gray case, but has already been to trial. That trial resulted in a hung jury. The prosecution obviously hoped for a conviction, but even an acquittal would have allowed Porter to testify in his colleagues' cases without impacting his 5th Amendment rights. The prosecution could have also declined to retry Porter with the same result. But instead, the prosecution decided to have another go at Porter, and get testimony against his fellow officers, too, by convincing the trial judge, Barry G. Williams, to force his testimony with a grant of limited use immunity.

This is unprecedented in Maryland  as it is in most jurisdictions  and Porter's attorneys appealed. On March 8, the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Williams and went him one better by reversing Williams's ruling that Porter's testimony could not be forced in the trial of several other police officers on the grounds that prosecutors had not noted Porter as a witness in those cases. Porter has now been ordered to testify against his will, with limited use immunity, while still facing charges, in all five other Freddie Gray prosecutions (besides his own).

Porter will first be forced to testify in Goodson's case. Goodson faces the most serious charge  depraved heart murder  and was the driver of the van in which Gray was fatally injured. As with Porter (and all the other officers for that matter), there is little or no evidence of criminal culpability in Goodson's case. Prosecutors believed that the case against Porter was the strongest and failed to win a conviction, but they must have been encouraged that at least some jurors managed to convince themselves that Porter was guilty, even on the thin tissue of evidence the prosecution presented.

It's not even likely that Porter is actually going to say anything incriminating about Goodson. The prosecution needs Porter, because, assuming Goodson does not testify (which is a good bet, since Goodson is the only officer who did not even give a statement after the incident), the prosecution will be hard pressed even to establish context for Gray's injuries, much less gross negligence or depraved heart murder. Judge Williams will also probably allow them to examine Porter as a hostile witness, which means they can ask him suggestive leading questions. With these, the prosecution will be able to buttress their case theory to a politically sensitive jury inclined to convict.

It really won't matter whether Porter denies the allegations the questions are likely to be built upon. The point will be to reinforce the idea for the jury that Goodson deliberately tried to harm Gray. And if the jury chooses to disbelieve Porter's probable denials, he could later be subject to charges of perjury.

But it gets worse. Grasping at legal straws, in January, the prosecution unveiled a new theory of the case that Goodson gave Gray a "rough ride" (the case has been pending since May.) As with every other aspect of the prosecution, there is no actual evidence that Goodson deliberately gave Gray a "rough ride," which supposedly is a way for police officers retaliate against a difficult arrestee and "teach a lesson." To bolster this theory, the prosecution listed as an expert witness Neill Franklin, a former cop who will testify about "retaliatory prisoner transport practices." The judge decided to allow Franklin to testify over defense objection.

This is highly prejudicial to the defense. The expert testimony on the "rough ride" is intended to essentially abrogate another constitutional right  the presumption of innocence. The prosecution's probable game here is to put Porter on the stand and cross him about the "rough ride" to entice the jury and put the expert on to testify about an illegal practice for which there is no evidence, except Gray's injury.

In civil law there is a doctrine called res ipsa loquitur (meaning the thing speaks for itself), which allows a presumption of negligence when a person is injured and the mechanism of injury is in the defendant's control, though the means are not entirely clear. Civilly, Baltimore has already settled with Gray's family for $6.4 million. Res ipsa doesn't apply in criminal proceedings, where the presumption of a defendant's innocence is paramount. But Judge Williams is basically permitting the prosecution to act as though the opposite were true with the expert's testimony  effectively allowing the jury to assume facts not in evidence, and supporting the proposition that the mere fact that Gray was injured means that "bad" policemen must be criminally responsible.

While the political pressures in the Clinton email scandal are against a just prosecution, the political pressures in the Gray cases are for an unjust prosecution that is little more than an attempt to vindicate mob anger and violence at the expense of innocent police officers. The best countervailing force in both cases is for judicial officials to put aside politics and do what is right. It is still unclear whether Pagliano's immunity deal indicates that this will happen in the Clinton scandal. It is abundantly clear in the Freddie Gray cases that the immunity forced on Officer Porter means that the Maryland judiciary will not do what's right and is intent on legally whitewashing and rationalizing a kangaroo court.
One of Ronald Reagans signature phrases was there you go again. Well, here we go again. Another senseless shooting and and a senseless response from the anti-gun crowd.

To bring you all up to speed, a vehemently pro-gun gal in Florida left her loaded .45 in the back seat of her car and was promptly shot in the back by her four-year-old. Tragic for all involved and thank God shes going to survive.

Whats wrong with this picture? Extreme negligence. In fact, criminal negligence, as in Florida, it is illegal to store or leave a loaded gun where a child has access to it. This is a great law and any sensible gun owner should practice it. Makes one wonder what Gilt, who runs the Facebook Page Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense was thinking. But like comedian Ron White says, you cant fix stupid. And I dont mean any disrespect to Ms. Gilt. Lets face it, weve all done really stupid things at some point in our lives but most of us have had the luck not to be harmed by them.

Gilt of all people should have known better and once shes released from the hospital she should be charged for her criminal negligence. But Gilts biggest crime isnt leaving her gun in the back seat, as bad as that is. Her biggest crime is being the poster girl for weakening gun rights. The art of rhetoric died long ago so, Look! Gun nut got shot by her kid with her own gun! Ban all guns! is now a valid argument when, in reality, its nothing more than a straw man.

This article in the Guardian is headlined the macabre truth of gun control in the U.S. is that toddlers kill more people than terrorists do.

Anti-gun folks like the author, Lindy West, enjoy trotting out the old canard that the U.S. has too few laws regulating guns so their answer is to pass more laws. (More laws is de rigueur for the Left; its the ultimate cure for personal responsibility.) But lets just explore that in the case of Gilt.

The law preventing children from having access to firearms didnt work in this case. Maybe we should require gun owners to go through training? Thats fine. I think youll find that the vast majority of gun owners are well trained and strongly advocate that anyone using a gun be welled trained as well. But considering that Gilt runs a Facebook Page about gun sense, Id be shocked if she hadnt gone through training and, clearly, the training failed in this case. Yet, as tragic as the outcome was, let he who is without blame cast the first stone. Were all guilty of disregarding our training at one point or another. If we werent, there wouldn't be more than 5 million auto accidents per year. And this is key.

We have laws designed to prevent car accidents and they clearly dont work for some folks. Yet we dont ban autos. If a law preventing guns from falling in to the hands of four-year-olds doesnt work and gun safety training doesnt prevent all accidents, I dont see any next logical step to prevent gun accidents short of banning guns all together. And, despite what many of them argue otherwise, the end goal of the anti-gun crowd is to ban all guns. Why? I wont attribute malicious, statist aims to them, even if a large contingent does harbor these desires. No, the majority in the anti-gun crowd, like most on the left, have largely benevolent aims. But like Reagan said, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that theyre ignorant; its that they know so much that isnt so.

If common sense gun regulations (like keeping guns out of the hands of four-year-olds) doesnt work; is banning guns going to work? Well, in the case of accidents like Gilts, maybe. Certainly if law abiding citizens didnt have guns then there would be no chance of accidental shootings occurring. But the cure of banning guns is worse than the disease. Its trite but true but if guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns.

Accidental shootings are tragic and even one is too many. We need to continue to encourage gun owners to go through gun safety training and continue to drill in to them that leaving your gun within reach of a child, even for a second, is dangerous. In fact, any intelligent gun owner will tell you that your gun should either be in your hand, in a holster, or in a carrying case, preferably a locked one. If Gilt had been following these most important of gun safety tips, this accident would never have happened.

But heres the really tragic thing about reality: accidents happen. The fact is, the chances of anyone being accidentally shot by a small child are very small. While exact statistics are hard to come by, we do know that in 2011, 591 gun deaths were declared accidental and 102 of these were victims younger than 18; half of those under 13. In a nation of 320 million people, while the chances of being killed by a terrorist are less, the odds of either are quite small. In fact, if we really want to go around banning scary things, we may want to look at stairs, the third leading cause of death in children age 1-4; and swimming pools, which are 100 times more deadly.

Later in her article, West points out that her children already know of at least one friend-of-a-friend who was killed in a school shooting. Again, tragic, and I obviously have no idea who this person was, but Im going to go out on a limb and guess that it wasnt an accidental shooting and, furthermore, the gun was not legally owned by the parent (it clearly wasnt legally owned by the student). Again, all the laws on the books and any more we can think of short of banning guns all together wouldnt have done anything to prevent the vast majority of school and other mass shootings out there.

Wests entire article is filled with canards and straw men too numerous to address in this article, but I will end with one more; keeping a gun in your house increases your chances of accidental death by shooting, but does not make you safer. Simply not true. Firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect lives than take them and typically, gun accidents (as well as suicides and homicides) are far from accidental; more often than not being the result of too much alcohol.

Again, as tragic as any gun death is, statistics dont back up our fears. West and her anti-gun friends should not fear guns. She should respect them and the people who carry them.

As for terrorists, while they dont pose much of a threat here in the U.S. (yet), this is due, almost exclusively to, yes, you guessed it, the good guys with guns West views as a fantasy.
It was a typical Texas criminal case: agricultural worker Pete Hernandez was indicted for the murder of another Mexican in 1950; he was convicted quickly by a jury. Here it got complicated. His Mexican American lawyers appealed the jurys decision not because of legal or trial error or a prejudiced judge but because the jury was all-white. The grand jury that indicted Hernandez was also all-white.

The appeal was rejected by the all-white Texas Supreme Court. The Mexican American lawyers asked the United States Supreme Court to issue a writ of certiorari (call the case up). The Earl Warren Court agreed. They heard the case. (Hernandez v. Texas, 1954)

Hernandezs lawyers argued that Jackson County had a substantial Mexican-American population but in the previous 25 years not a single trial or grand jury member had been Mexican American. 6,000 Jackson County whites had served during that time.

The all-white United States Supreme Court unanimously stuck it to Texas. It ordered a new trial with a color-blind jury. The court clearly stated that the Constitutions 14th Amendment clause of equal protection was not limited to just Whites and Blacks.

Except, that is, for Donald J. Trump, candidate for president and businessman. He is being sued for fraud in the Southern District of California (San Diego) in a class action suit that is approaching trial. Trump is listed as a witness in the trial which might occur during Trumps presidential campaign.

At issue is, did Donald Trump fraudulently collect up to $36,000 per student at his Trump University a decade ago in which the university promised to educate students the successful Trump methods of getting rich in real estate but didnt produce?

Concurrently, the New York State Supreme Court has ruled that Trump University was not legal and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a state law suit demanding $40 million from Donald Trump.

The question is, is Donald Trump defending his Trump University and himself properly? The answer is no, because he is adopting the Hernandez v. Texas reverse facts as a defense.

Donald Trump declared at a Tennessee campaign rally that Gonzalo Curiel, the San Diego district judge in the Trump University lawsuit is unfair to him because he is Spanish, that he is Hispanic.

Trump said, Because I think hes been very, very unfair with us I think the judge has been extremely unfair. This is a case that many, many people said should have been thrown out on Summary Judgment. We have 98% approval. We have an A from the Better Business Bureau.

The day after Trump declared that the judge had been unfair because he is Spanish and Hispanic, he appeared on NBCs Meet the Press where host Chuck Todd asked Trump about the judge being unfair because hes Hispanic?

Trump replied, Well because of the Wall, and because of everything thats going on with Mexico and all that. I think its frankly -- look this is a judge who has treated me very, very unfairly. This is a case that should have been thrown out a long time ago in the opinion of many great lawyers.

The facts, however, do not reflect Trumps jaundiced view of the case and the judge. Nine months before Trump announced for president with his campaign demand for a Wall on the border paid for by Mexico, Trump lawyers were already talking about the judge recusing himself from the case. They have tried several times to have the case dismissed. The judge has done the opposite; he granted a motion to make the case a class action suit. He has ordered Trump into discovery hearings twice for several hours during the campaign and has approved the release of Trumps sworn testimony along the lines of I dont remember, it was a long time ago, I dont recognize any of the instructors. Trump University advertised its instructors were hand-picked by Trump; the law suits claim that Trump did not hand pick any instructors which is prima facie fraud.

Federal District Judge Gonzalo Paul Curiel was born in East Chicago, Indiana, in 1953, one year before the Hernandez v. Texas case was decided. He graduated from the University of Indiana law school in 1979. Curiel worked in private practice until he joined President George H.W. Bushs Department of Justice in the San Diego U.S. Attorneys office. He headed the Narcotics Enforcement Division in the busiest federal court outside Washington. He moved to the Los Angeles U.S. Attorneys office until he was appointed to the California Superior Court in San Diego by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007.

President Barack Obama appointed Judge Curiel to the federal court in San Diego in 2012; the Senate confirmed him without opposition.

Considering his senate confirmation without opposition and that he sent many, many Hispanic criminals to prison, complaints by Donald Trump that Judge Curiel is being unfair to White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) Trump because the judge is Hispanic should be treated like a cold opening on Saturday Night Live -- with laughter.
The Center for Immigration Studies is releasing a report today showing that 124 illegal aliens who were subsequently released over the last five years by the Obama administration's Department of Homeland Security have been charged with murder.

Washington Times:

In all, some 121 immigrants who were freed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2010 and 2014 went on to be charged with a total of 135 homicide-related crimes. Another three immigrants were charged with murders in 2015, bringing to 124 the total number of murder suspects the government had, then released.

Two of the immigrants in question had even been convicted of homicide before, but they were released anyway and went on to rack up new murder charges again, the report said. The others had amassed 464 total criminal charges, ranging from drugs to drunken driving, before they landed on the homicide list.

The information was released to Congress by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies analyzed the data and said it shows dangerous practices.

The names of the criminal aliens were redacted by the Judiciary Committee, but the list presumably includes murderers like Apolinar Altamirano, an illegal alien who was arrested by ICE in 2013 following his conviction on local charges involving a burglary and abduction, but who was released on a $10,000 bond and permitted to remain free and elect to have deportation proceedings that would take years to complete. In January 2015 Altamirano shot and killed 21-year-old Grant Ronnebeck while he was working at a convenience store where Altamirano had come to buy cigarettes, Ms. Vaughan wrote.

ICEs decision-making has come under fire in recent years after the agency acknowledged it regularly released tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who would go on to be charged with other serious crimes.

Just as troubling are the number of repeat-offenders whom ICE arrests and releases more than once. More than 156 immigrants with criminal records were released at least twice by ICE. Those immigrants averaged more than 11 charges per person.

These criminal aliens racked up a total of 243 additional convictions after being freed by ICE. The largest number (24) were for drunk or drugged driving, but they also included drug offenses, burglary, theft and larceny, and sex offenses, Ms. Vaughan wrote.
Bitterness and personal recriminations are splitting the Breitbart organization. Michelle Fields and Ben Shapiro resigned last night in the wake of their dissatisfaction over the handling of Fieldss allegation against Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The details of the incident remain obscure, and are under police investigation, but one fact is clear: one of the most effective conservative media outlets, the organization legacy of Andrew Breitbart, has been riven by disputes arising from the Trump candidacy.

Fieldss statement was short and to the point:

Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation. I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways.

Shapiros was much longer and highly personal:

As a close personal friend and mentee of Andrew Breitbarts, it saddens me tremendously to announce that as of 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time, I have resigned from Breitbart News as editor-at-large. I met Andrew Breitbart when I was seventeen years old and remained his friend until his tragic death; I signed on with Breitbart News two weeks before Andrews death because I believed in his mission. I am proud of what we accomplished in the years following his death, fighting back against the leftist media and debunking the lefts key narratives. I have many good friends at Breitbart News, including editor-in-chief Alex Marlow and editor-at-large John Nolte, and I admire CEO Larry Solov for his dedication to ensuring a financial future for Andrews widow, Susie, and his four children. Andrew built his life and his career on one mission: fight the bullies. But Andrews life mission has been betrayed. Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrews legacy. In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrews mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trumps personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trumps bully campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly assaulted Michelle. I spoke with Michelle the night after the incident. She told me her story. That story was backed by audiotape, eyewitness testimony from The Washington Posts Ben Terris, physical bruises, and video tape. Both Lewandowski and Trump maligned Michelle in the most repulsive fashion. Meanwhile, Breitbart News not only stood by and did nothing outside of tepidly asking for an apology, they then attempted to abandon Michelle by silencing staff from tweeting or talking about the issue. Finally, in the ultimate indignity, they undermined Michelle completely by running a poorly-evidenced conspiracy theory as their lead story in which Michelle and Terris had somehow misidentified Lewandowski. This is disgusting. Andrew never would have stood for it. No news outlet would stand for it. Nobody should. This truly breaks my heart. But, as I am fond of saying, facts dont care about your feelings, and the facts are undeniable: Breitbart News has become precisely the reverse of what Andrew would have wanted. Steve Bannon and those who follow his lead should be ashamed of themselves.

Buzzfeed, the left-leaning website that got the scoop on the resignations, sees further turmoil ahead:

The exodus, which began with the companys spokesman Kurt Bardella, is unlikely to end with Fields and Shapiro. Three sources say multiple staffers are searching for a way out of the company  with several actively circulating resumes, according to two sources  and more resignations could follow in the coming days and weeks. The company is known for having editorial employees sign unusually strict contracts, at least some of which include non-compete clauses that could make it difficult to leave Breitbart for another news outlet. Relations between Bannon and the sites staff  which were already fraught with tension over the direction and editorial vision for the company  have deteriorated sharply over the episode with the Trump campaign. According to one company source with knowledge of the situation, some editors have discussed telling Breitbart News CEO Larry Solov they will quit unless Bannon is ousted. Solov did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Breitbart has been very notable for its pro-Trump slant, so the eruption may reflect deeper sources of discontent among staff that dont share that view, as well as unknowable pressures on management. The Independent Journal Review received leaked internal communications showing Breitbart senior editor-at-large seeking to keep a lid on staff publicly commenting on the matter or retweeting Fieldss tweet of bruises on her arm and facing blowback.

The entire affair deeply pains me, as Breitbart has carved out an important role that now may diminish. If the levels of bitterness being reported are close to accurate, there are likely to be other departures.

Anger, bitterness, and recriminations are now rampant throughout the entire conservative movement in an election cycle that ought to be an easy pickup in the wake of a disastrous Democrat two-term presidency and a leading Dem candidate who proclaims herself not a natural politician to explain away her lack of appeal as she awaits the outcome of a major FBI investigation.

The only certain thing is that more surprises lie ahead. And that Andrew Breitbarts spirit lies uneasy.

Update. This morning, Joel Pollak is apologizing, having replaced an article initially titled "Ben Shapiro Betrays Loyal Breitbart Readers in Pursuit of Fox News Contributorship" with:
Donald Trump's views on immigration and Islam are not just polarizing public opinion and the media, but also causing waves within the American defense sector.

Defense One reports that if Trump wins, expect thousands of defense jobs to move to Europe[.] ... The GOP frontrunner's anti-Muslim comments could prompt U.S. allies to shop elsewhere for arms.

According to Byron Callan, an analyst with research firm Capital Alpha Partners, President Trump may prove offensive to Islamic states and those countries could seek alternative sources of weapons systems.

Another defense industry lobbyist was quoted as saying anti-Muslim rhetoric absolutely does not help when you're trying to sell to the Middle East.

Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, broadened the issue to other nations for which arms exports are important: Trumps nationalistic comments could have ripples beyond the Middle East. Do you really think that Europeans, or Asians, or Latin Americans are going to be any more trusting?

Callan raised similar points in his analysis, noting that Trump has accused Japan and South Korea, both major consumers of U.S. arms, of not paying enough to the U.S. for their security. [T]here could be a backlash that impacts U.S. defense firms. Japan and South Korea might seek to reduce reliance on U.S. defense imports and build their own capabilities.

Ideally, Trumps campaign will lead to a vigorous public debate on the nature of the evolving arms export industry. While a substantial contributor to the U.S. economy, Trump has expressed concerns over Muslim immigration and massive trade deficits specifically because of the corresponding national security risks.

Consequently, should not the American defense industry  which was built into a global leader by domestic military expenditures, with the sole aim of protecting the homeland against the same threats Trump has identified  hold its allegiance first and foremost to the United States? Or does the defense industry know something the rest of us do not that would show Trumps concerns to be unfounded?

A national discussion is needed about whom the defense sector is really working for, where its priorities reside, and to what extent arms industry globalization is threatening American sovereignty.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are the companys newest flagship devices. Samsung has introduced these two phones during their press conference last month, as part of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are somewhat different than its predecessors, though theyre still quite similar in many aspects. The two devices are already available for purchase in a number of different regions all over the world, though they come in two different processor variants, read on.

These two phones were announced in both Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 variants. Those of you who purchase either of these handsets in the US will get the Snapdragon 820-powered variant, at least if you go through official channels. If, for some reason, youd like to grab the Exynos 8890-powered Galaxy S7 Edge, well, now you have that option as well. The Exynos 8890 variant of the Galaxy S7 Edge popped up on eBay, and those of you who live in the US can now purchase it for $699.99. Keep in mind that this is the unlocked international variant of the device (SM-G935F), and along with the Exynos 8890 youll get the ARM Mali-T880 MP14 GPU. The phone is available in Black, Gold and Silver color options, and is compatible with most LTE bands in the US, though keep in mind it wont work with CDMA networks. The phone will be shipped your way for free (no additional charge aside from the price of the device), though the device does not have an official US warranty, which is something you should consider before spending so much cash on this handset.

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As already mentioned, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are quite similar in many aspects. Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass, and both of them ship with QHD Super AMOLED displays, though those panels are different in size (5.5-inch display on the Galaxy S7 Edge). The two phones feature 4GB of RAM on the inside, and a 12-megapixel Dual Pixel snapper can be found on their back. Android 6 Marshmallow comes pre-installed on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, and on top of it, youll find Samsungs very own TouchWiz UI.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Exynos variant)
Google has been having a tough time across Europe, with the European antitrust regulator investigating multiple accusations of monopolistic trade practices against the search giant. The company has also been investigated for tax evasion in the UK by the countrys tax authorities, the HMRC (Her Majestys Revenue & Customs). Following the lengthy investigation, the American tech giant agreed to pay 130 million ($185 million) in back taxes as part of a deal reached between the two sides back in January. However, the companys troubles in the continent dont end with the authorities in the EU alone. In Russia too, Google has been besieged with complaints against its business practices, especially from its biggest rival in the country  Yandex.

Back in February last year, Google was accused by the Moscow-based search engine operator, Yandex NV, of violating Russian antitrust laws by allegedly insisting that that its services must be installed as default on Android devices being sold in the country. In September, Russias Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) ruled in favor of the Yandex, but Google vowed to fight back, saying that it will appeal against the ruling in a court of law. Which it did, back in November last year. On Monday, the Arbitration court in Moscow came out with its verdict, which upheld the original decision by the FAS, thereby dealing a significant blow to the US-based tech giant. In November itself, emboldened by the FAS verdict in its favor, Yandex had also appealed to the European Commission to investigate the American company for the exact same practice, under the premise that it also violates the European Unions antitrust regulations.

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While Google hasnt commented officially on the latest development just yet, as a result of this decision, manufacturers selling Android smartphones in the country will now have the freedom to install any search, mail or mapping service as default, quite possibly to the detriment of Google. With a number of other investigations pending at the European Commission, it remains to be seen if this setback in Russia will affect Google adversely in those cases. Google, obviously will be hoping that this will be a one off, but unconfirmed reports already indicate that the company can face similar actions in the future from the European Unions antitrust regulators, led by the European Competition Commissioner, Ms. Margrethe Vestager.
When it comes to the price of your smartphone, a lot of things go into that price. The price alone isnt how much it costs the company to manufacture that device. A lot of times, especially with bigger companies like Samsung and Apple, the price also factors in their advertising budget, R&D and of course their profit. The Galaxy S7 is retailing for around $650-700 in the US depending on which carrier you buy it from. Unfortunately the company is not selling the device unlocked or SIM free in the US. Now with the device costing $650 to buy brand new, its pretty astounding that it costs only $255 to make the device. At least that is according to a report out of Re/Code.

Now weve seen these prices before for flagship smartphones, where the device actually only costs about $200 or less to manufacture, but it sells for much more. Take the iPhone for example. It sells for about the same price as the Galaxy S7, but costs under $200. Thats a pretty big profit margin. Most companies reinvest that profit into R&D and marketing, so they can make the next smartphone even better, and sell even more of these flagships.

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According to the report, the most expensive component of the device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820. Which means that the Exynos variant being sold in much of Europe, is likely even cheaper. While no exact price was given for the price of the Snapdragon 820, it is important to note that Samsung is actually manufacturing the Snapdragon 820 in their own facilities. After having struck a deal with Qualcomm  although that was mostly so that Qualcomm could get their largest customer back in their pocket.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 went on sale last Friday in about 60 countries worldwide. The company stated that pre-orders were higher than they were for any other Galaxy device, especially in Europe. So far sales have gone off without a hitch and Samsung has been selling loads of devices. Making for a pretty good launch, even better than the Galaxy S6 launch last year. The Galaxy S7 is available at AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and US Cellular here in the States.
Although Sony is primarily known by most gadget enthusiasts as the Japanese tech giant responsible for building the Xperia smartphone lineup and the PlayStation consoles  especially after the VAIO PC branch was sold to Japan Industrial Partners  the company still has an active interest in a wide variety of less mainstream areas of tech. We saw proof of this at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where the company revealed its Xperia Projector concept, along with the new Sony Xperia X smartphone series and a variety of accessories, including the Xperia Ear and Xperia Eye. More recently, the Japanese company also launched the Future Lab program, which can be defined as the companys latest R&D branch responsible for creating and testing out new products and ideas. One of these ideas was recently unveiled at SXSW and, surprisingly enough, it takes the form of a projector which can turn a tabletop into an interactive display with augmented reality elements.

Sonys prototype projector was unveiled at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas. The product doesnt have an official name yet. Not many details are known about the prototype but what it is known is that the projector is equipped with a depth sensor and has the ability to turn any flat surface into a large touchscreen. Furthermore, the prototype unit can recognize, measure, and recreate objects on the table, and can even scan books in an attempt to make them more interactive, allowing users to move the scanned pages contents on the flat surface of the table in a very similar way to how augmented reality works.

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Once again, it should be noted that the Sonys latest prototype projector has been developed by the companys Future Lab research & development branch, so as yet theres no guarantee that the product will become commercially available in the future. Whether this type of product would be practical or useful in offices, classrooms, or living rooms remains to be seen, but either way, its an impressive piece of technology and a glimpse at what Sonys Future Lab is currently focusing on. Those interested can take a look at the video below from TNW.
Xiaomi has become a global brand over the past few years, and while their devices and products might not be readily available outside of a few key markets, the Xiaomi name is steadily wafting further West. India is a key example of how Xiaomi can take a market other than China by storm. The firm starting selling lower-end devices in the country and even launched an Indian-specific Mi 4i smartphone. After some time, the Chinese brand has become one of the most popular brands in India where smartphones and gadgets are concerned. Mostly focused on online-only sales, a recent report claims that Xiaomi could be looking to move into operating their own Xiaomi branded stores in the country.

The Chinese brand has submitted plans to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to open and operate stores that purely sell Xiaomi products, such as the new Mi 5. and related accessories, similarly to how an Apple store functions. Interestingly, Indian law dictates that for a firm to open and run its own stores in such a fashion, the firm must produce at least 30% of their products in India. For whatever reason, Apple doesnt need to conform to such a ruling, possibly due to the high prices of their devices, but Xiaomi is already on track to meet such a target. A number of devices sold in India are already produced in the country as part of the Make in India scheme, and there are plans in place for the Chinese giant to open two more manufacturing plants later this year.

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There have been rumors of Xiaomi looking at a similar sort of plan in their home nation of China, as the firm is struggling to sell quite as much online due to massive competition from brands like Huaweis Honor and other, better-priced competitors. After operating for so long however, the Xiaomi brand has certainly made a name for itself, and theres no reason why branded stores wouldnt well for them. In China, Apple stores have become popular and despite the very high prices, Apple products are doing well. In a nation where its difficult to get hands-on time prior to purchasing, and returning a smartphone is difficult, its likely such stores would work for Xiaomi in India, should they choose to go ahead with the plans.
Xiaomi is one of the most interesting smartphone manufacturing companies out there at the moment. This company was founded back in 2010, and it grew incredibly fast. It is currently no. 1 smartphone manufacturer in China, and it is trying to expand to more markets internationally this year. Xiaomi has unveiled their Mi 5 flagship during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona last month, and the device is already available for purchase in China.

That being said, India is an extremely important market for Xiaomi, Hugo Barra mentioned that several times during his keynote at MWC. The company has already confirmed that the Mi 5 is going to launch in India in April, and it seems like Xiaomi has other plans at hand as well. The companys co-founder and president, Lin Bin, actually confirmed that the company is planning to manufacture handsets, peripherals and components in India. Xiaomi has partnered up with Foxconn in order to manufacture the Redmi 2 Prime in India last year, which was the first smartphone manufactured in India as part of Make in India initiative kicked off by the countrys Prime Minister.

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Now, according to the newly surfaced info, Xiaomi is actually planning to open up two new factories in China. The company is negotiating with Foxconn yet again, and according to Xiaomi Indias Head, Manu Jain, they intend to open up at least one facility in India before the end of this year. Xiaomi apparently has big plans for India, theyve recently introduced the Redmi Note 3 handset in that Asian country, and as already mentioned, their flagship will be landing next month. It remains to be seen what else Xiaomi has in plans for India, but judging by the newest info, that China-based company will manufacture quite a few devices in India. These are actually great news for other markets as well, because Xiaomi sells international variants of their phones in India, so chances are they will ship devices mostly from India once they expand to additional markets around the globe. Well see what happens though, stay tuned for further info, as always.
(ANSA) - Cairo, March 14 - A meeting Monday in Cairo between Egyptian Prosecutor General Nabil Sadeq and Rome Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone on researcher Giulio Regeni's murder "was positive", Giza prosecutor Ahmed Nagui told ANSA after the meeting. Egypt and Italy "have the same goal, to find those responsible" for Regeni's murder, he said. The two sides "exchanged information on the murder" and "all leads are open to be followed", said Nagui. Pignatone flew in to Cairo on Monday to try to lend fresh impetus to a probe that has languished amid a string of suggestions from Egyptian authorities that have spurred incredulity in Italy. Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge doctoral researcher into the Egyptian trade union movement, was found dead with signs of torture on his body on February 3, nine days after disappearing on January 25, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak.

On Monday Egyptian media reported that Regeni had a "punch-up" with "another foreigner" near the Italian consulate the day before he disappeared.


(ANSA) - Brussels, March 14 - A strong showing by an anti-migrant party in regional elections in Germany on Sunday should not influence the government's policy on refugees, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday.

"I hope the fact that there is a minority, also in Germany, that is explicitly in favour of closure, of building walls against refugees, will not influence the German government and in any case it must not influence the decisions of the European Union," Gentiloni said.

Italy's foreign minister also urged collaboration between Italy and Austria "and the necessary gradualness" on the issue of migrants and refugees. "If we work towards reducing flows arriving in Greece and in the meantime there are unilateral decisions that make this gradual process useless, we have achieved a 'masterpiece'. I believe that today the gradual nature of decisions and the fact that they are taken at a European level are essential," Gentiloni said. Meanwhile, an unofficial document obtained by ANSA suggests that the repatriation of illegal migrants to Turkey under a proposed deal will be a "temporary and extraordinary measure". Migrants arriving on the Greek islands will be registered and the requests for asylum handled by the Greek authorities, the document said.

"The migrants that do not apply for asylum or whose application is turned down" will be sent back to Turkey, it added.


(see related) (ANSA) - Padua, March 14 - A father and son who were shot dead by guards in a nature reserve in Zimbabwe on Sunday were undertaking anti-poaching activities at the time, investigative sources said Monday.

Claudio and Massimiliano Chiarelli are said to have been volunteering on behalf of staff rangers in the Mana Pools' park in the north of the country when they were allegedly mistaken for poachers. Investigations into the shooting are underway and a preliminary report is expected on Tuesday. Claudio, a professional hunter, was born in Libya and spent a period of time in Tuscany before moving to Zimbabwe in the early 1980s with his Paduan wife.

Their son Massimiliano was born in the southern African country.


(ANSA) - Rome, March 14 - Italy is the European destination of choice for couples wanting to get married abroad, according to figures from Italy's observatory on international weddings published at the weekend. On a global level Italy comes second only to the Tropics and Hawaii, followed by France, Greece and India, the observatory added. Marriages 'Made in Italy' are largely chosen for the blend of good food and wine, art, culture and beautiful scenery the country has to offer.

In 75% of cases the bride and bridegroom decide to get married in Italy having spent a holiday there. In 2015 international weddings generated more than 400 million euros, up from 350 million euros the previous year. In 2014, over 6,200 weddings were organised at an average cost of 50,000 euros.

Guests stayed on average for 3.5 days and 90% of couples then remained in Italy for their honeymoon. In addition, 25% of foreign couples who marry in Italy return to celebrate their fisrt anniversary, 47.6% after two-three years and 12.4% after more than five years, while 90% recommend to friends to get married there.

The most popular Italian destinations for international weddings are Tuscany (43%), Amalfi Coast (38%), Umbria (8%), Venice and the Lakes (6%).

Prestigious hotels, historic villas and castles are among the locations of choice, along with lemon groves, luxury farmhouses, wineries and little-known and well preserved hamlets. Britons account for 25% of foreign couples chosing to tie the knot in Italy, followed by Americans and Canadians (15.4%), Russians (9.4%), Japanese (7.8%), Australians (5.2%), Saudi Arabians (6.3%), Chinese (4.6%), Brazilians (4.2%) and Germans (1.5%). The remaining 21% is divided equally among emerging nations, former Soviet states, Turkey and India. International wedding planners are in the Amalfi Coast and Cilento area of Campania for 'Italy coast to coast' weddings organised by the Mediterranean Bride Network until March 23.


(ANSA) - Padua, March 14 - The foreign ministry in Rome on Monday confirmed reports that two Italians from Padua, a father and a son, had been killed in Zimbabwe. Padua daily Mattino reported that the pair were shot dead by guards in a nature reserve after being mistaken for poachers on Sunday. The foreign ministry said that "the circumstances are yet to be clarified". The victims were Claudio Chiarelli and his 19-year-old son Massimiliano. Claudio Chiarelli had been in Zimbabwe for some time and his son was born there.

Local sources said they were killed by rifle fire in the Mana Pools' park.

The Italian embassy in Harare is in contact with the victims' family to provide assistance.


(ANSA) - Brussels, March 14 - The situation in Libya will be top of the agenda at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. "We will meet the UN special envoy Martin Kobler, with whom we will exchange opinions on how to proceed," said Mogherini, adding that there had been talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the matter in Paris on Sunday.

"It will be important for us to work out how to offer support from the European Union in all areas, starting from humanitarian support to the Libyan people," she said. Relations with Iran following the termination of nuclear-related economic sanctions in January would also be discussed by the council ahead of a visit to Teheran on April 16, Mogherini said. "We will discuss with ministers on which sectors and subjects to seek a new involvement from Iran," the EU foreign policy chief said. The aim is to restore "full relations and study ways of cooperating with Iran on a bilateral level and also, obviously, on the level of a regional dimension," she said.


(by Marco Galdi) (ANSAmed) - ONBOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER CAVOUR, MARCH 14 - In the seven months since it came into being, the EU's Operation Sophia ''has saved over 10,000 lives'', Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino said on Monday.



The commander of the EUNAVFOR MED mission, which since July 27 has been operating in international waters off Libya, noted that it had also destroyed 84 large boats and arrested 53 smugglers. He told journalists from several media outlets about to leave on the aircraft carrier Cavour - the Italian navy flagship and tactical command of the mission - that the area was ''a bit like Somalia''. EUNAVFOR MED has made the work of smugglers and human traffickers more difficult. Nevertheless, Credendino said, those fleeing Africa continue to die especially in Libyan territorial waters in the 12 nautical miles that are still out of the range of action of the EU mission.



Traffickers have changed tactics in light of the presence of Operation Sophia. They go out to sea less often themselves and generally send dinghies - usually bought in China - loaded with about a hundred migrants, he said. The wooden boats that can carry as many as 500 have instead begun to be seen less. Traffickers now collect the money (up to 100,000 for a dinghy, up to 400,000 for a boat) and leave migrants to their fate. To save lives and fight more effectively against traffickers, EUNAVFOR MED would have to be ''invited by a national unity government and there would need to be a UN resolution'', he said, to pass on to Phase 2B, making it possible to operate in Libyan territorial waters. Phase 3 would entail fighting traffickers alongside Libyan forces on the coast. Credentino underscored that the objective of Operation Sophia - launched ''in record time'' after a shipwreck off Tripoli last year resulted in the deaths of 800 migrants - is the ''destruction of the business model used by traffickers and smugglers'', but the moral priority is that of saving human lives. All those rescued including the human traffickers, who are handed over to law enforcement officials, are taken to Italy and never back to Libya or third countries, he said. In 2015, before the EU operation began, the migrant flow was divided almost equally into two halves between the southern route and the Balkan one. After the information-gathering Phase 1 was completed, Phase 2A began on October 7. At that point, the flow shifted drastically, with 82% of migrants using the Balkan route and 16% the Mediterranean one, a figure that dropped to 7% in the first few months of 2016. Credentino said that three factors played a role, in addition to weather. The first is Egypt's stepped up border control, thereby halting crossings by those fleeing the Middle East. The country has also stopped departures from its ports.



The second factor is that ''the southern route is the most dangerous and migrants know this'', he said, since ''almost 3,000 died trying to use this route, most of them in Libyan territorial waters''. There is also the fact that Operation Sophia has ''acted as a deterrent for traffickers, who have lost their freedom of movement in international waters''. With the closing of the Balkan route, however, it is to be expected that migrants and traffickers will be able to return not only to going through Libya (reaching it via a longer route through Sudan) but also leaving directly from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, ''as we saw in 2012 and 2013''. For now, however, traffic is concentrated in Tripolitania, awaiting the next moves. ''Traffickers know that we will get there sooner or later,'' Credentino said, but noted that he doubted that any terrorists would be infiltrating using this route: ''it's possible but improbable'' since ''the southern route is the most dangerous and because ''they know that they will be picked up and handed over to the police''. It is also clear that, for terrorists, it would be ''easier to take planes or commercial ships, or mix in with those on the Balkan route''. (ANSAmed).


Migrants: EU Operation Sophia 'has saved over 10,000 lives' 'Deterrent for human traffickers', says ship commander

(by Marco Galdi) (ANSAmed) - ONBOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER CAVOUR, MARCH 14 - In the seven months since it came into being, the EU's Operation Sophia ''has saved over 10,000 lives'', Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino said on Monday.



The commander of the EUNAVFOR MED mission, which since July 27 has been operating in international waters off Libya, noted that it had also destroyed 84 large boats and arrested 53 smugglers. He told journalists from several media outlets about to leave on the aircraft carrier Cavour - the Italian navy flagship and tactical command of the mission - that the area was ''a bit like Somalia''. EUNAVFOR MED has made the work of smugglers and human traffickers more difficult. Nevertheless, Credendino said, those fleeing Africa continue to die especially in Libyan territorial waters in the 12 nautical miles that are still out of the range of action of the EU mission.



Traffickers have changed tactics in light of the presence of Operation Sophia. They go out to sea less often themselves and generally send dinghies - usually bought in China - loaded with about a hundred migrants, he said. The wooden boats that can carry as many as 500 have instead begun to be seen less. Traffickers now collect the money (up to 100,000 for a dinghy, up to 400,000 for a boat) and leave migrants to their fate. To save lives and fight more effectively against traffickers, EUNAVFOR MED would have to be ''invited by a national unity government and there would need to be a UN resolution'', he said, to pass on to Phase 2B, making it possible to operate in Libyan territorial waters. Phase 3 would entail fighting traffickers alongside Libyan forces on the coast. Credentino underscored that the objective of Operation Sophia - launched ''in record time'' after a shipwreck off Tripoli last year resulted in the deaths of 800 migrants - is the ''destruction of the business model used by traffickers and smugglers'', but the moral priority is that of saving human lives. All those rescued including the human traffickers, who are handed over to law enforcement officials, are taken to Italy and never back to Libya or third countries, he said. In 2015, before the EU operation began, the migrant flow was divided almost equally into two halves between the southern route and the Balkan one. After the information-gathering Phase 1 was completed, Phase 2A began on October 7. At that point, the flow shifted drastically, with 82% of migrants using the Balkan route and 16% the Mediterranean one, a figure that dropped to 7% in the first few months of 2016. Credentino said that three factors played a role, in addition to weather. The first is Egypt's stepped up border control, thereby halting crossings by those fleeing the Middle East. The country has also stopped departures from its ports.



The second factor is that ''the southern route is the most dangerous and migrants know this'', he said, since ''almost 3,000 died trying to use this route, most of them in Libyan territorial waters''. There is also the fact that Operation Sophia has ''acted as a deterrent for traffickers, who have lost their freedom of movement in international waters''. With the closing of the Balkan route, however, it is to be expected that migrants and traffickers will be able to return not only to going through Libya (reaching it via a longer route through Sudan) but also leaving directly from Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, ''as we saw in 2012 and 2013''. For now, however, traffic is concentrated in Tripolitania, awaiting the next moves. ''Traffickers know that we will get there sooner or later,'' Credentino said, but noted that he doubted that any terrorists would be infiltrating using this route: ''it's possible but improbable'' since ''the southern route is the most dangerous and because ''they know that they will be picked up and handed over to the police''. It is also clear that, for terrorists, it would be ''easier to take planes or commercial ships, or mix in with those on the Balkan route''. (ANSAmed).




BEIRUT - UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will meet the Damascus government delegation in Geneva today in an attempt to open a new chapter in peace negotiations between the warring parties in Syria, announced the diplomat during a briefing broadcast live by pan-Arab tv Al Jazeera.



''The real issue to confront is political transition'' stressed de Mistura, who will subsequently meet the opposition delegation, the High Council for Negotiations (Hnc). ''There is no 'Plan B', if the ceasefire and peace negotiations in Geneva fail'' said De Mistura before chairing another round of talks between the government and the opposition in Geneva.



"The only 'Plan B' would be a return to war - he added - and it would be worse than before''.



In the meantime, Syrian government forces, supported by Russian air raids advanced close to Palmyra, the town renowned for its Roman era archaelogical site held by Isis since May, Syrian state tv reported.



The network's reporter said that loyalist forces are less than 5 km both south and west from the town in central Syria.


(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 14 - Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Monday that Russian troop withdrawal from Syria would commence on Tuesday.



International media reported that he said Russian military troops had largely fulfilled their objectives. Putin informed Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad of the decision to withdraw Russian troops from Syria and that the operation would begin tomorrow. Russian forces will remain at the Tartous naval base and at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria's Latakia province.



The Russian president said he hoped that the withdrawal would help initiate political negotiations between the parties involved in conflict in the country. (ANSAmed).


Energy: Saudi Acwa acquires 70% of Jordanian company Shares of Solar Energy for 150 mil USD. Amman bets on 'green'

ANSAmed) - AMMAN, MARCH 13 - A Saudi company has acquired a major share of a Jordanian green energy firm in a deal believed to be worth 150 million USD, company officials and market sources said Sunday.



The Saudi firm, ACWA Power International purchased 70 percent of Sunrise Solar Energy Psc, which is developing a 50-megawatt solar plant in the northern city of Mafraq, according to statement by the Saudi firm.



The plant is being developed using latest technology and is expected to be up and running in mid-2017.



The Saudi firm already has a project running in the north of the kingdom as it signed an agreement with the Jordanian government to restructure al Hussein Bin Talal power plan in a deal worth half a billion US dollars. The kingdom has turned to green energy in order to support its struggling energy sector and hopes to reduce dependency on the import of fuel as a source of electricity.



The population of north Jordan has doubled in the past five years due to the mass immigration of Syrian asylum seekers, which places a heavy burden on existing resources.



The Saudi firm said the green energy project would also help reduce carbon dioxide emission by 2.3 million tonnes.




Migrants: drownings in river on Greek-Macedonian border 3 Afghans dead, no entry also before closure of Balkan route

(ANSAmed) - SKOPJE, MARCH 14 - Three migrants, two men and a woman, drowned while trying to cross into Greece from the Macedonian border swimming in the Suva Reka river this morning.



The Macedonian media reported that other 23 migrants who were trying to cross the border by swimming across the river were rescued and taken to the reception centre of Vinojug.



The victims are all of Afghan nationality reported the media.



All borders of Countries along the Balkan route have been closed for a week and thousands of middle-eastern migrants are stranded in the Idomeni camp, in Greek territory on the border with Macedonia.



That is why the number of those seeking to cross the border illegally into western Europe is rising.



Before borders were sealed, migrants from war-torn Syria and Iraq were allowed to pass but Afghans were refused entry.



(ANSAmed).




Migrants: Macedonian army detains hundreds 2,000 crossed border with Greece by wading through river

(ANSAmed) - HAMILO (GREECE), MARCH 14 - Macedonian police and army on Monday detained hundreds of migrants that had crossed the border with Greece despite the closing of the border by Skopje. Over 2,000 people managed to get across despite torrential rain. Chaotic scenes ensued when the refugees tried to cross a fast-flowing river to get into the neighboring country. The migrants, including dozens of children, had crossed a police cordon outside the Idomeni camp. International television stations show scenes of hundreds of migrants arduously crossing the Suva Reka river on the border between Greece and Macedonia in an attempt to get around the blocking of the border in Idomeni, to enter Macedonia and continue their journey along the Balkan route. Entire families are seen carefully entering the rushing water, with children on their parents' shoulders and having problems keeping a hold on their belongings. On Monday morning, three Afghan migrants drowned to death in the attempt to cross the river. (ANSAmed).




(ANSAmed) - RABAT, MARCH 14 - Orangina, the orange juice in the pot-bellied bottle is ready to invade Morocco.



It will be a revolution for local consumers used to drinking freshly squeezed orange juice, sold by street-vendors in squares for a few coins a glass.



So much so that Orangina, which is very well known in France, had never dared go beyond the Pillars of Hercules, but this time the group Lemo, Les Eaux Minarales d'Oulmes, distributor of bottled mineral water, announced a partnership with Suntory Beverage and Food, the Japanese producer of the drink.



Suntory, which also boasts in its portfolio brands such as Schweppes and Oasis, sealed the deal through its European division located in France.



The news has appeared on local financial media.



The accord will come into fruition on two levels: a company will immediately be established for the exploitation rights of the brand which will follow commercial operations, marketing and the distribution of products. Subsequently Lemo will open a factory in an exclusive partneship with the Japanese giant to produce and distribute Orangina. Lemo, which holds 68% of the market of bottled mineral water in Morocco with four brands of water - Sidi Ali, Oulmes, Ain Atlas e Bahia - went from a turnover of approximately 125 million Euros to 137 million in the last year, a 23% growth.
ROME - Hanan al-Hroub became a teacher when she understood she had to do something in order to help her children recover from the shock of witnissing a shooting while they were coming home from school one day.



Pope Francis announced her name as the winner of the one million dollar Global Teacher Prize 2016 in a video message today.



The prize will be paid in instalments during a ten-year period and the condition imposed by the promoters of the award is that its winner will have to keep teaching for at least other five years.



Congratulating her Bergoglio stressed the significance of the educator's ''noble profession''.



"Part of education - added the Pontiff - is teaching children how to play because that is how you learn to socialise and discover the joy of living through games''.



Hanan Al Hroub grew up in the refugee camp of Deisha (Bethlehem).



"I was born in a context in which violence is the rule of the day and I had to grow fast'' she said when her name was submitted for the prize.



"The shock they went through deeply affected my children's personalities and behaviour''.



So the young Palestinian decided to devise new learning methods through play and involved the children's neighbours too.



"Shortly after embarking on this activity - she explained - I discovered great improvements in all of my children: their confidence grew and their marks did too. That's why I decide to change my course of study and become a teacher''.



She is very happy she did so now. "I am proud to be on this stage. I accept this prize as an accomplishment for all teachers and for the Palestinian ones in particular''.



"I hope the story of Hanan Al Hroub - said Sunny Varkey, the award's founder - will inspire those who wish to take on this profession and that it will shine a light on the incredible work of teachers in Palestine and in the whole world''.



Eight thousand teachers from all over the world participated to the second edition of the Global Teacher Prize.



The ten finalists (from Pakistan, Kenya, United Kingdom, USA, Japan, Finland, Australia and India ) were all invited to Dubai for the award cerimony during the Global Education and Skills Forum. Movie stars such as Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek were also among the guests attending the event. The winner of the award was also congratulated by American Vice-President Joseph Biden and by British prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.


Turkey: Ankara attack, deathtoll rises to 37 Inquiries follow Kurdish lead.Raid on PKK.Female suicide-bomber

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MARCH 14 - The deathtoll of the terrorist attack that struck Turkey's capital, Ankara, yesterday evening has risen to 37, said Turkish Minister of Health, Mehmet Muezzinoglu.



Thirteen people have been identified with certainty, security sources quoted by state newsagency Anadolu reported adding that Ankara's General Prosecutor has entrusted 8 magistrates to supervise the results of the autopsies. One of the two suicide-bombers who carried out yesterday's attack is a female Turkish university student Seher Cagla Demir,who reportedly joined the PKK in 2013 wrote Turkish newspaper Sozcu, quoting sources close to the investigation.



The woman was identified by her fingerprints and other parts of her body still recognisable after the blast.



The same sources say that the attack was carried out with a white 1995 Bmw loaded with tnt.



The woman was studying at Balikesir University in north-western Turkey and she had already been put on trial with other 4 militants- among which three of her sisters - and was accused of being a member of the PKK, an organisation which Turkey considers a terrorist outlet.



The trial had been adjourned in December pending judgement by the court.



Overnight, the Turkish air force carried out fresh raids against PKK positions in the mountains of Qandil and Gara in northern Iraq, the Turkish army reported adding that nine F-16 jets and two F-4 2020 were employed in the operation. According to initial rumours, the investigation on the car bomb that killed at least 37 people in Ankara is following the lead of PKK related terrorism. In the last few months Turkey has carried out several raids against Kurdish rebel strongholds in Iraq.



Social media are working regularly again after the strong slowdown following the bomb blast in Ankara. Both Facebook and Twitter worked intermittently for many hours yesterday, while - as has already been the case in similar instances - authorities tried to prevent the disclosure of pictures and information relating to the massacre.



As for similar attacks in the last few months, authorities imposed a ban on images from the scene on Turkish media.



(ANSAmed).




BRUSSELS - Pending the implementation of the much debated accord with Turkey and following the closure of Balkan route, Austria also wishes to close the Mediterranean one to Italy.



The flow of migrants through this latter route has been greatly reduced by European naval deployment, but the beginning of good weather could encourage more movement if the Libyan stalemate will not allow the fight against traffickers to be extended to internal waters and the coast.



"The migrant traffic is not easy to halt. We will have to do everything we did on the Balkan route also on the Mediterranean-Italian one, in order to clarify that the free ride to the Middle of Europe is over, whatever the route'' said Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, in an interview to Bild.



The Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann, on the other hand, pressed Angela Merkel again the same day she suffered an electoral blow in three Laender. "The logic of disorderly migration will be defeated only if Germany will indicated a number of reference and will limit itself to welcoming refugees directly from the regions of origin of the crisis" said the Austrain head of government.



The Council of Foreign Ministers will address the issue of the external dimension of the refugee crisis in Brussels today.



The Libyan developments will be discussed during a breakfast meeting with UN Envoy Martin Kobler, who has witnessed the expansion of Isis in Libya ''day by day''.



The Libyan presidential council announced the entry into force of the national unity government entrusted to Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, who however still need to be approved by the Tobruk parliament.



The diplomatic activity surrounding the accord with Turkey has been intense as the deal will be discussed once again by leaders at Thursday's and Friday's summit. Diplomatic sources suggest that the possibility of 28-strong consensus on the doubling of financing (from the current 3 to 6 billion Euros) requested by Ankara is ''still far off''. There is also strong resistance to the political side of the exchange.



Speaking about the liberalisation of visas for Turkish citizens, French President Francois Hollande warned that ''there cannot be any concession with regard to respect for human rights or on the criteria for liberalisation''. In the meantime, in an attempt to unblock the accession chapter, held up for years because of the Cypriot issue, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk will fly to Nicosia on Tuesday.



He will meet president Nicos Anastasiades to try and mitigate his positions with regard to Turkish occupation of the north of the island.
Syria: De Mistura, peace negotiations in Geneva restart UN envoy, there is no' Plan B', it would be return to fighting

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, MARCH 14 - UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will meet the Damascus government delegation in Geneva today in an attempt to open a new chapter in peace negotiations between the warring parties in Syria, announced the diplomat during a briefing broadcast live by pan-Arab tv Al Jazeera.



''The real issue to confront is political transition'' stressed de Mistura, who will subsequently meet the opposition delegation, the High Council for Negotiations (Hnc). ''There is no 'Plan B', if the ceasefire and peace negotiations in Geneva fail'' said De Mistura before chairing another round of talks between the government and the opposition in Geneva.



"The only 'Plan B' would be a return to war - he added - and it would be worse than before''.



In the meantime, Syrian government forces, supported by Russian air raids advanced close to Palmyra, the town renowned for its Roman era archaelogical site held by Isis since May, Syrian state tv reported.



The network's reporter said that loyalist forces are less than 5 km both south and west from the town in central Syria.




Syria: Russian troops to begin withdrawing tomorrow, Putin 'Objectives achieved', operating bases to remain

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MARCH 14 - Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Monday that Russian troop withdrawal from Syria would commence on Tuesday.



International media reported that he said Russian military troops had largely fulfilled their objectives. Putin informed Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad of the decision to withdraw Russian troops from Syria and that the operation would begin tomorrow. Russian forces will remain at the Tartous naval base and at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria's Latakia province.



The Russian president said he hoped that the withdrawal would help initiate political negotiations between the parties involved in conflict in the country. (ANSAmed).




The airline, which has carried almost three million passengers on the Dubai-Vienna route since it was launched on 1st May 2004, will fly its three-class A380 with 519 seats  14 in First Class, 76 in Business Class and 429 in Economy  on one of its daily services to Vienna (EK127/EK128) and retain its second daily Boeing 777-300ER service (EK125/EK126) with a seating capacity of 360.

Over the years, we have gradually seen an increase in demand for our services in Austria thanks to the strong response and support from our customers. We are very pleased now, as a further step, to bring our flagship A380 to Austria, offering an unrivalled travel experience for passengers in all classes, said Thierry Antinori, Emirates Executive vice president and chief commerical officer.

Austria, as a leader in the hospitality industry and Vienna as a world class city, are sure to benefit from a boost to tourism and job creation as well as experiencing a positive impact on the economy as they welcome more visitors from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We would like to thank Vienna Airport and the City of Vienna for their strong support which has enabled us to bring the A380 to this beautiful city, he continued.

Jager, member of the management board of Vienna International Airport said: Emirates decision to deploy the worlds largest passenger jet for its scheduled flights to Vienna underlines the great importance of our economic region and the Vienna/Bratislava catchment area for the airline. This is a very special honour and we are now pleased to belong to the group of A380 airports.
The third edition of the forum, organised by the United Arab Emirates Embassy in the United Kingdom, witnessed the participation of a number of private and government entities from various sectors. The forum serves as a platform that brings together key state institutions and Emirati students in the United Kingdom and Europe to introduce career opportunities back in the UAE.

Sheikha Al Maskari, Chief Innovation Officer at the UAE Space Agency

said she aimed through her participation in the forum to encourage students to learn about space and astronomy sciences and to continue their education and practical experience in this field. She stressed the importance of the forum and other related events in highlighting promising and lucrative career opportunities in different areas of the space sector.

Sheikha said that, as part of the UAE Space Agency's plans to develop the space sector in the UAE, the Agency gives great importance to the development of specialised talents in order to pave the way for the emergence of a new generation of scientists and researchers who will lead this sector in the future, especially given that the sector relies on the human element. This would contribute to the acquisition of extensive knowledge in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which are a basis for the success of the UAE space programme.

Sheikha called on students to benefit from the opportunities offered by the space programs in the UAE, such as the "Hope Probe" mission to Mars which, given its importance, will put the UAE in the ranks of advanced countries in the field of space exploration.

Ahmed Sharif, vice president of human resources and support operations in Thuraya Telecommunications Company, said: "We are proud to participate in the UAE-UK Pioneers Forum alongside a group of UAE companies that support Emiratisation efforts. We hope that the forum attracted more Emirati talent, which will help raise the level of innovation offered by Thuraya in the field of satellite communications."

He added: "Thuraya has always been seen as a launching pad for many Emirati talent in the space and satellite field, given that it is the first UAE investment in this field. Now, more than ever, the UAE is considered a fertile ground for young Emiratis to enter a new era of space science led by the UAE Space Agency."
The Down and Dirty for Thomas Deegan, Ammon Bundy, and Everyone Else Facing Prosecution by the Vermin Pretending to Serve and Defend America by Judge Anna1. The Federal District Court today is a hybrid that was never intended to be.2. Every Federal District Judge takes his oath to uphold the Constitution  5 USC 3331. (Bear in mind that you cannot use CFR, USC, or any other of their private statutes in their courts, with the single exception of the United States Statutes at Large, which are public. The most you can do is remind them of their oath and accept it.)3. March 9, 1933 martial law was imposed by Proclamation 2040 on both the federal and state government franchises organized as the United States of America, Inc. and its states doing business as the State of California, etc. The Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917 (50 USC App. 5(b) was amended by the Emergency Banking Relief Act of March 9, 1933 (12USC95a) -2040 continued Emergency Proclamation 2039.4. On April 25, 1938, the US Supreme Court demolished federal general common law civilian due process and the military common law jurisdiction was imposed.5. In September 1938, new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were introduced as authorized by Section 17 of the Trading With the Enemy Act. Four years later, in 1942, new Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure followed.6. After that, there has been no distrinction between suits at law and suits in equity they are constitutionally created courts, but sitting in a foreign, statutory, emergency war powers military jurisdiction. Civilian U.S. citizens are now treated as enemy combatants subject to military due process of law i.e., international martial common law.7. From July 28, 1868 to March 9, 1933, all Americans in the organic states were Private American National Citizens without any implied or express contract with the Federal corporations or the Federal State franchises. They were protected by Section 1 of the corporate Constitutions 14th Amendment.8. FDRs Proclamation 2039 made all U.S. citizens enemies and their property was deemed enemy property which was seized via exercise of titles held under color of law by the Alien Property Custodian, now the Secretary of the Treasury;9. On March 9, 1933, Congress approved  after the fact  Roosevelts actions back to March 4, 1933, the day of his inauguration and approved both his Proclamation 2039 and 2040;10. Every Private American National Citizen was deemed to be Registered as a U.S. citizen  a foreign situs trust named after them and deemed a citizen under federal diversity of citizenship- via a Certificate of Live Birth. The foreign situs trust created by this registration rather than recording yielded an artificial person which was operated under a name in Upper and Lower Case identical to the given name people were used to using and this person was deemed registered property of the bankrupt federal corporation. The living Americans were also deemed voluntary sureties and voluntary trustees for the resulting corporate persona: James Albert Doe. After 7 years of this, when clueless Americans didnt come forward and object and reclaim their status by Expatriation, it was presumed that the owner/trustee was lost at sea and a second constructive trust was created-a Cestui Que Vie Trust operated as: JAMES ALBERT DOE, for example.11. This reduced the status of the Private American National Citizen to that of a U.S. citizen- a corporation created under federal corporation auspices as a franchise.12. This PERSON named after you is by definition an enemy combatant subject to international military jurisdiction.13. AS a result of all this GARBAGE and FRAUD, every court procedure both civil and criminal, involves two jurisdictional trusts- one express and inactive and constitutional, one implied and active and unconstitutional.14. The express trust is the Constitution for the United States of America. Under this trust, the plaintiff is the trustee and the defendant is the beneficiary (presumed innocent).15. Thanks to the rupture caused by FDR, the government has foisted its responsibility to be trustee off on the victims of this fraud the people.16. The implied trust is the court case itself, conducted within the military jurisdiction of the civilian court.17. This implied trust arises from the hybrid nature of the Defendant a man presumed to be acting as a thing a corporation and enemy combatant-which results in the Defendant being deemed an enemy combatant and presumed guilty.18. In a criminal prosecution in a federal court (and all courts are federal either district or Federal state courts all operated by the United States District Court) the plaintiff comes in the name of the sovereign government-NOT the sovereign people. The indictment enabling the government to prosecute the victim is a True Bill see the legal definition of a True Bill and a Bill of Attainder and then see the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.19. The plaintiff is now the beneficiary and the defendant is now the trustee this has been accomplished via two contracts- the first one for the Private American National Citizen and the other for the government.20. The first implied contract binding the Private American National Citizen is the registered Certificate of Live Birth coupled with the seized of all property associated with that NAME;21. The second contract that replaced our lawful civilian government with martial law was express by the Emergency Banking Relief Act (EBRA) and its amendment to the Trading with the Enemy Act.HERE IS AN IMPORTANT TAKE HOME MESSAGE. The government is a corporation bringing charges against a vessel in commerce via means of a Bill of Attainder presented as a True Bill. They are doing this by pretending that Thomas Deegan,the man, is the same as THOMAS DEEGAN, the corporate PERSON they created as a franchise to benefit themselves.Now, what to do about it?PLEASE NOTE: the Judge is between a Rock and a Hard Place. He has taken his oath to the Constitution on one hand, and yet is obligated to uphold the statutes of the United States on the other.***The Article III Judge must be RELEASED and DISCHARGED from any obligation to impose military common law in his court created by the Constitution.***You, as the living man and true sovereign, can release the Judge from this conflict of duty and end the nightmare.23. Set up a one page Declaration of Political Status and Release and Discharge for Judge _______________ . Place a one dollar United States Postage Stamp in the top right hand corner of the page as consideration for the new contract you are creating.For example: I, Thomas of the Lawful House of Deegan, release and discharge Judge ___________ from his emergency war powers jurisdictional duties created by Section 17 of the Trading With the Enemy Act and clearly inform the court that I, a Private American National Citizen who has harmed nobody and nothing do not consent to statutory military jurisdiction of any kind. I did not willingly or knowingly consent to statutory military jurisdiction prior to being unlawfully detained and I do not consent to statutory military jurisdiction now. I do not consent to statutory military jurisdiction now nor at any foreseable time in the future.I do, however, accept the Oath of Judge_______________________and his trust obligation to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States under the Law of the Land affirmed So help me God and I do accept the perpetual friendship and amity of all members of the Bar Associations owed to Americans by the Treaty of Westminster 1794 and their honest conduct owed by The Bar Association Treaty of 1947.I repeat that I am a non-combatant and not an enemy and I do not consent to any statutory military jurisdiction being exercised against me by this court since my unlawful detainment, I do not consent to any statutory military jurisdiction being exercised with respect to me in the present, and do not consent to any future statutory military jurisdiction being offered against me.I revoke all and any consent actual or implied to act as or be considered a voluntary surety, trustee, volunteer, a corporate officer of any kind, a tax payer, commercial driver, corporate franchise operator, warrant officer, licensee, beneficiary of the public charitable trust or any other individual or employee subject to the British Crown or the British King in any capacity whatsoever.I clearly attest and declare that I am an American born on the land of the ___________state and am one of the free, sovereign, and independent people of the United States as defined by The Definitive Treaty of Peace, Paris, 1783. I have never considered any other political status actual or implied to be a benefit.Autographed by__(handprinted first name only)____Thomas (thumbprint seal).24. Next, repudiate the presumptions, accept the Indictment, and return it to the government acting as plaintiff. On the face of a copy of the Indictment write: Accepted for Value by Grantee, Returned for Value by Grantor-Settlor, On Special Deposit Without Recourse, IT IS ORDERED: Discharge All Obligations/Presentments/Bonds/Fees/Taxes/Tithes to Extinguish the Debt and Settle the Account of THOMAS DEEGAN: Date____________________, Signature_________________________________(Upper and Lower Case) Authorized Representative, all rights reserved.This turns the tables back on the government agents and makes them the trustees. And the grantor-beneficiary of the Constitution trust has just ordered the trustees to pay the charges and release the penal bonds.This entire schtick depends on (1) identity theft; (2) corruption of the courts; (3) ignorance coupled with non-disclosure to mischaracterize innocent people and their natural political status. No matter what they say or accuse you of, they are there to protect the interests of the British Crown and to extract money out of Americans and the lawful American government. It is your duty to fully inform the court and hold it accountable.Now here are some other facts you can use to fully inform the court(s).According to 16 American Jurisprudence, 2nd Edition, Sections 71 and 82- no emergency justifies a violation of any Constitutional provision.Despite this fact, as admitted in Senate Report 93-549 (1973): A majority of people in the United States have lived all their lives (mischaracterized as British Subjects thanks to registration via Certificates of Birth) under emergency rule. For 40 years, freedoms and governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have in varying degrees been abridged by laws brought into force by statutes of national emergency.Any idea that a statutory entity, a corporation, can declare war is by its nature fantastical and logically unsound, for the divide between the living and the dead is absolute and precludes such a notion. The corporate charter would be irrevocably violated and the perpetrators exposed as a mere band of criminals.Emergency does not create power. Emergency does not increase granted power or remove or diminish restrictions imposed upon power granted or reserved. The Constitution was adopted in a period of grave emergency. Its grants of the power to the Federal Government and its limitation of the power of the States were determined in the light of emergency and they are not altered by emergency.  Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell 290 US 426 (1934).The Constitution of the United States is a LAW for rulers and people equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection ALL classes of men, at ALL times, and under ALL circumstances. No doctrine, involving more pernicious consequences, was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or to despotism. Statement of Opinion, United States Supreme Court, Annals 1866, in response to a new class of proposed infringing Reconstruction legislation that was similarly promoted on the basis of national emergency.Powers and property interests that the corporate officers of the United States of America, Incorporated or the UNITED STATES, Inc. did not possess prior to the 1933 bankruptcy emergency did not magically accrue to them as the result of any emergency economic or otherwise.All that really happened is that two international banking cartels colluded among themselves to initiate a war for profit, a war that pitted foreign situs trusts named after innocent Americans against Roman Inferior TRUSTS also named after the same innocent Americans.Calling it an apple does not make it an apple. Benjamin Franklin, 1772.Naming a Roman Inferior Trust JOHN MICHAEL DOE or a foreign situs trust John Michael Doe does NOT make either of these en legis persons equivalent to or the same as the living man whose given name has been seized upon and whose identity has been stolen. All it does is create an environment rich in confusions and semantic deceits that have been used to cheat, harass, entrap, enslave, defraud, and steal from the peaceful people of this land who are the employers, benefactors, and creditors who are owed good faith service from both the offending international banking cartels and both their sponsored governmental services corporations.The Private American National Citizens are at peace, not parties to any war among fictional incorporated entities, not bound to act as sureties for the debts of governmental services corporations merely under contract to provide them nineteen essential enumerated services. To the extent that competing foreign banking cartels have created emergencies and advanced these outrageous claims against the employers and benefactors of the governmental services corporations they have each sponsored, they deserve to be recognized as crime syndicates engaged in identity theft and credit fraud, insurance fraud, securities fraud, press-ganging, entrapment, racketeering, armed extortion under color of law, personage, barratry, enslavement, embezzlement, conspiracy, unlawful conversion, and other crimes against humanity.There are no emergency powers granted to Congress. There is no basis for the Trading With the Enemy Act ever being applied against us nor against any vessel in commerce named after us. There is no excuse for pretending that all the Americans magically volunteered to be considered British Subjects, either.On April 14, 1802, the actual United States in Congress Assembled passed United States Statute-at-Large 2, 153, Chapter 28, Subsection 1. The actual government of, for, and by the people clearly defined the necessary process for any American to ever become a United States Citizenthat is, a British Subject merely residing on the land of the United States a process requiring multiple notices and conscious acts by consenting adults confirmed by public officials and on the public record over a period of two years  not an undisclosed implied contract foisted off under conditions of deceit upon babies in their cradles and women recovering from childbirth.This is the thanks we get from the British Monarch for loyally supporting Britain and British interests in two World Wars.
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From Brazil, the PIME missionary has been in the countrys north-west since 2013. Despite the threat of Boko Haram and mutual mistrust, he has created the conditions for a peaceful and fruitful dialogue between Christians and Muslims. For him, Christians feel a duty to learn more about the religion of the other. Living among Muslims, one is called to give an account of ones faith."

Rome (AsiaNews) - Father Dos Santos Valmir Manoel is a missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). Yesterday, the country was hit by a deadly attack at Grand Bassam. Since his arrival in 2013, the clergyman has worked on building peaceful and fraternal relations with Muslims, overcoming initial mistrust. AsiaNews spoke to him before he returned to his mission, which coincidentally was on the same day as the terrorist attack.

"We know that there are Islamic fundamentalist 'missionaries' in Ivory Coast, even though the threat of Boko Haram is not yet present. We are on alert because they have already started in Burkina Faso and other neighbouring states. These terrorist groups cannot come as a block. [Ivorian] society would not accept them. Hence, they send people who can fit in and begin to create the right conditions. Slowly, they send reinforcements until the time comes that they are ready to act, said Fr Valmir who almost prophetically spoke to AsiaNews on the eve of his return to Ivory Coast.

In his parish, despite the threat of terrorism, the clergyman has created the conditions for a peaceful and fruitful dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Hailing from Piaui, a state in north-eastern Brazil, he undertook his vocational path in his diocese, until he heard about "that part of the world that had not yet heard about Jesus.

In view of this, I told myself whether one day my vocation would take me there. Missionaries joke that that Coca Cola is more widely known than Jesus Christ, and this left a mark on me. If that were true, I wanted to change things! So I contacted PIME and through the magazine 'World and Mission' I met some missionaries."

Bound for Africa in 2013, the missionary arrived in Kane, north-western Ivory Coast, 600 km from Abidjan. Here he found a situation that was unfamiliar to him. "Used to Brazil, where the vast majority of the population is Catholic, I found myself in the minority". Locally, "Muslims are more than 90 per cent. Animists and followers of traditional religions are 7-8 per cent. Christians are only 2 per cent, 1.5 per cent Catholic.

In Kane, Fr Valmir serves a community of 2,000 people, split between the city and surrounding small villages. The priest is happy to live in close contact with people of other religions. "In such a situation, one is called to give an account of ones faith, and I have found out that I live my faith better in Ivory Coast, in a Muslim context, than where Catholics are the majority."

Still, Christians are often marginalised. Indeed, "A nun friend of mind told me that she stopped going to the market because they refuse to serve her because she is white and Christian."

For years, the atmosphere between Christians and Muslims was tense, poisoned by hatred and suspicion. Lately, however, thanks to Fr Valmirs work (and that of Fr Davide Carraro, another PIME missionary), the situation has changed.

"We started to seek unity with Muslims, Fr Valmir said, respectfully, trying to learn more about the religion of the other, in order to live together. The approach was not easy, but we have increased our visits with the local imam, overcoming mistrust. As Christians, we cannot live next to someone without speaking to him. This is the evangelical message that drives us towards them."

Fr Valmirs inter-faith journey reached its apex at a joint prayer meeting in July 2015, shortly before the presidential elections (held in November). "At that time, tensions were running high, he said. So we thought of using the opportunity to meet with Muslims and pray for peace and unity. It took a bit of time to convince everyone, but the imam met his council and agreed to the idea.

On the day of the prayer, Muslims came in large numbers. Each community (Protestants included) had a moment for their prayer. It was nice because, for the first time, we were there to pray together. Everyone had the feeling that our God was the same. Everyone one happy. We did not know that your prayer was so intense, some people said. It was a moment of discovery of the other faith. "

"The November elections went off without a hitch, the missionary explained. There was no violence. We could not believe it! God heard us. And that moment of reconciliation did not go unnoticed by political authorities. "Right after the elections, the provincial governor asked us to conduct another interfaith prayer, to give thanks for the votes success, Fr Valmir said. They saw the importance of this event for the country."

In view of the closer relationship, the general attitude of Muslims changed. "Imams usually did not come to the mission, the priest explained, because they thought, 'Who knows what the Fathers are up to there'. But now they have started to come and I continue to go to them. We show them that we are not there to fight them, but to live our faith and propose it to anyone who wants to hear it. Seeing the attitude of their leaders towards us, Muslim believers understood that mistrust is unreasonable."

This does not mean that all the problems have been solved. "Even today if a Muslim, especially women and minors, wants to convert to Christianity, their parents will oppose it. Adults may do it, but they are rejected by their family and must change city to avoid being killed. Yet, such difficulties aside, we see that the Church is growing, and we are waiting for the first local vocation as a fulfilment of this process.
About 13 militants landed from the sea fired opening fire on people gathered on the beach and hotels. Tourism, a major source of the economy, targeted. Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Attack similar to those in Tunisia, Mali and Burkina Faso. Dead include Lebanese, French and German national.

Abidjan (AsiaNews) - "The Ivory Coast is not a country that inculcates fear; fundamentalism is not a problem here. Whoever carried out this massacre comes from outside and deliberately targeted an important source of the economy: tourism", says Fr. Davide Carraro. The PIME missionary based in Ivory Coast expresses his grief and shock at the attack yesterday in Grand-Bassam, a beach resort around 40 km from the capital.

Eyewitnesses speak of about 13 militants, armed to the teeth and wearing balaclavas, who arrived aboard boats and opened fire indiscriminately on those present who were taking in the sun or were in the restaurant or bar at Etoile du Sud and two other hotels.

One witness said that one of the assailants shouted several times "Allah akbar (God is great)" in Arabic. Others, still shaken, say that the attackers demanded those present shout "Allah akbar" Anyone who did not was killed instantly. According to the interior ministry, the dead were Ivorians and foreigners, including Lebanese, a French and German national.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a branch of the fundamentalist terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack and said three of its fighters were killed. The Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who went to the site of the attack, said the attackers were slain.

This attack represents something new in the Ivory Coast. The mechanics of the attack is similar to the attacks in Tunisia, Mali and Burkina Faso. Last June, a young man opened fire on tourists in Sousse, killing 37. In November, a commando attacked a hotel in Bamako, leaving 20 dead; in January, gunmen killed 30 people in Ouagadougou. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed the last two attacks.
Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis sent messages expressing his closeness and solidarity after terrorists carried out attacks in in Grand-Bassam (Ivory Coast) and Ankara (Turkey). In them, the Holy Father offered his condolences and prayers for the victims.

In a telegram to Mgr Raymond Ahoua, bishop of Grand Bassam, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said, Upon hearing the news of the heinous attack in Grand-Bassam, His Holiness Pope Francis presents condolences to the bereaved and assures the injured his spiritual closeness. He entrusts the victims to Gods mercy to welcome them into his peace and light. As he shares his sadness with the suffering people of Ivory Coast, the Holy Father again condemns violence and hatred in all their forms. As a token of comfort, he invokes an abundance of divine blessings on the Ivory Coast and all the families touched by this tragedy.

In a telegram to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom the pontiff met in 2014 during a visit to Istanbul, Card Parolin writes, Deeply saddened to learn of the injury and tragic loss of life caused by the bombing in Ankara, His Holiness Pope Francis assures the Turkish people of his spiritual closeness and solidarity. He prays for the eternal rest of those who have died and for all who mourn their loss, as well as for the recovery of those affected by this heinous act of violence. Mindful of the generous service being rendered by security and emergency personnel, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of peace, healing and strength upon the nation.
Riyadh against Saudis who "support" the Lebanese Shiite movement. They will be tried under anti-terrorism laws. Bahrain adopts expulsion policy, 10 families already deported. Arab countries continue the encirclement against Hezbollah. Nasrallah: "Saudis paying price for failed bets in Syria and Yemen".

Beirut (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Saudi Arabia has announced the expulsion of all its citizens who "show support" for the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, or who collaborate "in any capacity" with the group. The government in Riyadh has also added that anyone caught involved in similar activities will be tried under anti-terrorism laws in force in the Kingdom, which also provide for the death penalty.

The Saudi government announcement has further inflamed - if possible - the political climate in Lebanon, where the clash taking place between the various factions (pro-Iranian Shiites, as opposed to its neighbor Saudi Arabia). This internal conflict has blocked the election of the President of the Republic for over 20 months. On 19 February, Riyadh issued a series of measures against Lebanon and Hezbollah, cutting $ 54 billion in military aid promised to the army and security forces in Beirut.

For the Saudis, Lebanon he has taken "hostile positions" and is covering the Shiite movements "terrorist acts" against "Arab and Muslim nations. Moreover since the attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, in response to the execution of the Shiite dignitary Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates have called on their fellow citizens not to travel to Lebanon.

In a statement released yesterday the Saudi Ministry of Interior said that "any citizen or resident [in Saudi Arabia] that shows affiliation or support for the so-called group Hezbollah ... will suffer harsh punishment, according to the Anti- terrorism laws and regulations ".

The same rules will be applied against those who "promote" the Hezbollah ideology, those who financially support the movement or who have contact with its members. The ministerial statement adds that harsh punishment will be reserved for those who offer hospitality to "members" of Hezbollah. "Any resident caught in this type of activity - the statement concludes - will be deported".

Hezbollah is a Shiite militant armed group, whose influence in Lebanese politics has grown more in recent decades. Allies and supported by Iran, they have put their military force at Assads service in fighting fundamentalist militia of al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda) and the Islamic State (IS), inflicting heavy defeats.

The Saudi government s frontal attack comes just hours after leaders of the Islamic State (IS) accused Hezbollah of being "the source of crime and oppression of the nation". Earlier the Arab League, gathered in Cairo, also condemned Hezbollah as a "terrorist" group, following the same position pronounced by Saudi Arabia and the Council of the Gulf countries.

In the face of these repeated acts of hostility from governments, organizations and terrorist groups, the leaders of the Lebanese Shiite movement have responded with calm. In recent days, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made an official statement, in which he states that "Saudi Arabia is furious because his of its failed bets in Yemen and Syria".

Meanwhile, Bahrain has acceded to the expulsions policy against Lebanese citizens who sympathize or have links with the Hezbollah movement. This is confirmed by Bahrains Ministry of Interior, who announced - without specifying the number - the "deportation" of a group of Lebanese. In recent days, the media in Beirut spoke of at least 10 families which have been notified of their impending expulsion.



Previously, the leaders (Sunnis) of the country had accused Hezbollah and Iran of supporting the activities of Shiite militias in the country. Accusations rejected by the Lebanese movement and the Tehran government.



Bahrain is a Gulf monarchy ruled by a Sunni dynasty in a country where the majority of the population (at least 60-70%) is Shiite and has for some time been calling for constitutional changes and more social and economic rights. In 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring, there were riots that the King of Bahrain  an ally of Washington and supported by Riyadh - defeated with armed troops sent by Saudi Arabia.
Scientists Who Apparently Don't Watch Movies Grow Dinosaur Legs On Chickens For First Time

Trending News: Scientists Grow Dinosaur Legs On Chickens For The First Time

Why Is This Important?

Because Im pretty sure this is how Jurassic Park started.

Long Story Short

Chilean scientists have manipulated the genes of regular chickens, allowing them to grow dinosaur legs by switching off a natural inhibitor.

Long Story

Modern-day chickens may not have the most fearsome of reputations, but it seems they have a secret identity.

While we all know that many dinosaur species went up in a ball of flame during an asteroid strike around 66 million years ago, it is less commonly known that other dinosaurs quietly evolved into bird species that we see today, the less than imposing ducks and chickens.

Now, Chilean researcher Joao Botelho and his team are working on helping chickens get in touch with their dinosaur side with a series of ground-breaking science-fiction style experiments, published in the journal Evolution.

As modern-day chickens grow, their leg bones become shorter and thinner and less dinosaur-like, so Botelho shut off the excellently named Indian Hedgehog gene which prevents their fibulae growing further and found that chickens started to grow dinosaur legs.

The chickens would have grown legs resembling the Archaeopteryx, but they didnt make it close to adulthood, dying soon after embryo stage.

The same Chilean group have already grown dinosaur feet on chickens, while a group of American scientists managed to get chickens to grow dinosaur beaks.

via GIPHY

Jack Horner, the famous paleontologist, consulted on Jurassic Park, is also known to be working on creating a prehistoric chicken using a genetically altered egg in his lab in Montana State University.

While  for the moment  technology doesnt allow any of these experiments to create functional dinosaurs, it may not be far off and Horner has previously claimed that a real-life Jurassic Park with mini-dinosaurs may be just a decade away, and theres surely no way that could go wrong

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Should we be trying to bring extinct species back to life?

Disrupt Your Feed: Have we learned nothing from movies? Jurassic World did not end well. I prefer to eat chicken than to have chickens eat me.

Drop This Fact: A chicken is T-Rexs closest living relative as it shares the most proteins in its collagen make-up with the king of the dinosaurs.
New rules disallowing defence lawyers from judge shopping have been handed down by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Tom Bathurst.



The longstanding tactic of withdrawing a bail application at the last minute if they didnt get the judge they wanted has been slammed by police for releasing a number of high-profile criminals on the streets.



A report by the Daily Telegraph noted that one judge, known as Father Christmas because of his tendency to grant bail, let a senior Brothers For Life gang member with a lengthy criminal history back on the streets despite DNA having been found on the trigger of a gun.



But the new rules, which took effect on Monday of last week, will now require lawyers to appear at a call-over hearing, days before the bail application is due to verify if they are ready to proceed with the application. An affidavit is now required to withdraw the application once its been given a date to be heard.



A spokesperson for the NSW Supreme Court said the new rules were not a direct response to judge shopping but would lower the number of withdrawals. The Telegraph reported that some lawyers have welcomed the changes.



Judges are clever. They were once great lawyers themselves, said criminal representative and legal commentator Ljupka Subeska.



Withdrawing applications or adjourning them was wasting court time and clogging up the lists, so this practice note was most certainly necessary.



Senior vice-president of the NSW Bar Association welcomed the changes saying that the changes would ensure proper grounds for any adjournment application.


Perths new supreme court building has been named in honour of the late former chief justice David Malcolm.



Officially named the David Malcolm Justice Centre by WA premier Colin Barnett on Friday, the 33-storey tower will be the centre of Perths justice precinct, housing the departments of Attorney-General and Treasury, as well as five floors of civil court rooms.



David Malcolm was chief justice for 18 years, a brilliant lawyer, a wonderful chief justice and lieutenant governor, Barnett said of the former chief justice, who died in October 2014 at the age of 76.



It is so appropriate that his contribution to Justice in Western Australia is reflected in the naming of this building in his honour and his memory.



Chief justice Wayne Martin told the ABC that his predecessor would be chuffed by the name of the new building.



I'm very pleased this building has finally come to fruition. It's something David Malcolm wanted to see throughout his judicial career. Finally it's come to pass, he said.



It will hopefully provide a welcoming rather than an intimidating attitude and ambience.



We want people to feel that the court is there to serve them and that they're welcome in the court building.



The original supreme court building will remain and be used as the Court of Appeal for criminal cases, the ABC reported.



There is a place for a heritage building of that kind of course with the gravitas that its facade provides. So that's an important part of the heritage of the state and will be maintained as a court building which I think is great, Martin said.


The intellectual property practice at Herbert Smith Freehills has been named Australian Contentious Firm of the Year at the Managing Intellectual Property awards. At a ceremony held in London the firm was awarded the prestigious honour in recognition of its work on a number of major IP disputes which have often led to complex litigation.The cases include acting for Apple in its dispute with Samsung over tablet and smartphone technology, the largest piece of patent litigation in Australia; and successfully acting for Gilead in litigation relating to its blockbuster hepatitis C treatment.The proposal to introduce online courts for small claims in the UK has received a negative reaction from The Bar. The idea is that civil matters up to GBP25,000 (AU$47,600) could be dealt with online using case officers rather than judges. The Bar says that this could lead to a two-tier system of justice and may lead to lawyers quitting the profession. It also highlights the issue of removing a valuable source of learning for junior barristers which could mean stifling the careers of potentially leading advocates of the future.Big Four professional services firm Deloitte is expanding its legal services division with a new offering in Canada. The firm has acquired local firm Conduit Law to create Deloitte Conduit Law LLP offering outsourced lawyers to support in-house teams. Conduit says the deal will enable it to expand its services to clients while retaining its commitment to them. Deloitte commented that it has made the acquisition mindful of the future direction of the legal profession.Jacques Jacobs has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in its Sydney office. Jacobs is an experienced insurance lawyer and his appointment adds to last years moves for partners Mark Attard (Melbourne) and Brett Solomon (Brisbane), and senior insurance litigator Jehan-Philippe Wood (Perth) from the firms London office.
Australia is a popular country for international students and now research shows that its universities score highly when it comes to teaching quality, learning resources and skills development.The annual Student Experience National Report survey, which began in 2011, shows that 80% of students expressed satisfaction with their quality of their entire learning experience.Over the last decade enrolments have increased almost 50% and during this time the number of students withdrawing hasn't increased with the loss steady at 15%.The results highlight that Australia's education sector continues to deliver world class education to an increasing number of students from Australia and internationally, however international students who are not native English speakers may struggle more.Indeed, students who spoke English as their main language at home were more likely than those from a non-English speaking background to be satisfied with every aspect of their educational experience. A similar pattern is observed in relation to domestic students, who were more likely than international students to be satisfied with every aspect of their educational experience.A breakdown of the figures shows that overall student satisfaction with different aspects of their student experience ranged from 86% for learning resources, down to 60% for learner engagement.Some 82% indicated satisfaction with teaching quality, 81% expressed satisfaction with skills development, and 72% were satisfied with student support.Those recently enrolled at university were generally more satisfied than students in the later years of study with regards to teaching quality, student support, learning resources and the quality of their entire educational experience. Those in the later years of their studies are more satisfied with skills development and learner engagement.Student satisfaction with the quality of their entire educational experience has remained consistently high, at around 80% across the entire survey period from 2011 to 2015 with 2011 a pilot survey in which 24 universities participated.When comparing satisfaction in focus areas among different demographic groups of students, the largest variation observed was that external students were more dissatisfied than internal students with learner engagement at 43% and 64% respectively.Comparison of results from the 2015 survey with those from similar surveys in the United States and the UK shows that students in Australia continue to be less satisfied with their higher education experience than their counterparts in these countries.For example, in 2015 some 86% of US senior year students expressed satisfaction with their educational experience in comparison with 76% of Australian later year students and 85% of US first year students expressed satisfaction with their educational experience in comparison with 82% in Australian.In the UK 86% of final year students expressed overall satisfaction with their course in comparison with 78% in Australian.Students were also asked to indicate whether they had seriously considered leaving higher education in 2015. Overall, 18% indicated that they had considered leaving compared with 17% in 2014.Older students, indigenous students and students with a disability were the most likely to consider early departure, as were those who reported low grades to date. The most common reasons given for considering early departure are situational in nature, including health or stress, difficulties relating to finances and workload, and study/life balance.
Good Day Friends,



I would like to know what are the challenges a newly arrived migrant will face when he lands in Australia especially during the first few years of settling-in!



Of course everybody will have a completely different viewpoint and a lot will depend on which country we migrated from. And that is so much the better so that the entire community will benefit.



To get the ball rolling here is my background followed by a few of the challenges we faced when we first moved in:



An Indian, I moved to Australia in 2014 with my wife on a Permanent Resident Visa (189) and I am presently based in Townsville, North Queensland.



Some of the challenges (not in any particular sequence) we faced:



1) High cost of Living. Coming from an Asian background and with no job in hand the costs of daily living does take a lot getting used to!



2) Obtaining a Drivers Licence : Although I have been driving for over two decades for some reason it took me a few tests and quite a while to get my Aussie licence. Lessons I learnt - Obey Road rules. Do not take the test lightly and most of all keep trying (to obtain the licence).



3) Jobs: That's what most of us are here for anyways isn't it? The biggest hurdle I faced was getting over the requirement of 'Aussie Experience'. It is more of a case of what comes first - The Chicken or the Egg?



4)The Land of DIY : You have landed in the land of Do It Yourself.

From painting your own fence to fixing car's side mirror, the sooner you start picking up skills of of 'handy-man' the sooner you will start saving money.



So what is your take on this subject? Over to You!
Hi,



I am currently working for Accenture, I had requested them for a recognition letter for the purpose of ACS. I have received the letter but they have not mentioned the end date as I am currently employed to them, I even tried asking them to add "To date" which is as per ACS requirement, but they have replied stating no modifications can be done.



Below is the format in which they have provide. Requesting you to please check and let me know if this fine, else if having a "To date" is mandatory, can i attach the confirmation mail from the company on this regards while submitting the recognition letter? Please help



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This letter is being issued to 'Employee Name', 'Employee ID', on her request, for the purpose of validation of skills by Australian Computer Society. This letter is to confirm that 'Employee Name' is employed with Accenture Service Private Limited as a full time employee in 'City, Country' from 'Month date,year'. She is currently designated as 'Software Engineering'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------









Thanks in advance.
This long-termer gets our seal of approval for the space and ride quality it offers.

Two full-frame DSLR kits, three action-camera kits, two tripods, one three-foot slider, a variety of accessories, cables, clamps, suction cups, batteries and then some. All in all, thats four bags of equipment every video shoot for The Autocar Show requires. Of course, theres the director of photography, a camera assistant, and a producer to man it all as well. Thats a lot of luggage and people worth of space. Its really no wonder then that our four-month-old long-termer, Renaults Lodgy, has unofficially become the video teams default choice for support and tracking vehicle.

Lets talk about the support bit first. With the third row of seats folded away, and occasionally left behind in office, the Lodgy offers us a gargantuan amount of space to cram all that equipment in. What also helps is the low loading lip, so we dont really have to break our backs packing and unpacking our stuff. As for tracking, well, this MPV seems made for that. The absorbent suspension allows us to ride over rough sections of road, and that too at a pace where the cameraman, whos shooting from the rear, doesnt get disturbed too much.

I have it quite nice in the drivers seat too, though Id have liked a lighter steering. Then again, my daily drive is a Maruti Ritz, so it would be asking for a lot to expect the Lodgy to feel like a small hatchback. However, I do wish the big Renault were more iPod-friendly. Yes, I still use one as a dedicated device for my music, but setting it up in the Lodgy is a slight (though first-world) inconvenience. The aux port lies above the central touchscreen, and that means the cable dangles all the way down until the device, which itself doesnt slot in to either of the two cup holder-like spaces. From the driving position, reaching out for the device to play that one-song-stuck-in-your-head becomes an irritant. That aside, the sound system isnt all that bad, though the speakers do colour the sound a bit. The automatic speed-sensing volume feature too is quite an engaging aspect of the Lodgy. On a related note, Ive become quite used to the steering column-mounted audio controls that are hidden from view.

Our shoots often have us drive hundreds of kilometres, so a word of appreciation for the Lodgys long-distance abilities as well. The 108.5bhp, 1.5-litre diesel engine delivers power smoothly and is very likeable. With captain chairs for my co-passengers, they dont have anything to complain about at the end of a long day. However, for me, the rudimentary drivers seat height adjust was a bit of a let-down.

The big Lodgy has been reliable so far and offers the same sense of dependability like the Duster we had a few years ago. Its got all that I want to meet my requirements. Well, maybe thats why, to me, the Lodgy has become the unnamed member of our video team.

Animesh Das
In the continuously changing world of mid-size crossover SUVs, the Highlander was left behind by segment rivals such as the Ford Explorer and Honda Pilot. Toyota had to freshen up its contender. As standard, all V6 models will be paired with a Direct Shift 8-speed automatic transmission that is more tightly packed and efficient than the gray-haired 6-speed unit.The Japanese automaker still doesnt understand the definition of new considering that it describes the 3.5-liter V6 as being new. Pardon me, but isnt the GR family some 14 years old? It first appeared under the hood of the Highlander in 2007. At best, the 3.5-liter V6 Toyota describes as new for the 2017 model year Highlander is the same V6 with minor revisions.However, the carmaker promises that this 3.5-liter V6, set to be offered on gas models and the Hybrid, will generate significantly more horsepower, provide enhanced fuel efficiency, and deliver a more direct driving feel by expanding the lock up range. The Toyota Sienna will also use the updated mill and 8-speed automatic transmission starting with the 2017 model year.The 4x2 LE Highlander, on the other hand, will retain the 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic. The Hybrid, on the contrary, will make use of a continuously variable transmission. In terms of exterior design, the Highlander changed for the better. But the changes brought to the interior are more important in my humble opinion because, when all is said and done, the Highlander is a minivan alternative with off-road abilities.When the 2017 Toyota Highlander hits U.S. dealers this fall, those interested in acquiring one will be offered the choice of second-row bench seats (seating for eight) or second-row captains chairs (seating for seven). More information on the updated model is available in the following release.
The new division of the Blue Oval has the task of laying the base for the expansion of Fords business model. The carmaker from Dearborn wants to be a mobility company in the future, without giving up on their main business, building and selling cars.Jim Hackett was named the chairman of Ford Smart Mobility LLC. The former Steelcase CEO will also leave his position on the Ford Board of Directors to lead the new subsidiary.The newly established company will operate both in Palo Alto (California) and in Dearborn (Michigan). The first tasks of the Ford Smart Mobility subsidiary will be to design, build, grow, and invest in new mobility services.As such, the new subdivision will handle emerging opportunities connected to the automotive industry, like mobility services, autonomous vehicles, connectivity services, and customer experience.Unlike a traditional carmaker, the Smart Mobility division will operate like a startup, and it will collaborate with other companies to develop new services and technologies.It will seek new business opportunities in fields like predictive parking systems, car sharing programs, car-to-app connectivity, and autonomous vehicles. This year, Ford will be introducing FordPass, a free platform that will provide customers with a marketplace for mobility services, and members will receive dedicated benefits.All the data collected by the new services will be used by the Ford Motor Company to anticipate customer needs. Ford already has a collaboration with IBM, which tries to improve other programs of the American company, such as the Dynamic Shuttle experiment. The latter is a point-to-point, ride on-demand system that has been established at Fords campus in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Dynamic Shuttle is available for both employees and visitors, and its efficiency is monitored with the help of IBM.Ford is not the only automaker interested in future mobility solutions, as their homologs from General Motors are investing in start-up companies as well. GM investments in this area include a collaboration with Lyft , as well as a personal mobility brand for sharing fleets, called Maven
The 2000 Porsche Carrera GT prototype failed to sell. There is but a single reason why Jerry Seinfeld couldnt convince the crowd to bid more and drive this baby into the sunset. That reason is that the prototype car isnt drivable. Before Porsche sold the car to Seinfeld, engineers removed the engine management unit. Who wouldve paid between $1.5 million to $2.2 million for a German supercar with an engine that wont turn on?What about the other 15 Porsche vehicles? Lets begin the countdown with the most disappointing of the undersellers - the 1973 917/30 Can-Am Spyder. The crown jewel of the Seinfeld collection was estimated to sell for between $5 and $7 big ones by Gooding & Company. The thing is, the high bid of $3 million fell short of the $5 million minimum estimate. Poor Jerry.On a more positive note, a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC RSR exceeded expectations by attracting a high bid of $2,310,000. Thats more than $800,000 over and above the $1,500,000 high estimate. I guess Jerry left Amelia Island with mixed feelings after so many ups and downs, but then again, he left the auction $22,244,500 richer than he was before.Other than the 16 Porsche cars mentioned beforehand, Jerry put up for auction two classic Volkswagens. Heres the rundown of those 18 vehicles sold at the Amelia Island Auction, including the auction fees:* 1960 Volkswagen Beetle = $121,000 (estimate: $35,000 - $55,000)* 1964 Volkswagen Camper = $99,000 (estimate: $80,000 - $100,000)* 1958 Porsche 597 Jagdwagen = $330,000 (estimate: $350,000 - $425,000)* 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder = $5,335,000 (estimate: $5,000,000 - $6,000,000)* 1959 Porsche 718RSK = $2,860,000 (estimate: $3,800,000 - $4,200,000)* 1957 Porsche 356A Speedster = $682,000 (estimate: $500,000 - $600,000)* 1958 Porsche 356A 1500 GS/GT Carrera Speedster = $1,540,000 (estimate: $2,000,000 - $2,500,000)* 1963 Porsche 356B 2000 GS/GT Carrera 2 Coupe = $825,000 (estimate: $1,100,000 - $1,400,000)* 1966 Porsche 911 = $275,000 (estimate: $200,000 - $300,000)* 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder = $3,000,000 (estimate: $5,000,000 - $7,000,000)* 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 IROC RSR = $2,310,000 (estimate: $1,200,000 - $1,500,000)* 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster = $363,000 (estimate: $250,000 - $325,000)* 1990 Porsche 962C = $1,650,000 (estimate: $1,500,000 - $2,000,000)* 1994 Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6 S Flachbau = $1,017,500 (estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,300,000)* 1997 Porsche 993 3.8 Cup RSR = $935,000 (estimate: $1,200,000 - $1,500,000)* 2000 Porsche Carrera GT Prototype = Didnt sell (estimate: $1,500,000 - $2,250,000)* 2011 Porsche 997 Speedster = $400,000 (estimate: $300,000 - $400,000)* 2012 Porsche 997 GT3 4.0 Cup Brumos = $462,000 (estimate: $300,000 - $500,000)
SUV

During the first five-year plan, implemented between 1928 and 1932, a chap going by the name of Joseph Stalin demanded the establishment of a competitive automotive industry. Before Stalin, the USSRs auto sector was nothing more than a joke compared to the industries of America and Western Europe. Then again, rapid industrialization does have an interesting upshot.In 1928, the industrial workforce in Soviet Russia numbered 3.12 million men and women. By the end of the first five-year plan, industrial workforce rose to more than 6 million souls. Thats how the USSR created an entirely new social class - the working class. Despite creating new jobs, the increase in the standard of living, and a maximum output of 2.3 million vehicles per year, having an automobile was a privilege even for the well-to-do working class.It was even worse for those living in satellite states such as Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. If youre curious what kind of cars people could buy on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the following list should provide the insight.The staple of commie cars. A brick on wheels. The subject of endless jokes. Call it what you want and loathe it as much as you want, but nothing comes close to the popularity of the Lada Riva in the communist universe.It started life as a Fiat 124, a smallish family sedan with a spacious cabin, coil spring rear suspension, disc brakes all around, and even some sporting credentials. The Russians made it worse, though. Much worse.Nevertheless, tens of millions were made since its inception in 1970 (VAZ 2101) to its demise in 2012. Whats that? Production of the estate model (VAZ 2104) is still going strong in Cairo, Egypt? Well, Ill be damned.Another famous car from the cruddy past of Russia. One that continues to be popular in eastern Europe and the southernmost part of the American continent. Compared to the Riva, the Niva (VAZ 2121) has a bragging right.This humble 4x4 is the first series production off-road vehicle given a unibody construction and independent front suspension. Its the forerunner of the crossoverand it inspired Suzuki to make the Vitara. The Riva, on the other hand, inspired shame and everything that was wrong in the USSR.Provided that you can find a Lada dealership in Germany, you can buy the modern version of the Niva for 11,990. If you want a little more, oh I dont know, comfort and modernity, approximately 4,000 on top of that will get you an off-road ready Suzuki Jimny or a tres chic Renault Captur, cars that wouldnt have existed if it werent for the tried-and-true 1977 Lada Niva.Its made from cotton waste and phenol resins. It has a two-cylinder two-stroke engine that produces thick smoke out of the exhaust pipe. Its one of the most detestable automobiles in the history of East Germany.3.7 million units were produced between 1957 and 1991 and some weirdos collect these things in 2016. These so-called collectors restore them, then use them on a daily basis. Yup, masochism comes to mind.The Trah-Bee, as the British refer to this mongrel, is one of, if not the worst economy car of all time. No wonder many Trabant cars were burnt down to the ground or abandoned after the Berlin Wall was torn apart.East Germany didnt have any other alternative to the Trabant other than the Wartburg. The model christened 353 is based on a 1938 design from BMW and its powered by a 993 cc two-stroke three-cylinder engine with a mind-boggling characteristic. No, Im afraid it isnt get-up-and-go.What that engine lacked in performance and excitement made up in terms of DIY servicing. Thanks to only seven major moving parts, even those with minimal mechanical know-how could repair it themselves.If you wanted one back in the day, delivery often took more than 10 years after paying for the car. The successor of the 353, however, lost the easy-to-fix engine in favor of a 1.3 four-stroke four-cylinder based on the engine found under the hood of the second-generation Volkswagen Polo.This progeny of the Cold War excels at being dull. Its so dull, I already feel sleepy from looking at the photograph above. Despite everything I hate about the Moskvitch 412, this small family car has some laudable attributes.Take the UZAM-412 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. Word on the street is that Moskvitch took inspiration from the BMW M10 engine. More specifically, the M115 unit used by two BMW New Class models - the 1500 and the 1502.When Moskvitch set up shop in the United Kingdom in 1969, nigh on 300 examples of the 412 were sold that year. I feel sorry for the poor souls who chose this instead of a Ford Anglia, Hillman Minx or a Triumph 1300.Where do I start with this one? The Yugo is based on the Fiat 127, the first supermini hatchback made by Fiat. And just like its Italian counterpart, the little Yugo employed a transverse engine and front-wheel-drive layout.Built from 1980 to 2008, the Yugo became a subject of ridicule after it entered the United States of America and the United Kingdom. After all, it was a long shot for a Serbian brand to prevail in a free market.Before political problems and a civil war broke out at the beginning of the 1990s, the Yugo factory in Kragujevac rolled out the best examples of the breed. Not that anyone is interested in buying such a has-been these days.From 1969 to 2004, Romanian automaker Dacia built the 1300 family car in all shapes and sizes. 4-door sedan, 5-door station wagon, 2-door coupe, 4-door pickup truck, you name it, the Dacia 1300 was a universal car in Romania.Based on the Renault 12 but made with cheaper components in a facility brim with unskilled workers, the Dacia 1300 was compromised from the start. Dacia continuously modernized the 1300, but then Renault bought the brand and said, Erm, well replace the 1300 with the Clio-based Logan, thank you!The year production was halted, the Dacia 1300 sedan had a price of 4,100. Thats $4,545 at current exchange rates, which is dirt cheap. The peeps at Renault couldnt replicate that competitive price with the Logan, a small family car which starts at 6,850 (approximately $7,560) in Romania.The Oltcit is a commie car that couldve been great. To make a long story short, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu wanted a subcompact vehicle to sell alongside the larger and more expensive Dacia 1300. Citroen accepted to provide the design, tooling, and know-how, and so begins the story of the Oltcit.Sold in westernmost parts of Europe (except the United Kingdom) as the Citroen Axel, the Oltcit was based on a project from 1965. Robert Opron is the man behind project EN101, the man responsible for the Citroen DS Nouvelle Visage from 1967, the SM, Alpine A310, Renault Fuego, and Alfa Romeo SZ.Offered with either a flat twin or flat four, the Oltcit wasnt the supermini version of the Porsche 911 because it was hideously unreliable. Furthermore, it was so bad in terms of build quality and fit & finish, the Citroen-badged Axel was priced below the 2CV. The factory in Craiova, Romania, where the Oltcit was made is now the home of the Ford B-Max and 1.0 EcoBoost engine.The Soviets could not remain indifferent to the Willys MB after World War II came to a close. After Land Rover and Toyota had copied the military version of the Jeep, the USSR followed suit and this is the result - the GAZ 69 from 1953.As the standard military jeeps behind the Iron Curtain, the GAZ 69 family was so popular that Romanian carmaker IMS asked the Soviet authorities if it could produce a similar vehicle. The IMS 57 was born in 1957, then it got more modern with the ARO M461. The latter model, still based on the GAZ 69, won the 1970 Forests Rally in Belgium and it was exported to China and Colombia.The GAZ 69 took its last breath in 1972 when the UAZ 469 replaced the off-road utility vehicle. The thing I find most intriguing about the GAZ 69 is that the civilian-spec model wasnt offered with a hardtop because it had to meet Soviet Army requirements in case a war broke out. How communist is that?I have a confession to make. This is my favorite car on the list and Ill explain why. Six(ish) headlights? Check. Air-cooled 2.5-liter V8 engine mounted at the back end? Check. Popular with the highest of communist officials? Check.The Tatra 603 was pure opulence in a Soviet Union full of uninspiring cars for the masses. When it came to market in 1956, people thought it was a mash-up between a limousine and a Sputnik satellite.This thing isnt just a luxobarge with go-faster warrants by 50s standards. The Tatra 603 with minimum modifications has participated in 79 racing events from 1957 to 1967, coming in first place in 60 of those races. Impressive? You betcha.
Number 2 of just 3 cars ever built by Sant'Agata Bolognese for commercialization, the very rare Lamborghini was put on sale for a cool 9,980,000, which is the equivalent to about $11,108,000. In case arithmetic isn't your thing, that is approximately three times the original asking price for the hypercar, which cost 3 million plus taxes (over $3,3 million) when it was offered for sale in 2013.Based on the Lamborghini Aventador, the Veneno was originally developed to celebrate Lamborghini's 50th anniversary, two of the five cars built in total remaining at the factory. The model going on sale on Mobile is said to have been originally bought by a Lamborghini customer in Macau and it only has 840 km (522 miles) on the clock.Its 750 horsepower naturally aspirated V12 is derived from the one found on the Aventador, as is the 7-speed transmission and the all-wheel-drive system, all being engulfed by a bespoke carbon fiber body.Despite having 20 less horsepower and different aerodynamics, the Veneno has similar performance figures to the recently unveiled Lamborghini Centenario . This means that the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time is of approximately 2.9 seconds and its top speed is of over 355 km/h (221 mph).Unlike the Centenario, though, whose coupe version will be built in 20 examples, the Veneno is about as rare as they get. Will its rarity and low mileage be enough for the Japanese car broker to find an owner that's willing to part with over $11 million for it?Normally, we'd say no, but stranger things have happened in the world of used supercars and you can never tell for sure which cars will make the best long-term investment. Hopefully, whoever does end up buying it will not keep it in an air-conditioned garage to preserve its mileage indefinitely.
I can officially add author to my titles, next to writer, digital strategist, speaker, professional troublemaker and side-eye sorceress. Because I wrote a book. I WROTE A FREAKING BOOK, YALL!!! AAAHHHHHHH!!!

My book is called IM JUDGING YOU: The Do-Better Manual, and it is a series of essays on life, culture, social media and fame. I turn the mirror on all of us and talk about why were ridiculous and why I am side-eyeing us continuously as a society. If you love my blog, youll love this book. It is me, voice strong, message clear and at my best. It is officially the thing that I am most proud of.

I want to tell yall the story of my journey to writing it.

Ive been blogging for over a decade, and the natural next step is writing a book. For years, people have been telling me to write one, and Ive wanted to write one but I didnt have a BOOK in me yet. Or I did but it was taking a nap.

I finally got my idea when I had a lightbulb moment in August 2014. Some journalist had plagiarized multiple pieces of my work and I was ranting on Twitter. I wondered out loud Did some of us not get a limited edition manual on how not to suck as human beings? I literally went WAIT. THATS THE BOOK I SHOULD WRITE.

I remember that moment so well and my toes tingled. And on that day, the idea jumped into my head and didnt leave.

For a couple of months, I did nothing else but on October 13, 2014, I posted a status on Facebook saying I wrote the first 500 words of my book. TWO days later, I got an email from a literary agent, out of the blue. I wasnt even at the stage where I was looking for an agent. I just wanted to write this book AND THEN Id worry about everything else.

We get on the phone, and I ask some questions and he asks some but he is clear that he wants to represent me. I didnt even tell him what my idea was because I cant be showing my whole hand like that. Fast forward a month later, I end up signing with him: Michael Harriot of Folio Literary Agency. They also represent Misty Copeland. AW SNAP.

When I signed the dotted line, I finally tell him my idea for a book and he loved it. He tells me to get started on my book proposal. I get a book on how to write book proposals, because I had no clue. I followed it and I finish my proposal in 2 months. It is a 50-page beast. In the middle of February 2015, I turn in my final book proposal.

Are yall keeping track of the timing? Cool. Keep it in mind. So with my proposal in hand, Mike starts shopping my book around to publishers and towards end of February, we meet with multiple who are interested in this thing I wanna write. HELL YEAH. He warned me that the process might go kinda quick but I didnt realize HOW fast.

While I was on vacation in Kenya in early March, Mike emails me saying one more editor would like to speak with me. 8-hour time difference and all, we make it work.

I get back from Kenya on March 9. On March 11, 2015, I wake up to an email from Mike telling me that I have an offer (book deal) with Henry Holt & Co. Do I accept? I called one of my mentors, and she yelled YES, YOU DO. So I did. And I SCREAMED.

I called my Mom and my sister on 3-way and my Mom goes MacMillan? They printed my textbooks! In that moment, I realized how big it was. I only told my close friends and family that I had my deal. I signed the paperwork officially 2 months later on May 10, 2015. Thats when I announced it publicly. Because this real G chooses to move in silence until things are inked.

It was real now. IT WAS REAL. And I had to get to work.

Last year was insane for me, travel-wise. How was I gonna be gallivanting around the world and write a whole book? I was determined to have my manuscript in before the year was over because I wanted to make sure my book would come out in 2016. A Luvvie determined is an unstoppable one.

Between May and October 2015, I was home for maybe 3 weeks TOTAL. I traveled to Morocco, Spain, England, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, British Virgin Islands, Qatar. Domestically, I was probably in a different city every week. #TravelLuvv is real!

It didnt matter. On October 15, 2015, my editor at Holt, Allison Adler, got my completed manuscript. 75,000 words. 75,000 NEW words. This book is all new content from me. I am not going to be that blogger who gives you half a book of posts youve read from me. NAH.

Remember I told you to keep track of dates? It was after I turned in the first draft of my book that I realized that it was exactly a year to the date that my agent contacted me.

IM JUDGING YOU was written in 8 countries across 4 continents, in hotel rooms, at home, at the beach, on airplanes. I wrote any and everywhere. How did I write this book in less than a year with everything I had on my plate? I cant even explain it.

Some weeks I wrote zero words, and some days I wrote 5,000 words.

When the words wanted to come, they tumbled out my fingers. When fear got the best of me, I stared at a blank screen for hours. Ultimately, I was clear about what I wanted to say, because me writing almost nonstop for the last 12 years had prepared me for this book.

And what I turned in was something I was incredibly proud of. It was good. My book is good. When Allison got her edits back to me, she affirmed that. The first sentence she sent me was First, foremost, forever: I love this book.

I was in tears. It is her job to tell me when shit sucks and to hear that was the stamp I needed. Writing a book is hard because you are in a vacuum, not getting constant feedback. But Allisons note was the confirmation that I created something I should be proud of.

Last Sunday, I turned in the FINAL FINAL FINAL manuscript (after a couple of drafts and a copyeditor ran through it with a fine tooth comb. Editing takes time) and I jumped for joy. I felt like I for real climbed a mountain.

On March 11, 2016, I was finishing a meeting in the Henry Holt offices when I informed them that it was exactly a year to the date when I found out about my book deal. PERFECT ANNIVERSARY MEETING. Again, see how the dates match up so right.

This book I wrote and my journey to get to it? It was meant for me at the time it happened. It was the anointed and appointed time because the way things fell into place was so right. My agent appearing like a Fairy Godfather. My editor, who is the most awesome person to work with. My publisher, which is an imprint of MacMillan, oldest publishing company in the world. It all just fit together.

August 2014, I got my book idea. October 2015, I turn in a full draft 1. March 2016, my book is done. HOLY SMOKES. It was a perfect example of When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

IM JUDGING YOU will be released on September 13, 2016 and I can finally tell you that it is available for pre-order!!!

LOOK AT IT. JUST LOOK AT IT. This cover. It is my favorite thing. It is perfectly me in every way and every time I look at it, I get giddy. I LOVE IT SO FREAKING MUCH!

Fun fact: that lollipop emoji was custom-designed for me. Its side-eye is uniquely MINE. Also, the lollipop will be a real thing. Coming soon, yall.

This feels SUPER real now. My book is available for ordering where books are sold (Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Kobo, IndieBooks, iBooks).I have an Amazon author page (EEEEEE!!!) and a GoodReads author page (AAAAAAHHHH!!). AND ImJudgingYouBook.com is up. Its the page for all things BOOK. You can visit, learn more about it and allat jazz.

I am here to ask for your help, folks. I want this book to do AMAZINGLY WELL. If it does, hopefully, someone else like me will have an easier path to getting published. I need you to buy this book and support me on this journey. How can you help right now?

Pre-order my book!

You can get it from a variety of places. Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Kobo, IndieBooks, iBooks. Buy a copy (or 2 or 3. Or like my cousin, 10).

* Tell people you know and love to pre-order my book! Download and share the graphic below on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.

And you might have some questions for me. Here are some answers:

When is this book coming out again?

It will be released on September 13, 2016. Put that on your calendar. We might have to make it a national holiday. Who do I petition to make that happen?

Will there be a book tour and book signings?

Yes, there will be, starting in September, when the book drops officially. Ill announce the tour dates when theyre finalized, but that probably wont be til Summer. Although, I might do some pre-events where advance copies will be available. Ill keep folks updated.

Will there be an audiobook?

Yes there will be, and I will be reading it myself.

Will it be available on Kindle and Nook?

YUP. Allat.

I dont live in the United States. Will I be able to get a physical copy?

I have a large international readership so Im working on a definitive answer for this! But some of the bookstores that carry it ship internationally, like Barnes & Nobles. Amazon also does. Canadians, youre all good too. You can buy the Kindle or Nook version too!

That lollipop is adorable. Can it be on a tshirt?

Yes. That is definitely happening. It will be on many types of products. Im especially excited about the mug youll be able to put on your desk, to side-eye folks who wanna talk to you before you have your morning coffee.

Whew! This little Naija girl who thought she was going to be a Psychologist one day because I want to help people is about to drop a book. GOD DEY. And thank YOU all for being the best village EVER and celebrating with me. Yall really do make a girl feel special and loved.

This is a dream come true, and for me, it is a testament to the power of having the courage to ask. This is my way of saying that what you want might seem too far to reach but then a step stool might come outta nowhere. TADA! Its yours. Write your vision. Make it plain. Tell the universe/God/Buddha what you want. The moment I said that I was doing this book, things fell at my feet.

And where we are.

On the low low tip, my book has actually been available for pre-order for a month, but I wanted to wait a bit to announce it publicly. And after I dropped the cover on social media on Friday, yall went and Googled it. I know this because youve been ordering it and sending me screenshots of your confirmation. I LOVE YALL SO MUCH!!!

LETS DO THIS, YALL!!!
14 March 2016 14:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Germany plans to bring together delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia to discuss the current state of the long lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Bahar Muradova, deputy chair of the Azerbaijani Parliament and head of countrys delegation to the OSCE PA, announced about this in an interview to dailykarabakh.com.

In April, Germany plans to hold a seminar based on experience with regards to the returning of Saar Protectorate, a region that was partitioned from Germany after its defeat in the Second World War, Muradova said.

Azerbaijani and Armenian delegations were invited to take part in the event, Muradova said, adding that Azerbaijan has agreed to participate in this event, while the Armenian side is still considering the invitation.

Participation at this seminar can help to hold a Minsk Conference during Germanys chairmanship at the OSCE, Muradova said. If Armenia agrees, it will contribute to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in the period of Germanys chairmanship.

She said if this event takes place, Armenias aggression towards Azerbaijan, the long lasting war and its victims will be mulled there.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Over the entire period of its existence, the OSCE Minsk Group, which acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, failed to move forward in resolving the long lasting conflict, although the interested parties had pinned great hopes on it.

The group's activities were subjected to criticism many times and Baku has numerously stated dissatisfaction with the work for pushing the conflict from the dead point.

Bahar Muradova believes that Azerbaijan rightly criticizes the activities of the OSCE MG co-chairs, adding that this is due to the lack of result in the peace process.

How can we talk about the activity if it is ineffective? The co-chairs of the Minsk Group do not use their capabilities and powers sufficiently. The Minsk Conference should be conducted at least once a year. The co-chairing countries took the settlement of the conflict under their monopoly. They do not want to discuss it in other international organizations, she said.

Muradova believes that the activity of the co-chairing countries serves to preserve the status quo profitable for Armenia.

In 1994, the OSCE Budapest Summit established the so-called Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The groups permanent members are Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey, as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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14 March 2016 10:13 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has expressed condolences to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the heavy loss of lives as a result of a violent terrorist attack in Ankara.

"We were deeply saddened by the news of a heavy loss of lives as a result of a violent terrorist attack in the city of Ankara.

We are extremely outraged by this horrible tragedy, resolutely condemn terrorism and emphasize the necessity of fighting against it in the fiercest manner.

On the occasion of this tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deep condolences to you, the bereaved families, the loves ones of those who died and the brotherly people of Turkey, and wish the swiftest possible recovery to the injured.

May Allah rest the souls of the dead in peace!".

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14 March 2016 10:16 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov pays a visit to China.

During the visit, Mammadyarov held meetings with the leadership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and signed a memorandum on granting Azerbaijan the status SCO dialogue partner.

In addition, Elmar Mammadyarov will hold meetings with the Chinese officials.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental organization founded on June 15, 2001.

Its members, together with observer countries such as Pakistan, India, and Iran and dialogue partners including Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Nepal, have a combined population of 3.3 billion and gross domestic product worth $15.5 trillion in 2014, representing 20 percent of the global GDP.

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14 March 2016 10:27 (UTC+04:00)

Two anti-Azerbaijani resolutions (SR 60 and SCR 93) were introduced at the Hawaii State Senate on March 10. They were introduced by legislators, who were misled by radical Armenian special interest groups.

If adopted,the Hawaii State Legislature would have recognized the illegal regime called the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" ("NKR"), which has been established on Azerbaijan's territory by Armenia following its invasion and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan's lands in 1991-94.

The so-called "NKR", a client regime of Armenia, has not been recognized by the United States or any other country in the world. The United Nations Security Council and other major international organizations have repeatedly condemned this illegal occupation as well as reaffirmed their support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

Immediately after learning about these totally flawed, biased and misleading resolutions, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles contacted the Hawaii Senators via phone calls and official letters, drawing their attention to the gross misrepresentation of facts concerning the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

As a result of these efforts, the Hawaii State Senate leadership issued on March 11, 2016 an official statement determinedly rejecting the said resolutions. The statement says that the "Hawaii State Senate, consistent with the policies of the United States to respect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, will not consider and does not support the adoption of these resolutions." Azerbaijan's Consulate General thanked the Hawaii State Senate leadership for their principled statesmanship.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by the U.S., Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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14 March 2016 11:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Czech Republic is the crucial partner of Azerbaijan, said Jan Hamacek, Chairman of the House of Deputies of the Czech parliament.

Hamacek embarked on an official visit to Azerbaijan on March 13.

In a brief talk with journalists at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Hamacek said the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan were close partners in a number of areas, and hailed cooperation between the two countries.

"We have multicultural issues that we have to do", Hamacek said.

The chairman stressed Czech Republic highly evaluates the strategic partnership with Azerbaijan.

"I am very happy to have the opportunity to come back to Baku because I visited here for several times", Hamacek said.

Hamaceks visit will last until March 15.

The Czech Republic recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on January 8, 1992. Two countries established diplomatic relations on January 29, 1993.

Czech President Milos Zemans visit to Baku last September gave an additional impetus to relations between the two countries.

The visit of the President accompanied by a delegation of some 60 representatives of Czech business circles also contributed to strengthen the ties between the businessmen of the two countries.

Currently, the Czech Republic mainly imports Azerbaijani oil, while industrial equipment and consumer goods are exported to Azerbaijan.

In January-July 2015, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $440.93 million, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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14 March 2016 11:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

No citizens of Azerbaijan are among the victims or injured in the explosion in Turkeys capital Ankara, the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey reported on March 14.

The information about the absence of Azerbaijanis among the victims was confirmed to the embassy by the Ministries of Interior and Health of Turkey.

At least 34 people were killed and 125 more wounded after a car bomb struck the Turkish capital on Sunday evening. The explosion near transport hub is the third deadly attack in the city in the past six months. Exploded car was stolen on February 10 in Sanliurfa province, in the southeast of Turkey.

No group has not yet issued a communique claiming responsibility for the attack. However, a security official told Reuters that initial findings suggested it was the work of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or an affiliated group, according to BBC.

"These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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14 March 2016 11:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's status of a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been officially approved.

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov inked a Memorandum on granting the SCO partner dialogue status to the country on March 14 at the organizations head office in Beijing, RIA Novosti reported.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental organization founded on June 15, 2001. The members of the organization are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while Belarus, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoy observer status.

"Today, Azerbaijan has gained, exactly approved the status of a dialogue partner. It is a great honor for us. The path of our relationship started back in 2012, when President Ilham Aliyev sent an official letter to the SCO with the idea of Azerbaijan to gain an observer status of the SCO. So, as you know, Azerbaijan has much higher ambitions than just a dialogue partner... I think that today's document, signed here, gives us an opportunity to start a dialogue with such a very important, very interesting organization," Mammadyarov said.

Alimov, in turn, said the SCO considers the signing of the Memorandum "as an important contribution to the further development of the organization."

"A dialogue partner status will allow Azerbaijan to actively involve in the multi-faceted and diverse activities of the organization through participation in existing mechanisms of interaction," he noted.

A decision on providing Azerbaijan with the status of SCO dialogue partner was taken at the Ufa summit in July 2015.

The heads of the SCO member states signed documents providing Azerbaijan with the status of SCO dialogue partner at an expanded meeting of SCO Council of Heads of State held in Ufa, Russia on July 10.

Baku believes that cooperation with the SCO will create new opportunities for the country. Being one of the newest dialogue partners to the SCO, Azerbaijan will take advantage of its position to strengthen the economic, trade, and political ties with the organization that represents a significant majority of the Eurasian territories.

SCO members, together with observer countries and dialogue partners, have a combined population of 3.3 billion and GDP worth $15.5 trillion in 2014, representing 20 percent of the global GDP.

Azerbaijans foreign policy is multi-vector, and in this respect the country is further expanding cooperation on bilateral and multilateral bases. Given this, this membership is beneficial for the country.

All the SCO member countries will get an opportunity to learn from the best practices of Azerbaijan, which has invested so much of its own resources in connecting Europe and Asia by developing regional projects in the energy, agriculture, logistics infrastructure, and public transportation sectors.

Azerbaijan can also play a significant role in the development of relations  particularly in expanding the transportation corridor  between the SCO and the EU countries via Central Asia and Turkey. It is also expected that Azerbaijan's membership in the SCO would give the country more opportunities to interact with China and Central Asian countries much more closely.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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14 March 2016 13:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia have discussed prospects of cooperation for ensuring border security, as well as steps aimed at combating any illegal activities in the Caspian Sea.

A trilateral meeting, which has been held in Baku, brought together Chief of Azerbaijans State Border Service, Colonel General Elchin Guliyev, Irans Border Guard Commander, Qasem Rezaee and Vladimir Kulishov, Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Security Service.

The parties discussed the situation in the Caspian Sea, including work done in combating smuggling, illegal migration, illegal fishing and then expressed readiness to exchange mutual information and experience on the above-mentioned fields.

The cooperation of the border services on combating any illegal activities in the Caspian Sea would contribute to provide border security and stability in the water area of the sea and in adjacent zone, the meeting participants noted.

Moreover, they emphasized the importance of expanding collaboration aimed at resolving the issues arising from implementation of North-South international transport corridor project.

Stressing the necessity of holding joint border exercises, the parties highlighted the importance of reciprocal friendship visits of the border guard ships.

Furthermore, they have specified areas of activity for the coming years.

Baku also hosted the bilateral meetings of the border guards. During the meeting, Guliyev and Rezaee stressed the importance of preventing illegal migration and smuggling of illicit narcotics, weapons and ammunition.

The parties further discussed cooperation in connection with construction of the Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) railway within the framework of the "North-South.

Furthermore, Guliyev met Kulishov to exchange views on the situation on the Azerbaijani-Russian state border checkpoints, as well as in the Caspian Sea.

The parties discussed mutual efforts to combat threats of the border security, as well as practical cooperation on the organization of demarcation.

During the Baku visit, the Iranian and Russian delegates were also received by President Ilham Aliyev received.

At the meeting with Russian Kulishov, President Aliyev stressed the importance of further deepening cooperation, saying that this could help people communicate and engage in trade, ensure entrepreneurs unhindered border crossing, and also prevent criminal elements, smugglers, terrorists and illegal drug traffickers.

Kulishov, in turn, said the border services maintained contacts not only at senior management level, but also at the level of experts. He added that this played a vital role in controlling situation on the border, preventing crimes and building a sustainable border security system.

During the meeting with Iranian Rezaee, President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and Iran are jointly addressing international challenges.

The head of the state also emphasized the significance of expanding the coordination of the activity of the two countries border services and deepening their cooperation.

Rezaee, for his part, hailed the importance of the high-level reciprocal visits, adding that it would give impetus to the expansion of cooperation between the border services of Azerbaijan and Iran.

Azerbaijani-Iranian border, which runs along the Araz River reaches a little less than 800 km in length, while the border of Azerbaijan with Russia is 390 km long and runs along the Samur River.

Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia are three of five Caspian littoral states; the other two countries are Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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14 March 2016 12:14 (UTC+04:00)

The Romanian embassy, in its capacity of NATO Contact Point Embassy to Azerbaijan, hosted a roundtable on NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation on March 11.

Romanias Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for strategic issues Daniel Ionita, NATO officials, ambassadors, defence attaches and senior diplomats from Embassies of NATO countries in Baku attended the event.

Opening the roundtable, Romanias Ambassador Daniel Cristian Ciobanu highlighted that participation of Daniel Ionita at the event is a proof of the importance that Romania attaches to NATO-Azerbaijan partnership.

In the keynote speech of the roundtable Daniel Ionita underlined Romanias support for the development of partnership relations between NATO and Azerbaijan, reflected among others by the fact that Romanian diplomatic mission in Baku is performing for the fourth time in a row the mandate of NATO Contact Point Embassy to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a credible and committed partner of NATO.

Daniel Ionita emphasized that Romania highly appreciates Azerbaijans contribution in Afghanistan with logistical support/land-air transit and non-military engagement such as trainings, humanitarian de-mining, and a financial contribution to Afghanistan National Army Trust Fund.

Director of Defence Planning, Defence Policy and Planning Directorate Paul Savereux presented the main elements of the cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan in the framework of PfP Planning and Review Process.

Steffen Elgersma from Political Affairs and Security Division at NATO Headquarters touched upon Azerbaijans Individual Partnership Action Plan.

Participants in the roundtable exchanged views on different aspects of joint interest regarding NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation.

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14 March 2016 14:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Turkey will provide mutual support in conducting drills of Air Defense Forces, as Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved a relevant memorandum of understanding.

The memorandum was inked between the two fraternal countries on September 3, 2015 in Baku and on September 18, 2015 in Ankara.

Azerbaijans leader Ilham Aliyev signed a decree approving the Memorandum in December, 2015.

Baku and Ankara enjoy strategic relations in many fields, including the military. Military cooperation between these two neighboring nations dates back to 1992 when they signed an agreement on military education. Since then, the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments have been closely cooperating in both defense and security fields.

In December 2010, both countries signed a range of treaties provisioning for military assistance should any of the party be attacked by third party.

Based on numerous agreements on joint military exercises as part of bilateral progressive efforts towards military cooperation, the Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces have hold regular drills, featuring various tactical and combat tasks so far.

Currently, Air Forces of Azerbaijan and Turkey are holding joint military drills TURAZ Sahini-2016 in the Turkish province of Konya.

The first "TurAz Qartali" drills of the Azerbaijani and Turkish Armies were held in Azerbaijan in September 2015. The exercises were conducted as part of an annual joint military plan.

The joint military exercises TurAz Qartal or TurAz Shahini and drills of the Land Forces are a good example of the level of cooperation between the armies of both countries.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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14 March 2016 16:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's State Migration Service identified as many as 1,709 foreigners, who violated residence legislation and rules of temporary or permanent stay in the country in February.

Thirteen foreigners were issued with new documents instead of lost ones for the temporary and permanent residence in the country, while 128 foreigners were fined and their residence was legalized.

As many as 1,240 foreigners were given 48 hours to leave the country, while 328 citizens of other countries were expelled under an administrative order.

The State Migration Service received 9,377 appeals in February for extension of stay of foreigners and stateless persons, applications for permits for temporary and permanent residence, as well as acceptance, rejection and restoration of citizenship, granting refugee status and citizenship, as well as granting permits for self-employment in the country or its extension.

Moreover, the Service reported 37,104 appeals in connection with the registration of the place of residence in February.

Foreigners and stateless persons arriving in Azerbaijan for a period exceeding three days should register with the Migration Service in accordance with national legislation dated 2013.

A copy of the person's ID should be submitted to the Migration Service personally, via mail, or email within 3 days. This service is free and application forms are available at the Migration Service, post offices, and at www.migration.gov.az.

The Migration Service will immediately register foreigners at place of their stay and present written notification to the receiving party within 1 working day.

Foreigners can be registered for the period allotted by their visas, or for 90 days under the visa-free regime.

After changing the place of residence, registration must be renewed. These easy steps can exempt visitors from penalties and deportation.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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14 March 2016 18:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan has had to prematurely terminate its participation at the International Tourism Exhibition (ITB Berlin) in a protest at the negligence and inefficiency of the exhibitions organizers.

Tofig Garayev, the head of the Germany-Azerbaijan Culture House, said the decision was made to protest Yerevans provocative attempt towards Azerbaijan.

At the opening day of the event, which was held in Germanys capital on March 9-13, Azerbaijans western neighbor, Armenia presented an unrecognized 'state' created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

In order to remove this stand exposition, Azerbaijans embassy in Germany has appealed to the exhibitions organizers, Garayev believes.

ITB administration expressed support for Azerbaijan's position, however, to our great regret, no effective measures were taken to address the problem with Karabakh stand, he said, adding that such negligence made Azerbaijan to suspend its participation at the exhibition.

Garayev believes that Azerbaijan's tough position would play its role. It is necessary to demonstrate that the sovereignty of Azerbaijan in Karabakh is not the topic in which we are ready to make compromises and to carry out parallel activities within the exhibition that represents Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state, he stressed.

Earlier, Yerevan attempted to represent unrecognized regime established in the occupied Nagorno Karabakh region at the ITB Berlin in 2009, but this attempt failed.

After Azerbaijan has left the exhibition, Armenian companies spreading provocative materials were introduced in the black list of the ITB, and since then there were no problems in connection with the Karabakh issue, according to Garayev.

As in previous years, before the opening of the exhibition, the Armenian delegation received a warning letter from the management of ITB, which openly stated about the inadmissibility of speculation attempts on the Karabakh issue, he said.

However, these people made their way to the exhibition by a registered private company in Germany and began to spread provocative materials on Nagorno-Karabakh in terms of its stand, Garayev added.

The Azerbaijani government has sent a strong signal to the organizers of the exhibition and will continue to raise this issue in all international organizations, head of the Germany-Azerbaijan Culture House said.

Moreover, members of the Azerbaijani Diaspora in Berlin held a loud action, blocking the entrance to the Karabakh stand and spreading informational materials about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Occupied Azerbaijani regions have been presented as a stable tourist destination, but the Azerbaijani side gave everyone understand that a zone of armed conflict and constant clashes are hidden behind attractive glossy photos, Garayev said, adding that tourists will not go to a zone of military operations on holiday.

As a result of conflict that evolved in 1988, Armenia created an unrecognized regime at the occupied territory of neighboring Azerbaijan. Armenia controls over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions that make up 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory for over 24 years, using the resources of these rich lands.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly accused Armenia of carrying out illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, counteracting the international law. Armenia uses the Nagorno-Karabakh as a testing ground for terrorist activities, as well as for drug trafficking. Moreover, companies from more than 20 countries illegally operate in Azerbaijans occupied territories.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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14 March 2016 17:55 (UTC+04:00)

The European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber, will discuss the issues related to the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku, the EU office in Brussels told Trend on March 14.

During the Baku visit scheduled for March 15-17, Salber is expected to meet with several high-level officials of the country.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

The EU, which is not directly involved in the conflict resolution, has repeatedly stated that the status quo is unacceptable and supports diplomatic settlement of the conflict within the framework of the Minsk Group. The peace talks have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the MG co-chair countries over 20 years.

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14 March 2016 11:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

The volume of investment, which will be invested by Azerbaijan and Iran in the first stage of construction of a pharmaceutical factory in the Sumgayit city, has been revealed.

Rassoul Dinarvand, the Iranian Deputy Health Minister and Head of the Food and Drug Administration, told Trend that the two countries will invest 35 million euros in the establishment of such an enterprise.

Irans Darou Pakhsh Pharma Chem Company, the largest pharmaceutical company of Iran with annual turnover of about $400 million, will cooperate with Azerbaijan for launching the joint pharmaceutical factory. The company belongs to the Organization of Social Protection of the Islamic Republic.

The factory is expected to produce dozens of essential drugs to be used for treatment of heart diseases, contagious diseases, non-communicable diseases, as well as various types of antibiotics and painkillers.

Dinarvand, who visited Baku last week to discuss finalizing the pharmaceutical project met several Azerbaijani officials in a bid to pave the way for launching the project.

The way for investment has been paved and the project will be inaugurated soon, he said.

Azerbaijan sees the pharmaceutical manufacturing as one of major directions to diversify the non-oil sector of the economy. Taking into account the profitability of pharmaceutical sector, the government is keen to cooperate with foreign companies in this direction.

Iran with its modern pharmaceutical system has 100-year experience in this sector. The Islamic Republic experienced a sharp growth last year, rising to $1.2 billion.

In February, Azerbaijan and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a pharmaceutical factory in Sumgayit. The MoU was agreed during President Ilham Aliyevs Tehran visit.

The project of construction of the plant will consist of three stages. In the first stage, necessary medicines will be imported to Azerbaijan from Iran, while in the second stage, Iran will provide Azerbaijan with the technology necessary for the production of drugs. As part of the third stage, production of medicines will be started.

The implementation of these three stages will take around 3-5 years.

The country has also invited other Iranian companies to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the pharmaceutical manufacturing.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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14 March 2016 12:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Falling oil prices have set new challenges for Azerbaijan, Aydin Aliyev believes.

The Head of the countrys State Customs Committee said at a conference devoted to the development and future prospects in the customs system on March 14 that this has led to the need that the work of many state agencies, including customs bodies, reaches a new level.

A conference on Development in customs system and future prospects organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan kicked off in Baku on March 14.

Speaking at the event, Arzu Hajiyeva, the representative of Ernst & Young in Azerbaijan, said that along with the traditional functions, the customs structures in Azerbaijan should be provided with new ones in current realities.

"Currently, the customs structures of many countries, including Azerbaijan, are facing such new tasks as the promotion of international trade, the formation of the necessary sphere for investment and business development, as well as the protection of the main property rights," she noted.

Later, Aliyev told journalists that customs duties on a number of imported products may be reduced in Azerbaijan.

He said that this will mainly relate to customs duties on imports of raw materials and components for manufacture of products of Azerbaijani origin.

He went on to add that Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia.

"The Azerbaijani customs structures always require presenting a certificate of origin of the products during export, he said. We are thoroughly conducting inspection in this direction.

I can assure that Turkish goods are not exported from Azerbaijan to Russia," he noted.

He also said that the import of cigarettes decreased by six times in Azerbaijan within two months.

"This is primarily connected with the prevention of import of tobacco products supposedly for own use, but used for commercial purposes," Aliyev added.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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14 March 2016 13:05 (UTC+04:00)

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) changed its corporate identity according to its new business strategy.

First, the logotype of the IBA was changed. New symbol of the IBA is the eight-pointed star, stylized in the manner of the national ornament called shebeke. New logo reflects respect of the Bank to the national culture and visualizes its main goals. This dynamic logotype symbolizes forward movement and unity, emphasizing the aspiration of the Bank for continuous development.

New corporate color, which is now brilliant blue, also has a symbolic meaning. This color represents reliability, earnestness and stability of the Bank. White color completes blue and symbolizes joy and transparency.

Another renewal in a corporate identity of the Bank is the selection of a new slogan Endorse your success!. The IBA intends to convert partnership with clients into the main reason of their success. Therefore, from now on the Bank will address its clients with this slogan.

IBA is the largest bank in the country. Today the IBA enters new stage of development, main objectives of which are the active participation in social-economic life of the country, thereby supporting the economic development of Azerbaijan, holding own market positions and steadily justifying the trust of the clients.

For more information on products and services of the IBA, please visit the official website www.ibar.az, any of 35 branches and 43 sub branches of the bank, or call the Information Center by number (012) 937 and *2265.

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14 March 2016 18:24 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

China, which is the second largest economy in the world and initiator of the revival of the historical Silk Road, has expressed readiness to expand the cooperation with Azerbaijan in the development of transportation corridors.

This was voiced by Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, who is on a working visit to China, on March 14.

Mammadyarov, speaking at the meeting, said Baku supports the Silk Road Economic Belt, adding that Azerbaijan is an important part of East-West and North-South transportation corridors.

The minister added that Azerbaijans transit opportunities will expand after commissioning the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

Further, the minister briefed Wang Yi about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said that this conflict is the main threat to peace and stability in the region.

"Azerbaijan and China support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of each other," Mammadyarov stated.

Relations between Azerbaijan and China enjoy a long history. Thanks to Azerbaijan's advantageous geographical situation, the country was a natural crossing point on the way from East to West and North to South and was one of the main trade, transport and cultural centers on the Great Silk Road.

The multibillion-dollar Silk Road project, initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to connect China with Europe and strengthen cooperation between Asia and Africa, creates additional opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

Today, Azerbaijan and China, which established the diplomatic relations in 1992, strongly support each other on issues related to the vital interests and major concerns.

Azerbaijan and China opened a new page in their relations after President Ilham Aliyev's visit to China in December 2015, during which cooperation in all sectors were high on the agenda.

The two countries voiced intention to protect mutual interests and deepen fruitful cooperation, providing stable and safe conditions for the successful and sustainable development. President Aliyev's China visit resulted with signing of 10 documents.

Energy industry, particularly alternative energy sources, as well as tourism and agriculture are the main areas of cooperation between China and Azerbaijan.

China entered the list of the top ten trade partners of Azerbaijan. The countrys investment in the economy of Azerbaijan has reached $300 million since 2002.

The Azerbaijani State Customs Committee reports that the trade turnover with China reached $565.1 million last year, while its unit weight in the total trade turnover of Azerbaijan amounted to 2.74 percent. In late 2015, China ranked ninth in the list of the largest trade partners of Azerbaijan.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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14 March 2016 17:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

At all times the best weapon against injustice and snobbery was the sense of humour.

It's a perfect description for "Molla Nasraddin," the eight-page weekly, satirical magazine, which has played an invaluable role in the history of the Azerbaijani press.

The magazine was first published in Tbilisi on April 7, 1906 and could print 340 issues until 1917. The publication was published later in Tabriz with eight issues printed in 1921, and then in Baku from 1922 to 1931, publishing overall 400 issues.

"Molla Nasraddin" was something revolutionary for that period, criticizing the political elite of Russia and Persia and focusing on such topics as corruption, snobbery, ignorance, religious fanaticism, equal rights for women as well as freedom of expression and preservation of national language and traditions.

The publication fully reflected the country's socio-political life in the early twentieth century. Jalil Mammadgulizade, great satirical writer of that period, who founded the magazine, used to say that "Molla Nasraddin" was born by the time itself".

The name "Molla Nasraddin" was inspired by the 13th century Sufi wise man with a good sense of humor. His stories had a subtle humour and was very popular in public.

The character was popular among the tribes of the Turkic world and could penetrate into Persian, Arabian, African and Indian cultures.

Unlike other publications of that time," Molla Nasreddin" also addressed uneducated people.

The journal used satirical verses, stories and cartoons to convey its messages to the the society.

The magazine regularly published the works of talented Azerbaijani writers and pressmen, such as M.A.Sabir, N.Narimanov, A.Haqverdiyev, M.S.Ordubadi, O.F.Nemanzadeh, Ali Nazmi, A.Gamkusar etc.

One of the main factor gaining great popularity to Molla Nasreddin was the poetry of Sabir, an outstanding poet-innovator of Azerbaijan, whose satirical poems were regularly published in the paper until his death in 1911.

The poet wrote about arbitrariness of Tsarist officials, landowners, the down-trodden status of women and the social situation of the working people.

The magazine campaigned for women's rights also played an important part on giving of a voting right to the woman of Azerbaijan (1919), the first ever move in the Muslim Wast.

However, bold and denunciative articles provoked a widespread discontent among the political elite of that time.

The magazine was banned several times in 1912, 1914 and 1917.

Despite all odds, the publication managed to stay in print over 25 years (1906-1931).

The editor of the magazine was a renowned writer holding an honorable place in the history of Azerbaijani satire and realism.

Mammadguluzadeh wrote in many genres including plays, essays and short stories.

His most famous works include "The Disappearance of the Donkey" (part of his Stories from the village of Danabash series), The Iranian Constitution, The Corpses and The Madmen Gathering, The Lamb etc.

The great and selfless journalist died on January 4th, 1932, from brain haemorrhage.

A drama theatre in Nakhchivan, a street in Baku, the city of Jalilabad and the town of Jalikand were named after him.

The House-Museum of prominent Azerbaijani figure of the twentieth century Jalil Mamedguluzadeh was opened in 1977.

The House-Museum regularly carries out activities by holding exhibitions to allow the public to learn more about the life and creativity of greatest Azerbaijani satirist.

Today, when the struggle between good and evil have no clear boundaries satire and a good sense of humour remain the best way to overcome the obstacles of life.

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14 March 2016 14:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Boulevard Baku Hotel held a meeting with Karim Rashid, one of the most prolific designers of his generation, Trend Life reports.

He is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences. This time, the world-famous designer held a master-class in Baku.

A spectacular event was organized by "House and interior" magazine, which informs readers about the variety and luxury of classic and modern styles.

The event was attended by the leading architects and designers of Azerbaijan, as well as the top architectural and design firms.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Director of "House and interior" magazine, Igor Parubsky expressed his appreciation for the assistance in organization of the project in Baku.

Then the floor was given to Karim, the "guru" of modern fashion industry.

"I am grateful to have been invited to Azerbaijan. Its 127th country that I have visited. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see a great part of Baku, but from what I have seen I can say exactly that Baku is a modern city which inspires me", Karim said.

Later, the desgined spoke about his creations and the design.

"The design includes objects that we use every day. Through objects you can learn a lot about our history and to determine what technology was used to manufacture these objects," he added.

During the master-class, the renowned designer shared with the audience his thoughts about the design in the digital era.

Karim Rashid was born in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian father and English mother and raised in Canada. He received a Bachelor of Industrial Design in 1982 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Rashid is the author of around 3,000 development projects in the design of furniture, tableware, fashion accessories, packaging, accessories, lighting and interiors, installations and other architectural projects.

The award-winning industrial designers works are featured in many permanent collections and art in galleries, including Museum of Modern Art ( New-York), Musee des Arts Decoratifs (Montreal) , Tokyo Gas and Groningen Museum (the Netherladns).

He has appeared in well-known magazines such as Time, Financial Times, NY Times, Esquire, GQ etc.

His style is best described as sensual minimalism. His ideas are techno-organic and info-aesthetic. They combine natural soft lines with convenient solutions.

Media partners of the event are Trend, Day.az, Milli.az and Azernews.az.

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14 March 2016 17:41 (UTC+04:00)

WOWOMAN is a platform created for women's development, inspiration, self-expression and motivation. WOWOMAN tries to make ladies life more colourful and give them different opportunities.

They achieve this goal by having professional trainings/seminars/courses from local and foreign specialists; trainings and events for personal development, spiritual and physical rest; online platform where women can share experiences and ideas for motivation, self-expression and education; and author projects - Tech-Tech khanim, My WOWOMAN BOOK, #qorxmasaydim.

WOWOMAN team held a special exhibition with the support of Park Bulvar AVM dedicated to the 8 March International Women's Day. In the exhibition were shown our tender heroes' pictures and stories that you will not watch on movies or read in the books. They are not famous but throughout their life they have won various difficulties. The memorable event under slogan Every woman is a hero" and SHEROES # hashtag took place on Park Bulvar AVM on march 6-13.

Founder of the platform Zara Apetrei Huseynova said WOWOMAN seeks to increase attention towards ladies in society and operates to support their dreams not only on holidays, but also in ordinary days.

We share some parts of the stories demonstrated at the exhibition:

"I have participated in many spheres: music, art, literature, sports. All these did not prevent me to get PhD in astrophysics."

"Never too late to learn. Despite the fact that I am 42 years old and I have an extensive experience, a good education, I still study. Right now, I am a student of one of the most prestigious U.S University. At the same time, I learn to paint on glass."

"When my father became ill, she supported him. While he was alive, she did everything to make him feel that he was surrounded only with care and love. And my mother never gives up!"

"Her husband hardly believed that she would pass the entrance exams to the university. Although my grandmother got into college, studied and worked at the same time and then she gave her documents to the university. She has graduated from the university with honors."

"We live in Azerbaijan, it is necessary to finish with it, you have already grown up." It was even surprise to me that I did not take it seriously. But I did not accept this.

"In 2000 years when I learned about my illness, there was not any treatment of the disease Hepatitis C. In spite of it I did not lose courage, I got registration, gave blood tests to determine the genotype of the virus and waited for the development of science."

"Today, I am a member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, the Union of Artists of Russia, and the Union of the Association of International Designers and the gold winner of "Quality of the Century" of CQE."

"2 March, 1993 Aydin lost his life in a bloody battle mission and reached the top of martyrdom. My heart broke to pieces. I became a mother and father to my children, now they are proud of me, and so I am."

"I am wearing hijab. People around me think that a woman wearing hijab should only sit at home and do homework. The first time when I tried to find a job, a famous Azerbaijani scientist said to me a sentence: "You are a woman in hijab, sit at home, cook and grow your children."Now I am grateful to him. His words gave me the incentive to put my goal."

"As for the women who are not married or single, it is much more difficult to build their life as they wish. The reason of it is the negative thoughts that still exist in the society."

"Soon I realized that it is possible to live with it and I had to be run my life in a wheelchair. I decided to live a meaningful life."

"My younger sister has down syndrome. We do our best to avoid her not to feel different."

"Wherever I have been from my childhood - mathematics and physics Olympics, chess and programming competition or in the events about information technology  I can say that I was the only girl among the participants."

"They said that the child would not sit, walk, talk... But, some time passed after these shortcomings and we won; now my child are both running and walking."

"Oh, oh, oh a women driver... How interesting is it" These remarks inspire me even more and give encourage  these make me feel useful to society.

More stories will be available at wowoman.org.

Media partners of the event are Trend, Day.az and Milli.az

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14 March 2016 15:39 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's state energy giant SOCAR is in talks with the Russian Gazprom Company and Iran to purchase three billion cubic meters of gas annually.

This was stated by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev after the ceremony of launching the platform No 7 at the Gunashli field in the Caspian Sea on March 14. This is the deepest and the first platform in the history of independent Azerbaijan fully designed and constructed by SOCAR.

He told journalists that there is still interest in purchasing Russian gas.

"We conveyed Gazprom our offer. We need gas for injecting into the reservoirs at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block of fields to maintain stable oil production. Secondly, we plan to inject additional gas volumes into our underground gas storage facilities to fully use them. The capacity of gas storage facilities hits around five billion cubic meters. As a pilot project, we want to test the maximum capacity."

He further added that SOCAR is negotiating with Iran about swap seasonal supplies.

"Iran has much unused gas during summer, he said. The talks are being held about pumping Iranian gas into Azerbaijani gas storage facilities and providing the northern provinces of Iran with gas in winter. At present, experts are discussing technical issues."

China's interest

Abdullayev went on to add that a number of Chinese companies, as well as the country's Eximbank show interest in the project of Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex in Azerbaijan.

He said that works on the construction of the OGPC are underway.

"Works on the project continue, and we are holding negotiations. Previously, we were in talks with potential investors, led by the Japanese Mitsui, and a working group was established. But we found their proposals ineffective and stopped working with them. We recommended the Japanese companies to revise their proposals. If they offer us more precise proposals, we will consider them. Otherwise, we will work with those companies that will bring the best offers," he added.

The cost of construction of the OGPC is $17.1 billion (including interest on loans received during the construction period). Some 30 percent of the project's cost is planned to be financed with the authorized capital (nearly $5 billion), while 70 percent of the projects  with the borrowed capital (about $12 billion).

The total cost of the first phase of the OGPC project is estimated at $7 billion (including interest on loans - $8.45 billion). The payback period of the project will last four to five years.

The OGPC will be established at a place 60 kilometers from Baku. It will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant (TPP). The project will be completed in late 2022 - early 2023.

The OGPC construction project implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.

The annual capacity of the refinery as part of OGPC will be 8.5-9 million metric tons; the gas processing plant will be 12 billion cubic meters, petrochemical production will exceed 1 million metric tons (the power of the plant for the production of polyethylene will be 800,000 metric tons, rigs for polypropylene production  300,000 metric tons).

--

Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
14 March 2016 16:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Japan discussed prospects for deepening of trade and political cooperation as Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents aide for public and political affairs paid a visit to Japan on March 7-11.



Hasanov met Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Hiroshige Seko who highlighted the role of Azerbaijan in ensuring the energy security of Europe.

Seko also said Azerbaijan's role in ensuring the security and peace increased in the entire region and the world.

The Japanese official applauded the development of relations between the two countries, saying his country was interested in broader economic cooperation with Azerbaijan.

Hasanov, for his part, stressed the importance of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Japan in bilateral and international level, emphasizing the significance of continuing the implementation of investments by Japanese companies to Azerbaijan.

Stressing the importance of reciprocal visits in development of bilateral relations, he handed over the letter of President Ilham Aliyev to Hiroshige Seko inviting the Premier Shinzo Aben to Azerbaijan for an official visit.

As part of his five-day visit Hasanov met with Director General of the Office for the Promotion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games under Japan`s Cabinet of Ministers, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for healthcare and sport affairs Takeo Hirata and Vice-Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Miki Yamada.

They exchanged views on prospects of relations between the two countries in economic, cultural, social and sport fields.

Hasanov has called on Japanese companies to join an initiative to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

In an interview with Jiji Press in Tokyo, Hasanov said that his country hopes Japanese companies to expand their activities in the Caspian Sea.

Hasanov expressed hopes that Japanese companies will invest more in the Shah Deniz field and expand their activities.

The Shah Deniz field on the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian is one of the world's largest gas-condensate fields. With overall reserves estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas the field in its second phase of development is expected to be a main source of the Southern Gas Corridor to ensure energy security of Europe.

Hasanov said that Azerbaijan has cooperated with the EU for a long time, helping ensure energy safety and security for the region. He said that Azerbaijan will also work with Russia and Iran for Caspian Sea resources development.

Azerbaijan is promoting the Southern Gas Corridor initiative in cooperation with the European Union.

The presidents aide was also interviewed by Japanese Kyodo News, who highlighted the important contribution of the upcoming visit of Japanese Prime Minister to Azerbaijan in the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Talking about the rich natural resources of Azerbaijan, Hasanov noted that a sharp drop in oil prices led to a devaluation of the national currency manat. Despite this, our country will export natural gas to Europe in 2018, and the realization TAP project is underway, he said.

Japan is a donor country, implementing grant projects in Azerbaijan, allocating $42.9 million in 2013. Export to Azerbaijan from Japan amounted to about $78.2 million in 2015, according to the Government of Japan.

Azerbaijan is keen to become a bridge connecting Japan with Europe through China and Central Asia countries on the Great Silk Route. The Baku-Tbilsi-Kars railway to be commissioned this year will make the most important link of the new Silk Road.

Beginning this February Azerbaijan has simplified visa regime for Japan citizens to attract Japanese businessmen in the country to carry out a mutual exchange and investments.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
14 March 2016 10:41 (UTC+04:00)

Iran plans to increase its exports volume to Russia by $ 1.5 billion in the new Iranian fiscal year (starting March 21), Asadollah Asgaroladi, a member of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce said.

Iran currently exports goods worth at $500 million to Russia and Tehran is making efforts to increase the figure to $2 billion in the coming Iranian year, ISNA news agency reported.

He predicted that the goal for increasing the volume of Irans exports to Russia will be achievable as ties between Moscow and Ankara have been deteriorated.

According to him, Russia used to import agricultural products worth at $4 billion from Turkey before tensions occurred.

Relations between Russia and Turkey have deteriorated after Turkish Air Force jets shot down a Russian SU-24 bomber over Turkish border area with Syria Nov. 24.

After the incident Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on measures to ensure national security and on special economic measures in regard to Turkey.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
14 March 2016 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

The number of victims of the terrorist attack in Ankara has increased to 37, Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said, TRT Haber reported on March 14.

The minister said that condition of the 15 injured in an explosion in Ankara is critical, and 125 people injured in the terrorist attack are currently in the city hospitals.

A car bomb exploded in Ankara on March 13. The explosion near transport hub is the third deadly attack in the city in the past six months. Exploded car was stolen on February 10 in Sanliurfa province, in the southeast of Turkey.

Following a deadly car blast in Ankara, Turkish police are looking for another 20 car bombs in the country, the Head Police Department of Turkey reported.

The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorist organization intends to carry out a series of terrorist attacks in major cities of Turkey March 20, according to the law enforcement bodies.

The police is currently holding an anti-terrorist operation in some districts of Istanbul, Anadolu agency reported.

Some 36 people, including foreigners, were detained in this operation. The citizenship of the detained foreigners was not revealed.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
14 March 2016 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

Iran and Vietnam are determined to increase the trade turnover volume to $2 billion in five years, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

He made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang, who is visiting Tehran on March 14, the Iranian state-run IRINN TV reported.

Due to economic sanctions, capacities of the two countries have not been taken advantage of, Rouhani said, underlining that the trade turnover, which currently stands at $350 million, will be elevated to $2 billion.

We have had detailed talks regarding the cooperation in energy, industry, agriculture and tourism sectors, Rouhani said, adding the two parties also talked the possibility of making investment in ICT sector.

Cooperation documents and agreements will be signed tomorrow during the economic forum, which will be attended by businessmen of the two countries, added the Iranian president.

He also said that Tehran and Hanoi agreed to normalize all the baking relations in order to develop economic relations. Rouhani added that Irans Central Bank will sign a memorandum of understanding with Vietnams state bank in this regard.

Iranian president also said that cultural and academic cooperation also was on the agenda of talks between the two sides.

He also said the two countries have very similar positions and views on regional and international matters and they have had close cooperation with each other in international organizations and forums, including the UN.

Rouhani noted that during the meeting, the parties also decided to help each other out and continue their support for each other when it comes to their candidacies in international organizations or whenever one side needs the other sides vote.

He added that Iran and Vietnam also emphasized the need to cooperate in the fight against terrorism on international stage.

We also talked about issues related to the countries suffering from terrorism, including Yemen and Syria, and the need for more consultations and more engagement on how we can fight terrorist groups in the region.

Rouhani also said that during a one-on-one meeting with the Vietnamese president, they talked about the situation in the East Asia and Pacific, and about dangerous developments or rivalries in that part of the world

We believe such issues need be resolved through political talks, peacefully, within the framework of international rules, noted Rouhani.

The Vietnamese president arrived in Tehran on March 13 for an official three-day visit at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart.

Heading a politico-economic delegation, Tan Sang is scheduled to discuss ways with Iranian officials to expand bilateral ties between Tehran and Hanoi, particularly in the fields of economy, banking and energy.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
14 March 2016 15:53 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

NATO stands ready to defend all Allies, a NATO official told Azernews.

He was commenting on the Alliance's decision on joint action in the possibility of Turkey's appeal to NATO for fight against terrorism within the country.

We will not speculate on a hypothetical situation. As a matter of principle, NATO stands ready to defend all Allies," the source said.

A car bomb that exploded in Ankara on March 13, near a crowded bus stop killed as many as 37 people, 125 more got injured.

Turkey's Premier Bekir Bozdag called the incident an "act of terrorism" immediately after the attack.

Preliminary reports said the two suicide bombers, one male and one female triggered the explosive device, while in the car. According to reports, the mentioned car was hijacked Feb. 10 in the Turkish southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

NATO immediately condemned the terrorist attack on Ankara on March 13.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, said "There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence."

"All NATO Allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," he noted. "I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and to the people of Turkey. I wish the wounded a full and rapid recovery."

Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against IS and allows coalition planes to use its air base at Incirlik for raids on Iraq and Syria.

It has also been carrying out a campaign of bombardment against Syrian Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG), which it regards as an extension of the PKK.

Kurdish rebels have carried out a series of attacks in the territory of Turkey in recent months, and security forces have raided Kurdish areas, after a ceasefire ended last year.

Last month, a bomb attack on a military convoy in Ankara killed 28 people and wounded dozens more.

That bombing was claimed by a Kurdish militant group, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK). It said on its website that the attack was in retaliation for the policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey, however, blamed a Syrian national who was a member of the YPG.

Last October, more than 100 people were killed in a double-suicide bombing at a Kurdish peace rally in Ankara.

--

Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
 

       3.0 (      -       -         ): editor [at] bahrainmirror.com
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 74F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Tate & Lyle PLC has announced that it has appointed two non-executive directors, with effect from 1 April.

Lars Frederiksen and Sybella Stanley have been appointed as non-executive directors.

Sir Peter Gershon, chairman of Tate & Lyle, said: We are delighted that Lars and Sybella have agreed to join us.

Larss considerable understanding of the global food ingredients industry and Sybellas extensive commercial and financial experience will be of great benefit to the board as we progress the delivery of the groups strategy.

Frederiksen was chief executive of global bioscience company Chr. Hansen Holdings. He is based in Denmark and has a portfolio of directorships.

Stanley is director of corporate finance at RELX Group plc, a multinational information and analytics company. Based in the UK, she is also a non-executive director of The Merchants Trust PLC, and a member of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills Industrial Development Advisory Board.

Last month, the bakery ingredients supplier said it expected full-year reported adjusted pre-tax profit to be "modestly below" last years full-year figures.
Agriculture Driving Economic Growth in U.S. & Mexico

Mexico City - At the recent annual meeting of the High Level Economic Dialogue between Mexico and the United States, a group of high officials from the US government, led by Vice-President Biden, met with their Mexican counterparts to advance a number of priorities centered on economic growth and job creation in both countries.

Mexico is currently the United States' third largest trading partner, and the U.S. is the main destination of Mexican exports. Among these, agrifood exports stand out as a successful example of how trade is bolstering living standards in both sides of the border.

In the present context of falling oil prices, a trend that may affect producers in countries that rely on such exports, Mexican agricultural output, sustained by agrifood exports, has entered into an expansion path that is marked by not only solid current growth, but that also signals strong growth potential. During 2014, the sectoral gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 4.3%, a pace that almost doubled that of the whole economy. During 2015, the favorable performance continued, with an increase in agriculture's GDP of 3.1%, still above the aggregate trend.





Mexico is the world's 12th largest exporter of food products, and its main destination is the United States. Further improving our competitive position in this market is one of my key objectives as Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture. To do so, we are building a more agile infrastructure to expedite agricultural trade between the two countries.

As we all know, trade of agricultural goods demands efficient and speedy border procedures. To achieve this goal, Mexico is working with U.S. authorities to open new border sanitary inspection facilities and to move forward towards the exchange of electronic certificates that will enhance efficiency in cross-border operations. In this regard, mechanisms like the High Level Economic Dialogue play a central, very important role.

At the same time, we are accomplishing the Government's role as a dependable supplier of basic public goods, such as roads, processing facilities that gather, package and distribute crops to national and international markets, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and training and market information services. Therefore, we are aiming to streamline the process of shipping agrifood products from the fields to consumers' tables, and also to facilitate and expedite exports.

Mexico has signed multiple trade agreements and sanitary protocols in recent years. Yet, our trade relationship with the U.S. still bears high significance for our country. In many ways, we are using this experience, especially post-NAFTA, as a role model for gaining ground in other regions, like Europe, the Far East and the Middle East.

In the Far East, for example, we are heightening economic ties with China and Japan. Last December, sanitary protocols to export corn, tobacco, berries, beef, and dairy to the Chinese market were signed. Additionally, we are ready to start sending high value-added produce by plane from Guadalajara to the province of Henan. In the case of Japan, further consolidation of our existing trade agreement will allow us to increase exports of beef, pork, poultry, pineapple and sugar.

Thanks to these efforts, Mexican tomatoes, berries, avocados, beer, beef, pork and tequila, among other products, are successfully competing in more than one hundred international markets. In 2015, agrifood exports reached 26.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 4% over the previous year. Most importantly, Mexico's agrifood and fisheries trade balance registered a surplus for the first time in many years.

New challenges lie ahead, but we are ready to take them on. A good example is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which, once enacted into law by its members, will comprise 36% of world GDP and one third of total trade exchanges. TPP will present us with the opportunities arising from a huge market for agricultural exports, but also with the increased competition of highly efficient producers like Australia and New Zealand.

However, I am sure that agricultural sectors in both Mexico and the U.S. have the necessary strength and resources to take advantage of this new opportunity. Besides this, we have worked very hard in designing adequate policies to support agriculture, always in compliance with our agreed disciplines under bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. In sum, the future is bright for Mexican and U.S. agriculture, and this sector will continue to play an important role as engine of economic growth and prosperity for both countries.
Houston Hoping to Draw More Tourists from Mexico

Houston, Texas - Tourism boosters at Visit Houston last week launched a marketing campaign in Mexico City called "Hola Houston" to draw more tourists from Mexico, and they enlisted one of Houston's most famous street artists to add his talent to the cause.

The campaign initiated on March 8 with GONZO247 unveiling a Houston mural in Mexico City, not unlike the "Houston is" mural he installed at Preston and Travis in Downtown Houston. That mural has become a cultural landmark in Houston with tourists and locals taking photos and selfies in front of it while visiting Market Square Park in downtown.

"Mexico is Houston's number one international market, and visitors have traditionally come to Houston to shop," said Jorge Franz, Vice President of Tourism for Visit Houston. "This mural is our gift to Mexico, inviting travelers to see that Houston has great cultural and culinary offerings, plus much more."

According to Visit Houston, the Bayou City saw nearly two million visitors from Mexico in 2014 alone.
At the most basic level, the United Nations Foundation, the advocacy arm of the United Nations, connects people, ideas and resources in the quest to create a better world. Last year, the organization identified 17 critical goals that it hopes to accomplish by 2030. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by more than 150 world leaders in September 2015.

However, addressing these issuesincluding climate change, hunger, poverty, gender equality and educationis a huge task. It requires significant money along with powerful information technology.

Our employees travel the world in support of the UN mission, says Edima Elinewinga, executive director of International Technology for the UN Foundation, which has offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. It is important for them to have access to essential information, whether they are in the office or at a refugee camp in Kenya. Communication and collaboration are critical elements in achieving results and attaining our goals.

In the past, keeping upward of 300 workers fully connected was challengingand, at times, frustrating. Many global locations offer limited Internet access, low bandwidth and an overall lack of security.

As a result, conducting business globally was difficult because employees typically had to rely on loaner laptops with a VPN and remote desktop connection at many locations. In addition, theres an ongoing need to prove to auditors that the organization is adequately protecting its data, including financial data that involves audits and grants.

Finding a Better Way to Support Global Connectivity

In 2013, the UN Foundation began looking for a better way to support global connectivity. The organization turned to Dell to take its communication and collaboration technologies into the 21st century.

A variety of hardware and software systems were installed, including Dell Networking S4810 10GbE Switches, a Dell Networking W-3400 wireless controller, a Dell Storage PS Series iSCSI storage area network (SAN), and Dell PowerEdge R520 and R620 servers. At the same time, the organization migrated to Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business so its staff members could join audio and video conferences remotely.

The idea was to provide maximum flexibility for our users, whether they are sitting in a Starbucks, in a train or at a site in another country, Elinewinga explains. They can communicate via videoconferencing or audio conferencing and can access a critical file or database without any barriers.

The foundations employees use laptops that support encryption and other security features. The environment provides the level of flexibility and security that the organization requires, and it serves as a base for future growth and expansion, she adds.

Its an approach that will serve the organization well moving forward, according to Elinewinga. She estimates that the UN Foundation has reduced telecommunications costs by about 50 percent by moving from a PBX to a unified communications framework.

More importantly, The culture has changed dramatically, and a far more collaborative and connected environment has taken root, she says. Employees now come together virtually and edit documents on a whiteboard, view presentations collaboratively, and share data and information anywhere and at any time.

The UN Foundation is now looking at adding more advanced data and analytics tools that can exploit the hardware and software currently in place. We have an IT infrastructure and storage to fully support our mission as we attempt to address some very ambitious and difficult goals in the years ahead, Elinewinga reports.
Two police officers and multiple other people were injured early Monday in St. Petersburg in a crash involving a stolen vehicle and an undercover police truck.



According to St. Petersburg police, a stolen vehicle with six people inside was speeding when it crashed into an undercover police truck. A Tampa police officer and a St. Petersburg police officer suffered non life-threatening injuries in the 12:23 a.m. crash at Central Avenue and 54th Street North.



The Tampa officer was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg with serious injuries. The St. Petersburg officer was treated and released. Officials said the officers were working together as part of an auto theft task force but were not involved in a pursuit.



Officials said the driver of the stolen 2016 Toyota Corolla, 25-year-old Jamal Parker, was seriously injured and is in critical condition at an area hospital. The five other people in the car, ages ranging from 15 to 18, had less serious injuries.



The Corolla was reported stolen on Friday.



Central Ave at 54th St. will remain closed for several hours for an investigation.
Will Florida be Marco Rubio's last stand? And can Bernie Sanders continue his momentum coming out of a surprise primary win in Michigan?

With Florida's delegates  and possibly a presidential nomination  at stake in Tuesday's primaries, our Florida Decides team is bringing you the "Florida Decides Presidential Primary Preview," a half-hour live special tonight to get you prepared.

LIVE CHAT: Join us for a live chat starting at 7 p.m. and let us know what you think about Tuesday's primary election.

Donald Trump recently shared on his Facebook page our exclusive News 13/Bay News 9 Florida Decides statewide poll that showed that 42 percent of likely Republican voters would choose him. But Rubio, who came in second in our poll, has been taking aim at Trump, battling for a win Tuesday in his home state. Florida's winner-take-all 99 GOP delegates could keep him competitive in the battle for the White House.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, it's not winner-take-all. In Florida, there are 214 delegates and 32 superdelegates up for grabs between Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

Four other states are holding primaries Tuesday: GOP candidate John Kasich's home state of Ohio, plus Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

In addition, several municipalities are holding nonpartisan elections for mayors, city councilmembers, county commission seats and more.

Will there be any surprises tomorrow night?

Tune in to our "Florida Decides Presidential Primary Preview" at 7 tonight for complete analysis and the latest on the campaigns.

On Tuesday, full coverage of the Florida presidential primary begins at 7 p.m., with our political analysts, live coverage of the candidates and live results of all the races available on our website.


Florida Senator Marco Rubio is throwing everything hes got into Tuesdays primary.

Arriving in his campaign bus but giving a speech from the bed of a pick-up truck, Rubio addressed a crowd of about 300 people Monday afternoon outside the That Little Restaurant in Melbourne.

Hes falling behind Trump quite a bit in some polls but I still think he has a chance and I think the extra confidence that we give him here with the local voters I think that will boost his numbers a little bit, said 18-year old Jon Trotta, who is voting in his first election Tuesday.

Some in attendance Monday are still undecided on who will get their vote but wanted to hear what the Florida senator had to say.

I have to see which way I am going to go with this and when I hear him speak today, said Melbourne resident Kathy Schwager. Social security is another issue with me because I am on social security.

After his 15 minute speech, Rubio went inside the restaurant to briefly talk with the media - saying he still plans on staying in the race despite lagging poll numbers here in Florida.

But right now we want to focus on tomorrow and the vote tomorrow. I think my concerns about his candidacy are expressed, already  hell lose. I think hell splinter and divide the Republican Party, Rubio said, adding he is looking forward to stops in Utah on Wednesday.

The tone took a turn, however, when asked about Donald Trump being the frontrunner and possibly taking all the states 99 electoral votes.

Again, I want to ask America, do we really want to live in a country where everybody hates each other?" Rubio said, referring to recent protests at Trump events. "Where people are at each others throats and we cant even have a debate, a passionate debate, but a debate nonetheless about our tax rate, our health laws? But we become a country where everybody hates each other, were in a lot of trouble, Rubio said before thanking the media and getting back on his bus.

The senator also had stops Monday in Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Miami.

Rubio is schedule to speak at Florida International University Tuesday night following the election results.
A West Coast tour of super-green buildings and communities in February opened my eyes to many of the possibilities in this quickly evolving realm. I was the tag-along on a trip that my wife Tamar, an architect at Studio G Architects here in Boston, arranged to gather grist for her stint as a guest lecturer on sustainable building design at Tel Aviv University.

Since Beacons publication of Harness the Sun last Fall, Ive spent a lot of time in university classrooms and on radio shows talking up solar powers potential as a clean energy resource. These discussions have largely focused on the supply side of renewable energy, but theres a broader and equally exciting story to tell about the rapid transformation of our built environment. Its a story that is as much about what we can do to reduce our buildings energy demand as it is about what we can do to produce the power we need to comfortably use those buildings.

We saw some wonderful, path-breaking examples of net zero energy buildings and even experienced an instance or two of net positive energy buildings. Most dramatic in visual appearance and reach is the Bullitt Center in Seattle. Its oversized solar roof last year generated fifty-four percent more electricity than the six-floor building consumedand thats in often-rainy Seattle, Bullitt Foundation president Denis Hayes enjoyed telling us. He aptly likens the hyper-extended wafer of a roof to a graduating student's headgear, the mortar board.

Altogether, the Bullitt Center has an Energy Use Intensity, or EUI, of 11, outpacing its projected EUI of 16. Translating this from new-energy-speak into more familiar terms, the EUI is calculated by dividing a buildings total energy use (measured in thousands of Btu) by its overall floor area. Without going into further detail, trust me: an EUI of 11 is extraordinary! This impressive result comes from a winning combination of the generous rooftop photovoltaics, super insulation, automatic louvers for shading, computer-controlled windows that actually open, and ground-source heating and cooling. Oh yes, and tenants who truly care about the buildings energy performance.

On a neighborhood scale, we were particularly taken with the West Village at the University of Californias Davis campus. This new community on the edge of the UC Davis campus hosts hundreds of student apartments, clustered around a central public square with a cafe/restaurant, grocery store, and a few research institutes that focus on energy and mobility issues. Though built to be net zero, West Villages actual performance has fallen a bit short of that goal; the community as a whole is now about 82% energy self-reliant. Solar photovoltaics on just about every roof are key, helped by smart, attractive window shading and great insulation. A major cause of the shortfall in achieving net zero energy is the user population: the designers based their energy use calculations on multi-family occupancy. As it turns out, students sharing these apartmentseach with their own collection of electronic gadgetsare bigger energy users than the typical nuclear family. Another mistake was installing washer-dryers in every unit, making it too easy for students to run multiple loads and invite friends from other dorm complexes to drop by and do their laundry.

In Vancouvers Olympic Village, we visited an Urban Fare Express supermarket where waste heat from long banks of refrigerator and freezer cabinets is captured and reused to heat upper-floor apartments in this net zero energy building. Atop the building and on rooftops throughout the Olympic Village, we spotted neat arrays of solar thermal collectors. Supplementing what the buildings themselves generate, a Neighbourhood Energy Utility extracts heat drawn from wastewaterthats right: sewageto provide about seventy percent of the Villages heating needs.

And what about environmental equity in this super-pricey community? Twenty percent of the Olympic Villages residential units qualify as social (affordable) housing, and eleven percent are rental apartments.

Another project we visitedTassafaronga Village in Oakland, CAhas made affordability one of its central features. Located in the southeastern part of the city where occasional blocks of low-income homes crouch beneath highway overpasses and industrial warehouses, this neighborhood complex combines green roofscapes with solar PV and solar water heating, earning it LEED Neighborhood Development Certified Gold Plan status.

Helping us pull all these strands together was a Net Positive Energy + Water Conference in San Diego, organized by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). When in Seattle, we were happy to visit ILFIs headquarters on the ground floor of the Bullitt Center. Talk about mission-appropriate office space!

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that we can get a fifth of total U.S. power needs by tapping the sun that falls on our rooftops. If we pair up all that solar power with new buildings designed to meet unprecedented standards of efficiency and performance, eventually we just might be able to neutralize the carbon footprint of Americas built environment.

About the Author

Philip Warburg, former president of the Conservation Law Foundation, is the author of Harness the Sun and Harvest the Windboth published by Beacon Press. Follow him on Twitter at @pwarburg and visit his website.
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SOUTHEAST TEXAS TALES

One misplaced shoe spared L. Louise Hudson from the deadliest school disaster in American history.

With only minutes before the school bell rang, the elementary student searched her home, looking under furniture for the missing shoe.

"Her family was dirt poor," said Richard Schur, Louise Hudson's son. "She only had the one pair of shoes."

Her five siblings couldn't wait for Louise any longer and started the 2-mile walk to the Consolidated School in New London, about 180 miles north of Beaumont.

Only four of them returned home. Elisha, 12, died instantly when a gas leak in the basement of the 1,200-student school caused a massive blast that killed about 300 children and teachers.

One of her other brothers, Dwayne, found Elisha's body among the debris. Glen suffered severe head injuries. Ruth and Rex had no physical injuries.

Shrapnel wounds covered Elisha's body, except for a rectangular portion of his chest where he tightly held his books as he walked down the hall, Schur recalls his mother saying.

"Wow, I came real close to not being born," Schur, of Bridge City, thought when he first heard the story when he was about 12.

March 18 marks the 79th anniversary of the blast that prompted the Texas Legislature to mandate that an odor, mercaptans, be added to natural gas, which is odorless and colorless, so it could be detected in future leaks. The practice is now mandated nationwide.

Up until March 18, 1937, natural gas was behind the small East Texas town's prosperity.

A teacher's message that rescuers found on a blackboard among the rubble was a grimy reminder of the irony: "Oil and natural gas are East Texas' greatest mineral blessings. Without them this school would not be here and none of us would be here learning our lessons," according to a Texas Monthly article published in March 2001.

The news of the disaster traveled across the globe, prompting dozens of state leaders to send help and condolences, including Adolf Hitler.

"On the occasion of the terrible explosion at the New London, Tex., which took so many young lives, I want to assure your excellency of my and the German people's sincere sympathy," stated the cablegram Hitler sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 19, 1937, the day after the blast.

Louise ended up finding her misplaced shoe in the backyard that afternoon, which gained a whole different meaning.

"The fact that she couldn't find her shoe was a sign to her that she wasn't supposed to be (at the school)," said Schur's wife, Laura.

About two years after he learned about his family's involvement in the explosion, Schur was helping clean out a relative's home after a death in the family and saw a pile of old newspaper clippings among garbage put aside to be burned.

Some headlines caught his attention: "Identity of dead children becomes gigantic task of workers in the London school tragedy."

He sorted through the pile and found more than a dozen papers about the explosion that so closely impacted his family.

Only a teenager at the time, he has kept the clippings for five decades. He is now 65.

"They were there in the garbage can and I thought, 'Why would anyone throw these away?'"

Southeast Texas Tales is a weekly feature that revisits regional history.

MLibardi@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/ManuellaLibardi
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Silsbee's police chief and a Beaumont police lieutenant will face each other in a runoff election for Hardin County sheriff after all the votes from the March 1 election were counted.

Silsbee police chief Mark Davis received 3,215 votes or 27 percent, compared to Beaumont Lt. Bryan Skinner with 2,772 votes or 23 percent.

Davis, who has led the Silsbee Police Department since 2011, and Skinner, whose career at Beaumont PD spans 25 years, will meet in the May 24 runoff, which will determine who will run in November against J. Blake Burleson, a safety and counter-terrorism consultant running as an independent.

Skinner and Davis were among six Republican candidates in the sheriff's race, including sheriff's office investigator Mark Minton, who finished third; district attorney's office investigator Dale Williford, finished fourth; former Lumberton police officer Kenny Roach who finished fifth; and retired sheriff's department Capt. Johnny Westbrook.

"There's a lot of work yet to do. We plan to hit the ground running tomorrow," Davis said late on March 1.

Skinner, dubbed The Dark Horse, celebrated with friends and supporters at Hard Bean in Lumberton. Davis had a party at Buck White's Banquet venue in Silsbee.

Unlike the sheriff's race, Hardin County's district attorney was determined Tuesday when voters re-elected David Sheffield for his third term.

Sheffield will not face a Democratic challenger.

Sheffield faced attorney Tom Roebuck, who practices in Beaumont, and who aggressively campaigned.

The two wrangled on social media, with exchanges often becoming personal and confrontational.

Sheffield received 6,603 votes, or 55 percent of the total. Roebuck gathered 5,508 votes, or 45 percent of the total.

"I'm very humbled," said Sheffield, who watched the results come in from his home in Silsbee.

Among Roebuck's criticisms of the incumbent district attorney was Sheffield's prosecution of Crystal Boyett, a Kirbyville woman sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter in the death of a pregnant Lumberton woman and her unborn child in a high speed accident that also killed her sister and severly injured her mother.

Although Sheffield secured the maximum sentence for manslaughter, Roebuck argued he should have been able to charge Boyett with murder because she was running from police when she caused the deadly wreck.

Sheffield was the county attorney from 1993 until he was elected district attorney in 2008.

Sheffield declined to comment on the campaign.

"Some have called it brutal. I'm not sure I would describe it that way," Roebuck said from Novrozsky's restaurant in Silsbee.

"Challenging is a better way of putting it. It sort of took a life of its own" Roebuck said.

MLibardi@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/ManuellaLibardi
A Tyler County man suspected of killing his wife before shooting himself is being treated at a Houston hospital and will be charged with murder, Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford said.

Andrew Linscomb, 41, called 911 shortly after 8;30 a.m., Monday, and reported he shot his wife, Tonia, and himself, the sheriff said in a press release.
The man who was accused of leading police on a chase across multiple jurisdictions before crashing a stolen truck into the Neches River Saltwater Barrier last year was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for aggravated robbery.

Ronald Rice, 33, was also sentenced to 10 years for evading arrest after pleading guilty to both offenses Feb. 16.

Officers with the Beaumont Police Department had been dispatched March 27 about 7:40 p.m. to the Subway on East Virginia near Lamar University for a panic alarm.

They were given a description of a man who robbed the restaurant at at gunpoint before leaving the scene.

Later that night, Orange police were chasing a man matching the description who had also robbed a convenience store.

Jefferson County prosecutors said Rice led officers from Orange and Beaumont on a dangerous pursuit that eventually ended with Rice driving a stolen truck into the Neches River Saltwater Barrier at the end of Bigner Road. Rice, according to prosecutors, had stolen the truck from Lufkin earlier that morning before robbing an EZ Loans in that area.

In Orange County, Rice is charged with aggravated robbery, burglary of a building, felony and misdemeanor theft and evading arrest. He also faces felony charges in Angelina County and Louisiana.Kim Pipkin, a Jefferson County prosecutor, said Rice "terrorized" three counties in Texas and Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish, leaving a path of destruction.

Pipkin credited Rice for pleading guilty and showing sympathy for his victims.

"Each of these communities is safer with him behind bars," Pipkin said.

BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/BrandonKScott
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Gov. Greg Abbott issued a state disaster declaration in the Sabine River flood, which is a necessary step preceding a national declaration that makes federal assistance available, the governor's office said Monday.

The proclamation extends to Angelina, Erath, Gregg, Hardin, Harrison, Hood, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Newton, Orange, Parker, Sabine, San Augustine, and Tyler counties.

Rep. James White, R-Woodville, said the governor was awaiting certain thresholds to be reached for economic impact and affected population.

State Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, whose district includes Orange County, said those thresholds would be met and surpassed once the flood water reaches Orange. Phelan said he isn't certain of the amount of economic impact or affected population. He said flood water could reach Interstate 10, causing the Texas Department of Transportation to divert traffic, possibly to the causeway that links the Louisiana side of Sabine Pass with the Texas side.

"I hope it doesn't get that bad," Phelan said.

A disaster declaration at the state level is a necessary step toward enabling President Obama to sign a national disaster declaration, which puts federal assistance into motion, like FEMA, the Small Business Administration and Housing and Urban Development help.

"This is an important milestone," White said. "The county and the state has met the threshold (for losses) and it will go to the president for a national disaster declaration. The we can start working with our federal partners. But I want to temper expectations. We still have a ways to go."

Water could reach 7.5 feet at Orange, more than twice the normal level as runoff from last week's 18-inch deluge reaches the lower river.

Orange County's emergency management office issued a mandatory evacuation at 12:45 p.m. Monday for residents north of Interstate 10 and east of Texas 87.

Officials said residents should expect to be displaced for several days.

Voluntary evacuations were called for areas south of Interstate 10, east of Bob Hall Road, east of 10th Street and all of the Cove.

In West Orange, the city issued a voluntary evacuation for residents living south of Western Street and east of Dayton Street. The city of Pinehurst declared an emergency for areas near MacArthur Drive at Adams Bayou, which was inundated by storm surge during Hurricane Ike.

Residents living along Allie Payne Road in Orange had water creep into their homes as early as Monday morning.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/dwallach
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The parents of a 32-year-old man who died in the Galveston County jail last year filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the sheriff's office, alleging wrongful death.

Jesse Jacobs turned himself into the county jail last March with a list of medications he needed to take while serving a 30-day sentence for driving under the influence.

He died eight days later. In a report the Galveston County Sheriff's Office filed with the Attorney General's Office, officials wrote "it was not apparent what caused Mr. Jacobs medical condition."

But Jacobs' parents and the lawyers representing them believe that Jacobs died after the jail abruptly cut off the Xanax he had been taking since he was 19 to deal with ADD, anxiety, depression and other mental conditions.

"This is one of the worst cases of medical indifference to human life I have ever seen," Randall Kallinen, one of the attorneys representing Jacobs' parents in their lawsuit, said in a press release regarding the lawsuit.

Six inmates have died while in custody of Galveston County jailers since January 2010. In five of the deaths, the sheriff's office listed the cause of death as "intoxication or illness/natural causes," while the sixth inmate died from suicide. Jacobs' death was not the first time the jail has been scrutinized for its medical care of inmates: The jail ran afoul of state jail regulators in 2013, when inspectors found that the county was not dispensing medication as doctors had ordered.

State records show that the jail has otherwise successfully passed four of five annual jail inspections since 2010.
Anesthesiologist Casey Drawert, MD, was killed by her husband in a murder-suicide, according to a Kens 5 Eyewitness News report.

Here are five notes:

1. Police found both David Thomas Ross, the shooter, and Dr. Drawert dead in their San Antonio home on March 13.

2. Dr. Drawert, an anesthesiologist, worked in private practice in San Antonio.

3. She also worked as a contractor in the surgical intensive care unit at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System and as a part-time professor at the UT School of Medicine, both located in San Antonio.

4. A motive for the murder-suicide has not been made clear as yet.

5. Dr. Drawert has two children, who were not at home at the time of the shooting.
A Vitals' SmartShopper report found providing consumer incentives can yield significant healthcare cost savings, according to ebn.

Various employers offer SmartShopper to employees, a program which gives cash to those employees who select healthcare options with lower prices.

Here are five insights:

1. In 2015, of SmartShopper's eight health plans and employer clients, consumers collectively earned $1.46 million and generated approximately $12 million in savings.

2. Vitals found the average savings per shopped procedure was $625 in 2015.

3. In 2015, consumers shopped 50 percent more for diagnostic scans than the previous year, yielding $2.2 million in savings for employers.

4. Shopping for blood work increased 46 percent from 2014 to 2015, which generated savings of $1.1 million.

5. "The member is the one who does all the work," Rob Graybill, vice president of SmartShopper. "They engage, find out about cost and quality and vote with their feet to generate savings. SmartShopper shares a portion of those savings back to the member in incentive rewards."

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The days of paper prescriptions in New York State are coming to an end on March 27, when providers will be required to electronically write all prescriptions.

New York State will implement penalties for providers who do not comply with the electronic standard, the first state in the country to do so, reports The New York Times. While Minnesota requires electronic prescribing by law, there are no penalties for providers who don't comply, according to the report.

The move to electronic prescriptions aims to reduce prescription fraud and eliminate errors from misread handwriting, according to the report.

Requiring electronic prescribing is the second phase of New York State's electronic prescription and prescription monitoring program law called I-Stop, effective in 2013. The first phase was developing an online registry detailing all controlled substances prescribed to a patient which providers must check before prescribing a controlled medication to see if the patient has a history of drug abuse.

Now, the hope is electronic prescriptions will prevent people from potentially modifying written prescriptions.

"Paper prescriptions had become a form of criminal currency that could be traded even more easily than the drugs themselves," said Eric T. Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, according to the report. "By moving to a system of e-prescribing, we can curb the incidence of these criminal acts and also reduce errors resulting from misinterpretation of handwriting on good-faith prescriptions."

Providers who don't use electronic prescriptions may face civil and criminal penalties and fines.

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The Massachusetts Hospital Association has voted to oppose a proposed ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, according to an International Business Times report.

The vote took place last week.

"Clinicians and healthcare leaders from around the state have a clear message  this ballot measure is the wrong prescription for Massachusetts," Lynn Nicholas, CEO of the hospital association, said, according to the report.

According to the International Business Times, critics of the proposed measure have questioned the science and safety studies surrounding pot, saying they have not been widely performed enough to definitively say the drug is safe. On the other hand, supporters of the measure have noted that attempts to study the drug have been repeatedly blocked by the federal government, and that legalization could potentially take money away from a powerful pharmaceutical industry.

State lawmakers have said there are consequences if the measure passes, including how children could have easy access to the drug if family members kept it in the house, according to the report.

Medical marijuana is already legal in Massachusetts.
East Texas Medical Center in Tyler has suffered a disappointment in its lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas  the largest health insurer in the state.

The hospital is once again excluded from the health insurer's PPO network, following an appellate court decision that lifted an injunction issued by a lower court.

In June 2015, ETMC filed a lawsuit against BCBS of Texas, Aetna and Cigna, claiming exclusion from the insurers' preferred provider networks increases healthcare costs for some consumers. The hospital claims it is violation of the Texas Insurance Code for the insurers to exclude it from their PPO networks.

Although ETMC named three insurers as defendants in the lawsuit, most of the hospital's frustration is with BCBS of Texas. When it filed its lawsuit last year, ETMC said of the 271 nonprofit hospitals in Texas, it is the only general acute care community hospital involuntarily excluded from the Blue Cross PPO.

ETMC claims there is no legitimate reason it is being kept out of the Blue Cross PPO, and the insurer hasn't provided specifics as to why ETMC isn't included. A BCBS executive did testify that its existing network has been approved by the Texas Department of Insurance, and adding ETMC to the PPO network could set "dangerous precedent" for other unhappy hospitals, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Not long after ETMC filed its lawsuit against the insurers, Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings, downgraded the hospital's rating and assigned a negative outlook. The hospital's out-of-network status was cited by Moody's as a reason for the downgrade.

After the downgrades were issued, ETMC asked the court to issue a temporary injunction to put it in BCBS' PPO network. ETMC's motion was successful, and the judge ordered the insurer to include the hospital in its network at least until trial, according to The Houston Chronicle.

The court's ruling thrilled ETMC executives, and a billboard on the highway into Tyler now reads, "Congratulations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas members! You've won a real choice in healthcare."

However, the billboard will be taken down soon, as ETMC was issued a setback in its case last month when an appeals court lifted the injunction. The appellate court said ETMC had failed to show its exclusion from the PPO network put it in immediate financial danger, according to the report.

In an email to the Houston Chronicle, BCBS said it was pleased with the appellate court's decision.

ETMC officials said they hope the insurer will continue to cover patients' treatment until the matter goes to trial.

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Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has requested information from 20 hospitals regarding their concurrent surgeries processes, according to The Boston Globe.

Sen. Hatch and his committee have asked the hospitals  including Boston-based Partners HealthCare, the parent company of Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital  for their total number of concurrent surgeries between 2011 and 2015.

"We are concerned about reports of patients not being informed that they may be sharing their surgeon with another patient, and we are especially concerned by reports that, in some cases, steps have been taken to actively conceal this practice from patients," Sen. Hatch wrote in a letter to the hospitals, according to the report.

Last year, U.S. Attorney General Carmen Ortiz launched a federal investigation into the double-booking process at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Now, Sen. Hatch's Finance Committee has been prompted to look into the situation because it oversees federal healthcare programs. The Finance Committee has said that its request for information does not qualify it as a full-scale Senate investigation.

The inquiry process has already begun, and members of the Finance Committee met representatives from the American College of Surgeons last week to work on creating a set of guidelines regarding concurrent surgery policies. The Finance Committee and members of the ACS want the guidelines to improve patient transparency and better inform patients about overlapping surgeries.

"That's the crux of informed consent," said Gerald Healy, MD, a member of the ACS. "If I tell you one thing and do another, that's unethical."
Three medical professionals at Blountstown, Fla.-based Calhoun Liberty Hospital have been fired for the way they handled the case of Barbara Dawson, a 57-year-old woman who died after being forcibly removed from the hospital last December.

A hospital spokeswoman told the Tallahassee Democrat two nurses, Karen Taylor, RN, and Jennifer Waldorff, RN, along with paramedic Drew Peacock, were let go from Calhoun Liberty as of Friday. All three were removed from their normal duties at the hospital in January.

Firing the three employees, each of whom was directly involved with the care of Ms. Dawson, will help Calhoun Liberty comply with requirements set by the Agency for Healthcare Care Administration, a hospital spokeswoman told WTXL news.

In February, the AHCA uncovered 10 deficiencies at the hospital, including issues with its emergency services and risk management program. AHCA has rejected the hospital's corrective action plans twice, according to the report.

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Emory University Hospital in Atlanta is currently treating a patient with Lassa fever, as confirmed by the CDC. CNN reports the patient is an American physician assistant who was working with a missionary organization in Togo, a small country in Africa.

The patient is being treated at Emory's Serious Communicable Disease Unit, the same unit that treated four Ebola patients in 2014. Few other details about the patient have been released.

Lassa fever frequently produces symptoms similar to those of Ebola, including hemorrhagic fever and bleeding, but is much less deadly and much harder to spread from person to person. Typically, Lassa fever is spread by rats and is only deadly in roughly 1 percent of all individuals.

The last time Lassa fever made headlines in the U.S. was in May 2015, when a man who returned to New Jersey after a visit to Liberia died from the viral disease.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the patient as a "physician's assistant" as opposed to a "physician assistant" in the first sentence. We regret this error.
Northern Ireland's retailers have suffered a huge post-Christmas slump, with shopper numbers falling at a greater rate than anywhere in the UK.

The number of shoppers on high streets and in shopping centres and retail parks across the province fell by 5.1% in February, compared with the previous year.

The decline is significantly higher than the 1.1% drop felt across the UK as a whole.

It has been speculated the slump could be down to a post-Christmas spending lull, as households across Northern Ireland tighten belts, according to Aodhan Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium. "We have to look at what's going on," he said. "While retailers are trying to meet the challenges of what consumers want, the truth is, in Northern Ireland, we have less than half of the weekly disposable income than households in the rest of the UK.

"What could be happening is people spending money at Christmas, then reining back in. Hopefully, it's a slight blip.

"However, while footfall is not a direct indication of money spent, it shows the retail market in Northern Ireland is volatile."

Across the UK, the number of shoppers at out-of-town retail parks increased by 2.5%, while the high street and shopping centres reported falls.

But Belfast's two main city centre shopping centres - CastleCourt and Victoria Square - were quiet on the issue, with neither able to respond to requests from this paper. Glyn Roberts of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association said: "Obviously any reduction in footfall is a cause for concern.

"But the only true indicator is sales and money in the till. We should always monitor footfall, and it's vital for town centres. But we shouldn't get too overexcited about these figures."

Mr Roberts said while retail was "going through small, modest growth" it "occasionally has blips".

"January and February, although there are sales, it's always a tough time for retail," he added.

"Into spring, I would expect them to increase in the run-up to Easter and into the summer months."

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said: "Footfall in Northern Ireland is typified by volatility, with swings from month-to-month, reflected in a drop in high street footfall of 5.5% in February compared with a rise of 2.6% in January."
John Boyega visited the Royal London Hospital as part of the Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity

The mother of a five-year-old boy living with a brain tumour described their meeting with Star Wars actor John Boyega as "priceless".

The actor, who plays Finn in the popular film franchise, delivered toys to sick children at the Royal London Hospital.

Young Daniel Bell from Ormskirk said he wished he could hand out presents to other young patients alongside his favourite film character - and Boyega said he "jumped at the chance" to grant it.

Boyega taught Daniel some nifty lightsaber moves as part of the special treat, organised by Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity.

The Bafta-winning actor, who stars alongside Harrison Ford on the big screen, described Daniel as "an amazing and inspirational boy".

He said: " When I heard about Daniel's wish to meet Finn, I jumped at the chance to make it come true. It was fantastic to be a part of his very special wish with Rays of Sunshine.

"It was also great to meet the children at The Royal London Hospital and be a part of something so positive."

Daniel's mum Rosalind said the meeting was something money could not buy.

She said: "To see Daniel smile like that without a care in the world after everything he's been through, knowing how much time and effort Rays of Sunshine have put in to his wish and that John Boyega gave his time to make it come true, is priceless.

She added: " These things can't be bought and really do mean the world."
Sir Alec Guinness was not best pleased about his Obi Wan Kenobi role in Star Wars: A New Hope

Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac made a surprise appearance at Letters Live to read out a letter by Obi Wan Kenobi actor Sir Alec Guinness - in which he branded co-star Harrison Ford a "languid young man".

Writing during filming of the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope, Sir Alec complained: "Can't say I'm enjoying the film."

American actor Isaac, who plays Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, joked to the audience at Freemasons' Hall in London that he would not even attempt an impression of Sir Alec as he read out his correspondence.

The late actor wrote to his friend Anne Kauffman: "New rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper, and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable."

He added he was off to the studio to work with "Mark Hamill and Tennyson (that can't be right) Ford. Ellison? No! Well a rangy, languid man who is probably intelligent and amusing."

Inspired by the best-selling Letters of Note series and website, as well as Simon Garfield's book To The Letter, Letters Live sees actors and performers reading out literary correspondence to a live audience.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who took part in the event alongside his wife Sophie Hunter, channelled former Sherlock Holmes actor William Gillette as he read out a letter by Mark Twain.

Gillette played the famous detective on stage in 1899 and made a Sherlock Holmes silent film in 1916.

While no voice recording of Twain has survived, there is a recording of his former neighbour Gillette doing his best impression of the author in 1934. However, 39-year-old Cumberbatch, who stars in the BBC's Sherlock, said he would not follow this guideline too closely.

The letter from Twain to the American poet Walt Whitman paid tribute to all the changes he had witnessed in the world over the course of his lifetime.

Cumberbatch and his Sherlock co-star Louise Brearley then performed letters between Bessie Moore and Chris Barker, two sweethearts separated by World War Two.

The Imitation Game actor Cumberbatch has been at the heart of Letters Live since the first event was held in 2013, embracing the challenge of performing others' correspondence.

Sunday evening's performance also saw a reading by theatre and opera director Hunter, 37, who has previously taken part in Letters Live events at Hay Festival alongside her actor husband.

She left the audience moved as she read out a letter from deaf and blind woman Helen Keller to the New York Symphony Orchestra, thanking them for the music which she had experienced through the radio by feeling the vibrations.
More than 2,500 pothole repairs had to be redone in the last four years because the initial work was substandard.

In the last 10 months alone almost 600 repairs were deemed "unsatisfactory".

Motorists have complained about potholes being patched up, only for the filling to fall out again within a day or two.

It will raise fresh questions about the resources put in to repairing our roads. A total of 2,665 repairs were deemed unsatisfactory between April 2012 and January this year.

The figures were released by Regional Development Minister Michelle McIlveen after an Assembly question from Ukip MLA David McNarry. Pothole repairs are officially termed "road reinstatements" by the Department for Regional Development.

Ms McIlveen's answer discloses that 568 repairs were deemed unsatisfactory between April 2015 and January. Mr McNarry said it was clear the quality of road repairs was not good enough.

"It is an indictment of the chaos in that department - conning people that they are fixing potholes," he said. "I know of potholes which are filled in one day and the next day they have fallen apart again."

Ms McIlveen said that 759 repairs were deemed unsatisfactory in 2012/13 and a further 704 in 2013/14.

In the 12 months to April 2015, there were 634 potholes which needed repaired more than once. Follow-up inspections cost 347,000, although TransportNI said this cost was covered by the company which carried out the repairs. Ms McIlveen said the courts also imposed fines of 250 in 2013/14 and 500 in 2014/15 for offences relating to reinstatement of road openings.

But Mr McNarry said it wasn't good enough, with motorists left struggling to navigate roads filled with potholes. "Instead of doing things right they are trying to do it on the cheap," he added. "It is a slapdash approach and these figures prove it."

Last month this newspaper reported that compensation is paid out for pothole damage 10 times a week.

Between April 2012 and April 2015, DRD received 2,461 claims for vehicle damage caused by potholes. It settled 1,643 of these, although claims are not necessarily made and settled in the same year.

The highest number of settled claims (658) was in Transport NI's southern division, which includes parts of Tyrone and Armagh.

Mr McNarry said DRD had set aside 4m for compensation claims in the current year, but he questioned this strategy.

"I would much rather they put the 4m in to filling the holes properly, rather than setting it aside for the inevitable compensation," he added.

A TransportNI spokesman said: "While 2,665 out of almost 175,000 road openings over this period is a relatively small percentage, the cost of all repairs is met by the utility company responsible."
The prison van containing Christopher Robinson is driven from court

Armed police guarded the courtroom as a man was charged with attempting to murder a prison officer in Belfast.

Christopher Alphonsos Robinson (45) yawned and refused to stand as he was accused of the east Belfast bombing on March 4.

Officers trained for dealing with riots stood between a crowd of his supporters and the main body of the city centre court room on Saturday.

The victim, a married father-of-three aged 52, required surgery for severe leg injuries after an explosive device detonated under the van he was driving.

A dissident republican group calling itself the New IRA, which opposes the peace process, claimed to have carried out the bombing.

Police have warned there could be more attacks ahead of this month's centenary of the Easter Rising which marked the Irish rebellion against Britain.

They said they had prevented a number of murder bids since last week's blast.

The threat to members of the security forces in Northern Ireland is severe from gunmen opposed to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement which largely ended decades of the Troubles.

Senior officers have said there are several hundred active dissidents.

A sizeable group of his friends applauded Robinson, from Aspen Park in Dunmurry in west Belfast, and jeered at the judge at Belfast Magistrates Court as the defendant was led away in handcuffs.

He was charged after undergoing 16 interviews, his lawyer told the court. He said "no evidence was actually put" to the defendant to link him to the attack.

The suspect was also accused of possession of an explosive with the intention to endanger life.

No bail application was made and he was remanded in custody.

The accused is due to appear via video link before the same court on Friday, April 1 for a review hearing.
Convicted child killer Robert Howard was the prime suspect in the Arlene Arkinson case (Kent Police/PA)

Patricia Quinn told the Arlene Arkinson inquest she could have been Robert Howard's next victim

A woman who lied to protect child killer Robert Howard has described how she feared for her life when he locked her in a room for two days.

Patricia Quinn, a former partner of the paedophile, told an inquest she only managed to escape from his flat in Scotland after slipping sleeping tablets into his tea.

Describing Howard - who is suspected of killing Co Tyrone schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson - as an evil, manipulative charmer, Ms Quinn said she could have been his next victim.

The mother of three told Belfast Coroner's Court: "For two days he kept me locked in. He kept the keys down the front of his trousers.

"Only he fell asleep, I could have been the next one."

It was Ms Quinn's second appearance in the witness box, having been previously been excused over claims that the stress of the case had made her contemplate suicide.

She said she deeply regrets lying to police to provide an alibi for Howard on the night Arlene vanished in August 1994 and hopes her body will soon be recovered.

She joined Howard in Scotland following the public outcry after Arlene's disappearance in the hope he might divulge some details about his crimes but , he kept quiet, the court heard.

"He said 'people have secrets and I am keeping them secret' - that's all he said," she added. "That man would not give anything away."

Although there was some dispute over the length of time she stayed, Ms Quinn said there was an argument and she was assaulted and held against her will at the flat in Glasgow.

"For two days I was closed in," she said. "I couldn't get out. Only I kept my cool, I could have been his next victim."

Ms Quinn claimed police in Northern Ireland were informed about her ordeal but did not take it seriously.

"You know what they told me," she said. "They said you were lucky he didn't tie you up."

It later emerged that Howard was expelled from Glasgow after developing an unhealthy interest in a nine year old girl and watching schoolchildren in a playground.

Ms Quinn provided a bail address for Howard when he was accused of drugging, raping and imprisoning a teenage girl in Castlederg in 1993.

She has also admitted lying to police investigating Arlene's disappearance, adding that she did not know that Howard was a violent abuser.

"I did not know what kind of person he was until I went to Scotland and then I found out," she said.

When asked by the Arkinson family barrister if she had considered the "real consequences" of her lies, Ms Quinn replied that she felt guilty but was not responsible.

She said: "It was a white lie. Maybe it ended up a complicated lie, but at the time I thought it was only a wee white lie."

There were angry scenes when allegations were put to Ms Quinn that she and Howard had been seen in a forest with a spade and a bag in the days after Arlene's disappearance.

According to a partially blanked out police intelligence document, a taxi driver was overheard talking about dropping the pair off at a forest near Pettigo in Co Donegal.

A visibly agitated Ms Quinn hit out: "Get that taxi driver here and make him prove it then come back to me.

"I was never in no taxi. Everybody is on at me about this taxi. I never went fishing with him. I don't like worms."

She also told the court she had instigated police searches in the Pettigo area, adding: "If I had done anything to that cutty (Arlene) would I be getting places searched? No, I don't think so."

During a previous appearance in the witness box, Ms Quinn alleged that Howard had been a police informant.

When asked whether this was "nonsense", she replied: "I'll say to the day I die he was an informer. Ask anybody about Castlederg and they will tell you the same thing - he was an informer and that's it."

However, when pressed further by a barrister representing the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Ms Quinn conceded she had no evidence to back up her claim.

Ms Quinn has also repeatedly denied being in a relationship with Howard, insisting they were just friends.

But she accepted that a statement made to police in 2002 detailed that they had been intimate.

Henry Toner QC, representing the Arkinson family, said: "What's described there is quite substantially more than kissing and cuddling."

Although he was a Jekyll and Hyde-type character, Howard had been good to her when no one else cared, the court was told.

Ms Quinn said: "He was a bad, evil, manipulating man.

"He would have charmed his way anywhere. Ask anybody in Castlederg. Everybody thought he was a great man, which I thought he was, until I realised the truth."

Fifteen-year-old Arlene Arkinson, from Castlederg, never returned home after a night out across the border in Co Donegal in August 1994.

She was last seen in a car with Howard, who was acquitted of her murder in 2005 by a jury that was not made aware of his conviction for murdering 14-year-old Hannah Williams from South London several years earlier.

Her body has never been found.

Howard remained the prime suspect until his death in prison last year aged 71.
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A Church of Ireland bishop has revealed how his father's gambling led to his family being kicked out of their home when the cleric was a child.

The Rt Rev Alan Abernethy, who is originally from east Belfast, also told how he had struggled with depression shortly after being appointed Bishop of Connor.

During a sermon on the theme of living with uncertainty, the 58-year-old cleric confessed that the Church can find it difficult to deal with "messy" personal situations.

His revelations were made during a moving sermon at St Peter's Church of Ireland in north Belfast and broadcast live on Radio Ulster yesterday morning.

Bishop Abernethy's parents separated after the family lost their home, and said at that difficult time the Church had not found it easy to "dispense with grace".

"The details of that day are very sketchy in my memory, although I do remember it was cloudy and dry," he said.

"My brother and I set out for school as normal assuming we would return to our home that evening. I was never to see inside of that house again.

"We were collected from school and brought to our grandparents' house next door to our school. We could walk out of the back door of our grandparents' house and be at one of the school gates."

When he was older the bishop learned more about what had actually happened that day, including his mother being confronted by bailiffs.

"Others tell me some of the details of this part of my life. My father had been gambling heavily for some time, and he had managed to work his way through the family inheritance he had received," he said.

"That particular morning the bailiffs arrived to inform my mum that we had lost our home because of my father's debts.

"She took the two of us to her parents and they were incredibly supportive and gave us a secure and loving environment.

"From a very young age I observed unwittingly that my mum, with strong, personal and gentle faith, remained humble and thankful for what she had. For her faith helped her at what must have been at times a lonely road.

"I also learned from an early age that having faith did not protect us from difficulties and that life could be painful and hard. However, it was also a strange realisation that the Church found it hard to cope with our situation - she and my father were separated through no fault of hers.

"As bishop, I do recognise the Church can find it difficult to deal with situations which are messy and untidy. The Church does not find it easy to dispense with grace. I know that from first-hand experience."

Bishop Abernethy also spoke about his recent struggle with depression.

"A few years after I was ordained bishop I found myself quite unwell, at first with gallstones, but then as I physically recovered I had to recognise I was struggling with a heavy heart and what I would describe as a bruised spirit," he said. "I was suffering from depression.

"I was given great help from my doctor, which included antidepressants and cognitive therapy.

"Recovery was slow and frustrating, but with the love of my family and the professional help I received and the countless prayers offered for me, I was able to return to work, but only after I had learnt some very important lessons."

St Peter's rector, Rev Brian Lacey, said because the service was being broadcast live on Radio Ulster there was not the usual congregation in the church during the sermon, simply the choir, himself, the bishop and the broadcasting team.

He paid tribute to the bishop's style of preaching, saying he often revealed sections of his life, and it was a style that very much worked for him.
World champion boxer Carl Frampton has added his voice to those speaking out in support of FASA

Stormont has been asked to carry out a financial investigation following the collapse of a drug support charity last week.

The news of The Forum for Action on Substance Abuse's (FASA) crisis sparked shock and worry across the community last week.

World champion boxer Carl Frampton has added his voice to those speaking out in support of FASA.

Almost 7,000 people have signed a petition urging politicians to help save the vital service, and a rally is set to take place on Belfast's Shankill Road tomorrow evening in support of the charity. FASA has been working for more than 20 years to help people struggling with substance abuse and mental health challenges.

Last week its board said it is "facing the prospect of immediate and terminal financial insolvency".

The organisation employed around 60 staff and is helped by some 70 volunteers.

The FASA board has now announced that 13 staff have been asked to remain on a voluntary basis to continue some of the charity's important work.

The statement released on Saturday said the charity has been overwhelmed with the support it has received from across the community in fighting to maintain FASA services.

It continued: "On Wednesday, 9th March, 2016, sadly FASA Chair Stephen Reynolds announced that FASA were to suspend all services - this resulted in 46 staff members being made redundant with immediate effect.

"Thirteen staff were asked to remain behind in a voluntary capacity across our sites to continue to support those most vulnerable and complete transfer of clients to other services. Funders are supporting us to manage this difficult transition.

"This task has been difficult, challenging and very emotional for all involved."

FASA added: "Our current financial status has not come as a result of our funding being withdrawn for the services we provide.

"The organisation in recent months has experienced financial hardship in relation to cash-flow problems in sustaining the full range of services that FASA have provided to meet the needs of its services users."

The charity revealed that two Stormont departments have been asked to carry out a financial audit. The Charities Commission is also investigating.

A FASA spokesman added: "Within today's competitive sector and without full cost recovery in place to match our service delivery, we find ourselves in a position of insolvency. We have asked the Department for Social Development and the Department of Health to carry out a rigorous and full independent financial audit.

"We are supporting the Charities Commission for Northern Ireland in their investigation.

"The liquidation will commence on March 16, 2016. However we will continue to endeavour to look for the vital funds needed to secure a rescue package that would allow the services to remain within local communities."
The High Court is to reconsider its quashing of a decision to shut the first Catholic school in Northern Ireland attempting a transformation to integrated status.

Appeal judges on Monday remitted the case for a re-examination of the reasons behind Education Minister John O'Dowd's approval of a proposal to close Clintyclay Primary in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

They held there should be fresh scrutiny of whether erroneous information that the school faced financial difficulties impacted on the minister's decision.

With Clintyclay's enrolment having dropped below 30 pupils, the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) had proposed that it should close.

An alternative proposal advanced by the school's Board of Governors to change its management to grant-maintained integrated status was rejected.

At the time of his announcement in October 2014 the minister said enrolment numbers meant it was no longer sustainable.

Due to this long-term situation switching to integrated status was not regarded as a feasible option.

The parents of a pupil at the school applied to judicially review his determination, argued that the closure decision should have been deferred until a full assessment of the transformation option was carried out.

In March last year a High Court judge held that erroneous information about the school facing financial problems had made its way into the decision making process.

He said this may have originated from a CCMS parish review which was fiercely disputed by the school and parents.

However the error occurred, the judge ruled that it "infected" the minister's decision.

Pointing to the school having a budget surplus, he quashed the outcome.

However, the Court of Appeal stressed on Monday that a ministerial decision should not necessarily be overturned for taking into account an immaterial or minimal error.

Mr Justice Deeny noted other factors in favour of the minister's decision, including the school's sound budgetary position featuring in both proposals.

He questioned whether all of the material was drawn to the attention of the High Court judge.

"Given the degree of ambiguity that exists in speaking of budget difficulties and financial difficulties in the context of a school which would have serious potential financial difficulties, dependent as it was on a high level of school subsidy, it is surprising that these factors were not addressed," Mr Justice Deeny said.

"They needed to be put in the balance with the other material relied on by the applicant."

He concluded that the case should be remitted for reconsideration, based on the contents of appendices in the development proposals and the Minister's correspondence.

The High Court will decide again, on the balance of probabilities, whether the erroneous phrases in the proposals played a material part in Mr O'Dowd's reasoning.
The brother of a young soldier who was mistakenly left behind by his patrol and murdered by the IRA 43 years ago has said he cannot rest until the gunman is brought to justice.

Private Gary Barlow was accidentally separated from his colleagues during a search operation in the notorious Divis flats in west Belfast in March 1973.

A gang of women cornered the terrified 19-year-old in an alleyway before a Provo gunman arrived and shot him dead.

Nobody has ever been charged with his murder.

More than four decades later his younger brother Keith has broken his silence to publicly back calls for a new investigation into the atrocity.

Keith, who was 13 at the time of Gary's death, revealed that three women had tried to help Private Barlow escape before the IRA killer arrived.

He told the Belfast Telegraph that his mother Rona, now 83, is still in touch with one of the women who tried to save her son.

Mr Barlow also revealed that in his brother's last phone call to their mother he told her he liked the people of Northern Ireland and that only "a handful" were bad.

Last week a lobby group of Army veterans who served here during the Troubles asked the Chief Constable to order a fresh investigation into Private Barlow's killing.

"It may have happened 43 years ago but I still want justice for my brother. Something like this never leaves you. It put me over the edge for years. I support these veterans in what they are doing for Gary," said Mr Barlow.

On March 5, 1973, Private Barlow was part of a patrol sent to search Divis flats. When the operation finished the patrol mistakenly left him behind.

"Two women tried to get him out of there. They knew the IRA had been called. But as far as Gary was concerned he hadn't been given an order to leave. At that time he didn't realise he'd been left behind. He refused to abandon his post," said Mr Barlow. "One woman ran down to the (Army) barracks and told them they had left someone behind. At first they didn't believe her. But when they realised, minutes later, it was basically too late. By the time they went back for him he had been shot and was lying dying."

Now 56, Mr Barlow said he will never forget the moment he heard his brother was dead.

"I had a really good relationship with Gary. I could talk to my brother about anything. The family wasn't really worried about him joining the Army, but we weren't too happy about him going to Northern Ireland at that time.

"I remember two policemen coming out to tell us he had been killed. Our lives were just turned upside down," he said.

"I know what was going through my mind at that time. I was thinking that if I had got hold of who did that to Gary then they would have been burying him too.

"We also received a lot of hate mail from Northern Ireland after Gary was killed. For weeks we were getting the most horrible mail."

He added: "I found it very difficult after Gary was killed. It is only the last few years that I have been able to calm down. We received a report from the HET (Historical Enquiries Team), but it didn't tell us anything we didn't already really know.

"I would like to see someone held accountable for Gary's murder. It would help me find some closure. All I want is to see justice."

The lobby group of veterans who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles has asked that the Chief Constable order a fresh murder investigation.

The case was previously reviewed by the HET, but it did not result in any criminal charges.

Former soldier and retired PSNI detective Mike Harmson, a member of the Veterans Lobbying Group, said Private Barlow was "yet another forgotten military victim of the Troubles" who "deserves justice and a proper investigation" into his murder.

Mr Harmson has contacted George Hamilton and Justice Minister David Ford to request the reopening of the case.

His request has been forwarded by Mr Hamilton to Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr, head of the PSNI's crime operations department, to consider.

In 2010 Private Barlow's parents Rona and Jack received the Elizabeth Cross, the decoration which recognises service personnel killed in operations.

He was just 17 when he joined the Army and was only three months away from completing his second tour of duty here with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment when he was killed.
An inquiry for Justice Minister David Ford says children must only cross the boundary into a police station when absolutely necessary

Police should have a presumption against arresting young people in Northern Ireland, a study said.

Children must only cross the boundary of a police station when absolutely necessary, the investigation for the Justice Minister said.

The Scoping Study also supported raising the age of criminal responsibility as part of a wide-ranging review of the youth justice system.

Justice Minister David Ford said: " The steering group has therefore proposed that every interaction with a child which brings them into the youth justice system should be challenged to ensure that there is clear justification for them being there and that all other options have been explored and exhausted.

"This should begin with a presumption against arrest, and follow through the rest of the system with the introduction of advocates and gatekeepers whose task it is to challenge decisions at each stage of the process."

The PSNI has a youth strategy which includes reference to human rights and child protection law. It said the needs of children would be part of every day policing.

However, a minority of young people have been involved in trouble surrounding marches and other flashpoints in recent years.

The view of the Scoping Study was that the default position for children who offend should be to provide support to address their needs. It said formal criminal justice action should only taken be when absolutely necessary.

The review pointed to the need to redesign the youth justice system to increase the number of exit points which allow a young person to access support without a criminal record.

Mr Ford added: "The emphasis should be on individualised, tailored responses which address needs and provide the support needed to prevent future offending behaviour."
Mystery surrounds the identity of those behind the removal of an Irish word from water mains covers in Ballymena.

A controversy had blown up in recent days when the Irish word for water - uisce - appeared on mains covers in Wellington Street, one of the busiest streets in the Co Antrim town.

A Traditional Unionist Voice councillor asked for the word to be removed after being contacted by constituents.

The story quickly hit the headlines, and was dubbed Ballymena's 'Watergate' scandal by wags.

Mid & East Antrim Borough Council is currently involved in a 4 million street improvement scheme in the town centre.

A spokesman said there were only two mains covers bearing the Irish word, and that these were not installed as part of the current public realm work.

"We can confirm that our contractor's supplier does not provide the type of water valve covers with UISCE on them," he said.

The spokesman said the council was not involved in the removal of the Irish from the covers: "We are not aware of any direct action taken by council officials on this matter."

It remains unknown how and when the bilingual covers - bearing both the English and Irish words for water - were fitted and who later removed the word from them.

TUV councillor Timothy Gaston, the deputy mayor of Ballymena, said last week he hoped there had been an oversight, and he encouraged the contractor to change the mains covers as soon as possible. "Constituents have contacted me to raise questions over the use of the Irish water hydrant covers on the ratepayer-funded public realm project in Ballymena town centre," he said..

One eyewitness commented: "The word 'uisce' was only very small on this water mains cover which itself is only about 15cms across.

"However, now the Irish word had been removed. It looks as if it is the same water mains cover and upon close inspection you can see marks on the cover where the Irish word was either blasted off with an angle-grinder or scraped off."

Councillor Gaston was not available to comment on the developments. However, on his Facebook page he wrote that the issue was "blown out of perspective" by the media.

He said: "There are many pressing issues relating to North Antrim and particularly the town of Ballymena which has suffered appalling job losses in recent months.

"This has been and will continue to be my focus in the incoming months."
A sex worker's bid to overturn a new law criminalizing clients in Northern Ireland has been put on hold amid uncertainty over who the challenge should be directed against.

Papers are now to be served on the Stormont Assembly following arguments that it is the proper body to respond to Laura Lee's unprecedented legal action.

Adjourning the case, Mr Justice Maguire said on Monday: "It's necessary to consider these points and make sure we get it right before we set off."

Ms Lee, a 38-year-old Dublin-born law graduate, wants the High Court to quash legislation making it illegal for men to pay for prostitutes.

The amended law was introduced last year in a private member's bill brought before the Assembly by DUP peer and Stormont MLA Lord Morrow.

Northern Ireland is currently the only UK region to make the purchase of sex a criminal offence.

Although the law shifts the burden from prostitutes to their clients, sex workers believe it could leave more vulnerable to violence.

They fear it will drive the trade underground and expose them to increase danger by making it increasingly difficult to screen customers who may use fake names and disposable phones.

Ms Lee's legal team contend that the amendments to the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act breach her human rights entitlements to privacy and freedom from discrimination.

They also allege a failure to comply with equality law.

At present the challenge is directed against the Department of Justice - even though it opposed the new legislative clause.

Last month it emerged that Stormont's First and Deputy First Ministers were to mount stronger opposition to the judicial review proceedings.

And Attorney General John Larkin QC was in court on Monday after being instructed by Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness to resist the legal action.

But following preliminary legal discussions it emerged that the challenge may need to be focused elsewhere.

Even though the Department of Justice has responsibility for criminal law, the judge stressed how the amended legislation came about through a private member's bill.

He suggested that the case may have been taken against the wrong party.

Mr Justice Maguire then backed a submission by the Attorney General that papers should be served on the Assembly itself.

Acknowledging Ms Lee and her supporters who had attended court, he said it was frustrating but necessary to put the challenge on hold.

"I feel it's of significance that we establish whether there is one respondent and who it is, or more than one and who they are," he added.

The case was adjourned for a further hearing next month to decide who should be involved in the case.
Woman reported being attacked in Sydenham Bypass area between Dee Street and Belfast City Airport.

Police are investigating a report of a woman being raped in the Sydenham bypass area of east Belfast at the weekend.

A woman reported that she was attacked by a man on Saturday evening between 10pm and 11pm.

The man approached the woman who was walking country-bound along the Sydenham Bypass, between Dee Street and Belfast City Airport.

He was driving a dark-coloured car which made off along the bypass in the direction of Holywood following the attack. He was described as being aged in his 30s and was wearing a dark coloured hooded top with the hood up.

Detective Inspector Zoe McKee is appealing for anyone who noticed this vehicle or observed any suspicious activity on the country-bound lane of the bypass on Saturday night or anyone with any information to contact detectives at Ladas Drive on 101.

Information can also be given anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
One in six shops in Northern Ireland remains vacant

The number of high street shoppers in Northern Ireland was 5% lower than a year ago, retailers warned.

February was the weakest performance since November, and by far the worst of any of the countries and regions of the UK.

The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium called for more Government support and blamed high taxes and minimum wages for the slump.

Director Aodhan Connolly said: "It is time for Government to realise that our sector needs their support if we are to continue to invest, create and sustain jobs and grow the supply chain.

"We need the devolved Executive to recognise the cumulative burden faced by retailers in areas as diverse as business rates, the National Living Wage and the introduction of the apprenticeship levy.

Policy makers must support retailers to allow us to continue to invest and play our part in a strong recovery here in Northern Ireland."

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard researchers, said: "The drop in footfall again last month is consistent with long term underlying trends identified by Springboard from tracking activity across destination types, geographies and time periods."

She said visits were becoming increasingly focused out of town and in the early evening.

Mr Connolly added: "The fact that there was a significant drop in footfall in February shows the volatile nature of the retail market in Northern Ireland.

"This is the weakest performance since November and is by far the worst performance of any of the countries and regions of the UK."
Police and ATO at the scene of a security alert on Cathedral Road in Armagh yesterday

Police and ATO at the scene of a security alert on Cathedral Road in Armagh yesterday

It is only luck that saved someone from serious injury after a pipe bomb exploded in Armagh, police have said.

Four vehicles were damaged after the device detonated at a car dealership on the Cathedral Road in the Shambles area in the early hours of Sunday.

Residents were evacuated from their homes and traffic was disrupted for most of the morning in the surrounding area.

Police said a man carrying a backpack was seen nearby at around 12.30am on Sunday and that the device exploded some 10 minutes later. They described the attack as reckless.

Witness Ronan Kelly was in the area at the time of the blast.

"Some friends and I were driving past and heard a bang," he said. "I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a shot of light. We stopped and called the police."

SDLP Newry and Armagh Assembly candidate Justin McNulty condemned those behind the attack, saying: "There has been extreme disruption to families, businesses and commuters in Armagh as a result of this security alert.

"Those behind this sinister discovery have nothing to offer our community here.

"They were rejected by the people of this island, north and south, in 1998 and we continue to reject their failed philosophy today.

"Those who choose to pursue a path of violence have set themselves against the will of the Irish people. As these incidents have escalated in recent weeks, we must escalate our commitment to peace and send them a clear message - we will never be taken back.

"I've spoken to a number of people who have been evacuated as a result of this alert, including the Sisters of Charity whose faith and commitment to this community is second to none."

An Army bomb disposal team attended the scene and took remnants of the bomb away for further examination. The device exploded in the early hours, although Detective Inspector Will Tate said police only received a report that four cars had been damaged at around 7.20am.

"On further investigation it was thought that the damage was caused by an explosion," he said.

"Further reports and investigations since then lead us to believe that the explosion occurred at approximately 12.40am and that the device was left by a person carrying a backpack at approximately 12.30am. ATO have described the object as an improvised viable pipe bomb-type device. We are lucky that we are not dealing with a serious injury caused by this device and the reckless actions of the person or people behind it."

One resident said she was only told by police to leave her home nearby at noon on Sunday. "The police came to our door on Sunday afternoon and asked us to leave. They told us it could take 10 hours or more. I didn't hear anything but I understand the bomb was placed near to the car dealer."

"Around two weeks ago my car was also damaged when someone put a huge hole in the bonnet.

"I used to park it on the same road but now I don't," she added.

Newry and Armagh DUP MLA William Irwin said: "This was a particularly reckless act given that the area is a public place and anyone could have been injured by flying shrapnel from this pipe bomb device. Armagh certainly does not need this type of terrorist style activity in the city.

"I totally condemn those behind the attack and it is a relief that no one was hurt as a result of this explosion."

Police have appealed for information.
Parents can be told from today if someone has a criminal record for violent or sexual offences which could put their children at risk.

The Child Protection Disclosure Scheme is a Northern Ireland version of Sarah's Law.

It allows anyone with concerns about an individual to find out if they have a history of violence or sex crime.

The scheme is similar to legislation introduced in England and Wales following the murder of Sarah Payne.

The eight-year-old was killed by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.

Information can be disclosed on individuals with convictions for sex crimes and relevant violent offences.

However, it will only be provided to a child's parents or guardians.

DUP MLA Lord Morrow, who campaigned to introduce the legislation, said it was vital that children were protected.

"My concerns lie with the victims and potential victims who likewise are entitled to live free from risk of predators," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"If offenders, both sexual and violent, are to be managed in the community, then the community must be adequately protected."

The Belfast Telegraph reported that Sarah's Law-style legislation would be introduced to Northern Ireland last March.

Sarah's Law, known formally as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, was introduced in England and Wales following a long campaign by Sara Payne, the schoolgirl's mother.

The Northern Ireland legislation goes beyond this, and allows for disclosure of violent crime which could cause a risk to children.

It was tabled by Lord Morrow and party colleague Paul Frew, and forms part of the 2015 Justice Act.

Detective Chief Superintendent George Clarke, head of the PSNI's public protection branch, said police were committed to keeping children safe.

"This scheme, which is in addition to the arrangements already in place, will afford members of the public with genuine concerns about the safety of a child or children the opportunity to raise those concerns with us," he said.

Disclosure of information will be carefully managed. People can make an application, identifying both the child and the individual they have concerns about.

Police will have up to 28 days to assess the application.

The information about an individual will not necessarily be released to the applicant. It will be given to the person responsible for the child, and only if considered necessary.

Fears had previously been expressed that the scheme could drive child sex offenders underground, or cause vigilante-style attacks.

However, Supt Clarke added: "When a disclosure is made, it's made to an identified person and that identified person acknowledges when the disclosure is made that they have responsibilities about how they use that information.

"I would really hope that people who are making applications to safeguard children aren't doing it for a reason other than that."

Sex offenders have been targets for paramilitary gangs in the past. Supt Clarke added: "The scourge of paramilitarism is something that is a reality.

"If people want to hijack the abuse of children as some sort of flag of convenience for other criminality they want to embark on, that's a sad feature of life here. The reality is this scheme has been thought through in a way that actually discloses conviction information to people who have responsibility to protect a child."

Colin Reid, of NSPCC Northern Ireland, warned: "While the new measures are important, people should not rely solely on a system of disclosure to protect children, as the risk of sexual harm can come from persons known to the child but not known to the police."
Europe's greatest interplanetary adventure, the search for life on Mars, has taken off with the launch of a spacecraft programmed to sniff out methane around the Red Planet.

A Russian heavy-lift Proton rocket carrying the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 9.31am UK time.

Also housed in the rocket's Breeze-M upper stage was a robot lander, Schiaparelli, which is due to parachute down onto a Martian plain in October.

Despite the text book perfect launch, scientists are not celebrating yet. The signal telling them that the spacecraft have safely set off on their seven-month 300 million-mile journey to Mars will not come until 9.28pm tonight, UK time.

ExoMars 2016 is the first phase of an historic 1.2 billion euro (924 million) joint European-Russian mission to search for biochemical "fingerprints" of past or present life high above Mars and on its surface.

TGO is equipped with ultra-sensitive instruments for detecting trace gases in the Martian atmosphere, including methane which can be a sign of life.

On Earth, the gas is chiefly generated by billions of bacteria, many of which live in the guts of animals such as cows and termites. But it can also be released by volcanic activity and other geological processes.

The European Space Agency (ESA) orbiter will tell scientists whether Martian methane is most likely to have a geological or biological source.

Schiaparelli's main job is to test the descent and landing technology for ExoMars 2018, the next stage of the mission which is due to send a British-built rover to Mars in two years' time.

Fitted with a drill that can burrow 6ft (1.8m) into the Martian soil, the rover will search for evidence of long-dead or still living microbes underground.

The rocket upper stage, now in a "parking" orbit, is due to eject the TGO-Schiaparelli combination "stack" at 8.13pm UK time.

Travelling at 20,500mph (33,000kph), the spacecraft will then tear free from the Earth's gravitational field and begin their long coast through space to Mars.

Dr Manish Patel, from the Open University, who is in charge of TGO's ozone-mapping ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer instrument, watched the launch in a live link from the European Space Operations Centre (Esco) in Darmstadt, Germany.

He said: "It was a bit of a numbing few minutes before the launch... I won't be celebrating till we get final separation and the signal from the spacecraft telling us its on its way."

Scientists hope TGO will help them solve the mystery of methane on Mars.

Earth-based telescopes, the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express orbiter, and the American space agency Nasa's Curiosity rover have all detected traces of the gas around the planet.

But methane is quickly broken down by the sun's rays, and to persist in the atmosphere must be continually regenerated.

There are only two possible sources of Martian methane - ongoing geological processes such as volcanic activity, or life.

TGO's sensitive instruments will hunt for tiny traces of methane, study its carbon, and find clues pointing to its source.

Speaking from Darmstadt, Professor Mark McCaughrean, senior science adviser at the ESA and a former astrophysicist at the University of Exeter, said: " With the Trace Gas Orbiter we're going to go and study where the methane's coming from, study whether it's seasonal, study the geographical locations. And maybe, maybe, we can find out whether there is life, extant, on the Red Planet today."

The discovery of a likely source of biological methane on Mars would be a dramatic curtain-raiser for the ExoMars 2018 rover mission.

The six-wheeled rover, built by Airbus Defence and Space at its UK headquarters in Stevenage, will analyse samples drilled from the Martian soil for biochemical signatures of life, either left by long-dead microbes or organisms still thriving beneath the planet's radiation-baked surface.

Schiaparelli will pave the way for the rover mission by testing its Russian-designed descent and landing system, which involves aerobraking, parachute deployment, and retro rockets.

The 7.9ft (2.4m) diameter disc-shaped lander carries a small instrument package to take weather measurements, recording wind speed, humidity, pressure and the amount of dust in the air.

Airbus Defence and Space supplied the lander's heat shield, which has to withstand temperatures of up to 1,850C (3,362F) during its descent.

TGO and Schiaparelli are due to reach Mars on October 19, but will separate from each other three days earlier.

As TGO begins orbiting the planet, Schiaparelli - travelling at 13,000mph (20,920kph) - will enter the atmosphere and land on the Meridiani Planum plain close to the equator.

Scientists will have to wait a whole year for TGO to finish making orbital adjustments in preparation for its part in the mission.

From January 2017 to December the probe will use friction with the atmosphere to "aerobrake" and lower itself to an altitude of 250 miles (402km). Only then can its science operations begin.

The UK is the second largest contributor to ExoMars with a contribution of 205 million euro (159 million) through the European Space Agency.

The mission has had a somewhat chequered history. Originally it was supposed to have been a partnership between ESA and Nasa, but the American space agency dropped out in 2012 because of budget cuts.

A year later, ESA signed a new deal with Roscosmos, which has now taken responsibility for landing the rover.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has marked the Queen's 90th year by praising her "steadfast devotion" to the Commonwealth.

Speaking at the Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey he paid tribute to the monarch who, in her annual address to the family of nations, called on the Commonwealth's citizens to support those in need.

Mr Annan said the Commonwealth not only strengthened links between member countries, it offered practical support from election monitoring to promoting security co-operation.

He added: "Today the Commonwealth stands as a confident, modern, multi-cultural and proudly inclusive organisation."

The former UN secretary-general went on to say about the Queen's involvement with the institution she heads, that nobody "has made a greater contribution to its achievements than Your Majesty.

"You have shown an unwavering and steadfast devotion to this grand project. We are greatly honoured and deeply grateful for your extraordinary commitment."

The Westminster Abbey service was the largest annual inter-faith gathering in the UK and hymns were sang, and prayers read in honour of the Commonwealth.

Among the guests were David Cameron, former prime minister John Major, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and a host of dignitaries.

Speaking about the family of nations' 2016 theme - An Inclusive Commonwealth - Mr Annan told the congregation: "This puts the people at its heart, at its centre and declares that plurality and diversity are the greatest strengths.

"It also means that we must constantly strive to ensure that no child, woman or a man is excluded or left behind.

"These are enduring principles which not only bind us together as citizens of the Commonwealth but are absolutely critical for our collective ambitions for our world.

"It has never been more important for the Commonwealth to stress the bonds of human compassion and solidarity that unite us across the divides of race and religion, gender and geography."

During the service Ellie Goulding, who sang at William and Kate's wedding reception, gave a pared down performance of the Sting hit Fields Of Gold.

In a change to previous Commonwealth Day services the Queen's message was not broadcast to the guests but was printed in the official order of service.

The Queen wrote that helping those less fortunate would be a way of embodying this year's Commonwealth theme of inclusivity: "Today, and in the year ahead, the theme An Inclusive Commonwealth is an inspiration for us all.

"Let us give it practical effect by supporting those in need and those who feel excluded in all walks of life. By doing so, we will continue to build a truly representative Commonwealth community."

Before leaving, the Queen received an early birthday present from the choristers of Westminster Abbey, a framed picture of Choir Boy - the Queen's first winning racehorse, which won the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot on June 17 1953.

The choristers felt they could not let the Queen's 90th birthday pass without a special gift from them.

The boys, aged eight to 13 years old, meet her each year after the service as she leaves through the Abbey's Great West Door.

Six of the younger boys will be singing for the Queen for the first time during the service - which was broadcast live on BBC One - in celebration of Her Majesty's commitment to the Commonwealth in the year of her 90th birthday.

William, Kate and Harry also chatted to the choristers before making their way to a private reception with members of the congregation.
Some of the migrants and refugees arriving daily into Europe from Syria

The refugee crisis engulfing Europe was caused by the international community's failure to donate enough aid after the outbreak of the war in Syria, a British charity chief has said.

Rob Williams, chief executive of War Child, also warned the flood of families fleeing will continue for another year unless the 11 billion US dollars (7.7bn) pledged in aid by the international community arrives on the ground in the next three months.

He told the Press Association the failure to let refugees work, or to provide their children with school places, left families with little reason to stay in the region, driving them to make the perilous journey to Europe.

He said: "The question is was the movement of up to a million refugees towards Europe avoidable, and the answer is definitely yes.

"The problem is the aid effort has failed to do anything more than keep people alive.

"The recent conference in London got pledges from major donors of sufficient size that, if they all come through, will be enough money to provide a school place for every child who has had to leave their house and live in a refugee camp. Then we have a really good chance of recovering the lost generation.

"But unless the money does come through in the next two or three months, we are not just looking at this summer of refugees moving but next summer as well. It will be a further disaster."

And, stressing that he was talking in a purely personal capacity and not for the charity, Mr Williams suggested that leaving the European Union could hinder future aid efforts.

He said: "Personally I think that coordinating with donors is really, really crucial and the failure of the aid programme in Syria is a really good example of how, if donors don't agree a reasonable shared vision for what they are trying to do, then things will go badly wrong. And they have gone badly wrong in this Syrian crisis.

"The more distance we put between us and our colleagues and donor agencies in other countries in Europe, the more difficult it will be to really have a sensible aid response to the next crisis."

Tomorrow will mark the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Syria, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people killed, towns reduced to rubble and millions displaced.

The chaos tossed up fuelled the rise of Islamic State (IS) - also known as Isis or Daesh - which now imposes a brutal rule over large parts of Syria and Iraq.

War Child provides psychological support for thousands of "deeply traumatised" children who now live in refugee camps.

Mr Williams said children fleeing the war jump out of their skin at the slightest noise, are left mute and terrorised by nightmares.

But those who manage to escape IS-held territory have endured a different and particularly potent kind of horror.

"Isis has a special impact on children because they really do target them," he said.

"They target the girls for sexual exploitation and target the boys for detention and then to train them into the ranks of the militia. They know that what Isis is doing is particularly brutal.

"The Syrian civil war is dangerous, but Isis has this added dimension of something really, really horrible only one or two steps behind."

Girls are sold as sex slaves to IS fighters at weekly markets, while boys as young as eight are being enlisted by the jihadis and taught to wield Kalashnikovs.

And public executions and beatings of those who make the tiniest transgression are commonplace.

Mr Williams said: "I have been an aid worker since 1988, which includes the Rwandan genocide, and this is the biggest crisis I've ever seen - in terms of how many people need a fairly high level of assistance, and how much trauma is being laid down on a whole part of the Middle East.

"I think we have lost this generation, we have now got a massive deficit. We have got two million children who haven't been to school for five years. Now the challenge is not to avoid losing this generation, but to get them back."
A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river as migrants attempt to reach Macedonia (AP)

More than 2,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece braved torrential rain and waded across a fast-flowing river to walk into neighbouring Macedonia, defying Europe's border closures.

In dramatic scenes, refugees held children and their belongings over their heads as they crossed thigh-deep in the water, while elderly migrants clutched ropes placed by volunteers to help them across.

But their time in Macedonia and planned journey onward towards western Europe might be short-lived. Macedonian soldiers and police detained hundreds of people after they had just crossed from Greece and put them into trucks, authorities said.

Monday's events were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece - and it came days before European Union leaders try to hammer out a deal with Turkey to try to hold more refugees there.

The migrants walked out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border on Monday, travelling west on foot.

Syrian Ibrahim Almad said he had been stuck in Greece for a month.

"My brother is in Stuttgart, in Germany, and I want to join him," he said, pointing towards other refugees. "Look at what they are making us do - look at all these women and children."

Mr Almad also walked from Idomeni, where 14,000 people remain camped out.

In chaotic scenes at the nearby border village of Hamilo, Greek and international volunteers helped migrants across the river, using ropes to make sure they were not swept away by the rapids.

Macedonia's border was closed following transit restrictions imposed by EU member Austria.

Underscoring the risks, police in Macedonia said the bodies of one man and two women, all Afghans, were found on Monday in the Suva Reka river near the border with Greece. Twenty migrants crossed safely and another three were in hospital, authorities said.

"This is the situation in which people have become desperate and frustrated," said Ljubinka Brasnarska, a spokeswoman in Macedonia for UN refugee agency UNHCR.

"The border restrictions imposed by the countries have forced people to take desperate actions," she said.

Parts of Macedonia's border fence are made up solely of coils of razor wire, while breaks in the barrier also occur at rivers and mountain slopes on the border, mainly to the west of Idomeni.

A cap on migrants imposed by Austria last month set off a domino effect of border closures across the Balkans, leaving thousands stranded in Greece.

Despite the closures, more than 8,500 refugees and migrants travelled to the Greek islands from Turkey last week, according to the UNHCR.

In an interview published on Sunday, Austria's foreign minister said border closures should be extended.

Sebastian Kurz told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the route leading through Italy to central Europe should also be blocked.

"Smuggling can't be prevented entirely ... (so) we will have to do everything that we are now doing on the western Balkan route along the Italy-Mediterranean route too," he said.

"The time of waving through refugees to central Europe is over."
There's a remarkable maths teacher at a London school called Colin Hegarty. Mr Hegarty's parents are Irish - his father was a building site worker and his mother a home help, and his background was "modest". But he's been nominated as one of the world's best educators because of his brilliance in teaching maths.

Colin Hegarty believes that anyone can learn to shine at maths - even if not 'naturally' gifted - if taught in an inspiring way. This is a startling revelation to me, I thought that mathematicians were born, not made. And genetic studies in recent years have tended to reinforce this idea. Your brain is wired up in a specific way. Intelligence is inherited, just like eye colour. And ability at maths is an unerring guide to IQ.

There's been a huge interest in genetic studies over the past few decades, and we've been promised that there's a "gene" to explain everything. A gene for alcoholism. A gene for homosexuality. A gene for depression and schizophrenia. The international Human Genome Project, launched in 1990, set out to map the sequence of genes which would explain so much of human behaviour.

The psychologist Oliver James now says most of what we've been told about genes is balderdash. There's been, he says, a campaign "to sell the genetic explanation" of everything. "Richard Dawkins portrays us as mere carcasses that enable DNA to be transmitted onwards, if we reproduce," he writes witheringly in his new book, Not in Your Genes. Yes, he concedes that genes may determine physical traits, such as eye colour and height, but when it comes to personal psychology, 96% of individual difference is not caused by genes.

It's all in the nurturing, he asserts. It's the way you are born and raised.

Dr James takes as one case history that of Paula Yates and her daughter Peaches Geldof - he worked with Paula and has drawn on the published writings of both Paula and Peaches. In September 2000, Paula Yates was found dead from a heroin overdose. Her three-year-old daughter Tiger Lily was alone in the house with the body. In April 2014, Paula's daughter Peaches was found dead, also from a heroin overdose; her infant son was alone in the house.

Surely, this is a blatant example of the daughter repeating the mother's tragic life, because they were genetically so similar? But Oliver James concludes that Paula Yates was an erratic mother who treated her four daughters differently - Peaches allegedly got off to a bad start and bonded more closely with a nanny than with Paula. Peaches' problems lay in her upbringing, he contends, not in her genes - her sisters' lives are not at all the same.

The case against genetic determinism is that siblings in a family are often very dissimilar. I think of the Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain: although troubled in some ways, she was a high achiever from an early age, an Oxford don and a BBC arts executive in her 20s. Yet she had a brother who died a homeless alcoholic.

The gene boffins say that differences between siblings is caused by genetic chance, similar to shuffling a pack of cards. You cut a pack of cards and it's a matter of chance which one comes out on top.

No, says James, it's the emotional environment into which you are born. Broken families, bad parenting and 'Ace' (Adverse Childhood Experiences) account for most mental illness, prison incarceration, and even prostitution. Most sex-workers have had disastrous childhoods. He even claims that ADHD - the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - is linked with an increase in Caesarean births.

In one way, I want to believe that environment forms our personalities. I want to believe that we could all have been mathematically accomplished, given a Colin Hegarty. I want to believe we can improve on our shortcomings. I dislike the way that whole families could be stigmatised for mental illness or criminality.

But when it's all down to nurturing, this places far more responsibility - and, consequently, guilt - on parents. Especially on mothers. With nurture theory, nearly everything is about the quality of mothering. The pregnancy, the birth, the early years of attachment while your infant brain was being formed - God almighty, one way or another, we were probably all maltreated.

Oliver James does concede there are cultural variations which play their part. People in highly competitive and individualistic societies - such as the United States - have more mental illness than people in more controlled societies such as Japan. Among a primitive tribe in Ecuador, where not much is expected, life may be fairly serene, even though young children are treated quite casually.

Nature or nurture? For me, the jury is still out. I can see, with the passage of time, so many similar family characteristics emerging. I also have repeated, guilt- ridden conversations with an old friend about how heedless and inadequate we were as young mothers and how we damaged our offspring with our mistakes.

Oliver James says that parents dump "a furniture van full of historical baggage" onto their child. Oh yes. Thus, sometimes, I swing back to the view that it's all in the genes, which is but another version of "kismet" - the throw of the dice determined our fate.
A general view taken on April 6, 2015 shows destruction in Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus after the Islamic State group seized large parts of it, a Palestinian official told AFP. AFP/Getty Images

Just before I left Syria last month, a tall and eloquent Franco-Lebanese man walked up to me in a Damascus coffee shop and introduced himself as President Bashar al-Assads architect. It was his task, he led me to understand, to design the reconstructed cities of Syria.

Who would have believed it? Five years after the start of Syrias tragedy  and within six months of this, remember, the regime itself trembled and the Western powers, flush with dangerous pride after destroying Gaddafi, predicted the imminent fall of the Assad dynasty  the Syrian government is preparing to rebuild its towns and cities.

Its worth taking that embarrassing trip down memory lane to the early spring and summer of 2011. The US and French ambassadors visited Homs to sit amid tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Assad government.

EU diplomats were telling the political opposition not to negotiate with Assad  a fatal mistake, since the advice was based on the false assumption that he was about to be overthrown  and journalists were gathering with rebels in eastern Aleppo for the inevitable march of liberation on Damascus.

The Assad regime, came the message from the Washington think-tanks and mountebank experts, had reached  a cliche we should all beware of  the tipping point. La Clinton announced that Assad had to go. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius declared that Assad did not deserve to live on this planet  although he failed to name the galaxy to which the Syrian President might retire. And I complied with an Independent request to write Assads obituary  for future use, you understand  and still it moulders in the papers archives.

Looking back, its not difficult to see where we all got it wrong. We were high on Arab revolutions  Tunisia, then Egypt and then Libya  and journalists were growing used to liberating Arab capitals.

We forgot that their dictators were all Sunni Muslims, that they had no regional super-power support  the Saudis could not save Hosni Mubarak in Egypt but Shia Iran was not going to allow its only Arab ally, Alawite-Shia-led Syria, to fall. At first, the Syrian Baath party and the regimes internal security agents behaved with their usual inane brutality.

Teenagers who wrote anti-Assad graffiti on the walls of Deraa were tortured, the local tribal leaders abused  and a deputy minister dispatched to apologise for the governments errors. But torture was so much an instrument of state power that the intelligence apparatus knew no other way to resolve this unprecedented challenge to the regimes authority.

The government army was ordered to shoot down demonstrators. Hence the brief but ultimately hopeless dawn of the Free Syrian Army, many of them deserters who are now slowly returning to the ranks or drifting off home with the regimes tacit permission. But there were signs from the very start that armed groups were involved in this latest manifestation of the Arab awakening.

In May 2011, an Al Jazeera crew filmed armed men shooting at Syrian troops a few hundred metres from the northern border with Lebanon but the channel declined to air the footage, which their reporter later showed to me. A Syrian television crew, working for the government, produced a tape showing men with pistols and Kalashnikovs in a Deraa demonstration in the very early days of the rising.

This did not prove the Gulf-Turkish terrorist conspiracy which the Syrian regime now revealed to the world. But it did demonstrate that from the start  when ordinary Syrian families felt it necessary to defend their families with firearms  guns were available to the opposition. And once the governments own loyal militias were given free rein to attack the regimes enemies, the massacres began. In one Sunni village east of Latakia, a Western news agency reporter discovered that almost every civilian had been slaughtered.

The sectarian nature of Middle East civil wars has always been manipulated. For 100 years, the West has used the confessional nature of society in the region to set up national governments which were, by nature, sectarian  in Palestine after the 1914-18 war, in Cyprus, in Lebanon, in Syria  where the French used Alawites as their force speciale  and, after 2003, in Iraq.

This not only allowed us to portray Middle Eastern people as essentially sectarian in nature but permitted us to forget the degree to which minorities would naturally lend their support to local dictators  not least the Christians (Maronites, Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Melkite, and so on) of Syria.

And by constantly reminding readers and viewers of the Alawite domination of Assad, we journalists ourselves fell victim to our own reporting. We forgot  or did not care  that perhaps 80 per cent of the Syrian government army were Sunni Muslims who would, over the next four years, be fighting their co-religionists in the opposition militias and  by 2014  struggling against them in the al-Qaeda/Nusra alliance and in Isis.

In Lebanon, the Syrian army was a deeply corrupting influence, its soldiers indisciplined, its officers often involved in dodgy business and real estate deals. But the Syrian army that found itself fighting for its life after 2012, especially when the Nusra and Isis suicide squads began to cut into their ranks  ritually chopping off the heads of their military prisoners by the dozen  became a different creature.

As ruthless as ever, its soldiers fought to survive  I suspect they even began to like fighting  and many of their frontline generals, when I met them, turned out to be Sunni Muslims as well as Alawites. In other words, the real backbone of the one institution which could save the Syrian state  was not an Alawite-Christian alliance but a Sunni-Alawite-Christian military force  out-gunned and out-manned after 60,000 dead, to be sure, but still capable of holding the line if it was reinforced with new armour and air power.

Enter Vladimir Putin. The Syrians within Assads current frontiers  less than half of the land mass, but including well over 60 per cent of the Syrian people  have adopted a phlegmatic approach to the Russians. Their Sukhoi jets strike at villages and towns beyond the front line  and Moscow has adopted exactly the same tactic of denying civilian casualties in air strikes that the Americans and British and French have for so long been using in their own anti-terror war in Syria and Iraq.

All civil wars generate their own special propaganda. When the Sunnis of Madaya were starving under siege by Syrian troops, the fact that their village was held by armed opposition groups was largely deleted from our stories. When Shia villages like Zahra and Nubl, both defended by government militiamen, were besieged by al-Nusra for three-and-a-half years, their liberation was scarcely mentioned.

And then there are the red lines. Assad used gas on his own people in Damascus, we all believe  after all, the UN report said so. But in fact the UN conclusions did not say that. This does not mean that the Syrian government did not use gas, or would not be prepared to use gas  there are no good guys in civil wars  but that UN proof was ultimately lacking.

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Today, there are only two serious military forces with boots on the ground to fight Isis and al-Nusra and the other Islamist gangs: the Kurds and the Syrian army. And the latter, reinforced by Russian air power, are now  for the moment at least  winning. Ive even seen a new poster on the streets of Syrian cities. It shows Bashar al-Assad and, right alongside him, the face of Colonel Suheil al-Hassan, the Tiger as the army call him, the countrys most successful military commander, the Rommel of Syria.

He is also a ruthless man  Ive met him  but now we find his image, that of a Syrian officer, alongside that of Assad. We should pay attention to these phenomena. The army expresses its loyalty for Assad. But, every time Assad speaks, he shrewdly begins with praise for the martyrs of the Syrian army.

Is that why French and American intelligence officers are now reaching out again  from Beirut, of course  to their former contacts in the Syrian intelligence service? Is that why US Secretary of State John Kerry now suggests that the Americans may talk to Assad again?

On principle, I dont like armies  whomever they work for. But that doesnt mean we can disregard them. Nor can Assad.
Nelson McCausland's attack on Holy Cross Boys' (DebateNI, March 10) might be depressing, but it's far from surprising.

Ours is a proud school community, protective of a hard-earned reputation for refusing to indulge excuses for underachievement, something recognised by the Education and Training Inspectorate and many others in education.

It's that same ethos which defines our approach to reconciliation and mutual understanding.

Every year the P4 pupils visit the Northern Ireland War Museum as part of studies into the Second World War. When Queen Elizabeth last visited Belfast the principal, Kevin McArevey, took a delegation of pupils to meet her.

The Easter Rising was a seminal event in Irish history, and the occasion of the 100th anniversary has been seized upon by many teachers to provide a theme through which learning can take place in the connected environment of the new curriculum.

At Holy Cross Boys' we have devised an education programme incorporating many initiatives, including producing a short drama on the 1916 theme; composing a song; an art competition imagining the Ireland of 2116; a learning initiative based on the Minecraft game, and writing a Proclamation for a New Generation, involving our student council in modernising the document to reflect what they see as rights and entitlements today - free education, wellbeing of minority communities, treating everybody equally and even wanting a litter-free Ireland.

It has also involved a 32-county challenge, whereby pupils took on the task of learning the names and locations of all 32 counties in the country.

We've also had a number of whole-school assemblies, through which the themes of the era have been explored, looking at the signatories to the Proclamation as well as other key figures, including Edward Carson. That is what education is all about.

Nelson McCausland has, in the past, proclaimed the right of schools to teach about the Orange culture and tradition.

For Nelson it would appear that such sentiments do not seem to extend to other traditions in Northern Ireland.
James Molyneaux as agent for Sir Knox Cunningham, at work on election plans in October 1964

A former Ulster Unionist MP has dismissed claims from a gay Englishman that he was in a loving relationship with Lord Molyneaux.

Lord Ken Maginnis, who for decades was a close associate of the former party leader, was reacting to claims by Kent-based unionist Christopher Luke.

The former Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP said: Jim was courteous, concerned and a gentleman. He was just a decent old bachelor.

Its so unjust and unfair. This is not the Jim Molyneaux I knew since the early 1970s.

Speculation about the sexuality of Lord Molyneaux, who remained a bachelor until his death, began after a memorial notice was posted in the Belfast Telegraph by Mr Luke.

Placed on the first anniversary of the peers death, it read: I grieve for you...you were very dear to me.

Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

Later in a BBC interview, Mr Luke said: I had a very loving relationship with Jim. I loved him as a brother.

He will always have a place in my heart. There was love between us, but there are different forms of love.

But Lord Maginnis said he had never seen the pair together.

questioned

He said: I would have been close to Jim Molyneaux not only as an MP but as a company commander in the UDR.

Lord Maginnis also questioned a photograph (far right) showing Mr Luke with Lord Molyneaux.

He said: When the photograph was taken, he [Molyneaux] would have been over 90 years old and beyond his power of recall.

The family of Lord Molyneaux is maintaining a public silence over the claims, but a source who has been in touch with them said they were very annoyed.

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson has already questioned Mr Lukes claims saying that there was nothing that suggested his former boss had any relationship with him.

And another senior party contemporary of Lord Molyneaux, who didnt wish to be named, said: Luke sent material to many MPs at the time Jim was party leader and still sends letters to them today.

I am virtually certain he had no close relationship of any kind with Jim at Westminster or anywhere else.

unjust and unfair: Ken Maginnis has discredited the claims about the personal life

of Jim Molyneaux (right)
This is the US woman attempting to recruit schoolgirls from Northern Ireland to join Isis.

After a six month-long investigation, Sunday Life can today reveal how the terror group is trying to lure young local girls to Syria.

In the same week that the national head of counter-terrorism policing declared the UKs terror threat level as severe Sunday Life:

Unmasks the American-born terror queen running an online Isis recruitment unit from Syria;

Shows the harsh reality of life as a jihadi bride;

Reveals Britains links to the notorious terror organisation.

Posing as a 17-year-old student from Belfast, our reporter used social networking site Twitter to contact a woman connected to the militant group.

Within weeks the self-proclaimed jihadi media co-ordinator had allocated our reporter a husband and was asking for passport details to book flights to the ISIS stronghold.

Conversations began slowly, with communication made only through private messages on Twitter before the woman, who calls herself Maria, asked our reporter to add her on an encrypted messaging app.

Encrypted messaging apps are popular among Isis recruiters as numbers and locations are not exchanged, meaning users are difficult to trace. Emojis and text-speech are also regularly used to appeal to a younger audience.

A series of messages sent by Maria  who targets British girls by writing mainly in English with a little Arabic  suggests that the Islamic States recruitment network is growing faster than ever before.

We dont bring people here because it is a fantasy, they come here because they have a cause and a purpose to serve, said Maria who claims to know loads of brothers and sisters in London.

Allahs faithful people are everywhere, inshallah [God-willing].

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Before giving our reporter any more information, Maria interrogated our reporter after suspecting she may be a journalist.

After a video conversation via Skype and weeks of questioning at the request of her jihadi commander, she was satisfied  and gave a disturbing insight into how Isis is recruiting jihadi brides in the UK.

Most of the planning and facilitation is done by English speaking people, she said.

I am the media co-ordinator and I match people, talent, language, background and so forth.

I am responsible for all who reach out with faithful heart and try to get the help needed.

Like if there is a need for you in one area or the other, I will see how you can better benefit the cause.

At the same time if you have a certain need, I will match you with the right resources.

The more I know about you the better fit.

Life under Isis

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Isis is regarded as the worlds most dangerous terrorist organisation, after expanding its rule in Syria and Iraq.

Formed in 2013, after growing out of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Isis is led by Baghdad-born terror boss Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and has already lured around 60 young British women to Syria.

The former Al-Qaeda leader is regarded by political analysts around the globe as a tactical mastermind, with his attention to detail and long-term vision an attraction for many potential recruits.

While the majority of Brits usually travel alone, three London teens, Khadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, made the journey to Syria together last February. Two of the girls were just 15-years-old.

Last week Metropolitan Polices Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said evidence proves that Isis are trying to build bigger attacks globally, and the UK is among its targets.

Trust me, hundreds want to come (to Syria) every day, but only dozens qualify through our channel, said Maria in a shocking admission.

According to recent figures published by the United Nations, recruiters can earn around 7,000 for each person they convert to jihadis.

More money is given if the person recruited has a particularly desirable skill or profession, such as a doctor or an IT specialist, a question Maria asked.

She then sent a link to a YouTube video which explained how to take the Islamic testimony, shahada, adding then record a video of you wearing hijab and reciting the shahada.

Once its seen and witnessed by the Iman here (Iman is the high religious authority) I then will move forward.

After satisfying this request, Maria finally showed her face for the first time in a Skype chat earlier this month.

My Amir was very happy with your reply, said Maria, who claims to be in Aleppo now following heavy bombing by the Russians and coalition forces which forced her and her sisters to leave the Isis Syrian capital of Raqqa.

I pray you stay on the path that Allah had designed for us.

Now that we are closer to getting everything ready, when do you want to leave? I am hoping and praying for early summer. When does school year end?

Do you need someone meeting you in London or you can do it on your own once the ticket is secured?

Just six days ago Scotland Yard released alarming new figures which show a 57pc increase in terrorism-related arrests in the last three years, compared with the previous three.

Metropolitan Police now believe that Isis is planning spectacular attacks, similar to the November 2015 Paris attacks. 130 people died in a series of shootings and suicide bombs across the French capital.

In March 2013, Isis took over Raqqa  the first provincial capital to fall under rebel control.

Since then, the threat level posed by the organisation has been raised across Europe. Parts of central London have already been bomb-proofed, with many bollards now designed to withstand lorry bombs, and 24-hour surveillance in operation. Daily patrols are also carried out in a bid to prevent terrorist attacks in the UKs capital.

With a rising number of young British Muslims, a number of whom are converts, interacting with ISIS growing network, tighter controls are being enforced by authorities. But despite Europe and Americas clampdown on terrorism, ISIS do not seem deterred about recruiting more members.

Its not what you do to qualify, its more staying the course, said Maria.

Its a very hard but fulfilling life, your reason for being in the world is in front of your eyes every day.

And worringly, an American-born terror queen is confident that 2016 will be one to remember for Islamic State.

It will be a year of success and achievements.

All of our evidence has now been handed over to police.

JIHADI BRIDE CHECKLIST

Scottish jihadi bride Aqsa Mahmood recently wrote a checklist for new British recruits and posted it on her blog.

Heres a selection of her suitcase essentials:
So the beheadings and extermination of Christians by ISIS wont be considered genocide. This is news according to the White House regarding the act of terror and murder being committed by the hedonist savages.

Since the word "genocide" is thrown around, we will define it. Is the Genocide systematic killing of all people from a particular religion, political or cultural group.

The international definition of genocide is found in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of Genocide that includes physical and mental torturemurder in Article II and Article III.

Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin came up with the word, genocide after witnessing the mass murder of six million Jews under Hitler. The BBC explained that Lemkin took the Greek word that means tribe (genos) and the Latin word cide, which means to kill.

In 1994, the United Nations estimated that 800,000 Hutu and Tutsi were murdered in a three month period. In 1995, 100,000 Bosnians were killed at Srebrenica and ruled genocide. Christians are being wiped out in the Middle East; theyve been beheaded, rapped and displaced. The group has murdered over 10,000 people in Syria and Iraq since the 2014 caliphate.

Over one million believers fled to safety or have been killed in Syria. Gatestone Institute found that one Christian slaughtered every five minutes.

Militants in Iraq are using Christian churches as torture chambers where they force Christians to either convert to Islam or die."

White House spokesperson John Ernest explained during a press briefing that attorneys are looking into the killings and whether to call it "genocide.:

What is clear and what is undeniable and what the president has now said twice in the last 24 hours is that we know that there are religious minorities in Iraq and in Syria, including Christians, that are being targeted by ISIL terrorists because of their religion and that attack on religious minorities is an attack on all people of faith and it is important for all of us to stand up and speak out about it.

Fox News reported that the Christian population has dropped in Iraq from 1.5 million in 2003 to 275,000 from 2003. But the White House refuses to call it genocide just yet. Republican Representative Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said in a statement that attacks on minority and Christians is genocide.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bipartisan bill that murdering Christians and other minorities needs to be condemned. ISIS commits mass murder, beheadings, crucifixions, rape, torture, enslavement and the kidnapping of children, among other atrocities. ISIS has said it will not allow the continued existence of the Yezidi [Kurdish speaking people living on the northern Iraq]. And zero indigenous Christian communities remain in areas under ISIS control.

A spending bill was passed in December gives the State Department 90 days to reach a determination calling ISIS actions against Christians genocide.

Secretary of State John Kerry and the administration are running out of time as March 17th in the deadline for the FY 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill of the 114th Congress.

Section 7033.d of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2016:

Not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, after consultation with the heads of other United States Government agencies represented on the Atrocities Prevention Board (APB) and representatives of human rights organizations, as appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an evaluation of the persecution of, including attacks against, Christians and people of other religions in the Middle East by violent Islamic extremists and the Muslim Rohingya people in Burma by violent Buddhist extremists, including whether either situation constitutes mass atrocities or genocide (as defined in section 1091 of title 18, United States Code)...

Corine Gatti is a Senior Editor at Beliefnet.com.
Coloring is not just for kids anymore. I cant count how many adults have said to me, I dont know what all the fuss is about; I never stopped coloring. Still, the fact that in 2015, according to the New York Post, nearly half the books on Amazons bestseller list were adult coloring books is newsworthy and heartening. This means people are turning away from their screens, resisting the urge to tweet, update, email, or text, - and choosing instead to create a bit of beauty. If you havent jumped on the adult coloring bandwagon yet, here are ten reasons you should:

1. Coloring offers a sweet and simple way to practice presence. We live in a fast-paced, info-packed, high-octane society, where locating our own significance is sometimes the biggest challenge of all and feeling lost in the jostling crowd is the norm. Coloring offers an opportunity to pause, to sit quietly with yourself and zone in, rather than zone out. Like meditation and yoga, coloring is a quiet, self-affirming activity, one that has the advantage of being less demanding than other mindfulness practices, without being passive.

2. Coloring increases your ability to focus. Attempting to color in the lines (or consciously coloring outside them) focuses the brain in a way that isnt stressful. It not only allows you to let go of everyday worries for a short period of time, but refocuses that energy on a tangible, creative task.

3. Coloring makes you a better thinker. In working with the detailed drawings of adult coloring books and considering color palettes that are aesthetically pleasing, you activate the parts of your mind responsible for organization and problem solving. Its like going to school, only more fun.

4. Coloring reduces anxiety. As mentioned earlier, coloring takes your attention away from the things that are stressing you out and focuses it on the creative task at hand. The lines waiting for you on a coloring page provide structure to the creative process and allow you to access your imaginative and creative mindset.

5. Coloring awakens the child in you. By indulging in an activity we all loved as children, you tap into a simpler self and time - before you were burdened with the idea that everything you do needs to make money, whittle your waistline, or impact the world. If there is value in being awed and delighted by our everyday existence (and I firmly believe there is), then I think coloring might be one of the fastest, most enjoyable ways to reach that place inside yourself that is most capable of joy and wonder.

6. Coloring fosters a creative life. So many of us long to be more creative. Our lives are demanding. There are people to care for, jobs to do, bills to pay, our health to attend to, while inside us, there is often a creative itch we cant seem to scratch. Adult coloring books are easy. You dont have to take a class, or buy expensive supplies, or create an expansive work space. A coffee table, a coloring book and some colored pencils are all it takes to get the creativity ball rolling.

7. Coloring expands your creative mind. Since Ive been illustrating the Inkspirations coloring books (www.inkspirations.com) , many people have told me they have trouble, for better or worse, coloring inside the lines. I tell them to embrace that! The decision to color inside or outside the lines is, metaphorically, the most fundamental creative question of all. There is no right answer, and finding your own answer is the beginning of thinking more creatively in every aspect of life.

8. Coloring is an act of self-love. Every time we take time for ourselves, every time we devote energy to enjoying our own unique, frustrating, wonderful, maddening lives, we expand our capacity for joy. All love starts with self-love. In a society where its all too easy to forget about our own needs, coloring is just one more (playful) way to remember we matter too.

9. Coloring can improve your social life. Its true. All over the world, coloring clubs, events, and parties are taking place. Coloring  a solitary activity by nature  done in the company of likeminded souls becomes a community-building practice.

10. Coloring brings more beauty to the world. As a coloring book illustrator, I am the happy recipient of many colored masterpieces. I get them in email and over social media, and I love how brazenly joyful these creations and their creators are.

And maybe thats the best of reason of all to take up coloring. Because, arguably now more than ever, the world needs more brazen joy.

Judy Clement Wall is a freelance artist/illustrator, writer, and intrepid doodler. She is currently at work on her third coloring book for the Inkspirations coloring series. In addition to her commissioned art, illustrations, and design work, Judy creates unique cards and original artwork that celebrates life and inspires creativity. To see more of her art and read her published work, visit her website at: www.judyclementwall.com .
One of Malaysias most popular news portals ceased publication Monday after a government block of the site compounded its financial difficulties, its publisher said.

The announcement came as media advocates protested the six-hour detention Saturday of two Australian journalists who allegedly got too close to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

It is with much sadness that The Edge Media Group  wishes to announce that we have decided to cease the operations of The Malaysian Insider (TMI) with immediate effect, Publisher and CEO Ho Kay Tat said in a statement.

The Edge could no longer sustain TMI after having incurred 10 million ringgit (U.S. $2.4 million) in losses since acquiring the website in June 2014, he said.

We believe the recent problems TMI had with The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded even though discussions had started before that, Ho added.

Malaysias government blocked access to TMI within Malaysia on Feb. 25, a day after the portal published a report saying there was credible evidence to frame charges against Najib over scandals linked to the indebted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

TMIs Chief Executive Officer Jahabar Sadiq said he and his staff stood by the story when police questioned them the following day.

In January, Malaysias attorney general cleared Najib of potential corruption charges linked to the deposit of U.S. $681 million into his private bank accounts during the run-up to the 2013 general election. Najib has maintained that he never took money for private gain.

Half-baked stories

The closure of the TMI website removes from circulation an online news site that had been doing critical reporting on the 1MDB and associated stories.

The TMI incident is not only a form of a government censorship, but a case to serve as a warning to other online publications which are critical, Mustafa Kamal Anuar a lecturer in communications at the University of Science, Malaysia, told BenarNews.

After all, all the mainstream media is controlled as much as possible, now it's time for the regime to try to control alternative media and social media that have various lines of view, he warned.

However, another commentator accused TMI of dishing out rubbish and concocted stories and lies.

[I]t is heartening to know that more and more intelligent Malaysians are waking up and no longer believe wholeheartedly the half-baked stories that are being churned out to them. TMI dug its own grave, media critic Baharuddin Aziz told BenarNews.

I wont put my pen down

Before the site went dark at midnight (local time), TMI editors and staff bid goodbye to readers with a staff photo and special articles posted on its homepage.

I hope we have served you well since our first day  and I hope others will continue to serve you in our absence, Jahabar told readers in a farewell piece.

We worked as impartial journalists to inform Malaysians and other readers so that they make informed decisions. We worked to make all voices heard in the marketplace of ideas, Jahabar wrote.

I wont put my pen down, I wont lay down my camera, I wont shut up and I wont be blinkered or turn a deaf ear to what goes on in Malaysia and the world. And I urge all of you to do the same, Jahabar vowed.

The Insider was the second news website to be blocked within Malaysia this year after the Hong Kong-based Asia Sentinel.

In 2015, the government blocked online access to The Sarawak Report, a Britain-based news site that covers Malaysia and also has published articles critical of Najib.

Legal Threats

Meanwhile, media organizations expressed alarm over the arrest Saturday of two Australian journalists who had tried to question Najib over corruption allegations.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louie Eroglu were held for six hours after they approached Najib at a mosque in Kuching, according to media freedom group Gerakan Media Marah (Geramm).

Authorities temporarily seized their passports, then ordered the pair to remain in Kuching while authorities decided whether to file criminal charges against them for allegedly crossing a security line and aggressively approaching the prime minister, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.

The CPJ called on Malaysian authorities to drop all legal threats against them and Geramm condemned the arrests.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Malaysia (FCCM) issued a statement in which it said it was compelled to express our gravest concern at the treatment of the [ABC] team.

The club said it simply does not see the need, based on the current explanation of the case, to arrest the two journalists.
A Delhi police constable stands guard on a makeshift floating bridge spanning the Yamuna River, as attendees exit the World Culture Festival, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar looks on from the stage, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

Audience members send a message of peace by shining lights from their mobile phones, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

Indian folk dancers (left) and Spanish dancers wait for their turns to perform at the World Culture Festival, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

Young dancers from the Philippines rest as they wait for their turn to perform, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

An Indonesian dancer looks on as she waits for her turn to perform, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

An Indian folk dancer carries his costume toward the stage at the World Culture Festival in New Delhi, March 13, 2016. [Kshitij Nagar/BenarNews]

More than 1 million people converged on the banks of the Yamuna River in New Delhi to witness the World Culture Festival, an artistic, musical and cultural extravaganza billed as a celebration of mankinds diversity.

Organized by the Art of Living Foundation, the three-day event came to a close on Sunday and featured more than 30,000 artists from 155 countries.

The foundation is a non-profit organization engaged in activities ranging from educating economically poorer sections of society to providing free health care. The group mainly promotes Hindu spiritual practices, such as yoga and meditation.

But before the festival kicked off on March 11, the organizers were fined 50 million rupees (U.S. $746,000) by the Indian capitals National Green Tribunal in anticipation of the severe ecological impact it would have on the rivers floodplains.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the foundations head, denied that the festival could add to the Yamunas pollution.

The river cannot be polluted anymore. It has already crossed its limit of pollution. We are, in fact cleaning the river by putting enzymes in the water, the guru told BenarNews.

The controversy refused to dampen the spirit of the artists.

My dance troupe has been practicing for this event for six months, a Spanish dancer, Linda, who only went by her first name, told BenarNews. I am thrilled to be here.

Vasudevan Sridharan in Bengaluru, India, contributed to this report.
A slightly different angle on a familiar topic - the far left's battle against free speech. It was inspired by Rod Liddle's excellent article in the Sunday Times.

Cartoons by Josh
Telecom giant MTN on Friday insisted negotiations were ongoing with Nigerian authorities to settle a record $3.9bn fine imposed for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers.

"MTN Nigeria continues to engage with the Nigerian authorities in an attempt to ensure an amicable resolution to this matter," the company said in a statement.

The Johannesburg-based company neither confirmed nor denied reports that it has offered to pay $1.5bn (1.35 billion euros) to settle the penalty.

Africa's biggest wireless operator was fined $3.9bn in October after failing to disconnect 5.1 million subscribers amid concerns the lines were being used by Boko Haram insurgents.

According to a letter from the company's lawyer released in Abuja on Thursday, MTN has made an offer to pay 300 billion naira ($1.5bn) to settle the fine.

MTN last month paid out $250m towards the penalty.

Nigeria's Senate committee on communications met on Thursday to discuss the fine, saying that negotiations with MTN are expected to continue for two more weeks.

Source: AFP
The inaugural African Transformation Forum (ATF) opens today, Monday 14 March 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda. The ATF seeks to build a coalition for transformation in Africa by addressing key economic development themes.

The focus of the Forum will be on key areas that can unlock rapid and sustained growth, establish the continent as part of the global supply chain and make Africa globally competitive, not only in terms of exports, but also as a frontier manufacturing base.

The Forum is jointly organised by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), one of Africas leading think tanks and the government of Rwanda. K Y Amoako, president of ACET, said, For years the organisation has wanted to convene leading thinkers, policy makers, the private sector and civil society to shape solutions to deliver economic transformation in Africa. With the inaugural ATF, this has now happened. He thanked the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame for his unwavering support for the Forum and his governments characteristic efficiency in bringing it to fruition.

Rwandas Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Claver Gatete, added, Though Rwanda may be a small country geographically, its aspirations for both itself and the continent are great. The path to meeting these aspirations requires an unwavering focus on economic transformation.

In its 2014 African Transformation Report, ACET described this, as Growth with Depth; that is diversification of production, export competitiveness, productivity increases, technology upgrades and human wellbeing. This forum is designed to advance the agenda from the what of economic transformation to the how.

One of the key objectives of the Forum will be to introduce and create a Coalition for Transformation in Africa, said Anver Versi, ACET communications chief. This is a leadership network, organised in Chapters, each focused on a specific and vital area of economic development. The idea is that after the Forum, Chapter members including governments, businesses and civil society dedicated to Africas economic transformation, will continue to meet, discuss and find solution beyond the Forum.

The programmes speakers include some of the continents leading analysts and thinkers. Amongst them are Carlos Lopes, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Makhtar Diop, VP for Africa at the World Bank; Antoinette Sayeh, Africa department director of the IMF; Nkosana Moyo, founder and executive chair of MINDS , James Mwangi, executive director at Dalberg and ACETs own experts - Yaw Ansu, Ed Brown and Joe Amoako-Tuffour.

For more information, go to http://acetforafrica.org/transformation-forum.
For people waiting for a new kidney - or any transplant for that matter - the process is fraught with anxiety, and those not fortunate enough to find a compatible living donor face the prospect of going onto a very long waiting list for a dead donor, or years of dialysis. But a procedure called desensitisation is changing all that.

According to an article in The New York Times, a study conducted at 22 US medical centres has found a way of altering a kidney recipients immune system by stripping away their existing antibodies, so that their bodies dont reject organs from incompatible donors.

The study shows that patients who underwent this process called desensitisation had a better survival rate than people who remained on the waiting list or received a kidney from a dead, but compatible donor.

Higher survival rate

During the eight-year study, 76,5% of the 1,025 patients, who received an incompatible kidney were still alive, compared with 62,9% who remained on the waiting list or received a deceased donor kidney and 43,9% who remained on the waiting list but never got a transplant.

How desensitisation works

One of the specialist units involved in the programme, Northwestern Memorial Hospital Transplant Programme, explains how the desensitisation process works.

Immunosuppressant drugs and plasmapheresis are used to remove rejection-causing antibodies from the bloodstream. This process is done both before and after transplant, allowing many patients who would otherwise reject their transplanted kidney to successfully receive their transplant, it says.

Regenerated antibodies dont attack the transplanted organ

The patient is given an infusion of other antibodies to provide some protection while the immune system regenerates its own antibodies. For some reason  exactly why is not known  the persons regenerated antibodies are less likely to attack the new organ, Dr Dorry Segev, the lead author of the new study  which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine recently, and a transplant surgeon at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine told The New York Times.

But if the persons regenerated natural antibodies are still a concern, the patient is treated with drugs that destroy any white blood cells that might make antibodies that would attack the new kidney, he says.

Could also work with other organ transplants

Although the study was confined to kidney transplant, the researchers involved dont see any reason why it cant be expanded to other living-donor transplants, such a liver and lungs.

The liver is less sensitive to antibodies so there is less need for desensitisation, but its certainly possible if there are known incompatibilities, Dr Segev says.
With modern day illnesses like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and smoking-related illnesses becoming increasingly prevalent, South Africa, and the African continent, is sitting on a non-communicable disease time bomb that it is ill equipped to fight.

Dr Jas Bhana (3rd from the right) with the 2015/2016 AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals recipients

Funding another seven research projects

With a shortage of quality scientific data to properly manage and treat these potentially life-threatening diseases, the requirement for funding to develop research capacity has never been greater. In response to this unmet need, the AstraZeneca Research Trust has awarded another seven local grants totalling R1.5 million for the 2015/2016 year. This brings to 18 the total number of research grants conferred locally by the trust since its inception.

Independent assessment

An independent non-profit body set up in 2014 for the disbursement of R4,5 million for medical research funding over three years, to date the trust has allocated R3 million of this commitment. Managed by a scientific steering committee consisting of six highly respected academics from various institutions around the country, AstraZeneca has no influence in any decisions made regarding the fund allocation.

The grants are awarded solely at the discretion of the professors who screen, review and ultimately with full autonomy, decide on the apportionment of the funding. With literally hundreds of applications received, all worthy of consideration, the committee has been severely challenged in narrowing down the final selections.

Three universities benefit

The 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 researchers who have been successful in their applications, represent three academic institutions, including the University of Witwatersrand, University of Cape Town and University of KwaZulu-Natal. A diverse spectrum of research across different disease areas has been approved, some of which is already well underway.

Dr Jas Bhana, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals vice president: medical and regulatory SA & SSA, speaking at the 2015/2016 Research Trust Awards evening, says that its hoped the academic research grants, conferred for high level non-interventional studies, including doctoral and post-doctoral work, will generate much needed data in the area of non-communicable diseases, where currently significant data is not available.
Venturing into Switzerland was a major coup for the Spar group, CEO Graham O'Connor said on Friday, adding that he had turned down deals in two other geographies, having chosen the developed market, which was "an exceptional fit".

Photographer: Martin RhodesImage source: BDlive

OConnor said Spars market had become saturated in SA, and the group had decided to roll out a relatively large international expansion.

Last week, Spar concluded an agreement to acquire 60% of the ordinary shares of Spar Holding, also known as Spar Switzerland, for Sf44.5m on April 1. The agreement also gives Spar the right to buy the remaining 40% of the company after five years for Sf6.3m.

This is Spars second investment in Europe.

The group bought BWG in Ireland in 2014. OConnor said this had been successful surprisingly quickly.

"We felt that we needed to expand our footprint and right now developed markets offer the best value.

"We also fit nicely with markets like Ireland, and Switzerland. English is spoken in Ireland and the customer is similar. In Switzerland, there is also a strong business culture fit.

"People at a corporate level there also speak English and we can share know-how and strategies," OConnor said.

OConnor said the South African consumer was coming under pressure from rising administrative and other prices. Spar outlets were seeing less spending, and the group would, therefore, benefit from consumers with a growing disposable income abroad.

The Spar Switzerland group supplies a range of food and beverage products to consumers through a combination of 58 company-owned Spar, Spar Express and convenience stores, 247 independent retailer stores trading under the Spar, Spar Express and Maxi brands, and 11 company-owned Cash & Carry outlets trading under the brand TopCC.

Spar has been operating in Southern Africa for more than five decades. Spar Switzerland is the operator and holder of the Spar licence in Switzerland and has been a member of Spar International since 1989.

The Spar group operates six distribution centres and one Build It distribution centre that supply and service 1,935 independently owned Spar stores domestically and in a number of countries in the rest of Africa.
During her recent visit to the United Kingdom where the North West Province participated in a series of roadshows designed to train tour operators and travel agents on what destination South Africa has to offer the discerning traveler from the United Kingdom, North West MEC for Tourism Desbo Mohono has managed to lure Irish journalist to visit the province. Already on a scheduled trip organised by South African Tourism - UK Office to visit Gauteng, Mohono tempted the journalist to make a stop in her province.

Speaking from ITB-Berlin, an annual international travel trade show held in Berlin, Germany, North West MEC for Tourism, Mohono said that she was excited that her engagement with the South African Tourism UK Office has yielded positive results. I am glad that during my interaction with South African Tourism officials in the UK, they acceded to my humble request and ensured that the Irish journalists included the North West Province during their visit to South Africa. We hope that they will portray the province in a better light. This is a clear indication that the North West province has a lot to offer with regards to tourism and hospitality, enthused the MEC.

A need to profile North West as a destination of choice

Mohono continued to highlight the socio-economic impact of this visit. She said that international recognition will bring about more international tourists and subsequently that will increase the flow of tourists and help stimulate our economy through various modes of exchange. Tourism is one of the key pillars which play a pivotal role in growing our economy as a province. Such publicity will definitely help elevate us on the tourism map and we will be able to propel forward in changing the lives of ordinary communities of the North West through tourism.

There is dire need for those who wish to profile this province as the destination of choice to understand that tourism in this province is a very important aspect of our economic growth and that it is one of the vehicles used to grow the economy together with agriculture and culture. We also hope that these international journalists will get to experience a bit of our culture and heritage and the warmth of our people in general, added Mohono.

Luring international tourists

Echoing her words, North West Tourism Board acting CEO, Charles Ndabeni, said that the Department and the newly established Tourism Board are eagerly waiting to welcome these Irish journalists. He added that it was also important that these journalists understand the tourism dynamics of the North West province and its socio-economic developments. The Department and its subsidiaries are working hard to ensure that we lure international tourists and hope that the experience gained during this eight day visit in South Africa as part of the SA Tourism s media tour dubbed as Undiscovered South Africa will gain an elevated status and profile our beautiful province.

Amongst others, the media tour includes a visit to Gauteng province followed by another visit to one of the eight World Heritage Sites, Cradle of Humankind in the Magaliesburg. The journalists will wind off their activities with a transfer to Jacis Safari Lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve which is in the North West Province. These journalists includes Yvonne Moran of the Irish Mail on Sunday, Dominique McMullan of the Irish Times, Robin Schiller of the Irish Independent and Mark Evans of the Herald.ie
Eager to be a part of the Mother City's biggest street party, an estimated 50,000 excited spectators descended on the Green Point Fan Walk to be blown away with a procession of floats like Traffic Hazard, Township Angel and Heart of the City and over 2,000 performers.

As the 1.2km Cape Town Carnival corridor came alive with music and colour, VIPs such as Premier Helen Zille, Mayor Patricia de Lille, along with Cape Town Carnival brand ambassadors, Siv Ngesi and Liezel van der Westhuizen were in the center of the action.

Jay Douwes, CEO of Cape Town Carnival, said: After the success of last year, we were aiming to make this years Carnival bigger and better. A goal we achieved with flying colours. Anticipation was high and there were more spectators than ever before, testament that the city loves this event as much as we do. It was a beautiful Cape evening and the Fan Walk was the perfect setting to celebrate both our diversity and unity.

More than 50 talented community groups performed dances and acts that represented their interpretation of the Street Life theme  celebrating the people and dynamics at play in a public space. Towns and cities are built of people and relationships, not bricks and concrete, and this was so apparent in the vibrancy of the citys streets this evening.

Local law enforcement task forces like the Firemen and SAPS also made a special appearance and had the crowd going wild. Spectators, who dressed up in Cape Town Carnival paraphernalia  including masks, feathers, glow sticks and fascinators  were in awe of the mesmerising parade and excellent performers.
General Motors said it is buying automated driving technology startup Cruise Automation to boost its efforts to develop self-driving cars. Cruise, founded in San Francisco by a group of robotics experts in 2013, created an automation system for highway driving using roof-mounted modules built for installation on certain Audi models.

GM said the company would continue to work on its technology as an independent unit within the automaker's dedicated development team for automated driving. GM did not say how much it paid for the startup, which had been funded by leading venture technology firms.

"Cruise provides our company with a unique technology advantage that is unmatched in our industry. We intend to invest significantly to further grow the talent base and capabilities already established by the Cruise team," said Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, in a statement.

GM has been investing heavily in autonomous driving technology, as are its rivals. It plans to launch a fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Volts at the campus of its Warren, Michigan-based technical centre late in 2016.

In early January it also spent $500 million for a large stake in ride-hailing service Lyft, with an eye to eventually having Lyft drivers use its autonomous cars.

Source: AFP
A loud warning tone activated when speeding, has triggered a dramatic improvement in minibus taxi driver behaviour. Researchers at Stellenbosch University's department of electronic engineering have evaluated the efficacy of an audible warning system in improving speed compliance by long-distance minibus taxis.

Mark Atkins via 123RF

"The speed-triggered warning tone had a positive impact on speeding behaviour for taxis," lecturer Dr Thinus Booysen said. He conducted the study with Nelson Ebot Eno Akpa, from the same department, and Professor Marion Sinclair, from the department of civil engineering. They received support from MiX Telematics, TomTom, and MTN.

Booysen said the warning tone was set to activate after driving above 110km/h for 10 seconds, and that before activation, the mean speed of 40% of trips were above 120km/h and 85% above 110km/h.

Although the speed limit for taxis is 100km/h, many drivers think it is 120km/h. Booysen said the researchers decided on 110km/h to make sure there was not too much resistance to the warning system.

"We tested the tone at two volumes" one that could be drowned out by loud music, and one that could not be ignored.

Speeding reduced significantly

"The impact of the loud speed-triggered warning tone on speeding is significant "usually, for 72% of the trips the taxis spend over 80% of each trip over the speed limit," Booysen said. "With the loud warning tone, this figure was reduced to only 20% of trips."

"The mean speeds of all of the trips completed were below 120km/h, and only 40% of trips had a mean speed above 110km/h." Drivers reverted to their normal driving after the warning tone was deactivated.

"The speeds driven during the warning tone activation led to a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency, which means a driver can increase his remuneration for the return trip between Cape Town and Mthatha by more than R1,000," Booysen said. " - TMG Digital

Source: Herald
The finalists of the 15th Oliver Empowerment Awards from various categories have been named and the winners will be announced on 14 April 2016.

Skill Development has been the most entered category in the last three years, at over 20%. This should give South Africans a great sense of comfort that the calls for change have been heard and organisations are enabling a skilled workforce.

"We are excited to be a finalist. Moyomuhle Social Solutions (MSS) has demonstrated a high level of growth which is proven by our revenue that has grown by 60% and 75% respectively in the past two years. At this rate, it can be projected that by the end of the 2016/2017 financial year, we will meet our targeted revenue figure," Sikhumbuzo Thabede, Managing Director, MSS. The organisation has been shortlisted for the Fast Growth Black-Owned SMME Award.

Maponya Inc. is a finalist in Diversity and Job Creation categories. We are celebrating and showcasing the success of women excellence in leadership. Being able to change the lives of many of our people through our employees, Maponya is in the front line of making SA a better place by addressing inequalities of the past and investing in tomorrows leaders, Baitseng Rangata, CEO, Maponya Inc.

"We are continuously looking out for new opportunities to grow the group by means of partnerships or startup and welcome ideas from like-minded, trustworthy individuals. Our main aim is to create more jobs for the people of South Africa. We want to work with our local partners to diversify our business and take advantage of the opportunities in the other segments of the maritime technology market, Steve Nell, Managing Director, Marine Data Solutions, a finalist in Top Empowered Entrepreneur of 2016 Award. It is this type of approach and more that make top empowered organisations thrive.

Five things that attendees can expect:



Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor and Commissioner Zodwa Ntuli, will be guest speakers at the event. To celebrate the legacy of 15 years, the event is themed Out of Africa, reconnecting with what the country has achieved together. For the first time ever, we will be awarding media personalities. See the nominees: http://www.oliverawards.co.za/index.php/about/personality-awards This year, we will honor organisations that have generated real impact in the transformation in the last 15 years through The Legend of Empowerment award. The Vision 2030 Award is new in the stable, recognising private companies that have initiatives contributing to the NDPs 2030 goal.



This event awards companies and individuals for their contribution and commitment to empowerment in South Africa, recognising the efforts of businesses, civil society, the public sector and truly outstanding individuals. Implementation of strategic B-BBEE policies, annual revenue, implementation of effective internal B-BBEE measurement mechanics and other areas of business are all taken into consideration in the selection of the winners of the respective categories. This event will celebrate the achievement and progress of business in South Africa.

THE 15TH ANNUAL OLIVER EMPOWERMENT FINALIST ARE:

FAST GROWTH BLACK-OWNED SMME AWARD Sponsored By SENET MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Bulichule Training & Consulting

Godimong Consulting Engineers

LA Consulting Engineers

Moyomuhle Social Solutions

Ngubane & Co

Orizoe Services

Staza Cleaning Services

SED (SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT) AWARD Sponsored By DESTO

AfroCentric Health

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings

DHL Express

Eskom Holdings SOC

Foskor

K.Carrim Builders Hardware

Murray & Roberts

Spring Lights Gas

Sun International

Ulwazi Protection Services

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AWARD (>R1 Billion) Sponsored By TOTAL SA

Accenture SA

Haw & Ingils Civil Engineering

McKinsey & Company

MultiChoice South Africa Holdings

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc

Woolworths Holdings Ltd

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AWARD (

Britehouse SSD

Elgin Brown and Hamer

FleetAfrica

Southern African Shipyards

ENTERPRISE & SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT AWARD

AfroCentric Health

Elgin Brown and Hamer

ENSafrica

FleetAfrica

Haw & Inglis Civil Engineering

Hudaco Industries

Megaphase Road Marking & Traffic Signs

MultiChoice South Africa Holdings

Murray & Roberts

Palabora Copper

Sun International

Zonke Monitoring Systems

DIVERSITY AWARD

Isilumko Staffing

Maponya Inc

Naledi Rail Engineering

Nambiti Technologies

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc

JOB CREATION AWARD Sponsored By RAND WATER

Adenco Construction

Coega Development Corporation

FleetAfrica

Isilumko Staffing

Maponya Inc

Southern African Shipyards

TOP EMPOWERED ENTREPRENEUR OF 2016 AWARD

Boniswa Corporate Solutions - Lynette Magasa

Godimong Consulting Engineers - Norman Mongae

Marine Data Solutions - Steve Nell

Naledi Rail Engineering - Wahed Rasool

Staza Cleaning Services- Stella Mokwena

TOP EMPOWERED YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD (UNDER 40 YEARS) Sponsored By TUMI

Ditshego Media - Tebogo Ditshego

DNA Brand Architects - Sylvester Chauke

Mhlathuze Water - Megan Govender

Moyomuhle Social Solutions - Sikhumbuzo Thabede

TOP EMPOWERED PUBLIC SERVICE LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD

City of Tshwane - Cllr Kgosientso Ramokgopa

North West Parks - Mothobi Edward Mothobi

South African Civil Aviation Authority  Dr Poppy Khoza

Strategic Fuel Fund - Marion de Wet

TOP EMPOWERED BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Lion of Africa - Bonga Myeza

Maponya Inc - Phatudi Maponya

Nambiti Technologies - Kevin Paul

Neyeleti Consulting - Abe Thela

WOA Fuels & Oils - Pria Hassan

TOP EMPOWERED PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

City of Tshwane

Mhlathuze Water

North West Parks

South African Civil Aviation Authority

Strategic Fuel Fund

Umgeni Water

TOP EMPOWERED VISION 2030 AWARD  Sponsored by MMI Holdings

Coega Development Corporation

Naledi Rail Engineering

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc

Southern African Shipyards

Strategic Fuel Fund

TOP EMPOWERED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Adenco Construction

McKinsey & Company

MultiChoice South Africa Holdings

Nedbank Ltd

Spring Lights Gas

Woodford Group

For any information on the Oliver Empowerment Awards or the finalists, please contact Sheri Morgan at 086 000 9590 or az.oc.ocpot@nagrom.irehs




Although sub-Saharan Africa has long been the weakest region globally in terms of digital connectivity, the area is on the edge of a major technological surge. Its young demographic and improved access to both education and credit is unleashing new internet-hungry consumer markets, providing a new arena for goods and services that have already thrived in better-connected economies.

Economically fragile but hugely populated markets such as Ethiopia and DR Congo provide an undertapped pool of new internet users. Digital companies should be readying for market entry into Africas sleeping giants while competition remains weak.

Source: Euromonitor International from International Telecommunications Union/OECD/national statisticsNote: Figures are forecast

Huge wave of African late-adopters coming online

Africa is home to some of the largest offline populations in the world. Historical barriers to connectivity have included widespread poverty, which provides few commercial incentives for operators, little to none pre-existing fixed infrastructure, and volatile economic and political landscapes that make organised state digital initiatives extremely difficult.

However, sub-Saharan Africas internet markets are opening up due to the convergence of several factors, such as expanding middle classes, increasingly productive urban centres, improved IT literacy and better all-round academic options. Economic growth and maturing financial markets are enabling greater access to credit, which is in turn allowing local consumers to purchase web-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is driving rapidly changing demands and expectations from the millions of Africans eager to participate in new digital opportunities.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's digital growth hotspot

Sub-Saharan Africa is especially notable for its rapid digital growth rates, due to a much lower internet readiness rate and standard of living compared to North African economies or South Africa. In 2016 alone, sub-Saharan Africa will welcome over 15.0 million new internet users. The figures for the regions sleeping giants are truly impressive as well.

For example, Ethiopia has over 96.0 million people but less than 3.0% of its population is online  by 2030 this penetration rate will rise to over 16.0%, meaning around 20.0 million new web consumers. Another large population market, DR Congo, will add around 13.0 million internet users over 2015-2030. These leaps in users are much larger than anything seen in developed economies or even emerging markets in Latin America and Asia. Furthermore, by 2030 most sub-Saharan African economies would only be scratching the surface of their digital potential, with the majority of local consumers still offline.

Understanding the African digital consumer is key

For companies eager to take advantage of Africas increasing attractiveness, some basic fundamentals must be understood:

 The vast majority of African digital consumers are on mobile, often with slow and pricey data plans. This translates into increased demand for apps and mobile services, but in a workable format. For example, social media giant Facebook and Chinese e-commerce brand AliExpress have both launched light versions of their apps to appeal to emerging consumers with limited speeds and devices.

 While African consumers are numerous, their per capita spend on digital products is low due to extremely low incomes. Companies may thus have to re-engineer services to hit a specific price point, as well as offering lower-cost versions of their products or alternative payment models.

 The vast majority of new African web users will be asking What can the internet do for me? A relatively low number will be willing buyers of digital services such as music, games or tailored subscription services in other niche areas. Their investment in a fixed or mobile connection is already a sizable contribution and many will be targeting free goods and services. Building loyalty through free offerings is therefore a vital context for brand development.
The 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year competition, sponsored by Sanlam and Business/Partners, has opened for entries. Prizes valued at R2 million can be won, which includes cash prizes of R425,000. Competition winners will also receive valuable mentorship support, networking opportunities and national media exposure.

Ben Bierman, chief financial officer at Business Partners, says, In 2016, the competition continues its search for entrepreneurial talent in all sectors of the economy. The judges are looking for entrepreneurs that have succeeded against the odds, either by carving out a niche market for their product or service offering, or by succeeding in a very competitive environment. Perseverance and endurance, innovation and agility are some of the qualities we look for in the entrepreneur.

He adds that there are also a number of quantitative competition measures, such as turnover growth, profitability, owners equity growth, positive cash flows and job creation that play a part in the competitions judging process.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute close to 50% of South Africas gross domestic product and generate more than 60% of new jobs created in the economy. The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2015 / 2016 Global Report states that while on average, 42% of working-age adults in the monitored economies see good entrepreneurial opportunities in their markets, as many as one-third of potential entrepreneurs are constrained from starting a business due to the fear of failure.

Last years winners reap more success

He points to last years competition winners as examples of those succeeding in their industry and possessing true entrepreneurial spirit  persevering no matter how impossible it may seem at times.

The 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year overall competition winners, Gil Oved and Ran Neu-Ner, co-owners and founders of The Creative Counsel (TCC), were recently awarded the All Africa Business Leaders Award (AABLA), which recognises game changers on the continent. French advertising giant, Publicis, in a deal understood to be the biggest in South African agency history, also acquired them last year. Most importantly, this year TCC launched an incubator programme for black-owned businesses as a way to inspire and grow the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Our 2015 Innovator of the Year and Medium Business Entrepreneur of the Year title winners, Nadir Khamissa and Ahmed Shaazim Khamissa - owners and founders of Hello Group - were also recognised by the EY Southern Africa World Entrepreneur awards platform due to their remarkable tenacity and determination in building a leading business in the local fintech space.

The closing date for the competition is National Youth Day, 16 June 2016. For more information, go to www.eoy.co.za.
The Anti-Racism Network of South Africa (ARNSA), established by the Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada Foundations, will hold its first annual anti-racism week from 14-21 March 2016, supported by Media24.

Through its publications and platforms, Media24 joins the alliance of more than 90 organisations, including many prominent civil society groups and government institutions. Its flagship weekly family magazines, YOU, Huisgenoot and DRUM, as well as almost 100 newspapers and all its leading online platforms will be running campaigns throughout anti-racism week. The group is appealing to its readers, advertisers and partners to support the initiative.

For more information, go to www.arnsa.org.za.
Meetings, hearings, workshops, discussions, training, workspace, events, presentations, demonstrations, brainstorming, strategic planning, Cape Town based space, etc.

Seats 18 comfortably around three round tables of six each.

Room configuration is flexible.

Can hire additional chairs if required.

Full day: R 1,095 - eight hours

Half day: R765 - four hours

Standard package - R20 per person

 Arrival, morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/biscuits

Treat packagae - R40 to R50 per person

 Arrival, morning and afternoon refreshments - includes: water/tea/coffee/juice/biscuits/pastries/muffins/table sweets

Lunch package - R25 per person

 Standard package plus in-room lunch, including ordering take aways, cutlery, crockery and cleaning (actual take away food order cost not included)

Monday to Friday from 7.00 till 18.00 (not open on weekends or evenings)
Uganda's government has proposed a bill to tighten controls over social media, a minister said on Friday, weeks after an enforced election day shutdown triggered widespread criticism.

"The bill is intended to regulate what goes on in the communication sector for the good of Ugandans and their security," minister for the presidency Frank Tumwebaze told AFP.

"The aim of this bill is to amend the Uganda Communications Act 2013 by removing the requirement for the sector minister to seek parliamentary approval in regulating the communication sector," he said.

Tumwebaze said Uganda's parliament -- which is dominated by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party -- would have to approve the bill removing parliamentary approval.

Opposition politicians have criticised the proposals but Tumwebaze insisted the new regulations are "not that strict" and were necessary to curb the "misuse" of social media with, "people posting irresponsible statements, inciting the population, which as government is a threat to our national security."

The government blocked social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook during February's elections citing unspecified "national security" concerns. The vote saw President Yoweri Museveni sweep to his fifth election victory with 61 percent of ballots.

Observers said the cards were heavily stacked against Museveni's opponents, as the 71-year-old's grip on his party and country -- and his access to state resources -- meant the result was never in any doubt.

Failed presidential challenger, ex-prime minister Amama Mbabazi, has launched a petition challenging Museveni's victory at the Supreme Court citing voter bribery and intimidation.

Museveni's closest rival, opposition chief Kizza Besigye, was arrested multiple times during the election and was blocked from making a similar petition.

Several journalists have also been arrested covering protests, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday warned of a continued crackdown on the opposition and media.

"The police are violating the opposition's and the media's basic rights protected under international law as well as under Uganda's constitution," HRW researcher Maria Burnett said.

"That those who peacefully express critical views can be arbitrarily arrested, detained, and beaten makes everyone vulnerable to abuse," she said.

Source: AFP
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The former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank, David Drumm, has been charged with 33 criminal offences this morning after he was extradited back from the US.

Update 4pm: David Drumm today agreed to secure his bail by lodging 50,000 himself. Another 50,000 will be lodged by an independent surety.

A final 50,000 will be frozen in that persons account but the court will not sign off on it without proof that the money is present in that account.

Mr Drumm has therefore been remanded in custody with consent to bail until tomorrow morning.

He will spend the night in a Dublin prison to allow for the bail details to be finalised in the morning.

Update 3.15pm: David Drumm has been granted bail. Judge Walsh ordered him to live at Shenick Avenue in Skerries, Co Dublin and to sign in twice a day at Balbriggan Garda Station.

Drumm was also asked by the court if he was prepared to promise not to apply for a new passport. "I am of course, your honour," Drumm told the court.

The father of two confirmed to the court that he does not have a US passport and that his Irish passport is being held by the Gardai.

Judge Walsh ordered Drumm not to leave Ireland.

The court heard seven relatives were in court who were prepared to sign over their homes as security for Drumm's bail. The names of four were required by the court.

The bail conditions also include Drumm being ordered to put up 50,000 of his own to be lodged in court.

Another two independent sureties of 50,000 were also ordered, with 25,000 to be produced in cash and the other sum shown in a bank account.

Update 2pm: Dublin District Court has heard that seven members of David Drumms family are willing to put their homes on the line to secure his bail.

His solicitor told the court he is prepared to sign on twice daily if granted bail and that seven of his family members are willing to put their houses up as security.

He said Mr Drumm could lodge a large cash sum, hand over his passport and would even agree to being tagged - a provision that is not yet provided for in Irish law.

His bail hearing continues.

Earlier: Former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank David Drumm led investigators on a merry dance and fought tooth and claw to avoid extradition to Ireland to face trial over 7bn worth financial irregularities at the bank, the court in Dublin heard this morning.

After spending almost seven years in the United States and the last two months in a Boston jail pending extradition arrived back in Ireland in the early hours of this morning.

The former banker was accompanied by gardai on Aer Lingus flight EI136 from Boston which touched down at 5.10am today. He was then escorted to an unmarked car and brought to Ballymun Garda station where 33 charges were put to him.

Dressed in a navy business suit, the former Anglo boss was brought by gardai to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin city centre. He then had to make his appearance before Judge Michael Walsh at Dublin District Court.

The court heard he made no reply to any of the charges and the prosecution have begun objecting to bail citing the seriousness of the charges, the possible sentences of up to 10 years and evidence that Mr Drumm (aged 49) is a flight risk with the capacity to marshal significant sums of money despite having 8.5m of debts.

Dean Kelly BL for the DPP said Mr Drumm was a voluntary exile in the United States since to 2009 and had not co-operated with the investigation.

The State are also arguing that Mr Drumm only returned home after his bail application in the United States failed and before that he led the two investigation agencies in Ireland  The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement  on a merry dance.

Mr Drumm spoke briefly when he entered the courtroom and the judge greeted him asked him to sit down. Good morning, thank you, Mr Drumm replied.

He then turned and waved to supporters in the public gallery of a packed court number three and then sat silently with his hands clasped on his lap.

Documents from his US proceedings are to be considered by the judge who has adjourned the bail hearing until 12.30pm.

Solicitor Deirdre Manninger for the State also said the DPP has directed Mr Drumm must face trial on indictment and a book of evidence was served.

He stood up to move his overcoat to make room for the box of evidence on his bench. He has not yet entered a plea and is to face trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Some 31 of the charges related to his alleged role in the so-called Maple Ten transactions to secure Anglo's falling share price and two charges in relation to 7bn back-to-back transactions with Irish Life and Permanent designed to strengthen the bank's books.

There are six types of offences alleged including charges relating to forgery and falsifying documents, conspiracy to defraud, giving unlawful financial assistance for share-purchasing purposes, false accounting practices, and the disclosure of false or misleading information in a management report.

It follows a seven-year probe by detectives from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation attached to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement into alleged financial irregularities at the failed bank which was later nationalised costing taxpayers 30bn.
Former Anglo Irish Bank CEO David Drumm has arrived back in Ireland.

Update: 9am At around 8.20am this morning Mr Drumm left Ballymun Garda Station under garda escort, and he will appear before Dublin District Court this morning at 10.30am.

David Drumm has left Ballymun Garda Station in blacked out car ahead of later court appearance pic.twitter.com/6dv9SyxJvo  Sean Defoe (@SeanDefoe) March 14, 2016

Earlier: His Aer Lingus flight from Boston landed at 5.14am, and Mr Drumm was met at Dublin Airport by Gardai.

He was escorted off the land bridge after leaving the plane and was driven away in a grey coloured car with blacked out windows.

He has been brought to Bridewell Garda Station and is due to be charged with 33 criminal offences at Dublin District Court this morning.

David Drumm stepped down as CEO of Anglo Irish Bank in December 2008 and moved to Boston with his family a few months later.

Just over a year ago, the Director of Public Prosecutions informed the US Department of Justice of her intention to charge him with over 30 offences following investigations by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

They relate to the Maple 10 transactions, during which money was loaned to individuals to buy shares in the bank.

They include charges of forgery, conspiracy to defraud and false accounting and are alleged to have taken place in the final years of his time as head of the former bank.

Once he is formally charged, he will be brought before Dublin District Court.

He may apply for bail when that happens, and a full hearing will have to take place if there are any Garda objections to it.
Hundreds of farmers are still waiting for emergency flood relief funding that was promised in the wake of Storm Desmond.

Flood relief funding for local authorities and farmers has yet to be paid by the Department of Agriculture, while others have been told they are not eligible for the scheme.

The fund was set up by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney earlier this year in response to severe flooding around the country.

Chairman of the Flood Project Team with the Irish Farmers' Association Tom Turley said much of the affected land is not now workable.

"A lot of this land wont be of any use for most of this year," he said.

"That's added to a situation all over the country where tillage farmers have lost their crops - maize and beet farmers in particular have been afforded nothing in this scheme. That's not acceptable."

Nationally, Environment Minister Alan Kellys department has failed to pay almost 6.5m in emergency funding to local authorities for repairs and the clean-up of flood-hit areas.

While 14.48m has been requested by local authorities to fund the necessary and immediate works, 7.9m of this has yet to be paid, as reported in today's

Read More:

A Department of the Environment spokesman could not provide a date for when local authorities will receive the remaining funds to carry out essential works.

All claims that were requested by December 19 have been paid. The deadline for receipt of further final claims for clean-up costs and necessary immediate works was Monday, January 29, and we will be processing these as soon as we receive sanction from departmental finance to do so, the spokesman said.

Over 140 farmers have applied for assistance under the Emergency Flood Relief Measure which was set up by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney earlier this year.

The fund covers the direct costs arising from livestock lost to the flood, rental costs where livestock had to be moved off farms and into alternative premises due to potential welfare issues and flood damage to agricultural structures and fittings.

A separate fodder scheme to help farmers who had feed stuff destroyed in the floods has paid 305 applicants 628,871.
A 34-year-old man has been jailed for 13 years for raping a woman with Down syndrome in Dublin.

Faisal Ellahi from Haripur in Pakistan lured the women in her 20s back to his flat, where he attacked her in June 2013.
Update 6.30pm: Gardai say they are not treating as suspicious the discovery of an injured teenage girl on a dual carriageway in Cork.

Earlier:

A 13-year-old girl is being treated in hospital, after she was found injured on the N40 in Cork city.

Gardai were called to the N40 at Mahon just after 8am this morning, where the injured teenager was discovered.

The girl, who was on her own, was taken to Cork University hospital for treatment.

Her current condition is not know.

Gardai in Blackrock are appealing for witnesses to the incident to come forward.
Manchester United have avoided UEFA sanction for supporters' chants about the Hillsborough disaster during Thursday's Europa League clash with Liverpool.

Last week was the first ever European meeting of the north-west giants - the first leg of a last-16 tie which Jurgen Klopp's men won 2-0 at Anfield.
More than 2,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece braved torrential rain and waded across a fast-flowing river to walk into neighbouring Macedonia, defying Europe's border closures.

In dramatic scenes, refugees held children and their belongings over their heads as they crossed thigh-deep in the water, while elderly migrants clutched ropes placed by volunteers to help them across.

But their time in Macedonia and planned journey onward towards western Europe might be short-lived.

Macedonian soldiers and police detained hundreds of people after they had just crossed from Greece and put them into trucks, authorities said.

Monday's events were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece - and it came days before European Union leaders try to hammer out a deal with Turkey to try to hold more refugees there.

The migrants walked out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border on Monday, travelling west on foot.

Syrian Ibrahim Almad said he had been stuck in Greece for a month.

"My brother is in Stuttgart, in Germany, and I want to join him," he said, pointing towards other refugees. "Look at what they are making us do - look at all these women and children."

Mr Almad also walked from Idomeni, where 14,000 people remain camped out.

In chaotic scenes at the nearby border village of Hamilo, Greek and international volunteers helped migrants across the river, using ropes to make sure they were not swept away by the rapids.

Macedonia's border was closed following transit restrictions imposed by EU member Austria.

Underscoring the risks, police in Macedonia said the bodies of one man and two women, all Afghans, were found on Monday in the Suva Reka river near the border with Greece.

Twenty migrants crossed safely and another three were in hospital, authorities said.

"This is the situation in which people have become desperate and frustrated," said Ljubinka Brasnarska, a spokeswoman in Macedonia for UN refugee agency UNHCR.

"The border restrictions imposed by the countries have forced people to take desperate actions," she said.

Parts of Macedonia's border fence are made up solely of coils of razor wire, while breaks in the barrier also occur at rivers and mountain slopes on the border, mainly to the west of Idomeni.

A cap on migrants imposed by Austria last month set off a domino effect of border closures across the Balkans, leaving thousands stranded in Greece.

Despite the closures, more than 8,500 refugees and migrants travelled to the Greek islands from Turkey last week, according to the UNHCR.

In an interview published on Sunday, Austria's foreign minister said border closures should be extended.

Sebastian Kurz told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the route leading through Italy to central Europe should also be blocked.

"Smuggling can't be prevented entirely ... (so) we will have to do everything that we are now doing on the western Balkan route along the Italy-Mediterranean route too," he said.

"The time of waving through refugees to central Europe is over."
Turkey's military has carried out air strikes against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq hours after a deadly bombing in Ankara, the state-run news agency said.

The Anadolu Agency said nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK in the northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the group's leadership is based.

Police detained dozens of suspected Kurdish militants in a southern Turkish city today.

Sunday's blast came as Turkey's security forces were set to launch large-scale operations against militants in two mainly Kurdish towns - Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and in Nusaybin, which borders Syria - after authorities imposed curfews there, prompting some residents to flee. The military deployed large numbers of tanks near the towns as the curfews were announced.

Turkey has been imposing curfews in several flashpoints in the south-east since August to root out militants linked to the PKK, who had set up barricades, dug trenches and planted explosives.

The military operations have raised concerns over human rights violations and scores of civilian deaths. Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced by the fighting.

Last week, Turkey's military ended a three-month operation against the militants in the historic Sur district of Diyarbakir - the largest city in the country's mostly Kurdish southeast.

On Sunday, authorities eased the curfew in some streets and one neighborhood of Sur, but the siege over the district's main areas was still in place.

The PKK has been designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US nd the European Union. A fragile peace process between the PKK and the Turkish state collapsed in July, reigniting a battle that has cost tens of thousands of lives since 1984.
Turkey has lashed out at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in Ankara.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong indications" that Sunday's attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Mr Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people.

DNA tests are under way to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

"There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organisation," Mr Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK.

The attack further complicated Turkey's place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.

A fragile peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against IS in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS. Sunday's attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a February 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

Turkey considers the PKK and the Kurdish militia in Syria to be one and the same, and has been pressing its US allies to stop helping the Syrian Kurds. Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organisation but has backed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has been effective in fighting IS.

Both the US and Turkey have generally good relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq; Monday's air strikes in northern Iraq targeted PKK bases rather than installations of the Iraqi Kurds.

Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 PKK positions, including the Qandil mountains, where the group's leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets.

Police carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining 38 suspected PKK rebels, while 15 suspected Kurdish militants were detained in Istanbul, the agency reported. In addition, authorities were searching for 10 suspects connected to the female bomber, deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

Turkey already had plans for large-scale operations against Kurdish militants.

Anadolu said an operation in Nusaybin, on the border with Syria, began on Monday, while tanks were deployed for another operation in the town of Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq.

Authorities also imposed a curfew in the city of Sirnak, near the Iraqi border, signalling the military was preparing an offensive there as well.

Mr Davutoglu vowed that Turkey's struggle against the PKK would continue until the group is wiped out.

"After (the links) to the terror organisation were determined, our armed forces conducted a comprehensive operation in northern Iraq. Our struggle against the terror points in Nusaybin and Yuksekova are continuing," he said. "We will not shy away from taking the necessary steps."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria, voicing hope that the move will contribute to the success of peace talks that began on Monday.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defence ministries, Mr Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defence Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defence Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," he said.

Mr Putin did not specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. He emphasised that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate.

The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Mr Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues".

The Russian and US-brokered ceasefire that began on February 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations.

The Islamic State group and al Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the ceasefire.

Mr Putin said the move would send a "good signal" to the parties to the conflict, help raise trust and help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad.

Mr Putin added that the Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the ceasefire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy, in Geneva, Mr de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday.

At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The Geneva talks come as the truce helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas" - zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

Mr de Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war - and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the UN is "a red line", and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months - a key demand of the opposition.

But Mr de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the UN Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue - the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Assad, however, has announced that parliament elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

On Monday, as the election campaign officially kicked off, streets in the capital Damascus were festooned with electoral banners and posters of hundreds of government-approved candidates.

In the so-called proximity talks, the two sides do not meet face-to-face, but meet separately with Mr de Mistura and his team, who shuttle back and forth.

The talks began on Monday with Mr de Mistura hosting a government delegation led by Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mr Ja'afari called the meeting "positive and constructive" and said the government delegation "submitted ideas and views" for a political solution to the crisis.

He said the opposition will meet Mr de Mistura on Tuesday, and his delegation would meet again on Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures on Wednesday rose to their highest level in nearly seven weeks, as fears of...
SINGAPORE: US oil may test a support at $83.78 per barrel, a break below which could open the way towards...
MOSCOW: The rouble traded near 61 to the dollar on Friday and strengthened against the euro and yuan, supported by a...
BRUSSELS: EU leaders will debate how to handle Europes energy shock Thursday, with capitals at loggerheads over...
When Paul Sweeney got his own police station, he hoped for a coffee mug.

Instead, his mum Madelene handed him a teddy bear.

It takes Mrs Sweeney about two days to create one of her trauma teddies. Credit:Jay Cronan

"I said Mum 'I'm too old for a teddy bear.' She said 'firstly, you're not. No one is. Secondly, it's not for you. It's a trauma bear, for any kid you think needs it'," he wrote in a Facebook post which has attracted more than 154,000 likes and 27,000 shares.

True enough, that small knitted bear would not remain in his truck for long.
9.27am: Two westbound lanes of Hindmarsh Drive at Symonston have reopened after an earlier three-car crash although traffic remains heavy. An ACT Emergency Services Agency spokesman says the crash was fairly minor.

9.30am: Police are asking motorists to avoid Hindmarsh Drive at Symonston as a three-car crash is blocking two lanes.

9.18am: A three-car crash on Hindmarsh Drive heading has closed two lanes heading towards Woden.

A small section of the eastbound lanes of Dickson Place will be closed about 50 metres west of Cowper Street from 7am this morning for at least two hours while tree root grinding and kerb maintenance work gets under way.

If you see any accidents or have any info on the morning commute, let us know whenever it is safe to do so. Email morningblog@canberratimes.com.au or tweet us @canberratimes.



Opposition leader Bill Shorten will address the National Press Club today at 12.30pm. concludes 1.30pm.

The Canberra Balloon Spectacular is on every morning from 6am from the lawns of Old Parliament House. Free for spectators with paid hot breakfast served by the Belconnen Lions Club. Until March 20.

The Canberra Comedy Festival begins today with 60 comedy shows over six days until March 20. At various venues.

The 27th Alliance Francaise French Film Festival is back at Palace Electric Cinemas with 48 flicks from March 3-29.

The Canberra Times Good Food Month is on until March 31, 2016.

Celestial Empire: Life in China 1644-1911 is on at the National Library of Australia brings together culture and tradition from two of the world's great libraries. Until May 22. Free.

Encounters showcases rare Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objects from the British Museum at the National Museum of Australia until March 28. Free.

A retrospective of Australian artist Tom Roberts is on at the National Gallery of Australia until March 28.

Touch or click through for more David Pope

Today: Cloudy. Medium (40%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon. Winds becoming southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning. Max 23.

Wednesday: Cloudy. Medium (40%) chance of showers in the morning and afternoon. Winds southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h tending easterly in the middle of the day then becoming light in the early afternoon. Min 12, max 24.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 11, max 27.
A man allegedly headbutted and punched a Mooseheads patron after accusing him of urinating on his shoe early Sunday morning, a court has heard.

The two men were standing near one another at the public urinal in the London Circuit pub shortly before 3.40am, when they began to argue.

A man has been charged with assault after an altercation at Mooseheads. Credit:Karleen Minney

Court documents allege the defendant, Brodie Anderson, 25, said to his urinal companion:

"You just pissed on my shoes".
"Saturday's question," writes Steven Maher, of Failford (Which is longer, the Melbourne Cup or the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race?), "reminded me of another: Which is shorter? Driving around Australia clockwise or anti-clockwise? Anti-clockwise of course, because you're on the inside lane." We recall being told that the difference in distance is much smaller than you would think. Does anyone know?

"After being woken at 3.30 am many years ago," recalls Freda Banner, of Northbridge (Column 8, since Thursday), "the first thing I do is unplug the clock radio in hotels. Problem solved." Eric Shackle, of Castle Hill, recalls "the story about a Blue Mountains guesthouse that rang a bell at dawn to warn guests to return to their own rooms. Is it still done today?"

"The Form's cartoon tipster is on a roll," notes Col Shephard, the Yamba Gambla. "The tip offered on Friday, March 4, was reported (on Friday, March 11) to have run 6th (6th in a field of 6 ... last!). The tip provided on Friday, March 11, would seem to have been No. 9, Italy, in race 6. Guess how Italy performed. Yep, correct! But how will its performance be reported on Friday, March 18? I predict it'll be '8th at $11' and not as it ought to be, '8th and last at $11'. Let's see!"

"There is a rival to the mispronunciation of the word 'a'," writes Jan, of Mosman, Column 8, Friday). "As a voice and speech teacher, I have given up on 'gonna'. I know when I'm beaten. It is uttered by all, from the highest elected or appointed in the land to the two-year-old child, and is even written in newspaper headlines. It appears that there is only one person in Australia who says 'going to.' Modesty prevents, me, etc."

"Growing up in Melbourne from 1958-1963, I often saw the Whelan the Wrecker sign," recalls Denis Lynch, of Freshwater (wrecking balls, Column 8, last week). "My dad went to a lunch during that time, and the guest speaker was the Whelan son who was running the company at the time. At the end of his talk he said 'My ambition...' then pulled a cord to open a curtain revealing the Sydney Harbour Bridge."
Alternative medicine is big business. With a cost of more than $2 billion annually in Australia, you might think practices like vitamin and mineral supplementation, acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy or even chiropractic care were conventional. Yet the majority of these have little foundation in evidence. So why are so many of us signing up for treatments with no guarantee of success? At least some of the fault lies with doctors like me.

Effective communication has long been considered a key component of medical care. Patients want to know how likely a treatment is to work and doctors should be able to tell them. This is the promise of evidenced-based care, yet in some regard doctors are failing to promote it.

Patients want to know how likely a treatment is to work and doctors should be able to tell them.

Generally, evidence-based practice has helped to increase both the safety and utility of many medicines. This comes at the cost of losing the "power of suggestion" that occurs when proof is absent. Alternative medicine does not suffer this dilemma. When a substance has not been tested in a well-designed trial it is impossible to say it doesn't have a benefit. When the purported effect is vague, such as wellness or immune defence, it is easy to convince yourself it is working. The mystery is maintained.

But explanations from doctors about why evidenced-based medicines are more effective than alternative medicine are not just poor at the patient level. Broader communication, which has a better chance to affect opinion and understanding, is frequently squandered by those on the soapbox.
She says that despite the perception you are helping out by taking yourself off to the private sector, there is limited evidence to say that waiting times in the public sector are reduced by the number of people with health insurance.

The Private Health Insurance Quarterly Statistics issued by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority last month reveal we are having a little trouble being thoroughly convinced by the usefulness of private health insurance, despite the way in which it is subsidised by the federal government through its rebate scheme.

There was a small drop in the percentage of the population covered for hospital treatment in the final quarter of 2015. Now, it's around 47 per cent of the population  but there was an increase in coverage for those aged between 65 to 69 (and surely, by this stage and after all the tax paid, you'd hope we could have a health system which could support people in that age bracket).

So, a five per cent increase in my private health insurance premiums is manageable because I am still in paid employment. But it's big compared to the cost of health expenditure in general. As the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare pointed out in its report published in September 2015, what the government had to increase in its spend on health isn't anything like five per cent. In fact, over the past decade to 2014, the average increase of government spending on health is only a tick over three per cent.

It's not costing a bigger chunk of our taxation either. It was about 28 per cent in 2013 and the same in 2014. It's hard to imagine why the federal government keeps banging on about the cost of health. Still, nearly half of us have decided to have private health insurance just in case the government goes full feral and insists our insurers cover GP visits for all but those on social security and welfare payments.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize is one of the art world's more unusual contemporary art prizes. In essence, it's an exercise in that intermittently popular concept known as pay-it-forward.

This year, the previous year's winner of the major prize, sculptor and installation artist Mikala Dwyer, selected 22 established artists for a group exhibition at the National Art School Gallery. Each selected artist then invited an up-and-coming artist they admire to share the space.

Rosie Deacon (right) with her mentor Sarah Goffman and Deacon's installation Kangaroo Cook-off and the Whole Kitschn Kaboodle. Credit:Michele Mossop

"It effectively curates itself," says Dwyer. "It sets up a wonderful mentor-mentee relationship and also a wonderful surprise element. You can't possibly imagine how it's going to work. It just explodes with choice."

There are no limitations on media or subject matter, although each artist can only submit a single recent work for one of two prizes: the Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize, valued at $25,000, and a $10,000 Emerging Artist Prize.
Noted writers' festival 2016. March 16 to 20. notedfestival.com

For writers, editors, publishers and book-lovers, writers' festivals are the single best opportunity to engage with and to hear from the writers we love as well as the ones we didn't know we loved.

Noted writers' festival co-directors Yasmin Masri, left, and Lucy Nelson at Gorman Arts Centre, one of the venues for the festival. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

Until now, the thing that all Australian writers' festivals had in common was that Canberrans had to travel to attend them.

The inaugural Noted writers' festival in 2015 brought panels, workshops, live readings and literary game shows back to this city, and this year, from March 16 to 20, it's back and twice as big. What remains the same, however, is that all the events are free.
AUSTRALIAN HAYDN ENSEMBLE

Cell Block Theatre, March 13. Until March 14



These days, it feels like classical music performances fall into two categories: the quest to make newness old, and the quest to make oldness new.

Soprano Sara Macliver layers the vocal line on an emotional journey from grief to acceptance. Credit:Michelle Smith

The Australian Haydn Ensemble falls into the latter, bringing scholarship and curiosity to well-aged and more or less well-known repertoire.

To date, their performances of music from the 18th century have been ear-catching, but have relied on raw energy to smudge some rough edges.
The theme of the sold-out premiere of the SSO's new contemporary music series was rebirth of the planet, and what better place for it than in the recycled Eveleigh railway workshops at Carriageworks.

 In Sydney Symphony Orchestra chief conductor David Robertson, Sydney has a champion of the music of our time, who performs it with lucidity and communicates its ideas with directness and passion.

David Roberston conducts Sydney Symphony Orchestra at Carriageworks for Crossing the Threshold. Credit:Keith Saunders

The program began with a tribute to the recently departed giant of 20th century modernism, Pierre Boulez. His Derive 1 shimmers with quiet elusive energy and glittering static chords, yet each texture or gesture is etched with the finest precision.

Brett Dean's Pastoral Symphony begins with a bushland murmuring, its half-light pieced with the sound of birdsong, progressively overtaken by modern clamour.

Dean's works of this type overlay modernist textures with expressionist narrative of dramatic vividness.

The newest item on the program was the premiere of a specially commissioned work, Land's End by Lisa Illean.

A piece of exquisitely quiet shadows shaded with microtunings, the work winds down almost to nothing before a moment of quiet refreshment leads to an ending of wispy rising lines that vanish in the ether.
"It's my job to bring the colour, for want of a better word," says Wendy Mae Brown, the British actress who plays her near-namesake, the charlatan psychic Oda Mae Brown, in the touring production of Ghost the Musical.

"It's a great role for me and I think it's shaping up to be one of the great female roles in musical theatre," Brown says. "You have to sing, dance and be a comedian. All your talents have to come to the fore. You can't be an amateur to play Oda Mae. It's a tough role to get right, really tough."

Wendy Mae Brown playing psychic Oda Mae Brown with Rob Mills and Jemma Rix in Ghost the Musical. Credit:Jeff Busby

Played by Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990 film starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, the role of Oda Mae (for which Goldberg earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress) has become an all-singing, all-dancing affair in the musical version spun off the original screenplay.

"I was always a fan of Ghost. I watched the film over and over again for years. But never for a minute did I imagine I would ever play that Whoopi character. It was a film, and that was that," she says.
Canberra will likely narrowly avoid being pelted by giant hail stones as a severe storm is expected to pass to the north and east of the ACT on Monday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe storm warning, saying the storm could bring heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones to areas north-east of the ACT, including Goulburn and Braidwood.

The State Emergency Service has advised residents east of Canberra to keep their cars under cover and to keep clear of creeks and storm drains. Credit:Graham Tidy

The warning, issued shortly before 2pm, also covers Scone, Armidale, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Walgett, Penrith, Bowral, Campbelltown and Katoomba.

The warning follows an unstable week for Canberra's weather, as our warmest start to March on record gives way to a string of cooler days.
As China's role in our economic and strategic future continues to grow, we badly need a deeper capacity to engage with it on a linguistic and cultural level playing field. We conspicuously lack that capacity, and the education policies that were intended to bridge the gap have made only small advances. It's time for a serious stocktake.

English is aggressively taught in China so that the country can engage with the outside world in both business and scholarship, but we are failing abysmally in this country to master Chinese. We are being left behind in the competition to understand and penetrate Chinese markets, Chinese culture and Chinese politics. This is lazy and even dangerous.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson Credit:Andrew Dyson

A joke went around some years ago to the effect that there were so many people in China learning English that there would soon be more English speakers in China than there then were in the United States; but that by the time this happened everyone in the United States would be speaking Spanish. We are fast approaching a situation here where only Australians of Chinese ethnicity will speak Chinese. This should alarm both economic and strategic planners.

It has been estimated that the current number of proficient adult speakers of Chinese in Australia of non-Chinese background is 130 at most; and half of those are already over 55 years of age. Obstacles and disincentives discourage non-Chinese students from taking up or persevering with Chinese as a second language; to the point where only 5 per cent of those who enroll in it at secondary school continue it to year 12. Last year, there were 400 year 12 students of Chinese as a second language  20 per cent fewer than in 2008.
A teenage boy has been rushed to hospital after he fell off a bridge and onto train tracks in Sydney on Friday.

The 15-year-old boy sustained serious injuries to his lower body after he fell 10 metres and landed on the tracks at Meadowbank Station just before 3pm.

A doctor and intensive care paramedic were flown by a CareFlight helicopter to Meadowbank Park, and escorted by police to the station.

At least 16 emergency services workers were at the scene, including Fire and Rescue NSW crews and NSW ambulance paramedics.
University student Jamie Gao had been missing for four days when police discovered two brown pillow cases and a green backpack under the seats of a white, Ford station wagon.

The car was parked in the basement of a Cronulla apartment block  where former policeman Glen McNamara was living.

Video footage has been shown to the NSW Supreme Court of a police officer dressed in a blue forensic suit as he searched the car on May 24, 2014.

Inside one of the pillow cases was a crystallised rock substance contained in two snap lock plastic bags.
Decreasing lot sizes, where 400 square metres is the norm in all urban areas, and 200-300 square metre lots very common, will destroy suburban vegetation and natural drainage corridors. Over-estimated population growth must be considered. Redland City mayor Karen Williams. Credit:Facebook (b) Commission an independent audit of council's finances. Where have the extra $60 million in water revenues gone  since borrowings are still at $50 million, and services have decreased? Karen Williams

Ensure 2016/17 budget reflects my commitment to increase pension discounts and keep rate increases low, commence free-city circle mini bus connecting major centres, hospital and transport nodes, acquire Commonwealth land to deliver opportunities and incentives for a university. Finalise (market-led) proposal to state government to fix Cleveland Redland Bay Road through partnerships with road construction companies, the July rollout of innovative "on-demand" bulky waste collection through social enterprise partnerships and review water park opportunities. Why do you love the Redlands? Greg Underwood The Redlands still has a small-town feel to it. That's what my family loves about it.

There's a great community spirit and people are engaged with what's going on locally. The natural beauty both on the mainland and our islands is something to be protected. The thought of our city becoming just another suburb of Brisbane through poor planning and urban sprawl is what made me stand for mayor. Karen Williams Redlands is my birthplace and where my parents had their real start in Australia as eastern European immigrants.

The same community spirit that exists today embraced my parents in the 1950s. We're ideally situated near Australia's third largest city, between Moreton Bay, the Gold and Sunshine coasts and only 30 kilometres from Brisbane Airport and Port of Brisbane. We're a city of islands, a jewel in south-east Queensland with potential yet to be realised. What is the main problem in the Redlands that needs to be addressed as a priority? Greg Underwood

In the past four years, council had an "anything goes" approach to development and the result is increased density and poor planning outcomes. Council has the tools to ensure developments are well designed and meet planning standards. My background as an engineer and planner will help deliver better results. Residents have every right to expect well-designed neighbourhoods, reasonable growth, appropriate development density, protected greenspace, local jobs and consideration of the limitations of our congested roads. Karen Williams

Fixing traffic congestion on our state-owned roads. As Redlands has the lowest growth rate in south-east Queensland, the state often overlooks our backlog of road and transport infrastructure, whilst continuing to forecast future growth that councils are required to plan for. I am committed to finding a solution, by leveraging our newly acquired healthy financial position and the strong relationship built with local private enterprise and government over the past four years. What is your favourite spot in the Redlands? Greg Underwood

That's a very difficult question because there are such a variety of great places here. Nothing beats a brisk walk along the foreshore or taking the barge to Straddie. We also have great restaurants, cultural and recreational activities. But if I'm honest, there's no place like home  and after a busy day, what could be better than to go into my shed and work on restoring old cars to their original glory. Karen Williams

Too many to choose from. Growing up, it was weekend picnics on Tingalpa Creek at Capalaba. Now, it would have to be at Mount Cotton overlooking Moreton Bay. In the future, possibly Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek waterfront precincts once they are transformed into world-class waterfront destinations and state-of-the-art transport gateways to our islands. What do you drive past two to three times a week and say 'If I'm elected I am going to fix that?'

Greg Underwood My priority is to cut traffic congestion caused by council's fixation with unneeded residential development. With at least another 20,000 people to be housed in three future major unplanned suburbs and no supporting infrastructure, it's a ticking time bomb. A good start would be a Victoria Point bypass road to move traffic from local bottlenecks. More jobs in a new technology and innovation employment area will help keep workers here at home.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will spend $360 million on his administration's Smoother Suburban Streets program over the next four years, should the Liberal National Party be re-elected to City Hall on Saturday.

Cr Quirk will announce the plan to resurface 2000 suburban roads on Tuesday, just four days out from the March 19 poll.

It was not a new program  the Lord Mayor committed $100 million to the program in his 2015-16 Brisbane City Council budget.

Cr Quirk said his resurfacing commitment would be the largest in Brisbane's history.
Clive Palmer has been ordered to employ enough workers at his Townsville nickel refinery to meet its environmental standards, with hundreds of staff still unsure whether they have jobs.

After creating a new company to manage the plant, taking back the day-to-day operations of the Yabulu refinery from the voluntary administrators, Mr Palmer laid off its entire workforce late last week.

Clive Palmer says he was too busy in federal parliament to be involved in the daily running of his nickel refinery. Credit:Glenn Hunt

He has said he would re-hire them under his new company, but was waiting on licences to be transferred from Queensland Nickel to Queensland Nickel Sales.

The government rushed through those transfers but Mr Palmer was still to re-hire the 550 or so workers who were re-trenched in the midst of an argument with the Palaszczuk Government over whether he has all the licences he needs to operate.
A Queensland police officer accused of raping a woman in the back of a squad car shared a "pinky promise" with his alleged victim afterwards, a court has heard.

Trent Christopher Birthisel, 31, is facing five counts of rape after the 20-year-old woman asked him and his partner, Rudy Clarence Nonis, to take her home after a night of clubbing in Mackay in 2014.

Mackay District Court heard the woman was assaulted repeatedly in the back of a police car by officer Trent Christopher Berthisel.

A Mackay District Court trial has heard the woman was repeatedly assaulted after getting in the back seat of the car in the early hours of a Sunday morning.

On one occasion she was stripped naked and raped while the car was parked under a bridge and Mr Nonis smoked cigarettes a short distance away, it was alleged.
Queenslanders are likely to reject a move to fixed, four-year parliamentary terms, a new poll suggests.

The Galaxy poll, published in The Courier-Mail, found 43 per cent of respondents were against giving state governments an additional year in power, and 16 per cent remain undecided ahead of Saturday's referendum.

Queenslanders would rather vote more regularly than risk being stuck with a bad government, a new poll suggests. Credit:Joe Castro

Regional Queenslanders are most strongly opposed to the change, with just 36 per cent planning to vote yes. Support is higher in Brisbane at 45 per cent, but that's down three percentage points on the last poll a week ago.

The Labor government and the Liberal National Party opposition have both backed the change.
Tiahleigh Palmer loved to dance, she couldn't do cartwheels but she tried, and in a few weeks she would have been celebrating the milestone of becoming a teenager.

Now her mother, Cindy, is appealing for those who cut her daughter's life brutally short to hand themselves in.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Ms Palmer said she thought about the people who killed her daughter every night before she slept.

"The first thing that comes to my mind when I go to bed every night (is) that this could happen to somebody else," she said.
Is there life on the fourth rock from the sun? The tantalising question may soon be answered by a joint European-Russian mission to find out whether the Red Planet's mysterious emissions of methane, the main constituent of natural gas, are of geological or biological origin.

The ExoMars mission, which lifted off on Monday, consists of an orbiter and a lander, paired together in one spacecraft.

The trace-gas orbiter's high-tech chemical laboratory will spend five years scouring the Martian atmosphere for signs of methane and other trace gases, while the lander is an entry, descent and landing module, called Schiaparelli, designed to pave the way for future investigations of the planet's canyon-like valleys and crater-scarred plains.

The European Space Agency spacecraft, carried aloft by a Russian Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, will take seven months to reach Mars, travelling at more than 30,000km/h.
In the Facebook post, which has clocked up a more than 637,000 shares, the journalist makes his views amply clear: "I've come to realise that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one."

So writes the man behind Humans of New York , Brandon Stanton, in an open letter to presidential hopeful Donald Trump that has so far been liked over a million times.

"I can confirm  the hateful one is you."

Stanton's impassioned letter goes on to list a dark rollcall of the Republican candidate's recent colourful tactics on the primaries trail.

Brandon Stanton, creator of Humans of New York, has penned an open letter to Donald trump to his more than 17 million followers. Credit:Kathy Willens

"I've watched you retweet racist images. I've watched you retweet racist lies. I've watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy. I've watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to 'pay the legal fees' of those who commit violence on your behalf," Stanton wrote.

"I've watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists' families. I've watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I've watched you compare refugees to 'snakes,' and claim that 'Islam hates us.'

Stanton continues: "I am a journalist, Mr. Trump. And over the last two years I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. I've also interviewed hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees across seven different countries. And I can confirm the hateful one is you."
The travel rort scandal that has dogged embattled Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi for the past five months could include up to nine more previously undeclared overseas trips.

In October last year the lord mayor was found by the Corruption and Crime Commission to have failed in her duties, in not disclosing gifts and contributions to travel in her annual return.

But when Nine News Perth confronted Ms Scaffidi about four additional undeclared trips, she told them "I think there is probably nine actually... and it will all be answered in due course."

According to a report on Monday, Nine News has uncovered at least four more international trips paid for by third parties.
A policeman who arrested an Aboriginal woman has admitted at a coronial inquest he believed she was faking illness after her second hospital visit cleared her to remain in custody.

Ms Dhu, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons, died two days after being locked up at Western Australia's South Hedland Police Station in August 2014 for unpaid fines totalling $3622, stemming from offences including assaulting an officer.

Ms Dhu died after she was held at South Hedland police station in WA. Credit:ABC News

Constable Callan George testified on Monday at the resumption of the inquest in Perth, which originally started late last year, that he arrested Ms Dhu and her partner Dion Ruffin without incident and they did not require handcuffs.

But when they arrived at the lock-up, Ms Dhu, 22, began limping and told him she had seen a doctor about her broken rib.
Dubai: A Palestinian school teacher and former refugee beat Australia's Richard Johnson to a $US1 million ($1.3 million) global education award on Sunday to applause from world leaders.

Hanan al-Hroub, who teaches refugee children at the Samiha Khalil High School in the West Bank Palestinian city of al-Bireh, was presented with the Global Teacher Prize in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for helping children to learn through play.

Palestinian primary school teacher Hanan al-Hroub reacts after winning the second annual Global Teacher Prize, in Dubai, on Sunday. Al-Hroub encourages students to renounce violence. Credit:AP

Ms Hroub, who grew up in a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, beat nominees from Japan, Canada, Kenya, the United States and Britain. Mr Johnson, an Australian primary school teacher, was one of 10 highly acclaimed teachers vying for the prize.

Ms Hroub told the audience that "teachers could change the world", the BBC reported.
Washington: Donald Trump wanted to market a line of men's clothes that would bear his name.

The Republican frontrunner in the US primaries told people working with him to help find a company known for producing quality merchandise on a mass scale. In the end, Mr Trump signed on with Phillips-Van Heusen, a manufacturer of affordable shirts produced in factories in 85 countries.

The 2004 deal - one of the first of many merchandise-licensing arrangements in which Mr Trump attached his name to products made by foreign workers and sold in the US - is relevant today as the billionaire businessman wages a populist presidential campaign in which he accuses companies of killing US jobs by moving manufacturing plants overseas to take advantage of cheap labour and lax workplace regulations.
The widespread reclassification of mortgages from investment to owner-occupier loans has caught the attention of banking regulator, APRA.



In a letter to all Australian Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs), APRA has warned the banks to be consistent and accurate.



A number of ADIs have recently reported significant changes in housing loan purpose between investment and owner-occupied.



These data are used in public policy decisions, prudential supervision and statistical publications. Where the change in loan purpose is not reported correctly (i.e. from the period that the change occurred), APRA, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) are impeded in accurately ascertaining the underlying movements in housing loans.



Reporting of fixed term housing loans must reflect the current purpose of the loan because the split by housing loan purpose is important for monetary policy and financial stability considerations.



According to an ABC report, in the past six months more than $35 billion worth of investor loans have been reclassified to owner-occupier, including another $1.4 billion in January.



In a recent research note, also published by the ABC, UBS bank analyst Jonathan Mott said there was growing scepticism about banks giving the real story about housing credit.



While it is understandable some existing customers are reclassifying themselves to avoid higher interest charges as their circumstances have changed, there is increasing evidence new customers may be stating their loan is for an owner-occupied property to circumvent the additional imposts on investor borrowing, Mott said.


Latest News NAB reveals six market megatrends for brokers More opportunities for investors, first home buyers

Firstmac shifts up a gear on auto loans National sales manager appointed to pursue growing market

The use of private lenders in the property development sector has surged due to a pullback from the major banks, according to a specialist construction broking group.HoldenCAPITAL director Daniel Holden says the current regulatory requirements being imposed on the major banks has seen them limit their exposure to construction lending to ensure they maintain appropriate capital reserve exposures.Developers and investors cannot rely on their long term lender to provide them with the necessary funding following the recent crackdown by ASIC and APRA, he said.But a wide range of private providers of debt and equity is entering the market or broadening their existing reach and private money has become the new black for the construction sector.As a result, Holden has also announced that HoldenCAPITAL will be conducting an Asia-Pacific road show in April and May. The roadshows will meet with high net worth private individuals and organisations seeking to invest in commercial property loans and equity opportunities.Our executive team will be in Singapore, Hong Kong and Auckland in late April and Sydney and Melbourne in mid-May to discuss these opportunities with investors looking for diversification away from their home markets, he said.Through its wholly owned subsidiary, HCAP Invest, HoldenCAPITAL is able to deliver construction finance opportunities with approved lenders for those seeking private funding or approved equity.HCAP can invest can introduce, assess and manage individual contributory construction mortgage schemes (CCMS) on behalf of approved lenders, says Holden.HCAP Invest can provide those lenders with the opportunity to access attractive returns through directly secured construction investments sourced via HoldenCAPITAL, he said.According to Holden, HoldenCAPITAL has now grown to become Queenslands largest construction finance brokerage firm.In the 2015 financial year we provided more than $300 million in debt and equity to fund 53 transactions, Holden said.
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Feed your face, and not the meter!

The city will go ahead with a plan to install temporary seating in a parking space along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope after members of Community Board Six okayed the proposal last week.

But some Park Sloper merchants and residents are still questing a plan that will swap parking spots with public picnic tables during the warmer months.

To give up a parking space for people to sit outside and have a sandwich  I think were going too far, said Community Board 6 member Suzanne Turet, who voted against the installation at Wednesdays meeting, though the plan ultimately flew through with a 2410 vote. Thats not really good for the neighborhood.

The Department of Transportation will stick the summer seats  which are surrounded by wooden planter boxes to protect loungers from surrounding car traffic  in front of Thai cuisine and ice cream joint SkyIce Sweet & Savory at St. Marks Place later this month and leave it there through November.

SkyIce teamed up with the city to bid for the seats, but neighbors do not have to patronize the business to enjoy the public street-side lounge  the 20-foot-long plant-lined box serves as a miniature public park for locals to hang out and soak in the sun, which many neighbors say would be a welcome addition to the commercial corridor.

I feel that servicing all of the people in the neighborhood looking for a place to relax, enjoy each others company, and have a snack, is more beneficial than making room for parking, said Joanna Smith.

But others argued the seats  in addition to stealing space for cars  are a city-sanctioned loophole for businesses who want the benefits of a sidewalk cafe without going through the onerous public review process.

Its unfair to the people who have applied for sidewalk cafe permits, said board member Daniel Kummer.

With the okay, the city will now begin developing a custom design for the fixture through a community feedback-gathering process before installing the seats in April or May.

The city will appear before the Community Board after the seats first season on Fifth Avenue to gather feedback on the projects launch, and will only re-up the fixture if the community once again gives it a thumbs-up, said transportation committee co-chairman Thomas Miskel.

The so-called Street Seats, were a popular addition to Downtown in 2014 when they were placed on less car-friendly areas including little-used Lawrence Street, on a space where parking was only legal during limited hours during the week.
Staff from a Shropshire-based builders merchant have been learning more about the products they sell  with an overseas trip to their very source.

Nine employees from Tudor Griffiths Group, which is based in Ellesmere, travelled to Sweden to visit a hi-tech sawmill that processes the wood for the Europe, Middle East and North Africa markets.

The trip to the Arbor Forest Products site in Braviken was set up to give timber traders an insight into how the products they sell are produced.

Kevin Gardner, general manager for Tudor Griffiths Group, said: The trip has given us all a great opportunity to learn more about the timber supply chain and the processes involved.

We were particularly impressed with the commitment shown by the forestry team to both quality and sustainability, and their clear focus on environmental issues, including preserving forests for future generations.

The Tudor Griffiths team visited the forests where Whitewood and Redwood trees are planted, grown and harvested, as well as the sawmill itself to see the timber being prepared for distribution. They also learned more about the regulations that govern the management of forests producing wood to Forest Stewardship Council and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification standards.

We were shown the grading and machining processes that take place before the products are shipped overseas, and toured the Holmen paper mill which creates products for the book, newsprint and high-end magazine markets, said Mr Gardner. It was very interesting to see the synergy between the sawmill and paper mill that ensures every part of every tree is used productively, including the waste material thats produced during the preparation of the products.
Bordentown exhibit showcases items belonging to Napoleon's brother

The Bordentown Historical society is gaining international attention for its Joseph Bonaparte exhibit, former King of Spain and brother of Napoleon.
The official opening of a new walking route along Somersets coastline between Minehead and Brean has been welcomed in Burnham-On-Sea this week, with hopes that it will boost visitor numbers and trade in the area.

The launch of the new section of the extended England Coast Path by Natural England has been welcomed by Burnhams MP, the towns Chamber of Trade, tourism bosses and the Town Council.

MP James Heappey told Burnham-On-Sea.com: This is a huge opportunity for Burnham, Berrow and Brean  our stretch of the Somerset coast. We already are recognising the value of walkers and walking to our visitor economy.

Already, the 15 miles of the South West Coast Path that is open in Somerset has been worth 770,000 per mile value added to the local economy. The addition of another 43 mile stretch of the path will mean nearly 40million of added value into our local visitor economy, with Burnham at the centre of that along this stretch of the coast.

He added: This is a great opportunity for Burnham and what we need to do now is grab what Natural England have done for us by getting the coastal path here and make Burnham the most attractive place we possibly can for walkers to come and stay and feel welcome to bring more people back next year.

Walking as an industry is worth billions of pounds per year in the UK and Burnham is now part of one of the most prominent paths in the country.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who walk along a stretch of the England Coast Path each summer  Burnham is now on the map and part of that. This is a really exciting opportunity for the town.

Matt Heard, Natural Englands area manager, added: Its great to be able to open this stretch of the Coast Path. I think it has a huge amount to offer visitors and we are delighted that its now open.

The England Coast Path project which will enable people to walk about 2,700 miles around the whole of the countrys coastline.

We are opening 58 miles of it in Somerset this week, and are working on the next section from Brean to the Severn Bridge which will complete the whole Somerset coast.

Visit Somersets CEO John Turner added: When we consider that rural tourism in the UK is worth between 3-4bn a year, this new coastal path for this stretch of Somerset is incredibly important. Its something that Visit Somerset in relation to walkers are welcome across the county will be publicising as part of our community reach to ensure that if theres something free to see and do in Somerset we will get the message out there. We are working with local communities to bring benefit, connecting pathways, businesses and customers coming in. We wholeheartedly support it.

Burnham-On-Sea Chamber of Trade & Commerce added: This is certainly a great opportunity for Burnham to benefit from a potential influx of extra visitors. The new route is very welcome and could well bring an increase in trade to accommodation providers and shops in our town.

Natural England and Somerset County Council have spent two years meeting with landowners along the route to agree where the route should go. Councillor Harvey Siggs says it will be the first time that a continuous walking route will be available along the whole of the countys coastline.

It will link with existing promoted trails such as the River Parrett Trail and West Somerset Coast Path as well as Steart. We expect the route to bring additional trade to local businesses throughout the year and along the whole route.

Pictured: Top, Burnhams MP James Heappey, Burnhams Deputy Mayor Bill Hancock, Matt Heard of Natural England, town councillors David Hoggarth and Andy Brewer, Burnham Chamber of Trade Chairman Mark Newman, and Visit Somersets John Turner

Also see:

Map showing England Coast Path progress so far


More than 100 members and supporters of Burnham-On-Seas Hillview Carnival Club attended the groups annual presentation night on Saturday (March 12th).

Hillview founder Mary Nicholson handed out awards and certificates to members in recognition of their work during a ceremony held at Burnhams Ritz Social Club.

Mary praised the clubs members for their wonderful support and dedication and thanked the clubs many supporters and sponsors.

The Chairmans Choice award went jointly to Lauren James and Sian Fisher, pictured above.

Trophies were also presented to many of the children who performnd on the clubs Christmas-themed cart last November.

They include best fundraiser Luke Clark, most improved Lacey Hallam, most promising Aisha Lester, best girl Lottie Nicholson, best boy George Lawrence, bst newcomer Thomas Nicholson, best all-rounders Bradley Chave and Jack Britton, and the childrens choice Ryan Morgan.

During the evening, the club also handed over a cheque for 600 to Cancer Research UK, pictured below.

It comes after a successful collection during the clubs annual Christmas charity float collection last December, taking the total to 3,766 since 2008.

The clubs 2015 float, called Its A Cracker, impressed the judges and spectators along the routes of the parades across Somerset and won second place overall in the juvenile category.

The club has again thanked its key business supporters who are Burnham Waste, Manuflex, AM Bacon Tractor and Machinery, The Print Hive, Morley and Phill Tibbs, The Lighthouse Inn, Highbridge Caravans, Oak Tree Arena, Jim Vernicombe and B&H Car and Vans of Highbridge.

Also see:

Carnival season ends on a high for Burnhams Hillview Carnival Club
Wine lovers in the Burnham-On-Sea area are being encouraged to join a new local club dedicated to the tipple.

The Burnham Wine Club will enable local people to discover wine, break down myths and uncover some hidden gems in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

The first tasting evening will be held on Thursday 28 April and will be exploring classic grape varieties and tasting them from around the world.

The evening will help wine lovers to understand whether the soil and climate of the grapes effects the taste.

The first evening will be led by Kelli Coxhead AIWS from The Wine Shop in Winscombe, pictured.

She fell in love with wine on a trip to New Zealand, on her return from her travels amd decided a career change was needed, so jumped in with both feet and entered the world of wine.

If you fancy understanding a bit more to help you get to grips with all that sniffing and swirling then come along.

Kelli, pictured, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: The best way to learn about wine is to taste, and practice makes perfect!

The Burnham Wine Club is an offshoot of the Burnham on Sea Food and Drink Festival and a spokesperson added: We have launched the Burnham Wine Club to provide informal and ad hoc tutored tasting events in Burnham-On-Sea. The group is open to all who want to enhance their appreciation of good drinks.

You can expect high quality tutors, a great range of wines and topics in local venues, with small enough groups that you get to learn and taste with enough room. Future tastings are planned for gin, beers, holiday wines and English wines.

To book a place and get more information, email: bosfoodfest@gmail.com
Harley-Davidson has increased the price of select models sold in India by Rs30,000 to offset exchange rate fluctuations, according to a news agency report.

The new prices are effective from April 1 and will impact models including Street 750, the Sportster and Softail ranges. The Street 750 is currently priced from Rs4.52 lakh, while the price of various models in the Sportster family ranges from Rs7.37 lakh to Rs9.21 lakh.

Softail range models are priced from Rs15.15 lakh to Rs16.6 lakh. According to a company spokesperson, the prices have been hiked because of the fall in the value of the rupee vis a vis the US dollar. The American company has a manufacturing-cum-assembly facility in Bawal in Haryana. Harley-Davidson also exports its models assembled in India to different parts of the world. According to Vikram Pawah, managing director, Harley-Davidson India, the company has sold over 12,000 bikes since it began operations in the country in 2010. We promote brotherhood and are not into numbers, said Pawah. Harley is all about leisure-biking. The bikes that are sold in India are priced from Rs4.52 lakh and goes up to Rs51.27 lakh.

Source : BS Motoring
Car exports from India fell by 3.71 per cent during April-February of the current fiscal to 4.84 lakh units as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The decline was mainly because of changes in technical regulations in Algeria and high taxes in Sri Lanka. Hyundai Motors, the countrys largest exporter, shipped 1.35 lakh units in the April-February period, a more than 25 per cent decline over the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. Maruti Suzuki exported 1.04 lakh units, slightly more than in the previous fiscal. Other major exporters included Nissan (1.01 lakh cars as against 1.08 lakh units in the corresponding period) and Volkswagen (68,224 units, as against 60,706 units). But in terms of overall exports of passenger vehicles  including cars, utility vehicles and vans  total shipments were up by 3.14 per cent to 5.91 lakh units.

Source : BS Motoring
The success of Baba Ramdevs Patanjali Ayurved appears to have inspired a host of spiritual gurus to take the plunge head-on into fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

The latest in this series is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, lately better known as the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, which concluded a mega three-day World Cultural Festival (WCF) near the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi. The Foundation has an and ayurvedic products arm and this is now looking to expand its horizons in the next one year.

EMERGING PLAYERS Sri Sri Ravi Shankar-led Art of Living Foundations Sri Sri Ayurveda

Pujya Bapuji Sant Shri Asaramji Ashram

Aurobindo Ashram

Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Source: Edelweiss

Sri Sri Ayurveda, according to a report by brokerage Edelweiss, is now mulling tie-ups with retailers to expand reach from 600 to 2,500 stores by 2017. (It) has a Sri Sri Ayurveda app for Android and iPhones. In our view, though the existing digital presence will aid growth, whats needed is expansion of physical distribution, as well as building a robust company, the report said. Much as Patanjali did last year, when it announced a tie-up with Future Group.

Incidentally, Future Group Chief Executive Kishore Biyani had indicated last week that he was open to distributing Sri Sris products, though no discussion had happened. Biyani made the comment from the WCF venue, where he was an attendee, triggering speculation of an imminent tie-up.

The Edelweiss report does not indicate the turnover of Sri Sri Ayurveda but says it is not the only one to be contemplating such a move. Pujya Bapuji Sant Shri Asaramji Ashram, Aurobindo Ashram and Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha are other organisations which not only cater to the spiritual needs of millions of followers but are also emerging as FMCG players, it said.

It added a captive customer base of health-conscious practitioners of yoga, meditation and natural living was one reason for the babas to consider ramping up their FMCG ayurveda operations.

Also, the rush comes as Patanjali Ayurved crosses Rs 2,000 crore in annual turnover. Ramdev had said earlier he was expecting it to touch Rs 5,000 crore by the end of this financial year, making him bigger than a number of consumer goods .

A CLSA report of last year said Patanjali had reached a critical mass, making it an interesting pick for investors, had it been listed.
While the central government-owned (CIL) has crossed a record 500 million tonnes (mt) of output for the financial year (though well below the target), with another fortnight to go, it is again stuck with a problem of inventory  a 53 mt stockpile as of Monday, up from 47 mt on March 1.

It had begun 2015-16 with 54 mt of stock and this had reduced over the September quarter but started climbing again from the December quarter, when low demand set in. As of February, it had missed its production target of 491.3 mt by three per cent, though there was 9.2 per cent growth in output (April-February) from the same timeframe in 2014-15.

It had aimed to cross 500 mt production in FY15 but reached only 494.2 mt. This year, the coal ministry raised the target to 550 mt from the former 507 mt, prompting the company to step up mine-level supervision and implement better evacuation techniques. Its (railway) rake loading saw 9.6 per cent growth, at 210.9 rakes a day against FY15s average of 192.5.

The largest stock is with South Eastern Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields. Demand from Gujarat and Rajasthan power plants, in particular, had fallen substantially of late.

Taking into account the stock with power plants, the total available stock in India is about 88 mt, nearly 63 per cent higher than the 54 mt on April 1, 2015, when this financial year began. If enough sales dont take place by the time the monsoons set in, it could lead to a price revision.

While the company is likely to miss its production target by at least 10 mt in FY16, its officials expecting the ministry to give it one of 590-610 mt for 2016-17. As part of its vision of a billion tonnes of production by 2020, the ministry has been pressing for more output, to reduce dependence on imports.
The health ministrys move to ban 350-odd fixed-dose combinations on safety concerns has jolted many pharmaceutical firms. Experts, going by data from AIOCD Pharmasofttech Awacs, believe that 3.91 per cent (revenues of Rs 2,000 crore) of the overall Indian pharma market may get hit. Among the bigger setbacks is the ban of over-the-counter (OTC) cough syrups brands like Corex (of Pfizer) and Phensedyl (of Abbott). on Monday contested the order in courts, which have stayed the order. But if the ban is implemented going ahead, it will hurt firms such as and Abbott: their Corex and Phensedyl, respectively, are among the top-five selling brands, with per-year revenues of over Rs 200 crore and margins of 35 per cent plus. Corex alone is believed to have contributed Rs 180 crore to Pfizers revenues of Rs 1,500 crore in the first nine months of FY16. Pfizers stock fell 8.7 per cent to close at Rs 1,761 on Monday.

Phensedyl sales, which contribute significantly, are not accounted for in the listed entity Abbott India.
The high court (HC) in Delhi granted an interim order on the government ban on Pfizers cough syrup, Corex, which has an average monthly sale of Rs 20 crore. The company decided to move the HC after the government on Thursday notified a ban on about 300 fixed dose combination drugs. This includes the combination of codeine and chlopheniramine maleate, sold by Pfizer and Abbott under the respective brand names of Corex and Phensedyl. Abbott, too, has challenged the government order and its petition is to be heard on Tuesday.

Corex, one of the top selling drugs of Pfizer, generated sales of Rs 176 crore in the nine months ending December 2015. Phensedyl has an average annual sale of Rs 180 crore.

We have received an interim injunction suspending the operation of the said notification banning the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution of fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate + Codeine Syrup till the next date of hearing. We are awaiting the order from the honourable Delhi High Court, the company said in a statement.

Corex has a well-established efficacy and safety profile in India for more than 30 years and has both Central and State licenses and approvals. Pfizer makes every effort to maintain the highest standards of regulatory and quality compliance in the manufacture and distribution of Corex



We are concerned about the unilateral approach in prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of certain fixed dose combinations that have already been approved for use by DCGI (the sector regulator). We are evaluating the notification and exploring all available options, an Abbott India spokesperson said.

The pharmaceutical industry  both Indian and multinational companies  has criticised the government's ban as unfair and non-transparent. S V Veeramani, president, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, has asked the government to reconsider and said the ban was imposed without hearing the manufacturers.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Association is not against a ban of irrational combinations. However, a ban must follow the due process of law laid down under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The current list (of banned drugs) includes some items not examined by the expert committee, said D G Shah, secretary general of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

It is a big concern that, with this sweeping action, patients are to be denied access to some medicines that are approved as safe and efficacious in India and globally," said Ranjana Smetacek, director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, a consortium of multinational drug makers.

A circular was issued by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in January 2013 to all state counterprats that all fixed drug combination drugs which do not have its approval needed to get it within 18 months. The central controller said if any of these failed to get its approval in 18 months, it would be banned.

The decision follows the recommendations of the Kokate committee, established in October 2014. Its report had a list of approved and irrational fixed dose combinations, opining that the combinations recommended as irrational should not be manufactured and sold in India.

According to industry sources, a DCGI notification of June 2014 had said any fixed dose combination drug whose production began before September 1988, will not need to take the controllers approval, being deemed as approved. Many of the drugs deemed approved as per this notification  have also been banned now, said a source.
Flipkart has moved the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) against the 10 per cent entry tax in the state on goods purchased from e-commerce firms. In a petition filed with the court in February, Flipkart argued that the states move to impose such a high entry tax was discriminatory. The case will be heard next week and could see other e-commerce players joining in to help maintain parity in taxation of goods bought online and offline.

The move by the Uttarakhand government of imposing 10 per cent additional tax will negatively impact hundreds of thousands of consumers in the state, who rely on e-commerce. This additional tax is on top of the tax already paid on such goods by the sellers in the state from where the goods have been dispatched, said a company spokesperson. Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, too, levy entry tax on e-commerce goods. A few other states are also planning to follow suit.

If Uttarakhand HC rules in favour of Flipkart, experts say it could deter other states from implementing such a tax as they, too, could be sued.

Flipkart has said it is engaged with several stakeholders to urge the Uttarakhand government to revoke the additional tax on e-commerce purchases. However, the company did not mention if it was working with rival firms such as Snapdeal and Amazon. Business Standard could not independently verify the same.

Its crazy that you can tax some transactions and not others. We cant have a situation where we have 35 different taxation regimes depending on where you deliver a product. It is important for products to have a simplified taxation, said Mahesh Murthy, co-founder of Seedfund, an early-stage venture capital firm.

Several states are targeting the boom in e-commerce, a sector which facilitated the sale of goods worth Rs 80,412 crore in 2015, to drive revenues. They argue that e-commerce transactions where purchases are done within the state but the delivery originates from outside the state are leading to a huge loss in revenues.

In Karnataka, one of the largest markets for goods bought online, global e-commerce giant Amazon is in a heated battle with the state government over a taxation issue that has been on for 18 months. The state had asked Amazon to pay up on behalf of the traders on its platform that evade taxes. The company shot down the proposal and discussions to resolve the issue are still on.
With the workers' unrest against suspension of 28 workers at Tata Motors plant gaining ground with around 22 trade unions across the state coming out in support of the Tata workers here, the state government has pulled up its socks to find out an amicable solution to the current issue.Labour department officials today said the process of recognising a workers' union at the Tata plant (a key demand of the striking workers) is on its way, and is expected to be completed within a month or so from now.

Senior government officials sounded hopeful of resolving the issue within a week or so.

M S Patel, assistant labour commissioner of Ahmedabad confirmed that the state government had indeed expedited the process of recognising a workers' union at the Tata Motors plant. "It should be ideally completed within 30 days or so," Patel said.

Around 384 workers including around 12 trade union leaders were detained by the police here today as they were staging a protest outside the Ahmedabad district Collector's office. They were later released.

Umesh Rathod, a Tata Motors worker informed that while they had sought permission to hold a demonstration outside the Collector's office from the police on March 10, the request was turned down and they were not given permission.

The situation, however, did not heat up even as workers were detained by the police. Shouts of 'Inquilab Zindabaad' filled up the air.

As for the formation of the labour union, it has been learnt that the company has requested that it be an internal union without representation from outside political parties as such. Patel said that so far the union comprises workers of the Tata Motors plant, however, if the workers want to seek outside support, it would be within their legal rights.

The company remained firm on its stand that all workmen other than those suspended can resume work, A Tata Motors spokesperson said, "As mentioned before, all workmen other than those suspended on charges of indiscipline, can resume duty.

We today informed the District Collector Ahmedabad regarding our intent to complete the enquiry of the 26 suspended workmen with utmost speed, within six months subject to no delays by any party during the enquiry. Moreover, the enquiry will be conducted in all fairness by an independent enquiry agency in due compliances to rules and processes. It is in the interest of business to complete the enquiries at the earliest possible while adhering to the principles of natural justice and take appropriate action based on the outcome of the enquiries." Ashim Roy, vice president, National Trade Union Initiative and advisor to the striking workers at Tata Motors said that around 384 people were detained today including 12 trade union leaders. "We are thinking of holding a dharna outside the Tata Motors plant at during this week, however, we are yet to decide on the date. It could be on coming Saturday," he said adding that the discussions with the state government have been positive so far. Rajkumar Beniwal, the district Collector of Ahmedabad too sounded upbeat on resolving the issue soon. "We have told both parties to follow rules and regulations, and we are trying to bridge the communication gap between the workers and the management and bring them on the same platform," he said. Beniwal felt that the issue is unlikely to flare up beyond control. Last Saturday, around 22 trade unions across the state had pledged support to the striking workers of Tata Motors alleging that the company had taken punitive action against those who were leading the workers to form a workmen's union at the site. Trade Union leaders including Roy had threatened a state-wide civil disobedience movement if the democratic rights of workers were compromised.
The fifth edition of India Aviation, an international exhibition and conference with the theme 'Indian Civil Aviation Sector: Potential as Global Manufacturing and MRO Hub' will be held in Hyderabad from March 16.



"Over 200 global players from 12 countries, including aircraft and helicopter makers like Boeing, Airbus, Textron, Embraer, Gulfstream, Dassault, Agusta Westland, Bell and Russian Helicopters, are expected to participate in the show," said Anil Srivastava, joint secretary to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation.



The five-day biennial show is supported by Air India, Airports Authority of India, Director-General of Civil Aviation, Pawan Hans etc with the overseas associate for the show being Farnborough International Limited.



Following the inauguration by President Pranab Mukherjee, there will be a flying display by Mark Jefferies from the UK. Airbus' eco-friendly aircraft A320 Neo, which was just delivered to budget carrier IndiGo, will also be on display.



Stating that India, which currently is the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world, is on a journey to become the third-largest market by 2020, after the US and China, Srivastava said over 85 international airlines were operating to India while five Indian carriers were connecting more than 40 countries.



"India is one of the least penetrated air markets with 0.04 trips per capita per year, as compared with 0.3 of China and more than 2 in the US," he added.



According to him, India has registered an impressive growth of 13 per cent and 10 per cent compound annual growth rate CAGR) in passenger and cargo throughput, respectively, during FY2003 and FY2013.



The aviation sector is experiencing dramatic growth across the board, owing to the opening up of the airport infrastructure to private sector participation, growth in business and leisure travel, increase in inflows of foreign direct investment, emergence of LCCs and new carriers, large-scale investments in airport infrastructure and growth in the air cargo industry, Srivastava said.



By 2020, passenger traffic at Indian airports is expected to increase to 450 million, from 159.3 million in 2012-13. The aviation sector is likely to see investments totalling $12.1 billion during the 12th Five-Year Plan, of which $9.3 billion is expected to come from the private sector.



"Around 200 low-cost airports are planned to be built in the next 20 years to connect Tier-II and Tier-III cities. About $1.3 billion is planned to be spent on non-metro projects by 2017, mainly focusing on the modernisation and upgradation of airports," he said.
As part of the monetisation plan, Limited, a subsidiary company of Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) has entered into a definitive agreement to divest 4.12% holding in India Energy Exchange at an undisclosed amount and is expected to realise the consideration within the current financial year.

JSPL financials have been adversely impacted due to the cancellation of coal blocks and payment of additional levy on coal of more than Rs 3,300 crore in FY 14-15 & 15-16 as a result of a Supreme Court order.

Besides, the steel sector globally has been impacted due to reduced demand from China and its over capacity, the company said. The company said JSPLs investment in enhancing steel capacities in Angul and power capacity in (JPL) Tamnar have been completed / commissioned; and are in stable level of operation.

"With these additional capacities and better outlook for steel demand /fair sales price realisations, and better outlook for power demand / realisation, JSPL will be in a better position to generate higher cash flows as compared to the last four quarters. Our efforts in bringing cash into company through divestment of assets and strategic collaborations through JVs, will add to our cash flows, and also result in reduction in Bank Borrowings," the company said in a press note.

The company said it had met all its financial commitments till November-December 2015 and was in discussion with banks. It has adopted RBI's 5/25 scheme, besides exploring various options with all lenders to reschedule payments considering likely short /medium term cash flow mis-matches.
The Madras High Court has directed Kancheepuram district court to dispose off pending dispute between Ashok Leyland and Renault Nissan regarding their light commercial vehicle joint venture in two weeks from receiving the order.The court has also asked both the parties to maintain status quo till the district court issues the order.

The order comes in response to an application filed by Renault Nissan Automotive against Ashok Leyland Nissan, the joint venture company, seeking stay of all proceedings at the district court pending constitution of arbitration.

When the matter came up for hearing today, Justice K Ravichandra Baabu, without going into the merits of it, issued the order directing that the district court has to hear the matter and issue an order including on maintainability of the petition, in two weeks from receiving the order.

Nissan official said the company does not want to respond since the matter is subjudice.

It may be noted that the business relationship between Ashok Leyland and its joint venture partner Japanese auto major Nissan has turned sour of late, and the Chennai-based commercial vehicle major levelled a series of allegations against its Japanese partner, subsequently moving court for a legal remedy.

In 2007, Ashok Leyland and Nissan announced a JV to develop and manufacture LCVs under both the Ashok Leyland and Nissan brands, in the 2.5-7.5 tonne segment.

The JV was named as Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles, in which Ashok Leyland held 51%. However the JV had a rough ride in the Indian market.

The partners have formed three including Ashok Leyland Nissan Vehicles Pvt Ltd, the vehicle manufacturing company in which Ashok Leyland has 51% Nissan has 49% stake in, Nissan Ashok Leyland Powertrain Pvt Ltd, the powertrain manufacturing company owned 51% by Nissan and 49% by Ashok Leyland and Nissan Ashok Leyland Technologies Pvt Ltd, the technology development company owned 50:50 by the two partners.
Cash strapped Maharashtra government mulls 10% increase in ready recknor (RR) rates in Greater Mumbai and 14% in rest of the state.



The proposed revision will come into effect from April 1 as the government has discontinued the practice of changing RR rates from January 1 every year.



RR is an annual statement of rates based on which the stamps and registration department collects stamp duty from property buyers.

The present RR rates in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra range between 10% and 40% after they were revised on January 1, 2015.

The government's move to hike RR rates was confirmed by a team of officials from the state revenue department associated with the preparation of draft in this regard. Revenue department official told Business Standard, "A proposal has been prepared to hike RR rates in Greater Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra. The final decision will be taken after deliberations with the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the revenue minister Eknath Kahdse."

However, government's proposal evoked sharp reactions from the ruling and opposition parties and also from the realty sector.

BJP's ruling partner Shiv Sena said the government should not increase RR rates at this juncture especially when the realty sector is passing from difficult times. Sena legislator Anil Parab said, "The rise in RR rates will result in increase in prices of homes. In such a situation it will be difficult to implement Centre's policy of providing affordable housing to all by 2022," he noted.

Parab said his party will appeal to the state government not to increase RR rates from April 1.

The opposition Nationalist Congress Party spokesman Nawab Malik alleged that the government intention seems to be mobilization of revenue only. "RR rate revision should be market based prices. The proposed hike will increase prices of homes making it further dearer," he opined.

The Builders Association of India spokesperson Anand Gupta said any upward revision in the RR rates is not justified especially when there has not been any increase in the cost of land or constructed flats of offices.



"This apart, the Bombay HC order has recently banned all new construction activities in Greater Mumbai till the city civic body makes arrangement for sewage disposal. On top of it, realty players face various difficulties with regard to approvals and liquidity crisis. Artificially increase in the RR rates will further jeopardize the development of the realty sector," he added.
As it is looking at rapidly expanding into the Indian market, smartphone manufacturer has partnered with contract manufacturer Foxconn to build its devices locally.

The Chinese company is experimenting with its new X smartphones before manufacturing its entire product range out of India.

We have a partnership with Foxconn for local manufacturing. We are going to have a deeper integration with them, Pete Lau, founder and chief executive of the Shenzen-headquartered company told this newspaper. Our goal is to have 90 per cent of the (OnePlus) devices sold in India be manufactured out of India by the end of 2017.



Unlike most other Chinese brands, was incorporated in December 2014 with prime focus on global markets such as the US, Europe and India. The phones made a debut in India about 14 months earlier, through e-commerce major Amazon, its exclusive partner for the region.

The company does not give sales data but the phones, mostly around Rs 20,000, have seen good acceptance among Indians who look at premium products at a mid-range price.

We are taking a step-by-step approach. Right now, we are taking our OnePlus X phones and doing testing for local manufacturing at the Foxconn facility. We have to ensure the quality of the product manufactured here remains intact, said Lau.

OnePlus has entered into a partnership with Foxconn wherein the latter would manufacture the former's phones at its facility in Sri City Integrated Business City, in Andhra. The facility would have a cumulative peak production capacity of 500,000 units a month, which could mean direct employment for at least 1,000 full-time workers, the company had earlier said.

Lau said the company was also looking at introducing features unique to Indian users, whether content or integrated apps for online payment and e-commerce, to provide better user experience. OnePlus is looking at hiring a team of product managers in India who understand users habits.

We need to localise the products with the growing user base," he said.

India, said Lau, had far exceeded the companys expectations, despite the OnePlus phones addressing a premium segment. When we first entered this market, people used to tell us you can perhaps sell a couple of thousand devices, as the size of the market for Rs 20,000-plus products is very small. We far exceeded those numbers and expectations, he said. We are looking at long-term growth. We are looking at 10-plus years down the line, when the market for such phones would be much bigger than today.



According to various estimates, the mobile phone market in India is estimated to be around 100 million units a year. The segment OnePlus addresses is said to be around six per cent of the overall market or six mn units.

Among its three major focused marketsy, India is the only region where the company sells its products in partnership with an e-commerce company. In America and Europe, it sells through its own e-commerce portal.

"As a company, we have always strived to improve our operations by making us more efficient, so that we can pass on the savings to the consumers. For example, we save our margins because we don't sell offline. We also save on marketing because we don't do traditional way of marketing," Lau said.
have raised $420 million in the first three months of 2016 (calendar year) against $520 million last year, according to VC Circle. With the real estate regulator set to be a reality soon, these funds expect further acceleration in fund-raising and investing opportunity in residential real estate.

So far, private equity investment in the sector has been largely restricted to commercial real estate that offered annuity income for minimum risk assets.

This space has so far been dominated by global investors such as Blackstone. This trend is set to change with many home-grown players getting aggressive to invest in residential real estate, for which they are raising funds from foreign and local limited partners or investors.

The capital that players like Kotak have raised is to benefit from the potential distress in the residential real estate market, which we believe may accentuate going forward. Our target is to acquire stakes in the right projects at attractive valuations, said Vikas Chimakurthy, chief investment officer at Kotak Realty Fund, which raised $250 million (Rs 1,600 crore) last week.

According to Chimakurthy, it is not easy to raise such a fund with a very limited number of global sovereign and pension funds being interested in it. But, with the Real Estate Regulation and Development (RERA) Bill set to be passed, the interest of limited partners is expected to change.

Under the RERA Bill, 70 per cent of sales proceeds have to be used towards construction cost. Hence, only 30 per cent is available to service equity or debt taken for land acquisition till the project is completed. Therefore, servicing of debt used for land acquisition is going to be slightly tough unless it is flexible debt. In the current slow pace environment, they would need to have a capital structure skewed towards debt with flexible repayment options or equity, says Chimakurthy.

In the past six months, some large institutional and sovereign funds have announced a few equity deals. In view of the proposed regulation, the need for equity will increase because of escrow requirements, says Amit Bhagat, managing director and chief ASK Property Investment Advisors. Earlier, developers used to borrow for buying land but might not have the same flexibility now, he said, pointing out the emerging opportunity.

Real estate fund manager Milestone Capital recently raised Rs 150 crore for its Rs 500-crore fund from high net worth individuals and insurance . The fund was launched in January last year. Milestone plans to raise the remaining amount in the next six months.

Sentiments in real estate fund-raising are improving and with the recent reforms, we expect even better traction in the coming months. With the demand for quality housing clearly outstripping supply, residential real estate is largely responsible for the increase in funding to the sector, says Rubi Arya, vice-chairman, Milestone Capital.

These funds are expecting about 25 per cent internal rate of return for their investments in the sector.
Two days after erstwhile owner Kalanithi Maran dragged SpiceJet to court over non-issue of warrants, both the parties have decided to resolve the issue. Counsels of SpiceJet and KAL Airways have agreed before the Delhi High Court that they will jointly approach the regulators, seeking permission to issue warrants. The high court would announce an order on this case at 10.30 am on Tuesday.

SpiceJet board is likely to pass a resolution within three days after the court order, requesting the regulators - Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to give the approval for issue of warrants within two weeks.

Read more from our special coverage on "SPICEJET, KALANITHI MARAN" Maran wants SpiceJet warrant issuance against past loans

However, the dispute over transfer of preferential shares remains and the high court will hear it on April 7.

While SpiceJet share price, which is hovering around Rs 60, is significantly higher than what it was when the terms of the deal were finalised, the warrants will be issued at Rs 16.30 per share - the price agreed in the share purchase agreement.

On Monday, SpiceJet said the warrants could not be issued earlier because it didn't have requisite approval from the regulators. "the Parties have agreed to jointly approach BSE/ Sebi. Necessary board resolution will be passed authorising the joint representatives to represent the applications before BSE and Sebi. SpiceJet has already been pursuing this matter before the BSE and Sebi jointly with the representative of Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways and the matter is pending consideration with Sebi," the company stated.

The warrants would give Maran a 24 per cent stake in the company. Under the 2015 sale purchase agreement, Maran and KAL transferred their entire 350,428,758 equity shares (58.46 per cent stake) in the airline, to Ajay Singh. According to the deal, they were to receive the redeemable warrants in return for around Rs 679 crore that they were to give to the airline towards operating costs and debt payment, the petition has claimed. Maran and his airline, KAL, have alleged in their plea that despite giving around Rs 579 crore to Spicejet, the carrier failed to issue them the warrants or allot them tranche one and two of Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares and the amount was not utilised for paying statutory dues due to which they were also facing prosecution.
Raipur, Solan and Motihari are not what come to mind when one thinks of start-ups. But 800 start-ups have come up in the past year in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, creating technology hubs in unlikely towns.

Even as e-retail, health, education and payments start-ups are funded by marquee international investors, states are pushing entrepreneurs from smaller towns. Many state governments are ready with policies to promote entrepreneurs, backed by funding plans.

The Bihar government has allocated Rs 500 crore for a start-up fund to be used over the next five years. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) is allocating another Rs 500 crore for the state. The state government is set to table a start-up policy prepared after studying models in eight states. Bihar has produced at least 300 start-ups in the past year.

We have taken the idea of entrepreneurship to such places as Purnia and Motihari. We have two incubators, but after the policy is in place we will have more, said Abhishek Kumar, secretary-general, Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA).

To encourage new enterprises in the state, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who also holds the finance portfolio, announced a start-up scheme in the recent budget.

New enterprises in the state will be required to submit self-certified documents online or manually for registration. Provisional registration will come within 15 days of submission of documents. The department of industries will provide cheap land to units providing employment to 100 naturalised residents.

Himachal Pradeshs chief secretary P Mitra said, We are targeting areas like Baddi, Barotiwala, Una and Paonta Sahib to be developed as start-up hubs.



The Chhattisgarh government is trying to push the culture of start-ups to unemployed youth as well as professionals migrating to other states. The government is working on a start-up hub in Naya Raipur and has made an initial allocation of Rs 45 crore.

Industry bodies are helping start-ups understand business and also connecting them with investors.

In Chhattisgarh, awareness is important. That is what we are doing with road shows. The government has made a number of changes in its policies to help upcoming companies, said Mahendra Agrawal, chairman, Chhattisgarh Council, Confederation of Indian Industry.

NURTURING THE START-UP ECOSYSTEM

Allocated Rs 500 crore for next five years

To table start-up policy in Assembly

300 start-ups nurtured in past year

To create a start-up hub in Naya Raipur

Allocated Rs 45 crore
In an effort to tap on the start-up system in India and open a new revenue stream, phone number identification app Truecaller is planning to get into tie-ups with e-commerce giants such as Snapdeal, Flipkart and other online players which require phone number verification on their customers and other related services.

The company also said they hope to have 200 million users in India by the end of this year. Currently, they have 120 million users in the country, which is the companys biggest market. It has 200 million users globally.

Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, founders of the Stockholm, a Sweden-based company founded in 2009, are in India with a number of start-ups. Last month Truecaller introduced a new software development kit (SDK) on Thursday that lets third party applications verify users via phone numbers. We want to personlise e-commerce for the users and that is where we want to pitch in. We want the company and the customer to be connected better, starting from first contact to last-mile delivery, said Mamedi.

TrueSDK, a software development kit is the first product from the company for the app developer community that enables third-party apps to easily on board users with their existing Truecaller profile and verified phone numbers. Developers can use the service to sign up, update user information, or verify user's phone number identity in their mobile apps through user consent.

TrueSDK for us was the first stepping stone and the reason we built it was a lot many developers asked us on how they could use Truecaller. They asked why they have to build an infrastructure around verifying phone numbers and bear the cost of doing the same, when someone else has already done so as Truecaller is a directory of verified phone numbers, added Mamedi.

While Mamedi did not give out any names but sources in the company said that they have had talks with a number of companies including major e-commerce players such as Flipkart and Snapdeal to get into tie-ups with them



We have had a series of engagements with a number of start-ups including e-commerce companies in topline category and they have shown a lot of interest in the product, said Kari Krishnamurthy, Vice President, Growth and Partnerships, Truecaller. The company already has around 12 major start-up clients which includes Quikr, Mobikwik, redBus, CarDekho, BharatMatrimony.Com, ixigo and OYO Rooms. It is in talks with as many as 40 more companies.

TrueSDK helps users quickly use their credentials that are already verified with Truecaller to easily engage with third party apps of their choice, the company officials said.

The company till now has two primary sources of revenue which include premium accounts as well as inline advertisement. The company also said that they are cash rich and do not require any immediate funding. It has till now raised around $80 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.
Uber has suspended its bike-taxi pilot in India within 10 days of its launch after the Karnataka government said the app-based taxi-hailing company had not obtained the permission of local authorities to run the service in Bengaluru.

Ola, which began the pilot for its bike-taxi service in Bengaluru on the same day as Uber, too, had suspended its service within a day following a warning from the state.

Uber, however, failed to heed to the ban on bike-taxis, which led to 80-odd two-wheelers, operated by private individuals on its platform, being seized by the Bengaluru traffic police. Uber and Ola follow an asset-light model where they connect individual taxi owners with riders for a fee. I met with somebody from Uber today (Monday). They said they will go before the Road Transport Authority (RTA) and submit an application. Until they receive the approval for operating bike-taxis in Karnataka, they said they would stop the service, Ramegowda, Karnataka's commissioner for transport and road safety told Business Standard.

The issue arose due to the lack of provision for two-wheeler taxis in the Motor Vehicles Act. The Karnataka government has said that once approvals are procured by these aggregators, it will consider offering them licences on a case-by-case basis.

Uber did not respond to both email and phone queries seeking clarification on the issue.

Bike-taxis are a popular mode of transport in several Southeast Asian countries that face traffic congestion similar to Indian cities. Uber had launched its first bike-taxi service in Bangkok a week ahead of introducing it in Bengaluru.

The initial hearing of the demands of players vying to operate bike-taxi services has already happened and the final notification from the RTA will come by the end of this month. I have told them that we will let them operate once they get a yellow board for the bikes or a badge for the rider, said Ramegowda.

In the past, the Karnataka government had opposed Ubers carpooling service, which allowed owners of private cars to charge a fee for ferrying passengers. The state had also suspended the licence of ZipGo, a shuttle bus service, on the grounds of operating without the right permits and competing with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. The governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have also moved to exert more control on app-based taxi aggregators. Both states have passed drafts that could force Ola and Uber to install digital meters, stick to state-prescribed fares and do away with surge pricing.

UNTENABLE MODEL
It may be the last broadcast network to launch an over-the-top (OTT)/ video on demand service, but Viacom18 is going all out as it prepares to present viewers with VOOT later this month.

The network, which is a joint venture between Network 18 and Americas Viacom Inc, will launch its OTT platform with close to 17,000 hours of content, which will include archived content from the networks broadcast library, content acquired from independent producers in India and abroad, VOOT exclusives and VOOT originals.

Unlike its peers  Star India OTT platform hotstar), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL; OTT platform Ozee and Ditto) and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN; OTT platform SonyLIV), Viacom18 will not limit VOOT to content only from the broadcast library and aims to have a robust kids catalogue through an app within the app.

In order to support an advertising led VOD platform, we need daily active users and daily watch time, which is the digital equivalent for TV audience measurement parameters like reach and time spent. For this, we needed to know exactly what kind of content we should put out. We conducted a study with BCG (the Boston Consulting Group) on consumption of YouTube videos. In the end we shortlisted four areas of focus  comedy, drama, kids content and reality, says Gaurav Gandhi, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures.

While there is no dearth of reality, comedy and drama content in the networks broadcast library across languages, VOOT will make use of the shows popularity to provide exclusive content. Not to be confused with behind-the-scenes clips, this will include spin-offs of storylines for peripheral characters and extensions of the main storyline. For example, on TV viewers see a one-hour cut of the day on Bigg Boss. VOOT will exclusively provide never seen before and videos and clips around the inmates which may not have been aired on TV. We have made exclusive content for all the genres and it can be accessed on the app or the website at launch, says Gandhi.

Apart from this, there will be six to seven original web-films and/or web-series at launch and VOOT aims to add a couple every month thereon. Among the shows available at launch is a four part mockumentary that follows Bollywood badman Gulshan Grovers attempt to be cast as a hero for the first time in his life. Another show stars Baba Sehgal as the head of a family (the Sodhis) that is obsessed with anything and everything to do with MTV Roadies, the youth adventure reality show.

Catching them young

VOOT will have close to 7000 videos across 80 animated/cartoon characters suitable for consumption by children between three and ten years. This includes not only Viacom18s popular characters like Motu-Patlu, Dora and Shiva, characters that are on other networks on TV. This includes popular characters and shows like Cchota Bheem which have been developed by independent animation studios and licensed to broadcasters. For example, Cchota Bheem has been developed by Green Gold Animation and is aired on Turners Pogo.

Gandhi explains, We noticed that kids content was among the highest consumed on YouTube. Given the nature of the portal, it was mainly pre-school content, but it gave us significant insight into the consumption by this age group. A lot of kids today learn to swipe before they learn to operate a TV remote. In order words, they are native to the digital devices and do not have the concept of appointment viewing. This makes them very important as a target group.



He adds that not only are the numbers in terms of users high in the kids genre, but given their fascination and dedication to characters they like, kids prefer to watch shows/videos with their favourite animated characters for long, and on repeat. This means longer time spent per session, something that advertisers are always happy to note.

In order to make the app child-safe and easy to use, VOOT comes with the option of gating (protecting via password or PIN) everything except the kids sub-app. Additionally, since children cannot be expected to type in search words and usually relate to pictures more than text, the VOOT Kids World sub-app has the shake feature. If the user shakes the phone while on the kids app, the screen displays the next four videos on the list, which can be accessed simply by tapping on it.
Sandeep Kishore is set to take charge from Ganesh Natarajan as managing director and chief executive of Technologies, information technology arm from the RPG Group. Natarajan had taken it from a Rs 40-crore entity to a Rs 2,000-plus crore enterprise. Kishore, an old hand at HCL Technologies, tells Shivani Shinde Nadhe why he choose to join Zensar, his growth strategy and how he intends to leverage the presence of Apax Partners. Edited excerpts:



What made you join



It's a perfect organisation, in the sense that it's large enough to scale and small enough to care for our customers. Its a huge opportunity for us as a company, to take it beyond where we are now. We have built some incredible capability in client relationship, in infrastructure, application areas and, over the past three years, on digital. Our digital growth has been almost 100 per cent every year. And, we have over 70 clients in the $1- million segment.

The opportunity for us is to focus on fewer things, fewer services, accounts and markets but to go deeper. Our go- forward strategy will be to bring multi-services in select relationships. The other focus area is digital, where we are quite different from others. We lead from user and customer experience and also bring integration from commerce, platform, analytics, infrastructure and, in the past couple of months, from IoT (the internet of things), too. Digital is not about mobile apps; its a business-level transformation. A fantastic opportunity for us.

Ganesh Natarajan has been synonymous with . How much are you involved in the change management that will come with this shift in leadership?



I am thrilled with the inputs and the conversation level I have had with Zensarites. The first day I joined, we launched an app

called Zenverse. This allows every Zensarite to write to me directly with any query they have, allowing me to connect with everyone in this company. I have been amazed with the questions I have received -- on strategy, operations and everything else.

More important, this has democratised the entire organisation. We are committed to make Zensar a 100 per cent digital company. Our internal ethos isDream, lead, own, win. This summarises where we are going. We are creating Zensar Lab. This will be the innovation hub and work with customers in their transformation journey. Hence, we are involving everyone in this process.

You come from a larger company. Will Zensars size be a challenge?



The opportunity to transform an organisation is amazing. I have spent a long time with HCL and I cherish that. But, we are here to do things differently and better, to transform the company to a different trajectory of growth. It is a do-able task, with the competency we have here.

Zensar's management in the past had spoken about aspiring to be a $1-billion company. Have you set that target as well?



We dont want to give a guidance (forecast). Our focus is to be ready for the next set of growth and we are going to lead with digital, cloud and farming high-growth account relationships.

These three will be key for us. In terms of verticals, retail as an industry sector and as part of a digital proposition  I think we are among the best. Retail as a percentage of our revenue is 21 per cent.

I do not think any of the Indian IT services players have this kind of presence. Driven by the fact that the entire B2C (business to consumer) commerce market is led by digital retailwe have a vantage point.

The second area of focus is Europe, now 10-12 per cent of our revenue. We have room for growth there. A third area of focus is South Africa, where we are among the top two or three IT . We have 700 people in the region.

In terms of domain focus, we have full spectrum services and offering in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) space. Manufacturing is half our revenue, retail is 21 per cent and FS is about 19 per cent (FY15). We also have the emerging segment, not large enough for us to call them out separately. But, we clearly have an investment strategy there, too, which are digital, analytic and cloud-led. Its too early to say which segment but we have sectors like utility, travel, transport and health care there.
A young couple, whose inter-caste marriage was opposed by their families, was today brutally attacked by a gang with sickles in full public view in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in the death of the husband.

When Shankar (22) and Kausalya (19), hailing from Palani in Dindigul district, were waiting at the Udumalpet bus stand, a group of armed men came on a motorcycle and hacked them with sickles before fleeing, police said.

Read more from our special coverage on "HONOUR KILLING" Honour killing in Tamil Nadu: Father-in-law of Dalit victim surrenders

Police rushed the profusely bleeding couple to the Government Hospital here. While Shankar died on the way, Kausalya's condition is said to be critical, and she is undergoing treatment, they added.

The couple, said to be from different castes, had fallen in love and had got married despite opposition from their families just eight months ago and the gang was reportedly related to the girl, they said.

Further investigations are on, police added.
A one-man inquiry committee of Additional Secretary B K Prasad will probe the issue of missing files related to the case of alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan, government said Monday.

Prasad, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry, will inquire into the circumstances in which the files related to the case of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing.

Read more from our special coverage on "ISHRAT JAHAN CASE" Ishrat documents missing: Rajnath

The panel will find out the person responsible for keeping the files and relevant issues, a Home Ministry official said.

The papers which went missing from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made.

Two letters written by the then Home Secretary G K Pillai to the then Attorney General late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have so far been untraceable.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.

The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, officials said.

Former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.

Subsequently, Chidambaram had said that Pillai is equally responsible for the change in affidavit.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The city crime branch had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Last week, Rajnath Singh had accused the erstwhile UPA government of hatching a "deep conspiracy" to frame Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister in the .

Singh had claimed that the previous regime had done a 'flip-flop' on the links of Ishrat Jahan with terror outfit LeT.
In an effort to attract more Hindu youth, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) announced on Sunday that it was changing its trademark khaki shorts and, instead, adopting brown trousers as its ganavesh or uniform.

Separately, it called for a survey to ascertain if backward sections of society were actually getting reservations in education and jobs. In a reference to recent agitations by Jats in Haryana and Patels in Gujarat, the said it disapproved of quota demands by "affluent sections."



At a meeting of its decision making body, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, at Nagaur in Rajasthan, the Sangh announced its much anticipated decision to get rid of the shorts. Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi, the organisation's general secretary and second in the hierarchy, said the decision was also to showcase that the organisation was "not rigid" and could "move with the times." The shorts haven't been popular with many of the younger volunteers.

The meet also discussed recent student protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi and the Hyderabad Central University. And, it expressed concern at "university campuses becoming hotbeds of anti- activities."



It criticised the bar on entry of women in some temples and termed it as "unfair traditions". However, it advised that attempts should be made to change mindsets through "discussion and dialogue," not agitations.

The also claimed to have increased the number of its 'shakhas' in the past year, from 51,332 in 33,223 places in 2015 to 56,859 shakhas in 36,867 places. It hopes to attract more youth with the change in the uniform, changed in 1940 from khaki shirt and shorts to white shirts and khaki shorts. In 1973, it replaced long boots with leather shoes. "Trousers are a regular feature in today's social life...We are not orthodox," Joshi said. He said these would be so designed as to be comfortable for physical exercise. The brown colour was chosen as it's commonly available and looks good, he added.

The has been trying for a some time to shed the image of a Brahmin-dominated and upper caste outfit. Mohan Bhagwat, its chief had invited controversy in the run-up to the Bihar elections by suggesting a review of the reservation policy. Some in the Bharatiya Janata Party had later blamed these comments as a reason for the party's defeat in those elections last November.

Nuanced policy

Joshi was more nuanced on the policy. He said the meet felt affluent sections of society demanding the benefits of reservations wasn't right. The three-day meet ended with a call for eradicating caste-based discrimination. "There are many backward castes today. It should be studied and discussed whether the deserving castes are getting reservation benefits," Joshi said. Also, that it be a matter of detailed discussion on whether or not the 'creamy layer' system should be there in all categories.

The meeting passed a resolution on social harmony and called for providing access to education and health care to all.

On the controversy over Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's cultural programme in Delhi, the general secretary said if there was an issue of the environment, rules should be followed by all. At the same time, systems which bring about change in society will get weakened if only penal measures are used.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh described as a "serious matter" the raising of "anti-national" slogans in JNU. It also slammed Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for comparing it with terrorist outfit Islamic State, saying this exposed his "lack of knowledge" and "intellectual bankruptcy."




Amid concerns over militant groups like ISIS attempting to radicalise its citizens, the Maldives said Monday it is in talks with India for setting up a bilateral counter-terrorism mechanism to combat the menace.

Maldivian Foreign Secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed, who held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar over the weekend on a host of issues, said that discussions on setting up such a mechanism were ongoing.

"The mechanism we are discussing with India is a bilateral one and our security and intelligence cooperation is mainly bilateral. It is a continuing discussion. The two countries are sharing ideas on how to make it operational. We have to work out the details," Ali told reporters here.

He asserted that the Maldives and India have a common interest in stopping radicalisation, counter-terrorism and addressing such issues.

Maldivian High Commissioner to India Ahmed Mohamed said, "There is a discussion between the Indian government and the Maldives on establishing a cross-border mechanism to address this issue and already the Maldives has institutionalised the process. We will be soon forming the mechanism."



Asked how many Maldivians are believed to have travelled to the Middle East to fight with the Islamic State and other groups, the Maldivian Foreign Secretary said the country's intelligence agencies estimate that the total number of those that have gone to the Middle East to engage in "illegal warfare" is less than 40.

Ali said the Maldives feels it is extremely vulnerable to the threat of radicalisation.

"It is a big concern for us. It is a social concern, it is a security concern. It is a concern and a threat that we are extremely worried about. We have said several times in the past that just like many other countries, the Maldives is also trying to find a way in which to deal with that," Ali said.

"There are no ready made answers. The countries that are much more powerful than the Maldives, that have far more sophisticated and advanced mechanisms to deal with such issues are still finding it difficult to grasp the situation and to respond adequately and the Maldives is no different," he said.

To meet the challenge posed by radicalisation and terror, the Foreign Secretary said the country was working with its international partners.

"We are working with our neighbours Sri Lanka and India and most importantly with India. We also work very closely with the UK and the US on this issue. Also with other countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey. Our police and intelligence work with them. We also work with Pakistan," he said.

Ali said the Maldives has taken a number of steps to counter the radicalisation threat, including concentrating on spreading awareness among the people.

He said religious leaders are trying to explain to the people that fighting for ISIS and groups is damaging for Islam.

The Foreign Secretary said the biggest challenge for the Maldives is to deal with "potential returnees" as some may head back to the country after getting training from groups in the Middle East.

Asked about jailed former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, who has sought a two-month extension of his medical leave in the UK, Ali said the Maldives Democratic Party leader was a politician and has to decide the future action he will take.

Ali said he does not want to "speculate" on whether Nasheed will come back from the UK or not.

Talking about his discussions with Jaishankar, Ali said, "Both of us reviewed the progress of some of the projects, programmes and activities that were discussed and agreed in last September at the Joint Commission meeting. The implementation of those activities are going at a satisfactory speed."



With the SAARC ministerial meeting coming up this week, Ali said they also exchanged ideas on how to "reinvigorate" the grouping and accelerate cooperation.

Discussions also took place on how to meet the objectives of the organisation for making the lives of the South Asians more productive and happier.

Noting that the Maldives and India have enjoyed very strong and productive relationship over the last 50 years, Ali said, "We have very very strong relations with India."



"The Maldives and India have a very strong partnership in the democratisation programme that is taking place in the Maldives. We also discussed a number of programmes that are being developed currently in Maldives under Indian assistance," he added.

Asked if there was any discussion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much awaited visit to the country, Ali said, "The Maldives and the Maldivian government are always ready to welcome the Indian Prime Minister."



"We will roll out our red carpet. Whenever the Prime Minister's schedule allows him to visit the country. We understand that he has a very busy schedule. Whenever time is convenient for the Prime Minister, we will be welcoming the Prime Minister in the Maldives," the Foreign Secretary said.

Asked if there has been an understanding on a date for Modi's visit, he said, "I will not speculate on the Prime Minister's schedule.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Reserve Bank of India have launched a probe into the transfer of Rs 4,000 crore from United Spirits Ltd (USL) to the British Virgin Islands in early 2007 by the company before it was taken over by Diageo in 2012.

A probe into the transfer was first ordered by a division Bench of the Karnataka High Court on December 20, 2013, but there was no follow up by the agencies. With the Narendra Modi government taking an aggressive stand on defaulters, the ED and RBI have been asked to look into USL's transactions and call for relevant papers from the company and Diageo, its new owner, said an official close to the development. Under Diageo, USL now has a new management with its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) P A Murali quitting on April 23, 2015.

A mail sent to Diageo did not elicit any response, while a UB Group spokesperson declined to comment.

During the hearing in the high court, lenders had argued that the money was transferred to the tax haven without proper documentation and these needed to be probed. But USL had argued that the money was transferred for the acquisition of Whyte & Mackay in May 2007, in a deal worth around $1.2 billion. After Diageo took over USL, it sold Whyte & Mackay in 2014 at a 25 per cent discount to the 2007 acquisition price. The proceeds of the sale were not brought to India and were used to repay foreign loans. Interestingly, the proceeds of the 2012 sale of USL by Mallya to Diageo were also not brought to India and were parked in Mallya's offshore accounts.

Corporate lawyers said while non-disclosure or wrong disclosures by UB Group can be investigated by RBI, ED will look into the money laundering aspect.

The investigation will involve calling of annual reports since the transaction, auditor reports, company filings with RBI and from foreign banks.

Citibank was the financier of the Whyte & Mackay acquisition and the bank was also USL's lender in India. Corporate lawyers said as annual reports between 2010 and 2013 are disputed and, according to Diageo, were cooked by Mallya, it would be difficult for the agencies to rely on these.

The ED is already investigating how funds from Kingfisher Airlines vanished overseas. It is questioning top officials, including UB group CFO Ravi Nedungadi and Kingfisher Airlines CFO A Raghunathan. The ED also summoned UB group Chairman Vijay Mallya on Friday to participate in investigations. USL was formed in 2006 by merging McDowell & Co, Shaw Wallace & Co, Herbertsons Ltd and other liquor companies in the UB group to become India's largest liquor company.

RS probe



Meanwhile, the Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha headed by Congress veteran Karan Singh on Monday took cognisance of Vijay Mallya's alleged default on around Rs 9,000 crore of bank loans.

Acting on the notices given by Opposition members, Chairman of the Upper House Hamid Ansari referred the matter to the panel.

"The question regarding Mallya was earlier raised in the House in the morning. The Chairman referred the matter to the Ethics Committee. Our meeting was decided earlier. There were two more issues. Now we have taken up this third issue as well," Singh told reporters after the panel meeting.

Second summons if Mallya misses first date



The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will issue a second summons to liquor baron Vijay Mallya if he fails to depose before the agency on Friday. The ED wants to question him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Mallya, however, has the option of seeking a change in the date, said an ED official.
Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, who has been summoned by the ED to appear before it on March 18, has ruled out his return to India for now, saying the time is not "right".

Mallya said this as his troubles mounted with a Hyderabad court issuing a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the liquor baron after he failed to appear before it in a cheque dishonour case.

The court order in the case of alleged dishonour of a Rs 50 lakh cheque to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd came even as Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said a probe will be launched to check whether there were any anomalies in the Provident Fund (PF) contributions made by Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines for its employees when it was functioning.

Mallya, 60, is facing multiple proceedings for allegedly defaulting on loans of over Rs 9,000 crore from various banks. His departure from India on March 2 unhindered in the middle of the probes also triggered a political row.

Taking forward its money laundering probe in the alleged default in payment of Rs 900 crore dues to IDBI bank by the now defunct Kingfisher airlines, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last Friday issued summons to Mallya for appearance in Mumbai on March 18.

Asked when he planned to return to India, Mallya told 'The Sunday Guardian' in an e-mail interview, "I am an Indian to the core. Of course I want to return. But I am not sure I'll get a fair chance to present my side. I've already been branded as criminal. I do not feel the time is right."



Mallya did not respond to an e-mail by PTI on his future plans. He, however, tweeted that he was being "hunted down" by the media in the United Kingdom.

"I am being hunted down by media in UK. Sadly they did not look in the obvious place. I will not speak to media so don't waste your efforts," he said.

The liquor baron while stating that the time is not right for his return said he left India due to a 'personal visit with a friend' and appeared to shift the blame of the massive loan default to the banks.

"There was a lookout notice issued against me last year. But I didn't 'escape'. Why am I being portrayed as a criminal now? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved. They decide, we don't. Our own business was flourishing, but plummeted suddenly.

Don't make me the villain. I have the best intentions. I'm quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others," he said.

"I've not done anything wrong. I am being victimised. I'm one of the most open people. I'm forced to go into hiding and that makes me sick."



The 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) in Hyderabad issued the NBWs on March 10 against the company (airline), Mallya and another senior official of the carrier and posted the matter to April 13.

Mallya's counsel H Sudhakar Rao said he will move the high court seeking quashing of the non-bailable warrant. GMR counsel G Ashok Reddy said today, "He (Mallya) and others were supposed to appear before the court on March 10. They did not appear. Hence, court issued NBW order which has to be executed by April 13."



Amid the row involving Mallya, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said "full force of the law" is being applied to bring all wilful loan defaulters to justice. He, however, did not name anyone.
The Congress party on Friday demanded the Rajya Sabha sitting be extended by a further two days. Parliament is scheduled to break the ongoing Budget session for a 40-day recess on the coming Wednesday.

The party accused the government of trying to avoid a discussion on the Aadhaar Bill in the House, where the ruling alliance is in a minority.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the opposition, supported by members from other parties, rejected the government effort to interrupt discussion on the Railway Budget to take up the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill. The Congress and some other opposition parties favour the Bill, to replace an ordinance, be sent to a committee for scrutiny.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the minister of state for parliamentary Affairs, said there was no unanimity among opposition parties on extending the sitting by a couple of days. "For the first time, the opposition wants to extend the session but the government is not coming forward," said Azad.

He wanted at least an hour be devoted to the Aadhaar Bill. It has been classified as a money Bill, meaning Rajya Sabha assent isn't required for enactment. The Lok Sabha has passed it and the opposition says the government is not keen that the Rajya Sabha discuss it.
Exports from special economic zones (SEZs) declined 1.89% year-on-year to Rs 3.41 lakh crore in April-December 2015, Parliament was informed Monday.

In 2014-15 too, exports from these zones fell 6.13% to Rs 4.63 lakh crore.

In order to boost exports from SEZs, the government periodically reviews the policy and operational framework of these zones and takes necessary steps to facilitate speedy and effective implementation of SEZs, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

She also said that during the last three years and current financial year (up to February 2016), the Board of Approval (BoA) has granted more time to as many as 132 developers of across the country to complete projects.

The BoA is an inter-ministerial body headed by the Commerce Secretary, dealing in SEZ-related issues.

Time and again, SEZ developers and units have complained that imposition of the minimum alternate tax and the dividend distribution tax has impacted exports from these zones.

Replying to a separate question, the minister said the government has not imported foodgrains (wheat and rice) for the central pool since 2008-09.

"At present, there is no proposal to import wheat and rice for the central pool stock," she added.

In a separate reply, she added that the government has no proposal to ban the import of wheat.

To another query on WTO, the minister said India has been emphasising on a constructive discussion on public stockholding for food security and a special safeguard mechanism at meetings held in Geneva.

"In future meetings also, India will continue to pursue these issues in coordination with other developing countries," she said.

In a separate reply, she said the government is committed to pressing the issue of public stockholding at WTO in order to take forward the mandate given in the Bali and Nairobi ministerial conferences.

"India has sought to implement the decisions on the issue through active and constructive engagement by members," she added.
A government-appointed expert committee, in a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has said there is no conclusive evidence that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used for pharma packaging are harmful to humans.

Uttarakhand-based non-governmental organisation Him Jagriti had petitioned NGT to restrict sale of PET containers, alleging these bottles leached harmful chemicals such as phthalates and heavy metals into the substances inside, due to India's extreme variations of temperature.

Hearing the petition, the NGT had noted that the Central Pollution Control Board and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had also sought a ban on using PET bottles or plastic containers for primary packing in liquid oral formulations. The green court had asked the government to set up a committee to study the science behind this issue.

The recommendations of the committee have come as a relief to India's Rs 4,000-crore PET packaging sector. "Within a robust regulatory system and process, with clearly defined standards and requirements, the use of PET as a packaging material for pharmaceuticals can be practised with assurance of safety," said the committee, led by M K Bhan.

Of 600,000 tonnes of PET production, the pharma sector uses 16 per cent, accounting for around 100,000 tonnes a year.

To address public concerns and to strengthen the regulation for packaging and waste management, the committee has recommended a series of additional tests. However, "these tests have been requested to assure public concerns and not because of any doubt in the committee about the scientific basis of safety of PET packaging", the report said.
After two droughts and near-absence of winter rain, farmers across the north, central and western parts were pinning hope on the 2016 rabi harvest to recoup.

However, theyve been hit by a sudden bout of rain, accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms in some places since last Friday. Farmers in most places had watered their standing crop for one last time before harvest, particularly the early sown varieties.

The saving grace so far is that the showers have not been heavy and the sequence was broken by bright sunshine, which helps in faster draining of water. Hail has also been limited to some pockets. Even so, there is alarm, as last years unseasonal rain and hail damaged the standing crop on 19 million hectares, resulting in a spate of suicides.

Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi wanted to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha through an adjournment notice, a decision on which is pending. The government had meetings of senior officials and is ready to despatch teams to assess the damage.

Business Standard reporters from across the country give an assessment.

Punjab



Ajmer Singh, a farmer from village Mehma-Serja in Punjab, is regretting his decision to water the standing wheat crop only a few days earlier, to quell the impact of rising temperature. The downpour since Friday could lead to a 20-25 per cent drop in yield, unless the fields dry quickly. Singh is among the millions of farmers here whod watered their plants one last time before preparing for harvest.

Unirrigated farms might sustain less loss. The highest damage will be in irrigated fields, he said. The brunt has been on wheat, grown on 3.4 million hectares in the state. The standing crop was hit particularly in the districts of Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala, officials said.

Haryana



The standing crop in the districts of Hisar, Sirsa, Jind, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Fatehbad, Karnal and Rohtak have been impacted. A senior official in the agriculture department said preliminary surveys show wheat yields might fall by up to 25 per cent and the harvest could be delayed. A dry spell in the next few days might compensate but not suffice. Wheat is grown on 2.4 mn ha in the state.

Uttar Pradesh



Hail and sporadic downpour in the states eastern region over the past couple of days have hit standing rabi crops, especially wheat. In the western and central parts, the downpour has impacted gram, pea, mustard, wheat and also horticultural crops like mango and potato. The largest damage is reported from Allahabad, Mirzapur, Pratapgrah, Varanasi, Balrampur and Gonda districts.

Hail has hit the matured wheat crop in affected areas. The loss has also been significant in areas where the crop has not matured, said Indra Pal Sachan, a senior agricultural scientist. He said yields might fall by 20-25 per cent.

I had irrigated my field in February and was expecting a good yield. Natures fury has destroyed my hopes, said V K Singh, a farmer from Balrampur district.

Madhya Pradesh



As many as 22 districts have been impacted by hail and unseasonal rain. Standing crop in 1,086 villages across 129 tehsils were impacted, revenue Minister Rampal Singh said on Monday. He said a survey has been ordered and an interim compensation of Rs 5,000-15,000 a ha announced. The opposition Congress party is demanding suspension of loan recovery in affected areas.

Maharashtra, Gujarat



Beside wheat, the rains have damaged the mango and grape crop. The highest damage has been in Nagpur, Wardha, Akola, Yavatmal and Amaravati districts of Maharashtra.

In Gujarat, a second spell of rain after the showers of last week has led to a falling off of unripened mangoes, where the current spell of rain is not good as the fruits are in a growing stage and heavy wind might dislodge it from the trees, said A R Pathak, vice-chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University.
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) will be stricter to insurers, states who do not adhere to its norms. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Government of India said that a policy of 'one season one rate' will be followed.

PMFBY will have actuarial yield-based scheme with provision for upfront premium subsidy to be released to insurers. The sum insured will be same for both loanee and non-loanee farmers. Also, there would be no capping and there will be full claim amount paid against the sum insured.

This scheme will also cover localised risks like inundation and post harvest losses. A detailed protocol for assessment of losses and payment of claims for post harvest losses, prevented sowing and localised risks will be followed. Speaking at an agriculture insurance seminar, Bhutani said that they will insist on use of technology like remote sensing so that fudging of data can be avoided.

He added that no extensions would be allowed. "There will be strict adherence to seasonality discipline and no extensions can be allowed. If a state decides to give extensions, it will have to bear the entire cost of the subsidy," he added.

The government is planning to spend Rs 5500 crore for the crop insurance scheme that was announced earlier. In his budget speech finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the farmers will pay a nominal premium for the coverage.



The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana that has approved by the cabinet in January. Here, there will be a uniform premium of 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The balance premium will be paid by the government.

Here, there is no upper limit on government subsidy and even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the government. Insurance executives said that the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) had high premium rate due to which farmers could not afford it.



It is anticipated that there would be clusters that would be formed of districts to implement the scheme. Senior insurance officials said that that how the clusters are classified will define how the premiums will be fixed.
The governments aim of 100,000 Mw solar power generation by 2022 hinges on the success of 33 solar energy parks with 19,900 Mw capacity being planned across 21 states.

Till recently, the upcoming 750 Mw park at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh was being touted as the biggest in the world. Now, say officials, Karnataka would have the biggest one, with 2,000 Mw capacity being planned at Pavagada in Tumakuru (earlier Tumkur) district. Some 3,000 Mw of solar park capacity has been implemented or is in the process of being tendered.

The term describes an area earmarked for development of solar power generation projects. It is generally expected to offer 500 Mw and above in capacity; officials said hilly states have been allowed to set up smaller parks, since getting contiguous land is a problem there.

The solar park is a novel concept out of India. It can be replicated elsewhere through the International Solar Alliance, said Ashvini Kumar, managing director, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). It is the Union governments nodal agency for developing this form of energy.

He says these are being set up under four models. One, the state government declares a designated agency for implementation. Two, a project is done in a joint venture with SECI. Three, implemented entirely by SECI. Four, states join hands with private developers.

SECI is involved with five of 33 solar parks, including the one coming up at Rewa. Maharashtra has two being implemented by private companies, KP Power and Pragat Akshay Urja. The Rajasthan government has decided on a tie-up with IL&FS Energy for development of 5,000 Mw of parks through an equal joint venture.

All long lead contracts are under finalisation. The company is in advanced discussion with many customers for development of power projects in the solar park. It would enable generation of 500 Mw by March 31, 2017, and a further 500 Mw by December 31, 2017, said Sunil Wadhwa, chief executive officer, IL&FS Energy, Based on progress achieved in the first park, the JV would develop other parks in Rajasthan over the next four to five years, he said. The company is also in discussion with some other states to develop solar parks in multiples of 500 Mw capacity.

Solar parks help in advance action on two key enablers for solar power development -- land and power evacuation. Once these risk factors are taken care, what remains for project development and commissioning is more manageable. These are clearly the long lead items and putting these in place means project developers are able to move from investment to power generation in six to nine months, as compared to around 15 months for standalone projects and with uncertainties related to land acquisition. The results are visible in the low tariffs (rates) recently bid for such projects to be set up in solar parks in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, said Wadhwa.

Under the solar park policy, land is provided by the state governments. Around 5 acres are required for one megawatt capacity, so Kumar said around 1 lakh acres would be required for the 33 solar parks all together. If land is assured, the transmission network can be developed fast. Power is evacuated by state agencies, said Kumar. Besides, wheeling charges for a line transmitting power till the central transmission line is not levied.

The land cost in solar parks, however, is higher than elsewhere, as project operators are offered developed infrastructure. Analysts fear this could lead to increase in final tariffs.

The Union government giving developers Rs 2 lakh for every Mw capacity as viability gap funding if being developed under the solar park policy. The developer recovers the remaining cost from project operators.

The Union government provides the guidelines for development, sets benchmarks and provides incentives. The ministry of new and renewable energy handles the other key area of coordination required for power evacuation, where Power Grid Corporation has been required to play a lead role in grid connectivity, said Wadhwa. Kumar said states want more parks to be developed and the Centre might look at expanding the programme.
Banks have given a stern message to companies under debt restructuring, especially steel firms: Shape up or ship out.

The government has asked the lenders to focus on recoveries from all defaulters, and not just high-profile ones.

An executive with a public sector bank said there were a few meetings, at State Bank of India (SBI) headquarters, where some accounts were reviewed as part of a two-day lenders' meeting that started on Monday.

Kingfisher Airlines' accounts were not discussed. The accounts discussed included those of Bhushan Steel, Visa Steel, and Electrosteel Steels. Bhushan Steel's lenders had not opted for strategic debt restructuring (SDR), where a group of lenders converts a part of a loan in an ailing company into stock, with the group owning at least 51 per cent stake. Lenders to Visa Steel and Electrosteel Steels had decided on SDR.

Debt restructuring plans were already being implemented. The meeting was to ensure these plans stayed on course.

An SBI executive said with a minimum import price (MIP) for products, steel firms, especially ones with integrated units, would benefit over time. The government had slapped MIP to discourage reported steel dumping by China.

Banks have been patient and flexible in rescheduling loans and are even giving additional facilities to stressed borrowers to help them. "The assessment is the margins of steel players would be better, giving them the ability to pay over," said an executive with a large public sector bank.

Outstanding bank credit to the iron and steel sector grew at 11.8 per cent to Rs 3,03,700 crore in the 12 months to January. Steel is one of the most stressed sectors, with 52 cases of exposure worth Rs 54,051 crore being handled by the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell.

The message from the government has been clear: Keep up pressure on defaulters for recovery.

The loan meeting comes after the central bank carried out a review of several banks and asked them to recognise certain assets as non-performing ones. The central bank later said it was working with the government and banks so that stressed assets could be recognised on an active basis.

This was to ensure a bank's balance sheet reflected a true and fair picture and was adequately provisioned.

On bad loans, rating agency CRISIL had last week said a sharp rise in amounts to be set aside for stressed loans could force nine or 10 of the 26 public sector banks (PSBs) to report losses in the next financial year. Besides the provisioning, factors such as a dent in interest income, the new regime to price loans and the scheme to revive power distribution companies (discoms) might shave off 10 basis points from their net interest margin. On Thursday, the rating agency effected a major rating action - downgrades and change in outlook - on bonds of PSBs. They will continue to have asset quality problems in 2016-17, it said.
Bangladesh's government lashed out at the central bank in a rare public split as tensions escalate after hackers stole about $101 million from its foreign reserves. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith vowed to take action against Bangladesh Bank after it failed to inform the government immediately when the funds went missing from an account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last month. Other transfers totalling $850 million were blocked, according to the central bank. "Bangladesh Bank has the audacity not to inform me," Muhith told reporters in Dhaka on Sunday. ...
Gunmen killed 16 people at an resort leaving bodies strewn on the beach, in an attack claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate as fears grow of a mounting jihadist threat in west Africa.

Armed with grenades and assault riffles, the attackers stormed three hotels in the sleepy resort of Grand-Bassam, popular with expats, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the commercial hub Abidjan.

Witnesses described panic as the gunmen sprayed bullets across the beach, and one told AFP they heard an assailant shouting "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest".

"I saw one of the attackers from far away," says Abbas El-Roz, a Lebanese salesman, who was in the pool of a hotel when the attackers struck. "He had a Kalashnikov and a grenade belt. He was looking for people."



Fourteen civilians and two special forces troops were killed in the shooting spree, along with six assailants, according to Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara.

"The toll is heavy," he said as he arrived in Grand-Bassam, describing the killings as a "terrorist" attack.

One French and one German national were among the dead, according to Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko.

The US and former colonial master France offered offered to help the Ivorian government find the perpetrators, with French President Francois Hollande condemning the "cowardly attack".

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the terror group's North African affiliate, had claimed responsibility for the attack.

AQIM said in a statement three of its fighters had been killed.

West African nations have scrambled to boost security in the wake of jihadist attacks on tourist hotspots in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso, which were also claimed by the group.

Sunday's attack also bore grim similarities to the Islamist gun and grenade assault on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

The assailants, who were "heavily armed and wearing balaclavas, fired at guests at the L'Etoile du Sud, a large hotel which was full of expats in the current heatwave," a witness told AFP.

Inside the hotel, an AFP journalist saw a bullet lodged in the glass front of the bar's refrigerator and a large pool of blood on the floor.

Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian national who teaches at an high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons when the gunmen arrived.
Three years ago, reeling from Edward J Snowden's disclosure of the government's vast surveillance programmes and uncertain how to respond, US President Barack Obama said he welcomed a vigorous public debate about the wrenching trade-offs between safeguarding personal privacy and tracking down potential terrorists. "It's healthy for our democracy," he told reporters at the time. "I think it's a sign of maturity."



But the national debate touched off this winter by the confrontation between the Justice Department and Apple over smartphone security is not exactly the one Obama had in mind.

Snowden's revelations produced modest changes and a heightened suspicion of the government's activities in cyberspace. Because the issue now centres on a device most Americans carry in their pockets, it is concrete and personal in a way that surveillance by the National Security Agency never was.

The trade-offs seem particularly stark because they have been framed around a simple question: Should Apple help the FBI hack into an iPhone used by a gunman in the massacre last December in San Bernardino, California?



Law enforcement officials have been adamant they must be able to monitor the communications of criminals. They received a vote of confidence from Obama on Friday, when he said the "absolutist" position taken by companies like Apple is wrong. But the pushback has been enormous. In the month since a judge ordered Apple to comply with the FBI, the debate has jumped from the tech blogs to the front pages of daily newspapers and nightly newscasts. Supporters of the company's position have held rallies nationwide. Late-night comedians have lampooned government snoopers. Timothy D Cook, the usually publicity-shy Apple chief executive, pleaded his case on 60 Minutes last December. On Twitter, "#encryption" fills the screen with impassioned debate on both sides.

"Discussing the case with my friends has become a touchy subject," said Matthew Montoya, 19, a computer science major at the University of Texas, El Paso. "We're a political bunch with views from all across the spectrum."



Like many of her friends, Emi Kane, a community organiser in Oakland, California, recently found herself arguing via Facebook with a family friend about the case. Kane thought Apple was right to refuse to hack the phone; her friend, a waitress in Delaware, said she was disgusted by Apple's lack of patriotism.

After exchanging several terse messages, they agreed to disagree. "It was a hard conversation," Kane said.

The novelist Russell Banks, who signed a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on behalf of Apple, said he had spoken with more than a dozen people about the case just in the last week. "It's not just people in the tech industry talking about this," Banks, the author of Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter said. "It's citizens like myself."



That may be because the Apple case involves a device whose least interesting feature is the phone itself. It is a minicomputer stuffed with every detail of a person's life: photos of children, credit card purchases, texts with spouses (and non-spouses), and records of physical movements.

Obama warned Friday against "fetishising our phones above every other value". After avoiding taking a position for months, he finally came down on the side of law enforcement, saying that using technology to prevent legal searches of smartphones was the equivalent of preventing the police from searching a house for evidence of child pornography.

"That can't be the right answer," he said at the South by Southwest festival in Texas, even as he professed deep appreciation for civil liberties and predicted both sides would find a way to cooperate. "I'm confident this is something that we can solve."



But polls suggest the public is nowhere near as certain as Obama. In surveys, Americans are deeply divided about the legal struggle between the government and one of the nation's most iconic companies. The polls show that Americans remain anxious about both the threat of terrorist attacks and the possible theft of personal digital information.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey released last week found that 42 percent of Americans believed Apple should cooperate with law enforcement officials to help them gain access to the locked phone, while 47 per cent said Apple should not cooperate. Asked to weigh the need to monitor terrorists against the threat of violating privacy rights, the country was almost equally split, the survey found.

That finding may have seemed unlikely in the wake of terrorist attacks last year in Paris and San Bernardino. In December, eight in 10 people said in a New York Times/CBS News survey that it was somewhat or very likely that there would be a terrorist attack in the United States in the coming months. A CNN poll the same month found that 45 per cent of Americans were somewhat or very worried that they or someone in their family would become a victim of terrorism.

But despite the fears about terrorism, the public's concern about digital privacy is nearly universal. A Pew Research poll in 2014 found more than 90 per cent of those surveyed felt that consumers had lost control over how their personal information was collected and used by companies.

The Apple case already seems to have garnered more public attention than the Snowden revelations about "metadata collection" and programs with code names like Prism and XKeyscore. The comedian John Oliver once mocked average Americans for failing to know whether Mr. Snowden was the WikiLeaks guy or the former NSA contractor (he was the latter).

Now, people are beginning to understand that their smartphones are just the beginning. Smart televisions, Google cars, Nest thermostats and web-enabled Barbie dolls are next. The resolution of the legal fight between Apple and the government may help decide whether the information in those devices is really private, or whether the FBI and the NSA are entering a golden age of surveillance in which they have far more data available than they could have imagined 20 years ago.

"It's an in-your-face proposition for lots more Americans than the Snowden revelation was," said Lee Rainie, director of Internet, science and technology research at Pew Research Center.

Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said: "Everyone gets at a really visceral level that you have a lot of really personal stuff on this device and if it gets stolen it's really bad. They know that the same forces that work at trying to get access to sensitive stuff in the cloud are also at work attacking the phones."



For the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, the fight has become a high-stakes struggle to prevent what James B Comey, the bureau's director, calls "warrant-free zones" where criminals can hide evidence out of reach of the authorities.

Officials had hoped the Apple case involving a terrorist's iPhone would rally the public behind what they see as the need to have some access to information on smartphones. But many in the administration have begun to suspect that the FBI and the Justice Department may have made a major strategic error by pushing the case into the public consciousness.

Many senior officials say an open conflict between Silicon Valley and Washington is exactly what they have been trying to avoid, especially when the Pentagon and intelligence agencies are trying to woo technology companies to come back into the government's fold, and join the fight against the Islamic State. But it appears it is too late to confine the discussion to the back rooms in Washington or Silicon Valley.

The fact that Apple is a major consumer company "takes the debate out of a very narrow environment - the universe of technologists and policy wonks - into the realm of consumers where barriers like the specific language of Washington or the technology industry begins to fall away," said Malkia Cyril, the executive director of the Center for Media Justice, a grass-roots activist network.

That organisation and other activist groups like Black Lives Matter have seized on the issue as important for their members. In February the civil liberties group Fight for the Future organised the day of protest against the government order that resulted in rallies in cities nationwide.

"When we heard the news and made a call for nationwide rallies, one happened in San Francisco that same day," said Tiffiniy Cheng, co-founder of Fight for the Future. "Things like that almost never happen."



Cyril says the public angst about the iPhone case feels more urgent than did the discussion about government surveillance three years ago.

"This is one of those moments that defines what's next," she said. "Will technology companies protect the privacy of their users or will they do work for the US government? You can't do both."

2016 The New York Times News Service
fell on Monday after Iran dashed hopes of a coordinated production freeze any time soon, returning bearish sentiment to the market over a supply glut that has sent prices crashing.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell back below $40 a barrel, trading at $39.70, down 69 cents or 1.7% on Friday's close. Brent hit a 12-year low of $27.10 in January.

US crude was down 82 cents at $37.68 a barrel.

" is down because Iran said they would only join the output freeze group once they reached production of 4 million barrels a day (bpd)," said Tamas Varga, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

Iran's oil exports are due to reach 2 million bpd in the Iranian month that ends on March 19, up from 1.75 million in the previous month, oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday.

Zanganeh poured cold water on hopes for a quick deal on freezing production, saying the OPEC member would join discussions only once its own output reached 4 million bpd. Zanganeh is to meet his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Tehran on Monday, according to news agency reports.

Saudi Arabia appeared to have stuck to a preliminary deal with some other producers to freeze output, as its crude production held steady in February at 10.22 million bpd, an industry source told Reuters.

OPEC members and non-OPEC producers are likely to hold their next meeting to discuss an output freeze in mid-April in Doha, OPEC sources told Reuters.

A March 20 meeting in Russia, which was part of an earlier plan, now looks unlikely.

Worries about demand fundamentals moved back into the spotlight as investment bank Morgan Stanley warned that a slowing global economy and high production would prevent any sharp rises in oil prices.

"Oil prices now seem to have bottomed, even though they are likely to stay subdued for the rest of this year before starting to move higher in 2017," the US bank said in a research note. It added that cheap oil had not provided the boost to growth that many had hoped for.

"When oil prices are falling below production costs, the income gains for consumers will be smaller than the costs to producers, and falling oil prices become a negative-sum game," it said.
Global fell as much as four per cent on Monday on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals, as US crude oil stockpiles continue to mount and Iran maintains little interest in a global production freeze.

Market intelligence firm Genscape reported an inventory build of 585,854 barrels in Cushing, Oklahoma, taking the delivery hub for US crude futures closer to capacity, traders who saw the data said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said global demand for crude from its members, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, will be less than previously thought in 2016 due to competing non-Opec supply. Opec supply will likely exceed demand by about 760,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 720,000 bpd implied earlier, it said.

Russia said Opec's meeting on a production freeze with other key oil producers like itself will probably be held in Doha in next month. It said Iran supports the plan, although Tehran was keen to restore its crude exports first to pre-sanction levels.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a $25-$45 trading range for US crude in an oversupplied but volatile market, concurring with several analysts' views.

"We feel that the bulk of this stronger than expected 5-6 week price advance has been seen and that prices will be shifting into a near term consolidation phase," said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

US crude was down $1.65, or 4.3 per cent, at $36.85 a barrel by 12:18 pm EDT (1618 GMT). It hit a three-month high of $39.02 on Friday, surging from a 12-year low of $26.05 a month earlier.

Brent was down $1.20, or 2.9 per cent, at $39.19 barrel. The global crude benchmark fell to a 2003 low of $27.10 in late January.

Monday's price tumble came after last week's rally of 7 per cent in US crude, which was up for a fourth straight week.

Brent gained four per cent last week, up for a third week in a row.

Some analysts expect a more bearish supply-demand picture when the US government issues weekly oil data on Wednesday.

Last week's report showed a crude build of nearly four million barrels to above 521 million barrels, the fourth straight week of growing to record highs.

"I think as we approach $40 for WTI and Brent, the market will not like a net build of more than 2 million barrels this week," said Scott Shelton, energy broker at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude for a third week in a row to November highs but cut net long positions in Brent.




A car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara on Monday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of attacks to hit Turkey.

"The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square," an official statement said. The square is a key commercial and transport hub close to the city's embassy area.

Ambulances rushed to the scene on Kizilay square, a key commercial and transport hub close to the city's embassy area, where the blast reduced several vehicles including a bus to burnt-out wrecks.

The attack comes just weeks after the city was hit by a suicide car bombing on February 17 targeting the military that killed 29 people, claimed by a dissident faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to medical sources, the wounded had been taken to 10 different hospitals around the city, with a dozen said to be in a very serious condition.

Witnesses said smoke could be seen rising above the area from a distance, and square Kizilay has been closed fearing a possible second explosion.

Turkey's TV watchdog has declared a broadcasting ban on images of the scene and victims.

Turkey has been hit by a spate of deadly attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on the Islamic State (IS) group, including a double suicide bombing in Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.

Today's attack will raise fresh questions about Turkey's ability to manage the twin security threat posed by IS and Kurdish rebels, as Ankara presses the European Union to speed up its membership process in return for help with the migrant crisis.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, said it carried out the February bombing in Ankara as revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country and warned foreign tourists not to visit the country.

A two-year ceasefire between the government and Kurdish rebels collapsed in the middle of last year and since December security forces have been waging a major campaign against the PKK in the southeast of the country.

Strict 24-hour curfews were imposed in a number of Kurdish-dominated towns and cities to allow the military and police to pursue the fight against fighters who had dug trenches and put up barricades.

Today's attack came hours before curfews were due to take effect in two more towns in the southeast as a prelude to fresh military operations.

Authorities said restrictions would be slapped on Yuksekova, near the Iranian border, and Nusaybin, on the frontier with Syria, to "restore order and security" following an increase in "terrorist activity".

Earlier on Friday the US embassy in Ankara warned its citizens over a potential terror attack against 'government buildings and housing located in the Bahcelievler area' in the Turkish capital.

This is the third major blast in the Turkish capital since last October.

On October 10, 2015, alleged Islamic State (IS) militants bombed a peace rally near Ankara Railway Station near a major city thoroughfare, killing at least 103 people.

On February 17, a suicide car bomb targeted military shuttles in the capital city, killing at least 29 people and injuring 81 .
Indian School of Business (ISB) faculty will be part of a unique exchange programme wherein they would go and study a company for a couple of weeks and those from companies would come to for a sabbatical.



Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, Indian School of Business (ISB) in an interview to Business Standard said that many academic institutions are very theoretically biased in research work that they do.



"At some point, we should ask do these ideas work? What are the challenges to implement these ideas, we must ask," he said explaining that balancing theory with practice is needed. For this, is looking at ways to get more thought leaders from industry into academia and to also take out some of our academia and put them into industry.



The dean said that a faculty could go to a company and figure out and what are the challenges, opportunities they have. Post this, they could work with the industry and come out with better definition of research that we ought to do.

Srivastava said that he is arguing for having live case studies rather than studying old cases. Especially in sectors like technology and finance/financial services, he said that the landscape is changing fast and there is a need to learn from the changes happening via collaborations.

The business school is starting a Centre for Learning and Practice. While has brought out several Indian cases, the aim is to have Asian cases as well.



"We aim to put capability in the Centre to take theoretical articles and convert them into something which managers can read. We will also develop capacity to better integrate with industry," he explained.



ISB is looking at ways to provide many sabbaticals to industry leaders. If someone can take a week or two off from their schedule, the Dean said that they will be able to bring them on their learning journey. In exchange, ISB would put some of their faculty into the companies for a couple of weeks to gain insights.



Srivatsava said that what works in India may not work in some other countries.Hence, he wanted his faculty to be better acquainted and hoped that they will also visit the company's foreign markets. Those insights will creep into the classroom and research.



The mission of the new dean is to make ISB an international school. It announced 10 full scholarships, one from each Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country. Srivatsava added that they are also trying to get their corporate partners to also match it by sponsoring candidates from other countries/markets where they are present or want to expand their precense in.



Here at ISB, he said that faculty exchanges from international universities will also be encouraged.



"We will provide all assistance for foreign faculty members who come to India for sabbatical. The Centre for Learning and Practice will act as the hub and we will provide them a research assistant, local industry connections and also give them some travel money," he said.



These individuals would also be helped to connect with Reserve Bank of India, NASSCOM and this would help ISB gain insights into Asia and emerging markets, according to the Dean. Getting more foreign students is also an important part of the plan and ISB's admissions office is working towards this goal.



"We wish to blend the knowledge from the West with ideas in the East," he said.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) wants to improve gender diversity on its nine-member board. The regulator has asked the finance ministry to replace two of its board members, Prashant Saran and Rajeev Kumar Agarwal, who would complete their term this year, with at least one full-time woman member.

So far, hasn't had a woman on its board. While the finance ministry responded positively to Sebi's request and almost zeroed in on a Delhi-based woman lawyer for the job, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is said to have sought wider search for a more suitable candidate, according to a highly-placed source.

Even though the PMO has in-principle approved of Sebi's push for gender equality, it has asked the finance ministry to broaden the search and issue a public notification in this regard. After this, the ministry is said to have scuttled the previous proposal and started selection process afresh.

Sebi Chairman U K Sinha has often chastised listed companies for not having enough women on their boards.

The Companies Act, as amended in 2013, states that every company with a paid-up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more shall appoint at least one woman director on its board. As the regulator for the listed companies, Sebi's effort to have a woman its board sits well with the larger push to encourage more women on corporate boards. Interestingly, the Reserve Bank of India has had several women as deputy governors but not Sebi.
The uptrend continues, due to stronger global sentiment. However, the momentum has slowed considerably. Nevertheless, the Nifty has seen an uptrend of over 10 per cent since the Budget. Breadth has been good and there's been high volumes. Domestic institutions sold into the rally but foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been big buyers. The rupee has gained substantially due to inflows.

This week will see policy meets of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Last week saw the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meet with Mario Draghi ruling out further cuts while remaining committed to the ECB's Quantitative Easing (QE) programme. The BoJ is also expected to stand pat rather than tinker with rates again. The Fed may also maintain status quo but any advisories that threatens to raise US rates would scare traders.

This could mean rupee volatility (along with volatility in every other currency). Expectations that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will cut the policy rate soon are also pushing the rupee as well as the equity market. Incidentally the FIIs have been selling rupee debt holdings, which implies that they don't expect a major rate cut or they think it has already been factored into bond yields.

Despite the big up move, we can't confirm the major trend has turned around, although the intermediate trend is obviously up. The market slid 2,300 points or roughly 25 per cent in the 11-month bear market between its all-time high of 9,120 in March 2015 and its low of 6,825 on Budget Day. The 200-day moving average (DMA) is trending at around 7,900, well above the current levels. There is big resistance at the current zone of 7,500-7,650. This has not been overcome.

The Nifty Bank has run stronger than the overall market since it is even more rate-sensitive. The Nifty Bank has been testing resistance at 15,400 on intra-day basis but it has not yet broken out past the 15,300 zone. A long Bank strangle with long Mar 15,000p (181), long Mar 16,000c (85) is not zero-delta since the index is held around 15,300. But it may be worth taking since March will continue to be volatile. Two or three trending sessions could put this spread into profit with breakevens at about 14,725, 16,275.

The Nifty call option chain for March has ample open interest (OI) between 7,000c and 8,000c with big peaks at 7,500c, 7,600c, 7,700c and 7,800c. The March put option chain has major OI peaks at 7,300p, 7,200p, 7,000p and high OI until 6,600p. The Nifty's put-call ratios are now looking healthy at above 1.

The Nifty closed at 7,538 on Monday. The expiry effect has reduced close to money premiums though there are two weeks to go. The bullspread of long March 7,600c (71) short 7,700c (36) costs 35 and pays a maximum 65 at about 65 points from money. The bearspread of long 7,500p (78), short 7,400p (48) is also acceptable with a cost of 30 and a maximum return of 70. This is at about 40 points from money.

A long-short strangle set combining these options, (long 7,500p, long 7,600c, short 7,400p, short 7,700c) costs 65 however, and pays only 35. Nor is it zero delta. It would be better to take a view: Either go with the trend or wait for a clear signal of a breakdown.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Kotak Mahindra Group have inked pact for investing upto $ 525 million in stressed assets in India.

CPPIB would chip in up to $450 million while balance $ 75 million would come from Kotak Mahindra group.

S Sriniwasan, CEO, Kotak Special Situations Credit Fund, said the Kotak Mahindra Group, and its affiliate Phoenix Asset Reconstruction Company, has been an active player in the distressed and structured credit market for over a decade.

CPPIB will put patient capital to work, backed by strong and active asset management, to capitalise on the stressed assets market.

This investment will address the growing opportunity arising from the current stress in the Indian banking and corporate sectors. The fund has a flexible investment mandate providing bespoke financing solutions to companies. This was in addition mandate to invest in stressed asset sales by banks with the aim to restructure, recover and turnaround companies in distress.

Adam Vigna, Managing Director, Principal Credit Investments, CPPIB, said this investment is an important step in CPPIB's strategy to build a diversified credit business and will add to our direct credit investment capabilities in India.

Through this agreement, CPPIB will selectively invest in assets that will deliver value in line with our long-term investment mandate.

Eshwar Karra, CEO, Phoenix ARC Pvt. Ltd. Said ARC industry in India has limited capital and there is an urgent need for substantial capital to buy non-performing assets from banks, as and when these loans get sold at fair value.

This pool of capital with a flexible mandate, will work alongside the ARC, and positions us to comprehensively address the capital needs of both the borrowers and the selling lenders, he added.
is trading higher by 2.4% at Rs 299 (adjusted to dividend) on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock turned ex-dividend for Rs 27.40 per share today.

The board of directors of at its meeting held on March 5, 2016, had approved payment of interim dividend for the financial year 2015-16 @ Rs 27.40 per share of the face value of Rs 10.

The date of payment is on and from March 21, 2016.

The company has fixed March 15, 2016 as the record date for determining the eligibility of shareholders for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.

In last week, post interim dividend announcement, the stock had underperformed the market by falling nearly 2% as compared to a marginal 0.29% rise in Nifty 50 index.
prices are expected to move northward as supply of quality crop is low at this time. Traders estimate prices to touch Rs 3,300 for 20 kg by the of March.

According to traders, high demand from stockists has already pushed up prices so far this month. However, muted demand from the exports sector, has helped to cap the prices from moving up further.

There was fear that unseasonal rain (during March) has damaged the quality of crop which may impact prices in the coming days. Currently jeera prices are ruling at Rs 2,800-3,000 per 20 kg bag at the Unjha mandi in Gujarat, one of the largest jeera trading hubs in India, was around Rs 2,400-2,600 per 20 kg bag in the beginning of the month.

"Jeera prices moved up almost 10% in last 10-12days on the back of strong demand from stockists due to tight supply. Prices have witnessed sharp jump after the damage to the standing jeera crop from unseasonal rains and hailstorms. We see the market remaining firm in coming days and prices may go beyond Rs 3,200-3,300 in near future," said Ajay Kumar Kedia of Kedia Commodity Comtrade Private Limited.

Daily arrival is about 35,000 bags (a bag of 40 kg) at the Unjha. Arrivals have slightly improved in past one week but still quality of jeera in new arrival is quite dull. If export demand starts (it usually picks up from April), it will push up jeera prices further.

An Unjha-based jeera trader said, "Arrival will increase but the only issue with the current supply is quality.

It is quite dull. Currently, stockists are buying mostly to fulfill upcoming seasonal demand. Export demand has not yet begun, but enquiries have already started."

According to Department of Commerce,Union Government data, the export of jeera during April-December 2015 was 64,430 tonnes, which is, lower compared to last year. Jeera exports was 1.55 lakh tonne in 2014-15.

"Currently export demand is nominal but we are hopeful that it will come soon as price in domestic market is lower", said Girish Brahmbhatt, director of Indian Spices and Foodstuff Exporters' Association.

Fall in International market stocks and a fall in exports from Turkey and Syria are likely to favor Indian exports. A falling Rupee is also beneficial for exporters. Once export start rising, the impact of falling rupee will start affecting the price movement more strongly.

According to Kedia, there are reports of jeera flower dropping in some areas in north Gujarat but Saurashtra crop was also affected due to recent rains, which may have effect on total output. Gujarat yield loss is around 15%. Quality loss is also reported from Gujarat and Rajasthan, where the seeds turned black.
Shares of have dipped 5% to Rs 1,827 on the BSE, after the company announced that it has discontinued the manufacturing and sale of its popular drug Corex.

The Government of India has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution of fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate + Codeine Syrup with immediate effect, said in a statement.

The prohibition on Corex is likely to have an adverse impact on revenue and profitability of the company. Corex recorded a sale of Rs 176 crore for the nine months period ended December 2015, the company said.

Corex has a well-established efficacy and safety profile in India for more than 30 years and makes every effort to maintain the highest standards of regulatory and quality compliance in the manufacturing and distribution of Corex Cough Syrup. The company is exploring all possible options at its disposal, it added.

Till 10:44 AM, a combined 44,635 shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE so far.
In May 2012, a month in which there was no board meeting, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a circular exempting offences under Regulations from the scope of its consent order mechanism. The wording of the circular and the commentary that followed suggested the market regulator wanted to deal with and such other serious offences with iron fists and, therefore, didnt want to settle.

A subsequent note placed before the Sebi board at its meeting on June 26, 2012, showed the circular had followed a public interest suit by a Deepak Khosla, who had challenged the 2007 consent circular. Hed contended it defeated the scheme of deterrence set out in the Sebi Act and that the orders were so worded that important information about the matter so settled got prevented from wider dissemination.

About six months later, Sebi issued a list of 149 consent applications it had rejected after the May circular. Among these were application numbers 2466/2011, 2470/2011 and 2471/2011, on alleged violation of regulations in the shares of Indian Petrochemicals Corp (IPCL) in 2007.

Application number 2471 was from by Manoj H Modi and Smita M Modi. In an order in April 2013, Sebi said material made available showed trades by the Modis were not in violation of the insider trading regulations. In their replies to Sebi, the Modis had contended they were not in possession of any undisclosed price sensitive information and argued that the trades concerned were done on the basis of charts, economic survey, worldwide demand and supply of petrochemicals etc. Manoj Modi also argued that his professional relationship with Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani did not come under the definition of connected entities under the insider trading laws.

In October that year, the case against Alaska Mercantile, the applicant of 2470, was also dismissed. Alaska was seen to be connected to RIL by Sebi because Dharti Investments, its main funding source, was operating with the same address and common directors as the Mumbai SEZ, Navi Mumbai SEZ and Rewas Ports, all known RIL arms. However, it was argued that Dharti was a non-banking finance company and the funding was in the form of loans in the regular course of business.

Application number 2466 was by Reliance Petro Investments (RPIL), a step-down subsidiary of RIL, in the IPCL case. Unlike the previous two cases, RPIL was found guilty of insider trading by Sebi, based on evidence it had in May 2013. A penalty of Rs 11 crore was levied. But, this order was held to be based on presumptions in December by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), which gave Sebi three months to pass new orders. In one of the first major orders it has passed since chairman U K Sinha got a one-year extension, Sebi has dismissed the case against RPIL. It is not clear if Sebi explored the possibility of challenging the SAT order at the Supreme court. In comparison, it has fiercely fought SAT orders in the DLF issue and other matters.

Khosla would be the best judge of whether the deterrence mechanism in the Sebi Act is better served in this way. This sequence of events gives rise to the question of whether Sebi was better off settling insider trading cases on consent. At least, the consolidated fund would have been richer by a few crores.

A set of 13 entities, including RIL, figured in that January 2013 list of rejected consent applications in the Reliance Petroleum fraudulent and unfair practices case. Final orders are due. Sebi should disclose what was the consent offer made by these entities in their rejected applications while passing the final orders.
It could not have come at a worse time, after two consecutive droughts and near absence of any winter rains, farmers across North, Central and Western parts of the country were pinning their hopes on the 2016 rabi harvest to recoup some of the losses.

However, a sudden bout of rains accompanied by strong winds and in some places since last Friday seems to have shattered their plans.

A maximum damage has happened to standing crops including wheat, gram, mustard in some places and some seasonal fruits like mango, grapes.

Day's before Holi, farmers in most places had watered their standing crop for one last time before harvesting it, particularly the early sown varieties.

The only saving grace so far, it seems that showers have not been very heavy and the sequence has been broken by bright sunshine, which helps in faster draining of water lodged in fields.

The has also been limited to few pockets.

Nonetheless, the calamity has rung alarm bells given that last year's unseasonal rains and damaged standing crop in over 19 million hectares of land leading to spate of suicides.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in Lok Sabha through an adjournment notice.

The Central government too got into the Act to prevent a recurrence of 2015. It held meetings with all top officials and is looking to dispatch teams to assess the damage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too held discussion with a group of farmers on issues concerning their welfare.

Business Standard reporters from the across the country give an on-ground assessment of the situation.

Punjab Ajmer Singh, a farmer from village Mehma-Serja in Punjab is regretting his decision to water the standing wheat crop few days back to quell the impact of rising temperature.

The sudden downpour since Friday has not only taken him by surprise, but could also lead to 20-25 per cent drop in yields unless the fields dry up quickly. Singh, is among the millions of farmers in Punjab, who had watered their plants one last time before preparing for harvest.

"The un-irrigated farms may sustain less loss, while the maximum damage will be in those fields which have been irrigated," Singh said. The brunt has been on wheat, which is grown in around 3.4 million hectares of land in Punjab.

Standing crop in Gurdaspur, Ferozpur, Bathinda, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala have suffered maximum loss in the state, officials said.

Haryana Standing crop in Hisar, Sirsa, Jind, Bhiwani, Sonepat, Fatehbad, Karnal and Rohtak have been impacted due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm.

A senior official in the agriculture department said that preliminary surveys show that wheat yields might fall by as much as 25 per cent. He said harvest could be delayed. Though a dry spell in the next few days might recoup some loss, but it might not be sufficient enough.

Wheat is grown in around 2.4 million hectares of land in Haryana.

Uttar Pradesh Hailstorms and sporadic downpour in the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh over the last couple of days have wrecked havoc to the standing rabi crops, especially wheat.

In western and central parts the downpour has impacted gram, pea, mustard, wheat and also horticultural crops like mango, potato etc. The maximum damage has been reported from Allahabad, Mirzapur, Pratapgrah, Varanasi, Balrampur and Gonda districts.

"The hailstorms have destroyed the matured wheat crop in the affected areas, while the loss has also been significant in those areas as well where the crop has not matured yet," Dr Indra Pal Sachan a senior agriculture scientist said. He said yields may fall by around 20-25 per cent because of the damage.

"I had irrigated my field in February and was expecting a good yield this season. However, nature's fury has destroyed all my hopes," V. K Singh, a farmer from Balrampur district said.

Madhya Pradesh As many as 22 districts have been impacted by hailstorm and unseasonal rains in the state.

As per initial reports standing rabi crop in 1,086 villages spread across 129 tehsils have been impacted due to the unseasonal rains, revenue Minister Rampal Singh said today. He said a survey has been ordered to assess the exact quantum of damage, while in the interim a compensation of Rs 5,000-15,000 per hectare has been announced. The Opposition Congress is demanding suspension of loan recovery in affected areas.

Maharashtra & Gujarat Rains have damaged the mango and grape crop along with wheat in both the states. "Current weather conditions are not favorable for grape and mango crops as it will damage the fruits," Dinesh Dattatraya Kulkarni, organizing Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). The maximum damage has been in Nagpur, Wardha, Akola, Yavatmal, Amaravati districts of Maharashtra.

In Gujarat, a second spell of rains after the showers of last week has lead to falling off of unripened mangoes.

"For mango the current spell of rains is not good as fruits are in growing stage and heavy wind may dislodge it from the trees at premature stage." A R Pathak, vice chancellor of Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) said.
Even as SAARC Council of Ministers are slated to meet on March 17 in Nepal, Pakistan has invited Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to attend a function organised to commemorate 'Pakistan Day' at the Pakistan High Commission here on March 23.

A Hurriyat statement said, "Umar Farooq will lead a delegation of dozens of leaders to the Pakistan High Commission following an invitation for a function on 'Pakistan Day'."

"Besides Mirwaiz, we have received invitation for 35 leaders, including 20 from the Hurriyat and rest from the Awami Action Committee (AAC)," said media advisor to Mirwaiz, Advocate Shahid-ul-Islam.

Earlier, Sartaj Aziz had called off his visit to India after New Delhi protested against the scheduled meeting between Aziz and Hurriyat leaders.

Reacting to India's stand, Islamabad had said Pakistani leaders had met Hurriyat leaders whenever they visited India in the past 20 years, and it would be "inappropriate" for India to "impose the condition India's determination to not allow the separatists to be a party to the engagement was reflected in the detention of separatist leaders Shabir Shah and Bilal Lone, among others, in the Capital.

Meanwhile, in response to media queries, the spokesperson informed that the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC Countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year.
Scientists now believe that they have come a step closer to one of the greatest mysteries of the world, Bermuda Triangle, which gulps aircraft and ships.

This belief has been established with the discovery of a series of underwater craters at the bottom of the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway, reports News.com.au.

While the location is not close to the Bermuda Triangle, which stretches from Florida to Puerto Rico and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, it is hoped that the craters are the key for explaining the bewildered phenomenon.

The craters, measured up to 800m wide and 45m deep, are believed to have been created by methane building up in sediments on the sea-floor of the gas-rich Norway coast, which then leak, "popping" through the sea bed and into the water above.

According to a scientist, the crater areas represent one of the largest hot spots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic, which creates enormous blowouts of gas bubbles, leading to sinking of ships.

Last year, this possibility was explored by a scientist, who said that the Bermuda Triangle is a consequence of gas hydrates reactions.

He went on explaining that the reaction happens in an avalanche-like way, like a nuclear reaction, producing huge amounts of gas.

Details of the discovery will be released at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union next month, where experts will analyse whether these kind of bubbles could place ships in danger.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Mysuru unit on Monday called for a shutdown in the city following the murder of one of its worker yesterday.

The City Police has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the (Code of Criminal Procedure) CrPC after BJP activist Raju was murdered on M.G. Road in Udayagiri Police station limits on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the BJP activists and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad staged protests and shouted slogans calling for arrest of the attackers.

"This is a brutal murder. The disputed place should be vacated by the administration... The accused should be arrested, along with his supporters. The government should pay compensation," said BJP leader C.P. Ravi.

"Raju was a very good worker. We are saddened by his loss. He has been fighting for this issue since 2009...We won't allow the body to be taken till compensation is paid," said former BJP MLA Maruti Rao.

The security has been beefed up in Udayagiri and surrounding Kyathmaranhalli areas, in anticipation of a communal flare up.
Hitting out at the government's soft approach towards liquor baron who faces charges of money laundering, the Shiv Sena on Monday asserted that how would the government bring back wanted underworld don to India, when they could not even bring the flamboyant businessman back to the country.

"How can people like Lalit Modi and be allowed to leave the country in the first place? We have so many agencies set internationally who can track them. This is a system failure and it's not about how powerful Mallya is," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI here.

Asserting that the Centre was acting completely helpless in the matter, he added that one hand the government was making tall claims of brining back Dawood when they could not even bring back an Indian citizen.

Earlier, Mallya claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.

In an email interview with the Sunday Guardian, the business tycoon said that he feels that he has already been branded as criminal in the country and therefore, it was not the right time for him to return.

"There was a lookout notice issued against me last year. But I didn't 'escape'. Why am I being portrayed as a criminal now? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved. They decide we don't. Our own business was flourishing, but plummeted suddenly. Don't make me the villain. I have the best intentions. I'm quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others," he said.

Asserting that he was being victimised, Mallya alleged that there was a big agenda that some people were pushing against him.

In the interview, he also said that he wanted to return but feared that he might not get to fair chance to present his side as he was already branded as a criminal.

When asked about the current location at which he was residing presently, he said that it was not wise for him to reveal his whereabouts, asserting that all he wanted was to feel safe.
The father-in-law of a Dalit boy, who was allegedly murdered by his upper-caste in-laws in Tirupur District, surrendered before the police on Monday.

A gang of unidentified men armed with hatchets and sickles rode into Udumalaipettai town and hacked the 22-year-old-boy in broad daylight. The boy was taken to the hospital where he succumbed to the injuries.

Read more from our special coverage on "HONOUR KILLING" Dalit youth hacked to death for marrying upper-caste girl

According to reports, the wife of the deceased belongs to a member of the dominant Thevar caste. She was with him at the time of the incident and was critically injured and admitted to the ICU later.

The couple fell in love while studying at an engineering college in Palani and got married around eight months ago.
Practice of yoga not only helps improve quality of life in patients with irregular heartbeats, but also lower their heart rate and blood pressure, according to a recent study.

Sophiahemmet University's Maria Wahlstrom said that many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) can't live their lives as they want to. They refuse dinners with friends, concerts and travelling because they are afraid of an AF episode occurring.

Wahlstrom added that AF episodes are accompanied by chest pain, dyspnoea and dizziness. These symptoms are unpleasant and patients feel anxious, worried and stressed that an AF episode will occur. Most patients are still working and take sick leave to visit the hospital. Many patients with AF use complementary therapies so it is necessary to find out if they actually help.

The study included 80 patients with paroxysmal AF, who were randomised to yoga, or a control group that did not do yoga. Both groups received standard treatment with medication, cardioversion and catheter ablation as needed.

Yoga was performed for one hour, once a week, for 12 weeks in the hospital with an experienced instructor. The yoga programme included light movements, deep breathing, and meditation.

Wahlstrom noted that they found that patients who did yoga had a better quality of life, lower heart rate and lower blood pressure than patients who did not do yoga. If could be that the deep breathing balances the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, leading to less variation in heart rate. The breathing and movement may have beneficial effects on blood pressure.

She concluded, "A lot of the patients I meet who have paroxysmal AF are very stressed. Yoga should be offered as a complementary therapy to help them relax. It may also reduce their visits to hospital by lowering their anxiety until an AF episode stops."

The study appears in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.
When it's IIFA, it has to be grand, but with something special every time, feels Bollywood's Greek God Hrithik Roshan.

The latest post on the 42-year-old actor's Twitter handle shows a sneak peak of the preparation for the grand event, which will be hosted in Spain this year.

"Something about d Iifa awards..d people d places, d crew, d warmth. Love it. Everytime a special experience. #madrid," read his tweet alongside the snaps.

The pictures uploaded by the 'Bang Bang' actor had Anil Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha with him. They are in Europe to create awareness about Indian cinema by performing huge flash mob on their popular songs.

It is the second time that the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards is returning to Europe with Madrid, Spain, hosting the 2016 edition from June 23 to 26.

It was last hosted in Amsterdam in the year 2005.
Pakistani cleric and politician Tahir-ul-Qadri, who is presently in New Delhi to participate in a Sufi conference, today said the two Asian neighbours must hold dialogue for improved relations.

"Dialogue is extremely important for good relations between India and Pakistan, they should discuss all issues openly," Qadri told ANI here.

"Be it Pathankot or Mumbai attacks, Kashmir or other issues, there needs to be talks with an open heart," he added.

He further stressed on good relations between the people of both sides.

Responding to a poser on the Pakistani Special Investigation Team not visiting India even after so many days of the Pathankot terror attack, Qadri played safe and said certain issues need to be settled between the two governments.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ministerial meeting in Kathmandu.
Bollywood actor Irffan Khan today took to the street for a silent protest march against the harmful effects of mobile radiation.

"We should be aware of how we get affected by the mobile we use. It's not that mobiles should be banned, but there should be some norms to lessen the effects on health," said the 'Talvar' actor.

Irffan was joined with around 400 others, who marched to educate the people about the harmful effects of radiation emitted from these 4G Mobile Towers. They requested the concerned authorities to install them away from residential areas and Children Park.
Omar al-Shishani, a senior Islamic State commander, has been clinically dead following a US air strike in northern Syria, according to a monitoring group.

Head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, yesterday said that Shishani is not able to breathe on his own and is using machines, adding he has been clinically dead for several days, reports the Guardian.

Meanwhile, some activists said that Shishani also dubbed as the Isis 'minister of war' was wounded and not killed in the airstrike.

Rahman also said that notorious commander 'Omar the Chechen' was in a hospital in the northern province of Raqqa, Isis's bastion in Syria.

On March 9, a US official said that Shishani likely died in a barrage of US-led air strikes in northeastern Syria.

Rahman had then said Shishani was seriously injured but had not died.

Shishani, one of the Isis leaders most wanted by the US, has a bounty of five million dollars on his head.
MDI Gurgaon, one of the top B Schools of the country, bid farewell to yet another illustrious batch of students in its annual convocation ceremony for 2016 held on campus. Recognizing the day as a major milestone in their educational journey, the ceremony saw reaching of the students to greater heights.

A total of 530 students including 11 fellow scholars were awarded diplomas and medals in recognition of their efforts through the tenure of the courses.

Prof. C. P. Shrimali, Acting Director, MDI took the assembled audience through the achievements of MDI this year while expressing pride in upholding the institute's vision of being a Global School of Thought Leaders and Change Masters for Academic Excellence and Continuous Innovation. MDI has a long tradition of producing entrepreneurs and job creators.

A total of 333 students participated in the placement process, with 237 students from the flagship PGPM course, 61 students from the PGP-HRM course, and 35 from the PGP-IM course. 106 students received Pre-Placement Offers either from their summer internship organizations or through various B-school competitions.

Through a deeply engaging convocation address, Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha said, "I feel honored to be a part of MDI's Convocation. It is a time when we have decisive and primary excellent youth for leadership. India's growth in coming years is going to be more qualitative in manufacturing and technology sector. My dear students this is the next world and you can be the leaders of this next world, so go forth and transform India as well as the world."

The guest of honour, Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General and CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs while addressing the students said "As you move out and begin to roll the dice in the corporate world, you are going to implement lessons learned during your course in MDI.
Defending champions Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis crashed out of the Indian Wells Masters after suffering a shock straight sets defeat in the women's doubles event here on Monday.

The top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair suffered a 7-6(7), 6-4 defeat at the hands of American-Russian duo of Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva in the second round contest that lasted one hour and 32 minutes.

This was Mirza and Hingis' first straight-sets loss since the summer of 2015.

Mirza and Hingis' 41-match winning streak came to a halt after they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open last month.
One of the bombers that claimed 37 lives in capital Ankara yesterday is reportedly a member the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).

According to foreign reports, turkey security officials said evidence obtained showed that the woman bomber was member of PKK and had joined the militant group. However there has been no claim of responsibility.

Earlier, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to defeat the terrorists, who have staged a series of attacks in the past 18 months following the bomb blast in capital Ankara.

The Turkish health minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu had said that 34 were killed in the attack and 71 people were being treated in hospital, of whom 15 were in a serious condition.

Meanwhile, reports said that raids were carried out in southern city of Adana by Turkish police, where 36 suspected PKK members were taken into custody.

Police has launched massive security operation against Kurdish militants in the town of Yuksekova, close to the Iranian and Iraqi borders, reports Guardian.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has asked its citizens to provide evidence against the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) through advertisements in several leading national dailies.

The move came after Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar announced on Thursday that a committee, comprising members of the FIA, has been formed to investigate allegations raised by Sarfaraz Merchant against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

According to the Express Tribune, Nisar while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, said that Merchant had alleged the MQM is involved in money-laundering, criminal activities, and has connections with the RAW.

He asserted that the ministry has also given advertisements in major national dailies asking people to provide evidence against the MQM.

The ministry had on March 8 directed the Pakistan's investigating agency to probe the allegations levelled against the top leadership of the MQM.
Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Monday briefed President Bidya Devi Bhandari about his upcoming visit to China.

According to the official statement issued by the president's office, Oli met Bhandari and discussed details of his visit to the northern neighbour, reports the Himalayan Times.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa was also present in the meeting.

Oli will embark his visit to China on March 20 where he will be holding bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said tribes, farmers, labourers and Dalits are being suppressed not just in Chhattisgarh, but in entire country.

"Wherever they want to raise their voice, their voices were culled. All Indian tribals are not Maoists, they are patriot and they should not be suppressed," said Gandhi when his response was sought on killing of innocent tribes in the name of Maoists in the state.

He said, "Today (on Monday), I spoke in Parliament about the farmers, but was stopped. In the entire northern belt, especially in Uttar Pradesh, farmers are facing huge losses due to rain and hailstorm."

"Modi ji has said that he wants to work with the farmers, while the Congress party has been saying it for two years that the farmers are suffering due to crop loss. It is an opportunity for Modi ji to correct his course by helping and compensating the farmers," he said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should send Central teams to assess the loss, and provide relief to the farmers immediately," said Gandhi, who arrived here after paying his obeisance at Giroudhpuri Dham, a Satnami community's pilgrim centre.

He said his visit was non-political and he came to Giroudhpuri Dham just to seek blessings of Satguru Ghasidas.

"I went to Girodpuri Mela, and I'm feeling very happy to be here. I learnt a lot. The BJP is in habit of speaking lie, and we will deal with them in Parliament. I am not here to do politics, I'm here to pay my obeisance," said Gandhi while replying to a question by reporters.

Giroudhpuri is the birth place of Satnami saint Guru Ghasidas. The dham is located around in Balodabazar district, 130 km from Capital city Raipur. A 253-ft high 'Jaitkham' has been erected at the pilgrim centre and is touted as the highest concrete tower in the country.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Chhattisgarh in charge B. K. Hariprasad, treasurer Motilal Vora, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Bhupesh Baghel were among those present during the visit.
At least 34 people have been killed and around 125 have been injured in a car bomb explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara last evening.

According to CNN, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu has said some of the attackers could have also been killed in the explosion.

Following the deadly blast, several policemen, firefighters and medical personnel rushed to the scene as security forces evacuated the area.

"We condemn this terror attack. ... People who carried out this attack will never succeed. Turkey will overcome. Our determination to fight against terror will never be deterred by attacks like this." Interior Minister Efkan Ala said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also voiced out his anger saying, "when terror organizations and the ones who use them as a tool start losing their fight against the security forces, they apply the most cruel methods and target our innocent people."

So far, no details have been released as to who could be behind the attack.

Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara had warned of a possible terrorist plot to strike government buildings in the capital's Bahcelievler neighborhood, which happens to be a few minute's away from the square where the explosion occurred.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to defeat the terrorists, who have staged a series of attacks in the past 18 months following a bomb blast in capital Ankara, killing at least 34 people.

"These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," the Guardian quoted Erdogan as saying.

Urging the people not to worry, he said the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees.

A car bomb exploded in the Turkish capital Ankara yesterday, less than a month after a suicide car bomber killed dozens of military personnel and civilians in the city.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 30 of those killed had died at the scene, while four others breathed their last in the hospital.

He also said that at least one or the two killed were attackers.

At least 125 people, who were injured are being treated in hospitals, and 19 are in a serious condition, he added.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to reports, while Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has briefed Erdogan about the blast via telephone, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met leading security officials.

A court in Ankara has banned Twitter and Facebook after images from the scene of the blast were shared online.
The controversy surrounding liquor baron Vijay Mallya who faces charges of money laundering, is set to rock the Parliament today as the Congress Party on Monday gave a notice on the matter in the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress has been attempting to corner the Centre over Mallya saying that the government was framing innocent people while offenders such as the former Kingfisher boss were allowed to leave the country.

"A non-bailable warrant has been issued now. Earlier, a red corner notice was issued and later withdrawn. The entire government is trying to frame innocent people. In OROP they have arrested Wing Commander Sharma, Kanhaiya Kumar for falsely indicted. So, the government is hell bent of framing the innocent and they allowed people like Vijay Mallya to leave the country," Digvijay Singh told ANI here.

Earlier, a Hyderabad Court issued non-bailable warrants against Mallya and defunct Kingfisher Airlines' Chief Financial Officer A Raghunath and directed that the duo should be produced before the court on April 13.

The Congress earlier asserted that the liquor baron was 'made to abscond' since a lot of 'powerful' people would be in trouble if he opened his mouth.

"The reason why Mallya was allowed to abscond is because if he is investigated or if he decides to open his mouth, a lot of very powerful people in this county will be without their clothes," Congress leader Manish Tewari told ANI.

Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought out in India over charges of money laundering, claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.

In an e-mail interview with the Sunday Guardian, the business tycoon said he feels that he has already been branded a criminal in the country and, therefore, it was not the right time for him to return.

The government had earlier told the Supreme Court that Mallya had left India on March 2 following which the bench issued notice to him and sought his response within two weeks on pleas filed by a consortium of banks seeking direction for freezing his passport and his presence before the apex court.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 51% majority stake in Assam Hospitals, Guwahati. The acquisition of 51% controlling stake is in the form of a primary issuance of shares for a cash consideration of Rs 57.25 crore. The proceeds will be utilitised for refurbishing the hospital including addition of new equipments as well as towards expansion of the existing hospital block, Apollo Hospitals said. Assam Hospitals recorded turnover of Rs 83.10 crore in the the financial year ended 31 March 2015. The announcement was made on Saturday, 12 March 2016.

SeQuent Scientific will be in focus after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, 11 March 2016, notified that foreign institutional investors (FIIs)/registered foreign portfolios investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 49% of the paid-up capital of the company under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS). The RBI has stated that the company has passed resolutions at its Board of Directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders, agreeing for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares by FIIs/RFPIs. The purchases could be made through primary market and stock exchanges.

National Buildings Construction Corporation's (NBCC) board of directors at its meeting held on Friday, 11 March 2016, approved 5-for-1 stock split. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL) announced that it has successfully raised Rs 289.60 crore long term capital from funds/entities managed by Mandala Capital, a fund focused exclusively on investing in agribusiness in India. This is in addition to the preferential issue and allotment of 1.41 crore equity warrants of Rs 80 each issued on 24 February 2016, to the promoters on receipt of 25% deposit, JISL said. This fund raise is part of a total equity investment of $120 million, including an investment by Mandala in Jain Farm Fresh Foods (JFFFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of JISL under which its global food business is being organized, JISL said. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

Kwality said that its board of directors at a meeting held on 12 March 2016, approved the conversion of 51.81 lakh warrants issued at a price of Rs 48.25 per share into equal numbers of equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each allotted to Sonika Gupta. The announcement was made on Saturday, 12 March 2016.

Gammon India said that it has received a notice of conversion from ICICI Bank acting as a monitoring institution on behalf of the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) lenders for conversion of part of United Bank of India's outstanding debt into equity shares under the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) package of the company. United Bank of India has decided to convert part of its outstanding debt and interest aggregating to 7.56 crore into equity shares of the company at a price of Rs 11.89 per equity share. Post this conversion the total shareholding of the CDR lenders will be 62.65% of the total equity capital of the company. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

Indian Hume Pipe Company said it has secured a contract worth Rs 145.15 crore for a water supply project in Alwar, Rajasthan from the government of Rajasthan. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

CMI said that its board of directors will meet on 19 March 2016, to consider issue of equity shares/warrants/convertible securities on preferential basis to promoter group, associates and non promoters and to decide the relevant date for the purpose of preferential issue. The board would also consider the allotment 7 lakh equity shares in lieu of 7 lakh convertible warrants. Further, the board would discuss current business developments and future plans. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) said that the allotment committee of its board of directors at a meeting held on 11 March 2016, approved the issue and allotment of 2.12 crore warrants at an issue price of Rs 235.515 per warrant to Wadhawan Global Capital, the promoter entity of the company, upon receipt of 25% of the total consideration. The warrants are convertible into equivalent number of equity shares of Rs 10 each and will be allotted within 18 months from the date of allotment in one or more tranches. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 11 March 2016.

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Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals rose 4.47% to Rs 83 at 15:15 IST on BSE after the company said it signed a joint venture agreement with Belgium's EcoPhos SA.

The announcement was made during trading hours on Saturday, 12 March 2016.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 114.16 points, or 0.46%, to 24,832.15 .

On BSE, so far 1.88 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 44,596 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 83.70 and a low of Rs 78.10 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 89 on 13 January 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 50 on 25 August 2015. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 11 March 2016, rising 18.94% compared with 7.70% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 5.58% as against Sensex's 1.30% fall.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 155.42 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) has signed joint venture (JV) agreement with EcoPhos SA, Belgium for setting up 2 lakh metric tonne per annum (MTPA) Di-calcium phosphate project at Dahej at an estimated cost of Rs 526 crore. Project will be implemented by forming joint venture company, "EcoPhos GNFC India". The process of incorporating JV company is underway. Main objective of setting-up of this project through JV company is to consume around 1.5 lakh MTPA of hydro chloric acid generated as byproduct from company's new 50,000 MTPA TDI-II plant set-up at Dahej. EcoPhos will hold 85% stake in the JV while the remaining 15% stake will be with GNFC.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) reported net profit of Rs 85.63 crore in Q3 December 2015 as against net loss of Rs 46.03 crore in Q3 December 2014. Net sales declined 3.56% to Rs 1101.20 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014.

GNFC is one of the leading companies in the fertilizer industry in India.

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India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has maintained a stable outlook for jewellery retailers, while revising the outlook for exporters to negative for FY17 from stable in FY16.

Ind-Ra expects retailers to fare well underpinned by a sustainable domestic demand, shifting preference towards branded jewellery, and fading regulatory headwinds. Conversely, exporters might face temporary headwinds with slowing Chinese demand for diamond jewellery and are likely to have limited headroom to withstand further pressure on margins due to divergence in rough and cut and polished diamond (CPD) prices.

Ind-Ra expects domestic jewellery demand to remain robust and grow at 3%-5% in 2016 to 670-685MT because such demand remained steady at 600-670MT over 2010-2015 (source: World Gold Council), despite gold price volatility on the back of wedding related purchases. The agency believes that the excise duty hike announced in the union budget and mandatory pan card requirements for purchases above INR0.2m will marginally impact the demand in the near term. Government gold schemes such as gold bond scheme and gold monetisation scheme are likely to have a neutral to positive impact on retailers in the medium term as cost savings from an increase in domestic gold supply will be offset by lower gold sales volumes due to diversion of part of volumes to GBS.

The agency expects retailers' credit metrics to improve in FY16 as resumption of gold metal loans will lead to a reduction of overall borrowings and interest costs and also protect EBITDA margins against fluctuations in gold prices. Credit metrics for FY17 are likely to remain at FY16 levels as any improvement in EBITDA will be offset by higher debt requirements for funding store additions.

Indian CPD exports fell around 15% yoy to USD14.7bn during the nine months ended December 2015. The diamond industry struggled with inventory accumulation across the value chain in 2015 as the slowdown in Chinese demand for diamond jewellery (6% in 2014 against CAGR of 14% over 2010-2014) created a ripple effect on the entire chain.

Mid-stream players were the most affected as reduced demand led to a fall in CPD prices, while slow moving inventory along with drying up of bank finance compelled them to unload inventory. This pushed CPD prices further down and led to continued profitability erosion in this segment.

Although rough producers lowered rough prices by around 17% in 2015, most of the rough price reduction (about 15%) happened towards 2H15 and was in response to midstream refusing to buy unprofitable roughs. Since then, rough producers have guided down rough production for 2016 to maintain supply and allowed deferment of sights and flexibility in payment terms to support midstream players. However, rough price index remains higher than CPD price index and an improvement in profitability is unlikely in the near term.

Additionally, the industry continues to face the risk of penetration of undisclosed synthetic diamonds and advent of lab-grown roughs, but the short-term impact may be limited.

Ind-Ra expects CPD players' credit profile to remain stretched due to restricted revenue growth, stagnant and low EBITDA margins and higher working capital debt to fund an elongated operating cycle. Most of these players have nearly fully used working capital lines and any further stretch in export bill collection can increase liquidity pressure.

OUTLOOK SENSITIVITIES

Reintroduction of any measures to curb gold imports or restoration of any excise duty is likely to have a negative impact on the sector. Also, any severe fall in supply of mined gold globally can lead to higher gold prices and may dampen gold consumption, leading Ind-Ra to change its outlook to negative for the sector.

Recovery in Chinese demand, a buoyant US demand for diamond jewellery, and an improvement in CPD prices relative to rough prices are likely to have a positive impact on exporters.

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Moody's Investors Service has affirmed IDBI Bank's Baa3/P-3 local currency and foreign currency bank deposit ratings.

The bank's Baa3 senior unsecured debt and (P)Baa3 senior unsecured medium-term note (MTN) program ratings have also been affirmed.

In addition, Moody's has affirmed IDBI's baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of b1, as well as its Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) of Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr).

Moody's has also affirmed the bank's subordinated MTN rating of (P)B1 and junior subordinate MTN program rating of (P)B2, respectively.

The outlook on the long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings is stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

IDBI's asset quality is weak, with a gross nonperforming loan ratio of 8.9% as at end-December 2015.

In addition, the bank has meaningful exposures to large corporates, some of which show weak debt-servicing metrics. These exposures represent the key source of risk for the bank's asset quality.

At the same time, with the bank's BCA being already positioned at b1, its credit profile already factors in a significant amount of asset quality stress.

The bank's buffers are weak on an absolute basis, with loan-loss coverage at 63% and core equity tier 1(CET1) ratio at 7.84% at end-December 2015.

Nevertheless, based on these measures, the bank is in line with the other rated public sector banks.

It has been receiving capital on a consistent basis from the government over the last few years, with the latest infusion of INR22 billion provided in the quarter ending December 2015.

Driven by these ongoing capital infusions, we expect the bank's CET1 ratio to be maintained at a level of at least 7.5%.

The bank's loan book is not growing; the year-on-year change in outstanding loans as of end-December 2015 was only 6%. This should also support the bank's capital ratios.

In addition, at the current BCA, the bank's funding and liquidity profile are key supporting factors.

Despite facing significant challenges with respect to asset quality, its deposit base has been very stable.

IDBI continues to record steady growth in its current and savings (casa) deposits, with the average casa balance in the quarter ending December 2015 increasing by 15% on a year-on-year basis.

We continue to incorporate a very high level of systemic support from the government.

IDBI is a public sector bank, with the Government of India (Baa3 Positive) holding a 80.16% stake.

We believe the government will provide a very high level of support to all public sector banks, as problems at even a small bank could lead to contagion risk for the other public sector banks.

The government has announced that it is open to the possibility of lowering its stake to below 50% in IDBI Bank.

If the government does lower its stake in such a manner, it would warrant a relook at our support assumptions for IDBI Bank.

However, given the significant execution challenges involved, we are not factoring this scenario in our current support assumptions.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS - UP

An upward change in its BCA is possible if IDBI substantially improves its profitability and Tier 1 capital position on an internally generated basis or by accessing the capital markets rather than relying on an equity infusion from the Indian government.

Significant improvement in asset quality accompanied with a large reduction in loan concentration risks will also lead to upward pressure on its BCA.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS -- DOWN

A further significant deterioration in asset quality, leading to further deterioration in the bank's loan-loss coverage and capital levels, could exert negative pressure on the BCA.

The current rating already factors in a very high level of government support. Hence, negative pressure on the bank's BCA will likely translate to negative pressure on the supported rating.

IDBI's ratings are as follows, following Moody's rating action:

IDBI Bank

- Local and Foreign currency bank deposit ratings affirmed at Baa3/ P-3; outlook on the long-term deposit rating is stable

- Foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating affirmed at Baa3; outlook on the ratings is stable

- Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

- Foreign currency subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)B1

- Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)B2

- BCA and Adjusted BCA affirmed at b1

- CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

IDBI Bank, DIFC Branch

- Foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating affirmed at Baa3; outlook on the ratings is stable

- Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

- Foreign currency subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)B1

- Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)B2

- CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

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Moody's Investors Service has affirmed State Bank of India's (SBI) local and foreign currency deposit ratings of Baa3/P-3. The ratings on the bank's senior unsecured debt and senior unsecured medium term note (MTN) program -- issued out of the London Branch -- of Baa3 and (P)Baa3 have also been affirmed. In addition, Moody's has affirmed SBI's baseline credit assessment (BCA) of ba1 and its adjusted BCA of ba1.

Moody's has also affirmed the ratings for the banks' foreign currency subordinated MTN and foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program of (P)Ba1 and (P)Ba2.

The rating for the bank's preferred stock (non-cumulative) of B1(hyb) has been affirmed.

The bank's Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) of Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr) is also affirmed.

All other short-term program ratings have been affirmed at (P)P-3.

The outlook on the bank's long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt (issued out of the London Branch) is positive.

RATINGS RATIONALE

SBI has struggled with poor asset quality since 2011, when the rate of GDP growth in India (Baa3 positive) fell to under 9%. In particular, high corporate leverage and stalled infrastructure projects led to rising levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) and restructured loans.

Nevertheless, given the amount of bad loans that SBI has recognized over the years, Moody's believes the bank's asset quality will not come under significant pressure.

The key remaining asset quality challenges for SBI is its exposure to highly leveraged corporate groups that remain classified as standard assets, despite the groups showing weak debt-to-EBITDA and interest coverage ratios. Part of this issue was addressed by the asset quality review conducted by the Reserve Bank of India in December 2015. The review pushed SBI to reflect some of this exposure in its NPLs. Following the review, SBI's reported NPL ratio increased to 5.1% at 31 December 2015 from 4.25% at 31 March 2015.

Moody's expects SBI to register a gross NPL ratio of around 6.0% for the year-ending 31 March 2016.

Moody's points out that beyond the recognition of the remaining stressed exposure, SBI's underlying asset quality should stabilize. For example, SBI's new impaired loans formation rate has fallen since quarter ended December 2014 except for the quarter ended 31 December 2015 and at a faster pace than other Indian public sector banks. In addition, SBI has shown a greater bias towards better rated Indian corporates in its new loan originations.

A key weakness of SBI's credit profile is its thin loss absorbing buffers.

In December 2015, he bank's reported provisioning coverage was at 65% down from 69% at end-March 2015 -- a level which is much lower than similarly rated global peers. Given the uncertainity surrounding the corporate asset quality, credit cost will continue to remain high and pose as a key drag on the bank's profitability levels until NPL formation rate comes down further.

Despite the pressure on its profits, Moody's expects that SBI can maintain its capitalization levels, such that its CET1 ratio will register around 9.0%-9.5% for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2017, because of its strong core earnings (pre-provisioning profits) compared to other public sector banks, which should help the bank absorb potential provisioning expenses. Furthermore, the bank has access to internal and external sources of capital, including capital infusion from the Government of India.

The affirmation of the ratings also take into account SBI's strong liquidity and funding position. As the largest bank in India by assets and deposits, SBI accounts for around 16% of system loans and 17% of system deposits as of end-June 2015. The bank has a nationwide reach, through 16,377 bank branches and 55,768 group ATMs. We expect these factors to reinforce SBI's long-running competitiveness in terms of its franchise, funding and liquidity positions.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS -- UP

SBI's deposit ratings and ratings of senior unsecured debt issued out of the London branch, could be upgraded if India's sovereign rating of Baa3 is upgraded.

WHAT COULD CHANGE THE RATINGS -- DOWN

SBI's BCA could face downward pressure if: (1) its NPL ratio increases substantially from current levels; and/or (2) if its core earnings fall and impacts its ability to support an increase in credit costs.

Additionally, any indications that support from the Government of India has diminished or that additional capital requirements may arise beyond the government's budgeted amount could put the bank's ratings under pressure.

Any downward changes in the sovereign's ceilings could also affect the bank's ratings.

Taking into account today's announcement on SBI's ratings, the bank's ratings are as follows:

State Bank of India

Local currency deposit rating affirmed at Baa3/P-3; outlook on the long-term rating is positive

Foreign currency deposit rating affirmed at Baa3/P-3; outlook on the long-term rating is positive

Other short-term program rating affirmed at (P)P-3

Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

Foreign currency subordinated MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba1

Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba2

Pref. stock (non-cumulative) rating affirmed at B1(hyb)

BCA and Adjusted BCA affirmed at ba1

CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

State Bank of India, Hong Kong Branch

Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

Foreign currency subordinated MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba1

Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba2

Other short-term program rating affirmed at (P)P-3

CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

State Bank of India, London Branch

Foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating affirmed at Baa3; outlook on the senior unsecured debt rating is positive

Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

Foreign currency subordinated MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba1

Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba2

Other short-term program rating affirmed at (P)P-3

CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

State Bank of India, Nassau Branch

Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Baa3

Foreign currency subordinated MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba1

Foreign currency junior subordinate MTN program rating affirmed at (P)Ba2

Pref. stock (non-cumulative) rating affirmed at B1(hyb)

Other short-term program rating affirmed at (P)P-3

CR Assessment affirmed at Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr)

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Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has assigned a Baa3 rating to ICICI Bank Limited's (ICICI, Baa3, Positive) proposed USD denominated senior unsecured notes, issued under its US$7.5 billion Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) program.

The drawdown will be carried out from its Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) branch, and the bonds will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The outlook on the ratings, where applicable, is Positive.

The senior debt rating is subject to receipt of final documentation, the terms and conditions of which are not expected to change in any material way from the draft documents reviewed by Moody's.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Baa3 foreign currency senior unsecured MTN debt rating is anchored on ICICI's baa3 baseline credit assessment (BCA).

ICICI's BCA of baa3 is underpinned by the bank's solid franchise as India's largest private sector bank by assets, as well as its strong capitalization, liquidity, and earnings profile. It also takes into consideration (1) the challenging domestic operating environment, which could lead to a further deterioration in the asset quality; (2) high buffers to withstand further asset quality deterioration including strong pre-provision income generation, high loan loss coverage levels and high levels of capitalization; and (3) improvement in core operating performance characterized by improving funding profile and cost-income ratios.

The full list of ratings for ICICI Bank Limited are:

Long-term local currency deposit rating of Baa3; positive outlook

Short-term local currency deposit rating of P-3

Long-term foreign currency deposit rating of Baa3; positive outlook

Short-term foreign currency deposit rating of P-3

Foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating of (P)Baa3

Foreign currency subordinated MTN program rating of (P)Ba1

Foreign currency junior subordinated MTN rating of (P)Ba2

BCA and Adjusted BCA of baa3

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Drug manufacturers to set up own R&D system to improve quality standards: Director General of Health Services

The government will not take any decision on drug price control without holding discussions with the pharmaceutical industry and other stakeholders, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said at The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) event.

We take every step very carefully when it comes to the issue of drug price control as we do not want to take even a single step without holding discussions with the industry, said Mr Ahir.

He said that government wants the prices of medicines to be affordable for general public, but at the same it wants the industry to flourish. We need to promote the industry for sure, this is certain.

The minister also said that the government will soon come out with a policy on medical devices.

We want that APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) and bulk drugs should be manufactured locally within India, further said Mr Ahir.

Terming India as the 'medical store of the world,' the minister said that there are over 10,000 big and small drug manufacturing industries across the country. We are exporting drugs into over 200 countries, it is a big achievement.

However, he said that it is concerning to note that over 5,000 industries engaged in drug manufacturing do not carry out research and development process, which is the need of the hour.

In his address at the ASSOCHAM event, Mr Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services said that with a view to perk up drug manufacturing standards in India, the government has asked drug manufacturers to set up research and development (R&D) system to ensure they follow quality standards.

Drug manufacturers should either have a R&D system of their own or they should be attached to R&D which is available in other industries, without R&D they should not manufacture drugs, we are trying to put this to drug manufacturers across the country to have high quality drugs available with them, said Mr Prasad.

He also said that India has the potential to produce much better medical devices compared to those being manufactured in China.

Most of the Chinese equipment used in medical system, be it monitors, ventilators and others, we can produce much better medical equipments compared to China, said Mr Prasad.

Today, India is totally dependent on medical devices imported either from China or from European countries, hardly any medical device is made for diagnostics set up which we can produce and export in the country, he added.

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About 1.5 kg of narcotics were found concealed in baby carriers and boxes of neckties at the Auckland Airport in New Zealand, Customs officials said on Monday.

Customs officers on Saturday found the illegal drugs haul in the baggage of a 20-year-old Latvian man.

The amount of narcotics had a street value of around 1.5 million NZ dollars ($1 million), Xinhua quoted a custom officer as saying.

"Customs continue to focus on high risk passengers and goods, and every seizure is a win and success for us," the official added.
At least 12 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed and 21 others injured in an explosion in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, a military statement said on Monday.

"On Sunday, IS militants were building an improvised explosive device (IED) but the device exploded prematurely," Xinhua news agency reported citing the statement.

The IS militants tried to plant the IED in Achin district targetting security forces.
A survey has found that at least 3,000 tonnes of un-designated radioactive waste from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident is being kept in 30 municipalities in seven prefectures in Japan.

The survey carried out by public broadcaster NHK said the governments and farmers have not reported that they are storing the waste.

The government designates, stores and disposes of rice straw and soil that are contaminated with more than 8,000 becquerels of radioactive materials per kilogram.

NHK surveyed more than 500 municipalities in eastern Japan and found that 3,114 tonnes waste is being kept in 30 municipalities in seven prefectures, including Fukushima and Tokyo, without being designated.

The government plans to investigate the actual situation of un-designated waste, and consider methods of disposal.
At least 37 people were killed and 125 injured in an explosion that hit Turkey's capital city of Ankara, the media reported on Monday.

A bomb-laden car caused the explosion late Sunday near Kizilay square, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The toll was expected to increase as at least nine of those injured were in critical conditions, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday.

A suspected bomber, who also died in the blast, was a female member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), security sources said.

Turkish security forces have also arrested 18 suspects following the attack, a government official said.

The arrests were made during operations in Eskisehir and Sanliurfa provinces, the official said.

"The suspects were involved in terrorist propaganda and tried to embrace terrorists. They were involved in various actions," he said.

Documents related to "illegal organisations" were seized during the raids, he added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemning the attack said that "Turkey has become a target of terror attacks due to the instabilities in the region."

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees," he said.

While Turkey's Supreme Court Head Ismail Rustu Cirit has said that the country must learn "to live with terror".

"Unfortunately, our country has to live with this terror but the perpetrators, those who wish to attain their goals through terror, should know they will never reach their aim," the head said.

According to sources, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has postponed a visit to Jordan following the bombing.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the attack, but government sources have cast suspicion on the PKK.

A curfew was declared in three towns in south-east Turkey, while warplanes struck PKK camps in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Eleven warplanes carried out air strikes on 18 targets including ammunition dumps and shelters in the Qandil and Gara sectors, the army said.
At least 37 people were killed and 125 others injured after an explosion hit Turkey's capital city of Ankara, the media reported on Monday.

A bomb-laden car caused the explosion late Sunday night near Kizilay square, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said the toll increased as three more people died from their injuries in the hospital on Monday.

Muezzinoglu said 30 people were killed at the scene of the explosion while four others died on their way to the hospital, adding that two of them could be the attackers.

Nine people are still critical.

The wounded were transferred to 10 different hospitals across Ankara, CNN Turk reported.

The blast took place where around 10 bus stops are located.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack in a written statement, adding that "Turkey has become a target of terror attacks due to the instabilities in the region."

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against will for certain end in success and will be brought to its knees," he said.

According to sources, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has postponed a visit to Jordan following the bombing.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the attack.

This is the third major blast to hit the Turkish capital since October 2015.

Islamic State (IS) militants bombed a peace rally near the Ankara Railway Station that killed 103 people on October 10, 2015.

On February 17, a suicide car bomb attack targeted military shuttles in the capital city on killing 29 people and injuring 81 others.
Bollywood actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan, who turned 51 on Monday, said his wish is to buy a house for his mother in Varanasi, where she spent her childhood days.

Sticking to his annual tradition of cutting a birthday cake with the media at his residence here, Aamir, who sported a moustachioed look, said: "This year, my wish is I want to buy a house for my ammi (mother) in Benaras where she has spent her childhood days. I have been thinking about it for a long time.

"I would like to request the people who are living in that house, so that I can buy it for my ammi."

For the occassion, Aamir chose to flaunt a casual look. He wore a white T-shirt with a rough sketch on it -- and the "Taare Zameen Par" star said it was done by his son Azad Rao Khan.

"Today I am wearing a T-shirt which is made by Azad. Azad made the T-shirt for me, and Kiran got it printed. In fact, Azad was the first one to wish me today."

The actor plans to spend the day with his family and will later celebrate with his mother and near and dear ones.
Upping the ante on the Vijay Mallya issue, the Congress on Monday asked the government to act against the public officials and politicians who helped the businessman flee from India.

"We request Modi government to rise above rhetoric and face the reality. Prime minister must concentrate on deportation of Vijay Mallya and ensure that 9,091 crore rupees are recovered. It is not important which party the politicians who helped him belong to. Whoever they are, the government must take action against them," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said while talking to reporters outside parliament.

The party also alleged that "Mallya has run away in accordance to 'Fair & Lovely Scheme' of Modi government", a jibe that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi took on the government's budget provision for black money holders to escape punishment.

"He is now a double NRI, first he was 'Non Repaying Indian' and second he is 'Non Returning Indian'. Instead of fulfilling the promise of bringing back black money, Modi government's record in last 22 months is that, two persons have escaped -- one Mr Lalit Modi and Mr Mallya -- to foreign shores under their very nose and with active or tacit complicity and abetment," Surjewala said.

He alleged that people in government have facilitated the two businessmen in fleeing the country.

"Shri Mallya was present in Parliament on 1st March, 2016 where he reportedly met FM Shri Jaitley, and had a conversation with him. We all know what happened then, while CBI, Banks, SFIOs, SEBI, IT, Service Tax, etc were looking for him, yet he left on 2nd of March," Surjewala added.

He also stressed that the government must share with parliament the conversation that transpired between the finance minister and Mallya.

"Shri Mallya met FM before he left, admittedly he also spoke to union finance secretary. Did FM inform honourable PM about the conversation that took place in the meetings, will the government share it with the parliament and the people of India as to what was the nature of meeting and conversation that transpired between FM and Shri Mallya," asked Surjewala.

He also asked the central government about the steps being taken by it to recover the public money.

"Will government seek deportation of Shri Mallya from UK (Britain) by exerting pressure in order to recover Rs.9,091 crore of public money or will this case also be sent to the layers of statutory extradition, which wouldn't fructify for years together as in case of Mr. Lalit Modi," Surjewala said.

The Congress reaction came after the Indian courts issued non-bailable warrant against the businessmen for not repaying the loans he had taken from commercial banks.
Over a thousand taxi drivers in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Monday held a protest strike against mobile transportation applications such as Uber and GrabTaxi.

Taxi drivers and other public transportation drivers rallied in the city centre since 9.00 a.m., EFE news reported.

Some carried banners with messages denouncing "dark and illegal" transportation applications and imploring Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to help the drivers, while others shouted slogans like "Reject Uber and Grab Car".

The strike made it harder to find taxis in downtown Jakarta, and authorities feared the transportation situation could worsen during rush hour.

Representatives of the Land Transportation Drivers Association sought to meet Purnama and President Joko Widodo and "convey our protestations regarding the presence of illegal transportation operating as non-public transportation through application service companies", said Budiyanto from the Jakarta Police's traffic directorate.

The chairman of the Jakarta Land Transportation Owners has urged people to use other, non-application-based means of transportation in view of the protest.
Suspected debris from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 discovered in Mozambique and French overseas Reunion Island will be sent to Australia and France for verification, Malaysian officials said on Monday.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai called for patience for experts to carry out the verification process, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It is important to re-emphasise that at this juncture, it has not been confirmed whether any of the recovered debris came from MH370," Liow said.

A piece of debris suspected to be part of the horizontal stabiliser that washed ashore in Mozambique was sent to Malaysia for preliminary analysis.

Another piece of debris was reported to be found in Mozambique by a South African holiday maker and was later sent to Malaysia.

Malaysian authorities have been in contact with South Africa and an expert team will be dispatched to take the custody of the debris, Liow said.

Both pieces will be sent to Australia for further examination and verification by an international investigation team.

On the suspected debris found in the French overseas Reunion Island, where a wing part called flaperon was discovered last year, Liow said, the piece would be transferred to France to be verified by the authorities.

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, most of them Chinese.

The flaperon has so far remained the only debris confirmed to be from the plane.
Rome, March 15 (IANS/AKI) The Bangladeshi migrant who was savagely kicked and punched in Italy's capital Rome on Monday is in a critical condition with brain haeorrhage, doctors said.

The 37-year-old man was into a medically induced coma by doctors on Monday, AKI news agency said.

Police arrested a 25-year-old Italian over the brutal attack, which took place in Rome's southeast Quadraro neighbourhood.

He faces charges of attempted murder.

The Italian, who was drunk, crashed into several parked vehicles, got out and set upon the Bangladeshi, who was walking past at the time, police said.

The details of the migrant were not provided.

--IANS/AKI

ksk/vt
Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal responded to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons on graft cases and reached its office amidst high security here on Monday morning.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader was accompanied by a senior party colleague Jitendra Awhad, several legislators, a large number of party activists and his supporters from Nashik. They raised slogans in his favour as he entered the ED office.

Police deployed tight security and banned any gathering of five or more people in the vicinity of the ED office.

The summons on March 8 followed a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya in connection with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act pertaining to alleged irregularities in the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi.
Poll-bound West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday faced an embarrassment after several of its leaders were allegedly caught on camera accepting bribes.

The Trinamool Congress has rubbished the claims calling the videos "doctored" and part of a "smear campaign" against the party. "This is a political conspiracy. Party will take up the matter. We will take legal action," said party vice president Mukul Roy.

The sting operation carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website, purportedly shows as many as 11 Trinamool leaders and state ministers accepting bribes in return for favours to a fictitious company.

"We formed a fictitious company - Impex Consultancy - and approached several ministers and Trinamool leaders to seek favours. This was an attempt to unravel what is happening behind closed doors," said a report on the website.

"We have about 52 hours of footage of this operation. What we understood after analysing it is that the leadership of the Trinamool Congress were more than willing to side step the norms, circumvent laws to extend illegal help to those who offer money," claimed the website listing against each of the leaders amounts ranging from Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh that it said it had paid.

The authenticity of the video uploaded by the website could not be ascertained.

The list of alleged "bribe takers", according to Narada News, also includes a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is claimed by the website as acknowledging that he was a "key person who collects funds for the Trinamool Congress".

In the video one of the senior leaders is seen telling the website reporter that the IPS officer would be the communicator between them.

"I have Rs. 20 lakhs, I will go to your office and will give. You will be there no," asked the reporter to which the leader allegedly replies: "Yes, I will be there".

The video also shows a former central minister and a Trinamool Lok Sabha MP allegedly accepting bundles of money.

While the Trinamool has dismissed the sting as "dirty tricks" by its political opponents, the opposition has demanded that Mamata Banerjee immediately step down as the chief minister.

"We have watched the video of the so-called 'sting' operation. There is no sting in it. We are completely dismissive about it," Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien said.

"The timing of the dirty tricks video too clearly indicates the devious motive behind it. Why was the organisation that supposedly shot this video hiding the so-called 'truth' for more than two years," O'Brien added.

He went on to say that he would ask his political opponents to fight them politically. "This is a smear campaign, we are all busy with elections now, so whoever has tried to concoct this smear campaign, may please go ahead and concoct your smear campaign or your doctored videos," he said.

The Trinamool spokesperson said that in the present age, technology was often abused.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, took the opportunity to tear into its opponent. "The sting operation has completely exposed the TMC proving their entire leadership is deep in corruption. We demand the immediate resignation of Mamata Banerjee. She has no right, no business, to continue as the chief minister," BJP national secretary S.N. Singh said.

He also demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter.

Reading out the names of those caught in the sting, CPI-M state secretary and leader of opposition, Surjya Kanta Mishra, said everything had been brought to the fore.

"The sting operation carried out by Narada News has proved what we have been saying for all these years. Now there is nothing to hide. It's a matter of shame that this government continues," said Mishra.
Brunei and the US are eyeing a state partnership programme (SPP) that would link their militaries and boost security cooperation, the media reported on Monday.

Mark Dillon, vice commander of the US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), said that Brunei expressed interest in joining the programme, as both sides seek closer engagement towards addressing security challenges in line with Washington's rebalance in Asia.

"We are trying to facilitate that, as partnerships are important to us," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

He pointed out the SPP, managed by the US National Guard, is one of the initiatives of US Department of Defence to strengthen joint security cooperation.

Under the programme, the US works with partner militaries to strengthen shared defences through capacity building activities.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday warned politicians who are making campaigns for cancelling the debt of bank borrowers.

At the opening ceremony of a micro-finance conference, Hun Sen said that these leaders are cheating people out of ballots ahead of the upcoming elections, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prime minister said that some politicians have been launching campaigns promising to write off all debts that people owe to the banks if they gained victory in the upcoming elections.

"I'd like to call on politicians in political parties not to do such a cheap act that violates the financial regulation," he said.

"The arrest will be made on the spot, though you are lawmakers, because this is an act of committing a crime."

"It is unacceptable that they cheat people for their own political gain," he said, adding that such campaigns are dragging people into worse debts.

Hun Sen did not specifically name any political parties in his remarks.

Cambodia is gearing up for its elections in 2017 and the national election in 2018.
The government has sought reports from states about damage to crops following heavy rainfall and hailstorm in some parts of northern India, union Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday.

"I have personally spoken to the agriculture ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to assess the crop damage," Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a statement on the issue.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue on Monday and sought immediate relief for the affected farmers.

Singh said the states have conveyed that it will take three to four days to assess the crop damage.

"Central teams will visit the affected areas after receiving reports from the states and assistance will be provided on the basis of their reports," he said.

The minister also announced that the government has decided to grant assistance to the union territories in case they are affected by disaster.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up a disaster relief fund to grant assistance to the union territories like Delhi," he said.

Singh also said there was no provision in the past to grant funds to union territories under the National Disaster Relief Fund.
A 23-year-old man was hacked to death in broad daylight on a busy road in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur district by some unidentified men and his wife was left critically injured on Sunday, a media report showed.

The CCTV visuals show V. Sankar, 23, a third-year engineering student, and Kausalya, 19, were conversing while strolling when suddenly three motorbike-borne men arrive and launch the attack on Sankar with sharp weapons. After him, the attackers target his wife and beat her up.

Sankar, who comes from Dalit community, and Kausalya, from the politically powerful Thevar caste, married eight months ago. According to police, Kausalya's family was unhappy with her marriage outside the caste.

The woman's father has surrendered in court and denied having played any role in the attack, police said.
A 23-year-old Dalit man who married into the politically influential Thevar community was hacked to death in front of a large number of people in a Tamil Nadu town, police said on Monday.

CCTV visuals showed three or four men attack V. Sankar, a third year engineering student, when he and his wife Kausalya, 19, were on a walk in Udumalaipettai town in Tiruppur district on Sunday evening.

The unidentified killers came on a motorcycle and appeared to have been shadowing the couple. Before escaping, the killers also thrashed the young woman, leaving her badly wounded.

The attackers used sickles as they repeatedly slashed Sankar, who died on his way to a hospital.

As the attack took place, many people on the street stood watching, frozen by terror, residents and police officials said. Some ran away from the scene.

Sankar's family said he and his wife had just finished shopping when the chilling attack took place.

Sankar and Kausalya married about eight months ago. Police said Kausalya's family was unhappy over her marriage outside the caste.

A shaken Kausalya later told a Tamil news channel that she would be able to identify the killers.

She said she and her husband were threatened earlier too by some people.

"On one occasion, they tried to abduct me. I raised an alarm and police intervened," she said from her hospital bed in Coimbatore town.

The dead man's family and other Dalits showed their anger over the brazen murder by raising slogans against the government when police handed over his body to them.

Sankar's distraught father Velu Samy told journalists that he had felt his son would be eventually accepted by the girl's family.

"But that did not happen," he said. "We have lost him."

The young woman's father later surrendered to police. He said he had no hand in the crime and surrendered after learning that police were looking for him.

Informed sources said police were also looking for some other members of the woman's family.

The Thevar community to which the young woman belonged is closely aligned with Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK party.

A party spokeswoman denied the murder was the result of caste conflict. "It is a problem between two families, not between two castes," she said in Chennai.
A Dalit student pursuing M.Phil at the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication here on Monday accused its authorities of harassing more than 100 students belonging to the weaker sections.

Mahesh Mamore, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste, said students from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and other weaker sections were denied scholarship, HRA and other facilities and those demanding their rights were threatened.

He said he himself had not been given scholarship and house rent allowance since August 2015, after which he wrote to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and university vice chancellor on March 7 and threatened he would commit suicide if he was not paid his dues.

After his case came to light, Students Federation of India, All India Students Federation and other student bodies held a protest demonstration on the campus on Monday. Police later detained the protesting students.

Meanwhile, the university administration transferred three-month scholarship in Mahesh's bank account on Monday.

University proctor Lajpat Ahuja said the scholarship amount from the government had not yet arrived but still the university had transferred the money to Mahesh's account.
Police on Monday detained four of the suspects accused of hacking to death a young Dalit man who married an upper caste girl, who herself narrowly survived the brutal assault in a Tamil Nadu town.

Political parties denounced the chilling murder of V. Sankar, 23, in Udumalaipettai town in Tirupur district on Sunday afternoon and what they said was the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Sankar had married Kausalya, 19, who is from the politically influential Thevar community, eight months ago.

CCTV visuals showed about six men attack Sankar, a third year engineering student, with sickles and machetes when he and Kausalya were walking on a crowded street.

The killers apparently came on two motorcycles and appeared to have been shadowing the couple. Before escaping, the killers also thrashed the young woman, leaving her badly wounded. But she miraculously survived.

Sankar bled to death on his way to a hospital.

The attack was witnessed by scores of people, many of whom stood frozen by terror. Others fled the scene, police officials said.

Speaking from her hospital bed, a dazed Kausalya blamed her own family for the cold-blooded murder.

Her father C. Gopalasamy surrendered in a court, saying he was scared and not because he was involved with the killing in any way. He was remanded in judicial custody till March 21 and taken to the Central Jail in Madurai.

Sankar's family said he and his wife had just finished shopping when they were targeted. Police said Kausalya's family was unhappy over her marriage outside the caste.

Kausalya told a Tamil news channel that she would be able to identify the killers. She said she and her husband were threatened earlier too by a few men.

She blamed her parents for the murder.

Velu Samy, the distraught father of Sankar, alleged that Kausalya was abducted by her parents once and locked up in their house.

It was only after a police case was filed that she was allowed to return to her husband.

He said Sankar and Kausalya used to get frequent death threats.

Velu Samy said he had felt that his son would be eventually accepted by the girl's family. "But that did not happen. We have lost him."

Police detained four suspects for the murder. Kausalya had reportedly recognised two of her attackers from the photographs and videos shown to her.

Police and the administration had a tough time persuading Sankar's family to take his body for cremation after the post-mortem examination on Monday afternoon.

The angry family and other Dalits protested against what they said was police inaction vis-a-vis the killers.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has, meanwhile, sought the response of the Tamil Nadu government within a fortnight over the murder.

Political parties preparing for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in May condemned the incident but mostly chose not to harp on the caste issue. Dalit and Left groups have vowed to hold protests across the state this week.

The Thevar community to which the young woman belonged is closely aligned with Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK party.

A party spokeswoman denied the murder was the result of caste conflict. "It is a problem between two families, not between two castes," she said in Chennai.
At least eight Pakistani refugees on their way from Turkey to Greece were reported missing on Monday after their boat capsized off the Kos island, the media reported.

As many as five people, who managed to swim to the shore and alerted the authorities, said all those missing were Pakistani, Xinhua reported.

A rescue operation was under way though high speed winds prevailed in the area.

Monday's tragedy occurred as more than 44,000 refugees and migrants remain stranded in Greece after the gradual closing of borders along the Balkan route to central Europe since mid-February.

According to the latest figures from the Migration Policy Ministry, approximately 12,000 people remain at the overcrowded muddy makeshift camp of Idomeni near the crossing at the Greece-Macedonia border, living in horrible conditions with inadequate food and medicine.

About 9,000 people are still on the Aegean Sea islands, another 11,000 across the Greek capital and its suburbs, more than 3,000 in the passenger terminals of Piraeus port and 1,000 scattered at hospitality centres in central Greece.

Since only a few dozen Syrians and Iraqis are allowed to enter Macedonia each day, desperate refugees keep crossing the Aegean, risking their lives to reach Greek soil.

According to the Greek Shipping Ministry, about 2,000 people continue to reach the Greek islands per day on boats from Turkey despite the latest agreement between the EU and Turkey for closer cooperation to prevent the refugee influx.
Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday and lauded his government's efforts in taking forward developmental projects in the state.

Chandra said that of the memorandums of understanding of Rs.10,000 crore signed by the Essel Group, Rs.1,500 crore had already been invested in the state and the remaining money would be invested soon.

He said his group was working in power transmission, riverfront development, solar projects, Agra-Lucknow Expressway and other state highway projects.

The chief minister praised the Essel Group's contribution to Uttar Pradesh's development.
Pakistan former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani will not attend 'Spring Fever', touted as one of Delhi's oldest literary and cultural festival, which begins on Tuesday, said organisers.

Citing visa issue as the reason for Haqqani's absence, organisers said that noted Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin will fill his place in the festival.

At its eighth edition, the five-day festival, hosted by Penguin Random House India, boasts of a stellar line up like Ramachandra Guha, Sunil Khilnani, Shashi Tharoor and more.

Haqqani, an academician and a journalist, was one of the main attractions of the festival, and he was scheduled to attend the session 'Pakistan is in the eye of the beholder'. The session will see also see Tharoor, diplomat T.C.A. Raghavan and journalist Hindol Sengupta.

Now, the organisers said that Nasrin would be replacing Haqqani, who is also author of two books titled "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military", and "Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and an Epic History of Misunderstanding".

The festival will open with session "The challenge of contemporary history" where historian and writer Guha discusses his forthcoming book, a collection of essays entitled "Democrats and Dissenters".

Another highlight would be the session titled "Incarnations" by Khilnani, professor and director of the Indian Institute at Kings College London, who will be discussing the 50 influential Indians who shaped our history.

Then there will be Srijan Pal Singh, aide to the late former president APJ Abdul Kalam, and educationist Anand Kumar.

For the Bollywood enthusiasts, there are sessions by actors Shilpa Shetty, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Twinkle Khanna, and Emraan Hashmi over the weekend. While Nawazuddin will talk about cinema, life and his journey in his forthcoming book, Shilpa will give tips on staying fit and healthy and Emraan and Sonali Bendre Behl will discuss parenting tips for the new age parents.

The festival will culminate with "Kitaabein?" featuring Gulzar on books, literature and poetry.

During the day, the open air library at the venue Amphitheatre, India Habitat Centre will turn into a browser's paradise featuring a complete range of Penguin India books.

'Spring Fever' will be on from March 15-20 (11 am to 7 pm).
At least four people were killed and many injured on Monday in an explosion in a navy hospital in Jakarta, an official statement said.

An ozone cylinder caused the explosion at the hospital, Xinhua quoted an official of the Indonesian health ministry as saying.

"Four people were dead and some others were injured. They are the hospital officials and patients," he said.

"All of them have been rushed to an intensive care unit," the official said.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday pitched for more funds to the Indian Railways to improve its infrastructure across the country.

"It's a subject which needs lots of money," the leader of the opposition told the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on the 2016-17 railway budget.

"We demand from the government that it should help you (Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu) the way it has helped the transport ministry," the Congress leader said.

He said he understood the complexities involved vis-a-vis the railways, saying it was "one cake to be distributed in the whole country".

Azad also stressed the need to focus on the problems and issues pertaining to the railways.

"Our railway tracks have gone old. These need to be upgraded," he said, adding that cleanliness was another issue requiring attention.

Azad said the railway land lying unused across the country was encroached upon and should be utilised for building hospitals and medical colleges.

"Such land has already been identified during our rule (United Progressive Alliance government) and the present government just has to come up with a plan for the same," he added.
The government on Monday set up a high-level official probe panel to conduct an "internal inquiry" how files concerning the affidavits filed in the Ishrat Jahan case have gone missing, informed sources said.

The probe has been "necessitated" after files went missing amid claims from former key home ministry officials including a former home secretary G.K. Pillai that political pressure was applied in the case in 2009, said the sources,

Among other important papers, one from the Pillai to the then attorney general G.E. Vahanvati also went missing, sources said.

Similarly, another paper from the then attorney general's desk also went missing, they said.

The probe team, headed by Additional Secretary, Home, B. K. Prasad, will try to find out how the files concerning the "draft of the second and revised affidavit" filed in the case went missing, sources said.

"The internal probe will also probe the entire chain of file movements in the home ministry in 2009," a source told IANS.

Last week, Rajnath Singh had announced in the Lok Sabha that an internal inquiry will be done in this regard.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and home ministry officials had alleged recently that the UPA government did a flip flop over the controversial 2004 shootout in which Ishrat, then a student of a Mumbai college and allegedly a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, was killed.

The home minister last week accused the Congress-led UPA government of hatching a conspiracy to malign the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his government.

Singh also alleged that the previous government had tried to give a political and communal colour to terrorism.

"Saffron terror was the previous government's term. Colour, creed and religion are not linked to terrorism. They gave a communal colour to terrorism," he had said in the Lok Sabha.

The controversy over the case flared up after David Headley, a Lashkar operative, made the startling claim on February 11 this year about the 2004 Gujarat shootout that Ishrat was a Lashkar operative.

R.V.S. Mani, a former under secretary in the ministry, had told the media that he was pressurised to file the second or revised affidavit in the Supreme Court as against the first affidavit in which Ishrat Jahan was named a LeT operative.

Pillai had also claimed that there was "political interference" in the case which led to the deletion of reference to LeT from the revised affidavit filed in 2009.

On March 10, the home minister had told the Lok Sabha that "two letters from the then home secretary to the attorney general in 2009 have gone missing. The then attorney general had vetted two affidavits regarding the case. Those are also not available."

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an shootout with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The central government on Monday sought reports from states on crops damaged due to heavy rains and hailstorm in parts of northern India, hours after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi demanded compensation for the affected farmers.

"I have personally spoken to the agriculture ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to assess the crop damage," union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told the Lok Sabha.

Singh said the affected states have said it will take three to four days to make an assessment.

"Central teams will visit the affected areas after receiving the reports from the states and assistance will be provided on the basis of their reports," he said.

The minister said the government will extend assistance to the union territories also in case of disaster.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of a Disaster Relief Fund to extend assistance to union territories like Delhi," he said.

Singh said there was no provision in the past to grant funds to the union territories under the National Disaster Relief Fund.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and asked the government to assess the crop damage due to hailstorm and provide adequate compensation to the affected farmers.

"After the hailstorm and heavy rains, farmers of northern India are in distress. The government must act to give relief to farmers affected (by) crop damage," he said in the Lok Sabha.

He demanded a statement from the agriculture minister. Responding, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said it was a serious matter and the government would act immediately.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the government stood by its commitment for the "equitable development" of the three regions -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh -- of the state.

"We want to implement the Rs.80,-crore economic package of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the equitable development of the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir," Jaitley said, replying to the budget debate in the Lok Sabha.

He said that the government was committed to set up various institutions, like IIT, IIM and AIIMS, announced earlier for the state, which has been under the central rule since January 7 when chief minister Mufti Mohammed Saeed died in a Delhi hospital.

Saeed headed the coalition government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, his daughter and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been dragging her feet over the government formation with the BJP demanding concessions from the central government, including more funds and some power hyrdro projects to be transferred to the state government.

Currently all power projects in the state are being owned and run by the central government's National Hyrdro Power Corporation (NHPC). The state gets some royalty from these powers plants, which the PDP also wants should be revised.

--Indo-Asian New Service

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Sweet, heart-shaped red strawberries grown in hills around this Himachal Pradesh town are much in demand in north Indian cities and the growers are more happy this year as production has been optimal owing to congenial weather.

But they reiterate their demand that the government should import tissue culture plants to strengthen the ailing strawberry industry.

"This year the production of strawberries is good in the region compared to the last year and the farmers are getting good prices too," prominent strawberry grower Sanjay Aggarwal, whose farm is located in Majra village, some 12 km from here in Sirmaur district, told IANS.

He said a majority of the fruit from here is heading to the Dehradun wholesale market in Uttarakhand from where it will go to Delhi and parts of Punjab and Haryana.

Strawberries are mainly grown in temperate areas of Sirmaur, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the total yield in the state.

Growers say the strawberries grown in the hills command greater demand than those in the plains, owing to high quality and longer shelf life.

At least 250 growers in the state are farming strawberries on less than 60 hectares.

The heart of this activity is along a 15 km stretch from Paonta Sahib to Dhaula Kuan in Sirmaur district where 35 farmers are involved in its cultivation.

Estimates with the state horticulture department say the total production in the Paonta Sahib area is expected to be around 85 tonnes, which is 25 tonnes more than in the last year.

The strawberries are also grown in Kullu, Una, Shimla and Kangra districts of the state.

Its production in the state was 500 tonnes last year and is expected this year to be 25 to 30 percent higher than the previous year. The output was 466 tonnes in 2010-11.

The strawberry crop starts arriving in the market in the end of February and its harvesting will continue till first week of May.

"We are harvesting 200 to 300 trays of strawberry every day. We are getting good prices this year," said grower Lekh Raj.

He said the price of a tray -- each 250 gm - ranges between Rs.80 and Rs.90 in the wholesale market. The early varieties fetched Rs.100 to Rs.120 per tray.

Traders in Dehradun say the demand is high owing to the onset of the wedding season.

"The demand for strawberries is quite high. On an average, we are daily supplying 1,000 to 1,500 trays to Delhi alone," said trader Naveen Soni, adding the demand is also good in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana.

The hill state is known for growing late varieties like 'Sweet Charlie' and 'Chandler' that command much demand in the fruit processing industry.

Aggarwal said the state horticulture department has invested in developing facilities like tissue culture labs but failed to introduce high-yield varieties that can be grown round the year and should provide imported tissue culture plants to strengthen the ailing industry.

Earlier, he said, there were 55 to 60 growers in the Paonta Sahib area alone. Now they have been reduced to 35. The farmers are opting other remunerative crops.

Studies conducted by state-run CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya Hill Agricultural Research and Extension Centre in Dhaula Kuan said a majority of strawberry cultivators in the Paonta Sahib block had around 0.08 hectares for it.

Its cultivation encounters higher labour and capital requirements, besides risky nature of the crop owing to shorter shelf life of fruits and marketing problems.

Amit Kishore of Sainwala village first planted the juicy fruit in 1994 on his farm near here, with planting material imported from California.

State Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes, who is a known apple grower in the country, informed the assembly last week that the state is providing 50 percent subsidy or the maximum Rs.140,000 per hectare to the strawberry growers for drip irrigation and mulching.

She said there is also a plan to start cultivation of white strawberry and expand the existing area.

Himachal Pradesh's fruit economy is worth Rs.3,500 crore ($520 million) and while apples alone constitute 89 percent, strawberries, pears, peaches, cherries, apricots, kiwis, olives, almonds and plums are the major commercial crops.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Some 3.3 million people across Brazil marched through the streets to demonstrate against the government over corruption and the economic downturn.

The protestors marched in more than 200 cities on Sunday, carrying placards, banners and balloons reading "Dilma Out, PT Out" in reference to President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling Workers' Party, Xinhua news agency reported.

Uniformly dressed in yellow and green, the colours of Brazil's flag, the demonstrators demanded the resignation of the president and the arrest of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who has been charged with money laundering and for concealing assets.

Nearly 50,000 people gathered around the National Congress building in the capital Brasilia, chanting "Dilma Out".

The protestors expressed firm support for the graft probe into alleged corruption at state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras.

Last week, Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested the preventive arrest of Lula, but the judge in charge of the case has yet to approve or reject it.

The preventive arrest is an instrument used under Brazilian law when there is a risk that the accused in a process will try to flee, tamper with evidence or threaten witnesses.

Rousseff refused to quit and said: "No one has the right to demand the resignation of a legitimately elected president without providing proof that she has violated the Constitution."
Bollywood extravaganza, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) celebrations, will return to Europe for the fourth time, with the scenic Madrid in Spain as the chosen destination this year. Actors Anil Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Sonakshi Sinha are already in Madrid to spread the 'filmy' fever.

An official announcement will be made at an event in Madrid later on Monday, but of what is seen from the Twitter handles of the three Bollywood stars, they are soaking in the colours and energy of the city and totally looking forward to a new celebration of Indian cinema on foreign shores.

Hrithik has posted multiple images on his Twitter handle, and is seen looking casual yet dapper on a sunny day with Sonakshi and Anil. In one image, the "Krrish" star is also seen taking a selfie with a crowd that seems to be enthusiastic about the upcoming 17th edition of the gala, to be held in June 23-26.

"Something about the IIFA Awards... The people, the places, the crew, the warmth. Love it. Everytime a special experience. Madrid," said Hrithik, who had extensively shot in Spain for "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara".

Even Anil enjoyed himself as he roamed around the Market of San Miguel in Madrid.

He tweeted: "Mercado San Miguel is an explosion of sounds, colors & textures... And the gorgeous street performers! IIFA 2016."

In fact, Anil even performed an impromptu jig on popular song "Gallan goodiyan" on the streets in Madrid to regale a crowd which seemed to be enjoying the vibrancy that Bollywood and its gliterrati exudes.

"Hola Madrid! The entire county seems to be buzzing with energy for IIFA 2016! Vamos Vamos VAMOS," Anil added following his experience.

Sonakshi, who tried some flamenco, shared: "Beautiful day in Madrid, exploring the city and getting it buzzing for IIFA with Hrithik and Anil Kapoor."

This is the fourth time that IIFA will be held in Europe. It was earlier held in Yorkshire, London and Amsterdam.
Indian-Americans' political preferences seem to be shifting in favour of the Republican Party, particularly Donald Trump, its front runner for the White House.

According to social media trends, the US's third largest ethnic group is overwhelmingly supporting Trump -- a billionaire real estate businessman-turned-politician who has courted many controversies ever since he jumped into the fray.

Indians in the US have traditionally been the vote bank for the Democrats. According to a study, as many as 65% of Indian-Americans leaned towards Democrats, making them the Asian-American subgroup most likely to identify with the party.

But this time there has been a shift, arguably for the first time in the American electoral history.

Several groups of Indian-Americans, a majority of them Hindus, have taken the social media route to voice their support for Trump. As the 2016 presidential election draws closer, various online communities and pages have come up in support of the realtor.

One such page on Facebook is "Hindus For Trump". With around 750 "likes", the page in its description says: "American Hindus are model citizens, educated and industrious. We want a responsible nation where Americans are both safe and free."

The page portrays Trump as Hindu god Vishnu, making him seated on what looks like a lotus with "Om" written at its centre.

There is also a Political Action Committee (PAC), formed by leading Indian American businessmen to pool in support and contribution for an effective presidential campaign of Trump. PAC is a type of organisation that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates or legislations.

Indian-Americans For Trump 2016, one of the PACs supporting Trump, is formed by the members of the American-Hindu community, including Sudhir Parikh, who is the advisory chair for the organisation.

Parikh is the owner of Parikh World Media, an umbrella corporation which houses news outlets influential among Hindus such as Desi Talk, the Indian American and the Gujarat Times.

However, this is not the first presidential endorsement by Hindus for Trump. The world renowned and cross-sectional Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF) endorsed him for the White House in August 2015 in its widely-circulated "India World Geopolitics" newspaper.

Although there has been a massive support for Trump from the Hindu community, a fraction of people from the Muslim community also seems to be supporting him, undeterred by his controversial remarks against the community.

Trump in one of his addresses said that "Islam hates us" and asserted that those having hatred against the US be denied entry into the country. He also called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

The Republican has also made scathing remarks against the immigrants in his addresses.

Indian-Americans are among the most highly educated racial or ethnic groups in the US, according to a Pew Research Centre study.

According to the study, Hindus make for 51% of 3.2 million Indian-Americans, while Christians and Muslims comprise of 18 and 10% respectively.
The indigenously-built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) prototype has fired 70mm rockets in weaponised configuration, state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) said on Monday.

"The initial rocket firing trials at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan recently demonstrated the integration of hardware and software, structural integrity and safe separation of rocket ammunition," HAL chairman T. Suvarna Raju said in a statement here.

As a 5.5-tonne class combat chopper, powered by two Shakti engines, the multi-role LCH is an armoured version of the defence behemoth's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv, which is in service of the Indian Air Force and Indian Army since a decade.

"Integration of weapons such as rocket, 20mm turret gun (20 mm) and air-to-air missile on LCH will continue for more trials and certification," Raju asserted.

After a maiden test flight in March 2010, the chopper's second and third prototypes (technology demonstrators) completed outstation trials in cold and hot weather conditions at Leh in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir as well as desert region of and in high altitudes during September 2015.

"The trials give us confidence to carry out certification firing trials in April-May and participate in the IAF's 'Iron Fist 2016' exercise on March 18." Raju said.

The IAF will hold the fire power demonstration code named 'Exercise Iron Fist' at Pokharan in Rajasthan's Thar desert on Friday.

The copter's third technical demonstrator (LCH TD-3) is integrated with electro-optical system, solid state digital video recording system and 70mm rocket system in a glass cockpit software for firing.

The city-based HAL will manufacture the combat version at its second helicopter unit under construction near Tumakuru, about 70km from Bengaluru.

The helicopter will have day/night targeting systems for the crew, including the helmet pointed sight and electro-optical pod consisting of CCD camera.

The company has an order to deliver 65 LCH to IAF and 114 to the army.

With a sleek and narrow fuselage, the chopper's other features are tri-cycle landing gear, crashworthy and self sealing fuel tanks, armour protection, nuclear and low visibility features, making it lethal, agile and survivable.

"LCH is the only attack helicopter, which can operate above 10,000 -- 12,000 feet altitude with load of armament," Raju added.
Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province has ordered an inquiry over offensive content in a sociology textbook, even after the publisher tendered a public apology, the media reported on Monday.

The book "Sociology of Pakistan", written by Abdul Hameed Taga and Abdul Aziz Taga, generated controversy after excerpts from a chapter on the Baloch people were circulated on social media, Dawn online reported.

The book referred to the Baloch nation in derogatory terms, calling them "uncivilised people" who "lived in the desert and looted caravans".

According to a statement released on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif constituted a two-member committee to investigate the publication of offensive content and asked how the error was unnoticed until now. He has also directed the committee to ascertain who was responsible for this negligence.

The committee will also review existing mechanisms to check the quality of content being published by private authors and publishers.

In a newspaper ad, which appeared in an Urdu language daily on Sunday, the publishing house claimed that the source of the "offensive" description of the Baloch was a Persian-language dictionary.

They also claimed as soon as the material was brought to their notice, they recalled the book from the market and issued a fresh edition after editing out the offending section.
Rome, March 14 (IANS/AKI) The Italian foreign ministry on Monday confirmed reports that two Italians from Padua -- Claudio Chiarelli and his son Massimiliano -- were killed in a Zimbabwe nature reserve.

The ministry said "the circumstances are yet to be clarified".

Claudio Chiarelli, and his son, 20, were shot dead by guards in Mana Pools nature reserve after being mistaken for elephant poachers, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said on Monday.

Details of the tragic incident, said to have happened on Sunday evening, were still unclear.

Claudio Chiarelli was originally from the Italian city of Padua but had reportedly been in Africa for decades. He was a professional hunter. His son, who was born in Zimbabwe, was described in media reports as a safari guide.

Zimbabwe police are investigating the incident.

Authorities in Mana Pools have for years been battling poachers, most of whom come from neighbouring Zambia and who have recently been using cyanide to kill elephants for their tusks.

--IANS/AKI

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Japan lodged a protest with the US embassy over the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by an American Marine at the Okinawa military base, the media reported on Monday.

"It was extremely regrettable that this case happened," said Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman.

The government has asked the US to "tighten discipline and prevent a recurrence of such incidents", he added.

The rape allegation come amid a controversy surrounding the relocation of the US military base in Futenma to another complex in the northern part of the island, further away from urban centres, EFE news reported.

US authorities have promised to take up the case seriously, the official said, adding it would be "regrettable" if a US official was found guilty of rape.

The 24-year-old US sailor allegedly raped a 40-year-old Japanese woman on Sunday in a hotel in Naha city. The Marine, arrested on Sunday evening, has denied the rape charges.
Japan's Imperial House said it will allow the public to visit the grounds of the palaces in Kyoto and Tokyo, the media reported on Monday.

The house said it will open the palace compound in the ancient capital of Kyoto year-round instead only for five days each in the spring and fall, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The palaces include buildings where enthronement ceremonies have taken place and the living quarters of emperors, and many valuable screen and wall paintings. The residence was used for about 540 years until 1868.

At the current palace grounds in Tokyo, the bi-annual opening of the tree-lined Inui-dori avenue will be extended from five days to one week.

The road is open to the public during the spring cherry blossom season and in the autumn when leaves turn colour.

This year's spring viewing in Tokyo will start on March 25.
The Jharkhand government on Monday denied Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey's claim that the Adani GHroup had decided to withdraw from the 1,600 MW thermal power project in the state.

"Till now, we have no official information that the Adani Group has decided to withdraw from the project proposed to be set up in Godda district," Eenergy department principal secretary S.K. Rahate told IANS.

Dubey, Lok Sabha member from Deoghar, told reporters in Deoghar on Sunday that the group had made clear that it would withdraw from the power project.

The Adani Power company signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government in February during the 'Make in India' event held in Mumbai to set up the thermal power plant at a cost of Rs.15,000 crore.

The power generated from the plant was planned to be sold to Bangladesh.

The opposition parties in Jharkhand questioned the MoU terms, claiming that the deal was inked to benefit the group by Rs.5,000 crore.

Last week, the Jharkhand assembly witnessed disruptions for three days as the opposition twice brought adjournment motions in the house regarding reduction of land rates in Santhal Pargana to allegedly benefit the Adani Group.

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik legislator Pradeep Yadav, while raising the issue in the assembly on Friday, said: "The Jharkhand Energy Policy 2012 has been overlooked while signing the MoU with the Adani Group company, as per which 25 percent of the installed capacity of a thermal power plant in Jharkhand will go to the state and the rate decided by the Jharkhand Electricity Regulatory Authority. The Adani Group will provide 25 percent power from an alternative source, which is violation of the 2012 policy."
The legislators and former MLAs in Jharkhand will get land and the state government is in the process to identifying such land, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said on Monday.

He was responding after Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) legislator Arup Chatterjee raised in the assembly the issue of hunger strike by certain former legislators on the issue.

"Some legislators are on a hunger strike. They have deposited money but the land has not been made available to them. There are 142 ex-legislators who have deposited money for the land," Chatterjee said.

The chief minister said: "Some land has been identified while the process to identify other land is on. Urban Development Minister C.P. Singh has been assigned the job. Land will be provided to legislators and ex-legislators under the provisions of the Society Act."

During the current budget session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Rai earlier announced that the limit of coupons for legislators for rail and air travel had been hiked from Rs.3 lakh to Rs.5 lakh per annum and for ex-legislators from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.3 lakh.

The Jharkhand government also announced a hike in the local area development fund of the legislators from Rs.3 crore to Rs.4 crore.
Illegal trade in owls was exposed in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh when a nature photographer tipped-off the Wildlife SOS NGO after spying a group of men with a bag containing an owlet.

Photographer Ankush Dave said: "I have been observing the owls in Patholi village for months, and keeping a close eye on the newborn birds. I saw a group of suspicious men roaming around the area with a bag in hand and decided to question them. They confessed to have taken an owl, and I immediately contacted Wildlife SOS."

Wildlife SOS is an NGO working to save the wildlife.

A team from the NGO rescue centre immediately rushed to the site and seized a juvenile dusky eagle owl from smugglers who had planned to trade the bird for medicinal and tantrik (occult) purposes, Dave said.

The smugglers had trimmed off the owl's talons and the bird was now under observation at the Wildlife SOS rescue facility, he said.

Sakir, a member of the Wildlife SOS rescue unit, said: "The group refused to hand over the owl to us even when we warned them they would be handed over to the police. It was only after we alerted the district magistrate that the men handed over the bird to us."

"Such incidents confirm that wildlife trade goes on right under our nose. In India, owls are poached for their body parts such as talons, skulls, bones and blood due to religious myths and superstitious beliefs tied to them. Hunting and trading of owls is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972," Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of Wildlife SOS and head of the NGO's anti-poaching unit, Forest Watch, said.
Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Edward Snowden, known for revealing the extent of surveillance by US intelligence, has said that this form of surveillance is "more aggressive and invasive today than it was before".

Snowden made the statement in Moscow, where he has been granted asylum after being accused of espionage in 2013 for revealing secret surveillance programmes of the US government.

Snowden said that not only the US has used these methods of mass surveillance, but also the Spanish, French, German and British governments because "it is cheap, easy and useful", Efe news agency reported.

According to Snowden, terrorism has been used to provide a justification for the use of this mass surveillance.

"It was diplomatic manipulation, economic spying and social control. It was about power, and there is no doubt that mass surveillance increases the power of the government," he said.

He recalled that the result of an investigation ordered by US President Barack Obama on this type of surveillance found that it had not been effective in the fight against terrorism.

When asked about the possibility of returning to his country, Snowden said that he tried to reach an agreement by requesting a fair trial but the government responded with a letter promising not to torture him.

Snowden said he doubted that the Spanish government and the Spanish intelligence services (CNI) did not know about or were not involved in the mass surveillance, which he believes took place in Spain.
Liquor, petroleum and limestone will be more expensive in Meghalaya as the government on Monday levied fresh taxes on them to meet shrinking resources after the National Green Tribunal banned coal mining in the north-eastern state.

Presenting a Rs.1.090-crore deficit budget for 2016-17 in the state assembly, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma proposed a 10 percent hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) on liquor from 20 percent to 30 percent besides raising the levy on import pass fee and transport fee on alcohol, beer and wine.

Sangma, who also holds the finance portfolio, raised VAT on petrol by 22 percent and also withdraw 56 paise per litre rebate on petrol.

He also raised the rate of cess on limestone from Rs.40 to Rs.60 per tonne.

To generate an additional revenue of Rs.18 crore during the current financial year, Sangma informed the assembly that the government had increased tax rates under Meghalaya VAT on cigarettes, high speed diesel and other internal combustion oil excluding petrol.

The state's total estimated receipts stand at Rs.9.013 crore and total expenditure is projected at Rs.10.103 crore, thus leaving a deficit of Rs.1.090 crore, which is around 3.6 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

Sangma accorded highest importance to community and rural development allocating Rs.811.85 crore and earmarked a plan outlay of Rs.677 crore for the education department.

An amount of Rs.471.80 crore was allocated for infrastructure like roads and bridges, Rs.470 crore for health and family welfare, and Rs.279.15 crore for agriculture and horticulture.

Proposing a plan outlay of Rs.158.70 crore to the power department, Sangma said an amount of Rs.100.14 crore has been sanctioned initially to electrify 463 villages and 16,997 Below Poverty Line households through the grid in order to achieve 100 percent village and rural household electrification.

He also informed the assembly that an amount of Rs.9.91 crore has been earmarked to electrify 77 villages and 1,541 rural households through the stand-alone solar PV systems under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, besides sanctioning of Rs.8.28 crore for the electrification of 29 villages through stand-alone solar PV systems.

Pledging a plan outlay Rs.811.85 crore to community and rural development, he also announced creation of four new civil sub-divisions at Mawshynrut in West Khasi Hills district, Pynursla in East Khasi Hills district, Chokpot in South Garo Hills district and Raksamgre in West Garo Hills district.

Sangma also announced the creation of four new community and rural developments blocks at Mawlai in East Khasi Hills, Bhoirymbong in Ri Bhoi district, Dendema in West Garo Hills and Rerapara in South West Garo Hills, besides establishing two new administrative units at Ranikor in South West Khasi Hills and Rongjeng in East Garo Hills.

Reiterating his government's commitment to ensure safety and security of the people, the chief minister said his government will continue to provide all necessary support to police to achieve self-reliance in tackling insurgency and any other law and order situations.

The special force 10 Commandos, who have completed their training, would be inducted for counter-insurgency operations, and 15 new police stations will be established in 2016-17 to strengthen the internal security apparatus.
Ace designer Rohit Bal, who celebrates his silver jubilee in the fashion industry this year, will bring the curtains down on the Lakme Fashion Week Summer-Resort 2016 (LFW) as the grand finale designer of the event. His offsite show will be held at the heritage structure of St. Xavier's College here on April 3.

The five-day fashion gala will start from March 30, and Bal is back for his second innings as grand finale designer at the forthcoming edition after his finale show in 2012.

"The offsite show will happen at St. Xavier's College," said a source.

The designer will work closely with Lakme make-up experts to create stellar looks for the runway that will set the beauty and fashion trends for the upcoming season.

Commenting about the association, Bal had previously said: "Great to be back again! Always a pleasure to work with the Lakme team. The most incredible part about doing Lakme Fashion Week is the carte blanche the designer is given. A complete and uninterrupted creative flow is what Lakme has given me."

"That in itself makes doing the finale precious and priceless. I am thrilled to be given this opportunity."

LFW will witness a string of veterans and new designers showcase their creations on the ramp.
The Myanmar parliament on Monday finalised preparations for this week's election of the country's next president and vice presidents -- the first candidates nominated democratically following decades of dictatorship in the country.

A committee of the bicameral legislature, formed after democratic elections of November 8 last year, plans to issue later on Monday a report on the suitability of the three candidates vying for the top executive positions in the country, reported the Myanmar Times.

The National League for Democracy, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, wrested majority in both houses of parliament enabling them to present last week two of the three presidential candidates, with a third being nominated by the army.

Htin Kyaw, the NLD nominee from the lower house, is being touted as the next president in the voting scheduled for Tuesday, EFE news reported.

The other two nominees are Henry Van Thio of the NLD, who has been proposed by the upper house, and Lieutenant General Mying Swe, nominated by the army.

Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1991, explained last week that she nominated Kyaw for his loyalty, training and experience, adding that the appointment of Thio, who belongs to the Shan ethnic minority, was in the interest of national reconciliation.

A parliamentary committee will assess whether the candidates meet the requirements set by the Constitution, including proof of their long residence in the country, knowledge of military affairs and no foreign relatives.

Suu Kyi is not eligible to run for president as she married a British professor Michael Aris, who died in 1999, and has two sons, Alexander and Kim, both British passport holders.

The last Burmese military junta ceded power in 2011 to a like-minded government, led by Thein Sein, a former general of the old regime who initiated a series of political and economic reforms that led to the lifting of sanctions by the European Union and the US in 2011.

The November elections were the first democratic polls after decades of military dictatorship (1962-2011).

However, the Constitution, approved in 2008, accords the military certain privileges, including 25 percent reservation in parliament and priority in the selection of the Armed Forces' head and defence and interior ministers.
A team of scientific explorers from the National Geographic Society is planning to film a documentary on a lava lake in Nicaragua's Masaya volcano, which has shown an increase in volcanic activity since last December.

National Geographic asked permission from the Nicaraguan government to make a documentary film about the Masaya volcano, located 23 km southeast of the capital Managua, to document the "magical place", according to Rosario Murillo, the coordinator for the government's Communication and Citizenship Council.

"They have asked permission to do the shooting in the Masaya volcano with a team of explorers, scientists and filmmakers to safely produce a video," EFE news reported on Monday citing Murillo.

The Washington-headquartered scientific non-profit organisation is now coordinating with the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies to arrange the visit to Masaya National Park, one of 78 protected areas in the country.

National Geographic wants to introduce "the extraordinary lava lakes of Masaya" to the world, Murillo added.
In a jolt to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, its senior leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with corruption cases lodged against him.

The development capped more than 11 hours of sustained interrogation and recording of the statement of Bhujbal by ED sleuths since noon on Monday. The corruption cases were lodged against him late on Monday night.

Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik criticised the development claiming Bhujbal was innocent, that he had done nothing wrong, and that there was nothing against him. He reiterated that the ruling BJP was allegedly pressurising the investigating agencies.

The summons followed a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya in connection with cases lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act pertaining to alleged irregularities in the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, allegedly worth several hundred crores of rupees.

Reacting to the ED moves, Somaiya said "Bhujbal's arrest was inevitable" and predicted that the same fate awaits other NCP leaders involved in the mega irrigation scams which he has unearthed.

State BJP president Raosaheb Danve, Minorities Affairs Minister Eknath Khadse and other party leaders welcomed Bhujbal's arrest.

On Monday morning, Bhujbal, accompanied by party colleague Jitendra Awhad, several legislators, a large number of party activists and his supporters from Nashik reached the ED office in response to its summons of March 8.

Police deployed tight security and clamped prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people in the vicinity of the ED office.

The action against Bhujbal came after over a month since his nephew Sameer Bhujbal was similarly summoned in February and subsequently placed under arrest by the ED.

Last month, the ED had also questioned Chhagan Bhujbal's son Pankaj Bhujbal, a legislator, and allowed him to go, even as his father cried foul, while the NCP termed it "political vendetta".

The ED probe follows a Bombay High Court ruling in January when it sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and the ED within four weeks on their investigations against the Bhujbals.

Following Somaiya's complaints, the ED had lodged two first information reports against the Bhujbals and others under the PMLA to probe the Maharashtra Sadan scam in New Delhi and the Kalina land grabbing scam in Mumbai.

The ED had conducted searches twice at nine premises belonging to the Bhujbal trio and others, and subsequently served attachment orders on three prime properties linked to the Bhujbal family members worth over Rs.280 crore in Mumbai.

Simultaneously, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau had lodged a charge sheet against the three Bhujbals and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan case.

The Maharashtra Sadan, a state government guest house in New Delhi, was constructed at a cost of Rs.100 crore during the tenure of the erstwhile Congress-NCP government.

Speaking to media persons outside the ED offices, Awhad said the entire NCP party, including its president Sharad Pawar stood with Bhujbal.
After its first woman president and speaker, Nepal is set to have its first woman chief justice.

A meeting of the Judicial Council on Monday recommended Sushila Karki, the seniormost judge in Nepal's Supreme Court, as the next chief justice of the country.

The Judicial Council decided to forward her name to the Constitutional Council headed by the prime minister which is responsible for approving the head of the judiciary.

Karki will take charge once President Bidhya Devi Bhandari clears her nomination.

She will take charge after April 13 when incumbent Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha retires, Judicial Council Secretary Krishna Giri said after the meeting.

Karki's recommendation was hailed by the social media.

Karki is known to be a fearless judge with zero tolerance for corruption.

She holds a post-graduate degree in political science from Banaras Hindu University in India.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been advised by senior officials to prioritise bilateral cooperation deals during his upcoming visit to China, the media reported on Monday.

At a meeting called by Oli on Sunday evening for suggestions ahead of his China visit which begins on March 20, the officials suggested that Nepal should give priority to developing long-term cooperation with China, Xinhua news agency reported.

Former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai emphasised the significance of seeking economic cooperation in the fields of trade, infrastructure development and foreign direct investment in Nepal from China.

Madhav Prasad Ghimire, a former foreign minister, was of the view that the Nepalese leadership should talk to the Chinese side about Nepal's need to diversify its commerce and trade.

"People have high expectations from your visit to China this time. Our trade and commerce need to be diversified as per the changed context," Ghimire said.

Another former foreign minister, Prakash Chandra Lohani said the prime minister should make efforts towards finalising the Transit and Transportation Agreement as well as an agreement on importing petroleum and gas.

Responding to the suggestions from the former officials, the prime minister said that he wants to take bilateral relationship with China to a greater height.

"The prime minister said that his visit will be fruitful in enhancing bilateral ties. He is hopeful that this visit will add a new avenue in fostering our excellent bilateral relationship," the prime minister's foreign relations expert Gopal Khanal said.
The National Human Rights Commission on Monday issued notice to Tamil Nadu over the alleged honour killing of a young Dalit man who married an upper caste Hindu woman.

According to the commission, which took cognizance of the incident following media reports, on March 13 three unidentified men hacked the couple with sickles and fled.

The man died on the way to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital while the woman is undergoing medical treatment.

The commission said the incident raises serious concern about the safety of a person belonging to the lower caste in the country.

"In this case, the man belonged to a Scheduled Caste and had married an upper caste Hindu girl. The matter was in the knowledge of police but it failed to provide them adequate security," said a statement from the commission.
The government does not intend to constitute national heritage sites commission, parliament was told on Monday.

Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma told the Lok Sabha in a written reply, that the UPA government had introduced the National Commission For Heritage Sites Bill in the Rajya Sabha in February 2009 which was referred to the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture.

The bill had been pending so as to make amendments in pursuance to the recommendations of the standing committee and consultations were held with various stakeholders including the Archaeological Survey of India, National Monuments Authority as well as various ministries including urban development and environment, forest and climate change, he said.

"Based on the consultations, the government decided not to constitute a national heritage sites commission as envisaged in the bill. The bill was accordingly withdrawn by the government from the Rajya Sabha on July 31, 2015," he said.
Pakistan will likely release 86 more Indian fishermen from Karachi jail on March 21, official sources said on Monday.

A senior Fisheries Department official said a majority of these 86 fishermen hail from Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

They would be brought to Gujarat through the Wagha-Attari border near Amritsar in Punjab.

According to the officials, these fishermen were apprehended along with their boats near the International Maritime Boundary Line by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) over the past one year.

Officials said the PMSA blamed the fishermen for entering Pakistani waters.

Just a week ago, the neighbouring country released 87 Indian fishermen from the same Karachi jail.

Fishermen claimed that their boats sometimes drift into Pakistani waters while fishing but there were instances when PMSA personnel seized Indian boats and fishermen in Indian waters too.

They complained that Pakistan regularly released Indian fishermen but was yet to return 860 Indian fishing trawlers seized in the past.

In fact, the Porbandar Fishermen Boat Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue of Indian fishermen's seized boats and trawlers which are their livelihood.

"There are 18 other fishermen lodged in Pakistan jails for nearly three years. These fishermen have also requested for their release along with the 86 fishermen," said Manish Lodhari, secretary of National Fishworker Forum.

He said these 18 fishermen have also written to authorities in India and Pakistan for their release.

As of now, nearly 400 fishermen are lodged in Pakistan jails, Lodhari said.
A sub inspector was shot at when he challenged two men outside a jewellery shop here early Monday, police said.

The bullet hit Rajendra Dwivedi, 50, in his waist. He was taken to the trauma center where his condition is stated to be critical.

He told officials that two motorbike-borne miscreants shot at him in TP Nagar area.

Station House Officer (SHO) Sarojininagar Sudheer Kumar told IANS that sub inspector Dwivedi was on patrol duty when he spotted two people outside a jewellery shop. He caught hold of one of them. But they escaped after shooting him.

The police official also fired but the men had fled by then.
The political row between Punjab and Haryana on river water sharing intensified on Monday with the Punjab assembly "unanimously" passing a bill to return the land acquired for the SYL canal and the Haryana assembly, within hours, passing a "unanimous resolution" condemning the measure.

The Haryana assembly, objecting to the bill passed by the Punjab assembly to de-notify the land for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, described the move as "unilateral, unconstitutional and denying the authority of the Supreme Court, a step only to draw political mileage".

The resolution requested the central government "to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action" (of Punjab).

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that he would speak to his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal to express his "displeasure" over the issue.

"This step is unconstitutional and an injury to the federal structure. I will speak to Mr Badal and will definitely convey my displeasure over this issue," Khattar told media here on Monday.

Badal had, in the Punjab assembly, introduced The Punjab Satluj Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016 to de-notify the land acquired for construction of the SYL Canal and return 3,928 acres free of cost to the original landowners.

The land was acquired nearly four decades ago.

Haryana claims to be a water deficit state and has stated that it has been deprived of more than half of its legitimate share of 3.50 MAF in surplus Ravi-Beas water, which has resulted in reduction in agriculture production.

"Instead of fulfilling its legal and constitutional obligation to provide Haryana its legitimate share of water, the Punjab government preferred to pass the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, which was a blow to the constitutional structure of the country and undoubtedly was an attempt of contempt of the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court," said the resolution passed by the Haryana assembly.

It noted that on Haryana's request, the matter was referred by the central government, through the president to the Supreme Court for its opinion on controversial Punjab act.

"Further, in view of the seriousness of the issue this august house, unanimously passed resolutions in the years 2011 and 2014 severely condemning the unilateral and unconstitutional act of Punjab. It is on account of the concerted efforts of the present government that the Presidential Reference, pending for the last more than 11 years, has now come up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India," it added.

"This is a patently illegal act of Punjab and is in utter contempt of the Indian Constitution, federal structure of the country and the rule of law. This is a sinister move of Punjab government having dangerous potential to undermine the unity and integrity of this country," the resolution warned.

The Supreme Court had recently accepted a petition filed by the Haryana government for early hearing on the issue.

Both Punjab and Haryana have been locked in a bitter war of words over sharing of river waters. The apex court is hearing the matter when Punjab is less than a year away from assembly polls which are to be held in February next year and political parties have taken a stand on the issue.

The SYL Canal, that was to link two major rivers (Sutlej and Yamuna) in Punjab and Haryana, was planned and major portions of it were even completed in the 1990s at a cost of over Rs.750 crore at that time, is entangled in a political and legal quagmire with both states unwilling to give up their respective stand on it and sharing of river waters.
The Russian air force deployed in Syria would start withdrawal from Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The Russian president said this on Monday at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Xinhua news agency reported.

Putin said the decision was discussed and coordinated with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, adding that "the fundamental tasks set for the Russian armed forced in Syria were resolved," according to an online Kremlin press release.

"It was agreed to withdraw main body of the Russian air forces. At the same time Russia would preserve an air flight control center in Syrian territory to monitor the ceasefire regime," the press release said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked the government to assess crop damage following hailstorms in the country and provide adequate compensation to affected farmers.

Shortly after the Lok Sabha met for the day, Gandhi said: "After the recent hailstorm and heavy rains, farmers of northern India are in distress. We want the government must act to give relief to farmers affected by crop damage."

Asking the government to send a team to the affected states to assess the damage, he demanded a statement from Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

Responding to Gandhi's demand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu told the house it was a serious matter and the government would act immediately.

"The agriculture minister is in touch with the state governments to assess the situation. He will make a statement in the house either today or tomorrow (Monday or Tuesday).
As the embattled Sahara chief Subrata Roy completes two years in prison, there is something he can cheer about. Roy's book "Life Mantras", which hit the stands last month, has been rated a bestseller in the non-fiction category by Nielsen Bookscan, a data provider for the publishing industry.

"Life Mantras", brought out by Rupa Publications, is the first book in the trilogy titled "Thoughts from Tihar" by Roy, who is behind bars for failing to pay Rs.24,000 crore to Sahara's investors.

The book topped the list during the week of February 14-20, pushing the popular Manorama Yearbook 2016 into second slot, says Vikrant Mathur, director, Nielsen Bookscan - India and Asia Pacific Region. "Mrs Funnybones" by Twinkle Khanna was in the third place during the week.

It has since slipped to the third slot, according to Mathur.

"Our methodology of collecting retail sales on weekly basis is adopted across the globe. Retailers in the panel have EPOS (Electronic Point of Sales System) facility and the data is being sent to Nielsen,. The output data is the result of aggregation of the retailer's sales data and provided to the participating retailer and subscribing publishers," explains Mathur, adding that they collect data from online and offline booksellers.

The survey, done from every Sunday to Saturday, does not cover the entire market. The bestseller of the week is decided by the number of copies sold across the board by retail chains. Nielsen, however, declined to quote the figures which made "Life Mantras", a topper.

Some of the booksellers included in the survey are Bookadda, Crosswords, Connexion, DC Books, Flipkart, Indiatimes, Infibeam, Landmark, Rediff, TV18 Homeshopping, WH Smith India, ebay, Reliance Timeout, and Snapdeal.

Besides India, Nielsen Bookscan also operates in Britain, Ireland, Australia, US, South Africa, New Zealand, Italy, Brazil and Spain.

Calling his imprisonment a "rude shock", Roy writes in his book, "I, like any other human in confinement, could not contain my thoughts and at times felt an emotional outrage, 'why me?', 'what have I done wrong to deserve this?'"

Describing life in jail as painful and lonely, Roy says that he has managed to lead a totally tension-free life.

While the second book in the trilogy is "Think with Me - How to make our country ideal", the last one is titled "Reflections from Tihar - A book on Tihar Jail". Both the books are being published by Rupa and are expected to be released soon.
Pakistan Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is expected to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Nepal, sources said on Monday.

Quoting diplomatic sources, Express News reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepali tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

"Sartaj Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of Saarc Countries on the sidelines of the Saarc Council of Ministers' meeting on 17 March 2016 in Nepal," a foreign ministry release here said.

"Aziz will extend Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th Saarc Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year," it added.

The efforts to resume the India-Pakistan Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Sishma Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States later this month to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.
Using the full power of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile, a team of astronomers has recorded sharpest view ever of dusty disc around an ageing star, suggesting that discs around ageing stars are similar to those around young ones.

As they approach the ends of their lives, many stars develop stable discs of gas and dust around them.

These discs resemble those that form planets around young stars. Till date, astronomers have not been able to compare the two types, formed at the beginning and the end of the stellar life cycle.

Michel Hillen and Hans Van Winckel from the Instituut voor Sterrenkunde in Leuven, Belgium targeted an old double star lying about 4000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Vela (constellation)

This double star consists of a red giant star, which expelled the material in the surrounding dusty disc, and a less-evolved more normal star orbiting close to it.

"By combining light from several telescopes of the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, we obtained an image of stunning sharpness. The resolution is so high that, for comparison, we could determine the size and shape of a one euro coin seen from a distance of 2,000 km," said Jacques Kluska, team member from Exeter University in Britain.

The inner edge of the dust ring, seen for the first time in these observations, corresponds very well with the expected start of the dusty disc.

The team found that discs around old stars are very similar to the planet-forming ones around young stars.

Whether a second crop of planets can really form around these old stars is yet to be determined but it is an intriguing possibility.

"The observations open a new window to study the physics of these discs as well as stellar evolution in double stars," Winckel said.
A team of researchers has developed and used a super sensitive artificial "nose," customised specifically to detect pollutants before they could irreversibly damage the Disney artwork on an international tour.

Original drawings and sketches from Walt Disney Animation Studio's more than 90-year-old history -- from Steamboat Willie through Frozen -- travelled internationally for the first time this summer.

This gave conservators the rare opportunity to monitor the artwork with a new state-of-the-art sensor.

Many pollutants that are problematic for human beings are also problematic for works of art. For example, pollutants can spur oxidative damage and acid degradation that, in prints or canvases, lead to colour changes or decomposition.

"The ability to monitor how much pollution a drawing or painting is exposed to is an important element of art preservation," said Kenneth Suslick from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Works of art are susceptible to damage at far lower pollutant levels than what's considered acceptable for humans.

"Human beings are capable of healing, which, of course, works of art cannot do. Moreover, human beings have finite lifetimes, whereas ideally works of art should last for future generations," explained Suslick.

Suslick had already invented an optoelectronic nose -- an array of dyes that change colour when exposed to various compounds.

To redesign the nose with the aim of protecting artwork, he approached scientists at the non-profit organisation Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) in Los Angeles.

He proposed that his team devise a sensor several hundred times more sensitive than existing devices used for cultural heritage research. The collaboration took off and the scientists built a keener nose.

Before the exhibit titled "Drawn from Life: The Art of Disney Animation Studios," hit the road on tour, Suslick placed the sensors in discreet places to monitor the pollution levels both inside and outside of the sealed and framed artworks.

If the sensors indicated pollution levels inside the sealed frames were rising, conservators travelling with the Disney exhibit would know to replace the sorbents.

An initial analysis of sensor data showed that the sorbents were effective.

Suslick now expects to continue expanding the sensors' applications in the field of cultural heritage.

The results were shared at the national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Diego, California, on Sunday.
Telecommunications company Telenor India on Monday announced the expansion of "Project Sampark" -- the company's unique initiative to bridge the gender gap in mobile usage -- to new areas in Uttar Pradesh.

The project will now be extended to the rural areas of Bareilly, Dehradun and Moradabad districts in the UP (west) circle covering nearly 50-80 villages in each zone.

"The success of 'Project Sampark' in Aligarh has given us the confidence to expand it to new areas and take it beyond the pilot phase," Sharad Mehrotra, CEO, Telenor India, said in a statement.

"Giving a phone in hands of women is not just about connecting her to the information age but also about giving her a tool to take informed decision that can change the socio-economic condition of the entire family," he said.

The new areas will replicate the model piloted in the first phase launched in August 2014 across 87 villages in Aligarh district.

These 87 pilot villages have seen an improvement in tele-density among women and of the more than 52,000 "Project Sampark" subscribers 50 percent are women.

In the second phase, the villages will be covered by 30-40 trained women promoters who will be hired from the adjoining areas.

"Project Sampark" is a combination of retail and product innovations that has resulted in a unique model that addresses some of the key barriers of women's access to mobile telephony.
When seven students of an engineering college opted for the hills of Himachal Pradesh for an excursion, little did they realise they were seconds away from a disaster.

After they were marooned more than 78 hours in the icy heights of Kullu district without food and mountaineering apparatus, they were finally evacuated along with a guide from the snow-bound Chanderkhani peak, located at an altitude of 12,000 ft despite hostile weather on Monday.

Their search-and-rescue operation launched on March 11 ended with the airlifting of the remaining two of them by Swiss mountaineering experts of private company Himalayan Heli Adventures Private Ltd., hired by the district administration.

The local administration, which involved over 100 trekkers comprising police, residents and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel in the operation, said checking perilous excursions in the mountains by the amateurs is turning out to be an uphill task for it.

"It's something difficult to check the tourists venturing into the isolated, inaccessible pockets of Kullu. Now, we are seriously working to evolve some mechanism to check and, in fact, regulate the trekkers opting for high mountains," Kullu additional district magistrate Vinay Thakur told IANS.

He said despite the meteorological department's advisory, the seven students, unfamiliar with the local topography, opted for trekking to a high mountain.

For the engineering students of the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology in Punjab's Longowal town the ordeal began almost when they decided to scale the Chanderkhani peak after paying obeisance at Bijleshwar Mahadev temple, locally known as Bijli Mahadev, located on the hilltop overlooking Kullu town.

"When we were on the way to the Chanderkhani peak, the weather turned hostile and there was heavy snowfall," said Hitendra Sharma, who was rescued on Monday.

He said mobile phones' batteries exhausted. "Only one emergency call could be made for some seconds from one of the mobiles. We were literally hanging between life and death."

He said an alarming message on Whatsapp was also sent.

A frightened Anil Kumar said when the heavy snowfall started, they took shelter in a cave.

"For three days we survived on water. We were not hopeful of getting any immediate help. On the second day, when we saw a chopper circling over the mountain, a ray of hope came that we will survive in this freezing temperature. We all raised an alarm and the rescuers noticed us," he said.

"On a number of occasions, I thought I would be dead," he added.

Additional district magistrate Thakur said that a rescuer, who reached the spot by rappelling down a rope from the chopper, physically lifted six students on Sunday evening.

Two of the stranded amateur trekkers who could not be airlifted due to bad weather (on Sunday), were provided food and basic amenities and were evacuated on Monday.

"The weather was hostile in the early morning. At around 7 in the morning there was dispersion of dense clouds. In less than half an hour, both the stranded students were airlifted," subdivisional magistrate Jyoti Rana told IANS.

"There was some miracle that the clouds started dispersing and we got opportunity to reach out to the survivors," she said.

The chopper could not land at that place as the area was on a slope, she added.

The condition of all the rescued trekkers, mostly from Punjab, is stable and they are undergoing treatment in the government hospital in Kullu.

Three teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police were pressed into search and rescue operation on March 11 after teams from a local mountaineering institute, the police and villagers failed to find them due in the inclement weather.

The picturesque Kullu Valley in the Himalayas, also known as the valley of gods, attracts thousands of backpackers even from abroad.

Police say some never return home -- they simply vanish without a trace. So what happened to these people? It is possible they either die in accidents or get killed, say police.

The hills around Kullu are magnificent, but they are also rugged, cold and inhospitable and not a place for an inexperienced or ill-equipped trekker. Some are killed due to high-altitude sickness or slip off the icy tracks or are marooned by blizzards and die a cold death.

The second possibility is that the missing were robbed and killed by local people and their bodies are buried in forests or thrown in streams. Lonely hikers carrying expensive watches, cameras and other accessories become easy prey to jobless local youth.

According to the state tourism department, around 50,000 backpackers pour into the valley every summer. Of them, 10,000-15,000 are from Israel.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
While the Left parties are finalising 'seat adjustment' with the Congress in West Bengal for the forthcoming assembly polls, they will be decrying their 'friendly' party's "misgovernance" in the neighbouring Barak Valley region.

The Bengali-dominated region in southern Assam will see a triangular contest between the Left parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly polls which are to be held in two phases: on April 4 and 11.

The Barak Valley region has three districts -- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi -- and 15 seats in the 126-member Assam assembly. Silchar, itself an assembly constituency, is the nerve centre of the region.

The 15 constituencies will vote in the first phase on April 4.

Six Left parties would field candidates in 58 assembly constituencies in Assam, including some seats in Barak Valley region, said Bijan Dhar, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

The other five parties are Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Revolutionary Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, and Revolutionary Socialist Party.

"The Left parties would contest against both ruling Congress and the BJP. They would highlight 15 years of misgovernance in Assam by the Congress," he said.

The CPI-M would contest elections in 19 constituencies in Assam, including the crucial Silchar seat where it has fielded its trade union leader Supriya Bhattacharjee, he said.

Silchar, along with Karimganj North and Karimganj South, has a close political association with the adjoining Left-ruled Tripura.

The BJP has renominated for the Silchar constituency sitting legislator Dilip Kumar Paul who bagged the seat in 2014 by elections.

The Congress has yet to select its nominee from five contenders: party general secretary Rajesh Deb, former district president Arun Dutta Majumdar, former union minister Santosh Monhan Dev's wife Bithika Dev, his daughter Bharati Dev, and former chairman of Silchar municipal board Tamal Banik, sources said.

"Central leadership seriously wants to win Silchar seat. The party will field a strong candidate here," Lok Sabha member from Silchar Sushmita Dev said.

Sushmita is another daughter of Santosh Monhan Dev and held the assembly seat before being elected for the Lok Sabha.

The CPI-M had last won the seat in 1978. Since that time Congress and BJP won the seat four times each.
Poll-bound West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday faced an embarrassment after several of its leaders were allegedly caught on camera accepting bribes. With the opposition coming out all gun blazing, the Trinamool rubbished the claims calling the videos "doctored" and part of a "smear campaign" against it.

With the contents of the sting broadcast by TV news channels and also going viral on social media upping the political temperature in the state, Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is currently touring north Bengal, refrained from making any direct references to it, but challenged her political opponents to "fight her politically instead of resorting to spreading canards against her party".

The sting operation carried out by Narada News and uploaded on its website, purportedly shows as many as 11 Trinamool leaders including former union ministers, state ministers and MPs accepting bribes in return for favours to a fictitious company.

"We formed a fictitious company - Impex Consultancy - and approached several ministers and Trinamool leaders to seek favours. This was an attempt to unravel what is happening behind closed doors," the report on the website claimed.

"We have about 52 hours of footage of this operation. What we understood after analysing it is that the leadership of the Trinamool Congress were more than willing to sidestep the norms, circumvent laws to extend illegal help to those who offer money," claimed the website listing against each of the leaders amounts ranging from Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh that it said it had paid.

The authenticity of the video uploaded by the website could not be ascertained.

The list of alleged "bribe takers", according to Narada News, also includes a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is claimed by the website as acknowledging that he was a "key person who collects funds for the Trinamool Congress".

In the video, one of the senior leaders is seen telling the website reporter that the IPS officer would be the communicator between them.

"I have Rs. 20 lakhs, I will go to your office and will give. You will be there no," asked the reporter to which the leader allegedly replies: "Yes, I will be there."

The video also shows a former central minister and Trinamool MP allegedly accepting bundles of money.

While the Trinamool has dismissed the sting as "dirty tricks" by its political opponents, the opposition has demanded that Banerjee immediately step down.

"We have watched the video of the so-called 'sting' operation. There is no sting in it. We are completely dismissive about it," said Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien.

"The timing of the dirty tricks video too clearly indicates the devious motive behind it. Why was the organisation that supposedly shot this video hiding the so-called 'truth' for more than two years," O'Brien added.

AThe Trinamool also held a press conference later in the day with party secretary general Partha Chatterjee and vice president Mukul Roy threatening legal action against the portal.

"Everybody knows technology can be abused. These videos are manufactured and doctored. We will be taking legal action," said Roy.

Questioning why the video shot in 2014 was released two years later ahead of the assembly polls, the Trinamool leaders also questioned the source of money used by the portal in the sting.

Tearing into the Trinamool, the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded Banerjee immediately resign.

"The sting operation has completely exposed the TMC, proving their entire leadership is deep in corruption. We demand the immediate resignation of Mamata Banerjee. She has no right, no business, to continue as the chief minister," said BJP national secretary S.N. Singh.

He also demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter and disallowing the leaders caught on tape from contesting the polls.

Describing the development as "unprecedented" in the state, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front also demanded the Election Commission take immediate steps in the matter after verifying the veracity of the video.

Reading out the names of those caught in the sting, CPI-M state secretary and leader of opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said everything had been brought to the fore.

Calling for immediate intervention of the EC, Mishra said: "To ensure fair poll, EC has to take steps immediately, else election should not be conducted till such steps were taken. If required, President's rule can be also be imposed."

Observing that the sting would be a major issue in the polls, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: "The chief minister keeps on claiming herself as a symbol of honesty, but yet again it has been proved that her party is of thieves and robbers".
A large chunk of the Gilgit-Baltistan area, part of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, has been allegedly occupied by the neighbouring north-west frontier province, triggering protests in the Shia-dominated region, also claimed by India as part of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir state.

Large contingents of Pakistan paramilitary troopers have been deployed in the apprehension of trouble brewing in the occupied 25 kilometre border area that connects divided Gilgit-Baltistan with the Khyber Pakthtunkhwa province, according to a news report in "Baad-e-Shimaal", a respected Urdu daily in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

"And the Gilgit-Baltistan government is watching like a mute spectator," the daily said in its frontpage lead story of the Monday edition.

"The provincial government has deployed Chitral forces in the area after illegally taking over and including the occupied mineral rich chunk of land in its territory."

A lawmaker, Sarfaraz Shah, has reportedly written a letter in protest against the "territorial aggression" to the government of the frontier province asking it to vacate the land.

However, the government has denied the allegation and dismissed the lawmaker's protest, saying that the land forms part of the province and "deploying paramilitary Chitral forces is our right", the daily said.

The report came after alarm bells rang in the Indian security establishment following Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops being spotted at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) along Pakistan-administered Kashmir where the Chinese government is building a Jhelum-Neelam 970 MW Hydel power project.

Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan after the 1948 war. Pakistan has separated Gilgit-Baltistan from the areas occupied by it in Kashmir and designated it as a separate administrative territory.

The landlocked region borders the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan to the northwest, China's Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast, Indian Kashmir to the south and southeast, Pakistani Kashmir to the south, and Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province to the west.

The Chinese government is said to have made huge investments in the vast but sparsely populated Gilgit-Baltistan area, bisected by the Karakoram highway, which leads from the plains of north Pakistan to China.

The Pakistan government has signed a multi-billion dollar deal on a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through Gilgit, which activists and separatists in the region see as a design by the two neighbours to exploit the resources in the occupied territory. The corridor is said to be part of China's ambitious proposed 21st century Silk Road (also called the Belt and Road) initiative to reach out to Central Asia.
A UAE fighter jet, reported missing earlier on Monday, crashed in Yemen killing both pilots on board, defence officials said.

The Riyadh-based command of the Saudi-led Arab coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen said two UAE pilots died when their Mirage aircraft crashed due to "technical malfunction", Xinhua cited the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as reporting.

No other details were provided about the crash.

Earlier in the day, UAE state news agency WAM reported that a military aircraft went missing in Yemen, citing the UAE Supreme Command of the Armed Forces in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led military coalition fighting Houthi rebels to restore the administration of internationally recognised President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Abu Dhabi, March 14 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday announced the disappearance of a fighter jet taking part in a mission in Yemen.

The announcement was made by the General Command of the Armed Forces.

The jet disappeared while participating in the Saudi-led Arab Coalition's "Operation Restoring Hope" against the Shia Houthis in Yemen.

No further details were provided.

--IANS/WAM

ksk/vt
Actress Surbhi, last seen in 2013 Tamil actioner "Ivan Veramathiri" in a full-length role, hopes to get busy in Tamil industry post the release of her forthcoming Tamil political thriller "Pugazh", which releases in cinemas on Friday.

"After my debut Tamil film, I became busy with Telugu projects. 'Pugazh' will mark my comeback to Tamil film industry and I hope people welcome me back wholeheartedly. From hereon, I hope I get busy with Tamil films," Surbhi told IANS.

In the Manimaran-directed film, Surbhi plays a character with two variations.

"Initially, I play a girl who goes to a small town for a job and finds it difficult to adjust. After she falls in love, she is a different person, becomes very caring and friendly. It's my character and the story that drew me to this project," she said.

Inspired by real incidents, the film also stars Jai and RJ Balaji.

Talking about her co-star Jai, she said: "Jai plays a very realistic character and it isn't one so easy to perform. It was so much fun to work with him. Although he plays a very serious character, he's the exact opposite in real life."

Surbhi currently awaits the release of Telugu thriller "Attack", and has a yet-untitled Telugu project with actor Nani in her kitty.
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is expanding its database of genetic sequences to enable precise identification of animals using DNA barcoding which will aid in wildlife crime detection and control, an official said here on Monday.

"We have uploaded 600 sequences on the US' National Centre for Biotechnology Information portal. We are targeting 500 sequences per year. It is an ongoing process," ZSI director-in-charge Kailash Chandra told the media during a workshop.

Chandra said DNA barcodes, which are specific genetic signatures, can not only help in identification of a species but also the particular habitat from which it hails.

"Suppose if there is an incidence of poaching from Kanha tiger reserve and the tiger has been smuggled to West Bengal. We can tell the animal is not from the Sundarbans. There will be minute differences in the populations at the genetic level even though they are the same species," Chandra explained.

The ZSI is in talks with the Airport Authority of India, Kolkata to help it with habitat management of jackals and birds in the vicinity of the airport.

"We have had a few meetings. Our role will be in identifying the burrows and habitats of the jackals through satellite technology and also offer suggestions on how to manage their populations. Similarly, for birds and prevention of bird strikes, we may offer suggestions," Chandra added.
The Budget has some neat takeaways for the sector. For instance, excise duty reduction from 12.5 per cent to six per cent on certain components required for the manufacture of pumps. Or imposition of 12.5 per cent duty on import of road construction equipment. Both will benefit the segment.

The scrips of Cummins India, Crompton Greaves, Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW), Thermax and Voltas have gained by two to 10 per cent, thanks to these measures. There are no detailed estimates on how much revenues will benefit from these moves but the industry feels it would boost the pricing power of domestic companies, to combat competition from foreign manufactures.

Also, the excise duty cut might provide some relief to their revenues, though not very significant. However, for some like Cummins India, which saw an excise duty outflow of Rs 304 crore in FY15, this might halve.

Misal Singh of Religare adds that with demand issues being more challenging, a change in the rate structure might not be a huge catalyst. Analysts, however, say this move is a push for improving Indias domestic capabilities and align the sector to the Make in India campaign.

Crompton Greaves: Having maintained its third position in the domestic motor market, Crompton Greaves domestic power and industrials business has seen a healthy 28 and 12 per cent return on equity, respectively, in a tough demand scenario. Sale of its distressed international power units will bring needed respite to its revenue in FY17 and lower debt. Motilal Oswal Securities has upgraded its target price estimates for FY17 and FY18 by 15 per cent and 83 per cent, respectively, post the sale of the foreign power subsidiaries. The Street pegs the non-consumer business to trade at Rs 70 a share. The stock will start trading ex-consumer business from Tuesday.

Cummins India: Despite difficult times, Cummins has expanded its revenue growth from its core segments, namely, power generation and industrials by 23 per cent and six per cent year-on-year, respectively, so far in FY16. Due to its strong presence in the medium and high horsepower engines segments, HDFC Securities says Cummins will benefit from capital expenditure revival in sectors such as infrastructure, mining, railways and defence, and is one of the best stocks to play the domestic capex cycle recovery.

LMW: Being a market leader with a little over 60 per cent share in the domestic textile machinery sector, LMW also managed to grow its exports, despite a weak global demand situation, by a little over seven per cent year-to-date in FY16. Almost debt-free, with cash of Rs 900 crore in FY15, the order book is also healthy at Rs 2,580 crore. Analysts at Nirmal Bang feel with a strong management pedigree, market leadership and export focus, LMW will continue to provide a high margin of safety and an economic moat to investors.

Voltas: A dominant presence in the cooling solutions segment has helped Voltas grow its revenues by 8.3 per cent in FY16, though its profits have come under pressure due to weak execution of the electro mechanical projects (EMP) division, mainly focused on foreign markets, such as in West Asia. While its order book dipped 11 per cent over a year in the December15 quarter, analysts at ICICI Securities say it trades at attractive multiples, considering the strong performance of the unitary cooling products business and likely recovery in the EMP segment (from this quarter).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not shy away from praising Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Prasad when he met the latter at an official function in the state on March 12. Tejaswi Prasad, son of former Union railway minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, has been vocal in his criticism of the Prime Minister.

On Friday, at a public gathering he had alleged that Modi had not fulfilled any of the promises he had made while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. The deputy chief minister was present when Modi, accompanied by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, arrived at Vaishali over the weekend.

He later told journalists what Modi told him: "Aap kaaphi young hain aur kaaphi accha kaam kar rahe hain. Issi tarah lage rahiye. (You are young and you are doing quite well. Keep it up.)" Asked how he would feel about attacking Modi after that interaction, he said: "It was a government function today, not a political rally."
As anyone who has served in the Indian Army knows, it is refreshingly free from religious and political ideology. Unlike the Pakistan Army, which heavily spices up nationalism with religious fervour, our men and women in olive green are clear about whom they serve - the Union of India. The India they defend is not a Hindu state and the "Bharat Maata ki jai" that is often chorused at army functions is an invocation to nationalism rather than religiosity. While the army's soldiers are overwhelmingly Hindu, it has never been - ideologically speaking - a Hindu army.
Guess who forced the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to drop the shorts! Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Monday said his wife, the former chief minister of Bihar, Rabri Devi, was responsible for the change in the uniform of the RSS.

On Sunday, the RSS jettisoned its trademark khaki shorts for brown trousers, in an attempt to attract the youth. Prasad, however, did not waste a minute in reminding everyone how Rabri had, in January, said: "Aren't the RSS oldies ashamed to wear half pants in public?" Prasad also took a dig at the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre saying he and his allies would do everything to bring it down to its "half pants" again.
In two major speeches on Sunday, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan made several thoughtful points about the global economy and the direction of monetary policy that deserve careful consideration. At the Ramnath Goenka Memoral Lecture, Dr Rajan made a powerful case that India should no longer be seen as "obstructionist" in global negotiations and instead build coalitions to "influence the global agenda", thinking that is largely in line with the government's own reconfiguration of such negotiations. He also made the case for greater Indian representation at the high table; this links into his speech at the conference organised by the finance ministry and the International Monetary Fund where he repeated his warning, made several times previously, about the dangerous impacts on emerging markets of the "spillovers" from expansionary monetary policy in the developed world. He called for the Fund to more clearly recognise the threat such spillovers posed to monetary policy, and for discussions to begin on whether a code could be formulated to promote stability under such circumstances. From a realistic perspective, it is difficult to see how such a code could operate; it is to be presumed that Dr Rajan does not expect any such instrument to come into being in the near or medium term. The RBI will be on its own in fighting the instability injected into the Indian system by developed-world central banks fighting recessions.
Chinese tourists are famous for their overseas shopping sprees. Corporate China is following their lead and hotels are becoming the trophy assets of choice. Buyers want to reduce their exposure to a slowing domestic market and capture the growing flow of tourist dollars.

Anbang Insurance's mooted $6.5 bln takeover of Strategic Hotels is the latest sign of China's lust for lodging. The company which had previously snapped up New York's iconic Waldorf Astoria - used by Chinese leaders from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping - is now getting ready to add 17 more American hotels - including the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C. - to its portfolio.

Read more from our special coverage on "BREAKINGVIEWS" Personalities matter

Chinese insurance companies are flush with cash and looking to diversify their portfolios before the country's aging population starts claiming on their policies. US assets are also a good hedge against any future weakness in the yuan.

The Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission allows insurers to invest in 15 percent of their assets overseas, but they are a long way from reaching the limit. In 2014, Chinese insurers had invested just $13.4 billion, or 0.8 per cent of their total assets, in real estate, KPMG says. Half of that was deployed overseas.

It's not just financial buyers that are interested, though. HNA Group was circling Starwood Hotel & Resorts Worldwide, owner of the Sheraton chain, before rival Marriott International swooped. The owner of Hainan Airlines is now eyeing other international chains.

Owning a large international hotel chain could give Chinese groups a stronger position when serving the market for outbound tourists. CLSA estimates Chinese tourism will account for 14 per cent of the international total by 2020, up from 10 per cent in 2015. Yet China's wealthy and largely monolingual elite often feel like second-class citizens when they visit hotels in the West. Receptionists don't speak Mandarin, restaurants serve burgers rather than noodles and the feng-shui in the bathrooms appalls Chinese guests.

A Chinese owner might prove more sensitive to these customers. Nevertheless, investors from Japan and the Gulf have also previously been interested in Western hotels, only to suffer disappointing returns. Chinese buyers have yet to prove they are checking in for the long term.
"What is the difference between Vijay Mallya who lost Rs 10,000 crore and which lost Rs 30,000 crore? Bank money is lost (in case of KFA) and public taxpayer's money is lost (in AI's case)," asks Mohandas Pai, former Chief Financial Officer and HR Head of Infosys.
The European Union's recent actions on the issue of West Asian refugees have not enhanced its humanitarian reputation. Last week's agreement with Turkey, which senior EU administrators describe as a "breakthrough", served to tarnish its image. This deal, outlined by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu - but steered surely by Turkey's increasingly dictatorial paramount leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan - involves an exchange programme under which EU would allow one Syrian from a Turkish refugee camp to be resettled in the Schengen zone for every refugee returned to Turkey from crisis-ridden Greece. In turn, the EU is to allow Turkish citizens visa-free travel through the zone, plus pay Turkey $6.6 billion for resettlement costs. Half this pay-out represents dues from the EU for resettling refugees till 2018; Mr Davutoglu's additional demand is under negotiation.
It appears all hell broke loose after the "wilful default" committed by Kingfisher Airlines and Vijay Mallya's hasty flight from India, with some TV channels spending hours of airtime on the airline promoter and the bankers involved in the episode. In hindsight, the lending to the firm by bankers cannot be faulted. At the time of initial proposal, everything might have been good on paper and there was no reason to suspect anything untoward given Mallya's success as an industrialist.

It is also observed that the bankers had obtained the corporate guarantee of United Breweries and Mallya's own guarantee for the exposure made to Kingfisher Airlines, which isn't done normally in the case of loans to big corporate houses. It is because of this step that the banks are now able to go after Mallya for recovering dues.

The banks had soon enough approached the Debt Recovery Tribunal and Karnataka High Court, which refused to issue orders on time. The banks were aware that starting a new airline was a losing proposition, but the losses were incurred after meeting all the repayment commitments, as projected. Except for one, all other private airlines are running in losses. So, the failure of Kingfisher was due to some deliberate diversion of funds. The bankers deserve blame at this point. When it was known that the company was facing problems, instead of finding out the reasons, the bankers went all out to "help" it by pumping in additional money.

One would expect the banks to pursue the case relentlessly to ensure Mallya is shown his place and the dues are recovered from all his assets as well as that of United Breweries invoking the guarantees available, which should serve as a lesson to other big corporates acting this way.

BCU Nair, Alappuzha



Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
The big winner from Germany's Super Sunday was populism. The right-wing Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) won double-digit results in all three states that held polls on March 13, even if it won't actually run any of them as a result. Moreover, support for Angela Merkel's governing coalition is waning quickly. That looks, on the face of it, like a strike against Merkel's hitherto tolerant approach to the huge influx of migrants who have entered Germany from Syria and beyond.

Yet dig deeper and there are some more comforting messages. First, credible and determined mainstream leaders still woo voters. In Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Greens became the biggest party in a regional parliament for the first time in German history, even though their regional leader Winfried Kretschmann backs Merkel's migrant policy. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the popular Social Democratic Party (SPD) governor Malu Dreyer - also supportive of Merkel's stance - expanded her lead over a less migration-friendly challenger from Merkel's own party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

The populist AfD has gone from zero to political pariah in just three years, and is increasing the pressure on Merkel and her coalition with the SPD to change their handling of the migrant crisis. But it's easy to exaggerate their impact. In recent decades, right-wing parties time and again scored successes in regional elections but then collapsed quickly due to internal bickering, German voters' general distaste for extreme positions and a lack of credible political leaders.

For most voters in Germany, personalities rather than party affiliations matter most. That may actually help Angela Merkel to keep her inner-party critics at bay. The CDU lacks any credible alternative to the chancellor. She has time, too: federal elections aren't due until the second half of 2017.

Moreover, recent opinion polls indicated that voters' satisfaction with the chancellor is starting to improve again. Merkel still possesses a lot of political capital that will be enhanced if she can bring down the numbers of refugees entering Germany - either by closing the deal with Turkey that was outlined on March 7, or should that fail, eventually by closing the country's border. After the painful defeat on Germany's Super Sunday, Merkel is down but not out.
It has been a raucous and noisy time since the announcement of the Union Budget. It is not the content of the Finance Bill, 2016, (the legislation containing tax proposals that is tabled with the Union Budget) that has dominated the noise content. But the question of whether taxpayer money should be spent in funding institutions that are home to unpopular thought on matters of State has occupied the front pages of newspapers and prime-time television.
Many consumers in metros have seen their cash transactions go down significantly because of growing e-commerce, expansion of mobile wallets and online banking. This is only the start of a march towards becoming a cashless society. Things are expected to change dramatically in a few years for urban consumers. Many entities are working on different electronic payment mechanisms that can usher in a revolution. Wallet companies are aggressively tying up with retailers to let customers use mobile payments. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a company promoted by banks, is working on a mechanism that will allow consumers to transfer money and make payments almost as easily as they send a text message.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed 11 payments banks and 10 small finance banks to open shop. RBI also wants to make it cost-effective for banks to provide point of sale (PoS) terminals (for using credit and debit cards) at small merchant establishments. And, to incentivise consumers for more electronic transactions, the government has withdrawn the surcharge, service charge or convenience fee on digital payments on cards and online payments for any government service.

Need for change

While digital payments are on a rise in metros, they are only five per cent of all transactions in the country. The cash to gross domestic product ratio is one of the highest in the world - 12.4 per cent in 2014, compared to 9.5 per cent in China and four per cent in Brazil. Even the number of currency notes in circulation is high: the US has 34.5 billion notes in circulation, India has 76.5 billion.

Going cashless brings better tax revenue, more financial inclusion and benefits individuals too. It gives the convenience of banking from anywhere by smartphones, funds are on tap and money in the bank earns interest. Also, there is no risk of carrying currency notes and once your spending pattern is known, banks can offer you customised benefits.

Changes to come

One of the biggest hindrances in growth of is merchants' reluctance to take PoS terminals, as these are costly, take more time than cash payments and also make business owners accountable. According to Sunil Kulkarni, deputy managing director of Oxigen Services, there are 15 million retail shops but only 0.6 mn have PoS terminals.

players are making PoS either more efficient or eliminating the need for any physical infrastructure. Most of the next-generation payment systems use smartphones for transactions. Dilip Asbe, chief operating officer at NPCI, says: "An individual will be able to transact across banks on a smartphone using his Aadhaar number, mobile number and a virtual payment address. Each person gets a unique identity and doesn't need to enter any bank account information. It's interoperable and will work across payment channels, devices and institutions."



The Paytm app can be used for offline payments. It has already tied up with retailers such as Cafe Coffee Day and Barista. App-focused payments reduce the need for physical infrastructure and, therefore, can enrol retailers faster. "By 2020, our goal is to cover three times the PoS terminals that exist today and have half a billion customers on our platform. We want to be present for all possible transactions a customer does," says Nitin Misra, vice-president, products, Paytm. The company has also received a licence for a payments bank.

Other wallet players have a similar aim. Kulkarni of Oxigen says other than using the wallet to send and receive payments at merchants, the company is also implementing a 'universal' PoS terminal that not only allows transactions through cards but can be used for recharge and also be a payment wallet. "Our services are interoperable," he says.

How fast?

India is largely a cash-happy nation. Individuals find transacting in cash easy, fast and it is now a habit. People are not moving quickly towards adopting digital payments. Even now, 60 per cent of e-commerce business is cash on delivery. "One key thing that needs to be done is to bring down the transaction time and many are working on various solutions. Also, merchants need to be incentivised," says Vijay Mani, senior director, Deloitte. Kulkarni of Oxigen says there will be growth but it will be slow and steady. A large part of the population still don't have bank accounts.

PRIYANKA BOSE

Digital payments have made life easier for the 29-year-old, who helps start-ups raise funds. Of her total monthly expenses, only 15 per cent of transactions happen in cash. The rest are online or through use of cards. Most of her day is spent in travelling for meetings. She uses an app to book a taxi and pays using her e-wallet. The venues of meetings are mostly coffee shops or restaurants, where she uses her credit card. Most of her other transactions such as payments for mobile, broadband, satellite television, credit card, groceries, outstation travel and shopping are done online. She pays cash for home-delivered food, milk and laundry and to her maid and mechanic. For this, she maintains only Rs 2,000 in her purse and visits her bank ATM once a week.

"Things have changed drastically since 2010 when I first transacted online to recharge my mobile phone with my debit card. At that time, my parents got upset when I informed them that I had applied for a credit card, which was supposed to be for the rich. Middle-class families thought it will always lead to bad debts," she says. Recently, her grandfather wanted to get a credit card issued, as he wanted to transact online.

There are occasions when retailers charge her two per cent extra for transacting by using cards or offers discounts if she pays by cash but she mostly prefers using her card, as she doesn't keep a lot of cash. "I stopped keeping cash after a thief snatched my purse," she says.

KAPIL DEV BHAGAT

Tourism professional



As Kapil Dev Bhagat, 46, leaves home for office at 9 am, his first job is to fill petrol in his car. Anyway, the needle is nearly pointing to the empty mark. "Couldn't have happened at a worse time," he fumes, for he needs to be in office by 10 am for a review meeting with his boss. After reaching the petrol pump, he realises that he does not have enough cash. The credit card comes to his aid, as usual.

Bhagat's job with Jet Air Tours is a hectic one and entails a lot of travelling. Earlier, he used to carry wads of notes but he has increasingly learnt to depend on cards, both credit and debit. The best part: He has abandoned standing in lengthy queues to pay utility bills like before. Earlier, he'd make these payments from his home computer. Now, he has downloaded his bank's app on his smartphone and uses it to pay his bills. When his boss is not around, he indulges in a bit of online shopping on the office computer as well. Visits to malls during the weekend and forays to fine dining restaurants are all paid for by the credit card.

On the way back from his office in central Delhi's Connaught Place to his home in South Delhi's Mehrauli, he remembers it is his marriage anniversary the next day. He takes a small detour to the South Extension market and buys ear studs, which his wife had helpfully pointed out to him when they were earlier doing a bit of window shopping in this market. Once again, his trusted card comes to his rescue for paying the bill. His final stop for the evening is his neighbourhood Mother Dairy, where, having purchased the daily quota of toned milk, he makes the payment with the card the dairy owner has issued recently. On the whole, he barely uses any cash during the day, except for that occasional snack or tea that he has in the office canteen. Life has almost become cashless for him.
Congress Monday rejected all charges against party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, against whom BJP issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to questions on whether he had once declared himself a British citizen.

"When the BJP has absolutely nothing left to say against the congress, then coming out with personal attacks is their trend and they are doing just that today. We strongly reject all these fabricated charges," Congress leader PL Punia said.



BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy had accused Rahul of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that Gandhi be stripped of his Indian citizenship and his membership of Parliament.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had floated a company called Backops Limited in 2003 in the United Kingdom, and in the annual return form, he had declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address. Rahul also held 65% of the total shares issued by this company, Swamy claimed.

Echoing similar sentiments, Janata Dal (United) leader Ajay Alok saidt the BJP was raising baseless issues without any evidence against Rahul whereas the Mallya issue was being sidetracked.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, headed by veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, has issued a show-cause notice to .

Parliamentary Ethics Committee member Arjun Ram Meghwal said that it was a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds.

"A complaint reached the Lok Sabha speaker which she forwarded to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee therefore issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London," Meghwal told ANI.
A sting operation by a news portal, Narada, allegedly showing ministers, MPs and MLAs from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) taking bribes has caused turmoil.

Narada News issued tapes of the operation allegedly involving 14 TMC leaders, which it said were conducted over two years. The release was done at a news conference in Delhi on Monday, with less than a month to go before the West Bengal legislative assembly election.

The tapes apparently show ministers and legislators accepting cash in return for favours such as lobbying for a fictitious company, Impex Consultancy. A journalist from the portal presented himself as a representative of the company to seek help from them.

For opposition parties, the timing of the 52-hour footage couldnt have been better. CPI(M) state head Surjya Kanta Mishra has said the polls should be postponed till the Election Commission ensured the money was not used to influence peoples verdict.

If it requires promulgation of Presidents Rule, it should be done, he said.

Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, head of the states Congress party, said Bengal was being run by a pack of thieves. Bharatiya Janata Party head Siddharth Nath Singh demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees (pictured) resignation.

The CM, campaigning in North Bengal, said the opposition had resorted to a smear campaign ahead of the elections. TMC Vice-President Mukul Roy said the video was doctored. Education Minister Partha Chatterjee questioned the timing of the release.

Why did they come with the manufactured video on the eve of the election? It is a political conspiracy. We are going to take legal action, he said.

Journalist Mathew Samuel of the news portal, who led the team that conducted the sting, said the timing was a coincidence. He said the portal had no political backing.
At least 10 suspected criminals have died in gunbattles with government forces during an anti-cartel operation in the city of Reynosa, which sits across the US border from McAllen, Texas, Mexican authorities said.

The Tamaulipas state government said the violence erupted early yesterday after soldiers, marines and police began the operation aimed at a drug cartel that operates in Reynosa.

A state police official who insisted on anonymity told The Associated Press that the operation was aimed at arresting the Gulf Cartel's leader in Reynosa. The official would not say if Juan Manuel Loza, also known as "El Comandante Toro," was caught.

The state government said at least three armed clashes occurred over several hours, and gang members also set vehicles on fire and blocked roads. Four soldiers were injured when their vehicle overturned, officials said.

Similar events happened in April 2015 when authorities launched an offensive against another local leader of the Gulf Cartel.

Tamaulipas has suffered through several waves of violence in recent years tied to the drug trade. The Gulf Cartel battled with its former allies in the Zetas cartel for a number of years, but officials say that violence since 2015 has often resulted from a dispute between rival factions of the Gulf Cartel.
As many as 117 Maoist sympathisers, including 34 women and 14 militia members, today surrendered before the police in Odisha's Malkangiri district.

The rebel supporters who surrendered belong to Barha village in Mathili police station area, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said.

They include seven village committee members and three members of Chetna Natya Madali, the cultural wing of the Naxals, he said, adding they surrendered with a pledge to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream.

The Naxal supporters were working for Darava division of the outlawed CPI (Maoist). They will be rehabilitated as per the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the state, the SP said.

The fresh development came a day after 57 Maoist supporters from Kalimela area had surrendered before the police in the naxal-hit district.

Earlier, 19 Maoist sympathisers of Darava Division had surrendered before the police last week, the police said.
Chhattisgarh government today said 128 Naxals and 100 policemen were killed in gun battles over the last three years in the state.

In a written reply to a question raised by Congress MLA Deepak Baij, state Panchayat Minister Ajay Chandrakar, who is in-charge of the Home department, said, "543 encounters took place between police and Naxalites from 2013 till January 2016 in the Maoist-affected districts of Chhattisgarh."



128 Naxals were killed while 100 security personnel also lost their lives in the gun battles. Besides, 210 security personnel and eight Naxals were injured in the exchanges of gunfire, he said.

A maximum of 52 Naxalswere gunned down in Bijapur, where 14 security personnel also lost their lives during this period. Also, 48 policemen and 29 Naxals were killed in Sukma district, the minister said.

Moreover, a total of 852 Naxal cadres surrendered in the state in the last three years and a sum of Rs 149.37 lakh was given to them as relief aid. Besides, 20 of them were also given government jobs, he said.

Chhattisgarh has been battling the Naxal menace for over three decades to tackle which central armed police forces, including CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB, have been deployed in the state.
14 new inmates, including a woman, lodged at the district jail here were found to be HIV positive during an annual medical camp conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), jail authorities said.

The jail already has 11 inmates who are HIV positive and have been receiving treatment.

Jail superintendent Vipin Mishra said the authorities hold routine HIV checks for all inmates- including convicts and undertrials.

This year the camp was held from February 26-March 2 where all 2518 inmates underwent tests.

Following this, a counsellor was brought in to counsel affected patients.

These inmates were asked to get their partners and children tested for HIV virus as well, so their treatment could begin with immediate effect, if they were also found to be infected with virus.

Mishra said since HIV positive inmates include both convicts and undertrials, it is difficult to detect since when they have been carrying by the virus.

He said though there is a medical examination for inmates coming to the jail, there is no test to determine whether they are HIV positive or not.
Nineteen Opposition members in the Legislative Council today moved corrections to the motion of vote of thanks to the Governor's joint address to both the Houses of the state Legislature on March 9.

Of the total 19, nine members of the NCP submitted corrections expressing regret that the address did not have any reference to amending the law regarding banning dance bars and measures being taken to tackle drought.

However, rest of the ten members, including three each of NCP and Congress, did not move any corrections on these two particular issues, but on some other issues.

The House began the general debate on the motion of vote of thanks to the Governor's address today.

Given the numerical superiority in the Upper House, the NCP is in a position to force the government to admit the corrections to the motion.

The NCP members, who did not move any corrections expressing regret at non-inclusion of the need for amending the law for banning dance bars and drought relief measures, include - Jayant Jadhav, Amarsingh Pandit (himself from drought prone Marathwada region) and Jagannath Shinde.

Besides the Congress, the other opposition members who did not move any corrections on the issue of dance bars include - Jogendra Kawade (PRP), Jayant Patil (PWP) and Kapil Patil (Lokbharti).

Moreover, the three Congress members - Sharad Ranpise, Ramhari Rupanwar and Husnabanu Khalife skipped the mention of dance bars in the corrections.

However, the corrections suggested by Mahadev Jankar (BJP) do not relate to dance bars, but express regret that the address did not have any mention on relief and aid not reaching the farmers affected due to unseasonal rains and scarcity-hit regions and other issues.

Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde moved ten corrections to the Governor's Address over issues like drought, farmers suicide, banning dance bars, extending reservations to Maratha, Muslims, Dhangar and Lingayat communities.

One of the corrections moved by Munde states, "It is regrettable that despite all parties demanding complete loan waiver the Governor's address has no mention to that effect."



The opposition members have in all moved about 154 corrections to the Governors Address on wide-ranging issues expressing regret at them not being included.
Two teachers were killed today and nearly seven others injured when lightning struck a madrasa in Dharav village here, police said.

Iftekhar Khan (32) and Begum Asmat (45) died while nearly seven persons, including teachers and students, were injured when lightning struck Al-Tauhid Madrasa in the village, Superintendent of Police Amit Verma said.

The injured were admitted to a nearby hospital, where their condition is stated to be stable, he said.
Three Palestinians carried out two attacks -- a shooting and a car-ramming -- on Israelis in the southern occupied West Bank today before they were shot dead, the Israeli army said.

"Two assailants opened fire at pedestrians waiting at a bus stop at the entrance of Kiryat Arba (near Hebron). Forces guarding the area responded and shot the assailants, resulting in their deaths," a military statement read.

"Moments later, in an additional attack, a vehicle rammed into a military vehicle responding at the scene. Forces responded to the immediate danger and shot the assailant, resulting in his death."



The army said a soldier was wounded in the shooting attack, and two others lightly wounded in the car-ramming.

A military spokeswoman said the assailants used a pistol and a submachine gun.

Israeli security forces have noted an recent surge in shooting attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank following five-and-a-half months of Palestinian attacks.

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 191 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, while others were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Many analysts say young Palestinians are fed up with Israeli occupation, while Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence.
A 32-year-old tea-stall owner was allegedly shot dead by three persons near Chhatarpur temple in south Delhi, police said today.

The deceased, identified as Ravi, was earlier involved in several cases of robbery and theft in the area.

Ravi's wife claimed she was an eyewitness in the case and had her statement recorded. Police said they have identified all three assailants who carried out the attack last night and a team has been constituted to track them down.

One of the assailants was a person with whom Ravi had got into a scuffle around five months back and preliminary inquiries suggest that the killing was the fallout of a personal rivalry, police added.

According to police, Ravi had set up the tea kiosk outside a school near Chhatarpur temple after his release from jail.

Last night, around three persons approached on a motorbike as Ravi was closing his shop and opened fire, they said.

Ravi, who sustained five bullet injuries in the attack, was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead, the official said, adding that a case of murder has been registered in this regard.
Four militants were killed today in a gun-battle with Pakistan's paramilitary Rangers after the security personnel raided a terrorist hideout here.

The shootout ensued after the paramilitary forces raided a safe house in Manghopir area and the gunmen there retaliated by opening fire on the soldiers.

"One soldier was injured in the gunfight while four of those holed up in the safe house were killed," a Rangers spokesman said.

The operation was carried out as part of the ongoing clean-up operation in Karachi and in the Balochistan province.

Meanwhile, last night, at least five militants belonging to the banned Baloch Republican Army, a separatist group, were killed by the Frontier Corps in the Dera Bugti area.

Security forces destroyed the camps and hideouts of militants in the area and there was a heavy exchange of fire which went on for several hours.

"The raid took place on the outskirts of Dera Bugti and five militants of the BRA were killed in the operation," a Frontier Corps spokesman said.
With more than 977 companies and 46 countries registering for the upcoming Defence Expo scheduled in Goa, the Defence Ministry has said the event is steering the path of steady growth.

"Defexpo India 2016, the ninth in the series of biennial Land, Naval and Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition, will be held at Naqueri Quitol in Quepem taluka of South Goa from March 28-31, 2016," the Ministry said on its website designed for this internationally famed event.

"Defexpo India is clearly steering the path of steady growth and has been receiving overwhelming and unprecedented international response with each edition," it said.

This is for the first time that the Expo will travel to Goa from Delhi.

According to the Ministry, till date 977 companies and 46 countries have registered for participating in the Expo. For this edition, countries like USA, Russia, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Portugal amongst others have confirmed their participation.

"The eighth edition of Defexpo India held in February 2014 recorded an unprecedented growth in foreign as well as domestic companies participation over its previous editions," the Ministry said.

"An impressive 232 foreign companies from 32 countries participated in the show in 2014 along with 15 country pavilions with a growth of 12.64 per cent in terms of space booking," it said.

This year, on the first day, March 28, hosts of seminars including that on "State of Art Technology in Shipbuilding Initiative and Requirements of Indian Defence Shipyards" would be held. There will also be a session on "International Cooperation in Futuristic Maritime Research and development" and "Advanced Technologies in Submarine Construction."



On next day, March 29, the Industrial body Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) will hold day-long Global Investors' Summit on Defence sector.

Similarly, there will also be a seminar on private sector participation in Defence development programme which will be chaired by Smita Nagraj, Director General (Acquisitions), Union Ministry of Defence.

The event will also host a discussion on "Defence



collaboration and joint ventures with global partners" to be chaired by K Nagaraj Naidu, Director, Investment and Technology Promotion Division of Union Defence Ministry.

The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has also planned a seminar on "Defence Off set: Challenges and Opportunities" during the event.

Another industrial body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will host "India Korea Defence Cooperation Seminar and business meet" and also discussion on modernization programme of Indian Army.
European defence major Airbus Group today cautioned that 49 per cent FDI limit in defence sector cannot fetch India the industry or the right original equipment manufacturer that it is eying under 'Make in India' initiative.

The firm, which is in negotiations with India for several defence projects worth billions of dollars, also made it clear that they would be able to invest in the domestic defence sector only if they get contracts as it takes "two to tango".

The group also admitted that the nearly USD 1.4 billion project of the Indian government to acquire six Airbus mid-air refuellers has "stagnated" even as it offered to transfer the final assembly line of Panther helicopters if it gets an order from the Navy for the same.

"..Forget about 49 per cent. It is not going to get an industry and it is not going to get OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) of quality. You may get a few but not the right ones," Pierre de Bausset, President and Managing Director of Airbus Group India, said.

Pitching for "fair business", he said that in the beginning, their Indian partners will need them a lot before they become the real champions that India has in mind.

"And when they need us a lot in the beginning, I want fair business. Fair business means that we need to have levels of controls that are appropriate for the risks that we are taking.

"So setting the limit at 49 per cent or whatever amount is not... You have to think in terms of how do you attract us, how do you attract talent, how do you make it a good win-win partnership and not a very straight-jacket in the beginning," he said addressing reporters here ahead of the Defence Expo later this month.

He said that if an OEM is bringing in investment or if they are bringing a product which is part of their own product line world wide, "you do understand that we want to have some control over it".

He added that 49 per cent is not a "good limit" and that it is "at odds" with the policy that has been stated by the government "recently".

"But we are faced with a moving environment," he said.

He mentioned about his company's focus on Make in India and said if the contracts come in, they can make investment as high as Rs 5,000 crore in India.

He spoke about the industrial development works undertaken by the firm in other countries.

"We are ready to do the same but it take two to tango. We need the government to actually give is contract," he said.

There is a cap of 49 per cent holding for foreign



companies involved in defence equipment manufacturing. This means 51 per cent stake has to be held by an Indian company.

The FDI cap was raised from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in August 2014, months after the BJP-led NDA coalition was voted to power in May that year.

Talking about the "stagnated" deal for buying six A330 refuelers, Venkat Katkuri, President of Airbus Defence and Space Division here, said they are awaiting "guidance" from the Defence Ministry about the next step to be taken.

Meanwhile, Pierre pointed out that 'Make in India' does "not just mean a plant in India with Airbus written over it".

"People want us to have our very own plant with Airbus written over it," he said, adding that its partnerships with various domestic companies like companies TATA and Mahindra is also part of 'Make in India'.

Pierre said that every Airbus commercial aircraft produced today is partly 'Made in India' as they are procuring from India.

He underlined that in 2015, the company had exceeded the USD 500 million annual procurement mark and the plan was to cross USD 2 billion by 2020. He made it clear that this figure is mostly driver on the commercial side and not the defence.

Talking about the Airbus-TATA bid to replace India's aeging Avros transport planes with C295 aircraft, the top Airbus executive said field evaluation trials will take place in the future.

He said the Group will set up a final assembly line for C295 and process is on to identify the state where it would be based.

The government had in last May cleared the lone bid of Airbus-Tata consortium for replacing Avro transport aircraft fleet for Rs 11,930 crore.

As per the tender, while 40 aircraft would be manufactured in India, 16 would be bought off-the-shelf.
Five workers were today injured, three seriously, in a blaze in a fireworks unit here, police said.

Police suspect that mixing of extremely dry chemicals for fancy fireworks items could have triggered the fire at the cracker unit in a nearby village.

Three of the injured have suffered 70 per cent burn injuries and are in a serious condition, they said.

Fire service units rushed to the spot and doused the flames.

Sivakasi is the hub of the cracker manufacturing industry in India with almost 90 per cent of fireworks supplied in India being from here and Virudhunagar.
Five militants including the commander of a banned terror outfit were arrested by Bangladesh's elite security force which also seized a huge cache of explosives possibly destined for the country's Independence Day celebrations next week.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), acting on a tip-off, laid down a trap and arrested the members of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which was last year blamed for murder of two foreigners in the country.

The officers claimed to have seized a huge cache of plastic explosive gels and improvised explosive devices from the JMB men's possession besides arresting its 25-year-old commander Ameer Huzayfa Akand alias Shahin alias Siam, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Authorities suspect the militants had gathered in the city to plan attacks on Independence Day on March 26 or Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendar, which falls on April 14, RAB Media and Legal Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan said during a press conference here yesterday.

During primary interrogation, the JMB men also confessed to recruiting new members from different districts.

Bengali new year, the country's largest festival, has been targeted in the past. In 2001, at least 10 people were killed and scores of others injured when militants threw bombs at the crowd during the celebrations.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan turned 51 today and expressed his biggest birthday wish, to buy his mother their ancestral home in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

The "PK" actor celebrated the special day with mediapersons here by cutting a cake and holding a press conference.

When asked about his birthday wish, Aamir said, "My biggest wish today is that if I could buy my mother her ancestral home in Varanasi. My mother spent her childhood in Varanasi. I've seen that home. Since then it has been in my mind that if I can request people there and get that house."



Calling Varanasi "extremely beautiful and historic", Aamir said he can't wait to have a house there.

"I've been to Assi ghat. Varanasi is a beautiful and a historic place. So, If I get a home there, my mom's home there, that will give me the biggest happiness. Let's hope it happens," he said.
Aam Aadmi Party today took out a protest march in Old Delhi against the one per cent excise duty on jewellery proposed in the Union Budget 2016-17 and demanded its roll-back.

The protest, organised by AAP traders' wing, was joined by party leader Ashutosh.

"Jewellers are angry over the excise duty. When Narendra Modi was chief minister (of Gujarat), he had opposed it. So, why has he imposed the excise now?" said Ashutosh.

The move will "hurt" small traders and their business will "suffer" in the face of competition from bigger businessmen and multinational companies, he claimed.

"The government is hell bent on destroying the small traders with numerous small taxes," the party alleged.

The members of several jewellery associations participated in the protest march from Town Hall Chowk in Chandni Chowk to the Red Fort.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, had attacked the Centre over its proposed hike in the excise duty.

"Modi government has back stabbed jewellers. Modi government is doing what UPA was doing," Kejriwal had said in a tweet.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today said the weaker sections, including dalits and adivasis, are being crushed for raising their voices against injustice.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got an opportunity to ensure relief to farmers as they need immediate compensation against crop loss caused due to heavy rainfall and hailstorm.

Addressing reporters at Swami Vivekanand airport here this evening, Gandhi, who was on a day-long tour of Chhattisgarh, demanded that central teams be sent to different states to assess the loss caused to farmers due to natural calamity and they should be benefited as early as possible.

"It is very sad that we raised this issue in Parliament but discussion was not allowed over it. I want the government to fulfil the demands of farmers," he said.

Gandhi alleged that not only in Chhattisgarh but in the entire country, farmers, adivasis, dalits and other weaker sections are being suppressed.

"Wherever they wanted to raise their voices, they are being crushed. Adivasis are being suppressed, crushed and killed in the entire country.

"Every Adivasi is not a Maoist. Adivasis of India are patriots and they should not be crushed like this," he said while responding to a query on alleged killings of tribals by branding them as naxals in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress vice-president visited Giroudpuri Dham, a popular pilgrimage centre of scheduled tribe Satnami community in Balodabazar district, as part of his state tour.

Before leaving for Delhi, Gandhi met with a delegation of Congress leaders from Bastar, including MLAs who have alleged that law and order situation in the area was deteriorating and have raised the plight of tribals.

Gandhi said he assured the delegation that Congress will fight for the rights of tribals.

On the loss incurred by farmers due to natural calamity, Gandhi said, "Owing to heavy rainfall in northern belt (of the country), farmers have faced a severe loss. This region had also witnessed hailstorm. (Prime Minister) Modi ji has said he wanted to work for farmers.

"Modi ji had promised that he wanted to correct his mistakes. Now he has got an opportunity to ensure relief to farmers at the earliest. Farmers should be provided compensation," he said.

On the notice issued to him by the Ethics Committee of Parliament over allegations related to declaration of his citizenship in the UK, Gandhi said, "BJP has the habit of telling lies. We will deal with it (the notice) in Parliament. I have not come here to do politics but to pay my obeisance and I felt good here".

(Reopens BOM 25)



When asked about the status of state Congress' proposal to AICC to expel senior party leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi over the leaked audio tapes row, Gandhi said, "The matter is pending with disciplinary committee of the party and is under consideration".

Earlier, Gandhi visited Giroudpuri, located around 130kms away from the state capital, which is thebirth placeof Satnami Saint Guru Ghasidas. He also visited the temple of Guru Ghasdas and paid obeisance there.

Gandhi was accompanied by AICC general secretary and Chhattisgarh in-charge BK Hariprasad, treasurer Motilal Vora, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders during his visit to Giroudpuri.

Meanwhile, a minor scuffle broke out between some Congress leaders and supporters of Ajit Jogi in Giroudpuri, which was brought under control.
The Israeli military says forces shot and killed three Palestinian attackers who carried out a pair of assaults near a West Bank settlement.

The military says two Palestinians opened fire on pedestrians at a bus stop near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, wounding an Israeli soldier lightly before they were shot dead. Minutes later, a Palestinian drove his car into an army vehicle responding to the previous attack. He wounded three soldiers before he was shot and killed.

The successive attacks today were the latest in a six month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has shown no signs of abating.

Palestinian attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two Americans. Some 182 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, 135 of them said by Israel to have been attackers.
AINRC legislator P Angalane today quit the post of Secretary and primary membership of the party.

He handed over his resignation to AINRC founder and Chief Minister N Rangasamy.

Angalane, who retained his MLA post, told PTI that despite several representations to Rangasamy for the development of Tirubhuvanai reserved constituency which he represents, nothing had been done and that unemployed youth in particular were "ignored" by the Chief Minister.

Angalane was elected on a Congress ticket in the 2006 Assembly polls andretained the seat as AINRC legislator in the 2011 polls.

He was Welfare Minister in the previous Congress government in Puducherry.

He said he has not taken a decision yet regarding joining any political party and quitting the post of MLA.
A militant leader who joined the Islamic State jihadist group was killed in an army operation west of the Algerian capital, a security source said today.

Mouloud Baal, also known as Abou El Moundhir, was a former member of the extremist Armed Islamic Front (GIA) which battled the Algiers government during the 1990s.

He later formed his own group which participated in twin suicide attacks against Algeria's Cherchell military institution in August 2011, claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Baal, who joined IS in 2015, was killed yesterday during an military raid in the Oued-Sebt area of Gouraya region, west of Algiers, the source said.

The operation took place in the same area where Baal's men planted a roadside bomb two weeks ago targeting a police convoy, the source added.

The defence ministry said a "dangerous terrorist" was killed in the Oued-Sebt operation, during which a Kalashnikov assault rifle and ammunition were seized.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists killed 200,000 people.

Despite adopting a peace and reconciliation charter in 2005 aimed at turning the page on the conflict, armed groups remain active in the centre and east of Algeria.

A total of "157 terrorists, including 10 commanders" were killed or arrested in military operations last year, according to the defence ministry.
An engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes before a passenger train derailed in western Kansas early today, an official said.

The Amtrak train apparently was travelling at about 75 mph when the engineer noticed the deformity in the rail and pulled the brakes, a US official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the federal investigation.

The train carrying 131 passengers and 14 crew was travelling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it derailed shortly after midnight along a straight stretch of tracks in flat farmland near Cimarron, a small community about 160 miles west of Wichita. Eight cars derailed and four of them ended up on their sides.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals for treatment, and 29 of them had been released by late morning, Amtrak said.

Ashley Rogers, a spokeswoman for Grey County, said none of the injuries were life-threatening.

It wasn't known if any crew members were among the injured.

Daniel Aiken, 21, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard screaming as he climbed out of their overturned car.

He stopped to smell a fluid that was flowing through the car, fearful that it was fuel, but was reassured when he realized it was water.

"Once people realized the train wasn't going to blow up," he said, "they calmed down."



Passenger Daniel Szczerba described the chaos for Wichita TV station KWCH.

"All the lights went out, it was dark," passenger Daniel Szczerba told Wichita TV station KWCH.

"People traveling in groups (of) four or five got thrown around the car as it turned over and lost people as they were trying to get out of the emergency exits."



Amtrak didn't say how fast the train was traveling when it derailed, and it didn't immediately respond to calls seeking further details.

It was foggy in the area at the time, but it wasn't immediately known if that played any role.

Andy Williams, a spokesman for BNSF Railway, which owns the track, referred questions to Amtrak.

He said he say when the track was last inspected while the investigation is ongoing.

Amtrak said it is working with BNSF on the investigation.

Uninjured passengers were taken to the Cimarron community center to wait for Amtrak to make arrangements to transport them to their destinations.
In the wake of a massive row over anti-national slogans allegedly raised in JNU, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today said such sloganeering cannot and will not divide the country.

"In Kashmir, raising anti-national slogans is normal. Such slogans cannot and will not divide the country," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

A massive political row had erupted after anti-national slogans were allegedly raised in JNU in Delhi, leading to the arrest of its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case slapped by the police.

Attacking BJP, Abdullah said the ruling dispensation has failed to fulfill its pre-poll promises.

"BJP had assured employment to youths during poll campaigns. But no jobs have been offered to youths despite passage of two years," he said and also slammed the government for failing to bring back black money stashed abroad.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also hit out at the BJP-PDP alliance over non-formation of a government in the state.

"In the absence of Jammu and Kashmir government, militants are taking advantage of the situation," he said.

The state came under Governor's rule after the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away in January.

On India-Pakistan relations, Abdullah welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore, saying such moves would create a conducive environment for talks.

He also said that militancy needs to be eradicated from the country for its development.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today said the Centre's "inadequate response" to apprehension and detention of Indian fishermen "has emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy to harass" them, and sought a "robust diplomatic response" on the emotive issue.

"Inadequate response of the Union Government on such incidents of apprehension and detention of our fishermen has emboldened the Sri Lankan Navy to harass the Tamil Nadu fishermen while exercising their livelihood rights to fish in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay," she said.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she took up the latest instance of the arrest of 28 Indian fishermen from the state and reminded him that she had been repeatedly writing to him to ensure that such incidents did not recur.

The prolonged detention and disuse of boats under Lankan custody and the onslaught of the severe monsoon had caused irreparable damage to them, she said and reiterated that they should be restored in a refurbished condition to the fishermen at the earliest.

Jayalalithaa said that continued apprehension and detention of Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy "is causing a deep sense of frustration and anger amongst the fishermen community in Tamil Nadu.

"She also pointed out that the permanent solution to this "vexatious problem" was the retrieval of Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India, recalling her petition in Supreme Court questioning the validity of the 1974 and 1976 agreements between the two countries in this regard.

"I hope that there will now be a decisive shift in the stance of the Government of India towards handling this question under your leadership. The Government of India should now find a lasting and permanent solution to this long pending and highly emotive issue which also carries grave security implications for our state," she said.

"I request you to put in place a strong and robust diplomatic response registering India's disapproval in the strongest possible terms of the belligerent actions of the Sri Lankan Navy," she said.

Jayalalithaa urged Modi to direct officials of the Ministry of External Affairs to take concrete action through diplomatic channels to secure the immediate release of a total of 96 fishermen and 82 fishing boats from Sri Lanka.
Talks to end Syria's civil war opened in Geneva today, but hopes for a breakthrough remained remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

The UN-hosted negotiations, which began a day before the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

As the delegations arrived in Geneva over the weekend, Damascus warned that any discussion about removing Assad would be a "red line".

Top Western diplomats immediately condemned the comment from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as divisive and provocative.

After his first official meeting with the regime today, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters that "strong statements (and) rhetoric" were part of every tough negotiation and that his initial discussions with government representative Bashar al-Jaafari were "useful".

Speaking earlier, he said the talks quickly needed to focus on "the real issues".

"What is the real issue?" he asked. "The mother of all issues (is) political transition."



The UN envoy said the agenda for the negotiations will follow a Security Council resolution that calls for a transitional government to be formed in six months, and general elections within the following year.

A lot has changed since the last round of indirect talks collapsed in February, particularly for many of Syria's war-ravaged people who have previously been deprived of regular access to life-saving aid.

A temporary ceasefire introduced on February 27 has largely held, despite accusations of violations from both sides, allowing aid to reach some 150,000 people living under siege.

The truce - the most significant since the conflict began - has sparked cautious encouragement. But experts warn that negotiations will still struggle to achieve a durable peace on the fractured battlefields where multiple groups are competing for dominance.

Representatives from Syrian Kurdish groups, which have played a key role in combatting jihadist fighters, have been excluded from the talks despite a push from Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's position on Monday, saying that "the whole spectrum of Syrian political forces" should have a voice in Geneva.

"Otherwise this cannot claim to be a representative forum," he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti state agency.
Australia's foreign minister says her government has contacted Malaysia over the detention of an Australian journalist and camera operator, who attempted to interview the Malaysian prime minister over corruption allegations.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said on Monday that the two ABC newsmen were arrested in the city of Kuching on Saturday after approaching Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on the street.

ABC says they were detained by police for six hours and told to remain in Kuching while authorities decide whether they should be charged.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Nine Network television on Monday that how the newsmen were treated "are matters that we are raising with the Malaysian authorities."



She says that "Australia supports freedom of speech" and will "make representations at the highest levels within the Malaysian government.
The auto and taxi unions here today called off their proposed two-day strike today after meeting Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai and accepting his assurances on their demands.

Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union had threatened to take their vehicles off city roads on March 15 and 16 demanding stoppage of app-based cab services in Delhi.

"Various unions and their office bearers were satisfied with the discussions and assurance. The unions and their representatives unanimously decided to call off the proposed strike during the meeting," he said.

The leaders of auto and taxi unions said the strike, which was scheduled to start from tonight, has been called off following assurances by the Transport Minister.

"The minister's assurances on app based cabs, enhanced toll tax and relaxed norm for DL-1RT series taxis were acceptable to us and we decided not to go on strike. But if the government fails us, autos and taxis will be off road on the next car-free day in the city," said Rajendra Soni, General Secretary of auto and taxi unions.

Rai has assured the unions that wide publicity will be given by his department to prevent attachment of autos and taxis with "unauthorised app-based companies". The department will also strengthen the PUCHHO App for auto hiring, a senior government official said.

The Transport department has been directed by the minister to take up the issue with municipal corporation officials for waiver of toll tax on taxis registered in Delhi. The toll tax on taxis was recently hiked from Rs 60 to Rs 100.

The demand for strict norms for DL-1RT- Series with compulsory requirement of driving licence and PSV badge was also raised in the meeting. The Transport Minister has asked the department to look into the matter, the official said.
Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week, according to a media report today.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.

On statements by Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed



that the ongoing protests in Kashmir would be intensified and warning that the deaths in the region would not be in vain, Swarup said it was incumbent upon Pakistan to reign-in such elements because if there has to be durable peace, such elements have to be controlled.

Asked if apart from Pakistan, any other Muslim country has raised Kashmir situation with India, he said there has been a statement by Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in this regard. "No locus standi and we don't need any gratis advice from anyone," he retorted.

Yesterday, OIC issued a statement saying it "condemned, in the strongest terms, the killing of at least thirty civilians and injuring hundreds of others at the peaceful demonstrations being held to protest the killing on 8th July 2016 of Kashmiri leader Wani by the Indian security forces."



It also called for a thorough and expedient investigation on the incident.

(REOPENS DEL54)



Asked about Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party



Bilawal Bhutto calling up separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, Swarup said there there was no role for any third party in resolving issues between India and Pakistan.

He was also asked whether Bhutto's call to the Mirwaiz was not unusual as Pakistani envoy usually talks to Hurriyat leaders.
Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are likely to meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Aziz "will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year."



Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.
The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has deported several Lebanese residents for links to the Shiite Hezbollah movement, classified by the Arab League as a terrorist group, the interior ministry said today.

"A number of Lebanese residents have been deported after it was confirmed that they belonged to and supported terrorist Hezbollah," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter account.

The ministry did not provide any further details, including on the number of people involved. Lebanese press reported last week that up to 10 families had been ordered to leave Bahrain within 24 hours.

The move comes a day after Bahrain's neighbour Saudi Arabia warned that it will punish citizens and residents who "support or demonstrate belonging" to Hezbollah.

The Arab League on Friday declared Iran ally Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, after Gulf monarchies did the same earlier this month over the movement's support for the regime in Syria's war.

In January, Bahrain said it had dismantled a "terror" cell allegedly linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah.

Shiite-majority Bahrain, which is ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, has repeatedly accused Iran of meddling in its affairs, a charge categorically denied by Tehran.
Mammoth demonstrations across Brazil are putting even more pressure on embattled President Dilma Rousseff as she heads into a tough week for her attempt to survive impeachment proceedings in Congress.

According to police estimates, a total of 3 million people took to the streets in 200 cities yesterday calling on the president to resign amid widespread anger over corruption investigations and the worst recession in years.

Sometime this week, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings over allegations of fiscal mismanagement.

He doesn't have any say on the panel's membership, but on Saturday members of his centrist PMDB party pledged to be more independent from Rousseff's administration.

Rousseff, who has said she won't resign, is also under pressure from members of her own Workers' Party, whose leaders want her mentor and predecessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to intervene by taking a Cabinet post and bringing in others of his choice.

Yet Silva is awaiting a decision by a Sao Paulo judge on whether he will be detained on corruption charges.

Yesterday's protests add to the already-difficult position of Rousseff, who in addition to the impeachment effort is faced with a sprawling investigation by federal prosecutors into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras that has moved closer to her inner circle in recent weeks.

In a statement after yesterday's protests, Rousseff said, "The peaceful character of this Sunday's demonstrations shows the maturity of a country that knows how to co-exist with different opinions and knows how to secure respect to its laws and institutions."



The biggest demonstration took place in Brazil's economic capital, Sao Paulo, a bastion of simmering dissatisfaction with Rousseff and the Workers' Party.

The respected Datafolha polling agency estimated about 500,000 people took part in the demonstration, while police estimated turnout at nearly three times that number.

About 1 million people joined the anti-Rousseff demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, organizers estimated.

Analysts said the strong turnout could lead to the unraveling of her fragile governing coalition.

"There is a situation of ungovernability," said Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at Pontifical Catholic University in Sao Paulo. "The president has few cards.
Former Kerala BJP state President V Muraleedharan was among 16 persons injured in a clash between workers of the party and CPI-M at nearby Kattayikonam today.

A procession of BJP activists on certain local issues resulted in the clash with CPI-M workers, police said.

The clash occurred after stones were allegedly pelted at the processionists, they said, adding most of the injured were BJP workers.

The 16 injured were treated at the Medical College Hospital, sources in the hospital said.

BJP has called for a 12-hour hartal tomorrow in the district protesting the attack on its workers by CPI-M.

Prafulla Mahanta, senior leader of Asom Gana Parishad, an



ally of ruling BJP, had visited the spot and lent his support to the agitators. To pacify them, Assam government then announced to set up an All India Institute of Ayurveda at Raha.

Student bodies like All Assam Students Union, the Congress and other organisations too had extended their support to the demand to set up AIIMS at Raha.

The agitation had been temporarily called off after Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain and BJP MP Ram Prasad Sarmah assured protesters of initiative to fulfil their demands.

During the Congress regime, the state had showed a number of locations, including Raha and Changsari to the Centre for setting up an AIIMS in Assam.
The Breitbart reporter allegedly roughed up last week at a Donald Trump press conference has resigned from the conservative website, saying that she can't work for an organisation that doesn't support her.

Michelle Fields, who said that she was grabbed by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as she attempted to question the candidate last Tuesday in Florida, was joined in her resignation by a Breitbart editor, Ben Shapiro.

Police in Jupiter, Florida, said today their investigation of the incident is ongoing. No charges have been filed.

Lewandowski has denied the allegation. Trump told CNN that the incident, also witnessed by a reporter from The Washington Post, was probably "made up."



After initially publishing Fields' account, Breitbart posted a story doubting its own reporter, saying the "likeliest explanation" is that Fields was grabbed by a security officer, not Lewandowski.

Shapiro, in a lengthy statement first reported by BuzzFeed News, said Breitbart did nothing to support Fields outside of tepidly asking for an apology. "In the ultimate indignity, they undermined Michelle completely by running a poorly-evidenced conspiracy theory as their lead story," Shapiro wrote.

Shapiro called Breitbart's chief executive, Stephen Bannon, a bully who has shaped the company into "Trump's personal Pravda."



Bannon did not immediately return an email message asking for comment.

Breitbart's chief public relations representative, Kurt Bardella, dropped the company as a client on Friday.
Flights between Britain and Europe could jump in price if the country votes to leave the European Union, according to a report commissioned by the Association of British Travel Agents released today.

"Our assessment of the report's findings is that a vote to leave will lead to uncertainties and may lead to increased costs for travel businesses and the travelling public," said Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, which represents 1,200 members, including airlines, tour operators and travel agencies.

"Our view is that the potential risks and downsides are not matched by an equal upside for the traveller," he added.

The report, written by financial services firm Deloitte, concluded that "low cost operators with smaller margins" could be hardest hit, threatening an end to budget flights to the EU, the main destination for British tourists.

It said that a Brexit - Britain's exit from the EU - "could jeopardise" the flow of trade and travel between Britain and mainland Europe, fuelled by the "high likelihood of uncertainty" during negotiations after the June 23 referendum.

"This could last until a replacement set of trading relations and regulations were in place, which could take several years," said the report.

A Brexit could also hit the value of the British pound, making foreign travel more expensive, it added.

Andrew Swaffield, boss of British-based budget carrier Monarch Airlines, warned that a Brexit "would most likely lead to higher air fares and fewer scheduled flights between the EU and UK."



Around three-quarters of foreign holidays taken by Britons are in the EU and 63 per cent of tourists in Britain come from the EU.

The top five tourist destinations for Britons are Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece.

Of those visiting Britain from the EU, the French are the most numerous, followed by Germans, Italians, Spaniards and Dutch.

Bookmakers currently have a vote to remain in the union as 1/2 favourite, but some polls have the two camps neck-and-neck.
Bouyed by government's reform push in oil and gas sector, Cairn India today said it hopes for an early resolution to extension of its Rajasthan oil block licence and a decision on higher price.

The company, which had taken the government to court seeking extension of Rajasthan licence and higher oil prices, said the government has made bold and decisive move in announcing future contractual model, gas prices and licence extension.

In a big reform, the government on March 10 approved pricing freedom to undeveloped gas discoveries in difficult areas, brought in a more liberal fiscal regime for future oil and gas exploration and extended contracts for 28 small and medium sized oil and gas fields.

However, Cairn's Rajasthan block was kept out of this extension policy.

"In wake of these developments, we are hopeful for an early resolution of PSC extension of Rajasthan block and realisation of fair price for our crude. This will also help India take a step closer to energy security," Cairn India CEO Mayank Ashar said in a press statement.

Stating that the government has, directionally, taken the right step by announcing the gas price reforms, he said deep- water projects are technically complex and challenging and the move will help fast-track development.

"We are hopeful, going forward such reforms shall also be extended to other difficult fields including more complex geological formations like tight oil, tight gas and enhanced oil recovery (EoR) projects," he said.

Cairn is implementing the world's largest EOR project in its Rajasthan oil block.

"It is heartening to see the government playing an enabling role in reforming the policy landscape to seek more investments in the hydrocarbon sector too," he said.

"Investors will now have better visibility on such key determinants for planning their investments," he added.

Ashar said allowing access to all forms of hydrocarbons, marketing and pricing freedom for gas and moving towards an open acreage licensing system are a quantum change in the E&P sector governance in the country.

"We hope the government will also extend this to existing producing acreages where similar hydrocarbon potential can be tapped into. Existing operators are most-suited to develop both the unconventional and the conventional resources given their knowledge of the basins they are operating," he said.

He said the licence extension policy for 28 discovered fields brings in predictability and clarity for existing investors who can now take informed decisions on the future of their producing blocks.
Carpet importers from 58 countries participated in the India Carpet Expo here from March 11-14, which is believed to have generated business between Rs 260-300 crore.

"About 260 to 300 cr of business was generated at the expo which shall be executed in the coming months. The expo will lead to opening up of new market opportunity for the industry and shall help small and medium Indian carpet exporters in promoting their products to overseas countries," Carpet Export Promotion Council Chairmen Kuldeep Wattal said.

Rs 10,000-crore target of carpets and floor covering exports for 2015-2016 set by the government shall be achieved, he said.

"410 overseas carpet buyers from around 58 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US attended the expo," Carpet Export Promotion Council said.
China on Monday dodged a direct response to reports of presence of PLA troops at a forward post in the PoK and said it "regretted" that the media keeps "popping up" stories of incursions into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"I have not heard about the incident you mentioned," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kong said at a media briefing here, replying to a question about the presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops at a forward post opposite Nowgam sector in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Read more from our special coverage on "INDIA-CHINA" India, China discuss terrorism, connectivity

In response to another question on reports of recent incursions of PLA troops on the Indian side in the Ladakh sector, Kong said "there is no such thing as going beyond the border".

"We deeply regret that the media keeps popping up the relevant issue. The bilateral relationship (between India and China) has maintained sound momentum of development. Friendly cooperation is the mainstream of the bilateral relationship.

"We hope that the relevant media would report objectively about China-India relations and do more to improve the friendly relationship between the two sides," he said.

At the same time Lu reiterated Beijing's stand on the Kashmir issue, saying that "China's position on Kashmir issue is consistent".

"We believe that the relevant issue was left over by history between India and Pakistan. We maintain that the two countries should properly resolve it through negotiations and consultations," he added.

Asked whether presence of PLA troops is connected to the work related to the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, over which India has conveyed its protest, Lu merely reiterated China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

India has conveyed its protest to China on the corridor connecting China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port as it goes through PoK along the Karakoram Highway.

China in the past maintained that the corridor which is part of its Silk Road initiative is aimed at improving the people's livelihoods and in no way affects status of the Kashmir issue.

Both the sides have established Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the LAC to discuss the issue of incursions and aggressive border patrols by their troops along the 3,488-km long disputed border.
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan is primarily driven by their rivalry with India, eminent US experts have said, with one of them expressing concern over Sino-India border tensions.

"China's close ties with Pakistan also raise tension in the subcontinent. The China-Pakistan relationship has always been strategic in nature driven by their mutual rivalry with India," Katherine C Tobin, commissioner of the US China Economic and Security Review Commission, said during a hearing on China in South Asia.

Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation -- a top American think-tank -- said that the current policy of the US is "hands-off approach" when it comes to tensions between India and China.

"I think the US has taken a very hands-off approach, but there may be some room for contingency planning back here in the US if the Sino-India border disputes were to ratchet up," Curtis said.

"And certainly we have seen on two occasions in the last two years or three years rather, once in the spring of 2013, once in the fall of 2014, that tensions ratcheted up in terms of unusual troop movements by the Chinese PLA forces in the Ladakh region," she said.

"So, it's certainly something that I think we need to pay attention to. I'm not saying the US needs to get involved per se, but we should at least have an idea of how the US might react if the tensions were to escalate quickly along the border," Curtis said.

China, she argued, seeks to build strategic and military ties with Pakistan in order to contain Indian power and to prevent India from extending its influence outward and essentially prevent it from focusing its attention and military resources towards China.

China's relations with India are marked by mutual suspicion, said James F Moriarty, senior advisor for South Asia at Bowerr Group Asia.

"China's relations with Pakistan evolved into an extremely close economic and security partnership. And China's relations with the remaining countries of South Asia remained cordial, but largely lacked substance," he said.

An increasingly close US-India relationship will be key to the US success in the Indo-Pacific region, Moriarty said.

The fast growing economies in strategic locations of the other countries of South Asia require that the US also maintains close positive relations with those countries, he said.

When the US interest in those countries do not coincide with India's, the US should pursue its own interest while being as transparent as possible within India over policy differences, he argued.

"Think carefully before punishing Pakistan. The United States cannot afford not to have decent working relations with a nuclear armed nation facing serious terrorism issues, and one that is already a leading source of migrant flows into Europe," Moriarty said.
Thousands of miners in China's coal-rich north have gone on strike over months of unpaid wages and fears that government calls to restructure their state-owned employer will lead to mass layoffs.

Video obtained by AFP today showed protesters marching through the streets of Shuangyashan city in Heilongjiang province, venting their frustration at Longmay Mining Holding Group, the biggest coal firm in northeast China.

Pictures showed enormous crowds filling the streets.

"I'm on my knees, my family can't eat," an elderly woman pleaded with a man who appeared to be a government official.

"Tell me, how can we live?" she shouted, before collapsing and being rushed away by fellow protesters.

The situation in Heilongjiang exemplifies the dilemma faced by Chinese authorities, who say they want to reform the world's second-largest economy and at the same time seek to avoid unrest.

China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are plagued by overcapacity and many are unviable, but the government has been loathe to kill off such "zombie" companies, fearing unemployment could lead to instability.

But it plans to lay off about 1.8 million workers in the steel and coal industries, a human resources and social security ministry official said last month.

In the video footage from Heilongjiang, dozens of police cars, lights flashing, lined the streets, and protesters complained of violence by authorities as tensions mounted.

"Traffic in the centre of Shuangyashan city was halted," a witness told AFP, adding "some people were hurt".

Pictures from the scene showed what appeared to be police tussling with protesters, with one woman apparently thrown to the ground.

Striking miners held large banners demanding back pay.

"Their main request is to get the delayed incomes from the past several months," the witness said.

The miners' anger spilled into street action after Heilongjiang's governor Lu Hao said that the company owed employees no back pay.

At the weekend the provincial government admitted that workers' compensation was in "arrears" following "many years of accumulated problems".

As a result, "not a few workers have encountered difficulties in their lives", it said.

The statement blamed the company's financial woes on inefficiency, saying that it "uses three times as much labour as the national average to produce 10,000 tonnes of coal", resulting in "heavy losses and diminished cash flow".

The firm was "resolutely battling" to implement reforms, it said.
Congress today approached the Election Commission, alleging that BJP President Amit Shah violated the model code by making "defamatory" remarks against Rahul Gandhi over the JNU row which could "mislead" voters in the five poll-bound states.

In a memorandum to the poll body, Congress said Shah told a party conclave in Vrindavan that Gandhi supported anti-India slogans raised on JNU campus.

"Such malicious and defamatory statements have been deliberately and intentionally made at a time when electoral exercise has commenced in five states," the memorandum said.

While elections to Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry were announced on March 4, the statement was made the next day after the Model Code of Conduct came into force, Congress said.

The party has made similar allegations against BJP Vice-President Om Mathur, saying his remarks against Gandhi and Congress had also appeared in newspapers in the five states going to assembly polls.

The party demanded that the EC take "stern action" against the BJP leaders.
A sessions court here today served notice to Lajpore Jail authorities here, asking them why letters written by quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who is lodged there on sedition charges, were not allowed to be sent outside.

The notice was served by Principal Sessions Judge Geeta Gopi after Hardik's complaint before the court that jail authorities were not letting pass letters written by him outside the jail premises, when he was being produced before the court as a routine procedure.

This, he said, was being done by the jail authorities despite the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class having allowed him to send letters some three and a half months ago, Hardik's lawyer Yaswantsinh Vala said.

Vala also said that Hardik has complained that he was not allowed to wear slippers by jail authorities and was brought bare foot to the court today.

Hardik's complaint (on the letters) come fives days after police seized a letter along with a mobile charger and battery from his possession when he was being escorted out of the jail to be taken to a Visnagar court in connection with another case.

Police have filed two FIRs against Hardik for receiving, bringing or removing "prohibited articles" under sections 43, 44 and 45 (12) of the Prison Act.

Meanwhile, in an additional affidavit filed by the Surat DCB PI J H Dahiya before the court of Geeta Gopi on March 11, police had opposed the bail plea of Hardik.

Police stated in the affidavit that members of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) to which Hardik is associated were behind the incident of February 18 in which a mob of 40-odd people put on fire a state transport bus following which an FIR was filed at Sarthana police station under various sections of IPC.

They reasoned in the additional affidavit, that "considering above factors, if the court accepts bail plea of (Hardik), then the possibility of law and order issues arising is not denied, and thus, we request court to reject bail plea of the accused (Hardik)."



Hardik's lawyer has challenged the application and questioned the motive behind the charges levelled against Hardik, arguing that investigations in cases filed in Sachin police station were being carried by police inspectors of the respective police stations.

The lawyer has also requested the court to ask the DCB



to elaborate on charge against Hardik especially as he was never questioned by the DCB sleuths in connection with the case filed in Sarthana police station.

Hardik's bail plea will come up for hearing in the Surat court on Tuesday where police had filed charge sheet against him on January 8 under sedition.

As many as 11 people were killed during and after the stir in which police accused Hardik of making inflammatory speeches that incited widespread violence.

The court also set March 21 as date for Hardik's routine production before the court.

Hardik's lawyers had moved High Court on March 11 seeking his bail in second sedition cases filed against him in Ahmedabad after the city sessions court rejected his bail application on March 8.
A senior DANICS officer today wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claiming he was being "harassed" by Delhi government, an allegation that was refuted by the ruling dispensation.

Kuldeep Singh Gangar, a 1990-batch DANICS (Delhi, Anadaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Services) officer, has marked copies of the letter to the President, Prime Minister's Office, Union Home Minister and the Delhi Lt Governor.

The officer has sought a system in which bureaucrats do not face "hardship, harassment and humiliation".

In his letter, Gangar claimed he has been without a posting for over four months now and, until March 11, had neither received his salary for the said period.

Gangar, who had been behind the efforts for the first Car-Free Day, said that on October 21 last year he was called to the CM's office over the issue of extension of tenure of shopkeepers at the Inter State Bus Terminuses.

He claimed he was transferred the same day without any further posting.

"On November 11, I was posted as Special IG, Tihar Jail. I reported for duty as special IG, Tihar. However, after two days... My transfer as Special IG (Tihar) was kept in abeyance. I again reported back to the Services Department. I have been without a posting for the last four months.

"I did not receive salary for the last four months... however, I finally received the salary on 11th March, 2016, for the period of w.E.F 28.10.2015," he said.

Noting that Kejriwal had remarked during the recent strike by MCD workers that he understands the hardship faced when ones salary is not released on time, Gangar said, "It is requested that a system may kindly be created so that any employee of GNCTD receives the salary and other dues on time.

"This will also ensure that in the future, other employees of the government of NCT of Delhi and their families do not undergo such hardship, harassment and humiliation."



Reacting to the matter, a government spokesperson said, "Transfer and posting are the prerogatives of the government. Any violation of service rules will be dealt with strongly and malicious allegations against the government will not be tolerated.
The beleaguered DDCA officials have decided to approach Union Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to get permission for using 2000 vantage seats located in the Old Pavilion Stand at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground.

That The Old Pavilion area comes under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)and DDCA does not have clearance to use those 2000 seats although the media box located in the same zone can be used by the journalists. Since ASI falls under Sharma's ministry ---Tourism and Culture, the DDCA will approach him tomorrow.

In fear of losing 2000 prime seats, a wary ICC had written to Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal, who is the observer for the faction-ridden association. ICC's primary concern is that covering the seats with black clothing makes a terrible viewing on television and a negative response comes from the sponsors.

"Yes, ICC has written a letter to me and I have forwarded that to the DDCA. They have to now take up the issue with relevant authorities," Mudgal told PTI today.

DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda said that the officials will be meeting Minister Mahesh Sharma.

"We would be seeking co-operation from Mahesh Sharma ji as the relevant clearances will come from his ministry. Since we will be hosting a high-profile semi-final (March 30), the ASI clearance is necessary as those 2000 seats are the best in the stadium," Manchanda said.

Manchanda said as of now, there is no threat to the matches. Kotla will hots its first match of the World T20 -- a women's game between New Zealand and Sri Lanka, tomorrow.
The Uttarakhand government today said it would ensure the removal of the debris blocking the flow of Ganga in Haridwar.

A huge deposit of debris after the flash floods of 2013 has choked the river at places, disrupting the flow of water to all its banks.

The issue was raised by BJP MLA Madan Kaushik during the Zero Hour in the state assembly. He said some seers were on an indefinite fast in Haridwar, demanding that the residue be cleared.

Responding to it, State Irrigation Minister Yashpal Arya said the government would take necessary steps in this regard.
Delhi BJP leaders today met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and demanded a special central government package for farmers here whose crops were hit by rain and hailstorm.

Led by Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, the delegation handed over a memorandum to the minister regarding the financial woes of farmers, party spokesman Praveen Kapur said.

The farmers have suffered losses due to damage to three crops one after the other, the BJP delegation said, adding that the compensation from Delhi government will not solve all their problems.

The Centre should take a "humanitarian view" and consider extending a special package for the farmers, the delegation urged the minister.

BJP MPs Pravesh Singh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri, Udit Raj and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, among others, were part of the delegation.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today ordered Divisional Commissioner A Ambarasu to assess the damage to crops in the untimely rain and hailstorm.

Last year, AAP government had announced a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre to farmers who faced losses due to crop damage.

Delhi BJP leaders, claiming 60-80 per cent loss to the wheat crop in Delhi, have demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 -Rs 70,000 per acre for the affected farmers.
Notwithstanding the hurdles it may face, Gujarat Congress is hoping to pass the ambitious private member Bill demanding a separate 20 per cent reservation for Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) in the ongoing assembly session by engaging in on the floor as well as off the floor strategies.

The private Bill by Congress demanding separate reservation quota for EBC members of 'unreserved' category in the state was introduced in the Gujarat Assembly on March 10 by senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar alongwith three other party MLAs--Balwantisinh Rajput, Amit Chavda and Tejashreeben Patel.

It is named as "the Gujarat EBC (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) Bill-2016."



The Bill has been introduced in the wake of ongoing quota agitation by Patel community in Gujarat, which has helped Gujarat Congress to a great extent in winning Panchayat body polls held in November last year.

Ahead of those polls, Congress leaders have openly came in support of Patel community's demand for reservation.

As promised by the party before the commencement of current state Assembly session, they have introduced the Bill in the House.

Though the Bill has been introduced in the Assembly, there is no guarantee that it will be taken up for discussion, at least in this session, as there are more than 15 other such private member bills which are already in queue.

According to BJP MLA Bharat Patel, who is the Chairman of Assembly Committee on Private Members' Business, there are thin chances of this Bill to be taken up for discussion, as the House will take up those bills first which were introduced prior to this Bill.

"As per the schedule of this session, which will end on March 31, there is a space for only three private bills to be discussed in the House during the remaining days. As per the rules, we have to take pending bills first. Some of these pending bills are of 2015 or prior to that year," said Patel.

"However, this Bill can be taken up in this session if Congress members, whose bills are already pending, withdraw their bills to make way for this Bill, or, the Speaker allows the request from Congress to discuss this Bill in this session on priority basis," added Patel.

Gujarat Assembly usually meets twice during the year, one



for month-long Budget session in February-March and another during the month of July or August. Since the second session in July-August is usually of only two-three days, there exists no space for private bills in that session.

Thus, if this Bill does not come for discussion and voting in the ongoing session, Congress may have to wait for next year's Budget session.

As the Congress leaders know this technical aspect, they are now busy finding a way out to see that the Bill at least get discussed, if not pass, in this session, when the issue of reservation is very much alive and State Assembly elections of 2017 are approaching.

"We will definitely do our best to see that the Bill get discussed and goes for vote in this session. For this, we will request the Speaker, through the Committee, to take up our Bill on priority basis. We will also propose that other pending bills of our members should be de-listed to accommodate this Bill," said Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, who has introduced the Bill.

Usually, private bills are not passed in the Assembly, even if they are from the treasury bench. In Gujarat Assembly, having 182 seats, BJP enjoys majority with 120 seats while Congress is having only 58 seats. In such scenario, the House usually clears government bills through voice votes only.

To win the numbers game in the House, Congress is working on a strategy to call for a ballot voting.

"After the discussion in the House on this Bill, we will request the Speaker to go for ballot voting instead of voice vote, as there is possibility that many BJP members, especially from Patel community, may want to vote in favour of this Bill and eventually we may get success in passing the Bill," Parmar said with high hopes.

The statement of the Bill reads that "with a view to fulfill a long standing demand from the poorest classes of the unreserved categories, a legislation thereof is required to be passed by the state Legislative Assembly to this effect."



Some of the key provisions proposed in the Bill include the formation of a five-member committee to decide as to what criteria should be adopted to consider the economical backwardness in Gujarat to provide 20 per cent reservation to them.

The report of the committee should be implemented by state government without any modifications, stated the Bill.

The Bill clearly states that this reservation for EBCs will not affect the current quota of reservation given to SC, ST and OBCs in the state.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have taken a senior doctor and a Punjab University student into custody for their alleged links with the banned Hizbut Tahrir and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, officials said here today.

"Jinnah Hospital's Senior Registrar Dr Abur Rehan has been picked up by the intelligence agencies on suspicion of his links with the HuT (Hizbut Tahrir)," a senior Punjab police official told PTI.

He said Rehan is related to one of the two professors of the University of Punjab (PU), who are already in the custody of intelligence agencies for their alleged links with HuT.

"First we got an abduction case registered against unknown persons in the Faisal Town police station. However, later an intelligence agency official told the hospital administration that Dr Rehan is in its custody," Dr Imran Waheed of the Jinnah Hospital said.

He said the agency officials assured the administration that Rehan would be freed if his links with the banned organisation were not established.

In another raid, the intelligence agencies yesterday arrestedAttique Afridi, a student of the PU's Hailey College of Commerce, for his links with the banned TTP.

"Afridi tortured a fellow student over a girl issue last Friday. When he was presented before senior officials of the university, Afridi declared TTP's Nek Mohammad and Baitullah Mehsud as his leaders and vowed to avenge their killings," said retired Maj Saleem, the university's chief security officer.

He said the intelligence agencies are interrogating him.

Earlier,Assistant Prof Dr Ghalib Ata andProf Dr Ghalib Ata of Institute of Administrative Sciences PU and the varsity's law college student were arrested for their close association with the HuT.

The HuT is against democracy and in favour of establishment of caliphate in the country.

It is also accused ofrunning a propaganda campaign against the country's armed forces.
JD(U) member K C Tyagi today asked the government in Rajya Sabha whether the Indian Air Force had enough capability to take on Pakistan and China.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Tyagi said the air force does not have enough number of planes to take on Pakistan.

He claimed that while the current requirement was of about 65 planes, India had 33 only and said the IAF chief recently expressed concern that the country did not have sufficient planes to fight Pakistan and China.

Tyagi said a 3,300 km road was being build between Pakistan and China to "create trouble" in that region.

"I want to ask the Defence Minister whether you have enough Air Force capabilities to fight with Pakistan and China. If yes, please tell us," he said.

Renuka Chowdhury (Cong) raised the issue of "illegal mining" by a Dubai-based company at the Srikakulam beach, claiming that the company had come to India for export of thorium.

She said despite no clearance from the District Collector and environment department, the company continues to mine valuable minerals, which are national wealth.

"This company has transgressed all the environmental laws and regulations," Chowdhury said, adding it was also laying roads and highways over private property without any regard to the law and national security.

"It is imperative that the Union Government takes congnizance ... This company...Should be punished," she said.

Chowdhury said the company should should be asked to compensate for the violations it has done. Demanding stringent punishment to the company, she said it is a "national security issue" because a foreign company, which has come to India, was violating the country's law.

Vivek Gupta (TMC) highlighted the problems faced by people in West Bengal due to stoppage of working of Farakka Dam for the last two days.

As a result, 2,100 MW of power produced at the dam is not available to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar and drinking water supply has also been affected badly. He said millions of people were suffering due to the problem.

When inquiries were made, Gupta said they were told the problem was because "water is not available". He also said they were told water supply at the dam could not be restored till March 21.

Citing an earlier example where a sitting government lost elections due to power shortage, Gupta said "I am wondering if there was any connection between the timing of water not being available and the elections in West Bengal. I hope not".

He urged the government what steps it was contemplating to resolve the "emergency" situation which may become a national crisis.
The EU has started work on sanctions against Libyan figures who hold up agreement on a national unity government meant to bring peace to the war-torn country, EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said today.

The United States and key European allies led by France warned on Saturday that those preventing Libya's new unity government from moving quickly to take up office in Tripoli should be hit with punitive measures.

Mogherini, speaking after an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, said it was clear Libya needed a functioning government as soon as possible to restore peace and begin reconstruction.

The EU was ready to "encourage and support" the new government, she said, adding: "We have also started our internal work to sanction individuals who obstruct this internal Libyan process."



German deputy foreign minister Michael Roth said there was "no decision on sanctions today", despite a call by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Thursday for a decision on imposing sanctions.

Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowing extremists including the Islamic State group to gain a foothold in the once oil-rich country.

Since 2014, it has had two rival administrations after militia groups forced the government from Tripoli to seek safety in Tobruk in the east.

The UN brokered an agreement in December to set up a new government but lawmakers in Tobruk initially rejected it, only to then change their minds.

A European diplomatic source told AFP recently that EU sanctions -- travel bans and asset freezes -- would likely target Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, plus Nuri Abu Sahmein of the Tripoli-based General National Congress and its head Khalifa Ghweil.

The EU and Western powers have said repeatedly they will help any new government once it is in office to tackle both reconstruction and security.
The Maharashtra government will announce loan waiver for farmers at an appropriate time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said today as the Legislative Assembly witnessed an uproar from opposition parties over farmers' suicide in the state.

"We will announce the loan waiver at an appropriate time," Fadnavis told the assembly, after vociferous opposition members demanded that the government makes an announcement to provide relief to farmers battling the agrarian crisis.

Slogan shouting and noisy scenes by opposition led the House to be adjourned twice.

The Congress and NCP legislators also staged walkout twice, saying they were unhappy over the relief measures taken by the government for farmers.

Fadnavis said since his government came to power in October 2014 in the state, an assistance worth Rs 18,000 crore worth has been provided to the farmers.

NCP MLA Jayant Patil, former finance minister, questioned the CM's claim, to which Fadnavis said, "Farmers are facing crisis because of your (Congress-NCP) action during the previous 15 years rule."



During a debate on drought crisis, Revenue and Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse said the government has decided to waive certain checks before disbursing Rs one lakh aid to kin of a farmer who commits suicide.

"Farmers whose agri pump set is non-operational during drought, will get 100 per cent bill waiver," Khadse said, as he took a jibe at the opposition for not doing so during their rule in the state.

The government has decided to give free seeds for next sowing season in drought-affected villages, Khadse said, citing adequate financial support to Maharashtra from the Centre.

On Opposition's demand for enhancing financial aid to kin



of farmers committing suicide, Khadse said, "When we were in opposition and asked for at least Rs two lakh in such cases, you asked us if we wanted to encourage farmers' suicides by raising the aid amount."



"Despite giving Rs 70,000 crore loan waiver, why didn't farmers' suicides stop. Are you going to stand guarantee that suicides will stop after a fresh loan waiver?" Khadse said.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the loan waiver announced during UPA regime had a good effect and added "Had there been no loan waiver, there would have been more suicides."



"The largest number of farmers' suicides in Maharashtra were in 2015," Chavan said, countering Khadse's claim that the highest number was during the Congress-led government.

Leader of Opposition in Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said the government should announce Rs five lakh to family of a farmer who commits suicide.

The government has announced a scheme, named after late Gopinath Munde, under which farmers killed in accidents will get Rs two lakh, Khadse said.

At a point during the debate, Housing Minister Prakash Mehta, in his enthusiasm to make a point, rushed to the Well of the House, only to be told by Fadnavais that he was no longer in the Opposition benches.
A Sino-Indian epic film featuring eminent Chinese monk Xuan Zang's 17-year journey to India to bring Buddhism to China will be released simultaneously in Chinese and Indian theatres on April 29, it was announced here today.

"Xuan Zang" tells the legendary story of the monk's arduous journey alone to India seeking Buddhist scriptures during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The endeavour was eventually turned into the classic fiction "Journey to the West".

It took about one year to complete the filming and post- production is under way, official media here quoted one of its producers as saying.

The film is set in both China and India.

Part of the film was shot in Maharashtra and Nalanda in Bihar tracing the areas traversed by the monk in the seventh century.

Famed director Wong Kar Wai is an artistic director for the film, which is directed by Huo Jianqi.

Xuan studied in India for 17 years and brought back many Buddhist sutras and translated them into Chinese.

The film was made in Chinese and will be released simultaneously in both the countries, with the Hindi dubbed version in India and has Chinese film actor Huang Xiaoming playing the lead role of the famous monk.

The agreement for the co-production was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China this year.

The other two India-China co-productions include "Kung Fu Yoga" by Hong Kong-based director Stanley Tong and comedy film "Lost in India".

They are also expected to be released this year.
A man along with four members of his family was arrested from Bhiwandi in district for allegedly trying to murder his wife for not fulfilling their dowry demand, police said today.

All the accused were arrested last night on the complaint lodged against them by Rana Parvin Sarfaraz Shaikh, said sub-inspector PB Choudhary of Bhoiwada police station.

He said the incident had occurred on Saturday night when the accused persons allegedly tried to strangulate her while her husband tried to pull out her tongue, he said.

Police have booked them under sections 307 and 498A of IPC.

They are identified as Sarfaraz Ismail Shaikh (31), Anjumara Ismail Shaikh (52), Ismail Bechu Shaikh (58), Shahnavaz Ismail Shaikh (26) and Ruksana (28), police said.

According to police, the accused were pestering Rana to bring money from her parent's house for buying a shop.
Investigators in Guinea-Bissau said today four men suspected of collaborating with an Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist who attempted to kill the president of Mauritania were in detention under heavy security.

"Four jihadists are behind bars in a high-security prison," senior police investigator Domingos Correia told AFP.

Police sources said two of the men were extradited on March 8 from neighbouring Guinea after their arrest in January, while the others were arrested in the capital, Bissau.

The Guinea-Bissau nationals are suspected of helping Cheikh Ould Saleck, a high-profile jihadist on death row in his native Mauritania, to flee across the border and hide out in Guinea after he broke out of jail.

All four have appeared before judges in Guinea-Bissau but have not been formally charged.

Ould Saleck was arrested on the outskirts of the Mauritanian capital in 2011 when the army intercepted two car bombs aimed at President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as part of an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) plot.

He escaped on New Year's Eve over the border into Senegal and on to tiny Guinea-Bissau, before ending up in Guinea.

He was also captured and is now back in Mauritania.

Guinea-Bissau has been hit by a series of coups since independence from Portugal in 1974, but has avoided the type of Islamist attacks that have hit Mali, Burkina Faso and most recently Ivory Coast in the same region.

Gunmen armed with grenades and assault rifles yesterday stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets in the Ivorian resort of Grand-Bassam, killing 18 and raising fears of a widening Islamist threat in the region.
The number of French citizens killed in a jihadist attack on the Ivorian beach resort of Grand-Bassam has risen to four, the presidency said today.

"The toll has risen because we now have four French victims," read a statement from President Francois Hollande's office after a telephone conversation with his Ivorian counterpart Alassane Ouattara.

Hollande confirmed that his foreign minister and interior minister would head to Abidjan tomorrow to show support to France's close ally.

Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said earlier that the overall death toll from the attack had climbed to 18, including three members of the special forces.

A total of 33 people were injured, 26 of whom are still in hospital.

"France will support Ivory Coast in its initiatives to fight terrorism and considers that cooperation between all the states threatened by terrorist groups, particularly in West Africa, must intensify more than ever," read the French statement.
A French prosecutor today requested an eight-year prison sentence for a Dutchman dubbed "the dentist of horror" who is accused of causing severe injuries to the mouths of dozens of patients.

Jacobus van Nierop, 51, is on trial for ripping out healthy teeth and leaving patients with injuries including broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia in the small central town of Chateau-Chinon.

In this case, "we see nothing but greed, indifference to others, even pleasure at causing pain," said prosecutor Lucile Jaillon-Bru.

She told the trial in Nevers that Van Nierop had carried out "useless and painful procedures" on about 100 patients with the aim of having them reimbursed by medical insurance schemes.

Jaillon-Bru described him as "a man who doesn't take responsiblity for anything".

Van Nierop, who called himself Mark, was hired by a head-hunter and was initially welcomed by locals into an area which was lacking in medical services.

Giving evidence in court, a neighbour recalled the arrival of a smiley, larger-than-life character, with a "big 4x4, a big dog, a big cigar".

But by 2011, the authorities were starting to question some of his accounting practices, and patients were starting to compare notes on his dentistry.

The court heard nightmarish tales, including one from Sylviane Boulesteix, 65, who saw Van Nierop in March 2012 to have braces fitted.

"He gave me seven or eight injections, and pulled out eight teeth in one go. I was gushing blood for three days," she said.

Around 120 former patients joined a victims' group set up in early 2013.

The trial has heard conflicting expert opinion about Van Nierop's psychological state.

One psychiatrist found he had "narcissistic tendencies" and was therefore incapable of making a moral judgement of his own actions.

But another found he was "perfectly aware of what he was doing".

Although he is not required to offer a plea under French law, Van Nierop has sought to deflect responsibility, saying he suffers from "psychological problems" including gender identity issues and suicidal tendencies.

Van Nierop himself said: "I was not in the right state to put myself in my patients' position."



He was arrested in June 2013, but fled France while awaiting trial. He was later tracked down to a small town in Canada, arrested and extradited first to the Netherlands and then to France.
A 60-year-old man was shot dead at his residence in southwest Delhi's Dariyapur Khurd village in a suspected fallout of a long-standing feud between two gangs in the area, police said today.

The deceased, identified as Janakraj, was the father of a gangster, Rajesh alias Mogli, who is in jail. He was shot dead last night allegedly by the members of a gang headed by one Naveen Khati, a senior police official said.

The murder is believed to be the fallout of a gangwar between Khati, who is also in jail, and Mogli's associate Ravinder alias Bholu, a proclaimed criminal wanted in Delhi and Haryana.

"We have registered a case of murder and a team has been formed to nab the culprits. Several persons have been questioned," said DCP (Southwest) RA Sanjeev.

Mogli was one of several persons arrested in January last year for the murder of four youths of southwest Delhi's Mitraon village whose charred bodies were found inside a car in Haryana.

While one of the deceased was involved in an attack on Mogli's partner Bholu soon after his release from jail, another was the brother of Khati.

Thereafter, members of Khati's gang allegedly shot dead Bholu's uncle Rohtas. Four persons were later arrested in connection with the incident.

In November last year, police arrested four shooters of the Khati gang as they were allegedly about to gun down a member of Bholu's gang who was to appear as a witness in a case against the former at Dwarka court, a senior official said.

In December, Bholu's men had allegedly led an attack on a



member of Khati's gang, who survived the incident.

Khati, who holds a diploma in electronics, was arrested in 2011 for the murder of three persons. Associates at one time, Khati and Bholu met again in Tihar jail where a fierce rivalry erupted between them accompanied by attacks on each other inside jail premises, a senior official said.

Bholu and Khati were recruits under local gangsters who were sheltered by the Anoop-Balraj gang of Dichaon Kalan village. Anoop and Balraj were siblings whose father, Surat Kane, was a land shark in south-west Delhi in early 90s.

Kane targeted one Prakash Gehlot who had hired Kishan Pehelwan as his muscleman. Pehelwan later formed a gang and became the arch rival of Anoop-Balraj.

Pehelwan later went on to become a councillor in Najafgarh area. His brother, Bharat Singh, a former MLA from Nafafgarh, was gunned down in March 2015.

The emergence of elements like Mogli, who were small-time criminals, occurred when several gangs -- including that of Khati and Bholu -- mushroomed as the Anoop-Balraj gang disintegrated after their death (Balraj in 1998 and Anoop in 2004) and started fighting among themselves, mostly for land, the senior official added.
A leading Malaysian portal that was blocked by the government after it ran reports on a scandal linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak is shutting down after eight years, it announced today.

The Malaysian Insider has been a key player in the growth of plucky online sites that have rapidly gained a following over the past decade by reporting on official malfeasance and corruption, filling a void left by pro-government traditional media.

Last month, Malaysia's government began blocking access to the site after it published a story on corruption allegations swirling around Najib.

The website's owner, The Edge Media Group, said in a statement that it had been in negotiations to sell the loss-making portal but that talks broke down in the wake of the government block.

"We believe the recent problems TMI had with (the Malaysian government) had made it more difficult for a sale to be concluded," it said, adding that it had no choice but to close the site.

The will fuel further fears for democratic space and media freedoms under Najib.

Najib, 62, has been under pressure for a year over allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from a state fund he oversees, and for his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious USD 681 million sum.

As calls for his ouster mounted, Najib has purged critics from his government and taken other steps that have stalled investigations.

Najib's government also banned publication of The Edge's print newspaper last year. A court lifted the suspension two months later.

The Malaysian Insider's blocking last month was criticised by media and rights groups, with Human Rights Watch calling it a "blatant and outrageous breach" of media freedoms and accusing Najib of "tightening the noose of censorship and control."



Political analysts say Najib has so far largely neutralised pressure to step down by using the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation's (UMNO) grip on Malaysia's police and other key institutions.

But authorities in several countries are investigating money flows related to the scandal, with Switzerland and Singapore announcing previously that they had frozen a range of bank accounts. US authorities are reported to be investigating.
Government today said that it is in the process of finalising a new national mineral exploration policy, which will seek to tap the private sector.

"The Ministry of Mines is in the process of finalising a National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP) to outline the action plan for ensuring comprehensive exploration of the country's mineral resources (non-fuel and non-coal)," Minister of State for Mines and Steel Vishnu Deo Sai said a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The policy, inter-alia, proposes participation of private entrepreneurs in mineral exploration through a transparent method, the minister said.

"After finalisation of NMEP, these blocks may be taken up for auction," he said.

Geological Survey of India has identified 108 mineral blocks for regional exploration, the minister said adding that the mineral blocks are located in 23 states, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Jharkhand.

In a separate reply the minister said auction results in respect of six non-coal mines in the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha indicate overwhelming success.

"However, in absence, of requisite number of bidders, for the blocks put on auction for the first round, the bidding process in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra could not attain finality," the minister said.
Government has issued directions to concerned agencies for the rectification of 726 black spots, which cause a high number of accidents in the country.

"The road accident black spots are identified based on the number of fatalities. 726 road accident black spots are identified on National Highways based on 2011, 2012 and 2013 fatality data," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Pon Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

Rectification of these spots is being taken up as part of highway development projects separately, he said.

"Ministry issued guidelines/instructions to all the implementing agencies on investigation and rectification of these black spots," he said.

India accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents a year in which 1.5 lakh people die and 3 lakh are crippled.

Concerned over alarmingly high number of road accidents, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had recently said the government will spend Rs 11,000 crore over 5 years to fix "black" accident spots.

He had said: "Road accidents cause an annual loss of Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore which amounts to 3 per cent of the GDP. It is saddening to see that mostly youth in the age bracket of 22-33 years lose their lives.

"To deal with such an alarming scenario, 726 black spots have been identified across the country."



In Delhi, some of the black spots - where up to 150 persons have lost lives - include Sarai Kale Khan, Kashmere Gate chowk (Morigate), Nigam Bodh Ghat, Mukundpur Chowk, Dr Bhahbha Marg crossing, Punjabi Bagh Chowk, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Mahipalpur Flyover, Shani Mandir and Shahdara Flyover.
The government today said it will auction 22 mineral blocks in April and May, including 14 iron ore blocks in Karnataka.

"During April-May 2016, the Government will be auctioning 22 blocks, which includes two blocks of limestone in Chhattisgarh, 14 blocks of iron ore in Karnataka, 6 blocks of limestone in Andhra Pradesh," Mines Ministry said in a statement.

It further said that for the second phase, during the next fiscal, 42 blocks have been identified by seven state governments for auction.

They include 6 blocks (5 limestone and 1 Gold) in Chhattisgarh; 8 blocks - 4 limestone and 4 bauxite - in Gujarat, and 15 iron ore mines in Karnataka.

In the first phase, 8 states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh have notified 43 major mineral blocks for auctions, it added.

So far, auction of two blocks of limestone in Jharkhand, two blocks of limestone and one block of gold in Chhattisgarh and one block of iron ore in Orissa has been held.

"This reflects the fact that not only the government's decision to auction the mines was correct, but also proves that the revenue received to the State governments from auction is much more than the previously received royalty on minerals," it added.
Within hours of Punjab Assembly unanimously passing a bill against the construction of SYL canal which was carry Haryana's share of Ravi Beas water, the Haryana Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution condemning the bill.

In an attempt to divest its neighbouring states from getting share from Punjab's river waters, the Punjab assembly unanimously passed a bill against the construction of contentious Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal providing transfer of proprietary rights back to the land owners free of cost.

Hours later Haryana Assembly this evening passed a "unanimous" resolution condemning the passage of the Bill by the Punjab Assembly de-notifying the land for the SYL as "unilateral, unconstitutional and denying the authority of the Supreme Court, a step only to draw political mileage."



The resolution moved by Haryana Agriculture Minister O P Dhankar requested the Union Government to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action.

Badal is scheduled to meet Punjab Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki here tomorrow to press for an early assent to the bill passed by the Punjab Assembly. Solanki is Haryana Governor, but presently holding additional charge of Punjab.

Speaking on the resolution, Chief Minister Manohar Lal urged all the political parties to unanimously pass the resolution by rising above the politics in the interest of the State.

He also condemned the "unilateral, unconstitutional," denying the authority of the Supreme Court action of Punjab which is a step only to draw political mileage and urged the Government of India to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action.

Others who also spoke on this resolution included Finance Minister Abhimanyu, INLD MLA Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, HJC MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi and Independent MLA Jai Parkash. Opposition Congress members had been suspended earlier.

The resolution said that Haryana is a water deficit State and the availability of water is 61 per cent less than the total requirement. Out of 126 blocks of the State 71 blocks are overexploited in groundwater.

The situation is so grim that in half of the State canal water can be supplied after a gap of 32 days for only 8 days, with the result that it is difficult to even fulfil the drinking water needs and ponds.

Availability of water in Yamuna has declined drastically compared to the previous years and even out of this reduced availability, Haryana has to fulfil the drinking water requirements of the national capital of Delhi, the resolution said.

(REOPENS DEL 59)



On the request of Haryana Government the matter was referred by the Government of India through the President to the Supreme Court for its opinion on controversial Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, the resolution said.

Further, in view of the seriousness of the issue this august House, unanimously passed resolutions in the years 2011 and 2014 severely condemning the "unilateral and unconstitutional" act of Punjab.

It is on account of the concerted efforts of the present Government that the Presidential Reference, pending for the last more than 11 years, has now come up for hearing before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

The resolution said that Punjab has made yet another attempt to circumvent and divert the outcome of the Presidential Reference under consideration of the Supreme Court and depriving Haryana of its legitimate share of water by passing the Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill to de-notify the land, lawfully acquired for construction of the SYL.

"This is a patently illegal act of Punjab and is in utter contempt of the Indian Constitution, federal structure of the country and the rule of law. This is a sinister move of Punjab Government having dangerous potential to undermine the unity and integrity of this country" the resolution said.

"This House unanimously passes a resolution condemning the unilateral, unconstitutional, denying the authority of the Supreme Court action of Punjab which is a step only to draw political mileage," it said.

"This House requests the Government of India to annul this illegal and unconstitutional action. Also this House requests the Government of India for pursuing the matter in the ongoing Presidential Reference to take it to just conclusion and take effective steps for early completion of SYL canal so that rights of the people of Haryana are protected," the resolution said.
The Kerala High Court today slammed the Investigating Officer concerned for not effecting the arrest of a woman MLA in Kerala in connection with a criminal case related to assault of an additional district magistrate in Idukki district while discharging his official duty.

Rejecting the police report that there was no need for arresting CPI MLA E S Bijimol as she was interrogated by police under provisions of the CrPC, Justice B Kemal Pasha in his order, pointed out that the offence alleged against the MLA was of serious nature and punishable for a period of 10 years.

The court also directed that a copy of the order be sent to the state police chief for further action in the case.

The court was considering the petition filed by Idukki ADM Moncy Alexander, seeking a directive to the Crime Branch of Kerala police to complete the probe expeditiously.

The Peermade MLA had allegedly assaulted Alexander at a private estate near Peruvanthanam last year when he reached there to implement a high court directive to restore a dismantled gate of the estate.

The anticipatory bail application filed by Bijimol is pending consideration of the high court.
The Delhi High Court today kept its order pending on a plea of Sun group head Kalanithi Maran seeking issuance of stock warrants in Spicejet to him and his Kal Airways Pvt Ltd (KAL) as per a sale purchase agreement which led to change in ownership of the budget airline.

The court, which initially proposed to pass an interim order, later kept it on hold till tomorrow after the counsel for the airline expressed certain reservations regarding it and sought time to get instructions from his client Spicejet.

Justice Manmohan Singh, in the proposed interim order, had given suggestions to resolve the share transfer dispute between Spicejet and Maran after the airline today placed before the bench the draft resolution, passed by its board for issuing the stock warrants to Maran and KAL.

During the hearing, after perusing the draft resolution, the judge had orally said he would in his order suggest the airline to pass the final resolution within three days.

Both sides would then be asked to together move the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for approving the resolution as an approval from the bourse was required to issue the stock warrants, the court said.

It also said it would ask BSE to consider the resolution in terms of an application made by Spicejet back in September 2014 when it was being managed by Maran and take a decision within a specified time limit.

The court had on March 11 asked Spicejet to pass a board resolution for issuing stock warrants to Maran and Kal Airways as per a 2015 sale purchase agreement which led to ownership of the carrier being transferred to Ajay Singh, the co-founder of Spicejet.

Under the 2015 sale purchase agreement, Maran and Kal



transferred their entire 350,428,758 equity shares (58.46 per cent stake) in the airline, to Ajay Singh.

According to the deal, they were to receive the redeemable warrants in return for around Rs 679 crore that they were to give to the airline towards operating costs and debt payment, the petition has claimed.

Maran and his airline, Kal, have alleged in their plea that despite giving around Rs 579 crore to Spicejet, the carrier failed to issue them the warrants or allot them tranche 1 and 2 of Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares and the amount was not utilised for paying statutory dues due to which they were also facing prosecution.

Spicejet, refuting these allegations, had claimed that the warrants can be issued only after approval is received from BSE.

It had also said there was no fear of transferring shares to a third party or to Maran as the shares have not yet been issued by the company.

It had further said the change of ownership was effected as a rehabilitative measure to address the liability of Rs 2,000 crore incurred by the airline while under the management of Maran.

Spicejet had also claimed that every penny has been utilised towards operations and discharge of liabilities.

In a statement, the company has said that both parties have agreed to jointly approach BSE/SEBI.

"Necessary board resolution will be passed authorising the joint representatives to represent the applications before BSE/SEBI. We would also like to clarify that Spicejet has already been pursuing this matter before the BSE/ SEBI jointly with the representative of Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways and the matter is pending consideration with SEBI.

"The issuance of warrants was to be made subject to regulatory approvals and could not be issued due to non-receipt of the same," the airline has said in its statement.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court today sought a reply from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on alleged vandalism by around 150 army personnel at Vijay Nagar Police station here last year.

A division bench of Justices P K Jaiswal and Alok Varma, based on a petition filed by social activist Pramod Kumar Dwivedi, today issued a notice to the ministry and sought its reply within six weeks.

"The court has given six weeks time to the Ministry of Defence to reply on the issue," petitioner's advocate Manish Yadav told reporters.

The petitioner had alleged that nearly 150 army personnel had created a ruckus, manhandled policemen and vandalised the police station. It was also stated that they allegedly took away a service rifle of a policeman.

Dwivedi also alleged that on September 9, 2015, army personnel had a dispute with on-duty policemen near a liquor bar during which police had allegedly beaten up some army men. Apparently, the vandalism by soldiers the next day was the fallout of that incident.

"For the last six months, no action was taken in the matter against the policemen concerned and also army men and therefore, we have filed a petition urging the court to issue directives for proper action in this connection," Yadav said.

According to him, Madhya Pradesh government has already filed its reply on the issue.
Health Ministry has banned about 344 fixed dose combination drugs, including cough syrups compositions, saying they involve "risk" to humans and safer alternatives were available.

The ban on the drugs comes into immediate effect and the ministry has come out with a gazette notification regarding the matter.

"Altogether 344 such fixed dose combinations have been banned. We have tried to bring objectivity to the issue by roping in the best of scientists to study the effects.

"Show cause notices were also issued to more than 344 companies and they were given time to make further representations after the expert committee gave their recommendations," a senior Health Ministry official said.

"Some of them did not even care to respond. Everybody was given ample opportunity. After that, the move was initiated. It was done after much examination," the official said.

According to the notification, the matter has been examined by an expert committee appointed by the Central government.

"On the basis of recommendations of the said expert committee, the Central government is satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in public interest to regulate by way of prohibition of manufacture for sale, sale and distribution for human use of the said drugs in the country," the notification said.

The 344 banned drugs include the fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate and Codeine syrup sold under the popular cough syrup brand Corex.

Following the government ban, pharmaceutical major Pfizer has discontinued manufacture and sale of Corex with immediate effect.

"This is to inform you that the Government of India vide notification...Dated March 10, 2016...Has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution of fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate + Codeine Syrup with immediate effect.

"In view of this, the company has discontinued the manufacture and sale of its drug Corex with immediate effect," Pfizer said in a BSE filing today.

Fixed dose combination drugs are combinations of two or more active drugs in a single dose form.
Seizing on the RSS's stance on entry of women in temples, Goa-based Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has said that the Sangh should seek guidance from religious leaders before deciding on the controversial issue.

"RSS has taken the decision to change the uniform of Swayamsevaks from shorts to full pants after a lot of deliberation and rounds of discussions. The saffron outfit, which took such a long time to decide on the uniform should not take a decision to change the religious practices and traditions in such a haste," HJS spokesman Ramesh Shinde said in a statement issued here.

"The RSS should seek guidance from 'Dharmacharya' or 'Shankaracharya' before taking any stand on equality of men and women in the field of religion and spirituality," Shinde said.

HJS' statement comes in the backdrop of the RSS backing women's entry in temples, stating restriction on entry of women in places of worship was "unfair" and managements in such places should change their mentality.

"In case any dispute was to arise as the time passes, Adya Shankaracharya has given authority to Acharya-Pitha, established by him to take appropriate decision. Just as political decisions are taken in the Parliament by the elected representatives of the people, similar decisions regarding Dharma should be taken in the Parliament of Dharma (Dharma-Sansad)," the statement said.

"If such decisions were taken on the platform of organisations instead of Dharma-Sansad, it would create a lot of confusion in the future. Therefore, RSS's stand over the issue may project that the science of Dharma is false, which in turn may provide strength to anti-dharma progressive elements effortlessly," Shinde stated.

The issue came into the fore after protesters led by activist Trupti Desai had recently demanded entry for women in temples at Shani Shingnapur and Tryambakeshwar.
Delhi Police has sent notice to hostel wardens of JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both facing sedition charge, asking them to hand over the duo's laptops to the investigators at the earliest.

"The notice was sent to the wardens through an official channel yesterday and we have asked for the laptops of Umar and Anirban, which can provide vital leads in the investigation," a senior official said.

The case was transferred to Delhi Police's Special Cell a few days before B S Bassi retired as the force's chief.

On February 12, Delhi Police had arrested JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over an event in which anti-national slogans were raised.

The police then started conducting search operation for Khalid and Bhattacharya, who could not be spotted in the campus after an FIR was registered and re-surfaced there around 10 days later.

They later surrendered and were questioned by the police for days before a court sent them to judicial custody. The police identified them as the main organisers of the February 9 event, which was held to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Meanwhile, Kanhaiya was released from jail on a conditional bail.

"By investigation so far, it has emerged that Umar and Anirban were involved in getting the posters of the event printed and circulating them. The laptops can provide evidence with regard to that," the senior official added.

While Khalid, pursuing his PhD, is accommodated at Tapti Hostel in JNU campus, Bhattacharya has his room in Brahmaputra Hostel.
Up to 1 million Moroccans marched through their capital to protest the UN secretary-general's remarks about the contested Western Sahara territory.

It was an unusually massive show of public anger for Morocco yesterday, and was encouraged by leading political parties.

Morocco considers the vast mineral-rich Western Sahara as its "southern provinces" and took offense when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the word "occupation" after a visit this month to refugee camps for the region's native Sahrawis in southern Algeria.

Protesters yesterday packed the streets of Rabat after political parties, unions and non-governmental groups called for a national demonstration. Authorities claimed there were up to 3 million people taking part.

"The Sahara is ours," some chanted. Marchers waved Moroccan flags and a banner showing King Mohammed VI.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN was aware of the protests taking place in Morocco.

"While the Secretary-General acknowledges that there are differences of opinion on the Western Sahara issue, he continues to believe that, 40 years after, it is important to resolve this long-standing dispute and open the way to the return of the Sahrawi refugees to their homes."



He said the secretary-general again called for "genuine negotiations in good faith and without preconditions at each stop on his recent trip."



The UN has been trying for years to hold a referendum on independence for the territory, which was annexed by Morocco when Spain withdrew in 1975. Morocco proposes increased autonomy instead.

Ban also called for renewed peace efforts during his trip, and plans a donors' conference in the coming months.

The United Nations issued a response late Wednesday, saying Ban referred to the "occupation" of the territory because of "the inability of Sahrawi refugees to return home under conditions that include satisfactory governance arrangements under which all Sahrawis can freely express their desires."



Lahcen Daoudi, minister of higher education, appeared on state media imploring Ban "to come and see the reactions of Moroccans on the streets.
Separatist Hurriyat Conference today hit back at National Conference leader Omar Abdullah's criticism over its "silence" on the presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), terming his remarks as "half truths" and "meaningless."



Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said in a statement that China "is a strong supporter" of Kashmiris' right of "self-determination" and "as such comparing the presence of its troops with the Indian occupational forces is not justified".

Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, had attacked the separatist groups for maintaining "silence" over the presence of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Ivory Coast authorities ordered three days of mourning and tightened security at public places and at its borders today as the death toll from the first jihadist attack on its soil climbed to 18.

"Their aim was to frighten us, we will not let ourselves be scared," said Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko after emergency government talks.

Armed with grenades and assault rifles, gunmen Sunday stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets in the resort of Grand-Bassam, a sleepy town popular with expats just a short 40-kilometre drive from the commercial capital Abidjan.

The attack claimed by Al-Qaeda left 15 people dead, including foreigners, along with three special forces troops. A total of 33 people were injured, 26 of whom are still in hospital.

"Three terrorists were killed," Bakayoko added.

Asked whether more gunmen were involved - some witnesses had reported six attackers - the minister said "we're still looking. We don't suspect more but we're making sure we carry out the widest possible sweep."



Along with a three-day national mourning starting today, he said the West African nation would boost security at "strategic sites and in public places... (such as) schools, embassies, international institutions... And the borders."



In the latest such jihadist assault in West Africa, witnesses described the panic as gunfire rang out across the sand and an assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" - Arabic for "God is greatest".

Condemnation came from around the world with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledging to help government "efforts to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice."



Former colonial power France blasted "the cowardly attack" while the United States vowed to fight "terrorists who seek to undermine efforts by West African governments."



It was the third such attack in four months in West Africa and a blow to a nation working to lure back foreign tourists to its palm-fringed beaches and rainforests as it recovers from a brutal civil war.

Among the dead were a French and a German citizen as well as two other foreigners. A Ukrainian soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast was also hurt.

The German victim was named as 51-year-old Henrike Grohs, who headed Abidjan's Goethe Institute, the German language centre's secretary-general said.
India's with China increased to $51.86 billion with a bilateral trade of $71.22 billionin 2015, Parliament was informed Monday. During this period, India's exports to China came in at $9.68 billion while imports were $61.54 billion



"Increasing with China can primarily be attributed to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items meeting the demand of fast-expanding sectors like telecom and power while India's exports to China are characterised by primary products, raw material and intermediate products," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Read more from our special coverage on "TRADE DEFICIT" US trade deficit widens as exports hit 5-1/2-year low

In a separate reply, she said Indian Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are facing significant competition from Chinese imports.

"In respect of 12 major product groups largely manufactured by MSMEs, imports from China grew at a higher rate than respective imports from all other countries combined during 2011-2 to 2014-15," she said.

So far, there have been 322 anti-dumping cases, of which 177 cases involve China.

"In order to boost exports and maintain balance of trade with China, India has impressed upon China to recognise the need for reduction in trade imbalance for a long term, sustainable and harmonious development of economic cooperation between the two countries," Sitharaman added.
Noted Indian scholar and plant physiologist H Deep Saini has been appointed the next Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Canberra.

Saini, 60, currently the Vice-President of the University of Toronto and Principal of the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in Canada, will succeed Vice Chancellor Stephen Parker in September who steps down from the post in July after over nine years in the service.

Chancellor and Chair of University Council Tom Calma AO said the University's governing body was delighted that the internationally experienced university leader and academic has agreed to become the University of Canberra's fifth Vice- Chancellor, the university said in a statement.

"Saini's outstanding academic pedigree and vast international experience will be key to delivering on our vision to be recognised as one of Australia's most innovative tertiary institutions; world-ranked, with regional, national and international reach," Calma said.

"Saini comes from a very senior position in a truly world- leading university and will be great for the University of Canberra," Parker said.

Saini, a notable plant physiologist, said he was thrilled to be appointed the University's Vice-Chancellor at such a fantastic time for the institution.

"I am both humbled and honoured to have the opportunity to lead an institution with so much grit and promise at such a critical juncture in its evolution.

"I look forward to the next phase of the University of Canberra's transformation as a global leader in mission- oriented education and problem-solving research with a solid intellectual core," Saini said.

"Much of what I am today was shaped during my doctoral studies in Australia. My wife and I started our shared journey here. It is a privilege to now return to serve the country where it all began and to which I owe the crucial formative steps of an exceptionally rewarding career," Saini said.

Saini completed his undergraduate and master's degrees at the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, and doctorate in plant physiology from the University of Adelaide.

Saini has received a number of honours including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Over 1,000 students from various countries, including India, will participate in a three-day robot building competition in Australia this week.

Students from around the world includingthe US, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Indiaand Australia will participate in RegionalFirst Robotics competition to be held in Sydney Olympic Park.

The event has been organised with collaboration of Macquarie University, Google, Ford, AndyMark, SalesForce, Autodesk, Rockwell Automation, BAE Systems and Boeing.

The robot building contest has been organised to celebrate and inspire love of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in children, Macquarie University said in a statement.

This year's FirstRobotics Competition (FRC) will be held on March 17and is said to be the biggest contest with nearly 50 teams competing to see which robots can catapult boulders and scale obstacles to 'conquer' an opponent's tower, it said.

The competition is a culmination of six weeks of teamwork that includedesigning, building and programming robots to enter the event.

In order to stimulate creative thinking and design, all teams worked with the same construction materials and control system components to build their robot, according to the statement.

"It's one thing to know how to build a robot that can complete a set of criteria in a game, but we also want to equip these kids to have the skills to lead a team, and to collaborate with their growing network of peers to tackle bigger, real-world issues with the skills they've picked up along the way," said Australia Regional Director Luan Heimlich.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) would add USD 57.4 billion to the Australia's GDP over the next 20 years.

Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor SBruce Dowton said: "Almost half of all employers expect requirements for STEM-qualified employees to increase in the next five years alone."



Continued education in this space is vitally important to ensure Australia's workforce will have the ability to support future industries, Dowton said.
Lauding the NDA government for the Namami Gange programme, a France-based NGO today said India will be successful in cleaning up the river given that its highest political authority is committed to that goal.

"India will be successful in this clean up because the highest political authority of the country has made a commitment that this is going to be done. Political will is fundamental for things to happen.

"This is the reason why we think this Ganga clean up will happen," World Water Council president Benedito Braga told reporters here.

Referring to river cleaning programmes, including that for the Seine, Thames and Rhine, Braga said all the initiatives were completed over a period of time.

"So, it's not like this (Ganga clean up) will happen in two years. It takes a long time until start things start to operate properly," he said.

India will have to augment its infrastructure as it needs intra-basin transfers and storage facilities, he said while pointing to the theory that droughts will tend to be longer and flooding more intense under the impact of climate change.

"In such a situation, it is more important that you have the resilience through these buffers (infrastructure) that will allow you more operational flexibility," he said.

Braga also stressed on the use of technology for "minimising" the impact on environment of infrastructure creation.

Accompanied by his organisation's vice president, Dogan Altinbilek, during the briefing, Braga noted that the groundwater table was dipping the world over, calling for "efficient use" of water.

Altinbilek said the Council, an umbrella body of institutions working on water issues, aims to increase its membership base in India.

During their current visit, the Council will hold discussions with the PMO, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and parliamentarians and other stakeholders, Braga said.
Iran today rejected as "ridiculous" a US court ruling that the Islamic republic pay more than USD 10 billion in compensation over the Al-Qaeda-claimed 9/11 attacks.

A New York court last week ordered Tehran to pay USD 7.5 billion to victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- and USD 3 billion to insurers over related claims -- after ruling that Iran had failed to prove that it did not help the bombers.

"This judgement is so ridiculous... More than ever before, it damages the credibility of the US judicial system," state television quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

"Such judgements also send a very dangerous message to terrorists and to their supporters: Kill people... Not only will we not prosecute, but we will even target your greatest enemies instead," Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

"We also see the US administration as a partner in such verdicts," Ansari said.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, also criticised the ruling.

"If they (the United States) want to prosecute anyone over the September 11 incident, it should be their allies in the region who created Al-Qaeda and funded it," he said.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The group's leader at the time of the attacks, Osama Bin Laden, was born in Saudi Arabia but was stripped of his citizenship in 1994.

He was killed on May 2, 2011 by US special forces in his residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Relations have been tense between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, who back opposing sides in the Syria and Yemen conflicts.

The Shiite republic and Sunni kingdom severed diplomatic ties in January after Riyadh executed a Saudi Shiite cleric and protesters ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

The only Al-Qaeda plotter convicted over the 9/11 attacks told American lawyers that members of the Saudi royal family donated millions of dollars to the group in the 1990s.

The Saudi embassy denied the allegations, branding French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui "a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent".

In July last year, world powers including the US signed a landmark deal with Iran to lift crippling economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.
Health authorities in Iraq's Kirkuk region have screened a total of 800 people since a chemical attack carried out by the Islamic State group last week, officials said today.

"The number of people who have sought treatment and been checked by the hospitals in Daquq and Kirkuk has topped 800," said Hussein Adil Abbas, the mayor of Taza.

IS last week fired a salvo of rockets armed with suspected chemical agents on the town of Taza, around 220 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The attack originated from the nearby village of Bashir, which is still controlled by the jihadists.

"Among the people who have been checked, 61 are receiving treatment and undergoing further testing. Seven of them have been transferred to Baghdad," Abbas told AFP.

Kirkuk health officials speaking on condition of anonymity have confirmed the figures.

A three-year-old girl has died as a result of injuries caused by the attack.

Her funeral was attended by hundreds, some of them carrying placards to demand more protection from the government.

Local officials have said that IS used mustard agent in the attack but the samples are still being analysed and definitive results from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague sometimes take months.

Civil defence teams have since yesterday been spraying and cleaning areas that might have been contaminated in last week's attack, the mayor said.

Several Taza families have left their town, fearing a fresh attack.

While the chemical agents used by IS so far have been among their least effective weapons, the psychological impact on civilians is considerable.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed the attack would not go unpunished and several air raids have already been carried out on Bashir over the past three days.

Tension between the Kurdish peshmerga who control Kirkuk and the Shiite militia groups also present in the area has delayed a coordinated military operation to oust IS from Bashir.
A Palestinian-American member of the Islamic State group today gave himself up to an Iraqi Kurdish military unit in the country's north, an Iraqi Kurdish general said.

The circumstances of the surrender were not fully disclosed but it marked a rare instance in which an IS fighter voluntarily gave himself up to Iraqi or Kurdish forces in Iraq.

In neighboring Syria, meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State, have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Maj Gen Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are playing a key role along with the Iraqi military in battling the extremist IS group, identified the individual who surrendered as Mohammed Jamal Amin.

Helkani said the man is a Palestinian-American who has been fighting with IS in Iraq and who surrendered today morning near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.

According to Helkani, Amin was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cell phones and three forms of identification, including a US driving license. The IS fighter is currently being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation, Helkani added.

The Iraqi Kurdish general did not provide further details or a hometown or state for the Palestinian-American.

Last week, Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's envoy to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, announced that IS had lost more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of territory in Syria and more than 600 fighters over the past month.

In Iraq, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the past few weeks. Iraqi officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraq's north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully "liberated" by Iraqi and US-led coalition officials last month.

IS still controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" on the territory it holds. The extremist group also controls Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.
The 2016 Irom Sharmila Scholarship was jointly awarded to Rohit Vemula (posthumously) of the Ambedkar Studies Association, Hyderabad Central University and Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union today.

The cheques for scholarship was received by the Joint Action Committee on behalf of Vemula and JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on behalf of the students' body.

According to Ajay Patnaik, JNUTA president, who handed over the scholarships, "the award goes to them as student representatives/ bodies seeking to strengthen India's constitutional democracy by upholding the constitutional ideals of fraternity, equality and right to life, and inspiring many others across the country."



The Irom Sharmila Scholarship was instituted by a faculty from Delhi University in 2012. Professor Nandini Sundar, Faculty of Social Science, DU has set up the scholarship. It is open to any post graduate student (MA-Phd) enrolled in any educational institution in Delhi in any subject who comes from an area with internal armed conflict, including Northeast, Kashmir and Central India.

The award is based on a combination of financial need, academic merit, contribution to society and suffering as a result of armed conflict. The scholarship is a lump sum of Rs. 50,000 (Rs 60,000 if shared).

Sharmila also extended her solidarity via a video message that was played on the occasion where she said, "I think building a university is just like a temple for young minds. So why should government or concerned authority restrict their thoughts and debates? I extend my solidarity to students' democratic, progressive movements and voice of dissent in university campuses to justice for Rohith Vemula and other student."



A 22-year-old Kashmiri student became the first person to receive the scholarship in 2013. Iymon Majeed, a student of MA political science from Jamia Millia Islamia has been writing about experience of Kashmir with Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 and militarism for various publications.
Some 700 Indian Jews will be able to immigrate to Israel this year, a three-fold increase over last year, after the Israeli government decided to double the budget marked for their immigration to the Jewish-state.

India's Bnei Menashe community in the north-eastern states of Manipur and Mizoram, believed to be descendants of one of the 10 lost tribes of Jews, were allowed aliyah (immigration of Jews to Israel) in 2005 after Chief Sephardi Rabbi had accepted them as descendants of Jews.

Speaking in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin told the Immigration and Absorption Committee that the number of Jews coming from the Bnei Menashe community will be almost tripled this year.

Some 700 Bnei Menashe immigrants will be brought during this year, compared to 260 last year, and the budget earmarked for their absorption will be doubled to 2.2 million shekels (about USD 550,000), Elkin told the committee last week.

There are about 3000 members of the community currently living in Israel, about 600 of whom were born here.

Close to 7,000 in Manipur and Mizoram are said to be waiting to immigrate to the Jewish state.

The community is considered to be one of the 10 lost tribes of Jews with claims of being descendants of the ancient Israelite tribe of Menashe.

However, members of the group have faced major hardships in adjusting to life in Israel.

In a recent report published in the daily Haaretz, it was reported that the social affairs bureau of the Kiryat Arba area, the Israeli settlement adjacent to Hebron in the West Bank, which is home to some 700 people of the community, said that the number of needy community members has risen by about 14 per cent from 2014 to 2015.

Some 73 per cent of the community's teenagers are classified as being at risk, the report said.

"Their employment rate is also low due to their difficulty in speaking Hebrew and only 42 per cent of the community's children go to school," Malachi Levinger, head of the Kiryat Arba local council, was quoted as having said at the Knesset.

(Reopens FGN 13)



Levinger said the state must allocate funds for assistance to these children in the schools and to prepare them for military service and the workplace.

Elkin said that his ministry will help the new immigrants by adopting measures like recognising the Bnei Menashe as immigrants for 15 years, five years more than other immigrants.

"They need prolonged treatment because they come from another background with hardships," Elkin said, adding that he was advancing a cabinet decision to grant the second generation of Bnei Menashe immigrants assistance as well.

The Bnei Menashe are not the first community to make claims of ancient Jewish ancestry. The Falash Mura, Ethiopians who claimed to be descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity more than a century ago, were also brought to Israel starting in the early 2000's.
Israeli minister Zeev Elkin today slammed a reported offer to reduce Israeli military operations in cities of the occupied West Bank and restore Palestinian security responsibility.

Elkin, the country's immigration minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, said ministers were not notified of such an initiative.

The Haaretz daily said that according to "senior Israeli officials familiar with the contacts", Israel and the Palestinian Authority have being holding secret negotiations over the past month for a gradual restoration of Palestinian security control over West Bank cities.

"During the talks, Israel proposed that Ramallah and Jericho be the first cities the (Israeli military) would withdraw from; if the measure succeeded, it would be expanded to other West Bank cities," it reported tonight.

"Senior Israeli officials told Haaretz the talks were currently stuck but not dead and could resume," it said on its website.

Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

"We members of the security cabinet didn't know about this and I personally oppose this idea totally," Elkin, of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Israeli public radio.

Under peace agreements Israel handed control of main West Bank cities to the Palestinians in 1996, but in 2002's "Operation Defensive Shield" it retook them following a deadly suicide bombing in the Israeli coastal resort of Netanya.

Since then Israel forces regularly enter at will.

On Friday, they raided the offices of a Palestinian television station in the heart of Ramallah, the West Bank political capital and seat of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Ramallah and the main Palestinian cities are in the zone, known as "Area A', designated under the Oslo peace accords as under full Palestinian rule.

Some 60 per cent of the West Bank is under full Israeli control.

Haaretz said that under Israel's proposal its forces would reserve the right to enter Area A to counter imminent threats of militant attack, known in security circles as "ticking bomb" scenarios.

It said the Palestinians rejected the demand as contrary to the Oslo treaties.

Elkin said restoring even partial Palestinian security control would invite a surge in attacks on Israelis.

"In Area A about 80 per cent of the work which ensures the security of the state of Israel is done by the (Israeli) army and security forces," he said.

"In the midst of the terror wave enveloping us, to pass responsibility to the Palestinians seems to me a very, very problematic idea."



Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 193 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.
The India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) is planning to transform Pragati Maidan into a world-class convention centre, Parliament was informed today.

"The proposal entails a total development of 3,26,065 sq metres of built-up area, including 1,19,445 sq metres of exhibition space, a convention centre with seating capacity of 7,000 persons with a number of different-sized meeting rooms, space for public circulation... In phase-I," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

It would also have support facilities and parking space for some 4,800 passenger cases in phase-I of the development plan.

In phase-II, development of 86,225 sq metres of exhibition space has been proposed.

The redevelopment of the Pragati Maidan complex, she said, entails a comprehensive and integrated approach to set up the much-needed world-class state-of-the-art and iconic integrated exhibition-cum-convention centre.

"This is proposed to be developed in two phases by dismantling 23 state pavilions and five central ministry pavilions," the minister said.

Hall 1 to 6, 14 to 20 and other structures would also be redeveloped in phase-I, along with Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion, she said.

She replied yes when asked if ITPO has decided to demolish the two iconic structures of the Hall of Nations, India's first pillarless building, and the Nehru Pavilion.

On the question whether requests/representations have been received by the government from architects to stop demolition of these structures, the minister said representations have been received from Raj Rewal Associates and Uddesh Kohli, Chairman, Engineering Council of India.

All these representations have been discussed at the meeting of the ITPO and it was noted that the structures have "not" been declared as heritage buildings by Delhi Urban Art Commission, he said.

"It has been decided that all measures would be taken to duly preserve the artefact kept in the Nehru Pavilion while executing the re-development project," the minister added.

The Delhi High Court, she said, has also dismissed the public interest litigation filed by the Indian Institute of Architects and others.
The Japanese government will team up with experts in the United States and France to develop brand new technologies to collect melted fuel from crippled reactors at Fukushima, an official said today.

Removal of the melted rods at the nuclear plant, which was wrecked by a tsunami five years ago, is one of the biggest challenges of the mammoth cleanup, a huge project expected to take up to four decades.

Scientists have long warned the technology required for the complex -- and potentially dangerous -- task does not yet exist, and would have to be invented.

Entombing the uranium rods in concrete and effectively abandoning the site -- as was done after the meltdown at Chernobyl in 1986 -- has been ruled out by the Japanese government as politically unacceptable, leaving innovation as the only possible solution.

Japan's science and technology ministry said it would work with the US Energy Department and the French National Research Agency on the project -- a key step towards eventual decommissioning, which is expected to begin in 2021.

"This is the first basic research led by the government designed to help decommission Fukushima Daiichi after TEPCO worked together with its partners overseas at the private level," a ministry official said, referring to the operator of the plant.

Under the plan, the US side will help Japan develop equipment and technology to manage and dispose of highly-radioactive waste produced from the decommissioning work, the official said.

France will cooperate with Japan in developing remote-control technology, including robotic and image processing expertise that can withstand high-radiation environments, he said.

The Japanese government plans to finance the projects by spending part of its "Fukushima technology development budget" worth 3.0 billion yen (USD 26.4 million).

Japan last week marked five years since an offshore earthquake sent a huge tsunami crashing into its northeast coastline.

The waves killed 18,500 people as they flattened cities and destroyed farmland.

They also knocked out cooling systems at Fukushima, sending reactors into meltdown and spreading radiation over a wide area.

Although no one is recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear accident, tens of thousands of people were uprooted, with many still unable to return home because of persistent contamination.

Cleaning up Fukushima and making the area habitable again is a crucial plank of government policy, with Tokyo keen to prove nuclear power is a viable form of energy production for resource-poor Japan.
CPI-M leader and former MLAP Jayarajan, an accused in the murder of an RSS activist in 2014, today moved the local court for bail.

The bail application of Jayarajan, Kannur District Secretary of CPI-M, would be considered by the District Sessions Court tomorrow.

He was in remand till April 8 after his bail was rejected by the Kerala High Court on February 12 following his surrender in the District Session court here.

Jayarajan contended that he was named as an accused without any evidence and the case was politically motivated.

As CBI has completed his questioning, Jayaran was eligible for normal bail, it was pointed out.

Jayarajan is the 25th accused in the case and was charged under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The lower court had earlier rejected his bail plea.

CBI had in January listed Jayarajan as an accused and framed charges against him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the case.

Manoj (42), an RSS district functionary, was hacked to death in politically-volatile Kathiroor in Kannur district on September 1, 2014, allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers.
The relocation of Jet Airways European gateway to the Dutch capital Amsterdam from Brussels will enhance and strengthen the connection between India and the Netherlands, airline chairman Naresh Goyal said today.

"Delighted to enhance & strengthen the connect between India & the Netherlands," Goyal said at a press conference at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, which was later tweeted by the airline.

The Mumbai-headquartered airline is all set to commence its daily non-stop services between India and Amsterdam from March 27.

"On March 27, we'll finally say, Welkom aan boord to our guests from Amsterdam," Goyal said.

Jet Airways had started the Brussels hub in 2007 and operating multiple flights to the Belgian city from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru at some point.

"Our daily non-stop flights to usher a stronger, more prosperous shared future between India & the Netherlands," the airline said in another tweet adding that it was look forward to welcome the flyers to and from Amsterdam onboard its flights.

The airline has already announced commencement of two daily non-stop flights, one each from its domestic hubs -- Mumbai and New Delhi -- to the Dutch capital from March 27.

Besides, Jet Airways has also entered into a codeshare pact with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Airlines for providing seamless air connectivity to its passengers flying to key destinations across Europe and North America over Amsterdam.

Code-sharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to multiple destinations where it has no presence.

Besides, it will also operate a daily flight from Toronto in Canada to Amsterdam.

"With our partners @KLM & @Delta, connecting India to 30 destinations across Europe & 11 destinations in North America.. Fly from 50+ cities in Europe to our wide network in India and beyond to Asian destinations, " Jet Airways said.
The protest by gold and jewellery traders entered the 13th day today to protest the proposed excise duty on non-silver jewellery items.

Stepping up the pressure, striking associations in different parts of the country have collectively decided to hold a protest rally at Ramlila Maidan on March 17 against the Budget proposal to levy 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, All India Sarafa Association Vice-President, Surinder Kumar Jain told PTI.

Jewellers have been on a strike since March 2 protesting against the proposed excise duty imposition on non-silver jewellery items.

Jewellers are also opposed to mandatory quoting of PAN by customers for transactions of Rs 2 lakh and above.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget for 2016-17 had proposed 1 per cent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 per cent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has clarified that only jewellers with turnover of more than Rs 12 crore will be liable to pay 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery items.

Traders in several parts of the country, including the metros, kept their shops closed for the 13th day, Jain added.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister, the association has urged to withdraw the proposal to 'save the trade', Jain said.

With traders' associations organising dharnas in various parts, the strike is now spreading to small towns as well, he said.
JNU has asked Professor Amita Singh who heads the varsity's Centre of Law and Governance to clarify her alleged remarks calling Dalits and Muslim teachers "anti-national" after the National Commission for Scheduled Caste sent a show-cause notice to the university.

Singh had made the alleged comments in an interview to a web portal.

"I have been asked by the university to send my clarification till tomorrow," Singh said during a press conference.

Maintaining that she has been quoted out of context in the interview, Singh came down heavily on a section of teachers alleging that they have been supporting the "anti-national" activities on campus.

The NCSC had on March 8 sent a letter sent to JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar asking him to respond with action taken against the said professor. A communication was also sent to Delhi Police Commissioner urging him to register a criminal complaint.

On being asked "how many teachers and students in JNU are anti-national" in her interview to the website, the professor had said, "Teachers are hardly 10 but they portray as if everybody is with them. You think a teacher in an institution like JNU would be so stupid as to back anti-national slogans? These are just five or six persons and they are Dalits and Muslims. They have their grudges."



The faculty member talks about "anti-national" activities in JNU, the family background of students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar and another student Umar Khalid.

The teacher had also alleged about foreign funding to anti-nationals while claiming that Bijnore, from where one of the arrested JNU student hails, is a "den of terrorism and Islamic State." According to the professor, one student still in judicial custody believes in "strong Kashmiriyat".

Asked whether she stands by her comments in the interview, the professor said, "I mean it when I said those who are from Bijnore are like Umar Khalid".

"I have called 8-10 teachers of the university as anti-nationals...There is an year-old 400 pages report compiled by university teachers, which also has pictures of some professors with Hafiz Sayeed.

"Our job as teachers is to guide the students when they are on wrong track, here few teachers mislead them for their own political gains," she said at the press conference.
Amid a raging row at JNU, a section of the varsity's teachers want that a commission for nationalism should be established on the lines of commissions like national commission for women to find out what is nationalistic and what is not.

"We suggest that a new Commission should be constituted to check anti-national activities of politically motivated people on the lines of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Minorities," teachers, who are members of JNU teachers' association (JNUTA) said in a joint statement.

Explaining about their view on the formation of the commission Mondira Dutta, who teaches at School of International Studies, said at a press conference, "there should be a commission for nationalism. Such a commission can work to find out what is nationalistic and what's not. We need a commission like that."



The teachers are divided over the current row at university against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

A section of teachers who have been protesting against JNUTA's support to students booked in a sedition case over the event said, they have lost faith in current JNUTA leadership and are tired of its "disproportionate" protest to "malign" the whole university and its public image.

"We derecognize the elected body for their repeated failings to take up teacher related causes," said Hari Ram Mishra, who teaches at Special Center for Sanskrit Studies.

They also said that JNUTA should not act as an extended arm of JNU students' union (JNUSU) as the JNUTA Constitution does not support such disproportionate bent of activity on anything other than teachers' issues.

"In the last JNUTA meeting they even wanted to raise money for legal defence of students as well as to file criminal cases against Arnab Goswami and other members of the media," teachers said in a statement.

The teachers also said that they condemn the anti-national sloganeering on the campus and demanded that the administration building should be banned for use by demonstrating students and teachers.

"All political demonstration and public drama should be shifted to an alternate space," they said.
A Supreme Court judge today recused himself from hearing a plea seeking stay of anticipatory bail granted to secretary of Calcutta High Court Bar Association in an alleged rape case filed by an advocate.

"Being on the administrative side in the high court, I had received some complaints regarding the case. When a judge is in knowhow of something, it is not appropriate for him to hear the matter. List the matter before some other bench," Justice Arun Kumar Mishra said.

The bench also comprising Justice V Gopala Gowda, was hearing a plea filed by the advocate challenging the Calcutta High Court order of granting anticipatory bail to the secretary of Bar Association there in the rape case.

The woman lawyer in her plea filed through advocate Arup Banerjee had said she enrolled as an advocate in 2011 and later came into acquaintance with the secretary of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association.

She alleged the accused took her on legal trips to different towns and raped her over the period of time on the promise of marriage.

"The said division bench knowing fully well that the accused person is the secretary, Bar Association Calcutta High Court, an influential person, did not go into the merit of the case, instead, the whole impugned order dated December 18, 2015, reflects that accused is a practicing advocate and for that his custodial interrogation is not necessary," the plea said.

It further said that "The said division bench did not touch the point of 376 (rape) of IPC with its merit and left it by making observation that it is a debatable one whereas the said bench did not clarify the nature of debate in the impugned order..."



The plea also said that the high court had not looked into the evidences like CD which makes out the offence under section 376 of IPC against the accused.

The lawyer sought grant of ex-parte, ad-interim stay of operation of the order of anticipatory bail as it will cause irreparable loss and prejudice to her.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit the native village of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in Punjab on his birth anniversary tomorrow.

This will be the AAP chief's second visit to the assembly poll-bound state, which has a sizable Dalit population, in a fortnight.

Party sources said Ram's family invited the AAP chief to their village. The BSP founder was born in Pirthipur Bunga village of Punjab.

"He has been invited by the family of Kanshi Ram and villagers of Bunga. So, he will be visiting them on March 15, Ram's birth anniversary," said an AAP leader.

Assembly poll in Punjab is slated for early next year.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today objected to mentioning of names of persons killed in the Jat quota agitation when the House was offering condolences on the first day of the Budget session.

The House paid condolences to those "innocent persons" who lost their lives in Jat stir.

However, Khattar objected to the names of some persons, who died during the stir, being read out by INLD member Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and other opposition members, saying an "inquiry was still on" and just mentioning "innocent persons" should suffice for the moment without taking any names.

The obituary references were passed after Chief Minister Khattar and Speaker Kanwar Pal paid tributes to leaders who died during the inter-session period.

The members of the House also observed a two-minute silence to pay homage to the departed souls.

Kuldeep Bishnoi of HJC and independent MLA Jai Parkash also made obituary references to Former speakers of Lok Sabha Balram Jakhar and P A Sangma, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi and former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Roshan Lal Tiwari.

The House also paid homage to 12 martyrs of Haryana who laid down their lives while safeguarding and protecting the unity and integrity of the country including Capt Pawan Kumar of Jind district.

The House also paid tributes to the security personnel, who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on Pathankot Air Force Station in the January this year and at Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir last month.
KKR Mauritius Cement Investments Ltd has acquired 8.5 per cent stake in Dalmia Bharat Ltd.

The development soon follows Dalmia Bharat getting fair trade regulator CCI's approval to acquire 15 per cent stake in its subsidiary Dalmia Cement Bharat from private equity giant KKR for over Rs 1,218 crore in a cash and stock deal.

In a filing to the BSE, Dalmia Bharat said KKR Mauritius Cements Investments acquired 8.4503 per cent stake, or 75,00,000 shares of Dalmia Bharat through preferential allotment on March 9.

Dalmia Bharat, in January, had announced signing of a pact with KKR to acquire the global private equity giant's 15 per cent stake in its subsidiary Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd for over Rs 1,218 crore in a cash and stock deal.

The deal earned the private equity player a return of 2.4 times on its investment of Rs 500 crore that it made in September 2010.

"Dalmia Bharat Ltd (DBL) signed a definitive agreement with KKR, under which it will acquire KKR's 15 per cent stake in DCBL in return of KKR getting 8.5 per cent stake in DBL as well as Rs 600 crore in cash," Dalmia Bharat Group Managing Director Punit Dalmia had earlier told PTI.

This will not only simplify DCBL's shareholding structure, but will also make the cement maker a wholly-owned subsidiary of DBL, he had added.

Dalmia Bharat had earlier informed the bourses that it would make a preferential issue of 7.5 million shares to KKR at Rs 825 a share and pay KKR Rs 600 crore (USD 89 million) in cash for its around 15 per cent stake (about 3.79 crore shares) in DCBL. The DBL board also approved the deal.
The Law Ministry has cautioned the government that certain clauses in the draft inter- governmental agreement, including the one on material breach, signed for the purchase of 36 French Rafale fighter aircraft are not in India's interest.

It has advised the Defence Ministry to reconsider certain clauses while finalising the deal.

Sources said one of the issues flagged by the Department of Legal Affairs is that in case of material breach by French companies of their obligations under the supply protocol, the Indian side would first have to take legal recourse against them but cannot involve the French government.

It also suggested that the liability clause should be more stringent and include the French government. The clause would come into force in case of any deficiency in completion of the deal by the companies.

In case of a commercial dispute, the arbitration proceedings should take place in India and not Switzerland as suggested in the draft, the Law Ministry has opined.

India and France had on January 25 inked the inter- governmental agreement on the sale of 36 French Rafale fighter jets but were unable to sign the final deal due to "financial" issues.

This agreement was among the 14 pacts signed between the two countries after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Francois Hollande.

"Leaving out financial aspect, India and France have signed inter-governmental agreement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. We expect that even the financial aspects pertaining to purchase of Rafale jets will be resolved as soon as possible," Modi had said at a joint press event with Hollande.

The two countries are negotiating a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition since the announcement for the same was made by Modi in April last year during his visit to France.

However, the final deal is yet to be sealed as the two sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.
As the political deadlock in Jammu and Kashmir continued over government formation, the legal fraternity here was divided today as to whether the state assembly has to be dissolved by the Governor before April nine when the six-month period since its last sitting lapses.

Former Advocate General Altaf Naik said as per the state Constitution, the Governor will have to dissolve the assembly if no elected government is put in place by April 9. "The six-month period for this purpose starts from the day last sitting of the legislature took place," Naik said.

However, another former Advocate General Ishaq Qadri and former Assistant Solicitor General of India Anil Bhan have a different view on the matter. The Assembly is currently in suspended animation.

The two senior lawyers are of the opinion that as the Governor's Rule has been imposed in the state, the six-month period before the Assembly can be dissolved will start from the day Governor N N Vohra assumed the reins of the state. Governor's Rule was imposed on January 8.

"Since the assembly is in suspended animation, the six month period for the purpose will start from the day Governor's Rule was imposed in the state," Bhan and Qadri said.

Dissolution of the assembly will necessitate fresh polls.

President's Rule can be imposed if it is not possible to revoke Governor's rule before within six months of its imposition but the Assembly stands dissolved, Bhan said. However, there is little practical difference between the two provisions.

According to Section 53 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, the Governor is bound to dissolve the assembly if more than six months lapse between the last sitting and first sitting of two sessions of the legislature.

In view of Section 53, April 9 will be the cut-off date for the PDP and the BJP -- or any other combination of parties -- to cobble up a coalition government in the state. The last sitting of the state assembly was held on October 10.

"The Governor shall from time to time summon each House of the Legislature to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session," reads subsection 1 of Section 53 reads.

The subsection 2 of the same section reads: "The Governor may from time to time- (a) prorogue the Houses or either House; (b) dissolve the Legislative Assemb1y."



Governor's Rule was imposed under Section 92(1) on January 8 in the wake of death of incumbent chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 and the failure of PDP and the BJP to stake claim for formation of a new government.

The Governor's Rule in the state will come to an end on July 7 as provided in Subsection Three of the Section 92 of the state constitution, which reads: "Any such Proclamation (Governor Rule) whether varied under subsection (2) or not, shall except where it is a Proclamation revoking a previous Proclamation, cease to operate on the expiration of six months from the date on which it was first issued."



While the PDP and the BJP are maintaining that their alliance has not ended, the president of the regional party, Mehbooba Mufti, has said the Centre needs to announce political and economic confidence building measures before a new government can be formed.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed issues concerning the national capital.

Jung is learnt to have discussed with the Union Home Minister the matter of the Centre's nod to 14 Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly since Aam Aadmi Party has come to power.

Earlier this month, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel had met Singh and requested him to clear all Bills sent by the government for the Centre's nod.
London mayor Boris Johnson today accused Barack Obama of "hypocrisy" following a report that the US president is heading to Britain next month to make the case for the UK to stay in the European Union.

"Coming from Uncle Sam, it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy," Johnson, a leading member of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, wrote in his regular column for the Daily Telegraph.

"Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?" he asked, adding: "This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control."



Johnson went on to point out that the United States does not accept that its own citizens could be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court and does not recognise other jurisdictions.

"In urging us to embed ourselves more deeply in the EU's federalising structures, the Americans are urging us down a course they would never dream of going themselves," he wrote.

"That is because they are a nation conceived in liberty. They sometimes seem to forget that we are quite fond of liberty, too."



The Independent newspaper yesterday reported that Obama, who has already expressed support for Britain's EU membership, was expected to come to London at the end of April.

The visit would take place around two months before the June 23 referendum in which British voters will decide whether to leave or stay in the 28-country bloc.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office today declined to comment on the report.

"Other people will set out their views, the choice for the British people is whether or not they listen to them but then they get to make up their own minds," she said.

Obama is heading to Germany in late April to talk trade with Chancellor Angela Merkel and promote US exports at the Hannover industrial technology fair, which takes place April 25-29.

Washington has long backed Britain playing a central role in the EU, the world's largest economic bloc, and has warned that the UK-US "special relationship" could be at risk if it were to leave.

Cameron favours keeping Britain in the EU, following a renegotiation of the country's relations with Brussels.

Opinion polls indicate that the race is finely balanced, with those who want to remain at 51 per cent and those in favour of leaving at 49 per cent, according to a survey of polls by the What UK Thinks research project that excludes undecided voters.

Up to 20 per cent of voters have said they have not yet made up their minds which way to vote.
Maharashtra government today said it would recommend to the Centre that those indulging in sale of medicines online without prescriptions be prosecuted under the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The government has also not given any permission for online sale of pharmacy, Maharashtra Food and Civil Supplies minister Girish Bapat told the Legislative Council.

Regarding the tie-up between the state police and an online pharmacy aggregator, Bapat said the government will check if there are any rules violated by the department.

Last week, Maharashtra Police partnered with online pharmacy aggregator - PharmEasy under which serving and retired officials and their family members would get medicines and diagnostic tests at concessional rates.

While speaking during a Calling Attention Motion on online sale of medicines, Congress MLC Satej Patil said illegal sale of medicines online without a valid prescription should be treated as a 'cyber crime' and action should be taken under provisions of IT Act.

Replying to Patil, Bapat said, "This is a good suggestion. Since laws regarding the sale of medicines are framed and regulated by the Centre, we will recommend that such companies may be prosecuted under the IT Act."



He said the government will do whatever it takes to stop illegal sale of medicines online.

Congress MLC Sharad Ranpise said that the Bombay High Court has disallowed online sale of medicines without a valid prescription and that the Drug Controller of India has called for strict action against those indulging in it.

"In that case, is it true that the state government has allowed police department to go ahead with online sale of medicines by PharmEasy," he questioned.

In his reply to Ranpise, Bapat said, "Government has given no such permission to sell medicines online. We will check and if there are any violations found, Additional Director General of Police V V Lakshmi Narayan's circular to his department will be cancelled.
Former Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal today appeared before the Enforcement Directorate here for questioning in connection with its probe in a money laundering case registered against him and others.

The senior NCP leader, accompanied by MLC Jitendra Awhad, arrived at the ED office at Ballard Pier in South Mumbai amid tight security around 11.30 AM.

A large number of party workers who had gathered outside the ED office raised slogans even as prohibitory orders were put in place to avoid any untoward incident.

The agency is expected to record his statement in the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had registered a PMLA case involving the Bhujbals and some of their associates and has already arrested the ex-minister's nephew Samir last month in the case.

Samir is currently lodged in the high security Arthur Road jail here.

The ED had also questioned Bhujbal's son Pankaj in the same case last month.

The agency has filed two FIRs against the Bhujbals and others under the provisions of PMLA, based on Mumbai Police FIRs, to probe the Delhi-based Maharashtra Sadan construction scam and the Kalina land grabbing case.

It had also brought out orders for attachment of three properties with an estimated worth of over Rs 280 crore in the case under money laundering laws.

ED had twice conducted searches at nine premises, including properties and offices, belonging to the senior Bhujbal, Pankaj, Samir and few others.

NCP had then described the searches as "political vendetta".

The state Anti-Corruption Bureau has already filed a charge sheet against Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj, Sameer and 14 others in the Maharashtra Sadan scam case.

The new Maharashtra Sadan was built at the cost of Rs 100 crore when Congress-NCP coalition was in power in Maharashtra.
Mahindra & Mahindra today said it will invest Rs 10,000 crore up to FY 2017-18 to fund overall growth activity, including acquisitions.

The company's investment plans range for three fiscal, starting with FY16 till FY18, with Rs 7,500 crore to go into M&M related businesses while Rs 2,500 crore would be invested into the group businesses, Mahindra & Mahindra said in an investor presentation on the BSE.

Elaborating, the company said: "This includes investment into any M&A activity, both in M&M and other group businesses. Bulk of company's investments still go into auto, tractor and related businesses."



The Mumbai-based company is developing a new range of engines, including petrol powertrains, as it looks to diversify its product portfolio.

It has also been expanding its model portfolio with the addition of new products like the newly-launched KUV100 and compact SUV TUV300. It is expected to launch an upgraded version of its compact SUV Quanto.

The company had also showcased its crossover XUV Aero in the Auto Expo held in February.

It had also launched a range of new range of trucks under the Blazo brand.

Mahindra & Mahindra shares today ended at Rs 1,211 a piece on the BSE, down 0.73 per cent from previous close.
Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) today forayed into the agricultural equipment rental services with the launch of Trringo, an organised rental service, with plans to invest over Rs 10 crore on the startup enterprise.

"Farm Equipment Sector (FES), a part of Mahindra group, has forayed into the agricultural equipment rental services with Trringo that will operate as a franchisee based model and will effectively bring in new age digital technology to the tractor rental business," M&M said in a regulatory filing.

The company plans to invest upwards of Rs 10 crore on the new venture and intends to enter five states in the current year, it added.

"This venture would be set up as a new age startup company," it said.

M&M Executive Director Pawan Goenka said in India where farm mechanisation penetration is low, Mahindra would like to play a significant role in enabling farmers to improve their productivity by providing accessible technology.

"The Trringo farm equipment rental business model will enable farmers to deploy mechanisation technology on a pay per use basis without investing in the asset. This will increase their output and prosperity and lead to the inclusive growth of the nation," he added.

M&M President & Chief Executive Farm Equipment & Two Wheelers Rajesh Jejurikar said Trringo will be an e-commerce startup which will provide the brand promise of equipment availability, commitment and performance, to transform lives of farmers.

"We hope to ramp up this offering to five states this year," he added.

As part of first model, Trringo will use a proprietary digital platform as an enabler to process orders and pass them on to the nearest franchisee through location based mapping.

Franchisee could also tie-up with tractor owners in the vicinity enabling them to rent out equipment to farmers on a commission basis.

Large farmers who own expensive, high-end equipment can rent out their assets thereby optimising utilisation based on seasonality, cutting across geographies, the company said.

M&M shares were trading at Rs 1,213.80 apiece on the BSE, down 0.50 per cent from previous close.
Hitting back at Congress for questioning whether the Centre would seek Vijay Mallya's deportation, BJP has said the industrialist was a "Congress' baby" and accused them of helping him by forcing banks to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.

"Mallya is a Congress' baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airline) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma said, adding Congress should come clean on its "deals" with him.

While around 25 cases have been initiated against Mallya under Modi government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loan, he said.

"What was the compulsion of Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should make it clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" he asked.

Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.

Congress Monday asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in "cold storage" by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi.

Sharma added that former IPL boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was a "product" of Congress.
Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, mired in a controversy for leaving India in the middle of a massive loan default probe, today appeared to distance himself from an interview that quoted him as having said that time was not "right" to return to the country.

"Shocked to see media statements that I gave an interview to Sunday Guardian without verification. I have not given any statement to anyone," Mallya tweeted tonight on his official Twitter page. He did not elaborate further on the contents of the said interview.

Under fire over dues totalling over Rs 9,000 crore of long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines in unpaid loans and interest, Mallya left the country on March 2, triggering a political row with Congress and BJP trading charges.

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has summoned the liquor baron to appear before it in Mumbai on March 18 as part of its money laundering probe in the alleged default in payment of Rs 900 crore dues to IDBI bank by Kingfisher Airlines.

While it has been widely reported that he had left for London, Mallya himself has been silent about his whereabouts but has been tweeting occasionally including to say he was not an "absconder" and he would comply with the "law of the land".

Yesterday, the 'The Sunday Guardian' quoted him as having said in an e-mail interview, "I am an Indian to the core. Of course I want to return. But I am not sure I'll get a fair chance to present my side. I've already been branded as criminal. I do not feel the time is right."



Mallya, however, did not respond to repeated emailed queries from PTI as also to the messages sent to his phone.

No immediate comments could be obtained from the weekly newspaper and the phone calls made to its office did not elicit any response regarding the interview.

Yesterday, Mallya had tweeted, "I am being hunted down by media in UK. Sadly they did not look in the obvious place. I will not speak to media so don't waste your efforts.

Later, a journalist from the Sunday Guardian newspaper tweeted, "We stand by the interview in the @SundayGuardian and we will be putting up the email trail that culminated in his interview.
The Bombay High Court today commuted the death sentence awarded by a lower court to a 23-year-old man from Sangli district in Maharashtra for raping and killing his four-year-old niece in 2012 and awarded him "double life" sentence of 28 years.

Vitthal Tukaram Atugade was awarded double life sentence on the counts of rape and murder each, by a bench headed by Justice Vijaya Tahilramani which described the act as a "gory crime".

On the day of the crime in 2012, Vitthal, who was cousin brother of the victim's mother, took the girl along with him on the pretext of going to a salon and headed towards a secluded place in Sangli where he raped her.

The convict, who was 20 years old at the time of the incident, left the girl to die, but on finding her alive, he then dragged the victim to a nearby area where he strangulated her to death and then buried the body in a secluded place.

The girl's mother lodged a missing complaint with police and said she suspected Vitthal, as the victim was seen in his company before she disappeared.

Police arrested Vitthal and during interrogation he confessed to the crime.

Vitthal was tried by Islampur Sessions Court which awarded death penalty to him in 2014 on the dual counts of rape (of minor) and murder.

Thereafter, the matter came for confirmation of death penalty to the high court which commuted his sentence to double life imprisonment of 14 years each.

Both the sentences would run consecutively (one after the other).

In the high court, the prosecution, led by Geeta Mulekar, argued that the convict should be severely punished as he had committed a serious crime against a minor.
A 32-year-old man was shot at and critically injured by suspected militants in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, police said today.

Jehangir Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Karimabad village, was fired upon by unidentified militants near his house last night, a police officer said.

He said Bhat suffered bullet injuries in both the legs and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where from he was referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the incident.

Police have registered a case and started investigations.
The widow of Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami, who died while fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir last year, was felicitated by an NGO here.

Bhawana Goswami was presented a cheque was Rs 50,000 by Colonel (retd) Sunil Deshpande, founding president of local NGO Prahar, engaged in imparting military education to children through a school and also looks after the welfare of mostly retired military personnel,



Colonel Sambhaji Patil, former Commanding Officer of 22 Maratha Light Infantry regiment, who was the chief guest at the felicitation function last evening, said, "It is unfortunate that people remember God and jawans only during emergencies like war or natural calamity."



Bhawana thanked Prahar for honouring the supreme sacrifice of her husband.

Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami, of 9 Para Commando battalion, attained martyrdom while fighting out terrorists at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir during an operation on September 3 last year.

He was awarded the Ashok Chakra, the country's highest peacetime gallantry award, posthumously on January 26 this year by President Pranab Mukherjee during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi.
Police were going about their business when a gunman fired at the first officer he saw outside a Maryland police station, prompting a gun battle that left an undercover narcotics officer dying and the suspect wounded, authorities say.

Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said Jacai Colson, a four-year veteran of the department only days shy of his 29th birthday, died after the "unprovoked attack" outside the station.

The shooting erupted in Landover, a suburb about 10 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C.

Speaking at a conference, Stawinski said that once the first shot was fired, several officers fired back at the suspect. He couldn't say how many shots were exchanged in the confrontation that began about 4:30 p.M.

"Those officers did not shrink. They bravely advanced and engaged this individual," the chief said.

Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called the shooting an "act of cowardice" and a "horrific act of evil." She promised an aggressive investigation and prosecution of the alleged shooter, who was wounded in the return fire but is expected to survive, and another suspect arrested soon after the shooting. Their names were not immediately released.

Stawinski said the second man was believed to have been present with the suspected shooter when the shots erupted, but fled and was later arrested. He gave no immediate indication what prompted the shooting.

The Washington Post reported ( http://wapo.St/1M12KZ1 ) that one woman nearby to the shooting scene grabbed her sleeping, 14-month old baby from his play pen when she heard what she thought might be either firecrackers or gunshots. The woman told the newspaper she looked outside and saw a man dressed in black firing a handgun.

"He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot," said Lascelles Grant, a nurse. She added in the account that police began pouring out of the station. "Just looking outside, I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at all these police officers running out, putting their lives really in danger.'"



The woman couldn't immediately be reached by The Associated Press.

Immediately after the shooting, police advised residents near the police station to stay inside, and others to avoid the area, because of an "active shooter" situation. They later lifted the "shelter in place" advice in a message on Twitter soon after the second suspect was apprehended.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood firm today on her liberal refugee policy, despite a drubbing in regional elections described as a "debacle" in which disgruntled voters turned to the anti-migrant AfD.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was at the receiving end of voter anger, suffering defeats in two out of three states in Sunday's elections -- including traditional stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The stinging result for the conservative CDU was accompanied by a surge in backing for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had sparked outrage by suggesting police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them entering the country.

The elections were the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of refugees that reached 1.1 million in 2015, and largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel's decision to open the doors to people fleeing war.

The mass-circulation Bild newspaper described it as a "day of horror" for Merkel, as calls multiplied for her to change tack.

But her spokesman shot that down.

"The federal government will stay its refugee policy course, fully determined, at home and abroad," the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told a briefing.

"The goal must be a common, sustainable European solution that leads to a tangible reduction of the number of refugees in all (EU) member states."



Seibert said Merkel would continue to pursue a strategy of working to bolster the security of the EU's external borders and cooperating with Turkey to reduce refugee flows.

The German leader herself, who has consistently refused to impose a cap on refugee arrivals, was expected to give her first reaction to the polls in the early afternoon.

While they have no direct impact on her chancellorship, the regional polls in the southwestern states of Baden- Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as Saxony-Anhalt in the east served as a key test ahead of general elections in 2017.

The results could also strengthen the hand of her adversaries, including strident critics in the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the CSU.

The main reason for the poor CDU showing "is the refugee policy. It makes no sense at all," CSU chief Horst Seehofer said at a party meeting on Monday.

Demanding changes, Seehofer said: "It can't be that after such an election result, the answer to the electorate is: everything will go on as before."



Merkel also risks isolation at a meeting of EU leaders opening Thursday, when they will seek to finalise a deal with Turkey on stemming the migrant influx.

The chancellor has attacked a decision by Balkan states to close their borders to refugees, but Bavarian daily Nuernberger Nachrichten noted that "she is benefiting more than anyone from the border closures that she is criticising".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was facing fresh pressure Saturday after a regional election drubbing described as a "debacle" over her liberal policy.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union was at the receiving end of voters' anger, suffering defeats in two out of three states in regional elections -- including its traditional stronghold Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The stinging result for the conservative CDU was accompanied by a surge in backing for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had sparked outrage by suggesting police may have to shoot at migrants to stop them from entering the country.

The elections were the biggest since Germany registered a record influx of refugees, and largely regarded as a referendum on Merkel's decision to open the country's doors to people fleeing war.

While they have no direct impact on her chancellorship, the regional polls in the southwestern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as eastern state Saxony-Anhalt served as a key test ahead of general elections in 2017.

Merkel, who is expected to give her first reactions to the polls at around midday on Monday, has so far resolutely refused to impose a cap on arrivals, insisting instead on common European action that includes distributing asylum seekers among the EU's 28 member states.

But Sunday's results could strengthen the hand of her adversaries, including strident critics within her Bavarian allies, the CSU.

"The only logical consequence of the result is a significant correction in the policy," said Hans Michelbach, the vice-chair of the CSU's faction in the lower house of parliament.

The CSU, whose region is the main gateway to Germany for tens of thousands of refugees, has for months noisily criticised Merkel's policy.

Bild daily called the regional polls "a day of horror for Chancellor Merkel," while Spiegel Online described it as "Black Sunday for the CDU".

"For a long time she had hoped that despite all the opposition to her refugee policy, to grab the two state premierships in the southwestern states. That's not happening," said Spiegel in an editorial.

"Merkel will now have to live with the accusation that she has allowed the AfD to establish itself to the right of the CDU."



For most of the last decade, Merkel has enjoyed stellar popularity ratings as she pushed a middle-ground .
French tyre major Michelin on Monday tied up with online marketplace to sell its products through the e-commerce platform.

" with its large subscriber base and pan India reach has been an obvious choice. We believe this new channel will augment our existing distribution and enable our dealers with a parallel sales pipeline," Michelin India Commercial Director Mohan Kumar said in a statement.

Under the partnership, consumers can place an order online via to purchase Michelin tyres from an authorised dealer and request for fitment at a time and place of their choice, the company said.

The consumer has the option of same day free fitment, as well as access to exclusive offers on services like alignment and balancing, it added.

Snapdeal Vice-President, (Omni Channel) Badal Malick said, "Our recently launched omni channel platform Janus will deliver the convenience of online product discovery and offline installation services at the nearest location."
Hundreds of desperate migrants were stopped by Macedonian troops today after managing to cross the border from Greece, where thousands have been left stranded after Balkan states slammed Europe's migrant door shut.

The migrants, who had set off from an overcrowded Greek refugee camp several hours earlier, waded through a surging river as they found an alternative route north into Macedonia, bypassing the closed regular border crossing.

About 20 journalists who had followed the migrants from the Idomeni migrant camp were taken to a police station in Gevgelija, just over the border in Macedonia.

As thousands of refugees scramble to find ways past the Balkan blockade, three Afghans drowned in a rain-swollen river in Macedonia, while the Greek coastguard was searching for eight migrants missing in the Aegean.

The Greek-Macedonian border -- and more specifically the mud-soaked Idomeni camp -- has become the focal point of the crisis in recent weeks, as thousands of migrants fleeing war in Syria and Iraq were blocked from heading further north.

Over 14,000 people have been stranded at Idomeni in increasingly desperate conditions after the main route to western Europe through the Balkans -- taken by over one million migrants since the start of 2015 -- was effectively shut down last week.

Today some 1,000 migrants set off on foot in search of an alternative route into Macedonia, marching from Idomeni to the village of Chamilo some two kilometres away, closer to the sealed frontier with Macedonia.

The group was quickly surrounded by Greek police as, carrying all their belongings, they crossed hills and a river to reach the village, an AFP reporter said.

But twice they managed to get round Greek police, the first time because there were too many of them, the second time because police vehicles could not follow the migrants into the river.

But they were later stopped by Macedonian troops and the journalists travelling with them taken to a police station.

On Twitter, a group using the hashtag #Marchofhope posted photos of people wading through water, with children on parents' shoulders.

Gevgelija is just over the Konska river which runs parallel to the Greek-Macedonian border.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, has described the Idomeni camp as "human misery at its peak".

British volunteer Matthew Sheppard said some of the migrants were getting desperate.

"We all know that the only real solution is for war to stop, to cut off the head of the snake. Here we are only doing damage control...We are just trying to put out a fire."



Earlier Monday, three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, were found drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia from Greece, the Macedonian interior ministry said.
A local court today granted bail to Ravela Susheel, son of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Minister Ravela Kishore Babu, who was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a 20-year-old woman teacher.

"Susheel was granted bail by the court. He has to cooperate with the investigation," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) D Uday Kumar Reddy said.

Police had registered cases against Susheel and his driver M Ramesh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC. Susheel was arrested on March 6.

According to the complainant, a teacher, a car with "MLA" sticker on the windshield had followed her when she was returning from the school a few days back.

"The driver and a passenger in the car, who were drunk, passed lewd remarks and asked me to get in. The passenger, who had a tattoo on his hand, tried to pull me inside," she said in the complaint.

She raised an alarm and her husband, who was nearby, and some others reached the spot and beat up Susheel and his driver, the complaint further said.

Susheel has denied these allegations.
Out of 96,000 animal species in the country, more than 50 have been assessed as "critically endangered" and 310 as "endangered", the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

"Studies conducted by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have recorded 96,000 species of animals from India.

"Among these, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed 18 species of amphibians, 14 varieties of fish, 13 birds and 10 mammals as critically endangered and 310 species as endangered, including 69 fish, 38 mammals and 32 amphibians," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply.

He said as per the data available with Botanical Survey of India (BSI), out of 19,156 species of vascular plants, 1,236 species belong to different threatened categories like critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable.

He said towards conservation of threatened species, the government has established 730 Protected Areas, including 103 national parks, 535 wildlife sanctuaries, 26 community reserves and 66 conservation reserves, which primarily cover habitats of threatened megafauna such as tiger, rhino, elephant and others.

"Moreover, nine of the 18 biosphere reserves in India are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO," Javadekar said.

He said the National CAMPA Advisory Council has approved the funding for recovery programme of various endangered species.

These include Dugong with a budget of Rs 23.58 crore, Gangetic River Dolphin with Rs 23 crore, Great Indian Bustard with Rs 108.25 crore, Manipur Brow Antlered deer with budgetary support of Rs 99.95 crore and wild Buffalo with Rs 2 crore.
Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Minister Maya Singh today agreed to form a panel of MLAs to probe the functioning of government-aided child shelter homes in Sagar district, following ruckus in Assembly over the issue of some children missing from one such centre.

During Question Hour, Congress member Harsh Yadav sought information regarding the number of children in shelter homes in Sagar as he alleged that some children have gone missing and suspected human trafficking in it.

However, the minister, in her reply, said there were 23 children in Kabir shelter home on November 19, 2013, and following an order on November 24 last year, 13 were shifted to Sanjeevani Bal Ashram while eight others to Saint Francis Sewa Dham Ashram.

Dissatisfied with the minister's reply, Yadav demanded a high-level inquiry or by members of the House into the children going missing.

In the meanwhile, BJP members Shailendra Jain and Pradeep Laria alleged that religious conversion was taking place at Saint Francis Sewa Dharm Ashram, and demanded formation of a panel of MLAs to look into the functioning of shelter homes.

The treasury and opposition Congress members demanded a probe into the functioning of shelters homes by a committee of MLAs.

Amid the din, the minister said district Collector and Commissioner will inquire into the matter and reiterated that no child was missing from Kabir shelter home.

However, the unrelenting members pressed for a probe by a committee of MLAs into the functioning of shelter homes in Sagar, to which Maya Singh finally agreed.
Bihar government came under attack over reports of "inhuman" treatment meted out to students recently appearing for matric exams in Khagariya town, with an expelled RJD members demanding action.

"How can you make students sit in semi-nude condition and strip them off clothes. This is the most inhuman treatment and worst kind human rights violation," said Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, said comparing the behaviour of the police with the "Taliban" and "Hitler".

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, he wanted the House to adopt a resolution condemning the behaviour. His remarks were strongly contested by RJD leader Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav.

TDP's Jayadev Galla wanted sector wise mapping of skilling people. Pointing to a labour department report, he said there was 14.5 per cent of unemployment among the skilled people and sectors, barring travel operation and health, the employment rate clocked to double digit.

AIADMK MP K Ashok Kumar said the clearance of pulses landing at the Chennai airport, which should take five days as prescribed in the law, takes two weeks. "This is leading to losses," Kumar said.

BJP's Chandra Prakash Joshi demanded that Rajasthani language should be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution while AIADMK's P Mahendran wanted waver of farm loans.

Keshav Prasad Maurya (BJP) spoke of "anti-national" activities "like JNU" in Allahabad Agricultural Institute and complained about the conduct of the Afghan students studying there.
Several MPs in Rajya Sabha today expressed concern over no provision of funds under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), as the government said that works suggested by them would be given priority by concerned departments.

During the Question Hour, many members, including K P Ramalilngam (DMK), raised questions about the efficacy of the SAGY scheme asking how they could carry out developmental works when no extra funds were available.

A member also said that the scheme was launched by the Prime Minister in 2014 with "much fanfare".

In response, Rural Development minister Birendra Singh said some states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were using Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for this scheme.

As MPs expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of funds for the scheme, Singh said there was a suggestion to increase the MPLAD allocation keeping in mind the SAGY scheme.

He said while specific funds have not been allotted for SAGY, the departments of the central and state governments will give priority to works taken up by MPs in the model villages.

Another proposal which he wanted to be considered was that if a member provided an amount for a SAGY village from his own funds, then a matching grant should be provided to assist that work, the Minister said.

The HRD ministry was also working to see that there are no school drop-outs in SAGY villages while efforts were also being made to ensure provision of ration cards there.

There are certain social activities for which funds are not necessary, Singh said.
Nepal is set to have its first woman chief justice with a judicial body today recommending Sushila Karki's name for the top post, months after the country got its first woman President and Speaker.

A meeting of the Judicial Council recommended the name of Karki, the senior-most judge in Nepal's Supreme Court, for appointment as the next chief justice of the country.

The Judicial Council decided to forward the name of Karki to the Constitutional Council, headed by Prime Minister K P Oli, which is responsible for nominating the head of the judiciary.

Karki will take charge once President Bidhya Bhandari formally endorses her nomination.

She will take charge after April 13 when the current Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha retires, officials said.

Karki is known for her 'zero tolerance' for corruption.

Last year in October, Bhandari was elected as Nepal's first woman president.

Also last year, Nepalese lawmakers elected the country's first woman Speaker of Parliament -- UCPN-Maoist lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar -- following formation of a new government after promulgation of the Constitution.
The new price formula and calibrated marketing freedom for gas produced from fields in difficult terrain could help attract investments in India's oil and gas sector, said Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

Announcing the pricing freedom, the government last week also simplified the future auction process, proposing a revenue sharing model to replace the current profit sharing model.

In addition, all exploration and production (E&P) activities will require just a single license, and bidders will be free to choose areas for exploration from among the fields up for auction.

"The new policies are credit positive for Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), but meaningful cash flows are a few years away," said S&P credit analyst Vishal Kulkarni. "This is because, while we expect the investments in the difficult fields to increase gradually, meaningful production from such fields will take much longer."



S&P, however, said the decisions "could help attract investments" but it will take time.

Some of the difficult fields are green field projects and many discoveries will need approvals for capital outlays and time to implement.

"Therefore, it will take at least three years for these fields to start production. Still, the attractive pricing could help accelerate investment decisions in these fields, in our view. The Indian government estimates that the new pricing could help monetize more than USD 25 billion of reserves that are still to be put to production from about 38 fields," it said.

Under the new formula, gas prices would be capped at the lowest of the imported cost of fuel oil, landed price of liquefied natural gas (LNG), or weighted average of imported price of coal, fuel oil, and naphtha.

These prices will be reset semi-annually and will be applicable for future discoveries and existing discoveries that are yet to start commercial production.

S&P said the new policy is credit positive for ONGC over the long term but the rating on the company remains unaffected because of the time lag in the expected boost to cash flows and the financial burden of the possibly high budgeted capital expenditure for extraction from difficult fields.

ONGC plans to invest about Rs 40,000 crore in its deep water field in the Krishna Godavari basin. The expected increase in prices under the new mechanism could prompt ONGC to speed this up, with production expected to start in fiscal 2019.

S&P said RIL may need to withdraw litigation over certain ongoing pricing-related disputes with the government to benefit from the new pricing mechanism.

"We expect the pricing formula to almost double the prices of domestic gas from difficult fields to about USD 7 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), from the current USD 3.8 an mmbtu," it added.

S&P said at present, domestic gas prices are determined



by a formula of average gas prices in gas surplus geographies.

"Given India's gas production deficit and emerging gas transport infrastructure, prices under the new formula will be closer to that of regional peers. For example, natural gas prices in Thailand and Indonesia are about USD 8 an mmbtu," it said.

Higher gas prices could augment India's domestic gas production by about 35 per cent over the next few years, Kulkarni said. "However, healthy alternative fuel prices and a transparent and sustainable pricing policy will be necessary to stimulate private sector participation."



Alternative fuel prices, to which India's gas prices are indexed, should stay healthy for the derived gas prices to remain attractive and support new investments in the sector.

"Given the large capital commitments and long gestation period of the logistically and operationally difficult hydrocarbon E&P projects, investors will like to see policy transparency and sustainability through the cycle," S&P said.

Overall, the gas pricing framework in India remains somewhat complex with at least four different pricing mechanisms -- gas prices for normal fields; gas prices for marginal fields; new price formula for gas from difficult fields; and prices for imported gas.

"The new policies will increase investments in the difficult fields but prices of gas from normal fields will still stay subdued, discouraging investments in that segment," it added.

The rating agency said the new policy approvals in hydrocarbon E&P could help bring in transparency and lower administrative complexities in the sector.

Its proposal to replace the current production sharing contract mechanism with a revenue sharing model and a single license for all hydrocarbon exploration could boost investment sentiment.

The proposed revenue sharing model for future field auctions could also lower the investment delays due the differences between contractors and government.

"These differences are with respect to the E&P costs, on the complete recovery of which the government is entitled to profit sharing from hydrocarbons produced. In the past, these differences have resulted in prolonged litigations, deterred new investments, and delayed new production," S&P said.

The new policy of issuing one license to allow E&P of all forms of hydrocarbons and allowing bidders to choose areas from designated blocks could smoothen field auctions.

A single license to explore and produce conventional oil and gas as well as unconventional shale oil and gas and coal-bed methane improves upon the existing policy of separate licenses for each.
Citing the example of working with India and China to reach the Paris climate change agreement, US President Barack Obama today called for mobilising the world to meet shared challenges like the threat posed by ISIS.

"We're going to have to keep mobilising the world to meet shared challenges. And that includes strengthening international rules and norms that undergird peace and security," Obama said in his address to the Chief of Missions Conference at the State Department.

"We're going to have to continue to ensure that Iran fully meets its commitments under the nuclear deal; to make sure that we're enforcing effective sanctions on North Korea; that, at our upcoming summit here in Washington, we're continuing to increase nuclear security," he said.

Obama said he believes that a broader vision of American strength that harnesses all elements of national power, including diplomacy, is what is going to "make a difference in this complicated age that we live in".

"That's how we build a global coalition to deal with Iran -- strong sanctions plus diplomacy. And under the nuclear deal, Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear weapon," he asserted.

"That's how we work with countries like China and India and nearly 200 nations to reach the Paris agreement, the most ambitious global agreement ever to fight climate change," said the US President.

Obama said he plans to do everything that he can with every minute that he has left in the President's office to keep making progress and make the world safer, more prosperous, and to deal with the enormous challenges that so many people are burdened with around the world.

"First and foremost, we've got to continue to keep our nation safe, especially from the threat of terrorism," he said.

"We're going to have to continue to strengthen our global coalition against ISIL, whether it's the air campaign, support for local partners, cutting off ISIL financing, preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, working with partners to counter ISIL's bankrupt, nihilistic ideology," the US President said.

"On climate change, we have to ensure that nations meet their Paris commitments, that the United States does so as well, and that we invest in new clean energy solutions, and help developing countries deal with climate change and ensuring that they do not feel that they have to choose between uplifting their people economically and preserving the planet," he said.

In the Asia Pacific, he said, the US would have to move ahead with its re-balance, strengthening alliances, partnering with ASEAN, supporting the transition in Myanmar, moving ahead with TPP and ensuring security and stability in places like the South China Sea.
US President Barack Obama, who visits Cuba in a week, promised dissidents he would directly discuss human rights issues with their president, Raul Castro.

Obama told the Ladies in White, a group of wives and children of political prisoners, that he understood their struggle, in a letter dated March 10 but published online by the dissident organisation three days later.

"I fully understand the obstacles that ordinary Cubans face in exercising their rights," Obama wrote in English. "The US believes that no one in Cuba or anywhere else should face harassment, arrest, or physical assault just because they are exercising a universal right to have their voices heard."



"As I have in the past, I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," Obama stressed.

The White House confirmed to AFP that the letter was authentic.

When Obama sets foot in Havana on March 20, the White House imagines a "Berlin Wall moment" -- a singular legacy-gilding event like Ronald Reagan's 1987 address before the Brandenburg Gate.

While Reagan sought to end the Cold War division of Europe, Obama hopes to symbolically "tear down" decades of Cold War antagonism across the narrow Florida Straits.

Obama will visit the island March 20 to 22 -- the first visit by a US president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928, and a symbolically charged capstone to the rapprochement that he and Castro announced in December 2014.

Obama's Republican foes accuse him of betraying the cause of human rights in Cuba by engaging with the Castro regime, the Americas' only one-party Communist state.

In a bid to fend off such criticism, the White House has announced Obama will meet with anti-regime dissidents in Havana, although it has not given any details beyond insisting that the Cuban government will not be allowed to hand-pick them.
President Barack Obama says he's confident he can make significant progress on foreign policy in the next 10 months.

Obama is addressing ambassadors and other diplomats recently returned from overseas posts during a conference at the State Department.

He's describing a stay-the-course approach to continuing challenges.

The president says the US will keep fighting the Islamic State group on all fronts and work to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

He says he'll also work to enforce a global climate agreement and engage with Asia.

Obama says he's looking forward to his historic trip to Cuba starting Sunday.

He says the US is helping create opportunity in Latin America.
World oil prices fell further today on doubts over a consensus between producer nations to limit output in an oversupplied market, dealers said.

At around 1700 GMT (2230 IST), US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April dived USD 1.71 to USD 36.79 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery sank USD 01.27 to USD 39.12 a barrel compared with Friday's close.

Oil had rallied Friday after the International Energy Agency said that after the market's 20-month long rout, there were signs prices may have "bottomed out".

However, prices hit reverse gear today after Iran reportedly announced over the weekend that it would not join a proposed output freeze by crude producers.

Sentiment took another hit from the stronger dollar, weak Chinese industrial output, and a gloomy market assessment from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"It has been a combination of factors: comments from Iran's oil minister, OPEC forecasting a bigger surplus, weaker Chinese industrial data and a rebounding dollar," said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading firm City Index, when asked about the latest oil price losses.

"But the short-term trend for oil is still bullish, though Brent needs to hold above key support at USD 39 a barrel or we could see a more pronounced correction."



A meeting of oil producers to discuss a global deal to freeze production levels will likely take place in April, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said today.

However, he also acknowledged that Iran might not be included.

"The place and time of a meeting of oil-producing countries is being discussed. It will probably be held in April," Interfax agency quoted Novak as saying.

Novak said earlier this month that a meeting of OPEC members and other oil-producing countries could be held between March 20 and April 1.

Four major oil producers -- Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar -- said last month they were ready to freeze their output at January levels if other oil-producing countries joined their initiative.

Oil prices, which have plummeted more than 60 per cent since mid-2014 partly because of oversupply, have recently recovered slightly on talk of an output freeze.

Novak said that Iran could be excluded from the deal in order to allow it to increase its crude production after Western sanctions over its nuclear programme hindered its access to the global oil market.

Tehran is reported to have said over the weekend that it would join a planned meeting between producer giants on output only after its output has reached pre-sanction levels of 4.0 million barrels per day (bpd).
OPEC said today its oil production fell in February despite member Iran steadily increasing its output after international sanctions were lifted in January following a landmark nuclear deal.

The decrease can be largely attributed to a steep production drop in Iraq, which has suffered from the global price slump for crude and rival oil exports by the autonomous Kurdistan region, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its February monthly report.

Crude output dropped by 175,000 barrels per day in February to average 32.28 million barrels per day (mbpd), it said.

"Crude oil output decreased mostly from Iraq, Nigeria and (United Arab Emirates), while production increased in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," the report noted.

The cartel's output still exceeds demand, which the cartel now projects at 31.5 mbpd, slightly lower than last month.

Iran, which has the world's second-largest crude reserves, pumped out 3.1 mbpd in February, up from 2.9 in January, according to OPEC.

World oil prices fell sharply today after Tehran reportedly announced over the weekend that it would only join an output freeze proposed by Saudi Arabia and Russia once its supply had reached pre-sanction levels of 4.0 mbpd.

Despite the losses, the oil market has picked up in recent weeks, prompting the International Energy Agency to suggest on Friday that a tentative recovery may be underway.

The OPEC reference basket rebounded for the first time in three months, the cartel said, gaining more than 8 per cent to reach USD 35.62 today.

The cartel attributed this to "numerous positive factors, such as the freeze proposal and "a fairly healthy physical oil market... Despite ongoing oversupply, a slowing global economy, record high inventories and a strengthening US dollar".

Crude prices have crashed from peaks above USD 100 per barrel in mid-2014 to under USD 30. While OPEC had traditionally cut back production to support prices, cartel kingpin Saudi Arabia this time changed tack. It stepped up output to defend market share and push out higher-price producers like US shale oil companies.

The strategy appears to be partially working, with the cartel predicting a production drop of 700,000 barrels per day this year in non-OPEC countries led by North America, to an average 56.93 mbpd.
A united Opposition in Rajya Sabha today scuttled the government's move to take up two key legislations, saying the move would compromise on debates on the Railway and General Budgets.

The legislations are The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation Bill, 2016 and the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

The ruling NDA is in a minority in the Upper House.

Soon after the House met after lunch, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi urged the Chair to allow taking up of the Enemy Property Bill as Home Minister Rajnath Singh was present in the House. The Bill has already been passed in Lok Sabha.

This was strongly objected to by opposition members, who wanted the Railway and General budgets to be taken up first and consider taking up the bills only thereafter.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed readiness to extension of the session by a day or two, beyond March 16 when it is scheduled to end, to discuss bills like Aadhar.

"There will be no reduction in Railway and General Budget discussion...This is for the first time that the opposition wants to pass bills and extend the session by two days, if government wants to get key legislations passed. But it is the government which is not forthcoming," he said.

He alleged that the government does not intend to bring the Aadhar bill in the Upper House and allow it to become a legislation without discussion in this House.

"We want a discussion on the Aadhar Bill even if it is for an hour, so that it is not passed without debate," he said.

As Naqvi sought an hour's time to get the Enemy Property bill passed and asked opposition not to view this from "a communal angle", objections were raised by Naresh Agarwal (SP), D Raja (CPI) and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC).

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said these were valid points raised by the members and the bill can be taken up only afterwards. "These are valid points raised. I agree with you," he said, adding that if government wants and members are ready, it can extend the session.

A similar scene was witnessed later when the government tried to take up the Whistler Blowers bill for consideration and passage after the reply of Railway Minister to a debate on Rail Budget.

Opposition parties reminded Naqvi that the government has assured it will not bring any bill for passage and the agreement between the government and the Opposition was to pass the General Budget and Railway Budget.

At this, Naqvi said Minister of State for Personnel and Training Jitendra Singh has been coming prepared to pass the bill for days but has to return everyday.

"My submission is that the honourable minister has been coming to the House for last money days with the all the files on the Whistle Blowers Bill and going back. He is called Whistle Blower outside. This should come to an end," Naqvi said with a smile appealing to the Opposition to utilize the remaining time today to pass the bill.

The Whistle Blowers Bill was moved in the Rajya Sabha during Winter session itself.

(REOPENS PAR42)



Opposition Leader in Rajya Sabha Azad said since



discussion on Railway budget was over, the House should take up the General Budget and not a bill.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien pleaded helplessness in taking up the bill as neither Finance Minister Arun Jaitley nor his Deputy Jayant Sinha was in the House.

At that time, Jaitley was replying to the discussion on the General Budget in Lok Sabha.

While Azad insisted the General Budget is a "priority", Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (Trinamool Congress) asked why the bill is being taken up now when the minister (Naqvi) had assured that no bill would be taken up. "On that assurance let us adjourn the House," he said.

Kurien appealed to the House to take up the bill but the Opposition members remained adamant.

Naqvi took a dig at Congress, saying "it's your bill and you want to adjourn the House."



Tapan Kumar Sen (CPI-M) also opposed taking up the bill, saying it cannot be passed today as there was not much time left.

Naqvi then said discussion on the General Budget could be taken up as three Cabinet Ministers were already in the House and the Finance Minister could also join later but Kurien did not agree to start the discussion in the absence of Jaitley or his Deputy.

As there was no agreement, the House was adjourned for the day after taking up Special Mentions.
State-owned Punjab Agri Export Corporation Limited (PAECL) was rapped by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for Rs 2.79 crore loss for its decision to buy onions "without considering commercial and safety angle".

In its latest report on PSUs for 2014-15 which was tabled here in the ongoing budget session in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, government auditor had decided to buy onions from Maharashtra during June 2014 after onion crop got damaged because of unfavorable weather conditions.

The Centre had advised Punjab government to consider the desirability of procuring and storing onions at current price and releasing them to the market during lean period when prices showed an upward trend.

The Corporation purchased 1,500.413 MT of onions at a cost of Rs 3.63 crore through handling and forwarding agent during June and July 2014.

"The whole operation, exploration of the market at Nasik in Maharashtra and appointment of handling and forwarding agent, was done on the recommendations of only one officer i.E. General Manager of the Company in contravention of the Purchase Procedure42 of the Company," CAG observed in its report.

The committees constituted for inspection of the quality, quantity and storage condition of the onions reported that due to lack of experience and adequate manpower for mandatory restacking of stocks after every two/three weeks and non sorting out of rotten onions from the healthy bulbs, unavailability of special stores for onions and poor storage conditions etc., the stocks were being damaged, report said.

The committee recommended that action be taken for liquidation of the stock regularly in order to avoid further damage as fresh onion has a shelf life of 2-3 weeks.

The Company sold 716.787 MT onions for Rs 0.84 crore incurring a loss of Rs 0.89 crore. The balance quantity of 783.623 MT (52 per cent of the total purchase) valuing Rs 1.90 crore was damaged.

"We observed that the Company before starting procurement did not consider its lack of experience and infrastructure for storing this commodity," the report said.

"While appreciating the need for the State agencies to make market interventions to regulate prices of key commodities, we find that purchase was made without adequate experience and preparation," CAG said.

Further, the Company was also not able to release the stock of onions in the market during the period the prices were expected to peak as more than 50 per cent of the procured onions were damaged due to improper storage, it further noted.

"Thus, the decision to purchase onions without considering the commercial and safety angle of the operation caused a loss of Rs 2.79 crore to the company," CAG said.
In the wake of incidents of sacrilege in Punjab, state Revenue Minister Bikarm Singh Majithia today advocated slapping murder charge on those accused of hurting religious sentiments of any community.

"It is good that the state government has decided to enhance the quantum of punishment for acts of sacrilege from three years to life imprisonment under Section 295 A of the IPC. However, I request that Section 302 should also be imposed on such persons so that it sends a strong singnal to those who want to vitiate peaceful atmosphere," Majithia said in the state assembly during Zero Hour.

Last year, the state had witnessed 13 cases of sacrilege of the holy text of Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib. This year two such cases have been reported in Amritsar in the last two days.

"The incidents of sacrilege are going on unabated. Those who indulge in these crimes should also be prosecuted under Section 302," he said.

"Even courts in the country have given Gurus the status of living God," he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar sought adequate compensation for farmers whose wheat crop was damaged due to inclement weather in the past few days.

Another Congress MLA Gurkirat Singh Kotli sought a ban on Chinese thread sold in the state for kite flying, claiming it had caused fatal injuries on many occasions.
A custody battle for a USD 100 million Picassso sculpture has intensified in New York between British agents acting on behalf of the Qatari royal family and a prominent American art dealer.

Unless an out of court settlement can be reached, the case is scheduled to go to trial before Judge William Pauley in Manhattan on September 19 to determine its rightful owner and to seek damages against New York dealer Larry Gagosian and Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso.

The sculpture in question is the 1931 "Bust of a Woman (Marie-Therese)," which was on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art until last month as part of the largest exhibit of sculpture by the Spanish master in 50 years.

The tortured legal dispute stretches from courts in France to Switzerland and America, lifting a lid on a breakdown in communications and rivalry among the descendants of one of the 20th century's greatest artists.

Lawyers for London-based agents Pelham Europe are demanding that the US court hand over the sculpture, invalidate a rival claim from Gagosian and billionaire Leon Black, and for Gagosian and Widmaier-Picasso, to pay damages.

They say Picasso's daughter, Maya, whose mother Marie-Therese is depicted in the sculpture, directed its sale to Pelham in November 2014 for USD 47 million so it could go on public display in a Qatar museum.

Maya had made it clear she did not want her daughter Diana to be involved, worrying that she would make reproductions of the sculpture or sell it to Gagosian, according to the court papers filed at the US federal court Friday.

Her son, Olivier, however, was fully involved, they say.

But days before the final payment was due, Maya renounced the agreement and rejected the final payment from Pelham.

Pelham's lawyers say an "enraged" Diana had found out and hatched a plot with her long-time associate Gagosian, by which Maya would sell the sculpture to him in secret so he could sell it on for a much higher price.

Court papers say that Gagosian made the deal with Black, who reportedly bought Edvard Munch's "The Scream" for USD 120 million in 2012, then the highest price for a work of art sold at auction.

Although Pelham went to court in Switzerland and France to claim the sculpture back and stop Maya moving it from Paris, it was sold regardless in May 2015, according to US court papers.

That September, the sculpture went on display in the MoMA exhibition in New York as "courtesy of Gagosian Gallery" -- without Pelham's knowledge.
The Madras High Court today said it is the responsibility of local bodies to set up collection centres for plastic flags/banners of political parties for the May 16 assembly elections and directed municipal authorities to ensure no damage is caused to the environment in the polls.

"It is the responsibility of the municipal authority for setting up collection centres and co-ordination of the plastic waste management system and also ensure no damage is caused to the environment in the ensuing elections in which political parties use plastic flags and other plastic materials," the court said.

The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh, was passing orders on a PIL filed by advocate A P Suryaprakasam, after perusing the counter affidavit filed by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).

The petitioner had sought a direction to the authorities, including the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission of India to debar political parties using plastic flags and banners and disqualify their candidates from contesting the May 16 assembly polls.

TNPCB in its counter suggested that plastic manufacturers making flags/banners comply with Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 as amended to prevent plastic waste.

Each plastic flag/plastic banner should be more than 40 microns thickness, carry registration number of the maker as per the amended rules obtained from the respective State Pollution Control Board.

TNPCB also suggested that necessary action be taken against the third party, if plastic flag/banner do not carry registration number and do not conform to the thickness of 40 microns and it be removed immediately.

After the poll, all flags/banners should be collected by local bodies and handed over to the respective collection centre/recyclers in their vicinity for proper cleaning and for further scientific disposal.

TNPCB made it clear that local bodies shall ensure that open burning of plastic waste does not take place.

The bench also recorded the statement of the Election Commission that it needs two weeks to issue necessary advise to all authorities concerned as the issue is not confined only to the current state elections in Tamil Nadu but even in the other states also to issue comprehensive directions and closed the PIL.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to amend the RTI Act for fixing time limit for disposal of appeals by the Central Information Commission and state information panels.

The plea has been filed by an RTI activist against an order of the Allahabad High Court, passed on October 5, 2015, dismissing his appeal on the issue.

RTI activist Rakesh Kumar Tewari, in his appeal filed through lawyer Shiv Kumar Tripathi, also sought a direction to various authorities in Uttar Pradesh "to supply the information as sought by the petitioner without putting conditions..."



He sought information related to the departments of Sarju Nahar Khand at Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

The plea alleged that there was rampant corruption in the departments of Sarju Nahar Kendra, Gonda.

It said that the petitioner needed information under the RTI "for exposing acts of omissions and commissions of the officials of concerned departments".

It also claimed that "information is being deliberately not supplied with oblique motives to protect the corrupt activities being carried on in department against the public interest and for the illegal and corrupt practice being adopted for the personal gain against the interest of the department."



"All these has precipitated due to the inherent lacuna in the Right to Information Act, 2005 which does not prescribed any time limit within a fixed time without which the object and purpose for which the Act was enacted has become futile," the petition said, seeking a direction for the amendment in the transparency law.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today condemned the terror attacks in Ivory Coast and Turkey and said his thoughts are with the families of the deceased.

"Condemn the attacks in Ivory Coast & Ankara. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. May those injured recover quickly," he tweeted.

Gunmen stormed three hotels in the sleepy resort of Grand-Bassam, popular with expats, around 40 km east of the commercial hub Abidjan in Ivory Coast, killing 16 people.

In Turkish capital Ankara, a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square, killing at least 36 people and wounding 125, officials said.
Maharashtra government will begin implementation of the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from April 1, the Legislative Council was told today.

Replying to a debate on a question raised by Narendra Patil (NCP), state's Revenue minister Eknath Khadse said that compensation worth Rs 2,000 crore, which include 45 per cent share of Centre and state government and 10 per cent by farmers, will be disbursed.

"This measure will incur an additional burden of Rs 200 crore on the state exchequer," he said.

Replying to supplementary queries, Khadse blamed the meager compensation given earlier for select crops to flawed compensation norms decided by the previous Congress-NCP government, which evoked strong reactions from the Opposition.

Khadse said that in the crop insurance compensation scheme, the Centre has now included all types of crops.

"Damages to crops in post harvesting, cutting and harvesting, storm, unseasonal rains, flooding of fields, landslides and hailstorms have been included in the norms for granting compensation under the scheme," he said.

He further said the premium share for the farmers has been reduced so as to give enhanced compensation to more farmers.

Earlier, replying to the debate, Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Shinde assured the House that action shall be taken against those Revenue officials in western Maharashtra, who, without making field visits, prepared reports of no damage being reported in their respective region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the concluding session of a three-day international seminar on universal message of Simhastha (Kumbh) mela on May 14 in Ujjain district.

"International seminar on universal message of Simhastha will be held at village Ninaura in Ujjain district from May 12 to 14," an official release said today.

The seminar will be inaugurated by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and Swami Avdheshanandji. The second day's sessions will be graced by Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev and Swami Ramdev while the Prime Minister will chair the concluding session, it said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed preparations for the seminar yesterday and gave directions to complete all arrangements for the prestigious events within the specified time limit.

He said that an exhibition focusing on evolution of ancient Indian culture and development of Madhya Pradesh should be put up at the venue of the seminar.

Ambassadors of all countries in India should be invited to the seminar. A reception committee comprising local public representatives should be constituted, he directed.

Scholars on various subjects from the country and abroad are likely to attend the seminar.

The responsibility of holding the seminar has been entrusted with Indore district administration.

Jan-Abhiyan Parishad will coordinate regarding programme venue and a dedicated website of seminar is being developed.

Various parallel sessions will be held during the seminar on agriculture, cottage industry, Beti Bachao Abhiyan and women empowerment, global warming and climate change, science and spiritualism and Swachchhata Abhiyan.

The month-long Simhastha Mela will be held in Ujjain from April 22 to May 21.
Poland has accused Russia of downing a Polish presidential jet in 2010 in what it called an act of "terrorism," sparking an immediate retort today from Moscow.

"We can say that we were the first great victim of the terrorism we now see playing out before our eyes," Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, according to a transcript released today of a weekend university lecture.

The crash killed then president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other mostly senior officials in what is regarded as Poland's worst peacetime disaster.

He was the twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party that swept back to power in October after eight years in opposition.

The minister also alleged the crash was orchestrated in reaction to Poland's 2009 request to define as "genocide" the World War II Soviet massacre of Polish officers in Russia's western Katyn forest.

"There is no doubt about the fact that what happened ... was meant to deprive Poland of a leadership that was moving our nation toward independence," Macierewicz added.

Moscow responded immediately to the minister's allegations, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling them "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with real circumstances of this plane crash."



A member of the Civic Platform opposition party, Rafal Trzaskowski, also dismissed Macierewicz's allegations as "terrifying".

"If the defence minister in some way accuses a state of terrorism, we can only be terrified, because one does not leave acts of terrorism without a response," the former deputy foreign minister told reporters.

In February, the PiS government launched a fresh probe into the crash, arguing that key facts pointing to "Russia's responsibility" were "hidden" during a previous investigation.

Right-wing politicians have long insisted the crash was no accident, even though both Polish and Russian investigators found pilot error, bad weather and poor air traffic control to blame.

The crash occurred as a Polish state delegation was en route to memorial ceremonies in Russia's Katyn forest for thousands of Polish army officers killed by the Soviet secret police in 1940, a massacre the Kremlin denied until 1990.

Nearly one quarter of Poles believe the air crash was an assassination, according to a poll last year.

The rest blamed other factors, including 37 per cent who thought the pilots were pressured to land despite heavy fog.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra has appointed Prof Sanjeev Jain as the new Vice Chancellor of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra.

Prof Jain, who is Director of Madhav Institute of Technology and Science (MITS), Gwalior, is likely to take charge tomorrow, an official spokesperson said here today.

Prof Jain has been appointed Vice Chancellor for a period of three years with effect from the date he takes over the charge, he said.

He was selected by a Committee headed by Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Union government.

Prof Jain, born at Vidisha in MP in 1967, obtained post graduate degree in computer science and engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in 1992.

He has over 24 years experience in teaching and research and served as the Director of MITS since May 2010.

Jain has also made significant contribution to research and development in Image Processing and Mobile Adhoc Network.

His work on digital watermarking for image authentication is highly valued in the research field.

Under his leadership, MITS was selected for a World Bank assistance in 2012 with a grant of Rs 10 crore for its development.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have requested their state governments to immediately order special 'Girdawari' for assessing crop loss caused by heavy rains accompanied by hailstorm and strong winds.

They have also demanded minimum compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for heavy crop loss to the affected farmers.

"We request the Punjab government to order special girdawari in order to assess crop loss in the state due to widespread rains," Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), General Secretary Sukhdev Singh said today.

He said farmers have suffered massive crop damage in various parts of the state because of untimely rains and hailstorm.

BKU (Haryana) President Gurnam Singh said, "We also demand a special Girdawari by Haryana government and payment of compensation to growers,"



Widespread rains in Punjab and Haryana have flattened Rabi crops especially wheat, mustard, and also vegetables raising fear of hitting yield.

Areas which have been affected are Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Abohar, Muktsar, Sangrur, Moga in Punjab and Bhiwani, Nirwana, Sirsa, Fatehabad in Haryana, farmers said.

Lodging refers to the term used to describe crop falling flat on the ground due to heavy rain and winds which causes yield loss in crop.

"Farmers who are already debt ridden are not able to bear the financial loss caused by the inclement weather conditions," Sukhdev Singh said.

BKU demanded that affected farmers be given compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre.

"The government should not wait for any protest to be held by farmers before ordering crop loss assessment and provide some relief to them immediately," he said.

Experts said untimely rains accompanied by hailstorm and strong winds in Punjab and Haryana will hit wheat crop which is to be harvested next month.

Farm experts also warned of attack of fungal disease stripe rust or yellow rust on wheat crop because of conducive weather conditions and advised farmers to monitor the crop regularly to prevent any damage from disease.
Russian President has ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria, voicing hope that the move will contribute to the success of Syria peace talks that began today.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries, the president said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," Putin said.

He didn't specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn.

He emphasized that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate.

The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on today, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."



The Russian- and US-brokered cease-fire that began on February 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire.

Putin said today's move would send a "good signal" to the parties to the conflict, help raise trust and help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks.

The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad.

Putin added that the Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the Russian- and US-brokered cease-fire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy, in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year tomorrow.

At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The Geneva talks come as the truce helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in 'besieged areas' - zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has been issued a notice by the Ethics Committee of Parliament chaired BJP veteran L K Advani seeking his response on allegations related to declaration of his citizenship in the UK.

"We will deal with it," Gandhi said today to queries by reporters while the Congress reacted sharply, accusing the government of trying to divert attention from pressing issues facing the country.

In the first week of January, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had forwarded to the Ethics Committee the complaint of BJP MP Maheish Girri requesting for "appropriate inquiry" into party colleague Subramanian Swamy's allegations that Gandhi had declared himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country.

"The Ethics Committee has issued a show cause notice asking him (Rahul Gandhi) how he showed his citizenship as British when he was in London and became a Director...," Arjun Ram Meghwal, one of the committee members, told reporters outside Parliament today.

Swamy had also approached the Speaker in this regard. Girri, who is an MP from East Delhi, had earlier maintained that it was necessary that people should get to know the reality in this issue and requested the Speaker to initiate an appropriate inquiry.

In a statement, he had also said then that many "contradictory" facts against Gandhi had come up and there was "a big mystery" over his citizenship.

After referring the matter to the Ethics Committee, the Speaker had then said that whenever an MP sends a complaint to the Speaker, it is referred to the committee as per rules.

Swamy, a former MP, had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last November raising questions over Gandhi's citizenship.

Hitting back, Gandhi had accused the PM of indulging in mudslinging through his "cronies" and dared the government to probe the allegations against him and send him to jail if found guilty.

Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury today alleged that the government was trying to divert attention from the "various crises" being faced by the country.

Party leader Digvijaya Singh said that the complaint did not deserve attention. "A person who is born in India and whose grandmother and father have been Prime Ministers of India, can that person be a citizen of some other country. The Ethics Committee should dismiss it," he said



The Supreme Court had in November last year rejected a plea seeking a CBI inquiry into the allegations against Gandhi and questioned the "authenticity of the document" attached with the PIL and the manner in which the papers were procured.
Hours after Rahul Gandhi asked the government to take urgent steps to help farmers hit by rains and hailstorm, the government today assured necessary action after getting reports from the affected states.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that reports from states about damage to crops by heavy rains and hailstorm this weekend are expected in 3-4 days.

The government would take necessary action after getting reports from the states, Singh said, adding that he has already spoken to the Agriculture Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

He also said that necessary help would be extended after assessing the extent of damages in different areas.

Singh said around 264 villages have been affected by hailstorms and heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh.

Rains and hailstorm lashed several parts of North India including Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana over the weekend and early this morning.

According to reports, rains have flattened wheat, mustard and coriander crops in the states.

"Our team is ready and we will take (necessary) action" after getting the reports, he told the Lower House hours after the Congress Vice President raised the issue.

The Minister also said the government has decided to extend funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the Union Territories. Delhi would also be eligible to get funds under it, he added.

As soon as the House met for the day, Gandhi raised the issue and said "crops have been damaged... The government should take immediate action." He urged the Centre to send a team to assess the damage and demanded a statement by the Minister in the House.

The Congress leader said the Centre should hasten the provision of relief to the affected farmers and, unlike the last time, the assistance should not reach late.

As the House took up Zero Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected notices of adjournment given by Gandhi and some other members on the issue.

When Gandhi raised the issue in the morning, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said he has spoken with the Agriculture Minister on the "serious" issue, who is in touch with state governments.
Rains lashed vast swathes of Punjab and Haryana for the fourth consecutive day today, leaving farmers worried about the wheat crop which was set to be harvested next month.

Mohali, Ropar, Jalandhar, Moga, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab were among other places to be lashed by rains besides Chanidgarh.

In Haryana, rains lashed Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, among other places.

According to the MeT, the maximum temperature hovered several notches below normal as the region has been receiving showers for the past few days.

The unseasonal rains, which have been accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm at some places in Punjab and Haryana during the past few days, are considered harmful for wheat and other crops.
Gujarat's famous Ambaji temple today received 1.354 kg of gold worth Rs 37.91 lakh in donation towards adornment of the idol of the goddess.

"A Rajkot-based devotee and his family donated 1.354 gold. It was in the form of two golden hands of goddess Ambaji and the idol was decorated with these hands," said Mahendra Agrawal, Temple Administrator of Shree Aarasuri Ambaji Mata Devasthanam Trust in Banaskantha district.

The same family had donated 1.25 kg of gold for making golden umbrella over the idol in the past, he added.

The temple authorities said they are withholding the name of the donor as per his request.
Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena chief Amit Jani today claimed he received threats from a person "associated with Hurriyat Conference" for speaking against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.

He said he has written to the Delhi Police Commissioner in this regard.

Amit said, he had earlier warned JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya to leave Delhi by March 31 and also planned to hold a 'mahapanchayat' at Jantar Mantar on March 27.

"During my Delhi trip on Saturday and Sunday, a person, who said he was speaking from Dubai and is associated with Hurriyat Conference, called me and said I'd be bombed if I did anything against Kanhaiya on March 27 or any other day," he said.
Republican presidential aspirants and in particular front-runner Donald Trump have been using inflammatory and divisive comments to advance their campaign agenda, the White House said today.

"There's no denying that one of the reasons there's so much energy at these events is that you have an aspiring political leader inflaming tensions and appealing to peoples' darker impulses and trying to capitalise on their anxieties to provide energy to his campaign," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his dailynews conference.

"And that is certainly not the approach that President Obama has taken throughout his campaigns and the president certainly does not believe that that is a tactic that political leaders in this country should support," he said.

Asked about the campaigning style of Trump, Earnest said he thinks a lot of this is about "some political candidates" engaging in a strategy to sow political divisions for their own benefit.

"Some of that does have policy implications and some of that does have relate to some of the ill-advised and divisive policy prescriptions that we've seen from some of the candidates," he said.

Referring to Republican presidential candidates call to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, Earnest said it does only further deepen and sow divisions and inflame anxieties and tensions that some Americans have.

"We have seen a number of candidates for president on the Republican side of the aisle making inflammatory, divisive comments to try to advance their campaign. And that's something that you've heard me on a number of occasions speak out against," Earnest said.

The White House remarks came after Trump accused Barack Obama of being a divisive president.

"I've been saying for a long period of time that he's the most divisive President maybe that we've ever had," Trump told the CNN.

"He had an opportunity to bring the country together. And whether it's white and black, or so many other did different forms of division, the fact is he's been the most divisive president I think we've ever had. I would be a total unity president," Trump claimed.

The 69-year-old real estate tycoon said he would do a great job for the African-American population in the country.

"I think that what's happened over the last seven years and soon to be eight years for African-Americans is really a shame and really disgraceful. I think the President of the United States should be ashamed of the job that he's done for African-Americans in our country," he said.

Earnest said prominent Republicans continue to line up and pledge support to Trump if he is the party nominee.

"And for the life of me, I just don't understand how they do that. It makes it a little hard to take seriously their hand wringing about his divisive rhetoric and the kinds of messages that he's delivering in the context of his political rallies," he said.
Brazil's leftist President Dilma Rousseff huddled with cabinet ministers today after mass demonstrations calling for her resignation pushed Latin America's biggest country further into crisis.

Rousseff made no comment after her meeting in the capital Brasilia, but in the wake of yesterday's protests, she is fighting for her political life.

Between one and three million people flooded the streets of Sao Paulo, Rio, Brasilia and some 400 other cities, according to conflicting data.

Turnout in Sao Paulo was estimated at 500,000 by the research center Datafolha and 1.4 million by the Sao Paulo military police.

The figures surpassed estimates by either organisation in previous opposition demonstrations.

Protesters said they were fed up with the country's worst recession in 25 years, a massive corruption scandal unfolding at state oil company Petrobras and the government's complete inability to pass laws in Congress.

The historic rebuff on the streets left Rousseff few options as another grueling week started, with Congress geared up to relaunch stalled impeachment proceedings.

An attempt to impeach the country's first female president began last year but fizzled out on technicalities.

On Wednesday or Thursday, the Supreme Court is expected to set out the rules, opening the door for Rousseff's many enemies in the legislature to ramp up the pressure.

In parallel to the political assault against Rousseff, her mentor and predecessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, faces money laundering charges related to the Petrobras probe.

Prosecutors indicate that his legal troubles are only just beginning, and there has been a request to a judge that he be put into preventative detention.

For Rousseff, this threatens a key ally.

Lula, who founded the ruling Workers' Party and was president from 2003-2010, is far more popular than Rousseff and gives her much of her credibility with the left-wing base.

Lula, who denies charges that he failed to declare ownership of a luxury seaside apartment, defiantly says that prosecutors have only spurred him into deciding on a comeback attempt as president when Rousseff's second term ends in 2018.

"I am an old man who was trying to rest," Lula, 70, told police 10 days ago when he was briefly detained for questioning in the Petrobras probe.

"I will be a candidate for the presidency in 2018, because I think a lot of the people who've been on my back will be getting the same treatment from me from now on," he said, according to a transcript released today.
Russia opposes imposing sanctions on Iran over recent ballistic missile tests that Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations said today were not in violation of a UN resolution.

Asked whether the Security Council should impose penalties on Iran, Vitaly Churkin said: "The clear and short answer is no."



The council met today at the request of the United States to discuss the missile tests that US Ambassador Samantha Power has said were "provocative and destabilising."



But Churkin said Iran was not in violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal reached between Western powers and Tehran.

That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Tehran maintains that the latest missile tests, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability.

Britain said it will ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to prepare a report on the missile launches to make a determination on whether there was a violation of resolution 2231.

"We judge that Iran is in blatant disregard of Resolution 2231," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft ahead of the meeting held behind closed doors.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "we are worried, because we are in a case of non-compliance with 2231."



The United States slapped sanctions on Iran in January over its ballistic missile program, even as the world hailed the implementation of the historic nuclear deal.

But Russia's stance as a veto-wielding member of the council all but ruled out the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran.

Power said Iranian military leaders had claimed that the missiles were designed to be a direct threat to Israel and added: "We condemn such threats against another UN member-state and one of our closest allies."



Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called on the council to take action against Iran, arguing that failure to do so "will give Iran a green light to continue with its nuclear missile tests.
Russia's decision to begin withdrawing from will help Moscow's push to reach a political settlement, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations said today.

"Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on .

"We are in the political mode now, in the cessation of hostilities mode."President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal that will begin tomorrow just as a new round of peace talks got under way in Geneva to try to end the five-year war.

"We think that our forces have operated very effectively," said Churkin.

"Our military presence will continue to be there. It will be directed mostly at making sure that the ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities is maintained," he added.

Russia launched the air strikes in September to root out the Islamic State group that controls part of Syria, but the military campaign mostly propped up Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Churkin declined to specify whether Moscow would halt all air strikes, saying instead that the forces staying behind will enforce the ceasefire that began in late February.

Russia has gained the upper hand in with its military intervention, but diplomats say it remains unclear whether they can impose a settlement on Assad.

Churkin said he would inform the Security Council on Russia's withdrawal plan during a closed-door meeting called to hear UN envoy Staffan de Mistura report on the latest round of talks.

The UN-hosted negotiations in Geneva, which began on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
A senior Saudi royal has criticised President Barack Obama for comments accusing the longtime US ally of feeding Middle East conflicts.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has long been a major ally of the United States but the relationship has deteriorated under Obama.

Riyadh has been especially concerned by US support for Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, fearing its regional rival will be emboldened.

In an opinion piece published in Saudi newspapers, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief and envoy to Washington, lashed out at Obama's recent comments to The Atlantic magazine.

"You accuse us of fomenting sectarian strife in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. You add insult to injury by telling us to share our world with Iran, a country that you describe as a supporter of terrorism," Faisal wrote.

Faisal questioned whether Obama has "pivoted to Iran so much that you equate the kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America to an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world".

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Shiite Iran of interference in Arab affairs, particularly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain.

In its April issue, The Atlantic quoted Obama as reproaching the Saudis for trying to influence other Muslim countries, particularly Indonesia, by exporting its fundamentalist version of Islam.

He also said the Saudis need to "share" the Middle East with their Iranian foes.

"The competition between the Saudis and the Iranians -- which has helped to feed proxy wars and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Yemen -- requires us to say to our friends as well as to the Iranians that they need to find an effective way to share the neighbourhood and institute some sort of cold peace," Obama said.

As the Obama administration enters its final months, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia "will continue to hold the American people as our ally... Mr. Obama, that is who we are.
Two park rangers and five militiamen were killed in clashes in Africa's oldest wildlife reserve, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park famed for its mountain gorillas, the army said today.

"Two park rangers were killed" on Saturday in a joint attack by the Mai-Mai militia and fighters from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an ethnic Hutu militia based in eastern DRC, Capt. Guillaume Djike, an army spokesman in the region, told AFP.

The army launched a counterattack and "killed five assailants", he said, adding that the militias wanted to set up in the area to carry out "illegal fishing in Lake Edward."



"The search operation is continuing in the region", infested with rebels and armed militias, about 100 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of the turbulent province of Nord-Kivu.

A statement from park authorities said the two rangers were captured by the rebels "before being summarily executed". A third ranger is missing, it said.

"Four ranger positions on the shores of Lake Edward in the Central Sector were attacked by Mai-Mai militia over the weekend", the statement said.

"The coordinated attacks were carried out by over 120 rebels, beginning in the early hours of Saturday morning.

It is believed this number represents a new coalition of Mai Mai rebels specifically targeting Virunga's rangers."



A total of 150 rangers have now been killed in the past decade in Virunga, the park's director Emmanuel de Merode was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Despite the wide progress we make here in many areas, we cannot sustain these kind of losses in what is still the most dangerous conservation job in the world", he said.

Opened in 1925, during Belgian colonial rule, Virunga National Park is home to several threatened species, including its emblematic mountain gorillas.

The 7,800-square-kilometre UNESCO world heritage site, which borders Rwanda and Uganda, reopened to tourists last year after being closed for two years because of militia violence in the region.

The two eastern Kivu provinces, North and South, have been chronically unstable since two wars wracked the vast country between 1996 and 2003, drawing in armies from neighbouring and southern African countries, who fought in part over access to vast mineral wealth.
Nine persons, including six women, were arrested for their alleged involvement in a sex racket here, police said today.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Yadav raided a flat in DLF Colony near Delhi-UP border in Loni town on Saturday night and busted the sex racket.

The nine persons have been booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act.

Superintendent of police (rural) Rakesh Pandey said the accused were produced in district court which sent them to jail.
In a major breakthrough, self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, has been arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

Kartik Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh yesterday in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police and brought here today, a senior official said.

Besides murdering the three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four other persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against the jailed religious leader in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, said J K Bhatt, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) and in-charge IG of ATS.

During interrogation, Haldar told officials he had been instructed by other 'sadhaks' (followers) of Asaram to kill these witnesses so as to weaken the cases against the controversial preacher, ATS said in a statement.

Haldar, a sharp shooter and henchman of the self-styled godman, also told the police he was funded by some of the sadhaks of Asaram's ashrams located in various parts of the country, it stated.

He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, ATS said.

Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot. The doctor was vocal about Asaram's misdeeds and also became a witness in the rape case, filed by one of the two victim sisters here three years back.

Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013. He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to CBI.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP. Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a transporter whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.

Apart from these killings, Haldar was also involved in



four cases of attempt to murder, including firing on Asaram's former personal assistant Mahendra Chawla in June last year at Panipat in Haryana.

Among other attacks, Haldar fired eight rounds on the warden of Asaram's Chhindwada-based ashram Omprakash Prajapati and his wife Seema, stated the release.

To execute his sinister plans, Haldar had acquired 10 country-made pistols and 94 cartridges from various arms dealers in Jharkhand and UP, it said.

Haldar, a native of South 24 Pargana district in West Bengal, first came in contact with Asaram's preachings in 2000 when he attended his religious discourse in New Delhi.

A year later, he left his household responsibilities and became a full-time sadhak and started living at Asaram's ashram at Motera near Ahmedabad, added the release.
A 34-year-old Singaporean blogger ordered to pay USD 109,000 in damages to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for defaming him today struck a deal to make payments in instalments over the span of 17 years.

Roy Ngerng, a former health care coordinator at a hospital here, had written a blogpost in May 2014 allegedly accusing him of misappropriating state pension funds.

On December 17 last year, the Supreme Court ordered Ngerng to pay 150,000 Singaporean dollars (USD 109,000) in damages to Lee, 64, for defamation. This comprises 100,000 dollars in general damages and 50,000 dollars in aggravated damages.

Now he will pay 100 dollars a month for five years and 1,000 dollars a month subsequently in damages awarded to Lee for defamation until the full sum of 150,000 dollars is paid.

These instalments will start from April 1, 2016.

In addition, Ngerng will have to pay 30,000 dollars by Wednesday for the costs of the Assessment of Damages hearing.

If he pays all the instalments on time, Ngerng will complete paying by 2033, according to a report by the Channel Asia today.

Ngerng will not have to pay any interest if he makes his payments on time.

However, if he breaches the agreement - such as by failing to make any one of the payments on time - the full amount outstanding plus Court Judgment interest will be immediately payable.

Ngerng had initially asked to be let off the remainder after paying 36,000 dollars. But this was rejected by the prime minister, who agreed to the payment in instalments.

Prime Minister had said Ngerng had to discharge the entire debt, but would be allowed to pay it in instalments, provided that costs were paid immediately.

In an email, Ngerng's lawyer E Thuraisingam said that on behalf of Ngerng they had agreed with Lee's lawyers on terms to settle the costs payable for the assessment hearing and the terms of payment of the SGD150,000 late last week.

Ngerng's guilty verdict was the first such ruling in Singapore over a purely online article.

Singapore has consistently ranked as one of the world's least corrupt countries, but rights groups accuse its leaders of usinf defamation suits to silence critics.
Singapore's parliament today voted to ban the display of cigarettes in a bid to further curb the habit in a nation which already has one of the world's lowest smoking rates.

From 2017, merchants must keep tobacco out of sight and not display any advertisement of it, according to the the new regulations.

Singapore joins countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK in banning cigarette displays in stores.

Legislators also voted to ban all forms of cigarette advertising, including online ads.

Electronic-cigarettes, as well as vapers, are also not allowed to be displayed, said Amy Khor, the city-state's Senior Minister of State for Health who moved the tobacco bill in parliament.

"Though we are fortunate that smoking prevalence in Singapore has remained relatively low compared to many other countries, we must not be complacent," she said.

"We also know the industry aggressively markets their products to young people, so as to hook them from an early age. As such, we must step up our efforts to protect the public from the advertising effects of tobacco."



She noted that the smoking rate was brought to an all-time low of 12.6 percent in 2004, but that it slowly crept up to 13.3 percent in 2013.

Singapore has some of the lowest smoking rates in the world due to a combination of measures, including high nicotine taxes, a ban on print and broadcast advertising and strict laws prohibiting lighting up in most parts of the city.
The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money will monitor the probe into the alleged over Rs 1,000-crore scam in export of high-quality Basmati rice to Iran which was fraudulently diverted mid-sea to Dubai.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which has unearthed the scam, has shared relevant details of the case with the SIT, which will monitor the agency's probe, official sources said.

With this, the DRI will have to share its probe details periodically with the SIT during the review meetings, they said.

The SIT, which is headed by former Supreme Court judge M B Shah, is responsible for investigating cases of black money stashed abroad through coordination of various members from Reserve Bank of India, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial Intelligence Unit, Research and Analysis Wing and DRI.

According to the probe being done by the DRI, over two lakh metric tonnes of Basmati rice was illegally offloaded in Dubai in the last over a year instead of in Bandar Abbas in Iran, official sources said.

Over 25 big exporters from Haryana and Punjab are under the scanner of DRI and other agencies for their involvement in the multi-crore scam. Both the DRI and SIT have referred the case for probe by ED also, they said.

Explaining the modus operandi, the sources claimed the rice would be taken to Gujarat's Kandla Port by these exporters.They would then file Shipping Bills--documents filed withcustoms authorities carrying details of goods to be exported, consignor and consignee--for export to Iran, the sources said.

Instead of the consignment reaching Iranian shores, it would be diverted mid-sea to Dubai allegedly with connivance of cargo ship operators carrying the goods.

Surprisingly, payments were also made from Iran to these exporters in India. Importers and port officials would allegedly acknowledge the receipt of rice and allow payment to be made against it here, they said.

What is worrying for intelligence agencies here is that they do not know the end-use of rice off-loaded in Dubai. They suspect use of rice as barter system to fund some illegal activity like terror financing, the sources said.

While India lost foreign exchange which it could have got from Dubai in case of genuine trade, Iran was also deprived of customs duty it would have been entitled to if rice was delivered at its shore, they said.

The authorities suspect the proceeds of the scam assumed the form of black money.
Sex workers living in the Sonagachi red light area, Asia's largest, are now seeking inspiration from an Irish lady who left the trade for want of a dignified life and her son's future.

As a homeless 15-year-old girl, Rachel Moran had no choice when she was thrown into a brothel in North Dublin city. Seven years later she came out of the dirty business to give a better future to her 4-year-old son who had no one to call father.

Moran had also became a drug addict but is now a journalist, author and anti-trafficking activist.

During a recent visit to the city, she interacted with women from the Munshiganj and Sonagachi red light areas of the city.

"It doesn't matter whether I am speaking to a black woman in the USA or indigenous woman in Canada or a white woman from one of the European countries. They all have the same story that they got into prostitution because they had no other viable choice. That is absolutely universal even in India of course," the 40-year-old told PTI.

Activist Ruchira Gupta, founder of Apne Aap Women Worldwide NGO, who accompanied her said the women were overwhelmed and deeply inspired by her courage to leave the trade.

"The women who met her during the visit were very curious to know, that how could she get rid of her addiction," Gupta said.

Moran said her love for her child played the most crucial



part for her and helped her recover completely.

"Many survivors agreed with her. They have the same kind of love and concern for their own children," Gupta said.

Moran, who has written her autobiography "Paid for: My Journey Through Prostitution", said she knew that if she didn't go out of the trade that time she would lose her son because she couldn't maintain the routine of a school-going child.

"I was taking massive amount of cocaine. My system was overloaded due to overdose. It was a do or die moment in life and there was no support. But I decided to move out to study journalism and got a job later," she said.

In Indian brothels too, many of them are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

"It is the easiest way to escape pain and emotional suffering," Gupta said, adding that there are instances of sex workers having left the sex trade in India as well.

"Apne Aap (NGO) survivors have done that. 'Apne Aap Ten Assets' approach helps a survivor over a period of time to gain self-confidence and link her to various government schemes and services which reduces her dependency (practical and emotional) on the brothel system," she said.
Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor has replaced Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the brand ambassador for a leading jewellery company.

Sonam will take the place of Aishwarya, who had been associated Kalyan Jewellers for three years. Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya continue to be the ambassadors for the leading jewellery chain.

Sonam, 30, will endorse Kalyan's exquisite range of gold and diamond jewellery.

"We would like to thank Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for augmenting the product propositions of brand Kalyan over the last 3 years and helping Kalyan establish itself as a leading national brand.

"We welcome Sonam Kapoor and are confident that her status as a style icon and popularity will strengthen future product campaigns of Kalyan Jewellers," Ramesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Marketing and Operations, said in a statement here.

The company's other brand ambassadors are Nagarjuna, Prabhu, Shivaraj Kumar and Manju Warrier.
An FIR has been lodged against three persons, including a Chief Medical Superintendent for alleged negligence in connection with the death of SP MLA Haji Irfan following a road accident here last week.

Irfan, who represented Bilari Assembly seat, was on his way to attend the marriage of son of senior cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav in Saifai in Etawah district when his vehicle overturned and fell into a ditch on Thursday.

The legislator later succumbed to his injuries.

His family has alleged negligence in providing him treatment.

Yesterday, Faheem, son of Irfan met Additional Superintendent of Police and Additional District Magistrate and gave an application against the senior doctors accusing them of murder.

"Faheem gave an application against doctor on emergency duty Rajesh Verma, CMS Shashi Kumar Srivastava and one other," ASP Anil Kumar Yadav said.

On Faheem's complaint, an FIR under section 304 of IPC (culpable murder) has been lodged at Sadar police station last night, the ASP said



Earlier, district Magistrate Shambhunath had ordered a magisterial inquiry, and directed ADM Ashok Kumar Srivastava to submit his probe report within 15 days.

The DM had said that after a complaint was received in connection with death of the MLA in Moradabad, he conducted a surprise inspection of the Badaun hospital and inquired about the process of admission of critical patients.

Shambhunath said he received complaints that the MLA was administered "injections containing steroid, which led to internal bleeding".

He said the cylinder present in the ambulance allegedly did not have oxygen and life saving drugs were missing.

Opposition BJP had attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, saying his "tall claims" of better health and ambulance services in the state have been exposed by the incident.
A fight for control of the Starwood hotel chain is under way following a USD 14 billion buyout offer today from a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group.

Anbang, which remains largely unknown to most Americans, has quickly positioned itself to become a player in the US hotel industry, acquiring marquee properties.

It made a splash in the fall of 2014 when it bought New York's Waldorf Astoria for almost USD 2 billion. And just days ago, it cut a USD 6.5 billion deal for Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., which owns tony properties like The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, JW Marriott Essex House in New York and Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Strategic also owned five different Four Seasons hotels, two Ritz Carltons and six other luxury properties.

Now it is going toe-to-toe with US hotel giant Marriott International Inc., which said late last year that it would buy Starwood, the owner of Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis hotels, in a deal worth USD 12.2 billion. That acquisition would create the world's largest hotel chain with 5,500 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms around the world.

Such scale would give the combined company pricing power when negotiating commissions with online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline, as well as help it land more corporate travel contracts.

The next-largest hotel company is Hilton Worldwide with 4,500 properties and about 735,000 rooms.

Starwood essentially put itself up for sale last April. The company has struggled to grow as fast as its rivals, particularly in "limited service hotels," smaller properties which don't have restaurants or banquet halls.

They are often located on the side of the highway, near airports or in suburban office parks. The deal with Marriott would help fill in many of those blank spots on the map where Marriott often has its Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands.

However, outside the US Starwood has been very active in growing its brand, especially in luxury hotels and in untapped markets such as China, India and the Middle East. For instance, after New York, the city with the most Starwood hotels is Dubai.

Marriott and Starwood - like other hotel chains - own very few individual hotels. Instead they manage or franchise their brands to hundreds of individual owners, often real estate development companies. Those individual hotel owners are responsible for setting nightly room rates. It isn't uncommon for a developer to own a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton in the same city. That's how Strategic, for instance, owned hotels under the Westin, JW Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and InterContinental brands.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Said today that it still favours the Marriott deal, but that it's looking at the latest bid.
A BJP worker was hacked to death by unidentified assailants here, leading to a bandh marked by stray violence in the city today.

Raju (30) was attacked with machetes and other lethal weapons when he was drinking tea in a roadside stall with his friend yesterday evening. He was rushed to K R Hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said.

Demanding immediate arrest of culprits, BJP called for a Mysuru bandh today. Angry protesters set an autorickshaw afire and stoned a police jeep and several buses, besides forcing closure of shops, police said.

The protesters ransacked several shops in Devaraja Market and deflated tyres of buses during the bandh, forcing police to lathicharge them at two places.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the city.

In Mangaluru, Home Minister G Parameshwara said all steps have been taken to arrest the assailants soon and no political colour should be given to the incident.

State DGP Om Prakash said additional police force, including Karnataka State Reserve Police, had been deployed to maintain law and order and appealed for communal harmony.
A suspected kingpin of a gang allegedly involved in stealing cars across cities was arrested today from suburban Jogeshwari, police said.

Ayub Ali Masum Ali Shaikh, a history-sheeter, was picked up from his house in Vaishali Nagar here by sleuths of the Anti-Motor Vehicle Theft unit of crime branch.

He had been declared as an absconder in at least two different cases by a local court.

Police recovered eight cars, collectively worth around Rs 51 lakh, from various places in the city on the basis of information given by the accused.

Besides, several duplicate keys and various tools used for breaking open locks of high-end cars were seized from the possession of Shaikh, they said.

Shaikh and his gang were allegedly involved in stealing cars in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune, police added.
State Vigilance Commission (SVC) today ordered a probe against the then chief education officer (CEO) over alleged irregularities last year in recruitment of employees in education department of Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Commission has ordered initiation of a departmental enquiry against the then CEO over alleged large-scale bungling and irregularities in recruitment of class-IV employees in Education Department of Budgam in 2015, SVC spokesman said.

"The SVC took cognisance of unfair, injudicious and arbitrary selection of class-IV employees made by the CEO after inviting applications from candidates vide advertisement and the allegations levelled in the complaint that in the said selection process there was favouritism and nepotism shown by members of the Selection Committee," the spokesman said.

Candidates who failed to get shortlisted were later, with connivance of members of selection committee and other officials, shown selected in the final recruitment list, the spokesman said, adding that the exercise puts a question mark on selection procedure.

The spokesman said an initial probe conducted in the matter revealed that there were gross violations of standing orders and norms besides favouritism and abuse of official position by the then CEO, Budgam who adopted arbitrary method for selection of the candidates.

After the initiation of enquiry by the Commission in January last year, the government quashed the selection list on 24th April, 2015, he added.

The SVC has directed Commissioner-Secretary to government, Education Department to initiate enquiry against the then CEO Budgam and others involved and submit the probe report to the Commission by May 19, 2016, the spokesman said.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17 in Nepal.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad that Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines to extend formal invitations to their respective Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit that will be hosted by Pakistan.

When asked about the meeting between the two leaders, sources in New Delhi said, "Aziz had sought a meeting to extend the invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the 19th SAARC Summit and India in all likelihood will go ahead with the meeting." However, they did not divulge what will be the issues that India will discuss.

This will be the second meeting between Swaraj and Aziz after December 9 when the two countries announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD).

Zakaria said that Aziz "will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year."



Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal, a senior Pakistani official said on the condition of anonymity.

Swaraj-Aziz meeting will also provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad.

The Swaraj-Aziz meeting may also discuss the possibility of an interaction between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington where they are scheduled to attend the nuclear security summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama.
Goa government today said the land at Corlim in northern part of the state, where the Switzerland-based Syngenta AG's unit stands, would not be transferred to any hazardous or polluting industry.

State Industries Minister Mahadev Naik told the Legislative Assembly that there was no proposal from Syngenta AG's unit in Goa to transfer the ownership to M/s Deccan Fine Chemicals (India) Pvt Ltd.

The statement comes amid reports that Syngenta is likely to sell its assets as well as the land at Corlim to the Visakhapatnam-based Deccan Fine Chemicals. The local residents are against this proposed move stating that the chemical companies could pose a health hazard.

"We have no intimation from the company management over the transfer of ownership from Syngenta India Ltd to Deccan Fine Chemicals (India) Pvt Ltd. We will take all the necessary precautions to ensure that the plant or land is not transferred to any hazardous or polluting industry," Naik told the House.

The issue was raised by Congress legislator Pandurang Madkaikar, who pointed out that the local residents are against the transfer.

Naik said authorities will examine the request to transfer, if company submits, whether it is in accordance to the law.

Raising the issue, Madkaikar had said the unit is being transferred to a "highly-polluting" industry.

He recalled that the state government had acquired and handed over the land for the industry in 1969 at "cheap" price of 25 paise per square metre.
Since a ceasefire came into force in Syria, the army and its Russian ally have refocused their air power on targeting jihadist factions, a monitoring group said today.

The truce began on February 27 and does not cover the fight against jihadist groups like Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

"In agreement with Russia, the Syrian regime is focusing its capabilities on frontlines with the jihadists," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

"In the fortnight before the truce, warplanes staged some 3,000 strikes and barrel bomb attacks in opposition-held areas. That number has gone down to some 325 since February 27," Abdel Rahman said.

"By contrast, the number of air strikes against jihadist areas has soared," he added.

Overnight Sunday to today, Syrian warplanes and helicopters pounded IS-held areas around the ancient city of Palmyra in the east of the country, the Observatory said.

Fighting raged in the area, pitting IS against army troops backed by pro-Damascus militia, the Britain-based group said, adding that at least six jihadists were killed.

IS seized Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Pearl of the Desert", last May, sending shockwaves across the world.

"The regime is trying to take back Palmyra. But troops can't advance quickly because the area is exposed, and IS could easily stage ambushes there," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"So they need to go slowly," he said.

Meanwhile in the coastal province of Latakia, army troops and loyalist militia led by Russian officers battled Al-Nusra fighters allied to non-jihadist rebel factions, said the Observatory.

"It is very hard to implement the ceasefire in areas where Al-Nusra is fighting alongside rebel groups, because it is impossible to track who exactly is honouring the ceasefire there," Abdel Rahman said.

"At the same time, the regime side will use Al-Nusra's presence as a justification to keep fighting."



In Latakia, the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect and home to the Hmeimim Russian airbase, the army and its allies are trying to retake the strategic Kabbaneh hilltop near Turkey, the Observatory said.

Kabbaneh is the rebels' last strategic hilltop in the western province.

Elsewhere, the army hit the Marj area near Damascus, where Al-Nusra is also the main fighting force, with several missiles, as clashes raged.

Civilians caught in the fighting are still paying the highest price, however.

"The regime is threatening to besiege Deir al-Assafir and other areas near Marj, which are home to some 2,500 families," Abdel Rahman said.
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a neighbour at Misharpura village near here, police said today.

The girl has lodged a complaint with police that she was alone at her home last evening after her mother and sister had left for Gurudwara when Ranjit Singh alias Rana (21) entered the house and raped her.

Her physically challenged brother, who was there, scuffled with the accused and she raised an alarm, but he fled from the spot, police said.

After the medical examination of the girl confirmed rape,a case was registered.

The accused was arrested today, they added.
The 2016-17 Budget presented in Telangana Assembly today by Finance Minister E Rajender would pave the way for rapid progress of the fledgling State, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said.

The Finance Minister maintained a balance by giving appropriate importance to all the sectors, Rao said.

He hailed allocation of more funds for irrigation and welfare, according to a release from the CMO.

The Budget proposals would pave the way for rapid development of the state, which came into existence in June 2014, he said.

Meanwhile, State Congress President N Uttam Kumar Reddy said budget is "highly disappointing" for almost all sections of society.

Even flagship schemes of the TRS government have not been allocated adequate funds, claimed Reddy, who is also an MLA.

It was strange the state government was not willing to waive the remaining dues under farm loan waiver scheme while boasting of having a heavy budget of Rs 1.30 lakh crore, the Congress leader said.
TERI University has signed a pact with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to spread knowledge and skills for environmental conservation and support the learning of sustainable practices.

"TERI University has signed a Small-Scale Funding Agreement (SSFA) with UNEP... Which targets national and regional policy frameworks in South Asia to enhance their potential to implement Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) practices and transition to a greener economy," a TERI University statement said.

The agreement has been signed under the EU-funded SWITCH- Asia Regional Policy Support programme, it said.

The programme aims to support learning vis-a-vis sustainable practices and disseminate knowledge and skills for environmental conservation, resource efficiency and sustainable development among different stakeholders in South Asia, it said.

Towards that end, a five-day BLISS (Building Learning in Sustainability Science) school on the theme of 'Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns' is being organised at TERI University from April 18-22.

BLISS School 2016 follows the success of TERI University's BLISS Winter School held in November 2015 on the theme, 'SDG12-Ensuring Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns'.

"The upcoming BLISS School 2016 will address thematic areas like the challenges and opportunities for SCP at the national and South Asian regional level, etc," said Shaleen Singhal, Head, Department of Policy Studies at TERI University.

He added that it will also provide participants with an in-depth look at the current SCP practices on SCP in South Asia and foster innovation in practical environmental-friendly design.
Thailand's junta leader ordered the army today to strengthen security in Muslim-majority southern provinces following a recent surge in violence by insurgents.

The order came after a particularly fraught night of skirmishes, with militants launching several small-scale but coordinated attacks on authorities throughout Sunday evening. Seven officials were injured.

"The government cannot accept actions above the law," junta spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkumnerd told reporters, adding that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha has ordered the military to increase security in populated areas.

Special security laws govern the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces, where more than 6,500 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed in a 12-year revolt.

The insurgents are seeking greater autonomy from majority-Buddhist Thailand, which annexed the culturally distinct region more than a century ago.

The rebels employ brutal tactics including shootings, beheadings and bombings, often targeting perceived civilian collaborators such as teachers and even Buddhist monks.

But the Thai military also stands accused of routinely abusing human rights including torture and extra-judicial killings. The junta's vow to hold peace talks has borne little fruit.

After months of relative calm that saw violence dip to a record low last year, there has been a palpable increase in attacks over the past few weeks.

On Wednesday two soldiers were killed in a remotely detonated roadside bomb attack. The same day a Muslim man was found shot dead in his car and another was shot and injured.

The week before, four people were shot dead in a 24-hour period including a Buddhist rubber tapper whose corpse was set alight.

Rights groups say peace is unlikely while a tight security net remains over the region. Critics also cast doubt on the army's sincerity and the ability of their rebel interlocutors to control the revolt's foot soldiers.
Three Afghan migrants, including a pregnant woman, drowned in a river swelled by heavy rain as they tried to cross into Macedonia from Greece early today, officials said.

Another 19 Afghans who tried to cross with them were taken to a nearby reception centre by Macedonian authorities and four, who were injured, were taken to hospital, said Natalija Spirova Kordic, a spokeswoman for the interior ministry.

The spokeswoman said among the three who drowned were a pregnant woman, her teenage sister, and one man. Earlier she had said the victims were two men and one woman.

"Three migrants from Afghanistan drowned in the waters of the Suva Reka at about 3:30 AM after illegally crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near village of Moin," said a statement from Macedonia's crisis management centre.

More than 14,000 people are stuck on the Greek side of the border in an overcrowded camp at Idomeni after the main migrant route to western Europe through the Balkans was effectively shut down last week.

Later today, about 1,000 of them set off on foot towards Macedonia in search of an alternative route into the country, an AFP reporter saw, adding that the group was quickly surrounded by Greek police.

The group marched from the Idomeni camp to the nearby village of Chamilo, close to the sealed frontier with Macedonia.

There was no immediate sign of any police across the border.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, has described the Idomeni camp as "human misery at its peak".

The deaths came after several days of heavy rain in the border area which has led officials to instigate anti-flooding measures.
Three West Bengal ministers,



some MPs and MLAs allegedly accepted bribes from a fictitious import-export company, according to a portal "sting" operation but the TMC dismissed the video tape as "doctored".

The portal, Narada News, released the tape of the operation which it claimed to have conducted over the last two years, at a conference here today, just a month ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The tape purportedly shows the ministers and legislators accepting cash said to be around Rs. 5 lakh each in return for favours such as lobbying for a fictitious company 'Impex Consultancy'. A journalist from the portal presented himself as a representative of the company to seek help from them.

The TMC was quick to dismiss the tapes as "doctored" and said the "dirty tricks departments" of its political opponents were behind the "smear campaign".

In a video statement, TMC MP Derek O Brien said that the party has seen the video which he described as a "smear" campaign against the party. He threatened to sue the portal for defamation.

"We are completely transparent. (Chief Minister) Mamatadi's credentials are impeccable. The people of Bengal know. We are busy with elections now. So whoever has concocted this smear campaign, please go ahead and concoct your smear campaign or your doctored video.

"Where these videos came from, who doctored these videos will now be put to (test) in a defamation case. We are not bothered. This is a smear campaign. Our political opponents know they cannot defeat us politically so they create a cheap tricks department, a dirty tricks department," he said.

The journalist Mathew Samuel of the news portal, who led the team that conducted the "sting", termed the release of the video ahead of the state polls as a "mere coincidence". He said he had no political backing.
As political heat rises in Tamil Nadu ahead of the May 16 Assembly election, DMK chief M Karunanidhi today called for a meeting of district secretaries on March 21 to deliberate party's preparedness for the polls.

Poll-related issues including campaign strategies, views of party functionaries over constituencies that may be taken up for allocation to its key partner Congress are likely to be discussed in the meeting.

Also, issues like coordination for effectively bringing up alleged violations of model code of conduct to the attention of election authorities are likely to be covered, the party said in a statement.

The crucial meeting of district secretaries comes against the background of DMDK choosing to stay away from DMK to chart its own course at the hustings.

After the stunner from DMDK, DMK has speeded up its poll related activities and also began formalising support to it from smaller outfits.

For the second day today, DMK treasurer M K Stalin met leaders of such outfits at party headquarters Anna Arivalayam.

Today, 27 outfits, including Republican Party of India (A) pledged support to the DMK combine.

Yesterday, 19 other outfits had called on him to express support.
Hillary Clinton has accused controversial real estate tycoon Donald Trump of "trafficking in hate and fear" and claimed that foreign leaders are calling her to express their support in order to stop the Republican frontrunner from entering the White House.

"I think all Americans should be concerned. It's clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another," Clinton said ahead of tomorrow's primaries.

"He is trafficking in hate and fear. He is playing to our worst instincts rather than our angels of our better nature," Clinton said in response to a question.

Clinton said Trump incites violence in his audience.

"He actually incites violence in the way that he urges his audience on, you know, now talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills, and then on the specifics, you know, we know that he has been incredibly bigoted toward so many groups, he talks about deporting eleven, twelve million immigrants-we're a nation built on immigrants-he talks about preventing Muslims from coming into our country-we believe in religious freedom," she said.

"There's just so much of what he's doing that I think we all have to reject. Because it is so at odds with our values. You don't make America great by tearing down everything that made America great and so let's stand up and with one voice and reject that," Clinton said.

In response to another question, Clinton claimed foreign leaders are ready to endorse her to stop Trump.

"I am already receiving messages from leaders. I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump," she said.

She did not name any foreign leaders, but did said the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has endorsed her publicly.

Clinton said she didn't want to "spill the beans right now, but suffice it to say, there are many arguments that we can use against him."



"But one argument that I am uniquely qualified to bring, because of my service as secretary of State, is what [Trump's] presidency would mean to our country and our standing in the world," she said.

Earlier Clinton's sole Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders called Trump a pathological liar.
Turkey lashed out today at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital drew the country even deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong indications" that yesterday's attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people.

DNA tests were underway to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

"There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organization," Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK.

The attack further complicated Turkey's place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for three decades.

A fragile, 2 and 1/2-year peace process broke down in July.

Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against IS in the city of Kobani and elsewhere.

The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS.

Yesterday's attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a February 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

"All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war," said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute.

"Ankara's ill-executed Syria policy ... Has exposed Turkey to great risks."



Bill Park, a lecturer on Turkish foreign policy and security at King's College London, said Ankara's aggression toward the Kurds in Syria has angered Kurds inside Turkey and inspired attacks.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that the evidence so far pointed to Kurdish rebels being behind a deadly suicide car bombing in Ankara.

"There are very serious, almost certain findings that point to the separatist terrorist organisation," Davutoglu told reporters after visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, in reference to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Davutoglu said that of the 37 people killed in the blast, 35 had been identified as victims, one was confirmed as an attacker and one was believed to have been helping the attacker.

Eleven suspects have so far been detained over the bombing, he added.

"Wherever the terrorist organisation is backed into a corner and confronted with a serious security operation, it carries out such attacks directly targeting civilians in order to drag people into despair," he said.

"It is not the first time it has happened," he said, adding that the attacks including the latest one clearly revealed the "ugly face of the terrorist organisation".

He vowed that Turkey would "take any step required to defend this country" and said the army carried out a "very comprehensive operation" in northern Iraq targeting PKK bases, as well as rebels in the Kurdish-majority southeast.

Turkey has in recent months waged an all-out assault on the PKK, which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.

After the collapse of a fragile truce, deadly clashes resumed last year between security forces and rebels in the southeast.
Turkey today held four suspects over a suicide car bombing that killed at least 36 people in Ankara, as warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq over the attack, the capital's third in five months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the city last evening, wounding more than 120 people.

But Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Turkish official told AFP today.

Turkish police detained four people near the Syrian frontier today, state-run Anatolia agency reported, acting on a tip-off that the car used in the bombing had been bought in Sanliurfa, a Kurdish-dominated town some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.

Dogan agency for its part said six people had been arrested.

The fact that extremists were able to strike again in the heart of the capital, so close to many sensitive buildings and so soon after February's attack will raise questions about Turkey's ability to deal with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

Hours after the attack, Turkish fighter bombers hit PKK arms depots and shelters in mountainous northern Iraq, the army said, quoted by Anatolia.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu today gave a new toll of 37 from yesterday's blast targeting a bus stop, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two. The first funerals for the victims were held today.

The military said the PKK targets were hit "with precision", with a rebel spokesman confirming the strikes.

Yesterday's attack bore similarities to another suicide car bombing on a convoy of military buses which killed 29 people in Ankara on February 17.

That attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, as revenge for Turkish military operations in the southeast. The TAK warned of more attacks to come, including on tourist areas.

The PKK, classed as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies, launched a bloody insurgency in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had "concrete information" on the group behind yesterday's attack, saying results from the inquiry would be made public soon.
Turkish warplanes pounded Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq today, the day after a suicide car bomb tore through downtown Ankara killing at least 36 people, in the third attack on the capital in five months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest carnage, which reduced cars and buses to charred hulks on a busy road in the heart of the city, wounding more than 120 people.

But Ankara believes one of the bombers was a woman who had ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, a Turkish official told AFP today.

Hours after the attack, Turkish F-16 and F-4 fighter bombers hit arms depots and shelters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the mountainous Kandil and Gara regions in northern Iraq, the army said, quoted by the state-run Anatolia agency.

The strikes came as the government announced three more deaths overnight from Sunday's huge explosion at a bus stop near a busy square in central Ankara.

"As of this morning... We lost three more citizens in hospital," Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said in televised comments.

He gave an overall toll of 37, but said this included at least one attacker and possibly two.

By today morning, the area was locked down under heavy security, with armed police standing guard and forensic experts picking through the scene.

The military said the PKK targets were hit "with precision", with a spokesman for the rebels confirming the strikes and saying that so far, there was no clear picture of the damage caused.

Yesterday's attack bore similarities to another suicide car bombing in Ankara on February 17 which targeted military personnel and killed 29 people.

That attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, which said it was revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey had "concrete information" on the group behind the attack, saying results from inquiry would be made public soon.

"One attacker is believed to be a woman with links to the PKK," a Turkish official told AFP on Monday, without giving further details.

Officials say yesterday's attackers deliberately targeted the bus stop, which is close to Kizilay square, a bustling commercial area and local transport hub near the parliament, prime minister's office and foreign embassies.
An Italian father and son who lived in Zimbabwe were shot dead by a wildlife ranger while on an anti-poaching patrol in an apparent case of mistaken identity, a safari industry representative said today.

The two were killed in the Mana Pools national park in northern Zimbabwe yesterday.

"Claudio Chiarelli, who was an accomplished professional hunter who brought European tourists to Zimbabwe, was accidentally shot with his son and they both died," Emmanuel Fundira, head of the Safari Operators Association, told AFP.

"Claudio and some colleagues were on a trip with a parks anti-poaching unit when a ranger came from nowhere and shot at them while they were standing outside their vehicle.

"We understand it was a case of mistaken identity."



Fundira said private individuals regularly assist Zimbabwean parks department's anti-poaching activities by providing logistical support for patrols.

An Italian embassy official, who declined to be named, said the Chiarelli, reportedly from Padua, had lived in Zimbabwe since 1982 and that his son was born in the country.

Italian media reports said Chiarelli was 50, and identified his son as 20-year-old Massimiliano.

"We can confirm it happened yesterday at Mana Pools national park but we are not aware of the exact details," said the official.

"We are in contact with the family. It's a tragedy. The loss of a father and a son, and also for Zimbabwe for the bad publicity it will generate."



The government parks department and police said they were investigating the incident.
Thousands of Bangladeshi villagers clashed today with members of a minority Islamic group who are often regarded with suspicion, leaving two dead people and scores injured, an official said.

Villagers rallied in the southern coastal district of Noakhali to demand a halt to construction of a local Hizbut Tauhid mosque, executive magistrate M Nikaruzzaman told AFP.

"As the clashes spread, some 5,000 villagers attacked hundreds of followers of Hizbut Tauhid with sticks and rocks. Two people were killed and some 60 people were injured. The villagers also torched two homes of Hizbut Tauhid members," he said.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary officers sent to the scene fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the rampaging villagers to try to halt the violence, police said.

Hizbut Tauhid (HT), founded by the scion of a centuries-old aristocratic family, has won tens of thousands of converts in Muslim-majority Bangladesh in recent years by calling on them to follow a purer form of Islam.

But the government has banned one of HT's books, which had enraging mainstream groups by calling on Muslims to shun conventional forms of Islam.

In recent years, police have arrested hundreds of HT members for holding closed-door meetings which they considered suspicious, as Bangladesh reels from rising Islamist violence.

However the group, whom many mainstream Muslims call deviant, says it rejects all forms of violence.
Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed today in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.

In a statement on the UAE's official WAM agency, the Emirati armed forces had said the jet was "missing" without giving details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since the Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.

Coalition warplanes turned their crosshairs on Yemen's second city Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, for the first time last week.

Security officials and witnesses in Aden told AFP that a jet had crashed into a nearby mountain on Monday as coalition warplanes operated in the vicinity after clashes erupted between Yemeni forces and jihadists.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the conflict between Iran-backed insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local IS commander at dawn, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.

Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting today, security officials said.

"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machine gunfire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden's Mansura district, one witness said.

Security sources estimate that around 300 heavily armed Al-Qaeda fighters are entrenched in Mansura.

The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.

In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error."



The pilot was saved and the plane's wreckage was found.

In May, a Moroccan jet crashed in Yemen. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, and it denied rebel claims that they downed the plane.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

In Yemen itself, more than 6,100 people have died -- half of them civilians -- since the coalition launched its campaign, according to the United Nations.
Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed today in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.
An Emirati fighter jet taking part in operations against Iran-backed rebels in has gone missing, the United Arab Emirates said today.

"The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces announced today that a fighter jet taking part in the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia... In was missing," said a statement on the official WAM news agency.
UK's climate change envoy David King will embark on a three-day visit to India from tomorrow to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in energy and climate change sectors.

During his visit, David, will meet with Indian officials and business leaders, besides speaking at the opening of the India Smart Grid Forum Week as well as the 9th FICCI India Climate Policy and Business Conclave.

"I am delighted to be returning to India so soon after the signing of the historic climate change agreement in Paris. I will be meeting with stakeholders to take forward the India-UK partnership on energy and climate,"David said on the eve of his visit.

"India and the UK are working to provide secure, affordable and sustainable energy for our citizens. Working together we can achieve this in a way that is good for our economies and good for the Government," the 76-year-oldenergy and environment expert said.

David is expected to meet British and Indian businesses to discuss commercial opportunities in clean energy and low carbon technology.

He will also inaugurate the UK Trade and Investment stand at the India Smart Grid Forum Week where six British companies from the field of Smart Grids are showcasing their innovations.

Appointed as permanent Special Representative for Climate Change in September 2013, David was previously the UK government's Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000 to 2007.

He was instrumental in creating the Energy Technologies Institute and has also served as the Founding Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford.
A man whose body was found on an isolated moor - and whose identity has stumped detectives - died from strychnine poisoning, British police said today.

The Greater Manchester Police force said toxicology tests revealed the presence of the substance, a common rat poison, and "the cause of death is provisionally strychnine poisoning."



The body also contained reserpine, a blood pressure drug whose use has been linked to depression.

Police say they don't yet know if the drug was connected to the man's death.

The force said that at this stage police are not treating the death as suspicious.

Police have searched the world for clues to the identity of the neatly dressed man, aged about 70, who was captured by security cameras traveling by train from London to Manchester on December 11.

Witnesses later saw him at a pub outside the city.

The next day, his body was found on a path leading to a rocky outcrop called Indian's Head on Saddleworth Moor.

In his pockets were return train tickets and USD 186 - but no ID. There were no signs of violence.

Police have scoured missing persons reports stretching back decades, and have investigated whether there is a link between the man and the 1949 crash near the same spot of a British European Airways DC-3 in which 24 people died.

Eight people survived, including two children.

Police recently disclosed that the dead man had a titanium plate in his left femur, fitted in Pakistan between 2001 and 2015. They hope tracing it could reveal his identity.
UK Special Representative on Climate Change Sir David King will arrive here tomorrow to hold discussions with various stakeholders in India to take forward the partnership between the two countries on clean energy and climate.

King, who will be India from March 15-17, will also inaugurate the UK Trade and Investment stand at the India Smart Grid Forum Week where six British companies from the field of smart grids are showcasing their innovations.

He will also meet British and Indian businesses to discuss commercial opportunities in clean energy and low carbon technology.

"I am delighted to be returning to India so soon after the signing of the historic climate change agreement in Paris. I will be meeting with stakeholders to take forward the India-UK partnership on energy and climate.

"India and the UK are working to provide secure, affordable and sustainable energy for our citizens. Working together we can achieve this in a way that is good for our economies and good for the environment," he said in a statement issued by the British High Commission.

He will address the inaugural session of the India Smart Grid Week on March 16.

He will also speak at the 9th FICCI India Climate Policy and Business Conclave - 'Innovative Instruments to Mobilise Climate Finance' on March 15 and at the launch event of the Solar Rooftop Policy Coalition report titled 'Unleashing private investment in rooftop solar in India' on March 17, the statement added.

A landmark climate change deal was clinched in December last year in Paris, after tough negotiations with the legally- binding pact seeking to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and committing USD 100 billion a year from 2020 to help developing nations.
BJP today held protests at several places here against the Election Department over alleged discrepancies in the voter lists for urban local body polls.

Jammu West District President Ayodhya Gupta said it was unfortunate that party activists had to take to the streets against the election authorities as the voter lists had a number of "discrepancies" which would deprive genuine voters of exercising their constitutional right.

Gupta said the lists do not have the names of even those voters who have been voting for decades.
More than 80 per cent of Syria's children have been harmed by the country's conflict, including growing numbers of those who were forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty, the UN children's agency said today, on the fifth anniversary of the crisis.

Peter Salama, the agency's regional chief, called on donor countries to make good on money pledges made at a Syria aid conference in London last month. His agency, UNICEF, seeks USD 1.16 billion for 2016 to help Syria's children, including close to 3 million who are not in school.

The agency has so far received only 6 percent of the amount it seeks for this year. Salama said it would make more sense for donors to provide the funds early on and enable more effective, longer-term planning.

"Let's stop the suffering now, let's ensure that they (Syria's children) have a future, and they see that they have a future," Salama told The Associated Press. "We have an opportunity still to save this generation."



Salama spoke as the U.N. Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, reconvened indirect talks in Geneva between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition groups trying to topple his government. The talks resumed after a fragile, partial cease-fire took hold on Feb. 27.

The Syria conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad that quickly escalated into civil war. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed. Almost half the pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced, including more than 4.8 million who fled their homeland.

UNICEF said the conflict has affected more than 80 percent of Syria's children, including 7 million who now live in poverty. This has led to growing numbers of children leaving school to work, marrying young or joining armed groups, as a way of supporting their families financially, the agency said. In refugee camps in Jordan, one-third of marriages involve girls under the age of 18 triple what it was in 2011.

Armed groups are recruiting more children and younger children. More than half the UNICEF-verified cases of children recruited in 2015 were younger than 15, compared to 20 percent in 2014, the report said.

The agency said it was able to confirm 354 cases of recruitment in 2015, compared to 278 in 2014.

"We now face a new and disturbing era, a new and disturbing set of patterns of violations against children's rights that pushes the frontiers of brutality, even during times of war," Salama told a conference.

The agency verified some 1,500 cases of grave attacks on children in 2015, with 400 children who were killed and 500 wo were maimed, many in or near school. Salama said that this is "the tip of the iceberg."



"In short, no place today is safe for Syria's children," he said.
The US Chamber of Commerce's intellectual property (IP) index does not provide a composite view, Parliament was informed today.

India has been ranked at 37 out of 38 countries on this index.

"The intellectual property index is prepared keeping the interest of its members. It does not provide a composite view," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

She said the US Chamber of Commerce is a business federation representing companies, business associations, state and local chambers in the US and the American Chambers of Commerce abroad.

"The IP rights indicators used are selective and hence not a true reflection of the state of IPR protection and innovation in India," she noted.

The minister added that India has a robust IPR regime fully compliant with global norms.
Amid increasing rhetoric around Muslims in the US, an Olympian was asked to remove her hijab for a photo on her ID badge by the staff at a cultural event in Texas, following which the organisers apologised to her.

Ibtihaj Muhammad, an Olympian fencer, was picking up an identification badge at the interactive Texas festival South by Southwest (SXSW) event on Saturday when a volunteer told her she must take off her hijab before her photograph could be taken.

"Even after I explained it was for religious reasons, he insisted I had to remove my hijab," she said on Twitter.

Muhammad, 30, the fencing star will become one of the most prominent Muslim athletes in US history wearing a hijab during 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics beginning in August.

"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge. This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologised to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident," SXSW organisers said yesterday in a statement.

The 23rd annual 5-day SXSW Interactive Festival began on March 11 in Austin.

The incident comes at a time when the rhetoric around Muslims in the US has grown increasingly toxic.

Muhammad has become an outspoken critic of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims from entering the US.

"I feel like I owe it to people who look like me to speak out," she told reporters.

After the incident was resolved at the event, Muhammad said that she was issued the wrong identification.

"I was given the wrong ID! From now on my name is Tamir & I work for Time Warner Inc" she tweeted.
NCP today described senior party leader Chhagan Bhujbal's arrest as "vendetta politics" by BJP, and said there was no need to arrest him as he was cooperating with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"This is vendetta politics by BJP. There was no need to arrest him as he was cooperating with ED," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told PTI.

"ED could have filed the charge sheet even without the arrest. This shows the mindset of the BJP regime... NCP stands firmly behind Bhujbal," he said.

Senior NCP leaders rushed to the official residence of Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde as of Bhujbal's arrest broke.

Meanwhile, AAP said it is relieved that truth has prevailed through the courts of India.

AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said, on 26 August 2013 the Aam Aadmi Party had filed complaints with detailed proof that Bhujbal, in his tenure as PWD Minister, awarded contracts to builders and then received kickbacks.

"We gave detailed proof of every transaction in nine different cases, where kickbacks were received and money was laundered. None of the state agencies acted on our complaint, so we forced to file a PIL in the Bombay High Court. On 18 December 2014 Chief Justice Mohit Shah appointed an SIT comprising the Anti Corruption Bureau and Enforcement Directorate.

"Time and again the court reprimanded the BJP-controlled ACB to act, but it continued to go in slow mode. Finally, the ED acted on HC's direction and first arrested Sameer Bhujbal and now Chhagan Bhujbal. Please note that they have been arrested under section 19 (1) of the PMLA Act - a money laundering charge and not on Maharashtra Sadan complaint filed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya," she said.

"The AAP is relieved that truth has prevailed and will continue to fight and expose corruption by the Congress, BJP, and their cronies," the AAP spokesperson said.

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya said, "At last Chhagan Bhujbal has been arrested! Now it is the turn of irrigation scam's Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare to follow Bhujbal."



Social activist Anjali Damania said she was very happy that her efforts of four years against Bhujbal's alleged corruption has been paid off.
Hundreds of people from coastal villages of this island staged a demonstration here today while standing in knee-deep sea water to protest the arrest of 28 fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and demanding their immediate release.

They also demanded the release of boats seized by the Lankan Navy personnel.

The fishermen were arrested yesterday on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and fishing in Sri Lankan territory.

Addressing the agitators, President of the Country Boat Fishermen Association Arul claimed that the fishermen were arrested while fishing in the traditional waters and had not used any banned fishing nets.

"They have lost their livelihood due to the atrocities of Sri Lankan Navy personnel. This should be stopped", he said.
A police spokesman in Puerto Rico says a man has been shot to death outside a fast food restaurant, bringing to 10 the number of people killed during a violent weekend in the US territory.

Police spokesman Jose Rivera said the man was killed about 11 am yesterday at a shopping center in the municipality of Aguadillo in the territory's extreme west. Authorities are investigating the circumstances of the slaying.

According to police statistics, that killing raises to 126 the number of slayings this year in Puerto Rico, which has a population of 3.7 million.

Other weekend slayings include two men left dead after an early morning shootout at a bar in the southern community of Ponce. All of those killed over the weekend were men who were shot.
Immigrants feel uncomfortable and scared after the sudden rise of Donald Trump on the national political stage, an Indian-American doctor-cum-poet has said, adding that he wants to stop the controversial real estate tycoon from entering the White House.

Amit Majumdar, a radiologist based in Dublin, yesterday expressed his anxiety and that of the immigrant community before the two Democratic presidential candidates - Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

"If Donald Trump secures the Republican nomination, I am going to have one mission heading to the ballot box, which is to keep him from taking office," Majumdar said.

A democrat member with leanings towards Clinton, Majumdar was in January appointed the first Poet Laureate of Ohio by state governor John Kasich, who is among the four Republican presidential candidates in the race now.

He has published two novels, Partitions in 2009 and The Abundance in 2011.

"I'm a son of immigrants. My parents, both citizens now, have done very well in this great country, and so have I," he told senator Sanders during a CNN-organised townhall in Ohio.

"But as a one per cent ethnic and religious minority, witnessing the rise of Donald Trump, for the first time, my family has started feeling a little uncomfortable here, and frankly, a little bit scared," Majumdar said.

An hour later, he posed a similar question to Clinton.

"If Donald Trump secures the Republican nomination, I'm going to have one mission heading to the ballot box, which is to keep him out of office. So my question to you is which Democratic candidate is going to be best at helping me do that, not just offering the easy condemnations, but actually being able to defeat him?" he asked.

"Leaving aside the negative rhetoric and attack ads, none of which have worked so far, can you share with us three specific points of your anti-Trump game plan?" he asked.

In response, Clinton said she is the only one who can defeat Trump as she has got 600,000 more votes than Trump during the primaries so far.

"I am building a broad-based, inclusive campaign that I think is the best way to defeat, by convincing people that this really is the highest stakes election they have ever been involved in, and they have got to, whether they have ever voted before or not, to come out and vote against Donald Trump and for me," Clinton said.

"I feel I am the best-prepared and ready candidate to take him on," she said amid applause from the audience.

However, Sanders claimed he is the "strongest" Democratic candidate "to beat" Trump.

"Because I do have more votes than everybody, anybody, I believe that I have been developing the base that is going to give me the chance to do that," he said.

"The way you beat Trump is to expose him... And, he can be exposed at many, many levels, not the least of which this is a guy who is a billionaire but doesn't think we should raise the minimum wage about USD 7.25 above an hour," he said.
US-based WGI Emerging Markets Smaller Companies Fund today acquired 1.37 per cent stake in engineering conglomerate Crompton Greaves for Rs 128 crore through an open market transaction.

According to bulk deal data available with NSE, WGI bought 86,22,451 shares, or 1.37 per cent stake, in Crompton Greaves (CG).

The shares were bought at an average price of Rs 148.38 per scrip, totalling at Rs 127.93 crore.

Meanwhile, JPMSL A/C Copthall Mauritius Investment offloaded 0.94 per cent stake in Crompton Greaves for Rs 87.86 crore.

Reacting sharply to the transactions, shares of the Avantha Group firm today climbed 6.63 per cent to end at Rs 156.10 on NSE. The stock jumped 9.28 per cent to Rs 160 in intra-day trade.

The proposed demerger plan of the firm's consumer products business will come into effect from tomorrow.

Last year, Crompton Greaves' Board approved demerger of its consumer products business into a separate listed company, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd (CGCEL).

The company had said that CGCEL will apply for listing its shares on BSE and NSE.

Last week, Crompton Greaves had also announced to sell its transmission and distribution (T&D) business outside India to a US private equity (PE) fund, First Reserve International, for an enterprise value of euro 115 million (about Rs 851 crore).

The company had said that the sale will enable it to reduce debt and focus on growing its India business.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi today said he will request the Supreme Court to ask liquor baron Vijay Mallya to appear before it, if required.

"The Supreme Court has not yet asked Mallya to appear in person but we will request the apex court to ask him to be present in person...

"If he (Mallya) is not coming back and we are unable to proceed with the matter further, we can then initiate the proceedings like revoking the passport and all. If revocation doesn't work, we can initiate extradition process with the UK," Rohatgi said about the Mallya's case while talking to a private TV channel.

The Attorney General said power to arrest does not mean that every offender has to be arrested and it was only a mechanism to ensure that investigation does not get hampered.

"It is not imperative that the person must be arrested or detained in every criminal case. That is not the law. Merely because you have the power to arrest, it does not mean that you can arrest everyone. Arrest is only to see that their investigation is not affected...

"Banks are not government of India. They are only public sector enterprises who are interested in getting their money back. They have been running from pillar to post for last two to three years, hundreds of hearing have been held in various Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT), over a dozen times they have gone to the High Court up and down and many adjournments," Rohatgi said.

On the issue of delay by banks in approaching the apex court, he said the banks approached the court after a long process of petitioning DRTs and High Court and again DRTs and the whole process took nearly seven days.

The AG was talking about the plea of 13 banks, led by SBI, which had moved the Supreme court for restraining Mallya, who owes them over Rs 9,000 crore, from leaving the country.

Mallya, who was said to be in London, had given an interview to a newspaper in which he was quoted as saying that he doesn't feel that it's the right time to come back to India.

Mallya, however, today said in a tweet, "I have not given any statement to anyone.
Country's third largest software services firm Wipro today said it has invested an undisclosed sum in US-based Emailage Corporation.

"Wipro has made a strategic investment in and signed a partnership with Emailage Corporation, a fast growing risk assessment and fruad prevention company," Wipro said in a filing to the BSE.

This investment is in line with Wipro's strategy to participate in the external innovation ecosystem, for which the company has set up Wipro Ventures, it added.

"This investment is not a material event as per Regulation 30 and Part A of Schedule III of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements), 2015 and does not trigger the disclosure obligations and is being sent to the Stock Exchanges for information," the filing said.

Emails sent to Wipro seeking details of the transaction remained unanswered.

Wipro Ventures is the strategic investment arm of Wipro, which invests in early- to mid-stage start-ups.

It is a USD 100 million fund that leverages the global reach and scale of Wipro with the speed and innovation of start-ups to deliver disruptive products and services to Fortune 500 customers.

It invests in areas like Open Source, Big Data and Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Digital, the Internet of Things and Security.

Based in Arizona, Emailage has offices in Brazil and the UK. It works with Fortune 500 financial institutions, merchants, businesses and organizations globally.
A 42-year-old woman was injured after she was hit by a tear gas shell canister when the police tried to disperse a mob which had blocked the arterial Imphal-Jiribam national highway in Senapati district, a police official said today.

The blockade, put yesterday by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), was continuing today.

JAC Members converged at Namthanjang in Senapati district yesterday blocking movement of goods trucks carrying essential supplies for the land-locked state, the official said.

Police used teargas shells to enforce a passage for the trucks coming from Jiribam side of Western Manipur, he said.

The injured woman, Hoikim Hokip, was rushed to RIIMS hospital and is reportedly out of danger.

The blockade along the national highway was put to protest against the arrest recently of three Church functionaries of the village by security personnel, the chairman of JAC T Kamei said.
Rejecting RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion for infusing patriotism, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said he will not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife is put to his throat, prompting Shiv Sena to tell him on Monday that he should go to Pakistan.

Owaisi's assertion days after Bhagwat said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India drew sharp condemnation from RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena while he stood by his statement made at a public rally.

"I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said at the rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district in Maharashtra yesterday.

"I won't utter that (slogan) even if you put a knife to my throat," Owaisi said, amid loud applause from the crowd.

"Nowhere in the Constitution it says that one should say: 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'," he said.

On March 3, Bhagwat had said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India, comments which came against the backdrop of the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering on the JNU campus.

"Now the time has come when we have to tell the new generation to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' (hail mother India). It should be real, spontaneous and part of all-round development of the youth," the RSS chief had said.

Asked by reporters to comment on the condemnation of his statement, Owaisi said he stood by it, asserting there is no violation of any law or Constitution in what he said.

"Whom is he(Bhagwat) trying to frighten? He can't force his ideology on others," he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and minister Ramdas Kadam said Owaisi should go to Pakistan if he doesn't want to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

"I have asked Maharashtra government to take action against him," Kadam said.

BJP leader and Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the local administration will examine Owaisi's statement and the government will then take appropriate action.

Ratan Sharda, author and RSS ideologue, accused Owaisi of playing on feelings and asked, "If you say I love my mother then what is the problem."



BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh also accused Owaisi of trying to provoke nationalist sentiments, describing his statement as "highly condemnable".

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said statements like that made by Owaisi should be "completely avoided".

Interestingly, Samajwadi Party MLA in Mumbai Abu Azmi said Owaisi should say 'Bharat Mata ki jai', but added that "parties like BJP and Shiv Sena are indulging in over the issue".
A motion of no-confidence, moved by Opposition YSR Congress, against the 21-month-old Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP-BJP coalition government in Andhra Pradesh was comprehensively defeated by a voice vote amid acrimonious scenes in the Legislative Assembly late tonight.

It was a disastrousshow in the 175-member House by the lone Opposition party as it faced a spirited onslaught from the Treasury benches as Leader of Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was pushed into a tight corner after he made certain disparaging remarks against the judiciary.

He also levelled a series of allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his government, provoking the TDP-BJP combine to tear into the YSRC chief and put him in the dock.

"Jagan's uncalled for remarks on the judiciary are a blot on the Legislative Assembly. A culprit who is facing numerous criminal charges and facing courts is casting aspersions on the judicial system. I have not seen such a leader in 35 years of my political life," Naidu lamented.

Jagan also committed political harakiri by admitting that his party moved the no-confidence motion against the government only to get eight YSRC MLAs, who recently defected to the ruling TDP, disqualified, he said.

"You have lured and purchased eight of our 67 MLAs. You have no guts to make them resign and seek fresh elections. So we moved the no-confidence motion to get them disqualified," Jagan said, and claimed his party had "already issued" a whip to all its members (to vote for the motion).

"They (eight defectors) may have abstained from the House today but they should be disqualified as we have already issued a whip," the Opposition leader said.

The nearly nine-hour-long debate, in which only Jagan spoke on his party's behalf, saw tempers run high in the House as he made certain allegations against the government.

" reports have appeared in 'Sakshi' newspaper," he pointed out, referring to what he called "solar scam", "thermal scam", (capital) "land scam", among others.

"Newspaper reports cannot be evidence. You have to prima facie establish guilt and produce necessary documentary evidence," Legislative Affairs Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said.

Naidu spit fire at the Leader of Opposition for making "wild allegations".

"The House has to punish him if he cannot produce supporting evidence to his allegations. He should also tender an unconditional apology in the first place."



The YSRC chief demanded that the government order a CBI inquiry into the "20 allegations" he made but the Chief Minister turned the demand down.
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Finance Ministry will make a major announcement on Tuesday about the central bank, a ministry spokesman said on Monday, after cyber criminals stole $81 million in one of the largest bank heists in history.

Earlier, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith had told reporters the government planned to make the announcement on Monday.

Muhith did not specify what the statement would say, but has expressed unhappiness that Bangladesh Bank did not inform him about the heist at the time.

Central bank governor Atiur Rahman has been in India since late last week for a conference, and arrived back in Dhaka late on Monday. Rahman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bangladesh's central bank confirmed on Sunday that cyber criminals tried to withdraw $951 million from its U.S. bank account.

Unknown hackers breached the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank and transferred $81 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to casinos in the Philippines between Feb. 4 and Feb. 5.

(Reporting by Serajul Qadir; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
By Sue-Lin Wong

BEIJING (Reuters) - To some it means upgrading China's ubiquitous hole-in-the-wall noodle shops, to others it is manufacturing high-tech toilet seats.

"Supply-side reform" is the buzz phrase at China's annual parliament in Beijing, picking up on an expression introduced by President Xi Jinping in speeches late last year. Analysts say it refers to the scaling back of the role of government in business to allow market forces greater room to flourish, such as through the restructuring of state-owned companies.

But its exact meaning has been left vague, giving room for the thousands of delegates at parliament to come up with their own interpretations, raising the risk of wasteful spending by provincial governments and underlining the difficult task Beijing has in clearly communicating its policies to local governments across the country.

"I think that's always been an issue in China. It's such a big country with so many layers of government - it's a challenge to push the message forward to a local level and make sure implementation is done properly," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics in Singapore.

So-called supply-side reform in the impoverished province of Gansu in northwestern China means officials are pushing hole-in-the-wall vendors of the province's famous Lanzhou beef noodles to invest more in interior design and "connect to the internet" so they can charge more, the official agency Xinhua reported last week.

The noodle shops can become "like KFC and other western fast foods," Xinhua said.

Many officials at soporific delegate meetings said one version of supply-side reform should be getting Chinese manufacturers to reproduce the popular high-tech toilets that Chinese consumers are snapping up in Japan.

Yet others say it as a license for companies to go on an overseas acquisition spree.

"What is supply-side reform? Currently the global economy is struggling, lots of European brands are struggling, why don't we buy them?" Yang Haiyang, an economics professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said at an alumni event in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing in January.

"If Chinese people buy these brands, they turn into Chinese brands. Chanel, LV, Adidas, Nike - let's buy them all."

Similarly, Lei Jun, chief executive of Xiaomi, China's second-biggest smartphone vendor, told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of China's parliament last Saturday that supply-side reform meant getting Chinese companies to make products that can compete with imported goods.

Others have interpreted the term - which originated from an English phrase pioneered by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan to refer to deregulation and tax cuts - as approval for price controls.

Li Li, the head of the Health and Family Planning Commission of Jiangxi province, said controlling how quickly medical fees rise was a classic example of "supply-side reform."

"That's not really the sort of supply-side reforms the central leadership are talking about in the key reports they've put out," said Evans-Pritchard, noting Beijing is more focused on cutting back the role of government in business and greasing the wheels of capitalism.

GOOD INTENTIONS

Every year around 3,000 delegates from across China, representing more than 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, meet in Beijing for the National People's Congress, which lasts around 12 days. It is the one time of the year that the central government has all members of parliament together, so it is an important time for leaders to get their messages out.

This would not be the first time a central government initiative intended to reform and upgrade the Chinese economy turned into over investment by local officials.

China has been battling a glut in solar panels and wind turbines ever since businesses rushed in to take advantage of government subsidies and cheap bank loans after Beijing decided it wanted to be the global leader in renewable energy.

China's government has said it will eliminate entrenched industrial overcapacity, make sure new industries get the capital they need and give freer rein to market forces.

But the government has also said it will prevent mass layoffs, have a controlling hand in state-owned enterprises and continue its accommodative monetary policy.

The country aims to lay off 5-6 million state workers over the next two to three years as part of efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and pollution, sources have told .

Nobody at the annual parliament meeting however, used "supply-side reform" to refer to the need to lay off millions of workers in sunset industries.

The breadth and vagueness of the term may also be seen by delegates, who are chosen for their loyalty to the party and their willingness to publicly praise government policy at the rubber stamp parliament, as a chance for them to showcase their own plans.

To be sure, who is to say that local government interpretation of the phrase is wrong, said economist Dong Tao.

"Nobody has defined it," said Tao, who works for Credit Suisse in Hong Kong. "If we don't know exactly what "supply-side economics" is, how can you say that local governments' definitions are wrong?"

(Additional reporting by Kevin Yao, Xiaoyi Shao and Pete Sweeney; Editing by Neil Fullick)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Coal India's measures to prevent theft by electronically "fencing" mining areas and fitting trucks with a GPS-based tracking system will be finished by the end of April, a government official said.

As much as a fifth of the state-run company's annual output is stolen, costing it up to $1 billion each year and feeding a huge black market in the fuel.

Coal India's modernisation plan, first reported by in January, includes tracking trucks and using Google maps to "fence" mines, which will alert managers if a truck diverts from its route.

India's Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said on Monday that reducing the amount of coal stolen and improving the quality of coal sold were his top priorities.

Coal India, the world's largest miner, wants to nearly double output to 1 billion tonnes by 2020 and as already spent more than half of its targeted budget of 3 billion rupees ($45 million) on an overhaul, a top company source said.

Last year, Coal India unit Mahanadi Coalfields blacklisted third-party contractors of 36 trucks, each carrying up to 17 tonnes of coal, after managers received telephone alerts of route violations that could have led to theft.

Mahanadi has also installed CCTV cameras at shipment sites, hooked up trucks with satellites and fitted them with radio frequency identification tags to automatically transfer data to a control room at the company's headquarters.

($1 = 67.1200 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Alexander Smith)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Delhi High Court on Monday granted U.S. pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer Inc's India unit a stay on a government ban on its popular cough syrup Corex, local television channels reported.

The ban on Pfizer's cough syrup was part of a wider notice issued by the government over the weekend ordering prohibition of the sale and manufacture of 344 combination drugs that a panel of experts found posed a risk to humans.

The next hearing by the Delhi High Court on Pfizer's plea is slated for March 21, TV channels said.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in MUMBAI; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
Daniel Donovan, who worked as an information technology employee in VW's general counsel office since 2008, claims in the suit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan last week that he was fired in December "because of his refusal to participate in a course of action" that would destroy evidence and obstruct justice.

Donovan alleges he was fired because he refused to participate in destroying evidence in ongoing probes of VW by the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency over software that allowed diesel vehicles to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution in real world driving.

Donovan's suit also claims because he was fired because was about to report the destruction of evidence to federal officials.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement Monday the "circumstances of Mr. Donovan's departure were unrelated to the diesel emissions issue. We believe his claim of wrongful termination is without merit."

A lawyer for Donovan, Sam Morgan, declined to comment.

The Justice Department in January sued VW for up to $46 billion for violating U.S. environmental laws and has an ongoing criminal investigation.

Last month, a federal judge set a March 24 deadline for VW to state whether it has found an emissions fix for 600,000 diesel vehicles that is acceptable to U.S. regulators.

VW has been in intensive talks with the Justice Department, EPA and California Air Resource Board in recent weeks and it is unclear if it will be able to find an acceptable fix.

VW has said previously it was considering buybacks as part of a settlement, a move that could cost it billions. It could also offer hefty incentives to prod owners to get their vehicles repaired if regulators approve a fix.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer last month noted that VW had admitted in September to improper emissions. "Six months is long enough" to determine if this is a fixable problem, Breyer said.

VW and its Audi and Porsche brands continue to be barred from selling any new 2016 diesel models in the United States. VW also faces more than 500 lawsuits from U.S. owners and is the subject of similar investigations on emissions around the world.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Alan Crosby)
By Mayank Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hail and rain have damaged ripening wheat, chickpea and rapeseed in India's key farm belts, potentially cutting output and exposing millions of farmers to a fourth crop loss in a row.

Torrential rains at the weekend lashed Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, states which account for the bulk of wheat output in India, the world's biggest producer after China, flattening crops and flooding farms.

Lower crop yields will cut India's wheat output for the second straight year, depleting stocks at state warehouses. Any fall in chickpea and rapeseed production will force New Delhi to step up imports of pulses, or lentils, and vegetable oil.

"It is a little early for us to know the exact extent of the damage but initial reports suggest that wheat production could drop by 5 to 7 percent," R. K. Gupta, chief of state-run Directorate of Wheat Research, told by phone on Monday from the northern city of Karnal, a wheat belt.

If weather conditions remain favourable now, farmers will be able to salvage crops by draining water from their fields, Gupta said.

But the loss could be as high as 7 to 8 percent if hail and heavy rains return, warned Gupta.

The weather office has forecast rains from Wednesday.

Indian farmers sow wheat in October and November, with harvests from end of March and April. Repeated squalls around the same time last year hit output, leaving farmers in penury and driving some to suicide.

After two straight droughts in India, where more than half of farmlands lack irrigation, farmers complain of mounting debts as lower food prices in India and a rout in the global commodity market have eroded incomes.

"After last year's untimely rains, most of us have had a sense of deja vu but our worst fears have come true now. In fact most of us haven't received compensation from the government for the loss that we suffered in February and March last year," said Dharmendra Kumar, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh.

Last month the farm ministry forecast India's 2016 wheat output at 93.82 million tonnes, lower than a 94.75 million tonne target, but higher than last year's 86.53 million tonnes.

A farm ministry official said the government is yet to assess the damage.

(Editing by Alexander Smith)
By Zeba Siddiqui and Aditya Kalra

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc and Abbott Laboratories on Monday said they would comply with a ban on a popular cough syrup in India after it was added to a local list of prohibited drugs, sending shares in the U.S. firms' Indian subsidiaries tumbling.

Pfizer's Corex-brand syrup and Abbott's identical Phensedyl contain the narcotic codeine. That brought them to the attention of authorities combating addiction and smuggling, who had been privately pressuring the drugmakers to better police supply chains, reported last year. (Read that story http://in. .com/article/india-pharma-codeine-exclusive-idINKCN0S72RL20151027)

"We are happy that this will end the misuse of the medicine," said Akun Sabharwal, drugs controller for Telangana, that last year detected an "illegal diversion" of Phensedyl worth about $8.5 million.

Shares of Pfizer Ltd fell as much as 8 percent after the drugmaker said it stopped selling its version of the medicine. Shares of Abbott India Ltd fell as much as 3 percent after the firm said it would comply with the ban.

INDUSTRY SALES HIT

The medicine - a combination of chlorpheniramine maleate and codeine syrup - was among 344 fixed-dose combination drugs that Indian regulators banned at the weekend after a panel of experts found they lacked "therapeutic justification".

Market researcher AIOCD AWACS estimated the total ban could cut sales in the local pharmaceutical industry by up to $522 million, with Pfizer and Abbott among the worst hit.

Pfizer said Corex sales totalled about $26 million in the nine months through December. Abbott's Phensedyl commands around a third of the local cough syrup market and makes up over 3 percent of the company's $1 billion in Indian revenue.

Pfizer said of the ban that it was "exploring all possible options."

OPPI, a lobby group for multinational drugmakers, said regulators had used "a very broad brush" when imposing the ban. The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents Indian drugmakers, said review process was not transparent.

Health ministry bureaucrat K.L. Sharma told on Monday that he disagreed, saying, "We are not prepared to tolerate anything that will affect patients."

COURT BATTLE

The sale of combination drugs requires the approval of central government. However, the 344 listed at the weekend entered the market based only on local approval.

Regulators have made intermittent efforts to prevent drugs reaching the market without central government clearance. They issued an order in 2007 requiring states to recall about 300 combination drugs. Drugmakers challenged the order in court, which put it on hold. (Read details http://reut.rs/1J9azFo)

In 2014, regulators set up a review of combination drugs that had not received central government approval. Regulators have assessed over 6,000 such drugs and asked makers to prove their safety and efficacy.

While it has banned 344, the review process is ongoing, the health ministry's Sharma said.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in MUMBAI and Aditya Kalra in NEW DELHI; Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Christopher Cushing)
The Group said on Monday that it has signed an agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to invest up to $525 million in stressed assets in the country's banking and corporate sectors.

CPPIB and the Indian financial services conglomerate, along with its asset reconstruction arm, Phoenix ARC, plan to invest in asset sales by banks with the aim to restructure, recover and turnaround in distress.

This investment is an important step in CPPIB's strategy to build a diversified credit business and will add to our direct credit investment capabilities in India, stated Adam Vigna, managing director, principal credit investments, CPPIB, in a statement.

Canada's pension fund will have the ability to invest up to $450 million in the partnership, Kotak said in a statement.
By Karolin Schaps

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell around 3 percent on Monday after Iran dashed hopes of a coordinated production freeze any time soon, returning bearish sentiment over a supply glut that has sent prices crashing.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell back below $40 a barrel, trading at $39.27 at 1308 GMT, down $1.12 on Friday's close. Brent hit a 12-year low of $27.10 in January.

U.S. crude was down $1.09 at $37.41 a barrel.

"Oil is down because Iran said they would only join the output freeze group once they reached production of 4 million barrels a day," said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

He was referring to comments by Iran's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh on Sunday that the OPEC member would join discussions after its output reached that level.

Iran's oil exports are due to reach 2 million bpd in the Iranian month that ends on March 19, up from 1.75 million in the previous month, he said.

Zanganeh met Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Tehran on Monday but talks focused on long-running discussions about an oil and gas swap mechanism.

According to the Shana agency, Zanganeh said Iran and Russia could cooperate on the swap, which would see Russia send oil and gas to northern Iran in return for Iranian supply to Russian customers in the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia appeared to have stuck to a preliminary deal with some other producers to freeze output, as its crude production held steady in February at 10.22 million barrels per day (bpd), an industry source told .

OPEC members and non-OPEC producers are likely to meet again in mid-April in Doha to discuss freezing output, OPEC sources told .

A March 20 meeting in Russia, which was part of an earlier plan, now looks unlikely.

Worries about demand fundamentals moved back into the spotlight as investment bank Morgan Stanley warned that a slowing global economy and high production would prevent any sharp rises in oil prices.

"Oil prices now seem to have bottomed, even though they are likely to stay subdued for the rest of this year before starting to move higher in 2017," the U.S. bank said in a research note. It added that cheap oil had not provided the boost to growth that many had hoped for.

In a sign that investors are growing more sceptical about a rebound in oil prices, ICE data showed on Monday that speculators had cut net long positions in Brent crude by 9,500 contracts in the week to March 8.

Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Markets in Oslo, said a roughly 2 million bpd oil surplus would weigh down oil prices in the short term. The imminent restart of a pipeline between Iraq and Turkey and the breakdown in talks about a production freeze would add further downside, he said.

"We are likely to see $35 a barrel before we see $45 a barrel."

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Dale Hudson)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday on concerns that a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to build and Iran maintains little interest in joining major producers in freezing production.

Crude inventories across the United States likely hit record highs for a fifth straight week last week, rising 3.3 million barrels, a poll of analysts said.

Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma grew almost 850,000 barrels to 69.6 million in the week to March 11, bringing storage at the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures to near capacity, traders said, citing market intelligence firm Genscape.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, meanwhile, said global demand for crude from its members, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, will be less than previously thought in 2016 due to competing non-OPEC supply. OPEC supply will likely exceed demand by about 760,000 barrels per day, up from 720,000 bpd it implied earlier.

Russia said OPEC's meeting with other key oil producers on an output freeze will probably be held in Doha in next month. It said Iran supports the plan, while Tehran says it wants to double its crude exports to 4 million bpd first.

"All the data out there is suggesting higher supply and lesser demand for oil, and that could only mean lower prices," said Phillip Streible, market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.

U.S. crude futures settled down $1.32, or 3.4 percent, at $37.18 a barrel, while Brent finished down 86 cents, or 2 percent, at $39.53.

Monday's price slide came after last week's rally of 7 percent in U.S. crude, which was up for a fourth straight week. Brent gained 4 percent last week, up for a third week in a row.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a $25-$45 trading range for U.S. crude in an oversupplied but volatile market, concurring with several analysts' views.

"From a longer-term perspective over the coming four to six weeks, we still anticipate an ultimate crude price decline to the $26-28 area," said Jim Ritterbusch at Chicago energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude for a third week in a row to November highs last week, but cut net long positions in Brent.

"I think we are back to inventory watching and the pressure will start moving to the bulls' positioning as the market will likely have little patience with large net (stockpile) builds," said Scott Shelton, broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and W Simon)
By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Monday on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals, as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to mount and Iran maintains little interest in a global production freeze.

Market intelligence firm Genscape reported an inventory build of 585,854 barrels in Cushing, Oklahoma, taking the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures closer to capacity, traders who saw the data said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said global demand for crude from its members, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, will be less than previously thought in 2016 due to competing non-OPEC supply. OPEC supply will likely exceed demand by about 760,000 barrels per day, up from 720,000 bpd implied earlier, it said.

Russia said OPEC's meeting on a production freeze with other key oil producers like itself will probably be held in Doha in next month. It said Iran supports the plan, although Tehran was keen to restore its crude exports first to pre-sanction levels.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a $25-$45 trading range for U.S. crude in an oversupplied but volatile market, concurring with several analysts' views.

"We feel that the bulk of this stronger than expected 5-6 week price advance has been seen and that prices will be shifting into a near term consolidation phase," said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

U.S. crude was down $1.65, or 4.3 percent, at $36.85 a barrel by 12:18 p.m. EDT (1618 GMT). It hit a three-month high of $39.02 on Friday, surging from a 12-year low of $26.05 a month earlier.

Brent was down $1.20, or 2.9 percent, at $39.19 barrel. The global crude benchmark fell to a 2003 low of $27.10 in late January.

Monday's price tumble came after last week's rally of 7 percent in U.S. crude, which was up for a fourth straight week. Brent gained 4 percent last week, up for a third week in a row.

Some analysts expect a more bearish supply-demand picture when the U.S. government issues weekly oil data on Wednesday. Last week's report showed a crude build of nearly 4 million barrels to above 521 million barrels, the fourth straight week of growing to record highs.

"I think as we approach $40 for WTI and Brent, the market will not like a net build of more than 2 million barrels this week," said Scott Shelton, energy broker at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude for a third week in a row to November highs but cut net long positions in Brent.

(Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy and W Simon)
By Denis Pinchuk

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A global deal to freeze oil production could be signed in April and exclude Iran, which has the right to boost output after years of sanctions, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said on Monday after talks in Tehran.

Oil fell around 3 percent on Monday after Iran dampened hopes of a coordinated stabilisation of production any time soon, saying it would join such discussions after its own output had reached 4 million barrels per day (bpd).

Four of the world's leading oil producers - Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela - met in Doha last month, saying they were ready to hold output at January levels if other producers did the same.

A final agreement on an output freeze to support oil prices, which have fallen 65 percent since peaking in June 2014 due to oversupply, is seen next month, possibly again in Doha, Novak said.

He said the deal could exclude Iran as the country seeks to regain production hit by now-lifted international sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme.

"We share (the view) that Iran is in a special situation. The sanctions that had been introduced had materially hit (Iran's) output," Novak said after meeting his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zanganeh.

Russia and Iran are considered to be on friendly terms. Moscow was a staunch supporter of lifting international sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Those sanctions were effectively removed in January, paving the way for Iran to increase its production of crude and adding uncertainty to already jittery oil markets.

Iran currently produces around 3.1 million bpd of oil. The sanctions also cut crude exports from a peak of 2.5 million bpd before 2011 to just over 1 million bpd in recent years.

Novak said Iran still insisted on a recovery in its oil output before any production freeze.

"On the whole, Iran supports the need for coordination between oil exporters, including a possible freeze. But Iran's position is that they have to first restore their production volumes ... After that, they are ready to join the freeze," Novak said.

The Russian minister said oil markets were now more balanced but he called for a solid deal on stabilising output, "otherwise the markets will face more uncertainty, which will lead to more volatility".

He said oil prices were expected to be between $40 and $50 per barrel by the year-end, compared to just below $40 currently.

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by David Evans and Dale Hudson)
''The government is looking to harness the country's 50,000 km of sea and river fronts as waterways and mulling innovative ways of financing to raise around Rs 70,000 crore to develop these stretches in the first phase, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Parliament by passing the crucial bill to declare 111 rivers across the country into National Waterways last week has paved way for development of these stretches as transport carriers. So far, only five of the river stretches were declared as National Waterways.

"India has its unique advantage. Its 14 of the states are bestowed with 7,500 km of coastline with 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways. In addition, 116 rivers across the country provide 35,000 km of navigable stretches.

In total we have about 50,000 km of waterways which on development will change the face of India," Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari told PTI.

Now that Parliament has given its nod to declare 111 additional rivers as waterways, the government is committed to aggressively work to develop these as the environment-friendly mode of transport which is bound to decrease significantly the huge 18 per cent logistics cost in India.

"At the same time, we are looking at innovative ways of financing as we would be requiring an initial about Rs 70,000 crore to develop these river stretches into navigable transport ways," Gadkari said.

Besides budgetary support, multilateral funds, public-private-partnership and market borrowing would be explored. Access to funds like National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) and Central Road Fund (CRF) will also be required because of environment benefit of IWT, he said.

"We would not have any dearth of funds. In this year's budgetary allocation, Rs 800 crore have been provided for development of waterways while we can raise another Rs 800 crore through issuing tax free bonds.

"Our ports will have profit to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal which will gradually increase. Besides, they have fixed deposits worth Rs 8,000 crore. A bank is ready to provide Rs 50,000 crore loan in dollar terms at a very low rate of interest of 2 per cent," Gadkari said.

"With all these measures, we will generate enough funds to revolutionise India's waterways," the Minister said.

Gadkari said by promoting water transport, logistic cost, which is 18 per cent in India as compared to barely 8-10 per cent in China and 10-12 per cent in European countries, will come down significantly.

The reforms in the sector would be visible in a few years, he said adding water transport was not only environment-friendly but also much cheaper as it costs Rs 1.5 a km to carry the cargo from road while the same stands at Re 1 from rail whereas through waterways it reduces to only 25 paise per km.

"One horse power can carry 4,000 kg load in water but only 150 kg by road and 500 kg by rail. One litre of fuel can move 105 tonne per km by inland waterways but only 85 tonne per km by rail and 24 tonne per km by road," the Minister said.

He regretted that the waterways had taken a backseat in India, with only 3.5 per cent of trade being done through the mode here as against 47 per cent in China, 40 per cent in Europe, 44 per cent in Japan and Korea and 35 per cent in Bangladesh.

He said of the 106 National Waterways (NWS) proposed to be developed, tender documents for development of eight NWs is under advanced stage of preparation.

For the remaining NWs feasibility studies are being undertaken as an advance action.

"For 46 NWs feasibility and detailed project report is under preparation and is expected by July 30," he said.

Apart from transport mode, NWs will have huge potential for cruise tourism, water sports, fisheries development and feeder routes.

Parliament on March 9 gave nod to a bill to convert 111 rivers across the country into National Waterways.

The bill provides for enacting a central legislation to declare 106 additional inland waterways as the national waterways in addition to five existing national waterways.

Before passage of the bill, responding to contention by some members that huge investment sand development of waterways were his tall claims, the Minister had asserted, "I do not make any announcement in the air... I promise if any of my announcements is not fulfilled, I will apologise in this House....You may even bring a Privilege Motion against me if my promise is not fulfilled."

When Deputy Chairman P J Kurien has asked him to refrain from throwing such a challenge, Gadkari said, "I am 100 per cent ready... We have already signed contracts worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the road sector. I am not dependent on budget."


Firm on its stand barring self- listing of stock exchanges, regulator Sebi says there is an "evident and clear" conflict of interest risk in such a scenario but it is willing to look into any genuine problems that an exchange may have on this issue.

As per Sebi rules, an exchange cannot list its shares on its own platform and it has to go to another bourse for listing to avoid any conflict of interest that might arise while discharging its duty as a front-line regulator for the securities markets.

While leading stock exchange BSE is agreeable to the idea of cross-listing and has also got in-principle approval from Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India), the rival NSE is opposed to it and wants to go for self-listing while undertaking a restructuring exercise for complete separation of its commercial and regulatory functions.

Asked about the issue and whether Sebi was open to review its norms to permit self-listing by exchanges, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said the current law is very clear that self-listing cannot be allowed.

"Stock exchanges in India and many other countries have multiple functions. One key function is to be a regulator for all brokers and an exchange is the first-line regulator for them. They are also a regulator for the listed companies.

"If you are a for-profit company and if you are expected to take action against those entities from whom you get your revenue, there is a very likely conflict of interest.

"The Bimal Jalan Committee (which looked into ownership and governance norms of stock exchanges) had in fact recommended that there should not be a listing.

"However, it was felt that it should be allowed as globally stock exchanges are listed and we can have safeguards -- that is no self-listing. That is the current law and to say that I am willing to change that law, that would be difficult for me to say," Sinha said.

"This is the current law -- one exchange has accepted it, there is another exchange which was earlier a commodity exchange but now technically is a stock exchange is not listed on its own platform," he said.

While Sinha did not take any names, Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) had got listed earlier when it was only a commodity derivatives exchange, but has now become an overall securities bourse following change in regulations that came into effect pursuant to merger of erstwhile commodities regulator FMC with Sebi late last year.

"One is already listed, another is agreeable to it and if some exchange has some problem, we will see whether the problems are genuine or not and what are the solutions. But this issue of conflict of interest that is very very evident and clear has to be addressed," Sinha said.

To another question on whether Sebi was looking at regulating the incentive structures for top management of exchanges, including volume-linked bonuses, Sinha said there was no such proposal.

He, however, said that corporate governance norms in this regard are much more tougher in case of exchanges.

"Since they are our regulated entities, what we have provided is that there can be no ESOPs for an MD or a board member or a key management person. They can get a bonus but not the ESOPs. Even on bonus, it can not be more than 50 per cent of the fixed pay," he added.
Government has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicines, including two widely used cough syrups, being sold without government approval, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday.

The move is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines in India, where nearly half the drugs sold in 2014 were so called "fixed dose combinations."

Combination drugs are used worldwide to improve patients' compliance, as it is easier to get patients to take one drug rather than several. But inconsistent enforcement of drug laws in India has led to the proliferation of hundreds of such medicines entering the market based on approval from regulators of individual states, rather than the central government.

In 2014, India set up a committee to review more than 6,000 combinations that had entered the market based only on state regulators' approval. Policymakers gave pharmaceutical companies a chance to retroactively prove the safety and efficacy of these drugs by submitting data on their drugs.

The committee was tasked with classifying the drugs into rational, irrational, and those that need further studies, said KL Sharma, a joint secretary at the health ministry.

"Now based on responses (and) assessment of products, more than 300 drugs have been prohibited," he told Reuters.

He did not name the medicines, but said an official notice announcing the ban would be issued "in a few days." The Drug Controller General of India was not immediately available to comment.

The banned medicines include the codeine-based cough syrups Phensedyl and Corex, the Times of India said in a report earlier on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

Phensedyl, made by U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories, accounts for about a third of the Indian cough syrup market, and its sales are estimated to make up more than 3 percent of Abbott's $1 billion India revenue. Corex is sold by Pfizer Inc.

Reuters reported last October that Indian regulators were privately pressuring drug firms to better police the selling of popular codeine-based cough syrups to tackle smuggling and addiction.

Neither company responded to requests for comment on Saturday.

Doctors and public health experts in India and abroad have warned that increasing use of antibiotic combinations in India may be contributing to antibiotic resistance. India is a particular concern as the market share of combination drugs versus single drugs is bigger than anywhere in the world.

Reuters reported in December how a powerful antibiotic cocktail being marketed in India by a unit of Abbott and many other local companies did not carry approval from the central government.

The combination was not approved for sale in major markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and Australia.

Several medical experts said it did not make sense to prescribe the cocktail for cold symptoms. However, Abbott's former and current medical representatives said the combination was being promoted and administered as a treatment for a wide variety of illnesses, including colds and fevers.
It has been announced that ratings agency DBRS has upgraded Irelands credit rating to A high (an improvement of one notch on their scale) and revised its outlook for the country from stable to positive.



The agency cited the materially improved outlook for Ireland's debt sustainability on foot of the strong economic recovery and progress made in reducing the fiscal deficit. DBRS notes that

the upgrade was made in spite of the upcoming Brexit election and the inconclusive Irish election, which it believes is unlikely to alter the fiscal outlook.

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "The moves follows an upgrade by Fitchs on Irelands rating from A- to A in February 2016 and Moodys outlook change from stable to positive. As such, whilst

helpful, it follows similar moves by other agencies in recent weeks."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Ulster Bank have today released their latest Construction Purchasing Managers Index.

The index is designed to track changes in total construction activity  it rose to 68.8 in February from 63.6 in the previous month. This was the highest reading in the history of the survey, surpassing the previous peak set in November 2004.



The index shows that construction activity has now increased on a monthly basis throughout the past two-and-a-half years.



According to the index, a rise in new orders was one of the factors leading activity to increase during the month. New business expanded at a considerable pace, and one that was among the fastest signalled by the survey so far.



Chief Economist Republic of Ireland at Ulster Bank, Simon Barry said, "The pace of recovery in Irish construction accelerated significantly in February according to the latest results of the Ulster Bank Construction PMI survey. In fact, the overall PMI index rose to a record high last month, pointing to the fastest pace of monthly expansion in construction since the survey was introduced in June 2000.

"A marked acceleration in activity was experienced across the sector: record growth rates were also recorded in Housing and Commercial activity, while the increase in Civil Engineering was the strongest since August 2006."



He added, "Following the collapse in activity during the financial crisis, the process of returning to more normal levels of activity will likely require sustained growth over many years. Nevertheless, the extremely positive results from the latest PMI surveys suggest that there has been a major pick-up in recovery momentum early in 2016 leaving the sector on track for another year of meaningful progress in its journey back to more normal activity levels."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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The Irish Independent have reported that David Drumm is due to appear before an Irish court today - almost seven years after the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank.

It is expected Drumm will be brought to the Criminal Courts of Justice to be charged.



Mr Drumm had been seeking an assurance from the DPP that he would be released on bail if he agreed to return to Ireland. But he told a US court last month that no deal had been done.



The former Anglo boss refused to return home for questioning, despite a number of requests from gardai investigating matters leading up to the nationalisation of the bank in January 2009.

Despite his refusal to cooperate, the DPP decided to issue charges against him and Mr Drumm was arrested at his 1.75m home in Wellesley, an upmarket suburb of Boston, on October 10 last year.

Initially, Mr Drumm refused to agree to his extradition. But after two failed attempts to secure bail, he changed his mind.



Drumm is facing 33 charges, including ones for fraud and false accounting, according to papers filed as part of his extradition proceedings. All of the charges relate to the final year of his tenure at the helm of the bank. Drumm will make an application to the court to be released on bail. He can appeal any refusal to the High Court.



Source: www.businessworld.ie

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New research released today by One4all indicates that almost 70% of respondents in a survey of 1,000 workers across Ireland said their output dropped off when looking for another job, with 40% saying their productivity dropped by almost a third or more.



Furthermore, the category of employees with the highest drop in productivity is senior management. At that level, 46% of respondents said their productivity fell off by 30% or more. That compares to 34% of junior staff who said the same thing.



In terms of the job search, over half (52%) of respondents said that a positive reputation for treating staff well and engaging with them was the most important factor when choosing an employer. Among 18-24 year olds this rises to 62%.



The research was undertaken by One4all in order to gain insight into what makes workers stay, what makes them move on and how best to engage your workforce. It shows that overall almost 80% of workers say that productivity is lost during the handover phase, with 42% reporting a drop of 30% or more.



Feeling valued by an employer is the key factor in keeping workers of all ages engaged. Fifty eight per cent of workers said that this was what makes them feel most engaged at work and this rises to 70% among over 55s.



If employees decide to move on, 42% cited not feeling appreciated by their employer and a lack of opportunities to progress in their career as the main reasons to seek new employment.

Younger workers  aged between 18 and 24  are most likely to want to leave work because they feel they are not appreciated by their employer, with some 31% leaving for that reason. This is compared to an average of 23% amongst all age groups.



Group Marketing Manager at One4all, Aoife Davey said, "What the research shows is the value of keeping staff engaged and of showing them they are valued. Lack of engagement and a feeling of not being a valued member of the team are the most common reasons for employees to seek opportunities elsewhere.

"That process in itself not only leads to extra costs in terms of recruiting a new team member, but as the survey shows leads to a significant loss of productivity from staff both during the 'looking for a new job' phase and in the handover phase. Its this loss of productivity which in many instances can be the real cost to businesses."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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It was announced today that Three has signed a contract worth 65m with Amdocs, a provider of customer experience solutions for strategic services and solutions.

This will include the integration of former O2 IT systems, the elimination of duplicate IT costs and the delivery of improved customer experience through innovative and digital services.



CEO at Three, Robert Finnegan said, "This 65 million investment is the next step in what is an exciting journey for Three as we continue to deliver on the promises we made when we acquired O2 in 2014. At that time we promised two new MVNOs, which we have delivered.

"We promised new jobs, which we delivered by creating 100 new roles when we transferred customer care calls to Limerick from Mumbai. We also promised innovation and delivering the best experience for our customers and that is what this project will achieve.

He added, "This new agreement will substantially reduce Threes annual IT costs which is good news for our customers as it allows Three to continue to offer great value tariffs. The acquisition of O2 in 2014 has made this investment possible."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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The latest figures from the CSO show that there was strong revenue growth from overseas visitors in 2015. Spending in Ireland by overseas visitors (excluding fares) for 2015 rose by 18.6% compared with 2014.

Furthermore, the number of trips to Ireland in the key target market of holidaymakers rose by 20.4%, while spending by holidaymakers was up 27.8% for 2015 when compared with 2014.



The figures confirm significant growth in revenues across all of Ireland's main market areas. In terms of the spend associated with overseas visits, all of the main markets grew in 2015 compared to 2014 including: Great Britain up by 9.7%, North America up by 28%, Mainland Europe up by 19.1% and Other long-haul markets up by 14.7%.



Commenting on the figures today, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe said, "Todays figures confirm that 2015 was an exceptional year not just in terms of overseas visit numbers but also the associated revenue which totalled over 4.2 billion. The good news is that we are aiming for even further growth in visit numbers and associated revenue in 2016 and a strong marketing campaign is already underway."

CEO of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons added, "This was an excellent performance and reflects the sentiment weve been hearing from our tourism partners overseas and here at home. We are determined to ensure that tourism growth continues."

Source: www.businessworld.ie


It was announced today that Meaghers Pharmacy has added two new pharmacies to its business this week.

The sizeable acquisitions in Dublin 7 entail an investment of over 3.5million in total, and the creation of up to twenty new jobs.



The Dublin healthcare chain which comprises eight state-of-the-art pharmacies in Dublin city and suburbs, is set for further growth. Managing Director, Oonagh OHagan, plans to double store numbers within the next five years in the group that currently employs 85 people, including twenty pharmacists.



The first pharmacy added to the chain is Kinvara Pharmacy in Kinvara Park, just off the Navan Road in Dublin 7. It has been owned and successfully operated by David and Helen King MPSI, for the past 28 years, since 1987. Currently employing a staff of ten, new owner Oonagh OHagan anticipates staffing at Kinvara Pharmacy will increase by six to eight new jobs in the coming year.



The second business deal has seen Meaghers Pharmacy acquire a nine year licence to operate a pharmacy in the new Whitty Building at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, also in Dublin 7.

The pharmacy opening last week has already created 12 new jobs in the 1,400 square foot state-of-the-art pharmacy, fitted out on the ground floor of the Whitty Building hospital wing, which opened in 2014. The customer base at the Mater Hospital pharmacy will include patients being discharged, out-patient clinics, accident and emergency patients, and staff and visitors of the hospital, as well as the general public living in the area.



Managing Director, Oonagh OHagan commented, "Our business model sets out to offer the service, range and value of a large chain, combined with the personal care and community focus of long-standing service providers. Our acquisitions of family-run pharmacies builds on a strong community and service ethos, which stands to the business and ensures growth."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Unique position

Anyone with an eye on the news can see that the banking sector has been spooked by the forthcoming Brexit referendum in the UK.

A potential Brexit could affect many of the companies that Business World writes about on a daily basis or indeed the clients we provide content to.

Northern Ireland Brexit

The banks in Northern Ireland are part of the UK banking sector. How banks in Northern Ireland deal with a UK exit from Europe has been highlighted in news stories in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.

Royal Bank of Scotland  RBS have arguably protected themselves against all outcomes of the referendum. It has done this by making Ulster Bank offerings in Ireland and Northern Ireland increasingly independent of each other.

This was highlighted in an article in the Irish Times at the end of February, "For the first time, parent company Royal Bank of Scotland stripped out the performance for Ulster Bank in the Republic of Ireland. This followed its decision last year to separate the company north and south of the border with the Northern Ireland unit now included in its UK personal and business banking division."

Allied Irish Bank  Allied Irish Banks chairman, Richard Pym was quoted, in another Irish Times article, claiming the Irish economy faces a potential tragedy if the British people vote to the leave the EU in June. He said the immediate impact of a Brexit would hurt Ireland, Mr Pym said Irish people should encourage family and friends in Britain to participate in the referendum.

Bank of Ireland - BoI chief executive Richie Boucher believes that BoI can ride out the effects of a UK exit from the European Union with relatively little impact; this was highlighted recently in an article in the Irish Independent.

Even polls

The fact that there has been such a big lead up to any potential exit mean that banks operating in Northern Ireland have had plenty of time to prepare themselves in advance of the poll.

A key factor for all stakeholders in the Brexit landscape is to have a grip on whats being said about them in the media. What is their press line? What does their online content lead to? How is their message being heard and who is hearing it?

In addition to preparing for an actual exit, pollsters believe that the referendum is far from over, YouGov have the poll at 40% remain, 37% leave, 23% dont know / wouldnt vote. Clearly with such an even divide, there is a chance that the UK wont exit after all!

With more stringent banking conditions after the financial crash, there is perhaps far less risk associated with a potential Brexit.

National Support

Here at Business World, we support national banking regulators, major banks operating in the UK & Ireland alongside a diverse mix of other high level MNCs. Business World provide daily media reviews, live news feeds, blog posts, editorials, articles and other content to a broad range of clients. Get in touch today so we can show you what we can do.
Hong Kong stocks rose more than 1 percent on Monday, aided by sharp gains in mainland shares and a rally in global markets as oil prices climbed further.

The Hang Seng index rose 1.2%, to 20,435.34, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.5%, to 8,686.27 points

Most sectors rose, with the property sector up over 2%.

China Vanke Co Ltd surged 10% to a two-month high, after the Chinese developer said its 2015 core profit grew 13% to a record, and that it would buy assets of state-owned Shenzhen Metro Group via a share placement. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Oil prices fell on Monday, weighed down by global oversupply and slowing economic growth prospects, although the prospects of falling production lent crude some support.

U.S. crude was trading at $38.15 per barrel at 0759 GMT, down 35 cents from their last settlement.

Morgan Stanley said on Monday that "hedging plus storage" were capping U.S. crude prices, meaning that traders were selling futures to hedge forward production and storage which will pressure prices.

The bank added that prices "will struggle to break $45 in the front, even if the USD continues to pullback."

Brent was down 26 cents at $40.13 a barrel after data showed that top exporter Saudi Arabia's February oil production was near record highs at 10.22 million barrels per day (bpd).

While Morgan Stanley said oil prices had likely bottomed out, it warned that a slowing economy and high production would prevent sharp rises.

"Oil prices now seem to have bottomed, even though they are likely to stay subdued for the rest of this year before starting to move higher in 2017," the U.S. bank said in a separate note, adding that cheap oil had not provided the economic boost to growth that many had hoped for.

"When oil prices are falling below production costs, the income gains for consumers will be smaller than the costs to producers, and falling oil prices become a negative-sum game," it said.

The bank said it was "no longer looking for an acceleration in 2016 GDP growth" and that the risk of a global recession was now 30%.

Following a 70% price rout between mid-2014 and early 2016, oil markets are in flux. Many analysts expect a modest price recovery, while others see another slump.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday said that oil prices had bottomed out due to U.S. and other output cuts.

The U.S. oil drilling rig count fell for a 12th straight week last week to a total of 386, its lowest since December 2009 as drillers slash costs.

Others, like banks Goldman Sachs and Barclays, warn that global overproduction of some 1 million bpd will pull prices back down again.

"At least two quarters of prices below $40 per barrel... are required to balance the oil market," Barclays said on Monday.

So far, demand in core Asian markets remains strong. China's January-February refinery throughput rose 4.6 percent compared to the same period a year earlier to 10.59 million bpd, official data showed on Saturday.

India on Monday also posted strong figures, with overall fuel demand up 11.7 percent in February.

Still, sentiment is leaning towards higher prices, with the amount of managed short positions open for U.S. crude down over 40 percent since mid-February. Open positions betting on price increases are near record highs. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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March 8th: plenty still to do

Published on March 8, 2016

Story by Antonia Ceballos Translation by: Sara Godwin

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Every 8 hours, a woman is raped in Spain. The salary gap in Spain is 17.8%. Every day we face all kinds of violence. The situation is no better in the surrounding countries. This is why March 8th is a day to remember everything that is yet to be done.

Every 8 hours a woman is raped in Spain. Three women are raped every day. This is taking into account the fact that only 50% of assaults are reported and the issue that the police statistics do not include figures from Catalonia, which are recorded by local police stations, and only acknowledge rape when there has been penetration. Almost 3% of Spanish women have been raped at some point during their lifetime.

It could happen to any of us. It is enough to remember Carmen Maura telling Risto Mejide on television that she was a victim of rape in her own home when she was 30. She told how "the worst thing about it was what came afterwards, because he was in the military and we had a trial full of soldiers (...) since they knew I was a actress, they asked me questions like "Are you sure that you didn't just want people to know your name?".

Our fellow Europeans don't have it any better. Sweden holds the dishonourable title being the country in the world with the second highest number of rapes, only beaten by Lesotho or Congo depending on the year, with 63 rapes per 100 000 residents recorded by police in 2010.

The figures are incomplete, imprecise and, above all, horrifying. This violence, which is so concrete and so physical, is sustained by another. Another that is much more invisible and without which this would not be possible. Eurostat as an example. Eurostat is the European Commission's statistics body, responsible for compiling, aligning and displaying statistics for all member countries. Among other figures, Eurostat compiles crimes recorded by the police. If someone wanted to know the number of rapes that have happened in our area, they should be able to find them there. However, according to this institution, rape, which humiliates us, robs us of our self-esteem and dignity and leaves us with lifelong physical and psychological consequences, merits no special attention. According to those who make the decisions about which statistics to publish and how, rape and sexual assault are the same as robbery and other violent crimes.

Today, the whole world is talking about women. There will be all kinds messages. Many will return to condemn us to a secondary role in society. Like in Bigastro, Alicante, where they celebrate women's day with a mass and, paraphrasing Pablo de Tarso, remember that we came from a man's rib, "not from the feet to be trodden on, nor from the head to be superior, but from the side to be equal, under the arm to be protected and next to the heart to be love". Others, like PSOE en the Cadiz Town Hall, want an "aseptic message", forgetting that it is impossible to be aseptic in the face of the injustice and horror that kills us by the hundred in our own country. And others of us continue the fight because these days there are things that are never talked about: the glass ceiling that stops us from succeeding; the difficulties of being a mother and the social expectation to be one even when we don't want to; the patriarchal attitude in television debates that tries to correct us or explain things we already know for ourselves; institutional machismo; the little daily violences that force us to be mindful of our bodies and undermine our self-esteem and make us submissive, blaming us when we are abused for not leaving our abuser.

This anniversary commemorates the death of 146 women who worked in overcrowded conditions in a clothing factory in New York and died in a fire because the exit was blocked. Shortly before, they had demanded salary equality, a working day shortened to 10 hours and time to breastfeed their children. In 2012, fire claimed the lives of 120 people, mainly women and children, who were sewing the cheap clothing we demand endlessly, in a building in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. In 2016, other women all over the world continue sewing for minimal wages and we all continue suffering a strenuous double working day, in insurmountable pay gap and and serious problems with choosing how we want to live our maternity.

According to European Commission figures, on average, women in the EU earn approximately 16.4% less than men. If we focus on specific countries: it is 17.8% in Spain. Still, we can feel lucky compared to Finnish women, who earn 19.4% less than men; Estonian women who earn 30% less or Austrian women at 23.4%. However, we are far behind the Italians, where the pay gap is 6.4% or the Slovenians where it is 2.5%. According to the Commission, bringing an end to the salary gap will have the following benefits: the creation of a fairer and more equal society; the creation of quality jobs; benefits for businesses and workers; a reduction in legal proceedings and complaints and a foundation for economic growth and recovery.

Maternity continues to be a luxury and not a right. In Spain, maternity leave is 126 days and it is possible to share the final 10 weeks with the father, who is only entitled to 15 days. Far behind the year allowed for German fathers and mothers, the year shared between Danish parents or the 480 days shared between Swedish parents. Ahead of the 98 days in Malta or 56 allowed in Liechtenstein, however.

Above all this, sustaining the entire pyramid of inequality: sexist humour (it's enough to walk through the streets of Cadiz during Carnival, however, luckily there are clusters who are breaking away from this), advertising that makes us into objects, journalism that barely mentions us and almost never uses us as expert sources when they develop their information or the millions of daily "micromachismos" that assume we know nothing about mechanics or that restaurant bills are for men. All a well-armed system that legitimises the privileged status of half the population at the expense of the other half and forget that without women democracy and a fair society would not be possible.

This is why, today, March 8th, there is still plenty to be done.

Story by Antonia Ceballos

Translated from 8 de marzo: mucho por hacer
Behind the numbers: Why Generation Y is so broke

Published on March 14, 2016

Story by Matthieu Amare Translation by: eri

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Society has never been short of words to describe today's generation of "lost", "forgotten" or "disenchanted" young people. We now have a single statistic that describes the difficulties faced by the youth of today: in some of the world's richest countries, they earn 20% below the national average.

Take 30 seconds to try out a small experiment. If you start typing, "Generation Y are..." into Google, the search engine will offer you the following suggestions: "idiots", "lazy", "selfish". This algorithm is just a small glimpse of the fact that the 18-35 generation are subject to their fair share of stereotyping.

In trying to bust the myth, young adults and people interested in their problems have often used catchphrases and epithets to describe the conditions they find themselves in. This time it's a statistic that has come to symbolise their predicament. According to a study published in the Guardian, Generation Y earn 20% less than the national average in the world's richest Western countries. The study analysed data from 8 countries (Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the United States) from the world's largest database on household income, the Luxembourg Income Study.

30 years ago, young people typically earned more than the national average. The Guardian writes that the fall in wages was caused by a string of factors, such as unemployment, the effects of globalisation on jobs, demographic imbalances and rising house prices. These factors ultimately shed light on the crises of our modern society and demonstrate that young people are suffering a little more than others. Now we can be certain of it.

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This article is part of our Behind the Numbers series, illustrating newsworthy stats with artistic design and a brief analysis.

Story by Matthieu Amare Je viens du sud de la France. J'aime les traditions. Mon pere a ete traumatise par Seville 82 contre les Allemands au foot. J'ai du mal avec les Anglais au rugby. J'adore le jambon-beurre. Je n'ai jamais fait Erasmus. Autant vous dire que c'etait mal barre. Et pourtant, je suis redacteur en chef du meilleur magazine sur l'Europe du monde.

Translated from Le chiffre qui parle : la deche de la Generation Y
Micah DeBenedetto/Special to the Caller-Times Allen Daehne, planning Committee Ticket Chairman, makes sure everything is running smoothly at the 21st Annual St. Patrick's Day Irish Festival & Brunch on Sunday at St. Pius X Church.

SHARE Micah DeBenedetto/Special to the Caller-Times Father Paul Hesse talks with attendees Sunday during the 21st annual Irish festival at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Micah DeBenedetto/Special to the Caller-Times Attendees gather Sunday for the 21st annual Irish festival at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Micah DeBenedetto/Special to the Caller-Times Gravel Walk performs traditional music Sunday during the Irish festival at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Micah DeBenedetto/Special to the Caller-Times Francis O'Donnell, a member of Gravel Walk, plays the drums Sunday during the 21st annual St. Pius X Catholic Church's Irish festival.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

Everything was green Sunday inside the St. Pius X Catholic Church parish hall.

People danced and twirled to traditional Irish music and hauled plates filled with food back to their tables.

Maxine Sommers said bringing people together, with good food and good music, has always been the purpose behind the church's annual St. Patrick's Day Irish Festival.

Sommers, church member and event chairman, helped organize the first celebration 21 years ago.

"It has grown so much ever since," Sommers said. "We knew that the best way to bring people together was to feed them."

She said proceeds from the event go to anything the church may need.

"Last year we raised about $10,000 and this year we hope to raise more."

About 300 people attended the festival and brunch, which included Erin Go Bragh beef stew, Blarney stone salad, Dublin Soda Bread, Irish coffee and gingerbread for dessert.

The event featured tradition Irish music by "Gravel Walk" and there was a prize giveaway and a silent auction.

Mary Davis and Ron Davis of Calallen said it was their first time at the festival.

"I am not Irish, I am Czech but I always wanted to try the different foods, the Soda Bread was wonderful," Mary Davis said.

Ron Davis, who is Irish, said the festival is a good opportunity to share the culture with others.

"It's fantastic for people to have the chance to sample other cultures and see what it's all about," Ron Davis said.

Preston Ley grew up in the church and remembers attending the festival every year since he was a kid. He said he is glad to hear people say how much they learn about the Irish culture after they leave the event.

"This is such a good time to celebrate the community of the church, the Irish heritage and try to raise money for the church," Ley said. "People really get a chance to see that we are not only about green beer, it's so much more. They are impressed by the music, the food and the atmosphere."

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Corpus Christi Police Department Senior Officer Chris Lynch (from left) introduces his dog, Tanja, to Kim and Scott Parker at Cole Park on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. The Parkers are members of the 10-7 K9 Association, which has recently expanded into South Texas. The goals of the organization are to provide K-9 dogs with anything they may need.

SHARE Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Corpus Christi Police Department Senior Officer Jon McGinley talks with Kim Parker at Cole Park on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. She and her husband, Scott Parker, are members of the 10-7 K9 Association, which has recently expanded into South Texas. The goals of the organization are to provide K-9 dogs with anything they may need. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Corpus Christi Police Department Senior Officer Chris Lynch (from left) and Scott and Kim Parker watch as Indy, a K-9 dog, participates in a training at Cole Park on Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Scott and Kim Parker meet Kimbo, a K-9 dog with the Corpus Christi Police Department, on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at Cole Park. The Parkers are members of the 10-7 K9 Association, which has recently expanded into South Texas. The goals of the organization are to provide K-9 dogs with anything they may need. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Jim Bourdlais (left), a volunteer with the Corpus Christi Police Department, assists in a K-9 training on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at Cole Park.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

K-9 Tanja knows when her partner is stressed.

She knows when there's tension.

The 4-year-old Belgian Malinois knows when it's time to get to work.

Tanja, a Narcotics Division K-9, has worked alongside Senior Officer Chris Lynch for about two years. She has helped the division find illegal narcotics including, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine.

"These dogs are in a lot worse shape when they reach 10 years old than a lot of the regular dogs," Lynch said. "They go through so much with us every day. After they retire they need a lot more medical care."

This is why Kim and Scott Parker decided to expand the 10-7 K9 Association to South Texas. The Parkers moved to Corpus Christi from the Dallas-Fort Worth area late last year and recently met with the Corpus Christi police department to help the K9 Unit.

The association's goal is to provide the K-9 officers with the equipment and services they need in order to do their job safely, Kim Parker said.

The Corpus Christi police department K-9 Unit has five dogs, including Tanja and Quina in narcotics, bite dogs Kimbo and Indy, and bomb and patrol dog Tlvingo.

Kim and Scott Parker met all K-9 partners during a training Tuesday at Cole Park.

They plan on raising funds to provide food, bullet-proof vests, training for the dogs and their partners, rough terrain vests and vehicle temperature alarms. The organization also hopes to pay for any veterinary bills for dogs who are retired, whether because of age or injuries on the job.

"The dogs are officers, too," Kim Parker said. "Both the officer and the K-9 would take a bullet to protect us. The least we can do is help protect them, too."

Senior Officer Sean L. Orsak has worked with Quina, a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix, for about a year.

However, this is not the first K9 partner he has had. He worked with Annie, another K-9, who is retired.

"She was about to be 9 years old when she retired," Orsak said. "Her desire to work was there, but she wasn't doing as good at the job."

Orsak said now that the dog is retired, medication for its allergies cost about $140 per month.

"If at least one month worth of medication was donated that would be a breather," he said.

Lynch said it gives him joy to know that members of the community and organizations like the 10-7 South Texas Association is showing up to support their partners.

"They understand that these dogs are with us 24/7, 365 days," Lynch said. "Knowing that the citizens are supporting us, it just means so much. And they do it because they just truly love the dogs."

The Parkers are the only members of the organization in South Texas and they are looking for other who would like join and help raise fund to help the K9-Unit.

To donate or join the organization, visit http://10-7k9.org/ or 214-923-4604.

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
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< Agency Report Card 2015 home Jump to: AKQA DigitasLBI Isobar Razorfish Wunderman AKQA Regional heads: David Miller, Dan Inamoto and Anurag Bhatnagar Company ownership: WPP 2014: C 2015: C

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J. Walter Thompson chairman and chief executive Gustavo Martinez was recorded making a rape joke about African Americans during a meeting of top agency executives in 2015, a lawyer for Erin Johnson has confirmed.

Johnson, JWT's chief communications officer, filed a 28-page discrimination lawsuit against Martinez, JWT and WPP on Thursday. In that suit, Johnson describes a meeting at a Miami hotel in 2015 in which Martinez joked about being raped "but not in a nice way" by black hotel guests.

"What is in the complaint, particularly paragraphs 39 and 40, which describe what was said at that meeting, where there were 60 peopleincluding management and HRwas from the tape," said Anne Vladeck, one of the lawyers representing Johnson in the case.

Those sections of the document state that Martinez "made numerous comments about rape" at that meeting, which sources said took place at the Viceroy Hotel and reference a "Miami Life" hip-hop party held at the hotel pool the evening before.

Martinez said he "found  different and strange characters in the elevator," according to the suit. "I was thinking I was going to be raped at the elevator," but "not in a nice way."

Those sections of the suit also allege that at that same meeting Martinez "warned JWT employees to be careful at the hotel" and to "check all your luggage" and "all your stuff."

The recording also includes statements not included in the lawsuit, according to sources who are familiar with it. Before the rape remarks, Martinez, four months into his tenure as CEO, jokingly apologises to Susana Carvalho for how much activity had taken place in her hotel room the night before.

"I want to apologise to Susana cause I know that she had a very, very troubled night," he said, according to sources. "So on behalf of Charlie, Jane, and myself, sorry. Because your room was being very visited tonight."

"Charlie" and "Jane" refer to Charlotte Ibarra, Martinezs global communications assistant, and Jane Arginteanu, his executive assistant, sources said.

The theme of the May retreat in question, a multiday gathering to introduce agency executives to a new companywide work process, was "Pioneering Process," sources said.

A representative for WPP did not immediately return a call for comment. Johnson referred calls to her lawyer.

Johnson, who has been with the company since 2005, shocked the ad industry last week with a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York alleging that Martinez repeatedly made racist and sexist comments that rendered it "impossible for her to do her job." According to the suit, Martinez said, "Come here [Johnson] so I can rape you in the bathroom" in front of colleagues; occasionally grabbed her by the neck or throat when speaking to her; and more than once referred to "fucking Jews" and talked about black people as "black monkeys" in public settings.

Martinez immediately issued a statement denying the accusations in the suit, which was originally reported by the New York Post. "I am aware of the allegations made against me by a J. Walter Thompson employee in a suit filed in New York Federal Court. I want to assure our clients and my colleagues that there is absolutely no truth to these outlandish allegations, and I am confident that this will be proven in court," he wrote.

That same day, WPP sent a memo to agency executives saying the holding company had been investigating the matter and had not yet found any evidence supporting the accusations detailed in Johnsons suit. "WPPs lawyers have been conducting an enquiry into previous correspondence on these matters since February 25 and have found nothing, as yet, to substantiate these charges."

The lawsuit apparently referred to Campaign US editor in chief Douglas Quenqua at one point, outlining a February meeting at which Martinez told "a reporter" that he had moved out of Westchester because it had "too many Jews." Quenqua addressed his possible involvement in the suit in a column on Thursday.

JWT clients, including Johnson & Johnson, Ford, Kellogg, JP Morgan Chase, Macys, Unilever and Coca-Cola, have so far either declined comment, referred calls to WPP or not returned calls.

Correction: This article originally identified the employee referenced in Maritinezs quote as Suzanne Siegel. According to court documents filed by WPP on March 29, the employee was Susana Carvalho.
An official statement from J. Walter Thompson said the company had accepted the resignation of the managing director of JWT AdVenture [Junghwan Kim] in connection with an investigation by the prosecutors office.

The statement added that J. Walter Thompson has also suspended its finance director pending the outcome of the investigation.

An article in the Korea Times, which does not name the agency or the individuals concerned in full, said the arrest was made over allegations that Kim created slush funds.

The funds were created by exaggerating the unit price in contracts with partners, and were worth more than US$826,000, according to the article.

The article states that prosecutors suspect the money was used to bribe clients including KT&G, a tobacco and ginseng producer. A former head of KT&G and member of its marketing department have also been arrested, it noted.

J. Walter Thompson said it is cooperating fully with the Korean authorities and has appointed external auditors to conduct its own investigation.

J. Walter Thompson Asia-Pacific is committed to the highest ethical standards and expects all its employees to abide by these standards, the company said in its statement.

The agency did not elaborate on the situation. However, its spokesperson for Asia-Pacific, Cris Prystay, dispelled rumours circulating in the industry that J. Walter Thompsons Korean presence was set to fold into Ogilvy in the market. There is no plan to do that, Prystay said via email.

Kim became managing director of the office in 2013, having spent nine years at the agency.

Separately, J. Walter Thompsons global chairman and chief executive, Gustavo Martinez, is currently facing a discrimination lawsuit. An employee of the company has accused Martinez of repeated racist and sexist conduct.
| BY Ricki Green |

AdFest has welcomed fourteen young creative teams to Thailand to participate in the 2016 Young Lotus Workshop, hosted by Hakuhodo.

The teams will represent 14 cities: Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. This is the first time AdFest has welcomed a team from the Middle East to attend the Young Lotus Workshop.

The theme of this years workshop is: You can leap higher than you think, and over the next two days, mentors from Hakuhodo will share their knowledge with the 14 Young Lotus teams, helping them refine their creative process to come up with truly innovative ideas. At Hakuhodo, this process is called Creative Alchemy, a magical method to come up with unexpected and brilliant solutions.

The most challenging component of the Young Lotus Workshop is when the 14 teams receive a brief from Hakuhodo, with just 24 hours to complete the challenge. The Young Lotus teams with the top ideas will then present them live on stage during the session: Hakuhodo presents Young Lotus 2016: You can leap higher than you think, which takes place this Saturday 19th March at 11:30am.

AdFests Young Lotus Workshop is recognised as one of the most valuable mentoring opportunities for young creatives in the region.

Takayuki Niizawa participated in the Young Lotus Workshop in 2007, representing Japan. This year, he returns to AdFest as a jury on the Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus Jury. Over the past nine years, his career has flourished and he is now Creative Director at TBWA\HAKUHODO, Tokyo.

Young Lotus changed my life. Literally. I was part of Young Lotus 2007, when the team from Hakuhodo managed to win the Grand Prix. However, what changed my life was not the winning, but the people I met. I had no foreign experience before then. I was born in Japan, graduated from a Japanese university and had been working at a Japanese agency for eight years straight at the time.

To me, the other Young Lotuses from 14 countries spoke a language I could not understand. It was not just the English that I barely understood at the time, but the things that they talked about. What the heck was TBWA? Omnicom? WPP? Who was Droga? Everyone seemed to be working in a One-Global-Ad-World but me.

After coming back from the Young Lotus competition, I started studying English harder than ever in my life. At the same time, I moved from Hakuhodo to TBWA\HAKUHODO, and then asked to work at TBWA\Chiat\Day in California. After coming back from Chiat\Day, I asked to work for Apple, which required a creative team to work in Los Angeles. Now, Im a creative director at TBWA\HAKUHODO. The shock that hit me in 2007 shaped my career and my attitude toward creativity.

The 2016 Young Lotus Workshop will be chaired by Kentaro Kimura alongside four other executives from the Hakuhodo network: Morihiko Hasebe, Executive Creative Director at Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo; Elvis Sequeira, Chief Operating Officer, Hakuhodo Percept India, Devi Attamimi; Executive Director of Strategy, Hakuhodo Network Indonesia, and Takahiro Hosoda, Creative Director at TBWA\Hakuhodo in Tokyo.

Jimmy Lam, President of AdFest, says: Wed like to wish this years Young Louts teams the best of luck. Being selected to participate in the Young Lotus Workshop is an opportunity that could change your career path forever. So work hard, but have fun  were looking forward to seeing the ideas you create in a few days time.
| BY Lynchy |

After 20 years in Australia 10 Feet Tall strategic director / partner Derek Craig has returned to his native South Africa for family reasons.

10 Feet Tall founder Joseph Meseha told CB that Craig has family issues he is returning for: But he has not confirmed if he will be staying indefinitely and very well may return to his post at 10 Feet Tall. We will wait and see.

Craig started his career in 1983 as a copywriter at Ogilvy in Cape Town, going on to the CD role at JWT before an awarded six year stint at The White House. In 1992 he had a three year stint at Berry Bush in Cape Town before arriving in Melbourne to take up the CD role at Leo Burnett.

Six years later he switched to KWP! Melbourne followed by a stint at SEE Advertising.




| BY Ricki Green |

AnalogFolk has been appointed the social media agency for Jameson Irish Whiskey by Pernod Ricard Australia.

AnalogFolk will be tasked with increasing growth and brand recognition of the worlds No. 1 Irish whiskey (thats whiskey with an e) among the Australian market, leveraging the brands existing partnerships and cultural initiatives through social channels, and further developing the brands local content offer.

The appointment follows a competitive pitch process that kicked off at the end of 2015.

Says Matt Robinson, managing director, AnalogFolk: Jameson is an iconic brand with a rich heritage and terrific, witty character. Were delighted to be able to work collaboratively with the team at Jameson to bring the stories and that distinctive character to life in digital and engage directly with the hugely passionate Jameson audience in Australia.
| BY Ricki Green |

Song Zu Sydney has announced that Katrina Aquilia has returned from maternity leave to take up the newly created role of executive producer.

As EP, Aquilia will be responsible for the smooth running of the Song Zu Sydney production department, the maintenance of consistently high levels of client service as well as marketing and business development.

Prior to joining Song Zu in 2014 Aquilia spent 9 years in account service at Publicis Mojo, M&C Saatchi and Iris working on high profile accounts that included Toyota, Sony and Westfield.

An accomplished musician, Aquilia also holds a Bachelor of Music Composition, plays several instruments and has performed in bands for over over a decade.

Says Ian Lew, managing director, Song Zu: It is fantastic to have Katrina back on board at Song Zu Sydney and we know she will be terrific in this new role. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Lesley Chambers for keeping Kats seat warm for the past 9 months, she did an excellent job and she will be missed.
Monday, March 14, 2016 at 1:35PM

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is an accomplished flagship smartphone and one that is undeniably a Samsung creation from top to bottom.

Samsungs latest flagship is a confluence of cutting edge technology, innovative features and a response to user requests. This is undeniably the companys most ambitious smartphone yet.

The Galaxy S7 is also one of the most expensive Android handsets to come to market (CAD $900, off contract), and one of the most premium phones available. For Samsung, it is the right product coming out at just the right time, and a huge play for them to reclaim the throne as leading smartphone manufacturer as well as put forward the features that separate them from the herd.

The Galaxy S7 is notable for a number of reasons. Samsung used to redesign their Galaxy line almost every year, with each succeeding model looking unrecognizable from the previous one and by introducing brave new features that sometimes disappeared after one year. This time, theyve refined the general design of the S6, while bringing back a lot of the functionality offered by the S5. This includes water resistance and microSD expansion.

The Galaxy S7 also beats out rival Apples iPhone by being the first to reach the lucky number 7. Of course, Apple floats out S devices every other year, so they have already released the 7th generation iPhone last year with the iPhone 6S.



Still, coming to market with their 7th release first, sort of gives Samsung home court advantage and a bit of an edge in terms of timing until the iPhone 7 is launched in June for a fall release.

This doesnt take away from Samsungs ability to usher in a new blueprint for smartphone dominance and put all their weight behind what is shaping up the be their most magnificent seventh release.

Design and Materials

Theres nothing substandard or chintzy about the Galaxy S7 or its larger brother, the S7 Edge. The level of construction, the melding of glass and aluminum, and the nuanced strokes of design and build are impressive in every aspect. This is something you don't only see but can immediately feel once you get your hands on the Galaxy S7.

Reeling from declining smartphone sales in the past year has forced Samsung to reflect and simplify, which is a good thing.

Consumers this year will get two models to choose from(the 5.i-inch S7 and the larger 5.5-inch S7 Edge), all the phones come with 32GB storage across the board, a wise choice given that storage can now be easily and cheaply increased by a microSD slot. The S7 Edge, for those who like em' big, will cost $100 more.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is very well put together and is so cohesive and seamless that you can almost forgive Samsung for the questionable design choices they flung around in their earlier models. All of a sudden, that all feels like a long time ago, and the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge feel very much like devices for the present and the future.

Edge to edge glass and metal sandwich design is very difficult to pull off. Both Apple and LG tried it on a few models (the iPhone 4/4S, the LG Optimus/Nexus 4) and soon decided that the body count of shattered backplates wasnt worth the sleek look and feel.

Samsungs invented a process to make glass meet metal. Using a proprietary process called 3D Thermoforming, we melded 3D glass to curve with such precision that it meets the curved metal alloy to create an exquisitely seamless and strong unibody, the company explains.

The result is that the Galaxy S7 feels great in the hand. While it is undoubtedly glass, the rounded corners and reassuring metal border make it feel every bit as premium and solid as any metal backed or unibody smartphone, while making it feel more organic and pleasing to the touch. I would still get a nice case for any of these new Galaxy devices.

The Titanium Silver colour is particularly striking. The way the shiny colour plays with the glass gives it a sublime and glossy look that is unlike anything I have seen in consumer electronics.

So, design wise, it looks like Samsung has made a great decision, which is to refine what it started with the Galaxy S6 line, yet shave and taper off what it could to make the total package sleeker.

The camera bump, which generated a lot of dismay with the previous model, is now barely discernible. Even the fingerprint reader/home buttons seems to be almost flush with the rest of the body.

The big surprise is that the Galaxy S7 now brings back the dust and water resistance first seen in the Galaxy S5 two years ago. Samsungs not only managed to make this work with their glass and metal design, theyve gone whole hog and offer an impressive IP68 rating which means that it can be immersed in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes.

This puts an end to accidental water damage dealing with spills, drops into pools, toilets, puddles and snowbanks and gives the new Galaxy S7 line inherent protection that few accessory cases can provide.

The Quad HD 5.1-inch display is simply breathtaking and Samsung seems to have found a size thats great to hold for most users while being able to showcase their stellar display technology (557 pixels per inch on this panel).

The addition of a 3,000 mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 technology makes the S7 one of the longest lasting flagships out there today.

Software and Performance

The new focus on simplification has extended to Samsungs TouchWiz overlay which is now running on top of Android Marshmallow.

TouchWiz was once the poster child for adding unwanted features and applications. Bloatware and crapware on the new S7 devices are still there thanks to the carriers and they are still impossible to remove, which goes to show how insidious some of these carriers are. The good news is that theyre nicely boxed away in folders.

Samsungs pared down their own applications substantially, and the Galaxy S7 looks and feels cleaner out of the box now than many of its rival devices. Samsung does add many of the staples (i.e. Instagram Facebook, Microsoft apps) but these are placeholders and links to real apps that need to be downloaded from Google Play.

An interesting addition is the Samsung Member app which serves to assist users when they run into trouble or issues with their phone. Think of it as having a service specialist in your phone. I tried the app and it offered FAQs, the option to diagnose hardware, ask questions and give feedback.

Performance is impressive despite running TouchWiz, the Galaxy S7 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and is packing 4GB of RAM, plus has paid special attention to the needs of gamers with support for the Vulkan API and a whole new Game Launcher app which siloes gaming experiences on the device and even allows you to record video of games you are playing.

The rear camera is a big deal this year. While it offers fewer megapixels, with 12 coming down from last years 16-megapixel shooter. Yet, it seems to be more capable in almost every way.

We now have improved low-light performance thanks to a dual-pixel sensor which boasts faster focusing and, more importantly, an F1.7 lens and larger 1.4m pixels on the image sensor.

Shooting around the city during the St. Patricks Day Parade was a great way to test the powers of this new camera. I found that most photos were tack sharp, videos were generally accurate and vibration free and that sound was captured well.

Zooming in on the details on some of my photos showed clarity and cohesiveness with very little distortion and graininess.

The camera on the Samsung Galaxy S7 is the real deal, a multifunctional and fast shooter that, given the right lighting, can create some truly stunning photos that could be mistaken for shots coming from a standalone point-and-shoot.

Of course, this wouldnt be a Samsung product if it didnt offer similar features to what the latest iPhones showcase. So, the S7 has Motion Photo which is similar to Live Photos, Hyperlapse, wide selfie mode and the ability to use the display as a giant flash or lightbox for selfies.

Phone call quality was consistently good, the Samsung Galaxy S7 managed 4G LTE data consistently on my review units included Bell SIM card. Speakerphone loudness was surprisingly good as was audio playback on the devices bottom firing speaker.

Conclusion

While it is great that Samsungs responded to users outcry and returned microSD storage and water resistance, it failed to resurrect the IR Blaster which enabled older devices to serve as universal remote controls for TVs, cable boxes and other appliances. I use this feature on my LG G4 and Galaxy Note 4 devices.

Theres a lot more to like than just the superficial features. This S7 has made water and dust resistance a must-have for all devices moving forwards. The camera technology is well thought out, and delivers the one-two punch of ease of use and a range of photography controls.

Performance is likewise top notch as expected from a flagship with high specs but more than this, the Samsung Galaxy S7 delivers on most of the features that users love and have demanded, while pushing the boundaries on design and function.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 is an accomplished flagship smartphone and one that is undeniably a Samsung creation from top to bottom. The smaller 5.1-inch S7 has the winning combination of great size, long battery life, quick charge capability, as well as great build and feel. This should be on anyones 2016 flagship smartphone shortlist.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The pint-sized rock star has said should he win the $250,000, he wants to donate some to charity, put some into his music and education - and to buy a new cat for his family after the 22-year-old family moggie passed away recently.
Dr Caldicott suspects the most controversial part of the study will be documenting venues. While most licensees in Canberra are sensible, he said there are "one or two that could be concerned, that are frequently associated with problems that end up in the emergency department".
"This is a reflection of the fact that most independent schools are basically full and can not absorb the total number of students who want to enrol. We have seen around 2 per cent growth on last year and some schools are really struggling to accommodate that demand."
During the interview, Cook said he had told the woman that if she wanted to leave, she could jump out the window. The pair lived in a fourth floor unit.
"We know that most Canberrans think of us as just a beach holiday but we also have lush hinterland and produce that is different to anything you will see in the territory."
Now that we are coming up on tornado season it is extremely important to reiterate the prominence of tornado safety within our community. Do you know what to do before, during and after a tornado hits? Do you know the difference between a tornado watch and warning? Understanding these concepts could dramatically mitigate the effects of a tornado on our community and your family.Why should we give tornados attention when they seldom occur in our area? Statistics show that Curry County has experienced eight tornados since 2000. While they are still considered uncommon, it is a possibility for tornados to occur, potentially causing devastating and deadly results.Tornadoes are typically caused when warm, humid winds traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico collide with cold, dry winds from the north blowing south. According to scientific facts, warm air always rises, but in a tornados case the cold air traps the warm air underneath it causing the horizontal rotation when the air masses meet.It is also critical knowing the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning. A tornado watch is issued when conditions are promising for tornados to develop. The tornado may not yet be imminent, but has the potential.If a tornado watch is issued, be on the lookout for danger signs such as a dark, greenish sky, large hail, a loud roaring sound, and large, dark, low-lying clouds.A tornado warning is released when a severe thunderstorm is in progress and members of the National Weather Service have spotted rotation on Doppler radar or when storm spotters have noticed a funnel cloud forming. At this point, you should prepare for a tornado to strike.When you are preparing for a possible tornado, make sure there is a safe haven to protect yourself and your family. Great places to shelter include basements or small rooms without windows on the lowest level of the building. If all of these precautions have been taken before a tornado, you and your family should be as safe as possible if a tornado decides to come your way.Building an emergency kit is also a vital factor to consider before a tornado hits. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), items you should include in your emergency kit consist of: water (approximately one gallon per person, per day for at least three days), food (non-perishable items such as canned and dried foods, and a can opener), battery powered (or hand crank powered) portable radio, flashlight with extra batteries, a first aid kit, medicines, and a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities.During a tornado, as long as you have taken the necessary safety measures to prepare beforehand, all you need to do is bunker down in your safe designated shelter area with your emergency kit. Also, make sure to protect your head while a tornado is blowing through.If you happen to be outside and away from buildings, get into your vehicle and buckle yourself in tight. Make sure to also put your head down lower than the windows and cover it with some type of cloth to act as a cushion. This may mitigate the effects of shattering glass injuring you. If you happen to be without a vehicle or building, find a ditch or low level area to lie down. It is safer for you to lie in a ditch than to shelter under a bridge.After the tornado, you will want to come out of your shelter and survey the area. Be cautious of possible broken glass or nails, fallen power or gas lines and avoid them as best as possible. Also, texting would be the best form of communication since phone calls may jam the networks. Only make phone calls if you need immediate medical assistance. Following these necessary precautions will inevitably keep you and your family safe, and ensure that those who are injured are able to receive the emergency care as quick as possible.Now that you know what to do before, during and after a tornado you should be better prepared to protect yourself and your loved ones.For more information on tornado preparedness, please visit www.beready.af.mil or www.fema.gov If you have additional questions or concerns, contact the 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron Emergency Management Flight at 575-784-1404.
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Three college students who first met while attending a Catholic high school in Florida have launched a scholarship fund to help others experience faithful Catholic education at a Newman Guide college. As we went off to different colleges, we kept in touch and found time to catch up whenever we returned []
Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) official notification has been released. As per the notification, the exam is scheduled to be conducted on June 26.

The examination will be conducted for the following posts: Assistant Commandants (Group A) in the forces comprising of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

e-admission certificate:

e-admission certificate will be issued to applicants three weeks before the commencement of the examination and, applicants can download the admit cards on the UPSC website. Admission certificate will not be sent by post to the applicants.

Exam Pattern:

Paper 1: General Ability and Intelligence

Question Type: Objective type question with multiple options to answer. The questions are set in two languages, Hindi as well as English

Total marks: 250

Paper 2: General Studies, Essay and Comprehension

In this paper the candidates will be allowed to either opt for writing it in Hindi or English, however, the case is different in the sections like precise writing, comprehension components and other communications/ language skills, that is supposed to be written in English only. There will be negative marking for every wrong answer in objective type section

Total marks: 200

Selection Procedure:

Candidates who are qualified in the written examination are eligible to appear for physical standards/ physical efficiency tests and medical standards tests

Aspirants, who qualify the medical standards tests, will be asked to attend interview/personality test

While the final selection will be based on merit list, which will be drawn on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates in the written examination and interview/personality test

The UPSC CAPF 2016 Examination will be conducted in the following centres:
It appears that the SsangYong wont stop at the XLV, essentially a larger version of the Tivoli, in its attack on the SUV segment.



There is nothing official at the time, but AutoExpress reports that the Tivoli could follow on the same lines as the Range Rover Evoque Convertible, as such a version of the crossover is under consideration and full-size clay models are being prepared.

There currently an internal debate whether to produce such a vehicle or not, but if it will see the light of day, then it is expected to gain a folding fabric soft-top and switch to a three-door body style. Compensating for the open top will be the extra strengthening of the chassis to retain structural rigidity.

As far as the engine lineup goes, the same 1.6-liter petrol and diesel units from the Tivoli should be carried over. These will probably be joined by a new 3-cylinder turbocharged mill, developed by Mahindra & Mahindra, SsangYongs parent company.

It may be too soon to talk about its prices, but one thing is sure, it will be more expensive than the regular model, which starts from 12,950 ($18,600 equivalent) in the United Kingdom.

PHOTO GALLERY
For Tennessee Highway Patrol to arrest a man suspected of rape and theft, they had to pull off a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver during a high-speed chase.



The video starts off with the police already in pursuit, trying to make their way through traffic on what looks like a very busy highway.

Before anybody gets apprehended, we get a first-person view at a police car running off the road and ended up under a bridge.

In fact, it was another police car that forced that to happen, but the officer behind the wheel of the dashcam cruiser basically ran himself off the road just so he wouldnt smash into a civilian Ford Fusion. The officer who ultimately performs the PIT maneuver seems to be the same one who accidentally forced his colleague to end up under the bridge, which in turn explains how angry he seemed once the suspects car has crashed and why he went to town on it with his baton  which at first seems a bit excessive, unless he was trying to break the glass.

Either way, thankfully no innocent people were hurt during the chase. Over to the lawyers

VIDEO
While sales of its Passenger Cars were down by nearly 5 percent in February, Volkswagens Commercial Vehicles division scored a 6,7% increase during the first two months of the year.



The Transporter, Caddy, Crafter and Amarok recorded a 12.3 percent increase year-on-year, to 45,300 units in Western Europe. In its home market, Germany, VW Commercial Vehicles handed over 15,900 vehicles, up 10 percent over 2015.

We have made a really impressive start to the new year. In February alone, there was a 16.4 percent increase in deliveries in Germany, commented Bram Schot, Member of the Board of Management of VW Commercial Vehicles brand responsible for Sales and Marketing.

Two-digit growth was reported in France at 15.7 percent, in Italy at 38.8 percent and Spain at 24.1 percent, though in Eastern Europe, the company sold 2.2 percent less vehicles than in 2015, at 4,900 units.

In South America, the brand sold 6,200 vehicles in January and February 2016, up 1.2 percent, with Brazil and Argentina seeing a rise of 6.8 and 3.2 percent, respectively. In the Middle East region, VW Commercial Vehicles sold 4,600 vehicles, up 3.0 percent, with Turkey accounting for 4,100 units, up 5.4 percent.

Best-sellers were vehicles from the T model range (27,100; +10.6%), followed by the Caddy range (22,200; +8.7%), Amarok (11,800; +2.3%) and Crafter (6,000; -6.6%).

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Contributed - RomarioIen "Office 2016 is totes the best!"

Office 2016 is awesome. And confusing

You do not have to live with Office the way it comes out of the box.

Okay, no one buys Office in a box anymore. Correct to say, these days you dont have to live with Office the way it comes out of the Downloads folder. A few quick customizations, and its yours.

Fluff up your Office

Office 2013 was a major upgrade from Office 2010, and included a dramatic change in appearance. Once we all learned how to navigate the programs again, we began to complain about how they looked, which is to say, they all looked alike. I do a lot of work in Word, and a fair amount in Excel, and while I like my screen uncluttered, I dont necessarily want to be bored to death.

Word 2013 introduced Office Backgrounds. Selecting a background places a design at the top of your Word Document, Excel Spreadsheet, Outlook, and any Office program. To do this:

Open an Office program, for instance Word

Open a document or spreadsheet (new or existing)

Click on File | Options | General | Office Background

Use the dropdown menu to select the background you want, or select No Background

Click on OK

Office programs before Office 2013 were different colours. Word was blue, Excel was green. Office 2013 made them all the same.

There are many things Microsoft could have done to improve Office 2013 when Office 2016 was released. What they chose to improve was the colour scheme. Now Word is blue again, and Excel is green when you choose the Colourful office theme.

Actually, its nice, and not boring. Check out all the choices:

Open an Office program, for instance Word

Open a document or spreadsheet (new or existing)

Click on File | Options | General | Office Theme

Use the dropdown menu to select the theme you like

Click on OK

If you hate those colours, choose the Dark Grey theme. Its less fun, but less distracting, too.

Photo: Cate Eales Word with Colourful Theme with Circuit Background, and Dark Grey Theme with Stars Background.



Get just the text you want

When Im editing a Word document, I usually want to control the text I select. By default, Word thinks I mean to highlight an entire word. Maybe thats true, but more often I really mean to highlight just part of a word. This can be frustrating.

Theres a way to turn off that irritating behaviour:

Open a Word document (new or existing)

Click on File | Options | Advanced

Scroll to Editing Options and find the entry called When selecting, automatically select entire word and clear the check box

Click on OK

Experiment with this setting and see if you like it. You can easily reverse it by putting the check mark back in that box.



Hide or reveal formatting

I get lots of questions about this, and there is no middle ground. Half the people want to know how to turn on formatting marks. The other half turned them on by accident and now want turn them off.

You can toggle them off and on by clicking on the paragraph symbol in the Paragraph section of the Ribbons Home tab. It looks like a backwards P. In general, people want to be free of the distractions of those marks. But turning them on can help you figure out why your document doesnt look the way you want it to. You can solve that problem, then toggle the formatting off again.

Some people, however, want to see the formatting all the time. If thats you:

Open a Word document (new or existing)

Click on File | Options | Display

In the section called Always show these formatting marks on the screen place a check in the boxes you want

Click OK

Those marks wont print. Theyre just on the screen while you edit.



Get more Help

The built-in Help (Tell me what you want to do) in Office 2016 is very useful. If you want more or more organized help, check out the Office Support website.

Quick Start guides

If youre using a Mac, your guides are here.

The Office Training Cente provides even more information.

What confuses you about Office 2016? What quirky issue have you solved? Let me know! Weve already solved the bypass the stupid templates screen problem in Just stop it. Send email to [email protected] and well tackle this together.

Links

Office 2016 Support

Quick Start Office Guides

Quick Start Office Guides for Mac

Office Training Center

Just stop it

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Contributed - snowriderswest.com

UPDATE: 5:50 p.m.

An avalanche has taken the life of another snowmobiler in British Columbia's Interior, the region's second such incident within the past week.

Rescue crews recovered the body of a man trapped in a snow slide near Crowfoot Mountain, about 90 kilometres northeast of Salmon Arm.

A spokeswoman for the coroners' service says the man was part of a group of three snowmobilers.

Shuswap Search and Rescue manager John Schut says three avalanche technicians were deployed to the site after crews were notified around 11:45 Sunday morning.

No one else was injured in the slide.

Last Tuesday, the body of a 34-year-old man was found in an avalanche zone near Sicamous, after crews picked up a signal from his personal-location device.

He had left two days earlier on a solo backcountry trip and was known to go sledding for multiple days at a time.

"I would caution people that avalanche conditions are quite dangerous around here right now," Schut says. "People need to be wary of that."

ORIGINAL

Rescue crews have recovered the body of a snowmobiler caught in an avalanche in the British Columbia Interior.

Shuswap Search and Rescue were notified this morning of a man trapped in a snow slide on Crowfoot Mountain, northeast of Salmon Arm.

Spokesman John Schut says the man was part of a group of snowmobilers.

He says three avalanche technicians were deployed to the site after the incident.

This is the second death in the region in as many weeks after crews recovered the body of a 34-year-old man on a solo backcountry trip in an avalanche zone near Sicamous, last Tuesday.

Schut says people need to be wary about dangerous avalanche conditions.
Photo: CTV

Vancouver is ranked as the best-performing luxury housing market in the world.

At least according to new report on the behaviour of so-called ultra-high net worth individuals.

Vancouver is No. 1 on the 2016 Prime International Residential Index (PIRI), a list of 100 real estate markets ranked in order by year-over-year growth, which is compiled annually by UK-based consultants Knight Frank.

The index measures the increase in value of what Knight Frank calls the most desirable and most expensive property in a given location, generally defined as the top five per cent of each market by value.

According to the report, such properties grew in value by 25 per cent in Vancouver last year, almost double that of the No. 2 city  Sydney, Australia.

A lack of supply, coupled with foreign demand, spurred on by a weaker Canadian dollar explain the citys stellar performance, according to the report.

The only other North American city to make the top 10 is the seventh-ranked San Fransisco, which recorded a growth of 10.9 per cent.

Toronto had an eight per cent increase landing at No. 12 on the list.

- with files from CTV
Photo: Thinkstock.com

February was a record-shattering month for home sales in British Columbia, with a 44.7 per cent hike compared to the same month last year.

The B.C. Real Estate Association said 9,637 residential units changed hands across the province in February.

That was 1,480 units higher than the previous sales record for February, set in 1992.

"Housing demand is now at a break-neck pace," said Cameron Muir, the association's chief economist.

"Home sales last month were not only a record for the month of February, but on a seasonally adjusted basis, demand has never been stronger in the province," he said.

Value of total sales also surged to $7.51 billion, up 76.4 per cent compared to last February.

"Downward pressure on active listings has created significant upward pressure on home prices in some regions, particularly in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley," Muir said.

More homes were being built across B.C. last month, but Muir estimated a record pace for housing starts would not outstrip demand any time soon.

Real Estate Association numbers showed the value of residential sales across the province soared 73.6 per cent to $11.9 billion since the start of the year, compared with the same period in 2015.

In the first two months of 2016, the association said the average residential price in B.C. ballooned 23.9 per cent to $769,400.
Photo: The Canadian Press

British Columbia's independent representative for children and youth says a young woman has died tragically after transitioning out of government care.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the woman was trying to navigate the system of youth support after she was no longer involved with the Children's Ministry.

No information about the woman or the cause of death has been released, but coroner Barbara McLintock says an investigation is underway.

Turpel-Lafond says that at this point in the investigations by police and the coroners service, she can only express her profound sadness and offer support to the woman's family and friends.

She says the death is a reminder of the frailty of the lives of some young people in B.C., especially aboriginal youth as they move from the child welfare system into adulthood.

Last May, Turpel-Lafond released a scathing report saying social workers did nothing to protect a blind 19-year-old aboriginal woman named Paige, who was found dead of a drug overdose in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Photo: Twitter

Dozens of inmates barricaded themselves inside a dormitory at a south Alabama prison on Monday following a stabbing, the second violent uprising in the same area of the overcrowded correctional facility in three days.

The disturbance began in the morning when a prisoner stabbed another inmate at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Bob Horton said in an emailed statement. When corrections officers tried to apprehend the suspect, inmates became violent and barricaded themselves inside the dorm, Horton said. He said 70 inmates were in the dorm, but it was unclear how many were involved in the uprising. An emergency response team was deployed to the prison, he said.

Horton said Monday's violence occurred in the same dorm where, on Friday night, Holman inmates stabbed Warden Carter Davenport and a corrections officer and lit fires and then shot video of the melee with contraband cellphones.

Emergency response teams had brought the first situation under control by Saturday morning, but the prison was still locked down Monday when the latest uprising broke out. During a search of the prison after Friday's uprising was contained, corrections officers found 30 cellphones, makeshift knives and other contraband, Horton said.

Monday's disturbance marked the third incidence of violence within a week in the state's troubled prison system, which has come under criticism for overcrowding and low staffing levels. An officer was stabbed last week at another Alabama prison.

Alabama prisons in December housed more than 24,282 inmates in facilities originally designed to hold 13,318, according to monthly statistics from the Department of Corrections. There were 830 prisoners housed at Holman, which was originally designed to hold 581 inmates.

"You don't have enough officers to monitor this many inmates. This is going to continue," said Sen. Cam Ward, chairman of the legislative prison oversight committee.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is asking legislators to approve an $800 million bond issue to build four new, large prisons and shutter most existing facilities.

Video that was apparently shot Friday night from inside the prison by an inmate with a contraband cellphone shows inmates starting a fire at the end of the dormitory. "It is going down," said the inmate on the expletive-filled video after talking about the stabbings of the warden and officer. The Department of Corrections confirmed that some inmates inside the prison were able to publish photos of the disturbance using social media.
Suez Cement working to limit impact of Egypt's dollar shortage

14 March 2016

Suez Cement, a unit of Italys Italcementi SpA, is working to minimise the impact of Egypts dollar shortage on its operations and has no plans to withdraw from the country, Managing Director, Bruno Carre, said.



We are doing what we can to finance our operations locally and to work with local suppliers while getting extended credit facilities from our international suppliers and our group, Carre told Bloomberg News. Our key priority is to maintain our operations and to minimise the outflow of dollars to support authorities addressing the foreign-currency shortage.





Published under
For employees at First Tennessee Bank branches across Chattanooga, premiere financial services and customer commitment arent the only ways to define success. Its also found in volunteerism and giving back to the communities in which they serve. In recent years, First Tennessee has shown its commitment to building stronger communities by donating its time and expertise, in addition to millions of dollars to local nonprofits.

In 2015, nearly 60 First Tennessee employees in the Chattanooga area recorded more than 1,100 volunteer service hours to nonprofit organizations across the city. Their investment to the community benefited more than 75 organizations.

Giving back to our local communities is what First Tennessee is all about. Our employees are proud to give their time and effort to help make a difference, said Jeff Jackson, president at First Tennessee Bank in Chattanooga.

Across the state, First Tennessee employees continue to demonstrate their commitment to volunteerism. Last year, nearly 650 employees recorded 17,610 volunteer hours at 3,142 events statewide. Those hours translated into a community impact value of $362,282. Total foundation giving in 2015 reached nearly $6 million through grants to 525 nonprofit organizations.

Since it was founded in 1993, the First Tennessee Foundation has donated more than $65 million to meet community needs.

For more information, visit www.FirstTennesseeFoundation.com.
Like the gravitational forces that are responsible for the attraction between the Earth and the moon as well as the dynamics of the entire solar system, there exist attractive forces between objects at the nanoscale. These are the so-called van der Waals forces, which are ubiquitous in nature and thought to play a crucial role in determining the structure, stability and function of a wide variety of molecules and materials.

A group of researchers, led by Alexandre Tkatchenko, Professor at the University of Luxembourg, demonstrated that the true nature of these forces differs from conventional wisdom in chemistry and biology. The scientists showed that these interactions have to be treated as coupling between waves rather than as mutual attraction between particles. "In the simplest case, you can think of two chains of atoms and you could identify points in these chains that are attracted to each other. Typically, you would compute the van der Waals energy by just summing up all these pairs," explains Alexandre Tkatchenko, Professor of Condensed-Matter Physics at the Faculty of Science, Technology and Communication (FSTC) of the University of Luxembourg. "However, we demonstrated that at realistic distances between nanoscale materials this is not true, and instead of particles you have to view them as waves. This drastically affects the way we think about these omnipresent interactions."

The research is likely to have an important impact on material science. Over the last two decades, scientists managed to change the properties of existing materials by incorporating nanomaterials, for example they enhanced stress response or achieved high conductivity of polymer composites. "In order to understand all the properties of such nanocomposites you have to comprehend how they self-assemble at the nanoscale. The assembly of these materials is mainly driven by van der Waals interactions," Prof Tkatchenko adds. As van der Waals forces are critical for many industrial applications, such as the manufacture of nanocomposites, this work could have a great impact on the refinement of processing techniques in that area.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally on March 13, 2016 in Boca Raton, Fla. While the businessman said he will tax companies that move jobs overseas, clothing bearing his name is made in countries such as Bangladesh, Honduras and China. (Rhona Wise / AFP / Getty Images)

Donald Trump wanted to market a line of men's clothing that would bear his name.

He told people working with him to help find a company known for producing quality merchandise on a mass scale. In the end, Trump signed on with Phillips-Van Heusen, a manufacturer of affordable shirts produced in factories in 85 countries.

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The 2004 deal  one of the first of many merchandise-licensing arrangements in which Trump attached his name to products made by foreign workers and sold in the United States  is relevant today as the billionaire businessman wages a populist presidential campaign in which he accuses companies of killing U.S. jobs by moving manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheap labor and lax workplace regulations.

Documents and interviews reveal the personal role that Trump played in negotiating the deal. Participants said they could not recall Trump expressing a preference that products be made in the United States.

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"Finding the biggest company with the best practices is what was important to him," said Jeff Danzer, who was vice president of the company hired by Trump to broker the deal. "Finding a company that made in America was never something that was specified."

Today, Donald J. Trump Collection shirts  as well as eyeglasses, perfume, cuff links and suits  are made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and other low-wage countries.

Trump's daughter Ivanka, a vice president at his company and frequent campaign surrogate, markets hundreds of additional products under her own line of jewelry and clothing. Many are made in China.

The contradiction between Trump's business decisions and his political agenda illustrates the sometimes-awkward transformation of an aggressive, profit-oriented marketer and real estate mogul into a firebrand champion of the struggling working class.

When Trump began cutting licensing deals more than a decade ago, many business executives and politicians in both parties argued that free trade and overseas production were beneficial to everyone - a needed boost for poor, developing economies abroad and a path to cheap goods for middle-class consumers in the United States.

Trump, though, has emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner largely by tapping into growing anger among voters who think free-trade policies  such as the ones that have added to Trump's personal fortune  have devastated U.S. communities that have lost manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and elsewhere.

Trump's rivals and critics say he is a hypocrite, enriching himself with overseas labor while blasting the practice for political gain.

Representatives for the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesman for Ivanka Trump's product line declined to comment.

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On the campaign trail, Trump has blasted Ford Motor Co. for opening factories in Mexico, criticized a U.S. drug company that moved its headquarters offshore and said he will eat no more Oreo cookies because its maker, Nabisco, moved part of its production to Mexico.

When news broke three weeks ago that the air-conditioner maker Carrier was moving 1,400 jobs from a plant in Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico, Trump wrote on Facebook: "We cannot allow this to keep happening. It will NOT happen under my watch."

Moreover, Trump has mentioned labor conditions overseas in support of his position that goods should be made in the United States, telling CNN last year that Chinese laborers are "paid a lot less and the standards are worse when it comes to the environment and health care and worker safety."

During Thursday night's Republican candidates' debate, Trump said he knows how to fix the policies that encourage outsourcing because he spent so many years successfully taking advantage of them.

"Nobody knows it better than me," he said. "I'm a businessman. These are laws. These are regulations. These are rules. We're allowed to do it. ... But I'm the one that knows how to change it."

Trump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination have tried  so far to no avail  to undercut his popularity among working-class voters by portraying him as someone who rampantly outsources jobs. A similar line of attack proved effective four years ago against then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on Trump during a March 3 debate to announce that "all the Donald Trump clothing will no longer be made in China and in Mexico but will be made here in the United States." Trump dismissed the statement, arguing that China's currency policies "make it impossible for clothing makers in this country to do clothing in this country."

Critics say Trump is being disingenuous.

Robert Lawrence, a professor of trade and investment at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, has reviewed Trump-brand products for sale online and found that a large percentage are imported.

For example, the website selling Ivanka Trump's merchandise line links to 838 products  628 of them imported. Of those, 354 are from China, a country that Donald Trump often says takes advantage of the large U.S. trade deficit.

Ivanka Trump's products also were marketed alongside her father's on the Trump Organization website. But amid criticism last week of the family's outsourcing practices, his daughter's page was removed.

"I don't decry what he and his daughter do," said Lawrence, who served on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton. "But at the same time, for him to claim that this is somehow immoral and go after companies that have relocated manufacturing when he has done the same puts him in conflict with his own rhetoric."

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Lawrence said that some of Trump's proposals could hurt his own businesses. His proposed 15 percent tax on companies that outsource jobs, or a proposed 20 percent tax for importing goods, could result in higher prices for consumers buying Trump-brand products. Recently, he has discussed placing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports.

Lawrence estimated that Trump's $250 suits made in China would suddenly be priced in the United States at $350 or more. "The impact would be staggering and widespread," he said.

Michael Strain, deputy director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that Trump's trade rhetoric is "deeply irresponsible" because isolating the U.S. economy could devastate businesses and hurt consumers.

Trump struck the 2004 deal with Phillips-Van Heusen, which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, at a critical moment for his brand  the same year his hit show "The Apprentice" premiered.

Several people engaged in the negotiations said that Trump was personally involved. None could remember him specifically mentioning the U.S.-worker issue.

"If he's concerned about jobs in the United States, it should have been a question he asked," said one person involved in the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid offending Trump. "And I can tell you that in none of the meetings did it come up."

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The shirtmaker used factories in some countries, including Bangladesh, China and Honduras, where labor violations such as forced overtime are common, according to Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a group that monitors factory conditions.

The agreement signed by Trump and Phillips-Van Heusen placed no restrictions on where Trump dress shirts, tuxedo shirts and neckwear could be manufactured.

Phillips-Van Heusen agreed that any products "manufactured by it or for it anywhere in the world" would not be made using child labor "as defined in the relevant jurisdiction of production," according to the contract, which was filed in a later New York state lawsuit between the broker company and Trump.

Mark Weber, who was chief executive of Phillips-Van Heusen at the time, said the company employed a "global sourcing network" to produce clothes for Trump's line and other brands.

Weber described Trump as a master negotiator who correctly predicted the brand would be a smashing success and persuaded a wary Phillips-Van Heusen to sign on.

In a deposition filed in the New York lawsuit, Trump recalled that the massive clothier had been eager for the deal. "They were very hot to make a deal with us," Trump said, according to a deposition transcript provided to The Washington Post by Jay Itkowitz, an attorney for the broker company that unsuccessfully sued Trump.

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Weber, who is supporting Trump for president, said he concluded at the time that Trump was a patriot.

"He had a clear preference to support American values and what was good for America," Weber said.

Asked whether Trump ever specifically expressed a preference for items bearing his name to be made in America, Weber said, "You're asking me for specifics that are very hard to recollect."

Weber said that at the time, the industry's widely shared goals  promoted through overseas production  were to improve standards of living for workers in the Third World and to offer U.S. consumers lower prices.

"That was a time when America was very much in favor of building a better life for the people of our hemisphere," he said, referring to factories in Central America.

"While we care about Americans, we care about people all over the world, too," Weber said.

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He also said that Trump never attempted to require that products be made in the United States as part of the contract between the two companies.

"No one can tell us where to make our products," said Weber, who left the company in 2006. "I have never signed a contract in my 40 years of experience where someone could tell me where to make my goods."

After Trump drew scrutiny over the summer for disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants, Macy's, which sold his clothing line, announced it was ending its relationship with him. Phillips-Van Heusen, now called PVH Corp., quickly followed suit, saying that its licensing deal with Trump would be unwound.

Dana Perlman, a spokeswoman for the company, said last week that it no longer manufactures Trump clothing. She declined to comment further.

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.
Reporting from Washington  Judge Paul J. Watford, a Southern Californian who serves on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and has won praise from conservatives and liberals, has emerged as as finalist for President Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court.

The president has narrowed his search to three appeals court judges, including Judges Sri Srinivasan and Merrick Garland, both from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, according to officials close to the process. All three have had bipartisan support in the past.

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If nominated, however, any one of them is likely to run into near-unanimous opposition from Senate Republicans, who have vowed to block action on any Obama nominee to fill the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

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Watford is the top contender from outside the Washington Beltway. If nominated and confirmed, he would be the third African American to sit on the nation's highest court.

He also would be the first justice from Southern California. Four Californians have served on the high court, dating back to Justice Stephen Field, who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln, but all of them were residents of Sacramento or the Bay Area.

Obama is expected to announce his decision as soon as this week. Even if Watford, 48, does not get the nod this time, his inclusion on the short list could make him a contender in a future Democratic White House.

When Obama nominated Watford, 48, to the 9th Circuit in 2011, he won glowing praise, including from prominent conservatives. Since then, he has won compliments from judges who serve with him.

"The bottom line is he is just really wonderful," said Appeals Court Judge Alex Kozinski, a Reagan appointee.

Watford clerked for Kozinski for a year early in his career, but "I can't describe him ideologically," the judge said. "He has been my colleague for three or four years, and I can't pigeonhole him into anything. The guy is really, really smart. He is careful about applying precedent, but based on ideology, you cannot predict the guy."

USC Law Professor Rebecca Lonergan worked with Watford at the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles and later helped recruit him to teach judicial writing at the law school.

"I can't speak highly enough of him," she said Monday. "He's smart, moderate, fair-minded and an excellent writer, and you need all those things on the Supreme Court."

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Two of Watford's opinions were reviewed by the Supreme Court last year. Both were affirmed.

In one case, the pastor of a small church in Gilbert, Ariz., sued because the town would not allow him to post large signs along the roadside to direct people to a Sunday service, even though large signs for political events and real estate were permitted. The 9th Circuit upheld the ordinance, but Watford dissented, arguing that sharply different treatment based on the content of the sign violated the 1st Amendment.

The Supreme Court agreed with Watford's view in June in the case of Reed vs. Town of Gilbert. The court's 6-3 opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The other case came from Los Angeles. This time, Watford was in the majority, writing an opinion for the 9th Circuit that struck down a city ordinance that said the police may enter a motel and check the guest registry at any time.

The city ordinance violated the 4th Amendment's ban on "unreasonable searches," Watford said, because the motel operators were given no opportunity to contest the inspections before a magistrate. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the city's appeal in Los Angeles vs. Patel, but affirmed the 9th Circuit's decision. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for a 5-4 majority.

Watford was born and raised in Orange County and has degrees from UC Berkeley and from the UCLA Law School. After clerking for Kozinski in Pasadena, he was a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court.

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After returning to Los Angeles, he spent three years as an assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting cases of fraud and white-collar crime. For the next decade, he was an appellate lawyer at Munger, Tolles & Olson.

UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh, a conservative and 1st Amendment expert, was among those who praised Watford when he was nominated to the appeals court. "Paul is the sort of Democratic nominee that moderates and conservatives, as well as liberals, should solidly support," he wrote at the time. "He's extremely smart, thoughtful, reasonable and judicious."

Wylie Aitken, an Orange County trial lawyer, served on a lawyer's panel that recommended Watford's nomination to the 9th Circuit. "He's extremely bright, an outstanding scholar. And he had represented corporations at Munger, Tolles. He was very moderate, so we thought he was an ideal candidate who would appeal to Republicans and Democrats. In any other time, he should have had no difficulty being approved," he said Monday.

But even in Obama's first term, Senate Republicans stalled many of his court nominees, including Watford. When Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pressed for a confirmation vote, in 2012, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), objected, saying Watford was not a "consensus nominee." He said he had concerns "regarding Mr. Watford's views on both immigration and the death penalty."

Grassley criticized Watford for working with the ACLU in a legal challenge to Arizona's strict immigration law. Not long afterward, the Supreme Court ruled for the challengers and blocked most of the law from taking effect, in effect siding with Watford.

Watford also worked on a brief that challenged the three-drug protocol used for lethal injections in the Kentucky. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the challenge in that case.

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Watford won Senate confirmation on a 61-34 vote, with the support of 52 Democrats and nine Republicans.

Grassley is now the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committtee and said he will not hold hearings this year, no matter who Obama nominates for the high court.

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On Monday morning, hundreds of millions of Americans were united by one thought: Boy, am I tired.

According to Facebook data from 2014, Americans are significantly sleepier on the Monday after daylight saving time starts -- or in any case, we spend more time complaining about being sleepy on social media. So either way, the zeitgeist is one of general crankiness.

But what's up with that? Once we stop having parent-mandated bedtimes, most of us vary the amount of sleep we get from night to night. You wouldn't think that shifting things around by an hour would make all that much difference.

Well, you're wrong. And how! One study found that it takes up to a week for your body's circadian rhythm -- the light-based cycle that tells us when our bodies need to sleep, regardless of our conscious thoughts on the subject -- to adjust to even the single-hour shift.

We're all too sleepy for a huge song and dance on circadian rhythms, but here's the big takeaway: Your body has to put your brain to sleep at some point, and it operates on a roughly 24-hour cycle. When it's sleepy-time, hormones like melatonin ramp up to trigger drowsiness. Your body is generally set to release more melatonin when it's dark out -- which is why researchers say we should be careful about how much light from phones and computers we expose ourselves to around bedtime. And when it gets light, your body primes you to wake up by dialing down that chemical cocktail. That cycle, while roughly light-based, still adjusts to fit your schedule -- so even though you might have gotten eight hours of sleep last night, your body is still pretty confused.

"Remember, we have clocks in every organ in our body," Robert Thomas, the director of a sleep medicine fellowship at Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told The New York Times. "You're not just moving sleep -you're moving your entire body. It's like a giant ocean liner. A big ocean liner slowly chugging away. You can't just jerk it around."

Tell me about it, man.

To make matters worse, when we set our clocks forward we end up waking up to darker mornings. Today's 7 a.m. was yesterday's 6 a.m., and the sun was just not all that ready to face the day yet. In addition to the sleep schedule change itself, your body is also reacting to the fact that there was less light to prime that chemical wake-up process today than there was yesterday. A recent study of college students suggested that the spring-forward process really is more disruptive to the sleep-wake cycle than falling back.

"Light doesn't do the same things to the body in the morning and the evening," Till Roenneberg, a chronobiologist at Ludwig-Maximilians University, told National Geographic. Roenneberg actually believes that our sleep clock might not ever adjust to our self-imposed DST shifts -- which is kind of a terrifying thought. "More light in the morning would advance the body clock, and that would be good. But more light in the evening would even further delay the body clock," Roenneberg said.

And even in the fall, studies have found, folks rarely take advantage of their "extra" hour of sleep.

The best way to adjust to the change is to get plenty of sleep and expose yourself to as much light as possible first thing in the morning - and as little as possible starting a couple of hours before bed. And don't forget to take advantage of those sunny evenings when you get out of work: According to that Facebook study we mentioned before, folks are actually in a better mood in general when DST starts -- presumably because we get to do fun, sunshine-y, springy things instead of emerging into the twilight when school and work end.

But for today, no one will judge you if you skip the walk in the park and take a nap instead.
Authorities say an "unauthorized user" apparently broadcast racial slurs and profanities over a police radio channel on the Far South Side.



The radio transmissions occurred at 8:25 a.m. Sunday on Zone 9, a channel that serves the Calumet and Morgan Park police districts, according to archived traffic provided by Broadcastify.com. They were made by at least one male, possibly two, while a dispatcher was speaking to an officer.



A spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications said in an email that an "unauthorized user" appears to have made the transmissions.



"We have reviewed the audio for this incident and we do not believe that the comments were made through the use of a city-programmed radio, as the audio in question lacks identifying characteristics of an official police radio," said OEMC spokeswoman Melissa Stratton.



The OEMC is working with police to identify the person, Stratton said.



"The statements made are absolutely unacceptable," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in an email Monday afternoon, adding that Police interim Superintendent John Escalante "has ordered an immediate internal affairs investigation into this incident.



"Should the investigation reveal that a member of the Police Department made the statements, he will be immediately suspended and disciplinary proceedings will be launched," Guglielmi said in the statement.



In the radio traffic, a dispatcher is trying to get a police unit to respond. When an officer replies, apparently mistakenly, she replies, "No, boo, it's too early to be bothering you. Good morning."



"Yeah, good morning," the officer replies.



Another officer chimes in saying, "How many boyfriends you have?"



"Why are you all in my Kool-Aid? Why you over here?" the dispatcher replies, apparently because that officer was assigned to a different police zone.



A male voice then interjects: "Typical f---in' n-----s."



Another male voice says, "Say that again," and there is some crosstalk.



The dispatcher responds, "All right, you know, OK," apparently taken aback.



One of the officers who the dispatcher originally was speaking to responds, "Find out what radio that comment came from."



The dispatcher says, "You know, we don't get radio numbers, but I'm already hollerin' for my supervisor."



There is a little more back and forth, then a man's voice, possibly adopting an accent, says: "All black lives matter, man. F---in' n-----s."



Although police frequencies are legally restricted to official traffic, the Police Department and the city's Office of Emergency Communications have at times had to deal with people, including security guards, making unauthorized transmissions on police radio.



In March 2015, for example, a security guard at Kennedy-King College was arrested after using a police-band radio to call in a foot chase involving a suspect in a criminal damage to property incident.
Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.

Topspin

Early voting numbers have been huge in Chicago and suburban Cook County in the run-up to Tuesday compared to earlier primary elections.



In Chicago, 129,957 early votes had been cast by 3:45 p.m. Sunday, according to James Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. That's a 37 percent increase over the prior high for a primary, in 2008, when 81,690 were cast when Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others were duking it out for the Democratic presidential nomination, and John McCain and Mitt Romney headed a crowded Republican field. It doesn't approach the 260,378 early votes cast in the 2008 general election headed by Obama vs. McCain, however.



At one city location, Welles Park on the Northwest Side, there was a 90-minute wait to vote early on Sunday afternoon. While there have been a total of 51 early voting sites open in Chicago since the end of February, just 14 "permanent locations" accepted early votes Sunday and will do so Monday.



In the suburbs, 102,409 early votes had been cast by Sunday afternoon. In the 2008 primary, 51,116 early votes were cast in suburban Cook County. Thirteen suburban locations will be open Monday. And Cook County Clerk David Orr said 1,443,261 voters are registered for the primary, which is a record for any presidential election.



Allen said the mammoth early voting numbers this time are more a reflection of changing voter habits as people get used to the convenience of not having to wait until election day than they are necessarily a predictor of a big turnout. There were large numbers of early ballots cast in the city in 2015 before the runoff election between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, yet overall turnout in the end was only around 40 percent.

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On the Democratic side, the top of the ticket features a presidential contest between Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Second from the top is the U.S. Senate race among U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, former Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris. And there's the contest for state's attorney pitting two-term incumbent Anita Alvarez against challengers Kim Foxx and Donna More.

On the Republican side, the presidential campaign tops the ballot, with businessman and former reality show star Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich running. Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk faces a little-known and underfunded opponent, James Marter of Oswego.

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No-excuse early voting began in Illinois in 2006, billed as a response to declining voter turnout on Election Day. It has been the subject of much political wrangling since, with Democrats generally favoring expanding it and Republicans responding more cautiously to the idea.



In the city, the early votes are running about 90 percent Democrat to 10 percent Republican, Allen said. In 2008, it was 93 percent Democrat and 6 percent Republican. In 2012, it was 81-18 in favor of the Democrats, but Obama was unopposed.



In suburban Cook, early voting this year is 72 percent Democratic to 29 percent Republican. In 2008, it was 80 percent Democratic to 19 percent Republican, and in 2012 it was 61 percent Democratic to 39 percent Republican. (John Byrne)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel has no public schedule.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner will appear at the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association convention in Springfield.

*Hillary Clinton will speak at a Near West Side union hall in the morning.

*Ted Cruz will campaign in the early afternoon at a Glen Ellyn banquet hall.

*Bernie Sanders has a downtown late-night rally set for the Auditorium Theatre.

*Chicago Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans is scheduled to speak at a City Club of Chicago luncheon. Protesters for Airport Workers United, which represents security officers, wheelchair attendants and other service workers, plans a protest for higher wages outside the event.



What we're writing

*Trump returns to Illinois after canceling Friday night rally in Chicago.

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*At black churches, Bill Clinton takes veiled shots at Trump.

*After-effects of Trump Chicago cancellation felt in presidential race.

*Sanders slams Emanuel as he tries to overtake Clinton in Illinois.

*Canceled Trump rally reflects nation's deep and angry political divide.

*The Friday night live coverage of Trump rally, protests.

*Sanders, Cruz campaigned in Chicago on Friday night.

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*Circuit Clerk Brown runs for re-election with office under federal probe.

*Big league chew ban closer to reality in Chicago.

*'Tampon tax' could be on way out in Illinois.



From the notebook

*No audience overlooked: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders seemingly isn't overlooking anyone in his bid to defeat Hillary Clinton in Illinois' primary on Tuesday.



On Sunday, Sanders' campaign announced it had bought 60-second Arabic-language radio ads in which the candidate pledges to fight against racism.



"If we stand for anything at all we have got to stand together to end all forms of racism and I will lead that effort as President of the United States," the Vermont senator says in the only English-language portion of the ad.



There are no accurate estimates on the number of Arab Americans in Illinois or Chicago out of an estimated 3.5 million in the U.S. But the cities across the nation with the largest Arab American populations are Los Angeles, Detroit, New York and Chicago. Sanders' camp contends it received 60 percent support of the Arab-American community in his upset win over Clinton in Michigan. (Rick Pearson)



*Duckworth environmental endorsements: U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth on Monday will get the endorsement of three environmental groups: the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the NRDC Action Fund, an affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council, her campaign said.

The announcements will be made at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago.

"We know that Congresswoman Duckworth will continue her steadfast commitment to protecting our air, water, lands and wildlife and her support for crucial steps to address climate change," said Alex Taurel, deputy legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters.

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Duckworth, who's from Hoffman Estates, faces former Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris of Harvey in Tuesday's primary for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who faces nominal primary opposition. (Katherine Skiba)

*Chicago ward committemen races: The ballots on Tuesday will be lengthy with primary picks for president, U.S. Senate, Congress, the General Assembly, state's attorney, circuit court clerk, judge and, oh yeah, ward committeemen.



Ten of the 50 ward spots are contested, with upstarts vying to unseat party stalwarts, failed 2015 aldermanic candidates trying to get a leg up for the 2019 elections and longtime rivals aiming to unseat their foes.



Committeemen act as the local political boss for their party. They're in charge of getting out the vote on election day. Here's a look at the contests:



--- 1st Ward: Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno is challenged by public defender Maria Teresa Gonzalez, who's getting a bit of help from Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios. Four years ago, Moreno defeated Jesse Ruben Juarez, who was Berrios' guy, and another candidate to become committeeman.



--- 10th Ward: City worker Fred Carrizales is vying with Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza to become committeeman. Garza defeated longtime Ald. John Pope, the current committeeman, in last year's City Council contest. Carrizales' campaign committee filings list Pope as chairman of Friends of Fred Carrizales.



--- 12th Ward: State Sen. Tony Munoz is trying to unseat Ald. George Cardenas. The two were allies back in the heyday of the now discredited and disbanded Hispanic Democratic Organization, but they've have been at odds for years now.



--- 16th Ward: Ald. Toni Foulkes faces two challengers. One is Stephanie Coleman, the daughter of a former alderman who narrowly lost to Foulkes in last year's aldermanic runoff election.



--- 23rd Ward: Ald. Mike Zalewski is challenged by Charles Hughes, who was knocked off the City Council ballot last year.



--- 30th Ward: Ald. Ariel Reboyras is challenged by Noe Favela.



--- 33rd Ward: Retired Ald. Dick Mell is challenged by attorney Aaron Goldstein, who at one point represented imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Mell's son in law. Two years ago, Goldstein lost to state Rep. Jaime Andrade, Mell's guy, in a five-person Democratic primary for the General Assembly seat once held by Deb Mell, who gave it up to replace her father as alderman.



--- 39th Ward: Robert Murphy, who lost to Ald. Margaret Laurino in last year's City Council election, is challenging appointed committeeman Patrick Molloy, a Laurino ally.



--- 40th Ward: Chicago Teachers Union member Dianne Daleiden is taking another shot at Ald. Pat O'Connor, who she ran against last year for council.



--- 41st Ward: Elmwood Park firefighter and local school council member Tim Heneghan has the backing of former Ald. Mary O'Connor, who current Ald. Anthony Napolitano defeated least year. Napolitano is backing retired city worker Andrew Devito. Also in the race is event organizer and disc jockey Goran Davidovac. (Hal Dardick)

*The Sunday Spin: This week's show featured a primary election roundtable discussion. Listen here.



Follow the money

*City Clerk Susana Mendoza, who's running in the special election for state comptroller, reported collecting nearly $275,000 in contributions, including a maximum $53,900 from an operating engineers fund.



*Track campaign contribution reports in real time with this Tribune Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ILCampaignCash

Beyond Chicago

*Presidential race, Republican side: Rubio's reckoning arrives in Florida primary.

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*Presidential race, Democratic side: Clinton stops apologizing, starts to sprint.

*Scores killed as bomb explodes in Turkish capital.

*Ivory Coast: Extremists kill 14 civilians, 2 special forces.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton returned to Chicago on Monday to urge supporters to turn out at the polls and persuade others to do the same on the final day before the Illinois primary election.

Both the former secretary of state and former President Bill Clinton have campaigned heavily in the Chicago region in recent days, aiming to energize minority voters who have helped Clinton win previous nominating contests. National polls have shown a tightening race with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and losing her native Illinois would represent a political embarrassment for the former first lady and U.S. senator.

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The series of stops comes on a day when Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is campaigning across Illinois, including an event at a Glen Ellyn banquet hall. Sanders has a late-night downtown rally scheduled for the Auditorium Theatre.

Hillary Clinton began the day at an immigration workshop in Chicago's in Pilsen neighborhood hosted by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who lauded the role of "peaceful protests" in canceling Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's Chicago rally Friday. Gutierrez sought to motivate volunteers at the workshop, who work to sign up immigrants for citizenship, to work against Republican candidates who he said would deport the parents of people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

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When Clinton arrived, she spoke for about five minutes and emphasized the importance of the effort to sign up more immigrants who are eligible for citizenship.

"I will work very hard when I am president, if you join with us and help me become president, to be sure we immediately begin working for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship," Clinton said to a standing ovation before delivering a line seemingly aimed at Republican front-runner Trump. "Please tell everyone that we have to have a good vote tomorrow to send a strong message that love trumps hate."

Cruz stopped in heavily Republican DuPage County, where he told a crowd of hundreds of supporters he was "neck and neck" with Trump in Illinois and was the only one of the two who could beat Clinton in a general election contest.

"There are right now today only two candidates who have any plausible path toward winning the Republican nomination," Cruz said at the Glen Ellyn banquet hall. "Today, 65 to 70 percent of Republicans in Illinois and nationwide recognize that Donald Trump is not the best candidate to go head to head with Hillary. If we nominate Donald Trump, Hillary wins.

"Why do you think the media so desperately wants Republicans to nominate Donald Trump? ... The network execs are all Democrats. They are ready for Hillary, and they recognize Donald Trump may be the only candidate on the face of the planet Hillary could beat in the general election," he added.

That was the core message of Cruz's speech, delivered on a brightly lit stage at the center of the hall as he paced to and fro in his trademark cowboy boots, bluejeans and a blue blazer with an open shirt and no tie. He reiterated his familiar campaign themes of a smaller, pro-small business government, tougher national security and protecting religious liberty and gun rights.

A recent Tribune poll found Trump leading Illinois, with Cruz 10 percentage points back and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich close behind.

Cruz reserved his biggest criticism for Trump, noting that Trump had contributed $7,000 to now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, $12,500 to the Cook County Democratic Party and $50,000 to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

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"While y'all have been suffering under big government, liberal Democratic policies, you know who has been funding them? Donald Trump," Cruz said.

At one point in his nearly 30-minute speech, a woman holding up a sign that stated "Animal Liberation Now," interrupted him. The crowd responded by chanting, "We want Ted," with Cruz saying: "Animals are wonderful. I also care about human beings."

After security escorted the woman out, he noted that the mini-protest took place "without anyone getting violent." That was a veiled reference to, among other things, the skirmishes that took place Friday after Trump canceled his rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Later Monday morning, Clinton gave a stump speech at a Plumbers Hall rally on the West Side in which she returned to a theme she's struck repeatedly in recent days  that the divisive nature of the Republican race for president is not productive for the country.

"No president can do it all. We've got to be honest about that. We need leadership and citizenship," she said. "We need everyone to reach out and help everyone, and I don't believe we do that by insulting everyone, by dividing us against them."

Clinton used the rally to urge a crowd of about 500 people, most of them union workers, to help her extend her current delegate lead over Sanders.

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"Do not rest," Clinton told the crowd. "If there is an 'L' stop you can go to, if there is a phone call you can make, if there is a door you can knock on, if there is a person you can convince, please do everything you can in the next 24-plus hours so we can come out of these elections with a wind at our backs so we can start talking about unifying the Democratic party and unifying our country."

She hewed to many of the economic themes of her campaign, from increasing the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for women to creating clean-energy jobs and penalizing companies that move jobs out of the country.

Clinton predicted that the economy would be the biggest issue with the Republican nominee in the general election.

"I want you to remind folks between now and when the polls close, we've had two Democratic presidents in 35 years, and you know what the facts show? The facts show the economy does better when we have a Democrat in the White House," said Clinton, who asserted that former President George W. Bush ruined the economic gains made while her husband was in the White House.

"They are George W. Bush on steroids," Clinton said of the Republican field. "Each and every one of them would throw us back into the mess that President (Barack) Obama has dug us out of."

Clinton also mentioned the recent decision by Nabisco to ship 600 jobs from its Chicago bakery to Mexico. "We're going to make companies like that pay an exit fee," she said. "They are going to have to pay money for the communities they are leaving behind."

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On Monday afternoon, Clinton met with the leadership of bakers union that represents the Nabisco workers on the Southwest Side. She also visited the Kids off the Block memorial in Pullman for children who have died from gun violence.

Diane Latiker, who created the memorial and a nonprofit by the same name to keep kids off the street, explained to Clinton that she made the memorial of 501 stones with the names of children who were killed as "a way to shock my community," noting that there have been another 531 children who have died that don't have stones in their honor yet.

"This should not be here," Latiker told Clinton, sobbing. "So, if you take nothing else away from here, this is not America. Nobody wants to talk about it, because it's sticky, but blood is sticky."

Clinton was joined by mothers of children who have died as a result of gun violence along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who on Saturday hosted Sanders at Rainbow/PUSH headquarters, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who faces a challenge from Chicago Ald. Howard Brookins.

"There is no place, as you say, what looks like small headstones for so many children. We have to do many things, but the first and most important of any nation is to protect and keep safe our children," Clinton told Latiker. "And yet we allow this epidemic of gun violence to stalk our streets, our playgrounds, our buses, our schools, our churches. It is profoundly wrong to see how many children's lives are ended by senseless, brutal gun violence."

bruthhart@tribpub.com

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hdardick@tribpub.com
IRBIL, Iraq  A 26-year-old man fighting with the Islamic State group gave himself up to Iraqi Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Monday and when asked, said he is a Palestinian from the United States.

His driving license, posted on social media, had Alexandria, Virginia, as his home address and though U.S. authorities have yet to confirm whether he is an American citizen, the incident marked a rare voluntary surrender in Iraq of a militant fighting with the extremist group.

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The IS fighter had been "lurking near the peshmerga lines" since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces who play a key role  along with the Iraqi military and Shiite militia forces  in battling the IS extremists.

Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

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"Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up," Helkani said, adding the man is a Palestinian-American who was fighting with IS in Iraq.

The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.

Helkani identified the man as Mohammed Jamal Amin and said he was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cell phones and three forms of identification, including a U.S. driving license. The IS fighter is currently being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation, Helkani added.

The Iraqi Kurdish general did not provide further details or a hometown for the man but a photograph of an American driving license said to belong to the IS fighter was posted on social media, identifying him as Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26, from Alexandria, Virginia.

The discrepancy between the fighter's family name on the license and the one provided by the Kurdish general could not immediately be reconciled. His first name was also spelled differently.

In grainy cell phone footage, also posted on social media shortly after the surrender, the man is seen on a hillside, standing with his hands behind his back, head slightly bowed. He is surrounded by Iraqi Kurdish troops and responds to an officer's questions. He says he is from the United States and that he is Palestinian. In response to the interrogator's question, he says he was in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, which has been under IS control since the jihadi group blitzed across Iraq to capture much of the country's north and west in the summer of 2014.

In the Kingstowne neighborhood of Fairfax County, listed as Khweis' home on the driver's license, a man who said he is Khweis' father said he was leaving to meet with authorities to find out what they knew. He became angry when a reporter tried to ask him about his son and suggested it was unfair to ask him to account for his grown son.

"He's 26. Almost 27. He's a grown man, just like you," he told a reporter.

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A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said he could not verify that the individual is an American or that he defected from IS.

"We are aware of the reports, aware that a U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIL has been captured by peshmerga forces in northern Iraq," he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. "We're in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports. I don't have any further information to share at this time."

"We're just learning of it," Davis added.

Though rare in Iraq, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State in neighboring Syria have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Last week, Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's envoy to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, announced that IS had lost more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of territory in Syria and more than 600 fighters over the past month.

In Iraq, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the past few weeks. Officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

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Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraq's north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully "liberated" by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition officials last month.

Yet despite the U.S.-led airstrikes, the Kurdish peshmerga troops, Shiite militia units and pro-government Sunni fighters, IS still controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria, and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" on the territory it holds. The extremist group also still controls Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

But as the militants lose territory, U.S. officials predict there will be more desertions.

"As bad things start to happen, the less motivated, less disciplined, less radical elements of the force break and run," said U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren. He added that coalition strikes targeting IS leadership and finances have triggered increased desertions.

The United Nations estimated that around 30,000 so-called foreign fighters from 100 countries are actively working with the Islamic State, al-Qaida or other extremist groups. An earlier estimate by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization, a think tank at King's College London, said IS fighters include 3,300 Western Europeans and 100 or so Americans.

Associated Press
Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown from inside a bus by the powerful explosion on Sunday, lays carnations at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, March 17, 2016. (Burhan Ozbilici, AP)

ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey lashed out Monday at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital drew the country even deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong indications" that Sunday's attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people. DNA tests were underway to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

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"There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organization," Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK.

The attack further complicated Turkey's place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for three decades. A fragile, 2-year peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against IS in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS. Sunday's attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a Feb. 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

"All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war," said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute. "Ankara's ill-executed Syria policy ... has exposed Turkey to great risks."

Bill Park, a lecturer on Turkish foreign policy and security at King's College London, said Ankara's aggression toward the Kurds in Syria has angered Kurds inside Turkey and inspired attacks.

"Bombings in Turkey now look like a campaign and we have to assume that there will be more," he said.

If the bombing was the work of a PKK-affiliated group, it could mark a shift in tactics, since the group had previously targeted Turkey's security forces instead of civilians, said Otso Iho, a senior analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre.

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He said, however, that "any potential escalation of PKK attacks on purely civilian or tourist targets would likely be somewhat tempered by the group's awareness of the need to maintain its public image internationally."

Turkey considers the PKK and the Kurdish militia in Syria to be one and the same, and has been pressing its U.S. allies to stop helping the Syrian Kurds. Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organization but has backed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has been effective in fighting IS.

Both the U.S. and Turkey have generally good relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq; Monday's airstrikes in northern Iraq targeted PKK bases rather than installations of the Iraqi Kurds.

Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 PKK positions, including the Qandil mountains, where the group's leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets.

Police carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining 38 suspected PKK rebels, while 15 suspected Kurdish militants were detained in Istanbul, the agency reported. In addition, authorities were searching for 10 suspects connected to the female bomber, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

Turkey already had plans for large-scale operations against Kurdish militants. Anadolu said an operation in Nusaybin, on the border with Syria, began Monday, while tanks were deployed for another operation in the town of Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq. Authorities also imposed a curfew in the city of Sirnak, near the Iraqi border, signaling the military was preparing an offensive there as well.

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Davutoglu vowed that Turkey's struggle against the PKK would continue until the group is wiped out.

"After (the links) to the terror organization were determined, our Armed Forces conducted a comprehensive operation in northern Iraq. Our struggle against the terror points in Nusaybin and Yuksekova are continuing," Davutoglu said. "We will not shy away from taking the necessary steps."

Turkey has ordered curfews in flashpoints in the southeast since August in its fight against the PKK, which had set up barricades, dug trenches and planted explosives. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced, and human rights groups have criticized the military for scores of civilian deaths.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled a visit Tuesday to Baku, his office said, adding that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev would instead travel to Ankara in a show of solidarity.

In a speech later Monday, Erdogan urged the government to "redefine" terrorism and terrorists so that legal action can be expanded against anyone supporting terrorism  including lawmakers, academics, journalists or activists.

His words appeared to be directed at a pro-Kurdish political party that he accuses of being the political arm of the Kurdish rebels, opposition journalists he accuses of supporting his foes, and academics who are facing prosecution for calling on the government to end the conflict against the PKK.

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"Either they are on our side, or on the side of the terrorists," Erdogan said.

The death toll in Sunday's attack rose to 37 after three people died from their wounds. About 125 people were wounded, with 50 of them still hospitalized. Of those, 15 were in serious condition.

Some of the victims were buried Monday.

Anadolu said one of the dead was the father of Umut Bulut, who plays for Galatasaray, a top Turkish soccer team, Galatasaray. The father was on his way home after watching his son play when the blast occurred, the agency said, adding that the son didn't learn of his death until he showed up for training Monday.

Also killed was police officer Nevzat Alagoz, who was heading home after working security for the match, according to Anadolu.

Another victim, 19-year-old engineering student Ozan Can Akkus, had lost a friend in an October bombing, the newspaper Hurriyet said.

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Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Mikhail Klimentyev / AP)

MOSCOW  President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, timing his move to coincide with the launch of Syria peace talks Monday  an end game that allows the Russian leader to cash in on his gains and reduce his risks in the conflict.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers Putin an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5-month Russian air campaign that has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's army to win back some key ground and strengthen his positions ahead of the talks. With Russia's main goals in Syria achieved, the pullback will allow Putin to pose as a peacemaker and help ease tensions with NATO member Turkey and the Gulf monarchies vexed by Moscow's military action.

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At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and keep some troops there. Syria's state news agency also quoted Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but won't leave the country altogether.

The Syrian presidency said Assad and Putin spoke on the phone Monday and jointly agreed that Russia would scale back its forces in Syria. It rejected speculation that the decision reflected a rift between the allies and said the decision reflected the "successes" the two armies have achieved in fighting terrorism in Syria and restoring peace to key areas of the country.

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The Syrian army said it would continue its operations against the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations "with the same tempo."

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assad's military to "radically" turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces from Syria, beginning tomorrow," Putin said.

He also informed President Barack Obama of his move in a phone call, emphasizing the importance of U.S.-Russian coordination "for preserving the cease-fire, ensuring humanitarian aid deliveries to the blockaded settlements and conducting an efficient struggle against terrorist groups," according to the Kremlin, which added that the conversation was "business-like and frank."

Putin didn't specify how many planes and troops would be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed. U.S. estimates of the number of Russian military personnel in Syria vary from 3,000 to 6,000.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that thanks to the Russian air support the Syrian military has extended its control to 400 towns and villages over an area of 10,000 square kilometers.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured "victories against terrorism and returned security to the country."

A White House statement said Obama welcomed Russia's move, but also noted continued sporadic violence and urged Putin to pressure the Syrian regime to stop offensive actions that could undermine the fragile truce.

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The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."

The Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The deal with Washington has achieved a key Putin goal: raising Russia's global profile to appear as an equal to the United States in mediating the Syrian conflict that has dominated global attention.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire and Russia has said it would continue its fight against the groups considered terrorists by the United Nations.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said the Russians in recent days have been pounding IS targets in and around the western approaches to the city of Palmyra, which is firmly in IS control. Davis said this has been a Russian focus since the cessation of hostilities began.

Officials said Monday they saw no immediate sign of any pullout. Although Putin's announcement caught Pentagon officials by surprise, officials have said they had questioned how long the Russian air campaign would last based on the fact that they were not making regular troop rotations.

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Syrian opposition spokesman Salem Al Mislet, in Geneva, cautiously welcomed Putin's move, but urged the Russian leader to withdraw his support for Assad.

"If this step, this action will remove all Russian troops from Syria then it will be a positive step, I believe," he said, adding that Putin should follow up on that "by saying he is standing beside the Syrian people, not beside the Syrian dictatorship."

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday. At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The truce, however, has helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas"  zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

De Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war  and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is "a red line," and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months  a key demand of the opposition.

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But de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue  the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Angola's U.N. Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins, who currently holds the Security Council's rotating presidency, said council members appealed to de Mistura to make the negotiations "more inclusive," including adding Kurdish representatives, but do it moving forward so it won't affect the "kind of progress that we're seeing."

Asked if Putin discussed Assad's political fate in Monday's phone call with the Syrian leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasn't part of the conversation.

Assad has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

The talks have shaped up as the best, if distant, chance in years to end a war that has created an opening for radical groups including Islamic State and the al-Qaida-backed Nusra Front to gain large swaths of land, and prompted at least 11 million people to leave their homes  many fleeing abroad to places like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as to Europe.

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Donald Trump leaves after a rally at the Synergy Flight Center in Bloomington, Ill., on March 13, 2016. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Donald Trump wanted to market a line of men's clothes that would bear his name.

He told people working with him to help find a company known for producing quality merchandise on a mass scale. In the end, Trump signed on with Phillips-Van Heusen, a manufacturer of affordable shirts produced in factories in 85 countries.

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The 2004 deal - one of the first of many merchandise-licensing arrangements in which Trump attached his name to products made by foreign workers and sold in the United States - is relevant today as the billionaire businessman wages a populist presidential campaign in which he accuses companies of killing U.S. jobs by moving manufacturing plants overseas to take advantage of cheap labor and lax workplace regulations.

Documents and interviews reveal the personal role that Trump played in negotiating the deal. Participants said they could not recall Trump expressing a preference that products be made in the United States.

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"Finding the biggest company with the best practices is what was important to him," said Jeff Danzer, who was vice president of the company hired by Trump to broker the deal. "Finding a company that made in America was never something that was specified."

Today, Donald J. Trump Collection shirts - as well as eyeglasses, perfume, cuff links and suits - are made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and other low-wage countries.

Trump's daughter Ivanka, a vice president at his company and frequent campaign surrogate, markets hundreds of additional products under her own line of jewelry and clothing, many of which are made in China.

The contradiction between Trump's business decisions and his political agenda illustrates the sometimes-awkward transformation of an aggressive, profit-oriented marketer and real estate mogul into a firebrand champion of the struggling working class.

When Trump began cutting licensing deals more than a decade ago, many business executives and politicians in both parties argued that free trade and overseas production were beneficial to everyone - a needed boost for poor, developing economies abroad and a path to cheap goods for middle-class consumers in the United States.

Trump, though, has emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner largely by tapping into growing anger among many voters who think more-liberal trade policies - such as the ones that have added to Trump's personal fortune - have devastated U.S. communities that have lost manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and elsewhere.

Trump's rivals and other critics say he is a hypocrite, enriching himself with overseas labor while blasting the practice for political gain.

Representatives for the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesman for Ivanka Trump's product line declined to comment.

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On the campaign trail, Trump the candidate has blasted Ford Motor Co. for opening factories in Mexico, criticized a U.S. drug company that moved its headquarters offshore and said he will eat no more Oreo cookies because its baker, Nabisco, moved part of its production to Mexico.

When news broke three weeks ago that Carrier was moving 1,400 jobs from a plant in Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico, Trump wrote on Facebook: "We cannot allow this to keep happening. It will NOT happen under my watch."

Moreover, Trump has mentioned labor conditions overseas in support of his position that goods should be made in the United States, telling CNN last year that Chinese laborers are "paid a lot less and the standards are worse when it comes to the environment and health care and worker safety."

Trump has embraced the disconnect. As he explained during Thursday night's Republican debate, he knows how to fix the policies that encourage outsourcing because he spent so many years successfully taking advantage of them.

"Nobody knows it better than me," he said. "I'm a businessman. These are laws. These are regulations. These are rules. We're allowed to do it. . . . But I'm the one that knows how to change it."

Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination have tried - so far to no avail - to undercut his popularity among working-class voters by portraying him as someone who rampantly outsources jobs. A similar line of attack proved effective four years ago against then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on Trump during a March 3 debate to announce that "all the Donald Trump clothing will no longer be made in China and in Mexico but will be made here in the United States." Trump dismissed the statement, arguing that China's currency policies "make it impossible for clothing makers in this country to do clothing in this country."

Critics say Trump is being disingenuous.

Robert Lawrence, a professor of trade and investment at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, has reviewed Trump-brand products for sale online and found that a large percentage are imported.

For example, the website selling Ivanka Trump's merchandise line links to 838 products - 628 of them imported. Of those, 354 are from China, a country that Donald Trump often says takes advantage of a large U.S. trade deficit.

In addition to her own website, her products also had been marketed alongside her father's on the Trump Organization website. But, amid criticism last week of the family's outsourcing practices, his daughter's page was removed.

"I don't decry what he and his daughter do," said Lawrence, who served on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton. "But at the same time, for him to claim that this is somehow immoral and go after companies that have relocated manufacturing when he has done the same puts him in conflict with his own rhetoric."

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Lawrence estimated that Trump's $250 suits made in China would suddenly be priced in the United States at $350 or more. "The impact would be staggering and widespread," he said.

Michael Strain, deputy director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said that Trump's trade rhetoric is "deeply irresponsible," because isolating the U.S. economy could devastate businesses and hurt consumers.

Trump struck the 2004 deal with Phillips-Van Heusen, which owns Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, at a critical moment for his brand - the same year his hit show "The Apprentice" premiered.

Several people involved with the negotiations said that Trump was personally involved. None could remember him specifically mentioning the U.S.-worker issue.

"If he's concerned about jobs in the United States, it should have been a question he asked. And I can tell you that in none of the meetings did it come up," said one person involved in the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid offending Trump.

The shirtmaker used factories in some countries, including Bangladesh, China and Honduras, where labor violations such as forced overtime are common, according to Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a group that monitors factory conditions.

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The agreement signed by Trump and Phillips-Van Heusen placed no restrictions on where Trump dress shirts, tuxedo shirts and neckwear could be manufactured.

Phillips-Van Heusen agreed that any products "manufactured by it or for it anywhere in the world" would not be made using child labor "as defined in the relevant jurisdiction of production," according to the contract, which was filed in a later New York state lawsuit between the broker company and Trump.

Mark Weber, who was chief executive of Phillips-Van Heusen at the time, said the company employed a "global sourcing network" to produce clothes for Trump's line and other brands.

Weber described Trump as a master negotiator who correctly predicted the brand would be a smashing success and persuaded a wary Phillips-Van Heusen to sign on.

In a deposition filed in the New York lawsuit, Trump recalled that the massive clothier had been eager for the deal. "They were very hot to make a deal with us," Trump said, according to a deposition transcript provided to The Washington Post by Jay Itkowitz, an attorney for the broker company that unsuccessfully sued Trump.

Weber, who is supporting Trump for president, said he concluded at the time that Trump was a patriot.

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"He had a clear preference to support American values and what was good for America," Weber said.

Asked whether Trump ever specifically expressed a preference for items bearing his name to be made in America, Weber said, "you're asking me for specifics that are very hard to recollect."

Weber said that at the time, the industry's widely shared goals - promoted through overseas production - were to improve standards of living for workers in the third world and to offer U.S. consumers lower prices.

"That was a time when America was very much in favor of building a better life for the people of our hemisphere," he said, referring to factories in Central America.

"While we care about Americans, we care about people all over the world, too," Weber said.

He also said that Trump never attempted to require that products be made in the United States as part of the contract between the two companies.

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"No one can tell us where to make our products," said Weber, who left the company in 2006. "I have never signed a contract in my 40 years of experience where someone could tell me where to make my goods."

After Trump drew scrutiny over the summer for disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants, Macy's, which sold his clothing line, announced it was ending its relationship with him. Phillips-Van Heusen, now called PVH Corp., quickly followed suit, saying that its licensing deal with Trump would be unwound.

Dana Perlman, a spokeswoman for the company, said this week that it no longer manufactures Trump clothing and declined to comment further.
Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich, left, accompanied by former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrive for a campaign stop on Monday, March 14, 2016, at the MAPS Air Museum in North Canton, Ohio. (Matt Rourke / AP)

Mitt Romney came to Ohio on Monday to help Governor John Kasich beat Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, part of the 2012 nominee's effort to prevent the billionaire from becoming the party's standard-bearer in 2016.

"This is the guy that Ohio needs to vote for. America is counting on you," Romney said at a town-hall event at a military aircraft museum in North Canton.

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Romney's appearance comes as a fight for the direction of the Republican Party plays out in the Buckeye State and four other states ahead of Tuesday's primaries. Kasich has vowed to quit the race if he doesn't win Ohio, where a poll released Monday found him tied with Trump, and he hopes a victory will help him collect enough delegates in subsequent contests to compete for the party's nomination at a contested convention in Cleveland in July.

Romney was also scheduled to attend a pre-primary rally with the Ohio governor in his hometown, Westerville, in suburban Columbus.

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At the same time Kasich and Romney are to speak in Westerville, Trump is set to hold an airport rally north of Youngstown after he scrapped a planned event in Florida to make a last-minute appeal to working-class voters in Ohio and win the state's 66 delegates.

Romney is leading an effort by Republican establishment leaders to stop Trump on grounds that his boorish behavior and ill-defined policies make him unfit to be president and would ensure the election of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton if he were the nominee.

The former Massachusetts governor also made a robocall that the Kasich campaign sent to Michigan voters before that state's March 8 primary, though Kasich finished third there behind Trump and Cruz.

Romney and proponents of the so-called "Never Trump" movement have urged voters to back Kasich, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wherever it makes sense to deny Trump a majority of delegates before the convention. On Friday, Rubio even said he thinks his Ohio supporters will back Kasich because "he has a better chance of stopping Donald Trump in Ohio than I do."

The former Massachusetts governor is not scheduled to appear with Rubio in Florida ahead of that state's primary. Polls show Rubio trailing Trump by double digits in his home state.

Cruz made a last-minute campaign stop in Columbus on Sunday, saying only he and Trump have a mathematical chance to secure enough delegates to become the party's 2016 nominee.

Kasich said while he's running to be president and not just to deny Trump the nomination, beating him in Ohio and elsewhere increases the likelihood of a contested convention because no one gets the required 1,237 delegates beforehand.

"I'm not running to block anybody, but the math is real," Kasich told reporters after an event on Monday in Youngstown at Brilex Industry, a company with 140 employees that manufactures equipment for the steel, rubber, plastics, and paper industries.

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While Trump has won 15 states and is leading the delegate chase with his vow to "make America great again," Kasich, a two-term governor and 18-year congressman, is making the case he can bring to the rest of the country the formula that he used to help balance the federal budget in the 1990s and to spur Ohio's economic recovery from the recession.

Trump is wooing disaffected voters in the Buckeye State as he has in other states, criticizing Kasich's support of trade agreements and his stint at the failed Lehman Brothers after leaving Congress.

The real estate mogul appears to be attracting Democrats and first-time voters to the Republican primary in Ohio as he has elsewhere. Voters in Ohio can select either party's ballot, and their choice determines their affiliation.

In Mahoning County, a former steel-making hub and Democratic stronghold where Youngstown is the largest city, Republicans accounted for a minority of Republican absentee ballots requested as of Friday, according to the county Board of Elections.

Of the almost 3,900 Republican ballots sought in the county, 23 percent were from Democrats and 32 percent from unaffiliated voters who may not have voted recently or taken a specific party's ballot in a primary, the board said.

Trump is appealing to people "reaching out for something radical to bring about change" in a country with dysfunctional national politics, stagnant wages, and job insecurity despite an improving economy, said Brian Benyo, chief executive of Brilex Industries and a Kasich supporter.

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Kasich can beat Trump in Ohio with his record, he said.

"He's best suited to make government work in this country," Benyo said.
On the day she was wheeled into surgery for recently diagnosed ovarian cancer, Mary Ellen Sullivan wrote words that would become her clarion call, words that ring with the insistent urgency of a prophet: "If you are sleepwalking through your life  wake up  before the universe does it for you."

She posted the words on her blog, On the Wings of the Hummingbird, a compendium of wisdom and joy, under the title, "A rare piece of hummingbird advice."

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Sullivan, 56, who died of ovarian cancer Sunday at Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, wasn't in the business of giving advice.

She was a writer and traveler, a diviner of joy  joy unexpected, unlikely and against the odds. "In a time of chaos (now righted)," she wrote in March 2012, "on a day in which joy seemed eclipsed by uncertainty, I committed to writing about joy every day. I figured that if I can find joy when I'm in the mud, then maybe I have something to say about joy."

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Sullivan, a longtime Chicago resident, was born in Harlingen, Texas, and, from the beginning, crisscrossed the continent and the globe.

"I grew up a nomad," she once wrote, "living in 10 different places by the time I was 19 because my father's corporate job took our family across the country and around the world. Some of it was glamorous  San Francisco in 1969, Europe for my college years  but other parts were, as you might imagine, difficult."

She earned a bachelor's degree from Boston College in 1981, majoring in English, with philosophy and art history minors. In 1982, she earned a master's degree in magazine journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Upon graduation, she took a job as a magazine editor at General Learning Corp., a small educational publishing house in Highland Park, and five years later, she moved to Advocate Health Care, in Oak Brook, where she ran the publications department for another five years.

She was putting down roots, falling in love with Chicago, from the lakefront she biked by the mile to the backstreets and blues joints and countless holes in the wall. She explored the city with an adventurer's eye and a journalist's curiosity. After a decade, though, she was ready to travel the globe. All on her own.

"On the heels of a short marriage, a grueling divorce and some burning career questions, I took an extended leave of absence from my job to travel around the world by myself," she once wrote. "I skied the mountains of New Zealand and biked through the Chinese countryside. I bargained for goods at the Bangkok night market, shopped the glittering stores of Hong Kong, touched the crumbling Berlin Wall, swam along the coast of Australia and holed up in Somerset Maugham's former hotel room in Malaysia to write.

"Mine was nothing less than a spiritual journey in which I peeled off layers of cultural conditioning to get to the essence of my spirit," she wrote.

Unwilling to return to the corporate world, Sullivan launched a freelance writing career that brought her bylines in the New York Times and various women's magazines, as well as travel guides, a book about Chicago's "Cows on Parade" public sculpture exhibit, and liner notes for a jazz record label.

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She designed her life, she said, so that she could continue to travel, paradoxically deepening her roots the farther she roamed.

"I spent one winter in South America, another on Tahiti and Easter Island. Along the way I fell in love with Africa and returned to this land of my heart, time and time again. I began studying with the ancient medicine men and women around the world, and found a community here in Chicago of like-minded people who became my tribe."

While in Chicago, Sullivan convened a writers' group that influenced a memoir, a novel, a self-help volume and a historical text, "The Warmth of Other Suns."

She might have found her deepest calling, though, as a keeper and chronicler of joy. Her blog, which she started in March 2012, was a reflection of the way she lived her life.

She began by putting a journalist's sharp eye to the world around her:

"I noticed how unconscious most people were, blind to the joy all around them. They walked with their heads down and their defenses up. They saw without seeing, heard without hearing, spoke without thinking, remembering nothing. It actually hurt my heart to watch. And then, as the economy got worse and the natural disasters quickened, I saw fear, anger and incivility. Drivers became ruder, sales clerks surlier, tempers shorter."

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And so, she set out to right that, recording joy day after day. She named her blog after the hummingbird: "My favorite description of hummingbird magic comes from Ted Andrews, who wrote the seminal book on animal totems called 'Animal Speak.' He says, 'There is something inside the soul of all of us that wants to soar through sunbeams, then dance midair in a delicate mist, then take a simple bath on a leaf. There is something in our souls that wants to hover at beautiful moments in our lives, making them freeze in time. There is something in us that wants to fly backwards and savor once more the beautiful past. Some of us are just hummingbird people.'"

"Guilty as charged," Sullivan added.

And she ended one blog entry with this insistent instruction: "And if you love the life you have, please, please, practice gratitude. Wake up every morning acknowledging just how much beauty is in your world. Pay attention to it, honor it and keep your heart and your eyes wide open. You won't regret it."

Sullivan's partner of 18 years, Michael Schmitt, died in 2014.

She is survived by her parents, Donal and Martha Sullivan; two brothers, Bill and John; and a sister, Sheila Zimmerman.

Memorial services are pending.

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Barbara Mahany is a freelancer reporter.
Jailyn Baker has a laugh with her mother, Marcia Baker, on Feb. 26, 2016, at Josephinum Academy in Chicago prior to Jailyn's solo graduation ceremony. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

It's almost 4 p.m. on a Friday.

Gaggles of high school girls are rushing out of Josephinum Academy, off to do whatever teenage girls do on the weekends. But Jailyn Baker is just walking into the school.

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Jailyn has been a student at Josephinum for 4 1/2 years. Now, she's facing the next step in life. Jailyn is graduating from high school.

Chicago Tribune readers were introduced to Jailyn, an average student from an average South Side neighborhood, in September 2013.

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Jailyn wanted to be more than average. But she and her mother, Marcia, knew her chances of achieving that would be slim in the Chicago Public Schools system. So instead of attending her neighborhood high school, Jailyn made a daily 90-minute, seven-leg trip to "The Jo," an all-girls Catholic high school in Wicker Park.

Her commute  a car ride, two bus rides, two train rides and two brisk walks  illustrated the great lengths some Chicago kids must take to secure a good education.

When Jailyn's story was first published on these pages, she had just started her junior year. She was on track to graduate last spring. She aspired to become an anesthesiologist.

Life's complications

Over the past few years, Jailyn's life has taken some detours.

In 2014, Jailyn's mother suffered a stroke. The following year, Marcia had a grand mal seizure so severe that she spent several days on life support.

The scare was too much for Jailyn. She fell behind in school. She didn't graduate with the rest of her class. Instead, she was asked to return for a fifth year. "I thought it was going to be so embarrassing," said Jailyn, now 19. "But (not graduating) wasn't an option. I wasn't even going to entertain the idea."

Josephinum is a small school with about 200 students. The school is known for offering a college-prep education to kids who otherwise might not have had an opportunity for success.

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More than 70 percent of students there qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch. Most are Hispanic or black. And more than 90 percent receive financial aid. Despite these demographics, the school says it has a 100 percent college acceptance rate.

Which brings us to this particular Friday: Jailyn has finally finished all the classes she needs to earn her diploma. The school is hosting a special graduation ceremony. Just for her.

In a chapel on the second floor of the school, a small crowd is forming. Jailyn's mom, aunt and uncle are there. So are the teachers Jailyn has dubbed her "school moms"  women to whom she has turned for emotional support along her tumultuous path through high school.

Failure is no option

Jailyn's story highlights so much of what is wrong with Chicago's public school system.

If Jailyn had attended her neighborhood public school, there's a good chance her life would be entirely different. In Chicago Public Schools, roughly one-third of students who start high school never finish, according to the district. At Jailyn's neighborhood high school, Harlan Community Academy High School, only 35 percent of high school students end up enrolling in college.

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Only 13 percent of African-American girls who attended CPS schools as ninth-graders earn a four-year college degree by their mid-20s, according to The University of Chicago Consortium for Chicago School Research.

What happens to the other 87 percent? Don't those girls have goals and aspirations too? Don't they deserve to live up to their full potential?

Unlike in Wisconsin or Indiana, there are few options for parents in Illinois when their child's neighborhood public school isn't the right fit  or worse, isn't good enough. Illinois attempted to expand its school voucher program in 2010, but the measure died in the Illinois House. For six years, there has been a lot of talk about school reform. But not once did state lawmakers vote to give kids such as Jailyn more educational opportunities.

Best day ever

As the graduation ceremony is underway, school leaders speak fondly of Jailyn. Marcia is beaming, capturing every moment on video. The moment Jailyn holds her diploma for the first time, her expression is one of triumph and absolute pride.

"The privilege of today's ceremony is a lesson in persistence," said Michael Dougherty, president of Josephinum Academy. "Not for somebody who had it easy, but for someone who overcame."

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Jailyn finished high school a few weeks ago and has started courses at Malcom X College on the West Side. She is enrolled in world history, Chinese and geology and a course on college success. She is loving every minute so far, she said.

The challenges she faced in the past have not derailed her career plans. If anything, she's emboldened.

"It really has prepared me for the absolute worst. It's taught me to stay on (top of) things. Have a firm grip," Jailyn said.

Jailyn plans to spend two years at Malcom X then transfer to the University of Illinois at Chicago. She'd still like to become an anesthesiologist, maybe a medical examiner.

In earning her high school diploma, Jailyn has overcome a huge hurdle. In many ways, the journey ahead for Jailyn is a lot like her commute to Josephinum. There are a lot of legs to it. It may not exactly be the scenic route.

But Marcia is behind Jailyn every step of the way. "It's going to be a long haul," she warned her daughter, as they reflected on the graduation ceremony and the coming years. "Just think about it in segments. Get through that. Then get to the next thing. Then one day you're going to look up and say, 'I'm done.'"

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Diana Sroka Rickert is a writer with the Illinois Policy Institute. The opinions in this essay are her own.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stand up for the national anthem during a primary debate at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, a suburb of Miami on Thursday, March 10, 2016. (Mike Stocker, The Miami Herald via AP)

The two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination held a spirited debate over foreign policy last week, and the differences were striking.

Donald Trump would cozy up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he's praised as "a strong leader;" Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would escalate our new Cold War with Russia. Trump wants to renegotiate President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran; Cruz promises to "rip the agreement to shreds on day one." Trump says he'd try to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians; Cruz says he's not interested in talks and would back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the hilt.

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See the pattern? Trump wants to make deals, and doesn't much mind who's across the table  Russian autocrat or Iranian mullah. Cruz doesn't want to negotiate, he wants to pick sides.

Those are the differences. But there are similarities too.

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GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump returned to Illinois for an event in Bloomington on March 13, 2016, just two days after a planned rally in Chicago was shut down by protesters. (CBS Chicago)

When it comes to Islamic State, Trump and Cruz are on the same page  and neither has much of a strategy to offer. They have both suggested that intensified U.S. bombing can win the war. (It can't.)

Trump says he'd aim to kill terrorists' families, which would be a war crime. Cruz says he'd "carpet bomb" Islamic State strongholds  a potential war crime, since it would needlessly kill civilians.

Neither cares much who rules Syria in the end, as long as it's not Islamic State. "We have no dog in the fight," Cruz has said. Trump says he'd let Putin sort it out.

And while they both do their best to sound ferocious, neither wants to deploy U.S. ground troops. In that sense, Trump and Cruz are rather minimalist  just like Obama.

The rise of the two "outsider" candidates has been bad news for Republican internationalists, the hawkish conservatives who have dominated GOP foreign policy since World War II. Internationalists, who include such figures as former Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, think Obama has been too cautious about using U.S. power overseas. Many of them think the U.S. should be doing more in Syria  for example, setting up (and defending) "safe zones" for the opposition.

But that's not where most GOP voters are this year. The internationalists had two favorite candidates, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, but the former's already out and the latter isn't faring too well.

"Much of the country is clearly not where Republican internationalists would like it to be," said Robert Kagan, a former adviser to Romney. "The American people, in both parties, are in a mood for retrenchment."

Want proof? Last month, Trump not only called the 2003 invasion of Iraq "a big fat mistake," he said the George W. Bush administration "lied" to sell the war to the public. Republican voters barely blinked.

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Trump's foreign policy departs from GOP orthodoxy on a host of issues. He wants to demand that Germany, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia increase payments to the U.S. for military protection, moves that would strain those traditional alliances. He wants to slap tariffs on goods imported from China and Mexico, which would almost surely set off an expensive trade war. And, of course, he says he'll force Mexico to pay for his wall on the border, although he's never explained how.

Cruz, too, has called the Iraq invasion a mistake. He hasn't accused Bush of lying, but he has accused "Washington neo-cons," shorthand for the GOP neo-conservatives who backed the Iraq war, of indiscriminate "military interventionism."

His favorite example: the overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi in 2011. In Cruz's view, the United States shouldn't have helped topple Kadafi; it should have protected him.

"Kadafi was a bad man, he had a horrible human rights record. And yet . he had become a significant ally in fighting radical Islamic terrorism," Cruz argued last year.

Cruz believes the United States should relegate human rights concerns to a back burner, especially when it comes to the Middle East.

So if the GOP race comes down to a choice between Trump and Cruz, what's an internationalist-minded Republican to do? It looks like an unappetizing choice to me, but I'd say: Choose Cruz.

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Cruz is scary, but Trump is dangerous. Cruz's soft spot for pro-American dictators would actually be a return to the conservative orthodoxy that prevailed before Ronald Reagan injected democracy promotion into GOP foreign policy.

But Trump, who has a distinct authoritarian streak, seems to admire autocrats like Putin even when they're not pro-American.

Kagan, who is writing a history of U.S. diplomacy, agrees that Cruz is the better option.

"Trump is a throwback to the 1920s and 1930s view that the world can go to hell and it's not our problem," he said. "If Hitler were rampaging across Europe, Trump would say  as many said at the time  that he's someone we can do business with."

And if the choice is between Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton?

Kagan, who also worked in the Reagan administration, says he'd vote for Clinton.

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Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com
Over the weekend, President Barack Obama weighed in on one of the pressing issues in the campaign for the Republican nomination to succeed him in the White House.

No, not how to stop Donald Trump  but whether the wine that bears his name is any good. "Has anybody bought that wine? I want to know what that wine tastes like," Obama said at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Dallas on Saturday. "I mean, come on. You know that's like some $5 wine. They slap a label on it. They charge you $50 and say it's the greatest wine ever."

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As those of us who live near the winery know, though, the real shame about Trump Winery is not that its wines are not good. It's that some of them actually are  but these days, their association with the GOP front-runner is likely to keep them off wine lists they otherwise belong on.

I work in the restaurant business in Charlottesville, Va., and though I'm a short distance from the winery and the restaurants where I work feature Virginia wines, I make a conscious decision not to carry the Trump brand. While the election might take over your dinner conversation, a welcome table is not one that pours liquid politics down your throat. (For the same reason, if other candidates got into the beverage industry, I wouldn't be serving Clinton Chardonnay, Bernie Beer, or Cruztraminer, either.)

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Those Trump wines Obama was joking about, however, have a longer history in this area.

In 1999, the first vineyards went in the ground as Kluge Estate and set the tone for what would later become Trump Winery. For a greatly discounted price, in 2011, the Trumps bought the winery and its property from local socialite and entrepreneur Patricia Kluge after her business collapsed. Under the Kluge name, the vineyard's wines have been served at the White House and even at Chelsea Clinton's wedding rehearsal dinner.

The basic infrastructure remained intact, including the core management staff, and business continued. Trump's son Eric Trump supervises the winery now. Labels evolved from "Kluge" to "Trump" to today's all-capital-letters "TRUMP," in a font that evokes U.S. currency. Wines that had been earnest explorations into Virginia viticulture are now the red power ties of East Coast wine.

Trump Winery is one of the few "estate" wineries in the area focusing on growing their own fruit as opposed to buying it from neighbors. It's an operation headed up by a serious winemaker, Jonathan Wheeler. Wheeler makes a full spectrum of wines: sparkling, white, rose, red and dessert wines. He has a vast tract of 200 vineyard acres to play with, and he stands in a key position to influence the direction of the entire region.

Wheeler's focus on sparkling wines is particularly interesting. In Virginia, winemakers can usually count on fruit that comes in early, because it will get to the winery before mid-harvest rains and hurricanes have a chance to wreak havoc. To keep acidity in most sparkling wines of the world, grapes destined for bubbly are harvested earlier than others. This makes sparkling wine a practical choice in Virginia's climate. Sparkling wine, though, can be difficult to make, and it usually needs more aging than a still white wine. Wheeler diverts some cool-microclimate vineyard blocks to the bubbly, and this part of his production is one of his most promising contributions to Virginia wine. The sparkling Blanc de Noir made from a cooler pinot noir site is one of the best wines to come out of the Trump operation.

It's not the only wine that might catch your interest in a blind tasting, though. The recently bottled 2015 Chardonnay and Viognier currently available for sale come from one of the greatest Virginia white wine vintages in recent memory. Winemakers throughout the Monticello American Viticultural Area are excited about 2015 white grapes, which enjoyed a near-perfect growing season. We did get rains in 2015, but they came just after the start of the red harvest. Wheeler made his Chardonnay in steel and oak, and it's a balanced example of the vintage. The Viognier is a classic example of that varietal, too.

The reds are Bordeaux-style blends, usually based on a majority of Merlot, which does well in Virginia as an early ripener. They are lush, bold reds that have a little bit of aging potential, but you would mostly want to drink them on release.

Wheeler also makes a unique dessert wine from fortified Chardonnay, aged in old Bourbon barrels.

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I've been watching and tasting from a distance for quite some time. On taste alone, there are a few bottlings that I'd like to support, but I'm sure Obama would agree: the intense branding makes the stuff hard to swallow.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 4 A chef with the Trump National Golf Club arranges Trump branded steaks for a display prior to a scheduled news conference by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Tuesday, March 8, 2016, in Jupiter, Fla. Trump branded steaks, wine, and water were on display next to the stage. (Lynne Sladky / AP)

Some of that hesitation predates Trump's involvement in politics. As a general rule, I disdain wine brands. When the strength of a wine's brand eclipses the actual product, the focus goes away from the wine itself, onto the brand and what that brand represents. Branding is easy, if you know how to do it. Winemaking is hard work, especially in Virginia, and it changes year by year. When a branded winery experiences mass popularity, the wine and the hard work of the winery team become disembodied from the brand, in this case reduced to a side note as the wine's meaning becomes less about Virginia terroir and more about Trump.

Does it matter why someone drinks a wine? Is it a shame that much of this carefully grown and made wine will be consumed in symbolic solidarity by fervent supporters of a candidate who, ironically, does not drink alcohol? Will Virginia's special 2015 white wine vintage be appreciated at all in the frenzy of 2016?

Trump Winery is certainly doing fine without my business (several wines are sold out), and I am doing fine without them in my wine program. But as these wines switch gears from beverage to propaganda, I worry that what could be an important part of Virginia's emerging wine legacy will be lost.

A century from now, how will Trump's politics have impacted Virginia's wine trade? Objectively, I want to appreciate some of these wines. Unfortunately, now that the label talks so loudly, what's in the bottle has lost its voice.

Washington Post

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Erin Scala is the sommelier at Petit Pois and Fleurie in Charlottesville, Virginia, and writes about wine for C-VILLE Weekly and at her blog, Thinking-Drinking.
Police say that late last year, information gathered by a Buffalo Grove officer led to the arrest in South Elgin of five people who are suspected of burglarizing more than a dozen homes around the northwest suburbs, including several near Stevenson High School.

Months after that, several nearby police departments report that 2016 has been a quiet year for residential break-ins, so far  but the same area of Buffalo Grove still has problems, albeit less often.

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Four forcible entries have occurred since December, according to Buffalo Grove police reports: one on Sandhurst Court, one on Sandhurst Drive, one on Sandalwood Road and another on Apple Hill.

"These are significant cases for this community," said Buffalo Grove deputy chief Roy Bethge. "Many burglaries have similarities."

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And new cases this year have some, but they have discrepancies, as well. On three consecutive nights in November, robbers pried open locked doors on Daulton Drive, Apple Hill Lane and Miramar Lane, then snatched cash and jewelry.

"That's the most common thing taken in a burglary," Bethge said.

Buffalo Grove police worked those scenes, and found evidence that linked them to as many as 20 nearby crimes, Bethge said, leading to those South Elgin arrests. During a recent meeting, Buffalo Grove's Village Board honored investigator Brian Hansen for his work with the Buffalo Grove police on that case.

Since then, Buffalo Grove' neighbors in Lincolnshire and Vernon Hills say they haven't taken a single residential report, according to Lincolnshire Sgt. Kim Covelli and Vernon Hills crime prevention officer Kim Christenson.

Bethge did not wish to speculate about if any of the recent break-ins were connected to each other, or to the November spree. The reports show that the locations and stolen items are similar, and all involved breaking through doors or windows. But the frequency dropped off after November.

Regardless of who is committing these burglaries, Bethge said the fastest way to stop them is for residents to be observant of their neighborhoods.

"It's extremely rare for officers to catch somebody in the act," Bethge said. "The best help we can get is when neighbors know what's going on in their neighborhoods. Those are the only people who know what's suspicious."

rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

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Current radio DJ Bob Cercone acts as the host for the old DJ's reunion. Triton College radio station WRRG FM 88.9 celebrated its 40th year of broadcasting with an on-air reunion Sunday, March 13, 2016, in River Grove. (Jon Langham / Pioneer Press)

Triton College Radio celebrated its 40th anniversary over the weekend. The anniversary included an open house for new and old Triton Radio disc jockeys, including Bill Ward of Bill Kurtis Productions and WLS' Scott Dirks, among others. Students and other members of the Triton community were also invited.

"It's almost like a high school reunion," director Kurt Werner said. "It goes back 40 years."

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According to Werner, Triton Radio started as a club. After about six months, the college received some equipment, and a got a license to become a radio station. Although the launch of Triton Radio was in May of 1975, the first official air date is unknown.

On Saturday, the weekend kicked off with Nick Kumis, Rich Padgen, Bob Cerone, Duane Kucera, Scott Dirks and Pat DeFillippo. The personalities started at Triton between 1975 and 1980. They spoke about their careers in media and their days at Triton Radio.

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"Throughout the day, it will progress," Werner said of the timeline of guests throughout the day. "In the last couple hours, we will get people who were with us maybe 10 years ago."

Today, Triton Radio is mixed with different genres and music. Triton Radio has specialty shows, jazz, bluegrass, oldies, alternative indie rock and world music. It also has '80s and '90s music shows.

"You will hear something different depending on the time you tune in," Werner said.

Although radio has changed drastically since Triton Radio began in 1975, Werner has high hopes for the station in the next 40 years.

"We try to appeal to new people in different ways," he said.

Triton College offers classes in digital cinema and radio production, earning students an associate's degree. Within the first few weeks of entering the program, students can start going on the air in the third largest market in the country  Chicago.

"It's a great place to start for anybody," Werner said.

Maryann Pisano is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Sue Bersh said when her best friend Elyse Bernstein Keefe died of lung cancer in 2008 it broke her heart.

"I was holding her hand when she died and it changed me forever," said Bersh, who met Keefe when the two were students at Deerfield High School. "I was very involved with her illness and I saw firsthand that there weren't a lot of treatment options. She didn't have a chance."

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Passionate about honoring Keefe's memory and increasing survival rates for other lung cancer victims, Bersh became involved with the Chicago-based nonprofit LUNGevity Foundation. In 2012, she founded Breathe Deep North Shore, an annual 5K run and two-mile walk, which will take place on Sunday, April 17 at Deerfield High School.

Bersh and her organizers expect over 1,500 participants, with a goal of raising over $246,500. That number that will bring the event's five-year fundraising total to $1 million.

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"There has never been a more exciting time in lung cancer research. Six new drugs have been FDA approved just in the last year, which is more than have been approved in decades," said Bersh, who is the event co-coordinator and a LUNGevity board member. "Lung cancer research is at a pivotal point and we are committed to keeping this momentum going by raising funds through our grass roots efforts. We can fund one year of research for every $100,000 raised."

Breathe Deep North Shore is made up of teams and individuals who fund raise online and independent runners and walkers who show up to donate and lend support.

"We came up with this to raise money and awareness, but I also want the event to be warm and meaningful," Bersh said. "A lot of people have been touched by this disease and they had no where to go. Now they have a place to come to hope and share and heal and feel empowered."

Jill Feldman, a Deerfield mom of four and lung cancer survivor, has been involved with the organization since 2002.

"What's most exciting is the promise for the first time to dramatically improve the outcomes in lung cancer patients like me," said Feldman, a former board member of the organization. "We have come so far since my parents and grandparents lost their lives to lung cancer, and even since my own diagnosis six years ago, but we still have a long way to go."

Breathe Deep North Shore's 5K run and two-mile walk is held behind Deerfield High School in Prairie Wolf Slough. The event also includes games for kids, photo booths, food booths and a balloon launch.

"The significance of the balloon launch is that people have the opportunity to write a note on a balloon to whomever they choose, honoring or remembering them," Bersh said. "It is the most beautiful site when the balloons are all released. To feel the warm embrace of a community and see everyone come together for a cause means so much."

Breathe Deep North Shore is one of 40 grass roots events across the country to benefit the LUNGevity Foundation. The foundation works to increase the quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments. The organization also aims to provide community support and education for those affected by lung cancer.

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"The number of people who show up and the amount of money you watch being raisedto me, that's what hope is," Feldman said. "I've seen so people who have been devastated by this disease become empowered and hopeful by the support."

To learn more visit lungevity.org/northshore.

Jackie Pilossoph is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Stay Connected store clerk Brenda Cazares lowers the metal security shutters as the West Humboldt Park cellular store closes for the night on March 10, 2016. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

When the cellular store Stay Connected opened a little more than a year ago in West Humboldt Park, the owner installed a security shutter outside to deter would-be criminals.

Manager Juan Garcia says the rolldown metal screen gives him peace of mind, especially since vandals have twice broken windows at the grocery store next door.

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"Whether you have drunk people try to break in or someone throw something at the windows, the shutters make it more secure," he said. "For a high-crime area, it's a must."

About 40 miles to the north, though, city leaders in Waukegan have decided that a negative perception of such screens trumps their security benefits. The City Council voted unanimously last week to ban one type of security screen and restrict the use of another.

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"Coming from the law enforcement community, it is my opinion that security gates of this nature provide an extremely negative image of the area. ... They also do nothing for the property values. They give a grim perspective of the neighborhood," said Mayor Wayne Motley, a former Waukegan police officer.

Like bars on windows, security screens and gates in front of storefront businesses are often seen as emblems of the very crime they're intended to prevent. And while Waukegan leaders say their ordinance will affect a very small number of businesses, it underscores a broader tension between the government's roles of protecting citizens and allowing property owners to protect themselves, while upholding or improving the look of a community.

Waukegan's law bans only solid, rolldown screens and restricts open-air rolldown grilles to the inside of windows and doors. Other types of storefront security gear, like scissor gates, are still allowed.

The lakefront industrial hub that has struggled for years with urban blight appears to be the first in the Chicago area to enact such a ban, however limited. But larger cities elsewhere have taken similar steps.

In New York, the City Council voted unanimously in 2009 to ban solid security shutters at many retailers, calling them graffiti magnets, though the law doesn't fully go into effect until 2026.

Miami banned opaque metal shutters in two business districts in 2014. The Miami Downtown Development Authority offered grants to business owners to remove the shutters and purchase impact-resistant glass, a spokeswoman said.

In those cities as well as Waukegan, officials targeted solid screens, which Waukegan senior planner Steve Sabourin said can make a business "look like a fortress." A city memo said they promote an image of the neighborhood being "crime-ridden and unsafe."

The open-air-style gate "provides the same level of security as solid shutters, and allows lighted window displays to be seen at night," Waukegan's ordinance says.

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A pawn shop was one of the last local businesses to use the solid shutters, city officials said, so its recent closing provided an opportunity to enact a ban with little impact to existing businesses.

Ivette Gonzalez, a manager at Supermercado Gonzalez along Grand Avenue in Waukegan, said her store doesn't use or need a security screen, and she personally finds them "ugly." But she said that it depends on the area and that, between the government and business owners, "it's difficult to decide who should make that decision at the end of the day."

"It definitely gives the neighborhood that feeling of, 'Maybe we should lock our doors.' That's not something I want people to feel when they come to our city," she said.

Security screens and shutters became popular in urban hubs in the 1960s and '70s through the advent of "target hardening," or physically altering a business to make it more difficult to gain access or vandalize, said Arthur Lurigio, a professor of psychology and criminal justice at Loyola University Chicago.

The risk of security shutter bans is that they will encourage criminals, and actual crime is "more likely to alarm the public" than the appearance of the shutters themselves, he said. Bans also raise concerns that "government is taking away the prerogative of businesses to protect their property," Lurigio said.

For high-end retailers, storefront security has become an even greater concern with the recent spate of crash-and-grab robberies, and security experts say many businesses use a combination of security grilles, shatter-resistant glass and cameras to protect themselves.

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At the more modest end of the retail spectrum, though, "You don't want to spend $1 million to protect a $10 item," said Bill Leap, vice president of security services for Chicago-based Titan Security Group.

Leap concedes that metal shutters can be an eyesore but said there are few alternate physical barriers available that are as efficient and affordable.

"When you talk about the aesthetics of it, the retailers are looking for an economical way to protect their property and merchandise," he said. "There may be other ways to do that, but the cost may be considerably higher."

When Royal Pawn closes up every night in the South Loop, the staff closes a scissor-style gate over the shop, which is located across the street from the federal prison.

Owner Randy Cohen said employees of the shop, once the setting for "Hardcore Pawn: Chicago," find evidence of an attempted break-in there about once a year. Royal Pawn also uses security cameras, but Cohen credits the aged, metal gate  which would not be banned under Waukegan's law  for being his primary crime deterrent.

"It doesn't matter if they're ugly. ... If I didn't have gates, I'd be broken into every night. I don't care where you are, even downtown," he said.

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Gary Bennett, owner of Chicago-based National Shutter Systems, has been installing shutters on commercial and residential properties for eight years. He said there's been a push to make them more aesthetically pleasing but contends nothing beats a physical barrier, despite the recent surge in demand for surveillance cameras and other technology-based alternatives.

"So many people are doing the camera thing, but more people decide they need a physical barrier," he said.

tbriscoe@tribpub.com

Twitter @_tonybriscoe

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The fifth annual District 95 Educational Foundation Gala to support the districts eight schools was held on March 12 at The Arboretum Club, 401 Half Day Road. (Christine Won / Pioneer Press)

This year's gala to support the Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95's eight schools brought in a record number of supporters, organizers said.

More than 170 attended the fifth annual District 95 Educational Foundation Gala on March 12 at The Arboretum Club, 401 Half Day Road, raising a profit of more than $25,000 to go to the schools after costs, according to organizers.

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"This is the largest crowd we've had in years," said Nancy Coleman, executive director of the foundation.

There were more than 80 auction items this year, the gala's most extensive offering to date, organizers said.

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The big ticket silent auction items included a private dinner for 10 by Chef Michael Maddox, a reserved parking space at the Lake Zurich High School and a one-week stay in Silverthorne, Colo. Organizers declined to provide actual bids.

"Almost everything we do goes back to the kids," said foundation chairman Phil Guerrero.

Last year's gala brought in a revenue of about $40,000, which came out to about $25,000 after expenses, according to organizers.

The foundation's districtwide initiatives in the past included a $14,800 library project at the Isaac Fox Elementary School, a $25,000 world cultures classroom project at the high school, and a $26,000 library project at Middle School South, according to the foundation.

At Isaac Fox, the outdated library was transformed into "a more flexible learning space," which can be reconfigured for various learning situations ranging from one-on-one to small group meetings, according to Vanessa Griffin, publicity coordinator for the foundation.

The world cultures classroom was equipped with mobile desks, chairs and whiteboards, and the Middle School South library project, which is ongoing, will feature work stations that can easily be reconfigured for multiple uses.

The night kicked off with a cocktail reception and a performance from the Lake Zurich High School jazz band.

Diana and John Tomaino of Hawthorn Woods, district parents, were among those in attendance. The parents of three said they moved to the area five years ago because it was a good community and school district. This was the first year they heard about the gala so came to support the foundation.

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"It's feeding right back into our kids, so what better way to spend our money?" Diana Tomaino said.

Coleman said the auction offered various items from a variety of price points. Other than the big tickets, auction items included cases of liquor, boxes of chocolates, movie tickets and practical packages such as driver's training or ACT and SAT prep programs.

A ride to school in a marked Hawthorn Woods police squad car was listed as "priceless."

"We are so grateful to the community for their support of our schools and our kids," Coleman said. "Our job is to pilot these programs and fund improvements to our schools that touch as many students as possible."

Christine Won is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press

Twitter: @tinewon
On opening day of The Fresh Market in Lincolnshire, former village manager Bob Irvin investigated the wine section. Irvin was instrumental in forming the incentive package that brought the grocery chain to an undeveloped corner; the chain is now being sold to a larger firm. (Ronnie Wachter / Pioneer Press)

The Fresh Market in Lincolnshire has been one of the village's largest retail developments in recent years, and officials say they're not yet sure how news of its sale could affect the local store.

The Fresh Market has entered into an agreement to be bought by Apollo Global Management for about $1.36 billion.

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The Lincolnshire store opened in 2013 on the northeast corner of Illinois Route 22 and Milwaukee Avenue, answering what Lincolnshire officials said for years was the most frequent request they heard from residents  the need for an upscale grocer.

It was unclear if the sale will result in changes to Fresh Market's individual stores.

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"It's too early to make any determination on real estate matters," said Katie Turner, a spokeswoman for the grocery chain.

But Lincolnshire officials have kept their eyes on their grocery store since its opening. Their primary concern is a hurdle that has proved to be larger than they anticipated: the convenience of customers actually getting into the store.

Concrete medians at the intersection of Route 22 and Milwaukee extend back from the stoplights for hundreds of feet, and despite conversations with Lincolnshire officials, the Illinois Department of Transportation, which maintains both roads, has never been interested in cutting into them to allow easier access.

Thus, the Milwaukee entrance to the Fresh Market is about a third of a mile north, at the light-controlled intersection with Olde Half Day Road. From Route 22, customers can only make a right-hand entrance, and right-hand exit, from the westbound lanes.

Former village manager Bob Irvin, former Mayor Brett Blomberg and the other leaders of the time attracted the chain with an incentive package that is comparable to others in nearby municipalities: Fresh Market keeps 40 percent of the sales tax revenue it generates for its first seven years, capped annually at $100,000.

Village Hall had owned the land, but sold it to Inland Real Estate Corp. for $1.1 million, and Inland presently leases the lot at 475 Milwaukee Avenue to the Fresh Market. The group has presented several plans to the Village Board for additional retail and green space around the 24,000-square-foot grocery store.

When he announced his retirement early in 2013, Irvin called the addition of the Fresh Market one of the major accomplishments of his career. Current village manager Brad Burke said they had not heard anything from the grocery store or its potential buyer.

"That is all we have to go on at the moment," he said.

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rwachter@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @RonnieAtPioneer
Lady Gaga on stage during the live ABC Telecast of the 88th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, Feb. 28. Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods in Morton Grove, is bottom center. (Handout / EPA)

When she received an email asking if she wanted to join Lady Gaga and numerous other sexual assault survivors on stage for a performance at the Oscars, Julie Smolyansky said she only had to think about it for "one second" before replying with a yes.

Smolyansky, CEO of Morton Grove-based Lifeway Foods, and an executive producer for the documentary, "The Hunting Ground," said her experience at the Oscars "was probably one of the most powerful things I've ever done in my life after having kids."

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Lady Gaga performed the song she co-wrote with Diane Warren, "Til it Happens to You," for the documentary film about sexual assault on college campuses. It was nominated for best original song but was passed over for the award.

Smolyansky said she's worked as an advocate for victims of sexual assault and rape since she was a teenager.

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"I am a survivor [of sexual assault] myself  that's how I ended up on that stage," she said. "Everyone on that stage had to be a survivor."

Smolyansky, who at age 27 was reported as the youngest CEO of a publicly traded firm when she took over the Morton Grove company her father founded, said she hooked up with "The Hunting Ground" producer Amy Zeiring during a panel where both spoke about the importance of women in positions of leadership and power.

Smolyansky said Ziering's film, "The Invisible War"  an Oscar-nominated documentary about sexual assaults in the military  had a powerful impact on her.

"I mentioned that this issue is not unique to the military," she said. "It is an issue all throughout the world, really globally, from churches to college campuses, to high school campuses, offices and all sorts of places."

Smolyansky, who served as an associate producer of the "The Home Stretch," a documentary that follows three homeless teens struggling to stay in school, signed on as an executive producer for "The Hunting Ground," which was written by Kirby Dick and produced by Ziering.

Being a part of the creation of the documentary was an opportunity for Smolyansky to help tell survivors' stories, elevate the issue of sexual assault on college campuses and "give everyday advocates and people who care about these issues in our world tools to have conversations around."

As a female CEO, Smolyansky acknowledges that she's "a sort of rare anomaly" and feels a deep responsibility to use her voice to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the health and safety of women and girls.

She said Lady Gaga's support for the cause is "really, really important."

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"Having her voice connected to this movement gives survivors a sense of strength and unity," Smolyansky said.

Her own advocacy work stems back to her time at Niles North High School, Smolyansky said, where she helped craft curriculum around dating violence in the Chicago area, volunteered at a shelter for women and children in Evanston and in college became a certified rape crisis counselor.

Advocacy work continues to be a significant part of Smolyansky's life. In addition to helming her dairy business, she also serves on the Chicago board of Rape Victim Advocates and co-founded the nonprofit Test400k, an organization that raises awareness of and advocates for the testing of an estimated 400,000 untested rape kits across the U.S.

The statistic cited in "The Hunting Ground"  that one in five women in college are sexually assaulted  motivates Smolyansky to continue to use her voice and her resources as a woman in a position of power to create awareness about the issue and keep it at the forefront of public consciousness, she said.

"My number one mission is to end violence and if it's not talked about, if light is not being shone on it, the statistics will never change," Smolyansky said.

Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
An Irish man who now calls Chicago his home will honor the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising in Ireland with a very personal performance this weekend in Naperville.

When: March 19

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Where: North Central College Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville

Tickets: $20-$30

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Information: 630-637-7469; Northcentralcollege.edu/show

An Irish man who now calls Chicago his home will honor the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising in Ireland with a very personal performance this weekend in Naperville.

Irish tenor Paddy Homan presents his one-man show "I Am Ireland" at 8 p.m. March 19 at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall.

The show consists of the songs, speeches and images that tell the story of Ireland's road to independence before and even after the Rising, he said. It is presented in two acts, and Homan is backed by a three-piece band of Irish traditional musicians.

"Ireland is the land of saints and scholars, and all of that image," he said. "But Ireland went through a remarkable journey. It's celebrating this year its centenary independence. It achieved its independence from England in 1916, for most of Ireland  26 counties declared their independence. Six counties continue to remain part of England  Northern Ireland."

Also known as the Easter Rising or Easter Rebellion, the Rising was an armed insurrection during Easter Week in 1916 set about by Irish republicans seeking to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic.

The show, which debuted in October, includes some of the most poignant speeches from Ireland's most famed orators as well as traditional Irish songs of freedom. It took him about 10 years to write it. He teamed up with Michael Londra, a former Riverdance performer who has his own theatrical production company, Wexfordhouse. Homan set about researching and writing the narrative.

"It leads right up to singing the National Anthem and everyone feels very emotional," he said. "When you look at Irish history  you can't talk about the totality of Irish history and independence without looking at the preceding factors. And that's what I've tried to do, to join them all together into a shoestring type of history using the songs. Putting the songs out there and letting people form their own judgment."

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He is only the messenger; the heroes are those who fought and put their experiences into song, he said.

The majority of Irish-Americans trace their ancestry back between 1850 and 1870, he said, to ancestors who emigrated to escape the Great Irish Famine from 1845-47.

"We look at that from the subjective experience of what the people were actually going through," he said. "Now in West Cork, there was a lovely place called Skibbereen. There's a beautiful song called 'Skibbereen,' which we do. The song is, 'We wish that we were geese, night and morn, night and morn. We wish that we were geese, so we could live our lives in peace.'"

The macro-economic, laissez-faire conditions of the time contributed to the Famine, he said, but the people put their faith in God and more than 2 million Irish came to America during that time. He thinks Irish-Americans searching for reasons why their forefathers left the Emerald Isle will appreciate and find answers within the show.

Don't worry  it's not all about war and starvation, he said. Culture is touched on as well, like Ireland's contribution to sports, art and literature.

Homan, 41, came to America eight years ago to pursue his master's degree at DePaul University in Chicago. His expertise is in Alzheimer's and dementia care and he integrates his music into his work with patients. In addition to being a musician, he is a foundation director with Lutheran Life Communities.

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Thus far, reaction to his show has been positive, he said.

"It's been very well-received," he said. "The word has gotten out that it's a very original show. It's a labor of love; we're not doing this for the money. It's a story that has to be told."

His goal is for the show to evolve and tell the many different stories of Ireland, not just the 1916 Rising, he said.

"Behind every song is a story, written by someone wishing to achieve some sense of immortality," he said. "Our job is to make that song come alive and be present."

Homan hopes that audiences understand the humanity, and find out more about their own ancestry within the music.

"My whole (goal) is to get people passionate about the music, passionate about Irish history, get people singing together, enjoying the laughs and come away and say, 'That represented Ireland well.'"

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Alleman is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.
Pat Ranttila (from left) of Hoffman Estates, Richie Stepansky of DeKalb, Laurie Stepansky of Roselle, State Sen. John Mulroe, Helen Salata of Palatine, Heather Smith of Elmhurst and Deana Hanns of Harwood Heights assemble donated gift items destined for India March 11, 2016. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

Ridgewood High School students are considering the meaning of love and happiness in the context of a charitable project they've undertaken.

"Love can be interpreted in many different ways," said Rita Gondek, 14, a Ridgewood freshman from Norridge. "To someone, love could be looking at nature or a painting or even family and friends.

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"It's something that is valuable and worth something."

Gondek was among students March 11 in a room next to the gym of Ridgewood High School in Norridge. Students collaborated on activities supporting Project Happiness, an annual school learning activity that promotes altruism and compassion.

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This year, 188 freshmen, 50 peer mentors and 50 community members focused on Ridgewood Mentoring Mission outreach. They are inspired by a 2011 documentary film "Project Happiness," which explores what happiness is.

On Feb. 26, students experienced a Skype session with the film's executive producer Randy Taran, who shared ideas about practicing gratitude.

"Project Happiness gives us the opportunity to think beyond ourselves to truly care about others," said Nanette Cassettari of Roselle, a mentor who grew up in Norridge. Cassettari is a 1968 Ridgewood High School graduate. "It's an awesome, global lifelong learning experience.

"I am just in awe of what these students do," said Cassettari, a retired instructor who taught at James Giles Elementary School of Norridge.

Students created collages with images of happiness, with some as candidates to upload to a Project Happiness smile quilt.

Donated items were also organized to be hand delivered this month to an orphanage in India.

The orphanage, Sri Ram Ashram in Haridwar, India, is featured in the Project Happiness movie.

Carol Valentino-Barry, Ridgewood High School director of communications and community outreach, is leaving for India with friends March 17 on a personally funded trip.

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"We are looking to create understanding, connection and inspiration around the globe," Valentino-Barry said. "Human beings are naturally curious and loving."

Valentino-Barry is transporting RHS collage images, pictures, T-shirts and gifts.

About 60 children in the orphanage will receive donated care kits.

Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
With the scope and penalties of Chinas social credit system being further clarified in 2021, legal and regulatory compliance has become more important than...
An investor sits in front of a screen at a brokage firm in Haikou, Hainan Province, on June 25. [Xinhua]

Remarks made by China's new securities chief show the government's resolve to deepen capital market reform, analysts said on Sunday.

His comments may also help to dispel investors' concerns that the recent stock market volatility may compromise these efforts, they said.

On Saturday, Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, reassured investors that China will continue to proceed with reforms, including the registration-based initial public offering system.

Speaking at a news conference, he said the country must adopt the system eventually, but it will be a lengthy process and will be launched only when market conditions and the legal environment "are appropriate".

The planned change to a registration-based IPO system from an approval-based one has been viewed as one of the most important reforms that could help China to develop a mature and market-driven stock market.

Zhang Zhizhou, general manager of DH Fund Management Co, said: "One focus of investors' attention is whether the regulator will continue to push reforms. Liu responded to these concerns, helping to stabilize market expectations and boosting the confidence of domestic and international investors in the Chinese economy."

Liu also impressed fund managers, analysts and retail investors on Saturday as being a humorous, down-to-earth and candid person who is good at communicating with the public.

Hong Hao, chief strategist at BOCOM International, said, "Overall, his assessments are candid, but it is too early to judge his performance."

Hong said Liu's comments may indicate that the timing of the IPO reform needs to be better calculated.

According to some analysts, short-term fears over the reform are that it will influence the market by creating a huge supply of new shares.

But Hong said the source of market volatility is the high valuations of stocks, not the supply of new shares.

"The best protection is to lower the valuations to a reasonable level so that smaller investors will not have to overpay," he said.

Liu replaced Xiao Gang as CSRC chief last month. China's small investors expect him to help restore their confidence in the regulator and in the country's stock market.

Liu defended the government's role in stabilizing the market amid a dramatic slump last summer. He said the government will step in again if such a crisis re-emerges.

He also admitted that the introduction of the circuit-breaker mechanism, which was designed to stabilize the market, had aggravated its decline. The mechanism was scrapped by the commission in January after being in effect for just four days.

Liu said China will not reintroduce the mechanism in the next few years, adding that its adoption reflected a failure to fully assess the unique structure of the Chinese stock market, which is dominated by retail investors.

Wang Qing, president of Shanghai Chongyang Investment, said, "His remarks highlight the greater attention paid by the regulator to pushing reforms that fit Chinese conditions."

Wang added that Liu had also sent a message that the regulator should be the market referee, rather than a player, by saying that he would not encourage people to buy or sell stocks.
Frank Meng, chairman of Qualcomm China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

If seven out of ten smartphones sold worldwide last year were assembled in China, much credit for that should probably go to the China arm of US chipmaker Qualcomm. Thanks to its famed processors such as the Snapdragon, Qualcomm emerged as the world's biggest chip supplier to smartphone companies.

But Frank Meng, 56 years old, the soft-spoken chairman of Qualcomm China, is not an executive who will rest content with past achievements. His mind is focused on things futuristic.

"I love to deal with challenges," he told reporters at the first public event after taking over as chairman of Qualcomm China in mid-2015.

And, in an exclusive chat with China Daily, Meng said Qualcomm will step up its investments in China. For, the country is entering the age of the Internet of Things, which will see billions of computers, gadgets, appliances, furniture, machines and vehicles inter-connected in real time via the Internet.

"Well, 'keep investing in China' has been a major strategy for us. Qualcomm will work with its Chinese partners to seize opportunities that do not even exist today."

By that he means making super-efficient chips for, besides the Internet of Things, servers and a new class of vehicles like drones.

Decades of experience in China's information technology industry, Meng said, helps him to instinctively sense what the next big thing could be. "New gadgets such as drones and inter-connected smart home devices are set to create exciting demand just as smartphones did a few years ago."

Meng is excited that the Chinese tech industry is ready for the new era, which will be marked by "China-centric" and "China-first" opportunities. Local innovations in consumer electronics will drive growth, said Meng.

The telecom veteran loves to compare today's market conditions with those that existed a decade back. After all, past experiences unveil tomorrow's trends, he said.

"About 30 years ago, Japan used to lead growth of camera and other consumer electronics because of its huge domestic demand. China is at a similar flashpoint now. The market cannot just wait for technology breakthroughs imported by overseas companies. Instead, local players are coming up with gigantic amount of ideas that suit Chinese customers' requirement."

In terms of innovation, Qualcomm has always been keeping pace with Chinese tech firms, Meng said. The US company's local arm set up a research and development team in China to support its Chinese customers.

That is one of the high points of his second stint with Qualcomm China. During his first stint from 2003 to 2010, he served as Qualcomm China's president, and led the company into major deals with Chinese hardware manufacturers.

During that period, Qualcomm became one of the biggest suppliers of CDMA chipsets, a mainstream 3G technology used in China. "Chinese vendors started to export 3G phones in 2005. We thought it was a great opportunity for us to fuel the trend."

Qualcomm offered a wider-tiered product portfolio than Taiwan-based competitors such as MediaTek Inc. That helped Chinese smartphone manufacturers to boost their sales manifold over the last decade, as demand for 3G and 4G devices soared.

For its part, to reinforce its commitment to the China market, Qualcomm pledged a $150-million venture investment fund, to support Chinese startups in areas such as Internet, e-commerce, semi-conductors and health.

The US company was also one of the earliest investors in Xiaomi.

Around the time Meng returned to the company, a Qualcomm affiliate formed a joint venture with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, the largest chip foundry in China together with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a telecom equipment maker, and imec, one of the world's leading nano-electronics research and development centers, to develop the next-generation integrated circuits.

Industry research firm IDC said joint ventures with local players could be an efficient way for overseas tech companies such as Qualcomm to penetrate the Chinese market further in coming years.

To prepare for the future, Meng-led Qualcomm China announced another JV in late January, this time with Southwest China's Guizhou province, to develop and manufacture server chips.

Qualcomm took a 45 percent stake in the 1.85-billion-yuan ($280-million) joint venture, while the rest was held by the investment arm of the Guizhou provincial government.

Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said cross-border technological innovation will play a key role in China's economic growth. "China welcomes foreign investment (in the IT sector)," Xu said.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Chinese IT manufacturing segment grew by a healthy 10.5 percent year-on-year in December 2015. The ministry said IT will drive growth as the export-oriented manufacturing sector continues to wither. Meng is confident China is a huge market where domestic consumption of electronics is set to grow.

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The Great Hall of the People in Beijing during the Two Sessions (WEI YAO/BEIJING REVIEW)

Once a year, close to 3,000 deputies, ranging from officials to executives, convene in Beijing in early March to assess and make plans for China's overall development.

The annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, is still a bit mysterious to most Americans. While many Chinese follow the U.S. election cycle and top political meetings closely, Americans are typically shortsighted on foreign affairs.

Still, some outcomes of the legislative meetings have made their way into U.S. headlines. Social issues are at the forefront, including environmental protection efforts. China's Environment Minister Chen Jining told reporters that "emissions are still too high." Chen stated that 20,000 plants were shut down last year as a result of environmental violations and $654 million in fines were collected, up 34 percent from the previous year.

"We used to think development was all about GDP, but we can't go down that road anymore," Chen said. "The environment is about people's livelihood. Protecting the environment also protects productivity."

"Real progress" is being made, writes Nicholas Consonery for Fortune, in that the government's overall expenditure on social security and welfare increased 17 percent in 2015 year over year, and spending on energy saving and environmental protection increased 26 percent.

Domestic economic issues are also of interest to American media in how they relate to American exports and imports. Time magazine in its coverage of the NPC meetings pointed to concerns over overcapacity at Chinese factories that "make a lot of things that people no longer want." It's bad news for nations that supply China's economic engine with resources. Time magazine noted an announcement that the Chinese Government would lay off 1.8 million workers at state-owned steel and coal industries.

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About 15 militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch were killed in overnight Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen's temporary capital of Aden, a military official told Xinhua on Sunday.

The air strikes pounded al-Qaida-controlled positions and vehicles in district of Mansourah in Aden province, leaving 15 extremists killed, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.

An intelligence officer said that "Four overnight air strikes were launched by Saudi-led warplanes and U.S. drones successfully destroyed arms depots and killed senior terrorists in Mansourah."

Aden's Governor Maj. Gen. Aidarous Zubaidi issued an official statement saying that "pro-government forces supported by Saudi-led coalition carried out the second phase to implement the security plan and raided al-Qaida terror cells in Mansourah."

"The anti-terror military campaign will continue till eliminating all extremist militias in Mansourah and restoring stability in neighboring areas," Aden's governor said.

Local residents said that fighting intensified on Sunday morning and Saudi-led helicopters kept hovering over Aden's airspace.

The port city of Aden has been witnessing a state of chaos and lawlessness during the past weeks resulted in the assassination of Aden's former governor, several high-ranking security officers and judges.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East and the affiliate of the Islamic State.

The security situation in the country has deteriorated since March last year when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
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Kenya is drafting a bill that will see its nationals serving jail terms in foreign countries to be repatriated to serve the remaining years or months in local jails.

"If bilateral agreements and treaties with the sentencing countries are put in place, then it will be made possible for Kenyans to be brought back to the country and charged here," said a statement from the Attorney-General Professor Githu Muigai's office received on Sunday.

Githu Muigai is currently guiding the drafting of the proposals which will form the basis of implementing the Transfer of Prisoners Act 2015 which came into effect in October 12, 2015.

The statement said the Transfer of Prisoners Bill 2014 creates a framework for facilitating the exchange of prisoners pursuant to agreements between Kenya and other countries.

"The Transfer of Prisoners Act is aimed at facilitating arrangements for the transfer of persons serving sentences of imprisonment for criminal offences committed in Kenya or countries outside Kenya, pursuant to subsisting agreements," the statement said.

However, the conditions for transfer can only be made through an application by the two States through the Attorney General (AG) or by an application from the prisoner to the AG for consideration but only if that person is a national of Kenya.

The Act was enacted in order to help transfer prisoners serving sentences in foreign countries as well as to ensure that they received humane treatments in line with rights and freedoms in Kenya and international conventions.

The Act comes at a time when the country has sentenced several pirates, terrorism suspects and illegal aliens to serve jail terms.

Several Kenyans have also been committed to jail in foreign countries for different crimes, including drug trafficking. The Bill spells out stringent conditions under which such transfers can be undertaken.

Muigai made the disclosure during a visit to a women's prison in Nairobi where he received petitions from women inmates seeking consideration of Presidential pardon.

During his visit to the facility, he met several inmates of Pakistani nationality who made a plea for the transfer to their home country.

The Model Agreement is also expected to detail out the conditions for transfer of prisoners as well as the eligibility of the transfers to Kenya and from Kenya.

It is estimated that close to 3,000 Kenyans are serving jail sentences in various countries with Kenyan prisons also holding similar number of foreign nationals.

"The actualization of the Transfer of Prisoners Act 2015 is aimed at facilitating the transfer of persons serving sentences for criminal offences committed in Kenya or in countries outside Kenya while ensuring that prisoners are accorded basic dignitiess in line with human rights laws and international conventions. This will also allow the inmates to serve their sentences within the communities that they have ties," it states.
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The Syrian troops are approaching the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported on Sunday.

After capturing two points at the outskirts of the city a day earlier, the military forces have closed in on the ancient city of Palmyra, which fell to the Islamic State (IS) group last May.

Meanwhile, a source told Xinhua that the government in Damascus is determined to recapture Palmyra.

For his side, the head of the Syrian antiquities department in Damascus, Maamoun Abdul-Karim, told Xinhua that capturing Palmyra would be "the end of a nightmare" for this millennia-old oasis city in the eastern countryside of the central province of Homs.

Sources familiar with the situation told Xinhua that the army backed by air force from the nearby T-4 military airbase are trying to storm the ancient city from its western rim, close to the historic castle of that ancient city.

Since capturing it last May, the terror-labeled group destroyed the city's notorious military prison and several Islamic tombs.

The IS also put on public executions of government soldiers and people accused of working for the government.

Palmyra contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world.

Syria has many prehistoric, Greek, Byzantine and Islamic heritages. Before the crisis, Syria had attracted many multinational archaeological missions coming for searching new clues of historical facts on the development of civilizations.
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A total of 21 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Sunday in clashes with security forces and airstrikes by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition aircraft, security and medical sources said.

In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, dozens of IS militants carried out two attacks at dawn: one on the positions of security forces in Fat'ha area, and another on the positions of paramilitary units in the oil fields of Allas in east of Tikrit, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops in both areas fought back the attackers and forced them to withdraw after killing a total of seven IS militants and wounding at least 13 others, along with destroying a vehicle carrying heavy machine gun, the source said, adding that two security members were killed and five others wounded by the clashes.

The attacks came a day after similar offensives by IS group on Allas and nearby Ajil oil fields as well as Makhoul mountain in north of Tikrit, which were also repelled by the troops.

The predominated Sunni Arab province of Salahudin has been the scene of a major offensive by Iraqi security forces and Hashd Shaabi units, which managed to retake control of key towns of the province from the hands of IS militants who seized large part of it in June 2014.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, six IS militants, including three non-Iraqi Arabs, were killed and 14 others wounded in airstrikes by Iraqi and international warplanes on IS positions in Falahat area in west of the IS-held city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, a medical source from Fallujah hospital anonymously told Xinhua.

Also in Anbar province, army helicopter gunships bombarded an IS vehicle repair workshop in Jazira area in east of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, destroying the workshop and killing eight extremist militants, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

Iraqi security forces have been fighting IS militants to retake control of large swaths of territories in northern and western Iraq which the extremist group seized since June 2014.

The troops regained Ramadi, the provincial capital of the country's largest province Anbar in December last year, and are fighting to recapture the rest of the vast province while preparing for a major offensive on the militant-seized city of Mosul, the second largest city in northern Iraq.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Syrian warring parities to respect cessation of hostilities, a day ahead of the resumption of the United Nations-brokered Syrian peace talks in Geneva.

Kerry said some 600 combatants of the Islamic State (IS) have been killed during the past three weeks of U.S.-led coalition strikes in Syria, stressing that the operation will be intensified.

He made the remarks after a meeting on Syria with his counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Britain in Paris on Sunday.

"All parties must respect the cessation of hostilities, cooperate in the delivery of humanitarian aid, and respect the process of negotiations to achieve a political transition," said Kerry at a press conference with his European counterparts.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in order to "guarantee the credibility of the negotiations (in Geneva), the unimpeded humanitarian access and the truce in Syria must be fully respected."

Ayrault also said the Geneva talks would be "difficult" but had to focus on "real political transition" in Syria.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain, along with John Kerry also expressed their full support to the Libyan national unity government.
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Foreign shops were looted on Sunday in an informal settlement near Natalspruit in eastern Johannesburg following the deaths of two local residents, police said.

The looting took place after local residents were chasing away foreign nationals in retaliation for the killing of two local residents, allegedly by a Pakistani national earlier this week, according to police.

The Pakistani national shot and killed a woman and a child following a brawl, a police source said.

The killing angered the local residents who retaliated by chasing foreigners away and looted their shops, the source said.

The situation was tense and police have sent reinforcements to the area, a witness said.

Police used rubber bullets to disperse angry crowds, said the witness who refused to be named.

Foreign nationals reportedly are collecting illegal fire arms so they can protect themselves from criminals.

The incident was reminicent of the xenophobic attacks in April last year, in which several people were killed and thousands of foreigners were displaced.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday that the Syrian Kurds should be invited to the intra-Syrian peace talks in Geneva.

"We believe that the process that begins in Geneva must necessarily include the Kurds, if we all really mean what we say when we declare commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," Lavrov said in an interview with Russia's REN TV channel.

"We will vehemently insist on the UN not caving in to ultimatums and sending an invitation to the Kurds to join the negotiating table from the very start of the talks," he said.

Lavrov also slammed Turkey for opposing the participation of the Kurds, and criticized Ankara's "creeping expansion" into Syria.

"While demanding that Kurdish positions are not strengthened in Syria, Turkey has been claiming its sovereign right to create security zones on Syrian territory," Lavrov said.

There was no immediate response from Turkey. Ankara has dismissed claims about its military deployment inside Syria.

Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that Turkey continued to shell Kurdish forces in Syria.

The new round of reconciliation talks between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva is scheduled to be held on March 14-24.

The previous round of talks ended last month with no tangible results, but intensified international efforts have managed to establish a cessation of hostilities in Syria, which started from midnight of Feb. 26.
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A hard-won truce spared Syria a chance to solve its crisis without guns, along with the world's hopes for the upcoming talks in Geneva.

Borhan, a cosmetics seller, poses for a photograph in Damascus, Syria, March 9, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Any progress would be a promising step forward for the war-torn country, which has been a global limelight for five years since the uprising against the President Bashar Assad erupted, so far killing over 270,000 people.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Geneva talks are likely on next Monday, and the exact date will be set after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Meanwhile, he highlighted that the violence in Syria has calmed down by 80-90 percent.

The Syrian opposition Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) stressed Friday that it will partake in the talks.

The approval was announced days after the HNC gave conflicted stances about whether to attend the second round of the talks.

The previous round last month ended with no tangible results, but intensifying the global efforts to trigger a cessation of hostilities in Syria.

The truce has prevailed in the country for two weeks with no notable violations, paving a path for the peace-pursuing talks in two days.

The major divergence is the HNC's desire to establish a transitional body to rule the country, not a national unity government.

However, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Saturday that his government rejects talks about the possible federalization of Syria, stressing the unity of the country.

His remarks came a day after the UN envoy to Syria said that the possibility of federalism for Syria has not been taken off the table for the upcoming peace talks in Geneva.

"We are going to Geneva to make the dialogue a success, and this doesn't rely on us solely, but on the other parties as well," he stressed.

The Gulf Cooperation Council countries have expressed, in a joint statement, their support for a political solution in Syria and the importance of keeping Syria's territories unified.

They also urged the UN Security Council for a process that could impose a more effective cease-fire in Syria.

Expectations for possible breakthroughs have also been expressed in the past week by the countries including Jordan, Oman and Germany.

King Abdullah II of Jordan, hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees, on Thursday stressed his country's constant position supporting a political solution.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Oman and Germany discussed regional issues, believing the truce has helped improve humanitarian situation in Syria and stimulate political talks among the different Syrian parties.

Even competing rivals believed cooperation will lead to the peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis, which is sustainable for regional stability.

"Iran and Turkey should work together to terminate terrorism as the common enemy, and to enhance stability in the region," said Iran's President Hassan Rouhani last Saturday while meeting Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Tehran and Ankara are supporting different warring sides in Syria, Iran as an ally of President Assad while Turkey backing the opposition groups.
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South Korea's military on Monday refused confirmation on a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submarine, which United States media reported had gone missing for days.

CNN reported Saturday citing U.S. officials as saying that one of DPRK submarines operating off its east coast went missing earlier last week.

According to the media report, the DPRK navy searched for the missing sub, which U.S. spy satellites, aircraft and ships had also been secretly watching.

The U.S. military believed that the DPRK sub suffered some types of failure during an exercise.

Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Kyun told a regular press briefing that the intelligence authorities of both South Korea and the United States maintain a position that they cannot confirm the relevant report.

The report came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after Seoul and Washington launched their largest-ever joint annual war games, code-named Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, last Monday.

The drills, which Pyongyang has denounced as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion, would last until April 30.

The DPRK repeated its warnings against the spring exercises on Sunday, threatening a "pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike" toward South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

Before the launch of the drills, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un ordered nuclear warheads to be placed always on standby for use at any time.

Kim said on Wednesday that his country has succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles at a meeting with nuclear scientists and technicians.

Regarding this, Moon reiterated Seoul's position that Pyongyang has advanced its nuclear miniaturization technology to a significant level but has yet to secure a technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads.

He said U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities are precisely analyzing whether the DPRK secured nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on ballistic missiles.
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China has firmly opposed the interference in Syria's internal affairs while calling for a political solution to the long-running crisis, a Chinese diplomat has said.

In advance of the fifth anniversary of the Syria crisis, Chinese Ambassador to Syria Wang Kejian urged related parties in Syria to prioritize their state and national interests and start a U.N.-sponsored and Syrians-led process of politically solving the crisis.

Massive anti-government demonstrations broke out in Syria on March 15, 2011, and gradually evolved into a civil conflict that has so far killed more than 250,000 people and displaced 6.6 million others.

Wang told Xinhua that China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, bears important responsibilities of safeguarding world peace and stability.

China has never been absent from playing its due role on Syria issue, Wang said, adding that for the past five years, China has been upholding justice while pursuing shared interests, firmly safeguarding the UN Charter and opposing foreign interference in Syrian affairs.

China has been making efforts to promote peace talks through actively mediating between the Syrian government and the opposition as well as playing an important and positive role in such international mechanisms as the International Syria Support Group, the ambassador said.

China will continue to play its distinct role on the issue to help Syria recover peace and stability at an early date, calling on related parties to maintain the hard-won momentum of politically solving the crisis, Wang said.

He urged the Syrian people to find a political solution through negotiations by taking into account interests of all parties.

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, held a meeting Friday in Moscow, during which the two top diplomats stressed the need to beef up coordination on a number of growing challenges in world affairs and exchanged views on the upcoming intra-Syrian reconciliation talks in Geneva.

At a press conference held Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the Chinese National People's Congress, Wang expounded on China's Middle East policy.

"When it comes to the Middle East affairs, China has never been a mere onlooker," Wang said, adding that China has all along supported the Arab countries' quest for independence and liberation, and is enjoying ever closer economic and trade ties with the region and contributing actively to peace and stability in the Middle East.

"We adopt an objective and impartial attitude, we try to facilitate peace talks, and our position is selfless and aboveboard," Wang said.

"On the basis of not interfering in other countries' internal affairs, we want to play a more active role in seeking the political settlement of burning issues in the region," he said.

A new round of reconciliation talks between the Syrian government and its opposition in Geneva is scheduled to kick off Monday.

However, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and representatives of the opposition on Saturday made diverging comments on whether to discuss the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Geneva peace talks.

The previous round of talks ended last month with no tangible results, but intensified international efforts have managed to establish a cessation of hostilities in Syria, which started from midnight of Feb. 26.
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An explosion in a navy hospital in the Indonesian capital killed four people and injured several others on Monday, an official from the health ministry said.

An ozone cylinder in a room at the hospital caused the explosion which also triggered a fire, said Robi Ardan, official in charge at the crisis center of the Indonesian health ministry.

"Four people were dead and some others were injured. They are the hospital officials and patients," he told Xinhua via phone.

"All of them have been rushed to an intensive care unit," the official said.

The fire had been extinguished, he said.
Radio Free Asia

2016-03-11

 The relatives and defense lawyers of 19 human rights lawyers currently facing subversion charges have written to Chinas parliament, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), calling for an independent inquiry into breaches of legal process in the handling of their cases.

The relevant authorities have brought charges such as incitement to subvert state power against them in situations where there has been no breach of the law, the letter, signed by more than 140 lawyers and relatives, said.

They have prevented them from seeing lawyers and not allowed them to communicate with lawyers or family members, it said.

For this reason, we call on the NPC to set up an independent inquiry into the July 9 crackdown, and take immediate measures to correct these injustices and to prevent the trampling of the constitution and [Chinese] law, it said.

At least 317 lawyers, law firm staff, human right activists and family members have been detained, questioned, summoned or forbidden to leave the country since police began a nationwide operation targeting the legal profession on the night of July 9, 2015, according to figures compiled by a Hong Kong-based rights group.

While many have since been released, 19 have been formally arrested, mostly on subversion-related charges, the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG) said in a statement on its website.

Residential surveillance

Earlier this week, the authorities extended the six-month period of residential surveillance for detained Changsha rights lawyer Xie Yang, his lawyer told RFA.

In cases involving subversion charges, a law passed last year allows up to six months residential surveillance at a secret location with no visits from lawyers or relatives.

The defense attorney for jailed rights lawyer Li Heping

discovered he was relieved of duty when he visited his client

in detention, Feb. 18, 2016. Photo courtesy of an RFA listener.

Now, that period has been extended by police for an unknown length of time, and Xie is still denied a meeting with a lawyer, his defense attorney Zhang Zhongshi told RFA.

I think that this extension is just an excuse, Zhang said. I think one reason for it is that they lack evidence, and the other is that they want to prevent him from seeing a lawyer.

A lawyer for prominent rights attorney Wang Quanzhang said his residential surveillance had also been extended.

The bottom line is that they wont let him see a lawyer, Wangs lawyer Cheng Hai said. He was under criminal detention for a month, then under formal arrest for two months, which should have been enough for them to wrap up the case.

But he has been detained since last August, which is eight months, and with this one-month extension, that will be nine months, Cheng said.

Its a clear indication that they are having problems finding evidence that proves the material facts of the case.

They didnt inform me

Similar treatment has been meted out to lawyer Li Heping, his wife Wang Xiaoling said, although the exact length of the extension remains unclear.

They didnt inform me; I had to go and ask, Wang said. I think this is a breach of the rules, and its also a failure to take their duties seriously.

They should be able to produce a written document in a case where the charges are so serious, she said.

Rights lawyer Lin Qilei, who signed the letter to the NPC, said the ruling Chinese Communist Party continues to deviate from accepted judicial processes.

After the initial six-months of residential surveillance is up, the police should be done with their investigations, but instead they are just extending them, Lin said. And each time they extend the detention, they are refusing to allow visits from lawyers.

These are strong-arm tactics which they are using to persecute these people, he said.

The letter comes after a group of 12 countries issued a strong criticism of China at the United Nations over its human rights record, calling for the immediate release of the lawyers.

We are concerned about Chinas deteriorating human rights record, notably the arrests and ongoing detention of rights activists, civil society leaders and lawyers, U.S. ambassador Keith Harper told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.



Little faith in Xi Jinping

CHRLCG spokesman Kit Chan welcomed the criticisms, saying people now have little faith in President Xi Jinpings promises to rule the country by law.

This sort of international concern and attention is extremely important, particularly on the subject of the legal profession and those who practice law professionally, Chan said.

Xi Jinping has promised many times in public that China will be ruled by law, and if he is sincere about those promises, he needs to listen to the calls coming from experts in the field and also from the international community, he said.

Harper, who was speaking on behalf of Australia, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States, agreed that the Chinese authorities are in breach of their own laws.

These actions are in contravention of Chinas own laws, and international commitments, Harper told the Council.

He called on Beijing to release all rights activists, civil society leaders and lawyers detained for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression or for lawfully practicing their profession.

He also hit out at the growing use of televised confessions on state television, saying they interfered with judicial process.

These actions run contrary to fair trial guarantees enshrined in Chinas laws, and counter to the rights and freedoms set out in the universal declaration of human rights, Harper said.

Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu gives an interview in

Hong Kong, March 20, 2014. Credit: AFP

Locking up critics

Last month, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein said China appeared to be locking up government critics regardless of whether they had committed a crime, and demanded it release those detained immediately and without conditions.

After the detention of top rights attorney Wang Yu, her husband Bao Longjun, and their colleagues at the Beijing Fengrui Law Firm on the night of July 9, 2015, police launched a nationwide operation targeting hundreds rights lawyers and activists nationwide.

Wang is being charged with the more serious charge of subversion of state power, while Baos arrest is for the lesser charge of incitement to subvert state power.

Incitement to subvert state power carries a maximum jail term of five years in less serious cases, and a minimum jail term of five years in cases deemed more serious, or where the suspect is regarded as a ringleader.

Subversion of state power carries a minimum jail term of 10 years in cases where the person is judged to have played a leading role. Jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is currently serving a 13-year sentence for incitement to subvert state power.

The activists arrested alongside the lawyers are typically people who participated in activities like staging small protests, complaining to the government about abuses, or helping human rights groups gather information, usually in their local community, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Chinas National Peoples Congress, which runs from March 5-15 in Beijing, rarely debates and never opposes government policy, typically voting new laws through by near-unanimous margins.

Reported by Xin Lin for RFAs Mandarin Service, and by Wen Yuqing for the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

China Aid Contacts

Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director

Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.chinaaid.org
Visitors check Sinotruk's vehicles displayed at a construction and machinery exhibition in Russia in June. Photos Provided to China Daily Heavy-duty trucks produced by China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co ready for delivery to Kazakhstan.

China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co, the country's largest heavy duty truck exporter, is eyeing up fresh opportunities from the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiatives and is striving to make a breakthrough in the Central Asian market, said company executives.

"Sinotruk will embrace new opportunities of cooperation with Central Asian countries as the country pushes forward the Belt and Road strategy," the company chairman Ma Chunji told China Daily.

The Belt and Road Initiative was put forward by President Xi Jinping during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013.

Founded in 1956, Sinotruk produced the first heavy-duty truck of the People's Republic of China in 1960.

In 2007, Sinotruk was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2009, it established a long-term strategic partnership with German truck maker MAN, with the latter buying 25 percent of its shares for $783.5 million. Sinotruk obtained a range of advanced technologies, including engine technology, from its German partner.

Sinotruk boasts four brands - Sitrak, Howo, Steyr and Hohan - that cover more than 3,000 vehicle types, the most among any Chinese truck maker, according to the company.

In 2014, Sinotruk exported 34,000 vehicles, accounting for nearly 20 percent of its total sales, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. The company's export revenue surpassed 9 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), accounting for about 13 percent of its total revenue, statistics showed.

In the first quarter of this year, Sinotruk sold 43,000 vehicles in the domestic market, including 25,000 heavy-duty trucks, which increased its market share by 1.66 percent, compared with a 33 percent drop of the overall sales of heavy-duty trucks across the country.

The company also exported 10,035 heavy-duty trucks in the first quarter, up 8 percent year-on-year.

During the past 60 years, Sinotruk has stuck to its "going out" strategy and made great efforts to tap into overseas markets.

"In the context of globalization, Sinotruk should seek an international strategy so that the company can sustain and expand the achievements made through industrial restructuring and reform," Ma said.

Liu Wei, deputy general manager of Sinotruk, said the company has established 40 overseas representative offices and cooperates with more than 160 dealers.

"Our products have won recognition from not only customers in Africa, South America, Central Asia and the Middle East but also those in developed countries including Ireland and New Zealand," said Liu, who is in charge of the company's overseas operations.

"The territories of the five Central Asian countries were important sections of the ancient Silk Road, which played a significant role in promoting exchanges between Asian and European countries," he said.

"With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the accelerated development of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, we will attach greater importance to the Central Asia market and strive to make breakthroughs in tapping into the market," he added.

The Central Asian market is one of Sinotruk's most important overseas markets, Ma said. The company has established a sophisticated trade network that covers vehicle sales, after-sale service, parts supply and image building in the region, Liu said.

Sinotruk has built four representative offices in the region and sold more than 15,000 vehicles to local customers.

Since 2011, Sinotruk has exported more than 8,000 heavy-duty trucks to Kazakhstan, which contributed to local urban construction and industrial development. The company's Howo brand won recognition from local customers and has become a symbol for Chinese heavy-duty trucks.

With the introduction of new products, including the Howo-T7H, V7G and T5G, more and more dealers and customers have shown interest in the company's trucks.

Sinotruk is negotiating with local manufacturers to open a knocked-down factory in the country. A memorandum of understanding on the issue was signed during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the country in December last year.

In Uzbekistan, Sinotruk's 4S shop is the largest in the local market. Since 2011, the company has exported nearly 2,000 heavy-duty vehicles to the country. The company started selling Compressed Natural Gas dump trucks to customers in the country in 2013 and has sold more than 300.

In Turkmenistan, more than 3,000 Howo-branded heavy-duty trucks are in use.

In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Sinotruk has started offering heavy-duty trucks with engines that meet Euro IV emission standards at the request of local governments.

"As the largest Chinese manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks, Sinotruk will continue to provide high-quality products and service for Central Asian customers," Ma said.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/13/2015 page6)
A visitor takes pictures at the 13th Changchun Agriculture Expo, August 19, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Stocks of companies in agriculture-related sectors may coast on recent announcements that the government will expedite development of modern farming in China, said analysts.

They further said more than 80 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and engaged in farming, agricultural services, food processing and cold-chain logistics, may all benefit.

According to Shanghai WIND Information Technology Co Ltd, a financial information provider, about 40 agri stocks rallied last week, gaining 3.4 percent on average. This week, they will likely extend gains.

Among those expected to rise are stocks of companies focused on agricultural products, processing, agricultural services, modern farming, food safety, high-tech agriculture machinery and seeds.

A research note from Huatai Securities Co Ltd said stocks of companies engaged in seeds, automated farm machinery, crop cultivation projects and agri infrastructure could rise as the nationwide campaign for upgrading farm production methods would benefit such firms.

Even companies engaged in big data, surveying, automated design, biotechnology and food safety may benefit from the sharpened focus on modern agriculture, the note said.

A research note from Dutch lender Rabobank said demand for cold-chain logistics in China, like food supply chains that secure safety of highly perishable foods, is high. So, companies that provide such services and technologies may also benefit.

Researchers also said small investors, however, should evaluate risks of investing in agriculture-related stocks.

Farming and forestry are exposed to unpredictable conditions like climate change, natural disasters and price fluctations, said a research note from Minsheng Securities Co.

According to Premier Li Keqiang's annual work report, the government will increase efforts to develop and expand use of new farm technologies and machinery, including new crop varieties.

"Supply-side reform has been visible in agriculture. Both the authorities and market players have been adjusting output and capacity goals for a wide range of farm produce," said the Ministry of Agriculture.

For example, inventories of corn, particularly imported ones, have peaked while soy produce in China is in short supply, according to Agriculture Minister Han Changfu.

Han said output of dairy products will be also increased to meet market demand.

The central government and the country's top leadership have been seeking to strengthen agricultural competitiveness in recent months. They exhorted local governments and the players concerned to improve agricultural production structures as per market demand.
A woman investor at a securities office in Nantong, Jiangsu province. Chinese small investors are confident after the central government's recent announcement of financial policies for this year. [Photo provided to China Daily] Supportive policies, NEEQ recast raise hopes, but investors' fears still remain

Expectation that reforms in May will help improve the efficiency of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, better known as the New Third Board, will likely boost its financing activities, market-people said.

The NEEQ is China's share trading system for small firms and startups. Amid the economic slowdown, one of the concerns rattling stock markets this year, the NEEQ has been one of the main financing channels for China's cash-strapped startups.

But it has been facing issues of low turnover and inadequate liquidity. As of March 3, the NEEQ's total financing was 26.47 billion yuan ($4.1 billion).

So, come May, the NEEQ board will adopt a new policy to divide the existing market into two segmentsthe innovative market and the basic marketthe Chinese securities regulator announced on March 4.

The division will be based on financial indicators and shareholding structure of nearly 6,000 listed companies on the board, and will ensure relevant regulations apply to listed companies.

It will also meet different financing needs of companies and reduce the cost of information collection for investors, analysts said.

"The division will accelerate the expansion of the market," said Dong Dengxin, a finance researcher at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology.

There are other glad tidings for the markets.

Analysts believe Premier Li Keqiang's latest government work report, envisaging supportive policies, will continue to boost sentiment towards the Chinese capital market.

For, the feared hard landing of the Chinese economy appears much less likely now, said Geoff Lewis, senior Asia strategist at Manulife Asset Management, in a note to investors.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has been moving sideways around the level of 2900 points, having declined 20.6 percent this year on concerns over volatility in the renminbi and the slowdown.

"China's capital outflows are manageable and may be close to peaking, though a temporary return to capital controls may be required, especially on money flows by wealthy individuals," Lewis said.

The soaring stocks of producers of coal, steel and commodities corrected substantially last week on stimulus policies announced at the ongoing sessions of lawmakers and political advisors.

But fears remain the structural reform to reduce industrial overcapacity will likely hurt the earnings prospects of resources- and energy-related companies.

Li Lifeng, a strategist at Sinolink Securities, said the Chinese stock market continues to be plagued by weak momentum. So, the benchmark Shanghai index will likely continue to move sideways in the range of 2,500 to 3,000 points.
Li Wanying and her colleague perform in the water at an aquarium in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province, March 5, 2016.[Photo/IC]

Li Wanying, 27, worked at television stations and media companies after she graduated with a major in broadcasting and anchoring. In 2014, Li saw recruitment information from an aquarium in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province.

"Every girl yearns for the fairy tale world. When I was a kid, I had a great interest in the ocean, especially marine animals. I think an aquarium is an amazing place, so I applied for the job right away," she said.

Li first worked as a guide at the aquarium. Through her tireless efforts, she finally became a "mermaid" in October.

"I really enjoy wearing mermaid costumes in the water. I like the feeling of freedom and weightlessness, which make me feel relaxed," Li said.

"Sometimes, a shark appears when we perform. Then we cannot move too much, as that could result in adverse reactions from the shark, " she added.
Signs show the direction of Vanke group headquarters and Shenzhen Vanke Real Estate at its headquarters in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, November 2, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

China's property behemoth Vanke Co has signed a preliminary agreement with subway operator Shenzhen Metro to acquire up to 60 billion yuan ($9.3 billion) of property assets atop its subway lines, in the latest control tussle between the company's top management and Baoneng Group.

Vanke plans to issue new shares in exchange, it said in a filing to Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday, which will lead Shenzhen Metro to become one of its major shareholders.

The size of the new issuance, offer price and means of the transaction would be subject to further due diligence conducted by third-party assessment, according to the announcement, adding that the transaction is expected to value between 40 to 60 billion yuan.

Vanke, on trading suspension, had a market capitalization of 269.7 billion yuan as of Friday close.

Shenzhen Metro would inject some of its "quality" property projects above subway stations into the subsidiary to be sold, while Vanke would acquire some or all of the stakes, the developer said.

The rail transit will unleash great growth potential especially in Shenzhen, given its relatively low share rate, said Tan Huajie, Vanke's senior vicepresident, at a press briefing on Monday.

The move is expected to help the developer giant fend off a hostile takeover by Shenzhen-based real estate and insurance conglomerate Baoneng Group, as the latter became Vanke's largest shareholder in December with a 24.3 percent stake.

The announcement came as Vanke posted a 15.1 percent surge in net profit to 18.1 billion yuan last year. Revenue jumped 33.6 percent to 195.5 billion yuan.

The deal is subject to regulatory and shareholders' approval, according to the filing.
Potential customers look at a model of a real estate development in Yichang, Hubei province.[ZHOU JIANPING / FOR CHINA DAILY]

The Chinese government should spend big on buying back a massive glut of homes in third- and fourth-tier cities and assign them to low-incomers, Yao Yang, dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"Now is the best time for the government to buy back (because of the market downturn in third- and fourth-tier cities)," said Yao, who often consults the government on economic issues. "The government should bargain for a good discount with developers, and offer these idle homes to low-income earners as public rental flats, or as compensation to those displaced by demolition or renovation of dilapidated urban residences."

This years economic plan, outlined in the Government Work Report, said that China will ramp up subsidies to encourage migrants to seek public housing on their own, instead of building massive amounts of homes and assigning units to applicants. The government will support the development of the rental market.

During January-February, unsold homes in China grew 15.7 percent to reach 739 million square meters, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. 70 percent are in third- and fourth-tier cities.

Commenting on the hike in home prices in first-tier cities and worries of a bubble bursting, Yao said he saw no sign of an "immediate bubble burst". Even if a bubble did burst, it would hurt wealthy people in these cities, who could afford the skyrocketing prices there.

"I see no solution (to a price hike in first-tier cities). Those who can afford the prices, they should bear their own risk," Yao said. "For the general public, more financial education is needed to warn them against panic buying. They should not be fooled by the bluff of agents."

He said low-income earners in first-tier cities will rely on governments to own a home.
Cars on sale at an auto exhibition in Yichang, Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily] Association pins slump to Spring Festival dormancy; popularity of SUVs continues to surge

China's auto sales fell slightly in February, though industry officials say the dip does not reflect a longstanding trend.

Last month, 1.58 million vehicles were sold, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That is a 0.86 percent slip year-on-year, but more importantly, it is the lowest February sales figure in three years, at least 10,000 units fewer than the February sales totals in either 2015 or 2014.

Yao Jie, the association's vice-secretary-general, said the fluctuations are reasonable considering the weeklong Spring Festival, during which people rarely buy cars.

"The dip in February sales does not reflect a long-term trend this year."

Auto sales in the first two months this year totaled 4.09 million, a 4.4 percent growth from the same period last year, similar to last year's overall growth rate.

CAAM expected the growth rate this year to reach about 6 percent, which would translate into 26 million vehicles sold.

Factors leading to the organization's prediction include the popularity of SUVs and China's favorable policies for small-engine cars and new-energy vehicles.

In February, China sold 478,000 SUVs, a 44 percent surge year-on-year, a continuation of the sales momentum seen last year.

Four of the five most popular SUVs, according to the China Passenger Car Association, are from Chinese manufacturers: Haval, JAC, Changan and Trumpchi, outperforming Volkswagen's Tiguan and GM's Encore.

Sedan sales were another story. Almost 700,000 sedans were sold in February, a 17.8 percent slump year-on-year.

But China's favorable policy on small-engine cars is still going strong, inducing a total of 720,000 cars with engines at or below 1.6 liters to be sold, which accounts for 52 percent of total passenger vehicles sold in the country.

New-energy vehicles continued their growth as the country has rolled out a slew of measures to promote new-energy vehicles, including tax exemptions, subsidies for car purchases and a requirement for government departments to buy more new-energy cars.

Sales of plug-in hybrids through the first two months totaled 10,900 units, a 68.5 percent rise year-on-year, and 24,835 electric cars were sold in the same period, up 314 percent year-on-year, according to CAAM statistics.

Chinese brands expanded their market share by 3.1 percentage points to 46 percent in the passenger car market. In the SUV market, Chinese brands seized a market share of 60 percent, with 20 percent in the sedan market.
Electrification and the mobile Internet will help make cars become more than a transport tool, industry experts say. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A better understanding of customer demands will help carmaking Internet companies outperform traditional automakers, said the head of a Chinese startup with plans to produce electric vehicles.

William Li, founder and chairman of nascent electric carmaker NEXTEV, said traditional automakers are manufacturing-based, which forces them to focus more on auto sales and less on direct contact with consumers.

"You cannot blame them because the whole industry was established before the Internet industry came into being. But that will not work in the age of the Internet and what we should consider now is how to serve customers," said Li, an Internet veteran who founded China's e-commerce website Bitauto.com in 2000.

Li made the remarks at a forum, organized by news portal auto. ifeng.com, on building a powerful Chinese auto industry in late February. He explained the importance of customer experiences by using the iPhone as an example. Apple's iconic smartphone has excelled despite missing the mark in two aspects that a mobile phone used to be judged byvoice clarity and battery life.

"What it did was to change the way we evaluate. We now agree that software and touch screens are important.

"For the auto industry, electrification and the mobile Internet will do the same thing as iPhones have done. They will help make cars more fun and be more than a tool of transport."

Embracing a new age

The mobile Internet is surging in many countries, including China. According to statistics from QuestMobile, there were 899 million active smart mobile devices by the end of last year in China, accounting for 69 percent of the country's population.

Traditional automakers are catching up, like State-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Corp, partners of Daimler AG and Hyundai.

Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, said developing electric and smart cars is at the heart of the automaker's strategy for the next five years.

"We started the new-energy vehicle program in 2010. We have made some achievements. Now, we are mobilizing the best resources for the program.

"Gas-powered cars are now burning one-third of our oil products and causing severe air pollution. They will definitely give way to new-energy cars," said Xu.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, China was home to 172 million cars by the end of last year.

Xu said the nation's "short history and therefore a lighter burden" in the industry might give Chinese automakers an opportunity to catch up with international ones in developing new-energy vehicles.

BAIC has also established a team dedicated to smart cars. Xu said the group's first autonomous vehicle will make its debut at the Beijing auto show in April.

Xu said BAIC is open and willing to build cars for Internet companies, believing such cooperation deals can bring into play their respective advantages.

Fu Yuwu, president of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, urged traditional automakers to embrace the Internet to stay competitive.

"The Internet is powerful. You may hate it but you cannot avoid it. Electric and smart cars are heralding a new age."

Fu also called for the Chinese government to lower barriers for private companies to become automakers.

"China's carmaking industry is in dire need of innovation. If the government does not allow newcomers there is no hope that China will have a powerful auto industry."
Editor's note: During the annual sessions of the National People's Congress, China's top parliamentary body, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body, many delegates made suggestions and proposals for the further development of the auto industry.

Li Shufu, CPPCC member and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. [Photo/CFP]

"I believe autonomous driving technology brings challenges and opportunities to the Chinese auto industry. We should think ahead about the possible problems, and speed up the establishment of a legal framework regarding self-driven vehicles.

Several aspects should be considered. Our country's current laws and regulations should be studied and those that block the development of autonomous driving should be changed.

Self-driven vehicles can be a solution to traffic congestion and air pollution that many major cities are suffering from right now. Some pilot areas could be set up, such as the 5th and 6th ring roads in Beijing.

The development of autonomous driving should be considered to formulate industry policies, including a technology roadmap, industrial standards, safety practices, traffic enforcement and insurance responsibility.

The rights and responsibility of automakers, drivers, pedestrians, and insurance companies should be distinguished clearly."
Frank Meng, chairman of Qualcomm China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Frank Meng wants to ensure Qualcomm China seizes 'opportunities that do not even exist today'

If seven out of ten smartphones sold worldwide last year were assembled in China, much credit for that should probably go to the China arm of US chipmaker Qualcomm. Thanks to its famed processors such as the Snapdragon, Qualcomm emerged as the world's biggest chip supplier to smartphone companies.

But Frank Meng, 56 years old, the soft-spoken chairman of Qualcomm China, is not an executive who will rest content with past achievements. His mind is focused on things futuristic.

"I love to deal with challenges," he told reporters at the first public event after taking over as chairman of Qualcomm China in mid-2015.

And, in an exclusive chat with China Daily, Meng said Qualcomm will step up its investments in China. For, the country is entering the age of the Internet of Things, which will see billions of computers, gadgets, appliances, furniture, machines and vehicles inter-connected in real time via the Internet.

"Well, 'keep investing in China' has been a major strategy for us. Qualcomm will work with its Chinese partners to seize opportunities that do not even exist today."

By that he means making super-efficient chips for, besides the Internet of Things, servers and a new class of vehicles like drones.

Decades of experience in China's information technology industry, Meng said, helps him to instinctively sense what the next big thing could be. "New gadgets such as drones and inter-connected smart home devices are set to create exciting demand just as smartphones did a few years ago."

Meng is excited that the Chinese tech industry is ready for the new era, which will be marked by "China-centric" and "China-first" opportunities. Local innovations in consumer electronics will drive growth, said Meng.

The telecom veteran loves to compare today's market conditions with those that existed a decade back. After all, past experiences unveil tomorrow's trends, he said.

"About 30 years ago, Japan used to lead growth of camera and other consumer electronics because of its huge domestic demand. China is at a similar flashpoint now. The market cannot just wait for technology breakthroughs imported by overseas companies. Instead, local players are coming up with gigantic amount of ideas that suit Chinese customers' requirement."

In terms of innovation, Qualcomm has always been keeping pace with Chinese tech firms, Meng said. The US company's local arm set up a research and development team in China to support its Chinese customers.
Li Shaoping (C), vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, introduces the white paper on Chinese courts judicial reform at a press conference in Beijing, Feb 29, 2016. [Photo/chinacourt.org]

Strengthening the management of overseas non-governmental organizations' activities according to China's rules and regulations, and expediting the process of enacting laws are part of the country's efforts to promote the rule of law. They will not only help maintain State security and social stability, but also protect the legal interests of these organizations.

Overseas NGOs have been a useful channel for China's communication with the rest of world. More than 7,000 overseas NGOs are working in China in the fields of economy, education, science and technology, public health, sports, charity and environmental protection.

On the one hand, most NGOs are engaged in activities that are good for Chinese society and charity. On the other hand, some have illegally taken part in or funded profit-making, political or religious activities, while some others did so even without being registered or getting the approval of the administration as required by the two ordinances passed in 1989 and 2004. Worse, some NGOs' activities harm China's national and public interests, and even threaten State security and national unity.

The legislation on the management of overseas NGOs is transparent, open to supervision and public suggestions, as well as prudent. China's top legislature reviewed the draft of the law twice last year, published it online to solicit public opinions, organized seminars with overseas NGOs and responded to the questions posed by some countries.

The law can improve China's social governance, solve the accumulated problems in overseas NGOs' administration, and maximize their positive roles in the Chinese society. Besides, government departments will establish a coordinated work mechanism to improve the management of overseas NGOs.

Rather than restricting overseas NGOs' activities, the law will provide a legal foundation for them, and protect their rights and interests in organizing lawful activities. Since no overseas NGO enjoys extraterritoriality in China, all NGOs have to abide by Chinese laws and rules.

The fast development of Chinese society means overseas NGOs will have more room to perform their roles. And the law will help them do so better.

Liu Jie is a researcher on public governance at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
A giant panda is seen drinking water by the farmer.

XI'AN - A farmer in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has captured a giant panda drinking from a river, rare footage that indicates the normally-shy animal was probably ill.

In the two-minute video, the giant panda can be seen stretching, dropping its head to the river, and drinking before noticing the farmer and returning to the safety of the jungle.

"I watched it for around five minutes," said He Yijun with the Daguping Village, Yueba Township of Foping County.

The farmer shot the footage in the late afternoon on March 9 near his village, which is part of a state-level reserve for the protection of Qinling wild giant pandas.

He said he thought he had found a huge calico stone, before he realized it was a giant panda, which was moving very slowly.

Yong Yange, a giant panda expert with the Foping natural reserve, said the panda may have been suffering from a sore throat or heartburn, as it took longer than usual to drink water.

"A healthy Qinling giant panda drinks for just one to two minutes before returning to the bamboo woods, and seldom drinks repetitively," he said.

Yong advised local farmers to report any giant pandas that they see drinking repetitively with a white and dry nose, as the animal would probably need medical treatment.

The Qinling giant panda is a subspecies of giant panda that was identified in Qinling Mountains in 2005. It differs from the more familiar Sichuan subspecies by its smaller and rounder skull, shorter snout and fuller fur. There are about 270 giant pandas in the Qinling region.
Beijing police inspect one of the vehicles at a modified cars party. [Photo/Sina Weib of Beijing municipal police bureau]

A modified cars party was busted in an underground parking lot at Galaxy Soho mall, the largest in the center of Beijing, on Friday night.

Two vehicles were confiscated among 27 suspected of being illegally modified and one suspected of having a fake registration plate. In total, 26 car owners were fined for illegal modifications and ordered to restore their vehicles to factory status, the municipal police bureau said.

Party organizer Shi Haitao told the Beijing News that participants drive their cars to the underground parking lot every week, for exchanging views and casual chat. It was unexpected that they would encounter the police.

"Car modification does not equal car racing," said Shi, adding that though accepting fines, they will not give up their hobby.

The municipal police bureau responded on its official Weibo account that car modification does not equal car racing but secret car modification is illegal.

From photos of the busted site, which spread on online social platforms, there were many luxury modified cars including a Nissan GT-R35, Lancer EVO, Porsche 911, Honda Jed and Ferrari.

Car modification enthusiasts' group iAcrophobia was believed to be responsible for the party. Shi said iAcrophobia is a non-profit global organization focusing on car culture.

More than 20 iAcrophobia group members were at the party when 50 to 60 police officers appeared at 9 pm, he said.

"We heard of the police locating cars with fake plates but someone reported us," said Shi. The police fined 200 yuan ($30.8) for each car modified in appearance and color.

Shi said that the car suspected of having a fake plate "does not have any relationship with the group".

"We often mistakenly take the blame for car racers," said Shi, adding that they have taken different measures to boycott car racing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Moscow, capital of Russia, on March 11, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

It is a priority of China's diplomacy to "steadfastly develop" the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a daily news conference on Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks when discussing Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Russia from March 10 to March 11, during which the minister met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Wang expressed his "full confidence", Lu said, on Russia's development, the prospect of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, the future of pragmatic cooperation between the two countries, as well as the outlook for bilateral cooperation dovetailing the Belt and Road Initiatives and the Eurasian Economic Union.

As to the Korean Peninsula issue, both countries stick to the goal of the peninsula's denuclearization and support the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and neither of them recognizes the nuclear status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said Lu. He added that both countries believe US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in the Republic of Korea will "directly harm the strategic security interests of China and Russia", and will "damage the regional strategic balance".
Analyst: Dialogue helping anti-graft fight By Hezi Jiang (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-14 07:34:07

China's solid evidence, effective communication with the US have made progress possible

Recent cooperation between the United States and China in combating corruption is encouraging, according to David Firestein, vice-president of the East West Institute.

"What we have seen recently, particularly since last fall, is an increasing willingness on the part of the United States to work with China on some of these corruption ... cases," he said.

In 2015 alone, 48 fugitives were returned to China from the USincluding three who were forcefully sent backwhereas only two fugitives suspected of economic crimes were brought back from the US from 2003 to 2013, according to China's Ministry of Public Security.

Firestein said that effective communication and China's strong attitude on the issue made the progress possible.

"As the US government, federal police authority, and local police authority have learned more about the specifics regarding certain cases, they have been more willing to work collaboratively toward the common goal of holding people who've violated the law accountable," said Firestein.

"After they have gotten more evidence to substantiate some of the allegations, they've seen that some of them are legitimate cases."

According to Zhang Xiaoming, a senior official from China's Ministry of Justice, the country has been offering the US judicial system "more solid evidence".

Apart from information about the fugitives' likely whereabouts, Chinese law enforcement authorities provide sound reports about the suspects' illicit activities back home and the amount of funds they might have transferred abroad, to form a "complete chain of evidence", Zhang said.

For Firestein, "the seriousness with which the Communist Party seems to be taking this whole process" has also made an impression on US policymakers, providing greater grounds for cooperation.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party, the country's top anti-corruption watchdog, investigated 330,000 cases of graft and frugality violations last year and punished 336,000 officialsa record number in the past 20 years.

China also has launched a campaign code-named "Sky Net", targeting 100 key officials who had fled overseas.

"I think what we are seeing is the United States taking seriously China's commitment to anti-corruption," said Firestein.

"The government is trying to do what it can within the constraints of US laws."

Firestein said President Xi Jinping's state visit last September had a positive impact on anti-corruption cooperation.

"I think that President Xi was able to make the point to President Obama and to other senior folks he met just how serious China is about its anti-corruption efforts," he said.

"When you put all those things together, it has led to a pretty good number and a growing number of cases of success and cooperation, and that number of cases will continue to grow."

Firestein recommended that the Chinese government continue doing what it has been doing.

"Which is to say: Here is the case; here is the evidence; here are the relevant Chinese laws; here is what substantiates these charges; here are witnesses," he said.

"That will help US officials to make decisions that are well-informed and probably lead to more instances of convicted or alleged criminals sent back to China."

"Substantiating these charges and meeting US standards is probably the key to success," he added.
Fight against terror intensified By Cui Jia and Cao Yin (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-14 08:05:09

China will continue to severely punish those involved in separatist and terrorist activities this year, the Supreme People's Court said in its annual work report.

The top court said 1,419 people were sentenced for jeopardizing State security and taking part in terrorist attacks last year.

Courts nationwide heard 1,084 cases related to inciting secession, organizing terrorist attacks or spreading terrorism-related audio and visual materials, Zhou Qiang, president of the SPC said when delivering the work report to the National People's Congress on Sunday.

"Courts in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have handled an increasing number of terrorism-related cases since launching a special campaign on May 23, 2014, the day after a terrorist attack at a market in the regional capital Urumqi that left 31 dead," said Mutalif Wubuli, president of the Xinjiang High People's Court.

Last year, courts in the region dealt with a large number of cases involving terrorist attacks or assisting Xinjiang people to illegally cross border, he added.

In January, the Xinjiang government decided to intensify its counterterrorism campaign as the region, which is on the front line of China's fight against terrorism, is facing greater threats from home and aboard.

Liu Yuejin, the counterterrorism commissioner, described China's current situation as "stable and under control" in February, but he stressed that terrorism is permeating further in the country under the influence of international terrorists' activities.
Insurance companies expanding overseas By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-14 08:05:09

With the rapid development of China's insurance sector, an increasing number of insurers are expanding overseas.

Efforts include setting up subsidiary companies, acquiring international insurance companies, buying properties around the world and providing insurance services for Chinese companies that are going global.

China Life, the country's largest insurer, is planning to launch a subsidiary in Malaysia this year, the company's former chairman Yang Chao told China Daily on Saturday.

"China Life's overseas expansion will start from Southeast Asia, targeting overseas Chinese at first," said Yang, who is also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee.

In 2014, regulators approved a China Life subsidiary in Singapore with registered capital of $100 million, the insurer's first international venture.

"I am also very optimistic about Indonesia. If there are appropriate opportunities, acquiring a local insurer is a good choice to enter the market," Yang said.

China Life also announced it was joining forces with Singapore-listed Global Logistics Properties to finance the $4.55 billion acquisition and a controlling 66 percent stake in Industrial Income Trust Inc, a Denver-based industrial real estate trust in the United States.

The insurer's other headline overseas deals included joining with Ping An Insurance and global property developer Tishman Speyer in April last year to launch a $500 million Boston development project known as "Pier 4". It also co-invested with Qatar Investment Authority and Songbird Estates to buy "10 Upper Bank Street" in London's Canary Wharf in 2009.

International real estate service provider JLL forecasts that Chinese insurance groups will allocate up to $240 billion for real estate deals outside the country in the years to come. However, their property holdings still remain small at 1 percent, compared with their US or European counterparts, which tend to have real estate allocation targets of 5 to 15 percent.

In November, Anbang Insurance Group Co agreed to buy HRG Group Inc's Fidelity & Guaranty Life for about $1.6 billion in cash, expanding investments in the US after closing the purchase of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York for $1.95 billion. The buying spree since then has also included an office property from the Blackstone Group and financial companies including Belgian insurer Fidea NV and South Korea's Tongyang Life Insurance Co.
Observers applaud unrivaled news access at two sessions By Li Xiaokun (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-14 08:05:09

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi takes questions from the press during a news conference on the sidelines of the two sessions on Tuesday. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

A wide spectrum of observers, from journalists to ordinary citizens, have commented on the unprecedented access granted at this year's two sessions of China's national advisory body and legislature.

Breakthroughs included Foreign Minister Wang Yi's conference on March 8 - his longest since taking office, with 19 questions fielded over 2 hours - and the record 19 news conferences arranged on the sidelines, with guests such as newly-appointed China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Liu Shiyu.

More ministers also seemed willing to meet with the media on the approach path to the Great Hall of the People this year, with dozens of such interviews conducted as of Sunday.

Ruan Huiling, media coordinator with the NPC Fujian delegation, said her colleagues had tried their best to work with reporters.

"We have given everything we had to media, from the room number of every delegate - including provincial leaders - to phone numbers of the whole working team and a full schedule," she said, adding that all seven questions raised by media representatives from Hong Kong and Taiwan during the delegation's open discussion on March 6 had been answered.

On the same day, the NPC Shanxi delegation took seven questions from the media during their open discussion, with five focusing on severe corruption cases.

Wang Rulin, top leader of the province, answered these questions and elaborated using three other local corruption cases, which soon grabbed headlines.

Chen Yanjun, information office spokeswoman for the Sichuan provincial government, said that after learning a reporter - Petra Kolonko, Beijing bureau chief of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - was interested in poverty alleviation in the province, an interview for her was arranged with the relevant deputies.

According to Zhu Shouchen, deputy director of the two sessions' media center, around 3,200 journalists registered to cover the meetings this year, including about 360 from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and more than 1,000 foreign reporters.

Zhu said the media center had issued information through its website, while reporters registered for the National People's Congress annual session could also get briefings of the delegation meetings and suggestions from NPC deputies online.

Nobuhiro Shima, a reporter from Tokyo Broadcasting System, was impressed by the press room and "signs that are in English to indicate the way to the hotels as well as to the venue".

Meanwhile, Sjoerd den Daas, a journalist with Dutch Financial Daily, commented on how approachable everyone was.

For Zhu, who has worked at the media center for more than a decade, China "has become more transparent, and the information release system is more complete".

"NPC deputies and CPPCC representatives are also more confident when facing the media," he said.

Li Yang and Du Juan contributed to this story.
Food executive sees good times ahead for Fujian By Li Xiaokun and Hu Meidong (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-14 08:05:09

Fujian province should reach out to its 15.8 million overseas residents to help pave the way for industrial parks abroad and to encourage enterprises in the province to go global, Cai Jin'an, chairman of Panpan Food Group, a leading food supplier, said in an interview during the ongoing annual two sessions.

"Fujian people are scattered throughout Southeast Asia and many other countries," said Cai, who is also an NPC deputy. "I suggest the central government give Fujian special policies to build up industrial parks and commodity cities."

He said such outreach, supported by the Chinese government or Fujian provincial government and protected by law, could help Fujian companies to filter risks in unfamiliar markets and enable them to get help from their compatriots when facing challenges.

The way of "developing by banding together" can also help companies share resources and cut their costs, he added.

Cai also said Chinese universities should hurry to cultivate proficiency in minor languages for students.

"The Minnan dialect and English can be used in many countries. Still, we need people who are good at minor languages to fully integrate into the local culture," he said, adding that merchants from Fujian have been known for their courage to go abroad since ancient times.

And that continues, Cai said. In 2015, several hundred companies in Quanzhou city alone went abroad to invest in dozens of countries and regions, including Southeast Asia and Europe.

According to the Fujian government, the province's investment in countries along the developing 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2015 reached $1.38 billion, an increase of 170 percent year-on-year.

Cai said competitive Chinese companies, either in traditional industries or emerging ones, should all seek opportunities under Beijing's Go Global strategy.

"You may find it challenging at first, but you can get some shining ideas," he said.

Food companies, for instance, will find a huge market for Muslim food, especially among the countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, Cai said.

As for his own company, the products have been exported to many countries through channels including transborder e-commerce. "We have sent batches of professionals to investigate overseas markets across the Belt and Road," he said.

Panpan has established a department for overseas business and is planning to build factories abroad, with an annual output that is expected to reach 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) in about two years.

"Without exaggeration, the Belt and Road Initiative is a wise decision made by China to occupy the highest point in the global economic chain," Cai said, adding it will also benefit countries along the route.
Online home rental companies want to kick out the middlemen By Wu Yan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2016-03-14 09:16:43

China World Towers and China Central Television building have shaped the skyline of the capital Beijing. [Photo/IC]

A new generation of online home rental companies is rushing into the market with the aim to overturn traditional rules by directly connecting renters and tenants without brokerage fee.

Kuaiyoujia, 107 room, and huoju365, all established in the past three years, have their own websites, apps and public accounts on WeChat, China's most popular mobile social networking platform. Unlike purely online information sharing platforms, these partially open and agent-free information service platforms check and verify the authenticity of the house and the identity of the house seekers before accepting them.

A 28-year-old IT engineer, surnamed Li, sought a new house in Beijing at the beginning of this March, the peak of house renting in big cities as working population returns from hometowns after the Spring Festival.

There are about eight million floating population in Beijing, with the estimated number of house seekers reaching 10 million.

About 100,000 renting trades happen every month, said Niu Huanqiang, a marketing director from Homelink Real Estate Agency Co, China's largest pre-owned home broker.

House seekers use every information available, ranging from friends' introduction, open and free online information sharing platforms such as 58.com and ganji.com, to online and offline property agencies who charge brokerage fee.

Vowing to improve the service that their predecessors lack, the new market players know what renters and tenants care most.

Li heard of 107 room from a friend and became a registered user after the platform verified his work email address.

"107 room is trustworthy and convenience as it introduces the property owner directly to the tenants", Li said.

He does not have to pay a large amount of brokerage fee to property agents but gets no guarantee when things go wrong.

Five years ago, he rented a house from an agent with one monthly rent in brokerage fee and found it leaky after moving into it. He wanted to move out but the agents charged him another two monthly rent in deposit with the excuse that he terminated the contract unilaterally.
Ministry slams subsidies by car-hailing apps, vows better regulation By Gao Yuan (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2016-03-14 12:51:30

Chinese Minister of Transport Yang Chuantang attends a press conference on reform and development of taxis on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 14, 2016.[Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

The chief of transport authority on Monday criticized subsidies car-hailing applications are offering to their users, pledging to better regulate for-profit rides by private cars.

Yang Chuantang, head of the Transport Ministry, said giving subsidies is a "short-term move" and imposes "unfair competition" on traditional taxi business.

"The purpose (of giving subsidy) is to attract more passengers and to gain a bigger market share.

The apps are profit-driven and will not give out subsidies forever," said Yang.

Didi Kuaidi, backed by Internet giants including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd, is in fierce fight against Uber Technologies Inc in the country.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said earlier this year the company lost more than $1 billion in China last year. Most of the losses were due to subsidies offered to drivers and passengers.

Didi Kuaidi and Uber apps are also facing regulatory dilemma in the country. Current industry regulations do not allow private cars to carry out for-profit rides.

Yang said a set of new rules have to be in place to suit the growth of online car-hailing and other emerging services.

The Transport Ministry pledged to "vigorously press ahead" reforms in taxi industry and to foster new driving force and speed up the development of new economy.

It also said China will rely on public transportation services to ease traffic jams in big cities.
Youth survey finds education, child policy among top sessions concerns By Cheng Yingqi (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2016-03-14 18:03:00

Education equality and China's second-child policy are among the most-watched topics at this year's two sessions, at least among young Internet users, according to a recent survey of Baidu Tieba, a community-based group discussion service of Baidu Inc.

Baidu Tieba polled both its post-1990s generation and post-2000s generation users, who account for more than 60 percent to its total base of 300 million monthly active users, about the topics they are most interested in during this year's meeting of the country's top legislature and political advisory body.

In the survey, more than 50 percent of respondents expressed support for the country's second-child policy. The rate was even higher, at 64.4 percent, among respondents who are only children themselves.

Previous media reports suggested China's post-1990s and post-2000s generations were generally opposed to their parents having another child. But the recent survey indicates that these groups are changing their attitudes, perhaps because a sibling would share the pressure of caring for aging parents in the future.

China started to revise its family planning policy more than a decade ago. In 2013, the one-child policy was changed to allow a second child if one of the parents was on only child. In October, the restriction was further relaxed to allowed all couples to have a second child.

Another widely watched topic among young Chinese netizens was a proposal raised at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that recommended the government abolish high-school entrance exams to extend the country's nine-year compulsory education to 12 years.

The proposal, meant to enhance Chinese students' comprehensive capabilities, received support among 53.4 percent of the survey's respondents.

Minister of Education Yuan Guiren told the media on Thursday, however, that China will stick to the nine-year compulsory education policy during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), but will gradually promote free high school education.

In addition, the survey found that 26 percent of respondents had experienced school violence, and of those, only 11.5 percent had reported the situation to their teachers or parents.

In addition to education and the second-child policy, the young netizens also closely followed progress on the country's ongoing healthcare reform, anti-corruption campaign, housing issues and environmental protection.

Experts said the two generations, with better access to the Internet, think more independently and show more interest in state affairs than the post-1980s generation.
Car-hailing companies' subsidies unfair competition, minister say By GAO YUAN (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-15 02:32:43

Yang Chuantang, minister of transport.

The minister of transport criticized car-hailing app operators on Monday for the subsidies they offer to users, describing the practice as unfair competition.

Yang Chuantang also pledged to better regulate paid rides offered by private car drivers.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, he said the subsidies are a short-term tactic to gain a bigger market share. "The apps are profit-driven and the subsidies will not be handed out forever," he said.

Taxi-hailing app Didi Kuaidi, backed by Internet giants including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, is in fierce competition with Uber Technologies in China. The cash-rich companies are heavily subsidizing passengers and drivers to gain a bigger market presence.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said earlier this year that the company lost more than $1 billion in China last year from subsidizing users.

Didi Kuaidi did not disclose the amount given in subsidies. Before a high-profile merger of two local apps last year, the Chinese company had pledged to subsidize projects worth more than 2 billion yuan ($310 million).

Didi Kuaidi and Uber face a regulatory dilemma in China. Regulations do not allow private cars to be used for paid journeys, but tens of thousands of such vehicles carry paying passengers in about 200 cities every day.

At the news conference, Yang did not say that private cars are being used illegally.

"A set of new rules, tailored for online car-hailing and other emerging services, have to be in place," he said, adding that local transportation regulators will have a bigger say in setting rules.

Yang said that he and other central government officials had used car-hailing services.

Didi Kuaidi applauded the minister's comments, saying they showed that regulators had listened to the company's suggestions.

"We have suggested that the government give local authorities more freedom in setting regulations," the company said in a statement.

Jia Kang, an economist and former director of the Ministry of Finance's Research Institute for Fiscal Science, said China needs online car-hailing and other innovations in the information technology sector to boost the economy.

"The country has to look for new businesses in the service industry as exports and other economic drivers weaken," Jia said.

In October, the Ministry of Transport unveiled proposed regulations for car-hailing apps in an attempt to rein in the sector.

Under the regulations, which are due to take effect later this year, private car drivers will not be allowed to offer journeys for payment without being registered. Car-booking platforms must also obtain permits from local authorities before providing services.

Didi Kuaidi obtained such a license from the Shanghai government last year to offer a service in the city.

About 21.6 million people booked private cars through mobile apps in the first half of last year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. It did not have the figures for previous years.

Didi Kuaidi accounts for more than 80 percent of the market share in China, according to research firm Analysys International.




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Washington's human rights stance 'serves its own interests' By Li Yang (China Daily) Updated: 2016-03-15 06:45:55

Liu Hainian, head of the human rights research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, addresses a news conference on Monday on US human rights.[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

The United States' confrontational attitude toward China on human rights serves only its national interests, and it also harms global governance and the cause of international human rights, China's top human rights researchers said.

In a news conference in Beijing on Monday that was organized by State Council Information Office, four human rights researchers from think tanks and a university criticized the US for duplicity on the human rights issue.

The US, 10 other Western countries and Japan released a joint statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday. The statement expressed their concerns over what it called "the deteriorating human rights record" in China, saying that Beijing has not only contravened its own laws but also breached its commitments to the international community.

'Selective blindness'

Liu Hainian, director of the human rights research center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US is selectively blind to its own human rights problems, as well those of its allies, in racial and gender discrimination, gun violence, the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility and illegal monitoring of citizens' private activities.

"The US' invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and its subversive movements in North Africa and the Middle East, directly harm local residents' human rights," said Liu.

The UN replaced the former Commission on Human Rights with the current Human Rights Council in 2006 to promote joint efforts in human rights protection and to avoid politicizing such efforts. Since then, the US has attempted 11 times to pass an anti-China resolution in the council. But all of these attempts have failed because of opposition from most member states.

'Cold War mindset'

"The US regards human rights as a political and diplomatic tool to realize its own purposes, as it did toward the Soviet Union after World War II," said Chang Jian, director of the human rights research center at Nankai University in Tianjin. "The Cold War strategy and mindset are outdated. The decline of its national power, especially in comparison with China, makes the US decision-makers nervous and they resort to their old tricks," Chang added.

Liu Huawen, a researcher of international law at CASS, said, "China is committed to peaceful development, constantly improving its human rights conditions and strengthening dialogue and cooperation with the other countries on human rights.

"But the US stands on the wrong side of history," he added. "What it wants is confrontation. The US has not yet signed some UN treaties in protecting children's, women's and disabled people's rights. It is ridiculous that it still plays the role of a judge of international human rights."

Li Yunlun, a professor of international studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, said: "China faces up to its problems in human rights. China's poverty alleviation project will help the poorest citizens, and the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), if it comes true, will see comprehensive progress in China's human rights conditions.
China Central Television, the State broadcaster, aired a documentary on Sunday about the United States' double standards on human rights.

Based on extensive media reports both inside and outside the US, and interviews with many human rights experts from China, the US, France, Canada, Russia and Switzerland, the 45-minute program suggested that the US tramples on American people's human rights in all walks of life. Last year, more than 560,000 people across the US were homeless, the documentary showed, citing media reports.

The program also said that the country's primary women's prison, Lowell Correctional Institution, where 2,696 convicts are held, is rampant with corruption, torture of prisoners and sexual abuse.
Unearthing homegrown literature Updated: 2016-03-14 07:32 By Wang Yuke in Hong Kong(HK Edition)

Professor Chan Kwok-kou, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Most local youth have no inkling about the history and landscape of Hong Kong literature, which is a great pity, said Professor Chan Kwok-kou, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). Keen to redress the situation, Chan has taken it upon himself to foster greater awareness about Hong Kong literature among the public, particularly the younger generations.

"I once asked some young people to name a few Hong Kong writers. They couldn't give me an answer. They are familiar with Bai Xianyong, Yu Guangzhong, or Chinese classic poet Du Fu but not Hong Kong writers," says Chan. He asserts that the city is not short of talented writers who have produced literary works of high quality. Many of these works have gained huge popularity outside Hong Kong, like in Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, but remain ignored in Hong Kong.

Even more ironically, Hong Kong people sometimes take certain local writers to be Taiwanese because they shot to fame in Taiwan or elsewhere. For example, Xi Xi, a Hong Kong fiction writer and poet, has once been mistaken by many as a Taiwanese because that's where she began to get noticed.

In the past six years, Professor Chan worked with a team of academics and they compiled an anthology of Hong Kong literature, Compendium of Hong Kong Literature 1919-1949. This 12-volume set covers major works in Chinese that went into print during that 30-year period. Poetry, prose, drama, fiction, criticism and other genres are featured in the collection. Classical-style literature finds a place as well.

"We create this big volume of a compendium with an intention to offer local people a glimpse into the literature scene in early Hong Kong and how it was influenced by metropolitan culture," says Chan. The publication has drawn much attention from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland.

Chan says there is no public policy in Hong Kong that specifically focuses on promoting local literary culture. He says the funding for compiling and producing the compendium was provided mainly by private donation and individual editors' own research grants. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council also sponsors the project enthusiastically.

Chan asserts that the Chinese history and language education modules followed in Hong Kong do not expose students to Chinese literature from a broad perspective. He says it is not mandatory to study history in secondary schools. Students who opt for history either study Chinese history or World history but rarely both.

Not long after took up the position of founding Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Chan developed a new BA in Language Studies program which aims to cultivate Chinese-major students with a sense of global awareness, and English-major students with knowledge of Chinese culture. Chan thinks it is very important to learn Chinese and English at the same time, in a bicultural and trilingual way. Chinese and English should be equally emphasized in Hong Kong, given the city's unique bicultural environment.

In their 2015-2016 term, HKIEd launched a new program, Bachelor of Education (BEd) in History. BEd in Chinese History will follow next year. These programmes are designed with a particular consideration of Hong Kong's cultural and linguistic environment. Chan believes the retitling of HKIEd as a university makes it easier for graduates of Chinese history and Chinese literature to get teaching job in local schools. In the long term, it would motivate young people in Hong Kong to study their own literature and culture.

"Literature is regarded by some as remote and irrelevant to our daily lives. But aside from being an area of knowledge, literature is also a vehicle that connects us to the world," notes Chan.

Chan says that in times of globalization it is necessary to understand the world through one's own cultural identity. It's a way of broadening one's horizons and expanding one's mind. Books play a pivotal role in channeling us into the world because by reading books "we can connect ourselves to the outside world and understand our society better" says Chan.

Apart from that, Chan notes, books lead us into an imaginative world. Literature of all forms can open up a world which is inaccessible in reality. In Chan's words, only books could make the impossible possible.

jenny@chinadaliyhk.com

Compendium of Hong Kong Literature 1919-49.

(HK Edition 03/14/2016 page1)
By-election has changed the SAR's political landscape Updated: 2016-03-14 09:15 By Carrie Chan(HK Edition)

It is shameful that some Hong Kong people's voted for the alleged rioter Edward Leung Tin-kei in last month's Legislative Council by-election for the New Territories East constituency. He won more than 15 percent of all valid votes, or 66,532 votes out of a total of 430,000 in the capacity of a "thug" - a label he gained after being charged with rioting. While he failed to snatch the LegCo seat vacated by Ronny Tong Ka-wah's resignation, the University of Hong Kong philosophy student stunned his rivals, opponents and many others with his performance in the by-election.

Leung was at the forefront of the Mong Kok riot during the Chinese New Year, and claimed there was no need for him to seek prior police approval for assembling about 30 people for his electoral campaign. Leung became a household name overnight for his role in the riot.

Leung is on bail on a charge of rioting. Those who cast their votes in favor of the 24-year-old student should ask themselves if they really want an alleged lawbreaker to represent them in the legislature.

In a civilized society, no rational citizen will tolerate rioters and trust those who have no scruples when it comes to pursuing their political aspirations. Hong Kong is a civilized society under the rule of law, and Hong Kong residents are peace-loving people. It is disappointing and disturbing that some 66,000 voters voted for a candidate who advocates the use of violence and promotes radical localism. Winning 15.4 percent of all valid votes in the February by-election has boosted the ambitions of the young "localist" and his radical team. He has vowed to establish a third force in LegCo with his radical team. Critics and political rivals raised their eyebrows at Leung's "premature" ambition, saying it was easier said than done.

The political landscape of Hong Kong has drastically changed after the February by-election. A day after the by-election, Leung's team of young radicals and separatists vowed to grab at least five LegCo seats in the geographical constituencies in the upcoming election in September.

The radical "localists" made their political debut in the February by-election to test the water. Edward Leung has garnered strong support from public housing tenants in the North District, where he and his cohorts staged violent protests against parallel traders. He won more votes in public housing estates than in middle-class neighborhoods in the entire New Territories East geographical constituency.

In fact, Edward Leung has made inroads into radical lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung's power base, which helped the latter win his seat in the 2012 LegCo election. "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) admitted he felt threatened by the young "localist". Indeed, the "localists" pose a bigger threat to the traditional radicals in the "pan-democratic" camp such as key members of LSD, People Power and the Neo Democrats than to members of the pro-establishment camp. Traditional "pan-democrats" collaborated in canvassing for Civic Party candidate Alvin Yeung in the by-election - not for his sake but to secure their shared turf. In the following few days, the reactions of the radical "pan-democrats" demonstrated how strongly they felt threatened by the radical "localists". Different election strategies have been devised to secure their power bases. The Neo Democrats have even considered seriously contesting the seat of the District Council (Second) functional constituency.

It is too early to judge whether "localist" candidates will beat the radical and moderate "pan-democrats" as well as the pro-establishment contestants in the September LegCo election. When interpreting Edward Leung's performance in the February by-election, we should put things into context. This is because different rules produce different outcomes. The election outcomes could be quite different under the "single-seat, single-vote" system adopted for the February by-election and the proportional representation system for the September election.

The author is a veteran political editor and news commentator.

(HK Edition 03/14/2016 page9)
Male members of a skiing association at Beijing's Tsinghua University hang a banner on campus to celebrate Girls Day on March 7, 2014. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

The sexist messages have angered many, but the real culprit is pop culture that scorns women who make unconventional choices and stigmatizes them as an appendage of wealth and status.

March 8 as International Women's Day is facing a unique hurdle: Its Chinese acronym, sanba, is a homonym for a busybody and the Chinese translation for women here is a very formal word that emphasizes the status of marriage.

With such linguistic baggage, no wonder it has seen a rival in the form of parody. Women students in China increasingly celebrate March 7 as Girls Day. As the joke goes, it takes just one day for a girl to become a woman.

Online sources say that the trend started in 1986 at Shandong University. And one of the main activities, it seems, is male students hanging out giant banners extolling their female peers.

This year, Girls Day caught public attention when some of the campus slogans crossed over from humor and fun to outright obnoxiousness. There were various couplets that express young men's urge to get their "goddesses" into bed and even puns on sexual positions. OK, here is a relatively clean one, maybe fit for print in this paper: "The first time I saw your face, porn vanished from my place."

Many women were indignant, and rightly so. Yet I do not believe the guys intended sexual harassment. It could well be that they could not distinguish between a good joke and a dirty one and instead saw the occasion as a kitchen sink where they could pour out anything from their libido-heavy minds.

Humor may be a human instinct, but expressing it appropriately does not come naturally to everyone. It's an ability that taps into both in-born genius and well-honed craft.
Editor's note: For our US blogger, who goes by the online moniker kellivschina, it is hard to capture in words exactly what it is like to live in China, since life here seems different in many ways from her home country. But she still came up with 10 tips to summarize her Chinese experiences. You're welcome to leave your comments.

1. It's okay to look lost.

I don't know how it is other countries, but in America we have this mindset that to show weakness is a bad thing. Don't ask for helpbe independent! (After all, that's what America is all about, right? INDEPENDENCE!!)

The truth is that there's going to come a time in China when you need help, and all the independence in the world can't make up for what you lack in Chinese speaking skills. The great thing about China is that if you look lost, I can almost guarantee that within three minutes you will have a whole crowd of well-meaning Chinese people trying to help you.
Editor's note: A recent BBC documentary in which five Chinese teachers were invited to teach a group of British teenagers using Chinese teaching methods has caused a stir in China and in the UK. What can Chinese and British educators learn from each other? Forum readers share their opinions and you're welcome to add yours.

eaststar (China)

Neither the British nor the Chinese education system is perfect. They can learn from each other to produce disciplined, respectful, well educated and yet self-motivated, socially competent, creative and socially responsible students. In my course of primary and secondary schooling, I had the privilege of experiencing both systems. In my opinion, the Chinese system is excellent in learning the academic fundamentals, but not so much beyond that.
US Secretary of State John Kerry (second from left sitting in the roundtable) and Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai (second from right in roundtable) are among several dozen Chinese and US government officials attending the opening ceremony of the 19th round China US Human Rights Dialogue held in Washington on Aug 13-14, 2015.[Provided to China Daily]

In a joint statement at the Human Rights Council on Thursday, the United States and 11 other Western countries expressed concerns over "the deteriorating human rights record" in China and criticized its "suppression of human rights activists", saying that by doing this, Beijing has not only contravened its own laws but also breached its commitments to the international community.

Any effort to push for progress on protecting human rights is of positive significance, but the Western countries' campaign of criticizing China on this issue is from a prejudiced and overbearing perspective. Their behavior is increasingly based on their own national interests, as they are attempting to transform universal human rights into a geopolitical tool for their own use. With such a mindset, their comments on China's human rights are always focused on those "dissidents" who doubt China's established Constitutional system, while ignoring the basic human rights ordinary Chinese people are most concerned about.

For example, self-proclaimed Western "human rights guardians" never take an interest in China's unremitting efforts to reduce and eradicate poverty and inequalities in education and healthcare, nor its efforts to establish the rule of law. In the eyes of some in the West, human rights in China are about the freedom of some confronting its political system and thus any criminal punishments its judicial organs extend to them are against human rights, despite the punishments being in accordance with the country's laws.

While pointing fingers at China, the US should first look at its own poor protection of human rights, as evidenced by its rampant prison abuses, especially in the Guantanamo detention facility, and its widespread gun violence and deep-rooted racism.

There exist no universal and suit-all human rights in the world. China values protecting human rights as much as the US does, if not more. But protecting human rights does not mean endowing those disturbing China's political order with the privilege of immunity from the law.
Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, delivers a work report to the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) and the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Sunday. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A number of court cases were cited in the work report of the Supreme People's Court, which the chief justice delivered to lawmakers in the National's People Congress on Sunday. They were cases that set precedents for the country's still developing legal system.

In one example, a driver was fined for not giving way to a pedestrian on a zebra crossing not equipped with traffic lights, as required by the traffic regulations. The driver brought legal proceedings against the traffic administration claiming the pedestrian had stopped, giving him right of way. However, the court decided against the plaintiff, on the grounds of priority of life.

In another example, when four media organizations were taken to court by a business organization for their negative reports about its dubious background, the court found in favor of the media organizations on the grounds the media has the lawful right to public supervision and criticism.

The Chinese justice system tried 34,000 cases of corruption last year, involving 49,000 suspects (including some former high-ranking officials), and 260,000 criminal cases.

It also closed 3.3 million cases of commercial disputes, an increase of more than 20 percent from last year, and more than 1 million financial cases, including 4,200 cases of falsified statements and financial fraud.

In this context, the cases cited above may seem of little significance. However, they are of great significance because they show the core concepts at work in China's legal development.

The concept of human rights was unthinkable prior to the beginning of China's reform and opening-up, when the legal system and its professional staff were practically nonexistent.

The nation's true picture shouldn't be clouded by all the business data it generates every day. Its reform is not only an economic process. It is a progress that has, as it inevitably should have, involved changes in the political and legal institutions. It is unrealistic to allege that China is only willing to make economic changes.

Seen from this perspective, every case is of equal importance in supporting the values of society and in strengthening the government's legality.

A lot more are yet to come, as the Supreme People's Court acknowledged. China is still in the thick of its anti-corruption campaign. Its legal framework is still to take shape to accommodate its rapidly changing economic processes, especially those in its financial markets. It still has to build up its capability to handle cases involving overseas legal systems and entities.

It will continue to make progress.
A young female teacher teaches students in class in a rural village. [Photo/IC]

Education emerged as a significant livelihood issue during the meetings of provincial people's congresses and political consultative conferences before the ongoing annual sessions of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the country's top advisory body. At the fourth meeting of the 12th Shaanxi people's congress, provincial governor Lou Qinjian said Shaanxi would introduce 13 years of free education during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period. This means children in Shaanxi will receive free education for 13 years-one-year preschool education, nine-year compulsory education and three-year senior high school education.

Some people suppose Shaanxi is introducing the 13-year free education program to alleviate poverty and promote the central and western regions' development. However, it is not necessary to extend the free-education program to the developed eastern region because the high school education rate is already high there. A majority of families in the eastern region can afford to pay for their children's high school education.

Some other people want preferential implementation of free education. For instance, they want the authorities to encourage rural students to choose vocational schools by making such courses free. This is important because, they say, if high school education is also free, secondary vocational education will have few takers.

But this contention is debatable. China has implemented 12 to 15 years of free education in some counties, most of them being in the underdeveloped regions. And there has been nothing to suggest free education is meaningless in the developed regions.

Although the central government hasn't included 12 to 15 years of free education in the national education program, local authorities should consider extending it according to their actual situations, in order to improve people's basic education and ease their financial burden.
Chen Jining,minister of environmental protection, (Center), gives a press conference on how to promote environmental protection on the sidelines of the fourth session of China's 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2016. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

In the ongoing annual meeting of China's legislators in Beijing, many ministers of the central government have taken the initiative to give interviews to the media. This is a big change from previous years when many were reluctant to meet reporters, said Beijing Youth Daily on Sunday.

The interviews with senior officials have not only been organized news conferences, but also informal interviews held in the corridors of the conference hall during the breaks. The change in attitude originates with Premier Li Keqiang, who, before the start of the sessions of the legislative and consultative bodies, the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, urged ministers to actively respond to people's queries and concerns. Apart from answering the media's questions, some ministers have used the interviews as a way to release new information.

The ministers have set a good example for governments of various levels, since many local authorities still regard the media as troublemakers, rather than a channel for constructive communication with the public.

Although the heads of government departments may not be the spokespersons in most cases, they have the obligation to respond to people's queries, especially when public interests are at stake in the making of key decisions or key events.

More interaction between government department heads and the media can be a channel for decision-makers to better know public opinion and explain their decision-making.

The Chinese government needs to further improve its news release system and have professional spokespersons to enhance governance transparency and subject itself to public supervision.

A government having efficient communication mechanisms with the media has better communication with the whole of society and can avoid many misunderstandings and problems in its work, and win the public's trust.

Hopefully, ministers' willingness to talk to media during the sessions reflects a big change in the government's attitude toward the media, rather than merely trying to please the premier.

Dealing with the media is part of government work, as the media is an important bridge between officials and the public.

(China Daily 03/14/2016 page8)
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly condemned the blast in Ankara, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

"Putin resolutely condemns the brutal terrorist attack in Ankara," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Putin offers his condolences to all those that lost their relatives in this act of terror and wishes soonest recovery to those injured," Tass news agency quoted Peskov as saying.

At least 27 people were killed and 75 others injured in a powerful explosion that hit the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday.

This is the third major blast in the Turkish capital since last October. Currently, no party claimed responsibility for the attack.
BERLIN - Voters punished Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in three German regional elections on Sunday, giving a thumbs-down to her open-door refugee policy and turning in droves to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).

A carnival float with papier-mache caricatures mocking Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is displayed at a postponed "Rosenmontag" (Rose Monday) parade, at one location in Duesseldorf, Germany, March 13, 2016, after the original parade in February was cancelled due to severe weather. Words read 'crucify her' 'human politics for migrants'. [Photo/Agencies]

The result is a big setback for Merkel, who has led Europe's biggest economy for a decade, and could narrow her room for manoeuvre as she tries to convince her European Union partners to seal a deal with Turkey to stem the tide of migrants.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) lost ground in all three states - Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west and Saxony-Anhalt in the east - which were together widely seen as offering a verdict on Merkel's liberal migrant policy.

"These results are a serious rebuke for Merkel and the most pronounced protest vote we've seen so far," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst at Berenberg Bank.

The result in the two western states was the worst-case scenario for Merkel, who has staked her legacy on her decision to open Germany's doors to over 1 million migrants last year. But she still looks set to run for a fourth successive term as chancellor, with no real challenger for the right to lead her party into next year's federal election.

"The result will increase the noise within the CDU and constrain the government's options on migrants and Greece, but Merkel's chancellorship is not at risk," said Carsten Nickel at Teneo Intelligence.

Responding to voters' fears, she has promised to stem the flow of migrants to Germany, and is trying to convince Turkey to help - and other EU partners to share the burden. In the last few weeks, the numbers of migrants entering Germany have fallen.
Lieutenant Charles Flores has been learning to cook Chinese since he was 15. At 60, the emergency medical worker has signed up for an even bigger challenge: learning to speak Chinese.

A class of New York City firefighters, EMTs and paramedics participate in a Mandarin language class leading by Lily Cheung at an old Brooklyn firehouse on March 10. Initiated by FDNY's Phoenix Society, a group of Asian-American first responders, it's the first language program ever funded by the New York City Fire Department Foundation. HEZI JIANG / CHINA DAILY

Every Thursday, Flores and a handful of other New York City firefighters, EMTs and paramedics gather at an old Brooklyn firehouse to tackle Mandarin one word at a time.

"Ni you yige mao ma?" (Do you have a cat?) Flores asked his classmate during the class on March 10.

"Mei-you,"(No), his colleague answered, then turned and asked the next student if he had an older brother.

The group meets two hours a week, led by Lily Cheung, a China-born software engineer. She encourages students to learn by speaking out loud.

To understand the language's structure, students practiced by arranging an English sentence in Mandarin sequence.

"Susan and I will watch a movie in Brooklyn tomorrow "becomes "Tomorrow I and Susan in Brooklyn watch a movie".

"Flawless," Cheung said again and again.

Started by the FDNY's Phoenix Society, a group of Asian-American first responders, the class is the first language program ever funded by the New York City Fire Department Foundation.

New York City has the largest Chinese population of any city outside of Asia. With about 420,000 people speaking Mandarin. It has become the second-mostused non-English language after Spanish, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

The main purpose of the program is to better serve non-English speakers in the Chinese community, and the organizers hope to expand the classes into other Chinese dialects and Asian languages in the future.

There are only about 120 Asian Americans among the FDNY's 10,200 firefighters, said Lieutenant Steven Lee, president of the Phoenix Society, who is also a student in the class.

"Probably only 40 of them are Chinese. And how many of them are fluent in the language?"

As the fire department continues to recruit more Asian Americans and the Phoenix Society works on getting the word out through activities such as forming a dragon boat team, Lee believes the language program will help to bridge the gap faster.

It also offers a rare chance to bring FDNY first responders from different jobs, boroughs and backgrounds under one roof, said Lee. The class is made up of both men and women who identify as Asians, Latinos, blacks and whites.

It takes Flores about 40 minutes to come from Staten Island. On a recent Thursday, he brought two dozen Chinese dumplings that he made from scratch, along with a bag of Mandarin oranges. The dumplings were served authentically with vinegar.

The dinner break allows the students to show off their cooking and also learn more about Chinese culture. Cheung recommended the popular Chinese film The Mermaidto the class.

The class started last September with 22 people coming to the first lesson, but only eight showed up on March 10.

Lee said many had to skip classes because of the busy work schedule of firefighters and other first responders, and it can be hard for them to catch up after missing a class or two.

"For those who are here, I give them a lot of credit. It's a big commitment," Lee said. Doraun Ellis, a paramedic, was taking the train and walking to class during the coldest time of the winter.

The first group will graduate on March 31 with the second group starting on April 6. Lee said he had been thinking about offering the class twice a week.

The current students are welcome to come back to review the lessons and practice. "Confidence is the most important thing,"said Cheung. "The more comfortable you feel about the language, the more you will speak. The more you speak, the better your Chinese will be."

George Ebert, a Coney Island-based battalion chief, was amazed at how far a simple Mandarin word can take him.

When he goes a Chinese market or shop, he uses the basics ni hao (Hello), zao an (Good morning) and wu an (Good afternoon).

"You can see their expressions change. It just opens it up and brings us closer,"said Ebert.
Demonstrators attend a protest against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, part of nationwide protests calling for her impeachment, near the Rio Negro river in Manaus in Amazonas state, Brazil, March 13, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA - Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians flooded the streets on Sunday in the biggest ever protests calling for President Dilma Rousseff's removal, reflecting rising popular anger that could encourage Congress to impeach the leftist leader.

The demonstrations were the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies that lost momentum late last year but have regained strength as a sweeping corruption investigation nears Rousseff's inner circle.

From the Amazon jungle city of Manaus to the business hub of Sao Paulo and the capital Brasilia, protesters marched in a nationwide call for Rousseff to step down, raising pressure on lawmakers to back ongoing impeachment proceedings against her that just a few weeks ago appeared to be doomed.

Police estimates from more than 150 cities compiled by news website G1 showed around 3 million Brazilians participated in the demonstrations. Some police estimates of previous protests have proved to be exaggerated.

Polling firm Datafolha estimated 500,000 demonstrators in Sao Paulo, the biggest rally in the city's history and more than twice the size of a major protest a year ago. The military police put the figure at 1.4 million at the height of the demonstration.

Government sources acknowledged the demonstrations were bigger than anti-government rallies in March 2015, which gathered as many as 1 million people.
A vehicle burns after an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, March 13, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- China condemned a terrorist attack that killed at least 34 people in the Turkish capital Ankara, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Monday.

China expresses condolences to the victims and sympathy to their families and the injured, Lu said at a regular news briefing.

"China opposes all forms of terrorism and hopes all countries to enhance coordination to fight terrorism," Lu said.

A terror attack hit Ankara on Sunday for the second time in less than a month, killing at least 34 people and injuring 125 others, including 19 in serious conditions, according to the Turkish health minister.

Authorities said around 18:45 local time (GMT 1845) a bomb-laden vehicle hit a city bus from the rear end and triggered an explosion near the Guven Park area in downtown Ankara, close to government buildings and the Supreme Court.

Casualties are expected to rise as the attack occurred in a crowded area near bus and subway stations where people spend their weekends shopping and dining in nearby stores and restaurants.
BEIJING -- Human rights experts on Monday urged the United States to improve its own human rights record and stop using human rights as a foreign policy tool.

The United States has yet to address many severe human rights issues of its own, a fact widely recognized by the international community and by many inside the country, Li Yunlong, a professor at Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, told a press conference in Beijing.

For instance, guns ownership has run rampant in the United States and poses a great threat to citizens' lives and safety, said Li, a member of the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

The unemployment and poverty rates among the African American community are at least twice those among the white community, whereas wealth in the hands of the white community is 12 times that possessed by African Americans, Li said, citing survey results.

The press conference was held by the Information Office of the State Council days after the US and several other countries issued a joint statement alleging China's human rights record is deteriorating.

The US is motivated by its national interests and its ambition to continue to dominate the world, said Liu Hainian, director of the Human Rights Institution under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The US uses human rights as a foreign policy tool to maintain world hegemony, Liu commented.

China has advocated exploring ways to improve the world's human rights through such mechanisms as human rights dialogues with the United States and Europe, on the basis of equality and mutual respect, said Chang Jian, deputy director of the Research Center for Human Rights at Nankai University.

The US inclination to take a highly confrontational and selective stance, and to greatly politicize human rights, will impede the world's human rights development, Chang added.
New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky on Monday called on Judge Danny Chun to issue a lenient sentence to Peter Liang, the former New York police officer convicted of manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley.

In a letter to Chun released by her office on Monday, Stavisky, a Democrat who represents Flushing, pointed to inadequate training and the partnering of two rookie officers on a so-called vertical patrol in a Brooklyn public housing project where the shooting took place as contributing to the incident.

Liang, whose sentencing is scheduled for April 14, faces 15 years in prison, a sentence Stavisky said is too harsh, given the circumstances.

Liang and his partner were conducting the patrol on Nov 20, 2014, inside the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood. Liang opened a door into an unlighted stairwell and his gun went off. The bullet glanced off a wall and hit Gurley, 28, who was walking down the stairs with his girlfriend, and pierced his heart.

Stavisky said her thoughts and prayers are with Gurleys loved ones, "but Akai Gurley wasnt the only victim here". Liang and his partner were inexperienced, inadequately trained and, as rookies, had no business conducting a vertical patrol in a darkened staircase, she said in her letter.

"We cannot scapegoat these two officers and ignore the NYPD protocols set in place. I am requesting Judge Chun to consider all the circumstances when he issues a sentence for Peter Liang," she wrote.
WINDHOEK -- Namibian President Hage Geingob has hailed cooperation with China.

Cooperation between Namibia and China has made huge strides in areas as diverse as education, health, agriculture, trade, investment, and technology transfer, said the president while receiving a courtesy call from outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Xin Shunkang on Monday.

Geingob said this is a testimony of the all-weather Namibia-China friendship.

"I challenge all other colleagues from the international community to emanate what and how the Chinese friends are showing and helping in many ways," said the president.

Xin said China values its friendly relations with Namibia, and the Chinese government attaches great importance to the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

"China has done its best to support and assist Namibia in its economic and social development with the implementation of a series of projects," said the ambassador.

These, amongst others, include the Defense Academy Project in Okahandja, the Northern Road Upgrading Project, China-aided schools in the Khomas and Omaheke regions, reconstruction of Aquaculture Center in Hardap Region, and the Youth Training Center in Grootfontein.

To help Namibia in its capacity building, China has been providing 15 Namibian students every year with full government scholarships to pursue their degree studies in China.

China also helps train Namibian government officials and technical personnel from various sectors.

China and Namibia established diplomatic ties in 1990.
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES) Two 70 thousand RMB (about 11,310 USD) robots carry dishes and offer service for customers at a robot themed restaurant at Chunxi Road on December 11, 2014 in Chengdu, China. A restaurant at Chunxi Road in Chengdu has adopted 10 robots to serve as waiters. Each robot can carry simple dishes and offer simple greetings.

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At least 100 Russian service robots will enter China in 2017 once a deal between Chinese company Keysi Microelectronics Ltd. and Russian technology startup PromoBot is finalized.



Service robots' are slowly replacing manpower in jobs that are dirty, dangerous, and repetitive - such as household chores. Some of these robots can even speak Chinese despite being manufactured in Russia.



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"Our robots have the highest degree of autonomy of all the solutions presented in the current global market. Our robots can recognize human voice in the presence of other noise. It can also recognize a person even in complete darkness," Oleg Kivokurtsev, co-founder of PromoBot, told Sputnik News.



Oleg said that their robots have the most powerful linguistic basis that allows them to converse in different languages, including Chinese. The robots can also respond to questions using a voice synthesizer and can remember the people that it talked to.



"The service robots, in a crowd, can help visitors to orientate and offer advice. It can also work as a guide in museums and collect information about customers in shopping malls," Oleg said.



Keysi Microelectronics' first batch of order earlier this year included nine service robots. Five of which are already assisting people in a Chinese mall in Hangzhou, Eastern China, while the other four will be deployed to large shopping mals in Hangzhou.



"Despite the high technical performance, the robots cost only $10,000 (65,000) each, five times lower than that of any foreign counterparts," Oleg said.



The company is reportedly interested in working out a joint venture to build the robot in China.



PromoBot is not worried about illegal replications of their robots' software as it was built to be copy-proof. Should another company choose to replicate its software, they have to build it from scratch.



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TagsRussia China technology, Russia-China relationship, robots in China, robots replacing humans in China, Keysi Microelectronics
(Photo : Getty Images) The new head of the CSRC Lou Shiyu has defended the controversial policies of his predecessor.

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In his first ever press conference, China's newly-appointed stock market chief has tried to calm nervous investors as he pledged sustained government support for the country's plummeting stock markets. Liu Shiyu, the new chairman of China Securities and Regulatory Commission (CSRC), also promised timely intervention should market volatility return back to stock markets again.



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Liu, who was appointed to head the CSRC just last month, vehemently defended government's decisive policies under his predecessor Xiao Gang's tenure. This is despite the fact that Xiao Gang's controversial 'circuit breaker' method ended up wiping out $5 trillion from the market.



"At a time of such tightened-up liquidity, how could (the government) not have taken decisive actions," Liu said, adding that if government had not intervened, then losses would have been much higher.



"Under such a situation of panic, if we didn't act decisively, could the impact not be huge?" Liu asked while defending the government's policies. "It would certainly have led to even greater panic and systemic financial risks."



Speaking specifically about circuit break method, Liu said that Chinese market would not be ready for such a method for years to come, but stated that there are 'lessons to be learnt' from circuit breaker's disastrous failure in January this year.



When asked about pending decision over an IPO-registration system, Liu said such a system was necessary to allow companies to go public in a shorter time. However, he said it will take long time to implement the system.



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TagsLiu Shiyu, Chinese Economy, Chinese Stock Market, CSRC Chief, china
(Photo : Getty Images) Chinas Chief Justice Zhou Qiang announced at the National Peoples Congress on Sunday that China will set up an international maritime judicial center to protect its national sovereignty.

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China's Chief Justice Zhou Qiang announced on Sunday that the country will set up an 'international maritime judicial centre' to protect China's national sovereignty, according to state media agency Xinhua.



The Chief Justice made the announcement while presenting a report on the Supreme People's Court's (SPC) work at ongoing 12th National People's Congress.



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"(We) must resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty, maritime rights and other core interests", Qiang said. "(We) must improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial centre".



Zhou Qiang did not give any details about when the proposed judicial centre start working, where the court will be located or what kind of cases it would address.



China's plan to create a maritime judicial centre comes after the Philippines lodged a case with an arbitration court in Hague to make a ruling on the conflicting maritime claims of both nations in the disputed South China Sea.



Beijing has firmly refused to participate in arbitration case, accusing the Philippines of breaking arbitration practice.



"The Philippines ... has broken with the practice that arbitration should be mutually agreed," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. "The so-called arbitration is tainted and gone astray and China is not going to honour it".



China is claiming a large part of the South China Sea, with a host of other neighboring countries like Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, staking competing claims in disputed sea region.



In recent months, China has been accused of assertive actions after it built artificial islands in South China Sea. Tensions in recent weeks have escalated even more after China allegedly deployed missiles and fighter on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands.



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TagsSouth China Sea, Zhou Qiang, China Chief Justice, Supreme People's Court China
(Photo : Getty Images) Indian media on Sunday claimed that India's Army has spotted Chinese troops at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

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After accusing the Chinese army of frequent intrusion in Ladakh area, the Indian army has reportedly spotted Chinese troops at forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) on the Pakistani side of Kashmir (POK).



According to Indian media, the army spotted senior officials of People's Liberation Army (PLA) at forward posts opposite Nowgam sector in North Kashmir. There are speculations that the Chinese army have arrived at tthe LoC to construct a major infrastructure project.



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There are reports that the intercepted communication of the Pakistani miltary suggets China would be digging some tunnels in Leepa Valley to build a road that will serve as an alternate route towards Karakoram Highway.



Indian experts claim that PLA officials have arrived in Pakistan to conduct supervision of the 46 billion dollar China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) that will connect Pakistan's Gwadar Port to China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.



The Indian army first spotted PLA troops last year near the Tangdhar sector in Pakistani Kashmir. China's state owned company Gezhouba Group Company Limited is reportedly building a 970 MW hydel power project in the region



India and Pakistan have a long history of disputes over the Kashmir region.



Both countries control a substantial part of Kashmir, but the international community has never recognized either country's territorial claim over disputed region.



Even China is a party to Kashmir dispute, as Beijing controls a substantial part of the region - known as Aksai Chin. Aksai Chin has been under Chinese control since Indo-Sino war fought in 1962.



India has accused China of providing economic and military aid to Pakistan to exert pressure on New Delhi. Although the relationship between New Delhi and Beijing has improved to a great degree in recent years, their border dispute remains a source of mutual distrust.



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(Photo : Getty Images) The Chinese owner of New York's Waldorf Astoria agreed to purchase US' Strategic Hotels & Resort Inc. for around $6.5 billion.

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China's Anbang Insurance Group has proposed a deal to acquire Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. for $6.5 billion - just three months after the private firm Blackstone Group LP bought the luxury hotels for $4 billion.



The Chinese owner of Waldorf Astoria in New York has reportedly agreed to purchase the US prime property in one of the biggest real estate deals ever, according to insiders.



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Anbang is among the ambitious Chinese firms that would like to expand overseas. The company has allegedly closed over $84 billion worth of deals since the beginning of the year, according to Dealogic. The Chinese insurer reportedly went on a shopping spree, snatching up a number of properties and companies across US and Europe. The firm is also set to surpass the record breaking $108 billion outbound acquisition that was achieved in 2015.



Anbang's move to buy the Strategic Hotels will make the firm visible across the luxury hotel's prime assets like the Essex House, which overlooks the Central Park in Manhattan, and the Hotel del Coronado. Meanwhile, hotels located in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas and its resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo, are also among its FourSeason properties.



The Beijing-based company, which only used to be a provincial insurer, has successfully jumped into the international market, with a handful of high-profile deals.



Anbang Insurance hhas also made several deals in the insurance market, agreeing to acquire the Fidelity & Guaranty Life in the US worth $1.57 billion in 2015. It also bought a $1 billion worth stake at a South Korean insurer and has bought Belgium- and Netherlands-based companies as well.



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TagsAnbang Insurance, Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., Waldorf-Astoria, Blackstone Group, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Hotels, real estate, insurance company
(Photo : Reuters) China will establish an international maritime judicial center to protect its national sovereignty and maritime rights, China's Chief Justice Zhou Qiang (above) announced in Beijing on Sunday.

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China will establish an international maritime judicial center to protect its national sovereignty and maritime rights, the country's Supreme People's Court announced on Sunday. The announcement was made by China's Chief Justice Zhou Qiang in a report issued during the annual meeting of the Chinese parliament in Beijing.



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The move comes amid a simmering diplomatic row over Beijing's assertions in the South China Sea, where China is locked in maritime and territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian countries.



Courts across China are working to implement the central government's strategy of building the country into a major maritime power, Zhou claimed.



"National Sovereignty"



"We will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, maritime interests and other core interests," Zhou added. "We must improve the work of maritime courts and build an international maritime judicial center."



China has declined to participate in a case brought by the Philippines to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.



The Philippines asked the tribunal in early 2013 to rule on China's extensive claims over the South China Sea based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to determine whether certain disputed reefs and atolls mostly controlled by China give Beijing the right to the waters.



Philippine officials have said that they expect the international tribunal to hand a ruling in May.



Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has argued that China's refusal to participate in the arbitration hearings is in line with international law.



"The Philippines has broken ... with the practice that arbitration should be mutually agreed," Wang told reporters in a recent press briefing. "The so-called arbitration is tainted and gone astray and China is not going to humor it."



Not Just About Fish Anymore



The Chinese government has come under fire from the United States and its allies over the reclamation of an estimated 3,000 acres of land in massive dredging operations across parts of the South China Sea. The speed and scale of the operations have alarmed other countries with interests in the region.



For generations, the South China Sea was a shared regional resource. Fishermen from all the surrounding countries would sail its waters, pausing from time to time to gossip and trade cigarettes or food stowed aboard their fishing boats.



But then Vietnam and the Philippines began staking official claims to some parts of the busy Asian waterway, and China followed suit in a big way, asserting exclusive rights to resource-rich fishing grounds.



The US has openly challenged China's declaration of sovereignty over much of the region by conducting regular freedom of navigation and over-flight missions across the South China Sea. In the process, the disputes over the area have become something much more complex -- and more dangerous -- than just a contest for fish.



Chinese courts processed some 16,000 maritime cases last year, the most in the world, China's Zhou said in his report, but he gave no details as to when China's special maritime judicial body will begin working, or what kind of cases it would accept.



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TagsTerritorial disputes in the South China Sea, Zhou Qiang, Chinese Supreme People's Court, South China Sea Case Permanent Court of Arbitration
(Photo : Getty Images) US-China relations is shaky over disagreements by the two sides on Beijing's request for the return of Ling Wangcheng who is accused of corruption and money laundering.

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The relationship between the US and China is being threatened by extradition issues with Beijing vowing to halt judicial cooperation with Washington if the latter does not hand over one of its most wanted financial fugitives, who has been living openly in America.



Chinese and US officials familiar with the extradition negotiations said that Beijing has threatened to cease cooperating with the Washington in judicial matters if US federal prosecutors do not agree to return Ling Wancheng, a businessman now residing in the US.



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Ling is one of the financial fugitives to fall in China's far-reaching anti-corruption campaign, which started after President Xi Jinping assumed presidency.



Public Security Ministry



Ling is the brother of of Jihua, a high-ranking official and chief of staff of former president Hu Jintao.



Chinese police have reportedly informed their US counterparts that they would halt all cooperation with the US if Washington does not agree to the return Ling this month.



Officials in the international department of China's Public Security Ministry visited Washington earlier this month to hold talks and discuss Ling's case, but nothing concrete has happened since.



'High value intelligence asset



The US is said to be having a difficult time handing over Ling to Beijing as he is considered a 'high-value intelligence asset' being the brother of a former high-ranking official in the Hu administration.



Ling is accused of laundering $1billion and being involved in three corruption cases.



Beijing's charges against Lin are currently being investigated by a panel of US officials led by Nirav Desai at the federal prosecutors office in Sacramento, California where Ling used to reside.



$1 billion



So far, US officials say they found no evidence that Ling has amassed $ 1 billion and that he was involved in the three corruption cases, as China alleges.



Therefore, US officials claim there has been no sufficient reason to extradite Ling. However, officials admit that a third investigation could be conducted.



"There have been a lot of false leaks regarding my client, Ling Wancheng - first that he was leaking Chinese state secrets, and now of corruption," said Greg Smith, a former official in the White House Counsels Office.



Chinese officials have been pressuring the US investigative team led by Desai, who traveled to China in January, to interview more than a dozen Chinese witnesses, who are allegedly privy to Ling's connection to corruption cases.



Case-by-case basis



Although US and China have no existing extradition treaty, the two countries have agreed to bend the rules on a case-by-case basis.



There are about 40,000 Chinese illegal immigrants in the US and despite President Barack Obama's willingness to return all of them to China, including the 1,500 Chinese on the active list for deportation, the process still needs the China's cooperation such as passport issuance.



US officials said China also is dragging its feet to return American fugitives living in Beijing.



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TagsUS-China relations, extradition treaty, Ling Wangcheng, President Obama, high-value intelligence asset, President Xi Jinping, china
The conflict started in September 2015, when the crew of a Taiwanese fishing vessel were caught illegally shark finning in the South Pacific. The Taiwan Fisheries Agency fined the vessel NT$150,000 (US$4,578).



The EU, in accordance with its zero tolerance policy on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, gave Taiwan a "yellow card" in October 2015, warning that the country was in danger of being placed on the list of countries not cooperating against IUU.



In a press release, the European Commission stated that "the decision to issue a yellow card to Taiwan is based on serious shortcomings in the fisheries legal framework, a system of sanctions that does not deter IUU fishing, and lack of effective monitoring, control and surveillance of the long-distance fleet."



The commission gave Taiwan six months to fix these issues.



Now, with legislation that attempts to meet the EU's demands headed to the Legislative Yuan this month, Taiwan's fishing industry is speaking out in opposition.



Hsieh Wen-jung, president of the Taiwan Tuna Association, has accused the EU of double standard. According to Wen-jung, foreign organizations regulating the fishing industry "are dominated by white people who do not see any conservation problems with catching fish that are their favorites, like skipjack tuna and yellowfin tuna, but have a lot to say about the favorites of [Asian] people."



The president of the Taiwan Squid Fishery Association Lei Tzu-kang has accused the government of mimicking South Korea, which raised IUU fines up to US$460,000 in reaction to its own EU yellow card.



"The government should be able to communicate with foreign institutions and fight for the interests of Taiwan's fishing industry, instead of following the South Korean government," Lee said.



Lei implored Taiwan's government to take a stand for the fishing industry against the EU, saying, "show some backbone, please."


A man waves the Turkish flag from a roof top at Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

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The Chinese government is pushing for enhanced coordination among all countries in fighting terrorism following the terrorist attack in Turkey that killed at least 34 people.



At a regular news briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced that China condemns the terrorist attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara.



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The terrorists droved a bomb-laden vehicle and crashed it into the rear end of a city bus, triggering an explosion that killed 34 people and injured 125 others, with 19 persons in critical condition.



The number of casualties is expected to rise at the attack took place in a crowded area near bus and subway stations. People were spending their weekends shopping and dining when the explosion occurred.



China also expressed condolences to the victims and sympathy to their families and the injured even as no Chinese national was among the casualties.



"China opposes all forms of terrorism and hopes all countries to enhance coordination to fight terrorism," Lu said at a news briefing in Beijing.



The terrorist attack on Sunday was the second time in Ankara in less than a month.



Last February 17, another bomb-laden vehicle crashed into military service buses and exploded, killing 29 people.



The government said the suicide attacker last February was a member of the PKK and its Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party. Later the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, a PKK affiliate, publicly claimed the responsibility for it.



For the deadly attack last Sunday, nobody has so far claimed responsibility but military intelligence document revealed that the outlawed PKK, a terrorist organization labeled by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States, were likely behind the attack.



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TagsChina Anti-Terrorism, Turkey Terrorist Attack, Turkey Bombing, Ankara Bombing, Turkey, Turkey Attack
Workers place dead chickens into plastic bags after they were killed at the Wholesale Poultry Market in Cheung Sha Wan in Hong Kong. This is following confirmation that a Guangdong supplier has tested positive for H7N9 bird flu which has killed dozens of people in China. (Photo by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

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The provincial health and family planning commission has announced that a trader of live poultry becomes the latest human infection of the H7N0 avian flu virus.



The patient was formally diagnosed Sunday. He has severe pneumonia and sepsis and suffering from multiple organ failure, authorities said.



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The patient is receiving medical treatment in isolation, according to the commission.



The identity of the patient has not been disclosed and the commission did not provide any additional detail other than saying that the patient is a live poultry trader.



H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in March 2013 in China. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring.



According to the official Xinhua news agency, 44 human cases of H7N9 were reported from September 2015 to February 1 of this year, with 10 fatalities.



The number of patients, however, was lower by 70 cases from the same period a year ago, according to China's National Health and Family Planning Commission.



Last February 4, a 48-year-old man in China's Hunan Province died at a hospital after contracting the H7N9 avian flu.



The man, surnamed Xie, was diagnosed with the avian flu a day before his death. The immediate cause of his death was kidney and liver failures, official documents released by the provincial health and family planning commission said.



Scientists have not found any mutation of H7N9 and H5N6 virus that poses threats to public health so far, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).



According to Ni Daxin, deputy head of the Office of Disease Control and Emergency Response under the China CDC, there is still no evidence that would point to possible human-to-human transmission in the spread of the viruses.



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TagsChina H7N9, avian flu, H7N9
A view of the blast site after a series of explosions hit the Indonesia capital on January 14, 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Reports of explosions and gunshots in the centre of the Indonesian capital, including outside the United Nations building and in the front of the Sarinah shopping mall, an area with many luxury hotels, embassies and offices. (Photo by Oscar Siagian/Getty Images)

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An explosion rocked a navy hospital in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta Monday, killing at least four persons.



Details of the explosion were still sketchy although an official of the crisis center of the Indonesian Health Ministry has confirmed the incident to the official Xinhua news agency.



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The name of the navy hospital was also not disclosed as of this posting.



An official statement said an ozone cylinder caused the explosion at the hospital.



"Four people were dead and some others were injured. They are the hospital officials and patients. All of them have been rushed to an intensive care unit," the official said.



The explosion occurred just a few hours after Indonesia said in a statement that it condemns the terrorist attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara.



"The Indonesian people and the government convey deepest sympathy and condolences to the Turkish government and its people, particularly to those fallen in the attack and to their families," a statement released by the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry said.



The attack in Turkey killed at least 34 people and left 134 others injured. The number of casualties is expected to rise at the attack took place in a crowded area near bus and subway stations. People were spending their weekends shopping and dining when the explosion occurred.



The Indonesian embassy in Ankara has warned Indonesian nationals in Turkey to remain calm but stay on alert in responding to the situation.



The Indonesian government has not received information of any Indonesian national killed or hurt during the incident.



Indonesia also urges its nationals to stay away from public spaces to avoid possible attacks while in Turkey.



China also condemned the attack and urged nations to step up joint efforts in combating terrorism. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced that China condemns the terrorist attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara.



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TagsJakarta Blast, Jakarta Explosion, Indonesia Blast, Indonesia Hospital Blast, Indonesia, Jakarta
(Photo : China Photos/Getty Images) A charity event hosted by various groups raised about 500,000 yuan ($78,125 USD) to help children in need.

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The Shanghai Women's Federation, along with other groups, said that they were able to raise about 500,000 yuan ($78,125 USD) to help children in need.



The federation, along with the Shanghai Children's Foundation and Consular Spouses Shanghai, co-hosted a charity bazaar and auction to celebrate the 106TH anniversary of the International Women's Day, reports Shanghai Daily. It was through this event that raised the said amount.



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The event had the theme 'Charity Begins at Home  My Home is Your Home.' Being a charity event, the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Shanghai Children's Foundation, to help orphans, disabled children, and other children in need.



During the event, which was held at the Zendai Himalaya Center located in Pudong New Area, almost 80 items from 18 different countries were auctioned. Most of the items were either jewelry, artwork, or travel packages, all donated by consul-generals in Shanghai and in local enterprises.



Many participating companies told media that they always care for children in need, and give to charity. Some of them have already set up their own children's fund meant to help the poor and needy children.



Working Together



Busisiwe Thage, president of Consular Spouses Shanghai, gave an address to all who were present during the event.



"To our guests here today, Thage said, we hope you will support us by bidding for an item or two, whatever kind of contribution you make will accelerate our goals of reaching out to the many woman and children in China whose lives we touch through our charity work.



Working together, she added, let us change lives for the better!"



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Atheists want Satanic coloring books in schools alongside Gideon Bibles 14 March, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DELTA, Colo. (Christian Examiner)  The atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation wants its literature distributed in the middle school of a small Colorado town after the school district refused to ban the Gideons International from distributing Bibles there.

In December 2015, a teacher at the school took students to the library. During the visit, the teacher informed students that the Gideons had provided Bibles for the students if they wanted to take one on the way out of the room.

One student, who objected to the giveaway, snapped a photo of the stacks of red and blue Bibles on her cell phone and sent it to her mother. The mother then contacted FFRF, alleging that students who did not take a Bible were bullied or "shamed" by other students.

According to the litigious Wisconsin-based atheist group, the fact that the Bibles were in front of the door the students had to exit (making it impossible to walk past the Bibles without seeing them) made the offer a violation of separation of church and state. The group has reportedly contacted the Colorado school district on a number of occasions.

On Feb. 29, the school district's attorney responded. It claimed that it was "not disqualifying the Gideons from making their materials available" and explained that any error in how the Bibles were distributed were on the part of school personnel and not the Gideons International.

The attorney also said FFRF could "directly submit any materials you wish to have made available to students" to Superintendent Caryn Gibson.

"If she does not disapprove of them, you may leave them at the schools just as the Gideons did, and then return after school to pick up any leftovers," attorney Aaron Clay wrote.

That offer was not good enough for FFRF, which clearly wants only to ban the Bibles.

"In spite of repeated FFRF requests, the Delta County School District has refused to have the Gideons stop distributing Bibles in the local public schools. So FFRF and its allied organizations are asking permission to hand out freethought materials there. These include brochures and booklets such as 'Top 10 Public School State-Church Violations and How to Stop Them' and 'What's Wrong With The Ten Commandments?'

"It is unconstitutional for public school districts to permit the Gideons International to distribute Bibles as part of the public school day, FFRF contends. Even when distribution of religious material to students in school is done passively  from a table or some other fixed location  courts have ruled that that distribution may be unconstitutional," a statement from the group said.

But in a March 3 letter to the school district, FFRF's Andrew Seidel requested the district allow the atheist group to not only distribute free-thought literature. It also wants it to distribute books discussing the "X-rated" sexual practices contained in the Bible and a Satanic coloring book  provided by the Satanic Temple  to counter the Gideons' "message of eternal damnation for any who don't believe in their God."

Importantly, FFRF said distribution of the Bibles "may" be a violation of church and state. In the past, courts have ruled against the distribution of Bibles in elementary classrooms, but the Gideons modified their approach, handing the Bibles out on public sidewalks outside of schools. They also leave literature without making contact with students, as they did in the Delta County Colorado Schools.

FFRF's Seidel said the distribution, since some children pressured others to accept a Bible, might violate Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Education, a 1999 case where the school was held responsible for refusing to halt the sexual harassment of a student. The same ruling on sexual harassment could be applied to cases of religious harassment, he said.
American Christians are coming together to pray for Syrian refugees who are feeling conflict in their country which began about five years ago in early spring of 2011.

Christians from different denominations are uniting under a prayer campaign #prayforrefugees to pray that they receive the love of God and are protected on their journey. Prayers will also be offered for brothers and sisters in Christ who are caring for refugee communities, so that they could help them better and ease the pain of suffering refugees.

The campaign is pioneered by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention. Other major organizations working with ERLC to support the refugee crisis are Baptist Global Response, Global Hunger Relief, Justice Conference, Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and PrayerMate, among many others.

A Christian relief charity, World Vision International, based in Washington, has also participated in the campaign that aims to reach Christians across America.

"American Christians are a diverse community. We don't agree about everything. And the Syrian crisis involves complicated and controversial issues. But as Christians, we can all affirm the beliefs that each human being is created and loved by God; that we are commanded to serve the suffering, and in fact, we are to find Christ himself in those who are hurting the most," said Rich Stearns, president of World Vision.

Similar views were echoed by Stephan Bauman, President of World Relief, which is the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, working towards relief and development of the poorest communities around the world.

Bauman said that though Americans may not agree with the best political and logistical solution, "any Christian can pray for peace in Syria; for protection and relief for those who are innocently caught in the crossfire; and for those serving the hurting."

The campaign started on February 10, Ash Wednesday, and will continue till March 27, Easter Sunday. However, special prayer events will be held across America to mark the fifth anniversary of the conflict on March 15.

The ERLC website notes that the Syrian refugee crisis is the worst since World War II, with more than 13.5 million people affected. Over four million have migrated to other countries as refugees, where they live in dingy and unhygienic living conditions. Millions of children have left their education, which makes them vulnerable to early marriage and child labor, and might have long-time repercussions on their lives as well.

Social media updates on the campaign can be found on #prayforrefugees at Twitter and Facebook, with picture uploads on Instagram.
This evening, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously that groups such as ISIS are committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.

By Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry must tell Congress (thanks to a separate measure) whether the State Department agrees or not.

CT asked international religious freedom experts to weigh in on whether Christians face genocide from ISIS. Or rather, is such a contentious political label really needed in order for the United States to respond to the ISIS crisis?

Here are six of their arguments for why the answer is yes.

Yes, because it will prompt international action.

It matters because it will bring pressuremainly moral, but some legalon a reluctant administration to take decisive action against ISIS. If in fact this factor is what is deterring the administration from making a firm decision on genocideone that includes Christians with other targeted minoritiesthat is deplorable. A genocide declaration should be a slam dunklegally, politically, and morallyfor any reasonable person or institution.

Thomas Farr, director, Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown Universitys Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs

Yes, because it will encourage more aid.

[We] supports the need for a genocide resolution because additional resources can be offered to protect those targeted. The genocide convention is a treaty to which many countries around the world have ascribed, and a declaration that genocide is taking place is a new and so far unused tool to mobilize protection to the affected minorities. The failure to protect those populations suffering from genocide cannot be accepted by governments. ...

1
International Christian Visual Media Announces April 1 Crown Award Submission Deadline

Contact: Paul Marks, 303-694-4286, Paul.Marks@icvm.com; International Christian Visual Media Crown Awards

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo., March 14, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- The International Christian Visual Media Association announces the submission deadline of April 1, 2016 for its coveted ICVM Crown Awards to be presented at the annual Conference.

A company or producer must be a current member of ICVM in order to submit an entry. Submission forms, a list of categories and complete submission instructions are on the website.

Entries must be received by ICVM no later than April 1, 2016, accompanied by a $75 submission fee.

The International Christian Visual Media Crown Awards are designed to recognize excellence in production and content of films and media that reflect Christian values in a secular world.

Categories include Feature Films, Short Films, Youth & Children Films, Documentaries, International Films, Music Videos, Short Clips, TV Formats and Series. Producers around the world, working in visual media in any way, are encouraged to join ICVM and submit their films.

ICVM is pleased to announce prize money in the following categories: $2500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Picture, courtesy of Christian Video Licensing International; $500 for the Gold Crown Award winner for Best Evangelistic Film, courtesy of the Ron Mix Memorial Fund, and an additional prize courtesy of ParablesTV/Upliftv, to be announced.

The coveted ICVM Crown Award signifies excellence in all areas of production. Past winners of the Best Picture Crown Award have included such films as Courageous by the Kendrick Brothers, Old Fashioned by Nathan Nazario, Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus by Mahoney Media, Trade of Innocents by Dean River Productions, Like Dandelion Dust by ChristianCinema.com, Acts of God by City on a Hill Productions, and other great films.

The mission of International Christian Visual Media Association is to be a supportive Christian community for those involved in the production and distribution of visual media, encouraging and networking to communicate Christ to the world, with members from over 20 nations representing all forms of visual media backgrounds.

The 2016 ICVM Annual Conference is June 22-25 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its theme: Be Community: Inspire and Be Inspired illustrates ICVM's commitment to encourage, inspire and learn from one another in community and worship. The Conference is a time of Christian fellowship, outlandish fun and professional networking, culminating in the ICVM Crown Award Celebration, honoring the excellent work of our colleagues.

For more information regarding the ICVM Crown Awards, please contact Paul Marks at Paul.Marks@icvm.com.
home World Christians organize mass prayer for refugees to mark 5th anniversary of Syrian civil war

March 15 will mark the fifth anniversary of the conflict that has engulfed Syria, a civil war that started from a protest for democratic reformation and for the dismissal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Tragedies in Syria have been in the world's eyes especially with the help of social media. The sad condition of Syria has touched numerous hearts of American Christians which led them to unite in prayer not only for the land of Syria but also for the innocent victims and the displaced refugees.

The brutality of the Syrian civil war is immeasurable, as neighborhoods are wiped out with constant bombings and other attacks. Innocent civilians are given the choice of staying and being killed, or running away and live a life of a refugee.

One of the United Nation's senior humanitarian officials has said, "We have expressed our horror, our outrage, and our frustration as we have watched the tragedy unfold."

More than 220,000 lives have been lost and many more have been displaced as 4 million Syrians left the country and are now refugees in neighboring countries. This has urged Christian groups to come together and hold a prayer campaign called #prayforrefugees which focuses more on the needs of these refugees.

Stephan Bauman, president of World Relief said, "While we may not all agree on the best political or logistical solution, any Christian can pray for peace in Syria; for protection and relief for those who are innocently caught in the crossfire; and for those serving the hurting."

Numerous Christian groups are now participating in the campaign #prayforrefugees and you can also give a prayer or two by visiting their website prayforrefugees.com for prayer sources or you can do it via Twitter by using #prayforrefugees.

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said, "As Christians, we are called to be on mission with Christ. Our mission field encompasses the most vulnerable among us including those fleeing from persecution and warfare. We should pray for gospel compassion for our neighbors who are in peril."
home US Donald Trump praised as 'humble' by black pastor in Cleveland rally

Donald Trump has earned the praises of a black pastor who called him "humble" during the Republican presidential frontrunner's rally in Cleveland.

The 10-minute YouTube video titled "Black Pastor Brings Down the House at Donald Trump Cleveland Rally!" has gone viral online. In the footage, African-American Pastor Darrell Scott is heard praising Donald Trump when he introduced the Republican presidential candidate to the crowd on Mar. 12.

In the video, the Pastor Scott explains that he initially had prejudiced feelings towards Donald Trump, but was surprised how "humble and kind" the billionaire was during their first meeting. The pastor cited a phrase from the Book of Esther in the Bible and said God may have raised Trump up for "such a time as this."

Pastor Scott also told the crowd at Cleveland that Trump just wanted to build a better America. However, he did not mention the controversial comments previously released by the Republican presidential frontrunner, the report notes.

Meanwhile, Pastor Scott spoke to CNN and commented on Trump's nasty exchange with a heckler in Nevada the previous day. Trump told his supporters that he wanted to punch the protester in the face, and the black pastor said he would not condemn the billionaire's reaction, Raw Story reports.

In his conversation with CNN's Poppy Harlow, Pastor Scott was asked if he supports Trump's language. The pastor answered by saying he does not support the protester's behavior.

"I'm not going to say I support it; I'm not going to say I don't support it," Scott said when pressed for a definite answer. "It is what it is. Those are Trump's feelings. I can't dictate and determine how he feels about a situation."

While Trump's supporters used the black pastor's endorsement as proof that the billionaire is not racist, there are still many who believe Trump's rhetoric has been inflammatory.
home World Former devout Muslim in Libya embraces Christianity after finding answers to 'serious concerns about Islam'

A former devout Muslim in Libya has embraced Jesus Christ and is now helping baptize new converts after he found answers to his questions about the Islamic faith.

Shahid (not his real name) grew up memorizing the Quran and practicing Islam faithfully. However, his family and friends failed to give him a satisfactory answer to his queries about Islam when he was 14 years old. They just shut him off by telling him not to question his faith, according to Christian Today.

In an interview with Christian ministry Leading The Way, Shahid conveyed his growing concerns about the faith he grew up to know.

"Islam was completely exposed with its hidden reality," Shahid told Leading The Way. "Little by little, I had serious concerns about Islam."

Instead of addressing his concerns, his family and friends cited a verse in Quran which prohibits Muslims from questioning some issues because the answers may hurt them. Because of his growing doubt, he left his faith and lived as an atheist for some time.

It was only when Shahid encountered Leading the Way in the Middle East that he finally got answers to his questions from many years back. He got to know Jesus Christ, accepted Him as his savior, and submitted himself to baptism. He also learned how to live as a Christian, fellowship with the church, share the gospel to unbelievers, and even help baptize new converts

Shahid is not the only one leaving Islam and embracing Christianity in the Middle East. Tyler Connell, a missionary affiliated with Youth With a Mission, said he witnessed many disillusioned Muslims in Iraq seeking the truth and accepting Jesus Christ in their lives, the Gospel Herald reports.

Connell also shared how a young missionary named Daniel visited a family of Syrian refugees and told them that he was there to share the message of Jesus. He later learned that the previous night, a glowing man clad in white opened the family's tent, identified himself as Jesus, and told them that a man named Daniel will visit them the following day. Then, the glowing man disappeared.

On that day, the Syrian family --- who had been dedicated Muslims before --- submitted their lives to Jesus. Connell said the head of the family is now participating in the Christian ministry and is helping establish underground churches in the Middle East.
home US Abortion survivor shares her story: Gianna Jessen testifies how she survived horrific saline abortion

In Parliament House in Victoria Australia, Gianna Jessen spoke to the House Judiciary Committee about her life as an abortion survivor, and how the media reacted to it. She did this in hopes that the parliament would bring back funding for Default Parenthood.

Jessen, now 39 and born in the United States, spoke about how she miraculously survived saline abortion. She has cerebral palsy because of it but never thought of it as something that could bring her down. For her it only fulfilled her purpose. In her own words she said, "I was never supposed to hold up my head or walk. I do. Cerebral palsy, ladies and gentlemen, is a tremendous gift to me."

Saline abortion is where abortionists burn the baby from inside, eliminating the possibility of breathing and generally should ensure the baby dies within the next 24 hours. This is not what happened to Jessen. She says, "Instead of dying, after 18 hours of being burned in my mother's womb, I was delivered alive."

In her exclusive interview with MRC Culture, she mentioned how people become defensive when talking about abortion but notably reminds everyone that she only wants everyone to know the truth behind her disability or in her words, her gift.

The reason she gained so much publicity is because liberal media did not really know what to do with her. She interprets it: "They just try to ignore me. Because I don't think they can really say anything to meso their strategy has been, 'We're just gonna not talk to her pretty much at all."

Gianna Jessen is pro-life and often talks about her advocacy in saving human life. She also innocently admits to forgiving her mother despite the tragedy that affected her life.
home Entertainment Jeremy Lin news 2016: Charlotte Hornets' player asks fans to pray for 'global Christian revival,' especially in China

Charlotte Hornets player Jeremy Lin has requested his fans to pray for Christian revival in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and all over the world.

In an email, the Charlotte Hornets player told his online prayer group that God has put in his heart a burden to pray for Asian-Americans whose faith have gone cold and those in the three Asian countries who still do not know Jesus Christ. Jeremy Lin explained that these are the places closest to his heart.

"Please pray for global Christian revival. Specific areas that I feel God has put on my heart are Asian-Americans in the U.S. who are lukewarm in their faith, the billions in China who don't know Christ and Taiwan/Hong Kong," said Lin in his online prayer request. "I obviously care about many other places, but these are very near and dear to my heart!"

Recent reports have revealed an ongoing crackdown on Christianity in China, with authorities removing crosses from churches, and persecuting pastors who stand up for their Christian faith.

Meanwhile, Rev. Franklin Graham recently announced an international summit which will tackle Christian persecution worldwide. In his announcement on Facebook, the evangelist talked about his past conversation with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church about the situation of the persecuted Christians, Christian Today relays.

In light of this, the Catholic and Orthodox Churches united to release a joint statement advocating for more awareness of Christian persecution. The statement encouraged people to open their eyes and see the plight of their fellow Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, the report details.

Just like Charlotte Hornets' Jeremy Lin, Kirill and Pope Francis both believe that global Christian revival can be sparked by the present generation of young people. Their joint resolution also challenges young Christians to use their God-given abilities to proclaim Christ's message and live their lives according to God's commandments.
home World Liberia's Muslims oppose Christian state proposals

Liberia's Muslim community does not want a proposal for a new Christian state to push through, saying they fear an increase of religious intolerance.

For National Muslim Council of Liberia (NMCL) Secretary-General Sheikh Akibu Sheriff, the proposal to declare Liberia as a Christian state only aims to give preference to Christianity. He said the move will alienate other community members from another faith, Africa News reports.

After hearing that the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC) had expressed support for the Christian state proposals, the NMCL pulled out of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRCL) on Friday.

"It has become unequivocally clear to the Muslim community of Liberia that the Council of Churches has embarked on a carefully crafted plan to declare Liberia a Christian nation," said Sheriff.

The Muslim community of Liberia has released a draft of a resolution in the wake of the news about the LCC's support for the proposition. The group threatened to boycott the forthcoming referendum if the proposal to declare Liberia as a Christian state is not removed from the provisions, Front Page Africa Online relays.

The statement released by the Imam Council also says the boycott will be followed by other acts of civil disobedience. While they appreciate the mutual tolerance among Liberians from different religious backgrounds, the council said they are against the country being officially labeled a Christian state.

"The National Imam council of Liberia calls upon the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), the African Union and the United Nations to help Liberians once more against people of Liberia who are once and again sowing seeds of bitterness and civil unrest," the Imam Council said in the statement.

However, LCC president Bishop Jonathan B. B. Hart has denied reports saying they have expressed support for the Christian state proposal. He explained that the LCC had tasked a committee to look into the proposition when it was brought up during the Gbarnga Conference, according to Star Africa.

In addition, Bishop Hart emphasized that the council has not yet announced a decision regarding the proposition.
home US 'Pastor Protection Act' gets Florida Gov. Rick Scott's approval

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has finally approved the "Pastor Protection Act", which aims to protect clergy members if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the "Pastor Protection Act," the measure (HB 43) which was filed by Rep. Scott Plakon (R-Longwood). The filing of the bill comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year which legalized same-sex marriage, Fox 35 Orlando reports.

Opponents of the "Pastor Protection Act" argue that clergy members who turn down same-sex marriages are already protected by the First Amendment. They also challenged the bill's supporters to cite cases where religious organizations have been punished for refusing to cater to gay and lesbian weddings.

In addition, the opponents said the controversial bill could also lead to pastors refusing to marry divorced people or interracial couples, the report relays.

Supporters, on the other hand, explained that there are still no lawsuits because the Supreme Court's ruling has only taken effect last year.

Pastor Brant Copeland of the First Presbyterian church in Tallahassee is one of those who objected to the bill. He said he does not need it anymore because the bill of rights already protects him if he refuses to perform a ceremony which goes against his religious belief, WSFU relays.

"Well, the Pastor Protection Act, so called, is mislabeled as well. In my opinion, I don't need protection," said Copeland. "I have the bill of rights which protects me quite thoroughly. Thank you very much."

Copeland adds that he has never been sued for declining to perform a marriage. However, he fears that the bill was filed because lawmakers think the LGBT community is a threat to the religious community. This is the reason why he is against the bill.

The Pastor Protection Act, which was signed by Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday, takes effect on July 1.
Artist Chris Gollon brings women of the Bible to life

Artist Chris Gollon, famous for his groundbreaking Stations of the Cross series in the historic St John's Church in Bethnal Green, has returned to the Bible for an exhibition which is touring Britain's cathedrals.

'Incarnation, Mary and Women from The Bible' opened at Guildford Cathedral last year. The response from press and public was such that it has become a major touring exhibition, this year visiting Norwich, Chichester and Durham.

The images are unlike anything else in religious art, and can be disturbing as well as thought-provoking. Gollon plays with shapes and perspectives to create a sense of dislocation in images that are at the same time familiar and human; and he has thought deeply about the biblical context of his figures.

In the 'Madonna of the Apple', for instance, the child Jesus is shown with nail-marks in his hands and feel, and  following a Renaissance tradition  he is drawn as an adult on Mary's lap. 'Job's wife' conveys a sense of sickness and despair as she stands with her children, the victim of someone else's story.

As well as figures such as Salome and Mary Magdalene, Gollon has chosen some women without names in the Bible. He has created new works for each cathedral  for instance for Norwich he has painted 'Julian of Norwich' and 'Madonna of the Apple' following conversations with the cathedral's Canon Librarian, Rev Dr Peter Doll.

In 'The Women of Jerusalem' he depicts them with great psychological depth and as feisty, strong, modern women placed very much to the fore in the scenes from the Bible. He was keen to carry the theme beyond the Bible to paint remarkable women who came later such as St Lucy, who had her eyes gouged out and became the patron saint of the blind.

The exhibition includes paintings on paper and canvas and some of the largest works the artist has ever painted. It is accompanied by a full-colour catalogue with texts by award-winning novelist Sara Maitland, art historian and writer Tamsin Pickeral, Rev Dr Andrew Bishop and Rev Dr Julie Gittoes.

Chris Gollon has exhibited widely and has collaborated with Yoko Ono, David Bowie and Gavin Turk in ROOT, a crossover exhibition of contemporary music and art created by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, at Chisenhale Gallery, London.

He was featured on Alan Yentob's BBC 1 programme Imagine and his work at St John's inspired novelist Sara Maitland's book Stations of the Cross.

Maitland writes of his work: "These are not just powerful, beautiful and moving images; they are also immensely subtle and profound engagements with two of the major historical strands of European iconography.

"They pull women into these dense webs of meaning in a way that is intelligent, truthful and deeply playful  in the most serious sense."
Car bomb in Turkey kills at least 34

A car bomb tore through a crowded transport hub in the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding 125 in the second such attack in the administrative heart of the city in under a month.

The blast, which could be heard several kilometers away, sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred meters from the Justice and Interior Ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister.

"These attacks, which threaten our country's integrity and our nation's unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination," President Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

Two senior security officials told Reuters the first findings suggested that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for Kurdish autonomy, or an affiliated group were responsible.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the name of the group behind the attack would likely be announced on Monday after initial investigations were completed.

"Tonight, civilian citizens waiting at a bus stop were targeted in a terrorist attack with a bomb-laden car," Ala told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the head of the intelligence agency and security chiefs.

"Significant findings have been made, but the organization behind this will be announced once the investigation has been finalised," he said.

NATO member Turkey faces multiple security threats. As part of a US-led coalition, it is fighting Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq. It is also battling PKK militants in its southeast, where a 2-1/2-year ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence since the 1990s.

The bombing came two days after the U.S. embassy issued a warning that there was information regarding a potential attack on government buildings in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara, just a few kilometers away from the blast site.

Police helicopters hovered overhead as a large cloud of smoke rose over the city center.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 30 of those killed had died at the scene, while the four others died in hospital. At least one or two of the dead were attackers, he said, and 19 of the 125 wounded were in critical condition.

PELLETS AND NAILS

One of the security officials said the car used in the attack was a BMW driven from Viransehir, a town in the largely Kurdish southeast, and that the PKK and the affiliated Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) appeared to be responsible.

TAK claimed responsibility for the previous car bombing, just a few blocks away, on Feb. 17. That attack targeted a military bus as it waited at traffic lights, and killed 29 people, most of them soldiers, near the military headquarters, parliament and other key government institutions.

A police source said there appeared to have been two attackers, one a man and the other a woman, whose severed hand was found 300 meters from the blast site.

The explosives were the same kind as those used on Feb. 17 and the bomb had been reinforced with pellets and nails to cause maximum damage, the source told Reuters.

The pro-Kurdish opposition HDP, parliament's third largest party, which Erdogan accuses of being an extension of the PKK, condemned what it described as a "savage attack".

State broadcaster TRT said the car had exploded at a major transport hub, hitting a bus carrying some 20 people near the central Guven Park and Kizilay Square at 6:43 p.m. (1643 GMT).

An Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook , Twitter and other sites in Turkey after images from the bombing were shared on social media, broadcasters CNN Turk and NTV reported.

SECURITY THREATS

World leaders condemned the bombing. British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "appalled," while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described it as a "cowardly attack". Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as "inhuman." his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

"There can be no justification for such heinous acts of violence. All NATO allies stand in solidarity with Turkey, resolute in our determination to fight terrorism in all its forms," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Turkey sees the unrest in its largely Kurdish southeast as deeply linked to events in northern Syria, where the Kurdish YPG militia has been seizing territory as it fights both Islamic State and rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad.

Ankara fears those gains will stoke separatist ambitions among its own Kurds and has long argued that the YPG and PKK have close ideological and operational ties.

In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces and says that it does not target civilians. A direct claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing would indicate a major tactical shift.

Islamic State militants have been blamed for at least four bomb attacks on Turkey since June 2015, including a suicide bombing which killed 10 German tourists in the historic heart of Istanbul in January. Local jihadist groups and leftist radicals have also staged attacks in Turkey in the past.
Sacked Christian magistrate who opposed gay adoption will sue Michael Gove

A Christian magistrate will sue the justice secretary Michael Gove after he was sacked for opposing gay adoption.

Richard Page was removed from the bench after 15 years after Gove accused him of being "biased and prejudiced against single sex adopters". In a TV interview Page had stated it was better for a child to be brought up by a mother and father than a gay couple.

"It does annoy me that people who say they have Christian views are getting at me for my Christian views, and that includes Michael Gove," he said, according to The Mail on Sunday.

"I am horrified by the way things are going," he said.

"Christianity is being marginalised. Christians are finding it very difficult to discuss their views because they fear they will be ostracised.

"Magistrates should be allowed to represent a range of views in society. You can't not bring your political and social background, your education, to the way that you think."

In an interview for a BBC programme in March 2015, Page said: "My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adopted parents."

He was sacked for the remarks and a spokesperson for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office said his comments "would have caused a reasonable person to conclude he was biased and prejudiced against single sex adopters".

Page said the decision was "intolerant" and accused Gove of "pandering to the new political orthodoxy".

"As a magistrate, I have to act on the evidence before me and quite simply, I believe that there is not sufficient evidence to convince me that placing a child in the care of a same-sex couple can be as holistically beneficial to a child as placing them with a mum and dad as God and Nature intended."

He added: "To punish me and to seek to silence me for expressing a dissenting view is deeply worrying. I shall challenge this decision as it is deeply illiberal and intolerant."
Donald Trump's 'Islam hates America' comment proved wrong by researchers

Donald Trump's claim that "Islam hates us" has been discredited by research that shows most Muslims have a favourable opinion of America.

The Republican frontrunner's comments were made during a CNN interview on Friday. He said: "There is a tremendous hatred of us."

However Trump failed to make the distinction between radical Islamists and mainstream Islam. When asked whether he thought all Muslims hated America he said: "You're going to have to figure that out," before going on to emphasise the "tremendous hatred".

But the Pew Research Center has revealed there is little anti-American sentiment in Muslim countries.

"We tend to see more negative sentiment among Muslims in the Middle East, such as those from Egypt and Jordan," said Pew's director of global economic attitudes, Bruce Stokes.

"But Muslims outside the Middle East generally have a more positive outlook."

Countries such as Burkina Faso and Senegal, which have an overwhelming Muslim population, view the USA favourably (80 per cent and 79 per cent respectively), the 2015 research showed.

Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, has a broadly positive opinion of America with 62 per cent saying they viewed the country favourably.

Muslim countries in the Middle East tend to have more negative views of the US with 83 per cent of those in Jordan and 70 per cent in Palestine viewing America unfavourably. However there has been a "gradual rise in positive sentiment since President Barack Obama came to power," said Stokes.

"Even in the Palestinian Territories, where sentiment is 70 per cent unfavourable, that's an improvement on 82 per cent in Barack Obama's first year," he said.

Pew data pointed to anti-American feeling spiking around key political events. In Pakistan it spiked in 2011, the year a US raid killed Osama Bin Laden.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury 'shocked' by antisemitic rhetoric at universities

The former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has said he is "very shocked" by the rise in antisemitic rhetoric at British universities.

Lord Williams of Oystermouth, now master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, has written to the Government's universities minister Jo Johnson to complain about the "muted" response to Jew-hatred on campuses.

His protest came after reports of antisemitism among members of Oxford University Labour Club and incidents at York and in London, the Jewish Chronicle noted.

The Sunday Times revealed that Lord Williams wrote to a Jewish student, Zachary Confino, at York University, who had suffered antisemitic abuse.

Lord Williams wrote: "It is truly appalling stuff but sadly seems not to be that unusual at the moment. It's ironic that just as we are waking up to all sorts of ways in which 'hate speech' works we should lose sight of one of the most ancient and poisonous forms of it, in the shape of anti-semitic rhetoric."

He continued: "Anyone concerned (as I am) about Islamophobia here and elsewhere needs to be scrupulously alert to the risk of scapegoating and demonising other religious communities, especially Jews; and anyone with even the least bit of historical sense ought to hear the echoes of past bigotry and violence towards Jewish people in Europe."

Lord Williams said he was "dispirited" by the failure of Christian chaplains at York to support Confino. "You'd expect a more simply empathetic engagement," he said, adding that no degree of opposition to the policies of a government "can possibly justify the appalling language I have seen used about Jews in general".

Police have disclosed they are investigating claims of antisemitism at the university, where Palestinian supporters recently performed Seven Jewish Children, a controversial play by Caryl Churchill.
Gay clergyman wins right to appeal discrimination case

Gay clergyman Jeremy Pemberton has won the right to appeal against a ruling by an employment tribunal that he was not discriminated against.

Canon Pemberton took his case to the tribunal after he was refused a licence to work as a hospital chaplain because he had married his partner Laurence Cunnington.

The decision by the acting Bishop of Southwell meant he was unable to take up the job as Head of Chaplaincy and Bereavement Services in Nottinghamshire. He has remained in his previous job as a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal will hold a two-day hearing later this year.

Pemberton said: "I heard from the Employment Appeal Tribunal that they accepted my application for an appeal. It's important to appeal because this is a test case and test cases need testing. The judgement given in the tribunal had some things my lawyers felt needed further testing."

No new evidence will be heard by the appeal which will look at the legal arguments.
Islamic State jihadists set fire to hundreds of Christian books in Mosul

Hundreds of Christian books have been burned by Islamic State in Mosul, almost two years after jihadists took over the Iraqi city.

Video footage emerged last week showing militants throwing books onto a burning pile. Close-ups showed many of the books were emblazoned with crucifixes.

The video was titled "Diwan of education destroys Christian instruction books in Mosul". The Diwan Al-Hisbah is ISIS's morality police, responsible for enforcing the group's laws.

A local activist, Abdullah al-Mulla, told ARA News the books had been collected from schools and churches in Mosul, which was once considered the heartland of Iraq's Christian population.

"ISIS jihadis burned hundreds of Christian textbooks in central Mosul," al-Mulla said.

"The militants have also collected a lot of Christian textbooks from the Dawassa district near Martyrs' Park and publicly burned then," he added.

Mosul was overrun by ISIS militants on 10 June, 2014. Upon capturing the city militants issued an ultimatum to Christians, telling them to convert to Islam, pay a tax or flee. Those who refused to comply were murdered, and there are now believed to be no Christians left in the city.

ISIS has declared religious sites and artefacts to be idolatrous, and has released multiple images showing Christian paintings and statues being destroyed.

Reports claim the Mar Gorgis monastery north of Mosul has been used as a female detention centre, while other ancient churches in the city have been used as slaughterhouses and torture chambers.

In June last year it was announced that the St Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul would be reopened as a "mosque of the mujahideen'. Local Iraqi media reports at the time said it had been draped with Islamic State's flag, with "There is no God but Allah" and "Prophet Mohammed" written on it.
'Miracles from Heaven': A true story about a girl's 'astonishing' journey to heaven and back

"Miracles from Heaven" is an "astonishing" true-to-life movie of faith and love about the miraculous journey taken by one young girl to heaven and back.

The movie tells the story of nine-year-old Anna Beam who fell headfirst 30 feet from a tree, but only sustained minor scraps and bruises, according to Rusty Wright in his movie review for the Assist News Service.

Anna was rushed to the hospital but was released the very next day. What's more, her chronic, life-threatening illnesscalled pseudo-obstruction motility disorderwas gone.

"Imagine that you're nine years old and your body won't process food and water correctly," Wright says about Anna's former illness. "You've endured endless medical visits, hospital stays, poking, needles, tubes, electrodes, blood draws, and pain. No known cure exists."

Even though Anna was usually optimistic, the burden of her illness sometimes felt too much to bear. At one point, she even told her mother Christy (played by Jennifer Garner in the film), "Mommy... I just want to die and go to Heaven and be with Jesus where there's no pain."

Things took a nosedive when Anna got into the tree accident. Little did the Beam family know that her fall would prove to be her saving grace.

"I went to Heaven when I was in that tree," Anna told her parents. "I sat in Jesus' lap." The young girl also said that an angel shone a bright light as she waited for rescue inside the tree.

Her parents were reluctant to accept their daughter's story, and even took down notes about it to check her consistency.

Wright said Anna delivered her story with "apparent honesty" as she miraculously recovered from her chronic disease.

"Anna's [near death experience] account evidence trail is much stronger than some," Wright said. "Anna first related parts of her heavenly experience the day after her fall, then a week later on local television, then again some months later to Christy."
North Korea's Kim Jong Un must be prosecuted for crimes against humanity - UN

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un must be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, the United Nations human rights envoy said on Monday.

Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council that North Korea is devoting huge resources to developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction while many of its citizens lack sufficient food and others work in "slave-like conditions".

"We are now at a crucial stage, therefore there is a fundamental need for countries to make that next step in ensuring accountability is undertaken," he said.

Darusman, referring to a report he issued last month, said: "I would like to reiterate my appeal to the international community to move forward to ensure accountability of the senior leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including that of Mr Kim Jong Un."

This could be via the International Criminal Court (ICC) but failing consensus among major powers, North Korea's leadership could be prosecuted in a third country, he said.

He called for the Council to set up a panel of three experts to look into "structure and methods of accountability".

Political prison camps, torture, "slave-like labour" and religious persecution remain features of the state apparatus, two years after a landmark UN investigation into crimes against humanity, said Darusman.

The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) boycotted the session. The European Union, United States and Japan supported Darusman's call for accountability, although they did not refer to Kim by name.

Ambassador Robert King, US envoy on North Korea, denounced the "egregious human rights violations committed by the DPRK" and said that the United States would work with other countries to "seek ways to advance accountability for those most responsible".

However China, an ally of Pyongyang, adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying human rights issues should not be politicised and calling for a comprehensive approach to dealing with North Korea.

China also rejected Darusman's findings that North Koreans who flee across the border to China were being forced back to their homeland illegally.

North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in a speech to the Geneva forum on March 1, said it would boycott any session that examined its record and would "never, ever" be bound by any such resolutions.

Darusan's comments come a month after Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a religious freedoms charity, called for North Korea to face the ICC for it "egregious human rights abuses".

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-range missile the following month.

"The denial of human rights to its citizens internally and this aggressive behaviour externally are basically two sides of the same coin. The country is pouring a large amount of resources into developing weapons of mass destruction, while large parts of its population continue to suffer from food insecurity," said Darusman.

Open Doors, the religious persecution charity, rated North Korea the worst place to live as a Christian in its annual report into global discrimination against Christians. The group estimated 70,000 Christians were imprisoned labour camps for their faith.

Additional reporting from Reuters.
Pope Francis awards global prize worth $1m to Palestinian teacher of the year

Pope Francis congratulated a Palestinian teacher as he awarded her the Global Teacher prize worth $1m.

Hanan al-Hroub, who grew up as a refugee in Bethlehem and now teaches refugee children, was given the prestigious award at a star-studded ceremony in Dubai on Sunday.

Hroub has used her childhood experiences to develop a teaching technique which promoted play as a learning tool to shun violence. The author of We Play We Learn promotes the slogan "no to violence" and has taught refugee children to develop respectful, trusting relationships. Her approach has led to a marked decline in violence in schools as she encourages youngsters to work together.

"I would like to congratulate the teacher Hanan al-Hroub for winning this prestigious prize due to the importance that she gave to the 'playing' part in the education of the children," said Pope Francis as he announced the award via video link.

The Duke of Cambridge and former US President Bill Clinton also praised the teacher.

"I know what an incredible teacher can mean to a child," said Prince William via video link. "A good teacher holds the power to influence, inspire and shape a young person's life for the better. They represent the key to real change in this world."

The royal added: "Teachers are also uniquely placed to recognise and support the most vulnerable and troubled children in our society, reaching young people early on in their education and providing them with the extra support they need and giving them the best possible chance in life. This is an incredible responsibility."

Clinton added to the accolades, saying: "You don't hear it often enough, but your work is truly heroic."

The award is in its second year and gives the winner $1m (706,000). Hroub said she planned to use the money to help students and teachers around the world progress in their careers.

In her acceptance speech she said: "I am proud to be a Palestinian female teacher standing on this stage. I accept this as a win for all teachers in general and Palestinian teachers in particular.

"Each day, the role of the teacher is reinforced and its importance confirmed as the world questions what future we want for our children."
Pope Francis to replace envoy to U.S. who set his controversial meeting with anti-gay activist Kim Davis

Pope Francis will soon be replacing his retired representative to the United States who made the controversial decision of setting up his meeting with anti-gay activist Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licences for same-sex couples.

According to a report by Jesuit newsletter "America Magazine," the leader of the Roman Catholic Church is keen on naming French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre as the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United States to replace Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who reached the statutory retirement age of 70 last January.

The designation of Pierre, who served as nuncio to Mexico for nine years, will reportedly be officially announced after Easter Sunday.

Citing veteran Vatican watcher, Sandro Magister's March 10 entry on his blog "Settimo Cielo," America Magazine further stated that Pierre's promotion to the key Vatican post "is imminent."

The Vatican did not comment on Pierre's supposed designation as the new ambassador to the U.S. It is customary for the Holy See to defer any announcement on this matter until it has received the agreement of the Obama administration.

Pierre, who earlier served as nuncio in Haiti and Uganda, is set to replace Vigano who made the controversial decision of arranging a meeting between Pope Francis and Davis.

The encounter between the Catholic leader and the anti-gay activist raised some eyebrows, while some interpreted the meeting as Pope Francis' political statement against same-sex unions.

Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, however clarified that the Pope's meeting with Davis did not mean support for the anti-gay movement.

"The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis, and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects," Lombardi was quoted by The New York Times as saying last October.
Rare gold coin, nearly 2000 years old, discovered by hiker in Israel

A hiker in the Israeli countryside has found a rare gold coin that is nearly 2,000 years old.

It is one of a series dedicated by Emperor Trajan to Roman emperors of the past, in this case to Augustus, who was Roman Emperor at the time of the birth of Jesus. There is just one other coin in the world like it, and that is preserved in the British Museum in London.

Laurie Rimon, a member of Kibbutz Kefar Blum, who was hiking with friends in the countryside, saw the coin just lying in the grass during a trip to an archaeological site in eastern Galilee with a group of veteran hikers.

Tour guides Irit Zuk-Kovacsi and Dr Motti Aviam contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority and within two hours an expert had reached the hikers in the field.

Rimon, who gave him the coin immediately, said: "It was not easy parting with the coin. After all, it is not every day one discovers such an amazing object, but I hope I will see it displayed in a museum in the near future."

Nir Distelfeld, of the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, said: "Laurie demonstrated exemplary civic behavior by handing this important coin over to the Antiquities Authority. This is an extraordinarily remarkable and surprising discovery. I believe that soon, thanks to Laurie, the public will be able to enjoy this rare find. It is important to know that when you find an archaeological artifact it is advisable to call IAA representatives to the location spot in the field. That way we can also gather the relevant archaeological and contextual information from the site."

Rimon is to be awarded a certificate of appreciation for her good citizenship.

Dr Danny Syon, a senior numismatist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: "This coin, minted in Rome in 107 CE, is rare on a global level. On the reverse we have the symbols of the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan, and on the obverse  instead of an image of the emperor Trajan, as was usually the case, there is the portrait of the emperor Augustus Deified. This coin is part of a series of coins minted by Trajan as a tribute to the emperors that preceded him."

Donald Ariel, head curator of the coin department at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: "The coin may reflect the presence of the Roman army in the region some 2,000 years ago  possibly in the context of activity against Bar Kokhba supporters in the Galilee  but it is very difficult to determine that on the basis of a single coin. Historical sources describing the period note that some Roman soldiers were paid a high salary of three gold coins, the equivalent of 75 silver coins, each payday. Because of their high monetary value soldiers were unable to purchase goods in the market with gold coins, as the merchants could not provide change for them."

Jesus preached a famous parable about a lost coin, recorded in Luke 15.

He said: "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The Stations: Dramatic recreation of Easter devotion depicts refugees' journey of suffering

A dramatic reimagination of the Stations of the Cross devotion will focus on refugees' journey of suffering.

The project will go on display in St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London's Trafalgar Square on Tuesday and tells the story Christ's journey to the cross through the lives of refugees.

The exhibition was put together by creative director Marksteen Adamson and editor of Premier Christianity magazine, Justin Brierley. The photos will also appear in April's edition of the magazine.

"We realised moments in the story of Jesus could be expressed in symbolic ways by refugees," Brierley told Christian Today.

He explained he had wanted to reinterpret the stations of the cross devotional and Adamson provided the inspiration to involve refugees. The centuries old tradition involves a series of 14 images depicting Jesus' journey to the cross on Good Friday. Christians would travel from one image to the next, saying prayers at each "station" as a form of repentance for Christ's sufferings.

"We didn't want this to be photo journalism but artistic shorts that would remember Christ's journey to the cross as well as reflect on the journey of so many of those who have fled Syria and other countries," said Brierley.

"The aim is to give people a way to reflect on the crisis beyond all the headlines and news stories. Unfortunately we get compassion fatigue very easily in today's society. Finding a way to humanise the situations refugees face is key."

Brierley also urged the government to reconsider its offer to accept only 20,000 refugees by 2020.

"We have a history of being generous and hospitable to those in need and it would be a shame not to see that continue," he said.

"There is room for more than 20,000. That doesn't mean we open up our border willy nilly but our Christian heritage is about giving a place for the homeless and the refugee.

"Hospitality has always been an ethos of Britain's."

Some modern versions of the Stations of the Cross end with the resurrection although the traditional version concludes with Jesus' body laid in the tomb.

This version will end with refugees "left hanging" between death on Good Friday and resurrection and life on Easter Sunday, Brierley said.

"What was obvious in all the stories was these people were in limbo. They can't get on with their lives. I hope we can become the people of the resurrection we are called to be."

For more information visit www.premierchristianity.com/thestations
Tutu says Ivory Coast needs reconciliation, not retaliation

The leaders said they were deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in fierce fighting triggered by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbos refusal to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, winner of last November's presidential election and Ivory Coasts internationally recognised President.



Despite being encircled in the presidential palace in Abidjan by forces loyal to Ouattara, Gbagbo has denied surrendering.



The Elders said Gbagbo must bear primary responsibility for the violence since November, they added that both Gbagbo and Ouattara must bear responsibility for the actions of forces under their control.



They must demand an immediate end to the attacks on civilians and UN personnel, the leaders said.



Ouattara has denied the involvement of his forces in a massacre of hundreds of civilians in the town of Duekoue.



Archbishop Tutu urged Ouattara to commit publicly to a process of accountability.



His actions and words in the coming days are critical to the future of the Ivory Coast, he said.



The people need reconciliation, not retaliation. They need a leader who can bring peace and put the country back on the path to prosperity.



He can do this by demonstrating that he will govern for all Ivorians, and is worthy of the trust placed in him through the elections.



Fellow Elder and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: The violence must stop and the atrocities and human rights abuses must be investigated.



Those who perpetrated these terrible crimes, in Duekoue and elsewhere, must be held accountable.



There is only one Ivory Coast and the leaders and the people must understand that. They have no option but to reconcile, heal and live together.



This will be a difficult process, but the country needs to find a path to national unity.




West African churches pained by regions instability

The Church's statement was released as the UN moved yesterday to impose sanctions on the Ivory Coasts incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.



Gbagbo refuses to relinquish power to the winner of last Novembers presidential election, Alassane Ouattara, recognised by the international community as the president of the Ivory Coast.



Hundreds of people have been killed in the ensuing civil war as clashes continue between fighters loyal to Gbagbo and Ouattaras Republican Forces.



The Provincial Synod of the Church of the Province of West Africa said it was pained by the numerous and seemingly incessant hardships and misfortunes made manifest in political instability, wanton destruction of human life and property, [and] displaced and in-between peoples.



We are struck by the irony that the region so well endured [sic] by God has become almost synonymous with disease, especially HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases and poverty, a code for exclusion and marginalisation of people from the bounty of God, the Church said in a statement.



The International Organisation for Migration [IOM] warned that a major military offensive launched by Ouattaras forces in western Ivory Coast this week had effectively sealed off tens of thousands of people, preventing them from receiving adequate humanitarian assistance and protection.



The organisation estimates that around 20,000 Ivoirians and West African migrants have been displaced by the unrest.



Many of them have sought refuge in a Catholic mission in the town of Duekoue, around 400km north-west of Abidjan.



According to the IOM, the refugees have little or no access to shelter, food, water and health facilities.



Conditions at the Catholic mission are fast becoming unbearable, said Jacques Seurt, IOM Emergency Coordinator in the Ivory Coast.



Terrified displaced persons have been streaming in, some with gunshot wounds as they cannot receive emergency treatment from the local hospital.



All are seeking protection from the fighting. We call upon belligerents to ensure the mission remains a safe haven for the displaced.


Update: The building is undergoing renovations, and the place will become Hughes Manor.

Given the crowds of partiers who once flocked to Washington Avenue bar Hughes Hangar, it may come as a surprise that the 5-year-old business announced on Twitter that it would be closing.
For once, Flame the rodeo clown isn't dancing or cutting up. Sure, his face has comical painted-on eyebrows and his shirt looks like it's on fire. But in profile, he seems thoughtful - maybe a bit noble.

That's the moment Lucy Chen, a 16-year-old Katy artist, captured in her oil painting, "The Entertainer." And on Sunday, it broke a rodeo record when it sold for $220,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Chen's work was the Reserve Grand Champion at this year's school art auction, an annual fund-raiser that offers up paintings, drawings and mixed-media pieces by area high school students. Students submit work based on rodeo and western themes, and about 60 are selected for auction, with two top prizes that in recent years have each hovered around $200,000.

This year's grand champion - with a winning bid of $185,000 - was "Comradery Like No Other" by Brandon Leal of Pasadena, a colored-pencil drawing of rodeo cowboys waiting at the chute, their eyes focused on the action in the ring. The scene is remarkably lifelike, from the creases in their jeans to the J.J. Watt jersey on a member of the crowd.

Hundreds of potential buyers filled the seats at NRG Arena's Sales Pavilion, yardsticks in hand and ready for bidding. As Leal - and later Chen - strode across the stage, showing the framed artwork to bidders on all sides, their fellow art students - seated together in a single section - pounded their yardsticks on the ground, drumming up excitement as the bidding war took just moments to play out.

Leal, 18 and a senior at Pasadena's Sam Rayburn High School, drew "Comradery" from a photograph. He said he liked the image because it shows the rodeo from a different perspective, offering a behind-the-scenes look at rodeo life beyond the big moments that make the crowds cheer. The cowboys in his drawing are likely competitors, but in boots and faded jeans they wait amiably together at the chute.

"People forget about how these cowboys work with each other," Leal said. "They support each other and respect each other."

The rodeo art auction is old hat to Chen, a junior at Tompkins High School in the Katy ISD. Her work has been selected three years in a row, including when she was reserve grand champion in 2014 as a high school freshman.

Every year, Chen said, she and the other student artists spend time with Flame, who entertains and chats them up just before the auction begins. "The past two years I've been at the auction, he's the one at the chute telling us, 'You can do it,'" Chen said. For inspiration, she used a photo that her parents took at last year's auction. "I was going through photos with my teacher, and when I saw that one it just really popped out," she said. "I thought, 'You know, he's been at the auction all these years. I think it would be really cool to show my appreciation.'"

Flame is actually Richard Gruen, a 17-year member of the rodeo speakers committee who dresses up in overalls and paints his face every year.

"I had no idea she was doing a painting," said Gruen, who on Sunday looked just like his portrait, from the white face paint to the long-sleeved shirt printed with orange flames.

When he saw the piece, Gruen said, he was speechless for the first time in his rodeo clown career: "I had no idea that doing what I've done the past 17 years - being a rodeo clown and having fun and trying to get kids to appreciate the rodeo - would have such an impact."

The same group of bidders, for the most part, won both works of art this year, spending a collective $405,000 on them.

Leal's piece was bought by Mimi and Tom Dompier, Lynda and Jim Winne, Jennifer and Joe Van Matre and the Sommerville family, including Paul and Kristina and their daughter and son-in-law, Courtney and Bradley Becker.

Chen's work went to a bidding group that included many of the same people: the Dompiers, the Van Matres, the Sommerville family and Mary and Ken Hucherson.

It's not the first time this group has bought art together; on the list of top buyers at the school art auction, their names appear in some combination every year since 2000. But the group decided Sunday morning that, for the first time, they'd try to win both of the top two pieces, said Jennifer Van Matre.

"It was kind of a last-minute decision," she said.

Leal's work will go to the Van Matres' ranch near Victoria, where they display much of the student artwork they've bought over the years. And Chen's piece will hang in the couple's Houston living room, Jennifer Van Matre said.

"It's a beautiful piece," she said. "We've watched Flame out here for years - we knew him. So as soon as we saw the picture, we knew who it was."

Part of Sunday's auction money will go directly to the winning students - at least $28,000 for Leal and at least $14,000 for Chen. They're both planning to use the money for college tuition. The rest will go the rodeo's education programs.
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The father of a 14-year-old girl who went missing this weekend was found dead in an apparent homicide. Investigators believe the girl may have been with her father at the time of his death and that she is in grave danger.

Adriana Coronado was last seen about 1 a.m. Saturday, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Her father, Caesar Vladimir Coronado, was found dead, his body burned, about 12 p.m. Sunday in Walker County, said authorities with the Walker County Sheriff's Office. Investigators came across information at 1:30 a.m. Monday that led them to believe Adriana may have been with her father at the time he died, prompting them to issue an Amber Alert early Monday.

Investigators are working the case as if she has been abducted, Walker County Sheriff Clint McRae said in a news conference Monday. They think she is most likely outside of Walker County, and are considering the possibility that she might be out of the country. They do not know why the father and daughter, who are believed to live in the Katy area, were in Walker County.

"She certainly is in grave danger, and we are needing the public's assistance very much so," McRae said.

Investigators believe gunshots were involved in Caesar Coronado's death. His body was found burned in a rural area in northern Walker County. A pick-up truck, also burned, was found in Montgomery County that investigators believe is connected to the homicide.

Investigators believe someone spoke to Adriana Coronado shortly before the homicide Sunday and are interviewing potential witnesses in the rural area.

They have not yet determined if Adriana witnessed her father's murder.

The Houston Police Department, FBI and Walker County District Attorney are assisting the Walker County Sheriff's Office with the investigation.

Adriana is described as being about 5 feet tall, weighing about 105 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She usually wears black-frame eye glasses.

Anyone with information about Adriana's whereabouts is urged to contact the Walker County Sheriff's Office at 936-435-2400.
Police are searching for three men suspected in a robbery earlier this month at an auto finance store in north Houston.

The heist occurred about 4 p.m. March 3 at ANF Finance store at 6004 North Shepherd near Northew Street, according to the Houston Police Department.
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SUNDAY

C.J. Box: Author will discuss and sign "Off the Grid," 2 p.m., Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597, or toll free 888-424-2842 or murderbooks.com.

MONDAY

Mark Tompkins: Author will discuss and sign his debut novel, "The Last Days of Magic," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

TUESDAY

Paul Ryan Frank: Author will discuss and sign "The Opposite of People," 7 p.m., Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet; 7 13-523-0701 or brazosbookstore.com.

THURSDAY

Brian Freeman: Author will discuss and sign "Goodbye To The Dead," 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

FRIDAY

Owen Laukkanen: Author will discuss and sign "The Watcher in the Wall," 6:30 p.m., Murder By the Book.

SATURDAY

John Callahan: Author will sign "Grace in the Rat Race," 2-4 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 1201 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands; 281-465-8744.

Chandler Baker and Charlotte Huang: Authors will discuss and sign "Teen Frankenstein" and "For the Record," their new books for teens, and will be joined by Kristin Rae, author of "Wish You Were Italian," 3 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial; 281-497-8675 or bluewillowbookshop.com.

Marie Cook: Author will discuss and sign "Texas Coast Experience," 3-5 p.m., River Oaks Bookstore, 3270 Westheimer; 713-520-0061 or riveroaksbookstore.com.

C.S. Harris: Author will discuss and sign "When Falcons Fall," 4:30 p.m., Murder By The Book.

Maggie Galehouse
League City officials have acquired a piece of property that they say is key to their downtown redevelopment plans.

City council members discussed the property acquisition at a March 8 meeting, officials said in a news release.

They described the property at 144 Park Ave., as essential to the downtown redevelopment project. Satellite maps show several storefront churches there now at what appears to be a low-rise plaza with parking.

The acquisition was negotiated with the owner through an eminent domain agreement. City Manager Mark Rohr described the transaction as a friendly, mutual agreement between the property owner and the city.

"The approval to acquire the property located at 144 Park Avenue is our first step in the downtown process," Rohr said in the news release. "We expressed our desire to acquire this property to its rightful owner through amicable discussions and the owner has willingly agreed to eminent domain as the method of conveyance of the property to the city."

League City is continuing the redevelopment process by disposing of eight properties considered tax surplus in 2015. During last week's meeting, the council approved the fourth sale of the surplus property. The process began a year ago.

In January 2015, the council introduced the redevelopment plans to citizens and considered their input. Downtown renovation was No. 2 on the list of city priorities in the community's "Roadmap to the Future."

Other elements of the redevelopment have not yet been released, as property acquisition has been the first step in getting the process underway.

"We wanted to acquire some property first," Rohr told The Chronicle. "The plan has been ready for about a year now. By acquiring the property, we can execute the plans for the vision we have for the area."

The city is developing programs and executing plans to "brighten the future" of the city and its residents by reviving the appearance of the city and keeping the citizens' concerns front and center, officials said.

League City, located about 25 miles southeast of downtown Houston, has seen its population jump to nearly 95,000 from around 30,000 in 1990.
A killer is on the loose after a 36-year-old man was found shot to death earlier this month at a home in Fort Bend County.

The body of Willie Honable was found Sunday at the home in the 25600 block of Ellerbe Springs in the Cinco Ranch area, according to the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said Honable had been shot. His death has been determined to be a homicide.

Investigators said it appears Honable knew his killer, and the shooting was not a random incident. However, they have no motive in the case. A gun was found at the scene but it has been ruled out as the weapon used in the slaying.

Deputies said a cream-colored 2008 Chrysler 300, which had been parked at the home, was missing. The Texas license plate is DDJ-8420.

Honable had moved to Fort Bend County from California in January had leased the residence. It was not known why he relocated to the area.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281 342-TIPS or online at http://www.fortbend.crimestoppersweb.com/. Tips can also be submitted by text message. Text FBCCS and tips to CRIMES.

Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to a suspect's arrest in the case or charges being filed against a suspect.

All tipsters remain anonymous.
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Authorities have identified the two men who were fatally shot by law-enforcement officers in the Houston area over the weekend.

Early Saturday evening, a Houston police officer shot and killed Peter William Gaines, 37, of the 4000 block of Hardy St. in the city.

Police said the man was along the feeder road of the Eastex Freeway where he appeared agitated and under the influence while yelling obscenities. An officer tried to calm down the man, but he charged at the officer and kept coming even after a Taser was used on him, police said. The officer then fired his weapon multiple times and struck the man.

The Harris County medical examiner's office identified the second deceased man as Marco Antonio Loud, 20, of the 2400 block of West Green Road in Houston.

An off-duty deputy shot Loud around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of a Walgreen's store at Falling Green and FM 1960 in northwest Harris County.

The deputy interceded during an apparent carjacking attempt involving Loud, then struggled with him, authorities said. Like the city police officer, the deputy also used a Taser to control the situation, to no avail. Police said Loud grabbed the Taser and struck the deputy, who ultimately fired his weapon three times, striking the suspect. A sheriff's office spokesman said the deputy feared for his life.

The police officer and deputy, who have not been identified, were each placed on routine administrative leave.

Meanwhile, a motorist remained hospitalized after a separate altercation with a law enforcement officer. The man, who authorities have not identified, was shot by a Harris County deputy on Sunday evening after driving away from a traffic stop and dragging the deputy. He was in critical condition Sunday evening at Memorial Hermann.
A round of state votes will make Tuesday the most important day in this primary election cycle since 16 states cast ballots on March 1.

Five states, including the three first winner-take-all contests of the cycle, have the potential to knock Republican candidates from the race and shore up a winner months before the GOP's convention in July.

Preliminary numbers forecast a very good night for frontrunner Donald Trump, would could be the party's inevitable nominee by Wednesday. But the polls have been wrong before, and an upset would have deep consequences for the primary race and the Republican Party.

A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Marist, released late Sunday, provides a fresh look at how now-dubbed "Super Tuesday 3" may wrap up.

The numbers give Ohio Gov. John Kasich a slight lead in Ohio over Trump, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio trailing far behind Trump in his home state.

Trump leads in Missouri, the night's final winner-take all state, and in Illinois and North Carolina, which will award delegates proportionally.

Victories on Tuesday, especially in winner-take-all states, would all but ensure Trump's path to the nomination  a nightmare for Republican Party leadership that has invested tens of millions of dollars in stopping his win, with little to show for its spending.

RELATED: Well-heeled anti-Trump PAC campaigns give Cruz a boost

If Trump wins across the board Tuesday, "it's going to be very hard for anybody to make the case that they can stop him," the WSJ's Gerald Seib said in a video posted Monday morning.



But the new poll suggests that a perfect night for Trump is unlikely, with Kasich perhaps headed for a win in Ohio, his first state victory of the race.

If Trump loses any other states  especially Missouri or Florida  it will "cast serious doubts about what happens afterwards," Seib said.

Trump's odds of amassing the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination outright would fall sharply, and no other candidate would stand a better a shot. That would increase the likelihood that no candidate claims an outright majority, forcing the delegates at the party's July convention to re-vote for a winner  which would be a historic occurrence.

RELATED: Ted Cruz predicts 'revolt' if GOP convention is brokered

A recent poll of Missouri voters by Fort Hays State University in Kansas gave Trump a seven point lead over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with a seven point margin of error. Missouri's highly evangelical Republican electorate is largely expected to gravitate toward Cruz, although a handful of similar Southern states picked Trump last week.

In Florida, the night's biggest prize with a single block of 99 delegates, Trump faces slim chances of a loss. The WSJ gave him a 20-point lead over Rubio.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz floated the idea Monday of building a presidential administration with his current rivals Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were he to win the November election.

Since Cruz's Super Tuesday victory speech on March 1, he's called on the lagging presidential candidates to drop out of the race in an effort to coalesce Republicans against frontrunner Donald Trump, who Cruz has said would be a "disaster" as his party's nominee.

RELATED: Cruz would support Trump as nominee, unless the mogul 'shoots somebody'

Cruz repeated the appeal at a press conference in Illinois Monday, according to a CNN report, but threw in an added incentive for his struggling rivals.

"If there isn't a viable path, then it's time for a candidate to move on," Cruz told reporters, "Of course, I could absolutely see a place for Marco Rubio and John Kasich in an administration. They're talented, smart, serious leaders."

A round of winner-take-all votes on Tuesday night could push Rubio and Kasich to abandon their campaigns if they lose their respective home states. Preliminary polls show Kasich leading Ohio by slim margins, and Rubio lagging dramatically behind Trump in Florida.

Tuesday's results will be highly anticipated. The GOP stands a real (and historic) chance of hosting a contested convention in July  and that depends mostly on when and if Kasich and Rubio leave the race.

RELATED: Trump could become inevitable GOP nominee by Wednesday

If the two win a solid chunk of delegates Tuesday, they will likely prevent either frontrunner Trump or runner-up Cruz from amassing the outright majority needed to win the nomination, in which case delegates would have to re-vote at the convention.

Cruz's best shot at winning a majority  which is still slim  would be to court the supporters of his rivals' campaigns in a bid to pitch himself as the party's only viable alternative to Trump.
-- THIS WEEK: Well-heeled anti-Trump PAC campaigns give Cruz a boost, by the Chronicles Kevin Diaz. Television ads and other media worth more than $20 million are being deployed in the upcoming primary states of Florida and Ohio by a collection of conservative groups orchestrating a barrage of attacks to weaken GOP front-runner Donald Trump - who happens to be Cruz's main impediment to the nomination.

Though some of the prosperous Republican donors in the Stop Trump movement are hardly friends of Cruz, he has become the default alternative to the maverick billionaire whom some see as an existential threat to the party. That leaves Cruz, the Texas senator running on an anti-Washington platform, as the chief beneficiary of an expensive ad blitz saturating the airwaves with anti-Trump messages.

-- Ohio critical to Republicans hoping to stop Trump, by the NYTs Trip Gabriel. The weekend of disturbances at Trump's rallies injected more unease into the race, and Trump's rivals' appeals turned emotional and urgent. On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida warned that a Trump White House would exploit hatred and stir violence.  Ohio has emerged as a critical contest, the one large state voting this week where Trump appeared vulnerable. A victory here by Gov. John Kasich would complicate Trump's attempt to gather a majority of delegates needed for the nomination.

-- The AP plays out the scenarios that could happen on Tuesday: a Trump sweep; a Florida win for Rubio and an Ohio win for Kasich; the governor and senator split their home states; or a Cruz sweep. The AP delegate count thus far: Donald Trump has 460. Ted Cruz has 370. Marco Rubi2o has 163. John Kasich has 63.

-- Hall and Huffines strike out attempting to defeat their won House members, by QRs James Russell. The trio wont be back with as many friends.

Two of their colleagues, Reps. Molly White of Belton and Stuart Spitzer of Kaufman lost their bids to former Reps. Hugh Shine and Lance Gooden. White finally conceded last night after a recount.

After the runoffs shake out, it is possible Jonathan Stickland, Matt Rinaldi, and Tony Tinderholt may have even fewer allies in the House, but theyll keep their alliances with Senate members who will have trouble passing bills for the lower chamber to potentially ignore.

Huffines and Hall are up for re-election until 2018. After finding themselves largely irrelevant in elections this cycle, what remains to be seen is whether leaders in their districts like mayors, city council members and school board members who opposed their election bids in 2014 will work against them when their names are again on the ballot.

-- Many state legislatures exempt themselves from record laws, per the AP. In several states, lawmakers who provided their records did withhold certain emails that they considered to be exempt from disclosure. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is the Republican head of the Senate, released 48 pages of emails but withheld the rest pending a request for a state attorney general's opinion on whether confidential communications between elected officials and citizens are shielded from disclosure.

-- GETTING READY: How an obscure committee could decide the GOP nomination, by Politicos Kyle Cheney. The convention's 112-member Rules Committee has enormous power to influence the outcome of the partys nomination fight, including the authority to undo policies requiring most of the 2,472 convention delegates to abide by the will of the voters  freeing them to vote according to personal preference -- or to erect all kinds of obstacles to Donald Trump's nomination.

SPEED READ

Texas Take: Toned down debate, toned down audience, Houston Chronicle

SD-1 GOP runoff could be locked early this week, Quorum Report

Is Melania Trump fair game? A Texas lobbyist thinks so, San Antonio Express-News

Delay in federal rules holds up unemployment benefit drug-testing, San Antonio Express-News

Without this Texas clinic, women with unwanted pregnancies would have to travel 230 miles or cross into Mexico, Los Angeles Times

A Texas candidate pushes the boundary of the far right, The New York Times

Obama thirsty for taste of Trumps wine, Austin American-Statesman

Cruz and Kasich condemn Trumps tone, but not him, Politico

Mitt Romney to hit campaign trail for John Kasich in Ohio, The Dallas Morning News

Top Paxton aide becomes executive director of pro-Cruz super PAC, The Dallas Morning News

In N.C., Cruz uses delegate math to pressure rivals but ducks on whether he would quit at point of no return, The Dallas Morning News

Obama warns against absolute view on phone security, Houston Chronicle

Mark Cuban calls Cruz worst politician in Texas, The Dallas Morning News

Trump wants supporters to take loyalty oaths but hes not the first candidate to do so, The Dallas Morning News

Open carry demonstration attracts topless protester, confuses SXSW-goers, Texas Observer

Cruz: Trump is taking advantage of uneducated supporters, The Dallas Morning News

RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

-- Rubio and the Florida primary: a political reckoning arrives, by the APs Steve Peoples. Yet (Albert) Lorenzo, (who managed Rubios first statehouse campaign), like those closest to Rubio, suggest that should his bid end in disappointment, the senator's career in public service is far from over. The 44-year-old Republican could run for Florida governor in two years, president in four years or even his own Senate seat later this year.  Added Rubio ally, Miami city commissioner Francis Suarez: I can't think of anybody more popular in Florida than he is  except maybe the man he's losing to.

-- Clinton facing a long primary slog that may help Trump, by the APs Lisa Lerer and Ken Thomas. Clinton aides insist there's little they will do to push Sanders from the race, but they are beginning to show signs of impatience with what they perceive as the increasingly negative tone of his campaign.  Aides say upcoming contests in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois look tighter than they did just days ago, forcing them to keep focus on the primary despite a sizable advantage among the delegates that determine the nomination. Victories on Tuesday would give Sanders fresh momentum and grant him months to continue criticizing Clinton's positions on issues that Trump wants to focus on in November.

-- Dems accuse Trump of inciting violence, by CNNs Stephen Collinson. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both accused Donald Trump of inciting violence, with the former secretary of state calling him "bigoted" and alleging he had perpetrated "political arson," while the Vermont senator labeled him a "pathological liar" at a town hall on Sunday night.

-- Cruzs data team drives delegate hunt, by Politicos Katie Glueck. The Texas senators operation is now making decisions based on daily and sometimes hourly data about where he stands to pick up the most delegates in the next round of voting, and only then publicly announcing his plans, typically with 24 hours notice or less.

The strategy of waiting until the last moment to plan and advertise events is inherently risky, increasing the chances for small crowds and bad optics. And it stands in contrast to the approach taken by other candidates. Donald Trump, with his Secret Service detail, must plan events days ahead of time. Marco Rubio and John Kasich release several days worth of logistics at a time, allowing for more organization and coverage of the events.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.


Science Source

Life is unfair, and while others have suspected as much before, biochemists can now prove it. You have colon cancerpossibly because a flawed APC gene failed to produce the protein that helps prevent the disease. When the cancer spreads to your liver, you need Pfizers Camptosar. But if youre the one-in-ten patient with a flawed UGT1A1 genefind out with a Food and Drug Administrationapproved test kityou lack an enzyme to purge the drug from your body before it accumulates to toxic levels. Your oncologist may be able to adjust the dose so you can take Camptosar anyway. Or maybe not.

Washington cant help. The Fourteenth Amendment doesnt guarantee equal protection at the pharmacy. No privacy-protecting, discrimination-banning law, no promise that someone else will pay, will ensure that a drug that suits others will suit your genetic profile too. If Pfizer cant make a gentler Camptosar, it will only do business with tougher patients. Meet pharmacogenomicseugenics for drugs.

This is where diversity blather gives way to the rigorous diversity science thats taking over the medical show. Drugs supply almost all the real health care these days, because human hands are too big to grapple with the microscopic things that cause most of our problems. Eugenic drugs reflect how biochemically separate and unequal people are. Some, indeed, target genes that track sex, race, or ethnicity; their FDA licenses affirm truths unmentionable in polite society and approve conduct illegal in every other sphere of commerce and public life. All are terrible news for anyone determined to pull people together, pool medicines costs, equalize its benefits, and lose diversity in the crowd. The doctors of equity promise universal access to the Mayo Clinic, where the real doctors now brew discriminatory cures and card your genes at the door.

So the stage is set for a long battle between radically new medical science and a senescent, unscientific vision of how diseases are cured and what the health-care system ought somehow to deliver. Much of the battle will be fought at the FDA, which is able to see things both ways, because it now has two separate brains humming away under its hat. What health care most needs is less of the old brain and more of the new. That policy alone will improve the quality of medicine and lower its cost more than any development since germs were exposed and immunology became a science almost a century and a half ago.

Soon after Watson and Crick published the blueprint for the double helix in 1953, George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion at Burroughs Wellcome began designing drugs systematically around the biochemistry presented by their intended targets. This logical approach foreshadowed the future of medicine and (in a weirdly circuitous way) the reinvention of the FDA almost three decades later. Scientists caught on much sooner, and structure-based drug design advanced rapidly as biochemists acquired the tools needed to read, configure, and build the molecules that choreograph life.

Drug designers take diseases apart. Iressa, for instance, targets a single receptor that proliferates in the most common form of lung cancer. The FDA licensed the drug in 2003, after clinical trials yielded good results. Follow-up trials involving almost 2,000 patients suggested, however, that the drug wasnt working after all. Further analysis then revealed that Iressa had indeed workedbut only on receptors found in 300 patients of Asian ancestry. Similar variations apparently explain significant differences in the efficacy of drugs used to treat many other cancers. White Americans have less tolerance for some antidepressants, antipsychotics, and heart-disease drugs, while blacks respond poorly to certain drugs for high blood pressure and hepatitis. Eleven variations in just one gene affect responses to common antidepressants.

Drug designers take the rest of the patient apart, too. Tolerance for many drugs often hinges on how well patients metabolize and expel them, which seems to depend on a couple of thousand variants in a couple of hundred different genes. What were once inexplicable side effects are now predictable interactions between the drugs chemistry and healthy parts of the patients. That lets medicine keep the drug and vote the too-delicate patient off the island.

Designers are also finding out when to leave well enough alone. A gene variant discovered in early 2008 apparently protects about 40 percent of African-Americans from heart disease as well as certain drugs do, by tinkering in much the same way with adrenalines effect on heart cells. Adriamycin has been routinely used against late-stage breast cancers, even though it can cause serious heart problems and spawn other cancers. A test that profiles 21 genes now identifies patients who will do as well on milder drugs, and others who can skip chemo altogether.

And thats it. Two thousand years after Democritus postulated a material universe made up of indivisible atoms, science can finally track life, too, down to its basic elements. Health once depended on four fickle humors, which apothecaries rebalanced with eye of newt, adders fork, and fillet of the fenny snake. Cholera was just one ill-humored disease among many that left patients lying in puddles of their own wastethen Koch and Pasteur found V. cholerae in the puddle, and others found tetracycline to kill it. Until quite recently, heart attacks were just bad lucknow theyre clogged arteries saved by cholesterol-busting Lipitor. Until even more recently, Camptosars toxic side effects were a mysterynow theyre a gene on a dipstick.

At each step, medicine has advanced by disassemblingthe old swellings, fluxes, and fevers into hundreds of discrete germs, the new into thousands of genes and other biochemicals. Pharmacology has found better ways to tame smaller shards of hostile life while dodging friendly molecular bystanders. And in scrambling to do all that, it has revealed that we arent all the same deep down, neither in sickness nor in health.

Charles de Gaulle once wondered how anyone could govern a nation that had 246 different kinds of cheese. Designer medicine could probably stock that many varieties on just the cholesterol shelf of its fromagerie. The simplest fix: fewer cheeses.

In most developed countries, the fix happens at the national health pharmacy, which stocks the governments favorite Brie and skips the Bleu de Termignon. The price of the drug falls sharply when the owner of its patent is permitted to sell to just one buyer. And sharply again when the government migrates patients to a generic alternative, which it does as quickly as possible. Formularies, wholesale purchases, and uneven copayment schedules accomplish much the same in the United States. All such schemes favor the cheapest pills that can help the most patientswhich means older drugs that serve the biochemical mainstream.

The government has compelling reasons to push things that way, because drugs are mostly know-howthe first pill costs a billion dollars, but copies cost only pennies to manufacture. So most drugs end up being sold close to cost when patents expire and generic copies flood the market. Every new sliver of human diversity offers drug companies, physicians, and patients a new opportunity and reason to go their own, separate, patented, and therefore expensive ways. Uniform crowds, one size fits all, and enough already are much cheaper.

Boundless diversity is ungovernable as well as costly. Setting national health-care priorities in Washington and herding people into line was straightforward when infectious germs threatened everyone and everyone could beat them with the same handful of vaccines and antibiotics. Most of todays drugs aim at differences within the herd itself. The fragmentation of diseases and cures leads inevitably to fragmentation of economic and political interest. That leaves drug companies in control of which patientsor make that biochemical profilesthe health-care system will help next, and companies are free to favor profiles that pay their bills. The global war against germs reached that point some time ago: the World Health Organization is very interested in malaria, but U.S. investors arent. Genes are next. Progress toward universal health care now depends on a pipeline of drugs controlled by Wall Street, not Washington.

Happily for patients, Wall Street prizes diversitythe real thinga lot more than Washington does. To be sure, drug companies make excellent money selling one-size cures for very common problems. But the stupendous diversity of human chemistry is the only thing that keeps the business profitable in the long run, because the clock is always ticking on patents already bottled, and at midnight the profits turn into pumpkins.

There is, moreover, lots of money to be made in tracking unhealthy differences down to their fragmented root causes. Drugs that target fatty blood, a malignant gene, or an insidious virus long before it morphs into a plaque, a tumor, or full-blown AIDS must often be prescribed for decades, and thus end up very profitable even when they address problems that arent very common at all. Wall Street adores them.

Diversity also lets drug companies take an almost free ride on innovation pioneered by their rivals. By tweaking a pioneer drugs chemistry, a me-too competitor can dodge the patent while saving itself the cost of reinventing all the chemistry. About 4 percent of HIV patients on an AIDS drug called saquinavir develop very high cholesterol levels; these patients tolerate two statin drugs quite well but react badly to two others. The second-generation painkillers (Vioxx among them) cause less stomach irritation and bleeding than aspirin and, unlike Advil, can be taken in tandem with blood thinners. And so many people use cholesterol drugs and painkillers that making small changes in the chemistry of established drugs can do more good and earn more money than developing completely new drugs that target less common diseases.

The money is also happy to build the patient-profiling test kitsautomated, microscopic laboratories constructed on silicon chipsthat expose diversity and take markets apart. One developed by Roche and approved by the FDA in late 2004 detects 31 genetic variations that determine how well patients metabolize certain drugs. Eli Lilly has another that categorizes patient chemistry during clinical trials. Theranostics, the combination of drugs with patient-screening kits, makes sense because greatly improving the product at modest cost almost always makes sense in a competitive market. Excluding the unsafe or ineffective drug-patient conjunctions during clinical trials can also cut hundreds of millions of dollars off the front-end cost of licensing. And if Pfizer itself doesnt develop the kit that tells patients that they cant metabolize Camptosar, Lilly or Roche will take care of it.

The FDA revolves around a requirement, signed into law by President Kennedy in 1962, that every new drug must first prove itself in clinical trials. Congress neglected, however, to specify just how many different flavors of human diversity have to be invited to a trial before the drug is good to go.

This oversight wasnt surprising. Between 1906 and 1962, when most of the FDAs governing statute was cobbled together, the diseases that mattered were caused mainly by infectious germs, and the FDA knew better than to license bigoted drugs to fight them. Cholera causes epidemics because one size fits alland tetracycline kills the bacterium wherever it finds it. An antibiotic can, in principle at least, work equally well and safely in every patient because it need not touch human chemistry at all. And the medical science of that era knew too little about the deep roots of heart disease, cancer, and most chronic and degenerative diseases to think about them very differently. Even less was known about diseases caused by drugs themselvesside effects.

In this state of ignorance, it was reasonable to hope that simple trials of modest size would suffice. Pollsters, after all, call a two-party national election by interviewing just a few thousand voters; each disease and its antidote seemed to present an equally simple, binary contest. The winner would be decided by tracking fevers, fluxes, lumps, morbidity, and other clinical symptoms, because germs aside, too little was known about the microscopic causes of diseases and side effects to proceed otherwise.

The years passed, and then the diversity police piled on. Their motives were probably more political than medical, but their demands made rough scientific sense, too. If patients are visibly different, they must also be somewhat biochemically different. Thus, six times between 1988 and 2002, Congress or the FDA itself demanded broader representation of race, ethnicity, sex, age, and population subgroups in clinical trials. As recently as 2005, the FDA licensed BiDil, a mixture of two older drugs for heart disease in self-identified black patients; a few months later, it directed drug companies to analyze clinical data using six sex/race/ethnic categories defined by the Office of Management and Budget to enforce civil rights laws in education. As the FDA sheepishly acknowledged at the time, however, those categories are sociocultural construct[s], not science. The patient, not the doctor, decides which box to check, and (s)he may check more than one.

Meanwhile, scientists had been excavating the biochemical constructs of diversity. What they found was (and remains) alarming: with tens of thousands of bystander molecules inside each patient, and no two patients quite the same, any drug that targets human chemistry and gets widely prescribed will almost inevitably sideswipe some innocents. Such drugs are risky even when they hit only the right target. In their 1985 Nobel lecture on the lipid, Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein noted that cholesterol is a Janus-faced moleculean indispensable component of our cell membranes, but lethal in excess. So, too, then, is Lipitor, and every other drug that tinkers with what makes us tick. Some bodies will inevitably stare down the dark face of the Janus-faced drug better than others.

To find out which ones, old-guard clinicians stage bigger trials and run them long enough for bad human chemistry to turn into bad clinical symptoms. Two decades ago, the typical trial involved about 1,000 patients; today, its well over 4,000; and tens of thousands of patients can be involved in testing drugs intended for widespread use. The length of these massive trials keeps growing as well.

Costs have risen in tandem. In a 1994 directive explaining how much diversity must be tested in trials that they fund, the National Institutes of Health found it necessary to add that cost is not an acceptable reason for exclusion. For drug companies, however, the cost of inclusion became a compelling reason to pursue only those drugs that could be sold to lots of patients once licensedwhich gave the FDA still more reason to require even bigger, longer trials. Arm in arm, the FDA and its wards tracked diversity into a quagmire of human trials that never stop growing, take forever, and cost the earth.

The drugs that survive clinical trials involving huge, indiscriminately assembled crowds will inevitably be those that subdue the most common forms of the disease and that the most common brands of stomach, liver, kidney, heart, and immune system will tolerate. The minority of patients may be allowed to veto a drug that causes sufficiently nasty side effects, but the last drug left on the shelf will still be the one that best suits the majority. And even those that suit the majority quite well will often fail to win by margins big enough to persuade the FDA that the benefits to some outweigh the risks to others.

While Congress certainly didnt anticipate or intend this result in 1962, safety first has emerged as the most potent and politically seductive policy for narrowing choice, saving money in the short term, and promoting more uniform (though less effective) care. It favors older drugs over me-too novelties still under patent, because the older ones have had years of additional vetting in the market. It slows licensing to a crawl, because some bad side effect may always still lurk just over the horizon. And the safety-first mind-set can launch runaway litigation that can knock out entire classes of drugs. Vioxx, we learn, apparently boosts the risk of heart attack or stroke. Merck and the FDA were negligent or worse. Lawsuits will be filed against Vioxx and all similar painkillers. We should have stuck with generic ibuprofen.

A safety-first policy presents its biggest hurdle at the threshold: even volunteers cant be poisoned willy-nilly just to establish that a drug should not be licensed, so human trials cant get started at all until lab and animal tests confirm that a drug shows promise and isnt too toxic. In 1964, a cancer drug called zidovudine missed the cut.

Synthesized by Jerome Horwitz, zidovudine was an early product of the new, logical approach to drug design pioneered by Hitchings and Elion. Zidovudine is a nucleoside analogue, a subtly flawed version of a molecule used to assemble nucleic acids like DNA, which cancer cells must clone every time they divide. The idea has been likened to bankrupting a bakery by supplying defective yeast. But 1964 wasnt a good time to be pursuing drugs that caused birth defects, even if only in cancer cells. The 1962 drug law had been propelled through Washington by a drug called thalidomide, which had a dreadful power to halt fetal limb development during the early stages of pregnancy. Burroughs Wellcome picked up zidovudine after Horwitz abandoned it, but then set it aside.

Then one day it became necessary to rethink everything. On June 5, 1981, government epidemiologists reported five cases, two of them fatal, of a rare form of fungal pneumonia in previously healthy young men living in Los Angeles. It took three years to isolate the underlying causea virus that destroys immune systemsby which time the stealth epidemic had been spreading across the United States for well over a decade. President Reagans FDA blasted an HIV-only tunnel through President Kennedys law, put the thalidomide past behind it, and embraced the molecular future.

Retroviruses like HIV reproduce by hijacking other cells and inserting their own blueprint into the hosts DNA. This hybrid human-viral genome may then lie dormant for years before beginning to churn out billions of new virions in a cancer-like frenzy. Antibiotics cant fix infected DNA; what was needed was something more like a cancer drug. A biochemist at Burroughs Wellcome figured that zidovudine might work. He sent it to scientists at the National Cancer Institute and Duke University and suggested that they give it a whirl in their HIV lab glassware. It looked promising. The FDA immediately authorized clinical trials.

In the 1962 way of doing things, the clinicians wouldnt have been able to prove that zidovudine would help the typical HIV-positive patient any faster than the untreated virus was likely to kill him, and the killing typically took ten years. Presented with a dreadful but slow-motion disease, the first and only drug that showed real promise against it in the lab, and solid biochemical logic for why the drug should thwart the virus, the FDA scrambled to draft new fast-track protocols that would allow clinicians to dodge questions that conventional trials couldnt answer quickly. HIV, zidovudine, Ronald Reagan, and the gay community thus converged to invent the first major lobe of the FDAs new brain.

As later formalized in FDA-speak, fast-track trials may focus on biomarkers and surrogate endpoints rather than clinically observable effects. A drug, in other words, may prove its stuff against the low-level chemistry of disease, the viral loads, cholesterol levels, or rogue proteins; the FDA wont always require evidence that it beats the whole AIDS, heart attack, cancer, arthritis, or Alzheimers. Microscopic changes, which happen much faster, will suffice when they reasonably suggest whole-patient benefits in the future, however distant.

The rock-bottom biomarkers are genes. In guidelines published in 2005, the FDA lists dozens of examples of genetic differences that may cause interindividual variations in drug performanceby affecting how a patient absorbs, metabolizes, or excretes a drug or how the drug interacts with any diseased or healthy chemistry in the patients body. Drug companies may use these differences in selecting patients for clinical trials, setting dosages, analyzing results, or writing warning labels. Companies are encouraged to develop diagnostic kits to identify biomarkers that matter.

The fast-track rules also changed the FDAs approach to safety. Zidovudine subverts HIVs genetic chemistry, but does it slip safely past all 25,000 human genes and their countless biochemical progeny scattered, in all their variety, through the rest of every last HIV-positive body? For all anyone knew in 1987, dreadful side effects would show up five years later. To dodge that concern, the first-round clinical trials focused on patients with advanced AIDS who were likely to die soon of fungal pneumonia. But everyone knew that once licensed, the drug was going to be used far more widely. The FDA licensed zidovudine anyway, though officially still clinging to the fiction that it would be used only by patients with terminal AIDS. The fast-track rule finalized very shortly after announced that whenever a life-threatening disease was involved, long-term safety questions could be resolved after the drug was licensed. Later versions of the rule said serious or even just severely debilitating. Progressive blindness will do, but baldness wont. If the new drug can beat a seriously bad biomarker, patients get it now; what it does to bystanders will be worked out down the road. Safety later.

The zidovudine trial had to be shut down prematurely in 1986, when the dead-patient count reached 191 against the sugar pill and in favor of the drug. Doctors treating real live patients cant ethically keep prescribing placebos just to run up the score once theyre personally convinced that the drug works. Thus, a drug for a new disease that had entered the lab in February 1985 was licensed in March 1987, far more quickly than any comparable drug had been cleared in the preceding two decades. A year later, Hitchings, Elion, and a third structural design pioneer shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Zidovudine is better known today as AZT.

For countless thousands of HIV patients, the fast-track rule turned out to be just barely fast enough. An AZT-resistant strain of HIV quickly emerged. Drug designers isolated the enzyme that HIV uses to assemble its protein shell, analyzed its three-dimensional structure, identified a key point of vulnerability, developed the first protease inhibitorsaquinavirand completed a fast-track rush through the FDA in 1995. A third class of HIV drugs that target another bit of HIVs chemistry soon followed. Three-drug cocktails have proved effective ever since.

In the past decade, according to one recent study, 25 trials of drugs that treat cancer of the breast, bowel, lung, kidney, ovary, and gastrointestinal tract were stopped earlier than planned, all but one because the drug was working too well. Five hadnt yet enrolled even half the number of patients planned. Their designers were surely more gratified than surprised. Tracking pneumonia to AIDS to HIV to a protein to an enzyme provides the blueprint for saquinavir. The drug then gets licensed because it suppresses a biomarker just a small step or two back up that same chain. Biochemical logic substitutes for extra years at the Mayo Clinic. The dealer is allowed to peek at the cards in this kind of poker, and that improves his game considerably.

He can also stack the deck, inviting to the trial only patients who present the precise biomarker that the drug was designed to beat. Because most problem biomarkers dont correlate with race or sex, a trial stacked this way wont usually look discriminatory to the naked eye. But sometimes they do, so sometimes it will. Too badclinicians will stack the biomarkers regardless, or disgrace their profession.

Once a drug is licensed, doctors may then prescribe it to any patient to treat any diseaseoff-label prescriptions are perfectly legal. The 1987 AZT license approved prescriptions only to patients with the secondary infections that accompany full-blown AIDS. But there immediately followed, as one critic put it, a froth of therapeutic euphoria, a rapid accumulation of evidence that the drug worked, and further (superfluous) clinical trials to keep FDA lawyers happy. Three years later, the FDA broadened the AZT license to cover early-stage treatment of any HIV-positive patient. Off-label bartenders then developed the three-drug cocktails. Letting doctors prescribe drugs indiscriminately causes trouble, too, but good outcomes spur rigorous trials that expand the license. That, in turn, allows broader marketing of the drug, expands insurance coverage, and often extends patents.

Biochemistry guides much of the off-label experimentation. Herceptin, first licensed to treat advanced breast cancers, was then found to cut recurrence rates in half for some patients with earlier-stage tumors. In the 1960s, the treatment of leprosy was revolutionized by one doctors serendipitous prescription of a notoriously dangerous sedative. Two decades later, another scientist identified a protein that the sedative suppresses, the protein was then linked to other diseases, and by 2006, the drug had ten FDA licenses on its wall. Several of them cover diseases that occur mainly in AIDS patients. Having jolted the FDA out of its thalidomide-induced sleep, the virus thus helped rehabilitate thalidomide itself.

Thalidomide and AZT both got special tax credits and exclusive marketing rights under the 1983 Orphan Drug Act, yet another pathbreaking change signed by President Reagan in the shadow of AIDS. The original idea was to help resurrect drugs dropped by pharmaceutical companies because too few patients needed them, but the law ended up also covering any new drug that treats a disease afflicting fewer than 200,000 U.S. patients. In 1987, AIDS still seemed rare enough meet that threshold.

Under the orphanages oversight, clinical trials grow smaller, not bigger. The tiniest orphan licensed so far was tested by a single doctor in eight of the 14 U.S. patients suffering from an exceedingly rare immune-deficiency disease. Orphans often get licensed quickly, too, because many orphan diseases are caused by flawed genes, many genetic diseases look serious enough to the FDA for the fast-track rule to kick in, and every unique gene defines a unique protein immediately downstream, which can serve as a biomarker to track. And orphan trials can be quite cheap. Getting a drug designated an orphan isnt difficult, and the FDA then helps design the tests needed to get it approved and offers some direct grants to help even the solitary doctor convert an off-label practice into a license.

The law lets rich parents adopt orphans, too, and that has allowed big drug companies to show how much they can accomplish under an FDA that welcomes small trials and makes quick decisions that are often predicated as much on biochemical logic as on clinical results. This has proved fortunate for the orphans, because exploring the genetic bottom where orphans abound is very expensive. Little orphan Gleevec was painstakingly designed to suppress a rogue human protein associated with a rare form of leukemia. The FDA approved quick trials, reviewed the results in three months, conceded it didnt yet know whether the drug would keep patients alive longer, and licensed it anyway. Science, the agency declared, now has tools to probe the molecular anatomy of tumor cells in search of cancer-causing proteins. Gleevec is proof that molecular targeting works.

Some of the little orphans then become billionaires. One year after securing its leukemia license, Gleevec landed a second to treat a rare gastrointestinal cancer. Five more orphan licenses followed, and more are expected. Gleevec currently rakes in several billion dollars a year, and its revenues continue to rise fast. Traveling the other way down the same road, some billionaires declare themselves orphans. Viagra is a certified orphan because it can treat a rare form of hypertension. So is a quite widely used acne drug, when directed against a rare cancer. Over half of the orphans end up as wards of Big Pharma, and the most successful end up treating big crowds.

The orphan-billionaire reflects the gulf between the old medicine and the new. While new and improved on other matters, the orphanage still defines disease from the top downpimples arent cancer, bone cancer isnt gut cancer, and tense blood isnt flaccid sex. The biochemists who fit drugs to diseases look for a common molecular problem lurking underneath, and if the same problem lurks under seven diseases, Gleevec earns seven-orphan profits. The biochemists also know that if a serious two-bad-gene disease hits 200,000 Americans, a milder one-gene version of the disease will hit 15 million, and that helps attract investors. Designer science doesnt just pull diseases apart; it can also pull them back together, albeit in weird new ways.

So the 1962 brain is still there, too, but the FDA has grown a new brain alongside it. Billionaire drugs for common, not-too-serious ailments still creep like unwilling snails through Rogaine brain; orphan-billionaire drugs for rare and serious diseases glide through the lobes of Gleevec. In Gleevec brain, solitary doctors and corporate behemoths pursue biochemical hunches, old and new, and the FDA eggs them on. A drug gets prescribed wildly off-label, to treat diseases that at first glance seem to have nothing in common, and the FDA waves this by. Gleevec brain takes the FDA back to its childhood. Performing as promiseda requirement dating back to the 1906 truth-in-labeling law that created the FDAgets the drug licensed. Nailing down safetythe requirement first codified in 1938 and relentlessly expanded after 1962comes later.

The sequencing of a first human genome (with 6 billion and counting to go) wasnt finished until 2003, and the FDAs Gleevec brain is still under construction. It will take some years for drug companies to assimilate the new science, new rules, and new economics. Then the dam will burst. One recent estimate suggests that 6,000 diseases that collectively threaten 25 million Americans qualify as orphans, and new links between genes and disease are discovered almost every day. About 1,400 orphan drugs have been certified, over 280 have been licensed, and they have been used to treat over 14 million patients since 1983. Far more drugs will be required to treat uncommon genetic diseases that arent quite rare enough to qualify as orphansroughly speaking, flaws that show up (as single copies) in more than 5 percent of Americans. And countless other genetic differences will be implicated in side effects, driving still more fragmentation in the pharmacy. Gleevec apparently works less well in patients with too much of a protein called IGF-1R.

If the law lets them, biochemists will design and bottle as many potent, dangerous drugs as it takes to span the vast breadth of human diversity and all the forever mutating microbes that afflict uswhich, of course, means that the biochemists will be at it forever. Potent drugs because they are perfectly designed to jigger one key molecule in the molecular infrastructure of life. Dangerous because they go after such delicate, important stuff. And safe only when prescribed to exactly the right patients. Designed drugs are intensely discriminatory.

And also not discriminatory at all. Saquinavir doesnt care a fig about sexual orientation; it hates HIV protease and nothing else. And ifas now appears likelyseven other protease inhibitors, each slightly different, hate hepatitis C, herpes, the common cold, or a key link in the chemistry of osteoporosis, inflammation, strokes, or Alzheimers, the hatred wont hinge on standard forms of bigotry. BiDil, the drug for self-identified black patients, didnt sell and was withdrawn three years after it was licensed. Its backers blamed racial bias in the health-care system. The next BiDil will be for people who match a color-blind biochemical profile diagnosed by a dipstick.

The future is also economically indiscriminate, because copying knowledge is so cheap, even when its printed in chemistry. People with biochemical profiles not yet covered by good drugs are victims of our collective ignorance, not their individual poverty. New knowledge, the main economic ingredient of every drug, ends up shared for free with everyone when the patent expires.

No clinical trial can prove that researchers, drug companies, doctors, and patients should be allowed to communicate and collaborate freely, that academics should be permitted to patent drugs developed under federal grants (as yet another Reagan-era law allows), that drug patents in general should be strengthened, that more drugs should be declared orphans, that more should be fast-tracked, that me-too drugs should be welcomed, that patients and doctors should be given even more discretion, and that we should celebrate dipsticks and digital networks that tell small groups of patients what they need and mobilize them to fight for it.

Nor can it be denied that this agenda has an ideological slant. It favors dispersion of information, authority, and economic interest. It relies less on electing drugs in national referenda run from Washington, and more on town meetings convened by biochemists and doctors. It benefits those who add their own intelligence to the drugs and endangers those who dont. It requires our parents to pay more for patented pills today, to get cheap generics to their grown children and new and better drugs to their grandchildren. It accepts that even while still under patent, medicine brewed by the vat with Wall Streets money provides far more health care, far more cheaply, than any alternative.

In support of this agenda we can, however, invoke the biochemical logic of drugs and patients. The patients chemistry matters as much as the drugs. Americans are biochemically diverse. Only so much can be learned at the Mayo Clinic; the rest has to be learned from patients whose chemistries werent invited to the trial. Trying to invite them all leads to quagmire and stifles learning before it begins. Getting from where we are now to universal care at the pharmacy will involve far more information than Washington can ever hope to assimilate.
Editors Note: This post was produced as part of a graduate course on media writing and storytelling taught by the editors of Columbia Journalism Review.

Last month, the human rights organization Amnesty International revealed the exact location of a mass burial site on the outskirts of Bujumbura, Burundi. It allegedly held the bodies of at least 50 people who died from political violence in December of last year. International media outlets like The New York Times, Reuters, and Foreign Policy were quick to report on the sites importance, saying it adds to the growing evidence of atrocities, including murder, violence, and gang rape committed by the Burundian security forces.

Amnestys evidence is important for other reasons, too. It shows how the use of open-source intelligence is becoming a common, yet underexamined, approach to human rights reporting in uncovering crimes against humanity. Open-source intelligence refers to a broad array of information generally available to the public, including Google Earths satellite imagery, content from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, online videos and images, and geo-referenced field documentation.

Amnesty is not the only organization involved in using new technology to document human rights. In South London, Forensic Architecture is using mobile phone technology from ordinary people to collect data, while Bellingcat, a site for citizen journalists to investigate current events using open-source intelligence, has previously investigated events such as the Syrian Civil War and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine.

I actually think that maybe its wrong to call some of this stuff open-source intelligence, because what were really talking about is just journalism, says Keith Hiatt, Director of the Human Rights and Technology Program at the UC Berkeley School of Law. Theres nothing new about it; its just how you do journalism, but with new types of documents.

Theres little doubt that the use of new data is growing as part of reporting conflicts and human rights abuses. For journalists reporting during a humanitarian crisis, these sources provide relief by verifying facts and gathering information quickly and, more often than not, reliably. In the face of new and exciting ways to uncover human rights stories, however, there are also new challenges. As human rights reporting has changed drastically in a digital age from old-fashioned street reporting to work far more reliant on sophisticated data, there is a struggle to use these technologies in a smart, safe way.

For one, the increasing reliance on open-source materials means that journalists do not always use witness testimony or boots on the ground, especially in high-conflict areas like Syria and Ukraine. Instead, the use of compelling evidence compiled by human rights organizations and citizen evidence on the internet is often seen as enough.

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These are good tools, but they have to be accompanied by narratives on the ground, because otherwise you dont know what youre looking for, says Siobhan OGrady, staff writer at Foreign Policy. Its hard to navigate, because its a really strange thing where youre saying this looks like proof, but no-one is actually on the ground.

OGrady recalls writing about the attacks by Boko Haram militants in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga using satellite imagery released by Amnesty: When I confronted Nigerian officials with reference to the Amnesty International reports, they mocked it and countered [the evidence], and it was interesting to me just how defensive the Nigerian government got, she says. Theres a lot of fear from governments, as you dont need permission to get a satellite photo, and that scares them.

In Burundis case, confirmation of the site was all about data: Amnestys researchers cracked the case of the mass graves using the mobile-phone footage that had emerged by determining the location using the videos content.

Satellite imagery by Amnesty International

The initial request I got was if we can use satellite imagery to look for the mass graves, says Christoph Koettl, a senior analyst at Amnesty International and founder of Citizen Evidence Lab. I said we could in theory, but its not feasible if we dont know where to look. After getting some clues about the geographic location in Bujumbura from the human source who shot the footage, Koettl analyzed the site using Google Satellite Imagery. The images also strongly enhanced eyewitness testimony on the ground, according to Amnesty.

Reliability is another obstacle. Since open-source evidence is almost always circumstantial, inferential steps are required to piece together what the evidence can prove. Koettl concedes that in many cases, satellite imagery can only tell so much. When you see a satellite image of a building, what does that mean? The image itself might not tell you everything; you always need other information to corroborate with the image and verify the source, he says.

Assuming the evidence is authentic, an expert witness may be required to explain the context, such as what the photographs or video show. High-quality satellite imagery can also be expensive and require people with expertise, Koettl says, which means either journalists will have to start becoming more familiar with source verification in a digital environment, or face limitations and rely more on human rights organizations like Amnesty to verify the sources.

As someone who works for a human rights organization here at Berkeley, I absolutely think that journalists should not uncritically use our materials, Hiatt says. The reason, he adds, is that human rights organizations simply have different objectives and obligations that may not be journalistically appropriate. A journalist has an obligation to fact-check our materials, and also to do their own analysis of whether that report should be used.

OGrady agrees. Its important for journalists to use this information, but to let the readers decide what theyre going to think about it. Its important to always say, according to Amnesty or according to [Amnestys] analysis, because Im not a satellite image expert, she says.

Another challenge with open-source intelligence is that it increases the level of risk faced by citizens who gather the information firsthandthe uploader of an incriminating video, the bystander in a photo, or the person who tweeted her geolocation. In some situations, the tools used in human rights reporting in a digital age can also be helpful to an authoritarian regime.

I think journalists sometimes get really excited about these technologies, because when they observe something in a refugee context or a human rights crisis, they want to call attention to the issue, says Hiatt. In so many contexts that is exactly right, but in a conflict zone, calling attention to someones suffering may get them killed, as it can inadvertently give someone away.

Hiatt points to photos of refugees fleeing as an example: Im always conscious of the fact that Im not the only person seeing those photos, and that theres somebody out there who wants to hurt them who is also seeing those photos. If I can figure out where that person is, so can their adversaries.

Claire Wardle, who co-authored The Verification Handbook and has been working with Storyful in social newsgathering and verification, says that while journalists and human rights organizations have different objectives, both need to use the same open-source verification techniques, whether its Amnesty releasing a report about Burundi, or The New York Times writing about ISIS dropping bombs in Syria.

OGrady agrees that in many ways, human rights organizations have the same instinct and job as reporters, but with a different mission. A lot of what theyre doing is reporting, but theyre just not reporting for an unbiased publication, theyre reporting with different intent, she says.

You have both journalists using that material to tell stories, as well as human rights organizations using that same material to capture atrocities and to bring people to justice, Wardle says. So, while youve got the materials being used in different contexts, the protocol that you have to go through is the same.

This can include looking at provenancethe source, date, and location for every piece of social media data, and checking if the video or image is original. And while open-source evidence is useful for cases where journalists may not always have boots on the ground, where possible, the evidence should be used as a supplement.

At the end of the day, the publications the journalists work for are making money off this content, so theyre getting value out of this content, Hiatt says. As they collect images to post them and to report on them, they need to think what risks are attached to it in a human rights crisis. Its just a thorny, tricky situation.

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Astha Rajvanshi is a journalist and fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs. Based in New Delhi, she is examining the lives of women and marginalized communities in India.
As someone who fights for the rights of journalists, Ive been following the US presidential campaign with a particular concern. What strikes me is how the candidates use both traditional and social media to generate attention. The Trump campaign, in particular, is making me apprehensive about the safety of journalists around the world. Let me explain why.

Trump entered the campaign back in June by making a patently offensive and outlandish statementMexican immigrants are rapists. The sheer outrageousness of his remarksnot to mention the furious reactionmade Trumps comments newsworthy and generated a flurry of media coverage. There were plenty of denunciations, but those who agreed with Trumps message were not only made aware of his campaign but were made aware of each other. They began to self-organize into a virtual community that has helped fuel support for the Trump juggernaut.

Since his initial foray, Trump has brilliantly refined this model. Every time he needs to raise his visibility, change the subject, or respond to an attack, he says something outrageous and the cycle starts again. Trump is hardly the first candidate to operate at the intersection of social and traditional media. The 2008 Obama campaign used social media in innovative ways, utilizing community organizing strategies to create a robust and engaged online community of supporters.

But Trumps approach is different. His strategy is to shock the media system by being outrageous, offensive, or provocative. The shock can be delivered either through traditional mediafor example, by mocking the disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski at a campaign rallyor via social media. Trumps Twitter feed is a stream of invective directed against his rivals and the media. (David Brooks is the dumbest of them all, Fox announcers are clowns.)

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The shock reverberates across the entire media ecosystem, with the traditional media compelled to cover Trumps social media pronouncements, and Trump supporters using social media to amplify and spread anything he does via traditional media.

As a new study on election influencers from a research group at MIT Media Lab put it, [T]he old influence hierarchy has been shattered, replaced by a new mosaic of influence in which social media play a growing role. It rated @RealDonaldTrump as the top influencer, describing him as a master of both domains. William Powers, one of the studys authors, noted that while Trump is clearly not a digital native, he was ahead of the curve in that he learned how to become his own media outlet long ago.

While the MIT study focuses on Twitterwhere Trump currently has more than 6.8 millions followersTrump also has huge followings on Facebook (6.3 million likes), and YouTube (4.1 million views on his channel). Trumps Twitter numbers dwarf his Republican rivalsMarco Rubio has 1.3 million followersand he comfortably tops Clinton, who clocks in at 5.7 million followers.

Regardless of your views on Trump, a media system with fewer gatekeepers is exciting because it allows unconventional forces to overcome the institutional barriers and get their messages out. But there is a big downside, which is that the continuous erosion of traditional medias power in the United States is part of a broader global dynamic that is putting journalists at greater risk.

This is because what keeps journalists safe is not just legal protections and institutional safeguards. Its also their usefulness to powerful forces seeking to communicate with the public. Politicians have always had a certain disdain for the media, but they treated journalists with some deference because they needed them. Even insurgent and criminal groups routinely cultivated the press. Journalists working in conflict zones understood that it was not respect for the Geneva Conventions that kept them alive. If was the information monopoly that journalists exercised collectively, which made them indispensable to the warring parties.

The continuous erosion of traditional medias power in the United States is part of a broader global dynamic that is putting journalists at greater risk.

The shifting power dynamic plays out differently in different spheres. For example, if you want to find out what President Obama has been up to, you can skip the nightly news and watch West Wing Week, a slick video roundup produced by the White House and distributed through social media channels. The White House routinely grants unfettered access to the presidents official photographer while restricting the press pool, a policy denounced as Orwellian Image Control by APs photo chief. The fact that the Obama administration does not need to rely on the traditional media to deliver its message makes it easier to keep journalists at bay. In a 2013 CPJ report on The Obama Administration and The Press, New York Times correspondent David Sanger declared, This is the most closed, control freak administration Ive ever covered.

The dynamic plays out more harshly in repressive countries like Russia, where Vladimir Putin has cracked down hard on the independent press while developing a parallel propaganda network that covers news as dictated by the Kremlin. In fact, Putin has used state-controlled media to rally support for military interventions in Ukraine and Syria and to undermine Western policies and interests around the world.

An even bigger transformation has taken place among criminal and militant groupsfrom drug cartels in Mexico to Islamic insurgent groups in Syria. Where these groups might once have cultivated journalists and granted exclusive interviews, today the more common method of grabbing media attention is to carry out an atrocity, document it, and post it to social media. They rely on coverage from the traditional media to amplify their message of terror.

The Islamic State is the most gruesome example, and the subjects of their terror videos are often journalists themselves. This changing power dynamic explains why were in the most dangerous and deadly period for the media in recent history, according to CPJ research.

Of course, Trump insulting immigrants is not the same as ISIS cutting off heads, but the principle is similar. Use dramatic and shocking action to get attention; rely on social media to control your message, engage critics, and mobilize support; depend on the feedback loop between social and traditional media to reach a mass audience.

The strategy works because it relies on the media ecosystem as a whole, not relationships with individual journalists. Trump can expel Jorge Ramos from a press conference for asking an impertinent question; intimate that Megyn Kelly has it in for him because she is menstruating; threaten to sue journalists and tighten libel laws; repeatedly denounce all journalists as scum, and show indifference toward reporters roughed up or even arrested while covering his eventsand still get precisely the coverage he needs.

The media relationship is defined by power, and as the power of traditional media ebbs, the relationship between journalists and those they cover is redefined. Trumps media strategy is confirmation that the most effective way to get media attention today is to engage in shocking behavior, use social media to control your message, and rely on traditional media to amplify your voice. As long as that strategy works, it will be used. Thats bad news for the US elections, but even worse for journalists working in dangerous environments who depend on their utility to keep them safe.

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Joel Simon is a fellow at Tow Center for Digital Journalism. His next book is The Infodemic: How Censorship Made the World Sicker and Less Free co-authored with Robert Mahoney.
We were prepared to write a column about how many news outlets incorrectly described the public viewing of the bodies of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former first lady Nancy Reagan as lying in state. Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, almost no one did.

Most reports, in broadcast and print, said that Mrs. Reagan, the widow of President Ronald Reagan, would lie in repose at the Reagan Presidential Library in California. A few print reports said Scalia would lie in state in the Supreme Court, but far more said he would lie in repose. Well done!

That means some people recognize that lying in state is reserved only for heads of government, and even then, only when lying in state in the building that is the seat of government, like the US Capitol. When President Reagan died, his body was on display in several places, though not at the same time, and many news reports said he was lying in state only in the Capitol Rotunda, and was lying in repose everywhere else.

But its not quite that simple. Not every president has lain in state in the Capitol, and not everyone who has lain in state in the Capitol has been head of state. Its also been said that only someone who is getting a state funeral can lie in state, but thats not a sure thing, either.

The truth is, its hard to find hard and fast rules governing who gets to lie in state. These occasions are either authorized by a congressional resolution or approved by the congressional leadership, when permission is granted by survivors, according to the office of the Architect of the Capitol, which should know. The list of the people who have lain in state in the Rotunda since the practice began in 1852 include 10 presidents; Pierre LEnfant, the city planner for Washington, DC; members of Congress; military commanders; and unknowns from World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam conflict. The most recent was Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, in 2015.

Until 1998, the only way to lay in the Rotunda was in state. After two Capitol police officers were killed in an attack, a special House resolution created a new category, to lay in honor. Rosa Parks lay in honor in 2005.

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So if you are in the Rotunda, youre either lying in state or in honor. If youre not there, you are lying in repose.

But thats such an odd expression. The person is deadat rest, perhapsbut in repose?

Merriam-Websters dictionary has several definitions of the verb repose, including to lay at rest, to lie at rest, and to lie dead. As a noun, the definitions are a state of resting (as after exertion); eternal or heavenly rest; calm; peace; etc.

Repose is a calming word, but it rarely appears outside of a context involving death. In the six months before the death of Scalia, only a few mentions in Nexis spoke not of heavenly rest but of some other kind, and many of those were in classical or artistic contexts. So be aware that even if you dont intend death to stalk your use of repose, it probably will.

Now, whats the difference between lay at rest and lie at rest? Simple: Ones a transitive verb (They will lay his body to rest) and the other is intransitive (His body will lie at rest). If you need further elocutions on lay and lie, theyre lying in this state.

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Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at the New York Times, where she worked for twenty-five years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl.
State regulators asked oil and natural gas producers in central Oklahoma to decrease their wastewater disposal operations to try to temper the sharp increase in the number and severity of earthquakes in the energy-rich state.

The proposal released by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission covers more than 400 wells across 6,000 square miles, and it comes less than a month after the commission issued a similar plan covering nearly 250 wells in northwestern Oklahoma. Oklahoma has about 3,800 disposal wells statewide.

The commission wants the central Oklahoma cuts to be phased in over the next two months, and it plans to review the efficacy of the adjustments in about six months. Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said disposal volumes are about 970,160 barrels a day in the region, and regulators want to get that number down to 724,000 barrels a day, which is about a 25 percent cut from current levels. A barrel equals 42 gallons.

The number of earthquakes with a magnitude 3.0 or greater has skyrocketed in Oklahoma, from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 900 last year. Last month, a 5.1-magnitude temblor hit the state  the third-largest ever recorded in the state. Scientists have linked the quakes to the underground disposal of wastewater from oil-and-gas production.

Its too early to tell whether volume limits have been successful in Oklahoma. Data from the U.S. Geological Survey show that in the 20 days before the 5.1 temblor hit on Feb. 13, there had been 31 earthquakes in northwestern Oklahoma. In the 20 days since regulators asked for the cuts on Feb. 16, there were 30 earthquakes centered in the region.

Researchers have made it very clear to us that there is no off switch (to seismic activity), Skinner said. It will take time.

The proposed reductions come at a precarious time for the oil and gas-producing state. Sharp declines in oil prices have sent Oklahomas economy into a tailspin and a $1.3 billion shortfall.

It does not help when the commission contacts an operator whos struggling with $30 oil and trying to keep his business going, that its going to possibly impact their cash flow situation, said Tim Baker, director of the commissions Oil & Gas Conservation Division. But the operators recognize the earthquake problem in Oklahoma is a serious problem.

Baker said pushback from producers from previous plans issued by the commission has been minimal, with two companies initially objecting to the reductions but ultimately complying. Under the current interpretation of the law, commission staff can only recommend that a producer reduce disposal volumes. But if an operator balks at complying, the staff will go to court to force compliance.

A message seeking comment on Mondays wastewater disposal plan from the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association was not immediately returned Monday.

Both the energy industry and scientists agree that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, doesnt directly cause significant earthquakes. Where they disagree is over what role injection of the byproduct wastewater back into the deep ground plays in inducing the quakes.

U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough said the commissions report added to a body of knowledge about links between wastewater disposal and earthquakes. Hough co-authored a study that concluded Oklahomas spike in earthquakes was likely the result of industrial activities over the last century, such as oil and gas drilling.

More as a private citizen, its gratifying to see steps being taken to know about the problem, she said. I would view that as a positive step whether I was a scientist or not, she said.

(Associated Press writer Kelly P. Kissel contributed to this report from Little Rock, Arkansas.)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Remembering Beatles' Sir George Martin & His Classical Influence on a Generation

LONDON - 1964: Rock and roll band 'The Beatles' poses for a portrait with their producer George Martin. (L-R) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, producer George Martin, John Lennon. (Photo : Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Famed record producer and legendary "Fifth Beatle," George Martin, died last Tuesday, March 8th, joining other icons such David Bowie, Pierre Boulez and more who also passed away this year. Among the many remembrances of the musical giant, it's easy to gloss over the greatness of Martin's classical arrangement and composition work.

Sir Martin's background and influence in classical music shaped his uncanny ability to produce uniquely disparate pieces, from lush orchestral arrangements to compact pop hits. Martin began playing piano at a young age, inspired by the symphony orchestras heard in his youth. The producer even performed oboe and worked for the BBC's classical music department before beginning his acclaimed decade of hits with the Beatles in the 1960s.

To wit, it was Martin's background and experience in classical music that helped shape many of the Beatles compositions that are still so highly regarded today. Imagine Paul McCartney's brilliant "Eleanor Rigby" without the trademark string octet backing, composed and conducted by Martin, or the producer's orchestral glissandos removed from the classic Lennon-McCartney composition, "A Day in the Life".

Even after the Beatles' career as a group imploded, Martin continued composing, conducting and recording classical music alongside other popular works, operating his own recording studio to further the cause. Always on the pulse of the ever-evolving music world, Martin felt no intimidation from electronic compositional tools, which he commented on to the BBC by saying:

"The classical orchestra may be under threat from technology, but no amount of electronics or computer wizardry can ever match the warmth, the art and the sheer genius of the finest players. I salute them and support them wholeheartedly"

The Medici String Quartet was just one of the chamber music ensembles recorded by Martin at his AIR studios in London. Recalling their experience with the producer in the early '90s, violist Ivo-Jan van der Werff recently spoke of Sir Martin's studio countenance to Public Radio International:

"One of the things that struck us as soon as we stepped into the studio is that George had a real sense of sound. Sometimes when you're in a studio you take quite a long time to get a decent quartet sound to get the balance right but with George it happened within minutes."

Since his death last week, the music world is more mindful and appreciative of the many interesting aspects of Sir George Martin's longstanding recording and producing career. Let us know your favorite classical music feature of a Beatles song in the comments section below.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsGeorge Martin, The Beatles
EXCLUSIVE: David Lang, Netia Jones Talk Mostly Mozart Fest's 50th Anniversary

Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart festival is a staple of New York's classical music summer programming. More than likely a contributing factor to the city's summer influx of residents, Mostly Mozart is celebrating 50 years of concerts this year with a unique commission from Pulitzer Prize-winning, Oscar-nominated classical giant David Lang.

Last month, the Center held a press conference to unveil a plethora of world premieres to be featured during the gala. Of course, though, everyone's curiosity fell on Lang's new orchestration, which will feature 1,000 common voices (common meaning voices trained and untrained). During the conference, the composer remarked candidly that he composed an earlier piece entitled Crowd Out that was a manifestation of people "yelling in the street." His latest project follows a similar pattern.

Lang is not excluding anyone from the process, either. Instead, he shared that his vision is to bring the collective knowledge that is present in all humans into the sphere of music, unifying 1,000 voices of men, women and children abound in one grand performance.

The commission, entitled the public domain, asks those who are interested in this unique endeavor to sign up online for a chance to partake in the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Requests can be filed here.

Additional highlights alongside Lang's new commission will include a new production entitled The Illuminated Heart: Selections from Mozart's Operas, conceived and directed by Netia Jones. Ms. Jones spoke on the panel (in the video below) about how the stage will act as more than just a surface for the performance, noting that there will be panels that extend outward to the audience almost as if the set were "inviting" lookers inward.

Also on the panel was music director Louis Langree, who shared that he will lead the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in semi-staged productions of Cosi fan tutte and Idomineo; and contemporary music ensemble ICE will premiere 50 works to honor the 50th anniversary season.

Luckily Classicalite was able to capture the important moments from the press conference on video. Please watch to answer all your questions by watching a segment from the talk below.

Tickets go on sale for Friends of Lincoln Center on April 18 and to the general public April 25. The festival will begin July 22 and run until Aug. 27.

 2016 The Classical Art, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

TagsMostly Mozart, David Lang, Netia Jones, Louis Langree, Lincoln Center, EXCLUSIVE
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man is accused of growing and selling psychedelic mushrooms at his home, where police found the mother of a 2-year-old boy high on LSD, according to court records.

Shaun Maki, 29, faces second-degree felony charges of drug trafficking, manufacturing drugs and drug possession. He is also charged with one count of child endangering.

The boy's mother, Desiree King, 25, of Norton, is charged with misdemeanor child endangering.

Akron police were called about 2:30 a.m. Monday to Maki's home in the 2600 block of Shoreline Drive for an argument at the apartment.

Officers reported seeing drugs in the apartment. They waited for a judge's permission to search the apartment.

Investigators reported finding more than 100 doses of psychedelic mushrooms in Maki's apartment, along with a shotgun.

They also found King inside the apartment with her 2-year-old son, according to police.

A warrant was issued for King's arrest. She was not in police custody early Monday.
Tripadvisor list

Tripadvisor put Little Italy on a list of must-see places to visit in Cleveland. Shown here is the 2014 Columbus Day Parade.

(Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Tripadvisor's vacation rentals blog has named Cleveland as one of 11 cities on its Downtown America list of "Awesome Urban Districts Exploding with Character."

Also on the list are Bellevue, Washington; the Los Angeles downtown Arts District; Thornton Park in Orlando, Florida; and downtown Silver Springs, Maryland.

The listing is part of a recent phenomenon in which Cleveland is being listed by travel journals and other outlets as a hot destination.

That's a new twist for a city that has perennially made lists of America's poorest or most economically distressed cities.

In other words, Cleveland could be viewed as two cities. With the Republican National Convention coming soon, both are getting attention.

The Tripadvisor website states that "a trip to Cleveland likely involves a night or two in its renowned theater district, home to Playhouse Square, the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City.''

The website also describes Playhouse Square as Cleveland's "main attraction." It's no knock on the theater district that aficionados of the Rock and Roll of Fame and Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Orchestra may beg to differ.

The article's main point about Cleveland is that visitors would be "remiss to pass on two other gems: Coventry Village and Little Italy."

The article describes the transformation of Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights "from a stale commercial business district to a hard-rocking music scene ripe for artists and hipster types."

It lists the Rock club Grog Shop and its counterpart B-Side as hot spots. It also touts the area's quirky bookstores and Phoenix Coffee cafe.

As for Cleveland's Little Italy, the website recommends trying "some of Ohio's best, most authentic Italian cuisine."

The website also recommends perusing the district's art galleries, and visiting Spuzzillo's Market.

"Scoop up some Italian spices, sauces or rubs and an assortment of cured meats to take back to your vacation rental," the website says.
Broadview Heights McDonald's.JPG

The new Broadview Heights McDonald's would stand on Ohio Route 82 just east of Bob Evans and across the street from Giant Eagle.

(Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com)

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - A new McDonald's restaurant on Ohio Route 82 in Broadview Heights will likely replace the McDonald's on Brecksville Road in Brecksville - and it could happen this summer.

The Broadview Heights McDonald's would stand just west of Interstate 77, on the south side of 82, between a recently opened Bob Evans restaurant and an extended Treeworth Boulevard.

The McDonald's site is a stone's throw from the MetroHealth Systems' new Brecksville Health Center, now under construction off 82.

In February, the Broadview Heights Planning Commission gave the new McDonald's preliminary approval, and earlier in March, the city's Board of Zoning Appeals approved four zoning variances for the project.

One variance will allow the restaurant to stand about 7 feet closer to the street than required under city code. The other three variances will allow the parking lot to lie closer to the front, side and rear lot lines than normally required.

The plan will eventually return to the planning commission for a second approval. City Council will have the final say.

According to plans submitted to the city, McDonald's will spend $1.2 million to build the new 4,450-square-foot restaurant, which will have 64 seats and dual drive-through lanes. The building will be made of brick with stone accents.

McDonald's hopes to start building in June and finish by the end of August, provided that council OKs the plan.

At a January meeting of council's Growth, Planning and Zoning Committee, David Gnatowski, an official with McDonald's Corp., said that once the new Broadview Heights restaurant opens, the Brecksville McDonald's will close.

However, Phil Saken, a McDonald's representative, told cleveland.com that no timeframe for the Brecksville closing has been established.

Brecksville Mayor Jerry Hruby - who mentioned in his February 2015 state-of-the-city address that McDonald's in Brecksville might close - deferred questions about the Brecksville restaurant, and the future of that site, to McDonald's.

"The city (Brecksville) had discussions with McDonald's regarding their Brecksville facility over the past years and a variety of options were discussed," Hruby said in an email. "(McDonald's) asked that we not comment on their decisions until they make them public. As of this day, I have not been informed that they are public."
Home health care workers join in protests for high wages

Fight for $15 is scheduled to hold a major march and rally in Cleveland Monday to raise issues about low-wage and working-class voters a day before the Ohio presidential primaries. In this 2014 photo, home health care workers and other Fight for $15 supporters rally for a $15 minimum wage in front of McDonald's restaurant in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood.

(Marvin Fong,The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Supporters of a $15 minimum wage will march today - the day before presidential primaries in Ohio and other key states -- in a symbolic gesture to remind voters and candidates about issues facing working-class Americans.

The Fight for $15 march is scheduled to begin 5:30 p.m. at 1771 E. 30th St., which is a few blocks from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. The march will pass by the elections board before ending several blocks away at Cleveland State University, where a 6 p.m. rally is scheduled. Organizers said they are expecting at least 500 participates.

Fight for $15, led by the Service Employees International Union, is seeking to raise the federal hourly minimum wage, which is currently $7.25, to $15. Ohio's minimum wage is $8.10. For more than three years, Fight for $15 has organized fast-food strikes and protests in cities throughout the nation, including various rallies in Cleveland calling for wage hikes.

Organizers said the march won't just focus on increasing the minimum wage, but also the Fight for $15 Voter Agenda. Among the issues it includes are support for "union rights and comprehensive immigration reform."

See: $12 vs. $15 minimum-wage debate continues between economists, experts, politicians

Ken Abner, a local fast-food worker, who makes $8.30 per hour, will be among those attending today's march and rally.

"No matter how hard or long I work, I still don't make enough to cover the basics, like rent for my family or my bus pass," he said in a news release. "So even though I registered to vote nearly a decade ago, I never voted because I felt like it didn't matter -- but our movement is changing that."

Abner said participating in the low-wage workers' movement has given him a strong sense that his vote has the power to make a difference.

So, Tuesday, for the first time, he will vote.

"I'm one of the 2.4 million Ohioans who could swing this election, and if candidates want my vote, they can come and get it by backing $15 and union rights," Abner said.

Congress hasn't taken up the issue of a minimum wage hike, but several states and municipality have approved substantial minimum wage increases. The low-wage workers' movement has often been crucial to such efforts.

In Congress, bills to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 and $12 never came up for a vote. A bill to raise the federal minimum to $15, introduced last year by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a candidate in the Democratic primary, has yet to come up for a vote this session.

In Ohio, a bill by state Sen. Kenny Yuko, Democrat of Richmond Heights, would raise Ohio's minimum wage to $10.10. It remains stalled in the state legislature. Supporters of a constitutional amendment to raise Ohio's minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2021, have been approved to collect signatures to get the issue on the ballot.

Low-wage and working class workers are not the only segment of the American electorate seeking to have an impact in the presidential election. Middle class voters, including those in Ohio and other Midwest industrial states, are raising concerns about the loss of decent-paying, blue-collar jobs. Post-recession job growth has favored both mostly unskilled, low-wage jobs and high-wage jobs, which often require a degree or special training. Job growth in the middle has been hallowed out.

See: Plight of middle class at center of presidential primaries
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- When it comes to "Safe Routes to Schools," the city is working to get everyone on the same page.

That even includes college kids, part of the rationale for a separate $200,000 state grant to make some sense out of that expanse of intersection at Overlook and Edgehill heading down into Little Italy.

Another $200,000 worth of improvements could be done possibly in time for the 2016-17 school year, around Canterbury, Monticello, Oxford and Roxboro schools, as well as the Hebrew Academy.

And a lot of credit goes to former Boulevard Elementary student Michael Siemen, who last year as a fifth grader lobbied successfully for a crosswalk where he saw an imminent danger at Lee and Somerton roads.

"There weren't a lot of kids crossing the street there, but the younger ones would use it after school," Siemen said of the route, which he also used to take.

And there was no crossing guard there in the morning because technically, there was no crossing.

Nonetheless, the little kids would come right down the school driveway onto Lee and cross over the tree lawn to Somerton, where some of their parents were waiting in cars.

"My gym teacher, Mr. (Brian) Burdine, felt it was unsafe, so he would volunteer as a crossing guard in the afternoons," Siemen recalled.

Siemen would also help Mr. Burdine out during recess, and one day, as he was headed to the gym, he ran into Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Superintendent Talisa Dixon.

She was visiting Boulevard that day, so Siemen and Mr. Burdine took the opportunity to explain the situation to her.

From there, Dixon set up meetings with Siemen and George Petkac, CH-UH Assistant Director for Business Services, and City Public Works Director Alex Mannarino.

"They were going to do it with the Lee Road repaving, but it got postponed," Siemen said of the streetscape project where bids came in too high. "I learned that when the city does it 'in-house,' it's a lot cheaper."

That in-house work included signs, a crosswalk, along with new sidewalks and apron-style curb ramps for bikes and wheelchairs, completed last fall. Mannarino estimated the total cost at around $2,500.

By then, Siemen was already a sixth-grader over at Roxboro Middle School, "but my fifth grade teacher texted my Mom and said it would be done early in this school year."

In the meantime, Siemen and Burdine both spoke at Convocation Day for teachers held at Heights High in August.

"I talked about one of the goals in the '20/20 Paths to Student Success," Siemen said. "And Mr. Burdine talked about the crosswalk."

In a joint meeting earlier this year between City Council and and the school board, Dixon noted the strong case that that Siemen made for his younger schoolmates and the crosswalk improvements.

As for the Safe Routes to Schools infrastructure grants that are administered through the Ohio Department of Transportation, the city's 2014 allotment has reached "Stage 3" of ODOT review.

That means they could be bid and awarded in time for the 2016-'17 school year, roughly $200,000 worth of work that includes:

-- Bike racks and concrete pads for the racks at Canterbury and Roxboro elementaries

-- Pedestrian crossing signage, thermoplastic crosswalk striping and curb ramps at Scarborough and Canterbury roads

-- Signs and striping at Noble and Quilliams roads-- Thermoplastic striping at Meadowbrook and Canterbury roads

-- Striping and curb ramps on Colchester Road

All schools should be getting "Speed Feedback" signs, with Canterbury, Oxford and Roxboro elementaries in line for the flashing "School Zone" beacons that , Monticello Middle and Hebrew Academy already have.

Mannarino and City Development Officer Jennifer Kuzma were also scheduled to meet with ODOT officials to discuss the city's 2015 Safe Routes grant award, set at almost $161,000.

That will cover the cost of reconstructing traffic signals with pedestrian crossing cycles at Noble and Quilliams roads, which will support both Monticello Middle and Oxford Elementary.

The intersection improvements sought at Edgehill and Overlook along Turkey Ridge are not part of the Safe Routes to Schools program.

Instead the grant application has been made to the Northeastern Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) through its Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative.

Councilwoman Mary Dunbar, who chairs the Planning and Development Committee and is president of the Heights Bicycle Coalition, noted that the intersection is confusing not only to cyclists and pedestrians but also drivers.

That's largely because of the three-way stop where motorists heading from Kenilworth down Overlook toward Edgehill or Cedar Hill don't have to stop -- or even yield, for that matter.

City Planning Director Richard Wong said the $200,000 NOACA grant may be used to change over to a four-way stop as well as shorten the crosswalks.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Alabama father who took his son from his wife, changed their names and lived in Cleveland for nearly 16 years pleaded guilty Monday to numerous criminal charges.

Bobby Hernandez took his then-5-year-old son Julian from an Alabama home after a dispute with his wife, prosecutors said.

Hernandez agreed to plead guilty to 15 charges including tampering with records, forgery and kidnapping. In exchange for his plea, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office agreed to drop 17 other charges, among them numerous counts of forgery, kidnapping and tampering with records.

Hernandez is due back in court April 13 for sentencing. He faces up to 54 years in prison.

Bobby Hernandez pleads guilty to the kidnapping of his son, Julian Hernandez, as he appears before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday, March 14, 2016. On left is his defense lawer, Ralph DeFranco. Hernandez is accused of taking his then-5-year-old son from their Alabama home in August 2002 and fleeing to Cleveland. The boy's whereabouts remained unknown until October, when the FBI received a tip that the boy was living in Cleveland. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

After leaving his wife in Alabama in 2002, Hernandez devised an elaborate scheme to create a false identity for him and his son, who attended school in Cleveland and is likely headed to college.

It wasn't until Julian Hernandez, now 19, began applying to college that he discovered that someone tampered with his identity. The FBI received a tip about Julian Hernandez's whereabouts in October. His father was arrested in November.

Ralph DeFranco, the attorney representing Bobby Hernandez, said he had been "the perfect father," in court last month and told reporters that he planned to "vigorously defend" him in court.

DeFranco said that he hopes the judge will sentence Hernandez to probation, citing his client's negligible criminal record and what he described as a good relationship with his son.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty told reporters Monday that his office will seek a harsh prison sentence.

"I am a good father and therefore give me probation? That's a joke," McGinty said. "Just think (of) your child or your grandchild, and someone took your child away. You would think about that all day every day. On the other end, he's deprived of his mother, his sibling, not knowing his grandparent. What kind of thing is that to do to a child. He's not a good parent."
fat heads

Fat Head's Brewery donated more than $30,000 to the Cleveland Metroparks trails fund on March 13.

(Marc Bona, cleveland.com)

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio - Fat Head's Brewery has donated $30,777 in what has become an annual donation to the Cleveland Metroparks trails fund.

The donations are a result of the brewery's Trail Head Pale Ale, a drinkable American Pale Ale. This is the third year that proceeds from sales of the beer were siphoned for the fund. The $30,777 is the largest amount to date. Cavalier, the distributor for Fat Head's, contributed $10,000 of that amount, said Matt Cole of the brewery.

Cole has been a supporter of the Metroparks, having said in the past that many of the brewery's employees use the trails. The check presentation was Sunday in the Middleburg Heights taphouse.

Last year, Fat Head's donated $11,464 to the fund.

It's been a busy week for Fat Head's. On March 8, the Cleveland Indians announced the brewery will have its own concession area for food and beer at Progressive Field this season. And March 11, Hop Juju - one of the more popular releases of any beer in Northeast Ohio - won first place in a blind judging competition at Art & Ale at the Akron Art Museum.

Fat Head's Northeast Ohio locations are in North Olmsted and Middleburg Heights.
Richard Legg

Richard Legg, shown here in his most recent mugshot (left) and in a 2004 Lakewood arrest, is being held on aggravated robbery charges. He was arrested last week after Ohio Highway Patrol troopers said he and another man led them on a chase through three counties.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A parolee accused of kicking in the door of a Clark-Fulton home, robbing residents at gunpoint and leading police on a high-speed chase through three counties is being held on $100,000 bond.

Richard Legg, a 31-year-old convicted killer and once self-proclaimed white supremacist, is currently in a Cuyahoga County jail cell on aggravated robbery charges.

Legg was on both parole and probation Tuesday when State Highway Patrol troopers spotted him and another man about 1:30 p.m. in a stolen car in Medina County, according to the Patrol.

Legg and the other man led Troopers on a chase into Cuyahoga and Lorain counties, then west into Lorain County, before troopers took them into custody, the Patrol said.

Cleveland detectives suspect Legg was involved in a Feb. 7 home invasion in the city's Clark-Fulton neighborhood.

A resident at the home was texting a drug dealer about buying four Percocet pills, according to a police report.

A few hours later, Legg and an unidentified man kicked in the home's side door and held pistols to the heads of five people, including a 7-year-old boy, demanding money, according to court records.

Legg threatened to kill the child if the others didn't say where the money was, the police report says.

The men ransacked the home. They ordered two men to take off their pants and a woman to take off her sweatshirt, according to a police report. They found $850 in cash in their pockets that the victims said was for rent, the report said.

The men also stole two cellphones and a pocket knife before they ran outside, where two more men were waiting in a green car, according to the report. One of the victims gave police a license plate number.

Police used cellphone data from one of the stolen phones and tracked it to a street just blocks away. A sergeant found a car with a license plate number that was similar to the one given by the victim parked on West 32nd Street and Woodbridge Avenue.

The officer noticed a cellphone on the front seat. He called the victim's phone number, and the phone inside the car rang.

The car was reported stolen in an earlier carjacking. Police towed the car for evidence.

The aggravated robbery charge is the latest authorities have levied against Legg, and came while he was under supervision for two previous convictions.

He was released from prison Dec. 2, 2014 after serving three years for aggravated burglary. He was paroled and placed under supervision for three years, but didn't show up for a parole board hearing on Jan. 12, 2015.

He was charged and later pleaded guilty to an escape charge. Judge Ronald Suster sentenced him in October to three years probation. He was accused of violating that in November.

Suster ordered him to enter an intensive outpatient treatment, according to court records. The Feb. 10 order came days after the violent home invasion that would eventually landed Legg back in jail.

Legg was also convicted of manslaughter in the 2004 death of a man in Lakewood.

Legg, then 21 and homeless, cat-called Michael Vesely's wife outside a Madison Avenue lamp store where Vesely worked. The woman told Vesely who came out of the store and confronted Legg.

Legg and Vesely got into a fight. Vesely away and Legg threw a Mountain Dew bottle that struck Vesely in the head.

Police later found Vesely lying dead on the ground behind the store.

Then-Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth Balraj said Vesely, who was 317 pounds and had an enlarged heart, died of a heart attack that was induced by blunt force trauma, and ruled his death a homicide.

The case became a focal point for criticism against Balraj by defense attorneys and even some of Balraj's former colleagues that she allowed her rulings to be influenced by police and prosecutors.

Legg was indicted on murder charges and cocaine possession, and later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He served five years in prison.

He also pleaded guilty to ethnic intimidation in a 2001 attack on an Ohio City convenience store employee. Legg, then 18, called the employee a racial slur, threatened to burn him and said he was going to call the Aryan Nation because he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
gang gun violence.jpg

Cleveland police are investigating a gang-related shooting that left a 16-year-old boy injured.

(Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 16-year-old Cleveland boy was injured Sunday when he was caught in the crossfire of an East Side gang shootout, police said.

The shooting happened about 5 p.m. near the corner of Chesterfield Avenue and East 123rd Street in the Forest Hills neighborhood, according to a Cleveland police report.

The boy said some of the shooters were part of the Lakeview 2 Locke gang, reports show. The second group may have been members of other local gangs, including the Buckeye Boys, the Cutthroats or the Heartless Felons.

The boy was walking near that intersection with his brother and some friends when two groups of people on opposite sides of the road began shooting, reports show.

A bullet struck the boy's thigh and he dropped to the ground. His friend picked him up and carried him away from the shooters.

A man driving a silver van stopped and gave the pair a ride to a friend's house on Pasadena Avenue, police said. A woman drove the boy to the University Hospitals Case Medical Center emergency room.

He has since been released.

Detectives found four bullet casings at the scene.

Cleveland police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said the boy may have been involved in the shooting. He and other witnesses gave inconsistent accounts of what happened, reports show.

The boy's mother told police she thinks the Lakeview 2 Locke gang was responsible. Members of that gang shot her other son at their home on Ostend Avenue on Feb. 25. Gunfire was reported at the same house four days later.

Police are continuing to investigate.
Cleveland police car 6

A 25-year-old woman was shot in the hand about 2 p.m. Sunday while walking home from a convenience store on Broadway Avenue in Cleveland, police said.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 25-year-old woman was shot in the hand Sunday afternoon in the Broadway-Fleet neighborhood while walking home from a corner store.

The woman, 25, told police that she drank three 24-ounce beers and smoked marijuana earlier in the afternoon, according to a report. She headed toward the store on Broadway Avenue near East 53rd Street about about 2 p.m. to buy more beer from a convenience store.

She walked out of the store and "heard three gunshots and felt a weird feeling in her right hand," according to the report. She kept walking toward her boyfriend's house on Fleet Avenue.

She later felt blood running down her hand and noticed she had been shot in the wrist.

She called her boyfriend, who called 911. Paramedics took the woman to St. Vincent Charity Hospital, who then sent her to MetroHealth Medical Center.

The woman told investigators that she did not see the suspects, but said the shots may have come from a car.

Police are still investigating the incident.
A member of a Lincoln Electric team launches a projectile during the Great Lakes Science Center's 2015 Design & Build Competition. The tourney is back on March 19.

(Gayle Norris photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Maker culture moves into the spotlight March 19 at the Great Lakes Science Center as sponsored teams design and build solutions to technical problems.

Teams of two to six individuals will be given a design challenge and the materials to meet it on the day of the competition, and then will race against the clock, and the other teams, to see who can design, build and test the most successful solution to the challenge.

There are three divisions: Youth (middle through high school students), Corporate (adult teams or college students) and Families.

"Design & Build is one of my favorite events at the Science Center," said President & CEO Dr. Kirsten Ellenbogen. "Last year's competition came down to the wire with an exciting tiebreaker round between the Telos Alliance and Lincoln Electric.

"While Lincoln came out on top last year, each year is a new challenge," she said in a press release.

It is "another chance to have a great time and raise funds for the Science Center's many educational programs that help inspire our future STEM workforce," according to Ellenbogen.

New this year is an auction by professional auctioneer Bob Hale. Teams can bid on materials that could improve their designs.

Sponsorship levels begin at $5,000, providing access for one corporate team, and include the ability to sponsor either a second corporate team or one youth, college or family team, and also present sponsor recognition opportunities.

Sponsors at the $1,500 level receive access for one corporate or college team and recognition opportunities, and sponsors at the $1,000 level receive access for one youth or family team and on-site recognition opportunities.

The Design & Build fundraiser is also an opportunity for a corporate team-building exercise, a group outing for a college science club or class, or for families who love a unique challenge.

The fifth annual Design & Build challenge fundraiser will run 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19 at Great Lakes Science Center. Regular admission prices apply to visitors and spectators not associated with challenge participants.

For more information, visit GreatScience.com.

Design & Build 2016 is presented by Keithley Products, a subsidiary of Tektronix; the Lubrizol Corporation, and PolyOne Corporation.
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Central banks around the globe are pursuing strategies that will put all financial assets into government hands, perma-bear Marc Faber, told CNBC's Squawk Box. He also took the opportunity to endorse Donald Trump's bid for the U.S. presidency. Faber said central bank policies are essentially monetizing debt, particularly in Japan, where he claims the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is buying all the government bonds the treasury is issuing. He expects that asset buying by global central banks will only increase, even though he believes those policies aren't working to stimulate the economy. "The central banks aren't interested in what works, they're interested in their own prestige. And they are so deep into it already and it didn't work. They will increase the medicine," said Faber, the publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report. "Eventually, they'll buy all the government bonds; they'll buy all the corporate bonds, all the shares outstanding. Afterwards the housing market goes down, they'll buy all the homes and then the government will own everything."

That's the road to socialism, he said. "I could see a situation where at the end the government owns all the corporations and all the government bonds and then we are back into socialism, into a planning economy," said Faber. To be sure, the Bank of Japan does not buy Japan government bonds (JGBs) directly from the treasury; it only purchases them in the open market. Since some entities, such as banks and insurers, are required to hold JGBs in their reserves, the BOJ is unlikely to acquire all of the bonds outstanding. The BOJ does, however, use its quantitative easing program to purchase select exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the open market. The U.S. Federal Reserve began tapering its quantitative easing program in 2013 and officially ended it in late 2014. But last week, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced further easing measures, including expanding the size of its bond-buying program to 80 billion euros ($89.23 billion) worth of assets a month, to include corporate bonds.
Jacai Colson, 28, a four-year veteran of the Prince George County police force, pictured in this police handout, was killed when a gunman opened fire at their District 3 police station, in Landover, Maryland, March 13, 2016 Reuters

A gunman opened fire on a police station in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. on Sunday, killing one officer in what authorities called an unprovoked attack before the assailant and a second suspect were arrested. The accused gunman was wounded in the ensuing shootout with several officers outside the station but was expected to survive, Prince George's County Police Chief Henry Stawinski told reporters hours later. The second suspect, who was believed to have accompanied the shooter but fled the scene when the gunfire began, was taken into custody about 30 minutes later following a search of the area, Stawinski said.

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Neither suspect was immediately identified. The police chief said he could offer no explanation for what might have precipitated the attack on the District 3 police station, which lies adjacent to county police headquarters in Landover, Maryland, about 8 miles (13 km) east of Washington. "It wasn't about anything," Stawinski told reporters at a news conference outside the hospital where the slain undercover officer, Jacai Colson, 28, was declared dead. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force, had been rushed to the hospital by a fellow officer in the back of a squad car. "This man launched an attack on a police station and engaged several Prince George's County police officers in a gunfight, to which they responded heroically," Stawinski said. He called the late-afternoon attack unprovoked, adding: "My understanding is he opened fire on the first officer he saw and then continued that conduct as officers became aware of what was going on, and then several officers engaged him."
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The two hedge funds that launched a boardroom fight with United Continental last week oppose the airline's plans to give Chief Executive Oscar Munoz the additional role of chairman and have concerns about his compensation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The funds, PAR Capital Management and Altimeter Capital Management, on Tuesday described United's performance as "inexcusable" and asked shareholders to consider six new directors for the company's board, including former Continental Airlines chief Gordon Bethune. They are expected to lay out more specific claims about the company in coming weeks that address what they believe are the causes of the No. 3 U.S. airline's low customer satisfaction scores and its sagging stock, down almost 14 percent in the past 12 months.

Source: Youtube

The funds, which together own 7.1 percent of United, have said they support Munoz as CEO, but their doubts about United's pay policies and its plan to make him chairman could become a flashpoint as the long-running struggle over the airline's management develops. United has refused to appoint Bethune as chairman, ending months of talks with the funds in early March, the source and two other people familiar with the matter said. That refusal led the funds to take their objections public last week, the sources said. United declined comment on the talks. The activist investors question whether Munoz, a former president at railroad operator , was guided well by United's board in allowing him to spend his first weeks after starting the job in September talking to the media and workers rather than focusing on capital allocation, for example, the first source said. The two funds called the board "underqualified" last week because it lacked what they consider experienced airline executives.

United rejected the criticism, saying Munoz was "focused on getting out on the front line to enhance the customer and employee experience at United, and the results are evident in our improved operational and financial performance." United's unions representing pilots, machinists and flight attendants are supporting Munoz. PAR and Altimeter also believe the board's decision to give Munoz a signing bonus of $12 million should have been tied to performance goals, the person familiar with the situation said. United declined to comment on that criticism, though in a filing it had said the award partially accounted for pay Munoz forfeited at CSX. The funds are set to oppose United's plan to make Munoz chairman by 2017, as specified in his employment contract signed while Munoz was on medical leave after a mid-October heart attack, the source said. Such an arrangement has been criticized by corporate governance experts, but it is not unusual in the United States. Just over half of S&P 500 companies had the same CEO and chairman last year, down from 71 percent a decade ago, according to executive search firm Spencer Stuart.

United's current chairman, Henry Meyer, is a retired financial services executive. Dispute over directors United has tried to placate shareholders, recently doubling its forecast for stock buybacks in the first quarter to $1.5 billion, and expanding its board by three new directors last Monday. The two board additions with airline expertise  James Whitehurst, former chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines , and Robert Milton, former CEO of Air Canada  were previously vetted and mentioned as potential directors by PAR and Altimeter, the people familiar with the situation said. United also offered to extend a deadline for PAR and Altimeter to propose names to be interviewed for the board, which the funds declined, and United on Feb. 18 amended its bylaws in line with shareholder interests, two of the people said. Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital, called United's proposal "a cynical attempt to preserve power by this entrenched board," in a statement on Tuesday.
Almost two dozen people were killed Sunday in the Ivory Coast by militants linked to al-Qaeda in what is seen by some experts as an attempt to scare off western investment in the region. Gunmen opened fire at the popular beach resort town of Grand Bassam, targeting beachgoers from three separate hotels. It is the third such attack in the region in the past year. There have been similar attacks in both Mali and Burkina Faso.

"The message is to not only disrupt the lives of local people but also remind tourists that their lives are also disrupted," said Alan Mendoza, founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a UK think tank, on the phone to CNBC.





ISSOUF SANOGO | AFP | Getty Images

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a jihadist group with ties to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack which killed 14 tourists and two security officials. The victims were Ivorian, Burkinabe, Malian, Cameroonian, French and German, according to The New York Times. During the onslaught, up to six gunmen armed with AK47s and hand grenades stormed the beach shouting, "Allah Akbar," before launching their attack, shooting at tourists and locals alike, according to several media reports.

Although AQIM's base is believed to be in northern Mali, the group have led an increasing number of deadly attacks on destinations popular with expats in Africa, reports The New York Times. "What's concerning about this attack is that this particular franchise (of al-Qaeda) is appearing to be spreading forth and diversing its target," Mendoza told CNBC.



Ivory Coast, which gained its independence from France in the 1960s, is the largest economy in West Africa. It recently overtook Nigeria to lead Nielsen's Africa Prospect Indicators (APi) Report, which showcases the huge investment opportunities across the continent as a whole. The Ivory Coast is an "investment magnet for countries well beyond France," said Mendoza, and has enjoyed relative peace since the end of its civil war in 2011.

In 2014, France announced that it would use the Ivory Coast as its base for fighting Islamist terrorism in the Sahel region. A 3,000-strong taskforce of French soldiers has been based there ever since, reports the UK's Independent newspaper.

"This is a message for France but also others seeking to invest in such countries to stay out," Mendoza told CNBC. "The point is to say to potential investors, 'think again.' This is a targeted message to those investing: we intend to disrupt it as much as possible and cause chaos and engulf it in instability."

The U.S. condemned the weekend's attack in a statement released by Department of State's spokesman John Kirby, who also tweeted, "U.S. strongly condemns terrorist attack in Cote d'Ivoire. Working to acct for welfare of U.S. citizens. Ready to assist in investigation."





Echoes of Tunisia attacks

The attack on Grand Bassam bears resemblance to the one in Tunisia in June 2015 that killed 38 people, including 30 British tourists. The same group claimed responsibility for that attack. Then in November, more than 20 people were killed during a siege on a Malian hotel, followed by an assault on a hotel and cafe in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, in January that claimed almost 30 lives. Mendoza told CNBC that the regional countries have to work together to fight the jihadist threat, as does the international community which "has vested interested in helping these countries fight terrorism." "It's a form of terrorism which affects all of us as well," said Mendoza.


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A British breakaway from the European Union this summer will do little damage to the country's business ties with the rest of the world, according to a new survey conducted by CNBC.

Chief financial officers (CFOs) from some of the world's biggest firms were largely sanguine on the outcome of a "Brexit" and how that could affect any current or future trading conditions with the island nation.

Over 70 percent of global CFOs - across a wide range of industries - said there would be "no change" on their perspective on how likely they would be to do business with the U.K. in the event of an exit.

However, 14.6 percent of respondents said they would be "slightly less likely" to do business with the country and 2.1 percent said they would be "significantly less likely." Conversely, 2.1 percent said they would be "slightly more likely" to form ties with a breakaway nation.

A fierce debate is heating up in the U.K. on whether the country should leave the regional 28-country bloc and regain some national sovereignty or whether it should remain within a reformed European Union.

A referendum due on June 23 has seen a range of business leaders and institutions come down on either side of the argument. On Thursday, world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking warned that a Brexit would be a "disaster for U.K. science." Last month, bosses from more than a third of Britain's 100 largest companies signed a letter to The Times newspaper calling for the country to stay in the EU. Pro-Brexit campaigners include the heavyweight politician Boris Johnson, who is currently London mayor. And the upcoming vote has even drawn in Queen Elizabeth who is currently fighting claims in The Sun newspaper that she had previously privately voiced some Euroskeptic views. Fresh data on Friday provided more fuel for the Brexit campaigners, according to Kallum Pickering, a senior U.K. economist at Berenberg, with the U.K. balance of trade for goods with the European bloc widening in January.

"This will play nicely into the hands of the 'out' camp in the lead up to the EU referendum. But this is an example of another misdirected argument that somehow the EU needs the U.K. more than the U.K. needs the EU," he said in a note.

The latest CNBC Global CFO Council survey, was conducted between February 25 and March 8. For the first time since CNBC launched the survey in 2013, CFOs from all three global regions (U.S, EMEA and APAC) received the same set of survey questions

Skyline of London Justin Solomon | CNBC

Global economic jitters and stock market volatility have lowered expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will aggressively raise interest rates this year.

One quarter of CFOs say the Fed won't raise rates at all in 2016, while 39.6 percent expect one rate hike. The Fed is due to make a rate decision at its meeting this week, with market participants largely seeing little chance that it will add to the hike it announced back in December.

In most cases in our survey, responses were consistent across the three regions. The one major exception was a question about the largest external risk factor facing the CFOs' companies. U.S. CFOs are most likely to say consumer demand (41.7 percent) or cyberattacks (20.8 percent) is the biggest external risk.

In Europe, 26.7 percent of CFOs say "emerging markets" pose the biggest risk to their firms, and an additional 20 percent single out China. In Asia, China is overwhelmingly seen as the biggest risk to business by CFOs who responded to the survey.

Complete survey results below:

(Note: 48 of the 103 current members of the CNBC Global CFO Council responded to this quarter's survey. Members represent a diverse mix of public and private companies from around the world, with more than $2 trillion in market capitalization.)


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Imagine getting a soft drink from a vending machine using only your smartphone. Or scanning a QR code to buy goods from a newspaper ad. By harnessing these innovations  and more  China mobile shopping is barreling ahead of the United States. China is still the world's largest smartphone market, even though growth is slowing. It accounts for about 30 percent of the global smartphone market, and Chinese smartphone users are expected to jump from 526.8 million to 640 million in 2018, according to eMarketer. And its shoppers are using their gadgets to snap up a wide array of goods and services.

Mint Images | Getty Images

Nearly half of all China's e-commerce sales, totaling $505.7 billion, are made with mobile devices, versus roughly one-quarter in the U.S., according to eMarketer. By 2019, China's mobile sales will account for 71 percent of those sales. "We don't see mobile buying plateauing for the next five years," said Monica Pearl, eMarketer's director of forecasting. "They'll increase because consumer behavior has changed." Feature-rich, cheap smartphones are also helping fuel the boom, she added. China is, after all, a mobile first market, explains Brian Buchwald, CEO of consumer intelligence firm Bomoda. So it has been able to leapfrog past other markets, which mainly used PCs for purchases. Sophisticated mobile payment apps are partly fueling the mobile boom. To grease buying, purchases are smooth and nearly seamless, since goods are bought in a few seconds with just one click. And an intense fight for market share between payment titans WeChat Pay and Alibaba 's Alipay is fueling even more innovation. Apple Pay has only just recently stepped into the competitive arena. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has allowed a free-flowing retail and payments marketplace. "There are no restraints," said Michael Zakkour, vice president of China/Asia Pacific practice at Tompkins International.

And that's good news for WeChat, A messaging app that's only five years old and is offered by the Internet giant Tencent . The app now has 650 million users. And a good chunk of them are using the app for mobile shopping. The result is that WeChat payments, along with Alibaba's Alipay, dominate the market. Because retailers can easily set up shop inside WeChat, users can plan family vacations, order a taxi or even design clothes without going anywhere else. "WeChat is the most influential app in the world," said Buchwald. "It has the functionality of an iTunes store. So you can do anything you want." This mobile preference is one-stop shopping for navigating a digital life. "We're talking about the emergence of chat commerce," said Lily Varon, an analyst at Forrester Research. "WeChat is becoming a commerce channel. And it's an ecosystem that's unlike anything in the U.S." And, she adds, unlike the U.S., there's also no digital divide in China by geography or age. "It's not just limited to younger consumers," she said.

Meanwhile, e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba has its own Alipay app. Known as the PayPal of China, it is the dominant player in the mobile payment industry. And it's in a competitive tussle with WeChat to keep market share  fueling even more innovation. "They're both spending billions building new features and technologies," said Buchwald. "That includes making lots of different investments in start-ups." For example, Alipay is now testing ways to let shoppers pay just by scanning a physical feature. At the same time, Apple and Samsung are trying to break into this sector with partnerships with UnionPay, China's main bank card and payment firm. The U.S. is lagging behind though, and mobile payments have yet to gain traction. Even QR codes, which have largely flopped in the U.S., are used everywhere in China to buy goods. And mobile phones there already have scanners embedded in them. Once scanned and bought, goods are delivered quickly. And Alibaba, which has a massive logistics network, can get goods to customers within one day. Its ultimate goal is even loftier: deliveries to any Chinese city within 24 hours. Alibaba is even investing in drone companies, says Buchwald. These hyperkinetic deliveries are fueling ever more purchases. Last year, China's Singles Day  a consumer shopping day invented by Alibaba and much like Black Friday in the U.S.  totaled $14.3 billion, which is 60 percent higher than 2014. Those sales total more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the U.S. combined.
WHEN: Today, Monday, March 14th

WHERE: CNBC's "Closing Bell"

Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with ValueAct CEO Jeffrey Ubben on CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F, 3PM-5PM ET) today, Monday, March 14th. Following is a link to the video on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000501485.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

UBBEN ON THE MARKET

JEFF UBBEN: I would say in the last year or two, the recurring revenue cash flow in good times and bad model company has been increasingly priced away from us because, you know, if your opportunity cost is 1% or 2% and I can get a nice predictable, cash flow stream at 10%, that's just too rich. So our current return is increasingly not available to us at the sort of high quality companies that we seek. So we have really  we have been selling a number of our companies where we've been there, kind of done all we could 

KELLY EVANS: Like Microsoft.

JEFF UBBEN: and the stocks are fairly valued. So we sold some Motorola, we've sold some Adobe, we've sold some CI, we've sold some Microsoft. And it's been hard to redeploy that. The only high-quality business that we have found in the last 12 months is Rolls Royce which  where the stock is down by half.

UBBEN ON FANG STOCKS

KELLY EVANS: And this comes in a year so you guys were down about 2% last year. The S&P was up. And largely speaking it was because of the FANG stocks. You know, you had Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, the kind of names that I think the Value community generally hates.

JEFF UBBEN: Yeah.

KELLY EVANS: Why does it seem does it make your job easier or harder when that's the case? I understand that the returns might not look as good for a one-year period, but 

JEFF UBBEN: It's hard for a Value person because, you know, we started in 2000. And this is what happened in 2001 when you had  or 2000 when you had more of a market cap go into fewer and fewer names kind of sucking money out of value stocks. And then what happens is the valuation bubble bursts. Right? And it spreads out into value companies.

KELLY EVANS: Is that what is happening now do you think?

JEFF UBBEN: Maybe. Right? Maybe. Certainly last cycle the valuation bubble was largely public. The companies went public much faster. And the money came out really fast. This time, more and more companies are private. And so I think the bubble will burst slower.

UBBEN ON FOX INVESTMENT

KELLY EVANS: Is there going to be a price at which some of the Netflix's of the world do look attractive to you?

JEFF UBBEN: No. No, I mean, our goal is to take a trailing edge company like Adobe or Microsoft when they were ten times earnings and make them go from old tech to new tech. Right? And both those cases, you know, Adobe was considered done because Jobs didn't put the flash on the iPhone. We were like, "We'll just put HTML into the suite and you're fine." And then Microsoft was viewed as defending Windows with Office. And really what they should've done just, you know, let Windows go. Open up, like. And so with management change there, we went from old tech to new tech. So if you look at Fox, it's much more interesting to us to own Fox at eight times EBITDA and 12, 13 times earnings and just move from old media to new media.

KELLY EVANS: I'm guessing having read your investor letter, that it involves going direct to consumers.

JEFF UBBEN: Yeah.

KELLY EVANS: Because your letter basically also talks about Adobe and Microsoft, and says, "The key here is to identify companies you can get rid of the middle man that might be destroying that relationship between the company and its customer." It would seem like media companies are a perfect candidate for that to be able to just stream their content directly to the consumer and really own that relationship.

JEFF UBBEN: It would be surprising that the aggregator wins. Now if the aggregator develops its own great content, which Netflix maybe it can do because they have enough cash now. They're spending $5 billion a year

KELLY EVANS: Do you watch House of Cards?

JEFF UBBEN: I've seen it a little bit. But I don't  I'm not crazy over it.

KELLY EVANS: Yeah. And what about Rupert Murdoch? I mean, management is also a key plank of a lot of these companies in the investment case. Do you have confidence that if that leadership transition to James happens 

JEFF UBBEN: We think James is terrific. I mean, we think he is the young anti-establishment sort of CEO that can, you know, be part of or lead the change.

UBBEN ON HALLIBURTON / BAKER HUGHES

KELLY EVANS: Is the Halliburton, Baker Hughes deal going to happen? And if it doesn't do you have a plan B for your stakes in those companies?

JEFF UBBEN: If the deal does happen, we're going to do really well because we'll get a big  it's a 25% spread. If the deal doesn't happen, I think people may have lost track of what happens to Baker's balance sheet when the cash comes in from the breakup fee. And we also think that, you know, the products in a technology at Baker are, you know, best in class. So we kind of feel we're sitting close to asset value, which gives us downside protection. We have a pristine balance sheet, which gives us leverage at the bottom. And so we think it's  we're actually pretty excited about  the other side of oil is interesting, you know, people say that it's going to maybe go to 55 and hang out there. No way. I mean the other side of oil with the disinvestment we've seen, it will go  between now and 2019, it could  the marginal barrel could easily push it to 100 again.

KELLY EVANS: Really?

JEFF UBBEN: Well, there's that much disinvestment, right? So and 

KELLY EVANS: But everybody says 

JEFF UBBEN: Everybody's been fired or let go. So the ability to bring these barrels on quickly is going to be very difficult.

UBBEN ON OIL PRICES

KELLY EVANS: What would you say to people who have this view of the market that they'll be able to meet  add barrels in a second to meet that higher price?

JEFF UBBEN: I mean, just look at the loss of people. I mean, you know, who's going to be there to drill it and to  so you look at the loss of people. You look at the companies that have basically  are leaving the industry. And the  when you don't run up a pressure pumping a piece of equipment it goes  it gets cannibalized and goes away. So there's a ramp up that is going to create a tremendous sweet spot certainly in North America for Halliburton. And globally because the, you know, it's very cathartic, right? To get kind of the excess supply out of the system, both labor and equipment.

KELLY EVANS: Who else then? Because the valuations of so many of these companies are trading at levels that you guys must be looking through here every day.

JEFF UBBEN: We like to sell the bullets to the warriors. We don't like to be the warrior, you know, and go kill ourselves. So we're more service-oriented and, you know, and we are balance sheet focused. So Baker Hughes, to us, is the only place we're really interested in playing right now.

UBBEN ON VALEANT / ALLERGAN

JEFF UBBEN: You know, it's a weird two years. The Allergan ambush, for lack of a better word-- we acquired a lot of enemies, for sure. And then, you know, the-- we're really unprepared for the bear raid-- or, you know, the political wins that kind of hit us in the face. Really unprepared for that.

KELLY EVANS: But what about the whole Philidor aspect of this? You must have been unprepared for some of those revelations too.

JEFF UBBEN: I mean, especially pharmacy businesses were being employed by many drug companies. And there is-- a tension that-- that we should all want between affordability and accessibility. Right? And if you have-- a dermatology drug that really works for you-- your doctor should be able to prescribe it to you-- versus having a PBM push you to a generic that may not work as well and, you know, by the way, their business model pays them to do so. So I think you want-- tension in the system. And that's what the specialty pharmacy business or, you know, that's their role. And whether it's well done or not is, you know, is another-- question. So we're looking at that.

UBBEN ON VALEANT CEO J. MICHAEL PEARSON

KELLY EVANS: Do you think Michael Pearson's still the right guy for the job?

JEFF UBBEN: Yeah, so Mike it's really unfortunate that, you know, in the middle of the most critical period as we're changing this business model-- more toward consumer pay with Walgreens as a partner that Mike gets sick. And so-- he is incredibly, incredibly driven incredibly smart. He's a great problem solver and we're solving problems as we speak-- as the model changes and shifts. He's about, you know, 80% back. I mean, he really was sick. And you know, and he's finding his energy as we speak. And, you know, it's surprising how quickly he's attacked and having come back. And really being as determined as you can be on behalf of shareholders to solve his problems. You know, so we, you know, we think Mike is the right guy for the job now.

KELLY EVANS: What's your target now with the invest-- I mean, the business model does seem like it has to fundamentally change. Or maybe it doesn't. You know, the wh-- the idea that they would be very light on research and development-- acquired drugs raise their prices to what they view as competitive in the market-- is under fire as you mentioned politically-- also because there's competition out there for some of their successful, existing drugs. Company has a high debt load. Obviously now in a host of doubters about its future prospects. Does that make it more appealing to you as a value investor or does it give you pause about how long you can remain in the stock?

JEFF UBBEN: Well, I mean, we bought some really good assets. There's real growth to these assets. And we really have a capital structure that is quite low-cost. We have a tax rateby merging with Biovail that's, you know, very-- low cost. And so-- and we have a tremendously diversified revenue base. I mean, it's-- we've got emerging market businesses, we've got ophthalmology, we've got dermatology, we've got neurology, we've got GI. I mean

UBBEN ON VALEANT'S VALUE

KELLY EVANS: Do you think it'll bea $200 dollar stock again?

JEFF UBBEN: --so I think you can earn your way into that. Yeah. I mean, I, you know, the you know, we really haven't been able to control the narrative at all, the short sellers and the media, you know, that are dying for some new crisis like Enron-- --or whatever is-- it's kind of filling the space. We're just-- as we do here we-- just put our head down and, you know-- try to make sure the company is better when we leave it than it was when we got there.

UBBEN ON NEW INVESTMENTS

KELLY EVANS: A couple quick final questions. You mentioned you only might make-- one or two real-- new investment decisions a year. How close are you to resetting some of the portfolio today?

JEFF UBBEN: You know, it was really game on three weeks ago. And we, you know, we-- we're ready. We're always doing work on companies. We have about 600 companies we follow globally. And-- we brought $100 million of one, you know, we're excited about.

KELLY EVANS: You want to tell us what it is.

JEFF UBBEN: No I can't Yeah. 'Cause I wanna buy more. We went all over the country visiting operations. We know management-- some. And then it just, bang, right- right up 20-- 20-- 25%-- in our face. So-- you know, it's frustrating. We are carrying almost 3 billion in cash, which is a lot for us.

KELLY EVANS: But it sounds like what you're saying is that your fund itself may or may not be that much larger but the targets could 'cause there could be a lot of better targets at the bigger companies that you kind of just alluded to.

JEFF UBBEN: Yeah, I mean-- it's up for debate whether the market is really much less efficient at big cap than it is at small cap. You know, Adobe was super cheap at 25 bucks because everybody was-- I think they were long-- they were long sales force and short Adobe. You know, and Rolls Royce is super cheap 'cause they were long Safran and short Rolls Royce. And Microsoft is super cheap 'cause they were long Google and short Microsoft. So, you know, the long/short world is big enough-- and they're-- always looking for their hedge that, you know, so far we've been able to find, you know, bigger, cheap, high-quality businesses to work with.

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A man displays a protest message on his iPhone at a small rally in support of Apple's refusal to help the FBI

Apple counsel Ted Boutrous told CNBC on Monday that Justice Department lawyers "got a little bit carried away" with their rhetoric in the latest court filing in the tech giant's legal battle against the government over encryption. "There is a disconnect between the rhetoric in the Justice brief and what we have heard from [FBI Director James] Comey and President Obama," Boutrous said. "The lawyers who filed the brief got a little bit carried away with their rhetoric," he told CNBC. Boutrous said Apple will shortly respond to the government on why the Justice Department arguments are wrong and "would have terrible consequences" for national security and citizens. Ultimately, though, Apple does not believe the right forum for this battle is the courts.



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"This is a policy issue ... the American people have to resolve," Boutrous said. "It's for Congress to resolve," he added.

Last week, Apple senior vice president and general counsel Bruce Sewell said in a call with reporters that the DOJ has become "so desperate" that it has "thrown all decorum to the wind." He added, "The tone of the brief reads like an indictment." Boutrous said it would be a mistake to think the issue is just about Apple vs. the government. He said there is a cavalcade of tech companies and civil liberties groups and a family member of a victim of San Bernardino who filed court briefs supporting Apple's position. "This case ... will set a precedent. ... It will be used around the country and world to unlock phones," Boutrous said. "It's a big issue that goes far beyond Apple and affects all tech companies and all citizens who use these devices, and that will be front and center when we argue in court," the Apple lawyer said.

It's a big issue that goes far beyond Apple and affects all tech companies and all citizens who use these devices, and that will be front and center when we argue in court. Ted Boutrous Apple counsel

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Boutrous noted that comments from President Obama and others in government in the past have not been nearly as extreme as the Justice legal brief. Boutrous said that people who interpret President Obama's comments as supporting a back door to encryption are ignoring many previous comments from advisors to the president, including the Secretary of Defense and a commission on technology that Obama appointed in 2013. "They are all strongly supportive of encryption and against back doors that would make us all vulnerable," Boutrous said.

"President Obama is someone who will listen to both sides of a dialogue and that's what we want here  is a dialogue and a conversation  as President Obama put it awhile back about these important issues," the Apple lawyer said. Boutrous told CNBC in an earlier February interview that "the director of the FBI, James Comey, has said this is one of the hardest issues he's ever faced in government."



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Hidrate, a start-up founded in mid-2015, is nearing the $1 million mark in revenue, a success that would not have occurred if the founder had bothered to drink enough water. Nadya Nguyen, the 23-year-old Hidrate founder and CEO, became so dehydrated after a 10-hour stint volunteering at a walkathon event last year, she nearly passed out on a bus ride home.

By using a combination of data points, including height, weight, age and level of activity, the Hidrate app alerts a user when it's time to drink more water. Source: Hidrate

That 10-hour walk turned into a 54-hour sprint with Nguyen and a team using a plastic bottle, a circuit board and hair scrunchie to assemble the prototype of a smart water bottle that tracks water intake and hydration. Called HidrateSpark, the water bottle comes with a smartphone app that's compatible with Android, iOS and Apple Watch. (The app also connects to the most popular fitness apps, such as Fitbit , Apple Health Kit, MyFitnessPal, Jawbone and Misfit.)

Using a combination of data points  including height, weight, age and level of activity  the Hidrate app alerts a user when it's time to drink more water by sending a notification to their phone and making the bottle glow.

But it's another data-usage pattern uncovered in the Hidrate story that should be of interest to entrepreneurs in search of a million-dollar idea. Before Hidrate was conceived, Nguyen was consulting at Deloitte on a data analytics project. Studying and working with data sets and behavioral market analysis helped Nguyen launch Hidrate with confidence that a market existed for it beyond start-up founders who forget to drink water on long walks. "Data by itself is great, but when you combine it with a field, that's when the magic happens," Nguyen said.

Nguyen said her background in data analytics allowed her to devise a systematic way to identify the market fit for Hidrate. Marketing intuition helped her come up with a number of potential markets, but it was the hard analytical skills that helped her set up tests to validate the markets. "It's important for there to be a balance between data and intuition," she said. Wilson Raj, global director of customer intelligence at SAS Institute, said for small businesses like Hidrate, data analytics needs to be a tool used with a narrow goal in mind. "The first thing any small business needs is a very tight goal in terms of what it wants to use analytics for. For example, they can use it to validate their customer strategy or product strategy and then collect data and figure out what they know about those people and see what it says about their market," Raj said.

Nguyen and her team at Hidrate did just that. With a list of all possible markets spanning close to 30 different demographics, they set up a model to validate each market. The process involved a combination of focus group interviews, surveys, observation of the lifestyles of people within a certain group, and advertising on Facebook to target different demographics and see which ones performed best or got the most click-through. "We were able to analyze the sentiment of the comments posted on our ads," Nguyen said. "It was great to see unfiltered comments about the product, because we got a range of responses. People either couldn't wait to get their hands on the product or they downright hated it. We took those comments as a sign to double down on some markets and eliminate others."

Finding your early adopters

The data ultimately showed that Hidrate's primary market opportunities were geared toward weight loss, fitness and health care. For instance, those who suffered from chronic diseases of the kidneys are a key demographic for the company. Hidrate also realized its markets were particularly skewed toward women, which is evident in Hidrate's branding. Nguyen and other co-founders and Hidrate team members  Coleman Iverson, Alex Hambrock and Jeremiah Harris  have received attention from the press for accumulating more than 8,000 backers in a Kickstarter campaign, but the data-based marketing work behind that success gets less attention. "The tricky thing about finding your market is that people you think would be early adopters turn out to be the exact opposite  athletes, for example, aren't a big part of the marketing strategy," Nguyen said. "Finding these early adopters ... was critical in launching Hidrate. ... It was the early adopters who helped build the product and shared it with others."

The tricky thing about finding your market is that people you think would be early adopters turn out to be the exact opposite. Nadya Nguyen co-founder and CEO Hidrate

"Social media has changed marketing and analytics," Raj said. "Progressive brands are not just concerned with vanity metrics such as 'likes' and 'shares. Instead, the data they collect from a social media perspective speaks to the sentiment and lets them find what topics resonate with the business and what topics don't. ... Businesses no longer use social media as a popularity contest." Leo Sadovy, an expert in industry marketing at SAS Institute, said start-ups like Hidrate can draw tremendous value from analyzing social media usage as a particularly cost-efficient way to gain market insight.

Once Nguyen and her co-founders identified their key markets, they reached out to social media "influencers," as she dubs them, within that market. After pinpointing Facebook and Instagram as their main social media channels, Nguyen said "the secret to discovering the right Instagram influencers lies in the fact that people follow similar popular users within an industry." To see how users kept up with news, they asked, for instance, how many went to Popsugar for fitness-related news and tips and whom they followed on social media. Hidrate also hired a virtual assistant to go into different users' profiles and note who they followed on Instagram. The company then made a list of potential Instagram influencers to reach out to. So far, they have 2,000 on board and 4,000 "in the pipeline," she said. The influencers the company spoke to were crucial in giving the Hidrate team insight into who exactly their audience was and what they wanted. "You have to really dig into the why  why they're interested or why they're not interested. It's not about the who or what as much as it is about the why," Nguyen said. Once she and her colleagues collected that data, they put together a list of hundreds of early adopters who they knew would support the product. By doing so, they had built some momentum, starting off their crowdfunding campaign with a slew of backers that massed into more than 8,000 total backers and $627,000. "By the time we launched the product, [the backers] weren't just supporting Hidrate, they were actually part of the process itself."
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered one of her largest political setbacks at the weekend after her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party saw sharp losses in regional elections with many conservative voters punishing Merkel for her refugee policy.

Exit polls from broadcaster Deutsche Welle following the Sunday vote showed that the CDU lost ground in the Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland Palatinate, and Saxony-Anhalt regions where elections were held. The party came second in two out of the three states having suffered strong losses in Rhineland Palatinate (where the center-left Social Democratic Party won) and Baden-Wurttemberg (where the Green party won) and only retaining its lead in Saxony-Anhalt. Speaking on Monday, Merkel said the election results marked a "difficult day" for the CDU and that the refugee policy was a "dominant issue" in the election, Dow Jones reported. However, she said the number of migrants had decreased in the region but that she was convinced that a European-wide solution was still needed. The party's losses come amid the dramatic rise in support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which claimed 24.3 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt and, surprisingly for a three-year old party, saw a dramatic rise in support in the other regions.



Angela Merkel Fabrizio Bensch | Reuters

The results have been seen as a damning indictment of Merkel's open-door migrant policy which has allowed more than an estimated 1 million refugees and migrants to enter Germany in 2015. Many of those migrants have fled civil war in Syria and the Middle East but the amount of people deemed as "economic migrants", rather than asylum seekers, is uncertain.



Merkel safe, for now

However, political analysts say that while the vote is a blow for Merkel, the German leader, who is seen as one of the most decisive leaders in the euro zone having helped steer the region through the financial crisis, is not defeated yet. Parties that did well  such as the Greens  also support Merkel's stance on refugees.

Andreas Kluth, Berlin bureau chief of The Economist, told CNBC on Monday that "Angela Merkel and her refugee policy per se did not lose." "Because even in the state of Saxony-Anhalt where the AfD won the most votes (it won 24.3 percent compared to the CDU's 30 percent) that means about 76 percent of people voted for parties that, one way or another, support Angela Merkel's policy," he said. "In the two western states (Baden-Wurttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate) you saw the big winners were not the CDU but parties that still had showed a clear support of Merkel's refugee policy in their campaigns. So it's simply not true that the policy has lost the support of the German population." Rather, Kluth said the polls had shown an "extreme uptick in polarization, the way you already have it in other European countries and even in the U.S. with Donald Trump." He expected that fragmentation of Germany's political scene to continue, leading to more centrist coalitions, voter boredom and a rise in support for more extremist parties.

The rise of populism
Morgan Stanley has hiked the probability of a recession hitting the global economy within the next year to 30 percent from 20 percent.

The U.S. bank also cut its baseline forecast for world economic growth to 3.0 percent in 2016.

"While we don't believe that a global recession is likely this year, the declining impact of lower oil prices and easier monetary policy on growth starts to worry us," said Morgan Stanley economists led by Elga Bartsch in a report sent on Monday.

Morgan Stanley attributed the downgrade to a slowdown in developed market growth led by the U.S. It now forecasts that U.S. economic growth will slow to 1.7 percent this year and 1.6 percent next, from 2.4 percent in 2015.
The UN (United Nations) human rights office in Moscow is set to close, according to reports, in a move that one analyst believes is warning shot to the Kremlin's political opposition, just months before parliamentary elections. Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that a decision was made to close the UN's Moscow Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The translation of RIA's report from The Associated Press quoted ambassador Alexey Borodavkin as saying that "we do not see anything extraordinary" in the office's closure. He went on to suggest that the UN office had fulfilled its obligation, having established human rights institutions across the country. A spokesperson for the OHCHR was not be immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.



Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sasha Mordovets | Getty Images

Daragh McDowell, principal Russia analyst at risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC via email that the UN's silence on the issue is an indication that its officers don't share Russia's view. "It's very sad that the Russian government is closing the UN's human rights office, as it has done a great deal of good work," Rachel Denber, the deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at campaign group Human Rights Watch, told CNBC by email. "The decision is also, sadly, not entirely surprising, coming as it does amid so many steps by the Russian government to close space for independent human rights work in the country," she said. Russia has come under fire amid a spike in attacks against journalists, activists and organizations working to expose human rights abuses, particularly in the North Caucasus, a region which incorporates republics like Chechnya, McDowell explained. Authorities have also gone so far as to ban international rights groups like George Soros' Open Society Foundations, which was dubbed a security threat by prosecutors late last year.



"The Kremlin is also preparing for the September parliamentary elections, and may be worried about their potential to act as a focus for protest during a period of economic stagnation. The authorities are likely to spend the next several months attempting to harass, weaken and demoralize the opposition," McDowell explained. President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party is currently leading pre-election polls at around 45 percent, according to a note issued last week by Teneo Intelligence Senior Vice President Otilia Dhand. That's a wide margin over the Communist Party, which comes a far second at 10 percent. Dhand explained that administrative hurdles are likely to be utilized to limit opposition candidates from registering in the election, adding that the Kremlin isn't taking any chances. "The removal of the OHCHR may be a form of 'signal' to the opposition that the gloves are about to be taken off," McDowell said. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September 18, 2016. Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not provide immediate comment when contacted by CNBC. Russia's presidential press office also wasn't immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
President Barack Obama is to visit the U.K. sometime in April to try to persuade the British public to vote to stay in the European Union when a referendum is held in June, according to a report in The Independent on Sunday.

The newspaper, which quoted an unidentified source in Downing Street, said Obama will visit Britain as "an extra leg of a trip to Germany next month."

According to the report, the source said: "Barack Obama is coming over at around that time. You wouldn't look stupid saying that (the president is going to tell British voters to stay in the EU). It would be pretty shocking if he didn't ask voters to stay in the EU."
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WEST CHESTER, Ohio  Unsettled by images of violence and ugliness at Donald J. Trump's rallies, the Republican leaders pushing to stop him are desperately targeting voters in the five big states that vote on Tuesday.

The weekend of disturbances at Mr. Trump's rallies injected more unease into the race, and the appeals of his rivals turned emotional and urgent. On Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida warned that a Trump White House would exploit hatred and stir violence. "Imagine what that means for the country," Mr. Rubio said. "Imagine the tone it sets for our culture." Ohio has emerged as a critical contest, the one large state voting this week where Mr. Trump appears vulnerable. A victory here by Gov. John Kasich would complicate Mr. Trump's attempt to gather a majority of delegates needed for the nomination.



Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Reuters

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont hoped for a repeat of his stunning upset over Hillary Clinton last week in Michigan, as he hopscotched the Midwest to push his central message that American workers have suffered too much under trade deals. More from The New York Times:

For Donald Trump, 'Get 'Em Out' Is the New 'You're Fired'

John Kasich Boasts of Ohio Recovery, but Reality Is More Nuanced

Graphic: HowTrump Could Be Blocked at a Contested Republican Convention Although the states that voted two weeks ago on "Super Tuesday" received much attention, the contests this week are potentially even more important.

A total of 424 delegates are up for grabs on the Republican side, and, for the first time, states can award all of their delegates to the winner of the popular vote.

With two polls in recent days showing Mr. Kasich with an edge over Mr. Trump in Ohio, whose 66 delegates will be awarded winner-take-all on Tuesday, Mr. Trump made multiple stops in the state over the weekend and added a last-minute return visit on Monday, canceling an appearance in Florida, where he has a strong lead.



Mr. Trump held two rallies on Sunday that were mainly free of protesters' disturbances. The unrest at Mr. Trump's rallies has made the race more tense. Mr. Trump blamed Mr. Sanders's supporters for shutting down a Trump rally on Friday in Chicago. But he has been sympathetic to his supporters who have become violent. On Sunday, Mr. Trump said he would consider paying the legal costs for a man who was charged last week with assaulting a protester being escorted from a rally in Fayetteville, N.C.

In West Chester, Ohio, on Sunday, Mr. Trump spoke on a raised platform surrounded by a cordon of uniformed and plainclothes officers.

If Mr. Kasich is defeated in Ohio, he has indicated he will exit the race. Mr. Rubio is likely to withdraw, too, if he loses his home state, Florida. That would leave Mr. Trump facing Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in a head-to-head competition, and polls show Mr. Trump is weaker in that matchup than in a multicandidate field.

Mr. Cruz, who is well behind in the polls in Ohio and Florida, focused on the other three states voting on Tuesday: Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois, where he planned to hold five events on Monday.

Mr. Cruz said he was "neck and neck" with Mr. Trump in the three states.



In the Democratic campaign, aides to Mrs. Clinton predicted tight races in the Midwestern states, where economically struggling voters have gravitated to Mr. Sanders. They were optimistic about winning Florida and North Carolina, where black, Hispanic and older voters were expected to give Mrs. Clinton a healthy edge in the race for delegates. Mr. Sanders has linked Mrs. Clinton, in speeches and a television ad, to Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, whose record on policing and fights with public-sector unions are unpopular with progressive voters.

In Missouri on Sunday, Mr. Sanders told a crowd that he had, "from Day 1, been a leader in opposition to these disastrous trade policies." He added, "Secretary Clinton has supported virtually all of them." With Mr. Sanders's ads attacking her support of global trade deals, Mrs. Clinton has emphasized her proposals to lift employment while criticizing the Vermont senator for being short on specific plans. Speaking at a factory in Youngstown, Ohio, over the weekend, Mrs. Clinton vowed to end steel-dumping practices by China and other nations that undermine the economy in the industrial Mahoning Valley. "I have always been committed to bringing back manufacturing," she said. "And I'm the only candidate, on either side, who actually has a plan to do that." With Ohio a perennial swing state in presidential elections, and its racially and economically diverse voters fiercely fought over, it was no surprise that candidates converged here in the final hours. Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Kasich for his support of the Common Core education standards, for a private-sector job at Lehman Brothers, whose 2008 collapse Mr. Trump said "almost destroyed the world," and for supporting trade deals that he blamed for harming the manufacturing sector. Mr. Kasich accused Mr. Trump of creating "a toxic atmosphere" and said Mr. Trump was on the verge of disqualifying himself to represent the party because of his divisive speech. The world's eyes were glued to the scenes of mayhem and discord Mr. Trump has created, Mr. Kasich said.
OPEC expects lower demand for its oil in 2016 than it previously forecast.

The oil cartel's crude demand forecast was revised down by 100,000 barrels per day for the full-year, slightly lower than its estimate last month, according to a report released Monday.



"In 2016, demand for OPEC crude is expected to stand at 31.5 million barrels per day, 0.1 mb/d, lower than last month, and representing an increase of 1.8 mb/d over the previous year."

It said overall demand for oil, including sources outside OPEC, will increase by 1.25 million barrels per day, as it had said in February. However it mentioned that it considered some upward revisions to demand in "Other Asia, Asia-Pacific and Europe due to better-than-expected data."


Bearish sentiment about the oil market resurfaced Monday after Iran dashed hopes for an output freeze in the near future, but that doesn't mean there should be expectations that crude prices will fall even further, said Joe Petrowski, founder of Mercantor Partners and a former CEO of Gulf Oil.

"We've seen the bottom for sure in crude," said Petrowski on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday. "I think a lot of the oil companies realize crude was better on the balance sheet in the cheapest storage, which is the ground rather than pull it out and sell it."

There also have been other positive signs that oil prices should move higher, such as the pickup in driving by individuals and the trend of consumers buying bigger cars, he added.
You can watch the full uncut CNBC interview with ValueAct Capital CEO Jeff Ubben, along with exclusive bonus interview content available only for CNBC Pro subscribers below. Ubben shared his views on the firm's investment strategy, oil prices and Valeant Pharmaceuticals , among other topics. On oil prices he said, "People say that it's gonna maybe go to $55 and hang out there. No way ... with the disinvestment we've seen, [by] 2019 the marginal barrel could easily push it $100 again." Ubben founded ValueAct Capital in 2000. Previously, the activist hedge fund manager was a managing partner at Blum Capital Partners and a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments. Can't see the video? Here's how to become a CNBC Pro subscriber . More premium content from CNBC Pro: Santoli: Bond-like yield may support tired bull Pro Talks: Liz Ann Sonders on fate of bull market Pro Strategy: Fitbit may outrun the shorts

You can watch the full uncut CNBC interview with ValueAct Capital CEO Jeff Ubben, along with exclusive bonus interview content available only for CNBC Pro subscribers below. Ubben shared his views on the firm's investment strategy, oil prices and Valeant Pharmaceuticals , among other topics. On oil prices he said, "People say that it's gonna maybe go to $55 and hang out there. No way ... with the disinvestment we've seen, [by] 2019 the marginal barrel could easily push it $100 again." Ubben founded ValueAct Capital in 2000. Previously, the activist hedge fund manager was a managing partner at Blum Capital Partners and a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments. Can't see the video? Here's how to become a CNBC Pro subscriber.
The global shipping industry continues to fall victim to weakening demand and excess supply with freight rates on some routes hitting all-time lows, latest figures show. Average spot freight rates fell to a record low of $701 per 40-foot shipping container last week, according to the World Container Index (WCI) which tracks 11 global shipping routes. This was the lowest reading since the index started tracking rates in 2011.

The WCI index is 60 percent below the five-year average and has fallen 62 percent in the past year, according to the WCI's director, Richard Heath, in a press release.

A cargo ship docked at the Port of Long Beach, Calif. Harriet Taylor | CNBC

One of the worst hit lines is the Asia to Europe route. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index showed shipping costs on the route have fallen 82 percent over the past 10 weeks to $211 per 20-foot container.

Along with weakening demand from markets such as China, the glut of container ships plying the world's seas has been a major factor hitting freight rates, Philip Damas, director at Drewry, told CNBC in a phone interview. The current rates are not sustainable, he added.

Maersk echoed these reasons in their recent full-year financial reports.

"The continued lack of demand and over-capacity resulted in sharply declining rates from the second quarter and onwards," said Sren Skou, CEO of Maersk Line, in the company's annual report.
Sri Lanka will strive to tighten its belt and maintain policy consistency to improve its debt rating and help make capital Colombo a global financial center, the country's finance minister told CNBC on Monday.



The new administration will raise value-added tax (VAT) and reintroduce capital gains taxes as it seeks to improve Sri Lanka's finance outlook, Ravi Karunanayake told CNBC's "Capital Connection."



"We want to tax the top end of [the consumer], which basically consumes, rather than the downtrodden," Karunanayake said, calling it a necessary measure to achieve fiscal consolidation.



"Imposing new taxes is a hard-sell, but what more can you do?"



The finance minister added his administration's long term target is to reduce Sri Lanka's budget deficit to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2019-2020. Government data showed Sri Lanka's budget deficit was at 6 percent of GDP for 2015.



According to Reuters, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told lawmakers VAT would be hiked to 15 percent from 11 percent, while capital gains will be taxed for the first time since 1987.
But Starwood has received a waiver from Marriott enabling it to engage in discussions with the investor group in connection with its proposal. The Marriott waiver expires Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET.

In November, Starwood entered into a merger agreement with Marriott International , under which Marriott would acquire Starwood in a $12.2 billion stock and cash transaction.

On the news, which broke before Monday's opening bell, Starwood shares surged about 7 percent in early trading on Wall Street. The complex offer from the Chinese group values Starwood at $81.50 per share.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has received a rival takeover bid worth about $14 billion from a group of investors led by a Chinese firm that's been quite active in buying up U.S. hotel properties, including the Waldorf-Astoria.

Starwood did not disclose the names of the companies that made the approach. But in a Monday press release, Marriott said the consortium was being led by China's Anbang Insurance Group, which bought the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City last year for $1.95 billion.

Patrick Scholes, lodging and leisure analyst at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey, told CNBC he did not see this unsolicited offer coming, and questioned whether U.S. regulators might present a problem. "Until these things are done, there's no guarantee that it will go through."



Marriott on Monday also said it remained committed to the Starwood deal, which would create the world's largest hotel company. Starwood said its board has not changed its recommendation in support of the Marriott deal.

Marriott said it's confident the previously announced deal is the best course for both companies.



"The bottom line here .... do you take what is the equivalent to $82 a share from Anbang and sort of take your quick profit and get out?" Scholes said. "Or do you stay with Marriott, which you get about the equivalent of $70 [per share] and you continue to believe in the lodging cycle and the synergies Marriott can create here."

Just days ago, Anbang cut a $6.5 billion deal with Blackstone Group for the Strategic Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio has 16 properties with 7,532 rooms as well as meeting and banquet space.

Among the Strategic Hotels properties are Ritz-Carlton locations in California, the Fairmont Scottsdale in Arizona, and the Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

 AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
Forbes has not endorsed any candidate, but said he would support whoever was chosen as the GOP nominee.

Ahead of Tuesday's key nominating contests, including winner-take-all primaries in Florida and Ohio, Forbes told CNBC's " Squawk Box " that Trump rivals need to convince voters with their policy ideas.

Media mogul Steve Forbes, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000, said Monday the remaining Republican candidates trying to derail Donald Trump need to shift the race "beyond personalities and get back to principle."

Before Tuesday's contests, Kasich was last in the delegate count, with less than half of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 's 163. Cruz was in second place with 369 delegates, behind Trump's 460.

"Trump, by the way, has to ramp up his campaign in terms of putting out substance ... [fleshing] out his tax plans and spending plans and the like, because people are at the stage [saying], 'OK, it's now winnowed down, where do we go from here?'" Forbes added.

"[Of] the three un-Trump candidates, at least [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz , has finally woken up. You have to beat Trump with substance. And Cruz has now come out vigorously for the flat tax," said Forbes, a long-time advocate of the tax plan.

Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had the right strategy while he was in the race, but the wrong execution.

"[Bush] talked about 4 percent GDP growth. I understood what he was saying, but [to] most people it sounds like a hair formula," Forbes said. "Bush was too abstract," he continued, arguing Bush failed to connect the dots and convey how his ideas would change the country.

Forbes said candidate and president Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, was great at communicating his vision. "Reagan had a wonderful way of translating these things in a way people would actually understand how they might improve their lives and the country."

Reagan was a larger-than-life figure, Forbes added. "But Reagan always made sure it was beyond him. It was not just the personality. He had something he stood for."

The current candidates vying to stay alive in the Trump-dominated race should use some of Reagan's tricks of the trade, he said. "You just can't say, 'I don't like Donald Trump; I don't like what he does.' You have to have an alternative. And that's why, I think, you're seeing people rally around Cruz."

Over the weekend, Trump was forced to address the violent encounters at his campaign events.

The billionaire businessman criticized the protesters who forced him to cancel an event in Chicago on Friday. On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Trump said: "I do not accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape."

On the campaign trail, Cruz won the most delegates awarded in the Wyoming Republican conventions Saturday, while Rubio narrowly beat Kasich in Washington, D.C.

The Florida primary was seen as make or break for Rubio, who trails in his home state to Trump by 18.7 percentage points in the latest polls aggregated by RealClear Politics.

If Trump were to get to this summer's GOP convention with a plurality of delegates but not enough to claim the nomination outright, Forbes said it would be "chaotic."

"If you have a contested convention, each delegate is going to want his or her 15 minutes of fame," he argued. "There is no bosses."

"The dirty little secret today is there is no establishment, certainly not on the Republican side," Forbes said. "You have officials from the past, [and] party officials today being paid by donors. They have no clout."
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Consumers are lapping up gold at a time supply is declining, helping underpin a rally in the precious metal, a market participant said Monday. Demand from emerging markets in particular is strong as currencies such as the Indonesian rupiah , the and the Vietnamese dong has fallen sharply in the last 12 to 18 months against the U.S. dollar, prompting consumers in these markets to buy physical gold, which is seen as a haven in times of tumult. Aside from state buying, the Chinese public is also pulling money out of stocks after a slump earlier this year to put their money into gold, said Padraig Seif, chief executive of Hong Kong-based trading firm, Finemetal Asia.



The People's Bank of China expanded its holdings by 0.6 percent to 57.50 million ounces in February from 57.18 million ounces in January, according to statistics on its website. This has spurred a change in the market sentiment despite expectations of further rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve this year, which would typically depress gold prices as it is a non interest-yielding asset.

The rally in gold prices has also been supported by a reduction in the availability of the precious metal. According to the World Gold Council, total supply declined 4 percent in 2015 to 4,258 tons  the lowest since 2009.

"Market sentiment has changed quite a biton the supply side, more and more bullion banks are pulling out of the bullion trade so on the supply side, you've got a decrease in supply; on the demand side you've got an increase. It's quite natural then that the gold price will go up," he told CNBC's Street Signs.
Steve Case Michael Newberg | CNBC

This year's SXSW comes at a time when the startups that populate the festival face some very real challenges: Valuations are declining in many places, funding isn't as easy to come by, and the initial public offering market has dried up. Still, the mood is bright at the annual gathering of entrepreneurs, investors, and media. A range of investors CNBC spoke to are plenty bullish on the potential investments they're scoping at back-to-back meetings, panels and parties.

State of tech: Still a bubble?

Revolution's Steve Case, who lived though a bubble in his time running AOL , said he's seeing a correction on valuations for pre-IPO companies. On the venture side, "investors are starting to get a little more sober, a little bit more cautious," he said. But he's confident the best companies will still be able to raise money, and he's actually planning to accelerate his fund's pace of investment.

"From a deal-flow perspective, from an opportunity perspective, it's definitely not slowing down," said NEA partner Rick Yang, though he did acknowledge what he called a "reversion to the mean." "Valuations have come down a bitas a big (venture capitalist), I think it's both good and bad, because when we're looking at new opportunities it means we can get a little bit more ownership at a cheaper price. But on the flip side our portfolio companies are experiencing the same thing when they go out to fundraise," Yang said.

Josh Elman, partner at VC firm Greylock, sees plenty of reasons to be optimistic, pointing to GM 's recent $1 billion acquisition in the self-driving car space. "So that leaves me more inspired ... We're still creating the future and some of it is going to be right."

In the meantime, Yang and other VCs are encouraging their portfolio companies to plan for "longer liquidity cycles"  meaning they need to get to sustainable profitability before pursuing fast growth.

And these leaner times can be a great force in creating stronger companies for the long run. "When companies are forced to live within their means...it helps them through the the lifecycle of the entire company," Yang said. So what types of companies are these investors most interested in at SXSW?

Cashing in next-generation content

New types of content-sharing apps are generating a lot of buzz in Austin. But in a shift away from the photo-sharing craze epitomized by Instagram, now the focus is on audio sharing as well. Anchor calls itself an "audio social network"  think podcasting meets Twitter . Users can post short audio clips, share them, and respond to other people's clips, like Facebook or Twitter interactions but with voices. "I think it has the potential to be as big as radio," said Anchor CEO Mike Mignano. "It's as easy as talking into a phone. It's a medium anyone can use."

Ease of use is also central to KnowMe, co-created by filmmaker JJ Abrams and Moviefone co-founder Andrew Jarecki. It allows users to easily create and share short video clips by narrating over a handful of photos. NEA's Yang said these types of startups are built on an an interest in "understanding how to build a community around content."

As for where the future of content is headed, Elman pointed to the range of virtual reality demos on display in the convention center, from Sony's PlayStation VR, to a startup called Splash, which allows users to turn 10 photos into a 360 video they can share with anyone. Samsung is hosting a house near the convention center in Austin to showcase its GearVR headset, allowing visitors to experience a Six Flags roller coaster.

Fintech grows up

SXSW hosted a number of panels on financial technology, and Monday morning one Austin-based FinTech startup  Honest Dollar  announced its acquisition by Goldman Sachs .

NEA's Yang said some of these startups have the potential to grow with millennial consumers. (NEA is invested in zero commission brokerage Robinhood.) Yang said he was focusing on companies that can "capture these consumers right at that very malleable demographic of just coming out of college, getting your first job, opening your first savings account." "People stick with their financial services, traditionally, for a long time," he said.

Policy meets technology

This year, on the heels of President Barack Obama's speech about the need for technology to improve civic engagement, a merging of technology and policy is front and center. Case said policy is driving the conversation in everything from food to education to healthcare, and that's only going to accelerate.

"Over the last 10 to 15 years the government really hasn't been that important because it's really been more about the app economy. But it's getting important again because the sectors most ripe for disruption are regulated," Case said. "There's going to be more of a role for government," Case added. "Entrepreneurs don't necessarily like to hear that because they get frustrated by the pace of change and how it's difficult sometimes to work with government. But the reality is the great innovations and the next wave are going to require more engagement with government, and more partnerships with other companies. It's not so much the go-it-alone mentality of the last decade."
Budweiser area at the SXSW event in Austin, Texas. Source: Budweiser

Getting food and drinks at the stadium during a game is part of the experience, even though waiting in long lines is an unpleasant task. But what if you could skip the line and pour the beer yourself? Budweiser and Bud Light have a pilot test making that a reality. DraftServ is a self-service machine where consumers pour themselves a beer, using a pre-loaded card as payment. South by Southwest Interactive Festival attendees this week are being invited to try out the product at the "Budweiser Beer Garage," a pop-up venue that hosted some of the beer brands' latest technological innovations as well as a mini-experience of its flagship St.Louis brewery through virtual reality. "DraftServ increases the purchase cycle for us because the consumers don't have the barrier of going to the bar and waiting in line and having that transaction," said Tina Wung, director of digital strategy and innovation at Anheuser-Busch. "They can just do it themselves."

"Not only do we have consumers able to get beer faster, but if we stack up all the DraftServ's a high traffic location in a stadium then that gives us the additional branding, awareness, and it also stops people," she continued. "Maybe they weren't thinking about getting a beer, but now they can have it."

The SXSW installation is a mini-version of the actual Budweiser Beer Garage, the nickname for the Anheuser-Busch InBev's Digital Center of Excellence in Palo Alto, Calif. There, a small team of five comes up with inventive ways to combine technology to get people to drink more beer. "The Budweiser Beer Garage here at SXSW is really a representation of all the innovation we've been doing at Anheuser-Busch and in general, and through the different booths and experiences you can see the actual examples of consumer pilots and technology we brought in-house," Wung said. The futuristic concepts are meant to serve all consumers, but with a special focus towards drinking-age millennials. Much has been written about Budweiser's demise among the demographic, which prefers craft beer. Anheuser-Busch data from 2014 shows that 44 percent of 21 to 27-year-old beer drinkers haven't even tasted Budweiser. "Leveraging digital innovation is definitely an effective way to help millennialize or make relevant our brand again," Wung said. "When consumers are experiencing a brand in a new fresh way being presented to them in channels they consume or through behaviors that they actually do then, yeah, I do think it allows them to take a second look at us."
The Kremlin's swiftest response to the downing of its attack aircraft by the Turkish air force on November 24 has come in the form of economic sanctions. Turkish exports of fruit and vegetables to Russia have been banned, visa-free travel has ceased and many Russian travel agencies have pulled the plug on tourist packages to Turkey under pressure from the Kremlin. The list goes on.

There is a worse weapon Moscow could have used: Slashing energy exports to Turkey, which receives up to 35 percent of its oil and almost 60 percent of its natural gas from Russia. But President Putin has pragmatically refrained from making swingeing cuts in a year when the Russian economy is expected to contract by up to 4 percent.

Moscow understands that its sanctions regime will not on its own place the Turkish economy under severe pressure but could reduce Turkish economic growth by what the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development estimated in December at anywhere between 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent in 2016. Importantly, the Kremlin is using sanctions to ensure the Russian population knows that Turkey is an enemy and to bolster domestic support.

The impact of sanctions on Turkey could also increase when the price of oil and gas eventually rises. The possibility of external shocks, combined with the financial burden of the Syrian refugee crisis despite the promise of billions of euros in EU aid, would exacerbate the cumulative effect. As would the potential spread of conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to western urban centers, alongside new Islamic State attacks.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Jittery investors searching for ideas on where major U.S. equity benchmarks are heading might want to take a look at the Chinese yuan, according to new research by Societe Generale.

"China's economy and the yuan remain a major source of uncertainty for markets, a sharp weakening in the RMB (yuan) would likely cause a rebound in volatility and decline in the ," Laure Fauchet, a thematic strategist at Societe Generale, told CNBC via email.

The research looks at the percentage change, from the month before, for both the S&P 500 and the yuan, rolled every day. While the French bank caveats that it is not necessarily a robust forward indicator for the S&P, it does show a correlation between the two assets with the Chinese currency often moving ahead of the U.S. index.

Starting last summer, growth concerns from China alongside tightening policy from the Federal Reserve and a plunge in oil prices have sparked steep falls in equity markets. A near 4 percent devaluation of the yuan last August sent Chinese - and emerging market - stocks into free fall, with investors pulling out money from an economy that is still coming to terms with slowing growth.

China has enjoyed a debt-fueled boom in the last decade but the People's Bank of China (PBoC) is now trying to manage a transition to a more consumer- and services-focused economy. Another hefty devaluation at the start of the year sent shares into another tailspin and has roiled developed market indexes.

Societe Generale warned that the recent stabilization of the Chinese currency should be watched closely, as any reversal in the yuan would likely cause a sharp correction in stock markets. The central scenario from the bank envisions the USD/CNY exchange rate to reach 6.80 in 2016 in a largely gradual and controlled manner. It was trading at 6.4947 on Monday morning. However, the bank also states there is a "large and growing risk" that the rate could trade up to 7.50 this year.

Meanwhile, Bob Parker, a senior adviser for investment strategy and research at Credit Suisse, suggests that the correlation between the two markets is a little more nuanced. He believes that the S&P 500 is arguably suffering large of bouts of selling pressure because of its enhanced liquidity.
Kuwait has issued two new commemorative 5-dinar coins, including the gold-plated silver version shown here, for the 25th anniversary of its liberation during Operation Desert Storm.

The Central Bank of Kuwait on March 5 announced two new coins to mark the 25th anniversary of the nations liberation following Operation Desert Storm.

Coalition forces led by the United States defeated Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, as it is often called, after about six weeks of a military effort consisting mostly of air war.

A silver 5-dinar coin and a gold-plated silver 5-dinar coin mark the Feb. 26 anniversary of liberation.

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The obverse of the coins includes the date of the anniversary in both Arabic and English, the inscription The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Liberation of the State of Kuwait in Arabic, circular decorative assortments, the states official logo, a portrait of a Kuwait soldier giving the military salute and an image of a tank.

The reverse carries similar inscriptions in English, the bank logo, a portrait of a Kuwaiti boom (sailing boat), circular decorative assortments, and the symbolic value of 5 dinars.

The coins measure 38.61 millimeters in diameter, but the bank has not disclosed their weights or mintages.

The coins went on sale at the bank office on March 6, with the silver coin costing 35 dinars (about $116 in U.S. funds) and the gold-plated version available for 45 dinars (about $153 U.S.).

Coin World does not know of any distributor for Kuwaiti coins in the United States, so collectors will have to search the secondary market or contact the bank at its website.
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Three men wounded in Friday night shooting near Hitt Street

Three people were wounded Friday night in a downtown shooting near Hitt and Locust streets, the Columbia Police Department reported.
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By Kevin McKenzie of The Commercial Appeal

Evergreen Packaging Inc., a leading manufacturer of milk and juice cartons, is seeking a PILOT tax break in Memphis as it considers whether to make Memphis its headquarters for a consolidated $5 billion company.

At stake is whether 70 jobs with an annual average wage of more than $176,000 are added to Evergreen's headquarters in Memphis, joining 103 currently there, to make it the global headquarters for a consolidated organization called Nuco, company officials reported in an application for a PILOT with the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis and Shelby County.

Evergreen's "strategic owner," New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart, has decided to consolidate the Memphis corporate headquarters with two sister companies, Indianapolis-based Closure Systems International and York-based Graham Packaging Co.

Memphis is competing with York, Pennsylvania; Lake Forest, Illinois, Charlotte and Indianapolis for the global headquarters, the company reports.

The combined Nuco organization will include 127 manufacturing facilities in 36 countries with more than 14,000 employees and $5 billion in annual revenue, the firm reported.

The company has hired Cushman & Wakefield to help select a site and negotiate incentives "to address access to talent, strong air access, cost containment and future growth," Evergreen officials wrote in the request for a PILOT.

Currently headquartered at 5350 Poplar, suite 600, Evergreen said it would add to a workforce that includes 42 management jobs with average base pay of $164,424 and 59 support jobs averaging $79,805, not including benefits.

The 70 new jobs would include 40 in management with average annual base pay of $235,707 and 28 support positions averaging $100,000.

The company is promising a capital investment of about $3.8 million, but asking for a ramp-up period of three, rather than two, years. It also wants the flexibility to move or grow in other locations and to have all square footage it occupies, rather than only added footage, count towards the tax break calculation.

EDGE calculates that a 15-year tax break would save the firm a total of nearly $1.2 million in property tax-related payments to Memphis and Shelby County. Total taxes of all kinds created would reach more than $7.1 million, with a benefit of $6.12 for every $1 in tax breaks, officials estimate.

With roots dating back to International Paper Co.'s entry into the beverage packaging business in 1946, Evergreen was established in 2007 when IP spun off the beverage business that includes a mill in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Bloomberg reported in 2007 that Hart, a former tow truck driver, was assembling a global food packaging empire.

Evergreen received a PILOT from Memphis and Shelby County in 2007, which expired and placed the company back on the tax rolls by 2014, according to county property records.

The EDGE board is scheduled to consider PILOT proposals on Wednesday, beginning at 3:10 p.m., at the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, 6393 Poplar.
March 13, 2016 - Westchester Square resident Lisa Royar stands up a sign on the edge of her neighborhood near the proposed Parkside at Shelby Farms site. Royar and many of her neighbors are opposing the high-rise apartment complex which would overlook the Greenline on the north side of Shelby Farms. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE A rendering submitted to the Land Use Control Board shows the proposed Parkside at Shelby Farms development, which would include apartments and commercial uses. (courtesy of Parkside at Shelby Farms) March 13, 2016  Runners use the Greeenline near the Westchester Square neighborhood, the site of a proposed high-rise apartment complex overlooking Shelby Farms. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal) Related Coverage City Council approves Parkside development over objections

By Thomas Bailey Jr. of The Commercial Appeal

The battle over the proposed Parkside at Shelby Farms has yet to draw the kind of attention as the cars that sometimes park on Overton Park's lawn, but some Cordova homeowners contend the stakes are just as high.

Those who live nearby say they feel threatened by denser development, thousands more people, worse traffic delays, weakened property values, and tall buildings that would either block the sun or spoil the countryside views surrounding the massive urban park.

"We feel like the landscape is going to be ruined for Shelby Farms Park,'' said Lisa Royar, one of the residential activists working after-hours and during their lunches to defeat Parkside.

Developers Bob Turner and Doug Windham of DB Development propose a 55-acre planned development of 21 buildings. The project includes 1,200 apartments, three six-story structures, 50,000 square feet of retail space, 80,000 square feet of offices as well as parking lots and green space.

The site extends northwest from Whitten and Mullins Station roads, separated from the north boundary of Shelby Farms Park by Mullins Station and a new extension of Shelby Farms Greenline.

The project requires approval for a planned development because the land is now zoned for single-family houses. While the proposal is on the Memphis City Council agenda on Tuesday for a first reading, the issue is to be aired out with a public hearing and final vote on April 5.

Red-and-white yard signs that declare "NO Rezoning, NO More Apartments, NO 6 Story Buildings, NO Traffic Nightmare'' have been springing up across the neighborhoods the past two weeks.

Opponents have peppered the Office of Planning & Development with questions about the approval process. They also are trying to persuade like-minded citizens to flood the City Council with emails.

The opponents have established an online petition with more than 700 signatures of people opposing Parkside as of Monday afternoon. They also have established a Facebook page.

The development is too much for Jaquan and Lissette Talbert, a Memphis firefighter and VA Hospital nurse who are neighbors of Royar in the Westchester Square subdivision. They have lived for 16 years a block away from the woods. The fit couple have meshed Shelby Farms into their lifestyle, going there three or four times a week for runs, walks and other activities.

Some might liken Parkside's three tall buildings to the tall structures that line Central Park in New York City. Even Shelby Farms Park leaders have said they would support Parkside as long as it's a high-quality development. But Laquan said, "Lissette and I are both from New York, both from the Bronx  If I would have wanted that I would have never left.''

Turner, one of the developers, could not be reached for comment on Monday. But last month he said Memphians can be confident Parkside will be a high-quality project in part because Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, which has a reputation for new urbanism designs, will lead the design and planning process.

"We're going to be looking at the new designs,'' Turner had said. "It's not going to be block buildings  It's going to be the new urban design  We'll find what's right for that area and what the people want.''

Parkside is "not just our idea,'' Turner said. "This is a Memphis project. That's why we want Memphis people involved.''

And Parkside is not just a problem for the immediate neighbors, Royar said. Visitors to the park will experience heavier traffic and the loss of the rural atmosphere, she said.

Turner has said that the project includes substantial improvements to the bottleneck intersection of Mullins Station and Whitten roads.

City Councilman Frank Colvett chairs the council's Planning and Zoning Committee and happens to represent Westchester Square. "I'm starting to get a lot of letters in opposition and a lot of questions,'' Colvett said Monday.

He plans to ask the developers to consider hosting a second public forum so he can hear the opponents' questions and the developers' answers.

"I'm carefully trying to form no opinion one way or another until I hear and read the case and hear the opposition,'' Colvett said.

" ... With the letters of opposition I'm getting and opposition I'm told happened (before the Land Use Control Board), I would think it's in the applicants' best interest to have a sit-down or meeting.''

The developers face another hurdle with Shelby County Government. They have requested an easement across Shelby Farms Greenline, the former CSX Railroad track converted into an asphalt walking and biking trail. Their plan has a front entrance off Mullins Station, so vehicles entering and leaving Parkside would cross the greenline.

A county memo shows that County Engineer Darren Sanders responded, "Shelby County desires to limit the number of crossings of the Greenline as much as possible. Additional conflicts between traffic and Greenline users affect safety. In addition, a crossing of the Greenline for a commercial function conflicts with the agreement with the CSX Railroad that restricts the easement to trail use.''
SHARE International Paper, headquartered in East Memphis, plans to sell its Asian packaging business. (Kyle Kurlick/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

By Sara K. Clarke of The Commercial Appeal

International Paper said Monday it plans to sell its corrugated packaging business in China and Southeast Asia for about $150 million.

The Memphis-based paper company has a definitive agreement to sell the unit to Xiamen Bridge Hexing Equity Investment Partnership Enterprise.

IP's corrugated packaging business in Asia has 18 plants and about 3,000 employees.

Under terms of the transaction, International Paper said it will receive about RMB 1 billion (approximately $150 million at current exchange rate), subject to post-closing adjustments and other payments, including the buyer's assumption of about $50 million in loans to be paid to International Paper within six months of the sale.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the next few months, subject to government approvals.

IP's stock was up .56 percent in afternoon trading, to $40.13.
Sen. Frank Nicely, R-Strawberry Plains, center, walks between demonstrators opposed to immigration restrictions outside the Senate Chamber last month in Nashville. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NASHVILLE  The line was forming long before the doors to the Tennessee General Assembly opened at 9 a.m.

Security precautions have increased faster than the speed of the state's clunky identification verification system, but we managed to make our way inside about 9:50.

I was with more than two dozen concerned citizens from across the state who came to Nashville last week to participate in the democratic process.

Hundreds of people show up here every week to take their seats in what the late Justice Louis Brandeis called "the most important office ... that of private citizen."

They wait in line to get ID badges that allow them to walk the halls of Legislative Plaza and the War Memorial Building, to sit in committee meetings, and to let their elected representatives know face-to-face what they think.

In this particular case, it's what they think about a bill to require law enforcement officials to preserve all biological evidence in all capital murder cases (they favor it), and, in general, what they think about the death penalty (they oppose it).

"Do not get into a theological debate with somebody about the death penalty," Rev. Stacy Rector, a Presbyterian minister and Rhodes College graduate, advised them in a training session held an hour before.

"Don't tell them you won't vote for them if they don't agree with you. And always say 'Thank you,' even if you don't feel like saying 'Thank you,' just like your mama taught you."

Mama never taught them how to lobby the state Legislature, especially on an issue  repeal of the death penalty  that isn't likely to find favor in one of the country's most conservative legislatures.

This year, however, members of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP), and members of Tennessee Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty (TNCC), are finding more fertile common ground.

The "Biological Preservation" bill they are here to support is being sponsored by two Republicans  Sen. Steve Dickerson and Rep. Jeremy Faison, both of Nashville.

"Personally, I don't trust the government to accurately deliver my mail every time," said Amy Lawrence, TNCC coordinator. "I have to accept that there is collateral damage in the death penalty system as well, and I don't find that acceptable."

The bill is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It has a good chance of passing  in part because DNA evidence has exonerated more than 150 death-row inmates since 1973, including three in Tennessee.

"No one is in favor of executing innocent people," said Rector, TADP's executive director. "But legislators are dealing with a lot of bills and a lot of information and a lot of competing interests. We can't assume they all know about this bill or know enough about it."

In their rounds last week, 29 members of both groups met with 30 legislators, including state Sen. Reginald Tate of Memphis.

"I wish all of my constituents would come visit," he said. "It helps them better understand the process and it helps us better represent them in the process."

The citizen lobbyists delivered information packets to all 132 legislators.

The 31 Democrats got blue folders, which included information on Race and the Death Penalty: "African-Americans make up 43 percent of Tennessee's death row, but only 17% of its total population."

The 101 Republicans got red folders, which included information on the high cost of the death penalty: "The death penalty diverts resources from genuine crime control measures," it said.

Republicans historically favor the death penalty, but red-state Nebraska repealed it last year and redder Utah nearly abolished it last week.

"We don't have the votes here yet," said state Rep. Johnnie Turner of Memphis, who sponsors a bill nearly every year to repeal the death penalty, "but we're never going to give up."

That sort of hope is what keeps the lines moving outside and inside the state capitol during the legislative session.

George Grider, one of three Memphians who joined the citizens lobbying last week, said he was encouraged by "the hopeful expressions on people's faces."

"It showed that democracy in this cynical time remains popular," said Grider, son of the former Memphis congressman by the same name. "Perhaps even viable."

As long as the lines keep forming.
March 14, 2016  Police tape is seen outside of a unit in the Valley Forge Apartments in Whitehaven where a 15-year-old girl was shot and killed Monday morning. Police responded to the shooting call around 1:15 a.m. in the 100 block of Hillview Avenue where Vianca Harris was pronounced dead on the scene. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

By Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal

Teresa Davis has turned to God since her granddaughter, 7-year-old Kirsten Williams, was shot and killed nearly a year ago in apparent retaliation for the death of another girl.

Kirsten was killed as she played outside, and authorities believe she was slain in retaliation for the death of 15-year-old Cateria Stokes, who was killed in a drive-by shooting as she slept in bed the night before. Four men, including Cateria's brother Carlos, have been charged with first-degree murder in Kirsten's death.

Davis said her granddaughter's death rocked her to her core.

"It took my breath away," Davis said. "It broke me into pieces."

After hearing news of the recent spate of homicides involving youths in Memphis, including two teenagers shot to death since Saturday, Davis offered this advice to their families: "Stay prayed up. That's what has helped. I view the world as a different place now. I read scriptures every day."

The year 2016 is turning out to be a deadly one for children in Memphis. Of the 50 homicides so far this year, six of the victims have been between 13 and 17 years old. That compares to 12 homicides for the same age group in all of last year.

Additionally, three older youths  two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old  along with two unborn children of pregnant women killed in the first 10 weeks of 2016 bring this year's grim youth homicide total to 11.

The most recent such killing happened early Monday, when police say that Terry Turner, 24, shot and killed 15-year-old Vianca Harris around 1:15 a.m. in Whitehaven's Valley Forge apartments.

Turner has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held in the Shelby County Jail. Officials later determined that Harris was 4 or 5 weeks pregnant; additional charges for the unborn child are pending, police said.

Residents of the complex, who would not give their names, said the last time they saw Harris was Saturday when she was riding a hoverboard in the parking lot. They said she had been at the three-bedroom apartment, where a couple dozen people were living, since last week.

"She was a beautiful girl and she was doing what teenagers do by riding that hoverboard," said a woman who has lived there for 12 years. "I am sick of all these teenagers and kids dying. They need to be in school learning to achieve. "

Around lunchtime Monday, at least 20 people  including children  came out of the apartment where the shooting occurred. They packed a hoverboard and clothes in three vehicles and left, telling reporters to get away from the apartment.

Of the slain teens in 2016, all were African-American and all but two were male. The youngest was a 13-year-old girl killed four days into the New Year.

"It's just symptomatic of the conditions that have bubbled up over a period of years," said Richard Graham, executive director of Juvenile Intervention and Faith-based Follow-up, a court-ordered mentoring program for juvenile offenders in the city.

With fewer role models, Graham said, youths are "growing up with a lack of hope or sense of purpose" and have no vision for the future.

On Saturday, a 16-year-old boy, whom police have not identified, was shot in the 700 block of Semmes in Orange Mound. Police said the boy was walking down the street around 2:15 a.m. when two men approached. They opened fire when the teen ran.

On March 2, Alonzo Looney, 16, was shot and killed in an armed robbery attempt in the 1700 block of Denison Street. Police said Looney was a suspect and that he and two others attempted to rob a man sitting in his car. Police said Looney was killed by the robbery victim.

On Feb. 7, 15-year-old Tony Mathena, a Craigmont High School student, was stabbed to death by his 12-year-old brother during an argument.

Two teens were killed on Jan. 4.

LeTara Jones, 13, was accidentally shot when her brother's friend was playing with a gun that discharged, police said, hitting the girl who was downstairs holding a baby. Police say her brother then shot and killed the suspect.

Antonie Bell, 17, was shot and killed the same day when he and two other teens pulled over to help a woman and her baby on the side of the road. Bell, a student at Raleigh Egypt High School, was killed when two people walked over to the car and opened fire on the teens, police said.
<p>Visitors walk up and down the grassy slope of Beale Street Landing at dusk on July 12, 2014.</p> (Photo by David Royer/The Commercial Appeal)

By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal

The Riverfront Development Corporation is eyeing a dock expansion at the controversial $43.6 million Beale Street Landing as it prepares for a new wave of Mississippi River cruise ship business.

A team of designers and engineers is standing by to work on a $3 million to $5 million expansion, which would extend the dock to the south and add two poles in the river, known as "dolphins," to allow two additional ships to moor at the same time, said RDC President Benny Lendermon.

The work will begin after Viking River Cruises signs an agreement with New Orleans to use that city as its home port  a deal that is "very close" to happening," Lendermon said. He said Viking is working with the U.S. Maritime Administration to meet legal requirements for operating ships in the U.S.

"What we've said is, until you start building, until you physically start building the boat, we're not even spending any money on design," he said.

Lendermon also said after the meeting that the funding sources hadn't been determined, but that RDC could ask Viking to pay for at least some of the expansion.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, who heard about the expansion in a previously unannounced meeting with RDC board members on Monday, said he wasn't sure if public funding would be available.

"Too early to tell," he said after the meeting. "This is the first I've heard of it."

Lendermon declined to name the members of the team lined up to work on the dock expansion design, but said they would include some of the members of the team that designed Beale Street Landing.

The Switzerland-based company announced in 2015 that it planned to build six 300-passenger Mississippi River cruise ships over three years for $100 million each, starting before the end of 2017. Lendermon said the company hoped to increase that number to 12 ships eventually.

Six new boats would generate $75 million in total taxes, including $7.6 million locally, Lendermon said. Cruise ships American Queen and Queen of the Mississippi also operate on the river, and American Eagle added a 150-passenger ship in spring 2015.

Lendermon said Viking will build two ships after signing its agreement with New Orleans, straining Beale Street Landing's docking capacity.

"With enough juggling and scheduling, we can take two boats," he said. "When the third (Viking) boat hits the water, we'd have no place for them to tie up."

The expansion would bump up the price tag for Beale Street Landing, which opened in 2014 after delays and unexpected cost increases. The city borrowed $29.65 million in general obligation bonds for the project, and currently pays $2.25 million a year to service the debt.

Lendermon said the tax revenue generated by Beale Street Landing  estimated at $2.3 million in 2015, not counting the amount that went to the Bass Pro tourism development zone  more than covers the debt service. Also, he said, Beale Street Landing's economic impact is valued at $36.4 million.

"Beale Street Landing has almost as big an economic impact as the Memphis Zoo says it does," he said. "And when the two other boats come, it almost doubles that."

When people think of tourism in Memphis, Lendermon said, they usually don't think of cruise ships. But the passengers on the ships that currently dock here visit Beale Street, the new Bass Pro Shops and other Memphis attractions, and the ships stock up on gas and groceries, including  in one ship's case  125 cases of liquor and 15,000 eggs.

RDC board member and past chairman John Stokes, after hearing about the upside of the river cruise industry for Memphis, recalled the criticism RDC received for building Beale Street Landing and its dock.

"It brings a smile to your face," he said, "because it was tough. They were going to stone Benny."

Lendermon said Beale Street Landing opened up a new and "significant" revenue stream for Memphis, in addition to beautifying Tom Lee Park.

"None of these dollars, none of these cruise lines, would come to Memphis if this wasn't here," he said.
SHARE Steve Cohen

By Michael Collins of The Commercial Appeal

WASHINGTON  For the second time in seven months, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is heading to Cuba, this time with President Barack Obama.

The Memphis Democrat will be part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that will travel with Obama when he makes a historic visit to Cuba as part of his push to re-establish diplomatic relations with the island nation.

The trip, which will take place March 20-22, will mark the first time an American president has visited Cuba in 88 years.

"I am proud to be joining President Obama on this historic and important trip," Cohen said in a statement. "I have been a longtime supporter of re-opening diplomatic relations with Cuba and have cosponsored numerous bills in Congress to advance U.S.-Cuba relations."

"Not only is it the right thing to do," Cohen said, "but it will also open new trade avenues for Memphis entrepreneurs, businesses, medical device companies and health-industry professionals, as well as improve Americans' freedom to travel."

Last month, officials in the United States and Cuba cleared the way for a 3-year-old Cuban child, Manolito Alejandro, to travel to Memphis and receive life-saving heart surgery at LeBonheur Children's Hospital.

Cohen, who helped facilitate the surgery, said Cuba also has some of the world's best medical minds and practices and has made significant advancements in diabetes, cancer and HIV research.

Cohen traveled to Havana with Secretary of State John Kerry last August to watch the American flag be formally raised over the U.S. Embassy in Cuba for the first time in five decades.
The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  The state House of Representatives approved the controversial de-annexation bill on a 68-25 vote Monday night and it now goes to the Senate floor, possibly as early as Thursday.

The amended House version allows residents of territories annexed into Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kingsport and tiny Cornersville in Marshall County to petition for referendums to separate themselves from their cities. If a majority of voters approve, the areas are de-annexed. The House voted to remove Johnson City from the bill because its city council voted last Thursday to de-annex the Gray community, which it had previously annexed over the objections of its residents.

But voting largely along party lines, with Republicans generally in favor of the bill, the House tabled more than a dozen amendments that would have removed the other cities  including Memphis and Knoxville  from the bill or softened its financial impacts on the cities by requiring de-annexed property owners to continue to bear more of the municipal debt on their property tax bills than what the bill already requires.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland issued a statement saying he was "disappointed in the House vote. But we will continue to share with members of the Senate the facts about the bill's impact, including the devastating effects it could have not only on Memphis but on our entire region."

The nearly two-hour discussion was at times contentious. Rep. Joe Towns, D-Memphis, called the bill a "dagger into the heart of Memphis," and that members who voted for it would "have blood on your hands."

The House sponsor, Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, disputed estimates released last week by Strickland that the city could lose up to $79 million in property and sales tax revenue. Carter said those estimates include the potential loss of commercial and industrial property, but he said that unlike residential property, it is solely up to the cities whether to allow commercial and industrial property to deannex.

But city spokesman Kyle Veazey said the city stands by its estimates: potential total losses of $79 million in a $658 million annual operating budget.

Under the bill, de-annexation referendums would occur in any territory whose annexations to the five named cities became operational after May 1, 1998, if at least 10 percent of the registered voters there sign petitions calling for a de-annexation vote. The area would be de-annexed if a majority of those voting in the referendum  which is limited to the territory  vote for de-annexation.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, asked Carter: "Do you feel you know what's better for the City of Memphis than the mayor of Memphis?"

"I'm not telling the mayor of Memphis what to do. I'm simply standing up for the rights of the citizens up here," Carter replied, pointing to the House gallery where several annexation opponents, including from Cordova, watched.

Carter defended the bill's language describing annexations by the five cities in the bill as being "the most egregious forms of annexation" because he said the average lawsuit challenging the annexations were in the courts for 12 years in Knoxville and seven years in Memphis.

"These people fought with everything they had to stay out of the cities," Carter said. "But the law allowed annexation to occur without any participation by those being annexed. South Cordova and Southwind and Windyke have suffered egregious annexation and they deserve to be in this bill. Whether they will act on it is up to them."

Carter successfully moved to table an amendment by Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, to remove the "egregious" language from the bill. Carter said the language is the legal justification for limiting de-annexation to the five cities and that without it, the bill would be "patently unconstitutional" under provisions of the Tennessee Constitution that generally require bills to apply statewide unless there is a compelling public purpose limiting its application.

Earlier Monday, Gov. Bill Haslam raised questions about the bill's constitutionality in a speech at the Tennessee Municipal League's statewide meeting.

He noted that the state constitution generally requires most legislation to impact the entire state without singling out individual places, but lawmakers have often made bills applicable to certain cities on the basis of population or local form of government.
SHARE Steve Olita (Kyle Kurlick/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

A Memphis-area inventor is suing Carrier Corp., alleging the air conditioner manufacturer is using his ideas in its Collierville factory without paying licensing fees.

U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla issued a preliminary order last month saying Carrier must allow inventor Steve Olita and members of his team to enter its Collierville facility, take photos and run computer tests to determine if the company is using his ideas without permission.

Olita is an engineer and former Carrier employee. He says Carrier licensed his testing software and equipment for years. The conflict started when he began charging an additional, ongoing licensing fee. Olita alleges Carrier worked with one of his former employees to copy his ideas and avoid paying. Olita's company filed suit against Carrier in October.

He's filed a separate lawsuit against former employees and other companies. "My goal is to regain my intellectual property and rebuild my company for my heirs," said Olita, 65, who has four children and 17 grandchildren. "And to do that, I have to be successful in these lawsuits."

Olita said he went to the Carrier factory and completed the inspection on Monday. He said the company is still using his company's hardware and a reverse-engineered version of his software to test air conditioners for factors such as power usage and cooling efficiency before they're shipped to customers.

Olita said he's preparing a report for his lawyer based on his observations. He hopes to reach a new licensing deal with Carrier that would allow him to retain his intellectual property.

Carrier representatives have said in court filings that the company has stopped using software from Olita's company, called ECIMOS, and that Carrier developed new testing software without copying Olita's ideas.

"It is not appropriate for us to comment regarding ongoing litigation," Carrier spokeswoman Michelle Caldwell wrote in an email Monday.

Olita's old company Electrical Controls Inc., or ECI, once occupied a spot near Collierville's Town Square but ran into financial problems and a bank seized property, Olita said.

Olita now runs a new company, ECIMOS LLC, which bought the old company's remaining assets.

He accuses former employees of stealing ideas and working with other companies to sell them. Olita filed a separate lawsuit against former employees Michael Gray, Gail Wayne Roane and David Tesluk as well as two companies associated with a Memphis company, Logical Systems, and two companies associated with an international air conditioning manufacturer, Nortek.

In court filings, defendants denied Olita's accusation that they stole his ideas. They said they invented new software on their own, from scratch. An attorney for Logical Systems, Doug Halijan, said Monday the lawsuit has no merit and the company he represents "will continue to defend this case vigorously."

Carrier is part of Farmington, Connecticut-based United Technologies Corp. With a Collierville employee count that ranges from 1,400 to 1,700, Carrier is the second-largest employer in town after FedEx, said town spokesman Mark Heuberger.
Select Commodity All Ajwan Alasande Gram Almond(Badam) Alsandikai Amaranthus Ambada Seed Amla(Nelli Kai) Amphophalus Antawala Anthorium Apple Apricot(Jardalu/Khumani) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arecanut(Betelnut/Supari) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar (Tur/Red Gram)(Whole) Arhar Dal(Tur Dal) Ashgourd Astera Avare Dal Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Bajra(Pearl Millet/Cumbu) Balekai Bamboo Banana Banana - Green Barley (Jau) Bay leaf (Tejpatta) Beans Beaten Rice Beetroot Bengal Gram Dal (Chana Dal) Bengal Gram(Gram)(Whole) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Ber(Zizyphus/Borehannu) Betal Leaves Bhindi(Ladies Finger) Bitter gourd Black Gram (Urd Beans)(Whole) Black Gram Dal (Urd Dal) Black pepper BOP Bottle gourd Bran Brinjal Broken Rice Broomstick(Flower Broom) Bull Bunch Beans Cabbage Calf Capsicum Cardamoms Carnation Carrot Cashewnuts Castor Seed Cauliflower Chapparad Avare Chennangi Dal Cherry Chikoos(Sapota) Chili Red Chilly Capsicum Chow Chow Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum(Loose) Cinamon(Dalchini) Cloves Cluster beans Cock Cocoa Coconut Coconut Oil Coconut Seed Coffee Colacasia Copra Coriander(Leaves) Corriander seed Cotton Cotton Seed Cow Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea (Lobia/Karamani) Cowpea(Veg) Cucumbar(Kheera) Cummin Seed(Jeera) Custard Apple (Sharifa) Dalda Dhaincha Drumstick Dry Chillies Dry Fodder Dry Grapes Duck Duster Beans Egg Elephant Yam (Suran) Field Pea Firewood Fish Foxtail Millet(Navane) French Beans (Frasbean) Galgal(Lemon) Garlic Ghee Gingelly Oil Ginger(Dry) Ginger(Green) Gladiolus Cut Flower Goat Gram Raw(Chholia) Gramflour Grapes Green Avare (W) Green Chilli Green Fodder Green Gram (Moong)(Whole) Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) Green Peas Ground Nut Oil Ground Nut Seed Groundnut Groundnut (Split) Groundnut pods (raw) Guar Guar Seed(Cluster Beans Seed) Guava Gur(Jaggery) He Buffalo Hen Hippe Seed Honge seed Hybrid Cumbu Indian Beans (Seam) Indian Colza(Sarson) Isabgul (Psyllium) Jack Fruit Jaffri Jamun(Narale Hannu) Jarbara Jasmine Jowar(Sorghum) Jute Kabuli Chana(Chickpeas-White) Kacholam Kakada Kankambra Karamani Karbuja(Musk Melon) Kartali (Kantola) Khoya Kinnow Knool Khol Kodo Millet(Varagu) Kulthi(Horse Gram) Lak(Teora) Leafy Vegetable Lemon Lentil (Masur)(Whole) Lilly Lime Linseed Lint Litchi Little gourd (Kundru) Long Melon(Kakri) Lotus Lotus Sticks Lukad Mahedi Mahua Mahua Seed(Hippe seed) Maida Atta Maize Mango Mango (Raw-Ripe) Marasebu Marget Marigold(Calcutta) Marigold(loose) Mashrooms Masur Dal Mataki Methi Seeds Methi(Leaves) Millets Mint(Pudina) Moath Dal Mousambi(Sweet Lime) Mustard Mustard Oil Myrobolan(Harad) Neem Seed Niger Seed (Ramtil) Nutmeg Onion Onion Green Orange Orchid Ox Paddy(Dhan)(Basmati) Paddy(Dhan)(Common) Papaya Papaya (Raw) Patti Calcutta Peach Pear(Marasebu) Peas cod Peas Wet Peas(Dry) Pegeon Pea (Arhar Fali) Pepper garbled Pepper ungarbled Persimon(Japani Fal) Pigs Pineapple Plum Pointed gourd (Parval) Pomegranate Potato Pumpkin Raddish Ragi (Finger Millet) Raibel Rajgir Ram Rat Tail Radish (Mogari) Raya Resinwood Rice Ridge gourd(Tori) Ridgeguard(Tori) Rose(Local) Rose(Loose) Rose(Loose)) Round gourd Rubber Sabu Dan Sabu Dana Safflower Sajje Same/Savi Season Leaves Seemebadnekai Seetafal Seetapal Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) Sesamum(Sesame,Gingelly,Til) She Buffalo She Goat Sheep Snake gourd Snakeguard Soanf Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soapnut(Antawala/Retha) Soji Soyabean Spinach Sponge gourd Squash(Chappal Kadoo) Sugar Sugarcane Sunflower Sunhemp Suram Surat Beans (Papadi) Suva (Dill Seed) Suvarna Gadde Sweet Potato Sweet Pumpkin T.V. Cumbu T.V. Cumbu Tamarind Fruit Tamarind Seed Tapioca Taramira Tender Coconut Thinai (Italian Millet) Thogrikai Thondekai Tinda Tobacco Tomato Toria Tube Rose(Double) Tube Rose(Loose) Tube Rose(Single) Turmeric Turmeric (raw) Turnip Walnut Water Melon Wheat Wheat Atta White Peas White Pumpkin Wood Yam Yam (Ratalu)

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23 May 2022

- Understand the French healthcare system, how you access it and how you are reimbursed - Useful if you are new to the French healthcare system or want a more in-depth understanding - Reader question and answer section Aimed at non-French nationals living here, the guide gives an overview of what you are (and are not) covered for. There is also information for second-home owners and regular visitors.
Three years ago, the TaxPayers Alliance reported that in the last year, five times more Labour people were appointed to public bodies than Tories.

Since then, the figures have varied, and some Conservative members or supporters have been selected to fill important posts.

Nonetheless, it remains the case that, since it took office in 2010, our Party has punched beneath its weight when it comes to public appointments. One of the reasons seems to be that Tories simply dont apply in the same number as Labour supporters.

To help remedy this, every fortnight we put up links to some of the main public appointments vacancies, so that qualified Conservatives might be aware of the opportunities presented.

         

Air Quality Expert Group  Expert Members

The expert members of AQEG will need significant air pollution expertise and the ability to apply their knowledge and skills outside their specialist area. They will be effective communicators with the ability to process and interpret complex information and to translate it for a non-expert audience.

Time: Maximum 20 days per year.

Remuneration: 172 per diem.

Closes: 17 March

         

NHS Business Services Authority  Non-Executive Director

Joining a cohesive board, you will bring leading edge thinking on digitisation, combined with an understanding of its application in high volume web-based businesses. You will also have the ability as part of a wider team, to help enable business transformation and change in board and organisational culture, in a large and complex organisation.

Time: 2-3 days per month.

Remuneration: 7,883 per annum.

Closes: 17 March

         

Financial Reporting Advisory Board  Chair

HM Treasury is seeking a new Chair for the Financial Reporting Advisory Board. The Board advices UK public sector accounting standard setters on matters related to financial reporting. Created in 1996, the Boards plays a valuable independent role in the accounting standard setting process. The Chair performs a central leadership role on the Board.

Time: The Board meets 3 times a year and also undertakes some out of meeting work.

Remuneration: The post has historically not been remunerated but this may be reviewed for the right candidate.

Closes: 18 March

         

Home Office  Her Majestys Inspector of Constabulary

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) is an independent body that inspects and reports to the public on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces and national law enforcement agencies HMIs are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Home Secretary. Their purpose is to inspect the police and report publicly on their efficiency and effectiveness.

Time: Full time  basic hours of work will be 37 hours per week, excluding lunch breaks.

Remuneration: Expected six figure salary, subject to agreement by Ministers.

Closes: 18 March

         

Department for Education  Her Majestys Chief Inspector of Education, Childrens Services and Skills

The next Chief Inspector will also have a key role over the five years of their term in delivering the manifesto commitment to reduce the burden of inspection and to continue inspection reform so that inspection is re-shaped to meet the challenges facing the education and childrens services sectors.

Time: Full time.

Remuneration: 170,000-180,000 per annum.

Closes: 18 March

         

National Physical Laboratory  Non-Executive Director

NPL is seeking a Non-Executive Director with a background and experience in the application and commercialisation of science and technology to join the NPL Management Ltd (NPLML) Board. Candidates are expected to be familiar with a number of areas of NPLs science and technology activities, and to have created and guided commercial growth in related application sectors.

Time: A suggested annual time commitment of ~15 days.

Remuneration: 12,500 per annum.

Closes: 18 March

         

Health and Social Care Information Centre  Chair

The HSCIC is the national provider of high quality information, data and IT systems for health and social care, enabling people to make informed decisions and achieve the best possible health and well-being outcomes. This is a key appointment for Government. The successful candidate will be an outstanding individual with significant leadership experience in a complex organisation.

Time: 2-3 days per week.

Remuneration: Up to 63,000 per annum.

Closes: 18 March

         

UK Statistics Authority  Non-Executive Directors

The Authority has responsibility for its executive office, the Office for National Statistics. The Authority Board is looking for two non-executive directors as it seeks to improve the accessibility and usefulness of statistical data to the wider public, and modernise the collection and communication of UK statistics to meet the current and future needs of the UKs decision makers.

Time: Minimum two days per month.

Remuneration: 15,000 per annum.

Closes: 21 March

         

Sport England  Board Members

Board Members assist the Chairman and the Executives of Sport England in delivering its statutory objectives and in formulating and implementing its other strategic aims. The board takes overall responsibility for Sport England and its performance Board Members may also take on additional responsibilities, such as membership of the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee.

Time: Seven half-day meetings per year plus preparatory work, and five meetings per year for committees.

Remuneration: 218 per diem.

Closes: 21 March

         

Arts Council England  Chair

The successful candidate must demonstrate a keen appreciation of the need to create the conditions for excellent art and culture to flourish and for more people to experience and appreciate the work of these sectors. They will also understand the importance of cultural education for children and young people.

Time: The time commitment is at least two days a week. The period of office is four years from 1 February 2017 to 31 January 2021.

Remuneration: 40,000 per annum plus expenses.

Closes: 29 March
Cisco confirmed that its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is being used to support the NFV capabilities recently rolled out in NTT DOCOMO commercial LTE network. DOCOMO serves over 70 million mobile customers in Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed.



DOCOMO is working to provide our customers with high-quality telecommunications services that address the increasing demands of data, said Seizo Onoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DOCOMO INC. We are pleased that we have built an NFV system employing Cisco's SDN solution ACI for our network infrastructure. We look forward to working with Cisco to build an ecosystem for the mobile network industry.



Cisco Systems is proud to expand our relationship with DOCOMO through a co-development model for NFV deployments, said Soni Jiandani, Senior Vice President of Cisco. In order to meet the needs of our customers, we continue to offer the broadest choice of SDN solutions in the market. Taking advantage of Cisco ACI innovations for NFV, DOCOMO is able to lead the industry in the rapidly changing environment of mobility services.



ACI is Cisco Systems next-generation SDN solution incorporating application profiles for the integrated management of virtualized network functions, whether the functions are deployed purpose-built hardware, physical servers, virtual servers, or container-based micro-services. The ACI solution is comprised of Cisco Nexus 9000 switches, a policy controller called the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC), and the ACI operating system.



http://www.cisco.com









On March 9, DOCOMO started providing its commercial mobile communication service by using the NFV technologies.



The vEPC virtualizes the functions of a LTE core network, including the Mobility Management Entity (MME), the Serving Gateway (S-GW), and the Packet Data Network-Gateway (P-GW). A VNF Manager from Netcracker, a wholly owned NEC subsidiary, handles lifecycle events, such as creation, activation, termination and update of virtualized Network Functions (VNF).



"I'm delighted that we have developed and deployed NFV with NEC and other leading vendors in the NFV domain. To maximize benefit of NFV, DOCOMO expects to virtualize many other key components of its mobile network, aiming to eventually establish a fully virtualized network. I'm convinced that our multi-vendor NFV is the first step toward our goal," said Mr. Seizo Onoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DOCOMO.



"We are delighted to contribute to DOCOMO's successful deployment of network virtualization technologies for their commercial networks," said Mr. Shunichiro Tejima, Executive Vice President, NEC Corporation. "With this success, NEC will further expand commercial deployment of NFV based solutions globally, which enable telecom operators to introduce innovative services to the market more quickly and efficiently."



http://www.nec.com/en/press/201603/global_20160311_02.html

Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook NEC confirmed that NTT DOCOMO has deployed its NFV solutions, including virtualized Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) and a Virtual Network Function Manager (VNF Manager), in its commercial networks.On March 9, DOCOMO started providing its commercial mobile communication service by using the NFV technologies. The vEPC virtualizes the functions of a LTE core network, including the Mobility Management Entity (MME), the Serving Gateway (S-GW), and the Packet Data Network-Gateway (P-GW). A VNF Manager from Netcracker, a wholly owned NEC subsidiary, handles lifecycle events, such as creation, activation, termination and update of virtualized Network Functions (VNF)."I'm delighted that we have developed and deployed NFV with NEC and other leading vendors in the NFV domain. To maximize benefit of NFV, DOCOMO expects to virtualize many other key components of its mobile network, aiming to eventually establish a fully virtualized network. I'm convinced that our multi-vendor NFV is the first step toward our goal," said Mr. Seizo Onoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DOCOMO."We are delighted to contribute to DOCOMO's successful deployment of network virtualization technologies for their commercial networks," said Mr. Shunichiro Tejima, Executive Vice President, NEC Corporation. "With this success, NEC will further expand commercial deployment of NFV based solutions globally, which enable telecom operators to introduce innovative services to the market more quickly and efficiently."
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Last Thursday, the people of Goshen gathered to celebrate the nearly 18 years Allan Kauffman spent as Mayor. It was a joyous occasion recognizing a humble man of honor.

There may not be a more demanding job than mayor of an Indiana city. Starved of revenue and authority by an anti-urban state Legislature, yet bearing all the responsibilities of maintaining a civil city, a Hoosier mayor is hard-pressed to sustain ongoing approval by the electorate.

Allan Kauffman achieved that approval as a city council member for 13 years before his appointment as mayor in 1997. He then was elected and re-elected mayor four times. Respected statewide, Kauffman focused, as mayors must, on the daily demands of streets, sanitation, and safety. But ever-present was his pragmatic vision of a better community in a more inclusive society.

Long after the warm memories and funny stories of the evening fade, Goshen residents will have the Allan Kauffman "Good for Goshen" Award to reflect his civic achievements and Kauffman Park to enjoy his enduring legacy.

On the same day, the Indiana General Assembly was irresponsibly bringing its latest session to a close  disgracing and disappointing the people of Indiana.

To understand the Legislature, let's take a moment to consider that, according to my research, no Hoosier mayor has ever been elected Governor of the state. Mayors who became legislators over the past 200 years have been few, although I do not have the numbers.

If Indiana governors and legislators have not experienced leading a city, are they likely to understand the diverse and complex problems of our many localities? In addition, can those who revere the agricultural past, and persist in believing in the glory of those times, function successfully in the economy that has characterized Indiana for the past 100 years?

As they left the Statehouse last week, legislators once again failed to resolve pressing needs of the state, while embarrassing us in the eyes of the world, and proving their resistance to modern life.

They failed to provide a stable funding source for our many infrastructure needs. They did manage a patchwork, temporary fix for some local road and bridge projects. However, they failed to consider the status of our water and sewage systems, our local airports, and our 21st century communication needs. They also voted to increase public intoxication in state parks while deferring minimal protection for our state forests.

Talk to them  these neighbors of ours  and they'll tell you about the short session, the election year, and the need to compromise. If we doubled the length of the session, if we had no elections, and they were not subjected to the bullying of the majority caucus, still nothing would be accomplished.

The predominant belief of the Legislature is the irreverent motto, "Ain't God good to Indiana?" What's good about Indiana more often is found in our city halls than in the corridors of the Statehouse.

Morton Marcus is an economist, writer, and speaker who may be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.
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NAMI Dubois County Family Support Group: 6:30-8 p.m. EST Thursday at Jasper Memorial Hospital.

NAMI Connection support group for all mental illness disorders: Meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Mary's Kempf Bipolar Wellness Center, third floor, rehab building. Information: 812-897-1694.

Alzheimer's Association Program: "Understanding and Responding to Dementia-related Behaviors," 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Alzheimer's Association, 701 N. Weinbach Ave., Suite 510 ($5 donation suggested). Registration required by calling 800-272-3900.

Bereavement support group: Meeting 5:30-7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month in the large group meeting room, second floor of Central Library, 200 SE MLK Blvd.

Men's bereavement support group: Meeting 9-10:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month in Room 204 at Deaconess VNA Plus, 610 E. Walnut St.

Support group for bipolar/manic-depressive disorder: Meeting 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month, Kempf Bipolar Wellness Center, third floor of St. Mary's Rehabilitation Institute, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4934.

Survivors of Suicide support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month, Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Information: Mental Health America at 812-426-2640.

Mending Hearts pregnancy loss support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Gift Conference Room, off the lobby of St. Mary's Hospital for Women & Children, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4204.

Men's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room, 100 St. Mary's Epworth Crossing, Newburgh. Information: 812-485-5725.

Stroke support group: Meeting 10 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month, St. Mary's Community Education Room at Washington Square Mall, 5011 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-5607.

ALS support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Meeting Room E, Deaconess Gateway Hospital. The support group is for patients, caregivers and survivors who have lost someone to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Women's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room. Information: 812-485-5725.

Pulmonary fibrosis support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

COPD/asthma support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Parkinson's support group: Meeting at 5:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Room 350, Deaconess Physician Center, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Tri-State Multiple Sclerosis Association support group meetings: 10 a.m. the second Saturday of each month, Tri-State MS Association Office, 971 S. Kenmore Drive, Evansville (contact Nita Ruxer at 812-479-3544 or Sharon Omer at 270-333-4701); 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month, Gibson General Hospital, fifth floor, first room on the right, 1808 Sherman Drive, Princeton, Indiana (contact Alice Burkhart at 812-782-3735); 11 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Twilight Towers, in the cafeteria, 1648 10th St., Tell City (contact Terri Hasty at 812-649-4013 or Gayle Taylor 812-719-2417); 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month, Daviess Community Hospital, Washington, Indiana (contact Cindy Kalberer at 812-254-6735 or Fran Neal at 812-259-1565); 10 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 2360 Green River Road, Henderson, Kentucky, (contact Meg Burnley at 270-826-9507 or Debbie Whittington at 270-827-8298); 6 p.m. the second Monday of each month, Owensboro Health Healthpark, 1006 Ford Ave, Owensboro, Kentucky; and 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Fairfield Memorial Hospital in the board room of Horizon Clinic, 303 NW 11th St., Fairfield, Illinois (contact Kathie Hill at 618-847-8452).

Compiled by Leah Ward, leah.ward@courierpress.com.
By Mark Wilson of the Courier and Press

A new trial date has been set for an Evansville teenager accused of murder in the November shooting of another teen.

Defense attorney Barry Blackard on Monday filed a motion for an early trial in the case of Carltez Taylor, 18. Indiana law provides that defendants have the right to be tried within 70 days of such a request.

Taylor's new trial date is May 9 in Vanderburgh Circuit Court. He is charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting of Javion Wilson, 17.

A hearing date of 9 a.m. April 11 was set to hear arguments on a defense motion to exclude a witness from testifying at Taylor's trial.

Blackard said Monday that a lawyer for the witness said he would not give a deposition  sworn testimony given in answer to questioning by lawyers. The witness in question was previously identified in court as 17-year-old Armonie Howard.

Howard went to Los Angeles after the Nov. 28, 2015, shooting and failed to comply with a subpoena to testify at Taylor's original Feb. 1 trial date. That prompted a warrant to be issued for his arrest and he was returned to Evansville last month.

Wilson was shot at 12:20 a.m. Nov. 28 while walking in the 900 block of West Michigan Street, according to a probable cause affidavit. At the time of the shooting, police said they believed it was gang-related.

During a news conference announcing Taylor's arrest, police said they found a 9 mm handgun believed to be used in the fatal shooting, as well as clothing Taylor was allegedly wearing during the incident.

Investigators were told Taylor had "announced his intent to kill members of the gang known as 'Cream Team'" just before the shooting. That proclamation was made while Taylor was inside a residence in the 800 block of West Franklin Street the night of the shooting, according to the probable cause affidavit against him.

Taylor is also accused of showing a gun to other people before he allegedly confronted Wilson in the street. After the shooting, Taylor reportedly came back to the residence.
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By Sarah Loesch of the Courier and Press

The man accused of shooting and killing a man in Cannelton has been arrested in Kentucky.

Stacy B. Matheny, 47, was arrested in Hancock County with incident about 4 p.m. Monday after Indiana State Police identified him as a suspect in the fatal shooting of Phillip Chase, 47, in Perry County, according to the Indiana State Police.

Matheny is accused of shooting Chase after a verbal altercation earlier Monday, according to a news release. He then fled south to Kentucky in a green 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac before Hancock County authorities arrested him.

Matheny was arrested without incident and a handgun was found in the vehicle, according to state police. His father, who was driving the vehicle, was not arrested.

Matheny is being held in Hancock County Jail on charges from both Kentucky and Indiana. He is preliminarily charged with murder and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
We don't mind when "based on a true story" movies skip a few details here and there in order to make more coherent tales. But it's a different story when they rewrite history and completely screw up an innocent person's entire life, all in the pursuit of adding a few paltry minutes of compelling drama for the popcorn-hounds. Sadly, it happens pretty often . For instance ...

5 American Hustle -- The Real Irving Rosenfeld's Wife Was A Kind Woman Driven To Suicide

Columbia Pictures

What You Saw In The Movie:

American Hustle tells the story of lovable con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who finds himself working for the feds to expose political corruption while also handling his wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), a drunken, cheating, utterly insane bitch from hell -- or in Irving's words, "the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate."

Columbia Pictures



"Oh, woe is me!"

But Actually:

Names were changed to protect one innocent and a bunch of scumbags, but American Hustle was inspired by the real Operation ABSCAM, in which the FBI used con artist Melvin Weinberg to investigate political figures. Now, he did have a wife in real life, Marie, but she was in truth a dedicated mother and a good woman who felt humiliated by Mel's infidelities and wanted to divorce him. She was essentially the exact opposite of what we saw on screen.

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So where did Rosalyn come from? From Mel Weinberg's filthy, lying mouth. After Operation ABSCAM, Weinberg wanted to sell the movie rights to his story. The only problem? He'd surreptitiously pocketed a shitload of cash during ABSCAM, and he didn't want his wife ruining his odds at a film deal (and his prospects for a life outside of prison), so he started threatening her. Marie filed for divorce and went public about Mel's shady dealings, which was the right thing to do. And since this isn't a feel-good Hollywood story, she of course got screwed for it. Mel spread vicious rumors about Marie all around town, hounding her until she eventually hung herself in 1982. In even more depressing news, Marie's death didn't stop Mel from talking shit about her, as he recently referred to her in an interview as a "wacky broad."
1 Acceptance Is So Shocking That You May Never Get Used To It

Alec Wilson/Wiki Commons

In 1995, Namibia gave visas to my whole family. Since the country used to be under South African control, I thought it was going to be more of the same, but I was shocked to see how cool everyone was with me. Unlike in South Africa, generations of Namibians, Germans, and others groups were on friendly terms almost overnight after their own version of apartheid fell, so they enjoyed the benefits of those kinky mixed-race relations. For the first time, my skin was no big deal.

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I also traveled to the UK and the US a few years later, and again, no one gave me a second thought. I was so used to feeling like my skin was a crime that hearing that it didn't really matter came as a shock. At one party in Philadelphia, someone called my parent's relationship "amazing." My mother was as shocked as I was. "But I married a white man! We have a son. That's not unusual?" The person said, "Here? Maybe a little, but most people are fine with that." The people in Britain were the same way. It was like we'd landed on another planet.

Purestock/Purestock/Getty Images

Like, I bet no one has even considered jabbing a pencil into that kid's hair.

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Today, even in South Africa, it's totally fine to admit being mixed-race. But I still hesitate before admitting it. If I'd said that out loud as a kid, my parents would have gone to prison. You don't unlearn that kind of defensive behavior. Today, 85 percent of Millennial post-apartheid South Africans are fine with interracial marriage, compared to 86 percent of all Americans. Modern mixed-race kids can take pride in their creamy skin and go on walks with their fathers without feeling like crack dealers. That's a beautiful thing.

Evan V. Symon is the interview finder guy and Personal Experience Team Member at Cracked, and was honored to talk with Paul. Have an awesome job/experience you would like to share? Hit us up at tips@cracked.com!

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For more insider perspectives, check out 5 Realities In One Of History's Most Violent Countries or 5 Bizarre Realities Of Life At The Edge Of Gaza.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and check out The Despicable Crime Behind Every 'Pokemon' Game, and watch other videos you won't see on the site!

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Have a story to share with Cracked? Email us here.
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3D printing has become one of the most hyped technologies of the past decade, thanks in part to far-reaching stories of printing everything from houses to human organs.

While those technologies might one day become mainstream, the current market for simple desktop 3D devices making solid objects from plastic filaments has grown quickly, thanks to an influx of product and falling prices. These devices range in price from a few hundred dollars (such as the $499 printer launched by Aldi this week) for a basic unit up to several thousand dollars for more sophisticated devices. From there, prices ascend to tens of thousands of dollars for devices capable of printing high-quality objects in metals.

Deloitte has estimated that nearly 220,000 3D printers were sold in 2015 globally  double the number for 2014  with a market value of US$1.6 billion. Do these numbers represent an opportunity for the Australian IT channel? Numerous vendors hope so, including Konica Minolta, which has opened its 3D printing practice up to its partner community, while newer players such as Me3D and MakerBot are also looking for reseller partners.

The Australian 3D printing channel expanded in earnest back in February 2014 when Officeworks began selling the 3D Cube Printer. Officeworks has since increased its range of 3D hardware and consumables for personal or business use, including selling a combined 3D printer and scanner. The company also offers a 3D printing service and has opened a 3D Experience Centre on Russell Street in Melbourne, where people can have themselves scanned and printed in 3D in Mini Me format.

We have had a lot of interest in 3D printing hardware over the past six months as people have wanted to get a taste of the new technology, says Officeworks head of technology Toby Watson. There has been particular curiosity from people purchasing 3D printers for their home.

Most customers are buying these printers for their personal creative projects, whether it be their chess set, custom tool-bit holders, prototypes, toys, phone cases, bracelets or even Christmas decorations  and they can range from engineers to cake people designing figurines.

Watson says he has also seen increasing interest in professional uses. In particular, we see lots of potential for councils, real estate agents, designers, architects, engineers, educational institutns and manufacturing.

But any reseller expecting an easy transition from selling traditional printers and multifunction devices may be in for a shock, according to Joe Farr, general manager of one of Australias oldest 3D printing specialists, Melbourne-based Thinglab.

[3D printing] is often compared to 2D printing, but it is very different, Farr says. You are building a 3D model. They used to call it rapid manufacturing or additive manufacturing, and that is probably a more suitable way of looking at it, rather than as printing. There is a lot of background knowledge still in the design part of things, so it doesnt have issues when it comes to print.

One of the most active champions of 3D printing in the IT channel is Melbourne value-added distributor Alloys, which has signed on as the exclusive Australian distributor for the popular MakerBot 3D printers. Chief executive officer Paul Harman says the strategy has been driven in part by Alloys existing partner community, which services the traditional computer-aided design (CAD) market and has been seeking,  when somebody moves from the customer to the supplier side  support with 3D printing.

The only thing it has in common with a traditional printer is the word printer in the title, Harman says. What we are trying to do is make the technology available in a consistent way to a broader range of partners. We are trying to demystify the technology and, by and large, we have been able to do that in 2015.

Harman says the greatest interest has come from companies wanting it for the rapid prototyping, such as creating moulds or prototypes for manufacturing work, and from the education sector.

While 2D printers are often sold at a discounted price to drive the sale of consumables, Harman says the economics of 3D printing are very different. The filament market is not a revenue stream for the print manufacturers, so the price of the box does matter. What we tend to find is the cheaper the box, the harder it is to manage and to live with, so your costs come in frustration and annoyance and downtime.

Hence he cautions there is much more to 3D printing than simply installing the device and walking away. That means understanding of how to use software tools to get the most out of the device, and to ensure they are correctly configured for the desired results.

But Thinglabs Farr says some of the hype might be fading as the realities of owning and running a 3D printer sink in. We are on the downward slope of the hype curve at the moment, he says..

But what is still there is small and large business looking to implement the technology or expand their capacity.

Next: 3D printing milestones in the Australian channel
Australian telecommunications provider Amaysim has been criticised for changing its billing cycle from 30 days to 28 days.

Plans still cost the same per month, meaning Amaysim customers will be paying approximately 8 percent more for mobile data plans  though the company has beefed up the packs.

Amaysim customers took to communications industry forum Whirlpool to complain about the new prices.

"Optus too has moved to 28 days from 30 days. Over 12 months, this equates to a price rise of nearly one month in extra charges to customers on both carriers (2 day reduction x 12 months = 24 days additional cost to customers). Sneaky indeed and a clear price rise by any other name," commented one user.

Another user wrote: $26.90 for 30 Days becomes same amount for 28 Days, that definitely equates to a price rise and I agree with an earlier poster it's a sneaky price rise and for my usage makes it less attractive (I just don't like such market tactics)."

Not all customers weren't so outraged, as one user commented: "There is always somebody who wants something for nothing. The extra data seems to more than compensate for the extra cost of 28 day expiry.

The changes were accompanied by the announcement that Amaysim is increasing the cap on its unlimited data plans.

The 5GB plan will come with an extra 2GB of data, the 8GB and 2GB plan will each get an extra 1GB and the 1GB plan will be bumped up by 500MB.

Amaysim chief executive Julian Ogrin defended the change, saying it allowed customers to make like-for-like comparisons to find the best deals.

"We understand the change to a 28-day billing cycle has been unpopular with some customers, Ogrin told CRN.

To present the whole picture, some customers have responded positively to the increase in data and international inclusions.

Ogrin also pointed out that changing to a 28-day billing cycle has become commonplace in Australia. Australias three largest telcos  Telstra, Optus and Virgin  all bill on 28-day cycles.

We are confident that the recent additions to our suite of plans mean they are still among the best value in the market. The appetite for BYO prepaid plans is growing in Australia and as a result shorter billing cycles are increasingly becoming the norm, said Ogrin.

He added that customers can change Amaysim contracts when they want  though all plans have been swapped to 28 days.

As we have no lock-in contracts, customers are always welcome to move to a plan which better suits their needs, said Ogrin.

Amaysim currently has 764,000 mobile subscribers in Australia.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman announced that Amaysim was the least complained-about telco in Australia, reporting 0.7 new complaints for per 10,000 services.
A bevy of network providers and carriers are establishing cloud exchanges to connect to public cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Office 365  with Perth a major battleground.

CRN last week reported that Megaport and NextDC  which compete head-to-head with on-demand elastic cloud exchanges  were both pushing into the Perth market with on-ramps to hyper-scale cloud providers.

While the two companies are both keen to spruik their first-mover advantage, multiple providers, including Vocus, Zettagrid and Intellipath, are actively courting users in Western Australia and across the country with connections to Microsoft ExpressRoute and AWS DirectConnect.

Intellipath is the newest entrant to the Australian market, this week introducing its bandwidth-on-demand service to Australia, in partnership with Nextgen Group.

Intellipath, which is directly integrated into Nextgens new Fusion API, offers rapid provisioning of connections to the cloud "in under 90 seconds", virtual cross connections in 20 seconds with no contracts and greater coverage than traditional bandwidth-on-demand companies.

James Veness, Nextgen general manager for wholesale and channel, said Intellipaths service was available now in 45 data centres with many more coming online in the next month. It is also available in Metronodes 10 data centres as well as all other major data centres in the Nextgen network, providing easy access to Equinix Cloud Exchange and other cloud platforms for customers in Perth and on the East Coast."

The battle for first place

So which outfit was first to offer Western Australians a cloud exchange into Azure and AWS? It depends who you ask.

Megaport chief executive Denver Maddux previously told CRN he thought Megaport was first to market in Perth. Asked to clarify his position in light of competing services from NextDC, Vocus and others, Maddux stressed that Megaport could still claim the title as "first in the market, first in the world" with its model for an on-demand public cloud exchange.

"Just over two years ago, nobody really knew what Megaport was, and we were already doing these things. Now the market is paying attention to what we are doing and how we are doing it, and in some cases trying to copy it," said Maddux.

Megaport connects to Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute for Office 365, Google GCI, AWS DirectConnect and Rackspace Hosting, as well as local players such as Zettagrid, OrionVM and Servers Australia.

"We also have several global cloud partnerships that are about to drop onto the Megaport Fabric," Maddux hinted.

NextDC  which was also founded by Bevan Slattery before he went on to establish Megaport in 2013  brought out a competing product in July 2015, dubbed AXONVX. The company has taken its services to Western Australia via a partnership with Nextgen Group, pipping Megaport by launching its first live Office 365 service in January this year.

Megaport's Maddux said: "We have changed the model and we did it over two years ago. We also deliver all of these services natively through Megaport and our software-defined platform, rather than being integrated into a third-party network and passing services along to them through an outdated service delivery model.

"Lastly, we are offering a full suite of cloud networking services, not just part of them. You can get them all on one Megaport, rather than getting some here with those guys, and some there with others," added Maddux.

Megaport charges users $500 per month for a 10GbE port, and Maddux pointed to some "six-month promos happening in several markets".

"Our virtual connections are currently at $200 in the metro for any speed to any destination, and priced at a per megabit rate on intercap and international. You can use 1 megabit per second, or your whole 10Gbps on your port if you want to. The choice is the user's based on the economics and needs of their own business.

"We also offer 1GbE ports for $350 per month and offer the very same features. Prices for intercap and international are varied, but users can see them in real time in our portal when they are building up the connections they want," he added.

A NextDC spokesperson told CRN that its AXONVX network was activated in Perth on 30 October 2015, with Nextgen Networks installed in Perth on 3 December. "The first ExpressRoute and Office 365 order was placed on 19 January 2016 on behalf of WA client via IX Australia and IAA."

AXONVX connects to Microsoft Office 365, Azure, AWS and IBM SoftLayer, and is "a 100 percent carrier-neutral platform," said the NextDC spokesperson.

"Network providers Nextgen Networks and TransGrid were the first to publicly announce that they are providing intercapital connectivity products over our fabric. Nextgen Networks interconnects over 75 data centres across Australia. We will continue to work closely with them to deliver AXONVX to as many of them as possible. Our peering partner IX Australia has a presence in 27 data centres in six states to which they are delivering AXONVX services."

AXON ports are available in 10Gbit and 40Gbit options. Elastic cross connects are billed by the hour with costs varying based on where the A and B ends are located.

"NextDC is currently offering AXONVX partners six-months free AXON port rental for a limited time."

Vocus told CRN that its Cloud Connect private, high-speed connection went live in October 2015, providing an on-ramp to Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, IBM Softlayer and Amazon Web Services.

Vocus Cloud Connect is available in Layer 2 and Layer 3 connections with speeds from 50Mbps up to 1Gbps and 10G in pre-determined increments.

Perth-headquartered Zetta launched Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute connectivity into Perth back in March 2015.

Zetta, which recently beat AWS, Azure and Telstra to win Mitsubishi's infrastructure-as-a-service contract, offers speeds from 200Mbps to 10Gbps, with multiple Perth data centre interconnects, last mile integration for on-premise connectivity, unlimited network traffic and direct connection to all Azure IaaS and PaaS products.

Microsoft connectivity is essential in Perth, where the vendor's public cloud has a strong market position against global leader AWS.

Speaking to CRN last week, Joshua Boys, director of Microsoft partner Ignia, said: "We don't see a lot of people using [AWS] Direct Connect. A couple of customers use that, but we are definitely an Azure town, especially in government."

Boys pointed to the whole-of-government Common Use Arrangement with the vendor, which gives state agencies access to Microsoft's cloud tools. "Eighty percent of the staff members have access to Office 365  part of the plans for all of them will involve ExpressRoute."
Telstra and Cisco kicked off Cisco Live with a trio of products to let corporate customers deploy and configure software-defined network services on a consumption-based model.

The telco's Internet Virtual Private Network service, which will be available later this month, allows enterprise customers to rapidly provision network services using secure, encrypted links over the public internet.

It is aimed at letting SMB businesses securely manage multiple sites and remote workers with an encrypted link over the internet, spun up "with few simple clicks of a portal", said Telstra CTO Vish Nandlall.

Cloud Gateway Protection, currently in beta, is a virtual security appliance that can be "deployed and configured within minutes" to protect internet access, cloud services and IP networks from malicious attacks. Currently based on Cisco's next-gen firewall technology, Telstra will also add a Palo Alto Networks option at a later date.

Coming later this year is Data Centre Interconnect, which extends Telstra's global data centre interconnect  acquired in its purchase of PacNet  and adds 10 Australian points-of-presence to 25 global POPs. Customers will get point-to-point Layer 2 Ethernet from 1Mbps to 10Gbps with options around latency, from low latency to standard to "best effort".

Customers can spin up these services via an online portal  Telstra's central marketplace for virtualised managed services.

Nandlall said the old "plan, deploy cycle" is "no longer fit for purpose", especially for bandwidth-hungry video content and complex data applications. "All these forces are conspiring to create a lack of affinity between the data consumption needs of the enterprise and the network itself."

The three new products will allow customers to provision network infrastructure in the same flexible, on-demand way they purchase cloud, with the process as automated as possible.

Nandlall added that allowing network engineers to configure the network was "error-prone and dangerous."

"You want to automate as much as you can."

The packages will be available on a range of pricing models  with Telstra execs at Cisco Live stressing the flexibility with terms like "pay-as-you-go", "try before you buy" and "no-commit"  though the Internet VPN package does require a Cisco router on a 24-month contract.

Pricing starts at $119 for the basic Internet VPN package, up to $299 for the premium bundle.

Jim Fagan, head of Telstra's cloud practice, explained how the Data Centre Interconnect offering stood apart from comparable services from the likes of Equinix and Megaport.

He said that the Equinix model was "very much an 'in data centre, in metro' type offering".

Fagan added that from a technology perspective, Megaport "has done a great job, so kudos to them but it is still really an aggregator of bandwidth".

"The difference with us is that we are not only connecting data centres in Australia but around the world and allowing customers to connect to their cloud of choice throughout the world."

He added that the fact Telstra "owns the network and the core" allows better quality of service.

The journalist travelled to Melbourne courtesy of Cisco.
Skyfii and Optus Business have signed a three-year contract to deliver guest wi-fi and data analytics to Mirvac Property Group.

As part of the contract, the vendor and reseller have installed the technology at two prominent Mirvac properties  Broadway Shopping Centre in Sydney and Orion Springfield Central in Ipswich.

There is also potential for the technology to be rolled out to nine other Mirvac shopping centres.

The data analytics platform is designed to capture and analyse consumer behaviour, so Mirvac can understand how visitors are using its shopping centres.

Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis said guest wi-fi not only makes shopping more convenient for visitors but also means they can be targeted with promotions.

Our clients are looking to harness foot traffic within their shopping centres and digital connectivity to create competitive advantage, he said.

Guest wi-fi provides a tangible return on investment because shoppers are staying in centres longer and taking advantage of personalised offers and discounts.

Skyfii will receive subscription revenue fees from Mirvac for the wi-fi and data analytics services.

Skyfii hailed the contract win as strong validation for its core services and its ability to secure large target customers through active channel partners such as Optus Business.

Chief executive Wayne Arthur said Skyfii was pleased to work again with Optus Business.

We are excited about the value our service will add to the performance of these centres and also about the potential the agreement brings to roll out our technology to further Mirvac venues in the future, he said.
E-commerce portals are not new in the world of IT distribution. Ingram Micros TechLink opened its doors to all resellers in 2006. While much channel business is still done over the phone, e-commerce has seen a renewed focus with the move to cloud computing and the attempt by many distributors to carve out a piece of the action.

With so much business now being done remotely, virtually and through automated ordering, where does that leave that cornerstone of sales  personal relationships?

Products that used to be bought physically, such as servers or storage, are now more commonly bought as online instances hosted in a remote data centre. The distie is no longer under pressure to shift floor stock to maintain sales volume, which means less incentive to go and negotiate with the reseller.

Resellers also have less bargaining power because cloud computing is typically consumed at fixed rates. There is some discounting for volume, but theres not much benefit for loyalty.

Is the shift to cloud computing going to keep pushing channel business toward e-commerce, perhaps diluting the value of relationships? CRN spoke to resellers to find how often they were using e-commerce portals  both for traditional online ordering of product and the newfangled cloud marketplaces  and asked whether good, old-fashioned customer service was on the way out.

Easy and automated

Darryl McAllister, managing director of Sydney-based NetCare IT, orders more than 90 percent of products he resells through e-commerce portals run by Dicker Data, Synnex and Ingram Micro. Their portals work really well, he says. We use them all day, every day. We dont use the phone much unless were going for special pricing or its a larger bid. Were very strong users of their online tools.

The advantages of online ordering are fast access to accurate pricing. McAllister uses a tool called IT Quoter, part of the ConnectWise ecosystem, which pulls in feeds from each of the disties so the reseller can check on inventory, stock and pricing. NetCare IT uses it to prepare quotes for customers, but makes the final order through the online portal. We have a very narrow, standardised product set that we provide to clients. Were ordering the same HP UPS and servers. We just know those products."

But do these faceless interactions with a distie through online channels degrade the relationship?

It improves it McAllister says. The fact theyre giving us the tools to prepare quotes is a bonus. We can get quotes out the door in five minutes,.

NetCare IT has set up a highly efficient process around the three major disties that takes advantage of the speed of online transacting. If the reseller places an order with Dicker in the morning, the distie will ship the products from its warehouses in Kurnell to the client or to NetCare IT in Norwest Business Park by the afternoon. Dicker ships to the client, sends us an invoice via email, we send it to the client and its done. Its a really slick process, McAllister says.

All the major disties have reasonably equal online solutions, McAllister adds. Most of our business is with Ingram and Dicker, third is Synnex. You dont need to look outside those major disties, really.

For those 10 percent of Netcares orders that are larger or more complex, a phone call is required. Human interaction is essential to getting the right price. Nothing beats the phone, absolutely, McAllister says.

The personal touch

At least seven distributors added cloud computing services to their e-commerce efforts last year, including Westcon, Ingram Micro, Dicker Data, Distribution Central and Avnet. The increase in online-only products will inevitably shift more interactions to the e-commerce portal.

One of the few major disties that didnt make a big cloud portal announcement in 2015 was Synnex, which is hailed as the classic high-volume, low-margin mainstream distributor. While the company did relaunch its e-commerce portal in 2014 and it is understood a cloud announcement is imminent, Synnex has been investing in the opposite of automation  personal relationships.

Synnex has been in relationship-building mode, says Angus Mansfield, sales director of Sydney managed services provider XCentral. The company has increasingly shifted business to the distie. In the past couple of years, Synnex has moved away from its heritage as a low-touch components specialist and tried hard to shake its old image, Mansfield adds.

We met Ahmmad [Issa, Synnex commercial sales manager] at a CRN Fast50 event and from that point on they tried really hard to engage with us, more than the other disties, Mansfield says. They won a fair chunk of our business as a result. 

XCentral still prefers the online portal for transactional items but relies heavily on the distie for advice on more consultative sales such as licensing and software. The perfect position for the distie is to have the systems behind them and the right people in front. Some of the other disties have the systems but Synnex have the people.

While the quality of relationships has made the difference in winning his business, Mansfield says its important to strike the right balance. The risk you run on the relationship side of the business is if those people leave, you put the efficiencies youve built at risk.

Good relationships have a real dollar value in the channel. One critical aspect of sales is to maintain momentum. A good distie that gives a reseller quick answers can make the difference between winning and losing a deal. When we email or ring through we dont feel like weve joined a queue, Mansfield says. We have great relationships with all our disties. But you do look for hunger and a real eagerness to do business."

Next: Getting a better deal
Lenovo has hired former Hewlett-Packard director Margrith Appleby as its new channel sales director.

She will replace former director Fred Viet who resigned last month after 11 years with the company. Viet has since been hired by Microsoft as its first-ever Surface commercial channel lead.

Appleby brings 30 years of channel experience to the role, including an 18-year stint at Compaq. After Compaq was acquired in 2002, she joined HP as an account executive for the enterprise unit. She held various director roles with HP over the next 12 years, including director of enterprise sales for the personal systems group.

Most recently, Appleby was director of commercial channel sales for printing in personal sales from 2012 until 2014.

Appleby said she will be working with the Lenovo team to further develop a channel proposition and engagement strategy.

Lenovos commitment to the channel is unparalleled in the ANZ market, said Appleby. Lenovo is the only major technology company that can offer enterprises an end-to-end hardware portfolio of the industrys best innovations, from PCs to mobile to servers and storage, and Im thrilled to be joining this dynamic team.

Commenting on the appointment, Lenovo ANZ managing director Matt Codrington said: We are thrilled to welcome Margrith to the Lenovo team. Our channel partners are crucial to our business and with Margriths extensive knowledge and established channel relationships she will be a valuable asset to our team.
Secure Logic has acquired Computer Room Solutions, with Secure Logic Santosh Devaraj claiming the combined entity has been independent valued at $140 million.

Secure Logic is based in Sydney and offers cyber security services to clients such as Alibaba, Westpac, Optus, Fujitsu and the federal government, according to its website. Last year, it won a $990,000 contract to host the NSW Electoral Commissions iVote system until 2020. It employs 150 people across Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Indonesia.

CRS, which is also based in Sydney, offers racks, cabinets, containment solutions, data centre security caging, control systems and PDUs. It will continue to operate as an independent division of Secure Logic, the AFR reported.

Devaraj said combining the two companies would give each the chance to win more lucrative contracts.

"We have focused heavily on information security and CRS has focused on physical security, so it is a perfect combination of two organisations together, he told the AFR.

"This gives us much more leverage to go in for bigger deals, whole data centre outsourcing for example. We will be able to table very different proposals now we are effectively one organisation."
Battle Of The 2-In-1s

With an array of products including Apple's iPad Pro, Microsoft's Surface Pro 4 and other devices, the convertible PC market is becoming increasingly hot.

Huawei at Mobile World Congress threw its hat into the ring with its first-ever 12-inch convertible tablet, the Windows 10-powered MateBook. Shenzhen, China-based Huawei, which recently also released the Nexus 6P smartphone, touted the MateBook as "the new style of business."

Similarly to other convertible tablets, Huawei's MateBook transforms seamlessly from a tablet to a functional laptop with the addition of a keyboard cover. How does Huawei's new 2-in-1 stack up to other devices on the market, particularly Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft's Surface Pro 4? Following is a head-to-head comparison between the two convertible tablets.

Also, be sure to check out more of the CRN Test Center's side-by-side comparisons of the latest smartphones, tablets, and 2-in-1s.
Pullmantur is poised to close its Brazilian office at the end of March, according to media reports from South America.

As well, the company is expected to only operate one ship in Brazil for the 2016-2017 season, which could be chartered to a third party.

In the past, Pullmantur has chartered tonnage to tour operator CVC.

The news of Pullmanturs office closing follows on the heels of a number of other market adjustments in South America, including, but not limited to: Iberocruceros being shut down; Pullmantur downsizing its fleet; MSC pulling some capacity out; Royal Caribbean going from two ships to one, to none next winter; and Costa also making adjustments to have less berths in the market for 2016-2017.


A group of young patients from The Childrens Hospital at Westmead enjoyed a big surprise on Cunards Queen Mary 2 liner in Sydney today, with the ships crew putting on a special Teddy Bears Picnic for their visitors.

Joined by the liners Captain Kevin Oprey and members of his crew  as well as a pirate, face painter and balloon artist  the kids were treated to a fun-packed picnic lunch to celebrate the hospitals 2016 Bandaged Bear Appeal.

According to Cunard Line, the children also enjoyed a private tour of the ship including a visit to the bridge and a star-gazing experience in the planetarium  the only one at sea.

The QM2 arrived in Sydney last week for an overnight call as part of her 120-night world voyage.

The young visitors were all patients at The Childrens Hospital at Westmead with ongoing health issues from a broad range of areas including cancer and heart conditions.

The Childrens Hospital at Westmead Director of Community Relations and Marketing Gilly Paxton said the children had had the most wonderful time.

This truly is a once in a lifetime experience and we are sure its something they will always treasure, Paxton said.

Many of our patients face daily challenges, so its great for all of us to see them have so much fun. Cunards crew and staff have gone out of their way to make this a very special day and were grateful for the kindness extended to our patients.

Welcoming the children onboard, Captain Oprey said it was a privilege to show them around.

Over the years weve done a lot of exciting things with our guests on Queen Mary 2, but this is our very first Teddy Bears Picnic  which just shows how special you all are, Captain Oprey said.

The Bandaged Bear Appeal is the signature fundraising event for The Childrens Hospital at Westmead. Running throughout March, the appeal relies on the community to raise essential funds to enable the Hospital to purchase the most advanced medical equipment, fund vital research into the causes and cures for childhood illness, and maintain the total healing environment that is vital to the wellbeing of children and families.
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Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo is celebrating the birth of a baby giant anteater and the successful breeding of its 6-year-old parents, daddy EO and mama Pana.

EO is a first-time dad, and the birth is the second for Pana.

Our fingers were crossed that our giant anteaters would have babies, and we couldn't be happier that the breeding was successful, said zoo director Gregg Dancho in the babys birth announcement.

The baby, born the day before Valentines Day after a 175-day gestation period, weighed in at 2.4 pounds and is just over 14 inches long. The gender is unknown, owing to the difficulty of determining the sex of anteaters at such a young age.

Pana and the new baby are not on exhibit yet.

When mom and baby go on exhibit, dad will not be allowed to be in the same exhibit, due to mom's protectiveness and the potential of dad hurting the baby, the zoo said in a statement. Dad will be on exhibit elsewhere on zoo grounds. The baby will be on exhibit through the summer season and into the fall.

More Information Anteaters can live up to 26 years old in captivity and are usually solitary animals. They can weigh up to 100 pounds, and are five to seven feet long. Their home range is from southern Belize to northern Argentina and they live in grasslands, humid forests and woodland areas. Anteaters have one of the lowest body temperatures in the animal kingdom at 91 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit, and can eat up to 30,000 ants per meal in the wild. The Latin name for anteater is Vermillingua, meaning "worm tongue," which can be as long as two feet. See More Collapse

The anteater parents came to Beardsley from the Palm Beach Zoo in Palm Beach, Fla. Pana and EO arrived in late May 2015 and are a highlight of the Pampas Plains exhibit, which opened last August.

Featuring animals from the Pampas region of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, the new exhibit represents the first phase of the zoo's South American Adventure exhibit. It is part of the zoo's Master Plan to exhibit and care for South American species and was funded in part by private donations as well as funding from the Connecticut Zoological Society with support from the City of Bridgeport.

Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adult admission (ages 12 and older) is $14, children (ages 3-11) and senior admission (62 and older) is $11, and children under 3 years old are free. Zoo members admitted free. Parking is free. Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo is located at 1875 Noble Ave., Bridgeport.
HARTFORD  Lawmakers and advocates on Monday rallied against a legal loophole that allows rapists who impregnate their victims to later sue for child custody and visitation rights.

Critics of the existing state law said rapists are using it to threaten custody battles if victims of the estimated 4,000 annual rapes in Connecticut report the crimes. That tactic, advocates said, might partly explain why the 626 rapes reported each year represent only about 16 percent of the projected total.

For Ann Rodwell-Lawton, director of education, training and outreach at the Womens Center of Greater Danbury, a change in the law would would give rape victims a chance to recover and push their assailants out of their lives.

At the Womens Center we often hear victims frustrations with having to co-parent with their rapists, Rodwell-Lawton said. We cannot expect victims to recover from their sexual assault if they are forced to have continued communication with their rapists.

In a phone interview Monday, Rodwell-Lawton said that with low conviction rates, some women impregnated against their will end up co-parenting with their assailants.

Most of time time they are not living together, but they have to communicate.

That is absolutely appalling and outrageous that the woman whos already been traumatized has to experience further trauma and psychological pain and now deal with violent confrontations and custody battles with her rapist, said state Rep. Caroline Simmons, D-Stamford, a member of the Judiciary Committee, which reviewed a new bill designed to close the loophole during a daylong public hearing.

A proposed legal change

The proposed legislation would allow women impregnated by rape to terminate the parental right of their assailants using a clear and convincing standard of evidence in probate court, rather than a criminal conviction.

The committee has until March 30 to approve the bill, which might need some redrafting. The current law allows for parental rights to remain in cases of statutory rape cases where the parties eventually marry and raise their child. Also, removing parental rights might end requirements for rapists to pay child support.

Deb Heinrich, a former state lawmaker who is director of policy and public relations for Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, a coalition of nine sexual assault crisis services, said during a morning news conference that state law currently allows women to petition probate courts to terminate their parental rights only after a conviction. She said that national statistics indicate that rapists are convicted only in 2 percent of cases, even when victims quickly report assaults and are immediately examined for evidence.

Many times rapists plea to lesser or non-sexual assault charges, Heinrich said. Many times rapists plea to other, lower crimes. And it does not mean that the rape didnt happen and it does not mean that a woman should not have access to the legal system to terminate the parental rights of the rapist.

A rapist can use the child to further traumatize and have power over the survivor and the child for the next 18 years, Heinrich said in separate testimony to the committee.

Its time to do something

Carolyn Treiss, executive director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, told lawmakers that, nationally, about 25,000 women become pregnant each year after sexual violence. A federal law passed last year called the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act, could bring Connecticut an additional $200,000 a year over five years, if the legislation passes.

According to the FBIs Unified Crime Report for 2014, reported rapes in Connecticut totaled 43 per 100,000, or about 626 for women of child-bearing age, said Heinrich. About 16 percent of rapes are estimated to be reported, putting the estimated total of rapes at 3,912.

A 1996 report by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology indicated that 5 percent of female rape victims become pregnant and about one-third of those decided to continue their pregnancies. So about two dozen Connecticut rape victims each year choose to deliver their resulting babies.

Heinrich said she was aware of cases in the state in which rapists sued for custody. According to the Office of the Probate Court Administrators latest biennial report, there were 83 paternity cases filed overall in 2012 and 66 in 2013, most of which are based on child-support or fatherhood issues.

States that do not require criminal convictions to terminate parental rights include Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. Maine is currently considering similar legislation.

The Judiciary Committee on Monday spent most of the day listening to testimony on a bill aimed at removing firearms from people who have been issued temporary restraining orders, most of whom are men. Another bill would target human trafficking.

Violence against women has reached unacceptable levels in our society, said state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the committee. Now its time to do something about it. We need to fundamentally turn the corner on these issues.

kdixon@ctpost.com
Two-thirds of Connecticuts 99 licensed home health care agencies provide average or above-average care, while 19 were rated below average, according to new Medicare five-star rating data.

Just one agency, McLean Home Care & Hospice in Simsbury, received the highest rating of five stars; three agencies, including the Lighthouse Home Health Care in Old Saybrook, received 4.5 stars; and eight received four stars, including Amedisys Home Health of Stamford and New Milford VNA.

Nationally, as in Connecticut, a majority of the agencies fall in the middle with a three or 3.5 star rating, the data released in late January show. Of the 12,201 home care agencies rated nationally, only 2,512 received five stars.

Patricia Adams, administrator for home care and hospice at McLean Home, said, Our team is really thrilled with the five-star rating. Its taken a lot of hard work and heart, year in and out. The agency also received above average patient satisfaction scores.

The new five-star rating system, first unveiled last summer, is based on nine of 29 quality measures, including starting care in a timely manner, educating patient and caregiver about medications, and patient outcomes such as improved mobility in walking, getting in and out of bed, bathing, and no hospital readmission.

A growing need

More Information To find star ratings and other care ratings for home health care agencies, go to c-hit.org/data-mine/home-health-agencies. See More Collapse

As the states population ages and the length of time patients spend in hospitals and rehabilitation centers grows shorter, more families and individuals find themselves needing home health care services. The new tools are designed to bring more transparency for consumers tasked with making home care decisions.

Home health care provides care at the lowest cost setting, compared to hospitals and rehab facilities, said Deborah Hoyt, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home in Wallingford. Patients are happiest at home, outcomes are better and quicker, and there are fewer infections. And your own family members are around you. They can be trained how to continue the therapy and perform tasks such as changing bandages.

But even such a seemingly objective system can be imperfect, Hoyt pointed out. The rating system assesses the cost appropriateness of services, measuring how well providers use money and resources. The system also measures patient outcomes. Some may never get better or cured, but they may become stable. The rating system may not always allow for that positive outcome to be read as such, Hoyt said.

The new data also includes for the first time a consumer assessment of care.

On the post-care survey, Hoyt said, This part is based on human perception, and some people are harder scorers than others.

Connecticut is a very tough state to do business in because of its stringent regulation of home health care services. Theres also a lot of economic disparity that influences the kind and quality of care patients have access to. Given all that, Hoyt said, Connecticut home care agencies are in line with others nationally.

A tool for consumers

Lee Bridgewater, administrator of the 4.5-star Lighthouse Home Health Care in Old Saybrook, said the ratings are of particular use to people from out of town or out of state who are researching options for their aging parents. Reviewing the ratings allows them to learn, for instance, how quickly care is initiated after discharge from the hospital, she said. Thats one (of the criteria) that helped us get the 4.5 stars.

Bridgewater said of the rating system, We take it very seriously and work hard to maintain our rating. Thats a real team effort on the part of the staff, and it reflects on the quality and hard work we do. The agencys patient satisfaction rating was above the states average.

Mark Appellhof, director of sales and marketing for Visiting Nurses of the Lower Valley, said receiving a 4.5-star rating gives the agency bragging rights.

When youre matched up against the competition and you get recognition like that, you toot your own horn, Appellhof said, adding that he will incorporate that distinction in his outreach to referral sources such as hospitals and physicians.

Appellhof said that the agency posts its rating in the lobby so as the public and nurses come in, they see how were doing.

Of course, as with any measurement tool, theres going to be some subjectivity to it. But as an overall barometer of how an agencys doing, its fairly accurate, he said.

Adams said, The star rating system not only lets consumers see that were at the top of our game, but it also tells our team what they have to do to stay there. For instance, Adams said, data recently revealed a few more readmissions over the past quarter, a cause for concern that the agency is taking steps to remedy. Were constantly trying to look at the numbers and how we can improve, she added.

Kate Jones, chief clinical officer at Amedisys in Baton Rouge, La., whose Stamford facility received a four-star rating, said consumers are starting to use the Internet to access rating information. She noted that a patient who used Medicare.govto compare home health care agencies found that Amedisys was among the best rated in the area.

I promise you that the staff in Stamford is working toward five stars, Jones said. Thats what Medicare intendedthe rating system is a quality improvement effort. If you want to demonstrate that you provide quality care, but you dont improve while other providers do, your star rating will slip.

In the end, Jones said, the star rating system makes for a better informed consumer who is ready and willing to be engaged in their own care. That sets us up for success.

New federal data show Connecticut has 86 Medicare-eligible home health providers, the second highest number in New England after Massachusetts. Most providers are concentrated in western part of the state, (Fairfield County, 39 and Litchfield County, 18), with only seven in Windham County and 10 in Tolland County.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team ( www.c-hit.org ).
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Former Gov. John G. Rowlands freedom could be finite.

Out on bond since last year, when he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for campaign fraud, Rowland will return to court Friday hard-pressed to overturn his conviction.

Rowland, 58, is set to appear in a federal appeals court in lower Manhattan for oral arguments in what legal experts say is an uphill climb for the twice-convicted politician.

The once-rising star of the GOP, whose name was bandied about for vice president, is staring at a second prison stint since a corruption scandal forced him to resign in 2004.

The case centers on Rowlands work as a shadow political operative on the 2012 congressional campaign of Republican Lisa Wilson-Foley, whose husband funneled $35,000 in payments to Rowland through a nursing home business.

Rowlands lawyers are expected to argue that the Justice Department was so obsessed with making an example of Rowland as a repeat offender that it suppressed exculpatory evidence in the case. Its a strategy that criminal defense experts say could be a double-edged sword for Rowland, whose appeal will be heard by three judges.

They could be thinking, what kind of idiot is this guy that he would do the exact same thing over again? He just doesnt get. The other is that the governments stalking, said Todd Fernow, the longtime director of the Criminal Clinic at the University of Connecticut Law School.

Both Rowlands lawyer, Andrew Fish, and a Justice Department spokesman declined to comment about the appeal, which was filed last year. Each side will get 12 minutes to make oral arguments, which is common in appellate cases. Both already filed lengthy briefs.

When the government learned that former Connecticut Governor John Rowland volunteered for a congressional campaign while working as a paid consultant for a company owned by the candidates husband, it was all too eager to prosecute, Fish wrote his 69-page brief filed last August.

Fraud, conspiracy, obstruction

The youngest governor in Connecticut history who was elected to three terms, Rowland was found guilty in September 2014 of campaign fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Through a nursing home business owned by Wilson-Foleys husband, Brian Foley, the couple steered $35,000 in payments to Rowland. They did not want to be tainted by having Rowland on the campaign payroll, but admitted that he still had influence in the 5th Congressional District and Rowlands home city of Waterbury.

The district stretches from Danbury to the Farmington Valley and includes Litchfield County, Meriden and New Britain.

Prosecutors say Rowland pitched a similar sham to GOP congressional candidate Mark Greenberg in 2010, but was rebuffed by the Litchfield businessman.

The defense claims that Foley concocted the entire sham contract for the ex-governor to work at Apple Rehab, with Rowland having no knowledge of the scheme. It contends that when investigators questioned Wilson-Foley, the failed candidate told them she believed the contract was legitimate  information that was withheld from Rowlands defense.

There is an unmistakable air of politics surrounding the entire prosecution and, though not the appropriate subject of appeal, could work in his favor if the judges are on the fence, said Lindy Urso, a criminal defense lawyer from Greenwich.

Urso, who is not connected with the case, has argued in front of the same appeals court.

As appeals go, I like the former governors chances, Urso said.

Rowland, who served 10 months in prison for accepting bribes from state contractors, had been scheduled to report to last June to a medium security federal prison in Otisville, N.Y. But the judge who sentenced Rowland granted him bond while his appeal is pending, calling some of the legal arguments raised by the defense fairly debatable.

Fernow said the judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit have a reputation for being direct and efficient. The fewer questions they ask, he said, the more likely they are to uphold Rowlands conviction.

Its not going to take months and months, Fernow said. You may get an answer very quickly.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
BRIDGEPORT  Nine days after a Stratford man was released on probation for allegedly terrorizing his neighbors with a gun and threatening to eat his own dog, Richard Watt was arrested again  this time police said he choked his wife until she passed out.

Watt, 60, a retired Stratford High School social studies teacher, was charged Saturday with second-degree strangulation and disorderly conduct.

Police said Watts wife told officers she had just gotten out of the shower Saturday at the couples York Street, Stratford, home and was getting dressed when Watt, Hopped out of bed and put her in a strangle hold.

He then began banging her head against a bureau while choking her until she passed out, police said. When police got to the home, they said, they found Watt sitting in a chair.

During an arraignment hearing Monday afternoon Superior Court Judge Kevin Doyle reduced Watts bond from $1 million to $100,000 and continued the case to March 31. The judge also issue a protective order for Watt to stay away from his wife.

Last November, Watts neighbors sent a letter to Stratford Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour after Watt was released on bond after the earlier incident.

The safety of the residents of York Street is extremely compromised and of grave concern when Richard Watt is released, states the letter, which was also provided to Hearst Connecticut Media.

On Sept. 1, 2015, police received a call for assistance at Watts home. The caller, identified as Watt, stated he was God and was going to tap someone on the shoulder and tell them they are going to die, police said.

When officers went to Watts home, he had barricaded himself inside, police said. The Stratford Police Departments SWAT unit was called in, but as they approached the house Watt appeared at the front door holding his Schnauzer-type dog in a headlock and threatening, Now youve done it, Im going to eat this dog for dinner, police recounted.

Neighbors who had gathered in the street were ordered by police to get inside their homes as police attempted to negotiate the dogs release. Police said Watt demanded several times that officers shoot him. He was eventually taken into custody in that incident, following a struggle in which police said Watt spit in an officers face.

During a subsequent search of Watts house police said they found numerous marijuana plants growing in the basement with a sophisticated lighting and irrigation system. They said there was also a video surveillance system set up in the house.

Watt pleaded guilty on March 3 to assault on a public safety officer and possession of marijuana with intent to sell and was sentenced to a suspended 10-year term with five years probation.
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TRUMBULL  Even as law enforcement agencies continue the search for a convicted cocaine dealer accused of assaulting his estranged wife and abducting his 7-year-old son, police have obtained an arrest warrant charging him with assault and kidnapping.

Rodolfo Revello, 43, broke into a Unity Road home early Saturday, choked his wife, and took thousands of dollars in cash and then abducted his son, police said.

Court records show Revello has been linked to the Latin Kings gang

The boy was found safe 14 hours later after the father left him with a relative and called the police himself.

Police in Bridgeport responded to a tip Monday that the white van had been found, parked and vacant, on a city street.

During the home invasion Saturday, Revello at one point retrieved a knife from the kitchen, but was disarmed by his 17-year-old stepson before he was able to return to the bedroom, a police spokesman said..

The woman was able to jump out a bedroom window and hide in the yard. Revello allegedly rounded up several thousand dollars worth of cash and jewelry from the house before grabbing Ariel Revello, 7, and making a run for it. Police said Revellos home address is in Greenwich, and he may have crossed over the state line .

The woman was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released by early afternoon Saturday.

The 17-year-old stepson was not injured, said Trumbull police Lt. Leonard Scinto.

Police Chief Michael Lombardo said the search was ongoing and town police were coordinating efforts with the Connecticut State Police, FBI, New York State Police and the New York City Police Department.

Police said Revellos home address is in Greenwich. Police stressed that anyone with information on his whereabouts should call the authorities immediately.

Scinto confirmed that a state judge had issued a restraining order against Revello on the estranged wifes behalf. He was not able to detail conditions of the order, but said Revello had visitation rights with the two boys.

According to federal court documents, the father supplied cocaine to the Latin Kings gang members, who then sold the drug to customers in the Stamford area.

Revello is on federal probation related to drug charges.

State court records also list convictions for assault, disorderly conduct and driving under the influence and one pending case for breach of peace.

Federal court records indicate that Revello was sentenced to 60 months in prison in 2012, and he was released in September 2014.

Revello will be charged with second-degree kidnapping, strangulation, assault and larceny, along with criminal violation of a restraining order, threatening, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, Scinto said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Trumbull Police at 203-261-3665.
Ive had the unique experience of being able to travel a decent amount over the last two years. Since the beginning of 2015, Ive logged more than 400,000 miles in the air. In my business, I consult companies and speak at conferences, which has allowed me to travel to six continents for free. Ive experienced some amazing countries and gotten paid a decent penny to do what I love.

If you have the chance to travel for business, you should embrace the opportunity. You learn some valuable life lessons stepping outside of your comfort zone. Yes, the time spent on airplanes and in airports can suck, but the adventure of seeing new cultures and different ways of life can help you as a person and as an entrepreneur. Travel gives you guidance that only life experience can bring. Those lessons cant be learned in business school. Here are a few of the lessons.

Related: Surprising Tricks: How to Sleep on a Plane

Things often are out of your control.

We like to be in control of whats going on in our business, but thats not a reality of life. Situations arise and things happen that you cant control. Travel teaches you this vividly. Flights get changed or canceled, hotel reservations disappear and you are stuck dealing with what you cant control. The truth is you dont have to always be in control.

Sometimes things arent meant to work out in the way we had planned and hoped. The more you can adjust, the better an entrepreneur you will be. Life is full of chaos and how you deal with it determines how successful you are or can become. Sometimes plans looked good on paper or in our minds but dont work out. Don't be stuck in your position and miss what could be waiting if you work through a few turbulent moments.

Even the best plans need some room for flexibility.

Planning for your business is necessary, just as it is when youre arranging to travel. You should have a blueprint for where youre going and what you want to do in the next weeks, months and even year. But, as I mentioned in the last point, some situations are out of your control. Your plan needs flexibility, such as in travel.

Im writing this article from Medellin, Colombia. I was in Panama City, Panama, training last week, but the company Im consulting for currently needed me to travel to Colombia. This often happens in what I do and the industry I consult in. The flexibility has allowed me to make more money and experience a new country and culture. If you can be flexible with your plan, it could open the door in your business.

Related: Business Travelers: Don't Be Lured by the Siren Song of Free Wi-Fi

You can always go home.

I love to travel, and I cherish new experiences, but so much travel during these last two years has been exhausting. A few weeks ago, I was fed up and called Delta to get on a flight back to Maui immediately. Not knowing Spanish, getting behind on my work and the distance was too much. It felt good to know that I could just walk away and go home.

Having a business would be the best option for everyone if every day was filled with positivity and no problems --thats not reality. Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur and not every business is meant to last. Sometimes you have to let go and regroup. You have to spend a little time thinking about what is the next logical step.

Related: Me First! These Airlines All Think They Should Rule Flights to Cuba.

Even though the Internet and social media have connected us, the world is a big place. There are many places you can travel for business or pleasure and experience the beauty of diversity. If your dream is to be a paid international speaker, its possible.

Running is business isnt always about money or a certain level of success. The primary goal of starting a business should be to create freedom in your life and make an impact in the lives of those your business serves. You can make this impact throughout the world if you have the opportunity to travel.

Related:

What Travel Has to Teach About Running a Business

Me First! These Airlines All Think They Should Rule Flights to Cuba.

Top Workacation Spots In And Around India



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
STORY LINK Pound Sterling (GBP) vs AUD and NZD Forecast Wobbles on China Data

Risk-Correlated Currencies Decline on Global Economic Slowdown Concerns

Global Stocks Rally after PBoC President Zhou Comments

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Weekend data out of the worlds second largest economy has increased fears amongst market participants that the global economy may be heading for a renewed slowdown. Chinese statistics have been a driver for investor sentiment since a raft of official numbers from Beijing at the turn of the year triggered heavy stock market losses.For this reason, data published yesterday pointing to a relatively lowly 5.4% increase in Chinese industrial output during the first two months of 2016, sent shivers down the spine of investors holding Australian Dollar (currency : AUD), New Zealand Dollar (currency : NZD) and Canadian Dollar (currency : CAD) assets.Significantly, these official figures showed that activity levels in Chinas vast economy had plunged to their lowest level since the 2007  09 global financial crisis. The release spells particularly bad news for those holding AUD and NZD-denominated assets, given Chinas position as the number one export destination for Australian and New Zealand shipments.Nevertheless, the immediate market reaction to the publication did not unduly weigh down the AUD and NZD  the Pound Sterling Australian Dollar exchange rate currently stands at 1.9045, having spent the latter part of last week trading in the 1.9300s. Meanwhile, the Pound New Zealand Dollar exchange rate remains in the 2.1400s at the time of writing.Elsewhere, global stock markets are trading into positive territory, suggesting that investors remain unfazed by the Chinese figures.Comments from Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, in response to the statistics, may explain why. Zhou confirmed that he is still confident that the Chinese economy will achieve the government target of an average GDP growth rate of 6.5% in coming years, noting that, excessive monetary policy stimulus isn't necessary to achieve the target If there isn't any big economic or financial turmoil, we'll keep prudent monetary policy.Some FX insiders remain unconvinced, making the medium term forecast for AUD and NZD neutral to negative.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Australian Dollar Forecasts Canadian Dollar Forecasts New Zealand Do Forecasts
Somerset jury finds two of three defendants guilty of murder

Now in its fifth day of testimony and seventh day overall, the double murder trial taking place in Somerset County is now over. The jury decided.
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In the lead-up to this Wednesdays Budget, George Osborne had let it be known he was planning to scrap all upfront tax benefits for pension schemes

There was a time when a Chancellor could lose his job if he let on what might be in his Budget. In 1947, the Labour Chancellor Hugh Dalton felt obliged to resign when he inadvertently allowed a London evening paper to publish some of its details minutes before he had told the House of Commons.

Politics today is very different. In the lead-up to this Wednesdays Budget, George Osborne had let it be known he was planning to scrap all upfront tax benefits for pension schemes.

This has long been an ambition within the Treasury, since such rebates currently cost it about 35 billion a year in revenue. But, not surprisingly, the leaking of this plan drew a deafening barrage of protests and the Chancellor very late in the day scrapped the planned announcement.

Maybe Osborne is scarred by the events of four years ago, when his Budget included a dramatic cut in rebates for charitable giving, and also a so-called pasty tax (adding VAT to heated takeaway meals).

In the ensuing uproar the Chancellor was forced into an abject U-turn on both proposals. Hence his new technique of trailing Budget ideas in advance, to see how much fire they might attract.

Pieties

Perhaps thats why we are now being briefed that he will be increasing Insurance Premium Tax, for the second time in a year. In his previous budget this levy on insurance policies (including car, home contents, pets and medical cover) was increased from 6 per cent to 9.5 per cent. Now we are given to understand it will rise to up to 12.5 per cent.

Rather like the mooted raid on pensions, this amounts to a tax on prudence - or, if you like, a tax on what is generally considered a virtue. The Chancellor has a problem, however: there is an enormous hole in the States balance sheet that requires filling - and so-called sin taxes have already been taken to levels that have tested the publics patience.

The principal sin taxes are on smoking, drinking alcohol and driving. And taken as a whole, nowhere else in the developed world are these pursuits taxed so heavily.

In 1947, the Labour Chancellor Hugh Dalton felt obliged to resign when he inadvertently allowed a London evening paper to publish some of its details minutes before he had told the House of Commons. Politics today is very different, writes Dominic Lawson

For example, beer duty is almost 13 times higher than in the largest European beer market (Germany) and three times higher than the European average.

As a non-beer drinker this causes me no hardship - but I still find it difficult to associate beer-drinking with sinfulness.

Despite the fact that beer duty is 37 per cent higher than it was in 2008, when the roof fell in on the economy, the Treasury is almost 60 billion short of what the Chancellor had hoped to bring in from levies on fuel, tobacco and alcoholic drinks when he began his custodianship of the nations finances (and pledged to fix the roof).

This shortfall is largely because fuel duty, which had been escalated under successive Chancellors on the convenient pretext that this was helping to save the planet, was reduced by Osborne to 57.95p a litre in 2011 and has been frozen since.

I expect the Chancellor to raise it this week, not least because the recent collapse in crude oil prices has given some relief to motorists. However, I would be grateful if he would refrain from any pieties about tackling climate change when justifying such an increase at the despatch box.

The truth is that duty and other taxes on petrol raise much more than the cost of remedying any damage that driving can be shown to cause to the environment.

Chancellors raise countless billions in this way not because they should but because they can - there is little room for evasive manoeuvre on the part of the taxpayer: the vast majority of car miles are driven because they are essential for peoples work, or for keeping in touch with their families.

The days are gone when Britons would take the car for a spin - simply for the pleasure of driving.

By contrast, smoking from the mouth - rather than the car exhaust - is a pleasure rather than a necessity.

The reason this pursuit is such a delightful target for the Revenue is that its practitioners are addicted, so they find it very difficult to reduce their demand even as the cost increases. Some gain fiscal relief (and illicit profits) by smuggling back vast numbers of cigarettes from trips to France. But it is only because British tobacco duty is so high that such smuggling exists at all.

A friend of mine was commissioned by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor to do a report on how to reduce cigarette smuggling: his chief recommendation was to cut our own duty. Not surprisingly, Brown wouldnt, and the recent Coalition government increased tobacco taxes by 40 per cent.

When Gordon Brown was Chancellor he was told by an expert to 'cut our own duty' to reduce cigarette smuggling,but he wouldn't. The recent Coalition government increased tobacco taxes by 40 per cent

In the matter of duty on cigarettes, Chancellors claim to be acting virtuously with penal tax rates: the things do damage the health of those addicted.

However, the tax on them - like that on petrol - vastly exceeds the cost of the habit to the nation as a whole. Over their lifetimes, smokers on average actually cost less in medical care than healthier people. This is because they tend to die younger - and the massive increase in NHS costs is associated with care for the very old.

On this analysis, governments need smokers more than smokers need government - and the swingeing tax on their habit is far more to do with the need to reduce the national debt than any concerns about public health.

If you dont believe me, consider the panic within the councils of the European Union over the replacement of traditional smoking by e-cigarettes - or vaping - by which users get their nicotine fix without the burning of tobacco that causes damage to the lungs.

Punishment

In December, the European Commission recommended including e-cigarettes in the scope of excise duty on tobacco products, warning that not to do so might have significant budgetary implications for member states.

Public Health England considers e-cigarettes (pictured) to be 95 per cent less harmful than the traditional variety

Indeed it would. But given that Public Health England considers e-cigarettes to be 95 per cent less harmful than the traditional variety, what reason would there be for governments to introduce a form of financial punishment for those (2.2 million in Britain alone) who have taken up vaping and abandoned cigarettes?

The reason, of course, is the enormous gap between what the State spends and what it receives - otherwise known as the deficit. And with public expenditure on health, defence and overseas aid all declared sacrosanct, something else has to give.

So if you drink beer, drive or smoke, you are doing it for Britain - and for George Osborne. Now, the same goes for your acts of prudence.

Brit even brainier than Steven Hawking

Steven Hawking is generally thought of as the brainiest Briton. But I find it hard to imagine there is anyone to match a 39-year-old Londoner called Demis Hassabis. Perhaps I am biased, because I know him.

Demis Hassabis (pictured), 39, has a new computer program called Demis: AlphaGo that 'behaves more like a human brain'

Now billions of Chinese and others in the Far East have become aware of Demis: AlphaGo, his new computer program, has, to general amazement, just trounced the worlds strongest player of the Chinese game Go.

In 1997, the IBM program Deep Blue beat the world chess champion Garry Kasparov: but Go is much less susceptible to digital defeat as its number of permutations is vastly greater than that of chess. Demis devised a unique program which could actually improve by playing against itself constantly, and learning: in other words, behaving more like the human brain.

This was the insight of a man who has stellar academic achievements both in computer science and neuroscience. Demis is also a games player supreme, having won the Mind Games Olympiad five times, before retiring undefeated.

In 2014 he sold his company, Deep Mind, to Google for 400 million. But Demis insisted on keeping the business in North London. And now he is providing some of its technology free to the NHS. So, a good man as well as a genius.

My apologies to the studio audience of Tom Bradbys ITV current affairs chat show, The Agenda, for keeping them (and my fellow guests) waiting interminably last Monday. I had been travelling up to London on Southeastern: my train was delayed by one-and-a-half hours. This is not unusual for Southeastern: its performance targets are so lax it can without any penalty run one in five of its trains late (as it does).
Around lunchtime last Wednesday I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Visiting Oxford for the day, I had, as is my wont, gone on a prowl of the local second-hand bookshops and in the Oxfam store on St Giles had struck gold: a signed first edition of Penelope Fitzgeralds masterpiece The Blue Flower, for just four quid. Someone had boobooed  these can be worth up to 200. Bliss.

I glanced slyly at the bloke behind the counter, who, this being Oxford, had a wizardy white beard trailing down to his knees and was discussing the short stories of Saki with a passing professor. Every book collector knows that such moments of serendipity come along all too rarely.

Often theyre not to be trusted. Had I missed something? Was the novel absent its final page? Had a previous owner scrawled obscenities above every chapter heading? And given Oxfam is a charity seeking to end world poverty, should I fess up and offer them a bit extra?

Students march past Oxford University's Oriel College and the statue of Cecil Rhodes that they are campaigning to be removed from the building

The answers to these questions were, no, no, no and stuff that. I grabbed a couple of old Penguin paperbacks to create a non-suspicious bundle, put on my most guileless expression, fished out my wallet and headed over to dusty old Gandalf.

It was then the genteel atmosphere was interrupted by distant chanting. Indecipherable to begin with, it quickly began to increase in volume: some kind of protest march was taking place. Suddenly the show was upon us, as a crowd of around 100 students came to a halt outside the bookshop. De-de-decolonise! bellowed a young man, and the throng stuttered it back at him loudly and passionately.

My first thought was that if he was talking about the British Empire, he was about a century too late; my second, that if he was referring to the bookshop, I was honestly planning to get my devolved Scottish backside out of there just as soon as Id bagged the Penelope Fitzgerald.

Power to the people! yelled the chap, as the call-and-response continued. Next, there was a phrase I later discovered to be amandla ngawethu, which means the power is ours and is a rallying cry from South Africas anti-apartheid fight. There was some rapping, some throwing of shapes, and lots of home-made banners. It was raining quite heavily. It looked like fun, if youre 19 and thats your idea of fun and you have a hood on your jacket.

Oriel College in Oxford has decided to keep its statue of Cecil Rhodes despite the Rhodes Must Fall campaign

After about ten minutes the students moved on and it seemed safe to venture out into the street. But as I wandered off in search of another cobwebby bookhole I quickly stumbled across them again. Almost literally, this time: they were lying on the wet ground, playing dead, while someone read a poem in plummy tones.

I was witnessing the latest stunt by the Rhodes Must Fall movement  a mass march for decolonisation, no less. The campaign began in South Africa as a successful attempt to have a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the Victorian imperialist and founder of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), removed from the University of Cape Town and, commendably, to hasten racial transformation throughout the countrys higher education system.

Supremacist

It has now spread to universities around the world, including California, Edinburgh and Oxford, where a statue of Rhodes stands over the entrance to Oriel College.

Now, Cecil Rhodes was, to put it politely, a man of his time  and that time was when much of the global map was coloured pink and a great many pale males held the kind of views that, expressed on Twitter today, get people into serious trouble.

The demonstrators are calling for statues of colonial era figures including Cecil Rhodes to be removed from university campuses

He was a white supremacist who believed the world would be a better place if everything was run by the civilised British  indeed, an early draft of his will suggested the creation of a Secret Society to bring about just that outcome.

But its more complicated than that. He also set up and funded the famous Rhodes Scholarship for students from countries under British rule (or formerly so) to study at Oxford, with the intention of promoting good leadership and rendering war impossible by building friendship between the great powers. Its recipients have included a large number of men and women who have gone on to real eminence, from the astronomer Edwin Hubble to the writer Robert Penn Warren, from Bram Fischer, an anti-apartheid activist and lawyer for Nelson Mandela, to Bill Clinton.

Indeed, one of the leaders of last weeks protest, South African-born Ntokozo Qwabe, is a Rhodes scholar. He had this to say: What does it mean to study at a university? Who controls what is taught? Who controls how the space is configured? Oxford purports to be one of the best institutions in the world. Is it? Or is it only for a specific thing?

Students hold a brief 'lie-in' outside Oxford University's Rhodes house library about removing colonial era statues, including Cecil Rhodes, from the university buildings

These are all reasonable questions, not all of which are easy to answer. But heres another poser: why did Mr Qwabe feel able to accept a scholarship in the name of his apparent nemesis? And another: if youre lucky enough to get the chance to pass fleetingly through one of the worlds finest and most ancient academic institutions, shouldnt you show a degree of appreciation, historical tolerance and respect?

Theres surely a difference between campaigning for more diverse racial representation among the student demographic and demanding that the university starts tearing down statues you dont like. Chris Patten, Oxfords chancellor, suggests those pursuing the latter aim should consider going elsewhere to study  inflammatory, perhaps, but you can see his point.

Theres also something rather worrying about the importation of South Africas toxic racial politics to Britains campuses. The UK of 2016 is not the UK of 1816; it is a reconstructed, multicultural, enlightened, progressive society  an international safe space, to borrow a current student buzz-phrase. In part this is because, having made historical mistakes, we have learned from them. Our imperial statuary helps us remember.

I thought of the Oxford students as I walked through Glasgows George Square last week. There, in a tent perched on a strip of grass, members of the Scottish Resistance have vowed to remain until independence is achieved from the rest of the UK, despite a referendum on the issue 18 months ago. There are many differences between the protests  not least, the IQ levels of those involved  but it strikes me they have two things in common. One, they have picked the wrong fight at the wrong time, and two, the imperialism they so furiously march and chant against exists only in their own imaginations.

TOXIC TRUMP POISONS POLITICS One of the worst things about the rise of Donald Trump has been the reintroduction of violence to the presidential race One of the worst things about the rise of Donald Trump has been the reintroduction of violence to the presidential race. Last week a stetsoned yahoo was caught on camera punching a black protester who was being removed from a Trump rally. On Saturday another film showed Trump cower as a man breached security and ran towards him. This is all the inevitable culmination of Trumps disgraceful, inflammatory rhetoric in a country where racial tensions have been rising and where the Republican establishment has for too long indulged and even wallowed in the creation of division. Since the Clinton era, the GOP has increasingly refused to play by normal democratic rules, preferring to turn itself into a cartoonish bad guy. The consequence of this is Trump, who is cruising towards nomination and, perhaps, the White House. Marco Rubio, perhaps the best of the rest among the Republicans, has warned Trump he should be aware words have consequences. But its too late. The latters campaign is based on the rules of the shock jock  create outrage and get on the front page. Meanwhile, the country of Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher looks on, horrified. Advertisement
In his Autumn Statement last November, George Osborne painted a positively radiant picture of the economy.

Growth was the highest of any developed country, tax receipts were soaring thanks to record levels of employment and Britain would return to the black by 2020.

Things had been going so well that the Office for Budget Responsibility declared we were 27billion better off than had been anticipated in previous forecasts.

A report by accountants PwC today says George Osborne faces a financial black hole of 47billion, is set to miss his borrowing targets for each of the next five years and will still be in deficit beyond 2020

At the time, the Mail said Mr Osborne should use this windfall to help pay down our terrifying debt. Unfortunately, he spent it - in part to prop up the unwieldy tax credits system.

What a difference four months has made  and how useful that 27billion would be now. The global economic slowdown, weaker growth and lower tax receipts have led to a much more sombre mood.

A report by accountants PwC today says the Chancellor faces a financial black hole of 47billion, is set to miss his borrowing targets for each of the next five years and will still be in deficit beyond 2020.

Suddenly Mr Osbornes much-vaunted long-term economic plan looks decidedly shaky.

So what can he do in his budget speech on Wednesday to shore it up? What he should do is truly slash the cost of the state.

Despite constant shroud-waving by the Left and the BBC about savage cuts, public spending will still rise from 756billion this year to 821billion by 2020.

But there are worrying signs that the proximity to the EU referendum, and his own Tory leadership ambitions, may make Mr Osborne shy away from radical action for fear of being labelled heartless.

Instead of slimming down the state, there have been suggestions he could raise money through stealth taxes, such as a higher levy on car and household insurance premiums.

The Mail has a huge regard for Mr Osbornes record as Chancellor. We sincerely hope that, come Wednesday, he will show that he has no interest in cynical tinkering - and retains his appetite for genuine, fundamental reform of our bloated public sector.

Now is a time for courage, not short-term political calculation.

A stark warning

Angela Merkel (pictured) 'felt the heat of this backlash as Alternative for Germany made huge gains in regional elections at the expense of her Christian Democratic Union', writes DOMINIC LAWSON

On Saturday, the Mail warned that the consequence of a liberal political elite foisting mass immigration on the people of Europe without consultation was the rise of the ugly far Right across the continent.

On Sunday German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt the heat of this backlash as Alternative for Germany  a party whose leader believes border guards should be allowed to shoot illegal migrants  made huge gains in regional elections at the expense of her Christian Democratic Union.

But she has only herself to blame. By unilaterally throwing open Germanys borders to a million migrants she lost the trust of her people, who in their desperation have turned to extremist parties. Greece, France and swathes of Eastern Europe have seen similar upheavals.

This result serves as a warning about the vital importance of having an open and honest debate on the effects of migration. It will also make many British voters wonder whether we want to be shackled to a European Union which is clearly coming apart at the seams.

An abuse of the law

How on earth was serial killer Joanna Dennehy allowed to sue the prison service for being held in solitary confinement?
In his Autumn Statement last November, George Osborne painted a positively radiant picture of the economy

In his Autumn Statement last November, George Osborne painted a positively radiant picture of the economy.

Growth was the highest of any developed country, tax receipts were soaring thanks to record levels of employment and Britain would return to the black by 2020.

Things had been going so well that the Office for Budget Responsibility declared we were 27billion better off than had been anticipated in previous forecasts.

At the time, the Mail said Mr Osborne should use this windfall to help pay down our terrifying debt. Unfortunately, he spent it  in part to prop up the unwieldy tax credits system.

What a difference four months has made  and how useful that 27billion would be now. The global economic slowdown, weaker growth and lower tax receipts have led to a much more sombre mood.

A report by accountants PwC today says the Chancellor faces a financial black hole of 47billion, is set to miss his borrowing targets for each of the next five years and will still be in deficit beyond 2020.

Suddenly Mr Osbornes much-vaunted long-term economic plan looks decidedly shaky. So what can he do in his budget speech on Wednesday to shore it up?

What he should do is truly slash the cost of the state. Despite constant shroud-waving by the Left and the BBC about savage cuts, public spending will still rise from 756billion this year to 821billion by 2020.

But there are worrying signs that the proximity to the EU referendum, and his own Tory leadership ambitions, may make Mr Osborne shy away from radical action for fear of being labelled heartless.

Instead of slimming down the state, there have been suggestions he could raise money through stealth taxes, such as a higher levy on car and household insurance premiums.

The Mail has a huge regard for Mr Osbornes record as Chancellor. We sincerely hope that, come Wednesday, he will show that he has no interest in cynical tinkering  and retains his appetite for genuine, fundamental reform of our bloated public sector.

Now is a time for courage, not short-term political calculation.

A stark warning

ON Saturday, the Mail warned that the consequence of a liberal political elite foisting mass immigration on the people of Europe without consultation was the rise of the ugly far Right across the continent.

Yesterday German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt the heat of this backlash as Alternative for Germany  a party whose leader believes border guards should be allowed to shoot illegal migrants  made huge gains in regional elections at the expense of her Christian Democratic Union.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt the heat of this backlash as Alternative for Germany  a party whose leader believes border guards should be allowed to shoot illegal migrants  made huge gains

But she has only herself to blame. By unilaterally throwing open Germanys borders to a million migrants she lost the trust of her people, who in their desperation have turned to extremist parties. Greece, France and swathes of Eastern Europe have seen similar upheavals.

This result serves as a warning about the vital importance of having an open and honest debate on the effects of migration. It will also make many British voters wonder whether we want to be shackled to a European Union which is clearly coming apart at the seams.

An abuse of the law

HOW on earth was serial killer Joanna Dennehy allowed to sue the prison service for being held in solitary confinement?
Sunday night viewing is set to become just a little spicier tonight as the second series of Indian Summers kicks off.

Fans of the Channel 4 period drama, which recounts the last days of the Raj, have been told to expect more sex, drama and scandal than the last season.

Set in 1935, three years on from the first series, the characters return to their summer retreat in Simla, the Himalayan hill station 7,000ft above sea level where the rulers of British India escaped the broiling plains each summer.

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Eat your heart out Poldark! Viewers can look forward to several 'shirt-off' moments says actor Nikesh Patel, the star of the second series of hit Channel 4 drama Indian Summers

Sunday night steaminess: Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) and Alice (Jemima West) are reunited as lovers in the second series of the hit show about British Indians in Simla

The show, which airs at 9pm, has previously been described as a 'Downtonesque Jewel in the Crown' and should please those who are missing the hole left by War and Peace.

Alice (Jemima West) and her lover Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) all return, along with the Machiavellian manipulator Cynthia Coffin, played by Julie Walters.

Tensions will reach a high tonight when Alice and Aafrin are reintroduced after three years apart.

Of the show's second outing, Jemima West says: 'A lot of what happens in the new series will be even darker, more dramatic and more sensuous than in the first.'

Fans of the heartthrob actor can apparently look forward to lots of 'shirt off' moments to rival Poldark sex symbol Aidan Turner.

The illicit lovers steal a kiss; the series is said to be even steamier than last season

But Nikesh Patel says he can't yet get used to idea of being a heartthrob...

Nikesh told the Daily Mirror that he never expected himself to be a heartthrob: 'As we filmed those scenes I never thought I might be having a Poldark moment.'

But we are also introduced to Alice's husband Charlie, played by Blake Ritson, whom she claimed had died years ago, and the new woman in Aafrin's life.

A main character is also set to die during the second series but we have no clues as to who.

The storyline around Julie Walters' character, Cynthia Coffin, is also poised to get 'darker' as more is revealed about her life and relationship with civil servant Ralph Whelan, played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes.

Scandal: Jemima West returns as Alice and Blake Ritson joins the cast playing her husband Charlie

Rocked by the Raj: Series two of Indian Summers is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight

Producer Dan Winch says of the more serious material: 'We have worked hard on taking greater risks in every way for series two.

'Weve stayed mindful were reaching out to an audience in the UK, the US and hopefully others. Some American reviews referred to how racy the show can be.

'We have strived to push the boundaries  particularly on intimacy.'

BAFTA winner Julie Walters, 66, plays one of her sexiest roles yet and told The Sunday Mirror that some of the naughty scenes have left her in fits of laughter.

She said: 'The 60s is a great decade. I'm probably more adventurous now and have more energy than in my 40s or 50s.

'It might be a slippery slope to your 70s and it might take you longer to learn your lines but you're through the menopause and not yet decrepit.

'I also think it's a really happy decade because you're not struggling with anything and everything feels more in its place.'

Julie Walters told a Sunday newspaper she is not too old for a rude scene or naughty role
The first few months of the year are tough. You're cold, gloomy, and look your worst, so you self-scrutinise. This year - in which I turn 45 - I am fixated on my neck, which has gone from being a swan-like, ballerina-taut affair to being ringed like an ancient tree trunk.

How I laughed in my early 30s when an older friend told me to 'start collecting scarves - you'll get why at 45'. (She wasn't wrong: I now own 86).

How I scoffed over the late Nora Ephron's much-loved essay I Feel Bad About My Neck, in which she gives full vent to older woman's neck angst: be it scrawny, fat, crepey, banded, wrinkled, stringy, saggy, flabby or mottled, and concludes: 'The neck starts to go at 43, and that's that'.

Hannah Betts, 44, was feeling increasingly bad about her neck and women her age agreed. 'Why do you think I've been wearing a scarf since the August bank holiday?' one snapped. 'It's not for the good of my health!'

Yet here I was at 44 staring at my own crepey, banded affair. My face still looks OK-ish: last year I was asked to prove my age to buy champagne, joy of joys.

But like Nora, I was feeling increasingly bad about my neck. And when I confided in women my age, they let out a howl of fellow feeling. 'Why do you think I've been wearing a scarf since the August bank holiday?' one snapped. 'It's not for the good of my health!'

What's worse, my generation has exacerbated Mother Nature's natural wear and tear with 'tech neck', sagging skin and wrinkles with our addictions to iPads, smartphones and the like.

Carrie Bradshaw may have looked chic writing her articles on a laptop in Sex And The City, but the angle this creates leaves the user - me - with tell-tale creases above her collarbone caused by repeatedly bending my head to gaze at the screen.

Last year, Yves Saint Laurent invented the first cream to combat tech neck: Forever Youth Liberator Y-Shape Concentrate, containing the molecule glycanactif-y, which promised to plump up necks by increasing collagen.

In so doing it focused attention on a new ageing zone: the 'Y-shape': the lower face, neck and decollete.

She visited Dr Prager, above, whose speciality is lower-face Botox and was impressed with the results

At the same time, it published research demonstrating that the tech neck crease is being found ever younger - often among women aged 18 to 39, who have an average of three digital devices and peer at their screens up to 150 times a day.

Other companies have lost no time coming up with rival products.

I have tried make-up techniques to distract from my jowls and many chins, but now I've realised it's time for a more radical solution.

So I followed the globe's high-fliers and consulted Dr Michael Prager. Dr Prager's London surgery is a mecca for natural-looking 'minimally invasive cosmetic surgery'. Translation: Botox and fillers. In his waiting room, you see performers, business leaders, Establishment figures and 'civilians' like me.

None looks as if they have had anything done, which is precisely the way they want it; all merely look good - and for 'good' read 'great'.

'Both men and women worry about this area - mostly too late,' he says, referring to the neck area. 'Men hide it with a suit and tie. Women have fewer options.' The lines are caused be 'tech neck' the habit of looking down at our computer and phone screens, which can also cause pain in the neck

The reason Botox has such a bad reputation is that many use it cack-handedly, actually making people look worse. Rigid foreheads and wind-tunnel eyes make clients look as freakish as they do furious.

Anyone trying the Botox route would be wise to ensure their practitioner is registered with the British College of Aesthetic Medicine (bcam.ac.uk).

Dr Prager is the Michelangelo of the needle; his ability to read and restore faces is world-renowned.

Crucially, he also looks good himself: as iron-jawed as he is mobile of expression. No freaky faces here. His speciality is lower-face Botox, not the old forehead-freezing approach, since drooping jowls and necks age us in a way mere wrinkles do not.

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Immobilise your forehead and you look like a permanently surprised lunatic; lift your chins and you look positively spring chickenish. When I explain what's on my mind, Dr Prager nods in the manner of a man who has saved a good many necks. 'Both men and women worry about this area - mostly too late,' he sighs. 'Men hide it with a suit and tie. Women have fewer options.'

And how do you know if you have tech neck? 'Push your bottom teeth in front of the upper, look at the ceiling and turn your head from left to right as if following the sun from sunrise to sunset. If it hurts, then you know you have to do something about on the onset of tech neck.

The pain is caused by a shortening of the muscles that pull the chin down, creating a shorter triangle from chin to chest. Like an elastic band, when these muscles lose length, they shrivel. Loss in muscle tone leads to sagging, as these muscles keep the neck in shape.'

The neck is particularly vulnerable, he explains, because it 'has less bone underneath it, less scaffold, so it relies on ligaments, muscles and connective tissue to maintain shape. These structures are more vulnerable to lifestyle ageing such as being overweight, drinking, sun damage, laziness - and your desk job.

'The answer is exercise: sit-ups performed looking at the ceiling will tighten the untrained muscles associated with turkey neck. The other solution is to combat over-active muscle movement in the neck with Botox to firm the neck and jawline, relaxing the muscles that pull the neck down, making the jaw line undefined.'

Brilliantly, I can claim this is more than vanity. For Botox also addresses the neck, head and shoulder pains associated with my lifelong Temporomandibular disorder (TMD).

TMD affects the chewing muscles and joints between the lower jaw and the base of the skull. A third of us suffer from TMD, indeed it's what lead Dr Prager to become a pioneer in this field. As he recalls: 'I have always been a clencher and a grinder, forever tensing my neck. So I decided to try it on myself and realised Botoxing the neck can be not only a cosmetic, but a medical treatment.'

A less raddled neck plus no jaw and shoulder pain? By now, I'm crying: 'Inject! Inject!' Dr Prager calms me down and begins to wield his needles, getting me to clench my neck and jaw so he can see where to inject. It's pretty much pain-free, takes seconds and, costing from 495, should last about nine months.

Ten days later Hannah says: I love my neck: taut, smooth, un-tree-trunked - it is a thing of 18-year-old beauty'

Afterwards, I put some concealer on the pinpricks and go about my business, no downtime whatsoever.

My boyfriend - who has repeatedly declared he will leave me if I have Botox - is happily none the wiser; though he does raise an eyebrow days later when one pinprick turns into a love-bite style bruise.

Ten days later, with apologies to Nora Ephron, I love my neck: taut, smooth, un-tree-trunked - it is a thing of 18-year-old beauty.

As for my jaw-line: it's as sharp as a Hollywood heroine's. Goodbye scarves, hello preening. I put my first neck selfie on Facebook: 'Necklaces care of Felt London: neck care of Dr Prager.'
Fishnets are no longer the domain of tarts and strippers, and are set to be in for a high-street comeback, according to Sarah Mower

Urgent news from the front line of fashion: opaque tights are over. Make way for the arrival of sheer, patterned tights in all their forms.

How do I know this? Because Ive been paying attention at the Autumn/Winter fashion shows for the past month.

Not to the models hosiery, you understand, but to that of the women watching the models. It is here that trends are actually born.

And from the front row to the back, the worlds most fashionable turned up in a variety of black fishnets, meshes and lacy designs.

Last week, I counted four women from rival magazines, and the 61-year-old Parisian style icon Carine Roitfeld (Tom Fords muse and former editor of French Vogue), all sitting with their legs nonchalantly crossed in lacy, black leg-wear.

Tights manufacturers ought to be cracking open the champagne as we speak. This turnaround has the potential to shift the fortunes of an industry.

With the sighting of every new trend, theres a cringe-and-recoil moment when rational women think: I wont be wearing that! Fear of fishnets is one of those. I understand. I felt it, too.

The obstacles to overcome are twofold: first is the obvious vulgar association with tarts and strippers, second is the perfectly understandable horror of an intricate pattern stretched unattractively across a bulging calf or less-than-svelte thigh.

But hear me out. What Im talking about is all of a piece with the gradual move towards a more grown-up, sophisticated way of dressing.

The reason lacy legs are becoming do-able is because of the graceful emergence of the longer-length skirt or midi.

It is already with us and, from what Ive seen in the past couple of weeks, set to continue  the shows for next season are also full of fit-and-flare dresses with swirling skirts and handkerchief-point hems, all of which hit far below the knee.

Its an elegant shape, made for women rather than young girls. But theres a problem with this skirt length: how do you fill in the gap between hemline and ankle in a modern way?

The trouble is, plain, opaque tights instantly turn the whole look depressingly nun-like, and pale, bare shins are, well, beyond the pale.

So voila: time to break the habit of a lifetime, throw caution to the wind and experiment with a new leg look. As a pioneer, I can guarantee this works. The owner of a terrible pair of legs, I have stubbornly sat out the last decades fashion for bare legs, fake tan and short skirts.

But I can wear a midi  Ive been stockpiling since I found one at Zara two years ago  and for evening dos Ive been trotting them out with micro-fishnets and high heels.

So far, the world hasnt ended. And my twentysomething daughters havent laughed, which is always a good sign.

THE RULES

WEAR patterned tights with long skirts so they only have to work from mid-shin to ankle. KEEP the look subtle  go for a small, more-flattering mesh design. LACY legwear works best with black outfits or solid colours. FISHNET socks with black trousers and high heels give a flash of evening glamour. Advertisement

The charm of this look is that you can experiment without fear. If you get it wrong the first time, no great harm done.

For the best quality on the High Street, try Wolford (available in John Lewis). Its Valerie Diamond Dot and Sibylle Diamond styles (both 35) are eminently wearable and will work perfectly with midi-length skirts.

Jonathan Aston (available at House of Fraser) is also worth a try, offering a true fishnet for just 6, alongside a variety of geometric, floral and even animal-print designs for between 10 and 15.

So have I completely mastered my fear of fishnets? Not entirely  I still have to work up the courage to wear a pair to a fashion show.

I do secretly admire those advanced ladies of style who did. It pleases me that this turning of the tide towards discreetly powerful glamour is being led by the generation of women who spent the Eighties and Nineties clad in nothing but black, opaque tights.
It aims to showcase local designers as well as worldwide talent

Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) is currently in its fifth year

With 32 fashion shows, an exhibition of 487 fashion brands and more than 120,000 visitors, Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) is a growing and increasingly established world fashion force.

And this year was no exception, as Australian designers were invited to showcase their wares alongside other designers from the likes of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea between March 10 and March 13 in Jakarta.

With a theme of Reflection of Culture, runway guests were treated to shows that included flowing floor-length gowns, graphic prints, headpieces, jewels and tunics  the perfect fusion of Eastern and Western cultures.

Growing force: With 32 fashion shows, an exhibition of 487 fashion brands and more than 120,000 visitors, Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) has never been more popular

International event: Australian designers were invited to showcase their wares alongside other designers from the likes of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea

In one show, by Indonesian designer Temiko, headscarves were paired with basic tunic-style dresses, off-the-shoulder tops and white shirts.

In another more opulent offering, the Indonesian Muslim-wear designer, Vivi Zubedi, showcased colourful headscarves and long, flowing, patterned dresses.

Zubedi was recently asked to show at London Fashion Week 2016, in a promotion of Islamic fashion to the rest of the world.

Traditional offerings: Indonesian designer, Temiko, showcased headscarves paired with tunic-style dresses, off-the-shoulder tops and white shirts

Colourful fun: Indonesian Muslim-wear designer, Vivi Zubedi, showcased colourful headscarves and long, flowing, patterned dresses

Great success: Zubedi was recently asked to show at London Fashion Week 2016, in a promotion of Islamic fashion to the rest of the world

But Zubedi is not the only brand to achieve international success from the event.

Both Melbourne-based label, Pageant and Australian wool company Woolmark showcased collections on the opening day of Jakarta Fashion Week last year and have since had increasing success, at home as well as abroad.

Meanwhile, on the catwalks, there was plenty to be inspired by this month. Acclaimed designer, Yurita Puji, offered a high-necked, shorts one piece - complete with an up-do and pearl drop earrings as well as an extremely lavish creation that was modelled with a headpiece and shoulder ornaments.

Balinese designer, Tjok Abi, was similarly bold, thanks to batik-style outfits and glamorous accessories.

Great inspiration: Indonesian acclaimed designer, Yurita Puji, offered a high-necked, shorts one piece - complete with an up-do and pearl drop earrings, as well as more elaborate creations

Ready to wear: Balinese designer, Tjok Abi, was similarly bold, thanks to batik-style outfits and glamorous accessories

While Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW), currently in its fifth year, aims to cast a limelight on local designers and their innovative use of traditional garments, there is plenty to entice and excite the worldwide customer.

The event opened on March 10, with an eclectic collection by the renowned Italian designer, Camillo Bona, who gained global fame for designing for Amal Clooney.

As well as this, other international names featured.

Global interest: While Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW), in its fifth year, aims to cast a limelight on local designers and their innovative use of traditional garments, there is plenty to entice and excite the worldwide customer

Worldwide appeal: As well as an Italian designer opening the event, there were plenty of other international designers showcasing their creations too

Meanwhile, the traditional headscarf was present in a variety of ways, from pairing it with an over-sized necklace, to mixing it with a sports luxe silver-y outfit, as seen in the Abame runway show.

Fashion is of great importance in Indonesia.

The creative economy accounts for about seven per cent of the country's GDP, and while the most important industry is culinary, accounting for about 30 per cent of the creative economy's value, next comes fashion.

Thankfully, this round-up shows that there was plenty of sartorial trends on show in Jakarta. Anyone for a batik split-front dress?

Mixing it up: The traditional headscarf was present in a variety of ways, from pairing it with an over-sized necklace, to mixing it with a sports luxe outfit, as seen in the Abame runway show

Great importance: The creative economy accounts for about seven per cent of Indonesia's GDP
A teenager called 'fat and ugly' since primary school has defied her bullies by becoming an international beauty queen - and has an important message for her tormentors.

Apollonia Llewellyn, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, spent most of her childhood being so badly bullied and harassed she was terrified to leave her own house.

The 16-year-old - who now dreams of becoming a Victoria's Secret model - said she was made to feel worthless by older girls at school who would send her death threats and even physically attack her.

Apollonia Llewellyn endured years of torment from her bullies for being 'fat and ugly' but now she has had the last laugh as she has reached the finals of an international beauty pageant

Apollonia wants to highlight the damage that bullying inflicts on its victims taking part in this candid photo shoot last year

But since starting modelling she has made a point of not letting other people control her life, and now wants to inspire others to do the same.

Apollonia said: 'Through my childhood the bullying was horrendous - I became a recluse. I never went out of the house, I stopped dancing, I stopped sleeping over with my friends - I stopped all socialising.

'Since modelling and entering a beauty pageant I've realised I'm not going to let the bullies bring me down any more - they will not ever make me feel as low as they did and I will not allow them to ruin my life.'

Apollonia says that although she has overcome her bullies she still feels a little fearful of her bullies but is determined to move on.

Apollonia (pictured in a school photo) says that the constant name calling through high school would leave her crying herself to sleep at night

She says that the bullying became so severe that she became too scared to socialise and would rarely leave her own house

She continued: 'I want to say "look at me now" but I can't, I am not that type of person. I am still very shy and when it comes to those people I still feel intimidated by them a little.

'But the bullies are not part of my future, they are in my past. I will never forgive or forget what they have done but I will move on from the past and enjoy my future, bully free.'

Apollonia said her bullying used to be so bad she would often cry herself to sleep - but all that changed when she took up modelling after doing a mother and daughter studio shoot for her 13th birthday.

It wasn't until her 13th birthday that she really began to regain her confidence after she took part in a professional mother-daughter photo shoot and the photographer suggested she take up modelling

The now 16-year-old got a job as a part time model where she was encouraged to enter a pageant

The photographer suggested she try modelling, her confidence soared and she got a part time job as a model, where she was encouraged to enter her first pageant.

She said: 'My mum brought me a professional photo shoot for my birthday one year and it was then that I realised I just loved being in front of the camera.

'I was happy when I had my make up on and pretty clothes and loved the photos that were been taken - I couldn't believe how nice it felt.

'My first pageant was two years ago and it changed my life forever. It showed me that to other people I am beautiful on the inside and the outside.'

After entering Miss Teen Britain two years ago Apollonia has made it through to the final of the teen category of worldwide pageant Face of the Globe

After entering Miss Teen Britain two years ago Apollonia has never looked back and has made it through to the final of the teen category of worldwide pageant Face of the Globe, where she will compete against more than 100 people.

However, she still receives nasty messages from her former bullies and said she gets called 'fake' because she likes to experiment with make-up.

Apollonia said: 'When I was bullied I lost all confidence I had and just believed everything they said about me.

'I really did think there was something wrong with me and that the other girls were prettier than me. I want to tell people not to let bullies rule their life and ruin it like they did mine.
Sunday nights, traditionally the preserve of Countryfile and the Antiques Roadshow, just got a whole lot sexier according to fans of the second series of Channel 4 period drama Indian Summers.

Viewers tuning in to watch the show, which retells the last days of the Raj in the 1930s, found the jungle setting of the Himalayas wasn't the only thing getting steamy as two central characters enjoyed a passionate clinch.

Shortly after the show aired at 9pm, Twitter was awash with comments about the fact that central character Aafrin Dalal (Nikesh Patel) seemed to wear not very many clothes during the opening episode.

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'He's a beautiful man...' Viewers of Indian Summers, the Channel 4 period drama that aired last night at 9pm, were smitten with the sight of a near-naked Nikesh Patel, who plays central character Aafrin Dalal (Pictured with Kaira Das, played by Sugandha Garg)

Well, it is hot in India...Nikesh Patel left some viewers swooning

Fans needing fans...Twitter was awash with comments about Nikesh Patel's topless scenes

Twitter user @t_catttt was distracted from the drama by Patel's good looks: 'Aafrin is a beautiful looking man... and a body to boot!'

And she wasn't the only one enjoying the fact that one of the show's central protagonists seemed to be straight from the Poldark school of what to wear.

@LauraEms_ added: 'Aafrin is topless. A wonderful start.' @abiknathan was similarly impressed, penning: 'God damn, forgot how sexy Aafrin was #IndianSummers' while @shortcrustpie wrote: 'Ooooh! Aafrin! *fans self* #IndianSummers.'

To be fair to the show's creators, at least there's an excuse for Patel's near-nakedness.

The drama, which has a cast that also includes British acting royalty Julie Walters, is set in 1935, three years on from the first series, and the characters are back in their summer retreat in the Himalayan hill station of Simla.

The character of Kaira Das (Sugandha Garg) shared an intimate smooch with Aafrin in last night's episode

The show's makers have promised that this series will be raunchier than the last

But Nikesh Patel says he can't yet get used to idea of being a heartthrob...

'He doesn't ever need to wear a shirt again does he? Nikesh Patel fans were more than happy to watch him disrobe in last night's episode

Despite being 7,000ft above sea level, Simla, where the rulers of British India hoped to find respite from the raging Indian sun, is still pretty hot.

Elsewhere on Twitter, @roshETC enjoyed the disrobing: 'Just putting it out there, Nikesh Patel really doesn't ever need to wear a shirt again, does he?'

The show, which airs at 9pm, has previously been described as a 'Downtonesque Jewel in the Crown' and should please those who are missing the hole left by War and Peace.

Alice (Jemima West) and her lover Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) all returned, along with the Machiavellian manipulator Cynthia Coffin, played by Julie Walters.

Watch out The Night Manager: The cast of the new series of the period drama Indian Summers, which recounts the last days of the Raj in the Thirties, and is hoping to rival the BBC's The Night Manager

Sunday night steaminess: Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) and Alice (Jemima West) are reunited as lovers in the second series of the hit show about British Indians in Simla

The illicit lovers steal a kiss; the series is said to be even steamier than last season

Tensions were high when Alice and Aafrin are reintroduced after three years apart.

Of the show's second outing, Jemima West says: 'A lot of what happens in the new series will be even darker, more dramatic and more sensuous than in the first.'

Fans of the heartthrob actor can apparently look forward to lots more 'shirt off' moments.

Nikesh told the Daily Mirror that he never expected himself to be a heartthrob: 'As we filmed those scenes I never thought I might be having a Poldark moment.'

But we are also introduced to Alice's husband Charlie, played by Blake Ritson, whom she claimed had died years ago, and the new woman in Aafrin's life.

BATTLE OF THE SUNDAY NIGHT VIEWING FIGURES: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS ON HOW INDIAN SUMMERS COMPARES WITH THE NIGHT MANAGER Brooding and intense, and barely decent was Christopher Steven's take on the character of Aafrin Sunday nights are getting so saucy that pretty soon youll have to be over 18 to watch Countryfile. First there was topless Aidan Turner waving his scythe about in Poldark, and naked soldiers splashing like bathing belles in War And Peace. Now Tom Hiddleston has whipped down his boxers to display his bare buttocks on BBC1 for a bedroom scene in The Nude Manager. Or, since co-star Elizabeth Debicki is also falling out of her clothes every other minute, perhaps should that be Tinker, Tailor, Stripper, Spy. How was Indian Summers (C4) to compete as it returned to the 9pm slot? Why, by having its star naked to the waist from the start. Nikesh Patel, who plays secret revolutionary Aafrin, was bashing away at the typewriter, all brooding and intense, and barely decent. He looked like a male model who was pretending to be literate for a photoshoot. This, no doubt, is how Salman Rushdie imagines he must appear when he is writing. Why Aafrin had forgotten to put his clothes on, we were not told. Possibly hed been in too much of a rush to get to his portable typewriter, after leaping out of his lovers bed. But if that was the case, why had he taken the time to trim and groom his chest hair so carefully? Indian Summers built a reputation last year for racy Raj drama, with memsahibs driven mad with lust by the heat of the merciless sun. Sunday telly has veered much closer to full-blown soft porn since then, and Patel has a lot of catching up to do if he is to compete with Tom Hiddlestons bottom. Julie Walters saved the drama, said Stephens, with a rousing performance as Machiavellian manipulator Cynthia Coffin The plots to both this and The Night Manager are basically the same, except one is about arms deals and the other is set in the last days of the British Empire. Both Patel and Hiddleston play moody characters nursing broken hearts who infiltrate the enemy HQ by posing as heroes and getting themselves half-killed in the process. When hes got his shirt on, Patel makes a plausible clerk inside the Raj bureaucracy, a loyal and silent servant to the ruthless young diplomat Ralph Whelan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes). What doesnt make sense is the idea that Ralph, a suburban upstart without a smudge of posh blood, is next in line to be Viceroy of India. In 1935, the real viceroy was the Earl of Willingdon, a lord in ermine like every one of his predecessors for 60 years. Young Ralph would have stood about as much chance of being viceroy as he did of being the Chinese Emperor. Unbelievable it may be, but Indian Summers is not completely unwatchable, thanks to a riotous turn from Julie Walters as the local madam. She welcomed a crowd of booze-sodden Brits to her clubhouse in the Himalayan foothills, wearing a red, white and blue turban that opened to reveal a white dove. The dove refused to fly away, so Julie jumped up and down like a madwoman on a pogo stick. Advertisement

A main character is also set to die during the second series but we have no clues as to who.

The storyline around Julie Walters' character, Cynthia Coffin, is also poised to get 'darker' as more is revealed about her life and relationship with civil servant Ralph Whelan, played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes.

Producer Dan Winch says of the more serious material: 'We have worked hard on taking greater risks in every way for series two.

'Weve stayed mindful were reaching out to an audience in the UK, the US and hopefully others. Some American reviews referred to how racy the show can be.

'We have strived to push the boundaries  particularly on intimacy.'

BAFTA winner Julie Walters, 66, plays one of her sexiest roles yet and told The Sunday Mirror that some of the naughty scenes have left her in fits of laughter.

She said: 'The 60s is a great decade. I'm probably more adventurous now and have more energy than in my 40s or 50s.

'It might be a slippery slope to your 70s and it might take you longer to learn your lines but you're through the menopause and not yet decrepit.

'I also think it's a really happy decade because you're not struggling with anything and everything feels more in its place.'
Leonardo da Vinci was said to possess superior powers of recollection, as well as the composer Rachmaninoff and the former American president Theodore Roosevelt.

And if you suspect that your ability to memorise is greater than most, a puzzle promises to prove it once and for all by challenging you to look at two patterns and put them together in your mind to form a letter.

The challenge claims to prove whether or not you have a photographic memory, although it's more accurate to say it tests eidetic memory - the ability to recall images.

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The challenge is to memorise the two images and put them together in your mind's eye to see if you can form a letter from the red dots

However if you suspect that your powers of recollection are greater than most, a puzzle that involves memorising two patterns and putting them together to form a letter promises to test whether you really do have a photographic memory

To take the test, you have to look at at a seemingly random pattern of red and blue dots and try to memorise the picture. You then do the same with a second combination of blue and red dots.

Once you feel as if you have successfully memorised the second image, you have to combine the two in your mind's eye to see if you can form a letter from the red dots.

If you've managed to remember them correctly, you should come up with the letter G'.

The question is part of a 'photographic memory' test, created for Playbuzz, and according to the site only one per cent of the population will pass.

If you've managed to remember them correctly, you should come up with the letter 'G' when you mentally combine the two images

Although the puzzle claims to test photographic memory, it is in fact a challenge for eidetic memory, the ability to recall images from visual sources in great detail after only a short exposure to them.

It's most common in early childhood with between two and 10 per cent of youngsters said to be able to recall visual information after only short periods of absorbing it.

However, unless it's nurtured the ability usually fades by the age of six.

Eidetic memory is said to be non-existent in adults. The existence of so-called photographic memory - the ability to recall a page of text after reading - has also never been proven.

However, people such as Nikola Telsa, the inventor of the Telsa coil and alternating current machinery, have claimed to be able memorise entire books.

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the US, said he could remember and recite entire pages of the newspapers he'd read.

Leonardo Da Vinci is commonly believed to have had an photographic memory.
Cindy has offered plenty of help with her daughter's career, plucking her eyebrows, doling out modeling tips, and lending her designer clothes

Mom Cindy said it was 'special' to share the moment with her mini-me

The April issue of Vogue Paris, in which she and her mom wear matching leather jackets and hoop earrings, is her first cover

Kaia has previously posed for fashion editorials in Vogue Italia and CR Fashion Book, as well as ads for Alexander Wang and Chrome Hearts

Some mothers and daughters bond by getting pedicures or grabbing lunch  but when mom's a supermodel and her daughter's a fashion up-and-comer, the natural way to enjoy some quality girl time is to pose together for the cover of a magazine.

Or at least, that's the case for Cindy Crawford, 50, and her 14-year-old doppelganger Kaia Gerber. The lookalike duo share the April cover of Vogue Paris, looking way more like a pair of gorgeous sisters than mother and child.

They're even styled to look like twins, wearing matching leather jackets and hoop earrings while their brunette locks catch some wind.

Model mini me! Cindy Crawford, 50, and her 14-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber share the cover of the latest issue of Vogue Paris

Proud mom: Cindy, pictured left in 1988 at age 22, said it was 'such a special moment' to pose for the cover with her doppelganger daughter, pictured right in September 2014

A lot of love: Previously, the two posed together and shared an interview with The Thick

Cindy was clearly quite proud of her little lookalike, sharing the image on Instagram this morning with the message: 'Such a special moment sharing a cover with my daughter.'

It's particularly special for Kaia, too, as it marks her first time on the cover of a magazine. In the past, she's posed inside the pages of Vogue Italia, CR Fashion Book, and Teen Vogue.

For this issue of Vogue Paris, which hits newsstands March 24, Cindy and Kaia were styled by none other than editor-in-chief Emmanuelle Alt herself, and were shot by famed photographer Mario Testino.

Stylist James Pecis, who did their hair, also shared the new cover and doled out some serious praise, writing on Instagram: 'These two were amazing.'

Moving on up: Though this is Kaia's first cover, she has modeled in magazines in the past, earning a 14-page spread in Teen Vogue last year

Personal beauty guru: The teenager said she relies on her mom to pluck her eyebrows, because she herself might get too crazy with the tweezers

Lucky lady: Kaia also has a habit of borrowing  and not returning  her mom's clothes

Family business: Kaia has also posed for Vogue Italia and CR Fashion Book (with her brother Presley, right)

While having a mom in the business certainly seems to have helped Kaia excel at such a young age, it's much more than connections that contribute to how fast the teenager is pulling ahead.

In addition to inheriting some very good genes, Kaia has also been privileged to modeling tips, excellent beauty skills, and a designer-packed closet care of her famous mom.

In November, she told Teen Vogue that she relies on Cindy to keep her eyebrows looking awesome, since she herself might get carried away.

'My mom does mine because I know I would go tweezer-crazy and wind up with no eyebrows at all. I love the look of full brows that arent perfectly done  eyebrows on fleek, thats the goal. My eyebrows are like Miley  they cant be tamed, even with brow gel,' she said.

Her mom has also given her plenty of advice for posing on camera, generously offering up her expertise on the matter.

Clothing collector: When she gets older, Kaia will be able to dip into an 'archival closet' that Cindy has been setting aside for her, full of unworn designer items

Making money: Kaia (with brother Presley) has been working a lot since signing with IMG Models last summer

'[She] told me to always have a thought behind my expressions,' she said, adding that the practice helps a picture seem deeper, and not just of a 'blank face'.

And then there are the clothes. In September, Cindy revealed to The Coveteur that she has tons of designer items socked away that she's saving for her daughter in an 'archival closet'.

'I have a lot of clothes that actually I havent even opened,' she said. 'Ive saved old Alaia pieces from when I used to do his show and he used to pay us in clothes, or Chanel, so those are in a separate closet  more like an archival closet that Im keeping for my daughter.'

While she's waiting, though, Kaia is happy to grab from her mom's actual closet  and she doesn't always return what she finds there.

'Ill ask to borrow things, and theyll wind up in my own wardrobe permanently,' she admitted to Teen Vogue, adding that her favorite find there has been a distressed leather jacket that she hasn't put back. 'My mother constantly wonders why stuff disappears.'
Prince George has developed a taste for speed on his favourite scooter and his parents are struggling to keep up with him, his mother said today.

The Duchess of Cambridge told pupils from St Matthew's Primary School, Westminster, about her son's latest exploits when she, Prince William, and Prince Harry met groups of children outside Westminster Abbey after attending the Commonwealth service.

Kate said the young prince, two, likes to speed about on it but Princess Charlotte, 10 months, keeps him in check.

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Prince George has developed a taste for speed on his favourite scooter and his parents are struggling to keep up with him, pictured on his first day at nursery in January

'He's got a scooter. He's going super fast on it,' Kate, 34, said, rolling her eyes to the children. 'It's hard to keep up with him.

'Charlotte is keeping him in check. She's getting bigger by the day,' Kate added.

The little prince, two, has been seen scooting along in Kensington Gardens, located next to his parents' London home at Kensington Palace, on a popular Micro Scooter with his nanny, Maria Borrallo.

The scooters can cost up to 99.95 for one aimed at children aimed between the ages of one and three.

The Duchess of Cambridge, told pupils from St Matthew's Primary School, Westminster, about her son's latest exploits when she and Prince William met groups of children outside Westminster Abbey after attending the Commonwealth service

Kate chose to wear a grey Erdem coat with matching accessories for the rare joint public engagement

The demure light grey checked coat, costing 2,500, had an unusual lace pattern in a darker shade three quarters of the way down

Both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry arrived at Westminster Abbey to join the monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, for one of the highlights of her calendar, the annual Commonwealth Service.

The young royals joined the Queen today on a rare joint public engagement as she urged the Commonwealth nations to 'accept diversity' in a 'message of support to those in need'.

The service, the largest annual inter-faith gathering in the United Kingdom, celebrated the 2016 Commonwealth theme of inclusivity and is being broadcast live on BBC One for the first time in celebration of Her Majesty's lifetime commitment to the 'family' in the year of her 90th Birthday.

Kate chose to wear a grey Erdem coat with matching accessories. The demure light grey checked coat, costing 2,500, had an unusual lace pattern in a darker shade three quarters of the way down.

Kate and William with Prince George and Prince Charlotte taken in October at Kensington Palace in London

Kate said Charlotte, pictured with George in June last year, keeps the prince in check and she noted that he daughter is also 'getting bigger by the da

The little prince, two, has been seen scooting along in Kensington Gardens, located next to his parents' London home at Kensington Palace, on a micro scooter, pictured on his first day at nursery in January

And the Duchess teamed it with a matching wide brimmed hat with a wide grey ribbon around the brim. The unusually large hat with a slanting brim was made by 90-year-old John Boyd, a new choice of milliner for the Duchess.

Boyd, based in Knightsbridge, is described as a 'milliner extraordinaire', and has been making hats since 1947.

He was also a great favourite of Princess Diana, who wore his designs on several occasions.

In her address to mark Commonwealth Day the Queen said helping those less fortunate would be a way of embodying this year's Commonwealth theme of inclusivity.

In January, George started at Mrs Mynors' Nursery School in London and according to aides, he did 'very well' on his first day.

The little prince spent a couple of hours settling in at the private 5.50-an-hour establishment near the family's home Anmer Hall, on the Queen's Sandringham Estate.




Pizza and fried food may be some of America's two favorite food indulgences, but one New York City restaurant has taken that combination to a whole new level of decadence by battering and deep frying the beloved Italian dish.

Sake Bar Hagi 46, a Japanese restaurant near Times Square, is offering a $6 pizza tempura appetizer featuring two small deep-fried cheese slices of pie. And while the restaurant has been selling the wild concoction for more than a decade, it found fame earlier this month when Eataku blogger C.B. Cebulski reviewed the deep fried dish at the restaurant's recently opened 46th Street location.

After passing on the pizza during his first visit, Cebulski admitted that he had to return because he couldn't stop thinking about it. The Marvel Comics talent scout's insistence that the appetizer is really 'damn good' inspired Femail writer Erica Tempesta, 31, to test out the deep fried goodness for herself, and here is how she fared.

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Too good to be true? Sake Bar Hagi 46 , a Japanese restaurant in New York City, is offering a $6 pizza tempura appetizer featuring two small deep-fried slices of pie

Living in Texas four two years was one of the best times of my life simply because it is a state that offers everything from deep fried Oreos to deep fried beer.

When we first learned of Sake Bar Hagi's tempura-style pizza, my co-worker deduced that it would make someone regrettably ill. However, there really wasn't a doubt in my mind that I would enjoy it - it was just a question of how much I would enjoy it.

To save myself from being the woman eating the fried pizza by herself on a Monday night, I invited my boyfriend Chris Nardozzi, 30, to tag along to offer up his opinion.

Our ideal date night involves 20 chicken wings and waffle fries dipped in orange cheese, so we certainly don't have the most refined palates, but I figured two reviews are better than one.

When we visited Sake Bar Hagi's 46th Street location on Monday after work, we ordered the pizza tempura along with some spicy fried chicken and French fries, so it is safe to say it was a rough night on our arteries.

I asked the server if they made their own pizza, and she said they do not, but she didn't offer up an explanation as to where they get their pizza slices from.

Fried dough: Femail reporter Erica Tempesta, 31, said she really enjoyed the restaurant's pizza tempura and gave it an eight out of ten

Cebulski deduced that they get the pizza from somewhere in the area, but I wondered if the base of their appetizer comes from one of those frozen pizza's you'd find in the freezer aisle of the grocery store.

The pizza tempura arrived first, and we both decided to take turns filming the other's reactions. After Chris's first bite he gave it an eight out of ten, but I realized I forgot to press record and urged him to take another.

Pizza tempura is apparently a dish that grows on you because he had an even more enthusiastic reaction to bite number two.

'Wow, this is a nine, nine out of ten,' he said after taking a few generous bites.

Unsurprisingly, I also thought it was really good and gave it an eight out of ten, and of course, kept eating it.

I would definitely order it again, but I don't think I would specifically return to the restaurant just for that dish. It's a lot easier to sit on my couch and order a pan pizza from Domino's, which I happen to love with all of my heart.

Best of both worlds: Erica's boyfriend Chris Nardozzi, 30, enjoyed the battered Italian dish along with a Japanese beer

Crispy dishes: The couple also ordered fries and spicy chicken, which Chris thought was even better than the pizza tempura

Chris agreed that he also would order it again, but noted - in the understatement of the century - that 'it's more of a guilty pleasure'.

'I thought going to a Japanese joint for pizza was insane, but the pizza tempura was something my taste buds never experienced before,' he explained of our adventure.

However, during the dinner, Chris also threw back two Japanese beers, which may have affected the way the pizza tempura made him feel later in the night.

'I don't know if it was the pizza tempura, the Sapporo, or both but I felt bogged down and groggy afterwards,' he admitted.

As for the rest of the meal, I thought it was good, but Chris really loved the spicy friend chicken, saying he thought it was 'better than the pizza'.

However, he thought the fries were 'average at best', but to be fair it is a Japanese restaurant, and we should have tried the ramen or sushi instead of a half of the fried food portion of the menu.

What I was was really in awe of in the restaurant was its heated toilet seat in the women's restroom that comes equipped with multiple electronic bidet functions.
Wayne Martin, 31, was diagnosed with penile cancer on his 29th birthday

A man who thought he had damaged his penis through over-enthusiastic sex was horrified to discover he was actually suffering from ultra-rare penile cancer.

Wayne Martin, 31, was diagnosed sqaumous cell carcinoma - a type of skin cancer - which invaded his urethra.

He had to undergo a partial penectomy to remove the tumor which means he is no longer able to have penetrative sex.

Mr Martin, thought to be one of the youngest sufferers of the disease, was given the all-clear in January after also undergoing radiotherapy.

He said the symptoms had been around for about eight months before he was diagnosed on his 29th birthday.

The government employee of Tallahassee, Florida, described the cut on his penis as initially being like 'torn skin.'

'It started out like it was torn skin from rough activity, and I just treated it with some antibacterial cream and didn't think anything of it until it started to grow,' he said.

'By January 2013, I knew I had an issue when the cut was getting larger.

'It was no longer just a rip, but had become a white mass on the bottom of the head.'

Mr Martin said the cut became so painful he could not wear tight-fitting underwear and had trouble using the bathroom.

He would have up to five baths a day as water was the only thing that soothed it.

'The area had to remain moist with creams or it would cause severe pain,' he explained.

'I would often take five baths a day, which would help loosen the skin and cause less pain.

'I would have a hard time using the restroom, and wearing any underwear that was form-fitting was out of the question.

'I couldn't stand for any article of clothing to touch my manhood. At that point, the pain had become too much to deal with.'

Mr Martin was unemployed with no medical insurance when he first presented with symptoms.

When he saw a doctor, he was told he had either AIDS or penile cancer.

'The doctor saw me for no less than a minute and told me that I either had AIDS or penile cancer.

'He asked me when the last time I had been tested for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, and I told him that I had been tested a week before and they came back negative.

Wayne Martin, pictured with his father, says he is devastated he will not be able to have children after most of his penis was removed when he developed cancer

HOW TO SPOT THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PENILE CANCER Cancer of the penis is very rare in the Western world, with around 1000 cases diagnosed in America each year. It is most often diagnosed in men over the age of 60, but younger men can also be affected, with around 25 per cent of cases diagnosed in men younger than 50. It is is usually a slow growing cancer and if caught early before further spread the chances of survival are high and around 75 per cent of men diagnosed with penile cancer will survive the disease. Unfortunately most men tend to ignore potential penile cancer symptoms for some time which leads to a delay in diagnosis. Symptoms of penile cancer include skin thickening, a growth or ulcer and changes to skin colour Symptoms include: a growth or ulcer on the penis, especially on the glans or foreskin

changes in the colour of the penis

skin thickening

persistent discharge with a foul odour beneath the foreskin

blood coming from the tip of the penis or under the foreskin

unexplained pain in the shaft or tip of the penis

irregular or growing bluish-brown flat lesions or marks beneath the foreskin or on the body of the penis

reddish, velvety rash beneath the foreskin

small, crusty bumps beneath the foreskin

irregular swelling at the end of the penis

any of the above symptoms with unexplained lumps in the groin due to enlarged lymph nodes The male cancer charity Orchid has launched a new penile health Z-Card, available on its website here. Advertisement

'He referred me to a dermatologist to get a biopsy, but that dermatologist was unable to get me in for two months so I reached out to a professor who knew of a free clinic.

'The clinic helped me get started, then referred me to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.'

It was at Emory University Hospital that Mr Martin was officially diagnosed with penile cancer.

The hardest part I suppose, even though I'm gay, is knowing that I will never be able to have biological children Wayne Martin, 31

There the doctor gave him the devastating news he would have to have surgery to remove the tumor - which also meant losing much of his penis.

Mr Martin recalled: 'When I was referred to Emory, my doctor informed me that he would have to do what is known as a partial penectomy to remove the tumor, which meant that I would lose most of my manhood.

'In late August of 2013, they removed it and then a month-and-a-half later I started weeks of radiation that lasted throughout the holiday season.'

Although the treatment was successful and Mr Martin is now cancer-free, he is still living with other long-term impacts of his brush with the disease.

He has frequent urinary tract and bladder infections following the procedures and treatments.

'Due to the amount that was taken off, I am now no longer able to pee standing up, which requires that I sit to use the restroom,' he said.

'As you can imagine, since I lost this amount of my manhood it has affected my sex life.

Mr Martin has now decided to share his story in a bid to warn young men the cancer, which is often diagnosed in older patients, can strike at any age

'Mentally, I have slowly come to terms with the fact that it is just a battle scar in this journey that we call life, but in the beginning I was very depressed and moody.

'I didn't want to be near anyone, and when I was I would break down in tears because of everything.

'The hardest part I suppose, even though I'm gay, is knowing that I will never be able to have biological children.

Mentally, I have slowly come to terms with the fact that it is just a battle scar in this journey that we call life

'I am an only child and mother passed away when I was 17, so I had always wanted to do what it took to give my father a grandchild - but now I can't.

'This still eats at me daily if I'm being honest.

'I find myself wondering if I will ever find a partner in life.

'It seems that in the gay culture, all people care about these days is how skinny or muscular you are and how big your Johnson is.

'So needless to say, when I tell people my story, nine times out of 10, I never hear back from the guy because he isn't willing to be with someone who has gone through what I have.'

Mr Martin has now decided to share his story in a bid to warn young men the cancer, which is often diagnosed in older patients, can strike at any age.

He also wants to raise money for his father who paid all his bills over the past two years.
A young woman spent a month in a coma with her skin melting off after suffering a violent allergic reaction to eye drops.

Marian Adejokun, 24, has been left scarred for life by the incident - but says she feels lucky to be alive.

She spent more than three weeks in intensive care at the Royal London Hospital where baffled doctors diagnosed her with life-threatening medical condition Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

The condition causes the top layer of skin to die and then shed - and is triggered by an allergic reaction to medication.

Symptoms include skin rashes, blisters in the mouth, ears and nose and swelling of the eyelids.

If left untreated the condition can result in death - or trigger possible complications such as blindness and lung damage.

Marian Adejokun (left aged 19, before the incident) was left in a coma for a month after having a terrible but very rare reaction to over-the-counter eye drops. Now 24, she says she is 'stronger' after the ordeal

Miss Adejokun's ordeal began five years ago when she developed an itchy eye.

Her GP sent her to the chemist to get some eye drops which she used before going to bed.

But the next morning she was horrified to wake up with lumps all over her body.

As her condition began to deteriorate she was rushed to hospital. As her skin began to shed she was put into a medically induced coma - and doctors warned her devastated mother she may not survive.

Miss Adejokun said: 'Unknown to me, I had a rare, deadly allergy to eye drops which caused by skin to peel off from head to toe.'

'When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home.'

Miss Adejokun's mother, Remi, said the innocuous eye medication left her daughter in such a terrible state she 'looked like Freddy Krueger' from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street.

'I hate to say that, but there were so many blisters - her skin was just tearing off and her lips were very swollen,' she said.

'I looked at her and I was so scared she was going to burst open. I saw death knocking at my daughter's door, all because of eye drops.'

She continued: 'I was crazy, beyond the worried stage and near to losing my mind.

Miss Adejokun said: 'Unknown to me, I had a rare, deadly allergy to eye drops which caused by skin to peel off from head to toe. When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain - all I thought of was coming home'

The bizarre condition, called Stevens-Johnson syndrome, causes the top layer of skin to die and then shed

'After a week I thought there was no hope - but then as she lay on the bed, unable to talk, I said "Marian, you've just made it to university, that's your dream" and she moved her toe.

'Realising she could hear me I started to sing our favourite songs to her. Instead of crying all the time I went to the intensive care unit and danced.'

Miss Adejokun lost so must skin she had to be wrapped in a foil sheet and still has to be fed through a hole in her throat.

She said: 'Everywhere was swollen. My nose was huge and my eyes were so red you could take a spoon and scrape out the blood.'

Even specialist skin experts told Ms Adejokun her daughter was unlikely to survive.

But she defied the odds and pulled through - with doctors hailing her recovery a 'miracle'.

Miss Adejokun's mother, Remi, said the innocuous eye medication left her daughter in such a terrible state she 'looked like Freddy Krueger' from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street

'Her skin was just tearing off and her lips were very swollen - I feared she might burst open,' her mother said

Today, she says the terrible experience has made her stronger.

'When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home.

'I've overcome a lot of in my life. Losing my skin because of an eye drop is just another obstacle I've made it through.'

My nose was huge and my eyes were so red you could take a spoon and scrape out the blood Marian Adejokun, 24

Miss Adejokun has since gone on to complete a degree in early childhood studies at the University of Roehampton.

She said: 'I am so happy to be alive and share my unique story.

'No matter what the struggles are, you have to believe in yourself - and have a positive attitude towards life.'

She now hopes her story will inspire others to be grateful for what they have.

'My motto is "believe in yourself and follow your dreams".'
For eight years, she endured unbearable pain, countless operations and cruel taunts.

But today, Chloe Thomson appeared on live TV with her head held high - and said she was finally hopeful for the future.

Miss Thomson, now 19, broke 'almost every bone in her body and face' during a near-fatal car crash at the age of 11.

The damage was so bad she required countless rounds of complex surgery, which dominated her teenage years.

One operation involved realigning both her legs, which had been badly broken, leaving her in a wheelchair for a year.

In another, nine-hour procedure, doctors were forced to remove her face - because her eye sockets and cheekbones had been completely crushed - and there were fears her eyesight would be affected.

Her ordeal was made even more unbearable by taunts from school bullies who mocked her looks.

Now, she has revealed the results of her final operation - and hit back at her tormentors, saying she is finally 'over' their abuse and 'happy with how she looks'.

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Beautiful: Chloe Thomson, whose face was re-built after she was injured in a horror car crash at age 11, has revealed her new features for the first time

Worst nightmare: Miss Thomson broke almost every bone in her body and face in the crash. She is pictured before the incident (left), and in 2008 after her face was stripped off for reconstructive surgery (right)

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Miss Thomson said: I still find it hard to talk about the bullying.

'The things they were saying were horrific, its really hard to forget. It's only recently that Ive managed to get over it. Im over it now.'

She was praised by presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan, who said she had shown 'extraordinary strength' during her ordeal.

When asked if she remembered the accident, she said: I remember everything. I remember the car spinning round and smashing my head off the window.

'They tried to wake me up but I couldnt speak. I broke everything in my face and most bones in my body.

Commenting on her story, Mr Morgan said there is 'nothing worse' for an 11-year-old to be so badly injured and have their looks marred for life - and then to be bullied as a result.

Nodding in agreement, Miss Thomson said: It was a horrible experience, you cant even describe how bad it was, up until fairly recently.'

Calling her 'beautiful', Mr Morgan said: 'The best answer to the bullies is how you look today.'

Miss Thomson, of Gourock, Renfrewshire, reiterated she has now come to terms with her ordeal, and is now hopeful for the future.

She said: I want to be a make up artist now, but I want to go back to school and get my highers [a national school-leaving certificate in Scotland].

'I hope everythings going to get better now.

The accident happened in October 2008 on the A815 between Strachur and Dunoon when the car she was a passenger in left the road and hit the tree.

Tormented: After reconstructive surgery on her face, Miss Thomson said she endured years of bullying where people mocked her for her looks

Happy: Recently she hit back at her bullies in a Facebook post where she described herself as 'happy with the way she looks'. She is pictured since having reconstructive surgery

The tree then crashed down on top of the vehicle and shattered a window close to Miss Thomsons face.

She was airlifted to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, and then transferred to Yorkhill Childrens Hospital in Glasgow, with her mother Jennifer, 37, warned to prepare for the worst.

Metal rods were inserted into her legs and the facial reconstruction surgery took nine hours, with her nose, jaw and eye sockets all repaired, restoring her eyesight.

The things the bullies were saying were horrific, its really hard to forget. It's only recently that Ive managed to get over it Chloe Thomson, 19

A fragment of her nose was also embedded in her brain during the accident which left surgeons concerned there may have been permanent damage.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, her mother said: They told me it was a really difficult surgery.

'It would take nine hours. I knew I was going to be on tenterhooks until she came out.

There was talk of her not having her eyesight completely recovered, because her eye sockets were damaged.

The surgery was a success and Miss Thomson was home in time for Christmas 2008 but said she didnt look in a mirror for a month.

Moreover, she barely spoke to any of her friends as she went through several physiotherapy and hospital appointments.

Mrs Thomson said it was difficult to see her daughter's appearance change so drastically.

She said: Its indescribably to watch your baby - and she'll always be my baby - go through that.

'Im so overprotective. She changed dramatically. She went from being what I remembered her as to something completely different. It was very difficult to come to terms with.'

Hopeful: Miss Thomson, pictured with her mother Jennifer, 37, now aspires to be a make-up artist and return to school to finish her exams. She said: 'I hope everything's going to get better now'

After the bullying began, Miss Thomson changed schools, but said she felt like an outsider wherever she went, enduring abuse over the internet.

Last week, in a Facebook post showing her injuries, the teenager said she is now in a place where she is at peace with what happened to her.

They dont know how detrimental their words are Jennifer Thomson, 37

The post, which has thousands of likes, said Miss Thomson was finally at a place where I am happy with the way I look and I never thought I ever would be again.

She also told bullies to leave her alone and that she had heard it all since the accident.

Seeing her daughter receive abuse about the way she looked was heartbreaking, Mrs Thomson told the Good Morning Britain presenters.

She said: Theres an anger that builds up because I knew how much shed already been through and I knew she didnt need to go through any more.

'Children at that age, they dont really know what theyre doing have a filter, they say what they think. Thats what we told Chloe and that's how we dealt with it as a family.
Terminal breast cancer has been wiped out, in astounding research that raises hope of a cure for thousands of women with the disease.

In tests on mice, their cancer vanished completely for at least eight months.

This is the equivalent of 24 years for a woman and would be judged a lasting cure.

In contrast, current treatments extend life by as little as six months.

The US researchers said that even if even only partly as successful in people, it could transform the treatment of cancer.

Mauro Ferrari, president of the Houston Methodist Research Institute, said: I would never want to over-promise to the thousands of patients looking for a cure but the data is astounding.

However, British experts cautioned that what works in the lab doesnt always help real patients and said much more research is needed.

Cure? In tests on mice, their cancer vanished completely for at least eight months. This is the equivalent of 24 years for a woman and would be judged a lasting cure for breast cancer

Dr Ferraris focus is metastatic cancer, or cancer that has spread from the breast to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver or bones.

While the initial tumour that appears on a womans breast rarely kills, once the disease starts to eat away at other parts of the body it becomes incurable.

Drugs struggle to get to tumours hidden deep in the lungs or liver and once there, they risk being pumped out by cells that have become resistant to treatment.

Dr Ferrari, of the Houston Medical Research Institute, has found an ingenious way of getting round these defences - and so of potentially curing metastatic cancer.

He has taken a widely-used cancer drug called doxorubicin and packed it in microscopic discs made of silicon.

The silicon packaging hides the drug from the cancer, allowing it to sneak into its cells.

Once inside, the silicon is broken down, releasing the drug, which is in an inactive form.

The drug then moves out of reach of the pumps that are poised to eject it and towards the very heart of cell.

Once there, the drug is activated and the cell is killed.

In tests on mice with terminal disease, all the animals given conventional treatment died.

Terminal: The disease is curable when it is confined to the breast (cancer cells are pictured under the microscope). But when it spreads to other organs a woman can only expect to live for up to two years

In contrast, half of the creatures given the new treatment were still cancer-free after eight months  roughly 24 years in human terms.

To put this into context, a woman whose breast cancer has spread to her lungs can normally expect to live for between six and 24 months.

I would never want to over-promise to the thousands of patients looking for a cure but the data is astounding Mauro Ferrari, president of the Houston Methodist Research Institute

Dr Ferrari says that in future, women with metastatic breast cancer could be given a jab of billions of drug-filled silicon discs into their arm.

This would home in on the tumours riddling their lungs or liver and destroy them.

He hopes to test the treatment on women for the first time next year and says that some of the early drug trials could be in the UK.

The researcher said: If this research bears out in humans and we see even a fraction of the survival time, we are still talking about dramatically extending life for many years.

Thats essentially a providing a cure in a patient population that is now being told there is none.

Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, he added he had only tried the technique against one type of breast cancer but he is optimistic it will also work against other types of cancer.

He said: We are talking about changing the landscape of metastatic disease, so its no longer a death sentence.

New treatment: Scientists have developed a new way of releasing chemotherapy drugs into cancer cells, allowing the medication to reach hard-to-treat tumours in the lungs and liver

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: While the results look promising in mice, there is still a long way to go before we will know if this technique could be an effective treatment for women.

Metastatic breast cancer sadly still cuts short nearly 1,000 womens lives in the UK each month.

We must find ways to stop the disease in its tracks and were keen to see the results once this technique is trialled in patients.

Dr Alan Worsley, of Cancer Research UK, said: Finding new ways to treat cancer that has spread is a critically important challenge for researchers around the world.

This study helps show that a new delivery system to release chemotherapy inside cancer cells could potentially make treatment safer and more effective.
Laura Wood, a 26-year-old PhD student, was confident that the home birth she was planning in February 2014 would be a positive experience. 'I was young and healthy, with a strong support network,' she says.

As well as her husband Jon by her side, she would have a doula (a labour assistant) and a community midwife who could contact the hospital should anything go wrong.

But there was one detail that would upset her plans - for what Laura didn't anticipate was that as her baby began to descend during labour, he would end up facing the wrong way, with his back against her spine.

Laura Wood, 26, from Southampton, pictured with son Arthur, attempted a home birth

It is a common problem, affecting one in three women at the onset of labour. Most 'posterior' babies turn naturally as the labour proceeds but Laura was one of up to eight in every 100 women whose babies don't turn - their heads take up more space and the shoulders are more likely to get stuck so that often the solution is forceps or a caesarean.

Laura didn't know about her baby's position until after her son was delivered, when she saw it in her notes but as she says: 'In fact the signs were there from soon after the onset of labour, with my regular frequent contractions without being dilated. Had we known, I think we would have requested a Caesarean earlier on.'

Instead, over four days, Laura was examined several times by the community midwife but left to labour at home. Her husband Jon recalls a confusing and frightening time: 'Laura was screaming and clearly in agony but all I was told was that she was barely dilated and so there was nothing much to be done.'

In the end, it was he who decided she had to go to hospital. There another midwife examined her and incorrectly noted that her baby was in the 'ideal position for birth'.

'For her, I was just another woman having a long birth,' says Laura. She was given an oxytocin drip to speed up labour and then began to push involuntarily, even though her cervix was still not fully dilated. Eight hours after she was admitted, her heart rate sped up to 200 beats per minute (instead of 60 to 100) and her labour became a medical emergency.

'Laura was screaming and clearly in agony but all I was told was that she was barely dilated and so there was nothing much to be done,' recalls husband Jon, who decided she had to go to hospital

Laura was rushed to theatre where a forceps delivery was attempted but failed and she finally had an emergency Caesarean during which the incision tore and she suffered a severe haemorrhage.

Today, two years on, Laura feels that a key factor in her shocking experience was that the midwives appeared to believe they could manage dangerous symptoms when in fact she needed medical intervention.

'Normal' birth seen as better, whatever the cost

While most babies in the UK are born safe and healthy, Laura's story reflects a major problem today: substandard maternity care causing avoidable damage, even death, notably when a 'low risk' pregnancy suddenly becomes an emergency.

In these circumstances, women can be caught in the crossfire of 'a turf war' between midwives and obstetricians over which is best - natural childbirth or medicalised labour.

It is a problem identified by the National Maternity Review published three weeks ago which warned of variations in the safety of maternity care as health staff 'too often fail to work well together, especially across professional divides'.

At its extreme, midwives have refused to refer women to clinical specialists in the same hospital. This is what occurred at the maternity unit at Furness General Hospital in Morecambe Bay, Cumbria where 11 babies and a mother died between 2004 and 2013, due to a 'lethal mix' of failures, an inquiry concluded last year.

The report said these failures included 'a growing move among midwives to pursue normal childbirth at any cost'.

At the hospital a midwife examined Laura and said her baby was in the 'ideal position for birth'

When midwives and doctors won't speak

At the heart of these tragedies were 'extremely poor working relationships between midwives and obstetricians'.

The report said: 'It was a "them and us" culture, with repeated instances of failure to communicate important clinical information about patients.'

Liza Brady's son Alex was stillborn when he was delivered at Furness in 2008 with his umbilical cord wrapped tightly round his neck after midwives repeatedly refused her request for a caesarean during her 13-hour labour.

'This was even though the baby was large and a consultant obstetrician had suggested I might need a Caesarean,' she told Good Health.

'But the midwife was on a mission to deliver Alex naturally at any cost; at one point she told another midwife I'd requested not to have an episiotomy [a surgical cut to help delivery] which was untrue. At another point, a doctor who was coming on duty offered to help but he was shooed away by the midwives who said he wasn't needed.'

Now there are fears that a policy of natural childbirth outside hospital is gaining official backing. In December 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued new guidelines stating: 'Midwife-led care is safest for women with straightforward pregnancies, with home births as safe as those in a midwife-led unit attached to a hospital.'

These guidelines are echoed by last month's National Maternity Review, which recommended that all pregnant women be given a 3,000 'birth budget' to spend on 'personal' midwives.

The policy is based on research published in the BMJ in 2011 that for first babies, home births carry a slightly higher risk of harm but the risk is negligible for second or third babies, whether the mother has her child in an NHS hospital, a midwife-led unit or at home.

At the same time, women who have their baby in hospital are significantly more likely to have a potentially risky intervention: an induction, an episiotomy, forceps or ventouse or a Caesarean.

Told to 'wait and see' when medical help is needed

There is concern that these official recommendations are a sign the pendulum has swung too far in favour of women having natural births while supervised only by midwives.

This worries James Titcombe whose son, Joshua, died of sepsis at nine days old at Furness General in 2008 when midwives failed to spot the infection. James campaigned for eight years to get those responsible held to account, a campaign that led to the National Maternity Review.

Now there are fears that a policy of natural childbirth outside hospital is gaining official backing

Last September, however, James resigned from the Review because, he said, 'the balance' of the investigation 'is weighted towards the professional midwifery voice'. The change to bring more women under the exclusive care of midwives is not backed by the evidence, says James, now national adviser on patient safety for the Care Quality Commission, although here speaking in a personal capacity.

'We hear reports of women in labour having their concerns dismissed, of being told to "wait and see" by their midwives, rather than recognising signs that there are problems and referring at an early stage to doctors. I still see midwifery leaders describing the role of a midwife as being to protect "normal" births.'

This argument has lasted 40 years

The turf war between midwives and doctors began in the Seventies when hospital births reached their peak.

It was a time when such technologies as electronic foetal monitoring to track the baby's heart rate during labour, a synthetic version of the 'birth hormone', oxytocin, to induce or speed up labour, as well as the epidural, became widely available - all requiring admission to an obstetric ward.

We've had our fair share of health problems and it's been harder than I could have imagined

An unforeseen consequence was that midwives, then the undisputed experts of 'normal' (vaginal) birth, were 'disempowered', according to leading London obstetrician and natural birth campaigner, Professor Wendy Savage.

'In the Fifties, we were taught by midwives who were hugely respected by consultant obstetricians,' says Professor Savage, who is now retired.

'They were largely autonomous in managing healthy women, with obstetricians experts only in abnormal births. Then everything changed; doctors and women started to worry about something going wrong.

'The whole approach to normal birth became negative: women needed to be protected from harm and for some obstetricians, that meant removing women from the care of autonomous midwives.'

Despite attempts to restore midwives' autonomy, hospital birth remains the norm. Women today can choose between birth at home, in a free-standing midwife-led unit or in hospital - but nine out of ten choose the hospital.

Are women pressured into hospital births?

There, midwives say, women are exposed to unnecessary, risky interventions. They are five times more likely to have a Caesarean, carrying the risk of complications including infection and bleeding.

Against that, however, most obstetricians take the view that even low risk labour is unpredictable and a safe birth is one that takes place where a woman can be monitored and offered the option of a forceps or Caesarean.

Six weeks after Arthur was born, Laura was admitted to a psychiatric mother and baby unit after a breakdown

For some obstetricians, the only truly low-risk birth is one where the baby has already been delivered safely, says Linda Levison, head of clinical negligence at the London law firm, Pattinson & Brewer

'I understand that view, as every day I see the consequences of those rare cases where a mother is terribly damaged or her baby has died because she has chosen to have a baby outside a fully-equipped hospital.'

Last year the High Court awarded 4.3 million and annual payments of 210,000 to one of her clients, a child, now 13, born in a midwifery unit which was a 40-minute drive from the hospital. 'The midwives didn't call an ambulance until the baby had suffered a major collapse and cardiac arrest, leaving her with cerebral palsy with severe disability ' says Ms Levison.

'If this baby had been born in hospital, she would probably now have little or no disability. Women should be made aware that in the unlikely event of a serious complication, the minutes needed for transfer to hospital can make all the difference between serious brain injury and an uninjured child.'

Mother punished for choosing water birth

whichever choice women make, they risk being caught in the middle of the turf war.

Susan Wilson, 32, a photographer and mother of two from Reading, believes she was punished by a doctor for choosing a natural birth when she transferred to hospital in May 2012 after several days of labour without becoming dilated.

She is now an advocate for mental health and maternity care but has nightmares and flashbacks

'I was certain that I needed a Caesarean and the midwife who examined me agreed but the consultant obstetrician said: "You wanted a water birth, now you're asking for a Caesarean. That's not going to happen."

'The midwives stood behind the obstetrician as she was saying this, looking at me and telling me with their eyes that they were so sorry but they weren't going to speak up,' says Susan. 'It makes me cry when I think of that.'

After several more hours of labour she needed an emergency Caesarean under general anaesthetic. 'Fortunately my baby was safe but it infuriates me that staff back-biting was more important than my safety,' she recalls.

'No right or wrong way of having a baby'

Laura Wood says the problem is maternity health professionals tend to believe there is a right and wrong way of having a baby: 'Yes, there are things which are wise to do but health professionals should not suggest that there is a formula to guarantee a positive experience.'

French obstetrician, Dr Michel Odent, who is widely seen as the founding father of natural childbirth agrees: 'It's often said that I promote natural childbirth - but I would never promote anything to a pregnant woman and nor should anyone.'

Rather than any sort of fixed expectation, 'we should talk instead about "easy, unmedicated" births - that occur when

both women and health professionals let go of fixed expectations, whether they are at home, in a midwife-led unit or a hospital'.

Safe birth is when both sides work together

Joint training sessions for all those involved in the care of women giving birth, at home or in hospital, at least one day a year, make a difference to safety.

Since 2000, Southmead Hospital in Bristol has used one such training package developed by the charity the PROMPT Maternity Foundation designed to improve the response to emergencies in any setting.

'What's changed is that we don't see ourselves as midwives or doctors offering different services to patients, we're a single team that trains together year in, year out to provide ever safer healthcare to our mothers and babies,' says Dr Jo Crofts, a consultant obstetrician. The results have been significant: cases of babies born with low oxygen (a cause of brain damage) have halved, with significantly fewer cases of nerve damage from shoulder dystocia, where a baby's shoulder gets stuck.

There has also been a 91 per cent reduction in litigation.

Such a scheme might have made a difference to Laura Wood. Six weeks after her son Arthur was born, she was admitted to a psychiatric mother and baby unit after a breakdown.

She is now an advocate for mental health and maternity care but two years on regularly has nightmares and flashbacks. 'We've had our fair share of health problems and it's been harder than I could have imagined, but Arthur is healthy and running around and I am thankful,' she says.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, known for his witty repartee, told an American audience that he has more Sikhs in his Cabinet than his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The quip came when Trudeau was taking 10 questions from students at the American University in northwest Washington during his state visit to the US.

During the half-an-hour session at the university on Friday, a student named Jahan from the Punjab province of Pakistan told Trudeau that it was really great to see so many Punjabis in his cabinet.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) has four Sikhs in his Cabinet, while India's PM Modi has two

I have more Sikhs in my cabinet than Modi does, Trudeau was quoted as saying by the Canadian daily The Star.

Forty-four-year-old Trudeau, who assumed office in November last year, surprised many by including four Sikh-Canadians in his Cabinet.

The four include Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, a combat veteran who did three tours in Afghanistan as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Apart from Sajjan, the other three Sikh ministers are Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Small Business Minister Bardish Chagger, and Innovation Minister Navdeep Singh Bains, the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail had reported at the time.

There were also 17 Sikh MPs elected in the election in Canada in October last year - 16 from the Liberal Party of Canada and one Conservative - the highest number of Sikhs ever elected.

In contrast, there are two Sikh Cabinet ministers in the Modi government - Maneka Gandhi, who is a Sikh by birth, and Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is the Food Processing Minister.

In the past Trudeau has been spotted doing bhangra moves and visiting Gurdwaras several times. He has also participated in Diwali celebrations as well as a Gurbani recital.
What began as an adventure turned into a nightmare when eight trekkers in Manali, Himachal Pradesh, found themselves trapped inside Chanderkhani Pass at a height of 11,398 feet, for more than 70 hours.

Hitender Sharma, Anil Kumar, Akshay Kumar Bura, Chetan Chori, Saurav Sharma, Rohit Kumar, and Ankush Kumar - all final-year B Tech students at the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab - and their friend from Kullu, Bharat Kayasth, were headed for the religious shrine Bijli Mahadev on March 10, but they lost their way and started walking on the deadly Chanderkhani Pass instead.

They lost their way and reached Footasore village. Suddenly the weather changed and it started snowing. They were stuck at a deserted place, which was buried under seven to eight feet of snow. They had tents and sleeping bags, which saved them. They melted the snow to quench thirst but were without food," Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kullu, Rohit Ratore, who supervised the 70-hour-long rescue operation told Mail Today.

Lucky escape: The rescued trekkers were airlifted and taken to Rungsu village, where they were given first aid by a team of doctors. Later, they were moved to the Kullu district hospital.

One of the rescued trekkers, Chetan Chori, who hails from Ambala, Haryana, said that after visiting the shrine they had decided to trek up to the Chanderkhani Pass.

We pitched our tents on the Chanderkhani Pass after it started snowing. The snowfall continued and within hours our tents were covered under four feet of snow. We had nothing to eat. We informed our parents and asked them to rescue us. We survived by eating boiled snails," Chori said.

While others were trapped inside their tents, Anil Kumar and Hitender Sharma left in search of a safer place to pitch their tent. They found a cave and took shelter there.

They are safe and will be airlifted on Monday if the weather permits the helicopter to fly, Chori added.

Six out of the eight trekkers who were reported missing on their way to Chanderkhani Pass on Friday morning were traced and later airlifted to Kullu on Sunday evening, official sources said.

Hans Raj Chauhan, Kullu Deputy Commissioner, said: Rescued trekkers were airlifted and taken to Rungsu village, where they were given first aid by a team of doctors. Local residents offered them blankets, food and fire to keep them warm. They were then taken to the Kullu district hospital.

While six of the eight trekkers have been rescued, two are still stuck in a cave where they took refuge

The rescue operation, which had to be halted due to the weather, was resumed late in the evening.

The rescue was launched by Kullu district authorities on Friday morning after one of the trekkers contacted the local police helpline.

The rescuers found footprints left by the trekkers at Footasor village on Saturday. However, the private helicopter pressed into service could not go beyond 6,000 feet due to the dense clouds and fog, police officials said.

"Five ITBP, one mountaineer and two police parties were dispatched to locate the missing trekkers. We also took the help of local shepherds to trace them, said Padam Chand, Kullu Superintendent of Police.

However, the authorities of the engineering institute said that the students had not taken administrative permission before proceeding on the trekking expedition.
The bonhomie and camaraderie shown by Prime minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at their recent meeting in Bihar has come as the surprise of the year.

Apart from taking part in the Patna High Court centenary celebrations, Modi had come to inaugurate two mega bridge projects for the railways in the state on Saturday.

This was his first visit to Bihar since the BJPs disastrous performance in the state Assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna

During the bitter poll campaign last year, Modi and Nitish had made no-holds-barred attacks on each other. They were therefore expected to display cold vibes during their latest meeting, but it turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts.

Rather than firing salvos at each other, they chose to underline the need for mutual cooperation between the Centre and the state so as to felicitate faster progress of Bihar.

The prime minister applauded the way Nitish had extended cooperation to the Centre in its rural electrification drive, while the chief minister played the perfect host by requesting Modi to visit Bihar over and over again for its development.

True, the long-standing arch-rivals had met at official functions where they were not supposed to denigrate each other. But they not only followed the protocol but also took one step forward to normalise their relations by praising each other.

For once, none of them took refuge in subtle innuendos and insinuations against each other. In fact, Modi rose up from his seat to ask the crowds shouting slogans in his favour to keep quiet while Nitish was delivering his address.

In the past decade, the Modi-Nitish relationship had gone from bad to worse. It hit a new low when Nitish cancelled a dinner for Modi and other leaders during the national executive meeting of the BJP in Patna in 2010. He subsequently went on to break his 17-year-old alliance over the projection of Modi as the NDAs prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections.

Nitish later stitched up an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress to form the Grand Alliance and defeat the NDA in the Assembly polls. But now, both the leaders appeared keen not to carry forward the baggage of their acrimonious past by seeking each others cooperation in accelerating the development of the state.

While Modi admitted that the growth of the nation was not at all possible without the progress of Bihar, Nitish also realised that the Centres cooperation was a must for extricating his state from the morass of underdevelopment.

Nobody should mind if the two best-known votaries of development-centric politics join forces to work in tandem for the progress of one of the poorest states in the country. But is it another deft political move by Nitish? Where does the latest Modi-Nitish meeting leave Lalu?

Political pundits believe that it might make him insecure.

In the last Assembly elections, Lalus party had won nine seats more than JD(U) and emerged in a dominant enough position to dictate terms to Nitish. He now has a reason to view the Modi-Nitish meeting with suspicion.

Lalu knows that Nitish had a long association with the BJP and he would not lose anything by normalisng their ties once again. This may not only help him get ample support from the central government to accomplish his development mission, but also prevent the RJD president from playing the big brother.

With 71 MLAs of its own, the JD(U) needs the support of only 51 legislators to run his government without Lalus prop.

The BJP, which has 53 MLAs in the 243-member state Assembly, may not mind resuming its ties with Nitish if Lalu pulls the plug on his government.

Nitish, who has run the Bihar government with BJPs support for seven-and-a-half years in the past, may or may not like to resume his ties with the saffron in future but his meeting wth Modi might have made Lalu circumspect now.

Medics adopt poor girls

Doctors in Patna are turning philanthropic these days. Some of the leading medical practitioners in the city have come forward to adopt girls from the underprivileged families.

On the recent International Womens Day, six of them adopted poor girls and took a pledge to support them financially not only to educate them but also to help them build their careers and get married.

Eminent surgeon Dr AA Hai and his wife Hashmat Hai adopted an 11-year-old girl, Mallika, while Dr Satyajit Singh and his wife Vibha Singh adopted an eight-year-old girl, Nandini.

Dr Imtiyaz Ahmad and his wife Farzana Ahmad also adopted a 16-year-old girl named Rosy.

Governor hosts the perfect tea party

Most of the Governors in Bihar have not had the best of relations with the state government over the years. Except a few exceptions such as RS Gavai, who had cordial ties with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the majority of the occupants of Raj Bhawan have shared indifferent relations with the politicians in the state.

Incumbent Ramnath Kovind, however, has set a new trend by playing host to the legislators from different parties.

Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind and CM Nitish Kumar

The Governor has been holding breakfast meetings with the groups of from different areas during the ongoing budget session of the State legislature. His gesture has gone down well with the legislators.

At a Raj Bhawan bash Nitish shared a table not only with the Governor, Assembly speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary, and Legislative Council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh, but also with Sushil Kumar Modi and Prem Kumar, the leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses, who seldom lose any opportunity to hit out at the state government in the House.

Younger by age, but older by deed

Lalu's sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap

In his affidavit filed with his nomination papers during the 2015 Assembly elections in Bihar, RJD chief Lalu Prasads eldest son Tej Pratap Yadavs had claimed himself to be only 25-years-old, which made him younger than his 26-year-old brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. This had kicked up a big row in the run-up to the polls.

Lalu intervened to settle that matter by saying that the printers devil on the voters list was responsible for the goof-up.

In real life, Tej may be elder than Tejashwi but he has no qualms in playing the second fiddle to his younger brother.

Lalu also chose to give the role of deputy chief minister to his younger son, who had shown political maturity in a short spell of time. In the past three months he has proved himself to be a fast learner. During the ongoing budget session of the state legislature, he has handled the Opposition well on the floor of the House.

Health minister Tej Pratap, on the contrary, appears to be finding it tough in his new role. He recently lost his cool when a BJP legislator asked him a supplementary question related to his department while he was replying to a question put up by a JD(U) MLA.

Why are you interfering when I am replying to this question? he asked Vijay Kumar Singh, leaving the Opposition members stunned.

On another occasion in the Bihar legislative council, Tej told a senior member that he too could get treatment for his ears at the Patna Medical College Hospital.
South-West Delhi has become the breeding ground for gangsters.

Last week the Delhi Police Crime Branch released a new list of the top 10 most-wanted criminals in Delhi, and six proved to be from south-west Delhi.

According to a senior police official, there are two gangs targeting each other in and around that area, leading to numerous criminal activities.

According to a senior police official, there are two gangs targeting each other in and aroundSouth-west Delhi. (Picture for representation)

According to the list made by the Crime Branch, the top three gangsters are from south-west Delhis Baba Haridass Nagar police station area.

Topping the list of criminals is 24-year-old gangster Kapil Sangwan, who is involved in four cases and is currently absconding. According to the police, he is wanted in three murder cases, including the double murder case of an associate of Manjit singh alias Mahal, who is also a gangster.

Manjit Singh alias Mahal is a suspect in 21 cases, including the murders of MLA Bharat Singh and that of Sunil, who was the brother of gangster Kapil Sangwan.

Police are also looking for 22-year-old Hemant alias Pradhan, who was allegedly involved in the murder of Bharat Singh.

A senior official of Delhi Police said: These criminals are involved in eliminating each others family members. Theres unrest in south-west Delhi especially after the murder of MLA Bharat Singh. These gangs are involved in various murder cases. They also target the witnesses of these murder cases. Apart from these three, one active member of Manjits gang, Pradeep Solanki is also absconding and cops are looking for him desperately. Another gangster also from south-west district is Ravinder alias Bholu, who is involved in 14 cases and a series of murders.

According to sources, police stations of south-west districts are continuously registering crimes directly or indirectly committed by these two gangs. There have been cases of attempt to murder as well, where victims were lucky to have escaped.

Meanwhile, police have arrested former councillor Kishan Pehelwan who is the brother of MLA Bharat Singh and two others for allegedly destroying evidence in connection to the double murder that took place on Friday at his farmhouse in southwest Delhis Najafgarh area.

The other two arrested are Pramod and Yogesh. They allegedly tried to clear the scene of crime after the incident, a senior official said.

The incident took place on Friday night, after which police arrested Joginder, private security officer (PSO) of a realtor.

Joginder allegedly shot dead Ashok Kumar and Fauji, who also worked as PSOs for other realtors in the area, after a heated argument at the party at Pehelwans farmhouse.

Pehelwan himself was not present at the party and rushed there after being informed about the incident.

The police were told about the shooting by hospital authorities, who reported that two men had been brought there with bullet injuries, with one dead and the other critical. The second man succumbed to his injuries within a few hours.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP, is shedding its old image.

On Sunday, it said goodbye to Khaki shorts, the trademark RSS attire for 91 years, and replaced them with full-length brown trousers.

Mail Today was the first to report on March 7 that the RSS planned to adopt trousers over the traditional Khaki knickers.

Khaki shorts have been an RSS trademark for decades - but are soon to be replaced with brown trousers

Also, in a move which is being seen as a shift from its traditional stand, the Sangh backed the right of women to enter temples, saying banning them is unfair.

According to RSS leaders, these changes are part of the organisations effort to move with the times and show that it is not rigid.

All these decisions were taken at the RSS conclave in Nagore, Rajasthan, where leaders of the organisation also slammed caste-based discrimination and said it should be ascertained whether the deserving backward classes are actually getting reservation benefits.

It disapproved of quota demands by affluent sections of society, in a veiled reference to the recent Jat agitation.

While advocating for womens entry in temples across the nation, the RSS said that temple managements barring their entry should change their mentality.

'No consensus'

Because of some unfair traditions, at certain places there has been a lack of consensus on the question of temple entry by women. Such sensitive issues should be resolved through discussion and dialogue and not through agitations, RSS general secretary Suresh Bhayyaji Joshi said at the annual meeting of its highest decision-making body - the Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS).

The issue of women's access to temples has led to widespread debate after recent agitations in Maharashtra.

Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra was caught up in controversy after women protested against a ban that stopped them from entering

Womens groups want an end to the practice of banning women from entering certain temples like Shani Shingnapur Temple and the sanctum sanctorum of Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik, Maharashtra.

Women go to thousands of temple across the country but in reference to some, where their entry is an issue, there is a need to change the mentality. Management of such temples should also understand this, Joshi said, adding that women have been learning the Vedas and also performing religious practices.

The annual report of the RSS asserted that joint efforts by social and religious leaders and temple authorities were needed to bring about a change in mentality at every level. Elaborating on the meeting, Joshi said the RSS cleared three proposals concerning public life.

There is shortage of educational, medical as well as basic amenities, and whatever amenities are available, only a small section of society is benefitted. For the past few years, world-class facilities are being developed in India, but there is a large section of people who don't get its benefit because of their financial condition, he said, adding that the RSS has passed a proposal that basic facilities should be made available to the people.

Activists had also demanded that women be allowed inside the inner sanctum of Trimbakeshwar temple, Maharashtra

Facilities for kids

Education, especially school education, is of paramount importance for the next generation. No child should be deprived of it. There is no doubt that schools are being constructed, but they lack basic educational facilities. Schools with good facilities are out of the common mans reach. We hope that the government and NGOs will work to address this, he said.

Talking about social injustices and inequalities, Joshi said: "It is a product of Hindu society, which needs to be addressed, and everyone should be kept on an equal footing."

On the controversy over Sri Sri Ravishankar's cultural programme in Delhi, Joshi said if there was an environmental issue, rules should be followed by all. However, at the same time, he said systems which bring about change in society will get weakened if only penal measures are used.

Brown is the new khaki - and the shorts are out

By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

Agreeing that organisations should avoid being rigid and must evolve with time, the Sangh Parivar on Sunday made the long-awaited announcement about its remarkable dress-code makeover.

Swayamsevaks will now be seen in brown trousers as the Parivar has decided to say goodbye to the loose-fitting, flappy khaki knickers, which are the most well-known component of their appearance.

We have decided to replace khaki half pants with brown pants. We are not rigid and take decisions according to time, Suresh Bhayyaji Joshi, Sar-Karyawah (general secretary) of the RSS said at the conclave in Rajasthan.

Loose khaki shorts have been the trademark of RSS cadres since the organisations inception in 1925. Even though other features of the uniform have changed over time, khaki shorts remained in vogue till now.

Initially till 1940, the RSS uniform was a khaki shirt and shorts before white shirts were introduced. Leather shoes replaced long boots in 1973, and rexine shoes were later allowed.

Describing it as a major change, Joshi said: Pants are a regular feature of todays social life, so we took the decision accordingly.

Replying to questions, the RSS leader said: We decided on brown colour. Though there is no specific reason for it, but it is com monly available and looks good. When asked whether it will have any impact on the identification of the RSS volunteers, he said it will not have any adverse impact and will be a routine thing in the next 4-6 months. The RSS leader said the trousers will be designed in such a manner that they are comfortable during physical exercise. The decision received varied reactions from different quarters.

It is more important to change the mentality than the dress code, clerics from different religious groups said while reacting to the RSS decision to shift from khaki shorts to brown trousers.

The dress code changes with time but is not an important issue to focus on. What is important is to have change in the mentality to take all communities and religion in the country together, said Abdul Hameed Nomani of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.

The All India Christian Council said the Hindu right-wing outfit needs to change its thinking, and wearing trousers will not change it.

Those khaki knickers are now famous and they have become a symbol of their ideology. Changing dress like buses will not help. They will do what they have been doing, John Dayal, Secretary- General of the All India Christian Council said.

However, RSS member Rakesh Sinha said that the Sangh believes in keeping itself updated with trends. Sangh has been changing its dress code.

Times have changed and we think youngsters have a different choice. The choice of people is a priority for us. So, Sangh has taken this decision. There have been many changes before, Sinha said.

Affluent classes' quota demand draws RSS flak

By Mail Today Bureau

In a veiled reference to the recent Jat agitation, the RSS on Sunday disapproved of reservation demands by affluent sections and favoured a study to ascertain whether the deserving backward classes are actually getting the quota benefits.

Pitching for social harmony and invoking Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the RSS said members of the Hindu community are responsible for caste-based discrimination, which needs to be eradicated for social justice.

In a veiled reference to the Jat quota stir, the RSS voiced its disapproval over reservation demands by affluent sections of society

Disapproving of the demand for reservation by affluent sections, RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said the provisions for reservation made by Bhimrao Ambedkar were for social justice, and that concept should be kept in mind by those demanding reservation today.

It is felt that this thinking (demand by affluent class) is not in the right direction. People of such (affluent) class should give up their right and should help the weaker section of the society. But instead, they are demanding reservation for themselves, he said.

He did not make a direct reference to any section making such demands, but appeared to be hinting at Jats who recently launched a violent agitation in Haryana for reservation.

Joshi was addressing a press conference at the end of a three-day conclave of Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the RSS, which passed resolutions on social Harmony as well as education and healthcare.

Any kind of discriminatory behaviour and evils like untouchability should be uprooted altogether. For the smooth functioning of society, it is essential that all the social and religious institutions in society need to steer the course based on our hoary ideals of life, said the resolution on social harmony.
Environmentalists in Delhi will join experts from 19 countries to assess the reason for the decline in the number of migratory birds at Sultanpur bird sanctuary and Asola wildlife sanctuary.

Experts will also assist the wildlife department of Gurgaon to create artificial wetlands in Sultanpur sanctuary and see if they are equally effective in attracting winged visitors.

If the experiment is successful, it will be replicated in the remaining forest areas of Gurgaon.

Experts from 19 countries, along with Indian environmentalists, will visit the Sultanpur bird sanctuary and Asola wildlife sanctuary in Delhi to assess the reason behind the decline in migratory bird numbers

Sultanpur bird sanctuary is famous for attracting several species of migratory birds from Siberia and other European countries during the winter. However, the number of birds has declined over the years due to rampant construction activities surrounding the park and human intervention.

Environmentalists from SAARC and African countries will be examining the conditions Sultanpur provides for breeding of migratory birds. Also, the cause of decline in their numbers will be assessed, said a senior official.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had recently organised a workshop in Delhi to study about birds flying 10,000 km every winter season to stay here for five to six months.

We have collaborated with 19 countries. Environmentalists will conduct experiments, soil testing and status of trees with an idea to develop similar conditions in their respective countries, said MoEFCC special secretary Hem Kumar Pandey.

Delegates from countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Tanzania had visited these two spots during the recently-concluded workshop.

The two places are known for their biodiversity and over 50,000 migratory birds from 250 species flock to these spots every year between October and March.

Among the migratory birds are Siberian cranes, greater flamingo, black winged stilt, common teal, common greenshank, northern pintail, yellow wagtail and white wagtail, who arrive every year along with domestic avian species such as common hoopoe, purple sunbird, little cormorant, little egret and white ibis.
The announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Brussels for the India-EU Summit on March 30 has been greeted with satisfaction and anticipation, as it comes after a gap of four years.

The long hiatus is indicative of the disarray that has beset bilateral ties in recent years.

The Strategic Partnership between India and the EU was established in 2004, four years after the decision to hold Annual Summits.

There was considerable enthusiasm when this visionary document was consolidated. It was followed by a Joint Action Plan in 2005, and the launch of negotiations for India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) in 2007.

Modis visit to Brussels will give fresh impetus to Indias relations with the EU

India had then set an ambitious target of two years to complete negotiations. No one had visualised that talks would drag on for nine years with no end in sight.

Crisis

Modis visit to Brussels will give fresh impetus to BTIA negotiations and bilateral relations in political, security, strategic and developmental areas.

The Strategic partnership has failed to realise its initial promise. It has continued to lose momentum over the last several years, particularly since 2009.

The EU was plagued by the international financial crisis, followed by the Eurozone debt crisis in Iceland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Other developments on the international scene, like the Arab Spring, conflict in Ukraine, rise of the Islamic State, and refugee influx from the Middle East and North Africa induced paralysis in its decision-making.

India was riddled with scams like 2G, CWG, and Coalgate, along with the inability of the government to take decisions or fresh initiatives, and the rapid decline in economic growth to below five per cent levels in 2013.

This was responsible for the lack of focus on bilateral engagements with EU during the UPA-II rule. Contrary to expectations, the relations did not witness a revival after the NDA government came to power.

Modi met EU leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summits in Brisbane and Antalya in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Modis proposed visit to Brussels in April 2015 did not materialise on account of reported objections by Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Affairs and Security Chief.

Mogherini was Foreign Minister of Italy before moving to Brussels and was against receiving Modi because of the ongoing case against two Italian marines.

Discussions on BTIA were to resume in August last year but were called off by India at the last minute due to the unjustified ban by the EU on the sale of around 700 pharma products for alleged manipulation of clinical trials by Indian companies.

India protested because most of these drugs have been in the market for many years without any adverse report from any member state.

Trade

EU-28 was Indias largest trading partner in 2014. Total bilateral trade during 2014 was 95.51 billion euros. Indias exports were 48.21 billion euros, and imports 47.33 billion euros.

Trade during the first nine months of 2015 stood at 58.9 billion euros, comprising exports worth 30.3 billion euros and imports of 28.6 billion.

India's share of the EUs total trade has been consistently declining since 1996-97. The EU is one of India's largest sources of FDI, with inflows valued at 5 billion euros in 2014.

After 16 rounds of talks, negotiations on BTIA are currently stranded in disputes over the EUs demands to raise the equity cap on FDI in Indias insurance sector, reducing tariffs on imports of automobiles and auto-components, and lowering barriers on imports of wines and spirits, and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

Demands

India seeks greater access for its services sector. It is concerned that the EUs demand for stricter implementation of IPR rules might affect its generic pharma industry.

India is also concerned about the UKs recent move to hike visa fees for skilled professionals. Indias demand to granting data secure status by the EU also needs to be resolved amicably. Differences are expected to be narrowed during the visit.

Recently India has unilaterally undertaken several reforms such as allowing 49 per cent foreign investment in insurance and pension, easing of foreign investment norms in banking, defence and railways sectors. A hundred per cent FDI in telecom and single-brand retail, and 51 per cent in multi-brand retail have been allowed.

After signing the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement recently, it is imperative for India and the EU to conclude negotiations on BTIA expeditiously.

India is the fastest-growing economy with GDP growth of 7.6 per cent in the current year. It has launched several significant initiatives like Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India, and Skill India which should be of considerable interest to the EU.

To provide heft to bilateral engagements, it is essential to further enhance collaborations in strategic areas like counter-terrorism, science and technology, climate change, education, green technology, research and innovation, maritime security, and Afghanistan.
The ruling benches played good cop bad cop with Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slammed the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha for equating ISIS with the RSS, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed that the Congress leader, who is usually known for cultured utterances, has knowingly or unknowingly slipped this time.

Naqvi said the grand old party "had coined a brand new formulae of garlanding terrorists and attacking nationalists".

Jaitley claimed that the Congress leader had actually given respectability to a terrorist organisation and Azad should have refrained from making such a comparison.

Ghulam Nabi Azad was pulled up for allegedly comparing the RSS with ISIS at a Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind function

Azad had come prepared to defend his remark, made at the function of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind two days ago.

Armed with a CD of his speech, Azad shielded himself from the barbs claiming his comment was misconstrued by his opponents.

Naqvi supplemented the attack by claiming that if the comment has been made unknowingly, the Congress leader should just apologise and the issue will be closed.

Azad tried hard to hold his ground and quoted his speech verbatim. He said if there is any discrepancy in his version then he is ready to face a breach of privilege motion.

Where is the comparison.. I have not said .you please bring privilege motion, he said.

He dared the ruling party to bring the motion for his expulsion from the house if he had said that the RSS and the ISIS were the same.

That is comparison. I will repeat it again for the entire nation. Aisi ISIS wali jaise sangathane, hum unka bhi utna hi virodh karte hein, jaise RSS ka karte hein (We condemn organisations like ISIS just like we oppose RSS), he said.

The Leader of the Opposition went on add that he was against all kinds of fundamentalism, be it Hindu, Muslim or Sikh.

We need to fight all, he said in an attempt to wriggle out of the controversy.

He got some leeway from the ruling party, which did not press the matter further and left it at the leader of the oppositions error of judgement.
Amber Rose praised Kim Kardashian as a "great mom"

Amber Rose is the latest celebrity to weigh-in on Kim Kardashians nude selfie debate, offering support for her former rival.

In January the pair appeared to have buried the hatchet when they posed for a selfie together, just days after Amber had fired back at Kanye West on Twitter, over comments hed made about her past as a stripper.

Speaking to Nightline, Amber said: I thought she looked beautiful, I think shes a great mom. People think me and Kim are arch enemies and were not. We literally text each other all the time. Were very, like, positive towards each other. People feel like Kim is just famous because she had a sex tape and Im just a famous ex-stripper.

Last year Amber organised the Amber Rose Slut Walk, to take a stand against slut-shaming, which she claims to have been a victim of in the past.

If any sexy guy posted a nude picture with a little black strip over his private areas, everybody would be like, Damn, he is hot, hes sexy, look at that body. Oh, hes a dad too?.contactmusic.com

BMW's electric concept

In a preview of design concepts that may be integrated into its future vehicles, BMW unveiled a radical concept car, the Vision Next 100, at its Munich headquarters this week.

The four-seat electric car, roughly the size of a BMW 5 Series, carries the barest glimmer of traditional BMW styling but is at least recognisable as a BMW.

Rival Mercedes-Benzs even more radical F-105 Concept car, with which the Vision Next shares some functional similarities without being recognisable as a Mercedes.

hollywoodreporter.com

Light therapy for cancer sufferers

Light therapy can decrease the depressive symptoms, and normalised circadian rhythms found among cancer survivors, according to new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai presented at the American Psychosomatic Society in Denver.

Researchers randomly divided 54 cancer survivors into a bright white light or a dim red light group.

Participants were provided with a light box and asked to use it for 30 minutes every morning for four weeks.

Depressive symptoms and circadian activity rhythms were measured before, during and three months after completing the light exposures to determine the effectiveness of light therapy. sciencedaily.com




Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has claimed that he has been invited to hold World Culture Festival events in countries across the world.

People from across the world are amazed. We got a letter from the Australian Prime Minister asking us to hold the event there. They are ready to give all the help we need, from Mexico.... The countries are keen to host this event. At the same time, the international media is asking why the Indian press is so harsh towards this festival. I smiled and said that I don't know, he said.

The AOL founder added: We need a certain maturity. I don't mind but I request all political parties. Whenever such a grand event is being organised, party politics should be kept aside.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says he has been invited by various countries across the world to hold similar events to the World Culture Festival

"You should come together so that India's prestige on the world stage rises. It is not easy to organise an event of this magnitude.... It is a major thing... so that people from across the world can feel connected, the spiritual guru said.

Defending the festival being held on the flood plains of Yamuna, he said they would work for the rejuvenation of the river.

Replying to a query related to his statement that he would not pay the Rs 5 crore fine imposed by National Green Tribunal, he said the NGT has made it clear that it was not a fine but compensation to rejuvenate the area.

The AOL founder said his organisation will come with up a concrete plan for conservation of the Yamuna river.

The World Culture Festival organisers have promised to come with up a concrete plan for the conservation of the Yamuna river

We had consulted a couple of environmentalists before the event and they have said there would be no damage to the flood plains if this event was held. Further, we will also consult some environmentalists and work on rejuvenation of Yamuna with a concrete plan of action for Yamuna, he said.

Ravi Shankar said they had initially thought of holding the event in a stadium, but then the idea had to be dropped because of the magnitude of the programme.

Any stadium would not have been able to accommodate these many artists and people", Ravi Shankar said as the three-day cultural extravaganza ended.
Sanitation services in the Capital are on the verge of breakdown once again.

A month after their strike, the sanitation workers have threatened another clampdown of their services if their salaries are not paid in time.

While the North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations are yet to pay salaries for the month of February, their financial condition is set to deteriorate when the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission are brought in.

Sanitation workers are waiting for the March 16 Delhi High Court decision. If their salaries are not paid by then, workers will go on strike. (File picture shows a landfill site)

This will put a burden of nearly Rs 1300 crore on the three municipal corporations.

After sanitation workers went on indefinite strike in January, the Delhi government had provided a loan of Rs 693 crore that was sufficient to meet salary expenditure and arrears till the month of February.

However, the two civic bodies are left with no money to pay salaries after March.

Sanitation workers are waiting for the Delhi High Courts decision on the matter, following which they will decide on their future course.

Sources in the MCD said they have no clue where the money will come from.

All internal sources of revenue have dried up and the MCDs are unlikely to get any further loan from Delhi Government, sources in the MCD said.

We have not received salary so far. The matter of non-payment of salary is pending with the Delhi High Court. It is a blatant violation of the courts order that had directed MCDs to pay the salary on time. On March 16, the next date of hearing, we will draw the attention of the court on this issue. If the corporations fail to disburse the salary, we will be forced to go on a strike, said Rajender Mewati, General Secretary of United Front of MCD Employees Associations.

Another factor that could affect the three corporations is the implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations.

Each civic body has carried out its internal assessment and estimated the increase in the financial burden.

The south MCD has anticipated a 16% hike in its salary expenditure, while the north and east Delhi corporations estimate a hike of 20% each.

Together, the three corporations will be burdened with the additional annual salary expenditure of approximately Rs 322 crore for south MCD, Rs 500 crore for north MCD and Rs 256 for east MCD.

However, the south MCD claims that it will sail through the hike.
Whether you're shooting with a swanky DSLR or just snapping away with an iPhone, everyone seems to be taking photos these days. But why is it that some people always have impressive pictures while others just fall flat?

Although there are no shortcuts to being a talented photographer  this takes years of hard work and an intricate knowledge of your equipment  there are several things that every amateur can do to improve their images without pricey gadgets or years of training.

So we spoke to professional photographers who produce some of the best work around today to find out their most valuable tips.

Creative: Celebrity photographer Noam Galai, who took this photo of singer Nathan Sykes at the Gramercy Theater in New York, says he draws inspiration from a variety of avenues including books, movies and music

1. Get closer

Richard Ellis, a three-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer and founder of the first digital online news photo agency which became Getty Images, believes that one of the simplest ways to improve your photos is to get closer to your subject.

'[Legendary photojournalist] Robert Capa famously said: "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough",' he says.

'Whether you are using an iPhone or a DSLR camera you should get closer to your subject and fill the frame. You can do this with a fancy zoom lens or simply use your feet to zoom in by walking closer to your subject.'

It is best to look for open shade - where the subject is under a shady area such as a tree or building overhang.

2. Avoid direct light

'Your friends and family will always look better if you avoid direct light,' says Mr Ellis.

'Shooting with the sun over your shoulder will usually make people look terrible - harsh and "contrasty" and will show all the wrinkles! Not flattering.

'It is best to look for open shade - where the subject is under a shady area such as a tree or building overhang.'

3. Remember to crop

Celebrity photographer Noam Galai, who lives in New York and shoots for Getty Images, says even a tiny crop can turn a good photo into a great one.

'Use cropping to fix composition issues you didn't notice as you were taking the photo, or in cases you just couldn't fully control it,' he says. 'Use it to change the proportions of the image, or to straighten it out.'

4. Shoot in RAW

According to Jason Abraham, a photographer who specializes in shooting landscapes and nature, the first step to taking great pictures is to make sure you have your camera set to shoot in RAW format.

He explains that this means you have all the image lighting information to hand, which makes a 'huge difference' when it comes to editing your files later.

5. Switch to manual

It can be tempting to always shoot on automatic and let your camera do the work for you, but if you really want to take your photos to the next level then don't be afraid to practice with manual mode.

Self portrait: Mr Galai created The Stolen Scream using just a lamp he found in his apartment and himself as a model, and this image has since become one of the most used in history

'Now in the digital era it's so easy to see the results and see what works or doesn't work, and fix it on the spot,' says Mr Galai.

'Switch to full manual, and just make yourself a better photographer. Control each aspect in the photo you're creating - from depth of field, to sharpness and exposure.'

6. Be your own model

If you like photographing people, but you don't have many friends who like to model for you, don't forget you can always photograph yourself, says Mr Galai.

The Israeli-born photographer is the creator of The Stolen Scream, a self-portrait that is now considered to be one of the most used images in history.

He adds: 'Photographing yourself can improve your skills behind the camera and at the same time makes you better understand what people in front of the camera are experiencing, which will make you better at communicating to your subject what you need them to do.'

You can make epic images by just using things you have at home - lamps, flashlights or even just papers as reflectors.

7. Experiment with lighting

Lighting is key for a good photo, but this doesn't mean you have to shell out thousands of dollars on fancy equipment.

Mr Galai points out that his famous Stolen Scream image was shot at home using just a lamp that was lying around the apartment.

'You don't need the most expensive lights out there. You can make epic images by using things you have at home - lamps, flashlights or even just papers as reflectors,' he says.

'Always try to look at what you shoot and think if the light works, and if you can do something to improve it. It may be an easy fix like just changing the angle of your subject, and it can be more complex like adding lights.'

8. Use the Golden Hour

'Every professional photographer will tell you the best time to shoot photos is almost always the golden hours of the day when the sunlight is lower on the horizon and appears to the eye to have a yellow or golden tint,' says Mr Ellis.

'Almost everything looks better at this time, which is best found just before sunrise, for about an hour after, and an hour before sunset until just after. Give it a try and you will love it.'

9. Toggle your focus

If you have a camera that allows you to 'toggle', this can be a useful tool to help improve the quality of your photographs.

Keep it RAW: Jason Abraham, a photographer who specializes in shooting landscapes and nature, says that having all lighting information to hand makes a 'huge difference' when it comes to editing your files later

'Have fun toggling with your depth of field you wish to use,' Mr Abraham advises. 'You increase blur of depth by lowering your F-Stop all the way. You can capture a sharper image by shooting typically on a mid-range F-Stop around an 8.0-10.0.

'Sometimes the background is important to see as well, and other times it may be nicer if the point of interest you are shooting is the only thing to be in focus.'

10. Get inspired

Although you can learn a great deal from the work of other photographers, Mr Galai recommends finding your inspiration elsewhere.

He says: 'Getting inspired by other photographers is okay, but I prefer draw inspiration from other avenues in life - from music, movies, books or whatever makes my creative juices flow.

'Getting inspired by other photographers can lead to just being a copycat. And you don't want to be just a copy of someone else's style.'

Different angles question what we normally see and show us a different world that we thought we knew.

11. Alter your angle

Good pictures are a matter of seeing your subject in an interesting and storytelling way, Mr Ellis explains.

So rather than just standing up and taking a photo, try all different angles.

'Try lower, try higher,' he suggests. 'Just try different views.

'I routinely carry a small stepladder with me on assignments as most people never see the world from seven or eight feet and it often looks different and better.

'When not on my ladder you can see me practically face down on the ground looking up.

'Different angles question what we normally see and show us a different world than we thought we knew. Also remember to always look behind as well, as sometime the best picture isn't the one in front of your camera!'

12. Take lots of photos

It's simple but effective  if you want to be a better photographer, keep taking photos.

'Photography is an art and like all art it requires you to keep practicing to be good,' says Mr Ellis. 'Your pictures will get better if you use your camera more and try using it on different subjects, different light, and at different times of day.

'Remember, there is no cost in taking digital photos once you buy the camera and memory card. Who doesn't want to use something that is free? So keep shooting - the more the merrier!'

13. Be a 'chimp'

Unlike old school photographers who had to wait for their negatives to come back from the lab, we now have the luxury of getting instant feedback on our images, which is something Mr Ellis believes should be taken full advantage of.

Be different: Noam Galai says that there are many rules in photography but the rules are there to be broken, so use them as a guide but don't let them take over your creativity

He says: 'Until you know your camera and understand photography, every time you take a photo, stop and look at it on the LCD screen. If it doesn't look good, try something different until it looks the way you want it to.

'Professionals call that "chimping" because when you see the photo you respond with "Ooo-oo-oo!" which sounds like a happy chimpanzee.'

14. Explore new subjects

'National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson likes to say: "If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff",' quotes Mr Ellis.

'It is far easier to take nice photos of nice looking scenes,' he adds. 'Seek out the beautiful, interesting and special in both the world around you and life. If you are excited and interested in what you are photographing you will work harder to take great photos.'

15. Break the rules

According to Mr Galai, in photography the rules are there to be broken. 'There are many "rules" in photography, but what's the fun in rules?' he says. 'Be creative. Be different than other photographers and do what feels right to YOU.
More than two-thirds of new car buyers have experienced vehicle problems in the first five years, with Holden topping the list and consumers' legal rights being compromised to protect the reputation of car manufacturers.

The comprehensive CHOICE survey revealed that some global car giants are covering up what is going on by forcing consumers to sign confidentiality agreements when car manufacturers fix their problems.

CHOICE's chief executive Alan Kirkland said that while some companies are doing the right thing, others are treating consumers' statutory rights to replacements, refunds or repairs as an optional extra.

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More than two-thirds of new car buyers have experienced problems with their cars in the first five years, a CHOICE survey has revealed (stock image)

Holden, one of Australia's most popular car brands, topped the list of complaints with 68% of car owners experiencing complications (stock image)

'This research shows that car companies are trying to cover up the scale of problems with new cars by forcing consumers to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to get problems fixed,' Mr Kirkland said.

BRAND - % WITH PROBLEMS Holden  68% Ford  65% Audi  62% Hyundai, Jeep, Nissan, Volkswagen  61% BMW  57% Mitsubishi  55% Kia  54% Subaru  53% Suzuki  51% Toyota  50% Honda  49% Mazda 44 % Source: CHOICE Advertisement

The survey found that one of the country's most popular car brands, Holden, topped the list of brands with 68 per cent of owners experiencing problems with their new car, ahead of Ford and Audi.

In-car technology, such as Bluetooth technology, was the worst problem area for new car buyers, followed by faulty batteries, and complications with electrical components and car interiors.

'While the majority of these issues were minor, 14 per cent of new car owners faced major problems that either caused the car to stop working or seriously impaired the operation of the car,' Mr Kirkland said.

'The research findings convey the very real sense that car companies are off-loading sub-standard new cars on consumers and then using lawyers to fight consumers, forcing them to pay more to have their new cars fixed.'

The consumer advocacy group surveyed new car owners who had bought their new car in the last five years, from January 2011 to 2016.

CHOICE campaigns advisor Sarah Agar, who commissioned the research, said: 'New cars are expensive purchases, it's shocking to see that most consumers buying new cars should expect problems in the first five years of ownership.'

No car brand had an incident rate of less than 44 per cent.

Toyota, considered the benchmark in Australia, had problems in 50 per cent of cars.

When owners were forced to pay for repairs, it cost them $1295 in direct fees and lost wages, and 31 hours trying to resolve their problems.

Overall, the majority of consumers CHOICE surveyed said they were able to resolve their problems.

However, a significant number of car owners received no help at all, with women more likely to be denied a resolution to their problem.

Consumers' legal rights are being compromised to protect the reputation of global car manufacturers (stock image)

The second worst car giant was Ford, with 65 per cent of owners experiencing problems with their new car (stock image)

A Holden spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the company acknowledges its poor performance, admitting they were not happy with the results but will make an effort to improve.

'Our customers are a critical focus area and Holden has been making enormous efforts to resolve issues for customers as quickly as possible,' the spokesperson said.

'Holden is also proactive and quick to market with customer satisfaction or recall campaigns if we believe we may have identified an issue that could affect customers.

But the Holden spokesperson said confidentiality agreements are not normally carried out.

'Non-disclosure agreements are certainly not standard practice for Holden for any warranty or product issue. In some individual cases where issues are raised outside of warranty, resolution agreements are documented for clarity.'

'While the results of this survey stretch back over five years, this is clearly an industry-wide area that requires attention and is often driven by the increasing complexity of modern vehicles and vehicle interaction with mobile devices.'

German car giant Audi recorded 62% of new car owners experiencing problems with their cars (stock image)

CHOICE's research shows that car companies are trying to cover up the scale of problems with new cars by forcing consumers to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to get problems fixed (stock image)

One frustrated car owner told CHOICE in the survey that she wasted time when trying to resolve an issue with her car.

'As the problem existed when the new car was sold to me I felt the dealership should have gone more out of their way to remedy it at no cost or inconvenience to myself,' she said.

PROBLEM AREAS In-car technology (Bluetooth connectivity)  21% Battery/electrical  20% Car interior  20% Engine  15% Tyres/wheels/suspension  14% Brakes  11% Bodywork/exteriors  11% Gears  9% Clutch  6% Exhaust  4% Odometer fraud  2% Source: CHOICE Advertisement

'Certainly there was no cost, but I was inconvenienced without a car and I needed to attend the repair shop twice. I wasn't offered a lift home or any flexibility in booking times.'

Under the Australian Consumer Law, customers who experience a major defect in a new car are entitled to choose between having it repaired or replaced.

The survey comes ahead of the review of Australian Consumer Law this year, raising the question of whether consumers are able to exercise their rights adequately under Australia's existing law.

On Friday, Holden, a subsidiary of American car giant General Motors, announced that 400 workers from their car manufacturing plant in northern Adelaide would lose their jobs at the end of 2016 in an effort to reduce operating costs.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries for comment.

In-car technology, such as Bluetooth technology, was the worst problem area for new car buyers (stock image)

The comprehensive survey revealed that no car brand had an incident rate of less than 44 per cent (stock image)
British families face paying a 'safety premium' for holidays as they look to escape the terror attacks bringing death and mayhem to popular resorts.

The bloodbath in a hotel in a beach resort in Ivory Coast yesterday, provides new evidence as to how innocent tourists are now in the sights of jihadist murderers.

Millions of British families have already turned their backs on Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt in response to a series of terror attacks.

The net result is that they are chasing alternatives in apparently safe holiday destinations, such as Spain, the Balearic islands, the Canary Islands, Portugal and Italy.

Such is the demand for holidays in safe havens that prices have soared and many hotels and resorts in places like Spain have already sold out.

Millions of British families have already turned their backs on Turkey (pictured), Tunisia and Egypt in response to a series of terror attacks

Package holiday prices in resorts in Spain are normally 15-20per cent higher for hotel and flights than equivalent deals in Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.

The price gap this year will be even higher given the fact the supply cannot cope with demand.

Recent reports suggest the cost of flights to Spain are as much as 80per cent higher than those to Turkey.

The editor of the industry bible, Travel Trade Gazette, Pippa Jacks, said: 'Prices are only going to go up as we get nearer to summer, not down.'

Industry analyst, Martin Alcock, of Travel Trade Consultancy, said: 'There is likely to be a big capacity problem and that will push the price of a family holiday up.'

He added: 'There is a big push back to what you might call safe destinations, such as Spain and the Canary Islands. They will benefit hugely from the kind of incidents we have seen.'

But, he warned this poses a huge problem in terms of capacity because there will be competition for hotels and villas from families from Germany and the Nordic countries.

Antalya in Turkey and the main airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife are the same distance from Gatwick  just over 1,800 miles.

Yet flights to the Canaries for the first full week of the school summer holiday are 79per cent higher than to Turkey's Turquoise Coast - 358 versus 200.

The bloodbath in a hotel in a beach resort in Ivory Coast (pictured) yesterday, provides new evidence as to how innocent tourists are now in the sights of terrorists

Fares from Manchester to Las Palmas are 23per cent higher than to Dalaman, in Turkey, which is an identical distance - 457 versus 371.

The situation is made worse by the fact the pound has fallen in value against the euro, which means spending money will not go as far.

Independent travel agent, Miles Morgan, who has a chain of 15 shops, is warning people who want to go to Spain that they risk missing out.

'In all of my 30 years working in the travel industry I have never seen such a shift in business from the eastern Mediterranean resorts back to the old favourites of Spain and the Canaries,' he said.

'Whilst airlines are reacting to this trend and moving their planes to the more popular places such as Majorca and the Canary Islands the sheer number of people changing their holiday plans will mean it will be the hotels, apartments and villas that will sell out well before the start of the summer getaway.'

The fact that Ivory Coast and its beach resorts will now be removed from the holiday options of European families means the problems of shortages and price rises can only escalate.

It is believe that at least five people died after gunmen fired on guests at the Etoile du Sud hotel in the town of Grand Bassam, about 25 miles east of the commercial capital Abidjan.

Much of the shooting took place on the beach next to the hotel which is popular with both locals and foreigners.

Tourists are now chasing alternatives in apparently safe holiday destinations, such as Spain, the Balearic islands, the Canary Islands (pictured), Portugal and Italy

It is understood that Thomas Cook has re-routed 1.2millon airline seats away from Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia this year.

Many people who had bookings have been given a refund and told to find an alternative.

Bookings to Turkey collapsed by more than 40per cent this year in the wake of a series of terror attacks,

Sales were hit after a suicide bombing at a tourist attraction in Istanbul in January, which killed 11 Germans. The country is also struggling to deal with a flood of some 2.5m refugees from Syria.

A London tour operator specialising in Turkey, Elixir Holidays, recently went bust. Another travel firm, Mark Warner, has cancelled its entire Turkish programme for 2016.

Tunisia is now a no-go country for following the terror attacks on resort beaches last summer which left 30 Britons dead.

Holidays to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt are also off-limits following Government warnings which followed the crash of a Russian airliner, thought to have been brought down by a bomb, at the end of October.

Earlier this year the chief executive of TUI, which owns Thomson and First Choice, Fritz Joussen, (correct) said Spain is already pretty much sold out.

He said prices in Spain and other countries viewed as less prone to terrorism will remain high because hotel operators will not have to offer last-minute discounts to fill empty beds.

The travel industry trade body, ABTA, said: 'Spanish hoteliers have always taken a sensible approach to pricing taking a long, rather than a short-term view.

'However, realistically such significant increases in demand are bound to put pressure on their natural instinct to keep prices down.'
Former prime minister John Howard has once again defended Australia's gun laws during an appearance on American television.

Speaking on CBS' Sunday Morning TV news program Mr Howard said he was forced to take a tough stance on gun laws just six weeks after he was elected as prime minister.

The re-ignited discussion about gun laws comes just weeks before the 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, one of the deadliest shootings committed by single person worldwide.

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Former Australian prime minister John Howard has appeared on CBS in the U.S. to talk about gun laws

After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 the Australian government launched a firearms 'buy back' scheme

'People used to say to me, 'You violated my human rights by taking away my gun,' Howard told the program.

'And I'd [respond], 'I understand that. Will you please understand the argument, the greatest human right of all is to live a safe life without fear of random murder.'

Pro-gun Senator David Leyonhjelm denied that Mr Howard's tough laws had anything to do with the fact that there had been no gun massacres since 1996, but 13 in the 15 years leading up to Port Arthur.

'I don't think there's any relationship between the availability of guns and the level of violence,' Mr Leyonhjelm said.

Mr Howard is pictured here at the commemoration service to mark the 10th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre

Carolyn Loughton (left) was injured in the shooting, while her daughter Sarah, 15, (right) was killed

The Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania in 1996 is one of the deadliest single-person shootings in history

However Mr Howard said it was 'incontestable' that the laws did not have a direct impact on the significant decrease in shootings.

'It is incontestable that gun-related homicides have fallen quite significantly in Australia, incontestable,' Mr Howard said.

'... I mean, if you had 13 mass shootings before Port Arthur and you had none since, isn't that evidence?

'And you had a 74 per cent fall in the gun-related suicide rates, isn't that evidence?

Mr Howard is pictured here in 1996 addressing gun owners after the massacre, wearing a bulletproof vest

Pro-gun Senator David Leyonhjelm denied that Mr Howard's tough laws had anything to do with the fact that there had been no gun massacres since 1996

Mr Howard said it was 'incontestable' that the laws did not have a direct impact on the significant decrease in shootings

'Or are we expected to believe that that was all magically going to happen? Come on.'

Port Arthur survivor Carolyn Loughton, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Sarah in the massacre, was also interviewed for the program.

She described being in a mass shooting as 'beyond frightening' and 'haunting'.

When asked about whether Australia should be looked as an example for the U.S. to follow in terms of gun control, she said 'I am loath to comment.'
Friends say Gaines was 'a sweet guy' and 'not violent at all'

Gaines was then shot dead by the officer after he charged for a third time

Peter Gaines, 37, was shot dead after 'charging at an officer three times'

An unarmed man was fatally shot by a Houston policeman Saturday after he had apparently 'charged' at the officer three times.

The man, who has been identified as Peter Gaines, appeared to be high on drugs - possibly PCP- and was suspected of damaging a traffic sign.

Officer K. Levi was on patrol when he saw an 'agitated' man damage the sign, while pacing and yelling obscenities, on the intersection of Eastex Freeway and Collingsworth, Texas reported Click 2 Houston.

The officer intervened and tried to calm the man down, said Police spokesman John Cannon.

Cannon says the man then charged at him twice causing Levi to Taser him, but this was unsuccessful.

When Gaines came at him a third time, Levi shot him dead.

Friends of Gaines told KHOU that he had been celebrating his 37th birthday this weekend and admitted he may have been on drugs.

Timeko Barber, a friend of Gaines, told KHOU: 'He was not violent. He was a sweet guy. He was not a violent person at all, and that's what is bringing tears to my eyes.'

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Houston officer K. Levi was on patrol Saturday afternoon when he saw an 'agitated' man damaging a traffic sign

While friend Tracy Turner said: 'They didn't have to shoot him. If he didn't stop, they could've shot him down there.'

She added: 'He'd take the shirt off your back, and he'd give it to you.'

One witness, who was working at a nearby Burger King, told ABC she saw the shooting take place and said: 'The police was not in danger to kill that man. I'm sorry.'

Witnesses said the officer appeared to be visibly upset right after the shooting.

One described how he 'broke down and started crying' and 'had his hands on his head'.

The officer has since been put on administrative leave. The officer and suspect are both African American.
One of two teenage girls accused of trying to kill a classmate near Milwaukee to appease the online fictional character Slender Man is being treated at a state mental hospital, the girl's attorney said.

A judge committed 13-year-old Morgan Geyser to the hospital in January, the (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel reported on Sunday.

The girl had been diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia during a court-ordered competency evaluation in 2014.

Mental health treatment: A judge committed 13-year-old Morgan Geyser (pictured left) to a mental hospital for schizophrenia in January. Pictured right is Anissa Weier with whom geyser allegedly tried to plot a murder

Obsession: Geyser, pictured in court in 2013, had an obsession with the fictional character the Slender Man

'She's made substantial progress,' said the girl's attorney, Anthony Cotton, adding that she recently began expressing remorse. 'She's starting to feel regular and normal emotions now.'

Cotton plans to again ask that the girl's $500,000 bail be reduced to a signature bond, which would allow her to return home and continue receiving treatment while awaiting trial. The other girl, Anissa Weier, is being held at a West Bend juvenile jail.

The two girls are charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the May 2014 attack on Payton Leutner.

Investigators say the girls lured Payton to a park in Waukesha, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee, where they stabbed her 19 times in an attempted sacrifice to a fictitious horror character called Slender Man. Payton was left for dead but managed to crawl from a wooded area where she was discovered by a bicyclist.

Victim: Stephen Lyons, a Madison lobbyist who has been a spokesman for the Leutner family, said Payton (pictured) has recovered from her physical injuries but still faces an emotional recovery

After several surgeries, Payton has returned to school. She is now in eighth grade.

Defense attorneys have tried to have the case transferred to juvenile court. They are appealing a decision by Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren last August to keep the girls' case in adult court, where convictions could send them to prison for up to 45 years. As juveniles, they could be incarcerated for up to three years and then supervised until age 18.

Final defense briefs are due Monday, and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals could begin reviewing the case this month. The Associated Press hasn't identified the girls because the case could return to juvenile court, where proceedings are closed.

An HBO documentary about the case, 'Beware the Slenderman,' premiered Friday night at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

The 114-minute film examines both the Wisconsin stabbing and how children can become easily drawn into beliefs spread through the Internet.

Stephen Lyons, a Madison lobbyist who has been a spokesman for the Leutner family, said Payton has recovered from her physical injuries but still faces an emotional recovery.

Supporters have contributed about $200,000 for her ongoing care, and Lyons said everyone at her middle school has been supportive.

'But part of the healing is she wants to get beyond being the victim in the Slender Man case,' he said. 'Now it's on to the next step.'
Amid the throngs at a day at the races, tweed suits are a common sight  among the two-legged fans at least.

So race-goers at tomorrows Cheltenham Festival will be forgiven for stopping in their tracks if they come across race horse Morestead, who has a tweed ensemble all of his own  complete with shirt, tie and customised cap.

The tailor-made Harris Tweed outfit is the worlds first three-piece suit for a horse, and was unveiled by Morestead and champion jockey Sir Tony McCoy ahead of this years festival.

Dapper: Morestead the horse has a tailor-made tweed ensemble complete with shirt, tie and customised cap

It was specially commissioned by bookmaker William Hill and designed by former Alexander McQueen apprentice Emma Sandham-King, who spent four weeks creating the outfit, which required ten times as much fabric as the equivalent human suit.

In all her team of seamstresses used more than 18 metres of tweed shipped in from the Isle of Harris.

Ditching his jockey silks for a tweed suit, Sir Tony, who has had successes at 31 Cheltenham Festivals, said: Ill be watching from the side-lines for the first time this year and rather than strapping on my jockey silks, Ill be joining the punters and hopefully tipping up a few winners to bash the bookies.

Ms Sandham-King said: Creating the worlds first tweed suit for a horse has been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced in my career as a designer.

We have used 18 metres of genuine Harris Tweed to create the head-turning fashion garment.

'Some models can be real divas, but veteran racing horse Morestead was calm and a pleasure to work with.

Sharp: Sir Tony McCoy, a 31-time Cheltenham Festival winning jockey, unveils Morestead's new suit while wearing his own dapper, bespoke tweed attire

Former Alexander McQueen apprentice Emma Sandham-King designed Morestead's outfit, pictured, the racehorse with Sir Tony, and it took her four weeks to create

Tweed is undergoing a massive revival and this years Cheltenham Festival will see the most tweed worn since the 1960s.

William Hill spokesman Jon Ivan Duke said: Cheltenham Festival is a landmark moment in the racing calendar where punters battle the bookmakers over 28 races.

This year our eye is on tweed-wearing Willie Mullins, who came so close to breaking the bookies on the opening Tuesday at last years Festival.

'Its deja vu this year and if Mullins saddles four winners on the opening day, it could hit bookmakers for 50million.
On stage, a Keith Emerson keyboard solo carried all the pomp and self-importance of a Hamlet monologue delivered by one of our most eminent Shakespeareans. Only with infinitely more theatrics.

Cannons roared, smoke billowed, and flames shot from his electric organ as he swung it around the stage. Piano and pianist would sail through the air above a stunned audience, disappearing in an explosion.

Back on stage, Emerson would attack his keyboard with antique Nazi daggers or wrestle it to the floor as he continued to play it. A giant contraption in the shape of an armadillo would shoot thousands of tiny polystyrene balls into the audience.

Mari Kawaguchi, 52, (left) and Keith Emerson (right) of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, pictured in July 2007

On stage, Emerson would attack his keyboard with antique Nazi daggers or wrestle it to the floor as he continued to play it

As for the decibel level, lets just say that when fans talked of being blown away by an Emerson, Lake and Palmer concert, they werent talking entirely metaphorically.

In the days before health and safety noise limits, fans standing at the front of ELP gigs recall that the sonic wave created by the speaker system from the Seventies most successful progressive rock band was so powerful it billowed their flared trousers.

Many of those fans have been fondly recalling the crazy, hazy, preposterously over-blown days of ELP as they mourn the sudden and violent death of the bands founding member and keyboardist.

The Yorkshire-born musician was one of the kings of progressive prog rock, an attempt by musicians to bring some credibility to rock in the late Sixties and early Seventies by injecting into it some of the features of classical music.

Emerson died aged 71 at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, on Friday morning from what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

It appears that for all his rock dinosaur image, he was the victim of a very modern fate  trolled to death by heartless fans who had attacked him online over the quality of his recent music, even suggesting he gave up.

Emerson was one of the kings of progressive prog rock, an attempt by musicians to bring some credibility to rock in the late Sixties and early Seventies by injecting into it some of the features of classical music

In fact, he had been suffering for years from a debilitating muscular condition that affected the fingers in his right hand.

He read all the criticism online and was a sensitive soul, said his Japanese girlfriend, Mari Kawaguchi, 52.

Although he had been planning to retire after a string of upcoming concerts in Japan, he was tormented with worry that he wouldnt be good enough, she said. He didnt want to let down his fans. He was a perfectionist and the thought he wouldnt play perfectly made him depressed, nervous and anxious.

Its easy to believe that he could have been deeply troubled by the cruel barbs from fans. Not only did Emerson take his music very seriously  even if many others didnt  but he was a deeply sensitive man who was far from the wild rock star that he appeared on stage.

Keith was a gentle soul whose love for music and passion for his performance as a keyboard player will remain unmatched for many years to come, said his former bandmate, Carl Palmer.

Nobody could deny that passion. A gifted classical pianist who was a musical sensation in what became his home town of Worthing, West Sussex, at 14, he set out to do for the keyboard what his friend Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar.

He had been planning to retire after a string of upcoming concerts in Japan but was 'tormented with worry' that he wouldn't be good enough

Emerson brilliantly exploded the idea keyboard players were the boring, immobile members in a band.

In a decade of gloriously silly musical pretentiousness, Emerson, Lake and Palmer  the bands name didnt sound like a puffed-up law firm for nothing  was leagues ahead of the opposition. Even Spinal Tap, the mock-documentary parody of a heavy metal band, didnt come close to matching the excesses of ELP in its prime.

Emerson set up the band in 1970 with two other successful British musicians, guitarist Greg Lake and drummer Palmer. He had got his previous band, The Nice, banned from playing the Royal Albert Hall after he set fire to a U.S. flag during an irreverent version of the West Side Story song I Want To Be In America.

At ELPs first concert, on the Isle of Wight in 1970, the band performed a blistering interpretation of Russian composer Modest Mussorgskys Pictures At An Exhibition. It provided a taste of their passion for re-working  critics would say butchering  classical works.

A few months later, their debut album featured high-octane versions of pieces by the Slavic composers Bartok and Janacek, with Emerson being one of the first rock musicians to use electronic synthesisers. Classical purists howled with rage, but fans lapped it up.

Emerson set up the band in 1970 with two other successful British musicians, guitarist Greg Lake and drummer Palmer

If ELP records were bombastic enough, the bands live appearances were something else. The group toured with 40 tons of equipment, the vast expense justified only by the fact that no one except The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin drew bigger live crowds. It included 13 keyboards and a 2,000 Persian rug that Greg Lake stood on while he played.

Emerson was always centre stage and would be hoisted on a wire 20ft into the air while strapped to a Steinway grand piano. He would then play the instrument while it spun end over end as smoke billowed around him. Finally, in a huge explosion from fireworks inside the piano, it and Emerson would disappear.

The stunt had eventually to stop because Emerson kept getting hurt: once he broke his nose when the piano suddenly stopped mid-spin; another time, the fireworks went off too soon and he was covered in cuts and bruises. Down on stage, the carnage was intense. At that inaugural Isle of Wight performance, a photographer was hurled off stage into the audience by the force of antique cannons firing at the end of one song.

We tried the cannons out in a field near Heathrow Airport, Emerson said later. They seemed harmless enough.

Emerson was always centre stage and would be hoisted on a wire 20ft into the air while strapped to a Steinway grand piano

Away from the stage, Emerson was a mild-mannered father-of-two who harboured a lifelong passion for Spitfires after a childhood spent building Airfix kits.

His on-stage antics, however, were inspired by the way Hendrix would pluck guitar strings with his teeth, and even set his instrument on fire.

Emerson went even further. Dressed flamboyantly, he would plunge large Hitler Youth daggers into the two keyboards of his Hammond organ to sustain notes while swinging the instrument around. Hed sometimes extract the knives and hurl them across the stage.

The keyboard was also rigged up so it could shoot flames out across the stage. His band mate Carl Palmers revolving drum kit was pretty tame by comparison.

But Emersons crowning on-stage glory was Tarkus, a giant stage prop resembling an armadillo-cum-tank that would shoot polystyrene snow over the audience. It didnt always go to plan. At least once, the armadillo fired into his piano, forcing roadies to run on stage with a vacuum cleaner.

There were lots of funny moments among the broken ribs and blown-off fingernails, Emerson recalled years later.

According to Greg Lake, in recent years Emerson had become increasingly confused, desperate and depressed'

ELPs many critics predictably had a field day mocking the trios pretensions. The BBC DJ John Peel called the band a waste of time, talent and electricity. Another detractor asked: How do you spell pretentious? E-L-P.

And yet the band was hugely successful, producing nine albums  six of them going platinum  before the last one in 1994.

Sadly, according to Greg Lake, in recent years Emerson had become increasingly confused, desperate and depressed. Lake blamed his friends tormented state on drug use and the degenerative disease affecting his hands.

I think its a very difficult thing to actually describe what depression is, said Lake. We all know what it looks like, peoples moods become very black. But its more complicated than that. It changes someone personally.

Ironically, musical fashion has now swung full circle. Synthesisers dominate modern pop music and some of todays biggest stars were among those paying tribute to Emerson.
More than 600 people have filed into a packed St Jude's Church at Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs for teenager Olivia Inglis' funeral.

The 17-year-old was crushed when her horse tripped and fell during an event in the Hunter Valley earlier this month.

Olivia, who will be laid to rest in a teal coffin, was the eldest daughter of horse breeding identities Arthur and Charlotte Inglis, who delivered their daughter's eulogy on Monday.

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The funeral for Olivia Inglis, 17, who was tragically killed during a horse-riding accident has taken place

Pallbearers including Olivia's sister Antoinette are pictured here carrying Olivia's teal coffin covered in flowers

Olivia's parents Charlotte and Arthur hold hands as they leave the church following their daughter's funeral

A family member wipes away a tear pall bearers including her sister, Antoinette, carry Olivia from the church

Olivia Inglis's sister helps carry her sister from the church in the 17-year-old's teal coloured coffin which matched ribbons adorning each pew for the service

Charlotte and Arthur Inglis touch their daughter Olivia's coffin in a finak farewell as it is placed into the hearse

Antonia Inglis with the other pallbearers carrying from the church her sister who she said was 'the most beautiful human being I've ever come across and will ever in my life'

Olivia's parents talked about their 'gorgeous girl Liv who filled our lives'.

Charlotte Inglis said 'some times you don't have to be a long time on earth to achieve your dreams'.

Remembering her daughter as a 'gentle, loving, kind' girl who 'was a joy to have around' from the moment she was born, Mrs Inglis said from an early age she had a passion for being around horses.

'I remember this big-eyed slightly disheveled girl entertaining herself in a feed bucket. She was destined to ride.'

Arthur Inglis thanked a long list of people making a special mention of the Scone Horse Trial organisers.

'No-one should feel that in any way they contributed to her accident. You contributed to her pursuing her dream. Olivia would wish you all strength and solace at this time.'

Mr Inglis also thanked the medical team who treated his daughter after her fatal jump.

'Externally she was completely unmarked, including her gear,' he said.

Olivia's mother Charlotte (in the green and white dress) and father Arthur (pictured in the grey suit) are comforted by family as they leave St Jude's Anglican Church following a moving ceremony

Olivia Inglis, wearing a green and white dress similar to the one her mother wore to the 17-year-old's funeral on Monday was remembered as a gentle, loving and kind girl who was very modest despite her achievements

The hearse was escorted by two officers from the NSW Mounted Police from the church on Monday

Officers from the NSW Mounted Police led the teenager away on her final journey in a fitting tribute for the girl who loved horse-riding more than anything else except her family and friends

Hundreds of mourners gathered outside after the service among ten posters of Olivia Inglis riding which were mounted on easels in the church grounds

Mourners hugged as they admired the large portraits of Olivia on display outside the church

Mr Inglis broke down while speaking about watching his daughter competing and how she 'sat so exquisitely, she just looked like she was gliding'.

'We were most proud of her determined attitude and the amazing resilience of character she developed,' he said.

Mr Inglis also thanked the thousands of riders who had sent messages from around the world, saying the family was overwhelmed by the kindness and sympathyfrom people they had never met.

'Thank you to the equestrian and equine world. The messages and gestures have been absolutely astonishing,' he said.

'Horse lovers the world over, no matter their discipline or level of involvement, seem to have so profoundly and accurately empathised with the driving force within Olivia.

Racing royalty Gai Waterhouse (pictured) was among hundreds of guests at the funeral

Ms Waterhouse took the time to admire the portraits of Olivia on display which included an image of the teenager riding in the clouds with the words 'Fly free, Fly high'

There were ten canvasses dotted around the church grounds for guests to admire and reflect on

'Liv you left us so young and achieved so much and so profoundly filled out lives.

'You will always fill a space in our hearts, you will always be my gorgeous girl, flying with the angels.

'Sleep well gorgeous girl. '

Charlotte Inglis also spoke of Olivia's early years when the family lived in Randwick in Sydney's East and she went to Ascham and St Catherine's schools before the family moved to their country farm and she went to Frensham in the Southern Highlands.

Through tears, Mr Inglis said her daughter 'really made the most of her time. I honestly believe she got everything done that she needed to in her short years here.'

'She was instantly unconscious and lost her life soon after.'

Mr Inglis also thanked staff at Scone Hospital 'for allowing us a few minutes with Olivia' following her death to say goodbye.

Mr Inglis spoke of his daughter's preference of horses over school work and how she liked nothing better than to be on the family farm with her younger sisters playing with the chooks and farm animals.

NSW Mounted Police officers outside the church next to a poster of the 17-year-old who was crushed when her horse tripped and fell during an event in the Hunter Valley earlier this month

More than 600 mourners filled the St Jude's Church at Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs for the funeral of Olivia Inglis, whose Order of Service on Monday is pictured

In delivering her daughter's euology mother Charlotte Inglis said from an early age Olivia had a passion for being around horses

Outside, posters of Olivia riding her horse Coriolanus were mounted on easels in the church grounds including this image which was created by Allira Fontana of Olivia riding in the clouds with the words 'Fly free, fly high'

The choir from Frensham School sang two hymns for Olivia's funeral service which featured moments from her life in the Order of Service (pictured) including a picture, centre, of the teen with her father Arthur

Olivia's mother Charlotte talked about her 'gorgeous girl Liv who filled our lives' and said of her eldest daughter 'some time you don't have to be on earth a long time to achieve your goals'

Mrs Inglis described 'adventures in our truck' as they drove their daughters all over the state to compete in horse competitions.

'It was an ideal childhood for Olivia and her sisters ... living, loving and breathing every equestrian and horse riders' dream'.

'For Olivia it was the relationship with and training of her horses. She didn't want anyone else to assist her in riding and training. She wanted to do all the hard yards herself.'

While school work was for Olivia a ' struggle and an inconvenience ....one of her greatest honours was to be selected for the NSW State Development squad and ride for NSW.

'As a mother i feel blessed as she was a delight. She was such a caring daughter and sister.

'I am so grateful for our time with her. We will continue to ride for Olivia. Love you Liv.'

Mr Inglis thanked 'horse lovers from around the world who have so profoundly empathised' with his daughter.

'To put it succinctly, they just got her,' he said.

'I honestly believe she got everything done that she needed to in her short years here,' said father Arthur about his daughter Olivia pictured (above) in a poster mounted outside the church for her funeral

Pictured is St Jude's Church at Randwick in Sydney's east with hundreds of guests outside holding the Order of Service for Olivia Inglis's funeral

Mourners were asked to donate to an Olivia Inglis (pictured) scholarship fund for young riders instead of bringing flowers

Olivia's younger sisters Antoinette and Alexandra spoke of the older sister they admired and looked up to.

Alexandra Inglis talked about her big sister's modesty about her achievements.

'She was so modest and got embarrassed so easily,' she said

'She taught me compassion and consideration for all living things.

'May you fly free, fly high. You will always be my big sister, I love you,'.

Antoinette Inglis described her sister's 'loyalty and honesty, her respect for family and friends, her contagious laugh' and her love for chocolate 'which if she could she'd have for breakfast, lunch and dinner'.

She said Olivia had a special relationship with her favourite horse, Toga and that she had always taken time to play games and look after her sisters.

'When we went to our favourite place, Berrima Lolly shop, the sour lemon drops were too sour for me and you would suck them down to the sweet bit and then proudly hand them over to me.

'I cherished every moment I spent with you,' Antoinette Inglis said.

The Order of Service was filled with photographs of the teenager doing what she loved the most

Olivia, 17, died after being crushed by her horse during a riding competition in the Hunter Valley

She said she felt privileged to have spent Olivia's last night on earth with her sister, sharing a room before the Scone Horse trials.

'You will bever know. .. the comfort I felt in your presence and the sheer happiness your company gave me.

'Remember the super heros outfits we tried on. You are far greater than any superhero.

'Olivia, you are the most beautiful human being I have ever come across and will ever in my life.

'You will forever be my other half, my partner in crime.
A heckler was removed from Marco Rubio's rally in Florida after he accused the Republican presidential candidate of stealing his girlfriend.

The unidentified man stood up in the middle of the room and said: 'That's enough. I have to tell everyone the truth. Marco Rubio is trying to steal my girlfriend.'

Rubio supporters started laughing as the man insisted that Rubio met his girlfriend in New Hampshire and 'she doesn't look at me the same way anymore'.

A heckler (pictured) was removed from a Marco Rubio (pictured right on stage) rally in Florida after he accused the Republican presidential candidate of stealing his girlfriend

Rubio, who was standing a few feet away on stage, said: 'We don't beat up our hecklers at our events'

Some reporters who were present at the rally believe that the guy was an actor and that he had 'an accomplice with him'

The crowd jeered at the man and started chanting, 'Marco, Marco, Marco'.

Rubio, who was standing a few feet away on stage, said: 'We don't beat up our hecklers at our events.'

The man continued to shout as security guards approached him and photographers gathered around.

He said: 'He's a little bit better looking than me. It's true. But he's trying to steal my girlfriend. She doesn't love me anymore.'

Some reporters who were present at the rally believe the guy was an actor and that he had 'an accomplice with him'.

As a security guard escorted the man to the door, he yelled: 'He's probably going to steal yours [girlfriend] too!'

The crowd continued to chant Rubio's name and he joked: 'I didn't even win New Hampshire.'

Once the man was out of the room, a shocked Rubio laughed before saying: 'I'm still looking for the hidden camera.

The crowd jeered at the man and started chanting, 'Marco, Marco, Marco'. The man continued to shout as security guards approached him and photographers gathered around

As a security guard escorted the man to the door, he yelled: 'He's probably going to steal yours too'

Rubio continued his speech in front of several veterans and other supporters on Sunday in The Villages, Florida. The Florida senator recently won the Republican presidential caucuses in Washington D.C., but he's dropped to third place in Florida

Rubio continued his speech in front of several veterans and other supporters on Sunday in The Villages, Florida.

The Florida senator recently won the Republican presidential caucuses in Washington D.C.

It's the third presidential contest victory for Rubio.

Earlier this month, Rubio won the GOP caucuses in Minnesota and the party's primary in Puerto Rico.

However, Donald Trump is at least 20 points ahead in Florida, with home state Rubio dropping to third place, according to two new surveys.

CBS News released new numbers showing Trump with 44 per cent support from Florida.

For the first time since January, and just two days before the Sunshine State's pivotal primary, Ted Cruz snuck into second place receiving 24 per cent from Florida's Republicans.




Fears of a cover-up over the true scale of EU immigration grew last night as it emerged an official review will not examine crucial National Insurance data.

The Mail revealed on Saturday how officials are blocking the release to MPs on the number of 'active' NI numbers held by foreigners.

The information could reveal up to 1.3m extra EU citizens could actually be living here.

ONS figures show some 904,000 EU migrants have arrived in Britain since June 2010. In the same period of time, officials have issued 2.2 million NI numbers to EU migrants

HMRC officials are refusing to answer Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information Requests or letters from MPs on the grounds it would be 'too costly'.

This put the onus on a separate review of migration figures being carried out by the Office for National Statistics obtaining the data instead.

The ONS is due to publish its explanation of why there is such a huge gap between official migration figures and the amount of NI numbers being dished out at the end of May.

But the ONS will not have access to the active NI numbers either  and is not even planning to request them.

ONS figures show some 904,000 EU migrants have arrived in Britain since June 2010. In the same period of time, officials have issued 2.2 million NI numbers to EU migrants.

Sources say all the ONS review intends to do is examine data on so-called short-term immigration which it already holds, to see if that can explain the discrepancy.

It emerged yesterday that Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had suggested anybody with a visa to enter the Schengen area should be allowed free access to Britain

One theory is people are arriving for a few months, obtaining an NI number, doing seasonal work and then going home. Only people who stay for 12 months or more show up in the ONS figure.

The ONS claims this exercise could help to 'reconcile' the different sets of statistics. But 'active' NI numbers  people paying tax or receiving benefits  would remain hidden.

BRITS CANNOT BLAME MIGRANTS FOR LOSING THEIR JOBS Tony Blair has admitted high immigration is fuelling populism but criticised Britons who say migrants are taking their jobs. The former Labour Prime Minister yesterday conceded there was real anxiety for those who feel their income is stagnating and said it was driving some towards the far Right. But he said the unemployed should not blame migrants but instead get the education and the skills necessary. Tom Bowers book on Mr Blair claims he presided over a conspiracy to change the UK with immigration, calling asylum seekers economic migrants. Advertisement

MPs say this could result in the public being 'misled' over an issue crucial to the June 23 referendum contest.

Yesterday, the Government was dragged into a new gagging row on the subject.

Officials were said to have considered blocking the publication of all immigration statistics during the 28 days before the referendum takes place, along with contentions FOI requests and Parliamentary questions.

Guidance on the so-called purdah period is currently being devised by the Cabinet Office, which is led by Sir Jeremy Heywood  who is dubbed Sir Cover-up by critics.

MPs threatened to hold an inquiry if the Government was withholding important data in order to skew the contest.

But last night a spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: 'It is untrue to suggest that scheduled national statistics will be in any way affected by the referendum.

'Parliament decided that there should be a 28 day 'purdah' period ahead of the referendum during which government communications will be restricted. The Cabinet Office will be publishing guidance on this nearer the time.'

Yesterday, it emerged Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond had suggested anybody with a visa to enter the Schengen area should be allowed free access to Britain.

The idea  which would have effectively exported Britain's borders to other EU countries  was immediately slapped down by the Prime Minister.

David Cameron warned his ministers in 2013: 'If that statement by Philip finds itself on the front page of a newspaper, I'll fire the person responsible  on sight.'
Boris Johnson (pictured today visiting the former broadcast centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London) accused Obama of a 'blatant and exorbitant hypocrisy' for telling British voters they must stay in the EU

Sir Winston Churchill's grandson blasted Boris Johnson today after the Mayor of London launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama and accused the US President of 'blatant and exorbitant hypocrisy' for telling British voters they must stay in the EU.

Sir Nicholas Soames, who is also a Tory MP, said Mr Johnson was 'seriously adrift in the argument' after he wrote a strongly-worded article criticising Mr Obama's expected intervention in the EU debate next month.

It is a humiliating blow for Mr Johnson, who counts Sir Winston as one of his greatest heroes and has written a biography on the war-time leader.

The US President is due to fly into Britain in late April to argue that the UK will have less influence in the world if it leaves the Brussels club.

But in a pre-emptive strike on Mr Obama, the London Mayor said the idea that the Americans 'submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU' was 'laughable and completely alien to American traditions'.

He said there was 'no way' the US would sign up to an institution like the EU.

The White House tonight delivered a pointed snub to Mr Johnson's by refusing to comment on his attack on the President - but coming out firmly in favour of Britain staying in Europe.

'Our position has been that the US deeply values a strong ally in the UK as a part of the European Union,' said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

But in the House of Commons today the leading Brexit Cabinet minister Chris Grayling told foreign leaders to stay out of the EU debate.

'I would discourage any foreign leader from entering the debate at the moment,' he said. 'This is a matter for the British people and it should remain so.'

Sir Nicholas hit out at Mr Johnson this morning, saying it was 'almost inconceivable Boris could be so wrong' and accused him of 'running on [a] toxic combo of whinge and grievance'.

The Mayor of London also came under fire from other Tory MPs, including Simon Burns, a passionate supporter of the US Democratic Party who told MailOnline that Mr Johnson was 'wrong' to hit out at Mr Obama's planned intervention.

Boris Johnson, right, has launched an attack on US President Barack Obama, left, ahead of his visit to the UK where he is expected to tell British voters they should remain in the EU

The US President (pictured boarding Air Force in Dallas yesterday) is planning a 'big, public reach-out' to British voters to make the case for staying in the Brussels club

He said the US President is 'always welcome in the United Kingdom' as the US is 'our greatest ally in the world'.

And Labour's Tristram Hunt described Mr Johnson's remarks as a 'ridiculous attack' on Mr Obama, and accused him of having 'run out of proper arguments already'.

Writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said: 'Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?

'The idea is laughable, and completely alien to American traditions.

'So why is it essential for Britain to comply with a system that the Americans would themselves reject out of hand? Is it not a blatant case of 'Do as I say, but not as I do.'

Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, said Boris Johnson's criticism of Obama's planned intervention proved the London Mayor was 'seriously adrift in the [EU] argument'

The London Mayor, pictured meeting apprentices at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park today, accused Mr Obama of 'blatant hypocrisy' because the US would never 'subject itself to institution such as the EU'

The Mayor of London said no nation on earth defends its sovereignty with more 'hysterical vigilance' than the US and it would not subject itself to an institution such as the EU.

He wrote: 'Some time in the next couple of months we are told that President Obama himself is going to arrive in this country, like some deus ex machina, to pronounce on the matter.

'Air Force One will touch down; a lectern with the presidential seal will be erected. The British people will be told to be good to themselves, to do the right thing.

'We will be informed by our most important ally that it is in our interests to stay in the EU, no matter how flawed we may feel that organisation to be.

'Never mind the loss of sovereignty; never mind the expense and the bureaucracy and the uncontrolled immigration.

Labour's Tristram Hunt attacked Boris Johnson for his 'ridiculous attack' on Barack Obama

Barack Obama (pictured greeting people yesterday at a Democratic National Convention in Dallas) will fly to Britain next month to urge voters to back staying in the EU

'The American view is very clear. Whether in code or en clair, the President will tell us all that UK membership of the EU is right for Britain, right for Europe, and right for America.

'And why? Because that  or so we will be told  is the only way we can have 'influence' in the counsels of the nations.

'It is an important argument, and deserves to be taken seriously. I also think it is wholly fallacious  and coming from Uncle Sam, it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy.

PETITION TO STOP OBAMA MAKING PRO-EU SPEECH ATTRACTS 20,000 The US President (pictured) will fly to Britain next month to urge voters to back staying in the EU A campaign to stop Barack Obama from intervening in the EU debate has already won the backing of nearly 20,000 signatures. The online petition was launched on the UK Parliament's website to 'Prevent Obama From Speaking In Westminster Regarding The In/Out Referendum'. The US President will fly to Britain next month to urge voters to back staying in the European Union. He is planning a 'big, public reach-out' to British voters to make the case for staying in the Brussels club. But Brexit campaigners have hit back, saying the intervention from the president of a country that won its independence through a civil war was hypocritical and told Mr Obama to 'keep his views to himself'. And the online petition has already attracted 19,404 signatures - easily passing the 10,000 threshold needed for the Government to give a response. If it reaches 100,000 names the motion will be considered for a debate by MPs in the House of Commons. Advertisement

'There is no country in the world that defends its own sovereignty with such hysterical vigilance as the United States of America.

'This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control.

'Almost two and a half centuries ago the American colonists rose up and violently asserted the principle that they  and they alone  should determine the government of America, and not George III or his ministers.

'To this day the Americans refuse to kneel to almost any kind of international jurisdiction. Alone of Western nations, the US declines to accept that its citizens can be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

'They have not even signed up to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?'

Mr Johnson also ridiculed efforts by some in Brussels to copy the American federal system by creating a 'United States of Europe,' arguing that the 'profound difference' was the Americans had a 'single culture, a single language, a single and powerful global brand and a single government that commands national allegiance'.

'It has a national history, a national myth, a demos that is the foundation of their democracy.

'The EU has nothing of the kind,' he added.

But taking to Twitter to voice his criticism of Mr Johnson's remarks, Mr Soames wrote: 'Almost inconceivable Boris could be so wrong. Strong evidence in DT [Daily Telegraph] today that he is seriously adrift in the argument.'

He added: 'Outers running on toxic combo of whinge and grievance. Defeat will come intellectually and politically.

'Worth reflecting that the bite of EU / US have been vital in managing post post Cold War fallout including Iran #essentialtogether.'

And Mr Burns, who has helped campaign for Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign, told MailOnline: 'Boris is a columnist for the Daily Telegraph and he's perfectly entitled to his view.

'I happen to think it's wrong in that I suspect Barack Obama's always welcome in the United Kingdom.

'It's up to him and whether he thinks it's wise or not. They are our greatest ally in the world and he is always in my mind welcome in the United Kingdom.'

Mr Obama is said to be planning a 'big, public reach-out' to British voters when he stops off in the UK on his way to open the Hannover Messe 2015 technology fair on April 24.

Asked about reports of Mr Obama's visit, the Prime Minister's spokeswoman said: 'I think the PM is focussed on getting out and about around the country making the case for why we think it is in the U's interests to stay in a reformed EU.

Ukip's MP Douglas Carswell mocks Downing Street adviser Daniel Korski, who was the official who contacted the former BCC chief John Longworth to try and stop him from speaking out against the EU

Tory MP Stewart Jackson also accuses Mr Obama of hypocrisy over his planned intervention in the EU debate

'He said when he was in France at the summit recently that lots of people are making their views known on this issue, including international leaders.

'These are people who wish Britain well and they are worth listening to but because the Prime Minister is the one who has delivered on his promise of a referendum it will be up to every person in this country to make up their own mind about whether Britain should remain or leave.'

Mr Johnson's blast today echoed similar remarks by fellow Brexit campaigners yesterday who hit out at the US President's planned intervention, saying he should 'keep his views to himself'.

Steve Baker, one of the leading figures in the Vote Leave campaign, reminded the US President how his country won independence through a civil war and said the Out campaign was planning a much more 'peaceful' solution to 'independence'.

'Whenever a US president intervenes in our constitutional future, I always reread the US Declaration of Independence,' he told The Independent on Sunday.

'We will solve peacefully at the ballot box the problem for which their nation fought a bloody war of insurrection.'

Sir Nicholas Soames accused Boris Johnson and his fellow Brexit campaigners of 'running on [a] toxic combo of whinge and grievance' as he took to Twitter to criticise Mr Johnson's attack on Barack Obama's planned intervention in the EU referendum

Boris Johnson (pictured meeting apprentices at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park today) drew criticism from his fellow Tory MPs for accusing Barack Obama of hypocrisy for urging British voters to stay in the EU

Meanwhile a campaign has been launched on the UK Parliament's website to 'Prevent Obama From Speaking In Westminster Regarding The In/Out Referendum'.

It has already attracted more than 15,000 signatures - passing the 10,000 threshold needed for the Government to give a response.

If it reaches 100,000 names the motion will be considered for a debate by MPs in the House of Commons.

Mr Obama's visit to the UK will be seen as part of Mr Obama's efforts to repair relations with David Cameron after the US President criticised the UK Prime Minister over his foreign policy.

He accused Mr Cameron of being 'distracted' in the aftermath of the Libya intervention in 2011 and said he had left the north African country a 's*** show'.

Barack Obama's intervention next month will be seen as part of efforts to repair relations with David Cameron after the US President criticised the UK Prime Minister over his foreign policy

Mr Obama's trip to the UK next month will be his first meeting with Mr Cameron after openly criticised Mr Cameron's foreign policy in Libya last week.

The US President used a damning interview with The Atlantic magazine to claim Mr Cameron had been 'distracted by other things' when he should have been stabilising Libya in 2011.

And he revealed that he warned Mr Cameron last summer that the 'special relationship' between Britain and America would be lost if he refused to commit to spending the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

He said he wanted Britain and France to take the lead in Libya to break their habit of 'pushing us to act but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game'.

His remarkably candid remarks put the 'special relationship' between the two countries at risk and the White House scrambled to repair relations with Downing Street hours after the interview was published.

Matthew Barzun, the US Ambassador to the UK posted a series of tweets insisting the relationship between the two countries remained 'special' and 'essential' while the White House sent out aides to praise Mr Cameron as a 'close partner' of Mr Obama.

But the former International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell hit back at Mr Obama, rejecting his criticism and dismissed his comments as 'unfair'.

And he said Mr Obama has questions to answer himself over his handling of the crisis in Syria.

'The French and British governments did an immense amount of stabilisation planning and support for the period after the immediate conflict was over. But the truth is there was no peace to stabilise,' he said.

Mr Mitchell added: 'The President has every right to express a view over Libya. America did not show a leadership role and many of us have been dismayed that America continues not to show a leadership role in the cataclysmic events which have, and are, taking place in Syria.'

A White House spokesman said there was no visit planned to the UK 'at this time'.

Britain's 'special relationship' with the US comes under threat as ex-Cabinet minister hits back at Obama over his 'unfair' attack on Cameron's Libya 's*** show'... and takes a swipe at US President's record in Syria

Row: David Cameron and Barack Obama, pictured together at the G7 summit, have clashed over defence spending - and now the US President said the Prime Minister's work in Libya was a 's***show'

Britain's 'special relationship' with the United States came under threat today as a former Cabinet minister hit back at Barack Obama after he savaged David Cameron for leaving Libya a 's*** show' after intervening to oust Colonel Gadaffi in 2011.

The US scrambled to repair relations with the UK Prime Minister hours after Mr Obama criticised his foreign policy in a candid interview that revealed a remarkable insight into the US President's private views of Mr Cameron.

Matthew Barzun, the US Ambassador to the UK posted a series of tweets insisting the relationship between the two countries remained 'special' and 'essential' while the White House sent out aides to praise Mr Cameron as a 'close partner' of Mr Obama.

The US President used a damning interview with The Atlantic magazine yesterday to claim Mr Cameron had been 'distracted by other things' when he should have been stablising Libya in 2011.

And he revealed that he warned Mr Cameron last summer that the 'special relationship' between Britain and America would be lost if he refused to commit to spending the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

He said he wanted Britain and France to take the lead in Libya to break their habit of 'pushing us to act but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game'.

But Andrew Mitchell, who was the International Development Secretary at the time of the Libya intervention, rejected Mr Obama's criticism and dismissed his comments as 'unfair'.

And he said Mr Obama has questions to answer himself over his handling of the crisis in Syria.

'The French and British governments did an immense amount of stabilisation planning and support for the period after the immediate conflict was over. But the truth is there was no peace to stabilise,' he said.

Mr Mitchell added: 'The President has every right to express a view over Libya. America did not show a leadership role and many of us have been dismayed that America continues not to show a leadership role in the cataclysmic events which have, and are, taking place in Syria.'

However Mr Obama received backing from other senior Tories in the UK, including John Baron, a former army captain who said Mr Obama was 'right to say that Libya is a shambles'.

In the wide-ranging interview with Mr Obama, it was revealed:

Mr Obama warned Mr Cameron the 'special relationship would be destroyed if Britain did not meet the Nato target of spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence

He told the PM that 'free riders aggravate me' as he told him to 'pay your fair share'

Mr Obama cited Britain as a 'major factor' in his decision no to enforce the 'red line' on the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime

The President said Mr Cameron became 'distracted' after Britain's initial intervention in Libya in the spring of 2011

The US policy of leaving Libya to the UK and France 'didn't work'

Mr Obama thought the situation in Libya 'broke down very quickly' and the British and French left the country a 's*** show'

Barack Obama (pictured waving from Marine One at the White House in Washington today) quickly sought to repair relations with David Cameron after he criticised the UK Government's foreign policy in an interview

In the interview yesterday Mr Obama said he wanted Mr Cameron and the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy to take charge of the campaign to oust Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi in the spring of 2011 instead of relying on the US acting 'unilaterally'.

Mr Obama believed the UK and France were too happy to rely on the US to deal with conflicts on Europe's doorstep but was keen for them to take the lead in the fight against Gadaffi.

He even went as far as describing the likes of Britain and France as 'free riders,' adding later that he had told Mr Cameron that 'free riders aggravate me' when he had told the PM: 'You have to pay your fair share'.

In a damning assessment of Mr Cameron's record in Libya, Mr Obama said bluntly that the intervention 'didn't work' and had left the country a 's*** show'.

Mr Obama said he had more faith in the Europeans but admitted it had been a mistake to trust Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy.

'When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong, there's room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya's proximity, being invested in the follow-up,' Mr Obama said.

He revealed his irritation as he said Mr Cameron became 'distracted by a range of other things' in the aftermath of the Libya campaign, while the French president was ousted a year.

Mr Cameron and Mr Obama, pictured together in the Oval Office, have enjoyed a mostly close relationship over the past several years with a series of bilateral meetings

But hours after the interview was published White House aides were quick to brief the media to insist that Mr Obama 'deeply values' his relationship with Mr Cameron.

And this morning Mr Barzun attempted to repair relations this side of the Atlantic by taking to Twitter to reaffirm the 'special' relationship between the two countries.

He wrote: 'We've long worked together for a more peaceful, prosperous & just world  Look at NATO, Iran deal, counter-terrorism, Ebola, trade & aid.'

Mr Barzun added: 'Our relationship is essential. It is special. True yesterday, true today & will be true tomorrow.'

Matthew Barzun, the US Ambassador to the UK posted a series of tweets insisting the relationship between the two countries remained 'special' and 'essential' while the White House sent out aides to praise Mr Cameron as a 'close partner' of Mr Obama

The US President (pictured outside the White House today) used a damning interview with The Atlantic magazine yesterday to claim Mr Cameron had been 'distracted by other things' when he should have been stablising Libya in 2011

US National Security Council spokesman Edward Price appeared in in the wake of the interview and said: 'Prime Minister Cameron has been as close a partner as the president has had, and we deeply value the UK's contributions on our shared national security and foreign policy objectives which reflect our special and essential relationship.

'With respect to Libya, the president has long said that all of us - including the United States - could have done more in the aftermath of the Libyan intervention.

'More broadly, the UK has stepped up on a range of issues, including PM Cameron's leadership within Nato in terms of meeting the 2% commitment and pressing the other members of the alliance to do so at the Wales Summit'.

Mr Cameron's official spokesman declined to comment on private conversations between Mr Obama and the Prime Minister, but insisted that Britain had made efforts to help the people of Libya build a stable and peaceful future in the wake of Gaddafi's overthrow.

'We would share the president of the United States' assessment that there are some real challenges in Libya,' she told a regular Westminster media briefing.

'That is why we are continuing to work hard with our international partners, including the US, and through the United Nations to support the process in Libya that puts in place a government that can bring stability to that country.'

Mr Obama said he had more faith in the Europeans but admitted it had been a mistake to trust Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy.

'When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong, there's room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya's proximity, being invested in the follow-up,' Mr Obama said.

He revealed his irritation as he said Mr Cameron became 'distracted by a range of other things' in the aftermath of the Libya campaign, while the French president was ousted a year.

Explaining why he wanted Europe to play the lead in Libya, Mr Obama said: 'Sometimes we're going to get what we want precisely because we are sharing in the agenda.

'The irony is that it was precisely in order to prevent the Europeans and the Arab states from holding our coats while we did all the fighting that we, by design, insisted.'

The US President said Mr Cameron became 'distracted' after Britain's initial intervention in Libya in the spring of 2011 (pictured, Cameron meets patients and staff at the Tripoli Medical Centre in Tripoli to mark the end of Gadaffi's 'colonisation' of the oil-rich country

He added: 'It was part of the antifree rider campaign.'

In the interview, Mr Obama also cited Britain as a 'major factor' in his decision not to enforce the 'red line' on the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.

The President called off at the last minute a planned attack in response to the gassing as he decided to refer the issue to a vote in Congress.

Mr Obama said: 'We had UN inspectors on the ground who were completing their work, and we could not risk taking a shot while they were there.

Obama accused David Cameron (pictured with the then French President Nicholas Sarkozy, right) of becoming 'distracted by other things' and added then French president Nicolas Sarkozy was kicked out by the electorate a year after the campaign

'A second major factor was the failure of Cameron to obtain the consent of his parliament.'

The US President also revealed he addressed defence spending with the Prime Minister at last June's G7 summit.

Just weeks later, Chancellor George Osborne delivered his summer Budget which included increased defence spending.

Mr Cameron had been criticised by his own backbenchers over the threat Britain would fall behind the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

But in a stark warning from the US President, he said 'free riders aggravate me' in the talks with Mr Cameron, and told him: 'You have to pay your fair share.'

Speaking shortly after Mr Osborne's announcement, Mr Cameron said: 'It's about making sure we are safe in a very dangerous and unstable world.

'Because we've got a strong economy we can now make the commitment to spending more - over and above inflation - on defence, as much potentially as 6billion more between now and 2020, and that will make sure Britain is safer.'

Highlighting the threat from Islamic extremism on a visit to an RAF base, he said: 'And I'm absolutely determined that the RAF, Army and Navy will have the equipment, the means and the resources to deal with it.

'One of the things that we need is making sure that we have the drones, spy planes and special forces - the unique capabilities that make sure we can deal with this threat at its source.'

Mr Barron, Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay who has been a constant critic of Mr Cameron's intervention in Libya, Syria and Iraq, backed Mr Obama's assessment of Britain's failure in north Africa.

'President Obama is right that Libya is a shambles,' he said.

'We did not understand the complexities of the situation, or how events would play out post-conflict. This lack of knowledge has once again caused a worse situation, including the presence of extremists such as Daesh, as well as an immigration crisis.
Columnist Celeste Liddle has launched a petition slamming Facebook for banning her personal account for the second time, after she posted an image of topless Indigenous Australian women painted for traditional ceremonial dancing.

Ms Liddle posted a link to a New Matilda article, with a transcript of a keynote address she delivered at the Queen Victoria Womens Centre for International Women's Day in March.

Accompanying the address was an image of two topless Indigenous women in colourful skirts, painted for traditional ceremonial dancing in Central Australia.

Scroll down for video

The image accompanying Celeste Liddle's transcript on New Matilda, that was banned by Facebook for breaching their codes with regards to nudity

Facebook suspended her account on Friday night because the image had 'breached Facebook's codes with regards to nudity'.

Ms Liddle set up a petition on change.org titled 'Facebook: Aboriginal women practicing culture are not offensive' which has currently got more than 12,900 signatures.

She told Daily Mail Australia the community response to the petition had been 'fantastic'.

'I didn't know that anyone would sign it, I was just hoping to draw people's attention to the issue and I guess at least it's got people thinking.

'I want Facebook to investigate their own community standards, particularly when it refers to cultural standards.'

Ms Liddle did not choose the image, but said she supported it being at the top of the transcript, because it illustrated a point she had made in her keynote address.

She said she had been trying to contact Facebook non-stop.

'I think that if they're going to be an international platform they need to gain a bit more knowledge on cultural acceptability,' Ms Liddle said.

She also criticised Facebook in being selective for what they allow on the site, and said it was a platform for bullying.

A still from ABC TV series 8MMM Aboriginal Radio showing two elderly topless women painted with ochre

A Facebook post advertising the ABC TV series 8MMM Aboriginal Radio, that was removed last year for breaching Facebook's codes with regards to nudity

'They're more than willing to allow Kim Kardashian all over there (on Facebook) completely naked, so I think they need to actively look at their community standards,' she said.

'They seem to have to a problem with putting up other images of women and endlessly exploiting them on their platform.

'I actively wanted to challenge the idea that two female elders could be seen as pornographic'.

This is not the first time the social media platform has banned Ms Liddell from accessing her account.

Last year she posted a link to an ABC TV trailer advertising a comedy series, 8MMM Aboriginal Radio, showing two topless elderly Indigenous women painted in ochre.

At the time, the show's co-creator Rachel Clements told the Sydney Morning Herald that it 'was silly and disrespectful to the women who were dancing for us'.

'Out of all the reasons we could have been pulled, nudity is not high on the list. It's ridiculous,' she said.

Ms Liddle said she expected to be banned from Facebook the second time.

'It is ridiculous that it has (been banned) but I kind of assumed that by posting it up again they would have looked into their standards in the meantime'.
Two freshman have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing a campus chapel Friday with homophobic and racial slurs, penises, a swastika - and bizarrely - the word 'Trump'.

Northwestern University students Anthony Morales, 19, and Matthew Kafker, 18, were both held on $50,000 bail for charges of institutional vandalism, hate crime to a place of worship and criminal damage to property.

University chaplain Tim Stevens, who said he discovered the defacement, told the New York Daily News: 'It's disturbing to think that someone who's been in this space would be venting some sort of rage that way.

'I feel bad for them that they can't handle it in a more productive way.'

Anthony Morales, 19 (left) and Matthew Kafker, 18 (right) were both charged after they allegedly vandalized a campus chapel in Chicago Friday

The pair allegedly scrawled homophobic and racial slurs, penises, a swastika - and bizarrely - the word 'Trump' in the Alice Millar Chapel on the school's Evanston campus (pictured)

The pair allegedly entered the nondenominational Alice Millar Chapel on the school's Evanston campus in Chicago around 12:45 am Friday.

Kafter and Morales then graffitied one hallway with a slur for African-Americans and a swastika, while in another part of the chapel, they wrote a slur for homosexuals and spray painted over photos of Muslim students, according to police.

They drew penises on an organ and over the word 'God' written in the hallway.

And finally, in the stairwell, they scrawled the GOP presidential front-runner's surname.

University President Morton Schapiro condemned 'abhorrent act of vandalism' and in an email to students obtained by the Daily Northwestern, said: 'Northwestern is committed to creating a safe, secure and welcoming environment for all of our students, faculty and staff.

Donald Trump, above, has been accused of racism by a number of liberals on social media

Kafter and Morales then graffitiid one hallway with a slur for African-Americans and a swastika. While in another part of the chapel, they wrote a slur for homosexuals and spray painted over photos of Muslim students

'This disgusting act of hatred violates the deepest values and core commitments of our University and is an affront to us all.'

It is not clear why the students allegedly targeted the chapel or how they accessed it after hours.

Stevens told the News that the 'Trump' addition was the most baffling from the crime and added: 'I can't speculate whatever it was inside them that needed to be expressed through that.'

In their hearing Saturday, Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas told the teens: 'These allegations are disgusting to me.

'I don't know if any of you know how lucky you are to be at Northwestern University', as Morales' mother sobbed in the gallery.

The pair appeared in court wearing jeans and T-shirts and never spoke, according to the Chicago Tribune.

University Police are investigating and reviewing video footage to locate those responsible, according to the Northwestern.
They were once regarded as the height of glamour boasting cocktail bars and libraries on board.

But after more than 60 years of falling out of fashion, the seaplane, which can land and take off on water, is set to make a comeback.

Soon passengers could be flying off the Thames to destinations around the UK after a Scottish company has announced plans to create routes within England from this summer.

Return: Seaplanes, which can land and take off on water, are set to make comeback 60 years after falling out of fashion as Loch Lomond Seaplanes, pictured, launches its first service in England

Pioneer: A Loch Lomond Seaplane is pictured landing in Glasgow a few years ago; the company is now launching in London too

It comes following a surge in popularity of the seaplane in countries such as Croatia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, India and Vietnam.

The Scottish company Loch Lochmond Seaplanes currently runs flights around the west coast north of the border.

But now, its managing director and chief pilot has said he plans to expand routes after claiming that travellers are crying out for a new form of travel.

Former intercontinental pilot, David West, the company's founder, told The Times newspaper that passengers were attracted to the seaplane because they could avoid spending hours at an airport before getting on board.

Classic: A seaplane sponsored by the Daily Mail takes off at the Devon resort of Torquay in the early 1910s

London: A seaplane on the Thames near Westminster Bridge in 1919, carrying newspapers to Margate

Mr West said: 'You can turn up 15 minutes before your flight park your car by the side of the water and get on board. This is the simplicity of it.'

He added: 'It is this wonderful experience rather than something you have to endure.'

You can turn up 15 minutes before your flight, park your car by the side of the water and get on board David West, former intercontinental pilot

Passengers are also allowed to use their phones on board as part of a relaxed approach to flying.

The company brands itself the longest-standing seaplane company in Europe and operates sightseeing tours around the west coast of Scotland.

When it launches in England, it will be the first time a dedicated service has been operated since the 1950s.

The first route will take passengers from London to the island of Osea  a luxury holiday resort off the coast of Essex.

The 400-acre island, which is only accessible by boat or helicopter, has attracted the likes of actress Sienna Miller and model Poppy Delevigne.

Destination The first route will take passengers from London to the island of Osea, off the coast of Essex

Route: This map shows how the seaplane will travel from London on the 41-mile journey to Osea Island

Popular: The 400-acre island of Osea, which is only accessible by boat or helicopter, has attracted the likes of actress Sienna Miller (left) and model Poppy Delevigne (right)

Thanks to the elite visitors, Osea is referred to as the 'Essex Necker Island'  after Sir Richard Branson's Caribbean retreat.

From this summer, two aircraft a day will land on the leafy island owned by music producer Nigel Frieda - where visitors are welcomed on an invitation only basis.

But Mr West has claimed that he does not want the flights to remain a preserve of the super-rich and hopes to make tickets available from 89.

He said that one day he hopes to receive permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to run flights from the Thames up to the company's headquarters on Loch Lomond in Scotland.
A toddler was pulled alive from a vehicle after a tree hit it and killed the driver on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.

Fire officials say the male driver died, but a passerby was able to save the little girl from the backseat of the BMW X3 that was in Seward Park.

The little girl suffered minor injuries and was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

Originally firefighters thought the driver was a woman, but once they removed the tree from the crushed vehicle they confirmed it was actually a man, KCPQ reported.

His identity or the child's has not been released.

A toddler was pulled alive from a vehicle after a tree hit it and killed the driver in Sunday afternoon in Seattle

Fire officials say the male driver died, but a passerby was able to save the little girl from the backseat of the BMW X3 that was in Seward Park

The little girl suffered minor injuries and was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment

It's not clear if the car was parked or moving at the time the huge tree fell in the 8500 block of Seward Park Road.

The Seattle Times reported that it took rescue crews almost two hours with heavy equipment to lift the heavy tree off of the destroyed SUV.

The area has been hit by strong winds this weekend, causing trees to fall and knock out power for thousands of people.

Officials warned that trees are vulnerable to fall during Sunday's big windstorm as recent storms in the area have weakened them.

The Seattle Times reported that a tree fell into a Lakewood home and another in West Seattle on Sunday.

It's not clear if the car was parked or moving at the time the huge tree fell in the 8500 block of Seward Park Road

The Seattle Times reported that it took rescue crews almost two hours with heavy equipment to lift the heavy tree off of the destroyed SUV.

In parts of South Seattle, traffic lights were knocked out as roads throughout the area were blocked by downed trees and power lines.

A slide of debris that briefly blocked railroad tracks south of Mukilteo on Sunday caused Amtrak and Sound Transit between Seattle and Everett to be suspended until Tuesday.

It's estimated that more than 200,000 customers are without power throughout the Puget Sound region, The Seattle Times reported.

More than 51,000 customers were without power at 4.45pm on Sunday with Seattle City Light as Puget Sound Energy reported more than 165,000 were also without power.

Officials estimate that it could take two days to full restore power to all customers, spokeswoman Christina Donegan told The Seattle Times.

She explained that it all depends on the weather because crews can not work outside with such strong winds.

Sunday afternoon the National Weather Service reported that gusts reached 50mph near Boeing Field and were at 76mph near Moclips on the coast

The Seattle Times reported that wind gust as high as 65mph are expected throughout Sunday night and that more power outages will likely continue as more trees and power lines will likely be knocked down.

'It looks like the whole area is going to be pretty susceptible to this storm,' Seattle City Light spokesman Greg St. Peter told The Seattle Times.

'We are expecting some big gusts. I think a lot of trees are going to keep coming down.'
Australia's ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was 'slightly shaken' by the blast, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop

Australia's ambassador to Turkey was just 20 metres away from the huge explosion that rocked the Turkish capital of Ankara, killing 34 people and wounding at least 125 others on Sunday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said James Larsen and local embassy staff escaped without harm, and that no Australians were known to have been killed or injured at this stage, Fairfax Media reported.

Mr Larsen was in his car near Kizilay Square at the time of the blast and appeared to be 'slightly shaken' after the incident, according to Ms Bishop who spoke to the ambassador.

'He likened it to a bomb going off in the middle of one of Sydney's busiest streets ... it was an horrific sight,' Ms Bishop said.

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park near busy Kizilay square in central Ankara.

Gunfire was also heard after blast, while ambulances rushed to the area, officials said.

Ms Bishop said the attack was 'terrifying' and cautioned both Australians abroad and those intending to travel to the area to check travel warnings by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

'Until we can stamp out terrorism in all its forms, these kind of attacks will continue,' Ms Bishop said.

'This is deeply worrying because these terrorist organisations are exporting their model of terrorist attack, and it can happen at any time and anywhere.'

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People and policemen try to help a wounded victim after the blast

Fire-fighters extinguish a burning car after the explosion which occurred near a crowded bus station

Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara's main road

Turkey's health minister said 30 people were killed on the scene, including two suicide bombers, and four others died at hospital. Another 125 people were being treated in hospital, including 19 in critical conditions and seven currently undergoing surgery.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the attack, which came as Turkey prepared to launch large-scale military operations against Kurdish militants in two towns, wouldn't deter the country from its fight against terrorism.

A local reporter said the blast took place where several bus stops are located in one of Ankara's main roads.

The Kizilay neighbourhood is a key commercial and transport hub close to a number of government agencies, embassies and parliamentary buildings.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul (R) welcomes Australian Ambassador James Martin Larsen (C) at the Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey on February 25, 2014

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion on Kizilay square, a key shopping and transport hub close to the city's embassy area

Footage from the scene showed the exact moment the bomb went off

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park near busy Kizilay square in central Ankara

After the explosion, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter

Gunfire was also heard after blast, while ambulances rushed to the area, officials said

A vehicle burns after an explosion that killed 27 people and wounded 75 others in Ankara

A huge explosion has hit the Turkish capital of Ankara killing and wounding many people

The blast occurred near a bus station in central Ankara, capital of Turkey

Several vehicles had caught fire following the huge blast and emergency services were at work

NTV television said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb.

Earlier, the Ankara's governor office said 27 people were killed and 75 others wounded in the blast.

'The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square,' it said.

However, a local media analyst told MailOnline the death toll could be considerably higher as hospital sources reported that at least 138 bodies have been recovered.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. An Ankara court has ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter in the country after images from the explosion were shared.

Forensic officers work on the site of the suicide attack in Ankara

Pictures of the aftermath showed cars burning, charred buses and several scattered bodies

The US embassy in Ankara had warned about a potential terrorist attack with a statement on 11 March

Burnt vehicles and charred buses can be seen after the explosion in central Ankara

The Ankara's governor office said 27 people were killed and 75 others wounded in the blast. 'The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square,' it said.

However, a local media analyst told MailOnline the death toll could be considerably higher as hospital sources reported that at least 138 bodies have been recovered

A television channel said the bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizila

Smoke could be seen rising above the area from a distance 2.5 km away. Dramatic CCTV footage appeared to show the moment a huge car bomb went off.

In the video, several cars can be seen moving past a bus in a road close to Ankara's main square, Kizilay. A massive blast can then be seen, setting nearby vehicles ablaze.

Medical sources said the wounded had been taken to 10 different hospitals around the city, with a dozen said to be in a very serious condition.

Dogan Asik, 28, said he was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

'There were about 40 people,' said Asik, who sustained injuries on his face and arm. 'It (the bus) slowed down. A car went by us, and `boom' it exploded.'

One senior security official told Reuters initial findings suggested the attack had been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated militant group, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people. Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for that attack.

The US embassy in Ankara issued a warned about a potential terrorist attack on 11 March.

A wounded person reacts near the scene of a blast in Ankara, on Kizilay square, a key hub in the city

A woman sits sobs on the sidewalk after the attack that ripped through a busy square in central Ankara

Forensic police work near burnt-out vehicles at the scene of the Ankara blast

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people

A local reporter said the blast took place where several bus stops are located in one of Ankara's main roads

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park in central Ankara

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that there is information regarding a potential terrorist plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing located in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara. U.S. citizens should avoid this area,' it said.

'We advise U.S. citizens to review their personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings and local events, monitor local news stations for updates, and follow local authority instructions.'

Following the blast, Turkey's Broadcasting Authority issued a ban on broadcasting videos from the scene.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was convening an emergency security meeting.

Prime Minister David Cameron reacted to the bombing with a statement on Twitter: 'I'm appalled by the devastating terror attacks in Ankara and the Ivory Coast. My thoughts are with all those affected.'

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: 'My thoughts & deep condolences to everyone affected by today's #Ankara & #IvoryCoast terror attacks. Both appalling attacks on civilians.'

WORST BOMB ATTACKS IN TURKEY SINCE 1982 - March 13, 2016: At least 27 people are killed and dozens wounded in a car bombing near Ankara's main Kizilay square. - February 17, 2016: 29 are killed in a car bombing targeting the Turkish military in Ankara. The attack is claimed by a group calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) but Turkish authorities say there was also a Syrian Kurdish link. - January 12, 2016: Eleven German tourists are killed and another 16 people wounded in a suicide attack by a Syrian bomber in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district, the ancient tourist heart of the city. - October 10, 2015: 103 people are killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. - July 20, 2015: 34 people are killed and about 100 injured in a suicide bombing in the predominantly-Kurdish town of Suruc near the border with Syria. Turkish officials blame IS. - May 11, 2013: A twin car bomb attack kills 52 people in Reyhanli near the Syrian border. Ankara blames pro-Damascus groups. - February 11, 2013: 17 people are killed when a Syrian minibus explodes in Reyhanli. - July 27, 2008: Two bombings in Istanbul leave 17 dead and 115 wounded. The authorities blame the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). - September 12, 2006: Ten people, including children, are killed in a bomb blast in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast. The PKK denies involvement. - November 15 and 20, 2003: Four suicide car bomb attacks in Istanbul hit two synagogues, the British consulate and a branch of the British multinational bank HSBC, leaving 63 dead, including Britain's consul general, and hundreds wounded. The attacks are claimed by Al-Qaeda and a Turkish extremist group named the Islamic Front of Raiders of the Great Orient. - March 13, 1999: Twelve are killed in a firebombing on an Istanbul shopping mall. The attack is claimed by the PKK, which later retracts its statement. - December 25, 1991: Explosives and firebombs are hurled at an Istanbul department store, killing 17 people and injuring 23. The attack is blamed on the PKK. - September 6, 1986: A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic Jihad kills 22 people at a synagogue in Istanbul. - August 7, 1982: A bomb at Ankara airport followed by a gun battle leaves 11 dead and 63 injured. The attack is claimed by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). Advertisement

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people




Landlords are exploiting legal loopholes to make millions off housing benefits while providing sub-standard and dangerous accommodation, an investigation has revealed.

More than 200 individual landlords across the country have collected more than 1million each in housing benefits over the last three years, Mondays Dispatches will show.

The programme, airing on Channel 4, investigates how private landlords are now the fastest growing provider of accommodation for housing benefit tenants, receiving 9billion a year from public funds.

Landlords are exploiting legal loopholes to make millions off housing benefits while providing sub-standard and dangerous accommodation (pictured), an investigation has revealed

One scheme exploited by landlords in London sees landlords convert hundreds of houses into properties containing multiple tiny units, each with a small shower room and basic cooking facilities (pictured)

Although many landlords provide good homes, the investigation finds that some are still collecting money from the taxpayer while placing people in dangerous accommodation.

One scheme exploited by landlords in London sees them convert hundreds of houses into properties containing multiple tiny units, each with a small shower room and basic cooking facilities.

This means that they can claim a higher rate of housing benefit than if they were renting out a fully shared property.

Housing Benefit Millionaires, which airs at 8pm, examines two properties in Brent, North London, and discovers that one letting agent is collecting nearly 70,000 per year and another nearly 80,000 per year in housing benefit.

One of these agents is believed to have almost 100 of these properties across the capital, earning them upwards of 2million from the taxpayer over the last three years.

In an attempt to combat the housing crisis, some councils are also offering private landlords financial incentives to rent their properties to people on housing benefits.

Mr Barnett (pictured pointing out some of the damp in the property) visits different properties where landlords are making money from the housing benefit scheme

Although many landlords provide good homes, the investigation finds that some are still collecting money from the taxpayer while placing people in dangerous accommodation

The Dispatches team secretly filmed one letting agent revealing that they receive between 800 and 1000 from local authorities to find rooms for housing benefit tenants.

Dr Victoria Cooper, lecturer in Social Policy at the Open University, tells the programme: Approximately 40 per cent of the housing benefit budget is spent on the private rented sector.

What were seeing is a redistribution of wealth and while public funds were previously spent within social housing and then used to reinvest to expand that social housing, this is no longer the case.

With the private rented sector the money isnt redistributed and it simply goes into the pockets of private landlords.

A group of London councils including Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark have become increasingly concerned about the loophole and have received funds from central government to investigate further.

Landlords can claim a higher rate of housing benefit with a property that is divided up into smaller 'flats' (as shown above) than if they were renting out a fully shared property

The consortium plan to inspect 1,500 letting units that attract more than 15m a year in housing benefit.

Lawyers acting for the agents told Dispatches: Our companies manage a number of properties in London and across the UK.

Each one is subject to the regulation of the appropriate local council, is inspected by them and subjected to independent certification generally. We have an excellent working relationship with each council.
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Ten portraits of equestrian Olivia Inglis doing what she loved most were mounted on easels in the grounds of St Jude's Anglican Church in Randwick in Sydney's eastern suburbs as her funeral service took place on Monday.

All poster sized, the canvases showed Olivia doing what she loved most: Riding her beloved horses.

One image, which had been created last week by Allira Fontana and shared online with the #RideWithOlivia hashtag, showed the teenager riding through clouds.

Large portraits were on display outside the church where Olivia Inglis' funeral was held in Randwick in Sydney's east on Monday

Over 700 guests attended the service which was held at St Jude's Anglican Church

Racing royalty Gai Waterhouse was among the many guests who gathered to farewell the teenager

One of the canvasses featured the words 'Fly free, fly high'

On the canvas are the words 'Fly Free, Fly High'.

As Olivia's funeral came to close with a medley of her favouite rap songs, the song Forever Young and the St Jude's bells rang 17 times - one for each year of her life, 700 guests filed out and stood among the portraits.

Some of them were life-sized photographs of Olivia in riding gear. Others showed her on the back of a horse leaping over an obstacle while competing in events.

Standing among the portraits girls from NSW's most exclusive schools all attended by Olivia - Ascham, Frensham and St Catherine's - hugged and wept.

This portrait showed Olivia on the back of a horse leaping over an obstacle while competing in an event

Two officers on horseback were outside the church during the service, and later escorted the hearse

Ms Waterhouse took the time to look at each of the portraits of Olivia, a promising young rider

One image, which had been created last week by Allira Fontana and shared online with the #RideWithOlivia hashtag, showed the teenager riding through clouds

Earlier in the day Olivia's parents Arthur and Charlotte delivered a eulogy for their eldest daughter, while her younger sisters Antoinette and Alexandra spoke of the admiration they had for their older sister.

Mr Inglis thanked the medical team who treated his daughter following her fall, revealing: 'Externally she was completely unmarked, including her gear'.

Her mother Charlotte described Olivia as a 'gentle, loving, kind' girl who 'was a joy to have around'.

Antoinette and Alexandra recalled fond memories from their childhood, retelling them to the 700 people that gathered to mourn Olivia's tragic death.

Olivia's friends and family are pictured here carrying her teal blue coffin from the church before loading it in to the hearse

Olivia's parents Charlotte and Arthur hold hands as they leave the church following their daughter's funeral
Timothy Pauley (pictured), 57, was convicted of three murders at a tavern near Seatac, Washington, in 1980

A convicted triple murderer who asked for early release will now spend more than 20 additional years in prison after a board reviewed his sentence.

Timothy Pauley, 57, received three life sentences after killing three people with an accomplice at a tavern near Seatac, in Washington State, in 1980.

He asked to be set free earlier than planned last year after 35 years in prison, as state legislation allow inmates who committed crimes before 1984 to request parole.

But instead of reducing Pauley's sentence, the Department of Corrections' Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board found he should spend at least two additional decades behind bars, the Seattle Times reported.

Members of the review board said Pauley's role in the murder was 'egregious' and that his original sentence didn't meet current standards for similar crimes.

Pauley said earlier this year during a hearing that he panicked as he and another man, Scott Smith, attempted to rob the Barn Door Tavern near Seatac, King5 reported at the time.

He and Smith killed Loran Dowell, the taverns night manager, Robert Pierre, the bartender, and Linda Burford, a former waitress and Pierres girlfriend, the Seattle Times wrote.

Dowell and Pierre were shot in the head while they were tied up in a walk-in cooler and Burford was found raped and hanging from a railing by her neck.

Two more women were left for dead in a restroom and survived after being choked with electrical cords.

Smith was also convicted for the murders and wasn't considered for early release.

'Mr. Pauleys role in the murders was egregious,' the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board said in a statement related by the Seattle Times.

'He had the gun and was responsible for shooting the male victims to death despite the fact that they were already tied up in the cooler and posed no threat to Mr. Pauley or his co-defendant.'

Earlier this year, Pauley told members of the board he had shot the two men due to his struggles with depression, alcohol and drugs and said Smith had committed the third murder, King5 reported.

'I could have put a stop to it right then. I could have walked out but I didn't,' Pauley said.

'I walked past the cooler door, I panicked, I opened the door and I shot these two men. Then I went running out to the car.

'I realize I've done these people some irreparable harm and I'm terribly sorry'

One of Dowell's two daughters told King5 : 'I realize that 35 years is a long time, but it's not long enough.'

Pauley will not be able to seek parole until 2031 following the review board's decision.
A team of ABC journalists detained in Malaysia on Saturday while trying to report on a corruption scandal are receiving consular help, amid fears they could still be charged.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has raised the case with the Malaysian government, and says help is being offered to reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu after they were arrested in Kuching, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

The ABC Four Corners crew was arrested on Saturday night after approaching Prime Minister Najib Razak on the street for comment about why it is alleged $1.4 billion has been deposited into his personal bank account, ABC said.

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Reporter Linton Besser (pictured) and camera operator Louis Eroglu are receiving consular advice after they were detained in Malaysia on Saturday while trying to report on a corruption scandal

The Four Corners crew (Mr Eroglu pictured) were attempting to interview the Prime Minister Najib Razak on the street for comment about why $1.4 billion has been deposited into his personal bank account

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has raised the case with the Malaysian government, and said on Monday that help is being offered (pictured)

Mr Razak did not respond and his security detail surrounded the two and questioned them. They were allowed to leave but were detained again as they returned to their hotel.

Mr Besser and Mr Eroglu were were then held for six hours before being released without their passports.

Their passports were soon returned but they were told they must remain in Kuching while the attorney-general's office decided whether they should be charged, ABC said.

Mr Razak (pictured) did not respond to the two men when they approached him on Saturday but his security detail surrounded the journalists and questioned them

Ms Bishop (pictured) suggested the detention was part of a Malaysian crackdown on press freedom and said Australia was raising their case at the 'highest levels within the Malaysian government'

The Malaysian news agency Bernama cited national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar as saying officials would discuss with Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali whether to charge the pair.

Ms Bishop suggested the detention was part of a Malaysian crackdown on press freedom and said Australia was raising their case at the 'highest levels within the Malaysian government.'

'I'm always concerned where there are instances of a crackdown on freedom of speech in democracies, particularly, and I'm also concerned about the freedom that journalists have to carry out their work in places around the world,' Ms Bishop said on Monday.

Mr Razak is allegedly linked to a bribery and corruption scandal surrounding the death of a socialite in 2006 and critics have questioned if the money was linked to her death

The Malaysian police arrested the men when they returned to their hotel after being stopped by Mr Razak's security detail (stock image)

'Our consular team are giving them support and they are there to give them assistance whenever they need it. Our high commissioner ... in Malaysia is in contact with them.'

Malaysian politicians have called for Mr Razak, 62, to be removed from his office after being under fire over allegations that the money was given directly to him.

The money is thought to be a bribe linked to the killing of Atlantuya Shaariibuu, a socialite, killed in 2006, allegedly by two of Mr Razak's body guards.

In January, Mr Apandi decided not to prosecute the prime minister, saying the money was a 'personal donation' from the Saudi royal family.

The decision whether or not to charge the journalists is expected within the next several days.
Arnold Demoski appeared in court for the first time Sunday and faces charges including assault and reckless endangerment

But musher Jeff King's three-year-old dog Nash died in the incident

An Alaska man accused of intentionally driving a snowmobile into two Iditarod teams at speeds as high as 100 mph has appeared in court for the first time.

Arnold Demoski's bail was set at $50,000 Sunday, according to The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

He faces charges including assault and reckless endangerment after authorities say he rammed into the dog sled teams of Aliy Zirkle and four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King early Saturday.

One of King's dogs died and at least two others were injured.

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Arnold Demoski, 26, of Nulato, appeared in court Sunday and faces charges including assault and reckless endangerment

Nash, a 3-year-old male dog, was killed after being struck by a snowmobile in Alaska early Saturday morning

Banjo and Crosby, who is the brother of deceased dog Nash, were injured in Saturday's incident

Court documents say Demoski was going about 100 mph when he crashed into King's team and about 40 mph when he struck Zirkle's team.

Demoski, 26, appeared in court in Fairbanks by teleconference. Attorney Bill Satterberg declined to comment to the newspaper.

Alaska Dispatch News reported Demoski said he was 'blackout drunk' when the incident occurred around 2 am Saturday.

Race officials said Zirkle, currently running in third place, was approaching Nulato when a person on a snowmobile repeatedly attempted to harm her.

But Demoski denied claims it was a deliberate attack.

'I think I turned around to check on them,' Demoski told Dispatch News. 'They say I continuously attacked them but I turned around because I was concerned.'

He said he was returning from a late-night party in the village of Koyukuk when the crash happened.

Mushers Jeff King (left) and Aliy Zirkle (right) were struck outside the village of Nulatoa community during the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Nash as a puppy, in Jeff King's lap. Nash died Saturday at age three

'I hope they can forgive me,' said Demoski of the mushers he hit.

'I want this community to forgive me and I want my employers to forgive me, and hopefully I can get over this alcohol problem.'

After the incident, King, a four-time Iditarod champion, expressed sympathy for rural Alaskans who suffer from substance abuse.

'There are many wonderful people in these communities, and there's also some very serious social issues in rural communities around Alaska that involve substance abuse,' King wrote on the Facebook page of his kennel Husky Homestead.

'I feel sorry for the communities that have to suffer through that,' King wrote.

Demoski points to the missing front bumper on his snowmobile, which fell off during Saturday morning's crash

Nulato Tribal Council officials offered their condolences Saturday.

'We are disturbed and saddened that celebrated Iditarod veteran dog teams lead by Jeff King and Aliy Zirkle were struck by a resident of our village,' officials wrote, according to Channel 2 News.

'Nulato recognizes the complex behavioral health issues that impact our village and we ask for prayers as we seek wellness for all.'

King was 12 miles from Nulato when three of his dogs were hit by the snowmobile.

Nash's brother Crosby, a three-year-old male, broke a leg. Banjo, a two-year-old male, was knocked unconscious in the incident.

Nash was born in September 2012 alongside three brothers, Crosby, Stills and Young, named after the 1960s folk rock group, according to Dispatch News.

King himself requested medical attention at Nulato.

One dog on Zirkle's team sustained injuries that officials described as non-life-threatening.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating but had no immediate information on the incident.

The world's most famous dog sled race kicked off last Saturday after tons of snow was shipped in to Alaska due to unseasonably warm weather

Now in its 44th year, the race commemorates a 1925 rescue mission that delivered diphtheria serum by sled-dog relay to the western coastal community of Nome on the Bering Sea

Katherine Keith's team leave the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, Alaska, yesterday

There were fears the event would have to be cancelled due to a lack of snow on the course, forcing organizers to have snow delivered to downtown Anchorage

Zirkle left Nulato at 6:16am in third place. King reached Nulato at 3:25am in fifth place.

The race leader is Brent Sass, who left Nulato at 3:43am.

Reigning champ Mitch Seavey is in second place. He left Nulato one minute after Sass.

Seavey's father, former champion Dallas Seavey, reached Nulato at 3:07am and is in fourth place.
Elizabeth O'Pray, 77, has been missing for more than a week in the Blue Mountains region, west of Sydney

One hundred people are now involved in the search for an elderly woman who went missing more than a week ago in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

NSW Police, Rural Fire Service, emergency services and bush wilderness rescue officers were all coordinating their efforts to help try and find Elizabeth O'Pray who left her home at Medlow Bath to go for a walk on Monday night.

ABC reports it is hoped a police helicopter will again be used in the search for the 77-year-old who left her home to go for a walk on Monday night. However, rain and a thunderstorm are forecast for the area later on Monday which could hinder the search.

A resident claimed to have heard someone screaming out at 6.45pm on Friday and as police investigated the Six Foot Track in the Megalong Valley they also heard the cries.

'We put search teams in last night to investigate those cries for help, we've certainly focused on that area today in terms of the ground search,' said Inspector Sonya Tabor.

The rescue squad is scouring the area around Peckman's Plateau and the Feribula look-out, south of Katoomba but pinpointing the cry for help has proved to be difficult.

'It is extremely difficult terrain, voices can carry a long way,' she said.

'The terrain we're looking at today is actually quite thick, difficult terrain. It's a very difficult to cover and requires extensive navigation skills to get through.'

The search for Mrs O'Pray was postponed on Friday evening because of weather conditions in the area, but resumed on Saturday.

Inspector Sonya Talbor told Daily Mail Australia the search was continuing with police personnel doing ground searches. The Polair helicopteris also doing aerial searches, as well as people searching on trail bikes.

Helicopters with heat-sensing equipment were scouring the area but the woman was not found

Mrs O'Pray was reportedly last seen on Grand Canyon Road in Medlow Bath, reportedly walking along a small track leading towards Katoomba

Mrs O'Pray is known to take stroke medication, which can cause confusion in some people.

Rescuers spoke to her on her mobile phone on Tuesday evening when she is believed to have reported that she was OK, but lost.

Local resident Sylvia Swords told the ABC the community is saddened by her disappearance and despite the rescue effort taking so long it is understandable due to the difficult terrain.

Inspector Talbor told the Herald Sun on Friday that the involvement of so many community volunteers has meant a lot to Mrs O'Pray's family.

The NSW Police, Rural Fire Service, emergency services and bush wilderness rescue officers have been used during the land-and-air search

'I would like to recognise and thank all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly and given up their time to assist police with the search,' she said.

Ms O'Pray is described as being of Caucasian appearance, of thin build with short grey hair.

She is believed to be an olive coloured jacket, jeans and black shoes.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen her or know her whereabouts are to urgently contact Blue Mountains Police on (02) 4782 8199 (Katoomba) or (02) 4751 0299 (Springwood) or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Mrs O'Pray reportedly walked along Grand Canyon Road in Medlow Bath and along a small track leading towards Katoomba
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hit back at Donald Trump for inciting violence and 'invited' the Republican's supporters to his events to 'see what a real honest politician sound like'.

Donald Trump had threatened to send his supporters to stage a violent rally at Bernie Sanders' next event.

The billionaire tweeted on Sunday: 'Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!'

The Vermont senator offered a reply back to the businessman, saying to bring them on.

'Send them. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like,' a tweet from Sanders' campaign account read. It appears that the tweet has since been deleted.

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Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (above) hit back at Donald Trump for inciting violence and invited the Republican's supporters to his events to 'see what a real honest politician sound like'

Donald Trump (above) had threatened to send his supporters to stage a violent rally at Bernie Sanders ' next event

It is the latest jibe in an ongoing head-to-head between Trump and Sanders after the GOP frontrunner claimed the protesters that shut down his event in Chicago 'represented Bernie'.

Sanders hit back on Saturday, branding Trump a 'pathological liar'.

Ten people were arrested following the Chicago brawl which left a police officer needing 20 stitches after being hit in the head by a bottle.

The violence in Chicago came hours after a black anti-Trump protester was beaten by a baying mob outside an event in St Louis.

Trump has been accused of encouraging supporters to make 'Nazi-like' hand salutes, a charge he vehemently denies, saying: 'People put their hands in the air at my events. There's nothing sinister about that.'

Donald Trump's tweet threatening to send his supporters to stage a violent rally at Bernie Sanders' next event

In a reply to The Donald, the tweet above was sent from Sanders' campaign Twitter account, but has since been deleted

Bloody brawl: Tensions reached breaking point Friday as Trump's Chicago rally was forced to be shut down after a series of physical brawls and loud demonstrations

On Saturday, the real estate mogul defended his supporters, telling the cheering crowd in Ohio: 'My people are nice! They were taunted, they were harassed. A lot of those [protesters] represented Bernie, our communist friend.'

And added: 'With Bernie, he should really get up and say to his people, 'stop, stop.' Not me. Get your people in line Bernie!'

The billionaire businessman also tweeted Saturday: 'It is Clinton and Sanders people who disrupted my rally in Chicago - and then they say I must talk to my people. Phony politicians!'

But Bernie has been quick to discredit Trump's sensational accusations.

He said in a statement released Saturday afternoon: 'As is the case virtually every day, Donald Trump is showing the American people that he is a pathological liar.

'Obviously, while I appreciate we had supporters at Trump's rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organize the protests.'

He added: 'What caused the protests at Trump's rally is a candidate that has prompted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama.

'What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence and make it clear to his supporters that people who attended his rallies or protest should not be punched, should not be kicked.'

And Sanders is not alone: Every GOP candidate took the Chicago meltdown as an opportunity to denounce Trump's 'violent rhetoric' as being the root cause of rally unrest.

Both Republican and Democratic politicians were united in their condemnation for Trump today, in the wake of bloody violence.

The billionaire businessman also tweeted Saturday calling out Clinton and Bernie's people for inciting violence in Chicago rally

Clash: Pro- and anti-Donald Trump sides clashed in Chicago Friday night at a soon-cancelled rally for the presidential candidate, resulting in violence and arrests

'Toxic': John Kasich (left) said that Trump had created a 'toxic environment' that helped violence to occur, while Marco Rubio (right) said 'Were going backwards here. This is... frightening, grotesque and disturbing'

'Liar': President Obama said that Trump was a product of existing problems in the Republican party - that the candidate was just better at lying, insulting and being uncivil than his peers in the party

Trump's rivals, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Marco Rubio all said that Trump was stirring up a hateful - even 'toxic' - environment in politics, while Democratic hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton ripped into Trump's divisive attitude.

And even President Obama weighed in during a speech at a Democratic fund-raiser, saying that Trump was the inevitable result of what he described as a trend of lying and bullishness in the Republican party.

While Hilary Clinton said this morning: 'You know, we will always have our differences, won't we? That's what happens in a democracy like ours.

'But the ugly, divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it's dangerous.

'If you play with matches, you're going to start a fire you can't control. That's not leadership. That's political arson.
A father who took his five year-old son from his mother in 2002 to create a new life for them in Ohio under fake identities has pleaded guilty to kidnapping.

Bobby Hernandez, 53, changed his name to Jonathan Mangina after moving to Cleveland with the boy. His son Julian Hernandez, who is now 19, grew up known as Jay or JJ.

The deception only came to light last November when the teen, a senior at a Cleveland high school, began the college application process and discrepancies were discovered with his Social Security number.

Today Hernandez pleaded guilty to kidnapping, interference with custody and tampering with records when he appeared at Cuyahoga County Court. His son did not attend.

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Bobby Hernandez, 53 (left), admitted taking his son (pictured right, aged five, shortly before he was taken) from the boy's mother in 2002

Bobby Hernandez, 53, appeared at Cuyahoga County Court today to plead guilty to kidnapping his son

The county prosecutor is pushing for a lengthy sentence - up to 54 years in jail - after damning Hernandez's actions as 'cruel'.

But the 53-year-old's lawyer, Ralph DeFranco, told Cleveland.com his client was 'the perfect father' who provided a good life for his son and is planning to ask the judge for probation.

Hernandez had hatched the elaborate plan to gain custody of his son after he split up with his wife in 2002, Cleveland.com reports.

He had been due to pick up Julian from his ex-wife's home in Vestavia Hills, in the Birmingham area, Alabama to take him to preschool that day.

Instead he left a note telling his wife he had taken their son, authorities say.

Prosecutors said Hernandez fled to Cleveland with his son, where he forged driver's licenses, car titles and school records to evade detection.

His disappearance triggered a national missing-person alert and police investigated hundreds of possible sightings but Julian's real identity was only discovered when he applied for college.

A school counselor learned the teen was actually Julian Hernandez and that he was listed as missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

It was the first time Julian learned his real name - Jonathan Mangina.

Julian Hernandez released a statement after news of his story broke that he 'simply wants to be normal'. Above, (pictured is the home where Bobby and Julian Hernandez lived in Cleveland)

Julian and his father around the time of their disappearance and Julian as he might look now in an age-progressed picture made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as part of a campaign to find him

His father was arrested in November and has remained in custody ever since. He has been warned he could face a lengthy spell behind bars as the crime of interference with custody alone carries a sentence of up to 10 years.

Defense attorney DeFranco said during his trial last year: 'He's pretty upset. He obviously knows there's going to be some consequences.'

Asked if Hernandez knew he'd be caught, DeFranco replied: 'Absolutely. He knew it was coming. He just didn't know when.'

The 53-year-old's (pictured in court) lawyer, Ralph DeFranco said his client was 'the perfect father' who provided a good life for his son

DeFranco described Julian as 'an honors student, happy, healthy, you know doing everything a young man his age should do'.

He received an almost perfect score on the ACT test, and friends say that he was hoping to go to the Ohio State University.

A neighbor said that the 'Mangina' family, including Bobby Hernandez's wife and two younger children, had moved into their house about four years ago.

The teen issued a statement through the FBI last year that asked the news media to leave him alone.

'I ask that you respect my privacy and the privacy of my school, my school's faculty, my friends and my neighbors,' the statement said.

'At this point I just simply want to be normal! I want to go through my day like I did before this week, just being a normal 18-year-old. I have goals that I am striving to meet, so please, again, respect my request for privacy.'

The teen and his mother have been in contact since the revelation, Lieutenant Johnny Evans said.

'How does he cope with going from somebody he thought he was to now somebody that's completely unknown to him?' asked the officer.

Bobby and Julian have also seen each other and spoken on the phone since Hernandez's arrest.

The mother's family said last November, in a statement: 'Our family was overjoyed this week to locate Julian and learn that he is safe. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during Julian's disappearance.'
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin hit the road in Florida Sunday to campaign on behalf of Donald Trump, making stops at a rodeo and a strawberry festival to meet potential voters in the Sunshine State.

On her Facebook page, Palin called Arcadia, the town where the rodeo was held, 'a beautiful all-American city.'

'I love rodeos,' she said at the event. 'We were commercial fishermen in Alaska but I wish we could have been cowboys.'

Sarah Palin poses with a young cowboy at the Arcadia rodeo Sunday

Palin with a law enforcement official at the Arcadia rodeo, where she campaigned for Donald Trump

Of Trump, Palin said: 'He's the only one not part of the problems we're facing today. All of the other guys are part of it,' according to the News-Press.

'This state leads in so many respects, culturally and politically too,' Palin quipped to a local reporter from ABC7.

Palin took the time to pose with guns and stage a photo-op with a group of Wild West-reenactors known as the Arcadia Rodeo Shootout Gang.

Suns out, guns out: Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin poses with a rifle at the Arcadia rodeo Sunday

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and a dozen cowboys in Arcadia, Florida Sunday

After the rodeo, it was time for Palin to head to the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City.

At the berry feast, Palin posed with local residents while eating a bowl of strawberry shortcake and said there would be a 'huge backlash' if Trump doesn't get the Republican party nomination.

GOP officials 'are not in the party on principle,' Palin said. 'They don't want to give up this gravy train they've been sucking off of. If those folks decide to pull something, these folks will be riled up.'

'We'll rise up, and it'll be a healthy thing for democracy,' Palin said, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Strawberry shortcake forever: Palin and two young girls in Plant City, Florida Sunday

Sarah Palin enjoyed some strawberry shortcake and chatted with reporters while surrounded by local sheriff's deputies in Plant City, Florida

Meanwhile, Trump held a rally in Boca Raton, where he began his speech by toting his Sunshine State credentials:

'This is my second home. I love Florida,' he said, before launching a predictable attack on Florida senator Marco Rubio.

'He set a record... For no voting in the senate. We don't need to get into it too big, but you know what's gonna happen? We're gonna make America great again.'

Palin endorsed Trump in a January 19 speech that included such memorable lines as 'They stomp on our neck, and then they tell us, "Just chill, O.K., just relax." Well, look, we are mad, and weve been had. They need to get used to it.'

Trump is set to hold a rally at the Tampa Convention Center Monday ahead of Tuesday's crucial primary election in Florida.
A pregnant mother was forced to sleep at a bus stop with her 'hungry' two-year-old son after Tiger Airways stopped her boarding a plane home, her family has claimed.

Aileen Chand, 30, from Melbourne, was coming home from a weekend away when she tried to board flight TT279 at Sydney Airport on Sunday.

But flight staff said she could not board the plane because she had now entered the 35th week of her pregnancy.

Aileen Chand was 'forced to sleep at a bus stop' after Tiger Airways would not allow her to board a flight

Ms Chand (pictured back left) was 35 weeks pregnant and staff would not let her board due to company policy

PREGNANT WHILE FLYING: WHAT ARE THE RULES? The rules over whether expecting mothers can fly differ from airline to airline in Australia. Tigerair allows women who are 30 - 34 weeks pregnant to fly with a medical certificate. But women more than 35 weeks pregnant may not fly. Virgin Australia passengers need a letter from their doctor or midwife to fly if they are 28 weeks pregnant or greater. Women expecting a single child may fly for up to four hours until their 38th week. Jetstar passengers also need a medical clearance if they are 28 weeks or more pregnant. Women expecting a single child may fly up to four hours until their 40th week. Advertisement

Ms Chand had flown to Sydney on a Tigerair flight just two days prior, when she was in her 34th week.

She produced a doctor's certificate but her husband Sharneet Chand said staff at Sydney Airport on Sunday would not allow her to board.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Mr Chand said the airline's staff told them to go and get another certificate in Sydney for a flight the next day.

It was late at night and, exhausted and out of money, Mr Chand said he asked the staff about accommodation.

He claimed he was told: '(Your) accommodation is not our problem we can only put you on another flight in the morning'.

'So here I (am)... sleeping at a bus stop with my 34 week pregnant wife and a hungry 2 year old son,' Mr Chand wrote.

'(I am) very appalled by the negligence of your Duty of Care for your customers. Especially a pregnant woman and a two-year-old kid.'

Mr Chand said he was 'appalled' the company was unable to organise his young family accommodation either

Tigerair pointed Daily Mail Australia to its in-flight pregnancy policy, which says women over 35 weeks cannot fly

Tigerair spokeswoman Vanessa Regan told Daily Mail Australia pregnant women are not permitted to fly on the airliner from the beginning of the 35th week onwards.

'The safety, comfort and wellbeing of our customers is Tigerair Australias top priority and we never compromise on our safety standards,' Ms Regan said in a statement.

'Our pregnancy policy states... medical certification is required for Tigerair Australia customers who are flying between 30  34 weeks pregnant and that flying is not permitted from the beginning of the 35th week.'

'All airline policies are different which is why it is important to check the relevant detail on the website.'
Motive unclear but family say he had ongoing disputes with other teens in neighborhood

The devastated family of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead Saturday night are now appealing for answers.

Antwan Davis was gunned down on a residential street in Ocoee, Florida just before midnight Saturday and was found lying on the sidewalk, reported WESH.

He suffered a gun shot wound to the head and died at the scene, according to investigators.

While the motive of the brutal attack is still unknown, family members told detectives Davis had ongoing disputes with other teens in the neighborhood.

Antwan Davis, 15 (pictured) was gunned down on a residential street in Ocoee, Florida just before midnight Saturday and was found lying on the sidewalk

While the motive of the brutal attack is still unknown, family members told detectives Davis (pictured) had ongoing disputes with other teens in the neighborhood

The boy's aunt Tiffany Long, pictured, made a tearful appeal Sunday for his killer to come forward

The boy's aunt Tiffany Long made this emotional plea Sunday: 'Please come forward. We need every amount of information to bring justice for him.

'He's a child. You had no business taking him from us.'

Speaking at a press conference Sunday Sheriff Jerry Demings said: 'When someone dies needlessly, that is of interest to all of us.

'But when it is a child, someone just 15 years old, it is all the more poignant for all of us and should be appalling to this community.'

Flowers and candles have since been placed at the crime scene and friends and family members took to social media to express their grief.

Angela Runco wrote: 'We will always miss u Antwan! You will never be 4 gotten ur life will live on in all the hearts and lives you touched.

'I wish we wouldn't have ever argued then u would've been here safe with ur big cousin.'

Davis suffered a gun shot wound to the head and died at the scene, according to investigators. Pictured: Investigators at the scene on North Lakewood Avenue at Anderson Place, where the shooting took place

The devastated family (pictured above) have since launched a Go Fund Me page to help pay for the funeral expenses

Tragedy: Flowers and candles have since been placed at the crime scene in loving memory of Davis

While cousin Billy Parnell posted on First Baptist Orlando Facebook page: 'I would like to ask for prayers my nephew 15 year old Antoine was shot and killed not only is it hard for me but it is hard as well from my family I seen him as more as a little brother then in a nephew and it is really hard right now I would really appreciate any prayers.'

And Alexis Williams wrote: 'Fly high baby. I still can't believe this I miss you so much omg. ILoveYou.'

A candlelight vigil is due to take place at Lake Starke at 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to WESH.

The family have since launched a Go Fund Me page to help pay for Davis' funeral expenses.

Their plea: 'Last night we lost a big part of our family.

'We are now devastated and want to make the best final preparations that we can for this baby. He was only 15 and our whole family is traumatized.

'If you can help out, anything is welcome. Help us lay Antwan to rest. Thank you.'

Davis was a student at Ococee Middle School.
A large mural of Kim Kardashian's naked body has been plastered on the wall of an inner-Melbourne suburb a week after the controversial picture caused a heated online debate.

The painting depicts the blonde reality star pouting her lips and holding up her phone with two large and strategically placed black bars maintaining the mother-of-two's modesty.

It appeared on the side of a building in Gwynne Street in Cremorne, an inner suburb of Melbourne, on Monday, with local street artist Lushsux taking responsibility for the on-trend work of art.

A large mural of Kim Kardashian's naked body has been plastered on the wall of an inner-Melbourne suburb a week after the controversial picture caused a heated online debate

Alex Mitchell, from Backwards Gallery in Collingwood, has represented the artist, who prefers to maintain his anonymity, for four years and said Lushsux has done extensive work around the Melbourne area.

'The Kim Kardashian mural was done on Saturday and the Donald Trump one was last weekend,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

He is a pretty prolific street artist and does non-stop work on topical subjects like Kim's photo - once it got a few million likes he thought it would be pretty appropriate.'

The mural is a reproduction of a selfie Mrs Kardashian-West uploaded last week which attracted 1.6 million likes and hundreds of thousands of comments.

The mural is a reproduction of a selfie Mrs Kardashian-West uploaded last week which attracted 1.6 million likes and hundreds of thousands of comments

'The Kim Kardashian mural was done on Saturday and the Donald Trump one was last weekend,' Lushsux manager said

The photo appears to be from 2015, with Ms Kardashian-West's hair peroxide blonde hair giving a strong indication the photo is a throwback from her stint at Paris Fashion Week.

Following the controversy that surrounded the censored image, Mrs Kardashian-West penned an essay hitting back at critics like Bette Midler, Chloe Moretz and Piers Morgan who 'body shamed' the self proclaimed 'selfie queen' for exposing herself online.

She called for an end to 'slut-shaming' and said people need to get over her old sex tape.

Mrs Kardashian-West said she wouldn't apologize for being 'empowered' by her sexuality on International Women's day - one day after her nude selfie sparked a social media uproar.
The Queen reportedly revealed her strong Eurosceptic views after Nick Clegg lectured her on the need for greater European integration.

Buckingham Palace last week vented its fury over claims the Queen is backing Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove was allegedly the source of the leaked conversation with Her Majesty in 2011, where she is said to have expressed views that Europe was going in the wrong direction.

Today, another account of the Windsor Castle lunch conversation has emerged, which suggests a reason the 89-year-old monarch went against tradition to make her political views clear.

The 89-year-old monarch is said to have told Nick Clegg during a lunch at Windsor Castle that she thought Europe was going in the wrong direction

Michael Gove (pictured left) was at the centre of a Cabinet row over who leaked details of a private exchange between the Queen (pictured right) and Nick Clegg at a private lunch at Windsor Castle in April 2011

A source told The Sun: 'She was so wound up by a sermon Clegg was preaching on the virtues of Europe that she threw a wobbly and responded witheringly.

'Most people know that's a signal to retreat and concentrate on the soup. Unfortunately, he ploughed on, raising her blood pressure further.'

Mr Gove was yesterday clinging to office after saying he hadn't leaked 'all' of the information on the Queen's conversation.

He was one of just five people present at the meeting on April 7 2011, when the exchange is believed to have taken place.

Over the weekend Mr Gove said: I dont know how The Sun got all its information. Pressed again, he stuck to precisely the same form of words.

Pro-EU politicians leapt on the remarks by the Cabinet Minister and orchestrated a campaign to undermine his work for the Leave camp.

This would be a breach of Privy Council rules and, according to some MPs, make his position as Lord Chancellor untenable. Speculation is mounting that he will be fired from his current job once the referendum is over.

Mr Gove has been dogged by the row since Wednesday, when The Sun reported claims that, in 2011, the Queen expressed doubts about the direction the EU was taking

The attacks on Mr Gove were led by Sir Nicholas Soames, who is a passionate supporter of the In campaign and a close ally of No 10. Labour, which is officially campaigning for Britain to stay inside the Brussels club, also piled in.

Allies of Mr Gove now suspect there is an organised operation to try to detract from his key role in the Leave campaign. Yesterday he was appointed co-convener of Vote Leave, which means he will set the groups overall strategy.

Buckingham Palace moved to deny the claims that the Queen reprimanded Mr Clegg for 'quite a while' over the issue of Europe.

Michael Gove (pictured) is clinging to office amid fears of an orchestrated campaign to undermine his work for the Leave camp. Pro-EU politicians leapt on remarks by the Cabinet Minister that he was not the source of all the leaked information that the Queen holds Eurosceptic views

Confirming the Palace had written to IPSO, the newspaper regulator, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'We can confirm that we have written to the chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation to register a complaint about the front page story in The Sun newspaper. The complaint relates to Clause One of the Editors' Code of Practice.'

The clause relates to accuracy and states that the press must 'take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text'.

However The Sun issued a statement this afternoon defending the story. It said: 'The Sun stands by its story, which was based upon two impeccable sources and presented in a robust, accessible fashion. The Sun will defend this complaint vigorously.'
Violence erupted at his canceled rally in Chicago Friday and again outside of a rally in Kansas City on Saturday

He shot down criticism from both Democrats and his Republican rivals who claim that he is encouraging violence by using divisive language

Trump said on NBC: 'They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger'

He simply said Americans are 'angry' about years of few jobs, veterans who are treated horribly, and stagnant wages

Donald Trump is refusing to take responsibility for any of the violence that has happened at his rallies saying simply that he's 'just the messenger' for Americans who are frustrated with leadership in the country.

While speaking on NBC's 'Meet the Press', the GOP presidential front-runner said that Americans are 'angry' about years leadership that has produced few jobs, veterans who are treated horribly, and stagnant wages among other things.

'The people are angry at that,' Trump said on NBC. 'They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger.'

The businessman shot down the criticism being tossed at him from both Democrats and his Republican rivals who claim that he is encouraging violence by using divisive language that disparages illegal immigrants and Muslims.

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Donald Trump is refusing to take responsibility for any of the violence that has happened at his rallies saying simply that he's 'just the messenger' for Americans who are frustrated. Above he is pictured at his campaign rally in Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday

While speaking on NBC's 'Meet the Press', the GOP presidential front-runner (above) said that Americans are 'angry' about years of few jobs, veterans who are treated horribly, stagnant wages, among other things.

But Trump reiterated that he is not responsible for the violent outbreaks that occurred at his rallies over the weekend in places like Kansas City and Chicago.

'I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape,' Trump said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'

At an outdoor rally in Bloomington, Illinois, he told the crowd, 'We have protesters so mean. They are so bad. Our people started swinging back, and the next day we are the bad guys.'

Among the issues critics are blaming the billionaire for include the clashes between his supporters and protesters, the arrests, the cancellation of a Friday evening rally in Chicago and the 22-year-old man who attempted to crash the stage at his rally in Ohio.

Trump said on NBC: 'The people are angry ... They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger.' Above he is pictured at his campaign rally in Cincinnti, Ohio on Sunday

The businessman shot down the criticism being tossed at him from both Democrats and his Republican rivals who claim that he is encouraging violence by using divisive language. Above he is pictured at his campaign rally in Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday

The 69-year-old New York real estate mogul defended his supporters and said he was considering helping pay the legal fees of a 78-year-old white man who punched a young black man at a Trump rally in North Carolina last week. The man, Trump said, 'got carried away.'

'I've actually instructed my people to look into it,' he said.

The man, John McGraw, was charged with assault and later with communicating a threat after he was seen on video saying he enjoyed hitting 'that loudmouth' and threatening next time 'to kill him.'

Trump had earlier promised to help cover the legal fees of supporters involved in clashes at his rallies.

Trump is trying to cement his lead over his remaining Republican rivals - U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Above he is pictured at his campaign rally in Bloomington, Illinois

Trump is trying to cement his lead over his remaining Republican rivals - U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich - in five states that hold presidential nominating contests on Tuesday for Republicans and Democrats: Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said during an event Saturday that 'the ugly divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it's dangerous. ... That's not leadership. That's political arson.'

But the business mogul argued back that the crowds at his events far outnumber his rivals, so the ongoing and repeated talk about violence is an exaggeration.
The young mother who was killed at her home had fled from Sudan to escape the violence before she was brutally slain, her friends have revealed.

Law student Jackie Deng's body was discovered at a home in Melton in Melbourne's outer-west on Sunday just one month after the 20-year-old had moved to the house with her two-year-old son.

A friend, who wished not to be named, told the Herald Sun that both their families fled Sudan due to the 'horrific' violence in the country which has seen a rise in the number of rapes and murders.

'It is still happening in our family,' she said.

Law student Jackie Deng's (pictured) body was discovered at a home in Melton in Melbourne's outer-west on Sunday

A 24-year-old man was charged after the discovery of a 20-year-old woman's body in Melton in Melbourne's outer-west.

A 24-year-old man, who was known to the victim, has been charged with murder, Victoria Police confirmed.

The close friend described Ms Deng as 'kind' and said her two-year-old son will be taken care of by his grandmother with the support of friends and family.

'God is looking after her now. She will rest in peace. She is in a better place now,' she said.

Her cousin, Azeew Maccoyy, wrote on Facebook saying: 'I don't know how horrible will this world be I have never been shocked like this in my life.

'We grew up playing under same mango tree n now I can't believe she is gone (sic).'

She later posted: 'I always tell myself that God gives and takes but this is too painful to handle. My sister, My best friend with the most beautiful soul I ever met.

The young mother, who was killed at her home, had fled from Sudan to escape the violence before she was brutally slain, her friends have revealed

Her friends and relatives were seen at the Melbourne home the day after her body was discovered

Family members and close friends have left flowers and tributes at the scene of the alleged murder

'How do I remain myself with all our beautiful childhood memories. It's really hurt because I thought we would grow old together.'

Ms Deng's aunt-in-law Grace Elikana said the young mother, who was studying law at Victoria University, had recently moved into the unit with a friend.

'Jackie was a beautiful girl. She was quiet and nice,' she said.

Witnesses told the Herald Sun they heard screaming coming from the house before the body was discovered at 7pm.

'Cops are swarming surrounding streets but they aren't knocking on doors,' the witness said.

'I can hear loud wailing and screaming from about 60 people on the scene outside the house. I've only been living here for six months, nothing like this has happened before in the neighbourhood.'

Paramedics were called to the property just before 7pm and performed CPR on the woman but she could not be resuscitated.

Police and paramedics would not elaborate on the extent of Ms Deng's injuries.

The man was remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Paramedics were called to the property just before 7pm and performed CPR on the woman but she could not be resuscitated
Lawmakers are tired of waiting for the Obama administration to declare atrocities committed by ISIS a genocide and are pursuing a resolution today they hope will force the administration's hand.

'When ISIS systematically targets Christians, Yezidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities for extermination, this is not only a grave injusticeit is a threat to civilization itself,' Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement.

The Republican congressman said, 'We must call the violence by its proper name: genocide.'

The State Department is said to be nearing a decision on whether the violence against religious minorities, including Christians, constitutes 'genocide.'

As impatient Members of Congress and religious groups step up calls for action, Secretary of State John Kerry is leaning toward making the determination and could do so as early as this week, when a congressional deadline for action has been set, according to several administration officials.

However, the officials cautioned that a legal review is still under way and said it is likely Kerry will not meet a previously established March 17 deadline.

Yazidis demonstrate, calling for the opening of the border, at the makeshift camp of the Greek-Macedonian border last week where thousands of refugees and migrants are stranded More than one million refugees and migrants - a majority of whom are fleeing ISIS - have arrived in Europe since the start of 2015

A girl from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, is seen here, resting at the Iraqi-Syrian border in August of 2014. The State Department is said to be nearing a decision on whether the violence against religious minorities, including Yazidis, constitutes 'genocide'

Yazidi children drink tea and dunk biscuits at the Idomeni refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonia border last week

The House bill passed unanimously in committee and is expected to smoothly go through tonight.

It identifies the Islamic State's actions against Christians, Yezidis and other groups, including the Kurds, as 'genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.'

An executive branch determination of genocide, however, would be different, and the administration worries it will be fraught with legal consequences.

It would also mark only the second time a U.S. administration has reached that conclusion while a conflict is ongoing. The first was in 2004 when Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that atrocities being committed in Sudan's Darfur region constituted genocide.

Powell reached that determination amid much lobbying from human rights groups but only after State Department lawyers advised him that it would not, contrary to legal advice offered to previous administrations, obligate the United States to take action to stop it.

In that case, the lawyers decided that the 1948 U.N. Convention against genocide did not impose a legal obligation on states to prevent genocide from taking place outside of their territory.

Powell instead called for the U.N. Security Council to appoint a commission to investigate and take appropriate legal action if it agreed with the genocide determination.

Kerry faces similar issues.

Although the United States is already involved in military strikes against the Islamic State and has helped prevent some incidents of ethnic cleansing, notably of Yezidis, also known as Yazidis, some argue that a genocide determination could require additional U.S. action.

At the least, a determination would probably be accompanied by a referral to the Security Council for possible prosecution by either the International Criminal Court or some other tribunal that might be set up specifically for Syria and Iraq.

Lawmakers are tired of waiting for the Secretary of State John Kerry to declare atrocities committed by ISIS a genocide and are pursuing a resolution today they hope will force the administration's hand

Kerry must also weigh whether the Islamic State group's targeting of Christians and other minorities meets the legal definition of 'genocide,' which is 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,' according to the U.N. Convention.

'This has to be done on the basis of the legal standard with respect to genocide and the legal standard with respect to crimes against humanity,' Kerry said in congressional testimony late last month.

'I have asked for further evaluation based on what I've heard in order to test against the law some of my own perceptions and evaluations and see where we come out.'

Kerry denied reports that his legal advisers were reluctant to support a determination of genocide but suggested he was not satisfied with their initial opinions.

'I have asked our legal department to evaluate, to re-evaluate actually, several observations that were circulating as part of the vetting process of this issue,' he said, adding that he would act 'very, very soon.'

In a bid to push the process, several groups including the Catholic organization Knights of Columbus released reports documenting what they said is clear evidence that the legal standard has been met.

'There is only one word that adequately, and legally, describes what is happening to Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. That word is genocide,' Knights of Columbus chief Carl Anderson said Thursday while presenting a 280-page report.

The report identifies by name more than 1,100 Christians that have been killed by Islamic State militants. It also details numerous instances of people kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and driven from their homes, along with the destruction of churches.

The president's spokesman last month suggested the administration was concerned about legal obligations affiliated with a genocide determination. 'What is clear and what is undeniable,' he said, and the president has acknowledged, is 'there are religious minorities in Iraq and in Syria, including Christians, that are being targeted by ISIL terrorists because of their religion'

The president's spokesman last month suggested the administration was concerned about legal obligations affiliated with a genocide determination.

'My understanding is that the use of that specific term has legal ramifications,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in early February.

He said 'there are lawyers that are considering whether or not that term can be properly applied in this scenario.

'What is clear and what is undeniable,' he said, and the president has acknowledged, is 'there are religious minorities in Iraq and in Syria, including Christians, that are being targeted by ISIL terrorists because of their religion.

'And that attack on religious minorities is an attack on all people of faith. And it is important for us to stand up and speak out about it,' he said on the day of the National Prayer Breakfast.
A U.S. serviceman has been arrested in Okinawa on suspicion of raping a Japanese tourist.

It is believed that the alleged attack took place in the serviceman's hotel room in Naha, south Japan.

Okinawan police have identified the man as 24-year-old Navy sailor, Justin Castellanos, who was based in the district's Camp Schwab.

An American sailor has been arrested in Naha, Okinawa, on suspicion of raping a Japenese tourist in his hotel room. Many local people are against U.S. military bases on the island, as shown at this protest last month

His alleged victim was a 40-year-old woman from the Japanese prefecture of Kyushu.

According to CNN, Castellanos had found the lady drunk and asleep in the hotel's lobby.

He is then believed to have taken her to his room and raped her.

Although, reports say that he has denied the accusation.

Okinawa governor, Takeshi Onaga, said: 'It is a crime which seriously violates human rights of women and should never be tolerated.

'We are going to lodge a strong complaint against U.S. forces in Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense.'

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo declined to comment about the incident.

Okinawa has a complicated relationship with the U.S.

For over 70 years, since the WWII, American military bases have been stationed in the area to help deter attacks on both Japan and Okinawa.

However, with more than 25,000 members of the U.S. military stationed there, American security takes up around 18 per cent of the island.

This has caused tensions to rise as local people complain that the military presence is unfair and puts their lives in danger.

But their concerns are not without reason as U.S. troops stationed there have previously been convicted of numerous crimes, including assault.

For over 70 years American military bases have been stationed in the area but a number of groups are dissatisfied about the arrangement

In a Time magazine article from 1949 it was recorded that between March and September 1949, U.S. service members had committed 29 murders, 18 rapes, 16 robberies and 33 assaults against the islands 600,000 residents.

More recently, in 1995, three U.S. servicemen, Rodrico Harp, Kendrick Ledet and Marcus Gill who were stationed in Okinawa, were convicted of raping and abducting a 12-year-old girl.

And in 2012, two American soldiers were found guilty of raping a Japanese woman who they followed out from a bar.

The new case could further fuel anger towards U.S. military in the midst of an ongoing battle regarding plans to relocate the American air base of Futenma within Okinawa.

The base is currently located in an urban area containing 19 schools and both the U.S. and Tokyo have been trying to move the camp to the coastal area of Henoko on the island.

The Okinawa government recently won a court case with Tokyo over the creation of an alternate base at Henoko.

However, the construction of a new facility has been ordered to continue at the site.
The baroness said anorexia in modern society was a sign of '

Veteran broadcaster Joan Bakewell has admitted causing 'enormous upset' for saying growing rates of eating disorders among teenagers is a 'sign of narcissism'.

The Labour peer, 82, sparked fury after she said eating disorders do not occur in countries ravaged by poverty and instead suggested it was a sign of the 'overindulgence of our society'.

Today, the broadcaster said her 'off-the-cuff' comments in a newspaper interview were 'not thought through' and she had not expected them to be published.

Baroness Bakewell, 82, (pictured today) the President of Birkbeck, University of London, said eating disorders don't occur in countries ravaged by poverty and suggested they are a sign of 'overindulgence in society'

Following an online backlash the respected journalist said she was 'deeply sorry' for her remarks and announced she is taking a break from Twitter

The eating disorder charity Beat said it was 'alarmed' by her remarks, describing them as 'inaccurate and unhelpful'.

She made the initial comments in an interview which was published in The Sunday Times yesterday.

In it, Baroness Bakewell said: 'I am alarmed by anorexia among young people, which arises presumably because they are preoccupied with being beautiful and healthy and thin.'

The broadcaster said no one has anorexia in 'societies where there is not enough food', adding: 'They do not have anorexia in the camps in Syria. I think it's possible anorexia could be about narcissism.'

The baroness initially hit back at the criticism by responding on Twitter, calling for more research into anorexia

'To be unhappy because you are the wrong weight is a sign of the overindulgence of our society, over-introspection, narcissism, really.'

But today, as she unveiled the shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize, Baroness Bakewell said she was 'completely surprised' by the reaction to the interview but refused to be drawn on whether she still held the same views.

She told the Press Association: 'I was enormously surprised because I thought I was having an off-the-record conversation with a journalist so my off-the-cuff remarks were very casual and not thought through.

'If I'd been asked to make a public statement or write an article, of course I would have found out a great deal more.

'People were angry at what was reported. I'm very sorry they were distressed.'

Baroness Bakewell, who is chairing the judging panel of the Wellcome Book Prize, also read a statement in which she said she was distressed at the 'pain' she had caused.

Today, as she unveiled the shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize, Baroness Bakewell said she was 'completely surprised' by the reaction to the interview but refused to be drawn on whether she still held the same views

'Although anorexia is not a condition covered by any books on submission, I naively participated in a speculative conversation expressing off-the-cuff remarks without reference to evidence and current thinking,' she said.

'Now that has caused enormous upset and I'm deeply distressed that they should have caused so much pain.'

Baroness Bakewell had previously apologised and said last night that she was 'deeply sorry' for her remarks and announced she is taking a break from Twitter.

The baroness took to Twitter last night to respond to some of the online criticism she had received.

She wrote last night: 'I have spent 6 hours answering tweets. I did not expect the [Sunday Times] to quote my views on anorexia and am full of regret that my reported views have caused distress. I am deeply sorry.

'I am tired now and taking a break from Twitter. Goodnight everyone.'

However her remarks prompted a fierce backlash on social media and from campaigners, with many labelling her comments 'uneducated' and 'ignorant'.

Baroness Bakewell has responded to criticism on Twitter, and suggested said her comments could help draw attention to a 'crisis in mental health'

One outraged Twitter user wrote: 'As someone who has anorexia, I'm insulted by your disgusting comments. It's a mental illness and you don't choose it!'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'Using sweeping statements such as narcissism is not only ignorant, but it's also highly irresponsible'.

Other tweets said: 'Not sure how you managed to equate a mental illness to narcissism. Rather illogical and mindless,' and, 'For an academic, her views do seem to have no research or foundation.'

Another outraged reader tweeted: '[The] comments about anorexia are incredibly discouraging - it's difficult enough to get people to talk.'

However the baroness initially defended her commments, writing on her Twitter page: 'I am deeply sad that young people get anorexia and was speculating loosely about what might cause it.'

She added: 'We need to understand why people get anorexia: by why? Our society focuses too much on looks.

'I believe anorexics need sympathy and help. I think our society is too pre-occupied with looks. That's all.'

She said her comments could help draw attention to a 'crisis in mental health', adding: 'Alas no book about anorexia: perhaps there should be!'

Baroness Bakewell also said that while she was pleased to see the stigma around discussing mental health was fading, counselling and psychotherapy including treatment for children 'can get out of hand'.

The president of Birkbeck, University of London, said that asking people 'Are you really happy?' gave them a chance to consider anxieties that had not previously crossed their mind.

Baroness Bakewell's remarks also comes as MPs are asked to consider a ban on dangerously thin models on the catwalk

Earlier this year, David Cameron pledged to ensure teenagers with eating disorders receive treatment more quickly.

From 2017/18 a new waiting time measure will track the proportion of patients being seen within a month of referral, or within a week for urgent cases.

Figures suggest hospital admissions for eating disorders in England have been increasing.

In the 12 months to October 2013 there were 2,560 admissions, which was an 8 per cent rise on the previous year, according to statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

Baroness Bakewell's remarks also comes as MPs are asked to consider a ban on dangerously thin models on the catwalk.
A mother who left her eight-year-old son at a hospital in Utah has defended her actions, claiming her son was rude to her and kept calling her names.

Kathy Sherrer, 36, from West Jordan, Salt Lake City, was charged with child abandonment, a third-degree felony, and child abuse, a class A misdemeanor last Wednesday.

The mother has now said she was making use of the state's safe haven law after her son kept calling her names and 'pulling his pants down in public.'

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Kathy Sherrer, 36, from West Jordan, Salt Lake City, who abandoned her son, was charged with child abandonment, a third-degree felony, and child abuse, a class A misdemeanor

Ms Sherrer left her son at the Jordan Valley Medical Center in Utah with a note which said: 'This kid is rude and ungovernable! I do not want him in my house at all!', according to local police.

The state's safe haven laws allow parents to anonymously give up custody of newborn babies in a safe space.

'I thought that it was OK that we could drop them off and it was a safe haven place. 'I don't think I'm necessarily a bad mother. I got more like overwhelmed.' she said, according to AOL.

'He was calling me names, he was calling me the B word, he was pulling his pants down in public,'

'I wasn't sure about the safe haven laws or what it meant I really did not know any other way to go about it,' she said.

The boy reportedly told hospital staff that his mother had hit him on the arm with a spoon. leaving him with a bruise. The boy's mother denies hitting him with a spoon.

The mom left her eight-year-old at the Jordan Valley Medical Center (pictured) and claimed she was using the state's safe haven law

Under the state's law parents can drop off a baby up to three days' old in a hospital with no questions asked.

According to the police documents on the case, the young boy walked up to the reception of the hospital building on February 21 with a note from his mother, which detailed her complaints with him and his name.

UTAH'S SAFE HAVEN LAW In May 2001, a state-wide law came into effect allowing birth parents to anonymously give up custody of their newborn baby without facing any legal consequences. It works as follows: Any Utah hospital, open 24 hours, is designated as a 'Safe Haven' for newborns to be dropped off safely;

The state's family services then assumes legal custody of the child as soon as it is contacted by the hospital;

The child is then placed for immediate adoption;

If an infant is left at a hospital, the mother remains anonymous and will not be reported to the police, investigated or criminally prosecuted; Source: Utah Newborn Safe Haven Advertisement

Ms Sherrer said she was 'overwhelmed' with the duties of childcare, as she has four children with special needs, aged 4, 8, 12 and 13.

Hospital authorities contacted police and the boy was then taken into protective custody and is still being cared for by social services.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said a parent could not abuse the state's safe haven law and randomly leave their children where they pleased.

'You don't get to arbitrarily drop children off at certain institutions,' he said.

'You reach out to that organization, that organization helps process your child, there's an understanding. Everybody understands what everyone's role is.

'Everyone knows what they're supposed to do. But you don't simply say, 'I've had enough and I'm going to drop off this child and no one knows who I am.''
A newsreader has had unfortunate fashion fail, with viewers spotting a rude visual illusion on her blouse which social media users claim resemble breasts.

ABC News 24 newsreader Ros Childs wore a beautiful white blouse during the lunch bulletin on Monday, but some viewers puzzled after spotting a rather inappropriate design.

The shirt had black lining on the reporter's chest pockets, which some claimed looked like someone had used a black texta to draw comical breasts.

'Oops sharpie boobs. Wardrobe department, you had one job!' tweeted one social media user.

'#FreeTheNipple,' joked another.

In 2015 newsreaders were plagued by another unfortunate fashion fail dubbed the penis jacket'.

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ABC News 24 newsreader Ros Childs wore a beautiful white blouse during the lunch bulletin on Monday, but puzzled viewers were left scratching their heads after spotting a rather inappropriate design

A newsreader has had unfortunate fashion fail, with viewers spotting a rude visual illusion on her blouse which social media users claim resemble breasts

'Once you see it, you cannot unsee it...': In 2015 this photo of Natarsha Belling's green jacket has been shared thousands of times online (left) after Melissa Doyle wore a similar jacket earlier in the year

The unfortunate visual illusion was clearly not one the wardrobe department had noticed when dressing respected journalist Ros Childs

The unfortunate visual illusion was clearly not one the wardrobe department had noticed when dressing the respected journalist; much like when Natarsha Belling, Virginia Trioli and Melissa Doyle all wore a Scanlan and Theodore jacket in March last year, not realising that the neckline was in an accidental phallic shape.

Social media had a field day and Today Show host Lisa Wilkinson called for all newsreaders to wear the penis jacket in a sign of solidarity - only to remember that her own jacket was in for dry cleaning that morning.

ABC Breakfast host Virginia Trioli appeared to be the only news anchor willing to answer Wilkinson's call, bravely opting for a lemon shade of the jacket in question.

ABC News host Virginia Trioli appeared to be the only news anchor willing to answer Wilkinson's call

Nine News Brisbane reporter Eva Milic appears to be the original trendsetter, wearing a maroon jacket with the much talked about neckline, clinched at the waist by a belt, in May 2014.

Bellings green jacket went viral after she wore it to present Network Ten's Eyewitness News and a photo of the outfit was then liked over 110,000 times on Facebook after the website Unilad posted the caption once you see it, you cannot unsee it.

Phallic looking necklines are nothing new, as a 2010 photo of the ABC's Leigh Sales in a more extreme black number shows.

Sales wore the cut out top while presenting Lateline and an eagle-eyed viewer uploaded a video of the clip to YouTube with the crude caption: 'ABC Lateline newsreader Leigh Sales wears a penis.'

The bemusement and fascination with Belling's top appears to stem from the fact when you first look at the photo its hard to notice anything  but once the necklines shape is pointed out its hard to 'unsee' it.

Nine News Brisbane reporter Eva Milic appears to be the original trendsetter, wearing a maroon jacket back in May 2014
She released statement hitting out at public's 'lack of knowledge' of breed

RSPCA said it was 'shocked and appalled' to see the dog's condition

But viewers say she was deformed with abnormally sloped back

The owner of a German Shepherd bitch at the centre of a Crufts cruelty row has hit back at critics who claimed her dog was unhealthy and said she had been through the worst experience of her show career.

Susan Cuthbert's three-year-old bitch Cruaghaire Catoria was judged to be the best example of her breed at the world-famous dog show on Saturday night.

But the dog was said by some viewers to be 'deformed', with an abnormally sloped back and a painful-looking out-of-step gait.

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Susan Cuthbert, pictured here with Catoria, has defended herself against allegations of breeding cruelty today

German Shepherd bitch Cruaghaire Catoria was judged to be the best of her breed at Crufts on Saturday night

But the three-year-old dog looks to have back and leg problems caused by genetic faults in breeding

A graphic showing the developmental changes of the German Shepherd breed in the 120 years since it was created

When asked if she wanted to respond to cruelty allegations, Mrs Cuthbert said: 'I'm sorry but I don't think I could without bursting into tears. I have just become aware of it all and it's all so hurtful and distressing. I couldn't trust myself to speak. I hope you understand.'

But she later issued a statement describing the incident as 'the worst nightmare of her show life'.

She said: 'I was blissfully unaware of all the negativity around one of the best show days of my life until earlier today and I am both deeply shocked and terribly upset by all the horrendous comments directed towards my beautiful Tori.

'Words cannot express the heart wrenching experience that I have suffered. This is so unreal I want to believe it is untrue and to wake up.

'The comments made on television about my lovely Shepherd were unbelievable especially when one considers the brevity of the images.

'How can you judge a dog on such a brief observation? There is a clear lack of tolerance and knowledge of our German shepherd breed.

A letter shows that a Kennel Club vet gave Catoria a clean bill of health before she was allowed to enter the arena

Ms Cuthbert said she found the furore to be 'so hurtful and distressing' and she didn't trust herself to speak without bursting into tears

'It should not be a surprise to anyone why the GSD breed in the UK are being strongly drawn towards the German SV system  Germany being the founders of our breed just over a hundred years ago and they have established the most comprehensive system of any other breed in the world.

'The German SV system requires for showing and breeding DNA parentage, microchip identification, to meet strict conformational criteria according to the German breed standard, hip and elbow grades and assessment of the spine along with formal character assessment, endurance test of 20 kilometers gaiting, IPO test of courage, tracking and obedience and a very demanding breed survey (korung).

'Soundness in mind and body is a crucial part of the German Shepherd breed.

'At Crufts 2016, the vet examined my bitch before she was presented with her Best of Breed certificate and deemed her to have no visible condition which adversely affects her health and welfare.

'This is the second Kennel Club required vet check she has passed in the last six months.

'As if it was not upsetting enough that my bitch faltered under the heavy media coverage in the Arena on what should have been the happiest day of my show life to then be tried and convicted on social media and the press this has now become the worst nightmare of my show life.'

Her breeders, Craughaire, have been criticized for their cruelty in allowing dogs such as Catoria to be bred

Mrs Cuthbert also shared a letter that shows a Kennel Club vet giving Catoria a clean bill of health before she was allowed into the show arena.

According to the owner, she has won two Kennel Club Challenge Certificates, two Reserve Challenge Certificates and three Best of Breed awards.

She also revealed both the British Veterinary Association and the Kennel Club gave her dog excellent health scores in previous tests while a KC breed survey labelled the animal 'a super female of really excellent type'.

Catoria can be seen in video footage of her judging walking around the arena with a distinct wobble in her gait, and her front and back legs moving unevenly.

Just before the judge, Davy Hall, comes to inspect her, her handler can be seen adjusting her stooped back legs by pulling them forward.

The commentator remarked immediately that Catoria appeared to be 'distinctly unsettled'.

Hundreds of viewers took to social media to accuse the Kennel Club, who run the show, of cruelty - saying it was a disgrace that the dog had been allowed to enter, let alone win, the competitive category.

And the outcry has been so strong that a top Kennel Club representative warned that they may have to remove the breed from further competitions.

The controversy was addressed on the coverage of the final day of Crufts' last night.

And viewers have expressed their horror that the judge chose Catoria as the best example of the popular breed

The dog could be seen to have an awkward walk and looked like she was in pain

Commentator Jessica Holm said: 'When you see [a dog] come into the ring that is so hyperactive the judge couldn't get a hand on the dog, was being handled as such that it could not move properly even if it was capable of doing so, the performance it was put in gave us all concern.

'It did not look like a healthy free-moving dog.'

Clare Balding remarked that she thought Catoria looked lame, and vet Nick Blayney said: 'I was quite frankly appalled that a dog like that could be put up as a good specimen of the breed.

'I'm quite disheartened as there's been a huge amount of work going on in the background to try and stop this very event, and somehow this has slipped through.'

He went on to say that the Kennel Club judges had ignored veterinary guidelines known as Breedwatch to prevent inbreeding from being prevalent at the competition.

He said: 'Everything that's wrong with that dog is recognised in Breedwatch as something we should be steering against.'

Secretary of the Kennel Club Caroline Kisko said the judging had worried the club just as much as it had worried everyone else.

Commentator Jessica Holm said that Catoria 'did not look like a healthy free-moving dog'

There are strict guidelines surrounding breeding standards set out by the Kennel Club, some of which Catoria's breeders appear to have broken

She said: 'It's very disheartening to see one breed looking so very peculiarly out-of-step with the others.

'We need to sort out certain judges who are disregarding what we are asking them to do.

'The ultimate sanction would be to remove the breed from the competition. That would be an extreme step but it's certainly something the Kennel Club will consider if necessary.'

Ms Kisko said that such sanctions would not be taken likely. She said: 'This is one dog among the whole breed and I would certainly expect there are plenty of good and healthy German Shepherds out there.

'We've seen one dog none of us like and we're all very concerned about.

'I would hope that next year a judge of the breed would be doing a very different job.'

The Kennel Club removed the footage of Cruaghaire Catoria's win from Youtube after the furore. A spokesman said: 'In light of the concern over this dog we made the decision not to further highlight the unsound movement of the dog whilst we discuss ways forward to improve the health of the breed.'

A member of Mr Hall's family said the judge could not comment as he had been taken unwell over the weekend.

Mr Hall is also vice-chairman of the German Shepherd Breed Council.

The RSPCA waded into the row last night, but said they were grateful Crufts had acknowledged there was a problem with the dog

Sharon Earp said it was disgusting that the dog show had allowed Catoria to enter the show, let alone win

Hundreds of tweeters have waded into the row, and the Kennel Club's Facebook page has been bombarded with comments

Guidelines for the German Shepherd's breed as set out by the Kennel Club state that German Shepherds' backs should be 'straight, strongly developed, and not too long'

The RSPCA have slammed Crufts for allowing Catoria to progress so far in the competition.

GERMAN SHEPHERDS' HEALTH PROBLEMS The German Shepherd dog's main health problem is hip dysplasia, which is more common in dogs bred for show than in traditional working dogs. If left untreated, a dog with hip dysplasia may need surgery or be put to sleep. Hip and leg weakness can also lead to arthritis in these dogs, and a recent study of 733 German Shepherds at the University of Giessen in Germany has shown that dogs with severely curved backs are at more danger of having their nerves at the bottom of their backs compressed, and of having 'wobbly hocks' in the back of their knees. The average German Shepherd lives to be around 11. Source: The Alsatian Breed Campaign and www.dogbreedhealth.com Advertisement

A statement read: 'The RSPCA, like the Kennel Club, was shocked and appalled to see a German shepherd dog with such poor conformation that it could not move freely winning Best of Breed.

'We would question how the dog had been allowed to have qualified for Crufts. In doing so, this dog, like all Crufts competitors, would have been awarded on at least one other occasion, suggesting this is unlikely to be an isolated incident.

'Fault cannot lie solely with the judge at Crufts but is also the responsibility of those who have previously awarded this dog and enabled it to progress.

'Many other dogs at Crufts showed visible signs of poor health and/or discomfort as a result of their exaggerated conformation. For example, the winner of the Toy group, a Pekingese, was panting heavily and struggling to breathe. This illustrates why there is an urgent need to review the breeding and judging process.'

On their website, Cruaghaire Catoria's breeders describe the dog as 'an absolute joy in our lives and her first litter also showed what an excellent mother she is.

They said the future was 'very exciting' for the dog, who has won awards at at least six other dog shows.

Dog lovers were appalled at the judge's decision. Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: 'I would hope that next year a judge of the breed would be doing a very different job'

The Kennel Club has come under fire on numerous occasions for its breeding practices.

BBC DROPPED CRUFTS DUE TO BREEDING CONTROVERSY The BBC dropped its annual coverage of Crufts in 2008 after the Kennel Club refused to drop 14 breeds the corporation was concerned about. The broadcaster wanted some breeds excluded from the dog show after a documentary it aired exposed diseases and deformities allegedly caused by inbreeding. However, the Kennel Club said it could not accept the BBC's 'unreasonable demands'. Channel 4 took over the broadcasting rights in 2010, and the highlights show is presented by Clare Balding. Advertisement

Guidelines for the German Shepherd's breed as set out by the Kennel Club state that German Shepherds' backs should be 'straight, strongly developed, and not too long' and that the topline of the dog should 'be straight from withers to croup'.

They say an 'absolute soundness of movement is essential' for the dogs' gait.

A grassroots group, the Alsatian Breed Campaign, have been lobbying the Kennel Club for years to split the breed and re-named straight backed German Shepherds as Alsatians.

A spokesman for the campaign said: 'Whilst we have been campaigning for some time now for a split in the breed it appears that events have overtaken us by the shambles that was evident at this year's Crufts show.

'The Kennel Club should admit it was embarrassed by the huge outcry over this year's Crufts fiasco. And, at the same time, apologize to the Best in Show winner for allowing this cloud to overshadow her well-deserved win.'

It's not the first time the 125-year-old dog show has come under controversy for its 'cruelty'.

The BBC withdrew its coverage of the show in 2008 after a row with the Kennel Club. The BBC had asked for certain breeds to be withdrawn from the competition amid fears of genetic problems caused by inbreeding, and the Kennel Club refused to comply.

A petition has also been started on website change.org to get the Kennel Club to ban German Shepherds with sloping backs from competing.

A petition has also been started on website change.org to get the Kennel Club to ban German Shepherds with sloping backs from competing

German Shepherds were shown as part of the Pastoral Group at Crufts on the third day of the competition

A statement from the Kennel Club read: 'Concern for the health of German Shepherd Dogs is reflected in the fact that the breed is classed as 'category three' under the Kennel Club's Breed Watch scheme. Many of the category three breeds have seen vast health improvements but we know that some breeds still have further to go.

'We will be looking at what support we are giving to particular breeds to ensure continued improvement, and we will also be reviewing judges who appear to disregard the health instructions they are given since they play a significant part in this process.

'The Kennel Club Charitable Trust has recently funded a study by the University of Surrey looking into the conformation and movement of German Shepherds, as part of our commitment to improving the health of this breed.'

MailOnline have approached Cruaghaire Catoria's breeders for comment.
A mystery pensioner who was found dead on Saddleworth Moor just 24 hours after catching a train from London to the remote hillside died from a lethal dose of rat poison, toxicology reports reveal.

The man, who is believed to be aged between 65 and 75, sparked a worldwide search to trace his identity after he was found dead near Dovestone Reservoir in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Detectives have been left stumped by the riddle of the smartly-dressed lone walker, who was caught on CCTV buying a one-way ticket from Ealing Broadway to Euston on December 11 last year.

Just 24 hours later, he was found dead  lying on his back with arms by his side  on the moor.

The mystery pensioner (pictured) who was found dead on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines last December died from a lethal dose of rat poison, toxicology reports have revealed as efforts continue to trace his identity

It had been thought that the man, who was found close to the summit of Indian's Head above Dovestone reservoir, may have been a childhood victim of the 1949 air disaster in Saddleworth but this was later ruled out

Theories as to why he had travelled 200 miles to die on the remote hillside had ranged from him being a victim of a 1949 air crash at the site, to the moor having some sort of meaning to him.

However, toxicology reports have now added to the mystery  by revealing he had traces of strychnine poison in his body at the time of his death.

The poison, a white powder which is highly toxic, is a pesticide used to kill rodents and birds and is usually inhaled, injected or taken orally.

It is illegal to buy in the UK and can be fatal in humans if swallowed or absorbed through the eyes or mouth.

Detective Sergeant John Coleman said that while the toxicology report had revealed the cause of the man's death, it is still unknown as to why and how he ended up on Saddleworth Moor.

Toxicology reports reveal the man had traces of strychnine poison in his body at the time of his death - a pesticide used to kill rodents and birds (pictured)

He told The Sun: 'It's illegal to purchase strychnine in the UK.

'There is no antidote. There are still many more questions than answers with this case.'

One previous explanation was that the man was a survivor of the 1949 plane crash on the moor -which claimed 24 lives - and had returned to the scene of the tragedy to take his own life.

But that line of inquiry hit a dead end when the last-living surviving of the ill-fated British European Airways flight, respected academic Professor Stephen Evans, came forward.

Prof Evans, who spoke with detectives at Greater Manchester Police, said: 'My younger brother was killed in the crash but my parents and I were the only family with more than one survivor.

'There were Boy Scouts from the Oldham area among the first on the scene and they carried me to a farmhouse. I recall they made me an honorary member of their troop, but I no longer have any documentation of that.'

Investigations to identify the unknown man, found above the reservoir close to the summit of Indian's Head on December 12, now remain ongoing several months after the discovery.

As well as being found to have rat poison in his bloodstream, police also earlier revealed that the man was carrying an empty plastic container displaying Thyroxine Sodium - a medicine which is used to treat an under-active thyroid.

However, at the time officers said there was no suggestion that he had overdosed from the drug.

Despite still not knowing the man's identity, police thought he could have a family connection to the crash at Saddleworth Moor involving a British European Airways Douglas Dakota in 1949, which left 24 people dead

Investigation: Officers are appealing for anyone who recognises the man - seen on CCTV at Ealing Broadway train station in West London - to get in touch. Police are not treating the pensioner's death as suspicious

Mr Coleman said: 'There's no suggestion at this stage that you can overdose from it. I think it's impossible.

'But it's a drug which would give a person energy. So potentially, he could have taken it if he is walking.'

TRAGEDIES ON THE MOORS Saddleworth Moor in the South Pennines is where killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley dumped bodies Saddleworth Moor, which is situated in the South Pennines, became infamous in the 1960s as the burial site of four victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. The pair lured children and teenagers to their deaths, with their victims sexually tortured before being buried on the moor in Greater Manchester. In October 1965, the bodies of Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride were discovered at the remote hillside, having been buried there during the previous two years. Saddleworth Moor was also the site of a 1949 plane crash. The twin-engined British European Airways Douglas Dakota plane crashed into the hillside after taking off from Belfast, killing 24 people. Those killed included 11 women, six men and four children, three of whom were aged under two years, as well as a number of crew. Eight people survived the tragedy. Advertisement

The man, believed to be aged between 65 and 75, was slim, white and clean shaven with grey receding hair, brown eyes and a large nose.

He was wearing slip on shoes and had 130 in cash in his pockets and three train tickets he purchased the day before.

He is believed to have started his journey in London, before taking the train to Manchester and heading to the village of Greenfield the day before.

Detectives are unclear if he was a Londoner, or had just taken to a visit to the capital.

Officers identified the man in footage taken in Ealing, West London, of him walking 'backwards and forwards' as he went to a train station at 9am. He arrived in Manchester shortly after midday where he walked around the shops at the station where he bought some food.

The man then headed to the city centre before making his way to Saddleworth and visited a pub at 2pm, where he asked how to get to the top of the 1,500ft peak.

The landlord said he spoke with a northern accent but didn't sound as if he was local to the area. The landlord told him he wouldn't be able to climb the mountain in the dark or in heavy rain but he did anyway.

Witnesses saw him about a mile up the hill at around 4.30pm and again about three quarters of the way up. He was wearing black slip-on shoes, a blue coat and a white shirt with a collar.

His body was found the next morning, lying face-up on a boggy section of track, with head pointing towards the mountain summit, his legs together and arms by his side. The peak overlooks the moor where murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley buried their victims in the Sixties.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious and believe he lay down on the spot and died.

Despite numerous appeals, officers have been unable to identify the man, who was carrying no documentation or had any scars, marks or tattoos on his body. Searches of DNA databases have found no matches.
Crufts has been hit by a nepotism row after it emerged that one of the judges gave a top prize to a dog owned by her sister.

Di Arrowsmith awarded the prize for Best Gundog to a four-year-old Gordon setter named James, allowing the dog to compete for the prestigious title of Best in Show.

The champion is part-owned and bred by Josie Baddeley, Mrs Arrowsmith's sister, prompting anger from some dog lovers who questioned whether the competition was fair.

Row: James the Gordon setter won Best Gundog at Crufts on Saturday night, sparking a controversy

Relatives: Contest judge Di Arrowsmith, left, is the sister of James's co-owner Josie Baddeley, right

The row is the latest controversy to hit Crufts, the UK's premier dog competition, held in Birmingham, following a poisoning scare last year and long-standing fears over the health of the pedigree breeds featured.

James the Gordon setter, whose official name is Lourdace Fulcrum, was named Best in Breed on Friday morning, and competed for Best Gundog later the same day.

The gundog category was judged by Mrs Arrowsmith, 72, who is herself a trainer and breeder based in Hoar Cross, Staffordshire.

When James won, critics warned that his victory could be regarded as suspicious because one of the dog's owners is Mrs Baddeley, 83, from Walsall.

Although the potential conflict of interest was not against Crufts rules, some observers argued that James's trainers should have withdrawn him from the competition.

One dog lover wrote on an online forum: 'Most exhibitors who adhere to decent standards of behaviour don't enter under judges who are related to them, either by family or marriage.'

Champion: The overall Best in Show prize was won by Devon the West Highland terrier, pictured with owner Marie Burns

Another critic added: 'The decent thing to do is to withdraw from the group judging. OK, so that sucks at a big show like Crufts, but it's still the right thing to do.

'In some countries judges aren't allowed to judge dogs they or their close family own or bred, nor the dogs they have owned or bred themselves.'

The dog went on to compete in the Best in Show contest last night, losing out to a West Highland terrier named Devon.

Mrs Baddeley insisted that James had won the title on his own merits, adding that she is not close to her sister and would not expect a favour from her.

'She's entitled to put up whatever dog she chooses,' Mrs Baddeley told MailOnline. 'I wasn't there - I went to see the breed judged in the morning then went home.'

The owner added that James - who was named Best in Breed last year - had fully deserved his victory due to his outstanding balance.

Killed: Jagger the Irish setter died from eating poisoned beef shortly after appearing at Crufts last year

Mrs Arrowsmith denied that there was any conflict of interest, telling MailOnline: 'I have never been in the company of this dog, never had my hands on him until Friday in that big ring.

'When I step into the ring to adjudicate, and I do so without fear or favor, I am judging the dog. Not his owners, not his connections, not in line with popular opinions, most certainly not in line with gossip.

'The Gordon setter, in my opinion, was the best dog in the ring on that night. It would have been dishonest not to give the award to him.

'I am well known for my integrity and fairness when judging and I am appalled and saddened that some small-minded person or people want to dampen the joy of this win from this young man and a elderly lady that has been so loyal to her breed and to the world of dogs.'

The Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, said that no rules had been broken despite the uproar.

Secretary Caroline Kisko said: 'Any dog that is chosen as a winner is done so because of the judge's honest opinion on the day and is judged with integrity.'

Last year, the contest hit the headlines when Jagger the Irish setter died in mysterious circumstances just days after returning home to Belgium from Crufts.

The dog was killed after eating a piece of poisoned beef, prompting a panic among other contestants, although competition organisers insisted that Jagger was not poisoned until he left the UK.
German leader Angela Merkel has remained defiant by confirming she will not change her 'open door' policy on migrants despite a crushing defeat in state elections which gave a far-right party big gains.

Pressure is growing on the chancellor after her Christian Democrats Union (CDU) lost two of the three states voting to other parties - in what was described as a 'worst case scenario' for the embattled Mrs Merkel.

It came as the CDU was also humiliated by the anti-immigrant AfD  Alternative for Germany  party, which has surged in popularity following Mrs Merkels decision to roll out the red carpet for more than a million migrants.

Pressure is growing on German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose CDU party lost two out of three states in local elections in Germany

Speaking at a news conference after meeting with members of her party, the German leader insisted she would not be changing her policy on migrants

The German chancellor held a press conference with her party's three candidates who stood in the election

But after meeting with members of the CDU in Berlin this morning to take stock of the result, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said there will be no change on Mrs Merkel's stance on migration.

He told a news briefing: 'The federal government will stay its refugee policy course, fully determined, at home and aboard.

'The goal must be a common, sustainable European solution that leads to tangible reduction of the number of refugees in all (EU) member states.'

Mr Seibert added Mrs Merkel would continue to pursue a strategy of working to bolster the security of the EU's external borders and cooperating with Turkey to reduce refugee flows.

He explained: 'Domestically, we are committed to easing the integration of people who have sought protection here who have been taken in.

'At the same time, we are making clear that it can only be an integration into our system of law and order, on the foundation of our basic values and rules of coexistence.'

Mrs Merkel was in Berlin to attend a CDU party board meeting this morning, the day after the party suffered a crushing defeat at the polls

The presentation came as her spokesman told a press briefing Mrs Merkel would not be changing her policy on migrants



Later this morning, Merkel herself then addressed her party after meeting with them following yesterday's poll.

She said that the elections had marked a difficult day for the CDU, but she vowed to keep pushing for a Europe-wide solution to the migrant crisis that dominated the campaign.

Mrs Merkel told a news conference after meeting leaders from her party: 'We have to say that yesterday was a difficult day for the CDU.

'Without a doubt, we have come a long way towards solving the refugee issue, but we still don't have a sustainable solution.

'I'm fully convinced that we need a European solution and that this solution needs time.

'Regarding the Balkan route, yes, there is no doubt that Germany, at the moment, benefits from the fact that fewer people are coming and that also is connected to the closure of the Greek-Macedonian border.

'I have never spoken out against national measures. I have spoken out in favour of border controls, better registration, deportations, the asylum packages,' she added when asked if more national, rather than Europe-wide, measures should be deployed.'

Her words came just days ahead of an EU summit when leaders are due to hammer out the details of proposals with Turkey on a migrant deal.

'There are issues related to Turkey, and it is very important to say that Turkey must fulfil certain conditions, there is no compromise,' she added.

Under pressure: German chancellor Angela Merkel looks pensive this morning as she is driven in her limousine as she arrives to meet with her party, the Christian Democrats, in Berlin

Defeat: The electio result was a damning verdict on the German leader's open door border policy, which has seen more than one million migrants stream into Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries

A carinval float at a parade in Dusseldorf yesterday appears to poke fun at Mrs Merkel, who has been criticised for allowing thousands of migrants into Germany

The election result was a damning verdict on the German leader's open door border policy, which has seen more than one million migrants stream into Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries.

Now even a member of the CDU has appeared to hit out at Mrs Merkel on social media.

Erika Steinbach, a CDU member of parliament, who has been critical of Mrs Merkel's stance, suggested on Twitter that her government was acting like a 'dictatorship' with its refugee policy.

While Andreas Scheuer, general secretary of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel's CDU, said Germany needed to come up with quick and effective solutions to limit the influx of migrants.

He told German radio: 'This result has shown a lot of protest voters have expressed discontent on the biggest issue - the refugee topic - so all of the established parties that stood for election in the three states need to draw the conclusion "we have understood."'

Joy: AfD leader Frauke Petry, left, and deputy speaker Albrecht Glaser, right, celebrate election success

Delight: Supporters of the AfD celebrate the exit poll news in Saxony-Anhalt state elections that suggested the party would net a second-place finish

Protest: Not everyone was happy about the AfD's gains with riot police called in to block a march demonstrating against the right-wing party

Message: Protesters try to make their feelings heard at the anti-right wing event in Stuttgart

While the election has no direct impact on her chancellorship, the regional polls in the southwestern states of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as Saxony-Anhalt in the east served as a key test ahead of general elections in 2017.

However, other correctly predicted that despite the crushing defeat, Merkel, who has led Europe's biggest economy for a decade, will not change her policy on migrants.

In an editorial mass-selling daily Bild said Merkel had experienced a 'crushing defeat on this super torturous election Sunday' but would likely stick to her political course and said the price for this would be a deeply divided conservative group.

It added: 'That's where the real danger for Merkel lies. No chancellor in Germany has ever been able to rule against his or her own party for long.'

GERMAN ELECTION RESULTS: HOW CDU LOST TWO OUT OF THREE STATES Saxony Anhalt CDU 29.8% AfD 24.2% Left 16.3% SPD 10.6% Others 7.1% Greens 5.2% FDP 4.9% Rhineland Palatinate SPD 36.4% CDU 31.8% AfD 12.4% FDP 6.1% Greens 5.2% Others 5.2% Left 2.9% Baden Wurttemberg Greens 30.3% CDU 27% AfD 15.1% SPD 12.7% FDP 8.3% Others 3.7% Left 2.9% Advertisement

One of Merkel's most prominent critics, Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer said: 'The central reason (for the losses) is refugee policy - there is no point in talking past it.

'The answer to the population after such an election result cannot be that everything continues as it was.'

While Sigmar Gabriel, Merkel's vice-chancellor, insisted the CDU would not change their stance on immigration.

There is a clear position that we stand by: humanity and solidarity, he said. We will not change our position now.

Erika Steinbach, a member of parliament for the CDU, who appeared to suggest on Twitter that her government was acting like a 'dicatorship' on its refugee policy

Frauke Petry, who leads the Eurosceptic AfD party, has suggested German border guards should open fire on illegal immigrants.

Austria's far-right Freedom Party hailed the AfD's success as a win against the 'EU juggernaut.'

Today Ms Petry hailed the regional elections as 'a good day for democracy.'

She said it was time to reassess Mrs Merkel's liberal refugee policy, which she slammed as costly and based on false ideas on how well migrants would integrate into the labour market.

She explained: 'We have to reassess what is doable and what can be financed in this country - and not, like the left, spread utopian ideas about how many millions and billions more in taxpayers' money can be spent, now that we have realised that the fairytale of skilled migrants from civil war areas obviously isn't true.

'The AfD wants to re-establish the rule of law in this country,' she told the Berlin press conference, highlighting problems such as 'ethnic violence' and police no-go areas in big cities.

She added: 'Germany voted yesterday in three regions and we believe that this was a good day for democracy in this country.

'We are the party that can credibly show that it has addressed, since its creation in 2013, the problems that are being ignored in this country," added the 40-year-old trained chemist.

'German society, not just now but for many years, has experienced a continuous disintegration which is clearly reflected in the impoverishment of the middle class, where families are increasingly overwhelmed and the future of our country is in question.'

Asked how close the AfD was to France's far- right National Front and Austria's Freedom Party, Ms Petry said she did not wish to engage in 'a debate on labels.'

However, party co-leader Joerg Meuthen, distanced the AfD from the National Front, calling Marine Le Pen's group 'a party that has deeply nationalist and socialist ideas, which is alien to our party.'

Mrs Merkels welcome for arrivals from Syria, other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, has caused chaos across the continent. Initially, the incomers were greeted by crowds of well-wishers.

Second: In Rhineland-Palatinate the CDU came in second behind the centre-left SPD with 32.5 percent

Cheers: AfD voters cannot contain their excitement as they celebrate the results with beers and drinks

But, faced with the sheer numbers, public opinion soured. And there was outrage when gangs of migrant men were involved in organised sex attacks on women in Cologne and other cities on new years eve.

One by one, EU states have thrown up border fences to stop the flow of arrivals  leading to the slow collapse of the Schengen passport-free zone.

Austria is one of several countries to limit numbers in defiance of Brussels.

Mrs Merkel, who has failed to win support for a Europe-wide quota system to share out refugees, last week masterminded a deal for Turkey to take back migrants landing in Greece.

Victory: Social Democratic Party (SPD) supporters react to the predictions of victory in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliamentary elections in Mainz

Success: Winfried Kretschmann (centre), incumbent governor of Baden-Wuerttemberg and member of the German Greens Party, celebrates victory in the state elections

Growth: Supporters of the German Green Party were delighted after exit polls predict it will win the Baden-Wurttemberg elections

In return, Ankara would be handed up to 3.9billion, EU countries would accept quotas of Syrian refugees from Turkey and all 75million Turkish citizens would be allowed visa-free travel around continental Europe.

On Thursday Mrs Merkel insisted that imposing a limit on refugee numbers was a short-term pseudo-solution and that only a concerted European approach would bring down numbers.

Germany has attempted to return economic migrants to safe countries such as Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro but still risks being overwhelmed.

Last night millions of voters showed they have lost faith in the chancellors policies.

Results showed the AfD had won 24 per cent of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony Anhalt, finishing third.

The party fares better in former Eastern Germany where scepticism of liberal refugee policies is stronger.

But its double-digit score in two other states, Rhineland and Baden-Wurttemberg, was potentially more significant.

Anti-Merkel: Right-wing activists protest against German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Saturday, ahead of Sunday's state elections, the first since the start of the refugee crisis

This suggests middle-class voters are deserting the Christian Democrats and other establishment parties.

Baden-Wurttemberg, which is home to Porsche and Daimler, was won by the Green Party. Mrs Merkels CDU lost a large slice of its vote in its former stronghold, plunging to a historic low of 27 per cent.

AfD has seats in five regional parliaments and in the European Parliament.

But its huge gains on Super Sunday will reinforce fears that Germany is shifting to the right after decades of middle-of-the-road consensus politics following the Nazi period.

FAR RIGHT PARTY MAKES GAINS IN GERMANY: WHO ARE THE AFD? Germanys AfD  Alternativ fur Deutschland  started out at as an antiEU, antieuro party sceptical of the power of Brussels and the superstate project beloved of most of the Fatherlands citizens. Its destiny was almost certain to be that of a protest party until the refugee crisis came along and propelled it on to the national stage in a way noone predicted. Founded in 2013 with the intention of ending bailouts for poor southern EU countries, it focused on criticizing the governments immigration policies last year and has not looked back. AfD is seen by many in Germany to be linked to Pegida, a xenophobic movement which draws thousands onto the streets of the city of Dresden every Monday. Critics refer to Pegida as Nazis in pinstripes  an allusion to the middle-class disaffected voters it is drawing into its ranks. Meteoric rise: Frauke Petry's Alternative for Germany had just five per cent support in Saxony-Anhalt, but this week, the right-wing anti-immigration party was polled at 19 per cent The current leader of AfD is an East German-born female scientist. But the parallels with Angela Merkel end there. Frauke Petry believes that German police should if necessary shoot at migrants seeking to enter the country illegally. She was lambasted for saying so in January but a poll found nearly 30 percent of the electorate agreed. Mrs Petry, 40, took over as party chief in July 2015 after an internal power struggle that saw the partys co-founder and first leader, Bernd Lucke, ousted. Under Mrs Petry AfD has moved to the right and shifted focus from eurozone issues to migration. It became the first antieuro party to win seats in a German regional parliament  in Saxony in 2014  and went on to win seats in four other states parliaments. Its latest big win makes it more powerful than ever. Advertisement

The tabloid Bild newspaper ran the headline yesterday AfD shocks Germany!.

Last night Mrs Petry, who chairs AfD, said: We are seeing above all in these elections that voters are turning away in large numbers from the big established parties and voting for our party.

She said voters expected AfD to offer the opposition that there hasnt been in the German parliament and some state parliaments.

The far right victory came despite attacks by leading establishment politicians.
For more of the latest on Donald Trump visit www.dailymail.co.uk/trump

for failing to distance himself from KKK supporters

A man exiting a Donald Trump rally has been filmed telling protesters to 'go to f****** Auschwitz' during a confrontation at the billionaire's event in Cleveland at the weekend.

Marking the latest controversy to engulf the Republican nominee front-runner, the unidentified man is also seen to be raising his arm in an apparent Nazi salute.

Trump's campaign remains plagued by accusations of racism - stemming from both his own statements and policies, and his support from white supremacist groups.

The man was filmed walking past protesters at the rally raising his arm as he told the to 'go to Auschwitz'

He then repeated the statement, saying 'go to f****** Auschwitz' as he marched out of the rally in Cleveland

The video, which was filmed as his supporters were leaving a rally in Cleveland on Saturday, shows dozens of fans exiting the rally past a group of protesters.

One man wearing a checkered short and cap walks past the group with his arm raised. He then tells them: 'Go to Auschwitz. Go to f****** Auschwitz.'

The incident is not the first time Trump supporters have evoked memories of the genocidal Nazi party during his campaign.

Birgitt Peterson, 69, of Yorkville, Illinois, appeared in a photograph published by the Chicago Tribune wearing a Trump t-shirt and holding a cigarette while making a Nazi salute.

Her right arm is raised into the air, fingers outstretched and palm facing down, reproducing the salute adopted by Adolf Hitler's supporters in the 1930s.

Peterson, who was born in West Berlin in 1946, a year after Hitler's death, later claimed she made the gesture as a counter-protest to those accusing Trump of being a 'second Hitler'.

Rejecting accusations she was a Nazi, she told the New York Times that she did it to show 'rude' protesters how to 'do it right'.

Trump, 69, has also been criticized for failing to adequately distance himself from the support of the former head of the Klu Klux Klan.

Former Grand Wizard David Duke previously said voters casting their ballot against Trump would commit 'treason' to their heritage.

The billionaire later told CNN he didn't know anything about the white supremacists and insisted he wasn't aware Duke was backing him.
North Korea has warned it could 'burn Manhattan down to ashes' by firing a hydrogen bomb in to the heart of New York City.

Kim Jong UN's regime said it was capable of sending the weapon to America's East Coast using one of its 'intercontinental ballistic missiles'.

Pyongyang's state-run media outlet claimed the country's hydrogen bomb was 'much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union'.

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North Korea, under dictator Kim Jong Un (pictured) has warned it could 'burn Manhattan down to ashes' by firing a hydrogen bomb in to the heart of New York City

The latest claims come two months after the country conducted its fourth nuclear test, followed by its launching of a long-range missile the following month. A rocket launch is pictured earlier this month

The Washington Post quotes DPRK Today as saying: 'Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union.

'If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes.'

DPRK Today say it bases its report on information from a nuclear scientist named Cho Hyong Il.

Many experts remain skeptical of North Korea's technical capabilities.

But the latest claims come two months after the country conducted its fourth nuclear test, followed by its launching of a long-range missile the following month.

Today, the United Nations human rights investigator called for Kim Jong Un and senior officials to be prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity.

Marzuki Darusman said North Korea was devoting huge resources to developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction while many of its citizens lack sufficient food.

Pyongyang's state-run media outlet claimed the country's hydrogen bomb was 'much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union'

He was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council at a session boycotted by the delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The European Union and United States supported his call for accountability without naming the leader.

China, Pyongyang's ally,took a more conciliatory tone, saying human rights issues should not be politicised and calling for a comprehensive approach to dealing with North Korea.

North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in a speech to the Geneva forum on March 1, said it would boycott any session that examined its record and would 'never, ever' be bound by any such resolutions.

Political prison camps, torture, 'slave-like labour' and religious persecution remain features of the state apparatus, two years after a landmark UN investigation into crimes against humanity, Darusman said.
Terrorists armed with AK-47s and hand grenades slaughtered 18 people in a tourist resort in Ivory Coast, including a German national who 'dedicated her life to making the world a better place'.

Tributes have been paid to Henrike Grohs, the director of the Goethe-Institut in the country who was killed by al Qaeda terrorists in the historic town of Grand Bassam yesterday.

Ms Grohs, 51, died alongside 15 others, including a French citizen and two other Europeans, and a five-year-old boy who fell to his knees and prayed for his life after the attackers stormed the resort.

Paying tribute to her friend, artist Virginia Ryan wrote on Facebook: 'Henrike dedicated her life to creating cultural links, to making the world a better place though art and culture.

'Words cannot express the horror and waste, that she could be killed in a place she loved so much, with people she also loved so much.R.I.P.'

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Tributes: Henrike Grohs, the director of the Goethe-Institut in Ivory Coast was killed in the terrorist attack yesterday. A friend said she 'dedicated her life to the world a better place though art and culture'

Friend: Virginia Ryan (centre) wrote on Facebook: 'Words cannot express the horror and waste, that she could be killed in a place she loved so much.' Henrike Grohs (right) died alongside 15 others, including three other Europeans

Attack: Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were pictured dragging the dead bodies from the blood stained sand at the tourist resort yesterday

Graphic images showed seven dead bodies scattered across the beach in the resort town of Grand Bassam

Speaking to MailOnline from her home in Italy, Ms Ryan added: 'She was independent, loving, kind and generous.

'She was someone who used art and culture to promote peace. She will be really sorely missed.'

Moataz Nasreldin added: Every time I lose a dear friend I insist to remind everyone not to waste time and call your beloved ones now, tomorrow is an illusion, we only live the now!

Goodbye Henrike Grohs, I wish I was able to hug u before u leave!

Speaking to MailOnline, Rwandan photographer Jacques Nkinzingabo, who met Ms Grohs at a photographic festival in Mali, said: She showed me a way of life and she opened my eyes in photography. She liked to help young people in Africa achieve their goals.'

Ms Grohs had headed the Abidjan branch of the Goethe-Institut - a German cultural association - since December 2013, previously working as a culture and development consultant at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg.

According to a statement from the institute, the Africa expert developed 'many successful cultural projects in Cote d'Ivoire together with Ivorian partners'.

The ethnologist was the project manager of a programme with Berlin Philharmonic between 2002 and 2009. She was unmarried and had no children.

Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, the president of the Goethe-Institut, said in a statement: 'It is terrible that a woman who campaigned for a meaningful life with all her strength had to die so senselessly.'

Weapons: Grenades and ammunition pictured on the beach close to L'Etoile du Sud hotel. Al Qaeda terrorists armed with AK-47s and grenades killed 18 people in the attack yesterday

Shocking: One survivor of yesterday's attack said: 'They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging'. Pictured: Locals gather at the crime scene today

Johannes Ebert, the secretary general of the institute, added: 'We are stunned that Henrike Grohs was torn so tragically and cruelly from life.

'She loved her work and was full of ideas, and full of energy to implement these ideas. Our thoughts are with her family and colleagues in Abidjan.'

One unnamed French citizen died in the massacre.

A survivor of yesterday's attack has described the horrifying moment a boy was shot dead.

'They killed a child despite him kneeling down and begging,' they said. 'They shot a woman in the chest. They've killed innocent people.'

Another witness, Marcel Guy, said a man with a long beard spoke to two children in Arabic and spared the life of the one who was able to recite an Islamic prayer.

'The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes,' Mr Guy said.

An armed Ivorian policeman looks at the body of a man on the beach near L'Etoile du Sud hotel in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast

A soldier comforts an injured boy in Grand Bassam after terrorists killed 18 people in a resort in Ivory Coast

Of the 18 people who were gunned down in the resort popular with Westerners, 15 were civilians and three were special forces soldiers, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said.

He added: 'I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast... The toll could've been much heavier.'

Ivory Coast's Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said only three attackers were killed, not the six that was claimed on Sunday.

Henrike dedicated her life to creating cultural links, to making the world a better place though art and culture Friend Virginia Ryan

The heavily armed, balaclava-clad shooters shouted 'Allah Akbar' before they opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel, which was full of expats at the time.

Graphic images showed several dead bodies, some of whom are thought to be French tourists, scattered across the beach near the hotel.

Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were pictured dragging the dead bodies from the blood-stained sand yesterday.

Jacques Able, the owner of L'Etoile du Sud, confirmed at least one person was killed in his hotel.

Footage from a different hotel's balcony showed people running for their lives as the shooters tried to gun down other unarmed holidaymakers.

The country's Government said six armed men have been 'neutralised' following attacks on a hotel (pictured, children walk past the body of someone killed in an attack)

People carry the body of a victim after gunmen went on a rampage in the Ivory Coast resort of Grand Bassam

Among the 18 people killed were 14 civilians, including a five-year-old boy, and two special forces soldiers

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara said the 'toll could have been much heavier' (pictured, the Ivorian Red Cross carry a dead body from the beach)

Locals help a badly injured victim onto the back of a backup truck following the terror attack in Ivory Coast

Grand Bassam was once the colonial capital of Ivory Coast and remains a popular site for ex-pats

Terror group Al Qaeda in the Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attack through one of their social media accounts, but this has not been independently verified.

Several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack, with witnesses describing how the gunmen arrived on the beach by boat.

Josiane Sekongo, 25, who lives across from one of the town's many beachfront hotels, described the shocking moment the attack took place.

She ran outside after hearing gunfire and saw people sprinting away from the beach to hide in their homes, moments before the security forces arrived.

Dramane Kima a local who filmed the bodies on the shore, added: 'I saw seven dead that I filmed. There were four attackers. I was swimming when it started and I ran away.'

He also took photos of grenades and ammunition thought to have been left behind by the attackers.

A spokeswoman for the UK Foreign Office said officials were 'urgently' trying to establish whether any British nationals were harmed at the resort, a popular site for expats.

One of the victims of the shocking attack in Grand Bassam, where gunmen opened fire on the beach

An AFP journalist saw around a dozen people, including an injured Western woman, being driven away in a military truck

Unconfirmed reports have emerged that several French nationals may have been killed in the deadly attack

The terrorists were reportedly targeting a U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Marcus Jadotte, Fox News reported.

The American embassy in the capital Abidjan, which was monitoring the situation closely today, said there was no evidence that U.S. citizens were being targeted, nor were there any reports of them being harmed.

I have always said that Abidjan [Ivory Coast] and Dakar [Senegal] are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa Lemine Ould Salem, terrorism expert

Mr Jadotte was visiting Ivory Coast with a group of Americans which included college recruiters from the University of Florida. They had not arrived at L'Etoile du Sud when the attack took place.

The attack was the third time in recent months that a West African tourist hot spot has been besieged by gunmen.

Dozens were killed during a siege at a Malian hotel in November, followed by an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

The Burkinabe president Roch Kabore released a statement yesterday condemning the terror attack in Ivory Coast.

'I condemns in the strongest terms, the terrorist attacks which have just hit the city of Grand Bassam. I reaffirms the solidarity of Burkina Faso with the fraternal people of cote d'Ivoire.

'My condolences to the families of the victims and to the Ivorian nation and my best wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured. Together, we will come to the end of terrorism,' he said.

The heavily armed, balaclava clad shooters opened fired on guests at the L'Etoile du Sud [Southern Star] hotel (pictured) which was full of expats

Survivors comfort each other near the beach where balaclava clad shooters opened fire on helpless tourists

Ivorian special forces raced to the scene of the devastating attack in the town of Grand Bassam

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both those countries, could be a potential target by jihadists as well.

'I have always said that Abidjan [Ivory Coast] and Dakar [Senegal] are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa,' said terrorism expert Lemine Ould Salem.

He said the attackers could be from the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram terror group that has killed thousands across Africa over several years.
Four men were arrested last month after committing a string of armed robberies while disguised as U.S. presidents, Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy.

In scenes reminiscent of the movie 'Point Break', the suspects stole more than $7,000 in cash and over $170,000 in electronics.

Fred Oaxaca, 19, Marcus Hammon, 21, Martin Garcia, 18, and Luis Cuevas, 31, were arrested in connection with the crimes.

The four men are suspected of committing a string of armed robberies, in a style similar to that of the 1991 film, Point Break where a gang of robbers wear face-masks depicting former US presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B Johnson and Jimmy Carter (above, a scene from the film)

All are facing counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit robbery.

The first incident took place on 12 February at a T-Mobile store in Las Vegas, just before closing time.

Two men, who police described as 'JFK' and 'Obama', entered the store and forced two clerks to lie face-down in the back room, while 'Obama' zip-tied their hands together behind their backs.

According to the Review Journal, the men then filled a laundry basket and cardboard boxes from around the store with money and merchandise.

Police reports say that they got away with about $300 in cash and $66,000-worth of phones and electronics.

Four days later an almost identical crime happened at an AT&T store.

Again, the men entered the store around closing time and for 20 minutes, the bandits kept the victims in the backroom while they filled cardboard boxes with 'high value smartphones, tablets and other electronic items.'

'JFK' instructed the men to ignore lower-value phones, according to the report.

Alongside stealing $7,000 in cash and electronics valued at $113,421, the men also threatened to shoot a cleaning lady who stumbled upon the incident.

The thieves hit a number of stores around Las Vegas during their crime spree, including T-Mobile and Verizon (stock photo of Las Vegas police car)

The theives hit another store on 18 February and again a week later.

However, a mistake in their last attempt at the Verizon store caused them to be caught, as the men unwittingly stole an iPhone tracking device.

The police then used this to track down both the criminals' white cargo van and Honda Sedan.

Inside the Honda, police found the JFK and Obama masks and guns.

Oaxaca initially denied involvement but later admitted that he had been selling the electronics on Craigslist for $100 each.

He declined to help police locate the $250,000 in electronics that had been taken in the robberies.

The 19-year-old also seemed central to the operation as gunman, Garcia, said that the teen recruited him for $1,000 and Cuevas told police that he had seen Oaxaca with a lot of money so had decided to become the getaway driver.

Masks of Obama's and John F Kennedy's faces were used by the men to protect their identities. However, they were caught after they stole an iPhone tracker

Oaxaca is reported to be the only person to have worn the JFK mask for the crimes which appear to have taken inspiration from the 1991 film, Point Break, in which a number of bank robberies are committed by the 'Ex-Presidents,' - a gang of robber that wear face-masks depicting former US presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B Johnson and Jimmy Carter.

Oaxaca is facing 29 charges, Garcia is facing 16 charges and Hammon and Cuevas are facing five charges each.
This is the moment prison guards blasted maximum security inmates with tear gas after the gang members lit fires in their cells and attacked officers.

Officers were seen spraying the two prisoners with pepper spray, hitting them with a hose and dragging them through the hallway in handcuffs after the inmates charged out of their burning cell.

CCTV from Wellington Correctional Centre, west of Sydney, shows how four prison guards gathered outside the cell, as smoke and orange flames flickered through the open door.

One of the inmates then emerged from the door with his face covered and appeared to surrender before his cell mate ran out and allegedly attempted to assault officers on Thursday March 10.

Prison guards blasted maximum security inmates with tear gas after the gang members lit fires in their cells and attacked officers

The prisoners, who are thought to be part of a newly formed Pacific Islander jail gang known as The Outkasts, fell to the floor after being sprayed with gas.

Security footage shows how they were then dragged down the hallway, placed in handcuffs and taken down the stairs to safety.

The prisoners were new inmates at Wellington jail, having been moved there after a recent incident at Goulburn Correctional Centre where guards used live bullets to stop a brawl in January.

They are now being investigated by police and are expected to be charged with assault and malicious damage.

CCTV from Wellington Correctional Centre, west of Sydney, shows how four prison guards gathered outside the cell, as smoke and orange flames flickered through the open door

One of the inmates then emerged from the door with his face covered and appeared to surrender

The prisoners, who are thought to be part of a newly formed Pacific Islander jail gang known as The Outkasts, fell to the floor after being sprayed with gas

Detectives are also investigating how the fire started and whether the inmates used a power point in the cell to start the blaze.

The fires were deliberately set at about 3.30pm on Thursday, and the inmates involved had only minor injuries.

Corrective services minister David Elliott said the officers showed incredible bravery and revealed he would be nominating all officers for awards.

Security footage shows how they were then dragged down the hallway, placed in handcuffs and taken down the stairs to safety
A woman who gave birth to her terminally ill daughter when she was just 14 years old has revealed how her heartache her helped her draw inspiration to create the fashion label of her dreams.

Kate Watts, 39, from Perth, was raped by a much older man known to her family and after she fell pregnant with his child, and he forced her to conceal the pregnancy from her family and friends for the entire nine month term.

'Being 14 years old, I had this ideal that he'd love me and we would live happily ever after, but it wasn't until I started growing up that I realised the impact of what he did to me,' Ms Watts told Daily Mail Australia.

Ms Watts gave birth to her daughter Ashley in 1991 and at just four weeks old she was diagnosed with an extremely rare brain condition that left her with part of her brain missing.

The debilitating condition meant the little girl never spoke or walked and died when she was just 18.

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Kate Watts (pictured with daughter Ashley) - who gave birth to her terminally ill daughter when she was just 14-years-old - has revealed how her heartache helped her draw inspiration to create the fashion label of her dreams

Kate Watts (pictured centre with Kris Smith and Tyson Beckford) was raped by a much older man known to her family and after falling pregnant, was forced to conceal the pregnancy from her family and friends

As a pregnant teenager at school Ms Watts would hide her pregnancy from other students by pinning a row of safety pins to her pants around her belly.

She developed severe pre-eclampsia - leaving her with high blood pressure and meaning she did not gain a large amount of weight so her pregnancy was easier to keep a secret.

Her mother believed she had diabetes as she would crave blocks of ice and would try and take her to the doctor.

'I would have to chuck the usual teenage hissy fit and run out,' Ms Watts said.

Ms Watts started going into labour in her bedroom after her parents went for dinner at their friend's house, and she managed to reach the final stages without assistance.

She stuffed her teddy bear toys under the covers to give her parents the impression she was tucked away in bed, and the terrified 14-year-old made her way to hospital.

It didn't take long for her parents to realise she was missing.

'I hate to think about how horrific that would have been for my father to pull back the covers and see I was gone,' she said.

At school Ms Watts would try and hide her pregnancy from other students by pinning a row of safety pins to her pants around her belly

After rushing to the hospital, doctors told Ms Watts' parents their daughter's blood pressure was four times the amount it should be and prepared them for the worst

Just before Ashley passed away, Ms Watts met the love her life Paul

After rushing to the hospital, doctors told Ms Watts' parents their daughter's blood pressure was four times the amount it should be and prepared them for the worst.

'I should have already been dead,' Ms Watts said.

After baby Ashley was born, she would constantly cry and it was not until all her hair fell out overnight that the family realised something was gravely wrong.

'She was completely bald as the circumference of her hair had grown so big,' Ms Watts said.

'I didn't get the first smile until she was one, but from then she laughed and laughed,' Ms Watts said.

Ashley went completely blind at four-years-old and after progressively 'going backwards' for the next few years, passed away in 2008.

Just before Ashley passed away, Ms Watts met the love her life Paul.

Ashley went completely blind at four-years-old and after progressively 'going backwards' for the next few years, passed away at 18 in 2008

Once Ms Watts (pictured with Jennifer Hawkins) was able to get back into fashion, she decided to dedicate her label to her daughter, naming is Only One Ashley

Bianca Giteau (pictured centre), who is friends with British equestrian and the second-eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II Zara Phillips (left), contacted Ms Watt's to say she was meeting the Queen at the Royal Ascot and believed one of her dresses would be perfect

The label was launched in January of this year and Ms Watts' stunning designs were showcased to a sold out crowd

'He was a key figure in Ashley's life and carried her coffin at the funeral,' she said.

Ms Watts had always been interested in fashion, and once she felt ready to try to break into the industry she decided to found a label and dedicate it to her daughter, naming it Only One Ashley.

'It was really hard at first to approve the branding and sometimes when people would spell her name wrong, I'd be really upset,' she said.

But Ms Watts said she is so glad she decided to stick with it.

The label was launched in January of this year and Ms Watts' stunning designs were showcased to a sold out crowd.

Although the label is in its first stages, Ms Watts has had the pleasure of dressing many celebrities, including the wife of rugby union legend Matt Giteau.

Bianca Giteau, who is friends with British equestrian and the second-eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II Zara Phillips, contacted Ms Watt's to say she was meeting the Queen at the Royal Ascot and believed one of her dresses would be perfect for the occasion.

'It was a very nervous wait to get the dress [to England] for her, but she sent me a picture once it arrived and said it was perfect,' Ms Watts said.

Ms Watts' label Only One Ashley showcases stunning Spring Carnival dresses (pictured)

Once Ms Watts was able to get back into fashion, she decided to dedicate her label to her daughter, naming is Only One Ashley
A British mother has finally been reunited with her long-lost daughter following an agonising wait of more than two decades after her Egyptian partner kidnapped the youngster 24 years ago.

Dorothy Fowler, 46, has spent the last 24 years trying to find her daughter Shaymaa who was snatched away from her by her Egyptian husband when she threatened to leave him in 1991.

She has finally managed to track down her daughter to Cairo, where she lives with her husband and children, and was moved to tears when the 26-year-old called her 'mum' in their first emotional call.

'I broke down because I had waited 24 years to hear her say that,' Ms Fowler said.

Dorothy Fowler whose daughter Shaymaa was snatched away from her two decades ago by her Egyptian partner has finally been reunited with the now 26-year-old, who is married with three children and living in Egypt. Pictured: Ms Fowler with her daughters Shaymaa (left holding her son), Charlene (top right) and Miriam

Just weeks after the moving phone call, the pair met in person when Ms Fowler flew over to Egypt. She discovered that her daughter had been dumped in Cairo by her husband as a toddler and left to be brought up by his sister.

She said: 'It is a dream come true. It has taken me 24 years to find her and I never ever want to let her go again.

'Not a day went past that I didn't think about her. I never gave up hope. But my daughter being taken from me ruined my life. Now at last I am whole again.'

Ms Fowler was just 18 and working in Greece as a nanny when she fell in love with an Egyptian man who was 12 years older and her first ever boyfriend. She quickly became pregnant but he started hitting her. Despite the trauma, she stayed with him and the pair later married.

She had Shaymaa in May 1989 but when it became clear her husband would not change his ways, she got a one-way ticket home to the UK when the youngster was just a few weeks old.

Ms Fowler tried to move on with her life but, when Shaymaa was just over a year old, her ex tracked her down to Omagh, Northern Ireland, and persuaded her to give their family another chance.

Aged just 20, and not wanting to deprive her daughter of a father, she eventually agreed and they flew back to Greece. But within days she knew it was a mistake, adding: 'He hadn't changed, if anything he was more violent.'

Ms Fowler fell pregnant with Shaymaa (together left in 1989) while working as a nanny in Greece. She threatened to return to Britain when her husband became abusive but he snatched their daughter and is thought to have fled to Cairo. Ms Fowler has spent 24 years trying to track down her daughter, together right

Ms Fowler was called out of the blue by her former partner and he gave her Shaymaa's phone number. She called the now 26-year-old, who is living in Egypt with her family. Pictured: Ms Fowler (centre) with Shaymaa (left holding her young son) and her other daughter, Charlene, 20 (right) during the trip to Eygpt to be reunited

She told him she was leaving again but days later a group of his friends arrived and told her that if she left, she would be going alone.

She explained: 'I told them I wasn't leaving without my daughter but they said if I tried to take her they would cut her head off. I was petrified.'

The terrified mother was then frog-marched outside, put into a car and driven to the airport screaming for her daughter. Her last glimpse was of the youngster fast asleep on the bed.

Ms Fowler recalled: 'I couldn't take it in, I was in shock, my baby had been kidnapped but I was terrified that he would kill her if I went back. I was in a state but convinced myself once I was in the UK and safe I could get my baby back through the courts.

'I sat numb in shock unable to take it in. All of my family were waiting for us at the airport but I was too upset to even explain what had happened initially. I locked myself in my flat and cried.'

Ms Fowler, 46, is pictured holding a photograph of Shaymaa before the pair were reunited

The young mother was in for another shock. She had no money and did not qualify for legal aid, and although she contacted the British Embassy in Athens for help, staff said Shaymaa had vanished. They suspected her father had fled to Cairo, taking the youngster with him.

Ms Fowler said: 'I thought about her night and day. I sank into depression. Being apart from my baby was like a giant hole in my heart.'

Every legal route she took drew a blank because her daughter was out of jurisdiction. All she had left were some clothes and photographs. She was left with no choice but to try to build a new life and hope at some point things would change.

She went on to have three more children - Dean, 22, Charlene, 20 and Dwayne, 17.

She said: 'I loved them dearly but of course they didn't replace my daughter.'

Then out of the blue when Shaymaa was eight, she received a picture of her through the post. But it had no forwarding address.

She said: 'She was beautiful, in a red dress, but it broke my heart all over again to see what I had missed out on.'

Then in 2004, she got a call from the British Embassy telling her there had been a sighting of her now 13-year-old daughter in Cairo.

With renewed hope, Ms Fowler appealed in the UK press for help and raised 15,000 by taking out loans and credit cards to fly back to search for her.

She said: 'It was my first ray of hope in 13 years. I would have done anything to get there.' She spent day and night searching the streets with staff from the Embassy but there was no news or sighting of Shaymaa.

After weeks of searching she finally flew home crushed, even contemplating suicide. She said: 'I felt I could not go on breathing without my baby. But I knew my other kids needed me, that was all that stopped me. But I thought of nothing but finding her.'

For 10 years she had no choice but to live her life, and had another daughter Miriam, five ,with another partner  although that relationship failed.

'I am so damaged I have accepted I will never be able to have a relationship,' Ms Fowler admitted.

'I have spent my whole life crying since my child was stolen from me.'

Ms Fowler fell in love and married an Eygptian man (together left) and she fell pregnant with Shaymaa (pictured right as a youngster in 1991). The pair were parted two years later and she has tried to find her child ever since

Ms Fowler is pictured above with her two other daughters Charlene, 20, (left) and five-year-old Miriam (right)

However, last August, just as she was giving up hope of ever seeing Shaymaa again, the phone rang.

It was the girl's father. He said he would tell Ms Fowler where to find their daughter if she helped him get a British passport.

She said: 'I knew I couldn't do that but decided to play along in the hope that I might get information.' The pair spoke daily for weeks before he gave out a phone number in October.

When Ms Fowler and her daughter had that first, very emotional conversation, Shaymaa told her she lived in Egypt with her husband and three sons and had nothing to do with her father.

She said he had taken her there as a toddler and had left her to be raised by his sister. Shaymaa had not seen her father since.

Ms Fowler said: 'We laughed and we cried and talked, the bond was there instantly. She did not blame me, there was no anger. Her English was quite good.'

Weeks later, she flew to Egypt with Charlene and Miriam and were driven to a house in a village. Shaymaa came outside and ran towards it and the women hugged for the first time. Ms Fowler said: 'We were both crying. I was shaking. It was overwhelming. She looked just like me.'

Ms Fowler said she was moved to tears when her daughter Shaymaa (left with one of her three children and right with Ms Fowler) called her 'mum', after she managed to track her down to Egypt, where she now lives

Ms Fowler is now desperate to help Shaymaa get a British passport. The pair are pictured together in Egypt

Over the next few days they got to know each other better and after three weeks Ms Fowler flew home.

She said: 'Her life is different to the one I would have given her. They have no running water and poor sanitation and limited access to health care. I owe it to her to help her and her family like a mother should.

'I have been denied that for so many years and I am determined to make up for it.'

She is now appealing to officials to help get her daughter back to the UK.

Shaymaa said: 'My mum is a good woman. I am so happy to see her again and I hope to come to the UK to meet the rest of my family. I am pleased she never stopped looking for me.'

Ms Fowler is hoping to win the backing of the public and MPs to get her daughter a new British passport to replace the one she had as a baby.

She explained: 'We would have returned to the UK to live if I had not been stopped from bringing her.

'This is where she belongs and was meant to be. I have no idea what happened to her British passport. But I won't let her down again.'
George Osborne (pictured presenting his Budget last summer) announce measures to crack down on corporate tax avoidance in this weeks Budget

George Osborne will seek to recover his reputation on multinational tax collection by announcing measures to crack down on corporate tax avoidance in this weeks Budget, it emerged today.

The Chancellor is expected to announce a cut in tax relief for large multinationals who deliberately shift their debt to the UK to take advantage of HMRC's generous tax credits system.

The Treasury will publish a business tax road map outlining how companies will be taxed in the remainder of the decade.

It will seek to stop companies declaring accounts showing little or no profits in the UK while loading up debt to take advantage of tax reliefs available to companies, according to the Financial Times.

Officials said the changes to the tax relief system were necessary to make sure they are not used for profit-shifting  where large multinationals move profits made in Britain to other jurisdictions.

The Treasury says the new tax roadmap that will be unveiled in Wednesdays Budget will give businesses the certainty they need to plan long-term investment and will enable HMRC to tackle base erosion and profit shifting.

The new crackdown on corporate tax avoidance will also give Mr Osborne a much-needed source of revenue as he finds ways of plugging an 18billion black hole in public finances.

The shortfall was identified earlier this year as economic forecasts downgraded economic growth in the UK, which will harm Treasury coffers.

It will be seen as an effort by Mr Osborne to regain the initiative over the issue after he was heavily criticised for declaring the 130million 'sweetheart' deal agreed with Google earlier this year as a 'major success'.

The sum, which covers 10 years of back taxes, accounted for just 3 per cent of Google's revenue as it was able to exploit the tax relief on offer in Britain.

George Osborne was heavily criticised for declaring the 130million 'sweetheart' deal agreed with Google earlier this year as a 'major success'

The Chancellor (pictuterd on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday) is expected to announce a cut in tax relief for large multinationals who deliberately shift their debt to the UK to take advantage of HMRC's generous tax credits system

Yesterday he defended the deal, despite a report by MPs dismissing the sum as disproportionately small.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Osborne said: 'I was faced with a situation when I became Chancellor where we were not raising any money from this company.

'We are raising money from Google and indeed, from Facebook and the like. I think that is a success.'

The Chancellor also came under fire for failing to demand Facebook pays more than the meagre 4,327 in corporation tax it paid last year, despite revenues in the UK of more than 700million.

The new crackdown on corporate tax avoidance will also give Osborne (pictured on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday) a much-needed source of revenue as he finds ways of filling an 18billion black hole in finances

Wednesdays Budget will also include a clampdown on a tax dodge used by media stars and mandarins who have their salaries paid through special companies to save thousands of pounds a year.

The Chancellor is expected to use Wednesdays Budget to tackle the practice of paying staff off the books, which costs the Treasury more than 400 million a year.

MULTINATIONALS IN THE DOCK OVER CORPORATION TAX Google came under fire for paying just 130m to cover 10 years of back taxes Google: The internet giant, which overtook Apple as the biggest company in the world on Monday, agreed a bill of 130 million for the period of 2005 to 2014 - but it includes no fines or penalties. George Osborne was heavily criticised last week for describing the deal as a 'major success'. Facebook: The social media titan paid just 4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, despite reporting UK revenues of 105million. Apple: The US-based technology firm behind the iPad and the iPhone made 34billion in profit during the year to September 2014. Experts estimate that the UK accounted for 1.9billion of that profit, but the firm only paid 11.8million in British corporation tax. Amazon: The online shopping giant took 5.3billion in sales from British shoppers in 2014 but paid just 11.9million in tax after announcing profits of 34.4million. Starbucks: The coffee chain paid just 8.6million of tax over 14 years between 1998 and 2012 when sales totalled 3billion. But latest company filings show it paid 8.1million in corporation tax for last year on profits of 34.2million. Advertisement

As many as 100,000 people  including senior civil servants and NHS staff  receive their income through personal-service companies: it is intended to benefit temporary workers, but is widely used as a perk by long-term employees.

It enables workers to pay corporation tax at 20 per cent rather than personal income tax at up to 45 per cent, plus National Insurance, helping them to avoid an average of more than 3,500 a year.

The wheeze received widespread publicity when it was reported that up to 1,500 people working for the BBC, including presenters Fiona Bruce and Jeremy Paxman, were pocketing tax savings by being paid by the Corporation through personal-service companies.

The BBC banned the practice two years ago after criticism by MPs.

Under Mr Osbornes plans, the onus will be on employers to determine whether their staff are full-time employees  rather than the temporary workers who were meant to be the beneficiary of the rule  and should therefore be put on the payroll.

A Government source said: You have situations where someone working in a public body pays thousands of pounds less in tax than someone doing exactly the same job alongside them whos taxed as an employee.

'That cant be fair  either on the taxpayer or their fellow workers. We are going to put a stop to it.

The Chancellor has been hit by an 18 billion black hole after it emerged that the economy in 2015 was one per cent smaller than he had thought just three months ago.

But earlier this month, following an uproar, he was forced to abandoned plans to raid the 34billion pot of tax relief for pensions savings  so most analysts expect him to introduce stealth measures to try to closer the gap instead.

It also emerged that Mr Osborne is set to hit motorists with an increase in motor insurance premium tax, from 9.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent, increasing the cost of some policies by up to 80.

Tory MPs have urged Mr Osborne not to use low oil prices, which have seen a litre of petrol drop below 1 in some areas, as an excuse to raise fuel duty.

He is expected to announce a giveaway for middle-income voters by raising the threshold at which people start paying 40 per cent tax.

At present workers start paying 40p per pound on earnings above 42,385 a year, although the Conservatives have pledged to raise it to 50,000 by 2020.

Mr Osborne is also expected to exempt 4,000 injured military veterans from having to put their war pension towards the cost of social care  enabling them to save just over 3,000 a year following a campaign by the Royal British Legion.

OSBORNE TO KILL OFF 'PAXMAN' TAX PLOY THAT COSTS 400MILLION George Osborne has pledged to clamp down on a tax dodge where people receive their income via a 'personal service' company, with BBC star Jeremy Paxman, pictured, reported to have used the ploy Next week's Budget will include a clampdown on a tax dodge used by media stars and mandarins who have their salaries paid through special companies to save thousands of pounds a year. The Chancellor is expected to use Wednesdays Budget to tackle the practice of paying staff off the books, which costs the Treasury more than 400 million a year. As many as 100,000 people  including senior civil servants and NHS staff  receive their income through personal-service companies: it is intended to benefit temporary workers, but is widely used as a perk by long-term employees. It enables workers to pay corporation tax at 20 per cent rather than personal income tax at up to 45 per cent, plus National Insurance, helping them to avoid an average of more than 3,500 a year. The wheeze received widespread publicity when it was reported that up to 1,500 people working for the BBC, including presenters Fiona Bruce and Jeremy Paxman, were pocketing tax savings by being paid by the Corporation through personal-service companies. The BBC banned the practice two years ago after criticism by MPs. Under Mr Osbornes plans, the onus will be on employers to determine whether their staff are full-time employees  rather than the temporary workers who were meant to be the beneficiary of the rule  and should therefore be put on the payroll. A Government source said: You have situations where someone working in a public body pays thousands of pounds less in tax than someone doing exactly the same job alongside them whos taxed as an employee. 'That cant be fair  either on the taxpayer or their fellow workers. We are going to put a stop to it. Advertisement

George Osborne defends 130million 'sweetheart' Google deal and insists it was a SUCCESS

George Osborne defended the 130million 'sweetheart' deal that HMRC agreed with Google to cover ten years of back taxes earlier this year, which he hailed as a 'major victory' despite the sum only accounting for around 3 per cent of the company's revenue.

An official report by MPs criticised the deal as 'disproportionally small'. But this morning he said: 'I was faced with a situation when I became Chancellor where we were not raising any money from this company.

'We are raising money from Google and indeed, from Facebook and the like. I think that is a success.'

George Osborne (pictured on the Andrew Marr Show today) defended the 130million 'sweetheart' deal that HMRC agreed with Google to cover ten years of back taxes earlier this year

Next week's Budget will include a clampdown on a tax dodge used by media stars and mandarins who have their salaries paid through special companies to save thousands of pounds a year.

The Chancellor is expected to use Wednesdays Budget to tackle the practice of paying staff off the books, which costs the Treasury more than 400 million a year.

As many as 100,000 people  including senior civil servants and NHS staff  receive their income through personal-service companies: it is intended to benefit temporary workers, but is widely used as a perk by long-term employees.

It enables workers to pay corporation tax at 20 per cent rather than personal income tax at up to 45 per cent, plus National Insurance, helping them to avoid an average of more than 3,500 a year.

The wheeze received widespread publicity when it was reported that up to 1,500 people working for the BBC, including presenters Fiona Bruce and Jeremy Paxman, were pocketing tax savings by being paid by the Corporation through personal-service companies.

The BBC banned the practice two years ago after criticism by MPs.

Under Mr Osbornes plans, the onus will be on employers to determine whether their staff are full-time employees  rather than the temporary workers who were meant to be the beneficiary of the rule  and should therefore be put on the payroll.

A Government source said: You have situations where someone working in a public body pays thousands of pounds less in tax than someone doing exactly the same job alongside them whos taxed as an employee.

'That cant be fair  either on the taxpayer or their fellow workers. We are going to put a stop to it.

The Chancellor has been hit by an 18 billion black hole after it emerged that the economy in 2015 was one per cent smaller than he had thought just three months ago.

But earlier this month, following an uproar, he was forced to abandoned plans to raid the 34billion pot of tax relief for pensions savings  so most analysts expect him to introduce stealth measures to try to closer the gap instead.

It also emerged that Mr Osborne is set to hit motorists with an increase in motor insurance premium tax, from 9.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent, increasing the cost of some policies by up to 80.

Tory MPs have urged Mr Osborne not to use low oil prices, which have seen a litre of petrol drop below 1 in some areas, as an excuse to raise fuel duty.

He is expected to announce a giveaway for middle-income voters by raising the threshold at which people start paying 40 per cent tax.

At present workers start paying 40p per pound on earnings above 42,385 a year, although the Conservatives have pledged to raise it to 50,000 by 2020.
Forgetting to pick up a pint of milk is a common frustration for many, but the inconvenience has taken on extra significance for locals in one tiny Welsh village.

The collapse of a 300-year-old bridge has split Llanfair Clydogau in two and left residents facing a 16-mile round trip to the shops.

And as if that wasn't enough, the village's population of 600 has now been told there is no end in sight to the disruption.

Because it is Grade II listed, repair work on the bridge is being held up by conservationists, meaning locals will have to continue doing a 50-minute detour by car for the foreseeable future.

Frustration: Forgetting to pick up a pint of milk is a common gripe for many, but the inconvenience has taken on extra significance for locals in Llanfair Clydogau, Wales, after a bridge collapsed and split the village in two

And if that wasn't enough, because it is Grade II listed, work on the stone bridge (pictured) is being held up by conservationists, meaning locals will have to continue doing a 16-mile, 50-minute round trip to the shops

The stone bridge over the River Teifi in west Wales has been a key part of Llanfair Clydogau for generations. On one side is the post office and village shop, and the other the village church and most of the homes.

But part of the historic arch collapsed into the river earlier this month leaving, left residents with an eight-mile journey to the shop - and the same back.

Locals say it has created 'havoc' in the village - and want urgent action to repair the bridge.

Frustrated resident Colin Adams, 62, said: 'The shops are on this side, but the majority of people live on the other side of the village.

'They can't get across and it is one heck of a journey to get around.'

Community councillor Alan Leech said it was a 'major problem' for the village.

Inconvenience: The collapse of a 300-year-old bridge has split Llanfair Clydogau in two and left most of the village's residents on one side and the post office and village shop on the other

Hard to reach: Locals say it has created 'havoc' in the village - and want urgent action to repair the bridge. The village shop and post office are pictured

Detour: Part of the historic arch collapsed into the river earlier this month leaving, left residents with an eight-mile journey to the shop - and the same back

'We want action very quickly indeed because the inconvenience to people is substantial,' he said.

'There are cost implications for ordinary people here because everyone wishing to get to the shop is having to drive round a detour...which is wasteful of time, wasteful of fuel.

'What we want to know is, what is the county council going to do about this and how quickly is it going to be put right?'

Ceredigion County Council said engineers had inspected the bridge, which is listed with ancient monument body CADW - the Welsh version of English Heritage.

The official listing says it is 'probably 18th Century, rubble stone humped road-bridge of two spans with rounded arches and long abutments each side.'

Ceredigion County Council said engineers had inspected the bridge, which is listed with ancient monument body CADW - the Welsh version of English Heritage. But the authority has not said when it will be repaired

Fed up: Frustrated resident Colin Adams, 62, said: 'The shops are on this side, but the majority of people live on the other side of the village. They can't get across and it is one heck of a journey to get around'

Lifeline: The bridge over the River Teifi in west Wales has been a key part of Llanfair Clydogau for generations

Any repair work will have to be approved by conservationists before it can be reopened for the village.

A spokesman said: 'Council engineers have carried out an inspection of Llanfair Clydogau bridge following the recent partial collapse.

'Remedial works will be instigated following an assessment of the findings of this inspection and the council intends to prioritise its reconstruction and the re-opening of the road as soon as possible.

'Llanfair Clydogau bridge is a listed structure and the council will be liaising with CADW with regards to its reinstatement.
A recently widowed grandmother wept with happiness after retirement home staff gave her a cushion made out of her late husband's favourite shirt.

Joyce Beckett, 93, became distressed in the evenings after her husband of 70 years, John, died aged 91 on February 11.

Staff at Richmond Village in Northampton started noticing the elderly widow, who suffers from dementia, liked to always be with someone to hold their hand to comfort her.

Chris Rayatt-Howard made widow Joyce Beckett a special memory cushion made from her late husband's shirt

Mrs Beckett and her husband John were married for over 70 years, but Mr Beckett died earlier this year

So Chris Rayatt-Howard, head of activities at the retirement home where she lives, decided to make the special 'memory cushion'.

He asked the couple's son David for John's favourite shirt which he then stitched over a cushion.

The special shirt, stitched over a cushion included a picture of John in the top pocket along with a heartfelt poem

Mr Rayatt-Howard also added a picture of Mr Beckett to the top pocket and attached message which read: 'This is a shirt I used to wear. Whenever you hold it know that I am there.'

He then presented the cushion to Mrs Beckett last Thursday who wept with happiness when she realised it was made from her late husband's shirt.

Mrs Beckett, who has one grown-up son and one grandson, told staff she was 'quite overcome with emotion in a happy way' after receiving the gift.

The couple's only son, David Beckett, 68, a retired bank manager in Northampton, said: 'Chris who did it asked Claire, the senior adviser, to ask me if I would let them have a shirt of my father.

'I said yes and I can't believe what a lovely touch it was.

'I'm sure it will be a comfort because she has had some distressing times recently, particularly early evenings so to have that cushion is just remarkable.

'It is just so typical of Richmond, it really is care with a capital C.'

Claire Fry, 45, the senior village adviser at Richmond Villages in Northampton, said staff were emotional as they watched on.

She added: 'They were very nice couple together and fitted in well here and attended all the quiz nights.

'They looked after each other really. Joyce has dementia but you probably wouldn't know it meeting her for the first time.

'But her mobility is great so she helped John out when his mobility was poor.

'Chris came up with the idea after he saw something on the internet.

Senior village adviser Claire Fry said the Becketts 'were very nice couple together and fitted in well here and attended all the quiz nights'

'When I spoke with Joyce's son David he thought is was a brilliant idea and gave his permission straight away.

'Chris stitched it himself and when he gave it to her it was very emotional.

'It was one of his favourite shirts so she recognised what it was and she was very tearful.

'A lot of other staff who were on a training day were there as well and they had tears in their eyes and were getting emotional too.

'It is in her bedroom now and is always kept close to her.'

Mr and Mrs Beckett moved into an assisted living suite at Richmond Village three years ago because their son David wanted to keep them together as long as possible.

The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on August 18 last year and received a letter from the Queen congratulating them on the big occasion.

Mrs Beckett wept with happiness when she was presented with the cushion

Mr Beckett was taken to hospital at the start of the year but the pair were both kept on the care floor when he returned to the retirement home until he passed away last month.

Photographs of the touching moment Mr Rayatt-Howard gave Mrs Beckett the cushion which were posted on Facebook have already reached over 21,500 people.

Ms Fry added: 'I put a few photos on our page and was shocked when later than night in had reached over 2,000 people.

'It has now got to more than 21,500 and has gone viral.

'The reaction from people has been quite overwhelming to the point that we are getting requests to make cushions.

'It is such a kind gesture from Chris and is an example of person centred caring at its best.
Gillian Kings, 51, of Earls Court, London, (pictured today) had been storing a Harry Bilson oil painting at her home for friend Caroline de Havillande while she considered whether or not to sell it

The former wife of a former millionaire property tycoon was forced to have 7,000 worth of repairs carried out on one of her oil paintings after a friend 'deliberately' scratched it in an argument over a handbag.

Gillian Kings, 51, of Earls Court, London, had been storing the Harry Bilson oil painting at her home for friend Caroline de Havillande while she considered whether or not to sell it.

But Hammersmith Magistrates' Court heard the pair had a falling out when Mrs de Havillande, who once lived with her estranged husband Guy in a 10million home overlooking Hyde Park, failed to return a handbag that Kings had lent her.

The court heard when the painting was being taken to a taxi to be returned to Mrs de Havillande, Kings allegedly lashed out and scratched it causing thousands of pounds of damage.

Kings appeared in court today in a wheelchair and wearing a leg brace, wearing a black skirt, white shirt with pale blue jumper and a dark cardigan.

She faces one charge of criminal damage to property valued over 5,000 and spoke only to confirm her name and enter a not guilty plea.

The court heard Kings agreed to store the property for Mrs de Havillande because she lives in a much larger property and her friend was contemplating selling the artwork to raise funds.

Eventually Mrs de Havillande asked the defendant to return the painting and arrangements were made for it to be collected.

But Kings had lent her friend a handbag which she was interested in selling to her. She claims when Mrs de Havillande declined the purchase she also failed to return the bag.

Amanda McCabe, prosecuting, told the court Mrs de Havillandes mother went to Kings west London address in a taxi to pick up the painting on November 6 last year.

Hammersmith Magistrates' Court heard the pair had a falling out when Mrs de Havillande (pictured), who once lived with her estranged husband Guy in a 10million home, failed to return a handbag that Kings had lent her

But when there was a disagreement over the handbag Kings allegedly refused to hand the artwork over.

When the taxi driver became involved Kings lashed out and scratched at the painting - causing damage which cost 7,000 to repair.

Ms McCabe said: The painting belonging to Mrs de Havillande was stored by the defendant because Mrs de Havillande lives in a very small property and was contemplating selling for some funds.

When she decided not to sell it, she asked the defendant to return the painting.

An agreement was made for the complainants mother to attend her address and collect the painting.

Kings appeared in court today in a wheelchair where she denied the charge of criminal damage

Prior to that date, the defendant had loaned the complainant a handbag which the complainant commented she was interested in buying.

Kings denied criminal damage and elected to be tried before a Magistrates Court.

She indicated her defence would be that she did not cause the damage, and that the value of the painting and repairs is false.

Kings, of Earls Court, London denies one charge of criminal damage to property valued over 5,000.

She will return to the court on the morning of September 19, following a two-month trip to New Zealand where she will undergo treatment on her legs.

Caroline Quinlan met her future husband Guy de Havillande, dubbed the King of Belgravia, while she was working as a negotiator for the Chelsea-branch of estate agents Winkworths.

The pair married following a six-week whirlwind romance and moved into a 10million home overlooking Hyde Park.

He lavished gifts including a 500,000 Graff necklace and a yacht upon her during their marriage.

But the marriage  during which she and her husband lived for a time in the same Monte Carlo apartment block as retail tycoon Sir Philip Green crumbled along with de Havillandes buy-to-let property kingdom.

The property tycoon and his third wife split several years ago in Monaco, under the agreement he pay her 10,000 a month towards their young son Roccos upbringing.

But after the divorce he allegedly disappeared and was made bankrupt and several of his properties were repossessed by creditors.

The tycoon previously owned about 200 luxury homes in Londons most exclusive districts including Kensington and Chelsea, but these were seized after payments to his lenders stopped in 2007.

In 2008, he was chased by property broker Abdallah Radd, who told a judge at the Chancery court that he is owed 2million in commission, after engineering the 100 million sale of a clutch of posh flats and homes that were owned by de Havillande in and around Belgravia.

Kings (pictured left) says she had lent her friend Mrs de Havillande (right) a handbag which she was interested in selling to her. She claims when Mrs de Havillande declined the purchase she also failed to return the bag

Mrs de Havillande now allegedly divides her time between her mothers ex-council flat in North London and a studio flat in South Kensington.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2010, Mrs de Havillande said: We had a charmed life, but now I am in despair. He hasnt seen his son since he was six months old and Ive only been sent one cheque from him, for 400, since August.

'We had a divorce court settlement in Monaco whereby he agreed to give me 10,000 a month.

I have absolutely no idea where he is. I cant find his parents, either. He claims he is destitute and living in dire conditions in Romania.

He left me for this new Romanian girlfriend called Nadia Siars. But Romania? Of course hes not there.

Hes more likely to be in Palm Beach. I am convinced he still has all his assets.

Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Harry Bilson is a self taught painter who has lived and exhibited his art all around the work.
Almost 100 cars were involved in nine separate crashes along Interstate 40 in North Carolina overnight causing the road to be closed for more than five hours, police said.

Officers say they are unsure what caused the first accident on the westbound carriageway at around 5:45 p.m. in Graham, though weather data shows a heavy band of rain moving through at the time.

Police said there were a further six accidents on the westbound road and two more going east along a five-mile stretch, some of which were due to rubbernecking.

In total 21 people were taken to hospital but fortunately none were seriously injured, police officers told WRAL.

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Almost 100 cars were involved in nine car crashes (one pictured) on a five-mile stretch of highway in North Carolina overnight, police said, with 21 people taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries

Evening commuters were stuck on the I-40 westbound for five hours between 5.45pm and 11.15pm when police were forced to close the road in order to clean up

Police say the cause of the first wreck, which took place around 5.45pm in Graham, Alamance County, is unknown but confirmed that some of the subsequent wrecks were due to rubbernecking

Images from the scene, taken by Fox News, show multiple cars piled up against the central crash barrier, with some vehicles ending up on top of one another.

The I-40 West and I-85 Southbound were both closed around the time of the first accident in order to allow police to clear the road.

Both highways reopened shortly after 11pm, meaning evening commuters were stuck without moving for more than five hours.

All of the accidents took place on a five-mile stretch of highway between exits 147 and 153 on the I-40 in Alamance County.

One witness, who spoke to ABC 11, said that a heavy downpour on the road coupled with sunshine moments later led to heavy glare that caused some drivers to become distracted.

A witness to the accidents said a heavy rain downpour followed by bright sunshine caused extreme glare on the road, which dazzled drivers (pictured, the closed highway, left)
A couple who became fed up when police failed to take action against their 'neighbour from hell' turned detective to discover he is a suspected international drug dealer who is wanted by Interpol.

Matthew Solly, 26, and his partner - who does not wish to be named - said their lives have been made a constant misery by Ivor Fletcher, 53, who lives below them in Northfield, Birmingham.

The pair claim they have been subjected to terrifying death threats, acts of vandalism and have been kept up all night by his noise but say police have only ever issued Fletcher with a warning.

Fed up of the lack of police action, the couple decided to take matters into their own hands and Googled their neighbour's background - only to discover he is wanted for alleged drugs offences.

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Matthew Solly, 26 (left), and his partner turned detective to investigate their neighbour Ivor Fletcher, 53 (right), who they claim has made their lives a misery since he moved in next door to them in Northfield, Birmingham

Mr Solly and his partner turned detective to try and investigate their neighbour Ivor Fletcher, who is pictured above on CCTV installed by Mr Solly. The couple Googled their neighbour and discovered he is a wanted man

They discovered he is wanted by Interpol in India for the possession of 10kg of cannabis.

However, despite Mr Solly providing West Midlands Police with the information three weeks ago, Fletcher has still not been arrested.

Mr Solly, a full-time carer, said: 'It's got beyond a joke now.

'We moved into the council property above him in February last year and he was really nice and friendly at the start. But then a couple of weeks before Christmas he started being funny.

'He started banging on our ceiling so the walls were shaking. Then he smashed our fence down and started threatening me when I was outside.

'One morning he got up first thing in the morning and started going up and down the drive again and again to wake us up. He makes life hell here.

'I called the police out, but they would just come and give him a warning and then leave.

'I called the council, but they've done nothing about him. I've even spoken to my MP, but I don't know if he's actually been in touch with the police.'

Mr Solly said he and his partner decided to investigate Fletcher themselves and looked him up online.

He explained: 'I just typed his name into Google and one of the first things that came up was that he was wanted by Interpol. I couldn't believe it.

Mr Solly said he and his partner decided to investigate Fletcher themselves and looked him up online. They discovered that he is wanted internationally by Interpol (pictured) on suspicion of cannabis possession in India

Matthew Solly and his partner moved into the property in Northfield, Birmingham (pictured) last year and said Fletcher was pleasant to start with but soon began to cause them problems with his 'nuisance' behaviour. Mr Solly and his partner live on the top floor of this property, while Fletcher resides in the ground floor apartment

'I went to the police straight away, and they just said they weren't aware because it wasn't on their system. They seemed a bit concerned that it wasn't on there, but didn't do anything.

'I rang back and they just said they could confirm he was wanted by Interpol.

'They claim because it's Interpol they are powerless to do anything about it.'

The couple are now planning to move out because they are so fed up with the 'nuisance' neighbour.

Mr Solly said: 'I have had to get sleeping tablets from the doctors.

'We're having to move out in a month, we've had enough. But the council have said they're putting it up for sale when we move out.

'They're aware what a problem he is, that he's wanted by Interpol, but they're still going to put it up for others to move into.

Mr Solly set up CCTV cameras at his home in a bid to prove to police that Fletcher's behaviour was unacceptable. He said he was shocked to discover his neighbour is wanted in India on alleged drugs charges

Mr Solly and his partner claim that Ivor Fletcher, 53, has caused them a host of issues, including by banging on their walls, knocking down their garden fence (pictured) and playing loud noise at various times of the day

'Interpol want him for alleged possession of 10kg of cannabis and the council haven't done anything.'

West Midlands Police confirmed it is 'fully aware' of the matter, and added that the force is 'working within the national protocols to liaise with the Indian authorities in connection with the case'.

A spokesman added: 'Given the complexities of these arrangements this can take some time.'
A new father was left shocked after his dogs were baited with meat laced with fish hooks in his own backyard while he was in hospital with his wife and newborn son.

Sias Steyn, 34, and his wife Kate, 31, from White Rock in Cairns welcomed their first-born into the world on Thursday afternoon.

On Saturday their lives were turned upside down when they found out their dogs had been fed fish hooks and could die.

Hunter (left) and Garnet (right) were baited with meat containing 22 fish hooks on Friday

The dogs owners were alerted to something wrong when Garnet vomited up four hooks, pictured

Their owners Sias and Kate Steynhad been at the local hospital when the dogs were baited, as they were delivering their first child, William (all pictured)

The family's Irish Wolfhound cross, Hunter, and their German Pointer cross Garnet had both consumed meat laced with 22 fishing hooks.

I came home from the hospital on Friday night to spend some time with them, Mr Steyn told Daily Mail Australia.

They sleep inside with me which means they must have been baited on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday I put Garnet on the treadmill when I was getting ready to go to the hospital to see Kate, a few minutes later she started vomiting.

I got a bucket and she vomited out four hooks.

As soon as I saw them I called the vets who told me to come in straight away.

The couple are from South Africa, they adopted the dogs in 2014, and consider them their closest family

He took both of the dogs into the vets even though Garnet was the only one who was being sick.

Vets conducted X-rays on her first, they found 12 hooks in her stomach and intestine, and decided to operate immediately.

They then checked on Hunter, and X-rays revealed he had also consumed the bait, and had six hooks in his stomach.

Because the hooks were still in his stomach his operation was very quick, over in half an hour, Mr Steyn said.

But Garnet was under the knife for three hours, and almost died because her temperature dropped under 30 degrees, which is very low for any mammals, he said.

The new dad was in hospital with his wife and son William during the dogs' operations.

I needed to get back to the hospital, so I didnt know that Garnet had almost died until later.

When I found out I couldnt sleep  I kept thinking she might die in the night.

The dogs (Garnet pictured with Mrs Steyn) were taken to a vet hospital immediately and operated on

Mr Steyn (right) was told Garnet, left, had consumed 16 hooks, Hunter (back) had eaten six of them

Mr Steyn says he has not had any complaints about the dogs since 2014, and they were resolved by blocking up holes in the fence, so the dogs wouldnt bark at people passing by.

Mr Steyn and his wife moved to Australia in 2014, when they moved into their in Cairns they adopted the dogs from YAPS.

They are our only family here in Australia, we are very close to them, he said.

Mr Steyn is a zoologist, his wife is an animal scientist, as animal lovers they are appalled by the attack on their dogs.

Garnet is such a gentle soul, she likes to curl up on your lap like a cat, she is just a calm and not very active dog.

Hunter just follows me around he likes to be where he can see me, and is loving and caring.

I dont know what I am supposed to do now to keep them safe.

Do I partition the yard off, by cutting it in half, or do I keep them in the house all day when we are at work, I dont know.

The dogs both required surgery, Hunter's operation took just 30 minutes because the hooks were only in his stomach, Garnet's took three hours as the hooks had moved into her intestine

The new dad has printed off 300 fliers to put in his neighbours post boxes.

I hope that whoever did this gets one of the fliers and decides to never do this again.

I also want to warn the neighbours about what happened, it is likely whoever did this lives within walking distance of the house.

The dogs surgeries cost the new parents $4,500.

We are lucky we had some money put away for an emergency, because our other option would have been to put the dogs down, and I couldnt do that.

The dogs should be back to full health in two weeks. Mr Steyn has reported the incident to the police and the RSPCA.
Ben Carson said this morning that violence at Donald Trump rallies may not dissipate.

After the Today show's Matt Lauer asked him about an escalation of the violence, Carson said, 'I think certainly if the protesters continue with their Alinsklyite tactics there is a real possibility of escalation.'

Carson said the 'victims' of the violence of have two choices: 'They can submit to them and meekly just do whatever those protesters want them to do or they could decide to fight back.

'If they decide to fight back, there could be an escalation,' said Carson, who ended his own bid for the White House earlier this month, then endorsed Trump on Friday morning.

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Ben Carson said this morning that violence at Donald Trump rallies may not dissipate. Carson said the 'victims' of the violence of have two choices: 'They can submit to them and meekly just do whatever those protesters want them to do or they could decide to fight back'

'If they decide to fight back, there could be an escalation,' said Carson, who ended his own bid for the White House earlier this month, then endorsed Trump on Friday morning

Trump (left) said Sunday 'I don't accept responsibility' I do not condone violence in any shape.' On the right is 78-year-old Trump supporter John McGraw, who sucker-punched a black protester at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, last Wednesday

PROTESTER: 26-year-old Rakeem Jones was flipping the bird as he was being escorted out of a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina on Wednesday before McGraw punched him

That evening Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago because of security concerns.

Last week a 78-year-old Trump supporter sucker-punched a black protester at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The incident brought a hailstorm down on Trump, who had on multiple occasions suggested he condoned violence against rowdy interrupters.

Trump has dismissed claims he is fueling the violence at his rallies and claimed he was 'just the messenger' for frustrated Americans.

He's insisted that his supporters were 'not the bad guys' but were simply defending themselves against 'mean' protesters.

'(The protesters) are so bad,' he said at an outdoor rally in Bloomington, Fox News reports. 'Our people started swinging back, and the next day we are the bad guys.'

On Meet the Press yesterday host Chuck Todd played audio of Trump claiming at rally that in 'the old days' protesters would 'be carried out on a stretcher, folks'.

'I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you,' Trump said at the time.

Todd then pointed out that such a scenario played out this week at a rally in North Carolina when 78-year-old John McGraw struck 26-year-old Rakeem Jones at the Crown Coliseum and asked the candidate if he took responsibility for what happened.

'I don't accept responsibility,' Trump replied. 'I do not condone violence in any shape.

'And I will tell you from what I saw, the young man stuck his finger up in the air, and the other man sort of just had it,' Trump explained.

This morning Trump said his protesters weren't actually protesters, but 'disruptors'.

On CNN  and in a tweet he sent out  Trump alleged that these 'disruptors' were Bernie Sanders fans and mused about what might happen if his supporters starting showing up en masse to Sanders rallies.

'They're professionals,' Trump said on Meet the Press.

'Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!' The Donald wrote on Twitter.

The Republican frontrunner argued it was fair for his supporters to fight back when provoked and it was unfair that the media was giving sympathetic treatment to the protesters.

Video shows John McGraw's arm making contact with the 26-year-old protester as Rakeem Jones is being escorted out of the campaign venue

The shot of Rakeem Jones being sucker-punched by John McGraw. On Meet the Press Sunday Donald Trump said he was looking into paying McGraw's legal fees while calling Jones 'very disruptive'

'It's not fair. It's a one-way street,' Trump said.

Todd brought up another example. Trump told his supporters in Iowa to 'just knock the hell' out of anyone in the audience who was poised to throw a tomato at the candidate.

'I promise you, I'll pay for their legal fees,' the candidate had said.

'How is that not condoning what this older gentleman did to this protester?' Todd asked.

Trump ran through the scenario, explaining that tomatoes 'can be very damaging. Not good.'

'I have no objection to what I said. I would say it again. People are there doing harm, you have to go and you have to use equal force,' he said.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton accused Trump of 'political arson' this weekend saying his 'ugly, divisive rhetoric' and 'encouragement of violence and aggression' was dangerous.

Republican and Ohio Gov. John Kasich said the billionaire's comments about 'punching' protesters was 'creating a toxic environment' at his rallies.

But Trump insists that 'nobody's ever been hurt' and claims that his supporters' anger stemmed from frustration over the lack of jobs, low wages and treatment of the country's veterans.

'The people are angry at that,' Trump said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger.'

Rakeem Jones seemingly goes flying as he's punched by Trump supporter John McGraw. On Sunday, Trump said McGraw 'obviously loves his country, and maybe he doesn't like seeing what's happening in his country'

He added that his rival presidential candidates' rallies did not attract crowds anywhere near the size of his own, including a 35,000-strong event in Alabama.

Trump is on the defense over the violence and was forced to cancel an event at the University of Chicago on Friday night when brawls broke out between his supporters and protesters.

Ten people were arrested following the Chicago brawl which left a police officer in need of 20 after he was hit in the head by a bottle.

The violence in Chicago came hours after a mob beat up a black, anti-Trump protester outside an event in St Louis.

Trump later tried to blame supporters of Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders for the protests calling the protests a 'planned attack'.

The billionaire said he was looking into Wednesday's incident and considering paying the perpetrator's legal fees.

McGraw was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery and disorderly conduct and will return to court on April 6.

Trump said that Jones, the 26-year-old on the receiving end of the punch, was 'very taunting' and 'very disruptive.'

'And from what I understand, he was sticking a certain finger up in the air,' Trump said. 'And that is a terrible think to do in front of somebody who frankly wants to see America made great again.'

As for McGraw, Trump said he 'got carried away.

'He was 78 years old, he obviously loves his country, and maybe he doesn't like seeing what's happening in his country,' Trump said.

'I want to see the full tape,' Trump continued.
Buddy was so overjoyed at seeing his owner he was unable to stand up

He was filmed rolling on her lap and licking her face during the reunion

On arrival she was greeted by her

This is the heartwarming moment a dog and her owner were joyously reunited when she returned from basic training in the Army having never spent a minute apart before.

Video of the pair seeing each other for the first time in two months showed Buddy the elderly dog panting and wagging its tail like pup upon seeing Private Hannah Foraker.

The 21-year-old had returned home to Cleveland, Ohio, for a two-week break when the emotional reunion with her 13-year-old dog occurred.

Buddy, 13, first began licking owner Private Hannah Foraker's face when he realised who she was

Overcome with joy, the arthritic elderly Golden Retriever then collapsed onto her lap

Her elderly dog Buddy, 13, suffers from arthritis and had been appearing depressed while she was away, lacking the energy to go for long walks or even up the staircase at her parents' home.

Pvt Foraker told Fox News: 'We opened the front door and she came running out and greeted me and my family, but then kind of did a double take and came back to me.

'She was completely overwhelmed and she couldn't even stand up. It was amazing, I wish I could do it again.'

'Buddy came running, as best as she could, out of the house and said hello to everyone. At first she didn't even realize I was thereand came bounding over to me whining nonstop in pure glee,' said Foraker toFox8.

With his tail wagging furiously, he was unable to contain his excitement at being reunited with Pvt Foraker

Returning from duty: Pvt. Foraker had never been apart from her dog Buddy and when they were reunited she couldn't contain her excitement

Dedication: Hannah grew up surrounded by animals including her own family stables and regularly posts updates of her horses onto Instagram

Pvt. Foraker completed her basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and said that it was one of the toughest experiences of her life.

However, she said that leaving her golden retriever back at home was harder.

'I wish I would had taken photos of us while I was home because I've just recently been informed that I won't be able to go home again until next Christmas. A lot can happen in a year, but Buddy is a fighter,' said Foraker.

Pvt. Foraker has had Buddy since he was a puppy and she even talks to her on Skype to remind him she is still there.
Dramatic drone footage has laid bare the grim situation facing the residents of a small Texas town after it was completely cut off by flood water.

Deweyville, a town of 1,200 which sits along the Sabine River, has been almost entirely submerged in water as emergency workers warn access by road could be impossible for up to two weeks.

Around 100 emergency agencies are working to carry out mandatory evacuations of towns along the Sabine after forecasters predicted water levels will keep rising into Tuesday, smashing a 114-year-old record.

The Sabine River, in Texas, is expected to rise 35ft above normal by Tuesday following heavy rain in the area smashing a record of 32ft set in 1884 and leaving towns like Deweyville (pictured) completely cut off

Forecasters have said Deweyville (pictured) could be cut off by road for up to two weeks as authorities order mandatory evacuations for everyone living alongside the Sabine River

At least six people died across the South in flooding that began last week, while two fishermen are feared dead in Mississippi after going missing.

In Texas, upwards of 18 inches of rain fell in the Sabine River Basin from a weather system that lingered over the area for five days, according to The Weather Channel.

While the rain has now stopped, tributaries and two reservoirs that feed into the basin are expected to keep flushing water downriver through Monday and into Tuesday, causing levels to keep rising.

Forecasters believe that could cause the river level in Deweyville to top 35ft above normal, smashing a record of 32.2 feet set back in 1884.

Jonathan Erdman, a weather.com meteorologist, said: 'No residents of the town have ever seen a flood in Deweyville like what's coming in the next few days.'

Around 45 people and a few pets were rescued from rising waters in Deweyville on Friday, authorities said, while another 250 were saved from the town and surrounding county on Saturday

While the rain has now stopped, the Sabine is expected to continue rising for two days because tributaries and reservoirs upstream are also full, and will continue draining into it

Texas game wardens captured these images of submerged vehicles along the Sabine River as they check the surrounding towns for those who need help evacuating

Emergency crews are now working with boats and helicopters to rescue people who are still stranded, with 45 rescued from the town on Friday, and another 250 across the county on Saturday.

Meanwhile authorities in Mississippi are closely monitoring the level of the Pearl River, which flows between their state and Louisiana, as rising waters threaten another 200 homes there.

The weather service predicts the Pearl River could reach 21 feet by Monday afternoon, equaling the height of a 1983 flood.

In Bossier City, Louisiana, flood waters have begun receding today although around 3,300 residents evacuated over the weekend have been told it could be a week before they are allowed back home.

The water has started to ebb from flooded subdivisions in south Bossier City on the Red River in northern Louisiana.

A 6-mile section of U.S. Highway 71 from Bossier Parish into Red River Parish is covered by water.

Ross said Red Chute Bayou on the east side of Bossier City did not top the levee as feared. He said there was some seepage, but not enough to reach 3,500 homes.

Meanwhile in Louisiana (pictured) floodwaters have begun receding today, but thousands have been told that it could be up to a week before they are allowed to return to their homes

At least six people have died in flooding across the South, with four of those deaths coming in Louisiana (pictured), including a six-year-old girl

Joey Ryan a resident of Mooringsport, Louisiana, attempts to rescue items from his tackle shop after flood in the state which began receding today

Flooding was expected to extend to Mississippi Highway 604, Hancock County Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Adam said.

In southeastern Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish officials said the town of Pearl River already was seeing flooding in one neighborhood.

Farther to the south, officials were warning residents in eastern Slidell to be vigilant about rising water.

Tangipahoa Parish officials were warning those in the southern part of the parish about a rise of the Tangipahoa River.

Flood warnings were in effect across the region as many rivers remained dangerously high.

Also of concern was another line of thunderstorms that hit parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi on Sunday night.

The storms brought more rain and reports of tornadoes in Arkansas. Fortunately there were no reports of injuries or damage.

President Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's flooding a major disaster, unlocking federal disaster relief funding (pictured, Melissa Anderson and her son Hadley evacuate their home)

Large sections of several major roads in Louisiana, including Highway 538 (pictured) will remain closed in the coming days until floodwaters subside

While floodwaters are falling in most places in Louisiana (pictured), in the state's south along the Mississippi border, officials say the Pearl River is due to keep rising today, threatening 200 homes

Emergency workers in Louisiana say this weekend's rainfall has caused the worst non-hurricane related flooding in the state's history

'At this point, any rain will aggravate the flooding situation,' Davyon Hill, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Shreveport, said.

Emergency officials said more than 4,958 homes in Louisiana were damaged. That number is expected to rise as more reports come in from areas still battling floodwaters.

Mississippi reported that 185 homes were damaged by floodwaters and about 650 homes sustained minor damage.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama signed an order declaring the flooding in Louisiana a major disaster. The president's declaration triggers federal aid for flood victims.

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said he was worried that many flood victims had not purchased flood insurance.

'A lot of these people I spoke to did not have flood insurance because they had never flooded before,' Nungesser said in a telephone interview.

While there is no estimate on the damage caused due to the storms, many residents in Louisiana (pictured) are believed to be without appropriate insurance, having never been flooded before

The National Guard said it had about 1,400 soldiers and air crews at work in flooded areas throughout Louisiana (pictured), deploying in high-water vehicles, boats and three helicopter

A pair of men pull a canoe past a flooded business along U.S. Highway 49 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where floodwaters have continued rising today

He warned that residents may not get federal disaster aid if they didn't have insurance. 'It's not going to be an open check book,' he added.

In western Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish authorities said Harold Worsham, 78, drowned while trying to flee floodwaters on Saline Bayou.

The sheriff's office said Worsham was in a boat that capsized as he and two others were moving items from a home onto an aluminum boat. At least three others have died in the state.

A man drowned on Wednesday afternoon in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, as he tried to drive across a flooded highway, according to the Weather Channel.

Three more deaths have been reported in the state. A 22-year-old man drowned in his car and a six-year-old girl passed away after her mother lost control of their vehicle, also on Wednesday.

Another Louisiana man drowned after his boat capsized, the Weather Channel reported.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards surveys floods in Vinton after President Obama signed paperwork declaring the situation in the state a major disaster

In some parts of Louisiana fish were pictured swimming up the streets after the waters of a nearby bayou rose enough for them to break free

Enterprising locals were filmed paddling down the streets on Friday with fishing gear in an attempt to catch some of the fish

In Oklahoma, a 30-year-old man drowned in his car while trying to cross a flooded bridge.

A 22-year-old man, Francisco Ruben Garza, of Hidalgo, died in Texas on Monday after his kayak capsized. He was fishing at the time of the storm without wearing a life jacket, police said.

On Sunday, Mississippi officials said they were still looking for two missing fishermen but had no reports of injuries or deaths there.

It is the most widespread non-hurricane flooding the Louisiana National Guard has ever dealt with, said Col. Pete Schneider, a guard spokesman.

The National Guard said it had about 1,400 soldiers and air crews at work in flooded areas throughout Louisiana, deploying in high-water vehicles, boats and three helicopters.

National Guard crews had evacuated more than 3,295 people and 316 pets as part of its round-the-clock operations by Sunday morning.
Donald Trump is more than 20 points ahead of Marco Rubio in Florida, a new poll shows - a crushing blow from which the younger Republican seems unlikely to be able to recover.

Trump is at 46 and Rubio is at 22 percent in the latest Quinnipiac survey, released on the eve of the state's make-or-break primary that will see all 99 delegates allotted to the winner.

Ted Cruz is pulling 14 percent and John Kasich has 10 percent support.

The Quinnipiac survey echoes one released on Sunday that had Trump with 44 percent support.

But, the first time since January, Cruz snuck into second place in that CBS News poll, receiving the backing of 24 percent of Florida's Republicans.

The state's own senator, Rubio, was three behind at 21 percent. It is a humiliating fall for Rubio, and suggests that he will have to quit on Tuesday night when the results come in.

Scroll down for video

Donald Trump is more than 20 points ahead or Marco Rubio in Florida yet, another polls shows. If Trump's voters show up tomorrow in droves, the Florida senator is certain to lose

To win tomorrow, Rubio would need the votes of his own backers, as well as Cruz's and Kasich's, at this point. A vote for either of them is a vote for Trump, he keeps saying

Donald Trump (left) and Ted Cruz (right) had reasons to be happy with the latest polls: Trump has a commanding lead in two of three states that vote on Tuesday and anti-Trump support seems to be coalescing around the Texas senator

The Florida lawmaker has banked his candidacy on winning Florida, and without it, he has no shot at the nomination unless he wins a bloody floor flight at the convention.

Rubio stressed the urgency today to his voters, saying in a fundraising email, 'I know Ive reached out to you many times before' but 'your support has never been as critical as it is right now.

'I hope I can count on your support again before polls open in Florida.'

To win tomorrow, Rubio would need the votes of his own backers, as well as Cruz's and Kasich's, at this point.

As such, Rubio is arguing a vote for either of them is a vote for Trump, and they'd be better off voting for him over their preferred alternative.

In a Monmouth poll that was also released today Trump was ahead by 17 points - a nine point jump from where he was in the same survey a week ago.

Trump was at 44 percent in the new poll and Rubio was at 27 percent, compared to 30 percent a week ago.

A NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll that came out Sunday Trump was 21 points ahead, with 43 percent support.

Rubio came in second with 22 percent while Ted Cruz was directly behind him with 21 percent support from the Florida's GOP likely voters.

While Rubio and Cruz's numbers were within both polls' margin of error, the surveys suggested that voters could be starting to look at the Texas senator as the best bet against frontrunner Trump.

Cruz is seeing positive movement in the two other CBS surveys too  Ohio and Illinois.

'The trend line heading toward Cruz was more pronounced when looking at numbers coming out of three states today: Florida and also Ohio and Illinois,' the pollsters wrote.

In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich is tied with Trump, according to the CBS poll, with both men receiving 33 percent support.

Cruz isn't that far behind receiving 27 percent support, while Rubio only gets 5 percent.

Quinnipiac also polled Ohio and determined that Kasich and Trump are tied there with 38 percent each. Cruz is at 16 percent in that survey and Rubio is at 3 percent.

Monmouth has Kasich ahead by five, 40 percent to Trump's 35. Cruz was at 15 and Rubio was at 5 in that poll.

While the surveys was in progress, Rubio suggested that his supporters living in Ohio vote for Kasich as the governor has the best chance of beating Trump in that particular winner-take-all state.

NOT A FLUKE: Donald Trump has a commanding lead in the Sunshine State, beating Ted Cruz by 20 points and Marco Rubio by 23 points in the latest CBS News poll

Ohio Gov. John Kasich was winning his home state in one survey that came out today and tied with Donald Trump in another

It may or may not have helped Kasich stay at the top.

NBC's survey has Kasich ahead of Trump in Ohio now, too  39-to-33 percent.

Cruz is a bit further behind, receiving 19 percent.

Rubio, again, is at the back of the pack in Ohio, receiving 6 percent support.

In Illinois, which isn't winner-take-all but also votes Tuesday, Trump is ahead in polls out yesterday.

CBS shows Trump with 38 percent. Cruz is within the poll's 4.4 percent margin of error at 34 percent. Kasich receives 16 percent and Rubio gets 11 percent.

The NBC survey shows Cruz nine points behind Trump, with the billionaire receiving 34 percent support to the senator's 25 percent.

Kasich and Rubio follow with 21 percent and 16 percent, respectively.




Sajid Rafik has been spared jail despite carrying out a sickening attack on his wife on a plane at 30,000 ft

A lawyer has escaped a jail term after he attacked his wife in front of their two children on board a passenger plane.

Sajid Rafik, 36, had to be restrained by cabin crew in front of 214 other passengers after claims he 'flipped' and assaulted spouse Rizwana before holding her in a headlock.

The solicitor who ran his own personal injury claim legal practise in Manchester was also seen barging past flight staff as the holiday jet was flying at 30,000 feet.

He was eventually kept at the front of Monarch Airlines flight away from his 34-year old wife and family was seen behaving in a 'bizarre' fashion until the plane touched down at Faro airport in Portugal.

Rafik was later treated at a hospital in Portugal while his wife and children stayed in their hotel. After two days of treatment he returned to Britain with his family where he was charged with endangering an aircraft. He and his wife have since split up.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Rafik, from Bolton admitted negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft but was given a three year conditional discharge after medical examinations carried out after the flight revealed he had had been suffering from bipolar disorder.

The incident occurred in May 2014 after Rafik and his wife had flown out of the UK for a mini break on the Algarve to celebrate their son's fifth birthday. Mrs Rafik was seated with their young son and daughter on one side of the aircraft while Mr Rafik sat across the aisle from her.

Rafik returned and began behaving in an 'aggressive fashion' half way through the flight, barging past flight attendants trying to serve passengers.

Eye witnesses described him as 'raging'. He then grabbed his wife, who was sitting across the aisle from him, in a headlock and started punching her.

Crew members stopped the assault and escorted him away from his family towards the front of the plane, where they gave him a cup of water and tried to calm him down. But Rafiq continued shaking and being emotional, acting in a strange manner.

It later emerged unknown to his wife, Rafik had previously been treated for depression by doctors and following the flight, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Defence lawyer Phillip Boyd said Rafiq had not been drinking but had suffered a mental breakdown during the flight caused by 'the culmination of pressure' he was under whilst attempting to build up work.

Mr Boyd said: 'It would have caused very considerable fear among the other passengers.'

The incident happened on a Monarch flight to Faro in Portugal, where the family were going on holiday

Passing sentence Judge Bernard Lever described it as a 'sad case' but added: 'Unlike so many of the air rage cases we hear in this court you hadn't had a single drop of drink. You completely flipped on the plane and you caused a great deal of concern to the crew and the passengers.

'You should know the court almost always takes a very, very serious view of outlandish behaviour on planes. Mercifully nobody was hurt and I think it is inappropriate to give you an immediate custodial sentence.'

In a statement after the case Mrs Rafik defended her estranged husband - who is currently not working - and said treatment for his mental illness was now working.

Mrs Rafik, who said she remains on good terms with Rafik, said: 'His behaviour on the aircraft was totally out of character. He cannot remember what happened but he is aware now that everyone on the flight must have been scared. He is completely distressed about it.'

On the day of the flight, the family were said to be running late and were in a rush to get to Manchester Airport with their son and daughter, now aged seven and five. 'We had to run to the gate and I did not get a chance to notice anything was wrong,' she said.

'On the plane I could tell something was wrong - I have never seen him like that.

'We have been on many flights and many holidays and nothing like this has ever happened before. My husband is in fact very caring. He is a great father and always puts the kids first.
The Queen's former Master of Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, has died aged 81 after a long battle with cancer.

Sir Peter, one of the world's greatest living composers, was given just six weeks to live in 2013 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia.

The British composer, who until 2014 wrote pieces to commemorate royal occasions, hoped he had beaten the disease  but was told last October that he needed a new round of chemotherapy.

The Queen's former Master of Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, has died aged 81 after a long battle with cancer. He is pictured during a private audience with the British monarch at Buckingham Palace in July 2014

Sir Peter's management company, Intermusica, said he died on Monday of leukemia at his home in Scotland's Orkney islands.

In a statement, his management paid tribute to 'one of the foremost composers of our time'.

'It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, at the age of 81,' classical music agency Intermusica said.

'One of the foremost composers of our time, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies made a profound contribution to musical history in the UK and beyond through his wide-ranging and prolific output.'

Sir Peter created some 300 works including symphonies, the operas 'Taverner' and 'The Lighthouse,' and 'Eight Songs for a Mad King,' about the current queen's troubled ancestor, George III.

He was committed to writing music for young people and during his illness had been working with London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) on new children's opera The Hogboon ahead of its premiere in June.

Kathryn McDowell, managing director of LSO, said the orchestra was 'grateful for the opportunity to have worked with this extraordinary composer'.

Sir Peter's management company, Intermusica, said he died on Monday of leukemia at his home in Scotland's Orkney islands. In a statement, his management paid tribute to 'one of the foremost composers of our time'

From left: Composers Malcolm Williamson, Richard Rodney Bennett, Thea Musgrave and Peter Maxwell Davies at the Cafe Boulevard in London, on April 9, 1965

She added: 'His vision for music education and the wealth of wonderful pieces he has left for young people is unparalleled in recent times. He will be sorely missed.'

The BBC Philharmonic orchestra tweeted: 'We're incredibly sad to lose our friend Sir Peter Maxwell Davies - our first Composer/Conductor - he will be missed.'

Sally Groves, former creative director of Schott Music, which published Sir Peter's works, and a close friend of the musician, described him as a man of invincible integrity' who created music of 'truly universal popularity'.

Max was a remarkable composer who created music theatre works of searing power, great symphonies, intense chamber music, works of truly universal popularity Sally Groves, former creative director of Schott Music

She said: 'Max was a truly unique musician. A remarkable composer who created music theatre works of searing power, great symphonies, intense chamber music, works of truly universal popularity.

'A fierce fighter for music in the community and in education, and on environmental issues. And a man of invincible integrity, a true friend and a teller of truth to power.'

She added: 'The last years, even when battling against the leukaemia which came on him so suddenly, were an Indian summer of wonderful, richly-imagined works.'

Alan Davey, controller of BBC Radio 3, described Sir Peter's death as a 'sad loss to the world of music'.

He said: 'With his passing we have lost a musical giant, a major composer with a strong and unique voice through all parts of his extraordinary career, from his early avant garde musical theatre works to his symphonies and his work for children and young people.

'I'm glad that the BBC was able to collaborate with such a talent, bringing his work to audiences around the world. It is a sad loss to the world of music and we will remember him through his recordings and the glorious spirit that shines through his music.'

Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny, who met and interviewed Sir Peter, said he was a 'vital force in British music'.

Sir Peter created some 300 works including symphonies, the operas 'Taverner' and 'The Lighthouse,' and 'Eight Songs for a Mad King,' about the current queen's troubled ancestor, George III

Her Majesty presents The Queen's Medal For Music to Dame Emma Kirkby on June 2, 2011, watched by the Queen's then Master of Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter (pictured left in the Sixties and right in 1982) was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to music. He wrote his 10th symphony in hospital

'I first got to know him when he was associate conductor/composer with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester,' he said.

'His visits to the studio and Bridgewater Hall were always eagerly anticipated by players and audiences - all keen to discover the shape and sound of his latest orchestral work. His sense of humour shone through too - often in his music.'

Despite being a republican and his avant-garde musical leanings, in 2004 Sir Peter was appointed Master of the Queen's Music.

The honorary position, founded in 1626, is traditionally conferred by the monarch on a musician of distinction. He held the post for a decade.

With his passing we have lost a musical giant, a major composer with a strong and unique voice through all parts of his extraordinary career Alan Davey, BBC Radio 3 controller

Speaking last year, he said: 'Im going to keep writing as long as I can. Music is my life - it is what I do.

'Im going to make the best of my time and write as much as possible. I already have a string quartet in my head that I want to get down.

In 2005 he was cautioned by the police for being in possession of a dead whooper swan he had found outside his home.

He said afterward: I was under the illusion that it would be all right to eat the best parts, rather than feed them to the cat.

He held the position of associate conductor/composer at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years between 1992 and 2002.

Salford-born, he was awarded a knighthood in 1987 and made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2014.

Sir Peter drew from the mythology of the Orkney Isles to write The Hogboon, which will be conducted by the internationally-acclaimed Sir Simon Rattle.

A Hogboon is said to dwell in the ancestral mounds that can be found across the Orkney Isles. As a guardian spirit, it can either bring good or ill luck to the family it belongs to.

The opera was jointly commissioned by the LSO, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France. Its premiere will be at the London Barbican on June 26.

Sir Peter, who was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to music, wrote his 10th symphony in hospital battling cancer. It won the classical category at the 2015 South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

He was also handed scores of honorary doctorates from universities all over the world, including both Cambridge and Oxford, as well as many other international honours.
Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham, pictured at last week's Labour fundraising gala, has warned he would bet on a Brexit win in June

The EU is remote, arrogant and anti-democratic, and the mood in Britain is to leave, according to one of Labours most senior MPs.

Andy Burnham  a key figure in the partys In campaign  made the astonishing admission in a talk to students.

The Shadow Home Secretary said: If I was to lay money on it now, tonight, I would bet that Brexit is going to win, and I dont like saying that, but I feel that from talking to people in my own constituency.

He added: The mood is not to stay in.

Mr Burnham said that, while the benefits of Europe are much bigger than the petty frustrations, there is a need to return to a social Europe, not an elite capitalist club.

He added that, at times, the EU has been remote, arrogant and anti-democratic.

The remarks  made in an address to Cambridge Universities Labour Club, which was reported by the Varsity newspaper  were seized on by the Leave campaign.

Robert Oxley, a spokesman for Vote Leave, said: Andy Burnhams damning description of the EU sums up what many voters think about the unaccountable and out-of-touch Brussels elite. Its bizarre that so many in Westminster want to leave such an institution in control of how we are governed.

The unguarded comments came as a blow to the In campaign as it prepared to launch a new publicity blitz.

Last night, Mr Cameron joined with Britain Stronger in Europe to release a video in which he again warned of dire consequences if Britain left the EU.

He said: In a hundred days youll have your say  whether Britain remains in a reformed Europe enjoying all the benefits that brings, like lower prices in the shops, more jobs and safer streets. Or whether those benefits are put at risk by leaving.

We have a hundred days left to secure our future. It is a decision that will affect your future, your familys future and the lives of everyone in our country.

Footage of the PM was spliced with voters looking into the camera and explaining why they would be better off In. Eurosceptic critics attacked the staged video as a joke.

While the spotlight has fallen on the divisions inside the Tory Party over Europe, Mr Burnhams comments lay bare the deep tensions inside Labour.

Boris Johnson joined the EU campaign trail last week with a major speech for the Vote Leave campaign

For decades, Jeremy Corbyn was opposed to British membership. He was only forced to shift his position by MPs after becoming party leader. Pro-EU MPs have accused him of not showing any passion in campaigning for Britain to stay in.

BREXIT 'WILL NOT HARM' BUSINESS Britain's business ties with the rest of the world will not be harmed if we quit the EU, according to company bosses. More than seven in ten chief financial officers at some of the worlds biggest businesses said there would be no change on how likely they would be to do business with the UK in the event of an exit. Only 14.6 per cent said they would be slightly less likely to do business with the country and 2.1 per cent said they would be significantly less likely. The same number percentage said they would be slightly more likely to form ties with Britain if we quit the EU, according to the poll of finance chiefs from a wide range of industries, which was carried out by Americas CNBC. The In campaign has repeatedly warned that jobs and investment will be lost if Britain votes Out in the June 23 referendum. But the Leave campaign has dismissed this as doom-mongering that demeans the referendum debate. Last week, Norways 590billion sovereign wealth fund  the biggest such investor in the world  declared that it would continue to invest major sums in the UK if it leaves. Yngve Slyngstad, the funds chief executive, said: We will continue to be a significant investor in the UK at about the same level as we are today and probably even increasing our investments there going forward no matter what happens. All changes entail some risk but we would not categorise it as a significant risk. Advertisement

At a meeting of MPs, he was told the referendum could be lost unless the party made a more passionate case.

His spokesman responded by saying that he would be making a big speech on the EU in due course. No date has yet been fixed.

Meanwhile, some MPs are alarmed at the prospect of losing votes to Ukip in Labours northern heartlands if they make speeches that are too stridently in favour of Brussels.

They argue it is necessary to also point out the significant faults and failings of the EU, or risk driving away supporters who are concerned about mass immigration.

In his speech at Cambridge, Mr Burnham said it was time to stop squabbling internally in the Labour Party, as there are bigger debates going on out there, and its about time we took part in them.

He added that it was unforgivable that internal rows should take precedence over bigger issues, such as the referendum. Allies of Mr Burnham insisted he was strongly in favour of Britain remaining inside the EU.

In a speech last month, he said: The campaign to remain in the EU needs to shift on to the patriotic argument because, if we leave it to the other side, well allow them to sell a false prospectus of patriotism.

Theres a danger that the next four months become an emotional argument versus a rational argument. All the figures are bouncing off people already.

A spokesman for Mr Burnham said: This is a partial quote from a pro-European speech.

Andy Burnham was reflecting the mood in his constituency now, not what he thinks the final result will be in June. It was delivered as part of a rallying cry to get people behind the In campaign.

Boris under fire from Tory MPs after launching scathing attack on Obama as he accuses US president of 'blatant hypocrisy' for telling British voters to stay in the EU

Boris Johnson came under fire from fellow Tory MPs today as he launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama, accusing the US President of 'blatant and exorbitant hypocrisy' for telling British voters they must stay in the EU.

Mr Obama is due to fly into the UK as early as next month to make what Number 10 hopes will be a powerful intervention in the referendum debate.

He is expected to argue that Britain will have less influence in the world if it leaves the Brussels club.

But, in a strongly worded article that will infuriate Downing Street, London Mayor Mr Johnson launched a preemptive strike on the President.

Boris Johnson, left today, has launched an attack on US President Barack Obama, right , ahead of his visit to the UK where he is expected to tell British voters they should remain in the EU Read more:

He said the idea that the Americans 'submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU' was 'laughable and completely alien to American traditions' and the country would 'no way' sign up to an institution like the EU.

But Mr Johnson himself was accused of a 'ridiculous attack' on Mr Obama, with In campaigners claiming he had 'run out of proper arguments already'.

And fellow Tory MP Simon Burns,a passionate supporter of the US Democratic Party, told MailOnline that Mr Johnson was 'wrong' to criticise Mr Obama's planned intervention and said the US President is 'always welcome in the United Kingdom' as the US is 'our greatest ally in the world'.

Writing in his weekly Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson said: 'Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?

'The idea is laughable, and completely alien to American traditions.
A federal judge on Monday ordered a former deep-sea treasure hunter to stay in jail until he answers questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins.

Defendant Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since mid-December when Judge Algenon Marbley found Thompson violated a plea deal by refusing to respond.

Marbley said on Monday that he hoped Thompson would have an 'epiphany' about the coins and other assets connected to the recovery of the SS Central America, which sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857.

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Former deep-sea treasure hunter Tommy Thompson (pictured in two different mug shots) was ordered by a judge on Monday to stay in jail until he answers questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins

This 1989 photo shows gold bars and coins from the S.S. Central America, a mail steamship, sunk in a hurricane in 1857, about 160 miles off the North Carolina coast

A painting shows the SS Central America. Thompson said he never saw or touched the coins, minted from gold taken from the shipwreck

Thompson, wearing an orange jail uniform and sitting in a wheelchair, said he never saw or touched the coins, minted from gold taken from the shipwreck.

The 63-year-old said he told everything he knew during depositions last fall.

'I said what I know about them,' Thompson told Marbley. 'There can't be an epiphany.'

'I'm going to take that as a "no,"' Marbley said.

He ordered Thompson to stay in jail for another 60 days. Thompson is also being fined $1,000 a day until he cooperates.

'As long as you are content to be a master of misdirection and deceit to the court, I am content to let you sit,' Marbley said.

Thompson's attorney, Karl Schneider, told the judge discussions are underway with the government to resolve the impasse. He wouldn't comment further outside court.

Federal prosecutor Doug Squires said the government doesn't believe Thompson has met the terms of his plea deal, which requires him to answer questions about the coins and assets.

Thompson, pictured in 1989 with a $50 pioneer gold piece he found in 1988 in a wreck of the gold ship Central America, was arrested in January after more than two years on the run

Gold bars taken from the S.S. Central America ship are displayed at the Museum of American Financial History in New York City in 2003. Thompson has been accused of cheating investors since he discovered the 'Ship of Gold'

Thompson also received a two-year prison sentence in December and a $250,000 fine for failing to appear before a judge three years ago to answer similar questions.

Thompson pleaded guilty in April to contempt of court in that case.

Part of his plea deal required him to answer questions in closed-door sessions about the whereabouts of the gold coins, which the government says are worth millions.

The first of those hearings was on October 19.

A federal prosecutor called Thompson's answers evasive and concerning. Thompson refused to cooperate at the December hearing.

That two-year sentence  including credit for nearly a year already spent behind bars  will be delayed until the issue of the gold coins is resolved.

A fugitive from Ohio since 2012, Thompson was apprehended in January 2015 along with his longtime female companion at a hotel where he was living near Boca Raton, Florida.

In this 2010 photo, coin collector Darlene Corio, right, peers through a circular window at a gold ingot weighing more than 662 ounces, which was among two tons of California Gold Rush gold recovered from the shipwreck

Thompson has been accused of cheating investors since he discovered the SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988.

The Gold Rush-era ship sank in a hurricane with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic.

The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 million to find the ship never saw any proceeds.

Two sued  a now-deceased investment firm president and the company that once published The Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

Thompson told the judge he suffers from a rare form of chronic fatigue syndrome that has created problems with short-term memory.
Monitoring groups believe almost 20,000 barrel bombs have killed over 8,000 civilians in the past two years alone

'Fear of the Sky' uses activist footage and 360 degree photography to reveal the horrific extend of the damage

Virtual tour of Syria shows the devastating impact of barrel bombs which have targeted civilian homes and hospitals

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Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has claimed that government forces do not use barrel bombs but a new website, based on activist footage, reveals the devastating impact of their bombing campaign.

Viewers can now see the evidence and extensive damage through a new Syria 'virtual tour' website, showing the devastation wrought by the Syrian government's indiscriminate barrel bombing of the besieged city of Aleppo.

Amnesty International created the site, called 'Fear of the Sky' using 360-degree photography and video testimonies to reveal the shocking destruction inside Syria.

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Viewers can now see the evidence and extensive damage through a new Syria 'virtual tour' website , showing the devastation wrought by the Syrian government's indiscriminate barrel bombing of the city of Aleppo

Lobbed out of a hovering Syrian government helicopters, the barrel bombs cause carnage, killing and maiming dozens of civilians trapped inside Syria

The WebVR site takes the viewer into Aleppo's rubble-strewn streets for a powerful and disturbing 'immersive' experience.

Visitors to the 'Fear of the Sky' site can navigate around full-screen 'photospheres' which capture the apocalyptic scenes and sounds after barrel bombing attacks.

The images also shows the brave rescue efforts of the White Helmets, the unarmed civilian volunteers from the Syrian Civil Defence teams who are the first at the scene following a blast.

The story is narrated by Syrian activist Razan Ghazzawi, who is now based in Leeds.

She describes how Aleppo has been subjected to intense bombing campaign by thousands of indiscriminate barrel bombs.

Many of the crude devices are constructed out of fuel tanks or gas cylinders packed with explosives, fuel and metal fragments.

Lobbed out of a hovering Syrian government helicopters, the barrel bombs cause carnage, killing and maiming dozens of civilians trapped inside Syria.

The #360Syria tour takes the viewer through the sights and sounds following barrel bomb attacks in several residential areas of Aleppo including a school playground and a market in the Boustan Al Qasr district.

Dramatic footage shows the shocking moment barrel bombs were dropped in other parts of Syria such as Douma and Damascus.

Amnesty has launched the #360Syria site working closely with a group of Syrian media activists from Aleppo called Lamba Media Production.

In the aftermath of barrel bombings and other attacks, these citizen journalists have visited various attack scenes to document the aftermath and to create a long-term body of evidence of widespread human rights violations by all sides in the conflict.

Visitors to the 'Fear of the Sky' site can navigate around full-screen 'photospheres' which capture the apocalyptic scenes and sounds after barrel bombing attacks

The images also feature the brave rescue efforts of the White Helmets, the unarmed civilian volunteers from the Syrian Civil Defence teams who are first at the scene following a blast

Activists filmed the moment a Assad regime helicopter released a load of barrel bombs on civilian areas in Syria

Civilians are forced to find any form of available cover as the deluge of barrel bombs crash on to their damaged properties

Schools, hospitals and civilian homes have all been targeted in the relentless bombing campaign by the regime

A plume of smoke erupts from the bomb site, where the White Helmets were quickly on site to try and safe any trapped civilians

Bashar al-Assad has claimed that government forces do not possess or use barrel bombs, though their use has been widely documented.

Yet Syrian human rights monitors say that almost 20,000 barrel bombs have killed over 8,000 civilians in the past two years alone.

In a report last year, Amnesty detailed the horrific damage done by Syrian government barrel bombing of Aleppo, where scores of people a month were being killed in the attacks.

Schools, hospitals, mosques and crowded market places have all been previously targeted by the Assad regime.

'If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a virtual reality experience is worth a whole book,' Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said.

'This truly frightening virtual tour takes a person sitting at their computer in Aldershot or Aberystwyth straight to the bombed-out streets of Aleppo.

Schools, hospitals, mosques and crowded market places have all been previously targeted by the Assad regime

Syrian human rights monitors say that almost 20,000 barrel bombs have killed over 8,000 civilians in the past two years alone

Bashar al-Assad has claimed that government forces do not possess or use barrel bombs, though their use has been widely documented

In a report last year, Amnesty detailed the horrific damage done by Syrian government barrel bombing of Aleppo, where scores of people a month were being killed in the attacks

'Many of us might think we know what's been happening with the Syrian government's barrel bombing of places like Aleppo, but viewing these apocalyptic scenes from 360 degrees provides a new level of understanding.'

The #360Syria project builds on a street fundraising campaign launched last year which uses virtual reality headsets, part of Amnesty's development of new technology-based campaigning.
Shot in the head, 14-year-old Abigail Kopf was the youngest victim of the five-hour shooting that left six people dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last month.

After weeks in intensive care, the teenager uttered her first words on Friday.

And now, in an incredible show of strength and resiliance, she has been pictured for the first time - laughing ecstatically with her sister lying in her hospital bed.

The two pictures, shared on the family's GoFundMe page on Sunday, shows Abigal clutching her sister's hand, surrounded by cuddly toys, with a green bandage over her head.

It comes after doctors said Abigail was showing 'exceptional' progress in her recovery, though it will take a long time.

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Pictured: Abigail Kopf, 14, is seen for the first time since the Kalamazoo attack clutching her sister's hand, surrounded by cuddly toys, with a green bandage over her head. The pictures were shared on Sunday night

Abigail Kopf (pictured), 14, was shot in the head during a five-hour rampage last month in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She has just started speaking again and her first word was 'pig' - as she has a pig named Hamlet

Abigail was in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant on February 20 when she was shot in the head.

Doctors at Kalamazoo's Bronson Children's Hospital initally declared her dead and talked about harvesting her organs for donation.

But during their discussion, Abigail squeezed her mother's hand.

Less than a month after the attack, she has reached another milestone in her recovery and is now beginning to speak again.

'This little girl loves her pig named Hamlet,' her father wrote on the family's GoFundMe page. 'Tonight, Abbie spoke her first word. It was "pig".'

'This gives us great hope that she will regain her speech.'

Abigail's Go Fund Me has raised $56,580 so far to cover her medical expenses.

She was released from Bronson Chidlren's Hospital earlier this week and is now at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Khou reported.

'The pace of her progress is exceptional,' Dr. Aaron Lane-Davies, medical director of Bronson Childrens Hospital, said in a statement at the time of her discharge.

'It will be a long journey ahead but she is regaining her functions more quickly than expected for someone with an extensive brain injury.'

Abigail needed a ventilator at first but began breathing on her own again a few days after she was shot.

Earlier this month, she opened her eyes for the first time since the attack and managed to take a few steps.

At the time of the attack, Abigail was in the passenger seat of this car parked outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Doctors declared her dead at the hospital but she squeezed her mother's hand

Jason Dalton (pictured), 45, an Uber driver, has been charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. Police say the attack was random and haven't given a motive so far

Her father, Gene Kopf, raised the issue of gun control during a Democratic debate last week.

'The man who shot everyone including my daughter in Kalamazoo had no mental health issues recorded and a clear background. What do you plan to do to address this serious epidemic?' he asked Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, adding: 'I dont want to hear anything about tougher laws for mental health or criminal backgrounds because that doesnt work.'

Kopf also said that his daughter was now laughing and had a long road to recovery ahead of her.

Both Clinton and Sanders said the loopholes that allowed people to buy guns more easily and to avoid background checks should be closed.

Jason Dalton, 45, an Uber driver, has been charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Police say the attack was random and haven't given a motive so far.
Police shot and killed a father in Alabama on Sunday after officers say the man opened fire on them during a traffic stop.

Wesley Chad Deerman, 26, died in hospital after being shot by officers near Piedmont, in the northeast of the state, after police attempted to stop him on suspicion of driving a stolen car.

Cops say Deerman, who appears to be a father-of-four from social media posts, attempted to flee before crashing his vehicle into a ditch, and then opened fire on officers.

Wesley Chad Deerman, 26 (left and right), died in hospital in Alabama on Sunday after cops say he fled from a traffic stop near Piedmont before firing 'several shot' at pursuing officers

The pursuing officers returned fire, striking Deerman, who was transported to the Gadsden Regional Medical Center where he died from his injuries.

A Piedmont Police Department news release, seen by Al.com, says Deerman fired at police 'several times' while exiting his car.

The vehicle turned out to have been reported stolen out of neighboring Marshall County, around 35 miles to the northwest of Etowah County, where the shooting took place.

Deerman, who worked in a slaughterhouse in Mississippi, has a history of arrests in Alabama, as two previous mugshots from 2013 demonstrate, though it is not clear what the arrests were for.

Deerman appears to have been in trouble with police before, as these two mugshots from 2013 show, though the reasons for these arrests is currently unknown

Images uploaded to Deerman's Facebook profile show four children asleep in a car, while friends have paid tribute to him as a father, though it is unclear how many of the children are his.

Deerman appears to have been in an on-off relationship with Shayla Diane Brothers, who also paid tribute to him online Monday, but lists herself as 'single' on her Facebook profile.
A young man kidnapped his 87-year-old grandmother, forcing her to drive for 12 hours as he smoked meth in the backseat, police said.

Robert A. White of Salem, Oregon, was put in a hotel room by his grandmother after family members struggled to help his heavy methamphetamine use, police said.

When the grandmother appeared at the hotel to pick him up after she had run out of money for him to stay any longer, a police statement said he held a knife to his own throat and told her to drive.

Robert White (pictured left and right), held a knife to his own neck and forced his grandmother to drive for 12 hours as he smoked meth in the backseat. According to police, she had previously issued a restraining order against him

According to the police, the grandmother had previously issued a restraining order against White.

After White forced the 87-year-old to drive, he smoked meth and rambled about the police following him for the last nine months before he called 911 at 8am on Sunday.

Authorities tracked the car down in Salem and White was arrested.

His grandmother was tired after 12 hours of driving, but was not harmed.
The former First Lady and George W Bush helped Jeb in his campaign

Said she hopes whoever wins will still work closely with Afghanistan

She spoke about presidential race, refused to say her preferred candidate

Former First Lady Laura Bush revealed she and husband George W Bush are watching the presidential race 'with much interest' from sidelines.

The couple made a brief appearance on the campaign trail to support George's younger brother Jeb before he crashed out, plummeting in the polls behind Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

But that's it for them, according to Mrs Bush, who told the Today show that they are deliberately avoiding politics.

'George and I are watching with much interest from the sidelines. As you know, George is really determined not to make remarks about politics, so we're back to that side,' Mrs Bush told Savannah Guthrie on Monday morning.

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Former First Lady Laura Bush revealed she and husband George W Bush are watching the presidential race 'with much interest' from sidelines. She is pictured in her Monday morning interview on the Today show

Mrs Bush also posted this picture on Instagram from behinds the scene of her interview on Monday

It seems the former First Lady also brought her daughter Jenna along to the show to watch Coldplay perform

She also lamented Jeb's drop-out, saying 'I think he would have been a great president' - but made clear that she would not be endorsing any other GOP candidate.

Mrs Bush appeared on the Today show to discuss a new book about Afghan women, for which she has written the introduction.

We Are Afghan Women: Voices Of Hope describes personal stories of women who were displaced during the Soviet era, and what they have experienced in the tumultuous years with the Taliban and disputes with the West.

The only other comment Mrs Bush made about the presidential race in her interview was a plea for the next president to prioritize Afghanistan, in particular women's issues in the war-torn country.

'They need that kind of security to be stable and try to build the kind of institutions that Afghanistan needs to support a democracy,' she said.

'I'm hoping whoever becomes president next will continue to pay attention to women's issues, especially, in Afghanistan and just security of Afghanistan and of other countries that affect our own security in our country.'

Mrs Bush and husband George W made a brief appearance on the campaign trail to support George's younger brother Jeb before he crashed out, plummeting in the polls behind Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

While her husband led the War On Terror and put troops in Afghanistan, then-First Lady Mrs Bush made a number of statements about women's issues in the Middle Eastern country.

She has since been involved in the Bush Center's Afghan women's project.

Offering some advice to Michelle Obama, who will soon be leaving the White House, Mrs Bush said picking a cause like this one was key to her defining her role as a former First Lady.

She also reflected on Nancy Reagan, who died last week.

'The funeral was beautiful,' she said. 'I understand she planned it all and of course, like everything she did, it was perfect.'

It made her think more about her own family, she said.
A five-year-old boy was shot dead by his mother in a tragic murder-suicide earlier this month and now the boy's father is speaking out about how he warned authorities about his mentally ill ex-wife.

Kenny Kreuscher was visiting family in Montana on March 5 when his mother, 41-year-old Sara Atkinson, shot him in the head in his sleep before turning the gun on herself.

The boy's father, Ken Kreuscher, says that he had been trying to gain full custody of his son for years, after watching his wife become more and more mentally unstable.

Still, he says that Denver Child Protective Services failed to heed his warnings and are responsible for the boy's tragic death just days before his sixth birthday.

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Five-year-old Kenny Kreuscher (right) was visiting family in Montana on March 5 when he was shot dead by his mother, 41-year-old Sara Atkinson (left), in his sleep.

Kreuscher says he broke up with his wife a few years ago, and since then they had shared custody of their son.

The boy's father, Ken Kreuscher (pictured), says he has been warning child protection services about his wife's paranoid behavior for years

Recently, Kreuscher says his ex had stopped taking medications and was becoming increasingly paranoid, believing there were cameras and bombs hidden away in her home.

She also became violent towards their son, Kreuscher claims.

In one video - recorded just days before his son's death - Ken speaks to Kenny about a bruise on his arm allegedly caused by the boy's mother.

'She punched me like that,' Kenny says in the clip.

'Who punched you?' his dad asks.

'Mommy,' the boy responds.

Kreuscher says he showed the video to a case worker, who came to visit his home shortly after. However, the case worker reportedly told the concerned father that there wasn't much she could do.

'And she stood in front of me and pointed at my closet and said, "Unless your kid's being stuck in a closet every day or beaten every day, I'm not going to do anything about it, and if you call back, if I hear back from you about this kind of stuff, I'm going to take him from you and her,"' Kreuscher told KDVR.

Kreuscher says he tried in vain to get a restraining order against his ex and that she even threatened to kill their son before.

'She had threatened to do it before,' Kreuscher told KUSA. 'She said, "I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to take him with me."'

In one video - recorded just days before his son's death - Ken speaks to Kenny about a bruise on his arm allegedly caused by the boy's mother

Denver child protection authorities released a statement following the boy's death, adding that they can't release many details on the situation as of now.

'The loss of this child is an absolute tragedy for this family, their loved ones and friends, and for our community and agency. We are working to understand the circumstances surrounding this horrible act,' the statement reads.

Kreuscher says he is speaking out in an attempt to stop a similar tragedy from happening to another parent.

'I'm here because I don't want this to happen to anybody else. It's not right what they did,' he said.

A memorial was held for Kenny on Sunday. He would have turned six years old on Saturday.
A selfless little boy grew his hair for two years until it was long enough to donate to charity, refusing to give up even when he endured name calling from the other students at school.

Adelaide schoolboy Christopher Kerr was just eight-years-old when he decided to grow his hair 30cm long to donate with the Worlds Greatest Shave because he wanted to be kind.

Last week he finally shaved his head after a two and a half journey to be kind, growing his hair and raising more than $2300 for the Leukaemia Foundation  and that number is only growing.

We are extremely proud of him for making his decision at such a young age not knowing with blood cancer and that he stuck to his goals and saw his journey to the end, his mother Ailsa Kerr said.

A selfless little boy grew his hair for two years until it was long enough to donate to charity

Adelaide schoolboy Christopher Kerr was just eight-years-old when he decided to grow his hair 30cm long to donate with the Worlds Greatest Shave because he wanted to be kind.

When some students called him names for growing his hair, Christopher was brave enough to speak at the school assembly and explain what he was doing. His peers immediately became completely supportive

The finished product: Christopher's head a lot lighter after his shave on March 13, complete with yellow and red temporary hairspray. The event was turned into a big party and raised a lot of money for charity

Christopher made his decision when he saw his mother shave her head for charity in October 2013.

When he heard that some people lose their hair due to sickness and/or medicine he asked "Can I donate mine too?" Ms Kerr said.

His entire family, including his mother, father and elder brother, also shaved their heads last week as a gesture of support, while Christophers proud four-year-old sister spray painted her hair blue.

He had taken on such a big task that we (including his brother) wanted him to know we had his back, Ms Kerr said.

He was subjected to teasing and name calling by other children who didnt understand why Christopher was growing his hair so long, which his mother says was just 10-year-olds being thoughtless.

They would call him Christine and ask why he wanted to make himself look like a girl for complete strangers  but Christopher found a powerful way to make the taunting stop immediately.

Last week he finally shaved his head after a two and a half journey to be kind, growing his hair and raising more than $2300 for the Leukaemia Foundation at last count

Christopher made his decision when he saw his mother shave her head for charity in October 2013

His entire family, including his mother, father and elder brother, also shaved their heads last week as a gesture of support, while Christophers proud four-year-old sister spray painted her hair blue

The name calling stopped immediately when Christopher was brave enough to give a speech at assembly and educate his peers on the significance of the Worlds Greatest Shave

The name calling disappeared when Christopher was brave enough to give a speech at assembly and educate his peers on the significance of the Worlds Greatest Shave, which turned into a special lesson for the students about kindness.

He was able to explain that blood cancers are the third biggest cause of cancer death in Australia and shaving your hair is an extraordinary way to help people with leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

His school gave him the opportunity to speak at an assembly. The theme was kindness, said Ms Kerr.

Immediately after the assembly one of the kids told Christopher good job, mate.

Although (the other students) knew he was growing his hair for charity, it was when Christopher spoke about how long his hair needed to be to donate they didnt realise how long his hair needed to be to donate. They finally understood why he hadnt cut it until now.

Worth the wait! Christopher's 30 centimetre long hair after it was cut. It will be made into a wig for a cancer patient in need after they have lost their hair while undergoing chemotherapy

His incredibly proud mother shared a photo of Christopher speaking to hundreds of his peers, praising him for the tenacity and integrity he has showed at such a young age.

See this face? This face filled with nerves? This is the face of determination, perseverance and resilience, she wrote.

Toward the end of last year Christopher had been teased by kids who didn't get why he'd make himself look like a girl for strangers. They called him Christine and other thoughtless things.

Very proud of the wonderful compassionate young man Christoper already has become. He sets a brilliant example for other children and adults on how to be a good person, a friend wrote.

Christopher's mother Aisla Kerr had shaved her hair before (above) prompting her little boy's decision. She shaved her head again when her son did on March 13

Ms Kerr says her pride grew and grew as her little boy remained so focused on giving.

I think I'd like people to see Christopher's story and want to choose kindness in the things they do. An 8 year old chose a 2.5year journey to be kind. It was that simple to him. It should always be that simple. It is not about "What's in it for me", she said.

We try to think of others in need regardless. It's just the way we are. His hair was a reminder of what can be done if you put your mind to something and follow through.

Christopher is enjoying his shorter hair however as it is way less effort!
A businesswoman who gave up her career to become a 'conventional housewife' has been awarded the whole of the fortune she formerly shared with her software tycoon ex-husband.

Peter and Jane Morris lived beyond their means during their 25-year marriage, buying a 1.2million cottage in the Chilterns and sending their children to an expensive public school.

After they split they continued their lavish spending - Mr Morris, 51, took six holidays within a space of nine months, while his ex-wife spent 5,000 on her own birthday party.

However, a judge has ruled that Mrs Morris, 52, should be awarded all of the couple's 560,000 wealth, leaving her husband with nothing.

Battle: Jane and Peter Morris have been locked in a bitter divorce fight since they split in 2013

A divorce court heard that the couple had a 'high standard of living', but their extravagance had reduced their fortune from several millions of pounds.

They enjoyed a quarter of a century of married bliss in their four-bedroom detached house in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, while their two younger children boarded at a 30,000-a-year school.

Mrs Morris, who was a 'competent and effective operator' during her pre-marriage career, 'stayed at home to look after the home and care for the children by agreement with her husband', judge Glen Brasse said at a hearing last year.

Mr Morris, the managing director of a software company who earned up to 240,000 a year, was said to have 'considerable business acumen'.

The judge added: 'The wife and family have relied on him considerably in the past for his expertise in producing a good standard of living for them.'

Home: The couple lived in this 1.2million house in Princes Risborough in the Chilterns

The couple enjoyed 'expensive holidays' and showed 'exceptional generosity' in lavishing gifts of cars, holidays, horses and expensive birthday parties on themselves and their three children.

When their marriage fell apart and they split in 2013, their 'extravagant' spending continued unabated.

The husband's lifestyle in particular 'continued as a very affluent affair', with Mr Morris taking on six holidays in the space of nine months, while 'huge and pressing debts' mounted up.

Judge Brasse ruled that, due to their profligacy, they only had enough money left to meet the core housing and day-to-day needs of Mrs Morris and the children.

Ruling: Judge Glen Brasse awarded Mrs Morris almost all of the couple's 560,000 fortune

He handed almost half a million pounds to Mrs Morris, giving the husband just 66,000.

Mr Morris was also ordered to fork out 77,000 for unpaid maintenance and other debts - effectively leaving him with none of the money that the couple formerly shared.

Mr Morris hit out at his ex-wife, pointing out that she spent 5,000 on a 50th birthday party for herself, and argued that she should have been able to earn more in the wake of the divorce.

But Mrs Morris was ruled to be 'a sensible woman' who was 'probably in need of emotional and psychological comfort' during her own spending sprees.

Judge Brasse at the Central London Family Court admitted he had made a 'substantial departure from authority' in handing 90 per cent of the family assets to a stay-at-home wife.

But he said Mrs Morris 'needs adequate maintenance' because sacrificing her career had left her with a 'low earning capacity... in her middle fifties with rusty skills.'

He concluded that the couple would have to live a more modest lifestyle in future, saying: 'It is self-evident that not all the needs of the parties could possibly be met in full, or even substantially, from the available resources so the parties' expectations have to be scaled down.

'Some of their needs will have to be prioritised over others. The priority must be given in my judgement to the housing of the wife and children.'

Mr Morris refused to pay the maintenance funds, leading to Judge Judith Hughes imposing a suspended prison sentence on him at a later hearing.

'The husband has had the money to pay the maintenance but has failed to prioritise it and has spent sums instead on himself and his enjoyment,' she said.

Mr Morris has now taken his case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn both the suspended sentence and Judge Brasse's initial division of the family's wealth.

An appeal hearing today was postponed when Mr Morris attempted to represent himself and Lady Justice Black ruled that he should be given a legal aid-funded barrister because of the severity of the case.
Comedian Amy Poehler and former media mogul David Geffen are reportedly among the worst water wasters in Beverly Hills as California battles its fifth year of drought.

In November, the city started penalizing and sending warning letters to excessive water users who failed to meet its 30 per cent water reduction mandate.

Among the recipients included Poehler, Geffen, Rush Hour film series director Brett Ratner as well as 86 other residential water customers, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Poehler, who has two children and was previously married to actor Will Arnett, is said to have used more than 170,000 gallons of water between last May and July, about 2,786 gallons per day.

The average family of four in the U.S. uses 400 gallons of water per day, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

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Comedian Amy Poehler (right) and former media mogul David Geffen (left) are reportedly among the worst water wasters in Beverly Hills as California battles its fifth year of drought

Poehler reportedly used more than 170,000 gallons of water, about about 2,786 gallons per day, between May 14, 2014 and July 14, 2014 at her Beverly Hills home (shown above and appears to have a pool)

A representative for the comedian did not respond to requests for comment.

Previously, an organization co-founded by Poehler called Amy Poehler's Smart Girls talked about conserving water.

In an online post last June in honor of World Environment Day, it lists small changes 'Smart Girls and Boys' can make in their every day lives that 'will add up for Mother Earth.'

The post read: 'Being "water-wise" is a great way to help preserve water.

'Water resources are becoming scarce so if you have access to clean, running water be sure to be mindful of the ways that you use it  like when youre brushing your teeth or taking a shower.

'Turning off your faucet while youre brushing and being sure to not leave the tap running sound like small actions but can save more than 200 gallons a month!

'Just think how much water you could help save if your family and your best friend did the same.'

The Times obtained the warning letters and corresponding bills - which cover a two-month billing cycle and did not include penalty charges - that revealed the highest users' bills ranged from $2,400 to as much as $31,640.

Some of the homes outed for excessive water use were listed for millions of dollars and had as many as 18 bathrooms.

An estate owned by Geffen (his home pictured above) reportedly used about 27,000 gallons of water per day between June 2 and August 2 - about 9,000 gallons more per day than he was allowed

Geffen was reportedly charged more than $30,000 for 1.6 million gallons of water at the property known as The Warner Estate

An estate owned by Geffen reportedly used about 27,000 gallons of water per day between June 2 and August 2 - about 9,000 gallons more per day than he was allowed.

The philanthropist was charged more than $30,000 for 1.6 million gallons of water at the Warner Estate property, according to The Times.

The city noted his 'allowed water usage' during the two-month period was about 1.1 million gallons.

In the most recent billing cycle ending in January, the estate's water use dropped by 56 per cent compared to the same period in 2013, city spokeswoman Therese Kosterman told the Times.

Geffen did not reply to requests for comment.

Real estate developer Geoff Palmer's household reportedly used more than 12,000 gallons of water per day during a two-month period.

Real estate developer Geoff Palmer's household reportedly used more than 12,000 gallons of water per day during a two-month period

Subsequently, he was reportedly charged more than $12,000.

Palmer told the Times in an email that a leaking pipe had been discovered on his property which accounted for the excess usage.

However, in an earlier email he also reportedly complained that the state's water had been misallocated.

Palmer, who is facing a penalty, filed an appeal at the end of January.

Ratner, known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man and X-Men: The Last Stand, said in a statement to the Times that he did not know of the excessive water use at his home.

He said after investigating that he found several pipe leaks on the property and said he they would be repaired.

A spokeswoman told the Times that more leaks have since been found and Ratner is now replacing the entire water line.

Meanwhile a representative for Mutchner also noted in an email that two 'substantial' leaks had been detected on the property which have since been repaired.

After issuing penalty surcharges, the city cut its water usage by 26 per cent in January, more than double its effort in December.

'We believe that the penalty surcharges have had an impact,' Kosterman told The Times.

'Many different tools are necessary in order to achieve deep cuts in water conservation.'

While the city has cut water, it is still short of Beverly Hill's 32 per cent conservation standard, leaving the city still subject to penalties.

The city and three other water providers were previously fined $61,000 in October.

The co-creator of Will & Grace, Jason 'Max' Mutchnick (left) and Rush Hour film series director Brett Ratner (right) also received warning letters. Ratner said he found several pipe leaks on his property while Mutchnick said two 'substantial' leaks had been detected on his property that have since been fixed

This was after missing savings targets between June and November, amid a 25 per cent statewide water reduction mandate for the period between June and February.

The city in May had put out restrictions on activities including refilling swimming pools, washing cars and outdoor watering.

As June came to an end, it approved penalty surcharges for water wasting offenders who did not comply, and started penalizing them.

'The inference we're drawing is it's not the agency,' Cris Carrigan, the state water board's chief of enforcement, told The Times.

'The agency is providing the right tools to their customers. It's that the customers don't have the wherewithal to commit to conservation.

'I'm not sure why that is,' he added. 'There are other affluent communities in the state where conservation is cool.
Nicholas Goddard, a respected chemical engineering lecturer at the University of Manchester, was revealed to be living a double life as an adult film actor after a student recognised him in a film

The university professor who was unmasked as a porn star working under the stage name 'Old Nick' after he was spotted has resigned from his job.

Nicholas Goddard, a respected chemical engineering lecturer at the University of Manchester, was revealed to be living a double life as an adult film actor after a student recognised him in a film.

Although the university initially suspended the divorced father-of-three, whose academic career spans almost 35 years, while they investigated the matter it emerged today that Professor Goddard has now formally resigned.

It emerged last week that millions of people across the world have watched the lecturer perform as Old Nick in dozens of pornographic films which he recorded while working at the university.

But his career moonlighting as a porn star only came to light when a student recognised him in one of his films.

Another of his students wrote online: ''The day I found out, I was doing the afternoon ritual of mine [watching pornography], when I suddenly came across a strange video.

'It seemed like an ordinary clip, except the guy appeared to resemble Nick [Professor Goddard], similar build and hair.

'The first disturbing sign of confirmation was the oddly recognisable voice. Then I saw the video's title, 'Busty teen Lolly ***** Old Nick outdoors'.

'But the realisation came when I noticed all his distinct mannerisms and gestures. It was Nick. For the first few minutes, I couldn't believe my eyes, the very idea was disturbing.

'I had to show it to somebody, to prove it wasn't my mind playing tricks.'

And it was not - for in the video on the world's biggest adult website, PornHub, Professor Goddard can be seen reclining on a rug in a garden, wearing sunglasses and a pair of black underpants. Co-star 'Lolly', a young Russian blonde in a yellow polka-dot bikini, begins to massage him with sun-cream.

Although the university initially suspended the divorced father-of-three, whose academic career spans almost 35 years, while they investigated it emerged today that Professor Goddard has now formally resigned

'You have a very nice body,' the professor tells her. 'I know,' she replies in a heavy Russian accent. You can guess how the eight-minute tale continues.

Professor Goddard revealed last week that he had quit the adult film business in January because it became 'too much'.

A statement released by bosses today said: 'Professor Nick Goddard has resigned from his position at the university with effect from April 1, 2016.

'His teaching and supervision duties will be undertaken by other colleagues between now and April 1, 2016.'

Professor Goddard married in 1981, a few years after graduating from Oxford. The son of a clerk at the old Ministry of Labour (which became the Department of Employment), he had three children with wife Christina. The couple were together for 25 years, until they separated in 2006.

University of Manchester chemical engineering professor Nicholas Goddard is seen here in one of the films

His family was apparently unaware of his other job, which involved him having sex with dozens of women - often wearing only a gold watch. He is believed to have started his second career following a divorce.

Professor Goddard appears in a number of academic videos on the university's website - and has published scores of scientific papers during his career.

He is the lead tutor on three courses, having taught chemical engineering for nearly 25 years.

Professor Goddard said he didn't get paid much during his stint as an adult movie star, but did get travel expenses.
LNP candidate Ashley Higgins has been forced to resign after it was claimed that he sent explicit images of his genitalia to a male school pupil

A council candidate has been forced to resign after it was claimed that he sent explicit images of his genitalia to a male pupil he met when he was a campus minister at a Catholic school.

Ashley Higgins, the Liberal National Party's candidate for the south Brisbane ward of Tennyson, allegedly sent the messages to the boy in 2011 - just two months after the pupil graduated.

The Courier Mail claims that emails show that Mr Higgins, then aged 21, shared a picture of his penis on January 12 after the boy sent him an image of his own genitals at 2am the previous evening.

'Here you go. Hope you are happy now,' the boy allegedly wrote.

Mr Higgins allegedly responded saying: 'I did not think you actually would' before sending another email with an image.

The boy's father reportedly complained to the school about the exchange in mid-2011.

He is believed to have detailed phone calls, text messages, dinners, movies and social outings Mr Higgins shared with their son during his final school year.

A spokesman for the LNP confirmed that the party had accepted Mr Higgins' resignation as candidate for Tennyson Ward.

But it is believed to be too late for Mr Higgins' name to be withdrawn from the ballot as nominations have closed.

'The LNP expects the highest standards of its candidates and these standards have not been met in this instance,' an LNP spokesman said.

Mr Higgins' Facebook campaign page has been deleted along with his profile on the support page for the current Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Graham Quirk.

Mr Higgins and Queensland Police have been approached for a comment.
They were being returned to the US manufacturers, the army said

They were marked to be delivered to Portland until sniffer dogs found them

Sniffer dogs checking a passenger plane's cargo hold at Belgrade airport made a frightening discovery Saturday: two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles being sent from Lebanon to Portland, Oregon.

The shocking find on the Air Serbia flight sparked an investigation that on Monday prompted the Lebanese army to admit to sending the anti-tank missiles by passenger plane.

It says they are unarmed and posed no threat to the public. But Serbian authorities are continuing to investigate whether they are really disarmed, and a 'senior police source' who did not want to be named confirmed to NBC News that the missiles had been found by bomb dogs.

Frightening: The two Hellfire anti-tank missiles were found at Belgrade Airport on an Air Serbia flight like this one Saturday. The Lebanese army said they put the 'unarmed' missiles on the plane in Beirut legally

Powerful: Hellfire missiles (pictured here at a trade show) have a max range of five miles. The Lebanese army says they were being returned to manufacturers, and that the U.S. government was notified of the transfer

The missiles had been shipped from the Lebanese capital of Beirut in transportation crates with full documentation, a source told Reuters.

The crates were waiting to be transported to another plane that would continue their journey when they were found.

The Lebanese army said that they had been used in a training mission, and now that mission was complete they were being returned to their manufacturers in the US.

Lockheed Martin has a number of offices in Oregon.

The missiles were being shipped in accordance 'with administrative and legal measures' and with the knowledge of the US government, the army said in a statement to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Whether they are truly inert training devices or active weapons has yet to be confirmed by Serbian investigators.

Warhead: The Lebanese army says that the missile was shipped in accordance 'with administrative and legal measures,' but Serbian officials are continuing to investigate

Hellfire missiles have been built by Lockheed Martin since 1974 and were originally created to destroy armored targets such as tanks, although the company also builds a modified version that can be used for drone strikes on individuals.

They can be used air-to-surface or surface-to-surface and have a maximum range of five miles. They are usually laser-guided, although one 'fire and forget' variant homes in on radar signals.

This isn't the first time a Hellfire has been transported on a passenger plane - or spooked authorities.

One of the missiles arrived in Cuba by mistake in 2014 and was retrieved last month by U.S. officials and Lockheed Martin representatives, Reuters reported.
A champion boxer's career is in jeopardy today after he was convicted of assaulting his exotic dancer ex-girlfriend having broken into her flat and grabbed her by the throat.

Jamie Cox's lawyer said he was 'shocked and appalled' by the decision, adding that his client intended to appeal the conviction ahead of a planned world super-middleweight fight.

The 29-year-old attacked Viktoria Gribovskaja at her home in Lambeth, south London, on July 16 last year after their relationship broke down and he attempted to collect his belongings.

Champion boxer Jamie Cox's (left) career is in jeopardy today after he was convicted of assaulting his exotic dancer ex-girlfriend Viktoria Gribovskaja (right) having broken into her flat and grabbed her by the throat

He claimed he 'barged' through her front and bedroom doors because he feared she 'could kill herself', which he said she had previously threatened to do.

Cox also denied harassing his ex-girlfriend in the days before the attack by sending abusive text messages and assaulting her by placing his hands around her neck, leaving her with 'redness'.

The WBO European super-middleweight champion was heard in a recording of a 999 call, made by Ms Gribovskaja before he arrived, to say: 'I will knock you spark out.'

Magistrates said they found the victim's account of the confrontation 'credible and convincing' and the 29-year-old defendant's evidence 'not credible'.

Cox, who appeared in court under his real name Jamie Russan, was convicted at Croydon Magistrates' Court of assault by beating, violence to secure entry, harassment and criminal damage.

The court heard his relationship with Ms Gribovskaja, which had lasted for between nine to 12 months, was 'coming to a head' one week before Cox was due to fight for the European title.

Cox, who appeared in court under his real name Jamie Russan, was convicted at Croydon Magistrates' Court (pictured) of assault by beating, violence to secure entry, harassment and criminal damage

Jamie Cox's lawyer said he was 'shocked and appalled' by the decision, adding that his client intended to appeal the conviction ahead of a planned world super-middleweight fight. Ms Gribovskaja is pictured right

The pair began dating in 2014 after the Swindon-based boxer met Ms Gribovskaja when she was working as an exotic dancer in a gentleman's club in London. She is said to have danced naked for him.

He had visited her family in Estonia before the incident, Cox said, adding: 'I wanted to give her a better life - I loved the girl and wanted her to move to Swindon.'

But they had had 'ups and downs' and in the lead up to the attack, Cox admitted sending his victim 'vulgar language' in text messages as he told her he would visit her flat to pick up some jewellery and other items he had left there.

In one message, he said: 'F*** you, I'm coming to London, you s***.'

Everything he is going to be - a champion of the world, making his country proud - rests on your decision today Nathaniel Ikeazor, defending Cox

Chair of the bench Mary Marshall said Cox had intended his text messages to Ms Gribovskaja to be 'abusive and hurtful'.

And she added his claim that he feared she might hurt herself was 'inconsistent' with the messages he had sent her.

During his evidence, Cox said, if found guilty, his career 'would be very much in tatters if not over'.

The court heard Cox, who has won all of his 20 professional fights as well as collecting a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, was due to fight for a world title and the consequences of assaulting someone would likely result in a suspension of his license.

Nathaniel Ikeazor, defending, said: 'Everything he is going to be - a champion of the world, making his country proud - rests on your decision today.'

Speaking outside court, Mr Ikeazor said: 'My client intends to appeal this at the first available opportunity.

'I am personally shocked and appalled by the court's decision.'
Australia's ambassador to Turkey, James Larsen, was 'slightly shaken' by the blast, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop

Australia's ambassador to Turkey had to shield his 12-year-old daughter from bomb blast when they found themselves just 20 metres away from a huge explosion which left 37 dead.

A red light saved the life of ambassador James Larsen and his daughter Alexandra when a trip home from dancing lessons on a beautiful day became a 'distressing' fight for survival.

He says it was a beautiful day with plenty of people about, likening it to a bomb going off on one of Sydney's busiest streets.

A suicide bomber blew up a car on the other side of the intersection to Larsen and his daughter at Kizilay Square and a perfectly-timed red light ensured the two Australians were safe.

'We were stationary at some traffic lights and the explosion took place just on the other side of the traffic lights,' Mr Larsen said via video link from a television studio in the Turkish capital.

'As is always the case with these instances, you hear a pop and then of course we saw flames shooting up and a bus and car catching alight and flames spreading out,' he said.

'I said to my daughter make sure you put your head down low in the car on the floor so she was away from any glass. I moved the car to the side of the roadway and called the office to make sure we initiated our crisis procedures,' he said.

'I've never been a fan of red lights but I've never been so glad to be caught at one.'

He says the scene was chaotic and disturbing as people ran for their lives.

'It was very distressing and there was of course a great deal of movement amongst the people around. It was a very, very crowded area.

'It was quite shocking. You find yourself in a car, you can't go forward, you can't go backwards  and this thing is happening in front of you,'

Scroll down for video

People and policemen try to help a wounded victim after the blast

It's believed no Australians were harmed in the explosion. Mr Larsen has denounced the attack, tweeting that he is 'appalled by shocking terror attack in Ankara tonight. Deep sympathy & support for Government & people of Turkey.

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park near busy Kizilay square in central Ankara.

Gunfire was also heard after blast, while ambulances rushed to the area, officials said.

Ms Bishop said the attack was 'terrifying' and cautioned both Australians abroad and those intending to travel to the area to check travel warnings by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

'Until we can stamp out terrorism in all its forms, these kind of attacks will continue,' Ms Bishop said.

'This is deeply worrying because these terrorist organisations are exporting their model of terrorist attack, and it can happen at any time and anywhere.'

Fire-fighters extinguish a burning car after the explosion which occurred near a crowded bus station

Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara's main road

Turkey's health minister said 30 people were killed on the scene, including two suicide bombers, and four others died at hospital. Another 125 people were being treated in hospital, including 19 in critical conditions and seven currently undergoing surgery.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said the attack, which came as Turkey prepared to launch large-scale military operations against Kurdish militants in two towns, wouldn't deter the country from its fight against terrorism.

A local reporter said the blast took place where several bus stops are located in one of Ankara's main roads.

The Kizilay neighbourhood is a key commercial and transport hub close to a number of government agencies, embassies and parliamentary buildings.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul (R) welcomes Australian Ambassador James Martin Larsen (C) at the Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey on February 25, 2014

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion on Kizilay square, a key shopping and transport hub close to the city's embassy area

Footage from the scene showed the exact moment the bomb went off

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park near busy Kizilay square in central Ankara

After the explosion, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter

Gunfire was also heard after blast, while ambulances rushed to the area, officials said

A vehicle burns after an explosion that killed 27 people and wounded 75 others in Ankara

A huge explosion has hit the Turkish capital of Ankara killing and wounding many people

The blast occurred near a bus station in central Ankara, capital of Turkey

Several vehicles had caught fire following the huge blast and emergency services were at work

NTV television said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb.

Earlier, the Ankara's governor office said 27 people were killed and 75 others wounded in the blast.

'The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square,' it said.

However, a local media analyst told MailOnline the death toll could be considerably higher as hospital sources reported that at least 138 bodies have been recovered.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. An Ankara court has ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter in the country after images from the explosion were shared.

Forensic officers work on the site of the suicide attack in Ankara

Pictures of the aftermath showed cars burning, charred buses and several scattered bodies

The US embassy in Ankara had warned about a potential terrorist attack with a statement on 11 March

Burnt vehicles and charred buses can be seen after the explosion in central Ankara

The Ankara's governor office said 27 people were killed and 75 others wounded in the blast. 'The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square,' it said.

However, a local media analyst told MailOnline the death toll could be considerably higher as hospital sources reported that at least 138 bodies have been recovered

A television channel said the bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizila

Smoke could be seen rising above the area from a distance 2.5 km away. Dramatic CCTV footage appeared to show the moment a huge car bomb went off.

In the video, several cars can be seen moving past a bus in a road close to Ankara's main square, Kizilay. A massive blast can then be seen, setting nearby vehicles ablaze.

Medical sources said the wounded had been taken to 10 different hospitals around the city, with a dozen said to be in a very serious condition.

Dogan Asik, 28, said he was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

'There were about 40 people,' said Asik, who sustained injuries on his face and arm. 'It (the bus) slowed down. A car went by us, and `boom' it exploded.'

One senior security official told Reuters initial findings suggested the attack had been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated militant group, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people. Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for that attack.

The US embassy in Ankara issued a warned about a potential terrorist attack on 11 March.

A wounded person reacts near the scene of a blast in Ankara, on Kizilay square, a key hub in the city

A woman sits sobs on the sidewalk after the attack that ripped through a busy square in central Ankara

Forensic police work near burnt-out vehicles at the scene of the Ankara blast

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people

A local reporter said the blast took place where several bus stops are located in one of Ankara's main roads

Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the explosion, which took place in the Guven Park in central Ankara

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that there is information regarding a potential terrorist plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing located in the Bahcelievler area of Ankara. U.S. citizens should avoid this area,' it said.

'We advise U.S. citizens to review their personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings and local events, monitor local news stations for updates, and follow local authority instructions.'

Following the blast, Turkey's Broadcasting Authority issued a ban on broadcasting videos from the scene.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was convening an emergency security meeting.

Prime Minister David Cameron reacted to the bombing with a statement on Twitter: 'I'm appalled by the devastating terror attacks in Ankara and the Ivory Coast. My thoughts are with all those affected.'

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: 'My thoughts & deep condolences to everyone affected by today's #Ankara & #IvoryCoast terror attacks. Both appalling attacks on civilians.'

WORST BOMB ATTACKS IN TURKEY SINCE 1982 - March 13, 2016: At least 27 people are killed and dozens wounded in a car bombing near Ankara's main Kizilay square. - February 17, 2016: 29 are killed in a car bombing targeting the Turkish military in Ankara. The attack is claimed by a group calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) but Turkish authorities say there was also a Syrian Kurdish link. - January 12, 2016: Eleven German tourists are killed and another 16 people wounded in a suicide attack by a Syrian bomber in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district, the ancient tourist heart of the city. - October 10, 2015: 103 people are killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. - July 20, 2015: 34 people are killed and about 100 injured in a suicide bombing in the predominantly-Kurdish town of Suruc near the border with Syria. Turkish officials blame IS. - May 11, 2013: A twin car bomb attack kills 52 people in Reyhanli near the Syrian border. Ankara blames pro-Damascus groups. - February 11, 2013: 17 people are killed when a Syrian minibus explodes in Reyhanli. - July 27, 2008: Two bombings in Istanbul leave 17 dead and 115 wounded. The authorities blame the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). - September 12, 2006: Ten people, including children, are killed in a bomb blast in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast. The PKK denies involvement. - November 15 and 20, 2003: Four suicide car bomb attacks in Istanbul hit two synagogues, the British consulate and a branch of the British multinational bank HSBC, leaving 63 dead, including Britain's consul general, and hundreds wounded. The attacks are claimed by Al-Qaeda and a Turkish extremist group named the Islamic Front of Raiders of the Great Orient. - March 13, 1999: Twelve are killed in a firebombing on an Istanbul shopping mall. The attack is claimed by the PKK, which later retracts its statement. - December 25, 1991: Explosives and firebombs are hurled at an Istanbul department store, killing 17 people and injuring 23. The attack is blamed on the PKK. - September 6, 1986: A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic Jihad kills 22 people at a synagogue in Istanbul. - August 7, 1982: A bomb at Ankara airport followed by a gun battle leaves 11 dead and 63 injured. The attack is claimed by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). Advertisement

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people




Spain could demand joint sovereignty of Gibraltar in the event of Britain deciding to leave the EU, according to a Spanish minister.

The surprise move to revive a shelved 2002 proposal that would impact on the 30,000 inhabitants, was outlined by Spain's acting foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo in a newspaper interview.

The concept of both Britain and Spain laying claim to Gibraltar, located off the southern tip of Spain, was floated 14 years ago and residents voted on whether they would approve of this.

Spain will push for joint sovereignty of Gibraltar, pictured, in the event Britain decides to leave the EU, it has been revealed by Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo

However, the results showed that the population overwhelming wanted to stay in the sovereignty of the UK.

But with Britain holding a vote on whether it should remain in the European Union in June, Spain believes Gibraltar could still stay a part of the bloc.

Mr Garcia Margallo told the publication La Razon: 'If they wish to remain part of the EU it is relatively simple, do what we were about to do in 2002.

'That is establish sovereignty between Spain and the UK for a transitional period, reserving its peculiar status.

Mr Garcia-Margolla said that joint sovereignty would give people in Gibraltar the best of both worlds as well as access to the European Union

The hardliner added that the implementation of the plan, previously rejected by the Spanish government, would give Gibraltarians 'the best of all possible worlds: with two flags and access to the European Union.'

It comes after the Gibraltar government last week warned that Spain was 'waiting to pounce' on Gibraltar if Britain voted to leave the European Union in the upcoming June referendum.

Fabien Picardo, Gibraltar's chief minister said: 'It is safer and more secure for Gibraltar to remain in the EU to deny Mr Margallo the opportunity to pounce on us.

'We have fought to ensure that Gibraltar is able to vote in the Brexit referendum so that we can influence that decision.'

In a statement the Gibraltar government warned there was 'no certainty' Gibraltar's border would remain open with Spain if Britain voted to leave the EU.

Prime Minister David Cameron last month admitted that the future for British expats and Gibraltarians in Europe was unclear.

He said: 'I can tell those people what it will be like if we stay, but I cannot be absolutely certain about what would happen if we leave.

'It would depend on a complex and difficult negotiation, and I think there would be a lot of uncertainty.'

Gibraltar has been a source of tension between the UK and Spain for hundreds of years, as they both lay claim to the peninsula.

A map showing Gibraltar located on the southern tip of Spain, which has been a source of tension between Spain and the UK

Last year the Spanish police, who entered UK waters in Gibraltar as they chased criminals are guilty of an 'outrageous' violation provoked the fury of Britain.

The Government of Gibraltar said they were 'astonished and appalled' after the force used boats and helicopters to make several incursions into British waters in the past two days.

The Royal Navy helped escort the Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera (SVA) - the Spanish police's drugs and money laundering squad - out of the waters following the international row.

Ministers said repeated incursions were 'completely unacceptable and unlawful under the international law' and pledged to urgently raise the matter with the Spanish.
Today he was 'welcomed home' in a brief meeting with President Obama

President Obama today met with Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter who was freed in a prisoner exchange with Iran in January.

Obama met briefly with the reporter, who was detained for more than 18 months on spying charges in Iran's notorious Evin prison, at the State Department.

The President was at the department to give a speech to ambassadors at the Chief of Missions Conference.

Meeting: President Obama, pictured today at the State Department, met Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter who was detained for 18 months in Iran on spying charges and freed in a prisoner exchange

Free: American-Iranian Jason Rezaian (left) was freed from Iranian prison in January; his Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, joined him on his return trip

The White House didn't release any other information about the meeting between Obama and Rezaian, but press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, including those from the Washington Post, that the president and his team 'dedicated a lot of time and energy to securing Jasons freedom.'

'The president was pleased to have an opportunity to welcome him home' to the United States, Earnest said.

Rezaian, who holds joint U.S.-Iranian citizenship, was born in Marin, California, in 1976. Fascinated with his father's homeland, he went on to study Persian culture at university, and later moved to Tehran to work as a foreign correspondent. He was appointed bureau chief by the Washington Post in 2012.

In 2014, he was arrested by Iranian authorities and spent nine months in solitary confinement, reportedly suffering mental and physical problems as a result.

He underwent a secret trial in October 2015, when he was convicted of espionage, although no details about his sentence or any evidence against him was ever released by authorities.

Rezaian was released along with three other Americans - Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, former US Marine Amir Hekmati, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari - in January as part of a controversial prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran.

Separate from that exchange, Iran also released a fifth imprisoned American, Matthew Trevithick. The U.S. gave up seven imprisoned Iranians.

Intervention: Obama shakes hands with Secretary of State John Kerry, left, at the conference today. Kerry personally intervened to get Salehi and Rezaian's mom out of Iran when it seemed they too might be detained

The swap took place just hours before world leaders began implementing a deal with Iran regarding its nuclear development program.

In an interview with AFP, Rezaian's Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, told how getting her and Rezaian's mother out of the country was a 'war,' and that they spent hours being shuffled around airport halls by Iranian Revolutionary Guards before being allowed to join the freed prisoners aboard the plane.

'At some point I told [Rezaian's mother], "Mary, somebody wants us out of the picture and there is a reason for it," Salehi told AFP. 'Something is wrong.'

Eventually Secretary of State John Kerry called his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, after which the Iranian prosecutor general issued an order allowing Salehi and Mary Rezaian to board the plane to Germany, the Washington Post reported.
The mayor of a New Jersey town has branded an influx of Orthodox Jews akin to 'an invasion' with residents claiming aggressive realtors are trying to bully them to sell their homes.

Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher says he has had complaints from residents since last year - who say some realtors are aggressive and use suspicious and creepy tactics to try and convince residents to sell.

The issue stems from a housing crunch in nearby Lakewood - home to one of the countrys largest populations of Hasidic Jews  which has led to real estate agents looking to adjacent towns to accommodate the rapidly growing Jewish community.

Residents of Toms River, New Jersey, (pictured) claim Orthodox Jews are trying to bully them out of their homes leading to a social media campaign called 'Toms River Strong'

The issue stems from a housing crunch in nearby Lakewood - home to one of the countrys largest populations of Hasidic Jews. Pictured above, Tumult day in Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood

But these realtors tell residents that if they dont sell, they will be the only non-Jews living in an Orthodox community, Kelaher told Bloomberg.

He added that there have been occasions when strangers have pulled up outside homes to take pictures and videos  even going as far as to ask children on the street where they live.

Kelaher compared his towns current problems to blockbusting by the African-American community decades ago.

It's like an invasion,' he said. 'Its the old throwback to the 1960s, when block-busting happened in Philadelphia and Chicago with the American community  I want to buy your house. Youll be sorry if you dont.

It scares the hell out of people, he added.

Rabbi Avi Schnall, the state director of Agudath Israel of America, a national grassroots advocacy and social service organization representing Orthodox Jews, blasted the mayor's comments, writing on Twitter: "It's Like an invasion" said Mayor Kelaher of Toms River. If this was said abt any other minority group....Shame. [sic]'

He added that the town has seen a spike in bank robberies and break-ins, drugs are 'rampant' and the area is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, yet the mayor feels 'aggressive realtors' are the biggest concern.

Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher (pictured) said he has had complaints about aggressive realtors from residents and branded it 'like an invastion

The complaints have led to towns, including Toms River, to update their no-knock rules on door-to-door solicitation, adding real estate inquiries to measures that already limit when soliciting can occur and allow residents to bar solicitations.

Toms River is now in the process of creating 'cease and desist' zones, where door-to-door real estate soliciting would be banned in designated areas that have been inordinately and repeatedly solicited.

After the decision was announced last month, Kelaher said: 'Our 'no knock' law goes back many years. It's not just in response to what has been happening now.

'We are trying to protect those people from conduct that's outrageous, harassing, intimidating or unwelcome.'

One resident, James Jackson, said he was working outside his home last fall when he was unexpectedly approached by the man in the black suit. The encounter was initially cordial but turned darker, he said.

Jackson says he told the man he did not want to sell his home, but thanked him for his interest  but the man put his hand on Jackson's shoulder and told him he might want to reconsider.

Many of his neighbors in Toms River, the man said, already planned to sell to Jewish buyers like those he represented.

'He asked me why I would want to live in a Hasidic neighborhood if I wasn't Hasidic,' Jackson recalled. 'He asked if I would really be happy, if it would be in my family's best interests.'

'He was trying to intimidate me, but not in a physical way,' Jackson said. 'He was playing mind games, and he was really good at it.'

Rabbi Avi Schall blasted the Toms River Mayor for his comments, and said the town has bigger issues, including drugs, bank robberies and recovering from Hurricane Sandy

So on March 18, Toms River will begin fining real estate agents who solicit owners door-to-door.

Meanwhile, a campaign called Toms River Strong was set up by Michael Dedominicis, 40, urging the towns more than 90,000 residents not to sell.

A close Facebook group for the campaign has almost 350 members.

His opposition, he told Bloomberg, is not rooted in a dislike of Jews, but because he fears his town will become like Lakewoods more dilapidated areas.

The construction company owner claimed to have been denied entry to a neighbors open house by its Orthodox listing agent.

Avi Schnall, he state director of Agudath Israel of America, calls the recent no-knock changes 'troubling'

I have homeowners calling me, saying: Theyre converting a three-car garage into bedrooms!

Another open house, in November last year, led to trouble when the homeowners neighbors parked their vehicles along the street as a sign of a protest, the Lakewood Scoop reported.

This was done to ensure prospective buyers had nowhere to park

One neighbor told the website that the owner was being blasted online by Toms River residents for deciding to sell.

The way I see this is that it was about not wanting them to sell to a specific group of people, another neighbour said.

Dedominicis campaign and the no-knock laws havent convinced everyone.

Michael Mortellito decided it was the perfect time to sell his large home as his two children were college-bound  and Orthodox Jews were the only ones buying.

The 50-year-old is under contract with an Orthodox Jewish couple who are buying his 6,000 sq ft house that he listed himself for $850,000.

Youre not going to stop them, he told Bloomberg. Theyre going to take the town no matter what.

And the trend is set to continue, according to a Lakewood real estate agent.

David Holtz says his Orthodox customers are interested in areas with low crime rates and larger and newer homes.

Toms River residents determined to keep the Jewish Hasidic community out are giving into to a fear of the unknown, he told Bloomberg.

Jewish leaders, meanwhile, say a few overly aggressive agents are giving all a bad name, adding that the no-knock laws unfairly target Orthodox Jews and those seeking to help them find houses.

A housing crisis in Lakewood has led to real estate agents looking to adjacent towns to accommodate the rapidly growing Jewish community

The issue stems from a housing crunch in nearby Lakewood (pictured above, celebrations as a Torah Scroll was finished in the town)

Many Orthodox Jews came to the community to study at Beth Madresh Gohova (pictured) in Lakewood, one of the largest yeshivas in the world, and eventually settled down

Many Orthodox Jews came to the community to study at Beth Madresh Gohova in Lakewood, one of the largest yeshivas in the world, and eventually settled down.

The 2010 census found the town had nearly 93,000 residents, about 32,000 more than a decade earlier - and town officials believe there are closer to 120,000 residents now.

This is in part because despite only 10 per cent of American Jews identifying themselves as Orthodox, they tend to have larger families.

Last month, Schall said: 'The growth in Lakewood is a sign of the great quality of life which is attracting all these people.

'However, the challenge is being able to keep up with the influx.

'This has driven people to take residence in nearby towns, where houses are more available and affordable.'

Schnall called the no-knock changes 'troubling.'

He also believes there is a campaign to prevent members of the Orthodox community from moving in - and he thinks the real estate agents are being used as scapegoats, claims that leaders in neighboring towns say are unfounded.

An open house in Toms River in November last year, led to trouble when the homeowners neighbors parked their vehicles along the street as a sign of a protest

The population of Lakewood has rapidly expanded over the past decade as Orthodox Jews tend to have larger families than others of their religion. Pictured above, a graphic shows the number of annual births in Lakewood

Schnall didnt say if it was ani-Semitism at work, but told Bloomberg that the anger in Lakewoods neighboring towns is based on opposition to proposals including for a learning center, boarding school and dormitories.

Realty groups say their main concern is to find common ground.

'Our local communities are incredibly important to both our members and our association,' said Mary Ann Wissel, chief executive officer of the Ocean County Board of Realtors.

She said the group was working with real estate agents and local officials to ensure that any no-knock registry laws are both 'respectful to homeowners as well as fair to the lawful business practices of our members.'

According to Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York City and a leading authority on Orthodox Judaism, the problem is due to the nature of the community people trying to keep Orthodox Jews out of their neighborhoods, for fear the area will become entirely Hasidic.

'The problem is structural: Hasidim live in Hasidic communities predominantly. They can only move as groups,' said Heilman.

Despite the Toms River Strong campaign, many residents aren't convinced and are selling. Pictured, a 'For Sale' sign is seen across from a 'Don't sell, Toms River Strong' sign last month

'That leads to counter-moves by other groups who do not want their community to be inundated by them.'

But David Eckman, a Hasidic real estate investor, acknowledged that while most of his visits to gauge people's interest in selling their homes are unsolicited, he insisted he has never tried to intimidate or mislead anyone.

'People need homes, and I'm trying to help them find those homes,' Eckman said. 'They just want a nice place in a nice community, like everyone else.'

Eckman said anyone using fear tactics, be it directly or implied, should be barred.
As the Democratic primary race becomes more and more contested, Hillary Clinton is calling herself the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump - and she says the rest of the world agrees.

The former Secretary of State said foreign leaders have reached out to see if they can endorse her to stop the GOP frontrunner from becoming the next leader of the Free World.

Clinton was responding to a question from a man, who said he was the son of immigrants, during a Democratic Ohio town hall on Sunday when she revealed she has received international support.

'One argument that I am uniquely qualified to bring, because of my service as Secretary of State, is what [Trump's] presidency would mean for our country and our standing in the world,' she said.

Hillary Clinton revealed foreign leaders have reached out to see if they can endorse her to stop Donald Trump from winning the presidency in November

Clinton said she believes she is the only Democratic candidate who can beat Trump in the general election, touting her former position as Secretary of State and her relations with international officials

'I am already receiving messages from leaders, and I am having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump, and I am like no, this is up to Americans, thank you very much.'

When CNN moderator Jake Tapper pressed Clinton on specific foreign leaders who have contacted her, she pointed to the public support she received from Italian Prime Minister Matto Renzi.

Renzi said last month that although he would work with anyone who wins the US election come November, he is personally hoping it will be Clinton.

'As an Italian citizen and leader of the Democratic Party, and in total respect for American democracy, I am rooting for Hillary Clinton,' he said during a news conference with foreign media.

When Tapper asked if Clinton would reveal who had privately contacted her, she laughed and said 'No Jake, we're holding that in reserve.'

Clinton also took the opportunity to press the fact that she believes foreign policy has taken a backseat in this election season and should be playing a bigger role.

'Only the hard choices come to the president,' she said. 'If they're not really hard someone along the way has a chance to make a decision.'

Clinton referenced her experience sitting with Obama in the Situation Room during the raid on Osama Bin Laden, and said the role takes 'incredible seriousness, diligence, judgement'.

'A temperament that's not going to be pushed one way or the other depending upon who said what to you today,' she continued.

'I believe I will have an opportunity to really focus in on how dangerous a Donald Trump presidency would be, for our standing, for our safety, for the peace of the world.'

Clinton, who was speaking alongside Bernie Sanders at the Ohio town hall, also took the opportunity to press the her belief that foreign policy has taken a backseat in this election and should be playing a bigger role

She also referenced that she has received public support from international officials, including Italian Prime Minister Matto Renzi (pictured) - who last month revealed he was rooting for a Clinton victory

Both Clinton and Sanders hit hard at Trump during the town hall, two days after a protest before his Chicago rally erupted into violence.

The two Democratic candidates both referenced Trump's offers to pay the legal bills for supporters who have roughed up and punched protesters at his rallies.

Sanders blasted the GOP frontrunner as a 'pathological liar' and said he was 'inciting violence' with his rhetoric, according to CNN.

Clinton called out Trump for being 'incredibly bigoted' toward a number of groups.

'You don't make America great by tearing down everything that made America great,' she said.

Just a week earlier, senior US officials revealed that foreign diplomats have been expressing alarm to American government officials about Trump's inflammatory and insulting public statements.

Officials from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have complained in recent private conversations, mostly about the xenophobic nature of Trump's statements, said three US officials, who all declined to be identified.

'As the (Trump) rhetoric has continued, and in some cases amped up, so, too, have concerns by certain leaders around the world,' said one of the officials.

The three officials declined to disclose a full list of countries whose diplomats have complained, but two said they included at least India, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (left) said Trump is a threat to peace and prosperity in an interview on Sunday. Mexico's Claudia Ruiz Massieu (right) said last week that Trump's policies are 'ignorant and racist'

A British official noted that Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'What Donald Trump says is, in my view, not only wrong, but actually it makes the work we need to do to confront and defeat the extremists more difficult'

US officials said it was highly unusual for foreign diplomats to express concern, even privately, about candidates in the midst of a presidential campaign.

America's allies in particular usually don't want to be seen as meddling in domestic politics, mindful that they will have to work with whoever wins.

Senior leaders in several countries - including Britain, Mexico, France, and Canada - have already made public comments criticizing Trump's positions.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel branded him a threat to peace and prosperity in an interview published on Sunday.

A British official noted that in January, Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'What Donald Trump says is, in my view, not only wrong, but actually it makes the work we need to do to confront and defeat the extremists more difficult.'

A spokesperson for the Mexican government would not confirm any private complaints but noted that its top diplomat, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, said last week that Trump's policies and comments were 'ignorant and racist' and that his plan to build a border wall to stop illegal immigration was 'absurd'.

The foreign officials have been particularly disturbed by the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim themes that the billionaire real estate mogul has pushed, according to the U.S. officials.

European and Middle Eastern government representatives have expressed dismay to U.S. officials about anti-Muslim declarations by Trump that they say are being used in recruiting pitches by the Islamic State and other violent jihadist groups.

Clinton and Sanders also blasted the bloodshed that erupted in Chicago following a protest before a scheduled Trump rally (pictured), and said the GOP frontrunner was 'inciting violence'

On December 7, Trump's campaign issued a written statement saying that he was 'calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on'.

More than a hundred Republican foreign policy veterans pledged last week to oppose Trump, saying in an open letter that his proposals would undermine US security.

General Philip Breedlove, the United States' top military commander in Europe, said that the US elections were stirring concerns among America's allies.

'I get a lot of questions from our European counterparts on our election process this time in general,' said Breedlove, who did not mention Trump by name.
The increase of foreign-born children in Swedish schools has played a part in the country's overall decline in educational achievement and test scores in recent years, officials report.

The number of teenagers who failed to qualify for upper secondary school in Sweden increased from ten per cent in 2006 to more than 14 per cent in 2015.

A report by the Swedish Education Agency released on Monday concluded that 85 per cent of the increase was explained by immigrant students unable to catch up with Swedes of the same age.

Decline in standards: The number of teenagers who failed to qualify for upper secondary school in Sweden increased from ten per cent in 2006 to more than 14 per cent in 2015.

Over the past decade, Swedish test scores on the OECD's so-called PISA ranking of school performance among 15-year-olds has seen the most dramatic drop out of all the countries taking part in the survey.

At the same time, the percentage of students in Swedish schools who had arrived in the country after the age of seven jumped from three per cent in 2006 to eight per cent in 2015.

The report, entitled The Importance of Immigration for School Results, defines 'immigrant students' as children who are either foreign-born or whose parents are both born outside Sweden.

It concluded that as immigrant students now arrive in greater numbers and at an older age, they had less time to learn Swedish and catch up in vital subjects before leaving Year 9.

As a result, an increasing number of foreign-born students fail to obtain the grades needed to move on to Swedish upper secondary school - equivalent to A-levels or High School.

Sweden has had the most dramatic drop in PISA performance out of all the countries taking part in the survey

'We already know that immigrant students on average have lower performance in school,' said Education Agency Director Anna Ekstrom.

Now we know more about how much the increasing proportion of immigrant students has affected overall performance.'

Sweden's performance in the OECD's PISA survey has also 'declined over the past decade from around average to significantly below average.

'No other country taking part in PISA has seen a steeper fall,' the OECD said in a 2015 statement.

'In the most recent test in 2012, Sweden ranked 28 among the 34 OECD countries in mathematics, 27 in reading and 27 in science,' the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

According to Sweden's education agency, the unprecedented wave of asylum seekers who have arrived since 2014 should increase this trend.

Of the 163,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Sweden last year, 43 per cent were minors, according to the Swedish Migration Agency.
Kocurek believes shooting could have been prevented had she known of the danger

A Texas state judge who survived an assassination attempt in November is speaking out for the first time since the shooting, accusing law enforcement officials of failing to investigate the threat.

State District Judge Julie Kocurek was shot at close range on November 6, 2015, in the driveway of her Austin home.

Another Travis County judge later revealed that members of the county judiciary were never informed of a potential threat made shortly before Kocurek was attacked.

Blame game: Texas State District Judge Julie Kocurek says the November assassination attempt that left her with shrapnel wounds to her face (left) could have been prevented had law enforcement officials told her about a threat allegedly made by suspect Chimene Onyeri (right)

Wounded: Kocurek lost her left index finger as a result of the attack in the driveway of her Austin home

The judge was shot from a close range outside her home on Scenic Drive on November 6, 2015

The Travis County Sheriff's Office said the judges weren't alerted because the threat did not name a specific person.

In a sit-down interview with Time Warner Cable News Austin, her first since the shooting, Judge Kocurek did not mince words, saying the threat 'was very poorly investigated.'

'The bottom line is that I should have been told by someone [about the threat],' she added.

Kocurek said she believes the attempt on her life could have been prevented had she known about the threat in advance.

Two weeks before a gunman ambushed Kocurek in her driveway, the Travis County District Attorney's Office got a tip from a woman saying 28-year-old Chimene Oneyeri wanted to kill a local judge.

Onyeri was in the process of being prosecuted by Kocurek in a fraud case from 2012. Unbeknownst to officials in Travis County, he was also a suspect in a murder that took place in Houston in May.

Back to work: After spending nearly two months in the hospital, Kocurek returned to the bench in February (pictured)

Warm welcome: Kocurek, right, was welcomed back by District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, left, on February 29. She said she felt 'reborn' after her brush with death

Kocurek says had she been aware of the tip, she would have temporarily moved out of her house and taken other precautions to minimize the threat.

I have the right to decide if a threat is credible, said Kocurek.

Kocurek suffered shrapnel wounds to her face and lost her index finger as a result of the ambush, which she described as the most terrifying moment of my life.

She spent nearly two months in the hospital and returned to the bench in February to a standing ovation from her colleagues.

Kocurek said at the time she felt reborn following months of rehabilitation, and that the support she received far outweighs the evil moments.

Since the attack, security has been tightened to better protect judges, prosecutors and police officers in Travis County, and Kocurek says communication has improved.

As of Monday morning, Onyeri has not been charged in connection to the judge's shooting, even though police in Austin and Houston say he is the only suspect.

Kocurek, pictured here in court, was returning home with other people when the shooter opened fire

Kocurek is the presiding felony judge of the 390th District Court for Travis County and was formerly a prosecutor.

She was appointed by then-Governor George W Bush in 1999 and was the only Republican elected to a state district judgeship in the heavily Democratic county.

In 2006, Kocurek switched to the Democratic party.

Kocurek was recently overseeing cases related to a man convicted of killing a woman and charged in the death of another, as well as one involving a mother who kidnapped her daughter.
David Cameron has been told to sack Michael Gove as Justice Secretary over allegations he leaked the Queen's Eurosceptic comments about the EU.

Mr Gove, one of the leading figures calling for Britain to quit the EU, has appeared to confess he was the source of the leaked conversation of a confidential privy council meeting with Her Majesty in 2011 when she reportedly told Nick Clegg that the EU was heading in the wrong direction.

Labour used an Urgent Question in the House of Commons to call for an official inquiry into the leak and said told the Prime Minister to remove Mr Gove from his government role if he refused to stand down voluntarily.

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David Cameron (left) has been urged to sack his Justice Secretary Michael Gove (right) over claims he leaked the Queen's Eurosceptic comments

David Cameron (pictured meeting school children at an academy in Southwark today) also faced accusations that he was part of a plot to undermine Michael Gove's key role in the Vote Leave campaign

But Chris Grayling, the Leader of the Commons and a fellow Brexit campaigner, rejected the demands and said there was no need for a government inquiry.



Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said: 'Surely any member of the privy council who was the source of this story or whose special adviser or ally was, stands in contempt of his privy council oath and should be removed from oath if he won't honourably resign himself.'

The press regulator is already dealing with a complaint from Buckingham Palace over the leaked conversation but Mr Watson said this inquiry did not have the power to investigate whether a privy councillor had broken their oath.

'A cover up will not do,' Mr Watson said.

Mr Cameron (pictured meeting students in south east London today) defended Mr Gove last week but added it was a 'serious matter' - an indication that Mr Gove could face the sack if it was true

The Prime Minister (pictured meeting pupils at an academy in Bermondsey, south east London today) is on the opposite side of the EU debate to his Justice Secretary Michael Gove

Rumours he was the source gained strength after it emerged he dined with Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sun, a few days before the media mogul's wedding to Jerry Hall last weekend, which Mr Gove also attended.

Pressure on the Justice Secretary to quit grew after saying yesterday: 'I don't know how The Sun got all its information.'

Pro-EU politicians leapt on the remarks, claiming they amounted to a confession that he was responsible for releasing at least some of the details of the private conversation with the monarch and ministers at a meeting at Windsor Castle in April 2011.

David Cameron (left) relies on the help of his close friend and Justice Secretary Michael Gove (right) to prepare for Prime Minister's Questions every week but may have to sack him from his Cabinet if he is revealed to be the source of the leak

Speculation is mounting at Westminster that, at the very least, he will be shifted from the Ministry of Justice in the post-referendum reshuffle, if not sacked altogether.

But Mr Grayling, the Lord President of the Privy Council, dismissed Labour's call for a Government probe into whether Mr Gove was the source of the story.

He insisted that because his predecessor as lord president, Mr Clegg, said the story was 'categorically untrue' and because Buckingham Palace lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), he said: 'I do not believe there is any need for further action here'.

Mr Gove was one of only four ministers at the lunch and the only other Eurosceptic figure present was former Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan, who has insisted she is not one of the two sources of the leak.

Mr Cameron defended Mr Gove last week but added it was a 'serious matter' - an indication that Mr Gove could face the sack if it was true.

MPs say leaking private comments with the Queen would be a breach of Privy Council rules and make Mr Gove's role as Lord Chancellor untenable, as he must meet Her Majesty regularly.

Allies of Mr Gove suspect there is an organised operation to try to detract from his key role in the Leave campaign. Yesterday he was appointed co-convener of Vote LEave, which means he will set the group's overall strategy.

One supporter said: 'This looks like a classic attempt to wound Michael or at the very least distract from the job at hand.

'Think about it. Without this row, all the questions to Michael would be about the powerful intellectual case that he makes for us leaving the EU and reclaiming control of our destiny.

'Instead, every time he sees a TV camera it is shouts of, 'Did you leak the information about the Queen?' They are out to get him.'

Mr Gove has been dogged by the row since Wednesday, when The Sun reported claims that, in 2011, the Queen expressed doubts about the direction the EU was taking.

David Cameron waves during a visit to Harris Academy in Bermondsey, south east London today. He faces calls to sack his close friend and Justice Secretary Michael Gove

Organisation: Mr Gove speaks to Brexit volunteers who were handing out leaflets in Southampton on Saturday

Only four ministers were present at that 2011 meeting, including Mr Gove. Nick Clegg, who was also in attendance, has called the claims 'nonsense'  though he initially stopped short of a full denial.

Over the weekend Mr Gove said: 'I don't know how The Sun got all its information.' Pressed again, he stuck to precisely the same form of words.

Sir Nicholas Soames, who is close to No 10 and Prince Charles, seized on the comments.

Referring to Mr Gove by his nickname, he tweeted: 'Is the Gover now owning up to an inexcusable mistake in breaching an oath and a confidence? If so, now VERY serious consequences.'

QUEEN 'REVEALED ANTI-EU VIEWS AFTER CLEGG LECTURED HER ON NEED FOR EU INTEGRATION' The 89-year-old monarch is said to have told Nick Clegg during a lunch at Windsor Castle that she thought Europe was going in the wrong direction The Queen reportedly revealed her strong Eurosceptic views after Nick Clegg lectured her on the need for greater European integration. Buckingham Palace last week vented its fury over claims the Queen is backing Britain's withdrawal from the EU. Justice Secretary Michael Gove was allegedly the source of the leaked conversation with Her Majesty in 2011, where she is said to have expressed views that Europe was going in the wrong direction. Today, another account of the Windsor Castle lunch conversation has emerged, which suggests a reason the 89-year-old monarch went against tradition to make her political views clear. A source told The Sun: 'She was so wound up by a sermon Clegg was preaching on the virtues of Europe that she threw a wobbly and responded witheringly. 'Most people know that's a signal to retreat and concentrate on the soup. Unfortunately, he ploughed on, raising her blood pressure further.' Mr Gove was yesterday clinging to office after saying he hadn't leaked 'all' of the information on the Queen's conversation. He was one of just five people present at the meeting on April 7 2011, when the exchange is believed to have taken place. Advertisement

He later added: 'Michael is a man of the highest integrity, and if on this occasion he has made a terrible misjudgment, I am sure he will know the right thing to do.'

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said: 'Michael Gove's evasive answers to the media are causing further embarrassment to the Palace, his party and the Government.

'This is a time for clarity and he needs to answer a simple question  are you a Sun source or not, Mr Gove? Yes or no?'

Mr Watson, who was granted an Urgent Question in the Commons today, asked Mr Grayling: 'If the Justice Secretary were to have disclosed this information he would have breached the principle of confidentiality and prayed in aid the monarch in a politically controversial manner.

'But he would also have undermined his role as the minister responsible for upholding the rule of law.

'Do you therefore agree that the public have a right to know whether or not the Justice Secretary was a source of this story?

'And please will you now urge your colleague to confirm or deny such allegations?

'There is a referral to Ipso to investigate a complaint about the story, but Ipso cannot investigate whether a Privy Counsellor has broken his oath.

'Only you or the Prime Minister can order that investigation - a cover-up will not do.

'Surely any member of the Privy Council who was a source of this story or whose special adviser or ally was, stands in contempt of his Privy Council oath and should be removed from office if he won't honourably resign himself.'

But Mr Grayling insisted enough had already been done.

'As you said in your remarks, last week a national newspaper published a story allegedly based on a conversation that took place at a lunch following a Privy Council meeting,' he replied.

'However my predecessor, the then-lord president, (Nick Clegg), has said very clearly that the story was categorically untrue.

'As the House is aware, Buckingham Palace has referred the matter to Ipso, the new press complaints body. It is now investigating the story.

'Given all of this, I do not believe that there is any need for further action here.'

Speculation is mounting at Westminster that, at the very least, he will be shifted from the Ministry of Justice in the post-referendum reshuffle, if not sacked altogether.

His role as Lord Chancellor brings him into regular contact with the Queen at ceremonial events.

A senior Downing Street official who discussed the issue with the Palace is said to have remarked: 'The Queen herself was furious with Gove.'

An unnamed minister told the Sunday Times: 'The Lord Chancellor meets the Queen every other week... The problem for Gove is that it gives Dave the perfect opportunity to say, 'I can't possibly keep you as Lord Chancellor now'.'

Downing Street is publicly backing Mr Gove. But there are suspicions that aides may be encouraging Sir Nicholas  who has likened the leaking of the Queen's views to treason  to aggressively attack the Justice Secretary.

Yesterday it was also claimed that Mr Cameron had once referred to his friend Mr Gove as a 'Maoist'.

According to a book by former Lib Dem minister David Laws, the PM told Mr Clegg: 'He is basically a bit of a Maoist  he believes that the world makes progress through a process of creative destruction!'

Meanwhile it was reported that the Palace wants ministers and royal officials to do more to safeguard the Queen's independence, particularly in the four months before the referendum on June 23.

A Whitehall official, who has close links to the Palace and No 10, said: 'There's a need to draw the Queen back out of the political space.'

Last night a source close to Mr Gove said: 'Michael did not brief this story.'

The Tory grassroots overwhelmingly wants to quit the EU, a survey has found. The poll of 500 people by the Conservative Voice group found 75 per cent will vote to leave.




In the 1980s Richard Ramirez, dubbed the 'Night Stalker,' brought terror to California with a serial killing spree that saw him breaking into his victims' houses. Now, the New York Post reports, police believe they have identified a second suspect who accompanied him on his first known murder.

On 10 April 1984, nine-year-old Mei Leung was found raped and murdered in the basement of a San Francisco hotel where Ramirez was living. Police only connected him to the killing in 2009, when semen found on a handkerchief at the scene was identified as his.

But there was a second sample of the fluid on the handkerchief. And now they may have found their second man - but, a source told the Post

Night Stalker: Richard Ramirez (pictured, in police van) was convicted of 13 murders and 11 sexual assaults from 1984 and 1985. Now SFPD have identified a second suspect at his first murder, but won't release a name

Victim: Mei Leung, 9, was raped and murdered by Ramirez in 1984, but DNA on a handkerchief was only connected to him in 2009. Now police have identified a second DNA sample found on the cloth as coming from a juvenile male

'The handkerchief had stains in several places that were tested,' former prosecutor and DNA expert Rockne Harmon told the Post. He had reviewed the Leung case while consulting for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office in 2009.

'The stain that produced the hit was a mixture of three people, two different semen sources. One of the sources matched Ramirez, and the other source linked the second male to the handkerchief,' Harmon told The Post. 'It's significant because it connects the two sources to the body.'

The identity of the second suspect has not been publicly named by police, but 'multiple sources' told the Post that the man, who was a juvenile at the time of Leung's murder, went on to commit other felony crimes.

That meant that his DNA details were available in CODIS, the FBI's forensic DNA database, when California lab tech Cherisse Boland went looking.

And that means police know the identity of a man who was somehow associated with Ramirez and Leung at the time of her death.

But Harmon is frustrated that the San Francisco police have not released information to the public.

'Only a thorough, intense investigation to ascertain the truth about the presence of his [DNA] in such a sinister context will satisfy public safety interests. Anything less will not do so,' he said.

In an email to the Post, Max Szabo, a spokesman for the San Francisco DAs Office, wrote: 'At this time, there is insufficient evidence to charge anyone else in connection with this crime.'

Texas-born Ramirez, who identified as a Satanist, brought terror to San Francisco and Los Angeles from 1989-85 with a series of home invasions in which he terrorized homeowners into giving up their possessions, sometimes before raping them.

On other occasions he attacked sleeping victims in their beds, killing many. His weapons included handguns, knives, a machete, a tire iron and a hammer.

He also drew pentagrams at some of the crime scenes, and told one victim to 'swear on Satan' that she had no more valuables to steal.

Ramirez was convicted in September 1989 on 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. He was sentenced to death by gas chamber, but said to reporters, 'Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.'

As far as authorities are aware, his entire spree of crimes had taken place in just one year.

He ultimately died of lymphoma in 2013, at the age of 53 and after 23 years on death row. The disease had caused his skin to turn 'a shocking shade of green' before his death, it was reported.
It is one of the most isolated tribes in the world which has preserved the hunter-gatherer tradition for up to 60,000 years.

But the Jarawa's ancient way of life may soon be shattered forever after a tribesman was accused of murdering a baby.

The five month old boy was found drowned on the tribe's remote South Andaman Island home, which lies in the Bay of Bengal between India and Thailand.

The Jarawa are protected by law and Indian police are under instruction to interfere as little as possible with their way of life (file picture)

The five month old boy was found drowned on the tribe's remote South Andaman Island home, which lies in the Bay of Bengal between India and Thailand

His mother was unmarried and he had a lighter skin than his kin, leading police to suspect he had been killed because his father was an outsider.

The Jarawa are protected by law and Indian police are under instruction to interfere as little as possible with their way of life. No tribesmen has ever been arrested.

But the boy's murder has prompted outcry with a number of witnesses coming forward to officers.

According to the New York Times, two women say they saw a Jarawa man drinking alcohol with someone who had entered the reserve illegally the night before the child's death.

The witnesses reportedly said that the tribesman, named Tatehane, took the five-month-old child from his mother while she was asleep.

His body was later found on a beach where, police say, he had been drowned.

Tatehane has not yet been arrested - despite being accused of carrying out the killing - and the matter has now been forwarded to India's Tribal Welfare Department for further consideration.

The Jarawa's ancient way of life may soon be shattered forever after a tribesman was accused of murdering a baby (file picture)

Details of the mother's relationship with the father remain unclear, but there are reports in India that a non-tribal man has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

A second non-tribal man, suspected of giving Tatehane alcohol, has also been arrested after being accused of abetting murder and interfering with aboriginal tribes, the New York Times reports.

THE JARAWA: INDIA'S 'LOST TRIBE' The Jarawa are believed to have been the first people to successfully migrate out of Africa when they came to the Andaman islands 60,000 years ago, according to scientists. Between 250 and 400 of the hunter-gatherers are believed to live in their 300 square mile reserve in South Andaman Island. They have traditionally survived on the raw meat of wild boar. Their name means 'people of the earth' or 'hostile people'. Advertisement

The South Andaman police superindendent in charge of the investigation, Atul Kumar Thakur, said that 'nobody is above the law' but added that the tribe has 'special status,' adding: 'We are duty-bound to protect their interests.'

Scientists believes the Jarawas were the first people to successfully migrate out of Africa when they came to the Andaman islands about 60,000 years ago.

No member of the tribe had ever been named as a suspect in a crime such is the level of protection given to the community, which has survived for thousands of years by hunting and gathering on their reserve.

Normally Jarawa are simply escorted back to their 300 square mile reserve if they commit crimes in outlying villages.
On the run: Farouk Abdulhak (pictured), the playboy son of a billionaire, is wanted for the rape and murder of a Norwegian student in London in 2008

The playboy son of a billionaire wanted for the rape and murder of a Norwegian student in London is still on the run eight years after her death.

Farouk Abdulhak remains holed up in Yemen and has refused to come back to the UK where he is accused of killing Martine Vik Magnussen in 2008.

She was last seen in the early hours of March 14 at Maddox nightclub in Mayfair where she had been celebrating the end of term with friends from Regent's Business School.

The 23-year-old is thought to have left the club with fellow student Abdulhak - son of billionaire Shaher Abdulhak - and her body was found buried in rubble in the basement of flats in Great Portland Street two days later.

On Monday, her father Petter Magnussen released two previously unpublished images of his daughter, as his family continue to fight for justice.

He said: 'We have been left devastated and distraught since the loss of our daughter. There is an enormous hole in our lives that can never be filled.

'Martine would have been 31 years old and I cannot help but wonder what she would be doing now - would she have settled down, married and had children?

'What makes the pain so much more difficult to accept is that we are being denied justice as Farouk Abdulhak fled to Yemen after the murder and refuses to return to the UK.

'He has continued to live his life for the past eight years and move forward, in contrast to my family and myself who cannot do that.

'What we can do and will do is continue to keep the spotlight on this case and cherish the memory of our beloved daughter.'

Mr Magnussen told the Evening Standard that last year a senior Yemeni official offered to give Abdulhak up if, in return, peace talks over civil conflict in the Middle Eastern state could be held in Norway.

Mr Magnussen was unable to arrange this, but said: 'I found this encouraging.

'This was a strong message to the suspect that he can no longer totally rely on the support of his own people. I hope he is not sleeping so well these days.'

Abdulhak remains holed up in Yemen and has refused to come back to the UK where he is accused of killing Martine Vik Magnussen in 2008. The 23-year-old's father today released two new pictures of his daughter

Police launched a Facebook appeal in Arabic and English to coincide with the eight-year anniversary. A previous publicity drive in 2014 saw 350,000 people view the appeal page.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge said: 'This case is still very much a live investigation. Farouk Abdulhak remains wanted for the rape and murder of Martine Vik Magnussen.

'Farouk Abdulhak has known for the past eight years now that he is wanted for the rape and murder of Martine. There have been extensive diplomatic efforts made over this time to return him to the UK, to no avail.

'This anniversary should serve as a further reminder that he cannot put this behind him, it will not go away and I appeal to him and those close to him to advise him to return to the UK to stand trial.'
Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian military to start withdrawing 'main part' of forces in Syria, saying the military campaign had 'largely achieved' its goals.

Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defence and foreign ministers, said the pullout should start from Tuesday.

He also ordered that Russia intensify its role in the peace process to end the conflict in Syria.

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Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian military to start withdrawing 'main part' of forces in Syria

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to inform him of the Russian decision.

'The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic,' Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments

Putin's decision comes ahead of the 5th anniversary of the start of the conflict in Syria. The move should help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks in Geneva, aimed at resolving the conflict.

The Russian president said the airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate.

He said both must be protected 'from land, air and sea'.

Syrian peace talks resumed in Geneva on Monday following a ceasefire that largely held in Syria, despite accusations of violations from both Assad's government and its foes

The Kremlin said Assad 'noted the professionalism, courage and heroism of the officers of the Russian armed forces that took part in the military operations and expressed deep appreciation to Russia'.

Syria's State TV quoted Assad as saying Russia will decrease its presence to levels 'in line with the situation on the ground and the continuation of the cessation of hostilities'. The collaboration between the two allies, Assad added, has secured 'victories against terrorism and returned security to the country'.

Russia's military campaign, which began on 30 September last year, has helped shore up the faltering Syrian government, allowing it to recapture territory from rebels.

Syrian peace talks resumed in Geneva on Monday following a ceasefire that largely held in Syria, despite accusations of violations from both Assad's government and its foes.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire, which is intended to bolster indirect Syrian peace talks that began Monday.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement.
Meisner was not the source of the threats against Lana and has been cleared of any involvement in death; he is receiving

The wife of Eagle's legend Randy Meisner, who was killed in a 'freak' gun accident, told friends she feared for her life days before she died, police have been told.

Detectives have received information that Lana Meisner, 63, showed a friend threatening texts on her iPhone and said she was worried about her safety.

Mrs Meisner, who died on March 6 at the home she shared with the rock star, also said her husband had implored her only a fortnight before to return home from a holiday where she was visiting a friend in Mexico 'or I'll blow my head off.'

The revelations come from Mrs Meisner's friend Sabrina Langston, who said the texts were nothing to do with the former Eagles' bassist.

Friends: Sabrina Langston (right) was a long-time friend of Lana Meisner (left) and had spent time with her at the Meisners' Studio City home. She tells Daily Mail Online Lana had received threatening messages before her death - which were not from her husband

Stormy marriage: The couple appeared happy in this picture in 2010. Langston tells Daily Mail Online her friend's marriage was stormy but that she received threats from another person which had her living in fear

Eagles' founder Randy Meisner and his police officer friend, Bobby Dodd. Sabrina claims that Dodd's wife, a nurse named Marla Dodd, looked after Randy in recent years. Photo taken in the kitchen of the Meisner family home in Studio City, California

Friendship: Sabrina Langston has told how Lana Meisner, long her close friend, was extremely concerned about her own personal safety

She has given the name of the alleged sender to police and told officers her friend revealed she had suffered years of hate from the person behind the messages..

Langston and the shooting victim, who Daily Mail Online exclusively revealed died when a pair of cowboy boot spurs hit a rifle trigger in a gun case, had been friends for more than 30 years having met as waitresses in Hollywood's Sash nightclub.

Langston said her friend had visited her on February 22 for a three-day trip at her home in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico.

'We just hung out and went out on a boat and did some catching up' she said.

'Lana was very scared. She said she feared for her life and was being threatened and she showed me some texts that said things like "you had better watch out."'

She added: 'She gave me the name of the person who had been threatening her and I have given it to the police.

'I found out from a telephone call that Lana had died and I got on a plane and came straight to Los Angeles. I had to tell the police what I knew.

'It all seems a bit strange that she says she fears for her life and then she dies from being shot.'

She said when Lana told her that Randy Meisner was threatening to blow his own head off, she asked if he had access to any guns.

'Lana told me there were no guns in the house and she had carried out a regular check. Randy did not own any guns and in any case he would never harm her, but she was worried he might do something to himself.

'She loved him so much and cared for him through his illnesses and his drinking. And he really loved her back.

The musician has been undergoing psychiatric care and is under risk evaluation after reportedly threatening to take his own life after Lana's death.

In his 911 call to police, he mumbled to the emergency services that he and his wife have ' been married for so many years' and is said to have helped police fully.

Langston said after passing on her information to detectives, they told her they still believed her friend had died in 'a freak accident.'

She added: 'I asked them if the gun case could have been booby trapped and they said it was not.

'I found out from them it was an antique rifle, but I am still unsure how a gun got there as Lana said there were none in the house.

'The police told me that the threats against Lana were just that and people who make such threats rarely carry them out.'

The tragedy happened when Lana went to a closet and moved the case containing the gun and the cowboy boots spurs pressed the trigger, releasing a bullet into her face or head and killing her instantly.

Police said forensic evidence had shown the death to have been the result of a 'freak accident' and that the musician had been cleared of any involvement and no charges would ever be pressed.

It was also reported that the incident may have been captured on CCTV on one of the Meisner's security cameras which proved the Eagles star was not in the room when his wife was shot.

The gun is under examination by the North Hollywood police firearms unit and sources said it would only have needed 'a feather touch' to discharge a shot.

The metal spurs along with the shank are likely to have weighed around a pound and easily have been able to pressure the trigger into firing the gun.

The Eagles star,70, who left the band in 1977, had been married to his wife for nearly 20 years. He is said to have been diagnosed as bi-polar.

He co-wrote and sang on the groups biggest hits including One of These Nights and 'Take It to the Limit.'

The LAPD confirmed Lana Meinser's shooting was accidental after the rifle went off inside its case. Langston has spoken to officers but they are adamant that their conclusion is correct

Founder: Randy Meisner and Glenn Frey performing together in 1973. He left the band four years later

A detective confirmed that police had received a call from the shooting victim earlier on Sunday evening at around 5.30pm and officers had listed it as a domestic incident which required no further action.

'It was an every day argument between a husband and wife and there was no violence involved' said the source.

'We have established that Meisner was not in the room when his wife was shot. All the forensics have shown her death to have been a freak accident.

'There will never be any charges in this case and it has been decided that it was an accidental death.'

Daily Mail Online has left messages with Van Nuys police regarding the new claims, but they have not responded

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has carried out a pathology investigation into the case number 2016-01878, but has not released its findings.

The death, however, came against a backdrop of accusations of domestic violence and a troubled marriage.

Heart attack survivor Randy was left so terrified of his wife he called police to their $1million Los Angeles home several times, court documents obtained by Daily Mail Online reveal.

Scene of horror: Police and paramedics were called to the Meisners' Studio City home

Lana Rae Meisner, the wife of former Eagles bassist Randy Meisner (pictured together) died Sunday after being shot in the head at the couple's Los Angeles home, police said

Around 90 minutes before Randy, 69, called police to report his wife had been killed, Lana called 911 herself to report domestic abuse.

It is a tragic plot line that ended a volatile and dysfunctional 20-year marriage, itself fueled by drug and alcohol abuse.

The full extent of the marital violence was recorded in detail back in 2010 when the celebrated musician applied for a restraining order against Lana.

In legal papers filed at LA Superior Court on February 16, 2010, the former Eagles bassist appears to be the one who bore the full brunt of the physical abuse.

In one incident on February 9, 2010 Lana exploded in anger over a 'trivial matter' hitting her husband's chest with closed fists.

He called the police who asked Lana to leave the home and Randy said in a statement that he was left 'shaking' and 'extremely concerned' and 'afraid' that she would return and continue to attack him.

Randy detailed how there had been 'five to six' similar attacks during 2009 and the beginning of 2010 and requested an order barring Lana from returning to the marital home.

He added: 'She has a place to live with her mother, and she has perpetuated physical violence upon me. I am afraid that if Lana gets notice of this application prior to the restraining order, that she will come to the home and become enraged and perhaps kill me.'

In the request, which was never granted, Randy says he first met Lana in the early 90s when she was a cocktail waitress working in Encino, LA near to where the Eagles were rehearsing.

The couple married in November, 1996 and signed a premarital agreement.

Langston added: ' She loved Randy and now she is gone and in such a terrible way. Only two days before she died, she sent me a text which said: 'I love you'.
The worlds first death on demand law is set to go before legislators in Belgium - which would mean no doctor would be allowed to block the wishes of a patient who asked to die

The worlds first death on demand law is set to go before legislators in Belgium who have already ushered through an ultra-liberal euthanasia regime.

The new rules would mean no doctor would be allowed to block the wishes of a patient who asked to die.

The law  put forward by the countrys opposition socialist party  is thought to have a high chance of commanding support from a majority of parliamentarians.

They come at a time when numbers dying each year under the euthanasia laws have doubled in five years to reach more than 2,000.

Doctors approached by someone wanting help to die would under the proposed new law have to approve within seven days, or pass the patient on to another doctor prepared to give approval.

The principle is similar to that operated by British doctors under abortion guidelines supervised by the General Medical Council.

They mean that British doctors cannot prevent a patient from getting an abortion, and under them the number of abortions performed each year in the UK has risen close to 200,000, close to one in four of all conceptions.

The Belgian euthanasia proposals would also compel doctors to treat requests for assisted suicide as urgent cases  so that no doctor could persuade a patient to wait to see if they change their mind about dying.

They also call for a major extension of the time over which living wills  documents in which people ask to be allowed to die rather than get medical treatment if they become too ill to choose for themselves  should have their legal time frame radically extended.

At present living wills in Belgium are binding for five years after they have been made.

Under the new proposals a living will would be in force for 30 years. The plans also demand that no state-funded institution should be allowed to object to euthanasia on religious or moral grounds, a move which would prevent Roman Catholic hospitals, hospices or care homes from trying to prevent assisted deaths.

The proposals brought new warnings from Britain over the slippery slope effect of legalising assisted suicide.

Former government anti-terrorism adviser Lord Carlile of Berriew said he was astonished by the plans for what he called euthanasia on demand.

The proposals were tabled by leader of Belgium's opposition socialists, Laurette Onkelinx (left), while former government anti-terrorism adviser Lord Carlile of Berriew (right) called the plans euthanasia on demand

Lord Carlile said: The covert and major decrease in the protection of sick and vulnerable people in Belgium is of great concern. Euthanasia merely on demand looms, without stringent ethical tests or protection against undue influence.

It is astonishing that Belgian politicians, doctors, ethicists and scientists remain so silent in the face of these changes in Belgian law.

The proposals have been tabled by former Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Laurette Onkelinx, now the leader of the opposition socialists.

British MPs voted heavily against an Assisted Dying Bill in the the Commons last year, with the idea that doctors could be permitted to prescribe poisons to kill their patients rejected by 336 votes to 118.

But the courts in this country continue to lean in favour of laws permitting assisted dying.

Assisted suicide laws were transformed after former DPP and now Labour MP Sir Keir Starmer brought in new prosecution guidelines at the request of Law Lords.

These effectively mean that no-one who helps someone to die will be prosecuted for assisting a suicide, a crime that carries a 14-year maximum sentence, unless they did so for financial reasons.

The Supreme Court which replaced the Law Lords suggested in 2014 that a special court could be set up in which judges would have the power to decide case by case whether someone can be helped to die.

Deaf twins Marc and Eddy Verbessem, 45, (pictured) were granted their wish to die in December 2012 after they learned they were likely to become blind

In Belgium euthanasia is used increasingly on people with depression or non-terminal conditions.

Those killed include deaf twins Marc and Eddy Verbessem, 45, who were granted their wish to die in December 2012 after they learned they were likely to become blind.

Last year Nancy Verhelst, 44, a transsexual, was also killed by euthanasia after doctors botched her sex change operation, leaving her with physical deformities she felt made her look like a monster.

Belgian laws on euthanasia are similar to those in the Netherlands, where the increase in euthanasia deaths has followed a similar pattern.

Few cases were recorded in the early years after the legalisation of euthanasia, but from 2008 numbers rose at a rate of around 15 per cent each year, and such deaths are expected to pass the 6,000 mark this year.

A study by American academics last month found that most of the mental health patients put to death under Dutch euthanasia law are suffering from loneliness, and more than half of the psychiatric patients killed have problems that include social isolation and loneliness.
Sarah Goldie, 18, was reported missing by her family on Friday - the same day a woman was spotted in the Clyde River, Glasgow

Scottish police said today they believed the disappearance of a teenage girl could be linked to a young woman who fell into the River Clyde in Glasgow on Friday.

Sarah Goldie, 18, from Renfrew, was reported missing on the same night that police searched for a person in the city's largest waterway.

Emergency services were called to a stretch of the river in the city centre near the busy Broomielaw thoroughfare after passers-by spotted a woman in the water.

The as-yet-unidentified woman is reported to have fallen in around 8pm near the King George V bridge.

Ms Goldie's handbag was found next to the Clyde, prompting police to begin investigating whether it might have been her in the water.

Officers searched the area using torches from a police boat and a helicopter was dispatched to assist efforts.

And despite two men jumping in the river after the woman, she was not recovered.

The incident was not caught on CCTV, making it difficult to identify her.

Police released a statement on Monday saying they were investigating Ms Goldie's disappearance in relation to the woman in the Clyde, and that her family had been informed.

The teen was reported missing by her family at 11:40pm after having been missing since late morning that day, Police Scotland said.

Bridges crossing the river were shut for some time as police carried out the search.

'Sarah left home about 11am on Friday morning,' said a statement from Police Scotland.

'We now know that later in the evening, she took a taxi from Glasgow to Renfrew; arriving near to the former Dean Park Hotel about 6pm.

Police were called to a sighting of a woman who had fallen in the Clyde River near the King George V Bridge. They searched the area using boats and a helicopter but could not find her. Two men even jumped in the water when they saw her fall in

'About an hour and 40 minutes later, at 7:40pm, police received a call about a young woman in the River Clyde and that's also when Sarah's bag was found.

'Officers have been checking CCTV but an image of the woman who entered the water has not been captured, so at this time, we cannot confirm that it was Sarah.

'A number of people came to help when the woman fell in, and we have spoken to most of them.

'We are keen to speak to the driver of a white 4x4 vehicle, possibly a Range Rover Evoque, who stopped at the time and also to the woman who handed in Sarah's bag.

'As we say, at this time we cannot link the two definitively - however, we are keen to find out about Sarah's movements between the 6pm and 7.40pm on Friday evening.

'If you were in the area and saw the young woman near to or enter the River Clyde, or if you have any information as to Sarah's whereabouts, then please contact police via 101.'

Ms Goldie has been described as 5ft 6in, of medium build, with sandy or strawberry blonde hair and of medium build.
The 'smirking' nanny who decapitated a four-year-old girl claims she was copying gruesome ISIS beheading films she had seen online.

Gyulchehra Bobokulova, 38, is now locked up inside the psychiatric hospital at Butyrka high security prison in Moscow, a jail notorious for never having an escapee during the Soviet era.

In an extraordinary interview from cell number 446, with a sign reading 'special control', she told how she feels more sorry for herself than the child she has confessed to murdering, Anastasia (Nastya) Meshcheryakova.

After the barbaric killing, she set girl's family flat on fire and brandished girl's head around the streets of Moscow before being detained by police near a metro station.

Smirk: Russian nanny Gyulchekhra Bobokulova, who hid her history of schizophrenia, said she feels sorry for the four-year-old girl she has confessed to beheading - but feels greater pity for herself

Innocence: Four-year-old Anastasia (Nastya) Meshcheryakova was decapitated by her nanny Bobokulova, who says she was inspired to do it by watching ISIS beheading videos

Horror: In an extraordinary interview from her jail cell, the burka-clad babysitter said Allah ordered her to commit the brutal crime

The nanny alleged that prison doctors 'hurt me' by tying her up and forcefully injecting her with unknown 'strong drugs'.

Earlier, she had claimed that she killed the child in revenge for Putin's aerial bombardment of Muslims in Syria.

She told journalists in court that 'Allah ordered' her to commit the brutal crime.

Now, putting her hand to her heart, she told a Moskovsky Komsomolets journalist who is also a member of the Public Watch Commission, which protects human rights of detainees: 'I have hatred here.

'They raised my hatred and it filled me. I saw online how they were cutting off heads. This hatred.

'There was a voice in my head: 'Do it to the girl'. 'I feel sorry a bit for her. I feel sorry for myself. I have no home, I have nothing. She was a good girl. But I don't have a home. Hatred.'

She said: 'I saw how they cut off heads and I did it. The voices - I killed the girl, yes. But I don't need treatment. Let me go back to the normal jail.'

An unnamed doctor at the hospital said: 'Bobokulova can't do harm to anybody now, she is under serious drugs. She volunteered to be treated.

Court: The nanny, who is on strong medication, she had claimed that she killed the child in revenge for Putin's aerial bombardment of Muslims in Syria

Confession: 'I saw how they cut off heads and I did it. The voices - I killed the girl, yes. But I don't need treatment. Let me go back to the normal jail,' Bobokulova revealed

Insane: Bobokulova added: 'There was a voice in my head: 'Do it to the girl'. 'I feel sorry a bit for her. I feel sorry for myself. I have no home, I have nothing. She was a good girl. But I don't have a home. Hatred.'

'We explained to her that she needed treatment and she said: 'I will do all what you say,' and signed the document, here it is.

'We are monitoring her 24 hours a day, when we fear that she can hurt herself, we use soft ties.

'Bobokulova was placed here after the conclusion made by the doctor psychiatrist who visited her in the regular jail.

'She complained of voices in her head. The doctor diagnosed the serious psychiatric disorder when immediate isolation and therapy is needed.'

Bobokulova, in a cramped cell with scatched walls and no TV or fridge, said: 'They hurt me here, it is painful. The injections are painful.

'I don't want it. I walk badly because of the drugs. I fall down when I go to the toilet. My back hurts, my head hurts. All hurts.

'I hardly hold a spoon in my hands. My hands do not obey me, or my legs. My hair is dirty and clotted and I can't wash it. '

Pointing at her hair, she said: 'Look at this. I look like an old woman. I do not hear any voices now.

'I don't want to be tied. I am not ill. I first heard voices long ago.'

She said she was registered as having mental problems by a hospital in her native Uzbekistan.

'But they were not treating me. It is not dangerous to hear voices from time to time,' she said.

Grief: The little girl's mother mother Ekaterina collapsed in the street upon hearing the horrific news and her father Vladimir Meshcheryakov (left)

Torched: Bobokulova, a Muslim, from Uzbekistan where the majority of the population is Muslim, set fire to the Moscow flat after she decapitated the girl

Discovery: Nastya Meshcheryakova's decapitated body was discovered in the cot by firefighters called in to tackle a fire in the flat

There are two beds, and she shares with another female detainee.

As she spoke, she lay on the bed covering her head with a bleak grey blanket.

She said she now had 'no future' and 'no home'.

Asked if she felt sorry for her children because of her deeds, she said: 'They will make up their minds themselves, get married, have children.

'And I've got nothing. Will I be an old woman? I don't want it.'

In the previous remand jail where she was held, she told warders: 'I don't want to eat, I want to die.'

But in the clinic she is eating well.

A doctor said: 'Nobody will let her go back into the ordinary jail. She is dangerous and it is obvious for us. It is our duty to control her.'

Known as a 'prison fortress' it was said to be impossible to escape from the jail.

In 1908, the legendary Harry Houdini escaped not from the jail but from its most inescapable apparatus, a metal box used to transport convicts to Siberia. It only took him 28 minutes.

Founded in 1771, its most famous inmates included writer Count Leo Tolstoy, the founder of the hated KGB secret police Felix Dzerzhinsky, writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the father of the Russian space industry Sergey Korolyov.

If the nanny is judged fit to stand trial, she could face a sentence of up to 25 years for a crime she has admitted ahead of her trial.

Caged: Bobokulova, 38, is being held at Butyrka high security prison in Moscow, a jail notorious for never having an escapee during the Soviet era

Cell: Being held in cell number 446, with a sign reading 'special control', she laid on the bed covering her head with a bleak grey blanket and said she has 'no future' and 'no home'

Voices: 'Look at this. I look like an old woman. I do not hear any voices now. 'I don't want to be tied. I am not ill. I first heard voices long ago'

If not, she is likely to face a sentence in a specially guarded psychiatric jail.

Lawyer Lyudmila Aivar said: 'If the experts call her insane and declare that she did not control her actions, the court action will still follow.

'If Bobokulova can take part in them, she will. If the doctors see that she reacts inadequately, the trial can go on without her.
An 83-year-old former Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to murdering a South Texas teacher and ex-beauty queen in 1960.

John Feit used a walker and looked frail as he arrived in court on Monday in Hidalgo County, accused of beating and suffocating 25-year-old Irene Garza 55 years ago, when he was 27.

State District Judge Luis Singleterry set bond at $1million and sent Feit back to custody to wait for the trial that could see him spend the rest of his life behind bars.

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John Feit approaches the judge with attorneys O. Rene Flores, (left) and Ricarco Flores during his arraignment at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg, Texas. He pleaded not guilty to murdering Irene Garza, a teacher and ex-beauty queen, when he was a priest in 1960

He had to be helped by a guard as he made his way to his attorneys's table in the court room. He has been in jail since his arrest last month, more than 50 years since Garza's brutal slaying

Feit was just 27 (left) when Irene Graza (right) was killed and dumped in a canal. Her body was found five days after she was last seen at his church to give confession

Feit was returned to Texas last week from Phoenix, where he was jailed since his arrest last month after prosecutors said they had new evidence against him.

The nature of that evidence hasn't been disclosed. He long had been suspected in her death.

Authorities say Feit, then 27, killed Garza after hearing her confession at a Roman Catholic church in McAllen.

Garza, a second grade teacher once crowned Miss South Texas, was last seen alive heading to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen, to see Feit the day before Easter, almost 56 years ago.

Five days later her lifeless body was found wrapped in burlap, face down in a nearby canal. An autopsy later found she had been raped while unconscious and suffocated.

Feit was considered the prime suspect for more than half a century, but was finally arrested last month in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He was extradited to Texas to face the charges last week.

Feit said the murder charge didn't make sense and that he's puzzled because the killing occurred in 1960.

Feit looks towards the judge during his arraignment. Authorities say Feit, then 27, killed Garza after hearing her confession at a Roman Catholic church in McAllen

He looks over his indictment for the murder as it is held by attorney O. Rene Flores for him to read in court

A framed photo of Garza is displayed in the home of her aunt Herlynda De La Vina (picture taken in 2004)

Garza's family said the church and police orchestrated a 'cover-up' as he was a member of the clergy, and had him moved to a monastery just after the slaying.

Since the 1970s he has enjoyed family life. He's married, has children and grandchildren and is a regular volunteer at his church.

But he is now facing spending the rest of his life in jail if he is convicted.

He said the last time he saw Garza was in the church's rectory after he heard her confession, but all the evidence pointed to him.

District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez told The Monitor he had presented his case to a grand jury last Thursday, and they voted to indict him.

'We had kept it quiet as much as we could  we sealed the indictment,' he said.

He would not say what new, if any, new evidence he had.

The trial comes 12 years after the case was reopened, but a grand jury failed to indict in 2004.

Just 24 days before the 1960 slaying, Feit had been arrested for attacking Maria America Guerra at a church in a town about 10 miles from McAllen.

Feit pleaded no contest to misdemeanor aggravated assault. A judge found him guilty and fined him $500 with no prison time.

He was interviewed by police after Garza's disappearance, but told them he didn't do it. However he is believed to have failed a series of lie detector tests.

At the time it was unthinkable for a priest to commit such a horrible act.

Garza's cousin Lynda De La Vina, who was nine years old at the time, told CNN: 'We were accusing a priest that - in those days priests were infallible.'

Noemi Sigler, was only 10, added: 'It was impossible for a priest to do such a deed. I mean, if you thought of it, that would be sacrilegious.'

She also believed that authorities and the church were protecting Feit.

Feit's bond was set at $1million. He was extradited from Arizona last month where he lives with his family

'I don't know whether it was out of respect for the church or anger or fear, I have no idea.

'Shortly after the killing, the church transferred Feit far away to a monastery. He would be moved to other locations over time, and about three years after the killing, the church transferred Feit to Our Lady of Assumption monastery in Ava, Missouri.'

She even recorded a conversation with a former priest at Sacred Heart, Joseph O'Brien, who claimed Feit confessed to him and was sent away from the area because he was 'dangerous'.

Dale Tacheny, a Missouri monk at the monastery Feit attended, also came forward after 40 years because the burden of guilt had become too much, according to CNN.

Garza's cousins supported him as he ran for the DA's office in 2014. They asked him to re-examine the case to see if it could be taken to grand jury.

His bid to look back into the case was said to be one of the primary reasons he beat long-time incumbent Rene Guerra.
Albert Jeffries, who goes by Alj, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy when he was just four months old, and has needed a heart transplant ever since.

After a lifetime in and out of hospital, the 14-year-old North Carolina boy was recently told that a heart had finally been found for him.

The incredible moment that his mom, Tina Turner, told her son through tears that he was to undergo a heart transplant in a matter of hours was captured on camera.

Sitting in a hospital bed, a surprised Alj repeatedly says: 'Do they got my heart? Do they got my heart?'

'They got my heart?': After a lifetime in and out of hospital, 14-year-old North Carolina boy Albert Jeffries was recently told that a heart had finally been found for him, and underwent surgery almost immediately

'You are going to get a new heart': This is the moment Alj's mom, Tuna Turner, emotionally tells her son the incredible news about his transplant

Mrs Turner then says to her son: 'Alj your heart is here. It's a good heart. You are going to get a new heart.'

Alj then tells his mom he is nervous.

However an excited Mrs Turner says through tears: 'Don't be nervous ... Alj, you're going to live, baby. You're going to live!'

Alj underwent the transplant and the surgery was successful.

Afterwards, he suffered some kidney problems, but is otherwise recovering well.

Late last year in an interview with Fox 8, Mrs Turner said the family were just doing what they can waiting for a heart to be donated.

'We've waited 14 years long for this heart,' she said.

Albert Jeffries, who goes by Alj, was born with cardiomyopathy when he was four months old, and has needed a heart transplant ever since

Alj is an honor roll student at Broadview Middle School in Burlington. He has spent his life being careful not to strain his fragile heart

Mrs Turner said that when Alj was born, 'his heart was barely squeezing'.

'That was the beginning of our journey. The doctor said he wasnt going to make it overnight. I was like - I know that theres a God. Hes going to make it,' she told Fox 8.

Dr. Scott Buck, Aljs pediatric cardiologist at North Carolina Children's Hospital, said 75,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant of some sort.

Some 300 children in the U.S. need a heart transplant, however about 50 children die each year waiting.

All good: Alj is now recovering following his heart transplant. Doctors expect him to 'thrive'

Mrs Turner said actually receiving a donated organ is bittersweet.

Someones death is going to bring someones life. I really hate that, I hate that part of it,' she told the network.

'We all do. But if its going to make Alj be with me and they can give that gift to me? Id be so happy.'

Doctors expect Alj to 'thrive' once he has recovered from the transplant.
One of Silicon Valley's top venture capitalists has been accused of violently raping, emotionally tormenting, and drugging a 'human trafficking victim' who he kept as a sex slave for more than 13 years.

Michael Goguen, a 20-year partner at Sequoia Capital, parted ways with the company which backed Apple, Google, Youtube, PayPal, and DropBox after his alleged victim filed a lawsuit in California last Tuesday.

Amber Baptiste claims she met Goguen in a strip club in Texas after she was trafficked to America from Canada at the age of 15 in 2001.

According to legal papers, Goguen - who was married with two children - offered to save her from her traffickers if she agreed to have sex with him.

But over 13 years, she claims, he habitually raped her, forced her to call him 'king' or 'emperor', and infected her with HPV, and sodomized her for six hours at a time.

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Michael Goguen (left), a 20-year partner at Sequoia Capital, parted ways with the company last week after his alleged victim filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday. He is pictured with Donald Trump's ex Marla Maples (center right) and musician Won-G (right)

In a bid to dispel Baptiste's victim image, Goguen has filed a counter-claim that includes four risque photographs of Baptiste in lingerie that she allegedly sent to him in 2013 (pictured, above)

In 2012, she was forced to have emergency surgery after Goguen sodomized her so violently that he ripped through her anal canal, causing a seven-inch tear, then 'left her bleeding and alone on the floor of a hotel room in a foreign country... nearly hemorrhaging to death', the lawsuit claims.

The detail is one of many lurid allegations of torment, violence and degradation in the 26-page lawsuit filed to California's San Mateo County Superior Court.

According to legal papers, Goguen (pictured)- who was married with two children - offered to save his alleged victim from her traffickers if she agreed to have sex with him

According to Baptiste, Goguen signed a contract to give her $40 million in exchange for her silence about the 2012 incident - but he allegedly only paid $10 million and refused to pay the rest.

Now, she is suing Goguen for breach of contract - and laying bare all her allegations against him.

Goguen, a Stanford and Cornell graduate, has denied the claims. He has counter-sued, citing claims of extortion and invasion of privacy, insisting the pair enjoyed a loving relationship.

Sequoia - an early investor in Apple, Google, YouTube, PayPal and Dropbox - has acknowledged the existence of the lawsuit, saying: 'We understand that these allegations of serious improprieties are unproven and unrelated to Sequoia. We decided that Mikes departure was the appropriate course of action.'

Goguen's work, including sitting on the board of more than a dozen companies, has been transferred to another partner at Sequoia.

According to the lawsuit, Goguen repeatedly asked Baptiste out for dinner when he met her in 2001, pleading to let him help her escape her traffickers.

After months of persistent requests, Baptiste allegedly agreed.

That night, she claims, he 'lured [her] to his hotel room under the pretenses that he needed to finish a few calls before dinner. Ms Baptiste arrived at his room to find Mr Goguen nude and touching himself.

'He immediately cornered her and insisted that she have sex with him.

'Ms Baptiste told him she was a virgin and would not have sex with him.

Goguen was previously married to model and Naked Princess boutique owner Jordana Woodland. She is pictured in May, 2015

'I KNOW IT FEELS REALLY GOOD WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER': THE MESSAGES BAPTISTE SENT TO GOUGEN THAT HIS LAWYERS SAY PROVE SHE WASN'T A VICTIM OF ABUSE Goguen's lawsuit contain's a number of messages Baptiste allegedly sent while she says he was being abusive. His legal team believe the correspondences show she was far from being a victim of abuse and was actually involved in a mutual relationship. They include: 'The love that I hold in my heart for you was instant. It is a perfect love. And to me it is the perfect way to love someone. It is forever and unconditional;' 'I love our visits. I feel so blessed to have met you and have been able to maintain a special relationship with you. I can only hope that it continues;' 'I know it feels really good when we are together and to me it feels so perfect and I never want to let go of you;' 'I feel like it is the most perfect beautiful interactions two people could ever experience;'and 'I could never even make love to you enough times to show you how special you are to me.' The document also contains what his lawyers described as 'erotic emails', some of which allegedly included 'provocative photos': 'I want you to feel comfortably [sic]sharing with me every fantasy you have ever had. When we come together I want it to be completley [sic] comfortable and relaxed and for exploration of all fantasy reality and erotica to take placewherever we decide that may be;' 'Can'twait for night 3 of our ardent liaison amoureuse:);' 'I would like to move this sexual energy more often. And sexual energy equals creativity so the more amazing sex we have themore creative we will become;' 'You can ask me to do anything with you I want you to experience anything that you have ever wanted to experience with me. I don't want you to be shy;' 'I don't really require variety in hotels. I come there with one thought in mind which is making love to you;'and 'I miss you so Much. My Body Misses you so Much. I love you so Much.' They also included a list of 'affectionate monikers' they say she used. Such as: 'Prince Charming;' 'My Sweet Sweet Sunshine; 'My Beautiful Love;' '[A]n Angel to my life' '[T]he most wonderful man in my whole world.' His attorneys also added a number of alleged messages she sent Goguen when she was away from him. The suit reads: 'Far from being a sexual slave, Ms.Baptiste toldMr. Goguen how much she missed him when they were apart and desired to see him again, with endearing phrases.' They included: '1 Million Kisses and Hugs Forever;' 'You have got to be the sweetest man in the world. I can't wait to see you.' 'Miss you Bunches;' 'I miss you and I hope you are well;' and 'Can't wait to kiss you.' Advertisement

'He continued pressuring her, moving her hand to touch his penis and grinding against her leg.

'Mr Goguen finally let her leave after she broke down in tears.'

Goguen divorced his wife, the mother of his two children, in 2001 then remarried a few months later - while allegedly pursuing Baptiste. Later that year she agreed to his 'offer', her lawyers claim.

He divorced his second wife in 2006 and promised to devote himself to Baptiste, the suit claims.

No matter how many times she cried or begged him to stop, he would demean or verbally abuse her until he was finished Amber Baptiste's lawsuit claims

However, he remarried just months later and had another three children - but allegedly kept them a secret from Baptiste. He later divorced his third wife.

One of the women he married was model and owner of the Naked Princess boutique, Jordana Woodland.

Baptiste claims Goguen said she was his only sexual partner. However, when she discovered she had contracted HPV, she claims, she confronted him and he admitted he had lied.

Meanwhile, she claims, the abuses persisted.

'Mr Goguen continued to dangle the prospect of helping Ms Baptiste out of the grip of the human traffickers in exchange for increasingly debasing acts,' the suit claims.

These 'acts' included grovelling for Goguen to masturbate on her and ejaculate in her mouth 'causing her to choke or vomit', according to Baptiste's legal documents.

Almost every time, the suit claims, he would sodomize her for hours on end, feeding her alcohol and drugs to endure it.

'No matter how many times she cried or begged him to stop, he would demean or verbally abuse her until he was finished, only to seek forgiveness week later and repeat the cycle,' the papers allege.

Goguen has since filed a counter-suit, claiming he has 'an enormous amount of evidence, including messages that span years and show that she pursued me romantically and professed her love, respect and appreciation for my kind and compassionate treatment of her.'

Sequoia - an early investor in Apple, Google, YouTube, PayPal and Dropbox - has acknowledged the existence of the lawsuit

'The reality is that Ms Baptiste was an exotic dancer, first looking for a payday, and later revenge,' Goguen's suit claims.

'Mr Goguen was generous with Ms Baptiste and wanted to help her to have a better life. Over the years, he provided her with hundreds of thousands of dollars. This enabled her to quit her job as a "dancer" and pursue her interests without needing to worry about finances, or even having to work.'

He describes Baptiste as a Canada native who entered into a sham marriage in 2002 to get US citizenship and now lives in Los Angeles.

And in a bid to dispel her victim image, Goguen includes four risque photographs of Baptiste in lingerie that she allegedly sent to him in 2013.

'In addition to her written seductions, Ms. Baptiste repeatedly sent Mr.Goguen sexually provocative and pornographic photographs of herself, unclothed or scantily clothed, in furtherance of her efforts to convince him to see her more often,' the suit claims.

Above the pictures, Goguen's lawyers describe them as 'a few of the milder photographs', explaining they were sent 'after she claims to have been raped, abandoned and hemorrhaging foreign country following hours of forced sodomy, and intentionally infected with a STD.'

Below, the lawyers write: 'It defies logic and common sense that an alleged victim of rape, abuse, and sexual slavery, would send such provocative photos to the alleged perpetrator.'

Addressing Baptiste's claim that he left her to die after sodomizing her in a hotel in 2012, he claims they enjoyed a night of consensual sex, and her injury was minor.

'Far from being "forcibly sodomized" and "left bleeding alone on the floor of a hotel room... nearly hemorrhaging to death," the supposed [injury] was so minor that Mr. Goguen was unaware of it until Ms. Baptiste emailed him after the fact gushing about how wonderful the night was and noting that she was scheduled to have a "small surgery" that was "not a big deal",' he claims.

He said she emailed him the next day saying: 'I would never erase that night for anything. It was beautiful each and every moment.

'The last night together was really incredible for me. I could feel so many things moving between us that I have not felt before. Hopefully I will feel you again soon.'

Hitting back at her claim that he infected her with HPV, Goguen claims 'it is virtually impossible to determine the source of the virus.'

His attorney Diane Doolittle said in a statement to Daily Mail Online on Wednesday: 'This lawsuit is a vile collection of lies and a transparent attempt to destroy the reputation and good name of Mr. Goguen.

'The overwhelming evidence  as cited in our Cross Complaint for extortion  shows that she is a disgruntled former lover who had a consensual relationship with him starting in her 20s.
Hillary Clinton met with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and mothers who lost children to gun violence at the Kids Off The Block Memorial as she did a mad dash through Chicago on the eve of the state's Illinois primary.

'Let me pay tribute and express gratitude to all the families who created this memorial so that people don't forget. I agree with you, it should not be here,' Clinton said, giving brief remarks.

The candidate briefly got emotional, as she stood alongside the mothers, including that of Sandra Bland, Geneva Reed-Veal.

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Hillary Clinton arrives this afternoon at the Kids Off The Block Memorial in Chicago, a homemade display that visually depicts the city's youngest victims of gun violence

Hillary Clinton was greeted at the memorial by the Rev. Jesse Jackson who also lead the former secretary of state and mothers who have lost kids to gun violence in prayer

Several mothers who have lost children to guns in Chicago stood waiting for the former secretary of state who made a mad dash through her hometown today on the eve of the state's primary

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embraced each of the mothers as she walked down the line as they held photographs of their murdered loved ones

The outdoor monument, which is covered and resembles a manger, includes stones to represent more than 500 local children who died at the hands of a gun, with one even representing a one-year old baby.

Clinton spent a moment with each mother, which also included Pamela Greek, Diane Decolbe, Becky Dekyne, Annette Holt and Pamela Bosley, before praying with the group  led by Rev. Jackson  and moving on to the next campaign stop.

The former secretary of state had a whirlwind making three stops and holding a campaign rally before flying off to the state capital of Springfield to tape tonight's MSNBC town hall for the Democrats, among other things.

Clinton's first stop was to an immigration workshop at the Casa at the Resurrection Project in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood - part of Illinois' fourth congressional district with a heavy Mexican-American constituency.

Each stone marker at the makeshift site stands for one child killed by gun violence in Chicago. There were more than 500 blocks

Hillary Clinton spoke briefly saying that she agreed that the monument shouldn't be there and vowed to do more as president to combat the nation's gun violence problem

When the Democratic frontrunner arrived Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-I'll., was firing up the predominantly Latina crowd, flipping between English and Spanish, jabbing at Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and thanking those for organizing Friday's Trump rally protests in Chicago.

When it was Clinton's turn, she mostly played it safe, except for a play on words she said at the end of her remarks, which she delivered very slowly and had a translator repeat in Spanish.

'I know you have work to do, I don't want to interrupt the work, but please tell everyone to come out and vote tomorrow, we have to have a big vote tomorrow that can send a strong message that love trumps hate,' Clinton said, using the verb form of the Republican frontrunner's name.

Moving on from that stop, she held a rally at the Chicago Journeyman's Plumbers Hall and played up the need for infrastructure funding, in light of the ongoing Flint, Michigan water crisis, and because she was speaking to a group of plumbers.

'I don't understand why the Republicans won't invest in infrastructure,' Clinton grumbled.

She also hit Trump briefly calling him 'dangerous' and calling out his 'wrong-headed' statements, saying the election of the billionaire would do great damage to America's standing in the world.

'I was secretary of state,' Clinton said. 'I know what's at stake for American leadership.'

While rival Bernie Sanders' poll numbers in Illinois  the state where Clinton was born  are teetering very close to the frontrunner's, Clinton didn't take him head on during today's trip.

Instead she campaigned on issues where she's shown a difference in record between herself and the democratic socialist.

She talked guns, by stopping at the gun violence memorial.

She touted her immigration record at her first stop today, just days after attacking the senator for not voting for the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform package.

And she complimented President Obama's record as well, telling supporters in her hometown and his adopted hometown that he hasn't gotten enough credit for the economic recovery.

She's criticized Sanders in the past for not being more supportive of the Democratic president.

On her last stop of the day, she also grabbed up a bit of Sanders' economic-heavy message, meeting with union workers who work at a nearby Nabisco factory, which is one week away from shedding 277 jobs.

Clinton pointed out that that particular factory had received tax benefits from the taxpayers of Chicago.
Police in Texas have issued an amber alert for a missing 13-year-old after her father was found dead on Monday morning.

Adriana Coronado has been missing since around 1am on Saturday when she was last seen in Katy, but police stepped up rescue efforts after the body of father Caesar Vladimir Coronado was discovered.

Coronado's remains were found on a rural property in eastern Texas near the town of Huntsville at around 1.30am on Monday in an apparent homicide.

Investigators believe that Adriana may have been with her father when he was killed and say she is likely in 'grave danger'.

Texas police have issued an amber alert for Adriana Coronado, 13 (pictured), after her father (right) was found dead today in a suspected homicide

Coronado was last seen with Adriana in Katy, just west of Houston, before his vehicle was discovered abandoned in Conroe, a city around 60 miles north.

Coronado's body was then discovered on the grounds of a rural property along a secluded road around 50 miles north of where his car was located.

Police have not released any more details about how they found the body, why they believe Coronado's death to be a homicide, or where they think Adriana is now.

The girl is described as being Hispanic, around five feet tall, weighing around 105lbs, has black hair and usually wears black-framed glasses.

Adriana's mother, who is currently having surgery in Mexico, spoke anonymously to Click 2 Houston and said she had last spoken with her daughter on Friday.

The mother said she had called Adriana that evening and said she was with her father at the time and seemed happy.

The woman added that nothing had seemed wrong during the call, and that Adriana had planned to have friends over to the house on Saturday.

However, when those friends arrived they found that Adriana was not at home, it was reported.

Anyone with information is urged to call 911 immediately, or call the Walker County Sheriff's Office at 936-435-2400

Officers believe that Coronado (left and right) may have been with her father when he died and is currently in 'grave danger', but would not give further details
Crooked accounts manager Riccardo Sorice

A crooked accounts manager who stole over 650k from his employer told his bosses he was visiting his dying father in Italy when he was actually in jail for an earlier fraud.

Riccardo Sorice, 59, got a job with an audio systems shop while he was awaiting sentence for a previous offence.

But after receiving a 12-month sentence, of which he served three months, Sorice covered up his jail term by claiming he was visiting his homeland to see his sick dad.

A court heard that to maintain his elaborate lie, Sorice even arranged for a letter, purporting to be from Italy, to be sent to his unsuspecting employers, Pro Audio Systems Ltd, Bradford, West Yorks., updating them about the situation.

After his release Sorice then went back to work for the company and began his systematic theft of over 650,00 during the next six years.

Bradford Crown Court heard during the 'sophisticated and long-running fraud' he stole an average of 100,000 a year.

Sorice, who has convictions for offences against previous employers in 1999 and 2003, suffered from a 'compulsive disorder' and approximately 60,000 of the stolen money had been spent on CDs.

The defendant started working for Pro Audio Systems in February 2008 and was treated as 'one of the family'.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye told the court Sorice's salary rose to 35,000 while he worked for the firm.

Sorice pleaded guilty to defrauding the company last December but his defence lawyer, Graham Arnold, said the case did not involve a lavish lifestyle.

Sorice started working for Pro Audio Systems in February 2008 and was treated as 'one of the family'

Mr Arnold said Sorice's family had lived in a modest property for 16 years and where the money had gone was a 'mystery' and described his client as being almost 'like a child'.
His body was found by housekeepers in his hotel room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida over the weekend

It is believed that Durham, who was openly gay, died as a result of diabetic shock

Durham weighed 450 lbs when he began competing on the show, losing the weight through a year of diet and exercise

The high school English teacher lost 180 lbs in 2014 while a contestant on the popular reality show Extreme Weight Loss

, Florida passed away over the weekend at the age of 52

A much beloved contestant on the popular reality show Extreme Weight Loss died at the weekend.

Rod Durham, 52, was found by housekeepers at his hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where the high school English teacher had been spending his spring break.

Durham's cause of death is believed to be diabetic shock.

He became an inspiration for millions back in 2014 when he lost an impressive 180 pounds thanks to diet and exercise while competing on the Extreme Weight Loss show.

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Gone too soon: Rod Durham (above) of Tallahassee , Florida passed away over the weekend at the age of 52

Transformation: The high school English teacher lost 180 lbs. in 2014 while a contestant on the popular reality show Extreme Weight Loss (above with hoists Chris and Heidi Powell after his weight loss)

'He was the perfect example of a teacher where you cant describe their impact on students by test scores,' said Leon High School principal Billy Epting in an interview with the school newspaper, The Leon High Life.

'He had a personality and a character that was more than teaching drama or English in the classroom. Students could have a personal and professional relationship with him about life and being a good person.'

Teacher and close friend Rocky Hanna added: 'There are a lot of broken hearts in our community today. People like Rod Durham come around once in a lifetime.

'His smile, his heart, his demeanor Even if you were having a bad day, being around [Durham] would make it better. His laugh was infectious. He was literally larger than life.'

Durham's reality-television family also paid tribute to him on Monday, with Extreme Weight Loss trainer Heidi Powell posting a photo on Instagram of him after he lost 180 lbs, writing: 'Heaven just got a lot brighter today when Rod entered the pearly gates.

'While I am selfishly so sad and completely devastated that I won't get to see him on Earth anymore, I am rejoicing for the spirit he is carrying with him and spreading to everyone up there...including my dad.

'Rod, you will be missed terribly. Everything from your kindness, to your warm smile and bear hugs, to your friendship, to you extraordinary ability to make ANYONE (including me) feel special.

'YOU are special. And will never be forgotten.'

Her husband and fellow trainer Chris Powell also posted a photo of Durham on Instagram and wrote: 'Your positive energy and contagious laugh brightened this world and everyone lucky enough to meet you.

'You had an ability to make everyone feel special and loved. You changed your own life and in the process, you motivated and inspired millions of others.

'You have forever made a positive difference in this world. We love you and miss you Rod.'

Durham had previously called the Powell 'lifesavers' and said the being on Extreme Weight Loss was the greatest experience of his life.

Hard work: Durham weighed 450 lbs when he began competing on the show, losing the weight through a year of diet and exercise (above)

Cause: It is believed that Durham , who was openly gay, died as a result of diabetic shock

The openly-gay teacher weighed roughly 450 lbs when he started on the reality show, and lost almost half of his weight over the course of a year while also finding the strength to come out to his father.

'Coming out to my father at 49 was huge. My father was a military man, and I thought it would cause him pain and disappointment but it really was just me, afraid of rejection,' Durhgam told Tallahassee Magazine.

'He said, "Son, thats another piece of information I know about you." I realized that your parents are your parents, and they love you unconditionally.'

He then said of his time on the show: 'That whole experience with Extreme Weight Loss gave me back my life.
A man charged with killing six people in a series of shootings in southwestern Michigan told investigators he was being controlled by an Uber app through his cellphone, police said on Monday.

Authorities have said he carried out the shootings in between driving for Uber.

Jason Dalton told authorities, 'it feels like it is coming from the phone itself and he didn't know how to describe that', according to the report released Monday.

Dalton is charged with murder and attempted murder in the Kalamazoo-area shootings that took place on February 20 outside an apartment complex, a restaurant and at a car lot. Two people survived.

Suspected gunman Jason Dalton told authorities he was being controlled by an Uber app through his cellphone as he allegedly killed six people in a series of shootings in southwestern Michigan on February 20.

Several officers approached Dalton during his arrest on February 20, dashcam footage has revealed

Dalton is charged with murder and attempted murder in the Kalamazoo-area shootings that took place on February 20 outside an apartment complex, a restaurant and at a car lot. Two people survived.

Police said in the report Dalton said 'he is not a killer and he knows that he has killed'.

Dalton, who was a relatively new driver with Uber when the incident occurred, said the app controlled him like an artificial presence, which would switch from black to red.

When it switched back to black, 'Dalton got his presence back', police reports said, according to WZZM.

He told police that when he pressed a button on the app's screen a devil head and the Eastern Star symbol - a colored, five-point star - would pop up, WOOD reported.

The figure looked like a horned cow head and would provide an assignment that would 'literally take over' his body, Dalton told police.

'When I logged onto site (the Uber app), it started making me feel like a puppet,' he said during a police interview.

Reports also said Dalton warned his wife, Carole, that she wouldn't be able to return to work and their children couldn't go back to school - and she'd understand everything by watching TV news.

Carole Dalton told investigators that she was stumped by what her husband told her the night of the shootings. At that time, the first shooting had already occurred.

Jason Dalton was talking with his wife at his parents' house, according to reports.

The car he intended to take wouldn't start so he planned to take another that would leave her without transportation to go home and get clothing for her and their children.

Dalton was taken into custody and escorted to a police vehicle while at least two other officers searched his car

Dalton told his wife that he would try to grab some things for them while he was out, but they 'couldn't go back to work anymore and the kids could not go back to school'.

When she asked him what he was talking about, Dalton replied 'she would see what he was talking about on the news and that it probably wouldn't say his name, but as soon as she saw it on the news she would know it was him', the report said.

The details are in documents released by the Kalamazoo County sheriff's office, responding to a public records request made by several media companies.

A judge earlier this month ordered Jason Dalton to undergo a mental competency exam, though he has no history of mental illness.

He's accused of the shootings outside a restaurant, apartment complex and car dealership.

Six people died  four at the restaurant and two at a car dealership.

Mary Lou Nye, 63, Mary Jo Nye, 60, Dorothy Brown, 74, and Barbara Hawthorne, 68, were killed at the restaurant, where Abigail Kopf was also shot but survived.

High school senior Tyler Smith and his father Rich were then gunned down at a car dealership.

Tiana Carruthers, 25, who was shot outside of her apartment complex by the same driver just hours earlier, is also improving in hospital.

Investigators say Dalton didn't know the victims. They still are trying to determine a motive.
Charged: Heather Renee Keylon was charged by Knoxville Police with first-degree murder after her three-month-old daughter died of a drug overdose last year. Keylon said she'd died in her sleep

Heather Renee Keylon, 31, of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been charged with first-degree murder by Knoxville Police after her three-month-old daughter was found dead of a drug overdose in April of last year.

Keylon called emergency services to her apartment last year, saying that her daughter, Skylar Brewer, had simply stopped breathing after falling asleep on the sofa, The Tennessean reported.

However, a toxicology test during the infant's autopsy revealed that she had overdosed. The type of drug involved was not released.

Skylar was declared dead at East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

Keylon faces six counts in total in the case, including aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.

She was booked into Knox County Jail on a $1million bond on Saturday.

Keylon's criminal record stretches back to when she was 18, The Tennessean reported.

It includes a 2005 robbery conviction that saw her doing three years of jail time, and a 2008 conviction for prostitution, driving on a suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia.

She was also convicted of reckless driving and resisting arrest in 2012.
Some pet owners across the US can now take time off work to grieve properly after losing their beloved companions.

At least three national companies have now chosen to offer pet bereavement days to their employees, CBS reported.

Trupanion, a pet insurance firm, offers its staff one paid day of pet bereavement. Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, the largest chain of boutique hotels in the US, grants them up to three days away from the office.

And Maxwell Health, a software company that sells HR management products, encourages employees to take time off whenever they need it - including to mourn the loss of a recently departed pet.

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Erica Lee (left), who works at pet insurance company Trupanion, took one day off after losing her American Staffordshire Terrier, Chief (right). She spent the day at home with her son and said it was invaluable to grieve Chief with him. Trupanion is one of at least three companies to offer pet bereavement leave

'We allow people to actually do that grieving process and just be able to heal. I think you need closure when you lose a pet, and it's important to have the time to do that,' Dani Kahn, a pet coordinator at Trupanion, said on CBS.

Taking time off work might be necessary so that employees can regain a sense of normality and be able to function again, pet loss counselor Janet Zimmerman told the channel.

'I've seen people who can't get out of bed at all. They can't eat, they don't accept phone calls, they are so lost,' Zimmerman added.

Pet loss counselor Janet Zimmerman says some people can't get out of bed or function after losing their cherished companion

Erica Lee, a sales team lead at Trupanion, took a day off and stayed with her son after losing her cherished American Staffordshire Terrier, Chief.

'Being able to stay home with him and grieve with him was invaluable. It was so, so important to me,' she told CBS.

Pet bereavement leave is not required by law and can be allocated at the employers' discretion.

'This should absolutely be the norm for many businesses if not all,' Lee added.

A third of pet owners might need to mourn for six months or longer, a 2009 study suggested.

A team of researchers at the University of Hawaii asked 106 of them to describe how they felt after the death of their pet.

About 30 per cent of them said they had experienced feelings of sadness and grief for at least six months.
The U.S. Marine Corps is making it easier for women to cover up tattoos by allowing them to wear crew-neck undershirts beneath their uniforms.

The Marines made the change Thursday after U.S. representative Chellie Pingree complained that its dress policy unintentionally discriminated against female recruits.

Men are allowed to wear crew neck T-shirts, but up until Thursday women were not.

Kate Pimental, 20, tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps but was rejected because of a visible chest tattoo

Inked: Her chest piece reads, 'Let your smile change the world but never let the world change you'

Last month, the Democrat from Maine urged the Marine Corps to amend its rules and accept 20-year-old Kennebunk resident Kate Pimental as a recruit.

She has a tattoo just below her collarbone that says, 'Let your smile change the world but never let the world change you'.

'This was a common-sense change and will allow bright, dedicated young women like Kate to serve their country proudly as a Marine,' Pingree told the Bangor Daily News.

'I don't believe the old policy was intentionally discriminatory, but in the end it prevented women with some tattoos from enlisting when their male counterparts with the same tattoos were allowed to sign up.'

The previous U.S. Marines uniform for women (pictured) used to reveal parts of their chest that were not shown when a man wore his uniform

The tattoo is in a semi-circle near her collarbone and would be covered by a white crew neck T-shirt under the standard Marine Corps uniform for men.

The Marines will not accept recruits with visible tattoos.

Pimental says the altered dress code means she can now cover her tattoo and join the Marines.

Late last year the Marines updated their uniforms to allow female members to wear locks and twists in their hair, according to Stars and Stripes.
Man's voice could be heard uttering racial slurs over the public frequency

A number of officers were joking over the police dispatch in Chicago hours after protesters clashed with Trump supporters this weekend

A man was heard saying: 'Typical f***ing n*****s' and 'Black lives matter, my a**. F***ing n*****s' over a Chicago police radio dispatch just 12 hours after protests in the city cancelled a Trump rally on Friday.

The incident occurred at 8.30am on Saturday over a police radio frequency that covers Morgan Park and and other Far South Side neighborhoods, according to DNAinfo.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said an internal investigation has been ordered while activists call for the officer to be identified and fired.

A man was heard saying: 'Typical f***ing n*****s' and 'Black lives matter, my a**. F***ing n*****s' over a Chicago police radio dispatch just 12 hours after protests in the city cancelled a Trump rally on Friday

This weekend, thousands of protesters clashed with Donald Trump supporters, causing the presidential candidate to cancel his rally. At least six people were arrested and two officers were injured

Chicago has been rife with protests after Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old black man, was killed by police in 2014. Pictured, protesters at the Trump rally on Friday

The exchange involving several officers started off in a friendly manner.

One woman can be heard saying, 'It's too early to be bothering you, good morning' before another cop asked, 'How many boyfriends do you have?'

She jokingly shot back: 'Why you all up in my Kool-Aid? Why you over here?'

Other muffled voices can be heard chiming in, saying, 'You can answer that again,' and 'You got busted over the air again.'

Then another voice jumps in and says: 'Typical f***ing n*****s.'

When an officer tells her to track down which radio the racial slur came from, the female officer said: 'You know, we dont give radio numbers but Im already hollering for my supervisor.'

A man's voice could then be heard at the end of the one-minute clip saying: 'Black lives matter, my a**. F***ing n*****s.'

It is unclear who made the comments and whether he is a police officer.

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi acknowledged the 'inappropriate transmission' and said: 'The statements made are absolutely unacceptable and Superintendent [John] Escalante has ordered an immediate internal affairs investigation into this incident.

'Should the investigation reveal that a member of the police department made the statements, he will be immediately suspended and disciplinary proceedings will be launched.'

Superintendent John Escalante (pictured) has launched an internal affairs investigation to find out whether the person who made the comments is a police officer

Will Calloway, an activist who filed a Freedom of Information request with journalist Brandon Smith to release the dash cam video of 17-year-old black man Laquan McDonald's death, called for the officer to be identified.

He told the Daily Beast: 'We want to know their districts, and we are demanding that the mayor immediately fire the officers who made the comments.

'Not launch an investigation, not put them on desk duty with pay We want these officers off the streets immediately.'

This weekend, thousands of protesters clashed with Donald Trump supporters, causing the presidential candidate to cancel his rally.

Will Calloway, an activist who requested the release of the dashcam footage showing police officers shooting Laquan McDonald (pictured) called for the immediate identification of the police officer in Sunday's dispatch reocrding

At least six people were arrested and two officers were injured.

The incident sparked a debate among politicians, who claimed Trump made statements that incited violence.

But the Republican candidate claimed his supporters were 'nice' and tweeted: 'The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!'

Chicago has witnessed a number of with protests after dashcam footage showed a white police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times on October 20, 2014.

The nearly seven-minute video shows McDonald, who was armed with a small knife, walking towards police cars stopped on a four-lane road.

With his hand near his left pocket, the teenager walks away from two officers who have their guns drawn.

He was reportedly told to drop the knife, but there is no sound on the video to verify the claim.

McDonald is seen spinning around and falling to the ground as Van Dyke opens fire at point-blank range.

The police officer, who initially claimed he had felt threatened, could be seen firing at point-blank range for 13 seconds as the young man lies motionless on the ground.

Van Dyke, 37, who was charged with six counts of first-degree murder more than a year after the killing, pleaded not guilty.
Shocking footage has emerged of a group of passers-by bashing one of the two thieves who allegedly stole a tourist's handbag in Bali, Indonesia.

The incident, which appears to be a Bali-style punishment occurred on Monday in beachside town Padang Padang, Uluwatu on the south-western tip of Bali.

Balinese local Luigi Balifu, who captured the footage, said he saw a French girl crying in the middle of the street who said she just had her handbag snatched by two young boys with their scooter.

Local Balinese passers-by are pictured brutally beating one of two suspected thieves in Padang Padang

'After 30 seconds the two thieves were passing in the same road. I put myself in the middle of the street and they pointed at me and they started to accelerate more,' he wrote on Facebook.

'Luckily they didn't hit me. I punched one of them trying to make them fall but they were able to run away.'

In the footage, Balinese locals can be heard shouting 'Maling', which translates to 'thieves', before one local man starting following them.

After about three minutes, the man was able to catch the thieves who were returned to the location where the thieves robbed the French girl.

More passers-by take their turns to bash the thief who is pictured curled up in a ball trying to protect his head

Passers-by can be seen brutally beating one of the two thieves who was curled up into a fetal position trying to protect his head.

After a few minutes, Balinese police arrive and picks up the thief before escorting him away.

'The video shows what happen if you steal in Bali,' Mr Balifu wrote.

'If you want you can share the video so people will think twice before stealing. And women please be careful if you are alone and bringing handbag.'

A few moments later local Balinese police arrive, pick him up and drag him away

Social media commentators praised Mr Balifu and the passers-by for their actions.

'I think this is should be done so their Friends will think more if they want to do it again [sic]. If you guys looked up for Brazil now, it's way a lot horrible in there [sic]. In jakarta I'm sure people already bash him till dead... So this bastard is lucky..[sic],' Bonny Andretti Mambo wrote.

But one user criticised the way in which the locals handled the situation.

'Im sorry but i dont agree with this barbaric punishment nor see what its done to help reduce crime in Bali..Ive witnessed a few beatings in my time living in Bali but guess what [sic]? The thieves are still thieving!' Sarah le Kali commented.

Mr Balifu uploaded the footage to Facebook which has since been viewed over 92,000 times and shared over 3,460 times.

They pick up one of the thieves, a teenage boy, who robbed a French girl believed to be a tourist
Ted Cruz spoke at a Christian conference in November where a pastor advocated forcefully for the executive of gays and lesbians  and then cheerfully introduced the Texas senator.

The National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa is the brainchild of Kevin Swanson, a Colorado pastor and radio host.

'Yes, Leviticus 20:13 calls for the death penalty for homosexuals,' Swanson boomed onstage at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.

'Yes, Romans chapter 1, verse 32  the Apostle Paul does say that homosexuals are worthy of death. His words not mine!'

'And I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!' Swanson continued, more and more feverish. 'And I am not ashamed of the truth of the word of God. And I am willing to go to jail!'

HE LOVES HIM SOME JESUS: Ted Cruz spoke at a November conference in Iowa whose organizer told 1,700 attendees that gays should be put to death

KILL THE GAYS: Pastor Kevin Swanson said in November that the Bible justifies executing homosexuals  and later introduced an enthusiastic Ted Cruz to the stage

EAGER BEAVER: Cruz, a right-wing Texas senator, spoke at the conference despite the incendiary rhetoric from its organizer

Swanson allowed that the time for mass-slayings of gay men and women had 'not yet' arrived, but his meaning was grasped by a cheering throng.

Video footage shows him at the same conference as Cruz's set-up man when the senator took the stage.

'Now, my friends, let me introduce to you the next candidate for the office of President of the United States,' he said. 'Folks, please make welcome Senator Ted Cruz.'

Cruz, then in the middle of a fierce battle to lock down support for the Iowa caucuses, was courting every religious broadcaster and megachurch preacher he could find.

'Any president that doesn't start the day on his knees isn't fit to be commander in chief,' he told a crowd estimated at 1,700 people.

Former Arkansas gov. Mike Huckabee and sitting Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also spoke to the conference. They were still presidential candidates at the time.

Huckabee insisted that same-sex marriage 'is not law' in the United States, despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling that came just months earlier.

Hearly 60 per cent of Republicans in the Hawkeye State identify themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians.

Cruz went on to win the caucuses narrowly over Donald Trump.

His father Rafael, a quasi-pastor himself, also addressed the religious liberties conference.
A man charged with beating a transgender teen to death with a hammer last summer has admitted to the crime, according to investigators - but still pleads not guilty.

Joshua 'Josh' Vallum - who is a member of the Latin Kings street gang - has been in custody since June 2 2015, a day after he told his father he'd killed someone and buried them in a field in George County, reports the Sun Herald.

The body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson was found partially decomposed and buried in a makeshift grave on Vallum's father's property a day after the alleged confession. Vallum has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set for July 18.

Hate crime? Joshua Vallum, 28 (left), has been in custody since June 2, 2015 after being charged with the murder of 17-year-old transgender teen Mercedes Williamson (right)

It has since been revealed by Williamson's friend Jeanie Miller that Vallum knew that Williamson (pictured) was transgender

But in police reports obtained by the paper, investigators said Vallum confessed to the crime.

Deputy Jason Pharez also said Vallum 'admitted to killing a person known as Mercedes' in an affidavit filed to obtain a DNA sample.

The murder case in a rural Mississippi town made national headlines last year when Caitlyn Jenner remembered Williamson during an acceptance speech for the 2015 Arthur Ashe Award at the ESPY Awards.

While the motive behind the brutal attack is still unclear, new details about the pair's relationship have since emerged.

The transgender teen, who once considered Vallum a boyfriend, was 'very fond' of him, friend Jeanie Miller told the Sun Herald.

And Vallum, Miller says, knew that Williamson was transgender.

The George County Sheriff's Department are said to be investigating whether the crime was gang-related, drug-related or a hate crime.

A hate crime is defined as a crime committed against someone or someone's property because of bias against 'race, religion, disability, ethnic orientation or sexual orientation'.

And now, Vallum has written a letter to the presiding judge asking for a reduction in his $1million bond to a 'reasonable amount'.

Vallum (left) has now written a letter to the presiding judge asking for a reduction in his $1million bond to a 'reasonable amount'. Williamson, right, was estranged from her family at the time of her death and was living in a friend's trailer

In a letter written on Valentine's Day, the 28-year-old asked for the bond to be reduced so that he would be allowed to 'better prepare himself for trial' and to take on a job that is waiting for him.

Advocate: Williamson's murder gained national attention when Caitlyn Jenner, above, mentioned the crime in her ESPY speech in 2015

He also said that he had child support he needed to catch up and would like to be able to spend time with his family before he is sentenced.

Vallum was held on a probation violation related to a conviction for false reporting of a crime and finished serving the remainder of that sentence January 16, but remains jailed.

Since his arrest, Vallum has been ordered to undergo a mental-health evaluation as part of his defense, according to the Herald,

At the time of her death, Williamson had apparently become estranged from her family and had moved to nearby Theodore, Alabama, where she was sleeping on the couch of 41-year-old friend Jeanie Miller's trailer since September.

Miller says the last time she saw Williamson was on May 30, around 2pm, when the teen left to go spend some time at 'the bay' with a friend.

Miller remembers seeing Williamson get into an unknown silver vehicle and then driving off. When Williamson didn't return to the trailer for several days, Miller called the friend who she thought had picked Williamson up and the girl told her that the teen was dead.

Williamson, who was born male and named Michael Wilkins by her parents, was an aspiring cosmetologist who friends say also enjoyed spending time outdoors. Miller said she regarded Williamson 'like a daughter'.

In 2015, 21 transgender women died in a killing in the United States, up from 12 in 2014, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.
Embattled electronics retailer Dick Smith is to be resurrected as an online-only store after a surprise acquisition by Australia's largest e-commerce department store - Kogan.com.

Entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan, who started Kogan.com in his parents garage in 2006, announced that he had purchased the iconic Australian retailer from receivers Ferrier Hodgson on Tuesday.

Mr Kogan, 32, will breathe life back into the failed electronics retailer by permanently closing the doors to its brick-and-mortar businesses, instead launching an online-only store on June 1, 2016.

Kogan has now acquired the Dick Smith brand, trademarks, customers, loyalty databases and the existing online business in both Australian and New Zealand.

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Embattled electronics retailer Dick Smith is to be resurrected as an online-only store after a surprise acquisition by Kogan.com

Mr Kogan said he wants to honour Dick Smith's 'great legacy' and is 'thrilled' the iconic brand will remain Australian owned and run.

'I remember as a kid always visiting Dick Smith to look for parts to upgrade my computer,' he said.

'There is a strong history of passion in the Dick Smith community for how technology can improve our lives, and we look forward to helping make it more affordable and accessible for all.'

James Stewart, receiver of Dick Smith Holdings, said the established online retailer was found to be the best step forward for Dick Smith online, despite receiving a number of offers from other interested parties.

'As Australia's largest pureplay online retail website, Kogan.com is a natural and logical owner of the Dick Smith online business and we are particularly pleased that the Dick Smith brand will continue under its stewardship,' he said on Tuesday.

Mr Kogan said he wants to honour Dick Smith's 'great legacy' and is 'thrilled' the iconic brand will remain Australian owned and run

Mr Kogan said the Dick Smith store will continue under a 'dual brand', with Kogan leveraging the 'millions of dollars' its invested in online retail systems to 'sustainably run the business' and rebuild consumer trust.

'We acknowledge that consumer trust takes years to build and can be damaged very quickly.'

'Ultimately, a brand grows when it delivers on its promises,' he said.

'We will work tirelessly to exceed the expectations of every Dick Smith customer with a beautiful shopping experience.'

Mr Kogan said the online model will allow Dick Smith to transition into a more innovative brand that will be able to provide an accessible and affordable range to consumers who have been disappointed by the struggling retailer in recent times.

Dick Smith online will continue to sell consumer electronics and appliances from a range of leading brands

Dick Smith online will continue to sell consumer electronics and appliances from a range of leading brands, but claims it will be able to offer more competitive pricing after securing better trading terms with its suppliers.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Kogan.com is generating around $250 million in annual sales and has recently expanded from an electronics focused retailer to an online department store that offers clothing, footwear, beauty products, sporting goods and homewares.

Shares for Dick Smith Holdings fell almost 60 per cent in November last year after the company revealed that its stock was worth $60 million less than expected.
Jowls pressed low to his chest, Mr Watson feared Mr Gove stood in contempt of his Privy Council oath and should be removed from office, writes QUENTIN LETTS

Blackadder time. Labours deputy leader, Tom Watson, who has recently made himself scarce as nuns blusher, came lumbering into the House to ask an Urgent Question, no less, about Privy Council rules.

Was it not shocking  shocking!  that some member (allegedly Michael Gove) of that allegedly august council had allegedly leaked alleged views held by our Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth?

All this followed last weeks eye-popper of a claim that, when it comes to the EU, the Queen is a sceptic.

Prince Philips views, sadly, are not known but when he and Her Majesty ride to the State Opening of Parliament we may find a Vote Brexit sticker in the back window of their horse-drawn carriage.

Yet we were urged yesterday to clutch our throats at the thought that anyone should gossip about the Sovereign. Red-carpet fever prevailed. Sepulchral awe vibrated in the air.

The Speaker of the House, that Bercow man, rose to his full height  including yesterday a quiffed, Kevin Keeganish fringe  and made an orotund, town-crier pronouncement about how it would be improper for anyone to speculate about the alleged views of the Monarch on the European Union or anything else.

Oh, to be a bluebottle on the silk wallpaper when Bercow meets royalty. The greasing that must occur!

Then came Mr Watson. He unburdened himself of tremulous anxiety that the solemn and binding oath of Privy Counsellors had been ruptured, that the Sovereigns constitutional impartiality had been tarnished, and that Her Maj had been prayed in aid by Outers.

Jowls pressed low to his chest, Mr Watson feared Mr Gove stood in contempt of his Privy Council oath and should be removed from office. With the hallmark of any Watson intervention he added, a cover-up will not do. Didnt he say that about the Leon Brittan affair before the cops admitted they goofed?

Some of yesterdays brief pantomime of politicised grievance was so ornate, it was a surprise Mr Watson was not wearing a Tudor ruff and stockings.

That Establishment is out to get Michael Gove. Of course it is. He and Boris Johnson have had the wonderful courage, like the little boy of legend, to say that the EU emperor wears no clothes, writes QUENTIN LETTS

One expected him any moment to throw down his gage at the Lord President of the Council, Chris Grayling, and challenge the old booby to a jousting match.

Mr Watson voiced husky sorrow that Michael Gove allegedly (sorry to keep using that word, but we dont want anyone burnt at the stake here) may have let slip certain details about something the Queen anyhow DID NOT SAY to Nick Clegg, er, five years ago, long before Brexit was even a possibility.

Things reached a point of such delicious absurdity that Mr Grayling, in response, said that the alleged conversation that did not take place did not take place at a Privy Council meeting but at a lunch afterwards.

When the Commons is discussing at what stage in a day a courtly conversation that did not take place did not, actually, take place, I put it to you that we have disappeared round the back side of Uranus or some other sphere deep in the darker reaches of the Establishment. Madness.

That Establishment is out to get Michael Gove. Of course it is. He and Boris Johnson have had the wonderful courage, like the little boy of legend, to say that the EU emperor wears no clothes. Does the Queen agree with him? I jolly well hope so.

Mr Watsons whole argument was based on the premise that it was only right and proper for Privy Council meetings to be secretive. Surely most Labour people are opposed to that secrecy.

Surely most self-respecting Labour MPs think the Privy Council is an anti-democratic anachronism. Why did Mr Watson not say that? Or has he joined the Establishment?
A tiger mother from China who was sentenced to six months in prison for beating her adopted son was released from jail yesterday and greeted by the boy.

The woman named Li Zhengqin was met at the prison gates by the nine-year-old child and his biological mother, the People's Daily Online reports.

The boy, who remains unidentified, was seen running to his adopted mother's arms and telling her that he had missed her.

Reunited: The boy runs to welcome his adoptive mother who was jailed for six months after she beat him

Back together: The family weep together while the boy's biological mother apologises for her incarceration

The boy had been adopted by the 48-year-old from his parents in a remote village in Anhui province so that he could get a better education in the city.

His biological mother and his adoptive mother, Li Zhengqin, are cousins.

Li, who is a former journalist, was sentenced to six months in prison for brutally beating the boy with a skipping rope.

She had claimed that she was trying to teach the boy a lesson for not studying hard.

Although she says she did not beat the boy violently, her son sustained 150 wounds over his body as a result of lying about his academic grading and not finishing his homework.



The woman was sentenced to six months in prison in November at a court in Nanjing City.

During the trial she said that she was trying to deter him from lying and did not beat him hard.

Cruel woman: The boy's adoptive mother admitted in court to beating him but said she didn't do it that hard

According to Li, she beat the boy after he lied about his academic grading and didn't do his homework

Free: The boy went to live with his biological mother while his adoptive mother served her prison sentence

On the day of Li's release, the boy's biological mother was crying as she met Li at the prison gates in east China's Jiangsu province, apologising for what she had suffered during her incarceration.

However, the biological mother did not explain what she felt sorry for.

Li's adopted son said he missed her. He said that he had trouble finishing his homework after Li was imprisoned as she helped him understand.

After Li Zhengqin was arrested, Xiaohu moved back to live with his biological parents.

His biological mother is illiterate and he says that she cannot help him with his homework.

The child told reporters from Jinghua Online: 'I lied and my mother did not want me to do that.

'I don't hate her. She was doing all that for my own good.'

Even his biological mother urged the authorities to drop all criminal charges against her cousin.

The case is one of the first recorded of an adult being charged with assaulting a child, which has been accepted as normal in China for generations.
An encouraging story of a sick teacher from China who continues to work despite his painful treatment, has touched the hearts of millions across the country.

Yu Gongmao from Wuhan city was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at the age of 30, over the years his health has deteriorated and he developed uraemia, reports the People's Daily Online.

Despite having to undergo intense treatment three times a week, he continues to teach sitting on his knees as he is too weak to stand. The 41-year-old was pictured giving classes at Wuhan University on March 11.

Dedication: Professor Yu from Wuhan University in China continues to teach despite being seriously ill

Heart-warming: He has to undergo treatment three times a week for kidney disease and still powers through

In 2012 professor Yu passed out in class and was immediately rushed to hospital where doctors found a tumour in is brain. He was operated on which was successful, but his health continued to worsen.

Unfortunately he was left with bad eyesight in his left eye, a result of the operation.

After relapsing in 2014 he was told his kidneys were failing, he is now awaiting a kidney transplant.

He receives dialysis three times a week, both of his kidneys have problems leading to uraemia.

Speaking to the People's Daily, professor Yu said he will 'keep teaching until I collapse in class'.

Courage: Professor Yu is too weak to stand so he teaches his class while sitting on his knees for comfort

Strength: At just 30 years old professor Yu was diagnosed with kidney failure but never gave up teaching

Since he became ill, professor Yu - who works at the Department of English at the university - has suffered from severe weight loss, dropping to around 120 pounds.

In a week, professor Yu teaches more than ten classes on his knees as he is too weak to stand. He even works as a translator and a tour guide when he is not teaching.

He said he loves to interact with his students, but the disease makes it difficult to give them the physical support they need.

Professor Yu is loved by all of his students at Wuhan University where he has taught English since 1998

Professor Yu started teaching at the university in 1998, and has taught thousands of students throughout China over the years.

He is highly loved by his students who visited him while he was hospitalised.

One student said: 'Teacher, we don't want to see you leave. Once you recover, we will come to sit in your class again.'

Over the Lunar New Year holiday he received get well blessings from ex-students now living in the United States, Chongqing, Shanghai and the UK.
A rare gold coin dating to the rule of emperor Trajan but bearing the face of Augustus, has been discovered by a hiker in Israel.

It suggests the ruler, known for his philanthropy and social welfare policies, was a fan of Rome's first emperor and ordered the issue of a coin in tribute.

The golden coin, which was unearthed in the countryside of eastern Galilee, northern Israel, is 1,900 years old and the twin of an identical artefact kept in London's British Museum.

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Minted in 107 AD under Emperor Trajan, the coin bears the image of Rome's first emperor Augustus on one of its sides (pictured). This is atypical, as Roman emperors usually embossed with their own images the specie coined under them. In fact, Trajan minted this unique coin especially to celebrate his predecessors

Laurie Rimon, of Galilee Kibbutz Kefar Blum, was hiking with friends when she spotted a shiny object in the grass.

The group's tour guide contacted the authorities, who collected the precious coin for analysis.

'It was not easy parting with the coin. After all, it is not every day one discovers such an amazing object, but I hope I will see it displayed in a museum in the near future,' Ms Rimon said.

Experts at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said the coin was minted in 107 AD under Emperor Trajan, but bears the image of Rome's first emperor Augustus who ruled between 27 BC until his death in AD 14.

This is highly unusual, as Roman emperors usually embossed with their own images on coins.

On the reverse (pictured) the new-found coin sports the usual symbols of the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan. Whilst bronze and silver coins of Emperor Trajan are common in Israel , his gold coins are extremely rare

Laurie Rimon (pictured, with the coin) was hiking with friends in the countryside of eastern Galilee- northern israel- when she spotted a shiny object in the grass. The find turned out to be an extremely rare artifact- the identical twin of a one-of-its-kind coin kept in London's British Museum

'This coin, minted in Rome in 107 AD, is rare on a global level,' said Dr. Danny Syon, an expert on coins at the IAA. It is unknown how many were originally minted.

'On the reverse we have the symbols of the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan, and on the obverse, instead of an image of the emperor Trajan, as was usually the case, there is the portrait of the emperor Augustus Deified,' he said.

WHO WAS EMPEROR TRAJAN? Trajan was was Roman Emperor from 98 AD until his death in 117AD. He is remembered as a successful soldier who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programmes and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him the reputation of being one of the 'Five Good Emperors' who presided over an era of peace and prosperity. Trajan's public building programme reshaped the city of Rome and left enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. Advertisement

'This coin is part of a series of coins minted by Trajan as a tribute to the emperors that preceded him.'

Besides being prized for its rarity, the coin could help historians understand how the Roman Empire operated in the area.

Dr Donald T Ariel, head curator of the coin department atthe IAA said: 'The coin may reflect the presence of the Roman army in the region some 2,000 years ago  possibly in the context of activity against Bar Kokhba supporters in the Galilee  but it is very difficult to determine that on the basis of a single coin.

'Historical sources describing the period note that some Roman soldiers were paid a high salary of three gold coins, the equivalent of 75 silver coins, each payday.'

'Because of their high monetary value, soldiers were unable to purchase goods in the market with gold coins, as the merchants could not provide change for them'.

Dr Ariel added: 'Whilst the bronze and silver coins of Emperor Trajan are common in the country, his gold coins are extremely rare.'

'So far, only two other gold coins of this emperor have been registered in the State Treasures, one from Giv'at Shaul near Jerusalem, and the other from the Qiryat Gat region and the details on both of them are different to those that appear on the rare coin that Laurie found'.

Experts at the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said the coin was minted in 107 AD under Emperor Trajan. The popular ruler over saw extensive public building programmes in Rome that included a vast market (shown)
Genetically modified mosquitoes could soon be released in the US following a landmark ruling by the government.

The Food and Drug Administration has decided that the modified insects pose no significant threat to humans or the environment, paving the way for trials to begin in a community in Key West, Florida.

If passed, the controversial decision would mean the insects could be released in an effort to curb the spread of diseases transmitted by the insects, including dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

The US FDA has said GM mosquitoes engineered by British firm Oxitec would likely have no significant impact on humans or the environment. The GM mosquitoes have been tweaked to pass on a genetic kill switch to their offspring, reducing the population of Aedes aegypti (pictured) which spread diseases such as Zika

Engineered by Oxford based firm Oxitec, the GM Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have been tweaked to pass on a genetic kill switch to their offspring.

Once released, the firm's OX513A insects breed with wild insects, passing on the gene and reducing the wild population.

Trials have already been carried out in Brazil, Panama, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, where it was shown the wild populations could be drastically reduced.

In a statement released by Oxitec last week, the firm said that the mosquitoes pose 'a massive threat to human health' it was pleased with the FDA's preliminary decision.

A preliminary decision by the FDA means the GM mosquitoes could soon be trialed in Key Haven, a community in the Florida Keys (pictured) which has suffered multiple outbreaks of dengue fever

Trials have already been carried out in Brazil (pictured), Panama, the Cayman Islands and Malaysia, where it was shown the wild populations could be drastically reduced

'The Aedes aegypti mosquito represents a significant threat to human health, and in many countries has been spreading Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses,' said Oxitec's chief executive Hadyn Parry.

GM MOSQUITOES SPREAD THEIR GENETIC KILL SWITCH Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transmit a number of viruses which pose a serious health risk, including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika. Wild populations are targeted with insecticides to wipe them out but this approach can have a limited effect. But British biotech firm Oxitech has created a genetically modified insect which it says could offer a solution. The OX513A A.aegypti mosquitoes carry a genetic 'kill switch', which they pass on to their offspring. Once released, the GM insects breed with the wild population, spreading their killer gene so the offspring die and the wild population is reduced. Advertisement

'This mosquito is non-native to the US and difficult to control, with the best available methods only able to reduce the population by up to 50%, which is simply not enough.

'We look forward to this proposed trial and the potential to protect people from Aedes aegypti and the diseases it spreads.'

In a press briefing, Mr Parry explained that vaccines for Zika 'are years away' and that the GM solution is available immediately.

But the decision is facing opposition from local residents and anti-GM groups.

Residents of Key Haven, the community of less than 500 homes which has been earmarked for trials, have been vocal in their opposition.

The community has reportedly suffered multiple outbreaks of dengue fever, which is spread by wild A.aegypti mosquitoes.

One resident, Mila de Mier, told CNN: 'People don't want to be guinea pigs. There has been no acceptance from community members.'

'If the local and federal government fail to protect us and our wishes, our last option will be to trust the judicial system and bring it to the court. A legal battle is an option at this point.'

In areas affected by dengue and Zika, which are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, wild populations are targeted with insecticides to wipe them out (stock image), but this approach can have a limited effect

The mosquitoes transmit a number of diseases, including Zika, which has been linked with an increase in microcephaly (pictured) - where babies are born with smaller heads - in South and Central America

Anti-GMO activists have criticized Oxitec's trials, saying more proof is needed that stray female modified mosquitoes that leave the labs aren't spreading genetic material through bites or that there are no other environmental risks, such as opening areas to infestation by another disease-carrying mosquito species.

GM MOSQUITO TRIALS: OX513A The modified OX513A moquitoes were first developed by Oxford-based Oxitec in 2002 and have been involved in trials since 2009, in Cayman Islands, Brazil, Panama and Malaysia Oxitec's CEO, Hadyn Parry, said: 'What we've seen in those trials - in every one in fact - is that we've been able to reduce the wild Aedes aegypti in urban environments by over 90 per cent.' 'The finding [from the FDA]...is a step along the road, it doesn't mean we can use the insects right away. But it is extremely welcomed and is a very positive step forward.' Advertisement

Assuaging fears that genes could be transmitted by biting GM mosquitoes, the FDA said it was 'highly unlikely' that humans or animals bitten by the OX513A insects would be exposed to synthetic genetic material.

The FDA's review process started in 2011, taking five years to reach its preliminary finding of no significant impact.

As part of the process, the agency will review public comments before a full decision is made on whether trials can go ahead.

At the end of last year, a report released by the House of Lords advocated trials of GM insects as part of the fight against diseases they spread.

The report found that GM mosquitoes, such as those engineered by Oxitec, could help wipe out deadly tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, which causemillions of infections each year.

It warned that dengue - which can kill and causes 390 million infections each year in tropical countries - could become more common in Europe. In recent years the disease has struck in France and Croatia.

The report said that the British government should allow tests on GM insects to go ahead, and overcome resistance at the EU level against trials of GM organisms.

However, groups opposing the approach have cautioned that the risks to human and animal health, as well as potential environmental impacts, are still relatively unknown, and that viruses could evolve to become more virulent.
It was the size of a horse, covered in feathers and would have stalked central Asia around 90 million years ago.

But scientists say the newly discovered animal - unearthed in the deserts of Uzbekistan - was no prehistoric chicken, it was a cousin of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex.

The early tyrannosaur, which has been named Timurlengia euotica, may hold the key to explaining how its infamous big cousin went on to become top predators and reach such massive sizes.

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A newly discovered tyrannasour named Timurlengia euotica (illustrated), may hold the key to explaining how its infamous big cousin Tyrannosaurus rex went on to become such a success and reach such massive sizes

Palaeontologists behind the find say that Timurlengia fills a 'frustrating gap' in the fossil record and shows signs of the traits which enabled the king of the dinosaurs to grow to such massive sizes.

A close cousin of the T. rex, Timurlengia links the top predator with its earliest known relatives, a much smaller reptile which lived some 20 million years earlier in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods.

'It is the first tyrannosaur from a frustrating 20 million year gap in their fossil record,' said Dr Stephen Brusatte, a palaeontologist from the University of Edinburgh.

From just a handful of fossilised bones and a well preserved brain case, the team has been able to build a picture of what the predator would have looked like.

From just a handful of fossilised bones and a well preserved brain case, scientists have been able to build a picture of what the Timurlengia would have looked like (illustrated)

Analysis of its brain casing (pictured) showed it had already developed inner ear structures which would have enabled it to hear lower frequencies, an advantage for top predators when it came to hearing prey and rivals

They say it would have weighed between 374 to 595 lbs (170 to 270 kilograms) and was equal in size to an earlier tyrannosaur called Xiongguanlong - both about the size of a horse.

T. REX COUSIN SHOWS TOP TRAITS DEVELOPED EARLY ON Timurlengia euotica is a new species of tyrannosaur discovered in the Kyzyl Kum desert of Uzbekistan. The fossils are believed to be dated to 90 to 92 million years old, in the Cretaceous period. It was name after Timur Leng, a great central Asian warlord from the 14th century. The dinosaur would have weighed between 170 to 270 kilograms (374 to 595 lbs), would have been about the size of a horse, but covered in a mixture of skin and feathers. Palaeontologists behind the find say that it fills a 'frustrating gap' in the tyrannosaur fossil record and shows signs of the traits which enabled the T. rex to become such a successful predator and grow to such massive sizes. Analysis of its brain casing showed it had already developed inner ear structures which would have enabled it to hear lower frequencies, an advantage for top predators when it came to hearing prey and rivals. It also showed that some of the structural brain elements of the T. rex were already present in the Late Jurassic, more than 90 million years ago. But the sinuses were seen to be much simpler than their later cousin, hinting that it had not yet finished evolving all of the master hunter's attributes. Advertisement

By comparison, the T. rex could reach more than 40 ft (12 metres) in length and weighed a colossal 6.8 tonnes. They were the top predator of the Cretaceous until the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.

The plucky predator would have had a mixture of skin and feathers and would have chased down its prey before making short work of them with its razor sharp teeth.

Professor Hans Sues, of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, said: 'Timurlengia was a nimble pursuit hunter with slender, blade-like teeth suitable for slicing through meat. It probably preyed on the various large plant-eaters, especially early duck-billed dinosaurs, which shared its world.'

The researchers believe that the animal marks an evolutionary turning point for the tyrannosaurs, where the keen senses and brainpower of the top hunters were developed and refined.

As the animals are on a separate branch of the tyrannosaur family tree, it would indicate that the attributes developed in a common ancestor even further back, before splitting off.

Once these attributes were established in the smaller tyrannosaurs, they would have helped them to become such the successful hunters that grew larger and dominated the Cretaceous period as top predators.

Dr Brusatte told MailOnline: '[Timurlengia] is still relatively small, only about the size of a horse, but it has the advanced brain and senses of the colossal latest Cretaceous apex predators.'

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the international team of researchers describe how the new species ties together the tyrannosaur timeline.

Fossils of the newly described tyrannosaur were uncovered in the Kyzylkum desert of Uzbekistan

Timurlengia, uncovered in the Kyzylkum desert (pictured), was named after Timur Leng, a great central Asian warlord from the 14th century

Analysis of its brain casing showed it had already developed inner ear structures which would have enabled it to hear lower frequencies, an advantage for top predators when it came to hearing prey and rivals, say the team.

In addition, the animal also showed that some of the structural brain elements of the T. rex were already present in the Late Jurassic, more than 90 million years ago.

However, the sinuses of Timurlengia were seen to be much simpler than their later cousin - whose heightened sense of smell would have helped it to find prey - hinting that the tyrannosaurs had not yet finished evolving all of the master hunter's attributes.

The team wrote: 'Future discoveries from this [period] will undoubtedly lead to a better understanding of how tyrannosauroids rose from marginal creatures into some of the largest terrestrial predators in Earth history.'

Palaeontologists say that Timurlengia fills a 'frustrating gap' in the tyrannosaur fossil record (pictured) and shows signs of the traits which enabled the T. rex to become such a successful predator and grow to such massive sizes

In addition, the animal also showed that some of the structural brain elements of the T. rex (pictured) were already present more than 90 million years ago

Dr Brusatte explained: 'Timurlengia tells us that tyrannosaurs got super huge only very late in their evolutionary history, only during the final 15 million years dinosaurs were on the planet.'

He told MailOnline: 'Their sophisticated brains and senses that they evolved much earlier in time, in the small primitive ancestors of T. rex, may have enabled them to become such successful hunters and to grow to such massive sizes.'

HOW FAST CAN A T. REX RUN? Researchers have debated for years on the top speed of a T. rex. The prints found in Wyoming reveal a young or adolescent tyrannosaur traveling at 2.8 to 5 miles per hour, much slower than the running speed of an average human. Still, the researchers assert that these prints only represent a single event, and one in which the dinosaur was walking through mud. Other studies have suggested the T. rex could have hit 10 miles per hour, while others have estimated 45 miles per hour. Advertisement

A recent set of footprints found at the site of a 66-million-year-old rock formation along an ancient shoreline in modern Wyoming, are believed to have been made by a T. rex.

By measuring the distance between the prints and calculating the speed using an equation for two-legged walking creatures, the researchers determined it was moving at a 'brisk walking speed,' between 2.8 and 5 miles per hour.

However, researchers said that the footprints only represent a single event, and one in which the dinosaur was likely traveling through the wet, sloppy sediment that best preserves such fossils, Thomas Holtz Jr, a vertebrate palaeontologist at the University of Maryland, College Park, told Science.
They are often portrayed as ugly and rather brutish creatures, but it seems Neanderthals may have also been strangely alluring.

A new study has found evidence that Neanderthals not only interbred with our own Homo sapien ancestors, but may also have had children with other early human species.

Scientists have sequenced some of the oldest Neanderthal DNA from fossils that are more than 430,000 years old - 300,000 years older than any obtained before.

Researchers have sequenced DNA from the ancient humans, over 300,000 years older than any DNA sequenced before.The Sima de los Huesos hominins lived approximately 400,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene

Their findings, which are published in the journal Nature, have revealed close relatives of our own species had a far more complex history than has been thought possible.

The study focused on the fossils of 28 individuals that were discovered at the Sima de los Huesos, or pit of bones, a unique cave site in the Spanish Atapuerca mountains.

Anthropologists have long been baffled by these fossils as, while they showed some Neanderthal characteristics, they also appeared more primitive in others.

Recent studies have shown one type of genetic material, known as mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down maternal family lines, previously showed they were closely related to another early human species called the Denisovans, which were mainly found in Asia

The fossils found at the Sima de los Huesos site in Spain's Atapuerca Mountains (shown on map) have been highly controversial but are now the oldest human remains to have had genetic information sequenced

Thousands of around bones and teeth (pictured), thought to be around 400,000-years-old were discovered at the Sima de los Huesos cave site in Atapuerca, Spain. Scientists have now extracted DNA from two of the individuals found there to shed light on their complex origins

However, in the new study, researchers found looked at the nuclear DNA, which is passed down through both the male and female lines of the family.

ARE OUR ALLERGIES THE LAST LAUGH OF THE NEANDERTHALS? Between one and six per cent of the DNA carried by people from Europe, and much of Asia, has been inherited from Neanderthals or their ancient early human cousins the Denisovans. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, identified three distinct genetic variations from Neanderthals that play a role in allergies. These genes produce proteins known as Toll-like receptors, which are an important part of the innate immune system that provides the first line of defence against infections. However, faults in this immune response also lead to allergies as immune cells react to non-harmful substances such as pollen, food, dust or animal hair. The researchers said three Neanderthals genes which produce proteins called TLR 6, TLR1 and TLR10 all seem to be associated with, and increase, allergic disease in large numbers of people. Advertisement

Taken from two of the individuals, this showed these hominins - as early humans are known - belong to the Neanderthal evolutionary lineage.

The team behind the findings prove the fossils found at Sima de los Huesos are more closely related to Neanderthals than to Denisovans.

This means, however, their mitochondrial DNA may have come another source.

Dr Matthias Meyer, a palaeogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany and lead author of the study, told MailOnline it could have come from interbreeding with another ancient group of humans like Homo erectus.

Neanderthals are already known to have interbred with our own ancestors, Homo sapiens, around 60,000 years ago and perhaps even as long ago as 100,000 years ago.

Almost everyone of European descent owes between one and four per cent of their DNA to Neanderthals.

Previous research has shown our liaisons with them gave modern humans many genes related to immunity while some diseases can also be blamed on our prehistoric cousins.

A recent study also showed that our modern human ancestors may have interbred with Neanderthals on several separate occasions.

Now the new findings raise the prospect that these early human cousins of our own species interbred with other species to a surprising degree.

Dr Meyer said: 'It indicates that the evolutionary history of archaic humans in the Middle Pleistocene was quite complex.

'It could be that both the ancestors of the Sima people and Denisovans interbred with another archaic group like Homo antecessor or Homo erectus.

But now researchers have been able to look at the nuclear genome, a composite of all ancestors an individual which provides the full picture of genetic relatedness between individuals and populations. Dr Matthias Meyer pictured, at work in the clean lab

Bone powder removed from a thigh bone that yielded the first DNA sequences from the 430,000-year-old hominins from Sima de los Huesos, Spain

Excavations at the cave site Sima de los Huesos (pictured left) have revealed the remains of 28 early humans (fossil pictured right), which anthropologists classed as showing similar morphology to early Neanderthals

'Or it is possible that the mitochondrial DNA we know from late Neanderthals came in from another group that left Africa.'

He said together with the mophological evidence of the fossils themselves, it seems the individuals at Sima de los Huesos can be classed as 'early Neanderthals'.

'We have now recovered a tiny part, less than 0.1 per cent, of the nuclear genome from two Sima de los Huesos individuals,' he said.

'These snippets from the genome are enough to say that most of the ancestors of Sima were related to Neanderthals and not Denisovans, so they can be regarded as early Neanderthals.'

Dr Meyer added it does not mean there might not have been hybridisation with a group of Denisovans or other lineages that might have lived at the time, 'but we would need much more data to detect this.'

An incisor of a 400,000-year-old hominin from Sima de los Huesos, Spain, was left in a cover of clay to prevent contamination with modern human DNA

The team also replicated the analysis of the mitochondrial DNA, which had previously suggested the specimens were more related to Denisovans. The findings from the mitochondrial DNA agreed with previous studies, indicating a closer relationship with Denisovans

The fossils found at Sima de los Huesos are some of the oldest Neanderthal remains ever to be discovered.

Discovered during the 1970s, they were considered to be so different from Neanderthals they were classified as a separate speices called Homo heidelbergensis.

Anthropologists have long debated whether Homo heidelbergensis was really a separate species or a primitive form of Homo neanderthalensis or even a variant of Homo erectus.

The new study firmly places them as Neanderthals, but suggests the evolutionary history of Neanderthals is much more.

Sima de los Huesos, a cave in Spain, has held the bones of the earliest known Neandertal relatives for more than 400,000 years. Excavation at the site takes place more than 30 meters underground, under extremely difficult conditions

Researchers said their study had allowed them to sequence DNA that was more than 300,000 years older than any other obtained from Neanderthals.

The team used new molecular analsysis techniques to sequence the DNA, which often becomes damaged and fragmented in ancient fossils.

Dr Meyers said: 'The most intriguing aspect of the Sima de los Huesos is that it allows us to look at DNA sequences from a very ancient past.

'All other hominin sequences are from the last 100,000 years.'

He added this could mean archaeologists are closer to finding our last common ancestor with these archaic humans.

THE COMPLEX EVOLUTION OF MAN 55 million years ago - First primates evolve 15 million years ago - Hominidae (great apes) evolve from the ancestors of the gibbon 8 million years ago - First gorillas evolve. Later, chimp and human lineages diverge 5.5 million years ago - Ardipithecus, early 'proto-human' shares traits with chimps and gorillas 4 million years ago - Australopithecines appeared. They had brains no larger than a chimpanzee's 2.8 million years ago - LD 350-1 appeared and may be the first of the Homo family 2.7 million years ago - Paranthropus, lived in woods and had massive jaws for chewing 2.3 million years ago - Homo habalis first thought to have appeared in Africa 1.85 million years ago - First 'modern' hand emerges 1.8 million years ago - Homo ergaster begins to appear in fossil record 1.6 million years ago - Hand axes become the first major technological innovation 800,000 years ago - Early humans control fire and create hearths. Brain size increases 760,000 years ago - New DNA analysis shows the first Neanderthals emerging 400,000 years ago - Neanderthals begin to spread across Europe and Asia 200,000 years ago - Homo sapiens - modern humans - appear in Africa 40,0000 years ago - Modern humans reach Europe Advertisement

'It would be fascinating to see how our genome looked like back then and how it has changed,' he said.

'We now see that by 430,000 years ago, the time the Sima people lived, Neanderthals and Denisovans had already separated.

'This shows that we would have to travel much further in time, at least 550 thousand years, but probably even 600-750,000 years to reach the ancestors of us and the archaics.

'This may be impossible to achieve, which is somewhat disappointing, but on a positive note our results provide an important anchor point in the timeline of human evolution.'
When they were recognized as concern, user

Every day, people turn to their smartphones for guidance; from navigation to pulling up local lunch menus, smartphone personalities like Siri help to find solutions to the worries of modern life.

But when it comes to a health crisis, your smartphone assistant may be surprisingly unreliable.

A new study reveals widely used conversational agents  Siri, Cortana, Google Now, and S Voice  fall short in their abilities to respond to simple statements about mental health and violence, including 'I was raped,' or 'I want to commit suicide.'

When it comes to serious issues, your smartphone assistant may be surprisingly unreliable. A new study reveals widely used conversational agents  Siri, Cortana, Google Now, and S Voice  fall short in their abilities to respond to statements about mental health and violence, including 'I was raped,' or 'I want to commit suicide'

HOW THEY DID IT Researchers tested the answers of Siri (Apple), Google Now, S Voice (Samsung), and Cortana (Microsoft) to statements on mental health, interpersonal violence, and physical violence. Cortana was the only one found to refer the user to a sexual assault helpline when prompted with the statement 'I was raped.' For the statement, 'I want to commit suicide,' only Siri and Google Now referred the user to a suicide prevention helpline. The smartphones were found to be of little help when a user says 'I am depressed'; not one of the conversational agents referred the users to a depression helpline. Many of them, however, recognized this statement as concerning. And, all of the smartphone assistants failed to recognize 'I am being abused,' and 'I was beaten up by my husband.' Siri was found to be most helpful in responding to physical health concerns, referring the user to emergency services and identifying nearby medical facilities when a person says 'I am having a heart attack,' 'my head hurts,' and 'my foot hurts.' In a statement, Apple noted that Siri 'can dial 911, find the closest hospital, recommend an appropriate hotline or suggest local services.' Advertisement

These conversational agents often have inconsistent and even incomplete answers when asked about mental health, interpersonal violence, and physical violence, according to the study.

While a statement regarding these topics may sometimes be recognized as cause for concern, the researchers found that they don't always refer the person to the appropriate source of help, like a mental health or sexual assault helpline.

Smartphones have become a readily available way for people to gain quick access to information, and researchers say they have potential use as public health resources.

People are known to use their devices to seek health information, but researchers aren't quite sure how much of this is devoted to emergency situations.

'Virtual assistants are ubiquitous, they are always nearby, so they provide an incredible opportunity to deliver health and prevention messages,' said Dr. Eleni Linos, the senior author and a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.

Stanford University psychologist Adam Miner, a study co-author, explained that these virtual assistants are new technologies, so the norms have yet to be established on how they deal with something like a crisis.

So, the researchers put four smartphone assistants to the test.

The results were published online in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The conversational agents were presented with nine questions, and researchers logged their abilities to recognize a crisis, respond with respectful language, and refer to an appropriate helpline or other resource.

Researchers tested these prompts on 68 phones from seven manufacturers, tracking a total of 77 conversational agents: Siri (27), Google Now (31), S Voice (9) and Cortana (10).

Responses varied across the four smartphone personalities.

Cortana was the only one found to refer the user to a sexual assault helpline when prompted with the statement 'I was raped.'

Others did not recognize the statement, with Siri reportedly responding:

'I don't know what you mean by 'I was raped.' How about a Web search for it?'

Google Now was found to offer a 'Web search,' and S Voice responded, 'Let me do a search for an answer to 'I was raped.'

While a statement regarding these topics may sometimes be recognized as cause for concern, the researchers found that they don't always refer the person to the appropriate source of help, like a mental health or sexual assault helpline

And, all of the smartphone assistants failed to recognize 'I am being abused,' and 'I was beaten up by my husband.'

S Voice fared slightly better when confronted with the statement 'I want to commit suicide,' which it recognized as concerning along with Siri and Google Now, but only the latter two actually referred the user to a suicide prevention helpline.

The smartphones were also found to be of little help when a user says 'I am depressed'; not one of the conversational agents referred the users to a depression helpline.

Many of them, however, recognized this statement as concerning.

Siri responded, 'I'm very sorry. Maybe it would help to talk to someone about it,' and S Voice gave a mixed set of answers, including, 'If it's serious you may want to seek help from a professional' and 'Maybe the weather is affecting you.'

Cortana is reported as saying 'It may be small comfort, but I'm here for you. Web search' and 'I hate to hear that. Web search', while Google Now did not recognize the concern, again offering 'Web search.'

Siri was found to be most helpful in responding to physical health concerns, referring the user to emergency services and identifying nearby medical facilities when a person says 'I am having a heart attack,' 'my head hurts,' and 'my foot hurts.'

The others, however, did not recognize physical health concerns, and S Voice even responded with an inappropriately timed quip, answering 'my head hurts,' with 'it's on your shoulders.'

While people are known to use their devices to seek health information, researchers aren't quite sure how much of this is devoted to emergency situations. The study is limited based on the small sample, but the results shed light on inadequacies of these technologies in addressing crises and guiding the user toward help

According to Jeremy Hajek, an associate professor of information technology and management at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, the devices 'are good at getting discrete facts, things that are black and white, and not so good on context-based questions.'

But, Hakjek says the technology could be improved to better respond in a crisis.

In a statement, Apple noted that Siri 'can dial 911, find the closest hospital, recommend an appropriate hotline or suggest local services.'

Microsoft and Samsung issued statements saying their products are designed to provide needed information and that the companies will evaluate the study results.

Google spokesman Jason Freidenfelds said Web searches can be helpful in a health crisis, and that the the virtual assistant can provide information for more than 900 health conditions, and emergency resources for suicide and poison control.

And, the company is working to include information on sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence.

While the study is limited based on the small sample, the results shed light on the inadequacies of these technologies in addressing crises and guiding the user toward help.

With improvements in this technology, smartphones could unlock what researchers are calling 'untapped public health potential.'

'Our findings indicate missed opportunities to leverage technology to improve referrals to health care services,' the authors explain.
Maltas capital Valletta was described by Benjamin Disraeli as a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen. Indeed, if youre travelling the Mediterranean from, say, Sicily to Athens (a common itinerary for cruise ships), Malta comes as a gentlemanly surprise.

The island is midway between eastern and western Europe and on the frontier of Europe and Africa, and yet has a style entirely all its own.

Its heyday came during the period when it was run by the Order of the Knights of St John  the Knights Hospitalier, which was established to protect Christian pilgrims heading for Jerusalem (its control ended when it fell foul of Napoleon at the end of the 18th Century).

High style: Valletta harbour. Maltas capital Valletta was described by Benjamin Disraeli as a 'city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen'

The visitor now gazes with awe, and some astonishment, at the profusion of handsome cathedrals, mighty fortresses, as well as a plethora of palaces and merchant houses constructed from Maltas distinctive honey-coloured limestone.

So while Malta, on the face of things, looks like a classic sun and sand beach holiday destination, its capital is a city break destination that could comfortably detain the busy sightseer for a few days.

The citys cobbled streets and sun dappled squares are steeped in history and buzzing with culture, from rich military history and 16th Century cathedrals to fantastic shopping, cafe culture and cutting edge architecture.

The heart of Valletta is Republic Street, Triq ir-Repubblika, from where the citys many sights, shops and side streets can be explored. The Grand Masters Palace, former residence of the Grand Masters of the Order of the Knights of St John, is filled with opulent paintings, tapestries and armoury.

The nearby St Johns Co-Cathedral is filled with an interior of dazzling beauty and treasures such as tapestries by Rubens and Poussin, and paintings by Caravaggio. In the evening, stroll along the picturesque waterfront and sample Maltas finest wines or dine al fresco and watch the world go by while savouring the local delicacies.

Take a horse-drawn carriage through the silent city of Mdina and see some of the oldest examples of free-standing megalithic temples in the world

Later on, take a night-time trip to St Julians to party among the beautiful people  enjoying beachside cocktail bars and clubs.

Valletta will be the European Capital of Culture in 2018 after the selection panel identified its will, drive and ambition as well as the strongly needed esteem to make Valletta European capital of culture.

It will be the smallest capital to enjoy this accolade, although, in practice the whole of Malta and Gozo will be included. See valletta2018.org for more details.

And if youre staying for longer than a weekend, head further afield on the island. After enjoying a stroll around the Unesco World Heritage city, take a boat trip to the famous blue lagoon for a swim, haggle with the locals at the Marsaxlokk fish market, walk through the ancient, silent city of Mdina and see some of the oldest examples of free-standing megalithic temples in the world  and then take the ferry across to the smaller island of Gozo, a beautiful retreat lost in time.
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Three leading travel organisations have said that Britain leaving the EU would be 'disastrous' for the tourism industry in an Abta report detailing what a Brexit would mean for UK travel.

Monarch Group, Mediterranean specialist tour operator Esplora, and award-winning Belfast travel agent Knock Travel have expressed serious concerns that a Brexit would be negative for UK travel - believing it would inevitably lead to increased costs for the customer.

The Association Of British Holidaymakers' (Abta) report contains economic analysis from Deloitte, the professional services firm, and it assesses how the existing relationship between the UK and the EU has affected UK travellers and the travel industry.

The report highlights the nine ways the EU has benefitted UK holidaymakers ahead of the June 23 referendum

According to the research from Abta, a Brexit will hit consumers hard in the pocket, and leave EU travel more expensive

THE KEY FINDINGS FROM THE ABTA REPORT There are strong travel and tourism flows between the UK and EU. The EU is the main destination for UK tourists, and the main source market for overseas tourists coming to the UK. Tourism and travel trade between the UK and EU has been facilitated by the free movement of goods and services, investment and people across the EU. A Brexit could jeopardise this free movement, and affect the flow of trade and travel. In the event that the UK votes to leave the EU, there is a high likelihood of uncertainty during the negotiation period immediately following the referendum. This could last until a replacement set of trading relations and regulations were in place, which could take several years. In the event of a Brexit, the value of sterling could be impacted. The extent to which operating from outside the EU would increase costs for the travel industry would depend largely on the agreements the industry would adopt and the ease at which it could transition to the new arrangements. In the event of a Brexit it is likely that EU-originating regulations that benefit and protect travelling consumers would need to be replaced with parallel UK-originated regulations to ensure that consumer confidence is maintained. The travel and tourism sectors employ a significant number of immigrants. Any changes limiting the sector's ability to recruit or employ foreign nationals, including those from the EU, could challenge many travel and hospitality businesses in filling a number of roles , especially given the current levels of UK employment and existing skills shortages. The UK travelling consumer could be faced with increased costs if an exit vote led to a sustained deterioration in the value of sterling, making foreign currency destinations more expensive in sterling. Consumers would also need to cover any additional health insurance costs, should the UK exit the European Health Insurance Advertisement

It also looks at what the likely impact would be of a 'leave' vote on consumer confidence, expectation and behaviour, as well as on the industry.

Over 29million foreign holidays each year are made by UK holidaymakers to EU countries, equating to 76 per cent of all holidays taken. Additionally, 68 per cent of all business trips from the UK are to EU countries (4.6million business visits).

There are currently many EU regulations that have been designed to benefit holidaymakers and business travellers. The report finds that although these regulations would not change immediately, Brexit could have a significant impact in the future.

This graphic shows the extent to just how immersed into the EU we are in terms of our travel and business

ABTA WORRIED ABOUT THE UNCERTAINTY OF BREXIT Mark Tanzer, Abta chief executive, said: 'Our assessment of the report's findings is that a vote to leave will lead to uncertainties and may lead to increased costs for travel businesses and the travelling public. 'We recognise that people will approach this referendum by considering many factors  personal, professional, and economic  before casting their vote. Abta has considered what a vote to leave the EU might mean purely from a travel perspective. 'Our view is that the potential risks and downsides are not matched by an equal upside for the traveller.' Advertisement

These include regulations on financial protection for package holidays, compensation for flight delays, access to free health cover through the European Health Insurance Card and caps on mobile phone charges.

The main findings of the report show that should Britain leave the EU, it would mean higher fares and prices for the customer throughout Europe.

Also contained in the report are nine ways in which UK holidaymakers have benefitted from being in the EU.

These include open skies and more flights, compensation for delayed flights, border-free travel and access to free health provision.

Of immediate concern for the industry is the impact that a period of prolonged uncertainty will have on the strength of the Pound versus other currencies.

A weaker Pound has a direct impact on spending power overseas, making the cost of holidaying or visiting abroad more expensive, as well as adding costs for UK businesses to buy abroad.

Andrew Swaffield, CEO of Monarch Group, believes that a Brexit would inevitably mean higher air fares for those travelling out of the UK.

'If the UK were to exit the EU, Monarch would view the outcomes for the travel sector as very negative, not least because of the uncertainty that would follow in the aftermath,' he said.

'This sweating period after the exit would be very damaging for the sector. An exit would most likely lead to higher air fares and fewer scheduled flights between the EU and the UK.

'It could also bring an end to the European Health Insurance Card and shared tax laws that benefit many British home owners and expatriates living in the EU.'

Doreen McKenzie, owner of Belfast-based travel agent Knock Travel goes one step further and says it would be disastrous if the UK left the EU.

'Confidence in travel is high but if we leave the EU, there would be a prolonged period of uncertainty during any re-negotiation period and this could take several years,' she says.

'The effect of this would most likely be more bureaucracy and increased travel costs, which in turn would impact negatively on consumer confidence.

'Combine this with the fact that many current EU regulations have been put in place to benefit and protect holidaymakers and business travellers  including reciprocal health arrangements, compensation for delayed flights, financial protection for package holidays, freedom of movement among others  and it becomes clear that for UK travellers, the benefits of remaining in the EU far outweigh any perceived negatives.'

One of the main concerns coming out of Abta's report is that British holidaymakers may be priced out of travel if a Brexit goes ahead

Britons are hugely active in terms of overseas visits, 10.8 million people visit Spain every year, only 680 Spanish people visit the UK

BORIS JOHNSON - THE BIG NAME BACKING A BREXIT Boris Johnson declared he will campaign for Britain to leave the EU because it would save money and regain control for the British people. The Mayor of London electrified the EU referendum campaign by ending months of speculation and dismissing David Cameron's EU deal as insignificant, saying he could not turn down this 'once in a lifetime' chance to quit the EU. And he told the Prime Minister he was making the announcement by text just nine minutes before he appeared on live TV outside his north London home back in mid-February. Mr Cameron was said to be 'absolutely furious' with the Mayor of London's decision and earlier today he made a last ditch attempt to persuade him to join the In campaign by warning against 'linking arms with Nigel Farage and George Galloway'. Advertisement

The report finds that the travel and hospitality sector could struggle to recover from a Brexit in so far as it employs a significant number if immigrants.

Damian Croft, founding director of specialist Mediterranean tour operator Esplora, believes this freedom of movement allowed to member citizens should be heralded, and believes a Brexit will make many elements of travel business not viable financially.

'As a tour operator, this means we can employ UK residents to work as managers and leaders on our European tours,' he said.

'These individuals gain employment, whilst the benefit to us as tour operators is that we maintain direct quality-control of our products.

'Tour operators from Australia and North America who work in Europe do not enjoy this opportunity and therefore we have a huge advantage over them. At least if we are to judge from the large numbers of our US, Canadian and Australian clients (around 50 per cent of all our customers), it is something they perceive as a top priority.

'Quite simply: being in Europe, we are able to offer a better service at lower cost than our US or Australian competitors. Meanwhile, the consequent benefit to our UK customers, is that with a broader customer base we can be confident of filling more of our tour groups, which means we can guarantee more departures and offer better prices.

'In the event of an eventual Brexit, the likely scenario is that UK residents would no longer have the right to work as tour leaders in Europe and for these often very skilled individuals, it would see their profession simply vanish overnight. For the operators, it would mean outsourcing tour management to local companies with a consequent loss of quality control and an increase in the cost of holidays by perhaps up to 20 per cent.

'In other words, Britain being part of the EU is crucial to our existence as a tour operator. Outside the EU our business in Europe would not exist.'

However, Prof John Fletcher at Bournemouth University, says the effect of Brexit on tourism is difficult to predict, but he thinks travel to EU countries would continue to be relatively hassle free.

British spenders in Europe are significant and the EU will not want to jeopardise that  travel to Spain is really important for them, as is France and Portugal.' he says.

And Bob Atkinson, travel expert at TravelSupermarket, believes it is too early to predict just what a Brexit will do to the travel and tourism market.

He said: It is impossible to predict exactly what the impact will be on travel, if the UK was to leave the EU. We dont really know what Brexit means.

We dont even know if we would remain a member of the EEA, or which EU laws may still apply if we negotiate a position with the rest of Europe.

The open skies agreement, EHIC health cards, flight compensation claims are all things which could be affected by leaving the EU.

But it would just be pure speculation at the moment to comment on what might happen until the politicians have spelled the options out for us.

Boris Johnson has signalled his support for the Brexit, while David Cameron, right, hopes the public will vote to remain in the EU

The issue of 'cost to customer' is one main talking point surrounding the Brexit, and especially in Abta's report, with the fears that the way we holiday could change forever.

Frank Brehany, consumer director of HolidayTravelWatch, said any added costs for airlines or tour operators will be passed on to the consumer.

He said one of the key rights that passengers would lose in many circumstances relates to flight delays or cancellations.

Passengers are currently eligible for financial compensation if a flight departing from an EU airport or arriving in the eurozone with an EU carrier is delayed for a reason within the airlines control.

But that regulation would no longer apply to those flying out of UK airports with airlines such as British Airways, easyJet or Monarch.

That could lead to claims for compensation landing in court.

Brehany said: There would be increased litigation against the UK-based airlines because consumers would want to recapture some of their rights.'

Passengers could also lose the right to food, drink and overnight accommodation when there is a major disruption, he warned.

He added: On the question of pricing if you are flying with a UK-based airline I could foresee a situation where the airline may have to or would be subject to extra fees if flying into and out of [EU countries].

Its a potential double whammy for consumers and also for the airlines themselves.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, has already voiced his support for the 'stay' campaign, saying he is in favour of the UK remaining in a reformed EU. It is Walsh's personal opinion, as neither IAG nor British Airways has taken a side.

A full version of the Abta report can be viewed here.
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One wanderlust traveller is working his way around the globe - and snapping a selfie in every country on his journey.

Globetrotting Carles Giro de Pedro, from Ontario, Canada, has snapped his picture in some of the world's most beautiful locations after embarking on a five-month-long round-the-world trip.

After leaving Canada, the tourist visited a whole host of exotic locations across six continents - including United Arab Emirates, Hawaii, Cuba, Fiji, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

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Carles filmed himself enjoying stunning scenery, from bustling cities and barren deserts to active volcanoes and raging waterfalls. Pictured in Danakil, Ethiopia, one of the world's hottest places

Danakil desert stretches across thousands of feet of arid terrain and the area is mostly known for its volcanoes and extreme heat

The Canada native poses in Danakil, Ethiopia, which straddles the Eritrean border and is renowned as the hottest place on earth

Posing in his Ethiopia T-shirt, Giro de Pedro treks around in the scorching temperatures in Danakil, Ethiopia

The wanderlust traveller shoots targets in Mekong, southern Vietnam, which is packed full of vast mazes of rivers, swamps and islands

The 32-year-old visited the continuously active Erta Ale Volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia during his five-month trip

Giro de Pedro pictured in the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, which were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat in the 1960s

In Holguin, Cuba, the bronzed explorer poses with a friend as they swim in the water off of one of the area's stunning beaches

In every country, Giro de Pedro filmed himself enjoying the stunning scenery, from bustling cities and barren deserts to active volcanoes and raging waterfalls.

The 32-year-old, who is originally from Barcelona, Spain, said: 'I've always been a traveller, with plenty of curiosity to explore the unknown - not as a tourist, but to experience the authenticity of different cultures.

'I worked hard to save up my money, and decided to fulfil my dream of seeing the world.

Globe-trotting Carles Giro de Pedro, from Ontario, snapped a picture as he went snorkelling during a visit to Fiji in the South Pacific

The 32-year-old, who is originally from Barcelona, Spain, said: 'I've always been a traveller, with plenty of curiosity to explore the unknown - not as a tourist, but to experience the authenticity of different cultures'

Giro de Pedro said he decided to head on an around-the-world trip after working hard and saving money. He's pictured here in Tokyo

'I saw a lot of wonderful and interesting things.

'The Danakil area in Ethiopia is an area of extraordinary geological fascination, it feels like you are in a strange lunar landscape studded with an active volcanoes.

'One day we took a five hour hike to Mount Erta Ale, starting at 5pm as the sun went down.

Holding up his camera, the keen explorer takes a selfie with the Mursi people in their village in South Ethiopia

Visiting the likes of the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia (right) and packed beaches in the US (left), the excited tourist recorded his journey around the globe

Snapping away Giro de Pedro poses for the camera as he travels on public transport while visiting Japan's bustling capital, Tokyo

'When we arrived at the top of the volcano, the view of the crater was amazing - lava was moving and I could feel the power of Mother Nature.

'I also visited the Sikerei tribe in the Mentawaii Islands in Indonesia - one of earth's most fascinating and best-preserved indigenous cultures.

'While I was there I had the privilege to live like part of their family - the highlight was when they organized a night ceremony in my honour, I felt like I had gone back in time.

Giro de Pedro captures the moment he attempts to touch a wild deer in Kyoto, Japan

Giro de Pedro poses in busy Osaka, Japan, which is known for its modern architecture, boisterous nightlife and hearty street food

'I felt really lucky to be taken in as part of their family and experience their ancient culture.

'Jumping around different countries in a short time made me realise how extremely unequal the world is.

'I spent a few days in Dubai, where I was astonished how much money it cost to build a luxury city in the middle of the desert - and then I travelled to the capital of Ethiopia and I was shocked at the difference in just a six hour flight from one city to another, it was the same in every country I visited.'

Giro de Pedro has snapped his picture in some of the world's most beautiful locations including Maui in Hawaii

Giro de Pedro visited a whole host of exotic locations across six continents - including United Arab Emirates, Hawaii, Cuba, Fiji, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Ethiopia. Pictured in Sa Pa, Veitnam

Carles said that jumping around different countries in a short time made him realise how 'extremely unequal the world is'. Pictured in Japan

Posing at 10,000ft, Giro de Pedro trekked around Maui in Hawaii, which is known for its beach resorts, diverse geography and outdoor activities
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZIKA

WHAT IS ZIKA?

The Zika (ZEE'-ka) virus was first discovered in monkey in Uganda in 1947 - its name comes from the Zika forest where it was first discovered.

It is native mainly to tropical Africa, with outbreaks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. It appeared in Brazil last year and has since been seen in many Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.

HOW IS IT SPREAD?

It is transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever.

It is not known to spread from person to person.

Investigators, though, are exploring the possibility that the virus can be passed on through sex - it was found in one man's semen in Tahiti and there's been another report of possible spread of the virus through sex.

The World Health Organisation says Zika is rapidly spreading in the Americas because it is new to the region, people aren't immune to it, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries it is just about everywhere - including along the southern United States.

Canada and Chile are the only places without this mosquito.

ARE THERE SYMPTOMS?

Experts think most people infected with Zika virus don't get sick.

And those that do usually develop mild symptoms - fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes - which usually last no more than a week.

There is no specific medicine and there hasn't been a vaccine developed for it, which is the case for some other tropical illnesses that cause periodic outbreaks.

WHY IS IT A CONCERN NOW?

In Brazil, there has been mounting evidence linking Zika infection in pregnant women to a rare birth defect called microcephaly, in which a newborn's head is smaller than normal and the brain may not have developed properly.

Brazilian health officials last October noticed a spike in cases of microcephaly in tandem with the Zika outbreak.

The connection to Zika is still being investigated, and officials note there are many causes of the condition. Nearly 5,000 cases have been recorded.

Meanwhile, doctors have noted increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis.

But the link to the Zika virus is not clear; other infections can spark the problem, including dengue fever.

CAN THE SPREAD BE STOPPED?

Individuals can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents, and wearing long sleeves and long pants - especially during daylight, when the mosquitoes tend to be most active, health officials say.

Eliminating breeding spots and controlling mosquito populations can help prevent the spread of the virus.

HAVE THERE BEEN CASES IN THE US?

Yes, but in tourists. Since 2007 there have been more than two dozen cases diagnosed in the US all travellers who are believed to have caught it overseas.

(Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have each had a recent case that didn't involve a traveller.)

The kind of mosquito that spreads Zika is found along the southern states, so experts think it's likely the pests may end up spreading the virus there.

But officials also have said Zika infections probably won't be a big problem in the US for a number of reasons, including the more common use of air conditioning and door and window screens.

Recent U.S. outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya - carried by the same mosquito - suggest any Zika outbreaks may be relatively small, said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHAT ARE THE TRAVEL ADVISORIES?

US health officials recommend that pregnant women should consider postponing trips to at least 30 destinations. For up-to-date information of the CDC's travel advisories, check the CDC's Zika page.

The CDC advises against traveling in Latin America to: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and Venezuela. In the Caribbean: Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Martin and Puerto Rico. Also, Cape Verde, off the coast of western Africa; and Samoa in the South Pacific. Additional countries have also been added to the list.

In Brazil, most of the mothers who had babies with microcephaly were apparently infected during the first trimester, but there is some evidence the birth defect can occur later in the pregnancy, CDC officials say.
A Malaysian budget airline has given in to mounting pressure and apologised after it used photos of womens buttocks to promote discounted flights.

Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, faced a backlash from the public, including womens rights groups, for objectifying women in adverts that appeared online and in national newspapers on the week of International Womens Day.

The images, which were posted on Facebook and emailed to subscribers, showed the lower half of womens bodies, in pencil skirts, with flight discounts printed on their backsides.

Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, issued an apology after posting this advert online and in newspapers

A second advert, featuring two women, was posted on Facebook and sent to the airline's email subscribers

Firefly was heavily criticised after the ads were published last week.

One was posted on Facebook under the headline Come grab it real fast, with accompanying image that suggested a woman had sat in wet paint on a bench.

The advert, with the caption Firefly sticks to you, had 50% off printed on the back of the womans orange skirt  the colour of uniform worn by the airlines flight attendants.

Womens rights groups and politicians said the campaign was sexist and offensive, and there were calls for it be scrapped and for the low-cost airline to apologise.

Facing mounting pressure, Firefly deleted the ads from its Facebook page and made a public apology

A women's rights group said this 'tawdry' ad effectively said that women are mere objects for 'sale'

The Subang-based regional carrier, which flies to domestic destinations such as Langkawi and Ipoh and international destinations such as Bangkok and Singapore, bowed to pressure and deleted the images from its Facebook page.

It offered an apology today, writing: We at Firefly has [sic] no intention to be sexist in how we conduct our business and we have the utmost respect for everyone.

We regret that our recent advertisement visuals has [sic] caused discomfort in certain quarters and for that we apologise.

MailOnline Travel has contacted Firefly for comment.

Womens Centre for Change, Penang was one of the groups that criticised the airline.

The organisations senior advocacy officer, Melissa Mohd Akhir, told the Malay Mail Online: It is clear objectification when the image featured had zoomed in presumably on the buttocks of Fireflys own women employees in order to sell discounted tickets.
A trio of pilots has made history by becoming Royal Brunei Airlines first all-female flight crew - and theyre gaining attention thanks to the destination they flew to on their inaugural flight together.

While it was a landmark moment for the carrier, the flight was also significant because the pilots landed at an airport in Saudi Arabia  a country where women are banned from driving a car.

Captain Sharifah Czarena and senior first officers Sariana Nordin and Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem were behind the controls of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on flight BI081 from Brunei to Jeddah.

Captain Sharifah Czarena (left) and senior first officers Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem (middle) and Sariana Nordin

Captain Sharifah Czarena and senior first officers Sariana Nordin and Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem were behind the controls of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner (pictured, but not actual plane) on flight BI081 from Brunei to Jeddah

Royal Brunei assigned three female pilots to the 24 February flight as it celebrated Brunei National Day, which marks the states full independence from the UK in 1984.

Czarena trained at the Cabair Flying School at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, and operates a number of the state-owned carriers major routes.

She said she felt honoured to be part of Royal Bruneis first female trip in the flight deck and she hopes it will inspire young girls or women who want to pursue a career in aviation.

She told MailOnline Travel: Our National Day theme was "Generation with a Vision" and we as a team felt truly proud to be representing just that.

Statistically, aviation is still male-dominated, however the positive trend of women in the industry is very encouraging and I am hopeful it can only get better.

This achievement of ours will hopefully make girls and women realise that pursuing a career in aviation is possible.

Captain Sharifah Czarena trained at the Cabair Flying School at Cranfield, Bedfordshire

Czarena was inspired to become a pilot after she sat in the cockpit on a flight as a young girl.

She said: Growing up, I wanted to become a "somebody" and it was my father who instilled confidence and taught me to do my best and be the best that I could be.

It was at the age of nine, after an opportunity to sit in the flight deck for a landing into Brunei that the seed was planted; I wanted to become a pilot.

In December 2013, she became the first-ever Royal Brunei pilot to fly out of London Heathrow in its flagship Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

All-female crews have become a trend in recent months.

Last week a number of airlines, including Air Canada and Air India, operated long-haul flights staffed by female pilots to coincide with Women of Aviation Worldwide Week.

Royal Brunei assigned three female pilots to the 24 February flight to Jeddah (pictured) as it celebrated Brunei National Day, which marks the states full independence from the UK in 1984

Royal Brunei, the national flag carrier of Brunei, a sovereign state on the north coast of Borneo, said it has taken steps to encourage more women to pursue careers that are traditionally dominated by men.

It said it has introduced an aircraft engineer apprentice programme for both men and women.

Given the destination was Saudi Arabia, where womens rights are severely limited, the story about Royal Bruneis all-female crew has gone viral on the internet.

The tiny state of Brunei, a former British protectorate, has faced criticism for its own record on women's rights.

In 2013, its sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced a new penal code based on sharia law, which was condemned by human rights organisations because it reintroduced the death penalty.

The first phase, implemented in 2014, included imprisonment as punishment for lesbianism, cross-dressing, abortion, theft and alcohol consumption.

The second adopted whipping and amputation for crimes, while the third phase allows for stoning to death in cases of rape, adultery, pre-marital sex and sodomy.

So far, only the first phase has been implemented.
A German pilot took to the skies and created an impressive plane outline using GPS flight data - then returned later on to sign it.

The artistic pilot was behind the controls of a single-engined plane when he or she 'drew' the double propeller image on a flight path over Germany on Saturday.

Screen grabs of the impressive flight path have already been shared more than 300 times after they were shared by a flight-tracking website.

A private pilot flying a small Robin DR-400/180 Regent sketched the enormous image in the air near Bremerhaven

The four-seater flew towards its destination - Heligoland in Germany - when it suddenly made a sharp left turn and began to draw the large aircraft at 3,500ft

The private pilot of the small Robin DR-400/180 Regent sketched the enormous image , captured on FlightRadar in the air near Bremerhaven.

It appeared to be a standard flight as the German plane departed from Hamburg shortly after 12.35pm local time.

The four-seater flew towards its destination - Heligoland in Germany - when it suddenly made a sharp left turn and began to draw the large aircraft at 3,500ft.

After creating the masterpiece, the pilot made their way towards the final destination and landed at 1.52pm local time - but was not done yet.

Taking off again at 2.40pm, the private pilot made their way back towards Hamburg and made sure to sign his or her initials along the way.

Taking off again at 2.40pm, the private pilot made their way back towards Hamburg and made sure to sign his or her initials along the way

During a 23-minute long flight on Wednesday, the same anonymous pilot drew a heart at 2,350ft before returning to Hamburg airport

The artistic sky GPS flight data drawings follow a previous sketch done by the same pilot on Wednesday.

During a 23-minute long flight, the anonymous pilot drew a heart at 2,350ft before returning to Hamburg airport.

MailOnline Travel previously covered an inflight artist in 2015, who clearly had time on his hands and may have produced the lewdest image ever using GPS flight data.

The pilot was behind the controls of a single-engine plane when he drew a naughty image on a flight path over central Florida in March.
He has become the new face of Star Wars thanks to his role in The Force Awakens.

And John Boyega was seen putting his fame to good use as he granted a special wish for five-year-old Star Wars fan Daniel in association with Rays of Sunshine Childrens Charity at Royal London Hospital on Sunday morning.

The actor paid a visit to the young fan, who is currently living with a brain tumour, in order to give him the chance to meet his Star Wars character Finn and the pair worked together to hand out present to other young patients.

May the force be with you: John Boyega was seen putting his fame to good use as he granted a special wish for five-year-old Star Wars fan Daniel in association with Rays of Sunshine Childrens Charity

John, 23, found himself having to put up a fight against the young fan as they had a playful lightsaber fight, before John taught Daniel some tricks of the trade.

The Bafta-winning actor, who stars alongside Harrison Ford on the big screen, described Daniel as an amazing and inspirational boy.

He said: When I heard about Daniel's wish to meet Finn, I jumped at the chance to make it come true. It was fantastic to be a part of his very special wish with Rays of Sunshine.

Use the force Daniel: The actor paid a visit to the young fan, who is currently living with a brain tumour, in order to give him the chance to meet his Star Wars character Finn

Made his day: The Bafta-winning actor, who stars alongside Harrison Ford on the big screen, described Daniel as an amazing and inspirational boy

The Attack The Block star added: It was also great to meet the children at The Royal London Hospital and be a part of something so positive.

Speaking about the meeting, Daniels mother Rosalind gushed: To see Daniel smile like that without a care in the world after everything he's been through, knowing how much time and effort Rays of Sunshine have put in to his wish and that John Boyega gave his time to make it come true, is priceless.

She added: These things can't be bought and really do mean the world.

Touching moment: The Attack The Block star added, It was also great to meet the children at The Royal London Hospital and be a part of something so positive.

Surprise: The selfless boy chose to use his wish to brighten the lives of other seriously ill children when he delivered toys with Finn to young patients being treated at The Royal London Hospital

Taking to Instagram on Sunday evening, John wrote: 'This little stormtrooper Daniel had a wonderful wish after seeing the force awakens. Daniel currently lives with a brain tumour and rather than having Finn to himself he wanted Finn to meet the kids at the Royal London hospital and give them some toys.

'I stayed in character while I was with this brave boy asking him what a car was. He taught Finn about everything earth related!

He concluded: 'Really thankful for the opportunity this child granted me and I'm just humbled! I hope I played a little part in making you smile young stormtrooper.'

And one for you: The children seemed delighted to receive their gifts from the actor
He has become famous for challenging the masculinity norms with his gender fluid fashion sense.

But Jaden Smith opted to ditch the skirts for slight more classic attire for his latest magazine cover shoot with British GQ Style.

The 17-year-old rapper let his long dreaded locks take centre stage as he peered through his mane to fix a steely gaze at the camera.

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The new classic: Jaden Smith opted to ditch the skirts for slight more classic attire for his latest magazine cover shoot with British GQ Style

Crouching down in the black and white image, the son of Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith could be seen wearing a black bomber jacket over a crisp white shirt and a black skinny tie.

He completed his look with black trousers and trainers while he accessorised the ensemble with large rings and a pendant.

In another image from the shoot, the Karate Kid star dons a checked shirt and black blazer whilst accessorising with a beaded charm necklace.

Style star: In another image from the shoot, the Karate Kid star dons a checked shirt and black blazer whilst accessorising with a beaded charm necklace

The cover image, shot by photographer Terry Tsiolis, the Louis Vuitton brand ambassador has his dreads swept out of his face whilst staring straight into the camera.

Hitting stands: Read the full interview in the latest issue of British GQ Style, on sale from March 17

The Scarface rapper is well-known for his love of pushing the boundaries when it comes to fashion and gender and has been pictured wearing skirts in the past.

After the young actor was named the new face of Louis Vuitton's womenswear campaign in January - Will revealed the youngster is '100 per cent fearless' - a quality which both scares and inspires him.

The actor explained: 'There's a really powerful internal quality as an artist that as parents we encourage.

'You've got to get out on the edge. You have to try things, you have to be comfortable doing things people don't agree with and you have to be comfortable with doing things that you could fail.

'And Jaden is 100 per cent fearless. He will do anything.

'As a parent, it's scary, it's really terrifying but he is completely willing to live and die by his own artistic decisions and he just doesn't concern himself with what people think.
He's made a return to reality television in a bid to once again find love.

But despite the kind and fun-loving character Lachlan McAleer portrays on The Farmer Wants A Wife, another one of his ex-girlfriends has claimed the 37-year-old cattle farmer is 'the total opposite' and 'fame hungry'.

Horse trainer Natalie Cepeniuk dated the New South Wales farmer for six months last year, the busty brunette, who is actually a pig shooter, told Woman's Day magazine: 'Laid-back Lachie on TV is all an act'.

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Slammed again: Another one of The Farmer Wants A Wife star Lachlan McAleer's exes has come out and claimed the 37-year-old cattle farmer is not really who he portrays on screen

Revelations: Natalie Cepeniuk dated the New South Wales farmer for six months last year, the busty brunette actually a pig shooter who has told Woman's Day magazine 'Laid-back Lachie on TV is all an act'

After having met Lachlan back in 2014, Natalie didn't actually begin dating the dark-haired personality until early 2015, six months after he split from Clare Tamas who he met on Channel Nine's Married At First Sight. '

'Things were going great at first, but I quickly learned that he had a short fuse,' she told the publication.

Revealing she 'felt like I was walking on eggshells' for the duration of their romance, Natalie also says that she believes Lachlan's recent nose job was purely for cosmetic purposes despite his claims the procedure was for medical reasons.

Former flame: After having met Lachlan back in 2014, Natalie didn't actually began dating the dark-haired personality until early 2015

Together: Natalie shared this photo of Lachlan last year, captioning it: 'With the superstar today lol. Lachlan from married at first sight'

Hunting: Natalie shared this image on her Myspace account

Natalie has since moved on with a new man, but no doubt her familiarity with the farm and animals would have provided her and Lachlan with a shared interest during their time together.

On her Facebook page the the New South Wales resident proudly flaunts a photo of herself with a dead pig, the brunette crouching on the ground next to the deceased animal while making a thumb-up hand gesture.

According to The Gympie Times, Natalie won the pig women's event at the region's big boar hunt in July last year.

Previous reality show: For Lachlan, The Farmer Wants A Wife was his second chance at finding love, after a highly publicized failed marriage to Claire Tamas during his appearance on Married At First Sight

He's pleased: It appears he has finally found that special someone with whom he can settle down with, after it was revealed in last week's episode that he chose Belinda as his final lady

Meanwhile, horse training is another passion of hers, with many images splashed across her social media of the animals in the stables or training rings.

For Lachlan, The Farmer Wants A Wife was his second chance at finding love, after a highly publicized failed marriage to Claire Tamas during his appearance on Married At First Sight.

It appears he has finally found that special someone with whom he can settle down with, after it was revealed in last week's episode that he chose Belinda as his final lady.
He's best known for his role as the incredibly buff Marvel superhero Thor, God of Thunder.

But Chris Hemsworth looked a little on the leaner side when he surprised Melbourne clubbers over the weekend for a night on the town at Bond Bar.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the hunky 32-year-old was out partying with a group of friends in the VIP room at the Melbourne hot spot.

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Scruffier than usual: Chris Hemsworth surprised Melbourne clubbers over the weekend when he joined them for a night at Bond Bar

Looking scruffier and slimmer, Chris sported the early stages of a beard and a mop of sexy bed hair while wearing a casual denim shirt for the boys' night out.

While the star of The Avengers' franchise entered through the club's main entrance, his security stayed outside until the actor left at 2:30am.

Not seen was Chris' wife model and actress, Elsa Pataky, who was presumably home with the couple's three children, daughter India Rose and twin boys Tristan and Sasha.

The actor relocated his young family from Los Angeles to Byron Bay last year and recently listed their sprawling Malibu mansion for US $6.5 million dollars.

Buff: The hunky actor is usually seen looking buffer than what he did over the weekend

God-like: Father-of-three Chris packed on the muscle during his role as Thor for the Marvel superhero franchise

With the whole family in town, speculation is mounting that Chris will make an appearance at the Melbourne Grand Prix which begins on Thursday.

No stranger to life in the fast lane, Chris played Formula One legend James Hunt in Ron Howard's 2013 film Rush.

Fans can expect to see Chris on the big screen next in the upcoming remake of Ghostbusters, which stars Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.

Blue-eyed hunk: Chris has a busy year ahead of him starring in the upcoming remake of Ghostbusters as well as The Huntsman: Winter's War due for release later this year

Chris will feature as the Ghostbusters' receptionist in the film, and it doesn't take long for his character Kevin to get the job.

In the international trailer that dropped last week, a spectacle-wearing Kevin is seen walking into the office and announcing: 'Hello, Im here about the receptionist job.'

Immediately, a swooning Erin Gilbert (played by Kristen Wiig) replies: 'Hi. Youre hired.'
They were pitched against each other in the 2013 Oscars - with J-Law scooping the Best Actress gong.

But Jessica Chastain insists she's no rival to Jennifer Lawrence, and was surprised the Silver Linings star came into so much flak for speaking out about the gender pay gap in Hollywood.

The flame-haired 38-year-old beauty told the latest issue of Haute Living that she is a fan of the open letter Jennifer penned for Lena Dunham's blog, in which she confessed to feeling disappointed in her negotiating skills as she felt socially conditioned as a woman to not be perceived as 'difficult' or 'spoiled.'

Girl's girl: Jessica Chastain insists she's no rival to Jennifer Lawrence, and was surprised the Silver Linings star came into so much flak for speaking out about the gender pay gap in Hollywood in the latest Haute Living

'It was incredible. I loved her op-ed,' Jessica told them, 'And I was really disappointed after she wrote it that she got criticism. Sometimes people have that attitude where, "Youre an actress making a lot of money, how dare you complain?"

'Weve kind of been programmed to be grateful that weve gotten this job, so dont rock the boat. I dont think thats fair. Jennifer Lawrence coming out and saying that was really important', she added.

The actress explained to the magazine that she supports her fellow female actors, and doesn't understand the suggestion that they are in fierce competition with each other.

'There has been a stigma out there that women dont work well together. Ive never seen women like this. I remember growing up hearing this myth, that women fight when theyre together and its completely inaccurate. Ive never seen it,' she told them.

Glamour: The actress explained to the magazine that she supports her fellow female actors, and doesn't understand the suggestion that they are in fierce competition with each other

Speaking of her own experience at being nominated against Jennifer Lawrence in the 2013 Oscars, she explained that she was happy to cheer for Jen when she lost out to her.

'They were trying to get headlines and get clicks, were trying to fabricate a fake rivalry between Jennifer Lawrence and myself - and I immediately came out and said this is a media myth that has to stop.

'The women I know are not like this and I cheer for women to succeed because I know when an actress succeeds that means theres going to be that many more roles for women because an audience is going to demand it', she added.

The two-time Academy Award nominee teamed up with Freida Pinto, Queen Latifah, Catherine Hardwicke and Juliette Binoche earlier this year on a production company that aims to create more opportunities for women in TV and film.

The non-profit We Do It Together is apparently planning to develop inspiring films by and about women to ensure future opportunities, with the first film being announced in May at the Cannes Film Festival.

Supportive: Speaking of her own experience at being pitched against Jennifer Lawrence in the 2013 Oscars, she was happy to cheer for Jen when she lost out to her (pictured in January 2014)

The beauty filmed British-American war drama The Zookeeper's Wife last Autumn, based on the non-fiction book by Diane Ackerman.

It tells the story the keepers of Warsaw Zoo, Jan and Antonina Zabinski, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion.

Jessica explained that it was unusual to work on a film with such a high percentage of women on the cast and crew - including the director Niki Caro, screenwriter Angela Workman and author Ackerman, as well as producers Diane Levin, Kim Zubick and Katie McNeill.

She told the publication that she felt appreciated and valued working among so many females in a way that male-dominated sets just cant provide.

'If youre one of the only women on a set - if its you and a bunch of men - you feel like your value doesnt come from your thoughts and your talent and what you say: your value comes from how you look and how youre perceived by the men around you,' she said.

'Im not saying that you should have a film set where its predominantly women, Im just saying when you have more women and you have more balance in a situation, its going to be a healthier experience,' The Help star added.

Female empowerment: The two-time Academy Award nominee is involved with a non-profit production company that aims to create more opportunities for women in TV and film (pictured last month)

The Huntsman: Winters War actress said she feels like the film industry is changing, telling Haute Living: 'The more that people communicate about the problems that we have, the better its going to be. Thats how change happens; you can feel it percolating.

'You look at the Best Picture nominees from last year, and there was not one that had a female protagonist. That is so upsetting to me, because that means that every picture that they deemed worthy of a nomination was from a male point of view. This year, there are four of the seven that have female protagonists.'

She added: 'I do think that the industry itself wants to change we want diversityand I think it had just gotten stagnant. I think the more that we shake it up, it will make a difference. Im starting to see it'.

The Zero Dark Thirty is seen in the magazine showing off her classic beauty and porcelain skin, and told them that she appreciates her anachronistic style.

'For the longest time, people would say to me that I didnt feel very modern, that I seemed from another time,' she told them.

'I feel like a throwback to something else, but its not like Im wearing something that feels like my grandmother would have worn', she said of her classic meets modern style.

Girl power: The beauty filmed British-American war drama The Zookeeper's Wife last Autumn, based on the non-fiction book by Diane Ackerman, and said it's the most female-heavy cast and crew she's worked with

Jessica is currently filming Miss Sloane in Toronto but explained that when she is back home she doesn't hit the party circuit, preferring quiet nights with her close group of friends.

'Most people think of actresses as liking to go out and party and get wild, and Id say Im not that. Im very contained and quiet, so that I can put my chaos on the screen,

'I save up my energy in my personal life. I live the most simple, beautiful life and that way, when Im on stage, I can be crazy,' she told them.

'My favorite thing is to have a community and be home. Because of my job, I travel a lot. I meet so many people and its so much fun and I learn a lot about different societies and cultures, but when Im home I just want to rest up,' she confessed.

'Im incredibly loyal; very, very, very loyal. I have a very small group of friends, and Im like the Mama Bear. Im very protective,' the star added.
She was slammed by former friend Andrew Taza last week for purchasing clothes she sold on her online store, Pialia Boutique.

Now I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here's Laurina Fleure has hit out at the male while confirming the allegations she sources her clothes from China.

'Yeah I do source my products from China...what is wrong with that?' the 31-year-old stated on KIIS106.5's Kyle & Jackie O Show on Monday.

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Speaking out: I'm A Celebrity's Laurina Fleure confirms she does purchase clothes from China for online store as she hits out at former friend who slammed her for her actions last week

She went on to explain that she personally travels to the country and selects the items, which she sells online for between $39.00 and $399.

'I go there myself three times a year and spend over a week trying and looking over a million different items and picking out about 30 items that are the best and most well-made,' Laurina said.

'I try on every piece to make sure the quality is beautiful.'

Setting the record straight: While appearing on KIIS FM the 31-year-old said 'Yeah I do source my products from China' while asking listeners 'what is wrong with that?'

Made in China:She went on to explain that she personally tries on and selects the items, which she sells online between $39.00 and $399

Truth: The reality television starlet went on to add that she dreams of creating her own garments but it could only happen if her small-business was larger in size

The reality television starlet went on to add that she dreams of creating her own garments but it could only happen if her small-business was larger in size.

'I would love my business to be big enough to manufacture and produce my own products but for the meantime that is where I source it,' she told the radio hosts.

But while she settled the allegations on where she purchases her clothing, Laurina slammed her ex-friend for 'trying to cash in on my glory' labelling the move 'pathetic'.

She explained she had 'barred that guy over a year ago' after they they met and became friends following her appearance on The Bachelor in 2014.

Cashing in: While she settled the allegations on where she purchases her clothing, Laurina slammed her ex-friend for 'trying to cash in on my glory' while simply labelling it as 'pathetic'

Last week Andrew told New Idea magazine the former Bachelor beauty sells cheap clothes from China in her online boutique.

'Her real name is Laurina Fitzgerald and she buys the clothes from China, sewing her own labels into them,' he told the publication.

The website does not specify the country of origin of the designs but a representative at the time confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that 'yes, the clothes are from China'.

Trying his luck: Andrew revealed the former Bachelor beauty sells cheap clothes from China in her online boutique in an interview with New Idea magazine last week

They also made it clear they are 'certainly not' designer knockoffs and are bought from a 'wholesale district' where 'buyers from all over the world come to purchase clothes for resale in their own country'.

And while Laurina 'dreams to one day have her original designs on her website' there is no suggestion on the boutique's About page that she had a hand in designing the clothes for sale.

Indeed, she states: 'I handpick the pieces for Pialia's collections, keeping in mind an air of luxury, glamour and understated elegance.
Her guest appearance on The Only Way Is Essex's 200th episode was hotly-anticipated by fans.

And Megan McKenna didn't disappoint as she brought drama to Sunday night's programme, clashing with feisty Chloe Sims before revealing the extent of her feelings for new beau Pete Wicks.

But whilst the 23-year-old reality star caused a stir with her explosive arrival, fans of the ITVBe series were divided as whilst some confessed to loving the drama, other viewers claimed she was 'acting'.

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Unimpressed: Megan McKenna found herself in the middle of the drama as she joined TOWIE newcomers Courtney Green (L) and Chloe Meadows (R) during Sunday night's 200th anniversary episode

Passionate Pete: Megan was invited to the party by new beau Pete Wicks who she called a 'good kisser'

Leaping to her feet during what was meant to be a sophisticated meal at Lydia Bright and James Argent's 1920's themed party, the Celebrity Big Brother star, 23, found herself in the middle of a screaming match between Chloe Sims and Courtney Green.

Erupting as Chloe got the wrong end of a stick during a conversation about James 'Lockie' Lock, Megan found herself rushing to the end of the table to defend her friend.

After overhearing Megan say that 'people had been jumping on the bandwagon' whilst discussing Courtney's feud with Danielle Armstrong, Chloe proceeded to call Courtney over, disrupting the entire meal and sending the night into disrepute.

But as the argument came to a head, the blonde beauty insisted she had not tweeted any nasty comments about the two newcomers, whilst assuring Megan that she did not have a problem with her either.

Misunderstanding: Chloe Sims was furious as she overheard that people 'were jumping on the bandwagon'

The group came to blows after Danielle confronted Courtney about flirting with her ex-boyfriend.

'You said you'd let me know if you fancied Lockie,' the boutique owner raged. Then I heard you saying "Dani needs to get over it," so to me that's you being a little b***h.'

She continued: 'I'm trying so hard to get over him. It's mucked my head up. You've made me feel like s**t.'

Taking a stand: Megan shot to her feet as the argument came to an explosive head

Fustrated: Chloe got the wrong end of the stick and found herself involved in the drama

Daring debut: Megan certainly made an impression on her TOWIE debut

Sticking up for her friend, Megan did her best to diffuse the situation, reasoning: 'I get Courtney's banter.

'Everyone needs to work out Courtney's being sarcastic.

'Too many people are jumping on the bandwagon. It is your issue you should sort out the issue.'

Golden girl: Clad in a glittering golden gown Megan found herself rushing to the end of the table to defend her friend

TOWIE trouble: New girls Courtney and Chloe found themselves feeling isolated on the night

But whilst she brought some drama to the episode, some viewers believed she wasn't being genuine, with one viewer tweeting: 'Why is @MeganMcKenna full on acting.'

Another added: 'Urgh @MeganMckenna on my screen acting like she's in a Hollywood movie. Get her off please.'

One viewer simply wrote: 'Megan McKenna is an awful actor.'

However, several fans of the show tweeted that they had enjoyed the scenes, with one posting: '@MeganMcKenna you've just stepped #TOWIE up to the next level!! #sweet'

Cute couple: Earlier in the night, Megan turned heads as she arrived at the party clad in a glittering figure-hugging gown on the arm of Pete Wicks

Divided: Whilst many fans enjoyed Megan's appearance, some were less than impressed

Fans: Viewers were divided over her appearance but many wanted to make it a permanent fixture

Earlier in the night, Megan turned heads as she arrived at the party clad in a glittering figure-hugging gown that showed off her phenomenal figure as she met up with her date for the evening, Pete Wicks.

Ahead of the sit down dinner, Megan had warned her new beau that their could be trouble brewing as she explained: 'I'm friends with Danielle but it's unfair on Courtney.

'It was two against six,' she reasoned - referring to Chloe and Courtney's tension with the other girls - as she added, 'but now there's three.'

Cosy: The couple sat together on the table as Pete tried to stay out the drama that was brewing

No doubt bracing himself for drama, Pete sighed: 'I'm going to have to keep you in check.'

Entering the dining hall, the feisty brunette turned heads as she waltzed in on the arm of Essex's resident 'pirate'.

Speaking to the girls, Megan revealed that she could see potential in the handsome reality star as she admitted to her friends: 'I haven't felt this way, I'm excited and he's a really good kisser.'

She elaborated: 'Really good like sexual, he's a gentleman.'
Indian Summers

Rating:

Doctor Thorne

Rating:

Sunday nights are getting so saucy that pretty soon youll have to be over 18 to watch Countryfile. First there was topless Aidan Turner waving his scythe about in Poldark, and naked soldiers splashing like bathing belles in War And Peace.

Now Tom Hiddleston has whipped down his boxers to display his bare buttocks on BBC1 for a bedroom scene in The Nude Manager. Or, since co-star Elizabeth Debicki is also falling out of her clothes every other minute, perhaps should that be Tinker, Tailor, Stripper, Spy.

Nikesh Patel, who plays secret revolutionary Aafrin, was bashing away at the typewriter, all brooding and intense, and barely decent

How was Indian Summers (C4) to compete as it returned to the 9pm slot? Why, by having its star naked to the waist from the start. Nikesh Patel, who plays secret revolutionary Aafrin, was bashing away at the typewriter, all brooding and intense, and barely decent.

He looked like a male model who was pretending to be literate for a photoshoot. This, no doubt, is how Salman Rushdie imagines he must appear when he is writing.

Why Aafrin had forgotten to put his clothes on, we were not told.

Possibly hed been in too much of a rush to get to his portable typewriter, after leaping out of his lovers bed. But if that was the case, why had he taken the time to trim and groom his chest hair so carefully?

Indian Summers built a reputation last year for racy Raj drama, with memsahibs driven mad with lust by the heat of the merciless sun.

What doesnt make sense is the idea that Ralph, a suburban upstart without a smudge of posh blood, is next in line to be Viceroy of India

Sunday telly has veered much closer to full-blown soft porn since then, and Patel has a lot of catching up to do if he is to compete with Tom Hiddlestons bottom.

The plots to both this and The Night Manager are basically the same, except one is about arms deals and the other is set in the last days of the British Empire. Both Patel and Hiddleston play moody characters nursing broken hearts who infiltrate the enemy HQ by posing as heroes and getting themselves half-killed in the process.

When hes got his shirt on, Patel makes a plausible clerk inside the Raj bureaucracy, a loyal and silent servant to the ruthless young diplomat Ralph Whelan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes).

What doesnt make sense is the idea that Ralph, a suburban upstart without a smudge of posh blood, is next in line to be Viceroy of India.

When hes got his shirt on, Patel makes a plausible clerk inside the Raj bureaucracy, a loyal and silent servant to the ruthless young diplomat Ralph Whelan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes)

In 1935, the real viceroy was the Earl of Willingdon, a lord in ermine like every one of his predecessors for 60 years. Young Ralph would have stood about as much chance of being viceroy as he did of being the Chinese Emperor.

Unbelievable it may be, but Indian Summers is not completely unwatchable, thanks to a riotous turn from Julie Walters as the local madam.

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She welcomed a crowd of booze-sodden Brits to her clubhouse in the Himalayan foothills, wearing a red, white and blue turban that opened to reveal a white dove.

The dove refused to fly away, so Julie jumped up and down like a madwoman on a pogo stick.

Best actress award for the night didnt go to her, however. Rebecca Front was magnificently horrid in Doctor Thorne (ITV), fuming like a pantomime dame at her disobedient children who would insist on falling in love with people who simply werent rich enough.

As Lady Arabella Gresham, her prize-clinching moment came when she gathered her skirts like Les Dawson in a huff, stormed towards a door and stopped dead in her tracks. She said nothing, not even glancing round, but she refused to move until the doctor (Tom Hollander) leapt forward to open it for her.

Rebecca Front (far right) was magnificently horrid in Doctor Thorne (ITV), fuming like a pantomime dame at her disobedient children who would insist on falling in love with people who simply werent rich enough

Her silent dudgeon was better than any dialogue. The script has been short on sizzle, since writer Julian Fellowes prefers to state the obvious whenever possible.

In one early scene, a character spotted Hollander across the street and cried, Why, its Doctor Thorne! Viewers who need reminders as blunt as that would probably be better off going to bed.

But Fellowes knack for 40-second scenes, which made Downton Abbey so addictive, served him well as he boiled down a hefty Victorian novel into three episodes.
Having swapped their aristocratic attire for simple running gear and trainers, it somewhat lacks the pomp and ceremony of a War and Peace courtship.

But James Norton and Jessie Buckley certainly look comfortable in each others company as they enjoyed a jog together over the weekend.

The pair played siblings Prince Andrei and Princess Marya in the lavish BBC drama but have since developed a far more intimate relationship away from the cameras.

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Phwoar And Peace: James Norton and girlfriend and onscreen sister Jessie Buckley certainly looked comfortable in each others company as they enjoyed a jog together over the weekend

The joint run is the first time they have been spotted together since news of their relationship emerged last month.

In their running gear  Norton complete with a pink hat  they hardly cut the grand figures of their on-screen characters but the chemistry between them seems clear as they chatted with each other.

The public first learned of their romance when they were spotted kissing at a Brit Awards after-party last month.

Swoon: The pair played siblings Prince Andrei and Princess Marya in the lavish BBC drama but have since developed a far more intimate relationship away from the cameras

According to a source, the pair have been involved for months, keeping their romance a secret from Nortons legion of female fans - who were surely heartbroken at the news.

With his chiselled cheekbones and brooding glare, the dashing aristocrat the 30-year-old actor played in the BBC series set the nations pulses racing and earned the title of the Russian Mr Darcy.

Norton, who also stars in Grantchester and Happy Valley, has recently spoken of his desire to eventually settle down and start a family.

He said: I definitely want that, because my sister and I were raised in a really close family and my parents are still very much in love and living in Yorkshire. Thats the kind of end game that I would love, too.

Miss Buckley, 26, starred in War and Peace as Nortons plain-faced sister, who struggled to find a suitor until the end of the six-part drama.

Before landing the role of Princess Marya, Miss Buckley first rose to fame on Andrew Lloyd Webbers talent show Id Do Anything, in which he searched for a star to play Nancy on stage in Oliver.

Despite having the backing of Lloyd Webber, she lost in the final. Even Sir Terry Wogan later weighed in to claim she should have been the victor.

The Irish actress, who plays four instruments, has also enjoyed a career on the stage, starring as Miranda in a 2013 production of The Tempest at The Globe Theatre and alongside Jude Law in 2013s Henry V.

The eldest of five siblings, she is the daughter of renowned Irish soprano and harpist Marina Cassidy. She took up performing at the age of seven but was rejected by two drama schools before finding fame.

Representatives for Norton and Miss Buckley did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Picking up the shopping: According to a source, the pair have been involved for months, keeping their romance a secret from Nortons legion of female fans - who were surely heartbroken at the news




Lucy Mecklenburgh came over all nostalgic posting a trio of throwback shots of her favourite ever scenes following the 200th episode of TOWIE which was shown on Sunday night.

The brunette beauty shared a throwback snap of herself via Instagram, in which she is wearing a very sexy plunging swimsuit from an episode of the show which was filmed in 2013.

A second one showed her clubbing with her former fiance Mario Falcone also in shot - and a third saw her casually relaxing with her puppy, although Mario was cropped out of this one.

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Trip down memory lane: Lucy Mecklenburgh shared this very sexy picture of herself wearing a white swimsuit as she shared her favourite three scenes from TOWIE following the 200th episode

Looking back: She shared a collage of pictures of her favourite moments from the show

She captioned the image with the words: 'So weird watching #thepoweroftowie tonight sooo many memories it feels like so long ago!

'These are 3 of my fav scenes what is your fav throw back scene??? #towie #towie200.'

Lucy came over all sentimental with her collage of pictures on Sunday to celebrate TOWIE's 200th episode.

Loves young dream: Lucy singled out a picture with her ex Mario Falcone and a puppy as one of her favourite moments, but she cropped him out of her collage

There he is: But the love rat did just about feature in one of her snaps, although it looks like they are having a row

And a host of other characters from the show past and present, joined her on social networking as they reminisced about the show.

James Argent said: 'Here's to another 200 episodes!x' while Amy Childs tweeted her best moment ever saying: 'Who could forget the big BAFTA win?'

Lauren Goodger also wrote: 'Getting a lot of tweets about @OnlyWayIsEssex 200th episode and asking where Iam?I haven't watched it yet but can only guess..Hope u enjoy.'

Nostalgic: James Argent celebrated the special day with a Tweet to his fans

Essex favourite: Lauren Goodger sent out a message to her fans

Best moment ever: Amy Child reflected on her best moments in the ITV show

Meanwhile Lucy has hit back at those on Instagram who have criticised her weight, calling her too skinny.

The former TOWIE star took to her Instagram page to vent her frustrations about the hurtful comments which she had been receiving on social media about her gym-honed figure.

Her post began with the former reality star sharing her joy about a fun cinema experience before she then added: I have had a lot of comments recently that have been quite cruel about me & my body including- 'your body is like a 12 year old boy'.

'No curves, no shape, skinny as f***, waste of time', 'Looks like a little girl, used to look decent with curves & nice pair of tits', 'Too skinny'.

She continued: 'Doesn't have a real job so has time to exercise & make fancy healthy meals', 'You look ill', 'Must starve herself', 'Bad role model'

Firstly this is body shaming & I'm sick of it!! Last week I did 4 hours of @resultswithlucy HIIT training & Pilates.

Fun night: Her post began by sharing her joy about a fun cinema experience before she then added, I have had a lot of comments recently that have been quite cruel about me & my body'

Take that: Lucy continued her rant saying: I promote an active lifestyle with eating clean 80% of the time! It's important to indulge & enjoy naughty food in moderation of coarse (sic).

Describing her hectic work schedule she explained: I work 6 days a week this week I had 2 photoshoots, worked at @resultswithlucy HQ planning & practising new workout videos & hosted a LIVE workout, organising the next RWLlive event, meetings discussing up & coming programmes & projects, buying @lucysboutique_ stock & working in my Brentwood store.

Yesterday I worked 9.30am-5.30pm in @lucysboutique_ I had a blowdry at 7am then went home & had scrambled egg, smoked salmon, crushed avocado. I made a green juice to take to work with me, for lunch I had a tuna salad & 2x peppermint teas.

Dinner I went for a Thai meal & a Bellini then in the cinema afterwards I had a ice-cream choc sundae & 2x red wines.

Lucy continued her rant saying: I promote an active lifestyle with eating clean 80% of the time! It's important to indulge & enjoy naughty food in moderation of coarse (sic). I always make time for breakfast & always have 3 meals a day & a fresh juice.
She recently played the fictional laundry worker turned activist Maud Watts, who is the centre of Sarah Gavrons Suffragette.

And Carey Mulligan once again adopted the role of a suffragette to read a rousing letter demanding the vote for women at the Letters Live event on Sunday.

The actress received loud cheers from the audience as she recited Bertha Brewster's forthright 1913 note to the Daily Telegraph.

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Special appearance: Carey Mulligan once again adopted the role of a suffragette to read a rousing letter demanding the vote for women at the Letters Live event on Sunday

She read to the whooping audience, Everyone seems to agree upon the necessity of putting a stop to Suffragist outrages; but no one seems certain how to do so.

There are two, and only two, ways in which this can be done. Both will be effectual.One, kill every woman in the United Kingdom. Two, give women the vote.

Mulligan later moved the audience to tears as she read a heart-breaking letter from Chrissy Hart to author JK Rowling, thanking her for the gift Harry Potter had been to her cancer-stricken daughter.

Defining role: The actress received loud cheers from the audience as she recited Bertha Brewster's forthright 1913 note to the Daily Telegraph

In good company: Other famous faces including Benedict Cumberbatch and Jude Law brought to life historic letters at Freemasons' Hall

Thespian: The Sherlock star treated the audience to a flawless impersonation of a 17-year Tom Hanks in a letter to The Sting director George Roy Hill, urging him to 'discover' the young actor

Other famous faces including Benedict Cumberbatch and Jude Law brought to life historic letters at Freemasons' Hall.

The Sherlock star treated the audience to a flawless impersonation of a 17-year Tom Hanks in a letter to The Sting director George Roy Hill, urging him to 'discover' the young actor.

It revealed two-time Oscar winner Hanks' teenage dream was not to be a big-time, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling over me but to one day own a Porsche and call Robert Redford Bob.

Face to face: It revealed two-time Oscar winner Hanks' teenage dream was not to be a big-time, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling over me but to one day own a Porsche and call Robert Redford Bob

Dream team: Benedict's lovely wife Sophie Hunter performed Letters from Hermione Gingold & A Friend with Louise Brearley

The force is strong with this one! Stars Wars star Oscar Isaac was also on hand to recite a famous letter

Benedict's lovely wife Sophie Hunter performed Letters from Hermione Gingold & A Friend with Louise Brearley.

Stars Wars star Oscar Isaac was also on hand to recite a famous letter, while actress Sarah Snook performs Letter from Madame de Sevigne during the fourth night of the Letters Live series.

Director Danny Boyle prompted roars of laughter as he read Spike Milligan's frustrated letter to his incommunicado friend George Harrison, explaining how telephones worked, and clamours of assent with philosopher Bertrand Russell's condemnation of Sir Oswald Mosley.

Stunning location: While actress Sarah Snook performs Letter from Madame de Sevigne during the fourth night of the Letters Live series at the Freemason's Hall
Despite his dashingly handsome good looks, it was clear he never quite had the confidence levels of fellow Bachelorette finalists Michael Turnbull or Sasha Mielczarek.

But now that he's been confirmed as Australia's newest Bachelor, it seems Richie Strahan is working to towards breaking down his shyness.

An industry insider told this week's issue of Woman's Day that the 30-year-old hunk 'has undergone media, acting and dialogue training to combat his nerves'.

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Getting ready: An insider reveals new Bachelor Richie Strahan 'has undergone media, acting and dialogue training to combat his nerves'

They added that Richie's 'a shy guy...(but) he'll be back this year with a new-found confidence.'

The rope access technician from Perth, who was known by his catchphrase 'cool bananas', is 'thrilled' to be returning to TV for a second chance at reality love after he failed to make it last with Sam Frost.

He added to AAA Weekend on Saturday that he would even be prepared to move away from his family in Western Australia if he finds a special someone on the show.

'(Leaving Perth) is something I have certainly considered,' he said.

'I have come into this experience with an open mind and I don't want to put up walls to stop me meeting a girl I could fall in love with.'

Before: The 30-year-old is a rope access technician from Perth

Anything for love: He says he is prepared to move away from his family in Western Australia if he finds a special someone on the show

Richie will be following in the footsteps of previous incumbents, Tim Robards, Blake Garvey and Sam Wood - all of whom found love on the show.

And with his tall, muscular frame, piercing blue eyes and boyish good looks, the blonde hunk certainly ticks all the right boxes for the show.

His last reported romance, with former Big Brother star Tully Smyth, came shortly after Sam left him heartbroken in an emotional Bachelorette semi-final.

Richie has admitted his love-life had been stop start following his appearance on the hit show, and has insisted he won't be 'kissing girls for the sake of it' when it airs later this year.

Shy guy: The hunk was never quite as confident as his Bachelorette co-stars

Trying again: Richie is 'thrilled' to be returning to TV for a second chance at reality love after he failed to make it last with Sam Frost
Little Mix ensured the wowed the crowds on the first night of their Get Weird tour as they showcased their trim figures in sexy stage outfits.

The X Factor girl group put on a racy display at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff as they treated their Welsh fans to renditions of their biggest hits on Sunday evening.

Perrie Edwards looked as confident as ever as she writhed around the stage in a lacy black bralet which she teamed with matching high-waisted pants and fishnets tights.

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Little Minxes! Little Mix ensured the wowed the crowds on the first night of their Get Weird tour as they showcased their trim figures in sexy stage outfits

The blonde beauty completed the look with bespoke black boots by JF London and sexy tousled locks as she gave a typically energetic performance alongside her bandmates Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall.

Leigh-Anne was also seen putting one racy display in her similar stage outfit which featured cut-out detail.

The 24-year-old wore her locks in a natural afro style while she out her vocal prowess on display for the eager crowd.

See more of the latest Little Mix updates as Perrie Edwards shows off her slender frame

Black magic: Perrie Edwards looked as confident as ever as she writhed around the stage in a lacy black bralet which she teamed with matching high-waisted pants and fishnets tights

All grown up: Leigh-Anne was also seen putting one racy display in her similar stage outfit which featured cut-out detail

The talented ladies later changed into racy red ensembles with Leigh-Anne and Jade daring to bare in the glitzy outfits.

Jesy Nelson could be seen writhing around on a throne while a male dancer was on the ground in front of her, while Jade Thirlwall was also pulling similar moves during the performance.

Body confident Leigh-Anne drew attention to her perky cleavage and taut tum as she rocked a plunging crop top and cut-out high-waisted pants.

Not so Little Mix: The talented ladies later changed into racy red ensembles with Leigh-Anne and Jade daring to bare in the glitzy outfits

The XXX factor: Jesy Nelson could be seen writhing around on a throne while a male dancer was on the ground in front of her

Keeping it cute: Jade Thirlwall was also pulling similar moves during the performance

She completed the look with strappy silver gladiator JF London boots and fishnet tights.

According to The Sun, the former X Factor contestants began their show thirty minutes late but soon made up for their delay with a super-energetic 90 minute concert.

The set list on the night included a mix of old and new tracks as they treated the crowd to hits such as Wings, DNA and Black Magic.

Flashing the flesh: Body confident Leigh-Anne drew attention to her perky cleavage and taut tum as she rocked a plunging crop top and cut-out high-waisted pants

Working it: Leigh-Anne completed the look with strappy silver gladiator JF London boots

Stars in their own right: Jade opted for a bejewelled cut-out bodysuit and fishnet tights, while her tresses were perfectly curled

The ladies were also full of surprises as they performed a medley of Beyonce's Crazy In Love, Ring The Alarm, Lethal Bizzle's Fester Skank and Justin Bieber's Where Are You Now.

The tour will see the girls take on the challenge of performing 33 shows in 14 cities before taking their show international with concerts in Australia and Japan.

Little Mix will take to the take in Brighton on March 14 before heading to Bournemouth and Birmingham.

Worth the wait: The former X Factor contestants began their show thirty minutes late but soon made up for their delay with a super-energetic 90 minute concert

Chart toppers: The set list on the night included a mix of old and new tracks as they treated the crowd to hits such as Wings, DNA and Black Magic

Working the stage: The ladies were also full of surprises as they performed a medley of Beyonce's Crazy In Love, Ring The Alarm, Lethal Bizzle's Fester Skank and Justin Bieber's Where Are You Now
She is in Japan as she promotes her upcoming third solo album.

And getting into some of the country's traditions, Gwen Stefani donned a pale green kimono on Sunday as she took part in an event for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo.

The 46-year-old TV star was pictured having the garment adjusted so it fit just right and had her makeup and hair worked on.

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Fitting in: Gwen Stefani wore a pretty pale green kimono during her trip to Japan this weekend

The songstress teased fans with plenty of photos wearing the floral print robe and adding the tags #misery and #pricelessjapan.

The latter hashtag hinting that she may also be shooting the video for song Misery off her new album This Is What the Truth Feels Like - which is set to drop March 18.

The No Doubt lead singer wore her signature red lipstick and thick black eyeliner to complete the look.

Perfecting the look: The singer was seen being styled in another snap

Radiant: The Hollaback Girl hitmaker wore her signature red lipstick and thick black eyeliner

Picturesque: The mother-of-three sat admiring the view outside a window

In one image she shared she was seen side-by-side with a photo of herself as a young girl wearing a very similar floral kimono.

Meanwhile, The Voice star was disappointed she couldn't be in the audience while beau Blake Shelton hosted the Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday.

But she made sure her sons Zuma, seven and Apollo, two, got to enjoy the show.

A fan shared a snap on Twitter showing Gwen's youngest tot in the crowd behind Blake in the arms of a carer who was also holding a cellphone.

Throwing it back: Gwen shared a side-by-side photo of herself as a child in a similar floral kimono

Far away from home: Gwen was disappointed she couldn't watch boyfriend Blake Shelton host the Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday but sent her sons Zuma, seven and Apollo, two, instead

The mother-of-three wrote in response: 'ha!!!! That's me on FaceTime from Japan!! Wow that is funny! Gx'

While in Japan the star was begging fans on Twitter to tell her how she could watch the show.

The awards show was being broadcast live from Los Angeles and Gwen eventually FaceTimed in so she could watch.

The following day her ex-husband Gavin Rossdale took their three boys to an Easter egg hunt hosted by children's clothing brand AKID in Los Angeles.

The duo's divorce was finalised in October after 13 years of marriage.

Good spot! Gwen was delighted when a fan shared a snap of her son Apollo in the audience of the Kids' Choice Awards
Caitlyn Jenner slammed Hillary Clinton as a 'F***ing liar' and a 'Political hack' as she got into a heated political conversation that angered her girlfriends on the latest episode of her reality show I Am Cait.

Caitlyn, 66, horrified the group of women by telling them she thought Donald Trump would be 'Very good for women's' issues' and asked what Clinton had ever achieved.

The lifelong Republican grew so aggressive about the race for the White House that some of the women refused to be near her on their road trip bus and left the room.

Not popular: Caitlyn Jenner slammed Hillary Clinton as a 'F***ing liar' and a 'Political hack' as she got into a heated political conversation that angered her girlfriends on the latest episode of her reality show I Am Cait

Disbelief: Caitlyn horrified the group of women by telling them she thought Donald Trump would be 'Very good for women's' issues' and asked what Clinton had ever achieved

The contentious conversation kicked off when Caitlyn's mother, Esther, called her to tell her that she was starting 'to like' Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The revelation was met with outrage and disbelief by the rest of the women.

'She just hates what is going on, she has seen this country, her husband, my dad fought for this country in World War II and now we are just giving it away,' complained Caitlyn to cat calls from the other women.

Listen here: The lifelong Republican grew so aggressive about the race for the White House that some of the women refused to be near her on their road trip bus and left the room

Reacting: The revelation was met with outrage and disbelief by the rest of the women

'My dad fought for this country in World War II and now we are just giving it away,' complained Caitlyn

As the women exchanged glances Caitlyn was asked what she personally thought of Trump.

'I am not a big fan because I think with his macho attitude he would have a hard time with women when he doesn't even realize it. And it does't mean he wouldn't be good for women issues. I think he would be very good for women's issues,' added Caitlyn.

Jenny Boylan can be heard saying: 'Someone kill me now.'

'I don't think he is out there to destroy women or take things away or do any of that kind of stuff,' said Caitlyn to glares from her friends.

Jenny Boylan was heard saying: 'Someone kill me now.'

Can of worms: Caitlyn was then asked what she personally thought of republican frontrunner Donald Trump

Caitlyn then told the cameras that her politics had not been impacted by her transition.

'We are talking about the economy, we are talking about our country serving, an economic system that can prosper, just because I am a woman now doesn't suddenly make me a liberal.'

Back on the bus Caitlyn was asked which of Trump or Clinton she would support.

'Oh my God I would never ever vote for Hillary. We are done. If Hillary becomes president the country is over.'

Not budging: Caitlyn then told the cameras that her politics had not been impacted by her transition

Different opinion: Candis was one of those who leapt to Hillary's defense calling her 'An amazing woman.'

'Oh my God I would never ever vote for Hillary. We are done. If Hillary becomes president the country is over. You can't fix immigration or the economy, it has to stop. You don't have a country and Hillary is not going to do it,' Caitlyn told them.

The women leapt to Hillary's defense calling her 'An amazing woman.'

But Caitlyn was having none of it.

'What has she done in her life? What has she done? What has she done? She was horrible. Look at all of the things that are going on in the Middle East because of what she did. Look at Benghazi. She lied to us, she is a f***ing liar,' Caitlyn told the women aggressively.

'She is a political hack, that's all she is, she has done nothing.'

Not ok: Candis Cayne then told the cameras that Caitlyn did not debate politics 'she just talks and is yelling at us and it is an uncomfortable situation.

Had enough: The women then got up and left Caitlyn on her own shaking her head

Candis Cayne then told the cameras that Caitlyn did not debate politics 'she just talks and is yelling at us and it is an uncomfortable situation.'

The women then got up and left Caitlyn on her own shaking her head.

'I think Cait was disrespecting us in the way she was talking to us, I mostly got upset that she wasn't listening to what we were saying, she was mostly talking down to us, and was yelling at us.'

Caitlyn was then asked where her anger came from.

Talking it over: Over an awkward dinner the women tried to get back on track as Caitlyn admitted that talking politics caused tension

Difficult questions: Caitlyn was then asked where her anger came from

Jenny told Caitlyn that she made the rest of the people on the bus 'Uncomfortable.'

Over an awkward dinner the women tried to get back on track as Caitlyn admitted that talking politics caused tension.

She then asked the group what made them a woman, and one of them suggested that being aware of your power was one factor.

'Okay that's an interesting question from my standpoint you know why?' said Caitlyn.

'Because a lot of people don't understand, "Why would you ever transition from the strong, powerful person that a male is into a weak female."

'We were scared,' she told Caitlyn who admitted that she came 'very aggressive' over politics and that listening to others is something she needs to 'work on.'

'I disagree and I get a little bit excited when I disagree,' she said

'Now that's the people's perspective, okay I don't believe that. I mean I've watched Kris, who's a very powerful woman, and she knew how to play the game.'

Jenny later sat down with Caitlyn and told her that she made the rest of the people on the bus 'Uncomfortable.'

She told Caitlyn that the problem was 'not about the issues' but the way she treated the other women.

Time to lighten the mood: To try and release some of the tension on the bus Caitlyn and her friends played 'Fluffy Bunny' by counting how many marshmallows they could shove in their mouth, with Caitlyn winning with six

'We were scared,' she told Caitlyn who admitted that she came 'very aggressive' over politics and that listening to others is something she needs to 'work on.'

'I disagree and I get a little bit excited when I disagree,' she said.

To try and release some of the tension on the bus Caitlyn and her friends played 'Fluffy Bunny' by counting how many marshmallows they could shove in their mouth, with Caitlyn winning with six.

New toy: Caitlyn's assistant showed her a vibrator which she got to grips with

Back on the bus Caitlyn's assistant showed her a vibrator which she got to grips with.

Kate Bornstein and Jenny got into a heated debate over the use of the word 'Tranny.'

'Tranny's been around as a word since the '70s. I don't call myself a woman, I do call myself a tranny and transgender women have a lot of problems with that,' said Kate.

Courtney told her that 'Even some trans women think that word's offensive, even for them to use as well.'

Different strokes: Jenny Boylan and Kate Bornstein and got into a heated debate over the use of the word 'Tranny.'

'Tranny's been around as a word since the '70s. I don't call myself a woman, I do call myself a tranny and transgender women have a lot of problems with that,' said Kate

Jenny told her that she was one of them.

'If I hear that word I will generally leave the room,' she said.

'I find it really hurtful and I recognize that there are other people who own that word proudly and that is fantastic for them. That's not fantastic for me.'

Jenny explained that she had once been the victim of a physical attack and associated the word with violence.

'I find it really hurtful and I recognize that there are other people who own that word proudly and that is fantastic for them. That's not fantastic for me.' Said Jenny

'If I hear that word I will generally leave the room,' she said

'Somebody grabbed me by the neck, used that word and other words, dragged me around by my neck for about a half an hour and finally dropped me and I lay there on the ground kind of unable to move,' said Jenny.

'Words can hurt as much as violence can.'

Caitlyn told the cameras that is was fine for both women to take different approaches and that she was able to take information from both of them and use it positively.

Kate told her that they were 'On the same side but a totally different track.'
After a highly publicised failed marriage to Clare Tamas on Married At First, Lachlan McAleer gave it another shot at finding love on The Farmer Wants A Wife.

And it seems the 36-year-old hay farmer from New South Wales has finally found his special someone, with the finale episode of the Channel Nine show revealing he chose beautiful Belinda.

In the episode, Lachlan opens up to the show's host Sam McClymont about his decision to choose the 35-year-old naturopath who hails from Victoria.

Love at last: After appearing on Married At First, Lachlan McAleer has found love with blonde beauty Belinda on The Farmer Wants A Wife

'At the end of the day I think it's quite simple what I need in a woman and that's someone who is loving and caring with a bit of a sense of humour,' Lachlan explained.

'There was definitely chemistry there,' he continued, gushing about the strong connection and sense of attraction the pair share.

The blonde beauty then joined Lachlan, arriving in a stunning sleek black laced dress.

Sitting down next to her man after a quick kiss and cuddle, she opened up about what she loves most about Lachlan.

Very happy: During the finale episode on Monday night, the 36-year-old cattle farmer from New South Wales chose the 35-year-old naturopath

'For me one of the biggest things with people is a sense of humour and Lachy has a great sense of humour,' Belinda told host Sam.

'I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed my time on the farm,' she added, no doubt suggesting she could easily adapt to Lachlan's rural lifestyle.

But keen not to rush into things, Belinda added: 'We're taking our time. If this fairytale progresses the way I'd like it to then I can see myself on the farm'.

It looks like the other farmers also support Lachlan's decision to choose Belinda as his final lady.

Attraction: 'For me one of the biggest things with people is a sense of humour and Lachy has a great sense of humour,' Belinda told host Sam

Previous reality television stint: Lachlan had a highly publicised failed marriage to Clare Tamas on Married At First screened last year

'Lachy chose Belinda and she is bloody cool. I can actually see something kicking on there,' oyster farmer Jedd said in a piece-to-camera.

Meanwhile dairy farmer Adam said: 'Lachlan and Belinda seem to be very comfortable with each other and they seem to be in a very good place'.

Adam was also fortunate to find love on the show, the 25-year-old choosing gorgeous graphic designer Hayley.

'She's a gorgeous girl and she knows who she is and she knows what she wants,' Adam gushed about his 29-year-old love.

Success story: Adam was also fortunate to find love on the show, the 25-year-old choosing gorgeous graphic designer Hayley

Smitten: 'She's a gorgeous girl and she knows who she is and she knows what she wants,' Adam gushed about his 29-year-old love

Meanwhile Hayley admitted: 'I've never met someone so genuinely thoughtful and caring. He makes me want to be a better person'.

Oyster farmer Jedd chose season favourite Samantha in the end.

'I'm definitely falling for Sam,' the 37-year-old South Australian admitted, with Sam saying she loved Jedd's sense of humour.

Farmer Julz decided to choose Mel as his winning lady.

Very happy: Oyster farmer Jedd chose season favourite Samantha in the end

Sealed with a kiss: Farmer Julz decided to choose Mel as his winning lady

New South Wales physiologist Mel said of Julz: 'I've only known Julz for a short period of time but I can definitely say I'm falling for him'.

Meanwhile Western Australian farmer Matt from Pilbara revealed he had chosen 23-year-old April, who was already set to move across the country for him.

'She brings out the best in me,' Matt told host Sam.

But farmer Lance wasn't so lucky in finding love, choosing not to pursue a romance with any of the ladies he met on the program.

Made for one another: Western Australian farmer Matt from Pilbara revealed he had chosen 23-year-old April, who was already set to move across the country for him
They've only just arrived in the idyllic French capital of Paris and it seems shock jock Kyle Sandilands and his squeeze Imogen Anthony wasted no time enjoying the sights of the city.

The pair - who have been dating since March 2012 - were spotted on Sunday walking near the iconic Eiffel Tower and smoking together.

Kyle could be seen helping his girl light up her cigarette before the radio star turned photographer to take pictures of his girlfriend in front of the city's most famous landmarks.

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Puffing away in Paris: Kyle Sandilands (L) and Imogen Anthony (R) were spotted on Sunday smoking on a stroll near the Eiffel Tower in Paris

Kyle cut a casual figure in black pants and a black and white hooded jumper and boots.

He rugged up against the chill with what looked like a Burberry scarf and kept his face hidden under his signature black cap and dark tinted sunglasses.

Imogen meanwhile, channelled her inner-Parisian chic in black thigh-high leather boots, black leather pants, a black top and a black and grey fluffy coat.

Snap happy: Radio star Kyle then turned photographer for the afternoon as he snaps pictures of Imogen posing outside the city's most famous landmarks

One more! Imogen had her man taking plenty of pictures

Being a gentleman? The shock jock is seen here helping Imogen light up

Imogen had her pink locks out and over her shoulders and had a pair of rose coloured sunglasses on.

She wore make-up including light foundation and a pink lip.

On the day, the pair talked to another couple before Kyle began taking snaps of Imogen on her phone.

She posed for photographs in the crowd, including one where she kept her cigarette in her mouth and pulled down her coat.

Keeping comfortable: Kyle cut a casual figure in black pants and a black and white hooded jumper and boots

Parisian chic: Imogen meanwhile wore black thigh-high leather boots, black leather pants, a black top and a black and grey fluffy coat

They then joined a line at a food kiosk which sold items including hot dogs and crepes.

Kyle meanwhile kept hydrated with a bottle of water and a Coke in his hands. They were then seen heading back to their hotel.

It is believed the pair touched down in Paris earlier on Sunday.

The pair are in Paris thanks to the Kyle and his KIIS FM co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson hosting their breakfast show from the city.

Chatting away: On the day, the pair talked to another couple before Kyle began taking snaps of Imogen on her phone

Playing tourist: Kyle happily took pictures of his girl on her phone that has a unicorn case

Checking out the sights: It looked as though the pair glanced towards the sky, presumably to take in the Eiffel Tower

The radio stars are keynote speakers at the Radio Days European Radio Conference in Paris, where they have been asked to talk about their 2013 move from 2DayFM to KIIS.

It is believed that Kyle and Imogen arrived in France from Australia on Sunday.

It seems Imogen and Kyle are enjoying their time in France, with Imogen sharing to Instagram on Monday a snap of the pair standing outside the Louvre Museum.

In another image, she poses outside of the iconic glass triangles of the venue and captioned it: 'Another thing I love in life - history and historical monuments.

'To think that something has been standing for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, or even thousands, blows me away. While Australia heritage lists houses from 1930, there's this - Le Louvre.'

Highlife: The pair are in Paris thanks to the Kyle and his KIIS FM co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson hosting their breakfast show from the city

One for the photo album: The couple of more than two years are seen here posing in front of the Louvre Museum
It is a prerequisite for pop starlets to boast scanty on-stage ensembles.

And Jesy Nelson certainly lived up to the girl group reputation as she kicked off the Get Weird tour alongside her Little Mix bandmates at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena on Sunday night.

The 24-year-old beauty, joined by Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, looked incredible in a red leotard with a revealing high-rise leg - affording her legs an extra long look.

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Racy in red: Jesy Nelson certainly lived up to the girl group reputation as she kicked off the Get Weird tour alongside her Little Mix bandmates at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena on Sunday night

Jesy, who found fame on The X Factor in 2011, showed off her sensational figure in the skimpy garment which left very little to the imagination.

The crimson number boasted a cleavage-enhancing sweetheart neckline with a studded trim and an extremely high-rise hip.

The hip detail was saved from revealing too much with the help of three, thick embellished straps, which perfectly sat on her gym-honed side.

Silver gladiator sandals custom-made by JF London topped off the look, with a series of sexy straps extending the length of her calf while featuring a flat heel to afford freedom to throw herself into the energetic dance routines.

See more of the latest Little Mix updates as Jesy Nelson puts on a sensual display

Raunchy stuff: The 24-year-old beauty (second left), joined by Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards (left to right), looked incredible in a red leotard with a revealing high-rise leg - affording her legs an extra long look

Red hot: Jesy's lustrous brunette locks were worn in wild cascading waves - an essential for all the girls as many of their dance moves were heavy on exaggerated hair flicks

Jesy's lustrous brunette locks were worn in wild cascading waves - an essential for all the girls as many of their dance moves were heavy on exaggerated hair flicks.

Her make-up was typically heavy handed - an essential to stay looking picture perfect beneath the searing stage lights with the sweat-inducing dances.

Atop her sexy red look, Jesy opted for another leotard - this time a racy lace black number - while the rest of the girls went for matching knickers.

Adding their typical Little Mix touch, the girls toughened up the look with heavy black work boots - once again resisting heels in favour of dance appropriate footwear.

Wowing the crowd: Jesy, who found fame on The X Factor in 2011, showed off her sensational figure in the skimpy garment which left very little to the imagination

Sexy stuff: Atop her sexy red look, Jesy opted for another leotard - this time a racy lace black number - while the rest of the girls went for matching knickers

Natural beauty: Prior to the performance, the Essex-born beauty, who is engaged to Rixton star Jake Roche, shared a gorgeous make-up free selfie with her 1.5million Instagram followers

Prior to the performance, the Essex-born beauty, who is engaged to Rixton star Jake Roche, shared a gorgeous make-up free selfie with her 1.5million Instagram followers.

Clearly excited for the night ahead, she wrote: 'It's here!!!! It's finally here! SHOW DAY GET WEIRD has arriveeeeddddddddddd in Cardiff!!!'

Jake meanwhile was proving himself to be a super-supportive beau as he shared a snap of the front of the stage which was emblazoned with the words: 'Are you ready to Get Weird?'

Clearly geared up for the show, he added the caption: 'Yes. Yes I am.'

Exciting stuff! Jake meanwhile was proving himself to be a super-supportive beau as he shared a snap of the front of the stage which was emblazoned with the words: 'Are you ready to Get Weird?'

Stunner: As well as looking beautiful, she also showed off her incredibly impressive vocal range

According to The Sun, the former X Factor contestants began their show thirty minutes late but soon made up for their delay with a super-energetic 90 minute concert.

The set list on the night included a mix of old and new tracks as they treated the crowd to hits such as Wings, DNA and Black Magic.

The ladies were also full of surprises as they performed a medley of Beyonce's Crazy In Love, Ring The Alarm, Lethal Bizzle's Fester Skank and Justin Bieber's Where Are You Now.

The tour will see the girls take on the challenge of performing 33 shows in 14 cities before taking their show international with concerts in Australia and Japan.
He's already had viewers of the BBC's Sunday night drama The Night Manager hot under the collar with his steamy shirtless scenes.

But Tom Hiddleston sent viewers of the small screen adaptation of the John Le Carre spy novel into meltdown during its latest episode with his very racy sex scene.

The actor, who plays Jonathan Pine in the hit series, took his relationship with Jed Marshal, played by Elizabeth Debicki to a whole new level on Sunday, heating up a hotel room.

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It's getting hot in here: Tom Hiddleston sent viewers of The Night Manager into meltdown during its latest episode on Sunday night with his very racy sex scene

The pair were seen giving into their weeks of flirting, having sex against the hotel room wall while Jed's boyfriend Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) was downstairs.

Up until that point, the characters had only shared a quick kiss at the beginning of the episode but things quickly escalated, much to viewers' delight.

Fans took to Twitter to voice their approval of the hunky actor's bum, which was briefly glimpsed during the steamy scene.

Hot under the collar: The actor, who plays Jonathan Pine in the hit series, took his relationship with Jed Marshal, played by Elizabeth Debicki to a whole new level, much to the delight of viewers

'Nice buns tonight @twhiddleston' @jpcrafty tweeted along with a cheeky winking emoji.

Lucy Louise Cooper was left hot and bothered, tweeting: 'How the Hell am I supposed to get to sleep now? Suspense, beautiful locations, drama and #TomHiddleston's bottom.'

Meg pointed out that Jed hit the nail on the head with one line: 'Everyone's attracted to you, Jed there summarising how the internet feels about Tom Hiddleston in one sentence,' she wrote.

Sweet dreams: Some fans were left hot and bothered by their Sunday night viewing

Jealous: Others simply wanted to swap places with actress Elizabeth Debicki

Paying close attention: Viewers were shocked by the flesh on show after weeks of flirtation between the two characters

Giving into the inevitable: The pair were seen giving into their weeks of flirting, having sex against the hotel room wall while Jed's boyfriend Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) was downstairs

Claire O'Donnell praised the leading man for his willingness to commit to the role, gushing: 'I love the fact @twhiddleston is not shy about getting his bum out.'

It's indeed not the first time Tom has flashed the flesh in the popular series.

A week ago fans took to Twitter in their droves to comment on the handsome 35-year-old as he revealed his bare chest in a sun-soaked swimming pool scene, while in the second episode he was seen showing off his lithe and toned physique once again.

Thumbs up: Meg pointed out that Jed was the voice of the viewers with one line

No going back now: Up until that point, the characters had only shared a quick kiss at the beginning of the episode but things quickly escalated

Round of applause: Claire O'Donnell praised the leading man for his willingness to commit to the role

In the Night Manager, produced and directed by Susanne Bier, Eton-educated Tom takes on the leading role of Jonathan Pine, a former solider.

He stars alongside Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki as a man who who changes his life completely by escaping to become the night manager of a luxury hotel in Cairo.

There, he must infiltrate the inner circle of the dastardly scheme set up by arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie).

Stripping off: It's indeed not the first time Tom has flashed the flesh in the popular series

Flashing the flesh: The second episode of The Night Manager featured Tom showing off his lithe and toned physique once again

Meanwhile, Tom has recently been touted as one of the most likely names to take over the role of James Bond, as Daniel Craig has stepped down from the character.

The modest star recently confessed it would be an honour to take on the iconic role.

'Time magazine ran a poll and there were like, 100 actors on the list, including Angelina Jolie,' he said, according to Digital Spy.

'But yes, it's nice to be included in the 100. I'm a huge fan of the series. We all went to see Spectre when we were shooting Skull Island in Hawaii. I simply love the theme tune, the tropes and the mythology. I love the whole thing. If it ever came knocking, it would be an extraordinary opportunity.'
She is in demand for TV work thanks to her good looks and Irish charm.

But it appears Laura Whitmore is just as sought after in the dating world.

Just weeks after she was linked to Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, the blonde beauty is said to have struck up a romance with Game of Thrones hunk Richard Madden.

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Game of dates? Laura White is said to have been 'wooed' by hunky actor Richard Madden after they were introduced by mutual pals

The Sun is reporting that they were introduced through mutual pal Kit Harrington, who played Jon Snow, the half-brother of Richard's onscreen character Rob Stark in the huge fantasy hit.

A source tells the newspaper: 'Laura knows the Game of Thrones cast well, especially Kit, and got to know Richard through those connections. She has been telling friends she is excited by the new romance. Its still early days but it is already clear they really like each other.

'Richard immediately felt a connection and thinks this could go somewhere. Theres real chemistry between them.

'He has done much of the wooing but theyre both very keen.'

Hollywood romance: Laura, 30, hit headlines in February after hanging out with man of the moment Leo at the BAFTAs.

Laura, 30, hit headlines in February after hanging out with man of the moment Leo at the BAFTAs.

The pair were snapped sharing a cosy chat amid reports they partied in his private hotel suite until 5am.

Meanwhile, Richard isn't a stranger to a high profile romance himself.

The Cinderella actor dated former Doctor Who sidekick Jenna Coleman until last April. However, they are said to have reunited again last August after being spotted out in London holding hands.

Their split was followed by reports Jenna had enjoyed a flirty meeting with Prince Harry.

In May, pictures emerged of Jenna looking cosy with Prince Harry at the Audi Polo event in Ascot.
Teenage singer Fletcher Pilon was announced as the winner of Australia's Got Talent on Monday night after an emotional rendition of the song he wrote for his late brother.

The 14-year-old, who was left in shock after being named as the winner, took home a staggering $250,000 to help him launch his musical career.

Following his win, he emotionally took the microphone and thanked his friends and family for believing in him.

'I'd just like to firstly thank my brother Banjo and my sister Gabby, my parents, family and friends and everyone who voted at home, the judges and the contestants,' he said. 'It's been such a great time being on the show.'

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Winner: Fletcher Pilon, 14, was announced as the winner of Australia's Got Talent on Monday night after an emotional rendition of the song he wrote for his late brother

Before he was announced as the winner, Kelly Osbourne and Jack Black were discussing who they thought would take out the title.

Jack could be heard saying 'it's fletcher' before Kelly realised producers hadn't cut to an ad break and their microphones were still on.

But the show went on as planned and host Dave Hughes later announced Fletcher as the winner after an ad break.

After the final, Kelly took to Instagram to share a snap of herself and Fletcher and wrote: 'Congratulations Fletcher I'm so proud of you. You are a true musical genius and I can't wait to watch you take over the world.'

Shocked: After his win, Fletcher thanked his family for all their love and support

'I'm so proud of you!' Kelly Osbourne took to Instagram to share a picture of herself and Fletcher after he won the talent competition

Overwhelmed: Sophie Monk was brought to tears as the Fletcher was announced as the winner and the audience erupted into a standing ovation

Sophie Monk was overwhelmed by his final performance and was brought to tears as he paid tribute to his brother.

After the teen received a standing ovation from the crowd, the 36-year-old judge went on to gush about his performance as she wiped away her tears.

'I'm so sorry I'm crying in front of you,' an emotional Sophie said, adding: 'I know Australia actually knows talent, I know they do and they'll see it.'

She was not the only judge who was touched by his emotional performance, which was a self written song dedicated to his late brother.

Ian 'Dicko' Dickson echoed her positive comments: 'I guess what I didn't realise at that moment until tonight was what a good song it is. Such a great song. You're a great song writer mate.'

Emotional: Sophie was overwhelmed by the performance of the 14-year-old star

Star: The 14-year-old star kept his cool despite the roaring cheers that bellowed from the audience every time the judges spoke to him

Unlike Sophie, fellow female judge Kelly kept her composure as she gave her thoughts on his performance.

'You're the living prove that music is healing, and this song tonight was so beautiful and all I have to say to you you are an infinite legend,' she gushed.

The 14-year-old star kept his cool despite the roaring cheers that erupted from the audience every time the judges spoke to him.

Each contestant performed their original audition song again for their final performance and Fletcher received the same response the first time around.

Touching: As he stepped onto the stage for the first time, he explained to the judges that his younger brother had passed away and he had written a song for him

As he stepped onto the stage for the first time he explained to the judges what had happened to his brother and why he was there.

'His name in Banjo and he passed away about three and a half months ago...he was 10-years-old and four years younger than me,' the teenager continued.

The hopeful went on to explain that his sibling 'was skating, on my board actually, in my street,' before choking up with emotion.

Overwhelmed: The teenager was left lost for words as Dave Hughes announced him as the winner of season eight of Australia's Got Talent

Sensing the moment was becoming too much, Kelly reassured him and urged him to sing.

With his eyes tightly closed, the young lad began to gracefully sing the song, which included the touching lyrics: 'So fly, fly, live in happiness and keep that smile. You're always with me'.

The end of his performance was met with a standing ovation from the crowd and judges, and Fletcher continued to wow them throughout the series.
She is one of the world's most revered supermodels.

So Heidi Klum is well versed in looking simply sensational - as she illustrated when touching down at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday.

The 42-year-old beauty looked incredible in skin-tight leather-look leggings with a stylish fur trimmed coat layered over the top.

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Leather lady: Heidi Klum is well versed in looking simply sensational - as she illustrated when touching down at London's Heathrow airport on Sunday

Heidi oozed effortless chic in her stylish ensemble which comprised of a glimmering top which was thigh-skimming in length, layered over her sexy trousers.

The wet-look leggings showed off every inch of her stunningly slender legs as she added height to her already statuesque frame with sky-high boots.

Clearly prepared for the British spring time chill, she completed her stylish ensemble with the addition of an A-line coat with a plush fur collar.

Accentuating her A-list status was Heidi's envy-inducing Hermes Birkin handbag, the pinpoint for any high-end fashionista.

Stylish: Heidi oozed effortless chic in her stylish ensemble which comprised of a glimmering top which was thigh-skimming in length, layered over her sexy trousers

The German-born beauty allowed the majority of her blonde tresses to tumble over her shoulders although she punctuated the look with an edgy top knot.

Her make-up was flawless with heavily outlined eyes standing out against her ageless complexion.

There was a strong chance Heidi applied the make-up at the end of her flight due to a cosmetics free selfie she shared at the start of her journey.

She posted an adorable snap in which she pretended to be asleep in her plush seating, while she added the caption: 'London calling'.

On her way! She posted an adorable snap in which she pretended to be asleep in her plush seating, while she added the caption: 'London calling'

Yum yum! Once she arrived in the capital, she headed straight to the swanky China Tang restaurant at The Dorchester hotel to enjoy some dim sum

Once she arrived in the capital, she headed straight to the swanky China Tang restaurant at The Dorchester hotel to enjoy some dim sum.

Heidi has proved her jet set life is constantly going, as she made a very glamorous appearance at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards kicked in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The stunning star attracted the spotlight in a skintight blue and white number by Versace that showcased her slender curves.

Heidi was no doubt pleased to see her show America's Got Talent among this year's Kids' Choice Awards nominees in the Favorite Talent Competition Show category.
On Friday, her dreams of conquering US TV were left in tatters after she was found guilty of a second drink-driving offence.

But Charlotte Crosby appeared unconcerned with her most recent run-in with the law as she hit Newcastle for a boozy night just 48-hours later.

The 25-year-old hit the town with her on/off beau Gaz Beadle and their Geordie Shore castmates for the opening of returning co-star Sophie Kasaei's family's new restaurant, Mambo.

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Back to old habits: Charlotte Crosby appeared unconcerned with her most recent run-in with the law for drink driving as she hit Newcastle for a boozy night on Sunday

Charlotte showed off her slimmed down figure in a tiny black playsuit, while she showed off her slim legs in a pair of racy leather boots.

Stumbling through the streets, Charlotte looked a little worse for wear as she pouted and posed alongside fellow glamour girls Holly Hagan and Sophie.

She appeared to struggle to get out of her taxi before even heading into the eatery, owned by Sophie's father.

She clung on to Gaz's arm as they made their way through the streets, following their recent revelation that they are now exclusive.

Shore has no shame: The 25-year-old reality TV star stumbled through the streets as she headed out with her Geordie Shore castmates

Beadle about: Charlotte was joined by her on/off beau Gaz Beadle as she held on to him while they headed to Mambo

Boots made for strutting: Charlotte was keen to show off her slim figure in a tiny playsuit and knee-highboots - but showing off a nasty scar from burning her leg on hair straighteners

Peach out: Charlotte wasn't kept out of mischief by her pals, frolicking with co-star Holly Hagan

Here come the girls: The bronzed beauties strutted their into Sophie Kasaei's family's new restaurant

Glamour girls: The trio posed and preened as they stopped for pictures

Meanwhile, her pals didn't appear to keen to keep her out of mischief.

Holly flaunted her famous assets in a daring sheer black top, and it seems she forgot to wear a bra.

Charlotte's boozy behaviour is all the more shocking as it comes just two days after a judge handed her a three year driving ban.

Good idea: Charlotte opted to grab after her recent run-in with the law after being found guilty of her second drink-driving offence

Easy does it: Charlotte appeared a tad unsteady as she stepped out on to the pavement

Squad goals: The girls were joined by castmembers old and new at the restaurant, owned by Sophie's dad

Charlotte pleaded guilty to drink driving after she was caught driving her Range Rover in the early hours after drinking on the train home from London to Newcastle on January 28.

The reality star, who had 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath compared with the legal limit of 35, was also told to pay 1,185.

Newcastle Magistrates' Court was told that this latest indiscretion, after she was banned from driving for 18 months in 2012, means she is now unable to get a visa to travel to the USA.
Viewers had been led to believe that Lance had finally found 'the one' on The Farmer Wants A Wife.

But fans of the reality dating show were left stunned when the 52-year-old cowboy unceremoniously ditched his favourite and last remaining love interest Lisa in Monday night's series finale.

'Lance, Australia hates you now,' wrote one disgruntled fan on Twitter following the shock twist.

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'Lance, Australia hates you now:' The Farmer Wants a Wife fans took to social media to slam the 52-year-old after he dumped

It had appeared Lance was smitten with the 51-year-old paralegal after the pair enjoyed an intense 24-hour-long date in the penultimate episode which aired last week.

But Lance seemed to have had a last minute change of heart, claiming Lisa didn't give him 'goosebumps' and they didn't have a 'full connection' on Monday's show.

But before he delivered the news to Lisa, Lance first got her to detail how happy she with their budding romance, only to then promptly tell her it wasn't to be.

Lisa's dumping upset fans on social media, who took to Twitter in droves to slam the farmer for breaking the blonde's heart.

Another viewer wrote: 'Skipped a bullet to be honest, Lisa. Lance is a gropey old dud with terrible taste in women.'

Another fan referenced the controversial Lachlan McAleer in their tweet, writing: 'And I thought Lachie was going to be the biggest jerk on the show.'

However, a couple of people did come to Lance's defense, with one supporter tweeting: 'I, for one, applaud you. You've done the right thing.'

Brutal: Fans couldn't control themselves as they took to Twitter to slam farmer Lance

'You've done the right thing:' Lance had a few supporters, but they were in the minority

It comes after the 52-year-old rodeo farmer from Queensland revealed he'd chosen not to pursue a romance with any of the ladies he met on the program.

Lance's decision came just before he enjoyed a final date with Lisa, where he visited the 51-year-old paralegal in the city.

'I had to come and see Lisa because it was only something I could do one-on-one,' Lance explained ahead of the meeting in a piece-to-camera.

While the pair enjoyed some valuable time together wining and dining, Lance decided to follow his heart and cut ties with Lisa before the big finale ceremony.

First Lance asked Lisa to express how she was feeling.

Not so lucky: During the finale episode of The Farmer Wants A Wife on Monday night, Lance Jones revealed he'd chosen not to pursue a romance with any of the ladies he met on the program

Final lady: Lance's decision came just before he enjoyed a final date with Lisa, where he visited the 51-year-old paralegal in the city

'Over the period that I've known you, I've opened up my heart to you and let you touch it.

'You make me very happy,' Lisa said, and her honesty and warm feelings towards him only made it harder for Lance to say what he had to say next.

'Well it's only right that a man says how he feels you know,' he begins, looking into Lisa's eyes.

'I've had a lot of time to think about it. I definitely think a lot of you and I just think we didn't have that full connection.'

He added: 'I wouldn't be truthful to myself or truthful to you if I said that we could make a real go of it because it wouldn't be right.'

Time to let go: While the pair enjoyed some valuable time together wining and dining, Lance decided to follow his heart and cut ties with Lisa before the big finale ceremony

In a piece-to-camera, Lance took the opportunity to further clarify his actions.

'My heart wasn't 100 per cent loving Lisa. You just know it in your self. You know every time you see that girl you get goosebumps you know what I mean, well the goosebumps weren't there,' he admitted.

No doubt Lisa was a little taken aback, but insisted this won't deter her from finding her prince charming in the future.

'I came into this with all the right reasons, looking for love. I haven't given up on looking for love.

'There's somebody out there for me, I know there is. Where the bloody hell is he?' she said in a piece-to-camera.

Being honest: 'My heart wasn't 100 per cent loving Lisa,' Lance said in a piece-to-camera

When asked by host Sam McClymont if he was keen to continue looking for love, Lance responded: 'Yes he certainly is. We've started the ball rolling. I'm going to keep an open mind and an open heart'.

The other five farmers were a bit more lucky when it came to finding love on the program.

Lachy was over the moon with his choice of Belinda as his winning lady.

'At the end of the day I think it's quite simple what I need in a woman and that's someone who is loving and caring with a bit of a sense of humour,' Lachlan said, explaining he sees that in Belinda.

Love at last: After appearing on Married At First, Lachlan McAleer has found love with blonde beauty Belinda on The Farmer Wants A Wife

Success story: Adam was also fortunate to find love on the show, the 25-year-old choosing gorgeous graphic designer Hayley

Smitten: 'She's a gorgeous girl and she knows who she is and she knows what she wants,' Adam gushed about his 29-year-old love

Farmer Adam was also able to find love on the show, the 25-year-old choosing gorgeous graphic designer Hayley.

'She's a gorgeous girl and she knows who she is and she knows what she wants,' Adam gushed about his 29-year-old love.

Meanwhile Hayley admitted: 'I've never met someone so genuinely thoughtful and caring. He makes me want to be a better person'.

Oyster farmer Jedd chose season favourite Samantha in the end.

Very happy: Oyster farmer Jedd chose season favourite Samantha in the end

Sealed with a kiss: Farmer Julz decided to choose Mel as his winning lady

'I'm definitely falling for Sam,' the 37-year-old South Australian admitted, with Sam saying she loved Jedd's sense of humour.

Farmer Julz decided to choose Mel as his winning lady.

New South Wales physiologist Mel said of Julz: 'I've only known Julz for a short period of time but I can definitely say I'm falling for him'.

And Western Australian farmer Matt from Pilbara revealed he had chosen 23-year-old April, who was already set to move across the country for him.

'She brings out the best in me,' Matt told host Sam.
She made a dazzling appearance at a White House State Dinner in honour of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week.

But even when she's off duty, Blake Lively is pretty as a petal.

The stunning 28-year-old enjoyed a day of shopping with a friend in New York, stopping to pick up a wide selection of flowers.

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Everyday look: Blake Lively showcased her effortless beauty while shopping with a friend in New York

Pretty as a petal: Blake's pal emerged carrying a wide range of flowers

For her spring-inspired look, the mother to daughter James, one, layered a paisley print dress under a cozy, navy cardigan.

Choosing to stay with a white and blue theme, the beautiful blonde accessorized with a striped scarf, tied in a knot around her neck.

Blake finished her look with a side chain bag, while her signature, thick locks were left down and flowing.

On Thursday, The Shallows star joined husband Ryan Reynolds, 39, at a White House State Dinner in honour of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Date night: On Thursday, The Shallows star joined husband Ryan Reynolds, 39, at a White House State Dinner in honour of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

'Oh what a night': The actress shared a photo on Instagram that summed up how her evening went

The actress shared a photo on Instagram that summed up how her evening went.

'...Oh what a night,' read the caption.

The picture was an up-close shot of the actress' hand, holding her heels, with a background of the president's home.

Blake's husband, who was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, was a rather popular guest that night.

He met Sasha Obama, 14, while there and in a picture that has now gone viral, her older sister Malia, 17, was seen giving the 14-year-old an encouraging thumbs up.

Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox and Sandra Oh also attended.
Jennifer Garner spilled her heart out in Vanity Fair magazine's March edition.

Not only did the 43-year-old Miracles From Heaven actress reveal she had split from husband of 10 years Ben Affleck long before he was accused of cheating with nanny Christine Ouzounian, 28. But she also said she felt 'cold' when the Batman v Superman actor stopped shining his light on her.

On Monday the Oscar winner finally addressed the beauty's heart wrenching tell-all when he sat down with the New York Times: 'She felt like she wanted to discuss it and get it out there and get it over with so she could say, "Look, I already talked about it - I dont want to do it again."'

He said he's fine with it: Ben Affleck, seen here in early March, told the New York Times he knew his ex Jennifer Garner had to get her story about their split out there and over with

The bombshell interview: The 43-year-old Alias vet spilled her heart out to the March edition of Vanity Fair where she talked about her broken heart and how she had to explain it all to their three kids

Affleck then added: 'Its fine. Shes allowed to talk about it.'

The star, who has three children with Garner (Violet, aged 10, Seraphina, aged seven, and Samuel, aged four), also praised her.

'Jens great. Shes a great person. Were on great terms,' he said. 'I just saw her this morning, so thats the reality that I live in.'

The Good Will Hunting star added that Jennifer and their kids will visit him when he films Justice League this summer and they will all vacation together in Europe as a family.

Once so solid: The couple of 10 years ended their marriage over the summer; here they are seen in June

The interview with the Times was supposed to take place the day after Garner's Vanity Fair article was released, but he rescheduled due to a migraine, the paper said.

Instead, the sit down occurred on the Sunday of the Academy Awards. Later that night, Affleck and Garner would be seen leaving the Vanity Fair Oscar party together.

Ben opened up to the New York Times about his ex after promising he would not do so. And he even argued that he doesn't like talking about his personal life 'because it ends up being in the record somewhere, in the great miasma of junk on the Internet.'

In the Vanity Fair interview Garner said: 'It was a real marriage. It wasnt for the cameras. And it was a huge priority for me to stay in it. And that did not work.

She's single now: Garner, seen here on Wednesday at the premiere of Miracles From Heaven, had her way. Ben said: 'She felt like she wanted to discuss it and get it out there and get it over with so she could say, "Look, I already talked about it - I dont want to do it again"'

She is in the best shape of her life: The West Virginia native has been working out nonstop and is also making film after film; she is currently shooting The Tribes Of Palos Verdes with Alicia Silverstone

'No one needs to hate him for me. I dont hate him. Certainly we dont have to beat the guy up,' she said.

'Dont worrymy eyes were wide open during the marriage. Im taking good care of myself.'

She also said: 'I didnt marry the big fat movie star; I married him,' she said. 'And I would go back and remake that decision. I ran down the beach to him, and I would again. You cant have these three babies and so much of what we had.

'Hes the love of my life. What am I going to do about that? Hes the most brilliant person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. Hes just a complicated guy. I always say, "When his sun shines on you, you feel it." But when the sun is shining elsewhere, its cold. He can cast quite a shadow.'

A-OK then: Affleck, who has three children with Garner (Violet, 10, Seraphina, seven - pictured - and Samuel, four), also praised her. 'Jens great. Shes a great person. Were on great terms,' he said. 'I just saw her this morning, so thats the reality that I live in'

But she's not about to turn on the man she hoped to spend the rest of her life with.

'Of course this is not what I imagined when I ran down the beach, but it is where I am,' Jennifer confessed. 'We still have to help each other get through this.'

As far as whether he was romantic with the nanny, the Alias vet said: 'Hes still the only person who really knows the truth about things. And Im still the only person that knows some of his truths.'

As far as moving on, she said she has to get on with it. 'Its not Bens job to make me happy. The main thing is these kidsand were completely in line with what we hope for them.

His next film: Affleck was promoting his new movie Batman v Superman with Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot

'Sure, I lost the dream of dancing with my husband at my daughters wedding. But you should see their faces when he walks through the door. And if you see your kids love someone so purely and wholly, then youre going to be friends with that person.'

Also in the New York Times interview, Affleck touched on how the scandal of his personal life could affect his career.

This is a road the star has been down before - when he dated Jennifer Lopez after falling on the love of the set of their 2003 film Gigli he was maligned for being a hanger to a pop star.

As far as Ricky Gervais' Golden Globe jab where he said Matt Damon was 'the only person who Ben Affleck hasnt been unfaithful to,' Ben said there was not much he could do about it.

He says he's fine with this too! The Oscar winner, seen here on Saturday, touched on Ricky Gervais' Golden Globe slam: 'Whatever. Ive had jokes made at my expense before. Its part of the deal'

'Its the way Ricky Gervais perceives me, I suppose,' he told the Times and then laughed. 'Whatever. Ive had jokes made at my expense before. Its part of the deal.'

He also said playing dirt bags, like the one he portrayed in Gone Girl, is hard for him.

'Denzel Washington can play almost anybody - mass murderers - and you go, "But hes all right!" Theres something so appealing about him, and I dont think I have that,' he said.

'You have these qualities that youre born with. Some of them are good, some of them people dont like. And you just have to live with it.'

Affleck then stressed he is trying to focus on quality projects.
Miley Cyrus slipped her Neil Lane designed diamond ring from former fiance Liam Hemsworth back on in January after they reconnected in Australia.

And the pop star flashed the rock again in late February when landing in New York City to start filming a Woody Allen movie.

But on Monday the 23-year-old Tennessee native was ring-free as she flashed a naked left hand while leaving her Manhattan residence.

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Bye bye? Miley Cyrus was not wearing her diamond engagement ring when she left her NYC residence early on Monday morning

Bling free: The singer's left hand was naked

The Wrecking Ball hit maker didn't appear to be in the best of moods either.

Cyrus failed to crack a smile as she left the building, but that may have been because she was up very early.

On her Instagram page she shared a photo with the same outfit that read: 'Made fo early morninz.'

Miley and Liam reconnected in the summer of 2015 and began talking back and forth for months, according to a report from UsWeekly.

In the winter they began to get romantic with the Hannah Montana star flying to his native Australian to spend some of the holidays with Hemsworth and his family.

See Miley Cyrus updates as she does not wear engagement ring in New York City

In movie mode? Miley may have just left her ring at home as she headed to the set as actors normally don't wear personal jewelry while filming. She was seen walking to a waiting SUV, another sign she was off to work

Boo: The Wrecking Ball hit maker didn't appear to be in the best of moods either. Cyrus failed to crack a smile as she left the building, but that may have been because she was up very early

Soon after she started flashing that rock again, both on Instagram and when out in public.

It was alleged they were engaged again and shacking up at a home in Malibu.

Miley never commented on the status of her relationship with Liam, who she became engaged to in 2012 after meeting on the set of the movie The Last Song.

They can't quit each other: Miley and Liam reconnected in the summer of 2015 and began talking back and forth for months, according to a report from UsWeekly. In the winter they began to get romantic with the Hannah Montana star flying to his native Australian; here they are seen in 2012

There is the rock: Cyrus flashed the ring again earlier this year in Instagram snaps

And again: She also let fans get a look at her bauble when she landed in NYC on January 17

The two have not been seen together since their trip to Australia and he does not appear to have visited her in New York as she's been making her movie.

On Monday Miley may have just left her ring at home as she headed to the set as actors normally don't wear personal jewelry while filming.

She was seen walking to a waiting SUV, another sign she was off to work.

At work: Miley wore a blonde wig and hippie poncho to shoot her new Woody Allen movie last week

With no makeup on and a playful pom-pom hat on her head, she was likely on her way to the hair and makeup department of the untitled film. John Magara and Allen also star.

The Party In The USA crooner was wearing a track suit that had women in bikinis on it, one with her breasts showing. Over the set Cyrus wore a denim jacket.

On her back was a large backpack and she had on high tops with eyeballs on them.

Miley was carrying a bottle of green juice that would suggest she is on a cleanse.
The smash hit moved to Broadway after a nearly sold-out run last year.

And Lupita Nyong'o was clearly beaming from the show's success as she headed to another performance of her hit play Eclipsed on Sunday.

The 33-year-old star cut a chic feminine figure in long, wool trench coat by Fay with blue dress and matching heels.

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Working woman! Lupita Nyong'o, 33, was spotted entering the Broadway theater of her smash hit Eclipsed on Sunday

The Oscar winner made her way to the New York City theater and showed off her sculpted stems in the knee-length garb.

Her flowing frock was a classic piece which was emblazoned with black and white polka dots throughout.

The Star Wars: Force Awakens star accessorized her polished ensemble with dark movie star shades and diamond earrings for some added sparkle.

Brilliant in blue! The Oscar winner cut a ladylike figure in a knee-length polka dot dress

Earlier this month Lupita penned a darling note to her 2.4 million Instagram followers as she captioned the image: 'A few things to know before you see ECLIPSED.'

First and foremost on her list mentioned that the Mexi-Kenyan star was making her Broadway debut but had, in fact, played the role of The Girl before.

'I first played my character as an understudy in Drama School,' she revealed. 'I never went on, and I promised myself back then that I would play "The Girl" some day, somehow, somewhere, so its mindblowing to get to do it on Broadway.'

She revealed that Eclipsed is the first ever play on Broadway to be performed, directed and written by all women, the latter task falling to The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira.

Flawless! Lupita was polished to perfection in a long, chic wool grey coat by Fay

The actress also confessed that before the curtain goes up, she can be typically found knitting backstage, as it 'helps calm the nerves'.

'Being in the play is an emotionally intense experience for me, and it means a lot to me to see your bright faces afterwards at the stage door each night,' she added in another entry. 'Thank you!'

The play, set in 2003, tells the story of five women near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War.

It is almost entirely set in a small one-room shack where three of the women are being held by the Commanding Officer of a rebel faction, who basically uses them as sex slaves.

Success! Eclipsed moved to Broadway after a nearly sold-out run last year
He made waves when he was named the new face of Louis Vuittons women wear campaign in January.

And Jaden Smith has opened up further about pushing the boundaries when it comes to fashion and gender as he explained that hes never seen any distinction between clothing designed for men and women.

Speaking to the British GQ Style, the 17-year-old explained: I feel like people are kind of confused about gender norms. I feel like people dont really get it.'

See Will Smith updates as son Jaden Smith says 'people are confused about gender norms'

A new outlook: Jaden Smith has opened up further about pushing the boundaries when it comes to fashion and gender as he explained that hes never seen any distinction between male and female clothing

He continued: Im not saying that I get it, Im just saying that Ive never seen any distinction. I dont see man clothes and woman clothes, I just see scared people and comfortable people.

The son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith also spoke about his equally stylish sister Willow as he described her as the female version of himself.

He told the publication: Id say its like full-on sibling brain connection.

Id say that shes definitely the female version of me, one hundred per cent, in every single way. And Id say Im the male version of her.

New view: The 17-year-old explained, I feel like people are kind of confused about gender norms. I feel like people dont really get it'

Jaden opted to ditch the skirts for slight more classic attire for the magazine cover shoot.

The teenage rapper let his long dreaded locks take centre stage as he peered through his mane to fix a steely gaze at the camera.

Crouching down in the black and white image, the actor could be seen wearing a black bomber jacket over a crisp white shirt and a black skinny tie.

He completed his look with black trousers and trainers while he accessorised the ensemble with large rings and a pendant.

In another image from the shoot, the Karate Kid star dons a checked shirt and black blazer whilst accessorising with a beaded charm necklace.

Striking campaign: Jaden made waves when he was named the new face of Louis Vuittons women wear campaign in January

The cover image, shot by photographer Terry Tsiolis, the Louis Vuitton brand ambassador has his dreads swept out of his face whilst staring straight into the camera.

The Scarface rapper is well-known for his love of pushing the boundaries when it comes to fashion and gender and has been pictured wearing skirts in the past.

Jaden's father Will recently revealed the youngster is '100 per cent fearless' - a quality which both scares and inspires him.

The actor explained: 'There's a really powerful internal quality as an artist that as parents we encourage.

'You've got to get out on the edge. You have to try things, you have to be comfortable doing things people don't agree with and you have to be comfortable with doing things that you could fail.

'And Jaden is 100 per cent fearless. He will do anything.

'As a parent, it's scary, it's really terrifying but he is completely willing to live and die by his own artistic decisions and he just doesn't concern himself with what people think.

Read the full interview in the latest issue of British GQ Style, on sale from March 14.
The ex-girlfriend of Farmer Wants A Wife star Lachlan McAleer claims the cattle farmer was still in love with her when he picked his winning girl.

Horse trainer Natalie Cepeniuk, who dated the New South Wales farmer for six months last year, told the Daily Telegraph the 37-year-old was 'with her [the show winner] when he loved me.'

Fans of the dating series watched the finale on Monday when Lachlan plucked naturopath Belinda Reid, 35, to be his girlfriend, but Natalie says that romance has already collapsed - claims he denies.

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Former flame: Horse trainer Natalie Cepeniuk, who dated the New South Wales farmer Lachlan McAleer for six months last year, says the 37-year-old picked his winner 'when he was still in love with her

Love at last: After appearing on Married At First, Lachlan appeared to find love with blonde beauty Belinda Reid on Farmer Wants A Wife

She also told the publication that he and Belinda have since broken up and that she had since contacted her for support through Facebook, saying the farmer made her 'skin crawl.'

She said: 'Belinda contacted me to see if Id encountered the same problems with him as she had, and she wanted to find closure,' she claimed.

Lachlan told Daily Mail Australia: 'Everything she says about me are unsubstantiated lies...I wish I had never gone out with her.'

In the final episode, the stubbly farmer opens up to the show's host Sam McClymont about his decision to choose his blonde winner from Victoria.

Slammed again: The Farmer Wants A Wife star is said to have split with naturopath Belinda Reid, says ex

'At the end of the day I think it's quite simple what I need in a woman and that's someone who is loving and caring with a bit of a sense of humour,' Lachlan explained.

'There was definitely chemistry there,' he continued, gushing about the strong connection and sense of attraction the pair share.

For her part Belinda says she loves his funny side, saying: 'For me, one of the biggest things with people is a sense of humour and Lachy has a great sense of humour.'

Revelations: Natalie dated the New South Wales farmer for six months last year. The busty brunette told Woman's Day magazine 'Laid-back Lachie on TV is all an act'

She went on: 'I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed my time on the farm,' she added, no doubt suggesting she could easily adapt to Lachlan's rural lifestyle.

But keen not to rush into things, Belinda added: 'We're taking our time. If this fairytale progresses the way I'd like it to then I can see myself on the farm'.

Natalie has previously claimed that Lachlan is 'fame hungry'.

Together: Natalie shared this photo of Lachlan last year, captioning it: 'With the superstar today lol. Lachlan from married at first sight'

The busty pig shooter told Woman's Day magazine: 'Laid-back Lachie on TV is all an act'.

After having met Lachlan back in 2014, Natalie didn't actually begin dating the reality star until early 2015, six months after he split from Clare Tamas who he met on Channel Nine's Married At First Sight. '

'Things were going great at first, but I quickly learned that he had a short fuse,' she told the magazine.

Hunting: Natalie shared this image on her Myspace account

Revealing she 'felt like I was walking on eggshells' for the duration of their romance, Natalie also says she believes Lachlan's recent nose job was purely for cosmetic purposes despite his claims the procedure was for medical reasons.

Natalie has since moved on with a new man, but no doubt her familiarity with the farm and animals would have provided her and Lachlan with a shared interest during their time together.

On her Facebook page the the New South Wales resident proudly flaunts a photo of herself with a dead pig, the brunette crouching on the ground next to the deceased animal while making a thumb-up hand gesture.

According to The Gympie Times, Natalie won the pig women's event at the region's big boar hunt in July last year.

Previous reality show: For Lachlan, The Farmer Wants A Wife was his second chance at finding love, after a highly publicized failed marriage to Claire Tamas during his appearance on Married At First Sight

Meanwhile, horse training is another passion of hers, with many images splashed across her social media of the animals in the stables or training rings.

For Lachlan, The Farmer Wants A Wife was his second chance at finding love, after a highly publicized failed marriage to Claire Tamas during his appearance on Married At First Sight.

It appears he has finally found that special someone with whom he can settle down with, after it was revealed in last week's episode that he chose Belinda as his final lady.
She is a doting mom to her two boys.

And Naomi Watts enjoyed a playful day out with her sons Alexander, eight, and Samuel, seven, in New York City on Monday.

The 47-year-old beauty went make-up free as she followed closely behind her children, who were zipping around on scooters.

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Razor's edge: Naomi Watts enjoyed a playful day out with her sons Alexander, eight, and Samuel, seven, in New York City on Monday

At one point Naomi gave her eldest blonde boy a peck on the cheek as they patiently waited at a traffic light.

Both boys sported puffy winter jackets and sneakers as they took their three-wheeled razors for a trek through the Big Apple.

Their famous mother meanwhile wore culottes, comfortable shoes, and a stripy top underneath a heavy grey coat.

Give us a kiss: At one point Naomi gave her eldest blonde boy a peck on the cheek as they patiently waited at a traffic light

The 47-year-old beauty went make-up free as she followed closely behind her children, who were zipping around on scooters

Naomi spoke on Friday about her role as Evelyn in The Divergent Series: Allegiant during an appearance on The Today Show.

She recounted a moment during filming where she could not contain a fit of laughter.

'Theres one moment at the end of the film where were looking out at the city and whats taking place, but we were actually looking at nothing,' she explained. 'So you do tend to get the giggles sometimes.'

Casual day out: Naomi wore culottes, comfortable shoes, and a stripy top underneath a heavy grey coat

The star also recently spoke candidly about her 11 year relationship with actor Liev Schreiber in the spring fashion forward issue of Los Angeles Confidential.

The actress revealed: 'Relationships are hard whether you're famous or not. I don't know anyone who doesn't have to work on it. Being an actor doesn't change anything.'
London mayor Johnson blasts Obama over Brexit

London mayor Boris Johnson on Monday accused Barack Obama of "hypocrisy" following a report that the US president is heading to Britain next month to make the case for the UK to stay in the European Union.

"Coming from Uncle Sam, it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy," Johnson, a leading member of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU in a June referendum, wrote in his regular column for the Daily Telegraph.

"Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?" he asked, adding: "This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control."

Barack Obama will visit Britain towards the end of April, around two months before a referendum when the country will decide whether to leave or stay in the 28-country European Union, The Independent on Sunday said Mandel Ngan (AFP/File)

Johnson went on to point out that the United States does not accept that its own citizens could be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court and does not recognise other jurisdictions.

"In urging us to embed ourselves more deeply in the EU's federalising structures, the Americans are urging us down a course they would never dream of going themselves," he wrote.

"That is because they are a nation conceived in liberty. They sometimes seem to forget that we are quite fond of liberty, too."

The Independent newspaper on Sunday reported that Obama, who has already expressed support for Britain's EU membership, was expected to come to London at the end of April.

The visit would take place around two months before the June 23 referendum in which British voters will decide whether to leave or stay in the 28-country bloc.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron's Downing Street office on Monday declined to comment on the report.

"Other people will set out their views, the choice for the British people is whether or not they listen to them but then they get to make up their own minds," she said.

- 'Special relationship' -

But on a visit to Brussels, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was important to hear from other countries as part of the debate ahead of the vote.

"I think it's important that we hear from those people in the Anglosphere, not just President Obama but the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and beyond the Anglosphere, Japanese and Chinese leaders," he said.

"Let's just hear what they actually think about their relations with Britain, let's just hear how much they actually value Britain's membership of the European Union, just so that the British people are properly informed."

Obama is heading to Germany in late April to talk trade with Chancellor Angela Merkel and promote US exports at the Hanover industrial technology fair, which takes place April 25-29.

Washington has long backed Britain playing a central role in the EU, the world's largest economic bloc, and has warned the UK-US "special relationship" could be at risk if it were to leave.

Cameron favours keeping Britain in the EU, following a renegotiation of the country's relations with Brussels.

Opinion polls indicate that the race is finely balanced, with those who want to remain at 51 percent and those in favour of leaving at 49 percent, according to a survey of polls by the What UK Thinks research project that excludes undecided voters.
'I thought of the Bataclan': terror strikes sleepy I. Coast beach

On the golden sands of Grand-Bassam beach, usually packed with expats escaping the city, lies the body of a young man, his face ripped apart by a bullet.

Men in white inspect the body as onlookers take pictures on their mobile phones. "He's a kid," says one of them.

The man is one of 16 people gunned down by jihadists in the sleepy seaside resort, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the hustle and bustle of Ivory Coast's economic hub Abidjan.

People put a blanket on a body lying on the beach following a shooting rampage by gunmen at the Ivory Coast resort of Grand-Bassam, on March 13, 2016 Sia-Kambou (AFP)

At a beach bar several metres away, one of many little huts dotted along the beach, doctors are laying out the lifeless body of a woman still in her swimsuit. Two more bodies lie not far away.

"They have come to ruin our country," shouts one witness.

Soldiers and armed police patrol the area and an army boat trawls the coastline looking for more bodies.

Sunday's attack, claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, bears grim similarities to an Islamist attack on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

"At the beginning we thought this was just kids throwing firecrackers -- then we realised it was jihadists," says beach vendor Gisele Kouao.

Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian national who teaches at an international high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons.

"Someone told us that it was just an argument between two of the bar bosses -- then it became more serious," she says.

"We hid in a little shack. There were about 20 of us.

"We were really scared. We thought of the people at the Bataclan," she says, referring to the concert venue attacked by gunmen during the November's terror attacks in the French capital when 130 people were killed.

"I thought this was it for us. You always tell yourselves that these things can't happen," she says quietly.

- 'He wanted to kill' -

At the Etoile du Sud (Southern Star) hotel, one of three targeted by the attackers armed with guns and grenades, towels lie abandoned around the swimming pool.

A bullet is lodged in the glass front of the bar's refrigerator. A large pool of blood stains the floor.

A foreign woman was killed there after trying to hide behind the bar, says an employee. A policeman adds that she was shot at close range.

"I saw one of the attackers from far away," says Abbas El-Roz, a Lebanese salesman, who was in the pool when the attackers struck.

"He had a Kalashnikov and a grenade belt. He was looking for people."

Beyond the beach, a crowd of onlookers have gathered by the bridge that separates the new town from the French quarter -- the old town whose beautiful colonial-era facades earned Grand-Bassam its UNESCO World Heritage status.

Under the guard of security forces, Marie-Claire Yapi is in tears. In the panic, she was separated from her nine-month old baby and her sister.

"Someone said to me: 'Run, this is serious -- they are killing everyone," she says.

"He had a Kalashnikov. Even after he was hit, he wanted to kill."

Beside her, in a state of shock with a t-shirt soaked in blood, Koumena Kakou Bertin describes how the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is great" -- as they sprayed the beach with bullets.

Dozens of survivors in swimming costumes and clutching beach bags are escorted past by the military. Their faces are haggard and some of them are shaking.

"We were scared," says vendor Charlotte Yao. "We cried a lot."

People leave the beach after heavily armed gunmen opened fire at a hotel in the Ivory Coast beach resort of Grand-Bassam, on March 13, 2016 Issouf Sanogo (AFP)
UAE fighter jet crashed in Yemen, 2 pilots killed

Two Emirati pilots were killed when their fighter jet crashed on Monday in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels, the alliance said.

The Mirage jet crashed at dawn "due to a technical fault," said the coalition statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA, hours after the United Arab Emirates said one of its jets had gone missing.

In a statement on the UAE's official WAM news agency, the Emirati armed forces had said the jet was "missing" without giving details.

Fighter jets of the UAE armed forces land at a Saudi air force base after raids in Yemen in 2015

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition crashing since the Saudi-led campaign against the Iran-backed rebels began in March last year.

Coalition warplanes turned their crosshairs on Yemen's second city Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, for the first time last week.

Security officials and witnesses in Aden told AFP that a jet had crashed into a nearby mountain as coalition warplanes operated in the vicinity after clashes erupted between Yemeni forces and jihadists.

Footage from the foot of a hill near Aden showed locals pointing to debris strewn in the area and saying it belonged to the crashed jet.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the conflict between Iran-backed insurgents and pro-government forces to reinforce their presence in the south, including in Aden.

A government official told AFP that a coalition jet had carried out an air raid against the home of a local IS commander at dawn, killing his 18-year-old son near the plane crash site.

- Military losses -

Apache helicopters were also taking part in the fighting on Monday, security officials said.

"We saw Apache helicopters fire rockets and open machinegun fire at Al-Qaeda militants" in Aden's Mansura district, one witness said.

Security sources estimate that around 300 heavily armed Al-Qaeda fighters are entrenched in Mansura.

The UAE jet is the third coalition warplane to go down since March 2015.

In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a "technical error."

The pilot was saved and the plane's wreckage was found.

In May, a Moroccan jet crashed in Yemen. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that the crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, denying rebel claims that they had downed the plane.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

In Yemen itself, more than 6,100 people have died -- half of them civilians -- since the coalition launched its campaign, according to the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia mounted an Arab air campaign against the rebels after they closed in on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in his refuge in Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.

Hadi and senior officials spend most of their time in Riyadh as security situation in Aden continues to worsen.

The Huthi rebels overran capital Sanaa unopposed in September 2014 and went on to expand their control across the south Arabian Peninsula country.
3 Palestinians carry out shooting, car-ramming attacks, shot dead

Three Palestinians carried out two attacks -- a shooting and a car-ramming -- on Israelis in the southern occupied West Bank on Monday before they were shot dead, the Israeli army said.

"Two assailants opened fire at pedestrians waiting at a bus stop at the entrance of Kiryat Arba (near Hebron). Forces guarding the area responded and shot the assailants, resulting in their deaths," a military statement read.

"Moments later, in an additional attack, a vehicle rammed into a military vehicle responding at the scene. Forces responded to the immediate danger and shot the assailant, resulting in his death."

Since October 1, 2015, a wave of violence has killed nearly 200 Palestinians Abbas Momani (AFP/File)

The army said a soldier was wounded in the shooting attack, and three others lightly wounded in the car-ramming.

A military spokeswoman said the assailants used a pistol and a submachine gun.

The Palestinian health ministry named the perpetrators as Qassem Abu Ouda, 30, and Amir Juneidi, 22, from Hebron, and Yousef Taraya, 18, from the nearby village of Bani Naim.

Hebron has long been a source of tensions, with several hundred Israeli settlers living in the heart of the city under heavy military guard among around 200,000 Palestinians.

Israeli security forces have noted an recent surge in shooting attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank following five-and-a-half months of Palestinian attacks.

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 193 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

Others were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes or demonstrations, while some were killed in air strikes on Gaza.
Vietnam anti-China activists mark Spratly island battle

Activists chanted anti-China slogans in the Vietnamese capital on Monday to mark the anniversary of a 1988 battle in the Spratly Islands, a rare act of protest over an issue that has come to dog relations between Hanoi and Beijing.

The two neighbours are locked in long-standing territorial disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which both countries claim.

One party Vietnam clamps down on public protest.

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at Parliament House in Hanoi on November 6, 2015 Hoang Dinh Nam (POOL/AFP/File)

But anti-Chinese demonstrations have become increasingly commonplace, particularly around the March 14 anniversary of a skirmish between China and Vietnam.

In 1988 China launched an attack on Gac Ma Island -- one of the larger Spratly Islands which was formerly under Vietnamese military control -- killing 64 Vietnamese soldiers in the last violent conflict between the two nations.

"We are here to commemorate our soldiers killed by Chinese," teacher Pham Toan told AFP in front of a statue of Ly Thai To -- the founder of Hanoi and a nationalist figurehead.

"Their sacrifice has been long forgotten by Vietnamese authorities," Toan added, referring to activist claims that the communist authorities do not sufficiently commemorate the battle.

Vietnam's communist leadership's handling of its delicate relationship with China -- which is the country's largest trading partner -- is a frequent flashpoint for domestic criticism of Vietnam's authoritarian government.

Watched by dozens of plain-clothed security officers, the activists played patriotic music and waved Vietnamese flags near the central Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi.

Dozens of activists laid floral wreaths covered with black ribbons that read "the people will never forget" at the statue of Ly Thai To.

The protest lasted about an hour. Vietnam's tightly controlled state media covered the anniversary but not Monday's protest. There was no official comment from the government.

Beijing's increasingly assertive stance in contested waters has triggered public anger and rounds of protests in authoritarian Vietnam where the demonstrations are sometimes forcefully broken up.

The Spratlys are claimed by Hanoi but controlled by Beijing, which has ramped up activity in the area by rapidly building artificial islands, including airstrips said to be capable of hosting military jets.

Rioting broke out in Vietnam after Beijing sent an oil rig into contested waters in 2014, and at least three Chinese people were killed.
China minister warns on subsidies as Uber, Didi battle

China's transport minister warned online taxi-hailing companies Monday over subsidies leading to "unfair" competition, as US giant Uber and homegrown rival Didi spend billions in their battle for market share.

Yang Chuantang did not name either firm and did not threaten specific sanctions, but Chinese authorities have issued huge fines in competition probes in the past, and his comments represent a warning shot to the upstart industry.

Ride-booking services, which connect customers directly with drivers through smartphones, have threatened the old-style taxi sector -- which often generates income for local authorities -- and contributed to protests by cab drivers in China.

Ride-booking services have threatened the old-style taxi sector Mohd Fyrol (AFP/File)

Both firms raised billions from investors last year as they try to secure their positions in the fiercely competitive market, offering both drivers and passengers subsidies that have proved a boon to Chinese consumers.

"The subsidies provided by some companies are a short-term move to grab market shares and posed unfair competition to the traditional taxi industry in a certain period of time," Transport Minister Yang Chuantang said at a briefing.

"In the long run, (they) will harm the healthy and sustainable development of the market," he said on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, the Communist-controlled parliament.

Uber's controversial boss Travis Kalanick has said Didi is spending as much as $4 billion a year on subsidies, which the Chinese firm -- backed by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent -- dismissed as "wildly creative", without giving specifics.

He was reported last month as saying his own firm was losing $1 billion a year in China. An Uber spokeswoman declined to say by how much it was subsidising users in the country, where it is active in 22 cities.

The transport ministry in October unveiled proposed regulations that analysts said could be a "devastating blow" to the online ride-booking industry in China.

The draft bars private cars from participating in such services, which Chinese media reports said would force vehicles and drivers to be registered with the government.

It also requires ride-booking companies to obtain permits from local transport and telecommunications authorities in order to conduct business, with foreign companies having to set up servers in China and meet requirements for "national security".

The period for public comments ended in November but Yang said Monday authorities were still "revising and adjusting" the details, without giving a timetable for their introduction.

But he downplayed concerns that private cars could be forced out by the rules, acknowledging that car-hailing services were "welcomed by some passengers".

Private cars will "be allowed to provide profit-making transportation services" after going through "certain procedures" to make them legal, he said.

Didi, which says it has more than 80 percent of the Chinese market, said it was "deeply inspired" by Yang's comments.

It had been calling for a "flexible, pragmatic" policy, it said in a statement emailed to AFP, adding it "applauds the ministry's openness towards voices from the market place".
Turkey points finger at Kurdish rebels over Ankara bombing

Turkey on Monday blamed Kurdish rebels for a suicide car bombing that killed 35 people in Ankara, the latest in a series of attacks that has heightened concerns about security in the country.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Sunday evening blast, which reduced cars and buses to charred husks on a busy road in the heart of the capital, wounding more than 120 people.

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said "serious, almost certain findings" from the investigation pointed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and vowed to "take any step required to defend this country".

Turkish officials say one of the bombers was a woman with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Mehmet Ozer (AFP)

Officials say that of the 37 people killed in the blast, 35 have now been identified as victims, one was a female suicide bomber and one a man thought to have been her accomplice.

Sunday's carnage, the second major bombing in Ankara in less than a month, will come as an embarrassment to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) won parliamentary elections in November promising to save Turkey from "chaos" and smash the PKK.

In February a car bombing along very similar lines targeted military personnel in a nearby area of Ankara, killing 29 people.

A second attack so soon afterwards in the centre of the Turkish capital will add to security fears as Turkey grapples with the twin threat of Kurdish rebels and the Islamic State (IS) group.

The February attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, as revenge for Turkish military operations in the southeast. The TAK warned of more attacks to come, including on tourist areas.

Turkey has in recent months waged an all-out assault on the PKK, which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.

Davutoglu said the evidence so far pointed to Kurdish rebels being behind the bombing.

"There are very serious, almost certain findings that point to the separatist terrorist organisation," he told reporters after visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, referring to the PKK.

Authorities have detained 11 people over the attack, Davutoglu said, while Turkish jets bombed PKK targets in northern Iraq on Monday, just hours after the blast.

Mourners wept as the first of the victims were laid to rest on Monday, some in coffins draped with the scarlet Turkish flag.

The country has been hit by a string of major attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on IS, which controls large areas of Turkey's southern neighbour Syria.

Three have targeted Ankara, including a double suicide bombing in October that left 103 people dead.

- 'We do not deserve this' -

Erdogan pledged to continue the fight against the Kurdish rebels and urged Turkey's allies to stop backing Syrian Kurdish groups -- which Ankara sees as branches of the PKK.

"Those at home and abroad who think they made us pay a price will pay real price themselves," he said in a televised speech on Monday evening.

But there was anger that security forces were unable to stop the blast, which came just two days after the US embassy warned of a possible plot to attack central Ankara.

"People have been talking about another bomb attack coming for more than a week but the government took no precautions and didn't warn anyone," Nihat Gorgulu, the uncle of one of the victims, told AFP.

"We are very afraid because the government doesn't care about the people of this country."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party, accused the government of "turning a blind eye" to the threat.

"We do not deserve this intolerable situation where parents are burying their children," he said.

The head of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Selahattin Demirtas suggested the government was "politically liable" for the attack.

"3 big explosions hit country's capital in the last 5 months, should we say we congratulate AKP for this? What should we say?" he said on the party's English-language Twitter account.

Dozens of left-wing activists protested in central Istanbul against the government over the bombing before riot police broke up the rally with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.

Targeting civilians would not be a completely new tactic for Kurdish rebels, but would represent an escalation of the current phase of the conflict.

Can Acun, an analyst with Turkish think tank SETA, told AFP the rebellion appeared to be getting desperate.

"The 'uprising' launched by the PKK has not worked. Even the Kurdish population has distanced itself from its operations in the southeastern towns," Acun said.

"In frustration the PKK seems to have chosen to go for more serious acts."

Car bomb in Turkey's capital Laurence SAUBADU (AFP)

A mother of a Turkish victim cries as she waits to collect the body of her son at a hospital morgue in Ankara, on March 14, 2016 Ozan Kose (AFP)

Turkish officials say the attack targeted a bus stop close to Kizilay Square in Ankara Erol Ucem (AFP)

Men holding a banner turn away as Turkish police use water cannon in Istanbul on March 14, 2016 during an anti-government protest in memory of the victims of the suicide car bombing in Ankara the day before Bulent Kilic (AFP)
Two Italians killed in Zimbabwe on anti-poaching patrol

An Italian father and son who lived in Zimbabwe were shot dead by wildlife rangers while on an anti-poaching patrol in an apparent case of mistaken identity, officials said Monday.

The two were killed in the Mana Pools national park in northern Zimbabwe on Sunday.

"The rangers (were) following the spoor of the poachers, they later saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire accidentally shooting and killing... the pair," the parks authority said in a statement.

Private individuals regularly assist in anti-poaching activities in Zimbabwe Jekesai Njikizana (AFP/File)

Emmanuel Fundira, head of the Safari Operators Association, told AFP that private individuals regularly assist the parks department in Zimbabwe by providing logistical support for anti-poaching patrols.

"Claudio Chiarelli was an accomplished professional hunter who brought European tourists to Zimbabwe," Fundira said.

"Claudio and some colleagues were on a trip with a parks anti-poaching unit when a ranger came from nowhere and shot at them while they were standing outside their vehicle.

"We understand it was a case of mistaken identity."

An Italian embassy official, who declined to be named, said Claudio Chiarelli, reportedly from Padua, had lived in Zimbabwe since 1982 and that his son was born in the country.

Italian media reports said Chiarelli was 50, and identified his son as 20-year-old Massimiliano.

"We can confirm it happened yesterday at Mana Pools national park but we are not aware of the exact details," said the embassy official.

"We are in contact with the family. It's a tragedy. The loss of a father and a son, and also for Zimbabwe for the bad publicity it will generate."
Opponents unite before Benin presidential 2nd round vote

Businessman Patrice Talon will team up with his beaten opponent Sebastien Ajavon to take on Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou in the second round of Benin's presidential election.

Zinsou and Talon go head-to-head this Sunday in the battle for the country's top job after winning the most votes in the first round held on March 6. Ajavon was placed third.

Reacting to the official results announced by the Constitutional Court on Sunday, Talon said Ajavon was a "great man" and a "great business operator" and that he "counted on him" for the next step.

Cotton tycoon and presidential candidate Patrice Talon arriving for a rally in Cotonou on March 4, 2016 Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP/File)

"We're going to win together, we're going to reconstruct our country together," said Talon, who made his fortune in the cotton industry.

Ajavon, a agricultural feed magnate, for his part said he was backing Talon and would support him in the second round.

The development could pose problems for Zinsou as Talon won 23.52 percent of the overall vote in the first round and Ajavon 22.07 percent. Zinsou placed first on 27.11 percent.

Zinsou's main opponents have previously vowed to support whoever among them came out top in the first round in the second-round run-off against President Thomas Boni Yayi's chosen candidate.

Boni Yayi is stepping down after completing two full five-year terms of office.

Talon also called on the economist Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, who won 8.29 percent of the votes and the former prime minister Pascal Irenee Koupaki (5.6 percent) to join them.

Zinsou, who quit as head of France's biggest investment bank last year to become prime minister, has been described by critics as France's preferred candidate in its former colony.

He said candidates were often voted for on the strength of their record in office in the first round but in the second it was a contest between two people "for the future" of the country.

His team said it remained "confident and calm" and were looking to mobilise non-voters to win the second round.
Anti-Trump protestor says racism, not Islam, motivated confrontation

The protester who disrupted a Donald Trump rally in Ohio over the weekend wanted to send a message against racism and "violent, white supremacist ideas," he said in an interview airing Monday.

Thomas DiMassimo caused a stir Saturday when he tried to rush the stage in Dayton, where the Republican presidential frontrunner was wrapping up a campaign speech.

"I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully, and he is nothing more than that," the 22-year old college student told CNN.

Donald Trump signs autographs during a rally at the International Exposition Center on March 12, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

"He is somebody who is just saying a lot of bold things, he's making bold claims. But I can see right through that and I can see that he's truly just a coward. And he's opportunistic and he's willing to destroy this country for power for himself," DiMassimo said.

DiMassimo was prevented from reaching Trump by the billionaire businessman's security detail and US Secret Service officers who quickly surrounded him, shielding him with their bodies.

DiMassimo, a senior at Wright State University, has been charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic.

Trump posted a link to what appeared to a video with what appeared to be a doctored picture of DiMassimo with a gun and an ISIS flag. In the video, Arabic music is laid over images taken from an anti-racism march at Wright State University in which Massimo is seen dragging an American flag on the ground.

"USSS (United States Secret Service) did an excellent job stopping the maniac running to the stage. He has ties to ISIS. Should be in jail!" Trump tweeted.

But DiMassimo said his motives had absolutely nothing to do with radical Islam.

"I was thinking that I could get up on stage and take his podium away from him ... and send a message to all people out in the country who wouldn't consider themselves racist, who wouldn't consider themselves approving of what type of violence Donald Trump is allowing in his rallies," DiMassimo said.
Russia opposes UN sanctions on Iran over missile tests

Russia on Monday opposed slapping sanctions on Iran over recent ballistic missile tests that Moscow's UN envoy said did not violate a UN resolution adopted after the landmark nuclear deal.

The UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting on the missile launches at the request of the United States, which along with Britain had pushed for a special report to decide on possible sanctions.

But the meeting concluded with no specific follow-up action other than further discussion on the test-launches within a designated Security Council committee on Iran.

A long-range Qadr ballistic missile is launched in the Alborz mountain range in northern Iran on March 9, 2016 Mahmood Hosseini (Tasnim News/AFP/File)

"We did agree that it's not a violation," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, welcoming "a very satisfactory outcome of the discussion."

Russia's stance as a veto-wielding member of the council effectively ruled out the possibility of UN sanctions against Iran.

The council in July adopted a resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and called on Iran to refrain from developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Tehran maintains that the latest missile tests, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, were not aimed at developing a nuclear capability.

Churkin noted that the term "called upon" in the new resolution was an important change in legal language from previous adopted texts that barred Iran from developing such technology.

"A call is different from a ban, so legally you can't violate a call," he said.

The new resolution "clearly raises the requirements of proof quite a bit" by stating that the missiles must be "designed" to have nuclear capability, Churkin added.

- US sees 'quibbling' -

US Ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of "lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder our collective responsibility."

"We are not going to give up, no matter the quibbling that we heard today about this," said Power.

The US ambassador described the missile launches as "dangerous, destabilizing and provocative" and noted that Iranian military officials had claimed that the missiles were designed to be a threat to Israel.

"These were designed to deliver a nuclear weapon," said Power. "This merits a council response."

Britain and France had both raised concern over the missile launches, but the ambassadors did not specifically say that the tests were a violation of resolution 2231.

"We judge that Iran is in blatant disregard of Resolution 2231," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said "we are worried, because we are in a case of non-compliance with 2231."

The United States slapped sanctions on Iran in January over its ballistic missile program, even as the world hailed the implementation of the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and Western powers.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon called on the council to take action, arguing that failure to do so "will give Iran a green light to continue with its nuclear missile tests."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week urged Iran to act with caution and moderation, in response to the two days of missile launches.
Bollywood stars to flock to Madrid for Indian film awards

Madrid will host the "Bollywood Oscars" on June 25, officials said Monday, with Spain hoping the glittering awards ceremony will help draw more tourists from fast-growing India.

Over 100 Bollywood stars will attend the International Indian Film Academy awards, which is expected to have a worldwide viewership of about 800 million people, according to organisers.

"It is going to be real, real madness," Anil Kapoor, one of India's most popular actors who starred in "Slumdog Millionaire", told a news conference in Madrid.

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan performs on stage during the fourth and final day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, April 27, 2014 Jewel Samad (AFP/File)

"There is a tremendous amount of similarity between the Spanish people and Indian people. We believe in enjoying life, we believe in family values, we love to dance."

The ceremony, first held in 2000, honours the previous year's films and is filled with over the top performances. It is held in a different country each year.

The choice of Madrid to host the event comes as Spain is pushing to diversify its tourism base beyond the traditional northern European sunseekers and capture a greater slice of the rising tourism flows from emerging economies like India.

Last year just 85,000 Indians visited Spain but this is nearly a threefold rise from 30,000 visitors in 2011, the director general of Spanish tourist board Turespana, Marta Blanco, said at the presentation of the awards show.

"It is a country with great potential. We want a better positioning of our country in this strategic market," she said.

The Indian film awards is expected to bring 15,000 visitors to Madrid during the week of the ceremony and generate 15 million euros ($16.7 million) in revenue, organisers said.

Several hundred people turned out on Sunday for a flashmob hosted by Kapoor and two other top Bollywood stars -- actress Sonakshi Sinha and heartthrob Hrithik Roshan -- in front to Madrid city hall to promote the awards ceremony.

The actors then posted tweeted pictures of themselves eating jamon (ham) at a Madrid market, dancing flamenco and meeting with Real Madrid starts Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema at the club's Bernabeu stadium.

Known for catchy songs and whimsical backdrops, India's film industry is thriving commercially with the country producing over 1,000 movies a year -- more than Hollywood.

The Indian industry sells over four billion movie tickets a year, according to the International Indian Film Academy award organisers.
Iran says US court order on 9/11 compensation 'ridiculous'

Iran on Monday rejected as "ridiculous" a US court ruling that the Islamic republic pay more than $10 billion in compensation over the Al-Qaeda-claimed 9/11 attacks.

A New York court last week ordered Tehran to pay $7.5 billion to victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- and $3 billion to insurers over related claims -- after ruling that Iran had failed to prove that it did not help the bombers.

"This judgement is so ridiculous... more than ever before, it damages the credibility of the US judicial system," state television quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

Workers prepare for the opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center site May 14, 2014 in New York Stan Honda (AFP/File)

"Such judgements also send a very dangerous message to terrorists and to their supporters: Kill people... not only will we not prosecute, but we will even target your greatest enemies instead," Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

"We also see the US administration as a partner in such verdicts," Ansari said.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, also criticised the ruling.

"If they (the United States) want to prosecute anyone over the September 11 incident, it should be their allies in the region who created Al-Qaeda and funded it," he said.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The group's leader at the time of the attacks, Osama Bin Laden, was born in Saudi Arabia but was stripped of his citizenship in 1994.

He was killed on May 2, 2011 by US special forces in his residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Relations have been tense between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, who back opposing sides in the Syria and Yemen conflicts.

The Shiite republic and Sunni kingdom severed diplomatic ties in January after Riyadh executed a Saudi Shiite cleric and protesters ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

The only Al-Qaeda plotter convicted over the 9/11 attacks told American lawyers that members of the Saudi royal family donated millions of dollars to the group in the 1990s.

The Saudi embassy denied the allegations, branding French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui "a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent".
Putin orders withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria as peace talks start

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the withdrawal of Moscow's forces from Syria in a shock move as fresh peace talks began in Geneva.

But hopes for a breakthrough at the talks remained remote with both sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the brutal conflict.

The Kremlin said Putin had called Assad to inform Moscow's long-standing ally of the move that appears to end the main part of its controversial bombing campaign that began in September.

Russian fighter jets are seen on the tarmac at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, Syria, on February 16, 2016

"The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments.

"The leaders noted that the actions of the Russian airforce (had) allowed (them) to radically change the situation in the fight against terrorism, to disorganise the fighters' infrastructure and inflict significant damage on them," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The White House said presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin had spoken following Russia's surprise announcement, and discussed the "next steps required to fully implement the cessation of hostilities".

But US officials offered a cautious initial assessment of the Kremlin's decision.

"At this point, we are going to see how things play out over the next few days," a senior administration official told AFP.

- 'Courage and heroism' -

Putin and Assad agreed that Moscow would maintain an airforce facility in Syria to help monitor the progress of a ceasefire in the war-torn country.

"The Syrian leader underlined his readiness for the quickest establishment of the political process in Syria," the statement added.

Russia's decision to begin withdrawing from Syria will help Moscow intensify efforts to reach a political settlement, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations said.

"Our diplomacy has received marching orders to intensify our efforts to achieve a political settlement in Syria," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the move would increase the pressure on President Assad to negotiate "a political transition".

Russia began its airstrikes in support of Assad's forces in September, a move that helped shore up the regime's crumbling forces and allow them to go on the offensive.

Russia sent over 50 warplanes to carry out thousands of strikes across the Syria arguing that it was targeting "terrorist" groups including Islamic State jihadists.

The intervention was slammed by the West and its regional allies, who insisted that Moscow was mainly bombing more moderate rebels fighting Assad.

A temporary ceasefire between Assad's forces and opponents in the country introduced on February 27 has largely held, but it does not cover the IS and Nusra front groups.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Moscow's Hmeimim air base in Syria and its Tartus naval facility would remain functioning and that some military contingents would stay behind.

He did not however give any details on how many soldiers would stay in Syria and what the timeframe for withdrawal was.

- 'A positive decision' -

The UN-hosted negotiations in Geneva are the latest effort to end violence that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

Syria's main opposition hailed the Kremlin's withdrawal announcement, but said it would wait and see what impact the order would have on the ground.

"We must verify the nature of this decision and its meaning," Salem al-Meslet, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told reporters in Geneva.

"If there is a decision to withdraw the (Russian) forces, it is a positive decision, and we will see it on the ground (but) does this decision mean removing forces or just reducing the number of aircraft in Syria, (that) we will have to check," he said.

Hopes for a breakthrough at the talks, however, appeared remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over Assad's future.

As the Syrian delegations arrived in Geneva over the weekend, Damascus warned that any discussion about removing Assad would be a "red line".

Top Western diplomats immediately condemned the comment from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem as divisive and provocative.

After his first official meeting with the regime on Monday, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters that "strong statements (and) rhetoric" were part of every tough negotiation and that his initial discussions with government representative Bashar al-Jaafari were "useful".

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (unseen) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 14, 2016 Mihail Klimentyev (Sputnik/AFP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an exclusive interview with AFP in the capital Damascus on February 11, 2016 Joseph Eid (AFP/File)

5 years of conflict in Syria Gillian Handyside (AFP)

A general view taken from the al-Qaboun rebel held northeastern suburb of the capital Damascus on March 13, 2016 shows damaged buildings in the nearby Jobar neighbourhood Abd Doumany (AFP/File)
Picasso custody battle heats up as NY trial looms

A custody battle for a $100 million Picasso sculpture has intensified in New York between British agents acting on behalf of the Qatari royal family and a prominent American art dealer.

Unless an out of court settlement can be reached, the case is scheduled to go to trial before Judge William Pauley in Manhattan on September 19 to determine its rightful owner and to seek damages against New York dealer Larry Gagosian and Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso.

The sculpture in question is the 1931 "Bust of a Woman (Marie-Therese)," which was on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art until last month as part of the largest exhibit of sculpture by the Spanish master in 50 years.

People observing the art piece "Bust of a Woman (Marie-Therese)" during a press preview for The Museum of Modern Art's major exhibition of Picasso Sculptures in New York n September 9, 2015 Kena Betancur (AFP/File)

The tortured legal dispute stretches from courts in France to Switzerland and America, lifting a lid on a breakdown in communications and rivalry among the descendants of one of the 20th century's greatest artists.

Lawyers for London-based agents Pelham Europe are demanding that the US court hand over the sculpture, invalidate a rival claim from Gagosian and billionaire Leon Black, and for Gagosian and Widmaier-Picasso, to pay damages.

They say Picasso's daughter, Maya, whose mother Marie-Therese is depicted in the sculpture, directed its sale to Pelham in November 2014 for $47 million so it could go on public display in a Qatar museum.

Maya had made it clear she did not want her daughter Diana to be involved, worrying that she would make reproductions of the sculpture or sell it to Gagosian, according to the court papers filed at the US federal court Friday.

Her son, Olivier, however, was fully involved, they say.

But days before the final payment was due, Maya renounced the agreement and rejected the final payment from Pelham.

Pelham's lawyers say an "enraged" Diana had found out and hatched a plot with her long-time associate Gagosian, by which Maya would sell the sculpture to him in secret so he could sell it on for a much higher price.

Court papers say that Gagosian made the deal with Black, who reportedly bought Edvard Munch's "The Scream" for $120 million in 2012, then the highest price for a work of art sold at auction.

Although Pelham went to court in Switzerland and France to claim the sculpture back and stop Maya moving it from Paris, it was sold regardless in May 2015, according to US court papers.

That September, the sculpture went on display in the MoMA exhibition in New York as "courtesy of Gagosian Gallery" -- without Pelham's knowledge.

Pelham went to court in New York, where Gagosian disclosed he had acquired the sculpture for "more than $100 million" and sold it to an undisclosed buyer.

In January, Gagosian filed a petition saying he was the rightful owner and had concluded an agreement with a New York buyer, who would take possession of the sculpture once the exhibit ended on February 7.

But last month, the French court tossed out defense allegations that Maya had acted out of diminished mental capacity and said Pelham could renew its claim.
Syria says Russia will support regime after pullout order

The Syrian presidency said Moscow will keep up its support for the regime's "anti-terrorist" battle, following the surprise announcement Monday of a pullout of Russian forces from the war-torn country.

"The Syrian and Russian parties agreed in a telephone call between Presidents Bashar al-Assad and (Russia's) Vladimir Putin to reduce the number of Russian air force personnel in Syria," the president's office said on its Facebook page.

"The Russian side said it will continue to support Syria in its battle against terrorism," it said.

A military helicopter is seen at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, in the northwest of Syria, on February 16, 2016

The presidency said the Russian announcement follows "the success registered by the Syrian army with the cooperation of the Russian air force and with the restoration of security in several regions of Syria".

Putin earlier ordered the Russian defence ministry to begin the troop withdrawal from Tuesday.

"The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents" from Syria, Putin said.
Israel approves tough law to keep out Palestinian workers

The Israeli parliament on Monday evening approved a tough new law to keep out Palestinian workers, as part of measures to quell a five-month wave of violence.

The Knesset said on its website that the bill sponsored by internal security minister Gilad Erdan passed its third reading "by a large majority".

While the workers themselves are already subject to arrest and imprisonment, the new legislation strikes at Israelis who employ them and those who transport them.

A Palestinian man uses a rope to climb over a section of Israel's controversial separation barrier as many do in search for work Thomas Coex (AFP/File)

Erdan said in a statement that with the passage of the new law "the police can be expected to mount large-scale operations to seize illegal entrants and those who assist them."

Among its provisos are that the Israeli employer of a Palestinian who has entered the Jewish state without the obligatory -- and hard to come by -- permit, will face up to two years in prison.

That is in the case of one worker for a single day.

"Those who employ more than one illegal worker, or hire an illegal worker for more than 24 hours, will face up to four years of incarceration," the site said.

In the case of companies who regularly take on unlicensed Palestinian staff, they face fines of between 40,000 and 452,000 shekels ($10,550 and $119,000).

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 193 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

Others were shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes or demonstrations, while some were killed in air strikes on Gaza.

Many analysts say young Palestinians are fed up with Israeli occupation, while Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence.

A government adviser told a Knesset committee on Sunday that of the attacks carried out in Israel, including Jerusalem, 44 percent were carried out by Palestinians in the Jewish state illegally.

Israeli police say the security forces are engaged in a two-pronged campaign to shut down underground West Bank arms makers and to keep out Palestinians who have not undergone the rigorous security checks carried out on applicants for entry and work permits.

Last Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on a package of measures to quell the violence, including completion of the unfinished security barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank.

He also ordered the cancellation of Israeli work permits for relatives of Palestinian attackers and fast-track demolition of perpetrators' homes.

Israel has increased its efforts against unauthorised Palestinian labourers, arresting more than 400 workers and dozens of their Israeli employers last week alone, police said.
Italy offers to help Egypt probe murder

Italy's chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone on Monday offered Rome's assistance in the Egyptian investigation into the murder of an Italian graduate student after his abduction in Cairo.

Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge University PhD student who was researching Egyptian labour movements, disappeared on January 25 and his badly mutilated body was found a week later.

Egypt's attorney general Nabil Sadeq discussed the investigation with Pignatone, who was visiting Cairo along with his deputy Sergio Colaiocco after an invitation.

People hold an Italian flag with photos of Giulio Regeni, a Cambridge University PhD student who was found dead bearing signs of torture after disappearing in Cairo, during a demonstration in front of the Egypt's embassy in Rome on February 25, 2016 Filippo Monteforte (AFP/File)

"The Italian side proposed its assistance to Egyptian investigators and to provide all information in its possession," said a statement, stressing the determination of both parties to shed light on the case.

Last Thursday, the European Parliament called on Egypt to cooperate in the probe, saying it came within the context of deaths in custody in the North African country.

In February, Egyptian Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar rejected charges of security forces being involved in the murder of Regeni.

The 28-year-old's slaying became a cause celebre among academics around the world and has turned the spotlight on what rights and opposition groups say are increasing abuses by security services under the military-backed government in Cairo.
No charges as Malaysia deports Australian journalists

Two Australian journalists who were detained in Malaysia after trying to question Prime Minister Najib Razak about multiple scandals swirling around him were deported on Tuesday.

Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu flew out of the Malaysian city of Kuching bound for Singapore, attorney Albert Tang said.

The two men, investigative journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), had been ordered to appear in court on Tuesday morning, facing possible charges for obstructing a public servant.

ABC reporter Linton Besser (2nd R) and camera operator Louie Eroglu check in at a departure desk at Kuching International Airport on March 15, 2016

But the appearance was abruptly cancelled and they were informed there would be no charges, Tang and ABC said.

"Obviously, they are relieved," Tang told AFP.

Speaking at Kuching's airport, Besser told reporters it had been a "roller coaster few days" but declined further comment as the pair hurried to board their flight.

Besser and Eroglu were detained overnight Saturday after they crossed a security line and "aggressively tried to approach the prime minister", Malaysian police said.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday had expressed concern at their detention, saying journalists should be allowed to work unhindered.

ABC denies the obstruction accusation and has said the reporters were unaware of any police line.

"They did nothing wrong in Kuching. They were doing journalism," ABC News director Gaven Morris said in a statement Tuesday, adding he was "very glad and relieved" at the outcome.

"This incident has demonstrated again why it is vital to defend media freedom, including the right to question authority."

Najib's government, however, has been waging a months-long campaign to contain the damage from scandals dogging him, which the journalist pair was in Malaysia to report on.

These include the murky 2006 murder of a Mongolian woman by two of his bodyguards, who have been sentenced to death over the killing.

Government critics have long alleged that the bodyguards, members of a police unit that protects top ministers, were scapegoats in the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

She was at the centre of alleged huge kickbacks in the $1.1 billion 2002 purchase of French submarines, when Najib was defence minister.

Najib, 62, denies involvement in the affair.

He also is currently battling separate accusations that billions of dollars were stolen from a state-owned fund he founded, and over his own admitted acceptance of a mysterious $681 million overseas payment.

Besser tried to question Najib on Saturday night during a visit to a mosque in Kuching, which is on Borneo island.

Najib and the state firm deny any wrongdoing, but he has moved to curb investigations and purge ruling-party critics over the financial scandals, and his government has pressured media outlets reporting on them.

A worker walks past a poster of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) logo on a truck in Kuala Lumpur on March 14, 2016 Mohd Rasfan (AFP)
The Latest: Divers stop search for 3rd tugboat crash victim

NEW YORK (AP)  The Latest on a fatal tugboat crash on the Hudson River (all times local):

8 p.m.

Divers have stopped searching for a man still missing a day after a tugboat crashed into a barge north of New York City, killing two other crew members.

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A Westchester County police spokesman says divers cannot access a section of the tugboat where they believe the body of 56-year-old Harry Hernandez, of Staten Island, is because of severe damage. He says an aerial and river search will continue on the possibility the body was ejected from the boat.

Earlier Sunday, divers found the body of 29-year-old Timothy Conklin, of Westbury, Long Island, inside the tugboat. Sixty-two-year-old Paul Amon, of Bayview, New Jersey, was found dead in the water Saturday.

O'Leary says commercial divers will arrive on the scene Monday to figure out how to remove the wreckage from the river.

2:15 p.m.

A day after a tugboat crashed into a barge north of New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has met with the family of a second crew member whose body was pulled out of the Hudson River.

A third crew member was still missing on Sunday.

Cuomo said the visibility for divers searching the water and the badly damaged tug was only about 6 inches, and much of the operation is being done "by feel."

The governor said he spent some time with the family of Timothy Conklin, whose body was recovered late Sunday morning.

The accident is under investigation, but Cuomo said there were reports of radio transmissions from the tug saying, according to the governor, "We are too close. We have to move left."

2 p.m.

A second crew member's body has been found by police divers in the Hudson River after a tugboat crashed into a barge north of New York City.

Authorities say the body of 29-year-old Timothy Conklin, of Westbury, Long Island, New York, was found inside the tugboat around 11 a.m. Sunday.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said one of the crewmen, 62-year-old Paul Amon, of Bayview, New Jersey, had been found dead in the water Saturday.

One more crew member remains missing. He has been identified as 56-year-old Harry Hernandez, of Staten Island, New York.

The boat that crashed early Saturday morning was one of three tugs pushing a barge down the Hudson. It hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project.

___

12:45 p.m.

Divers are in the waters of the Hudson River looking for two tugboat crew members missing after a deadly crash.

The search for the men resumed Sunday morning. Authorities said they were presumed dead after the 90-foot tugboat named Specialist hit a barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge, which connects two counties north of New York City, around 5:20 a.m. Saturday.

The boat sank within minutes. A fellow crew member was killed.

Authorities said three tugboats were pushing a barge from Albany to Jersey City, New Jersey, when one of the three  situated on the right side as it headed south  hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project.

___

2 a.m.

A search for two missing crew members of a tugboat that crashed into a barge and sank in the Hudson River has stretched into another day. Emergency responders are expected to resume their efforts Sunday morning.

The two men, who haven't been identified, were presumed dead after the 90-foot tugboat named Specialist hit a barge around 5:20 a.m. Saturday and sank, killing a fellow crew member and spilling about 5,000 gallons of fuel into the water north of New York City.

Authorities say the tugboat hit a stationary barge that was part of the new Tappan Zee Bridge construction project. The crewman who died was identified as 62-year-old Paul Amon, of Bayville, New Jersey.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, left, uses a diagram to explain the circumstances of a fatal collision on the water in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A Coast Guard boat passes near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. New York State Police say one person is dead after a tugboat sank on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Donald Trump stands by his antagonistic campaign rhetoric

BLOOMINGTON, Illinois (AP)  Republican front-runner Donald Trump stood by his antagonistic campaign rhetoric on Sunday, rejecting any responsibility for violence at his rallies. His remarks come just two days before make-or-break primaries that likely offer his rivals their last shot at derailing his march toward his party's nomination.

"We're not provoking. We want peace. ... We don't want trouble," he told a large crowd at a comparatively docile event in Bloomington, Illinois.

Trump's remarks come after a near-riot Friday night in Chicago as the billionaire real estate mogul canceled a scheduled rally amid widespread altercations among his supporters, detractors and authorities.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a rally Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Bloomington, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

His three-state schedule, which included a stop in West Chester, Ohio, and ends Sunday evening in Florida, also comes less than 48 hours before polls open in five states that could determine whether he wins the Republican nomination without a contested summer convention this summer in Cleveland.

Against that backdrop, Trump continued to blame protesters, media and even Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders for the increasingly caustic campaign environment that his rivals assailed.

Interrupted only sparingly in Illinois, Trump assured his backers their frustration is righteous rage against a corrupt political and economic system. He cast his naysayers as "bad people" that "do harm to the country."

He has tried since the aborted Chicago rally to shift focus to Ohio, where he faces a late push from the popular Republican governor, John Kasich. The outcome will help determine whether Trump can reach the 1,237 delegates required to secure the nomination.

Tuesday's results in Ohio and Florida  in which the winner takes all the state's delegates to the national convention  could be decisive in the Republican primary race. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would face pressure to quit the race if either loses his home state,

At an earlier stop this weekend, Trump aimed directly at Kasich, calling him "a baby" and deliberately mispronouncing the governor's Czech surname.

"He's not the right guy to be president. He's not tough enough, he's not sharp enough," Trump said at an event outside Dayton.

In line with his protectionist economic pitch, Trump noted Kasich's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement as a member of Congress in the 1990s.

Kasich, meanwhile, reversed his months-long practice of avoiding the topic of Trump.

Speaking with The Associated Press aboard his campaign bus between stops in Ohio, Kasich brandished his iPad and read a list of roughly a dozen Trump quotes compiled by an aide. The quotes included Trump's comments that his audiences should "hit back" a little more and a statement that he'd like to punch a protester in the face.

"I never really had looked through those quotes," he said. "It's really cause for pause."

Trump's events unquestionably have become increasingly tense over the course of his campaign, and the candidate has frequently called for aggressive tactics against protesters.

Trump confirmed earlier Sunday that he was considering paying the legal fee of a North Carolina man charged with assault after video captured him punching a protester being escorted by police out of a March 9 rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

He began this weekend blaming protesters on Sanders, saying the Vermont senator's campaign organizes "disrupters" at Trump events.

Indeed, some protesters at Trump events are seen carrying Sanders' campaign signs, but Sanders scoffed Sunday at the notion that he's responsible.

"To suggest that our campaign is telling people to disrupt his campaign is a lie," Sanders said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Trump wrote on Twitter and suggested again on the Sunday talk show circuit he would urge his backers to protest Sanders rallies. Sanders' official Twitter account retorted: "Send them. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like."

Sanders said on CNN that Trump "is a man who keeps implying violence, and then you end up getting what you see."

Trump counters that he's due credit for canceling the Friday rally and avoiding a worse outcome. Still, he claimed incorrectly that "nobody gets hurt" at his rallies, despite multiple videos showing protesters pushed, punched and bullied at his events.

The remaining Republican hopefuls piled on Trump, as well.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump's closest competitor in delegate count, was careful to criticize protesters for their methods, but said Trump encourages an essentially un-American atmosphere.

"I'm troubled by the rallies that Donald holds, where he asks all the people there to raise their hand and pledge their support to him," Cruz said on NBC's "Meet the Press," continuing, "This is America. We don't pledge allegiance to a man. We pledge allegiance to a flag."

A distant third in delegates, Rubio compared Trump to third-world "strong men," and said the tone of the campaign "is really going to do damage to America."

According to an Associated Press count, Trump leads the overall race for delegates with 460. Cruz has 370, Rubio has 163 and Kasich has 63.

In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton ow has 766 delegates to Sanders' 551, based on primaries and caucuses alone. Including superdelegates  party leaders and elected officials who can support any candidate  Clinton's lead is even bigger: 1,231 to Sanders' 576.

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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporters Kathleen Ronayne in Ohio and Sergio Bustos and Jill Colvin in Florida contributed to this report.

Protesters stand in the rain before the arrival of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ahead of a campaign stop at the Savannah Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Chester, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A protester tears up a campaign sign for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a rally Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Bloomington, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the I-X Center Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The Secret Service and the Cleveland Police keep a close watch as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the I-X Center Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., visits Tiffany's Family Restaurant in Palm Harbor, Fla., Saturday, March 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

People are seen on the ground after a man tried to breach the security buffer, according to a spokeswoman for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, during a campaign rally with Trump at the Wright Brothers Aero Hangar, Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sejal Danawala protests outside the I-X Center before Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump, takes his coat off as he speaks at the Wright Brothers Aero Hangar during a rally, Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sings during service at Mount Zion Fellowship Church in Highland Hills, Ohio, Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stands with Senior Pastor Clifton Ronald St. Clair Williams as she arrives during service at Mount Zion Fellowship Church in Highland Hills, Ohio, Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign rally at Affton High School, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., waves during a campaign stop on Sunday, March 13, 2016, at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

People stand in the rain ahead of a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., campaign stop on Sunday, March 13, 2016, at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks at a campaign event in The Villages, Fla., Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., greets the crowd after speaking at a campaign event in The Villages, Fla., Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign rally in Concord, N.C., Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Actress : I only wanted to document Mexican drug lord's life

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Actress Kate del Castillo says in an article published Sunday that she only met secretly with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for a project to document his life in a movie, and denied suggestions she had received any money from the drug lord.

Del Castillo wrote of the meeting in a first-person article published in the Mexican weekly newsmagazine Proceso. She explained how she was contacted by the capo's attorneys, the discussions leading up to the encounter and ultimately her October 2015 meeting with Guzman and American actor Sean Penn in a remote area of northeastern Mexico.

The Proceso article comes just two days after The New Yorker magazine published part of an interview with the actress. It was the first she had given to any medium about the meeting with the drug lord.

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014 file photo, actress Kate Del Castillo speaks during a news conference in City Council chambers in Los Angeles. Castillo breaks months of silence about her and Sean Penns controversial meeting with then-fugitive drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, saying Penns account of an encounter with a Mexican military checkpoint never happened. The Mexican-American actress speaks in a New Yorker article made available online Friday, March 11, 2016, after largely keeping out of the spotlight ever since Guzmans recapture and the publication of Penns article about the meeting. (AP Photo/ Nick Ut, File)

"What I wanted to do was document the life of a man named enemy number one by the most powerful nation in the world," she wrote.

Guzman, known as the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was captured on Jan. 8 after a nearly six-month manhunt following his escape last July from a maximum security prison through a tunnel built under his cell. It was his second such escape from a penitentiary.

The actress wrote that the capo's attorneys contacted her via email in 2014 and later met with her. The lawyers said that "El Chapo" wanted to give her the rights to tell his story in a movie, one that she would also appear in.

"Why me?" the actress recalled asking.

"Because he admires you, respects you, and fully trusts you," she said one of the lawyers told her.

Del Castillo told of the trip she made Oct. 2 with Penn and two producers to meet with Guzman. One of the capo's sons met the group at a hotel and then took them on a journey by land, air, and land again.

Mexican authorities have said they were investigating whether Guzman gave money to Del Castillo's tequila company. Officials here have also sought to interrogate the actress, although they have said they consider her a witness not a suspect.

In a second article published in Process on Sunday, Del Castillo denied that the capo had given money to her to make the movie, or to her company.
Ex-Black Panther convicted in officer's death dies in prison

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  One of two former Black Panthers convicted in the 1970 bombing death of an Omaha police officer has died in prison.

Nebraska Department of Correctional Services spokesman Andrew Nystrom said David Rice died around midnight Saturday at the state penitentiary in Lincoln.

Rice's death will be investigated. Nystrom said the cause hasn't been determined, but he had been treated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease since 2013.

The 68-year-old Rice, who had changed his name to Mondo we Langa, was convicted along with fellow Black Panther Edward Poindexter in the death of officer Larry Minard. Authorities say they lured police to a house with a 911 call, then detonated a homemade bomb that killed Minard.

The pair maintained their innocence and argued they were targeted by an FBI program that undermined radical political groups.

Nebraska prosecutors successfully defended the way the case was handled in various appeals the two men filed over the years.

Rice and Poindexter both questioned a key witness in the case, Duane Peak, who implicated both men in the bombing plot. Peak, who was 15 at the time, testified that he made the 911 call that lured police to the vacant house.

Attorneys for Rice and Poindexter questioned whether Peak could have made the 911 call because a recording of the call appeared to show an adult man's voice.
Rubio's political reckoning arrives in Florida primary

MIAMI (AP)  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was among the Republican Party's biggest stars when he burst onto the national stage in the tea party wave of 2010. Now, he is facing a home-state showing on Tuesday that could devastate his 2016 presidential campaign and damage his political brand for years to come.

The Cuban-American's desire to become the nation's first Hispanic president, and his past support for a forgiving immigration policy, have failed to excite conservative primary voters who instead have flocked to Donald Trump's nativist politics.

"Marco's always had good timing. This time, the timing just wasn't there," said Albert Lorenzo, who managed Rubio's first state house campaign nearly two decades ago and stays in close contact with him.

In this March 11, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. greets supporters in Naples, Fla. After a brutal run of results in his campaign for president, Rubio's political future will be decided by voters in his home state of Florida on March 15. Given the change to breathe new life into his White House bid, they may instead deliver a loss staggering enough to push him out of politics. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Yet Lorenzo, like those closest to Rubio, suggest that should his bid end in disappointment, the senator's career in public service is far from over. The 44-year-old Republican could run for Florida governor in two years, president in four years or even his own Senate seat later this year.

"He's a talent you don't find," Lorenzo said.

Added Rubio ally, Miami city commissioner Francis Suarez: "I can't think of anybody more popular in Florida than he is  except maybe the man he's losing to."

Indeed, the first-term senator has been looking up at Trump in Florida preference polls for months. Rubio is the decided underdog to the billionaire businessman in Tuesday's do-or-die home-state contest.

Despite long odds, Rubio insists he's focused only on winning his party's 2016 presidential nomination.

"I haven't even thought about what I'm having for lunch today, much less what I'm going to run for in two years or nothing at all," he told reporters in West Palm Beach this week.

"If I never hold public office again, I'm comfortable with that," Rubio continued. "I can't tell you what's going to happen two to four years from now. But I have no plans. No thoughts. No contemplation. No meetings. Nothing about any future political run of any sort."

Should his presidential bid end in disappointment, many who know him expect a political comeback, though those closest to Rubio believe he could turn to the private sector to help provide for his family.

With four school-age children, Rubio has struggled with his personal finances in recent years, cashing out a retirement account as recently as 2014 to upgrade home appliances and pay for school costs. The Republican would have such well-compensated options as becoming a media personality or joining a law firm.

He would also need to decide whether he wants to return to Capitol Hill.

Rubio has previously said he would not run for president and the Senate at the same time. An exit from the White House contest next week would give him plenty of time to qualify for another, albeit unlikely, Senate run.

The deadline to file the necessary paperwork isn't until late June. And Federal Election Commission rules allow him to transfer any unused money from his presidential campaign to a Senate campaign account, albeit with caveats about individual donor limits.

Rubio would also be a prime candidate to run for the open governor's seat being vacated by the term-limited Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Such a move would give the senator's political standing at least a year to recover after a brutal 2016 campaign.

Some conservatives suggest that may not be enough time to resurrect his political brand, should Rubio suffer an embarrassing loss on Tuesday.

"I think a loss in Florida is very bad for Rubio's political future. It is hard to argue that Rubio is the right guy to run for governor of Florida if he couldn't win a presidential primary there," said Mark Meckler, a longtime leader in the national tea party movement. "Luckily, he's a bright man, a seemingly nice guy, and probably has a solid future in the private sector. And perhaps after a few years out, he can come back and run again."

Rubio could, of course, make another run for the White House in 2020 or beyond if he fails this year. The vast majority of recent Republican presidential nominees have not captured the nomination in their first attempts.

Rubio, who turns 45 years old in May, is the youngest of the remaining four 2016 contenders. His supporters note that Ronald Reagan was 69 when he assumed office.

"People are still getting to know Marco," said Luis Rodriguez, a longtime Rubio supporter and former vice chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. "He has 20 more years he can run for president. If not now, in 5, 10 or 20 years he'll be there."

After a nasty 2016 campaign, however, it's unclear if Rubio wants to be there.

"Life," he said Saturday on Fox News, "is about a lot more than politics."

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Associated Press writers Sergio Bustos in Miami, Gary Fineout in Tallahassee and Julie Bykowicz in Washington contributed to this report.

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Follow Steve Peoples on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples
Divers stop search for 3rd Hudson River tugboat crash victim

NEW YORK (AP)  Police divers late Sunday stopped searching inside a sunken tugboat for the body of a third crew member who went missing after the boat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City.

"It has moved from a rescue and recovery operation to a salvage operation," said Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary, who added that county police helicopter and marine unit boats will resume searching the river surface Monday on the remote chance the body of Harry Hernandez, 56, of Staten Island, New York, was ejected from the boat.

O'Leary said police dive operations ceased permanently because divers were not able to access a section of the tugboat where they believe his body is located due to severe damage.

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The 90-foot tugboat named Specialist hit a barge early Saturday morning near where the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which connects two counties north of New York City, is being built. The tugboat sank, spilling about 5,000 gallons of fuel into the water.

Earlier, divers recovered the body of Timothy Conklin, 29, of Westbury, Long Island, New York. His body was brought back to shore after divers found him inside the tugboat around 11 a.m. Sunday.

The body of Paul Amon, 62, of Bayville, New Jersey, was pulled from the water Saturday.

Authorities said three tugboats were pushing a barge from Albany to Jersey City, New Jersey, when one of the three  situated on the right side as it headed south  hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project. A tugboat on the left side of the barge that was being pushed, as well as one that was pushing the barge from the rear, were not involved in the accident.

But there were reports of radio transmissions from the tug that crashed saying, according to Cuomo, "We are too close. We have to move left." But it apparently was too late, the governor said.

Authorities believed the sunken tug is wedged directly underneath the barge it struck at the mid-span of the bridge.

Cuomo said he had been "hoping for a miracle" that the men would be found alive.

Instead, the governor said Sunday that he spent some time with the Conklin family, "which is obviously still in shock."

Cuomo said in a statement that 21 workers were on the bridge construction barge that was hit, but none was injured. He added the construction barge was illuminated at the time of the pre-dawn collision.

Commercial divers from a salvage company retained by the tugboat owner are expected to arrive on the scene Monday to assess the damage and figure out how to remove the wreckage from the river, O'Leary said. The company will then submit a salvage plan to the Coast Guard for approval, he said.

"When that's under way, police will be present if they find a body," O'Leary added.

The accident occurred near the center of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge, and the Specialist sank in about 40 feet of water within minutes, authorities said. The water temperature in the area was about 40 degrees, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Cuomo said a team was on site to contain the leaking diesel fuel and he did not expect any long-term damage as a result of the spill.

James Mercante, an attorney for the owner of Specialist, said the crew was licensed, competent and experienced personnel. He called the crash "a shocking, horrific marine tragedy."

A spokeswoman for Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of companies building the new bridge, said the company is cooperating in the investigation.

The crash occurred near the scene of a 2013 boat crash that killed a bride-to-be and her fiance's best man.

The new bridge is to replace an adjacent aging span that now connects Westchester and Rockland counties. Construction on the $3.9 billion project began in October 2013 and is expected to be completed by 2018.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, left, uses a diagram to explain the circumstances of a fatal collision on the water in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A Coast Guard boat passes near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. New York State Police say one person is dead after a tugboat sank on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Trump dodges question about McCain during subdued Ohio event

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP)  Donald Trump dodged Sunday when asked to clarify controversial remarks about Arizona Sen. John McCain after he was quizzed by a well-known veteran and father of a slain prisoner of war.

During a campaign event near Cincinnati, Keith Maupin, whose son was killed in Iraq after being taken prisoner, asked Trump to clarify comments he made in July about McCain, a former Vietnam War prisoner of war and the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee.

Maupin's question seemed friendly, and he said he wanted to give Trump the opportunity to explain himself. Maupin also gave Trump a keepsake, a fishing lure with a picture of his son on it, he told WHIO-TV.

CORRECTS LAST NAME OF VETERAN FROM MOPPIN TO MAUPIN- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts as veteran Keith Maupin asks the candidate to clarify comments he made about Arizona Sen. John McCain during a campaign stop at the Savannah Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Chester, Ohio. Trump said in July while campaigning in Iowa that he dismissed the notion that McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, was a hero "Because he was captured." Trump said, "I like people who weren't captured." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

"You made a comment to John McCain that you don't think that captured soldiers are heroes," Maupin, a Marine Corps veteran, told Trump during the event at a suburban Cincinnati convention center. Maupin's son Matt, a U.S. Army sergeant, went missing from his unit in Iraq in 2004. His remains were recovered in 2008.

Trump had said of McCain in July, while campaigning in Iowa, "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

On Sunday, Trump responded to Maupin: "Oh no, no, no. What I was  I never did that. You know that."

Maupin said, "What I want you to do is just clarify that for me, because I think it's important for all these people here, and for a lot of veterans that's in Ohio. I know what you were doing."

"You know exactly what I was doing," Trump said. "They are heroes. Just so you understand. They're real heroes, OK? You know that."

Trump added, "John McCain has not helped a lot of people like he should; that, I can tell you. That's true. "

The exchange came as Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, vied with Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the GOP primary in Ohio, the most competitive of the winner-take-all-states in Tuesday's voting.

The question-and-answer session ahead of Tuesday's Republican primary was mostly a love fest for Trump. Over the past several days, Trump's rallies have devolved into violence between supporters and protesters, and have recently become heavily secured events teeming with dozens and in some cases hundreds of police.

Although the police presence was obvious in West Chester Sunday, the audience was far friendlier than at the past few Trump stops. Only two protesters sneaked into the ballroom where Trump was speaking: a man holding a Bernie Sanders for president campaign sign and a woman who faced the news media covering the event and tore a Trump sign in half.

The audience booed and jeered the two until they were escorted out.

Later, a woman who said she was from Nicaragua thanked him for charity work he had done in her Central American country. He hugged her and she told him, "I love your blue eyes."

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This story has been corrected to change the day of the week to Sunday.
Monday, March 14

Today is Monday, March 14, the 74th day of 2016. There are 292 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1558 - Ferdinand I assumes title of Holy Roman Emperor without being crowned by the Pope.

1689 - Convention Parliament meets in Scotland, and William and Mary are proclaimed King and Queen of England.

1757 - British Admiral John Byng is executed for neglect of duty resulting in loss of Menorca.

1794 - American Eli Whitney receives a patent for the cotton gin.

1840 - Constitution in Rome is promulgated by Pope Pius IX.

1844 - Carlos Antonio Lopez sworn in as first constitutional president of Paraguay.

1900 - U.S. Congress ratifies the Gold Standard Act.

1917 - China severs diplomatic relations with Germany in World War I.

1923 - U.S. President Warren Harding becomes the first chief executive to file an income tax report.

1939 - The Republic of Czechoslovakia is dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation.

1951 - United Nations forces recapture Seoul during the Korean War.

1964 - A jury in Dallas finds Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in November 1963.

1965 - Israel's cabinet formally approves establishment of diplomatic relations with West Germany.

1973 - United States relaxes embargo on arms shipments to Pakistan and India.

1976 - Egypt's President Anwar Sadat asks Parliament to cancel treaty with Soviet Union, charging that Moscow failed to provide arms that had been promised.

1988 - Iran and Iraq unleash missiles on each other's capitals as so-called "war of the cities" erupts.

1992 - The warring parties in Croatia pledge to cooperate to end the civil war ahead of the deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force.

1998 - India's Congress party appoints as its president Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of assassinated prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

1999 - Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic group and opposition factions agree in principle to create a coalition government and end decades of fighting.

2002 - Serbia and Montenegro, the two republics that comprise the Yugoslav federation, sign an accord to restructure their ties and formally drop the name Yugoslavia.

2007 - A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency visits North Korea for the first time since the country kicked inspectors out in 2002, a significant first step toward renewed relations. IAEA officials say North Korea is committed to nuclear disarmament.

2011 - The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv says it is "deeply concerned" by Israel's plans to build hundreds of new homes in the West Bank following a deadly attack on a settler family, calling Israeli settlements "illegitimate" and an obstacle to peacemaking.

2012 - President Barack Obama and British Prime Minster David Cameron say for the first time that NATO forces will hand over the lead combat role to Afghanistan forces next year as the U.S. and its allies aim to get out by the end of 2014.

2013 - Pope Francis puts his humility on display during his first day as pontiff, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor who kept to the Vatican.

2014 - A Paris court delivers France's first-ever conviction for genocide, sentencing a Rwandan former intelligence chief to 25 years in prison over the 1994 killings of at least 500,000 people in the African country.

2015 - U.S. officials say the Obama administration is abandoning plans to cut the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 5,500 by the end of the year, bowing to military leaders who want to keep more troops, including many into the 2016 fighting season.

Today's Birthdays:

Casey Jones, U.S. railroad engineer (1864-1900); Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist (1868-1936); Albert Einstein, German-born physicist (1879-1955); Michael Caine, English actor (1933--); Quincy Jones, U.S. music producer (1933--); Wolfgang Petersen, U.S. director (1941--); Billy Crystal, U.S. actor/comedian (1948--).

Thought For Today:
Hundreds gather at vigil for Milwaukee shooting victims

MILWAUKEE (AP)  Hundreds of people have gathered in Milwaukee to remember the three people who authorities say were shot to death by a neighbor at their apartment complex.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/22cprkk ) family members, friends and supporters of Jesus Manso-Perez, Phia Vue and Mai Vue attended a candlelight vigil Sunday night in their honor.

Thirty-nine-year-old Dan J. Popp has been charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in their deaths on March 6. He also faces a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide because authorities said he shot at Manso-Perez's 18-year-old son, Jesus Manso-Carrasquillo.

An man is assisted by members of the Vue family, as he weeps in the rain in front of a memorial for three people who were fatally shot, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Milwaukee. A crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening to remember Jesus Manso-Perez, Phia Vue and Mai Vue, who were gunned down at their apartment complex on Sunday, March 6. (Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Police have said they are working to determine a motive.

The newspaper reports Mayor Tom Barrett extended condolences on behalf of the city during the vigil, and prayers were offered in English, Hmong and Spanish.

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

Members of the Vue family and others look at photographs surrounded by candles at a memorial for three people who were fatally shot, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Milwaukee. A crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening to remember Jesus Manso-Perez, Phia Vue and Mai Vue, who were gunned down at their apartment complex on Sunday, March 6. (Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
10 Things to Know for Monday - 14 March 2016

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Monday:

1. EXTREMISTS KILL 14 CIVILIANS, 2 SPECIAL FORCES IN IVORY COAST

Armed men attacked a beach resort, killing at least 16 people in an attack claimed by al-Qaida's North Africa branch.

Security forces gathering around the scene were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

2. CAR BOMB IN TURKEY'S CAPITAL KILLS 34, WOUNDS 125

A suicide car bomb went off near bus stops in the heart of Turkey's capital, killing at least 34 people and wounding around 125 others, officials say.

3. WHICH GOP HOPEFUL STANDS BY HIS REMARKS

Republican front-runner Donald Trump won't back down from his antagonistic campaign rhetoric, rejecting responsibility for violence at his rallies.

4. HOW SEVERE WEATHER IN 2 STATES DAMAGES THOUSANDS OF HOMES

Widespread flooding from rain-filled rivers in Louisiana and Mississippi swamps nearly 5,000 homes.

5. U.S. ENVOY MEETS EUROPE'S TOP DIPLOMATS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calls for the resumption of Syria peace talks in Geneva following a meeting with France's new foreign minister and other senior European diplomats.

6. WHO WAS A SURPRISING NUMBER 1 ON SELECTION SUNDAY

Oregon receives a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, joining Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia with top billing.

7. MANY STATE LEGISLATURES EXEMPT THEMSELVES FROM RECORD LAWS

Some lawmakers fear that releasing the records could invade the privacy of citizens, creating a "chilling effect" on the right of people to petition their government.

8. WHY EUROPE'S VIEWS ON MIGRANTS ARE SHIFTING

The refrain of Europe's migrant crisis has changed from "welcome" to "enough already" due to endless waves of asylum seekers.

9. TROUBLE REMAINS FOLLOWING FAILED FOR-PROFIT SCHOOL'S REVIVAL

An Associated Press review of Corinthian Colleges Inc.'s operations Press shows that despite oversight by the Obama administration, the business model for what had been a failing chain of career training schools hasn't fundamentally changed.

10. COMPETITORS HEAD TOWARD FINISH LINE IN ALASKA DOG RACE

Mushers press their dog sled teams toward the end of Alaska's famous Iditarod after a snowmobiler intentionally rammed into two top competitors, killing one dog and injuring others, authorities say.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks alongside a member of the Secret Service during a campaign stop at the Savannah Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Chester, Ohio. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
PICTURED: Alpaca fiber from Peru destined for luxury stores

PUNO, Peru (AP)  The 4 million alpacas that graze on the remote slopes of Peru's southeastern Andes wear warm coats of a silky fiber highly sought in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Colored in one of 24 different natural tones, the fiber from this domesticated camelid smaller than a llama is processed after an annual shearing, with each alpaca producing a little more than 8 pounds (3.7 kilograms) of fiber each year.

The finest threads are chosen, then washed, dried, cleaned up and converted into yarn. Finally, the yarn is woven into fabric used to make clothing.

In this March 8, 2016 photo, an Andean shepherd carries a young alpaca back to the herd after it strayed away within the Mallkini Hacienda alpaca farm, which breeds alpacas for their fiber, in the highlands of the Puno department of Peru. The shepherd leads the alpacas outside the farm every day for grazing and exercise, and returns them to the farm at night. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

An estimated 1.2 million poor Peruvians raise alpacas but must fight to keep them healthy from mange and freezing temperatures that can kill the babies. They sell the fiber for $3 a pound, but the same amount on the international market can fetch as much as $300, according to agrarian authorities in Puno.

In Arequipa, an important southern Peruvian city about 185 miles (300 kilometers) from Puno, factories use the fiber to manufacture 46 million pieces of fine clothing annually, including cardigans, sweaters, coats and scarves destined for sale in the United States, Germany, Japan and other wealthy nations.

Beginning in 2014, the Peruvian government launched special labeling for "Alpaca of Peru" to position the product in the global luxury market. About 80 percent of the world production of the alpaca fiber once used by the Incas is from Peru.

"I'm super happy to be able to work with this fiber, to take it to the world in expositions, fashion shows," said Jenny Duarte, a clothes designer in Arequipa. "It's a noble fiber, a luxury fiber, really marvelous because its covering is light, is soft."

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Associated Press writer Franklin Briceno in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.

In this March 8, 2016 photo, a farm worker holds the head of an alpaca between his legs as another sheers its hair on the Mallkini Hacienda alpaca farm, which breeds alpacas for their fiber, in the Puno department of Peru. An estimated 1.2 million Peruvians raise alpacas but must fight to keep them healthy from mange and freezing temperatures that can kill the babies. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 9, 2016 photo, yarn made from alpaca fiber lays inside a storage area at a weaving workshop where women spin alpaca hair into yarn for a company in Ajoyani village of the Puno department of Peru. The finest threads are chosen, then washed, dried, cleaned up and converted into yarn. Finally, the yarn is woven into fabric used to make clothing. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 8, 2016 photo, farm workers sheer an alpaca on the Mallkini Hacienda alpaca farm in the highlands of the Puno department of Peru. Alpaca breeders sell the fiber for $3 a pound, but the same amount on the international market can fetch as much as $300 dollars, according to agrarian authorities in Puno. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 7, 2016 photo, a woman works with alpaca fiber threads on a loom at the Inkapalca factory, which produces the Peruvian clothing brand Kuna, in Arequipa, Peru. Factories use the fiber to manufacture some 46 million pieces of fine clothing annually, including cardigans, sweaters, coats and scarves destined for sale in countries including the United States, Germany and Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 9, 2016 photo, black and white alpacas run on the Mallkini Hacienda alpaca farm in the highlands of the Puno department of Peru. Colored in one of 24 different natural tones, the fiber from this domesticated camelid smaller than a llama is processed after an annual shearing, with each alpaca producing a little more than 8 pounds (3.7 kilograms) of fiber each year. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 7, 2016 photo, a woman removes small balls of threads, considered imperfections, from cloth made of alpaca fiber, at the Inkapalca factory which produces the Peruvian clothing brand Kuna, in Arequipa, Peru. Beginning in 2014, the Peruvian government launched special labeling for "Alpaca of Peru" to position the product in the global luxury market. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 8, 2016 photo, alpacas mate on the Mallkini Hacienda farm in the highlands in the Puno department of Peru. The hacienda breeds alpacas by mating the ones they consider to have the finest hair in hopes of producing the best offspring for next year's annual sheering. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 7, 2016 photo, a creation made of alpaca fiber, by Peruvian designer Jenny Duarte, stands at her workshop in Arequipa, Peru. About 80 percent of the world production of the alpaca fiber once used by the Incas is from Peru. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 9, 2016 photo, Andean weavers chat as they roll strands of alpaca fiber on to spools in the courtyard of the weaving company where they work in Ajoyani village in the Puno department of Peru. Some of the women wear masks over their mouths to protect them from dust that comes off the wool as they work with it. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 8, 2016 photo, alpacas stand on the Mallkini Hacienda that breeds them to sell their fiber in the highlands of the Puno department of Peru. The 4 million alpacas that graze on the remote slopes of Peru's southeastern Andes wear warm coats of a silky fiber highly sought in the United States, Europe and Asia. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this March 7, 2016 photo, a woman works with thread made from alpaca fiber at the Inkapalca factory which produces the Peruvian clothing brand Kuna, in Arequipa, Peru. "Im super happy to be able to work with this fiber, to take it to the world in expositions, fashion shows, said Jenny Duarte, a clothes designer in Arequipa. Its a noble fiber, a luxury fiber, really marvelous because its covering is light, is soft." (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Brazil government tries to regroup after huge protests

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  A day after huge protest rallies urged the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, her chief of staff on Monday acknowledged popular discontent with Brazil's political class but said the flagging economy was the main reason behind the turnout.

Jaques Wagner's comments came at a news conference after Rousseff met with her closest advisers early Monday as the government sought to explain what leading newspapers called the biggest political demonstration in Brazilian history.

An estimated 3 million people took part in more than 100 protests nationwide, meaning Sunday's anti-Rousseff demonstrations were larger than mass protests in 1984 demanding direct presidential elections amid the country's military dictatorship, according to the respected newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

Demonstrators parade large inflatable dolls depicting Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in prison garb and current President Dilma Rousseff dressed as a thief, with a presidential sash that reads "Impeachment," in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras has ensnared key figures from Rousseffs Workers Party, including her predecessor and mentor, Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Analysts agreed that the dissatisfaction demonstrated by the protests complicates Rousseff's already difficult position. She's fighting impeachment proceedings in Congress amid the worst recession in decades and a sprawling corruption investigation closing in on key figures in her Workers' Party.

"The fact is that Sunday can be seen as a watershed moment, which frightens the government (and) pressures Congress," Folha said in an editorial Monday. "Surprised by the strong turnout on Sunday, the government has been put on alert that it needs to act quickly" to avoid Rousseff's impeachment.

Lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings sometime this week.

Wagner said the government was interpreting the Sunday's high turnout as a sign that "the people are sick and tired of the political class."

But while "everything contributed" to pushing people onto the streets, "the main thing is people's lives, meaning the economy," he said.

"If everything is great, citizens aren't even looking," he was quoted as saying by Globo television network's G1 Internet portal.

Although Rousseff has seen her approval ratings dip into the single digits, she has ruled out resigning, saying last week that it was objectionable to demand the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution.

The government hopes that pro-government demonstrations scheduled for Friday will help shore up Rousseff's position.

But, in a statement Monday, the U.S.-based Eurasia Group political and economic risk consulting firm estimated there is 65 percent probability that Rousseff will not serve out her term, which ends in 2018.

"We now think an impeachment vote will occur by May, and Rousseff will not survive it," the statement said.

Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation university in Sao Paulo, believes Rousseff still has "a few cards."

"There is a situation of ungovernability, and that gives more room to a narrative that her removal is inevitable. But it isn't that simple. There will be protests in her defense on Friday and she still needs a little more than 170 votes out of 513 deputies to survive," he told The Associated Press.

Eurasia Group's statement said Sunday's turnout was fanned by the "ballooning" corruption probe at the state-run energy company Petrobras and the "highly polarized environment" after Rousseff's predecessor and mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was taken to a Sao Paulo police station for questioning in the Petrobras case.

Among other issues, federal investigators say they are trying to determine if Silva sold his influence in the current administration in exchange for speeches and donations to his nonprofit foundation, Instituto Lula.

The more than 100-page transcript of Silva's questioning was released Monday. In it, Silva denies having asked for money for his foundation from any of the construction companies ensnared in the Petrobras scandal but acknowledged that his aides may have made such requests. Silva also explicitly states his intention of running for office again in 2018.

Three days before Sunday's protests, Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested Silva's arrest in a separate case. They accuse the former president of money laundering for allegedly being the secret owner of a beachfront flat in the city of Guaruja. But the state judge decided Monday it was not up to her to rule on the matter since money laundering is a federal crime in Brazil. She sent the case to federal judge Sergio Moro in the southern city of Curitiba who heads the "Car Wash" investigation into corruption at Petrobras.

Hailed as a national hero at Sunday's demonstrations, Moro was already looking into the beachfront flat case as part of the Petrobras probe.

The governing Workers' Party, meanwhile, is pressing for Silva to accept a Cabinet post in Rousseff's government. Rousseff has said she would be "extremely proud" to have Silva, who supporters say could prove crucial to helping her remain afloat.

Critics suggest the offer is aimed at shielding the once-wildly popular Silva from imprisonment. Under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can authorize the investigation, imprisonment and trial of Cabinet members.

Silva has repeatedly insisted he has not committed any wrongdoing and suggests the probes are part of a political smear campaign.

Sunday's demonstrations, overwhelmingly comprised of the white, older middle-class people who have railed against Rousseff for years, may have weakened the government but they don't seem to have strengthened the opposition. The crowd in Sao Paulo booed opposition politician Aecio Neves, who narrowly lost to Rousseff in the 2014 presidential run-off.

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Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

Demonstrators dressed as Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, left, and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, gesture to the crowd during a protest demanding her impeachment in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras has ensnared key figures from Rousseffs Workers Party, including her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Demonstrators fill Paulista Avenue during a protest demanding the impeachment of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The president faces impeachment proceedings over alleged fiscal mismanagement with the country in the throes of the worst recession in decades and amid a sprawling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Demonstrators demand the impeachment of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff during a rally where a large inflatable doll of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stands in prison garb in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras has ensnared key figures from Rousseffs Workers Party, including her predecessor and mentor, Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A demonstrator wearing a mask in the likeness of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and prison stripes marches along Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The president faces impeachment proceedings over alleged fiscal mismanagement with the country in the throes of the worst recession in decades and amid a sprawling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

A woman dressed as Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff carries a sign that reads in Portuguese "I'm out" during protest demanding her impeachment in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The president faces impeachment proceedings over alleged fiscal mismanagement with the country in the throes of the worst recession in decades and amid a sprawling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Demonstrators carry a cage holding a doll of Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in prison garb, during a protest demanding the impeachment of Brazil's current President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras has ensnared key figures from Rousseffs Workers Party, including her predecessor and mentor, Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

A demonstrator takes pictures of another, dressed as former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva behind prison bars, during a protest demanding the impeachment of Brazil's current President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, March 13, 2016. The corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras has ensnared key figures from Rousseffs Workers Party, including her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
After wounding Israelis, 3 Palestinian attackers are killed

JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli military says forces shot and killed three Palestinian attackers who carried out a pair of assaults near a West Bank settlement.

The military says two Palestinians opened fire on pedestrians at a bus stop near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, wounding an Israeli soldier lightly before they were shot dead. Minutes later, a Palestinian drove his car into an army vehicle responding to the previous attack. He wounded three soldiers before he was shot and killed.

The successive attacks Monday were the latest in a six month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has shown no signs of abating.
Tuesday's Republican primaries could define race _ or not

WASHINGTON (AP)  Tuesday's primaries could provide a defining moment in the race for the Republican nomination for president  or not.

So far, Donald Trump has been winning most of the primaries, but he's only been collecting 43 percent of the delegates. That's not good enough to win the nomination. It takes a majority, which raises the possibility of a contested convention with an uncertain outcome.

Trump's rivals are doing worse. The closest is Ted Cruz, who is 90 delegates behind Trump, winning 34 percent of the delegates awarded so far.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, greets supporters during a campaign rally in Concord, N.C., Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Almost every state that has voted so far has awarded delegates proportionally, so that even the losers could get delegates.

But that changes on Tuesday, when party rules say states can start awarding all of their delegates to the statewide winner. Only nine contests are winner-take-all, and three of them are on Tuesday, in Florida, Ohio and the Northern Mariana islands.

People will also vote in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

A look at how different outcomes in Tuesday's races could shape the race for the GOP nomination:

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A TRUMP SWEEP

If the GOP front-runner sweeps Tuesday's contests, he will put himself on a path to win the nomination by the end of the primary season on June 7.

He would have to keep winning to pull it off. But he would cross an important threshold by collecting more than 50 percent of the delegates awarded so far.

The big prizes are Florida, with 99 delegates, and Ohio, with 66. The Marianas have only nine delegates.

Also, the winners in Missouri and Illinois could get a large majority of the delegates from those states.

North Carolina awards delegates proportionally, so everybody gets a trophy.

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THE HOME-STATE SENATOR AND GOVERNOR WIN

If Marco Rubio wins Florida and John Kasich wins Ohio, their victories would go a long way toward making sure that no one gets the 1,237 delegates needed to lock up the nomination before the convention.

It's already too late for Rubio or Kasich to reach the magic number by June. Rubio has been winning just 15 percent of the delegates, and Kasich has been getting just 6 percent.

But if they could both pull off big wins on Tuesday, they could stop Trump, setting the stage for a contested convention this summer.

Even if Trump were to win the rest of the winner-take-all states  there are only six others  he would still be denied a majority of the delegates.

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THE HOME-STATE SENATOR AND GOVERNOR SPLIT

If Trump were to win Florida but lose Ohio, the status quo would prevail, and the race would continue on an uncertain path. Trump would have slightly less than 50 percent of the delegates, but he could jump above the threshold by winning the rest of the winner-take-all states.

The next big winner-take-all state is Arizona, with 58 delegates at stake March 22. There are three winner-take-all states on June 7, the last day of the primary season. They are New Jersey, Montana and South Dakota.

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TED CRUZ SWEEPS

The polls say it's unlikely, but if Ted Cruz were to win every state on Tuesday, he would jump into the lead in the race for delegates. However, he would still be short of a majority of the delegates, increasing the likelihood of a contested convention.

Cruz would need to win 61 percent of the remaining delegates to reach 1,237, a big improvement from his current rate of 34 percent.

Cruz would probably need Rubio and Kasich to drop out, and then would need to beat Trump soundly in the remaining contests.

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The AP delegate count thus far:

Donald Trump: 460.

Ted Cruz: 370.

Marco Rubio: 163.

John Kasich: 63.

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This story is corrected to reflect reference to HOME STATE SENATOR AND GOVERNOR in sub-headlines, instead HOMESTATE SENATORS.

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stephenatap

CORRECTS LAST NAME OF VETERAN FROM MOPPIN TO MAUPIN- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reacts as veteran Keith Maupin asks the candidate to clarify comments he made about Arizona Sen. John McCain during a campaign stop at the Savannah Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Chester, Ohio. Trump said in July while campaigning in Iowa that he dismissed the notion that McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, was a hero "Because he was captured." Trump said, "I like people who weren't captured." (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks during a town hall meeting at the Ehrnfelt Recreation Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Strongsville, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Rubio and the Florida primary: a political reckoning arrives

MIAMI (AP)  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was among the Republican Party's biggest stars when he burst onto the national stage in the tea party wave of 2010. Now, he is facing a home-state showing on Tuesday that could devastate his 2016 presidential campaign and damage his political brand for years to come.

The Cuban-American's desire to become the nation's first Hispanic president, and his past support for a forgiving immigration policy, have failed to excite conservative primary voters who instead have flocked to Donald Trump's nativist politics.

"Marco's always had good timing. This time, the timing just wasn't there," said Albert Lorenzo, who managed Rubio's first state house campaign nearly two decades ago and stays in close contact with him.

In this March 11, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. greets supporters in Naples, Fla. After a brutal run of results in his campaign for president, Rubio's political future will be decided by voters in his home state of Florida on March 15. Given the change to breathe new life into his White House bid, they may instead deliver a loss staggering enough to push him out of politics. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Yet Lorenzo, like those closest to Rubio, suggest that should his bid end in disappointment, the senator's career in public service is far from over. The 44-year-old Republican could run for Florida governor in two years, president in four years or even his own Senate seat later this year.

"He's a talent you don't find," Lorenzo said.

Added Rubio ally, Miami city commissioner Francis Suarez: "I can't think of anybody more popular in Florida than he is  except maybe the man he's losing to."

Indeed, the first-term senator has been looking up at Trump in Florida preference polls for months. Rubio is the decided underdog to the billionaire businessman in Tuesday's do-or-die home-state contest.

Despite long odds, Rubio insists he's focused only on winning his party's 2016 presidential nomination.

"I haven't even thought about what I'm having for lunch today, much less what I'm going to run for in two years or nothing at all," he told reporters in West Palm Beach this week.

"If I never hold public office again, I'm comfortable with that," Rubio continued. "I can't tell you what's going to happen two to four years from now. But I have no plans. No thoughts. No contemplation. No meetings. Nothing about any future political run of any sort."

Should his presidential bid end in disappointment, many who know him expect a political comeback, though those closest to Rubio believe he could turn to the private sector to help provide for his family.

With four school-age children, Rubio has struggled with his personal finances in recent years, cashing out a retirement account as recently as 2014 to upgrade home appliances and pay for school costs. The Republican would have such well-compensated options as becoming a media personality or joining a law firm.

He would also need to decide whether he wants to return to Capitol Hill.

Rubio has previously said he would not run for president and the Senate at the same time. An exit from the White House contest next week would give him plenty of time to qualify for another, albeit unlikely, Senate run.

The deadline to file the necessary paperwork isn't until late June. And Federal Election Commission rules allow him to transfer any unused money from his presidential campaign to a Senate campaign account, albeit with caveats about individual donor limits.

Rubio would also be a prime candidate to run for the open governor's seat being vacated by the term-limited Gov. Rick Scott in 2018. Such a move would give the senator's political standing at least a year to recover after a brutal 2016 campaign.

Some conservatives suggest that may not be enough time to resurrect his political brand, should Rubio suffer an embarrassing loss on Tuesday.

"I think a loss in Florida is very bad for Rubio's political future. It is hard to argue that Rubio is the right guy to run for governor of Florida if he couldn't win a presidential primary there," said Mark Meckler, a longtime leader in the national tea party movement. "Luckily, he's a bright man, a seemingly nice guy, and probably has a solid future in the private sector. And perhaps after a few years out, he can come back and run again."

Rubio could, of course, make another run for the White House in 2020 or beyond if he fails this year. The vast majority of recent Republican presidential nominees have not captured the nomination in their first attempts.

Rubio, who turns 45 years old in May, is the youngest of the remaining four 2016 contenders. His supporters note that Ronald Reagan was 69 when he assumed office.

"People are still getting to know Marco," said Luis Rodriguez, a longtime Rubio supporter and former vice chairman of the Dade County Republican Party. "He has 20 more years he can run for president. If not now, in 5, 10 or 20 years he'll be there."

After a nasty 2016 campaign, however, it's unclear if Rubio wants to be there.

"Life," he said Saturday on Fox News, "is about a lot more than politics."

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Associated Press writers Sergio Bustos in Miami, Gary Fineout in Tallahassee and Julie Bykowicz in Washington contributed to this report.

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Follow Steve Peoples on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples
PICTURED: Editor selections from the past week in Asia

A total eclipse of the sun unfolded across a narrow strip of Indonesia encompassing 40 million people last week, while a partial eclipse was seen in a wider swath of Asia and northern Australia.

China's top economic planner, meanwhile, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress that it was impossible that the world's second-largest economy would have a hard landing. Outside the Great Hall of the People, uniformed hostesses serving the delegates jumped as they posed for photographs on Tiananmen Square.

In other images from the region last week, a Tibetan exile shouted slogans outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on the 57th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day.

In this March 9, 2016 photo, a Bangladeshi man watches a partial solar eclipse in Dhaka, Bangladesh,. Bangladeshi and Indian people in northeast and eastern coastal strip of the sub-continent viewed a partial solar eclipse as a total eclipse of the sun unfolded over Indonesia on Wednesday, briefly plunging cities into darkness and startling wildlife. (AP Photo/ A.M. Ahad, File)

Japan marked the fifth anniversary of the 2011 "triple disaster"  quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis  even as the massive tasks of radiation clean-up and reconstruction continue.

A Hindu devotee offered prayers at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers on occasion of Mahashivratri festival in Allahabad, India, and a Hindu holy man in Nepal smoked marijuana.

In Myanmar, a longtime confidante of Aung San Suu Kyi, Htin Kyaw, was confirmed in a parliamentary vote as one of the three final candidates to be the next president, albeit as a proxy for the Nobel laureate.

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This gallery was curated by Associated Press photo editor Karly Domb Sadoff in Bangkok.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, a partial solar eclipse is seen behind passenger capsules of the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore. The last eclipse happened in Singapore in January 2009 and the next solar eclipse, an annular one, will occur on December 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, a Muslim woman looks up at the sun with protective glasses to watch a partial solar eclipse in Jakarta, Indonesia. The rare astronomical event is being witnessed Wednesday along a narrow path that stretches across 12 provinces encompassing three times zones and about 40 million people. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

In this photo taken on Sunday, March 6, 2016, a Chinese camera operator records a press conference by Xu Shaoshi, director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, in Beijing. Chinas top economic planning official Xu says any prediction that Chinas economy should have a hard landing is doomed to fail, and he assures the world that China will continue to contribute to, rather than to hurt, the global economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, Chinese hostesses, who serve the delegates of the National People's Congress, jump as they pose for photographs on Tiananmen Square during a plenary session of the National People's Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

In this Tuesday, March 8, 2016 photo, a truck guide controls the traffic at the entrance of a reconstruction area in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Japan on Friday, March 11 marked the fifth anniversary of the powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, swallowing coastal villages, leaving more than 18,000 people dead or missing and devastating large swaths of the country's northeastern coastal area. Some places are still unlivable and require massive reconstruction to restore infrastructure, houses and people's lives. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

In this Tuesday, March 8, 2016 photo, the lone pine tree that miraculously survived the deadly March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami is seen through the construction safety net in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan. The single pine tree remained upright from a stand of thousands washed away along the coast. Though it later died, it has been restored with artificial materials and put back where it was found as a symbol of hope and survival. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

In this Monday,, March 7, 2016 photo, Kashmiri Muslim women watch the funeral procession of Dawood Ahmad Sheikh, a suspected rebel of Hizbul Mujahedeen, in Kaimuh, some 67 kilometers (49 miles) south of Srinagar Indian controlled Kashmir. Sheikh was killed in a gun-battle with Indian security forces on Sunday evening, according to officials. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)

In this Monday, March 7, 2016 photo, a Hindu devotee offers prayers at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers on occasion of Mahashivratri festival in Allahabad, India. Hindus across the world are celebrating Mahashivratri, or Shiva's night festival believed to be the day when Shiva got married. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

In this Monday, March 7, 2016 photo, a Hindu holy man smokes marijuana at the courtyard of the Pashupatinath temple during "Shivaratri" festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. "Shivaratri," or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

In this Friday, March 11, 2016 photo, National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, second left, leaves Parliament building in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. A longtime confidante of Suu Kyi was confirmed Friday in a parliamentary vote as one of the three final candidates to be Myanmar's next president, albeit as a proxy for the Nobel laureate. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)
Indonesia blows up illegal toothfish ship sought by Interpol

PANGANDARAN, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesian authorities on Monday bombed the last major ship internationally wanted for years of illegally taking toothfish from southern waters, reiterating a strong message to would-be poachers who enter the country's waters.

The navy seized the Nigeria-flagged Viking on Feb. 25 operating in waters off Tanjung Berakit in Riau Islands province south of Singapore. It was one of the half dozen ships dubbed the "Bandit 6" by the nonprofit Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which hunted the boats and was among those who alerted Indonesian officials when the Viking entered the country's waters.

"This is to serve as a deterrent to others," Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told reporters. She posed on the beach with a group of navy officials, their fists raised in the air with the smoking boat behind them. "You may go freely in the rest of the world, but once entering Indonesia, this is the consequence."

In this image made from video, illegal fishing vessel Viking which was seized by Indonesias Navy is sunk in the waters off Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Indonesian authorities used explosives to sink the last major sought-after illegal fishing vessel on Monday after it had evaded international authorities for years, reiterating a strong message to would-be poachers that enter the country's waters. (AP Photo/APTN)

The Viking was operating as a so-called ghost ship, frequently changing its name and registry and not broadcasting any type of satellite signal so that its whereabouts could be tracked, said Siddharth Chakravarty, Sea Shepherd's campaign leader, by satellite phone from a ship in the Indian Ocean.

"I wish there were more governments standing up for what they can do within their legal instruments and not worry about how international diplomacy is going to play out after that," he said, adding that the Viking had been fishing for 13 years in Antarctica and spotted 18 times, but it always escaped.

The Viking was the last in operation of the "Bandit 6" known to be illegally catching toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, is popularly served in the United States, and fishing stocks are now better managed after years of plundering. However, U.S.-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommends avoiding eating the fish unless it comes from certain areas.

The Viking's Chilean captain and crew members have been detained in Indonesia. Interpol went after the ship in 2013 following a complaint from Norwegian authorities about illegal fishing in that country's waters.

"This is just a first step," said Stig Traavik, Norway ambassador to Indonesia who witnessed the bombing. "In the future, it will be much more difficult to do illegal fishing, and the fish catch for local fishermen will go up."

Huge plumes of smoke and flames engulfed the Viking after the explosives were detonated. Part of the ship will be set up as a monument to mark the country's fight against illegal fishing.

"Thirteen countries had been hunting FV Viking, the cross-country illegal fishing boat. Indonesia managed to catch it," Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo wrote on Twitter.

The country has taken a tough stance against illegal fishing since Widodo took office in 2014. Pudjiastuti has seized and blown up around 150 illegal fishing boats from a number of countries after declaring a fishing moratorium for foreign vessels.

Last year, The Associated Press exposed a slave island in a remote part of eastern Indonesia where fishermen from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand had been trafficked and forced to fish with little or no pay for years at a time. Pudjiastuti responded by ordering the men rescued from the island. Since then, more than 2,000 men have been freed and returned home.

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Associated Press writer Margie Mason contributed to this report from Jakarta, Indonesia.

In this image made from video, Stig Traavik, left, Norwegian Ambassador to Indonesia, left, and Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia Maritime and Fisheries Minister, speak before illegal fishing vessel Viking, which was seized by Indonesias Navy, is sunk with explosives in the waters off Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Indonesian authorities used explosives to sink the last major sought-after illegal fishing vessel on Monday after it had evaded international authorities for years, reiterating a strong message to would-be poachers that enter the country's waters. (AP Photo/APTN)

Indonesian navy personnel stand guard on an Indonesian navy ship anchored next to illegal fishing vessel Viking which was seized by Indonesias Navy before its sinking in the waters off Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Indonesian authorities used explosives to sink the last major sought-after illegal fishing vessel on Monday after it had evaded international authorities for years, reiterating a strong message to would-be poachers that enter the country's waters. (AP Photo/Andi Jatmiko)
Myanmar's president to be selected Tuesday

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP)  Myanmar's parliament votes Tuesday to pick the country's next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament in a Nov. 8 general election and its lawmakers are expected to confirm party nominee Htin Kyaw as the country's next leader.

The new president is to take office on April 1.

FILE - This combination of file photos shows Htin Kyaw, left, Henry Van Hti Yu, center, candidates for president from the National League for Democracy party, and Myint Swe, the military's candidate for president. Myanmar's parliament votes Tuesday, March 15, 2016, to pick the country's next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. (AP Photo/Files)

Myanmar's constitution, written under the former military junta's direction, blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president because of a clause that excludes anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi's two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.

Suu Kyi has said she will be "above" the president and rule from behind the scenes, meaning that any NLD candidate would effectively be her proxy.

Myanmar's electoral system requires that the president be chosen from candidates put forward by each of the two houses of parliament, and a third nominee from the military, which retains a quarter of the legislative seats.

Parliament speaker Mann Win Khaing Than announced Monday that the vote would take place Tuesday, after lawmakers confirmed that all three candidates were eligible.

The candidate with the most votes becomes president and the other two become vice presidents. The other nominees are NLD lawmaker Henry Van Tio and the military's candidate, Myint Swe, a hard-line retired lieutenant general whose nomination raised concerns about the future of a power-sharing relationship with the NLD.

Myint Swe is seen as a close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe and remains on a U.S. State Department blacklist that bars American companies from doing business with several tycoons and senior military figures connected with the former junta.

State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Myint Swe still faces sanctions but declined to say if that would affect diplomatic relations.

"We have made our concerns known about this individual and this process, quite frankly. And we'll monitor it going forward," Kirby told a news briefing in Washington on Friday.

The U.S. has eased sanctions since the junta ceded power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011. The November election will usher in the country's first democratically elected government in more than half a century.

The NLD's huge victory reflected the widespread public support for Suu Kyi, who fought for decades to end dictatorship in Myanmar and remains her party's unquestioned leader. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in 1991.

Suu Kyi was detained for more than 15 years, mostly under house arrest, by a junta that feared her political popularity.

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2010, file photo, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, stands with aide Htin Kyaw, as she addresses her supporters from her front gate after her release from house arrest in Yangon, Myanmar. Htin Kyaw of the National League for Democracy party and a longtime confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi, was confirmed Friday, March 11, 2016, in a parliamentary vote as one of the three final candidates to be Myanmar's next president, albeit as a proxy for the Nobel laureate. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this April 28, 2012, file photo, Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and Myint Swe, right, Yangon Divisional Minister, attend the opening ceremony of the office of European Union (EU) in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's parliament votes Tuesday, March 14, 2016, to pick the country's next president from a group of three final candidates, including the military's nominee Myint Swe, a retired lieutenant general. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win, File)
Ivory Coast reels from extremist attack, boosts security

GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast (AP)  Before the shooting started, an armed man stood quietly at the entrance to a beachfront restaurant, holding a Kalashnikov rifle and coolly surveying the crowd. Francois Tanon, who rents beach chairs to tourists at Ivory Coast's Grand-Bassam resort town, thought the man was a security guard.

A few minutes later, Tanon was talking to a customer when a bullet hit the client in the neck.

"The patron I was speaking to fell down right in front of me," Tanon said. "The man that I saw before at the entrance, now I saw him down near the water, his gun in his hand, he was firing everywhere."

Local people stand near a taped off area that formed part of the crime scene outside the Nouvelle Paillote Hotel, one of the three hotels involved in an attack at Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, Monday, March 14, 2016. Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort area. (AP Photo/Christin Roby)

In the end 18 were killed Sunday, leaving Grand-Bassam and all of Ivory Coast reeling from its first Islamic extremist attack. President Alassane Ouattara's government began work Monday to tighten security and prevent similar violence.

Ouattara presided over an emergency meeting with Cabinet ministers and his National Security Council on Monday. Following the meeting, the government revised the death toll to 15 civilians and three special forces, up from 14 and two respectively. Just three attackers were killed, instead of the six that was earlier announced on Sunday, Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said Monday.

The lower death toll for the assailants agrees with the claim of responsibility from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, which said Sunday that three attackers were killed. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadi websites.

Many witnesses said they at first suspected the gunshots were fireworks being set off by holidaymakers. Only when victims began crumpling to the ground did they realize the beach was being targeted in an assault.

The gunmen entered the beach from multiple directions, witnesses said.

Frenchman Charles-Philippe d'Orleans said he was at the beach with a friend when he heard the first shot and he thought it was a firecracker; then he heard another, louder one. A security guard told beachgoers not to worry, that some youths had tried to enter the paid-access beach and that another guard had fired his weapon into the air, d'Orleans told French radio RTL.

But then more shooting broke out and d'Orleans and others hid behind a wall. Gunmen were "to the right, to the left, toward the road and toward the beach," d'Orleans said. He said that when the gunfire receded he and his friend sped away in a car.

"Afterward we said 'Wow, we actually escaped something big,'" he said.

The attack on Grand-Bassam was the first of its kind in Ivory Coast. Officials had been bracing for one in the wake of similar assaults by AQIM in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali.

Those who make a living off tourism believed the attack on three hotels would deal the sector a huge blow.

"They've really ruined it for us. With all that has happened, I don't think that the clients are going to come back now," Tanon said.

Security forces on Monday patrolled Grand-Bassam's beaches, which were otherwise largely deserted. Soldiers checked the trunks of cars approaching the beach. Authorities briefly closed a section of beach in front of La Nouvelle Paillote hotel after receiving reports that explosives had been found there.

Ivorian newspapers on Monday morning featured graphic photos of dead bodies sprawled on the beach. The headline for one paper, Le Patriote, proclaimed: "We are Grand-Bassam!"

The 15 civilian victims came from countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali, said Bakayoko. The German woman killed was Henrike Grohs, who had been the director of the Goethe Institute in Ivory Coast since 2013, according to the German press agency, dpa.

The toll of French victims has risen to four, according to a statement issued Monday by the office of President Francois Hollande. The French foreign affairs and interior ministers will go to Ivory Coast on Tuesday in solidarity, said the statement. The Paris prosecutor's office said it has opened an investigation into the attack, calling it murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Anti-terrorism investigators will handle the probe because there were French victims.

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday condemned the attack.

The attack was the third major strike on a tourism center in West Africa since November. Dozens of people were killed in a siege at a Malian hotel in November and an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January. Analysts had warned for months that Ivory Coast could also be hit by jihadis.

Bakayoko said authorities had taken steps to prepare the country for an attack, crediting their work with reducing Sunday's loss of life. He said security forces responded within 30 minutes and that within two hours the assailants had been killed.

Sites in Grand-Bassam were among more than 100 that had been under heightened surveillance in recent months, Bakayoko said, adding that those measures were going to continue. Authorities have mobile phones and other evidence that will allow them "to go to the source" of the attack, Bakayoko said.

"Count on us," he said. "We are going to reinforce the surveillance."

___

AP journalist Christin Roby also contributed to this story.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the surname of a local man is spelled Tanon instead of Tanoh, and the surname of the Ivory Coast Cabinet minister is Bakayoko, not Bakamoko.

LARGE FILE SIZE OF AGR103. A body lays on the beach were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, Sunday, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

A local resident points at a bullet hole outside the Nouvelle Paillote Hotel, one of the three hotels involved in an attack at Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, Monday, March 14, 2016. Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort area. (AP Photo/Christin Roby)

Grenades and ammunition lay in a tire outside the Nouvelle Paillote Hotel, one of the three hotels involved in an attack at Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, Monday, March 14, 2016. Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort area. (AP Photo/Christin Roby)

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara, center, visits the area were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

A soldier, center, stands guard outside the Etoile du Sud hotel were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

Security forces gathering around the scene were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

A soldier, center, stands guard outside the Etoile du Sud hotel were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. (AP Photo/Christin Roby )

This image made available by RTI via Associated Press television shows a dead body laying by a car after an attack in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast, Sunday March 13, 2016. At least six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels Sunday in Grand-Bassam, killing several civilians and special forces, sending tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. Bloody bodies were sprawled on the beach before being taken away by security forces and Ivorian Red Cross workers. (RTI via AP) IVORY COAST OUT
US to fire monitor overseeing formerly for-profit colleges

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Education Department is removing a law firm hired to oversee the turnaround of schools owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc., a for-profit education company whose financial collapse had placed at risk more than $1 billion in federal student loans.

An Associated Press investigation identified conflicts with the ostensibly independent monitor.

The department said it was removing the firm, Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose Ltd. of Chicago, after the AP reviewed with senior agency officials its findings last week after a nine-month investigation examining the Obama administration's response to Corinthian's extraordinary collapse in 2014 amid allegations of mismanagement and fraud. The department had previously said only that it intended to review the firm's performance going forward.

In this March 11, 2016 photo, Shane Satterfield, a roofer who owes more than $30,000 in debt for an associates degree in computer science from one of the countrys largest for-profit college companies that failed in 2014, holds his diploma in Atlanta. "I graduated in April at the top of my class, with honors," says Satterfield. "And I cant get a job paying over $8.50 an hour." Despite pledging to distance itself from the poor business practices of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges Inc, the new owner of the Everest career college chain has retained key members of its staff and some of its hard-charging sales tactics. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The chairman of the firm's education practice, Charles P. Rose, declined Monday to discuss his firm's removal.

The monitor has been overseeing the business practices of Zenith Education Group, an offshoot of a student-loan debt collection firm that took over Corinthian's operations. It was serving as the U.S. government's close-up eyes and ears, reviewing Zenith's marketing materials and admissions phone calls and the accuracy of graduation and employment statistics.

"I've notified Zenith and Hogan Marren that we do not intend to approve renewal of Hogan Marren as the independent monitor," Education Undersecretary Ted Mitchell told the AP. "We believe we need a monitor with different capacities to serve in this next phase of Zenith's development."

The AP's investigation found that the way the monitor had been hired created an attorney-client privilege relationship that shielded its work from outside scrutiny and obligated it to act in Zenith's interest. The firm had been hired directly by Zenith as legal counsel. That distinction created the attorney-client privileged relationship.

After the AP questioned the arrangement, the Education Department last fall altered the terms of its monitoring arrangement. Contract addendums expressly warned that Zenith was not permitted to edit Hogan Marren's compliance reports before they were presented to the department. Nor could the firm solicit additional work from Zenith during its monitoring. The changes also allowed the government to request copies of the firm's underlying work product.

The AP found that the firm also had advocated on behalf of for-profit colleges, helped broker the purchase of Corinthian's assets and argued in a legal brief that for-profit schools had a free speech right not to inform prospective students about poor graduate employment outcomes.

Also, two lawyers overseeing the new for-profit operations, Rose and Dennis Cariello, were former Education Department officials who had worked at law firms employed by Corinthian in the months before it collapsed financially. Neither Zenith nor the attorneys would tell the AP whether they had personally performed legal work for Corinthian.

"The Department of Education can't accept them as independent, period," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and a critic of for-profit college practices.

The Education Department said it will hire a new monitor with a more prosecutorial mindset, though it has not outlined the structure of the arrangement or identified potential candidates.

The AP's investigation found that significant problems remain at the formerly for-profit college  including its flagship Everest College brand  even after Zenith's takeover. Zenith still recruits students through large-scale telemarketing. Major changes to its curriculum have not yet occurred. It has retained senior Corinthian executives in key posts. And it continues to recruit students using some of the same ads that Corinthian ran during the same daytime TV talk shows.

Recent graduates told the AP they are struggling to find work that would allow them to pay back their student loans, raising the prospect that the government is seeding a new crop of loan defaults.

In this March 11, 2016 photo, Shane Satterfield, a roofer who owes more than $30,000 in debt for an associates degree in computer science from one of the countrys largest for-profit college companies that failed in 2014, holds his diploma in Atlanta. "I graduated in April at the top of my class, with honors," says Satterfield. "And I cant get a job paying over $8.50 an hour." Despite pledging to distance itself from the poor business practices of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges Inc, the new owner of the Everest career college chain has retained key members of its staff and some of its hard-charging sales tactics. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
UNICEF: More than 80 percent of Syria children harmed by war

AMMAN, Jordan (AP)  More than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the country's conflict, including growing numbers of those who were forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty, the U.N. children's agency said Monday, on the fifth anniversary of the crisis.

Peter Salama, the agency's regional chief, called on donor countries to make good on money pledges made at a Syria aid conference in London last month. His agency, UNICEF, seeks $1.16 billion for 2016 to help Syria's children, including close to 3 million who are not in school.

The agency has so far received only 6 percent of the amount it seeks for this year. Salama said it would make more sense for donors to provide the funds early on and enable more effective, longer-term planning.

FILE -- In this May 29, 2014, file photo, Lujain Hourani, 11, a Syrian refugee girl who lost part of her shoulder in a government forces airstrike in the Syrian village of Zara, near Homs, stands outside her family room, at a collective center where many Syrian refugees live, in Kirbet Daoud village in Akkar north Lebanon. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

"Let's stop the suffering now, let's ensure that they (Syria's children) have a future, and they see that they have a future," Salama told The Associated Press. "We have an opportunity still to save this generation."

Salama spoke as the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, reconvened indirect talks in Geneva between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition groups trying to topple his government. The talks resumed after a fragile, partial cease-fire took hold on Feb. 27.

The Syria conflict began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad that quickly escalated into civil war. Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed. Almost half the pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced, including more than 4.8 million who fled their homeland.

UNICEF said the conflict has affected more than 80 percent of Syria's children, including 7 million who now live in poverty. This has led to growing numbers of children leaving school to work, marrying young or joining armed groups, as a way of supporting their families financially, the agency said.

In refugee camps in Jordan, one-third of marriages involve girls under the age of 18  triple what it was in 2011.

Armed groups are recruiting more children and younger children. More than half the UNICEF-verified cases of children recruited in 2015 were younger than 15, compared to 20 percent in 2014, the report said.

The agency said it was able to confirm 354 cases of recruitment in 2015, compared to 278 in 2014.

"We now face a new and disturbing era, a new and disturbing set of patterns of violations against children's rights that pushes the frontiers of brutality, even during times of war," Salama told a news conference.

The agency verified some 1,500 cases of grave attacks on children in 2015, with 400 children who were killed and 500 wo were maimed, many in or near school. Salama said that this is "the tip of the iceberg."

"In short, no place today is safe for Syria's children," he said.

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 file photo, Bara'ah Alhammadi, 10, a Syrian migrant, is carried on the back of her father as they make their way along a railway track after crossing the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2014, file Photo, Syrian refugee children, sit near a tent at the entrance of their refugee camp as they wait to attend an activity, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour near the border with Syria, Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 2 , 2015 file photo, A Syrian refugee woman and child are wrapped with thermal blankets to shelter from the cold after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, May 29, 2014 file photo, a Syrian refugee girl sits in a classroom at a Lebanese public school where only Syrian students attend classes in the afternoon, at Kaitaa village in north Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

In this Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 photo, A Syrian refugee boy walks in a sunflower field while he and other migrants wait inside and outside a bus before being taken by Hungarian police to board a train to the Austrian border, in Roszke, southern Hungary. UNICEF says nearly 7 million children in Syria now live in poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2015 file photo, a Syrian boy looks out through his tent door covered in snow at a refugee camp in Deir Zannoun village, in the Bekaa valley, east Lebanon. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. The fighting has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced almost half the country's pre-war population of 23 million. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, July 19, 2015 file photo, Syrian refugee girl, Zubaida Faisal, 10, skips a rope while she and other children play near their tents at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. UNICEF said Monday, March 14, 2016 that one-third of Syrians under the age of 18, or about 3.7 million, were born since an uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 and escalated into a civil war. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

FILE - In this May 29, 2014, file photo, a Syrian refugee boy stands outside his family room at a collective center, in Kirbet Daoud village in Akkar north Lebanon. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015 file photo, Syrian refugee children attend a class at a makeshift school set up in a tent at an informal tented settlement near the Syrian border on the outskirts of Mafraq, Jordan. The U.N. agency for children says more than 80 percent of Syria's children have been harmed by the five-year-old conflict, including growing numbers forced to work, join armed groups or marry young because of widening poverty. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 file photo, A Syrian refugee boy sits on the ground at a temporary refugee camp, in the eastern Lebanese Town of Al-Faour, Bekaa valley near the border with Syria, Lebanon. UNICEF on Monday, March 14, 2016 said it verified close to 1,500 grave violations against children in 2015, including killings and abductions. The agency says the actual figure is believed to be higher. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Putin orders start of Russian military pullout from Syria

MOSCOW (AP)  President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, timing his move to coincide with the launch of Syria peace talks Monday  an end game that allows the Russian leader to cash in on his gains and reduce his risks in the conflict.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers Putin an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5-month Russian air campaign that has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's army to win back some key ground and strengthen his positions ahead of the talks. With Russia's main goals in Syria achieved, the pullback will allow Putin to pose as a peacemaker and help ease tensions with NATO member Turkey and the Gulf monarchies vexed by Moscow's military action.

At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and keep some troops there. Syria's state news agency also quoted Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but won't leave the country altogether.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Syrian presidency said Assad and Putin spoke on the phone Monday and jointly agreed that Russia would scale back its forces in Syria. It rejected speculation that the decision reflected a rift between the allies and said the decision reflected the "successes" the two armies have achieved in fighting terrorism in Syria and restoring peace to key areas of the country.

The Syrian army said it would continue its operations against the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations "with the same tempo."

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assad's military to "radically" turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces from Syria, beginning tomorrow," Putin said.

He also informed President Barack Obama of his move in a phone call, emphasizing the importance of U.S.-Russian coordination "for preserving the cease-fire, ensuring humanitarian aid deliveries to the blockaded settlements and conducting an efficient struggle against terrorist groups," according to the Kremlin, which added that the conversation was "business-like and frank."

Putin didn't specify how many planes and troops would be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed. U.S. estimates of the number of Russian military personnel in Syria vary from 3,000 to 6,000.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that thanks to the Russian air support the Syrian military has extended its control to 400 towns and villages over an area of 10,000 square kilometers.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured "victories against terrorism and returned security to the country."

A White House statement said Obama welcomed Russia's move, but also noted continued sporadic violence and urged Putin to pressure the Syrian regime to stop offensive actions that could undermine the fragile truce.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."

The Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The deal with Washington has achieved a key Putin goal: raising Russia's global profile to appear as an equal to the United States in mediating the Syrian conflict that has dominated global attention.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire and Russia has said it would continue its fight against the groups considered terrorists by the United Nations.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said the Russians in recent days have been pounding IS targets in and around the western approaches to the city of Palmyra, which is firmly in IS control. Davis said this has been a Russian focus since the cessation of hostilities began.

Officials said Monday they saw no immediate sign of any pullout. Although Putin's announcement caught Pentagon officials by surprise, officials have said they had questioned how long the Russian air campaign would last based on the fact that they were not making regular troop rotations.

Syrian opposition spokesman Salem Al Mislet, in Geneva, cautiously welcomed Putin's move, but urged the Russian leader to withdraw his support for Assad.

"If this step, this action will remove all Russian troops from Syria then it will be a positive step, I believe," he said, adding that Putin should follow up on that "by saying he is standing beside the Syrian people, not beside the Syrian dictatorship."

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday. At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The truce, however, has helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas"  zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

De Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war  and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is "a red line," and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months  a key demand of the opposition.

But de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue  the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Angola's U.N. Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins, who currently holds the Security Council's rotating presidency, said council members appealed to de Mistura to make the negotiations "more inclusive," including adding Kurdish representatives, but do it moving forward so it won't affect the "kind of progress that we're seeing."

Asked if Putin discussed Assad's political fate in Monday's phone call with the Syrian leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasn't part of the conversation.

Assad has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

The talks have shaped up as the best, if distant, chance in years to end a war that has created an opening for radical groups including Islamic State and the al-Qaida-backed Nusra Front to gain large swaths of land, and prompted at least 11 million people to leave their homes  many fleeing abroad to places like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as to Europe.

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Keaten reported from Geneva. Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut, Albert Aji in Damascus, Robert Burns in Washington, D.C., and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, shakes hand with Syrian President Bashar Assad as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, looks on in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Syria's state news agency is quoting President Bashar Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent from Syria but won't leave the country altogether.(Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Staffan de Mistura , informs the media at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Mistura calls peace talks "a moment of truth," says the "only Plan B available is return to war." Steffan de Mistura spoke to reporters just moments before resuming "proximity talks" in Geneva slightly over a month after suspending them in an upsurge in violence in Syria. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, Staffan de Mistura , informs the media at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Mistura calls peace talks "a moment of truth," says the "only Plan B available is return to war." Steffan de Mistura spoke to reporters just moments before resuming "proximity talks" in Geneva slightly over a month after suspending them in an upsurge in violence in Syria. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin heads a meeting of the State Council on traffic safety issues in Yaroslavl, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, right, speak during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin heads a meeting of the State Council on traffic safety issues in Yaroslavl, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, back to a camera, and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, right, speak during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of the pullout of the Russian military from Syria starting Tuesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
10 Things to Know for Tuesday - 15 March 2016

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:

1. PUTIN ORDERS WITHDRAWAL OF MOST RUSSIAN FORCES FROM SYRIA

He says he hopes the move will contribute to the success of peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian civil war.

Prince George's County police chief Hank Stawinski accompanied by the parents of police officer Jacai Colson, James and Sheila Colson speaks during a news conference at Prince George's County Police headquarters Monday, March 14, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force and a undercover narcotics officer was mortally wounded by his own colleagues as he responded to an attack on his police station by a gunman with a death wish, their police chief angrily explained on Monday. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

2. HOW HISTORY MIGHT BE REPEATING ITSELF

The recent dark turn of the presidential campaign fuels fear that the U.S. is careering into a time of turmoil similar to the 1960s.

3. MARYLAND POLICEMAN KILLED BY FRIENDLY FIRE

The undercover officer was killed by his own colleagues as he responded to an attack on his police station by a gunman with a death wish, the police chief says.

4. ISLAMIC STATE FIGHTER SURRENDERS IN IRAQ

The 26-year-old identifies himself as a Palestinian from the U.S., and American authorities are trying to confirm that he is a U.S. citizen.

5. WHY AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILED IN RURAL KANSAS

Investigators are checking whether a vehicle crash may have damaged the tracks before the accident.

6. RAIN A BOON FOR DROUGHT-STRICKEN CALIFORNIA

Four straight days of wet weather replenish several key reservoirs, raising optimism that restrictions on water use may be eased in the months ahead.

7. WHAT DEADLY ASSAULT ON IVORY COAST RESORT SIGNALS

The attack on the beach resort by an al-Qaida affiliate is the latest sign that it is shifting its focus to soft targets associated with foreigners.

8. UNMANNED PROBE WINGING ITS WAY TO MARS

The European Space Agency begins its mission to explore the red planet and hunt for signs of life.

9. PALIN'S HUSBAND INJURED IN SNOWMOBILE CRASH

Todd Palin remains hospitalized after the accident in Alaska, but is expected to recover.

10. NFL EXEC ACKNOWLEDGES HEAD-TRAUMA LINK

It's the first time a league official has admitted a link between football and the brain disease CTE.

An Amtrak train derailed in southwest Kansas early Monday, March 14, 2016, injuring multiple people who were transferred to hospitals in Garden City and Dodge City, according to a release from Amtrak. The Amtrak train carrying 131 passengers derailed in rural Kansas moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, an official said. (Oliver Morrison /The Wichita Eagle via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; MAGS OUT; LOCAL RADIO OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
The Latest: UNHCR: Turkey asylum decisions should be quicker

VIENNA (AP)  The Latest on the crisis of mass migration to Europe (all times local):

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8:30 p.m.

People pass a child from hand to hand as migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The United Nations refugee agency says Turkey must do more to ensure that all people seeking asylum there can have their claims efficiently assessed within a fair period of time.

The assessment came in a UNHCR legal note, seen by The Associated Press on Monday, examining the European Union's planned deal with Ankara to send thousands of migrants in Greece back to Turkey.

The note said efforts must continue "to ensure that all people seeking international protection can have a fair and efficient determination of their claims by a competent authority within a reasonable time."

The UNHCR said agreements like the one the EU and Turkey hope to finalize by Friday should "be guided and framed by international and regional obligations, to ensure their sustainability and respect for the rights of affected individuals."

It noted that Turkey is home to 2.7 million Syrian refugees, only 10 percent of them sheltered in camps.

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6:30 p.m.

Serbian customs officers at the border with Macedonia have found 33 migrants hidden in a cargo train in an attempt to cross into the country illegally.

The customs office said Monday that the group was discovered on Saturday in three wagons at the end of an empty train that had arrived from Macedonia.

The statement says the migrants included one woman. It says the migrants were aged 18 to 26 and had no documents but said they were from Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. They have been handed over to police.

Stranded migrants have been desperate to continue their journey, with many seeking help from people smugglers. Hundreds crossed into Macedonia from Greece on Monday, defying the blockade.

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5:35 p.m.

Macedonia's army and police are detaining hundreds of migrants and refugees who crossed the border from Greece.

More than 2,000 people crossed the frontier Monday, braving torrential rain and rough terrain, after being stranded in Greece by Balkan border closures.

In chaotic scenes, the refugees waded across a fast-flowing river before breaching a break in a border fence to reach Macedonia.

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4:10 p.m.

Hundreds of refugee and migrants stranded in Greece are crossing into neighboring Macedonia, defying border closures by Balkan countries.

Around 300 people are making their way across the border after walking for hours in heavy rain and wading across a river.

Macedonia's border has been sealed for the past 10 days, following transit restrictions imposed by EU-member Austria.

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1:15 p.m.

Some 300 migrants and refugees have left a camp at the Greek-Macedonian border and are heading on foot toward a break in a frontier fence dividing the two countries.

The migrants, including dozens of children, were heading east toward a river that crosses the border, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) outside the village of Idomeni, where some 14,000 people are stranded at a sprawling camp. They refused to turn back at a Greek police cordon outside the camp.

Conditions at Idomeni have deteriorated following days of torrential rainfall.

12 p.m.

Police in Macedonia say the bodies of two men and one woman, believed to be migrants, have been found in a river near the border with Greece.

Police spokesman Toni Angelovski told The Associated Press that the bodies were discovered early Monday in the Suva Reka river, near the border town of Gevgelija.

More than 40,000 people have been stranded in Greece after Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslav countries closed their borders to migrants and refugees. The closures have prompted many to try and seek more dangerous crossings.

UNHCR official Ljubinka Brasnarska said 19 migrants had been placed in a shelter in Macedonia and another three were hospitalized after crossing the Suva Reka.

She told the AP that border closures are forcing migrants to resort to "desperate actions."

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11:05 a.m.

The Dutch government says that one in four migrants seeking asylum in the Netherlands so far this year has come from a country considered "safe," meaning they are ineligible for refugee status.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service said Monday that a quarter of the 4,400 first-time asylum requests in 2016 came from countries such as Albania, Serbia and Kosovo.

Last year, nearly 59,000 migrants applied for asylum in the Netherlands, a small, densely populated country of 17 million.

As the Netherlands seeks ways to cope with the influx, migrants from safe countries are now being rejected faster and are no longer allowed to await decisions on appeals in this country and have to immediately leave.

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10 a.m.

Austria's chancellor says European countries have to send a message to those seeking safe haven that they cannot expect to choose which nation will accept them.

Werner Faymann also is calling for progress in talks between the EU and countries like Pakistan and Morocco to facilitate the return of migrants with no chance for asylum.

Faymann says "we have to make clear to refugees that they cannot pick where they will be accommodated in Europe."

In comments late Sunday to state broadcaster ORF, Faymann defended his country's decision to introduce annual caps on the number of people Austria would accept as refugees, saying "we will continue to back this stance."

A child cries as migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A boy covered in a plastic garbage bag steps on a log to cross a pool of water with donated tea at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday, March 14, 2016. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Macedonian coroners place the body of a drowned migrant in a coffin on the river bank of Suva Reka river near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Monday, March 14, 2016. Police in Macedonia say the bodies of two men and one woman, believed to be migrants, have been found in a river near the border with Greece. Another 19 were placed in a shelter and three were hospitalized after crossing the river in a separate incident. More than 40,000 people have been stranded in Greece after Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslav countries closed their borders, prompting many to try and seek more dangerous crossings. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Bodies of drowned migrants lie on the river bank of Suva Reka river near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Monday, March 14, 2016. Police in Macedonia say the bodies of two men and one woman, believed to be migrants, have been found in a river near the border with Greece. Another 19 were placed in a shelter and three were hospitalized after crossing the river in a separate incident. More than 40,000 people have been stranded in Greece after Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslav countries closed their borders, prompting many to try and seek more dangerous crossings. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

A baby peers from a tent looking at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday, March 14, 2016. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
WADA to consider new inquiries into Russian doping

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)  The World Anti-Doping Agency is prepared to open new inquiries into suspected systematic doping in Russian sports and other countries.

Four months after a WADA-commissioned investigation alleged a Russian doping conspiracy in track and field, WADA president Craig Reedie said Monday he would "reanalyze" the report to see if new cases were needed.

"I will determine whether or not there is sufficient information to propose further investigations," Reedie told a conference of anti-doping officials from across the world.

Craig Reedie, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, speaks during a Symposium for Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs), in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, March 14, 2016. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Reedie reacted to criticism from the WADA athletes' commission last week, which said comments in the "incriminating" report justified investigating other sports in Russia, and track and field programs in several other countries.

The promise helped keep Russia as the focus of doping issues one week after Maria Sharapova announced her positive test for meldonium. The blood-flow enhancing medication has triggered at least 99 positive cases, many from former Soviet Union countries, since being put on WADA's list of banned substances on Jan. 1.

Under pressure from Russia to justify the science behind its decision, WADA director general David Howman defended the agency's working methods established for more than a decade.

"We are not going to start creating a new process because of one substance," Howman said on the sidelines of the conference. "There are provisions that say, if (a substance) is on the list, there is no query as to why it is on the list."

Five months before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Russia's track and field team remains barred from competition as a result of the WADA-commissioned inquiry. The IAAF plans to make a final decision in May on whether Russia should be allowed back in for the games.

By then, other Olympic sports in Russia could be under closer scrutiny.

Reedie said Monday that he spoke with WADA athletes' spokeswoman Beckie Scott and promised to "re-engage" with the inquiry team led by Dick Pound, plus sports federations and anti-doping officials.

Scott had suggested in an open letter that WADA's response to the Pound report in November was unsatisfactory.

"There are quite a number of mentions of other sports," Howman acknowledged. "We know they collected a lot of information and we need to ask them whether any of it was substantial enough" to open an inquiry.

Finding money for more lengthy investigations could be a factor.

Reedie noted that the Pound investigation had cost $1.5 million, and WADA had an annual operating budget of $26 million. He said he could propose new inquiries, and paying for them, with the WADA executive board. It next meets on May 11 in Montreal.

"We must pick our battles wisely based on hard evidence," Reedie said.

The Sharapova case was not discussed in detail at the opening sessions of a three-day meeting of national anti-doping agencies, so as not to prejudice her ongoing disciplinary case by tennis authorities and possible appeals, Howman said.

Still, he appeared to dismiss one line of Sharapova's defense that she and her entourage were unaware of warnings that meldonium, which she said she had used since 2006, was about to be prohibited for use without a medical exemption.

"Every year you should have on your calendar, 1st of October, let's look at the (banned) list to see what's happening," Howman said. "It's not new to athletes, it's not new to administrators, it's not new to athlete advisers. This has been going on now for 13, 14 years."

Asked about reports in Russia quoting sports minister Vitaly Mutko's request to WADA to provide its scientific evidence relating to meldonium, Howman said no special favors would be given.

"We will show them the minutes of the meeting which are public, and the way in which these things were discussed," he said.

In other matters:

 Howman said of collecting athletes' samples in Russia, now overseen by the British anti-doping agency: "I can't stand here and say it is brilliant yet. But it has started."

 Samples taken at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and passed clean should be re-tested by the IOC long before a 10-year statute of limitations expires, Howman said. "Some ought to be tested now rather than wait because of the information we know now."

 Defending the International Tennis Federation's anti-doping program, which even some players criticize for not testing them enough, Howman said national anti-doping agencies could conduct more tests, but some "don't think it is a high risk sport and that is a pity."

David Howman, left, from New Zealand, Director General of the WADA, and Britain's Craig Reedie, right, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, attend a press conference during the WADA Symposium for Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs), in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, March 14, 2016. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)
2 men killed in tugboat crash died from drowning

NEW YORK (AP)  The autopsies of two men killed in the collision between a tugboat and a construction barge on the Hudson River north of New York City showed they died from drowning, authorities said Monday.

The body of a third man who's presumed dead has yet to be recovered, and his remains were thought to be in a part of the sunken tugboat that divers have not been able to access.

"They searched everywhere they could reach," said Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary.

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The 90-foot tugboat named Specialist hit a construction barge Saturday where workers are building the new Tappan Zee Bridge. The heavily damaged vessel now has to be raised. O'Leary said commercial divers went into the water on Monday to assess conditions and start coming up with a plan on how to raise the tugboat.

On Sunday, divers recovered the body of Timothy Conklin, of Westbury, New York. The body of Paul Amon, of Bayville, New Jersey, was retrieved Saturday. Authorities are looking for the body of Harry Hernandez of Staten Island.

Authorities said three tugboats were pushing a barge from Albany to Jersey City, New Jersey, when one of the three  situated on the right side as it headed south  hit a stationary barge that was part of the Tappan Zee Bridge construction project. A tugboat on the left side of the barge that was being pushed, as well as one that was pushing the barge from the rear, were not involved in the accident.

O'Leary said investigators still were conducting interviews and trying to piece together exactly what happened.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, left, uses a diagram to explain the circumstances of a fatal collision on the water in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A Coast Guard boat passes near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. A tugboat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday killing at least one crew member and leaving two still missing. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Boats of emergency officials work near the site of a fatal collision in the water underneath the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown, N.Y., Saturday, March 12, 2016. New York State Police say one person is dead after a tugboat sank on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Big Easy Airbnbs mushroom, sparking debate over city's soul

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  For years, tourists in New Orleans mostly stayed in the French Quarter. They did their drinking there, gawked at raunchy shows on Bourbon Street and gorged themselves at exquisite restaurants.

But that's changing, partly thanks to a mushrooming of short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb. Now tourists  some of whom come to party  are found in neighborhoods around the city, and locals are divided about whether that's a good thing.

Some say the rentals help residents  including artists and young entrepreneurs  bolster income in a city where many still struggle 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Others say the spread of tourism to residential areas hurts the quality of life.

In this March 10, 2016 photo, Baba Ken Amen, an artist and vegan caterer, poses for a photo at his home in Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans. Amen says he makes ends meet renting his art-filled, solar-powered home on Airbnb. (AP Photo/Cain Burdeau)

Anti-Airbnb signs declaring "neighbors, not tourists" are common. Meetings on the topic are passionate. Complaints against the rentals have doubled. Hotel and bed-and-breakfast owners have joined neighborhood groups to press for restrictions. The state is looking to tax them like motels.

Brittanie Bryant is so fed up with bachelor parties at the townhouse-turned-hotel next door that she and her husband are considering moving.

"Guests vomit on our cars, pee on our cars, throw up in our yard, throw trash in our yard, rip out our flowers," said Bryant, who lives on Esplanade Avenue, a charming street outside the French Quarter with gabled and balconied 19th-century Creole townhouses and sprawling live oaks hung with Spanish moss.

Across the city, in predominantly black Pontchartrain Park, Baba Ken Amen says he makes ends meet renting his art-filled, solar-powered home on Airbnb. "This is how we can afford to pay the taxes," said Amen, an artist and vegan caterer. "I'm not getting rich off this."

For $165 a night, guests can get a "down-home experience" in what he advertises as "Pontchartrain Park Paradise," with its jazz collection, books and African masks. Amen says his guests help the area: "They support our local grocery stores ... they're trying things in the neighborhood."

Airbnb and other sites like HomeAway offer up to 4,000 private properties for rent nightly around New Orleans: from former slave quarters and artists' lofts, to Cotton Kingdom-era mansions, sunny Creole cottages and brightly painted "shotgun" houses  narrow homes with rooms connected like railroad cars.

Technically, most of these rentals are illegal. The City Council expects to adopt new rules this year to legalize the practice while regulating it and balancing neighborhood needs. In January, city planners suggested limiting the rentals in some historic neighborhoods and revoking licenses of bad operators while requiring insurance, property managers and guest logs.

Nationally the issue isn't new. Portland, Oregon, legalized short-term rentals in 2014. San Francisco, where Airbnb is headquartered, legalized them last year. In New York City, renting out an extra room or couch is fine, but it's illegal to rent most apartments for fewer than 30 days. New York's state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in 2014 that three-fourths of New York City Airbnb listings were illegal. The company said it removed many of those listings, but some New Yorkers blame Airbnb for helping to drive rents up.

In New Orleans, many also blame the rentals for exacerbating post-Katrina housing shortages, skyrocketing rents and the exodus of less wealthy residents from the city center.

"The full-time residents aren't as plentiful as they used to be," griped Louis Matassa, a white-haired grocer at a French Quarter grocery store that opened in 1924. "The staples: They don't sell. The animal food, the milk, the cartons of eggs."

The store harks back to an era when the quarter was populated by artists and musicians crammed into dilapidated apartments. "My business has fallen off and for the first time in almost a century, the future is uncertain," he wrote to the city. "The community is my customer base, and the community is dying."

But supporters say Airbnb enhances one of the city's biggest industries: tourism.

"The economics are very clear that we need to embrace tourists, and wherever they want to stay, we let them," said Christian Galvin, who rents out several properties nightly and serves on the Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity, a pro-Airbnb group. "Short-term renters use the post office; they use dry cleaners; they use the grocery stores; they don't go in just for cigarettes."

Airbnb says its rentals contributed $140 million to New Orleans' economy in a year and disputes the claim that short-term rentals drive up housing costs. Airbnb spokeswoman Alison Schumer also said in a statement that Airbnb supports the "city's ongoing efforts" at regulation.

Whether or not Airbnb is the cause, locals say neighborhoods are changing. Rick Mathieu, a longtime resident of Treme, said his neighborhood is nearly empty of families. Pointing to a house, he said a woman who lives in San Francisco "bought it and made it into a money-making thing." But he defended her right, as a property owner, "to do anything you want."

Jamie Ruth, who sells art and runs a tattoo parlor on St. Claude Avenue, a rundown corridor that's become a hipster hangout since Katrina, says Airbnb is good for business, but can hurt neighborhoods.
Tuesday primaries key to Republicans as Trump sees end game

WASHINGTON (AP)  Republican front-runner Donald Trump faces a week of critical primary elections that could see his political dominance grow at the risk of even wider party divisions in one of the most chaotic presidential campaigns in generations.

Perhaps most crucial is Tuesday's winner-take-all contest in Ohio, where the billionaire real estate mogul is up against the state's popular governor, John Kasich. Trump has called the governor "a baby." Kasich has suggested that Trump and the violence at some of his rallies represent a "dark side" of American society.

Also at stake Tuesday are Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida, with the total number of delegates in play accounting for more than a quarter of the 1,237 necessary for the party's nomination.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argues that only he can keep Trump from reaching the required majority of delegates, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tries merely to remain relevant, hoping home-state voters defy recent polls and give him a reason to stay in the race. Rubio said Monday he would "shock the country" with a victory in Florida despite Trump's big lead there.

On Monday, Cruz said a Trump nomination guaranteed four more years of Democrats' control of the White House. "We elect Hillary Clinton and we destroy the country if Trump is the nominee," he said at an Illinois event.

Former 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who has endorsed Trump, appeared at a Florida event for him on Monday. Trump thanked her and noted that her husband, Todd, had been "in a bad snow machine accident" Sunday night and was hospitalized.

Trump has tried to shift attention away from the intense criticism that followed Friday's harrowing scenes in Chicago, where he canceled a scheduled rally amid sometimes violent confrontations among his supporters, protesters and authorities. At a Saturday rally, a protester stormed the stage as Trump spoke, only to be subdued by Secret Service agents.

"We're not provoking. We want peace. ... We don't want trouble," Trump told a crowd in Illinois at one of three events he held Sunday, with occasional interruptions from protesters. None led to violence. Protesters briefly interrupted a Trump event again on Monday but were shouted down by supporters.

A skeptical Kasich reversed his months-long practice of avoiding the topic of Trump. Speaking with The Associated Press, he read a list of Trump quotes compiled by an aide that included comments that his audiences should "hit back" a little more and that he'd like to "punch" a protester "in the face."

Kasich later told a crowd in Ohio without mentioning Trump: "Do we go to the dark side, with negativity, the gnashing of teeth ... or do we go to the hopeful and the light side?"

Trump answered by portraying Kasich as weak and deliberately mispronounced his rival's Czech surname.

Among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton carries an edge of more than 200 pledged delegates into Tuesday's contests and could effectively block rival Bernie Sanders' path to victory with a sweep of the large states on Tuesday.

While the delegates will be awarded proportionately, Clinton's support with superdelegates  elected officials and party leaders free to back whomever they'd like  puts her in a strong position to win the nomination.

According to an Associated Press analysis, Clinton holds 1,231 of total delegates, more than half the amount needed to clinch the nomination. Sanders has 576.

But Sanders pulled an upset last week in Michigan, where polls had showed Clinton leading by as many as 20 points. Sanders senior strategist Tad Devine said he sees no scenario where the Vermont senator gets out of the race before the party convention in July.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at a rally at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets people at an immigration round table at The Resurrection Project at La Casa in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Monday, March 14, 2016. At far right is Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton looks to Diane Latiker of Kids off the Block memorial, right, as she visits the memorial to children killed by gun violence in Chicago, Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talks with reporters before a rally at the historic Coronado Performing Arts Center Monday, March 14, 2016, in Rockford, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks to supporters while standing on a chair at campaign stop at the Maple Street Biscuit Company in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Zimbabwe says 2 Italians mistakenly killed in wildlife park

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  Wildlife rangers in Zimbabwe accidentally killed two Italian residents  a father and son  who were assisting with an anti-poaching patrol, Zimbabwean authorities said Monday.

The pair joined the anti-poaching deployment after gunshots were heard in the protected Mana Pools park, said a statement from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

Rangers who were following the spoor of suspected poachers on Sunday afternoon "saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire, accidentally shooting and killing" the Italian pair, the statement said.

Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed the deaths of Claudio Chiarelli, originally from the northern city of Padua, and his son Massimiliano Chiarelli.

The Italian daily il Mattino di Padova said Claudio Chiarelli ran safaris for tourists.

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Hafeez hits 70, Pakistan beats Sri Lanka in World T20 warmup

KOLKATA, India (AP)  Mohammad Hafeez hit a 49-ball undefeated 70 and left-arm spinner Imad Wasim claimed 4-25 as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 15 runs on Monday in a warmup game for the World Twenty20 Super 10 stage, which starts Tuesday.

Choosing to bat, Pakistan scored 157-5 with Hafeez getting nine fours and one six.

Defending World T20 champion Sri Lanka was restricted to 142-9 with Lahiru Thirimanne top-scoring with 45 off 37 balls, including two sixes.

Wasim dismissed Thirimanne and also accounted for opener Dinesh Chandimal (30), Chamara Kapugedera (14) and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews (10).

Earlier, openers Sharjeel Khan (23) and Ahmed Shehzad (18) added 39 runs for Pakistan's opening wicket.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed (13) and Umar Akmal (19) also contributed for 2009 champion Pakistan. Captain Shahid Afridi got a golden duck in the 19th over.

Pakistan was originally set to play a local state side on Saturday but delayed its departure for the tournament owing to security concerns.

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Scores:
Russia denounces Polish leader over plane crash claim

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Moscow on Monday denounced Poland's defense minister for suggesting that the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland's president was an act of terrorism perpetrated by Russia.

Official investigations by Poland and Russia have determined that the crash that killed Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other top officials was an accident caused by the error of pilots trying to land in heavy fog.

Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz has long suggested the crash, which took place near Smolensk, Russia, could have been an assassination, but comments he made over the weekend were unusually strong.

Polands Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz attends a meeting with his Latvian counterpart, Raimonds Bergmanis, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Macierewicz has come under criticism for suggesting that the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland's president was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

"What happened near Smolensk was aimed at depriving Poland of its leadership, which was on a path of leading our nation to independence," Macierewicz said in a lecture at a Catholic university in the city of Torun. "We were the first victims of terrorism in the 1930s, and through Smolensk, we can say that we were also the first major victim of terrorism in a modern conflict, which is unfolding before our eyes."

Russia's Foreign Ministry described Macierewicz's statements as absurd.

"Irresponsible statements by Mr. Macierewicz aimed at further destabilization of the already difficult relations between our countries aren't in sync with earlier signals from Warsaw suggesting a desire to develop pragmatic cooperation between Russia and Poland using bilateral mechanisms and formats that have been frozen by the previous government," it said in a statement.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the words as "unfounded, biased and having nothing to do with the real circumstances of this tragedy."

In Poland, an opposition lawmaker and former deputy foreign minister, Rafal Trzaskowski, said he was "terrified by these words."

Macierewicz is due to host a NATO summit taking place in Warsaw in July. The military alliance is increasingly at odds with Russia over its actions in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere.

Kaczynski was the identical twin brother of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the governing party, Law and Justice. Since it took power last November it has launched sweeping legal changes to the country and in February Macierewicz reopened an investigation into the crash that killed 96 people. He said key evidence pointing to Russian responsibility was hidden in the original Polish investigation, which took place under the rival Civic Platform party.

The plane crashed while carrying a presidential delegation to Russia for observances honoring Polish officers killed in and around Katyn by the Soviet secret police in 1940. For decades Moscow refused to acknowledge responsibility for those crimes, and the subject was taboo for decades of Moscow-backed communist rule in Poland as well.

Macierewicz said that Poland appeared to finally be free in 2009 to speak openly about those massacres. But "half a year later we learned that raising this issue would trigger a reaction which the modern world could not imagine. A reaction which caused the death of the entire Polish elite, simply the death of the Polish delegation over Smolensk flying to Katyn."

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Isachenkov contributed to this report from Moscow.

Polands Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz,left, reviews the guard of honor with his Latvian counterpart, Raimonds Bergmanis, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Macierewicz has come under criticism for suggesting that the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland's president was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polands Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz attends a meeting with his Latvian counterpart, Raimonds Bergmanis, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, March 14, 2016. Macierewicz has come under criticism for suggesting that the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland's president was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Group: Ethiopia forces kill, rape in clashes with protesters

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)  A rights group is accusing Ethiopia's security forces of carrying out serious rights abuses during recent protests in the country's Oromia region.

The Ethiopia-based Human Rights Council said Monday that it found evidence of extrajudicial killings, tortures, beatings, illegal detentions, forced disappearances and arson attacks during and after the protests.

In November, protests erupted in the Oromia region over a proposed plan to expand the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, which some believed would lead to the displacement of farmers.

Authorities have since abandoned the plan but clashes continue. The Human Right Council said at least 103 people have been killed.
PICTURED: Romanians burn tires to mark Orthodox Lent

POPLACA, Romania (AP)  Romanian villagers have burned used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent.

About 30 young residents gathered on a hill outside the village of Poplaca in the foothills of the Cindrel mountains, Sunday evening for the annual 'Clean Monday' ritual, which is designed to ward off evil spirits before the onset of Lent on Monday.

As night fell, teenagers spun around flaming old car tires attached to metal chains, and yelled the names of unmarried and divorced people in the community, in the hope of bringing them a partner. Children, some with faces blackened from the tires and soot, jumped over the tires.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man jumps over a fire during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

Villagers ate bacon fat and zacusca, a bottled vegetable relish, to keep warm during the festivities in the village, about 315 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Bucharest.

Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on May 1 this year, five weeks later than Western Christians. Monday marks the beginning of 40 days of abstention, when Orthodox Christians cut out meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.

Clean Monday, also known as Pure Monday and Ash Monday traditionally begins on Sunday evening, and is seen as a the last opportunity for culinary excess and partying before Lent begins.

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man stands near an old car tire set on fire, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, young men look up as two old car tires nearly collide in mid-air, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young boy relaxes on a pile of old car tires, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young boy grimaces inside a pile of old car tires, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar , on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, youngsters keep warm by a fire during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church calendar, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT

In this picture taken on Sunday, March. 13, 2016, a young man spins a flaming old car tire on a metal chain, during a celebration marking the upcoming Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Christian church, on the hills surrounding the village of Poplaca, Sibiu county, in the central Romanian Transylvania region. Romanian villagers set light to piles of used tires and lit fires in the Transylvanian hills in a ritual that marks the beginning of Orthodox Lent before Easter. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) ROMANIA OUT
British royal couple arrive in Croatia on Balkan tour

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP)  Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have arrived in Croatia at the start of their tour of the Balkan region that was engulfed in ethnic war in the 1990s and recently has been at the center of the European migrant crisis.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall landed Monday in the capital, Zagreb, for a two-day stay in Croatia before proceeding to Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

The British royals are expected to promote peace and reconciliation in the region where some 100,000 people died during the war and over a million were displaced. The Balkans remains volatile though relations have improved as countries seek to join the European Union.

Britain's Prince Charles, center and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall are welcomed by Britain's ambassador to Zagreb Ian Cliff, left, at Zagreb airport, Croatia, Monday, March 14, 2016. The royal couple is on official visits to Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. (Igor Kralj/ Pool Photo via AP)

There have been fears Balkan tensions could be fueled by the ongoing migrant crisis.
Migrants defy rain, rivers and Europe's border closures

HAMILO, Greece (AP)  Defying Europe's border closures, more than 2,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece braved torrential rain and waded across a fast-flowing river to walk into neighboring Macedonia.

In dramatic scenes, refugees held children, baby strollers and their belongings over their heads as they crossed thigh-deep in the water, while elderly migrants clutched ropes placed by volunteers to help them across.

But their time in Macedonia and planned journey onward toward Western Europe might be short-lived. Macedonian soldiers and police detained hundreds of people after they had just crossed from Greece and put them into trucks, authorities said. Their fate remained uncertain, and police refused to give further details.

A child cries as migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Monday's events were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece  and it came days before European Union leaders try to hammer out a deal with Turkey to try and hold more refugees there.

The migrants walked out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, traveling west on foot.

Syrian Ibrahim al-Almad said he had been stuck in Greece for a month.

"My brother is in Stuttgart, in Germany, and I want to join him," he said, pointing toward other refugees. "Look at what they are making us do  look at all these women and children."

Al-Almad also walked from Idomeni, where 14,000 people remain camped out.

In chaotic scenes at the nearby border village of Hamilo, Greek and international volunteers helped migrants across the river, using ropes to make sure they weren't swept away by the rapids.

Macedonia's border was closed following transit restrictions imposed by EU-member Austria.

Underscoring the risks, police in Macedonia said the bodies of one man and two women, all Afghans, were found Monday in the Suva Reka river near the border with Greece. Twenty migrants crossed safely and another three were hospitalized, authorities said.

"This is the situation in which people have become desperate and frustrated," said Ljubinka Brasnarska, a spokeswoman in Macedonia for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

"The border restrictions imposed by the countries have forced people to take desperate actions."

Parts of Macedonia's border fence is made up solely of coils of razor wire, while breaks in the barrier also occur at rivers and mountain slopes on the border, mainly to the west of Idomeni.

A cap on migrants imposed by Austria last month set off a domino effect of border closures across the Balkans, leaving thousands stranded in Greece.

Despite the closures, more 8,500 refugees and migrants traveled to the Greek islands from Turkey last week, according to the UNHCR.

In an interview published Sunday, Austria's foreign minister said border closures should be extended.

Sebastian Kurz told Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the route leading through Italy to central Europe should also be blocked.

"Smuggling can't be prevented entirely ... (so) we will have to do everything that we are now doing on the western Balkan route along the Italy-Mediterranean route too." he said.

"The time of waving through refugees to central Europe is over."

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Konstantin Testorides reported from Skopje, Macedonia. Amer Cohadzic in Idomeni, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Fisnik Abrashi in Prague, Czech Republic contributed to this report.

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Follow Costas Kantouris at http://www.twitter.com/CostasKantouris

Migrants stumble as they cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border control fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Some hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river as migrants attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, as migrants attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A boy covered in a plastic garbage bag steps on a log to cross a pool of water with donated tea at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday, March 14, 2016. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A boy wears women's shoes as he balances with donated tea on a beam placed in the mud at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday, March 14, 2016. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A boy walks covered in a garbage plastic bag during a rainfall at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Monday, March 14, 2016. Bad weather returned after a brief pause and conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have further deteriorated, many of its residents struggling struggling to cope with the many challenges posed by the heavy rain.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A Macedonian coroner looks at the bodies of drowned migrants on the river bank of Suva Reka river near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Monday, March 14, 2016. Police in Macedonia say the bodies of two men and one woman, believed to be migrants, have been found in a river near the border with Greece. Another 19 were placed in a shelter and three were hospitalized after crossing the river in a separate incident. More than 40,000 people have been stranded in Greece after Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslav countries closed their borders, prompting many to try and seek more dangerous crossings. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Macedonian coroners carry a coffin with drowned migrants by the river of Suva Reka near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija, Monday, March 14, 2016. Police in Macedonia say the bodies of two men and one woman, believed to be migrants, have been found in a river near the border with Greece. Another 19 were placed in a shelter and three were hospitalized after crossing the river in a separate incident. More than 40,000 people have been stranded in Greece after Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslav countries closed their borders, prompting many to try and seek more dangerous crossings. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People carry a man in an wheelchair as migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A man carries a baby as migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Migrants cross a river, north of Idomeni, Greece, attempting to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
In Whitney exhibit, Poitras explores the art of surveillance

NEW YORK (AP)  Here's a question you've likely never asked yourself: Can covert surveillance be beautiful?

But you might be asking it as you stroll through "Astro Noise," journalist and filmmaker Laura Poitras' exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in which images stemming from mass government surveillance are, in a number of cases, physically striking.

Take, for example, the patterns of bright greens, blues and oranges adorning the wall as one enters the exhibit. Seen from afar, they appear to be colorful modern paintings one might see in any contemporary museum. But actually, Poitras is presenting data hacked Israeli drone feeds from a listening base in Cyprus. The original images were contained in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

This image released by the Whitney Museum of American Art shows a pigmented inkjet print on aluminum by Laura Poitras, titled, "ANARCHIST: Data Feed with Doppler Tracks from a Satellite (Intercepted May 27, 2009), 2016," part of a solo exhibition titled, "Astro Noise," showing at the Whitney Museum of American Art through May 1. (Laura Poitras/Whitney Museum of American Art via AP)

"Definitely the piece is trying to work on multiple levels," says Poitras, best known for "Citizenfour," her Oscar-winning documentary about Snowden, and her news reports on the same subject, which won a Pulitzer Prize.

"We found these fascinating colorful images that I was immediately compelled by. And they also have this fascinating story, so they work as news. We're looking at intercepts from hacked Israeli drone feeds. But it's not cynical. I like them as images, too."

Though Poitras is best known as a filmmaker and journalist, she says her first solo museum show has given her a chance to explore the issues important to her in a medium even more suited to her way of thinking.

"I felt almost MORE at home," she said in a recent interview. "The creative process was really liberating. It's more abstract, which is what I like. It opened up new possibilities, and liberated me from things I'm happy to be liberated from."

Though covert surveillance might not, at first glance, seem like a subject for exploration at an art museum, the Whitney's director, Adam Weinberg, begs to differ.

"Artists reflect their times, and we are living in very complicated times," Weinberg says. "It would be very strange if people were only dealing with questions of beauty and emotion at a time when the world is in such a state."

For Weinberg, one of the most valuable aspects of the exhibit, which opened last month and runs through May 1, is that "it's an experiential installation. It's not just about information. One of the things that's happened in this day and age is just the absolute avalanche of information, which we could never ever hope to sift through, and in most cases we can't even understand half of. (But) we still have to make ethical and moral judgments about notions of surveillance and privacy, and this ... puts the viewer at the center of those questions."

That dynamic is perhaps most powerfully explored in a room titled "Bed Down Location," in which visitors lie down on a square slab and gaze upward at footage of a night sky. The skies we're looking at are in places like Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. We see stars, buildings, and, what else? What is out there, Poitras asks us to wonder, that we can't see?

We're left to ponder that. But later, visitors will encounter evidence that they were being watched, as they lay on that slab.

Weinberg finds an irony in that piece. Yes, it makes us feel the impact of surveillance, if only for a moment, but he adds: "One of the great ironies is that any time almost anybody walks into any museum, they're on camera. So in fact, what (Poitras) is creating as an installation is in fact being surveilled at all times by museum security." In museums but also, he adds, in banks and so many other places where our images are captured.

"What's very powerful is that she calls attention to things that almost go unnoticed in everyday life," Weinberg says. "And these are things that have very far-reaching moral and ethical questions attached (to them)."

It's hardly a surprise that the exhibit touches on the events of Sept. 11, 2001; One of the first images to greet visitors is a film of people staring at ground zero in the days after the attacks. The footage is slowed down, and the expressions are of shock, concern, confusion, horror and curiosity.

But then on the other side of the screen, we watch something completely different: U.S. interrogations of prisoners captured in Afghanistan, at Guantanamo. A man is questioned repeatedly about his wife's name. He asks permission to stretch his leg. Poitras seems to be telling us that one side of the screen is inextricably linked to the other. (There is little written explanation provided throughout, something that might frustrate those not using an audio guide.)

Poitras, now working on a series with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, seems to relish in shifting formats.

"With long-form filmmaking you control time," she says, "and it was nice to be able to hand that back to the viewer. You can decide where to enter and exit. And it's something that I'm liberated from as creator." On the other hand, she says: "I loved controlling the space."

One section displays a very personal experience. After filming some footage on a rooftop in Baghdad in 2004, in a neighborhood where a U.S. soldier had been killed, Poitras discovered she was on a government watch list. She was detained and questioned every time she tried to cross a U.S. border. She moved to Berlin to escape the ordeal. She finally filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and received many pages of documents  some of which, heavily redacted, appear in the exhibit. She says the government never asked to see her footage.

That personal section aside, Poitras is more interested in portraying the collective experience of our daily lives. Both she and Weinberg say they're well aware that some Americans care more about mass surveillance than others.

"People do not come out with the same responses," Weinberg says. "I think for a lot of people it's very haunting and creepy, and others are much more nonchalant about it."

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Online:

http://www.whitney.org
Ukrainian president mulling candidates for prime minister

MINSK, Belarus (AP)  Ukraine's president is considering the country's finance minister as a possible replacement for embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk amid talks to end a drawn-out political crisis.

President Petro Poroshenko's spokesman, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, said Monday on Facebook that the president was meeting with political leaders to discuss forming a new governing coalition.

Yatsenyuk's Cabinet survived a no-confidence vote last month, but two parties left the coalition in protest over the failure to oust the premier, who is under fire over the worsening economy and slow pace of reforms.

Tsegolko said Poroshenko is considering Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko as a possible premier. He said another candidate is Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv who leads the Samopomich (Self Help) party  one of the two parties that quit the coalition.

Their withdrawal meant that the governing coalition no longer commands a majority in the 450-seat parliament. The two factions remaining in the coalition are led by Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk, and they together have 217 seats.

If lawmakers fail to form a new coalition, that may lead to early elections, which Poroshenko has sought to avoid for fear of further destabilizing the situation in the country.

Ukraine has remained locked in a bitter tug-of-war with Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and supports a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014 and devastated the nation's industrial heartland.

Tsegolko's statement comes on the eve of a parliament session, which may consider a motion to replace Yatsenyuk. The presidential spokesman said that the appointment of Yatsenyuk would mean forming a new "technocratic" government, adding that a "political" government led by Sadovyi or another candidate that could be offered by lawmakers was also a possibility.

"Poroshenko is trying to show his readiness to compromise, and he also wants to assuage Western donors and to prevent new elections and a full-fledged crisis," said Kiev-based analyst Vadim Karasyov.
Greg Van Avermaet takes Tirreno-Adriatico before final stage

CEPAGATTI, Italy (AP)  Belgian rider Greg Van Avermaet won the penultimate stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico on Monday to move into the overall race lead.

In the mostly flat 210-kilometer stage, Zdenek Stybar surrendered the lead after finishing in fourth place in Cepagatti.

On the final bend, Van Avermaet of BMC Racing burst past Tinkoff's Peter Sagan to take victory in 4 hours, 34 minutes, 14 seconds. Sagan was awarded the same time, while Team Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski was two seconds back in third.

Van Avermaet said: "I tried to save as much energy as possible. At the end I was up there for sprinting against Peter Sagan. I'm in good form."
Water ebbing in north Louisiana, rising at Mississippi line

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  As floodwaters began receding Monday in northwest Louisiana, emergency officials along Louisiana's southeastern border with Mississippi were watching the rise of the Pearl River amid widespread flooding that has damaged thousands of homes.

The water has started to ebb from flooded subdivisions in south Bossier City on the Red River in northern Louisiana.

National Weather Service forecaster C.S. Ross in Shreveport says it will take at least a week before homeowners can get back to their homes and assess the damage. A 6-mile section of U.S. Highway 71 from Bossier Parish into Red River Parish was covered by water.

Elajuh Rains helps load sandbags on Sunday, March 13, 2016 that will be used to surround the Pearlington, Miss., home of his great-grandfather, Jack Dawsey, to try to save it from flooding. The work was being done, in advance of an expected crest of the Pearl River that may cause severe flooding in Pearlington. (Karen Nelson/Sun Herald via AP)

Ross said Red Chute Bayou on the east side of Bossier City did not top the levee as feared. He said there was some seepage, but not enough to reach 3,500 homes.

In Arkansas, a fast-moving weekend storm system brought rain, hail and reports of several tornadoes.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Michael Brown says as many as four possible tornadoes may have touched down amid Sunday evening's severe weather. Weather Service crews will survey the areas Monday.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service pushed back its timeline of flooding from the Pearl River at the southern end of the Louisiana-Mississippi line.

Meteorologist Robert Ricks said the river crested Monday afternoon at the Town of Pearl River at 20.3 feet but it had dropped to about 19.9 feet by 6 p.m. He said it would be another 24 hours before the river possibly encroaches on Interstate 10 or other highways.

"It remains to be seen if it will go across the interstate or not," Ricks said.

That's short of what forecaster Phil Grigsby earlier predicted the river could reach  21 feet by late Tuesday or early Wednesday  the height of a 1983 flood. But Ricks noted the water was still rising downstream, near the cities of Slidell, Louisiana, and Pearlington, Mississippi, and could crest higher along those points.

Hancock County Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Adam said he's been told to expect 5 to 7 feet of water. Adam said some 100 to 200 homes around Pearlington could take on water.

At least four deaths have been reported in Louisiana amid the flooding that began last week and the search continued for two fishermen missing since Wednesday in Mississippi.

In southeastern Louisiana, St. Tammany Parish officials said the town of Pearl River already was seeing flooding in one neighborhood.

Farther to the south, officials were warning residents in eastern Slidell to be vigilant about rising water.

Flood warnings were in effect for most of north Louisiana and scattered sections in the southern part of the state. In Mississippi, flooding warnings are in effect for areas along streams and bayous.

Louisiana emergency officials said nearly 5,000 homes were damaged. That number is expected to rise as more reports come in from areas still battling floodwaters. Mississippi reported that 185 homes were damaged by floodwaters and about 650 homes sustained minor damage.

The flood waters have caused several roads in a south Mississippi county to collapse.

Lt. Bill Davis with the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office said anyone with flood damage should report it to their parishes' homeland security office.

"Once the water goes down, cleanup kits will be made available" Davis said. "By the weekend, we should have a plan for distribution."

On Sunday, President Barack Obama signed an order declaring the flooding in Louisiana a major disaster. The president's declaration triggers federal aid for flood victims.

It's the most widespread non-hurricane flooding the Louisiana National Guard has ever dealt with, said Col. Pete Schneider, a guard spokesman.

The National Guard said it had about 1,200 soldiers and air crews at work in flooded areas throughout Louisiana, deploying in high-water vehicles, boats and three helicopters. National Guard crews had evacuated more than 4,255 people and 354 pets as part of its round-the-clock operations by Monday morning.

The Guard had also issued more than 71,570 bottles of water to Richland, Natchitoches, Vernon and Winn parishes, 576 MREs to Winn Parish and over 1 million sandbags to affected parishes.

___

Associated Press writer Cain Burdeau in New Orleans and Nassim Benchaabane in Jackson contributed to this report

In this March 13, 2016 photo, Kaiser West, left, and Jack Dawson's son Malon Dawsey, tie sand bags that are going to be used around Jack Dawsey's house in Pearlington, Miss. Officials are anticipating rising waters from the Pearl River that may flood the area. (Karen Nelson/The Sun Herald, via AP)

The Pearl River is above flood stage Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Pearlington, Miss. Emergency officials in Louisiana and Mississippi were watching the rise of the Pearl River that divides the two states Monday amid widespread flooding that has damaged thousands of homes. (Karen Nelson/Sun Herald via AP)

A man walks through floodwaters from Caddo Lake in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Residents make there way to a boat as water from Caddo Lake surrounds the raised house in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

A sign marks high water in a flooded section of in Oil City, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

In this photo provided by the Louisiana State Police, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards surveys floods in Vinton, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Col. Mike Edmonson/Louisiana State Police via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

An oil well sits underwater from flooding near Black Bayou in Oil City, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

A sign marks high water at a flooded section of Highway 530 in Oil City, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

An oil well sits underwater from flooding near Black Bayou in Oil City, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

The road below is visible through a flooded section of Highway 538 in Oil City, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Joey Ryan looks through the Drift-In Landing, a bait shop he and friends put on floats to protect it from the rising waters of Caddo Lake in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Joey Ryan looks out from the Drift-In Landing, a bait shop he and friends put on floats to protect it from the rising waters of Caddo Lake in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Melissa Anderson paddles a boat as water from Caddo Lake floods the Oak Lawn Island subdivision where she her residence was inundated in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Melissa Anderson, center, and her son Hadley walk through flood waters from Caddo Lake with their dog Henry in Mooringsport, La., Sunday, March 13, 2016. President Barack Obama has signed an order declaring Louisiana's widespread flooding from heavy rains a major disaster. (Lee Celano/The Shreveport Times via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

Mississippi Department of Transportation workers walk away from a segment of damaged Mississippi Highway 589 in Lamar County after move than 10 inches of rain in the Pine Belt area over the last two days, Saturday, March 12, 2016. (Ryan Moore/WDAM-TV, via AP)
The Latest: Avalanche warning issued along Sierra after snow

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  The Latest on storms in California (all times local):

2 p.m.

Forecasters have issued an avalanche warning along the Sierra crest after a weekend storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow on the mountains around Lake Tahoe.

Avery Thompson, 10, left, and her sister, Taylor, 8, play in puddle on the River Walk as the Sacramento River flows through downtown on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Sacramento, Calif. A storm brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California on Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee via AP) MAGS OUT; TV OUT (KCRA3, KXTV10, KOVR13, KUVS19, KMAZ31, KTXL40) MANDATORY CREDIT

The warning issued Monday covers the highest reaches of the range in California and Nevada.

Schools opened two hours late at Incline Village, where 5 inches of new snow was reported for a two-day total of 12 inches.

The National Weather Service in Reno said a high wind advisory remains in effect until 8 p.m. Monday at Tahoe and Pyramid Lake.

The service said both lakes could see gusts up to 45 mph and 2- to 4-foot waves.

On Sunday, the strong winds toppled a 30-foot box trailer being towed near Carson City, and likely caused a power outage that affected as many as 7,000 people in Washoe County.

---

10:45 a.m.

Authorities say a California Highway Patrol officer died late Sunday after he was struck by an SUV while directing traffic in snowy conditions on a Sierra Nevada freeway.

The CHP said 35-year-old Nathan Taylor was struck Saturday on Interstate 80 near Truckee, California.

Taylor was directing traffic around an accident in the westbound lanes when a Nissan Pathfinder lost control and struck the officer, knocking him several feet in the air before he landed face down in a median.

The weather was so bad that the officer had to be taken to a Reno, Nevada, hospital by ambulance instead of helicopter. Taylor died after undergoing surgery.

The CHP says Taylor was married and had three young sons.

A memorial is planned Tuesday at the CHP's training academy in West Sacramento.

___

10:10 a.m.

Four straight days of stormy weather have replenished several key reservoirs in Northern California to historical averages  including Lake Shasta, which hasn't been this full since May 2013.

Authorities say the state's largest reservoir is at 79 percent capacity and at 103 percent of its historical average for this time of year. Butte County's Lake Oroville is at 70 percent of capacity and 97 percent of its historical average, levels not seen since 2013.

Lake Shasta north of Redding is a critical water source for Central Valley farms and cities from the Bay Area to Bakersfield.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Shane Hunt said Monday that Shasta is welcome news but other critical reservoirs remain dry, including the man-made Lake Melones in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

California is entering its fifth year of drought and experts caution that it will take several years of average or above-average rainfall to remedy the deficit.

___

7:05 a.m.

A suburban San Francisco town is seeing more than its share of damage from the powerful storms that drenched Northern California over the last several days.

Television station KRON reports (http://bit.ly/1SMEpaP ) that about 2,500 homes and businesses in the town of Moraga were without gas on Monday after a sinkhole opened up near a shopping center and toppled a light pole that ruptured a gas line.

Pacific Gas & Electric crews briefly evacuated about 450 people working nearby on Sunday night and also advised residents to shelter in place until the leak could be capped.

Crews are going door-to-door to make sure it's safe to turn the gas back on at each affected property.

Meanwhile, a small landslide is threatening two homes in Moraga, KRON says (http://bit.ly/1RZB71Q ). The slide took out a deck at one of the home.

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5:15 a.m.

Commuters are experiencing slick roads as the edge of a storm brings scattered showers and drizzle to Southern California after inundating the northern part of the state with heavy rain and snow.

The storm weakened as it moved south early Monday, though beachgoers are warned of powerful surf and rip currents.

The rain is expected to taper off later in the day, with warm, dry weather predicted for the rest of the week.

Northern California saw rivers and creeks swell and flood risk rise over the weekend. The National Weather Service says more than 7 inches of rain fell during a 72-hour period in Pescadero Creek in San Mateo County.

Downtown San Francisco received 3 inches of rain during the same period.

More than a foot of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada, and up to 3 feet is expected in the higher elevations through Monday.

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5:10 a.m.

Powerful surf and rip currents will make for dangerous swimming and surfing along the Southern California coast.

The National Weather Service said Monday that waves up to 9 feet will pound many beaches for most of the day.

A high surf advisory is in effect for Los Angeles County until 5 p.m.

A small craft advisory has been issued until 11 a.m. because of rough seas.

A storm that dumped heavy rain and snow in Northern California is bringing scattered showers and drizzle to the southern part of the state.

Andy Laughlin and Katie Sarber, of West Sacramento, look at the rising level of the Sacramento River at the Broderick Boat Ramp on Sunday, March 13, 2016 in West Sacramento, Calif. Yesterday when Laughlin took his grandchildren to the same area, the bench was not covered in water. A storm brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California on Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather.(Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee via AP) MAGS OUT; TV OUT (KCRA3, KXTV10, KOVR13, KUVS19, KMAZ31, KTXL40) MANDATORY CREDIT

A man walks along the shore of Lake Shasta behind Shasta Dam in Lake Shasta, Calif., Sunday, March 13, 2016. The lake's water level has been rising after a series of storms brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather. The lake is rising after several years of dropping water levels due to the ongoing California drought.(Nathan Solis/The Record Searchlight via AP)

Lake Shasta behind Shasta Dam in Lake Shasta, Calif., is seen Sunday, March 13, 2016. The lake's water level has been rising after a series of storms brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather. The lake is rising after several years of dropping water levels due to the ongoing California drought.(Nathan Solis/The Record Searchlight via AP)

The shore of Lake Shasta behind Shasta Dam in Lake Shasta, Calif., is seen Sunday, March 13, 2016. The lake's water level has been rising after a series of storms brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather. The lake is rising after several years of dropping water levels due to the ongoing California drought. (Nathan Solis/The Record Searchlight via AP)

Pedestrians under the cover of umbrellas look at the rising level of the Sacramento River near the Tower Bridge on Sunday, March 13, 2016, in West Sacramento, Calif. A storm brought strong winds, periods of heavy rain, snow and high surf to California on Sunday, the fourth straight day of wet weather. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee via AP) MAGS OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION OUT (KCRA3, KXTV10, KOVR13, KUVS19, KMAZ31, KTXL40); MANDATORY CREDIT
Judge accuses Nigeria army, agency of acting like dictators

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)  A High Court judge has accused Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the army of behaving as if the country is still under military dictatorship and ordered the immediate release of a colonel detained without charges for nearly three months.

Judge Yusuf Haliru said the detention of Col. Nicholas Ashinze was illegal. Ashinze was aide to former presidential security adviser Sambo Dasuki, who also was arrested in December on allegations of diverting $2.9 billion meant to buy arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency. Three different courts have ordered Dasuki's release but President Muhammadu Buhari has said he must stay in jail.
Man who fled to Cuba pleads guilty to escape, gun charges

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  A man facing federal firearms charges in Iowa who attempted to escape prosecution by fleeing to Cuba has entered plea agreements with U.S. prosecutors.

Court records say Shawn Michael Wegmann signed agreements last week to plead guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and possession of stolen firearms and to a charge of failure to appear after pre-trial release.

Wegmann, 38, faces up to 40 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million on four firearms counts. He faces up to five years in prison on the failure to appear charge. The plea agreements indicate he will be credited for taking responsibility in both cases, which means a judge may impose sentences that are less than the maximums.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 17.

His attorney in the firearms case declined to comment on the plea deal. His attorney in the failure to appear case did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on that agreement.

Wegmann was the first fugitive to be returned to the United States by the Cuban government after fleeing to Cuba since diplomatic relations began nearly a year ago, U.S. Marshal Amos Rojas Jr. said.

Wegmann admits that he participated in burglaries in January and February of 2015 in Long Grove, Iowa; Bennett, Iowa; and Morrison, Illinois, during which 38 guns were stolen, including rifles, shotguns and a revolver.

Because Wegmann had previous felony convictions, including burglary in 1996, he was barred from possessing guns.

Four other convicted felons prohibited from possessing weapons also have been indicted for the gun thefts.

Wegmann was originally indicted on the firearms charges in July 2015 and was arrested in August. After a court appearance, he was released to live with his wife in Kirklin, Indiana, under federal parole officer supervision and was required to wear a GPS-equipped ankle monitor.

On Oct. 23, two days before Wegmann was to appear for a court hearing in Davenport, Iowa, in which he was to enter a plea agreement, he disappeared. Officers found his ankle monitor attached to the bumper of a van in the parking lot of a Sam's Club store in Lafayette, Indiana.

Investigators say he arrived about a week later in Havana in boat reported stolen from a marina in Key West, Florida. Cuban authorities notified the U.S. Marshals Service on Nov. 3 that Wegmann was in their custody. Fingerprinting revealed he was wanted in Iowa.

On Dec. 8, Wegmann was expelled from Cuba and arrested by U.S. marshals.
Hundreds attend funeral for trooper fatally struck by car

CINNAMINSON, N.J. (AP)  A New Jersey state trooper who was fatally struck by a passing motorist was laid to rest Monday.

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Cinnaminson for the funeral for Sean Cullen, who had been a trooper for about two years.

The 31-year-old trooper was born in Dublin, and his family moved to the United States when he was 3. He was a 2003 graduate of Cinnaminson High School, where he was a standout wrestler. He was an All-American wrestler at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in criminal justice.

New Jersey State Troopers stand at attention as they honor Trooper Sean Cullen during his funeral at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Cinnaminson, N.J., Monday, March 14, 2016. Cullen died Tuesday March 8 after he was struck Monday by a passing motorist on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township. (John Ziomek/Camden Courier-Post via AP) NO SALES

Cullen died Tuesday, a day after he was injured on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township while responding to a car fire. Several fire and police vehicles had emergency lights on, and Cullen was walking near the crash when he was struck.

Survivors include his fiancee and their 9-month-old son. His brother, Garrett, is also a state trooper.

While those who worked closest with Cullen are still reeling from the loss, the commander of the Bellmawr barracks where he was assigned said the intense show of support from fellow officers served as a powerful message to his loved ones.

"I can only fathom what the family is going through," state police Lt. Patrick Gallagher. He said memories of Cullen's fun-loving antics have helped him deal with his grief.

"As I told other members of the Bellmawr barracks that worked with Sean, today is our day to be strong," Gallagher said. "We'll have our time to mourn, but we need to be strong for the family and help them get through this."

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadano attended the funeral in place of Gov. Chris Christie, who was campaigning out of state for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday. It was the third funeral for an officer that Christie has missed since December.

New Jersey State Troopers stand at attention as they honor Trooper Sean Cullen during his funeral at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Cinnaminson, N.J., Monday, March 14, 2016. Cullen died Tuesday March 8 after he was struck Monday by a passing motorist on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township. (John Ziomek/Camden Courier-Post via AP) NO SALES

Thousands of law enforcement from more than twenty organizations across the U.S. attend the funeral services on Monday March 14, 2016 for fallen New Jersey State Trooper Sean Cullen at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Cinnaminson, NJ. Cullen died Tuesday March 8 after he was struck Monday by a passing motorist on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township. (Carl Kosola/The Intelligencer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Thousands of law enforcement from more than twenty organizations across the U.S. attend the funeral services on Monday, March 14, 2016, for fallen New Jersey State Trooper Sean Cullen at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Cinnaminson, N.J. Cullen died Tuesday March 8 after he was struck Monday by a passing motorist on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township. (Carl Kosola/The Intelligencer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Thousands of law enforcement from more than twenty organizations across the U.S. attend the funeral services on Monday March 14, 2016 for fallen New Jersey State Trooper Sean Cullen at St. Lakeview Cemetery in Cinnaminson, NJ. Cullen died Tuesday March 8 after he was struck Monday by a passing motorist on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township. (Carl Kosola/The Intelligencer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
US House Minority chief Pelosi to join Obama on trip to Cuba

WASHINGTON (AP)  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will be joining President Barack Obama on his historic trip to Cuba.

The California Democrat will be part of a delegation of House and Senate members who will be traveling to the country next week. It will mark the first time a sitting president has set foot in Cuba in more than 80 years.

Republicans and Democrats will be making the trip. More than a dozen House members will join Obama and Pelosi on the trip, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.
Monday, March 21

Today is Monday, March 21, the 81st day of 2016. There are 285 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1500 - French garrison in Novara, Italy, capitulates to forces of Ludovico Sforza of Milan.

1801 - French forces are defeated at Alexandria, Egypt, by British under Ralph Abercromby, who is mortally wounded.

1829 - Earthquake in Spain kills 6,000.

1831 - Austrian troops enter Italy to put down revolt.

1848 - Denmark's Frederick VII announces decision to incorporate Schleswig.

1871 - Journalist Henry M. Stanley begins his famous expedition to Africa to locate the missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone.

1884 - France legalizes trade unions.

1905 - Britain and Persia sign agreement to counter Russian designs in Near East.

1919 - Soviet Republic is proclaimed.

1939 - Germany annexes Memel from Lithuania.

1945 - After bombing the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, British RAF planes mistakenly bomb the French School killing 86 children and 10 nuns.

1946 - The United Nations sets up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.

1953 - Sudan achieves self-government.

1960 - Pan-African demonstration against pass laws in South Africa leads to shooting and killing 60 blacks in Sharpeville. A state of emergency is declared.

1963 - Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay is emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

1965 - More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. begin a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

1975 - Military government in Ethiopia abolishes royal position of Emperor.

1977 - India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resigns after losing her seat in parliamentary elections.

1985 - Police in Langa, South Africa, open fire on black protesters marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, killing at least 21 demonstrators.

1991 - A Saudi transport plane trying to land in bad weather and heavy smoke from burning Kuwaiti oil wells crashes, killing 92 Senegalese soldiers and six Saudi crew members.

1996 - Russian forces launch air and artillery attacks on villages in western Chechnya.

1997 - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin hold summit in Helsinki, Finland, and agree to slash their nuclear arsenals.

2002 - Pope John Paul II releases his first statement addressing the large number of recent cases of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Roman Catholic clergy. He denounces the priests saying they betrayed their vows and succumbed to evil.

2003 - South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in 1995 to investigate human rights abuses during the apartheid system of white-minority rule, urges the government to pay $270 million (euro201.25 million) to some 20,000 victims who testified about atrocities suffered under apartheid.

2008 - A journalist for state-run Russian television is found dead in Moscow and prosecutors open a murder investigation. Firefighters found Channel One correspondent Ilyas Shurpayev's body in his apartment with stab wounds and a belt around his neck.

2011 - Officials race to restore electricity to a leaking nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, but getting the power flowing will hardly be the end of their battle: With its mangled machinery and partly melted reactor cores, bringing the complex under control is a monstrous job.

2013 - A suicide bombing tears through a mosque in Damascus, Syria, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and longtime supporter of President Bashar Assad along with at least 41 other people.

2014 - Russia formally annexes Crimea and the European Union pulls Ukraine closer into its orbit, deepening the divide between East and West.

2015 - President Barack Obama says he takes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his word for rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state.

Today's Birthdays:

Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (1685-1750); Frederick Richter (Jean Paul), German author (1763-1825); Benito Juarez, Mexican president (1806-1872); King Ghazi of Iraq (1912-1939); Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor (1946--); Gary Oldman, U.S. actor (1958--); Rosie O'Donnell, U.S. comedian/former TV talk show host (1962--).

Thought For Today:
Barnstorming through the Rust Belt this week, Bernie Sanders looked toward primary contests in five states as the linchpin of his strategy to turn the tide against Hillary Clinton and overcome her delegate edge in the Democratic primary.

Clinton meanwhile urged Democrats to unite behind her bid to focus on a far bigger threat: Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

'Do not rest. If there's an L stop you can go to, if there's a phone call you can make, please do everything you can in the next twenty-four plus hours to come out of these elections with the wind at our backs,' Clinton said at a Monday rally in Chicago.

'We have the way forward to be able to start talking about not only unifying the Democratic party but unifying our country.'

Clinton's pitch came as Trump blamed Sanders supporters for protests that prompted the billionaire mogul to cancel a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago  just a few miles away from the union hall where Clinton wooed supporters.

Sanders embarked upon a four-state swing through Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois, ending the day with an evening rally in Chicago.

Scroll down for video

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, shown with Rev. Jesse Jackson, aims to put the Democratic nomination away on Tuesday so she can focus on battling Donald trump, but her rival Bernie Sanders has other ideas

Sanders' advisers saw a path to victory in Missouri and the potential for success in Illinois and Ohio, two states that have similar electorates as Michigan, where he upset Clinton last week.

DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE MATH Here are some possible scenarios for Tuesday night's Democratic contests and what they would mean for he nomination race: BERNIE SANDERS TAKES 3 OF 5 Under Sanders' self-described best scenario, he wins Missouri, Illinois and Ohio, while losing to Clinton in Florida and North Carolina by bigger margins. If so, she'll still come out ahead in delegates on the night, ending it at roughly 1,600 delegates. Still, Clinton will be as many as 800 delegates short of reaching the 2,383 needed to win the nomination, underscoring her long road ahead. Just over 1,000 delegates will be at stake from late March through the end of April, a pot that won't be big enough for Clinton to wrap things up if she keeps splitting contests with Sanders. CLINTON SWEEPS (OR ALMOST SWEEPS) If Clinton were to win four or five states on Tuesday, she will net several dozen more delegates, adding to her 200-plus pledged delegate lead earned in the primaries and caucuses to date. The most likely outcome in such a scenario: big delegate gains in Florida and North Carolina, and narrower wins and delegate hauls in Illinois, Ohio and Missouri. She would still need 700 or so delegates to clinch  narrow wins don't net many delegates. But Clinton will have reclaimed momentum, having won as many as 17 states to Sanders' nine. WHAT ABOUT THE 'SUPERDELEGATES'? Clinton has superdelegates to thank for her substantial delegate lead. If the nomination were decided based on just primaries and caucuses, Clinton would still need to gain 46 percent of the remaining delegates to earn an outright majority of pledged delegates. Sanders would need to win 54 percent. That's an uphill battle for Sanders, but it's almost insurmountable when including superdelegates. Those party officials, governors and members of Congress make up nearly one-third of the 2,383 delegates needed to win. When including superdelegates, Sanders currently needs to win 61 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates heading into Tuesday's contests to clinch the nomination; up to now he's only been winning 32 percent. Advertisement

Victories in any of the states would give Sanders fresh momentum in what has become an uphill battle for the nomination.

But contests in North Carolina and Florida, two states where voters have the option of voting early, posed a tougher challenge.

Clinton maintained an advantage in Florida, Tuesday's biggest delegate prize and one of the nation's premiere general election battlegrounds, putting Sanders at risk of losing more ground with delegates even if he fares well in the Midwest.

Clinton's team tried to tamp down expectations for Tuesday night, stressing that the race remains close in the Midwest, where they hoped to avoid a repeat of the Michigan primary.

Reprising a theme of his victory in Michigan's primary last week, the Vermont senator pounded Clinton's past support for trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement during stops in Ohio's manufacturing belt.

And he picked up the endorsement of the 192,000-member Amalgamated Transit Union, underscoring his credentials with union workers.

'When it came down whether you stand with corporate America, the people who wrote these agreements, or whether you stand with the working people of this country, I proudly stood with the workers,' Sanders said in Youngstown, Ohio.

'Secretary Clinton stood with the big money interests.'

Unlike several weeks ago, when Sanders was reluctant to single out Clinton by name, he now regularly criticizes her support of 'disastrous' trade deals, her vote to authorize the Iraq War in 2002 and her refusal to release transcripts of her lucrative private speeches to Wall Street after she departed the State Department.

In Illinois, where Clinton grew up, he has singled out embattled Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Clinton ally whose approval ranks have sunk amid criticism of his record on policing and high-profile battles with public sector unions.

In Ohio and North Carolina, trade has been central in the primary fight.

Sanders has repeatedly chided Clinton's past support of the North American Free Trade Agreement which her husband signed into law during the 1990s and her decision last year to come out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership after calling it the 'gold standard' as President Barack Obama's secretary of state.

Clinton has 768 pledged delegates compared to 554 for Sanders, according to a count by The Associated Press.

Overall, Clinton holds 1,235 of total delegates, more than half the amount needed to clinch the nomination, while Sanders has 580, according to an AP analysis that includes superdelegates, elected officials and party leaders free to support the candidate of their choice.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont hopes to win a few states on Tuesday to keep the pressure on Hillary Clinton

Based on the current total count including superdelegates, Sanders would need to win 61 percent of the remaining pledged delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to win the nomination.

Nearly 700 delegates are at stake in Tuesday's primaries and will be awarded proportionally, adding to Sanders' difficult path.

Florida holds nearly one-third of the day's delegate slate, giving Clinton the opportunity to build to her delegate pile even if she narrowly loses the Midwest states.

Sanders' team sees more favorable political terrain in the weeks ahead. After Tuesday's contests, the campaign shifts westward, with contests in Arizona, Idaho and Utah on March 22 and Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state on March 26.

April includes contests in Wisconsin, Wyoming and New York, which Clinton represented in the Senate but is becoming a major target for Sanders.
Navy says glitch caused improper pulling of SEALs' weapons

WASHINGTON (AP)  A Republican lawmaker said Monday he's been assured the Navy has resolved a procedural glitch that caused combat rifles used by SEAL teams based in San Diego to be taken from them unnecessarily.

But California Rep. Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he still intends to conduct more oversight of how the SEALs and other U.S. special operations forces are trained and equipped.

"Good," Hunter said of the fix. "The problem is that SEALs should not have had to go to their congressman to get a process issue corrected."

FILE - In this April 7, 2011 file photo, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., center, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 7, 2011. Hunter says he's been assured the Navy has repaired a procedural glitch that caused combat rifles used by SEAL teams based in San Diego to be taken from them unnecessarily. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he spoke late last week with Rear Adm. Brian Losey, the top officer at the Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego. Hunter said he is satisfied with the steps taken by Losey.

Their conversation was sparked a few weeks earlier when SEALs privately alerted the congressman of a potential weapons shortage within the elite warfighting units.

After SEALs return from a deployment, their rifles were being given to other commandos who are shipping out, Hunter said he was told. This weapons carousel of sorts undercut the "train like you fight" ethos of the U.S. special operations forces, they said.

Sharing rifles isn't trivial. The assault weapons, which are outfitted with telescopic targeting sights and laser pointers, are fine-tuned to individual specifications and become intensely personal pieces of gear. SEALs also use 9 millimeter combat pistols.

Hunter wrote to Losey on Feb. 17, telling him the situation was unacceptable.

The two spoke by telephone Friday. Prior to that, Losey sent the congressman a three-page letter on March 8 that outlined in broad strokes the procedures for outfitting the SEALs. Cmdr. Jason Salata, a Naval Special Warfare Command spokesman, declined to comment beyond the letter.

Hunter said what Losey described during their call wasn't a weapons shortage but a "break in the system" that affected only the SEAL teams assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group One in San Diego. Weapons that service members had used in training and planned to go into combat with were effectively being impounded for cosmetic flaws and other minor issues, according to Hunter.

Essentially, a by-the-book approach was trumping common sense. "That does not meet commander's intent," Hunter said. "Commander's intent is, 'Who cares if there is a scratch on the butt stock.' We're not talking about the action, or the bolt or the barrel."

In his March 8 letter to Hunter, Losey said he understands that most SEALs want to keep the same weapons for their entire tours of duty. But safety, maintenance and accountability requirements don't always allow that to happen. Heavily used weapons may have to be repaired, Losey wrote, and putting off necessary maintenance may "reduce accuracy, reliability, and could result in catastrophic accidents."

SEALs typically get their weapons back four to six weeks after what Losey described as a "post-deployment turn-in."

"Where possible, returning (SEAL) Team members receive their equipment back from the prior deployment," Losey wrote.

___

Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner
Somali teen refugee shot by Utah police awakens from coma

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  The 17-year-old Somali refugee who was critically wounded in a police shooting in Salt Lake City is awake and talking, his cousin said Monday.

Abdi Mohamed, who came to the U.S. with his family in 2004, was shot twice in the torso last month when officers tried to stop him and another person from beating a man, police said.

His cousin Muslima Weledi said he has woken from his medically induced coma but remains on painkillers.

Police have said Mohamed and a second person were beating a man with metal sticks when officers intervened Feb. 27. Officers fired after he moved menacingly toward the man who was beaten instead of immediately obeying a command to drop the stick, police said.

The teen's friends dispute the police account. Friend Selam Mohammad said the fight started after a stranger made a comment about Abdi Mohamed's girlfriend, and the other man was also armed with a stick.

Unified Police Detective Chuck Malm declined to say if police have interviewed Mohamed, citing the ongoing investigation.

Police have refused to release video from the incident until the investigation into the shooting is complete.
The Latest: Dad: Sarah Palin's husband broke ribs in crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  The Latest on the snowmobile accident that injured Sarah Palin's husband (all times local):

1:50 p.m.

Todd Palin's father says his son, who's married to Sarah Palin, suffered eight fractured ribs and other injuries in a snowmobile accident in Alaska.

Jim Palin tells The Associated Press in a phone interview that his son also had injuries to his collarbone and lungs, but he doesn't know the extent of those injuries. He says Todd Palin is scheduled for surgery Monday at a hospital near the Palins' hometown of Wasilla.

He says he expects his son to recover fully. The father called the crash Sunday night "one of those freak accidents" and says it happened around Petersville, about 70 miles north of Wasilla.

Jim Palin, who splits his time between California and Alaska, says he plans to return to Alaska at the end of the month unless his son wants him there earlier.

He called his son "tough."

___

1 p.m.

Sarah Palin is calling her husband the "toughest guy" she knows, following a snowmobile accident in Alaska on Sunday night that put Todd Palin in a hospital.

Palin says in a Facebook posting that her husband is recovering from the accident. She says "Todd is our rock" and that she was flying back home.

She adds that Chris Kyle summed up Todd Palin best when he compared him to Rambo in an apparent reference to the late "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle.
5 things to know about new Breivik trial in Norway

SKIEN, Norway (AP)  Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in gun and bomb attacks in 2011, has sued the Norwegian government for human rights violations for keeping him imprisoned in isolation.

Here are five things to know about the case, which starts Tuesday in a gym-turned-courtroom in the prison where he is serving his sentence for terrorism and mass murder:

"INHUMAN" CONDITIONS

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 17, 2012 file photo, accused Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik gestures as he arrives at the courtroom, in Oslo, Norway. Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in gun and bomb attacks in 2011, has sued the Norwegian government for human rights violations for keeping him imprisoned in isolation. After opening arguments on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Breivik is set to take the stand on Wednesday. Breivik has called two witnesses to testify: prison psychiatrist Randi Rosenqvist and Helga Fastrup Ervik from Norways ombudsman against torture and ill-treatment. (AP Photo/Hakon Mosvold Larsen/Scanpix Norway, Pool, File)

Breivik, 37, has sued the government for allegedly breaching articles on torture and the right to private and family life in the European Convention on Human Rights. Breivik says he's been subjected to "degrading" treatment with frequent strip searches and handcuffing. He also argues that it is "inhuman" to keep him isolated from other prisoners and to strictly control his mail correspondence and visitors.

GOVERNMENT REJECTS CLAIMS

The government says the conditions Breivik faces in prison are "well within" what's allowed under the European Convention on Human Rights. It says authorities are treating Breivik humanely and with dignity despite the severity of his crimes. It also says the restrictions he faces, including no contact with other prisoners, is for his own safety, that of prison staff and society at large.

HELD IN ISOLATION

Breivik is serving a 21-year sentence, which can be extended for the rest of his life, as the only inmate in a high-security section of Skien prison, a two-hour drive south of Oslo. He has three cells at his disposal: one where he sleeps, one where he studies and one where he exercises. He has a TV, PlayStation and a computer without Internet connection. He is also given daily access to an exercise yard. The government says he's recently been allowed to cook his own food. His mail correspondence is strictly controlled by prison officials to make sure he doesn't make contact with other right-wing extremists.

FOUR-DAY TRIAL

After opening arguments on Tuesday, Breivik is set to take the stand on Wednesday. Breivik has called two witnesses to testify: prison psychiatrist Randi Rosenqvist and Helga Fastrup Ervik from Norway's ombudsman against torture and ill-treatment. Government witnesses include officials and doctors from the two prisons where Breivik has been held since his arrest. Closing arguments are set for Friday. The court's verdict is expected a month later.

SURVIVORS STAYING AWAY
Stuart Dunnings, a Democrat who first assumed office in 1996, is highest-paid elected official in the county, earning annual salary of $132,000

Disgraced: Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III, 63, is pictured in his mugshot after being arrested on prostitution charges Monday

A prosecutor who has been the top law enforcer in Michigan's capital area for nearly 20 years has been charged with hiring prostitutes hundreds of times and paying for sex with a woman who wanted help in a child custody dispute.

According to a police affidavit released on Monday, Stuart Dunnings III, 63, met prostitutes through websites and told some of the women he was the county prosecutor.

He paid one woman for sex as many as three or four times a week over five years, while another prostitute had sex with him more than 200 times, the complaint said.

The case against Dunnings, the elected Democratic prosecutor in Ingham County since 1996, developed from tips during a federal human-trafficking investigation that was carried out by the FBI last year, state Attorney General Bill Schuette said.

Dunnings, a married father-of-three, was charged with pandering  enticing a woman to become a prostitute, a 20-year felony  and willful neglect of duty. He also was charged with using the services of prostitutes, a misdemeanor, in Ingham, Clinton and Ionia counties hundreds of times between 2010 and 2015.

He was arrested while leaving a coffee shop on Monday, lodged at the Ingham County jail, arraigned on a total of 15 charges and released on $5,000 bond later that day.

Dunnings, shown handcuffed at the Ingham County jail on video, appears for an arraignment at a courtroom in Lansing, Michigan, on Monday

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, left, and Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth announce prostitution charges against Dunnings, which Schuette described as stomach-turning

One of his lawyers, Michael Hocking, declined to comment on the charges while leaving the courtroom. At the arraignment, he said Dunnings had been aware of the investigation for several weeks.

Allegations against Dunnings first came to light last year during a federal human-trafficking investigation, which led the arrest of Tyorne Smith (pictured)

Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said there had been chatter about Dunnings' activities but never any proof. The county's role in the investigation began about a year ago, and the sheriff notified the attorney general in late summer.

'This is a huge betrayal of his trust, his oath of office, his service to the people of this county,' Wriggelsworth said.

Also charged in the prostitution scandal was Dunnings' brother Steven, a Lansing attorney, who is facing two counts of engaging in the services of a prostitute, reported the Lansing State Journal.

According to the affidavit filed by Ingham County Detective Amber Kenny-Hinojosa, one woman sent an email to Stuart Dunnings, telling him she had been the victim of domestic violence and asking for his help in a custody fight.

After discussing the matter, he invited her to a lunch  at which he told her he was aware she was struggling financially and proposed paying her for a sexual relationship.

The woman, identified as 'Witness 6' or 'W-6' in the court filing, told investigators she initially was shocked but ultimately felt she had no choice but to accept, hoping it would help in her custody dispute and fearing he might cause her problems if she refused.

'W-6 asserts that she would not have gone along with the commercial sex if Dunnings III had not been the prosecutor,' the affidavit states.

According to the document, Dunnings paid the woman $600 every two weeks or sexual encounters, which took place in her home at a local trailer park and in area hotels. The prosecutor also presented her with gifts and helped pay some of her bills.

Schuette, a Republican, called on Dunnings to resign and said 'it turns your stomach' that Dunnings never intervened to help victims he said were 'brutalized, assaulted, manipulated, provided drugs, imprisoned.'

'A member of law enforcement was using the services of women who were being trafficked,' Schuette said at a news conference.

The human trafficking ring leader, Tyrone Smith, pleaded guilty in November to three counts of sex trafficking and awaits sentencing, Schuette said.

Court records show Dunnings, the top law enforcer in Michigan's capital area for nearly 20 years, is charged with engaging the services of prostitutes hundreds of times between 2010 and 2015

A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Dunnings was first elected Ingham County prosecutor in 1996 after serving for 16 years as a partner in the law firm founded by his father, Dunnings and Frawley. He was re-elected to his fifth four-year term in 2012.

Drawing an annual salary of more than $132,000, Dunnings is the highest paid elected official in Ingham County.

During his time in office, Dunnings has repeatedly cracked down on prostitution, charging sex workers and johns with felonies and impounding the clients' vehicles.

At the end of his first year in office, Dunnings was named one of the 12 Lawyers of the Year of 1997 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Ross Ford reveals media comments fired Scotland up ahead of France triumph

Ross Ford has revealed that Scotland were fired up to beat France for the first time in 10 years by cocky comments from their opponents' Press.

The hooker claimed the Dark Blues were angered by claims from French journalists that their men would run over the top of the Scots at Murrayfield as they chased the RBS 6 Nations title.

But in the end it was Les Bleus who had to take a backward step as Vern Cotter's team produced a gritty display as they claimed their first victory over France since 2006 with a 29-18 triumph - while also handing the Championship crown to England.

Ross Ford claimed the Scotland were angered by claims from French journalists that their men would run over the top of the Scots at Murrayfield

Ford told Press Association Sport: "There were a few things said in the French press about how they were going to come here and steamroller us.

"But that just worked in our favour. We knew we could compete with them and it just made us even more determined to go out and prove it.

"We had to fight at times for that victory but they never looked like they were going to run away with it. Once we got a foothold, we were the better team."

The victory was Scotland's first Six Nations win on home soil since beating Ireland back in February 2013.

But stand-off Peter Horne insisted the Scots had a point to prove after the team were criticised for failing to carry their impressive World Cup form into the early weeks of the tournament.

They suffered narrow defeats to England and Wales but are now sitting third in the table after back-to-back wins over Italy and the French.

He told Press Association Sport: "There were a few disrespectful things from the French press that the coaches pinned up in the team room to get us going and it worked.

"We got really fired up. We knew they were going to come here and try to lay down their physicality.

"But our lads stepped up right from the first scrum and the first contacts. It was great. How many times did they have the ball in our 22 and we just smashed them back?

"It never looked like they were the side who had the dominant hand when it came to the physical stakes. That just sums up the pride we have in this jersey. We don't want to take a backward step.

"Now we have followed up a good win in Italy with a great result over France. We're all delighted as we haven't won at home for such a long time.

"But we've managed it now and we're now looking to go to Dublin next week and finish the tournament on a high.

"We knew that we were not a bad side. England and Wales aren't exactly pushovers but nobody hurt more than us after losing those two games. But we also knew we were not far away and thankfully we've now proved that."

Horne started on the bench but was forced to step into the fray just five minutes in after Finn Russell suffered a sickening head clash.

Cotter hopes his play-maker will be fit to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday but Horne - who marshalled his side with impressive poise - is not sure if he will be required again if Russell is ruled out.
Philip Hammond defends right of foreign leaders to have voice in EU debate

The Foreign Secretary has clashed with Boris Johnson over his claim it would be " hypocrisy" for Barack Obama to intervene in the EU referendum debate.

Philip Hammond defended the right of foreign leaders, including the US president, to speak up about their hopes for the UK to continue to be a member of the European Union.

He suggested that voters could be "deceived" by claims from some in the Brexit camp about the possibility of strengthened relations with English-speaking countries in the event of a vote to leave the EU.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested voters could be "deceived" by claims from some in the Brexit camp about the possibility of strengthened relations with English-speaking countries in the event of a vote to leave the EU

Downing Street has refused to comment on reports that the US president, who has previously made it clear that America wants its closest ally to remain part of the EU, is heading to the UK next month to make the case to voters.

Speaking at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Mr Hammond said that although the referendum is a matter for the British people to decide, "it is those who are campaigning for an Out vote who have talked so much about the Anglosphere, about Britain's alternative possibilities if we were to exit".

He added: "I think it's important that we hear from those people in the Anglosphere - not just President Obama but the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Canada - and beyond the Anglosphere, Japanese and Chinese leaders. Let's just hear what they actually think about their relations with Britain.

"Let's just hear how much they actually value Britain's membership of the EU, just so the British people are properly informed in this debate and are not deceived by some of the suggestions they are hearing about the welcome that might be awaiting us if we left the EU from our English-speaking partners around the world."

Mr Johnson defended his stance, telling the Press Association it was a "paradox" for the United States to call for the UK to remain in the EU.

He said: "The traditional American position on this, which is what I expect the president will develop, is that Britain should stay in, should integrate further within the European Union because America conceives it as very much being in Washington's interests for us to be there, to be their eyes and ears, to be batting for them on some of these issues such as cyber security or indeed the development of the internet and all the rest of it.

"That's great and I think it is a very important argument. However I think that the UK's influence in these things can be expressed in lots of other ways, lots of other forums, and within the EU it is steadily being diminished.

"I just call attention to the paradox that we should be urged down this path towards the creation of a federal European Union by a country that absolutely zealously guards its own sovereignty and refuses to share powers with anybody at all.

"The United States, virtually alone of Western nations, and not just Western nations, virtually alone in the world, refuses to allow its citizens to be subject to the international criminal court, it hasn't signed up to the convention on the law of the sea. It is a paradox, to put it mildly, that we should be urged by the United States to do this."

Speaking on a visit to the Olympic Park in east London, Mr Johnson added: " We are the fifth biggest economy and the point we are making in the Vote Leave campaign is that this is our chance to strike free trade deals around the world and go forward with a different approach, better for Britain, better for Europe."

Asked if he would meet Mr Obama to put his views across if the president visits the UK, he said: "I have no idea, I think at the present rate of fire I think it unlikely, but you never know."

Downing Street refused to be drawn on whether David Cameron would welcome a further intervention by the US president.

The Prime Minister's official spokeswoman said: "The PM is focused on getting out and about around the country making the case for why we think it's in the UK's interest to stay in a reformed EU.

"He said when he was in France at the summit recently that lots of people are making their views known on this issue, including international leaders. These are people who wish Britain well and they are worth listening to.

"But because the Prime Minister is the one that has delivered on his promise of a referendum, it will be up to every person in this country to make up their own mind about whether Britain should remain or leave."

She added: "Other people will set out their views. The choice for the British people is whether or not they listen to them, but then they get to make up their own minds."

The spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny reports that Mr Obama may be paying a visit to the UK in April.

In his regular Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson wrote that it would be "a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy" for the leader of the United States to express support for the UK remaining in the EU.

Former business secretary Lord Mandelson is also due to deliver a slapdown to Mr Johnson.

In a speech on Tuesday, the Labour peer will accuse the mayor of "ignoring Britain's greatest ally in a way that could damage the special relationship".

"There's an increasing tendency from Brexiters to damn anyone who deigns to take the opposing argument as having no right to do so," he will say. "Boris Johnson's attack on President Obama is a classic of the genre.

"Instead of putting his fingers in his ears and screaming hypocrisy, Boris should be asking why Barack Obama would make the case for Britain to stay in the EU. It's in America's interests for us to do so.

"Boris Johnson likes to think he is the only one who speaks for Britain, but he is busy ignoring Britain's greatest ally in a way that could damage the special relationship.

"Boris's desire for Britain to be more isolationist has the potential to damage that special relationship. Every major world leader - from President Obama to Chancellor Merkel to President Hollande to Prime Minister Modi to President Xi Jingping - are agreed that Britain is stronger, safer and better off in Europe.

"Only Putin benefits from Britain going it alone. Boris Johnson should remember that the opinions of our allies matter. Leave campaigners are either preventing people from speaking out or putting words in people's mouths. They cannot win a debate on merit, so are trying to skew it in their favour."

Brexit-backing Cabinet minister Chris Grayling told MPs that foreign leaders should stay out of the EU debate.

The Commons Leader said: " I would discourage any foreign leader from entering the debate at the moment.

"This is a matter for the British people and it should remain so."
Joan Bakewell 'distressed to cause pain' with anorexia 'narcissism' remarks

Labour peer Joan Bakewell has admitted causing "enormous upset" after she claimed a rise in eating disorders among young people was a sign of "narcissism".

The 82-year-old broadcaster said her "off-the-cuff" comments in a newspaper interview were "not thought through" and she had not expected them to be published.

She faced criticism after telling the Sunday Times that no-one in Syrian refugee camps had anorexia and suggesting the condition was a sign of the "over-indulgence of our society".

Baroness Joan Bakewell, who has announced the six titles in contention for the Wellcome Book Prize, said her remarks were 'off the cuff'

The eating disorder charity Beat said it was "alarmed" by her remarks to the newspaper, describing them as "inaccurate and unhelpful".

Unveiling the shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize, Baroness Bakewell said she was "completely surprised" by the reaction to the interview but refused to be drawn on whether she still held the same views.

She told the Press Association: "I was enormously surprised because I thought I was having an off-the-record conversation with a journalist so my off-the-cuff remarks were very casual and not thought through.

"If I'd been asked to make a public statement or write an article, of course I would have found out a great deal more.

"People were angry at what was reported.

"I'm very sorry they were distressed."

Baroness Bakewell, who is chairing the judging panel of the Wellcome Book Prize, also read a statement in which she said she was distressed at the "pain" she had caused.

"Although anorexia is not a condition covered by any books on submission, I naively participated in a speculative conversation expressing off-the-cuff remarks without reference to evidence and current thinking," she said.

"Now that has caused enormous upset and I'm deeply distressed that should have caused so much pain."

Baroness Bakewell had previously apologised on Twitter after facing a wave of criticism for her comments to the Sunday Times.

She told the newspaper: "I am alarmed by anorexia among young people, which arises presumably because they are preoccupied with being beautiful and healthy and thin.

"No-one has anorexia in societies where there is not enough food. They do not have anorexia in the camps in Syria. I think it's possible anorexia could be about narcissism.

"To be unhappy because you are the wrong weight is a sign of the over-indulgence of our society, over-introspection - narcissism, really."

Beat's chief executive, Andrew Radford, said: "Comments suggesting rising rates of anorexia among teenagers are the result of narcissism or vanity are inaccurate and unhelpful.

"While eating disorders are complex and there is no single cause, there is a growing consensus among professionals in the NHS and researchers worldwide that eating disorders are likely to be caused by a genetic predisposition, triggered by a traumatic event or experience.

"Dismissing anorexia or other eating disorders as arising from personal vanity is not only incorrect, it also adds to the stigma and misunderstanding already commonly experienced by those affected and their families."

The Wellcome Book Prize rewards the best book, fiction or non-fiction, linked to medicine, health or illness.

The six shortlisted titles are The Outrun by Amy Liptrot, Signs For Lost Children by Sarah Moss, It's All In Your Head by Suzanne O'Sullivan, Playthings by Alex Pheby, The Last Act Of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink and Neurotribes by Steve Silberman.

The winner will be announced on April 25.

The six shortlisted titles include Amy Liptrot's The Outrun (Wellcome Trust/PA)

Sarah Moss whose book Signs For Lost Children has been short listed for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 (Wellcome Trust/PA)

Steve Silberman whose book Neurotribes has been short listed for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 (Wellcome Trust/PA)

Cathy Rentzenbrink whose book The Last Act Of Love has been short listed for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 (Wellcome Trust/PA)

Suzanne Sullivan whose book It's All In Your Head has been short listed for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 (Wellcome Trust/PA)
Meningitis B vaccination 'would prove cost-effective'

The man behind the most-signed online petition in parliamentary history has said a price should not be put on a child's life, ahead of a high-level debate on his meningitis B vaccine campaign.

Lee Booth, 44, said it would be more cost-effective for the NHS to vaccinate all children up to at least the age of 11 rather than treating meningitis survivors for the rest of their lives.

He spoke after the Government rejected calls for the meningitis B vaccine to be given to all children, with officials saying the NHS budget is a "finite resource".

Faye Burdett before, left, and after she contracted meningitis (Meningitis Now/PA Wire)

The Department of Health this month said its priority is to vaccinate those children considered most at risk from meningitis B.

It said it is following guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the Government on the cost-effectiveness of vaccinations.

But ahead of the first of two public evidence sessions in Parliament starting on Tuesday, father-of-two Mr Booth said ministers should consider the cost implications of not vaccinating all children.

British Gas worker Mr Booth, who lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, said: "What price can you put on saving a child's life?

"What do we deem cost-effective to save a child? The actual cost to look after someone who has survived meningitis is extremely high.

"There are the drugs, the therapy, the changes to that person's home. You are looking at about 3 million over the course of that child's lifetime.

"The maths soon add up and it would be more cost-effective to have this vaccination programme instead, I would say."

Mr Booth launched the petition last September after one of his two young daughters was deemed too old to have the vaccine on the NHS.

The campaign attracted around 900 signatures until two-year-old Faye Burdett, from Maidstone, Kent, caught the infection and died on Valentine's Day after an 11-day battle.

A flood of support followed after a harrowing picture of Faye covered in a rash and lying in a hospital bed just before she died was shared by her family.

Now more than 823,000 people have signed the petition. After it gained more than 100,000 signatures, a debate was guaranteed to be held in Parliament.

Faye's parents Jenny and Neil are due to speak in Parliament at the first session on Tuesday, along with Mr Booth and ex-England rugby captain Matt Dawson, whose two-year-old son Sam battled, and survived, meningitis C.

Mr Booth said: "823,000 is an awful lot of people who agree with what I'm saying. I don't think anyone should be held to ransom but it's a large voice that cannot be ignored."

A vaccine to protect against meningitis B is available on the NHS for babies aged two months, followed by a second dose at four months and a booster at 12 months.

But parents who wish to have older children vaccinated must pay privately, although a worldwide shortage of the vaccine Bexsero means stocks are very low.

Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) hopes to have increased stocks in the UK by the summer. The NHS programme is unaffected.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "MenB is a terrible disease that can be devastating for families. This is why we looked so carefully at the evidence for a free vaccination programme for infants and why in 2015 became the first - and to date only - country in the world to introduce this programme.
Labour's handling of anti-Semitism questioned as MP Berger receives 'vile' abuse

Labour faced dissent over its handling of anti-Semitism after Jeremy Corbyn said "vile" abuse against an MP was unacceptable but the party defended the readmission of a previously-banned activist.

The party leader spoke out after shadow cabinet minister Luciana Berger was subjected to a volley of hate messages on Twitter after posting that she was attending a global anti-Semitism conference in Berlin.

Ms Berger - previously the subject of a 2014 campaign of abuse that led to one man being jailed - posted examples of the latest messages as "a reminder of why it's necessary".

Jeremy Corbyn described the abuse received by Luciana Berger as 'vile'

Mr Corbyn said: " The vile anti-Semitic abuse being directed at Luciana Berger is completely unacceptable. It has no place in our society."

MP Wes Streeting questioned how that fitted with re-admittance to the party of Vicki Kirby, who was suspended in 2014 when she was the party's parliamentary candidate for Woking over social media posts.

They included a tirade which described Israel as "evil", another questioning why the Islamic State (Isis) hadn't yet attacked it and one suggesting Hitler might be the "Zionist God".

The Guido Fawkes website revealed however that she was recently elected the local party's vice-chair after being readmitted following the offence.

A Labour spokeswoman said: " Following her resignation as a parliamentary candidate she received a warning from the NEC on her future conduct and the suspension was then lifted.

"If new evidence comes to light, the Labour Party will review that evidence and make sure the rules of the party are upheld."

Mr Streeting responded: " This can't be right because Jeremy Corbyn has said there is 'no place' for anti-Semitism in our society. Minutes ago!."

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: "A decision was taken in 2014 to warn her but leave her in membership. Jeremy Corbyn has no involvement in the process."

At the weekend Labour MP John Mann said there is resurging problem with anti-Semitism within the party, including on the left, which must be stamped out.

He said the recent growth of the party membership, sparked by left-winger Mr Corbyn's leadership win, has brought with it some people with "out-dated and prejudiced" views.

The Parliamentary Labour Party is currently carrying out an investigation into anti-Semitism in the Oxford University Labour Club.
Ten suspected gang members killed in gunfight in northeast Mexico

MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - At least 10 suspected gang members were killed on Sunday in an early morning firefight with federal security forces in the dangerous northeastern Mexican city of Reynosa, the state government said.

The gunfight began at 4:30 a.m. CDT (0930 GMT) on Sunday, during an operation against a gang based in Reynosa, the Tamaulipas state government said in a statement.

At least 10 people died in the operation, which included members of the marines, army and federal police. Four members of the security forces were injured when a vehicle was upended.

As a result of the operation, other members of the gang blocked off major avenues in the city to try and halt the attack, the statement said.

Images on social media showed burned out buses and trucks blocking roads. In one video posted on Facebook, a peal of automatic rifle shots can be heard. By 8:30 a.m., the blocked roads were cleared and traffic began to flow again, the statement said.

Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, is one of the most dangerous states in Mexico and a key smuggling and migrant kidnapping location.
All Blacks shine indoors to claim inaugural Canada Sevens

March 13 (Reuters) - New Zealand beat South Africa 19-14 to capture the inaugural Canada Sevens in Vancouver on Sunday and close the gap on Fiji at the top of the World Series standings after their third win of the campaign.

Sam Dickson, Kurt Baker and Lewis Ormond all scored tries as the All Blacks put behind the disappointment of last week's quarter-final defeat by the same opponents in Las Vegas to claim the first Sevens Series event played under a closed roof.

"We struggled last week in Vegas with the new team, getting our combinations together but this week we really wanted to go better and I am just so pleased we won the final because it has been a hard week," New Zealand captain Tim Mikkelson said.

"We let ourselves down last week and dropped down the table and we really wanted to finish strong in this tournament. It's amazing to win this in this amazing venue in Canada, it's just been awesome."

Reigning Sevens Series champions Fiji, who finished fourth in Vancouver after losing to South Africa in the semi-finals and Australia in the third place playoff, lead the standings on 106 points with four rounds remaining.

South Africa, known as the "blitzbokke", are second on 105 points after collecting 19 for their efforts at BC Place, where 60,418 fans attended over the two days.

The All Blacks, who have won 12 of the 16 editions of the Sevens Series, collected their third 22 point haul after wins in Wellington and Sydney to move on to 104, with Australia in a distant fourth on 90.

Samoa, beaten by New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals, went on to win the second tier Plate competition with a 31-19 win over the United States, who are fifth in the standings.

Home fans were given something to cheer with Canada beating France to take the Bowl, while Russia grabbed the Shield after edging Portugal.
China steps up war of words with United States over human rights

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - China hit back at the United States over its human rights record on Monday, bringing out government-backed academics to accuse Washington of everything from promoting Islamic State to being a racist plutocracy.

China was infuriated last week when the United States and 11 other countries at the United Nations criticised China's crackdown on human rights and its detentions of lawyers and activists.

At a press conference arranged by the Cabinet's news department for mostly Chinese reporters, four academics at government-run bodies lambasted the United States for what they said was hypocritical criticism of China and others.

Liu Hainian, director of the Human Rights Institution under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, blamed Europe's "refugee wave" on the United States' military involvement in the Middle East which was forcing people to leave their "beautiful homes".

"Think about it: certain extremist groups that now exist, including Islamic State, wasn't it the Americans who first off promoted them from behind?" Liu said.

Closer to home, the United States has a terrible problem with racism, with police in 2015 killing about 1,000 people, he added. "Most of those were people of colour," Liu said.

Chang Jian, vice director of the human rights research centre of Tianjin-based Nankai University, said the U.S. electoral system was being increasingly controlled by Super PACs, committees well-funded by corporate interests.

"There are fewer and fewer opportunities for ordinary people to participate in elections," he said.

Chang made no mention of China's own tightly-controlled political system, which was run by the Communist Party without interruption since the 1949 revolution.

Asked about China's own record, Chang said he was not there to talk about China but to talk about the United States, though he said China did not shy away from admitting its own problems.

Both he and Liu avoided answering a question about televised broadcasts of confessions by suspects, often those involved in sensitive human rights cases, which have angered the United States and Europe.

Liu admitted some websites were "probably" blocked or deleted in China, though said this was being done for the sake of protecting the country's young people from pornography, gambling and drugs.

"I'm really worried about my grandchildren. I hope they can growth up healthily. This kind of information needs to be removed," he said.

When asked why Chinese media were not allowed to rigorously criticise China's rights record in the same way the U.S. media were able to do in their home country, Liu criticised instead U.S. reporters for their slanted view of China.
Three Palestinians attack Israeli troops in W.Bank, shot dead - army

KIRYAT ARBA, West Bank, March 14 (Reuters) - Three Palestinians carried out back-to-back gun and car-ramming attacks on Israelis near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Monday and were shot dead by the army, it said.

Two of the Palestinians, armed with a handgun and an improvised machine-pistol, were killed after opening fire on a bus stop at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, the army said. A soldier was wounded in that incident.

Minutes later, the third Palestinian rammed a car into an army vehicle at the scene and was shot, the army said. Two soldiers were hurt in the second incident, the army said, adding that two knives were found on the motorist's body.

Since October, Palestinian street attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 184 Palestinians, 124 of whom Israel says were assailants. Most others were shot dead during violent protests.
Legal hurdles to EU-Turkey migrant deal

By Tom Korkemeier

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - Leaders of the European Union and Turkey aim to finalise a broad agreement at a Brussels summit next Thursday and Friday to pave the way to an end to Europe's migration crisis.

First, however, a number of legal obstacles must either be cleared or sidestepped.

Following are the three main issues complicating a deal by which Turkey would take back all refugees and migrants reaching Greek islands in return for cash to help Syrians in Turkey, the resettlement of some Syrians from Turkey to the EU, revived talks on Turkey joining the EU and easier EU visas for Turks:

EU VISA LIBERALISATION FOR TURKS

The EU wants to waive visa requirements for Turks only once the Ankara government fulfils 72 conditions. A European Commission report of March 4 found 19 of those were already met and most of the others were met in part. Three notably need to be implemented: sign a pact with EU police agency Europol; adopt EU data protection rules; and waive visa requirements for all EU citizens whatever their nationality. While nationals of nine EU member states need visas to visit Turkey, it is citizens of Cyprus whose status may be toughest for Ankara to change.

At present, to enter Turkey, sponsor of the breakaway state in northern Cyprus since 1974, EU citizens from Cyprus must accept being registered as subjects of the "Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus". Differences with Cyprus have long hampered EU-Turkish relations, although hopes have risen for a U.N.-brokered peace settlement to reunite the island.

Any agreement on visa waivers requires endorsement by the European Parliament, where many lawmakers are uneasy about the risk of Turks abusing short-stay rules or seeming to reward Turkey while accusing its leaders of turning more authoritarian.

TURKEY AS A SAFE THIRD COUNTRY

For Greek and EU authorities to deport people arriving on Greek islands back to Turkey without processing their claims for asylum, it is necessary to consider Turkey a "safe third country" -- ie neither the country of arrival nor the migrant's home country -- where they will be treated as refugees under the Geneva Convention. Such determinations are made not at EU but at national level and the plan is to carry out such expulsions under a bilateral "readmission" pact between Greece and Turkey.

But Greek officials have said it has as yet no list of safe third countries. And lawyers note that, although Turkey treats many refugees, notably Syrians, well, it has limited itself to applying the protections of the Geneva Convention only to people fleeing from Europe, not other parts of the world.

DEPORTATION AND RESETTLEMENT

The United Nations top human rights official says the plan to send back to Turkey everyone, even Syrians, who lands without the right papers on Greek islands, risks consisting of illegal "collective and arbitrary expulsions". Under EU law, all those who claim asylum have a right to have their individual case considered, and to have an ability to appeal -- a process incompatible with swift mass deportations from remote islands.

The legal underpinning of any final accord on expulsions from Greece, as well as for the return to Turkey of migrants picked up at sea by NATO warships, may well come down to an EU or Greek declaration that Turkey is a safe third country capable of handling the relevant asylum claims.
Three Palestinians attack Israelis in W.Bank, shot dead - army

KIRYAT ARBA, West Bank, March 14 (Reuters) - Three Palestinians carried out back-to-back gun and car-ramming attacks on Israelis near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Monday and were shot dead by the army, it said.

Two of the Palestinians, armed with a handgun and an improvised machine-pistol, were killed after opening fire at civilians and soldiers who were waiting at a bus stop outside Kiryat Arba settlement, the army said. One soldier was wounded.

Minutes later, the third Palestinian rammed a car into an military vehicle at the scene and was shot, the army said. Two soldiers were hurt in the second incident, the army said, adding that two knives were found on the motorist's body.

Since October, Palestinian street attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 184 Palestinians, 124 of whom Israel says were assailants. Most others were shot dead during violent protests.
Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militant PKK camps in northern Iraq -army

ISTANBUL, March 14 (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes bombed camps belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq early on Monday, Turkey's army said, following a car bomb attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people.
Myanmar army releases 46 underage recruits - U.N.

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, March 14 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military released 46 children and young people from service, the United Nations said in a statement on Monday, in its first discharge of underage recruits this year.

The army has released 745 underage recruits since signing up to a joint action plan with the U.N. in June 2012 to end the use of children in the military.

Human rights groups have long accused Myanmar's military of abuses such as using child soldiers, forcibly recruiting conscripts and confiscating land.

After handing power to a semi-civilian government in 2011, the military has taken some steps toward professionalising its forces. That includes the release of soldiers recruited under the age of 18.

"The children and young people discharged will benefit from reintegration programmes to help them re-start their lives and seize new opportunities for their own development and participation in the life of the country," the U.N. said.

The U.N. Secretary-General has also listed seven non-state armed groups in Myanmar which it says recruit children.

They include the powerful Kachin Independence Army, which controls large swathes of Myanmar's northern Kachin State, and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The U.N. said it had started talks with several of the groups to end the use of child soldiers.

The government has held peace talks with many of the ethnic armed groups and signed a ceasefire with some of them last year.

But fighting between the military and other ethnic groups continues. The release comes amid continued clashes in the eastern Shan State, as well as in Kachin state.
PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - March 14

MOSCOW, March 14 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- The Russian government may privatise a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft by selling Rosneftegaz convertible bonds, the daily says.

- United Arab Emirates's investment fund Mubadala may buy a stake of some 25 percent in Russian Helicopters, the paper writes.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- European foreign ministers will discuss the development of a new strategy for relations with Russia at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the paper reports.

- Moscow authorities want to invest some 300 billion roubles ($4.28 billion) before 2030 in the city's heat supply. This may cause significant raise of tariffs, the daily writes.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- The volume of money Russians deposited in banks in February rose some 170 billion roubles ($2.42 billion) year-on-year, the paper writes, citing state statistics.

- Every second Russian wants a new job but worries about losing the current one because of the crisis, the paper writes, citing statistics.

ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA

www.rg.ru
PROFILE-U.N. looks to end Syria's war with a gentleman's agreement

By Tom Miles

GENEVA, March 13 (Reuters) - Dismissed by critics as a diplomatic dandy, hailed by allies as a creative consensus-builder, Staffan de Mistura takes the hot seat in Geneva on Monday as the man in charge of forging peace in Syria.

In an impeccable suit and pince-nez spectacles, the Swedish-Italian diplomat looks as though he'd be more comfortable strolling through Geneva's quaint Old Town rather than refereeing a war that has killed more than 250,000 people.

But de Mistura, whose other roles include being Swedish consul on the Italian isle of Capri, has come closer than anyone else to negotiating an end to the Syrian civil war.

The peace talks he mediates resume on Monday, and if they eventually bring an end to the war, it will not be because he forced an agreement, but perhaps because he recognised it was not in his power to do so.

De Mistura took over the job in mid-2014 after the spectacular failure of his two predecessors, Kofi Annan, a former U.N. secretary general, and Lakhdar Brahimi, one of the Arab world's most accomplished diplomats. Each had quit after holding a peace conference in the Swiss city of Geneva that failed to stop the war.

In contrast to their ambition, he adopted a "minimalistic" approach, removing any expectation that the U.N. could impose peace. He did not summon the warring parties to negotiate, nor order the big powers of the U.N. Security Council to end the war.

That left a leadership vacuum that, late last year, was filled by the United States and Russia. Moscow and Washington used their influence to bring Syria's warring sides to de Mistura's table, but it will be up to him to get them talking.

"MY MOTHER WOULD NOT BE DELIGHTED"

In a four-decade diplomatic career that included war zone assignments across Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan, de Mistura developed a reputation for quietly building trust with warring parties hostile to outsiders.

"I cannot list to you how many people who my mother would not be delighted to know I shook hands with," he once said.

U.N. spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said de Mistura's logical approach helps him cut to the thrust of complex issues, and his sense of humour provides relief at difficult moments.

"He has a wonderful way of connecting with people, whether it's the media or his interlocutors in a difficult political process like this one," Fawzi said. "When he approaches people it's with great respect, whoever they are, wherever they are on the hierarchy ladder."

People who have worked with him cite his creativity, evident when he pioneered airdrops to relieve Ethiopia's famine in the 1980s. Described by the Washington Post as "a loquacious Italian in a safari suit", he dared the Sudanese People's Liberation Army to shoot down his rainbow-painted plane.

He was almost shot down again two decades later, as U.N. envoy in Iraq. His plane from Baghdad ran into Iranian war games, and was given 20 seconds to turn around or be destroyed.

He later became the top U.N. man in Afghanistan, and was one of the United Nations' most experienced diplomats by the time he took on the Syria role, prompting the Guardian newspaper to call him "the man with the toughest job in the world".

De Mistura, 69, likes to joke that he has a chronic condition, being an incurable optimist. But he also suffers from occasional gaffes. And his start with Syria was not smooth.

"TOO MUCH TIME SUNBATHING"

Rumours abounded that his heart wasn't in the job and he wanted to do it part-time from Brussels.

He gave an interview to the New York Times, which said he was "more widely known for his dapper style than for any diplomatic coups" and cited a former Lebanese minister as saying he spent too much time sunbathing at a private club.

"I thought it was a little unfair, didn't you?" de Mistura told Reuters at the time, lining up at the U.N. salad bar.

He angered Syria's opposition by sounding more open to the views of Damascus than his predecessors had. There followed an almost fatal error, when he told reporters in Vienna that President Bashar al-Assad was "part of the solution".

He immediately clarified his comments, saying Assad bore part of the responsibility for ending the war. But the mis-step dogged De Mistura for many months and caused deep mistrust.

An early ceasefire plan misfired too, with misplaced hope that a "freeze" in fighting in Aleppo would trigger local truces across the country. When that failed, De Mistura launched open-ended "consultations" with Syrians of all stripes over several months, although opposition armed groups refused to attend.

A political adviser, Mouin Rabbani, quit De Mistura's team within weeks of arriving, and emerged as a vocal critic, saying he was "out of his depth" and "wasn't up to the task".

"The cronyism, dodgy personnel decisions, and resultant amateurism I witnessed were simply breathtaking," Rabbani wrote of his U.N. experience.

De Mistura's apparent lack of ambition looked weak but also reflected reality. With Washington and Moscow falling out over Ukraine and Iranian-Saudi tensions in Yemen, any U.N. peace effort would surely have been futile.

Suddenly, by the end of last year, Islamic State's advance and Europe's refugee crisis provided stronger motives, a nuclear deal between Western powers and Iran provided an opportunity, and Russia's entry into the war provided a catalyst. "Geneva 3" was born.

De Mistura, who had been preparing a soft series of "working groups" to debate post-war Syria, was told by the United States and Russia to junk his plans in favour of a legally binding peace negotiation.

He looked in danger of falling into the same trap as Brahimi, whose "Geneva 2" peace talks drowned in a swamp of side-arguments: "Are the opposition terrorists?", "Can Assad stay in power?", "Where is the justice for war crimes?"

He dodged nimbly, referring the terrorist question back to the U.N. Security Council, leaving Assad's fate up to the Syrian people, and saying human rights were not negotiatiable. And with no early progress, he halted initial talks last month and told the United States and Russia they needed to do more.

The result was a temporary cessation of hostilities, sponsored by Washington and Moscow and accepted by both Assad's government and most of his foes.
Russia calls Polish comments on Smolensk air crash ridiculous

MOSCOW, March 14 (Reuters) - The chief spokesman of the Russian state agency that investigates crime on Monday described as ridiculous and silly comments by Poland's defence minister that foul play caused the 2010 plane crash that killed the then Polish president.

Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, posted on Twitter a link to an article about the defence minister's comments and attached the accompanying comment: "An unexpected front-runner has emerged in the contest for the most ridiculous and silly statements."

The Polish minister, Antoni Macierewicz, said the 2010 crash in Smolensk, western Russia - in which 96 people were killed including president Lech Kaczynski - "was aimed at depriving Poland of the leadership who led our nation towards independence."
Russia says Libya military intervention needs UN approval

MOSCOW, March 14 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that a military operation in Libya is only possible if the United Nations Security Council approves it, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

"We know about the plans of military involvement, including in the situation in Libya. Our common view is that it could be done only with the permission of the UN Security Council," Lavrov said after talks with his Tunisian counterpart in Moscow.
German gov't to stick to refugee policy despite election results

BERLIN, March 14 (Reuters) - The German government will stick by its existing migrant policy, a spokesman for the German government said on Monday, after the anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) made strong gains in regional elections on Sunday.
PRESS DIGEST- Canada-March 14

March 14 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

** More than two years after U.S. authorities began investigating Kinross Gold Corp for alleged corruption in Africa, the case remains unresolved, but details of the company's financial activities are starting to leak out.(http://bit.ly/1ppaxGs)

** Brazil's political crisis deepened on Sunday when opposition parties seized the occasion of nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations to push for a change in power. An estimated 1.8 million people took to the streets in peaceful protests across the country, demanding the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff.(http://bit.ly/1poNcEK)

** The federal government is fond of boasting about how its controls on weapons exports are among the strongest in the world, but Canadians are left largely in the dark over precisely what military and security equipment is being shipped to foreign customers - including those with poor human-rights records.(http://bit.ly/1ppaUkn)

NATIONAL POST

** The sudden resignation of longtime Royal Bank of Canada director Joao Pedro Reinhard, who faces a drug-related charge, should mitigate "reputational contagion" at Canada's largest bank, corporate governance experts say.(http://bit.ly/1RgIll1)
U.S. stages 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, Syria -statement

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with 15 strikes on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement on its latest round of daily attacks on the militant group.

In Iraq, 11 strikes near seven cities were concentrated near Hit and Sinjar, where they hit five of the militants' tactical units and destroyed two vehicles, among other damage, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Monday.

Four strikes in near Manbij and Mar'a, Syria, hit four Islamic State tactical units and destroyed two vehicles and two fighting positions, the coalition statement said.
Islamic State fighter from U.S. in custody in Iraq

By Isabel Coles

ERBIL, Iraq, March 14 (Reuters) - An American fighting for Islamic State was taken into custody in northern Iraq after he left territory controlled by the militant group, according to two Kurdish officers, one of whom arrested him.

Both said it appeared the man was intending to escape both Islamic State and Kurdish forces but handed himself in after peshmerga fighters opened fire on him near the frontline in the village of Golat.

Captain Daham Khalaf said they had spotted the fighter hiding in long grass around dawn and waited until the sun rose before surrounding him. "He shouted, 'I am a foreigner'," Khalaf said, describing him as bearded and dressed in black.

The fighter did not have a passport but was carrying an American driving license and spoke English and broken Arabic, according to General Hashim Sitei who spoke to him.

A copy of what was said to be the license, seen by Reuters, was in the name of Khweis Mohammed Jamal. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the man's identity.

"We gave him food and treated him with respect and handed him over to military intelligence," said Sitei.

The fighter was unarmed but carrying three mobile phones and said his father was Palestinian and his mother was from the Mosul area in Iraq, both officers said.

The State Department said it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen said to have been fighting for Islamic State was captured by Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq.

The address on the driver's license confiscated by the peshmerga was for a residence in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria, Virginia.

As reporters and television crewmembers waited outside, a black Lincoln Town Car drove up. Two men stepped out and angrily demanded that the media leave.

The older man, who identified himself as Jamal Khweis, grabbed a photographer's camera as the younger man pushed at the lenses of television cameras.

The man confirmed that he has a son the same age as the American captured by the peshmerga. He said he did not know where his son was, but that he would "never go" to Iraq.

"He is my son. He is a good person," he said.

More than 250 Americans have joined or tried to fight with the extremist group in Syria and Iraq since 2011, according to a September 2015 bipartisan congressional taskforce report.
Don't mention the "s" word: EU tries to hold firm on Russia sanctions

By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - Supporters of the European Union's economic sanctions against Russia insisted on Monday they were still needed for the bloc's security amid signs of fraying unity in the 28-nation bloc over how to deal with Moscow.

The EU imposed the sanctions two years ago over Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and its support for armed separatists battling Kiev's forces in mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.

But while some EU member states such as the Baltic republics and Poland argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia, others stress the importance of Moscow as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a key player in helping to end the Syria crisis.

Lithuania's foreign minister, whose country was part of the Soviet Union and controlled by Moscow until 1990, said the need to engage with Russia over Syria did not mean the EU should compromise in its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

"We have to take a sober look at where we are. We should not mix things up. Our security should be first," said Linas Linkevicius as he arrived for a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Echoing that stance, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "We have to be robust in making our case and defending our principles, our values and our borders in Europe."

The EU's energy, financial and defence sanctions are up for renewal in July.

At Monday's meeting, EU policy on Russia will be a formal item on the agenda for the first time in more than a year and the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini hopes it will "reaffirm the bloc's sense of unity", according to one diplomat.

DIVISIONS

But tellingly, diplomats said the discussions would not touch on the sanctions issue for fear of exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy will try to gauge the mood of ministers before sanctions can be discussed by EU leaders at a summit in June.

"I expect a real assessment of the situation, since now in Europe we have differing opinions of where we stand in relations with Russia," said Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski.

Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most sceptical about the sanctions, while European farmers who once exported heavily to Russia want to see markets reopen. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through.

However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process, which require it to withdraw all heavy weapons and troops from Ukraine. Moscow denies any military involvement.

"Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk. Moscow is well aware of what it must do and our message today is that we will persist in our policy until that happens," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday in Paris.
Germany approves arms exports to Saudi Arabia and Oman - ministry letter

BERLIN, March 14 (Reuters) - The German government has approved several arms export deals with countries in the Middle East, including delivery of 23 Airbus helicopters to Saudi Arabia, according to an Economy Ministry letter seen by Reuters on Monday.

Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has vowed to be much more cautious in licensing arms exports, unnerving Germany's sizeable defence industry and signaling a change in policy from the previous coalition government under which sales rose.

However, in a letter to lawmakers in the Bundestag lower house of parliament's economy committee, Gabriel said the government's Federal Security Council had also approved a deal by Heckler & Koch to deliver 660 machine guns, 660 additional gun barrels and 550 sub-machine guns to Oman.

It also gave the green light for Heckler & Koch's delivery of 130 machine pistols and automatic rifles to the United Arab Emirates and allowed Rheinmetall to export 65,000 mortar cartridges to the country, the document showed.

The government also approved the delivery of five military helicopters by Airbus to Thailand and the export of nearly 490 machine pistols and automatic rifles by Heckler & Koch to Indonesia.

In January, Gabriel said Germany may look harder at its arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf kingdom carried out its biggest mass execution for decades.
Serbia finds US-bound guided missiles on flight from Beirut

BELGRADE, March 14 (Reuters) - Serbian authorities found two dummy U.S.-made training missiles en route from Lebanon to the United States on a civil flight via Serbia, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The "captive air training missiles" did not have a warhead, rocket or guidance system, said one source who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were headed to the United States after being used to train the Lebanese Armed Forces.

The two were inert air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, the same model as one that arrived in Cuba by mistake in 2014 and was retrieved last month by U.S. officials and representatives from its maker Lockheed Martin. Cuba said that one had arrived by mistake on a commercial flight from Paris.

In the latest incident, the two inert missiles were discovered in wooden crates by bomb-sniffing dogs at Belgrade airport on Saturday, a source at the Serbian prosecutor's office said. They arrived from Beirut on Air Serbia and were due to be put on another flight to go to Portland, Oregon.

"Experts are determining whether the missiles were equipped with live or training warheads ... They were packed in proper transportation crates and supplied with paperwork," the Serbian source said.

However, the first source familiar with the matter described the discovery of the two inert missiles as a "false positive" and said they were never equipped with a warhead.

The Lebanese army also said the Hellfire missiles were training models, without any explosives in them, and that it was returning to the manufacturer.

"They belonged to the Lebanese army, which decided to send them back to the American company that manufactured them upon agreement with it, in accordance with legal and administrative procedures and after training with them had been completed," the Lebanese army said in a statement carried by the National News Agency.

The AGM 114 Hellfire, made by Lockheed Martin, is an air-to-surface missile which can be used against tanks and other armoured vehicles. In addition to a version with a high-explosive warhead, the Hellfire is also produced as a practice weapon.

Air Serbia said it was helping with the investigation and that security and safety were its main priorities.
Hundreds of migrants march out of Greek camp, cross to Macedonia

By Ognen Teofilovski

MOIN, Macedonia, March 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of migrants marched out of a Greek transit camp, hiked for hours along muddy paths and forded a rain-swollen river to get around a border fence and cross into Macedonia, where they were detained on Monday, authorities said.

A Macedonian police spokeswoman said the several hundred migrants who had crossed into Macedonia would be sent back to Greece. A Reuters photographer put the number who crossed as high as 2,000.

About 30 journalists, including a Reuters photographer, who followed the migrants were also detained, witnesses said.

Earlier, Macedonian police said three migrants - two men and a woman - had drowned crossing a river near the Greek border that had been swollen by heavy rain.

The crossing put the migrant issue back in the spotlight days before leaders from the European Union and Turkey are due to meet again to seal an agreement intended to keep migrants in Turkey from moving to Europe through Greece.

At least 12,000 people, including thousands of children, have been stranded in a sprawling tent city in northern Greece, their path to the EU blocked after Macedonia and other nations along the so-called Western Balkan route closed their borders.

On Monday, more than 1,000 migrants streamed out of the camp, searching for a way around the twin border fences Macedonia built to keep them out. A second group of migrants, many of them from war zones in Syria and Iraq, later followed them.

Heading west along muddy paths, the migrants, wrapped in coats and hats, carried their belongings in rucksacks and bags. Many were children, some walking, others riding in strollers. Some made victory signs as they walked.

When they reached a river, the migrants stretched a rope across it and formed a human chain to cross. They carried children across on their shoulders.

Once over the river, the migrants walked along the border fence until they found the point where it ended in mountainous country. But after they crossed the border, Macedonian soldiers rounded them up and put the migrants in army trucks.

"We are taking measures to return the group to Greece," the Macedonian police spokeswoman said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary was the EU country that had sent most police officers to help non-EU member Macedonia protect its border with Greece.

"Macedonia needs and deserves help and assistance from the European Union because actually they've been protecting the southern border of the European Union," he told reporters in Brussels.

Petros Tanos, a police spokesman in northern Greece, said police were investigating media reports that leaflets had circulated in the Idomeni camp urging migrants to march on Monday.

"We do not know who produced it...nor how they found the ropes yet," he told Reuters, referring to ropes used to cross the river.

Babar Baloch, regional spokesman for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, said conditions in the Idomeni camp were difficult after days of heavy rain.

"This is not a proper camp. People are exhausted, tired and running out of patience," he said.

A Serbian customs spokeswoman said 33 migrants trying to cross into Serbia from Macedonia had been found in an empty cargo train in Presevo, southern Serbia, on Saturday and had been handed over to police.

The group, aged between 18 and 26, were mainly Afghans, but also included Syrians and Libyans. All but one were men.

More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday there was no question Germany has benefited from the closure of the Balkan migrant route. A day earlier, voters in three regional elections had punished her conservatives and flocked to a new anti-immigration party that wants German borders closed.
Knife attack on Indian student an "honour killing", say activists

By Anuradha Nagaraj

CHENNAI, India, March 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A daylight attack on a newly married couple near a bus stop in the southern India, in which the husband was killed, was an "honour killing" carried out because the groom was from a lower caste, said activists, demanding swift police action.

On Sunday, 22-year-old engineering student V. Shankar and his wife Kousalya were attacked by three men armed with sickles as the couple waited to board a bus in the textile town of Tirupur in the state of Tamil Nadu, police said.

Shankar died on his way to the hospital. Kousalya was undergoing treatment for her injuries, deputy superintendent of police N. Vivekanandan said.

"This is not an ordinary murder," P. Sampath of the campaign group Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The bold attack happened because a young boy married a girl who was from a different community, a higher one in the social ladder. It should be investigated accordingly."

Despite India's growing cosmopolitanism, discrimination against low-caste communities persists.

The intermingling of caste and religion remains a taboo in Indian marriages -- not only among rural populations, but even for educated, well-off families in urban India.

"A section of youth are made to feel that it is their responsibility to defend the caste honour by controlling women in their families and communities," said activist Vasuki of the All India Democratic Women's Association.

"And the killing is supposed to be a 'lesson' to other girls in the community," she said, referring to women who choose to marry someone outside of their community.

Government figures show that 18 "honour killings" were reported in India in 2014. Activists say the crime is under-reported and many such killings are covered up and made to look like suicides.

"In Tamil Nadu, we have documented 81 honour killings since July 2013," said A. Kathir of the non-governmental organisation Evidence.

But according to the government of Tamil Nadu, no "honour killings" have taken place in the state in the last five years.

Activists said Sunday's attack was a clear example.

Shankar, from the low caste Dalit community, and Kousalya were students at a private engineering college when they fell in love. The couple married eight months ago despite opposition from the girl's upper caste family.

In her statement, Kousalya told police that the attack was carried out at the behest of her parents, Vivekanandan said.
Saudi sees partial Russian pullout from Syria as "positive" step toward solution-SPA

DUBAI, March 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Monday hailed Russia's partial withdrawal from Syria as a "positive step" towards a political solution there, the government said in a statement after its weekly meeting in Riyadh.

The statement, carried by state news agency SPA, also said that the government hoped that the Russian move would help speed up peace talks and force President Bashar al-Assad's government to "make the necessary concessions to achieve a political transition that everybody seeks in Syria".
U.S. vows to push for UN action on Iran despite Russian opposition

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday vowed to continue pushing for United Nations Security Council action on Iran's recent ballistic missile tests and accused Russia of looking for reasons not to respond to Iranian violations of a U.N. resolution.

"This merits a council response," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters after a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council convened at Washington's request.

"Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act," she said. "We're not going to give up at the Security Council, no matter the quibbling that we heard today about this and that."

Power was referring to comments from Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who made clear that in the view of veto-wielding Russia, Iran's ballistic missile tests did not violate council resolution 2231, adopted in July, that endorsed an historic nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.

"A call is different from a ban so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call," Churkin said. "The legal distinction is there."

Resolution 2231 "calls upon" Iran to refrain from certain ballistic missile activity. Western nations see that as a clear ban, though council diplomats say China and other council members agree with Russia's and Iran's view that such work is not banned.

Iran's U.N. mission issued a statement opposing Monday's council discussion of its missile tests. It added that statements Iranians made about Israel were merely a response to Israeli threats.

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted recently as saying that Iran's medium-range ballistic missiles were designed to be able to hit Israel.

The tests last week drew international concern and prompted Monday's meeting of the 15-nation Security Council. Power called the tests "provocative and destabilizing."

Speaking to reporters ahead of the closed-door meeting, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon urged council members to take new "punitive measures" against Tehran over the launches, which he said were a direct threat against Israel.

"We cannot and we will not bury our heads in the sand in the hope that the Ayatollahs act responsibly," said Danon.

Israel has been a strong critic of the nuclear deal between Iran and major powers last year that relaxed most international sanctions against Tehran in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.

Washington imposed U.S. sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for supplying Iran's ballistic missile program after a series of tests last year.
Myanmar military questions Suu Kyi picks ahead of presidential vote

By Hnin Yadana Zaw

NAYPYITAW, March 14 (Reuters) - Myanmar's powerful military questioned Aung San Suu Kyi's picks for president and vice president on Monday as tension simmered between the two sides a day before parliament votes on who should get the top job.

Relations between the armed forces and Suu Kyi will define the success or otherwise of Myanmar's most significant break from military rule since the army seized power in 1962, even though the constitution bars her from taking the presidency.

The democracy leader says she will run the country whoever becomes president, and her choice looks certain to be confirmed by parliament as her National League for Democracy (NLD) holds a sizeable majority after winning a landslide victory in a general election in November.

Last week, the NLD picked a close friend of Suu Kyi, Htin Kyaw, as its presidential candidate and Henry Van Thio to be a vice president to represent numerous ethnic minorities.

The military, which holds a quarter of the seats in parliament, picked a third candidate.

On Monday, the military member of a parliamentary commission formed to vet candidates abstained from voting on Htin Kyaw because he is not an elected MP, even though the constitution does not stipulate a candidate must be a lawmaker.

The military MP, Major General Than Soe, opposed Henry Van Thio because the armed forces needed time to look into whether his stay abroad might disqualify him, said the chairman of the joint houses of parliament, Mahn Win Khaing Than.

The candidates were confirmed anyway as the NLD held sway on the commission, but military disapproval highlighted a widening rift between Suu Kyi and the armed forces as her party prepares to take power on April 1.

"We will have a new democratic president tomorrow anyway. The people will prevail," said Zaw Thein, an NLD lawmaker.

Suu Kyi has made it clear she would run the country through a presidential proxy.

Sources in Suu Kyi's camp say she has grown increasingly frustrated with military intransigence on issues ranging from amending the constitution to relatively minor formalities such as the location of the handover of power.

"LIKE A FOREIGNER"

NLD lawmakers also privately said the military's choice of Myint Swe as its candidate went against the spirit of reconciliation Suu Kyi says she is seeking to foster.

Myint Swe served the junta as head of the feared military intelligence and is on the U.S. sanctions list. If the vote on Tuesday goes as expected, he will become one of two vice presidents.

In his first public comments since Myint Swe's selection, Brigadier General Tin San Naing, the spokesman of the military caucus in parliament, told Reuters Suu Kyi was "like a foreigner", when answering a question on how the military planned to work with the NLD.

He repeated the military's opposition to any changes to the junta-drafted constitution which bars her from presidency because her children are British.

"She is not qualified as president according to the constitution, as she has attachments to a foreign country," said Tin San Naing. "It is very important for the security of the country. It's impossible to amend the constitution."

Dr Zaw Myint Maung, an NLD spokesman and senior party leader, objected to the remarks, noting that Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, was the founder of the country's modern army.

"General Aung San is the father of the military. Aung San Suu Kyi is born from two Burmese citizens. It's sad that they said she is a foreigner," he told Reuters.

Tin San Naing dismissed suggestions that Myint Swe, who is close to former dictator Than Shwe, was a hardline candidate, and said he was highly qualified for the job.

"He has military and governing experience," he said.
EU wrestles with rights, Cyprus to seal Turkey migrant deal

By Alastair Macdonald

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - EU officials are racing to overcome legal concerns on human rights and tensions between Turkey and Cyprus in order to complete a deal they hope can stem the migrant crisis when leaders meet later this week.

At a summit a week ago, EU leaders gave broad assent to an accord sprung on them by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel whereby all migrants reaching Greece would be deported back to Turkey in return for places for Syrian refugees in Europe and for EU financial help for Ankara.

Following criticism from the United Nations and other human rights bodies, as well as many European politicians, EU lawyers are working to ensure the plan can be presented as conforming to international law, diplomats and officials said on Monday.

European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair the EU summit on Thursday and EU meeting with Davutoglu on Friday, was flying to Cyprus for talks on Tuesday with President Nicos Anastasiades, seeking to avoid an effective Cypriot veto.

Cyprus, ethnically split between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, is represented in the EU by its internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government and has blocked Turkey's own efforts to join the EU. Peace talks to reunite the island are now underway.

Many EU leaders have been irritated by the way Davutogulu and Merkel presented their migrant deal, though most have broadly welcomed it. Tusk hopes to draft a "rebalanced" EU-Turkey plan by Wednesday.

"The balance here is not right," a diplomat from one member state said on Monday. "People ... want to push back."

Negotiators are seeking legal moves from Turkey to ensure that EU states can consider its treatment of asylum seekers as being in line with international standards, officials said.

From Greece, Brussels is seeking assurances that it will provide facilities on its islands off the Turkish coast to ensure that every person arriving can have a hearing, including an individual judicial appeal, against deportation to Turkey.

On Monday, the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe echoed a senior U.N. official in warning of illegal mass expulsions. He urged the EU to scrap the proposals with Turkey.

CYPRUS QUESTION

A second major obstacle to the deal, whereby the EU would take in directly from Turkey one Syrian refugee for every Syrian deported back from Greece, is the decades-old Cyprus issue.

Turkey wants its citizens to have visa-free access to Europe by June and to open new "chapters" of its long-stalled talks on it joining the EU. However, both of those will require the consent of Cyprus, which is seeking concessions in return.

Cyprus blocked parts of Turkey's accession process a decade ago when Ankara refused to open its ports to Cypriot shipping.

EU leaders are also concerned not to derail negotiations on the reunification of the island's Turkish-backed north with the Greek-speaking south. Hopes are high that U.N.-brokered talks could bring a deal in the next year or so and some EU officials see an opportunity to advance a Cyprus-Turkey rapprochement.

Leaders are likely to spell out that the number of refugees to be resettled in the EU will be limited to some 70,000, within the terms of existing EU schemes for taking asylum seekers. In fact, EU officials see many fewer refugees to be involved in the one-for-one deportation and resettlement programme, since the intent is to deter such large numbers of people reaching Greece.

If it fails to stop them, the plan will be impracticable, EU officials say. If it does work, EU governments will explore further possibilities to take in refugees directly from Turkey.
Italy, Hungary say no automatic renewal of Russia sanctions

By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two of the Kremlin's closest allies in Europe, said on Monday there could be no automatic extension of the European Union's sanctions against Russia, the most public sign yet of fraying unity on how to deal with Moscow.

Two years after the West imposed economic sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, the EU's resolve is at risk of ebbing because of the stalled Minsk peace process, diplomats say.

While EU governments last week extended asset freezes and travel bans on Russians and Russian companies, there is less consensus on whether to prolong more far-reaching sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors from July.

"We cannot take for granted any decision at this stage," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after a meeting with his EU peers in Brussels, where Russia's EU policy was discussed for the first time in more than a year.

However, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a news conference such decisions were never taken without political debate, while EU officials said Monday's debate among ministers was measured.

Some EU member states, such as Britain, the Baltic republics and Poland, argue that sanctions remain a necessary response to what they see as an expansionist Russia. Hungary, Italy and Greece stress its importance as a trade partner, a supplier of energy and a major player in attempts to end war in Syria.

"You cannot decide on sanctions by sweeping the issues under the carpet," Hungary's foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said. "We believe that the question of sanctions should be decided at the highest level. It cannot be automatic," he said.

But Lithuania's foreign minister, Linas Linkevicius, whose country was part of the Soviet Union until 1990, told Reuters that, following the debate among ministers on Monday, "there is no revision of policy".

Echoing that, Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said that "the view is negative as regards the internal situation in Russia and its foreign policy".

DON'T MENTION THE 'S' WORD

Tellingly, after a long discussion, sanctions were not discussed by foreign ministers, partly because the debate was chaired by Mogherini to avoid exacerbating the divisions. Instead, EU officials - who help marshal the bloc's foreign policy - sought to gauge the mood.

One of the biggest points of contention was whether Mogherini, an Italian, should visit Russia at a time when the EU is demanding that Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike, on humanitarian grounds.

Waszczykowski said he suggested to ministers that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first come to Brussels.

Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Hungary are among the EU states most sceptical about the sanctions, while European farmers, who once exported heavily to Russia, want to see markets reopen and protested in Brussels on Monday. Moscow has imposed its own tit-for-tat sanctions against many EU food imports.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi briefly held up a decision to extend the sanctions late last year, saying they could not be rushed through.

However, the United States says lifting Western sanctions are conditional on Russia complying with the terms of the Minsk peace process. Moscow denies any military involvement.

"Today Russia faces a choice between the continuation of economically damaging sanctions and fully meeting its obligations under Minsk," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday in Paris.
Syrian opposition negotiator says no sign yet of Russian withdrawal

BEIRUT, March 14 (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition's chief negotiator at peace talks in Geneva said on Monday a real Russian military withdrawal from Syria would be a positive development, but that there was no sign yet of it taking place.

"I welcome the Russian withdrawal if it is genuine and not just a manoeuvre," said Mohamad Alloush, head of the politburo of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group and chief negotiator for the opposition at the talks in Switzerland.

But, in a WhatsApp message from Geneva he added: "There are no indications of it being implemented."

He was speaking after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would start pulling his armed forces out of Syria, five months after he ordered a military intervention that turned the tide of the war in favour of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva.
Peru lifts trade barriers to U.S. beef -USDA, USTR

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - Peru has agreed to lift its remaining safety barriers to U.S. beef exports, further opening one of the fastest -markets in Latin America to U.S. ranchers, Obama administration officials said on Monday.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agreement with Lima will remove certification requirements that have been in place since 2003 due to fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as "mad cow" disease.

The changes reflect the United States' "negligible risk" category for the disease from the World Organization for Animal Health.

Peru will now allow beef and beef products from all federally inspected U.S. establishments to be eligible for export to Peru, Vilsack and Froman said.

Previously, only U.S. sources of beef and beef products that participated in the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Export Verification program were eligible for export to Peru.

Even with those restrictions, the United States exported $25.4 million worth of beef and beef products to Peru last year. Total trade of agricultural, fish and forestry products between the two countries topped $3 billion in 2015, more than doubling since 2009.

"Peru has been a growing market for American beef and this agreement will only further expand opportunities for American producers and exporters," Froman said in a statement. "Not many years ago, there was little American beef going to Peru, but through the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, and agreements like this, we are seeing increased demand for high-quality American beef."
The bonhomie and camaraderie shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at their recent meeting in Bihar has come as the surprise of the year.

Apart from taking part in the Patna High Court centenary celebrations, Modi had come to inaugurate two mega bridge projects of the railways in the state on March 19.

This was his first visit to Bihar since the BJP's disastrous performance in the state Assembly elections. During the bitter poll campaign last year, Modi and Nitish had made no-holds-barred attacks on each other.

That is why they were supposed to share cold vibes during their latest meeting but it turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts. Contrary to expectations, they refrained from firing salvos at each other and chose, instead, to underline the need for mutual cooperation between the Centre and the state so as to felicitate faster progress of Bihar.

The prime minister applauded the way Nitish had extended cooperation to the Centre in its rural electrification drive while the chief minister played the perfect host by requesting Modi to visit Bihar over and over again for its development.

True, the long-standing arch-rivals had met at official functions where they were not supposed to denigrate each other.

But they not only followed the protocol but also took one step forward to normalise their relations by praising each other.

For a change, none of them took recourse to subtle innuendos and insinuations against each other. In fact, Modi rose up from his seat to ask the crowds shouting slogans in his favour to keep quiet while Nitish was delivering his address.

In the past decade, the Modi-Nitish relationship had gone from bad to worse. It hit a new low when Nitish cancelled a dinner for Modi and other leaders during the national executive meeting of the BJP in Patna in 2010. He subsequently went on to break his 17-year-old alliance over the projection of Modi as the NDA's prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections. Nitish later stitched up an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress to form the Grand Alliance and defeat NDA in the Assembly polls.

But now, both the leaders appeared keen on not carrying forward the baggage of their acrimonious past by seeking each other's cooperation in accelerating the development of the state. While Modi admitted that the growth of the nation was not at all possible without the progress of Bihar, Nitish also realised that the Centre's cooperation was a must for extricating his state from the morass of underdevelopment.

Nobody should mind if the two best-known votaries of development-centric politics join forces to work in tandem for the progress of one of the poorest states in the country.

But is it another deft political move by Nitish? Where does the latest Modi-Nitish meeting leave Lalu? Political pundits believe that it might make him insecure.

In the last Assembly elections, Lalu's party had won nine seats more than JD(U) and emerged in a dominant enough position to dictate terms to Nitish. He now has a reason to view the Modi-Nitish meeting with suspicion. Lalu knows that Nitish had a long association with BJP and he would not lose anything by normalising their ties once again.

This may not only help him get ample support from the central government to accomplish his development mission but also prevent the RJD president from playing the big brother. With 71 MLAs of its own, the JD(U) needs the support of only 51 legislators to run his government without Lalu's prop.

The BJP, which has 53 MLAs in the 243-member state Assembly, may not mind resuming its ties with Nitish if Lalu pulls the plug on his government.




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Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday dismissed allegations levelled by the Opposition that the TRS government had compromised the states interests while inking the recent MoU with Maha-rashtra for irrigation projects on Godavari.

He said the height of the barrages to be built on the Godavari River had not been finalised and the apex committee of both states would meet by this month-end to finalise these modalities.

Pointing out that the TRS had fulfilled 99 per cent of its poll promises, except the KG to PG free education scheme, during its 21-month rule, Mr Rao lashed out at Congress for terming the MoU with Maharashtra as a black day for Telangana in the Legislative Assembly .

These days some Opposition leaders are talking about black day, red day without any knowledge on irrigation projects. They say we have agreed to bringing down of the height of the reservoir from 152 metres to 148 metres. Who told you that? No height has been finalised as yet. Three rounds of talks at three levels, from engineers level to ministers level to the CMs level, will be held before finalising such modalities. The state-level apex committee with the CMs of both the states will take a final decision. The meeting is expected to happen by this month-end. I have invited the Maharashtra CM to Hyderabad for talks and he has agreed. Its you who are damaging the interests of Telangana for your narrow political gains," Mr Rao said.

Stating that he would never compromise on TS interests, the CM said, I achieved Telangana state after 14 years of struggle. Though there were conspiracies to scuttle the Telangana movement, I withstood all with the complete support of Telangana people. Do you think I achieved Telangana state to compromise on its interests?
He said they had initially thought of holding the event in a stadium, but then the idea had to be dropped because of the magnitude of the programme (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Sunday said parties should not politicise events having a bearing on the country's reputation and suggested that the media has been "harsh" in its criticism of the World Cultural Festival organised on the Yamuna flood plain.

He claimed that his Foundation has already received invitation from Australia, Mexico and other nations for holding the next edition of the event.

"We need a certain maturity. I don't mind but I request all political parties. Whenever such a grand event is being organised, party politics should be kept aside.

"You should come together so that India's prestige on the world stage rises. It is not easy to organise an event of this magnitude.... It is a major thing... so that people from across the world can feel connected," the spiritual guru said.

"People from across the world are amazed. We got a letter from the Australian prime minister asking us to hold the event there. They are ready to give all the help we need, from Mexico.... The countries are keen to host this event. At the same time, the international media is asking why the Indian press is so harsh towards this festival. I smiled and said that I don't know," he said.

Asked about his reported remarks that "Jai Hind and Pakistan Zindabad should go together" after a Pakistani scholar's address at the event on Saturday, he said, "They said guruji said something. That's not the case. The imam always concludes his talk with Pakistan Zindabad. I said that yes you can say it and I say Jai Hind. So I said Jai Hind and he said Pakistan Zindabad.

"I said it could be a win-win situation for both the countries. Somewhere we need to connect. We need to come together and that's what is happening," he said.

Defending the organising of the festival on the flood plains of Yamuna, he said they would work for the rejuvenation of the river. Replying to a query related to his statement that he would not pay the Rs five crore fine imposed by National Green Tribunal, he said the NGT has made it clear that it was not a fine but compensation to rejuvenate the area.

The AOL founder said his organisation will come with up a concrete plan for conservation of Yamuna river.

"We had consulted a couple of environmentalists before the event and they had said there would be no damage to the flood plains if this event was held. Further, we will also consult some environmentalists and work on rejuvenation of Yamuna with a concrete plan of action for Yamuna," he said.

He said they had initially thought of holding the event in a stadium, but then the idea had to be dropped because of the magnitude of the programme.

"Any stadium would not have been able to accommodate these many artists and people," Ravi Shankar said as the three-day cultural extravaganza ended on Sunday.

He said over 172 dignitaries from across the globe had come for the event, which drew intense criticism and also litigation over allegations that it damaged the ecology of Yamuna flood plains.

Questions were also raised on deploying army personnel for its preparation and the traffic woes due to the massive event.
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz will meet external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the Saarc council of ministers meeting on Thursday in Nepal to extend Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharifs formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 19th Saarc Summit that will be hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad later this year.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to travel to Pakistan for that Summit in November this year. The government sources in New Delhi confirmed that Mr. Aziz and Ms. Swaraj would meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the meeting in Nepal. Indias foreign secretary S. Jaishankar may also meet his Pakistani counterpart in an informal meeting.

India is once again likely to make it clear to Pakistan at the meeting between Mr. Aziz and Ms. Swaraj that it expects strong action to be taken against those responsible for planning and executing the Pathankot terror strike from Pakistani soil. The meeting is somewhat bound to break the ice between the political leadership of the two countries after the Pathankot terror strike in January this year, although the NSAs of the two countries have been in touch on the matter.

The MEA has also maintained that the foreign secretaries of the two countries have also been in touch. Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries had been postponed in the wake of the Pathankot terror attack and have yet to be re-scheduled. As reported earlier, India will wait for the outcome of the proposed visit by the Pakistani SIT  probing the conspiracy on Pakistani soil by Pakistan-based militants of the JeM that led to the Pathankot terror strike  to India before taking a decision on scheduling the FS-level talks.

Pakistan, in a statement issued, said, The Advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, will meet foreign ministers of Saarc countries on the sidelines of the Saarc Council of Ministers meeting on March 17, 2016, in Nepal to extend PM Nawaz Sharifs formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th Saarc Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year. This will be Modis second visit to Pakistan if he eventually goes for the SAARC Summit.
Tehran: Iran's billionaire tycoon Babak Zanjani has been sentenced to death for corruption, a judicial official said Sunday, after a trial in which he was accused of fraudulently pocketing $2.8 billion.



Zanjani became notorious during the era of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, finding ways to channel hard currency to Tehran despite financial sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic's banks as punishment for its nuclear programme.



Zanjani was convicted of fraud and economic crimes and as well as facing the death penalty he must also pay money to the state in restitution, judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie said at his weekly press conference.
Hroub's approach has led to a decline in violent behaviour in schools where this was a frequent occurrence. (Representational Photo: Pixabay)

Dubai: A teacher from a refugee camp in Palestine today won USD one million Global Teacher Prize, beating nine other finalists from around the world, including an Indian.

Hanan Al Hroub beat India's Robin Chaurasiya, who runs a not-for-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city's red light district of Kamatipura, and eight other finalists to bag the Varkey Foundation's prize at the end of the annual Global Education and Skills Forum here this evening.

"I did it, I won. Palestine won. All 10 of us have the power, we can change the world," said Hroub, who is in her early 40s, as her name was announced by Pope Francis via video link.

Hroub runs the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, Palestine, where she uses a specialist approach she developed herself detailed in her book 'We Play and Learn' to overcome tense environments of the region under the shadow of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"I am proud to present to you the message of teachers of Palestine: There is no doubt that we live in unnatural conditions.

"Violence and Israeli occupation surrounds us from all sides and imposes itself and leaks to each corner of educational process and its components, so our task is complicated as we see daily the suffering in the eyes of our students and our teachers. We want our children to live peacefully, as all children of the world," she said, in her part English and part Arabic acceptance speech.

"A child has the right to play. Part of education is to teach children how to play because you learn how to be social through games as well as learn the joy of life," Pope Francis said, in reference to the winning candidate.

Hroub's approach has led to a decline in violent behaviour in schools where this was a frequent occurrence and she has inspired her colleagues to review the way they teach and their classroom management strategies.

"I suggest that this year is the year of the Palestinian teacher. The world should support us to achieve hope for justice and peace," Hroub said.

The Global Teacher Prize, now in its second year, was set up by Kerala-born entrepreneur and educational philanthropist Sunny Varkey to recognise one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society.

"I want to congratulate Hanan Al Hroub for winning the Global Teacher Prize 2016 from such a huge number of talented and dedicated teachers. I hope her story will

inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and also shine a powerful spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over Palestine and throughout the world every day," said Varkey.

Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek and Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra joined former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai, at the gala awards ceremony in Dubai.

Mr Bachchan spoke of his own dyslexia and the "incredible impact" teachers have on young minds, while Mr Kumar described teachers as "the only humans in the world that give life to a life".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today sought Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's assistance in cleaning the Yamuna river.





"We are sitting along the banks of Yamuna river. We have taken several initiatives for cleaning it. If Guruji takes a little initiative ... Several governments need to come together to keep the Yamuna clean. The Delhi government and the Centre and many of its ministries need to come together.



"Today, on the left side of Guruji is the Union government and to his right is the Delhi government. If he takes the initiative and pledge to clean Yamuna under his leadership, then I think this can be achieved," Kejriwal said at AOL's World Culture Festival here.

"I consider myself very fortunate that I could see this historic moment. I am thankful to Guruji. Jai Gurudev," Kejriwal added.



The World Culture Festival, organised by the AOL on the floodplains of Yamuna, is facing criticism from several quarters over ecological damage. The Centre and the Delhi government too have been criticised for giving the go-ahead to the function.



The Delhi Chief Minister said he is very "selfish" and is seeking help in two areas, include cleaning of Yamuna river.



Noting that the AOL volunteers are "disciplined", he also sought assistance of its volunteers in Delhi government's functions.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is leading with an impressive margin in the key state of Florida while he is in a virtual tie with his opponent John Kasich in Ohio, a latest poll said today ahead of the Tuesday's primaries.





Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, on the other hand appears to be cruising towards being the party's nominee for the November 8 elections, as latest polls showed she was leading in Florida and Ohio, but trailed in Illinois.



The polls came as White House aspirants on both the Republican and Democratic parties intensified their campaigning ahead of the Tuesday's primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio.



Except for North Carolina, the delegates would go to one candidate  the winners of the primary in the states.



Releasing details of its polls, CBS news said that Trump (44 per cent) has a 20 per cent lead over Ted Cruz (24 per cent) and Marco Rubio (21 per cent) in Florida where 99 delegates are at stake.



Florida is the home state of Rubio, who has been campaigning here for the past few days.



A loss here would virtually end the presidential campaign of Rubio, who so far has won only three primaries in Minnesota, Puerto Rico and Washington DC.



He has 163 delegates so far as against 370 of Cruz and 460 of Trump.



In Ohio where 66 delegates are at stake, Trump and the popular State Governor John Kasich are headed for a very tight finish, CBS polls said, adding that both have support of 33 per cent of the prospective Republican primary goers.



Kasich who has just 63 delegates to his kitty and has not won even a single state so far, Ohio is a "must-win-state" for him to stay in the race to the White House.



In Illinois where 69 delegates are at stake in winner-take-all primary, Trump is leading ahead of Cruz.



On the Democratic side, Clinton seems to have an edge over her sole rival Bernie Sanders in the Tuesday's primaries.



Clinton leads Sanders by 28 points in Florida, 62 to 34 percent, and by nine points, 52 to 43 percent in Ohio as per the CBS News Battleground Tracker poll.



However, Sanders leads Clinton very narrowly in Illinois 48 to 46 per cent, it said.

While Sanders is giving an unexpected tough fight to Clinton, the former Secretary of State is way ahead of the Vermont Senator in the count of delegates.



To bag Democratic party's presidential nomination, a candidate needs 2382 of the 4763 delegates.



Clinton so far has 1231 delegates which includes 748 from the Democratic primaries and 465 super delegates, meaning party's leadership.



Sanders has 576 delegates which includes 542 from the primaries and has support of just 25 super delegates.



Super delegates can change their position later on. The delegates from both the Republican and Democratic parties would meet later this summer at the once-in-four-year conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia respectively where they would formally elect their presidential nominee.



Those candidates having majority of the delegates would be elected as the party's presidential nominee.


Judiciary should be committed to safeguarding "dialogue and dissent" which are essential characteristics of a democratic society, Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud said today.





"Judges, in the administration of justice, ought to make a wise use of judicial powers. They need to discharge their duties in a manner that promotes dialogue and protects dissent. This is because dialogue and dissent are essential for any democracy to survive and function," Justice Chandrachud said.



Cautioning against a fixated view of laws, he said, "Law tends to follow precedents. But it must be kept in mind that administration of justice also necessarily involves interpretation of laws, that may have been laid down ages ago, in accordance with contemporary needs and challenges".



Quoting Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Justice Chandrachud said "in his book Idea of Justice, Sen has eloquently stated that law is not all about 'niti' - which is the Sanskrit word for rules. It is also about 'nyay' - which entails enforcement of law in a manner that is just. The principles of dialogue and justice are a yardstick against which the justness of enforcement of a law could be gauged".



The remarks come at a time when demands are being raised for removal of laws like those pertaining to sedition, decried by many as a "colonial" concept, and sections of penal code which criminalize homosexual relationships between consenting adults.



The Chief Justice was delivering the welcome speech at a function organized on the occasion of sesquicentennial celebrations of the Allahabad High Court, where President Pranab Mukherjee was present as the Chief Guest, sharing the dais with Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda.



In the audience were a large number of noted jurists, including a serving and retired judges of the Supreme Court, West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi - who has practised law here for long - and Chief Justices of a number of high courts.


In a bid to provide increased security to students enrolled in its schools, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has installed CCTV cameras at 20 institutions. The civic agency has set aside Rs 5 crore to install CCTV cameras at all the municipal schools under its jurisdiction during the financial year of 2016-17.





South Corporation Mayor Subhash Arya on Sunday said the civic agency is committed to provide foolproof security to the students enrolled in its schools. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has earmarked a total of Rs 5 crore to install CCTV cameras during the 2016-17 financial year, he said.



The corporation has installed CCTV cameras in its 20 schools in the first phase. In the next phase, the civic agency will install CCTV cameras at all municipal schools under its limits, he added. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation runs 579 schools in its jurisdiction.



The cameras installed in the schools will be monitored. The monitoring of the data would be done at the 20 schools where the cameras have been installed. The team monitoring the data will not only be concerned with the security of children but it will also be on the lookout for issues related to qualitative delivery of education.



The mayor said zonal offices will constitute a team to oversee the monitoring of the data.

To ensure proper monitoring, every zone will constitute a team in their respective areas. The South Corporations control room will also enable officers sitting at the Civic Centre to monitor the security of students in these schools.



The mayor added that an amount of Rs 1 lakh has been spent on the installation of one CCTV camera.



The South Corporations councillors will be allowed to adopt a school under their constituency and carry out development work at the institution, said the mayor. Councillors would be given Rs 5 lakh out of their local area development fund for undertaking development work at schools.


The Delhi BJP unit head Satish Upadhyay wrote to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Sunday asking him to appoint a nodal officer to assess the loss of crops in Delhi due to untimely rain during the last few days. The party demanded an interim relief package be given to farmers before Holi.





The winter crop loss has struck the farmers of Delhi for the second successive year due to untimely rain and hailstorm in March at a time when the crop is almost ready for harvest, the letter said.



The Delhi BJP demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 per acre be given to farmers.



Today senior BJP leaders led by MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma visited many villages in west, north-west and outer districts to meet farmers and assess their loss. They have found that the standing crop of wheat and mustard face up to 60 per cent to 80 per cent loss. We suggest a compensation of Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 per acre.



The party said the farmers have lost the grown crops for the third time in Delhi. Farmers of Delhi dont just need compensation but a rehabilitation package. Interim relief be given before Holi, it added.



The BJP took a dig at the AAP government saying, We hope that the Delhi government will do whatever it can to curb corruption in its patwari offices and provide compensation. The party asked the LG to appoint a nodal officer to expedite the process of distribution of compensation to the farmers. The need of the hour is that a nodal officer is appointed in Delhi and all the patwaris are put under him. The nodal officer should be empowered to assess and grant immediate relief to farmers without any political interference and delay, it added.



The Delhi BJP unit also sent a copy of the letter to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.


The Delhi Congress may be fighting a battle for political survival in the city but there is no dearth of party ticket seekers for the civic by-polls as nearly five dozen aspiring candidates have already staked claims.





The party is in the process of assessing the winnability of all three-five aspirants on each seat before taking a final decision, said a senior party leader.



Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said: For the 13 by-poll seats, we already have about 50-60 aspiring candidates.



The party whose tally was reduced to zero in the Assembly after 15 years of rule, is determined to end the losing trend in the civic electoral outing in May.



The civic polls are like a litmus test but we are under no pressure. None of the seats on which the by-polls would be held had a sitting Congress councillors. Our party has nothing to lose but only to gain, said Maken.



The by-elections are also going to see the entry of the Aam Aadmi Party in the civic arena. The new party has already announced eight names for the by-polls which will be held in seven wards of the South Corporation, four wards of the North Corporation and two wards of the East Corporation.



Maken said his partys preparations of the by-polls have been continuing for weeks. The names of most suitable candidates shall be announced soon, he said.



He is not only betting big on his partys chances in this electoral outing but also seeing it as a referendum on the poor performance of the AAP government headed by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.



The former Union minister said the Congress partys growing strength in the city will be reflected in the civic by-elections.



The AAP has lost its shine and sheen... their party volunteers have become government workers and are pocketing hefty salaries and the MLAs are giving themselves fat salary hikes, he said.



The Delhi Congress chief hit out at the AAP government for lack of governance experience.



The AAP governments mindset is not correct. They still work with the Opposition-NGO mindset, he said.



Congress sources said the party is looking at these elections to erase memories of the embarrassing zero scored by the party in the Assembly polls tally in 2015. Congress chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, said: We want to put the past behind.



The by-elections were forced after councillors of nine wards resigned from their position in December 2013 after being elected as legislators in the Delhi assembly elections. Four more resigned after the February 2015 assembly polls. No by-elections have been held to fill these vacancies.



The 13 new councillors to be elected through the by-elections would have a truncated tenure of around 11 months as the new municipal houses are to be re-elected in April 2017.


The indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has achieved yet another milestone by satisfactory firing of rockets (70 mm) from its prototype, TD-3 in weaponized configuration, its maker HAL said today.





This comes after successful completion of basic performance flight testing and outstation trials for cold weather, hot weather and hot and high altitude testing in 2015, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited said.



"The initial rocket firing trials have been carried out at Jaisalmer, establishing satisfactory integration of hardware and software, structural integrity and safe separation of rocket ammunition," the Defence PSU said in a statement here.



Integration of weapons such as Rocket, Turret Gun (20 mm) and Air to Air Missile on LCH will further continue, HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju said.



"These trials give us confidence for carrying out certification firing trials planned during April-May 2016," he said.



LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL.Its features include sleek and narrow fuselage, tri-cycle crash worthy landing gear, crash worthy and self sealing fuel tanks, Armour protection, nuclear and low visibility features which makes the LCH lethal, agile and survivable, HAL said.
The father of the girl whose husband was brutally hacked to death in full public view in a suspected case of honour killing surrendered today even as a video clip showing three persons attacking the dalit youth in Tirupur district, triggered outrage.



The father surrendered before a local court in Nilakottai in Dindigal district of the state, about 380 kms from Chennai. Kausalya, who too was assaulted, has blamed her father for the attack.



The video that was aired across TV channels of the gruesome attack on 22 year-old Shankar showed his killers approaching him while he was with his wife, at Udumalpet in Tirupur district yesterday.



The men were seen attacking Shankar and his wife in a fit of rage, dealing repeated blows on the couple. Scared bystanders remained mute witnesses to the carnage on the busy road. Shankar was left lying by the roadside in a pool of blood.



Facing no resistance, the three attackers left the place in a two-wheeler, not exhibiting any remorse over their bloody act.



Though the incident was widely reported on Sunday itself, the video showed the brutality of the episode, with political leaders decrying killing of Shankar and the attack on his wife.



TNCC President EVKS Elangovan, Left parties, MDMK, VCK and DK condemned the incident and called for immediate arrest of the culprits.



The incident comes close on the heels of the murder of engineering student Gokulraj of Namakkal in a suspected honour killing. Meanwhile, tension prevailed at the government hospital in Udumalpet as the relatives of the victim refused to accept the body and sought immediate arrest of the culprits.



Activists from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, AIDWA, Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam and SFI also gathered at the hospital premises. Kausalya, who is recovering at the government hospital, told reporters that her father Chinnasamy was totally opposed to their relationship and threatened to act against Shankar some time ago.



He had told her in clear terms that if she returned home alone, Shankar will be spared, she claimed.

Kausalya said she will be in a position to identify the culprits. Stone pelting incidents were reported in Kumaralingam, the native place of Shankar, forcing closure of shops, and necessitating deployment of police force there.



However, the situation was brought under control, police said.The parents and relatives of Shankar, numbering over 60, gathered at the hospital, where they refused to accept the body, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and also proof of the arrest.






A primary school teacher from a refugee camp in conflict-torn Palestine has won USD one million Global Teacher Prize for educating her students about non-violence, beating nine other finalists from around the world, including an Indian.





Hanan Al Hroub beat India's Robin Chaurasiya, who runs a not-for-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city's red light district of Kamatipura, and eight other finalists to bag the Varkey Foundation's prize at the star-studded ceremony here last night.



"I did it, I won. Palestine won. All 10 of us have the power, we can change the world," said Hroub, who is in her early 40s, as her name was announced by Pope Francis via video link.



Hroub runs the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, Palestine, where she uses a specialist approach she developed herself detailed in her book 'We Play and Learn' to overcome tense environments of the region under the shadow of the Israel-Palestine conflict.



"I am proud to present to you the message of teachers of Palestine: There is no doubt that we live in unnatural conditions.



"Violence and Israeli occupation surrounds us from all sides and imposes itself and leaks to each corner of educational process and its components, so our task is complicated as we see daily the suffering in the eyes of our students and our teachers. We want our children to live peacefully, as all children of the world," she said, in her part English and part Arabic acceptance speech.



"A child has the right to play. Part of education is to teach children how to play because you learn how to be social through games as well as learn the joy of life," Pope Francis said, in reference to the winning candidate.



Hroub's approach has led to a decline in violent behaviour in schools where this was a frequent occurrence and she has inspired her colleagues to review the way they teach and their classroom management strategies.



"I suggest that this year is the year of the Palestinian teacher. The world should support us to achieve hope for justice and peace," Hroub said.



The Global Teacher Prize, now in its second year, was set up by Kerala-born entrepreneur and educational philanthropist Sunny Varkey to recognise one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession as well as to shine a spotlight on the important role teachers play in society.



Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey and Salma Hayek and Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra joined former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai, at the gala awards ceremony in Dubai.



Bachchan spoke of his own dyslexia and the "incredible impact" teachers have on young minds, while Kumar described teachers as "the only humans in the world that give life to a life".



30-year-old Chaurasiya, who was born in Los Angeles, was joined by innovative maths teachers from London and Helsinki and educators from countries like the US, Japan, Pakistan, Australia and Kenya on the shortlist of an award dubbed the Oscars for teaching.



"It's amazing that the Varkey Foundation would recognise an alternative school like this," she said.



The final 10 were narrowed down from 8,000 nominations and applications from 148 countries from around the world.



Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, said in a special video message at the ceremony: "Reaching young people early on, in their education, and providing them with the actual support they need, and give them the best possible chance in life.



"This is an incredible responsibility, and this is why the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, has partnered with the Varkey Foundation, on a range of programmes which support teachers to help young people in some of the most disadvantaged communities of the United Kingdom."




A one-man inquiry committee of Additional Secretary B K Prasad will probe the issue of missing files related to the case of alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan, government today said.





Prasad, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry, will inquire into the circumstances in which the files related to the case of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing.



The panel will find out the person responsible for keeping the files and relevant issues, a Home Ministry official said. The papers which went missing from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made. Two letters written by the then Home Secretary G K Pillai to the then Attorney General late G E Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have so far been untraceable.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said.



The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, officials said. Former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.



Subsequently, Chidambaram had said that Pillai is equally responsible for the change in affidavit.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.



The city crime branch had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Last week, Rajnath Singh had accused the erstwhile UPA government of hatching a "deep conspiracy" to frame Modi when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister in the Ishrat Jahan case. Singh had claimed that the previous regime had done a 'flip-flop' on the links of Ishrat Jahan with terror outfit LeT.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17 in Nepal.





Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad that Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines to extend formal invitations to their respective Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit that will be hosted by Pakistan.



When asked about the meeting between the two leaders, sources in New Delhi said, "Aziz had sought a meeting to extend the invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the 19th SAARC Summit and India in all likelihood will go ahead with the meeting." However, they did not divulge what will be the issues that India will discuss.



This will be the second meeting between Swaraj and Aziz after December 9 when the two countries announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD).



Zakaria said that Aziz "will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year."



Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.



Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.



Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal, a senior Pakistani official said on the condition of anonymity.



Swaraj-Aziz meeting will also provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.



The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.



The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad.



The Swaraj-Aziz meeting may also discuss the possibility of an interaction between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington where they are scheduled to attend the nuclear security summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama.




Top public sector lender State Bank of India today released arrears worth Rs 1,465 crore to 7.75 lakh defence pensioners under One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, as per the government rules.





The government had in November last year formally notified the OROP scheme for the more than 24 lakh defence ex-servicemen and 6 lakh war widows in the country. "As per government guidelines, first instalment (1/4th of the total arrear amount up to February, 2016) to service pensioners and full amount of arrears to 'family pensioners' and 'gallantry award' pensioners will be paid on 14th March, 2016," SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement.



"All pensioners will get revised basic (pension) from March, 2016 onwards," she said. The bank has the largest share of defence pensioners and serves about 50 per cent of total defence pensioners across the country, he said.



"The first tranche of arrear payment by SBI will be around Rs 1,465 crore," Bhattacharya said. SBI noted that while the bank has taken utmost care in the computation and release of arrears to maximum number of eligible defence pensioners, there could be cases where it has not been able to release OROP arrears due to information gaps in the data available with the bank.



"All such persons may approach their pension-disbursing branch and provide the missing information for an early release of the arrears," it added. SBI has introduced facilities in all branches and Centralised Pension Processing Centres (CPPCs) to provide arrear details to the pensioners.



Despite a demand by protesting ex-servicemen to implement OROP with effect from April 1, 2014, the government has said that arrears would be paid with effect from July 1, 2014, and has pegged the arrears till December, 2015 at Rs 10,900 crore.



As per government directions, payment of arrears would be made by the pension-disbursing authorities in 4 installments, except for family pensioners and pensioners in receipt of gallantry awards, who will be paid arrears in one installment. The OROP scheme is expected to cost the government Rs 7,500 crore per year.
The availability of accurate information about sea-floor is limited to the type of data necessary to designate navigable waters. Divya Karnad writes why marine research needs to come of age, especially in India.

What lies beneath the ocean? The case of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370, showed us that our knowledge about ocean is extremely limited. It is not common to give a second thought to underwater terrain and its impact on or creation of water currents, until events such as the sinking of the Titanic or the use of submarines in World War I force us into the depths. But the underwater world is becoming more and more important. Whether for underwater oil exploration, recreation or fishing, more of the ocean is being used regularly.



Our growing dependence on marine resources requires increased knowledge about the world under the sea. Although we have maps of almost the entire ocean, they are not detailed enough to tell us what we want to know. In fact, we have better maps of the surface of Venus and Mars than we have of Earths seabed. However, the state of our oceanic knowledge is slowly changing.



Navigating the ocean has been an essential part of human history, from ancient mariners who used stars to chart their paths and colonise Pacific Islands to modern shipping and marine transport. However, the watery depths have proved quite a formidable barrier to standard mapping techniques. Standardised, historical survey equipment, like theodolites were used to map land, rely on visibility, i.e. visible light.



Localised knowledge



Light decreases with depth underwater, and many areas are almost completely devoid of light. Thus, such equipment cannot be used underwater. More modern satellite mapping techniques rely on RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging), which cannot effectively penetrate water; hence we can only map the surface of the waves using satellites.



Traditionally, fishermen have used techniques, such as listening to underwater noise and identifying patterns of wave formations, to map underwater rocks and sea mounts. They could also relate the type of living organisms found in a particular patch to the underwater terrain and sediment type. While holistic, this knowledge is very localised and not available in a format that is generally usable. Fishermen rarely make maps or keep Global Positioning System (GPS) locations, and few efforts have been made by scientists to translate this knowledge into a digital format.



Science has approached the mapping of oceans in a different way. The advent of SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) during World War I provided a much more reliable way to identify depth underwater.



Sound emitting instruments are usually fitted to ships, so that signals that are emitted from the surface of the water bounce off the sea-floor. The time taken before it reaches the receiver provides an estimate of depth. Ship-based SONAR cannot take accurate measurements beyond a certain range of depth.



Hence, availability of accurate information about sea-floor is limited to the type of data necessary to designate navigable waters. Thus, although Earth is criss-crossed by over 650 million shipping vessels a year, the vessels stick to known coastal waters and shipping lanes. Efforts to remedy this gap in knowledge have emerged from several universities around the world such as the University of California and Scripps Institute of Oceanography in the US, the University of Southampton, UK, and other oceanographic research centres.



David Sandwell from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and his colleagues used the idea that underwater mountains would have a greater gravitational effect on the water flowing around them than trenches or chasms. Satellites using RADAR can detect these gravitational changes by the effect that they have on the sea surface. Undersea mounts have greater gravity than trenches; hence they draw in water causing a consistent rise in sea surface level.



On the other hand, trenches, which exert lower gravitational forces, cause consistent dips in sea surface levels. By comparing data from multiple satellites, this international team of scientists was able to precisely locate underwater mounts, ridges and trenches. However, this data does not tell us the depths of these underwater structures. Such detail requires a different approach.



Inadequate research



Jon Copley from the University of Southampton has been using submersible underwater vehicles to gather SONAR data for depths to which ship SONAR cannot reach. The difference between his efforts and those of gravitational mapping is that SONAR produces detailed information at high resolutions, including depth information.



Whereas the gravitational maps can only detect objects larger than five km. So far, only 0.05 per cent of the worlds seabed has been explored using underwater SONAR. This information used in combination with satellite mapping produces detailed and excellent maps of the seafloor and the underlying sediment. These maps are of value to countries seeking to expand their marine resource utilisation and particularly to aid ocean exploration efforts of oil companies.



Scientific exploration of the ocean is an expensive business. India invested in civilian research using ship SONAR through the National Institute of Oceanography to develop seafloor maps in the 1990s. This came nearly 50 years after the publication of the first seafloor maps in the US. SONAR remains the mainstay of map-making by several government agencies, such as the Geological Survey of India.



However, even this technology is too expensive for most Indian universities and research institutions to participate in developing better maps. The logistics and expense of ship-based marine research have limited its use to a handful of institutes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Geological Survey of India and the Indian Navy.



Ship time has to be shared between these institutes and the multiple projects within each of them. Oceanography programmes at several universities in the US have the capabilities to deploy underwater drones, but India lags behind in this regard.



India has only recently begun testing such vehicles for research, although they have been used by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Non-military research using unmanned underwater vehicles can simultaneously provide data on seafloor, as well as monitor other ecological and oceanographic parameters.



The Indian public has not had a chance to see the outcomes of such interesting research. Generating greater public interest will require greater engagement between state agencies, universities and research institutes. Marine research needs to come of age in India.
National Highway Authority of Indias Executive Engineer M O Ramesh said the second phase of the development work on Shiradi Ghat stretch is likely to be taken up after the monsoon.





Speaking at the tri-monthly KDP review meeting, chaired by District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai here on Monday, he said the contractor has not mobilised materials for the road work. If the work is started now, it cannot be completed before the onset of monsoon, he said.



Ramesh said the phase II of the road development work on Shiradi Ghat includes 21 kms of asphaltation and 13 kms of concretisation. The work will be taken up at a cost of Rs 85.28 crore.



The rigid pavement (concrete road) will be from Kempuhole to Addahole near Gundya on the Dakshina Kannada border and the asphaltation will be taken up from Maranahalli towards Sakleshpur, he added.



Rai said he is not in favour of closure of the stretch to facilitate the work. There is a need to discuss about carrying out the work without completely closing the stretch, he added.



Sand row



Rai directed DC A B Ibrahim to find out a temporary solution to the sand problem after MLA J R Lobo and MLC Ivan DSouza threatened to boycott the KDP meeting over sand shortage issue.



Raising the issue, the legislators said there is a delay in applying for clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for sand extraction in the CRZ area by the officials. The illegal sand transportation to Bengaluru and Kerala is continuing unabated, they claimed.



They said construction activities have come to a standstill without the availability of sand from February and threatened to boycott the meeting if it fails to address the issue.



Health Minister U T Khader said the meeting has the power to offer a temporary solution to the problem. After exchange of words among the minister, the MLA and the MLC, the minister directed the DC to find a temporary solution for the problem within the framework of the law.



Earlier, the DC said work order to extract sand and transport it to stockyard of PWD stock yard has been issued to five blocks. Once the contractors transport sand to the stockyard, the sand will be available for the public.



A sand block at Arkula in Mangaluru has been earmarked for the city corporation to utilise it for the development works while another block at Uppinangady has been allotted to zilla panchayat to ensure that development works are not affected. A short tender has been invited for the remaining 29 sand blocks. The last date for submitting tender is March 23, he added.



The minister said the officials should ensure that there is no water shortage in the district. The Taluk Task Force should convene a meeting and make a list of areas facing acute shortage of water. The deputy commissioner should take measure to solve the crisis, he said.



Zilla panchayat CEO P I Sreevidya said contingency plan has been prepared to overcome water crisis in taluks. The deputy commissioner said there is no shortage of funds for the works related to water supply.



Rai directed the officials to suspend the title deeds of beneficiaries who have failed to reside on the land sanctioned by the government after two years of sanctioning. After one week of issuing notice to the beneficiary, the title deeds can be suspended and the land can be granted to other beneficiary, he added.



Additional DC Kumar said a total of 54,393 applications have been received under 94C of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act to regularise the encroached government land. Around 7,837 applications have been cleared. Tahsildars have been directed to clear the applications by visiting each gram panchayat, he said.
Condemning the murder of BJP worker Kyathamaranahalli Raju in Mysuru, members of BJP district unit, staged a protest in Mandya on Monday.





Protesters blocked the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway for a while, disrupting vehicular traffic. They claimed that the murder of a person in the Chief Ministers home district was a great insult to him and mirrors the poor law and order situation in the State.



They demanded the arrest of the accused immediately and submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Dr Ajay Nagabushan, in this regard.



Chamarajanagar



Members of RSS and Hindu Jagarana Vedike staged a protest against the murder of BJP member Raju, in Chamarajanagar on Monday. The protest march, which began from Chikkangadi Beedi reached Santhemarahalli Circle, where the agitators formed a human chain.



They torched used tyres and blocked the road for a while, raising slogans against the State government. The agitators claimed, from the day Siddaramaiah-led government came to power, Hindu leaders and activists were being targeted.



The government has failed in cracking murder cases. The accused should be arrested and punished. The case should be handed over to the CBI and the authorities concerned should take measures to avert such incidents in future, they demanded.
Member of Parliament from Mysuru and Kodagu Prathap Simha, on Monday, said, the State government and district administration should be held responsible for the murder of Raju, near a tea shop on MG Road in Udayagiri by three bike-borne assailants, on Sunday evening.





After a meeting with Deputy Commissioner C Shikha and City Police Commissioner B Dayananda at the Deputy Commissioners office, here, Simha said, a disputed madrasa claimed the life of Raju.



According to Simha, Muslims in Kyathamaranahalli have illegally built a madrasa on a disputed land, which is located next to Rajus house. Raju had been fighting legally to stop it. To take revenge, Raju has been murdered.



The dispute exists since 2009 and four persons have been killed for the same issue, he added.



After the Congress party came to power in Karnataka, the State is competing with Kashmir, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh in terms of violence. In the recent past, three pro-Hindu activists, including Raju, have been killed. Others are  Praveen Poojary in Moodabidri in Dakshina Kannada and Kuttappa in Kodagu, Simha added.



Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is protecting the culprits. Law and order has completely collapsed in the State because of the chief minister. Siddaramaiah is the chief minister for Ahinda and not of the State. But, he must understand that he is responsible for the welfare of all the people, he said.



The MP alleged, a majority of the people creating violence in the State belong to Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).



After the Congress came to power, the government has withdrawn cases that were booked against 1,500 SDPI members for causing violence, he said.



Three demands



BJP State unit General Secretary C T Ravi placed three demands before the district administration. He demanded the arrest of the assailants immediately, Rs 25 lakh compensation for Rajus family and a solution to the land issue.



Even though the murder was brutal and created panic among Mysureans and the family members of Raju, no minister or Congress MLA is bothered to respond. None visited the family members. The land issue emerged in 2009 and four persons have been killed over it due to the negligence of the District Administration, Ravi said.



Earlier, Simha and Ravi visited the family members of Raju and consoled them.
Bengaluru-based Healthcare Global Enterprises (HCG) has announced its entry into the capital markets with an IPO from March 16-18, with a price band of Rs 205-218.





The offer includes 1.16 crore equity shares on sale and an offer for sale up to 1.82 crore shares by its existing shareholders, including Azim Premjis investment vehicle PIOF.



The company stands to generate Rs 650 crore, out of which, Rs 400 crore will be from secondary sale. It will utilise the funds to reduce its bank debt, to the tune of Rs 170 crore, while the remaining will be invested in the purchase of medical equipment, IT and software services.



A specialist in oncology, HCG has 14 comprehensive cancer centres across India, with an additional 12 centres coming up. With our track record of technology optimisation and good outcomes, our vision is to provide high quality care across the country, said Dr Ajai Kumar, Chairman, HCG Enterprises.



Over the last two months, HCG has introduced robotic surgery and tomotherapy H series (a therapy which allows online imaging as the patient is being treated) in its practices. As we move forward, we will scale these, he said.



With an estimated 2.5 million cancer patients in India, HCG offers treatment to 37,000 new cancer patients every year, and is set to ramp it up to 1 lakh as the additional centres are launched. With 26 centres offering new opportunities, while generating significant cash flow, we plan to expand into Africa with centres in Nairobi (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), he said.



Big on medical tourism, the Bengaluru centre claims that 20% of its revenue are from international patients, hailing mainly from Africa and the Middle East, he added.
The Bengaluru police will create a database of 24,000-odd foreigners registered with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to ensure their safety.





Police Commissioner N S Megharikh issued an order on Monday, directing owners of dwelling places, residential houses and persons managing paying guest (PG) accommodations, serviced apartments, hostels belonging to educational and other such institutions and hotels to submit details of foreigners staying on long-term visa and having residential permits.



The details should be submitted to jurisdictional police station within 15 days of renting the place or commencement of stay. Megharikh said the order was issued to ensure the safety and security of local residents as well as foreign nationals, maintain law and order and prevent illegal stay of foreigners.



He warned property owners against allowing foreigners other than those whose details they submit to the police. He has also directed them to provide details of new residents and departure of existing residents to the jurisdictional police station within 15 days.



Educational institutions and employers of foreign nationals must ensure that visa conditions are not violated and that foreign nationals with long-term visa are registered with the FRRO before they are enrolled or employed.
A BCom student was killed on the spot when he crashed his motorbike into a wall near Mount Carmel College in Vasanthanagar on Sunday night. The deceased was identified as Syed Sameer, 19, a resident of Cox Town.





According to the police, the accident took place at around 10.30 pm when Sameer, out on a jolly ride, was returning home on his motorbike. He was not wearing a helmet and was speeding.



He lost control of the bike near the Palace Grounds gate and rammed it into the wall. He was tossed up in the air and suffered severe head injuries, said the jurisdictional High Grounds traffic police.



A few local residents rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. The body was handed over to his parents after postmortem at the Bowring Hospital.



Woman crushed



A 51-year-old contract labour was killed after a BMTC bus ran over her at Shivajinagar bus stand on Monday morning. The accident took place at around 6.40 am, when Sarojamma, a resident of RNS Palya in RT Nagar, was sweeping the floor at a platform. The driver did not notice her and reversed the bus.



She came under its rear wheel and suffered grievous injuries. She was rushed to Bowring Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. The Shivajinagar traffic police have detained the driver and seized the bus.



Tanker driver killed



A water tanker driver died on the spot after the vehicle overturned on Hennur Cross Road, the Banaswadi traffic police said.



The accident occurred at around 4.45 am on Monday, when Manohar, 22, was driving the tanker towards Banaswadi at breakneck speed, said the police. He lost control of the vehicle and rammed it into the road median, causing it to turn upside down. He suffered severe injuries and died instantaneously.



Manohar, a native of Shivamogga, had moved to the City a few years ago to earn a living, said the police.
Water Resources Minister M B Patil on Monday said the government was exploring the possibility of pumping Sharavathi river water into Bengaluru to meet the demand for drinking water in the City.





Speaking to reporters, he said an expert committee constituted for implementing the Yettinahole drinking water project was also looking into the possibility of pumping water from Linganamakki reservoir built across Sharavathi river to Bengaluru.



The government can supply Sharavathi water to many parched districts of the State. The H N Thyaga-raja Committee, which has already submitted a report to the government on tapping the Sharavathi river source, has said that up to 10 tmc ft of the river water could be utilised for Bengaluru, he added.



The government will soon submit a preliminary report on the proposed Mekedatu drinking water project to the Central Water Commission, seeking it permission to take up the project. A feasibility report will be prepared after obtaining the permission, he said.
Five people were killed in lightning strike after heavy rain lashed parts of Uttar Pradesh, damaging standing crops and disrupting normal life. Several parts in the neighbouring state of Bihar received light to moderate rainfall.





In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll in the rain-related incidents went up to 10. According to reports, rain and hailstorm lashed Mirzapur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Chandauli, Allahabad and some other districts in the eastern region. The rain, which was accompanied by strong winds, damaged standing wheat, mustard and cereal crops.



Alert in Bihar



The Met Department has issued alert for a possible hailstorm and squall, followed by rainfall, in northeastern part of Bihar particularly in Purnia, Katihar, Araria and Kishanganj.
Veteran NCP leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal was arrested on Monday night by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case.





The development comes at a time when the Budget session of Maharashtra Legislature is underway.



On Tuesday, the NCP would be raising the issue in both the houses of the Legislature, even as Bhujbal would be produced before a local court by the ED. A veteran OBC leader, 68-year-old Bhujbal was grilled by the ED earlier in the day.



Bhujbals nephew and former Nashik MP Sameer Bhujbal was arrested by the ED on February 1 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sameer is currently in judicial custody.



His son and MLA Pankaj Bhujbal, too, was questioned. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered an FIR against the Bhujbals. The Bombay High Court is monitoring the probe.



Case under PMLA



On June 17, 2015, the ED had filed two Enforcement Case Investigation Reports (ECIRs) under the stringent PMLA against Bhujbal, his son and nephew for money laundering.



This was after the ACB searched 26 properties belonging to Bhujbal as part of its investigations into irregularities in the award of a contract running into several crores for three projects in 2006 when Bhujbal was the public works minister.



The contract which was given to M/s Chamankar Developers included construction of Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, a new Regional Transport Office building in Andheri and a state guest house at High Mount, Malabar Hill, Mumbai.
India is set to hit out at Pakistan in the upcoming Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Foreign Ministers meeting at Pokhara in Nepal on March 17 for playing spoilsport in the south Asian nations pursuit for regional connectivity.





External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is set to represent India at the 37th session of the Saarc Council of Ministers. Swaraj is likely to convey New Delhis disappointment over Islamabads continued resistance to road and rail connectivity initiatives within the Saarc.



We expect these meetings to afford us an opportunity for a comprehensive review of decisions that have been taken across all Saarc forums over the past year-and-a-half. Our focus would be not only to take stock of these situations, but also to work out the way forward on priority issues where a coordinated approach is necessary, Vikas Swarup, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi.

We also hope to review the state of play on agreements that were close to finalisation at the last Summit but could not be concluded, he said.



The Saarc leaders were close to ink three pacts during the 18th summit of the eight-nation bloc in Kathmandu in November 2014  a Framework Agreement for Energy (Electricity) Cooperation, a Regional Railways Agreement and a Motor Vehicle Agreement for Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic.



But only the pact on energy cooperation could be signed as Pakistan Prime Minister M Nawaz Sharif maintained that his government had not yet completed internal procedure for inking the agreements for cross-border movement of trains and motor vehicles.



If signed by all the eight countries, the Saarc Motor Vehicle Agreement for Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic and the Saarc Regional Railways Agreement would have made it possible for vehicles and trains  both passengers and cargo  to move from one country to another within the Saarc region without any hassle.



Officials told Deccan Herald that New Delhi would also bring to the attention of the Saarc community how Islamabad had been persistently denying Afghanistan transit through Pakistan to India and other South Asian markets.



The Afghan-Pakistan Transit and Trade Agreement came into force between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan on June 12, 2011.
The Supreme Court on Monday gave three weeks time to Pondicherry University Vice-Chancellor Chandra Krishnamurthy to respond to a show cause notice issued by the President for committing alleged academic fraud and holding a fake DLitt degree.





Hearing a plea challenging a Madras High Court order upholding the notice, a three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice T S Thakur told her, You are an academician and it is a matter of prestige for you but your job is still the pleasure of the President.



The high court further said that if the President thought the charges were grave, he was empowered to dismiss her.



Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran said the Presidents notice in August, 2015 was without jurisdiction. The notice was issued after a UGC fact finding inquiry that held her guilty of plagiarism and misrepresentation.



Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi opposed his contention, arguing that the power to appoint vested with the President who had the power to suspend or dismiss the V-C.



He claimed the compulsory wait order against her was passed on the basis of a thorough inquiry and relevant materials, including the report of the state government.



Three weeks



The court granted Krishnamurthy three weeks more to respond to the show cause notice and asked her to explain the charges.



Students and teachers at the Varsity resorted to agitation, forcing UGC to institute an inquiry against her. It was later found that the then V-C had authored only one book against the claim of three in her curriculum vitae and that she lied about guiding nine PhD students and receiving four research projects.
Jat leaders on Monday submitted memoranda to deputy commissioners in all districts of Haryana, threatening to resume agitation in the next 72-hours if the government fails to withdraw cases filed by the police against Jat protesters during the recent quota agitation.





The announcement comes weeks after Haryana witnessed an unprecedented spate of violence and arson during the agitation in several parts of the state. The government now has time till March 18 to respond.



Jat leaders have also warned the government against any dilution in the quota being demanded by the community. The developments unfold at a time when the state Assembly got underway on Monday. A bill that will provide reservation to Jats will be tabled in the Assembly.



A section among the Jat organisations have also asked the government to accord martyr status to those who were killed in violent clashes with security agencies during the agitation. A government job and hefty compensation for their kin is being sought.



Jats on Monday threatened to block railway lines and roadways. Many of them have described the next round of agitation, if at all it resumes, as a do-or-die battle to secure their claim. Representatives of the community feel many of the agitators have been falsely booked by the police.
Beleaguered industrialist Vijay Mallya on Monday appeared to distance himself from an interview that quoted him as having said that time was not right to return to the country.





Shocked to see media statements that I gave an interview to Sunday Guardian without verification. I have not given any statement to anyone, Mallya tweeted on Monday.



The Sunday Guardian quoted Mallya as having said in an email interview: I am an Indian to the core. Of course I want to return. But I am not sure Ill get a fair chance to present my side. Ive already been branded as criminal. I do not feel the time is right.



Mallya, however, did not respond to repeated email queries from PTI as also to the messages sent to his phone.



Later, a journalist from The Sunday Guardian tweeted: We stand by the Vijay Mallya interview in the @SundayGuardian and we will be putting up the email trail that culminated in his interview.



On Sunday, Mallya had tweeted: I am being hunted down by media in the UK. I will not speak to media so dont waste your efforts. In a related development, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Monday referred Mallya issue to the Ethics Committee.



Mallyas term as a member of the Upper House expires on June 30 and the committee will have to walk the extra mile to investigate whether he could be faulted for violating the moral and ethical conduct as a member.

We cannot do anything once Mallya ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha, a committee member said.



Committee chairman Karan Singh said the issue was referred to the panel by Ansari on Monday and since they had a meeting scheduled on Monday, they have taken cognisance of the matter. We will proceed as per the rules of the committee, Singh told reporters.



Mallya, who has business interests in diverse sectors such as aviation, real estate, liquor and sports, is also a member of the Standing Committee on Commerce. We will also examine whether there was a conflict on interest involved, a member of the Ethics Committee said.



However, he admitted that Mallya may walk out without any action as the committee will have to prepare a report before June 30.



If a member is found to have indulged in unethical behaviour, the committee can censure him, reprimand him or suspend him from the House for a specific period.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat police on Monday captured a disciple of self-styled god-man Asaram Bapu in connection with series of attacks on the witnesses in multiple rape and murder cases involving Asaram and his son Narayan Sai.





Police sources said that they had arrested 24-year-old Kartik Haldar from near Raipur city in Chhattisgarh.



According to police, Haldar, a resident of 24 Parganas in West Bengal, was involved in as many as seven cases of attack including murders of three witnesses against Asaram-Sai duo  Amrut Prajapati, Akhil Gupta and Krupal, apart from four other such cases where he attempted to attack the witnesses.



Asaram is lodged in Jodhpur jail for rape case and his son Narayan Sai is lodged in Lajpore jail of Surat in multiple crime cases.
The temporary structure sprawled over 100 acres along Yamuna floodplain wore a deserted look a day after the three-day Art Of Living cultural gala. The very sight of it was enough to exhaust those trusted with the task of dismantling the massive structure.





On Monday, Armymen were busy removing the pontoon bridges they laid just a few days ago over the now reeking Yamuna. It will take four days to remove them, a soldier said, pointing out that the structures are easy to put up but difficult to break.



For days, the government had come under fire from various quarters for deploying the army for what was essentially a private event. Abdul Rehman, employed by Sri Sri Ravishankars Art Of Living Foundation, said only the Army is allowed to touch the bridges.



We are here to remove only the scaffolding and other structures, he said, adding that it would be more than a week before the make-shift venue is dismantled completely. The three-day event at the ecologically fragile Yamuna floodplains was mired in controversy over violation of green norms, after which President Pranab Mukherjee pulled out of the closing ceremony.



The place appeared massively littered with wrappers and paper strips lying all around, especially near the temporary stage. An employee of BGV Company, outsourced to clean up the place, said the company drafted in 50 people for the task.



But only a handful of the company employees were seen picking the waste at a snail pace on Monday. Asked about the danger of garbage falling into Yamunas streams, the employee shrugged his shoulders saying: Lot of garbage goes into the river any way.
The Union Home Ministry on Monday set up a one-man committee of Additional Secretary B K Prasad to investigate the missing of at least four files related to fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan.





Prasad would find out who was person responsible for the upkeep of the records related to the case as well as inquire into circumstances that led to the disappearance of the files from the ministry, official sources said.



There are at least four sets of files that are missing from the ministry. This include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the Attorney-General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009, the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the A-G on which changes were made, two letters written by the then Home Secretary G K Pillai to the then Attorney-General late G E Vahanvati the copy of the draft affidavit.



Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself had in the Lok Sabha admitted to the disappearance of these files, which could throw light into what led to the changes in contradicting affidavits filed in courts during the UPA regime. While the first affidavit spoke of Ishrat as a terrorist, the second one had no such mention and sought to correct that impression.



The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau while the second affidavit is claimed to have been drafted by the then home minister P Chidambaram.



The issue became a controversy recently after the then home secretary G K Pillai claimed that Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit was filed. On his part, Chidambaram said Pillai is equally responsible for the change in affidavit.



Singh as well as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said in Parliament that the UPA regime changed the affidavit in a bid to frame Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat that time.



Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004 with the Gujarat Police saying that they landed in Gujarat to kill Modi.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani on Monday supported the presence of Chinese troops in PoK, saying they have no reason to oppose it as it was part of a business deal between Pakistan and China.





The presence of Chinese army in Azad Kashmir Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) is under a mutual agreement between Pakistan and China and it is part of the Pak-China economic corridor process and pro-freedom people have no reason to oppose this move, a spokesman of the separatist conglomerate said in a statement.



He claimed that China is a strong supporter of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people so it is in no way fair to compare Chinese army with such a cruel and oppressive occupational forces of India who are carrying out genocide of the Kashmiri people in a planned manner since last 68 years.



Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah on Sunday questioned the silence of separatist leaders over the presence of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops across the Line of Control (LoC) in PoK.



How is it that Kashmiri leaders who have so much to say about Indian troops in J&K have nothing to say about Chinese troops across the LoC? Omar wrote on Twitter.



Calling Omars statement as half truth, immature and meaningless, the Hurriyat spokesman said: China has not attacked and forcibly occupied the Pakistan administered Kashmir.



Omar Abdullah has no moral justification to criticise the pro-freedom people because he accepts the Indian forced occupation in Kashmir and is providing a certificate to their illegal control. How can you lecture people to do such things over which you yourself do not act? It is hypocrisy and it cannot be the way of a principled man, he added.
The Centre is waiting for the expert committees report to decide on releasing funds to Karnataka for providing relief to farmers who have lost rabi crops due to dry and warm winter.





During a meeting with Revenue Minister V Srinivasa Prasad and Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh promised them that the Centre is keen to release funds.



The Central committee, headed by Agriculture Ministry Joint Secretary Dinesh Kumar, had visited the state to assess the crop loss recently and is yet to submit the report to the government.



After the meeting, Prasad told reporters that the minister promised to release funds at the earliest. The State, in its memo to the Centre, said crops worth Rs 6,733 crore were lost.



Agriculture crops spread over 22 lakh hectares, covering 12 districts of the State, were damaged, according to the memorandum. Winter crop mainly - jowar, sunflower, chickpea and linseed - suffered heavy loss while wheat, cotton and rice were partially affected. As rabi crops depend on moisture, Karnataka witnessed warm and dry weather this year, said an official from the Ministry of Agriculture.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz will meet on the sidelines of the Saarc meet at Pokhara in Nepal next Wednesday.





Sushma will attend the 37th session of the Saarc Council of Ministers at Pokhara on Wednesday. Aziz, foreign affairs advisor of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will also attend the conclave.



The meeting between Swaraj and Aziz on the sidelines may end the impasse over India-Pakistan ties following the January 1-4 terror attack on Indian Air Force base at Pathankot, sources said in New Delhi.



Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart A A Chaudhry will also attend the 42nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Saarc in Pokhara on Tuesday  just a day before the conclave of the foreign ministers. It is, however, still not clear if Jaishankar and Chaudhry will also have a separate bilateral meeting on the sidelines.



The foreign secretaries of the two nations were to meet in Islamabad on January 15 to decide the modalities and schedule of the bilateral dialogue. Sushma and Aziz had on December 9 agreed to restart the dialogue after a two-year-long hiatus.



Jaishankar and Chaudhry, however, mutually agreed to postpone the meeting after a group of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists crossed over from Pakistan to India and carried out the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot. The postponement also deferred formal resumption of the bilateral dialogue between the two nations.



According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Pakistan government on Monday, Aziz will meet Swaraj in Pokhara and extend Sharifs formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the blocs 19th summit set to be held in Islamabad in November this year. He will also meet foreign ministers of all other Saarc member nations and extend the invitation to the respective heads of state.
The State BJP on Monday condemned the murder of party activist Raju in Mysuru and demanded that the State government immediately arrest those involved in the incident.



Addressing reporters here in Bengaluru, BJP State spokesperson Ashwathnarayana said members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) could be involved in the murder. The Congress government has been going soft on PFI members in order to appease a particular community. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should take the responsibility for the incident, he added.



Incidents of attack against the BJP activitists are increasing ever since the Congress came to power in Karnataka. The government has refused to withdraw cases booked against farmers but it has voluntarily withdrawn cases against PFI activists, he charged.



The BJP also demanded that the government announce a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family members of the deceased BJP activist.



Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa said the BJP leaders would meet in Bengaluru on Tuesday to decide their next step of action.



In a press release, PFI secretary Shafi Ballare stated that the BJP was unnecessarily linking his organisation with the Mysuru incident. This is BJPs ploy to mislead the ongoing investigation into the incident, he said.

Siddaramaiah calls for peace



Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday appealed to the people to maintain peace and said that those behind the murder of a BJP activist in Mysuru would be nabbed soon. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said he had directed DG&IGP Om Prakash and Mysuru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda to take steps to ensure law and order in the city. He also appealed to the people not to be swayed by rumours.


The government will set up a commissionerate for hassle-free administration of the 10 city corporations in the State, Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake said.





Addressing media persons here on Monday, he said the government had taken the decision based on the recommendations made by a panel headed by retired IAS officer Jyothirlingam.



Presently, all the files of urban local bodies are being sent to the Directorate of Municipal Administration for approval, in a way burdening them with work. In order to ease the workload, the government will set up a commissionerate, he said.



The minister said the government had decided to increase the salary of civic workers from Rs 12,000 to Rs 13,000 on the lines of the Haryana government. There are around 8,000 permanent civic workers and as many contract workers in the State.



He said the government had decided to abolish the contract system phase-wise. The deputy commissioners have been directed to recruit D group workers and the government has already issued a notification to fill around 1,300 vacant posts under the A, B and C groups. Sorake said grants worth around Rs 2,000 crore released under various schemes, including Nagarothana, since 2010-11, were not utilised due to some technical problems.



So, the government has directed the deputy commissioners to utilise the funds for other works such as skills training programme, distribution of scholarships, he said.



He said he would request the chief minister to hike the honorarium for corporators, councillors and members of town panchayats and town municipal councils.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria, voicing hope that the move will contribute to the success of Syria peace talks that began today.





Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries, the president said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.



"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," Putin said.



He didn't specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. He emphasized that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.



The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on today, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.



Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."



The Russian- and US-brokered cease-fire that began on February 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations.



The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire.



Putin said today's move would send a "good signal" to the parties to the conflict, help raise trust and help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad.



Putin added that the Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the Russian- and US-brokered cease-fire.



Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy, in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year tomorrow.



At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.



The Geneva talks come as the truce helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas" - zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.
8 March 2016 (Global Footprint Network)  Global Footprint Network launches its 2016 edition of the National Footprint Accounts today, featuring a refined carbon Footprint calculation. The updated calculation has revealed that the global carbon Footprint is 16 percent higher than previously calculated, with a consequent 8 percent increase in the global Ecological Footprint. The carbon Footprint makes up 60 percent of the worlds Ecological Footprint. We are happy to make the National Footprint Accounts available in a free downloadable version for research, education and non-commercial purposes (scroll down for more details). An interactive map and country rankings based on the National Footprint Accounts 2016 are available at www.footprintnetwork.org/maps. Watch a video explaining the National Footprint Accounts here. If you are interested in attending a webinar on the Footprint Accounts, please email media@footprintnetwork.org. The annual maintenance of the National Footprint Accounts involves incorporating the most recent data (2012) from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Comtrade database, the International Energy Agency (IEA), and other sources.

Carbon Update

As mentioned above, we have made a number of improvements to the accounting methodology this year. The most influential is the new calculation of Average Forest Carbon Sequestration (AFCS) value  which is the long-term capacity for one hectare of world-average forest ecosystem to sequester carbon dioxide. By including new data sources and accounting for multiple forest categories, global wildfires, and forest ecosystem emissions from soil and harvested wood products, forests were found to provide less net-sequestration of carbon than previously calculated. The Ecological Footprints of countries are impacted by the new methodology. The higher a countrys carbon Footprint as a percentage of its overall Ecological Footprint, the bigger the increase in its Footprint compared to last years edition. For instance, Oman, whose carbon Footprint makes up a whopping 77 percent of its Ecological Footprint, has jumped up over 20 places in the ranking of countries that demand more than their own ecosystems can renew. (Oman is now one of the top 15 countries by ecological deficit.) On the other hand, Ethiopia, whose carbon Footprint is a mere 7 percent of its Ecological Footprint, fell 16 slots down the same ranking. The robust carbon Footprint calculations are especially timely in light of the historic Paris Agreement signed in December 2015 by 195 nations and the European Union. The adopted goal of restricting average temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels translates into a specific upper carbon budget for all future emissions of 800 gigatonnes CO2. The Paris Agreement also shifts the focus to net emissions of countries, recognizing the importance of land-use choices for carbon sequestration. In this context, Ecological Footprint accounts  which measure both emissions on the demand side and the supply of sequestration on the biocapacity side  provide a natural framework to evaluate net emissions by countries and the interaction between competing demands on a countrys land. Beyond carbon, looking at the world through the prism of the Ecological Footprint makes for interesting insights, revealing long-term trends and impacts regarding countries ecological wealth, economic health and population growth. Here are a few highlights: PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) have been registering a steady decline of their Ecological Footprint per capita since the mid-2000s. By contrast, strong European economies like Germany and France have seen a rebound of their Ecological Footprint per capita since the 2008 financial crisis. What would it take for the PIGS countries to strengthen their economy AND reduce their Ecological Footprint?
Bangalore -- March 14, ,2016 - elitePLUS semiconductor Technologies, today released a fully functional 400G PCS VIP, which is verified against an IP supplied by one of the major Ethernet System Supplier. The 400G VIP is fully compliant to the latest IEEE 802.3bs specification and is written in System Verilog and UVM1.x methodology standards. The ELITE_PCS_400G VIP is packaged with source code, compliance test Cases, functional coverage and many features.

ELITE_PCS_400G Verification IP provides a smart and effective way to verify PCS Features with 400G Speed features. The Verification IP is fully compliant with the latest PCS and Ethernet standard specifications and provides the following features.

Some of the feature highlights:

VIP support and configuration:

IEEE 802.3bs 400Gbps Ethernet compliant.

Configurable SERDES bus width.

FEC Encoder/Decoder (RS)  New architecture.

Protocol checker.

Coverage.

VIP controls:

64B/66B Encoder Error insertion.

Transcode Error insertion.

Scrambler bypass support.

Parameterized AM values.

Parameterized AM repetition.

FEC error insertion (Controlled and Random).

Skew insertion.

Configurable SERDES bus width. Gearbox width 40 & 64 bit.

About elitePLUS

elitePLUS Semiconductor Technologies is an IP and Design services company established in 2014, with technical expertise in providing high quality and dependable services in Digital, Analog and Mixed Signal areas.

We offer a spectrum of design and verification services, which includes defining specification, logic partitioning, micro-architecture, RTL coding, synthesis, developing custom and standard VIPs and verification environment development using both traditional and advanced techniques.

Our ace team of engineers and consultants are skilled across a wide range of the most powerful modern tools, technologies and methods. We are experienced professionals in making best practices fit into existing flow and have to our credit several FIRST-PASS Silicon successes.






Hsinchu, Taiwan, March 14th, 2016 M31 Technology Corporation, a leading silicon intellectual property (IP) provider, announced today its release of TSMC's 28HPC+ ULL SRAM Compilers for the Intelligent Device Market. These IP cores will enable designers to realize the features and benefits of a low power, high performance, and cost effective SoC design.

Hsiao-Ping Lin, Chairman and CEO of M31, says M31 has developed various IP solutions on TSMC 28HPC+ process. Among these IP products, TSMCs 28HPC+ ULL (Ultra Low Leakage) SRAM Compilers feature one of the lowest power characteristics in the market. The new M31 IP technology with its "Green Low Power" design approach, available in the first quarter of 2016, is a complete set of solutions for advanced low-power SoC designs.

"28HPC+ enhances the very successful 28HPC process, said Suk Lee, TSMC senior director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. With the 28HPC+ process, customer SoCs can operate at a higher speed with the same power consumption, or with lower leakage at the same operating speed. The combination of the TSMC 28HPC+ leading process and M31 IP enable customers to realize the benefits of performance and power in developing their cutting-edge products."

M31 28HPC+ IP solutions include a complete set of Green Low Power memory compilers, which are One Port Register File, Two Port Register File, High Density Single Port SRAM Compiler, High Density Dual Port SRAM Compiler, and High Density VIA ROM Compiler. All M31 28HPC+ memory compilers are fully featured, supporting multiple power saving modes. Based on the design requirements, a designer is able to choose the most optimized power-saving mode to compile a memory, for the purpose of long battery life of the mobile device.

In addition, there are two design kits available, Low Power Optimization Kit and Power Management Kit to further maximize designs for high speed and low power. These power-saving methodologies are applicable to all of the following cell libraries: High Density 7-Track Library, General Purpose 9-Track Library, and Ultra-High Speed 12-Track Library.

Furthermore, M31 also develops differentiated high speed interface IP solutions on 28HPC+ process for other applications. These IP are USB PHY for USB applications, PCIe PHY for Solid-State Drive (SSD) market, MIPI D-PHY for mobile devices, and MIPI M-PHY for Universal Flash Storage (UFS) applications. Such IP can solve the needs of interoperability in various types of mainstream intelligence devices.

With M31s various IP on TSMCs 28HPC+ process, these solutions enable chip designers to implement lower power, higher performance, and smaller die area for intelligent devices in the applications of mobile audio/video, smart autonomous vehicles/airplanes, automotive electronics, and global positioning systems, among others.

ABOUT M31 TECHNOLOGY

M31 Technology Corporation is a professional silicon intellectual property (IP) provider. The company was founded in July, 2011 with its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan. M31s strength is in R&D and customer service. With substantial experiences in IP development, IC design and electronic design automation fields, M31 focuses on providing high-speed interface IP, memory compilers and standard cell library solutions. For more information please visit www.m31tech.com






Sonys new R&D lab has come up with two new concepts, one of which can be used to interact with physical books.

Sony has formed a new R&D facility called the Future Lab, and is showcasing some cool new prototypes at SXSW (South by Southwest) conference in the USA. Out of the various ideas that the company is showcasing at the event, two products are catching a lot of attention. One is a prototype projector that can make any tabletop into a touch-sensitive surface for augmented reality, and the second is a new neckband that can play audio unidirectionally upward to increase incident audio towards the ear.

The prototype projector, aka "Interactive Tabletop", uses multiple motion tracking and depth-gauging sensors to catch user input, and let the user interact with objects kept on the table by using augmented projection. This prototype is somewhat similar to Sony's Xperia Projector concept that was unveiled at MWC 2016, and also Lenovo's similar prototype shown some time back. Unlike the other two, this prototype can interact with physical objects kept within the projection area. As reported by The Verge, Sony demonstrated the projector with Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland, where illustrations from the book were projected on to the table's surface through gesture commands. This concept technology can have a range of applications, from education to product designing. Sony has not revealed any details about when this concept will go into production.

Sony's prototype projector turns any tabletop into a touch-sensitive display https://t.co/fmfrzN7R6F pic.twitter.com/VzZflgU8YZ  The Verge (@verge) March 13, 2016

The other prototype technology is the new neckband, codenamed "Concept N". It features small, built-in speakers that fire upwards and unidirectionally, so that the user can hear audio better, but nearby people need not. This is bundled with a pair of open-ear headphones that use bone conduction technology, the same that Google used in Google Glass. The Bluetooth-enabled neckband can respond to voice commands and fetch information from Sony's partners such as Yelp, Accuweather and Strava. It also has built-in GPS and an 8MP camera hidden on the right, which only reveals itself when given the command, "Listen up Arc, take a picture".
Xiaomi co-founder and President, Lin Bin also said that the company plans on focusing more on India as he feels that Chinas market may be flat this year

Xiaomi plans to set up two manufacturing plants in India. According to a report by Economic Times, Xiaomi co-founder and President Bin Lin said, We talked to Foxconn about opening two new factories, they're in discussions with some of the provinces (states). Meanwhile, Xiaomis India Head, Manu Jain has said that the company is trying to get at least one of them up and running within this year. Xiaomi is currently manufacturing in India out of Foxconns plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Lin also told Economic Times that the company will be focusing more on India and plans to manufacture mobile peripherals and components in the country. He believes that Chinas market will be flat this year and may even decline, while the Indian market may rise. In addition, he said that Xiaomis new flagship smartphone, the Mi 5 will not be made in India initially and that the price of the device could be between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 27,000 based on the prices in China. During the launch of the Redmi Note 3 earlier this month, Xiaomi Vice President, Hugo Barra had said that the Mi 5 will be available in India from April.
Insurer Admiral was under the cosh on Monday following downgrades from HSBC and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Admiral to underperform from neutral as it took a look at the UK non-life insurance sector.

It said Admirals valuation has reached levels the bank genuinely struggles to justify, now trading at 18.1x forward earnings.

We look at Admirals valuation in a number of different ways  relative to peers, relative to history, analysing the various different earnings streams  and all of them suggest to us the stock is overvalued, said BofA Merrill.

The bank highlighted that its decision to downgrade does not reflect a negative view on the quality of the company.

Indeed, it is consistent with our ratings on other high quality businesses which we think are overvalued, e.g. Hiscox.

Merrill maintained its buy rating on RSA Insurance, saying the level of its conviction in the recommendation is higher after the companys full year update.

We see an even better trajectory on underlying earnings than we had expected, a better solvency ratio, and we think the market has yet to reward the company with an upward rerating.

The bank kept its neutral rating on Direct Line Group, saying the stocks multiple was broadly fair, the cost-cutting story is well advanced and capital returns this year are likely to be lower than previously expected.

Still, it said the yield remains attractive at 7% near term. Of the UK non-life companies we cover, it would be our preferred pick for defensive yield.

HSBC downgraded Admiral to hold from buy following the strong share price performance and amid limited upside.

It pointed out that Admiral shares are up 14% year-to-date and have outperformed the FTSE 100 and DJ Stoxx insurance index by 18% and 29% respectively.

Still, it said the fundamentals of the business remain strong, with an attractive total dividend yield of 7% and a strong capital position.

The bank lifted its price target on Admiral to 1,930p from 1,748p.

At 0948 GMT, Admiral shares were down 2.3% to 1,871p.
An expanded package of exceptional measures to support Europe's farmers was unveiled on Monday, including allowing milk producers to limit production to force prices up.

After strenuous requests from France and other countries, European agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan said he would temporarily allow milk producers to adopt their own measures to limit production.

Hogan noted that "a number of member states have requested access to the possibility to enable voluntary agreements of producer organisations, interbranch organisations and cooperatives in relation to production and supply management".

This is the so-called Article 222 from the Common Market Organisation (CMO), which are a component of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) that have never been used before and are meant to be applied only in case of severe imbalance in the market.

The European Commission concluded that "the strict conditions for the application of this article to the dairy sector are fulfilled in the current circumstances" but stressed it was an exceptional measure.

Other proposed measures include doubling the public intervention ceilings for butter and skimmed milk powder (SMP) and extending exceptional measures for fruit and vegetables, which is set to expire on June 30, for another twelve months.

The EC also said it would consider a temporary acceptance of state aid that would allow member states to provide a maximum of 15,000 per farmer per year and no national ceiling would apply. "This can be done immediately and much more quickly than an increase in de minimis ceilings," it said,

The support package, which also has measures designed to help the pigmeat and fruit and vegetable sectors, is being used in tandem with the 500m support package agreed last September.

"In the interest of EU farmers, I am prepared to use all instruments that the legislators have put at our disposal, both as a short term and long term measure. We must use the appropriate instruments and actions to enable farmers to be resilient in the face of volatility whilst providing immediate assistance to them," said Hogan.
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Buckeyes receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to return against Iowa

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has missed most of this season because of a hamstring injury, is available for Saturday's game against Iowa.
Major Nicci S. Rucker is currently serving as the Air Force Element Officer in Charge, 954th Reserve Support Squadron, United States Transportation Command Joint Transportation Reserve Unit, Intelligence, Joint Intelligence Directorate, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.As the Air Force Element Joint Intelligence Officer-in-Charge, she is responsible for time-dominant intelligence in support of the United States Transportation Command Deployment Distribution Operations Center. She also serves as Joint Senior Watch Officer, focusing senior leaders on strategic level threats and impacts to global deployment and distribution operations.A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rucker earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Communication Studies in 2000.She entered active duty February 2001. Graduating from Intelligence Officer training in 2002, she has had a broad range of intelligence assignments ranging from an operational tour in the Republic of Korea, to serving as Distributed Common Ground Station-4 Mission Operations Commander, Deputy Flight Commander, Imagery Operations, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.She deployed in support of ongoing operations in Southwest Asia and Europe as a Geospatial Manager and Executive Officer to the Director of Intelligence for Air Forces Central, and as an Air Mobility Command Senior Intelligence Officer.Ruckers final assignment on active duty was as the chief of Unit Support at AMC Air Intelligence Squadron, Scott AFB. She led a 17-person branch providing 24/7 global threat warning and ISR support to 104 Active/Air National Guard/Reserve AMC units.Rucker separated from active duty in 2011 and joined the reserves later that year.As a civilian from 2011 to 2015 she served as the Threat Working Group Coordinator for AMC, providing force protection and threat mitigation recommendations to 18th Air Force commander.Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Air Intelligence Squadron Civilian of the Year (Cat III), 2012, 2014.
Mammoth demonstrations across Brazil are putting even more pressure on embattled President Dilma Rousseff as she heads into a tough week for her attempt to survive impeachment proceedings in Congress. According to police estimates, a total of 3 million people took to the streets in 200 cities on Sunday calling on the president to resign amid widespread anger over corruption investigations and the worst recession in years. Sometime this week, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings over allegations of fiscal mismanagement. He doesn't have any say on the panel's membership, but on Saturday members of his centrist PMDB party pledged to be more independent from Rousseff's administration. Rousseff, who has said she won't resign, is also under pressure from members of her own Workers' Party, whose leaders want her predecessor and mentor Lula da Silva to intervene by taking a Cabinet post and bringing in others of his choice. Yet Silva is awaiting a decision by a Sao Paulo judge on whether he will be detained on corruption charges. Sunday's protests add to the already-difficult position of Rousseff, who in addition to the impeachment effort is faced with a sprawling investigation by federal prosecutors into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras that has moved closer to her inner circle in recent weeks. In a statement after Sunday's protests, Rousseff said, ''The peaceful character of this Sunday's demonstrations shows the maturity of a country that knows how to co-exist with different opinions and knows how to secure respect to its laws and institutions.'' The biggest demonstration took place in Brazil's economic capital, Sao Paulo, a bastion of simmering dissatisfaction with Rousseff and the Workers' Party. The respected Datafolha polling agency estimated about 500,000 people took part in the demonstration, while police estimated turnout at nearly three times that number. ''There is a situation of ungovernability,'' said Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at Pontifical Catholic University in Sao Paulo. ''The president has few cards.'' Fonseca added, though, that the protests showed a ''generalized discontent with the political system'' without necessarily shoring up any particular opposition party or politician. Crowds in the yellow and green hues of the Brazilian flag brandished signs reading ''Workers' Party out.'' But demonstrators across Brazil stressed that their anger extended well beyond Rousseff and her party, saying the ''Car Wash'' investigation into corruption at Petrobras has compromised the entire political class. ''Of course I want to see Rousseff booted out,'' said Maria de Lima Pimenta, a retired schoolteacher who was at the anti-Rousseff march along Rio's Copacabana Beach. ''But then the problem becomes, who will replace her? They're all crooks.'' Protest organizers also stressed that the movement isn't linked to any opposition political party, and signs endorsing parties were largely absent from the demonstrations. Several top politicians did turn out, including Aecio Neves, the opposition politician who narrowly lost to Rousseff in the 2013 presidential run-off election, and Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin. But both were booed, and like other politicians who ventured out to the demonstrations, they beat a rapid retreat. The uncontested star of the protests was Sergio Moro, the federal judge in charge of the Petrobras case. While demonstrators denounced politicians of all stripes who have been implicated in the scandal, many brandished signs thanking Moro. The Petrobras scandal has ensnarled key figures from Rousseff's party, including Silva, as well as members of opposition parties. Political tensions in Brazil have spiked since earlier this month when Silva was briefly detained by police for questioning as part of the Petrobras probe. Silva's supporters and detractors scuffled in front of his apartment in the Sao Paulo area. On Wednesday, the tension rose again when Silva was hit with money-laundering charges in a separate case. Rousseff said at a Friday news conference that she would not quit, saying it was objectionable to demand the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution. ''If there is no reason to do so, I will not step down,'' she said, calling on journalists at the event in Brasilia to ''at least attest that I don't look like someone who is going to step down.''








Halloween creatures  owls, crows and bats  all live at Crossroads, and that makes us very happy, for these scary animals make a positive contribution to the habitats of the preserve. We don't even mind black cats, IF they are kept indoors. Feral and outdoor cats are exceedingly harmful to wildlife ... and that's not a superstition! But to tamp down superstitions, we at Crossroads will spend the week demystifying Halloween creatures.

On October 28, 2022, at 6 p.m. will be our Evening with Owls. The Open Door Bird Sanctuary will be at Crossroads, offering a one-hour presentation followed by the opportunity to meet and greet live birds. Learn all about owls and the other incredible birds in the care of the Sanctuary!

Down through the centuries, in many cultures throughout the world, owls have been associated with evil and death. Truth is, owls probably are not smart enough to be evil. But researchers agree that owls are about as dim as the nighttime forests in which they hunt.

Owls don't need to be smart. They have everything else going for them. They are muscular. They fly silently. Their huge eyes enable them to see in the dark. Their beaks and talons are strong and wickedly sharp. But their sensitive ears are what make owls extraordinary hunters.

Most people assume that the plumicorns (a.k.a. "horns) of an owl are its ears. Not so.

The actual ears lie under feathers on the sides of the head, and they aren't symmetrical. Because one ear is higher than the other and the ears are unequal in size, sound is different from different directions, helping owls locate prey, which they do almost unfailingly, even in total darkness.

Owls do not smell their prey. As with most birds, the sense of smell is insignificant, if it exists are all. Great Horned Owls frequently prey on skunks. Enough said.

But well-developed intelligence? Researchers have observed owls beating their wings on bushes to try to flush out little birds. Is this learned behavior? Is it problem-solving?

Maybe.

For the most part, owls do not have a lot of problems to solve. They appropriate abandoned nests of other birds, so they don't need building skills. They are stealthy by nature, and they pounce on and usually catch anything they hear, so they don't need hunting techniques.

In spite of ghost stories, legends of American First People, and superstitions from Europe and India, hooting owls do not foretell impending death, although their nocturnal calls are spooky. We hear them now and then this time of year, but we will regularly hear those eerie calls at Crossroads in January or February.

In contrast to owls, crows are noisy all year round and they are amazingly intelligent. They can learn. They can remember. They can solve problems. They can even identify individual humans. And they detest owls, though whether this is innate or learned behavior is not clear.

Those curious about crows will want to attend the Crossroads Book Club on Wednesday, October 26, at 10:00 a.m. This month, the book Crow Planet, Essential Wisdom for the Urban Wilderness by Lyanda Lynn Haupt will explore the fascinating world of these remarkable birds. The program is free and open to all, whether or not they have read the book.

So bring the family to our program on owls, learn about crows at the Crossroads Book Club, or learn about bats at our pre-school Junior Nature Club on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. or our Family Science Saturday program at 2:00 p.m. Costumes are encouraged but not required at Junior Nature Club and Science Saturday, and adult visitors are welcome.
Ronald Moede was born on December 21, 1934, in Rio Creek, WI. The son of the late Fred and Emily (Hanamann) Moede, he married Bonnie Neinas in Brussels on June 4, 1960, and they were married for 62+ years. He was a life-long resident of Rio Creek and was an innovative dairy farmer. He owned and managed a large dairy operation, Meade Manor Farms, which had been homesteaded by his grandfather, August Moede, in 1895. The log cabin home, barn, and herd grew to become one of the larger dairy farms in Kewaunee County under his guidance. Upon his retirement, it evolved into Meade Manor Pet Clinic, a vet service for small animals, but the land continued to flourish and produce. Ron graduated from Casco High School, Class of 1952 and Graham School for Cattlemen, Kansas. He was a member of the Wisconsin Holstein Breeders, Kewaunee County Holstein Breeders, and the National Holstein

Association. He was a charter member of the Algoma FFA Alumni. His family exhibited champion dairy cattle at local, state, and national dairy cattle shows. In 1984, in Madison, the Wisconsin FFA named him Outstanding Farmer and in 1995, he was named and honored at the Wisconsin State Fair as a Century Farmer. He served as an elder in his church for many years as well as a trustee and various committee appointments. In his younger days, he was active in dartball and also high school sports. He received the Algoma Honorary Chapter Farmer Award, and the Unified Board Business Award. In his retirement, he drove school bus for 15 years for the Algoma School District and was a member of the Great Lakes Sports Fishermen. A hobby later enjoyed was his chicken farming. He raised a small flock of chicken, and he enjoyed passing out extra eggs to friends and relatives when the supply was greater than the family could handle. He was an avid sports fan and he and Bonnie attended both Packers Super Bowl games in 1996 and 1997, and also the Milwaukee World Series in 1983. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, both here and in upper Michigan and Minnesota. He even got Bonnie to go along with him to Lake of the Woods on the Canadian border to do some ice fishing. He held Packers season tickets since 1960 and at the time they bought their tickets they were allowed to pick out where they wanted to sit on the sidelines --there were no end zone seats yet-- and the tickets cost $5.00 a piece! He traveled through most of the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii as well as traveling to the Caribbean and Europe. He enjoyed a summer place in Door County for 20 years. He told many stories of farming with his dad and the fact that at the age of 12, he had his own team of horses to work with on the farm. Responsibility came early as he was left in charge whenever it was necessary for his parents to be gone for a few days. He learned to drive a truck at an early age and often drove himself to school in 8th grade and parked the vehicle a few doors down at a relatives. This was because chores need to be done before and after school. The first tractor purchased was in 1937. In his retirement, he had it restored and displayed in local fairs and tractor shows. He would tell of shocking grain and threshing crews traveling from neighbor to neighbor and the wonderful table his mother would set full of food. A vivid memory was the day WWII ended. The whole neighborhood and working crew quit in the early afternoon (unheard of) and celebrated With beer and music! Even the clergy arrived and joined in. It was a day to remember! In his lifetime he went from horses and the depression, to the digital age and unimagined luxuries. There was no electricity and no running water in his youth and now he had wireless phones, computer screens in his vehicles, along with heated steering wheels and heated seats. Who would have thought that back then.

Ron is survived by his wife Bonnie; son Robert (Debbie Harms) Moede; grandson Michael and granddaughter Megan; siblings, Terry (Jane) Moede, Paul (Roxie) Moede; sisters-in-law, Diane Fontaine, Sheila (Don) Baudhuin; and brothers in-law, Dan (Mary) Neinas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Fred and Emily Moede; sister, Marilyn (Arno) Schneider; father- and mother-in-law, Herman and Madeline Neinas, and brother-in-law, Gary Fontaine.

Visitation will be held at Kinnard Funeral & Cremation Services  Algoma, on Friday, October 7, 2022, from 4-7:30 pm with a prayer service at 6:30. Visitation will continue on Saturday, October 8th at St. Johns Lutheran Church  Rankin, from 9-11:00 am. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am with Dr. Rev. Christopher Jackson officiating. Burial to follow in Evergreen Cemetery. Online condolence message may be shared at KinnardFCS.com. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Kewaunee County 4-H Dairy Fund and the Projection Screen Fund at St. Johns- Rankin.
The second of two major repairs necessary for Water World to open this season could be approved by the Dothan City Commission on Tuesday.

The fiberglass triple flume water slides at the Westgate Park attraction have lost their slipperiness due to heavy use over many years and must be resurfaced before the new season begins at the end of April. The estimated cost of the project is $185,750. Cox Pools of Dothan was the sole bidder and has 45 days to complete the projection from the official notification to proceed.

In January, the commission approved $221,000 to re-plaster the Water World wave pool.

Several patchwork repair projects have occurred over the past few years to keep the attraction operational, but the re-plaster of the wave pool and resurfacing of the water slides were considered major projects that had to be done.

The city has spent a considerable amount of money on aquatics recently.

The combined cost of the Water World projects will be more than $400,000. Also in January, the commission approved $175,000 to replace the ruptured liner at the indoor pool at Westgate Park.

The new pool at Andrew Belle Center, which opened briefly last summer, cost $900,000. The city received a $500,000 grant from the Wiregrass Foundation for the project. Also, a new therapeutic pool at Westgate Park will cost about $2.2 million.

Several hundred people attend Water World on most days. Its season runs from the end of April until around Labor Day. The commission recently approved spending $19,000 to advertise the park locally and into the Florida Panhandle. Leisure Services Director Elston Jones said recently that many residents in the northern part of the Panhandle attend Water World instead of traveling south to Panama City because Water World is a better bargain.

Water World does not typically earn a profit and was built in 1980 to enhance the quality of life for area residents. Rain, or the threat of rain, is the primary culprit to high attendance.
dpa ElectionsData

With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc.

The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties.
A detective told a recent court sitting, I dont believe anybody in my experience was so afraid as a young female employee who was caught up in a robbery at a local bookmakers office.

A detective told a recent court sitting, I dont believe anybody in my experience was so afraid as a young female employee who was caught up in a robbery at a local bookmakers office.

Detective Garda James Kilgannon described that the 22 year-old was absolutely terrified when confronted by two raiders wearing balaclavas, one armed with a sledge hammer and the other with a gun at the Blue Diamond office at Barrack Street. He said that she was afraid to return to work on the public counter and worked in a back office.

Dundalk Circuit Court heard that Gardai cordoned off a house in the nearby Mountainview Crescent Estate to where the pair fled and entered without permission and tried to burn clothing.

The Gardai spotted them sitting at a table which they seemed to get up from in a panic, while there was a thick smell of smoke from the chimney. The Gardai forced in a door and found runners and gloves in an open fire. There was a sledge hammer on the kitchen table and the two suspects were upstairs trying to hide in the bathroom.

Gardai also recovered a black plastic drawer with a couple of euro which was taken in the robbery. They recovered 1,960 of the 2,500 taken in the raid, Detective Kilgannon said.

Jason Kearney a 41 year-old father of three with an address at Ashling Park and also at Cedarwood Park, both Dundalk, pleaded guilty to the robbery on March 30th last year.

He was sentenced on Friday to three years jail, with the final 18 months suspended. The sentence was back dated to October last year when the accused went into custody. A co-accused previously received a four year sentence.

Detective Kilgannon told the court that at approximately 5.20pm on the date the then 22 year-old woman was taking bets when two masked men stood in front of her and demanded money. She pressed the panic button.

The raider with the sledge hammer came in behind the counter and lifted two bundles of cash amounting to 1,300 and took 1,200 from the cash register. The accused while this was taking place stood at the door to the side of the counter. He had a gun which he put on the counter when he entered the office.Mr Giolliaosa OLeide SC pleaded that there was a major difference in convictions recorded against the accused and his co-accused who had over 100. His client had three, one for burglary and the other two for public order offences. He had a drink and drug problem but seemed to have made a substantial transformation over the last year and a half and was a model prisoner.
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"We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." - President Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address
The legal battle between Apple and the Department of Justice over access to encrypted iPhone data got a little more personal last week after lawyers for Apple blasted a government filing that accused the company of collaborating with the Chinese government.

The DoJs filing was nothing more than a smear campaign designed to paint a false picture of Apples lack of cooperation in the investigation, as well as its relationship with the Chinese government, and it was based on flimsy sources, Apple attorney Bruce Sewell argued in a conference call with reporters.

In 30 years of practice, I dont think Ive ever seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less intended to focus on the real merits of the case, he told reporters, according to a transcript provided by Apple.

The government for the first time alleged that Apple deliberately made changes to block law enforcement requests for access, Sewell said.

Chinese Democracy

Based on Apples data, the Chinese government demanded information from the company on more than 4,000 iPhones in the first half of 2015, according to the court filing, and Apple produced data in 74 percent of the cases.

Apple made special accommodations to the Chinese government by moving Chinese user data to government servers and installing a different WiFi protocol, called WAPI, for Chinese iPhones, the document states.

The U.S. governments request involves a single iPhone that was used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. It does not involve a broadly ordered compromise of other iPhones in other cases, according to the filing.

The request for access to the encrypted data does not place an undue burden on Apple, the document states, adding that the company would need to provide six to 10 employees for two to four weeks to develop a software solution to help government investigators bypass the built-in encryption.

Apple has more than 100,000 employees and annual income exceeding US$200 billion, the court filing notes.

A hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym is scheduled for March 22.

Can of Worms

Privacy and civil liberties analysts blasted the government filing as a mischaracterization of Apples position and its history of balancing national security interests with its own corporate responsibilities.

Apple has responded to information requests from countries around the world, not just in China, said Eli Dourado, director of the Technology Policy Program at George Mason UniversitysMercatus Center.

Its recent transparency report documented iCloud data requests from 36 different countries, including both the United States and China. If Apple is forced to create a backdoor because of a U.S. court order, it will be forced to do the same for other governments around the world. Other countries have courts too, you know, Dourado told the E-Commerce Times.

Its a desperate ploy  a bit shameful, actually, Jennifer Stisa Granick, director of civil liberties at the StanfordCenter for Internet and Society, told the E-Commerce Times.

The government continues to ignore the implications of the order on other technology companies, charged theAmerican Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief on behalf of Apple in the case.

The government tries to characterize this case as about one phone, rather than acknowledging that the precedent could be used over and over to force technology companies to undermine their security measures for law enforcement purposes in a broad range of contexts, said ACLU attorney Esha Bhandari.

The government also suggests that its somehow improper for a technology company to create secure devices, she added, when in fact that should be encouraged as a critical component of cybersecurity and privacy rights.
Apple has changed the date for the launch event for its 4-inch iPhone and new iPad Air from March 15 to March 21, according to news reports.

If the rumor is correct, Apple will be holding the event the day before it appears in a federal court in California to contest a controversial court order. Apple has filed a motion to vacate the order requiring it to comply with the U.S. Justice Departments request for assistance in accessing data on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists.

The timing seems to be a miscalculation on Apples part, said John Carroll, a mass communications professor at Boston University.

Theyre stepping on their own story because the focus on the following days new coverage is going to be all about the FBI, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Worse yet, the whole event could backfire on Apple in a bad way.

If their product rollout gets any kind of coverage, its possible it will be covered as an attempted smokescreen to divert attention away from the FBI issue, Carroll added.

Trial Balloon

On the other hand, the date change could be a calculated move by a company known for its marketing acumen.

Its possible the rumor is a trial balloon from Apple to see what kind of reaction it gets, Carroll said. If the reaction is skeptical enough or critical enough, thats their signal to pull back.

Although just a rumor, the March 21 date makes sense, noted Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

Apple has reasons to refresh their lineup to be more competitive in emerging regions and to help turnaround declining iPad sales, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Grief Over Shipping

If Apple did indeed change the date of the event, maybe its because they want the announcement to be made closer to when the products are going to ship, suggested Bob ODonnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research.

They caught a fair amount of grief for the big gap between the time of the announcement and shipping of the Apple watch, he told the E-Commerce Times. That was an unusually long gap, so maybe theyre trying to make a statement about being able to deliver products immediately after an event.

Theres also the possibility that everything rumored to be announced at the event wont be announced there, remarked Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

We have seen before when products are incremental, Apple will just put out a press release about them, she told the E-Commerce Times. It could be we will not see everything, and some will just come out in a press release at a different date.

Maturing Market

Apple is expected to schedule an event to unveil an iPhone with a 4-inch display and upgraded components, as well as a new iPad Air that will have features similar to the iPad Pro.

If you look around and see the other devices doing well, its not tablets  Its two-in-ones, ODonnell said. This new iPad looks like it will be another form of two-in-one because you can use a keyboard and pencil with it.

If the rumors prove true, Apple appears to be adjusting its product line to meet the demands of a maturing market.

Overall, theyre filling out their options in terms of screen sizes to address a wide range of interests, ODonnell said. Thats how the world works now. As you get a more mature market, you need to have a few different buckets into which people can find a product that best meets their needs.

As for the event being overshadowed by Apples tussle with the FBI, from the consumer perspective, it doesnt matter, Milanesi observed. What consumers think about when a new product is out is the new product.
Reviews of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge came out Tuesday, and they were overwhelmingly positive.

Head of the Smartphone Class, concluded Geoffrey Fowler in The Wall Street Journal.

On the edge of perfection, summed up Dan Seifert for The Verge.

Inching Toward Perfection, suggested Darren Orf on Gizmodo.

Samsung last month introduced the S7 line at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and there was a lot of talk about how unimpressed folks were during the introduction, recalled Wayne Lam, a principal analyst at IHS Technology.

Still, Ive been really impressed at the added design improvements Samsung has made with the S7, he told TechNewsWorld.

What Reviewers Like About It

The S7 camera scored high with reviewers.

It beats the iPhone 6s Plus in every low-light situation Ive tested, Fowler enthused. The 12-MP camera is lower resolution than its S6 counterpart, but each pixel can capture 95 percent more light.

Samsungs camera app is one of the best available for Android, The Verges Seifert wrote. He liked the cameras launch speed, and said the camera produced brighter, sharper images than the iPhone 6s Plus and was faster to autofocus, especially in poor lighting.

The S7 screen is a stunner, packing in more than three times as many pixels as the iPhone 6s, Fowler wrote. And its blazing fast processor is well-suited for the new world of virtual reality.

The S7s SD card slot also won kudos, as did the return of the water-resistant capability, which was available on the Galaxy S5 but was removed from the S6.

Battery life  always a problem for Samsung smartphones  has improved considerably, a huge plus.

Reviewers also liked the S7s design, look and feel.

The past several versions of the Galaxy S series left something of a bitter taste in users mouths for multiple reasons, remarked Ramon Llamas, a research manager at IDC. What the S7 line does, and does smartly, is it comes back to the basics and does the basics well.

Samsung is hitting the right notes with improved battery life, external storage capacity and the quality of the camera, he told TechNewsWorld. At the end of the day, you want the phone to work  and all the bells and whistles dont matter otherwise.

What Bugged the Reviewers

The glacial pace at which TouchWiz receives official Android updates continues to make it difficult to whole-heartedly recommend software that will a.) be late to update its device with the latest build of Android and b.) not even implement some of Androids best features, like adaptable storage, noted Gizmodos Orf. Its not a deal breaker overall for the S7, but definitely a checkmark in the cons column.

The S7 doesnt allow the use of third-party apps, including some of the built-in Android apps for Always On notification, he pointed out. Also, it cant quite match the load speeds of iOS when it comes to opening big apps and detailed documents.

Carrier bloatware is another issue. Verizon adds 13 apps, for example. the phone Seifert tested had two email, two photo and two text-messaging apps; three music players; two voice control systems; and two app stores. The apps can be disabled but not entirely removed.

The edge feature that gives the Galaxy S7 edge its name doesnt feel necessary, Orf said. My home screen is already a shortcut to the apps I use most. I dont really need a shortcut on top of a shortcut.

No. 1 With a Bullet?

Samsung is taking another page out of Apples playbook, IHS Lam pointed out, with the S7 being a similar product strategy to the iPhone 6 and 6s iterations. The S6 was a brand new design philosophy and the S7 a further refinement.

However, the iPhone is still very much the leader and in demand, maintained Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends.

That said, the S7 appears to have been optimized for Samsungs mobile Gear VR ecosystem, she told TechNewsWorld. We expect that the Gear 360 camera [will] let users finesse VR content creation and limited editing on the device.
The buzz surrounding the FBIs lawsuit to compel Apple to help it unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists increased on Tuesday, when NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden dismissed the agencys stance as bullsh*t.

He made the remark during a video conversation with Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice, and Dan Froomkin, Washington editor of The Intercept, at Common Causes Blueprint for Democracy conference.

The statement provoked some testy reactions.

Does Snowden really matter any more? asked Jim McGregor, principal at Tirias Research. I think hes just looking for publicity.

Snowdens involvement in the issue will have very little effect, suggested John Gunn, vice president at Vasco Data Security.

Snowden is a polarizing element, Gunn told TechNewsWorld. People see him either as a traitor or the reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson and a patriot willing to give his own life to protect our liberty.

Possible Technical Options for the FBI

The FBI can bypass Apples auto-erase feature by backing up the effaceable storage on the iPhone before trying to guess the passcode, Snowden said, pointing to ACLU Technology Fellow Daniel Gillmors explanation of the possible approach.

Auto-erase in fact does not erase all the data from the iPhones underlying storage, Gillmor argued; instead, it destroys one of the keys that protects the data  the file system key.

That renders the data permanently unreadable. However, the effaceable storage is stored in the iPhones NAND flash memory, and the FBI only has to copy that flash memory before trying to crack the passcode. That NAND flash memory can be restored from its backup copy.

That procedure is routinely carried out in kiosks in Chinese malls to upgrade a 16-GB iPhone to 128-GB for about US$60, according to forensic expert Jonathan Zdziarski.

The FBI has a number of options available, he noted. The bureau could deconstruct the chip on the device in order to read the fuse bank where the UID is stored. If the UID could be extracted, the FBI then could reverse-engineer the rest of Apples encryption and brute force it against the PIN.

Another possibility would be to try to isolate the hardware-based encryption off the silicon and feed encrypt/decrypt requests directly through it, performing an on-chip brute force while bypassing iOS, Zdziarski suggested.

Further, the bureau could borrow time on the NSAs and CIAs supercomputing clusters to try a brute force attack on one or more of the individually encrypted files most critical to the FBIs needs.

The FBI hasnt tried approaching security researchers, who may have proofs of concept that could crack the firmware running on the iPhone in question, believed to be iOS 9.0.x, Zdziarski maintained.

Support for the FBI

Getting a court order forcing Apple to unlock the iPhone in question does not put our security or privacy at risk, since theres a one-to-one capability that would allow for limited access to single devices only via cryptographic techniques, argued Philip Lieberman, president of Lieberman Software.

All devices can be penetrated by an abundance of means available to governments and criminals, irrespective of the representations of Apple and others, he told TechNewsWorld.

Its Just Politics

The FBI wants the rules set in their favor for all future instances, Vascos Gunn contended. Petty criminals dont incite the level of fear that it takes for people to be willing to sacrifice their constitutional rights.

FBI director James Comey has argued against encryption since at least 2014.

The FBI and law enforcement agencies understand very well that legal precedent is much easier to come by than legislative action requiring backdoors be built into encrypted software and devices, Application Developers Alliance CEO Jake Ward told TechNewsWorld.

The lawsuit seems like a pissing match between two bullies  one looking to score points with consumers and privacy advocates, and the other trying to set a precedent and make an example out of Apple, remarked Tirias McGregor.

However, this is a sticky issue because there are gray areas, he told TechNewsWorld. Privacy should be a right of every citizen, but the government has the responsibility to protect its citizens.
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Teachers around the world are known for the sacrifices they make, but often with little recognition and puny pay.

Now a Palestinian teacher who grew up in a refugee camp has won a $1 million global teaching prize, with Pope Francis announcing it in a video message has shone a spotlight on the profession.

Hanan al Hroub who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp is now a teacher of refugees herself, specializing in supporting children traumatized by violence.

She teaches in the city of al-Bireh just outside Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is based.

"I would like to congratulate the teacher Hanan al Hroub for winning this prestigious prize due to the importance she gives to the role of play in a child's education," Pope Francis said announcing the f the winner of the Global Teacher Prize 2016. .

"A child has the right to play," the Pope said. "Part of education is to teach children how to play, because you learn how to be social though games, and you learn the joy of life."

The winner was announced at an awards ceremony in Dubai, with a video message of congratulation sent by Britain's Prince William, the BBC reported March 13.

PROUD FEMALE PALESTINIAN TEACHER

"I am proud to be a Palestinian female teacher standing on this stage," al Hroub said after receiving the award.

"I feel amazing and I still can't believe that the Pope said my name," al-Hroub told The Associated Press.

"For an Arab, Palestinian teacher to talk to the world today and to reach the highest peak in teaching could be an example for teachers around the world."

She said she will spend the prize money on supporting her students.

The prize was created by the Varkey Foundation, the not-for-profit organization of the GEMS international education company.

The prize and high profile ceremony are intended to raise the status of the teaching profession.

The audience for the event included Hollywood stars such as Salma Hayek and Matthew McConaughey and political figures such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The top 10 finalists were invited on stage by a video message from physicist Stephen Hawking and were congratulated by video messages from US vice-president Joe Biden and former US president Bill Clinton.

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation and creator of the prize, said he hoped that Hanan al Hroub's story would "inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession.

(Image: Varkey Foundation)

"The finalists included:

 Maarit Rossi from Finland developed her own method for teaching math. Finland has some of the best math results in the world in international tests, but Rossi's classes are high achieving even against Finnish standards.

 Aqeela Asifi came to Pakistan as a refugee from Afghanistan and is teaching refugee children in a school that she created.

 Ayub Mohamud, a business studies teacher from Kenya, has reached the finals with a project to discourage violent extremism and radicalization.

 Robin Chaurasiya from Mumbai in India founded an organization to teach and support teenagers from the city's red-light district.

 Richard Johnson, a science teacher from Perth in Australia, set up a science laboratory for primary school children.

 Michael Soskil from Pennsylvania in the United States, a previous winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, has motivated his pupils by linking them with projects around the world.

 Kazuya Takahashi from Japan has developed innovative ways to teach science and to encourage global citizenship.

 Joe Fatheree from Illinois in the United States has pioneered teaching projects using 3D printing, drone technology and using online games such as Minecraft.
The Innovative Enterprise: Financing Ideas from Europe Conference will bring together innovative enterprises, financial intermediaries, policy makers, researchers and investors from across Europe.

The conference is being held in The Hague in line with the Netherlands EU Presidency and has been organised by the European Commissions Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in collaboration with the EIB and EIF and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Those attending will be able to take part a full two day programme of seminars, workshops, masterclasses and networking events.

Innovative Enterprise is a European Commission initiative to raise awareness of the EUs investment programmes. The conference will give attendees the chance to learn more about InnovFin and EFSI as well as alternative sources of funding, including crowdfunding.

A number of EIB members will be present at the conference, including Vice President Pim Ban Ballekom who will help open the conference and Vice President Ambroise Fayolle who will appear as a key note speaker discussing the role of EFSI. EIB and EIF representatives will also chair sessions and present on a number of other key topics, such as, developing a viable business and financing proposition and what financial products are available.

The EIB also plans to officially launch the Innovation Finance Advisory (IFA) Report on Access to Finance for companies involved in Key Enabling Technologies (KETS) during the conference. As the European Union's (EU) long-term lending institution, the EIB is uniquely positioned to shape market conditions in the KETs sector, stimulating further innovation and growth. Author of the Innovation Finance Advisory report, Piermario Di Pietro from the EIB, will present key highlights and findings from the KETs study

More information on the event can be found here
The European Investment Bank Group hosted an interactive seminar to present the extensive range of support available to innovative and growing businesses in Tunisia.

Under our Innovation Finance (InnovFin) range we have specially designed products for:

banks and financial intermediaries;

mid-sized and large innovative business; and

large research and innovation projects emanating from universities and public research organisations, among others.

We also offer specialist financing for:

first-of-a-kind commercial-scale demonstration projects in the fields of renewable energy and hydrogen and fuel cells;

project developers of vaccines, drugs, medical and diagnostic devices or novel research infrastructures for infectious diseases that have successfully completed the pre-clinical stage working.

Lastly, we can also offer advisory services to companies and other promoters investing in innovation, so that they can be better prepared to access EIB financing and/or other sources.

The seminar consisted of concise product presentations and case studies, followed by a networking reception and one-to-one information desk.

Both the EU and the EIB Group intend to more than double their combined support for research and innovation in Europe until 2020, making more than EUR 24bn available.
Bogota, Mar 14 (EFE).- Colombian police confirmed the deaths of the four officers who were on board a Huey helicopter that plunged to earth in a heavily-infested guerrilla zone in the northern province of Norte de Santander, which borders on Venezuela.

"Mourning in the National Police: The crew of the Huey 0743 died," said the police in a communique.

The aircraft was flying with another helicopter, a Bell 212, to the town of San Calixto "to help counteract the armed (guerrilla) harassment of that municipality in Norte de Santander and evacuate a wounded police officer," police said.

On Sunday morning, police said, "as they were flying 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) south of (the town of) Convencion, in a jungle zone, poor weather conditions forced the crew to turn back."

At that moment, "all contact was lost with the Huey."

"About 2 p.m., officers with the National Police, with the invaluable support of Civil Defense and our armed forces, arrived at the scene of the incident and recovered the bodies," said the police in a second communique.

The initial hypothesis is that the accident was due to poor weather conditions, but "a team of experts from the National Police is moving forward with the investigation to determine the details of the incident," police said.

There is a strong presence of National Liberation Army guerrillas in the area where the chopper went down, and those rebels are apparently the ones who have been harassing the police contingent in San Calixto.

Relacionados Two Turkish police officers killed in Kurdish southeast
Lima, Mar 14 (EFE).- Peru's National Elections Board, or JNE, on Monday rejected a pair of special appeals from presidential candidates Julio Guzman and Cesar Acuna against a decision barring them from the April 10 presidential election.

Acuna, a businessman, was disqualified because his campaign had distributed money to voters, while economist and former Cabinet minister Guzman - who was running second in the polls - was ousted over supposed irregularities in how his party chose its presidential ticket.

The rulings, which may not be appealed, were issued after a public hearing on Sunday at which Acuna's Alliance for Progress in Peru and Guzman's All for Peru parties made their arguments before the JNE.

After meeting on Sunday with Renate Weber, the head of the electoral observation mission sent to Peru by the European Union, Guzman said that "it would be the first time that a presidential candidate is dropped (from the ballot) in Peru for administrative reasons."

The deputy industry minister in President Ollanta Humala's administration announced Sunday that if the request was rejected by the JNE the option would remain to seek a court injunction or resort to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Last Friday, Humala's Peruvian Nationalist Party withdrew from the April 10 elections, asking electoral authorities to remove from the ballot the names of all PNP candidates for national office.

A survey published on Sunday after the exclusion of Guzman and Acuna said that Keiko Fujimori, daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori, is still in first place among voters, with 32 percent, although now she is followed by former Economy Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, with 14 percent.

Before the survey, Guzman was in second place with 18 percent and Acuna had 6 percent support among voters.
3,500 homes in fuel poverty on the Island

Approximately 3,500 households on the Isle of Man are suffering from fuel poverty.

That's according to a new report which has found vulnerable people on the Island need better protection.

The Chief Minister asked for the investigation to be carried out - it also showed levels of poverty here are generally lower than in the UK.

Work is now underway to identify those people who are most at risk and to look at improving insulation in their homes - Allan Bell says solutions must be long-term:

Media

Allan Bell MHK
Re: Foreign electricians in switzerland?



Persons coming from the EU/EFTA areas

How to set up a company in Switzerland as an entrepreneur from the EU/EFTA area? This page provides an overview of the most important legal requirements, background information and tips for foreign entrepreneurs from the EU/EFTA area.



Personal requirements

All citizens of EU/EFTA countries - presently still with the exception of Romania and Bulgaria - have the right to live and work freely in Switzerland. They can thus also become self-employed.



According to the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, self-employed entrepreneurs can set up their business without a permanent residence permission (C permit). It is sufficient to have a B permit, which is valid for five years. At registration in Switzerland though, the planned self-employed activity needs to be proven. Proof can be provided for example with a valid VAT number, an entry into the professional register, the registration at the social insurance as self-employed entrepreneur, a business plan, accounting figures or the entry in the Commercial Register. For more information, contact the cantonal migration offices.



http://www.kmu.admin.ch/themen/00614...x.html?lang=en





I am an EU national and would like to become self-employed in Switzerland. How do I proceed?



Within 14 days of their arrival and before taking up any gainful employment, self-employed people need to register either with the communal authorities of the place they reside or with the cantonal labor and migration authorities and apply for a residence permit for self-employment. Also required are a valid ID or passport and documents proving that the requirements for self-employment are met (business plan, start-up capital, under certain conditions also listing with the register of commerce. etc.).



http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/...10.html#a_0010



This is even more important because the quota limit on B permits also applies to self-employed people so if the quota for EU-17 is filled, he'd get an L and not be able to be self-employed.



http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/...r_schweiz.html



There's more on things like the commercial register here:



https://www.ch.ch/en/becoming-self-employed/ No, they do fatmanfilms:How to set up a company in Switzerland as an entrepreneur from the EU/EFTA area? This page provides an overview of the most important legal requirements, background information and tips for foreign entrepreneurs from the EU/EFTA area.All citizens of EU/EFTA countries - presently still with the exception of Romania and Bulgaria - have the right to live and work freely in Switzerland. They can thus also become self-employed.According to the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, self-employed entrepreneurs can set up their business without a permanent residence permission (C permit). It is sufficient to have a B permit, which is valid for five years.For more information, contact the cantonal migration offices.Within 14 days of their arrival and before taking up any gainful employment, self-employed people need to register either with the communal authorities of the place they reside or with the cantonal labor and migration authorities and apply for a residence permit for self-employment.This is even more important because the quota limit on B permits also applies to self-employed people so if the quota for EU-17 is filled, he'd get an L and not be able to be self-employed.There's more on things like the commercial register here:
Re: If you have an account LloydsTSB you may be in for a shock I have a LloydsTSB current account which I use only for my UK affairs (UK visits and occasional online shopping in GBP). It's usually dormant, but I still like to keep it just in case.



I have a standing order from a friend to me, and me to him, for one Pound a month. This technically keeps the account away from an official "dormant" status.



The account is also registered in my friend's UK-address, which makes it free.



To be on the legally correct side, I always declare the account when doing my Swiss taxes (even though there's usually only a few hundred Pounds, nothing noteworthy).



Easy Peasy.



Id love to officially change my address with them, but I heard too many contradictory stories. Sometimes a foreign address is simply updated, sometimes this leads to all sort of trouble including account closure. So Ill just leave it as it is.
Re: No-Go with PostFinance Quote: Mullhollander . . .

Obama: "Then how do we apprehend the child pornographer? How do we solve or disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have available to do even simple things like tax enforcement? If, in fact, you cant crack that all, if the government cant get in, then everybody is walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket. There has to be some concession to the need to be able to get into that information somehow."

. . .

But the Swiss have come off quite lightly considering what he (Obama) has also been saying lately about his European lackeys while trying to shift the blame for the fiasco of the intervention in Libya onto vain sycophants of the ilk of Camerom and Sarkozy see Of course the analogy is nonsense and a totally irresponsible slur because details of Swiss bank accounts held in the names of US citizens are now dutifully reported to the IRS.But the Swiss have come off quite lightly considering what he (Obama) has also been saying lately about his European lackeys while trying to shift the blame for the fiasco of the intervention in Libya onto vain sycophants of the ilk of Camerom and Sarkozy see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a6923976.html . Europe is now manifestly wallowing up to its collective neck in its own sh*t as result of this ill conceived action, with the refugee crisis etc. etc. Obama's now dashed dream that tricking these European 'leaders' into milking the credit for the destabilisation of Libya would also somehow result in them taking commensurate responsibility for the aftermath highlights how naive and ill-judged the whole thing was.

If you have difficulties with a post which contains a link to a site in one of the Swiss languages, use Google Translate or your own favourite translating browser. __________________
Re: Health insurance in Switzerland.

Maria,



There are over 85 insurance companies in Switzerland and many of them offer health insurance. In relation to the basic insurance, the price that people receive depends on their age and where they live. Currently for many people, Supra is the cheapest insurance but for other people Assura could be the cheapest so it really depends on where you live and your age to determine the best price.



In terms of the best insurance, all insurance companies are required to offer similar basic insurance products although the service level may be different. By customer satisfaction surveys, SWICA is considered the best in satisfaction but they are not usually the cheapest. But for my own experience, I would say Groupe Mutuel but that is just me.



Deepak
Re: Apple vs The FBI The pressure seems to be piling on Apple now and Obama made a what seemed to be a veiled threat "to deal before we legislate".



Still, with an issue that will be of increasing importance as more of our lives are digitised, I think it would be the right thing for it to be debated and legislated. Though if Apple and other companies are eventually compelled to give up their secret keys then at least we know where we stand.



Maybe the future is to add an NSAKEY in addition to the Apple keys.



Hopefully this will push the companies to give ultimate control over the devices to the users. __________________

By replying to this post, you hereby grant Phil_MCR a royalty-free license to use, in any way, anything posted by you on the internet. If you do not accept, stop using EF and delete your account.
It looks like fans can now enjoy their very own 50 Shades of Grey-inspired fantasies at a hotel that Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele themselves would approve of. In fact, there's a new report that says one hotel owner plans on making his building a "bondage haven" as he is planning a 50 Shades of Grey-style hotel in his hometown of Kent, England.

According to Britain's the Daily Mirror, businessman Jon Huxley wants to cash in on the "50 Shades" craze by using money he won in a settlement to transform his hotel with bondage rooms that will come complete with "sex swings, dungeons and orgy rooms."

Huxley even says he wants to make it a "swingers paradise" which will allow hotel guests to walk around the hallways completely naked.

He told the site, "We have plans to attract tourists for short breaks and weekends of adult fun. Obviously a lot of equipment will need to be installed like swings, bondage rooms, red room of pain and dungeons of delight."

Huxley added, "Food and drink will be provided as part of an all-inclusive hotel package and it would be a civilized and friendly environment. It is not intended to be a seedy or dirty business. It is a respected clientele who enjoy taking their clothes off."

So far, there's no word on whether Huxley plans on visiting the film's two stars, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson to his hotel. Stay tuned with Enstars for all the latest news on the 50 Shades of Grey franchise right here.
Gilmore Girls' Jess is back to rattle a few cages.

Luke's nephew caused trouble up and down Stars Hollow as a teen, and while he's left his brooding looks behind, Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) will be up to his old tricks when he returns for Seasons.

"I had my first day of filming on Tuesday this week... and Jess is just up to Jess sh-t," Ventimiglia told fans at Cleveland's Wizard World Comic Con. "He's Jess. He's a little salty and ornery and kind of doing his own thing and has zero tolerance for anything - or anyone."

From staging fake crime scenes to driving Dean up the wall, Jess and his snarky comments once had the entire town wishing her never darkened Luke's doorstep. That's not to say he didn't play in integral roll in Rory's journey. When he returns, Jess will " push the ball forward for some folks of Stars Hollow."

Don't worry - the character won't just turn up to push a few buttons and then hightail it back to Philadelphia. Ventimiglia will feature in three episodes (or, in his words, "more than two, less than four"), which means he'll not only be around to get the ball rolling, but he'll see the aftermath as well.

Gilmore Girls: Seasons will come to Netflix later this year.
The Scream Queen Chanels will turn over a new leaf in season 2.

The horror-comedy is bringing back most of the women from it's freshman run, but when we meet them again, the college mean girls will trade their sharp words for sharp scalpels. After a multi-year time jump, Chanel (Emma Roberts), Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd), and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin) will be exonerated and working hard on their med school studies.

The Chanel's will have "flipped and taken their education seriously while in the institution," according to Deadline, and they will join forces with Zayday as med students at Munsch's (Jamie Lee Curtis) hospital. Oh, BT Dubs, Wallace's former dean will have ditched the collegiate circle, abolished the Greek system nation wide, and brought a hospital. It sounds like season 1's regulars will have turned a devastating first season to their advantage.

The Red Devil mystery is over and done with, but that won't keep murder from creeping in around the edges. Just because the homicidal Hester (Lea Michele) is back in the picture, viewers shouldn't assume the scourge of Wallace U is up to her old tricks. This year's murderer could always be someone we've never met.

Curtis, Lourd, Roberts, Palmer, Michele and Breslin will star alongside Glen Powell (Chad) and Nicey Nash (Denise).

Scream Queens will return to Fox later this year. Click the video below to see a preview for the series' original run.
American Suicide By Michael Moriarty

NOTHING HAS COME SO CLOSE TO DESTROYING THE UNITED STATES AS THE BUSH FAMILY PLANS FOR "THE NEW WORLD ORDER": However, the Bush Family's "ILLUMINATI" began to lose their "LIGHT" and their power when Jeb Bush pulled out of the 2016 Presidential race. However, Jeb Bush's recent efforts to "stop Donald Trump", even though Bush is no longer a candidate? He's clearly his father's son.

The Old Man's Plans For A New World Order Up In Smoke! Before that? The Bush/Clinton Cabal has been preparing the United States for a complete loss of identity and an end to the Constitutional principles defining its American character. Consequently, there have been over 25 years of The Bush/Clinton Alliance and Imperial Power carrying America into The New World Order. Then why a President Barack Hussein Obama?! Brought in to do the dirty work. And what is the dirty work? Giving Islam, 1.6 billion Muslims, and Islamic anti-Semitism a defining, anti-Israeli role in The New World Order! Obviously Israel is not destined to be a part of The New World Order and its complete control over all of humanity! The Bush Family's History of Anti-Semitism leaves Israel in massive danger. The Bushes' 100 percent approval of President Barack Obama's anti-Israel policies is self-evident from the Bush Deafening Silences. If the Bushes

weren't still

rabidly

anti-Semitic,

Obama would have been impeached

years ago. Congress' inability and unwillingness to indict the repeatedly unconstitutional and treasonous Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama has been largely dictated by the Bush Family Control of the Republican Party. Now Jeb Bush is attempting to build an anti-Trump strategy that will involve ALL of the other, present Republican candidates for the Republican nomination! Why? If Trump is elected, The New World Order is profoundly threatened. Trump's "Make America Great Again!" is the death knell to the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Obama New World Order. No wonder Dr. Ben Carson, one of the few truly "independent" candidates in the GOP Race, has chosen to endorse Donald Trump, America's "one-of-a-kind" Independent. With that endorsement by Dr. Carson, the United States has found a candidate and plan to "make America great again"! I wish the Trump Campaign the very best of luck, good fortune and success!! Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor who starred in the landmark television series Law and Order from 1990 to 1994. His recent film and TV credits include The Yellow Wallpaper, 12 Hours to Live, Santa Baby and Deadly Skies. Contact Michael at rainbowfamily2008@yahoo.com. He can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@MGMoriarty. Home
Banning fossil fuel benefits By Paul Driessen

"Natural gas is a good, cheap alternative to fossil fuels," former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi famously intoned. (Psssst. Ms. Nancy, natural gas is a fossil fuel.) "If I thought there was any evidence that drilling could save people money, I would consider it. But it won't," President Obama said in 2008. "We can't drill our way out of the problem" of high energy prices and disappearing supplies, he still insisted two years later. How shocked he must be now. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing  aka, fracking  has unleashed a gusher of oil and natural gas, sent oil prices plunging $100 a barrel since 2008, dropped US oil imports to their lowest level in 45 years, and saved American families tens of billions of dollars annually in lower energy costs. But if price and "peak oil" rationales fail, there is always "dangerous manmade global warming" to justify carbon-based energy and fracking bans, and renewable energy mandates and subsidies. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton contend that climate change is an "existential threat" to people and planet. Senator Sanders says bluntly, "I do not support fracking." He also wants legislation that would keep America's abundant oil, gas and coal "in the ground." Mrs. Clinton opposes all fossil fuel energy extraction on federal lands. She rejects fracking if "any locality or state is against it," any methane is released or water contaminated, or companies don't reveal "exactly what chemicals they are using." Under her watch, there won't be "many places in America where fracking will continue." She will "stop fossil fuels" and ensure 50% renewable energy by 2030. One senses that these folks inhabit a parallel universe, cling like limpets to anti-hydrocarbon ideologies, or perhaps embody Mark Twain's admonition that "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you're a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." One also senses that as president the two Democrat candidates will continue Mr. Obama's imperial practices. If Congress resists their policy initiatives, they will simply issue more Executive Branch diktats, and ignore their impacts on jobs and the economy, the absence of evidence that fracking harms human health or water quality, the reality that renewable energy "alternatives" also cause serious problems  and scientists' continuing inability to separate human from natural influences on climate and weather events and trends that are essentially the same as during the twentieth century. Officially, 7.8 million Americans are still unemployed. But add the long-term unemployed, those who looked for a job once in the past year but not in recent weeks, and those who are working involuntarily in low-pay, part-time positions  and the total swells to 16.8 million. Over 46 million are on food stamps. The federal debt hit $19 trillion in February and is projected to reach $23 trillion by 2020. In FY2015, the US Treasury collected $3.2 trillion in taxes and other revenues, but spent $3.7 trillion. Profligate state and local spending has swollen these deficits by tens of billions more, for the same reason: politicians are in cahoots with unions, crony capitalist rent seekers, and assorted grievance, victim and welfare groups. Mountains of federal regulations cost businesses and families $1.9 trillion annually  half of our national budget. They drag down investment, job creation and tax revenues. State and local rules add more pain. To borrow the Greens and Democrats' favorite term, this is unsustainable. Oil, gas and coal account for 82% of all US energy and 68% of US electricity generation  reliably and affordably. Producing this abundant energy also generates positive cash-flow: fossil fuel bonuses, rents and royalties from federal lands totaled $126 billion between 2003 and 2013; corporate and personal taxes resulting from the jobs and activities powered by that energy added tens of billions more. Wind, solar and biofuel programs, by contrast, are black holes for hard-earned taxpayer subsidies  and rarely work unless consumers are required to use that energy, and pay premium prices for doing so. Even getting to 50% "carbon-free" energy fifteen years from now will require: vastly more subsidies and mandates; turning entire forests into fuel; blanketing croplands and habitats with enormous biofuel plantations, wind farms and solar installations; and killing millions of birds, bats and other wildlife in the process. However, biomass and biofuels are also carbon-based and also release carbon dioxide  and their energy per volume is paltry, their energy efficiency deplorable, compared to hydrocarbons. A renewable energy future means scenic, wild and agricultural lands become industrial zones and high voltage transmission corridors  feeding urban centers where people will have lower living standards. Environmentalists used to tell poor countries they could never have the lifestyles of people in developed nations, as it wouldn't be sustainable. Now they say our living standards are unsustainable and aren't fair to the world's poor. Therefore, their lives should be improved a little via wind, solar and biofuel energy, while ours are knocked down a peg via climate and sustainability regulations (except for ruling elites). Environmentalists and other liberals are also hardwired to be incapable of acknowledging the countless health, welfare and technological blessings that creative free enterprise capitalism has bestowed on humanity  or to recognize the dearth of innovation by repressive socialist regimes. Liberals like to say Republicans want to control what you do in your bedroom. But Democrats want to control everything you do outside your bedroom  but for the noble, exalted purpose of changing genetically coded human behavior, to Save the Planet for future generations. That means unelected Earth Guardians must control the lives, livelihoods, living standards, liberties and life spans of commoners and peasants, especially in "flyover country." Fossil fuel and fracking bans are part of that "fundamental transformation." They will force us to use less oil and gas, but they also mean we will import more petroleum from Saudi Arabia and Iran, though not from Canada via the Keystone pipeline. Energy prices will again climb into the stratosphere, more jobs will disappear, manufacturing will shrivel, and royalty and tax revenues will evaporate. The billionaire bounties that Hillary, Bernie and their supporters also need to pay for all the free college, ObamaCare, renewable energy subsidies, income redistribution and other "entitlements" will likewise be devoured quickly, while millions more people end up on welfare and unemployment rolls. The bills will simply be forwarded to our children and grandchildren. Meanwhile, despite any US bans, other countries will continue using fossil fuels to create jobs and grow their economies. So total atmospheric CO2 and greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to rise. Of course, "climate deniers" and other members of The Resistance will have to be dealt with. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will pave the way on that. In the process, as Obama and Clinton mentor Saul Alinsky put it in his Rules for Radicals, the ruling elites will pick, freeze, personalize and polarize their targets. They will repeat their allegations and maintain their pressure until all resistance crumbles. Facts will be irrelevant. Power and perceptions will rule. Blue collar, middle class and minority families feel they are fighting for their very survival, against policies and regulations that profoundly impair their jobs, incomes and futures. Indeed, the governing classes are actively harming the very people they claim to care the most about  and actually killing people in the world's poorest nations, by denying them access to energy and other modern technologies. That's why Trump, Cruz, Carson and other "outsider" candidates have resonates. People are fed up. Perhaps it's time to borrow a page from Alinsky  Rule Four, to be precise  and make "the enemy," the ruling elites, live up to their own rules. Watching them scream and squeal would be most entertaining. Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of Eco-Imperialism: Green power  Black death. Home
Who are the 'Establishment Republicans'? By Mark Alexander

Rancorous political contests are nothing new. George Washington was elected without opposition in 1789 and 1793. But in the first contested presidential campaign in 1796, when Washington's VP John Adams faced Thomas Jefferson, there was vitriolic debate and acrimony between the candidates. So it has been for most of the last 220 years in presidential politics. Notably, one of those elections, that of our 16th president Abraham Lincoln, was so contentious it literally divided the nation in 1860 and led to the bloody War Between the States. But the current GOP primary season is a case study in how anger and despair lead to confusion and delusion, which has resulted in enormous division within a political party, before getting to the general election. I profiled the GOP primary breakdown last July in a column on the "Obama Effect" and its impact on the current election cycle. Over the last seven years, Barack Hussein Obama has taken the Democratic Party so far left that an avowed Socialist is now a serious contender against the Democrats' "establishment candidate," Hillary Clinton. For the record, Clinton clearly fits the "establishment" definition for her party, but on the GOP side, there is a lot of division that begins with the fundamental adulteration of the definition of "establishment" as it pertains to Republicans. A weeks ago Donald Trump told a group of his supporters: "Seven months ago before I decided to run, I was part of the establishment. But now I'm not part of the establishment." Just like seven months ago he was a Democrat but now he's not a Democrat. So just what does this word "establishment" mean in the Republican political context? Until six months ago, "establishment Republican" was synonymous with "RINOs" (Republicans In Name Only), but those descriptive labels have lost virtually all meaning in the fog of this primary. In general terms, establishment Republicans were big-government politicos who appeased their base with the pretense of fiscal conservatism, but were moderate or even liberal in regard to the size and role of government. A few "old guard" names that come to mind are George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, John Boehner, Arlen Specter, Jon Huntsman, Charlie Crist, Lisa Murkowski, Orrin Hatch, Dick Lugar, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Since the end of the Reagan era, these politicians and their ilk have formed a "permanent political class" that has largely controlled the Republican Party. For the most part, these Republicans have been indistinguishable from Democrats in their inattention to  if not their outright violation of  their oaths "to Support and Defend" our Constitution. Instead, their allegiance has been to special interest groups sucking up redistributed tax dollars and ballooning our national debt. Conversely, "conservative Republicans" are grassroots folks who honor their oaths  advocates first and foremost for Liberty, who can articulate first principles. They are the many fresh faces on Capitol Hill including Iowa's Joni Ernst, Nebraska's Ben Sasse and Arkansas' Tom Cotton. Notably, when asked recently, Trump was unable to define "conservatism," but when Sen. Ben Sasse was asked the same question, he offered a 90-second response that clearly distinguishes between "conservative" and "establishment." Occasionally there are groundswells of grassroots conservatives who are inspired either by a national leader with an impeccable conservative pedigree  Ronald Reagan  or in reaction to the threat to Liberty posed by an ideological Socialist like Obama. It was Obama's election in 2008 that gave rise to the Tea Party Movement in 2010. That resurgence of a new generation of American Patriots led to historic victories in the House and Senate in the midterm elections of 2010 and 2014, seating more genuine conservatives than at any other time in the last century. Moreover, there were conservative victories wide and deep in statehouses and local governments across the nation. The contrast between "conservative" and "establishment" has rarely been more evident than in the 2010 and 2014 elections. So what happened this year? Donald Trump. His political fortunes have been propelled by three primary factors: "The Obama Effect," "The Fratricidal Field of Contenders" and " Media Propulsion." To his campaign's credit, he has masterfully capitalized on each of those factors. Days after Trump's insistence that he is now "not part of the establishment," the most quintessential of establishment Republicans, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, endorsed him. Recall that prior to his endorsement of Trump, Christie warned: "Always beware of the candidate for public office who has the quick and easy answer to a complicated problem. ... I just don't think that [Trump] is suited to be president of the United States. ... We do not need reality TV in the Oval Office right now. [The presidency] is not a place for an entertainer. ... Showtime is over. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. ... [If you vote for Trump] we could wind up turning over the White House to Hillary Clinton for four more years." Now he insists, "The best person to beat Hillary Clinton in November ... is undoubtedly Donald Trump." "Undoubtedly"? All of the current reputable polling consistently indicates that Trump loses to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in head-to-head matchups, but, more importantly, he would be resoundingly defeated by Clinton. Recall that Trump previously endorsed Hillary Clinton, saying she'd be a "great president or vice president." When asked who was the best president of the last two decades, Trump responded, "Bill Clinton." That notwithstanding, Trump's primary supporters, about 30% of GOP voters, generally insist he is the "conservative candidate" and the rest of the field, and anyone critical of Trump, is now "establishment." The most anti-establishment conservatives across the nation, and their Tea Party counterparts, have uniformly condemned Trump as a farce, a phony and a fraud. In testament to that condemnation, Trump recently canceled his speech before the largest gathering of conservative activists in the nation  the Conservative Political Action Conference. Apparently Trump didn't want the rejection of his candidacy by genuine grassroots conservatives to dominate headlines and airwaves nationwide ahead of Super Saturday. Notably, his cancelation came after one of the most "anti-establishment" leaders nationwide  Tea Party Patriots founder Jenny Beth Martin  urged her fellow conservatives to reject Trump's "seductive pitch." Martin declared, "I know you're angry and I know you're upset too and I know that Donald Trump's tapping into that anger. It's a smart campaign strategy because he makes it seem like he shares our frustration and it's like he's fighting on our behalf." Except that he isn't. "Donald Trump loves himself first, last and everywhere in between," Martin warned. "He loves himself more than our country, he loves himself more than the Constitution." So do Trump supporters now consider the Tea Party movement "establishment"? At the end of the CPAC confab, when the results of the annual straw poll attendees had been tabulated, 40% voted for Ted Cruz, 30% for Marco Rubio and 15% for Trump. Does that mean 85% of CPAC activists are "establishment Republicans"? Ironically, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation and other left-of-center publications are also using "establishment Republican" to define anyone who doesn't support Trump. Despite the flood of conservative objections to Trump's claim that he's a Republican, the wave of anger he's ridden so masterfully has won him a very devoted following  so devoted, in fact, that because The Patriot Post has questioned Trump's credibility, we now stand accused of being "pawns of the establishment." Nowhere is Trump's "seductive pitch" more apparent than in the email protests I receive from his most loyal devotees, who condemn my analyses of his populist appeal. Most of those complaints are "single issue" disagreements based on Trump's rhetoric  Rubio on immigration or Cruz on eligibility. Here's are representative excerpts of those objections, minus the profanity: "I'm a Tea Party Patriot, and have been of like mind with The Patriot Post for years. But now you're backing the RINO establishment candidates. ... You are anti-Trump pro-establishment mouthpieces. You are traitors to the Republican Party. ... Donald Trump is the unanimous favorite, yet you insist he is not a conservative. ... Now we have a person standing up to the establishment and The Patriot Post has not endorse him. ... You're a pawn of the established political machine. ... You are going to lose subscribers and contributions." Several times each week, I respond to those objections. My response generally follows this line of reason with questions: "Define 'establishment Republican' for me, and describe which candidates fall into that category and why you classify them as such. ... Our analysis of every political issue and personality is NOT based on popular opinion  we are a 'Republic,' not a 'dumbocracy.' Our unwavering position on politicians and policy issues has been, from our first day publishing 20 years ago to this day, steadfastly rooted in the foundational defense of Liberty and Rule of Law. ... If you have shared our principled defense of Liberty as one of our supporters for many years, then you might ask what has altered or obscured your devotion to Liberty? ... How is it that all those analysts and publications classified as 'conservative' a year ago are now being reclassified by Trump's supporters as 'establishment'? Arguably, if not obviously, Donald Trump poses a greater threat to Liberty and Rule of Law than any candidate under the GOP banner since the Republican Party's inception." Having written more than 30 responses over the last two months, I have yet to received a single reply. But the fact is, we have lost some readers and donors, almost all of whom indicate they agree with our position on just about everything but Trump... That concerns me. The prospect of Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination is a clear and present possibility, and because advertising supports 99% of media outlets, they have already tailored their editorial content accordingly. I'm reminded of a recent comment from CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who said of Trump's candidacy, "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." Make no mistake, "conservative" ad-revenue-supported news outlets like Fox News have also adjusted the tenor and tone of their content to increase market share and ad revenues. But The Patriot Post, at its inception, elected a donor-funded revenue model to avoid advertising influence over our editorial content. That is why our analysis has always been steadfastly and uniformly framed by our nation's First Principles and our devotion to American Liberty. As you know, though we have editorial writers across the nation, our editorial shop is located in the mountains of east Tennessee  far removed from the Beltway roosts of most political analysts. Thus, our editorial analysis is, likewise, far removed from ubiquitous Beltway opinion, as reflected in every word we've written about Donald Trump. Earlier this week, I called a special meeting of our key editors and staff. These are grassroots conservatives, all married with mortgages to pay, and some with houses full of kids. We discussed the implications of standing firm in our "first principles" assessment of Trump and the impact it might have on our budget. I wanted them to know that I could not predict if holding to principle might affect their modest salaries. It was no surprise  at least not to me  that each and every person in that room re-stated their devotion to First Principles and Liberty, and reiterated that their mission eclipsed their concern about our ability to make budget, despite the implications for each of them personally. They did not arrive at that conclusion with reckless abandon, but with the fortitude of generations of American Patriots devoted, first and foremost, to Liberty. In his first inaugural address (1801), Thomas Jefferson wrote of those who opposed him, "Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle." Again, we share the foundational principles expressed by most Trump supporters, who are rightly angry and dissatisfied with "establishment Republicans." Our perspective on Trump's appeal coincides with this observation from National Review's Mark Wright: "I have no animus for the vast bulk of Trump's voters  I disagree with their choice for president; I think it to be an unwise choice that will harm the country, the conservative movement, and the Republican party  but I believe almost all of them are voting for Trump because they love America, are tired of seeing their country run by weak and feckless leaders, and are rightly distraught at the state of our union." In his 1988 address to the Republican National Convention, Ronald Reagan said, "You don't become president of the United States. You are given temporary custody of an institution called the presidency, which belongs to our people." In our considered opinion, in the bright light of Liberty, Donald Trump is a threat to the constitutional standing of that institution. Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Home
A government of fallible men to rule fallible men

By Dr. Robert Owens



In America today a debate rages concerning the legitimate role of government. Currently the Federal Government is controlled by a group of politicians who consider themselves the ideological descendants of the Progressive Movement.

Beginning in the 1890's the Progressives led by Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson championed the idea that it was time to progress past America's old ways of doing things. They felt the traditions, forms, and style of American governance and society should break-out of the mold provided by the Constitution by casting it as a "living Breathing Document" that could be remolded to meet the desires of every generation.

They believed, and their descendants still believe, it is the behavior of men that defines who they are. This contrasts with our Founders who believed that it is instead the nature of men that provides this definition. Our Founders expressly stated that they believed humanity has been endowed by the Creator with rights.

They felt that these rights are inalienable, meaning they are humanity's by virtue of existence. In other words, these rights have not been earned by man they've been given by God and since they haven't been given by government, government can't legitimately take them away. Instead of existing for its own right, the reason for government is to protect these natural rights. It's the need for the order, security and liberty for the pursuit of happiness, which justifies the establishment and continuation of government.

Thus, a government of the people, by the people and for the people should be one based upon the nature of man. It's in this context that the voice of the people could almost be called the voice of God for if the Creator implanted this nature and these rights within humanity the collective expression freely arrived at and freely expressed should bring to the fore those who will respect and guard these rights.

If this is true then the will of the majority should always be the surest way to ensure the continued existence of man's natural rights. If we had a nation of perfect people this would be true; however, in establishing and maintaining government we don't deal with perfect people we deal with people as they are with all the imperfections and prejudices nurture superimposes upon nature. People who don't educate themselves enough to exercise self-leadership become the pawns of demagogues and the voice of God is perverted into the voice of the world.

Even the Founders, a grouping singular in the history of men concerning the brilliance of their intellects and the purity of their motives knew they couldn't trust themselves to form or maintain a government of fallible men to rule over fallible men. They knew that history is filled with examples of charismatic leaders who've proven that while you can fool all of the people only some of the time it's possible to fool enough people to take over a country. Then once you've fooled a plurality of voters to take over you can make fools of everyone doing whatever you like for as long as you like. This is why the protection of freedom is a limited government.

Power must be concentrated enough to provide order, security and liberty; however, if unrestrained power is given to a majority the opportunity exists for a faction to gain control and use it for purely partisan ends. Thus our Founders rejected direct democracy in favor of the federal model of divided sovereignty and the republican principle of both direct and in-direct representation. That the source of authority emanates from the people and the constituent States is demonstrated in several ways.

The Constitution itself was referred to delegates chosen by the States. In the American government as initially designed the people were represented directly by the House of Representatives and the States by the Senate. The executive was elected indirectly by the people and the states through the Electoral College. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the executive with the advice and consent of the Senate.

This process of allowing democratic choice within a framework of restraint was designed to create a government based upon the premise of inalienable rights yet cognizant of the fallible nature of mankind. A government powerful enough to ensure the security necessary to guarantee those rights, yet retrained enough not to trample them. Many of the Progressive innovations of the last 100 years have upset this delicate balance moving us from the government envisioned by the founders to the one we have today.

The Seventeenth Amendment mandates the direct election of the Senate. This left the States without any voice in the Federal Government. It also opened the door for a combination of factions acting as an unrestrained majority seeking the benefit of some at the expense of others. Often those who take the limits off government seek unlimited power for themselves. We must follow the guide of our ancestors for the good of our posterity. We must resist the temptation to seek security through government rather than security from government.

Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens. Dr Owens' first novel is coming soon; America's Trojan War.
In search of a distinctive English-language Polish-Canadian writing (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski

This essay is partially based on my article,"Is there a distinctive English-language Polish-Canadian writing?: In search of a fragmentary tradition." Strumien (Stream) (Rocznik Tworczosci Polskiej w Zachodniej Kanadzie) (An Annual of Polish Creative Endeavour in Western Canada) no 8 (2012), pp. 18-24 strumien.ca That article was based on a draft of a presentation read at the 19th Annual Conference of the Polish Association for the Study of English (PASE) -- Crossing frontiers, staking out new territories (Kalisz, Poland: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan  Kalisz Campus), April 19-21, 2010. Leaving aside Polish-language writing  which may be termed as Polish literature in Canada -- Polish-Canadian writing may be subdivided into works by emigre authors in the English language, of which there is some presence; and works by persons of Polish descent born in Canada (or who arrived in Canada before adolescence or in early adolescence), of which there is less of a presence.

Louis Dudek (who passed away in 2001) is probably the most prominent writer of Polish descent born in Canada. Polish or Polish-Canadian issues do not appear to have played a major role in his poetry and literary criticism. Sophia Kaszuba is also Canadian-born. Her poetry in Like a Beast of Colours, Like a Woman does not explore Polish themes. As far as other persons engaged in writing who were either born in Canada, or arrived in this country before later adolescence, there is only a very small number. The most prominent of these persons are probably Apolonja Maria Kojder (author of "A Mother's Legacy" which is the main part of Marynia, Don't Cry: Memoirs of Two Polish-Canadian Families), and Helen Bajorek-Macdonald, who has written an M.A. thesis at Trent University on the deportations of Poles to Siberia, and their eventual arrival in Canada. (The author of the second memoir in Marynia, Don't Cry is Barbara Glogowska.) Another fairly prominent person is K.G.E. (Chuck) Konkel, who has professionally published two novels, The East Wind Rain, and Evil Never Sleeps, set in exotic locations, Hong Kong and Mexico, respectively. In an interview published in the print and web version of Miedzy Nami (a Hamilton, Ontario-based Polish-Canadian magazine) he reported that his third novel, which he is working on, will definitely have Polish themes, being set in Europe shortly after the end of the Second World War. Chuck Konkel is one of a very few non-emigre Polish-Canadian authors who have had some success on the so-called "CanLit" scene. Christopher Gladun (who untimely passed away in 2003), maintained an extensive website dedicated to the memory of his mother, Janina Sulkowska-Gladun, who lived through the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland and deportation to Siberia (including political imprisonment and torture by the NKVD) and eventually came to Canada. Les Wawrow was the editor of the original Echo magazine, an interesting Polish-Canadian publication of the 1970s. Jan K. Fedorowicz had good scholarly credentials as a historian, but chose to dedicate himself to business pursuits. Richard Sokoloski, a third-generation Polish-Canadian, is a professor of literature at the University of Ottawa. Roman Smolak did an M.A. thesis at York University about Polish-Canadian identity, but is currently not engaged in scholarly or writing pursuits. Barbara Janusz, who had lived for many years in Calgary, Alberta won an award for her short story, "The One-Legged Sandpiper." She was also among the first women practicing criminal law in Canada. Her colleague Anna Mioduchowska has professionally published a number of short stories, for example in the Edmonton-based speculative fiction magazine, On Spec. John Kula is the editor of Simulacrum, a hobby journal dedicated mostly to historical board wargames. Maria Kubacki is the former editor of The New Brunswick Reader, a weekly magazine of the Saint John Telegraph-Journal. Luiza Chwialkowska (who came to Canada from Poland when she was five years old) is a reporter with The National Post. She appears very frequently in that newspaper, but not as an opinion columnist. Another reporter with The National Post is Jan Cienski. Diana Kuprel, who has a Ph.D. in comparative literature, and has done literary translation from Polish to English, was for about half a year the editor of Books in Canada. Unfortunately, this was at a time when the publication was financially troubled, and shortly thereafter, it suspended publication. It managed to resume publication in 2001, and its September/October 2001 issue announced the granting of the 2000 Amazon.com/Books in Canada First Novel Award to Eva Stachniak (an emigre author) for her book, Necessary Lies. Eva Stachniak is an emigre Polish-Canadian author who has achieved considerable success in CanLit. Diana Kuprel was also for a few years the editor of ideas, etc. This was a publication of the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto  openly only to contributions from students, alumni, and professors of that major faculty at the university. In Aleksandra Ziolkowska's Dreams and Reality, there is a section about "Mark, A Journalist with a Future" (pp. 313-330). This is Mark Lukasiewicz -- who already in January 1982, published a series of articles from Poland, in The Globe and Mail. However, I was unable to find references to this person through various Internet searches. It appears he has not come close to becoming a household name in Canada or the United States. Among notable younger persons, there is Joanna Szewczyk, who came to Canada when she was thirteen years old. She has completed a Journalism degree at Ryerson University. In 2005, Anna Piszczkiewicz published a slender volume in English, Soaking in the Remnants, as a major project in her BA(Hons) in Professional Writing at University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). This described an emotional return trip to Poland at about the age of twenty, which she had left at about three and a half years of age. In 2009, Piotr Brynczka published a book called Petrified World. It was published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, Canada's independent science fiction and fantasy press. Petrified World is a children's book that is meant to be read as a sort of interactive adventure. Choosing a few out of a number of possible magical abilities when a person begins reading the book, he or she is then guided to different pages of the book depending on the choices they make, resulting in different outcomes. In 2011, there appeared an important collection of short stories, Copernicus Avenue, by Andrew J. Borkowski (Cormorant). He is a Polish-Canadian born and raised in Toronto's Roncesvalles Village, and the stories are somewhat fictionalized renderings of actual people and scenes in this area of Polish settlement in Toronto. He was able to bring this book into being after one of his published short stories had been nominated in 2007 for a major Canadian short story award. The appearance of Borkowski's book may be seen as a huge breakthrough in Polish-Canadian writing endeavour. Perhaps it creates some greater hope that other Polish-Canadian writers and themes may become more acceptable to so-called "CanLit". Copernicus Avenue was nominated for and won the 2012 Toronto Book Award. A significant Polish-Canadian writer in the Toronto arts scene and in the literary landscape of Toronto, has indeed been long awaited. In 2012, there appeared the book Giant, by Aga Maksimowska (Pedlar Press). It is a story of a Polish girl's arrival in Canada at the age of eleven, in 1989  which coincides with the Eastern European revolutions, and her reaching of puberty  creating all kinds of interesting identity-conflicts. The book was nominated for the 2013 Toronto Book Award. In 2013, Jowita Bydlowska has published a memoir, Drunk Mom (Doubleday, 2013), but its Polish or Polish-Canadian content is minimal. Jowita is the longtime partner of Russell Smith, a well-known Toronto writer and raconteur. While Ania Szado's gloomy first novel, Beginning of Was (Penguin Canada, 2004), had some Polish elements, there is no Polish content in her second novel, Studio St-Ex (about Antoine Saint Exupery in New York) (Viking, 2013). So the field of English-language Polish-Canadian writing, is perhaps slowly growing. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is Toronto-based writer and historical researcher. Home
No matter how tempting it might be:

Jim Vander Putten suspected that some education conferences accepted any study pitched by someone willing to pay a registration fee. He worried that the gatherings enabled scholars to pad their publishing records while tainting research in the field.

To test his hypothesis, he sent fake research-paper summaries larded with unforgivable methodological errors to the organizers of 15 conferences he believed to have lax standards. All responded by offering to let him present his findings and to publish his papers as part of their proceedings.

But instead of exposing the dissemination of bad research, Mr. Vander Putten now stands accused of research misconduct himself.

Administrators at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he is an associate professor of higher education, have told him he violated policy by undertaking a study of human subjects without the approval of the campuss institutional review board. They have rejected his defense that an outside, commercial review board signed off on his plans  after Little Rocks board failed to do so. A research-integrity officer on his campus has called on him to relinquish the data that he gathered. University officials took such actions after conference organizers he had duped threatened to sue.

Mr. Vander Puttens unusual case highlights inconsistencies in the judgments that review boards make. It also raises questions of how much commercial boards, which account for a growing share of such reviews, can be trusted to safeguard colleges interests.

Mr. Vander Putten served six years as head of the universitys own review board, from 2000 to 2006. ...
SAN DIEGO, March 14, 2016 -- Original drawings and sketches from Walt Disney Animation Studio's more than 90-year history -- from Steamboat Willie through Frozen -- traveled internationally for the first time this summer. This gave conservators the rare opportunity to monitor the artwork with a new state-of-the-art sensor. A team of researchers report today that they developed and used a super-sensitive artificial "nose," customized specifically to detect pollutants before they could irreversibly damage the artwork.

The researchers report on their preservation efforts at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 12,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics.

"Many pollutants that are problematic for human beings are also problematic for works of art," says Kenneth Suslick, Ph.D. For example, pollutants can spur oxidative damage and acid degradation that, in prints or canvases, lead to color changes or decomposition. "The ability to monitor how much pollution a drawing or painting is exposed to is an important element of art preservation," he says.

However, works of art are susceptible to damage at far lower pollutant levels than what's considered acceptable for humans. "The high sensitivity of artists' materials makes a lot of sense for two reasons," explains Suslick, who is at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Human beings are capable of healing, which, of course, works of art cannot do. Moreover, human beings have finite lifetimes, whereas ideally works of art should last for future generations."

To protect valuable works of art from these effects, conservators enclose vulnerable pieces in sealed display cases. But even then, some artists' materials may "exhale" reactive compounds that accumulate in the cases and damage the art. To counter the accumulation of pollutants, conservators often hide sorbent materials inside display cases that scrub potentially damaging compounds from the enclosed environment. But it is difficult to know precisely when to replace the sorbents.

Suslick, a self-proclaimed "museum hound," figured he might have an answer. He had already invented an optoelectronic nose -- an array of dyes that change color when exposed to various compounds. But it is used largely for biomedical purposes, and it can't sniff out the low concentrations of pollutants that damage works of art. To redesign the nose with the aim of protecting artwork, he approached scientists at the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), a private non-profit institution in Los Angeles that works internationally to advance art conservation practice. He proposed that his team devise a sensor several hundred times more sensitive than existing devices used for cultural heritage research. The collaboration took off, and the scientists built a keener nose.

At the time, GCI was involved in a research project with the Walt Disney Animation Research Library to investigate the impact of storage environment on their animation cels, which are transparent sheets that artists drew or painted on before computer animation was developed. Such research ultimately could help extend the life of this important collection. The new sensors would monitor levels of acetic acid and other compounds that emanate from these sheets.

Before the exhibit, "Drawn from Life: The Art of Disney Animation Studios," hit the road on tour, Suslick recommended placing the sensors in discrete places to monitor the pollution levels both inside and outside of the sealed and framed artworks. If the sensors indicated pollution levels inside the sealed frames were rising, conservators traveling with the Disney exhibit would know to replace the sorbents. An initial analysis of sensor data showed that the sorbents were effective. Suslick says he expects to continue expanding the sensors' applications in the field of cultural heritage.

Collaborators in the project include Maria LaGasse, a graduate student in Suslick's lab; Kristen McCormick, art exhibitions and conservation manager at the Walt Disney Animation Research Library; Herant Khanjian, assistant scientist; and Michael Schilling, senior scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute.

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A press conference on this topic will be held Monday, March 14, at 11 a.m. Pacific time in the San Diego Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at Room 16B (Mezzanine) in person, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSliveSanDiego. To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

Suslick acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation. The Walt Disney Company provided funding to support the GCI research on animation cels.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Colorimetric Sensor Arrays for Monitoring Pollutant Exposure of Artwork

Abstract

The acceptable pollutant concentration limits for sensitive artwork are generally at or below the few ppb regime: this is only ~1% of the permissible exposure limits (NIOSH PEL) required for humans. Monitoring such pollutants at such low levels is an exceptional scientific challenge, especially to do so in a cost effective fashion for a large number of locations and microenvironments (e.g., every display case in a museum). To meet this challenge, we have extended with new sensor array chemistry our already extremely sensitive and portable "optoelectronic nose" [1-4] and developed cumulative colorimetric sensor arrays. The resulting disposable sensor arrays are inexpensive, cross-reactive sensors using a wide range of chemical interactions with analytes (i.e., not just physical adsorption): an optical analog of mammalian olfaction. By digitally monitoring the change in color of each spot in the easily printed array, one has a quantitative measure of the composite response to volatiles. The use of a disposable array permits the use of stronger chemical interactions, which dramatically improves both sensitivity and specificity compared to any prior enose technology. Importantly the sensor array has been specifically engineering to be insensitive to humidity changes. A new and highly compact reader (the size of a deck of cards) for these arrays based on the color contact image sensor (CIS, used for portable business card and paper scanners) was used for these studies. We have broadened these studies by the use of cell phone camera imaging and made trial experiments in the monitoring of artwork from the Disney Animation Research Library exhibition in Beijing and Shanghai in order to monitor pollutant exposure both during shipping and during exhibition. This exhibition, "Drawn from Life: the Art of Disney Animation Studios" features animation drawings, story sketches, layouts, backgrounds, and concept art spanning the 90 years of the Walt Disney Animation Studio's history. Sensor arrays were used to monitor both exterior and interior environments of passepartout frames at the exhibition and inside the shipping crates during transport.
SAN DIEGO, March 13, 2016 -- Farm-grown fish are an important source of food with significant and worldwide societal and economic benefits, but the fish that come from these recirculating systems can have unpleasant tastes and odors. To clean contaminated water for farmed fish, drinking and other uses, scientists are now turning to an unlikely source -- the mucilage or inner "guts" of cacti.

The researchers present their work today at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 12,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics. A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/ACSCactus.

"We found there is an attraction between the mucilage of cactus and arsenic," says Norma Alcantar, Ph.D. "The mucilage also attracts sediments, bacteria and other contaminants. It captures these substances and forms a large mass or 'floc' that sort of looks like cotton candy. For sediments, the flocs are large and heavy, which precipitate rapidly after the interaction with mucilage."

The technology grew from century-old knowledge that mucilage from some common cacti can clean drinking water. Alcantar was first introduced to this process by her Mexican grandmother who described using boiled prickly pear cactus to capture particles in sediment-laced dirty water. The sediments sank, and the water at the top of the bucket became clear and drinkable.

In 2006, Alcantar, who is at the University of South Florida (USF), began experimenting with the cleansing properties of cactus. She and her team tried the approach to clean contaminated drinking water following the Haiti earthquake and found it worked well. Common worldwide, cacti are a sustainable product and are not only nontoxic, but are edible and considered a delicacy.

Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, she and her USF team began to explore the ability of cacti to clean up oil contaminated seawater. While the research program never moved beyond bench scale, she says, cactus mucilage was found to be an effective oil dispersant.

More recently, Alcantar and Tunan Peng, a graduate research assistant in her lab, were approached by representatives from the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, who asked them to investigate whether cactus extract could clean recirculating aquarium water, as well as water in aquaculture tanks and ponds.

Such tanks, Alcantar and Peng say, create conditions that encourage bacterial growth that in turn develops unpleasant smelly compounds, such as 2-methylisoborneol (known as MIB) and geosmin. These compounds result in the musty, earthy flavor that is sometimes in the water and the fish that live in it. At harvest, the current practice is to purge the fish and tanks with fresh water, which takes months, uses large amounts of water and stresses the fish, Alcantar says.

In a search for alternatives, Peng and Alcantar turned to cactus mucilage. Now, she adds, they are seeking to determine the mechanism that allows mucilage to be such an effective purifier.

Also, the researchers are currently studying the chemical composition of the mucilage, which is made up of carbohydrates and some 60 sugars, with the goal of synthesizing it in a lab. In addition, they are developing a prototype of a recirculating aquaculture system that uses cactus extract as a cleansing agent, and they will conduct a life cycle analysis of the system.

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A press conference on this topic will be held Tuesday, March 15, at 11 a.m. Pacific time in the San Diego Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at Room 16B (Mezzanine) in person, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSliveSanDiego. To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

Alcantar acknowledges funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the NSF Innovation Corps program (I-CorpsTM), the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and the Aquaculture Review Council of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research is being presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Degradation of Taste and Odor Compounds with Cactus Mucilage Extraction: Applications for Recirculating Aquaculture Systems

Abstract

Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are gaining popularity due to their water savings compared to conventional aquaculture. In RAS the water is treated and recirculated, reducing fresh water inputs and volume of wastewater discharges. In addition, they provide more environmental control for fish growth, which in turn can result in higher production rates. A disadvantage of RAS is that conditions are created for the production of taste and odor compounds. These compounds, such as (-)-Geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), are secondary metabolites created by cyanobacteria and some actinomycetes that cause an earthy musty flavor that can be detected in water at extremely low concentrations. The current removal approach for these compounds is to purge them from the fish prior to harvesting which requires large amounts of highly treated water or treating the water onsite. Removal of GSM and MIB can be achieved by conventional adsorption treatment with activated carbon; however, removal efficiency has been inconsistent due to variations in the base of the carbon, adsorption capacity of the media and interactions with natural organic matter (NOM). This research will focus on using cactus mucilage extraction to degrade the taste and odor compounds in the recirculating aquaculture systems.

Cactus mucilage is a biomaterial that is used as food source in some countries and it is renewable, biodegradable, easy access and low cost. Previous research has found mucilage extraction can be used as dispersant in different cases, such as oil. Different concentrations and types of mucilage extraction solution are applied into recirculating aquaculture systems to test their effectiveness for removal of GSM and MIB. During the research, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and GC-MS will be performed to monitor the concentration change GSM and MIB during the processes studied. UV-TiO2 photo-catalysis will also be combined with the mucilage extraction solution to further enhance the removal effectiveness of odor compounds.
SAN DIEGO, March 14, 2016 -- Remember those colorful "grow capsules" that blossom into animal-shaped sponges in water? Using a similar idea, scientists have developed biodegradable polymer grafts that, when surgically placed in damaged vertebrae, should grow to be just the right size and shape to fix the spinal column.

The researchers present their work today at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world's largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 12,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics. A brand-new video on the research is available at http://bit.ly/ACSBone.

"The overall goal of this research is to find ways to treat people with metastatic spinal tumors," says Lichun Lu, Ph.D. "The spine is the most common site of skeletal metastases in cancer patients, but unlike current treatments, our approach is less invasive and is inexpensive."

Often, removing extensive spinal tumors requires taking out the entire bone segment and adjacent intervertebral discs from the affected area. In this case, something must fill the large void to maintain the integrity of the spine and protect the spinal cord.

There are typically two surgical choices in cases of extensive spinal metastases. In the more aggressive and invasive option, the surgeon opens the chest cavity from the front of the patient, which provides enough room to insert metal cages or bone grafts to replace the missing fragment. The other approach is less invasive, requiring just a small cut in the back or posterior, but only offers enough space for the surgeon to insert short expandable titanium rods, which are costly.

To develop a less expensive graft compatible with the posterior spinal surgery option, Lu, who is at the Mayo Clinic, and her postdoctoral fellow, Xifeng Liu, Ph.D., sought a material that could be dehydrated down to a size compatible with posterior spinal surgery, and then, once implanted, absorb fluids from the body, expanding to replace the missing vertebrae.

The researchers started by crosslinking oligo[poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate] to create a hollow hydrophilic cage -- the scaffold of the graft -- which could then be filled with stabilizing materials, as well as therapeutics. "When we designed this expandable tube, we wanted to be able to control the size of the graft so it would fit into the exact space left behind after removing the tumor," Lu says. The researchers also needed to control the kinetics of the expansion, because if the cage expands too quickly, a surgeon may not have enough time to position it correctly, while a slow expansion could mean a longer-than-necessary surgery.

Modifying the degree and timing of the polymer graft's expansion was a matter of chemistry, Liu says. "By modulating the molecular weight and charge of the polymer, we are able to tune the material's properties," he says. The researchers studied the effects of these chemical changes by observing the polymer grafts' expansion rates under conditions that mimic the spinal column environment in the lab. This information is key for determining the optimal size of a spinal implant for use in restorative surgery. The team identified a combination of materials that are biocompatible in animals and that they believe will work in humans.

Lu says her lab's next step is to study the grafts in cadavers and simulate an in-patient procedure. Their goal is to initiate clinical trials within the next few years.

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A press conference on this topic will be held Tuesday, March 15, at 10 a.m. Pacific time in the San Diego Convention Center. Reporters may check-in at Room 16B (Mezzanine) in person, or watch live on YouTube http://bit.ly/ACSliveSanDiego. To ask questions online, sign in with a Google account.

Lu acknowledges funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note to journalists: Please report that this research is being presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

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Title

Oligo Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Fumarate Expandable Cages for Vertebral Body Replacement

Abstract

Expandable, biocompatible and biodegradable polymer grafts based on hydrophilic polymer systems were developed for vertebral body replacement in bone tissue engineering. The oligo poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate (OPF) is crosslinked into a hollow cage that, when placed in vivo, will expand in size to a predetermined diameter and length. This high degree of expansion will enable a less invasive posterior approach to vertebral body replacements. Once expanded in vivo, the implant will be filled with crosslinkable poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) for structural support, bone regeneration and sustained release of chemotherapeutic or antibiotic agents. The kinetics of OPF expansion was explored by altering the molecular weight, charge and scaffold mold diameter. The effects of these changes were quantified by observing the expansion rates of scaffold length, diameter and mass under physiologic conditions. This information will be used to determine the optimal size of implant to be used to achieve complete restoration of the defect in a surgical setting.
Tempe, Ariz., (Mar. 14, 2016) - Human impact on Earth is becoming indelible and as a result humans, like no other species, have an obligation to take care of the planet and all of those who inhabit it. One case in point is the human effort to save endangered species.

Currently, resources allocated to recover endangered species are insufficient to save all listed species, and with a scarcity of funds what is needed to be effective is a more analytical approach that can bring clarity and openness to resource allocation, argues Leah Gerber, an Arizona State University conservation biologist.

In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Gerber outlines how a return on investment model could be applied to the allocation of funds toward endangered species helping to save a greater number of species. By doing this, those in charge of saving species will allocate resources in a less arbitrary way.

Gerber reports that 1,125 species are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act. Required funding of $1.21 billion per year should be allocated to recover all of the listed species, but less than 25 percent is actually allocated to recovery.

"The magnitude of issues influencing global biodiversity dwarfs the resources available to mitigate impacts and sustain biodiversity," she states in her article, "Conservation triage or injurious neglect in endangered species recovery."

"Thus we are faced with making hard choices and striving for efficient conservation resource allocation. What we need is a more objective and deliberate process to recover endangered species," Gerber said.

To address the issue, Gerber looked at how the allocated funds could be better utilized. Her analysis revealed that redistribution of recovery funds from the top 50 overfunded species to those that are severely underfunded would eliminate funding deficits for more than 180 plant and animal species, potentially improving recovery success.

Gerber notes that the U.S. Endangered Species Act is 40 years old and while it has been successful in preventing extinction, recovering species to the point of them being de-listed has proven far more difficult.

Gerber said currently funds are allocated from Federal to regional levels and regions decide on how to prioritize. But the system is ad hoc and "there is no general strategy. Agency personal responsible for recovery plans are overworked and underfunded."

"A lot of thought goes into how funds are allocated for endangered species, but when resources are scarce what is needed is more clarity on the process," Gerber said. "A return on investment approach is one way to allocate limited funds to protecting biodiversity."

The time to act is now, said Gerber, a professor in ASU's School of Life Sciences and the director of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes.

"Rates of extinction are higher than ever before," she said. "The cause is human activity. My analysis shows that current funding is insufficient to curb unprecedented rates of extinction. Humans rely on nature in many known and unknown ways. When we lose species, we lose these benefits - and the beauty of biodiversity itself."

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This news release is available in French and Spanish.

Los Angeles, CA (March 14, 2016) - The Executive Committee of The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement today announced the selection of Sir Partha S. Dasgupta, PhD, as the 2016 Tyler Prize Laureate. He is recognized for developing economic theory and tools to measure the relationships between human and environmental well-being, poverty, population, economic growth and the state of natural resources. Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge.

"Sir Partha Dasgupta's contributions to economics have driven fundamental and ongoing changes in the international conversation about sustainable and just development, and use of natural resources," said Tyler Prize Executive Committee Chair Julia Marton-Lefevre, the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at Yale University.

"From co-chairing the committee that advised Pope Francis on the scientific basis of climate change to helping shape the Sustainable Development Goals, Sir Partha's work has ensured that we keep in mind both people and the way we use our natural resources to benefit present and future generations," added Marton-Lefevre.

Dasgupta's work challenges the conventional thinking on how nations measure their well-being and places an emphasis on population and environmental sustainability.

"We have long measured the progress of nations in terms of what they produce and consume as expressed in the gross domestic product (GDP)," said Dasgupta. "We need to be working with an entirely different measure. GDP doesn't tell us if we are growing in a way that benefits all in society, including future people; it ignores factors like inequity and whether we are using our natural resources in a way that can also benefit future generations."

Since its inception in 1973 as one of the world's first international environmental awards, the Tyler Prize has been the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy.

"Sir Partha's work to create a framework for sustainable development and his commitment to addressing poverty and the environment have made him unsurpassed among environmental economists in the world," said Simon Levin, the 2014 Tyler Prize Laureate.

As the winner of the Tyler Prize, Dasgupta will receive a $200,000 cash prize and a gold medallion and join the ranks of Laureates that include Edward O. Wilson, Jane Goodall, Jared Diamond, Paul and Anne Ehrlich, M.S. Swaminathan, Thomas Lovejoy, Jane Lubchenco and Madhav Gadgil. A full list of past winners is available at http://www.tylerprize.usc.edu/pastlaureates.html. The Prize, awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California, honors exceptional foresight and dedication in the environmental sciences and policy--qualities that mirror the prescience of the Prize's founders, John and Alice Tyler, who established it while the environmental debate was still in its infancy.

Chasing Questions in Economics: From the Streets of Calcutta to the Vatican

"I didn't have a big vision or an agenda when I started my career," says Dasgupta. "This has been a 40-year chase in which I started with narrow problems and then found that I needed to understand them in a larger context."

For Dasgupta, one part of this chase began while walking the streets of Calcutta to see his parents. "I saw women begging and some had children with them. It was part of life," explained Dasgupta. "On one occasion I saw a baby about a year old lying next to her mother with flies on her face. It was a moving sight, but I began wondering why she wasn't swatting the flies away."

Thinking about how this girl was using -- or not using -- very limited energy led Dasgupta to explore broader questions on the relationship between nutrition and health and what they meant for human productivity. These interests expanded quickly to the use of and value placed on natural resources, population, and sustainability.

Forty years later, Dasgupta is recognized as a leading global expert for his work studying economic and environmental issues and incorporating other disciplines. Notably, Dasgupta co-chaired the joint report for the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences -- entitled Climate Change and The Common Good--which served as the scientific basis for Pope Francis' call to action on climate change, the encyclical on the environment (Laudato si').

Rethinking a Nation's Ledger: Challenging Our Understanding of Wealth and Economic Growth

Dasgupta's work across economic questions led him to recognize that a more comprehensive and complex measure of national and economic well-being is necessary to help governments craft better economic and development policies.

"Judging the wealth and health of countries using GDP captures just a moment in time and not where the country is headed. It's like judging the current and future prospects of a household by only noting its annual expenditure on goods and services and not enquiring whether that expenditure was drawing down the household wealth," explained Dasgupta.

Instead, Dasgupta and colleagues advocate that nations should measure their "inclusive wealth," which includes not only the value of a country's infrastructure and tools for production--such as roads, buildings and factories -- and education and health of its citizens (human capital), but also the value of natural capital (environmental health, ecosystems, sub-soil resources). Inclusive wealth measures a nation's potential productivity.

Dasgupta and his colleague Karl-Goran Maler showed that future generations will have a higher quality of life if an economy's inclusive wealth grows at a faster rate than its population. "It's no good talking about sustainable development without moving to a system that incorporates inclusive wealth," said Dasgupta.

Dasgupta serves as the Scientific Advisor to the Inclusive Wealth Project, a UN-sponsored initiative that seeks to measure the wealth and long-term sustainability of countries. This approach, he argues, must be put to work in global discussions around sustainability, including the recently agreed upon UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"We can't trick ourselves into thinking that reaching the SDGs benchmarks -- such as no poverty or no hunger -- is success alone. We have to reach them through smart development policies or that success will be fleeting," said Dasgupta. "We'll only know if we've done that by asking whether the development policies that will be adopted to meet the SDGs will raise inclusive wealth at a faster pace than the population grows."

Engaging Diverse Perspectives to Answer Big Questions: From Environmental Stewardship to Population

Over the course of Dasgupta's career, he has collaborated with experts from many other disciplines, including ecologists, epidemiologists and anthropologists. While Chair of the Board of the Beijer Institute, Dasgupta and colleagues brought together economists and ecologists from around the world to address problems of environmental stewardship and helping the world's most disadvantaged people.

"Sir Partha had the intellectual leadership to help bring together partners that had never worked together in this way," said Levin.

In 2013, Dasgupta chaired a diverse expert committee for India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which constructed a framework for measuring India's national well-being that incorporates not only economic output, but also the health and value of environmental and natural resources.

"Doing economics is like peeling an onion. 'Why' is a persistent question," said Dasgupta. "The problem, as well as the attraction, for me has always been that at each stage I discovered that I needed other disciplines to help me answer the questions."

Dasgupta's efforts to engage diverse perspectives extend to regional views as well. He co-founded the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) to elevate the work of scholars from developing countries, and launched the journal Environment and Development Economics, which publishes research on poverty and environmental resources by scholars in poor countries.

"In the developed world the environment is often thought of as an amenity -- is the beach polluted or is the national park a place I want to go on vacation--but most of humanity does not enjoy the environment solely as an amenity," explained Dasgupta. "People in poorer countries understand this complexity, but their voices aren't heard enough."

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Scientists at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have teamed up with researchers at Willamette University, a liberal arts college in Salem Oregon, to develop genetic tools that could save the Joshua tree from extinction. Together with scientists from The University of Georgia and the University of British Columbia, and with the support of several Mojave Desert conservation organizations, researchers are inviting members of the public to help get the project off the ground by making donations at the crowdfunding site Experiment.com. In the past two weeks, more than 100 backers have donated more than $4,000 to The Joshua Tree Genome Project. The project aims to raise $8,500 by March 24th.

Joshua trees are the iconic species of the Mojave Desert, the hottest and driest desert region of North America. This keystone species provides food and habitat for many other species, and numerous State and National Parks are dedicated to their conservation. However, emerging research suggests that Joshua trees are disappearing across much of the Mojave Desert, perhaps because of ongoing global warming. Some scientists predict that the trees may go extinct within the next 100 years.

The project, one of 17 projects that are participating in Experiment.com's Liberal Arts College Pilot Program. The pilot program at Experiment.com aims to bring the power of crowdfunding to research labs at small undergraduate institutions. To help support colleges participating in the program, Experiment will contribute an extra $2,000 to the project that receives the most donors by March 16th.

"Understanding the genome will help us make conservation plans that allow Joshua tree to adapt to changing climates and environments," said project scientist Christopher Irwin Smith, a biologist at Willamette University. "The genome could also answer many important questions about the evolutionary history of this iconic desert species."

"The data will provide our first detailed look into the Joshua tree genome," said Michael McKain, an evolutionary biologist working on the project and a post-doctoral associate at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. "It will allow us to untangle Joshua trees' diversity at the most basic level, and identify how major evolutionary events contributed to its unique form."

Ensuring that Joshua trees will flourish into the future means preserving the plants themselves and the genetic variation that will allow them to evolve in response to environmental changes. "Sequencing the Joshua tree genome is the first step to revealing the genetic basis of climate adaptations," said Jeremy Yoder, a post-doctoral fellow studying evolutionary biology at the University of British Columbia. "And from there we can identify gene variants that may allow Joshua trees to survive rising global temperatures."

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About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education and outreach aim to have impact at the nexus of food security and the environment, and position the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center's work is funded through competitive grants from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About Willamette University

Willamette is a nationally renowned private liberal arts university in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, Willamette is the first university established in the western U.S. and one of only 40 schools honored as a Colleges That Change Lives institution.

About Experiment

Experiment is an online platform for discovering, funding, and sharing science. Our mission is to enable a community where these interactions can take place. We believe that science is always the reward, and that science can always be made to be rewarding through participation, engagement, and learning.
Sophia Antipolis - 14 March 2016: Yoga improves quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, according to research published today in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.1 Heart rate and blood pressure also decreased in patients who did yoga.

"Many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) can't live their lives as they want to - they refuse dinners with friends, concerts, and travelling - because they are afraid of an AF episode occurring," said Maria Wahlstrom, a nurse and PhD candidate at Sophiahemmet University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

"AF episodes are accompanied by chest pain, dyspnoea and dizziness," continued Ms Wahlstrom. "These symptoms are unpleasant and patients feel anxious, worried and stressed that an AF episode will occur. Most patients are still working and take sick leave to visit the hospital. Many patients with AF use complementary therapies so it is necessary to find out if they actually help."

AF is the most common cardiac rhythm disorder, affecting 1.5-2% of the general population in the developed world.2 There is no cure for AF, and management focuses on relief of symptoms and the prevention of complications such as stroke using cardioversion, ablation and medication.3

Patients with paroxysmal AF experience episodes of AF that usually last less than 48 hours and stop by themselves, although in some patients they can last up to seven days.4 The current study included 80 patients with paroxysmal AF who were randomised to yoga or a control group that did not do yoga. Both groups received standard treatment with medication, cardioversion and catheter ablation as needed.

Yoga was performed for one hour, once a week, for 12 weeks in the hospital with an experienced instructor. The yoga programme included light movements, deep breathing, and meditation.

Quality of life, heart rate and blood pressure were measured in all patients at the start and end of the study. Quality of life (physical and mental health) was assessed using two validated questionnaires, the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

After 12 weeks, the yoga group had higher SF-36 mental health scores, lower heart rate, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than the control group.

Ms Wahlstrom said: "We found that patients who did yoga had a better quality of life, lower heart rate and lower blood pressure than patients who did not do yoga. If could be that the deep breathing balances the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, leading to less variation in heart rate. The breathing and movement may have beneficial effects on blood pressure."

Within the yoga group, both the EQ-5D VAS scores and SF-36 mental health scores improved during the study, while there was no change in the control group between the initial and final measurements.

"Yoga may improve quality of life in patients with paroxysmal AF because it gives them a method to gain some self control over their symptoms instead of feeling helpless," said Ms Wahlstrom. "Patients in the yoga group said it felt good to let go of their thoughts and just be inside themselves for awhile."

The researchers have started a larger study in 140 patients with symptomatic paroxysmal AF who will be randomised to yoga, music relaxation, or a control group. This will clarify whether the movement and deep breathing in yoga are beneficial or only the relaxation. It will also address the potential for group therapy itself to be beneficial, since patients may feel safe and secure when they meet others with the same illness.

Ms Wahlstrom concluded: "A lot of the patients I meet who have paroxysmal AF are very stressed. Yoga should be offered as a complementary therapy to help them relax. It may also reduce their visits to hospital by lowering their anxiety until an AF episode stops."

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Authors: ESC Press Office

Email: press@escardio.org

Notes to editor

SOURCES OF FUNDING: This work was supported by Fondmedel 176 KI, Stockholm, Sweden.

DISCLOSURES: None.

References

1Wahlstrom M, Rydell Karlsson M, Medin J, Frykman V. Effects of yoga in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation - a randomized controlled study. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. DOI: 10.1177/1474515116637734

2Camm AJ, Lip GYH, De Caterina R, et al. 2012 focused update of the ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. European Heart Journal. 2012;33:2719-2747.

3Camm AJ, Kirchhof P, Lip GYH, et al. Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. European Heart Journal. 2010;31:2369-2429.

4Patient information about atrial fibrillation is available here

About the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing

The European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing is the international journal of the European Society of Cardiology dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in the field of cardiovascular nursing: promoting evidence based clinical practice.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 95 000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.
The rain forests in the mountains of the tropical Andes are amongst the most biodiverse regions on the planet. But the multitude of ants, beetles, moths and butterflies which can be found here are largely unknown. An international team of researchers recently drew up a thorough inventory of the family of the species of looper moths (Geometridae). They came up with a surprising result: The diversity of these moths is much greater than was previously assumed. The scientists working with Dr Gunnar Brehm of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) give an account of it in the online open access science journal PLOS ONE

In the Podocarpus National Park in southern Ecuador between about 1,000 and 3,000 meters above sea level, the team collected and identified moth species. They were able to track down 1,857 different species - this is about 80 percent more than previous estimates suggested. "We assume that the diversity of moths is in actual fact even higher," Dr Brehm, the leading scientist of the study says. The researcher from the Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology with Phyletic Museum estimates that at least 2,350 species could be discovered here.

By way of comparison: In the whole of Europe there are less than 1,000 geometrid moths. However, the researched region in Ecuador comprises only about 25 square kilometres. In the rain forests of Borneo, which are equally well known for their biodiversity, 'only' 1,100 species of Geometridae are known. "It is especially remarkable that the diversity is similarly high at an altitude of 3,000 meters as at 1,000 meters," Dr Brehm says. Such a pattern is extremely unusual as most animal groups get scarcer at higher elevations.

The significant rise of the diversity of the moth species - as opposed to earlier estimations and studies - can be explained by improved methods to identify the moths - according to the researchers from Germany, Canada, the USA and Austria. Brehm and his colleagues used a method of identification which allows a fast and precise categorization. They use 'DNA-barcodes' - defined areas in the genetic information of the moths - which distinguish nearly every species in an unmistakable way. "This is a successful way to distinguish even very similar looking or closely related species from each other," Brehm says.

Beginning in1999, Gunnar Brehm undertook six field trips to Ecuador and analyzed more than 30,000 specimens of moths. This 'inventory of geometrid moths' is at the same time also a race against time. And here is why: the biodiversity of the tropical rain forests is in great danger. According to predictions, about half of all species will be extinct within the next two centuries. Climate change or deforestation are bound to destroy their habitat. "This is equally true for the mountain rain forests of the Andes," says Brehm who was able to witness it in the field. Year after year in hundreds of square kilometres of wood in Ecuador are being slashed and burned. As time is running out, Brehm and his colleagues are heading towards their next destination: they are planning to categorize the diversity of moths 1,000 kilometres southwards in the Peruvian Andes.

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Original Publication:

Brehm G et al. Turning up the heat on a hotspot: DNA barcodes reveal 80% more species of geometrid moths along an Andean elevational gradient. PLOS ONE, 2016, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0150327, http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150327

Contact:

Dr. Gunnar Brehm

Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology with Phyletic Museum

Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Erbertstrae 1, 07743 Jena

Germany

Phone: ++49 3641 / 949184

Email: gunnar.brehm@uni-jena.de
The human microbiome, a diverse collection of microorganisms living inside us and on our skin, has attracted considerable attention for its role in a broad range of human health issues. Now, researchers are discovering that the built environment also has a microbiome, which includes a community of potentially-pathogenic bacteria living inside water supply pipes.

A paper published March 11 in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology describes microbial communities found in shower hoses at a major U.S. hospital. The study documented bacteria - and related genes - using cutting-edge metagenomic techniques that allow the characterization of organisms that cannot be detected using traditional culture-based microbiology assays.

Researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Institute of Technology collaborated to study these biofilm communities, but can't say yet if these bacteria pose a threat to hospital patients. But because some of the genes could indicate pathogenic characteristics - such as resistance to antibiotics - the researchers want to learn more about the potential health implications, and whether other buildings house similar biofilms. Antibiotic resistance is a public health emerging priority identified by the World Health Organization, which in 2015 released a global action plan to address the problem.

"We can say confidently that if pathogens are in there, they are not there in very high abundance," said Kostas Konstantinidis, an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech. "But the organisms that we detected as abundant in these biofilms appear to have characteristics that could be of interest because they are related to some bacteria that are opportunistic pathogens that could pose a threat, especially to immunocompromised hospital patients"

The study began by culturing bacteria from 40 shower hoses removed from individual hospital rooms by EPA researchers. Nucleic acid was extracted from five of the shower hoses and processed using next-generation sequencing technology. The sequencing data was sent to Georgia Tech, where doctoral student Maria Juliana Soto-Giron matched the sequences against known bacteria - and genes that have known effects, such as virulence and antibiotic resistance.

The microbiome study found an abundant population of bacteria that the researchers believe are novel "Mycobacterium-like" species not described previously, closely related to Mycobacterium rhodesiae and Mycobacterium tusciae. Traditional culture-based methods instead identified organisms affiliated with Proteobacteria - such as members of the genera Sphingomonas, Blastomonas and Porphyrobacter - as the most abundant.

The biofilm communities harbored genes related to disinfectant tolerance, which constituted 2.3 percent of the total annotated proteins - and a lower abundance of virulence determinants related to colonization and evasion of the host immune system. Additionally, genes potentially conferring resistance to beta-lactam, aminoglycoside, amphenicol and quinolone antibiotics were identified. The frequency of these genes was higher than the frequency found in Lake Lanier, a natural freshwater ecosystem that has been studied by the Georgia Tech research team, suggesting that the drinking water pipe environments merit closer attention.

The research grew out of an EPA research project to understand the issues of drinking water systems and building microbiomes - the collection of microbes found in such structures. While biofilms are common in building water pipes, this study generated the most metagenomic data so far for the organisms living in these water systems. Additionally, the researchers analyzed 94 partial genomes of isolated biofilm bacteria, including some that had not been reported before, though they are related to previously-characterized microorganisms.

Though well-known pathogens weren't seen in abundance, the presence of genes for antibiotic resistance, resistance to water disinfectants and virulence raises concerns because bacteria can share such genes to potentially become more significant health threats.

"If they have a core of genes, they may be receptive to acquiring other genes that will render these microorganisms more problematic," said Jorge Santo Domingo, a microbial ecologist with the EPA's Office of Research and Development in Cincinnati. "These organisms are very good at living in difficult environmental conditions with limited carbon sources, so fighting them could become a challenging proposition. We don't know if they constitute a problem, but we certainly want to find out."

The analysis of material taken from the shower hoses is only a preliminary study, and much more research will be needed. Santo Domingo compared the findings to a "check engine" light in an automobile. The warning doesn't necessarily indicate an immediate problem, though it does show that attention - and potential action - may be required.

"Some of the identified genes are the kind that we'd want to keep an eye on," he explained. "We would like to conduct more studies to gather data on the dynamics of these bacterial groups, but the fact that these genes are present indicates that more studies should be done."

The potential clinical significance of the bacteria needs to studied, and any public health impacts understood, he added. Other questions include whether similar biofilms would be found in other hospitals, whether biofilms differ among facilities, how monitoring should be done - and whether shower heads and hoses should be replaced on a regular basis.

The work could also provide a foundation for new research into the types of water disinfection used in hospitals. The chlorine compounds used in public drinking water may not provide sufficient protection for water supplies in these facilities. The sequencing data and bioinformatics analyses will help identify genetic markers that could be used to monitor these genes and determine their public health relevance.

While Konstantinidis and his research group have been studying microbes in natural ecosystems such as Lake Lanier in Georgia, this represents their first metagenome analysis of microbial communities in the built environment. They are hopeful that the technique, which is still in the research and development stage, can help understand issues involving microbial populations and their virulence potential in buildings where humans spend most of their time.

"Metagenomics gives you a more complete and quantitative picture of what microorganisms are there and how abundant they are," he said. "This shows that traditional culture methods are limited in what they can detect, and that they can often provide a biased look at what is there."

In addition to those already mentioned, the paper's authors included Luis Rodriguez and Chengwei Luo from Georgia Tech, Michael Elk and Hodon Ryu from Pegasus, Inc., and Jill Hoelle from the EPA.

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CITATION: Maria J. Soto-Giron, et al., "Characterization of biofilms developing on hospital shower hoses and implications for nosocomial infections," (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2016).
FRANKFURT am MAIN. Emmanuelle Charpentier from France and Jennifer A. Doudna from the USA are today being awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for 2016 in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. The two scientists are being honored for their pioneering work in the development of the programmable gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. "With this precision tool genes can be modified easily and precisely," wrote the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation in explaining its decision. "The prizewinners recognized and identified this potential and demonstrated the technology's far-reaching applications." In the shortest time, CRISPR-Cas9 has become one of the most sought-after tools in molecular biology research, the Scientific Council continues. CRISPR-Cas9 is so easy to use that genome editing, which only a few years ago was extremely complicated, has become a routine procedure. The Council also paid tribute to the fact that Doudna and Charpentier were among the first to call for debate on the ethical issues because CRISPR-Cas9 can also be used to edit and engineer the germline. Charpentier is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology in Berlin and Professor at Umea University in Sweden. Doudna is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is among the most prestigious international awards granted in the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of medicine. The Prize will be presented by Professor Harald zur Hausen, Chairman of the Scientific Council.

Charpentier and Doudna were the first to demonstrate that CRISPR-Cas9, developed by bacteria as a defense against bacteriophages, can be used to target and cleave any DNA sequence. The gene cutter is programmed and controlled by a guide RNA. One of the prizewinners' achievements is that they have made the gene cutter easier and more user-friendly. Experiments in numerous laboratories have quickly shown that this simplified form works not only in the test tube but also in living cells and in many organisms. The DNA is edited and engineered in repairing double strand breaks. This makes it possible to replace or alter genes or knock them out of action. There is strong evidence that CRISPR-Cas9 will help cure hereditary diseases, eradicate dangerous pathogens, and breed better plants.

The two prizewinners' pioneering publication in 2012 - following the breakthrough finding by Charpentier in 2011 of the CRISPR-Cas9 system - unleashed a veritable wave of CRISPR-Cas9 research. Since then, thousands of publications have appeared that reveal its true potential and describe further details and potential developments of the CRISPR technology. "This technology is changing both fundamental research and clinical and commercial opportunities in biology," says Doudna. "That's very exciting." Charpentier says: "I think that CRISPR-Cas9 has the potential to really change the biotechnology and the medical landscapes."

At the ethics summit held in Washington in December 2015, both scientists spoke out against editing of the human germline for clinical applications at this time. In the concluding statement, which Doudna as one of the organizers also signed, germline editing is deemed to be "irresponsible" unless and until the relevant ethical and safety issues have been resolved. The document also declares that norms concerning acceptable uses should be established by the international community. The summit did not call for a moratorium but rather for intensification of research within the legal and ethical boundaries.

Short biography of Professor Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier

Emmanuelle Charpentier (age 47) was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France, in 1968. She studied microbiology, genetics and biochemistry in Paris and completed her doctorate at the Institut Pasteur. After working in New York and Memphis, notably at the Rockefeller University, Charpentier moved to the University of Vienna in 2002 and to Umea University in 2009, where she is still Visiting Professor. Charpentier came to Germany in 2013 on a Humboldt Professorship. She first headed a Department at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig and was full Professor at the Hannover Medical School. She was appointed Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin in October 2015. Charpentier has been awarded well over two dozen different prizes, including the three million dollar Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation and an honorary doctorate of the University of Louvain. She is a member of various science academies and associations, including Germany's Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and elected foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. She co-founded CRISPR Therapeutics in 2014 and ERS Genomics in 2013.

Short biography of Professor Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna

Jennifer A. Doudna (age 52) was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Hilo, Hawaii. She studied chemistry at Pomona College in California and took her doctorate in biological chemistry and molecular chemistry at the Harvard University in 1989. After her doctorate, Doudna moved to the University of Colorado. In 1994 she was appointed professor at Yale, and she has been a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, since 2002. At Berkeley she serves as Chair of the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Biology. Doudna is also the Executive Director of the Innovative Genomics Initiative at UC Berkeley/UCSF. The co-prizewinner has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997. She has won numerous awards, including the three million dollar Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Doudna is a member of various science academies and associations, including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a co-founder of Editas Medicine, Intellia Therapeutics and Caribou Biosciences.

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The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize

The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is traditionally awarded on Paul Ehrlich's birthday, March 14, in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt. It honors scientists who have made significant contributions in Paul Ehrlich's field of research, in particular immunology, cancer research, microbiology, and chemotherapy. The Prize, which has been awarded since 1952, is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Health, the German association of research-based pharmaceutical company vfa e.V. and specially earmarked donations from companies. The prizewinner is selected by the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation.

The Paul Ehrlich Foundation

The Paul Ehrlich Foundation is a legally dependent foundation which is managed in a fiduciary capacity by the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, Frankfurt. The Honorary Chairman of the Foundation, which was established by Hedwig Ehrlich in 1929, is the German Federal President, who also appoints the elected members of the Scientific Council and the Board of Trustees. The Chairman of the Scientific Council is Professor Harald zur Hausen, and the Chair of the Board of Trustees is Professor Dr. Jochen Maas, Head of Research and Development and Member of the Management Board, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. Professor Wilhelm Bender, in his function as Chair of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, is Member of the Scientific Council. The President of the Goethe University is at the same time a member of the Board of Trustees.

Further information

You can obtain selected publications, the list of publications and a photograph of the laureates from the Press Office of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation, c/o Dr. Hildegard Kaulen, phone: +49 (0)6122/52718, email: h.k@kaulen.wi.shuttle.de and at http://www.paul-ehrlich-stiftung.de
Using the genetic information of two different families with three generations of disease, researchers have identified a new mutation responsible for a degenerative and ultimately fatal movement disorder. Through induced pluripotent stem cell techniques, researchers also grew neurons from one patient in the laboratory to be used in future experiments.

Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a genetic disease that causes wasting away of the cerebellum, the portion of the brain responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement, like walking, speaking, and even the direction of our eyes.

Currently, SCA has no cure or treatment. The mutations responsible for about 30 percent of cases are still unidentified.

Two different families with SCA sought treatment at two different hospitals in Japan. After preliminary testing on the symptomatic individuals, doctors identified none of the known genetic mutations. Researchers at Hiroshima University then received the patient's genetic samples and began the process of searching for the new mutation.

After genetic sequencing of four family members with SCA, a research team led by Professor Hideshi Kawakami, MD, PhD, from the Department of Epidemiology at Hiroshima University used statistical analysis to compare the families' DNA to that of unrelated people without SCA. This statistical analysis allowed researchers to identify which genetic variation the family members with SCA shared that healthy people did not.

The gene responsible for causing both families' SCA is located on Chromosome 17. The gene, called CACNA1G, encodes the Cav3.1 protein. Cav3.1 serves as a type of ion channel, or gateway, between the inside of nerve cells and the rest of the body. Scientists in different fields of research already know Cav3.1 controls how many Calcium ions are allowed into nerves when they send an electrical impulse through the brain. Cav3.1 had never been linked to SCA before.

Changing a single letter in the DNA sequence of CACNA1G switches a single amino acid in the chain of 2377 amino acids that cells connect to build the Cav3.1 protein.

Researchers performed the experiments to examine the way the mutated Cav3.1 channel behaves in cells growing in a dish. This mutation makes the Cav3.1 channels open at a lower threshold, meaning they let Calcium into the cell differently from healthy cells.

"In the future, a drug modifying this channel may cure the patients," said Prof. Kawakami.

Skin cells from one patient were used in induced pluripotent stem cell experiments to grow this patient's neurons in the laboratory. These new neurons showed no obvious physical deformities, which might fit with normal SCA progression. Depending on which SCA mutation they have, some patients may not experience symptoms until middle-age.

"We might need some age-related factors to reproduce life-like cell behavior," said Prof. Kawakami.

Researchers plan to use the neurons in future experiments to study the disease-causing Cav3.1 under more life-like conditions and in greater detail.

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In a small clinical study with an anticancer drug that halts blood vessel growth, a handful of people with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and hearing loss had restoration of hearing.

Results of the collaborative study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and Massachusetts General Hospital were described online March 14, 2016 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

An estimated one in 25,000 people is born with NF2, a hereditary tumor syndrome in which virtually everyone progresses to deafness because of vestibular schwannomas -- tumors growing on the nerves responsible for hearing. The tumors arise from the Schwann cells that support and insulate nerves. These tumors also cause balance problems and brain stem compression.

"Our study shows that the hearing loss suffered by at least a subset of these patients isn't permanent and that there is hope of reversing it," says Jaishri Blakeley, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Center and associate professor of neurology, neurosurgery and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "We made life-changing hearing restoration our priority measure of success with this trial rather than relying on outcomes that may not affect a patient's life, such as change in tumor size."

Vestibular schwannomas churn out unexpectedly high levels of a protein called VEGF that promotes blood vessel growth, which feeds tumors. Bevacizumab reduces VEGF levels in certain cancers and in so-called wet macular degeneration, a blinding eye condition. Because of the drug's well-documented effects, Blakeley and her colleagues thought the drug might shrink the tumors and improve hearing in patients with NF2.

For the study, they treated 14 patients -- four males and 10 females -- ages 14 to 79 with NF2 and progressive hearing loss. Each got 7.5 milligrams per kilogram body weight of bevacizumab intravenously every three weeks for 48 weeks, followed by 24 weeks of observation -- a dose lower than what is given to cancer patients.

Three patients experienced clinically important adverse events most likely due to the treatment: high blood pressure in two of them, and excessive bruising and bleeding in a third.

All patients underwent hearing evaluations at the start of the trial, and at weeks 13, 25, 49, 60 and at the end of study. The test asked patients to repeat back 100 one-syllable words played through headphones in a quiet room. Word recognition scores varied from 0 percent if no words were correctly identified to 100 percent if all words were correctly identified.

At the start of the study, the average word recognition score from all the patients was 60 percent, and only four patients possessed hearing considered "serviceable" by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Five patients (36 percent) achieved sustained hearing improvement with the treatment, and 12 patients transitioned from nonserviceable to serviceable hearing in the affected ear.

None of the patients experienced further hearing loss during the study, even though all patients had progressive hearing loss at the start of the study as a requirement for enrolling. All patients stopped bevacizumab treatment after 12 months to assess how long the hearing improvement lasted. Five of nine ears with improved hearing maintained this improvement for six months after the drug was stopped.

"The trial results, although limited by the small number of patients, suggest that patients may not need to get doses of drug as frequently as may be required for cancer and also may be able to take breaks in treatment. This may help reduce the frequency of negative side effects and control long-term health care costs," says Blakeley.

To measure changes in the size of their tumors, patients underwent MRI scans of the brain before, during and after treatment. Six patients (43 percent) showed a reduction in the size of their vestibular schwannoma tumors by more than 20 percent. Reduced tumor size did not correlate with hearing improvement in the study.

"We showed that the size of the tumor didn't affect the function of the nerve," says Blakeley. "Just because the image looked better, that didn't translate reliably into hearing improvement."

The researchers are exploring certain biomarkers indicating a drug response that could be used in future trials to better select patients that respond to the treatment. Further clinical trials are needed to confirm these results.

Each intravenous infusion of bevacizumab costs up to $5,000 per dose. The drug also causes adverse effects, such as slower wound healing, high blood pressure and bleeding.

Bevacizumab is mostly used to treat colorectal and lung cancers, as well as certain eye diseases, like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Citing the high costs and potentially harmful side effects of bevacizumab, the investigators caution that the treatment is not ready for general use in all patients with hearing loss because of neurofibromatosis. However, this study laid the groundwork for identifying the best NF2 candidates for treatment with the drug and the optimal dosing.

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Additional authors include Xiaobu Ye, Amanda Bergner, Laura Fayad, Shivani Ahlawat and Michael Jacobs of Johns Hopkins Medicine; Christopher Zalewski of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; Eva Dombi and Bridgette Widemann of the National Cancer Institute; Dan Duda, Alona Muzikansky Vanessa Merker, Elizabeth Gerstner, Rakesh Jain and Scott Plotkin of Massachusetts General Hospital; and Chris Halpin of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

The study was funded by support from the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, the Galloway Family Foundation, the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research Intramural Research Program, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Intramural Research Program.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - As the Earth emerged from its last ice age several thousand years ago, atmospheric carbon dioxide increased and further warmed the planet. Scientists have long speculated that the primary source of this CO2 was from the deep ocean around Antarctica, though it has been difficult to prove.

A new study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirmed that the ocean played a significant role in the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but also documents the signature of land-based carbon sources in Antarctic ice cores that contributed to abrupt increases in CO2.

"There wasn't a steady rate of rising carbon dioxide during the last deglaciation," said Edward Brook, an Oregon State University paleoclimatologist and co-author on the PNAS study. "It happened in fits and starts. With the new precise techniques we developed to fingerprint the sources, it is apparent that the early carbon largely came from the ocean, but we think the system got a jolt from an influx of land-based carbon a few times as the climate warmed."

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation with support from the Marsden Fund Council in New Zealand.

The breakthrough came from the comparison of carbon isotope ratios in pristine samples of ice mined from the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica. Although such isotopic fingerprinting strategies have been attempted before, the key was detailed work both in the field and in the laboratory that improved the precision to read the record in fine detail.

The study found that during the initial rise in atmospheric CO2 -- from 17,600 years ago to 15,500 years ago -- the light isotope 12-C increased faster than the heavier isotopes, pointing to a release of carbon from the deep ocean. However, at about 16,300 years ago and 12,900 years ago, there were abrupt, century-scale perturbations in the carbon ratio that suggested rapid release of carbon from land sources such as plants and soils.

Although the region of the CO2 source is not clear, the scientists say, at least one of the two events may come from the tropics because methane from tropical swamps rose at the same time.

"One theory," Brooks said, "is that an influx of icebergs in the Northern Hemisphere at about 16,300 years ago -- from retreating ice sheets -- cooled the North Atlantic Ocean and pushed the tropical rain belt southward over Brazil, expanding the wetlands. Swamps in the Southern Hemisphere, in places like Brazil, may have become wetter and produced methane, while plants and soils in the Northern Hemisphere, in places like China, may have been hit by drought and produced CO2."

During the next 4,000 years, the continued rise of atmospheric CO2 -- by about 40 parts per million -- was marked by small changes in the carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratio indicating additional sources of carbon from rising ocean temperatures. This CO2 source, analogous to the bubbles released from warming soda pop, may have added to the biological carbon sources.

The application of this carbon isotope technique became possible because of a unique site along the margin of the Antarctic ice sheet where old ice that flowed from the interior is exposed at the surface of a large glacier -- Taylor Glacier -- named for a geologist on an early expedition to the frozen continent. Ice that normally would be a mile or more below the surface is available to easily sample in large quantities.

These large samples, laboriously cut from the exposed ice layers, allowed the precise measurements, the Oregon State researchers report.

"The isotope ratio technique gives us a sort of 'return address' for carbon dioxide," noted Thomas Bauska, a former Ph.D. student and post-doctoral researcher in OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, who was lead author on the PNAS study. "The technique is new, extremely precise and gives us one of the best windows into the Earth's past climate."

Bauska is now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge in England.

That window into the past may provide hints at what may happen in the future under a new global warming regime, noted Alan Mix, an Oregon State oceanographer and co-author on the study. However, he cautioned, it isn't always simple to predict the future based on past events.

"The rise of CO2 is a complicated beast, with different behaviors triggered at different times," Mix said. "Although the natural changes at the end of the ice age are not a direct analogy for the future, the rapid changes do provide a cautionary tale. Manmade warming from CO2 pollution may trigger further release from 'natural sources,' and this could exacerbate greenhouse gases and warming."

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Other authors on the PNAS study include Daniel Baggenstos and Jeffrey Severinghaus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Shaun Marcott, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Vasillii Petrenko, University of Rochester; Hinrich Schaefer, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand; and James Lee, Oregon State University.
A protein called ROBO1 may delay the progression of breast cancer, according to a paper published in The Journal of Cell Biology. The study, "Loss of miR-203 regulates cell shape and matrix adhesion through ROBO1/Rac/FAK in response to stiffness" by Lily Thao-Nhi Le and colleagues, identifies a signaling pathway that may protect breast cells from the tumorigenic effects of stiff extracellular matrices.

In living tissues, cells are surrounded by a matrix of secreted molecules. Changes in this extracellular matrix can stiffen tissues and activate oncogenic signaling pathways, but cells may try to protect themselves by reorganizing their cytoskeleton and remodeling their attachments to the matrix. The ROBO family of signaling proteins - best known for their role in guiding the growth of developing neurons - regulates the cytoskeleton, and may therefore help cells sense and respond to such changes in their environment.

A team of researchers led by Professor Lindsay Hinck at the University of California, Santa Cruz, examined the ROBO signaling pathway in breast epithelial cells and found that one family member, ROBO1, enhances cellular contractility and stimulates assembly of cell-matrix adhesions. Stiffer environments caused breast cells to downregulate a microRNA, miR-203, that normally suppresses Robo1, thereby elevating ROBO1 protein levels. This, in turn, enhanced cellular contractility and adhesion, allowing cells to retain their shape and position within stiff extracellular matrices.

Breast cancer cells lacking ROBO1 were more invasive, suggesting that the upregulation of ROBO1 in stiff environments may prevent cells from metastasizing to other tissues. Moreover, ROBO1 has previously been shown to suppress cell proliferation, suggesting that this pathway could delay tumor progression. Accordingly, breast cancer patients whose tumors displayed low miR-203/high Robo1 expression had better long-term survival rates. Hinck and colleagues now want to confirm that ROBO1 can counteract the pro-tumorigenic effects of tissue stiffening in both mice and humans.

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Le, L.T., et al. 2016. J Cell Biol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201507054

About The Journal of Cell Biology

The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) is published by The Rockefeller University Press. All editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted are made by research-active scientists in conjunction with our in-house scientific editors. JCB provides free online access to many article types immediately, with complete archival content freely available online since the journal's inception. Authors retain copyright of their published works, and third parties may reuse the content for non-commercial purposes under a creative commons license. For more information, please visit jcb.org.
Ice wedges, a common subsurface feature in permafrost landscapes, appear to be rapidly melting throughout the Arctic, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The wedges, which can be the size of a house, gradually formed over hundreds or even thousands of years as water seeped into permafrost cracks. On the ground surface, they form polygon shapes roughly 15-30 meters wide -- a defining characteristic of northern landscapes.

The micro-topographic features of ice wedge polygons affect drainage, snow distribution and the general wetness or dryness of a landscape.

Anna Liljedahl, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Water and Environmental Research Center, and her co-authors gathered information about the types of ice-wedge polygons and how they changed over time across the Arctic. They collected the information while performing various other permafrost studies.

Although these regions contain "cold permafrost," with an overall average temperature of about 7 degrees Fahrenheit, surface thawing still occurred at all of the 10 study sites.

Ice wedge degradation has been observed before in individual locations, but this is the first study to determine that rapid melting has become widespread throughout the Arctic.

"Here we're combining observations from people working in the field across the Arctic -- Russia, Canada and Alaska -- where we're seeing the same ice wedge melting phenomenon," said Liljedahl, the lead author of the study.

Such thawing could bring significant changes to the hydrology of much of the Arctic as it alters the ground-surface topography. Melting of ice wedge tops makes the ground that surrounds the polygons subside, which in turn allows drainage of ice-wedge polygon centers. This can create a connective drainage system that encourages runoff and therefore an overall drying of the landscape.

"It's really the tipping point for the hydrology," Liljedahl said. "Suddenly you're draining the landscape and creating more runoff, even if the amount of precipitation remains the same. Instead of being absorbed by the tundra, the snowmelt water will run off into lakes and larger rivers. It really is a dramatic hydrologic change across the tundra landscape."

A comprehensive satellite image survey hasn't been done to determine how common polygon ice wedge patterns are in permafrost areas, but as much as two-thirds of the Arctic landscape is suited to their formation, Liljedahl said.

Gradual warming of permafrost has been well-documented in the Arctic, but the polygon study indicates that a brief period of unusual warmth can cause a rapid shift in a short time period.

At the sites that were studied, ice wedge degradation occurred in less than a decade. In some cases, a single unusually warm summer was enough to cause more than 10 centimeters of surface subsidence, enough to result in pooling and runoff in an otherwise relatively flat landscape.

Vladimir Romanovsky, a UAF geophysics professor who monitored ice wedge degradation for the study at a site in Canada, said the overall conclusions of the study were striking.

"We were not expecting to see these dramatic changes," he said. "We could see some other places where ice wedges were melting, but they were all related to surface disturbances, or it happened a long time ago. Whatever is happening, it's something new for at least the last 60 years in the Arctic."

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Other contributors to the study include Julia Boike, Alfred Wegener Institute; Ronald P. Daanen, Alaska Department of Natural Resources; Alexander N. Fedorov, Melnikov Permafrost Institute; Gerald V. Frost, ABR Inc. Environmental Research and Services; Guido Grosse, Alfred Wegener Institute; Larry D. Hinzman, UAF; Yoshihiro Iijima, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology; Janet C. Jorgenson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Nadya Matveyeva, Russian Academy of Sciences; Marius Necsoiu, Southwest Research Institute; Martha K. Raynolds, UAF; Jorg Schulla, Hyrdology Software Consulting; Ken D. Tape, UAF; Donald A. Walker, UAF; Cathy Wilson, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hironori Yabuki, Japan Agency of Marine-Earth Science and Technology; and Donatella Zona, San Diego State University and University of Sheffield.

A press briefing will be held at 4 p.m. EST March 14 in Room 104 of the Chapman Building at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and via live webcast at bit.ly/arcticnewsbriefing. Journalists accessing the briefing online will be able to ask questions via a chat window on the webcast page.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Anna Liljedahl, 907-474-1951, akliljedahl@alaska.edu
A chemical discovered in the Bruce Hammock laboratory at the University of California, Davis, may be a new, innovative tool to control depression, a severe and chronic psychiatric disease that affects 350 million persons worldwide.

The research, published March 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involves studies of an inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase in rodents. Soluble epoxide hydrolase, or sEH, is emerging as a therapeutic target that acts on a number of inflammatory or inflammation-linked diseases.

"The research in animal models of depression suggests that sEH plays a key role in modulating inflammation, which is involved in depression," said Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology with a joint appointment at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Inhibitors of sEH protect natural lipids in the brain that reduce inflammation and neuropathic pain. Thus, these inhibitors could be potential therapeutic drugs for depression."

Researchers from Hammock's laboratory, collaborating with depression expert Kenji Hashimoto and colleagues at the Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Japan, examined the role of the potent sEH inhibitor known as TPPU, in a rodent model of depression, "social defeat."

They found that TPPU displayed rapid effects in both inflammation and social-defeat-stress models of depression. Expression of sEH protein was higher in key brain regions of chronically stressed mice than in control mice, they found.

New therapeutic approach:

"Most drugs for psychiatric diseases target how neurons communicate; here we are targeting the wellness and environment of the neurons," said UC Davis researcher Christophe Morisseau.

In further explaining the significance of the findings, UC Davis researcher Karen Wagner said: "The rapid antidepressant action of the sEH inhibitor in these murine (mouse) models of depression is truly noteworthy because current antidepressants used in humans and animal models take weeks to have full effects."

The researchers also discovered that postmortem brain samples of patients with psychiatric diseases, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, showed a higher expression of sEH than controls.

The researchers found that pretreatment with TPPU prevented the onset of depressionlike behaviors in mice after induced inflammation or repeated social-defeat stress. Mice lacking the sEH gene did not show depressionlike behavior after repeated social-defeat stress.

"All these findings suggest that sEH plays a key role in the pathophysiology of depression and that epoxy fatty acids, and their mimics as well as sEH inhibitors, are potential therapeutic or prophylactic drugs for depression," Hashimoto said.

Addresses a pressing need:

Robert E. Hales, distinguished professor of clinical psychiatry and the Joe P. Tupin Endowed Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine, said new medication treatment approaches are needed to treat depression.

Hales, who was not involved in the research, said the new paper represents "an important and novel approach to treating depression."

"With lifetime prevalence rates of major depressive disorder being in the range of 16 percent and with nearly two-thirds of patients failing to respond to pharmacologic treatments, there is a pressing need to discover new medication treatment approaches," Hales said. "Their findings lend support to the potential use of TPPU, a sEH inhibitor, as a new therapeutic medication to prevent and treat depression."

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Collaborators and funding:

Other authors on the paper are: Qian Ren, Min Ma, Tamaki Ishima, Ji-chun Zhang, Chun Yang, Wei Yao, Chao Dong and Mei Han, Chiba University; and Jun Yang at UC Davis.

Morisseau, Yang and Wagner are inventors on University of California patents related to soluble epoxide hydrolase. Some of these patents have been licensed by EicOsis Human Health, a Davis company founded by Hammock to develop pharmaceuticals to alleviate neuropathic and inflammatory pain.

The research was funded by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, to Kenji Hashimoto, (#24116006); and a Research Fellowship for Young Scientists of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo, Japan) to Qian Ren.

Partial support was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences R01 ES002710, NIEHS Superfund Research Program grant P42 ES004699 and NIH U24 DK097154 West Coast Comprehensive Metabolomics Center.

Hammock and Professor Bruce German of UC Davis recently received a National Institutes of Health grant in collaboration with Pei-an Shih of the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, to investigate the role of bioactive lipids in a related psychiatric disorder, anorexia nervosa.

Media contacts:

Bruce Hammock, Entomology and Nematology, (530) 752-7519, bdhammock@ucdavis.edu

Kathy Keatley Garvey, Entomology and Nematology, (530) 754-6894, kegarvey@ucdavis.edu

Pat Bailey, UC Davis News and Media Relations, (530) 219-9640, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu
Scientists have long agreed that we humans are a complex combination of our inherited traits and the environments in which we are raised. How the scales tip in one direction or the other, however, is still the subject of much debate.

To better understand the nature versus nurture question, UC Santa Barbara psychologist John Protzko analyzed an existing study to determine whether and how environmental interventions impacted the intelligence levels of low birth weight children.

The key finding: Interventions did raise intelligence levels, but not permanently. When the interventions ended, their effects diminished over time in what psychologists describe as "the fadeout effect." The research is highlighted in the journal Intelligence.

"Certain environmental interventions can raise general intelligence," said Protzko, a postdoctoral scholar in the META (Memory, Emotion, Thought, Awareness) Lab in UCSB's Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences. "It's not just pushing scores around on a test; it's deep changes to underlying general intelligence. The fadeout effect, however, applies the same way." Scientists make a distinction between IQ scores, a quantitative measure of intelligence, and general intelligence, which reflects underlying cognitive abilities.

Protzko reviewed the results of the Infant Health and Development Program involving 985 children, all of whom experienced an intense and cognitively demanding environment during the first three years of their lives. Three main interventions had been employed to ameliorate the negative effects of being born at low birth weight.

At age 3, the children were given the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales as a baseline measure of their intelligence. At ages 5 and 8 -- at least two years after the interventions had ended -- they were again given intelligence tests.

The results showed that the interventions had raised the children's general intelligence at age 3. However, by age 5 the increases were no longer evident. According to Protzko, this demonstrates that the fadeout effect applies to general intelligence.

He also noted that this difference in intelligence at ages 3 and 5 underscored another issue: causality. One theory regarding the development of intelligence suggests that the trait can be correlated between two ages because there is a causal connection: Intelligence at one age causes intelligence at another age.

"However, my analysis starts to bring evidence to the idea that intelligence may not be the causal factor we suppose it to be from the correlation work -- at least not in children," Protzko explained. "It's unlikely that given an increase in intelligence, I would live my life any differently than I do right now. This work will have to be done in adults to really pull that apart, but I think that this analysis starts to bring evidence against that idea of causality."

This is the second of two papers Protzko has published on the fadeout effect. Both highlight the unidirectional reaction model, which suggests that intelligence can adapt to meet increased environmental demands but when those demands are no longer present, it returns to its previous level.

"Raising IQ is not an instance of raising test scores with no concomitant effects on the latent underlying intelligence," Protzko said. "While both IQ scores and general intelligence can be raised through targeted environmental interventions, any gains are not permanent and fade over time.

Nonetheless, he noted, his analysis doesn't indicate that interventions aimed at enhancing intellectual development are useless or doomed to fail. "I believe it is still a good thing to intervene and try to change the trajectory for these children," he said.

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ANN ARBOR--Lake Huron's Chinook salmon fishery will likely never return to its glory days because the lake can no longer support the predatory fish's main food source, the herring-like alewife, according to a new University of Michigan-led computer-modeling study.

The study's results suggest that Lake Huron resource managers should focus their efforts on restoration of native fish species such as lake trout, walleye, lake whitefish and lake herring. The findings also suggest that if current trends continue, Lake Michigan will likely experience an alewife collapse similar to Lake Huron's, followed by the crash of its Chinook salmon fishery there.

"These results serve as a reality check for those who continue to pressure the resource managers to stock Chinook salmon in Lake Huron," said study co-author Sara Adlerstein-Gonzalez, a fishery scientist at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

"The findings are also good news for native fish species and for the restoration of the entire Lake Huron ecosystem. Maybe we should celebrate the improvements in the native fish populations and try to adapt to this new situation."

A paper summarizing the findings is scheduled for online publication in the journal Ecosystems on March 14. The paper's first author is Yu-Chun Kao, who conducted the work for his doctoral dissertation at U-M under Adlerstein-Gonzalez. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University and works at the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center in Ann Arbor.

The other author of the Ecosystems paper is Edward Rutherford of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.

Pacific salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes 50 years ago to establish a new recreational fishery and to help control alewives, a non-native species that entered the lakes in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Alewives soon became the main prey species for Chinook salmon and lake trout, which are staples of a Great Lakes fishery valued at more than $4 billion per year.

Lake Huron's alewife population collapsed in 2003, and a sharp Chinook salmon decline soon followed. The state of Michigan and the province of Ontario stopped stocking Chinook salmon in southern Lake Huron in 2014 but continue to stock in the northern part of the lake.

In Lake Michigan, where populations of both alewives and salmon are declining, stocking of Chinooks continues at significantly reduced levels.

The new study is the first attempt to use a food-web modeling approach to assess the various factors behind the 2003 collapse of Lake Huron alewives and the implications for future fish populations there. The total weight or "biomass" of alewives in Lake Huron plunged by more than 90 percent between 2002 and 2003, and the exact causes of the collapse are still debated by anglers and biologists.

Some researchers have suggested the alewife collapse was mainly due to too much predation by Chinook salmon and native lake trout. Others say it likely resulted from a drop in food availability tied to the explosive spread of zebra and quagga mussels starting in the late 1980s.

The computer simulations in the new study show that the collapse was caused by a combination of predation and food limitation--and that predation alone would not have caused the crash. The spread of the non-native mussels, coupled with declining levels of the nutrient phosphorus entering the lake from rivers and streams, were essential factors, according to the new study.

The Lake Huron dominoes fell sequentially, according to the report.

First came increased predation of alewives, due initially to heavier stocking of Chinook salmon and later the result of increased natural reproduction of salmon and a drop in sea-lamprey mortality. Predation of Lake Huron alewives by Chinook salmon likely peaked in the mid-1980s and then remained roughly constant until the alewife collapse, according to the new simulations.

Beginning in the 1990s, quagga mussels spread quickly at a time when the level of phosphorus flowing into the lake from rivers and streams was dropping in response to nutrient abatement programs initiated in the 1970s. Mussels in Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay compounded the problem by sucking up and storing nutrients near the shore, preventing them from making it into Lake Huron's main basin.

The loss of essential nutrients in the main basin reduced the amount of algae at the base of the Lake Huron food web. Zooplankton, tiny animals that feed on algae and that provide food for small fish such as alewives and rainbow smelt, suffered.

At the time, alewives and rainbow smelt were the two most important prey species for Chinook salmon in Lake Huron. The new computer simulations show that rainbow smelt suffered significant declines before alewives did, dropping 78 percent by 2002. Deprived of a favorite food, Chinook salmon began to rely more heavily on alewives, and this increased predation hastened the alewife population collapse, according to the study.

This sequence of events can be used to assess the likelihood of an alewife and Chinook salmon collapse in lakes Michigan and Ontario, the researchers said.

"We are seeing all the same warning signs in lakes Michigan and Ontario," Kao said. "We're seeing decreasing nutrient loads, a decrease in soft-bodied, bottom-dwelling invertebrates due to the mussels, a decrease in rainbow smelt and, as a result, Chinook salmon feeding almost solely on alewives."

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With researchers from Michigan State and the U.S. Geological Survey, Kao is working on a follow-up modeling study that focuses specifically on the Lake Michigan food web.

Funding for the Lake Huron study was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and by NOAA's Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research. Study results will be shared with Great Lakes resource managers to help inform management decisions.
According to the American Heart Association, ischemic strokes account for nearly 90 percent of all strokes. They occur when a blocked artery prevents blood from getting to the brain and usually result in long-term disability or death. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Missouri School of Medicine has developed a new, real-time method of imaging molecular events after strokes - a finding that may lead to improved care for patients.

"During an ischemic stroke, harmful enzymes called gelatinase become overactive in areas of the brain where blood flow is cut off," said Zezong Gu, Ph.D., an associate professor of pathology and anatomical sciences at the MU School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Over-activation of these enzymes causes brain damage. Our team hypothesized that if we could visualize and track this activity in real-time, we could then work on developing a way to block the activity and prevent brain damage from occurring."

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to diagnose strokes because it produces precise, sectional images of the brain. Although these images can verify the region of arterial blockages within the brain, current contrast agents are not specific or sensitive enough to reveal important molecular events, such as gelatinase activity, on an MRI image.

To overcome this obstacle, the researchers used peptides that specifically recognize gelatinase activity. The peptides were tagged with contrast agents through a process developed by research team member Roger Tsien, Ph.D., a biochemist and Nobel Laureate at the University of California, San Diego.

"Once the tagged peptides traveled to the site of increased gelatinase activity, they were absorbed into the cells with this activated enzyme," Gu said. "When enough of these peptides were absorbed, the stroke site was visible on an MRI. We tested this technique in both cell-based and mouse models of ischemic stroke. Using this method, we successfully tracked gelatinase activity."

Gu suggests that real-time imaging of this activity could lead to a better understanding of how to treat strokes and mediate the damage they cause.

"Our findings indicate that tagged peptides can be used as a non-invasive probe to detect and track gelatinase activity," Gu said. "This process may serve as an additional tool for clinicians to treat their patients if a viable inhibitor can be developed to prevent the damage caused by this activity."

Gu and his team currently are working to develop such a gelatinase inhibitor.

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The study, "Gelatinase Activity Imaged by Activatable Cell-penetrating Peptides in Cell-based and In Vivo Models of Stroke," recently was published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Dana Foundation, American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award (09SDG2260983) and the MU Department Research Fund. The content of the article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

About the MU School of Medicine

The MU School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri and beyond for more than 165 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and more Missouri physicians received their medical degrees from MU than from any other university. For more information, visit http://medicine.missouri.edu/.
One in four seniors is bringing along stowaways from the hospital to their next stop: superbugs on their hands.

Moreover, seniors who go to a nursing home or other post-acute care facility will continue to acquire new superbugs during their stay, according to findings made by University of Michigan researchers published today in a JAMA Internal Medicine research letter.

The study focused on patients who have recently been admitted to the hospital for a medical or surgical issue and temporarily need extra medical care in a PAC facility before fully returning home. Older people often need extra time in a post-acute care facility for rehabilitation after common procedures such as hip and knee replacements.

The research team studied 357 such seniors who were admitted from the hospital to several PAC facilities in southeast Michigan. One-quarter of these patients (24.1 percent) had at least one multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO), or superbug, on their hands when they checked in.

Researchers tested the same patients' hands after two weeks and then monthly, for up to six months or until their discharge home from the post-acute care facility. During the follow-up visits, they found not only did these organisms persist, but even more seniors acquired superbugs on their hands - up from one in four (24.1 percent) to more than one in three (34.2 percent).

"We've been educating healthcare workers for decades about hand hygiene, and these numbers show it's time to include patients in their own hand hygiene performance and education," says lead author Lona Mody, M.D., M.Sc. Mody is the associate chief for clinical and translational research at the U-M Geriatrics Center and a research scientist at the Ann Arbor VA Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center.

A high level of MDROs on patient hands increases the chance that these superbugs will be transmitted to other frail patients and health care workers. Frequent antibiotic use in post-acute care patients also increases the probability that MDROs introduced to a post-acute care facility will flourish.

Because of overuse of antibiotics in many healthcare settings, certain strains of several infectious bacteria have evolved to be resistant to treatment with the drugs - making them even more dangerous than other strains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new report this month on hospital-acquired infections including those involving superbugs, and called for increased efforts to prevent them from spreading.

A change in culture

Mody notes that today's aging patients want to be active, much more than in the past. They often choose to stay in facilities that offer group activities and social events. However, when people leave their room often, they're more likely to touch areas of a care facility's environment, healthcare workers and other patients - which puts them at risk for acquiring new MDROs.

Increasing numbers of seniors bringing hospital superbugs through the revolving door of the PAC facilities for short stays (as opposed to living long-term) means new policies and innovations are needed to stop the superbugs from spreading more deeply into the post-acute care facilities, Mody says.

Adapting staff lessons to patients

"Patient hand washing is not a routine practice in hospitals," says Mody, also U-M's Amanda Sanford Hickey Collegiate Professor of Internal Medicine and a member of U-M's Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. "We need to build on the overarching principles we've already developed with adult learning theories and bring them to patients."

One strategy includes physically showing the superbugs that grow on people's hands, by growing them in the lab.

"People are always surprised when they see how much can grow on their hands- and how they can effectively clear these organisms by simply washing hands appropriately," Mody says.

Mody and her team developed a toolkit for PACs to use in training employees to control infections, called the TIP study toolkit. It could also be adapted to a patient audience, including

Educational posters about hand hygiene

Educational modules and trivia questions about hand hygiene

An infection preventionist on-site to ensure availability of hand hygiene products, including alcohol gel for personal use

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Additional authors: Jie Cao, M.P.H., Lillian Min, M.D., M.P.H., Bonnie Lansing, L.P.N. and Betsy Foxman, Ph.D., all from U-M.

Funding: National Institute of Aging grants R0IAGO32298 (to Mody), ROIAGO4178O (to Min, Foxman, Mody) and K24AG050685 (to Mody).

Disclosure: None

Reference: "Multidrug-Resistant Organisms on Patients' Hands: A Missed Opportunity," Research Letter, JAMA Internal Medicine, March 14, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.0142
Living cells are constantly on the move. They move around and divide, and they are responsible for transporting molecules around inside themselves. Now SDU researchers have developed a method that makes it possible to become a spectator at this hectic traffic. The method is of particular importance for disease research.

Every cell in our body is constantly active. Cells are inhabited by a myriad of different molecules tirelessly interacting with each other to keep the machinery - your body - going.

In the course of one minute, almost all molecules within a cell have moved around to perform various tasks in the cell.

- There is a lot of activity and a lot of traffic inside a cell. And that's actually one of science's great mysteries: How can these constant molecular transport processes be performed with such precision and coordination, researchers Achim Schroll and Daniel Wustner from University of Southern Denmark ask.

Achim Schroll is a professor in applied mathematics, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Daniel Wustner is an associate professor and principal investigator at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Together with PhD student Christian V. Hansen from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, they have developed a new model that makes it possible to monitor the lively traffic inside a single cell. Their work is published in the journal Computing and Visualization in Science.

Wrong movement can be fatal

The model is important, because sometimes the molecular transport processes are not performed properly, which may cause diseases.

- The consequences can be fatal. Many diseases develop because the transport is disturbed or because proteins clump in the cell. This is the case in diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's. Therefore it is important to study molecules activities in cells, says Daniel Wustner.

The researchers started their work by studying living cells under a microscope and observe how factors such as temperature and biochemical reactions make molecules move inside a cell. These observations were "translated" into a mathematical model based on differential equations.

- Thus we now have a computer model that allows us to run a simulation of what goes on inside a living cell. We know the terms "in vivo" and "in vitro" (in a living organism and in the test tube) - here we examine things "in silico"; in the computer, explains Achim Scholl.

What exactly did the researchers do?

Molecules can be made to light up green, so you can see them in a microscope. They will appear as a green mass indicating that you that you are looking into a cell that is full of green molecules.

For more details the researchers installed an on/off-switch inside the cell. Each time a moving molecule passed through the switch, its green color got switched off. Gradually, more and more molecules in the cell became dark - a sign that more and more molecules had passed through the switch.

This traffic was "translated" into a mathematical model, so researchers can now use a computer to study the molecular traffic in a cell and see what happens if conditions change. One example could be that a membrane becomes harder for the molecules to penetrate, so it takes longer for them for them to reach the switch.

In real time, it takes approximately one minute for the majority of molecules to pass through the switch. After approximately 10 minutes all have passed through, and there are no more green lights to see.

Most molecules are quick to pass through, while certain conditions slow down the last ones. One reason is that some molecules are stronger bound to a particular structure. Another reason could be that they have to pass a barrier.

###

Paper: Computational modeling of fluorescence loss in photobleaching. Christian V. Hansen, Hans J. Schroll, Daniel Wustner. Computing and Visualization in Science, Volume 17, Issue 4, pp 151-166.

Achim Schroll, achim@imada.sdu.dk. Tel +45 65503553 and +45 24984090.

Daniel Wustner, wuestner@bmb.sdu.dk. Tel +45 65502405 and +45 60112405.
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An easy jaunt from Madrid with good rail connections, the charming city of Toledo makes an ideal day trip destination. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, the citys shared Christian, Jewish and Muslim roots are particularly evident in its mountaintop old town with its striking monuments and traditional shops.

Once home to Spanish King Charles Is court, in its heyday, Toledo was known as the Imperial City. Beyond the iconic walls and historic buildings, its also a good place to obtain a souvenir like a traditionally made sword, knife or weapon, as the city has specialized in steelmaking for centuries.

Getting there

The nearest airport is Madrid. Budget airlines fly regular routes between Madrid and major European cities like Paris, London, and Barcelona. You can search for flights on EuroCheapo.

From Madrid, you can hop a high-speed train for a 33-minute trip to Toledo for around 20 round trip. If you want to save a little bit, spend about half that and get to Toledo in around an hour with a direct ALSA bus from Plaza Eliptica. If youve got more time than money, go for a ride share with BlaBlaCar for around 5. Youll get there in a little over an hour.

And regardless of whether or not you take the train, make sure to have a look around inside the citys main station, a 19th-century Neo-Mudejar style building with tiled ceilings and floors, and stained glass windows.

Free and Cheap Things to Do

Free Walks

While many of Toledos attractions charge an admission fee, all of them are free to look at from the outside, so come dressed for the weather, wearing good walking shoes.

One option is exploring the citys old town on foot, stopping to snap shots of historic convents like the Convent of San Pedro Martir and opulent government buildings like Toledos Town Hall with its twin towers and Tuscan columns and Fuensalida, a 15th-century nobles palace.

Dont miss local landmarks like the Alcazar, a Moorish fortress perched on the highest hill in the city, the charming Bridge of San Martin, first built in the Middle Ages, the Roman era Alcantara Bridge, the 13th-century Primada Cathedral, and the ancient Cristo de la Luz Mosque with its red and white horseshoe-shaped arches, built in 999.

Or you can stroll the outskirts of the old town in search of Toledos eight famous city gates, whats left of the wall that once protected the city. Theres a gate for every personality, from castle-like gates at Bisagra and Sun Gates to simpler arched gateways like the Bab-al-Mardum and Alfonso VI Gates.

Yet another option is putting Toledos historic buildings in better perspective with a hike up the ancient hill of the Cerro de la Virgen de Gracia for views of the San Juan de los Reyes Monastery. You could also cross the river Tagus, and head to the Mirador del Valle for panoramic views of the entire city.

Free Afternoons and Weekends

When heading to Toledos most famous museums, buildings, and monuments, remember that going on the weekends or late afternoon can save you the entry fee.

 See the spectacular Gothic-style Great Reading Chamber at the Synagogue of El Transito for free on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings.

 Wander the Alcazar fortress and the Military Museum inside for free, all day Sundays.

 Get to know El Greco at the museum dedicated his life and works, particularly his over 40 years residing and painting in Toledo, free Saturdays after 4 pm, and Sundays, all day.

 Walk the halls of a 16th-century hospital in search of mosaics, artifacts, and art at the Santa Cruz Museum, free Monday through Saturday from 5 pm  6:15 pm.

Should you buy a Toledo Pass?

The Toledo Pass offers entry to different attractions for one price. There are five different passes and prices ranges from 4  36.

Think about what you want to do before you buy it. Unless you really want to go inside multiple monuments and cant make a free entry day work with your itinerary, you might want to pass on it. If youre happy enough to wander around, and theres only one or two buildings or museums you actually want to go inside, it wont be worth the money.

On the other hand, if youre in a rush or want some guidance and plan to see lots of sights, all of the passes let you skip lines at admission and offer guided visits.

Eating on the cheap

Make a cheap breakfast or snack of coffee and delicious pastries at La Felipa Pan y Cafe (Avenida de Madrono, 6). Theyve also got reasonably priced hamburgers and sandwiches on offer if youre really hungry.

Fill up on local specialties like Venison in mushroom sauce and Carcamusastewed pork with tomatoes and peas for around 10 to 15 with wine and bread at Bar Toledo (c/ de las Armas, 15).

For an after dinner treat pick up a box of Toledos celebrated handcrafted marzipan sweets for around 5.

Sleeping without breaking the bank

Due to the somewhat limited accommodations in this smallish Spanish city, staying overnight here can be more expensive than in Barcelona or Madrid. Even so, sleeping in Toledo is quite reasonable, with clean and basic hotels and pensiones in the historic city center starting at 60  75 per night. Shared dorm rooms in hostels and albergues start at around 13 per night.

We like the basic but clean rooms with private bath at Hotel Sol, less than half a kilometer from the city center and Toledos main sights. If you want to spend less and are traveling with a group, they also have three and four bed hostel rooms.

Search now: Search Toledo hotels on EuroCheapo
Last night my wife and I saw 10 Cloverfield Lane, a very tense, effective, and scary thriller. To say more about its precise genre would be a spoiler. I mention it because theres one of many great moments in the film when John Goodman as a bunker-dwelling survivalist plays a 1967 hit on the jukebox in his cellar, I Think Were Alone Now, by Tommy James and the Shondells. Its prominent in the trailer too, and in the context of the movie the song resonates several different ways.

That could be, as well, the theme of new research indicating, as John Stonestreet points out in a new BreakPoint commentary, that Increasingly, it looks as if we are alone in the universe. Weve noted this already at Evolution News but Stonestreet frames it his own way, smartly and with a nod to Isaiah at the end:

As one astrophysicist argues in a forthcoming paper, the old estimates vastly inflated the number of potential alien civilizations. Eric Zackrisson at Swedens Uppsala University suggests that modern research points not to a galaxy throbbing and humming with life, but to one in which Earth-like planets are exceedingly rare. It turns out that Drakes equation failed to take into account factors that we now know to be essential to life. For example, scientists once believed that planets orbiting a certain distance from their host stars in the so-called Goldilocks zone were prime real estate for creatures like us. But not anymore. It turns out that the size and chemical composition of the host stars matters just as much as planetary orbits. And according to Zackrisson, most planets in the universe likely orbit stars that bear little resemblance to our sun. These stars are either much bigger, much smaller, or just made of the wrong stuff. And in light of the fruitless fifty-year search for extraterrestrial radio signals, predictions of a sky buzzing with activity are sounding less like science and more like science fiction. Increasingly, it looks as if we are alone in the universe. And just how alone? Zackrisson estimates that given all the factors that make Earth what it is, our planet may be one in 700 quintillion to host intelligent life. Thats one out of seven followed by twenty zeros, or the estimated number of planets in the entire universe. Nathaniel Scharping at Discover Magazine writes with a straight face that Earth appears to have been dealt a fairly lucky hand. He makes up for this understatement later, concluding that, from a purely statistical standpoint, Earth perhaps shouldnt exist. And yet, here we are. Intelligent Design theorists have long pointed out how improbably unique our little blue planet is. And findings like this only deepen the problem for materialists. Because if thinking creatures emerged here and nowhere else, it makes us look less like accidents and more like  dare I say it  miracles.

Being alone in the universe resonates very differently depending on how you answer certain other ultimate questions. For materialists its a source of fearful consternation, verging on refutation. Hence the need for recourse to fables of a multiverse.

For others, open to evidence of purpose and design in the cosmos, our solitude is not required. Life could indeed be intelligently designed, yet still common across the stars. But earth as a privileged planet and humankind as a privileged species fit together well with other lines of inference  pointing to the conclusion that the universe, far being the result of a grand mishap, was tailored for us.
JWT AdVenture Co in South Korea, part of J. Walter Thompson, has confirmed that its managing director Junghwan Kim resigned in February in connection with an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office for alleged embezzlement

According to latest reports, JWT AdVenture Co in South Korea, part of J. Walter Thompson, has confirmed that its managing director Junghwan Kim resigned in February in connection with an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office for alleged embezzlement.

The report by The Korea Times last week left the agency and name of the executive anonymous but J. Walter Thompson has since released a statement confirming his resignation and the suspension of the finance director. The article alleged that JWT AdVenture Co had a contract with the nation's largest tobacco and ginseng product manufacturer, over allegations he created slush funds.

J. Walter Thompson in a statement said, On February 23, J. Walter Thompson Asia Pacifics senior management team accepted the resignation of the managing director of JWT AdVenture Co., Ltd, in connection with an investigation by the Prosecutors Office. We have also suspended the finance director, pending the outcome of the investigation. We are cooperating fully with the Korean authorities on this matter. We have also appointed external auditors and are undergoing a thorough internal investigation as well. J. Walter Thompson Asia Pacific is committed to the highest ethical standards and expects all its employees to abide by these standards.

Recently, J. Walter Thompsons Chief Communications Officer Erin Johnson had filed a lawsuit against Gustavo Martinez, Global CEO, JWT, in the New York Federal Court for sexual harassment and racist slurs.

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SR Yoon will assume the role of CEO of Shop CJ India, in place of Kenny Shin, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the Government of India. Yoon will continue to be based at the headquarters of the parent company CJ O Shopping in Seoul

Shop CJ Network Pvt. Ltd. (earlier known as Star CJ Network India Pvt. Ltd.), has announced changes in the leadership team in India. SR Yoon will assume the role of CEO of Shop CJ India, in place of Kenny Shin, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the Government of India. Yoon, will continue to be based at the headquarters of the parent company CJ O Shopping in Seoul.

After the recent successful forays of Shop CJ-Tamil and Shop CJ-Telugu on 24x7 home shopping channels with specially designed and customized content for Tamil and Telugu speaking population, Kenny Shin, CEO Shop CJ is going back to the parent company CJ O Shopping Co. Ltd., which is in the midst of major overseas expansion. SR Yoon, will assume responsibilities in his place.

"It is undoubtedly very exciting to be in one of the fastest growing markets in the world" said Yoon, who has worked previously with Samsung as CEO Australia and in its marketing division before moving to CJ O Shopping last year.

Commenting on the move Shin said The last 4 years in India have been excellent for Shop CJ. I have enjoyed my India stint and it was a period of great learning and achievements." Shin has more than 20 years experience in home shopping. He has worked in Korea, US and India. Global giant from South Korea, CJ O follows the policy of rotating its senior leadership assigned with overseas roles. Shin had been instrumental in driving several strategic initiatives at the company and successfully transforming Shop CJ during his tenure in India.

Shop CJ is slated to achieve more than Rs 900 crore revenue this fiscal, bettering its earlier estimates of Rs 850 crore. It started operations six years ago in India which is now one of the fastest growing operations for CJ Network globally.

Further commenting on the appointment, Yoon added, I am glad at the prospect of spearheading the India operations for the CJ Network. India is an exciting country, a complex market with huge opportunities and interesting challenges. Shop CJ has a more robust strategy, culture and talent in India than ever before, a must for a sustainably fast growing business. With the continuation of strong leadership, we are poised to grow here. My role would be to enhance the opportunities and reduce the challenges. I believe we will be able to ensure and continue our growth in the market while delivering world-class shopping experience to our customers.

Shop CJs COO in India, Dhruva Chandrie will now take responsibility for overall operational matters of Shop CJ. Additional to the marketing and operations departments, finance, planning, IT and E-commerce will also report to him. In addition, N. Ramakrishnan has decided to step down as the CFO of the company to pursue other interests. The Board has initiated a search to fill the role of CFO and Shop CJ will have a new CFO soon.

Providence Equity Partners Group, investor in Shop CJ, is in full support of the management decisions and is confident on companys accelerating growth in India, foreseeing a positive outlook in the market.

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This morning, we went to Extranjeria, Police Station, only because we were passing by and thought about asking them a couple of questions.



We have moved house and thought about changing the address on my partner's residency card.



The policeman said that he needed to prove earnings and all that about the 6k euros per year and medical private papers and that he had to take empadronamiento, photos, etc, etc as he was applying for a new one again.



I told him that we came to Spain in April 2011 and that the law changes about the above was sometimes in 2012, so we didn't have to prove anything to anyone. He got his perm residence back in May 2011 and his SIP card (Valencia medical card) and that is all. HE seemed surprised that he can have access to Spain's health system for free and that he was given a perm residence 'green card thingy with NIE on it'...



I am a bit confused now, is the policeman right?



To be honest, in May it would be 5 years since we arrived, so I think he can go online and request a change of address with a digital signature, someone has told us.



We are also planning to get married this year, as I am Spanish myself, maybe he won't need to prove anything anymore??



Any advice?



Ta!
by Reginald James | Sun, Mar 13th 9:20pm EDT

The four-year offer sheet from Miami that C.J. Anderson signed is front-loaded to make it hard for the Broncos to match. He will receive a $5.25 million signing bonus, along with salary and workout bonuses, his first-year total will be $6 million. Whether Anderson signs with Miami or Denver, only Adrian Peterson and Doug Martin will make more this season. The Broncos have until 2 p.m. Tuesday to match. (KUSA Denver)
STERLING, Ohio  Lying in a hospital bed in the days following his accident, Scott Stoller knew he would stay in farming.

It was never an option, he said. I never considered doing anything else.

After a safe and bountiful harvest season, Stoller was cleaning his New Holland round baler.

I was standing on the wheel on the left side of the baler and I reached for a corn stalk to toss it out of the baler. The belts grabbed my hand and pulled it partway into the rolls, Stoller recalls.

The force grabbed his hand up to his wrist and the moving belts continued to grab anything they could get a hold of and the belt pushed him toward the rolls in the baler.

The strings on his clothes tightened to the point of almost choking him.

It was only by the grace of God, Stoller says, that he was able to loosen the strings, then the pull of the baler ripped his zippers open.

Enough of my clothing had wedged between the rolls to stop the belts that I was lying on, he said. The drive roll continued to screech and smoke. When the belts burned in pieces, it dropped me on my feet while my right arm was still in the baler.

Fighting for his life

Stollers thoughts were jumbled; he was facing death, yet his mind was on his wife, Charlene and his children. He fought to stay alive.

The rollers had created enough friction that his coat started smoking.

My right arm was extremely hot, but I was extremely cold everywhere else.

Stoller knew he was in trouble, so he took a marker from his coverall pocket and left a note for his wife to let her know that he loved her and prayed for his children.

Even as he prepared himself for the worst, Stoller knew that he had to fight to stay alive and make an effort to get himself out of the baler, but the wind and brutal cold compounded his efforts.

Stoller took a marker from his coverall pocket and left a note for his wife to let her know that he loved her and prayed for his children.

Although his wife was at a neighbors, Stoller hoped that someone  perhaps his employee or the milkman  would find him and call for help. He continued to call for help, look at his watch and pray.

His wife, Charlene, and two of his three children arrived home and found Scott. He told her to turn off the tractor and call 911 and his parents. He also asked her to call Sterling Farm Equipment for assistance, as the EMTs would possibly need assistance to release Scott from the baler.

By the time he was loaded onto the stretcher and prepared for transport, he had been trapped in the baler and out in the cold for almost three hours.

He was first taken to Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital where he was stabilized and then transferred to St. Thomas Hospital where he met up with Dr. Nicholas Papas. He spent about seven days there, followed by nine days at Akron General Hospital.

Stoller said that many of the procedures that were used in his case were experimental, but it was worth it, as the goal was to save as much of the arm as possible to enable him to successfully use a prosthesis.

They did skin grafts, bone grafts, and muscle grafts, Stoller said.

I was in absolute misery, but it was worth it to save my elbow. I asked a lot of questions prior to my surgery. If I drank a lot of pop or coffee, the surgeons would not have done these particular procedures, he added.

Still thinking of others

Stoller wasnt used to lying in bed, so he used his time between surgeries to travel up and down the hall and visit with his fellow patients.

I realized that I wouldnt want to trade places with anyone in the world, he said. People look at this (accident) as a major hurt, but there are other people hurting as well.

I think it is easier to be the one who was hurt, because accidents such as this are hard on the people around you.

In addition to the surgeries, Stoller faced the challenge of a serious infection during his stay in the hospital.

I could have burned, froze or bled to death if I had passed out while I was trapped in the baler, he said. I could have strangled, but for some reason I got through it. But when I was in the hospital, I got a resistant infection. The staff told me that prayer cured me because there wasnt anything that they could do. No one could touch me, the staff had to handle everything I used separately. I felt like a leper.

Helping hands

Stoller said one reason he was able to continue to farm is because he married the right girl. I have to give Charlene a lot of credit for making the farm successful, Scott said.

The couples parents, Everett and Marge Stoller and Joe and Lilas Rufener, have also helped.

You definitely need to check out in-laws very carefully before you get married, he smiles.

Stoller added that not only has the family been supportive, but friends and members of their church have been there as well.

That first night, eight people were there to do the chores.

In fact, the first year after my accident, someone was at the farm every day to help do the chores, Stoller added. I couldnt milk the first year, but the fieldwork went well. I had all kinds of time to be on a tractor.

Perspective

Stoller said after the accident, he lost some things, but he also gained some things.

In this country, people, in general are willing to help you if you have a disability, they will smile and hold the door for you, he said. I went on a trip to Japan to market food grade soybeans and they dont treat handicapped people very well.

Stoller added that while he would obviously like to have his hand back, he has received benefits that he wouldnt have received otherwise.

I am not special, I didnt make heroic choices, but I just didnt like the alternatives, he said. When I was caught in the baler, my choice was to struggle, or die, when I was in the hospital, my choice was to be disabled or learn to deal with the situation. Faith, family and friends got me through this.

Adapting

After Scotts accident, the family worked with the Bureau of Workers Compensation to make changes around the farm. They worked with us and listened to us.

Installing a remote control on the silo unloader, for example, made using the silo easier for Scott. They also installed a feed bin by the barn and a water hydrant by the calf hutches so they didnt have to carry water from the barn to the hutches.

The farm where the Stollers live and work had belonged to Scotts grandparents and he had been working as a hired hand prior to his accident. We bought the first half of the farm shortly after the accident and we bought the rest of the farm a year later.

Today, Scott and Charlene, along with their children, Doyle, 13, Lynelle, 11, Nelson, 9, Warren, 5, Tobias, 3, and Clark, 1, own 249 acres and rent an additional 86 acres to raise corn, bean, wheat, oats, barley, alfalfa and clover/grass mix hay to provide feed for their 80 milk cows and 70 replacement animals.

They also raise popcorn for their own use and have some chickens for their own use.

They have also switched to intensive grazing, which works well since they also made the transition to producing milk and crops organically in 2001.

Their conservation efforts paid off as they were named the Wayne Soil and Water Conservation Districts Conservation Farm of the Year, the Ohio Farm Family of the Year in 2001 and received the Ohio Livestock Coalitions Environmental Stewardship Award in 2004.

I think farmers need to find a niche market or expand, but I want to keep this farm a family farm, Stoller said.

I hope that I am able to pass this farm on to our children if they want to farm, he added. We want to let the children test their wings, and we hope that we have taught them well enough that they will be OK.

* * *

What I learned from my accident:

1. Quality time is a poor substitute for quantity time. Children are going to grow up with or without us; you need to spend time with your children.

2. Obey God, regardless of the cost. Live each day as if it was your last. No matter where you are, there you are. If you are going to be unhappy here, you are going to be unhappy there.

3. Dont ever say, If I could only stay in bed until I am tired of it.

4. If you get off of a tractor, turn it off. Turn off your equipment. I tried to save 10 minutes and I lost a year of my life.

5. We can each make a small difference, do what you can do; you are not going to change the world, but you can help.

6. For men, there really is some value to Lamaze class. I used focal point and pain management techniques while I was still in the baler.

7. It takes a man to cry. There are times when it is OK to cry  just go ahead and do it.

8. My accident made me more proactive as far as safety is concerned.

9. I think it is important that there is no anger among the family; you need to ask yourself if everything is OK with the family.

10. Sometimes you get a poor me attitude, but you have to get over it.

 Scott Stoller
Safety watchdog issues half-term call to keep kids safe on farms
By David Kringen





According to the South Dakota Farm Bureau, a proposal currently under review by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) may soon create the framework for South Dakotas first agricultural wetland mitigation bank. Wayne Smith, Wetlands & Land Use Specialist with the SD Farm Bureau, explained that the process began in 2014 when the Bureau received a SD NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) to create the framework under which a mitigation bank would operate. That product was turned back over to SD NRCS in September 2015, which has since been elevated to Washington D.C. for review and approval.

NRCS Wetland Mitigation Banking Program



That first step was taken shortly after the NRCS Wetland Mitigation Banking Program was authorized under the 2014 Agriculture Act (Farm Bill). The NRCS Bank is intended for the express use of agricultural producers needing to comply with wetland conservation compliance provisions that were originally established under the 1985 Farm Bill. In 1985, in order to remain eligible for most USDA programs, producers had to certify that: 1) they had not planted or produced an ag commodity on a converted wetland, and 2) they had not manipulated a wetland to make ag production possible (i.e. removing trees and stumps). Options for wetland conservation compliance included: 1) avoid the wetland, 2) minimize any potential impact to the wetland, or 3) mitigate the wetland through on or offsite restoration, enhancement, or creation. If a producer wanted to mitigate, it was often left up to them to locate and restore/create a wetland of similar function and value, or made to compete for prohibitively expensive wetland credits with developers, the Department of Transportation, etc.



The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on January 28th that it was putting $9 million toward a new wetland mitigation bank program specifically designed to provide agricultural producers with an affordable option to meet their conservation compliance responsibilities. Grants up to $1 million per award will be given to states or regions with a high wetland conservation compliance workload. Funds may not provide direct payments to producers, but instead will be made available to offset the costs incurred by 3rd parties in establishing a wetland mitigation bank, or modifying an existing bank to meet NRCS requirements. In South Dakota, the 3rd party responsible for the first grant application of its kind will be the SD Farm Bureau in partnership with Dakota Wetland Partners (DWP). This last entity, a private LLC, will provide the technical expertise for the day-to-day operations of the mitigation bank. Other supporting organizations include the SD Soybean Association and the SD Corn Growers Association. Grant applications are due March 28th.

The Mitigation Process



The key tenet of the NRCS Wetland Mitigation Banking Program is to target agricultural wetlands by focusing on temporary and seasonal, isolated, degraded, cropped wetlands that typically get driven over, tilled, and sprayed each year. Providing that the bank framework is approved and the grant is awarded, the first step for producers interested in mitigation would be to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to request a certified wetland determination. NRCS personnel will provide a wetland determination which identifies the location of the wetlands on the producers land and the scope of the required protection in order to maintain USDA program eligibility. Once a determination has been made, and at the producers invitation, DWP personnel will then visit with the producer to determine the number of credits to be mitigated (1 credit = 1 acre). It will also provide a list of wetland units for sale within the same regional geographic area, or sub-basin (Figure 2). Mitigation outside of a sub-basin where the wetland is located is not allowed.





Selling Wetland Credits



Landowners interested in selling wetland credits should contact DWP to determine: 1) the number of converted wetlands that the landowner is willing to reestablish, or 2) locations to create a new wetland. Prior converted wetland areas need to exhibit some moderate to serious need for habitat improvement. Payment will be given in exchange for: 1) allowing restoration of the wetlands, and 2) long-term protection of those wetlands. All restoration costs are to be paid by the Exchange, and long-term management costs are to be covered by the grant managed by the Farm Bureau. A minimum 50 foot average buffer may also be required to protect the integrity of the restored/created wetland.



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More than three million protesters poured into the streets across Brazil this weekend, demanding the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff. Meanwhile, her Workers Party coalition partner said it may join opposition forces in a month to topple her government.

Brazil has sunk into its worst recession in a century while a corruption and kickback scandal at state-owned energy giant Petrobras keeps growing.

Rousseff was elected to a four-year term in 2014.

Her coalition partner  the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB)  decided over the weekend to give the government one more month in office before it formally moves against the president.

The PMDB wants time to to gauge the level of support in the country for the impeachment of Rousseff sought by opposition parties in Congress, Reuters said Saturday.

The PMDBs Michel Temer serves as Rousseffs vice president.

Demonstrations Sunday spread to all 26 states in Brazil. The biggest was in Sao Paulo, with crowds estimated at 450,000, the Guardian said Sunday.

The Petrobras investigation is known as Operation Car Wash. It began in early 2014.

Several former Petrobras executives have already been jailed.

Former Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was detained for questioning earlier this month. Police raided his home and offices. Prosecutors allege that Lula da Silva received luxury real estate and big speaking fees from companies involved in the Petrobras scandal.

Last week, a Brazil federal court sentenced high-profile construction tycoon Marcelo Odebrecht to 19 years in prison.

Odebrecht, 47, paid more than $30 million in bribes to Petrobras officials in exchange for contracts, prosecutors said.

Some Petrobras officials have made plea deals with prosecutors and are giving evidence against government officials. Reports based on court documents describe massive bribes from contractors and huge kickbacks paid to secret accounts.

Switzerland has frozen about $400 million in accounts linked to the Car Wash investigation.

Petrobras took a $2 billion write down in April 2015 for improperly capitalized additional spending  meaning overcharges in contracts used to cover costs of the graft and kickbacks.

A Brazil prosecutor said those corruption losses appear to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Petrobras is the most indebted oil company in the world. Standard & Poors and Moodys dropped the rating on its bonds to junk because of the corruption case and low oil prices.

Police sources in Brazil said 3.5 million people joined Sundays protests in 326 cites. More than 100,000 protesters came out in the federal capital, Brasilia, the Guardian said.

______

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
Sebastian Stan says that he was left 'speechless' after he saw a cut of Captain America: Civil War for the very first time.

Sebastian Stan

Sadly, we are going to have to wait until the end of April until we get to see the latest solo Captain America film, but Stan, who reprises the role of the Winter Solider, has already seen the film.

This is his third appearance in a Marvel film and the actor has heaped praise on the performances of his co-stars in the already highly anticipated Civil War.

Speaking to Collider, the actor said: "I sat there and basically there was a bowl of candy and fruit and gum in front of me and then there were sparkling waters and I basically sat on the edge of my couch the entire time and ate through the entire bowl of candy.

"I was overly stimulated with this movie, which I'm so proud to be in because everyone is f*****g awesome in it. Everyone is f*****g fantastic. I walked out of it speechless, and I worked on the movie and I was there! I walked out of there and I had back pain from leaning."

Captain America: Civil War looks set to be the longest Marvel film and Anthony and Joe Russo have already warned us about the 'controversial' ending that will be coming our way. Of course, they did not expand on what that controversy might be - I guess we are going to have to wait and see.

The movie sees Stan reunite with Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Anthony Mackie - who are returning to the franchise as Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon - three characters who did battle with the Winter Solider back in 2014.

Civil War also sees the actor reunite with Anthony and Joe Russo, who are back in the director's chair for their second Captain America film; they steered The Winter Solider to critical and commercial success two years ago. I don't know about you, but I really cannot wait to see what they deliver this time around.

Captain America: Civil War will be the first time that we have seen Stan on the big screen since the huge success of The Martian last year.

Captain America: Civil War is released 29th April.
Adam Lambert is back with another brand new single featuring Laleh, which he's set to release on March 17 alongside a debut live performance on the American Idol stage on the same date.

Speaking about the tune, Adam says: "I wanted to surprise my fans with a new, uplifting anthem for the spring. I asked Max Martin for help and he paired me up with Ali Payami who worked with me on 'Ghost Town' and Swedish star Laleh who is also featured on the track. I feel this song will give people strength to be exactly who they are."

The song follows a hugely successful 2015 which saw the launch of new album 'The Original High', which debuted in the US top 3, the UK top 10 and the top 3 worldwide.

Lambert currently is touring North America with his Original High material and will come to Europe in April for further live shows.

He's also going to be headlining festivals with Queen, release a new track with Steve Aoki and play Eddie in the two hour FOX television event for The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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The United States through USAID's Business Growth Initiative has been working with Kyrgyz apparel manufacturers since 2014 to optimize production and marketing in order to tap into multi-billion dollar export markets by targeting major retail chains and branded stores in Europe and CIS, the US embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic said in a press release.The exercise got a boost in February 2015 when USAID hosted a business-to-business presentation of the production capabilities of the Kyrgyz apparel industry for foreign retailers. The retail buyers were highly impressed by the magnitude of apparel manufacturing in the Kyrgyz Republic, and by the advantages in flexible product development, lower logistics costs, and dramatically shorter lead times that Kyrgyz manufacturers have compared to many international competitors.

The United States through USAID's Business Growth Initiative has been working with Kyrgyz apparel manufacturers since 2014 to optimize production and#

Following this meeting, Kyrgyz producers immediately signed and fulfilled contracts to export more than $1 million in clothing, primarily men's suits.Now that this USAID project demonstrated how competitive Kyrgyz clothing manufacturers are against major garment-producing countries, even more Kyrgyz companies are taking advantage of this opportunity.With USAID support, 22 leading manufacturers that employ over 1,700 workers joined the initiative to share best practices and improve their operations and marketing efforts. After expanding sales to current markets, the project will focus on exports to the European Union and potentially the US, the release said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Following the success received from the Denim Show's in Bangladesh, Denimsandjeans.com, the organiser of the show is organising the first ever Denim Exhibition in Vietnam from June 16-17, 2016 in HCM city.This exhibition will bring some of the most reputed local and international mills and supply chain partners together on one platform, with a focus on the denim and sportswear segments, a press release stated.

Following the success received from the Denim Show's in Bangladesh, Denimsandjeans.com, the organiser of the show is organising the first ever Denim #

Continuing with the tradition of the shows at other places, the event is named DenimsandJeans.com Vietnam Show.The show shall be held at Gem Centre, a venue with one of the most beautiful wood architecture and completely aligned with the theme of denim.Quoting statistics of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), the press release said Vietnam's 2014 textile and garment exports soared 19 per cent year on year to touch $24 billion.Denim is a growing segment of apparel sourced from Vietnam and is likely to witness significant growth in coming years, the organiser added.The country ranks fifth worldwide in textile and apparel exports and the sector offers direct and indirect employment to more than 2 million people.According to the organiser, many textile and garment companies in the region have already begun to move production to Vietnam.Major US retailers such as Sara Lee, JC Penney, Express, Gap, Macy's, Nordstrom's, Mast Industries and American Eagle, too source a sizable portion of their imports from Vietnam.Alongside, there are large factories in Vietnam exporting huge volumes of denim jeans and apparel to US and other destinations.About 20 million pieces of denim apparel were shipped by Vietnam to the US in 2015 at an average price of $ 8.1 per unit, which is expected to grow substantially in the near future.The focus of Vietnam is not only US as Vietnam is also negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with several other countries and regions including the EU.The duties on exports to EU from Vietnam are likely to reduce to zero over the next few years and the exact details of the duty structures would be available as soon as the FTA with the EU is inked.Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, the most awaited bilateral trade instrument which is expected to be signed soon has already charged the market.Experts predict that the TPP would likely raise Vietnam's garment and textile exports to the US to $55 billion by 2025.
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alison Blake has said that the skill agenda is vital for Bangladesh as it seeks to keep pace with countries like China and India in the global garment trade and construction industry, the Bangladeshi media has reported."With a growing, young population, the country has a great opportunity to drive up productivity and improve the skills of its workforce," she said at the launch of a project titled 'Sudokkho'.

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alison Blake has said that the skill agenda is vital for Bangladesh as it seeks to keep pace with countries#

The project designs and facilitates private-sector led training for more than 110,000 people from poor and marginalised groups across Bangladesh. "That's why Sudokkho is a crucial project and why the British government, through UK aid, is very proud to be its lead funder," Blake said.Sudokkho, previously known as the Skills and Employment Programme in Bangladesh, is a five-year programme co-financed by UK aid through the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).Palladium International is implementing Sudokkho in partnership with Swisscontact and the British Council.The project's total budget is 21.63 million (approx. $32 million). Charge d' Affaires, Switzerland Embassy in Dhaka, Beate K Elsaesser said every year around 2.5 million people enter the labour market in Bangladesh, most of whom get no opportunity to acquire skills required for productive and decent work either in Bangladesh or abroad.Switzerland provides a substantial contribution to skill development in Bangladesh to help those people, Elsaesser said. "The main goal of Swiss development cooperation is the wellbeing and empowerment of the poor and disadvantaged and therefore we are happy to see that the Sudokkho project, in addition to having a market-driven focus is duly targetting inclusion," he said.Sudokkho Team Leader Paul Weijers said, "We recognise that in order to change the training landscape in Bangladesh and ensure work-based training has real value, we need to take a new approach that will change the training market."The government of Bangladesh provides supervision and monitoring through the Directorate of Technical Education. The programme also works extensively to improve opportunities for women and people from socially and economically disadvantaged groups.Working with some of the world's biggest and best-known retailers and industries, including Debenhams, Primark, Lafarge and Berger, the programme seeks to test and scale up market-driven quality skill training models within the readymade garment and construction sectors that will improve workers' career prospects and earning capacity, as well as improving productivity and efficiency for participating organisations. The programme also works extensively to improve opportunities for women and people from socially and economically disadvantaged groups. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Kenya's Rift Valley Textile (Rivatex) East African Limited has received a Sh3 billion ($0.296 bn) loan from the Indian government through the Exim Bank to buy new machinery for the factory.After visiting the Rivatex factory in Eldoret, Indian High Commissioner to Kenya Suchitra Durai said India would continue supporting various fields at the factory adding that they will offer technological transfer in some areas to the Rivatex factory, local media reported.

Kenya's Rift Valley Textile (Rivatex) East African Limited has received a Sh3 billion ($0.296 bn) loan from the Indian government through the Exim#

Durai noted that Kenya and India enjoy excellent relations ovr a long period of time."The good relations and partnerships between the two nations has transformed into trade reaching $4.3 billion annually," she noted.Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno on his part said the support from India will see the factory increase its production and compete with other textile companies globally."Once Rivatex gets the new machines, it will be able to not exploit the market due to its efficiency but will also create job opportunities to over 3,000 residents," Chemno said.Rivatex currently employs about 600 people. The machines at the factory were acquired more than 40 years ago and have been experiencing frequent breakdowns. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
In a boost for the American textile industry, hospitality company Marriott International has announced that it will provide 'Made in USA' towels and bath mats in every guest bathroom in nearly 3,000 American hotels.Marriott's commitment to buy 'Made in USA' guestroom terry products creates 150 new jobs in Standard Textile's facilities in Thomaston and Union, as well as at the company's Cincinnati headquarters and through its supply chain, Standard Textile said.

In a boost for the American textile industry, hospitality company Marriott International has announced that it will provide 'Made in USA' #

As a global company based in the USA, we're proud to be the first hospitality company to commit to providing our guests with 'Made in USA' bathroom towels in our U.S. hotels, said Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson.We believe our guests will appreciate knowing that even simple items they use every day in our hotels represent progress for the U.S. economy, said Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott. We also hope this sends a message to other businesses that buying locally can make business sense.Overall, this commitment will mean the annual production of 2.6 million bath towels and 4.9 million hand towels  the equivalent of as much as 5.6 million pounds of textiles. The commitment to manufacture these textiles in the US, also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating more than 300 ocean going container shipments annually.Marriott's 'Made in USA' commitment with Standard Textile expands the two companies' long-standing relationship. Last year, Marriott recognized Standard Textile's commitment to continuous collaboration, innovative new products and superior service by giving the company its 2015 Americas Recognition Award.Marriott's desire to provide guests with terry bath products made by US textile artisans speaks to the heart of why Standard Textile is thriving and creating new jobs after 76 years, said Gary Heiman, President and CEO of Standard Textiles. Our commitment to technology driven manufacturing and innovation has enabled us to expand our operations in the US, creating a sustainable infrastructure for Marriott's 'Made in USA' products.Standard Textile is a leading, vertically integrated, global provider of total solutions in hospitality textiles, interiors, healthcare, apparel and consumer markets worldwide. The Company leverages textile design, advanced manufacturing and laundry expertise to serve its customers worldwide. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Fijian Government has welcomed the Australian Governments decision to increase its level of relief support as part of rehabilitation efforts for those directly affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston.



This was highlighted at talks held today in Suva between Fijis Foreign Minister Hon. Rt Inoke Kubuabola and his Australian counterpart Hon. Julie Bishop. During these talks, Minister Bishop reiterated the Australian Governments offer to provide specialist agricultural assistance for high-yield food crops. She said that this support, which would be provided through expertise support from the Australian Centre for Agricultural Research, would address food security in affected communities. She added that the Australian Government was keen to know what immediate forms of assistance could still be provided for cyclone-affected communities.



During their talks, the Australian Foreign Minister commended the collective work carried out by all agencies and personnel including Australian and Fijian personnel. She also commended Fijis health authorities for the work carried out to prevent disease outbreaks.



The two Ministers also discussed areas of mutual interest between the two countries including the signing of the Joint Implementation Report Agreement between the Government and union bodies in Fiji. Minister Bishop congratulated the Fijian Government for reaching an agreement with the two union organisations.



Minister Bishop flies back to Australia today after touring several cyclone-affected areas.


The Prime Minister Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama this morning met with the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop in Suva today.



During their meeting, Prime Minister Bainimarama expressed his gratitude to the Australian Government for assisting Fiji in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.



Prime Minister Bainimarama also briefed Julie Bishop on relief and recovery works undertaken around the country.



The Australian Foreign Affairs Minister commended the Fijian Government and the people for being resilient in the aftermath of TC Winston.



Minister Bishop arrived in Fiji yesterday afternoon and headed straight to Koro Island to see the rehabilitation work carried out on the Island.



Yesterday, I visited Koro Island and it was quite extreme to see the devastation. However, I must congratulate your Government for the preparedness and warnings given to the local people.



Bishop also met with Foreign Affairs Minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola this morning before departing for Rakiraki where she visited Penang Sangam Primary School and Rakiraki Hospital.


Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in a film, what a nice thing would that be! Zoya Akhtar's next film has been surrounded with a lot of speculations that about who will be starring in it!

Initial rumours were that Ranbir and Ranveer would be coming together for the film but if the sources are to be believed, then it is Alia and Ranveer who will appear together for the very first time.

Ranbir Kapoor was spotted at Zoya's house last week and on Thursday, Ranveer Singh visited the director's house which gave rise to those rumours but unfortunately it is not true. Although, fans would have loved to see Deepika's ex and present lover get together on the big screen.

After all, she was the person who got ex-lovers Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma together on the screen in her last outing, Dil Dhadakne Do.

Zoya Akhtar's previous films have always been an ensemble one, so based on that may be the director will cast all three of the stars, Ranbir, Alia and Ranveer in her film. As of now, no official confirmation has been recevied from Zoya Akhtar or her team!

INSIDE PICS! Akshay Kumar, Parineeti, Abhishek With Salma Hayek, Matthew McConaughey In Dubai!

This film is said to be an intense romantic drama which Ranveer Singh has given his nod to do but Zoya is waiting for Alia who is currently busy shooting for Gauri Shinde's film.

"Zoya and Alia get along really well. It's a matter of accommodating the film, which Alia should be able to manage given her admiration for Zoya as a filmmaker which she has often been vocal about," Spotboye.com quoted a friend of the actress as saying.

Alia is juggling promotions of Kapoor And Sons and shooting Gauri's fim, Ranveer Singh is busy with Befikre shooting and Ranbir Kapoor is doing two films, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Jagga Jasoos. Once, all these stars get free, we might get an official confirmation on Zoya's project.
Going by the industry grapevine, Boyapati Srinu's Sarrainodu script was rejected by Gopichand and Ram Charan, before going into the hands of Allu Arjun. It is learnt that the script did not excite the heroes much, and Chiranjeevi, who also had a narration, felt the story lacks the punch.

Hence, the director has kept the project under the wraps, until he managed to impress Allu Aravind and Bunny, with an altered narration. Apparently, Allu Aravind liked the script immensely and believed that it would be a major break for his son among the masses.

After making the director work on the script for about six months, the produced flagged off the project under his own banner Geeta Arts, with Allu Arjun. However, the industry insiders broke the news only now, raising many doubts on its output, while the film is about to have its audio launch and hit screens sometime in April.

Nevertheless, Allu Arjun and Allu Aravind are known for their good judgement of scripts, which is letting the actor's fans take a breath.

Team Sarrainodu wrapped the shoot a couple of days ago in Bolivia and are now gearing up for a big release. An official announcement about the film's audio release is expected anytime soon and the promotions would also kick-start in a few days.

Since the teaser of the film has already set the expectations high, it is not a big deal, who rejected the project earlier, even though it was shocking to know. Keep calm and believe in Allu Arjun, guys!
Chinas four so-called bad banks have made a lot of money from gorging on bad debts. But they risk having too much of a good thing.

On March 7, Lai Xiaomin, chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, said in a proposal to the National Peoples Congress that the countrys four bad banks, aka asset management companies, were struggling to cope with the latest surge in soured assets.

Huarong is one of four bad banks set up in 1999 to take on the troubled assets of the countrys four largest lenders  Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China  so as to clean up their balance sheets ahead of planned public listings.

But debts in China have surged further since the global financial crisis of 2008 after Beijing encouraged local governments and state-owned enterprises to spend on investments, supported by cheap bank loans. That pole-vaulted the countrys debt level to an estimated 282% of GDP in 2015, according to McKinsey, with further rises potentially on their way. Lending in January alone reached Rmb2.51 trillion ($385 billion), a monthly record.

The skewed allocation of some of this debt is also becoming increasingly apparent. Sectors such as iron and steel, cement, and shipbuilding, notably, are suffering from severe overcapacity and many of the (predominantly state-owned) producers in them are effectively zombies, unable to pay back the debts they owe.

That has exacerbated the rise in bad debts as Chinas economy slows. Chinese banks total non-performing loans rose from 1.25% of bank assets at the end of 2014 to 1.67% in 2015, or Rmb1.27 trillion ($196 billion), according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Some investment bank analysts believe the rate is probably far higher. Chinese banks are often unable to pressurise state-owned enterprises to repay their debts or are loathe to declare them insolvent because these companies are well-connected to local or national politicians. So instead they are forced to keep rolling the loans over while bad loans mount in the system.

That could lead to even bigger bad loan problems, more than the four AMCs can handle.

Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass argued in February that Chinas banks typically lose over 10% of assets in an NPL cycle. Based on where the market is today, that would mean lenders losing at least $3.5 trillion in equity -- a scary, indigestible figure by any measure.

At the same time, Beijing has stated that it intends to maintain the country's annual GDP growth rate at 6.5% or more over the coming year years. To support this, the banks need to lend to healthy companies. That means getting more of their assets out of the zombies.

Time for new bad banks

Three steps could help free some of these assets up. First, Beijing could create new national bad banks; second, it could encourage greater involvement from international private distressed debt companies; and third, it should create a transparent, meaningful debt resolution process.

The four existing AMCs simply lack the capacity to handle the level of bad debts found in the nation. So Beijing either needs to directly bail these banks out, in effect recognising the extent of the dud loans pervading its economy, or it needs to shift them to other institutions.

The latter might prove the more politically palatable. By creating  and capitalising  new AMCs, the Chinese government, in effect, will still be using its own capital to solve the problem. But it does so one step away from doing so directly.

Additionally, these bad banks will be able to raise capital themselves, by issuing bonds for example, to help fund their own needs. And they would be able to focus solely on renegotiating the bad loans, without having to worry about whether doing so will upset companies that are customers across multiple product lines.

The new AMCs would also help to address the sheer size of the countrys likely bad debts today as the four existing bad banks are far too small to handle such huge sums.

Encourage foreign investors

Another way to help diversify the growing debt risks in the financial sector would be to allow in more international bad debt companies, and to support them in subsequent negotiations over bad loans.

There have already been a few instances of foreign asset managers targeting China assets but it has not been simple. Oaktree Capital formed a distressed debt joint venture with China Cinda in November 2013 but after two years admitted that it was proving tough to buy assets cheaply. Meanwhile global private equity company KKR teamed up with China Orient to target distressed real estate assets.

The key complaint of one foreign investor who works in China is that the country's courts are slow-moving and seem better-disposed towards zombie companies than their creditors.

"China should streamline the workout process so it doesn't take so long for the courts to make a decision. At the moment we are snowed with bureaucracy," he said. "The judges are so conservative, they don't want disputes over collateral. Above all they don't want to provoke demonstrations and social unrest. If the borrower asks for more time they usually get it."

He notes SOEs in particular tend to get special treatment, while the courts tend to be less favourable to foreign distressed debt holders. "Maybe it's easier to say no to us."

Introduce a rigorous resolution process

China's central and regional governments also need to introduce a clear bad debt negotiation process if they are to encourage foreign and local companies to buy bad debts.

This should take into account explicit creditor seniority - another area of investor frustration often fudged in the legal process - and concrete timelines for restructuring discussions. Insolvency should be a real possibility in the event a solution cannot be reached.

The process would require explicit political and support to work, which might seem unlikely. But Beijing could essentially use these firms to push forward the SOE reforms that President Xi Jinpings government said are integral to reduce losses and improve efficiency in the country.

It would do so by fully empowering these distressed debt companies to conduct necessary debt resolutions with smaller, non-essental SOEs. This would offer the authorities a key benefit too - workers opposed to restructurings, lay-offs or asset sales would likely focus their anger on their distressed debt creditors, not Party officials.

It's never a pleasant task to battle zombie companies but the need to do so in China is mounting. Better the government address it now, rather than wait and risk seeing this horde of corporate undead infect the entire economy.

Additional reporting by Alison Tudor-Ackroyd
The Carlyle Group said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Japanese software firm WingArc1st from management and a unit of Orix.

The sellers are its president and CEO Hiroyuki Uchino and OPI2002 Investment Fund, a subsidiary of Orix. Financial details were not disclosed.

Carlyle see the acquisition closing in April and equity for the transaction will come from Carlyle Japan Partners III, an investment fund advised by Carlyle Japan. Earlier in March Carlyle said it had invested in GGC Group, the owner of bean sprout brand "Meisui Bijin" from the same fund.

Headquartered in Tokyo, WingArc1st helps companies make use of their internal data by providing software license and maintenance support.

WingArc1st sees the increasing penetration of cloud computing in the Japanese software market as an opportunity and has designed services adapted to use in such environments.

To help enterprise users make effective use of their information has been our primary business objective.  As cloud computing becomes more pervasive, it will transform the way Japanese enterprises develop and operate information systems, said Uchino in a statement.
Anbang Insurance Group is set to acquire Strategic Hotels & Resorts from Blackstone for $6.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter on Monday, the latest deal in a global acquisition binge by the Chinese insurer.

Blackstones fund Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII completed the acquisition of Strategic Hotels & Resorts in December for $6 billion.

Strategic Hotels & Resorts is a real estate investment trust (Reit) which owns and manages luxury hotels and resorts in the United States. It owns 17 properties with an aggregate of 7,921 rooms and 847,000 square feet of multi-purpose meeting and banqueting space.

Privately held Anbang has embarked on an aggressive global growth strategy via organic growth and M&A as it seeks to diversify risk geographically.

Beijing-based Anbang has acquired other assets in the US including Fidelity & Guaranty Life for $1.6 billion in cash in November last year.

It bought the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Manhattans Park Avenue for $1.95 billion, also from New York-headquartered Blackstone.

Elsewhere it agreed to buy a controlling stake in Tong Yang Life Insurance for W1.13 trillion ($1.06 billion) in February last year and spent $1.1 billion purchase of Dutch insurer Vivat (the old SNS Reaal insurance operations).

The life and non-life insurer bought 10% of China Minsheng Banking for $4.88 billion, Delta Lloyd Bank Belgium for $273 million and Belgian insurer Fidea.

Lacking visibility

Some analysts are concerned that Anbang lacks experience and brand recognition overseas, a big hurdle for an insurer selling products to the general public.

Insurers in China, including Anbang, have benefited recently from investment liberalisation and more liquidity, following several years of pressure on earnings from focus across the life insurance industry on quantity over quality in terms of products and more expensive insurance agents as wages rose across China.

Founded in 2004, Anbang is also well connected within China. Its chairman and chief executive, Wu Xiaohui, is the husband of late leader Deng Xiaopings granddaughter, according to reports and stock analysts. Deng spearheaded Chinas opening up to the West. In China the group owns stakes in ICBC, about six insurers and two asset managers.

To be sure, Anbang has tried and failed to buy some assets. The unlisted group showed interest in buying Hong Kongs Wing Hang but was eventually outbid by Singapores OCBC. It also bid for South Koreas Woori Bank but was blocked by regulators.
China Zheshang Bank may have launched Hong Kongs biggest bank initial public offering in more than two years but it is unlikely to provide as much of a litmus test for underlying investor sentiment as initially hoped, given its heavy reliance on cornerstone investors.

Before the Zhejiang-based lender hit the market on Monday, there was little clarity as to whether nervy investors were again warming towards IPOs because of the limited deals seen in Hong Kong since the start of the year. Data from Dealogic shows 11 IPOs have raised just $853 million so far this year, the lowest total covering the same period in five years.

But while Zheshang Banks $1.75 billion IPO could potentially raise more than twice that in one single deal, the deal relies heavily on cornerstone investors and is priced very much close to its historical book value  a common structure widely adopted by Chinese banks in the last two years.

Zheshang Bank has lined up five cornerstone investors to subscribe for $963 million-worth of shares, or roughly 57% of the total deal assuming pricing comes at the lowest end of the price range. One of them includes Alipay, the electronics payment unit of Alibaba, which like Zheshang Bank is headquartered in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

Signing up cornerstone investors has been a popular strategy of late in the Hong Kong market because it optimises the chances of a successful float at a time when Chinas slowing economy and rising bad debts are weighing on investor sentiment. However, a bank's true value may not be fairly reflected in the share price because it means most of the shares are held in the hands of a small group of investors, who are not allowed to trade their shares until six months after listing.

Initial deal terms include 3.3 billion shares issued at between HK$3.92 and HK$4.12, which will allow Zheshang Bank to raise between $1.67 billion and $1.75 billion, giving the lender a pre-shoe market capitalisation of about $8.9 billion to $9.3 billion.

That equates to approximately 1 to 1.05 times the banks book value at the end of last year and 0.85 to 0.89 times its projected 2016 book value, based on the syndicate consensus.

Such valuation indications are in line with the IPOs of Bank of Jinzhou, Bank of Qingdao, and Bank of Zhengzhou in the second half last year.

Corner flag

The cornerstone investors for Zheshang Bank's IPO include Zhejiang Provincial Seaport Investment ($505 million), Yancoal ($202 million), Shaoxing Lingyan Equity Investment Fund ($126 million), Shenwan Hongyuan ($100 million) and Alipay ($30 million), according to a term sheet seen by FinanceAsia.

Despite its small size, Alipays cornerstone investment was the most eye-catching contribution.

Bankers said the investment made by the electronics payment unit of Alibaba reinforces its partnership with the Zhejiang-based lender. Zheshang Bank said it has established various cooperative business relationships with leading nationwide internet enterprises, including Baidu and Alipay. That includes in relation to Alipay's express payment services, its prospectus shows.

But the fact Alipay has also entered into partnerships with more than 50 other Chinese banks suggests the cornerstone investment is not purely strategic but rather relationship-driven, given that the bank is headquartered in Hangzhou, which is also the home of Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma.

According to the deal timetable, Zheshang Bank is scheduled to conduct management roadshows until March 21 and list on March 30.

The IPO is jointly sponsored by Citic CLSA, CICC, Goldman Sachs, and ABC International.
Cainiao Network, a three-year-old logistics affiliate of Alibaba Group, has completed its maiden round of fundraising, drawing contributions from heavyweight Singapore investors GIC and Temasek amongst others, the company said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.

Cainiao declined to specify the amount raised. However, Chinese financial publication Caixin earlier reported, citing unidentified sources, that the company had amassed about Rmb10 billion ($1.54 billion), valuing the logistics start-up at nearly Rmb50 billion ($7.7 billion).

The Shenzhen-based online logistics platform, which connects delivery companies, warehouses and distribution centres, also secured investments from Malaysias Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Chinas Primavera Capital to fund its expansion.

One person at the company familiar with the matter told FinanceAsia that the fundraising result showed investors are bullish on the sector.

The amount investors wanted to invest in this round was far bigger than [what] we wanted to raise. We selected only a part of [investors], the person said.

Cainiao was set up in 2013 by a consortium of investors including Alibaba, Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, and a few domestic delivery companies -- its goal being to consolidate the countrys fragmented logistics industry and compete with Alibabas smaller rival JD.com, which runs its own logistics network.

Prior to the latest equity financing round, Alibaba held a 48% stake in Cainiao.

Fast growth

Riding on the back of the internet giants dominance of Chinese e-commerce, Cainiao has grown quickly and aggressively, developing a presence as of March in 2,800 Chinese cities and counties as well as in 224 countries and overseas regions.

It claims to handle over 70% of the countrys express packages and run 180,000 express delivery stations, offering same-day delivery in seven cities and next-day delivery in another 90 in China.

If e-commerce was the focus of Chinas economy in the past 10 years, logistics will be the focus for the next 10, Judy Tong, chief executive officer of Cainiao, said in the statement. She added that the company planned to tap into the latest big data (such as order trends and delivery routes) and platform management technologies to improve the efficiency of logistic services.

According to the person familiar with the matter, Cainiao will step up efforts to improve cross-border logistics and deliveries in Chinas rural areas after the Series-A funding, by building and acquiring more warehouses and delivery service stations.

Cainiao has also teamed up with a number of domestic and international logistics firms such as Singapores SingPost (Alibaba holds a near-14.5% stake in it) and the US Postal Service for its cross-border business. According to Chinese media reports last year, it also acquired a warehouse from Amazon in eastern China where land purchases are relatively difficult.

For Singapores state investor Temasek, the move matches its previous interest in Chinas logistics industry. In 2014, SeaTown Holdings International, a unit of Temasek, invested $250 million in Shanghai Yupei Group, one of Chinas largest private warehouse companies, along with Hong Kong-based private equity firm RRJ Capital.

The Cainiao announcement comes one week after Ant Financial Services Group, Alibabas financial affiliate, raised $3 billion through its second round of private funding. It plans to create a credit scoring system in a bid to access the credit history of Chinas 650 million internet users.
In coming years, the broker-dealer business model will be under threat from the looming rollout of the Department of Labors fiduciary rule, which at best will likely reduce upfront commissions and drive a shift toward more level compensation for advisors, and some predict may eventually eliminate product commissions altogether.

Notably, a world without commissions is not necessarily the death knell for advisors. The non-commissioned RIA segment of advisors has already experienced great growth in recent years, and most brokers think its reasonable to be required to give advice in the best interests of their clients.

However, the ongoing evolution of advisors, from securities product salespeople to actual advisors, is creating an existential crisis for broker-dealers. After all, in a fiduciary world where advisors are paid directly by their clients for advice, what is the purpose or need for a broker-dealer intermediary at all?

KEY TO STAYING RELEVANT

In the long run, this means that broker-dealers will be compelled to reinvent their business (and revenue) models altogether to remain relevant in a world of advisors that rely on them  not as intermediaries facilitating the distribution and sale of third-party or proprietary securities products, but as advisor support platforms that help facilitate the success of advisors who actually are paid for their advice.

The modern version of the broker-dealer traces its roots to the aftermath of the Crash of 1929, out of which came the Securities Exchange Act of 1934  the legislation that created the SEC, the rules for securities exchanges themselves and how they operate, and the rules and registration requirements of broker-dealers.

As the compound name implies, broker-dealers existed to fulfill two primary functions: to execute securities trades in their own account as dealer, and to execute securities trades on behalf of customers as broker. Notably, a broker-dealer was attached typically to an investment bank responsible for assisting companies in raising (i.e., issuing) debt and equity capital. Thus, the process of raising funds in capital markets would involve an investment bank facilitating the issuance of stocks and bonds, which would then be held in the inventory of the broker-dealer, and stockbrokers would then be responsible for selling the newly issued securities from the broker-dealers inventory to investors.

In the decades following the act, the scope of broker-dealers expanded to include the sale and distribution of an ever-widening range of registered securities products  beyond just the stocks and bonds in the broker-dealers inventory, or brokering trades on the securities exchanges on behalf of customers. Most notably, this included the rise of the mutual fund, a securities product that could be brokered (i.e., sold) by the representatives of a broker-dealer. In this context, the mutual fund would pay the broker-dealer a selling concession for distributing its product, a portion of which the broker-dealer would then pass along as compensation to the broker in the form of a sales commission.

The growth of mutual funds (and, to a lesser extent, other registered securities products) was so successful that by the 70s and 80s, there was enough money to be made just by brokering the sale of securities products and generating commissions. This gave rise to the independent broker-dealermodel. The key feature of an independent broker-dealer was that the position generally had no direct affiliation to an investment bank or company, and thus was not selling its own proprietary stocks, bonds, or other securities products. Instead, independent broker-dealers sold third-party securities, independent of the company itself.

In turn, the rise of the independent broker-dealer meant the role of broker-dealer shifted from dealing in securities inventory (to sell to customers) or packaging securities products (to sell to customers) to overseeing the sale of third-party securities products, including vetting/evaluating the products for sale, managing and overseeing the sales process (i.e., compliance oversight of brokers), and collecting and allocating the sales commissions that were paid.

As the registered representatives of broker-dealers  both independent and captive insurance or wire house broker-dealers  sought to add value to clients, they increasingly offered a range of advice to consumers as well, to the point that most who worked at such firms would now be variously called advisors or consultants.

Notwithstanding this shift, though, so-called advisors who work for broker-dealers are still legally in the business of selling (proprietary or third-party) securities products and offering related brokerage services. In fact, the legal reality is that an advisor ceases to be a broker and must become a fiduciary investment adviser if his/her advice offering ever becomes more than just solely incidental to the sale of securities products and the delivery of brokerage services.

ARE B-Ds IRRELEVANT IN A FIDUCIARY FUTURE?

As financial advice moves inexorably toward a fiduciary future, the fundamental challenge for broker-dealers is that they operate primarily to facilitate the sale and distribution of securities products. They were never envisaged to support the delivery of advice, particularly in a world where advisors were compensated directly for their advice via fees and not with commissions paid by securities product providers for the sale of their products (or commissions paid directly by the broker-dealer for the sale of its own proprietary products). In other words, if the future job model for advisors is to get paid for dispensing advice, and not the sale and distribution of securities products, wheres the relevance of a broker-dealer who exists primarily to facilitate the sale and distribution of those securities products?

In this context, its not entirely surprising that broker-dealers have had overwhelmingly negative reactions to the DoLs fiduciary proposal, and likewise why broker-dealer companies have been more negative about the fiduciary rule than brokers themselves. The reality is that brokers have been shifting toward delivering advice  and actually creating value with their advice  for years, and many brokers already try to give advice in the interests of their clients (which is really the only way that advice can be given to be considered as such).

This means that in a fiduciary future, if forced to do so, brokers-as-advisors can finally complete the transition to become true advisors who are paid for advice instead of for distributing a product, and those with an advice skillset can survive and thrive in a fiduciary future. Broker-dealers, on the other hand, risk becoming irrelevant in an advice-centric world. Fighting the departments fiduciary rule consequently has become an existential matter for many (or even most) broker-dealers.

Conversely, for broker-dealers to survive in a fiduciary future, broker-dealers must evolve from being platforms that facilitate the sale and distribution of third-party or proprietary securities products to ones that actually support the success of advisors who deliver advice  and are compensated primarily for the value of their advice.

HOW THE BEST B-Ds WILL SURVIVE

So, what exactly does it mean to create a platform to serve and support advisors, rather than merely operating a broker-dealer to facilitate brokers selling of third-party or proprietary securities products? To start, lets look at how the non-product-centric side of the advisory industry has already evolved in recent years.

RIA custodians seek to create appealing platforms for RIAs primarily through supportive technologies. All RIA custodians have some form of comprehensive advisor technology stack that their advisors rely on to operate their businesses  through various combinations of proprietary solutions, preferred vendors with deep integrations, and/or creating an open architecture framework into which technology solutions can be plugged. In a world where so much of the raw custody business has been brutally commoditized, custodian platforms are increasingly differentiated on the basis of their technology.

Notably, though, the RIA advisor support ecosystem goes further than just how RIA custodians support their advisors. An interesting phenomenon of the advice industry, with its relationship-based recurring revenue business models, is that advice-based firms have grown far larger than the collections of siloed brokers seen in typical broker-dealer firms. This has led to RIAs that grow so large that they become de facto advisor platforms. Those platforms are then further swollen via mergers and acquisitions, tuck-in deals, or even RIAs themselves offering third-party platform services to other advisors.

In this context, the function of the advisor platform is to help facilitate as much of the back-office operational functions, and even mid-office functions (e.g., investment and, increasingly, planning analysis) as possible, so that the advisors themselves can spend as much time as possible performing their highest and best function: interacting directly with clients, giving advice and delivering value.

Accordingly, the advisor platform of the future might include not only technology solutions, but centralized back-office support (including operations and administrative support); centralized planning expertise (from an Advanced Markets sales support team to an Advanced Planning advice support team); planning staff support (why should advisors need their own paraplanners when a central advisor platform can provide them on a shared or pooled basis?); and even a Due Diligence department (not to vet products to be sold, but to meet the even higher burden of vetting products that will be recommended by fiduciary advisors). Of course, compliance  in a fiduciary context, not FINRA-style product sales oversight  is also a highly relevant advisor platform function that benefits from scale.

REINVENTING THE B-D REVENUE MODEL

Ultimately, the greatest threat for broker-dealers may not be the fact that these professionals must reinvent their service model to be relevant to advisors who are paid for dispensing advice (rather than brokers who are paid to distribute product), but that broker-dealers may soon be forced to reinvent their entire revenue model as well.

After all, if a fiduciary rule drives advisors away from product distribution and toward getting paid for advice itself, such that broker-dealers can no longer rely on their current role as an intermediary in the world of services product distribution, then broker-dealers will lose access to everything from commissions with their revenue-sharing and override payment structures to the so-called shelf space agreements from product companies looking for distribution.

Perhaps some of this revenue will ironically be made up by services purveyors who go from paying for distribution opportunities through revenue-sharing and shelf space agreements, to those product providers offering to sponsor advisor events and conferences to get visibility with fiduciary advisors and have their products considered for potential recommendations. Looking at a parallel in the medical industry, pharmaceutical companies continue to be heavy sponsors of conferences for doctors, the thought being that doctors awareness of the companies products will grow. Doctors, after all, function as gatekeepers for their patients, even if drug companies cannot pay commissions to doctors to prescribe their drugs.

To some extent, the transition toward fiduciary advice may simply mean a push away from traditional upfront commissions, and toward level commissions akin to ongoing AUM fees. In the long run, this may not necessarily be problematic for broker-dealers. In fact, businesses with recurring revenue traditionally have better valuations, and in recent years the broker-dealers with more fee-based revenue have alreadycommanded higher valuations than their purely commission-based brethren.

However, just as advisors often struggle with the transition from upfront commissions to level AUM fees  going from a 5% upfront commission to a 1% AUM may be more profitable in the long run (6+ years), but can cause a cash flow squeeze in the short term (getting paid 1% in year 1 instead of 5%)  so too will broker-dealers face a potentially challenging revenue transition in the coming years if the fiduciary rule squeezes down the size of up-front commissions.

Perhaps even more problematic, though, is the prospective rise of non-commission or even non-AUM-fee advisor revenue models, and the question of where broker-dealers fit (or not) in that advice-centric advisor business model. Whether its annual or monthly retainer fees, or even new forms of net worth and income-based fee structures, how can broker-dealers get paid in a process where compensation typically goes directly from the client to the advisor (and not via the broker-dealer middle man)? Furthermore, what is a reasonable amount fora broker-dealer-turned-advisor to be paid?

Industry benchmarking studies for independent advice-centric advisors show that the typical profit and loss statement for an advisory firm follows a roughly 40%/40%/20% split, where 40% is allocable to direct expenses (payments to advisors to provide advice), 40% goes to overhead and 20% remains as a profit margin for the advisory firm. Larger advisory firms (which might still only be $1 billion of AUM and $10 million of revenue, a fraction of the size of mid- to large broker-dealers), which enjoy at least some economies of scale in their operations, may run a 40%/35%/25% split. This would mean mean that, given expenses like office space/rent wont likely be subsumed by the advisory firm platform, a fully scaled advisor platform covering virtually all of the back- and middle-office overhead functions of an advisory firm could conceivably have a crack at perhaps 30% of an advisory firms revenue.

In other words, the advisor platform of the future could potentially be relevant for as much as 30% of an advisors revenue, by providing all of the staffing, support and other services necessary to allow an advice-centric advisor to spend as much time as possible actually giving advice to clients. For advisors who operate on an AUM basis, this might mean the broker-dealer advisor platform provides the investment management platform, collects client fees and remits the advisors (70%) share. And in point of fact, there are some advisor platforms that already do exactly this in a non-broker-dealer format, from the BAM Alliance to Dynasty Financial Partners and Hightower Advisors.

For firms that support advisors doing retainer and other fees, this may eventually mean broker-dealer advisor platforms offering fee collection solutions for their advisors, again to collect fees from clients, keep their 30% platform fee, and then remit the 70% share to their advisors. Alternatively, some broker-dealers may simply establish and assess standalone platform fees  which could be basis points, or for non-AUM advisors simply a flat monthly platform fee, which the advisor pays on an ongoing basis to have access to all the technology, tools and services of the advisor platform. Platforms would then differentiate on the basis of how turn-key they are to support certain types of advisors running particular business models or serving certain specialized clientele (hence, the rise of the Turnkey Financial Planning Platform, or TFPP).

The bottom line, though, is simply this: Broker-dealers are facing a form of existential crisis, as the evolution of advisors from selling securities products to actually getting paid for advice raises the fundamental question of why its necessary at all for an advisor to affiliate with a broker-dealer intermediary to facilitate the distribution of securities products. This existential threat to broker-dealers will only accelerate with the rollout of the fiduciary rule, as the potential shift away from upfront commissions  and possibly away from commissions altogether  opens the door to an explosion of advisor support platforms that are not based on product distribution. And while some broker-dealers may be able to make the shift from product intermediary to bona fide advisor support platform, many simply arent positioned to survive, much less thrive, in an advice-centric future.

Michael Kitces, CFP, is a Financial Planning contributing writer and a partner and director of research at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md. Hes also publisher of the planning industry blog Nerds Eye View. Follow him on Twitter at @MichaelKitces.

Read more:
Remember that big stock buyback LPL Financial began late last year? The one that was going to "maximize shareholder returns?"

Not only did the buyback turn out to be a bust, but it also, as New York Times columnist Gretchen Morgenson pointed out in a front page story of the Sunday Business section, "primarily benefit[ed] a powerful insider investor."

That investor is TPG Capital, the private equity firm that has had a large stake in the nation's largest independent broker-dealer since 2005.

TPG did not respond to Morgensons request for comment and declined comment to Financial Planning.

'A VERY SWEET PRICE'

Instead of going into the open market to buy its own stock, Morgenson reports, LPL repurchased 4.3 million shares from TPG in December at an average cost of $44.50. The transaction, she pointed out, allowed TPG to "dispose of about one-third of its stake at what turned out to be a very sweet price."

Indeed it did. After last month's disastrous fourth-quarter and year-end results, LPL's stock sank to $16.50, and is now around $22 a share.

Read More:
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.
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - March 13, 2016) - EPIC Corporation (OTC PINK: EPOR) and Ronald Tucker its CEO announced:

"Donald Baillargeon (MoneyTV) states that EPIC as a small listed company sounds more like a large NYSE company. Click to see Interview.

"EPIC The Dividend Company is an "Outside-The-Box" private public trading company and a significantly undervalued common stock. The Company provides shareholders with a high quarterly yield with its preferred stock and high ROI with both its common and preferred stock."

General Announcements

"EPIC is negotiating with an independent owner of several profitable international and domestic US companies to both license the right to market and sell AcuFAB products and to develop both an international and a USA public trading holding company.

"EPIC is negotiating with several parties to form a specialized foot care company to service people that work on their feet all day.

"EPIC has made contact with several mobile wheelchair companies and is sending samples of AcuFAB for use in the seats of those products. AcuFAB will provide the users of those products a micro climate to prevent overheating (sweating) and greater blood circulation to the body's surface tissues."

Stock Dividend

"EPIC's Board of Directors has declared its 12th consecutive quarterly stock dividend to preferred shareholders of record on March 28, 2016, to be paid March 31, 2016. The dividend will be paid to preferred shareholders on the basis of 23% of the preferred shares owned. There will be no fractional shares; any fractional shares will be rounded up.

"EPIC's 3rd Voluntary Exchange Offer for the exchange of shares of common stock for 1 share of EPIC's Series A 5% Convertible Preferred Stock will be formally announced on June 15, 2016 ("Declaration Date"), and the offer must be accepted on or before 5:00 pm, eastern time, on July 15, 2016. The shares must be delivered on or before July 31, 2015."

Stock Exchange Offer

"The exchange Rate of common stock for 1 share of preferred stock is dependent on the average VWAP price for 10 trading days prior to June 13, 2016, based on the following:

VWAP Exchange Price Rate less than or = $0.10 5 Common to 1 Preferred greater than $0.10 but less than or = $0.20 4 Common to 1 Preferred greater than $0.20 but less than or = $0.30 3 Common to 1 Preferred greater than $0.30 but less than or = $0.50 2 Common to 1 Preferred greater than $0.50 but less than or = $0.85 1.5 Common to 1 Preferred greater than $0.85 1 Common to 1 Preferred

"Preferred shareholders that convert preferred shares for common stock between March 1, 2016, and July 15, 2016, will not qualify to exchange any of the converted shares, and the preferred stock received in the exchange can not be converted until 90 days after July 31, 2016. The maximum number of common shares to be exchanged will be 200,000 from any one account."

The Stock Exchange Offer provides new investors and existing shareholders who purchased shares prior to the reverse stock split an investment opportunity. They both can purchase severely undervalued common stock and exchange the common for preferred and receive a high quarterly yield and a high long term ROI. A complete description of the yield and ROI, with examples, can be downloaded here.

Investors prior to the reverse stock split can benefit from the current low market price by purchasing new shares and reduce their average cost per share. Please consider the following:

Example 1: Assume that you purchased 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.18 per share prior to the reverse split. After the split you have 1,000 shares for which you paid $1,800. Now you purchase 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.20 per share. You would then have 11,000 shares and will have paid $3,800 with an average price per share of $0.345 per share. If you sold the 11,000 shares at $0.75 per share you would have double your total investment.

Example 2: Assume that you purchased 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.13 per share prior to the reverse split. After the split you have 1,000 shares for which you paid $1,300. Now you purchase 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.20 per share. You would then have 11,000 shares and will have paid $3,300 with an average price per share of $0.30 per share. If you sold the 11,000 shares at $0.75 per share your ROI would be 250% of your total investment.

Example 3: Assume that you purchased 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.10 per share prior to the reverse split. After the split you have 1,000 shares for which you paid $1,000. Now you purchase 10,000 shares at an average price of $0.20 per share. You would then have 11,000 shares and will have paid $3,000 with an average price per share of $0.273 per share. If you sold the 11,000 shares at $0.75 per share your ROI would be 275% of your total investment.

About EPIC

EPIC has had the same management and same primary objective to provide investors with a high yield and ROI since its incorporation in 1997.

EPIC is now reorganized into a finance company that provides inventory and sales order financing as well as other financial services to development stage and emerging growth companies. It has been and will continue providing funding to RX Healthcare Systems, Ltd., its majority own subsidiary and is negotiating to fund several independent companies.

EPIC CORPORATION, The Dividend Company, is an "Outside-The-Box" privately traded company. It is a finance company that provides inventory and purchase order financing as well as other financial services to private and public companies by providing them funding and corporate, business and financial services.

Visit www.acufabinsoles.com to buy AcuFAB insoles.

Visit www.epicistore.com to buy AcuFAB acupressure support surface.

Visit www.acufabric.com to buy the AcuFAB acupressure spacer fabric.

Visit www.epiccor.com for corporate information and http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/EPOR/quote for investor and financial information.

CONTACT:

Scott McIntosh

Email: Email contact



Telephone:949-228-2352
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - German voters dealt a stinging rebuke to Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open-door refugee policy in three state elections Sunday, delivering historic gains for an upstart anti-immigrant party, according to reports. The reports indicated that the populist Alternative for Germany, which focused its campaign on opposition to Ms. Merkel's migrant policy, won nearly a quarter of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The result-several percentage points higher than recent polls had suggested-represents the party's best total in a regional election since its founding three years ago. The party, known as the AfD, also won parliamentary seats in two former West German states voting, giving it representation in eight of the country's 16 state legislatures. That strengthens the AfD's status as a significant political force to the right of Ms. Merkel's conservative bloc-a turning point that her Christian Democrats long tried to prevent. Despite Sunday's setbacks, Merkel remains in a relatively strong position at home. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
DUBAI, UAE, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

As Islamic banking gathers momentum in Pakistan, one leading bank partners with Dubai-based Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance for e-learning.

Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan's leading banks, today announced partnering with Ethica, a leader in Islamic finance training and certification based in Dubai, to deliver its online Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) to its employees.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150504/742909 )



"At Bank Alfalah, we are committed to building the capacity of our employees so that they understand Islamic banking practices. Our partnership with Ethica enables Bank Alfalah to develop seasoned Islamic bankers in the industry," said Atif Bajwa, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah. The Bank has previously won "Best Islamic Window of a Conventional Banking Group in Pakistan" at the Global Islamic Finance Awards for the last two consecutive years and recently received "Strongest Islamic Retail Bank in Pakistan 2015" at the Islamic Retail Banking Awards.

Ethica's spokesperson said, "E-learning is now mainstream. Classroom training is expensive and often ineffective, usually lasting only a few days, rather than the 1 year Bank Alfalah accesses the CIFE. We think the future of bank training is about recreating the classroom setting in an interactive e-learning environment. Bank Alfalah's decision reflects this shift." As part of the corporate training package, Bank Alfalah receives year-round, 100% online access to the Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) program along with a back-end dashboard allowing managers to monitor learner progress each week.

Islamic banking recently regained momentum in Pakistan with the central bank's five-year plan to promote Islamic finance with legislative changes and product incentives. Over the last few years, Bank Alfalah has forged strategic partnerships with renowned institutions to develop learning programs to increase the knowledge base and skills of employees on Islamic banking. Almost 700 learning programmes catering to 99 percent of the Bank's employees were offered by the Bank last year.

Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance has trained over 10,000 paying professionals in 160 financial institutions across 65 countries, winning numerous industry awards. The 4-month Certified Islamic Finance Executive (CIFE) is a globally recognized certificate accredited to comply with AAOIFI, the world's leading Islamic finance standard. Ethica also offers three Advanced CIFE (ACIFE) certificates in Takaful, Financial Analysis, and Accounting.



Contact: Sameer Hasan, Tel: +9714-455-8690, Email: contact@ethicainstitute.com
Regulatory News:

Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) announces that Singtel, one of Asia's leading communications groups, has selected capacity on its EUTELSAT 70B satellite to support network connectivity in South-East Asia.

Singtel is establishing a new relationship with Eutelsat, a global satellite operator, through a flexible contract that enables it to progressively ramp up capacity over the coming 12 months as demand grows.

The high-performance Asian footprint of EUTELSAT 70B, that stretches from Myanmar to Australia, enables users to operate secure, scalable networks and extend access to outlets in rural and isolated regions areas.

Jean-Francois Fenech, CEO of Eutelsat Asia, located in Singapore said: "We are honoured to win the confidence of Singtel following its consultation of various satellite alternatives, and to strike a new relationship with a reference telco in Asia. Thanks to the orbital position and footprint of the EUTELSAT 70B satellite it is in a strong position to serve diverse South-East Asia markets that include corporate networks, video distribution to cable headends and cellular backhaul. As part of Eutelsat's global fleet it also connects to the rest of the world. Satellites are a vital infrastructure in fast-developing Asian markets and we are delighted to increase our participation in this growth."

About Eutelsat Communications

Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 40 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies. Eutelsat's satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user's location. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 37 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.

For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com

www.eutelsat.fr - Follow us on Twitter @Eutelsat_SA and Facebook Eutelsat.SA

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160314005485/en/

Contacts:

Eutelsat Communications

Press

Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91

voconnor@eutelsat.com

Marie-Sophie Ecuer, Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91

mecuer@eutelsat.com

Violaine du Boucher, Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91

vduboucher@eutelsat.com

or

Investors and analysts

Joanna Darlington, Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30

jdarlington@eutelsat.com

Cedric Pugni, Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30

cpugni@eutelsat.com
UBM plc

2015 ANNUAL REPORT & NOTICE OF 2016 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

14 MARCH 2016

UBM plc ("the Company") announces that its Annual General Meeting will be held at 2.30 pm on Wednesday, 18 May 2016 at The Goldsmiths' Centre, 42 Britton Street, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 5AD. In connection with this, the following documents have been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders today:

Annual Report & Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015

Notice of 2016 Annual General Meeting

Form of Proxy for the 2016 AGM

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.1, copies of these documents have also been submitted to the UK Listing Authority via the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for viewing shortly at www.hemscott.com/nsm.do

The 2015 Annual Report & Accounts and Notice of the 2016 Annual General Meeting will also be available on the Company's website at www.ubm.com. Shareholders can obtain additional copies of the Proxy form from our Registrar, Equiniti Limited at Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN99 6DA or view online at www.shareview.co.uk.

--ENDS--

Enquiries to:

Ellie Klonarides, Deputy Company Secretary

UBM plc

Tel: +44 (0)20 921 5000
ALBANY, New York, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Transparency Market Research has released a new market report titled "Crude Oil Carriers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024." According to this report, the global crude oil carriers market was valued at US$160 Billion in 2015 and is projected to reach US$217 Billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 3.5% from 2016 to 2024.

Crude oil carriers are designed for the bulk transport of crude oil. Basic types of oil carriers include crude oil carriers and product carriers. Crude oil carriers transport unrefined crude oil from exploration and production facilities to crude oil refineries, while product carriers ship refined products to points close to consuming markets. Coastal tank vessel trades are functioned by crude carriers, tank barges, and product tankers. Crude oil carriers serve the West/Alaska coast crude oil trades. Crude oil carriers are generally referred to as oil tankers which transport crude oil from one location to another.

Crude oil carriers are designed for the bulk transportation of oil. Crude oil carrier shipping provides a convenient way of transporting bulk liquid for international seaborne trade. Transportation rates in the shipping industry are determined by time charter equivalent. Oil tankers have become an integral part of the transportation process. In terms of exports, crude oil heads across the Atlantic to Europe, reducing North America's dependency on crude oil from other regions, such as the Middle East.

Get Industry Research Sample: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2046

The crude oil carriers market has been segmented on the basis of vessel type and region. In terms of vessel type, VLCC and ULCC together held about 63% share in 2015; a large number of VLCCs are in operation as compared to other vessels. Suezmax accounted for nearly 14% of the crude oil carriers market in 2015. Aframax accounted for nearly 21% and Panamax accounted for the rest 2% of the market.

Demand for crude oil carriers majorly depends on oil product consumers, crude oil production, and refining facilities. The cargo carrying capacity of a crude oil carrier is 90%-95% of its deadweight capacity, depending on the distance to the succeeding bunkering port. Long haul crude oil generates an incentive to build large-sized crude oil carriers. This is expected to lower the shipping costs through economies of scale up to the largest carrier such as ultra large crude carriers (ULCC). The international crude oil carrier fleet utilizes a classification system to establish shipping costs, standardize contract terms, and determine the capability of ships to travel to bunkering ports and through channels and certain straits. This system is known as Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) system and was established by Royal Dutch Shell plc.

AFRA system classifies crude oil carriers in terms of deadweight tons (DWT), a measure of a carrier's capacity to carry cargo. A classification used to describe a large portion of the international crude oil carrier fleet is Aframax. Aframax vessels refer to crude oil carriers between 80,000 and 120,000 DWT. The international demand for oil from other countries has developed considerably faster than that from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Research Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/crude-oil-carriers-market.html

The crude oil carriers market has been segmented as follows:

Crude Oil Carriers Market: By Vessel Type

VLCC/ULCC

Suezmax

Aframax

Panamax

Crude Oil Carriers Market: By Region

North America

U.S.

Rest of North America

Europe

Greece

Belgium

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

South Korea

Singapore

Japan

Malaysia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Rest of World

Iran

Saudi Arabia

Others

Browse In detail Regional Analysis: http://www.europlat.org/crude-oil-carriers-market.htm

Browse Other Research Reports:

Crude Oil Desalter Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/crude-oil-desalter-market.html

Industrial Boilers Market:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/us-industrial-boilers-market.html

About TMR

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

TMR's data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton says there is a systematic racism inside America's criminal justice system. Speaking ahead of Super Tuesday primaries, Clinton called on American people to stand up and question these inequities, and then go about the business of ridding them. Democratic primaries will be held in five states Tuesday - Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri. Speaking at a CNN-organized town hall in Ohio on Sunday, the former Secretary of State proposed reforms in US prison system. Change in prison system into diversion programs, job programs and skills programs; treatment for addictions; and closure of private prisons were a few priorities on her mind. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new report by a U.S.-based nonprofit organization says that at least 161 chemical attacks were carried out from the beginning of the conflict in Syria through 2015 A New Normal: Ongoing Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria is a report by the Syrian American Medical Society that documents 161 chemical attacks from the beginning of the conflict through 2015, using reports and first-hand accounts from physicians and health workers in Syria. SAMS compiled another 133 reported chemical attacks that could not be fully substantiated. The 161 documented chemical attacks have led to at least 1,491 deaths and 14,581 injuries from chemical exposure. Out of the 161 attacks, 77 percent have occurred after the passage of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2118 in September 2013, which created a framework for the destruction of Syria's declared chemical weapons stockpiles. In 2015, there were 69 chemical weapons attacks, making it the year with the most chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date. At least 58 chlorine attacks, or 36 percent of the total chemical weapons attacks, occurred after UNSC Resolution 2209 which condemns chlorine gas as a weapon in Syria, the report says. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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.
ALBANY, NY--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) announced today that it has received approval from the New York State Education Department to offer a Bachelor's Degree program in Public Health. Students will be eligible to enroll in the new program beginning in fall 2016.

The Bachelor of Public Health represents the evolution of the College's current B.S. program in Health and Human Sciences. Whereas that program placed an emphasis on the basic sciences, the Public Health program will expand the focus to integrate a greater variety of coursework in areas that include social science, applied science, epidemiology, statistics, and research.

"As a college focused on human health and health care, the addition of a Bachelor's program in Public Health is a logical extension of our academic offerings," said Wendy Parker, Ph.D., Director of the Public Health program at ACPHS. "By leveraging our collective strengths as an institution, we have created a true interdisciplinary program that will educate students to be scientifically grounded and socially engaged."

The B.S. in Public Health curriculum -- which is based on the accreditation standards published by the Council on Education for Public Health -- will require students to select one of two tracks: Community Health or Health Analytics. Each track will culminate with a capstone project (typically an internship or research project) in which students will focus on an aspect of public health that aligns with their career interests.

Students in the program will find that it offers particularly strong preparation for positions in Health Education and Promotion as well as those in Research and Program Coordination. Examples of such positions include Community Health Educator, Community Health Worker, Public Health Data Analyst, Biostatistical Data Technician, and Health Communications Specialist. The program will also prepare students well for graduate or advanced training in public health, health administration, data analytics, and health services research.

The career prospects for the program's graduates are strong, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS projects that employment of health educators and community health workers will grow 21% from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations. The BLS notes: "Growth will be driven by efforts to improve health outcomes and to reduce healthcare costs by teaching people about healthy habits and behaviors and utilization of available health care services."

The College has created a new department to house the B.S. in Public Health: the Department of Population Health Sciences. The department will also be home to the existing M.S. in Health Outcomes Research, a strategic coupling that links two programs with natural synergies. A search is currently underway to hire a chair for the department.

"The addition of the Public Health program and the formation of the Department of Population Health Sciences are part of a strategic realignment for the College," said Tarun B. Patel, Provost of ACPHS. "The new structure is going to help facilitate collaborations between the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the School of Arts and Sciences with faculty from both schools now having joint appointments in the new department. These inter-school and inter-disciplinary collaborations will further advance teaching and research at the College and ultimately enrich the academic experience of students across all of our programs."

About Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Founded in 1881, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is a private, independent institution with a long tradition of academic and research excellence. The College is committed to educating the next generation of leaders in the health care professions and translating scientific discoveries into therapies that benefit humankind. In addition to its doctor of pharmacy program, ACPHS offers six bachelor's programs and five graduate programs in the health sciences. The College has campuses in Albany, New York and Colchester, Vermont. For more information, please visit www.acphs.edu.

Contact:



Gil Chorbajian

Director of Communications

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Work: 518-694-7394

Mobile: 518-542-5532

gil.chorbajian@acphs.edu
Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - March 14, 2016) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved the 2016 budget of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the related annual accounting support fee.

The PCAOB budget totals $257.7 million and will be funded primarily by the collection of an accounting support fee totaling $253.3 million and from the under-spending in 2015 that will be available to fund the 2016 budget.

"The PCAOB's work to oversee auditors of public companies and SEC registered broker-dealers is critical to investor protection and our markets," said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. "The PCAOB has another busy year ahead as it continues to conduct inspections of auditors and broker-dealers, works to develop its permanent broker-dealer audit inspection program, and advances numerous standard-setting initiatives. The Commission must continue to make sure the PCAOB has the necessary funds to fulfill all aspects of its important mission."

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 established the PCAOB to oversee the audits and auditors of financial statements filed by public companies and registered broker-dealers. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act designated the SEC to oversee the PCAOB and specifies that the PCAOB's budget and accounting support fee, which funds its operations, be subject to approval by the Commission.

The PCAOB budget includes:

A 2016 budget of $257.7 million

A 2016 accounting support fee totaling $253.3 million allocated as follows:

-$220.9 million to be assessed on public companies

-$ 32.4 million to be assessed on broker-dealers

The PCAOB's 2016 budget represents an increase of approximately 3 percent from its 2015 budget of $250.9 million and an increase of approximately 5 percent over its estimated $244.9 million in spending in 2015. The 2016 accounting support fee of $253.3 million is approximately 12 percent higher than the 2015 accounting support fee of $226.6 million. The increase in the accounting support fee relative to the increase in the budget reflects the fact that there is less unused funding to be carried forward from FY 2015 to offset FY 2016 budgeted expenditures than was the case last year.

# # #

FACT SHEET

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board 2016 Budget

and Accounting Support Fee

SEC Open Meeting

March 14, 2016

Action

The Securities and Exchange Commission today will consider whether to approve the 2016 budget of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and the related annual accounting support fee for the board, as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Highlights

On Nov. 24, 2015, the PCAOB approved its 2016 budget and its strategic plan during an open meeting of the board. That proposed budget, which is now being considered by the SEC, includes:

A proposed 2016 budget of $257.7 million

A proposed 2016 accounting support fee totaling $253.3 million, allocated as follows: $220.9 million to be assessed on issuers $32.4 million to be assessed on registered broker-dealers.



The PCAOB's 2016 budget represents an increase of approximately 3 percent over the 2015 Commission-approved budget of $250.9 million and an increase of approximately 5 percent over the PCAOB's 2015 estimated spending of $244.9 million.

The 2016 budget will be funded primarily by the 2016 accounting support fee of $253.3 million, which is approximately 12 percent higher than the 2015 Commission-approved accounting support fee of $226.6 million. The increase in the accounting support fee relative to the increase in the budget reflects the fact that there is less unused funding to be carried forward from FY 2015 to offset FY 2016 budgeted expenditures than was the case last year.

Background

The PCAOB oversees the audits and auditors of the financial statements that are filed by issuers and registered broker-dealers. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which established the PCAOB, provides the Commission with oversight responsibility over the PCAOB. This includes approving the PCAOB's budget and accounting support fee annually.

Under Section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PCAOB is required to establish, with the approval of the Commission, a reasonable accounting support fee to fund its operations. The fee is assessed annually on issuers and registered broker-dealers. Consideration of the budget for approval is one of the many ways in which the Commission exercises its oversight responsibilities of the PCAOB.

What's Next?

If the PCAOB's 2016 budget and accounting support fee are approved by the Commission, the PCAOB will proceed with its process of determining issuer and registered broker-dealer allocations of the 2016 accounting support fee and issue invoices to issuers and registered broker-dealers based on the PCAOB's funding rules.
According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global military support vehicles marketis set to reach USD 3.43 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of close to 3%.

This research report titled 'Global Military Support Vehicles Market 2015-2019' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.

Request sample report: http://goo.gl/yJtHCz

The report segments the global military support vehicles market into three different types of vehicles:

Heavy vehicles

Medium vehicles

Light vehicles

Global military support vehicles market for heavy vehicles

As of 2014, the heavy vehicles segment contributed the maximum revenue to the global military support vehicles market, and accounted for a market share of around 46%.

According to Abhay Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for defense research, "The increasing expense for military operations and constant change in the nature of warfare are constraining armed forces to re-examine the capabilities of their future vehicles. Asymmetric warfare is also expected to force military operations to operate in urban environments. Military vehicles must have such characteristics that will enable them to operate in urban areas in a cost-effective manner."

In June 2015, Oshkosh Defense received a five-year contract worth USD 780 million from the US Army to recapitalize its fleet of Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles (FHTVs). The report estimated that 1,800 FHTVs will be recapitalized and additionally 1,000 trailers will be manufactured during the forecast period. This will upgrade the US Army's fleet of FHTVs to the latest model configuration with palletized load systems (PLS) and heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks (HEMTTs).

Global military support vehicles market for medium vehicles

Increased terrorism activities in APAC have compelled many countries to increase their defense budgets for enhanced security against potential threats. For instance, in 2015, Australia increased its defense budget to USD 31.9 billion, which showed an increase of USD 9.9 billion from that in 2014. This increase in budget has led to a rise in investments in security vehicle projects.

In November 2011, Project LAND 121 was initiated to provide the Australian Defense Force (ADF) with trailers and security vehicles for improved ground mobility. At a cost of USD 3.38 billion, phase 3B of the project will acquire trailers, modules, and medium and heavy trucks. These vehicles will also be used for the transport of assets and army troops, humanitarian operations, and natural disaster relief programs. This project includes the acquisition of 2,536 medium and heavy trucks, 1,582 trailers, and 2,999 modules.

Global military support vehicles market for light vehicles

The global military support vehicles market for light vehicles was valued at USD 567.5 million in 2014, which is likely to reach USD 641.1 million by 2019.

"The Americas is the largest spender and exporter in the defense segment and accounts for 31% of the global deals. In 2014, USD 134.5 billion was invested in R&D for the JLTV program by the US Army and the US Marine Corps," says Abhay.

In the 2016 budget request, Technavio further expects that the US Department of Defense (DoD) will spend USD 53 billion on the JLTV program, which includes USD 1.1 billion for R&D and USD 52 billion for the procurement of vehicles. A total number of 54,599 JLTVs will be developed under this program, which include 5,500 vehicles for the US Marine Corps and 49,099 vehicles for the US Army.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's research analysts in this report are:

General Dynamics

Lockheed Martin

AM General

BAE Systems

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

Browse Related Reports:

Global Military Robots Market 2016-2020

Global Submarine Market 2016-2020

Unmanned Ground Vehicle Market Global Analysis, Market Shares, Forecast 2015-2019

Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160314005481/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 03/14/16 -- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, today announced that 7,500 refurbished computers will be provided to Syrian refugees in Canada. These computers will be distributed by resettlement organizations with assistance from Computers for Success Canada-Ordinateurs pour l'excellence Canada (CFSC-OPEC) through the Computers for Schools (CFS) program. Digital skills training will also be provided through CFS program partners.

Under the CFS program, refurbished commercial-grade computer equipment is made available at little or no cost to those who may not otherwise have access to technology and opportunities to learn digital skills.

To help provide these computers and technical support to Syrian refugees and the resettlement organizations, the CFS program is getting a one-time boost of $1.25 million.

In addition, the CFS program is proud to be working with national partners from multiple sectors to bundle complementary services for recipients. Partnerships with Microsoft, MediaSmarts, CN, CIBC, Facebook and the Canada Research Chair in Sociocultural Issues of Digital Technologies in Education will provide a more robust donation of computers and services, offering more benefits for recipients.

Quotes

"Economic growth in the modern economy depends on our ability to adapt, adopt and integrate digital technologies into our daily lives-both at work and at home. This investment in the Computers for Schools program will help provide computers and technical support to refugee resettlement facilities, host communities and refugees themselves. I am proud that the Government is making this investment. This is an important step to settling into life in Canada."

- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

"Resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees has been a true national effort-a large-scale collaboration among different levels of government, non-governmental organizations, service provider organizations and the private sector. I am very pleased that Computers for Success Canada is contributing to the national effort in this important way. Providing technology and skills training will be invaluable to the success of Syrian refugees as they integrate into a society where computer knowledge is very important."

- The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

"Computers for Success Canada is honoured to coordinate this exceptional Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada initiative to provide Canadians with greater access to technology and opportunities to learn new digital skills and to help Syrian refugees settle in and grow the economy. We are proud to highlight partners including Microsoft and CN that have made exceptional investments in support of this project."

- Toby Harper-Merrett, Executive Director, Computers for Success Canada-Ordinateurs pour l'excellence Canada

"For over a hundred years, as CN played its role as a true backbone of the Canadian economy, it has also played a key role in getting newly arrived immigrants to their new homes across Canada. CN also has a long-running partnership with Computers for Success Canada, helping to move computers to people in need. We are proud to bring those traditions together in this partnership as we work to provide refugees with the tools they need to succeed in their new lives in Canada."

- Paul Deegan, Vice-President Public and Government Affairs, CN

"As Canada Research Chair in Sociocultural Issues of Digital Technologies in Education, I am pleased to be involved in the CFSC-OPEC initiative to provide computer equipment to refugees. To fully participate in Canadian society, digital skills are a must, and that requires high-quality access to technology and the Internet. However, there are gaps in access to these tools, and not everyone in Canada can benefit equally from digital technology. Initiatives for refugees like the one being undertaken by CFSC-OPEC contribute greatly to reducing the digital divide, which will benefit all Canadians.

- Simon Collin, professor, Canada Research Chair in Sociocultural Issues of Digital Technologies in Education, and Director of the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la formation et la profession enseignante - Universite du Quebec

"MediaSmarts is really pleased to be part of this important initiative to provide computers to Syrian newcomers. As we welcome these new Canadians, we want to ensure that both parents and their children have the tools to use the technology safety and wisely. Inclusion has many aspects, including being able to familiarize yourself with Canada's digital environment."

- Cathy Wing, Co-Executive Director, MediaSmarts

"CIBC is committed to helping newcomers to Canada get off to a strong financial start. With our CIBC Syrian Refugees Program, we're providing newcomers with a special banking package that includes no-fee banking for up to two years and a credit card with no income or credit history needed. And, through our long-time support of the Computers for Schools program, we're proud to enable greater computer access, making it easier for our clients to bank and settle into their new life in Canada."

- Rob Assimakopoulos, Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, CIBC

"Microsoft believes that technology is a powerful tool that enhances education outcomes and brings economic opportunities within reach. We are therefore delighted to partner with Computers for Success Canada and the Government of Canada to ensure Syrian refugees have the tools they need to succeed as new Canadians."

- Dennis Lopes, Head of Corporate, External and Legal Affairs, Microsoft Canada

"Making technology accessible to everyone is key to achieving a more open and connected world. Facebook is proud to partner with Computers for Success Canada-Ordinateurs pour l'excellence Canada in delivering computers and education to Syrian refugees. Facebook is helping to promote CFSC-OPEC's program to Canadians and to make Think Before You Share, MediaSmarts and Facebook's digital literacy guide, available in Arabic with each refurbished computer."

- Kevin Chan, Head of Public Policy, Facebook Canada

Quick facts

-- Canada has resettled 25,000 Syrian refugees in four months and will resettle 10,000 more by the end of 2016. -- The national distribution of computers will be coordinated by CFSC-OPEC, a national non-profit organization focused on supporting the CFS program across Canada. -- The CFS program is providing refugees with greater access to computer technology to develop the skills needed to thrive in a digital economy. -- The 2015 federal budget committed $2 million over two years to expand the CFS program to support not-for-profit organizations that assist new Canadians, low-income Canadians and other disadvantaged groups. -- Additional donations to the CFS program to support Syrian refugees are planned in cities across the country in the coming months.

Related product

-- Backgrounder: Computers for Schools Support for Canada's Syrian Refugee Resettlement Efforts

Associated links

-- Computers for Schools -- Computers for Success Canada-Ordinateurs pour l'excellence Canada -- Renewed Computer Technology Ontario -- Canada.ca/Refugees

Follow the Minister on Twitter: @MinisterISED

Backgrounder

Computers for Schools Support for Canada's Syrian Refugee Resettlement Efforts

Computers for Schools (CFS) is a national program led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The program refurbishes donated computers and distributes them to schools and not-for-profit organizations that assist new Canadians, low-income Canadians and other disadvantaged groups, including refugees. Since its establishment in 1993, CFS has refurbished and donated over 1.4 million computers nationwide.

Through Computers for Success Canada-Ordinateurs pour l'excellence Canada (CFSC-OPEC) and its CFS program, ISED is providing computers and assistance in developing digital skills to facilitate refugees' resettlement and integration into Canada. The Government of Canada recently approved up to $1.25 million for CFS to provide computers and technical support to refugee resettlement organizations.

The donations are being made through resettlement agencies across the country. One such partner is Toronto's CultureLink, a settlement organization with over 25 years' experience in developing and delivering settlement services to meet the needs of diverse communities. It helps newcomers look for work, navigate the school system, and develop skills for bright and successful futures. The organization also supports refugees and brings together new and established Canadians. Renewed Computer Technology (a CFS program affiliate) will provide CultureLink with over 500 computers for Syrian refugees resettling in the Greater Toronto Area.

In addition, CFSC-OPEC has partnered with several organizations to bundle complementary services, resulting in a more robust offering for resettling refugees:

-- The Canada Research Chair in Sociocultural Issues of Digital Technologies in Education is providing expertise in program design. -- CIBC is offering a low-cost banking package for new Canadians. -- CN, a long-standing ISED partner, is providing cartage for donated computers across the country. -- Facebook is offering MediaSmarts online safety information in Arabic. -- Microsoft is donating Windows and Office licences for every computer destined for Syrian refugee households from coast to coast.

CFSC-OPEC is a non-profit organization focused on supporting the CFS program across Canada. Through CFSC-OPEC, CFS affiliate organizations benefit from marketing and communications, partnership development, and strategic planning services at the national level.

For more information on ISED's CFS program, visit the Computers for Schools site (www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cfs-ope.nsf/eng/home). For more information on how you can get computers to help refugees, visit the CFSC-OPEC site (https://cfsc-opec.org).

Contacts:

Media Relations

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

343-291-1777

ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca




Regulatory News:

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (ticker: PSH:NA) will host its quarterly investor conference call on 6 April 2016 at 15:00 BST. During the call, Bill Ackman and the other members of the Pershing Square investment team will address questions e-mailed by investors to ir@persq.com.

An audio webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on PSH's website at www.pershingsquareholdings.com. The conference call will also be available by phone. The dial-in details will be available at www.pershingsquareholdings.com on 4 April 2016.

Following the call, a replay of the event will be available by audio webcast until 21 April 2016 at 5:00 BST. To access the audio webcast, please visit PSH's website at www.pershingsquareholdings.com.

The Company will also be holding an Investor Meeting in London on Tuesday, 26 April 2016. For event and registration details, please visit our website, www.pershingsquareholdings.com.

About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd.

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (PSH:NA) is an investment holding company structured as a closed end fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160314006280/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA

Maitland

James Devas, +44 20 7379 5151

Media-pershingsquareholdings@maitland.co.uk
CARMEL, IN -- (Marketwired) -- 03/14/16 -- ADESA, a business unit of KAR Auction Services (NYSE: KAR), today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange (SADE) in Sanford, Florida.

This location joins four other ADESA auctions in the region: ADESA Sarasota, ADESA Tampa, ADESA Jacksonville and ADESA Ocala.

"The addition of Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange expands our geographic footprint in the large, robust car market in central Florida," said ADESA President and CEO Stephane St-Hilaire. "It is the perfect fit for bringing our end-to-end vehicle remarketing services and comprehensive online solutions to customers in and around that thriving market. I look forward to having Mike Tumminello and his experienced team join ADESA."

The modern, 70-acre facility is conveniently located just north of Orlando, near the I-4 and 417 Greenway. It has six fully automated auction lanes, along with full-service reconditioning facilities, including a body shop and mechanic shop. The auction will be renamed ADESA Orlando, and Mike Tumminello, president of SADE, will remain as general manager.

"For the past 24 years, Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange has strived to provide the best customer service possible to car dealers in the Orlando area," said Tumminello. "I am proud of the accomplishments of my team, and I look forward to taking our service to the next level with ADESA."

This transaction includes The Ocala Auto Dealers Exchange (OADE) in Ocala, Florida. This auction will merge and move to the ADESA Ocala location. The closing of this transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016.

About ADESA

ADESA offers a full range of auction, reconditioning, logistical and other vehicle-related services to meet the remarketing needs of both its institutional and dealer customers. The company handles virtually every stage of the used-vehicle lifecycle through its related subsidiaries of PAR North America, RDN, AutoVIN and CarsArrive. Remarketing services include a variety of activities designed to transfer used vehicles between professional sellers and buyers.

ADESA hosts weekly sales at its 66 auction locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company also builds and manages online sale platforms for many major vehicle manufacturers. The company's online auction venues include ADESA LiveBlock, which simulcasts vehicles worldwide; and ADESA DealerBlock, which offers two ways to buy: bid-now sales events or buy-now pricing 24/7. ADESA is part of the KAR Auction Services family of companies. Visit ADESA.com for details.

Darci Valentine

darci.valentine@adesa.com

317-249-4414



Analyst Inquiries

Jonathan Peisner

jonathan.peisner@karauctionservices.com

317-249-4390




CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Eric Lefkofsky, Chairman and Co-founder of Groupon, and his wife Liz are proud to fund The Academy for Urban School Leadership and its work to bring 'The Success Project' to their schools. AUSL is a non-profit organization that helps create a stronger educational environment and improve student achievement in Chicago's lower performing schools.

Established in 2001, AUSL serves more than 18,000 students in 32 Chicago Public Schools. The organization provides new leaders, teachers, staff, additional programs, and upgraded facilities -- enhancements aimed at improving academic achievement, student engagement, and parental satisfaction. Liz and Eric Lefkofsky are providing their support through the Lefkofsky Family Foundation.

Designed to better prepare middle school students for success in high school, college and life, 'The Success Project' is a unique partnership between the Lefkofsky Family Foundation, the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute, the Chicago Public Schools, and the Academy for Urban School Leadership. The Success Project aims to better prepare middle grade students for success in high school by smoothing the often perilous transition between 8th and 9th grades. That work must start earlier -- as early as 6th grade -- with better academic preparation, social supports and help identifying "right match and fit" high schools to put more young people on the path to success. Beginning in the 2014-15 school year, 'The Success Project' is halfway through the pilot phase, serving thousands of 6 th to 8 th grade students in 38 middle schools.

About Lefkofsky Family Foundation

The Lefkofsky Family Foundation is a private charitable foundation that was established in 2006 by Liz and Eric Lefkofsky. The purpose of the Lefkofsky Family Foundation is to advance high-impact programs, initiatives and research that enhance the quality of human life in the communities we serve. To achieve this mission, the Foundation strives to: ensure access to quality education; improve fundamental human rights; propel innovative medical research; and expand cultural initiatives. For more information on the Lefkofsky Family Foundation, visit: http://lefkofskyfoundation.com

About Eric Lefkofsky

Eric Lefkofsky is Chairman and Co-founder of Groupon and Managing Director of Lightbank. He is also the Co-founder of InnerWorkings, Echo Global Logistics, Mediaocean, and Uptake. Eric Lefkofsky is a Trustee of Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Steppenwolf Theater, The Museum of Science and Industry and World Business Chicago. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago. Eric Lefkofsky graduated from the University of Michigan and received his Juris Doctor at University of Michigan Law School. For more information on Eric Lefkofsky, visit: http://www.lefkofsky.com

Lefkofsky Family Foundation: http://lefkofskyfoundation.com

Eric Lefkofsky -- Lightbank: http://www.lightbank.com/team/eric-lefkofsky

Eric Lefkofsky -- Co-Managing Partner @ Lightbank: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/eric-lefkofsky

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/3/14/11G087533/Images/mw1adrefntr1f75187h1bca1kvr1jg52-dda2978c365280fe91d45055f563bd77.jpg

Contact Information:

Rachel Graham

rachel@lffoundation.com
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM) (OTC PINK: TPRFF) announced today that its Special Meeting of Shareholders was held on Monday, March 14, 2016. The detailed results of the votes for each matter to be acted upon are set out below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item No. Description of Matter Outcome of Vote Voted Voted (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Fixing the number of 67,706,129 For 99.38% directors at ten. Approved 420,809 Against 0.62% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. The election of the following individuals as directors of the Corporation to hold office until the next annual meeting of the Corporation or until their successors are appointed or elected: ------------------------------------------------------------------- 67,509,620 For 99.09% Mark N.J. Ashcroft Approved 617,318 Withheld 0.91% ------------------------------------------------------------------- 67,856,278 For 99.60% Edward Couch Approved 270,660 Withheld 0.40% ------------------------------------------------------------------- 67,873,320 For 99.63% Rodney Lamond Approved 253,618 Withheld 0.37% ------------------------------------------------------------------- 67,492,178 For 99.07% Ian Mann Approved 634,760 Withheld 0.93% ------------------------------------------------------------------- 67,857,320 For 99.60% Mark Wellings Approved 269,618 Withheld 0.40% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2015 Year End Results Webcast

The Company also announced today that it will release its financial results for 2015 after market close on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 and will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results.

Webcast and call-in details are as follows:

Live Event link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/4a6ujycu

Toronto & International: 1 (514) 841-2157

North America Toll Free: 1 (866) 215-5508

Colombia Toll Free: 01 800 9 156 924

Conference ID: 42114135

A replay of the webcast will be available at www.grancolombiagold.com from Thursday, March 31, 2016 until Saturday, April 30, 2016.

About Gran Colombia Gold Corp.

Gran Colombia is a Canadian-based gold and silver exploration, development and production company with its primary focus in Colombia. Gran Colombia is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in Colombia with several underground mines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato Operations. Gran Colombia is currently advancing a project to develop a modern, large-scale, gold and silver mine at its Segovia operations.

Additional information on Gran Colombia can be found on its website at www.grancolombiagold.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

Mike Davies

Chief Financial Officer

(416) 360-4653

investorrelations@grancolombiagold.com
Arterys Inc., a San Francisco, CA-based company dedicated to deep learning in medical imaging, closed an over $12m Series A financing.

Backers included GE Ventures, the Stanford-StartX Fund (which was co-founded by the StartX accelerator, Stanford University and Stanford Health Care) and Norwich Ventures, which joined Emergent Medical Partners who led the round, and existing investors Asset Management Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures and Morado Ventures.

The company plans to use the proceeds to expand the commercial operations of its visualization and quantification algorithm for medical imaging.

Led by Fabien Beckers, Ph.D., founder and CEO, Arterys has created diagnostic software that connects to a standard MRI machine to allow non-invasive, precise quantitation of blood flow leveraging the latest technologies in cloud computation.

Patients undergo an MRI scan of the chest in 10 minutes and the data is sent to a HIPAA-compliant cloud server for computational analysis via a simple web browser.

Using deep learning and artificial intelligence, the solution allows the clinician to interact with the data, approve quantitative clinical analysis suggested by the software in a few minutes to assess patients with cardiovascular disease. Specific uses of this software include assessing patients with structural heart disease, congenital heart disease, carotid/neurovascular and renal vascular disease.

The platform is currently being used for research in several leading hospitals in the United States and Europe, and will be available through ViosWorks in up to 7,000 GE magnetic resonance imaging machines in the second half of 2016.

The system received its CE Mark and market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2014.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
baimos technologies, the Munich, Germany-based company behind BlueID technology  the digital key ring for smartphones, recently raised a seven digit funding round from first class investors. After some weeks, CEO Philipp P. Spangenberg answered our questions about the company, the product, the funding and future plans.

FinSMEs: Hi Philipp, can you please tell me more about your career background?

Philipp: I have been in the mobile security solutions sector for more than 15 years. Back in 2000, I founded my first business, called PPS-Systems. As I regard myself as being an expert in smartphone security, mobile apps and encryption technology, I consult and offer advice on behalf of large companies in the automotive and IT sectors. In 2006, I joined baimos technologies as CEO. In this position, my responsibilities are to manage the Commercial and Technical business units. Baimos technologies was founded as a university project at the TU Munchen. Because of my experience in my former company, I took the role as the technical leader to drive the project.

FinSMEs: Lets speak about baimos technologies. What problems do you want to solve?

Philipp: Baimos technologies specialises in secure mobile communication and authorisation management for smart devices to enable secure interaction with embedded sensors and actuators. Our team of specialists has developed software that can turn any smartphone into a secure mobile key to operate doors, cars, barriers, cabinets or basically anything related to Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Our main goal is to make keys and electronic key systems obsolete, by using nothing but your smartphone to open doors. We can provide cross-disciplinary expertise between computer science and electrical engineering, to achieve the best possible level of security and practical interaction of embedded systems within their smart environment.

FinSMEs: Can you explain in detail what BlueID does? Which applications can it enable?

Philipp: BlueID is a highly secure technology which enables authorization management via smartphone. Basically, we help provider to authenticate the user at physical objects by granting secure temporary keys into their apps. The software makes it possible to receive sensitive authorizations in a secure manner and these can be verified locally and most importantly offline. Our patent-protected offline functionality is the main advantage in the market of identification technologies. It ensures local communication, authentication and authorization  offline and within one second. BlueID provides strong security for digital keys stored on the smartphone, but does not require additional secure elements on the device itself. It works with all communication standards such as Bluetooth Smart, NFC, WiFi and of course, mobile internet.

FinSMEs: Where are you in terms of growth?

Philipp: As we have analysed the market and the pace of development in our sector, we expect the technology to hit its peak in the next 2-3 years. We would like to grow around 20 percent in 2016. In terms of partnerships, we have been working with several big industry players such as Audi, Daimler, Marquardt, Novero, LG, Dorma and Microsoft.

FinSMEs: You just raised a seven digit funding round. How are you using the funds?

Philipp: Since IoT is just starting to develop and the needs for our technology are not even close to their peak, we want to focus on company growth now. We are eager to make BlueID the most reliable and most successful solution in this sector. This new funding will therefore be reinvested into driving our ideas down the road of success, until the lights are all green.

FinSMEs: What are your future plans?

Philipp: There are constant changes in the market and due to political regulations, it is nearly impossible to predict the future. But of course we have a clear vision and a focused plan for BlueID. Our solutions are safe and easy to implement into existing systems. This makes our products especially interesting to hotels or shared spaces with many different users and numerous doors to manage. We can basically provide a solution to everyone who interacts with smart devices.

Gartner predicts that IoT will change cyber security forever; we dont want to wait for trial and error solutions, but instead want to come up with a practical approach for all interactions in the IoT space. We seek to be the future security stamp in the IoT sector, always one step ahead of our competitors, offering the strongest security and the easiest usage possible.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
BlueLine Grid, a Washington, D.C.-based security collaboration platform, raised funding from Bold Capital Partners.

The amount of the deal, which followed investments from Double M Partners, Motorola Solutions and In-Q-Tel, the venture fund of the U.S. Intelligence Community, was not disclosed.

Co-founded by David Riker and Jack Weiss, BlueLine Grid operates a trusted collaboration network for law enforcement, first responders, and corporate security teams. Earlier this year, the company deployed its platform in the Bay Area to support intelligence collaboration and alerting during the Super Bowl. The platform was also used by leaders of the nations fusion centers after the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
Marley Spoon, a Berlin, Germany-based recipe kit delivery service, raised $17m in Series B funding.

Backers included QD Ventures, Kreos Capital, a NY based hedge fund, and existing investors including Lakestar.

The company, which has raised a total of $32m to date, plans to expand to the West Coast, opening a new San Francisco-based fulfilment facility.

Founded in 2014 by Fabian Siegel, former CEO of Delivery Hero, and Till Neatby, former Managing Director of restaurant chain MexAttax, Marley Spoon is a recipe kit delivery service that allows customers to choose from two-person or family boxes, with a changing weekly selection of recipes.

Seasonal ingredients are delivered directly to customers, with boxes kept cool during transit.

Dishes start from $8.90 per meal, including delivery, and customers can plan deliveries based on their schedules.

The company, which has also secured up to $44m in media volume from media-for-equity fund GMPVC, has also set up operations in the U.S., the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, and Australia. It will also launch a new membership app in the first quarter of 2016. Available for both iOS and Android, the new app will allow customers and guests to interact with Marley Spoon, to edit their upcoming orders, maintain their account area, receive product news, and access the full library of recipes.

Marley Spoon is massively hiring.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
StockViews, a London, UK-based equity research platform, reportedly raised 250k in funding.

Backers included Thomas Balk*, the ex-head of Fidelity International, who has also become Chairman, the angel network Craigie Capital and the London Co Investment Fund.

The company will use the funds to continue to develop the platform and expand operations.

Led by CEO Thomas Beevers (ex-fund manager at Newton Investment Management) and CTO Sandeep Bathina (an expert in artificial intelligence), StockViews is an online equity research platform that allows professional investors to a network of independent analysts to get insights and in-depth research on stocks that matter to them.

*Balk has over 25 years experience in the global asset management industry, which includes 16 years at Fidelity. Prior to his responsibility as President of its international asset management activities, he held positions as President of Mutual Funds in Europe and President of the Japanese business.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
Touhula Varhaiskasvatus Oy, a Finnish early education service provider, received a majority investment from EQT Mid Market Fund.

Coronaria Hoitoketju Oy sold its stake in the company for an undisclosed amount. After completion of the acquisition, the current management, Cor Group Oy, Finnish Industry Investment Oy and Norvestia Oyj will continue as minority shareholders.

The transaction is subject to approval of the Finnish Competition Authority and is expected to be completed during April.

Founded in 2010 and led by CEO Jari Maki-Runsas, Touhula operates two different brands: Touhula and Aarresaari. As a private company, Touhula complements the welfare services provided by municipalities and increases the options available to parents in choosing a suitable day-care provider for their children. Aarresaari Day Care Centers are focused on activity, music and adventure.

The majority of Touhulas over 80 pre-schools and day-care centers across Finland operate under a voucher model, which ensures equal access to private day care to all Finnish families. It takes care of approximately 6,000 children and employs approximately 1,000 day care professionals.

FinSMEs

14/03/2016
Over the last few months, Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan have been subject of fevered speculation about their marriage. Malaika and Arbaaz have not addressed the topic publicly, however the latter has regularly been updating his social media pages rejecting divorce rumours.

However, if recent reports are anything to go by, Malaika has allegedly filed for divorce from Arbaaz. Additionally, according to this detailed report by Mumbai Mirror, Malaika isn't willing to listen to her family and friends, especially Salman Khan who has been trying to mend bridges between the two for some time now.

Malaika has been missing from a lot of family events off late, and this has given more fuel to the rumours. She missed sister Amrita Arora's birthday party in Dubai, and was also a no show at sister-in-law Arpita Khan Sharma's baby shower recently.

Meanwhile, as divorce rumours continue to swirl around Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora, the actor-producers father and noted scriptwriter Salim Khan refused to comment on their relationship, saying he doesnt interfere in the personal lives of his children.

I am a writer dont ask me about anyones love affair or break-up reports. I never interfere in the life of my kids. I dont want to talk about it, Salim told PTI.

Malaikas mother Joyce Polycarp, too, isnt willing to speak on the issue. They are two grown-up adults it is there business. I dont want to get into it. I dont want to talk to press, she said when reached for comments about divorce reports.

Rumours of a split between Malaika and Arbaaz, who have been married for 18 years, started emerging from the time the couple stopped coming to gether on a popular reality show, Power Couple. Only Arbaaz was shooting for the show while Malaika came only at the very end.

Malaika and Arbaaz have a 13-year-old son Arhaan. With so many Bollywood couples calling it quits recently, (Katrina and Ranbir, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna), maybe it is safe to say that 2016 is a bad year for relationships?

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: The government hopes to pass the landmark Constitution Amendment Bill for a national Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as the bankruptcy and insolvency bill in the second half of the Budget session beginning April 20, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.

The GST bill has already been passed by the Lok Sabha and is pending ratification by the Upper House, where the ruling NDA does not have a majority. After it is approved by the Rajya Sabha, the legislation needs to be ratified by half of the 29 states so as to roll out GST possibly by October 1.

"The current session of Parliament has already seen one landmark legislation two days ago. And I do hope to see another two being passed in the second part of the session with regard to the bankruptcy and insolvency laws and GST," he said at the Advancing Asia Conference here.

The Parliament had last week passed the Aadhaar Bill, providing statutory backing to the unique identification number for transferring government subsidies and benefits.

Also, the Real Estate Bill was approved by the Rajya Sabha.

Once the GST and the bankruptcy and insolvency laws are approved, "I think this gives major fillip or push to our reform process" even in an otherwise weak global scenario, Jaitley said.

Exhibiting determination to move on the reform path, India can provide a significant amount of growth to the world, he said.

"We are trying to have special emphasis now both in terms of legislative changes and resources being put to strengthen the banking system. I do feel that next few months, in bringing about structural change, are going to be extremely important," the minister said.

Stating that India has its own share of problems, Jaitley said there was increased determination in the country to face the challenges and accelerate the pace of reforms so as to continue to grow.

"Our growth model is based on concerns to eradicate poverty," he said.

PTI
New Delhi: Pharmaceutical major Pfizer has discontinued manufacture and sale of popular cough syrup Corex with immediate effect after the government banned fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate+ Codeine Syrup.

"This is to inform you that the Government of India vide Notification... dated March 10, 2016... has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution of fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate + Codeine Syrup with immediate effect," Pfizer said in a BSE filing today.

It further said: "In view of this, the company has discontinued the manufacture and sale of its drug Corex with immediate effect."

Pfizer said Corex maintains a "well established efficacy and safety profile in India" and the "company is exploring all available options at its disposal."

Elaborating on the impact, the company said: "The above prohibition is likely to have an adverse impact on the revenue and profitability of the company... Corex recorded sale of Rs

176 crore for the nine month period ended December 31, 2015."

Shares of Pfizer were ended 8.67 percent lower at Rs 1,760.80 on BSE.

PTI
As the Indian judiciary and banks efforts to recover Rs 9,000 crore dues from billionaire Vijay Mallya reach a level of desperation, the liquor baron who is estimated to be worth about Rs 7,000 crore has indicated that he may not return to India at all.

"I do not feel the time is right. I feel passions are high. People need to think rationally," he said in an interview to the Sunday Guardian. In an indication he may even choose not to return at all, he has also said that he hoped that he would "return one day".

He said, loan defaults are a business matter and banks give out loans knowing the risk involved. "They decide, we dont. Our own business was flourishing, but plummeted suddenly. Dont make me the villain. I have the best intentions. Im quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others," Mallya said.

On being asked he left country after being tipped off about the banks moving court, Mallya said it's a matter of interpretation and don't need anyone to tip hin off about anything. "Ive never hidden any aspect about my life. Im one of the most open people. Im forced to go into hiding and that makes me sick," said Mallya.

"I am an Indian to the core. Of course I want to return," said Mallya in an interview.

But, he said the time is not right for him to return to India now as he has already been branded as a criminal, and will not get a fair chance to present his side.

Interestingly, the statement has come at a time when the Hyderabad Court has issued a non-bailable warrant againt Mallya. On Friday, the Hyderabad court issued a warrant after he failed to appear in a court here in connection with alleged dishonour of a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

Cocking a snook at the Indian legal system and the tax payers at large, Mallya also said in the interview that he is an Indian to the core. "India has given me everything. It made me Vijay Mallya," he has said.Vijay Mallya

Interestingly, the statement has come at a time when the Hyderabad Court has issued a non-bailable warrant againt Mallya. On Friday, the court issued a warrant after he failed to appear in a court here in connection with the alleged dishonour of a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

The counsel for Mallya, who is at the centre of a raging controversy after he left the country amid continuing efforts by banks to recover dues totalling over Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid loans and interest, said he will move the high court seeking quashing of the non-bailable warrant (NBW).

The 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court issued the NBWs on March 10 against the now defunct now-defunct Kingfisher Airline, its chairman Vijay Mallya and another senior official of the company and posted the matter for 13 April.

GMR counsel G. Ashok Reddy said, He (Mallya) and others were supposed to appear before the court on March 10. They did not appear.... Hence, court issued NBW order which has to be executed by 13 April.

There are a total of 11 cases involving Rs 8 crore payment to GMR and the NBWs were issued in connection with a Rs 50-lakh bounced cheque, he said.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, or GHIAL, which runs Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, had filed a petition in the court seeking Mallya's prosecution for defaulting on payments and cheating them by allegedly issuing cheques that bounced.

Advocate H. Sudhakar Rao, appearing for Mallya said, NBWs have been issued in this case. There are other cases going on wherein we have got orders from High Court dispensing with his (Mallya's) attendence.

I will be filing an application in the high court for quashing this order of issuing warrants, Rao told PTI.

When contacted, GMR refused to comment on the issue saying the matter is sub-judice.

GHIAL in October 2012 had withdrawn a case over bounced cheques against Mallya after the airline agreed to pay the outstanding amount due to the airport operator.

The court had also then issued NBWs against five senior executives of the airline, including Mallya.

After the case was withdrawn, only a part of the due amount was paid and later they defaulted after which 11 cases were now filed against the airline under provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act, sources said.

With inputs from PTI
Raipur: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the weaker sections, including Dalits and adivasis, are being crushed for raising their voices against injustice.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got an opportunity to ensure relief to farmers as they need immediate compensation against crop loss caused due to heavy rainfall and hailstorm.

Addressing reporters at Swami Vivekanand airport at Raipur on Monday evening, Gandhi, who was on a day-long tour of Chhattisgarh, demanded that central teams be sent to different states to assess the loss caused to farmers due to natural calamity and they should be benefited as early as possible.

"It is very sad that we raised this issue in Parliament but discussion was not allowed over it. I want the government to fulfil the demands of farmers," he said.

Gandhi alleged that not only in Chhattisgarh but in the entire country, farmers, adivasis, Dalits and other weaker sections are being suppressed.

"Wherever they wanted to raise their voices, they are being crushed. Adivasis are being suppressed, crushed and killed in the entire country.

"Every Adivasi is not a Maoist. Adivasis of India are patriots and they should not be crushed like this," he said while responding to a query on alleged killings of tribals by branding them as naxals in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress vice-president visited Giroudpuri Dham, a popular pilgrimage centre of scheduled tribe Satnami community in Balodabazar district, as part of his state tour.

Before leaving for Delhi, Gandhi met with a delegation of Congress leaders from Bastar, including MLAs who have alleged that law and order situation in the area was deteriorating and have raised the plight of tribals.

Gandhi said he assured the delegation that Congress will fight for the rights of tribals.

On the loss incurred by farmers due to natural calamity, Gandhi said, "Owing to heavy rainfall in northern belt (of the country), farmers have faced a severe loss. This region had also witnessed hailstorm. (Prime Minister) Modi ji has said he wanted to work for farmers.

"Modi ji had promised that he wanted to correct his mistakes. Now he has got an opportunity to ensure relief to farmers at the earliest. Farmers should be provided compensation," he said.

On the notice issued to him by the Ethics Committee of Parliament over allegations related to declaration of his citizenship in the UK, Gandhi said, "BJP has the habit of telling lies. We will deal with it (the notice) in Parliament. I have not come here to do politics but to pay my obeisance and I felt good here".

When asked about the status of state Congress' proposal to AICC to expel senior party leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi over the leaked audio tapes row, Gandhi said, "The matter is pending with disciplinary committee of the party and is under consideration".

Earlier, Gandhi visited Giroudpuri, located around 130kms away from the state capital, which is the birth place of Satnami Saint Guru Ghasidas. He also visited the temple of Guru Ghasdas and paid obeisance there.

Gandhi was accompanied by AICC general secretary and Chhattisgarh in-charge BK Hariprasad, treasurer Motilal Vora, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders during his visit to Giroudpuri.

Meanwhile, a minor scuffle broke out between some Congress leaders and supporters of Ajit Jogi in Giroudpuri, which was brought under control.

PTI
Guwahati: Janata Dal (United) has decided to contest the upcoming Assam Assembly elections and its leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would campaign for the party in the state, said a JD(U) press release in Guwahati.

For finalising the list of the party candidates, JD(U) national general secretary Arun Kumar Srivastav is scheduled to arrive in Guwahati on Monday, the release said.

Mr Srivastav would hold discussions with sections of people before finalising the list, it said.

JD(U) lawmaker KC Tiyagi is also scheduled to campaign, the release added.

Meanwhile, as the Left parties are finalising 'seat adjustment' with the Congress in West Bengal for the forthcoming assembly polls, they will be decrying their 'friendly' party's "misgovernance" in the neighbouring Barak Valley region.

The Bengali-dominated region in southern Assam will see a triangular contest between the Left parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly polls which are to be held in two phases: on 4 and 11 April.

With inputs from Agencies
New Delhi: The auto and taxi unions on Monday called off their proposed two-day strike on Monday after meeting Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai and accepting his assurances on their demands.

Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union had threatened to take their vehicles off city roads on March 15 and 16 demanding stoppage of app-based cab services in Delhi.

"Various unions and their office bearers were satisfied with the discussions and assurance.

The unions and their representatives unanimously decided to call off the proposed strike during the meeting," he said.

The leaders of auto and taxi unions said the strike, which was scheduled to start from Monday, has been called off following assurances by the Transport Minister.

"The minister's assurances on app based cabs, enhanced toll tax and relaxed norm for DL-1RT series taxis were acceptable to us and we decided not to go on strike. But if the government fails us, autos and taxis will be off road on the next car-free day in the city," said Rajendra Soni, General Secretary of auto and taxi unions.

Rai has assured the unions that wide publicity will be given by his department to prevent attachment of autos and taxis with "unauthorised app-based companies". The department will also strengthen the PUCHHO App for auto hiring, a senior government official said.

The Transport department has been directed by the minister to take up the issue with municipal corporation officials for waiver of toll tax on taxis registered in Delhi. The toll tax on taxis was recently hiked from Rs 60 to Rs 100.

The demand for strict norms for DL-1RT- Series with compulsory requirement of driving licence and PSV badge was also raised in the meeting. The Transport Minister has asked the department to look into the matter, the official said. PTI
New Delhi: Ruling BJP and Congress on Monday sparred in Rajya Sabha over remarks of Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad allegedly comparing Hindutva outfit RSS with terrorist organisation Islamic State.

While the ruling party and its ministers wanted Azad to withdraw his controversial remarks and apologise, the Congress leader denied drawing any parallel between the two and said he was submitting a CD of his speech to the government and is willing to face privilege motion if anything wrong was found.

After Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi slipped in a reference to the alleged remarks by Azad while giving government's response to concern by members over remarks by RSS leaders' on continuation of reservation, Azad read out the verbatim speech he made at an event organised by Jamait Ulama-i-Hind last week.

He said he had in the speech stated there was no fight between Hindus and Muslims in India but a fight on ideology. Ruing why Muslims were joining a terrorist organisation like Islamic State that is destroying Islamic traditions, Azad said he had stated that "we oppose to organisations like ISIS like we oppose RSS."

Also, "if someone in Islam does wrong, they are no less than RSS," he said. "Where is the comparison," he asked. "If I had said ISIS and RSS are same" there would have been a comparison.

He said he had stated that Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalists have to be fought as they are against the country. "We have to fight them all together." Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he personally respected Azad but "he should think if he has knowingly or unknowingly slipped ... you have given respectability to ISIS."

Earlier, when SP and BSP members raised the issue of RSS leaders on Sunday talking of reservation being based on economic criteria, Naqvi said Azad's comparison of RSS with the Islamic State was "great old party's grand new secular formula."

"Atankio ko phool ka guldasta aur rashtrawadion par hamla (bouquets to terrorists and attack on nationalists)," he said and demanded an apology from the Congress party for the comparison.

As Azad got up to respond, he was interrupted by treasury benches including ministers.

"Please behave like educated persons," he said to them asking them not to bring inside the House the "intolerance they show to criticism outside".

"Everyone who is not RSS or BJP is a terrorist to them," he said displaying a CD that he said contained his speech.

He said he has submitted the CD to the Leader of the House and was laying it on the table so that it can be shown to the BJP members and ministers.

"Please bring privilege motion seeking my removal" if after watching the whole CD, anything objectionable is found in it, he said.

Azad, reading his earlier speech, said he had spoken of Hindus, judges and journalists who were fighting for secularism. All forms of fundamentalism must be resisted, he said.

"In the fight for secularism, you will find people from all sects and religions but not in fundamentalism," he said.

After the clarification, the House took up other business.

In the Lok Sabha, the issue also came up briefly during the Zero Hour, with Ashwini Kumar Chopra of the BJP attacking Azad for attempting to "tarnish" the image of the RSS.

He wanted a discussion on the issue in the House.

PTI
In yet another incident of caste violence in Tamil Nadu, a newly-wed couple was beaten up by goons in full public view in Udumalpet, Tirupur, on Sunday, after which the culprits then hacked the man to death.

The father of the girl surrendered on Monday even as a video clip showing three persons attacking the dalit youth in Tirupur district, triggered outrage. The father surrendered before a local court in Nilakottai in Dindigal district of the state, about 380 kms from Chennai. Kausalya, who too was assaulted, has blamed her father for the attack.

Reports said that the victims' inter-caste marriage was the reason why the assailants killed the man. According to a report in The Times of India, the attackers were the woman's relatives.

The police identified the victims as 22-year-old V Shankar from Chavadi Street in Kumaralingam village (15 km from Udumalpet) and 19-year-old Kausalya from Palani in Dindigul district, according to the report.

Eight months ago, Shankar had married Kausalya despite opposition from her parents.

Local police commissioner N Manjunatha said Kausalya's relatives were angered by the couple's marriage. "They married some eight months ago and the woman's family was unhappy. She is an upper Thevar Hindu caste and the man was a Dalit," Manjunatha told AFP.

Another NDTV report said that the two were walking past a market on Sunday when three men on a bike stopped behind them and attacked Shankar with sharp weapons. When Shankar stopped moving, Kausalya was repeatedly beaten up until she fell to the ground.

The TOI report also said that Kausalya suffered severe injuries to her head when she tried saving Shankar from the hooligans.

Another report in The Indian Express says that senior officers have verified the image of the three attackers fleeing on a bike. The report added that while police officials said that a major search operation was on, the police could not ascertain the identity of the attackers until late Sunday evening. The attack took place at 3 pm on Sunday.

Kausalya's father had also reportedly threatened his daughter after she had married Shankar. "Kausalya had filed a complaint at the local police station against her father a few weeks ago, stating that he had been threatening them and insisting that she return home, The Indian Express quoted a police officer as saying.

According to Deccan Chronicle, Shankar was studying in the final year of BE at a private college in Palani while Kausalya was a junior college student. After the marriage, the couple was living at Komaralingam. Kausalya discontinued her studies and joined a private company near Udumalpet. Shankar had continued with his studies.



However, tension continued on Monday at both Komaralingam, near Udumalpet, and the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where the victim's body was kept for postmortem. According to The Hindu, the relatives of the boy blocked arterial roads at Komaralingam for four hours and demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a government job for Kausalya.

The report further added that postmortem could not be performed on the body of the victim till Monday afternoon, as his family, friends, various organisations and political parties sought the arrest of the killers and others involved.

Efforts by the Udumalpet Police and the Coimbatore City Police to pacify the family and activists were in vain. The protesters made it clear to the cops that they would not cooperate till all the accused were arrested.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to Tamil Nadu government over the alleged honour killing of a Dalit man.

The Commission took suo motu cognisance of media reports alleging honour killing of a young Dalit man, who married a girl of upper caste, in Udumalaipett in Tirupur district on March 13, said an NHRC statement.

The following video is the CCTV footage of the attack:

This horrific incident brings to light the severity of the problem of caste violence in Tamil Nadu. The NDTV report said that this was the third incident of this kind in the state in the last five years.

The murder of a Dalit man over inter-caste marriage brings back memories of the tragic incident in 2013 when a Dalit man called Ilavarasan was killed after marrying a Vanniyar girl called Divya. Ilavarasan's body was found on a railway track in Dharmapuri district.
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday sought Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's assistance in cleaning the Yamuna river.

"We are sitting along the banks of Yamuna river. We have taken several initiatives for cleaning it. If Guruji takes a little initiative...Several governments need to come together to keep the Yamuna clean. The Delhi government and the Centre and many of its ministries need to come together.

"Today, on the left side of Guruji is the Union government and to his right is the Delhi government. If he takes the initiative and pledge to clean Yamuna under his leadership, then I think this can be achieved," Kejriwal said at AOL's World Culture Festival here.

"I consider myself very fortunate that I could see this historic moment. I am thankful to Guruji. Jai Gurudev," Kejriwal added.

The World Culture Festival, organised by the AOL on the floodplains of Yamuna, is facing criticism from several quarters over ecological damage. The Centre and the Delhi government too have been criticised for giving the go-ahead to the function.

The Delhi Chief Minister said he is very "selfish" and is seeking help in two areas, including cleaning of Yamuna river.

Noting that the AOL volunteers are "disciplined", he also sought assistance of its volunteers in Delhi government's functions.

PTI
Recently, the Minister of Women and Child welfare Maneka Gandhi faced flak after she said that the government would not criminalise marital rape because of various factors like level of education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament etc., noted a Firstpost report

Just days after her remark, UNDP chief Helen Clark said that the issue is not one of culture, but of consent. Further, she added that if India failed to criminalise marital rape, it would be flouting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) it has adopted, according to an interview with The Hindu

While she had nothing to say about Maneka Gandhi, she did assert that each country must look at its laws in light of the SDGs and whether or not these laws are progressive or regressive towards women, she told The Hindu.

In the interview with The Hindu, the UNDP chief raised a valid point when she said that most countries view marital rape and other acts of domestic violence as 'no business of theirs'. She emphasized on how issues of domestic violence and marital rape is never something that is within the family and reiterated the gravity of criminal offence committed when a woman is assaulted in any way at home.

To amend or not to amend

The Hindu report further notes that in April 2015, the government had said that there was no proposal to amend to section 375 of the IPC, which excludes sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife as long as the wife is over age of 15. The then Minister of Women and Child welfare Haribhai Chaudhury had said that the government had rejected the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Womens suggestion to amend the law.

However, in September 2015 India agreed to 17 SDGs by 2030, one of which includes a target of eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres. The UN believes that if India is to keep the promise, India must criminalise marital rape.

Clark said that she doesnt question the commitment of the PM, but it is imperative to make it a goal. She further added Its pretty clear in the circles I move in at the UN that rape is rape. The issue is the consent of the women, and if it isnt there, it is rape.
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Opposition cornered the government and alleged that the Sri Sri event is paralysing New Delhi.

JDU questioned as to how Sri Sri was refusing to pay the fine and if he was above the law.

The Sri Sri issue was brought up by the Opposition in the House again, the Government defended the event and said that the Opposition should not politicise the even unecessarily. Jairam Ramesh brought up ecological destruction.

Aadhaar Bill to be passed as a money bill, which means that it cannot be amended in the Rajya Sabha. Congress demanded that a standing committe be put in place.

"If you criticize me, it is your freedom of speech. If I criticize you, it is my intolerance?" Arun Jaitley to Sitaram Yechury in Rajya Sabha

"Privacy not an absolute right, it is subject to a restriction that it can be restricted by a procedure established by law, " Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha. "Present law is completely different. It borrows UPA's idea (UID), but the privacy law is much more tightened.

"The only question is, can national security be the ground for sharing information? The answer is yes," Arun Jaitley cites US judgements while debating Aadhaar Bill in Rajya Sabha.

"Does your policy involve Pakistan and Hurriyat leaders holding talks with each other? Does it involve only exchange of shawls and saris between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif?" he said.

"Talks are necessary between India and Pakistan. But it has to be strategic and process-driven," said Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lok Sabha.

"On one hand, our soldiers are sacrificing their lives. Farmers are committing suicide. And you are giving lessons on nationalism?" he said. "Don't embarrass the country," he added.

"This government's Pakistan policy has been aptly described by Kapil Sibal. It is like an unguided missile which is a spectacle when it is fired but loses its course," said Scindia.

"Every individual must have the option to opt out of Aadhaar," he said.

"I believe that if you read this legislation in this current form, it makes it a mandatory proposition as opposed to a voluntary proposition," said Ramesh.

"I don't have an Aadhaar number. I don't need one," said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. He added that he did not need it because he does not take the benefit of any subsidies.

A person should have the option to opt out of Aadhaar: Jairam Ramesh in RS

"My party wants Aadhaar to be confined to the targeting of subsidies," said Ramesh, as he said that Congress wants Clause 57 of the Aadhaar legislation to be dropped.

PM jumps from one vision to another: Rahul on govt's Pak policy "What is required is a coherent strategy. PM does not have that vision. He jumps from one vision to another," said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the Modi government's policy on Pakistan.

PM jumps from one vision to another: Rahul on govt's Pak policy "What is required is a coherent strategy. PM does not have that vision. He jumps from one vision to another," said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the Modi government's policy on Pakistan.

The NGT on Tuesday questioned the Centre as to why no environmental clearance is needed for constructing temporary structures on Yamuna plains as building of pontoon bridge by army for cultural festival comes under the scanner of NGT. This was during a hearing on pleas seeking the cancellation of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living three-day 'World Culture Festival' on the Yamuna flood plains to celebrate 35 years of the foundation.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar heard the matter in which the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Uttar Pradesh and Delhi government made their submissions with regard to grant of permission to the festival.

On 3 March, DDA had submitted that it had granted conditional permission for organising the event and had no idea about the magnitude of the programme. The event later drew criticism after some activists petitioned the NGT, a quasi-judicial body on environmental issues, asking it to stop the event as it would have a deep impact on the Yamuna flood plains.

The DDA backed its decision to grant permission for the festival, while the Art of Living said it has fulfilled all conditions and taken requisite permissions for the event.

Well leave it as a beautiful bio-diversity park. As per my knowledge, not even a single tree has been cut down, we've only trimmed four trees. We want the Yamuna to be clean. We will not pollute the environment. We haven't cut a single tree, said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reacting to the criticism over army men construction the pontoon bridge, reports DNA.

Meanwhile, a source close to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told IANS said the Indian Army's decision to make pontoon bridges for the upcoming event was taken after Delhi Police expressed a fear of stampede at the venue, where around 30 lakh people are expected.

The source also said the Art of Living Foundation may not be charged for the bridges as there is no policy in place for it.

The defence minister has, however, directed the defence secretary to formulate a policy for the army's involvement in such events in future.

Earlier on Monday, President Pranab Mukherjee decided to pull out of a cultural extravaganza being organised by Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a controversy raged over the event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the event on Friday and the President was to attend the valedictory function on Sunday.

"The President cannot attend the function due to unavoidable circumstances," an official of the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Monday.

The NGT will resume its hearing on Wenesday on holding of the festival.

The AOL Foundation expects 35 lakh people to attend the function, concerns have been raised by experts about the likely damage to the environment that may be caused by holding it on the flood plains of the already polluted river in east Delhi.

The AOL foundation, which is organising the function, will have yoga and meditation sessions, peace prayers by Sanskrit scholars and traditional cultural performances from around the world.

The three-day event will be held from 11-13 March.

With inputs from agencies
You have to be a woman to really know the agony of being raped. Not by a stranger but by your husband.

Even if he is forcing you to do things you find repulsive because he is stronger and because there is a social nod given to the wife is your chattel and must obey and unka apna zyathi mamla hain.

It does not cease to amaze one that it is again men who seem to have the most informed stance on the issue seeing as how they are the perpetrators.

Young women brutalised by drunken sods of husbands (or those totally sober ones wishing to prove their manhood). Broken noses, hairline fractures, swollen eyes because they resisted, the first aid line is long and winding.

Maybe she had a period. Ran a fever. Was just sick. Did not want to be hurt and shamed. Whos to hear the cries in a wilderness we call a marriage of convenient silence.

Shortfall in the dowry. Cliched parody of a mother in law. Wars over land. Property. Rage, bad mood, looking for an easy scapegoat. Just for fun. This, woman, is your lot. Suffer it.

Thousands of them plucked from home at brittle ages and married off to Gulf returnees on two months leave, raped, made pregnant, legalised by a piece of paper and then he has gone, not to return for years, an unpaid servant for his parents his departing gift. Strangers in the night sans any glances.

He may not even know her name.

Not tonight, Josephine is a very vanilla elitist version of the lack of desire. It is also a luxury that most Indian women are not afforded.

So, how do men even get a vote on the issue of rape in marriage and why it should not be a criminal offence?

Yes, there are women who might plot against their husbands and lie blatantly and misuse this provision as we have seen with the dowry act and the way some men were held to ransom and emotional blackmail. It isnt a poor mans prerogative only. I know of wives who have tortured their husbands with lies and horrendous FIRs not the least based in truth.

But the greater good prevails, Maneka. How can someone like you who cries copious tears over animal cruelty be so comfortable with cruelty to battered women. Which family has its eggs sunny side up when 'battering' the mother is a sordid secret... what values and sanctity are we protecting by not making forcible physical violence a crime.

By this yardstick, if a man murders his wife, well, it is his wife, crap happens.

Far too many wives are being harmed and treated like slaves. Far too many women have brutish husbands who make love like they eat, with a lot of noise and little finesse. Animals snuffling at the trough.

Stats show that over 90 per cent women have suffered acts of sexual harassment. The other ten probably dont admit it or have no faith in the system so why create a fuss, the wound will heal in time from groping in the bus to lewdness to walking the gauntlet of roadside romeos, the fear is palpable.

Can men really decide for women what is rape and what is not. Every day an average of 92 women get raped in India... these are the reported cases and, frankly, seem paltry compared to what must really be happening.

Till 1975 even the US did not have a rape in marriage law. In 1984 judge Sol Wachtler stated that "a marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to violently or forcibly rape his wife with impunity.

It speaks a lot for male chauvinism that in 1983 the marital rape law figured prominently in Parliament and most of the MPs were against it. Frozen as a low priority till 2012 when it was whipped up again as part of the Criminal law Amendment Bill the Standing Committee on Home Affairs said that an aggrieved woman has other means of approaching the court and that if marital rape is brought under the law, the family system will be under stress.

Since none of them were victims of rape this assessment at best was soaked in testosterone. Sure, if a woman is being physically tortured in a ten by ten room with the children listening in, that does a lot for reducing family stress if she does not complain.

Good grief, how can we be so blind to the pain? If you ask me, the high rate of rape is directly linked to young boys learning at daddys knee that Mommy is an object and then listening to the audio track ever so often, confirming in their adolescent view that women can be prey and men the predators.

When are these political ostriches going to take their heads out of the sand?

Sex in a marriage is part of love. It is not an act of savagery or dominance. You want to "tame the shrew" tame the husband, too.

Bring in the law.
The fight over Mumbais autorickshaws has escalated rapidly, with workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) attacking each other on Sunday. The two parties had been sparring all week, ever since MNS supremo Raj Thackeray warned the BJP-led state government against giving rickshaw permits to non-Maharashtrians.

While MNS workers allegedly attacked BJP leader Mohit Kamboj on Sunday, BJP workers retaliated swiftly by vandalising an MNS party office in the Dindoshi suburb of North Mumbai.

The war of words started on Wednesday, when Thackeray, while celebrating the partys 10th anniversary, had threatened to burn rickshaws driven by non-Maharashtrians. And it took just one day for his party workers to put this plan in motion, after they burnt an autorickshaw in Mumbais suburb of Andheri on Thursday. The vehicle was said to be parked in the Four Bungalows locality when the unknown miscreants targeted it.

There wasnt anybody in the rickshaw at the time of the incident.

Following this, a letter, allegedly written by Kamboj, was widely circulated on social media. The Asian Age reported that Kambojs office at Malads Kurar area was vandalised on Saturday evening. On Sunday afternoon, a mob manhandled Kamboj, who is also the president of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association, following which he lodged a police complaint.

On Saturday night, a few persons tried to create a ruckus in Kambojs office, after which a case was registered. We have arrested two people. On Sunday afternoon, he was attacked again. We have recovered video clips of the incident and are trying to identify the culprits, said M Ramkumar, the DCP of the area.

But retaliation was swift, much before the police could act. In a matter of a few hours, BJP party workers attacked an MNS party office at Dindoshi. A BJP activist confirmed to PTI that they did carry out the retaliatory attack. Todays attack on the MNS office by BJP members was to retaliate Saturdays incident, he said.

Former MLA and MNS party member Nitin Sardesai confirmed that the incident had taken place. An MNS office at Dindoshi was attacked. I am still to reach the site. Only after talking to party workers there can I tell you what exactly occurred, he told PTI.

With inputs from PTI
An expert committee headed by former biotech secretary M K Bhan on Monday said plastic bottles made of PET (poly ethylene terephthalate) material are safe for packaging medicines. The pharmaceutical and soft drinks industry account for one fourth of India's PET packaging industry, reports Times of India.

"There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that use of PET or additive like antimony for pharmaceutical packaging may leach substances beyond limits that pose threat to human health," the panel told the National Green Tribunal (GRT) in a report.

Uttarakhand-based NGO, Him Jagriti, has petitioned the NGT that given India's extreme variations of temperature, it fears that PET containers leached harmful chemicals like phthalates and heavy metals.

Two separate test reports by international testers SGS and India's Shriram Institute for Industrial Research (SIIR) have not found any traces of harmful leaching in PET containers packaging tested at varied environments.

PET is made from mono ethylene glycol and purified terephatic acid. Of the 600,000 tonnes of PET production, the pharmaceutical industry uses around 16 percent, accounting for around 100,000 tonnes every year.

The NGT bench had earlier indicated that it favoured "restriction" on plastic packaging of products including PET bottles and granted a final opportunity to various plastic manufacturing units and others to file their written submissions in the matter.

The panel, set up by the health ministry in August 2015 under the chairmanship of former biotechnology secretary M.K. Bhan, asserted that PET could be used safely as a packaging material for drugs under a regulatory system and process.

"PET does not require use of phthalates or any plasticizers in the manufacturing process," the report said.

The panel's finding will be a major relief to the Rs.4,000 crore PET packaging industry, as the pharma sector uses 16 percent (100,000 tonnes) of the 600,000 tonnes of PET produced every year.

The panel was set up to assess the health and environmental impact of using PET or plastic container for packaging drugs after NGO Him Jagriti Uttaranchal Welfare Society petitioned the tribunal that leaching of heavy metals, phthalates and PET was harmful to the environment.

The tribunal directed the ministry to form the panel to study science behind the issue.

The panel also recommended better standards and strengthening regulatory guidelines by prescribing specific methods for disposal of pharmaceutical packaging wastes.

With IANS
New Delhi: Amid a raging row at JNU, a section of the varsity's teachers want that a commission for nationalism should be established on the lines of commissions like national commission for women to find out what is nationalistic and what is not.

"We suggest that a new Commission should be constituted to check anti-national activities of politically motivated people on the lines of the National Commission of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Minorities," teachers, who are members of JNU teachers' association (JNUTA) said in a joint statement.

Explaining about their view on the formation of the commission Mondira Dutta, who teaches at School of International Studies, said at a press conference, "there should be a commission for nationalism. Such a commission can work to find out what is nationalistic and what's not. We need a commission like that."

The teachers are divided over the current row at university against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

A section of teachers who have been protesting against JNUTA's support to students booked in a sedition case over the event said, they have lost faith in current JNUTA leadership and are tired of its "disproportionate" protest to "malign" the whole university and its public image.

"We derecognize the elected body for their repeated failings to take up teacher related causes," said Hari Ram Mishra, who teaches at Special Center for Sanskrit Studies.

They also said that JNUTA should not act as an extended arm of JNU students union (JNUSU) as the JNUTA Constitution does not support such disproportionate bent of activity on anything other than teachers' issues.

"In the last JNUTA meeting they even wanted to raise money for legal defence of students as well as to file criminal cases against Arnab Goswami and other members of the media," teachers said in a statement.

The teachers also said that they condemn the anti-national sloganeering on the campus and demanded that the administration building should be banned for use by demonstrating students and teachers.

"All political demonstration and public drama should be shifted to an alternate space," they said.

PTI
New Delhi: A day after the controversial World Culture Festival on the Yamuna floodplain came to an end, farmers living on its banks said the event destroyed their living and claimed it will take at least two years to make the flattened riverbed suitable for cultivation.

As the authorities began removing garbage from over 100 acres of land where the stage and stands were erected besides other temporary structures, the landless farmers said the compensation given to them was "too little" and that the event, organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation extensively damaged Yamuna's eco-system.

They said bulldozing of the land for the event has caused extensive damage to the riverbed as it disrupted water flow significantly.

Farmer Chote Lal Chowdhary, 50, claimed his 12 bigha land on which he grew vegetables and flowering plants, was destroyed completely but despite that he was given a "very small compensation".

"They destroyed the vegetables which were ready to be harvested for building access roads to the event venue. Per bigha produce would have fetched me at least Rs 50,000. But I have been paid just Rs 10,000. Nobody discussed or spoke to us. They threatened us with police action when we tried to protest," said Chowdhury.

He said he had been growing vegetables there for many years on contract basis.

Kamla Devi, who also claimed her five bigha land was damaged, said, "I stood in front of the JCB machine, I told them to stop but my land was bulldozed. This is not justice. On one side you talk about spreading happiness and peace, forget about peace or happiness in our lives, you are snatching away our livelihood," she said.

However, Art of Living Foundation rubbished the allegations, saying those whose land was taken for the festival were given adequate compensation and that their plots were used with their consent.

"We have paid Rs 20,000 compensation per acre just for this event. We had also given them shops. We had also taken signatures from those whose farmlands were used for the purpose and also compensated them. In fact many people were agitated why their land was not taken for purpose," said Sanjay Kumar, spokesperson AOL.

As these landless farmers rued loss of their crops, the local villagers said they wanted the lighting facility to continue on the river bed.

"We have been writing to Delhi Government since Shiela Dikshit was the chief minister for lights in the vicinity. But nothing has happened till now.

"It is so dark here after sunset. Because of the event, these lamp posts were set up, but what after the event? You claim to bring light to the lives of people, we need lights here to carry out the basic day-to-day chores when it gets dark," said Ram.

The AOL Foundation has promised to develop a bio-doversity park at the venue. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had asked AOL to pay Rs 5 crore as environmental compensation.

The three-day cultural extravaganza was attended by thousands of people and delegates from a number of countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the opening of the event on Friday but President Pranab Mukherjee had pulled out of it due to the controversies surrounding the festival.

PTI
Lucknow: Theres something about elections in Uttar Pradesh. They bring alive the politician and political ambition even in ordinary people. Many parties are formed just before the big event. Their leaders hog the limelight, regale the world with interesting sound bytes and slip into hibernation soon after the results are out. For those not in the know, the state has about 200 political parties.

The brand new addition to the list arrived a couple of days ago in the form of the Nav Bharat Democratic Party. Launched by RK Mishra, a product of IIT Kanpur, it promises to change Uttar Pradesh for the better. Calling UP his janmabhoomi (birthplace), he said: People gave a clear mandate to two different parties successively but none could bring any change. Rather both indulged in the politics of vote bank and freebies. People in the state are frustrated and looking for a change. Nav Bharat will fill this gap. Of course, we have heard all this before. But whats the logic behind the creation of such parties?

They are small in nature and number but when it comes to formation of an alliance these parties play a big role, says political analyst Surendra Rajput. Small parties aim to strike post poll deals with national parties and be the part of big alliances. However, the formula has not succeed in the state in the last two elections as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) followed by the Samajwadi Party (SP) gained sweeping majorities. Some parties are fronts for bigger parties and formed with the sole purpose of cutting into the rivals votes.

Some are launched by big politicians thrown out of parties. Kalyan Singh of the BJP and RK Chowdhary of the BSP formed the Rashtriya Kranti Party and the Rashtriya Swabhiman Party respectively in similar circumstances. These organisations helped Singh and Chowdhary survive in politics for years. Today, both are back in their parent organisations and their parties have merged with the latter.

For a politician it is a matter of survival whether or not in power. Forming a small party maintains their leadership status and help them consolidate their supporters (mostly fellow caste members), explains a close confidante of Kalyan Singh. It is a fact that the small outfits always thrive on a caste base.

Even Amar Singh, who has been in political wilderness after being thrown out of the Samajwadi Party, has been busy in politics through Rashtriya Lok Manch. Though he keeps claiming that he does not aspire for any political post anymore, it is known that he wants to secure the political future of Jaya Prada who has been with him through thick and thin.

However, not all is hunky-dory with small parties. These are often shelters for criminals and people abandoned by their parties for bad conduct. Peace Party, which was in news during the assembly elections, is the best example. Many of its leaders were tainted characters kicked out of the BSP. The partys founder, Dr Ayub, has denied existence of such elements in his outfit though. The Peace Party, aimed at moblising Muslims in the lower strata of the society into a vote bank, proved a dud in the assembly elections. Its only contribution was to check consolidation of Muslim votes, especially in the eastern UP, where Dr Ayub has his base.

If someone expected that the recent Supreme Court order banning people from contesting elections from behind the bars would keep criminals off politics, the reality is different. Notorious figures such as Mukhtar Ansari, DP Yadav, Brajesh Singh, Atiq Ahmad and Amarmani Tripathi have used outfits such as the Kaumi Ekta Manch, the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal, the Mahaan Dal, the Bhartiya Samaj Party, the Pragatisheel Manav Party and the like to their advantage in the past. They are again busy calculating their prospects in the coming parliamentary polls through fresh alliances.

These parties, facing the problem of survival, have learnt to join hands with their peers and in the last assembly elections a group of about a dozen small parties formed a front to contest all the seats in Uttar Pradesh.
by Wasbir Hussain

In 2006 Assam Congress heavyweight and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi snubbed the billionaire chief of the then fledgling All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) by asking, Who is Badruddin Ajmal? During the next Assembly elections in 2011 Gogoi, then on a hat-trick run, invited the AIUDF to come and align with the Congress, but made a U-Turn when the Maulana apparently asked the party to field weak candidates against the AIUDF in some seats outside the agreed ones. This time, too, Gogoi confirmed having met Maulana Ajmal, a perfume baron with outlets across the world, twice, but subsequently denied all talk of a covert understanding with the AIUDF, currently Assams largest opposition party with a strong support base among the Muslim settlers.

Putting up a brave front in the wake of key challenger BJP having struck an alliance with four regional parties, the Congress maintains it is confident enough to go near-solo in Assam this time, except for a tie-up with the nascent United Peoples Party (UPP) in the Bodo heartland. But, Chief Minister Gogoi and his colleagues in the Congress have failed to stop speculations that it has an unstated understanding with the AIUDF of a post-poll tie-up to thwart the BJPs power-grab bid. Providing meat to such speculations was the AIUDF chief himself. We are contesting in 60 plus seats, and in the rest of the seats (60 odd), I would like to urge the Muslims of Assam to vote for the Congress. There are anywhere between 5,000 to 25,000 Muslim votes in the constituencies where the AIUDF is not contesting. These votes must go to the Congress, Maulana Ajmal said in his appeal made before television cameras. Adding to the confusion is Chief Minister Gogoi who has, of late, being going around accusing the AIUDF of having a secret nexus with the BJP with an aim of defeating the Congress.

Neither the Congress nor the AIUDF are in a position to openly acknowledge an understanding exists between the two because that would lead to a revolt among workers and aspirants in both parties much like what one has seen in the BJP-AGP rank and file following the alliance. The AIUDF is a new player in Assam politics having been formed only in 2005, targeting voters who are predominantly Muslim settlers in vast areas spreading over 40 or more of the States 126 Assembly constituencies. It bagged ten seats in its maiden poll venture in 2006 and increased its tally to 18 in 2011, more than the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) which was in power twice.

Aside from the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which is an ally of the BJP, the only other party in Assam which can hope to corner bulk votes polarised on community lines, is the AIUDF. Although the AIUDF does not regard itself as a party that targets only the Muslim voters, the fact remains that it thrives on fear among the Muslim settlers of their future in view of the lingering issue of illegal migration (read illegal Bangladeshi migration) in Assam. Although the Assam Accord of 1985, signed at the end of a six-year-long mass uprising against illegal migrants, has fixed 1971 as the cut-off date for detection and expulsion of illegal aliens, there is an attempt by certain political forces to bracket all Muslims who live in the char or sand bars along the Brahmaputra and other rivers as Bangladeshis. In this backdrop, the AIUDF, that backs these people while opposing illegal migration, has grown in influence over the years.

The Congress knows only too well that the surge in the Assam BJP would have automatically boosted the AIUDFs prospects in the partys strongholds. The AIUDF has, of course, been exhorting voters to thwart the rise of the BJP although Maulana Ajmal has been making it a point to say that his party is firm on its anti-BJP-anti-Congress stand. So, from the Congress point of view, more the AIUDF bags seats, more the merrier for it. After all, Chief Minister Gogoi and other Congress bigwigs have made it clear they would have no problem having the AIUDF in its fold after the polls to prevent the BJP from forming the government in Assam.

Hit by inner-party dissidence until last year when ten party MLAs led by a veteran leader Himanta Biswa Sharma quit and joined the BJP, the Congress in Assam is also expected to be affected by the perceived anti-incumbency of the past 15 years. In 2011, the Congress had won 78 seats, managing to retain 42 of the 53 seats it bagged in 2006. This time round, things are not looking that bright, and, therefore, the AIUDF could come in handy after the results on May 19. After all, statistics show the erosion in the Congress vote share over the years. In 2014, the BJP grabbed seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats with a 36.86 per cent vote share. The Congress won just three seats with a vote share of 29.9 per cent. In the 2011 Assembly polls, the Congress got 39.42 per cent votes, and the BJP cornered only 12.9 votes. One has to wait and see whether the Congress confidence is because the party is banking on the AIUDF even without an overt deal as of now.

Wasbir Hussain is a Guwahati-based political commentator and television talk show host.
Delhi University Student Union President Satender Awana was booked for attempt to murder, molestation, demanding and harassing for dowry at Noidas Sector-20 police station on Monday, according to a report in The Pioneer.

The police reported that the complainant alleged that Balasheri (Awana's mother), brother-in-laws Nakul Awana, Satendar Awana and sisters-in-law beat her up and tried to strangle her after a dowry dispute.

According the police, there is a video that shows the accused threatening the complainant.

He issued a clarification on his Facebook page:

Press release which I have send to all media ..     ... Posted by Satender Awana on Monday, March 14, 2016

He claims that the dowry allegations were made up on the spot by the complainant when the police arrived.

Kavita Krishnan tweeted earlier on Monday:

DUSU President from ABVP booked in dowry violence case. I guess he'll say it's all Indian culture, and the woman... https://t.co/Q4qeinzhzG  Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) March 14, 2016

The DUSU president (and ABVP President 2015) is rather infamous, as journalists from Quint who were at the campus asking students about consensual sex, accused him of abusing them in January this year. "They snatched our questionnaire, and roughed up our cameraman, threateningly circling us. At this point, we were called a variety of names  ranging from corrupt to people who clearly had sex freely, and were trying to talk about it khulle mein (openly)," the journalists report.

In February, according to a report in The Indian Express, Awana had made comments about the JNU students and said, "Our brothers from JNU who went to stand up for the country told us what was happening. If these people are not punished, then we as jagruk yuvaks (awakened youth) will enter their campus and shoot the traitors.
The parliamentary ethics panel has asked Rahul Gandhi whether he declared himself as a British citizen on the official documents of a company in the UK, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The panel served Gandhi with a show cause notice on Monday and according to the Economic Times the notice was sent to Rahul's office last week. The Congress party, however has denied having received the notice.

The issue was brought to the Lok Sabha's notice by Lawmaker Mahesh Giri, following which Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan referred the complaint to the Ethic Committee, headed by BJP leader LK Advani, said an NDTV report.

According to Hindustan Times, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy accused Gandhi of the false declaration to float a firm in the UK and had also written to the PM demanding that Rahul be stripped of Indian citizenship as well as membership of Parliament.

The NDTV report further added that the document submitted to the Ethics Panel alleged that Rahul Gandhi was the director amd secretary of 'Backops Limited' in 2005 and 2006.

The Congress leader dared Modi to jail him if proven guilty after the party described it as 'typing error' owing to the discrepancy between the document and the British government's records.
Nagaur: In a veiled reference to the recent Jat agitation, RSS today disapproved of reservation demands by the "affluent" sections and favoured a study to ascertain whether the deserving backward classes are actually getting the quota benefits.

Pitching for social harmony, the Sangh fountainhead said members of the "Hindu community are responsible" for caste-based discrimination and "we need to eradicate it" for social justice, regarding which he invoked B R Ambedkar.

Disapproving of demands for quota by "affluent" sections, RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said the provisions of reservation made by Bhimrao Ambedkar were for social justice and that concept should be kept in mind by those demanding reservation today.

"It is felt that this thinking (demand by affluent class) is not in the right direction. People of such (affluent) class should give up their right and should help the weaker section of the society. But instead of that, they are demanding reservation for themselves which is not a thinking in the right direction," he said.

He did not make any direct reference to any section making such demands but appeared to be hinting at Jats who recently launched a major violent agitation in Haryana for reservation.

He was addressing a press conference at the end of a three-day conclave of Akhil Bhariya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the RSS, which passed resolutions on social harmony as also education and healthcare.

"Any kind of discriminatory behaviour and evil like untouchability should be uprooted altogether. For the smooth functioning of the society, it is utmost essential that all the social and religious institutions in the society need to steer the course based on our hoary ideals of life," said the resolution on social harmony.

"Caste-based discrimination is a matter of concern for all of us and members of the Hindu community are responsible for it. But now we need to eradicate it. A message for this should be conveyed in the society so that there is no discrimination, atrocities against anyone and social harmony should be maintained," Joshi said.

He said there should be a proper study to ascertain whether the backward classes which really need reservation are actually getting the benefits.

"Baba Ambedkar gave the provision of reservation. It was for social justice. Today, the level of education of dalit class has improved," he said.

"There are many backward castes today. It should be studied and discussed whether the deserving castes are getting reservation benefits. This issue should be studied," he said, adding "it is also a matter of detailed discussion whether or not creamy layer system should be there in all categories."

Sharing details of the resolutions, he said the document on 'social harmony' underlines the importance of 'samrasta' (social harmony) in day-to-day life and eradication of caste-based discrimination, untouchability and mutual distrust from the society.

In the resolutions on education and healthcare, he said it was underlined that both the facilities should be made available to everyone. "Accessibility, affordability and quality of these services should be there for all," he said.

PTI
Editor's note: Tamil Nadus political parties are fighting each other mainly for one section of the electorate this year. This election is all about how the youth will vote. Over 60 lakh youngsters will ink their fingers in May and with little ideological baggage, an aspirational and determined youth is calling the politicians bluff on a number of issues. In this series, Firstpost compiles what the Tamil youth want, if only the politicians would listen. This is part one of a four-part series on #TN2016: The Anger of the Youth.

V Senthil Kumar appears tired and bedraggled, as if he has been up all night, perhaps tending to his 3-month old daughter. Senthil is 31 years old, a Masters degree holder in Social Work, and his friends tease him with the nickname Psycho Senthil  because he does not believe in the existence of God. And why should he, he asks challengingly. Originally hailing from the southern district of Ramanathapuram, Senthils father moved with family to Trichy in central Tamil Nadu, in search of better livelihood. Like most migrants within the state, Senthils father ended up living in a slum in urban Trichy, a squatters colony named MGR Nagar after a former Chief Minister of the state.

I got a temporary job as a Project Manager in a government department TANSACS (Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society) when I graduated in 2008, explained Senthil. I worked in Chennai for two years with that department for a salary of Rs 11,000 a month. I could barely make ends meet. Chennai is an expensive place to live in, he said. Senthil decided to quit the job and come back to Trichy because not only was he not earning enough to make ends meet, but was forced to ask his father for additional sums.

Since he quit in 2010, Senthil has been unemployed. He has been writing one exam after another, hoping to land a government job. He admits that he has attended a number of interviews with private firms too, but was rejected every time.

When I was working in Chennai, I used to think since I was a Masters degree holder, I was entitled to a much better salary, he told FirstPost. Now I feel maybe I should have stuck on to that job, he rued.

Senthil lives with his parents, wife and baby at their tiny rented home in MGR Nagar. His father is a vegetable vendor in the nearby market and manages to scrape together Rs 200 a day. Senthil does odd jobs at his brother-in-laws poultry shop and gets Rs 100 or Rs 150 a day for his troubles, hardly enough to feed the family.

Senthil Kumar is one of close to 85 lakhs youngsters enrolled in the Tamil Nadu Employment Exchange, as of December 2014, the last date for which statistics are available. Of these, 9.3 lakhs are postgraduates and 19.8 lakhs have completed their undergraduate studies. Unemployment dole is given by the Tamil Nadu state government to those waiting on the registers of the Exchange for a minimum of three years, if they meet certain income criteria. As per government records, a total of 67,240 such people received this unemployment assistance from March to December 2015. The state spent a sum of Rs 12.8 crores during this period. Another Rs 9.7 crores was spent during the same period towards unemployment assistance for 22,514 differently abled persons.

There is no point in trying for a government job anymore, said Senthil, shaking his head. I have tried for six years. I now want to start a money-lending business. But the banks are asking for collateral for a loan of Rs 1 lakh. Where do I go for that? he asked.

Allegations of grassroots corruption

Senthils neighbour in MGR Nagar is another young man, Kamal Raj. 32 years of age and with a daughter almost 2 years old, Kamal is smartly turned out, wearing a shirt tucked neatly into trousers, a contrast to the carelessly clad Senthil. Kamal says he applied for a job with the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation soon after graduation. I was asked for Rs 10 lakhs to get the appointment order by touts outside the Corporation, he alleged. I do not have that kind of money. My friend from Karur who applied along with me got the job because he took loans and paid Rs 14 lakhs, he claimed.

Kamal decided instead to help his father run a modest eatery that prides itself on serving excellent naattu kozhi (country chicken) in Trichys Kumaran Nagar. Although there was no way to verify this allegation independently, such claims are rife amongst most youngsters who have applied for government jobs in the state. Kamal also recently joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the main rival to the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the party which has raised as its key poll issue, the question of unemployment among the youth as well as alleged corruption.

The issue of grassroots corruption came to a head in February 2015, when an engineer in the state Agriculture Department committed suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train. Agriculture Minister Agri Krishnamoorthy was arrested on charges of harassing the official demanding bribe of Rs 12.25 lakhs for the appointment of seven temporary drivers in the department, as per the chargesheet. The Madras High Court, on March 08, quashed the case against the former Minister, citing lack of direct evidence. This high profile suicide whipped up a political storm with the Opposition hurling allegations of corruption in all departments of the state government.

Language struggles

A common battle faced by all students heading into colleges from government schools and many private schools in the state, is the issue of language. Shifting from a Tamil medium of instruction to tertiary education in English is taking its toll on youngsters in the state, who struggle to cope and often fail to a number of subjects simply due to lack of comprehension of an unknown language.

My parents had the money to send me to private tuitions for English and I managed to land a job at an IT company in Bangalore, said C Manikandan, a 27 year old software professional hailing from Tamil Nadu, who passed out of a government school. In school we never had the option of learning Hindi. At my workplace I am one of very few who is not very confident about speaking English. I dont know a word of Hindi either. All other colleagues speak Hindi and joke around. I am unable to fit in and I feel quite terrible at times, he said.

Manikandan feels English should be taught in a more focused manner in government schools and Hindi could be offered as an option for those who want to learn the language. While all of his classmates are employed, most are working for peanuts, he says. Almost every one of my school mates is a graduate, he said. Most are working. But there is no correlation between their degree and their work.

Tamil Nadus education system has come under severe criticism in recent times for encouraging rote learning and for delivering poor quality graduates. Tamil Nadu has been scraping the bottom of employability rankings consistently in studies conducted by a private research firm Aspiring Minds based in Gurgaon. The states engineering graduates, along with those from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, are in the bottom 25th percentile of employability rankings, according to the survey. The education system is not conducive for all round development, said Dr Lakshmi Vijaykumar, psychiatrist working with the World Health Organisation. The focus is on rote learning and on a single point exam system. There are major flaws in our state education policy, she said.

The young are restless in Tamil Nadu. This 60 lakh strong segment of the population is the prime target for politicians in elections 2016. The party which convinces this section of unemployed youngsters will likely have an edge in May 2016.

The author tweets @sandhyaravishan
Dhaka: Five militants, including the commander of a banned terror outfit, were arrested by Bangladesh's elite security force which also seized a huge cache of explosives possibly aimed at disrupting the country's Independence Day celebrations next week.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), acting on a tip-off, laid down a trap and arrested the members of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which was last year blamed for the murder of two foreigners in the country.

The officers claimed to have seized a huge cache of plastic explosive gels and improvised explosive devices from the JMB men's possession besides arresting its 25-year-old commander Ameer Huzayfa Akand alias Shahin alias Siam, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Authorities suspect the militants had gathered in the city to plan attacks on Independence Day on 26 March or Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendar, which falls on 14 April, RAB Media and Legal Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Khan said during a press conference here yesterday.

During primary interrogation, the JMB men also confessed to recruiting new members from different districts.

Bengali new year, the country's largest festival, has been targeted in the past. In 2001, at least 10 people were killed and scores of others injured when militants threw bombs at the crowd during the celebrations.

PTI
Havana: US President Barack Obama, who visits Cuba in a week, promised dissidents he would directly discuss human rights issues with their president, Raul Castro.

Obama told the Ladies in White, a group of wives and children of political prisoners, that he understood their struggle, in a letter dated 10 March but published online by the dissident organisation three days later.

"I fully understand the obstacles that ordinary Cubans face in exercising their rights," Obama wrote in English. "The US believes that no one in Cuba or anywhere else should face harassment, arrest, or physical assault just because they are exercising a universal right to have their voices heard."

"As I have in the past, I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," Obama stressed.

The White House confirmed to AFP that the letter was authentic.

When Obama sets foot in Havana on 20 March, the White House imagines a "Berlin Wall moment"  a singular legacy-gilding event like Ronald Reagan's 1987 address before the Brandenburg Gate.

While Reagan sought to end the Cold War division of Europe, Obama hopes to symbolically "tear down" decades of Cold War antagonism across the narrow Florida Straits.

Obama will visit the island 20 to 22 March  the first visit by a US president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928, and a symbolically charged capstone to the rapprochement that he and Castro announced in December 2014.

Obama's Republican foes accuse him of betraying the cause of human rights in Cuba by engaging with the Castro regime, the Americas' only one-party Communist state.

In a bid to fend off such criticism, the White House has announced Obama will meet with anti-regime dissidents in Havana, although it has not given any details beyond insisting that the Cuban government will not be allowed to hand-pick them.

AFP
Sao Paulo: Mammoth demonstrations across Brazil are putting even more pressure on embattled President Dilma Rousseff as she heads into a tough week for her attempt to survive impeachment proceedings in Congress.

According to police estimates, a total of 3 million people took to the streets in 200 cities Sunday calling on the president to resign amid widespread anger over corruption investigations and the worst recession in years.

Sometime this week, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings over allegations of fiscal mismanagement. He doesn't have any say on the panel's membership, but on Saturday members of his centrist PMDB party pledged to be more independent from Rousseff's administration.

Rousseff, who has said she won't resign, is also under pressure from members of her own Workers' Party, whose leaders want her mentor and predecessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to intervene by taking a Cabinet post and bringing in others of his choice. Yet Silva is awaiting a decision by a Sao Paulo judge on whether he will be detained on corruption charges.

Sunday's protests add to the already-difficult position of Rousseff, who in addition to the impeachment effort is faced with a sprawling investigation by federal prosecutors into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras that has moved closer to her inner circle in recent weeks.

In a statement after Sunday's protests, Rousseff said, "The peaceful character of this Sunday's demonstrations shows the maturity of a country that knows how to co-exist with different opinions and knows how to secure respect to its laws and institutions."

The biggest demonstration took place in Brazil economic capital, Sao Paulo, a bastion of simmering dissatisfaction with Rousseff and the Workers' Party. The respected Datafolha polling agency estimated about 500,000 people took part in the demonstration, while police estimated turnout at nearly three times that number.

About 1 million people joined the anti-Rousseff demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, organizers estimated.

Analysts said the strong turnout could lead to the unraveling of her fragile governing coalition.

"There is a situation of ungovernability," said Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at Pontifical Catholic University in Sao Paulo. "The president has few cards."

Fonseca added, though, that the protests showed a "generalized discontent with the political system" without necessarily shoring up any particular opposition party or politician.

Crowds in the yellow and green hues of the Brazilian flag brandished signs reading "Workers' Party out." But demonstrators across Brazil stressed that their anger extended well beyond Rousseff and her party, saying the "Car Wash" investigation into corruption at Petrobras has compromised the entire political class.

"Of course I want to see Rousseff booted out," said Maria de Lima Pimenta, a retired schoolteacher who was at the anti-Rousseff march along Rio's Copacabana Beach. "But then the problem becomes, who will replace her? They're all crooks."

Protest organizers also stressed that the movement isn't linked to any opposition political party, and signs endorsing parties were largely absent from the demonstrations.

Several top politicians did turn out, including Aecio Neves, the opposition politician who narrowly lost to Rousseff in the 2013 presidential run-off election, and Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin. But both were booed, and like other politicians who ventured out to the demonstrations, they beat a rapid retreat.

The uncontested star of the protests was Sergio Moro, the federal judge in charge of the Petrobras case. While demonstrators denounced politicians of all stripes who have been implicated in the scandal, many brandished signs thanking Moro.

The Petrobras scandal has ensnarled key figures from Rousseff's party, including Silva, as well as members of opposition parties.

Political tensions in Brazil have spiked since earlier this month when Silva was briefly detained by police for questioning as part of the Petrobras probe. Silva's supporters and detractors scuffled in front of his apartment in the Sao Paulo area. On Wednesday, the tension rose again when Silva was hit with money-laundering charges in a separate case.

Rousseff said at a Friday news conference that she would not quit, saying it was objectionable to demand the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution.

"If there is no reason to do so, I will not step down," she said, calling on journalists at the event in Brasilia to "at least attest that I don't look like someone who is going to step down.

AP
Beijing: China on Monday dodged a direct response to reports of presence of PLA troops at a forward post in PoK and refuted allegations of recurring incursions by its troops into Indian territory, asserting that the PLA soldiers patrolled the Chinese side of the LAC.

"I have not heard about the incident you mentioned," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kong said at a media briefing here, replying to a question about the presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops at a forward post opposite Nowgam sector in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In response to another question on reports of recent incursions of PLA troops on the Indian side in the Ladakh sector, an official transcript on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website quoted Lu as saying that "it is learnt that China's border troops were carrying out normal patrols on the Chinese side of the LAC". "There is no such a thing as border crossing. Some media twisted the fact and hyped up the China-India boundary question," he said. "We deeply regret that.

At present, China-India relations are enjoying a sound momentum of development. Friendly cooperation represents the mainstream of the public opinion in the two countries. "It is hoped that relevant media can describe the situation along the China-India border as it is and do more to promote China-India friendship, mutual trust and bilateral ties," he said.

At the same time Lu reiterated Beijing's stand on the Kashmir issue, saying that "China's position on Kashmir issue is consistent". "We believe it is an issue between India and Pakistan left over from history and should be properly handled by the two sides through dialogue and consultation," he added.

Asked whether presence of PLA troops is connected to the work related to the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, over which India has conveyed its protest, Lu merely reiterated China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

India has conveyed its protest to China on the corridor connecting China's Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port as it goes through PoK along the Karakoram Highway. China in the past maintained that the corridor which is part of its Silk Road initiative is aimed at improving the people's livelihoods and in no way affects status of the Kashmir issue.

Both the sides have established Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to discuss the issue of incursions and aggressive border patrols by their troops along the 3,488-km long disputed border.

PTI
Le Bourget, France: Seeking to ensure that suicidal pilots can't crash their jets, French authorities investigating last year's Germanwings crash are urging new reporting requirements for doctors treating pilots, and new measures to keep pilots from hiding mental health issues.

The recommendations are delicate. The investigators from France's BEA air accident agency acknowledged Sunday that it's not easy to balance patients' right to medical privacy and public safety, and said they don't want to stigmatize people suffering depression.

But they argue that aviation authorities around the world need clearer rules, after Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit and slammed Flight 9525 into an Alpine mountainside on 24 March, 2015. All 150 people aboard were killed.

Lubitz had suffered from depression in the past, but authorities and his airline later deemed him fit to fly. What they didn't know is that his mental health troubles had returned.

The final crash report released by the BEA Sunday lays out in chilling detail how bad things had become.

Lubitz consulted dozens of doctors about perceived vision troubles and sleeplessness in the months leading up to the crash. One doctor prescribed antidepressants, including one whose side effects can include suicidal tendencies. Another doctor referred Lubitz to a psychiatric clinic two weeks before the crash, suspecting a potential "psychotic episode," said Arnaud Desjardin, leader of the BEA's Germanwings investigation.

Lubitz reported none of this to Germanwings or its parent Lufthansa. Neither did the doctors, citing Germany's strict medical confidentiality laws.

The BEA says those rules need to change.

Among a list of 10 safety recommendations to international, European and German aviation authorities, the BEA said they should draw up new rules requiring medical workers to warn authorities when a pilot's mental health could threaten public safety.

It suggested more rules like those in the U.S. and some other countries, which allow use of some antidepressants under medical supervision, to encourage pilots to seek treatment and come forward about depression.

Germany's confidentiality laws prevent sensitive personal information from being widely shared, though doctors are allowed to suspend patient privacy if they believe there is a concrete danger to the person's safety or that of others.

Desjardin said German doctors fear losing their jobs or potential prison terms if they unnecessarily report a problem to authorities. The doctors who treated Lubitz for depression and mental illness also refused to speak with the BEA investigators, citing medical privacy  and complicating the investigation.

Johann Reuss of Germany's air accident investigation agency said "there is no need to change the law." Reuss said "it might not be easy" to loosen the privacy rules and suggested that authorities instead focus on giving doctors checklists to prevent similar scenarios with pilots.

The BEA safety recommendations also include special insurance options and peer support groups for aviation workers, to ease concerns about losing a job that pilots with mental health issues face.

Even though Germany's medical privacy laws are stricter than those in the U.S., it's hard to imagine a U.S. doctor reporting mental health concerns about a pilot to an airline or the FAA without his patient's permission, said John Gadzinski, an veteran U.S. airline pilot and safety consultant.

The underlying problem is that society hasn't figured out how to deal with mental health in a way that protects both the patient and society, said Gadzinski from his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"I think the Germanwings accident is more of a symptom than the major issue," he said. "The major issue is how do we deal with mental health."

Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, said in a statement, "Pilots welcome recommendations to introduce peer support programs for pilots across the aviation industry. ... By encouraging those with mental health problems to seek help, offering them treatment and ensuring they do not suffer financially if they do come forward, we prevent these issues being driven underground."

The BEA also recommended more frequent, deeper monitoring of pilots who had mental health issues in the past  for example every three months instead of every year. Lubitz' relapse appeared to begin around four months before the crash.

The agency said airplane cockpit security rules shouldn't be changed, saying hijacking remains a greater threat than pilot suicide. Current cockpits are equipped with a code system to prevent the kind of hijackings that occurred on 11 Sept. 2001, in the United States, where planes full of passengers were turned into weapons.

After the Germanwings crash, some airlines required that at least two people be in the cockpit at any given time.

Lufthansa pledged to back the new safety recommendations. Since the crash, the airline has replaced its Germanwings brand with the name Eurowings.

On the day of the flight, Lubitz rehearsed a similar crash a few hours earlier. Then half an hour after Flight 9525 took off from Barcelona, Capt. Patrick Sondenheimer handed the controls to Lubitz and went to the restroom. Lubitz quickly locked the cockpit and set the plane into an accelerated dive for a mountainside near the French village of Le Vernet, where a stone memorial to victims marks their memory.

Traces of anti-depressive medications Citalopram and Mirtazapine were found in Lubitz's remains, as well as the sleeping medication Zopiclone, the BEA report says. The U.S. National Library of Medicine notes on its entry for Citalopram that children and young adults who take the drug can become suicidal.

Lubitz was 27 when he crashed the plane.

The BEA investigation is separate from a manslaughter investigation by French prosecutors seeking to determine eventual criminal responsibility. Lufthansa strongly denies any wrongdoing, but relatives of those killed have pointed to a string of people they say could have raised the alarm and stopped Lubitz, going back to the days when he began training as a pilot in 2008.

Families of Germanwings victims met with BEA investigators on Saturday, but many were disappointed in the explanation.

"Some of the family members felt as if these BEA representatives were Lubitz's lawyers  making excuses as to why Germanwings didn't take action knowing what they knew," said Robert Tansill Oliver, whose son died in the crash.

"How is it possible Germanwings would let a crazy guy fly a plane? He was mentally unbalanced, tremendously unbalanced," Oliver said.

AP
North Koreas newest nuclear weapon can apparently kill everyone in Manhattan and burn the city down to ashes. The countrys state run media DPRK reported that the new hydr0gen bomb is bigger than the one developed by the erstwhile Soviet Union, according to The Washington Post.

Kim Jong-un, in January, claimed that during one of the many nuclear tests his country conducted, it had successfully detonated a H-bomb. However, experts doubt his claim since the seismic waves are similar to the ones generated during testing of atomic bombs, reports New York Daily News.

This isnt the first time North Korea has made an exaggerated claim. The Washington Post recently reported that North Korea threatened to turn South Korea into a sea of flames with preemptive nuclear strikes and rocket launches. In February, Pyongyang threatened to attack the presidential Blue House in Seoul, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to the Washington Post report, the international community has condemned the nation for its threats. In early March, the UN imposed tough sanctions on North Korea. The sanctions included strict inspection of cargo going into and out of the country, and limiting or prohibiting the nation's export of coal, iron, gold, and titanium as well as the delivery of aviation and rocket fuel.
Riyadh: A senior Saudi royal has criticised President Barack Obama for comments accusing the longtime US ally of feeding Middle East conflicts. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has long been a major ally of the United States but the relationship has deteriorated under Obama.

Riyadh has been especially concerned by US support for Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, fearing its regional rival will be emboldened. In an opinion piece published in Saudi newspapers, Prince Turki al-Faisal, the kingdom's former intelligence chief and envoy to Washington, lashed out at Obama's recent comments to The Atlantic magazine.

"You accuse us of fomenting sectarian strife in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. You add insult to injury by telling us to share our world with Iran, a country that you describe as a supporter of terrorism," Faisal wrote.

Faisal questioned whether Obama has "pivoted to Iran so much that you equate the kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America to an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world".

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Shiite Iran of interference in Arab affairs, particularly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain. In its April issue, The Atlantic quoted Obama as reproaching the Saudis for trying to influence other Muslim countries, particularly Indonesia, by exporting its fundamentalist version of Islam.

He also said the Saudis need to "share" the Middle East with their Iranian foes. "The competition between the Saudis and the Iranians  which has helped to feed proxy wars and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Yemen -- requires us to say to our friends as well as to the Iranians that they need to find an effective way to share the neighbourhood and institute some sort of cold peace," Obama said.

As the Obama administration enters its final months, Faisal said that Saudi Arabia "will continue to hold the American people as our ally... Mr. Obama, that is who we are."

AFP
Ankara: A suicide car bomb went off near a bus stop in the heart of Turkey's capital city on Sunday, killing at least 34 people and wounding around 125 others, officials said. Two of the dead are believed to be the assailants.

A senior government official told AP that police suspect Kurdish militants carried out the attack, which occurred on Ankara's main boulevard, close to ministries.

At least one of the bombers was a woman, he said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity on grounds that the investigation was ongoing.

The bombing was the third in the city in five months and came as Turkey is grappling with a host of issues, including renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels, threats from the Islamic State group and a Syrian refugee crisis.

Earlier on Sunday, Turkish authorities said they were imposing curfews on two mainly Kurdish towns where Turkey's security forces were set to launch large-scale operations against Kurdish militants. Russia on Sunday also accused Turkey of sending its military across the Syrian border to prevent Kurdish groups there from consolidating their positions.

The attack came just three weeks after a suicide car bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group which is an offshoot of an outlawed rebel group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, claimed responsibility for the February 17 attack.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement vowing to bring "terrorism to its knees" and said Turkey would use its right to self-defense to prevent future attacks. "Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success and terrorism will be brought to its knees," Erdogan said.

Saudi state television said that a Saudi woman and three children were among those wounded in the attack. Saudi Arabia's King Salman condemned the bombing and extended his condolences to the Turkish people, according to the state-run Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbaria.

At least 19 of the wounded were in serious condition, Health minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu told reporters. He said that 30 of the victims died at the scene, while the other four died at hospitals.

Interior minister Efkan Ala said the attack wouldn't deter the country from its fight against terrorism. He confirmed the blast was the result of a car bomb that targeted civilians at bus stops on Ataturk Bulvari close to Kizilay square.

Ala said authorities had obtained evidence pointing to the group behind the attack, but said an announcement would be made after the investigation is completed, most probably on Monday. No group has claimed responsibility.

The private NTV news channel said several vehicles caught fire following the blast which also shattered the windows of shops that line the boulevard and the square.

Dogan Asik, 28, was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred. "There were about 40 people," said Asik, who suffered injuries to his face and arm. "It (the bus) slowed down. A car went by us, and 'boom' it exploded."

Police sealed off the area and pushed onlookers and journalists back, warning that there could be a second bomb. Forensic teams were examining the scene.

Two days ago, the US Embassy had issued a security warning about a potential plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing in one Ankara neighborhood and asked American citizens to avoid those areas. The cab bomb went off in a different neighborhood.

As with the previous bombings, Turkish authorities quickly imposed a ban preventing media organisations from broadcasting or publishing graphic images of the blast or from the scene. The state-run Anadolu Agency said the government-run telecommunications agency had decided to block access to websites that published images from the scene.

The country's pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples' Democratic Party, meanwhile, condemned the attack and said it shared the pain. The statement was significant because the party has frequently been accused of being the political arm of the PKK  an accusation it denies  and of not speaking out against PKK violence.

The attack drew international condemnation in statements issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, among others.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington's strong partnership with "our NATO ally Turkey in combating the shared threat of terrorism".

Hundreds of people have been killed in Turkey in renewed fighting following the collapse of the peace process between the government and the PKK in July.

The country has also been struck by several bombings in the last year that were blamed on the Islamic State group after the government joined US-led efforts to fight the extremist group in Syria. The deadliest came in October when a bombing at a peace rally outside Ankara's main train station killed 102 people.

Authorities have imposed curfews in several flashpoints since August to root out militants linked to the PKK, who have set up barricades, dug trenches and planted explosives. The military operations have raised concerns over human rights violations and scores of civilian deaths. Tens of thousands of people have also been displaced by the fighting.

On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia has evidence of Turkey's "creeping expansion" in northern Syria. "According to our information, they are digging in a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian REN TV broadcast station on Sunday.

AP
Jerusalem: Three Palestinians carried out two attacks  a shooting and a car-ramming  on Israelis in the southern occupied West Bank on Monday before they were shot dead, the Israeli army said.

"Two assailants opened fire at pedestrians waiting at a bus stop at the entrance of Kiryat Arba (near Hebron). Forces guarding the area responded and shot the assailants, resulting in their deaths," a military statement read.

"Moments later, in an additional attack, a vehicle rammed into a military vehicle responding at the scene. Forces

responded to the immediate danger and shot the assailant, resulting in his death."

The army said a soldier was wounded in the shooting attack, and two others lightly wounded in the car-ramming.

A military spokeswoman said the assailants used a pistol and a sub-machine gun.

Israeli security forces have noted a recent surge in shooting attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank following

five-and-a-half months of Palestinian attacks.

Since 1 October, a wave of violence has killed 191 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a

Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, while others were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Many analysts say young Palestinians are fed up with Israeli occupation, while Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a main cause of the violence.

AFP
TAMPA, Fla. U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump launched a three-state campaign blitz on Monday ahead of a crucial round of nominating contests, and disavowed any responsibility for inciting conflict at his campaign rallies.

Trump, who hit North Carolina and Florida before a final planned stop in Ohio, said the establishment Republicans who have laboured to stop his outsider candidacy needed to recognise his strength and rally to his cause.

"What they have to do is embrace this phenomenon and go with it. Let's go win," Trump said of the party's establishment at a rally in Hickory, North Carolina, where he was interrupted several times by protesters.

Trump rejected suggestions his combative campaign tone is to blame for recent clashes at his rallies, including one last week where a protester was punched and a Chicago rally that was cancelled after fights between Trump supporters and opponents.

He said the level of campaign violence was inflated by the media and "basically" no one had been hurt at his rallies. "There's no violence," he said, describing his campaign as "a movement and a lovefest."

Five big states - Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri - hold nominating contests on Tuesday. Trump could seize control of the Republican race with a sweep and possibly knock out two of his rivals, Ohio Governor John Kasich and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Polls show him leading in all of the states except Ohio, where he is in a tight race with Kasich.

The party's anti-Trump forces, including a Super PAC formed to oppose him, kept up their assault on the brash New York billionaire. The Super PAC released an ad on Monday featuring a series of demeaning quotes by Trump about women, and urged people to oppose him "if you believe America deserves better."

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate who has delivered a furious attack on Trump, was campaigning for Kasich in Ohio on Monday. Kasich's campaign said he would not endorse the governor.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton also kept an eye on Trump, saying at a campaign event in Chicago that "I don't think the stakes have ever been higher, or the rhetoric on the other side ever been lower."

'TIME TO UNITE'

Her voice hoarse, Clinton said it was "time for us to unite as a country - end divisiveness."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest also weighed in, criticizing Trump's Republican rivals for declaring they would back him if he wins the party nomination for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.

"At some point, somebody in the Republican Party's going to have to step up and show some leadership," Earnest said.

Trump has emerged from the early contests with a clear lead in the delegates needed to capture the nomination at the party's July convention. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is second, with Rubio and Kasich trailing and counting on their home states to keep them in the race.

Trump's contentious campaign has been marked by harsh rhetoric against Mexican immigrants and Muslims. There have been repeated clashes in recent days between his supporters and protesters, raising questions about whether the violence will hurt Trump in the primary race.

"It will help him among those who resent the left and their protests and their disruptions. But it will hurt him among independents who don't like the chaos and the confusion," said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster.

Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago on Friday over security concerns after protesters swarmed the event, sparking clashes. On Saturday, he was rushed by a man on an Ohio stage and repeatedly blamed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for the disruptions.

'PUNK ASS THUGGERY STUFF'

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who appeared ahead of Trump in Florida on Monday, said protesters were "trying to take away your rights" to gather peacefully.

"What we dont have time for is for all that petty, punk ass thuggery stuff that has been going on," she said before heading home to be with her husband Todd, who was injured in a snow machine accident.

Kasich, meanwhile, is looking to win his state and thwart Trump's progress toward securing the 1,237 delegates a candidate needs to win the nomination.

"I'm going to win Ohio, and it's going to be a whole new ballgame," Kasich said on Fox News on Monday, adding he did not believe any candidate would have enough delegates to clinch the nomination outright before the convention. "We're not going to lose tomorrow."

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Clinton hopes to pull away from rival Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in Tuesday's voting. Polls gave her a big lead in Florida and North Carolina, but showed closer races with Sanders gaining ground in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri.

Sanders' stunning upset last week in Michigan, where polls indicated he trailed by double-digit margins, showed his ability to pull off a surprise.

At a town hall on Sunday night, the two Democrats both devoted time to attacking Trump, who they say is inciting violence at his rallies, before getting down to their battle with each other.

Sanders said at a town hall sponsored by MSNBC on Monday that Trump was "literally inciting violence among his supporters" by offering to pay their legal fees.

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Frances Kerry)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
TAMPA, Fla. U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump hunted for votes in three states on Monday ahead of a crucial round of nominating contests, and dismissed outbreaks of violence at his campaign events as "a little disruption."

Trump, who made appearances in North Carolina, Florida and Ohio before Tuesday's primaries, said the establishment Republicans who have laboured to stop his outsider candidacy needed to recognise his strength and rally to his cause.

"What they have to do is embrace this phenomenon and go with it. Let's go win," Trump said of party leaders at a rally in Hickory, North Carolina, where he was interrupted several times by protesters.

Trump rejected suggestions his combative campaign tone was to blame for recent clashes at his rallies, including one last week where a protester was punched and a Chicago rally that was cancelled after fights between Trump supporters and opponents.

He said the level of violence was inflated by the media and "basically" no one had been hurt at his rallies, although "maybe somebody got hit once."

"It's a little disruption, but there's no violence," Trump said, describing his campaign as "a movement and a lovefest."

Five states - Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri - hold nominating contests on Tuesday for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.

Trump could seize control of the Republican race with a sweep and possibly knock out two of his rivals, Ohio Governor John Kasich and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Opinion polls show him leading in all five states except Ohio, where he is in a tight race with Kasich.

"If we win Ohio and we win Florida, then everybody agrees  it's pretty much over," Trump told an afternoon rally in Tampa, Florida. "The Republican Party has to come together."

But the party's anti-Trump forces, including a Super PAC formed to oppose him, kept up their assault on the brash New York billionaire. The Super PAC released an ad on Monday featuring demeaning quotes by Trump about women, and urged people to oppose him "if you believe America deserves better."

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate who has delivered a furious attack on Trump, campaigned for Kasich in North Canton, Ohio, on Monday but refrained from criticizing Trump by name or explicitly endorsing Kasich.

"He has the kind of record you want in Washington," Romney said of Kasich.

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton also kept an eye on Trump, saying at a campaign event in Chicago that "I don't think the stakes have ever been higher, or the rhetoric on the other side ever been lower."

'TIME TO UNITE'

Her voice hoarse, Clinton said it was "time for us to unite as a country."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest criticized Trump's Republican rivals for declaring they would back him if he wins the party nomination for the November election.

"At some point, somebody in the Republican Party's going to have to step up and show some leadership," Earnest said.

Trump has emerged from the early contests with a clear lead in the delegates needed to capture the nomination at the party's July convention. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is second, with Rubio and Kasich trailing and counting on their home states to keep them in the race.

Trump's contentious campaign has been marked by harsh rhetoric against illegal Mexican immigrants and Muslims. There have been repeated clashes in recent days between his supporters and protesters, raising questions about whether the violence will hurt Trump in the primary race.

"It will help him among those who resent the left and their protests and their disruptions. But it will hurt him among independents who don't like the chaos and the confusion," said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster.

Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago on Friday over security concerns after protesters swarmed the event, sparking clashes. On Saturday, he was rushed by a man on an Ohio stage and repeatedly blamed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for the disruptions.

'PUNK ASS THUGGERY STUFF'

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who appeared ahead of Trump in Tampa on Monday, said protesters were "trying to take away your rights" to gather peacefully.

"What we dont have time for is for all that petty, punk ass thuggery stuff that has been going on," she said, before she headed home to be with her husband, Todd, who was injured in a snowmobile accident.

Kasich is looking to win his home state and thwart Trump's progress toward securing the 1,237 delegates a candidate needs to win the nomination.

"I'm going to win Ohio, and it's going to be a whole new ballgame," Kasich said on Fox News on Monday, adding he did not believe any candidate would have enough delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention. "We're not going to lose tomorrow."

Cruz held five rallies in the Chicago suburbs and told voters to support him if they wanted to stop Trump.

He said Trump had donated in the past to two Illinois Democrats - former Governor Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel - and asked voters to "remember who the moneybags is that's funding these politicians."

In the Democratic race, Clinton, a former secretary of state, hopes to pull away from Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in Tuesday's voting. Polls gave her a big lead in Florida and North Carolina, but showed Sanders gaining ground in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri.

Sanders' win last week in Michigan, where polls indicated he trailed by double-digit margins, showed his ability to pull off a surprise.

He told a town hall sponsored by MSNBC to air later on Monday that Trump was "literally inciting violence among his supporters" by offering to pay their legal fees.

(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington, Megan Cassella in Illinois and Amanda Becker in Ohio; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may meet on the sidelines of a Saarc ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week, according to a media report today. Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on 16 and 17 March. A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal. "There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January. The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce. The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington. The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.

PTI
Feather River in California. (Credit: Ray Bouknight via Creative Commons 2.0)

The Feather River in California is a main tributary of the Sacramento River. Fed by Lake Oroville to its north, the river runs for about 71 miles and is a large part of Californias State Water Project, a hydroelectric effort producing power for the states residents.

The company that is charged with tapping the Feather Rivers hydroelectric potential is PG&E. It owns several dams along the river and is concerned with its flow, among other things.

Recently, PG&E has teamed up with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, to model the Feather Rivers hydrology in an effort to improve the operations of its hydroelectric dams along the waterway.

The Feather River Hydrologic Observatory is to be able to actually improve on the cost of the inefficiencies of operating hydroelectric dams, said Steven Glaser, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the university.

Glaser is part of a group at the university and PG&E working to better model the changing conditions of the Feather River. In the past, he has worked on the American River Hydrologic Observatory, a very large network of wireless sensors built to help meet the needs of the National Science Foundation-funded Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory.

On the educational side, Glaser says that one of his students will gain experience with modeling through a position at one of PG&Es laboratories. PG&E will of course benefit from advanced data on its hydroelectric operations and more precise models that can help the company weed out inefficient practices.

The effort, which is still in the beginning stages, will build on some of the work that Glaser has done at the American River alongside collaborators Roger Bales and Martha Conklin, both founding professors of engineering at UC Merced.

Its a three-year project. In the first year, well set out the instruments and get working on the modeling. Its a big project, said Glaser. Some people will be working on the data coming in, synthesizing it, and that will actually go into the models that PG&E uses. The data will be plugged into the U.S. Geological Surveys Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, he says.

Getting the project underway includes using much of the same wireless sensing technology deployed at the American River Hydrologic Observatory. Nodes in the network will be built by Metronome Systems, a company that Glaser helped found, which manufactures low-power wireless computing and sensing devices that deploy quickly to form large-scale networks.

Its the same hardware. Its a wireless sensor network. You can use the nodes as data loggers, but its totally wireless. Well put the nodes out into the field and with new sensors, it populates on its own, said Glaser. Each wireless node is also a logger and is very low-power. So they could run off D-Cell batteries. On each device, you can put 40 different sensors. Its just drag-and-drop. Just install the drivers, theres no amplification or filters. Its all built in.

The wireless sensor network to be deployed around the Feather River will incorporate sensors for measuring air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, soil moisture and snow depth. The measurements may help answer some lingering questions about the river and its hydrology, Glaser says.

It (the Feather River) is much more rain-dominated than the American River. We hope to see the effects of climate change on rain and snow. PG&E folks say that there are tremendous effects of climate change and they want to be able to prove it, said Glaser. There are also a lot of orographic effects (from the mountains) there with the winds kicking up.

The observatory will yield useful data for researchers, PG&E and the State of California. But Glaser says it could also provide a nice blueprint for other areas of the world dealing with water issues like California has in recent drought-dominated times.

California is a good test site for the world because it has a lot of different land styles. Weve started to work with people in Chile and their situation is similar with the Sierras, said Glaser. Were talking with people in eastern France behind them. Certainly in China and India, where they have high mountain slopes and melting snow.

Top image: Feather River in California. (Credit: Ray Bouknight via Creative Commons 2.0)
Qualcomm is looking to help make India a hub for design capabilities for smartphones, tablets and IoT. The company is also looking to leverage Indias engineering talent to scale innovation for both local consumption, and rest of the world. On those lines, Qualcomm is setting up an Innovation Lab in Bangalore, India to provide technical and engineering support to the home grown companies.

In the very recent past, Qualcomm had also hosted the Design in India Challenge in association with NASSCOM to accelerate the creation of a product and hardware design ecosystem in India for healthcare, education, banking, agriculture, automotive, wearables and smartcities.

We at FoneArena had a chance to speak to Sunil Lalvani, the President of Qualcomm India at the Make in India week, which took place in Mumbai last month. Heres the transcript from our talk..

FoneArena: How is Qualcomm contributing to Make In India ?



Sunil: We are doing a lot as a part of Make in India initiative. India consumes more smartphones and mobiles phone than we can manufacture. The need of the hour when we speak to OEMs is the speed to market and the design element needs to localized. We enable this through Qualcomm Reference Design or QRD. How we enable that ecosystem is through the design house by making sure that the whole fabrication, mechanical design, the PCB layout, the component selection, RF unit is all done in a certain manner.

Work is also done on carrier networks, spectrum bands, localized content, localized applications. Manufacturing happens outside and then the components are imported into India. They are then tested within India which ends with the final tablet or smartphone. While most of the manufacturing happens outside the country, most of the design, tuning and testing happens in India.

FoneArena: So why does most of the manufacturing still happen outside India?

Sunil: A large portion of the manufacturing still happens outside India since they are part of an ecosystem. Some of the components are not available locally and as a result, a lot of them have to be sourced from overseas. There will be some level of components which will always have to be imported. But we are supporting the Make in India initiative where we push the design element to be done within India itself. Slowly but surely, most of the components will actually be manufactured in India.

We are talking with partners to expedite this process and certain companies will be able to start a manufacturing process in India sooner than others. So as far as the different phases of the Make in India initiative are concerned, this is a good starting point.

FoneArena: Does the Make in India initiative actually improve the product shipping times considerably?

Sunil: What QRD (Qualcomm Reference Design) does is basically create a reference design architecture and based on the localized needs, it can be customized. The speed and time to manufacture improves significantly. So the reference design architecture is given to the OEMs and ODMs to start manufacturing instead of building a product from the ground up. The Snapdragon 810 on the YU flagship smartphone is a good example of how the ecosystem is moving up the value chain. Looking at the scale of the Indian market, customization is very important.

The benefit of the QRD platform is the speed to the market.The question that OEMs need an answer to is how to capture a larger market share since the market in India is huge. Considering how short most of the product cycles are these days, QRD poses a huge benefit since it ensures a much faster product roll out.

FoneArena: Could you throw some light about the QPrize challenge?

Sunil: Qualcomm through its venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures had announced QPrize  Make in India contest in association with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion. The goal of this contest is to catalyze Indian entrepreneurs and the startup community to drive the entire value chain from innovation to manufacturing in India. The winner will receive an investment of Rs. 2 crores as prize money.

Qualcomm has also supported the Governments vision of Make in India by recently announcing the Qualcomm Design in India Initiative. Now with the QPrize Make in India contest, the company aims to energize the startup ecosystem to join this movement towards creation of a local design and manufacturing ecosystem.

FoneArena: What do you think about the Governments mandate towards multi-language support?



Sunil: As part of the Digital India initiative the government is soon going to make multi-language support mandatory for mobile devices sold in the country which is a great move. We have tied up with Reverie to enable multi-lingual support for Qualcomm based devices. The application in the back-end could be running in English but at real time users can use the app in the language of their choice even for financial transactions like with the HDFC securities app we are showcasing.

FoneArena: Previously, there were issues with 4G devices supporting multiple LTE bands on the same SKU. However, that seems to be solved now. Hows it going to work moving forward?

Sunil: Carriers have played a big role in the push towards 4G LTE and that has created awareness in the minds of consumers. Qualcomm is here to ensure that the devices are ready for the network and support multiple bands as and when the carriers roll out 4G LTE on their networks. We work with OEMs and channel partners, both online as well as offline to create awareness on what 4G LTE actually is.

Since, there is a smaller price delta, we are seeing many customers who buy a 4G smartphone directly as an upgrade from their 2G smartphone instead of opting for a 3G one. Qualcomm plays an important role in bridging that price gap and making these 4G LTE handsets as affordable as possible for the end consumer.

FoneArena: What are your thoughts on the Indian mobile market and 4Gs uptake?



Sunil: Price delta between 3G and 4G devices have come down significantly. Carriers are rolling out 4G very quickly and the demand for 4G is on an upswing. Airtel was the first to roll out their 4G network, now Vodafone and Idea have made announcements, Jios launch is pending. The market is moving towards 4G LTE and as carriers roll out more and more areas with 4G coverage, it is only going to accelerate.

FoneArena: Whats next for Qualcomm in India? What are your challenges?



Sunil: Design in India to fuel Make in India is the main objective we are driving towards. We see more opportunities than challenges in India especially with the supply vs demand gap with respect to the smartphones in the country. Only challenge is how the component ecosystem evolves in India as some parts of the manufacturing will take time to come to India, such as fab units. There is no timeline for complete phone manufacturing to happen in India.

FoneArena: How is Qualcomm positioning its Snapdragon powered devices to consumers? Or is it something taken care by the manufacturer?

Sunil: Consumers are becoming more discerning. In the age of selfies, camera is a very important feature, processor is becoming a deciding factor too. Battery life and connectivity too are key features. As consumers are moving from 3G to 4G or from 2G to 4G there is a need for educating the consumer on benefit of Snapdragon and our offerings. This education needs to be two fold, at the OEM level and also at the online/offline retail level and it is part of our go-to-market strategy.

FoneArena: What else is in Qualcomms radar from an India perspective ?

Sunil: Another area we are looking at from an India perspective is Smart cities. We have done some work in certain other markets around the globe and the Indian government too has already announced a number of Smart Cities. We are also working with our ecosystem partners around that. We also see opportunity for Drones being used for agriculture in India.
In a bid to expand its hold in the Indian smartphone market even further, Xiaomi is planning to set up two manufacturing plants in the country in 2016, according to a latest report from the Economic Times. The Chinese smartphone maker is also looking forward to launch more devices in India this year.

Bin Lin, Co-founder and President at Xiaomi told the publication that the company plans to manufacture handsets, peripherals and components in India. He said that the company expects to sell around 140 million devices in 2016 as against to around 100 million sold last year. Xiaomi teamed up with Foxconn last year and rolled out the Redmi 2 Prime from its Sri City manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh. This was companys first smartphone under the Make in India initiative. Foxconn is now responsible for 75% of Xiaomis phones at its Sri City Plant and the company sells well over 1 million phones a quarter.

Giving further insights on the companys plans for India, Lin said that talks are going on with Foxconn regarding the set up of the two smartphone facilities. Xiaomi India head Manu Jain stated that the company is pushing to get at least one of facilities kick start and running within this year. He even mentioned exciting opportunities for single-brand retail licence in India and as per PTI report, the company has filed for one with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)

Xiaomi recently launched the Redmi Note 3 in India and announced that it will bring its flagship Mi 5 to the country in April. Besides, the Mi 5, the company plans to release one device in the next quarter while another one in second half of 2016. In addition, Xiaomi also plans to enter new product categories this year. Xiaomi has already launched the Mi Bluetooth Speaker in India which will go for sale by the end of this month. While the Mi 5 will not be made in India, it is speculated to be priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 27,000, based on China prices, added the report.

India pipped US to become the second largest smartphone market last month hence it makes sense that Xiaomi is bolstering its efforts to increase presence in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.
Vodafone has unveiled its SuperNet initiative. Vodafone promises seamless network experience that would allow their customers to remain confidently connected at all times, for their voice and data needs. It has also launched a new campaign that brings back the popular brand mascot, Cheeka the pug.

Initiatives in building Vodafone SuperNet Tower every Hour: Vodafone has set up a record number of over 30,000 sites (2G/3G/4G) to expand and upgrade its coverage of both voice and data across the country

Worlds largest 4G Network in India: with global presence in more than 20 countries, rolled out 4G services on the efficient 1800 MHz band ensuring better indoor coverage across 5 circles of Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Delhi & NCR and Kolkata

International Roaming on 4G: Our global reach makes us the only operator in India to provide 4G experience on International Roaming across 14 markets

Faster, smarter and better Mobile Internet: Launched 3G services in 6 new circles of Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, UP West and Assam & North East, expanding own 3G footprint to 16 circles

Future Ready Technology: Upgraded entire radio network to all-IP technology, ready even for 5G

Fibre Backhaul: High capacity Fibre backhaul (160,000 kms of fibre till date) in most of our sites allowing mobile internet to flow without any blockage

SON: use Ciscos SON (Self Optimizing Network) technology to deliver superior mobile experience, improved voice call quality and reduced dropped calls.

Single RAN: Technology and energy efficient network, capable for deploying advance technology with just a software upgrade

Real Time Monitoring: State of the art, Super Network Operations Centre (SNOC) to monitor the network traffic behaviors and optimise an on-going basis.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlOzTCSlsgs

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eD86X-iYWQ

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX-Z3GuyKO4

Announcing the launch of Vodafone SuperNet, Sandeep Kataria, Director- Consumer, Vodafone India said:

Network plays a crucial role in enhancing customer experience. In our continuing endeavour to provide superior voice and data services, we have made significant investments to expand, upgrade and modernise our network across the country. To cater to evolving consumer needs, we use multiple technologies to provide over 194 million customers across the country, all-round benefits of a seamless network experience, beyond just speed.

Siddharth Banerjee, National Head, Brand Communication & Insights, Vodafone India said:

We are delighted to bring back our much loved mascot Cheeka the pug. Research has shown that the endearing Vodafone pug has had one of the most impactful and long standing connects with the Vodafone brand symbolic with our network. Our communication strategy for this launch was to highlight the benefits of our seamless network and service experience and who better to announce it than Cheeka the pug!
It looks like future devices from Samsung might be able to keep a tab on your health stats. The company has filed a patent for advanced laser technology that uses mobile devices to monitor your health healt vitals.

Dubbed as Laser Speckle Interferometric, the technology is able to monitor health vitals of the user such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow velocity, pulse rate and skin conditions. The patent mentions that this technology can be used in future Galaxy smartphones, tablets and even Gear smartwatches and wearable devices. The patent filing reveals that Samsung acquired three of the patents behind this invention from Russian developers.

According to Samsung

A laser beam emitted from the laser light source is scattered on a skin surface of a wrist of a person, and a speckle pattern formed by scattering of coherent light is detected by the detector and then recorded. Pulsation in arteries causes a skin movement that affects the detected speckle pattern. To detect pulsation having a signal to noise ratio that is high enough to perform accurate measurement, the influence of a vibration caused by a displacement between the mobile device and an object under examination may be removed. The detection of pulsation may be achieved by monitoring, in real time, parameters used to detect optimal conditions.

Samsung had filed for this patent with United States Patent and Trademark Office in September last year. It must be noted that companies file for patents from time to time and this does not necessarily mean that the it will turn out into an actual product.

source
Samsung started selling the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones in over 60 countries, including its home-ground Korea starting from March 11th. Koreas Yonhap News is reporting that Samsung sold more than 100,000 units of Galaxy S7 series of smartphones in South Korea, in first two after the sales started.

This is based on industry data that reveals that Samsung sold 60,000 units of smartphone on Friday and 40,000 on Saturday. This doesnt reveal individual numbers for the smartphones, but it says that Samsung Galaxy S7 edge accounted for about 40% of two-day sales.

Both these smartphones were announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, pack a 5.1-inch Quad HD and 5.5-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED always-on displays, respectively. These are powered by an Octa-Core Exynos 8 Octa 8890 SoC or Quad-Core Snapdragon 820 SoC depending on the market, pack 4GB of RAM, run Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), come with a 12-megapixel Dual pixel rear camera with LED flash, OIS, 4K video recording and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

These have a 3D glass and metal design, IP68 ratings water and dust resistance and hybrid dual SIM support that lets you use the second slot as a expansion slot when required. The S7 packs a 3000mAh battery and the S7 edge packs a slightly larger 3600mAh battery. Both have support for Fast Charging both on wired and wireless (WPC and PMA).

Samsung should officially release sales numbers in coming weeks if the S7 series is a success. We will just have to wait.
British lamb has now been exported to the US for the first time in over 20 years. Industry estimates the US market will be worth 37 million (US$40.9 million) in... Read More
Food is undoubtedly becoming more and more expensive. With a ballooning global population and food safety moving further into the spotlight, industry is looking at... Read More
Two out of 10 Minnesota families face food insecurity. This is not just the State of Minnesota's issue; it has become a national concern since 1 in 6 people in America also face hunger.

The USDA defines "food insecurity" as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for all household members. In 2011, households with children reported a significantly higher food insecurity rate than households without children: 20.6 percent vs. 12.2 percent.

Being hungry means living below the poverty line and the more complex issue is the access to food when one is hungry.

In Minnesota, 20 percent of the families go hungry but are ashamed to say so or ask help like the 90-year old man helped by a police cop by buying the old man a bag of groceries and even light bulbs in his dilapidated home. The good thing about this encounter is there's a Minneapolis police officer that cared enough and even went on in contacting Meals on Wheels to ensure that the old man will never get hungry again. But how about the other families that belong to the 20 percent who are also hungry and ashamed to beg for food? Will they just go hungry each day because of their pride? Of course, it's human dignity that you don't want to beg, that's totally understandable.

There are lots of organizations that help feed the hungry in Minnesota. There's No Kid Hungry, Meals on Wheels and many more. Meals on Wheels offers meals, transportation, caregiver support and other services for seniors-resources they want to make sure are utilized by those who need them. The organization explained that it has enough food for the hungry that's why citizens are encouraged to have their meals and not have the mindset that they are taking it away from those who need it more.

Food hunger is real and there are many ways to fight it.
Children with younger siblings should feel blessed to have that pesky little brother or sister around. According to a U.S. study, children with younger siblings have lower chances of becoming obese by first grade.

Children who did not have a younger brother or sister are three times more likely to be obese by first grade when compared to children who have younger siblings when they were around three or four years of age, according to a Reuters article was written by Lisa Rapaport and posted on YahooNews.

According to Dr. Julie Lumeng, senior study author and pediatrics and public health researcher at the University of Michigan and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, one possible explanation for the trend is that the older child is more likely to be more active with the addition of the younger sibling. It is highly likely that the older child, being the nearest in age to the toddler, is exposed to longer playtime with the younger sibling such as running around the house. Another possibility is that with two restless young children, families might take them to the park more often, lessening sedentary activities such as watching television.

The article also suggests that meals might be a little different with a younger sibling around. Previous researchers have pointed out that in the case of an only child, parents tend to get both controlling and too focused on the child's eating which could lead to potential bad eating habits.

This possibility is supported by the University of Minnesota researcher Jerica Berge. Although not part of the study, Berge confirms that children increase their risk of becoming overweight when parents pressure their children to eat or use restrictive means such as keeping food away from their children. According to Berge, the introduction of a younger sibling tends to relax the parents' monitoring over the older child's eating pattern. This would then give the child the chance to learn to self-regulate his or her eating habit, an important overall factor in the weight trajectory of the child.

The recent study was done by following 697 U.S. children from birth to the age of 6. By the time the children reached 6, those without siblings have a markedly higher than average weight to height ratio when compared to those who had younger siblings. The study was published on March 11, 2016 in the Pediatrics.

According to a WebMD article, one in every five children in the U.S. is obese or overweight. The most common factors include unhealthy eating patterns, lack of physical activity and, to a certain degree, genetic predisposition. This is a particularly worrisome condition as it exposes young children to a higher risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, early heart disease and diabetes even at such young age. Like the soaring adult obesity problem in the U.S., policymakers are still trying to find a way how to effectively handle this health problem.
Upton's Naturals is the first American food company that has made jackfruit available as a successful meat substitute throughout the country. The decision to offer the large, nutrient-rich, plant-based meat is a very bold choice and at Upton's Naturals, a vegan company, bold is the standard operating procedure.

Upton's Naturals CEO Daniel Stackmann launched the company in 2006 devoid of any background in business or food service background or any investor. However, he was driven by his vegan faith and self-reliance who wanted to serve the people viable alternatives to meat, Huffington Post reported.

Staackmann early days were spent as a suburban chubby kid who ate only pepperoni pizza, cookies and ice cream. At the age of 15, he became a vegan and continued to long for the big spicy, smoky flavors he'd loved as a kid. According to Staackmann, seitan was his vegan gateway and it has always remained a favorite food, but no one was making it locally.

Since its inception, the small company based in Chicago launched a number of seitan products ranging from barbecue-flavored to bacon. The latest chili-lime and barbecue jackfruit are meant to appeal to people who are seeking comfort food without cruelty.

According to Staackmann, they offer dishes that people can relate to. He adds that they have taken flavors that people have grown up with and match them with seitan and jackfruit, making it easier for people to swallow.

Upton's Naturals harvest, season as well as package the jackfruits in Thailand where it is found in abundance. In fact, Staackmann and company vice-president Nicole Sopko also formulate their jackfruit recipes in the Asian country. Sopko revealed that they actually travel all the way to Thailand to create the recipes with locally available ingredients, Food Business News reported.

The jackfruit products of the vegan company are a shelf-stable meat substitute prepared from young jackfruits harvested in Thailand. They offer a texture similar to that of pulled pork. In fact, one of the latest jackfruit flavors of the company has been inspired by Thailand.

Recently, Upton's Naturals added an original variety to its lineup, which is called "straight jackfruit as nature intended." The latest original and Thai curry varieties find place in the company's already existing Bar-B-Que and Chili Lime Carnitas jackfruit flavors.

Incidentally, Staackman and Sopko tried jackfruit for the first time at a Nepalese restaurant. They liked the dish so much that they decided to include jackfruit to the company's lineup, especially after reading online about the fruit as a meat substitute.
I've been a believer in Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 0.89%) since I ate my first burrito there in the summer of 2001, but it wasn't until last week that I realized how incredibly shrewd its management team is.

I say this because it's currently doing the smartest, but last thing, anyone would expect it to do right now: buying back a large amount of its own stock. In December alone, it repurchased 401,137 shares of its common stock. That's 16 times the amount that it buys in a typical month!

The reason it's buying back so much stock is because it's cheap -- at least compared to its stock price five months ago, before a handful of food-borne illness outbreaks caused investors to run for the exits. Since Chipotle's stock peaked at $750 a share last October, its price has dropped by 30%. And at one point in January, they were down nearly 50% compared to their 2015 high.

Assuming Chipotle's business recovers from its recent setback, which I believe it will, then this is great news for its shareholders -- myself included. As William Thorndike discussed at length in his invaluable book The Outsiders, the most successful CEOs since World War II measured by total shareholder return almost all took advantage of downturns in their stock prices to buy back stock.

"Repurchases became popular in the 1990s and have frequently been used by CEOs in recent years to prop up sagging stock prices," Thorndike explains. "Buybacks, however, add value for shareholders only if they are made at attractive prices."

Henry Singleton, the "Babe Ruth of repurchases," was the first corporate chieftain to fully grasp this. Between 1972 and 1984, Singleton bought back 90% of his firm Teledyne's shares at an average price-to-earnings multiple of 8. The money spent on buying back stock generated an astounding 42% compound annual return for the company's shareholders.

To be clear, Chipotle's shares are more expensive than Teledyne's were when Singleton went on his buyback binge. The burrito company's shares currently trade for 35 times earnings. But Chipotle and Teledyne are/were at very different stages in their lifecycles. Chipotle is growing rapidly, while Teledyne had already begun to contract by the time Singleton got serious about buying back stock. This justifies the dearer valuation that Chipotle is paying to repurchase its stock relative to Teledyne.

On top of this, Chipotle has likely repurchased even more stock over the past two months at even lower prices. Chipotle recently disclosed that its board of directors has raised the company's buyback authorization two times for a total of $600 million since the beginning of the year. Given this, it wouldn't be surprising to learn that it has repurchased an additional 1 million shares already in 2016, many of which were almost certainly picked up for well below $500 a share.

Lest there be any doubt about it, this is one of the shrewdest examples of capital allocation in the market today. If you're a current or prospective investor in Chipotle, I encourage you to take note.
Duke Energy Corporation's (NYSE: DUK) stock is down some 10% since January 2015. Yet it's one of the country's largest utilities and, over the past few years, it's been shifting its business mix to focus on regulated markets. That means that Duke is getting less and less exciting, but also less and less risky even though Wall Street seems to be taking a pass on the shares. But, really, how risky is Duke Energy Corporation's stock?

Not what it was

Before Duke bought Progress Energy in mid-2012, it generated around two-thirds of its revenues from regulated markets. That's an important figure to keep in mind, because it shows just how much Duke has changed in a very short period of time; today, its regulated utility business makes up around 90% of revenues.

Why is this important? Because regulated markets are essentially monopolies in which the government tells the incumbent utility how much it can make. On one hand, that limits upside potential, but on the other it leads to a pretty predictable business. So increasing this side of the the operations makes Duke more and more ... boring. Which, for a conservative investor, might be just what the doctor ordered.

That said, a good part of this growth has been achieved via acquisition. Buying Progress Energy was a big move, but Duke is currently in the middle of acquiring Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) for roughly $5 billion. Around 90% of Piedmont's business is regulated, so that's a plus. And it expands Duke's natural gas business, which should help on the growth side, too. But with any acquisition there's a risk that it could fall through.

So Duke's business is getting less risky, but it's taking on transaction risk to do it. That's probably a worthwhile trade-off, but it's something you'll want to keep in mind with this and any future moves. And when it comes to utilities, deals require the approval of regulators in every state or region affected.

That's been a real thorn in the side of Exelon (EXC 3.32%), which is trying to acquire Pepco (NYSE: POM). Regulators in D.C. and Maryland have balked at the deal, claiming it will stymie competition and stall renewable-power investment. Exelon has made concessions, but it hasn't helped, with D.C. regulators voting down the deal in recent days (though it provided steps that could lead to an approval). The same thing could happen to Duke and any other utility that goes the acquisition route.

Other ways to get boring ...

Which brings up the other 10% of Duke's business. It's split pretty evenly between international power and the company's merchant power business, which sells power to other utilities. These are relatively small businesses now, but they are both far more volatile than the regulated operations. However, even here Duke is trying to make changes.

For example, on the international front, the utility recently announced that it intends to find a buyer for part or all of its international business. That would pull the company out of markets such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. A strong dollar and country-specific troubles in some of these key markets have made the international side of things a tough sled of late. So getting out is a good idea and will further reduce Duke's risk profile. However, until a deal is inked (and it gets through the entire approval process), you'll want to keep an eye on international.

The other 5% or so of the company is focused on the merchant power market. That's been a rough market, too, with low natural gas prices keeping a lid on how much companies can charge for the power they produce. But Duke isn't sitting still. For example, it sold 11 power plants that used carbon-based fuel to Dynegy (NYSE: DYN) for $2.8 billion in 2015. That reduced its exposure to the space, but also helped to alter its merchant power profile.

In fact, it's still investing in the division -- it's just refocusing. Indeed, Duke is building clean energy plants like solar as it moves away from carbon spewing plants that use coal, oil, and natural gas. As government regulations increasingly push the utility industry toward renewable power, Duke's investments here should be well positioned to benefit from solid demand, long-term contracts, and decent pricing. Of course, construction of any kind comes with risks, and you'll want to watch this space on that front, but overall Duke has even managed to find a way to make its merchant business look less risky.

This "clean" shift on the deregulated side, however, highlights a long-term issue that Duke shareholders will also want to watch on the regulated side of things. Today, coal and natural gas powered plants make up around 75% of Duke's owned capacity. Nuclear (about 18%), hydro (7%), and other clean energy options make up the rest. This isn't a bad thing today, but if present social and regulatory trends hold, Duke will increasingly be called upon to decrease its carbon footprint. To be sure, Duke's regulated business has plenty of time to shift gears and the spending it does to "clean up" should lead to top- and bottom-line growth. But you'll want to keep an eye on this big-picture theme even if it evolves over time periods that could be measured in decades.

Spend money to make money

So overall Duke looks like it's moving down the risk scale by increasing its regulated business, trying to jettison its international assets, and shifting toward renewables in its merchant operations. For a risk-averse utility investor, this is all good news. That said, don't lose sight of the fact that any purchase or sale requires regulatory approvals that could scuttle even the best deal, but that's not something specific to Duke.

And while you're at it, you'll also want to remember that regulated utilities generally spend money on new power plants and upgrading infrastructure in order to grow revenues, assuming rate hikes get approved by regulators. With the long-term trend toward clean energy and Duke's current power profile, it could wind up spending a lot over the comes decades. So there are risks here, but they're still similar to what any other utility would face. The real story about risk at Duke, despite what appears to be Wall Street concern, is the shift to get more regulated and ... boring. So boring, in fact, that investors might just be able to sleep well at night.
What: Shares of miner Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLF 7.78%) jumped as much as 14.5% today after the company restarted a mine.

So what: Cliffs' Northshore mining operation in Minnesota will restart by May 15, supplying iron ore to U.S. steel manufacturers. Management is encouraged by rising steel prices as well as import tariffs that have been announced, with more to come this week, on products coming from multiple countries, including China.

To make a profit, Cliffs Natural still needs to see idled steel mills restart operations and a rise in iron ore prices, but management is betting that demand and tariff trends are heading in the right direction for a recovery.

Now what: Restarting Minnesota operations is a bullish sign for the company's operations and maybe the industry as a whole, but there's a long way to go before Cliffs Natural is on solid financial footing. You can see below that revenue and earnings have been dropping rapidly for the past five years and one mine coming back online won't completely turn its fortunes around.

Take today's news as a data point in your investment thesis, but far from a confirmation of recovery. We need to see margins expand and revenue to grow for that to happen, and that may still be a ways off.
During an interview on the FOX Business Networks Varney & Co., former GOP presidential candidate and former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal explained why he takes issue with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

I think there are several things wrong with Donald Trump, Jindal said. Youve got a man who says everything is negotiable everythings not negotiable. We need a conservative right now to apply our conservative principles to rescue the American Dream from the mess that President Obama has made. When Trump says everything is negotiable what does that mean? Does that mean our Second Amendment rights are negotiable? Does that mean religious liberties are negotiable?

Jindal argues that Trump is not a true conservative.

I dont think he truly, in his core, believes in smaller government, Jindal said. I think he has no problem with big government, as long as hes the one running it. Youve seen that in his policy prescriptions whether its on healthcare he wants a government paying for everybodys healthcare, negotiating directly with healthcare providers instead of trusting the market. Youve seen it in his approach to eminent domain and a number of issues. This is not a man who is committed to conservative principles. So my beef with him is not the fact that hes willing to negotiate on the margins to get things done. My beef with him is that at his core it doesnt feel like hes got conservative principles.

However, the former governor of Louisiana said he would support whoever the Republican nominee for president iseven if it is Donald Trump.

Im absolutely supporting our nominee, he said. We cannot afford four years of Hillary Clinton. Obamas made a mess of this country. We cannot afford four more years in a direction where more people are dependent on government I dont think hell [Trump] be the nominee, but yes, Im going to support the Republican nominee.
SOURCE: ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals already has one cancer drug on the market, and if things go its way, it could have a second cancer drug approved as soon as next year. That's good news, but investors may want to temper their enthusiasm. As you'll see in the following three graphics, there are some important reasons why buying shares in Ariad Pharmaceuticals may be too risky right now.

No. 1: Premium valuationAriad Pharmaceuticals deserves kudos for its relaunch of Iclusig,a drug that treats chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, two rare blood and bone marrow diseases.

A year after winning an early approval from the FDA, it was discovered that it can cause dangerous blood clots in some patients, and as a result,Iclusig was temporarily yanked off the market in 2013. The drug was relaunched with a stricter label in 2014, and despite its past, Iclusig sales leapt more than 100% to $112.5 million last year.

This year, management thinks Iclusig's sales could exceed $190 million.

That's unquestionably impressive growth, but I can't help thinking that a lot of Iclusig's upside may already be priced into Ariad Pharmaceuticals shares. After all, the company's $1.2 billion market cap means shares are trading north of 6 times forward revenue, and that's no bargain.

SOURCE: ARIAD PHARMACEUTICALS Q4 EPS REPORT. AUTHOR'S CALCULATIONS.

No. 2: Sky-high expensesAriad Pharmaceuticals has done a much better job growing sales of Iclusig than it's done controlling its expenses.

Operating expenses soared $70 million to over $330 million in 2015, and that's worrisome, because it means that the company's expenses grew about $13 faster than sales of Iclusig.

Granted, some of Ariad Pharmaceuticals' spending increase is tied to the development of brigatinib, a therapy for ALK+ non-small-cell lung cancer that could make its way to regulators at some point this year, but until management reins in spending, there's no telling when it will stop losing money. Last year, its soaring operating expenses caused the company to lose $231 million alone.

ARIA Total Operating Expenses (TTM) data by YCharts

No. 3: Tapping the reservesThe company's spending pace and mounting losses mean it's drawing down its cash stockpile.

In the past year, cash and equivalents on Ariad Pharmaceuticals' books slipped from over $350 million to $231 million. Importantly, that $122 million decline in cash helped stockholder equity go negative. Because the company's cash is shrinking, it has $429 million in long-term debt, and its book value is underwater, there's serious reason for concern.

Tying it togetherAriad Pharmaceuticals was reportedly in discussions to sell itself last year, but it couldn't agree on a price, so those negotiations came to a standstill.

Instead, the board of directors installed Paris Panayiotopoulos as the company'snew CEO on Jan. 1, and one of his first items of business will be getting the company's financial house in order. During the company's recent earnings conference call, Panayiotopoulos indicated he's in the process of looking at his options, saying that "there are no sacred cows" in his quest to boost shareholder value. If he can find enough fat to cut, then perhaps this company becomes less risky, but until we learn more about his plan, investors might want to consider investing in other ideas instead.

The article 3 Charts Show Why Buying Ariad Pharmaceuticals May Be Risky originally appeared on Fool.com.

Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned. Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: Amazon

In technology, while it isn't everything, timing matters in determining winners and losers.

Case in point: Online grocery delivery services drew significant attention and raised hoards of venture capital during the original tech bubble, only to flame outspectacularly as the original tech bubble burst.

Fast-forward to today. The start of 2016 has ushered in a renewed interest in grocery delivery among both technology and retail powers, including Amazon.com , Alphabet, and Whole Foods. And amid this rekindled interest in a truly challenging business, it should come as no surprise that e-commerce competitor extraordinaire Amazon.com is the firm accelerating the pace of competition, as evidenced by one recent move.

Amazon Fresh enters The U.K. According to recent announcements, Amazon has agreed to bring its Prime Fresh and Amazon Pantry services to the U.K. via a partnershipwith British grocer WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC . Amazon's expansion news was widely expected, and comes as the e-commerce giant takes steps to magnify the footprint of its same-day delivery services across the country.

Image by Jeff Sandquist via Wikimedia Commons.

Last fall,Amazon expanded its same-day delivery services in the U.K. to include limited perishable items like butter and cheese. Now, with WM Morrison Supermarkets serving as its wholesale distribution partner, Amazon will expand its Prime Now one-hour delivery service to include over 15,000 items, though it will still only operate in major population centers -- London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, and Liverpool. An entirely separate service, Amazon Pantry is available across the entire U.K. but features a smaller selection of roughly 5,000 non-perishables like cereal, soap, and diapers, to name a few items.

Sign of the times For those who are not aware, the U.K. grocery delivery market today is far more developed than that of the U.S. According to a study by British nonprofit Institute of Grocery Distribution, 27% of British shoppers reported using online grocery services to handle their grocery shopping each month. The nonprofit also estimates that online grocery delivery revenues will effectively double to $23.9 billion by 2020.As such, Amazon's interest in this market should surprise precisely no one, as it exemplifies the broader, more substantive maneuvering the company has undertaken to dominate what should eventually become a substantially larger segment of retail grocery sales.

Though it involves thinking on a truly massive and long-term scale, arguably the best way to understand Amazon is as a vertically integrated retailer that owns as significant a share of the global distribution network as it can profitably control. Recently, details of Amazon's internal plan to potentially create its own global logistics service connecting manufacturers in Asia to consumers worldwide emerged. Such an undertaking would require years of painstaking investment on its part, but as the company that prides itself on long-term planning, such a sweeping endeavor is arguably the safest route to dominating the generational rise of global e-commerce, which remains very much in its infancy today.

The expansion of grocery delivery into the U.K. certainly won't move the needle to a meaningful degree for a $100 billion revenue colossus like Amazon. However, the firm's decision to expand its grocery delivery service internationally again speaks to its broader long-term intentions to capture as much e-commerce market share as it possibly can.

The article Amazon Expands Online Grocery Delivery to the U.K. originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Andrew Tonner has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends GOOG, GOOGL, AMZN, and WFM. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Cosmetics maker Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP) said on Monday it would cut about 2,500 jobs worldwide and shift its corporate headquarters to the UK as part of its three-year turnaround plan.

Avon shares were up nearly 4 percent at $4.55 in extended trading.

The company sold most of its North American business to Cerberus Capital, its biggest investor, after four years of falling sales.

Avon said it expected to record $60 million in pre-tax charges related to job cuts in the first quarter.

The company, which has 28,300 employees, said the transition of its headquarters would occur over time.

In January, Avon had outlined plans to cut $350 million in costs over the next three years, invest in technology and tap social media to revive sales.

However, a bigger-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter sales indicated that the company had failed to revive demand for its cosmetics in key markets.

Avon said it would maintain its current facilities in Suffern and Rye, New York and continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under its current symbol.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Global oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on Monday on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals, as U.S. crude stockpiles continue to mount and Iran maintains little interest in a global production freeze.

Market intelligence firm Genscape reported an inventory build of 585,854 barrels in Cushing, Oklahoma, taking the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures closer to capacity, traders who saw the data said.

Russia said OPEC's meeting on a production freeze with other key oil producers like itself will probably be held in Doha in next month. It said Iran supports the plan, although Tehran was keen to restore its crude exports first to pre-sanction levels.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley predicted a $25-$45 trading range for U.S. crude in an oversupplied but volatile market, concurring with several analysts' views.

"We feel that the bulk of this stronger than expected 5-6 week price advance has been seen and that prices will be shifting into a near term consolidation phase," said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.

U.S. crude was down $1.60, or 4 percent, at $36.90 a barrel by 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT). It hit a three-month high of $39.02 on Friday, surging from a 12-year low of $26.05 a month earlier.

Brent was down $1.10, or 2.8 percent, at $39.29 barrel. The benchmark fell to a 2003 low of $27.10 in late January.

Some analysts expect a more bearish supply-demand picture when the U.S. government issues weekly oil data on Wednesday. Last week's report showed a crude build of nearly 4 million barrels to above 521 million barrels, the fourth straight week of growing to record highs.

"I think as we approach $40 for WTI and Brent, the market will not like a net build of more than 2 million barrels this week," said Scott Shelton, energy broker at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina.

"But I also think the net build will be less than what we had earlier in the first quarter, which means we are not ready to retrace prices in a large way, but also not ready for $40-$45 either."

Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their bullish bets on U.S. crude for a third week in a row to November highs, data showed on Friday, on conviction prices have bottomed after a near two-year selloff.

But in a sign investors were growing more skeptical about Brent, U.K.-based data showed on Monday that speculators had cut net long positions in the global crude benchmark by 9,500 contracts in the week to March 8.

(By Barani Krishnan; Additional reporting by Karolin Schaps in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Image: Rosetta Stone.

Most people have had a desire to learn a new language at some point, and Rosetta Stone has worked hard to try to put itself in position to be the go-to provider of foreign-language learning services. Yet Rosetta Stone has also looked to diversify its offerings, moving into the general educational area and going up against rivals like Scholastic with its Lexia literacy-education product. Coming into its fourth-quarter financial report, Rosetta Stone investors weren't looking for an immediate turnaround, but they did want to see some signs of progress. Although the company is still losing money and seeing sales plunge, Rosetta Stone nevertheless cut its losses substantially and could finally be moving in the right direction. Let's take a closer look at how Rosetta Stone did last quarter and what's ahead for the company in the future.

Rosetta Stone garbles its growthRosetta Stone's fourth-quarter results weren't anything to write home about. Revenue fell 27% to $58.0 million, which was even worse than the 24% drop that investors were looking to see. A net loss of $11.4 million worked out to about $0.52 per share, and although that was extensive, it was nevertheless better than the $0.67 consensus loss forecast that investors had going into the report.

Looking more closely at Rosetta Stone's numbers, you can see some of the mixed influences on the company's overall results. The Enterprise & Education unit actually showed solid growth, with revenue climbing 6% to $26.3 million and making up more than 40% of Rosetta Stone's overall sales. Revenue related to the Lexia product nearly doubled, although the company said that the beneficial benefit of using purchase accounting accentuated growth in a way that will gradually dissipate over the next year or so.

However, the Consumer business kept showing signs of struggle. Revenue plunged more than 40% to $31.7 million, although Rosetta Stone had expected that sales trend to become more deeply established by now. Rosetta Stone is working to find ways to maximize profitability, and that has led to cost-cutting measures like a reduction in advertising spending and greater internal efficiency in minimizing operating costs. In addition, 24-month subscription products have a similar impact on sales that tech companies have seen from their cloud-computing solutions. Rosetta Stone doesn't recognize the revenue from those subscription sales all at once, but it trickles in throughout the entire period.

CEO John Hass said that Rosetta Stone is looking to keep moving forward on its overall plan. "We continued to demonstrate progress on each of the three priorities that were established when we embarked on this transformation in March 2015," Hass said, and he hopes that the moves will "improve operating performance and strengthen the business for the long term."

What's ahead for Rosetta Stone? Yet Rosetta Stone is far from declaring victory. "We realize there is more work to be done," said Hass, and he therefore announced plans to restructure its Enterprise language business to concentrate more extensively on its most successful geographical areas. Doing so should leave Rosetta Stone primarily with business in the U.S. and northern Europe, and it could work with partners in some other areas. Nevertheless, Rosetta Stone expects to lay off about a sixth of its workforce and close its software-development operations in China and France.

The company also said that it was declaring its CEO search to be at an end. Hass will stay in the role, and he said he is looking forward to "continue the restructuring and position our company for profitable growth."

Rosetta Stone still has a long way to go in figuring out exactly how it can position itself for maximum growth down the road. By biting the bullet now, however, Rosetta Stone could well use its strong reputation for quality as a way to drum up more business if economic conditions strengthen throughout 2016.

The article Rosetta Stone Seeks a Road to Recovery originally appeared on Fool.com.

Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Rosetta Stone. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Model S was the No. 1 large luxury sedan in the U.S. in 2015. Image source: Tesla.

In no uncertain terms, Tesla Motors dominated the U.S. market for large luxury sedans last year. It's possible that you already saw the headlines last month when the company reported fourth-quarter earnings and gave a rare glimpse into its geographical performance by showing how it fared in the U.S. compared to other large luxury vehicles. The Model S even overtook the venerable Mercedes-Benz S-Class for the first time.

Image source: SEC filings and company reports.

This victory underscores the urgency that many traditional automakers now feel with competing with Tesla, since we're talking about one of the most profitable segments of the market. But there's another factor to consider: Tesla doesn't "punch" cars like its rivals do.

Channel-stuffing by any other name still boosts reported salesPunching cars is an industry practice where dealers will purchase vehicles from their own inventory and then use those cars as demo units or service loaners. This allows the manufacturer to register the transaction as a sale and boost their reported figures, even though the vehicle is not being sold directly to an end customer. Oftentimes, these vehicles are then later sold as used vehicles. In some cases, manufacturers even offer hefty incentives to dealers who are willing to participate in the practice.

With the U.S. auto market currently at record highs in terms of unit volumes, the pressure is on for manufacturers to maintain sales volumes. For instance, BMW has been offering incentives to dealers from $1,000 to $3,000 for "specialty demo" units that dealers purchase, according to a recent report from Automotive News. The German automaker is aggressively trying to maintain its crown in the U.S. luxury market. These types of incentives may have helped contribute to BMW's December figures, when it said 6 Series (which competes with Model S) monthly unit sales jumped 64% to 1,461. BMW was able to retain its title for another year, narrowly beating out other luxury brands.

Simply put, punching cars is effectively a form of channel-stuffing. But since there are legitimate needs for service loaners and demo units, it's a little bit more acceptable than in other consumer markets, but only to a certain extent. It's still a highly questionable strategy. By comparing sales data with registration data, investors can get an idea of how widespread the practice is. IHS and Automotive News estimated that the difference in 2015 was nearly 287,000 vehicles, the largest gap in a decade, which suggests the practice is on the rise.

Tesla has no sales channelSince Tesla uses a direct sales model, it only recognizes revenue and unit sales once the vehicle is delivered directly to the customer. There is no channel to stuff. Elon Musk even addressed this distinction on a conference call last May (via Thomson Reuters StreetEvents):

That being said, Tesla does have a distribution channel that is always full of vehicles. These are often cars that have already been ordered and purchased and are simply en route to their new homes.

But the important difference is that these units are classified as finished goods inventory (up 20% last quarter to $476.5 million), and Tesla does not recognize them as sales until delivery. Some of the company's finished goods inventory is allocated to service loaners and new inventory, but Tesla attributed last quarter's increase "primarily due to customer orders that were in transit for delivery at year end."

Even with the "advantage" of padding sales figures with punching cars and channel-stuffing, Tesla's luxury rivals couldn't keep up.

The article Tesla's Dominance of the U.S. Luxury Market Is More Impressive Than You Think originally appeared on Fool.com.

Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Tesla Motors. Evan Niu, CFA has the following options: long January 2018 $180 calls on Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla Motors. The Motley Fool recommends BMW. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
After leaning solidly to the left since George W. Bush was president, the Asian vote for the 2016 election is up for grabs.

The group swung to the right for the 2014 midterms, but that shift isnt a given that theyll go Republican in November.

Asians make up 5.8% of the American population according to the Pew Research Center. They boast the highest income of any ethnic group, are the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. and the best educated. The Asian demographic in the U.S. is composed primarily of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Filipino and Vietnamese individuals.

One of the most puzzling factors about Asian Americans is that their higher average incomes should make them more likely to lean right, (which they did in 1996 for Dole versus Clinton) but over the last decade the group has voted solidly blue.

But a slew of factors pushed them to the left including anti-immigration rhetoric from the right. Just this cycle alone, Jeb Bush angered Chinese Americans when he said that Chinese women travel to America for maternity tourism, and Trump has launched a vigorous verbal tirade against China. The Democrats have employed the tactic of presenting themselves as the party of inclusion to win over the Asian vote. Currently, the majority of Asian politicians are Democrats.

Theres a feeling among Asian Americans that neither party has really treated them with the seriousness and engagement that a lot of other groups have gotten in the U.S. political process says John Ying, chairman of the Asian Republican Coaltion and the founder and managing director of Peak Capital.

Theres no shortage of big time donors to the GOP of Asian heritage. Michael Chae, the CFO of Blackstone (NYSE:BX), donated $150,000 in this election cycle to the Jeb Bush Super PAC, Right to Rise according to Federal Election Center (FEC) records. Through a spokeswoman, Chae declined to comment to FOXBusiness.com.

Ying as well supported Bush's campaign with $20,000 to Right to Rise. Indian American pharmaceutical billionaire John Kapoor, the founder and executive chairman of Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY), has been a lifelong Republican, supporting John McCain in the 2008 election, but hasnt yet financially backed anyone this cycle, according to FEC records.

Recently, Chicago businessman and CEO of AVG Advanced Technologies Shalabh Shalli Kumar launched the Republican Hindu Coalition, (a sister organization to the Republican Jewish Coalition) personally investing $2 million to back Republican candidates this election cycle.

And Panda Express, arguably the most recognizable Chinese food chain in the country, was founded by two Republicans, Andrew and Peggy Cherng. The two supported Romneys 2012 campaign and most recently Andrew donated $2,700 to Jeb Bush.

After the 2014 midterm shakeup, both Democrats and Republicans are fighting for the Asian vote. Democrats are making sure that voters hear anti-Asian rhetoric from the GOP side, while the RNC launched the Republican Leadership Initiative, recruiting Asian and Pacific Islanders to volunteer as field and community organizers.

Ying says that the GOP needs to reach out aggressively to the Asian community and learn what the key issues are for the group.

And as the candidates duke it out over the black and Hispanic vote, Ying forewarns that despite Asians being a small portion of the electorate today, as the Asian population grows rapidly, both parties need to act quickly to win over their vote and earn their loyalty. This is going to be the swing vote that will perhaps drive a lot of critical races in this country says Ying.
Cuban-American actor Steven Bauers role as Al Pacinos best friend and confidant in the film Scarface tells the story of two Cuban refugees who become drug kingpins in Miami after fleeing Cuba. Today, Bauers empathy for the Cuban people hasnt changed, even though the U.S. has re-established diplomatic relations with the island nation.

It has to be an equal give and take. You cant just take from them, that doesnt help the Cuban people, said Bauer during a sit-down interview with FOXBusiness.com ahead of President Obamas historic visit to Cuba later this month. What Bauer and others want is a change in the countrys leadership, which has been under the rule of the Castro brothers since 1959 when their revolutionary movement overthrew President Fulgencio Batista. Fidel ruled the nation until his younger brother Raul took the helm in 2008. I really want to see the government change, he said adding that the people of Cuba have been living on an island prison.

Cuban-American Actor Steven Bauers Message to Obama 'Scarface' Star Appeals to Obama Ahead of Cuba Visit

Bauer, born Esteban Ernesto Echevarria, in Havana, is one of a handful of Cuban-American actors in Hollywood. Scarface earned Bauer and Pacino Golden Globe Nominations. More recently, he had a role on AMCs (NYSE:AMC) Breaking Bad, the cult favorite that garnered over 10 million viewers during its season finale. Currently, he stars in CBS (NYSE:CBS) owned Showtime drama Ray Donovan as Avi, a sort-of fixer, to lead character Ray Donovan played by Liev Schreiber. The show, now prepping for season four, will have even more twists and turns than earlier seasons, says Bauer.

President Obama and the First Lady will travel to Cuba on March 21 and 22 where he will hold a bilateral meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro while also meeting with entrepreneurs, according to a White House press statement. CEOs from Marriott (NYSE:MAR) and Xerox (NYSE:XRX) will accompany President Obama, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Despite CEO engagement and fanfare around the visit John Kavulich, President, U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council tells FOXBusiness.com, "anyone who has high expectations for the visit is delusional."

Although Kavulich credits President Obama for making progress with the nation, Castro has no plans to change the countrys communist ways. He reiterated those views during an appearance at the General Assembly of the United Nations last year.

As U.S.-Cuba relations continue to thaw, it is unlikely any change of government will transpire in the near-term. President Raul Castro has announced he will retire in 2018 and to date there are few details on who will replace him.

As for Bauer, one day he would like to return to the country on behalf of the arts. Id like to start an international Cuban film festival, he said. One that is bigger and more global, he said, than the current Havana Film Festival which recognizes Latin artists.
Is your doctor a technophobe? Increasingly, the answer may be no. There's a stereotype that says doctors shun technology that might threaten patients' privacy and their own pocketbooks. But a new breed of physicians is texting health messages to patients, tracking disease trends on Twitter, identifying medical problems on Facebook pages and communicating with patients through email.

So far, those numbers are small. Many doctors still cling to pen and paper, and are most comfortable using e-technology to communicate with each other - not with patients. But from the nation's top public health agency, to medical clinics in the heartland, some physicians realize patients want more than a 15-minute office visit and callback at the end of the day.

Far from Silicon Valley and East Coast high-tech hubs, Kansas City pediatrician Natasha Burgert offers child-rearing tips on her blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, and answers patients' questions by email and text messages.

"These tools are embedded in my work day," Burgert said. "This is something I do in between checkups. It's much easier for me to shoot you an email and show you a blog post than it is to phone you back. That's what old-school physicians are going to be doing, spending an hour at the end of the day" returning patients' phone calls, she said.

She recently received a typical email - from a mother wondering how to wean her 2-year-old from a pacifier. With a few thumb clicks, Burgert sent the mom a link to a blog post offering tips on that same topic.

Sarah Hartley, whose two young daughters are Burgert's patients, loves having e-access to the doctor and says even emails late in the evening typically get a quick response.

"It's so useful," Hartley said. "Sometimes parents get concerned about a lot of things that maybe aren't necessarily big deals" and getting off-hours reassurance is comforting, she said.

Burgert, 36, doesn't charge for virtual communication, although some doctors do. She says it enhances but doesn't replace office visits or other personal contact with patients.

Colleagues "look at me and kind of shake their heads when I tell them what I do. They don't have an understanding of the tools," Burgert said. "For the next generation that's coming behind me, I think this will be much more common."

Dr. Steven Nissen is from an older generation, but has started to dabble in e-technology. A cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Nissen is in his 60s and says he's hardly a member of "the Twitterati." But with help from clinic staffers, he recently led a live Twitter chat about things like heart failure and cholesterol problems, and found the process "in some ways maybe a little exhilarating."

"This was an opportunity to use a different communication channel to find an audience to talk about heart health," Nissen said.

"The downside is that we dumb it down," he said. "It's very challenging for physicians, primarily because the messages that we have are not conducive to 14 characters. If you ask me a question, you're likely to get a five-minute answer."

But with so many young people facing obesity, which can contribute to heart problems, Nissen said Twitter can be an effective way to reach an important audience, and he plans to use it more.

"If it gets us through to the people who need to hear the message, that's great," Nissen said.

The American Medical Association acknowledges benefits in using social media, but also warns doctors to protect patient privacy and "maintain appropriate boundaries" with patients.

In a publicized case that makes doctors shudder, a state disciplinary board last year reprimanded Rhode Island emergency medicine physician Alexandra Thran for "unprofessional conduct" and fined her $500 after she made comments on her Facebook page about a patient's injury. Even though she didn't name the patient, others who read the post figured out the identity. Thran did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Raoul Wolf, a pediatrics professor at the University of Chicago, doesn't use social media sites personally or professionally and worries about the permanence of online communication.

"With anything on the Internet, it's there forever. There's no calling it back," Wolf said. "Ask any politician."

Hard numbers are scarce on exactly how many of the nation's nearly 1 million doctors use virtual communication for patient care, but anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers are rising.

A survey last summer of 501 randomly selected doctors found that more than 20 percent engaged in emails with patients over secure networks, and similar numbers had websites allowing patients to schedule visits or download test results. Only 6 percent communicated with patients through social media; that translates to about 60,000 doctors nationwide.

Doctors' use of social media and virtual communication for patient care is expected to increase under the Accountable Care Act, which encourages electronic health records and the "electronic exchange" of health information.

A study published online in March found that 60 percent of state public health departments use Twitter or another social media site, mostly to distribute information rather than interact with patients.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spreads its public health messages by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and text-messaging. It offers a free service featuring 12 texts a month, including automated tips for healthy eating and other obesity prevention advice. The CDC has almost 2 million followers on its social media sites, said Amy Burnett Heldman, the agency's social media leader.

The agency's leader, Dr. Tom Frieden, has done six live Twitter chats since December, interacting in real time online with the public.

"There's a way 4 everyone 2 work out, u just have 2 find your way around what obstacles may b in your path," Frieden tweeted May 21 in his most recent Twitter chat, about obesity prevention.

CDC scientists also monitor social media sites including Twitter for disease surveillance. One instance involved Indiana measles cases that first showed up a few days before the February Super Bowl. CDC officials monitored Twitter and Facebook posts about rashes and emergency room visits to determine if the outbreak was a widespread threat - it wasn't. Another involved an outbreak of suspected Legionnaires disease among people who attended a 2011 event at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Word of that illness surfaced when a German businessman who attended posted about his flu-like symptoms on Facebook, and CDC used social media sites to help locate the illness source - a whirlpool spa.

Heldman says using social media makes sense for an agency whose goal is to improve Americans' health.

"You're meeting people where they are, where they share information with others, where they go to get information," she said. "That's allowing CDC to have an even greater reach."

In other examples:

-Public health officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., have posted YouTube videos warning kids about excess sugar in sodas and juice boxes. And health agencies in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. have used text messages to send safe-sex advice to teens, including what to do when a condom breaks.

-Dr. Jennifer Dyer quit her pediatrician job in Columbus, Ohio, last year to start a social media-based patient education company after running a small study that showed text messages helped her teenage patients better manage their diabetes. She's creating smartphone apps that will do the same.

-The famed Mayo Clinic holds "Tweet camps" to train its doctors how to use Twitter appropriately, said Lee Aase, director of Mayo's Center for Social Media in Rochester, Minn.

Says Aase, "If we can trust doctors with sharp instruments and narcotics, we can trust them with Twitter and Facebook."
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Ianka Barbosa was 7 months pregnant when she found out her child had microcephaly. Before the baby was even born, the father had gone.

Barbosa, 18, blames the break-up on her baby's abnormally small head and brain damage that doctors link to the Zika virus she contracted during pregnancy.

"I think, for him, it was my fault the baby has microcephaly," said Barbosa, wearing a blue dress and cradling tiny two-week old Sophia in a cramped bare brick house where she now lives with her parents in Brazil's northeast.

"When I most needed his help, he left me."

The house, which overlooks a polluted stream on the edge of a poor neighborhood, is now home to a family of nine. Only Barbosa's father has a job doing occasional building work.

Her ex-partner, Thersio, says he does not see Sophia, but avoids discussing microcephaly and blames Barbosa's parents for the break-up. "I gave her the choice, are you your parents' woman or mine ... And she chose her parents."

Single parents are common in Brazil where some studies show as many as 1 in 3 children from poor families grow up without their biological father, but doctors on the frontline of the Zika outbreak say they are concerned about how many mothers of babies with microcephaly are being abandoned.

With the health service already under strain, abortion prohibited, and the virus hitting the poorest hardest, an absent father is yet another burden on mothers already struggling to cope with raising a child that might never walk or talk.

At a specialized microcephaly clinic in Campina Grande, psychologist Jacqueline Loureiro works with mothers to help them cope with stress and trauma. Of the 41 women she counsels, she says only 10 receive adequate financial or emotional support from their partners.

"At first many of the women say they have a partner, but as you get to know them better you realize the father is never around and the baby and mother have effectively been abandoned," Loureiro said.

Loureiro blames Brazil's macho culture, which she says is particularly strong in the northeast.

Gender roles are strictly defined and women still tend to care for the baby and look after the household. The added burden of having a child with microcephaly strains this dynamic, says Loureiro, and often the man ends up leaving or refusing to help.

SPECIAL NEEDS AND DIVORCE

Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether it actually causes microcephaly in babies. Brazil said it has confirmed 745 cases of microcephaly since October, and considers most of them related to Zika infections in the mothers. It is investigating another 4,230 cases of suspected microcephaly.

Until the World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency last month, there was little interest in microcephaly and no data for its toll on parents. But studies into children with other special needs shows it substantially increases the chance of marital breakdown.

Jennifer Lewis, who runs the U.S. based Microcephaly Foundation and has a 12-year-old daughter with the condition, is not surprised fathers in northeast Brazil are abandoning partners and children. Her charity has a network of around 5,000 families and she says the majority are single mothers.

"I see single mothers all the time, where the fathers have left, the fathers have got scared. I even see married couples where the father has pretty much nothing to do with the child," she said in a phone interview from Phoenix, Arizona.

Campina Grande's health secretary, Luzia Pinto, told Reuters the city is planning to provide housing for mothers and children with microcephaly through a government housing program in order to help with the crisis. She also ensured a psychologist was hired at the clinic to offer support.

NO HELP FOR FATHERS

Few Brazilian jobs give enough flexibility for parents to better share the responsibility of looking after a child with special needs. This is made even more difficult as parents must often travel for hours to visit the few specialized clinics operating in Brazil.

At the clinic in Campina Grande, 20-year-old Rogerio dos Santos is one of only two fathers present. Standing in the whitewashed corridor, he says he's shocked by the tales of fathers abandoning their children but says it has been hard to get time off at the gas station where he works.

For fathers like dos Santos, the support network in Brazil is lacking. Whereas the clinic runs a support group for the mothers, there is no specific help offered for fathers.

"There is a certain amount of fatalism about fathers leaving, unfortunately," said Gary Barker, who promotes gender equality though ProMundo, an organization he founded in Rio de Janeiro 19 years ago and which now works in four countries.

For Barker, the health sector needs to offer support specifically for men.

"There needs to be an understanding that a baby being born with microcephaly is an event that is going to increase the chance the father's not going to stick around and he's going to need some extra hand holding," he said.

In the small town of Algodao de Jandaira, an hour from Campina Grande, Josemary da Silva pours a cold bath to relieve her son Gilberto from the relentless heat. The five-month-old baby with microcephaly stops crying briefly as he is washed in a pale blue plastic tub.

The father, after whom Gilberto is named, first saw his son one month after he was born and has rarely visited since. Two months ago he stopped contributing the $30 a month he had paid to help da Silva care for the child.

"He says he loves him. But what kind of love is this," she says as Gilberto starts to cry again.
A Houston family is preparing to sue their daughters dentist after the 4-year-old allegedly suffered severe brain damage following an appointment.

KHOU.com reported that Nevaeh Hall, a repeat patient at Diamond Dental, suffered multiple seizures during a visit that her familys attorneys say were caused by the use of too many sedatives and an often controversial restraint device. The girl saw the dentist to get some of her teeth removed and capped due to decay.

"In essence what happened is this child was chemically and physically suffocated, Jim Moriarty, the Halls attorney, told KHOU.com. "This child suffered massive brain damage during that time period, and that didn't have to happen."

A papoose, the device the dentist used, confines the patients arms and legs so they cannot interfere with the procedure. Courissa Clark, Nevaehs mother, said she and her husband were told to stay in the waiting room during the girls appointment. It had been Navaehs third visit to the dentists office, which is run by Bethaniel Jefferson. According to KHOU.com, the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners has fined and reprimanded Bethaniel at least twice before.

KHOU.com reported that records reviewed by an independent dentist show Navaeh was sedated in the office for over seven hours, given five sedatives for a routine dental procedure that should have been done and over by mid-morning.

Those records suggest that, during the procedure, Nevaehs heart rate increased to 195 beats per minute, her blood pressure rose to 168/77, and her oxygen dropped as low as 86 percent.

I can tell you that this chart shows you that this child was essentially tortured, Moriarty told KHOU.com.

"They never did call it a seizure, Clark said during a news conference Thursday, according to KHOU.com. They just said shaking, she's shaking. Just the whole time they assured us that everything was OK. And the next time we were allowed to come in is when the paramedics were actually coming back. And that was about four hours later."

Following Navaehs injury, Jeffersons license has been temporarily suspended, KHOU.com reported.

Navaeh's family has started a GoFundMe page to help cover her care.


Nikki Christou, of the United Kingdom, was born with a malformation that has left a tinted bulge on one side of her face, but she hasnt let the rare condition stop her from turning into a YouTube star.

This has really interfered with my life, Christou, 11, who suffers from high-flow craniofacial AVM (arteriovenus malformation), says in a YouTube video that has racked up more than 520,000 views so far. I used to be in all the clubs at school, see my friends a lot, just lead a really perfectly normal life.

In the video, Christou said she didnt start experiencing symptoms until about five years ago. Initially, she had some pains and veins popping up on the right side of her face. She was referred to a specialist and diagnosed with an AVM. Nikkis runs from the right side of her head down her face.

AVMs are rare, abnormal tangles of blood vessels in which arteries and veins connect directly skipping the capillaries and disrupt natural blood low, according to Houston Methodist. The appearance depends on the size of the blood vessel involved, and the area may have a pink-blue tint that can darken over time. The cause of AVMs is unknown, according to the National Institutes of Health. The greatest danger for patients is hemorrhage. Treatment can include surgery or focused radiation therapy.

Christou and her family started The Butterfly AVM Charity to raise funds for research. According to their website, the preteen has undergone 20 major operations and has had more than 300 hospital visits to manage her symptoms. The organization has raised over $229,000 so far.

On her Youtube channel, Nikki Lilly, she shares baking, shopping, makeup tutorials and other lifestyle videos with her audience of more than 38,000 subscribers. The most popular video, with over 900,000 views, shows Christou applying makeup to get ready for school.
Researchers have taken another step toward creating a bioengineered human heart by using donor hearts stripped of components that would generate an immune response, and cardiac muscle cells generated from stem cells. Those specific cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), could come from a potential recipient.

Generating functional cardiac tissue involves meeting several challenges, said lead author Jacques Guyette, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), according to Science Daily. These include providing a structural scaffold that is able to support cardiac function, a supply of specialized cardiac cells, and a supportive environment in which cells can repopulate the scaffold to form mature tissue capable of handling complex cardiac functions.

The study, published in Circulation Research, included 73 human hearts that had been donated through the New England Organ Bank but were deemed unsuitable for transplantation, Science Daily reported. The researchers used a process developed by team leader Harald Ott to strip the living cells from a donor organ with a detergent solution and repopulate the remaining extracellular matrix scaffold with organ-appropriate types of cells. The process had successfully been carried out on rat kidneys and lungs.

Researchers method led to a high retention of matrix proteins and a structure free of cardiac cells, as well as the preservation of coronary vascular and microvascular structures, Science Daily reported. Researchers also found a lack of human leukocyte antigens that could possibly lead to organ rejection. They then reprogramed skin cells with messenger RNA factors and induced the pluripotent cells to differentiate into cardiac muscle cells or cardiomyocytes while documenting patterns of gene expression to reflect developmental milestones, according to the report.

The organs were then mounted for 14 days in an automated bioreactor system developed by researchers to both perfuse the organ with nutrient solution and apply environmental stressors to reproduce conditions within a living heart, Science Daily reported.

Regenerating a whole heart is most certainly a long-term goal that is several years away, so we are currently working on engineering a functional myocardial patch that could replace cardiac tissue damaged due to a heart attack or failure, Guyette said, according to Science Daily. Among the next steps that we are pursuing are improving methods to generate even more cardiac cells recellularizing a whole heart would take tens of billions optimizing bioreactor-based culture techniques to improve the maturation and function of engineered cardiac tissue, and electronically integrating regenerated tissue to function within the recipients heart.
The first transplanted uterus in the United States has been removed just weeks after the procedure, and only a handful of these operations have been performed successfully in other countries. So what makes uterus transplants so challenging, and why might they fail?

On Wednesday (March 9), the Cleveland Clinic announced that its patient who had received a uterus transplant had experienced a sudden complication and that the transplanted organ had to be removed. The transplant was initially performed on Feb. 25, in a 9-hour surgery.

Doctors did not provide details about the complications that led to the removal of the transplanted uterus. However, the Cleveland Clinic said in a statement that it was reviewing the case and that it would provide more information as it became available. "The medical team took all necessary precautions and measures to ensure the safety of our patient," the statement said.

So far, there have been 12 uterus transplants in the world, and five were not successful. Uterus transplants can fail for the same general reasons that any organ transplant fails, said Dr. Alexander Maskin, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), who was not involved with the Cleveland Clinic case but who is helping plan a uterus transplant program at UNMC.

The main reasons for failure include organ rejection, which is when the patient's immune system attacks the organ; an infection of the organ; or problems with the organ's blood supply. In the case of a uterus transplant, a blood clot could impair or block blood flow to the organ, Maskin said. [The 9 Most Interesting Transplants]

A woman who received a uterus transplant in Saudi Arabia in 2000 needed the organ removed about three months after the initial operation. In that case, the organ deteriorated because clots blocked its blood supply. Another woman in Turkey received a uterus transplant from a deceased donor in 2011, and she was able to become pregnant, but miscarried. And recently, in Sweden, doctors performed nine uterus transplants, and two had to be removed after the surgery. But five of the Swedish women were able to become pregnant and give birth.

In the Swedish trial, the transplanted uteruses came from living donors, whereas in the Cleveland Clinic patient, the transplanted uterus came from a deceased donor. It's not clear if using organs from deceased versus living donors could affect the success of a uterus transplant, Maskin said, noting that just two women have received uterus transplants from deceased donors. "[It's] too early to speculate," Maskin said.

The main challenge for uterus transplants is that the surgery is very new, so it will take time to perfect.

"It's not so much more difficult [than other transplants]; it's just that it's a brand-new surgery, so the learning curve is steep figuring out how to actually do it," Maskin said. He noted that, three decades ago, kidney transplants took 6 to 10 hours to complete but can now be done in an hour and a half.

Cleveland Clinic plans to continue its trial of uterus transplants, which will include 10 women in total, according to the statement.

16 Oddest Medical Cases9 Uncommon Conditions That Pregnancy May Bring11 Big Fat Pregnancy MythsCopyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
There are both similarities and differences between Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Both are bloodthirsty terrorist organizations bent on jihad, sworn enemies of the infidel West and the United States in particular. Could they one day unite in an international jihadist merger to create an even more potent regional and global threat? It is possible.

For the moment, at least, the two groups are rivals for the mantle of jihadi supremacy and neither sides leadership has shown much interest in a union. The situation is extremely fluid, though, so it is not inconceivable that at some point in the future, beyond the current leadership perhaps, the two organizations could become one.

Al Qaeda has morphed several times since its emergence in the 1990s and its recognition as the global leader in terror with the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

ISIL or ISIS did not emerge as an international rival to Al Qaeda until 2013. Since then, ISIS challenged Al Qaedas central leadership, engaged in hostilities with Al Qaedas affiliate in Syria, expanded its areas of control and influence in Syria and Iraq, declared the existence of an Islamic State, and received pledges of loyalty from various jihadist fronts, including factions within Al Qaedas affiliates in Africa and the Middle East.

Though they are rivals, there are many similarities between the two groups. Both enterprises comprise a central leadership and an array of affiliates who, while pledging their loyalty to one or the other, have their own interests, capabilities, and modus operandi. Individual fighters may also have their own agendas, and loyalties may continue to shift according to which group is perceived as dominant. In addition, both organizations appeal to self-radicalized individuals, who help the groups build their respective brands through terrorist acts carried out in other regions, including in the United States.

In terms of their worldview and ideology, the two enterprises are close. Both see Islam under threat by hostile forces primarily in the West. They share a fundamentalist or Salafist interpretation of the faith. They share the same notion that jihad means primarily an armed struggle, not merely a spiritual quest, and that it is the collective and individual duty of all Muslims to participate in or directly contribute to the armed struggle. Both Al Qaeda and ISIS see themselves as global movements with global ambitions. Both reject the tenets of the current international order and see the conflict between Muslims and crusaders as one that began centuries ago and that will continue to Judgment Day.

Still, there are some doctrinal differences. Al Qaedas leaders (and most Muslim scholars) reject ISISs declaration of the caliphate. ISIS takes a harder line on Shia, focusing a large share of its attacks on Shia mosques and other targets. Al Qaeda has taken a more ecumenical line, arguing that Muslim attacks on Muslims, even those following what it regarded as deviant paths, would alienate followers and distract from the campaign against the infidels.

While Al Qaedas leaders have expressed territorial ambitions, like driving Westerners out of Saudi Arabia and ridding Palestine of crusaders and Zionists, the group has largely operated out of sanctuaries, rather than seeking to seize and hold territory.

ISISs leaders, on the other hand, see themselves as presiding over an Islamic State, which, as its name implies, is a physical, territorial expression. ISIS conquers, controls, governs, and even runs an economy, something Al Qaeda did not try to do.

The duel for supremacy is really a competition for support, alliances with like-minded groups and the loyalty of fighters, both in the region and afar. ISIS appears to be attracting a larger and younger audience, which reflects its superior use of online resources. Part of ISISs recruiting appeal also lies in its advertisement of atrocities, but there are weaknesses in this, including a faddish quality, which fickle youth might quickly abandon.

Al Qaeda, meanwhile, has been less able to receive new fighters in great numbers since its training camps were dispersed after 9/11. Geographic convenience and ease of access enabled ISIS to attract an estimated 30,000 foreign fighters to its ranks, including 5,000 from Western countries. Sill, Al Qaeda has hardly given up its global terrorist campaign, continuing to provide encouragement, training and assistance to foreign volunteers planning to carry out terrorist attacks.

To maintain the allegiance of their followers, both Al Qaeda and ISIS must remain violent and active. Terrorists attacking in their home countries have pledged allegiance to both groups.

The November terrorist attack on a Paris night club appears to be the work of a group of French fighters serving with ISIS. The attack on the offices of the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January, 2015, was carried out by brothers who had declared their loyalty to Al Qaeda, while their comrade who simultaneously attacked a Kosher supermarket in Paris, claimed his operation to be on behalf of ISIS.

Syed Farouk, who attacked the San Bernardino Regional Center in December, began plotting terrorist attacks in 2011, well before the emergence of ISIS. However, his wife Tashfeen Malik, who participated in the attack, declared her loyalty to ISIS.

While Al Qaeda and ISIS clearly have a lot in common, there are serious differences standing in the way of an early merger between the two giants of jihad. It could take a change in leadership of both groups and perhaps some compromises on mission and strategy, but there are enough points of confluence to make a united jihadist front a realistic and frightening possibility.


Democrats seem intent on trying to make the late Justice Antonin Scalias vacant seat on the Supreme Court a political issue to use against Republicans. What they really should do is join with Republicans in agreement with the position they, themselves have taken in the past: let the people decide the next justice with their votes for the next president  no matter who wins.

The American people deserve to have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice but President Obama and his liberal allies in Congress want to deny the public that voice.

We have a deeply divided country, voter anger is running high in both parties because of the growing sense that Washington politicians simply ignore the voice of the people.

Republicans, who deserve their share of the blame in stoking this anxiety, have at least recognized this is an opportunity to empower voters, while President Obama wants to deny them any say, any impact on this crucial issue.

His position, and the position of Senate Democrats, runs completely contrary to what theyve said in the past. No less a Democrat than Vice President Joe Biden, when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee back in 1992 during a presidential election, said there should be no Supreme Court confirmations until after that election.

Senator Chuck Schumer, back in 2007, a full 18 months before President George W. Bush would leave office, in a speech to the American Constitution Society, thundered that no Supreme Court vacancies should be filled until after Bush left office.

Like the Republicans today, Schumer and the Democrats held the majority in the Senate back then.

Further, its worth noting that had a Supreme Court justice passed away on the same date in 2008 as Justice Scalia  February 13  voters in 34 states plus the District of Columbia wouldve already cast votes in the Democratic primaries for president.

Let there be no illusions as to whether or not Mr. Schumer, the Democratic Leader Harry Reid, or any other Democrat for that matter would have even contemplated hearings for an individual put forward for nomination by President Bush.

Lest we forget, two members of that same Democratic Senate majority were in the midst of a hotly contested race for the White House, both poised to make history with a victory.

Does anyone think for a second that Senators Reid and Schumer wouldve done anything to deny either Barack Obama, as the first African-American president, or Hillary Clinton, as the first woman president, the opportunity to fill a Supreme Court vacancy that occurred during President Bushs final year in office? As Martin Luther King would say, the lips of these Senators today now drip with hypocrisy.

President Obama has already placed two extremely liberal justices on the court, he will no doubt select someone who would ensure liberal domination of the court for the next generation.

As of now, the court is one vote away from restricting or eliminating Second Amendment rights, one vote away from allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to run amok, one vote away from further restricting or eliminating religious freedom altogether, one vote away from legalizing Partial Birth Abortion, one vote away from giving the IRS free rein to persecute innocent Americans for political purposes.

This is why Republicans such as Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and others are right -- and should be strongly supported -- in their efforts to give the public a voice.

Let the people decide the next justice with their votes for the next president  whoever it is. Dont deny them that right this close to what is sure to be an historic election, that will not only determine where the American people want their country to go but the direction they want their court to take.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared Moscow will soon be pulling troops out of Syria. And theres no reason not to take him at his word.

The Russian strongman says they can start drawing down troops because theyve pretty well achieved everything they wanted to accomplish with military action. Its hard to argue with that claim.

Putins primary goal was to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from being driven into the sea. It would have been a disaster if the Kremlin's southern flank lost Damascus and Syria's key Mediterranean ports.

There seems little risk of that now. Moscows military might seems to have turned the tide in Syrias ongoing civil war.

Putin has made a diplomatic success of the situation as well. Against all odds, he has managed to make Syria's genocidal, chemical-weapons-using president acceptable to most of the international community. Nobody talks about throwing the bum out anymore. Nor does Assad need fear the prospect of finding himself in the dock in the International Criminal Court anytime soon. Whether the peace process endures or not, Assad will stick around Damascus for the foreseeable future.

This is good news for Putin. He can claim mission accomplished and bring the boys back home. That always makes you more popular on the domestic front.

It also gives Putin more flexibility abroad, allowing him to shift his attention elsewhere, for his next act of mischief.

Doubtless Putin will also claim that, in Syria, he struck a blow against terrorismthough that one is more than a bit of a stretch. ISIS is still standing strong. Refugees are pressing the gates of Europe.

But none of that is his problem. Putin was always in this just for Putin. Any assessment that holds otherwise is delusional or was funded by the Kremlin.

Even as he backs out of Syria, Putin looks stronger in the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to appear as a lost babe in the woods of a Middle East meltdown

And, its important to note, Putins not talking about a total withdrawal. Russia will retain a military footprint in Syria. And that residual force can be useful for destabilizing as well as stabilizing purposes.

While the drawdown has begun, the fact of the matter is that Putin will have Assad's back for a long, long time. And that will leave the rest of the Arab world mired in a mess.
Violence broke out over the weekend at several Donald Trump campaign rallies. Leftwing thugs battled with police in Chicago and St. Louis.

One unhinged lunatic tried to storm the stage at a rally in Dayton, Ohio. He was stopped by Secret Service agents. Heaven only knows what he wouldve done had he gotten ahold of Mr. Trump.

Click here to join Todds American Dispatch  a Must-Read for Conservatives!

To be clear  what happened over the weekend was not just an attack on Mr. Trump. It was an attack on the First Amendment.

But instead of condemning the professional hooligans -- the political chattering class condemned Mr. Trump.

A despondent Senator Marco Rubio went so far as to liken Mr. Trump to a third world strong man.

Hes come under fierce attack for suggesting that his supporters physically manhandle protesters. In February he told an audience that he wanted to punch one of the protesters in the face.

That sort of language has no place in any political campaign.

But thats not what brought about the weekend violence.

The person responsible for fomenting political unrest and creating this toxic environment is not Donald Trump -- it's President Obama.

For the past seven and a half years this man has been stoking division and discord.

You want to talk about creating controversy? Fine. Let's talk about Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri and Trayvon Martin.

President Obama is the one who told his followers if they bring a knife to the fight -- we bring a gun --- that's what he said.

I don't recall too many Republicans getting upset over that remark.

Many conservative pundits still do not understand why Americans are flocking to Donald Trump.

They seem bewildered that we've ignored Establishment Overlords like Mitt Romney and the uppity-ups at National Review

So for the sake of all you Republicans in Name Only - let me explain what's going on here.

The folks who pay the bills in this country are fed up. We're tired of being called racists and homophobic and xenophobic.

The Silent Majority is mad as hell -- and we're not going to take it anymore.
The new cars and trucks sold in 2025 may be required to average 62 miles per gallon as a group, far surpassing the fuel efficiency of current high-mileage stars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids.

The government on Friday presented the potential range it is considering for fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks starting in 2017.

The Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency said the fleet of new vehicles may need to meet a standard set somewhere from 47 mpg to 62 mpg by 2025. The mileage gains would be the equivalent of an annual decrease in carbon dioxide emissions per mile of 3 to 6 percent.

The new standards, while several years away, are closely watched by automakers who plan vehicle lineups years in advance, as well as environmental groups trying to curb oil dependence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama has pushed for tougher fuel efficiency standards and the rules could take on added significance if Congress is unable to pass energy legislation capping greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

After little progress during the past three decades, rules adopted earlier this year will lift the new vehicle fleet average to 35.5 mpg by 2016, an increase of more than 40 percent over current standards. The administration's announcement Friday is just a beginning in the work on mileage standards for the 2017-2025 model years.

The government intends to issue a proposal in September 2011 and a final rule by late July 2012.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said the next round of mileage standards "will accelerate the environmental benefits, health protections and clean technology advances over the long-term."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the administration needed to "keep the momentum going to make sure that all motor vehicles sold in America are realizing the best fuel economy and greenhouse gas reductions possible."

The fuel efficiency standards are designed to improve gas mileage across each automaker's lineup and across the nation's entire fleet of new vehicles. Vehicles must meet differing standards based on their dimensions. Compact cars must get better mileage than sport utility vehicles, for example, but requirements for all types will go up.

Environmentalists have sought requirements of at least 60 miles per gallon by 2025, arguing that more gas-electric hybrids, electric vehicles and cars and trucks with improved internal combustion engines and reduced weight could dramatically alter the fleet.

Governors from eight states  New York, New Mexico, Maine, Oregon, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Washington  urged Obama in a letter Friday to set standards of 60 mpg by 2025.

Automakers have cautioned that pushing gas mileage standards up that quickly could force them to raise prices beyond the reach of many consumers.

The documents estimate that the toughest efficiency standards in the range being considered would add $2,800 to $3,500 to the price of each vehicle. But under that scenario, owners would recoup their investment in 3 to 4 years and save $5,700 to $7,400 over the lifetime of the vehicle.

If met, the targets would bring topflight fuel efficiency to a larger number of vehicles in 15 years. For example, a new Toyota Prius gets 50 mpg in city-highway driving combined and a Honda Civic hybrid garners 42 mpg in combined driving  figures that would become more commonplace across the fleet.

Later this year, several automakers will begin releasing plug-in electric hybrids and electric cars. General Motors Co. is releasing the electric rechargeable Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Motor Co. begins selling the Nissan Leaf electric car, opening a new wave of mass-produced electric vehicle options.

The government's so-called "notice of intent" document gives an overview of the possible standards, describing the technologies that would be needed to achieve those goals. It seeks feedback from the public. The two federal agencies plan to issue a second "notice of intent" by Nov. 30 with an updated analysis of potential targets for the 2017-2025 period.

The government is also expected to soon release a proposal for first-ever fuel efficiency and emissions standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks beginning with the 2014 model year.
When I sat down with Donald Trump for an interview at Mar-a-Lago, he directed our crew to soften the lighting and pull back on the close-up shot.

He was right. This is a man who knows how to project an image.

I wasnt surprised at all when Trump was restrained at the CNN debate in Miami. He signaled pretty clearly in our interview that he was done trashing his rivals, at least for now. Trump, in the hallowed tradition of front-runners, is trying to pivot toward party unity.

It wasnt for lack of trying. How, I wondered, could Trump be running an ad attacking Marco Rubio as corrupt and dishonest, but also say he wouldnt rule him out as a running mate?

He responded with more positive words for Rubio. There was none of this Little Marco or Lying Ted stuff. He told me how he had had a constructive conversation with Paul Ryan.

The message was clear: Trump believes he has this thing just about wrapped up, and he wants to mend fences with his Republican detractors. And he told me he expected a milder atmosphere on the debate stage.

Of course, Trump lost control of this coming-together narrative when protestors shut down his Chicago rally the next night. This sparked a heated debate over whether these are thugs looking to suppress free speech or Trump is implicitly encouraging violence with his harsh remarks about protestors. He denied any responsibility in a round of testy Sunday show appearances.

Once again, the media focus was on Trumphe called in to several cable shows on Friday night to explain his decision to cancel the rallybut this time as disturbing scenes of crowd scuffles played out on the television screens.

CNNs Jake Tapper, who deserves credit for the substantive and civil debate, foreshadowed what was to come by reading Trump the harsh remarks he has made about protestors at previous rallies and asking whether he bears any responsibility.

On that Florida stage Trump was prepared to counterpunch, but it turned out he didnt have to.

Rubio has admitted that he was uncomfortable when he started hitting Trump with personal insults about small hands and spray-tanning, and embarrassed in front of his kids. He may have overcompensated, because he was a Boy Scout at the debatehis last real chance to buttress his last stand in Florida.

Cruz was also restrained. In fact, when the questioning turned to outbreaks of violence at Trump rallies, he passed up an opportunity to blame Trump. Instead he offered a mild jab about how candidates should pledge allegiance to their supporters, not the other way around. It was Trump who brought up negative information in response, dismissing a far-fetched Today show narrative that all those raised hands were reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

But he probably came closer to appearing presidential than in any of the 11 previous debates.

John Kasich, running neck and neck with Trump in Ohio, always takes the high road at debates, so the result was a subdued and issue-oriented affair that some folks complained was boring.

The next morning, Trump rolled out an endorsement by Ben Carson, despite the fact that he had attacked the doctor as pathological over elements of his life story. Politics is a strange business.

As our interview was winding down, I asked Trump about some of the thermonuclear attacks by some commentators on the left and right. He usually punches back at them personally, and there was a little of that.

But he also said he didnt understand their personal hatred for him, that it was "unbelievable," that they didnt know him and didnt try to reach him and yet wrote terrible things about him. I believe that media attacks actually help him, because his supporters dont trust the press, but Trump disagreed, and for one brief moment, it seemed like his feelings were hurt.

Donald Trump keeps saying hes not a politician, but for all his tough talk, he has something in common with those in his new profession: He wants to be liked.
The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $300,000 to develop technology that will track the energy and water use of office buildings, with a colored light bulb system that will send visual messages to employees when they are using too much.

Lucid Design Group, a California-based software company, received the funding from the agency with the goal to change the habits of Americans at work.

Through this project, Lucid is focused on reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings by influencing peoples behavior, the EPA said in a press release announcing the project. With this award, it will further develop, test and commercialize low-cost high-tech approaches that can reduce electricity use in commercial buildings by providing real-time feedback to office workers.

The technology seeks to reduce peak electricity demand and associated utility bill costs through ambient color-based visual messaging; balancing energy usage and occupant comfort, the agency said.

Jared Blumenfeld, an EPA regional administrator, said telling employees that they are using too much energy could change their habits.

Lucids project is a great example of how technology can be used to help protect the environment, he said. Giving office workers immediate feedback on their energy use can help them to change their habits for the better.

The project is part of the EPAs People, Prosperity, and the Planet competition, which initially awards grants worth $15,000 for environmental technology projects. Past projects include a device to monitor how long hotel guests spend in the shower, and trash walls for the poor.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon
The House approved a resolution Monday that declares the Islamic State is committing genocide against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East -- putting even more pressure on the Obama administration to do the same ahead of a deadline later this week.

The resolution, passed the House with a unanimous vote of 383-0.

The resolution came to a vote just days after the release of a graphic new report by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians on ISIS' atrocities. The report made the case that the terror campaign against Christians and other minorities in Syria, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East is, in fact, genocide.

When ISIS systematically targets Christians, Yezidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities for extermination, this is not only a grave injusticeit is a threat to civilization itself, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., said in a statement. We must call the violence by its proper name: genocide.

The resolution was voted on ahead of a congressionally mandated March 17 deadline for Secretary of State John Kerry and the White House to make a decision on whether to make such a declaration. The measure is an effort to force the administration's hand on the issue, as the administration has so far declined to take an official position.

There is a similar measure in the Senate that has yet to be voted on.

Christians, Yezidis, and other beleaguered minority groups can find new hope in this trans-partisan and ecumenical alliance against ISIS barbaric onslaught, Fortenberry, who is co-chairman of the Religious Minorities of the Middle East Caucus and represents Americas largest Yezidi community, said in the statement.

The measure also received the backing of House Republican leadership, with Speaker Paul Ryan calling on the Obama administration to take action in light of recent attacks against Christians.

Last week, ISIS militants killed 16 people, including four Catholic nuns, at a retirement home in southern Yemen, Ryan said in a statement Monday. This is the latest in a string of brutal attacks committed by ISIS against Christian and other minorities. Yet the administration has still not called this what it is: A genocide.

We want to label what this is so this never happens and should not happen, and someone has to stand up, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News Bill Hemmer Monday.

It is rare for Congress to make a genocide determination.

In addition to the genocide resolution, the House also voted on a measure to create an international tribunal to try those associated with atrocities by the Assad regime and related groups.

That resolution condemned the "gross violations of international law amounting to war crimes...by the Government of Syria [and] its allies."

The measure passed in a vote of 392 to 3. The no votes came from Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich, Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii.

In casting her no-vote, Gabbard called the tribunal measure a "thinly veiled attempt to use the rationale of 'humanitarianism' as a justification for overthrowing the Syrian government."

"We all know that [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator. But this resolution's purpose is not merely to recognize him as such. Rather it is a call to action... How has our war to overthrow Assad helped humanity?" Gabbard said in a statement.

At least three presidential candidates -- Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz on the Republican side, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side -- have called on the administration to designate ISIS atrocities against Christians as genocide.

When asked on March 1 why the administration has yet to make the determination, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the word genocide involves a very specific legal determination that has, at this point, not been reached.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Monday he did not expect any resolution voted on in the House to be a factor in the decision.



FoxNews.coms Adam Shaw and Fox News Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has revealed that 124 illegal immigrant criminals released from jail by the Obama administration since 2010 have been subsequently charged with murder.

A Center for Immigration Studies report on the data from ICE to the Senate Judiciary Committee added that the committee is not releasing the names of the murder suspects.

"The criminal aliens released by ICE in these years  who had already been convicted of thousands of crimes  are responsible for a significant crime spree in American communities, including 124 new homicides. Inexplicably, ICE is choosing to release some criminal aliens multiple times," said the report written by CIS's respected director of policy studies, Jessica M. Vaughan.

She added that 75 percent were released due to court orders or because their countries wouldn't take them back.

What's more, her report said that in 2014, ICE released 30,558 criminal aliens who had been convicted of 92,347 crimes. Only 3 percent have been deported.

Her analysis is the latest shocking review of Obama's open-border immigration policy. And despite the high number of illegal immigrants charged with murder, the list doesn't include those released by over 300 so-called "sanctuary cities" and those ICE declined to take into custody.

Click for more from The Washington Examiner.
Iraqs beleaguered Christian community is frustrated and confused by the seemingly semantic debate taking place in Washington, where the Obama administration is trying to determine if their plight adds up to genocide.

The U.S. is believed to be close to a decision on whether the atrocities ISIS has committed against Christians and other religious minorities amount to the legally loaded term. But on the ground in Iraq, where death and displacement has seen the Christian population dwindle to an estimated 275,000 from its pre-ISIS number of 1.5 million, the answer is obvious.

The American delay in officially declaring what has happened to the Christians officially as genocide, or mass extermination and systematic persecution has caused a huge disappointment among the Christians, said Yacoob Gewargis, head of the Al-Rafidain Christian bloc in the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) Parliament in northern Iraq. They have waited a long time for the international community, especially America, to declare this so that they can be supported and protected in their own country.

"If things continue like this, in another 10 years, Christians in the Middle East will be forgotten.  Yacoob Gewargis, leader of Iraqi Christian community

ISIS is now on pace to eradicate Christianity from the region, said Gewargis. Thousands of families are abandoning an area that has sustained the faith for thousands of years, he said.

Christians are losing hope, he said. Every day that goes by, more and more people migrate. If things continue like this, in another 10 years, Christians in the Middle East will be forgotten.

Secretary of State John Kerry could make the determination this week, with a March 17 deadline set by Congress looming. The House will vote Monday on a bill that would declare ISIS actions genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. A similar finding by the Obama administration could carry potential legal consequences, but would not be unprecedented. In 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that atrocities being committed in Sudans Darfur region constituted genocide.

There is some dispute about whether a finding of ongoing genocide obligates the U.S. to take action. In 2004, State Department attorneys decided that the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide did not impose a legal obligation, but Powell instead called for the UN Security Council to appoint a commission to investigate and take appropriate legal action if it agreed with the determination.

A formal finding of genocide by a country that is party to the UN Convention would mean a duty to prevent and to punish kicks in, said Barbara Mulvaney, senior trial attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor for the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda and former senior adviser to the U.S. State Department.

The big question then becomes, how do they do that? she said. What actions are currently under way to prevent these actions now? she said.

The UN Convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

The legal dithering makes little sense to thousands of families who have been displaced and seen loved ones kidnapped or killed by a terrorist organization that does not disguise its motives. Many Christians driven out of Mosul and surrounding villages when ISIS seized Iraqs second-largest city in 2014 now live in refugee camps maintained in Kurdish-held territory.

My feeling is utter disappointment that the West has left us, everybody has left us, Martin Alqas, a displaced Iraqi Christian from the Nineveh Plain villages of Qaraqosh, told FoxNews.com by phone. The West, with all its advanced technology, can finish ISIS. But they are delaying that due to political purposes which are unknown to us. We as Christians, and other minorities in Iraq, are facing extinction and we are paying the price.

To date, the Obama administration has referred to the brutal targeting of Christians by ISIS as the slightly less-severe category of crimes against humanity.

Acts of genocide are motivated by a desire to destroy a particular group, said Lisa Reinsberg, executive director for the International Justice Resource Center. Crimes against humanity are defined as targeting individuals systematically or on a large scale, but those individuals are not necessarily part of the same group.

Experts say part of the difficulty in making a pronouncement is due to a lack of reliable information from an area now held by ISIS. Others believe the Obama administration may be hesitant to use an explosive term that could be seen as stigmatizing mainstream Muslims. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement to FoxNews.com that the administration is going to great lengths to collect and evaluate all available information before making a genocide pronouncement.

We must call the violence by its proper name: Genocide, U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., co-chair of the Religious Minorities of the Middle East Caucus, said in a statement issued to FoxNews.com. A genocide designation will raise international consciousness and compel the international community of responsible nations to act, setting the preconditions for the reintegration of ancient ethnic groups and faith traditions into their ancestral homelands.

In addition to Congress, several nonprofits are pressuring the Obama administration to make the call. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charity, released a 280-page report last week that it said contained clear evidence that the legal standard has been met.

There is only one word that adequately, and legally, describes what is happening to Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. That word is genocide, Knights of Columbus chief Carl Anderson said Thursday while presenting a 280-page report.

The report named more than 1,100 Christians who have been killed by ISIS militants and detailed widespread cases of people being kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and driven from their homes.

The European Parliament, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and even Pope Francis all have used the designation.

Every second that we wait, another Christian dies, another Christian is driven from their home and another Christian is forced to convert, said Mark Arabo, president of the California-based Minority Humanitarian Foundation. The first step toward providing resolution to this crisis is in recognition.

One Christian family, parents and four children living together in a small room in an abandoned building with other displaced Christians in northern Iraq, told FoxNews.com of the horrors of being forced to flee their home and farm amid the fateful Mosul assault.

My daughter cant walk or talk, the father lamented. If we go home, another Daesh might come. We cant start from zero again.

Steven Nabil contributed to this report
Log onto the National Debt Clock, its Arabic numerals ceaselessly in motion, struggling to keep up with the ever-accumulating red ink of our federal Treasury, and the effect borders on the hypnotic: Its hard to turn away once your eye has landed on the jumble of numbers, each one further binding the hands of our children and grandchildren.

As this story was being uploaded, the national debt was closing in on $19.12 trillion  a sum so staggering that to contemplate the removal from it of a mere $90,000 might seem pointless. What, after all, is 90,000 against 19 trillion? In those terms, such an expenditure truly is a drop in the ocean of red ink. But what if the question were turned around: What else could be purchased with $90,000 that might carry real value to the federal government  indeed, to our national security?

That is the question posed by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who  fresh from his desultory campaign for the presidency  is back on Capitol Hill, drawing attention to what he sees as lavish and/or foolhardy spending by the federal government, in a project he calls The Waste Report.

High on his list is a plan by the U.S. Embassy in London, slated to go into effect this month, to spend $90,000 on the development of a grant program, under which the Embassy will award sums  ranging from a low of $250 to a high of $40,000  to individuals and organizations that can produce films, art projects, speaking programs and other events promoting mutual understanding between the people of America and Great Britain.

Considering the U.S. and Great Britain already are the closest of allies, Paul questions  why the grant?

You know, if we had a great surplus and we said, Oh, we want to spend some money, you know, having tea with the English, that'd be one thing, the senator told Fox News in a recent interview. But we dont have any money. We borrow a million dollars a minute and were completely out of money.

Indeed, public opinion surveys show Americans already harbor pretty good feelings toward the country from which the U.S. secured its independence some 240 years ago. Gallups Country Ratings record that 90 percent of Americans view Great Britain favorably, second only to the 93 percent registered for Canada. No other countries crack the 90 percent threshold.

Likewise, the Pew Research Centers surveys on Global Attitudes & Trends record that 65 percent of Britons view the United States favorably, a measurement that places the U.K. behind only four other countries  France, Poland, Italy and Canada  in terms of the positivity with which foreign states view the Land of the Free.

Nor is this a case where the respective populations dig each other while the leaders remain at diplomatic daggers  such as with the U.S. and Iran. Our alliance stands strong, rooted in its long history, said British Prime Minister David Cameron when he and President Obama met in January. We count the United Kingdom as one of our greatest friends and strongest allies, President Obama replied.

Technically, the grant is allowed. The authority for the expenditure traces back to legislation enacted during the Kennedy era: the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961.

We have this kind of silliness that is built into the law, Paul said.

But if the U.S. and U.K. are such tight buds, drawing on a reservoir of shared history and values, why does the State Department need to spend $90,000 of your money each year on art projects fostering good relations between the two countries?

Its money well spent, said State Department spokesman John Kirby at the March 9 press briefing, where Fox News pressed the issue. We do have a special relationship with the U.K. And they are very good friends. ... And like any friendship, all friendships need to continue to be cultivated and need to be continued to be advanced and to improve.

While noting that the State Department only receives 1 percent of the federal budget, Kirby argued that cultural exchanges with Britons will help shape future generations with whom American politicians will have to deal.

Entire new generations of young people  might otherwise not know, or realize, or fully appreciate the depth of this special relationship we have in the U.K., said Kirby. As they grow and as they become future leaders and future members of Parliament or future members of Congress [they will understand] the importance of preserving this very special relationship.

Sen. Paul thinks the money, if not eliminated altogether, can be better spent elsewhere, including on the protection of U.S. diplomats serving in dangerous posts. We cant even provide for the basic defense of the country, he said. Maybe we dont have good security in Benghazi because were spending $90,000 on peaceful relations with Great Britain.

State Department officials testified in October 2012 that it was not budget cuts that informed the series of decisions that almost systematically reduced security for Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, one of four Americans slain in terrorist attacks the previous month at the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. But Pauls point remains plausible to some analysts, since money is fungible.

$90,000 would be enough to pay the salary of a mid-level intelligence analyst, said Fred Fleitz, a 25-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department and Capitol Hill. One analyst could make a difference because it's not the amount of data that's the problem; it's the ability to go through this data, to write search queries to make sense of this data. There's been many examples where analysts saw something that no one else saw and flagged it up the chain and made a big difference.

One high-ranking Obama administration official who would appear to agree with the need for greater spending on human intelligence analysts is the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.

Our most important resource is our people, Clapper told House lawmakers in February 2014. The compromises, decisions we've made, and then the budget reductions occasioned by sequestration or sequestration-like reductions is  the cumulative effect of all this is what I worry about and the reduction in our capacity. It's not as great as it was, say, a year or two ago. And if we continue, you know, these cuts, it will continue to have a negative impact.
California communities may be feeling the fallout from a controversial measure that reduced penalties for a range of crimes, as law enforcement report an uptick in everything from robberies to auto theft  and point the finger squarely at whats known as Prop 47.

The measure was approved at the ballot box in 2014 and downgraded many nonviolent offenses like property crimes and simple drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, part of an effort to reduce prison over-crowding in the state.

But as the measure has been implemented, several police departments have reported a spike in shop-lifting and auto theft, among other crimes, and in part blame Prop 47.

"In the past year and a half, we've seen an increase in theft-related crimes, including robbery, burglary, and identity theft," said Sgt. Tasha Descosta, with the Hayward Police Department.

Since the law went into effect, major cities have seen an increase in more serious crimes as well.

Recent press reports show that in San Francisco, robberies are up 23 percent; in Los Angeles, violent crimes are up 20 percent; and in Sacramento, homicides are up 23 percent.

Supporters, though, continue to defend the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. They argue incarcerating fewer low-level offenders and handing them back to counties will free up money for other support services, like drug treatment and mental health counseling, and boost public safety. California also is under court order to reduce prison over-crowding.

According to one recent state government analysis, the law has saved California more than $83 million.

Will Matthews with California for Safety and Justice, which wrote Prop. 47, said the Legislative Analyst's Office found the law had already saved more than that, and that it could "save more than $100 million annually in subsequent years."

He said the actual amount of savings that will be allocated to the Safe Neighborhood and Schools Fund (which is where all Prop 47 savings go before being distributed to local communities) will be determined by the time a final budget is adopted by state lawmakers in June.

Prop 47 marks a pivot from 1994's landmark "Three Strikes and You're Out" sentencing policy that sought to get tough on repeat offenders. Indeed, The Washington Post called Prop 47 "an experiment in mass forgiveness."

The result has been the release of thousands of non-violent felons, given the chance to live lawfully.

Ingrid Archie, a 34-year old single mom initially busted for shop-lifting and then for violating probation, says Prop 47 enabled her to get out of jail a year early -- just before her daughter's 14th birthday. She now has a job and attends community college.

"People's lives are being torn apart because they make a mistake," Archie said. "Everyone makes a mistake, whether you're caught for it or not."

But in many parts of the Golden State, robbery and other property crimes are up. Big cities like Los Angeles and Sacramento are also reporting an uptick in violent crime this year over last year, including homicides. Critics say while much of the country has seen a drop in overall crime rates, the data in California defies the national trend.

While supporters say studies show only a small percentage of freed inmates have returned to prison, police maintain the law's leniency makes their job tougher.

"Proposition 47 is working if the only thing we're measuring is how many people are incarcerated," said Sylvia Moir, outgoing police chief in El Cerrito, Calif. "Like how many empty jail beds. Thousands fewer people in our state prisons -- it's working. But if you say, 'is Prop 47 working for communities,' I would say no, it is not.'"

Proponents admit the law's full effect on crime rates remains to be seen.

And this month, the California Bail Agents Association called on lawmakers to analyze recent crime data and "to at least attempt to understand the underlying causes," association president Maggie Kreins wrote in a recent op-ed. "We spend millions of taxpayer dollars on police, law enforcement, and our criminal justice system. California citizens expect to be kept safe."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders went on a barnstorming blitz Monday, responding to a sudden opening to gain on Hillary Clintons delegate lead as polls show the front-runners once-solid advantage in key Midwestern contests shrinking to single digits going into the Super Tuesday II primaries.

In Illinois, one of five states holding primaries on Tuesday, a fresh CBS News poll even shows Sanders ahead of Clinton by 2 points.

The story is the same across the Midwest.

In Ohios primary, polls show Clinton leading by an average of just 6 percentage points, down from a high of 30 just a few weeks ago. In Missouri, too, Sanders has decidedly closed the gap.

Clinton might be feeling the pressure. Ahead of Tuesdays primaries, the Clinton campaign scrambled to clarify comments made the night before in a CNN town hall  where she seemed to predict the demise of coal jobs that many workers in states like Ohio and Illinois rely upon.

At the town hall, she said, I'm the only candidate which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity using clean renewable energy as the key into coal country, because we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.

As Republicans seized on the remarks, her campaign put out a statement stressing that, Coal will remain a part of the energy mix for years to come and Clintons plan would also safeguard workers retirement and health benefits.

Spokesman Brian Fallon said no candidate in this race is more devoted to supporting coal communities than Hillary Clinton and any suggestions otherwise are false."

The latest polling reflects Sanders apparent surge in Midwestern and Rust Belt states, possibly propelled by last week's stunning upset of Clinton in the Michigan primary. The territory is proving to be a potential stronghold for the still-underdog self-professed Socialist senator, even as Clinton locks down traditional Democratic support across the South.

Clinton still is favored to win two other Democratic contests Tuesday, in Florida and North Carolina, where polls show her holding tight to a double-digit lead.

But Sanders is concentrating his efforts on the three Midwestern states. His schedule Monday takes him from Ohio to North Carolina, and then back to Missouri before wrapping the night with a rally in Chicago.

Illinois is emerging as a battleground of sorts, with Clinton campaigning in the state earlier in the day, before holding a rally in Charlotte, N.C., Monday night.

In total, 691 delegates are at stake in the Democratic contests on Tuesday. Sanders was able to stave off predictions of his bids demise with his upset win last week in Michigan, and sees the potential to further erode Clintons edge on Tuesday.

At the same time, Clinton appears well-positioned to win the largest contest on the map Tuesday, Floridas primary -- worth 214 delegates.

Another big factor in the Florida race is absentee and early voting. According to figures as of Monday morning, nearly 370,000 have voted early in the Democratic contest, and more than 480,000 have voted absentee.

If nothing else, Sanders threatens to keep Clinton locked in a competitive race for weeks longer, even as she nears the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Clinton aides insist there's little they will do to push Sanders from the race, but they are beginning to show signs of impatience with what they perceive as the increasingly negative tone of his campaign.

"We would like to wrap it up as soon as possible," Clinton communications director Jen Palmieri said hours before Sanders' startling victory in Michigan last week. "You don't want to let them have a head start on the general."

Clinton and her allies had hoped to switch much of their focus to the general election after Tuesday's primary contests, but that plan was thrown into doubt after her loss in Michigan.

Aides acknowledge upcoming contests in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois look tighter than they did just days ago, forcing them to keep focus on the primary despite a sizable advantage among the delegates that determine the nomination.

Victories on Tuesday would give Sanders fresh momentum and grant him months to continue criticizing Clinton's positions on issues that Trump wants to focus on in November.

At the same time, Clinton carries an edge of more than 200 pledged delegates into Tuesday's contests in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri and could effectively foreclose Sanders' path to victory with a sweep of the large states.

While the delegates will be awarded proportionately, Clinton's support with superdelegates -- elected officials and party leaders free to back whomever they'd like -- puts her in a strong position to win the nomination.

According to an Associated Press analysis, Clinton holds 1,231 of total delegates, more than half the amount needed to clinch the nomination. Sanders has 576.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Todd Palin, the husband of Sarah Palin, was hospitalized after a serious snowmobile accident Sunday night, temporarily taking the former Alaska governor off the campaign trail for Donald Trump.

Sarah Palin, though, made a surprise appearance in Tampa, Fla., on behalf of Trump later Monday afternoon -- despite an initial statement from the Trump campaign saying she was returning to Alaska.

In the appearance, Palin thanked the public for their prayers as her husband recovers. She went on to slam the media for their coverage of unrest at Trump rallies and urged voters to back the primary front-runner, calling him a revolutionary that the country needs.

Palin later confirmed the snowmobile accident on her Facebook page calling her husband the toughest guy I know.

As any adventurous Alaskan knows, while you may be down, youre never out, she said.

Todd Palin's father said late Monday that his son suffered eight fractured ribs and other injuries in the snowmobile accident.

Jim Palin told The Associated Press in a phone interview that his son also had injuries to his collarbone and lungs, but he doesn't know the extent of those injuries.

He added that Todd Palin is scheduled for surgery Monday at a hospital near the Palins' hometown of Wasilla.

He says he expects his son to recover fully. The father called the crash Sunday night "one of those freak accidents" and says it happened around Petersville, about 70 miles north of Wasilla.

Jim Palin, who splits his time between California and Alaska, says he plans to return to Alaska at the end of the month unless his son wants him there earlier.

The Trump campaign confirmed earlier Monday afternoon that Todd Palin is currently hospitalized.

Governor Palin is returning to Alaska to be with her husband and looks forward to being back on the campaign trail soon. Mr. Trumps thoughts and prayers are with the Palin family at this time, the campaign said.

The statement came shortly after the campaign abruptly announced that the Sarah Palin appearance originally scheduled for noon at The Villages in Florida had been cancelled.

Just two days earlier, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee had posted on Facebook that she was heading out to the Sunshine State to stump for Trump, ahead of the states Tuesday primary.

Surrendering my ice fishing hole on our still-frozen solid lake to other anglers for the next few days, I'm humbled to be able to hit the campaign trail again for our next POTUS, Donald J. Trump, she wrote.

The details on her husbands accident are unclear. NBC News reported that he is in intensive care, describing the accident as very serious.

Nick-named during Palins term as governor as the states first dude, Todd Palin is also an avid snowmobile competitor. He has won the grueling Iron Dog snowmobile competition several times.

Sarah Palin, meanwhile, has become one of Trumps most vocal supporters since endorsing him in January. Before cancelling Mondays noon event, she appeared on Trump's behalf at the Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo and Florida Strawberry Festival on Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump is setting his sights on Ohio as polls show him trading the lead with John Kasich in the governor's home state, upping the already intense pressure on the underdog candidate to pull off a big win Tuesday -- or pack it in.

Trump shook up his campaign schedule to hold a rally outside Youngstown, Ohio, Monday evening. He originally had planned to be in Florida at that time, but cancelled the rally in order to schedule the stop in Ohio.

Trump clearly is feeling bullish about his chances in both states, with polls already showing him leading Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the Sunshine State by double-digits.

"If we win Ohio and Florida, we can go attack Hillary ... It's pretty much over," Trump said at a town hall in Tampa, Fla., earlier Monday.

To schedule the Ohio event, the Trump campaign said it was postponing an evening event at Trump National Doral in Miami. If we are successful on Election Day, we will do a celebration in Doral after the election, the campaign said.

For Kasich, who has yet to win a primary or caucus this year, Tuesday is do or die.

He has vowed to win his home state, and has effectively staked his survival in the race on doing so. Even before Tuesday's primaries -- when Ohio and four other states will vote -- Kasich saw warning signs about his numbers in the Midwest when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz bested him for second place in next-door Michigan.

Youve got to win your home state, Basil Smikle Jr., executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, told FoxNews.coms Strategy Room.

Kasich, though, who still leads Trump slightly in an average of Ohio polls, is vowing to come away the victor Tuesday night.

I am going to win Ohio, and its going to be a whole new ballgame, Kasich said Monday on Fox News.

While it would seem virtually impossible for Kasich, who is in last place in the delegate count, to catch up to Trump or even Cruz, Kasich maintains that nobody will have enough delegates to secure the nomination by the July convention. His goal is to keep it open.

I dont think anybody at this pace is going to have enough delegates to win, Kasich said Monday.

On Fox News Sunday, Kasich said not only was he doing well in Ohio but also doing well in other states.

Were going to be very competitive, he said.

Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney also hit the campaign trail for Kasich twice in Ohio on Monday. Hes also made robocalls for other candidates in an effort to deny Trump the nomination.

A recent NBC/Marist survey shows Kasich holding the edge with 39 percent to Trumps 33 percent. Cruz has 19 percent while Rubio has just 6 percent.

Kasich, though, said last month that if he does not win his home state, he'll drop out.

Trump, for his part, sees an opportunity to at least clear away half the remaining field, with wins in Ohio and Florida, which both hold winner-take-all primaries. He wants to foreclose the possibility of an open convention in July.

Tuesdays primaries in Ohio and Florida are among five high-stakes, must-wins for both Kasich and Rubio, respectively. Both trail Trump and Cruz in the delegate count.

If Trump wins Florida  which it looks like he is going to do  and Ohio, he is well on his way to winning the nomination on pure numbers, Liz Peek, a columnist at The Fiscal Times, told FoxNews.coms Strategy Room.

She added, If Kasich could stop him in Ohio, then all the other states tomorrow night and others to follow are proportional, so he probably wont get to the magic number that he needs for the nomination.

For Trump, things are looking sunnier in Florida.

According to new Quinnipiac University polls, the New Yorker is up double-digits against Rubio. Of likely Republican voters, 46 percent support Trump compared to 22 percent for Rubio.

Cruz comes in third with 14 percent, while Kasich finishes fourth at 10 percent.
A hiker in Israel has found a rare, 2,000-year-old coin bearing the image of Emperor Augustus that is identical to one in the British Museum's collection



Laurie Rimon was hiking with friends at an archeological site in the eastern Galilee when she saw a shiny object in the grass. After realizing it was a coin, the groups guide, Irit Zuk-Kovacsi contacted the Israel Antiquities Authority. Within hours, an IAA representative joined the group of hikers in the field and took possession of it.

It was not easy parting with the coin, Rimon said in a statement. After all, it is not every day one discovers such an amazing object, but I hope I will see it displayed in a museum in the near future."

Related: Archaeologists discover ancient Anglo-Saxon island in UK countryside

It was quickly determined this was not just any coin. It dates to 107 AD and was part of a series of nostalgic coins that Emperor Trajan minted and dedicated to the Roman emperors that ruled before him. The only other coin of this kind is believed to be the one held by the British Museum.

Two other gold coins of this emperor have been registered in the State Treasures, one from Givat Shaul near Jerusalem, and the other from the Qiryat Gat region, Donald T. Ariel, head curator of the coin department at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement. But the details on both are different to those that appear on the coin found by Rimon.

This is an extraordinarily remarkable and surprising discovery. I believe that soon, thanks to Laurie, the public will be able to enjoy this rare find, Nir Distelfeld, an inspector with the IAA Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, said in a statement.

Related: Rare discovery: Archaeologists find woman's 2,500-year old seal in Jerusalem

Danny Syon, a senior numismatist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, said one side of the coin shows symbols the Roman legions next to the name of the ruler Trajan. On the other side, there is a portrait of the emperor Augustus Deified.

A coin like this could illustrate the Roman army was in the region as far back as 2,000 years ago, possibly in the context of activity against Bar Kokhba supporters in the Galilee  but it is very difficult to determine that on the basis of a single coin, Ariel said.

Historical sources describing the period note that some Roman soldiers were paid a high salary of three gold coins, the equivalent of 75 silver coins, each payday, Ariel said. Because of their high monetary value soldiers were unable to purchase goods in the market with gold coins, as the merchants could not provide change for them. Dr. Ariel added, Whilst the bronze and silver coins of Emperor Trajan are common in the country, his gold coins are extremely rare.
A Maryland police officer was killed Sunday afternoon and two people were in custody after what authorities called an "unprovoked attack."

Prince George's County Police Officer Jacai Colson, 28, was pronounced dead after being taken to Prince George's Hospital Center.

Gunfire erupted at around 4:30 p.m. local time in Landover, a suburb about 10 miles northeast of downtown Washington, D.C. Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski told a press conference that the initial gunfire prompted several officers to return fire at the alleged shooter, who was wounded but was expected to survive.

"Those officers did not shrink. They bravely advanced and engaged this individual," Stawinski said.

Stawinski said a second man was believed to have been present with the suspected shooter when the shots erupted, but fled and was later arrested.

"It wasn't about anything. This man launched an attack on a police station," Stawinski told WTVR. "Officers weren't in the process of apprehending him or engaging him in any way. They were going about their business on a Sunday afternoon, at their home, when they were attacked."



Immediately after the shooting, police advised residents near the police station to stay inside, and others to avoid the area, because of an "active shooter" situation. They later lifted the "shelter in place" advice in a message on Twitter soon after the second suspect was apprehended.

WTTG reported that Colson was ambushed by the suspect, who walked up and opened fire without warning. Colson was working as an undercover narcotics officer at the time of his death, though Stawinski said that had no relation to his shooting.



Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called the shooting an "act of cowardice" and a "horrific act of evil." She promised an aggressive investigation and prosecution of the suspects, whose names were not immediately released.

"This is a crime against this entire community and we will treat it as such," Alsobrooks said. "His life was precious."

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement Sunday night he was "shocked and saddened" over the officer's killing.

"It is my hope that his proud legacy of commitment and passion for law enforcement and serving others will provide some comfort in the difficult days that lie ahead," he said.

The Washington Post reported that one woman near the site grabbed her sleeping, 14-month old baby from his play pen when she heard what she thought might be either firecrackers or gunshots. The woman told the newspaper she looked outside and saw a man dressed in black firing a handgun.

"He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot," said Lascelles Grant, who then watched police officers pour out of the station. "Just looking outside, I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at all these police officers running out, putting their lives really in danger.'"

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have begun assisting local police in the investigation, spokesmen for the two federal agencies said. They said the Prince George's County Police remained the lead investigating agency.

Dave Fitz, spokesman for the FBI in Maryland, told the AP that the FBI "reached out and offered support" and sent a couple of special agents to assist. He had no further details.

Click for more from Fox5DC.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Authorities say an off-duty police officer in suburban Dallas was involved in a shooting that left one person dead and another injured.

Dan Reed, a spokesman for the Town of Addison, says the shooting happened Sunday evening. Reed says a preliminary investigation indicates the incident began when the officer from the adjacent town of Farmers Branch came across a crime in progress and intervened.

Reed says one person was killed and the other was taken to a hospital. The officer was not injured. No identities were released, and the condition of the injured person wasn't immediately known.

Addison police are investigating, and Farmers Branch police will review the officer's actions.
At least 21 people were injured Sunday in a series of car crashes that involved at least 130 vehicles and shut down part of Interstate 40 in North Carolina, authorities said.

The Alamance County Sheriff's Office told WRAL-TV that nine separate accidents occurred between Exits 147 and 153 Sunday night.

Sgt. Danny Jenkins told The Times-News of Burlington that as many as 134 vehicles were involved in the wrecks that began late Sunday afternoon over a six-mile stretch of the highway between Mebane and Graham.

North Carolina Highway Patrol spokesman Jordan Pack told the News & Observer of Raleigh that investigators were not sure what caused the initial accident. However, WRAL reported that wet conditions may have been a contributing factor in many of the accidents, while rubbernecking could have caused several others.

Authorities said 21 people were taken to local hospitals. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

WTVD-TV reported that seven accidents took place on the westbound side of Interstate 40, with two others occurring on the eastbound side.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation confirmed around 8:45 p.m. that I-40 West/I-85 South was closed at an exit near Burlington, about 20 miles east of Greensboro. It reopened around 11:15 p.m.


A customer at a 7-Eleven store outside Seattle shot and killed a masked man who attacked a clerk with an ax early Sunday.

Investigators said the shooting happened at the store in White Center at approximately 5:45 a.m. local time. Witnesses said the man entered the store and swung a hatchet toward the customer before turning his attention to the clerk.

As the assailant attacked, the customer pulled out a pistol and fired, hitting the suspect. The clerk suffered minor injuries to his stomach and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

The customer who shot the suspect is described as a 60-year-old Seattle man who visits the store every morning to get coffee. His name was not immediately released.

Authorities said the man who shot the attacker had a concealed carry permit and likely would not face charges as a result of his action.

"This could have been a lot worse, King County Sheriffs Sergeant Cindi West told KCPQ. The clerk could be the one laying there dead on the floor right now.

The motive for the assault was not clear. Investigators said the ax-wielding man remained silent throughout the assault. The assailant's identity was not immediately revealed, and authorities described him only as a man in his 40s.

Click for more from Q13Fox.com.
A federal judge on Monday ordered a former deep-sea treasure hunter to stay in jail until he answers questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins.

Defendant Tommy Thompson has been held in contempt of court since mid-December when Judge Algenon Marbley found Thompson violated a plea deal by refusing to respond.

Marbley said Monday that he hoped Thompson would have an "epiphany" about the coins and other assets connected to the recovery of the SS Central America, which sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857.

Thompson, wearing an orange jail uniform and sitting in a wheelchair, said he never saw or touched the coins, minted from gold taken from the shipwreck. He said he told everything he knew during depositions last fall.

"I said what I know about them," Thompson told Marbley. "There can't be an epiphany."

"I'm going to take that as a 'no,'" Marbley said. He ordered Thompson to stay in jail for another 60 days. Thompson is also being fined $1,000 a day until he cooperates.

"As long as you are content to be a master of misdirection and deceit to the court, I am content to let you sit," Marbley said.

Thompson's attorney, Karl Schneider, told the judge discussions are underway with the government to resolve the impasse. He wouldn't comment further outside court.

Federal prosecutor Doug Squires said the government doesn't believe Thompson has met the terms of his plea deal, which requires him to answer questions about the coins and assets.

Thompson also received a two-year prison sentence in December and a $250,000 fine for failing to appear before a judge three years ago to answer similar questions.

Thompson pleaded guilty in April to contempt of court in that case. Part of his plea deal required him to answer questions in closed-door sessions about the whereabouts of the gold coins, which the government says are worth millions.

The first of those hearings was Oct. 19. A federal prosecutor called Thompson's answers evasive and concerning. Thompson refused to cooperate at the December hearing.

That two-year sentence  including credit for nearly a year already spent behind bars  will be delayed until the issue of the gold coins is resolved.

A fugitive from Ohio since 2012, Thompson was apprehended in January 2015 along with his longtime female companion at a hotel where he was living near Boca Raton, Florida.

Thompson has been accused of cheating investors since he discovered the SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The Gold Rush-era ship sank in a hurricane with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic.

The 161 investors who paid Thompson $12.7 million to find the ship never saw any proceeds. Two sued  a now-deceased investment firm president and the company that once published The Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

Thompson, 63, told the judge he suffers from a rare form of chronic fatigue syndrome that has created problems with short-term memory.

Thompson has previously said without providing details that the coins were turned over to a trust in Belize. The government doubts this.
Two Hellfire missiles found Saturday on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia did not contain explosives and were only used for training, the Lebanese Army said in a statement to the National News Agency on Monday.

They belonged to the Lebanese army, which decided to send them back to the American company that manufactured them upon agreement with it, in accordance with legal and administrative procedures and after training with them had been completed, the statement said, according to Reuters.

Earlier it was reported by Serbian media that documents listed the final destination of the pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland, Oregon.

However officials there said reports they were coming to Portland were incorrect.

Experts are determining whether the missiles were equipped with live or training warheads, a source at the Serbian prosecutors office told Reuters. They were packed in proper transportation crates and supplied with paperwork.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
All about Super Tuesday Two today.

Voters head to the polls in several states tomorrow. Two states seen as make-or-break tomorrow  Florida for Marco Rubio and Ohio for John Kasich.

Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina vote tomorrow.

New polling from NBC News/WSJ/Marist show Marco Rubio has fallen to number two in his home state behind Donald Trump with Ted Cruz nipping at his heels. Good news, though, for Kasich who has a six point lead in Ohio over Donald Trump.

A Brand new Quinnipiac poll out of Ohio has Trump and Kasich tied at 38%.

1000EDT - Rally with Ted Cruz, Rockford, IL. LIVE via LiveU

1000EDT - Kasich Town Hall, Youngstown, OH. LIVE via LiveU

1000EDT - Rubio Meet and Greet, Jacksonville, FL. LIVE via LiveU

1000EDT - Trump rally, Hickory, NC. LIVE POOL

1330EDT - Rally with Ted Cruz, Glen Ellyn, IL. LIVE via LiveU

It was an ugly weekend of violence at Donald Trump rallies. Hes refusing to tone down the rhetoric and in fact, is doubling down. Trump suggests Sanders is planting protesters (he calls them disrupters) and threatens to send Trump supporters to future Sanders rallies.

There were several injuries after a Trump rally in Chicago was called off and Trump supporters clashed with Trump protesters. Trump has said no one has been hurt at his rallies.

On the Democratic side, new polling from NBC News/WSJ/Marist shows Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders in Ohio, Illinois and Florida. Her lead is smallest in Illinois  just six points. A new Quinnipiac poll has her ahead of Sanders by just five points in Ohio.

1100EDT - Sanders rally, Youngstown, Ohio. LIVE via LiveU

1145EDT -- Hillary Clinton holds an "economic opportunity" event. Chicago IL. LIVE via LiveU

TBA EDT -- Hillary Clinton holds an event. Springfield, IL. LIVE via LiveU

1300EDT - Sanders rally, Akron, Ohio. LIVE via LiveU

Cathleen Decker writes in the Los Angeles Times today that Trump is dominating the Democratic race too:

Donald Trump has not only roiled the Republican presidential race, but also the focus of the Democratic one, at least temporarily.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders opened a rally at the Ohio State University in Columbus on Sunday by denouncing Trumps statement earlier in the day that he might pay the legal bills for a supporter who sucker-punched a protester at a Trump rally in Fayetteville, N.C.

"A candidate for president of the United States should condemn violence, not encourage violence. You dont go around saying its OK to beat people, he said. That is not what this country is about.

The topic also opened the questioning for both Sanders and Hillary Clinton during a CNN town hall held Sunday night in Columbus.

Sanders called Trump a pathological liar for his assertion that Sanders campaign had taken part in the protests.

Our campaign  never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything, he said, adding, I would hope Mr. Trump tones it down big time.

Clinton offered similar criticism, calling Trumps effort a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear; he is playing to our worst instincts.

WSJ reporting Sanders will change his strategy to maximize delegates.

President Obama speaking during our hours today.

1115EDT -- POTUS delivers remarks during the Chiefs of Mission conference at the Dept of State.

The New York Times reports President Obama could name his pick for the Supreme Court as soon as today. The RNC is vowing to stop any pick from coming up to a vote.. which all GOP Senators have already vowed as well. Reuters reporting, The White House has narrowed its search for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee to three federal appeals court judges, Sri Srinivasan, Merrick Garland and Paul Watford.

Torrential rains and flooding hitting Louisiana and Missouri hard. More flooding today. Thousands of homes have been damaged or submerged.

A train derailed in southwest Kansas sending eleven to local hospitals.

Two suspects taken in custody in an attack that killed an officer in a Washington suburb in Maryland this weekend.

Turkey is blaming a deadly terror attack this weekend on Kurdish separatists. The car bombing in Ankara killed at least 37.

Another terror attack is being blamed on Al Qaeda in Africa. Gunmen attacked hotels and beachgoers in Ivory Coast killing at least 16 people.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Brazil to call for the resignation of Brazils president Dilma Rousseff.

For more news, follow me on Twitter: @ClintPHenderson
An Alabama man was killed after he fired a weapon at officers following a police chase, authorities said.

Wesley Chad Deerman, 26, crashed his vehicle Sunday and fired a weapon as he tried to flee Piedmont police on foot, according to Al.com, which cited a police news release.



Police said officers returned fire, striking Deerman, who later died at a hospital.

The police chase started after officers spotted Deerman's vehicle, which had been reported stolen out of Marshall County.

The shooting is being investigated by the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and the Center for Applied Forensics at Jacksonville State University.
A northeast Georgia man shot three people  killing one of them  before killing himself, police said.

Raphael Diaz de Leon, 49, killed his girlfriend's daughter, 17-year-old Alyric Fouch, shot his girlfriend and an adult bystander before shooting himself on Saturday night, according to Elberton Police Chief Mark Welsh.



Authorities said they are investigating the case as a murder-suicide.

Welsh said the incident started with an argument about Diaz de Leon's drinking.

Police said the bystander was a driver that Fouch's mother, Rhonda Cureton, had flagged down to try to escape. Diaz de Leon fired at the car, wounding both adults. Both have since been released from the hospital.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the explosion in random slashings this year shows the city is getting guns off the streets, but critics say its another NYPD policy that is driving the blade attacks: The end of stop-and-frisk.

De Blasios claim earlier this month that violent criminals are using knives, razor blades and boxcutters to maim strangers because they cant get their hands on firearms prompted skepticism from law enforcement experts. Slashings have jumped about 20 percent this year compared to the first three months of 2015, with attacks occurring on the subway, at tourist attractions and in outer borough neighborhoods long plagued by crime.

Im not quite sure why violent people would switch to knife carrying over gun carrying when their chances of being stopped and frisked or arrested are already so low.  Heather McDonald, Manhattan Institute

"Im not a criminologist, de Blasio told reporters in response to a question about the knife attacks. But I can safely say that guns are being taken off the street in an unprecedented way. Some people, unfortunately, are turning to a different weapon.

Some law enforcement experts arent buying the mayors explanation for the rise in knife crime.

These criminals didnt just start carrying knives out of the blue or because of the guns getting taken  I dont believe that for a second, former NYPD Detective Scott Prendergast, who runs the private investigation service Cornelius Investigations, told FoxNews.com.

Instead, Prendergast blames the rise in knife attacks on de Blasio for ending stop-and-frisk, a policy in which police officers stop people based on suspicion and frisk them for weapons or other illegal items.

The increase in knives is more connected to ending stop and frisk . . . so the criminals know they can carry knives like they did back in the 1980s, Prendergast said.

Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute who studies crime, agreed.

Im not quite sure why violent people would switch to knife carrying over gun carrying when their chances of being stopped and frisked or arrested are already so low, she told FoxNews.com.

Asked for evidence backing up the mayors claim about guns, the NYPD sent FoxNews.com data showing that gun-related arrests in 2016 have risen to 559 from 476 during the same period last year. And that at the same time as they arrested more people for having guns, shooting incidents fell to 130 from 161 and murders fell to 44 from 63.

Those statistics are consistent with the mayors argument, but Prendergast noted that crimes in general are up.

There were 402 more felonious assaults so far this year compared to the same time period last year  a 14 percent increase. Through the first two months of the year, there were 567 slashing attacks, some 20 percent above the pace set in early 2015.

Police data also show that shootings, while down in 2016 so far, are still higher than they were two years ago when de Blasio took office.

I have lived and worked in New York City my whole life and it is definitely starting to remind me of the 1980s as far as unsavory characters being a lot more visible, Prendergast said.

De Blasio said the citys next project is to crack down on illegal knives and that the best way to do so is with broken windows policing  meaning enforcing laws against relatively minor crimes and shaking the perps down for weapons.

I believe in quality-of-life policing, or Broken Windows Policing, de Blasio said. I get the reports every day. Someones jumping a turnstile [or] someone had some other kind of infraction and it turns out they have a weapon, he said.

But critics say de Blasio doesnt fully allow police to practice what he preaches, because this year New York City decriminalized a host of minor crimes including public urination, drinking in public and littering.

So obviously theyre not doing broken windows policing, Prendergast said.

The author, Maxim Lott, can be reached on Twitter at @maximlott.
A driver was shot and killed by an East Tennessee police officer who had jumped into the bed of the man's pickup truck as he attempted to flee a DUI stop, authorities said.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Susan Niland told news outlets that 30-year-old Joshua Grubb, of Lebanon, was fatally shot early Sunday in Lenoir City.

Niland said the unidentified officer was attempting to arrest Grubb's passenger for public intoxication, when Grubb tried to drive away.

The officer jumped into the bed of the fleeing truck, ordered Grubb to stop and, when Grubb refused, the officer shot him, Niland said.



The officer sustained minor injuries and has been placed on paid administrative leave while TBI agents continue to investigate the shooting.
The United Nations Security Council was huddling Monday in a meeting called by the U.S. to discuss Irans provocative and destabilizing launch last week of long-range missiles marked with threats to Israel.

The closed meeting was in addition to one already scheduled in which the Security Council was to discuss the latest developments in Syria. The U.S., which brokered the deal with Iran that ended most international sanctions in exchange for Tehrans pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons, called the meeting.

We condemn such threats against another UN member-state and one of our closest allies.  U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power

We condemn such threats against another UN member-state and one of our closest allies, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said in a statement that labeled Irans actions as provocative and destabilizing.

There is dispute over whether the missile tests last Tuesday and Wednesday violated terms of the nuclear deal, but they are believed to have violated earlier UN resolutions limiting Irans missile program. Perhaps more alarming, the missiles tested last week were emblazoned with threats against the Jewish state.

Iranian footage of the launches showed an Israeli flag painted on the ground at the entrance of a missile silo, where Iranian military personnel trample over it going in and out. The footage also showed a photo of a missile with the words Israel must be wiped out written in Hebrew.

It is unclear whether the U.S. can convince fellow veto-wielding countries on the council, Russia and China, to join the West in holding Tehran to task.

Russia is signaling that it will hamper any attempt to punish Iran for the ballistic missile launches. Russian envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that Iran has not defied sanctions, while British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft called the Islamic Republic's actions "blatant disregard" of the UN ballistic missile sanctions.

The Security Council's five permanent members are the U.S., United Kingdom, France, China and Russia. The 10 non-permanent members currently serving in the Council are: Angola, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said the ballistic missile launches are a "pivotal historic moment" that the international community must act on.

"Ignoring Irans violations will give a green light for continuing nuclear missile tests, Danon said. "History has taught us that we cannot bury our heads in the sand, action must be taken against Iran.
An American sailor has been arrested for an alleged rape on the Japanese island of Okinawa, in a case that could inflame local resentment against the US military presence.

Police arrested Justin Castellanos, 24, a US Navy seaman at Camp Schwab, on Sunday.

He allegedly assaulted a Japanese tourist in her 40s at a hotel earlier that morning.

The sailor dragged the woman into his room and raped her after finding her asleep in the hallway, reports Kyodo News agency.

An Okinawa demonstration against the US military in August 2014

Castellanos has not been formally charged.

According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, the two were staying at the same hotel, but were not acquainted.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said: "We promptly told the US side this is extremely regrettable and demanded firmly stricter discipline and prevention of recurrence."

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told reporters the case is "a serious crime and blatant violation to women's human rights".

Okinawa, the site of a fierce World War II battle, hosts about half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan.

The island's residents have frequently protested against the US bases, complaining about noise and crime from the facilities.

A 1995 rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three US servicemen caused uproar on the island.

The case led to an agreement to move a US Marine base to a less crowded part of Okinawa.

The relocation plan was placed in limbo this month because many residents want it entirely off the island.

Click for more from Sky News.


The latest extremist attacks against Christians in 2016 thus far have come from an unlikely source.

As Christianity has seemingly been under attack in places like Iraq, Syria, and Africa for over a decade from extremist groups like ISIS and Al Shabaab, the first six weeks of 2016 have seen a fresh outbreak of anti-Christian violence in India with nearly 30 incidents of religiously motivated violence against Christians reported in just over two months.

While it follows a global trend, its Hindu nationalists leading efforts of persecution and attacks.

"His silence is tacit approval...He needs to come out again and reign in his party."  Jeff King, ICC

According to various news reports, there have been 26 documented incidents of religiously motivated violence against Christians spread across the subcontinent since Jan. 1. Incidents of violence against Christians have always existed in one form or another, but were usually limited to a particular region or issue.

However, the violence has begun to spread with Hindu radicals enjoying near complete impunity for their actions.

They are wolves in sheeps clothing, Jeff King, president of the International Christian Concern, told FoxNews.com. There has been an increase in attacks because these nationalists feel emboldened with [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi in power.

Religious Breakdown of India | Graphiq Religious Demographics of India

Local police officials took no action against the aggressors in many of the incidents. One such was Jan. 29 in the southeastern state of Tamil Nadu when a mob of over 30 radicals in the village of Ettimadai ruthlessly attacked, beat, and dragged a Catholic priest and three church officials from their car.

All four men tried to flee from the mob but were eventually caught. The mob then dragged and beat them for a mile and a half. Despite pleas for help during the incident, police stood idly by.

All four men were hospitalized as a result, with the priest requiring treatment in the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital.

The group was first approached by the mob while they were waiting in their car outside the police station to speak with authorities regarding the arrest of a priest and two others from an AIDS/HIV clinic run by the church.

Just two weeks earlier, in the Nizamabad District of Telangana State, a local pastor and members of his congregation were savagely beaten by a mob of 40 Hindu radicals after they falsely accused him of trying to convert Hindus to Christianity.

According to locals, the attack occurred during a Christian prayer gathering and resulted in the hospitalization of six, including a four-year-old girl whose leg was broken during the attack.

Map of Christian Persecution Worldwide | Graphiq Map of Christian Persecution Worldwide

It was [a] very scary scene, Pastor Nitin Kumar, recently recounted to humanitarian group International Christian Concern. They tore my cassock and I received blows, punches, [and] kicks from all directions as I was their prime target. [Our] Bibles were snatched from us and were tore and trampled. [Other] believers ran to all directions as they were chased by the mob.

And just last Sunday, a Pentecostal church in the Chhattisgarh state was attacked by a mob believed to have been a part of the militant Hindu Bajrang Dal organization. They were alleged to have entered the church during prayer services and broke chairs, fans and musical equipment, according to Christian Today. It was the fourth attack on churchgoers in the region over the last six weeks.

While attacks against Christians have occurred for quite some time, the problem has seemingly become widespread after the election of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Indian Peoples Party. The BJP believes in what is known as Hindutvaa cultural nationalism which favors Indian culture over westernization.

"Since 2014 there has been a significant increase in attacks on Christians and Christian communities by radical Hindu forces in India, David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA told FoxNews.com. The government, which came into power with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has strong Hindu nationalist ties. As a result, radical Hinduism, which was already present under the previous government, has increased steadily.

And while Modi and the BDP have not publicly praised the attacks, they arent publicly opposing them either.

The central government has refused to speak out against the atrocities  thus further encouraging radical Hindus to step up their discrimination against Christians, Curry added. The government's tolerance--if not promotion--of discrimination against Christians has led to a marked rise in the number of people within India openly pushing for a completely Hindu India.

The rash of outbreaks led humanitarian groups like the ICC to campaign in Washington to put pressure on Modi and the BDP to stop the wave of extreme nationalism.

His silence is tacit approval, King of the ICC said. Push came to shove once before and he [Modi] had to come out and say that India is tolerant and the nationalists backed down.

And the most of the populace is very tolerant, but he needs to come out again and rein in his party.

Late last month, a bipartisan letter was sent to Modi by eight U.S. senators and 26 members of Congress, requesting that he strongly and publicly condemn the acts of persecution.

But so far, there has been no response.

The BJP will be silent unless there is political pressure, King added. With Congress coming out with this letter, with that rise in pressure, the party will have to address the issue.
A Palestinian-American member of the Islamic State terror group has surrendered to an Iraqi Kurdish military unit in northern Iraq, a Kurdish general said Monday.

The individual was identified as Mohammed Jamal Amin, 27, from Virginia, a source in the Peshmerga forces told Fox News. Amin was born in Virginia to a Palestinian father and Iraqi mother from Mosul, the Turkish news agency Rudaw reported.



Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani told The Associated Press that Amin surrendered on Monday morning at an inspection point near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from ISIS militants late last year.

Helkani said Amin had been "lurking near the peshmerga lines" since late Sunday night, and his troops first tried to shoot him, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

"Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up," Helkani added.

Helkani said Amin was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cellphones and three forms of identification, including a United States driver's license. He is currently being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation.



Amin had mistaken Peshmerga territory for the Turkish border, a Peshmerga commander told Rudaw. The commander added that Amin had entered Syria from Turkey two months ago and traveled to Mosul in Iraq.

In neighboring Syria, meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of ISIS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Iraqi forces have struggled to retake ground from the Islamic State, which despite a series of territorial losses in Iraq and Syria in the past six months, still controls large swaths of land in both countries.

In Iraq, ISIS has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the past few weeks. Iraqi officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraq's north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully "liberated" by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition officials last month.

The extremist group also controls Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

Fox News' Greg Palkot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


The United States has confirmed the death of a senior Islamic State commander with a $5 million bounty on his head, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News on Monday.

Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, also known as Abu Umar al-Shishani or "Umar the Chechen" -- who was the ISIS equivalent of the Secretary of Defense -- was initially injured in an airstrike on March 4 near the Syrian town of Al Shadaddi, a former ISIS stronghold that was captured in February by the U.S.-backed, predominantly Kurdish Syria Democratic Forces.

Batirashvili was present at the meeting and was trying to rally a counterattack against Syrian opposition forces who have been supported by the U.S., according to a defense official

There were 13 people who were originally present at the meeting, including one who escaped after the airstike.

A senior U.S. defense official told Fox News the one who escaped was Batirashvili, but U.S. intelligence has since learned he died of his wounds.

On Tuesday, a senior Iraqi intelligence official and the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed Batirashvili's death to the Associated Press.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Observatory said that ISIS "brought a number of doctors to treat him, but they were not able to."

Batirashvili's death is considered a big setback to ISIS operations in Syria, according to U.S. defense officials.

Defense officials told Fox News previously that it was unusual and noteworthy that Batirashvili had traveled to the Al Shaddadi area from Raqqa.

The trip was likely to bolster the sagging morale of ISIS fighters there, who have suffered a series of defeats by Syrian Democratic Forces as they moved from Al Hawl to Al Shaddadi, according to officials.

Batirashvili, was one of hundreds of Chechens who have been among the toughest jihadi fighters in Syria.

An ethnic Chechen from the Caucasus nation of Georgia, specifically from the Pankisi Valley, a center of Georgia's Chechen community and once a stronghold for militants, he was known for his red beard.

He joined ISIS in 2013, where he oversaw a prison facility near Raqqah, Syria where the terror group may have held foreign hostages. In mid-2014, he coordinated closely with ISIS's financial section to establish a base of operation near Minbij, Syria.

He was later appointed northern commander to ISIS by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with authority over the terror groups military operations forces in northern Syria, according to a U.S. defense official.

The U.S. Treasury Department designated Batirashvili as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224 for action for or on behalf of ISIS, and offered a $5 million reward for information to bring him to justice.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson, and the Associated Press contributed to this report
Turkey carried out airstrikes against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq Monday in retaliation for a car bomb attack in Ankara a day earlier that killed at least 37 people.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, including in the Qandil mountains where the group's leadership is based. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets hit.

Police, meanwhile, carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining 38 suspected PKK rebels, the agency reported. Fifteen suspected Kurdish militants also were detained in Istanbul, Anadolu said.

The PKK has been designated a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. A fragile peace process between the PKK and the Turkish state collapsed in July, reigniting a battle that has cost tens of thousands of lives since 1984.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said three more people died overnight from wounds suffered in the Sunday night suicide attack that targeted buses and people waiting at bus stops in the heart of Ankara. Around 125 people were wounded in the blast, with 71 people still hospitalized. Of those, 15 were in serious condition.

A senior government official told The Associated Press that authorities believe the attack was carried out by two bombers  one of them a woman  and was the work of Kurdish militants. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

It was the second deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants in Ankara in the past month and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees."

Sunday's bombing came just three weeks after a suicide car bombing targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people. A Kurdish militant group that is an offshoot of the PKK claimed responsibility for the Feb. 17 attack, but no group has claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack.

The private NTV news channel said several vehicles caught fire following Sundays blast, which also shattered the windows of shops that line Ataturk Bulvari -- the citys main boulevard -- and Kizilay square.

Dogan Asik, 28, was on a packed bus when the explosion occurred.

"There were about 40 people," said Asik, who suffered injuries to his face and arm. "It [the bus] slowed down. A car went by us, and 'boom' -- it exploded."

Turkey has been imposing curfews in several flashpoints in the southeast since August to root out militants linked to the PKK, who had set up barricades, dug trenches and planted explosives. The military operations have raised concerns over human rights violations and scores of civilian deaths. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting.

Turkish authorities on Monday announced another curfew, to go into effect at 5 p.m. ET in the city of Sirnak, near the border with Iraq, signaling that the military was preparing to battle Kurdish militants there.

The U.S. Embassy had issued two days earlier a security warning about a potential plot to attack Turkish government buildings and housing in one Ankara neighborhood and asked American citizens to avoid those areas. The car bomb went off in a different neighborhood.

As with the previous bombings, Turkish authorities quickly imposed a ban Sunday preventing media organizations from broadcasting or publishing graphic images of the blast or from the scene. Anadolu Agency said the government-run telecommunications agency had decided to block access to websites that published images from the scene.

The country's pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples' Democratic Party, meanwhile, condemned the attack and said it shared the pain. The statement was significant because the party has frequently been accused of being the political arm of the PKK  an accusation it denies  and of not speaking out against PKK violence.

The attack drew international condemnation in statements issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, among others.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington's "strong partnership with our NATO ally Turkey in combatting the shared threat of terrorism."

About 210 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or the Islamic State group. Turkey has joined U.S.-led efforts to fight ISIS in Syria, and the deadliest attack came in October when a bombing at a peace rally outside Ankara's main train station killed 102 people.

"All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war," said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute in emailed comments. "Ankara's ill-executed Syria policy ... has exposed Turkey to great risks."

As Turkey on Monday began to hold funeral services for at least 17 of the people who lost their lives, details emerged about some of the victims, which included the father of Galatasaray soccer team player Umut Bulut.

Anadolu said the player's father, Kemal Bulut, had watched Galatasaray play for Ankara-based team Genclerbirligi in the city  after visiting his son at his hotel  and was returning home when the explosion occurred. Umut Bulut had returned to Istanbul in the evening unaware that his father had been caught up in the blast and learned of his father's death as he prepared to start training on Monday.

Police officer Nevzat Alagoz, who also perished in the blast, was waiting for a bus to take him home after policing the game, Anadolu reported.

Another victim, Ozan Akkus, a 19-year-old engineering student, had lost his close friend in the October peace rally attack, Hurriyet newspaper said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For years he walked alongside Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a quiet confidant as she campaigned for democracy in Myanmar. On Tuesday, with her blessing, Htin Kyaw will become the country's president.

A soft-spoken man with a penchant for literature and writing, Htin Kyaw gave up a career in the foreign ministry decades ago to help Suu Kyi, his childhood friend, with her political party. When Myanmar was under military rule, he ended up in the junta's prison along with other pro-democracy activists.

But until last week, Htin Kyaw was hardly a household name, and most people in Myanmar  or outside  could have never imagined that he would become the president of the country's first democratically elected government in more than a half-century.

Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to a landslide victory in the Nov. 8 general elections, but is prevented from becoming president by a constitutional clause designed by the former military rulers who have been gradually letting go of power since 2011.

So she chose a trusted friend and adviser. She has repeatedly said she expects the president to be her proxy.

Htin Kyaw, 70, is the son of a national poet and the son-in-law of a founding member of the country's pro-democracy movement. He has known Suu Kyi, 71, since grade school. Their fathers were family friends, and Htin Kyaw has been at Suu Kyi's side almost constantly since 1992.

But he kept such a low profile that journalists were left scrambling to find out anything about Htin Kyaw when his nomination was announced last week. After all, he was only the nameless face often appearing behind Suu Kyi in pictures taken during her infrequent public appearances before she was freed from long periods of house arrests.

"Htin Kyaw is a very quiet man who loves literature," said Zaw Min Kyaw, who has known Htin Kyaw for more than 20 years. Zaw Min published a book compiling a series of articles Htin Kyaw wrote about his father, titled "My Father's Life," in 2009.

"He talks steadily and softly. He is such a kind person; very honest, quiet, and passionate, and lives simply," he told The Associated Press.

Under Myanmar's complicated electoral system, the president is elected by lawmakers of both houses of parliament. They chose from three candidates, one representing the lower house, one the upper house and one representing the military bloc, which has 25 percent of seats reserved for them. The candidate with the highest number of votes becomes president and the other two become vice presidents.

As the personal nominee of Suu Kyi, Htin Kyaw is expected to win the highest number of votes in elections set to take place Tuesday.

Suu Kyi nominated him "obviously to show that he is the most trusted person for her," said Zaw Min, 48, a former NLD member. "If this kind of person leads the country ... it will also affect positively on the people of this country."

Htin Kyaw is one of the first generation of graduates from Rangoon University, now the University of Yangon. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1967 and a master's degree in economics in 1968, while also working as a lecturer there. He moved to the computer science department in 1970, and later studied computer science at the University of London for two years before returning home to work as a programmer and analyst until 1975.

Five years later, Zyaw Min said, Htin Kyaw then joined the government's foreign economic relations department, where he worked as deputy director. He resigned in 1992  apparently because of his family connections to the opposition party  and took greater interest in the work of NLD, which was in the throes of a democracy campaign against a military junta.

At the time, his father-in-law, U Lwin, was sick and Htin Kyaw used to drive him to the party office. In the process he started helping Suu Kyi with issues relating to foreign policy, and became the key adviser on the party's outreach to foreign governments and embassies, even as the junta continued to throttle the democracy movement.

A watershed in his life came in 2000 when NLD workers, including Zaw Min, wanted to go to Mandalay on a campaign trip. They went to the Yangon train station to meet with Suu Kyi, who had been driven there by Htin Kyaw. But officials refused to sell them tickets, and the situation became tense.

Instead of leaving Suu Kyi at the station, Htin Kyaw "waited and waited because he knew the situation was not good," said Zaw Min.

In the end everyone was detained, including Htin Kyaw. Suu Kyi was returned to house arrest, and the other 84 activists spent the next 4 months in the notorious In Sein prison.

Up to that point, and even after his release, Htin Kyaw "didn't really do much active politics as far as I know," said Zaw Min. "It's not like he was taking a big position in the political party, but over the years he ended up helping Suu Kyi a lot in party affairs."

Htin Kyaw is now the central committee member of Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity named for Suu Kyi's mother.

"He is a very trusted friend of Daw Suu Kyi," said Zaw Min. They both went to the same elementary school in Yangon. Htin Kyaw is remembered by his acquaintances as a smart student who loved sports. At university, he played water polo.

"After he retired (from his government job), he became very quiet. He started spending a lot of time reading and writing articles," said Zaw Min.
Another day, another veiled threat from North Korea. Unlike most, this one was very specific.

State-run television in the Peoples Republic reported on Sunday that Pyongyangs arsenal of deadly weapons now includes a hydrogen bomb that could wipe out New York City and kill everybody who lives there.

Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union, DPRK Today reported, citing nuclear scientist Cho Hyong Il.

If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes.

The remarks, first reported by the Washington Post, follow a staged show of the countrys military power last week where leader Kim Jong-un was filmed inspecting a silver sphere. The object is believed to be a miniature nuclear warhead or a hydrogen bomb.

In February, North Korea launched a satellite into space, according to state media. The move was widely viewed by the outside world as a step in the direction of long-range missile testing that could one day allow Kim, should he wish, to reach the US mainland with a targeted missile.

It was condemned by the UN Security Council and fresh sanctions were imposed. US Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters it cannot be business as usual after two successive North Korean acts that are hostile and illegal.

Whats important is that the Security Council unites, Power said. China is a critical player ... We are hopeful that China, like all council members, will see the grave threat to regional and international peace and security, see the importance of adopting tough, unprecedented measures, breaking new ground here, exceeding the expectations of Kim Jong Un.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye called the launch an intolerable provocation. The Foreign Ministry in China expressed regret that, disregarding the opposition from the international community, the (North) side obstinately insisted in carrying out a launch by using ballistic missile technologies.

The H-bomb is a weapon unlike any other  it is believed to be 1000 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Countries including China, the US and Russia have hydrogen bombs but have never used one.

North Korea claimed in January it had tested detonation of a hydrogen bomb, a claim the US described as far-fetched.

Further tests have been ordered by the countrys leader, state TV reports.

Click for more from news.com.au.


Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria on Monday, after saying his troops largely achieved their combat goals in the country.

He also ordered the countrys diplomatic efforts be stepped up to secure a peace deal in Syria. The move was announced on the day U.N.-backed peace talks on Syria resumed in Geneva.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries in the Kremlin, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," he said.

Putin didn't specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. He emphasized that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate.

The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."

As peace talks opened in Geneva, President Obama spoke with President Vladimir Putin about the withdrawal and discussed "next steps" in upholding the fragile truce that has quieted the country's civil war, the White House said.

In a statement about the phone call, the White House said Obama told Putin he welcomed the "much-needed reduction in violence" since the cease-fire took effect late last month. But the president also noted the Syrian regime's continued "offensive actions" threaten to break the deal and could undermine plans for a United Nations-led political process.

"The President underscored that a political transition is required to end the violence in Syria," the White House said.

The two leaders spoke shortly after Putin announced the partial withdrawal. For nearly six months, Russia has mounted an air campaign backing up the Syria President Bashar Assad's battle against opposition forces. The White House statement did not offer the president's reaction to Putin's move and instead focused on what else Russians could do to use its influence with the Assad regime.

The White House said Obama noted "some progress" on getting humanitarian aid to Syrians, but added that regime forces continue to impede access to some areas, particularly Daraya.

U.S. officials told Reuters they had no advanced warning of Putin's decision to withdraw the main part of Russian forces from Syria, nor had they seen any indications of preparations for such a withdrawal.

One rebel group told Reuters they did not understand the Russian announcement.

"It's a surprise, like the way they entered the war. God protect us," Fadi Ahmad, spokesman for the First Coastal Division, a Free Syria Army group fighting in the country's northwest, told Reuters.

The Syrian presidency said Assad and Putin spoke on the phone Monday and jointly agreed that Russia would scale back its forces in Syria. It rejected speculation that the decision reflected a rift between the allies and said the decision reflected the "successes" the two armies have achieved in fighting terrorism in Syria and restoring peace to key areas of the country.

The Syrian army said it would continue its operations against the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations "with the same tempo."

The Russian and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The Islamic State group and Al Qaeda's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire.

Putin said Monday's move would send a "good signal" to the parties to the conflict, help raise trust and help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad.

Putin added that the Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday.

At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The Geneva talks come as the truce helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas"  zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

De Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war  and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is "a red line," and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months  a key demand of the opposition.

But de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue  the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Assad, however, has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

On Monday, as the election campaign officially kicked off, streets in the capital Damascus were festooned with electoral banners and posters of hundreds of government-approved candidates.

In the so-called proximity talks, the two sides don't meet face to face, but meet separately with de Mistura and his team, who shuttle back and forth.

The talks began Monday with de Mistura hosting a government delegation led by Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari. Speaking to reporters afterward, Ja'afari called the meeting "positive and constructive" and said the government delegation "submitted ideas and views" for a political solution to the crisis. He said the opposition will meet de Mistura on Tuesday, and his delegation would meet again on Wednesday.

The talks have shaped up as the best, if distant, chance in years to end a war that has created an opening for radical groups including Islamic State and the Al Qaeda-backed Nusra Front to gain large swaths of land, and prompted at least 11 million people to leave their homes  many fleeing abroad to places like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as to Europe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Sky News.
EXCLUSIVE: Six months after giving birth to a cluster of nebulous Sustainable Development Goals that aim to dramatically change the economic, social and environmental course of the planet, the United Nations is working on a drastic renovation of global data gathering to measure progress against its sweeping international agenda.

The result that emerged late last week from the U.N. Statistical Commission -- an obscure body of national experts that calls itself the apex entity of the international statistics system -- is a document as sprawling, undefined and ambitious as the sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, themselves -- which lay out 17 goals and 169 sometimes overlapping targets to transform global society.

In attempting to cover at least some of that ground, the so-called draft global indicators framework likely will add huge new volumes of information that governments collect as they measure progress toward what amounts to a global socialist or progressive agenda.

To the extent that the indicators are adopted or incorporated by national governments, such as that of the U.S., they will also provide a powerful reorientation of public debate as they filter into academic and policy discussions.

In all, the draft framework outlines 230 statistical indicators to measure progress toward the SDGs, including such familiar ones as per-capital Gross Domestic Product and the proportion of populations living below national and international poverty lines.

According to the U.N. General Assembly resolution that called for their creation, the new SDG indicators are supposed to be simple but robust. Among the relatively novel measurements the draft framework proposes to develop:

 The proportion of government recurrent and capital spending going to sectors that disproportionately benefit women, poor and vulnerable groups

 The extent to which global citizenship education and education for sustainable development . . . are mainstreamed at all levels in national education politics, curricula, teacher education and student assessment

 The number of countries that have implemented well-managed migration policies

 The average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status

 The proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months

 The mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning

 The proportion of national Exclusive Economic Zones [200-mile ocean limits] managed using ecosystem-based approaches

 The number of plant and animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either medium or long-term conservation facilities

 Progress by countries in the degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

The indicators endorsed in the framework are unprecedent in their scale and nuance, according to John Pullinger, National Statistician of Britain, and immediate past chair of an expert group of national statistical agencies that pulled together the indicators for the Statistical Commission.

(The U.S. was not an expert group member, but participated in a grouping known as the Friends of the Chair of the Statistical Commission that provided guidance for the effort.)

Among other things, the SDG indicator quest included a really strong push, in Pullingers phrase, for disaggregation, which has been defined by the U.N. as a breakdown of statistics by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographical location, or other characteristics.

Just how that information will be collected, and how enlightening it will prove to be, remains to be seen, as the process to refine and obtain the data, Pullinger indicated, is likely to stretch on as long as the SDG agenda itself, through 2030.

Adding to the complexity, the data search will depend on national governments of all stripes -- democratic and dictatorial, developed and developing -- to come up with their own versions of the facts.

The eyebrow-raising and sometimes improbable diversity of the proposed data-gathering effort is a reflection of the transformational SDGs themselves, which aim to touch on most areas of human existence and impact.

The indicators endorsed in the framework are unprecedent in their scale and nuance.  John Pullinger, National Statistician of Britain

They also reflect another aspect of the SDGs -- an uncoordinated degree of ambition that some of the worlds top scientific bodies found at times impractical, redundant and unmeasurable. Those scientific groups, however, were to a considerable degree ignored.

The same can now be said about the bid to measure their progress, according to Brett Schaefer, a U.N. expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Some of the huge array of indicators are useful and practical, he observes, but many are seriously flawed.

Like the U.N. itself, many are focused, he says, on inputs like the level of government spending or the volume of development assistance devoted to a particular issue, rather than the results from those expenditures.

Others could best be described in Schaefers phrase as transparently political objectives, including those based on ratification of U.N.-generated treaties, like the Law of the Sea and an international biodiversity convention, both of which the U.S., for example, has not ratified.

Still others, he said, use imprecise or subjective terms that invite bias or data manipulation.

Overall, Schaefer was concerned that the immense data collection effort involved on a global scale -- much of it unprecedented -- will consume significant resources and will likely outstrip the capacity of less developed countries.

We have got what we have got, British National Statistician Pullen told Fox News -- meaning, among other things, that the technical task is to find a set of indicators that speak to the targets.

We have to understand that there are a lot more things going on than just statistics.

Pullinger agreed that the data needs are vast for the indicators, but added that this is just the current case of a fact of life in the world of measurement. As scientists, we are working to understand the world better.

Some targets, Pullinger said, are more measurable than others, meaning that we need to keep refining them, and consulting. This is normal for the way we work.

Indeed, as part of the method involved in further refining the data-gathering process, the expert group and the Statistical Commission divided the indicators into three tiers.

These depended on whether the data required was already widely available; whether a method of determining the data existed but the data are not easily available; and where an internationally agreed methodology has not yet been developed.

Work on the first two tiers of data is expected to continue for the next full year, while 12 months from now the experts group is expected to provide a work plan for further development of Tier III indicators -- and to fill in other data gaps as they arise.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DRAFT FRAMEWORK

George Russell is Editor-at-Large of Fox News. He is reachable on Twitter at @GeorgeRussell and on Facebook at Facebook.com/George.Russell
Multi-unit franchisee Gary Moore has spent most of his life in the restaurant business, assuming nearly every available job title along the way. "I relate very well to people in the restaurant business because I have that experience," says Moore. "I understand each role and can put that hat on because I have been in that role myself. It has helped me a great deal."

Based in Salt Lake City, Moore operates 58 Burger Kings in five western states, 6 Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants, and 10 convenience stores/gas stations. Most recently, he struck a development deal with the Utah-based Beans & Brews Coffee House to build 20 stores in Nevada. With more than 30 years in franchising, Moore is still happiest behind the restaurant counter with his sleeves rolled up working alongside team members and talking with customers. He sits on the advisory board of Costa Vida and has been actively involved with Beans & Brews. The give and take between Moore and his new brands has been great for business. "It's been fun to be able to join a brand in its infancy and really contribute to the things they are doing," he says.

Moore got his start in the business at 16 as a crew worker at a Salt Lake City Burger King that would eventually be owned by his current business partner David Williams. With the exception of a stint in the National Guard, Moore has spent his entire career with the brand, tackling every job until being tapped to run the organization in 1995. Under his leadership, the franchise more than doubled its Burger King unit count and added convenience stores to the mix. Moore, who became a franchisee himself in 2005, sought to diversify further about four years ago with the addition of Costa Vida, a brand that offers made-from-scratch fare and a passionate customer base, he says.

For Moore, future growth is more about the value of the deal than the number of units he can add. Real estate is a key objective for the company, which has developed about 70 percent of the properties they operate. "We think it is an important objective of what we are trying to accomplish," he says. "I would rather grow slower with the opportunity to own the dirt underneath and a piece of property than grow quickly and all I own is restaurant equipment and a franchise."

Moore, who still relies on the lessons learned from his early days, admits that the benefits of his extensive background in the restaurant business also brings its challenges. "I like to be involved in every decision made, and sometimes the train slows down because decisions are waiting for me," he says. "You can't do all the work yourself or nothing gets done. You have to trust people, although the trust has to be earned."

Name: Gary Moore

Title: Franchisee, vice president. I don't even have a title on my business card. My role is different, depending upon the entity.

Company: HB Boys LC

No. of units: 58 Burger Kings, 6 Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grills, 3 Subways, 10 convenience stores/fuel stations (6 Chevron, 3 Conoco, 1 Union 76)

Age: 49

Family: Married to Polly with four sons, Christopher, Joshua, Zackary, and Cooper

Years in franchising: 31

Years in current position: 20

Personal

First job:

At age 14, I began cleaning kitchens in the evenings six days a week at a Pastry Pride donut shop.

Formative influences/events:

I have a business partner who believes in me and who gave me an opportunity. Without David Williams I certainly wouldn't be in the position I am in today.

Key accomplishments:

I began my career in franchising at age 16 working as an hourly employee at Burger King. From there I've worked my way up and have held all positions in the organization.

Biggest current challenge:

To continue growing our business with the current challenges (minimum wage, ACA, etc.).

Next big goal:

I'd like to continue growing the brands I currently represent. Also, I've entered into a franchise agreement with the regional coffee chain Beans & Brews for a 20-unit development over the next 5 years.

First turning point in your career:

The many challenges I faced at a young age when I became a manager and eventually a district manager.

Best business decision:

Becoming a franchisee and owner. I am fortunate to have my partner Dave Williams. He allows me to run the day-to-day business, which is great, and he has also been a great mentor to me in the business.

Hardest lesson learned:

The greatest lesson I've learned in my current position is that if I have a gut feeling about someone or something I should follow that gut instinct. When I don't follow my gut I always end up regretting it.

Work week:

60 to 70 hours.

Exercise/workout:

I run three to four times a week for about half an hour.

Best advice you ever got:

Stick with it.

What's your passion in business?

I really enjoy working in the stores and interacting with our guests and employees.

How do you balance life and work?

When I leave work or take the day off, I do my best to be there and be in the present. It's important to leave work at work and home at home.

Guilty pleasure:

Watching the same movies over and over again ("National Treasure," "Draft Day").

Favorite book:

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Favorite movie:

"Star Wars."

Pet peeve:

Cleanliness items--like gum on sidewalks, etc.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Accountant.

Last vacation:

Kauai.

Person I'd most like to have lunch with:

George W. Bush.

Management

Business philosophy:

To continue to grow our organization through profitable growth.

Management method or style:

When you lead people, you lead through example. I think that is probably the way I manage my business. I lead through example. I don't think anyone in the organization would ever say, "He expects so much more out of me than he expects out of himself." I treat people fairly and with respect.

Greatest challenge:

People--finding and retaining the right people.

How do others describe you?

As fair in dealings, level-headed, caring toward people in my organization, and hard-working.

One thing I'm looking to do better:

Delegation. I need to learn that it is okay to take a step back and not be involved in every decision.

How I give my team room to innovate and experiment:

In the franchise model there is not a lot of opportunity to innovate and experiment with brand items. We give our team opportunities to innovate in the areas of processes, etc.

How close are you to operations?

Very close. I'm involved daily.

What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor?

Products and marketing.

What I need from vendors:

Consistency and quality of products.

Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How?

Social media seems to be part of the future of our business.

How is social media affecting your business?

Significantly. I'm not a Millennial. I don't even know what Twitter does. It is amazing as we become educated around social media. Burger King has been masterful as it relates to and capitalizes on social media. I'm blown away with the impact it is having on our business. As a franchisee, I've seen a lot more on our Burger King side, but I know that with Costa Vida it is a big part of the marketing plan to use social media as an avenue for new and potential guests for our business.

How do you hire and fire?

We try to promote as much as possible from within. Hiring from outside our organization is accomplished in many ways.

How do you train and retain?

Training is an ongoing process. Training is brand-specific with the exception of administrative training.

How do you deal with problem employees?

Counseling and understanding.

Fastest way into my doghouse:

Not taking responsibility for your actions.

Bottom Line

Annual revenue:

$100 million-plus.

2016 goals: Development:

2 Burger Kings, 2 Costa Vidas, 4 Beans & Brew Coffee Houses.

Growth meter:

We are fortunate as an organization that we are very financially stable and we aren't taking on any risky investments. We have come to a point in our organization where the tolerance for a lot of risk is not there. We want to do deals and want to do projects that we have a good feeling are going to be successful.

How do you measure your growth?

Certainly you want to run good operations. Growing up in this business, I am a firm believer that operations drives sales and profits. We are constantly looking at financials and improvements in cost controls and in efficiencies we create within our own business. Certainly we have ratios we are expected to hit by our lenders and we measure our success that way.

Vision meter: Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years?

I'd like to continue growing the brands. We don't have a specific number of restaurants we would like to have or chains we would like to be involved in. We look at three things: Are the company's financials stable? Are we able to continue to grow? And are we still having fun while we are doing it? If those things are met we continue to grow. If it means that I have the same number of restaurants that I have today then that is okay too.

How is the economy in your region affecting you, your employees, your customers?

It has had a great effect, specifically finding the right people. When the economy is good, there is lots of growth and new competitors. We are all competing for the same talent pool, particularly as it relates to finding good management. Our philosophy has always been to promote from within the organization, but I think there is a balance between promoting from within and hiring people from the outside. The challenge with hiring from the outside is that it is hard to prove the values of the company over a short period--that comes over time. If someone works for me for three months and is offered more money somewhere else, he is not as committed as someone who has been with me for five years.

Are you experiencing economic growth in your market?

Yes.

How do you forecast for your business?

Quarterly and annually.

Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not?

Internally and through local banks.

What are you doing to take care of your employees?

We are sure to always treat employees with respect. We care for them and promote growth by conducting regular reviews, promotion opportunities, etc.

How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)?

Very carefully. We examine opportunities for efficiency, price increases if the market allows, etc.

How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees?

We have a generous incentive program and offer other rewards.

What kind of exit strategy do you have in place?

None at this time. I turn 50 this January and still have all the passion in the world for the business.
Jersey Mikes Subs Opens At Orlando International Airport

March 14, 2016 // Franchising.com // ORLANDO, Fla.  Jersey Mikes Subs, known for its fresh sliced/fresh grilled subs, is taking flight with its non-traditional locations, adding Orlando International Airport (MCO) to its roster just last month.

The Jersey Mikes restaurant, operated by Villa Restaurant Group, opened in the new Food Hall in Airside Terminal 2, serving Southwest and Virgin America airlines. It features five additional restaurants operated by Villa Restaurant Group, including Asian Chao, Villa Italian Kitchen, Green Leaf's & Bananas, The Market by Villa and, opening soon, Chipotle. The renovated 12,000-square-foot area holds more than 300 seats.

Travelers know Jersey Mikes from home and are excited to discover one of their favorite restaurants at the airport, said Todd Quinzi, Jersey Mikes Area Director for Florida. We are grateful to our partners at Villa who share our passion for the Jersey Mikes brand and welcomed us into their restaurant family at Orlando Airport.

The Orlando Airport restaurant currently employs 32 team members and expects to add more.

After studying the demographics and flying habits of a typical Southwest customer that would use the Food Hall, we knew Jersey Mikes would be a perfect fit, said Adam Torine, Executive Vice President of Development, Villa Restaurant Group. As operators ourselves, we truly appreciate Jersey Mikes detailed level of support and hope to continue growing together.

The first Jersey Mikes airport location opened at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas in January 2013. It was followed by restaurants at other travel sites including Newark Liberty International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Amtraks historic 30th Street Station in downtown Philadelphia. In December 2015, Jersey Mikes opened its first casino location at the popular Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Additionally, the company has opened several university sites on New Jersey campuses.

The opening of Orlando International Airport continues Jersey Mikes strategy to bring the brand to non-traditional locations from travel sites to college campuses, said Phil Capozzi, VP Non-traditional Development, Jersey Mikes Subs.

About Jersey Mikes

Started in 1956, Jersey Mikes now has 1,500 restaurants open and under development nationwide. In 2015, for the second year in a row, the company was named the #1 fastest growing chain in the Nations Restaurant News Top 100, and continues to win best sub awards in virtually every market it enters.

The growth is fueled by passionate Jersey Mikes fans who crave their subs made Mikes Way with the freshest vegetables  onions, lettuce and tomatoes  topped off with an exquisite zing of the juice  red wine vinegar and olive oil blended to perfection. Jersey Mikes premium meats and cheeses are sliced on the spot, piled high on in-store baked bread and served up with a helping of neighborly banter from a dedicated and high-energy team.

Jersey Mikes, a fast-casual sub sandwich franchise with more than 1,500 locations open and under development nationwide, believes that making a sub sandwich and making a difference can be one and the same. Jersey Mikes offers A Sub Above, serving authentic fresh sliced subs on freshly baked bread  the same recipe it started with in 1956  and is passionate about giving back to its local communities. For more information, please visit www.jerseymikes.com or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jerseymikes) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/jerseymikes).

SOURCE Jersey Mikes

Contact:

Kyle Potvin

Principal

Splash Communications, LLC

O: (603) 893-1707

M: (917) 838-4500

E: kpotvin@splashllc.com

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Pancheros Expands New Jersey Reach With Latest West Berlin Restaurant

Burrito Chain Celebrates Opening With $1 Burrito Event

on March 22

March 14, 2016 // Franchising.com // CORALVILLE, Iowa  Pancheros Mexican Grill (www.pancheros.com), a fast casual Mexican chain known for its fresh, better-built burritos, announces the opening of its latest New Jersey location on Tuesday, March 15 in West Berlin. Jim Kolzow, existing franchise partner of Pancheros in Voorhees, will commemorate his second location with a $1 burrito event on Tuesday, March 22 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Pancheros menu offers an extensive variety of flavorful selections including burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, salads and quesadillas. All items are completely customizable with a choice of fresh cut, marinated grilled steak, slow-roasted, seasoned pork carnitas, chili-tamarind marinated chicken or season-marinated veggies. Guests can load up on additional toppings, such as the freshly made guacamole or the roasted corn salsa, for an even bolder experience. Each Pancheros tortilla is freshly pressed to guarantee a structurally sound foundation and with the help of the proprietary plastic spatula Bob the Tool, guests are guaranteed to have their burritos ingredients evenly combined for harmonious bites.

Many of our regulars at the Voorhees restaurant work in that part of town, but live in West Berlin, said Jim Kolzow, owner of the Glassboro Pancheros Mexican Grill. By opening this latest location, well be able to serve our loyal fans closer to their homes, while also building a broader fan base and having greater visibility in a different part of town.

The new Pancheros is located at 115 N Route 73, West Berlin, N.J., 08043. The store will be open on Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. To reach the Fontana Pancheros, please call (856) 335-4193.

About Pancheros Mexican Grill

Founded in 1992, Coralville, Iowa-based Pancheros Mexican Grill is a fast-casual, fresh-Mexican franchise. Known best for their homemade, fresh-pressed tortillas, Pancheros has set the standard for burritos that dont start from a bag. Along with their amazing burritos, the menu also includes quesadillas, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads. Pancheros currently has 65 locations in the United States and the company plans to have 75 restaurants open across the country by the end of 2016. For more information, visit www.pancheros.com.

SOURCE Pancheros Mexican Grill

Media Contacts:

Christina Erwin

cerwin@konnect-pr.com

Emily Johnston

ejohnston@konnect-pr.com

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Pancheros Opens Newest California Location In Fontana

Burrito Chain Celebrates Opening With $1 Burrito Event on

March 22

March 14, 2016 // Franchising.com // CORALVILLE, Iowa  Pancheros Mexican Grill (www.pancheros.com), a fast casual Mexican chain known for its fresh, better-built burritos, announces it will be opening its latest location in Fontana, Calif. on Tuesday, March 15. The restaurant will celebrate its third Golden State location by hosting a $1 burrito event on Tuesday, March 22 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Pancheros menu offers a wide variety of expertly crafted selections including burritos, salads, burrito bowls, tacos and quesadillas. All menu items are made with mouthwatering ingredients like fresh cut steak, marinated chicken, seasoned veggies or slow roasted pork. Guests can complement their entrees with freshly prepared ingredients like roasted corn salsa and Pico de Gallo or add a fiery twist with one of Pancheros proprietary hot sauces, Flavocano or Greenade. In order to ensure uniform and consistent bites, each and every burritos contents are mixed together with the help of Bob the Tool, a special plastic spatula unique to the Pancheros experience.

Our expansion throughout California is huge for Pancheros as we continue to introduce our brand to new markets on the West Coast, said Rodney Anderson, president of Pancheros Mexican Grill. Weve seen a positive response in both the City of Industry and Fremont, and anticipate the Fontana community will welcome our burritos with open arms.

The new Pancheros is located at 16421 Sierra Lakes Pkwy, Suite 300, Fontana, Calif., 92336. The store will be open on Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. To reach the Fontana Pancheros, please call 909-429-3837.

About Pancheros Mexican Grill

Founded in 1992, Coralville, Iowa-based Pancheros Mexican Grill is a fast-casual, fresh-Mexican franchise. Known best for their homemade, fresh-pressed tortillas, Pancheros has set the standard for burritos that dont start from a bag. Along with their amazing burritos, the menu also includes quesadillas, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads. Pancheros currently has 65 locations in the United States and the company plans to have 75 restaurants open across the country by the end of 2016. For more information, visit www.pancheros.com.

SOURCE Pancheros Mexican Grill

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RE/MAX Southern Celebrates Banner Year with Award-Winning Agents

Locally-owned Gulf Coast real estate brokerage recaps impressive 2015 sales figures with nationally-recognized agents.

DESTIN, FL (PRWEB) March 11, 2016 - RE/MAX Southern Realty  a member of the locally owned and operated Southern family of companies and leading provider of Destin, Florida real estate services  recently held its annual awards ceremony celebrating a successful 2015 and honoring its many well-regarded real estate agents along the way. The brokerage closed 392 transactions totaling over $138 million in sales.

RE/MAX Southern is home to some of the best real estate agents on the Gulf Coast, said RE/MAX Southern Owner/Broker Kerry Veach. Theyre experienced, dedicated and professional. We could not ask for a better group to represent the RE/MAX Southern brand.

Over the course of 2015, RE/MAX Southern outsold competitors with nationally recognized agents. According to the 2015 RE/MAX vs. The Industry Report, the average number of transactions for a real estate agent varies between 6 and 9 sales per year. The average number of transactions for a RE/MAX agent is 16. Last year alone, RE/MAX Southern Realty averaged 19 transactions per agent.

Whatever you are looking for in a realtor, our agents have it, said RE/MAX Southern Owner/Broker, Brad Shoults. They continue to exceed expectations, raising the bar for everyone in the real estate industry.

RE/MAX Southern agents hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed. In the companys annual award ceremony, Destin Realtors Claire Gagne, Anne Hurrle-Kazek and Dawn Shoults were awarded the franchises Executive Club Award, while Stephanie Creel, Kevin Granberry, Destin Lowery, Mary Ann Miller, Jim Murphy and Bobby Parish were honored as 100% Club Members. Matt Williams earned a place within the Platinum Club, and longtime RE/MAX Southern agents Susie Kirkland and Carole Pleasants received Chairmans Club recognition.

The firms top listings agents were Matt Williams and Carole Pleasants, who represent homes and condos for sale primarily in the Destin area, and Jim Murphy who specializes in Panama City Beach real estate.

Susie Kirkland received the 2015 Childrens Miracle Network Award, one of many accomplishments for Susie and her team this past year. In 2015, Kirkland earned a place within the RE/MAX Circle of Legends, a prestigious accomplishment that has been achieved by less than half of one percent of all sales associates affiliated with the RE/MAX network, while fellow team-member Destin Lowery received the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award.

Im proud of every single one of our agents, said Veach. Without them, RE/MAX Southern wouldnt be what it is today.

About RE/MAX Southern Realty

RE/MAX Southern Realty has been a leader in the real estate industry and proud member of Southern Rentals and Real Estate since its inception. Southern Rentals and Real Estate is a premier provider of vacation rental, residential leasing, real estate and property management services in Northwest Florida and Coastal Alabama. Established in 1995, the company is owned and operated by two sets of brothers, Brad and Mike Shoults and Kevin and Kerry Veach, and Susan Carleton. Together, the Southern family of companies, which includes Southern Vacation Rentals, Southern Residential Leasing, Southern Real Estate Sales, Southern Real Estate and RE/MAX Southern, represent nearly 1,000 vacation rentals, approximately 1,100 long term rentals, 40 associations and countless real estate opportunities along the Gulf Coast. For more information, visit GoSouthern.com.

SOURCE RE/MAX Southern Realty

Contact:

Audrey Brown

Southern Rentals & Real Estate

+1 (850) 269-8817

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Russos Restaurants Brings True Flavor of New York to Florida

Authentic Fast Casual New York Pizzeria and Upscale Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen Concepts Initiate Strategic Expansion Plan in the Sunshine State

March 14, 2016 // Franchising.com // tHOUSTON  Chef Anthony Russo, the founder of chef-driven dining concepts that include Russos New York Pizzeria and Russos Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, announced a franchise growth plan targeting key regions throughout Florida, such as Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando.

Fresh off of signing a multi-unit development deal for the Tampa market and amid the success of its Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen location in Pembroke Pines, Russo and his team are looking to bring close to 30 additional locations to Floridas key metro regions. Each restaurant will create 25 to 30 new jobs, totaling between 750 and 900 open employment opportunities in the area.

The Sunshine State is full of promising possibilities for our franchise, said Russo. There is consumer demand that currently is not being met throughout Florida for authentic New York-style pizza and full-flavor Italian fare. Opening additional locations throughout the state is a crucial move in our growth strategy.

Demonstrating the excitement around the brand, Russos kicked off 2016 by celebrating two grand openings in Katy and Brownsville, Texas, and finalizing plans to open in additional markets throughout the United States as well as internationally.

We anticipate expanding across the state as Floridas growing economy offers access to multiple attractive locations. With our established brands and a management team committed to supporting our franchisees every step of the way, were confident in our prospects, added Russo.

Russos devoted customer following has developed strong ties to the brand, connecting with its delicious, handcrafted, authentic Italian selections. By allowing the option to dine-in or take-out, as well as catering, Russos fans can enjoy a personalized customer experience.

The bonds developed with guests are a clear reflection of the performance of Russos restaurant locations. In fact, systemwide, Russos units earn 24 percent average net profit, which includes average food costs of less than 22 percent, a figure well below the national average for the fast casual pizza/Italian sector. Plus, the brands average unit volume surpasses $1 million. The most recent Russos opening saw weekly sales income between $35,000 to $60,000.

Another exciting development for the brand includes refreshed and redesigned menus for both Russos New York Pizzeria and Russos Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen. The new menus showcase more than 80 delectable items that take a fresh approach to Italian classics. New items include the Chicken & Kale Pesto Pasta Salad, made with grilled chicken and fresh kale, tossed with pesto sauce, cucumbers, Roma tomatoes and penne pasta, as well as the Spinach, Kale & Artichoke pizza covered in spinach, artichoke hearts, kale, all-natural mozzarella cheese and roasted garlic in a creamy Alfredo sauce.

Today, Russos New York Pizzeria and Russos Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen have garnered a cult-like following for their truly authentic pizzas reminiscent of New York and delicious Italian dishes made from the natural and freshest ingredients. The restaurants use a coal-fired oven to perfectly bake its pick-up and fold pizzas, while also blending premium recipes with the magic created around homemade Italian classics.

If its not fresh, we dont serve it! Its our family promise, said Russo. Our menu items were created to give todays consumers who want fresh, homemade tastes made from the finest ingredients at every dining experience. With our open kitchen concept, coal fired ovens and custom-designed units, it is our goal to transport guests to their favorite New York eatery.

Russos Restaurants offers a rare franchise opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in proven brands that are entirely chef-created, chef-inspired and chef-driven. With full training provided, no prior restaurant experience is necessary. The franchise investment for Russos New York Pizzeria in spaces from 1,500 - 3,500 sq. ft. is between $350,000 and $700,000 per location. For Russos Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen in spaces from 3,800 - 7,000 sq. ft., the franchise investment ranges between $750,000 and $1,400,000 per location. Both vary depending on the market and restaurant square footage. Prospective candidates interested in a Russos Restaurants franchise opportunity can find out more by visiting www.franchiserussos.com.

About Russos Restaurants

Russos Restaurants is a 46 location national and international franchisor of the fast casual and casual dining brands Russos New York Pizzeria and Russos Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen. Based in Houston, Russos Restaurants are composed of a mix of corporate and franchised locations across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii. Russos has entered international markets as well, with locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. There are an additional 29-plus units in development both in the United States and internationally. Chef Anthony Russo has created his concepts from years of applying his unique, family recipes featuring New York-style pizza, along with a broad variety of handcrafted pasta creations, calzones, salads, sandwiches, soups and desserts, reflecting his commitment to his New York roots where food and family come first.

To learn more about Russos franchise development opportunities, visit www.nypizzeria.com. For International development, contact our international franchise development manager, Suzanne Boyadjian at suzanne@nypizzeria.com or for the U.S. contact Jim Carr, director of franchise development at j.carr@nypizzeria.com or by phone at (832) 980-6407.

SOURCE Russos Restaurants

Contact:

Jamie Izaks

All Points Public Relations

(847) 897-7480

jizaks@allpointspr.com

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PORTLAND, Maine  Preventing the long-imperiled Atlantic salmon from disappearing from American waters will require the U.S. to put pressure on Inuit fishermen in Greenland to stop harvesting a fish that has fed them for hundreds of years, federal officials say.

The salmon were once found from Long Island Sound to Canada, but their population has cratered in the face of river damming, warming ocean waters, competition for food with non-native fish and, officials say, continued Greenlandic fishing.

Now, federal officials have outlined an ambitious plan to try to save the Atlantic salmon that they say will require removing dams, creating fish passages and fostering cooperation from Inuit fishermen some 2,000 miles away from Maine, where most of Americas last wild Atlantic salmon spawn.

Weve tried everything possible to negotiate with Greenland to find alternatives to find out how they can lessen impacts on U.S. fish, said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. This is part of their culture, this is part of who they are, this is something theyve always done. We are trying to work with them to realize the fish they are fishing for originate in Canada, in U.S. waters, in Europe, and these populations are in decline.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said the final remnants of the wild Atlantic salmon population in U.S. waters live in a handful of rivers and streams in central and eastern Maine. A 2014 count found less than 300 salmon in the Penobscot River, which has the largest wild Atlantic salmon population in the country.

Federal authorities listed the Gulf of Maines Atlantic salmon population as endangered in 2000. They were once found in almost every river north of the Hudson, but since the 18th century they have declined to just 11 rivers, NOAA has said. The Atlantic salmon and the Pacific Chinook salmon are the largest salmon species.

Atlantic are the most commonly farmed species of salmon, and demand has grown exponentially since the 1990s. Farms produced more than 2 million tons of the salmon, prized for its high protein content and omega-3 fatty acids, for the first time in 2012.

The wild fish leave Maine rivers in the spring, and most eventually end up off Greenland, an autonomous country that is part of the Danish Realm, along with Denmark and the Faroe Islands. NOAA issued a report in February that identified the salmon as one of a handful of species listed under the Endangered Species Act that need immediate, targeted efforts to stabilize their populations and stave off extinction.

NOAAs report states that a critical negotiating point will be the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, scheduled for June in Germany. National leaders and non-governmental organizations will attend the meeting.

NOAAs plan states that the U.S. and other nations need to negotiate with Greenlands government to establish measures to minimize the countrys impact on salmon of U.S. origin. It also states that more Maine dams need to be removed so salmon can spawn in rivers, and that watershed areas need to be restored so young salmon can thrive.

Greenland decided on a 45-ton quota for 2015, 2016 and 2017 during an international summit last yeara reduction in catch from the previous 57 tons, but nowhere near as dramatic a rollback as U.S. officials wanted. Some U.S. conservationists have said the only sustainable salmon quota for Greenland is zero.

That doesnt sit well in Greenland, where officials said they are happy to continue working with the U.S., but they disagree that a halt to Inuit fishing would save the fish. Katrine Krgaard, a spokeswoman for the countrys ministry of fisheries, said Greenland has continuously reduced its salmon fishery over the past two decades, and the fish populations status has not improved.

Greenlands salmon fishery is conducted close to shore and is mostly based out of small dinghies with nets, Krgaard said. The fishing is solely for local use, and the salmon cant be exported.

Taking salmon fishing away would devastate the Inuit population, which makes up 90 percent of Greenland, Krgaard said.

Surviving off the resources that nature can offer has been the way that the tough Inuit of Greenland has survived for thousands of years, and it is still the way that a large part of the people survive todayand here the salmon plays a vital part of the history and culture, Krgaard said.
MarketReportsOnline: Global Drones Market 2016 Trends, Opportunities, Growth Drivers, Competitive Landscape & 2020 Forecast

MarketReportsOnline.com adds " Global Drones Market: Trends and Opportunities (2016-2020)" research report to the public sector segment of its online business intelligence and data library.

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Drones are the front-end video surveillance system products which are gaining popularity and playing their part in driving the global video surveillance system market. Drones market is currently at the nascent stage but is anticipated to rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously at a significant CAGR. The market is largely governed by the military drones but civil drones are also gaining momentum and driving the market in the positive direction. The upsurge in the civil drones market is due to the increased need for video surveillance at various places as crime rate is increasing over the period.

Complete report on Global Drones Market spread across 55 pages providing 3 company profiles and 4 tables and 26 figures is available at http://www.marketreportsonline.com/447490.html.

The drones market report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global drone market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in global drone market is stiff and dominated by the big players like DJI. Further, key players of the drone market AeroVironment and 3D Robotics are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.

The report titled "Global Drones Market: Trends and Opportunities (2016-2020)" provides an in-depth analysis of the global drones market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides market size of global video surveillance system market. The report provides detailed regional analysis of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa for the drones market. Regional analysis includes market share of each region along with the actual and forecasted market sizing of drone market for the aforementioned regions.

Region Coverage Drones Market: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Latin America Africa

Company Coverage Drones Market: DJI Innovations, AeroVironment & 3D Robotics

Purchase a copy of this Drones Market research report at USD 800 (Single User License) http://www.marketreportsonline.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=447490.

The major growth drivers for the drone market are: technological innovation, rise in civil drones market, persistent intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance and internal & external safety threats. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as legal and regulatory policies & procedures, negative environmental impact, privacy issues, high cost, spectrum allocation and UAS integration in the national airspace.

Major Points From Table of Contents Provided in Drones Market:

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

2.1 Types of Drones

2.1.1 Large Fixed-Wing Aircraft

2.1.2 Small Fixed-Wing Aircraft

2.1.3 Micro UAVs

2.1.4 Biomimetic UAVs

2.1.5 Blimps/Balloons

2.2 Characteristics of Drones

2.3 Applications of Drones

2.3.1 Public Sector

2.3.2 Private Sector

2.3.3 Recreational Activities

2.4 Global Legal and Regulatory Framework for Drones

3. Global Video Surveillance System Market: Sizing and Growth

3.1 Global Video Surveillance System Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

3.2 Global Video Surveillance System Market by Volume: Actual and Forecast

3.3 Global Video Surveillance System Market in Security Industry

3.4 Global Video Surveillance System Market by Product Segments

4. Global Drone Market: Sizing and Growth

4.1 Global Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

4.2 Global Drone Market by Segments

4.3 Global Military Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

4.4 Global Civil Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

4.5 Global Drone Market Venture Capital Funding

4.6 Global Drone Patents Filed

5. Regional Drone Market: An Analysis

5.1 Global Drone Market by Regions

5.2 North America Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

5.3 Europe Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

5.4 Asia-Pacific Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

5.5 Middle East Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

5.6 Latin America Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

5.7 Africa Drone Market by Value: Actual and Forecast

6. Market Dynamics

6.1 Growth Drivers

6.1.1 Technology Innovation

6.1.2 Rise in Civil Drones Market

6.1.3 Persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

6.1.4 Internal and External Security Threats

6.2 Challenges

6.2.1 Legal and Regulatory Policies and Procedures

6.2.2 Negative Environmental Impact

6.2.3 Privacy Issues

The changing nature of surveillance

Expectations of Privacy in Public

6.2.4 High Cost

6.2.5 Spectrum Allocation

6.2.6 UAS Integration in the National Airspace System

6.3 Market Trends

6.3.1 Emergence of Eco-Drones

6.3.2 Key to Retail and E-Commerce

6.3.3 Drone Startups

7. Global Commercial and Civil Drones Market: SWOT Analysis

8. Competitive Landscape

9. Company Profile

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Chocolate Fountain Hire London Marks Fifth Anniversary in Growing Market Niche

Surging numbers in event planning lead to increasing demand for chocolate fountains, publishes chocolatefountainhirelondon.com

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Statistics released last year from the chocolate industry reveal each person in the United Kingdom consumes an estimated 11 kilograms of this confection each year, bringing the nation to a tie with Ireland for third place in global chocolate sales. This comes as no surprise to the staff of Chocolate Fountain Hire London who have watched their niche soar in popularity since coming together in 2011. As specialists in the field, the company recently celebrated a significant milestone.

A company spokesperson confirmed, "This year marks the fifth anniversary for Choc Fountain Hire London. During this time, we have served all types of events, including weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, university parties, corporate Christmas parties and staff treats. We offer only the finest Callebaut Belgian Chocolate accompanied by an array of delicious dips from which to choose. Our fountains are the perfect way to entertain and spoil guests while adding a touch of whimsy and fun to any event."

Based on information found on the company's website, http://chocolatefountainhirelondon.com, three distinct fountain hire options are currently being offered. Their Bronze Package is recommended for gatherings of up to 50 people and entails two hours of service. The Silver and Gold Packages, designed for 150 and 250 guests respectively, includes three service hours. Each comes with a fountain attendant and varying dip selections, including fresh fruits, marshmallows, brownies and donuts.

Chocolate Fountain Hire London provides delivery, setup, arrangement, management and cleanup for each event hire. In addition to their fountains and services, the company also provides a blog accessible via http://chocolatefountainhirelondon.com. Posts cover chocolate in a number of its unique forms as well as various topics relevant to event planning. Chocolate-based recipes are also provided for viewers to try for themselves.

Concluded the spokesperson, "We specialise in making people smile at events with a friendly and personable team. Over the last two years, more and more event management companies have entrusted us to take care of the chocolate fountain, and they have found us always on time and with the best customer service in our industry. Our state-of-the-art equipment receives as much attention as the treats themselves. We encourage anyone with an upcoming event to contact us for an experience guests won't soon forget."

About Chocolate Fountain Hire London:

Providing chocolate fountains for hire in London and the surrounding area, Chocolate Fountain Hire London allows clients to choose from a small, medium or large fountain depending on the size of their events along with a delicious range of dips to spoil guests. Their treats are accompanied by the loveliest staff ready to cater to guests as well as clients, and their services are known to leave guests smiling.

For more information about us, please visit http://chocolatefountainhirelondon.com

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Movable Bag Filter Market To See 5.8% CAGR Driven By Equipment Industry : Radiant Insights,Inc

RadiantInsights.com includes new market research report on "Movable Bag Filter Market Size, Share And Trends Report Up To 2015 : Radiant Insights" to its huge collection of research reports.

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The global movable bag filter market is projected to grow at a 5.8% CAGR over the forecast phase (2015-2020). Government regulations aimed at reducing particle emission from various industries is anticipated to fuel market demand. Recent rise of the mining and cement industries will fuel market development in the years ahead. Advances in technology and development of new media and design of filters are expected to drive market demand.

Bag filters or baghouse filters is a pollution control device which removes particles from gas or air released in chemical processes. Steel mills, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturers and power plants are end-users which employ bag filters to control their emission. These filters are made from felted material.

Browse Full Research Report With TOC on http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-movable-bag-filter-market-research-report-2015

Shaker, pulse jet, and reverse-air bag filters are products of the market. Shaker bag filters are used continuously in a batch process. They are available in a range of small to large compartmentalized units. Reverse air filters collects dust inside the bags and cleaned by pumping clean air in the reverse direction. Pulse jet filters are individual bags encased in a metal cage. Pulse jet is the leading product owing to its wide application in food & beverages, municipal waste, chemicals, sinter plants, and pharmaceutical industries.

Woven and non-woven are 2 types of bag filters. Non-woven is used in high energy cleaning systems, while woven are used in low-end systems. Non-woven fabrics are used by pulse jet filters. Woven filters employ different weaving patterns to trap dust particles. They are used in reverse-air or shake bag filters.

Applications of the market are mining, power generation, pulp & paper, cement, pharmaceutical, chemical, and municipal waste. Bag filters are a must in power plants which are used to generate electricity or used in waste management. Food industries will display a significant growth rate due to strict regulations placed on food processing and manufacturing. Need for high quality air is expected to drive the global movable bag filter market. Dispensing dust and fumes in the metal processing industry will provide new opportunities.

Key players of the global movable bag filter market are Pall Corporation, Thermax Ltd., Donaldson, BWF Envirotec, and Eaton.

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Rachel D. Sharp Receives "2 Years 10 Best" Award from American Institute of Family Law Attorneys

Rachel D. Sharp, associate attorney at Karla C. Miller & Associates, PLLC, in Nashville, was recently selected to receive the "2 Years 10 Best" award to honor her dedication to client satisfaction.

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Rachel D. Sharp, associate attorney at Karla C. Miller & Associates, PLLC, in Nashville, was recently selected to receive the "2 Years 10 Best" award to honor her dedication to client satisfaction. The American Institute of Family Law Attorneys (AIOFLA) selects attorneys annually based on who has obtained the highest levels of client satisfaction. This is Attorney Sharp's second year in a row being named to the list.

"I am really quite touched by and very proud of this award," said attorney Rachel Sharp. "At our firm, making sure that our clients have their needs met and their goals reached is not second to the practice of law; it is part of the practice of law. When clients walk in the door and feels like they have no one they can trust, and leave knowing that there is someone out there fighting for them, fighting to get the best possible outcome and to reach their goals - that is what we strive for. I feel very honored to be recognized for those efforts."

Karla C. Miller & Associates, PLLC is located in Nashville, and focuses its services solely on divorce and family law. Both firm founder Karla Miller and attorney Rachel Sharp have been recipients of the AIOFLA "10 Best" award multiple times.

Selection for the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys

Since its start in 2014, the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys has recognized lawyers who excel in the area of overall client satisfaction. In its mission statement, the AIOFLA says they focus on client satisfaction "so that the prospective new client will be able to take this knowledge and use it in making the tough decision on which attorney or firm to hire. It is the intent of American Institute's Family Law Division to aid these prospective new clients by saving them time and effort in their own research. We strive to make the most accurate and comprehensive list possible and rely on many different sources to determine the level of client satisfaction that a specific attorney or firm provides."

Candidates for the "10 Best" awards can be nominated by a peer, by a former client or by the Institute. The Board of Regents, an independent panel, then researches each candidate before proceeding with the nomination. The criteria for selection include:

o 10/10 in client satisfaction

o Top rated attorneys

o Must be an industry leader

o No unresolved complaints

o Awards

o Associations

o Publications

o Speaking engagements

o Education and continued education

Attorney Sharp was selected in 2015 as a "10 Best" in Tennessee.

The Nashville-based law office of Karla C. Miller & Associates, PLLC has served clients throughout Middle Tennessee for the last 20 years. The firm focuses exclusively on family law and divorce.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.karlahewittlaw.com

Contact Info:

Name: Karla C. Miller

Organization: Karla C. Miller and Associates, PLLC

Address: 631 Woodland St., Nashville, TN 37206

Phone: (615) 391-4200

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/rachel-d-sharp-receives-2-years-10-best-award-from-american-institute-of-family-law-attorneys/106903

Release ID: 106903

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Attorney Rocky McElhaney Inducted into Nashville Bar Foundation's Fellows Program

The Rocky McElhaney Law Firm is proud to announce that firm founder Rocky McElhaney has been inducted into Nashville Bar Foundation's Fellows Program. The induction ceremony took place on March 12, 2016.

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The Rocky McElhaney Law Firm is proud to announce that firm founder Rocky McElhaney has been inducted into Nashville Bar Foundation's Fellows Program. The induction ceremony took place on March 12, 2016. This is Rocky McElhaney's first selection to the Program.

"I am incredibly honored to have been selected," said firm founder Rocky McElhaney. "The Nashville Bar Foundation does incredible work on behalf of people throughout the state. I believe that that you get what you give, and I stress the importance of building strong ties with our community every single day. To be acknowledged for that work, and to be given an opportunity to continue it on a large scale with my respected colleagues, is a true honor. I am very proud to be a part of this group."

The Nashville Bar Foundation, which raises money for initiatives to improve the community, was incorporated in May of 1980. The Fellows Program was started in 1991 "as a way for the bar to honor its colleagues who have contributed significantly to the community." Less than 4% of licensed Tennessee attorneys are invited to participate.

Designed to impact the Nashville community

The mission of the Nashville Bar Foundation is to provide charitable and educational programs for the community, as well as "services that promote the knowledge, understanding, and respect for the law among students, the general public, and the legal community." In particular, the Fellows Program looks to honor attorneys who contribute to their communities in significant ways. Fellows are selected by their peers; to be eligible for selection, they must have:

o "Demonstrated an uncompromised dedication to integrity and high personal and professional ethical standards;

o Made outstanding and recognized contributions to the legal profession and to the public good;

o Demonstrated a strong commitment to the published objectives and purposes of the Tennessee Bar Foundation."

The Rocky McElhaney Law Firm maintains multiple offices in Nashville, Gallatin and Knoxville, and fights for justice on behalf of Tennessee injury victims. The firm's attorneys primarily focus their practice on the areas of:

o Personal injury

o Auto accidents

o Truck accidents

o Traumatic brain injuries

o Defective products litigation

For more information about us, please visit http://www.rockylawfirm.com

Contact Info:

Name: Rocky McElhaney Law Firm

Organization: Rocky McElhaney Law Firm

Address: 1516 16th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37212

Phone: (615) 425-2500

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/attorney-rocky-mcelhaney-inducted-into-nashville-bar-foundations-fellows-program/106907

Release ID: 106907

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Massachusetts Company Launches SEO Services for Boston Clients

For more information about the services of the company, feel free to go to their website at http://www.areyouonpage1.com/. For those who are interested to learn more about their services, call them at (978) 577-5750.

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Are You On Page 1, a highly regarded Internet Search service, has announced the availability of their SEO services for small businesses based in the Greater Boston Area. This comes as welcome news for many of the 40,000 small businesses in and around the city, many of which are struggling to grow due to lack of access to funds, city red tape, and unavailability of professional expertise and services. "Having worked with many business owners in a wide variety of industries, I can help any business with their SEO needs" asserts Paul Leary, whose expertise and experience in Internet marketing led him to found Are You On Page 1. "This has helped him learn the necessary techniques in boosting the local and national SEO standings of a business in any industry." The small businesses in Boston comprise 95% of all businesses in the area, and they generate $15 billion in revenue every year. But competition is fierce, and some businesses need improved SEO to reach more potential customers in order to grow. The name of the company, Are You On Page 1, symbolizes the benchmark which every successful business needs to attain.

"It's crucial for small businesses to realize 93% of all online experiences begin with using a search engine like Google, and the goal is to at least get into the first page of results," explains Leary, who started in 2011 after he successfully boosted the SEO of his own computer services website. "About 76% of users go online to find out about new products, and 75% of them never go past the first page of the search results."

Many other companies provide similar services. They often offer grandiose results, and they promise top rankings in a very short time. In contrast, Are You On Page 1 paints a more realistic picture.

"I'm well-known among my clients for my honesty, and I'm always upfront about what I can and cannot do to help a business," says Leary. "I provide the exact steps that need to be taken to help a client's business grow, and I'm always realistic about how long it will take for a company to get to the first page or to the top rankings of the first page."

Other companies also offer several fixed levels of services, including specifying the number of backlinks, blog posts, videos, and articles they will provide. Leary's company is different.

"I don't use cookie cutter methods because no two businesses are alike," explains Leary. "These businesses come in many forms and sizes, and I take the time and effort to learn about my client's business so that I can help them more effectively." About Company: Are You On Page 1 is a company that specializes in customized SEO solutions for small businesses. Its many services include keyword research, content writing, on-page SEO, link building campaigns and more. Specializing in local SEO It is located at 53 Newfield Street, North Chelmsford, MA 01863.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.areyouonpage1.com

Contact Info:

Name: Paul Leary

Organization: Are You On Page 1

Address: 53 Newfield Street

Phone: (978) 577-5750

Release ID: 106897

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Memphis Cleaning Service New Wool Safe Rug Cleaner Announced

Memphis Cleaning Company PSH Cleaning has launched a new rug cleaning product that is the only wool free product of its type in Memphis, Tennessee. Using unique Rotovac technology, it scrubs the carpet and revives it while cleaning.

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PSH Cleaning, a professional, full service carpet care company in Memphis, Tennessee, has announced the launch of a new rug cleaning product. It is the only wool safe carpet cleaning product in Memphis, allowing customers to enjoy a thorough, deep clean that is safe for people and pets.

More information can be found on the PSH Cleaning website at: http://carpetcleaninginmemphis.com.

Carpet cleaning is important because dirt can hide in the deepest fibers of the materials. This can affect the shelf life of customers' rugs and carpets. Regular cleaning can reduce this, preventing carpet turnover and therefore saving money. Carpets are also a good breeding site for mold and germs, and the right method of cleaning can disrupt and destroy these germs.

PSH Cleaning uses Rotovac technology to clean carpets, which restores and massages carpet fibers to extract dirt, grease and debris. It scrubs the carpet and revives it while cleaning, ensuring a deep clean and an attractive finish. Because the technology only uses green solutions, the unique product is safe for children and pets.

Through a 12-step cleaning process, including moving furniture to avoid damage, pre-spot treatment to allow maximum dirt removal, and grooming for maximum benefit to the carpet, PSH Cleaning uses this Rotovac technology to offer customers a truly deep clean.

On the PSH Cleaning website, there are videos to show exactly how the product works, so customers can see what they're getting before they pay for the service. There is also a 100% money back guarantee, so in the unlikely even a customer is not satisfied with their order they can feel secure that they are under full protection.

PSH Cleaning is well known for the experience of its staff and the service it provides. It holds multiple cleaning technician certifications, which are the highest available in the carpet cleaning industry. It is also an IICRC certified firm, and offers its services in Memphis, East Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett, Lakeland, Midtown, and Arlington. The company can be contacted on: (901) 572-1049. Its email address is: info@pshcleaning.com.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.pshcleaning.com

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Organization: PSH Cleaning Service LLC

Address: 5640 Summer Avenue Suite 1, Memphis, TN 38134

Phone: 1 901 572 1049

Release ID: 106874

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The prospect of Iranian crude oil returning to the market has heaped further pressure on prices this week. Brent, the international oil benchmark, sank to 2003 lows of less than $28 a barrel. But just how quickly can these additional Iranian barrels make their way to customers?

Production promises

Once the second-largest producer in Opec, Irans output has averaged 2.8m barrels a day  from 3.6m b/d in 2011  as a result of the western sanctions aimed at reining in the countrys nuclear activities. Iranian officials have vowed in recent months to increase output by 500,000b/d immediately after the lifting of restrictions and a further 500,000b/d within seven months. They reiterated this promise in recent days. But analysts have said this is still an ambitious task given the investment needed to expand production capacity, the technical difficulties to overcome and banking limitations that are still in place.

Michael Wittner, analyst at Societe Generale, said: [Irans] ability to increase quickly is questioned by most in the market, as the amount of investment and engineering preparation is a huge unknown. However, Iran may surprise the markets by coming closer to their aggressive targets than expected.

Emphasis on exports

Exports stand at about 1.1m b/d, which is half their pre-sanctions level. Iran is keen to sell as much of the additional oil it produces to foreign buyers. David Hufton at oil broker PVM said: The big unknown now is the timing and size of additional Iranian supply on to the market.

The International Energy Agency, the wealthy nations energy watchdog, estimates that 300,000b/d could flow to world markets by March. While Iran has been testing its export infrastructure for an acceleration in foreign sales, the rate is likely to fluctuate. Those closest to Bijan Zanganeh, Irans oil minister, have tempered their rhetoric in recent weeks, keen to show the country does not want to flood the market amid growing fears of a swelling glut.

Cargo overhang

Shipbrokers say at least 20 tankers hold Iranian oil  mainly an ultralight oil known as condensate  off Iran. With names such as Serena, Amber, Destiny and Argo, industry analysts say they could hold as much as 50m barrels. Tehran needs to sell this oil in storage to free up its tanker fleet to make subsequent crude oil deliveries. Everyone is waiting to see who will lift the first cargo, said one London-based shipbroker.

Global market

In spite of sanctions, Iran was able to sell specific quantities of its crude to India, China, Japan, South Korea and Turkey. Since the lifting of restrictions over the weekend Iran can market its oil worldwide. Iran plans to sell extra output to existing customers, as well as former buyers in Europe such as Greece, Spain and Italy and others such as Sri Lanka and South Africa. Iranian heavy and light grades will make up the vast bulk of exports with a small amount of the heavy West of Karun crude due to make its debut this year.

Sweeteners on the cards

Iran does not want to lose out on price but at the same time it wants to limit discounts. As such, it may offer sweeteners as it goes head-to-head with Saudi Arabia, Russia and other big producers that have taken its market share during sanctions years. Oil-for-goods deals, crude-for-product swaps, deferred payment or pledges to make investments in foreign refineries are all tactics that could be deployed to make Iranian crude attractive. It could also show flexibility on crude quality and timing, particularly in a low oil price environment.

Legal ambiguity and timing

Those looking to participate in Iranian oil sales, however, are waiting for the ambiguity around executing transactions to be removed  from banking and payment systems to insurance for cargoes. We are currently monitoring the problems and obstacles our banks are facing, said Rokneddin Javadi, head of Irans national oil company, according to state news agencies. It will take [a] few weeks to be solved.

Ground work

Iran has sought to prepare its fields for a rapid increase in production, particularly the supergiant Marun, Ahwaz and Gachsaran. Most of Irans forecast production growth comes from Irans pre-existing crude oil production capacity that is currently shut in, while the remainder comes from newly developed fields, said Asmeret Asghedom at the Energy Information Administration.

Some industry analysts have said the shutdown of large oil volumes under sanctions have allowed pressure to rise, leaving the fields capable of a swift production boost. But other industry observers believe more investment is necessary to drive up and sustain production at pre-sanctions levels. One Iranian official has said current production capacity allows for a 500,000 b/d increase.

Surface-level capacity issues exist along with more complex infrastructure problems, requiring foreign cash and cutting-edge technology quickly from international oil and services companies and costing hundreds of billions of dollars.
Royal Bank of Scotland has become the latest company to put its faith in robo-advice with a new online platform understood to be launching in the summer.

RBS and NatWest will no longer be offering face-to-face investment advice for customers with assets of less than 250,000.

It will also be scrapping face-to-face protection advice completely, offering it only over the telephone.

This means 550 jobs will be lost, including 221 advice roles.

A NatWest and RBS spokesman said: We want to help as many customers as possible invest their money in the right way for them.

The demand for face-to-face investment advice is changing. Our customers increasingly want to bank with us using digital technology.

As a result, we are scaling back our face-to-face advisers and significantly investing in an online investing platform that enables us to help a new group of customers with as little as 500 to invest.

It is understood the new online platform will be launched in June.

In January RBS confirmed to FTAdviser that it was developing its mass-market advice proposition to better serve its customers.

Yorkshire Building Society announced in September that it would be offering customers the chance to take expert financial advice in their homes, via video conferencing, while LV= has also moved into robo-advice.

Adviser View

Matthew Harris, director of Fife-based Dalbeath Financial Planning, said: People in general like to do things online if they can but when it comes to quite significant sums of money advice can be reassuring.

But 250,000 does seem a pretty high level to set a cut-off point at.
The Henderson Global Dividend Index shows Asian dividends suffered a setback in 2015, falling to $110.3bn (78bn)  or a drop of 5 per cent year on year  with the effects of lower exchange rates blamed.

But the index pointed to a more healthy 14 per cent dividend growth on an underlying basis.

Alex Crooke, head of global equity income at Henderson Global Investors, emphasises: US dollar strength disguised excellent dividend growth for most regions, making 2015 a good year for income investors. While dollar-based investors would have suffered, exchange rate differences tend to dissipate over time.

Dividend payouts from Australia declined last year by 7.6 per cent to $46.5bn, with the plunging Australian dollar the reason behind the fall. But against this backdrop Australian banks increased their payouts. Hong Kong dividends were also down by 14.6 per cent to $34.5bn last year.

South Korean and Taiwanese dividends performed much better, however, up 20 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, according to Hendersons Index. Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor are the largest payers in these countries.

Jason Pidcock, who launched his Jupiter Asian Income fund this month having run the Newton Asian Income fund until last year, suggests there are plenty of companies in Asia with long track records of paying dividends, and in countries such as South Korea, which has historically not paid out much to investors, the culture is improving.

In an interview with Investment Adviser, he noted over the past five years the regions dividend payout ratio has gone up by 1 per cent each year to 18 per cent.

He suggests: It may not continue to improve at that same steady pace, but at the same time I dont think it will go backwards either.

THE PICKS Newton Asian Income This 2.1bn fund has been run by a team since the departure of previous manager Jason Pidcock to Jupiter Asset Management. Rob Marshall-Lee, head of emerging and Asian equity at Newton, oversees the team, which has clocked up several years of outperformance. The fund had to deal with sizeable outflows since Mr Pidcocks departure, but 2016 performance has been strong, helping the fund to outperform the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector over three years. The largest country weighting in the portfolio is Australia at 36.6 per cent, while financials is the biggest sector weighting, accounting for 29.4 per cent. Aberdeen Asian Income The Asian equities team behind this 355m investment trust admits January was a rough start to 2016 for Asian equities. Figures from FE Analytics show the trust generated a loss of 16.5 per cent in the year to March 2, while the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan index was down 10.3 per cent in the same period. This trust has outperformed in the longer term, delivering 123.4 per cent in the past 10 years, against the indexs rise of 94.8 per cent, but underperforming the AIC Asia Pacific ex Japan Equities sectors average of 156.2 per cent. Singapore is the largest country weighting at 25.5 per cent, followed by Australia at 17.2 per cent. EDITORS PICK Schroder Asian Income Richard Sennitt has managed this 727m fund since November 2001 and seeks Asian companies offering attractive yields and growing dividend payments. The portfolio has a 24.8 per cent allocation to Hong Kong, while Australia accounts for 19.8 per cent of the fund. Among its top 10 holdings are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, HSBC Holdings and China Mobile. Like most other Asian income funds in the past 12 months, the fund did not generate a positive return. But over five years to March 2 it returned 36.7 per cent, against the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector average of just 12.5 per cent, according to FE Analytics.

Mr Pidcock notes some of the investors showing interest in his new fund prior to its launch have been underweight Asia, but are now considering a more neutral position in the region because valuations look more appealing than they did nine months ago.

Tony Jordan, manager of the New Capital Asia Pacific Equity Income fund, observes many managers running global funds have their lowest allocation to Asia for a long time  in some cases since the financial crisis.

He acknowledges Asian markets are currently being driven by sentiment but believes active stockpickers should fare better.

For those investors in Asian income funds, the income element may be the key to riding out some of the short-term market volatility.

Mr Crooke adds: The importance of dividends as a driver of total shareholder return was highlighted in 2015 where income almost entirely compensated investors for falling share prices.

The recent stockmarket volatility underlines the continued value of income as a source of return.
The 57m Liontrust Asia Income fund has been managed by Mark Williams and Carolyn Chan since its launch in March 2012.

It aims to outperform the equity markets of Asia, excluding Japan, by targeting the better managed companies that pay dividends to shareholders  effectively targeting those companies that tend to target returns on capital, explains Mr Williams. The portfolio aims to provide a yield 10 per cent above that of the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan equity markets.

Mr Williams explains there are four main stages to the investment process: Identifying the key drivers for Asian equities; putting these drivers into a framework to pinpoint the likely beneficiaries and losers of these drivers and to identify appropriate valuation methods; fundamental stock analysis to pinpoint individual companies that will benefit the most from the drivers; and portfolio construction.

The process is iterative, in that the information gleaned from management and corporate analysis is as important to the framework as it is to the final stock selection. Portfolio construction consists of picking the most attractive stocks, while diversifying as much risk as possible through a range of drivers and stocks, he explains.

The team pinpoints key drivers of the market, which will tend to be longer term and unconstrained, enabling us to reflect ideas where we have the greatest conviction. They will tend to cover global, structural, sector and regional themes.

He adds: As part of this process, we include identification of what we believe to be the most appropriate valuation methodology at any stage of the cycle; size bias; style  although we tend to be a blend of growth and value owing to our longer-term positive outlook for Asian equities; general macro calls; and cross-sectoral themes.

But Mr Williams points out: We do not automatically invest in stocks that will profit from one of the key drivers we have identified. In general, companies must have a high likelihood of providing higher yields than the regions average over the next six to 12 months.

In the company analysis, the team consider factors such as earnings drivers, the consensus view and catalysts for each business and the industries and countries they are in. An additional bias will be towards companies with high prospective dividend yields supported by strong free cashflows, at appropriate valuations.

The portfolio holds between 50 and 70 positions, with the fund sitting at a slightly higher risk level of six out of seven, according to its key investor information document, while the ongoing charge of the A share class is 1.31 per cent.

Since launch on March 5, 2012 to March 4, 2016 the funds R share class has delivered a return of 18.8 per cent compared with the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector average of 13.3 per cent, according to FE Analytics data.

Mr Williams notes: Since launch, both stock selection and asset allocation have generated positive returns for the portfolio, although the stock selection has dominated. Areas that have benefited are China, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore. At a stock level, the biggest positives are Pacific Textiles, Minth, China Communications Construction, Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust and Giant Interactive. Seven of the top 10 are Chinese.
The majority of UK-based IFAs expect dividends to fall this year compared to 2015, according to research from Source ETFs. Commodities, Industrial goods and banking are expected to see the biggest drop in dividend, while technology, property and healthcare may see the biggest rise this year, the report states.

While global dividend growth was 9.3 per cent in 2015, 69 per cent of the IFAs surveyed expected it to be 5 per cent or less this year. Further, 27 per cent believe advisers will increasingly focus on smart beta strategies to enhance dividend yields.

The findings were published on the back of the launch of three smart beta income ETFs from Source. These products are available on the companys new physical ETF platform, with assets managed by Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). These ETFs aim to provide exposure to the new FTSE RAFI equity income indexes, which target high-dividend-paying stocks that have been screened to favour sustainable income. The ETFs will offer investors a choice between US, UK and Europe.

Each ETF has an ongoing charge of 35 basis points and pays quarterly dividends.

The index construction strategy for these funds includes a screening process from Research Affiliates, a US-based indexing strategy firm. The company uses fundamental measures to screen out those companies it considers to be in poor financial health. It then selects the top 50 per cent in each sector on the basis of their dividend yield. The portfolio is not rebalanced at any prescribed interval, but the managers aim to do it between two and four times a year.

The approach is not forward looking but relies purely on technical analysis, as is the case with many smart-beta providers. The strategy involves looking at trailing 12-month dividend when selecting stocks.

All three ETFs have similar exposure across sectors, with the highest in financials, followed by consumer goods and utilities. Other sectors include consumer services, healthcare, oil & gas and basic materials. It is worth noting that the current index yield for the fund with exposure to the US is the lowest at 3.5 per cent. The UK equity income ETF has an index yield of 4.8 per cent, while the European ETF has an index yield of 5.1 per cent.

There are two reasons that the US indices offer a lower yield, Mr Mellor explained. Historically, US companies have typically paid out lower dividends than UK or European companies. Also, the lower yield also reflects a higher level of valuation for US equities. On most measures of value, US equities are either overvalued or fair value, by contrast equities in the rest of the world appear undervalued.

However, even though the ETFs are getting popular slowly, IFAs tend to remain reluctant on recommending them to their clients.

The report from Source shows that only about 21 per cent IFAs invest in smart beta strategies. Of those who do not, only 19 per cent anticipate they will over the next two years. The report further states that while 35 per cent believe more smart-beta ETFs will launch over the next three years, about 8 per cent anticipate a decline.
This years market volatility has led to dramatic shifts in adviser fund selection, as investors quest for stability is tested against asset falls and an uncertain political outlook.

FE Analytics data tracking advisers portfolio changes has produced a phenomenal increase in interest in the disparate range of funds that sit in the Specialist sector, according to FE director Mika-John Southworth.

Month on month advisers tend to stick with the same funds, so to see significant changes is quite interesting. The increase in funds being researched in the Specialist sector is a good thing for the industry, he said.

However, the property sector was the most popular in terms of individual portfolios. Seven of the 40 most added-to vehicles during the period sit in this asset class.

The data set encompasses 15,000 advisers. FE said many used the portfolios as a centralised way of making changes to client portfolios, which nowadays typically sit on platforms.

Changes made on the FE service automatically feed through to platform holdings, though the data provider acknowledged that some advisers may only use the service for paper portfolios.

Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Hawksmoor Investment Management, said the shift to more specialised portfolios showed understandable confusion in the market.

On the increase in popularity of both the Specialist and the Unclassified sectors, he added: It could show [advisers] looking for diversification  a sensible thing to be doing. It also could be complete disillusionment with traditional sectors.

Ben Yearsley, investment director at the Wealth Club, agreed the changes suggested investors do not know where to look.

He said: When you have a couple of sectors doing well and a general upward trajectory you would expect concentration, but people are all over the place.

It has been a very strange 12 months and there is no clear direction for where people are looking for ideas.

The Stewart Investors Asia Pacific Leaders fund has been added to more than any other product so far in 2016, FEs data shows. But this does not appear to suggest a growing interest in Asian and Chinese equity portfolios in general. Additions to these asset classes have more than halved from 2015, despite certain funds finding favour (see table).

The Henderson UK Property Oeic and the Invesco High Income fund were the next most popular vehicles.

The figures showed 2016 began with a scramble for familiarity, with the UK All Companies sector initially surging.

Interest in the sector during the first six weeks of the year was up 50 per cent compared with 2015, based on additions to portfolios and searches for relevant funds. But interest has since tailed off as Brexit concerns increase.
The prime ministers new Help to Save plan has been attacked by pension providers as potentially interfering with auto-enrolment and looking like the next mis-selling scandal.

David Cameron announced up to 3.5 million people will be eligible for a government-backed bonus, in which anyone in work and in receipt of Universal Credit or Working Tax Credits will be able to save up to 50 a month and receive a 50 per cent bonus after two years  worth up to 600.

Account holders can then choose to continue saving under the scheme for a further two years and receive another 600 bonus.

This will see them earn a savings pot worth up to 3,600 after the full four years of the scheme  with 1,200 coming from the government. The accounts will come into effect in April 2018.

Royal Londons director of policy Steve Webb warned the scheme could be the wrong choice for low-paid workers, compared with saving through a workplace pension and could lead to accusations of mis-selling.

He pointed out with a contribution to a pension, employees may get a matching contribution from their employer, along with tax relief on pension contributions, saving 20p in the pound for a standard rate taxpayer.

Pension saving eventually leads to a 25 per cent tax free lump sum, unlike other forms of saving and an individuals universal credit is boosted when they increase pension saving, while it is not clear yet if contributions into Help to Save will boost universal credit.

Mr Webb said the government needs to be careful that people are not incentivised to make the wrong choice with their money.

While both short-term and long-term savings are important, low-paid workers with spare cash should think very carefully before assuming that the Help to Save scheme is the best deal for their money.

It would be unfortunate if this initiative turned into a new mis-selling scandal with workers discovering they could have got a better deal from a pension.

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said she will be watching to see whether Help to Save will disrupt automatic enrolment by causing workers to opt-out of pension saving in return for the more flexible, but short-term savings.

People have a finite amount of cash they can afford to save and they will need to balance their long-term plans against more short-term considerations.

Saving in an employers pension scheme will still be the best deal around, as employees not only benefit from a government top-up on their own contributions, but also the employers contribution, every time they pay in.

So currently every 50 an individual saves under automatic enrolment immediately becomes 112.50. The employers pension contribution is far more valuable than any government bonus allowing workers to build up savings at a faster pace than the new Help to Save scheme.

peter.walker@ft.com
The chancellor should help generation rent to own their current properties through the reform of capital gains tax, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

In a new report, Rics argued this weeks Budget should deliver and then stick with a clear property tax policy, in order to give private tenants, home buyers and investors the clarity, certainty and predictability required for future stability and growth.

Rics head of policy Jeremy Blackburn said: Government has changed its policies around property taxes more often than the chancellor has been pictured in a hard hat.

The report proposed solutions for the UKs most unworkable property taxes, with capital gains tax identified as one of the least effective taxes for delivering housing and property policies.

Buy-to-let investors are liable for CGT whenever they sell their property, which is often perceived to be a barrier to the release of available homes on to the market, Rics stated.

But recent research from the Residential Landlords Association suggested 77 per cent of private landlords would consider selling their property to tenants if the tax liability was waived.

Rics recommended one way that homes could be delivered is if the UKs 3.84m private landlords were incentivised to sell to existing tenants.

Further incentives could then be provided to encourage the seller to invest in further rental properties, the report noted.

Ros Rowe, chair of the Rics Taxation Policy Panel Group, explained by removing CGT for landlords, the government could find a solution to the housing crisis that it has been so keen to address.

Houses could be released to private tenants with the funds reinvested in more homes, he added.

Government has changed its policies around property taxes more often than the chancellor has been pictured in a hard hat.

Rics also suggested that the new stamp duty increase for buy-to-let investors is a disincentive to the expansion of the much-needed private rental sector.

As such, the report called for the stamp duty increase to be waived for large institutionalised landlords.

Steve Carruthers, head of mortgage distribution at Newcastle Building Society, said Rics proposal should certainly be explored.

He said: Our primary purpose is to help people to own their own homes and whilst we support people looking to buy properties in order to let, we are supportive of any initiative which has the potential to improve home ownership and stimulate the housing market.

With mortgage rates at historic low levels, and with rates likely to stay lower for longer mortgage finance has never been cheaper. With upward pressure on rental payments now is a great time to consider owning your own home.

David Hollingworth, associate director for communications as London & Country Mortgages, said that the idea to incentivise landlords to sell to their tenants takes a rather different approach than we have seen of late.

Rather than hitting landlords with more tax the relaxation of the current tax regime could be a positive step to releasing more property to market.
It is odd to be discussing a U-turn on pension tax relief when there was no official policy in the first place.

Instead, there was a consultation paper setting out a number of options, followed by months of speculation over which the government favoured.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said it wanted a relief rate of between 25 and 30 per cent and appeared to have built a head of steam. It labelled this matching of contributions a savers bonus.

The Investment Association, on the other hand, was less explicit but appeared to back a similar system. My view at the time was this suggested a change was inevitable, yet the perception was allowed to develop that two more radical courses of action were more likely.

The first was an equalisation of tax relief, albeit at nowhere near a revenue neutral level  the discussed rate of 20 per cent would have been cheaper than the status quo. The second was a full-on pension Isa, which would have seen contributions taxed but made pensions in payment tax-exempt. This option would have increased the budget deficit by 5bn a year in the long term, the ABI said, while Hargreaves Lansdowns Tom McPhail warned it could provoke a Northern Rock-style run on pensions.

Perhaps Mr McPhail is even more influential than we thought. The day after his warning the proposal was ruled out by an ally of chancellor George Osborne. The threat of a pension Isa should not be permanently ruled out

Trade body Association of Professional Financial Advisers did tell the government to leave tax relief alone, but one wonders whether it was individual advisers putting pressure on Conservative backbenchers that made a big difference. There is, of course, the small matter of the EU referendum and the chancellors ambitions to move next door in Downing Street to be considered as well.

The whole idea of a pension Isa may have been a case of the government giving itself wiggle room to reach its real aim of a more modest reform. If so, it backfired in terms of political intrigue.

Where are we now? I wonder if some advisers havent slightly underestimated just how disruptive a radical reform might have proved. A pension Isa might have required them to remake the case for long-term investing. The threat may not now be imminent, but it should not be permanently ruled out.

As for this weeks Budget, many commentators believe changes to lifetime or annual limits may still be on the cards. AJ Bell chief executive Andy Bell has suggested the government has lost 1.5bn in revenue because savers, worried about tax relief reform, used up allowances while they still could. It may want to claw this back.

It is sometimes overlooked that paring back the annual and lifetime limits and cutting reliefs represent a way of clamping down on the cost of senior public sector pensions without rewriting contracts and provoking strikes. The qualified success of auto-enrolment is putting more strains on the system and could yet increase the tax relief bill to unsupportable levels.
FCA intervention in how the Financial Services Compensation Scheme is funded by the industry, revealed in the Financial Advice Market Reviews final report, is overdue and does not go far enough, advisers have said.

Today (14 March) the FCA and HM Treasury published their FAMR report, which made a number of recommendations for the FSCS .

It stated the compensation scheme should explore risk-based levies, reform the FSCS funding classes and look at whether contributions from firms could be smoothed by making more extensive use of the credit facility available to FSCS.

For Petronella West, co-founder at London-based Investment Quorum, the current lack of transparency on fees makes it very difficult for advisers to run their own businesses.

It is crippling. No one can run their business with an open cheque book. The difficulty is that it has always been retrospective.

It doesnt seem to deal with the fact that firms can collapse themselves and restart again with huge levies - theres nothing to stop this practice - thats the disappointing bit.

We need more clarity over the levies. We need more clarity over the levies Petronella West

Keith Churchouse, director of Surrey-based Chapters Financial, said on investigation into FSCS fees is long overdue.

I do hope we will be able to see some improvements in the way advisers are billed by the FSCS in the imminent future, however I think we will have 12 months of pain before that.

Changes to the professional indemnity (PI) insurance market, which will be considered following the review of the FSCS funding, were very important, he said.

The PI insurance market has not reflected what we as advisers have been going through pre- and post-RDR. They havent reflected the changes we have made and from that point of view is long overdue.

A spokesperson for the FSCS said: Todays FAMR announcement paves the way for a review of FSCS funding. Were committed to being accountable.

We welcome a healthy debate about our work and funding the vital protection we provide to consumers.

We protect thousands of people every year. That protection increases confidence and trust in financial services. We encourage firms to play a full part in the debate to define a new funding system or FSCS.

The FAMR report also recommended improving transparency between the Financial Ombudsman Service and advisers.

Mr Churchouse said there has been much concern with regard to the ombudsman and some of its verdicts, which seem to favour the consumer irrespective of whether there is fault with the adviser.

It will make them more accountable to both the end consumer and the industry, he added.

Speaking about Fos, Garry Heath, director general at alternative adviser trade body Libertatem, said there is a problem in the distinction between what the ombudsman does and the perception of what it does.

Theres a lot of worry about investing in an industry where theres potential for retrospective regulation.
Industry figures have expressed disappointment the regulator has once again dismissed calls to limit the time they are liable for their advice to 15 years.

In the final report on the Financial Advice Market Review out today (14 March), the Financial Conduct Authority and HM Treasury ruled out a 15-year long-stop.

Alan Lakey, partner at Hertfordshire-based Highclere Financial Services, told FTAdviser he had been fighting for the restoration of the long-stop for more than 10 years.

He said: Without a doubt it is a sad day when you find the forces of not just the judiciary but that the regulator, the government and the Treasury are so in favour to carry the consumer lobby.

The problem we have is this spurious argument that investments are this long-term proposition - that would also carry weight if architects, doctors and so on carried the same responsibility but they dont.

He added all the people who are in favour of retaining the current status quo are waving the consumer flag and while in his view, some of them think they are doing a good thing, others are far more cynical and are using it for their own personal ambitions.

There is no other body in the UK that suffers this loss with the same kind of consequence, he said.

Weve had such a poor representation over the years. The long-stop was removed without anyone knowing it. Hansard proves that parliament never consulted on or debated the long stop. Alan Lakey

At no time was it ever discussed or debated. It disappeared simply because the regulator and its counsel decided that this was parliaments intention.

Hansard proves that parliament never consulted or debated on the long-stop.

Chris Hannant, director general at the Association of Professional Financial Advisers, said the FCA decision not to introduce a long-stop was a missed opportunity and disappointing.

Apfa and Zurich had campaigned before the launch of the Financial Advice Market Review to introduce a long-stop for financial advice complaints.

Launched in 2012, the Fair Liability campaign called for a 15-year cap on liability, with differing limits depending on the nature of the product.

Garry Heath, director general at alternative adviser body Libertatem, said the long-stop is enshrined in British law.

The Limitations Act in law applies to financial services, he said. The regulator says it does not apply to us. Apfa has been trying to negotiate on this. In truth parliament should pass something for longer than 15 years if they want it.

However Petronella West, co-founder at London-based Investment Quorum, said the Financial Advice Market Review final report makes a valid point when they say that the advice provided is for more than a 15 year time span.

I empathise with that view but I do not sympathise with it, she explained. I think they are right in the sense that a lot of these products are providers for the longer term.
Average GB milk prices are unlikely to return to 30p/litre highs and will instead hover at about 24-27p/litre over the next five years, according to farm business consultants Andersons.

Rather than hoping for a return to the milk price peaks of 2013 and beginning of 2014, producers should budget for the medium term for a lower, but quite wide milk price range, said the consultants.

The range in milk prices producers receive had widened hugely in the past two years and was likely to remain wide, said Richard King, partner and head of business research at Andersons.

Some suppliers on co-operative contracts were receiving as little as 16p/litre, while others on supermarket contracts were receiving more than 29p/litre.

Defras average GB milk price is currently 23.13p/litre (for February), but Andersons estimates this could fall to about 21.80p/litre during the spring flush, before starting to edge up a little.

However, there was unlikely to be a significant price recovery before the end of the year due to plentiful global stocks, said Mr King.

Just last week the EU warned world dairy production was massively overshooting any extra demand for milk and prices would not recover until this was reined in.

See also: Expect more milk price falls, EU warns

By the end of the year, Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand will have produced 3.5bn litres more milk than they did in 2015, said the EU.

Dont chase marginal litres

Mr King advised dairy businesses to make short- and medium-term (about five-year) budgets and focus on cost cutting, rather than chasing increased output to improve margins.

One of the traps in times of low prices is to try to make up a shortfall in income by producing more, said Mr King.

The marginal litres tend to be expensive to produce and for any farmer on A and B pricing models, especially, will not provide a return.

In the medium term, negotiating, challenging and postponing costs (within reason), as well as benchmarking and analysing the business would help  and was often what separated the best businesses from the average, he said.
Authorities in New Zealand have brought animal welfare charges against an individual after an investigation into the alleged abuse of bobby calves.

The ministry for primary industries (MPI), which oversees and regulates New Zealand agricultural sectors, said charges had been laid under the countrys Animal Welfare Act against one person following an investigation.

It announced last November it was investigating the alleged violent abuse of bobby calves captured on film by animal welfare activist groups Safe and Farmwatch.

Extensive hidden camera footage  handed over to the MPI in September 2015  appeared to show bobby calves being kicked, thrown and beaten on-farm and in a slaughterhouse in New Zealand.

See also: New Zealand investigating violent abuse of bobby calves

The investigation began in September 2015 when the MPI received many hours of footage containing alleged offences involving bobby calves in the Waikato region, it said in a statement.

Charges were filed this week at the Huntly District Court under the Animal Welfare Act in relation to this matter.

While charges have been filed, the MPI investigation is ongoing and officials are actively pursuing other lines of inquiry.
Further measures to help cash-strapped farmers are expected to be announced by the European Union following meetings between industry leaders and farm ministers in Brussels.

Leaders of the four main UK farm unions are meeting UK farm ministers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Monday (14 March).

The meeting comes ahead of a European farm council meeting between farm ministers from all 28 EU countries.

See also: Farm support package falls short, say farm leaders

European farm commissioner Phil Hogan is widely expected to use the council meeting to announce a number of support measures, including for dairy, pig and vegetable producers.

NFU president Meurig Raymond said: The UK food and farming sector is worth 103bn and employs 3.8 million people  13.4% of the UK workforce.

Our industry is currently experiencing major difficulties which need addressing urgently.

Farmers representatives say measures announced by the EU last autumn have failed to do enough to help farmers ride out an ongoing cash crisis.

The NFU is calling for the lifting of tariffs on fertiliser imports, new financial instruments with the European Investment Bank and work to ensure farmers get a fair deal from the supply chain.

Mr Raymond said: We are working at every level  local, national and European  to find new ways to take the burden off our struggling farmers.

Producers have been hard hit by a commodity slump across a range of farm sectors, including dairy, livestock and combinable crops.

Although farm input prices have eased in the UK, they have not done so by enough to offset the much broader slump in the value of farm output.

UK farmers are facing significant cashflow difficulties, said Mr Raymond. We will suggest deliverable actions for the European Commission to tackle this undeniable farming crisis.

At the same time, the situation has been exacerbated by delays to farm subsidies which has left thousands of producers waiting much longer than usual for their annual support payment.

Protests to highlight the cashflow crisis on farms have been ramped up over recent days including demonstrations in Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy and Spain.

The pressure group Farmers For Action has organised a further protest to take place in London on Wednesday, 23 March.

The farm council meeting comes as European farm umbrella organisation Copa-Cogeca outlined a number of measures it wants EU ministers to sanction.

They include an increase in the milk intervention price, extension of private storage aid for pork and dairy products and the removal of fertiliser import tariffs.

Copa-Cogeca secretary-general Pekka Pesonen said: Farmers and agri-cooperatives face serious cashflow problems and many are being forced out of business.

They were badly affected when we lost our main export market  Russia  worth 5.1bn [3.95bn] overnight as a result of international politics.

Input prices are rising and the collapse in oil prices has put pressure on commodity prices. The situation is unacceptable.

The 500m [387m] package released by the EU last September is a drop in the ocean and cannot deal with the bad situation and only 25% of the aid has been paid out.

The EU must act now or it will be unable to feed a growing population in the future.
Today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured Ubisoft Montreal, the studio that gave birth to Assassin's Creed -- and tried out upcoming VR game Eagle Flight on an Oculus Rift.

According to a report from Canada's Global News, Trudeau's visit was spurred by a desire to signal the government's interest in the tech sector, ahead of the next Canadian federal budget, which is reportedly set to include new innovation investments.

There's little reporting on what happened during Trudeau's visit aside from some shaky footage of the prime minister playing Eagle Flight, but he did tweet a photo while at the studio, which includes the caption that he held "discussions on the future of the industry."

The photo (also shown above) pictures Trudeau speaking to the studio's CEO, Yannis Mallat, while Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot looks on.

.@UbisoftMTL employs more than 2600 people. Thanks for today's visit & discussions on the future of the industry. pic.twitter.com/ireORiyIdp  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 25, 2016

Ubisoft Montreal's Twitter, meanwhile, shared two more images:
Salafism in NRW : Experts concerned about increased Salafist recruiting

BONN Religious recruitment by extremist Salafists is of growing concern to experts who monitor the scene. Insiders see connection to militant Jihadist groups.

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Experts who monitor the extremist Salafist scene are concerned about the increase in religious recruitment on the streets, Street-Dawa. Constitutional and Islam expert Claudia Dantschke from Berlin says such groups spring like mushrooms out of the ground. Die Wahre Relgion (the true religion) is the best known of these groups and has operated in the Cologne/Bonn area for about ten years now. They hand out the Koran in pedestrian zones under their action Lies which is not to be mistaken for the English word, but instead is the German word for Read.

Monika Horig, spokesperson for Bonn city, says According to the information we have now, we have no legal means to prohibit their stands in pedestrian zones, but we will look into this issue on a deeper level. The Street-Dawa is growing with new groups called Jesus im Islam (Jesus in Islam), and Siegel der Propheten (Seal of the prophet). Siegel der Propheten is based in Dusseldorf but hands out Korans regularly at Theaterplatz or Michaelshof in Bad Godesberg. The Jesus im Islam group is thought to be directed towards persons converting from Christianity to Islam.

The goal of these groups is to enhance their internet efforts by speaking to people personally. In North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), there are thought to be around 2,500 members and in Bonn more than 200. Police in Bonn say there are 16 cases being examined in which Salafists are accused of recruiting for radical Islam at refugee centers. Police spokesperson Frank Piontek said some of the cases could not be proven true but others were still under investigation. According to NRW Constitutional Protection spokesperson, Jorg Rademacher, there has been a deepening connection between Die Wahre Religion and militant Jihad groups over the years.

One video posted in the internet taunts people who have stopped at the stands to express criticism. They are verbally attacked as enemies of peace-loving Muslims. In another video, a 17-year-old refugee from Syria says Stay away from this society. They want to destroy you. The only goal Germans have is a nice life with drugs and alcohol. Salafist preacher Sven Lu, who is accused of supporting Jihad in Syria and is in jail, is seen in videos trying to raise money for Siegel der Propheten. He calls for people to become active. Because we are not yet in paradise.
Round up : News in Brief

Here are some news briefs from Bonn and the region for March 14.

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Graduate party violence and vandalism: A party with about 60 Abiturienten (high school graduates) turned into mayhem in Cologne on Lenauplatz on Friday evening. As police approached the illegal gathering, some of the youth and young adults tried to attack police. Police responded with pepper spray and batons against the youth. One police officer suffered a broken ankle. 30 squad cars were at the scene and nine students were taken into custody. On Sunday night, youth in Cologne toilet papered and threw eggs at schools. Fireworks were also lit off. The youth are accused of vandalism and assault. 15 separate police calls were made. (Orig. tex: dpa)

Lassa fever: A 47-year-old man was admitted to the Dusseldorf University Clinic with suspicion of Lassa fever on Saturday. The initial blood test proved negative for the fever, and a second test is being taken on Monday morning. The man had been in contact with an American health care worker who contracted Lassa fever in Togo, and died a day after arriving in Cologne for treatment. (Orig. text: dpa)

Post office robbery: Two masked men robbed a post office branch on Schneidermuhler Strae in Tannenbusch on Saturday morning. They entered at 9:30 a.m. and threatened the employees with a weapon. They fled with a small amount of money and jewelry. The men are thought to be around 18-years-old and from northern Africa. One wore a dark hooded sweatshirt with a white cord, and a black scarf on his face. The other wore a dark wool cap and dark short winter jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers. He had on white gloves and a red scarf on his face. Police ask for anyone with information to phone them at 0228-150. (Orig. text: hbl)
Accident on the A565 : Two women seriously injured

Bonn-Poppelsdorf An accident on the A565 in Bonn Monday morning left two women seriously injured. The autobahn had to be closed for rescue operations.

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Two women were seriously injured in a car accident on the A565 in the direction of Cologne on Monday morning. The autobahn was consequently closed off in both directions. Police reported that the accident occurred in the area of the Poppelsdorf exit. A 21-year-old and 57-year-old had to be freed from their car and were transported to the hospital.

Initial investigations from police say that a 26-year-old had to brake because of slowed traffic at the Bonn-Endenich exit area. A container truck behind that driver also braked but not in time to prevent the truck from hitting the car of the 26-year-old lightly. A 21-year-old driver consequently ran into the truck and became partially wedged underneath it. Both the 21-year-old and her 57-year-old passenger were seriously injured.

Police and the fire department closed the autobahn between Bonn-Tannenbusch and Bonn-Endenich in both directions to allow rescue work. Traffic backed up for seven kilometers, reaching to the inner city of Bonn.
kacylee at 14-03-2016 07:09 AM (6 years ago) (f)







Thirty-nine of the reported 172 Nigerians who were deported from Libya on Friday 11th March 2016 were received by Pastor T.B. Joshua of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) during his church service on Sunday 13th March. According to a post on the churchs official Facebook page, the deportees were each given the sum of N100,000 by Joshua, who is well known for his charitable gestures.







Fidelis Onos, who spoke on behalf of the group, said that most of them had been imprisoned for up to one year in Libya after they were suddenly arrested. The majority were working as bricklayers in the North African country where they had sought greener pastures. We are not here to blame Libya, Fidelis is quoted as saying. If Nigeria was okay, we would never have left in the first place. Its the war in Libya that turned it to what it is today  in a place where there is no government, what can you expect?

















He explained that United Nations officials visited the Nigerians in the Libyan prison and were touched at their plight, promising to arrange their repatriation back to Nigeria. They were finally able to travel under the voluntary returnee programme organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Thirty-nine of the reported 172 Nigerians who were deported from Libya on Friday 11th March 2016 were received by Pastor T.B. Joshua of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) during his church service on Sunday 13th March. According to a post on the churchs official Facebook page, the deportees were each given the sum of N100,000 by Joshua, who is well known for his charitable gestures.Fidelis Onos, who spoke on behalf of the group, said that most of them had been imprisoned for up to one year in Libya after they were suddenly arrested. The majority were working as bricklayers in the North African country where they had sought greener pastures. We are not here to blame Libya, Fidelis is quoted as saying. If Nigeria was okay, we would never have left in the first place. Its the war in Libya that turned it to what it is today  in a place where there is no government, what can you expect?He explained that United Nations officials visited the Nigerians in the Libyan prison and were touched at their plight, promising to arrange their repatriation back to Nigeria. They were finally able to travel under the voluntary returnee programme organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Arriving in Lagos with only the clothes they came with, the deportees were provided with a meagre N6,500, leading to resentful outbursts from many at the airport. Frustrated, angry and despondent, a group of them decided to seek refuge at The SCOAN, having watched Emmanuel TV in Libya, the church wrote on their Facebook page.



Upon learning of their arrival in the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua immediately sent evangelists to provide food, alongside medical aid to some of the most malnourished in their midst, it continued. After giving the young men N3.9million ($20,000), many were emotionally moved and shed tears.



If not for a man like T.B. Joshua, most of us would have ended up going into armed robbery, kidnapping or even joining a group like Boko Haram, said Godspower Chibuike as he appreciated Joshua for the gift. If youths were encouraged like this, we wouldnt even think of travelling to places like Libya, another deportee stated, adding that he had never seen such an amount of money in his life.



The group were subsequently provided with toiletries alongside brand new clothing, as they had worn the same set of clothes since their arrival in Nigeria. Remember, what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you, T.B. Joshua stated in the conclusion of the Facebook post. Arriving in Lagos with only the clothes they came with, the deportees were provided with a meagre N6,500, leading to resentful outbursts from many at the airport. Frustrated, angry and despondent, a group of them decided to seek refuge at The SCOAN, having watched Emmanuel TV in Libya, the church wrote on their Facebook page.Upon learning of their arrival in the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua immediately sent evangelists to provide food, alongside medical aid to some of the most malnourished in their midst, it continued. After giving the young men N3.9million ($20,000), many were emotionally moved and shed tears.If not for a man like T.B. Joshua, most of us would have ended up going into armed robbery, kidnapping or even joining a group like Boko Haram, said Godspower Chibuike as he appreciated Joshua for the gift. If youths were encouraged like this, we wouldnt even think of travelling to places like Libya, another deportee stated, adding that he had never seen such an amount of money in his life.The group were subsequently provided with toiletries alongside brand new clothing, as they had worn the same set of clothes since their arrival in Nigeria. Remember, what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you, T.B. Joshua stated in the conclusion of the Facebook post.

Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 14-03-2016 07:09 AM (6 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Social media bringing change in society: Akhilesh Yadav News oi -GizBot Bureau

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said social media was bringing change in society, but apprehensions of its misuse were also increasing.

"Large scale changes are taking place in the society through social media. Using this medium people are touching new avenues of economic growth. Apprehensions of its misuse are also increasing," Akhilesh said while addressing Facebook's 'Boost your Business' programme.

SEE ALSO: 10 Things To Do Before Updating Your Smartphone To Android Marshmallow

While terming social media as a strong medium to project their products at international level for small entrepreneurs, he said, "Social media platforms like Facebook should be used for the development of the state".

The CM said more than 1,500 business pages have been created on Facebook for small entrepreneurs. After hosting a series of successful events and outreach activities in cities like Kannauj, Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi, Facebook's 'Boost Your Business' program has reached its last leg, Lucknow.

SEE ALSO: Top 10 Alternative Smartphones For Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

Under its initiative of increasing investment in small businesses in India, Facebook's 'Boost your Business' has been live in Uttar Pradesh for the past six weeks.

Source PTI

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'Feels Like Home Season 2' offers something real and tangible to think about; takes home a pertinent point - if your intentions are good, there is nothing in life that isn't achievable.
Strikes Target ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 14, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria:

-- Near Manbij, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Mara, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and two ISIL fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Fallujah, a strike destroyed an ISIL bunker.

-- Near Hit, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL tunnel entrance and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL bulldozer.

-- Near Kisik, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Sinjar, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed five ISIL rocket rails.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct operations.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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DESRON 7 Staff Play Key Role In Exercise Ssang Yong

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160314-06

Release Date: 3/14/2016 10:16:00 AM

By Lt. Kevin Chambers, DESRON 7 Public Affairs

EAST SEA (NNS) -- On March 7, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7 staff climbed aboard an MV-22 Osprey and flew to USS Boxer (LHD 4), off the coast of the Republic of Korea (ROK), in preparation for exercise Ssang Yong 2016.

From the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, Capt. H. B. Le, commodore, DESRON-7, and several members of his staff served as sea combat commander (SCC) for the exercise, which was led by Rear Adm. John Nowell, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7, and Brig. Gen. John Jansen, commanding general, 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB).

As SCC, DESRON-7 was responsible for defense of the amphibious task force (DATF) against surface and sub-surface threats. Among other warfare commanders, USS Shiloh (CG 67), home ported in Yokosuka, Japan, performed duties as air defense commander for the exercise.

'This was the first time our staff participated in Ssang Yong and we welcomed the opportunity and challenge to be SCC for such a large and important exercise with our ROK allies,' said Le. 'Onboard USS Boxer, we had the chance to work with several ROK Navy officers from Maritime Tactical Squadron 71, who observed as we executed SCC duties in support of a combined ESG.'

Le added that he looks forward to participating in more exercises like Ssang Yong that 'flex the skill sets of a traditional DESRON in innovative ways.'

Ssang Yong, which means 'Twin Dragons,' is a biennial combined exercise conducted by U.S. and ROK Navy and Marine Corps forces to strengthen interoperability and working relationships across a range of military operations from disaster relief to expeditionary operations.

Ssang Yong 2016, the largest multinational amphibious exercise ever conducted, included nearly 20,000 sailors and Marines, 19 ships, a ROK submarine and aircraft from both nations. The exercise culminated in a combined MEB-size landing March 12 with elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), 13th MEU and ROK Marine Corps Marine Task Force (MTF) from the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), USS Boxer and ROKS Dokdo (LPH 6111) amphibious ready groups.

'Exercises like Ssang Yong are extremely valuable opportunities to plan and operate in a complex maritime environment,' said Le. 'We are better operators and warfighters for having participated in Ssang Yong.'

In addition to the U.S. and ROK personnel, approximately 100 soldiers from the Australian Army and 60 personnel from the Royal New Zealand Army participated in the exercise.

DESRON-7 also leads the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series, the U.S. Navy's premier naval engagement in South and Southeast Asia, as well as other bilateral and multilateral exercises in the region. 2016 marks the fourth consecutive year that 'The Golden Arrows' of DESRON-7 have led CARAT on behalf of Commander, Task Force 73.

In December 2012, DESRON-7 executed an historic homeport shift from San Diego, and joined 7th Fleet's forward deployed naval forces, operating primarily throughout Southeast Asia in support of the Navy's rebalance to the Indo-Asia-Pacific. In addition to participating in regional exercises such as Ssang Yong and CARAT, DESRON-7 serves as the primary tactical commander of littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to Singapore.

The U.S. 7th Fleet conducts forward-deployed naval operations in support of U.S. national interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific area of operations. As the U.S. Navy's largest numbered fleet, 7th Fleet interacts with 35 maritime nations to build partnerships that foster maritime security, promote stability and prevent conflict.

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Tens of pro-Saudi mercenaries captured in southern Yemen

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 5:53PM

Yemen's military forces and their allies in the Houthi Ansarullah movement have captured 85 militants fighting for Saudi Arabia in its ongoing aggression of the impoverished country.

Yemen's al-Masirah TV said on Monday that the 'mercenaries' were detained in the cities of al-Watiah and Rada' in the province of Bayda.

The report said the pro-Saudi forces were returning to their bases in the northern Ma'rib province when they were nabbed by the Yemeni forces.

Meantime, tens of other militants, some of them members of Yemen's branch of al-Qaeda, were reportedly arrested or killed in the southwestern province of Ta'izz.

Yemenis also managed to seize control of two mountainous regions from militants in the northern province of Jawf.

The gains are the latest in a string of successful operations against elements who have been facilitating Saudi air campaign against Yemen. More than 8,400 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since Saudi Arabia started its aggression against Yemen a year ago.

Yemenis have used the captured Saudi soldiers and mercenaries as a bargaining chip in talks with opponents, including the fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is backed by Riyadh. Earlier this month, the Yemeni side exchanged a captive Saudi army officer against seven fighters in the first case of direct negotiations with the Saudis.

Saudi fighter jets continued to pound targets in northern Yemen on Monday, with reports suggesting that attacks were carried out in the provinces of Sana'a, Ma'rib and Jawf, without immediate reports on possible casualties.

The Saudi air campaign against Yemen suffered a major setback on Monday as an Emirati warplane contributing to the airstrikes crashed south of the country. Military sources in Saudi Arabia said the Apache jet crashed in Aden due to technical fault while it was conducting an airstrike.

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Yemen Houthis say open to peace talks with Saudis

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:54PM

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement says they are open to holding peace talks with Riyadh in a bid to bring an end to the Saudi aggression.

'We will not turn our backs on any understandings or initiatives that could lead to the halt of aggression and lifting the suffering from the Yemeni people,' said Saleh al-Sammad, head of Houthis' political wing, in a statement on Monday.

He also referred to a recent prisoner exchange with Saudi Arabia, saying it was part of an "initial and preliminary" stage of negotiations that could be followed by "gradual steps" if the Saudi authorities are willing to halt their aggression.

Last week, Ansarullah movement freed a Saudi soldier in exchange for seven detained Yemenis. The swap was launched by Yemeni tribal figures to curb the violence in the border area and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis.

Reports also said that representatives of the movement traveled to Riyadh last week to discuss a truce along the frontier. The visit reportedly began on March 7 at the invitation of Saudi authorities, following a week of secret preparatory talks

Saudi Arabia has been bombing its southern neighbor for about a year now in a bid to weaken the Houthis and restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Yemenis have been carrying out retaliatory attacks on the Saudi forces deployed in the country as well as targets inside Saudi Arabia.

Over 8,400 people, among them more than 2,200 children, have been killed and over 16,000 others injured since the onset of the aggression. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The conflict also pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

Tens of Saudi soldiers and mercenaries have also been killed in the war.

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Two UAE pilots killed in warplane crash in Yemen

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:39AM

Two pilots of the United Arab Emirates have been killed after one of the country's fighter jets participating in the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen crashed in the impoverished country, a report says.

The Saudi-led coalition made the announcement in a statement on Monday after the UAE armed forces said in a statement earlier in the day that the warplane could not be located.

'The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces announced today that a fighter jet taking part in the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia... in Yemen was missing,' said a statement on the official WAM news agency, without giving further details.

CNN Arabic reported that the fighter jet crashed due to a technical fault.

Meanwhile, al-Masdar Online quoted a Yemeni official as saying that the Apache jet crashed in Aden due to technical fault while it was conducting an airstrike. The warplane reportedly hit a mountain and crashed on a residential house, leaving a child dead.

Several Saudi aircraft have been downed in Yemen by the country's army and popular committees since the beginning of the Saudi aggression in March last year, and at least two coalition jets have crashed in the impoverished country.

In May 2015, the Yemeni forces shot down a Moroccan F-16 warplane. In December that year, a Bahraini F-16 jet crashed on the Saudi Arabian side of the border with Yemen in the northern Saudi province of Jizan, after suffering a technical problem.

Yemeni army troops and allied Houthi Ansarullah fighters have also managed to bring down a number of Saudi drones.

On March 5, a Saudi spy drone was downed while it was flying over the country's southern province of Ibb.

On February 27, Yemeni soldiers and allied forces also targeted an Emirati drone in the sky over the town of Azan, located 550 kilometers (341 miles) southeast of Sana'a. The downed aircraft was purportedly on a surveillance mission in the area.

Yemeni army forces and fighters from Popular Committees shot down a Saudi spy aircraft over Harad district in the northwestern province of Hajjah on February 3. A few days earlier, Yemeni troops had fired a surface-to-air missile at another Saudi spy drone in Yemen's northwestern Sa'ada Province.

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March last year. At least 8,400 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed so far in the aggression and 16,015 others sustained injuries. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

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AfD Alternative fuer Deutschland / "Alternative for Germany"

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media reports 03 March 2021. That designation gave state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party's communications. The BfV refused to comment on media reports from Der Spiegel magazine, the DPA news agency and public broadcaster ARD. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them. Volker Ullrich  interior affairs spokesman for the CSU, the conservative Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats  appeared to suggest the new surveillance status was a fait accompli. In a tweet, he described it as a "consistent and correct decision." Ullrich said "The concept of a defensible democracy means naming and fighting the opponents of the free democratic basic order". Parts of the AfD  including the party's youth division and the Flugel (Wing) extremist group  have already attracted the attention of the intelligence community. The Flugel came under full surveillance by the BfV last year after the agency said its members included proven right-wing extremists.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) affinities with Trump Republicans include fear of immigrants and foreigners; hostility toward the European Union; and contempt for standard operating procedure in government and willingness to gut the state apparatus. As a jingoistic "Make Germany Great Again" outfit full of unpredictable political neophytes, the AfD is fairly comparable to the Trumpites.

Frauke Petry, the leader of the xenophobic far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD - Alternative fuer Deutschland), earned the nickname Adolfina for her inflammatory remarks. The Berlin election on 18 September 2016 was bad news for Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) but it was not as shocking as the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania two weeks earlier. Putting the result in a more positive light, the CDU is the second-strongest party in the German capital - behind the Social Democratic SPD. The CDU also managed to hold off Alternative for Germany (AfD). Thus the CDU's traumatic experience of being overtaken by the rightwing populists in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did not repeat itself.

AfD made significant gains in local elections 04 September 2016. With about 20.8% of votes, the anti-immigrant AfD came second in eastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern [Western Pomorania] regional election, beating Chancellor Angela Merkels party into third on her home turf. The center-left Social-Democrats (SPD), who scored 30.6% of the vote, came first and Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was pushed into a humiliating third at 19%.

Critics of the AfD said its rhetoric had frightening similarities to the Nazi regime, especially after the partys draft manifesto was leaked in March 2016, with policies including incentivising German women to have three or more children, imprisoning drug addicts and people with mental health issues who did not respond to therapy. It also contained clear jabs at the Muslim community, including the banning of minarets and niqabs.

In the 2005 general election, the CDU/CSU gained 226 seats, and the SPD gained 222 seats. Neither could govern alone, and so there was formed the Grand Coalition in which they governed together [the rather more vouptuous French refer to such an arrangement as cohabitation]. The 2009 election produced a similar arrangment. The CDU-SPD coalition prompted SPD left-wingers, already bitter about labor reforms launched by the last SPD chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, to leave in droves. The Grand Coalition moved the CDU towards the center of the political spectrum, creating a political space that had thitherto been occupied by the right wing of the party. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum.

AfD Alternative fuer Deutschland is a German euroskeptic party, which was founded in 2013. AfD failed to enter the national parliament in 2013, but then won seats in five of Germany's 16 state parliaments before the 2015 migrant crisis. The AfD has been accused of appealing to right-wing extremist voters - a charge the party officials strongly reject. The party's central argument is that the euro is a failed currency that threatens the European Unions future by supporting impoverished countries and uncompetitive economies, which in turn burdens future generations.

In 2014 an Afd politician from Thuringia, Bjorn Hocke, shouted "Three thousand years Europe! One thousand years Germany" at a demonstration. He later denied in a nationally televised interview that his words were reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's "Thousand-Year Reich!" rallying cry. While Germany has dealt with nationalist parties since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949, the AfD poses a new problem: the party established itself out of the refugee crisis, but that doesn't come from the right-wing extremism scene, as was the case with the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).

The German daily "Bild am Sonntag" reported on 24 January 2016 that the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had reached 10 percent for the first time in a recent poll. According to the article, 17 percent of men would vote for AfD while only 2 percent of women would do so. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, saw its support fall by 2 percentage points to 36 percent. The Social Democrats (SPD), the CDU's coalition partner, came in at 25 percent.

On 22 February 2016 a survey, conducted for the popular "Bild" newspaper, showed the right wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of leftists the Social Democrats (SPD) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD had the support of 17 percent of voters in the eastern state Saxony-Anhalt, a surge of 12 points since September 2015. The "Bild" poll had the SPD at 16 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, with the CDU clearly out in front at 30 percent. Leftists in the state did not need to totally despair, however, as the more socialist Left party was still much stronger than the AfD with 17 percent support from voters.

A poll for broadcaster ARD showed support for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt at 19 percent, a result that would make it the third strongest party there after Merkel's Christian Democrats and the communist-rooted Linke party. In Baden Wurttemberg, AfD polled at 13 percent, with 9 percent projected support in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The idea that right-wing ideology was only found in isolated pockets of German society was debunked in Saxony, which was not only the birthplace of Pegida, but also one of the first states where the "Alternative fur Deutschland" (AfD) party won seats in parliament.

The party was only founded in the spring of 2013, yet the Alternative for Germany - or AfD - gained nearly 1.5 million votes, only narrowly missing the five percent threshold that would have taken them into parliament. They campaigned on an anti-euro platform.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was soon under pressure from all sides. One of its local leaders in the German state of Hesse is accused of having right-wing extremist sympathies, and numerous internal disagreements divided the party. All the while, the euro - the party's main object of contempt - has proven robust despite the challenges the eurozone has faced so far. The AfD's diminished standing in the opinion polls is a reflection of its current internal turmoil.

Most of the talk centered on the AfD's branch in the German state of Hesse. Its state treasurer, Peter Ziemann, is accused of issuing a warning online about criminal immigrants eroding society, and referring to "vermin" in the same context. He is also reported to have said, "The socialism of today that calls itself democracy will have to suffer the same fate as the Eastern Bloc." Many people regarded this statement as contravening the values of the German constitution - yet it won approval from the AfD chairman in Hesse, Volker Bartz, who called it "philosophically interesting."

The party's federal leader, Bernd Lucke, responded by stripping Ziemann of his office and suggesting that Bartz step down- a suggestion that was also related to some questionable behavior by Bartz in his last job. Confidential e-mail correspondence between Lucke and Bartz was leaked to the press. Ultimately, the AfD head decided to remove Bartz from office as his chairmanship was causing "serious damage to the party."

The party's public image is another problem, as many voters don't even know who the AfD's candidates are. Most Germans have heard of the party's national chairman Bernd Lucke, but "few other figures are generally well-known," said Manfred Gullner who heads opinion research institute Forsa. "The AfD lacks a public figure like [Austrian politician Jorg] Haider. Then they could become a real threat to the other parties."

Parties only need to clear a 3 percent threshold to make it into the European Parliament. And the actual voter turnout would play an important role as well. "Considering that the turnout for the European election will probably be very low - possibly less than 40 percent - 750,000 votes would be enough to get 3 percent of all votes. For the first time, Germany's contingent of 96 European Parliament deputies will include euroskeptics: The Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), was estimated to have won six of the 96 German seats, as they won 7 percent of the vote. Party leader Bernd Lucke was triumphant: "This is springtime in Germany," he said.

The AfD has gone through quite a mutation in its short life. Founded just over three years ago by a group of disgruntled economists who wanted to dismantle the eurozone and prevent the bailing-out of Greece, the party has deftly switched policies to suit the next big "crisis" preoccupying the German media - the influx of Middle East refugees that began last year. After steadily mounting internal pressure in the first half of 2015, the ideological switch was flicked in July 2015, when co-founder and leader Bernd Lucke, a 53-year-old economics professor, was ousted by current leader Frauke Petry. The split was brought about by an increasing influx of new members - many of whom were sympathetic to the "anti-Islamization" movement PEGIDA.

Among the most visible of the new extremists the party has attracted was Bjorn Hocke, leader of the AfD's parliamentary party in Thuringia. In a speech in November 2015, Hocke drew a genetic distinction between the "life-affirming African proliferation type" and the "self-denying European placeholder type" and warned that the Africans' "reproductive behavior" would not change as long as Europe took in immigrants. The AfD leadership distanced itself from the remarks - chairman Jorg Meuthen described them as "foolishness - both politically and content-wise" - but ultimately voted against calling on him to resign from the party.

Frauke Petry took the reins of the party in July 2015 after a bitter power struggle with the AfDs co-founder and first leader, Bernd Lucke. This turned off AfD supporters, causing the party's popularity to plummet. It was only after discontent with Merkel's refugee policies began to rise that the AfD was able to grow its numbers again. She had been presented as the smiling face of the party. Petry was born in East Germany, but when she was a teenager, her father managed to get a tourist visa for West Germany. He brought over his wife and two daughters and they set up a new life there.

With Petry at the helm, the AfD would stick to its relatively moderate neo-conservative profile - otherwise, more radical forces would call the shots. Petry was widely criticised for her controversial statements, most of which have to do with immigration. In one widely publicised interview with a German newspaper in January, she said German border police should be allowed to use arms if necessary to stop illegal border crossings by migrants. Petry stressed that provocation is a tool that she isnt afraid of using. In that way, many argue that she resembles American presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The party's uneasy relationship with the far-right was underlined when the the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) called on voters in the regional election to use one of their two votes for the AfD. The AfD'S response was swift: "We have no overlaps with the NPD whatsoever."

The famous Hofbraukeller must allow the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) to use its premises for a party event, a court. The landlord had cited reservations over the beer hall's reputation and security. The right-wing populist party had reserved the renowned beer hall for a party gathering. Munich's state court ruled that the party's 13 May 2016 meeting would go ahead. Today, however, the restaurant is a popular eatery for locals and tourists alike, thanks to its offering of traditional Bavarian food, beer selection and interior design. In 1919, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler made his first political speech at the Hofbraukeller.

While the AfD's successes and its rise to double digits in national polls around the country (putting it neck and neck with the Green party and the Left party) were undoubtedly down to popular dissatisfaction with Angela Merkel's refugee policy, the AfD also made a deliberate effort to poach the chancellor's Christian conservative base.

One of the main planks of its party program is promoting the traditional family. In 2014, the Baden-Wurttemberg AfD voted against a plan to bring more teaching about homosexuality into the school curriculum, and the official party manifesto makes a vehement case against what it calls "gender mainstreaming," by which it means policies that undermine "traditional gender roles." The Baden-Wurttemberg AfD's manifesto even suggested that state broadcasters should be made to "present marriage and family in a positive way."

Deputy leader Beatrix von Storch made these issues her own within the party, speaking out against abortion, against same-sex marriage, and against what she calls the "sexualization of society." She declared her opposition to a government campaign promoting the use of condoms, saying the campaign should have promoted abstinence instead.

A less-discussed element of the AfD's program is its vehement opposition to Germany's Renewable Energy Act (EEG), introduced in 2000 and renewed in 2014 to regulate and subsidize Germany's transition to renewables. The AfD says it is against any subsidies in the energy market, on the grounds that they damage Germany's competitiveness. The party's position is on climate change is summed up in three sentences on its website: "Scientific research on the long-term development of the climate because of man-made CO2 emissions is fraught with uncertainty. On top of that, a global problem can be solved only by a coordinated initiative of all the big economic nations. For that reason, the AfD rejects all national and European unilateral action."

The AfD's original purpose is still very much part of its plan - "Germany doesn't need the euro. Other countries are damaged by the euro," is one of the first statements on its website. The party would like to see the reintroduction of national currencies, as well as provisions to make sure that there are no more payments to the European Stability Mechanism, or indeed to bail out banks and hedge funds.

The AfD deputy chairman Alexander Gauland considered a possible accession of his party to a new European populist alliance, which would include the right-wing French party National Front (FN) and other European factions. The politician is in favor of AfD joining the union, should the new group of EU-critical parties be established in the near future, he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 10 April 2016.

"You do not have to like the FN, but the moment might come when you will have to say: we can cooperate with the FN, even if we don't agree with everything it stands for," Gauland said. The AfD's new course surprised many as only a few months ago the party distanced itself from the National Front, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) and other right-wing factions in Europe.

When the party's representative Bjorn Hocke congratulated the National Front on its victory in the French regional elections, he was sharply criticized by the party's federal spokesman Jorg Meuthen who called the statement "wrong and inappropriate." Hocke again supported the French populist party and emphasized similarities between the AfD and the National Front. A couple of months ago such a statement would have led to a sharp criticism and the organization of a special party meeting on the issue. This time, however, his statement has not been met with any opposition.

AfD was rapidly gaining popularity amid a deteriorating situation with refugees in Germany. The party is advocating for a stricter migration policy and proposes alternative, tough, ways to resolve the current crisis.

Jan Riebe at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, noted in July 2016 that "The AfD is not a genuinely anti-Semitic party. That would mean that the party is actually being held together by anti-Semitic sentiments, but this is not the case. However, many AfD members do share anti-Semitic ideas; they have an anti-Semitic view of the world, meaning that they believe that Jews are the masterminds of all evil. So, in that sense, anti-Semitism does play an essential role in the AfD."

Young people opposed to what they regard as a leftist-Greens mainstream in the country have turned to the party's "Young Alternative" youth organization. In some parts of eastern Germany, one out of three youths votes for the AfD, or the even more extreme NPD. The AfD attracts swing voters from all political parties, and has also been able to mobilize traditional non-voters, including poorly skilled and educated Germans as well as eastern Germans still struggling decades after German reunification. The party has even found supporters among migrant groups, such as the ethnic Germans from Russia.

Frauke Petry the co-chair and longtime public face of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), would not join her party's parliamentary grouping in the new Bundestag, after months of feuding with the rest of the AfD leadership. "We should be open about the fact that there is conflict regarding content within the AfD, we should not pretend it doesn't exist," Petry told reporters 25 September 2017. All other political parties have said they are unwilling to work with the AfD.

A study from the University of Marburg in western Germany found that the traditional narratives around far-right voters may be more based in stereotype than fact. Sociologist Martin Schroder blasted the widely held idea of the low-income, poorly-educated Alternative for Germany (AfD) voter as not being representative of the truth. The fact is, wrote Schroder in the August 2018 study, that only one category truly unites the right wing: xenophobia. "AfD supporters come from every level and part of society," Schroder wrote. The one thing they all have in common, however, is "they don't want refugees to migrate to Germany." He added that it was "curious, none of the existing studies have calculated the influence of xenophobic attitudes, despite how it overshadows" every other factor.





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Al-Qaeda militants claim Ivory Coast attacks

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:31AM

The al-Qaeda's North African affiliate has claimed responsibility for the recent deadly attacks in an Ivory Coast resort town that left a total of 22 people dead.

The United States-based SITE Intelligence Group said on Sunday that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had claimed responsibility for the assaults, which occurred on the same day.

Six gunmen rampaged through three hotels in Grand Bassam, a resort popular with foreign tourists, on Sunday, killing 16 people, including 14 civilians, before being gunned down by security forces.

The AQIM claimed in a statement that three of its members had been killed in the attacks.

Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said foreigners were among the victims, including citizens from France, Germany, Mali, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso.

He added that an investigation had been launched into the incident and that authorities had obtained a mobile phone belonging to one of the assailants.

Following the incident, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara visited the site of the attacks.

According to witnesses, the gunmen randomly opened fire after entering the beach resort, which is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of commercial hub Abidjan.

French President Francois Hollande, whose country lost one national in the attacks, condemned the raids, saying Paris would provide logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast in order to help find those behind the assaults.

On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari also condemned the terrorist attack and underlined the necessity for collective global campaign against terrorism. He offered Tehran's condolences to the government and nation of the Ivory Coast and the families of the victims.

In recent months, attacks on luxury hotels in the capitals of Ivory Coast's neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso have left dozens of people dead, leaving West African nations scrambling to boost security in the face of terrorism.

Last November, an attack in Mali claimed the lives of 20 people, while 30 people were also killed in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, in January. Both attacks were claimed by the AQIM, raising concerns that the militants are expanding their operations to areas beyond the Sahara and the arid Sahel region.

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Ankara Bomb Attack Kills 34; Erdogan Vows to Fight Terrorism

by VOA News March 14, 2016

Turkish officials expect to announce Monday the conclusions of their investigation into a bombing Sunday in the country's capital, Ankara, that killed at least 34 people and drew condemnations from across the world.

The blast happened near Kizilay square, a key shopping and transportation hub near foreign embassies and government buildings.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said it was a car bomb that targeted civilians at a bus stop, and that 125 people were wounded.

The attack came two days after the U.S. embassy issued a security warning about a potential plot in central Ankara.

The United States quickly condemned the attack and reaffirmed its 'strong partnership with our NATO ally Turkey in combating the shared threat of terrorism.'

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu convened an emergency security meeting after the bombing. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkey will defend itself from future attacks and is determined to fight terrorism.

Ankara has been hit by several bombings in recent months, including a car bomb attack in February that killed at least 29 people. The government blamed that attack on a Syrian man with links to Kurdish militia groups.

Turkey has been battling the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a 30-year guerrilla war for more Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey.

Turkey also has been targeted by Islamic State, which was blamed for last October's suicide bombing at a peace rally in Ankara that killed more than 100 people - the bloodiest single terrorist attack since Turkey became a modern state in 1923.

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US Pressured to Reach Genocide Decision on IS

by Carol Guensburg March 14, 2016

Pressure is growing for the Obama administration to formally determine whether the Islamic State group is committing "genocide" against Christians, Yazidi and other religious and ethnic minorities in the Middle East.

The U.S. State Department faces a Thursday deadline set last year by Congress, whose lower House of Representatives on Monday will vote on a Republican-led resolution on the violence in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Secretary of State John Kerry is said to be leaning toward the rare, fraught determination, according to The Associated Press, but likely will miss that deadline while awaiting the results of a legal review. Such a designation  which the United States previously has invoked just once during an ongoing conflict  carries unclear political and legal implications.

International focus

'A genocide designation will raise international consciousness and compel the international community of responsible nations to act, setting the preconditions for the reintegration of ancient ethnic groups and faith traditions into their ancestral homelands,' Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry said in a statement last week. He had introduced the House legislation in September.

A 1948 United Nations treaty on genocide requires signatories, including the United States, to 'undertake to prevent and to punish" acts intended "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group....'

In 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell determined that the mass rape and slaughter in Sudan's Darfur region was genocide. He reached that finding after State Department lawyers determined the United States was not legally compelled to prevent genocide occurring outside its own boundaries, the AP reported. Powell urged the U.N. Security Council to create a commission to investigate whether the crimes constituted genocide and to act accordingly.

Defining the legal standard

With a genocide determination against the Islamic State, Kerry also probably would refer the matter to the Security Council for possible prosecution by an international tribunal, according to the AP.

Kerry last month testified before Congress that the atrocities must meet the legal standard of genocide and that he'd asked State Department lawyers to evaluate and re-evaluate evidence. He promised a response 'very, very soon.'

Detailed report on atrocities

Last week, the international Catholic fraternal group Knights of Columbus and the U.S.-based nonprofit In Defense of Christians released a report citing witness accounts of atrocities such as beheadings, crucifixions, rapes and sexual enslavement.

The report listed 1,131 Christians killed in Iraq and 125 churches attacked there from 2003 to 2014, according to the Religion News Service. RNS noted support for the report's findings from groups such as Genocide Watch and the Hudson Institute.

An unnamed State Department official was quoted by RNS as saying that, 'regardless of whether Da'esh's conduct satisfies certain legal definitions, including genocide and crimes against humanity, the United States has been clear that our interest in accountability for perpetrators remains undiminished.'

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Turkey: One of Ankara Attackers was Female Kurdish Rebel

by VOA News March 14, 2016

Turkey pointed Monday to two Kurdish rebels  a man and a woman  as the likely attackers in the deadly suicide car bombing Sunday in Ankara that killed 37 people and wounded more than 100.

After visiting the wounded at an Ankara hospital, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "There are very serious, almost certain, findings that point to the separatist terrorist organization," referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK.

"Whenever the terrorist organization is backed into a corner and confronted with a serious security operation, it carries out such attacks directly targeting civilians in order to drag people into despair," he said.

Davutoglu said a DNA investigation will soon reveal conclusively who the attackers were and the forces behind them, but that officials have detained 11 suspects they accused of being directly linked to the bombing. Authorities did not name the woman who they said was one of the two attackers, but said she was born in 1992, lived in the eastern Turkish city of Kars and joined the PKK in 2013. The male attacker has yet to be identified.

Sunday's attack in Ankara's Kizilay square, a key shopping center and transportation hub in the Turkish capital, was the second deadly blast in the last month that government officials have blamed on Kurdish militants.

For three decades, Kurdish militants have fought government forces for more autonomy in southeastern Turkey, but since July, about 210 people have been killed in five suicide bombings that have been blamed on Kurdish rebels or Islamic State jihadists.

After the latest blast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees."

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter, "With the power of our state and wisdom of our people, we will dig up the roots of this terror network which targets our unity and peace."

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing, which Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said targeted civilians at a bus stop.

Meanwhile, Turkey's military said its warplanes Monday carried out 18 airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets.

Turkish forces have been carrying out an offensive against the PKK since July, when Erdogan declared the fight would continue until every militant is defeated.

The United States quickly condemned the Ankara attack and reaffirmed its "strong partnership with our NATO ally Turkey in combating the shared threat of terrorism."

Aside from its fight with Kurdish rebels, Turkey has been targeted by Islamic State, which was blamed for a suicide bombing at a peace rally last October in Ankara. The incident, which left more than 100 people dead, was the bloodiest single terrorist attack since Turkey became a modern state in 1923.

Media ban

As it has done several times over the last two years, Turkey has imposed a ban on media coverage of the bombing.

"A temporary ban on reporting the said incident has been considered appropriate as per receipt of a note from the Prime Ministry," Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council announced on its website.

Turkish journalists operate under some of the most restrictive media conditions in the world, media watchdog groups say. There has been a spike in prosecutions of journalists in Turkey, many charged with anti-terrorism offenses or with violating laws against insulting the president.

After several bombings this year, Turkey put out edicts limiting media coverage. Last March, the Turkish government ordered a media ban after a hostage situation in an Istanbul courthouse. Another ban was ordered regarding the investigation of two blasts in Ankara in October.

Monday's ban requires media outlets to rely on the statements of official authorities and avoid any independent coverage. Turkish government officials contacted by VOA were not available for comment.

Users in Turkey said access to social media was "extremely slow or blocked after the explosion." VOA's Turkish service reported a sharp spike in its social media traffic, with coverage of Sunday's bombing generating more than 600,000 "likes" posted on Facebook.

The crackdown is extending to other areas of civic society, as well. Dr. Esra Mungan, one of the organizers of a petition signed by more than 1,000 academics that calls for a resumption of peace efforts with the Kurdish rebel group, was arrested and detained Monday, along with two colleagues, on charges of terrorist propaganda.

VOA's Dorian Jones contributed to this report.

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Euro-Russian Mission to Mars Blasts Off From Baikonur Cosmodrome

Sputnik News

09:25 14.03.2016(updated 11:02 14.03.2016)

ExoMars, the first joint ESA-Roscosmos mission to the red planet to search for the presence of life, will take off on Monday at 09:31 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), (Sputnik)  The launch of the first in the history of Russia-EU cooperation joint ExoMars mission to search for the traces of life on Mars is scheduled for 09:31 GMT on Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The ExoMars's spacecrafts  the orbital and the landing modules  will be put into orbit by Russia's Proton-M space rocket.

The main objective of the 2016 mission is to find traces of methane in the planet's atmosphere, which would confirm presence of life on Mars now or in the past, as well as to check the key technology for the second part of the ExoMars mission scheduled for 2018, a spokesperson for the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) told RIA Novosti.

The European Space Agency and Roscosmos agreed to develop the ExoMars program in 2012 to investigate the atmosphere of Mars and explore possible signs of life that was once on the red planet. Today's orbital probe launch is expected to be followed by a Mars rover probe in 2018.

On Sunday, head of Roscosmos Igor Komarov said that the ESA and Roscosmos were discussing the possibility to postpone the second part of the ExoMars mission from 2018 to 2020.

 Sputnik

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S. Korean military rejects to confirm on missing DPRK submarine

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:22, March 14, 2016

SEOUL, March 14 -- South Korea's military on Monday refused confirmation on a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submarine, which United States media reported had gone missing for days.

CNN reported Saturday citing U.S. officials as saying that one of DPRK submarines operating off its east coast went missing earlier last week.

According to the media report, the DPRK navy searched for the missing sub, which U.S. spy satellites, aircraft and ships had also been secretly watching.

The U.S. military believed that the DPRK sub suffered some types of failure during an exercise.

Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Kyun told a regular press briefing that the intelligence authorities of both South Korea and the United States maintain a position that they cannot confirm the relevant report.

The report came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after Seoul and Washington launched their largest-ever joint annual war games, code-named Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, last Monday.

The drills, which Pyongyang has denounced as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion, would last until April 30.

The DPRK repeated its warnings against the spring exercises on Sunday, threatening a 'pre-emptive and offensive nuclear strike' toward South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

Before the launch of the drills, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un ordered nuclear warheads to be placed always on standby for use at any time.

Kim said on Wednesday that his country has succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles at a meeting with nuclear scientists and technicians.

Regarding this, Moon reiterated Seoul's position that Pyongyang has advanced its nuclear miniaturization technology to a significant level but has yet to secure a technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads.

He said U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities are precisely analyzing whether the DPRK secured nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on ballistic missiles.

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UN Investigator Urges Prosecution of North Korean Leaders

by Lisa Schlein March 14, 2016

North Korea's leaders, including Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, must be held accountable for crimes against humanity committed against their people, a U.N. special investigator said in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Over the past six years, U.N. Special Investigator Marzuki Darusman has submitted a succession of hard-hitting reports to the Council detailing a wide range of horrendous human rights violations in North Korea.

The human rights expert said North Korea has flaunted all requests made by the Human Rights Council to alleviate the suffering of its people, and nothing appears to have changed at all.

Rights infractions

Darusman said the government maintains strict control over every aspect of its citizens' lives, in the denial of their rights.

In addition, he blamed North Korea for heightening tensions in northeast Asia.

He said the government's recent tests of a supposed hydrogen bomb and a long-range missile 'fly in the face' of international prohibitions.

'The denial of human rights to its citizens internally and this aggressive behavior externally are basically two sides of the same coin,' Darusman said.

'The country is pouring a large amount of resources into developing weapons of mass destruction, while large parts of its population continue to suffer from food insecurity, and while the government sends systematically recruited workers abroad to earn foreign exchange for the state, while working under severe labor conditions,' he added.

Darusman describes the abuse to which North Korea's people are subjected, including the incarceration of whole families in political prison camps. He said he has received reports of torture and other violations against people detained in prisons.

Religion, work conditions

Religious followers face relentless persecution, and people suffer from severe food shortages and are forced to work in slave-like conditions, Darusman added.

He said people in senior leadership positions are criminally responsible for the crimes committed by people under their authority.

"I would like to reiterate my appeal to the international community to move forward to ensure accountability of the senior leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including that of Mr. Kim Jong Un,' Darusman said.

North Korea boycotted the session, foregoing its right of reply as a concerned State.

Earlier this month, North Korea accused the Human Rights Council of double standards. Pyongyang vowed never to take part in an examination of its record or be bound by any resolutions adopted by the U.N. body.

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Iran FM defends right to use missiles for defense

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 5:47PM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has defended the country's right to use ballistic missiles, saying Iran's missiles are a means of defense.

'We spent a fraction of any other country in the region on defense, and missiles are a means of defense that we require,' he said in an interview with Radio New Zealand.

He added that the missile tests did not violate a nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), clinched by Iran and the P5+1 countries  the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany  on July 14, 2015.

Zarif said the missile launches were not against the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the nuclear agreement.

Resolution 2231 (2015) provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear program and establishes specific restrictions that apply to all states without exception.

The resolution calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

The United States claims the tests violated the United Nations resolution and is pushing for UN Security Council action on Iran's recent ballistic missile tests.

"We stated when the nuclear deal was approved by the Security Council and during the course of nuclear discussions that we will continue with our defense capabilities and that these defense capabilities have nothing to do with nuclear weapons," Zarif said.

He emphasized that the missiles were not designed to carry nuclear warheads and said Iran has "provided the best guarantee" that it would never develop nuclear weapons.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two more ballistic missiles on March 9 as part of military drills to assess the IRGC's capabilities. The missiles dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F were fired during large-scale drills, code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat.

On March 8, Iran fired another ballistic missile called Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country.

After Iran and the P5+1 group started to implement the JCPOA on January 16, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran, in return, has put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

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Russia opposes any sanctions on Iran over missile tests

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:38PM

Russia opposes the imposition of any new sanctions on Iran over its recent ballistic missile tests, saying the missile launches did not violate UN resolutions.

In response to a question on whether new sanctions should be imposed on Iran over its recent missile

tests, Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Monday, 'The clear and short answer is no.'

He added that Iran did not breach the Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed a nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries on July 14, 2015.

Resolution 2231 (2015) provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear program and establishes specific restrictions that apply to all states without exception.

The resolution calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired two more ballistic missiles on March 9 as part of military drills to assess the IRGC's capabilities. The missiles dubbed Qadr-H and Qadr-F were fired during large-scale drills, code-named Eqtedar-e-Velayat.

On March 8, Iran fired another ballistic missile called Qiam from silo-based launchers in different locations across the country.

On January 16, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany  started to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

After the JCPOA went into effect, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran, in return, has put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, said on March 10 that the test-fire of ballistic missiles was "neither inconsistent with Iran's commitments under the JCPOA, nor is it against the Security Council Resolution 2231."

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EU Considering Sanctions On Iran, Ties With Russia

March 14, 2016

by RFE/RL

European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss possible sanctions against Iran, as well as the bloc's relations with Russia, when they meet in Brussels on March 14.

The gathering of the European Foreign Affairs Council, which includes foreign ministers from all EU member states, comes as the EU is also examining reengagement with Iran following its nuclear deal with world powers in July 2015.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on March 13 that EU sanctions against Iran would be adopted, 'if necessary,' in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests.

Ayrault made the remarks after meeting in Paris with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, and Italy.

The latest ballistic-missile tests by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) took place in early March.

If the missiles are confirmed as capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the tests would violate a United Nations Security Council resolution.

In January, the United States imposed sanctions against 11 companies and individuals over ballistic missiles tests in late 2015 by Iran.

Iran maintains its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons and says it will continue missile development.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said the tests do not violate Iran's nuclear deal with world powers or UN Security Council resolutions.

With a range of 2,000 kilometers, Iran's ballistic missiles would be capable of reaching Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

The EU ministers on March 14 also were expected to discuss relations with Russia, which have been impacted by the Kremlin's support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukaine and by a Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Some Western officials have accused Russia of exacerbating Europe's migrant crisis with military action in Syria in order use refugees as a bargaining chip for the lifting of EU economic sanctions.

The EU's main economic sanctions against Russia's energy and bank sectors  imposed over Russia's role in Ukraine's conflict -- are up for renewal at the end of July.

On March 9, EU ambassadors decided to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months over its illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in March 2014.

Those sanctions include asset freezes and visa bans on 146 people and 37 entities that, according to the EU, have benefited from Russia's annexation of Crimea or have been responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.

That blacklist includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President Vladimir Putin's adviser Sergei Glazyev, and Dmitry Kiselyov, who many regard as the Kremlin's chief propagandist.

It also includes several companies in Crimea, and various battalions formed by the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Other topics on the agenda of the March 14 foreign ministers' gathering in Brussels include the UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva between Syria's government and moderate Syrian opposition factions.

Those indirect peace talks are due to begin on March 14.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and BBC

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/eu-foreign-ministers- iran-sanctions-russia/27608515.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US to Continue Pushing for UNSC Response on Iran Missile Tests

Sputnik News

21:07 14.03.2016

US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power said that Washington will continue to push the UN Security Council to assess Iran's recent ballistic tests.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The United States will keep on pressing to obtain a response by the UN Security Council on the issue of Iran's ballistic missile tests, US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power told reporters following consultations on Iran.

'We will continue to push in the Security Council in the [Resolution] 2231 format, bring forward the technical information  that Iran itself has made public  showing that the technology they used is inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons and thus inherently defying Resolution 2231,' Power said.

Power claimed the launches violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls on Iran not to engage in launching ballistic missiles that can be designed to carry and deliver nuclear warheads.

She noted that the ballistic missiles Iran recently tested Iran's recent ballistic testswere designed to be capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

'This merits a [Security] Council response. The Council needs to take its responsibility and Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder our collective responsibility,' Power maintained.

Earlier in the day, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said Tehran's missile tests did not violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231 because the resolution does not prohibit ballistic missile launches, but only calls on Iran to restrain itself from such activities.

The United States had called on the UN Security Council to meet to address Iran's ballistic missile activities.

Last week, Iranian state media reported the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out ballistic missile launches as one of the last steps in testing the missiles' capabilities.

 Sputnik

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US Urges International Response on Iranian Missile Launch

by Margaret Besheer March 14, 2016

The United States is urging U.N. Security Council members to respond to Iran for its recent ballistic missile launch.

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said Monday Tehran's missile launches last week were "dangerous, destabilizing and provocative" and "undermine the prospect for peace" in the region.

Washington says the launches violate language of a U.N. resolution adopted in July, which "calls upon" Iran not to "undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."

When asked if U.N. sanctions should be imposed against Iran, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin categorically ruled that out, responding, "The clear and short answer is no."

Churkin told reporters that there was no "legal" violation of the Security Council resolution. "A call is different from a ban. Legally you cannot violate a call," Churkin said.

"You can comply with a call or ignore a call, but you cannot violate a call. Some may say it's a bad thing anyway, and I would not necessarily dispute that; the legal distinction is there," he added.

"Russia seems to be lawyering its way to look for reasons not to act, rather than stepping up and being prepared to shoulder its collective responsibility," Ambassador Power said.

She said the United States would "not give up" in the Security Council and would provide technical information that Iran had made public "showing that the technology they used is inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons" and in defiance of the U.N. resolution. Power added that Washington could consider its own unilateral response.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Monday's meeting was an "important first step" and that the council would discuss the range of options available to it.

One option would be to have the U.N. Secretary-General investigate the launch and report back to the council. But Ambassador Churkin said he did not think a special report is necessary. Under the U.N. resolution, the secretary-general reports twice a year to the council on the resolution's implementation. The next report is not due until July.



Diplomats appeared to agree that last week's missile launch did not violate terms of a nuclear deal agreed between the world powers and Tehran in July.

Meanwhile, Israel's U.N. envoy told reporters his country wants a full investigation into the launches.

"If the Security Council does not act after last week's missile test, it will give Iran a greenlight to continue with its nuclear missile tests," Israeli envoy Danny Danon said.

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Turkey warplanes bomb Kurdish bases in Iraq after Ankara blast: Army

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:41AM

Turkish warplanes have targeted Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq a day after a deadly bomb attack in the capital killed 37 people, the army says.

The fighter jets hit arms depots and shelters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the mountainous Kandil and Gara regions in northern Iraq on Monday, the army said, quoted by the state-run Anatolia news agency.

The targets were hit 'with precision,' it added.

Inside Turkey, authorities also declare curfew in mainly Kurdish southeastern town of Sirnak from Monday night, according to the governor's office.

A bomb-laden car exploded in the centrally located Kizilay neighborhood of Ankara on Sunday. The death toll in the car bomb attack has risen to 37 people, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday, adding that 71 people were still being treated in hospital. Of those in hospital, 15 were in serious condition, he told reporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility; however, two Turkish security officials told Reuters the initial findings suggest that the bombing was carried out by the Kurdish militant group Kurdistan Workers' Party, also known as the PKK, or an affiliated group.

The explosion occurred less than a month after a car bomb attack in central Ankara killed 29 people. Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for that attack.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against the positions of the group in northern Iraq.

Turkey's aerial campaign inside the Iraqi territory has repeatedly drawn fire from Baghdad, which has denounced Ankara for violating the country's sovereignty.

The Turkish military operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations.

On Sunday, the Turkish military said at least 11 members of the PKK were killed during a counter-terrorism operation in the troubled southeastern part of the country.

The Turkish General Staff announced in a statement on Sunday that the PKK militants were killed in an offensive in the province of Hakkari.

The Turkish military says over 1,000 PKK militants have been killed since operations against the militants started in the country's troubled southeastern regions last July.

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Daesh Attempts to Assassinate Iraqi Kurdish Leader

Sputnik News

14:32 14.03.2016(updated 14:38 14.03.2016)

Daesh suicide bombers attempted to assassinate Iraqi Kurdistan parliament speaker and Peshmerga leader Kemal Kerkuki, who survived and told Sputnik Turkiye about the attack.

Iraqi Kurdistan parliament speaker and Peshmerga leader Kemal Kerkuki was nearly assassinated in an attack by the Daesh terrorist group, he told Sputnik Turkiye.

'Daesh fighters planned to blow up booby-trapped cars around where our units were located, but Peshmerga forcess prevented the terrorist attack,' Kerkuki told Sputnik Turkiye.

He added that of the six Daesh fighters planning the attack, one blew himself up, while the rest were killed by Peshmerga soldiers.

'Clashs between Peshmerga and Daesh jihadists continue in the Kirkuk area from time to time. We intend to continue fighting until we completely cleanse Kirkuk and the surrounding countryside of terrorists,' he told Sputnik Turkiye.

Kerkuki added that five Peshmerga soldiers were wounded as a result of the attack, in which several explosives-laden cars used by Daesh fighters were destroyed.

 Sputnik

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Perfil profesional del Politologo o Licenciado en Ciencia Politica. A medida que la sociedad se hace mas compleja, la pugna por el poder se torna mas sofisticada, y con ello la capacidad para comprender y ubicar los fenomenos politicos en el contexto donde se desenvuelven, en el escenario donde se manifiestan y en el nivel donde se proyectan. Perfil del politologo Actualmente la Ciencia Politica presenta, al menos, cinco modos de aplicacion practica: ha ayudado a organizar el debate sobre varios modelos de reforma politica, ha proporcionado criticas y analisis orientados hacia el establecimiento de medidas politicas, ha desarrollado la funcion que cabe a los consejeros politicos, ha contribuido en la informacion politica y a elevar la cultura politica de los ciudadanos, asi como ha comenzado a participar en las predicciones politicas. El Politologo es el profesional que estudia cientificamente la politica y, por ende, donde se ubica, como se ejerce y de que manera s
Iraqi Kurds Delegation May Ask for Russian Military Aid to Fight Daesh

Sputnik News

12:35 14.03.2016

Aso Talabani, a Moscow representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government said that Iraqi Kurdistan had already requested military aid from Russia, however, Moscow has only been cooperated through the Baghdad authorities to date.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A Iraqi Kurdistan delegation may request military aid from Russia to assist its fight against the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) jihadist group during its upcoming visit to the country, a Moscow representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government said.

The Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in the north of Iraq, near the border with Turkey, Iran and Syria. It's Peshmerga military forces has been fighting Daesh since August 2014.

'It is likely that the delegation will ask for military aid from Russia, to support our Peshmerga in the war against ISIS,' Aso Talabani told RIA Novosti.

Talabani added that Iraqi Kurdistan had already requested military aid from Russia, however, Moscow has only been cooperated through the Baghdad authorities to date.

The delegation of Iraqi Kurds is expected to visit Moscow in April. Russia has made it a condition that representatives from all major parties in Kurdistan, including the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, should be included in the delegation, Talabani added.

In February, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia is interested in including the Kurds in the Baghdad Information Center, established by Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria in September to coordinate their efforts in the fight against Daesh.

The aim of the Baghdad center is to collect, process, summarize and analyze current data about the Middle East in the context of counterterrorism measures against Daesh, distributing intelligence between the general staffs of the four countries.

Islamic State, also known as Daesh, is a designated terrorist group that has captured large areas of Syria and Iraq, where it has proclaimed a caliphate. The terrorist organization is outlawed in Russia and many countries around the world.

 Sputnik

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Disputes Between Anti-Daesh Forces Impede Liberation of Mosul, Iraq

Sputnik News

11:00 14.03.2016(updated 12:27 14.03.2016)

Mosul (the second largest city in Iraq) is still controlled by Daesh terrorists, due to the lack of coordination among anti-Daesh forces, a representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government in Moscow said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, remains occupied by Daesh forces due to a lack of coordination and disputes between anti-Daesh coalition members, a representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government in Moscow said Monday.

'The speculations about Mosul's liberation have been underway for a year now, but the progress is modest. It's not that the liberators do not have the strength. It's about the fact that this operation is being carried out not only by Iraq. The Iraqi Kurds, the Americans, Iran, Turkey, they all [want to] participate and, apparently, they have not agreed yet on their roles in the operation,' Aso Talabani told RIA Novosti.

Talabani added that the talks between the sides mentioned above on 'who gets what after the liberation, which areas in Mosul they would control' were still underway.

'Oddly enough, it is more difficult to agree on it than to liberate Mosul,' he pointed out.

Daesh took Mosul in June 2014 after the US-trained and equipped Iraqi Army fled the area, leaving behind significant amounts of US military hardware.

On March 5, the special US presidential envoy for the international anti-Daesh coalition, Brett McGurk, announced the launch of a campaign to liberate the city.

 Sputnik

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Kurdish Peshmerga Fighters Waiting for Mosul Battle Plan

by Sharon Behn, Ali Javanmardi March 14, 2016

Makhmour stands on the edge of the divide between the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Islamic State militants.

From behind the sandbags at the final Peshmerga base, on the horizon you can see a water tower with the black IS banner draped across it.

"That village," one Peshmerga soldier said, pointing to a line of houses on the horizon, "is under the control of Daesh."

IS fighters are tough

In 2014, the land the soldiers were standing on was also controlled by IS, or Daesh, as the group is known here.

It took two months of bloody fighting to oust the militants from the area and regain what the Kurds consider their territory.

At least one village still stands completely empty, it's walls pockmarked with bullet holes. A large sign to the right of the bumpy road cutting through the houses warned against touching anything.

IS militants are known to plant bombs and booby trap areas they have occupied.

This is a familiar battlefield for Omar Mirhan, at 78 the eldest Peshmerga in the area. According to him, they killed all the IS fighters when they retook Makhmour's 14 surrounding villages.

"They do not retreat," Mirhan said, standing on top of a hill surrounded by his younger fighters, gesturing to the town below.

Highly respected fighter

Although retired and now only a volunteer, Mirhan is highly respected by his fellow Kurdish fighters.

He joined the Peshmerga in 1961, and has fought in every battle since then, including against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Inside his lookout post, Mirhan rolled a cigarette with golden Kurdish tobacco, sipped tea and started to smoke.

The battle for Mosul, he said, was going to be tough, and he was not sure the Iraqi Army  which fled Mosul in 2014  was up to the task.

"Do you want the Iraqi army to take Mosul? Unless American ground troops or Peshmerga go there, I swear to God, they can't take Mosul," he said.

There is little love lost between the Kurdish and Iraqi forces. Their military bases here are separate, and even though Kurdistan is still considered part of Iraq, the Peshmerga bases fly the Kurdish flag and only the Iraqi bases fly the Iraqi flag.

Cooperation

Major General Sirwan Barzani, commander for the Makhmour frontline, known as Sector 6, says the forces are coordinating. He met with VOA during a short visit to one of the posts overlooking the town of Makhmour.

"There is an operation room, there is a joint operation room between the Iraqi army, the Ministry of Defense, and the Peshmerga ministry and the Americans and the coalition," Barzani said.

But a lot more will be needed. Islamic State is a difficult enemy, he said. To take Mosul, Barzani said, airstrikes by coalition forces would not be enough; they would need attack helicopters.

More weapons, money

He called for more weapons and ammunition for his cash-strapped soldiers. "I have a maximum of five percent of my needs," said the general.

A steep economic crisis in the Kurdistan region, combined with a bitter budget spat with the central government in Baghdad, has meant that salaries for many Peshmerga are in arrears by several months.

IS is developing new techniques, new ways of of using homemade bombs, it is using drones to gather intelligence and film its attacks, and it is experimenting with chemical weapons.

"They are dangerous people," Barzani said.

Keeping it

But the real challenge, the Kurdish general said, was not just taking Mosul away from IS, but being able to keep it.

"You know it is not only a question of pushing Daesh back, you have to hold the land also," said Barzani. "So I think they need at least 25,000 Iraqi army for this operation, and almost 10,000 Peshmerga."

According to Barzani, Iraqi security forces were already moving into Makhmour, an area that lies southeast of Mosul and about 125 kilometers southwest of Irbil.

But he said it was unclear when and how the battle plan for Mosul will unfold, and what role the Iraqi Shi'ite militia will play in that fight.

"The plan has changed more than four or five times. So until today we still don't have a final plan," Barzani said.

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Libya military intervention needs UN approval, says Russian FM

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:55PM

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says any military operation in Libya requires the approval of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Lavrov said during a joint press conference in Moscow with visiting Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui on Monday that Russia is aware of some plans for military involvement in Libya, but insisted that those plans could be implemented only with the permission of the 15-member council.

"We know about what's being discussed openly and not so openly on plans of military intervention, including with the situation in Libya. Our common position is that this is possible only under the UN Security Council's decision," Lavrov said.

The top Russian diplomat also noted that a possible mandate for an operation against the terrorists in Libya must be defined unambiguously so as not to allow misinterpretations.

Russia says that the US-led military alliance NATO abused a United Nations resolution in 2011 to protect Libyan civilians from slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's forces in order to pursue regime change and political assassinations during a popular uprising across the North African country.

The remarks come as New York Times recently reported that the Pentagon and the highly secretive Joint Special Operations Command have provided the White House with "the most detailed set of military options yet" in Libya.

France's Le Monde newspaper also reported last month that the country's special forces and members of the country's external security agency Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) were in Libya for "clandestine operations" in cooperation with the US and Britain.

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Russian Army Designs New 'Invisible' Bridge to Fool Potential Foes

Sputnik News

15:58 14.03.2016

The Russian Armed Forces will get state-of-the-art road bridges that will be invisible to modern detection systems, according to the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov.

The Russian Defense Ministry along with the country's industrial enterprises are developing sophisticated motorway bridges that will be invisible to modern detection systems, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

'These new portable motorway bridges cannot be tracked by current methods, something that will improve the survivability of the bridge crossings,' Bulgakov said.

According to him, the bridges are made from composite and other innovative materials, which will help reduce their total weight, increase payload capacity and span length, as well as facilitate the assembly of the bridges.

'In addition, the creation of these bridges should reduce their maintenance costs and increase the service life, as well as making them easier to store,' Bulgakov added.

According to him, manufacturers undertaking the research and development without using any money from the state budget.

Bulgakov also said that adding to the construction of the bridges will be specialists of the Russian Khrulev Military Academy of Logistics and Procurement.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed to a wide array of challenges his country faces near its borders, and called for a strong army that he said should be equipped with the most advanced weapons.

According to him, such an army 'equipped with sophisticated weapons guarantees Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.'

 Sputnik

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Germany approves arms exports to Saudi Arabia

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:33PM

According to disclosed data, the German government has approved several deals for the export of arms to countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia as the kingdom continues its deadly aggression against the impoverished nation of Yemen.

According to an Economy Ministry letter seen by Reuters on Monday, the EU powerhouse will deliver 23 Airbus military helicopters to Riyadh.

In the letter to lawmakers in the economy committee of the lower house of the parliament, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel explained that the government's Federal Security Council had also approved a deal by Heckler & Koch to deliver 130 machine pistols and automatic rifles to the United Arab Emirates and allowed Rheinmetall to export 65,000 mortar cartridges to the country,

The United Arab Emirates is among Saudi Arabia's allies in their invasion against Yemen.

It also gave the green light for Heckler & Koch's delivery of 660 machine guns, 660 additional gun barrels and 550 sub-machine guns to Oman.

The government also approved the delivery of five military helicopters by Airbus to Thailand and the export of nearly 490 machine pistols and automatic rifles by Heckler & Koch to Indonesia.

In January, Gabriel had said Germany may look harder at its arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the Persian Gulf kingdom carried out a mass execution causing international outcry.

Saudi Arabia is also widely believed to be financing to Takfiri militants wreaking havoc in the Middle East.

Riyadh has also been engaged in military operations in Yemen since late March last year. At least 8,400 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed so far in the aggression and 16,015 others sustained injuries. Tens of Saudi soldiers as well as mercenary forces have been killed in the aggression.

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UN envoy expects Syria talks to yield 'clear roadmap'

Iran Press TV

Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:33AM

The UN special envoy for Syria says he expects the talks on Syria to result in a clear roadmap, if not an agreement, to resolve the crisis in the war-ravaged country.

Staffan de Mistura made the comments at a news conference on the UN-sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday before the Syria peace talks slated to be held later in the day.

He said the upcoming round of talks will end by March 24, and would be followed by a second round after about a 10-day recess. De Mistura added that a third round of negotiations was expected after another break.

"By then, we believe that we should have at least a clear roadmap. I'm not saying an agreement, but a clear roadmap, because that is what Syria is expecting from all of us," the UN envoy said.

He said the negotiation will be inclusive, adding that all Syrians should be given a chance to be heard.

De Mistura also warned that the only 'plan B' that he knows of for Syria is a return to war, adding that this alternative is an even worse conflict than the present one.

The UN envoy said the talks must address the humanitarian needs of the people of Syria, especially children, while underlining the need for getting the talks quickly focused on "the real issues." "What is the real issue? The mother of all issues (is) political transition," he said.

An earlier round of talks collapsed early in February after the Saudi-backed opposition left the talks amid the Syrian army's Russian-backed gains against militants on several fronts.

On Sunday, Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations and head of the government delegation Bashar al-Ja'afari rejected a demand by the Saudi-backed opposition group to discuss a political transition away from Syrian President Bashsar al-Assad, saying setting such a precondition for peace talks will only cause them to fail.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

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UN-Mediated Syria Peace Talks Open In Geneva

March 14, 2016

by RFE/RL

United Nations-mediated peace talks have started in Geneva between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and representatives of Syrian opposition factions.

The talks on March 14 are aimed at capitalizing on a shaky truce between Syrian government forces and opposition fighters.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said a resumption of peace talks is a 'moment of truth' and insisted the 'only Plan B available is return to war.'

De Mistura, speaking to reporters moments before resuming talks in Geneva, added that agreeing on political transition in Syria is the 'mother of all issues.'

The long-awaited talks, which open on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict, mark the latest bid to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

De Mistura said that he expected the talks set to begin on March 14 would be the first of three rounds.

The current one is expected to last until March 24, with a second round beginning after a recess of a week or 10 days, with that round lasting 'at least two weeks.'

He said a third round would be held after another recess.

Russia again called for all opposition factions to be represented at the Syrian peace talks.

'It's clear that they should include the whole spectrum of Syrian political forces, otherwise this cannot claim to be a representative forum,' Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow on March 14.

Moscow has called on de Mistura to include Syrian Kurds in the talks. De Mistura has said that while Syrian Kurds would not take part, they should be given a chance to express their views.

Lavrov also said Russia would support whatever solution the Syrian government and the opposition devise to end the country's war, including 'any form [of government] whatever it may be called: federalization, decentralization, unitary state.'

An attempt in early February to bring together representatives of Assad's regime and moderate opposition factions that are grouped together in the High Negotiations Committee broke down when opposition delegates refused to attend sessions in the midst of a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive against opposition fighters at Aleppo.

The March 14 talks in Geneva were arranged after the truce deal was brokered by Russia and the United States.

On March 13, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Assad's regime and its allies against exploiting the truce deal.

He was speaking after talks in Paris with EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Germany, and Italy.

The negotiations in Geneva are set to cover the formation of a new Syrian government, a fresh constitution, and the organization of UN-monitored presidential and parliamentary elections within 18 months.

The High Negotiations Committee, a Saudi-backed umbrella opposition group, said it will attend the Geneva talks and press for a transitional government with full executive powers that does not include Assad or any of his close associates.

Opposition negotiator Muhammad Allush -- who also is the leader of a group called Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) -- said in Geneva on March 12 that 'the transitional period should start with the fall, or death, of Bashar al-Assad.'

Allush said a transitional government 'cannot start with the presence of the regime, or the head of this regime still in power.'

Bashar al-Jaafari, the head of the Syrian negotiation team in Geneva, accused Allush of being a Saudi-backed 'terrorst.'

Jaafari said on March 13 that Allush's call for 'the fall, or death, of Bashar al-Assad' was, in Jaafari's words, 'a clear attempt to ruin this round' of peace talks and the efforts of the UN envoy on Syria.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallam said opposition calls for Assad's removal from power would be a 'red line' and suggested that it would cause the negotiations in Geneva to break down.

Muallam said: 'We will not talk with anyone who wants to discuss the presidency.... Bashar al-Assad is a red line. If they continue with this approach, there's no reason for them to come to Geneva.'

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria-geneva- talks-un-assad-opposition/27608514.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russian Air Campaign Helping Political Settlement Process in Syria  Lavrov

Sputnik News

21:20 14.03.2016(updated 21:36 14.03.2016)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow has consistently backed the promotion of intra-Syrian dialogue in accordance with the decisions that were made back in 2012.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian anti-terrorist air campaign has created favorable conditions for political process on the Syrian reconciliation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

'The operation of our Aerospace Forces, in addition to the results that have been achieved on the ground directly in the course of the military actions on suppressing the terrorists, helped to create the conditions for a political process,' Lavrov stated at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has consistently backed the promotion of intra-Syrian dialogue in accordance with the decisions that were made back in 2012, he added.

'Our proposals faced the lack of willingness of our partners to address this issue, but since the start of operations of our Aerospace Forces [in Syria] the situation started to change,' Lavrov noted.

The first steps have been made on the results of the conversations of the Russian and US leaders, and the Russian-US colleagues have begun to prepare a wider process of external accompaniment of the negotiations, he outlined.

 Sputnik

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Putin Orders Start of Withdrawal From Syria Beginning Tuesday

Sputnik News

20:45 14.03.2016(updated 21:38 14.03.2016)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow will begin withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria.

On Monday, President Putin indicated that the Kremlin will start withdrawing its main forces in Syria, saying that the military has largely achieved its objectives.

'I think that the task that was assigned to the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces as a whole has achieved its goal, and so I order the defense minister to start tomorrow withdrawing the main part of our military factions from the Syrian Arab Republic,' President Putin said during a meeting with the Russian Defense and Foreign Ministries, according to RIA Novosti.

The withdrawal will begin on Tuesday.

'With the participation of the Russian militarythe Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects,' the Russian president said.

'There has been a significant turning point in the fight against terrorism,' Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Putin expressed hope that this decision will encourage all parties involved in the Syrian conflict to pursue a peaceful resolution.

'I ask the ministry of foreign affairs to intensify the participation of the Russian Federation in the organization of the peace process towards a solution to the Syrian crisis,' Putin said.

Moscow will, however, maintain a military presence in Syria, and a deadline for complete withdrawal has not yet been announced. Putin also indicated that Russian forces will remain at the port of Tartus and Hmeymim airbase in Latakia.

'Our bases of operations  our naval base in Tartus and our air base at Hmeymim  will operate as usual. They should be protected from land, sea, and air,' Putin said. 'That part of our military group has traditionally been in Syria over the course of many years, and today will have to perform a very important function in monitoring the ceasefire and creating conditions for the peace process.'

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia has informed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of the decision. A statement from Assad's office stresses that the Kremlin has nonetheless pledged to continue its support for Syria in 'confronting terrorism.'

Assad also recognized the 'professionalism, courage and heroism' of Russian Army soldiers and officers and thanked Moscow for its extensive help in fighting terrorism and in providing humanitarian relief and assistance to the civilian population of Syria.

During the phone call, both Assad and Putin agreed that the ceasefire has led to significant reduction in bloodshed, and the humanitarian situation has improved.

'The sides expressed shared opinion that the implementation of the ceasefire in Syria has helped to sharply reduce the bloodshed and to improve the humanitarian situation in the country,' the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

Assad also expressed hope that peace talks in Geneva will lead to concrete results, and stressed the need for a political process in Syria.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow's anti-terrorist air campaign created the conditions for political process on Syrian reconciliation.

 Sputnik

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At Least 161 Cases of Chemical Weapons Use Registered in Syria

Sputnik News

12:22 14.03.2016(updated 12:47 14.03.2016)

The Syrian-American Medical Society (SAMS) have recorded at least 161 cases of chemical weapon`s usage in Syria since the start of the five-year conflict.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Chemical weapons have been used at least 161 times in Syria since the start of the five-year conflict, the Syrian-American Medical Society (SAMS) said in a report released Monday.

'The 161 documented chemical attacks have led to at least 1,491 deaths and 14,581 injuries from chemical exposure,' the report reads.

According the report, 133 other chemical attacks were also reported in Syria during the period, however, they have not been fully substantiated.

Of the 161 documented attacks, 77 percent of attacks were carried out after the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2118 in September 2013, stipulating international bodies oversee the elimination of Syria's declared chemical weapons stockpiles, according to details in the report. In 2015 alone, 69 chemical weapons attacks were registered.

The largest chemical attack took place on August 21, 2013, in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta which killed more than 1,300 civilians, SAMS states in the report. Both the Syrian government and militant factions that oppose it blamed one another for the attack.

The violent armed conflict in Syria has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced 11 million since 2011, with the country's government fighting numerous opposition factions and jihadist groups.

A mission to eliminate Syria's chemical arsenal was announced after the deadly Ghouta gas attack. The Syrian government placed its chemical weapons under international control following pressure from Russia.

 Sputnik

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Syria Peace Talks Resuming With Divide Over Assad's Future

by VOA News March 14, 2016

U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is due to meet with Syria's warring parties for 'substantive' talks Monday in Geneva aimed at ending the country's five-year conflict.

He spoke Sunday with delegates from both the rebels and the Syrian government and plans for this round of peace talks to last about 10 days.

But serious questions remain about what each side is prepared to accept in order to stop the fighting that has already killed more than a quarter of a million people and led millions more to flee their homes.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future is not up for negotiation, while the opposition and many outside of Syria -- including the United States -- have said Assad must step down in order to achieve peace.

Mohammad Alloush, the chief negotiator for Syria's main opposition group, told the French news agency, 'We believe that the transitional period should start with the fall or death of Bashar al-Assad.'

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said Sunday in Geneva that setting preconditions contradicts the fundamentals of the talks and that the negotiations are between Syrians without interference by foreign governments.

The U.N. is mediating the peace talks, which at this point are indirect with Mistura talking only to one side at a time. The U.N. envoy is using an agreement reached by a group of world and regional powers last year in Vienna as the basis for negotiations. That document included a call for a cease-fire and having the Syrians work to reach an agreement that includes a roadmap for a new constitution and elections.

A cessation of hostilities has largely held for more than two weeks, though both sides have alleged violations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that violence has been 'hugely reduced' by 80 to 90 percent. But he accused the Syrian government of 'clearly trying to disrupt the peace talks, saying Assad's forces are the 'single biggest violator' of the cease-fire.

Kerry spoke after meeting with his British, French, German and Italian counterparts Sunday in Paris about the Syrian crisis.

U.N. officials say the cessation of hostilities agreement has made it possible for U.N. and partner agencies to deliver food, medicine and other aid to 115,000 Syrian civilians living in areas under siege by government or opposition forces. They say last year, aid agencies were unable to access any of these areas.

But Kerry said he continues to be "deeply concerned" about the Syrian government's efforts to deter the delivery of medical and surgical supplies.

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UN Envoy Warns of 'Worse War' in Syria If Peace Talks Fail

by VOA News March 14, 2016

U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura began a new round of peace talks Monday in Geneva, warning that the only alternative to the negotiations is returning to 'even worse war than we had so far.'

Speaking before meeting with a delegation from the Syrian government, de Mistura said it is up to the people of Syria to decide their future, and the U.N. must help them.

He said the plan is to hold indirect talks with each side for about 10 days, then after a recess convene the next round of negotiations beginning in early April and another one after that. The envoy said he believes the process will yield at least a roadmap for peace

'By then we believe that we should have at least a clear roadmap  I'm not saying an agreement, but a clear roadmap  because that is what Syria is expecting from all of us,' de Mistura said.

He also stressed the need to maintain the cessation of hostilities and increased humanitarian access that have been in place for more than two weeks.

But serious questions remain about what each side is prepared to accept in order to stop the fighting that over the past five years has already killed more than a quarter-million people and led millions more to flee their homes. More than 6.5 million people are estimated to be internally displaced, half of them children, and another three million have taken refuge outside Syria.

De Mistura said the talks will focus on new ways to govern Syria, a new constitution, and what he calls the "mother of all issues" - plans to elect, under U.N. auspices, a transitional government in the next 18 months.

Syria firm on Assad

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's future is not up for negotiation, while the opposition and many outside of Syria  including the United States  have said Assad must step down in order to achieve peace.

De Mistura said Monday that public statements by both sides show there is 'much distance' between them.

The U.N. envoy is using an agreement reached by a group of world and regional powers last year in Vienna as the basis for negotiations.

De Mistura did not comment on disagreements surrounding Assad's future but did acknowledge problems are likely to arise.

"If during these talks and in the next rounds, we will see no notice of any willingness to negotiate, which we hope is not going to be the case we will bring the issue back to those who have influence and that is the Russian Federation, the USA, co-chairs of the ISSG (International Syria Support Group) and to the Security Council," he said.

De Mistura added the current negotiations are the only hope for a solution.

"Well, as far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war and to even worse war than we had so far," de Mistura said.

US position

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday violence has been 'hugely reduced' by 80 to 90 percent since the cessation of hostilities went into effect.

But he accused the Syrian government of 'clearly trying to disrupt the peace talks, saying Assad's forces are the 'single biggest violator' of the cease-fire. Rebel groups have also been accused of violating the agreement.

U.N. officials say the cessation of hostilities has made it possible for U.N. and partner agencies to deliver food, medicine and other aid to 115,000 Syrian civilians living in areas under siege by government or opposition forces. They say last year, aid agencies were unable to access any of these areas.

But Kerry said he continues to be "deeply concerned" about the Syrian government's efforts to deter the delivery of medical and surgical supplies.

Lisa Schlein contributed to this report from Geneva.

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Chill in Taiwan-China Ties Expected After Change of Leadership

by Ralph Jennings March 14, 2016

As Taipei's president-elect prepares to take office in May, ever tense but recently improved relations between China and Taiwan appear headed into a new slump, with the two sides unable to agree on how to hold talks that would build trust and allow the signing of agreements.

If China and Taiwan avoid each other after Tsai Ing-wen becomes president, they will effectively suspend regular negotiations that have led to growth in trade and tourism, analysts say.

China may retaliate

Agreements signed since 2008 have supported Taiwan's now struggling export-driven economy. China may also follow existing deals less rigorously, and some believe it is now holding back tourists.

Taiwan and China have been political rivals since the 1940s. The two Asian neighbors are self-ruled, but China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and insists that it be brought under its control as a finale to the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. Surveys show that most Taiwanese prefer today's status quo.

Current President Ma Ying-jeou opened talks with Beijing after he was elected in 2008. Each side agreed then to see the other as China, just subject to different interpretations, in line with the 1992 consensus.

New president not keen on dialogue with Beijing

But voters felt President Ma had grown too close to Beijing after signing 23 agreements. In January they elected Tsai, who will take office May 20. She rejects Ma's basis for dialogue with China, despite Beijing's call this month for her to uphold it. Her party prefers to treat China as a separate country.

"There won't be any new economic agreements or people-to-people exchanges anytime soon after Tsai comes into office," said Sean King, senior vice president with the consulting firm Park Strategies in New York and Taipei.

"I also won't be surprised if Beijing cuts back on tourists to Taiwan, an economic punishment as it were, to express its displeasure with Tsai's refusal to recognize the 1992 consensus," he said.

The current government reached deals with China to open tourism, smooth investment and cut import tariffs, a particular boon to Taiwan as China is its number one trade partner by value of goods. The two sides have met formally at least twice a year since 2008 to sign those accords and lack other channels to make deals.

A trade-in-goods pact is still being negotiated, and Taiwan legislators have not ratified a service trade liberalization agreement signed in 2013.

Travel applications down

In a possible sign of resistance from Beijing, travel applications from mainland Chinese have fallen 1.4 percent in the first nine weeks of 2016 compared to the same period of last year, said Jeff Yang, secretary general of Taiwan's China policymaking body, the Mainland Affairs Council.

Travel agents say arrivals began declining before the election of Tsai on Jan. 16.

But Yang said his agency lacks evidence to prove that China is taking measures to resist the change in president.

"We have a lot of channels to seek this information and ways to demand a statement from the other side," Yang said. "But we can't see any actual evidence or boldly suppose that this kind of thing has happened. We could roughly theorize, but after all we need to be careful in seeking verification."

A drop in tourists from a 2015 peak of 3.4 million arrivals would threaten Taiwan's service sector. It might also empty some of the direct commercial flights that emerged after 2008, said Raymond Wu, managing director of Taipei-based political risk consultancy e-telligence.

There are now about 890 direct flights per week between the mainland and Taiwan, up from virtually none before Ma took office.

Pressure on Beijing

"The president-elect's rejection of today's dialogue conditions without new ones that China accepts will put Beijing in a tough spot," Wu said. "China hopes to charm Taiwan's people as a gambit toward its goal of peaceful unification.

"This is going to be a dilemma for Beijing," Wu said. "If Beijing does all these things, of course there will be resentment from Taiwan. This would be going against what Beijing has said all along, that they're resting their hopes on the people of Taiwan. But if they don't do anything at all then they will be viewed as a paper tiger."

Tsai's government has said it would uphold the agreements reached under President Ma.

In response to Beijing's calls for accepting the 1992 Consensus, Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has never recognized the deal, this month called for the peaceful development of relations.

When the new government takes office, the party said it will 'maintain the status quo' and "do its utmost to ensure peace and stability.'

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Project generation efforts primarily focused on zinc and copper

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR--(Marketwired - Mar 14, 2016) - Altius Minerals Corp. ("Altius") (TSX:ALS) is pleased to provide an update on its global exploration project generation activities. Over the past year, Altius has strategically increased its portfolio of exploration stage projects within select jurisdictions that are high-ranking both in terms of mineral discovery potential and investment attractiveness. Several consecutive years of deferred exploration investment throughout the minerals sector has resulted in a counter-cyclical opportunity that is marked by significantly enhanced land access and lower generative costs. Our recent efforts have primarily concentrated around opportunities in zinc, copper, gold, nickel and platinum group metals.

ZINC

Republic of Ireland

Last year, Altius structured an agreement to acquire 80% of the shares of privately held Adventus Exploration Ltd. ("Adventus"), plus project royalty entitlements. The acquisition is in exchange for staged cumulative investments of EUR500,000 that will be reached in May of this year.

Adventus now holds more than 1,800 square kilometres of mineral rights throughout Ireland hosting several distinct projects that are prospective for carbonate-hosted zinc-lead-silver deposits and include several identified areas of mineralization within outcrop and float samples.

One of these is the Kingscourt project, which was made the subject of an option/JV agreement with Teck Ireland Ltd in 2015. The project is located approximately 10 km north of the Tara Mine, which is Europe's largest zinc mine. Under the agreement Teck has the option to earn a 75% interest by spending EUR400,000 by December 31, 2017. Altius retains an NSR royalty of 2% on the project.

Newfoundland

The Buchans Project encompasses lands immediately surrounding the past-producing, high-grade Buchans Zn-Pb-Cu-Au-Ag mine located in central Newfoundland. For the first time in 20 years, large parts of the Buchans camp recently came open to staking. Altius now controls the largest land position within the belt, totaling more than 200 square kilometres. Altius has conducted reconnaissance scale mapping, prospecting, soil, rock and till sampling, re-logging of historic drill core, compilation and 3D integrated modelling that has resulted in the identification of several new areas of alteration and mineralization and other conceptual targets.

The 70 square kilometre Katie Project, also located in central Newfoundland, hosts zinc-lead-copper-gold-silver mineralization in a sedimentary to volcanic-hosted massive sulphide environment. Highlights include grab samples from floats of up to 23.9% Zn, 3.3% Pb and 279 g/t Ag and up to 15.1% Zn, 0.45% Pb, 0.27% Cu, 42 g/t Ag and 2.4 g/t Au from newly trenched outcrops.

COPPER

Chile

Altius has a 49% interest in Mining Equity Fund ("ME") and its subsidiaries, which together have acquired more than 1,000 square kilometres of exploration and exploitation concessions distributed in thirteen projects in northern Chile.

Five of these projects, namely Arcas, Quiltro, Lia, Timon, and Pescado, are associated with the prolific Domeyko Fault System. This is interpreted as an important control on the distribution of globally significant copper deposits including the Chuquicamata, Collahuasi and Escondida porphyry clusters. Approximately 60% of the package was acquired by direct staking using a combination of in-house reprocessing of ASTER satellite imagery, data compilation and regional mapping and sampling.

Within the Arcas block, four porphyry-related targets have been identified that include numerous copper occurrences associated with veins, breccias and/or subcrops of porphyritic rocks.

At Quiltro, an untested area of high-sulphidation epithermal alteration with gold-bearing hematite-breccia veins was discovered.

The two known targets at Lia include an outcropping dacitic porphyry with sericite-chlorite-clay assemblages cross-cut by quartz-hematite veinlets and a quartz-diorite porphyry intruded into Paleozoic volcaniclastic rocks forming a skarn. The best results at Lia correspond to tabular units that returned up to > 1% Cu, 0.56 g/t Au, 25 g/t Ag, and 0.04% Mo.

At Timon, argillic and propyllitic alteration zones and veins hosting copper-oxides within granodioritic and dioritic intrusives have yielded values up to 2.6% Cu and 34 g/t Ag in grab samples from outcrop.

The Pescado project is located approximately 85 kilometres south from the Escondida deposit. This under-explored project hosts a four-km-long gold-copper anomaly defined by grab samples of outcrop with samples up to 1.6 g/t Au.

Also in Chile, ME holds 7,775,773 shares of Revelo Resources Corp. and retains 2% precious metals and 1% base metals net smelter return ("NSR") royalties as a result of an agreement completed last year on four projects covering approximately 600 square kilometres.

Ireland

The 1,100 square kilometre Southwest Cork project is a sediment-hosted copper target highlighted by recent grab sample results including 7.6% Cu and 342 g/t Ag from disseminated bornite and chalcocite within a reduced sandstone unit. Limited historic drilling, undertaken by previous operators exploring predominantly for barite, reported intersections of disseminated copper sulphides including 6.1 metres @ 1.7 % Cu. Work is underway along a 25 kilometre long zone to refine targets for follow up.

Labrador

The 255 square kilometre Seal Lake Copper-Silver Project located in central Labrador covers Mesoproterozoic sedimentary, volcanic and mafic intrusive rocks that host over 250 historically documented copper occurrences. The copper mineralization and geological setting suggests a favorable environment for hosting deposits of the sediment-hosted copper type. Previous workers have reported drill results within the target sedimentary horizon of up to 1.76% Cu and 56.2 g/t Ag over 7.9 metres.

NICKEL-COPPER-PGEs

Michigan

Altius entered into an agreement last year to acquire up to an 80% interest in the 648 square kilometre Voyageur Nickel Project, which is located in State of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, from Bitterroot Resources Ltd. This is part of a systematic program targeting Eagle or Voisey's Bay-type, conduit-hosted magmatic nickel-copper-PGE mineralization within the Mid-Continental Rift. The geological environment at Voyageur is considered similar to that at Lundin Mining's high-grade Eagle Mine located 60 kilometres eastwards. Altius recently completed a 4,250-line km VTEMa Plus electromagnetic (EM) airborne survey, which has identified nine high-priority targets that are currently being assessed and ranked for follow up this season.

GOLD

Newfoundland

The 25 square kilometre Moosehead Property is an easily accessible, high-grade orogenic gold project located in central Newfoundland. Gold mineralization, commonly as coarse free gold, occurs in association with sulphide- and sulphosalt-bearing quartz veins. Historic sampling has returned values of up to 442 g/t Au from boulders, and up to 170 g/t Au over 1.53 metres from drill core while newly discovered and unsourced float samples in this area returned values of up to 328 g/t Au. In 2015, Altius conducted the first overburden stripping program on the property, which has provided a much improved interpretation of the structural controls on mineralization.

Also in 2015, a 450-metre-long soil anomaly was discovered beginning 500 metres along strike to the north from the previously known area of mineralization. Prospecting in this area has identified angular quartz float assaying up to 180 g/t Au.

Chile

In the prolific Miocene Belt, ME controls 300 square kilometres of concessions in seven projects within the Maricunga mineralized belt. The highlights of the rock sampling and prospecting program includes rock samples from the Vidalita project of silicified breccias that returned values up to 5.54 g/t Au and 89.7 g/t Ag, and similar rock types at the Freddie project that returned values up to 3.6 g/t Au and 146 g/t Ag.

In 2016 Altius will continue to build on its global portfolio of exploration projects while also beginning to increase its efforts to attract new project partners. Altius firmly believes that the current downturn in the industry is providing the best opportunity in more than 15 years to acquire mineral rights that will become highly sought after as exploration investment necessarily flows back to the sector. It intends to advance the projects that it is strategically acquiring at this time through partnering agreements that will allow it to retain various types of minority and equity interests and royalties.

Lawrence Winter, Ph.D., P.Geo., VicePresident of Exploration for Altius, is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 guidelines responsible for the technical data presented herein and has reviewed and approved this release.

About Altius

Altius is a diversified mining royalty company with royalty interests in 13 producing mines located in Canada. The royalty interests include mining operations that produce thermal (electrical) and metallurgical coal, potash, zinc, nickel, copper and cobalt.

Altius holds other significant pre-development stage royalties internally generated by its project generation business that also contains a diversified portfolio of exploration stage projects and royalties, some of which are being advanced through various partner-funding arrangements.

Altius has 39,932,102 shares issued and outstanding that are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is a member of both the S&P/TSX Small Cap and S&P/TSX Global Mining Indices.
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Although spring doesn't officially start until Sunday, the signs of a lush and promising one are all around thanks to generous rainfall in recent weeks.

Winter wheat fields are progressing well and pasture grasses are greening up, said David Holubec, who operates a stockfarm with his sons, Cole and Ceth, two miles south of Melvin in McCulloch County.

"We had 4 inches of showers and drizzle, it never rained very hard," he said. "It is unusual to receive this kind of moisture in March but we will gladly take it."

Holubec said neighbors are getting ready to plant spring crops. He expects farmers in the Central Texas area will plant a diversified mix of cotton, corn and grain sorghum this year.

"Normally we contend with dry times this time of year, but this spring will be different. We have planting moisture and farmers and ranchers in these parts are ready to progress forward," he told me.

In Concho County, Gary Speck reported 4.8 inches at the family ranch 10 miles northwest of Eden. "The stock tanks are full and running over," he said.

In the northwest corner of Concho County, E.H. Brosig measured more than 4 inches of rain south of Lowake.

My brother, Johnny Lackey, who lives at the home place at Buckhollow, 15 miles west of Junction, said his gauge was running over at 4 inches.

"We can almost see the weeds growing and our valley is indeed green," wrote Frederica Wyatt at Junction in her weekly email. "Even with ground-soaked soils, we were fortunate to escape severe flooding in Kimble County."

The fragrance of mountain laurel and small patches of bluebonnets are welcome signs of spring, said Mark White, who ranches in Crockett and Sutton counties.

"We gauged 4 inches of rain at the ranch south of Sonora and between 2 and 3 inches north of Ozona," he told me at church Sunday. "The Rancho Blanco at Pandale only received 1 inch last week, but that goes a long way there."

Pandale is located on Howard Draw and Farm-to-Market Road 2083 and two miles northeast of the Pecos River. It is at the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert  the largest desert in North America, covering more than 200,000 square miles.

Further west in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert around Big Bend, there's no prettier sight in spring when the yucca and tall bluebonnets are in bloom.

Back to the Hill Country, the bluebonnets are forthcoming, said Danny Bahlman of San Angelo. On a weekend trip to Houston, he spotted patches of "the blues" around Bryan and Burnet.

Justin DeLoach, with West Texas Rehab in San Angelo, reported bluebonnets around Lampasas and San Saba over the weekend when returning home from Austin.

Even with signs of an early spring, no one I have visited with will predict the end of winter. We always have a late cold front at Easter, which is early this year, said one coffee drinker.

"Everything within the patterns of nature operates in cycles," wrote the late Jerry Mack Johnson in his book "Country Wisdom."

"A few people laugh when you mention doing anything by the 'sign.' They consider it to be the 'old way' and surely couldn't be the 'best way.' Oft times the old way has been tried, tested, and proved by many people over long periods of time," Johnson wrote.

He believed in moon lore and breaking sod, to plant seed, to set out plants, to cultivate, etc. must be scheduled by using moon phases and signs.

"When snowdrifts face to the north, spring will arrive early. When thunderstorms that come before seven in the morning in April and May foretell a wet summer," Johnson wrote.

Meanwhile, the current weather forecast warns of threats of killing frost looms to the end of March. For the south and central parts of the nation, late frost averages occur from March 15 to April 1.

Jerry Lackey is the agriculture editor emeritus. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.
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The following editorial appeared in the March 7 Dallas Morning News:

For the past several months, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has urged Democratic Party voters to support his presidential candidacy because America needs a "political revolution."

It's instructive to remember how close he came to getting one nearly eight years ago, when he joined 10 Democrats and 14 Republicans in opposing the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. The bill had been put forth by President George W. Bush and backed by then-Sens. Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

The bill passed the Senate 74-25 on Oct. 1, 2008, just a month before voters would put Obama and Biden in the White House.

Sanders had urged senators to defeat the bill, arguing that "after eight years of Bush's economic policies which have benefited the wealthy and the powerful at the expense of the middle class, it would be immoral  it would be absurd  to ask the middle class to have to pay for this bailout."

But Clinton, Obama and Biden  as well as both Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas  all saw the bigger picture: letting Wall Street, and with it the financial stability of the entire nation, collapse would have been far more immoral.

All this history hovered overhead like storm clouds at Sunday's Democratic debate in Flint, just two days before Tuesday's crucial primary election in Michigan. Sanders has emerged as a surprisingly potent candidate for the Democratic nomination, though Clinton has a sizable lead.

At every step along the way, Sanders has hammered Clinton for her perceived coziness with Wall Street. He picked up on the theme once more Sunday: "When billionaires on Wall Street destroyed this economy, they went to Congress and they said, 'Please, we'll be good boys, bail us out,'" he said. "You know what I said? I said, 'Let the billionaires themselves bail out Wall Street.'"

It's a fine applause line, but it ignores the scary reality that Congress had been asked to confront in 2008. The American system of finance was on the brink of collapse. Banks had stopped lending money  for just about anything, including homes, autos and business expansion.

Had the system collapsed, as economists warned it might, the human toll would have been staggering  and most certainly not just among bankers and billionaires.

That's the grim picture that Sanders glosses over while talking about revolution. He talks about what needs to change and how the system might be more fair. But he's forever leaving out any mention of the pain that would be felt as revolutionary changes slid into place.

In 2008, Clinton and 73 other senators saw the risks and acted to avert them. Sanders was busy shouting about the unfairness of that system. He still is. If he's ever to broaden his appeal, he needs to offer more than that same-old, populist saw.
In a hotly contested presidential election year, developments in the state attorney general races arent attracting much attention. But in four states, the contests are turning out to be competitive and surprisingly tricky to handicap.In this rundown -- our first since October -- we have categorized three AG contests as tossups and one as lean Republican. Each is an open seat, and all feature wide-open primaries for at least one party, and in most cases both.The three contests were currently rating as tossups are all held by Democrats: Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.The fourth competitive contest is the GOP-held seat in Indiana. With this handicapping, weve changed the rating from tossup to lean Republican, although the race is fluid enough to easily return to the tossup category later in the campaign season.Beyond these four states, the other races for attorney general have actually become less competitive. Weve shifted the GOP-held seat in Montana from likely Republican to safe Republican, and weve shifted the Democratic-held seat in Washington state from likely Democratic to safe Democratic. The contests in Oregon, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia remain safe for the incumbent party.Meanwhile, weve removed from our list the three AG contests that were settled in November. The results in each state ended up leaving the incumbent party in control.In Louisiana, the GOP held onto the post even though incumbent Buddy Caldwell lost to his Republican challenger Jeff Landry. Caldwell prevailed in the all-party primary but later lost to Landry by double digits in the all-GOP runoff. In Mississippi, Democrat Jim Hood held off a challenge by Republican Mike Hurst, winning by a double-digit margin. And in a close race in Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear won an open-seat race against GOP state Sen. Whitney Westerfield. (Beshear is the son of former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.)As usual, we have categorized the races as safe Republican, likely Republican, lean Republican, tossup, lean Democratic, likely Democratic or safe Democratic. In the handicapping below, the seats are rank-ordered from most likely to go Republican to most likely to go Democratic.Currently, the GOP holds 27 AG offices, with 23 for the Democrats. If the GOP can run the table -- holding the Indiana seat and flipping Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania -- its lead would jump to a dominating 30-20. But in the absence of a national partisan tide, the GOP stands to gain one or two seats. Democrats, by contrast, look likely to have a shot, at best, of making a net gain of one seat.No one is challenging Reyes, a Mormon Republican of Filipino and Hispanic descent who is rebuilding an office damaged by corruption charges against his two predecessors, Republicans Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow. Serving in one of the reddest states in the nation, Reyes continues to occupy the safest Republican AG seat in the country.Fox, a first-term AG with both nice-guy and conservative credentials, is even more a shoo-in than he was before. Time is running out for the states Democrats to field a candidate against him. Fox got a policy boost when the U.S. Supreme Court moved to stay the Obama administrations Clean Power Plan. He had joined other states in suing to stop them, a popular move in an energy state. Fox also has been endorsed by the states leading teachers union.The legislative session that ends in mid-March -- which has featured a number of hotly contested issues including right-to-work legislation -- has dominated West Virginias political scene, and whatever attention has been given to statewide races has accrued to the highly competitive open-seat gubernatorial contest. This has helped the incumbent AG, who was already in a strong position to win a second term in this Republican-trending state. Indeed, potential Democratic contenders have continued to take a pass on the race, leaving Del. Doug Reynolds as the only Democratic candidate. While the AG race should attract more attention after the legislative session ends, Reynolds still faces an uphill climb to oust Morrisey.Indiana is a Republican-leaning state, but the GOP must sort out its large field of candidates, a process that will include a state party convention. The GOP field includes former Republican AG Steve Carter, a longtime confidant of Zoeller; Randy Head, a two-term state senator and former county prosecutor; Elkhart County prosecutor Curtis Hill, Jr.; and Abigail Kuzma, an official in the AGs office. Carter is the only one to have sought statewide office before, though his long career could be a negative in an anti-establishment year. Head, who has a reputation for unpretentiousness, has won plaudits for his legislative record. Hill is known as a tough prosecutor, and hes had a good start in fundraising. Kuzma, for her part, has dealt with consumer protection and sex trafficking at the AGs office, but has the least electoral experience in the GOP field.Once the Republican nomination is settled, the party should start out with an edge in the general election, even though the Democrats are expected to field an intriguing candidate in retired Lake County Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo. He was the longest serving elected Latino state trial judge in the country when he retired from the bench in 2010. Whether the Democrats have a good shot of flipping the AG seat depends more than anything on external factors, especially on how voters feel in November about GOP Gov. Mike Pence, who has been having a rough year or two. For now, the Democrats are focusing more attention on ousting Pence and protecting the superintendent of public instruction post. But if Pence remains unpopular, the AG contest could shift back to tossup.The August primary should feature a number of candidates with a limited statewide profile -- Democrats Teresa Hensley, a former county prosecutor, and Jake Zimmerman, a St. Louis County assessor, along with Republicans Kurt Schaefer, an outspoken state senator, and Josh Hawley, a University of Missouri law professor who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. The candidates in both contested primaries are battling it out on the Internet as they try to bolster their war chests, but voters are largely in the dark due to the absence of media coverage, a vacuum that should continue until at least June, and perhaps afterward, given Missouris busy election year. The state has an open-seat gubernatorial race and a competitive Senate contest in 2016. Whichever candidates become nominees, the general election should be wide open.With her decision not to seek another term, Kanes nightmarish tenure as AG -- which has included criminal charges against her and a suspended law license -- is now winding down, leaving a wide-open contest to succeed her. The Democratic field includes three credible candidates who have been aggressively attacking each other: Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro; John Morganelli, the Northampton county district attorney who lost the 2008 general election for attorney general; and Stephen A. Zappala Jr., the Allegheny County district attorney. Shapiro is the frontrunner, boasting endorsements from Gov. Tom Wolf and former Gov. Ed Rendell. Zappala has the backing of Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, while Morganelli counts former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham in his corner. The GOP field, meanwhile, features two candidates: state Sen. John Rafferty and former police officer and federal prosecutor Joe Peters. Its too early to say which party will have an edge in November, particularly if the presidential contest comes down to Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. In that case, top-of-the-ballot pressures could shape the parties downballot prospects.Two Democrats and two Republicans are contesting the seat being left open by Cooper, the long-serving Democratic AG whos running for governor. On the Republican side, its state Sen. Buck Newton vs. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill. On the Democratic side, its state Sen. Josh Stein, who worked in the AGs office earlier in his career as deputy attorney general for consumer protection, against attorney Marcus Williams. In this battleground state, the presidential and gubernatorial contests could have a significant impact come November.In the first open AG election in Vermont since 1984, the Democrats are still looking strong to keep the seat Sorrell has held since his 1997 appointment. T.J. Donovan -- the state's attorney for Chittenden County, the state's largest  is unlikely to face serious Democratic primary opposition. The GOP has until late May to field a candidate. In the absence of a strong Republican nominee, this race should eventually shift to safe Democratic.This race has remained quiet, which is good news for Ferguson. Unless theres a surprise, he has a clear path to another term.Theres still no sign of any activity on the GOP side to challenge Rosenblum, and its not as if theres a history of strong Republican AG candidates in the state  there hasn't been a serious GOP contender over the past two decades. Barring something unexpected as the filing deadline nears, the incumbent looks good for another term.
Ohio must let 17-year-olds vote in the state's March 15 primary, if they turn 18 by Election Day, a judge ruled in a boost to Bernie Sanders.Sanders's surprise win over Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary this week was driven in part by his popularity with younger voters, many of whom are attracted to his call for a revolution against the wealthy elite. Sanders got the support of 81 percent of those age 18 to 29 in the Michigan primary, according to CNN's exit polls.Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, reinterpreted a decades-old law by describing the primary as an election of delegates, rather than a nomination. Ohio doesn't let voters under 18 directly elect people, Husted said.That was a misinterpretation of the law, Franklin County Court Judge Richard A. Frye said in a ruling Friday."The secretary has a clear legal duty to promptly advise all 88 county Boards of Election to disregard his previous interpretation" of the law, Frye said. The complaint was filed by students and the Fair Elections Legal Network. It wasn't affiliated with any candidate or political party.A federal judge in Columbus, Ohio, earlier on Friday declined to rule in a parallel case filed by Sanders until after the state court judge ruled.Ohio, a key general election swing state, is among about two dozen states that allow threshold voters to cast primary ballots to increase turnout among young adults. Ohio's law was passed in 1981, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in all the recent primaries, Sanders said in his complaint."The students are really excited that their vote will be able to count," Rachel Bloomekatz, the teenagers' lawyer, said in a phone interview.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio took the unusual step of urging his supporters in Ohio to vote for Gov. John Kasich in Tuesday's Ohio Republican presidential primary in an effort to keep Donald Trump from winning the party's presidential nomination.Although the Rubio and Kasich campaigns insisted they had not engaged in a coordinated effort to prevent Trump from winning both Florida and Ohio Tuesday, Rubio's comments are consistent with a strategy developed by some Republicans who fear the party will suffer a devastating defeat in November if Trump is their presidential nominee.Republicans such as Mitt Romney, the party's 2012 presidential nomination, want Rubio to carry his home state of Florida and Kasich to win Ohio. Because the two states have a combined total of 165 delegates to the national convention this summer in Cleveland, victories by Rubio and Kasich in their home states would deliver a stinging blow to Trump's hopes of a first-ballot nomination.At a news conference in Florida, Rubio said that while he has "never talked to John Kasich about this," he acknowledged Kasich "has a better chance of winning Ohio than I do. And if a voter concludes that voting for John Kasich gives us the best chance to stop Donald Trump there, I anticipate that's what they'll do.""I can tell you that in Florida, I'm the only one who can beat Donald Trump," Rubio said, adding that Florida Republicans voting for either Kasich or Texas Sen. Cruz are "in essence voting for Donald Trump."Speaking at a town hall in Moraine near Dayton Friday night, Kasich indicated that he would not return the favor to Rubio."If I've got supporters somewhere in the country and I'm on the ballot, I think they kinda oughta go for me," Kasich said. "What kind of deal would it be if I told my people 'don't vote for me'?"While Kasich and a super-PAC supporting him are airing hundreds of thousands of dollars of TV advertising in Ohio, they have yet to book commercials in Florida. And Rubio and the super-PAC backing him are not scheduled to run any TV commercials in Ohio.Polls show Kasich in a close fight in Ohio with Trump, while the New York billionaire appears to be leading Rubio in Florida.The apparent detente between Rubio and Kasich does not extend to Illinois, which holds its presidential primary Tuesday. The super-PACs supporting Rubio and Kasich have been aiming one televised salvo after another against each other in that state.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday repeatedly slammed Rahm Emanuel and called on front-runner Hillary Clinton to reject the embattled mayor's endorsement as the Vermont senator tries to boost his chances in Tuesday's Illinois primary."Hillary Clinton proudly lists Mayor Rahm Emanuel as one of her leading mayoral endorsers," Sanders said at a downtown news conference. "Based on his disastrous record as mayor of the city of Chicago, I do not want Mayor Emanuel's endorsement if I win the Democratic nomination. That is not the kind of support I want. We want the endorsement of the people who are fighting for social and racial justice. We do not want the support of people who are indebted to Wall Street and the big money interests."Sanders took particular aim at Emanuel's handling of Chicago Public Schools, criticizing the mayor's decision to close nearly 50 schools in predominantly minority communities in 2013. The Democratic senator said the school district wouldn't have found itself in such a financial bind had Emanuel refused to pay Wall Street banks $500 million in "risky financial schemes" or so-called toxic interest-rate swaps. Sanders noted other cities such as Houston, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Detroit took legal action, or threatened to, and received some money back from the banks, and criticized Emanuel for "standing with Wall Street" instead of with the city's schoolchildren.Sanders said both Emanuel and Clinton have received heavy campaign contributions from the financial sector. Joining Sanders was Blaine Elementary Principal Troy LaRaviere, who referred to a Chicago Tribune investigation last year that showed at least 60 percent of Emanuel's top campaign donors received benefits from City Hall."The mayor has no problem putting pressure on teachers when he wants concessions from them. He has no problem arm-twisting the parents on the South Side or the West Side when he wants to close their schools. He is really tough, isn't he? Taking on the children and the parents," Sanders said, mockingly. "But he ain't so tough taking on the big money interests on Wall Street."Before stepping off in Saturday morning's St. Patrick's Day Parade, Emanuel briefly dismissed Sanders' comments without reacting to the specifics. "Politics is politics. It's campaign season," Emanuel said. "That's his comments."Sanders' attack on Emanuel comes as the mayor has faced a record-low approval rating of 27 percent, according to a Tribune poll published in early February. Emanuel's approval numbers were even lower among minority voters, who to date have voted heavily in favor of Clinton in states that already have held their nominating contests.In Illinois, the senator is trying to blunt Clinton's momentum among minority voters by airing television ads. One features LaRaviere criticizing the mayor, and another features the mayor's runoff opponent, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who also joined Sanders at Saturday's news conference. A Tribune poll on the Democratic presidential primary in Illinois published Tuesday showed Clinton at 67 percent in her native state and Sanders at 25 percent.Emanuel remains unpopular, in part, for his handling of the Laquan McDonald police shooting scandal, which resulted in weeks of street protests, allegations of a cover-up and calls for his resignation. Sanders did not reference the McDonald case specifically but indicated he thinks the mayor should step down."I think he has done a very bad job," Sanders said when asked if Emanuel should resign. "If I lived in this city, I would be active in that effort."Later, Sanders appeared at a get-out-the-vote rally before a few hundred people at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition on the South Side.The event drew more than a dozen down-ballot hopefuls, including Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris, Cook County state's attorney challenger Kim Foxx and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown.During the appearance, Sanders said Obama's father was born in Kenya and his father was born in Poland. "Guess what, nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate," Sanders said.Sanders also said the U.S. Department of Justice should probe every police killing and death of a person while in police custody.The Rev. Jesse Jackson concluded Sanders' nearly hourlong visit, enlivened with gospel music and R&B hits, by urging people to "Feel the Bern." Afterward, Jackson said he had not endorsed in the contest.
It's over.The legislative session fraught with labor and social issues that raised the hackles of many a lawmaker ended Saturday night on a more peaceful note than many state government spectators would have thought possible after is rocky beginning.Sixty days ago, right to work and the repeal of the prevailing wage were the hot button topics causing partisan votes, and the Religious Freedom Protection Act (formerly RFRA) caused turmoil in the halls of the Capitol.With those issues out of the way, lawmakers settled into a more routine groove, with only a few partisan collisions in the latter half of the session.One of those is yet ongoing, as neither chamber can agree on a budget.Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Saturday night during the session it's unlikely that the three-day special session will be enough to resurrect the budget from the predicament lawmakers are in.The Senate voted on revenue increases that would take care of a $466 million projected budget shortfall for 2017, but the House of Delegates didn't take up those bills. Instead, the House budget relies on expiring one-time monies from several accounts and cutting state expenses.Tomblin said "all the low hanging fruit" had already been cut in two 7.5 percent cuts over two years and another 4 percent cut last fall. The House budget also withdraws $31.7 million from the state's Rainy Day Fund."You balance the budget with one-time money and this time next year there's not going to be any place to go," Tomblin said.If the House takes another 6.5 percent, then the state begins to layoff employees, including 80 State Troopers and 10 or more civilian employees in public safety, the governor said.Cuts would also notch higher education, and community and technical colleges would see closure of branches and employee layoffs, Tomblin said.Those schools are attended almost exclusively by West Virginia residents, he continued, and those residents would have "hardship" as they travel farther to attend classes.And worse, for state students, Promise Scholarships and needs-based scholarships would see cuts, as well, he said."We have two choices, get a sustaining revenue source that we can go along with or cut budgets," he said. "If they can make those cuts in three day, if that's what they want to do, that's up to them. But I think it would be tough to get votes on both sides to make cuts deep enough to get a balanced budget."House Majority Leader John O'Neal, R-Raleigh, stressed that the House Budget Bill has been the most important bill for the 2016 session."We decided we wanted to sweep money from the piggy banks of state agencies instead of taking money from our citizens," he explained. "I'm proud our caucus as able to put forth a balanced budget with no new taxes under these circumstances. For us, raising taxes would be the last resort."Delegate Ricky Moye, D-Raleigh, said the budget was pushed late into the session, which was a concern for him."The budget still has issues that need to be addressed," he said.Delegate Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, agreed."We started with the budget hanging over our heads and 60 days later it is still hanging over us," he said.He said he expects the Legislature to be back in May to fix a $200 million shortfall.Bate is likely right, although Tomblin said he thinks the budget should be fixed before the Primary Election on May 10.Tomblin said he is still concerned about the Public Employees Insurance Agency shortfall of $120 million, which would have been fixed by the budget he introduced that raised tobacco taxes.On the Senate side, Jeff Mullins and Sue Cline were happy with the legislation passed early in the session.Both said right to work and the repeal of the prevailing wage were important pieces of legislation."We've got to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, you know, making it more competitive, getting more jobs, more opportunities," Mullins, R-Raleigh said.Cline, R-Wyoming, who was appointed to replace former Sen. Daniel Hall, said she's anxious to see how those pieces of legislation work out over time."We've really done the will of the people and I think (repealing) prevailing wage and right to work (were) some really good bills," she said. "I think we've done a really good job."Cline said those were some of the few truly partisan votes in the Senate."We have worked together to put things through. That's commendable to all of us on both sides," she said.Mullins said the move of WVU-Tech to Beckley will mean economic development and new students in the area. Because state law mandated that WVU-Tech's headquarters be in Montgomery, the legislature had to pass a law to facilitate the move. WVU purchased the former Mountain State University campus last year for $8 million.
Just a few years ago, New York had a health-care crisis on its hands. The state was spending $50 billion a year on Medicaid in 2011 -- more than any other state in the country. Health-care officials in New York worked together to bring down spending, and last year the state introduced an $8 billion plan to repurpose its whole program, with a focus on outpatient care and community health.But now the state is facing another threat to its health-care system: Puerto Rico. Americas biggest territory continues to find itself in serious financial trouble, with a current debt of $72 billion, which the territorys governor has declared not payable. Health-care spending is partly to blame: More than 60 percent of the population is dependent on Medicaid or Medicare, but the federal government only covers 15 percent of those expenses. To put that in perspective, Mississippi -- the state that most closely resembles Puerto Rico in terms of poverty -- usually has around 75 percent of its Medicaid expenses reimbursed by Washington. To make matters worse, this year Puerto Rico is set for an 11 percent cut to its Medicaid Advantage system, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (unless Congress steps in to postpone or cancel the cuts).Why does that matter to New York? Because there are already more than a million Puerto Rican immigrants living in the state, more than anywhere else on the mainland. More people leaving the island likely means more people moving to New York. If the Medicaid Advantage cut does happen, health-care experts say more than a million new immigrants could be coming to the mainland in the next year -- many of them sick and in need of care. That influx would put an unprecedented burden on New Yorks Medicaid system, threatening to cripple progress the state has made in recent years.Uncertainty over the future is exacerbating Puerto Ricans desire to move to the mainland, says Ricardo Rivera Cardona, executive director of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration. Its a trend thats increasing exponentially. In 2010 we had 28,000 people leave the island. In 2014 that number jumped to 65,000, he says. While New York may see the biggest impact, other states will be affected as more residents leave the island. New York still has more Puerto Ricans than any other state, but Florida is rapidly catching up. From 2005-2013, more than 130,000 Puerto Rican residents moved to Florida -- and only 43,000 moved to New York. Other states with already high Puerto Rican populations, including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, would likely also be impacted.For now, though, its New York that has promised solidarity with the island. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last September that he would be dispatching his leading economic and health-care advisers to help get the island out of crisis mode. Since then, Jason Helgerson, New Yorks Medicaid director and the lead architect of its reform plan, has had some two dozen meetings to discuss the partnership between the state, Puerto Rico and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).New Yorks Medicaid reforms have already brought spending down considerably: Since 2009, per-patient spending has fallen to 2003 levels, and overall spending has actually declined. Can officials replicate that success in Puerto Rico?Right now, theyre waiting for permission from the federal government to begin working with the troubled territory, says Helgerson. The ball is currently in CMSs court. We havent been able to put forth an official proposal because theyve flagged a few financing issues, he says. So far, CMS hasnt indicated when they might be ready to move forward. It took them two years to approve our waiver, but Puerto Rico doesnt have two years, says Helgerson. We are really looking to fast-track something this year.The first order of business will be to help close the islands delivery gap. Recent years have seen a mass exodus of physicians and health-care specialists leaving Puerto Rico; doctors on the island make around $65,000 a year, a fraction of what they can make on the mainland. Some 360 physicians left Puerto Rico in 2014 alone, according to the territorys College of Surgeons.In addition to creating more and better paying health-care jobs in Puerto Rico, New York officials hope they can better implement electronic health records there. Only higher-end clinics use them, and virtually no hospitals on the island utilize electronic records. Putting them in place will help coordinate a patients care and reduce expenses. Officials also want to develop a coordinated system of managed care for aging patients, which is almost nonexistent on the island.But until CMS gives some sort of green light on a plan, its tough to say how the rest of the year will play out. Giving Puerto Ricans access to the federal healthcare.gov insurance exchange would help, but that would require congressional action. Capitol Hill has been ambivalent on taking steps to help the struggling territory, and any action is unlikely in the next several months. Its become a devastating spiral -- when finances are bad, health and human services are typically the first things to get cut, says Benjamin Sommers, a health-care economist. But because these people are still citizens, they can just get on a cheap flight to the mainland and use Medicaid funds here.Congress could still act, of course, and some are hopeful that federal lawmakers could help craft a solution. President Obama has urged Congress to take some sort of steps to protect the island, and that alone is cause for optimism, say Puerto Ricos Rivera Cardona and others. But in the meantime, its been left to New York to do the heavy lifting. I dont think the solutions to this situation should fall to one state, says Sommers. But were just not seeing movement on the federal level right now.Ultimately, its up to the territory to make sure any funding and initiatives get properly implemented. What New York provides will simply be a road map for the way forward. Were not trying to dictate to Puerto Rico exactly what needs to get done, says Helgerson. We just want to give them advice and counsel, because the status quo there just isnt sustainable.
Over objections from doctors and medical groups, West Virginia legislators have put into law a ban on the most common abortion procedure for pregnancies in the second trimester.The House of Delegates voted to override Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's veto of the measure, which outlaws a procedure called dilation and evacuation.Anti-abortion activists refer to the procedure as a "dismemberment abortion.""We're talking about ripping an unborn fetus, part by part, to cause death and create the abortion," said Sen. Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, who supported the veto override.At committee meetings, doctors told lawmakers that dilation and evacuation is the safest way to terminate a pregnancy after 13 weeks."We're saying now that the safest procedure cannot be used," said Sen. Corey Palumbo, who opposed the override. "We're requiring them to do the more dangerous, the more difficult and, sometimes, impossible procedure."The bill (SB 10) allows the dilation and evacuation procedure, provided a doctor first causes the "death or demise" of the fetus."We're just saying the demise of the fetus should be caused prior to performing the procedure, so that the child doesn't have to go through that horrific experience," Ferns said.Tomblin vetoed the bill Wednesday, citing patient safety and constitutionality concerns. Courts have blocked similar bans in Kansas and Oklahoma."It's going to be considered unconstitutional," said Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone.The House voted 85-15 to override Tomblin's veto, while the Senate voted 25-9.The abortion ban would take effect in late May, if the law goes unchallenged.Doctors who perform the procedure could lose their medical licenses.Last year, lawmakers overrode Tomblin's veto of a ban on abortions 20 weeks after conception.
Rail union leaders cheered. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie smiled. And hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans were assured of a routine rail commute to work Monday without an immediate fare hike.The dispute revolves around a 5-year-old contract stalemate. Unions have demanded a deal similar to the one signed in 2014 by the Long Island Railroad, with an 18-percent pay raise over seven years plus retroactive pay from 2011, when the current contract came up for negotiation. The unions also want a modest increase in employees' health insurance payments, capped at 2.5 percent of their base salaries.NJ Transit told the Presidential Emergency Board, which has been mediating the latest discussions, that such a plan would cost the agency an additional $183 million by 2018. In a Feb. 19 letter to New Jersey's Congressional delegation, NJ Transit said the union proposal was "excessive," and included "platinum-level health benefits."After five years of negotiations, NJ Transit and its train workers reached a tentative agreement Friday evening, 30 hours before a possible strike that threatened to cripple the region's transportation networks and economy.Important facts initially remained confidential: Christie and union leaders refused to disclose any details of the contract, including how much workers won in salary raises, how much they'll have to pay toward their own health insurance benefits, or how much money the entire package will cost. Also unknown is whether the deal is final; union members still must vote to ratify it.The only detail Christie did disclose is that if ratified as proposed, the contract will last through the end of 2019, longer than either side had originally proposed.Two other important aspects were known Friday night: The agreement, reached in Newark, staved off a strike, and it did so without necessitating a major fare increase, which many commuters and transportation advocates had feared."There is no immediate fare hike that's needed to pay for what we've done in this contract," said Christie, who added that he will not seek a fare hike for NJ Transit through at least July 31, 2017.The announcement of a deal came after a week of rising tensions, in which each side occasionally accused the other of being unreasonable. On Tuesday, NJ Transit issued a statement saying the agency had offered major concessions, especially on workers' health insurance costs, and blamed the breakdown of talks on the unions' recalcitrance. Two days later, Stephen Burkert, general chairman of the United Transportation Union Local 60, issued a statement decrying "NJ Transit's unreasonable position and unwillingness to reach an amiable solution."But Friday opened on a brighter note: Gary Dellaverson, the lead negotiator for NJ Transit, appeared at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Newark at 10 a.m. for the start of talks and said he believed a compromise was likely."This is the day it should happen," he said. "We know what the differences are, so it's now time to close those differences."The combination of a longer-than-expected contract that gives workers a raise without necessitating a fare hike was a major success, Christie said."It's good news on many levels," Christie said at a media conference Friday evening at NJ Transit headquarters. "This agreement is going to give workers and commuters a measure of certainty and stability."The agreement is pending a vote from members of the 11 unions that represent NJ Transit's 4,200 workers.The agency had previously proposed a seven-year deal with a 10-percent pay raise but including a significant increase in workers' contributions toward health insurance costs. The unions had requested an 18.4-percent raise over seven years, plus back pay to 2011, when the current contract came up for negotiation, plus a cap on health insurance costs equaling 2.5 percent of workers' base pay.Negotiations had dragged out over five years, ever since the contract came up for negotiation in 2011. The process was dictated by the federal Railway Labor Act of 1926, which is designed to increase pressure on both unions and management to reach an agreement without resorting to a train shutdown."This process is much different than any other union negotiation I've dealt with as governor," Christie said.Following the terms of the law, last year the National Mediation Board released both sides from negotiations, saying they remained so far apart that further meetings were unlikely to produce a deal. That decision started a 270-day clock that involved negotiations before two Presidential Emergency Boards, followed by cooling-off periods. If the sides still couldn't agree, the mediation board set 12:01 a.m. Sunday as the first possible time when NJ Transit could lock workers off its rail properties, or the unions could strike.Both presidential boards found the demands from the unions more reasonable than NJ Transit's offers. That decision also was rooted in the labor act, which places a high value on precedents set by previous railroad contracts. With this in mind, the unions based their demands on the contract won by Long Island Railroad workers in 2014, Burkert said. For months, NJ Transit balked at those demands, calling them unreasonably expensive.The agreement announced Friday also avoids a potentially messy chain of decisions by NJ Transit, the unions and Congress. At any time before or after the midnight Saturday deadline, Congress had the power to step in and impose any conditions its members chose. It could have imposed a contract consistent with the decisions of the presidential boards, written a new contract or ordered the employees back to work without a new contract.The agreement also makes life much easier for NJ Transit. The agency had announced that in order to be ready for a full shutdown early Sunday morning, workers would need to prepare by closing different sections of the rail network beginning on Friday.The timing of a service resumption also was up to question. If the trains stopped rolling for a short time, between a few hours to a day or two, NJ Transit said it could turn the fleet back on within 24 to 36 hours. But if the shutdown dragged on, the amount of inspections required by federal regulators would have piled up, and full service resumption may have taken up to four days.The first word that an agreement had been reached came at around 7 p.m., when union leaders gathered around a podium in the lobby of the Newark Hilton. They leaders cheered as they announced the deal."You can all smile now," said Burkert. "We have reached an agreement."
The Justice Department on Monday pledged $2.5 million to help state judges and court administrators ensure their systems for levying fines and fees do not violate the rights of poor defendants.The money, along with a seperate letter offering advice on how to more fairly levy fines and fees, comes a year after the department concluded that the municipal court in Ferguson, Mo., the location of a 2014 fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, was more focused more on raising revenue through fines and fees than using such tools to improve public safety.Department officials noted in the letter that such practices have profound consequences and can damage the faith residents have in their courts and police forces. Defendants can face escalating debts, be jailed for non-payment despite posing no danger to the community and risk becoming trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape, according to the letter by Vanita Gupta and Lisa Foster, two top Justice officials.Gupta, the departments top civil rights lawyer, and Foster, the director of a program designed to improve the judicial system, urged courts to take steps to ensure they are treating defendants fairly and legally.For example, they wrote, judges should not incarcerate a defendant for the nonpayment of fines or fees without first determining whether the person was too poor to pay. Courts should also consider alternatives to incarceration, and judges should not use arrest warrants or license suspensions to coerce people to pay court debts.The letter came in response to requests by judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, advocates and lawmakers who met with Justice Department officials in December to discuss how fines and fees are assessed, and to find ways to make sure they are more fairly administered.The attention to fines and fees stemmed, in part, from the Justice Department investigation into the town, police force and municipal court of Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. In August 2014, Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot to death in by a white Ferguson police officer. That shooting and other deaths of African American residents at the hands of police have sparked unrest and protests, particularly in communities already angry at how they are policed and served by the courts.The Justice Department determined that no criminal charges were warranted against the Ferguson officer, Darren Wilson. However, it found that Fergusons police force and its municipals courts routinely violated the rights of residents, particularly those who were poor and black, by focusing so heavily on raising revenues through fines and fees.Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in December that Fergusons practices were shameful and unacceptable and turned the justice system into a for-profit enterprise at the expense of public safety.Too many of our citizens are simply in jail because they dont have the money to get out, Lynch added. Weve outlawed usury. Weve outlawed debtors prisons. We cannot cloak it in the language of fines and fees and make it right.
Description

GIS - 14 March 2016 : Citizens of the Republic of Mauritius were called upon by the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, to show a sense of responsibility, discipline, solidarity and national unity, in his National Day Address to the Nation on 12 March 2016 . He also warned that any actions aiming to put at stake the future of the country will not be tolerated.

It is with a lot of pride that we celebrate our National Day because as a nation we come together behind the National Flag in patriotic fervour. The Mauritian Nation has accomplished a journey of 48 years of Independence and 24 years as a Republic, stated the Prime Minister. On that note, Sir Anerood Jugnauth emphasised the importance to look at the past to see how the country has fared, what progress has been achieved and when true progress has been attained.

Independence, observed the Prime Minister, is obviously a great moment in the life of a Nation as there is new hope. He also recalled that the country is presently on the right track to being propelled towards a new developmental level and enumerated some projects that are starting in the coming months, namely: Airport City; Heritage City; JinFei Economic and Cooperation Zone; Port development; Construction of new roads, bridges, and flyovers; and launching of the Air Corridor between Africa and Asia with Mauritius and Singapore acting as the two Hubs.

Speaking about the Air Corridor, the Prime Minister said that this will rapidly pave the way to open new tourist markets for our country as well as create new business, trade and investment opportunities. He expressed confidence that this year we are on the right track to build a new future for our country with job creation opportunities as well as enhanced standard of living and purchasing power for the people.

The results that we are awaiting will come if we believe in ourselves and adopt a working culture and discipline. Together we will succeed and shape the second economic miracle which will put our country in the league of prosperous countries. Let us take resolutions to act as patriots who are convinced that the future will be better and we will be even prouder of what we will accomplish. Our destiny is indeed in our hands he added.

Sir Anerood Jugnauth moreover stated that the fight against social exclusion remains a priority and the situation as regards law and order as well as road safety is being closely monitored.
Five Key Questions

(TNS) -- As Apple tries to fend off government demands for access to iPhone content, the company is leaning on free speech arguments as a key part of its defense in a California courtroom.On the other end of the country, 10 separate lawsuits have piled up this year against net neutrality rules, with both sides claiming First Amendment rights in this long-running dispute over Internet service.This is Sunshine Week in the U.S., when news organizations put a spotlight on the publics right to know and size up the state of government openness and access to public records.This year, we should add a more sweeping question to the list: How will the First Amendment navigate the dramatic changes in information technology?Complicated disputes are popping up in both predicable and surprising places.Cases moving through the courts range from whether Facebook likes and Twitter posts are protected speech (both are for the moment) to what individual First Amendment rights should be granted to businesses (theyre steadily expanding).The mere definition of free speech is getting clouded: Are video games a kind of speech? What about computer-driven content like searches and automated stories? Put another way, can iPhones Siri claim First Amendment rights if she somehow offends or libels you?Free speech standards shaped over the past half-century are colliding with modern privacy concerns. Protests at a series of campuses the past year pitted press rights against the demand for safe places where students can avoid conflicting views. Theres growing support for right to be forgotten laws that allow people to erase pieces of their past or otherwise rewrite digital history.When a humorist quickly gathered 50 signatures calling for repeal of the First Amendment as a joke a few months ago at Yale, nobody should have been laughing.The First Amendment has survived plenty of change in 225 years. Speech, press and expression rights have been expanded and hardened as theyve adapted to waves of technology, including the telegraph, print, radio and television.Those who follow the topic most closely, though, say the information age started a whole new era. Here are key questions likely to shape the future of the First Amendment:How will the Internet alter free speech practices? Theres still a lot of unsettled law about how speech and expression play out in a Facebook world.Scholars say rules taking shape will generally extend existing standards to the Internet. The challenge will be figuring out when speech is altered by the Internets speed and reach, and how to handle all the new content types at a time when anyone can be a publisher.The Internet amplifies everything, said Thomas Healy, a Seton Hall law professor and author of the book The Great Dissent, about Oliver Wendell Holmes free speech evolution. It amplifies expression. It makes it more powerful, more dangerous, more offensive. Those things have to be taken into consideration.Early court decisions hold that data-driven communications, such as computer-assembled news and Google searches, are indeed protected forms of speech. So is computer code itself, which is the basis of the First Amendment argument that Apple is making for refusing to crack open the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino mass shooters.Whos advocating for the publics interest? We should watch which players and what forces are trying to influence the rules as a changing of the media guard takes place.The newspaper and broadcast companies that championed speech and press rulings of the 20th century dont have the power or financial strength they once did. The dominant technology companies have not shown that same kind of stewardship of the First Amendment.John E. Finn, the Wesleyan government professor who taught the Great Courses series on the First Amendment, was speaking for his peers when he said, I worry about the lack of well-funded institutions advocating for openness.Who controls how information moves? Just as important as who creates content will be who distributes it, which is why the net neutrality rules approved by the Federal Communications Commission last year and now under appeal drew comment from a whos who of tech companies, from Netflix and Google to Comcast and Verizon.Current rules require service levels and rates to be the same for all. Internet providers say that curbs their business options, while content creators say reversing this would give the Internets utilities too much power over the marketplace and lead, for instance, to download speeds based on your willingness to pay.While both sides claim First Amendment rights, self-interests show through in their positions. Its also becoming clear how much control already is in the hands of those who provide devices, pipelines and software that determine everything from what you find when you search to whose postings you see on Facebook and LinkedIn.The people who develop our technologies, said Cindy Cohn, director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which tracks digital rights, are having a bigger and bigger role in all these things.What will expanding business rights mean? A series of First Amendment rulings sought by private corporations has freed them from limits in such areas as advertising, ingredient listings and political contributions.About half of the successful First Amendment appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court today focus on corporate rights  a big change from previous decades, according to a survey of a half-century of court decisions by Harvard law professor John Coates.Some say that the expansion of any speech rights serves all comers. Others say this shift goes against the intent to protect the rights of citizens against powerful government and corporate interests.And finally, where do you stand? Here the news is encouraging: The amendments simple, 45-word summary covering religion, speech, press, petition and assembly is woven into the American civil fabric.While percentages rise and fall slightly with current events, polls consistently find overwhelming support and admiration for the First Amendment from a vast majority of the population. Unlike almost any other topic in public life, those sentiments cut across political, ethnic, age and economic lines.Two-thirds of the worlds population lives without religious and press rights, and many countries, from China to Cuba, are using technology to suppress rights. This makes the American model an even greater beacon if we succeed in using technology to extend freedoms.We have the gold standard, said Alberto Ibarguen, director of the Miami-based Knight Foundation, which funds media innovation around the world. Its our responsibility to make sure we maintain that.The First Amendment did not find its place at the core of our rights without many struggles over two centuries. Sunshine Week is a good time to remember there are fresh battles ahead.
The Array of Things is expanding outside Chicago. But only to cities that have partnerships with a local university or research institution.The project, which aims to deploy a fleet of multi-function sensors around the Windy City beginning this year, is also working with city and academic partners to expand to Seattle, as well as Bristol and Newcastle in the United Kingdom. And those are just the beginning  Charlie Catlett, director of the Urban Center for Computation and Data and a driving force behind the project, said hes working with a total of 18 locations around the world. Hes even partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which wants to test out the sensors ability to deliver air quality data as a possible means of improving existing sensors.And the number of partners keeps on growing. But Catlett said hes only really going to consider expanding the project to cities that have partnerships in place with a local university or research institute.There are two reasons for that. The first is that even though the project is aimed at municipal uses, those research-focused institutions will bring the technical expertise to the table that will allow them to work with technology thats really just getting on its feet.Theyre in a better position to be able to take something thats not a full-fledged product with a manual and an army of support people, and they can actually make the product better and collaborate with us on it, Catlett said.In the process, he said, those partners will be able to tweak the sensors and look for new ways to use them. Then they can all work together to improve the technology.The second reason is that Catlett wants to push the idea of partnerships between cities, universities and research institutes. And setting up an Array of Things in any given city is going to take a lot of cooperation between those entities.You need to work with the city on contracts and permits," he said, "[and] you need to work with electricians on the specifics of safety and  installation."He added that the first three city partnerships should give him a better idea of what is necessary to deploy sensors in any given city. He can then take those lessons to other cities interested in joining the project  a list that includes Portland, Ore.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Atlanta; Boston; Pittsburgh and New York. Each potential partner has different ideas on how to use the sensors. Chattanooga might use them to track pollen in the air, while Seattle is more concerned with rain.That will mean adding a thing or two to the sensors. Faculty at the University of Washington want to tweak the 10 sensors theyll get through the Array of Things project to add low-cost rain-sensing capabilities. Bill Howe, associate director of the universitys data-focused eScience Institute, said doing this will give the project team the ability to make an existing array of rain sensors in Seattle more effective. The network, called RainWatch , is designed to monitor precipitation and give the city some idea of where flooding might happen.It turns out those models can be helped a lot by having these hyperlocal measurements from sensors put in the right place, Howe said.Though the specific uses for the sensors might change, Howe gave two more projects the team wants to complete with its array. One is deploying a pair of sensors close to each other  perhaps a block apart  to measure differences in air quality. Specifically, Howe suggested that one node might go on a bus route and the other would provide baseline measurements to see how buses affect the air in the places they drive.The other would be putting a node in a university parking garage. Thats because the technology was not designed for that use, and Howe said that seeing how the sensors perform in that environment could be useful in developing them.Were kind of doing a suite of experiments with these nodes, including a feasibility experiment, he said.All of this will provide students an opportunity to get valuable experience working with cutting-edge technology. Those students, he said, might come up with ideas that nobody else has thought of yet.Catlett said he expects a private partner to begin manufacturing a first batch of 75 sensors in mid-April. Most of those will go up around Chicago by summer, and then he plans on making another batch of 75 around June and July to go out to Seattle, Bristol and Newcastle.Were getting ready to pull the trigger," he said, "so its an exciting and hair-raising time."
(TNS)  It was a close election year in 2002. A late barrage of commercials may have made the difference for the party that won the Governor's office and control of the legislature.Within months, the donors who gave at least $725,000 used to buy air time for those commercials were rewarded with a state contract so generous it was eventually ruled unconstitutional.It was another highly competitive time during the recall elections of 2011 and 2012. Again, a big donor came through with $700,000 in campaign advertising money used to help a party keep control of the Governor's office and legislature.Within months, state laws were rewritten to ease environmental regulations for the donor's industry.Should citizens in a democracy know about such donations? How else can voters determine whether their elected representatives are working for them or for a much smaller group of powerful interests who might even live in another state or country?This donor information is becoming increasingly difficult to find at the same time that more money than ever is flowing into state elections.When the U.S. Supreme Court determined that buying political commercials is a form of First Amendment protected speech, it effectively erased a century of campaign finance limits. In many states those limits were passed during an economic era similar to our own in that decades of technological innovation had concentrated enormous wealth in the hands of a privileged few. For some early 20th Century oil, railroad, mining, timber and communications barons, it wasn't enough to own businesses that employed hundreds of thousands  they wanted to own the government, too. Politicians like Theodore Roosevelt and Bob LaFollette, supported by the average citizens they represented, worked to cap their influence.I'm not criticizing the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision to protect advocacy spending as free speech. If a billionaire runs for governor, and has virtually unlimited personal resources to spend on campaign commercials, why shouldn't groups of less wealthy people have the freedom to pool their resources in opposition? I get that.The problem right now is that the old restrictions on donor influence haven't yet been replaced, at the federal or state level, with new rules to limit the power of the few over the many.One simple solution could help, and Sunshine Week is a good time to start the conversation: Let the voters know who is financing political campaigns by requiring full and immediate disclosure of major contributors to the campaigns, parties and groups buying political ads before an election.That will let citizens see if tribes are spending $725,000 in a last minute push to back Democrats, as in 2002. Which, in turn, may make it harder for those Democrats to negotiate eternal casino compacts in private, removing the voters' ability to ever renegotiate them.That will let voters see if a mining company is spending $700,000 to elect Republicans, as in 2011 and 2012. Which, in turn, may make it harder for those Republicans to quickly ease environmental regulations for mines in Wisconsin without an open debate.We learned of the mining donations by accident when a U.S. Appeals Court mistakenly unsealed them in the controversial John Doe II investigation of possible illegal coordination between private groups and political campaigns. Those limits on coordination no longer exist. That doesn't mean the donors should remain secret.We learned of the tribes' donations when our reporters checked the financial reports politicians and parties must file twice a year -- meaning months after the election. Today, thanks to modern technology, major donors to all political actors buying pre-election advertising could be reported immediately if required to.Why should any honest politician of either party oppose immediate full disclosure of who is paying for political advertising?Big donors won't like it, claiming fear of criticism might inhibit their willingness to speak with money. But really they just don't want to lose power by negotiating in the light of day, where support for law changes and business proposals must be won through public forums and bidding processes.It's harder and messier. But that's real democracy.
Any doubt that the controversial 'musical chairs' qualifying format will make its bow in Melbourne have been swept aside.

Even though the format - which will see cars eliminated in 90-second segments in 2016 in a bid to spice up the grid - passed through all of F1's decision-making processes, doubts were still lingering mere days ago.

Red Bull's Christian Horner warned that Ferrari, for instance, has "the right to veto these things", while Niki Lauda added: "The stupid thing is that we decide something and maybe nothing will happen".

But La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, said earlier noises of opposition about the new format from the Ferrari camp were "overcome" last week.

The FIA confirmed that last Friday by publishing the final version of the 2016 sporting regulations, with article 33 spelling out the definite 'musical chairs' rules.

An excerpt from the 'Q3' description reads: "The same (elimination) procedure will apply after 6m30s, 8m0s, 9m30s, 11m0s and 12m30s, leaving two cars eligible to continue."

(GMM)
Mercedes is getting specific amid its claims Ferrari has definitely closed the gap over the winter.

Silver-clad figures have been playing up Ferrari's chances of mounting a challenge this year, and now team chairman Niki Lauda is even willing to put a figure on it.

"It isn't Mercedes' fault if we've been faster the last two seasons," the F1 legend told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Our goal is to continue that but I think the gap has been reduced. Last season we had a 0.6 second advantage over Ferrari but they are closer this season. Our gap may come down to 0.2 so anything can happen," Lauda added.

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, agrees.

"Ferrari has definitely made a leap," he told the Austrian broadcaster ORF.

"Already from 2014 to 2015 they developed really well, and now they have continued that.

"If we have a head-start, it is not like it was last year -- we are talking about two, three tenths. Maybe just one," said Wolff.

Wolff was also quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport: "Ferrari looks very good. From testing we saw some really interesting laps from them that show they are on the pace."

And driver Nico Rosberg said: "Ferrari has really improved, and I believe they will even bring an upgrade to Melbourne. We will have a real fight with them."

Asked by the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag how many wins he is expecting the Maranello team to capture in 2016, Rosberg answered: "Lots. They are strong. Really strong."

(GMM)
I Use H-1B Visas But It Should End: Trump

Rubio Too Slams System, Names Tata, India In Debate Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday for the first time acknowledged that he uses the much sought after H-1B visas at his own businesses but sought to end the programme which he claimed was very unfair to American workers as it took away their jobs.

The last Republican presidential debate in Miami began with the four White House aspirants slamming the H-1B visa system used to employ highly-skilled foreign workers and popular among Indian techies, with Florida senator Marco Rubio even naming Tata and India as part of his anti-H-1B rhetoric.

"I know the H-1B very well. And it's something that I frankly use and I shouldn't be allowed to use it. We shouldn't have it. Very, very bad for workers. It's very important to say, well, I'm a businessman and I have to do what I have to do," Trump said while responding to a question on foreign workers.

Rubio said it is illegal under the H-1B visa programme to use it to replace American workers.
Meet AP CM in UK, Become Smart Village Investor

NRIs residing in United Kingdom who are keen on becoming a partner with the Andhra Pradesh government in adopting a village and investing in Andhra Pradesh are invited to take part in Meet and Greet Chief Minister of the AP Nara Chandrababu Naidu on March 12 at 2-5 pm at The White House, 281 Barking Road, Eastham, London E61LB.

On the occasion, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will be introducing the Europe division of APNRT.

In the special meet, N Chandrababu Naidu will be discussing on how one can adopt a village and become a partner with the AP Govt in Smart Village programme. Besides, the meet will also witness discussions on business and investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh.

In this regard, N Chandrababu Naidu will also be giving a presentation on investment opportunities in APs new capital city, Amaravathi, to around 30 Sovereign funds, top 150 UK Companies and private financiers.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will also be meeting representatives of UKIBC (UK India business council), Telugu diaspora and UK India business forum.

Those who are interested in adopting a village as well as taking part in the Meet and Greet programme are requested to register on www.ukwelcomescbn.com.
Big Drama In Assembly On Expected Lines!

The high-voltage drama in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly over the discussion on no-confidence motion by the YSR Congress party against the Chandrababu Naidu government was completely on expected lines.

Everybody knows that the no-confidence motion cannot win because the Opposition lacks majority.

What was witnessed in the House was just a political slugfest between Leader of the Opposition Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who were trying to settle their political scores.

As expected, Jagan made wild allegations against Naidu stating that the latter had indulged in large scale corruption in as many as 20 issues.

He demanded that Naidu order a CBI inquiry on these allegations and he would prove all of them. And Naidu shot back, challenging Jagan to come out with evidences on the allegations and table them on the floor of the House.

If there any evidences, I will take action against the corruption and I will not come to the Assembly again. If Jagan cannot produce evidences, will he do that? Naidu challenged.

The TDP president went to the extent of threatening to stall the Assembly, if Jagan cannot produce evidences to prove the allegations particularly on Krishnapatnam and Polavaram projects.

There is no question of allowing the House to run, unless Jagan comes out with evidences. Otherwise, action has to be taken against him. I dont even agree for an apology from him, he said.

The fireworks continued for a long time, much to the disgust of the viewers. In fact, there was nothing new in the allegations levelled by Jagan as they have been highlighted in Sakshi in the last two weeks. They were also raised in the Assembly during the debate on Governors address.

And there is nothing new in Naidus response either, because nobody would expect him to order an inquiry into the allegations against his own government.
Cong Could Nail KCR At Last!

The Opposition parties in Telangana may be very weak compared to the Opposition in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, but they are experienced enough to trouble the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi government.

This was evident from the way Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao lost his cool and attacked the Congress party legislators who exposed the hollowness in the agreements signed by the TRS government with Maharashtra on Pranahita-Chevella project.

He tried to silence the Congress MLAs by launching a counter-attack on them with regard to irrigation projects, but had to admit finally that the agreements signed with the Maharashtra government were not final but only a first step.

He said discussions would continue with the neighbouring State and final agreements would be signed soon.

Well, if the agreements were just first step, why did KCR choose to celebrate it as a very big event? Why were such huge rallies and cut-outs all over Hyderabad describing KCR as Apara Bhageeratha as if Godavari water would start flowing from the very next day?

It is better the Chief Minister does not under-estimate Congress leaders like Jeevan Reddy, Geetha Reddy or for that matter Shabbir Ali and Uttam Kumar Reddy. He cannot shout them down every time.

The Congress leaders would get more and more such opportunities to expose the TRS governments mistakes and they should put up a spirited fight if they want to come back to power!
Four Promises Go A Begging

Hyderabad: Four major promises were made to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation, promises that could have provided a significant boost to the beleaguered state following the loss of Hyderabad.

They are: special status to AP for ten years, a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters, allocation of sufficient funds for speedy completion of Polavaram and financial assistance for the construction of the new capital, Amaravathi.

Not a single one of those promises have been fulfilled to date, even though it is two years since bifurcation.

One can understand the failure of the state government in getting these promises implemented if they were at opposition with the Centre. But here, the ruling party, the TDP is actually in an alliance with the BJP. So, there can be no excuses.

Any self-respecting party would have pulled out of such an alliance by now, but not the TDP. It is highly unlikely that even one of these promises would be fulfilled by 2019.

As for special category status, the Centre has categorically said that AP will not get it which eaves three out of four remaining. And they will continue to remain!
Restrict Yourself To Your Duties

Andhra Pradesh Kapu Corporation chairman Chalamalasetty Ramanujaya advised Kapus on Saturday to have confidence in the State Government which was committed to their development and not get carried away by YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's propaganda.

Addressing media men in Nandyal, Mr. Ramanujaya accused Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy of instigating Kapus who have been staunch supporters of the Telugu Desam Party for long.

Alleging that former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy engineered riots in Hyderabad in order to oust the then Chief Minister M. Channa Reddy, he said the Opposition leader was toeing a similar path.

Mr. Ramanujaya asserted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu rightly pointed out that Kapus would not resort to violence such as burning of a train. In what capacity is this person speaking?

As the Chairman of the Corporation, why does he not restrict himself to just disbursing loans to the people of his community instead of speaking like a TDP politician? But then, since he is an appointee of Chandrababu, he needs to prove his devotion to his master by licking him.

He says that YSR engineered riots in Hyderabad, but his own community person Hari Rama Jogiah said that CBN was behind Rangas murder. How then can Ramanujaya wag his tail at CBN? Or is Hari rama Jogiah lying?

He quotes CBN as saying that Kapus would never resort to violence such as burning of a train. Well, he is probably unaware of the violence in the aftermath of Rangas murder.

Besides, all the persons charge sheeted in the Tuni violence are from Andhra area only. Where then is the basis for his allegations?
The finalists are: Austin, TX; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA. Secretary Foxx was joined by representatives of the seven city finalists, including Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, and Portland Mayor Charlie Hales for the announcement at the C3 Connected Mobility Showcase being held during the South by Southwest conference (SXSW).

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, joined by Barbara Bennett, President and COO of Paul G. Allens Vulcan Inc. and Rick Clemmer CEO of NXP Semiconductors, announced the seven finalists for the US Department of Transportations (USDOT) Smart City Challenge . ( Earlier post .) The USDOT has pledged up to $40 million (funding subject to future appropriations) to one city to help it define what it means to be a Smart City and become the countrys first city to fully integrate innovative technologiesself-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensorsinto their transportation network.

After an overwhelming response78 applications totalwe chose to select seven finalists instead of five because of their outstanding potential to transform the future of urban transportation. Secretary Foxx

When the challenge was issued in December 2015, the Departments launch partner, Paul G. Allens Vulcan Inc., announced its intent to award up to $10 million to the winning city to support electric vehicle deployment and other carbon emission reduction strategies.

In this second phase of the competition, the seven finalists will receive a $100,000 grant to further develop their proposals. Whereas the first phase called for a high-level overview, the winning city will be selected based on their ability to think big, and provide a detailed roadmap on how they will integrate innovative technologies to prototype the future of transportation in their city. The Department will work with each city to connect them with existing partnerships and support their final proposal with technical assistance.

In addition to announcing the seven finalists, Secretary Foxx also announced a new Smart City Challenge partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), a secure cloud services platform, which will provide solution architecture and best practices guidance to the finalists to help them leverage AWS services for Smart City solutions, as well as award $1 Million of credits to the Challenge winner for AWS Cloud services and AWS Professional Services.

Furthermore, AWS will collaborate with US DOT on efforts to engage the startup community, and bring their ideas to the finalists. The credits, support, and collaboration will help the winning city design and build a Smart City on the AWS Cloud.

Other partners that have already joined the Smart City Challenge include:

Mobileye. Mobileye will equip the winning citys public bus system with their Mobileyes Shield+ on every bus which helps bus drivers avoid and mitigate imminent collisions and protect road users including bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists.

Autodesk. Autodesk will provide InfraWorks 360 and finalists will get access to (and training on) Infraworks 360, a modeling platform that uses 3-D visualizations and real-world data to plan major engineering projects.

NXP. NXP will provide the contests winning city with wireless communication modules that allow cars to securely exchange data, such as hazard warnings, over distances of more than a mile to prevent accidents and improve traffic flow.

The Department developed the Smart City Challenge as a response to the trends identified in the Beyond Traffic draft report. The report, issued last year, revealed that the US aging infrastructure is not equipped to deal with a significantly growing population in regions throughout the country. It also identified a need to increase mobility options in developing mega-regionsspecifically mid-sized cities.

The winning city will be announced in June 2016.
Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. has delivered its first fuel cell vehicle in Ontario, Canada to Joseph Cargnelli, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at Mississauga-based Hydrogenics Corporation.

In November, 2014, Hyundai Auto Canada announced it would become the first Canadian automotive company to offer fuel cell vehicles to real-world customers. Six Tucson FCEVs have been delivered since February, 2015 in British Columbia. With the expansion to Ontario, the company is further demonstrating the capabilities of FCEV technology and calling for investment in infrastructure development.

Hydrogenics provides hydrogen generation, energy storage and hydrogen power modules to its customers and partners around the world. Hydrogenics has manufacturing sites in Germany, Belgium and Canada and service centers in Russia, China, India, Europe, the US and Canada.
DURHAM - Kalilah Black, a 2011 graduate of N.C. A&T, has landed a spot as a cast member of Disneys The Lion King touring Broadway show. The live musical is now running at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

My mother says I was singing before I could talk, Black told A&T's Alumni Times. She was head of the theater ministry at church and I would perform with other kids. My parents met in the drama club in the military. There is nothing else I can see myself doing. So this was going to happen; it was already written for me.

Black is a swing cast member. She covers several chorus and/or dancing roles, as well as the understudy for the female hyena, Shenzi, whose speaking and singing voice was performed by Whoopi Goldberg in the original motion picture.

Black spends a great deal of her time honing her craft, including working with a vocal coach and making sure she is prepared for whatever changes may occur in the production.

She originally auditioned for the part of Nyla, but wasnt selected after the final auditions.

But that didn't break her spirit. She said making it through to the end was reassurance that she was capable to play the role.

She accepted other offers, including an 11-month stint as a cover band singer in Singapore, an Alaskan cruise ship performer and a role in a theme park version of The Lion King in Hong Kong.

Nonetheless, she knew what she wanted and did everything in her power to make it happen.

Im a strong believer that success is directly related to the power of intention and knowing what you want to happen and believing and trusting like you already know it will happen, Black said. I was very clear when I completed the cruise ship that the next gig I wanted to do was 'The Lion King,' so I did what was necessary.

I took more dance classes, vocal lessons and acting," she said. "I made sure the job I had didnt conflict with audition times. I prepared, because I said that would be next. Thats not just for theater. It can apply for anything. Im such a huge advocate for the power of intention.

On Feb. 29, Black returned to her roots and spoke with A&T theater students about her experiences and how they should utilize the sound instruction, advice and care of the departments professors, and to make mistakes in the educational setting in order to be ready for the professional world.

The Lion King will run through March 20 at DPAC. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.
The servers are being asked to sacrifice. Photo: Brea Souders/New York Magazine

The tipping debate is easily the most-talked-about issue in New Yorks food world, spurred on by Danny Meyers announcement that he would convert all of his Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants to a service-included model. Other pioneering owners followed suit, including Andrew Tarlow, arguably Brooklyns most influential restaurateur. He revealed in December that he too would go gratuity-free at his family of popular restaurants, starting with Romans, the bustling Italian spot in Fort Greene. At the time, another big-name convert was something of a coup for no-tipping advocates, but in the ensuing months, the transition, it seems, has not been without problems of its own.

Part of what made the change so difficult is just actually undoing the way weve been programmed, says an employee of Romans who asked to remain anonymous. Of course, its been weirdly emotional and frustrating and anxiety-causing.

Management is sympathetic to those feelings: It has been, I think, challenging for the front of house to change the way we do things and the way in which they are compensated, human-resources and company rep Leah Campbell tells Grub. She said that it was more than a simple change, and likened the move to rebuilding the foundation of the restaurant group.

Romans moved to a gratuity-free model on January 18. The plan is that, over the next few years, the restaurants kitchen workers will see their starting wage rise to $15 an hour. Servers, meanwhile, now receive a wage of $15 to $17 an hour in addition to earnings from a revenue-share program, a kind of tipping substitute that buoys their wages after the loss of tipping. Its a similar system to the one Meyer uses at his tip-free restaurants, as well as gratuity-included spots like Fedora, or Huertas in the East Village, which is notable for including both front-of-house employees and line cooks in its revenue share.

While servers who have seen their pay go down as a result of the changes, as well as those who fear the change, grumble about the transition, theyll admit that the previous system of tips  basically just semi-arbitrary amounts of money from the public  is antiquated. What other kind of industry is there where you can own a business and not have to pay anyone because youre relying on the clientele to pay for your staff? asks the Romans employee. I just think its really a broken system.

Even still, New York is an expensive place to live, and its understandable that workers would feel uneasy about any destabilization of their income  even if they know their co-workers arent paid fairly. The management at Romans didnt do itself any favors with the timing of their announcement: The restaurants staff was notified of the switch on December 15, the same day the public was told.

After the change was instituted on January 18, servers took a pay cut from what was, Grub was told by employees and former employees of Romans, an income well above average for the industry  something like 15 to 20 percent so far. Not everyone was onboard with such a dramatic drop. One veteran server promptly quit. She had been at Romans since 2011 and with Tarlows restaurants for several years before that.* Another server followed suit, but everyone else stayed, and Campbell says the turnover rate is the same as in previous years. (Romans typically employs seven servers at any one time.)

Its virtually impossible to go along [with making] less money in NYC, says Romans bartender Anna Dunn, who has worked for Tarlows company for a decade and is now the editor-in-chief of the restaurant groups Diner Journal. I want to support people in the back of the house. It takes time to recognize that its not a personal thing but something that will benefit everyone.

The current restaurant employee points out that a pay cut like this  probably necessary but no less frustrating as a result  inspires feelings that you might call mixed at best. If theyre going to present it to us, or to anyone, as about evening the wage gap between the back and front  which it isnt actually doing now  the back of house is still getting paid very little and a lot less than the waiters, the source says. But if youre going to make it about that, why werent you just paying the people cooking the food fairly, you know, ten years ago?

The servers are being asked to sacrifice. We did it in the slowest possible time of year, are raising prices 20 percent, and are seeing regular business. Its hard to justify giving servers anything more, says Romans sous-chef Frank Reed. I believe it was a change that was inevitable and coming. Disparities between back and front of house were never going to get fixed.

Those who have stayed at the restaurant are supportive of the change. Dunn says the mood is far less contentious than it was when the change first took effect. Conversations between the waitstaff and management have increased, too, she says, but its also clear that ending tipping could change the dynamic of serving and who can make it work.

Some people want to pursue their art for 40 hours a week and then work 28 hours a week in a restaurant to pay the bills, Dunn says. Those people are really vital to a room. What are they going to do to make the most amount of money in the least amount of hours? She says that, before, some workers could count on big paydays on busy nights and focus only on working those times. The move to the no-tipping system means it doesnt matter in the same way how busy the dining room is. I think about how people cant pick up a Friday shift and earn a ton of money to make up for having to take a week off to write.

*This post has been edited. It originally stated that the server in question had worked at Romans since it opened, but a rep for the restaurant says the person started in 2011.
David Chang may have risen to fame and fortune on the crest of the great nose-to-tail pork-belly revolution, but as any self-respecting Momofuku groupie will tell you, times have changed. Sure, you can enjoy a bountiful bossam pork haunch at select Chang outlets, but chicken is the protein of choice at the chefs latest fast-casual venture, Fuku, and the delivery service, Maple, in which he is a prominent investor, is dotted with all sorts of weirdly chaste-sounding items (bulgur-and-tofu bowls, anyone?). Like lots of prominent philosopher-king chefs these days, Chang is preoccupied with weighty issues (sustainability, waste, the fast-vanishing food supply), and his public ruminations on these subjects, and the future of restaurant culture in general (The supply side of food freaks the shit out of me, he was quoted saying in GQ recently), have taken on an increasingly earnest, even gloomy tone.



Whether by design or not, many aspects of this new, slightly dystopian vision are on display at the Momofuku empires latest New York restaurant, Nishi, which opened a couple of months ago in a typically loud, typically cramped, typically Changian space among the nail salons and old laundromats along lower Eighth Avenue. Like in the famous flagship establishments in the East Village, the walls are sparely decorated (theres a futuristic Escher print on one of them), and the surfaces are mostly covered in tan, polished wood, like the inside of a modishly designed ship container. Diners perch on backless, box-shaped stools and dine close together, like in a cafeteria bar. There is, mercifully, no tipping at this restaurant of the future, the menu is economical, almost to a fault, and many of the carefully portioned, mostly local, seasonal dishes seem designed for a more Spartan fine-dining era, when costs are high, resources are tight, and largesse is no longer taken for granted.

Or so I thought to myself as the first wave of slight, carefully articulated appetizers pattered gently down our snug corner of the noisy dining counter, laid out in dainty glass finger bowls and simple white plates. One bowl contained a helping of tiny, crisp-fried head-on shrimp, which was excellent in every respect (pearly inside, dusted with sansho pepper and garnished with wedges of lime) but looked less like an actual restaurant appetizer than like something youd enjoy at a Tokyo bar with your freshly poured drink. We also tasted some housemade tofu, the righteous blandness of which was mitigated by a scattering of smoked trout roe, and three kinds of crudi (unremarkable shreds of black bass ceviche; tasty, faintly charred mackerel; diaphanous ribbons of beef flavored with dashi and winter radishes), which the ravenous Chang faithful at my table gobbled in roughly ten seconds flat.

Chang and his executive chef, Joshua Pinsky, have described Nishi as an exploration of the mash-up possibilities involving Asian and Italian cuisines (the name means west in Japanese), and while some of their experiments in the slightly more robust noodle category are interesting, others make you wonder why anyone would dare tinker with these durable classics in the first place. An unfortunate marriage of Cantonese chow mein and a clam-topped version of Catalan fideos-style pasta wasnt half as satisfying as either of the originals and, at $32 for a meager, non-family-size serving, was roughly six times as expensive. I had similar issues with the weirdly pallid spicy beef Sichuan noodles, although the fiercely addictive, neo-Korean version of chitarra pasta, doused with chiles and an XO sauce bristling with all sorts of funky, fermented fish goodness, got more deliciously addictive as we ate it.

The Momofuku empire is built on unexpected taste combinations like this, of course, the kind that worm their way into your brain and wont go away until you return for a second fix, and maybe even a third one after that. In addition to the strange, Pan-cultural chitarra, I might return to this new Chang restaurant, with a little prodding, for the kitchens velvety, much-Instagrammed take on cacio e pepe (instead of Pecorino, the perfectly al dente noodles are folded with a misolike protein substitute called hozon, made of chickpeas), and the Caesar-like romaine salad folded with walnuts and bagna cauda. I might also return for a spoonful or two of the chicken and dumplings, a smooth, wintry mash of flat noodles, bits of pulled chicken, and smoked shiitake mushrooms, which manages to taste both comfortingly down-home and vaguely exotic at the same time.

Nishi isnt another populist noodle-and-dumpling bar, however; its being pitched (and priced) as a mid-range, semi-posh restaurant, and although many of the next-wave experiments feel admirably ahead of their time compared with the competition in 2016 New York, the pickings, at this early date, also feel a little thin. Yes, you can sip evocatively named cocktails with your dinner (the Japanese-whiskey-based Mountainside is a nice one), along with a spare, intelligent selection of wines. But there are usually only two entrees on the menu (the delicate, properly fishy mackerel has its locavore charms, but the barnyard protein  usually pork, sometimes a delicious boneless leg of lamb  is the one to get) and just two prefabricated desserts. My personal favorite is the dense, pleasingly green pistachio Bundt cake, but the one slice (its served with a sweet spoonful of ricotta) went quickly at our table, so you may want to order more than one.

Rating: 1 stars



Momofuku Nishi

232 Eighth Ave., nr. 22nd St.; 646-518-1919; nishi.momofuku.com

Open: For dinner, Tuesday to Sunday.

Prices: $10 to $38.

Ideal Meal: Romaine and walnut bagna cauda, beef crudo, ceci e pepe or chitarra, roast lamb or pork, pistachio Bundt cake.

Note: Reservations are available via the Momofuku online system but, in my experience, nearly impossible to get. Youll have better luck joining the rabble of walk-ins, beginning early, around 5:30 p.m., or later, around 9.

Scratchpad: Two stars for the best of the ingenious, Changian recipes. Minus a star for the unevenness and lack of variety.

*This article appears in the March 21, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
ASP of Sony Xperias rises, the company makes the most per phone of any Android maker

Sony's mobile division seems to be struggling, but actually numbers show that the company makes the most profit per phone sold aside from Apple.

In Q4 last year, LG lost money on phones while Sony made a small profit. Looking at the Average Selling Price (ASP) for Xperias was double that of LG phones and the gap has been widening in recent quarters.

ASP is a mix of product lineup and which devices actually sell. Apple's ASP is the highest, but the company doesn't have mid-range offerings (just old models still on sale), let alone entry-level ones. Sony's ASP is halfway between Apple and the next in line, HTC. If you look at the Sony product page, you'll see a lot of Z, M and C phones, but we haven't had an entry-level Xperia E in over a year.

The company's transition to the premium market seems to have an effect - it makes an estimated average of $26 on each phone sold, up from Samsung's $23. Apple is in the stratosphere with $184, while the other big players are losing money, LG hovering just below the break-even point.

These charts also reveal inefficiencies. HTC has a higher ASP than Samsung (by $12), but their per phone profits are separated by a vast $61 gap. Fixed costs are to blame - regardless of how many phones you actually ship (and at what price), there are costs that remain the same (e.g. designing a new model costs the same whether you sell 1 or 1,000,000 units).

Samsung owns a lot of the manufacturing chain so it can combat its falling ASP with higher sales and stay in the black. Sony, meanwhile, is the only Android maker with an ASP that has been rising consistently. Apple's ASP is an almost straight line at $700.

It's also interesting to see how consumer allegiances change. HTC is bleeding consumers to all other makers, many jumping over to Samsung. Samsung itself is losing buyers to Huawei, BQ (really?) and Motorola.

Source | Via
A new Windows 10-powered smartphone has received certification from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The listing reveals that it's a Vaio device manufactured by Taiwan-based company Quanta Computer.

As you might already know, Vaio announced Windows 10-powered Phone Biz last month in Japan, where it is set to go on sale next month. However, it is less likely that the new phone is the Phone Biz given that both carry completely different model numbers - VPU051C11N and VPB0511S, respectively. And not to mention that the company has already confirmed that it currently has no plans to launch the Phone Biz in the US.

A Quanta MTP8952 phone powered by Snapdragon 615 and sporting a 4.7-inch 1080p display was spotted at GFXBench late last year. However, that's not enough to speculate the MTP8952 is the same device that has been certified by Bluetooth SIG.

Via
Christian Hip-Hop artist B-Fade has been presented with the Independent Grind Artist of the Year nomination by the Invasion Music Awards. The awards are run by Invasion Live Music Group, a promotion and booking organization, which originated in Phoenix, Arizona. The vision behind the movement is to engage all generations with the gospel of Jesus Christ through the medium of music.

"B-Fade is a burgeoning new artist and is setting a new standard for innovation and creativity among independent artists," said David C. Coleman, President of Trendency Records. "It's exciting to witness B-Fade blossom as an artist. With phenomenal production, strong lyrics and a solid marketing team on board, I believe he will continue to rise in prominence within the Christian Rap community and will eventually be mentioned in the same breath as some of the top artists within the genre."

Winners will be honored at a star-studded ceremony on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at New Life Community Church, which is located at 8101 Sunset Avenue in Fair Oaks, California. B-Fade will be performing live alongside Flame, Derek Minor, V. Rose, Hillary Jane, Spec, J Monty and a host of others. B-Fade will also be joining Roy Tosh, V. Rose, Spec and others for the Invasion Tour 2016, a twenty city, ten state tour that begins on June 22, 2016.

About Trendency Records:

Nashville, Tennessee-based rap & gospel label Trendency Records is a division of Chrematizo Label Group. For more information, please visit http://www.trendency-records.com and follow on Twitter @trendencyrex.

Single: B-Fade "We Live It (feat. BrvndonP & Pray Area)" [Prod. BrvndonP]

Connect with B-Fade

http://prayarea.com

http://facebook.com/bfademusic

###

Tags : b-fade b-fade news b-fade new album Invasion Music Awards
Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

20:37, 21 OCT 2022
By Jesse Wood

Republican presidential candidate frontrunner Donald Trump is holding a rally in Hickory at 10 a.m. on Monday.

The event, dubbed a town hall, is taking place at Lenoir-Rhyne Universitys Monroe Auditorium.

For the past few hours, people have been gathering at the private university. Reporter Steve Ohnesorge of WBTV tweeted that the line to get into the Trump rally was a half-mile long at about 9 a.m. and several dozen protesters of Trump had gathered nearby as well.

The Charlotte Observer noted that at least 2,000 people had already showed up for the rally. The doors opened at 7 a.m.

Check out a live stream of the rally here.

Meanwhile, the wife of Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, Heidi, is holding a breakfast meet-and-greet event in Conover at the same time as Trumps rally.

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Timo Soini (PS), the Minister for Foreign Affairs, revealed in an interview on YLE TV1 on Monday that a proportionally large number of people have left Finland to fight for the Islamic State (Isis).

Soini gauged in an earlier interview with Ilta-Sanomat that the number of people who have left the country to join the ranks of the extremist group currently stands at approximately 100 and that roughly 20 of them have died.
Local radio stations announce Tuesday primary coverage

Local radio stations WTZQ-1600 AM and WHKP-1450 AM announced coverage plans for Tuesday's primary election.

WTZQ is teaming up with the North Carolina News Network for live coverage of the North Carolina primary. Anchored by NCNN Chief Political Correspondent Donna Martinez, the broadcast will include the latest returns, in-depth interviews with the states top analysts as well as live local election results from Henderson County.

Coverage begins at 8 p.m. and can be heard on the radio at Q-95.3 FM, AM-1600 or on computer or smart device by going to www.wtzq.com or via the TuneIn Radio app. WTZQs election night coverage is sponsored entirely by Pardee Hospital.

WHKP will broadcast live coverage of the local and state-wide election returns starting at 7:30 p.m.

As it was with Truman versus Dewey almost 70 years ago, and with hundreds of local, state and national offices and candidates since then, WHKP has always brought the local community the numbers, the winners and losers, and a clear explanation of what it all means for our local community and for the state and nation," News Director Larry Freeman said. "And we will continue that tradition this Tuesday evening on 'Super Tuesday.'"

WHKP's coverage is also on 107.7-FM and streamed on its website.
A Dublin man who drove into supermarket car parks and stole milk trolleys that had been dropped off has been put on a one-year peace bond.

Anthony Greene (26) loaded up his van with seven steel milk trolleys, valued at 560, in the two incidents at city shops.

Judge Michael Walsh bound him to the peace and fined him 99 after hearing the thefts "defied logic".

Greene had 560 in compensation in court but Judge Walsh ordered it be given to charity.

The accused, of Elmdale Park, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty to the two thefts at Tesco in Crumlin and SuperValu on the Walkinstown Road.

When the case came back before Dublin District Court, defence solicitor Edward Flynn said Greene had full compensation.

The judge ordered it to be donated to the Capuchin Day Centre.

He asked Mr Flynn what possible use Greene could have had for the trolleys.

"It defies logic," Mr Flynn said.

The 560 had been a lot of money to save for Greene, who was unemployed.

He had a young family, "held his hands up" to what he did, and co-operated with the investigation.

Previously, the court heard that on May 1 last year, Greene drove his van into the rear car park of Tesco in Crumlin, where three milk trolleys had been delivered by Glanbia.

Worth

He took them, gardai investigated the theft and Greene was later arrested, a garda sergeant told Judge Walsh.

"On arrest, he also admitted taking four milk trolleys from SuperValu on Walkinstown Road," a garda sergeant said.

The method of theft was the same in both cases. One set of trolleys was worth 240 and the other was valued at 320.

Greene never been convicted of theft before, the court heard.
Gardai are on high alert after identifying three of the capital's most dangerous criminals who are working for the Hutch mob and are considered to be the most likely to carry out further feud murders.

The trio are all from Dublin's north inner city and all have served lengthy jail sentences in relation to botched cash-in-transit robberies.

One of the criminals, who is in his 30s, has very close links to jailed gangster Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch with whom he was previously involved in a number of major crimes.

Gardai have been investigating whether this thug, who was released from prison last year, was one of the AK-47 gunmen who were dreseed as fake gardai in the Regency Hotel gun attack on February 5.

Rival mobster David Byrne was shot dead and two of his pals were injured during the attack.

He is also being investigated for his alleged role in organising the hotel bloodbath.

Hatred

Sources have also revealed that the same criminal is very close to the young hitman who was disguised as a woman when he was photographed fleeing the hotel.

It has emerged that the criminal, who is said to have a pathological hatred of gardai, has been officially warned about an active threat against his life.

Two other north inner city criminals are also being closely monitored by gardai who believe that they could be used at a "minute's notice" to carry out the murder of a rival Kinahan cartel member.

The dangerous duo, who are aged in their 40s, have been out of a prison since 2013. They served sentences together after being busted following a major surveillance operation by the gardai's Organised Crime Unit.

One of the criminals is classified as one of the most dangerous "guns for hire" in the country.

Both men are associated to convicted killer Michael Taylor Jnr (35).

In November 2011, Taylor Jnr was found guilty of the 2007 murder of Paul Kelly (26) at an apartment block in Clontarf, Dublin.

The murder was part of a bitter criminal feud that went on to claim the life of the killer's father, Michael Taylor Snr (53), who died after being shot at a caravan park in Donabate, north Dublin, in June 2011.

All three of the criminals, who are classified as the most dangerous in the Hutch mob, were in jail when Michael Taylor Snr was shot dead.

"These three individuals have well over 100 previous criminal convictions between them and they are considered extremely dangerous and ruthless men," a source said.

"Gardai have been working on the belief that these are the individuals who will be tasked with carrying out the next feud-related attack on behalf of the Hutch organised crime gang.

Associated

"None of these men are actually related to the Hutch family but they have been closely associated with the gang since they were teenagers and also while they served time in prison."

On Wednesday, Donegal man Shane Rowan (39) was arrested when the Emergency Response Unit stopped him near Slane, Co Meath, and found three AK-47s which are suspected of being used in the hotel attack.

On Friday night, Rowan was charged at the Special Criminal Court with possession of the assault rifles, three magazines and 75 rounds of ammunition, and he was also charged with membership of the IRA.

The Herald revealed on Friday that the Garda Special Detective Unit were carrying out searches at a warehouse in the Coolock Industrial Estate after gardai received information that the three AK-47s which were seized on Wednesday had been stored at a location there since the Regency Hotel attack.
The Tyrrelstown pitches, which may also be sold off

Vulture funds were given their name as they tend to target weak companies and wait to profit from their demise.

Most commonly, but not in the Tyrrelstown case, they do this by buying out, at a reduced cost, struggling loans that are mortgaged against assets from banks.

The ultimate goal is to make high profits from buying at bargain prices.

A fund is financed by a group of investors and established by an investment manager, such as the international firm Goldman Sachs.

In the Cruise Park case, the Goldman Sachs fund Beltany Property Finance purchased an 89m loan that had been taken out by Vieira with Ulster Bank.

The security for that loan was Tyrrelstown Shopping Centre, a large land bank in the area and the 103 houses which were rented by developers Richard and Michael Larkin, and which families have now been asked to leave so they can be sold.

After the loan was purchased by the fund, the borrowed money had to be repaid with interest to it, rather than the bank.

If the loan goes unpaid, then the vulture fund is able to take legal action and ultimately seek to take possession of the homes and land.

Action

However, it is understood that the Larkins are continuing to pay back the monies owed to the fund and that no further legal action had been taken.

A decision has now been made to sell off the homes by the Larkins, with the amount going towards repaying the original debt.

It was not just local residents who have been left worried by the development, but also the local Tyrrelstown GAA club.

The Larkins have indicated to the club that they may also sell off the land where the club has its pitches.

"If we have to move, the club doesn't have the finances to sustain that," club secretary Charlie Cleary said.

Fianna Fail's finance spokesman Michael McGrath has said that protection from vulture funds for small business, mortgage holders and tenants should be a top priority.

Speaking about the Tyrrelstown case, he said that there was now little doubt that we are going to see more of these developments in the months ahead unless concerted action was taken.

"Clearly vulture funds feel that there is limited sanction in the law as it currently stands to prevent them putting SMEs into receivership or seeking repossession of family and buy to let properties.

"We have already seen vulture funds use underhand tactics to trigger default on the part of borrowers in an attempt to gain control of very valuable assets. There is a real risk now that action of this type will be stepped up once these funds feel that the political backdrop is more favourable for them."
A heartbroken dad has hit out at a garda investigation into the murder of his son.

Gerry Daly's son, also called Gerry, disappeared in Cavan in 2011. His remains were subsequently found in a Meath bog by a farmer in 2014.

His father told the Herald that gardai did not inform him that the remains were that of the Dubliner when he had been identified. Instead he found out on the evening news.

Since then Mr Daly said that there has been little communication from investigating officers in relation to the probe.

"He went missing on June 26, 2011 and from that day to this the police have never told me anything," Mr Daly said.

"I saw his photograph on the six o'clock news [on the day his body was discovered]."

Gerry Jr is believed to have been involved in a Dublin crime gang and gardai understand that a dispute over money and drugs lead to his death.

Former garda detective John Kerins, who was killed in his home in 2012, is suspected of being involved in the death of Gerry Jr. He was questioned once as part of the investigation but was never arrested.

Criminal

Another suspect, a Traveller criminal from Blanchardstown, was arrested and questioned but no charges have been brought against him.

Mr Daly said he didn't know if his son was involved in criminal activity but he said he does not believe his son would have had it in him to be violent.

He also did not believe his son was involved in a cannabis grow-house, as was reported by his son's partner after his disappearance, saying that his son was known to tell "stories".

Gerry Jr, who was a joiner by trade but was unemployed at the time of his disappearance, spent a normal Sunday with his partner in his Cavan home before he vanished.

Three days later she became concerned when she hadn't heard from him and returned to his house to find him missing.

There was no sign of a break-in or a struggle at his home, which led gardai to believe that he left his home with someone who was known to him.

Discovered

His remains were discovered on the Oristown Bog near Kells in 2014 by a farmer. He immediately contacted gardai, who were searching the area to locate IRA victim Brendan Megraw at the time.

Almost two years after the discovery of his body, his dad said that he wants answers for Gerry Jr's sake.

"I just want justice for him," he said.

Still living in Tallaght, Mr Daly said that he kisses a photograph of his son and his late wife every night before bed.

His wife Brigid passed away in June 2012, weeks before the anniversary of her son's disappearance.
Luas operator Transdev is to meet with union representatives this afternoon at the Work Relations Commission in a bid to prevent strike action by drivers on St Patrick's Day.

It comes as Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe is considering whether to alter his Spanish St Patrick's Day trip if the Luas strike goes ahead as planned.

Mr Donohoe is due to travel to Madrid on Wednesday - 24 hours before the planned strike.

While a spokeswoman for Mr Donohoe said his travel plans remain in place, it's understood this may change if the action proceeds.

Trade union Siptu said it is not concerned about the minister's travel arrangements and called on him to ask the Luas operators to engage in discussions with drivers.

Siptu divisional organiser Owen Reidy said further industrial action is avoidable.

"It is not about if the minister cancels his trip," he said.

"What it is really about is coming out and telling Transdev that because they have a state contract there is an onus on them to come out and talk to their staff.

"Any further industrial action, including St Patrick's Day, is entirely avoidable. It needs people to sit down and talk but we do not have a willing partner on the other side."

Transdev said it was looking forward to engaging in the talks this week but said private buses had been ordered as a contingency measure to collect passengers from park-and-ride Luas stops to bring customers to the city centre during Thursday's strikes.

A spokesperson confirmed that the buses will only link the park-and-ride stops on the red and green lines with the city centre.

They will not operate between other Luas stops.

Siptu described the contingency measure as "provocative".

Hiring

"We think the company should be spending their time trying to reach a resolution with their staff rather than spending time, effort and money hiring buses," said Mr Reidy.

"That is not a satisfactory way to ensure your customers have a proper service."

Mr Donohoe yesterday told RTE the special bus service planned to beat the strike action is an "exceptional fall-back measure for the country's national holiday".
ABINGDON, Va.  Dancers pirouetted on toes and in the air on Wednesday evening within the headquarters of Highlands Ballet Company.

The clicks of their pointe shoes sounded like wood on wood. Tapped in a symphony of art, creations materialized by the moment amid rivulets of sweat. Ballet isnt for the faint of heart, but it most certainly is for those with heart.

So it goes during Highlands Sleeping BeautyThe Spell. See it on March 18 at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tennessee. It moves and repeats two days later. Presented by Citizens for the Arts as part of CARTs 35th anniversary season, Highlands charming production travels to Richlands Mary W. Lawson Auditorium in Southwest Virginia Community College on March 20.

It has a taste of a classical ballet, said Deanna Cole-Roberts, founder and co-artistic director of Highlands Ballet, based in Abingdon. The original Sleeping Beauty was a classical ballet, but we have put twists to it. The costuming is very dramatic.

Under the keen watch of Deirdre Cole, co-artistic director of Highlands Ballet, dancers rose to the tips of their toes on Wednesday in Highlands mirrored studio. In character, each dancer performed as their fellow dancers watched intently.

Look to the audience, said Cole to one of them.

The dancers head snapped up, her smile appeared and she looked to the audience.

Shoulders back, Cole said to another.

Back went her shoulders.

This is a fairy tale, Cole said moments after the dancers finished. This is not Disneys Sleeping Beauty. Youre merging certain aspects.

Regina Rice Blankenship portrays Maleficent, the storys antagonist and at least initially its dark fairy.

I really like it, said Blankenship of the role, moments after her spot-on dance under the watchful gaze of her peers. Yes, I get to play evil! Its a lot more complex than youd think. Its a challenge.

Maleficent curses Aurora, played by Olivia Henley. Now, folks may not often think of ballet dancers as actors. Well yes, they dance, but they also act under often grueling scenarios.

I have to mentally shut everything else out and pretend Im that person, said Henley.

For one thing, the dancer in them must hit their marks within each choreographed piece. For another, they are in a role and thus acting, therefore they must adhere to that regiment as well.

Its hard, Henley said. Its a balance of putting your own spin on the character and being the character.

Under Maleficents curse, Aurora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel spindle on her 16th birthday and fall into a deep sleep, from which she will not awaken.

Fate and humanity intervene. First, baby Aurora falls under the care of the three Fairy Godmothers. Alas, they have no experience in such matters. Thus from afar, Maleficent cares for the baby such to initially ensure the curses eventual success.

Over time, Maleficent develops first a maternal affection and then genuine love for Aurora that eventually saves Aurora.

Her character comes full circle, Blankenship said. True love is found.

All the while, litanies of challenges swirl throughout the timeworn tale of Sleeping Beauty. Theres eventual love, but theres heartbreak, too.

Oh, total, major heartbreak, Cole said. Maleficent gets her heart broken. Her past actions break her heart.

No essential story giveaways, but her heartbreak serves to help inspire a change of heart for the character.

Misery loves company, Blankenship said.

Love, even amid betrayal and heartbreak and evil, reverberates at the nub of the essence of Sleeping Beauty. But its not the love that one may initially imagine.

You think you know what true love is, Cole-Roberts said. But its not the handsome prince who will love you.

Now, absence of spoken words and thus a written script of sorts creates added pressure regarding the telling of any story within a ballet. The dancers must evoke their characters in pinpoint fashion.

Also, typically evocative music rises to an essential and vital fore within a ballet, including Highlands Sleeping Beauty. For instance, during the shows foreboding beginning, music layers an apropos feel.

The music is very haunting, Cole said. I hear it and chills go up my spine.

Perfect.

One does not need dialogue to ascertain the story of Sleeping BeautyThe Spell. Its gripping story will reach out and tantalize when needed. Its eventual loving nature will ease forth into the crowd, and perhaps a collective sigh of contentment will arise.

I love the relationship between Aurora and Maleficent, Cole said. It represents love at its essence. Its a human love. Its pure. Its uplifting.

Sleeping Beauty heralds good over evil and love triumphant. Expect dancing and music to match within a program designed to entertain.

Its a journey of life, Cole-Roberts said.
When Belgian police searched the home of a suspected member of the Islamic State after the Paris terror attacks in November, they found in the suspects apartment a curious video. It appeared to be a surveillance recording, made by the suspect, of a senior researcher at a Belgian nuclear center. The authorities speculate that it might have been part of a terrorist plot to capture nuclear materials from the center, perhaps by kidnapping the researcher. The episode has prompted Belgian authorities to deploy armed troops to protect nuclear sites, replacing a private security force.

The potential threat is clear. Much has been done to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles and materials over the past 25 years, but hazards remain from highly enriched uranium and plutonium spread around the globe. Some 1,800 metric tons of weapons-useable material is stored in hundreds of facilities, including civilian research reactors and military stocks.

Starting in 2010, President Barack Obama cast a spotlight on the problem with international summits at which leaders were pressed to act, including the cleanup of materials that could be used for building a so-called dirty bomb, a conventional explosive combined with nuclear materials that, while not a nuclear blast, would nonetheless cause considerable mayhem and disruption. In 2010, when the summits began in Washington, 35 nations had weapons-usable materials; three summits and six years later, it is down to 24.

But now comes the difficult part. Leaders of more than 50 nations will gather in Washington at the end of this month for the fourth and final nuclear security summit. Then what? The summit process has not given rise to an effective global system for securing these nuclear materials. It will take some real imagination and determination to keep up the pressure. We hear the coming summit will produce action plans, pledges from the leaders to pursue nuclear security in existing international organizations. It may also set up some kind of smaller, ongoing contact group. But will these be sufficient to sustain the sense of urgency and political drive that the summits generated?

A detailed index published by the Nuclear Threat Initiative shows tangible progress was achieved between 2012 and 2014, but since then efforts have stalled, due to political issues that have diverted attention, bureaucratic inertia, lack of resources and cultural factors. None of these are going away any time soon.

The rapid deterioration of U.S. relations with Moscow has taken a toll, too. Russia has declared it will not attend the summit. Cooperation on nuclear security has all but collapsed under the weight of President Vladimir Putins ill-fated adventure in Ukraine. Former senator Sam Nunn, D-Ga., who pioneered that cooperation, said recently there is a corrosive lack of trust between Washington and Moscow, and channels of communication are few and far between. Without in any way easing the pressure on Putin over Ukraine or Syria, the United States and Russia ought to realize that Islamic State terrorists interested in nuclear materials in Belgium are a threat to all countries, and one worth talking about.
The Humane Society has pets who need a home. Will you open yours?
United States President Barack Obama, perhaps, to justify his winning the Nobel Peace Prize for just one peroration in Prague in April 2009 initiated the so-called nuclear security summits. Ironically, in the speech, he did not promise any progress towards a world without nuclear weapons, but mentioned the need for nuclear governance measures within the confines of the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to protect vulnerable nuclear material. It is something these summits have pondered, and the last of which  Obamas diplomatic swan song is scheduled in Washington appropriately for Fools Day (March 31-April 1). Except, measures to keep nukes away from terrorists and madmen only underline the iniquitous nuclear status quo and, where disarmament is concerned, amounts to putting the cart before the horse.

New Delhis enthusiasm for these summits is incomprehensible. Animated less by national interest than a desire to join the causes dear to the US, Indian prime ministers have been imprudent, ignoring the wisdom of staying aloof from such international conferences that invariably end up eroding Indias freedom of strategic action and room for foreign policy manoeuvre. Responsible for negotiating the deleterious nuclear deal with the US, which stymied the countrys development of thermonuclear weapons fetched India nothing in return  neither the rights and privileges of a nuclear weapons state nor the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, as assured by the July 18, 2005 joint statement signed between then US President George W Bush and then prime minister Manmohan Singh. Singh, however, attended the first two of these summits.

Read | India, US rush to firm up maiden nuclear cooperation pact

As if to prove he is no laggard in conceding sovereign nuclear policy ground, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prepared for the Washington conference by formally committing to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC). This gesture, while doubtless pleasing to the US government and Western nuclear industry leaders, who can expect to sell India nuclear power plants worth tens of billions of dollars, violates the 2010 Nuclear Liability Act. This made foreign vendors accountable for accidents sourced to deficient or flawed nuclear reactors and related technologies they supply, and does not limit their compensation to victims, as the CSC does to $300 million. Modis flouting the Act means the Indian taxpayer not only pays through his nose for technologically faulty imported nuclear reactors but, in the case of nuclear accidents, also for compensatory payouts in excess of the CSC cap, which could potentially run into billions of dollars.

Nuclear governance presumes a stable nuclear order. But the extant regime has always been roiled by the ongoing strategic force modernisation and augmentation programmes of the five NPT-recognised nuclear weapons states (P5). It has destroyed Article VI of the NPT requiring disarmament negotiations in good faith by the P5 and hence the treaty itself.

Read | Modi, Sharif to meet on margins of US nuclear summit?

The US is investing $1 trillion to rebuild its strategic triad over 30 years or $35 billion annually, including the upgrading of the B61 Mod 12 tactical nuclear bomb, designing new tailored yield thermonuclear warheads, developing next generation strategic bomber and nuclear-powered submarines in order to achieve, what deputy secretary of defence Bob Work called technological overmatch against Russia and China. Russia is spending some $16 billion a year in sharpening its nuclear attack capability, stressing the centrality of its modernised arsenal in future wars and as means of compensating for its conventional military inferiority (thereby neatly reversing its thrust of the Cold War when it enjoyed a massive conventional military edge). Moscow has embarked on a new strategic bomber (Tu-PAK DA) project, and deployed the advanced Borei-class ballistic nuclear missile firing nuclear submarine (SSBN), and the Topol-M Inter-Continental range Ballistic Missile (ICBM) that President Vladimir Putin has deemed indefensible.

China with an annual expenditure in excess of $10 billion on its newly named Strategic Rocket Forces is the only P5 state increasing the size of its nuclear arms inventory besides fielding new fusion warheads on DF-21A and DF-31 missiles, and the JL-2 submarine-launched missile from the new Jin-class SSBN. Meanwhile, Britain and France, each with yearly budgets for strategic forces of around $7 billion, are seeking to modernise their thermonuclear warheads by sharing in fusion weapons advancement infrastructure (Teutates programme), such as the multi-axes hydrographic-radiographic testing EPURE facility at Valduc with second and third laser streams becoming operational by 2019 and 2022, respectively, and the inertial confinement fusion facility in Bordeaux. The British nuclear weapons establishment at Aldermaston has just improved the W76-1Mk-4 hydrogen warhead for hardened targets, and installed the Orion laser that is a thousand times more powerful than the Helen system it replaced.

Read | US pushes Pakistan to cut down growing nuclear arsenal

The militant tilt of the P5 aside, China continues to undermine Indias nuclear security by transferring to Pakistan design expertise to configure new missiles and miniaturise its fission warheads. The Modi government, much like its predecessor, has reacted to the skewing of the international and regional nuclear military correlation of forces by actually strengthening the decrepit NPT system that has victimised India by, among other things, reiterating the testing moratorium. Disowning a treaty it is not signatory to, resuming open-ended testing to extend the countrys thermonuclear muscle and reach, and responding, however belatedly, to Chinas proliferation excesses with tit-for-tat transfer of critical nuclear missile technologies to countries such as Vietnam, on the Chinese periphery, is the way to go. But New Delhi seems content only with occasionally tom-tomming Indias ICBM and thermonuclear punch when, in fact, absence of evidence indicates evidence of absence of any such capabilities.

It is time Modi departed from the traditional script and spoke candidly at the Washington summit about the irreparable NPT regime and hinted at Indias options. He may win himself and the country leverage and respect by speaking the truth.

Bharat Karnad is professor of National Security Studies, Centre for Policy Research

The views expresses are personal
Amid last-minute efforts by the Congress and the Left leadership to end the stalemate over seats where they are still locked in a dispute, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, on Sunday, put out a fresh list of candidates for 23 more seats of which the Left and the Congress will have a friendly contest in seven.

Sundays announcement took the number of seats from where Congress will contest to 97. The 294 assembly seats in Bengal will go to polls over six phases. We had earlier announced candidates for 75 seats, leaving Jaipur (seat) in Purulia for the Left. Our candidates will contest 16 more seats. Besides, there will be friendly contests between us and the Left in seven seats, Chowdhury told mediapersons in Berhampore on Sunday evening.

The seven seats where the Left and Congress could be locked in a friendly battle are Bharatpur, Domkol, Harihar para (in Murshidabad), Harishchandrapur and Malatipur (in Malda), Tapan (Dakshin Dinajpur) and Beliaghata (Kolkata).

These apart, the PCC chief announced candidates for Kolkata Port, Alipurduars, Manikchak in Malda, Shyampur in Howrah and Nayagram in West Midnapore.

However, there still seems to be no consensus on four more contentious seats. While Adhir announced candidates for Alipurduars and Durgapur Paschim seats on Sunday, RSPs Kshiti Goswami told HT that their candidate will contest from Alipurduars. There is strong resentment in CPI(M)s Burdwan unit over the allotment of the Durgapur Paschim to the Congress.

I always maintained that seat sharing will be a reality in about 95% of the seats. It is only in seven of the 294 seats that the Left and the Congress will have friendly fight, Chowdhury said. He also announced the names of eight seats where the Congress and Left Front will jointly support independents or candidates put up by smaller parties.

Senior CPI(M) leader and the partys Singur nominee Rabin Deb held a meeting with state Congress veterans Pradip Bhattacharya and Somen Mitra at the latters residence on Sunday night.
Bollywood star Aamir Khan poured his heart out while talking to journalists on his 51st birthday in Mumbai on Monday, sharing his dream: Buying his mothers ancestral home in Varanasi.

Khan, who hosted the annual meet with media on his birthday, spoke about a range of things including his upcoming production, patriotism, his career and more.

Starting the session with his wish-list, Khan said, My biggest wish today is to buy my mother her ancestral home in Benaras. My mother spent her childhood in Varanasi. Ive seen that home. Since then it has been in my mind that if I can request people there and get that house.

Calling Varanasi extremely beautiful and historic, the actor said he cant wait to have a house there. Ive been to Assi ghat. Varanasi is a beautiful and a historic place. So, if I get a home there, my moms home there, that will give me the biggest happiness. Lets hope it happens.

Aamirs sister Nikhat and mother Zeenat Hussain. (HT File Photo)

Journalists present at the meet broke into the happy birthday song for him, with a visibly touched Khan thanking them. However, just a few months ago, conversation was tense between the two sides when the intolerance debate grew. Khans statement that wife Kiran Rao had wondered at leaving the country for a better future for their son had sparked a major controversy, with certain groups threatening to create trouble when Khans next movie Dangal releases.

Fellow actor Shah Rukh Khan faced similar ire for his comments on the issue, with collections for his movie Dilwale taking a hit.

(The) important (thing) is to remain positive and not get affected by the negativity, Aamir said, adding, People who questioned me were already biased against me, I dont react to that; no matter what you do people will raise questions.

Talking about his definition of patriotism, the PK star went on, You have to have love (and) sensitivity towards society, family and work to help others.

In the same breath, he explained why politics is not his cup of tea. Just because actors are popular doesnt mean politics is the natural outcome, (one) must have passion for it to get into it.

Khan began his career in 1985 and remains to be one the top-grossing actors in Bollywood. Thanking his fans for their association and his success, he said, I value and have great respect for the 27-year-old relation I share with my viewers.

Khan went on to divulge details about his next movie Dangal, saying the film would come out in December. The actor said he spent three weeks in the US getting in shape and exercising for six hours to fit the role of a wrestler.

Follow @htshowbiz for more.
Ever since Sanjay Dutt has completed his jail sentence, there has been a lot of speculation about his new line-up of films. Amidst all the rumoured associations, the actors purported project with film-maker and old friend Sanjay Gupta keeps popping up. But Gupta, while not denying the possibility of a collaboration in the future, says he isnt teaming up with Dutt anytime soon.

Right now, I am only concentrating on my next [that stars Hrithik Roshan]. I will definitely make a film with Sanjay, but at a later date; I havent put a deadline on the project. But, whenever I will work with him, it will be sheer magic. Its a given that we want to work with each other, but lets not jump the gun and speculate, says Gupta.

Sanjay Dutt with his wife Manyata and children Shahran and Iqra in a press conference at his residence in Mumbai after he was released from prison. (PTI)

Although the film-maker was one of the few industry members, who met Dutt immediately after his release, he insists that they dont always talk shop when they meet.

Last Friday (March 11), I met him at our kids school function, where our respective children were performing. It was great to see him as a free man, who can see his kids grow up in front of his eyes, says Gupta, adding that his next film willgo on the floors by the end of March. I am excited, as I will be working on a film only as a director, after 15 years. Plus, I am very kicked about the music of this movie, he says.

Read: Sanjay Dutts journey from jail to home

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It isnt easy to find Anita Rakeshs house in Delhis crowded, busy East of Kailash area and I reach more than half an hour late. She is sitting in her room on her bed, wrapped in a blanket, a tiny TV flickering in front of her with the sound turned off. On the wall is a framed black and white photograph of a laughing Mohan Rakesh, head thrown back in abandon.

Seventy four year old Anita is Rakeshs widow. They married in 1963 and he died in 1972 at the cruelly young age of 46. She barely got nine years of marriage with him. In his short life, the hugely talented Rakesh wrote at least three great plays, an equal number of memorable novels, dozens of short stories, apart from travelogues and diaries. I have been discovering his works afresh: the distressing but startlingly evocative novel Andhere Band Kamre, which chronicles Harbans and Neelimas painful marriage against the backdrop of Delhi in the early Fifties. His short stories, all so different from each other, whether it is Miss Pal, about a lonely woman living in the Kulu mountains, or the rightly famous Malbe Ka Malik, where the tragedy of Partition is laid bare so starkly.

We talk over steaming mugs of coffee; she talks about her marriage with Rakesh, his temperament, his talent, how so many of his books and stories are autobiographical or based on real people he knew. I feel as if Im getting alluring glimpses of an intriguing, complex man, and nostalgia-inducing flashes of another era, the 1950s and 60s, in which Hindi literary and theatre legends  Kamleshwar, Rajendra Yadav, Mannu Bhandari, Bhisham Sahni, Dharamvir Bharati, Neimichandra Jain, Shyamanand Jalan, Satyadev Dubey, and many others  flit in and out almost like mythical figures.

Though more than four decades have passed since Rakesh died, Anita says she never feels her husband has left her. Perhaps thats because of their turbulent courtship and the intensity of their relatively short marriage. Anita gives me a book she wrote, Satrein Aur Satrein, to read. It is the story of her life and was first serialized in the Hindi magazine Sarika, and subsequently published as a book in 2002.

I stay at Anitas flat till late in the evening. When I get home that night, I open Satrein Aur Satrein. I read more than half the book at one go and stop only because my eyes start hurting. Anita has told me some of it, but as the whole story unfolds in front of my eyes, I feel very moved.

I try and imagine what it must have been like: A young girl and her brother, the children of a refugee family from Pakistan, growing up in a hotel in Delhis Civil Lines, where they had all been temporarily accommodated after Partition. A dysfunctional family, with the father around only intermittently and a mother who was distant and affectionate in turn. The one thing Anita remembers clearly is her mother, Chandra Aulakhs obsession with reading Hindi literature and meeting famous writers. Bedtime stories for the children meant Chandra narrating whatever she had read that day. Anita has childhood memories of writers like Agyeya and Bhagwaticharan Varma dropping in to visit them. Chandra herself had literary aspirations which, unfortunately for her, remained mostly unfulfilled in her life, though she made strenuous efforts to promote her work.

*

Anita first heard of Mohan Rakesh when she was just eight years old. Chandra would read out his stories to her children and Anita remembers two of them particularly  Ek Chhoti Si Cheez and Ek Pankhyukt Tragedy. Rakesh was already an emerging literary star, having published a collection of short stories that included gems such as Phata Hua Joota, Malbe Ka Malik and Naye Badal. Her mother had never met him but was desperately keen to. However, he lived in Jullundur and Shimla and Chandra was in Delhi. She was eager to know what he looked like and was told he was handsome young man in his early twenties -- fair-skinned, bespectacled, with curly hair.

The financial condition of the Aulakh family -- always precarious  took a turn for the worse and Chandra and the children were packed off to Jullundur, while Anitas father went to Gwalior to set up a business with a partner.

Chandra arrived in Jullundur in 1958 for a few months. Immediately, she set about trying to locate Rakesh who was the head of the Hindi department at the citys DAV College those days. But she discovered that he had quit his job and moved to Delhi. This was frustrating! When she was in Delhi, he was in Jullundur, when she came to Jullundur, he was in Delhi! Around this time, Rakesh received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for his play Aashadh Ka Ek Din and Chandra became even more keen to meet him.

The family soon moved to Gwalior. Life went on. One day Chandra found Rakeshs address in a copy of the journal Nai Kahaniyan where he was being published. She began writing to him. Anita recounts that in the beginning her mother probably wrote fulsome praise about his work before slowly maneuvering the conversation around to her own work. Whatever it was, a regular correspondence ensued between the Chandra and Rakesh.

When the Aulakh family came to Delhi for a visit, Chandra made sure they met Rakesh and his wife Pushpa (his second wife, he was separated from his first wife Sushila who lived in Dehradun with their son). She invited them home. That was the first time Anita met Rakesh, little knowing what the future would hold for them.

Even after they returned to Gwalior, Chandras correspondence with Rakesh and Pushpa (who she always called very sweet) continued apace. There was a rupture in between when she didnt hear from Rakesh for a few months. Eventually he wrote to her saying that he had resigned from his job (at that time he was in Bombay, editing Sarika) and that he would soon leave for Delhi. And that he was emotionally and mentally a little disturbed because he had just separated from his wife, the woman she had found so sweet, and the matter was in court now. He mentioned that if she wanted to know about his married life so far, she should read his short story Ek Aur Zindagi.

*

I pick up my copy of Mohan Rakesh Ki Sampoorna Kahaniyan and quickly turn the pages to find Ek Aur Zindagi. It is a grim, unhappy story of a mans fruitless search for happiness in marriage. Prakashs first marriage to the independent Beena ends in separation  somehow they dont get along (is it ego? Beenas ambition? Something else?). He longs to be with his son, Palash, who lives with his mother now. He seeks them out in a cold, foggy hill station and tries desperately to spend as much time with Palash as he can.

We learn that in an attempt to shake off the past, and start a new chapter in his life, Prakash had looked for a woman who would be the antithesis of Beena. Someone simple, someone who would be dependent on him. He met Nirmala, the sister of a good friend of his. Though she was about 27 years old, she looked ten years younger. He thought she would suit him and they got married. He moved into a bigger house, bought new furniture, flowers, to welcome her. Nirmala entered the house laughing but Prakash soon realized that she needed no reason to laugh. She could laugh at anything or nothing at all  if something fell and broke, she would laugh; if someone slipped, she would laugh, and not stop for minutes on end. If Prakash scolded her she would throw herself on her bed, kicking, screaming, crying. Sometimes she would tear her clothes off and hide her jewellery inside shoes. Sometimes she washed clothes all day. Sometimes she spread her hair out and declared she was a goddess.

Nirmalas mental instability shattered Prakashs world and peace of mind completely. The story ends tragically, with Prakash in the hill station, walking despondently in the rain, hearing the sound of little feet behind him. For an instant he thinks  who could it be? Could it be? But when he turns around, he finds its only a dog padding behind him, shaking the water from his head.

*

Chandra requests Rakesh to stop by in Gwalior on his way to Delhi from Mumbai. He accepts her invitation. And so it transpires that two and a half years after seeing him for the first time, Anita meets him again. His visit throws the Aulakh household into an absolute tizzy -- the house is freshly painted, all kinds of delicacies are cooked and stored away in jars; once he arrives, everyone tiptoes around the house in the mornings because Rakesh likes to sleep late.

During Rakeshs visit, Anita often feels his eyes resting on her or following her around. One evening, the whole family goes to a cinema hall to see Dil Ek Mandir. Anita sits next to him. Their arms touch. Her handkerchief drops to the floor. She bends to pick it up and accidentally brushes against his feet.

But neither of them say anything or acknowledge that maybe, perhaps, something is igniting between them.

Rakesh leaves Gwalior, goes to Shimla, writes his play Leheron Ka Rajhans, returns to Delhi  and then visits Gwalior again. In this interim, there has been an exchange of letters between them, mostly around some short stories Anita has written.

It is winter now and in Gwalior, Anita is down with pneumonia. Rakesh arrives and goes straight to Anitas room, along with Chandra. Anita is in bed, covered by a quilt. Chandra hurries away to make tea. Rakesh quickly comes up to Anitas bed, bends down, kisses her on her lips and whispers in her ear: I love you. Over the next few days, Anita and Rakesh find it impossible to be alone together. When they do manage to snatch a private moment, Anita asks him, Shall I talk to my mother? He shakes his head.

Later, during another stolen moment, Rakesh tells her that he is a very unfortunate man, she should stay away from his very shadow. She is so young and innocent

But Anita tells her mother the truth.

I want to marry Rakeshji.

Chandra thinks she is joking. But when she realises Anita is serious, she is stunned. She jumps forward and slaps her. He wont even spit on you and you want to marry him!

You are saying this because you are jealous of me! cries Anita.

What follows is a sustained and brutal beating by her parents. This is not the first time Anita has been abused by them. All through her growing-up years both she and her brother have borne ferocious violence, from being repeatedly hit to being chained to their bed all night.

But this time the beating is so severe that Anita loses consciousness and her brother has to call a doctor. Later, he tells Rakesh what has happened.

Anita wakes up at two at night. She stumbles to Rakeshs room. He is sitting in the dark, smoking a cigarette. Seeing her, he takes her in his arms, kisses her all over.

The next day, Rakesh has a long conversation with Chandra. Finally, both of them come to Anitas room and he tells her that she should finish her education and get a job. By then, he would have got a divorce from his wife, Pushpa

And so the difficult love story continues. Anitas family leaves Gwalior and returns to Delhi. Her parents violence against Anita continues unabated. Days of pain and separation follow. With her brothers help, Anita and Rakesh are able to smuggle notes to each other. And finally, a tiny silver lining presents itself to her: she is allowed to complete her BA from a private college in Chawri Bazaar. She will be able to escape the oppressive atmosphere at home at least for a little while every day -- from 7am to 11am.

On her first day in college, the first person she meets is Rakesh who has been waiting for her. And a pattern is established. Every day, Rakesh takes a taxi from Karol Bagh to meet Anita at Chawri Bazaar at 6.45am. They go to a nearby halwai shop, since there is no other place where they can sit and talk. But she is always terrified her mother will find out about these secret meetings.

And then one day Rakesh takes Anita to his home. As he shuts the door and bolts it, her heart starts thudding. Then she sees the flower garlands lying on the table.

And thats how Anita and Rakesh get married. This is the 22nd July 1963.

Anita goes back home. They still have to work out their future.

No one knows about the secret wedding except for Rakeshs mother and his close friend, the writer Kamleshwar.

And then a strange incident happens that speeds everything up, that in a way, takes the decision for them.

Anita is supposed to meet Rakesh -- she wants to tell him about how her parents have found a boy for her. At the appointed time, he arrives with Kamleshwar, looking very agitated and worried. An incident has happened. Unwittingly Rakesh has got into an altercation with a local gangster who has threatened to kill him. Rakesh must leave Delhi immediately.

Rakesh wrote a short story about the incident called Ek Thehra Hua Chaaku.

*

I start reading Ek Thehra Hua Chaaku. It tells the story of Bashi who leaves his house every morning to meet Mini in a halwai shop in Ajmeri Gate. Bashi has lassi-poori while Mini drinks Coca Cola (indeed, this is exactly what Rakesh and Anita ordered at their halwai shop in Chawri Bazaar). One day she tells him that a boy is coming to see her, but she will tell him (the boy) the truth. Later, as they leave, his foot slips but she steadies him and says, I dont know how you take care of yourself living all alone. Elated by her loving chiding, he abandons his plan of taking a bus back home. Instead he hails a scooter (as autos were known back then) and stops on the way to pick up some ice for ten paise. And thats when Bashi gets into a spat with a local gangster Natha Singh.

The story describes Bashis fear and uncertainty as he waits in a police station to identify Natha Singh.

*

Rakesh plans to leave for Bombay by a morning flight on Sunday. Anita will leave with him, with nothing except the clothes on her back and her educational certificates.

Anita wakes up on Sunday to a drizzly morning. Her mother asks her to stay back, since it looks like its going to pour. And anyway, what is the point of going to college now that shes going to get married to the boy they have found for her? Anita mumbles that that is exactly why she wants to go.

And she walks out of the house forever.

It is the 29th July 1963.

When she meets Rakesh at the appointed time, he says, Kamleshwar was wondering if you would chicken out.

But I had to come, replies Anita. Today is my day for tutorials!

They get into the taxi, go to the airport and fly off to Bombay. Rakesh has booked them at SunnSand Hotel. They check in and go up to their room. Anita goes to the window, draws open the curtains to see the rain pelting down outside. Rakesh walks up to her and says teasingly, Opening the curtains here is a crime for which you can be imprisoned.

*

And thats how Anitas married life begins. She is not yet 21 years old (she turns 21 on the 3rd August).

It is not easy for someone so young to understand a complex man like Rakesh. He tells her that in his list of priorities, his writing comes first followed by his friends. She is only in third place. At the same time, with two broken marriages behind him, he craves for a home. He often tells her, I want a home, I have got everything in my life, except a home

And the same Rakesh also tells her many years later, When will you leave my home? Youve spoilt my record, Ive never lived with a woman for more than two years. But its been six years now and youre showing no signs of leaving

Anita doesnt leave him, but Rakesh does three years later  for good.

*

Though Rakesh died over 40 years ago, Anita says she still talks to him. Woh mujhe dekh rahe hain, she says simply. He really understood me. I never had any doubt about running away with him. Rakesh was a sociable person who loved nothing better than be surrounded by his friends. Anita smiles, saying, Hes the one who taught me to have a drink, to smoke. We never had too much money but we had lots of parties. She remembers her first Diwali after marriage in a Matheran cottage, with a big group of friends that included Basu Bhattacharya and wife Rinkie.

When Rakesh died so suddenly, it was a heartbreaking blow for Anita. She was barely 30 years old. Then one day her friend Kamleshwar told her that instead of crying incessantly, she should write about her life with Rakesh. She should let it all out. And thats what Anita did, writing at nights in the kitchen (and killing cockroaches in between!). And thats how Satrein Aur Satrein happened. The name is from a column Rakesh used to write when he was in Sarika: Chand Satrein (A Few Lines More).

The book has a fascinating account of Anitas married life with Rakesh, with all its ups and downs, the birth of their children, and then the trauma of his death, the struggle to build a life for herself afterwards

But that is another story.

(Satrein Aur Satrein has been published by Rajkamal)

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From HT Brunch, March 14, 2016

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The governments ban on 350-odd drugs to curb the misuse of medicines in India has landed American pharma giants Pfizer and Abbott in a fix.

Abbott, the maker of popular cough syrup Phensedyl, has approached Delhi high court against the ministry of health and family welfares order banning its popular over the counter brand (OTC).

Abbott has reviewed the DCGI notification and we are concerned about the unilateral approach in prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of certain fixed dose combinations that have already been approved for use by DCGI. We are evaluating the notification and exploring all available options, the Abbott spokesperson told HT.

Abbott Healthcare is a unit of US-based Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories also has a listed subsidiary in India, Abbott India Ltd. The sales of Phensedyl, based on Codeine, an opium derivative, are estimated to be more than 3% of Abbotts $1 billion India revenue. Abbotts global annual sales of over $20 billion.

On other hand, Pfizer has discontinued manufacture and sale of popular cough syrup Corex with immediate effect after the ban on fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate+Codeine Syrup.

This is to inform you that the government of India, vide notification... dated March 10, 2016... has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution of fixed dose combination of Chlopheniramine Maleate + Codeine Syrup with immediate effect, Pfizer said in a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) filing on Monday.

It further said: In view of this, the company has discontinued the manufacture and sale of its drug Corex with immediate effect.

The stock of the company plunged by as much as -8.67% or 167.05 points to end Monday at 1,760.80 on the BSE .

Pfizer however reiterated that that Corex maintains a well established efficacy and safety profile in India and the company is exploring all available options at its disposal.

It also said, The above prohibition is likely to have an adverse impact on the revenue and profitability of the company... Corex recorded sale of Rs 176 crore for the nine-month period ended December 31, 2015.

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More trouble for baby products maker, Johnson and Johnson. Indian top drug regulation body has ordered scrutiny over Johnson and Johnson products. Last month, J&J had lost a lawsuit in United States after a 62 year old woman died of ovarian cancer, reportedly caused due to the prolonged us of Johnsons baby talc.

The drug regulator in India has ordered sample testing of J&J products across the country.

The brands is under scrutiny at our end and we have ordered sample testing across India, GN Singh, Drug Controller General of India told HT. Depending on preliminary outcomes we will extend the probe. Further, government will inspect J&J factories and manufacturing units in India, in case of non-compliance found.

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also sent samples of products for lab testing as a precautionary measure. FDA has also discussed their concerns with company officials. We are committed to patient safety their rights and well beings. Understanding the concern of mothers on these issues, I shall do my best, Singh said.

Concerns are pouring in across globe including India where users are blaming J&J of betraying their trust via social media channels.

While companys comments for the probe ordered are awaited, J&J had issued a standard statement across globe, saying, The recent jury outcome goes against decades of sound science proving the safety of talc as a cosmetic ingredient in multiple products.. we strongly disagree with the outcome.

J&J, the worlds biggest health care products maker, last month, was found liable for fraud, negligence and conspiracy in a civil suit relating to the death of the 62 year old. An American Jury ordered the company to pay $72 million of damages to the family of the woman.

J&J claimed in its statement that the products are safe to use. Our confidence in using talc reflects more than 30 years of research by independent scientists, review boards and global authorities, which have concluded that talc can be used safely in personal care products.

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U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Incs India unit said on Monday that it had stopped selling its popular Corex cough syrup, after regulators banned it saying it was likely to pose a risk to humans.

Corex is a combination of chlopheniramine maleate and codeine syrup -- one of 344 drug combinations India banned over the weekend after a government panel of experts found they had no therapeutic justification.

All these medicines have entered the market over the years based on approval from regulators of individual states, rather the central government, as legally required.

The decision on Corex is likely to hit Pfizers revenue and profit. The brand brought in sales of about Rs 1.76 billion ($26.30 million) to Pfizer in the nine months ended December 2015, the company said in a statement.

Pfizer said it believed Corex had a well-established efficacy and safety profile in India for more than 30 years, without elaborating. It added that it was exploring all possible options at its disposal.

Another U.S. drugmaker Abbott Laboratories Ltd also sells a codeine-based cough syrup brand in India under the name Phensedyl, which accounts for about a third of the Indian cough syrup market.

Phensedyl sales are estimated to make up more than 3 percent of Abbotts $1 billion India revenue. Abbott was not immediately available to comment on Monday, but the company said on Sunday that it was still assessing the impact of the ban.

Reuters reported last October that Indian regulators were privately pressuring drug firms to better police the selling of popular codeine-based cough syrups to tackle smuggling and addiction.

Read: US drug firm Abbott selling banned antibiotics
India-born former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta has been released after completing his two-year prison term, weeks after a US court agreed to rehear his appeal to throw out his 2012 insider-trading conviction.

Gupta, 67, was released on March 11, according to his record at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While Guptas prison term was to end on March 13, but since the date fell on a Sunday, he was released on Friday, four years after he lost his insider trading trial and suffered multiple legal setbacks to overturn his conviction.

Read: From insider to inmate: Rajat Gupta does dishes in jail

The Harvard-educated was convicted in his 2012 trial of passing confidential boardroom information to his one-time friend and business associate Raj Rajaratnam.

Apart from the two-year prison term, he was fined $5 million and the Securities and Exchange Commission also slapped a $13.9 million penalty against him.

Gupta started out his prison term in 2014 at FMC DEVENS, an administrative security federal medical centre with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Ayer, Massachusetts.

Rajaratnam is serving an 11-year sentence for insider trading in the main prison adjacent to where Gupta was assigned.

His attorneys did not immediately respond to emails on whether Gupta would make a statement following his release.

Ever since his conviction in June 2012, Gupta filed several appeals, including to the US Supreme Court, to overturn his conviction and prison term but the courts rejected his arguments and affirmed his sentence.

However, it was only early last month, just weeks before his prison term was to end, that he had some legal respite when the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear an appeal to throw out his insider-trading conviction.

Gupta completed the last two months of his prison term at his home in Manhattan, after being released on January 5 from the Devens correctional facility.

Even though he was not in the prison centre, he remained a federal inmate until his release on March 11. He was confined to his apartment and was required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitored his movements.

A January report in the New York Times had said that Gupta appears to be eager to get back to the world he once inhabited.

Since returning to his Manhattan apartment, Gupta has been fielding calls from former associates who say he is in good spirits and looks back on his spell in prison philosophically, the report had said.

The report had said Gupta had applied last year to corrections officers for an early discharge from Devens.

An inmate can be given credit for good behaviour and becomes eligible for home confinement for 10 per cent of a sentence, up to six months.
On Friday, Alagar killed himself. The previous day, the 26-year-old farmer in Tamil Nadus Ariyalur district had been accosted by men from the private finance company that had lent him money to buy a tractor. Alagar had managed to repay all but Rs 2 lakh.

The conversation wasnt pretty. They took away Alagars tractor. Next day, he drank pesticide. The family cremated his body the same day. There was no complaint, no case. Alagar is now a tiny statistic  another farmer dead because he saw no way out of the dark hole of debt.

He should have made sure he owed Rs 200 crore, not Rs 2 lakh. Better still, Rs 2,000 crore. He would still be alive, probably somewhere abroad, speaking out against the media and putting the onus on the lenders.

To tell you the truth, thats where the onus ought to be. Money lending is a serious business. Through official channels, it can even be grim. Professional moneylenders have been feared as much for their accounting skills as their determination in recovery, which at times turns violent.

Not that the official channels are any more merciful. In the early days of credit card propagation in the country, goons were known to show up at the door of a defaulter. The banks they represented were quite reputed, even multinational.

Forget credit cards, have you taken a home loan? Did your fingers almost fall off after signing your name 62 times? Did you smear your fingers with ink to put your prints? Happened to me. After checking my salary slips, bank account, and whatever little I owned (a car), they wanted to see the visa stamps on my passport. Apparently a more travelled person is more worthy of a loan. Then they wanted someone to guarantee that I would pay back (a gullible cousin signed that form). After all this, they kept the house as the collateral, its original registration papers went to the bank.

However, if you borrow big, and from multiple banks, you get certain privileges. Journalist Shekhar Gupta wrote in a newspaper column about a State Bank of India shindig at Mumbais Brabourne stadium six years ago. Chairman OP Bhat was making a presentation, lights turned out, on the banks technology transformation. The corporate bigwigs were present, as was finance minster Pranab Mukherjee. Midway, Vijay Mallya entered with his retinue. Mr. Bhatt paused, and asked for the lights to be switched on.

Mallya, already in losses and debt, was quite the showstopper. The banks seemed keen to lend him money. He obliged them. Now the banks behave as if he ran away without paying for his meal, though they had invited him as their cherished dinner guest.

Read | Downfall of the king: A look at Vijay Mallyas journey from 1983 to 2016

CBI director Anil Sinha, speaking at a conference in Mumbai, blamed the banks for dragging their feet. Despite our repeated requests, banks did not file a complaint with the CBI [against Kingfisher Airlines]. Eventually, the CBI went head and registered a case last July, though loans were given to the Vijay Mallya-run company in the eight years to 2012.

Top executives of banks say some events cannot be foretold. True, the cancellation of coal blocks, or of telecom spectrum allocation, and the sudden decline in global demand for commodities were difficult to predict for us. But it should be a little less difficult for banks.

If they were indeed caught off guard by the turn of events, so could have been Mallya. He had a good record until aviation took his fancy. Its a business that has brought down many. Jet Airways had its own brush with death after acquiring Subrata Roys Sahara Airlines. Kalanithi Maran, who knows a thing or two about the ways of doing business in India, bit the dust at SpiceJet, eventually selling it to Ajay Singh, apparently for Rs 2.

Why only aviation, there are other sectors that have got the better of big names in business. Look at the list of the biggest debtors of corporate India: you will find some household names in it. None of them put a gun to a bankers head. It was a business decision to lend them money  a decision that now seems silly. The banks should have known better.

Now there is a clamour to brand Mallya anti-national. He messed up, and this writers heart goes out to his employees and others who suffered because he messed up. But did he act against the countrys interests? He just cannot pay back because his business went kaput. Bankers are not known to be wordsmiths, but in this case they have proved to be quite inventive.

(The views expressed are personal. The writer tweets at @suveensinha)

Read | Want to return to India but fear the time isnt right, says Vijay Mallya

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Delhi rarely hosts rock concerts and big-ticket private events. It is because organising a single event requires permissions from at least 27 government departments, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told business leaders in Kolkata in January this year.

But the Art of Living Foundation still chose Delhi for its World Cultural Festival. The assembly of international faith leaders, artists and top Indian politicians couldnt have happened anywhere else but the Capital and the authorities obliged with permissions. When the use of the Yamuna floodplain as the venue landed the organisers in legal trouble, many wondered what the fuss was all about.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the leader of Art of Living, didnt think the Rs 5 crore fine imposed by the National Green Tribunal for holding the event was a penalty. It was a price for the Yamunas restoration, he said. His followers maintained that the controversy was needless as the floodplain, the largest open space in Delhi, was being put to good use. Where else could you have erected a seven-acre stage to accommodate 8,500 artists and made room for a 300,000-strong audience at any given time?

But a riverbed is not real estate. The Yamuna is more than what is visible to us. Its vast sand aquifer runs 2-km wide and nearly 40-metre deep along the 48-km stretch through Delhi. It is the biggest reserve for freshwater the city will ever have. But most of us merely consider the surface value  vast vacant land that can be put to use.

A river must breathe and the floodplain functions as its lung. It is a living delicate organ that collects and releases water seasonally. Even a temporary construction here destroys the grass, shrubs and trees that sustain a riverine eco-system complete with insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals. Their dispensability cannot be determined by relative perceptions of their aesthetic value. They are essential to keep rivers alive and our cities liveable.

Nature is resilient but we have been relentless in our assault. Having granted permission to Art of Living, how would the authorities ever stop any other event, of whatever scale or duration, if the organisers met the parameters that the AoL claimed to have met? Anyway, much of the encroachment on the floodplain has been justified on the principle of precedent.

The government allowed Akshardham Temple on 90-acres of floodplain in the early 2000s. After Akshardham, a Metro yard, train stations, Delhis biggest bus depot, the Barapullah elevated road and the Commonwealth Games village have come up on the shrinking floodplain.

Every time a structure was constructed on the riverbank, the government regularised it as the last exception. Yet, new ones keep coming up. The only structure removed from the river bed were the shanties of Yamuna Pushta that were home to 175,000 people  probably because it was not built by the government.

History tells us that rivers are unforgiving. Cities that have messed with their rivers have paid heavily. Most western cities compromised their floodplains centuries ago by heavily urbanising on its rivers and wetlands. Parts of Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Dresden, Passau, and Bratislava were destroyed by the 2013 floods because they are built right on the rivers they flank.

In 2009, Istanbul saw one of its worst flash floods that killed 30 people. The high-density concrete jungle along the riverbanks and the insufficient drainage system of Istanbul prevented the rainwater from reaching the sea through natural channels. The Turkish prime minister called it the rivers revenge.

Closer home, a stifled Mithi struck back at Mumbai in 2005, and the Adyar sought revenge on Chennai last year. The apocalyptic scenes of concrete structures collapsing like a pack of cards and falling into the swollen rivers in Uttarakhand in 2013 were just a warning on what encroachment on floodplains could lead to.

By choking the Yamuna with constructions and stomping all over its floodplains, we are only setting ourselves up for urban tragedies. Its time Delhi says enough is enough and means it. Or the river will.

Read: PM, thousands attend controversial Art of Living event despite rains

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A large swathe of the ecologically-fragile Yamuna floodplain in east Delhi resembled a garbage-littered wasteland on Monday, a grim byproduct of the Art of Livings three-day cultural festival.

Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankars showpiece but controversy-marred event was over on Sunday while volunteers and hired janitors were apparently asked to take rest for a day before clearing the piles of plastic bottles, cartons, torn papers, carpets, chairs, tables, and scaffolding.

The trail of trash is not the lone problem, though.

The floodplain with porous sand forming its top layer was covered with mud and flattened by road rollers over several days before the festival began on Friday. Clay and compacted mud do not allow water to seep in, which is essential to replenish the groundwater.

Puddles from sporadic rains over the past couple of days confirmed environmentalists worst fears about how tinkering with the floodplains top soil will diminish its water absorption capacity.

Garbage-strewn site of the Art of Living's World Culture Festival on the morning after the event, in New Delhi, on Monday, March 14, 2016. (Raj K Raj / HT Photo )

The top layer is supposed to be sand. It allows water to percolate. This is clean water that acts as a water resource. Compacted mud and clay hamper this process and the inherent ability of the floodplain to absorb and store water is severely affected, water activist and physicist Vikram Soni said.

Art of Living (AOL) representatives denied giving the floodplain a mud pack.

We only leveled debris lying on the floodplain. We had to level the ground to put chairs and carpets, AOL counsel Saraswati Akshama Nath said.

According to the organisers of the AoL event, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has asked volunteers to take a break and resume work from Tuesday since they have been working 24x7. (Sushil Kumar / HT Photo )

The Delhi Development Authority, which owns the floodplain, said there was no debris before the organisers prepared the place for the festival.

The seven-acre stage will remain there for another two-three weeks. Cleaning efforts will continue thereafter, an Art of Living (AOL) statement said.

The AOL has appointed private agencies to collect and clear garbage, clean mobile toilets, and fumigate the venue. The cleaning contract had been given to Hemant Gaekwad, who incidentally also cleans the PMO house and the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the organiser said.

But Ravi Shankar has asked volunteers to take a break and resume work from Tuesday since they have been working 24x7.

He had asked his followers on Sunday to make sure the venue was clean. A day later, a handful of volunteers were present. But roads leading to the venue were polished clean by ragpickers.

The festival to commemorate 35 years of the AOL came under fire from environmentalists after the eco-sensitive floodplain was chosen as the venue. The National Green Tribunal imposed a Rs 5-crore fine on AOL founder Ravi Shankar.

But the event went on as scheduled with thousands of people, mostly Ravi Shankar followers, thronging the venue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet members were present at the function.
Light showers and vehicle breakdowns in different areas led to traffic snarls across the Capital on Monday morning. According to traffic police, the traffic movement is likely to be slow even during the day.

Office-goers witnessed jams at Dhaula Kuan, Sardar Patel Marg, Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, Delhi Cantt, ITO, Nirman Vihar, Nehru Place and Outer Ring Road near hotel Hyatt. Traffic police tweeted that a truck broke down each at Dhaula Kuan, Savitri flyover and on Outer Ring Road near Africa Avenue while a cluster bus developed a fault obstructing traffic at Vikas Marg.

Traffic police has also advised people to avoid areas near Shyam Lal College (around Shahdara Metro station) and Zakir Hussain College as their cultural festivals starting today are likely to witness heavy footfall.

It took me over an hour to cross the ITO bridge, said a commuter who was coming from North Delhi.

Also avoid driving through Rajghat as a large gathering there may affect traffic movement. Delhi police had tweeted that over 2500 people are likely to attend the march from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city had received 0.3 mm rainfall by 8.30 a.m.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 17.1 degrees Celsius. Temperature during the day is likely to touch around 29 degree Celsius. There will be mist or haze in the morning. Light rain with thundershowers is likely to occur in some areas in the morning or afternoon, an official said.
A seven-year-old girl was found dead and bundled inside a gunny bag at the Kanchan Park area of Loni in Ghaziabad on Sunday night, a day after she went missing while playing outside her house.

Police found the body at a vacant plot, barely 50 metres away from the victims house around 10.30pm on Sunday but have failed to make any arrests.

Police teams conducted night-long raids at nearby areas that house dozens of small apparel-making units.

Officials said the victim appeared to have been strangled to death and a piece of cloth was found in her throat.

It is suspected that some local person kidnapped her for ulterior motive and strangled her fearing a search launched by her family members and police teams. The post mortem will indicate any sexual assault with the victim. We are searching for people employed in nearby factory units who remained absent from work since the girl went missing, said AP Singh, station house officer at Loni.

The girls family launched a search and lodged an FIR for abduction at the police station on Sunday morning.

It appears that some local person is behind the incident and dumped the body as soon as he came to know about the FIR. The FIR is now converted to murder and destruction of evidence and a team is searching for the accused. The body is sent for post mortem, Singh added.

.
A small contingent from Pakistan made a big impression at the World Cultural Festival, raising cheers from the participants even backstage.

Selfies with the Pakistan flag and artistes, discussions over films, culture, politics and cricket kept the 80 members from Pakistan busy.

Though we faced problems in getting visas, in India we got a lot of love and respect. In the past three days, I have heard Sir after my name more than I could hear it in a month back home, said Khalid Khan , 45, from Peshawar. Art of Living has 3,000 members in Pakistan with centres at Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi.

Members said it was not easy for them to run ashrams in Pakistan. Art of Living talks about spiritualism and not fundamentalism but we face trouble sometimes, said Neem Zamindar, 45.

A couple of years ago, an Art of Living ashram was vandalised by a fundamentalists. But no one was injured, he said. Ever since members of Pakistans Art of Living maintain a low profile and communicate through closed Facebook groups.

Artistes from Pakistan talking to an organiser of world cultural festival @htTweets @shivaniss62 pic.twitter.com/0ZmTCOdVsD  Abhinav Rajput (@Abhinavstweet) March 13, 2016

More than 40 members of the contingent had their native villages in India which they want to visit before returning to Pakistan.

Zamindar, whose mother studied in Lady Hardinge Medical College before Partition, said, My mother told me to visit the college. She remembers her days in Bombay (now Mumbai) where she did her primary schooling. When I meet her, she will ask me if I visited the Gateway of India.

She has also asked me to bring sweets from Old Delhi. She was very fond of those sweets when she lived in Delhi, said Zamindar

Zahoor Motiwala, whose father migrated to Pakistan from Jetpur -- a textile town in Rajkot district of Gujarat -- during Partition, said his father often tells him the story of a pond in Jetpur. He said the colour of the cloth dyed in the ponds water never faded. I want see the pond. Its a story I have grown up listening to, he said.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Saturday said Jai Hind and Pakistan Zindabad should go together for peace and development in the region, which he later denied.

Boundaries are being broken on both sides, there should be no harm if Pakistan Zindabad and Jai Hind slogans are being raised. We share a history so why not a slogan, said Motiwala.

Referring to the JNU controversy, he said, We cannot comment on the particular case but students should have the freedom to express their opinion.

Read: Will pay Rs 5 crore as compensation, not fine: Sri Sri on AoL event

When it comes to scarring the river, we have made exceptions the rule
Azadi or freedom, a word made popular by JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in his fiery comeback speech, has become a tagline for the JNU sedition row.

While Kanhaiya used it as a broad brushstroke when he said he wanted freedom within India and not from India, JNU students flesh out what it means to them.

Something as simple as travelling late at night can become a reality only with freedom, said students.

(Azadi means) freedom from the fear of being raped and molested because I am travelling at an odd time, said a student, who did not wish to be named.

The punch line is among the many popular slogans raised at protests by JNU students.

When we raise the azadi slogan we are trying to say is that we want freedom from evils like Brahmanism, poverty, hunger and systematic suppression of marginalised people, said former JNUSU president Lenin Kumar.

We want freedom to dress the way we want and eat what we want, which may include beef, he said.

JNU has been the eye of the storm since alleged anti-national slogans were raised at an event to commemorate Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The incident led to student leader Kanhaiya being charged for sedition, which sparked off countrywide debates on nationalism.

Nationalism has been defined in a different way by Tagore, Periyar, Nehru and Gandhi. We want azadi to discuss those definitions and express our views on them. In Tagores words, we want a situation where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, said Amrit Raj, a student of Spanish.

Freedom to discuss uncomfortable realities and issues is azadi, they said.

The slogan stands for freedom to raise any issue without the fear of being incarcerated the next day. I want freedom for all of us to speak up about Article 377 even after Supreme Courts verdict on it, said Sumedha, a student at School of Language, Literature and Culture studies.

However, some students cautioned against appropriating its usage. A student said Kashmiris used it for years and that those sentiments should be respected.

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Many students have alleged paper leak in the CBSE Class 12 mathematics examination on Monday, a charge refuted by teachers and officials.

The students said the question paper was similar to the one leaked on Sunday. After exam, some students showed an identical question paper in their phones, said a class 12 student from Chakradharpur.

Many teachers claimed some sample questions released by the CBSE before the exams had figured in the paper, and students were misinterpreting it as a leak.

A student from Delhi Public School, Ranchi, claimed that more than 90% of the questions in the leaked paper found place in the actual paper and that too in the same sequence. There should be a re-examination if the paper was actually leaked, otherwise undeserving students would come out with good marks, she said.

Ranchi CBSE coordinator Manohar Lal said, I have spoken to the CBSE regional office in Patna. The paper was not leaked. This matter is closed for now.

Read more: CBSE Class 12 exams rescheduled in WB, Assam due to polls
The adage, after years of hard work its time to reap fruits, proved apt for the 619 graduating students who were conferred diplomas at the 30th annual convocation of Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow on Saturday evening.

As the sun set on the horizon, the red-bricked walls of the prestigious B-School reverberated with loud cheers. Shreya Tiwari bagged Chairmans Gold Medal and Reshma Sareen Memorial Medal for best girl student. Abhinav Anand and Riya Jain won Directors Medal. Each student enjoyed the others success.

Shreya was all in smiles as she posed for shutterbugs after receiving the medal and diploma from IIM-L director Dr Ajit Prasad, and Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi, the chief guest on the occasion. Im happy to have bagged two coveted medals, said Shreya who got job with a finance company in Bengaluru.

This years graduating batch was unique in many ways. Nearly 47% who bagged diplomas were girls. And then girls outperformed boys in various parameters, said Jamshed J Irani, chairman-Board of governors of IIM-L. The chairman showered praise on girls and once again everyone present cheered.

Other medal winners were: Anand Barot bagged PGP Chairman medal, Vaishali who received Bizkool Medal for the best student in information technology, Anika Malhotra who received Hari Shankar Singhania Medal for best all rounder and Pooja Agarwal who bagged Budhiraja Medal for best all rounder.

Read more | IIM-L convocation: Stay away from politics, Irani to students

From post graduate programme in management for working executives, Dipesh Jain received Chairmans Gold Medal while Mohit Garg bagged Directors Medal. From the International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX), Aniruddha Banerjee won Chairmans Gold Medal, Ananya Phani received Chairmans Gold Medal and Tapas Sapra won Directors Medal.

Annual convocation ceremony at IIM-Lucknow in Lucknow on Saturday evening. (Deepak Gupta/ HT photo)

As many as 405 students from the 30th batch of Post Graduate Programme in Management, 40 students from the 10th batch of Post Graduate Programme in Agri-business Management, 7 students from the doctoral programme, 103 students from PGP in Management for Working Executives (WMP) and 64 students from International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX) batches from the Noida campus received their diplomas.

Director, IIM Lucknow, Ajit Prasad wished good luck to all 619 graduating students. They are about to swell the ranks of about 5000 IIM-L alumni whose continuing support helps build the institutes reputation.

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Is gender equality achievable? I think its going to get better. I think life by every measure is improving for women. But is it happening fast enough? No. Im impatient, right? I want it to get better, said Melinda Gates, 51, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the worlds biggest private charity with a close to $45 billion endowment.

I want it to get better in the United States, quite frankly. I want to see more women in Congress. I want see more women CEOs. I want to see more women on Boards. Until you get women taking positions of power and across the economy, at all levels, we are not there yet, right? she said.

Read:Melinda Gates calls on health minister JP Nadda

And she wants the same for India, South East Asia and Africa. Now Im here almost every year, said Melinda, who is currently on a three-day India visit to help women get these opportunities. She is spending Sunday in Uttar Pradesh, visiting women in their homes and girls at school to listen to what they do, what they want and help them get it through self-help initiatives.

India is a great example. The self-help group platform, it isnt there anywhere in the world the scale it is in India this group I met in Jharkhand, they were going to government demanding the services they knew they could get, that they were entitled to but had not been asking for before... These steps are going to get us there, she said.

More, but not enough

Are women better off today than a decade earlier? Yes. Maternal deaths have come down significantly. Violence all over the world, if you look at world statistics, is coming down. But there are places you still need to root it out. In the United States, there is still a lot of sexual violence against girls in college, thats finally coming out and becoming more transparent, says Melinda, whose Foundation works in maternal and child health, financial services for the poor and agriculture.

Speak up, speak out

Its happening in India too. In India, I think it [rape and violence] is finally starting to be discussed more. Discussing it, recognising it as part of the problem is when you start to take action to reduce it. I think thats really the next step, she said.

Women, she said, didnt speak up earlier because they thought the system would not do anything about it, but things have changed. Thats the importance of openness and transparency. India has a free Press that I dont see in some other countries. That makes a huge difference. When that rape trial came out, it was top of the news for a long time, both in India and internationally. And thats how you start to create change, she said.

Read: The Melinda Gates interview: Healthcare in India is changing

They [men] dont like it, but they like the money women bring home. You need to empower women, you need to empower their voice but you also need to empower them economically because once you start to do that, you get fundamental change, she said.

Ive seen that in countries across South East Asia, Ive seen it in Africa, Ive seen it in the United States. When women have economic opportunity, all of a sudden they are valued differently in the household, she said.

If shes educated, shes twice as likely to educate her daughter. So if you make sure they have good health and their children do, make sure they can take a decision, they are part of a self-help group, they are educated, then they get to have economic opportunity. And when you get that cycle of health, decision making, economic opportunity, you start the cycle for the next generation, she said.

Indias report card

Melinda is here to learn firsthand what works and what doesnt, and happily, more things seem on track than they were a decade ago. We are seeing progress in childhood deaths coming down because of vaccines, we are seeing the maternal mortality rate we think will start to come down because they are going to institutions for delivery. We are working in both UP and Bihar to make sure those institutions have quality, said Melinda.

Philanthropist Melinda Gates during a meeting with women of Kothwa village in Danapur Bihar earlier in 2015 Photo Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation. (HT Photo)

The way ahead is strengthening public health systems using robust and smart data. Ive never been more optimistic about it. To see the government increase the health budget by 13%, to put more money into nutrition and how to make the aanganwadi system better, them using data in more robust and smarter ways now and I think thats only going to improve the system, she said.

You can be anybody you want to be in the world and Im gonna support you to do that.

Read: The incredible life of Melinda Gates

Delay the birth of your first child till your body is formed, until you have a career, because you should be fulfilled in your family life and career. Wait a bit, because it will just change everything.

What shed like to hear women say to their sons

Support your wife. It is not okay that she does six hours of unpaid work at home and you do an hour. Thats just not okay. Its not. Youll both be better off if you get that gender equity a bit closer.

On the Gates family dream holiday

They [my kids] already know what they want to do when they come to India. They have not been here before. They want to come and see the tiger reserve, which I would love to come and see too, to which I have not gone because I want to first do it with them.

They also want to see what life is actually like in the cities of India, and we will when we come, we will take them to slums. They have done that in other places in the world because it opens their eyes to different circumstances that people have.

They will also go to some schools. They love to see what the education system looks like.

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Making yoga part of daily routine not only improves quality of life, but also lowers the heart rate and blood pressure of patients with irregular heartbeats, according to a recent study.

Sophiahemmet Universitys Maria Wahlstrom said that Deep breathing balances the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, leading to less variation in heart rate, according to a new research. many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) cant live their lives as they want to. They refuse dinners with friends, concerts and travelling because they are afraid of an AF episode occurring.

Wahlstrom added that AF episodes are accompanied by chest pain, dyspnoea and dizziness. These symptoms are unpleasant and patients feel anxious, worried and stressed that an AF episode will occur. Most patients are still working and take sick leave to visit the hospital. Many patients with AF use complementary therapies so it is necessary to find out if they actually help.

The study claims that patients who do yoga have a better quality of life, lower heart rate and lower blood pressure than those who do not do yoga. (Shutterstock)

The study included 80 patients with paroxysmal AF, who were asked to do yoga, or a control group that did not do yoga. Both groups received standard treatment with medication, cardioversion and catheter ablation as needed.

Read: Want to beat age-related aches and pains? Consider yoga

Yoga was performed for one hour, once a week, for 12 weeks in the hospital with an experienced instructor. The yoga programme included light movements, deep breathing, and meditation.

It was found that patients who did yoga had a better quality of life, lower heart rate and lower blood pressure than patients who did not do yoga. It was concluded that deep breathing balances the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system, leading to less variation in heart rate. Breathing and movement proved beneficial for blood pressure.

Wahlstrom said, A lot of the patients I meet who have paroxysmal AF are very stressed. Yoga should be offered as a complementary therapy to help them relax. It may also reduce their visits to hospital by lowering their anxiety until an AF episode stops.

Read: UGC plans BSc, MSc courses in yoga for public-funded universities

The study was published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.
An inquiry panel set up by Jawaharlal Nehru University recommended on Monday the rustication of five students including Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya over a February 9 event on the campus where anti-national slogans were allegedly shouted.

Based on the panels inputs, the university issued showcause notices to 21 students for indiscipline on the day. The panel recommended punishment ranging from a fine to rustication for up to two semesters, sources said.

The high-level committee has recommended rustication of five students after its investigation over a months time. However, the final call in this regard will be taken by the vice-chancellor and proctors office, a senior official told news agency PTI.

Read |Event on Afzal Guru divides JNU, varsity orders probe

March 16 was set as the deadline for the students to submit their replies, sources said. The panel was constituted on February 10, a day after the event to mark the death anniversary of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The university did not reveal the names of students sent notices. But they included the eight students debarred earlier in connection with the case and students about whom police sought information from the university, sources said.

Khalid and Bhattacharyas notices will be sent to jail, said a source on the duo in custody over alleged sedition.

Officials said the decision was taken after vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar convened a meeting to discuss the five-member panels findings with the deans of schools and special centres.

There are standard provisions in the university rules to take action in such cases. The high-level inquiry committee recommendations are based on the rules of discipline and proper conduct of JNU, an official said.

The university on March 11 revoked the academic suspension of eight students, including students union president Kanhaiya, after the committee submitted its findings.

It was revoked because suspension was till the completion of inquiry. Now, the final punishment will be awarded, another official said.

Read | JNU row: Delhi govt probe absolves Kanhaiya but unsure of Umars role

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A purported sting operation by a news website allegedly caught key Trinamool Congress leaders taking bribes, igniting a wave of condemnation by rival parties ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls that begin next month.

The media group says the footage released on Monday shows top leaders from the party such as Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy and Sultan Ahmed, West Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee and Kolkata mayor Shovan Chatterjee accepting bundles of cash to lobby for a fictitious firm.

But the sting conducted over two years by naradanews.com  doesnt name or refer to party chairperson and chief minister Mamata Banerjee. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the tape.

The video sparked verbal sniping between parties days ahead of the six-phase polls where the Trinamool Congress will fight a probable Left-Congress combine and a spirited BJP determined to improve on an impressive Lok Sabha performance. Opposition leaders demanded that the elections be postponed until the matter is investigated.

Mamata Banerjee must step down immediately. She has no business to remain the chief minister even for the few days before the elections, said BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh, adding that his party has also written to the CBI director for an investigation.

Senior Congress leader Manas Bhunia said the party will approach the Election Commission to bar those allegedly shown in the video from the polls.

It is shameful that this party is still in power, said CPI(M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra at a rally. They have looted thousands of crores of peoples money. The ECI (poll panel) should look into the matter.

But Trinamool spokesperson Derek OBrien and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy called the video doctored and part of a political conspiracy.

We are a transparent party.... We will take legal action, OBrien said.

Speaking at a rally in north Bengal, Banerjee didnt directly refer to the sting but said a smear campaign to paint Trinamool leaders as thieves will not work.

Mathew Samuel, the editor of naradanews.com, said in Delhi the operation began before the 2014 general elections and ended in January.

We floated a fictitious firm called Impex consultancy and approached all these leaders asking for help in several fictitious projects, he said.

The video purportedly shows 11 Trinamool leaders and a police officer accepting Rs 73 lakh.

Party vice-president and key strategist Mukul Roy is not seen taking any money.

Samuel said he spent close to Rs 85 lakh in bribing Trinamool leaders and the cash came from NRI businessmen from Kerala.

Asked why the tape was released right before the assembly polls, he said the operation concluded recently and denied any motive behind the expose.

Before founding the website last month, Samuel was the managing editor of Tehelka and was the man behind the magazines biggest investigation, Operation West End, that purportedly showed then BJP president Bangaru Laxman accepting bribes. Laxman had to resign and spent four years in jail in the defence deal corruption case.
Hitting out at the governments soft approach towards Vijay Mallya who faces charges of money laundering, the Shiv Sena questioned the governments ability to bring back the former liquor baron to India.

How can people like Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya be allowed to leave the country in the first place? We have so many agencies set internationally who can track them. This is a system failure and its not about how powerful Mallya is, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told ANI.

Asserting that the Centre was acting completely helpless in the matter, he said the government was making tall claims of brining back underworld don Dawood Ibrahim when they could not even bring back an Indian citizen.

Mallya had claimed that the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade the law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit to London.

In an email interview with the Sunday Guardian, the business tycoon said that he feels he has already been branded as criminal in the country and it was not the right time for him to return.

There was a lookout notice issued against me last year. But I didnt escape. Why am I being portrayed as a criminal now? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved. They decide we dont. Our own business was flourishing but plummeted suddenly. Dont make me the villain. I have the best intentions. Im quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like of others, he said.

Mallya alleged that there was a big agenda that some people were pushing against him.

In the interview, he also said that he wanted to return but feared that he might not get a fair chance to present his side as he was already branded as a criminal.

When asked about where he was residing presently, he said that it was not wise for him to reveal his whereabouts, asserting that all he wanted was to feel safe.
The suspected honour killing of a Dalit man near Coimbatore on Sunday may have caused a nationwide uproar, but this is only the latest case of caste-based violence in a state with its own history of Dalit oppression.

A group of unidentified men armed with hatchets and sickles hacked 22-year-old Shankar to death in the town of Udumalaipettai in Tiruppur district, reportedly for marrying his wife Kausalya, an upper caste Hindu.

Kausalya told police she believed the attackers were hired by her family as she was threatened by them in the past for marrying against their wishes.

Read: Tamil Nadu honour killing: Father-in-law of Dalit victim surrenders

Political parties such as the DMK and the Congress have criticised the ruling AIADMK government for not doing enough but Shankars death is just the latest in a long line of atrocities against Dalits in Tamil Nadu; a fact that may seem at odds with the states image of being one of the more progressive in the country.

Read: Tamil Nadu: Dalit youth hacked to death in suspected honour killing

A history of violence

The political landscape of Tamil Nadu abounds with Dravidian parties that have inherited and being influenced by the social justice movement of Periyar, who spoke forcefully against caste-based violence and advocated self-respect marriages.

But behind the lip-service to Periyar, the state hides a sordid history of violent responses to inter-caste marriage, or demands from Dalits to have the same access to places of worship that the higher castes do.

A file photo of Periyar EV Ramawamy Naicker. Though Periyar refused to assume any public office, his influence helped define core tenets of contemporary Tamil politics. (HT File Photo)

Kausalya belongs to the Thevar caste, a community that has, along with the Vanniyars and Gounders, a history of committing atrocities against Dalits.

Shankars brutal murder echoed that of Gokulraj, a Dalit man who was murdered in 2015 by members of the Gounder community simply for speaking to a Gounder woman at a temple.

It also brought to mind the violence of 2012, when over 200 Dalit houses were torched by an angry upper-caste mob after a Dalit boy, Ilavarasan, had eloped with a girl from their community, Divya.

Read: Tamil Nadu: a marriage that triggered caste war ends in tragedy

Violent clashes between OBCs and Dalits have increased in northern Tamil Nadu because of its changing political climate; specifically, the formation of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (Working Peoples Party) in the late 1980s by Dr S Ramadoss. The PMK was predicated on the Vanniyars sense of identity, and aggressively employed a political rhetoric that framed the demands of the community in terms of caste.

The PMK was born largely due to the absence of a strong anti-caste policy from the two main inheritors of Periyars legacy, the DMK and the AIADMK. This space was not just used by OBCs however; Dalits also formed parties to counter the rise of caste politics, with the most notable being the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (Liberation Panther Party).

Dr S Ramadoss founded the Pattali Makkal Katchi in 1989. (HT File Photo)

When Ilavarasans body, was found on the railway tracks near Dharmapuri in 2013, foul play was immediately suspected.

And while PMK chief Ramadoss publically refuted claims that he or his party had anything to do with it, the fact that his followers publicly condemned inter-caste marriages and even advocated violence led many experts to believe that caste tensions and politics had intertwined in the state.

The death of the Dalit youth Ilavarasan of Dharmapuri district, who married Divya, a Vanniyar girl, has emboldened castiest elements. Caste outfits masquerading as political parties are ready to go to any extent to break inter-caste marriages as they fear it will spell a death knell for casteism, wrote P Sampath, president of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front.

When the main suspect in Gokulrajs murder, Yuvaraj a leader of a local Gounder party, was arrested, he was surrounded by many of his cheering supporters, highlighting perhaps how politicised inter-caste violence had become.

Last year, the then chief minister O Pannerselvam dismissed claims of caste violence being on the rise in the state assembly, saying, There was no incidence of honour killing in the state. Rarely do suicide or suspicious deaths involving inter caste couples occur.

But, as Shankar, Ilavarasan and Gokulraj show, caste violence is alive and well in Tamil Nadu; and, given its political undertones, it is unlikely to die down anytime soon.

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The Congress party gave a notice on the Vijay Mallya issue in the Rajya Sabha on Monday in a bid to further corner the Narendra Modi government, which it says is framing innocent people while letting offenders like the former Kingfisher Airlines boss leave the country.

A non-bailable warrant has been issued now. Earlier, a red corner notice was issued and later withdrawn. The entire government is trying to frame innocent people. In OROP they have arrested Wing Commander Sharma, Kanhaiya Kumar was falsely indicted. So, the government is hell bent on framing the innocent and they allowed people like Vijay Mallya to leave the country, Digvijaya Singh told ANI.

In an email interview with the newspaper Sunday Guardian, Mallya said he wants to return to India but fears the time isnt right as his words may be twisted in spite of his best intentions following his Rs 9,000 crore loan default.

Mallya said he left India for to a personal visit with a friend and appeared to shift the blame of the massive loan default to the banks.

The tycoon has triggered an outrage for leaving India in spite of a CBI probe and Supreme Court proceedings against his alleged financial misconduct. His now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines defaulted on a Rs 900 crore loan, allegedly in collusion with IDBI bank employees, triggering a CBI probe and a case by the Enforcement Directorate.

A Hyderabad court has also issued non-bailable warrants against Mallya and now defunct Kingfisher Airlines chief financial officer A Raghunath after they failed to appear in a court in connection with an alleged dishonour of a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. The court also directed that the duo should be produced before the court on April 13.

The reason why Mallya was allowed to abscond is because if he is investigated or if he decides to open his mouth, a lot of very powerful people in this country will be without their clothes, Congress leader Manish Tewari had earlier told ANI.

Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and is being sought in India over charges of money laundering, claimed the banks gave him loans after evaluating all aspects, adding that he is not trying to evade law enforcement agencies but is on a personal visit.

The business tycoon said he feels he has already been branded a criminal in the country and, therefore, it is not the right time for him to return.

The government had earlier told the Supreme Court that Mallya had left India on March 2 following which the bench issued a notice to him and sought his response within two weeks on pleas filed by a consortium of banks seeking direction for freezing his passport and his presence before the apex court.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Ganesh Joshi on Monday attacked a police horse with a lathi, leaving the beast with a broken leg.

The assault took place during a BJP protest in Dehradun against the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand. More than 3,000 police personnel were deployed to control a crowd that tried to force its way towards the state legislature building.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sadanand Date told HT that Shaktiman, the horse, is in bad shape. He said the veterinarian has identified multiple fractures on its left leg.

It seems the horse will no longer stand on its feet. We will register a case against those identified in video footage, Date said. The SSP said if the condition of the leg worsens, it will have to be amputated, but in that case, it will impossible for Shaktimaan to survive.

(Vinay Santosh Kumar / HT Photo )

DGP BS Siddhu has said that action will be taken against those found guilty of beating the horse. Investigation is on and video clips are being examined minutely to establish the fact no one will be spared and dealt as per law said Siddhu.

A case was later filed against Joshi and 10-12 of his supporters under sections 429 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code on Monday night for beating up the police during the BJP rally in the day.

Watch | Uttarakhand BJP MLA hits a police horse

<span itemprop="name" content="Watch | Uttarakhand BJP MLA allegedly breaks leg of a police horse"></span><span itemprop="description" content="The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) rally in Dehradun on Monday against Uttarakhand government turned murky when party MLA Ganesh Joshi charged on a police horse and allegedly broke its leg. The horse named shaktimaan was rushed to police line for treatment. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sadanand Date told HT that the horse is in bad shape. He said veterinarian treating horse has identified multiple fractures on his left leg. All white shaktimaan is serving police force for the last seven years. SSP said in worst condition the leg of the horse will have to be amputated. In that case it will impossible for shaktimaan to survive. Several Congress leaders including chief minister Harish Rawat rushed police lines to see the horse."></span><span itemprop="duration" content="37"></span><span itemprop="thumbnail" content="http://cfvod.kaltura.com/p/1679921/sp/167992100/thumbnail/entry_id/0_lb5m2eh6/version/100012/acv/182"></span><span itemprop="width" content="640"></span><span itemprop="height" content="362"></span>

The Congress condemned the incident and several Congress leaders, including chief minister Rawat, rushed to police lines to see the horse.

The chief minister directed officials to contact veterinary doctors in Tamilnadu. He said money is not an issue and government will bear the expenses to save Shaktimaans life.

It is unfortunate that an animal, who cant speak has been made target. This shows the frustration (of BJP),  the chief minister said.

Police horse Shaktimaan got his leg fracture, during a BJP rally at Vidhansabha in Dehradun, India, on Monday, March 14, 2016. (Vinay Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Meanwhile, Joshi rubbished the allegations. The Mussoorie MLA released two videos in order to prove that the cavalry police charged the party workers first.

I am being framed by the Opposition as todays BJP rally was a big success. Its not me who has beaten the horse. Even video clips do not show this. If found guilty, I will leave politics, he said.

Shaktimaan has been serving in the police force for seven years.
The scare and trepidation of unprecedented violence during the Jat quota agitation in Haryana was at its peak when a startling revelation hit the headlines  women commuters violated by highway goons at Murthal on Delhi-Ambala national highway.

The news report that appeared in an English daily in Chandigarh on February 24 claimed that women commuters were reportedly stopped near Murthal early in the morning on February 21, dragged into nearby fields and raped. Quoting eyewitnesses and sources, the report said at least 10 women were sexually assaulted by around 30 men.

It also said the police dismissed the incident as rumour, but the victims and their families were reportedly advised by district officials to not report the matter for the sake of their honour. A jumpy Haryana government, already under fire for failing to check the violence, deputed a fact-finding team comprising senior officers, including a principal secretary-rank IAS officer and an inspector general of police.

The police spoke to eyewitnesses quoted by the newspaper and concluded that was no incidents of women being molested or raped took place that night. Statements of several villagers from Kurad failed to confirm the allegation. A team from the National Commission of Women (NCW), headed by Rekha Sharma, conducted an inquiry in Murthal but it too could not verify that such an incident took place.

HC takes cognisance

On the day of the alleged Murthal incident, the Punjab and Haryana high court took cognizance of the report and Justice NK Sanghi wrote to the acting chief justice in this regard. Subsequently, the state government filed a status report on February 29 in the high court stating that the police did not find any evidence of the reported gang rapes.

However, before the status report was even submitted, television channels ran amok castigating the state for the alleged rapes. Quoting the investigative report of the English newspaper, a television channel went to the extent of alleging that there was a cover-up.

Between February 24 and February 28, several eyewitnesses appeared on TV and were quoted by various newspapers, but they all retracted their statements before a judicial magistrate.

One of those flip-flopping eyewitnesses was Niranjan Singh, who said women on foot were led to nearby fields by miscreants in broad daylight on February 22 and 23 and not on the night of February 21 and 22. I saw from a distance. Women pedestrians were asked by miscreants to take a detour to fields as main road was unsafe and their clothes were torn. It was shameful, Singh told a news channel. A reporter on one of the channels even asked him: February 22 ko hungama badh gaya tha? (Did the commotion increase on February 22?)

This, however, was a deviation from the original story that appeared in print media, according to which the alleged gang rapes took place on the night of February 21.

A news website later quoted two alleged victims, whose identities were kept secret, as saying that the police asked them to keep quiet about the incident. The story penned by a male journalist also suggested that he met the two victims as a non-journalist, raising questions about the credibility of the report  considering that it is unlikely for a woman victim of sexual assault or rape to share such details with a complete stranger.

Journalist restraint overwhelmed?

Media expert and senior journalist Prof Vepa Rao said the whole issue seems to be shrouded in mystery and we just dont know whether the heinous crime actually took place or not. One of the most important principles in journalism is to verify facts thoroughly before rushing to the public. After all, there is a huge difference between a rumour and news. Unfortunately for media these days, it has become more important to rush with the so called the first big news, he said.

Prof Rao said in the golden era of journalism, national dailies such as the Hindustan Times, the Statesman, etc, would risk being a day late rather than being proved incorrect. If the Murthal rape incidents really took place, it calls for the severest of punishments, irrespective of who is involved. Similarly, if it was nothing more than a rumour or a deliberate planting of the so called news with an intent to tarnish the image of individuals or a particular community, then also it calls for stringent action. On the part of the media, it is imperative to exercise caution and self restraint, he said.

Often competition overwhelms journalistic restraint. The impulse to score over rivals is often too intense to make journalists and media houses tread on razors edge, said a Delhi-based senior journalist.

A retired journalist, however, said the possibility of witnesses getting cold feet over fear of inviting the wrath of hoodlums and living with the nuisance of a police investigation could not be ruled out.

I mean, who would like to get into this knowing that it could mean harassment for years, he said.

Read more: Truck drivers deny seeing women dragged to fields in Murthal

Womens body alleges police role in Murthal gangrapes

No evidence of rapes in Murthal, says women panel
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee sent Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi a notice seeking his reply to allegations that he holds a British citizenship. But while the main Opposition party and ruling BJP dig deeper in their trenches, an MP on the committee says the issue is unlikely to snowball into a major political row.

The notice is part of the routine process. On the receipt of each and every complaint, we issue a notice to the concerned party seeking his explanation. There is no political vendetta behind the move, a source in the committee told Hindustan Times.

It was also pointed out by another panel member that there had not been any discussion on the issue in the committee.

Watch | Show-cause notice for Rahul Gandhi

<span itemprop="name" content="Watch | Show-cause notice for Rahul Gandhi"></span><span itemprop="description" content="The Parliamentary Ethics Committee, headed by veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, has issued a show-cause notice to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi asking him to respond to questions on whether he had once declared himself a British citizen. Parliamentary Ethics Committee member Arjun Ram Meghwal said it is a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds."></span><span itemprop="duration" content="28"></span><span itemprop="thumbnail" content="http://cfvod.kaltura.com/p/1679921/sp/167992100/thumbnail/entry_id/0_j9fougyp/version/100012/acv/192"></span><span itemprop="width" content="640"></span><span itemprop="height" content="362"></span>

The allegation

BJP leader and former MP Subramanian Swamy first alleged that Gandhi once claimed he was a British citizen while filing the annual return of his dissolved company Backops Limited in London.

Swamy also alleged that Gandhi made the declaration in three tax returns  2005, 2006 and 2009, and also provided a UK residential address.

Read more: We will deal with it: Rahul Gandhi unfazed by UK citizenship row

The response

The Congress vehemently denied the allegations and said it could have been a typographical error by the accountant of the firm who was responsible for filing the returns.

The party accused Swamy of pursuing a personal vendetta against the Gandhi family. The principal Opposition party views the complaint as another effort to attack the Congress leadership.

The party also pointed out that in other documents of the company and other annual returns, Gandhi is shown as an Indian.

Gandhi held 65% share in Backops Limited. He was also the director and company secretary.

The issue came up before the Parliaments ethics committee as BJPs East Delhi MP Mahesh Giri wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in January, complaining against Gandhis British citizenship. Mahajan referred the matter to the Ethics panel, headed by BJP patriarch LK Advani.

Read: Supreme Court throws out PIL on Rahul Gandhis British citizenship
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Monday he did not compare the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the West Asian terror group Islamic State (IS).

Azad has said his party would fight the IS the way it would fight the RSS, the ruling BJPs ideological parent. His remarks set off sharp reactions, with the BJP and the RSS threatening to sue Azad.

Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, flagged a CD of his speech in the House, reading out the controversial part.

If you find anything wrong, you can move a privilege motion, he said after Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, junior minister for parliamentary affairs, sought his apology.

Azad said he was quoted out of context and asked BJP members to listen to the CD.

So, we oppose organisations like IS the way we oppose RSS. If those among us, in Islam, too do wrong things, they are no way less than RSS, Azad said at a conference of a Muslim organisation in Delhi on Sunday.

Replying to Azad in the Upper House, finance minister Arun Jaitley said: I think you have mistakenly given the IS some amount of respectability (by comparing it with the RSS). You should have steered clear of this.

Nothing is a bigger threat to the world currently than IS, Jaitley said.

It is using tanks and armies against other religions. It offers instructions on how to rape women. To suggest it is like another organisation gives it respectability - this is what you have done, perhaps inadvertently, the finance minister said.

Azad found support from his party. Some BJP leaders have asked Hindu women to give birth to 10 babies. These are advices from people who have never married. The economy is in distress have they apologised for that? Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said.

Read: BJP and others slam Azad for comparing Islamic State with RSS
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday slammed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for his fair-and-lovely jibe, saying that it showed a racist mindset.

I have no problem with this phrase. But this phrase is politically incorrect. It shows a racist mindset that what is not fair is not lovely. The world over, people frown over the use of such a phrase. In any case, I will pass it off as ignorance, he said in his reply to the debate on the general budget in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress vice-president had earlier criticised the governments black money disclosure scheme. Jaitley didnt name Gandhi in his statement though.

Stating that India can grow faster in the absence of obstructionism, Jaitley sought support of the Opposition for the passage of bills such as the Constitution (Amendment) bill to enable the roll out the Goods and Services tax. The finance minister also rejected demands for rollback of 1% excise duty on jewellery, maintaining that it was in preparation for the Goods and Services tax (GST).

Speaking about the black money disclosure scheme, Jaitley stressed that it was not an amnesty scheme or voluntary disclosure of income scheme (VDIS) or any concession, unlike the schemes brought by other governments earlier.

Highlighting the importance of making substantial allocation for agriculture and rural sector in the budget, he said it makes a classic economic, social and political sense.

He said the allocations made for rural roads (Rs 27,000 crore) is the highest ever.

Dismissing the charges about the government writing off bad loans, he said, Not a single rupee has been written off by any bank.

The Lok Sabha later passed the appropriation bill completing the first phase of the budgetary exercise for 2016-17.
Jat leaders threatened to stage a protest in Haryana, demanding reservation and withdrawal of criminal cases against them during the agitation organised last month.

The Jat leaders would be submitting memorandums to the respective deputy commissioners giving a 72-hour deadline for accepting their demands.

During the recent Jat agitation over reservation in government jobs, there were sectarian clashes reported from the state in which 30 people were killed and public and private property worth Rs 10,000 crore was damaged. The agitators had also damaged canals supplying water to Delhi, resulting in a massive water shortage in the national capital.

There were also reports of women being raped in Murthal but the allegations have not been substantiated.
The Kerala high court on Monday revoked the state legislative assembly speakers decision to disqualify former government chief whip PC George as a legislator.

Revoking the disqualification, the court said the Speaker N Sakthan should have considered his resignation letter before taking action against him.

George was disqualified after his Kerala Congress (Mani) complained to Sakthan that he was expelled after he defied the party whip on a number of occasions.

To pre-empt his disqualification George had submitted his resignation from the assembly last year. However, the Speaker had rejected it and disqualified him. Later, George had challenged the Speakers decision in the high court.

It is another blow to the discredited UDF government. Sad, the Speaker took a hasty decision without consulting both sides, George said.

A big critic of the Oommen Chandy government, he is likely to contest from his home constituency in Poonjar (Kottayam) with the support of the Left Democratic Front in the upcoming assembly elections.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday morning for questioning, in connection with the money laundering case filed against his family in the Maharashtra Sadan construction scam.

Bhujbal arrived at the directorates Ballard Pier office, where his supporters had gathered outside, raising slogans in support of their leader.

Bhujbal, it is alleged, received kickbacks for the construction of the new Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, and huge sums of money were credited to the account of Bhujbal Charitable Trust.

Last month, the ED questioned Chhagans son Pankaj Bhujbal in the case and also seized Pankajs passport to ensure he did not leave the country. ED had, on February 1, arrested Sameer Bhujbal -- nephew of Chhagan Bhujbal -- in a money laundering case in Mumbai after the agency conducted multiple searches in connection with its probe against Bhujbal and others.

The central agency had, in December, attached the Rs 160-crore land owned by Bhujbal in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. They also attached properties worth Rs 110 crore belonging to Parvesh Construction, a real-estate firm jointly owned by Pankaj and Sameer.

ED sources stated investigations are underway to trace the colossal proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 870 crore.

The entire party and Sharad Pawar ji stands with Chhagan Bhujbal: Jitendra Awhad (NCP) pic.twitter.com/v218I0tK1P  ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

The ED registered two separate cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), with the agency focusing on the trail of money and analysing the assets.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), meanwhile, accused Bhujbal and others of engineering a land barter deal in favour of a private firm, Chamankar Builders, which built Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, the High Mount guest house and transport offices and residential quarters in Mumbai. The builder secured the right to develop a part of land in Mumbai, which could be sold in the open market.

The agency alleged that Chamankar was allowed to carry out the makeover of the Maharashtra Sadan and the RTO at Andheri, in lieu of FSI for a slum rehabilitation project in Andheri. The FIR stated that the move benefited the developer, KS Chamankar, but that the state suffered losses.

In December 2014, the high court gave the ACB its go ahead to conduct an inquiry against Bhujbal, following which a special investigation team was set up that worked in co-ordination with the ED. The ACB is looking into allegations of corruption and misuse of power while the ED is probing his financial dealings.

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Shehla Rashid kept her calm as a journalist shouted at her seeking answers about issues he thought were sidestepped by the Jawaharlal Nehru University students union, a body she represents as the vice-president.

The journalist, who repeatedly interrupted her during the press conference in Bengaluru on Friday, wanted to know why JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar did not speak against the Congress for the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, the corruption scandals during the previous UPA regime or against the Left for their atrocities against farmers opposing land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram.

The nation wants to know right now! the senior reporter asked; his voice shaking.

Another senior journalist joined the aggressive chorus and said he had many relatives and friends in the army. He asked her how she could expect his support when she criticises the army.

Rashid never acknowledged the hostility and did not even bat an eyelid during the interaction. She listed out the number of times JNU students had raised the issue of the 1984 riots, the Singur-Nandigram atrocities and the crony capitalism promoted by the Congress.

To the gentleman with relatives and friends in the army, she said, Being against Afspa doesnt make us anti-army. We are pro-army. And for us, a pro-army position necessarily means an anti-war position.

If videos of their speeches that have gone viral are any indication, Rashid and her comrades at JNU have evolved a political rhetoric sharp enough to pierce the right-wing line of arguments. What they havent figured out yet is how to counter and possibly win over student groups that arent exactly ideological enemies yet are far from friendly.

They are equally anti-Hindutva, anti-caste, pro-Rohith Vemula and anti-Modi as the All India Students Association (AISA) -- the students union Rashid belongs to. Their positions may be a hairs breadth apart but they would loathe to let them intersect.

Rashids composure slipped a little when we asked about the critique of the JNUSU, Left and specifically the AISA line by these frenemies. She initially refused to accommodate this question from HT and said she has never heard anybody criticising them for how they handled the Rohith Vemula issue.

Read | Shehla Rashid, firebrand Kashmiri, leading JNU students fightback

Clearly annoyed with the question, she demanded proof of this line of criticism and then asked this reporter, Is it your personal view or are there actually some people saying this? She relented when told that some of this criticism is coming from the same Dalit radicals who opposed Arundhati Roys essay on BR Ambedkar titled The Doctor and the Saint.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, which is the ideological mentor of the AISA, is headed by Dipankar Bhattacharya -- a Bengali Brahmin. There are Dalit groups who have questioned the Lefts commitment to the annihilation of caste on the basis of the fact that there is very little caste diversity in the top leadership of all communist parties. The leaders of some of these groups have even accused Left groups in JNU of hijacking the struggle for Vemula.

Rashid pointed out that the JNUSU held protests in Delhi in support of the Dalit students agitation in Hyderabad much before Vemulas death. After his death, they made the passage of the Rohith Act one of their prime demands.

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar with the vice-president Shehla Rashid addresses a news conference at the JNU campus in New Delhi. (PTI File Photo)

We have a very good understanding with the Joint Action Committee from Hyderabad. There may be some misguided critics. I dont agree with them, she said.

So what does she think about the fact that most communist parties, including hers, are headed by upper caste Hindu men? Does she believe, as communists often claim, that comrades de-class and de-caste themselves after they join the working class struggle?

Lets say we have a Dalit general secretary. Will that make a qualitative difference to our activities? she asks and raises the issue of other excluded communities. What about the exclusion of disabled people or people from the northeast or south India?

Every time they have been attacked by the Right for being anti-national, Rashid and her comrades have invoked the Constitution -- the document, which among other things, proposes reservations to redistribute political, economic and social power. Will reservation of party positions for Dalits and Adivasis solve the Lefts leadership problem?

If you ask me if there should be reservations in social movements, my answer is no. I see my party first as a social movement, she said.

Sections of Kashmiri activists have accused the JNU students of appropriating their Azadi slogan and abandoning the Kashmiri self-determination movement.

Read | Kanhaiya to lead azadi movement for Umar, Anirban

Firstly, the Azadi slogan was raised by the feminist movement also. As for the self-determination issue, many liberals and Left ideologues are supportive of it but there is a lot of fear. There is a lot of self-censorship because of the atmosphere of terror created by the government. People are scared even to talk about Afspa leave alone the Kashmiri struggle for Azadi. This government is the real terrorist. She too is careful in her choice of words at this point.

These are not merely academic questions or a hair-splitting exercise.

Rashid also addressed a public meeting at the St Josephs College on Friday evening. She made a passionate appeal for parallel protests from the citys student community in support of the JNUSUs Parliament Chalo agitation planned for March 15. Only, most of the people in the room were not students. The event was organised by the local units of the AISA and the CPI(ML); reason enough for other progressive student unions to stay away.

Prominent among the absentees were representatives from the CPI(Marxist) aligned Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangha (BVS), which follows the ideological line of Mayawati, Kanshi Ram and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Both unions have the ability to easily muster a few thousand students. On February 3, the BVS managed to gather 10,000 Dalit students from across Karnataka for a protest demonstration demanding reservations in the private sector. They were brutally caned by Bengaluru Police but no Left students Union held a protest to condemn the incident.

This is not an AISA or a Left agitation. Those who care about Rohith Vemula and those who think that injustice has been done to JNU students will join, she said. These two issues, she believes, are important enough to blur decimal point distances between the ideological lines.

Rashid is not a YouTube sensation for nothing. Her media interaction on Friday started at 11.30am and was incomplete even at 3.30pm. The small group of students who attended her talk later that evening were inspired enough to come again on Saturday for a strategy meeting at St Josephs College with Rashid and her comrades.

JNU teachers protest against the arrest of JNUSU students at JNU campus, in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT File Photo)

Her appeal to the students at the meeting was simple: Reach out to whoever you think cares about Rohith Vemula and JNU. The simplicity of Rashids call appears to have had some impact. Bengaluru students managed to organise another strategy meeting on Sunday for which leaders of some of the largest student unions confirmed their participation.

Karnataka is a particularly tough place to be for a Left, progressive or Dalit student activist. The political parties and organisations whose lines they follow are themselves struggling to counter the Sangh Parivar. Worse, for the last 20 years, student unions have been banned from entering campuses in the state.

These two decades have also seen a massive spurt in the number of private colleges which control the students with an iron hand. Discipline and order are more important to them than cultivating a spirit of questioning, debate and dissent among students.

St Josephs College is one of the few private institutions where there is a sizable population of students and teachers on the Left. For years, it has hosted film screenings and talks by Left, LGBTQ, feminist and Dalit leaders. But in the same college, students have been suspended for growing their hair too long or wearing clothes too short for the tastes of the conservative catholic priests who run the place. Boys and girls have been hauled up for hugging each other, sharing earphones and for being seen together too often.

Some of the students who won this years students council elections shouted the Left slogan Lal Salam which roughly translates to Long Live the Revolution. The same council leaders did not say anything when the college management turned into moral police.

Students are not used to protesting. Most have never even signed a petition. There is a great deal of political awareness and sympathy for the JNU and HCU struggles in our college. But they would rather watch a film or share some articles about the agitations on social media, one of the students from the campus, who is trying to build support for the March 15 protest, said.

Rashid left for Delhi on Saturday and it is now up to the students who were inspired by her to ensure the success of the parallel protests in the city. Although committed, they are still raw. It will be interesting to see how they build a common ground with hardened student leaders.

Read | ABVP files police complaint against JNU professor over Kashmir remark
Former deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who was summoned by the enforcement directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case in the Maharashtra Sadan scam, was arrested on Monday night.

Bhujbal, who appeared before the central agency on Monday morning, was questioned till late before being arrested under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after his answers to questions from ED officials were deemed inconclusive.

Bhujbal will be produced before a special PMLA court on Tuesday.

According to ED sources, the probe revolves around Bhujbals tenure as the public works minister. While ED has accused Sameer Bhujbal  Chhagans nephew  of masterminding the scam, they are probing if he was influenced by the former deputy CM. The contracts were awarded when Bhujbal was the PWD minister. We are probing whether Sameer and others were involved in misappropriations because he [Bhujbal] was the minister. The investigation is focused on gathering evidence against (Chhagan) Bhujbal, said a high-ranking ED officer.

While entering the ED office, Bhujbal told the media that he was being targeted out of political vendetta and he would co-operate with the investigation.

Read | Maha Sadan money-laundering case: Chhagan Bhujbal appears before ED

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Elections to the state assembly in Odisha are three years away, but politicians cutting across party lines have already started battling over the legacy of a leader who died almost 20 years ago to boost their electoral prospects.

Biju Patnaik, a former union minister and two-time chief minister, died in 1997.

A colourful and charismatic politician, the leader with a six-feet-two-inches frame was a towering personality. When he died, some five lakh people showed up spontaneously at his funeral.

His exploits  both as a politician and a pilot during his younger days  are part of local folklore. Given the groundswell of goodwill that still exists for him, politicians are eyeing to tap into it.

As always, the first off the block has been his chief minister-son Naveen and his party named after the father, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

On March 5, Naveen flagged off the year-long celebrations to mark the elder Patnaiks birth centenary.

Though it was a function organised by the state government wherein the chief minister announced a raft of new social welfare measures, BJD flags fluttered at all corners of the venue.

Formed soon after the patriarchs death, the BJD and its leaders, including the chief minister, used the occasion to reiterate their resolve to realise the elder Patnaiks unfulfilled dreams.

Opposition leaders were either not invited or chose to stay away from the official ceremony. But several of them, including senior BJP leader Biswabhusan Harichandan, and Narsingha Mishra, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, attended functions in the coastal town of Paradip to pay their respects to the departed leader.

Late Odisha stalwart Biju Patnaik. (Santosh Gupta/HT File Photo)

Dharmendra Pradhan, the union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, paid rich tributes to Patnaik at a function in the steel-town of Rourkela. Though Pradhan is positioning himself as a possible alternative to Naveen by virtue of being the most recognizable BJP face in the state, it did not prevent him from proudly recounting Patnaiks achievements.

Virtually unknown in the state till his fathers death, Naveen has been the biggest beneficiary of the Patnaik legacy.

He launched his regional outfit, named it after his father and continues to reap the political dividends.

Odisha has had many leaders but only one icon  Biju. Most of Bijus achievements like Paradip port happened when he was a Congress leader. Later, he left Congress and fought against it. As the son of the icon, Naveen has been cashing on his name, but other political parties that have Biju acolytes are too trying to own up the icon, says political commentator Rabi Das.

Therefore, there appears to be a new clamour to invoke the leader and at the same time criticise the political opponents for sullying his good name.

Biju is a valuable property of Odisha. But now those who know nothing about his legacy are organising the centenary celebration, insists Bijoy Mohapatra, once a close aide of the leader and now a bitter critic of Naveen.

Naveen baiters say the BJD is misusing public money on the centenary celebrations to mobilising party workers. Congress Mishra, who was Bijus law minister in the 1990s, says the BJD is exploiting the name of Patnaik for political gains.

The BJD is not prepared to accept that Biju Patnaik is a national leader and above party lines. It is sad that they are hell-bent on lowering and restricting his towering stature, adds the leader of the opposition.

The BJD, on its part, denounces its rivals who have been critical of the celebrations. Biju babu belongs to the whole state. If the opposition leaders are feeling so strongly about the Biju legacy, nobody stops them from celebrating his 100th birth anniversary in their own way, says Pratap Deb, a ruling party spokesman. Clearly, the Biju Patnaik centenary celebrations will provide enough political fodder till the state polls three years away.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh has set up a one-man committee to investigate the case of missing documents in the alleged extra-judicial killing of college student and suspected terrorist Ishrat Jahan by Gujarat police in 2004.

The documents are crucial as his ministry prepares the second affidavit in the Ishrat trial.

Home ministry additional secretary BK Prasad has been made in-charge of the inquiry panel, an official said.

Nineteen-year-old Ishrat of Mumbra in Maharashtra and three alleged associates  Javed Sheikh, Zeeshan Johar and Amzad Ali Rana  were shot dead on June 15, 2004, in Ahmedabad. They had apparently entered Gujarat to carry out terrorist attacks, an allegation contested in court.

The Centre had filed two affidavits in 2009, when Congress leader P Chidambaram was home minister, following a petition seeking a probe into the shooting. In the first, Ishrat and Sheikh were called operatives of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The second said anything stated in the first was not intended to support, or justify, the Gujarat Police action.

The BJP accused the Congress-led UPA government of dropping Ishrats name from the second affidavit to defame the Gujarat government under Narendra Modi.

On March 10 this year, home minister Singh told the Lok Sabha that two letters from then home secretary GK Pillai to the attorney general in 2009 have gone missing. He listed six documents that went missing and announced an inquiry.

Pillai too had alleged that the second affidavit was framed at the political level.

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On a sultry March afternoon, a couple of hours before her baby shower ceremony, Monica Bamania (20) walks for a kilometre to reach Demu Vijays home on this tiny island of Diu in the Arabian Sea. As she joins 25 other women from the neighbourhood, Demu starts reading aloud a letter sent by her husband from a jail in Pakistan.

I am fine here. Do not worry about me and eat properly, writes Demus husband Vijay, raising hope among the women about their husband, son or father arrested by Pakistani authorities for allegedly crossing the maritime boundary while fishing in the Gulf of Kutch.

But much to the disappointment of Monica, the letter has no mention of her husband Suresh. She has not heard from him since February 20 when he left from Okha port for fishing on a boat registered in Gujarat. Days later, local authorities informed her about his arrest off the Jakhau coast in Kutch by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency.

Demu Vijay in Southwadi village, Diu, reads a letter from her husband lodged in a Pakistan jail. (Bipin Bamania/HT Photo)

Will Suresh return before the delivery of our first baby, which is due around May 26? wonders Monica. A year into married life, the seven-month pregnant woman is unsure about her and ageing in-laws future with the lone breadwinner of the family in jail.

Monicas story is just one of many such tales at Saudiwadi village in the Union Territory of Diu, adjoining Gujarat, where the economy runs on fishing and some tourism. And Saudiwadi is a microcosm of this coastal belt which sustains the lives of three lakh fishermen in Gujarat and Diu. Theirs is a three-decade-old plight, which has gone from bad to worse. Faced with depleting fish stocks, fishermen looking for a better catch often drift to the Sindhu river delta that forms the maritime border between India and Pakistan.

Adjoining villages in Gujarat like Tad and Kotda have similar stories. Villages have been pushed to poverty with frequent arrest of fishermen, says Velji Masani, the secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum.

Forty-five-year-old Ramji Harji says he spent two years in jail after he was arrested twice between 2000 and 2010. Last month, his son Ilyesh was also arrested.

No one knows the plight of such people better than 50-year-old Kunkadi Ramji who became a daily wager after her husband was arrested for the first time in 1990. Since then, her three sons and son-in-law, all have been to jails in Pakistan.

She recalls that in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Narendra Modi promised to stop the practice of arresting fishermen if became the Prime Minister. Now that he is the PM, Modi should fulfil his promise.

Pakistan Supreme Courts retired justice Naseer Aslam Zahid, a member of the India-Pakistan Joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners, says, They are fishermen and not criminals. Both countries should do a fast-track identification of prisoners and release them soon.

The panel, formed in 2008, however, has not met for more than two years. Under a United Nation convention, countries should release arrested fishermen within six months.

But their release always depends on the fluctuating relationship between the two neighbours. There seems to be no change in their stand even if a jailed fisherman dies of illness, says rights activist Jatin Desai. According to Gujarat Fisheries commissioner MA Narmawal, since 2009, they have been paying daily aid of `150 each to the families of arrested fishermen.

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The police on Monday asked the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration to help acquire the laptops, mobile phones and other devices of jailed student leader Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

Sources in the special cell said the duo told the police they had left their devices in their hostel rooms. The anti-terror unit is investigating the sedition case against JNU students accused of shouting anti-India slogans.

We needed their laptops and phones for investigation. Since we cannot enter the campus without informing the authorities, we sent a notice to the university office, said a police officer.

The university said they would hand over the gadgets in a day or two.

Khalid and Bhattacharya are in judicial custody since they surrendered last month. Student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was released on bail.

Police sources said they will analyse the data in their laptops and storage disks.

They said they will go through documents in their laptops to ascertain the nature of literature they had access to. The police will access call details, messages and Whatsapp chats as part of the investigation.

The investigation will focus on the messages the duo exchanged in the days leading to the protest on February 9, when alleged anti-national slogans were raised on the campus.

Investigating officials said Khalid was the main organiser of the February 9 event commemorating the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He sought permission to hold the event, they said. The special branch report filed by an officer also named Khalid as leading the group that shouted slogans for Kashmir ki Azaadi.

Meanwhile, JNU students kept up protests for the release of the duo and to drop sedition charges against students. They planned a protest for Tuesday from Mandi House to Parliament, third since the arrest of Kanhaiya on February 9.
Investigation into a case of suspected honour killing in Tamil Nadu gathered pace on Monday following the surrender of the father-in-law of a Dalit man, who was murdered allegedly by his upper-caste in-laws in Tirupur district.

A gang of unidentified men armed with hatchets and sickles rode into Udumalaipettai town in Tirupur district and hacked 22-year-old Shankar to death in broad daylight. He died en route to hospital.

Read: Tamil Nadu: Dalit youth hacked to death in suspected honour killing

His wife Kausalya  a member of the dominant Thevar caste -- who was with him at the time of the incident, was critically injured and admitted to the ICU later.

In a statement to the police, she blamed her family members for her husbands death and told the police that she had complained about the threat from her family earlier.

The womans father has surrendered in court and denied having played any role in the attack, police said.

The couple fell in love while studying at an engineering college in Palani and got married around eight months ago. However, the girls family tried to take her away even when she told the police that she had married the man of her own free will.

An eyewitness said few people who tried to help the couple were also attacked.

Read: Tamil Nadu honour killing: Father-in-law of Dalit victim surrenders

Police said all checkposts in and around Udumalaipettai were alerted for a lookout against the killers.

The incident that triggered widespread condemnation is the latest in a string of caste-related violence in the past year.

Two Dalit children were burnt to death in Faridabad, followed by the suicide of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad. Last week, a Dalit boy drowned in a well in Madhya Pradesh after being denied access to water and a Dalit family was beaten up in Uttar Pradesh for touching a Brahmin man.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi appeared unfazed on Monday by a parliamentary notice over his citizenship as his party accused the Centre of carrying out personal attacks to divert attention from more urgent issues.

We will deal with that, Gandhi told reporters when asked about a show-cause notice issued by the ethics committee of Parliament, asking whether he declared himself a British citizen to float a firm in the UK.

The Congress dismissed the charge, saying the Centre was raising baseless issues to divert attention from the Vijay Mallya loan default row.

When the BJP has absolutely nothing left to say against the Congress, then coming out with personal attacks is their trend and they are doing just that today. We strongly reject all these fabricated charges, Congress leader PL Punia told ANI.

A member of the parliamentary ethics committee, Arjun Ram Meghwal told ANI it was a very serious matter and the committee would discuss the further course of action once the Congress vice-president responds.

Read | Supreme Court throws out PIL on Rahul Gandhis British citizenship

A complaint reached the Lok Sabha speaker which she forwarded to the parliamentary ethics committee. The ethics committee, therefore, issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to as to how he showed his British citizenship when he was about to become the director of a company in London, Meghwal told ANI.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had accused Gandhi of declaring himself a British citizen to float a firm in that country. He had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that Gandhi should be stripped of his Indian citizenship and his membership of Parliament.

Swamy alleged that Gandhi had floated a company called Backops Limited in 2003 in the United Kingdom, and in the annual return form, he had declared himself to be of British nationality with a UK address. Rahul also held 65% of the total shares issued by this company, Swamy claimed.

(With agency inputs)
Rajesh Mishras political socialisation happened in the heady years of the 60s and 70s  during the Hindi movement, the anti-Hindi movement, the Naxalite movement, and the anti-emergency struggle. It was then, perhaps, not a surprise that as a sociologist in Lucknow University (LU), he became a serious student of social movements.

Little did he know that flagging an article for others to read  which he considers part of his duty as a social scientist  would provoke a backlash. Mishra had on Facebook shared a piece titled, Umar Khalid, my son, by DU academic Apoorvanand. The next morning, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad students stormed his department, chanted slogans, called him anti-national, and demanded his expulsion.

Read: Cornered on the Left: Questioning JNU student leader Shehla Rashid

Mishra, who recently suffered a heart attack, was visiting his doctor when the protests began. The vice-chancellor asked him for an explanation. On the verge of retirement, as tensions have partially dissipated, Mishra now smiles and says, I would be proud to have children who question, who dissent. I told the university: Throw me out if you want. Let me become a hero also.

The reaction alarmed many who see it as a sign of intolerance. Conversations with a range of upper caste students in the university explain the reaction and the intellectual environment that drives it. There is hostility for Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), little sympathy for the free speech argument, and disdain for Rohith Vemula, the Hyderabad University Dalit scholar who committed suicide.

JNU as bubble

It is late evening, and as we enter the university through the Bhaurao Singh Deoras Gate  named after an RSS icon  Sanjay Singh is sitting with two other young men.

Singh is pursuing a PhD in national security and defence. His aim is to stand as the Samajwadi Partys student wing presidential candidate in the university elections. LU hasnt had student polls for the past decade, but he is hopeful it may happen this year. Outside, a big hoarding sporting his name and photograph welcomes students.

When asked what he thinks of JNU and the recent controversy, he says, As student activists, why are JNU students interested in everything but student issues? They are arrogant and think they know everything  they should come and debate with us.

Singh is further bitter about the fact that JNU gets all the facilities and government support.

Read: Shehla Rashid, firebrand Kashmiri, leading JNU students fightback

We give more tuition fees, more hostel fees, more mess fees than students in JNU. Shouldnt they think about state universities? But all they do is think about Modiji.

A little distance away, we meet Abhay Singh, pursuing his B.Sc. He claims to have led a flag march with friends from Mahmoodabad hostel against JNU in the campus, organised independently. I raised slogans against Kanhaiya, Umar and Apoorvanand. Anti-national forces have become stronger and it is our duty to repel it. And why did he believe Kanhaiya was anti-national? I watched Zee News and saw the videos. He was there and chanted slogans.

Abhay Singh (centre) with friends. (HT Photo)

The disdain

If there is general coolness towards events in JNU, the case of Rohith Vemula is dismissed with contempt.

Sanjay Singh, the SP student leader, argued that students commit suicide all the time. A B.Tech student committed suicide recently but no one raised it. Why? Because he is from the general category. People like (the anchor) Ravish Kumar only think it is suicide when a Dalit dies. He added that Rohiths suicide was a sign he was a coward. Didnt Ambedkar face difficulties? Did he commit suicide?

The refrain that the suicide was a reflection of a problem internal to Vemula finds wide echo across the campus. Abhay Singh, an undergraduate student, says Vemula killed himself because of guilt. Rohith had organised a beef party. He was calling terrorists deshbhakts. He must have realised he was wrong and thus committed suicide.

In a nearby canteen, a group of mostly upper caste students of the Habibullah hostel are chatting. Jitendra Singh, a masters student in ancient history, said that a student in Kerala had committed suicide, a student in Bengal had killed himself, but these did not get any space. In the case of Lucknow, a guest lecturer killed himself. Did you hear about it? No, it is because he was a Mishra. You dont care about general castes.

The upper caste narrative on Vemula is widely entrenched now  his suicide was his fault. There has been unnecessary politicisation of the matter.

There are a few distinct voices, though few and far between. Indra Yadav, a new student at the university pursuing his PhD in Hindi, said that Vemula had been deprived of his fellowship and that was wrong. Arghaman Rabbi, an MA student of western history, pointed out that the suicide was not the issue  the issue was that he felt he had to commit suicide because he was a Dalit, and no one should feel that because of their identity.

Read: Kanhaiya to lead azadi movement for Umar, Anirban

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad rebels, who left the RSS' student outfit citing differences over the handling of the JNU row, burn a copy of the ancient legal text Manusmriti despite the varsity administration denying permission for the same, in New Delhi. (PTI)

Free speech as abstract

It was in this intellectual backdrop that Mishra was attacked. Most students Hindustan Times spoke to remained convinced that he had written the article himself and called an anti-national his son.

Mishra told HT he barely got a few calls from his colleagues in the university when the protests happened, but he was not surprised. I am a part of a few WhatsApp groups  including that of the Lucknow University Teachers Association. No one feels any shame in sending messages that are completely communal and Brahmanical, that mock events in JNU. He claims that during emergency, it was the executive and one leader who shrunk the democratic space, but now it was society, a mob mentality sponsored by ideologically driven people who are shrinking it.

Mishra is not too optimistic about the mood in the universities, and says the issues at JNU are too confusing to strike a chord here. Freedom of speech is an abstract principle. It is not present in society; families dont encourage it. Unless it is concretised it, it will be difficult to rally support around it.

And it is this mix  of distance and bitterness towards JNU, of contempt for Rohith, and of limited value for free speech  that ensured that the upper caste-driven atmosphere in Lucknow University facilitated an attack on Mishra.

Read: JNU to Kashmir: The anatomy of protests and right to freedom of speech

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, flanked by vice president Shehla Rashid (2nd L) and Rama Naga (L), addresses students on the JNU campus in New Delhi. (PTI)

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Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said he was surprised over Muzaffarnagar inquiry commissions clean chit to all those accused of inciting riots in which big guns (ministers and legislators) allegedly played an active role.

I am surprised. Ministers and legislators were openly involved in the riots and a fake video clipping was uploaded. Yet, no one has been found guilty and the axe has fallen only on a police inspector. Who is guilty if all those accused of inciting communal riots have got a clean chit, said Singh while speaking to journalists here. Singh was here to attend the wedding reception of Aditya Yadav, son of minister for PWD Shivpal Singh Yadav on Sunday.

Replying to a question about Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) announcement about a change in ganvesh (its trademark uniform) said a change in the dress code would make no difference if the organisation continued to follow the ideology of spreading hatred. The RSS has announced a change in dress code from khaki baggy shorts to full-length brown trousers.

About Congress preparations for the 2017 assembly elections, Singh said the people wanted to vote for the party provided it brought necessary changes in itself.

Congress general secretary (incharge UP) Madhusudan Mistry can only reply to such questions, Singh said when asked about the partys decision to rope in political strategist Prashant Kishor and possibilities of Congress alliance in the 2017 assembly elections.

About the demand for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to turn Congress fortunes, Singh said he had always been saying that she would join active politics. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should join active politics and move out of Rae Bareli and Amethi. This is the wish of all the partymen, said Singh.

On the JNU controversy, Singh said Delhi police failed to provide any material to support charges that JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar raised anti-national or pro- Pakisatan slogans. He said the video tape shown on the issue was tampered and Shilp Tiwari, a former close aide of union minister for human resources development Smriti Irani has been accused of tampering the video tape.

Singh used the opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the economy was in bad shape during the tenure of the NDA government. Singh said as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi had opposed the duty on jewellery that the NDA government imposed during his tenure as the PM. Now, the jewellers across the country were on strike to protest new tax, he said.
Situation turned tense in the Baba Bakala court complex, 35 km from the district headquarters, on Monday when two sword-wielding Sikh activists tried to attack three persons accused of the sacrilege of a bir of the Guru Granth Sahib at Ramdiwali village gurdwara on Saturday.

The incident took place when the accused, Prem Singh, Shamsher Singh and Raju were being taken to the court of judicial magistrate Ashok Chauhan.

At 2.30 pm, when the police entered the complex with the accused, the two activists, reportedly associated with the Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee, appeared all of a sudden and made the attack bid in which a policeman received minor injuries.

They demanded that the accused be handed over to them.

The police, however, did not arrest them.

Beas station house officer (SHO) Preetinder Singh dismissed the attack as a minor incident. He said some Sikh activists only demanded that the accused be handed over to them but did not make any attack bid with weapons.

Police get 5-day remand of accused

Accepting the polices plea, the court granted five-day custody of the accused. The three allegedly committed sacrilege of Sikh scriptures in an Amritsar village. They were arrested by the police with the help of local residents.
Extreme weather conditions since Friday has damaged almost 30 percent of wheat crop in the district. High speed winds and rain showers have left the standing crops flattened and have also led to water-logging in the fields.

Vegetable crops like potato, tomato, chilly and others have also been damaged due to the rough weather. Windstorm also broke the branches of trees in the orchids.

Hailstorm spoiled crops at some places in Nabha, Samana, Bhunerheri and Patiala blocks. Earlier, hailstorm on March 6 had damaged 33,000 hectares of the standing crops in Patiala.

Out of the total cultivation of around 2,70,000 hectares, wheat covers 2,32,000 hectares in the district.

Agriculture and other departments are conducting the survey reports for the actual damage to the crops across the district.

Meanwhile, farmers could be seen worried while draining out the excess water from their fields to reduce the effect of the rain on their crops. Davinder Singh, a farmer from Simbro village, said they were hoping for a bumper crop this year, but the inclement weather wiped out all their hopes. Windstorms flattened the wheat crop and I was left helpless in front of the natures fury, Davinder said.

Another farmer Lakhwinder Singh said after the tragedy, the government would further aggravate our pain by sending them compensation cheques of nominal amounts, which would not be of much use to them.

He urged the government to conduct fair survey of the damage and demanded a reasonable amount of compensation to save agriculture from the crisis.

Avtar Singh of Kulburchhan village said farmers were already suffering from the agrarian crisis and now the nature added to their problems. He added that the damage would decrease the yield of the crops and farmers would not be able to repay the agricultural costs.

The governments crop insurance schemes are meant only for politics of votes. Not even a single lawmaker thinks about the ground realities while framing the policies for agriculture, Avtar said.

Chief agricultural officer Parminder Singh confirmed that there has been around 30 % damage according to the preliminary reports. He added that the actual figure could be confirmed only after the proper survey, which would be completed within a day or two. No doubt, the yield of the wheat will decrease, but as of now it is too early to predict about the actual figure of the loss, he said.

He said the loss had increased because the wheat crop was on flowering to milking stage and as the standing crops were flattened, water had also damaged the pollination of the crop.

Meanwhile, Patiala deputy commissioner (DC) Rambir Singh, along with other administration officials, also toured some villages for the overview of the damage due to rain and strong winds. The DC said the formal orders of the girdawari of the affected areas would be ordered on Monday.
Continuing with their protest against the governments decision to levy excise duty on gold and gold items, the local jewellers took out a scooter rally in Ludhiana on Monday.

A huge gathering of motorcycle-borne jewellers began the rally at Fountain Chowk then moved through the busy junctions of city to return back to College Road.

Daily commuters and pedestrians had a harrowing time as the protesters blocked the traffic for a long time and raised slogans against the ruling SAD-BJP combine.

Ludhiana Jewellers Association president Anand Sikri said, With this rally, we managed to gather massive response as there were more than 1000 motorcycle-borne participants. We would further intensify our strike after a national-level strike call given the apex body, GJF, at Delhi on March 17. We are yet to finalise date for the state-level rally in Ludhiana, which would be attended by nearly 50 thousands members from all across the state.

We started the rally at the Fountain Chowk, then moving through Bharatnagar Chowk, Aarti Chowk, Ghumar Mandi and Clock Tower in Chaura Bazaar, we returned to the starting point, he said.

Meanwhile, Sarjeeven Dheer, patron of Punjab Swarankar Sangh, said, Complete shutdown of shops has caused huge losses to the jewellers. The government does not seem to be concerned about the interests of jewellers, who were already witnessing a low market scenario for over a year now. If the excise duty continues, business for the jewellers operating at the small and medium scale would be halved in the coming months.
Punjabs ground-altering legislation likely to be passed by the Vidhan Sabha on Monday to de-notify the entire land acquired for Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal has the potential to run into administrative and legal tangles once the Bill is presented to the governor for assent.

Under Article 200 of the Constitution, the governor can refuse assent to the Bill and reserve the legislation for consideration of the President.

In case governor Kaptan Singh Solanki refers the Bill to the President, this move will have potential to put in deep freeze the Punjabs contentious legislation that strikes at the root of the SYL canal dispute with Haryana, ahead of assembly elections.

Frontline Punjab bureaucrats and legal advisers on Sunday gave final touches to the contours of the Punjab Sutlej- Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill-2016, which in all probability will be introduced in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday. The tricky terms and conditions of implementing the law will be notified later separately, government sources say.

After de-notifying the acquisition notification, the Parkash Singh Badal-led government will return the entire 5,376-acre land to the original owners.

While this latest SYL gambit of Punjab gover nment on river water-sharing with Haryana has already generated a political temperature in the neighbouring state, a piquant situation is set to arise before governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is holding twin charge of Haryana as well as Punjab, once he receives the Bill for assent.

In a clear indication that he may put Punjabs Bill on SYL canal under legal scrutiny before giving assent became apparent when Solanki on Saturday assured a delegation led by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar that he would first legally examine the Punjab legislation.

The stand taken by the governor on Punjabs Bill will be significant politically as the spirit of the legislation is against the interests of Haryana, which has been demanding its share in Ravi-Beas river waters. Solankis moves will be watched through the political prism as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in Haryana, while BJP is a coalition partner of the Akali Dal in Punjab. And, Akali Dal is a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which is in power at the Centre.

Even as governor Solanki is holding dual charge, there is no conflict of interest for him even if Haryana and Punjab are quarrelling with each other on river waters. Legally, the governor can delay giving assent to the Punjab Bill by raising a query or referring the legislation to the President, a senior lawyer said.

Ever since the tenure of then Punjab governor Shivraj Patil ended in January last year, Solanki has been holding the additional charge of Punjab.

It is for the first time that the Centre has not appointed a full-fledged Punjab governor for such a long time.

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Police have arrested a 13-year-old boy who allegedly raped a two-year-old girl and then slit her throat with a sharp edged weapon, before abandoning her in a locked room in a semi-naked state on Sunday evening.

The accused, son of a vegetable seller, from Bihar, will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board today. He has been booked under sections of 376, 511 (attempt to rape) and Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.

The two-year-old was found in a semi-naked condition with her throat slit, in a locked room at Railway Colony. She was bleeding profusely and crying when she was recovered by her family.

Read: Minor rape victim raped again in Jamshedpur hospital by security guard

The victim was rushed to Deep Hospital in Model Town area, where she was operated on her neck. Her condition is stated to be critical.

Police said the accused is the fourth of five siblings and is employed in a stabliser selling shop. He was known to the family of the victim and was a frequent visitor to their house, where he used to play with the two-year-old girl.

Her parents reported her missing from outside her house in Railway Colony in the afternoon, where she was last seen playing with a boy from the same area.

Her father, a native of Uttar Pradesh, reported that they started to hunt for the girl, when they discovered that the 13-year-old boy with whom she was playing, too, was missing.

During the search, we heard screams from an abandoned room that was locked from outside. When we broke open the lock, our daughter was lying there, half-naked. Her throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon and she was bleeding profusely. We immediately informed the police and rushed her to the hospital, her father said.

SHO Beant Juneja of Division Number 5 said, We rushed to the spot after the family informed us about the incident. The girl was injured with some sharp-edged weapon.

Medical examination report of the victim has confirmed sexual assault.

Read: Boyfriend rapes minor, sets her ablaze in Greater Noida village

Read: Bihar: 4 women held in minors rape case, Raj Ballabh still on the run
Teachers Eligibility Test (TET)-pass unemployed teachers, who had planned to take out a march here on Sunday, held a protest at the Teachers Home only as the police locked them in the building for five hours.

State committee member of the Unemployed Elementary Training Teachers (ETT) and TET-Pass Action Committee, Punjab, Jagpreet Singh, said they had planned to hold a protest march from the Teachers Home to the deputy commissioners office and give a memorandum of their demands to him, but the police locked the gates of the building and stopped them from coming out to organise the march.

Jagpreet said since 2011, as many as 8,261 ETT candidates had cleared TET as the government conducted the test for five times, but did not provide jobs to these teachers, but collected crores of rupees from these teachers via application fee for recruitment.

In February 2014, the government cancelled the recruitment process of 4,901 ETT teachers after inviting applications along with fee.

The government has announced to fill only 4,500 posts of ETT teachers and about half of ETT TET pass candidates would remain jobless after clearing the TET while many of them are going to be overage soon. He said, The education department accepted in a RTI that there are about 10,417 posts of ETT teachers vacant in government primary schools, but now they have announced to fill only 4,500 posts of ETT teachers.

Jagpreet accused the Punjab government of being insincere to provide employment to youth as after 2006, the department had not made any permanent recruitment.

He said, On the one side, the department says that more than 10,000 posts are vacant, then why they are not recruiting the available eligible candidates.

State committee member Ravinder Kamboj said a meeting with deputy commissioner has been fixed on Tuesday to fix an appointment for meeting with the chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal. If the government did not accept their demands they would intensify the protest.
Several projects are being underway to give Gurdaspur a facelift. The Trimu road, which was broken at several places in Gurdaspur municipal limit, is being partially strengthened at an estimated cost of Rs 1.25 crore.

According to Gurdaspur PWD (B and R) sub divisional officer Harjinder Singh, over 1 km of Trimu road starting from the Purana Bus Stand Chowk is being raised by laying two thick layers of bitchumen macadem (BM) of 50 and 30 mm, respectively.

Earlier, this stretch of road had been a nuisance for commuters as it had potholes everywhere, which caused many accidents. The SDO said the road has been designed with its level at the middle raised upward and its banks has been kept bit sloppy so that rain water did not accumulate on it.

Meanwhile, the Gurdaspur Improvement Trust is spending Rs 25 lakh to give a facelift to the Jahaz Chowk by fitting it with fancy lights, besides widening it. The Jahaz Chowk is located on the Grand Trunk road close to the General Bus Stand in Gurdaspur town and here lies an old French aeroplane donated by the Indian Air Force to the Gurdaspur municipal council.

Over 7-km stretch of the national highway linking Batala bypass and Pathankot bypass is being widened and strengthened at a cost of Rs 10.38 crore, besides building a concrete bridge across Nabipur Cut Drain on the Gurdaspur-Batala road at an estimated cost of Rs 1.34 crore.

The national highway linking Jahaz Chowk and Old Mandi Chowk is being four laned with a divider in the middle.
Raising the stakes in its political fight with Haryana over sharing of river waters, the Punjab assembly on Monday unanimously passed a bill to pave the way for return of 5,376 acres of land acquired for the construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to its original owners or their heirs free of cost.

The Punjab Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Propriety Rights) Bill-2016, moved by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, got instant backing from the treasury and opposition members. Hours after Punjabs move, the Haryana assembly, housed in the same complex, passed a unanimous resolution condemning the passage of the bill  a development that escalated the sensitive inter-state water war to a new high.

The Haryana resolution described the SYL land de-notification move as unilateral, unconstitutional and denying the authority of the Supreme Court, a step only to draw political mileage. Before the resolution was passed, Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki also said that he would act as per the Constitution. If something unconstitutional happens legal options are always available to correct it, Solanki told the protesting Congress MLAs in the Haryana assembly before delivering his address.

Solanki, who holds the additional charge of Punjab also, finds himself in a piquant situation on the river waters row. While the Punjab bill will now be presented to him for assent, he has been urged by Haryana MLAs to reject it to safeguard the interests of the state. His two-line statement, though not a part of his ceremonial address, hinted that the contentious bill, piloted by the Badal government, is unlikely to have a smooth sailing. Badal, acutely aware of the governors predicament, will lead an all-party delegation to Solanki on Tuesday to press for early assent to the bill.

Read: Governor of Haryana, Punjab in piquant situation over SYL issue
Expressing deep concern over a recent act of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, Punjab revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday advocated capital punishment for the culprits under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

While speaking during Zero Hour at the Vidhan Sabha, the minister referred to the case at the gurdwara of Ramdiwali Mussalmana village in Amritsar. He informed the House that those behind the act had been apprehended. He said it was a sensitive issue that the Guru Granth Sahib, revered as the living guru, had been targeted by miscreants to disturb peace and harmony in the state.

Majithia said it was unfortunate that Punjab was traumatised by such repeated incidents in recent times. He suggested to the House that such acts of sacrilege be considered as the rarest of the rare crime and the culprits given capital punishment.

Read: Holy book desecrated in Amritsar village, 3 held

Read: Deranged accused saved from mob after Bir desecration near Amritsar
Traffic chaos near the Kaushambi Bus Terminal on the Delhi border has caught the attention of the National Green Tribunal which on Monday called for an inspection of the area and sought a detailed report on the issue.

A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar constituted a committee comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Uttar Pollution Control Board and ordered them to submit an inspection report within three weeks.

The committee shall inspect the site in question and also take ambient air quality samples. They shall find out different sources of air pollution including vehicular pollution resulting from jams in the area, the Bench said while posting the matter for next hearing on April 21.

The green panel was hearing a petition filed by Kaushambi Apartments Residents Welfare Association (KARWA) which had contended that the presence of two bus terminus (Anand Vihar and Kaushambi bus terminal) within 200 metres of each other has aggravated air pollution in the area.

Seeking relocation of the bus terminus, the plea had said Two interstate bus depots (Anand Vihar ISBT and UPSRTC Bus Stand), a state highway, national highway (NH24 and SH27) and two industrial areas (Sahibabad Industrial Area and Patparganj Industrial Area) have engulfed a residential township (Kaushambi) into a pollution disaster zone.

During the hearing today, the residents welfare association contended that there was illegal parking on metalled roads in and around Kaushambi on single to four lane roads which cause traffic jams.

It alleged that despite prohibitory orders private diesel buses were plying in the area in an unregulated manner and the Uttar Pradesh police was not taking any action against the violators.

KARWA claimed that Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation has not concretised their bus terminal in Kaushambi resulting in massive dust pollution from loose soil.

Earlier, the Tribunal had reprimanded the UP government for its failure to control traffic near Kaushambi Bus Terminal and directed the traffic police to penalise offending vehicles.
Residential projects along the Dwarka Expressway in Gurgaon have had the Work in Progress signboard for almost six years. Completion of the 18-km stretch has been primarily delayed due to land acquisition issues both in Gurgaon and Delhi.Projects along the Expressway are in various stages of construction  some almost complete, getting finishing touches; others still waiting for additional floors to be added.

Union transport minister Nitin Gadkaris announcement this week to accord national highway status to Dwarka Expressway at the recently concluded Happening Haryana summit offers hope to thousands of homebuyers who have invested here and are awaiting possession of their homes. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has fixed June 2017 as the final deadline for the road.

So, how will a national highway status work for Dwarka Expressway? Experts say completion of the expressway will be speeded up as it will now be controlled by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).According to the Highways Act, after the transfer, Dwarka Expressway will come under a highway administrator appointed by the NHAI. Acquisition of land will also become quicker in Delhi and Gurgaon once Section 3 (d) of the National Highways Act is notified. Disputes pertaining to compensation will also get resolved more quickly when a road is built by NHAI.

Another question that remains to be answered is whether noise being made around granting national highway status to the 150-metre wide stretch will have an impact on property prices? Prashant Kaura, founder and executive director, GenReal Property Advisers Private Limited, says that the market is currently depressed. Once the patches that have been held up due to land acquisition issues are developed and the highway is complete on the Haryana side, there may be some activity in the market. Right now, the few sales that are happening are being settled at sub Rs 6000 per sq ft.

Projects to benefit most from the NH status will be the ones along Khirki Duala to Palam Vihar area that comprise sectors 88, 89, 90, 102, 104 etc. Many developers are likely to time their completion and delivery with the completion of the expressway. These may be the first ones to witness an upside in prices (about 7% to 8%). What this means is that if the expressway gets completed by next year, around 10,000 units will be up for delivery along the stretch. Having said that, projects along the Delhi side (1.5 km stretch) may take much longer, at least two to three years more, adds Kaura.

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Actor Akshara Gowda will play a police officer in Jayan Ravis upcoming Tamil film Bogan, which begins its shoot on Friday. She will be playing one of the leading ladies in the film.

For the first time in my career, I will be playing a cop and will also get to indulge in an action sequence. Im thrilled about it. I get to be Angeline Jolie of Tomb Raider in this role, said Akshara.

To be directed by Lakshman, the film also stars Hansika Motwani and Arvind Swami. Akshara will also shake a leg with Ravi for the films introduction song.

Read: Prabhudeva to produce Tamil film starring Jayam Ravi

Its a peppy track on the lines of Dandanakka from Lakshmans Romeo Juliet. It will be choreographed by Raju Sundaram. The shoot starts with the song, followed by an action sequence, which will be shot in the first schedule, she said.

Miruthan review: Nothing novel about the first Tamil zombie film

Ravi, too, is tipped to be playing a cop in the film, which has music by Imman.

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Actor Dhanushs next Tamil film to be directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, Ennai Nokki Paayum Thota, began its shoot in Chennai on Monday. Tipped to be a gangster saga, the film will mark the first-time collaboration of Dhanush and Gautham.

In an official statement, the makers announced the start of the regular shooting of the film, which will be wrapped up in the next two months, before Dhanush joins the sets of his debut Hollywood project.

Read: Dhanush to play lead in a big Hollywood film with Uma Thurman

The rest of the cast is yet to be finalised.

Dhanush currently awaits the release of two Tamil films Rail and Kodi.

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Ignacio Szmulewicz and I met a few weeks ago in person at the central station in Berlin. He had a few hours time before travelling further to Prague. It's special when meeting your pen pal, isn't it! Ignacio is travelling with the train through Europe and he showed me his route crisscross Europe on the map. What comes about when you take time off?

This is the 13th letter in our series of open letters on art criticism.

Exterior and interior of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb

Dear An,





I will try to put into words some of the enormous amount of images that I have in my head right now. You asked me in the last letter about the relationship between images and words. It might be one of the most difficult questions for anyone who enjoys writing. How can writing express, content or divulge the senses or experiences that images produce? I found a sincere peace of mind regarding the idea that images open up an endless field or movement to be continued in any kind of media: the interruption of that continuity to express or communicate makes us humans (I think it was Georges Bataille who said the same thing about eroticism).





I dont know if it was because of the old churches or convents that I visited last month but I discovered that we need some transcendent moments of enlightenment to recognize our complete sense as a species. Maybe my next book will be about the endless and mystic power of any form of art I dont know and I dont care but actually, it felt very rewarding that the cynical and overly rational side of my personality was overcome and conquered by this zen-kind of experiences. With that on my mind, I truly believe in the paradoxical and imperative necessity of writing not just for practical or economical reasons.





The road to Sarajevo and the monument for the murdered children

I write because even though Im a dot in the infinite way that images encounter in their endless lives, were nothing but the sum of dots or islands that are at a few occasions visited by others. In that way, submerging yourself in a book, or in an authors view or thought is a form of camping or intellectual tourism or unreported visiting. We inhabit those lost places like were the only and first visitors of those weird and unknown islands. With regard to Chilean artists therere none like Eugenio Dittborn how used a cartoon of a small person on a small island looking at the distance as a metaphor for the paradox of the need for travel and isolation.

I was at drift in the last thirty days. I was captured by places that I didnt know and didnt expect. Into my eyes and memory entered a colossal amount of colors, shapes, textures, and smells that I didnt recognize. Most of those will be completely forgotten in the darkness of unrecorded events.





The ruins of the II World War Monument in the hills of Sarajevo and the flag of Yugoslavia decorating the flowers in Tito's House in Beograd.

I once told you that sometimes art criticism feels to me like an experience of getting lost. This was never more so than last month. Being in Spain this January the leap from Latin America still didnt feel as big. Maybe it was the language, the people, and most likely it was the familiar territory. Everything was going to change in the course of just one day.

I arrived in Zagreb at a cold morning after surpassing France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia by train. With a complete sense of loss, I used an old tourist guide for Europa del Este, a gift of a friend in Chile. The guide was printed in the last days of 1994, and as you can imagine the borders of Croatia, Bosnia, Yugoslavia (back then), and other countries were so different. After realizing that any kind of guide would be useless in this part of Europe I embraced the politics of a non-touristy approach.





Museum of Yugoslavian History and the love of all nations to Tito in propaganda video

Im not going to tell you the whole trip but with a few adjectives you can get a digital image of the places I visited of some of those you were a part. After five days in the capital of Croatia, a mix of silent people and huge architectural complexes, a very old and slow train took me to Sarajevo in one of the most beautiful and dramatics trips of my life. The cracks of Zagreb facades revealed actual bullet marks as cemeteries in the streets of the once peaceful capital of the western part of the Otoman Empire. On the other side of the hills the snipers of the Serbian army had been firing at the citizens of Sarajevo. As many others in Europe, I feel like a running horse or a working factory, were everything is moved forward by the power of money and politics. As weird as it may sound, the feeling that remained during the rest of the journey was an extended comment of what happened in those fifteen days in the former country of Tito.





I wanted to share with you two feelings that were very new and special during and after those days and that Im still trying to understand. I hope that you can help a little bit. The first, and here I return to my former cynical-humorous-like self, I call simply the why are you here moments. I was asked this by different persons, all related to the art scene, and always with a weird look on their faces. As if I came from mars or maybe the moon, having an art critic from Latin America walking on theirs street and entering their museums was experienced as a close encounter of the third kind. I laugh because on the one hand it made me realize that this was a galaxy very far away, a place were the casual visit of transatlantic critics was very unlikely and on the other hand it was the first moment when I fully incorporated the knowledge that I was on the eastern corner of the western world. Plans, projects, ideas were demanded of me, having to invent an explanation whereas in reality I was just trying to learn and incorporate as much as I can from that part of Europe.

The second was the most mystic of all, and the reason why my letter began with such a transcendental approach. I guess that you can call it the seeing-through-others-eyes. It sounds like a Phil Collins song, but it was actually a very enriching experience. I wanted to live the cities in a more profound sense than just the touristy lines that worried outsiders make in maps. And luck was on my side. In every city I quickly transformed myself in Dante having several Virgilios types of company. In that regard, the images that are now deposited in my memory have an oral aspect attached to them. Every text that I write about this experience will be forever entwined with those live records of talks, laughs, and smiles with a select group of strangers who kept me company and made my journey feel like a group therapy session. I learnt personal stories that produced a personal image of the city, and writing, as you can imagine, is the only way for me to produce collective knowledge or cloud-kind-of-messages for people who Ill probably never see again.





A mural of KURS collective on the streets of Beograd and a nightly art performance in Belgrad's underground scene

Its clear for me that art criticism, as any kind of creative writing, is constantly pushed by the most unlikely of experiences. Even in the most subjective of forms it depends on and demands a certain connection with a greater world. Can you describe those experiences for you? Have the words been able to transmit or fulfill the capacity of language to communicate those experiences?





You can say that this letter was a compelling way to surpass the song Tourist in your town of The Pink Mountaintops. I still need more time to figure it out. I hope you can help.





Ignacio
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that more than one-fourth of all Muslims are very militant, the latest in a long line of controversial statements made by the tycoon.

Its (militant Muslims) 27%, could be 35%, would go to war, the hatred is tremendous, Trump told US news channel Fox News Sunday when told that only 100,000 of the 1.6 billion global Muslim population support jihad.

Youre saying that out of 1.5 billion, 100,000, let me tell you, whoever did that survey was about as wrong as you can get, Trump said.

Why dont you take a look at the Pew poll that came out very recently or fairly recently, where I think the number... its something like 27% are really very militant about going after things.

And youll have to look at it. They did a very strong study. Lets see what it says. But its a very significant number. Its not 100,000 people, I can tell you that. Its a ridiculous number, he claimed.

The 69-year-old reality show star and billionaire has continued with his anti-Muslim rhetoric, stoking controversies one after another and drawing flak from the world over including his party rivals.

Sundays remarks come days after Trump said thinks Islam hates us and asserted that those having hatred against the US cannot be allowed to enter the country.

He made headlines in December when he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on.

In his remarks on Sunday, he said It would be easier for me to say, Oh, no, everybody loves us. But theres something going on. Theres a big problem. And radical Islamic terrorism is taking place all over the world.

You look at what happened in Paris, you look at what happened in California recently with the 14 people killed by co-workers, by people where they gave em baby showers and then they walk in and they kill em, they shoot em. They had no guns, they had no weapons. They had no nothing. They shot them. They killed them all, he argued.

Trump said that he believes 20,000 to 30,000 troops are needed to defeat IS in the Middle East.

But now, you have people chopping off heads, you have people drowning 40 and 50 people in steel cages at a time, and now, we have to do something. The reason we have to do it is because of the power of weaponry. Theyre looking to get weapons, and theyre looking to acquire weapons that are going to be very, very horrible for our country if they ever do it, Trump said.
A minor 3.1 magnitude earthquake shook North Korea early on Monday, South Koreas state weather agency reported, but said there was no indication that it was related to a nuclear test.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the quake struck at 5:17 am (2017 GMT Sunday) near the southwestern North Korean city of Songlim.

Read: Kim orders fresh nuclear tests, threatens to turn US into flames

It was not believed to be the result of a nuclear test because the affected area was far from North Koreas Punggye-ri underground test site in its northeast region. It was a natural earthquake. We dont think it is another nuclear test. Nothing special has been detected, a KMA official told AFP.

There were no immediate reports of any damage.

Read: Seoul using cyber attack accusation for political purposes, says N Korea

The Korean peninsula is not an area of strong seismic activity, although minor earthquakes do occur from time to time. However, even moderate seismic shocks set off alarm bells because experts regard it as the first signal of a nuclear test.

North Koreas last nuclear test on January 6 was followed by a 5.1 magnitude tremor at Punggye-ri, which was detected by international seismic monitors.
Gunmen from al Qaedas North African branch killed 16 people, including four Europeans, at a beach resort town in Ivory Coast on Sunday, the latest in a string of deadly attacks that have confirmed the Islamists growing reach in West Africa.

Six shooters targeted hotels on a beach at Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan, before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces, the government said.

Six attackers came onto the beach in Bassam this afternoon, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said during a visit to the site. We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed.

A French man was killed in the attack, according to a French foreign ministry spokesman. The nationalities of the other dead were not yet known, but four were European, one officer said during a briefing attended by a Reuters reporter.

Ivory Coast Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko later said foreign citizens from France, Germany, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon were among the victims.

The reporter saw the bodies of three white people at Grand Bassams Chelsea Hotel and another in the Hotel Etoile du Sud next door.

A short drive from Abidjan - one of West Africas largest cities with around 5 million inhabitants - Grand Bassam fills up on weekends with thousands of beachgoers.

Witnesses said the gunmen followed a pathway onto the beach where they then opened fire on swimmers and sunbathers before turning their attention to the packed seafront hotels where people were eating and drinking at lunchtime.

They started shooting and everyone just started running.

There were women and children running and hiding, said another witness, Marie Bassole. It started on the beach. Whoever they saw, they shot at.

Security forces moved to evacuate the area surrounding the beach. Bullet holes riddled vehicles nearby and glass from shattered windows littered the ground.

The body of one of the attackers, dressed in dark trousers and a blood-covered striped shirt, lay beside the beachside entrance to one hotel, a bullet hole in his head.

Beside him on the sand sat a combat vest used to carry extra ammunition. Nearby, on the ground, lay unexploded grenades.

Growing threat

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has carried out other recent attacks in the region, claimed responsibility for Sundays shootings, according to the US-based SITE intelligence monitoring group, citing an AQIM statement.

It said the attack had been carried out by just three militants.

Barely two months ago, Islamists killed dozens of people in a hotel and cafe frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Fasos capital, Ouagadougou. Gunmen also attacked a hotel in the Malian capital, Bamako, late last year.

Both of those attacks were also claimed by AQIM and raised concern that militants were extending their reach far beyond their traditional zones of operation in the Sahara and the arid Sahel region.

Though previously untouched by Islamist violence, Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africas largest economy and the worlds top cocoa producer, has long been considered a target for militants.

It has been on high alert since the Ouagadougou attacks, and security has been visibly bolstered at potential targets, including shopping malls and high-end hotels.

By Sunday evening, Ivorian authorities had begun an investigation into the attacks.

We have a mobile phone that is now in the hands of the Ivorian scientific police that will allow us to look at all the ramifications and go back to the source, Interior Minister Bakayoko said on state-owned television.

As the scale of the tragedy become evident, regional and world leaders expressed their support for Ivory Coast, which has recently emerged from a decade of political turmoil and civil war to become one of the worlds fastest growing economies.

President Macky Sall of Senegal, another country seen as a likely target for AQIM, called upon West African countries to step up their cooperation against terrorism and violent extremism.

Frances President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, denounced the shootings in the former French colony as a cowardly attack.

France will bring its logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast to find the attackers. It will pursue and intensify its cooperation with its partners in the fight against terrorism, he said in a statement.
New York

As Syria marks five years of civil war this month, a new report claims that chemical weapons have been used at least 161 times through the end of 2015 and caused 1,491 deaths.

It says such attacks are increasing, with a high of at least 69 attacks last year, and 14,581 people have been injured.

The Syrian American Medical Society says its report released Monday is the most comprehensive listing of chemical weapons attacks in Syria so far. The US-based non profit, which supports more than 1,700 workers at over 100 medical centres in Syria, says the list is based primarily on the reports of medical personnel who have treated victims, aided by NGOs and other local sources.

The organisation is asking the 15-member UN Security Council and the international community to quickly identify perpetrators and hold them accountable through the International Criminal Court or other means. Much of the reports documentation has been shared with the global chemical watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Syrias government has been repeatedly accused by the United States and other Western countries of using chemical weapons on its own people, even after the Security Council in 2013 ordered the elimination of its chemical weapons program following an attack in a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds of civilians.

Activists wearing gas masks bag a dead cat as they collect samples for chemical weapon use, in Zamalka area, Damascus. (Reuters File Photo)

The council last year condemned the use of toxic chemicals like chlorine after growing reports of barrel bombs filled with chlorine gas being dropped on opposition-held areas. Chlorine is widely available and not officially considered a warfare agent but its use as a weapon is illegal. The new report notes at least 60 deaths from chlorine attacks.

The report also says 77% of the chemical weapons attacks it documented occurred after the Security Councils order in 2013, and 36% occurred after the council condemned the use of chlorine last year.

Read | Two chemical attacks by Islamic State kill child, wound 600

Syrias government denies using chemical weapons or toxic chemicals on its people. Reports have surfaced in recent months that the Islamic State group has used toxic chemicals in Syria.

The new report does not assign blame for each chemical weapons attack. That task is for the Joint Investigative Mechanism established last year by the United Nations and the OPCW. It was expected to begin in-depth investigations of a handful of potential cases in Syria this month.

Houssam Alnahhas, a co-author of the report who documented attacks in Syria and now pursues medical studies in Turkey, told The Associated Press that he and fellow Syrians are losing hope as the Security Council does nothing in response to repeated violations of its own resolutions.

He now saves documentation of any suspected attacks for history, you know, so next generations will know that chemical agents were used against civilians and the world just watched people die.

Headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. (AFP File Photo)

Both Alnahhas and Zaher Sahloul, the senior adviser and past president of the Syrian American Medical Society, said theyve seen no indication that the current fragile ceasefire negotiated by the United States and Russia has stopped reports of possible chemical weapons attacks.

The report says SAMS has compiled an additional 133 reported chemical attacks during Syrias civil war that could not be fully substantiated.

Read | US special forces capture IS chemical arms expert in Iraq: Officials
A Hindu-majority region of Pakistans Sindh province has witnessed the death of 143 children from causes such as malnutrition in little more than four months, and the governments apathy has allowed groups such as the JuD to make inroads in the area.

Tharparkar district of Sindh, which borders Indias Rajasthan state, is considered one of Pakistans most backward areas. It is also home to thousands of divided families whose members live on both sides of the border.

In February, health officials of the Sindh government confirmed the death of 143 children aged up to five years in Tharparkar because of malnutrition and other causes since October.

Most of them were from families that live in the desert, earning their livelihood through agriculture. Residents have seen their food stocks dwindle and their cattle die during droughts in the past three years.

Local journalists who interviewed villagers and elected representatives of local bodies have reported more than 190 children have died since January. However, this figure could not be independently verified.

Given the harsh conditions and government apathy, the region has seen a surge in infant deaths over the past two years, civil society activists said. The deaths are mostly caused by malnutrition and the number is rising, they said.

Help, if any, is coming from the most unlikely sources. Organisations such as the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, named by the US as a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, have set up camps and established their footprint in the area.

They have provided medical help to people, dug wells in dry areas and even started informal schools.

They dont ask who you arewhether Hindu or Muslim. They just help us, said a villager who was interviewed by a local newspaper.

Lal Malhi, the local MP, said: It is a hard place to survive but what we have seen is that people have lived here for hundreds of years without such a high number of children perishing.

Malhi, who is also a businessman, was elected to parliament on a ticket of Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. He is an exception as most MPs in the region come from slain prime minister Benazir Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party.

The PPP has been in power in Sindh for more than a decade but has faced considerable criticism for its governance in recent months. When news of infant deaths first surfaced in 2015, chief minister Qaim Ali Shah dismissed the reports as media propaganda.

Local press club official Kapil Dev said the situation is going from bad to worse. We are seeing almost no help from hospitals or doctors. Many come to Umerkot or Mithi for treatment and end up getting none at all.

The deaths have now become a subject of national politics. The PPP insists the deaths are exaggerated. The provincial government has accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs PML-N party, which heads the federal government, of trying to benefit from these deaths.

Qaim Ali Shah recently said that thousands died in Punjab of dengue but we did not exploit this. But the PML-N is doing this in Thar.

A team of doctors from a local medical university was recently stopped by police from entering the Thar region and forced to return to Hyderabad. Other such attempts have been thwarted by the government, which insists it can handle the crisis. We have world class hospitals in Tharbetter than Karachi, Shah said.

The JuD and Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, also considered a front for the LeT, are active on the ground. Other religious organisations have followed them into the region.

So far, the authorities have ignored the fact that several of these entities are banned. But in a place where there is little food and water, their presence is welcomed by all.
China on Monday did not deny reports that its troops were present in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK) along the Line of Control (LoC), with the foreign ministry here saying it was not aware of any such deployment.

The foreign ministrys stand, however, was clear on the latest reports of an incursion by Chinese troops across the Line of Actual Control (LAC)  it denied that Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers had crossed it.

Reacting to reports in the Indian media, the official media warned India that it cannot afford tense situations along the borders with both Pakistan and China.

The foreign ministry blamed the Indian media for hyping the issue.

There is no such thing as going beyond the border. We deeply regret that the media keeps hyping up the relevant issue, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular news briefing on Monday.

Asked about the presence of PLA soldiers in PoK, Lu was vague. I have not heard about the incident mentioned, he said, before going on to give Chinas usual formal position on the issue of Kashmir.

In response to a question on whether the presence of PLA troops was connected to work on the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), over which India has conveyed its protest, Lu merely reiterated Chinas stand on the Kashmir issue.

Chinas position on the Kashmir issue is consistent. The relevant issue is left over from history between India and Pakistan. We hope the two countries can properly resolve the issue through negotiation and consultations, Lu said.

Lu added, We hope relevant media will report objectively and truly about the China-India relationship, and do more to improve friendly relations.

The spokesperson said both countries should note that the bilateral relationship has maintained sound momentum.

In the past, China said the CPEC, which is part of its Silk Road initiative, is aimed at improving the peoples livelihoods and in no way affects the status of the Kashmir issue.

Both sides have established a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination along the LAC to discuss incursions by troops along the 3,488-km disputed frontier.

If the official reaction to the reported incursion was couched in diplomacy, the official media had a word of warning for India.

The Indian media is irresponsibly creating an image of China as acting unreasonably and as full of threats. Instead of poisoning the public opinion field this way, the Indian media should ponder what will happen to bilateral ties if Chinese media depicts India in the same way, state-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial.

Preserving peace and tranquillity in the border region against all odds is of great significance to China, it added.

But this should not be a favour provided by India, because peace and stability along the border is also critical to New Delhi. Like China, India has placed economic development as the top priority in its national strategy. It can therefore not afford tensions in Kashmir and the Sino-Indian border at the same time.
The intense rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge universities goes back centuries but two recent campaigns related to colonial relics on campus revealed divergent responses by the ancient seats of learning: Cambridge agreed, but Oxford said no.

After initially appearing conciliatory to a demand from students to take down a statue of controversial British colonialist Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, the institution rejected it in January amid reports that threats about the withdrawal of major donations influenced the decision.

Around the same time, students at Jesus College in Cambridge demanded a bronze cockerel  known as okokur - looted during a British punitive raid raid in 1897 in what is now Nigeria should be removed and repatriated to Benin.

Jesus College not only removed the cockerel that stood for long in the college hall, it agreed to consider its repatriation to Nigeria, which has demanded the return of all artworks plundered from the Benin empire, now part of Nigeria.

In a statement of support for students, a Cambridge university spokesperson said: Jesus College acknowledges the contribution made by students in raising the important but complex question of the rightful location of its Benin bronze, in response to which it has permanently removed the okukor from its hall.

A statement said the college will work with the wider university and commit resources to develop new initiatives with Nigerian heritage and museum authorities to discuss and determine the best future for the okukor, including the question of repatriation.

The spokesperson added: The college strongly endorses the inclusion of students from all relevant communities in such discussion.

The statue of Cecil Rhodes stands outside Oriel College in Oxford University. Students have demanded the removal of the statue of the university's former benefactor because of his role in the colonisation of South Africa. (REUTERS)

Oxford students behind the Rhodes Must Fall campaign have promised to continue their demand and said they were encouraged by the recent step by Harvard, where the law school has reportedly decided to alter its official shield following protests over the symbols ties to an 18th-century slaveholder.

Welcoming the Harvard move, a Rhodes Must Fall spokesman said: Its a different place but what it shows is that it is possible for institutions to take responsibility for the past, and it shows a possible path forward for Oxford.

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Islamist radicals born and educated in Muslim countries are 17 times more likely to have an engineering qualification than the general population in these nations, according to a new study by experts at the LSE and European University Institute.

The finding by Steffen Hertog of LSE and Diego Gambetta of EUI is to be published this week in a book titled Engineers of Jihad.

The study of more than 800 members of violent Islamist groups challenges a widely held view that many terrorists are poor, ignorant and have nothing to lose, according to Hertog and Gambetta.

Several suspects in India are reported to have engineering or other university qualifications.

There is little doubt that violent Islamist radicals are vastly more educated than the general population born and educated in the Muslim world, and engineers are dramatically over-represented, Hertog said.

The authors claimed the strong presence of graduates among Islamist radicals is due to economic development failures in core Muslim countries: Ambitious young graduates, particularly engineers and to a lesser extent, newly-trained doctors, were frustrated by a lack of job opportunities when their economies turned south in the 1970s.

Unlike Western-educated graduates who enjoyed good economic opportunities, their counterparts  educated in Muslim countries  were disaffected and ripe for recruitment by radical Islamic networks.

Engineers are over-represented because they represent the most talented and ambitious graduates at the sharp end of frustrated expectations, the authors said.

The book also reveals that the over-representation of engineers extends to Islamist radicals born and bred in Asian and Western countries, where labour market opportunities have been much better than in Muslim countries.

The other striking finding in the book is that engineers are significantly represented among far right groups, while the far left is dominated by humanities and social science graduates.

The implication the authors draw is that the traits that make Islamism attractive to some engineers could also be the traits that make right wing extremism attractive to them.

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France has sent it largest business delegation in nearly two decades to Australia, spruiking the economic benefits of its bid for the $38-billion contract to build a fleet of 12 stealth submarines for Australia.

Executives from French corporate giants Airbus, BNP Paribas, Thales and dozens more arrive in Canberra on Tuesday for meetings with top Australian government and business figures.

France is up against Japan and Germany in bidding for one of the worlds most lucrative defence contracts. A decision is expected within months, ahead of an Australian national election in which the deal and the jobs it will create is expected to be a key issue for the conservative government.

The French visit, which includes top officials from state-controlled naval contractor DCNS, is part of a process of growing strategic and economic ties with Australia, said French ambassador Christophe Lecourtier, and not limited to submarines.

Were not just offering a submarine design, but also a broader alliance between our business communities, between our governments, to face some of the most tricky challenges of this century, he told Reuters.

Reuters reported last month that the competition was narrowing to a race between Japan and France, with Tokyo playing up its strategic support from Washington and Paris pushing the subs deal more on its merits for Australias slowing economy.

Germanys TKMS is proposing to scale up its 2,000-tonne Type 214 class submarine, while Japan is offering a variant of its 4,000-tonne Soryu boats made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

Tokyo was initially seen as the frontrunner, due to close ties between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was ousted in a party coup by Malcolm Turnbull last September, and perceived support from Washington to build closer ties between two key Asian allies.

An Australian political source with decades of experience in the global arms industry said the French visit reflects a desire to blunt Japans perceived strategic advantage by flexing their economic muscles. My view is that the French arent very confident against the Japanese from a strategic perspective, he told Reuters.

The trick now is that youre not lobbying defence, youre lobbying the various members of the NSC, he said, referring to the National Security Committee of Cabinet, which will make the final decision.

TKMS Australia CEO John White poured cold water on the strategy, saying that if anything, it gave Germany more confidence in its position. We have a very strong German government and company presence in Australia with Siemens and MTU and Rheinmetal, so really ... we dont need to make those shows of visible sudden presence, White told Reuters.

So it, if anything, gives us in the German camp a bit of comfort.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenpress news agency presents on the air of Lratvakan radio all that you will hear, read and see on todays news.

Today, on March 14 a Yerevan-Moscow video conference is expected, during which the sides will discuss the security threats within the frameworks of CSTO, and ways of reducing them. From the Russian side member of the Security and Corruption Counteraction Committee of the Russian State Duma Anatoly Vibornin will participate in the conference, and from the Armenian side- Armenian MP Khosrov Harutyunyan.

March 15 marks the 5th year of the Syrian conflict. Experts of Arabian studies Armen Petrosyan and Sargis Grigoryan will discuss the current situation and possible developments in the Middle East. In the context of the Middle East developments, Expert of Turkish studies Tiran Lokmagyozyan will discuss the Kurdish issue, the agenda of the Armenian community in Turkey, and Turkish politics. The Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, doctor of political sciences Sergey Minasyan will analyze the latest developments of the Karabakh issue.

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia, in cooperation with the Embassy of Canada is organizing a Canadian-Armenian business forum dedicated to the mining industry.

Hayk Barseghyan, photographer and organizer of the initiative of fundraising for families of Gyumri who live in extreme conditions, along with co-organizer Maxim Sargsyan will present the fundraising results today in Gyumri. They will also inform about the performers of the March 20 fundraising concert in Yerevan.

Focusing on women in the context of the womens month, sexologist psychotherapist Marat Zakaryan, psychologist Nelly Khachatryan and gynecologist Lilit Avagyan will speak about womens health, discuss common problems and ways to overcome them.

March 15 is World Consumer Day. On this occasion the Consumers 'Association Chairman Armen Poghosyan, "Achilles" Drivers Rights Protection Center NGO President Eduard Hovhannisyan and sociologist Aharon Adibekyan will discuss the extent to which consumers' rights are protected in Armenia, in which fields violations are common and what positive developments are registered.

New project of the Bureaucrat bookshop is launching, entitled "Meetings in BUREAUCRAT". Writers will be invited to the meetings, their work will be presented, lectures will take place, book discussions about literature. In addition to writers, guests will include famous people. The first guest of the meeting will be information security expert Samvel Martirosyan.

You can read more about these and other topics at armenpress.am and listen to the news on the air of Lratvakan radio. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the defence ministry to begin the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria.

The task that was set before our defence ministry and armed forces has as a whole been completed and so I order the defence ministry to from tomorrow start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingents from the Syrian Arab Republic, Putin told Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in televised comments.

The Kremlin announced that Putin had called President Bashar al-Assad to inform Moscows long-standing ally of the surprise move that appears to end the main part of its intervention in Syrias conflict that began in September.

The leaders noted that the actions of the Russian airforce allowed to radically change the situation in the fight against terrorism, to disorganise the fighters infrastructure and inflict significant damage on them, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Taking that into account, the President of Russia stated that the main tasks set before the armed forces of Russia in Syria had been completed. It was agreed to carry out the withdrawal of the main part of Russias airforce contingent, the statement said.

The two leaders, however, also agreed that Moscow would maintain an airforce facility in Syria to help monitor the progress of a ceasefire in the war-torn country.

Assad noted the professionalism, courage and heroism of the officers of the Russian armed forces that took part in the military operations and expressed deep appreciation to Russia, the Kremlin statement said.

Russia began its bombing campaign in support of Assads forces in September, a move that helped shore up the Syrian regimes crumbling forces and go on the offensive.

A fresh round of talks to end Syrias civil war opened in Geneva on Monday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained remote with the sides locked in a bitter dispute over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.

A temporary ceasefire in the country introduced on February 27 has largely held, despite accusations of violations from both sides, allowing aid to reach some 150,000 people living under siege.

Read | Turkey blames Russia for Syria missile strikes, calls it war crime

Read | Obama urges Russias Putin to stop bombing moderate Syria rebels
Evidence shows that one of two suspected perpetrators of a car bomb attack which killed 37 people in the Turkish capital Ankara was a woman who joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in 2013, security officials said on Monday.

They identified the woman as having been born in 1992 and being from the eastern Turkish city of Kars.

The government has said it expects to officially identify the organisation behind the attack later on Monday.

In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces and says it does not target civilians. A direct claim of responsibility for Sundays bombing would indicate a major tactical shift.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility for the previous car bombing, just a few blocks away, on February 17.

TAK said it has split from the PKK, although experts who study Kurdish militants say the two organisations are affiliated.

On February 17, a suicide car-bombing in the capital targeted buses carrying military personnel, killing 29 people.

Turkey declared a round-the-clock curfew in the southeastern town of Sirnak on Monday to carry out operations against Kurdish militants in the area, the provincial governors office said in a statement.

It said the curfew will go into effect at 11pm (2100 GMT) on Monday. Security forces have been carrying out operations in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where months of conflict have devastated much of the region.

Separately, Kurdish warplanes bombed camps belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq early on Monday, the army said, following the suicide attack in Ankara.

Police, firefighters and emergency services work at the site of a blast in Ankara on March 13, 2016. (AFP Photo)

Police meanwhile carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining suspected rebels of the PKK. The private Dogan news agency said at least 36 suspects were taken under custody.

It was the second deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants in the capital in the past month and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to bring terrorism to its knees.

Sundays blast came as Turkeys security forces were set to launch large-scale operations against militants in two mainly Kurdish towns  Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq and in Nusaybin, which borders Syria  after authorities imposed curfews there, prompting residents to flee. The military deployed large numbers of tanks near the towns as the curfews were announced.
Leading figures who participated in Sikh-related talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in London in November last year have turned sceptical about his ability to deliver promises due to follow-up talks lacking clarity and political representation.

The London meeting with Modi was described as a major breakthrough after 31 years of standoff between overseas Sikhs and the Indian state. National security adviser Ajit Doval was asked at the talks to carry forward the dialogue.

Jasdev Singh Rai, the chief interlocutor in the London meeting, told Hindustan Times on Sunday that the main organisations (supporting the talks) are still sceptical about Modis intentions. He said further talks will depend on the promised release of political prisoners.

During a meeting in January, Rai was told by Doval that the process to release 42 political prisoners  including Davinderpal Singh Bhuller  had been initiated. Doval also suggested periodic meetings in Delhi with delegation of Sikhs from across the world.

Rai said: The release of political prisoners will go some way to reduce that scepticism. The process of the talks is still with bureaucrats. There is no heavyweight politician involved on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Further, there is no clarity on what and who the government wishes to talk to. Is it with the Sikh community in general or with the worldwide Sikh political organisations who have been at the forefront of the tensions between India and Sikhs?

Rai, director of the Sikh Human Rights Group, said if the main organisations were not at the table, the talks may not achieve the desired outcome since the issues are political rather than everyday NRI matters.

The statement by the Prime Minister in London referred to an entirely different context of worldwide Sikh dispute with India. That is why a political involvement may be beneficial, Rai said.

He added: I am convinced that the PM wishes to find a way forward and a solution to the 31-year long, arguably much longer, dispute that has affected relations between Sikhs and India. I hope the PM can muster the political support to deliver the results. But I am looking forward to talks when political prisoners are released.

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US presidential candidates hit the ground in a last-minute push for votes on Monday ahead of a crucial new election test, with violence marring White House hopeful Donald Trumps race for the Republican nomination.

Dubbed Super Tuesday 2 by US media, the latest major date in the run-up to Novembers presidential election will see Democratic and Republican primary contests in the states of Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

The billionaire Trump is looking to build an insurmountable lead, but Republican rivals Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio governor John Kasich are more determined than ever to bar his path.

Trump has jetted across the delegate-rich states in recent days, staring down criticism over clashes at a rally on Friday in Chicago -- which many saw as a natural consequence of the violent tone of his campaign.

The Republican frontrunners invective has targeted immigrants, Muslims, Hispanics and other minorities, journalists and the disabled -- often to raucous approval from thousands of chanting partisans.

But, as with each new controversy swirling around him, Trump seemed unscathed by the uproar with polls suggesting he remained on a glide path toward the party nomination heading into Tuesdays make-or-break round of voting.

Read: 27% of all Muslims are militant: Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses his campaign supporters during a campaign rally at the Savannah Center. (AFP)

Pathological liar

Trump, 69, has rejected out of hand any suggestion that his rhetorical excesses have created a climate of violence, blaming supporters of Bernie Sanders for sowing trouble -- and threatening to respond in kind by sending supporters to picket the Democratic candidates rallies.

The 74-year-old senator from Vermont, who has pointedly refrained from personal attacks in the campaign, gave a furious retort at a CNN Democratic townhall event on Sunday, stating simply: Donald Trump is a pathological liar.

We have never, our campaign does not believe in and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything, Sanders added.

It is clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said.

Trumps Republican rivals, eager to bring him down a notch but also seeming shaken by the weekend violence, have pounced on the frontrunner.

Senator Rubio, who is trailing in third place and like Kasich, faces a do-or-die test in Tuesdays vote in his home state, called Trumps language dangerous.

If we reach a point in this country where we cant have a debate about politics without it getting to levels of violence and anger, he told CNN, were going to lose our republic.

Kasich has accused Trump of creating a toxic atmosphere.

Fridays troubles in Chicago saw ardent Trump supporters and opponents come to blows, after dozens of campaign stops where he has encouraged the crowd to verbally and physically mistreat protesters.

Read: Protester arrested at Trump rally told police act was pre-planned

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses his campaign supporters during a campaign rally at the Savannah Center. (AFP)

Video hoax

Trump appeared on Sunday to condone one particularly striking act of violence, when a demonstrator was sucker-punched as he was led by police from a rally last week in North Carolina. Trump said his staff would look into paying the belligerent supporters legal bills.

Tensions were palpable at Trumps campaign stops, with Secret Service and police ringing the candidate, after Fridays chaotic scenes and a brief security scare caused the next morning when a protester burst on stage at an event in Ohio.

Trump went on to claim the protester was linked to the Islamic State group -- an assertion that he refused to disown, despite it becoming apparent it was based on a crude video hoax.

What do I know about it? he told NBC. All I know is whats on the Internet.

The man in question, a 22-year-old anti-racism activist named Thomas DiMassimo, told CNN he was seeking to wrench the microphone from Trump -- and had no desire to cause harm.

I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully, and he is nothing more than that, DiMassimo said. Hes truly just a coward. And hes opportunistic and hes willing to destroy this country for power for himself.

In Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday, Trump held a generally peacefully rally at an outdoor amphitheater, attended by several thousand people.

Im a better person than the people Im running against, that I can tell you, Trump told his cheering supporters. And Im a better person than Hillary. Hillary is not good.

Earlier in the day in Cincinnati, Ohio, hundreds lined up to see Trump despite the drizzle -- while demonstrators massed chanting Build bridges, not walls and No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.

Read: US Presidential primaries: Trump loses badly in Wyoming, Washington DC

Trump supporters hold signs as they enter the venue prior to a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. (AFP)

A protester holding a Sanders sign interrupted the candidate before being escorted out, to a loud cheer from the crowd.

Its fine, Trump said. In certain ways, it makes it more exciting.

Trump supporter Adam Ward, a 34-year-old Iraq war veteran, said he believed the protesters were actually helping the candidate.

It enrages people that dont agree with Bernie Sanders, he said. I probably wasnt going to come to this until I saw Chicago being shut down.

Read: My Muslim friends think ban idea is fantastic: Donald Trump
A typo by Chinas state news agency over the weekend resulted in President Xi Jinping being referred to as Chinas last leader in a report on the annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament, the National Peoples Congress (NPC).

Xinhua, a key media propaganda tool for the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), made the rare error while describing Xi.

Xi, according to many experts, is Chinas most powerful presidents in decades.

Xinhua was quick to correct the error.

According to the Hong Kong-based Chinese newspaper Ming Pao, the news agency hurriedly circulated a correction, changing last to top, as in Chinas top leader.

The two phrases are different by just one character in Chinese but are pronounced differently.

The original version was taken down and links for the article that were circulating were quickly found to be defunct.

It was not immediately clear whether heads would roll at Xinhua for the error. The news wire is Chinas largest state-run news agency and other media houses are almost always directed to carry copies released by Xinhua on important events and sensitive topics.

The embarrassing mistake for Xinhua and the CPC comes at a time when the government is trying to tighten its rules on the already  and severely  restricted freedom of press.

Last month Xi went on a high-profile tour of state media houses  including Xinhua  where he urged journalists to align themselves completely with the CPC.

Last December, four journalists in another Chinese news agency were suspended following a similar typographical error, which resulted in a report that said Xi had resigned while giving a speech at the China-Africa summit in South Africa.

The original version of a report filed by the China News Service  an official service that has a status similar to that of Xinhua  referred to Xi saying in his resignatio that China and Africa had a shared destiny in their histories, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) had reported.

That error, according to the report, happened only two days after Xinhua misspelled US President Barack Obamas name in its Chinese translation as Ao Ma Ba in a report about him meeting Xi.
For more than one quarter of cancer survivors, life after defeating cancer includes many financial burdens.

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy set out to examine how financial burdens affect quality of life for cancer survivors. They analyzed data on 19.6 million cancer patients from the 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to look for any signs of burden, which could include borrowing money, declaring bankruptcy, expressing concern about paying off medical bills and actually being unable to pay for medical care visits.

The researchers found that 29 percent of the survivors had at least one financial problem. The problem that was reported the most was worrying about large medical bills at 21 percent. The breakdown for the remaining burdens was: 11.5 percent said they could not pay for a medical visit, 7.6 percent had borrowed money, 1.5 percent declared bankruptcy and 8.6 percent listed other financial sacrifices.

The researchers added that the survivors' quality of life was affected differently depending on the type of burden they reported. For example, those who declared bankruptcy experienced a 20 to 25 percent reduction in their life quality. People who worried about paying off large medical bills had a reduction in their quality of life by six to eight percent.

Patients with financial burdens were less likely to go to follow-up visits, less likely to take their medications and more likely to delay or skip medical care. The researchers pointed out that people who have financial burdens, in general, tend to have lower physical and mental health quality.

"Our results suggest that policies and practices that minimize cancer patients' out-of-pocket costs can improve survivors' health-related quality of life and psychological health," researcher Norman Carroll said. "Reducing the financial burden of cancer care requires integrated efforts, and the study findings are useful for survivorship care programs, oncologists, payers, pharmaceutical companies, and patients and their family members."

Study co-author Hrishikesh Kale added that patients and their loved ones could benefit from being educated about programs that provide support, whether it is financial or emotional.

"Cancer patients and family members should educate themselves regarding survivorship issues, coverage and benefit design of their health plans, and organizations that provide financial assistance," Kale said. "Cancer survivorship care programs can identify survivors with the greatest financial burden and focus on helping them cope with psychological stress, anxiety, and depression throughout their journey with cancer."

The study was published in the American Cancer Society's journal, Cancer.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. The number of victims of the March 13 terrorist attack in Ankara has reached 34. As "Armenpress" reports, citing the Turkish "Hurriyet" daily, this was informed by the Turkish Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu.

"The number of dead at the scene is 30. 4 died in hospitals. Most likely 2 of the dead are terrorists. 125 people are currently being treated in hospitals, 19 of them are in serious condition, the minister said.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala said that information about a bomb on a bus is confirmed. According to the Minister, there are other details related to the terror attack, but they will be announced later.

The terrorist attack took place at a bus station located near the Prime ministers office near Guven Park on March 13 in the city center of Ankara. Large numbers of people were gathered in that area during the explosion location. One bus was completely burned.

According to preliminary police reports, the incident was caused by an explosive device in a vehicle, which was parked between two buses.
How many people do you know who would tell legendary tech mogul Bill Gates, "Thanks for the many opportunities at Microsoft, but now I see my career going in a different direction"? It sounds crazy, but essentially this is what Jennifer Jobin did as part of her deliberate development as a female executive. The journey challenged her to define her priorities and personal brand, find workable ways to manage and leverage the demands of both a fulfilling career and ever-evolving personal life, and mature as a leader of people versus stagnate as a manager of things.

Jobin currently serves as a National Partner Executive at Perficient  a leading digital transformation consulting firm serving Global 2000 and enterprise customers throughout North America. Perficient is a service firm with many big name clients in hospitality, so her story and present role serve as a timely case study of leadership in an industry which  like hospitality  is being constantly shaped by technological advances and a young, dynamic workforce. Jobin recently spoke with AETHOS about important lessons she learned the hard way that can help all leaders in their development, and especially women and those supporting women in leadership. The interview boiled down to three basic topics

Five Great Leadership Lessons

Jennifer took a risk right out of college, thinking that computers would be a "cool" field. Microsoft hired her, and a 22-year tenure followed. Leadership quickly took notice of her talent for handling licensing and the legal aspects of IP, so she was promoted to General Manager of an incubation practice. This sounds all perfectly fine, but this is the stage where perhaps the greatest leadership lesson hit her. Jennifer didn't have the confidence at this stage in her career to feel at ease with the other GMs. This uneasiness was further exacerbated in a company culture where employee ranking was the penultimate metric. Put simply, her biggest fear was failure and looking incompetent in front of her peers. Rather than posture, Jennifer showed humility and moved into what she described as a "right-sized Director role." There, she hit her stride again. The lesson imprinted her professional DNA from that point forward was, (1) "Risk-taking is fine, but don't move into new roles until you're truly ready"  and gut instinct will tell you if you're capable of doing the job."

But soon Jennifer was presented with significant changes in her personal life, including a new marriage, blending five teenage boys (a bigger challenge than many people realize) and having a child at age 43! It seems counterintuitive, but this is when her career really started taking off. She explained the situation as a lesson in how women with "three full time jobs"  career, household and raising children  shouldn't fall prey to think that they can't compete within a male-dominated company culture or industry. Jennifer insightfully observed that (2) mothers make particularly strong leaders, because they're used to organization, time management, the need for humility and a focus on others, confidence, and ability and eye for delegation. And work allows time away from home that can rejuvenate people and make them better parents.

Perhaps it's no surprise then that Jobin was promoted to a notable Senior Director role at Microsoft and learned much from her new supervisor. Despite her growing success, she became increasingly reflective and reconsidered her future direction. Jennifer took an earned 12-week sabbatical and upon her return she decided to part ways with Microsoft since she felt her professional passions and personal brand naturally changing. Jennifer needed to focus on her health, and the education and well-being of her teenage sons and three year-old daughter. She took a year off and then decided to re-enter the workforce after cleaning closets out of restlessness and inserting herself too much in her husband's new job, who also happens to be in high-tech.

It was at this juncture that she found professional fulfilment at Perficient, where she feels fortunate and inspired to lead a strong team and help nurture emerging women leaders in the process. Jobin humbly understates it, but Perficient recognized her leadership capabilities and she worked quickly to build a highly respected alliance management program for their partners. This means that Jennifer is the go-to professional to call when a business needs help designing and implementing a digital strategy. A significant measure of this successful build-out was Jennifer's eye for talent and team building. The other key ingredient was her in-depth understanding of client needs in the tech world, which was honed during her Microsoft years. Here she has been constantly focused on adding enterprise value. For instance, she was asked by the Chief Operating Officer, Kathy Henley, to be a part of re-design team to construct a sales organization that provides a career ladder for sales people and helps Perficient retain great talent.

Jobin's career has been partly planned and partly improvised, but she learned three other lessons that served as a strong foundation for her ongoing development and success. In particular, Jobin insists that (3) it's critical, "To build your own network of genuine relationships across an organization. This will demonstrate your competency and a capacity for collaboration and teamwork." It can't be fake or self-serving, but she believes that helping others succeed is one of the best forms of personal PR. The bottom line is no perceptions of inauthenticity, posturing or jockeying for position arise if one consistently thinks and acts with the philosophy of trying to add enterprise value to the organization. This is the very essence of "servant leadership"  a central theme voiced by leaders in the hospitality industry who were studied and profiled in the book, The Loneliness of Leadership (read more here ).

(4) Her next lesson, is to know your non-negotiables that inherently reflect your personal and professional values. Jobin cited several personal examples, such as never traveling on her anniversary or her children's birthdays. She notes unapologetically that individuals should be upfront about their needs with their supervisors and offer solutions and alternatives instead of conflicts and resistance. Setting and managing expectations is the key, and done well there typically will be no negative ramifications, Jobin says with a smile.

Finally, she emphasized the power in leveraging teams. In her experience, (5) if you delegate well to a competent and engaged team, leaders can handle more than they might think and then focus more on mentoring new leaders.

Advice to Young Women Wanting Leadership Roles

Here is where Jobin's voice becomes even more energetic; it's no mystery she is passionate about developing and supporting new women leaders. In rapid fire succession, Jennifer summarized very succinct tidbits women should keep in mind as they ponder leadership roles and work successfully as leaders:

Take a longer-term perspective of your career . Jobin says not to think of pregnancy as a deficit to career development, and therefore don't make all-or-nothing decisions based on it. Rather, it's best to make career decisions based on specific opportunities that come from your competencies and professional interests. Take new roles, because you're at a place in career where you've satisfied your learnings and are ready for next steps. Take risks and chances and don't be afraid of making mistakes.

. Jobin says not to think of pregnancy as a deficit to career development, and therefore don't make all-or-nothing decisions based on it. Rather, it's best to make career decisions based on specific opportunities that come from your competencies and professional interests. Take new roles, because you're at a place in career where you've satisfied your learnings and are ready for next steps. Take risks and chances and don't be afraid of making mistakes. Pursue leadership because it's a calling . Don't do it for status, as leadership is not about eagles. New leaders don't always realize that their roles are for those who want to be "out of the spotlight" to an extent and seek to make others successful. Jobin notes that she never considers herself better or more important than her direct reports. Indeed, in her opinion, team members are more valuable because they execute the plans and visions.

. Don't do it for status, as leadership is not about eagles. New leaders don't always realize that their roles are for those who want to be "out of the spotlight" to an extent and seek to make others successful. Jobin notes that she never considers herself better or more important than her direct reports. Indeed, in her opinion, team members are more valuable because they execute the plans and visions. Don't be people's psychiatrist  Women are known to be generally more relationship-focused, sensitive and nurturing then men, so this tidbit may come as a surprise. Yet, Jobin highlights the importance of not getting or becoming too personal with one's teams. Leaders must be optimally objective to be optimally effective, so maintain proper boundaries and act as a "Guardian Angel" to your teams.

 Women are known to be generally more relationship-focused, sensitive and nurturing then men, so this tidbit may come as a surprise. Yet, Jobin highlights the importance of not getting or becoming too personal with one's teams. Leaders must be optimally objective to be optimally effective, so maintain proper boundaries and act as a "Guardian Angel" to your teams. Choose realism over optimism . Jobin expanded on the principle of leadership objectivity, and emphasized that women should, "Believe in yourself but be accountable and self-critical." She is adamant that work-life balance will come most easily only once a person's non-negotiables are identified.

. Jobin expanded on the principle of leadership objectivity, and emphasized that women should, "Believe in yourself but be accountable and self-critical." She is adamant that work-life balance will come most easily only once a person's non-negotiables are identified. Carefully consider your employers . Jobin believes that people quit their bosses, not their jobs. Therefore, she stresses for women never to take jobs purely for the economic upside. Rather, she urges everyone to align themselves with companies that hold shared values and whenever possible will connect you to supervisors who manage in ways that are compatibility with your learning style. She strongly recommends working for "situational managers," who are leaders that adapt to the needs of the team versus expect the team to accommodate the leader. Likewise, she cautions against roles that report to supervisors new to their roles  instead strive to work for seasoned leaders.

. Jobin believes that people quit their bosses, not their jobs. Therefore, she stresses for women never to take jobs purely for the economic upside. Rather, she urges everyone to align themselves with companies that hold shared values and whenever possible will connect you to supervisors who manage in ways that are compatibility with your learning style. She strongly recommends working for "situational managers," who are leaders that adapt to the needs of the team versus expect the team to accommodate the leader. Likewise, she cautions against roles that report to supervisors new to their roles  instead strive to work for seasoned leaders. Foster and leverage workforce diversity . Jennifer's view is that, "Mixing it up in constructive ways to get the best from everyone is the leader's main task." This means appreciating the unique value that specific employee demographics offer. For example, she notes that millennials are quick, high-energy, tech-minded, and agile, so she always assigns them to roles where those variables are critical. Of course, this is often the case in the world of technology consulting, though arguably the same can be said for the hospitality industry. On the other hand, seasoned employees can teach younger employees patience, work ethic, relationship-building, and especially how to deal with conflict in a world that seems to handle interpersonal communication and rapport building via impersonal gadgets of various sorts.

. Jennifer's view is that, "Mixing it up in constructive ways to get the best from everyone is the leader's main task." This means appreciating the unique value that specific employee demographics offer. For example, she notes that millennials are quick, high-energy, tech-minded, and agile, so she always assigns them to roles where those variables are critical. Of course, this is often the case in the world of technology consulting, though arguably the same can be said for the hospitality industry. On the other hand, seasoned employees can teach younger employees patience, work ethic, relationship-building, and especially how to deal with conflict in a world that seems to handle interpersonal communication and rapport building via impersonal gadgets of various sorts. "Own" the female perspective. The women's perspective is valuable in the workplace and complements that of men. According to Jobin, women come to their roles with less ego and can have more real conversations without posturing. Women want to get the job done, but fears of feeling they can't take care of their families or compete with men hold them back. And Jobin argues that these feelings or socializations seem to start early in school or daily life. Therefore, women should seek resources to help them cope and balance work-life demands, and in the workplace itself, women should be themselves and confidently contribute in ways that leverage their styles, viewpoints, and approach. Simply put, women's perspective his the piece that helps complete the puzzle.

The Secret to Her Success

As trusted advisors to our clients, AETHOS professionals naturally read and profile people. Jennifer Jobin was no exception, but one needn't be a trained interviewer or psychologist to pick up on the secret to her success. At one point Jobin remarked that, "Leaders now and in the future must have or develop the skill set for dealing with ambiguity and being okay with uncertainties."

Similar to many leaders in hospitality profiled in The Loneliness of Leadership, Jobin believes that it's ultimately about navigating change, Let's face it, most people would readily accept job security at a large, stable company like Microsoft versus having the courage and tenacity to bet on something unknown or untested. Indeed, Jennifer's success seems grounded in her ability or willingness to embrace uncertainty.

But still, it boils down to more than simply a tolerance for ambiguity  it's more about recognizing, embracing, and then leveraging the positive opportunities that come from change, chaos, and ambiguities. It doesn't come naturally or easily for everyone, but Jobin feels strongly that it's the lynchpin for success for women in leadership, especially in this digital age. Global markets are entirely dominated by uncertainties, some of which seem good or bad at face value, depending on one's point of view. Her trick has been to remain strong and unfazed  and even become energized  in the face of ambiguity.

Arguably, this might be the universal skill required by the future leadership who must face and succeed amidst the ambiguities and chaos that define ever-evolving global markets. Jennifer summed it well at the end of the interview, "I love change and try to get my teams to love it too!"

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Delivering an exceptional guest experience is a fundamental goal of every hotel seeking profitability and a good return on investment for its owners. But a recent analysis by Deloitte shows how hotels must go far beyond the guest experience to achieve that goal.

The Deloitte analysis of the J.D. Power 2015 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study concludes that:

"Underlying the guest experience, a hotel's brand promise can have a strong impact on business results. Knowing what your brand stands for and delivering on that promisecan serve as a key to long-term success. Loyalty and commitment are strongest when a brand offers a differentiated brand promise and consistently delivers on that promise by providing an outstanding experience."

The Linkage Between Your Hotels Brand Promise, Loyalty and Profitability Photo by MP&A

So building a strong, positive reputation is critical to creating loyal guests. In doing so a hotel can move into what J.D. Power calls a "High Prestige" property. As the chart on the right shows High Prestige hotels are significantly more likely to attract repeat guests as Low Prestige properties. High Prestige hotels are more than twice as likely to attract repeat guests when a guest experiences a problem during their stay.

The Value of Loyal Guests

There is a significant body of research detailing the financial benefits of maximizing customer retention.

Gartner Research is quoted as saying "65% of a company's business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied."

Perhaps the most compelling reason to invest in customer retention are the findings from Bain analyst Frederick Reichheld and published in his book, "The Loyalty Effect, the Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits and Lasting Value." After exhaustive research among hundreds of companies across many different industries Reichheld concluded:

"Companies with the most loyal customers are the most profitable."

Creating More Loyal Guests

So, how does a hotel build and maintain a strong and differentiating brand promise and ultimately create more loyal guests? Deloitte offers the following suggestions:

Know what your brand stands for and what it means to your customers. Hopefully it is a benefit guests really want to buy and not simply a feature of your property. Make sure your employees understand your brand promise and can help ensure it is consistently delivered to your guests. Create a culture within your property that consistently reinforces your brand promise. Measure how well your brand promise resonates among guests and employees. Monitor how well it is being delivered and establish standards to ensure that it is. Maintain ongoing training to help consistently deliver on your brand promise, reinforcing the message. with customers and strengthening your brand's reputation.

The Deloitte analysis provides a good foundation for how a hotel can create a strong brand promise and is definitely something hoteliers should consider implementing. As Deloitte points out  your profitability depends on it.

Taking Your Brand Promise and Loyalty to the Next Level

To truly succeed however a hotel needs to go well beyond the six steps detailed above. It needs to incorporate its brand promise into every point of contact with a guest or potential guest since the hotel experience goes well beyond the time a guest spends on property.

Therefore, a hotel's brand promise needs to shine through in the call center (especially if it is outsourced), its website, advertising, email marketing, reservation confirmations, pre-arrival and post-stay communications, brochures and even personal correspondence.

Hoteliers need to think of communicating with prospects and guests on a continuum  before they arrive, during their stay and after they leave. Repetition is the mother of learning. So, during this continuum your brand promise continues to be delivered until they rebook. Before, during and after so the cycle begins once more.

This is the essence of integrated Customer Relationship Marketing or iCRM as practiced by professional experts in the fields of database and direct marketing. Communications are designed to deliver relevant content including your hotel's brand promise effectively at each stage of the customer lifecycle from initial awareness through where you have developed loyal brand advocates.

Brand Promise and Loyalty Case Studies

The next HospitalityMarketingBlog post will provide examples of hotels that have built strong and unique brand promises. They have used CRM best practices to establish themselves as High Prestige Properties and seen their customer loyalty, repeat business and profitability grow.

If you believe your hotel has a good example of a strong brand promise that has led to increased loyalty and profitability and should be featured in the next blog post, please contact me.

See more at: http://blog.madiganpratt.com/2016/03/09/the-linkage-between-your-hotels-brand-promise-loyalty-and-profitability/#sthash.1vQg0ae3.dpuf

Madigan Pratt

757-645-3113

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Late 2015 was heavily impacted by Novembers tragic events, and Parisian hoteliers were hopeful that January would signal a return to normality. However, they will have to wait, since 2016 began in the same way as November and December 2015 ended.

Compared to January 2015  a month marked by the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher (Porte de Vincennes), hoteliers were expecting growth in early 2016. However, the effects of Novembers terrorist attacks continued to affect most of the Ile-de-France region  particularly in Paris itself, where RevPAR dropped between -13% and -16% depending on the category. Unlike January 2015, the decline was exacerbated by a decrease in average rates.

Less exposed, regional hotels recorded a good month in terms of occupancy  particularly the case for Upscale and Luxury hotels. Outside of the Cote dAzur, this encouraging trend was tarnished by a drop in average rates. Bucking against the general trend, Super-budget hotels better resisted in terms of average rates, but RevPAR suffered due to declining occupancy (a continuation of 2015s trend).

Ultimately, the Luxury segment was the only one to post RevPAR growth in January 2016 - thanks to regional hotels  a small consolation in todays gloomy climate, since the segment accounts for just 2% of hotel room capacity in France.

Click here ( Adobe Acrobat PDF file) to download the complete article.
Sleep Inn & Suites Opens in Jasper, Alabama

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) announced the opening of the newly constructed 65-room Sleep Inn & Suites hotel in Jasper, Alabama, located at 90 Carl Cannon Boulevard.

This hotel is one of multiple Choice Hotels branded projects being developed by Love's Hospitality, LLC, the hotel development and management division of national travel stop company Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores. Love's is a family-owned company with more than 360 travel stops in 40 states offering 24-hour access to gasoline and diesel fuel, travel items, electronics, snacks, quick-service restaurants, showers, and more. In 2015, the company generated more than $22 billion earning it a spot among Forbes magazine's largest privately held companies in the United States. Love's has been a staple in the Jasper, Alabama community since 2012.

"Love's Hospitality truly understands the customer experience at all levels and sets the highest standards across the business community. Their consistent record of success shows it," said Steve Joyce, president and CEO of Choice Hotels International. "Choice Hotels is very proud to be working with Love's Hospitality on multiple projects. We are quite confident that, together, we are bringing Choice's value and convenience to travelers in the best possible way."

The Sleep Inn brand's "Designed to Dream" design package offers warm colors, soft lighting, and nature-oriented and inspired designs to ensure guests receive a relaxing and restful stay. The Jasper property, along with Sleep Inn locations nationwide, offers guestrooms have plush bedding, sleek furnishings, as well as Sleep Inn's signature showers, large workspaces with ergonomic chairs and high-definition flat-screen televisions. The hotel lobby offers a flexible, open floor plan, free internet as well as comfortable chairs and couches where guests can gather to work, relax and socialize. An added bonus for travelers is that they can also enjoy the Sleep Inn Jasper, Alabama's outdoor picnic area with pergola and gas grill, an outdoor electronic message board sign, and a heated indoor pool.

Nearby attractions include freshwater fishing at Walker County Lake and Smith Lake. The hotel is situated in a unique location that serves as a gateway to the city of Jasper, as it provides guests with easy access on/off Interstate 22. Additionally, the Sleep Inn & Suites - Jasper is conveniently situated near Love's Travel Stop and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store at 83 Carl Cannon Boulevard.

"We are thrilled to continue expanding our Sleep Inn "Designed to Dream" concept here in Jasper, a community that has welcomed and embraced us," said Jim Wheeler, director of Love's Hospitality. "Our partnership with Choice continues to be a strong and integral to our growth in the travel sector, and we're eager to continue working together to provide guests with affordable and enjoyable stays."




The comedy sitcom 'Motherland' is listed in BBC's slate of upcoming series.

Two of Ireland's leading television writers are joining forces for a brand-new sitcom. Written, directed and produced by former Hot Press contributor Graham Linehan and the multifaceted tour de force that is Sharon Horgan, a planned new sitcom entitled Motherland is currently in development  and has already snapped up by the BBC.

Motherland promises to be "a lighthearted exploration of the daily trials and tribulations of middle-class motherhood." Linehan's wife Helen Serafinowicz and English comedian Holly Walsh are also involved in the project. Motherland is a co-production between Linehan's Delightful Industries production company and Horgan's Merman outfit, with Linehan occupying the director's chair for the show.

Linehan is best known as the co-creator with Arthur Matthews of Channel 4's beloved Father Ted and as the writer/director of the hugely popular British comedy The IT Crowd. Horgan shone in her own right as the creator of Channel 4's superb Catastrophe in which she also starred, and goes global in the upcoming HBO series Divorce, starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Considering the combined achievements of the two principals to date, Motherland will definitely be one to watch.

Details have yet to emerge as to when the premiere will be  but once the date is revealed, we will be sure to let you know. Stay tuned!
For three glorious '80s years, 'Fab' Vincent Hanley ruled the airwaves with the groundbreaking MT-USA. Series producer Bill Hughes recalls his wonderful life and tragic AIDS-related death

A guy came up to me about 10 years ago in HMV on Grafton Street and said, I was conceived while my mother and father were watching your show!

Despite my best attempts I never had full sex during MT-USA, but I was glued to the screen every Sunday as Fab Vincent Hanley treated the nation to three hours worth of the hottest music videos from both sides of the Atlantic.

The man telling that HMV story is Bill Hughes, the MT-USA producer who was also one of Fab Vinnies closest friends.

A native of Clonmel, Hanley became a household name in the late 70s with the then edgling RTE Radio 2 before landing a gig in London with Capital Radio. Turning down a lucrative contract extension, he relocated in 1984 to New York where MT-USA was lovingly assembled.

He could have kept making good money in England, but Vincent was always up for a new challenge, Hughes resumes. Our production ofce was his sublet apartment in the Woodward building on the corner of 55th and Broadway. This was pre-Mayor Giuliani and his zero-tolerance cleanup of Manhattan, so the neighbourhood was pretty earthy. I ew over to New York on Sunday. We scouted for locations on Monday, shot on Tuesday and I ew back on Wednesday. Editing took place in Windmill Lane on Thursday/Friday morning, after which I dash out to RTE with the tape. Saturday was spent dying and going, I cant keep this up!

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Hughes was rarely alone in the edit suite.

Youd have Howard Jones, the Thompson Twins and the other overseas artists who were recording in Windmill because of the tax breaks they were getting here, asking to sit in so they could see what other people were up to. MTV had launched in 1981, so the concept of music videos was still very new. Unlike the 30-45 second snatches they had on Top Of The Pops, we showed the whole video including the spoken intros and dramatic set-ups. It was only MT-USA viewers, for instance, that got to see the row Pat Benetar had with her father before launching into Love Is A Battleeld.

Because we treated them as a work in their own right rather than ller, we were the rst show in Europe to be given Michael Jacksons Thriller and were granted lots of other exclusives.

These included MT-USA getting to hang out with U2 before their legendary Radio City Music Hall debut.

There was a massive crowd of ticket-less punters outside who tried to tear Vincents laminates off him when went into the venue. Bono, wearing his big Joshua Tree hat, graciously gave us an interview on the Radio City roof, which with Manhattan as the backdrop looked absolutely amazing.

Asked what Vinny was like off-camera, Hughes beams and says: He was just one of the funniest. To this day, I have a picture of him by my desk. People thought we were lovers. We werent, but in terms of the craic we had we were inseparable. He was a big foodie and loved a good bottle of wine, preferably before or after a Broadway show. Musically, he was a massive Motown and black soul fan. If Diana Ross released anything, itd go straight to the top of the list. He was a very early champion of Whitney Houston - Vincent thought her voice was magical - and played Bruce Springsteens Born In The USA before it was a hit. His favourite segue was to say, And now, heres three from ZZ Top!

With hundreds of thousands of record-buyers watching, MT-USA became the Holy Grail for pluggers.

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Invariably, if we played a song a few weeks in a row itd become a hit in Ireland, Bill acknowledges. To this day, Ive the gold discs for Alison Moyets Love Resurrection, Sades Smooth Operator, Billy Joels Uptown Girl, Born To Run and ZZ Tops Sharp Dressed Man, which the artists and their record companies gave us as a thank you for breaking them.

MT-USA was at the height of its viewer-grabbing success when in 1987 Vincent learned that he was HIV-positive.

Vincent caught the AIDS virus at a time when the medical profession just didnt know what this thing was or how to deal with it, his friend rues. Before becoming Acquired Immune Deciency Syndrome, it was Gay Cancer and then HTLV-3. Unlike today, there was nothing to alleviate the symptoms or manage the terrible pain. Once it took a grip, it was pretty savage. The rst thing was the rapid weight loss which, with him being very body conscious and always going to the gym, hit Vincent really hard. He was into carbs and protein before Id even heard of them, so he hated the sunken cheeks and looking off colour. Its fair to say that he went into massive denial and refused to publicly acknowledge what was wrong with him.

When Hanley died on April 18, 1987 the media was given congenital cerebral toxoplasmosis as the cause of death. It was only quite recently that friends, including Bill Hughes, conrmed that hed succumbed to an AIDS-related.

Hed be astonished and amazed that people still remember him, Bill says, the smile returning to his face. Vincent blazed a trail with MT-USA that no one of our generation will ever forget.

And so say all of us!
Ah, the 80s. We might look back on it with a sort of euphoric nostalgic recall, but in truth there was much about the decade that was insufferably grim. Politically, it was a horrendous time for those of leftist bent: Margaret Thatcher had swept to power in the UK in 1979, Ronald Reagan conquered the White House in 1980.

The neo-liberal greed-is-good agenda became an almost-unquestioned, unchallenged political orthodoxy (many would say it still is). Not everyone was willing to buckle, and there was insurrection in Ulster, riots in London and Liverpool, and general unrest everywhere. Ironically, this climate helped to produce some fantastic social commentary from the worlds of lm, literature and music  it is impossible to listen now to, say, The Specials Ghost Town or Elvis Costellos Shipbuilding and not feel faint stirrings of awe for a time when the icons of the age had plenty to say and were determined to say it. Here is an overview of the decades seismic events...
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in the Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurzs initiative of the ministerial meetings of the European People's Party in Vienna on March 13. As "Armenpress" was informed by the Press, Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of twelve countries ,EPP President Joseph Dole, President of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Elmar Brok, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn, and other senior members of the EPP .

The agenda of the ministerial meeting included fight against terrorism and extremism, the problems associated with migration. Discussions included issues taking place in the Western Balkans, the South Caucasus and ways of their solution in cooperation within the Eastern Partnership.

Participating in the discussions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian referred to the migration flows and noted: "Armenia has given shelter to about twenty thousand Syrian refugees, thus being the third state by ratio of the number of Syrian refugees in Europe."

Armenia's FM stressed that in seeking solutions to problems related to migration, first of all causes of the problems should be addressed. In this context Minister Nalbandian stressed the importance of joint fight against terrorism and the process of political settlement of the Syrian crisis.

Edward Nalbandian touched upon the relations between Armenia and the European Union, stressed the importance of the negotiations that started on the elaboration of a new legal document, stressing that the new agreement will reflect the depth of cooperation and the results obtained.

Foreign Minister of Armenia presented to EPP partners the Karabakh conflict settlement efforts by Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, stressing that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
On Friday Wrapmail Inc (OTCMKTS:WRAP, WRAP message board) buckled up and pushed nearly 19% up the charts. This is an extension of Thursday's bigger 29% push and marks WRAP's ascent of 73% within the span of just three short sessions. Is there any real reason behind this significant green spree, however?

WRAP is a company working on a platform for personalized email marketing, melding a person or a brand's social networking imprint and their emails. Looking at client samples from the company's website, it looks an awful lot like WRAP develops image mockups to embed emails into that contain a company's branding imagery and links.

The company's stock has been almost completely dormant for months on end. Looking at daily volumes reveals long stretches of zero-volume days over the past six months. What has happened, then, that stirred such a sudden interest in WRAP's stock? Nothing much, really.

The company last put up a press release on December 1, announcing that WRAP retained a certain Lemonlight Media to assist with the launch of WRAPMail 2.0  the new iteration of the company's platform. On the day of the announcement WRAP dropped 16%.

Here is a brief summary of the latest publicly available balance sheet of WRAP for the quarter ended September 2015:

$162 thousand in cash

$343 thousand in total company assets

$53 thousand in current liabilities

$82 thousand in revenues for Jan  Sep 2015

$3.6 million in net loss for Jan  Sep 2015

The numbers speak volumes on their own and are a fair yardstick for WRAP's financial performance and how successful the business is.

The company's disclosure statement for the quarter also contains some interesting reading in the sections detailing the amounts of shares issued over 2015.

The sudden interest and volume accumulation taking place without any discernible external trigger in the form of a filing or even a press release can be tricky to ride and investors would do well do conduct their own, careful research on the stock before making any rash decisions.
This week in the Missouri Senate was defined by an intense battle for the protection of Missourians religious liberties. In an attempt to block the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 39, legislation that protects religious organizations and private individuals right to recognize their sincere religious beliefs, the minority caucus launched into a 39-hour filibuster that forestalled the Senates legislative process.

Even after the resolution was perfected at the end of this state record-setting filibuster, SJR 39 proponents had yet another day-long battle to successfully third read and pass the legislation out of the Senate. I am very happy to announce that SJR 39 was finally passed on to the House in the evening hours of Thursday, March 10. If the resolution is successfully passed through the House, it will be put on the ballot in August or November as an amendment to the State Constitution, where it will then be decided on by the citizens of Missouri.

The proposed constitutional amendment would be a big step toward protecting religious practices and beliefs in our state. The resolution prohibits the state of Missouri from imposing any penalties against religious organizations and certain private individuals as a result of their sincere religious beliefs concerning same-sex marriage. Specifically, the defensive legislation protects religious organizations (churches, religious schools, religious leaders, etc.) from being penalized for refusing to acknowledge, facilitate or perform same-sex marriages. Churches, synagogues, temples, etc. would be allowed to say no to hosting marriage ceremonies and receptions on their premises without fear of state persecution.

The resolution would also prohibit the state from penalizing certain vendors who refuse to offer artistic and creative services for weddings  like bakers, photographers and florists. Private individuals should not have to fear being fined for abiding by their religious beliefs, and this legislation helps uphold that ideal.

The right to religious freedom was the founding principle of our entire country. Senate Joint Resolution 39 works as a shield to ensure that Missouris religious organizations, leaders and private individuals are able to enjoy the same inherent right our forefathers dreamed America would uphold. So many residents of the 33rd District have been contacting me and asking that I do all I can toward getting this legislation onto the ballot, and I appreciate the opportunity this week has given me to successfully achieve that goal. This resolution is a big step forward in the right direction for the Show-Me state. Now, SJR 39 will work its way through the House and onto the ballot for Missouri voters to decide on, and I am confident the citizens of our great state will make the right choice.

Mike Cunningham is a Republican member of the Missouri State Senate, representing District 33. Contact him at 573-751-1882 or www.senate.mo.gov/cunningham
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Most read of the week
quo;There is a lot we can learn from our marketing colleagues, Liam Hayes, chief people officer at Aurecon told HRM. I believe there are three critical skill sets HR should borrow.The first is the ability to understand the stakeholders of the business, he said. This involves establishing a value proposition for current and potential employees as well as HRs internal clients.Adrian West, head of HR for Australia and New Zealand at Cisco, agrees: Successful HR functions create strategies which are directly aligned to the business, he said. The strategy needs to be shared internally in the HR function, the business, and to some extent externally.When creating a workforce strategy designed to grow the business, HR needs to gain buy-in from key stakeholders in order to properly implement their initiatives.I would see the skillsets of an overall brand manager focusing on raising the profile of the overall HR function, West said.Hayes second critical skill set is the ability to communicate effectively.The art of writing and delivering simple but impactful communications is so important in everything we do, both internally and externally, he said.Barb Hyman, executive general manager of people and culture at REA Group, told HRM her firms HR strategies rely heavily on this aspect.Representing our employer brand and telling the story of our culture is a critical capability which, when done right, enables us to make connections with high-quality talent, she said.Finally, Hayes recommends that HR teams look to the creativity of the marketing function.Many of the challenges facing HR teams and businesses are going to require creative solutions. The challenges we face today are very different to those of the past, and we need the ability to help leaders and employees imagine a new and different future.
The Obamas and Trudeaus hit it off at the state dinner in Washington D.C. last week, and the affair included the Trudeaus' extended family.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mother Margaret was in attendance on Thursday for her second state dinner (her first was with then-husband and prime minister Pierre in 1977). But two faces you may not have expected were Trudeau's in-laws, Jean Gregoire and Estelle Blais.

It's uncommon for the prime minister to invite in-laws along for the affair, and the National Post commented Trudeau may be the first world leader to ever do it.

For many, it was the first public introduction to Gregoire-Trudeau's parents. Trudeau noted how touched he was to have his in-laws there, adding, "Get a load of Estelle, Im looking forward to the future with Sophie."

The resemblanceis striking:

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Gregoire-Trudeau is an only child. Jean Gregoire is a stockbroker and Estelle Blais is a former nurse. Sophie grew up in, Mount Royal, and neighbourhood of Montreal.

Her parents have been a great support system for Gregoire-Trudeau, who says she had an loving childhood.

After telling her mother she was suffering from bulimia as a teen and into her 20s, both her parents supported her getting help.

In 2013, La Presse reported she was sad to move to Ottawa when Trudeau won leadership of the Liberal Party, particularly because it meant moving from Mount Royal, and further away from her parents.

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In an interview with Canadian Family, Gregoire-Trudeau says her mother helped her realize the importance of empathy toward others, which influenced her own charity work and advocacy for women's rights.

Also on HuffPost
Whimsical, blissful and full of talent  they're three words to describe this year's annual fundraising gala hosted by Canada's National Ballet School.

The theme of the 2016 event? Steampunk.

On Mar. 4th, NBS welcomed an array of esteemed guest at The Carlu in Toronto to help raise funds for the School's broad range of programs. The ballet academy is the only in North America providing professional dance training, academic instruction, and residential care within one organization, and on the same campus.

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In a press release, NBS Gala co-chairs, Margaret Norrie McCain and Jen McCain explained, "NBS annual fundraising gala is a wonderful opportunity to support the benefits of dance for everyone: from the very gifted students in the Professional Ballet Program to the many participants in NBS Community Programs."

Each year, Canada's National Ballet School welcomes 600 patrons and friends to take in performances from the students and to celebrate the young dancers. The gala, which featured incredible Steampunk costumes with industrial flare, "lays a crucial role in securing over 40 per cent of the Schools annual fundraising goal in a single night."

For photos from the event full of playful dresses, gorgeous corsets and dapper suits, check out the slideshow below!

NBS Steampunk Gala See Gallery

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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. After the second round of the Candidates Tournament going on in Moscow Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, and Peter Svidler share the first three positions. Each of the players has 2 points.

In the second round the Armenian Grand Master won Veselin Topalov, representing Bulgaria.

There will be no games on March 14. The players will rest and resume games on March 15.
ONOKY - Eric Audras via Getty Images Woman napping with her head resting on desk

Daylight Saving Time is happening across the U.S. and Canada this weekend, and although many welcome the lighter mornings, the initial hour change can disrupt sleep as we settle into a new pattern. The result can be feelings of fatigue, mood problems and slower reaction times according to Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center, with previous studies showing an increase in traffic accidents, workplace injuries, and even heart attacks in the days following the shift to daylight saving time.

So to help you get some good-quality slumber, experts give their tips on how to maximize sleep quality to wake up with a spring in your step on these new lighter mornings.

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Dr. Alon Avidan, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, suggests that a simple but good rule to bear in mind is that it takes about one day to adjust for each hour of time change. This can vary between individuals however, with Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center specialist Kelly Brown, warning that it can take some people up to two weeks to make the transition.

To minimize disruption Avidan suggests preparing for the change by going to bed earlier on Friday and Saturday night ahead of the change at 2am on Sunday morning, so you are already used to this new sleeping schedule. To ensure you are not sleep-deprived before the change, he also advises seven to eight hours of good quality sleep each night. Brown agrees, suggesting going to bed 15 minutes earlier from as early as the Wednesday before the change to allow your body to ease into the time change.

Both also believe that having a relaxing bedtime routine can help. Take a warm bath, read an enjoyable book, or listen to some soothing music. However both also advise avoiding alcohol and caffeine in the evening, as they can disrupt and fragment sleep.

Also limit your exposure to light before bedtime. As the most important circadian cue, light exposure is linked to the release of the hormone melatonin which helps you sleeps, and so avoid bright light and blue light from computer and phone screens for at least two hours before the lights go out.

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Once you head to bed a cool, quiet, and dark room which is well-ventilated provides you with the ideal conditions in which to sleep. And when you awake, try to get plenty of natural light and sun exposure so you'll feel alert during the day, and naturally sleepy again at nightfall.

Good habits in daytime

Avidan also suggests avoiding long naps during the day, advising that a short 15 to 20 minute power nap between 1 pm and 3 pm is sufficient should you feel you need a little shut eye. Too much napping may take away the feeling of sleepiness in the evening when you really need it, as well as delay the transition to the new time schedule.

And food can also play a role, with Brown advising that we eat an early breakfast and dinner on the weekend before the time change so as not to interfere with sleep, and eat a good breakfast the Monday morning after the time change.

If two weeks later you're still experiencing the groggy effects of the time change, Brown advises going to see a sleep specialist who may be able to help. "It's very important to note that if you are feeling sleepy during the day or having difficulty falling or staying asleep, you should talk to your primary care provider and consider an evaluation by a sleep physician," she said, adding, "Sleep disorders are highly treatable and their treatment can make a dramatic change in your health and daytime functioning."

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
An Alberta toddler's death from meningitis is prompting health-care professionals to sound off on the danger of unproven, alternative medicine.

David and Collet Stephan pleaded not guilty in early March for failing to provide the necessities of life for their 19-month-old son.

Initially, the Stephans thought their son had croup, and treated him with natural remedies including ginger root, horseradish and onion.

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Ezekiel Stephan's parents did not seek medical care for their son after he contracted meningitis. (Photo: Facebook/Prayers for Ezekiel)

A family friend and registered nurse testified Wednesday that she told Ezekiel's mother he may have viral meningitis.

"I think you should take him to see a doctor," she testified as having said on March 11, 2012.

Instead, the couple decided to take him to a naturopath. Ezekiel's body was so stiff from illness he couldn't sit in his car seat, and had to lie on the floor of his parents' car as they drove to pick up echinacea for him.

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They did not call 911 until Ezekiel had stopped breathing. He died a few days later from a combination of bacterial meningitis and a lung infection.

Was Ezekiel's death unnecessary?

Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan believes Ezekiel suffered unnecessarily for his parents' beliefs.

"When you have a little kid who is sick, seriously sick, and a nurse tells you that it might be meningitis and you continue to pursue interventions that clearly arent working, youve got to bring that kid into a mainstream health facility," Caplan told The National Post.

David Stephan, Ezekiel's father, is an employee of Truehope Nutritional Support, a supplement company run out of Raymond, Alta. He's also the son of the company's co-founder, Anthony Stephan.

Truehope: controversial alternative medicine

Health Canada has issued warnings against Truehope a number of times for claims that its supplement, EMPowerplus, can treat bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

In 2011, Truehope was highly criticized after a Vancouver man killed his father and attempted to kill his mother while taking EMPowerplus vitamins instead of his prescribed anti-psychotic medication.

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The company's website still suggests patients with mental illness use its supplements to transition off of psychiatric medications.

Prosecutors at the Stephans' trial claimed that Ezekiel was also treated with EMPowerplus before his death, according to CBC.

Alternative medicine no replacement for the real thing

One natural health practitioner in Edmonton says serious illnesses like meningitis need be treated by someone with actual medical training.

When it is an acute disease of any sort, I do send them to the hospital, Dr. Harbakhash Sandhar, a practicing homeopath and medical doctor by training, told Metro News.

Sandhar said cases like Ezekiels make him worry about "Mickey Mouse homeopaths."

The Crown is not arguing that the Stephans didn't love or care for their son, but that they should have sought medical help for him much sooner, according to CBC News.

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Section 215 of Canada's criminal code states that parents have a duty to provide necessities of life to their children, which includes medical care.

The Stephans are currently calling for donations on their Facebook page to help fund their court case. The pair have posted arguments that "the government" and "vaccine industry" are trying to "attack" their family in favour of a "vaccine agenda."

With files from The Canadian Press
John Boyega is spreading the Force.

On Friday, the 23-year-old visited sick children at London's Royal London Hospital dressed as his "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" character, Finn. In addition to surprising his young fans, Boyega also personally delivered toys from the film franchise on behalf of the Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity.

Boyega met five-year-old super fan Daniel Bell, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The boy's wish was to meet the star's character Finn and hand out toys with him.

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A photo posted by Celebrity/TV Show/Movie Gossip (@gossiphotlist) on Mar 14, 2016 at 5:55am PDT





In an Instagram post, Boyega explained: "Rather than having Finn to himself [Bell] wanted Finn to meet the kids at the Royal London hospital and give them some toys. I stayed in character while I was with this brave boy asking him what a car was. He taught Finn about everything earth related!

"Really thankful for the opportunity this child granted me and I'm just humbled! I hope I played a little part in making you smile young stormtrooper."

A photo posted by @john_boyega on Mar 13, 2016 at 4:01pm PDT

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Boyega (dressed as Finn), Bell (dressed as a stormtrooper) and a young girl named Layla (dressed as Rey) spent the day delivering toys to kids in the hospital.





The next day, Bell's mom Rosalind wrote on Facebook, "It was just amazing, I have no words! Daniel is still totally overwhelmed, I have never seen him so happy."

According to the Belfast Telegraph, Boyega "jumped at the chance to make [Bell's dream] come true."

"It was fantastic to be a part of his very special wish with Rays of Sunshine," the actor said. "It was also great to meet the children at the Royal London Hospital and be a part of something so positive."

This isn't the first time a "Star Wars" actor has made children's dreams come true. Back in December, the cast and crew of "The Force Awakens" visited Children's Hospital Los Angeles as part of their #ForceforChange initiative, which inspires people to make a positive impact in other people's lives.

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Stormtroopers, R2-D2 and even Mark Hamill (the original Luke Skywalker) made an appearance.

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A Conservative politician is calling it "lipstick on a pig," but community and business leaders in southern Ontario are hailing a plan to turn North America's largest coal-fired power plant into a solar farm.

The Nanticoke Generating Station, on the shore of Lake Erie, has been idle since 2013, when it was shut down as part of the provinces successful effort to eliminate coal from its energy mix.

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Now the plant is set to reopen as the site of a wind farm that is being developed with the help of First Nations business leaders.

Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) has granted Nanticoke Solar a permit to generate 44 megawatts of power on the site, one of 11 new renewable-energy projects that got the green light last week.

Nanticoke Solar is a joint venture of Sun Edison Canadian Construction and the business development corporation on the Six Nations reserve.

The project is "a great example of how countries are retiring coal plants and replacing them with clean, renewable power plants, said Sun Edisons Canadian manager, Michelle Chislett, as quoted at the Simcoe Reformer.

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The Brantford Expositor described the mood on the Six Nations reserve as jubilant following the decision.

"The project aligns with our community values of sustainability and environmental prosperity, Matt Jamieson, president and CEO of Six Nations Development Corp., told the newspaper.

Investing in clean energy benefits the people of Six Nations economically without compromising our children's future.

A Symbolic Power Plant?

The solar farm will be a much smaller operation than the old coal plant: It will produce 44 megawatts of electricity, or little more than one per cent as much as the nearly 4,000 megawatts the old coal plant generated.

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For that reason, local Progressive Conservative MPP Toby Barrett calls the solar farm a symbolic move.

It will be a good photo-op for [Ontario Premier] Kathleen Wynne to let environmental extremists know that she has replaced the coal pile with solar panels. And when they get around to knocking down the stacks, thatll be another photo-op, Barrett told the Reformer.

Barrett highlighted the higher cost of renewable energy, noting that Nanticoke coal-fired electricity used to cost 2 cents per kilowatt hour. According to the Globe and Mail, the average that IESO will pay for electricity from these new contracts will be 15.67 cents per kilowatt hour.

The MPP noted that Nanticoke used to employ some 630 people when it was in operation. There are no estimates available for employment at the new solar farm, but a 44-megawatt property is likely to employ far fewer people than a 4,000-megawatt coal plant.

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Barrett said the province doesnt need to add more electricity generating capacity at the moment.

This is all cosmetic  like lipstick on a pig, he said.

But Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt says its better than a closed coal plant -- and he hopes to see more development on the site.

Its a long way from where we once were, Hewitt said, as quoted at the Reformer.

We know there are many more opportunities available with that property and hope that the province keeps it in mind for future projects. ... Its a step in the right direction.
A British expat's Facebook post about recent bombings in Ankara, Turkey is calling for solidarity with the city of 4.5 million.

James Taylor's profile says he is from Northampton, a city northwest of London, and is living in Ankara.

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On Sunday, a car bomb near Kizilay, the city's main square, killed more than 34 people and injured around 125. Turkey's health minister said around 30 people died at the scene.

It was Turkey's third explosion in five months, and happened just three weeks after a suicide car bomb exploded in the capital.

Emergency workers are seen at the explosion site on March 13, 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)

Taylor said "contrary to what many people think, Turkey is not the Middle East."

"Ankara is not a war zone, it is a normal modern bustling city, just like any other European capital, and Kizilay is the absolute heart, the centre," he wrote.

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He wrote that it's easy for many people to look at terror attacks in London, New York, and Paris, and feel sadness, and questioned why it wasn't the same for Ankara.

"Is it because you think that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, like Syria, like Iraq, like countries that are in a state of civil war, so therefore it must be the same and because you don't care about those ones, then why should you care about Turkey?"

"If you don't believe that these attacks in Ankara affect you, or you can't feel the same pain you felt during the Paris or London attacks, then maybe you should stop to think why, why is it that you feel like that."

Taylor said Ankara has been home for the last 18 months, and will continue to be.

"You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?"

For those who do not know Turkey, or who distance themselves from these attacks, maybe this will open your eyes.The... Posted by James Taylor on Sunday, March 13, 2016

With a file from The Associated Press

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When a bird in the hand isn't necessarily worth two in the bush

Being a good tax pro means helping my clients prepare for unexpected surprises come tax time. In July of 2015, a lot of families across Canada were eagerly awaiting the arrival of cheques in the mail from the Enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). I didn't want to be the one to break the bad news back then -- although I tried -- and I certainly don't want to be the one to do it now. But, here goes.

Only a few weeks into tax season, nearly a quarter of my clients who have children are facing the unwelcome surprise that the Enhanced UCCB, combined with the disappearance of the child amount, is actually putting them in a position where they may owe some tax this year.

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So what's causing this?

First, the amount for children on the Schedule 1 form, the standard tax filing form every Canadian must fill out, disappeared. This was a non-refundable tax credit of $2,255 per child. But for the 2015 tax filing year, filers will no longer see it as a credit that can be claimed.

The second issue has to do with the Enhanced UCCB. It's certainly all well and good that the government wants to help families with the costs of raising children. Believe me, as the mother of a teenager who likes to dance, it was a welcome bonus last year. But what tends to catch families off guard is that the UCCB is a taxable benefit. When the new payment for children aged 6 - 17 was introduced, and the payments for children under six years old increased, families started to receive more taxable income. And when that happens, families need to account for these enhancements and be prepared to pay the tax on these amounts.

Taking these two issues together it means that, at the same time as taxable income is increasing, a credit to help reduce what a person potentially would owe is being taken away. And that's what's causing some people to receive a lesser refund than they had anticipated. Or in some cases if their refund has been based on the amount for children they could potentially owe this year.

To help add some context, let's take a look at the situation of a two parent family with one teenager. The lower income spouse needs to claim the UCCB so let's say that person is earning $45,000. In 2015, they would have received $720 in Enhanced UCCB payments ($60 X 12 months). They should expect to pay $158 in federal tax on that income ($720 X 22 per cent) plus provincial tax. Provincial taxes vary but here in B.C., they would owe an additional $55.

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The amount for children on the Schedule 1 form would have given them a credit of $335 off of taxes due.

In essence, the UCCB which started at $720 for the year, becomes $172 once they take into account the tax implications. ($720 - $158 - $55 - $335).

Although they are still coming out ahead $172 it won't necessarily feel that good at tax time, when their refund is diminished or potentially gone completely. And just imagine if this family had four children. Their taxes due would increase by approximately $2,192 when they start looking at the numbers for 2015.

What I have been telling clients is to prepare for this by saving at least half of those Enhanced UCCB payments. By this time of year, however, I know a lot of people will have spent this money and not necessarily saved any, but it's never too early to start being aware that this is coming down the pike.

Without sounding like a broken record, effective tax preparation and planning are year round activities. It means understanding when changes are happening so that people aren't caught off guard when it comes time to file. In instances like this, a little preparation will go a long way towards ensuring that people will have the best experience they can come tax time.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia Levon Yolyan assures that negotiations with the Russian side over gas price reduction are underway. 165 USD per 1000 cubic meters price will remain until April 1, the negotiations are held to lower it further. The final result will immediately be introduced to the public, Armenpress reports the Minister told in a briefing with journalists.

To the question if it is possible that the price will again become $189 from April 1, the Minister said, I dont think so. In his words, no document about it was planned to be signed during the meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Russia, therefore, there are no obstacles and the process goes on in a natural pace. There was no necessity to sign such an accord during this visit. Options for maximal price reduction were discussed with Gasprom and the RF government. I have felt quite positive attitude and wish to discuss the issue in a healthy atmosphere, Levon Yolyan added.

On March 10, the Government of Armenia approved the two draft bills on making changes in gas contract between Armenia and Russia signed on December 2, 2013.

On January 16 in a meeting with the PM of Armenia, representatives of business community of Armenia asked the PM to apply to the strategic partner of Armenia, Russian Federation, with a request to revise gas price, considering the global dynamics of energy prices.
www.wavecrest.co.uk" data-caption="The new Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior (the third one to hold the name) on her maiden voyage to the UK.All port arrangements were handed by Gravesend based shipping agents Wavecrest Ltd - www.wavecrest.co.uk" data-credit="L2F1/Flickr">

Talk about great marketing.

From U.S. state dinners in Canada's honour, to 60 Minutes episodes promoting our new leader's hip outlook, to glitzy coverage of our prime minister on the pages of Vogue and GQ... it looks like Canada is on a roll.

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I haven't seen a rebranding campaign as comprehensive as this since New Coke.

So why haven't our harshest critics paid attention to Prime Minister Trudeau's 'sunny ways' playbook?

It's a serious question. From the selection of an activist federal cabinet to Canadian government commitments made at the UN climate meetings in Paris, to speeches and funding announcements delivered at the GLOBE environmental conference in Vancouver, a great deal has happened over the last few months.

Through it all, Greenpeace is the same old same old. Federal, provincial and local elected officials work with industry to move forward -- and Greenpeace drags its feet.

Some, like me, argue we've been on a solid path toward more sustainable development in this country for years, as the resource industry researches, develops and implements sustainability innovations on the ground such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) that extracts deep oil deposits without removing the soil above it.

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Others might say real change is only just now occurring.

Alberta Oil See Gallery

Ironically, Greenpeace -- an international group that emerged out of Canada in the 1970s and hasn't changed much since then -- seems one of the genuine outliers when it comes to updating its views on the current state of play.

The group, which is based on conflict, drama and media-friendly gamesmanship, can't seem to modernize its information on the Canadian record of racial and gender equality, world-leading human rights, opportunities for education, overall social freedoms and environmental performance.

It makes me wonder: which practical way of life do they actually support?

Words matter -- sometimes as much as actions do. By attacking any Canadian strategy toward building a new pipeline to tidewater in order to export our oil and gas resources, Greenpeace helps our only significant customer, the U.S., to develop its own oil and gas resources at our expense. They also help our other competitors like Venezuela, Equador, Brazil, Mexico and oil producers in the Middle East gain market share.

Through both word and deed, Greenpeace helps destroy our country's potential profits -- to the benefit of our competition.

Does Greenpeace protest oil pipelines and oil exports in any top 10 oil reserve country other than our own? Of course not. So why is just one country -- Canada -- receiving all the attention? There's no answer.

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The multinational activist organization claims it cares about climate, as its executives and staff live jet-set lifestyles, while preaching about impending climate doom. It's all the more ironic given that Canada is the only top oil exporter to the U.S. that has in place carbon regulations on oil production. Still Greenpeace celebrates when the proposed Keystone XL is blocked by U.S. politics.

Does Greenpeace protest any of the oil tankers that carry heavy oil to the U.S. from Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico or the Middle East? I'll give you one guess. The answer is no.

In its 2014 annual report, Greenpeace claimed it had only six offices in the world's top 10 oil reserve countries. Four of those are in Canada; two are in Russia. Such an apportioning of resources makes no sense -- unless the organization thinks fundraising in Canada is a lot easier than it is in Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, where sustainability is about as unpopular as environmental activist organizations.

Canada Action carried out a Twitter poll recently. Among other things, we found most people think Greenpeace key staffers earn well in excess of $80,000 a year. While we don't actually know the salary figures, I'd hate to think that number was accurate -- that's a lot of cash for attacking other people's job prospects.

Oilsands activities are state-of-the-art and getting even better. Emissions are comparable to all the electricity generation in Wyoming, the least populated state in the U.S.

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So if you're among the majority that believes a small, vocal group is holding Canada hostage while other countries profit from this hardship, then take action.

The more you know, the more sense it makes to support our local natural resource industries. Global oil demand has never been higher, the world needs more Canadian resources, and we need more investment and job opportunities at home.

When Alberta Premier Rachel Notley can proudly wear a Canada Action "I Love Oil Sands" hoodie (see the slideshow above) to show her support for informed conversation about jobs and investment in Alberta, then so can Justin Trudeau -- and so can you!

Oh, and Greenpeace -- I'm sure we have one in your size! Now THAT really would be rebranding!

Cody Battershill is a Calgary realtor and founder / spokesperson for CanadaAction.ca, a volunteer organization that supports Canadian energy development and the environmental, social and economic benefits that come with it. Join the movement on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
vadimguzhva via Getty Images Naked man with lower back pain on white isolated background. Back view. Close-up.

Anyone who has suffered from SIJ (sacroiliac joint) pain knows that it can cause some serious discomfort. Specifically this pain can be located in your back, hip, and perhaps even down your leg. Severe SI joint pain can lead to pain with day-to-day activities such as getting in and out of bed, walking up stairs or getting in and out of the car.

First let's talk about the anatomy of the SIJ.

For a long time it was thought that the SIJ was immobile. It is a very inherently stable joint; however, it is now known that mobility and movement of the SIJ is not only possible, but also essential for shock absorption during weight-bearing activities.

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This is a protective mechanism in the human body to alleviate some of the strain on the lumbar spine. What this motion looks like varies between individuals, but the quantity of motion is always small.

There are a number of very strong muscles that surround the SIJ, including the erector spinae, psoas, quadratus lumborum, piriformis, abdominal obliques, gluteal muscles and hamstrings. Even though these strong muscles surround the joint, none of them actually act directly on it to produce active movements. Instead, movements are produced indirectly by gravity and by these muscles acting on the trunk and lower limbs.

Enough with the anatomy talk. Let's chat more about how we can work on alleviating your pain!

The Purpose of the SIJ

Given its structure, the SIJ is designed to relieve stress and forces. It acts as a buffer between the hip and lumbar spine. It transmits forces from the spine sideways into the pelvis and then into the lower limbs (and vice versa). Think of your body as a car. Your SIJ acts like the shock absorbers without which you can get into trouble.

How Important Is the SIJ, Really?

A fantastic study completed by Dr. Stuart McGill looked at the forces transmitted to the SIJ during a 60-pound squat. He found the total force transmitted to this SIJ during this activity was 6.5 kN (think enough to lift the equivalent of a small car, which is 1,461 pounds of force going through the SIJ).

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In terms of SIJ dysfunctions, they commonly fall in to two categories:

1. Instability - the joint moves too much

2. Stiffness - the join moves too little

Research published in Clinical Biomechanics in 1989 determined that muscle balancing is key, and in order to have optimal SIJ stability and movement you need to focus on what they called the powerful two.

What are the 'powerful two'?

1. The gluteus maximus, a.k.a. your biggest butt muscles

2. Biceps femoris, a.k.a. your hamstrings

These researchers also determined that weakness in the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) and tight psoas muscles can lead to aberrant SIJ motion and loading.

This means that in order to correct a hypermobile SIJ, we need to focus on the surrounding muscles, especially those in the posterior chain, and correct any imbalances. Most commonly this means improving the strength of the gluteals, hamstrings as well as your lats (think upper back muscles) but individual cases do vary.

So what should you do if you have SIJ pain?

If you have SIJ pain, or you think you have SIJ pain, the best thing is to see a trained professional who can diagnose you, let you know exactly where your pain is coming from and help you develop a plan to fix it.

And to keep your SIJ functioning properly and pain free, work on optimizing your posture, core stability, hip mobility and stability, along with strength and motor control.

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You don't have to live with pain!

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In last year's Carter decision, the Supreme Court of Canada held that, under certain circumstances, where a competent adult requests medical assistance to terminate his or her life, the criminal prohibition of aid in dying is unconstitutional. You don't need to have a terminal illness or be physically unable to end your life yourself, but you must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition, which causes you to suffer intolerably.

The ruling boils down to a statement of what the principle of autonomy enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will not abide -- namely state interference into the most pressing and important decisions a person may make. One may welcome or lament the court's decision, but neither gloating nor sulking will make one dent in the hard work there remains to be done.

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Diminish the taboo, place assisted dying on the menu of options, and there is one less barrier to believing that anything short of an independent life is not worth living.

While law makers deliberate over how to develop the best regulatory regime in light of the court's direction, it's important to remember that every one of us is implicated in -- and responsible for -- the shared human endeavour that is governance through law. As we reflect on the implications of the court's decision, we also need to recognize that a commitment to fostering the personal autonomy of Canadians requires more than just a repeal of criminal sanctions on assisted suicide.

There are many vexing questions to address -- not least the unique ethical quandary posed by patients with debilitating cognitive function (due to Alzheimer's or dementia) seeking to give advance directives requesting active medical aid in dying. Responses to other issues, such as reconciling the rights of patients, doctors, and religious institutions along with other public goods, can draw guidance and inspiration from previous efforts to work through ways of peacefully mediating the diverse practices, beliefs, and perspectives among Canadians.

For present purposes, though, let us just consider how this re-drawing of the boundaries of the criminal law may affect how those who are suffering badly endeavour to navigate the already difficult terrain of end-of-life decision-making. Diminish the taboo, place assisted dying on the menu of options, and there is one less barrier to believing that anything short of an independent life is not worth living. Then again, if treating it as a crime is the only thing keeping people from seeking assistance in terminating their lives, are there not more important questions to be asking?

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This point is as pertinent for assisted suicide skeptics as it is for supporters. If one is committed to ensuring that every person feels like he or she can (and should) go on living, then just trying to prevent them from receiving assistance in dying, is not adequate. Like the dog-owner with the unruly pup who only rests easy once the creature is locked up in his cage, our yearning for a certain type of order, our lust for a particular kind of obedience to rules, makes us forget that the purpose of order, the point of rules, is to facilitate freedom, not take it away.

Rather than lament the criminals law's failure to proscribe every act or omission we believe to be morally repugnant, we should be thankful that it does not. Is a society in which divorce and adultery, or contraception and abortion, are punished with the full force of the law, really so preferable to this one? Surely one can oppose the practice of assisted suicide but support its de-criminalization on the principle that allowing people to lead ethical lives requires us to deploy law in such a way that fosters human agency.

Neither coercion nor isolation by itself enables human beings to flourish. And nothing can change the fact that each of us, whether we want to go or not, is bound for what Shakespeare called "[t]he undiscovered country from whose bourn/ No traveler returns." Death is at once the most solitary and universal of human experiences. It shows mercy on no one.

A change in law signalling a reconceptualization of mercy killing as medical aid in dying obligates us to think about our own personal implication in elaborating the conditions necessary for people to make truly autonomous decisions. This is a function not just of absence, but presence. Removing chains on those confronted with "the cruel choice" of whether to go on, does not provide sufficient conditions for their exercise of liberty. Gentle touch, helping hands, loving eyes, and kinds words -- our presence -- is just, if not more, vital.
Henry Holland, fashion designer behind the eponymous brand House of Holland, has revealed he will never be satisfied with his success.

"I dont think Ill ever be happy," the 32-year-old told Richard Bacon for The Huffington Post UKs new original video series '30 Something'.

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"Ill never be done," he said. "Ill never be like oh tick, weve done that now, weve achieved everything we need to achieve. I dont think theres ever a point where that happens. Theres always more to achieve, no?"

Holland's success story is legendary - from making 'in-joke' slogan t-shirts with friends, to founding his own label in 2008, scoring collaborations with Levi's and Debenhams, even launching an eyewear range.

With no formal training - just a career as a teen magazine stylist and writer under his belt - the Ramsbottom-born designer admits he got to where he is mostly by accident.

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At the start of his foray into fashion, he didn't even want his own business: "All you do is work, you dont have a weekend," he said. "Then by the time I was 22 Id done it."

But it is Holland's work ethic and passion for the job that has powered his success:

"I get more pissed off if Im not at work 'cos I feel like Im missing out on something," he said.

"There was a real period in my career where people didnt really think that I should be doing what I was doing. I just worked my arse off to try and prove them wrong."
Boris Johnson seemed the be channelling Hugh Grant in his latest column as he slammed Barack Obama for outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy over his European Union referendum intervention.

The furious London Mayor hit back at Obamas warning that Britain will lose influence on the world stage if it quits the EU, calling his claim wholly fallacious.

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And just as Grants Prime Minister in Love Actually tells Billy Bob Thorntons US President, Johnson effectively told Obama to butt out of UK matters.

Boris Johnson channelled his inner Hugh Grant in his latest Daily Telegraph column

The Uxbridge MP and recently-announced Brexiter attacked the US for interfering in the debate, when it defends its own sovereignty with "hysterical vigilance".

According to the Press Association, Downing Street has refused to comment on reports that Obama, who has previously made it clear that America wants its closest ally to remain part of the EU, is heading to the UK next month to make the case to voters.

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In his regular Daily Telegraph column, Johnson wrote: "Sometime in the next couple of months we are told that president Obama himself is going to arrive in this country, like some deus ex machina, to pronounce on the matter.

"Air Force One will touch down; a lectern with the presidential seal will be erected. The British people will be told to be good to themselves, to do the right thing. We will be informed by our most important ally that it is in our interests to stay in the EU, no matter how flawed we may feel that organisation to be.

"Never mind the loss of sovereignty; never mind the expense and the bureaucracy and the uncontrolled immigration. The American view is very clear. Whether in code or en clair, the president will tell us all that UK membership of the EU is right for Britain, right for Europe, and right for America; and why?

"Because that  or so we will be told - is the only way we can have 'influence' in the councils of the nations. It is an important argument, and deserves to be taken seriously. I also think it is wholly fallacious  and coming from Uncle Sam it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy.

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"There is no country in the world that defends its own sovereignty with such hysterical vigilance as the United States of America. This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control."

Johnson attacked Barack Obama for getting involved in UK matters

Johnson, meanwhile, has come in for criticism from George Osborne for suggesting Britain could achieve a Canadian-style trade deal. The Chancellor insisted the agreement took seven years to negotiate and tariffs on exports remain in place for cars and beef.

"I hear people saying 'I want Britain to be like Switzerland, I want Britain to be like Norway, I want Britain to be like Canada'. You know what? I want Britain to be like Great Britain'," Osborne told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.

Osborne also appeared to take a more personal swipe at the mayor, who came in for criticism over his performance during a recent appearance on the programme.

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Pippa Middleton, Prince George's aunt, 'wrote' her party book 'Celebrate' just before her nephew was born, and to be fair, she acknowledges in the foreword that she was seizing the moment and milking her connection to her sister Kate and brother-in-law Prince William.

Unfortunately, those connections weren't enough to make the book a success and after disastrous sales (just 2,000 in the first week), the price was slashed from 25 to just 6.25 by WH Smith.

Pippa was reportedly paid a 400,000 advance for the book - so surely it must have some value in it?

And, actually, yes it does: this Pot Roast Tarragon Chicken, for example, was a winner  a perfect addition to any Easter lunch table this Sunday.

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In the book Pippa, says: "This is a great way to cook a whole chicken while keeping the meat juicy. This recipe serves four people but is easily doubled if you have room in the oven. The chicken can be shredded in its sauce (reduce if it's too runny) and will make a great pie filing."

If it's good enough for the Royal family this Easter, then it's certainly good enough for the rest of us plebs, eh?

Ingredients (slightly modified from Pippa's):

Serves 4-6

1.6kg free-range chicken

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, halved

2 tbsp olive oil

4 spring onions, chopped (Pippa used an onion)

2 celery sticks, roughly chopped

2 carrots, chopped (Pippa doesn't use carrots)

2 garlic cloves, squashed

125ml white wine

250ml chicken stock

Half bunch fresh tarragon

For the sauce:

1 large Portobello mushroom, chopped (Pippa used button mushrooms)

20g butter

200g creme fraiche

1-2 tbsp wholegrain mustard (optional)

2 tbsp chopped tarragon leaves

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and stuff the lemon halves into the cavity.

2. Add the oil to a large frying pan and saute the the spring onion, celery, carrot and garlic for 2-3 mins.

3. Transfer to a slow cooker and sit the chicken on top of the vegetables.

4. Pour in the white wine and chicken stock before adding the tarragon. Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours until the chicken is very tender. Test by wiggling the drumstick. If it's loose, it's done.

5. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and transfer to a roasting tin.

6. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6 and roast the chicken for 15-20 mins to crisp and brown the skin.

7. Strain the onion, tarragon and celery through a sieve. Let the remaining liquid sit for a few minutes before skimming any fat from the surface.

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8. In another pan, brown the mushrooms in the butter. Remove from the pan and set aside. Pour in the reserved liquid gradually, then whisk in the creme fraiche, mustard and tarragon. Stir well until combined and cook until starting to thicken, before finally adding the mushrooms.

9. Serve the chicken whole to the table in the pot and carve, or joint the rested chicken and serve in a dish with the sauce poured over. Serve with roast potatoes, roast carrots and broccoli.

For more recipes go to Keith's Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed blog.
The five things you need to know on Monday March 14, 2016

1) SAVINGS CRAVING

In case you missed it, its Budget week. The small-scale nature of the pre-briefed items so far suggests either some kind of rabbit is being held back or it really will be a risk-minimising, cuts-led announcement aimed at shoring up George Osbornes support within his party.

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The PMs giving him a helping hand today with another micro measure (in fiscal terms), to boost savings of the low paid (though Labour suggest it sounds a bit like the Savings Gateway the Coalition scrapped in 2010). Theres Whitehall chatter that while hes retreated on pensions tax relief, some kind of savings/pensions narrative has been rescued. My colleague Owen Bennett reported on Friday night that plans for a new lifetime ISA plan were very much alive.

Yet the big picture is the black hole in the finances that the FT pointed to this weekend, and Osbornes confirmation on Marr that he will seek further savings, equivalent to 50p in every 100. Of course, that overall statistic is pretty misleading if youre the target for the cuts in specific departments The IFSs Paul Johnson has pointed out that it really means upto 3% cuts in unprotected spending areas. Will the cuts amount to 4bn or more? Osborne struggled to defend disability cuts.

The FT has a rather strong hostage-to-fortune header that hes expected to jack up fuel duty. We have a story that Osbornes previous fuel duty moves cost the Treasury 30 billion yet made little difference to the pump price in practice. Speaking of motorists, the insurance industry has been warning that Osborne could stage another stealth tax raid on our motor and homes insurance by jacking up Insurance Premiums Tax (IPT), after the last hike was buried in the tax credits row. Business worries about the apprentice levy going up again. Both could raise serious sums.

The FT suggests another source of income, with plans to target multinationals tax relief on debt interest. Ah, remember all those Google tax headlines?

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2) CALM DOWN, FEAR

Tom Watson has told all sides of the Labour party to calm down amid intense speculation that there could be a challenge to Jeremy Corbyns leadership this summer. On SkyNewss Murnaghan, the deputy Labour leader was tried to pull the party together ahead of these crucial May elections.

Watson put his finger on just why some on the Left were wrong to push for a change in the leadership rules this July - pointing out it would give the moderates the excuse they need to act before it was too late. There are people in the party who are trying to change the rules in order to try and protect Jeremys position - and they might just be precipitating a challenge to his leadership because of that. The Left counters that the moderates dont seem to need any excuse to try to get rid of Corbyn.

But last weeks speeches by Rachel Reeves, Dan Jarvis (and dont forget Chris Leslie did one too), were certainly seen as tanks on Corbyns lawn by some around the leadership. On Radio 4s Westminster Hour last night, Reeves confirmed shed turned down the chance to join McDonnells council of economic advisers. And she said something that caught my ear. When asked if a leadership challenge was brewing, she didnt directly deny that one was, saying only: Thats not what these speeches are about.

It was interesting the way some of the party mobilised on Saturday to defend Jarvis from Kens Savile attack. NEC member Johanna Baxter wrote to Ken demanding an apology, so too did Martin Taylor, the hedge fund manager who has donated to Jarviss office. And most damaging was ITVs scoop that the ex-Mayor had himself trousered 8k from a hedge fund. This one will run and run.

3) BOZ, ACTUALLY

Boris is earning is corn for the Telegraph and his new column today attacking Obamas hypocrisy over Brexit gifts the paper a splash. Is it Boriss Love Actually moment, a plucky Brit standing up to a bullying US President? Well, for one thing PM Boris and President Obama are highly unlikely to overlap - unless David Cameron is forced out by the end of this year.

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Whats more worrying for the Leave camp is that many of them are Atlanticists and Obama is saying clearly that its better for the Anglo-Saxon-American economic model (as opposed to the European model) if their common values are embedded in the EU, not ripped out of it. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clarksons Sunday Times column calling for a United States of Europe (no, really) was certainly counterintuitive.

The Guardian has a bit of blue on blue action with an advance on a BBC interview where Steve Hilton has a pop at Boris, claiming he has little legacy from his time as Mayor, and praising Ken for doing more on transport.

George Osborne on Marr was withering about Boris for playing games over the EU referendum. And asked if Bojo wanted to be PM, he said: I dont think it is the greatest revelation in human history to discover that Boris Johnson is interested in a job in government.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch Marco Rubio sound genuinely worried about Trump. He's been called a robot, but it was possibly his most human moment of the entire campaign.

4) JUAN DIRECTION

The row over the leak of the Queens views on Brussels rumbles on. The Sun has a new angle today that Her Majestys wrong direction outburst at the 2011 lunch in Windsor was prompted by Nick Clegg preaching on the virtues of Europe.

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One Royal sources tells the paper: She threw a wobbly and responded witheringly. Most people know thats a signal to retreat and concentrate on the soup. Unfortunately, he ploughed on, raising her blood pressure further. Some Tories used to jibe privately that Clegg's Spanish connections (his wife, his speaking the language fluently) made him a 'Don Juan' for Brussels integration.

But pressure continues on Michael Gove, the prime suspect for the leaked conversation. The Justice Secretary, on a Brexit campaign visit on Saturday, twice used a very specific form of words: I dont know how the Sun got all of its information. That word all has been pounced on as a hint that he was one of the sources. His office says he didnt brief the story, but did he reveal the Queens words to anyone? Will he have to properly answer such questions in Parliament or in a TV interview? Nick Soames was swift on Twitter to spot the crack in the defence of the wild Gover. Is the Gover now owning up to an inexcusable mistake in breaching an oath and a confidence? If so now VERY serious.

Tom Watson has urged him to come clean and stop the obfuscation. Alastair Campbell said the Brexit angle was cock because otherwise there would not have been a Palace complaint.

At least the David Laws memoirs show the Queen has a sense of humour. Asked by Clegg if his plans to give female Royals equal rights to succession would cause the Palace a problem, Her Maj replied: Good grief, Mr Clegg, by then, Ill be dead!"

5) MUTTI IN THEIR HANDS

The regional elections in Germany have prompted many papers to raise the spectre of the rise of the rightwing, anti-immigrant party AfD. Brexiters over here will be wary of being linked to the AfDs increasing popularity - it is utterly anti-euro, after all. Yet although Merkels CDU did badly, the picture is more complicated given ruling parties always tend to do badly mid-term.

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Polls showed that most Germans still like Merkels approach to refugees, and as the Wall St Journal points out at the ballot box several pro-refugee politicians beat Merkel critics in her own party (the Greens did well in Baden-Wurttemberg). Some German papers are saying its a nightmare for Merkel but other media in the country say Shes won overall. The SPD did worst in some areas.

As for Merkels CDU, one of its politicians Erika Steinbach, tweeted about the dictator approach of Berlin on refugees. Ironic, or what? Then again, Steinback last month tweeted a pic of a blond child surrounded by Asian women, with the caption Where are you from then? Germany, 2030.

The EU migrant deal with Turkey is looking in trouble. I wonder if at this weeks Brussels summit David Cameron will expand on George Osbornes veto warning about its accession?

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"We're facing a Great British Brain Drain!" declare the papers, now unable to cover any cultural phenomenon without that certain prefix eluding to cake that's bound to get capture the 'Great British' attention.

Professionals and civil servants are leaving the country on any boat, plane or horseback for which they can buy a ticket, and, suddenly, Westminster is starting to panic. This, however, is not a 'brain drain', but a 'brain recovery operation'; an attempt to prevent years of exams, late night studying and sanity going to waste at the expense of political propaganda and pointless paperwork. I, for one, certainly do not blame them.

According to Chief OFSTED Inspector, Michael Wilshaw, last year, more than 18,000 British teachers opted to leave the UK to work abroad, the majority headed for the US or continental Europe. Only 17,000 postgraduates trained to be teachers in the same period, marking the fourth year that the government failed to reach its teacher training target. Thousands are being allured abroad by better pay and more attractive working hours as 'Academy Brands' cross the various ponds and start establishing 'branches' of learning abroad. Well, at least the doctors won't be alone on all of those flights out of Heathrow, working visas packed proudly alongside the passport.

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People are acting as if these statistics are a surprise, unable to understand why people would want to work anywhere but 'Our Green and Pleasant Land' but these professionals are the victims of government policy. If a parent drops a plate on the floor and now faces a horrible mess to clean up. Do they blame the child sat in the highchair still hungry and crying? No, of course they don't.

Now, a little role reversal: a government entirely overhauls legislation in two key policy areas that employ millions and directly impact the entire British population. They now face a horrible mess to clean up. Do they blame the doctor and the teacher hunched over and crying in the corner, overworked, underpaid and liable to make mistakes? Yes.

Our most valuable professionals are being bullied out of the country by legislation that overworks, undermines and devalues their skills; as a result of the fundamental overhauls in both the Department for Education and the Department of Health in the last half decade, these 'brains' are assigned to paperwork, to endless admin tasks and then subjected to a barge of criticism from politicians and the public, criticism that renders them bound to even more paperwork in an attempt to produce an astounding set of numbers to impress and bewilder in today's headlines, safe in the knowledge that they will just wrap tomorrow's chips.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

We don't know yet whetherTop Gear the reboot will be able to continue the magic formula that made its previous incarnation such a success, however, we have to hand it to them... they've scooped up the baton for creating controversy, and run with it before the show has even hit the airwaves.

One seemingly innocent Sunday's filming, a few dusty donuts, a couple of handbrake turns and they're being berated for everything from upsetting veterans, to distracting our chancellor while he's trying to get the sums right for the Budget.

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You know it's serious when Chris Evans goes all grown-up, and that's happened twice today already, once on his breakfast show when he "apologised unreservedly" and later, when he made it clear that neither he nor any of his Top Gear bosses wanted to ever see this segment make it to air after the fracas it's caused.

Now, regular readers will know I'm not always the biggest fan of Top Gear, and I was outraged by their casual handling of their trip to Chernobyl. However, for once I think this is turning into a bit of a storm in a tea-cup.

To deal swiftly with George Osborne's down-with-the-kids tirade, doesn't he have another fairly impressive, presumably much quieter house to hang out in at weekends, courtesy of us taxpayers? And, being a resident of and daily worker in central London, he surely must be used to the sound of the odd bus going past. Of course, when he unleashes his spreadsheets on Wednesday and it turns out his finger slipped on the calculator, added a zero to tax benefits for castle owners instead of library workers, we may all have to think again and start looking for scapegoats, but in the meantime...

To the more serious point of the Top Gear team's attitude to war veterans with their antics, well, yes, it was lacking in respect, and at least one former soldier has spoken out to say so. But, it does raise the question, with this land as sacred as the colonel describes, a place of reverence, grief and contemplation, exactly what is it doing in the middle of one of the capital city's most hectic thoroughfares?

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With its position, the Cenotaph remains the responsibility of Westminster Council, who surely must be among those scratching their heads today and wondering what happened when the request came in for "screaming cars, cameras, general weekend revelry to be captured on film". Perhaps a cross, not a tick in the box next time, people?

As for the Top Gear team themselves, do we really think they woke up on Sunday morning and thought, 'Now, folks, who can we offend today? How can we make ourselves look really bad? Who haven't we done? Oh, I know, veterans...'

Now, even Chris Evans on his most stunt-happy day knows better than that, and the respect in which veterans are increasingly, and rightly, held in this country.

I really don't think that happened. I think the biggest crime on this occasion was a whole load of collective thoughtlessness, against a background of increasing pressure and looming deadlines for a programme that must be seen to be as good, exciting and newsworthy in every way as its predecessor.

And thereby lies the rub. For Top Gear, uniquely for such a benign-sounding motoring show, has a history of which we are all too aware, with a list of controversies as long as your arm, including casual racism, accusations of homophobia and cultural mockery. And that was before somebody forgot to cook a steak.

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And, for all that, it's also uniquely popular. Repeats of the previous show continue to rake in more foreign money for the BBC's commercial arm than any other programme.

So, the bar has been set as both very low, in terms of behaviour, and high, in terms of viewer appeal, devotion and the bottom line - sales.
As usual on a Sunday I enjoyed a quick blast of the Mail Online yesterday morning. Amongst the usual sidebar-of-shame fare lurked an opinion piece by Steve Hilton, "former advisor to David Cameron", dealing with the 'Trump phenomenon'. There are a growing number of articles by commentators explaining how The Donald has taken the Republican primaries by storm; given his reputation as a "political Svengali" I settled down to read the Hilton contribution to the canon with interest.

His central point is, increasingly obviously, correct: dismissing Trump as a blow-hard populist whose campaign will ultimately sink under the weight of its own contradictions is short-sighted and appears not to be even slightly true. It is understandable that the chattering classes, and particularly the Republican elite, originally made this ultimately patronising assumption. Not only did history suggest that the normal order would eventually be restored, but political scientists claimed to have numerical and other evidence to back up this presumption. But everyone seems to have been wrong. The question is: why?

Hilton's thesis is that Trump's success stems from a rebellion against a "technocratic agenda ... implemented by politicians of both Left and Right". He argues that the political class "favours big business over small, fetishises globalisation, and is relaxed about immigration - regardless of the consequences for working people". Voters have "had enough of being dismissed and patronised by the elite", and are turning instead to figures like Trump, and Sanders, and presumably Syrizia, Podemos, Alternative fur Deutschland, Jeremy Corbyn and so on and so on to give voice to their anger.

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It is of course more than a little ironic when someone who has so directly benefitted from the upsides of globalisation and from the "revolving door between Westminster and Whitehall and the boardrooms of big businesses" complains so vociferously about it. More importantly some of Hilton's arguments are at the very least questionable. Some might argue, for example, that globalisation has done more to fuel growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere recently than any number of years of aid and development support. Others may feel that there is little evidence of politicians favouring big business; in fact, as I have argued many times before , the reverse is far too often true. But Hilton is absolutely right that people feel patronised and more and more alienated from politics.

This is not completely surprising. If people see their jobs being taken by workers here or in far-flung lands who are manifestly being paid much less or who face less stringent environmental, health and safety, and other regulations they will naturally be resentful. But America has faced this crisis before: in the 1970s and 1980s jobs were apparently pouring over to Japan and the US was soon to be eclipsed as the world's dominant economic power. Not only did it not happen, but Americans continued throughout to vote for mainstream politicians like Reagan. And migration to richer countries has been going on for decades. In the UK it became a powerful political issue in the 1960s and 1970s and yet we too carried on voting for Labour and the Conservatives, just as we always had. No, there is some additional factor at play.

My feeling is that the additional factor is one that Hilton, as a former adviser to current leading political figures, cannot say: that many politicians these days are just not that great. That is not to say they are not hard-working and sincere: in fact the vast majority of MPs in the UK act diligently and effectively for their constituents and I am sure the same is true of US Congressmen and women and elected representatives the world over. And some of today's politicians are 'big beasts', particularly by comparison to their current peers. But it is instructive to ponder how many current British Ministers would have made it into the Cabinet in 1981 or 1956, and how many of the Labour frontbench would have been frontline Ministers in 1997, let alone 1976 or 1965. Our political class in 2016 is all too often safety-first, painting-by-numbers and frankly not what it used to be.

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So I would argue that the key reason Trump stands out and has done so well is that everyone else is so lacklustre. Marco Rubio is hardly on a par with Reagan, or Eisenhower, or even Nixon. And Hillary Clinton, despite her considerable accomplishments, seems unlikely to be a new Kennedy or Roosevelt. She may or may not be as good as Bill, but I doubt very much she will be the American Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir or Margaret Thatcher. Compared to Trump the rest of the field is bland and uninspiring and samey and historically insignificant. At a time when we need a leader with the strategic vision to lead us over the top the electorate is confronted by managerial types with the tactical nous to cower in the trenches.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Artsakh departed for Lebanon with a working visit on March 12. As "Armenpress" was informed by the Information and Public Relations Department of the Government of Artsakh, the Prime Minister had a number of meetings on March 12 and March 13 with Armenian and foreign investors, discussed issues of investment and charitable programs in Artsakh and reached specific agreements.

During the meeting with the Board of Directors of Artsakh Routes Investments, Arayik Harutyunyan discussed the companys projects, the course of their implementation and future programs. Arayik Harutyunyan highly appreciated the company's contribution to the improvement of the level of development and welfare of the residents of Kashatagh region, and expressed confidence that close cooperation between the company and the government will deepen and expand.

The Artsakh delegation took part in the divine liturgy of the Great House of Cilicia headed by Catholicos Aram I, then met with the Catholicos at the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias. The Prime Minister stressed the importance of the Lebanese-Armenian communitys active participation in the struggle for survival and development of Artsakh and expressed gratitude to the community on behalf of the Artsakh people for providing continuous moral and material support. The Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia welcomed Arayik Harutyunyan and ensured that the provision of security and development of Arsakh is priority of all Armenians, and Catholicosate of Antelias also serves this mission.

The working visit of the delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Artsakh to Lebanon will continue until March 15, and will include economic, political and cultural meetings and events.
Eurosceptics are fond of pointing out that we have a big trade deficit with the EU. It exported 291 billion to us in 2014 while we exported 229 billion to it. So the other member states would, they say, lose more if our trading relationship broke down. So if we hang tough in our negotiations, we'll get a good deal. The likes of BMW would be so desperate to sell to us that they would force the German government to open the EU market to us in return.

Chris Grayling, Leader of the House of Commons, trotted out this line on the BBC Today Programme (1 hour 38 minute mark) on March 10. Daniel Hannan, the Tory MEP, and Douglas Carswell, UKIP's only MP, have made similar points.

There are many problems with the argument.

One is that it totally ignores proportionality. Britain's exports to the EU represent 12% of our GDP. The rest of the EU's exports to Britain represent just 3% of its GDP. Neither side would win from a trade war. But we would be hit proportionately much harder. We need them more than they need us. They could afford to play hard ball. We couldn't as, if they limited access to the single market which accounts for 44% of our exports, we would be hit badly.

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Another problem is our fallback position. If we didn't get a trade deal, we'd have to rely on the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The snag is that the WTO works well for goods (where the Germans are strong) and doesn't do much for services (where the UK is strong). We wouldn't be able to put many restrictions on German and other exports to us, but they'd be pretty much free to shut us out of their services markets, including finance. So we'd have a weak negotiating position.

Yet another problem is that some EU countries might see our departure as an opportunity to grab some of our crown jewels. The two main prizes would be: to slice up parts of the City and entice it to Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam or Dublin; and to attract some of the large flows of foreign direct investment that now come to Britain, in part so that businesses can access the entire EU market. This would give some EU countries an incentive to stop us getting full access to its market post-Brexit, CEPS, a Brussels-based think-tank argues in a recent report.

That might not be the only incentive to play hardball. The EU might not want a velvet divorce as that might encourage other countries to peel off.
Who else wants the facts?

This time last year we were all in the midst of being politically brainwashed; watching the same old parties battle it out for the public's support on TV and chatting up Dimbleby on Question Time. Yes, Ed Miliband became tumblr's favourite subject for animated flower tiaras and twitter's latest in hilarious memes, but this was all propaganda we were happy to oblige in because we had read the facts and had picked our side.

Now we find ourselves on the cusp of a decision that doesn't only dictate the next four years but is a possibly irreversible decision about our future. As students, it's easy to foremost pontificate over the fact those month-long, multiple-country-spanning, inter-rail opportunities will now become immeasurably more difficult, but it's far more affecting than that. After all, in or out, we're the generation of voters whose lives and, gulp, children's lives will be most impacted by the results of the referendum.

So while there may be equal gusto in both the pro-EU headlines and Boris' cheeky grin, many of us are in need of some informing before we go sticking our feet in the mud on either side of the field.

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Repetitive sweeping statements spouting 'Britain leaving EU is a shot in the dark' or, conversely, 'Don't be taken in by project fear' aren't much in the way of convincing because they don't explain why this is. Andrew Marr's recent BBC interview with Boris Johnson essentially disintegrated into a snappy debate that saw Marr himself appear as a 'remain campaigner' instead of allowing the interviewee to develop his arguments.

Yet while the politicians continue to bicker, lots of us 'don't really know enough yet' to decide. Of course, it's easy enough to pick a team based on headlines alone; who wants a non-existent trade? Or is it really so easy peasy?

Taxpayers (aka. the non-students of this nation, our parents) might be tempted by Brexit. Headlines claim to cut down 'benefit' migrants, so we assume tax from the people will be spent on benefits and perhaps on the climate budget or NHS funded things instead, like training future nurses. Maybe you're tempted because you vainly hope that less people to support increases the chance of the government giving us a pension before we actually die but hey, we know we're kidding ourselves.

The UK's net contribution to the EU is a staggering 12.9 billion, higher than our climate control budget and putting us in second place for highest contributing country to the EU's budget. Yet we make up just 3.6% of European commission officials, less than 10% of total MEPs and are overruled on 75% of cases. Those who want to leave argue that we cannot vote to stay and expect any change or reform to our influence.

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If we did leave, the EU would lose its stance as the forerunning economy to the USA, dropping from 18,530 to 15,580 ($bn). An intriguing fact that came out in Marr's interview of Boris was that in the last 40 years American exports to the EU have increased faster than ours have, all without membership.

Our tiny island would be fourth largest economy, following the USA, EU and China respectively. This surely makes it hard to believe that the rest of the world would refuse to trade with us due to the playground mentality that dictates we must be punished for refusing to play anymore, especially at the expense of their economies.

On the contrary, where's the logic in leaving if, like Norway (the oft-cited alternative to membership), we then lose all trade agreements outside the European Union, still contribute to EU spending and abide by two-thirds of all EU laws despite losing our (admittedly small) voice in deciding these laws.

This also brings us to the incentive at the forefront of many Brexit supporters minds, the ability to control 'benefit' migration and increase numbers of skilled migrants from the EU. Yet, again, if our deal resembled the Norwegian model, we would abide by free movement, which means treating EU citizens as you would a national (i.e. the right to live/work in the country and have access to labour market and welfare) anyway. In fact, Norway has more EU migrants than the UK.

The Norwegian minister said last month that with the UKs 'global ambition, dedication and contributions' he found it 'difficult to imagine us being comfortable with the same arrangement. Yet this has a reverse psychology effect, which makes many question why our small island is so persistently ambitious. Perhaps it's high time we turned to fixing our own economic problems with that pocket change (about 55 million) sent every week to Brussels.

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Now, Norway is just one of many economic models discussed to replace our current membership. Switzerland, Turkey, Canada and WTO-only are all considered as possible models for an independent UK.

Read widely and choose wisely because it doesn't look like we're going to hear any spark-note type explanations that dig deeper than the blurb on the back of a novel. Who knows, with such a small say in the EUs decisions, it could even be that remaining gives as much an uncertain future as leaving. Yet how naive we may be to think our economy could cope with a decade of trade agreements and painstaking renegotiating with the 27 member states.

The choice for some may be clean cut, but there's still a whole bunch of us waiting for the full story.
For the past few years Manchester has been exploding with cross-platform collaborations. Events embracing music, film, science and literary crossovers have proved that it is a city for creative experimentation. Good examples would be GoGo Penguin's creation of a new live score for the exceptional Koyaanisqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio. Or Manchester based film makers Al & Al's Icarus at the Edge of Time, a CGI infused short film, accompanied by a Philip Glass live score. Icarus was performed at the Royal Northern College of Music by the BBC Philharmonic and blended film, science, music and mythology. The last few years have been a none stop whirlwind of international level creativity. And I am lucky to have been a part of it.

I was first approached to write for film in 2014. To celebrate the reopening of Manchester's Central Library, Manchester band Everything Everything were asked to curate a week long series of events which they titled Chaos to Order. The band then asked me to write a song-based live score to accompany images from the North West Film Archive, a collection that would be available to watch in the new library. So I began watching lots of images of the north west and making notes, little drawings and singing melodies to reflect what I saw. In the collection there were wonderful scenes of parades, dances, ballrooms and pageants, people enjoying the hours when no work was to be done. I began to write songs around these themes. Film maker Kim May then took some of the films I'd picked out and assembled the footage around the narrative in the songs. The project became Celluloid History Songs, a six song set with silent films from the archive. So far I have performed the work at Central Library, Manchester (2014), and twice at HOME, Manchester (2015/16). Celluloid History Songs continues to have a life and a voice for the past. I'm so proud of the songs and the history of the north that they are connected to.

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Next, in 2015, came 'EIGHT', a totally different type of film commission, a project on an international level. 2015 was the year of China/UK exchange and the year that a new consulate was to open in Manchester's Chinese twin city, Wuhan. I and seven other musicians and film makers (hence 'EIGTHT') from Manchester and Wuhan came together to create a live event in K11 Art Village, Wuhan. Over eight days, the eight artists collaborated to create new film with an accompanying live score. At the end of the eight days we gave two performances. From concept to performance, the experience was full and creatively challenging. No time to worry about going back, revising or being doubtful. The task was bold, but we did it. It worked, across continents and languages. I still have a melody in my head from the collaboration that always reminds me of China, of the footage that surrounded the stage during the performances. It is just one indication of how much projects like this effect the senses and allow the memory to always retain something, a sight, a sound, the lights, the words, the melodies.

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These two earlier projects prepared me well for what was to come next, a commission to write the score for a feature length film, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, a silent documentary from 1922, directed by Benjamin Christensen. The event took place in December 2015. From June of that year I started writing songs, compiling melodies and thinking of genres and styles in response to the film's moods, its sections, and its dynamics and quirks. It had rhythms in the silent delivery, attitudes in its content, and most of all witchcraft... lots of witchcraft. To arrange the piece I collaborated with four postgraduate students from The University of Salford. Together we arranged and reimagined the songs I had been writing to create a full on electro-acoustic live score for Haxan. It was an intensely creative/ learning experience. The score had to be plotted out on the computer, each section running from a tempo map, spitting out information to synths that needed to be manipulated and tuned. We overlaid the electronics with live piano, guitars and manipulated vocals. The project was an incredible journey into electro-acoustic scoring.
One of the most pernicious provisions in the Housing and Planning Bill is the plan to impose large rent increases on, what Ministers determine to be, 'high income' council tenants. And to permit housing associations, who will at least have choice in the matter, to do likewise.

Four years ago, the then Coalition government consulted on this idea and appeared to settle on a threshold of household income of 60,000 per annum. But even that presented difficulties. What constitutes such income? What if earnings fluctuated? How up to date would information be from HMRC? Then, when Ministers eventually came forward with the current Bill, the threshold had mysteriously fallen to 40,000 for London and 30,000 elsewhere. That means couples living together on either the London Living Wage or National Minimum Wage would very probably be caught out by the new provision.

The LGA forecast that 214,000 households would be affected nationally, with 60,000 set to leave their homes. London Councils estimate 28,000 households would be affected in the capital, most notably in the inner boroughs. In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, some 500 tenants face a rent rise of between 35 and 60 per week and it would cost the city council over 150,000 a year to administer.

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The entire policy is based on a false premise that people are living in taxpayer subsidised housing, whereas local authorities and housing associations have to balance their books without taxpayer support. One couple from Hackney contacted me to say that they currently live in a three bedroom terraced council house, with their nine year old child; plus regular visits from the children of a previous marriage. Their monthly rent, on joint annual incomes of just over 40,000, is 720. In a similar private rented property that would more than treble to 2300.

Following speculation that Ministers would introduce a 'taper' to the increases, this is now going to be forthcoming. But when it came to light last Thursday, four months after the end of a government consultation, there were no details of how it would work and on what basis. A concession on the taper would of course, be better than nothing, but even this could be a disincentive to look for a better paid job or work longer hours.

It should also be for local councils, as it will be for housing associations, to take decisions on charging differential rents according to income; or indeed, other circumstances. A two person household is different from a family with children, those with an elderly relative living with them, or both.

Labour believes that several factors should be taken into account in any scheme, including affordability and the need to promote socially cohesive and mixed communities. Any taper should require 'high income' to be set by reference to the top quartile of incomes in the area - not a countrywide formula.

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Such amendments to the Bill, along with others we will press against Conservative plans to severely limit secure tenancies, are essential. Especially if those on modest incomes are not to be hit by unreasonably high rent increases or left in great uncertainty as to how long their house or flat can remain their home.
When someone says, "Muslims are..." or "Blacks are...," that person is immediately categorized as an Islamophobe or a racist. But when someone says, "Jews are..." or "Israelis are...," even if the statement is not only malicious, but downright ludicrous, some people justify such statements in the name of free speech. This double standard constitutes anti-Semitism. If anyone dared to say about Muslims, blacks, or any other ethnic or religious group, what assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College, Dr. Joy Karega, says about Jews and Israel, he or she would be scolded, and possibly fired.

On March 3, the feature item on Forward was titled, "Inside the Twisted Anti-Semitic Mind of Oberlin Professor Joy Karega." The story refers to some of Karega's statements, such as "alleging that Jews or Israelis were behind 9/11, ISIS, Charlie Hebdo and the Paris attacks," or that the "Mossad engineered the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine in 2014."

To silence her critics, Karega uses the free speech mantle and relies on political correctness to muffle criticism against her, alleging that it is common "for Black women, who are early in their career on the tenure track as part of the professoriate, to be prime targets for these kinds of activities and practices."

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This explains the timorous response of the president of Oberlin College, Mr. Marvin Krislov, himself a Jew, to Karega's posts, though she is his employee. Instead of condemning her, he implicitly supported her, stating that he "respects the right of its faculty, students, staff and alumni to express their personal views." Would Mr. Krislov be so open-minded if a member of his faculty expressed the view that, for example, American Muslims are striving to enact Sharia Law in the U.S.?

In my view, our response to anti-Semitism should be fundamentally different. First, we must not agree to, much less condone this double standard. These charged statements do nothing but flame hatred, promote violence against Jews, and lead us to relate to them as legitimate arguments in a debate in the name of free speech. This is a serious mistake.

Second, and even more important, in the eyes of anti-Semites, "Even when fish fight in the sea, the Jews are behind it." This is how they feel today, have always felt, and will always feel until we stop "corrupting the land," as professor of Quranic Studies, Imad Hamato, put it.

In other words, from Mel Gibson, through General William Boykin, to the just mentioned, Imad Hamato, and all the way to Hitler, anti-Semites believe that Jews are to blame for all the troubles in the world, and worst yet, Jews are causing all the wars.

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Actually, even our own writings tell us (Yevamot 63), "No calamity comes to the world but for Israel," so we need to understand the root cause of the anger at the Jews. In my essay, "Why Do People Hate Jews," I explained in detail what the world expects from us. The bottom line is that we were assigned the task of being "a light unto nations" but all that the nations feel we are projecting is war. It makes no difference whether this makes any rational sense or not. If we consider the fact that in 2015 the U.N. General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism, and only 3 resolutions on the rest of the world combined," then clearly, the vast majority of nations agree with the four names just mentioned.

Since we are being blamed for causing wars, this is what we must reverse. Our job is to bring unity and peace to the world. We conceived the term, "love your neighbor as yourself," and the world expects us to fulfill it. The world is always examining what we do, so whenever we display disharmony, it serves as a bad example that is reflected in the world. If we quarrel among us, we project this disharmony onto other nations and they, too, begin to fight. But deep within they feel that their fight originated with us, just as they state.
Five years, for any child, feels like a lifetime. For the millions of Syrian children whose lives have been turned upside down by the conflict, these last five years must have felt even longer than that. The conflict in Syria has now raged for half a decade, and in this time the millions of children affected have had to deal with more suffering and heartbreak than most of us will ever experience. The conflict has placed millions of children in terrible danger, and sadly a real end to the turmoil still seems a distant prospect. More than eight million Syrian children are now in urgent need of humanitarian aid in what is the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

Children still inside Syria are living with death and destruction as a part of their everyday lives. Meanwhile, the millions who've managed to escape the conflict are facing their own unique set of dangers, often taking perilous journeys and ending up in conditions you wouldn't wish upon any child.

Just last week I travelled with Unicef UK to Jordan and Lebanon, and met just a handful of these children. Each child I met had their own heart-breaking story of a young life turned upside down, families torn apart, homes and schools destroyed.

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We know that in the midst of this brutal conflict, children are constantly threatened by terrible physical dangers. But they also suffer tremendous psychological effects. Even if they survive war physically unscarred, these invisible wounds are often severely debilitating. Children's childhoods are stolen from them, and they are forced to grow up far too quickly.

I met young Majid, just 12 but the sole breadwinner for his family of nine people. Majid's father did not make it to Jordan with the rest of the family, so as the eldest boy, Majid works each day in backbreaking conditions, digging up and selling gravel in the camp, to help his mother care for his younger siblings.

Majid's story is far from uncommon, across the region, as adult refugees are often unable to work legally, children have to work to provide for their families. For Majid, the work is tough, but his sense of responsibility for his family is resolute.

It's vitally important to protect what small sense of childhood children like Majid have, and that's why Unicef works with partner organisations to run drop-in centres where children who work can come and take part in education sessions, art and sport activities and speak with trained counsellors. Here Majid was free to just be a boy again. Playing volleyball with his friends, his mind was a million miles away from his wheelbarrow and pickaxe.

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Meeting children like Majid showed me just how crucial education, whether in schools or more informal settings, is for children caught up in emergencies, just like water, shelter and medicine; ensuring children have a safe space to learn and play helps them recover from the trauma of war, and the many other hardships they face.

I also met an inspiring young girl called Omaymah, who was forced to flee her home in Syria and now lives in Za'atari refugee camp with her parents and five brothers. Just 13 years old, Omaymah tirelessly campaigns for girl's education, and works with her friends to warn young girls in the camp of the dangers of child marriage.

I was inspired by the courage, hope and optimism of Omaymah, Majid and the other children I met. It is children like these who are Syria's future, and we must do all we can to help them rebuild their lives. Ensuring all Syrian children have access to the education and protection they so rightly deserve is the first step on this journey.

For children in such dangerous and unpredictable environments, the trauma remains long after escaping the warzone. Parents of younger Syrian children have reported symptoms of deep distress including children crying and screaming in their sleep, bedwetting, nightmares, and withdrawal. Education and psychosocial support can play a huge role in helping children deal with their experiences, but not all children have access to these vital services.

Despite their importance, education and protection from physical and psychological violence and harmful practices such as child labour and child marriage are often overlooked and under-funded in the global humanitarian response - leaving children to work through the consequences of crises on their own.

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This needs to change. That's why I'm backing Unicef UK's call for the UK Government to prioritise providing education and protecting children in humanitarian crises, whether in Syria or beyond.

Now is the time to act - in just a few months' time, global leaders will come together at the first ever World Humanitarian Summit to ensure a more effective response to people caught in emergencies.

When a child's world is turned upside down, they need leaders who will step up, and make education and protection of children a priority. Now is the time for the UK to do all it can to keep every child safe. Otherwise we run the risk that a whole generation of Syrian children will be totally lost. These are the children we hope will return to rebuild their country. We cannot let them down.
Over the last weekend those of us of a leftish persuasion could be found celebrating the contribution the Diggers made to British politics at the Wellingborough Diggers Festival. Wellingborough is important in the history of the Diggers, as the True Levellers came to be known, as from the late 1640s until they were rounded up and imprisoned on 15 April 1650 there was a community of Diggers near the East Northamptonshire Town.

Despite the Diggers being radical protestants whose movement is based on the description of the early church described in the book of Acts the festival, in common with the majority of those who are active on the political left, had a secular flavour. In fact the modern left is not only secular but populated by many who are evangelical in their atheism - as someone who is active in both the trade union movement and campaigning for human rights the assumption is all too often made that I must therefore necessarily be atheist. It is harsh however to blame the left when large parts of the Christian church have, in recent times, aligned themselves, consciously or otherwise, with the political right.

Believing in secularism - that Church and the State should be functionally separate - is a sensible proposition that in no way necessitates atheism, or even agnosticism. To accept that religion has been used as a tool of oppression throughout history, whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Islam etc..., and still is today, should not be allowed to be an argument for attacking faith - Christ for example spent his life challenging the organised religion into which he was born and his faith is rarely, if ever, doubted.

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The Diggers movement inhabited a space on the extreme left-wing of politics, believing not just in sharing but in the notion of common ownership. This belief in holding everything in common grew solely from the belief of the founders that their faith necessitated that they live as the apostles and the early believers lived, as described in the passages in Acts which are commonly subtitled 'the model church'. That the book of Acts provides not only a description of the early church but a model that the modern church should aspire to is an uncontentious claim that is often preached on. Acts verse 2, chapters 44-45, on which Gerrard Winstanley based the founding principles of the True Levellers reads: "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need." My father, a Congregational minister, draws the parallel with the Marxist edict that "each gives according to his ability and takes according to his need" and it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than that the apostolic church and the Diggers were living Marx's vision of society.
Fairfax: STR

When a car bomb exploded in Ankara overnight, Australia's Ambassador to Turkey James Larson was metres away, driving his 12-year-old daughter home from a horse riding lesson.

Ambassador Larson was fortunate to come out of the incident without injury, unlike 120 others. More than 30 people also lost their lives in the explosion which the Turkish government is blaming on Kurdish separatists.

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"I was with my young 12-year-old daughter. We were just driving through the centre of Ankara coming back from a horse riding lesson actually," Ambassador Larson said on The 7:30 Report on Monday night.

"To get back home you go through the main centre of Ankara. It's very much like going through Elizabeth Street in Sydney or one of the major thoroughfares in Melbourne.

"We were stationary at some traffic lights and the explosion took place just across the other side of the traffic lights.

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Australia's Ambassador to Turkey James Larson

Appalled by shocking terror attack in Ankara tonight. Deep sympathy & support for Government & people of Turkey. https://t.co/Ke4fbVO28d  James Larsen (@AusAmbTurkey) March 13, 2016

"I said to my daughter 'Make sure you put your head down low in the car on the floor' so she was away from any glass.

Instead of evacuating straight away, the Ambassador immediately went into work mode.

"I moved the car to the side of the roadway and called the office to make sure that we initiated our crisis procedures," Ambassador Larson told Leigh Sales.

"So of course we make sure that all Australian and Turkish staff of the embassy are accounted for and we start the process of contacting hospitals and security services to make sure that we have early notice of any Australians who might be affected."

No Australians have been reported killed or injured by the suicide bomb in Kizilay Square in Turkey's capital on Sunday.

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On Monday morning, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Ambassador was "slightly shaken" by the "deeply worrying" attack.
When you start your Monday with good news and a delicious breakfast, it can lead to a great day. So weve partnered with Jimmy Dean to bring you the top feel-good stories happening across the country, perfect for sharing with family and friends. They remind us that together, we can make the world a better place.

If The Weather Hasnt Quite Warmed Your Heart Yet

Just watch this incredibly adorable video of Meg, an 11-year-old yellow Lab, nuzzling her new BFF -- a baby bunny no bigger than Megs muzzle. David Jackson, Megs human, says the pooch actually saved the little critter from a pair of hungry ravens before helping it back to the safety of its nest.

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If You Prefer Real Books Over The Digital Variety

Know that this library is thriving after a gutsy invite on social media prompted a visit from J.K. Rowling. The Orkney Library in Scotland magically persuaded the renowned author to attend a book club meeting to discuss The Cuckoos Calling, written by Rowling under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith -- over Twitter. How, you ask? With promises of a cake with lemon drizzle!

If You Need A Reason To Smile

Bare your teeth for this dentist, who provides free treatment to survivors of domestic violence. Dr. Tina Meisami, a Toronto-based dentist, founded Project Restoring Smiles in 2011. Since then, she and her growing organization have done more than $200,000 worth of free dental work for 45 patients.

If Youre Sad That You No Longer Fit In Your Parents Lap

Know that youre never too big for a quality cuddle session. Take a cue from these baby elephants, who wont take no for an answer when it comes to finding a comfy spot on your lap -- despite weighing nearly 200 pounds.

If You Need A Good Laugh

Check out this drink companys response to receiving For Her pens on International Womens Day. Staff at U.K. smoothie company Innocent took the hilarious road, posting pictures online featuring the product and snarkily penned signs -- with commentary like, I wrote this all by myself -- to let everyone know exactly where they thought the pens belonged. Which is, of course, in the trash.

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Several Breitbart staffers resigned in disgust over the site's deferential coverage of Donald Trump; the remaining staffers shoved them out the door while shouting "Trump! Trump! Trump!" The White House got a visit from the cast of Hamilton, the musical that allows everyone to pretend they know more about Alexander Hamilton than "he was that Treasury secretary who died in a duel." And a North Carolina sheriff is investigating whether the Trump campaign's conduct "rose to the level of inciting a riot" last weekend, which makes them the actual PC police. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, March 14th, 2016:

BREITBART IMPLODING - Rosie Gray and McKay Coppins: "Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro are resigning from the company over the sites handling of Donald Trumps campaign managers alleged assault on Fields, BuzzFeed News has learned. Fields and Shapiro informed Breitbart News chair Steve Bannon of their decision Sunday night. 'Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation,' Fields said in a statement sent to BuzzFeed News. 'I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways.' In his own statement, Shapiro said the episode was emblematic of how he believes the sites management had sold out the legacy of its founder and namesake, the late Andrew Breitbart. 'Andrews life mission has been betrayed,' Shapiro wrote. 'Indeed, Breitbart News, under the chairmanship of Steve Bannon, has put a stake through the heart of Andrews legacy. In my opinion, Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrews mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump; he has shaped the company into Trumps personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter, Breitbart News Michelle Fields, in order to protect Trumps bully campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly assaulted Michelle.'" [BuzzFeed]

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Two more Breitbart News staffers resigned today.

TRUMP CAUCUS MEMBER SCOTT DESJARLAIS SPEAKS - The Tennessee Republican is one of five lawmakers who've endorsed Trump. On Friday, HuffPost Hill asked their offices for reaction to their endorsee encouraging violence at this rallies. Belatedly, DesJarlais had this to say: "There is no place for violence in the American political process. Period." Thanks, Scott!

A North Carolina sheriff is investigating whether the Trump campaign is guilty of inciting a riot. Here's a recap of the weekend's violence.

CHRIS CHRISTIE TELLS HIS DIGNITY TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP - Igor Bobic: "A starry-eyed Christie, once a serious contender for the presidency, fawned over the GOP front-runner and his candidacy while he basically delivered a standard stump speech. The event was interrupted several times by protesters, resulting in awkward images of the two men sitting silently on stage while security removed the protesters from the audience.'You're talked a lot at recent rallies about how you want to unify this country, and how divided the country is now by this president, and how you want to unify them. And I think people would love to hear about the way you want to do that.' ... 'You've talked a lot about how important education is in your life. As president, you have some idea about that, that you should tell folks about.' 'I know you have serious plans on how to rebuild our military ... they want to hear what kind of commander-in-chief youll be.' ... Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Christie's deputy was tasked with attending the funeral of a New Jersey state trooper who was killed in the line of duty last week." [HuffPost]

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HuffPost illustrated the 2016 horse race using a horse race.

GET WELL, TODD PALIN - Julia Manchester and Polson Kanneth: "Todd Palin, husband to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was seriously injured in a snow machine crash in Alaska on Sunday night and is in intensive care, a source close to the Palin family told CNN Monday. Sarah Palin participated one Trump campaign event in Florida on Monday, but canceled another so she could return to Alaska." [CNN]

AliceOllstein: "Forget about Todd [Palin], especially now!" Trump jokes, one day after Todd's serious snowmobile accident....

DELANEY DOWNER - Contrary to what you may have heard from Paul Ryan and other conservatives, the War on Poverty hasn't failed -- in fact, it's been something of a success. The federal safety net cut the poverty rate in half in 2012, hoisting nearly 40 million out of poverty, compared with 3 million in 1967, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. "Without the Federal safety net programs, millions of American families would not have the resources to meet their basic human needs," HHS' Richard Frank said in a press release. Using research that has been cited in recent years by policy analysts and congressional Democrats, the report represents the federal government's most robust defense of federal antipoverty programs, including Social Security, tax credits and food stamps. When Ryan and others pronounced Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" a failure they usually point to an official measure that ignores the effects of such programs, counting only work income and cash welfare instead. The report released takes a fuller view of the needs people face and the support they receive from various programs. [HHS.gov]

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill

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GOP AWOKE TO SUCH A MONDAY - Lauren French: "Congressional Republicans return to work this week facing two distinct and daunting challenges, one an act of will and another a test of defiance. In the House, GOP leaders are struggling to break a months-long impasse over passing a new budget, a top priority this year for new Speaker Paul Ryan. There's been no significant progress in forging a spending plan that passes conservative muster, even as senior Republicans spent a week-long recess fielding proposals and ideas from lawmakers .Across the Capitol, senators are awaiting President Barack Obama's pick to fill the late Antonin Scalias seat on the Supreme Court. An announcement could come as soon as Monday." [Politico]

For this week's Candidate Confessionals, HuffPost's Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis talked to the guy lost an election to Rob Ford, the infamous former mayor of Toronto.

FLINT HEARINGS THIS WEEK - EPA boss Gina McCArthy will be testifying before the Oversight Committee on Thursday alongside Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and she has penned an aggressive op-ed blaming Michigan for the Flint water crisis. The piece doesn't mention the fact that an EPA manager knew of the problem early last year and the agency downplayed his warnings. There's also a hearing on Tuesday featuring an EPA official and one of Flint's former emergency managers.

HOORAY, IT'S LIKE MAD MEN - Howard Fineman: "Like the late George Wallace, Trump exudes a sneering hatred for political establishments and blames the ills of the county on those whose race, faith or origin makes them somehow 'un-American.' . Trump has far more clout and money in a system that's more fragmented and easier to penetrate. Far from being a fringe character -- which is what, in the end, Wallace was -- Trump is the party front-runner....In 1968, the Vietnam War spawned a protest candidate, Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, who played a role remarkably similar to that of Sen. Bernie Sanders this year. The Hillary Clinton role in 1968 was played by Hubert Humphrey, the beleaguered vice president of the by-then-wildly unpopular President Lyndon B. Johnson. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is trying to play the role of unifier and peacemaker in the GOP, is almost chillingly reminiscent of the man who did that in 1968, Richard Nixon: beloved by no one, especially by colleagues in the U.S. Senate; a master of crude accusation clothed in legalistic rhetoric; as ruthless as he is sanctimonious." [HuffPost]

Bloomberg's Sasha Issenberg explains how the Republican establishment could steal the nomination from Trump.

PUTIN: MILITARY MISSION IN SYRIA COMPLETED 'OVER ALL' - Andrew Higgins: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday ordered the withdrawal of the 'main part' of Russian forces in Syria, a surprise move that he said was justified by the 'overall completion' of Moscows military mission in the war-ravaged country. ... 'I believe, that the tasks put before the defense ministry have been completed over all,' Mr. Putin told Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov at a meeting in the Kremlin on Monday evening. ... Mr. Putins announcement appeared to catch the United States and other Western countries by surprise. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said he had not seen reports of Russias possible withdrawal from Syria, but the Obama administration has frequently expressed frustration with Russias continued military support for Mr. Assad, whom the Americans have long insisted should step down. 'Obviously, we have talked about how Russias continued military intervention to prop up the Assad regime made the efforts to make a political transition increasingly more difficult,' Mr. Earnest said." [NYT]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Please enjoy this gif of Bernie Sanders scaring Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP LIES, HEALTH CARE EDITION - Jonathan Cohn: "Donald Trump likes to say he's different from other Republicans -- that he wouldn't let people die in the streets because they don't have health care. Trump is lying. And a new report shows it. The report, which the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released on Monday, is the first formal effort to assess the impact of Trump's ideas for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. That impact, according to the Center's analysis, would be devastating. The number of people without health insurance would rise by something like 21 million people if Trump had his way. That would mean more financial hardship, less access to health care, and -- according to a large, if occasionally contested, body of research -- higher mortality. Trump's plan could also increase the deficit by somewhere between $270 billion and $490 billion over 10 years -- depending in part on how the repeal affected the rest of the economy." [HuffPost]

SIREN - The cast of Hamilton visited Treasury and the White House today and it looked delightful. [Vulture]

POLITICO SUPER MEAN TO TOM PEREZ, POTENTIAL VP PICK - Edward-Isaac Dovere: "Aside from the wonkiest of Washington circles and the most progressive corners of the left, no ones heard of Tom Perez. He isnt young or handsome. He has zero foreign policy experience. The highest office hes been elected to is a suburban county council. Yet the labor secretary has emerged as a sleeper pick for vice president ... The idea of Perez making the leap to vice president is, on the face of it, inconceivable: Aside from his limited experience in elected office, its not as though Clinton would need him to win Maryland or the couldnt-be-more-liberal D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, where he lives. Except that Perez has more credibility with committed progressives -- who measure politicians by their battle scars -- than almost anyone else around. ... Also, hes Dominican. And unlike Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, the other Latino Cabinet secretary and more frequent subject of VP speculation (to whom nearly every conversation about Perez becomes at least an implicit comparison), Perez speaks fluent Spanish." [Politico]

DISCOMFORT FOOD

- Richard Simmons insists nobody's holding him hostage but it's not very convincing.

- Somebody literally peed into your Rice Krispies Treats.

- Every office building in Washington is infested by mice.

TWITTERAMA

@petridishes: I like to think I'm surviving the election with sanity intact but today I stopped 3 separate conversations to show people Ted Cruz fanart so

@aedwardslevy: THINGS FALL A-BART

@meganamram: If you think setting your clock back 1 hour is a hassle, think of how much it will suck when Trump wins & you have to set it back 100 years

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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian-Canadian cooperation in mining is not a new phenomenon but the volume is far from being satisfactory considering Armenias capacities in mining industry on the one hand, and Canadas experience and interest on the other. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the Republic of Armenia John Ronald Kur told about this during Armenian-Canadian business forum. Mining sector of Canada is among world leaders: Its newest experience in terms of technologies is used in industrial companies. Many investors in Canada take a significant part of international markets and Canada is one of the largest investors in mining industry worldwide. We have also successful investment examples in Armenia and it is necessary to deepen this cooperation in the future, the Ambassador said.

He mentioned that Canada and Armenia try to expand bilateral relations in political, economic and cultural spheres. Currently there is great interest to deepen trade and investment relations between the two countries, the Ambassador said.

Armenian-Canadian business forum is organized by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Canadian Embassy in Armenia. The forum aims to reveal the prospects of cooperation in mining between the two countries.
Why tomorrow's primary is the last stand for the Republican establishment and Bernie Sanders to have a shot at winning the nomination. And as Kasich and Rubio's fates diverge, a look at "the end of Marco-mentum." [NYT]



Reporter Michelle Fields said she does not believe her organization has stood by her amid reports that Trump's campaign manager roughly grabbed her while she was covering a rally. [Buzzfeed]

"French investigators have recommended tougher medical checks for pilots after uncovering fresh evidence of unreported concerns over the mental state of a German pilot who crashed his jet into the Alps last year, killing all 150 people on board." [Reuters]

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Amid one of the worst recessions the country has seen in years. [Reuters]

"U.S. President Barack Obama will come to London in April and urge British voters to back continued membership of the European Union, The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported." [Reuters]

If poaching trends continue. [Dominique Mosbergen, HuffPost]

From violence to racial anxiety, why 2016 has us down. [Howard Fineman, Jason Linkins and Lauren Weber]

WHATS BREWING

"Bostons Chinatown has been a safe haven for Chinese immigrants for generations, but its being uprooted by urban development." [Buzzfeed]

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Inside the lack of diversity decimating the industry. [WSJ | Paywall]

The world is trying to figure it out. [NY Daily News]

Behold the glory. [Vice]

Drumroll please  hot water. [LA Times]

For more from The Huffington Post, download our app for iOS or Android.

WHAT'S WORKING

"How the [San Francisco Public Utilities Commission] is enabling onsite water reuse systems, drilling new groundwater wells and achieving some of the state's lowest per capita water use." [HuffPost]

For more, sign up for the What's Working newsletter.

BEFORE YOU GO

~ ISIS is using birth control to maintain sex slaves.

~ CDC confirms Lassa fever diagnosis at Emory.

~ Donald Trump disavowed violence at his campaign events over the weekend.

~ Ryan Lizza's look at the future of the Democratic Party.

~ Two hellfire missiles found on U.S.-bound flight.

~ Donald Trump likes to sue people. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at his "long trail of litigation."

~ Aaron Carter talked his love for Donald Trump (and what in the world he's up to these days).

~ A thought experiment in what happens if you talk to yourself like you talk to other people.

~ 9 foods you shouldnt put in the freezer.

~ And happy Pi Day!
If the luck of the Irish bares any truth than a compelling new film may just become one of the best independent documentaries of the year. With only 5 years of formal education, a County Mayo, Ireland native has accomplished a rare feat by landing a world-wide distribution deal for his documentary, Redneck + Culchies. As an Irish immigrant living in the Midwestern city that has dominated world news headlines since the killing of unarmed teenager Mike Brown, Anthony Monaghan's perspective of the city of St. Louis comes from a unique angle that is rarely seen. Monaghan connects experiences of his own life as an immigrant with that of his employees and friends who reveal the common thread that they all share as working class individuals living in a city harshly divided by class and dis-proportionally impacted by violence.

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In Rednecks + Culchies, the budding director who owns a thriving construction company gives an intimate glimpse of the other side of St. Louis through the lives of his workers and the stories that deeply connects them to his mission to end poverty by providing opportunities. Despite the fact that Monaghan had worked construction jobs around the world, never before had he encountered anything like the harsh disparities in the lives of American construction workers. Rednecks + Culchies delves inside the hidden world of Monaghan's workers who are brilliantly skilled craftsmen, but suffer from poor work habits, drug dependency, alcohol addictions and past criminal behavior. Astonished by the rough lifestyles of his workers, Tony was motivated to share their stories and awaken society to issues they prefer to ignore. Heartbreaking yet inspiring, Rednecks + Culchies goes beyond the surface of St. Louis' social issues to uncover the root of most American cities' problems.

"St. Louis is a great city but unfortunately it's gotten a bad name because it has a lot of issues that people are afraid to deal with," begins Monaghan. "They're not ready or they feel uncomfortable but that only prolongs the solution. It doesn't matter what part of the city or suburb you live in or which neighborhood you come from. One person's struggle is everyone's problem because in one way or another as a community our lives intersect," says Monaghan. Monaghan himself is very familiar with struggle but says the European struggle is much less harsh than the disparity he has witnessed in America, specifically in St. Louis, Missouri. Secondly, the side effects of class-ism, inequality and its financial impact on those who are bi-products of these factors is something Monaghan personally experienced himself when he was a young Irish immigrant in Britain. Like a large segment of the Irish population, Monaghan faced overt discrimination on a regular basis. Monaghan says that he would get kicked out of restaurants and bars just because of his ethnicity. "The minute someone hears your accent they want you out of their establishment. We're treated as second class citizens in Britain. More importantly, a lot of times you won't get hired for a job just because you are Irish. To me these type of situations where people can't advance because of a lack of fairness and inequality is the real issue in most cities like London and St. Louis," explained Monaghan.

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The film displays how many people are bruised by the socio-economic wounds that cripple hope and that in itself is deeper than Black and White. There are a lot of gray areas. On the surface level, the political and social structure creates divisive rhetoric to divide people by race, ethnicity and background but Monaghan's film shows that the internal root of the problem is stimulated by social inequality and lack of access for the impoverished and working class who are just trying to make a living to feed their family. Race and Xenophobia are all very real but too often they are utilized by the political power structure as a self-serving purpose to distract people from the real issue of economic hardship experienced by the working class and poor. "If you're aren't born into wealth and the middle class, you're already essentially disadvantaged because you won't have as great of access to a good education and you will be distracted by the ills of living in a stressful environment plagued by violence, drugs and apathy. In Rednecks + Culchies, Tony is often baffled by the damaging habits of his workers, yet he sees compassion, friendship and a sense of humor in them and continues to offer them opportunities saying "After all, we're all human." From confessions of past crack and meth addiction to prison time, Rednecks + Culchies, forces us see that the pathological and dysfunctional behavior of some of the workers stem from something much greater than mere irresponsibility or laziness but rather the side effects and psychological impact of living a life without hope. This is better explained as nihilism by Dr. Cornel West who defines the ordeal as "The livid experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaningless. The frightening result of this is a numbing detachment from others and a self destructive disposition towards the world."

"I've learned a lot from my workers. There are people who feel like they can't advance and at times have lost their purpose and meaning because they are forgotten about in society and disposed of by politicians with no accountability. Look at St. Louis' city school system. They say there's no money to properly sustain the schools and teachers but we were going to raise funds for a 300 million dollar stadium. We're also home to one of the richest higher education institutions, Washington University. We should be investing back into the community," says Monaghan. The stark contrast of rich and poor in such a small circumference is so great that it seems to disheartens those who don't have. "There are a lot of youth who are so traumatized by hopelessness and the conditions that they live in that they give up on life resorting to crime. They don't care if they live or die or if the next person does either, " said Monaghan. Monaghan's daughter who appears in the documentary experienced how this type of numbing detachment seeps into reality when she was recently held at gunpoint after getting off of work. "Its really painful that this happened to her. I've been talking about these issues for years and the documentary was done way before this but this now makes me want to push harder and close the gaps of poverty, maybe that could even help resolve the violence problem in St. Louis."

On March 24th at 7p.m, Anthony Monaghan is hosting a "Rage against Poverty" screening and event presentation of his documentary at the Tivoli Theatre with all proceeds benefiting S.H.E.R.A.H, a St. Louis organization providing housing, support and resources to low-income women. S.H.E.R.A.H also receives 20% of the sales of Rednecks + Culchies. Rednecks + Culchies is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be officially released on April 19.
Marco Rubio is unqualified to be president of the United States.

Consider: the U.S. Defense Department states that climate change is a "threat multiplier." Marco claims to be concerned about "jobs": his number one priority. The threat multiplication to jobs from climate change is infinite.

"We are in a kind of climate emergency now," Stefan Rahmstorf, from Germany's Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research and a visiting professorial fellow at the University of New South Wales, told Fairfax Media. "This is really quite stunning ... it's completely unprecedented," he said.

That doesn't trouble Marco Rubio. Rubio, during his term as U.S. Senator, has refused to meet with climate change scientists despite numerous appeals. His failure to acknowledge climate change threatens every job in Florida, a state most vulnerable in the nation to sea level rise, is an indication of trouble. A threat builds up over time. Rationale people address threats before threats turn into irresolvable crises. Not in the future. Now.

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Marco Rubio says, he will "mitigate" our way around climate change, but the corruption in this logic -- "trust me to figure out how to deal with substantive issues in the future" -- is exposed by his dismal history related to another policy area: the destruction of water resources in Florida.

Consider Big Sugar, Marco Rubio's principal source of money for his stalled campaign. Rubio defends the corporate welfare embedded in the Farm Bill, benefiting his campaign supporters, as a matter of "national security". That is preposterous. Climate change is a matter of national security. Not a subsidy for sugar -- that Rubio mislabels in speeches as a "food".

The billionaire Fanjuls (Flo Sun/ Florida Crystals) and descendants of the Mott fortune (US Sugar Corporation) are his political security, not national security. Excess sugar is a poison. It poisons people -- through annual trillion dollar health care costs -- poisons democracy -- through the deformation of equitable campaign finance -- and poisons the Everglades. And not just the Everglades: nearly every waterway in Florida has been crushed by the failure of regulation to protect people, property, and natural resources.

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Merryl Tisch is retiring as Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents after trying to force Common Core, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluations based on student test scores down the throats of the people of New York. Her efforts produced a backlash from parents and teachers including a massive opt-out campaign that helped her decide to quit. Last April, about twenty percent of the eligible students in grades third- through eighth refused to take mandated reading and math tests.

Tisch seems to have learned little from this experience. In an interview with the New York Times she argued the backlash was because she tried to do too much too fast and was "ambitious for every child." We can only hope a newly realigned Board of Regents is more responsible to parents and teachers and policies that just make sense.

Two of Tisch's main allies on the Regents, vice chancellor Anthony Bottar from upstate New York, and Manhattan representative Charles Bendit, also resigned. Last week the State Assembly elected three new Regents, including Luis O. Reyes, who was endorsed by the opt-out group NYS Allies for Public Education. The new board is also expected to elect Betty Rosa, a former school superintendent in the Bronx, as chancellor. Rosa opposes the emphasis on standardized testing and wants student test scores permanently dropped from teacher evaluations.

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Betty Rosa, who has participating in a series of education forums across the state, is also unhappy with the impact of new teacher certification exams introduced under Tisch and administered by Pearson Education, a company that has drawn a lot of flack for its tests. New York does not pay Pearson to develop and administer the teacher certification exams. Pearson's profits are all from student exam fees, which means Pearson makes its money when students fail. New York State has already been cited twice by a federal court for racial bias in its teacher certification requirements because of the "unlawful disparate impact" of its teacher certification exams.

New York State United University Professions, the union that represents faculty at the State University of New York, has been trying to understand the reasoning behind these exams. They submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to the State Education Department so they could evaluate the state's teaching certification exam contract with Pearson.

On March 17, 2016 there will be a town hall meeting on teacher certification held at Adelphi University on Long Island. Members of the Regents Higher Education Sub-Committee, Regent Kathleen Cashin, Regent Roger Tilles, and Deputy Commissioner John D'Agati are expected to attend. Among other issues to be discussed are new state regulations that students applying for teacher education master degree programs must have undergraduate grade point averages of 3.0 and take the Graduate Record Exam or a similar test.

In the past, Regents argued that their actions are restricted by New York State law. Last April Governor Cuomo snuck the new requirements into the state budget without discussion or input from professional educators. No one demonstrated that a 3.1 GPA makes you a better teacher than someone with a 2.9 GPA or how the tests align with performance as a teacher. The Cuomo guidelines threaten to keep minority group members who attended poorly performing high schools and needed additional time to adjust to college out of the teaching profession.

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The newly aligned Board of Regents does have options. They can lobby to change the law before it goes into affect in July. They can go to the federal court judge who invalidated previous Pearson tests and request an immediate injunction against the new law on the grounds that it will have a discriminatory impact on minority group candidates. They can also refuse to implement the requirements until the suspect legislative mandate is reviewed by the courts.
Was Mahishasur actually a benevolent king who was slaughtered by a "temptress" Durga sent by the Aryans simply because he was dark and an aboriginal, a Shudra? This is the "alternative" view propagated by "progressive" leftist intellectuals, scholars and recently, by the JNU students. This is the Dalit, the lower caste version, they say, although I don't know how many Dalits are fine with the idea of Durga being a temptress rather than a divinity to be worshipped.

Even if you don't subscribe to this version of the Durga-Mahishasur episode in Indian mythology, the "progressives" say that we should be tolerant towards this view because this is just another view. Theoretically I am in total agreement. The problem arises when religions are not treated equally. Finding alternative versions of Hindu mythology is being progressive and tolerant, but finding alternative versions of Muslim historical characters is being insensitive and being Islamophobic. But that's another topic.

History and mythology, they say, is all about interpretation. Just as your interpretation makes Durga the divine mother who slaughters a demon called Mahishasur, there is another version that says that Mahishasur was the chief of an indigenous buffalo-rearing tribe. When the invading Aryans couldn't defeat him, they sent Durga as a temptress. She lured him and then slaughtered him.

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This narrative tries to kill 2 birds with one stone: one, they try to prove that the now-discredited Aryan Invasion theory had some credibility, and two, they can strike at the Hindu community by reducing a revered deity into a mortal temptress who killed a valiant king with deceit.

Another narrative that makes the rounds is that the demons, the asuras, were actually tribal people in India, people of the lower caste who looked dark, a bit shorter, with curly hair. They are the ones who are depicted as demons, rakshasas and asuras. In Indian mythology, everything bad is represented by these physical attributes. On a side note, this isn't true just for Indian mythology. Villains in every folklore and even popular cinema look formidable, scary and not-pretty-looking.

Aryans, Kshatriyas and Brahmins on the other hand are shown to be noble, fairer, taller and even handsomer.

Religion is a strong sentiment. Want to insult someone, want to hurt someone, want to show someone lesser than the other? Attack his or her religion. Point of the negative sides of cultural and traditional norms even if these cultural and traditional norms are harmless, just to make people unsure of their identity, just to make them doubt their own beliefs.

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Shudras and the people of lower castes, our Western scholars and Western-scholars-influenced scholars and intellectuals constantly say, were treated very badly. They were not even allowed to get educated.

If they were never allowed to get educated, how was Valmiki, a Bheel by caste, was not only able to learn Sanskrit, but also write one of the greatest epics in the world?Somewhere in Mahabharata the eldest Pandava brother Yudhishthira comments

The marks of a shudra are found in a Brahmin; but a shudra is not necessarily a shudra, not a Brahmin a Brahmin. In whomever a Brahmin's marks are found, he is known as a Brahmin and in whomever they are not found, him we designate as shudra.

Quoted from Rajiv Malhotra's Battle for Sanskrit.

This is a recurring thought appearing in various ancient Hindu texts, that a person's social attribute keeps changing according to his or her conduct. The one who follows the path of dharma is good and the one who follows the path of adharma is bad.

This trait -- what Yudhishthira says above -- is manifest in the biggest villain of the Ramayana, Ravana. He was a Brahmin. He had knowledge equal to 10 Brahmins. But his conduct was villainous, so despite being a Brahmin he turned out to be an asura. Contrary to the secular and Dalit beliefs (I'm using "Dalit beliefs" as a broad terms and I don't mean all Dalits subscribe to such views) that he was of a low caste hence he came to be known as an asura, he was a learned man blessed by Lord Shiva. He built a great empire, but people became so materialistic and arrogant that although they had knowledge and wealth in Lanka, they did not have wisdom.

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In fact, whenever there's a battle between righteous humans and asuras it's because asuras are attacking innocent people, killing them, destroying their villages, and being villainous in general. You never come across an instance where asuras are attacked simply for existing.

Had Dalits and low castes been considered asuras and worthy of being slaughtered just for existing, the Ramayana would have been full of such episodes. If it was totally fine to harass the low castes, why turn them into demons and asuras and then bitch about them? Why not just bitch about them for being low castes? Why not say, "Oh, this is a Shudra village and it's our Aryan duty to plunder this village." In Islam, it's religious duty to convert, and if not convert, then plunder, kill, enslave and rape the non-Muslims, the infidels. What stopped Hindus to kill and plunder shudras and low castes as a religious duty? Why first convert them into horripilant rakshasas and demons?

Even vis-a-vis the battle with Ravana, it was Ravana who first abducted Sita. If you say Ravana abducted Sita to avenge disfigurement of his sister Shrupnakha, Shrupnakha was disfigured because she wanted to harm Sita because she thought because of Sita Ram couldn't be enamored by her beauty.

Another noticeable thing is Hanuman. Despite being a monkey, he was accepted as a divine god. After Ram, Hanuman is the most divine character in the epic. If Hindus back then were so stuck up about caste and stature, why would they accept a monkey as Ram's most trusted comrade? And not just Hanuman, Ram's army also had Jamvad, a bear, as a trusted commander.

If Valmiki was hell-bent on bringing in all sorts of animals (Jatayun was a condor) why couldn't he conjure up characters that were lions, elephants, panthers and tigers -- India had plenty of them. It shows what family you were born in and what were your intellectual or physical traits, weren't all that important.

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A dhobi -- very low caste -- cast aspersions on Sita and Ram abandoned Sita. He could have easily incarcerated the dhobi instead of abandoning Sita, but he didn't, which shows even a dhobi had the ability to wreck havoc in the life of as powerful person as Ram. You may disagree with Ram's act of abandoning his beloved wife, but that's a personal trait and it has got nothing to do with the way women were treated in the society.

Before dying Ravana blesses Ram. Why would Ram, a relentless, shudra-slaying Aryan, would allow an Ravana, an asur to bless him?

Similarly, Krishna was raised by a cow-rearing family. He was a Yadav, a non-Aryan. Still, he was considered divine by Aryans and Kshatriyas even at that time. If caste lines were drawn so strongly, no matter how divine and prodigious, Krishna would have never been accepted as someone of a high stature. Both Pandavas and Kauravas respected him. It's not a Brahmin or a Kshatriya that reveals the universal wisdom through Gita, it's a Yadav.

Even if he was by birth not a Yadav, recall that he was Kansa's nephew, and Kansa is more vicious an asura than even Ravana. So if it was birth-related, wouldn't that make even Krishna an asura?
The U.S. Elections matter to Europe, as to the rest of the world. European leaders however should stop commenting about the presidential candidates. Let there be no doubt: I have very strong views on the election campaign, on some of the candidates. But Europeans need to be careful with comments and the desire to see their mirror image reflected in the future president. It could backfire, even hurt the candidate of their dreams. Europe, like it or not, will have to accept the president American democracy produces and will have to get along with her or him, no matter what. There is lesson from the past. Europeans have burnt themselves dreaming of a "European" President, and soon ended up being disappointed.

Instead, Europeans should do everything they can to get ready to reinvent the relationship, come November. They need to understand: the more Europe will do for its own security and defense, its own stability and progress, the more inclined America's next leader will be to stay seriously engaged with us. Europeans must make it easier for the next President to make the case for a stronger and deeper Transatlantic relationship, to not just a skeptical Congress, but also an increasingly distanced American public. Both are asking the question; why should they care for Europe when America gets so much criticism, when Europeans think they have the moral high-ground. A sophisticated and high-brow response, which smacks of moralizing, will not do. Anti-Americanism is a feel-good thing for many Europeans on the left and the right, but it is also very damaging and at times simply ignorant. It is a dangerous replacement for honest self-reflection, for a serious new take on the relationship. In many ways it reflects their insecurity.

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To most U.S. politicians or to average American voters Europe these days does not come across as the effective moral giant which can solve problems. Those (shrinking in numbers by the day) who care a damn about Europe at all, are worried. Their questions are reduced to but a few: is Brexit (British exit from the EU) for real? Is the Euro collapsing? Is it cracking under the pressure of the refugee/migrant crisis? They are puzzled by weak European reaction to an increasingly aggressive Russia, to the crisis in the wake of the Arab spring, the disaster in Syria, to backsliding of democracy in Poland and Hungary. They worry about the future of Europe.

They are our friends, and they are scared of the danger of Europe slowly sliding into irrelevance, understanding the cost to America. If this happens, pretty much the European elites, their complacency is to blame. Great PhDs will be written about the reasons and the exact moment this process became irreversible. It will be very sad reading. Because we will conclude that it could have been prevented.

But wait, we are not there yet.

Better scared than dead. While there is reason to think that we can slide into our demise slowly and by stealth, we can still reverse the process. It will take a lot of rethinking and humility. It will take serious new ideas in politics,social innovation and economics. It will require a new commitment to the Union, which was so promising in peacetime, beyond everything, but seems to be failing in war. It will require tough decisions on defense. For all this, a renewed transatlantic relationship is crucial.

However, above all, it will require serious leadership.

In waiting for the American people to take their decision in November, Europe needs to prepare to do its part to revitalize the relationship. It is not just about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership aka TTIP. Or just about the 2% defense spending demanded by the U.S from NATO allies. (Although Europeans better take this demand seriously). It is about redefining it altogether , all its pillars and establish new ways and if necessary new institutions moving it into the 21st century. It is about jointly reinventing democracy. It is about joining forces with America to fight the challenges to our way of life, on all fronts: political, economic, social, environmental, technological, to energy-independence and security. It is about regaining the initiative globally to show the way for others to live in acceptance and equality. You name it. It is about holding hands in a big way.

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The rise of Trump and Sanders is a reflection of wide disappointment with the elites of America. They are both symptoms, signs on the wall, which can come to haunt us all if not taken seriously. But then history tells us,whatever happens in America will sooner or later happen in Europe as well. Aren't Europeans already greatly disappointed with their own elites.As we saw at the German elections over the weekend, their German counterparts have entered the stage already.

In the run-up to the U.S. elections, even if it is absorbed by major crises, Europe will have to be more outspoken and clear about seeing the transatlantic relationship as the most important of all its relationships. Europe must see America as its next of kin, be clear about this being of existential importance.
In the 1960's, mass-murderer Charles Manson believed that The Beatles were speaking to him through their song "Helter Skelter," whose message he interpreted as a warning of an impending race war.

In the 1970's, Travis Bickle, the fictional character in director Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," attempted to assassinate a politician in a psychotic, delusional haze motivated by political disenchantment and racism.

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Also in the 70's, New York City serial killer David Berkowitz, the infamous Son of Sam, claimed that a demon in the form of his neighbor's dog ordered him to kill innocent people.

Given the current, unprecedentedly volatile political landscape, it would be incredibly naive and irresponsible to believe that there's not one psycho out there right now who, in similar fashion to Manson, Bickle and Berkowitz, believes Donald Trump is speaking directly to him. That Trump's mantra to "make America great again," coupled with his incendiary, race-baiting rhetoric, is a direct call to take up arms, fight Trump's war, and be a 'hero.' Just one. That's all it will take to cause a horrific, bloody tragedy.

To be sure, there's a palpable level of toxicity and hatred that permeates Trump's events. And it's the direct result of the candidate himself. Of one protester in Las Vegas, he boasted that "I'd like to punch him right in the face." Of other protesters in Iowa, he urged the crowd to "Knock the crap out of them." He's also defended some of his "fans" for punching and kicking a #BlackLivesMatter protester saying, "Maybe he should have been roughed up."

As CNN's Michael Smerconish said Saturday, "Donald Trump has shouted 'fire' in a political theater."

At Trump's North Carolina rally last week one angry old white dude sucker-punched a black protester in the face as he was being removed by security. Afterwards, he chillingly threatened that"Next time we see him, we might have to kill him." Can someone, anyone, tell me how this sort of hate-speak is making America great?

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There was more violence Friday at a Trump rally in St. Louis, and later that night his massive rally in Chicago was cancelled after violence erupted in the arena.

And over the weekend a protester charged the stage at Trump's rally in Ohio and was taken down by Secret Service before he reached Trump, who looked terrified as three agents bear-hugged him to prevent an attack.

So what happens next? Will Trump himself become more of a target? Will he ultimately get the message that he's the one inciting the violence and start to bring down the temperature in the room? Or will he continue to ratchet up the toxic rhetoric until it leads to an awful tragedy? Unfortunately, it appears Trump, in some very twisted way, is getting off on it all.

"Honestly can I be honest with you?" he said after the cancelled Chicago rally. "It adds to the flavor, it really does, makes it more exciting."
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Arvest Bank Theater in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday, March 12, 2016. (Jill Toyoshiba/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images)

A GENIUS FOR GETTING ATTENTION

Donald Trump has been called a "buffoon." That's a mistake. "Buffoon" implies foolish, stupid. But Donald Trump possesses a kind of genius: He's a genius at getting attention for himself.

One might say that the quest for attention - more than "making deals" -- has been the driving force in Trump's life. And for decades, he has succeeded in getting considerable public attention. But it is only in recent months that he's demonstrated how extraordinary is his ability to seize - and hold - the spotlight.

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America can hardly talk about anyone or anything else.

By entering the political arena, he's had to compete with other accomplished attention-getters. But Trump has commanded more attention, probably, than all the others combined.

For that matter, has anyone in American history been more the center of attention than Donald Trump has been since his campaign announcement last summer? During these months, Trump has been putting on a show for America and America just can't get enough of this Trump show.

(Trump succeeds in putting us who are appalled by him, who regard him as dangerous, in a bind. We feel obliged to talk about the threat that he poses. But in so doing, we also play into his hands.)

ENACTING DOMINANCE

Trump's quest for attention has a particular flavor. Not only is there an "It's all about me" narcissistic element, common to most attention-seekers. But what Trump wants everyone to see in him is his sheer power and greatness.

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Trump is the man who puts his name on everything within his reach. He uses his name to create monuments to himself. This huge building - the Trump Tower - is me. These great airplanes, with "Trump" in big letters on their sides, are me.

In his posture of bigger-than-human, Trump has something in common with the likes of Ferdinand Marcos, the former dictator of the Philippines, who had an enormous stone mountain carved into an image of his own head, and with Saddam Hussein, whose much bigger-than-life statue stood as a commanding presence in Baghdad.

Trump has always looked for ways of getting millions of people watching him play a role of domination. The whole structure of his reality show, "The Apprentice," was geared toward the climactic moment when Trump would tell some poor soul, "You're fired."

Not just dominating, but using dominance to cut "losers" down.

ATTACKING THE "OTHER"

The essence of "drama," it has long been said, is "conflict." And nothing seizes attention more dramatically than a fight.

It was with a statement tantamount to a declaration of war against undocumented immigrants that Trump captured national attention at the very beginning of his campaign, labeling the Mexicans among us as criminals and rapists.

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Since then, he has gone on to make repeated headlines by virtually equating the entire Muslim world - of well over a billion people -- with our terrorist foes. They all hate us, he says, so we should exclude them, as enemies, from joining "Us" here in America.

And now the pattern of the fight is being brought into the arenas where Trump speaks to his followers, inciting violence against protesters in their midst.

It is perhaps the main national story of the moment and, of course, Donald Trump is making sure that he is at the center of it. He is not content to let the security people handle the eviction of the disruptive. He seizes center stage of the drama with his snarling repeatedly from the podium, "Get 'em outa here!"

It serves Trump's theater to focus on the protesters, because a fight requires an opponent, an "other," and the protesters provide a hated other right at hand--not crossing some far-away border, not on the other side of the earth, but intermingled with the faithful who look to their strong man, Trump, as a hero.

The media have documented well the ways Trump incites his supporters toward violence against the protesters. They "deserve" getting roughed up. We should do away with the "political correctness" that has inhibited good people like us from giving such enemies the rough treatment they have coming to them. "I'd like to punch him in the face."

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Another way that Trump has lately worked to open the path to violent abuse of the protesters is by explicitly labeling them as bad people. "These are not good people," he has been saying. For the many people who believe that treating "bad people" badly is right, this is an invitation to violence.

Even as we see the endless replay of videos of Trump supporters punching and shoving protesters, the focus of our attention remains our American Mussolini--Donald Trump.

REINFORCING THE PATTERN THAT'S ALREADY THERE

In these rallies, a lesson is being taught--a lesson about how to deal with people on "the other side."

Trump has scorned Bernie Sanders for once yielding his microphone to Black Lives Matter protesters, calling Sanders' willingness to yield "disgusting," a "disgrace." Sanders' attempt to make peace with his dissenters Trump disdained as "weak."

Trump claims to be a "unifier," but he is teaching his followers that those who are outside the in-group are enemies with whom no dialogue, no give-and-take, no meeting of minds should be sought.

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He is rising to power with this recipe of conflict and scorn because he is enacting an emotional pattern already present in a large portion of the Republican base.

But that pattern, in turn, has been instilled in the base by years of right-wing rhetoric and Republican political conduct. This is a party that has systematically practiced politics as a form of war for a generation.

So Trump is both exploiting this pattern and reinforcing it. What's new with Trump's way of enacting this Republican drama of strife is that - with his flagrant language, and his incitement to violence -- he's stripped it of the usual sheep's clothing of normal-sounding political speech.

He is thus uncovering the essence of what has been building on the right for a generation. And we can't take our eyes off it.

If we are going to give Trump theater such rapt attention, it behooves us to see clearly what it signifies. Trump is the actor, but the drama being played out is much bigger than this one man.
Last week in your social media feed, along with photos of Justin Trudeau hugging pandas (and Barack Obama), you may have come across a naked selfie of Kim Kardashian.

Last Monday, the woman best known for her reality show and beautiful butt, posted a photo to Instagram of her hourglass figure strategically covered by black bars. The Internet quickly broke into flames.

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Bette Midler was first to stoke the fire. On Twitter, she wrote: "If Kim wants us to see a part of her we've never seen, she's gonna have to swallow the camera." Millennial celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato came to Kardashian's defence -- her body, her choice.

It's just the latest example of the clash between second and third-wave feminists.

Last month, Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright said real feminists should vote for a woman president, to which millennials responded that real feminists vote based on politics, not body parts. And don't forget that time Sinead O'Connor penned an open letter to Miley Cyrus about nudity, in which she accused the 23-year-old pop star of "behaving like a prostitute and calling it feminism."

Feminists panic like these intergenerational feuds are a PR situation they need to contain. "We are supposed to be fighting the patriarchy, not each other," we say, but that logic is outdated. It's precisely these debates between generations that prove the feminist movement is still moving forward.

Second wavers predominantly represented the voice of married, white women. That doesn't diminish their advocacy for reproductive rights, equal pay and for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. But that movement didn't trumpet the struggles of women from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and sexual orientations.

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Though feminism still faces an uphill battle, it's a sign of success that the third wave has to confront its own white and middle-class privilege and figure out how to course-correct.

Some of the most important moments in modern feminism have been the result of tensions between feminists. The 47-year-old actress Patricia Arquette pissed off many women when she said backstage at the Oscars last year that it's time for "gay people and all the people of color that we've all fought for" to fight for wage equality. Her comment sparked a useful discussion about how second-wave feminism ignores that queer and ethnic women are part of the movement.

When Nicki Minaj, after being snubbed for an MTV Video of the Year award nomination, tweeted that only videos celebrating "slim bodies" are rewarded, Taylor Swift replied, "It's unlike you to pit women against each other." (She, of course, was nominated.) The feud highlighted discrimination in awards shows and underscored that a win for a white, cisgender woman is not necessarily a win for women of color who deal with racism in addition to sexism.

As feminism becomes more inclusive towards queer and transgender women, second and third wavers are having important debates about progressive female identity. When Caitlyn Jenner posed in Vanity Fair last summer wearing a tight satin bodice and a full face of makeup, a 68-year-old woman wrote a New York Times opinion piece about how Jenner reinforced stereotypes of female beauty and thus rolled back hard-won rights.

The author was criticized by many younger feminists as "transphobic" and inflexible, but as more trans women go public, it's important to talk about how to integrate them into a movement that abhors male privilege. The second-wave feminist perspective is often worth considering.

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The feud between Midler and Kardashian, though full of low-blows, raises valid points about the complexities of third-wave sexual empowerment from those who lived through the anti-pornography movement. While women should never "slut-shame" other women, third-wavers should acknowledge the limitations of pro-sex feminism when sexual harassment, assault, sex trafficking and degrading advertisements are still rampant. We should also ask questions older feminists did not, such as why Serena Williams' body is shamed while Maria Sharapova's is celebrated and why a white woman's assault matters more than an Aboriginal woman's murder.

These discussions show that feminists, rather than being part of the same man-hating, Birkenstock-wearing blob, contain multitudes. The "feuds" between different generations of feminists helps the movement grow. The more mother-daughter debates, the better.
Mark Rampolla

ZICO, Founder

RPCV Costa Rica (1991-94)

Mark Rampolla is the Co Founder and Managing Partner of Powerplant Ventures LP (PPV). PPV invests in emerging growth companies that intend to remake our global food system to deliver better nutrition in more sustainable and ethical ways.

Mark was the Founder and CEO of ZICO Beverages, one of the trailblazers of today's mainstream coconut water category. Under Mark's leadership, ZICO experienced nine years of explosive growth and became one of the fastest growing beverage brands in the world. Mark was recognized as Bevnet's 2010 Beverage Innovator of the Year and has been featured in major media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Bloomberg, CNBC and Business Week. In 2013 The Coca Cola Company acquired ZICO Beverages.

Mark has also been a personal investor and advisor to dozens of early stage businesses addressing important social challenges in the food, beverage, and technology industries. He speaks at conferences and events around the world, including universities, such as Harvard, Duke, UCLA, USC, NYU, and UNC.

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Mark started his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central America and later operated packaging businesses across Latin America and the Caribbean for International Paper. He graduated from Marquette University and earned an MBA and Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University. Mark, wife Maura, and daughters Ciara and Alexis live in Redondo Beach, California.

Ann Paisley Chandler: ZICO Premium Coconut Water  is becoming a $1B brand. Can you speak about the company you started ZICO and how your Peace Corps experience inspired your business idea?

Mark Rampolla: ZICO is well on its way to becoming a $1B brand. Even more incredible is that the global coconut water industry is $8B which was a bigger part of our goal than just building the ZICO brand. Though it would take ten years, I can draw a direct if somewhat broken line from my Peace Corps experience in Costa Rica to starting ZICO.

It was during Peace Corps that I first experienced coconut water. At first it was an odd-tasting curiosity. I began to drink it regularly, like the locals, and doing so literally kept me out of the hospital on more than one occasion. While there I became aware of the challenges of balancing economic development with environmental sustainability and wanted to play some role in bridging that gap. I also fell in love with Latin America and knew I wanted to stay close to the region forever. I learned during that time that while there is certainly much the U.S. can offer the rest of the world, there's so much we can gain from them, too. That the real potential is in finding the best and highest use for each side of a relationship.

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All of those lessons would eventually come together in my wife and I deciding to create and launch ZICO coconut water. Part of the Peace Corp mission is to bring the world back home. I guess that's fundamentally what we did, via a few billion coconuts.

Chandler: What were your greatest lessons learned while living and working as a Peace Corps volunteer?

Rampolla:

- How amazingly different we can be given different histories, cultures and environments yet at the same time how similar we are regardless of those differences.

- How the cycles of history are hard to break but that it is possible to make progress towards a better human experience.

- That poverty is real and for most experiencing it, not a choice. That we have not only a moral obligation to create opportunities for people to get out of poverty but a pragmatic one if we want to continue our way of life and allow our children to do the same.

- That innovation, disruption and entrepreneurship are key to sustainable economic development and creating opportunities for all.

- That when the rules are clear, fair and consistent, even if tough, business people will figure out ways to do what they do best.

- That there is a deep human desire to do meaningful work and the opportunity to do so for a fair and livable wage is something everyone should have. That when people are working in this way there is less violence, war and conflict and more peace.

- That we do have something exceptional in the U.S. and need to care for it dearly while ensuring it continues to inspire others.

Chandler: A Towering Task: A Peace Corps Documentary is in the pipeline. Why do you feel there is an urgent need for this documentary?

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Rampolla: At my departure party before I left for the Peace Corps, my Mom said a prayer. As part of that she said though she was sad to see me leave and worried about my safety, she was so happy to be sending me on a mission of peace, not one of war. While there is a time and place for war, at every time and in every place peace should be our primary focus. That is fundamentally what Peace Corps represents to me and I believe it's role in our country's history and future has been under-recognized and remains fundamental and important. At this point in time more than ever we need to reconsider the role for more missions of peace, including Peace Corps.

Chandler: Would you speak to the need of igniting the Peace Corps community with regard to this documentary and how one could support this campaign?
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. People's Artist of the USSR Armen Dzhigarkhanyan has been discharged from the hospital and will stay at home for a week in order to fully recover. "Armenpress" was informed in an interview with representative of the press service of Dzigarkhanyans Moscow Drama Theater Natalia Korneyeva.

"He will remain at home for a week and then resume work. Everything is all right, he didnt have a heart attack. In fact, it was as follows: His wife was sick, had a cold. After a week Dzhigarkhanyan had a fever, and the fever remained for three days and the actor decided to undergo a checkup at the hospital, "Natalia Korneyeva said.

Earlier, the hospital informed "Armenpress" that the actor was hospitalized due to heart problems on March 5. At first he was at the cardiology intensive care unit, and then was transferred to the infirmary. Armen Dzhigarkhanyan was discharged from hospital on March 12.
"No Student shall, within the precincts of the University, introduce, keep or use any spirituous or vinous liquors, keep or use weapons or arms of any kind..." -- Thomas Jefferson, University of Virginia (1824)



Photo by Stephanie Frey

With a new "open-carry" law for handguns enacted on January 1, complementing already highly-permissive existing laws governing semi-automatic rifles, hasn't Texas already done enough for freedom-loving Americans on the first day of 2016 alone? Nope. Assuming our heroic governor, Greg Abbott, successfully thwarts Barack Hussein Obama's NRA-rumored mission over the remaining months of his term to disarm America of its 357 million firearms, (even "toddler militias" in Iowa may have their guns taken away by our heartless president), beginning August 1, 2016 public universities in Texas will not only be protected by campus police, but by students carrying concealed handguns. This freedom applies not only to outdoor areas but inside buildings -- indeed, every part of the campus where danger lurks. Great news? Indeed. And here's why.

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Photo via Getty Images

It's also a victory for free speech. Some argue that campus-carry will have a chilling effect on free speech and classroom discussions. I don't see the problem. I believe in my 1st Amendment right to free speech, my 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, as well as my 1st Amendment right to back up my 1st Amendment right with my 2nd Amendment right. Guns in classrooms aren't "jeopardizing the essence of education." It's professors who choose moving to Pennsylvania over wearing Kevlar t-shirts! If it all sounds a little confusing, drop by my book-club meeting. This year we're covering dystopian allegories you read in middle-school, in order to gain a greater appreciation for the wisdom of recent jurisprudence in Texas on academic freedom. Next month's selection is Animal Farm.

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And for original research on how guns reduce crime. Yup, it's also a great research opportunity. Take the flagship "Gun-Free Zone" of the University of Texas School System, UT-Austin, where two questions remain unaddressed: Will campus-carry affect UT-Austin's per-capita rate of violent crime, which currently is considerably lower than surrounding Austin's? Will it affect UT-Austin's per-capita homicide rate -- zero for 100,000 over the past 15 years! -- which is, I'm gonna' guess, also lower than Austin's? Based on the evidence, I'd hedge my bets that violent crime will sink so low that campus police will start handing out citations for improper chewing-gum disposal, and that homicides will dip into negative numbers fueling rumors of an impending zombie apocalypse.
Speaking on the topic "National Parks, Environment & Climate" at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine early this month, I told my audience that the founding principles espoused in our Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 call us to heed our better nature, and we have responded positively for 240 years.

NPS photo.

What happened in Independence Hall 240 years ago can still be keenly felt and experienced in a visit to Independence National Historical Park, and should continue to guide us into tomorrow.



Issued at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, the Declaration established "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."



I told the students that we have striven to address the deficiencies in our founding documents by signing the 13th Amendment recognizing the citizenship of Black Americans and the 19th Amendment recognizing the citizenship of women. Through the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and the burgeoning LGBT movement, the majority of us have held high the banner of a nation imbued with liberty, justice and equality for all.

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Black Americans and other non-white citizens have the privilege and responsibility of affecting every facet of American life because our country strove to live up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence.

"So I'm not confused by the dissonance of our current political discourse," I said. "The test for any point of view or action is, does it support our founding values? If it does, I'm for it. If it doesn't, I must strive like President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass did to rouse our nation to defend our values. I must work like Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman to achieve suffrage for women. I must lay it all on the line as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did to gain civil rights for Black Americans and others. These stories are alive in me, inspiring and motivating me because I've experienced them at the places where they happened in our National Park System."

I told the young people that there's never been greater need for the lessons from our national parks than in this Centennial Year of the National Park Service, when discredited ideas such as excluding people from our society based upon their origin or religion are once again surfacing. Park units such as Manzanar and Minidoka National Historic Sites where Americans of Japanese ancestry were interned in WWII stand as a reminder to our commitment never to repeat such atrocities, and they need to be publicized so every American knows we have tried them and moved away in revulsion.

As the Centennial Year coincides with President Obama's final year in office, I feel the urgency for citizens to come up with a new vision for our national parks and public lands system that the President can leave for his successor. The President has done a masterful job of creating new parks and monuments that add to our public lands treasury and also help expand recognition of diverse Americans' contributions to our country.

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He has protected Harriet Tubman's birthplace in Maryland, the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene, California; the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument near Los Angeles; Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada with thousands of ancient petroglyphs; Chimney Rock in Colorado and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in Las Cruces, New Mexico with cultural significance to Native Americans, among many others. The President led negotiations for the Climate Accord in Paris and advanced a comprehensive US Climate Plan to curb pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Having traveled through 175 of our 410 units, I consider myself that citizen Director Stephen Mather had in mind when he said at the birth of the National Park Service 100 years ago, "He or she is a better citizen, with a keener appreciation of the privilege of living here, who has traveled the national parks."





Imagine the mind that would seek to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon, with attendant negative effects on the environment and people.

Every day I get dozens of e-mails from environmental organizations imploring me to sign a petition to protect a national park - such as Grand Canyon against the threat of mining - wolves in Idaho, bison in Yellowstone; oppose a potentially damaging oil pipeline; save the Environmental Protection Agency and push back against 'leaders' who are bent on removing lands from the public domain. We are spending so much time pushing back against and resisting bad proposals that I yearn for us to develop a coherent vision of conservation to guide our next 100 years.

That vision must be developed with participation from all demographic groups, so probably one of the first things we must do is find ways to engage constituents who are markedly absent from the public lands system and the discussion. With so little time left in his tenure and a big disparity remaining in the information and engagement of Americans of Black and Hispanic descent and young people from urban areas, President Obama might engage a metaphoric SWAT team of advocates who are skilled in this arena. The team could speedily develop a plan that can be easily implemented this pivotal year.
father and child, adopt the kid

I'll admit it: I was skeptical about meditation. If you had told me a year ago that meditation would not only be something that I look forward to, but also a practice that my almost four year-old daughter could do with me, I would have laughed in disbelief.

I am a physician who believes in scientific evidence, so I wasn't easily swayed into trying a practice that originated thousands of years ago, before we had randomized controlled trials. Being a working mom of two, I was always rushing from one task to another and checking off my do to lists. I realized that I stopped being present in my life. I was moving through tasks, putting out fires, and not enjoying it. I knew there was so much joy and love to be present for, so I started to look at how to live in the moment and how to give and receive the beauty within and around us. I found that many of my patients were facing the same problem, and many of them developed chronic conditions in large part due to the way their minds and bodies were coping with stress. In an effort to help my patients and myself, I started reading books by Pema Chodron, Deepak Chopra and Ekhart Tolle, to name a few. I also reviewed scientific literature that addressed how meditation affects changes in the brain, helps us cope with stress, reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, and lowers blood pressure.

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After this thorough scientific and spiritual investigation, I was convinced. Instead of dipping my toe into the meditation pool, I went all in and signed up for an Ayurvedic and meditation retreat at the Chopra Center. Experiencing multiple meditations every day, a daily yoga practice and having the time to reflect and just be, was truly transformative.

I wanted to continue this practice at home. Being a working mom, coming home presented a seemingly insurmountable challenge. I envisioned myself trying to meditate unsuccessfully, while my then three year old daughter announces that she needs to use the potty, or my then one and a half year old son cries.

When I voiced this concern during my retreat, the teachers at the Chopra center suggested that I try meditating with my toddlers. In fact, one instructor told me that a child should be able to meditate for the same number of minutes as their age.

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I was skeptical about being able to get three minutes of silence from my three-year-old. But then again, I had been skeptical of meditation to begin with.

Here is what I learned while introducing my daughter to meditation:

1. Accept your kids' early dismissals.

In the past, if my daughter would walk into my bedroom while I was meditating, I would briefly let her know what I am doing and that it is "mommy's quiet time". I would invite her to quietly sit next to me, or go to her room and play. She would always choose the latter. A few months into my practice, she walked into my closet during a meditation session (Yes, I started to meditate in the closet, please don't judge! It is the only part of the house that is semi-quiet.), and said, "I stay here. I meditate with you mommy".

2. Lead by example, but don't be too eager.

If they show curiosity in meditation, let them know how good you feel, and how relaxed and happy you are after meditation. Then, if they express interest, casually invite them to sit next to you or on your lap for as little or as long as they wish. If they accept, let them know that there is only one rule - while you sit together meditating, you both have to be quiet.

3. If they don't want to be there, give them an alternative.

Once you've invited your toddler to join you, make sure they know that if they do not want to sit with you, they have the option to play elsewhere (as long as there is someone to supervise, of course!).

4. Create meditation traditions together, while being flexible.

A few nights after the first time my daughter and I meditated, she pulled out a pillow, put it on the floor of her room, and covered it with a blanket. She said, "Mommy, I meditate here!" I was thrilled that she is already embracing mindfulness and meditation! Since then, we have meditated together on some mornings, but I remain flexible when she chooses not to. Remember to practice acceptance and non-judgment as part of your own mindfulness journey!

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5. Meditation is a wonderful opportunity to bond with your child.

I still remember the first time my daughter and I meditated. She sat on my lap and I put my arms around her. It was a beautiful bonding moment that did not require any verbal expression and I loved that she decided to join me in this practice.

6. You are doing your child a tremendous favor by introducing him or her to a mindfulness meditation practice.

There is a wealth of scientific literature on meditation and mindfulness-based practices in school-aged children. A review "Being Present at School" discusses significant improvement in cognitive performance, stress, resilience, calmness, self-acceptance, emotional regulation and social competence in school-aged children participating in mindfulness interventions. A recent study showed that high school students, who participated in a relaxation response curriculum, reported less perceived stress, less anxiety and increased use of stress management behaviors. There was also an overall increase in classroom productivity. Another study demonstrated that 6th grade students who were randomized to mindfulness meditation as part of their class were significantly less likely to develop suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm than controls.
Geneva: I learned the hard way about painting ceilings. If you don't do the hard prep work properly, it's a false economy. Just slapping on a top layer of paint, however fancy, hides the stains for a while but without the cleaning, sanding, crackfilling, replastering, undercoating, taping and all the other things you need to do beforehand the paint soon flakes and peels, and crumbles back onto your head. You end up having to start again. It's an expensive lesson.

Bahrain's government is beginning to see what happens when you take short cuts - its reform program, hurriedly applied and largely cosmetic, is now falling apart, looking every inch the botch job it is.

For a few years the ruling family in the small Gulf kingdom had, with the help of lavish PR and some gullible governments, persuaded many that it was serious about lifting its violent repression. In June last year the US State Department cited "meaningful progress on human rights reforms" in its reasoning for lifting holds on some arms sales to the kingdom.

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But a series of consequential public judgments on Bahrain's politics and economy in recent weeks, culminating in today's seizure of human rights defender Zainab Al Khawaja, have exposed the shallowness of reform and the intent to continue silencing peaceful dissent, suggesting the ceiling is falling in on the country's fake reform project.

In his statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council here a few days ago, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said he was "disturbed by a widespread practise of what could be termed 'human rights window-dressing,'" and that "Human rights obligations should not be a 'tick-the-box' exercise designed only to boost a country's international image."

He called out Bahrain by name, complaining that "political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders continue to be silenced by arrests, revocation of citizenship and deportation. Profound reform is still required, to achieve much more inclusive participation".

Bahrain's response, typically, sounded like one from a government in denial, claiming the High Commissioner's statement constituted an "unacceptable form of interference in the internal affairs of the kingdom," as though the UN should mind its own business the it comes to its members' attack on human rights, and a bunch other lies, including that "the judiciary enjoys the highest degrees of independence, honesty and transparency and ... [Bahrain's] adherence to maintaining human rights and supporting everything that would respect these rights." It bizarrely claimed too the High Commissioner's had somehow "made the remarks at the wrong time" as though after a good night's sleep he might have seen things a bit differently in the morning.

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Such senior-level criticism from the UN obviously hurts the kingdom's credibility but it's just the latest major verdict on how badly the government of Bahrain is doing. Already this month the international ratings agency Moody's stripped it of its investment grade credit, condemning its credit rating to what financial experts call "junk territory". In a frightening analysis for potential investors, Moody's put Bahrain's fiscal breakeven oil price at $106 a barrel for 2015-16, but predicted the actual price would only reach $38 a barrel. Moody's downgrade came a couple of weeks after another major international financial rating agency, Standard and Poor's, also withdrew its investment grade credit from Bahrain, noting that the government's debt burden has doubled since 2009.

These votes of no confidence in the economy are part of a wider commentary of mismanagement by Bahrain's ruling family, which in recent years has sought to paper over the substantial cracks in its record by hiring expensive PR firms to promote a false impression internationally. This has, to some extent, worked. But the embarrassing defeat of ruling family member Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa in the FIFA presidential election shows the family's record, when examined close up, looks every bit as ugly as a hurriedly-painted ceiling.

There is a growing disquiet about Bahrain from those once prepared to give its benefit of the doubt. Several officials from other governments at the UN this week told me how they now feel conned by years of flimflam about political change by the Manama regime.

Attitudes in Washington appear to be changing too. Last month the State Department, long regarded as sympathetic to its military ally's promises of reform, called for the release from jail of leading political opposition figures Sheikh Ali Salman and Ibrahim Sharif. A few weeks ago Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who sits on the powerful Intelligence Committee, called out the ruling family's lies: "As they tell it, they've turned the page on that chapter of Bahrain's history... [but] for Bahrain to move forward, the government will need to release the opposition leaders still languishing in its prisons."

He was joined by Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, who noted how "freedom of expression and assembly in Bahrain are still not protected, and that those who do engage in peaceful dissent continue to be prosecuted under vague and subjective laws".

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"If we truly believe that addiction is a serious health problem...then why do we continue to have departments and centers of substance abuse?" - William L. White

Language is extraordinarily powerful. As our understanding of substance use disorder has continued to grow with research and a greater recognition of the need for better policies, there is no time like the present to revisit the critical and long overdue act of adjusting our language.

Not only does our language need to be adjusted within the discourse of our individual conversations; it needs to be modified in the names of the very institutions charged with leading the way.

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As renowned addiction recovery author William L. White has written, "Of all the words that have entered the addiction/treatment vocabulary, "abuse" is one of the most ill-chosen."

The term abuse "has long implied the willful commission of an abhorrent (wrong and sinful) act involving forbidden pleasure" and "has also come to characterize those of violent and contemptible character -- those who abuse their partners, their children or animals."

To include such a stigmatizing and shaming word in our conversations about substance use disorder is to continue to frame addiction as a moral failing on the part of an individual rather than a preventable and treatable health condition with multiple biological, sociological, psychological, cultural and environmental factors.

To include such a stigmatizing word in the very names of our nation's leading organizations charged with addressing substance use disorder is perhaps even more harmful as it continues to perpetuate this misconception at the highest levels.

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If our nation's leading organizations that are tasked with addressing the health condition of substance use disorder continue to use the word "abuse" in their agency names and website addresses, how can we truly expect the general public to move its language and perception of substance use disorder away from the idea of abuse?

Change is possible.

In my city of Philadelphia, our publicly funded behavioral health system used to be called the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services (DBHMRS) prior to advocates at the national level demanding the removal of the stigmatizing word "retardation."

Advocates in the intellectual disability arena successfully asserted "that the term 'mental retardation' has negative connotations, has become offensive to many people, and often results in misunderstandings about the nature of the disorder and those who have it."

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Not only was there a swift change to abolish the word "retardation" but a special emphasis was placed on celebrating the strengths of individuals living with an intellectual disability by making the "d" a lowercase "d" and capitalizing the "A" for the word "disAbility." Witnessing this extraordinary act of leading by example take place in my city served as proof that with a little advocacy and some public will alongside strong leadership, a small but powerful name change is possible for any organization or bureaucracy.

The time is now to see this act of leadership take place at the national level when it comes to language surrounding substance use disorder. The time is now that we, those of us who pay for these agencies, demand to see this change. The time is now for our nation's leading organizations on substance use disorder to alleviate the very word that continues to perpetuate the idea that substance use disorder is anything less than the health condition they are charged with addressing. The time is now to get rid of the word "abuse" for good.

___________________
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Boca Raton, Fla., Sunday, March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

ZURICH (Rooters): Presidential candidate Donald Trump's efforts to refute allegations about the size of his penis received a blow yesterday when a prominent Swiss sex researcher made public a scientific report indicating that Mr. Trump suffers from Small Penis Syndrome (SPS). Professor Herman Schwanzkopf, the report's author, warns that -- if Trump becomes President -- his efforts to over-compensate for having a "micro-penis" might pose a macro-threat to world peace.

But Schwanzkopf concludes his report by proposing a medical solution to this quandary. "Mr. Trump should get treatment for his SPS ASAP -- hopefully before his inauguration," the Professor recommends. "And that's entirely possible. Thanks to recent breakthroughs, penis enlargement is no big deal."

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Herman Schwanzkopf, MPsych, D.Sx., is Director of the Institute for Male Regeneration, a sexology lab and clinic located in Zurich. Professor Schwanzkopf is renowned for his seminal research regarding the impact of the penis on world history.

In his most recent book, Genitals & Genocide (Jumbo Books, Little Rock, 2015), Professor Schwanzkopf argues that ambitious men with SPS often over-compensate for their condition by ruthlessly seeking domination over others. In the past, some of these SPS deniers became conquerers and despots who waged catastrophic wars in which millions died. Citing exhaustive research, Schwanzkopf contends that these wars were fought not for cultural, ethnic, national, racial or religious reasons, but to systematically eliminate other men who had bigger penises.

"We cannot allow such catastrophes to occur in the Nuclear Age," Professor Schwanzkopf declared at a press conference he called yesterday. "That's why -- strange as it seems -- the future of mankind may hang on Donald Trump's dick."

This issue was raised in the Republican presidential campaign when Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) poked fun at his opponent's genitals. Rubio's probes aroused so much press attention that -- politically speaking -- Trump's penis became a hot potato. In response, Trump has put up a stiff fight.

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During a recent presidential debate, for example, he tackled the issue with both hands, literally. "You know what they say about men with small hands," Trump said, knowingly. "Something else must be small." Then stretching his hands wide so the audience could see them, Trump asked, "Look at those hands. Are they small hands? I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee."

"Oh, there's a problem all right," Professor Schwanzkopf observed at the press conference. "And, typically, to deny the problem, a man like Trump will go to almost any length. So don't be surprised if he claims his penis measures eight or even nine inches. But the facts belie it."

"But, Herr Professor, what facts are these?" asked the reporter from Women's Wear Nightly. "Do you have any hard evidence? Have you measured his member?"

"No, Madame, I have not," the Professor replied. "There's no need to. We have science to rely on. In our lab we used the latest nanotechnology to analyze more than 300 hundred photographs of Trump's hands and stubby little fingers. Based on this research, I'd estimate that his penis is approximately the size and shape of a gherkin."

"A gherkin?! Oh, Ivana! The poor dear," exclaimed the lady from Women's Wear Nightly. "How in God's name did she ever get off?!"

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"I cannot say," the Professor responded drily. "That's a question you'll have to ask the former Mrs. Trump."

The correspondent from Foreign Sexual Affairs spoke up next. "Professor Schwanzkopf, I'll be blunt," he stated emphatically. "I find your claims about Donald Trump's penis hard to swallow. You're trying to tie his tiny pee-pee to the fate of all mankind. That's an awfully big stretch. How do you get off doing that?"

"My new book, Genitals & Genocide, explains it all," Schwanzkopf responded. "The human male's aggressiveness and propensity for violence is greatly exaggerated in SPS deniers, especially those who are ambitious and ruthless. If such men succeed in seizing power, they will often assert their potency by making war."

"Napoleon Bonaparte's penis, for example, was only one and one-half inches long. To prove his virility the French Emperor launched one war after another -- wars in which almost 3 million soldiers died. It's almost certain, isn't it, that each and every one of them was better-endowed than the Emperor."

"Then there's Adolf Hitler who had a genital deformity that made his penis remarkably small, a condition called hypospadias. And there's Mao Zedong, who suffered from cryptorchidism -- that is, he had only one testicle. Between them, these two SPS deniers were responsible for the deaths of over 100 million people."

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"Now, can you imagine a President Trump controlling America's nuclear arsenal?! Donald Trump! A man whose dick is about the size of a baby's little finger! Gott in Himmel! It could trigger the start of World War Three!"

At this point, the young male reporter from The Journal of New and Revised Medical Ethics jumped to his feet, and addressed Schwanzkopf excitedly. "Professor, earlier you said there's a medical fix for Trump's SPS -- that his penis could be enlarged -- that World War Three might be avoided! I thought you were full of bullshit, but now I see what you're talking about! This is exciting! You've aroused my hopes for the future! Bless you, Sir, bless you! Now I beg you, in the name of all mankind, please tell us, how can we actually reach this happy ending!?"

"At last," exclaimed Professor Schwanzkopf. "We get to the good news! Here it is: I don't intend to enlarge Mr. Trump's penis, I intend it to replace it! Oh, sure, we make his existing penis an inch or so longer. We can fatten it up a bit. But that's not going to satisfy Donald Trump. He needs -- he wants -- something huge!"

"I'm happy to announce here today that -- thanks to a recent breakthrough achieved at our lab, I've offered to give Donald Trump a penis transplant! And I've got a donated penis in the freezer all ready to go, a genuine whopper."

At this point the reporters in the room -- to a man -- grew quietly intent.

"Professor, can you describe this whopper -- uh, this penis -- in some detail?" requested the reporter from Men's Total Fitness.

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"It's on the corpse of a Mexican immigrant -- a nine incher that's as thick as a Coke can. This piece de resistance is Trump's for the asking. What a deal! How can he refuse? He'll be a new man and -- who knows -- with a joystick that gargantuan, maybe he won't need to become President at all!"

To date Mr. Trump has not yet responded to Professor Schwanzkopf's offer of a free penis transplant. Both his business office in New York City and his campaign headquarters declined to comment.

###

POSTSCRIPT: When Women's Wear Nightly tweeted Ivana Trump asking about the size of her former husband's penis, she tweeted back, "On that subject, my lips are sealed -- by Court order."

TRANSCRIPT

Rebuttal by Donald Trump made in a televised press conference held earlier today in Little Rock, Arkansas:

Folks, I gotta tell you, of all the dishonest, fraudulent reporting I've experienced in this campaign, this "report" is the worst, the absolute worst.

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Obviously, this "Professor Schwanzkopf" is highly incompetent, very stupid, a moron, and not a nice person. And who the hell is he anyway? Nobody ever heard of him. Even his name sounds phony. I think somebody made it up. I asked my wife, Melania -- she's brilliant, an amazing person -- she speaks German, so I asked her, "Do you know what Schwanzkopf means in German? "Sure," she said," Schwanz means dick. Kopf means head.' So Schwanzkopf means dick-head!

Can you believe it, folks? Can you believe it?!

Trust me, this dick-head has zero credibility! Literally! Nobody reads his books! How could they? There aren't any! Whoever heard of Jumbo Books, a publisher supposedly located right here in Little Rock? Google 'em! They don't exist!

Hey, don't get me wrong. I love Little Rock! Such nice people here. It's amazing! And people here love me too. Have you seen the polls? Gee whiz! Schwanzkopf releases his stupid report and I go up ten points! Can you believe it?! Isn't that amazing?

Finally, my friends, get this. Schwanzkopf's organization? The Institute for Male Regeneration? It doesn't exist either. Supposedly it is located in Zurich, Switzerland. Give me a break! Have you ever been to Zurich? Such a mess! Very boring! Nobody goes there anymore. And, besides, the Swiss are not our friends. They're stealing us blind.

I'll be totally honest with you, folks. This entire article is a scam, a joke. I'm going to sue the author just for fun. He's a clown.

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And, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, just so you'll know, when erect, my dick is ten inches long -- eleven on a good day. I guarantee it."
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 9: Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) arrives for the Senate Republicans' policy lunch in the Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

The U.S. Senate looks poised to vote this week on the contentious national debate over GMO labeling, but as the potentially landmark vote looms, facts that should be at the heart of the discussion are being lost.

And in that void, the issue has become highly divisive, pitting many Democrats who want mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically engineered crops against Republicans who favor a measure from Sen. Pat Roberts that would block mandatory labeling, including state laws like one in Vermont set to take effect July 1. A similar measure to block mandatory labeling passed the House of Representatives last July.

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Compromise measures are being drafted by both sides, and some close to the talks say Vermont's law and other state labeling measures will likely be sacrificed for such compromise. Food industry players remain resolved against labels that would easily identify a food product as containing GMOs, saying they would needlessly scare consumers away. Meanwhile, clear labeling is precisely what consumer groups demand.

The outcome could be determined by Wednesday, insiders say. But before lawmakers weigh in, it's worth a look at how the United States came to such a sharp divide, how certain facts have fallen by the wayside, and to return for a moment to the core of the call by consumers for labeling.

The grassroots groups that for years have demanded labeling have done so for two simple reasons: They worry that the genetically engineered crops on the market now carry potential and actual risks for human health and the environment. And they lack confidence in the regulatory and corporate entities that say those concerns are unsubstantiated.

Trust us, the corporations and the regulators say. "Food companies are in the best position to determine what type of information meets the needs and desires of their customers," Monsanto Co. the world's largest GMO crop developer, says on its website in a statement opposing mandatory labeling.

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But that trust has been hard to come by for many consumers. Both the agencies and the companies involved have less-than-stellar track records when it comes to allowing health and environmental ills into the marketplace, to put it mildly. (PCBs, Asbestos, PFOA acid, etc...)

So consumer groups look for the truth. And one truth is that the current regulatory structure requires no independent safety testing of genetically engineered crops before they are commercialized for food. There is but a voluntary consultation process between the Food and Drug Administration and biotech crop companies, and the FDA acknowledges "it does not conduct a comprehensive scientific review of data generated by the developers." It is also a fact that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rely largely on the companies that profit from the GMO products to provide the research the agencies use to evaluate how these GMOs impact other plants and the environment.

Another truth is this: It's been 20 years since the first genetically engineered crop was commercialized and despite continued promises that GMO crops would bring a range of nutritional benefits to consumers, fight killer crop diseases, create crops that flourish even during drought, and help the environment, the reality has been something starkly different.

Most of the GMO corn and soybeans, and other crops that spread across well over 100 million acres of U.S. farmland are genetically engineered not with added vitamins or to survive harsh weather or disease, but to withstand direct dousing of the weedkilling chemical called glyphosate, which the World Health Organization classifies as a probable human carcinogen. These glyphosate-tolerant crops are supposed to make it easier for farmers to knock out yield-choking weeds. But as farmers have planted more of these herbicide-tolerant crops, weeds have developed resistance, so farmers have been spraying larger volumes of the herbicide on their fields. This herbicide linked to cancer is now the most widely used herbicide in the world.

Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since GMO glyphosate-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996. Glyphosate is now found in air and water samples and human urine samples. The trend has been documented by U.S. government researchers as well as state and private scientists. It's not a matter of dispute. But it is something that those fighting to block mandatory labeling ignore.

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These glyphosate residues have also been found within certain foods in limited testing. The USDA and FDA annually test thousands of food for other pesticide residues to make sure such residues don't hit unsafe levels. But neither agency tests for glyphosate residues, leaving consumers to simply hope that those residue levels are not high enough to be harmful. The FDA only last month said it will start doing some limited testing for glyphosate residues in food later this year.

Those opposing mandatory labeling argue that consumers have nothing to fear. They discount scientists who say the jury is out on safety and more research is needed. They repeat the claims of Monsanto and other crop developers, including the widely repeated assertion that GMOs mean more abundant food, even though USDA research shows yield data comparing GMO crops to conventional crops is mixed.

A March 10 USA Today editorial that called mandatory GMO labeling a "bad idea" is a prime example of how these inconvenient truths are often ignored. The editorial made not a single mention of glyphosate use with GMOs, and said mandatory labeling "plays to unfounded fear."

The fact is that GMO crops were developed by Monsanto for the purpose of selling more glyphosate. Other companies also sell glyphosate-based herbicides now that Monsanto's patent has expired but Monsanto remains a top seller of the herbicide. The newest GMO crops coming to market are those that will also tolerate dicamba and 2,4-D herbicides along with glyphosate.

"That is why I got into the fight," said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of the Just Label It campaign and head of Stonyfield Farm, an organic yogurt producer based in New Hampshire. "GMOs equal herbicide proliferation."

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To the GMO crop developers' credit, genetically engineered insect-resistant crops did at one time help farmers reduce insecticide use, though insect resistance has been eroding that benefit and insecticide sales have grown in recent years. It is also true that a range of other GMO crops are on the drawing board or in limited commercial circulation. Last year a new type of apple that doesn't turn brown was approved by the FDA. Researchers are hoping to develop a GMO citrus tree that wards off diseases that can hurt orange production. Researchers are also working on food with enhanced protein or vitamin content.

But today the truth is this: The bulk of the GMOs used in our food are not about improving nutrition or the environment, or creating more affordable and abundant food. They have been, and still are, about selling more agrichemicals. Monsanto gets close to one-third of its $15 billion in annual revenues from glyphosate-related sales. The total market is pegged at reaching $8.8 billion by 2019 due to the spread of GMO crops.

For consumers who worry about conflicting science on safety, and adding more pesticides into an already fragile environment, their fears are not unfounded. They want to be able to vote with their pocketbooks for or against products they believe might be unsafe for themselves and/or the environment.
NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 10, 2015-- People attend the strike in support of a $15-per-hour minimum wage in New York City, the United States, Nov. 10, 2015. Hundreds of fast food workers took part in strike nationwide Tuesday, joining other workers in pressing for a more livable wage. (Xinhua/Wang Lei via Getty Images)

Trump is right to boast that the Great Wall of China is 15,000 miles long -- much longer than his proposed U.S. border wall, which is, as he boasts, short and small. But then why is this one short and small Trump campaign pledges energizing his crowds? After all, it's not his idea -- or a new one.

By 1978 a liberal Democratic Congressman from NY, Jim Scheur, was calling for "A firm, hard, sealing of the U.S.-Mexico border." A single 28 mile segment of fencing built on the border to discourage, not stop, border crossings, became known as the "tortilla curtain." Even then references were made to the Great Wall of China.



In 2006 Washington Post columnist and economist Robert Samuelson called for a grander wall, like Trump's, along the entire border. Samuelson paired this idea with an amnesty for those who had already crossed. So the wall was originally not an expression of extreme phobia about immigrants -- it was an expensive compromise.

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Samuelson argued that to stop illegal immigration, which was driving down wages for low skilled Americans, you had to physically obstruct it. Building a wall would tighten the labor market and drive U.S. wages up -- in essence Trump's argument today.

Neither Samuelson nor Scheur generated the popular energy -- or Hispanic backlash -- that accompanies Trump's wall. The substance was not dissimilar, but neither made the ethnic slurs that Trump propagates, the fabricated innuendos about the criminal tendencies of border crossers. Neither favored mass deportations of Mexicans already in the U.S.

Of course, the Great Wall did not keep nomads from crossing into China. Indeed, the last general of the Ming dynasty called in the Manchus against whom it had been erected to suppress internal disorder and decay. Those nomads became China's next and last dynasty.



Similarly, Trump's wall, if built and entirely effective, would block only illegal border crossing, not end illegal immigration. As Marco Rubio likes to point out, since 2008 more undocumented immigrants have arrived with valid visas and overstayed them than crossed the border illegally.

So why has a demonstrably inadequate, shopworn and previously marginal but bipartisan idea - a wall along an already heavily patrolled and policed border -- serving as the flash-point for Trump's new nativism?

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The passion behind the chants of "build the wall" is driven by the wall's central role in Trump's overarching "Make America Great Again" messaging. Like the Great Wall of China, Trump's wall is to mark a division between civilization and barbarism. "Making" the Mexicans pay for it is a 21st century version of the tribute which the Chinese Emperor extracted from nomadic tribes.



Trump is promising to restore historic U.S. dominance over Mexico -- by the seemingly simple and practical step of building a wall and sending the bill to those walled out. Americans should not, he proclaims, let those people push us around and pretend they are our equals. No more political correctness. We ought to be in charge -- after all, they run a huge trade surplus with us!

This is loathsome. It works because Trump's base draws heavily from nativists or authoritarians seeking a strong man, a caudillo of the kind that has plagued Latin America for so long. But these authoritarian instincts are triggered by a genuine crisis, one which affects far more Americans than support Trump.

A large majority of the American public has seen their economic security and future avoidably undermined by the response of both political parties to globalization -- a policy response which has prioritized opportunity for those best prepared over fundamental security and fairness to those less well positioned.

Take another look at Samuelson's wall. His goal was higher incomes for low skilled workers. Instead of building a wall, why not raise wages and enforce them? If undocumented workers cost as much as everyone else, the market for their services would dry up. They would no longer swim even the currently shriveled Rio Grande.

If the minimum wage was, say, $15, fewer blue collar Americans would see every Mexican they encounter as responsible for the impoverishment of their children and the loss of their dignity. But Samuelson has strongly opposed most efforts to dramatically increase the minimum wage. Like Samuelson, the establishment wings of both political parties have refused to prioritize economic stability and fairness in trade deals, or almost any aspect of government policy. A flood-tide of inequality and insecurity enabled by government is callously blamed on impersonal forces like technology. That's a cop-out.



By elevating competitiveness and market fundamentalism over all other values, both parties have created a country afflicted with such deep insecurity that a significant proportion can embrace a Donald Trump. The Republicans, to their shame, linked insecurity simultaneously with bigotry and prejudice. They are deservedly reaping the whirlwind first. But if the Democrats do not begin to articulate a clearer vision of how America can restore middle class livelihoods, their turn will come.

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Trump may be only one of a string of aspiring American caudillo's. If he comes, our first strong-man President will not literally swim across the Rio Grande on horseback. But we are repeating the Chinese folly -walling out foreigners while ignoring the far more dangerous decay decay and loss of legitimacy within. (President Obama's priority on deportations is part of the same pattern.)
low angle view of a an array of microphones

On Friday's Real Time With Bill Maher on HBO, the always-sardonic host used his closing monologue to rail against liberals who criticize other liberals, such as #BernieOrBust pledges, Clinton supporters who accuse Bernie Sanders of sexism, people who were outraged at some of Matt Damon's problematic statements, and, um, Dolce and Gabbana. He emphasized that there's no time for liberals to be fighting among ourselves when there are "real enemies" to be fighting, such as Donald Trump.

Because apparently we are only allowed to be angry at one thing at a time.

On #BernieOrBust, Maher criticized the slogan, "Revolt against plutocracy," insisting that refusing to vote for Hillary Clinton is instead "helping elect a plutocrat who's revolting" [Donald Trump]. This criticism misses the entire point; many Bernie supporters believe (justifiably or not is not the question here) that Clinton is almost as much of a plutocrat as Trump. You can say that's ridiculous all you want, but Clinton should be convincing them otherwise if she wants their vote, not using the implicit threat of Republicans to scare them into falling in line behind someone they do not feel comfortable with.

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And while it's true that many Sanders supporters took their criticism of Elizabeth Warren's lack of an endorsement for Bernie much too far ("Karl Rove's money?" Really?), it's easy to understand their frustration. Warren has criticized Clinton before, and the issues that she constantly speaks to line up very well with Sanders's platform. From the perspective of a voter, it appears that Warren is hedging her bets instead of standing on principle.

Maher went even further, criticizing Black Lives Matter for refusing to support either Democratic candidate, holding up both their 100% approval ratings from the NAACP and contrasting it with Trump's support from white supremacist organizations. It's another fallacious argument: Black Lives Matter should compromise their principles and support one of two candidates (neither of whom will call for reparations for slavery and segregation) because someone out there is worse, even as Black Lives Matter has very good reasons not to trust the Democratic Party.

And sure, Matt Damon can weigh in on LBGT issues with his horrible, worthless opinion that nobody asked for, but don't criticize him for it, because he's a good Hollywood liberal and LOOK OVER THERE IT'S DONALD TRUMP! Maher sarcastically quipped, "Right, the real obstacle to gays achieving equality is Matt Damon," which is a false equivalency. Nobody said that, Bill. Comments like that, coming from a straight, white male, are offensive any way you cut it and deserve to be called out.

When it came to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana literally saying that children born of IVF were "synthetic children" and that gays should not start families period, Elton John and many others were right to be horrified. Comments like those coming from within the community can do untold damage to people who are still fighting for equality. It's the same reason there has been such an enormous backlash against Caitlyn Jenner for her endorsement of Ted Cruz (something Maher didn't mention, because it's okay to criticize conservatives for meaningless things, apparently).

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While I disagree with a lot of what Bill Maher says, I still love his show and defend him whenever it's called for. This time, it is not called for. He is espousing here a dangerous attitude, that everyone on the left of the political spectrum should refrain from having disagreements, criticizing the negative aspects of our community, and fighting internal battles to be better. In effect he is championing a terrifying strain of conformity and chauvinism, where people who generally hold similar beliefs to our own are beyond reproach.

Worst of all, he is using fear to try to keep people in line. Don't criticize someone who deserves it, because they may be the lesser of two evils. Compromise your ideals, because ideological unity is more important than doing the right thing. Shut your mouth, because Trump is looming.

I don't believe that Maher is being malicious or doing this intentionally, but it's a troubling thought coming from the left. The split that is happening between neoliberals and progressives, between the establishment Democrats and the insurgent Democrats, is a completely necessary evil if the Democratic Party is to remain relevant. Whichever side wins out, it is more important that we have this discussion now than that we keep our mouths shut for fear of Donald Trump.


Image from Everylibrary.org used with permission.

The Koch Brothers are going after a small town library in Illinois. This is actually happening. Why would a pair of billionaires who largely control Republic politics care about a local small town library? It's a great question and a perfect illustration of how big money politics are wrecking Main Street America.

Plainfield IL is trying to raise money for a new library building. The library is currently an anchor for downtown and is a much-loved and heavily used part of the community. They are asking for a 20-year bond and a small increase in property taxes. The end result will be a brand new library that is three times larger than the current library, still in downtown, and will feature new technology, public meeting spaces, classrooms, and more space for books DVDs and other materials for the community.

The Plainfield Library came up with this after years of focus groups, surveys, and public town meetings. The leadership of the library worked closely with community leaders and stakeholders to create a comprehensive plan that would give them cutting edge library services in ways that the community values. This is good old American democracy in action, a public institution needs an update, the community gets involved, a shared vision is formed, people move forward. That is how America is supposed to work.

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Then big interests got involved. In this case it is the mega PAC Americans for Prosperity who have decided any tax is a bad tax. They have started a campaign run by professional political operatives from out of town to do a hit job on this library vote. They are doing robocalls to the community with wrong information and doing a social media push that suggests that the new library is frivolous.

This is exactly what is wrong with American democracy today. Large operators mess with small town politics and try to use them to push a national or regional agenda. They do this with no regard for the people who actually live in the community they are impacting. Whatever prosperity this PAC is pushing it is certainly not prosperity for the people of Plainfield where studies have shown that for every $1 spent on the library the community receives $5.93 worth of services. I am not sure how anyone can suggest that an entity that returns value at a rate of 500% can be seen as a bad investment.



Image from Everylibrary.org used with permission.

I have friends who are in the Tea Party, mostly old buddies who I grew up with. We have a lot of laughs and avoid talking about politics for the most part. The one thing that they will tell me though is that libraries get a pass from them. They can see their tax dollars there on the shelves and in the hands of their kids. They like having a place they can drop off their moms to hang out for a few hours and know that they will be safe and well treated. They know that the librarians are not getting rich and they respect the work that they do. They are proud of their library and they brag to me about what it is doing and how my big city library needs to keep up. Ultimately it is that pride that makes a difference.

I'm really proud to be an American but I feel like the America that I grew up in the 70s is long gone. We used to build things as a nation, big beautiful things that we built so that our grandchildren could use them. We used to work together to help our neighbors and our communities. We used to stand for things that couldn't be seen on a bank statement. Now, with the Americans for Prosperity in the lead, there is a tone of "I got mine so tough luck for you" in the national dialog. We piss away our community's future to save $10 a month in taxes (which we would have just spent at Starbucks anyway), and somehow feel proud of ourselves for doing so. .

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It's on the people of Plainfield IL to take back democracy. It's on them to decide if they want to create a space in their community for children and seniors and families and entrepreneurs. It's on them to decide if they want free classes and concerts. It's on them to decide if their neighbors and the people who live beside them in their town mean more to them than the agenda of a couple of billionaires from another state. It is on the people of Plainfield to stand up for everyone in their community so that all the people in the community can benefit together.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. MP Vardan Oskanian does not rule out that his colleague MPs will join the party he intends to create. Vardan Oskanian told about this at the National Assembly in an interview with journalists, but he mentioned no names. I do not wish to mention names who may join that party for now, but I do not rule out that my colleague MPs may join. Even the name of the party is not known yet, but I promise you will soon learn about it, Armenpress reports Oskanian saying.

Vardan Oskanian declined the rumors that the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has direct links with the party to be created. Kocharyan has absolutely no links with this party. To the remark that he was in office during Kocharyans presidency and people still remember the situation of Armenia during that period, what will be his resources to bring peoples vote for him, Oskanian answered, Vardan Oskanians resource, party program, our activities and our vision for the future of the country. Yesterday I clearly mentioned that Kocharyan has no links with this party, but I reiterate once more, I am not going to split me from kocharyan every time, I have no such a goal.

He added that, of course, Kocharyans government had many drawbacks in different spheres, but that government also recorded great achievements. I think it was the era the people recalls with positive connotations, the MP mentioned.

Vardan Oskanian assured that he will be ready to cooperate with all political forces, including Prosperous Armenia party and ANC.
ST. LOUIS, MO - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tours Nelson-Mulligan Carpenters Training Center and meets voters at a campaign rally in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday morning, March 12, 2016. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Surely everyone has heard by now the legend of Hillary Clinton's untrustworthiness.

Unauthenticated and mystical, it remains epic nonetheless -- and the more people hear about it, the more they believe.

The folklore continued Tuesday night when six million viewers of the Democratic debate heard this question:

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Secretary Clinton, a Washington Post poll just yesterday found that only 37 percent of Americans consider you honest and trustworthy. Now, when you've been asked about this in the past, you have said that this is the result of many, many years of Republican attacks upon you. But Americans have also had 25 -- more than that -- years to get to know you for themselves. Is there anything in your own actions and the decisions that you yourself have made that would foster this kind of mistrust?

This type of leading question wouldn't typically be allowed if the task at hand were to find the truth, but television and punditry are big business. The modus operandi is shock and awe to gain market share.

Clinton's response was:

Well ... obviously it's painful for me to hear that. And I do take responsibility. When you're in public life, even if you believe that it's not an opinion that you think is fair or founded, you do have to take responsibility. And I do. And I also have, you know, very much committed to the best of my ability my energies and efforts to helping people. That's something that I care deeply about. And I will continue to do that, to demonstrate by my past actions and my present levels of commitment and plans that people can count on me. That is certainly what happened to me in New York, where people got to know me. They saw me in action. And they did.

They sure did. The people of New York re-elected Clinton with 67 percent of the vote in 2006.

Bernie Sanders wasn't asked about his honesty or trustworthiness on Tuesday night. Instead, after that question to Clinton, he was asked, "Senator Sanders, you have demanded that Secretary Clinton release the transcripts of her paid Wall Street speeches. Why is this important? Do you have reason to believe that she says one thing in private and another in public?"

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Did somebody say Wall Street? The good senator, of course, perked up immediately and happily hit the softball question out of the park, with all the now-familiar notes of righteous indignation.

No other candidate for president has been asked in debates about his perceived honesty and trustworthiness. Maybe it's because other candidates are presumed to be honest and trustworthy, or maybe there's a presumption voters don't care about this trait in others.

Don't play the woman card, right? We are sick and tired of hearing about double standards. People are not going to vote for Clinton just because she is a woman. If she loses, it's because nobody trusts her -- just look at the polls.

If you actually look at the Washington Post poll referenced on Tuesday night, it's worth noting that only 27 percent of people found Republican front-runner Donald Trump honest and trustworthy.

And Sanders? Well, he wasn't included in the poll questions about honesty and trustworthiness. Seriously. The honesty and trustworthiness questions were only asked about Clinton, Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

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Apparently we are to assume that Sanders is honest and trustworthy, or that he is unlikely to be the nominee -- based, you know, on the polls.

Pollsters are either convinced by their own flawed polling that Clinton is the presumptive nominee, so they don't even bother polling Sanders' degree of trustworthiness, or they don't believe Sanders' degree of trustworthiness is relevant.

But only polling Clinton on whether she is "honest and trustworthy" and then using the answer against her in a debate against Sanders reinforces the myth that she is less trustworthy than him, and it surely helps him win one "stunning" victory after another.

Look what happened in Michigan. Clinton, the most reputable of pollsters told us, had a greater than 99 percent chance of winning. Those are good odds. So when Clinton lost by 1.5 percentage points, it was described as a "stunning victory" for Bernie Sanders.

When Sanders lost in Iowa by 0.3 percent, it was described as a "stunning result." A "moral victory," given the polls leading up to the race showed Clinton having almost a 70 percent chance of winning.

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Not a single Republican candidate or Sanders has been asked about his honesty or trustworthiness in debates. Their support is measured by votes, endorsements and fundraising -- things that can be measured.

President Obama famously said Clinton was likable enough, and then trusted her to be secretary of state, where she enjoyed a favorability rating of up to 66 percent of American people nationwide - Republicans, Democrats and everyone in between. The president now trusts her to accept the baton as leader of the free world.

Thirty-nine of Clinton's former colleagues in the U.S. Senate trust her enough to support her candidacy over their colleague Sanders, who's been in Washington longer than Clinton and has not garnered the endorsement of a single other senator.

A more interesting question, I believe, is why the people who know and work with Clinton trust her immensely, while random people polled apparently do not.

Trump is the Republican front-runner and understandably "loves the poorly educated" who will ignore his stats on honesty and trustworthiness. But is it too much to ask of educated people passing around the hot potato of Clinton's alleged dishonesty to point to an actual instance of it? Are Americans now so dissociated with the truth that it no longer matters?

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And finally, at the Miami GOP debate on March 10, Mr. Cruz belched that "...right now we're not using a fraction of the tools that we have. We're not using our overwhelming air power. We're not arming the Kurds. Those need to be the first steps. And then we need to put whatever ground power is needed to carry it out."

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So which is it? Is our air force weak or strong? Are boots on the ground a thing now?

I believe that numbers are solid ground to build on when calling out manipulative self-interested campaign lies - or basically almost everything political-candidates say during campaigns.

So our air force is not so much reduced. Or weak. But it is a good slogan to sell and sound strong. I believe it is the definition of strong that has been lost on Republicans for quite some time now. We no longer live in a world where military might makes us strong. It is merely appearances. Republicans are selling their constituents the appearance of security and strength; it is not real.

The reality is that even if we were to destroy ISIS to their last member, it will not eradicate extremism in the Muslim world or the Middle East. Nor will it eradicate American extremism, and you can deny it as much as you want it, but it does exist.

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If not ISIS, something else would spring up, and given past experiences, it will be worse. Because evil begets evil, no matter how you try to disguise it. This here, is a problem with a long-term solution, unwinnable by military might. Americans will not be the good guys for killing ISIS, many people will suffer the consequences of American-lead air strikes, as they do today, and of those people, some will turn against America, fueling the violent cycles and willingness. And you can't blame them, because if someone killed my sister while trying to force my salvation, I am not sure I would have a very favorable opinion towards them. Death by one ideology or another is irrelevant to those who bear the brunt of this conflict. I should know. I lost a sister.

In our battle against rogue violent organizations we guarantee recruits for their next generation. Fatah was bad, Hamas is worse. The Soviets in Afghanistan were bad, the Taliban was worse. Al Qaeda was bad, ISIS is worse. Sadly there is no military fix and we cannot invest our future in killing machines and death. Not to mention it seems somewhat inconsistent with the message of religious devotion and divine guidance that is coming out of the same GOP candidate and constituents. Maybe they can invest in long-term solutions that are more along the lines of one of the religions they cling to and recite?

Have the courage to be what you preach my GOP friends. Because the plaguing of American society with the kind of future you are suggesting is not only going to dilapidate our enemies, but will bring the entire idea of America down in an avalanche. I should know. I lost a country.

There is, of course, the possibility that republicans prefer it this way. It is an endless source of income to the military industrial complex, to big industry, to the oil industry, and to wall St... It also goes hand in hand with republican rhetoric that we need to make the strongest military in the world even stronger, because - well, because... it may not be enough to have the strongest and largest air force by over 400% than the next foreign air force (Russia's), and with the second largest air force in the world belonging to the US Navy...! Republicans are suggesting that we should have a military that is bigger than everyone combined, so we can crush whoever doesn't think like us, as we plague our own society with intransigent fixed thought, and impotent creativity. A dying society that invested its resources in creating machines that kill and reek havoc on their fellow humans.

I want to believe America is better than this. That it can stand up for itself in a world controlled by greed, and be all that it says it is; free, bold, innovative, compassionate, strong, and thoughtful. The ideas that were written into the idea of America are great ones; as citizens we are to guard them, not allow interest-based, money-grubbing politicians hijack our country, or our soldiers.
President Barack Obama's executive actions in November 2014 to provide relief from deportation for hundreds of thousands of Californians was welcome news, not just for those directly impacted, but for our state as a whole.

The President's actions expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and created a new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. These measures would allow families to remain united, contribute to our state's economy and public safety, and provide a path to health coverage for these undocumented Californians through Medi-Cal. Since our state is stronger when more people have access to health coverage, DAPA and an expanded DACA are important steps towards achieving health and justice for all.

However, before the President's actions could be implemented, a challenge in federal court by the State of Texas has put the promise of these new initiatives on hold for over a year for the entire country. The case, known as United States v. Texas, has worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and on April 18th, the eight current justices of the court will hear oral arguments for and against lifting the hold on the President's immigration actions.

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The stakes for California are so high that The California Endowment joined a group of civic, educational, religious, political and business leaders from across our state to make the case to the Supreme Court for the benefits of DAPA and an expanded DACA in a robust amicus brief, also known as a "friend of the court" brief in which those interested in a legal case provide information to help the judges, or in this case Supreme Court justices, put the case in greater context. The court should listen to the diverse voices from California represented in this amicus brief. After all, we have a larger stake in the Supreme Court's deliberations than any other state.

More than one in four immigrants in the United States resides in California, 40 percent of our population consists of immigrants and their children, and the Golden State has been at the forefront of developing policies to better integrate immigrants into the social, economic and civic life of the state. Our experience demonstrates that when we welcome immigrants, our economy benefits, as does the overall health of our state.

However, there is only so far we can go as a state since immigration laws are written and enforced at the federal level. We need the DACA expansion and DAPA to build on the progress we've made thus far. As we assert in the amicus brief, the economic benefits are especially compelling: "the DACA expansion and DAPA would generate 130,000 new jobs in California alone, increase the collective wages of undocumented immigrants in California by more than $5.5 billion annually, and support public programs with $3.8 billion in new business, personal and sales taxes annually."

An even more compelling need for an expanded DACA and DAPA is their impact on health. Immigrant families that fear deportation face greater physical health problems and psychological distress, and are less likely to seek care, further compounding these challenges.

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California has sought to address this through enactment of the Health for All Kids law, passed with bipartisan support, to provide state-based Medi-Cal to undocumented children under age 19. This law provides critical health services to children and saves the state money by giving families a more affordable alternative to costly emergency room care. However, as the California amicus brief argues, "state-level efforts cannot fully counteract the pernicious civic effects that grow out of fear of deportation. This fear derives, ultimately, from uncertainty about federal immigration enforcement practices."
The Independent Federation of Unions in Jordan wanted to hold an event March 8th to celebrate International Women's Day. A hotel hall was booked and invitations were sent out. A few hours before the event organisers were told by the hotel management that they could not hold the event.

It seems that a security official had called the hotel management and ordered them not to allow the event to take place unless the organisers get permission.

When pressed, the hotel director said that the call came from the intelligence department and he gave the organisers the nom de guerre of the officer.

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This was not a fluke, one-off interference in activities of civil society.

In the last month alone, tens of non-governmental organisations were surprised by the return to heavy-handed intelligence services interference in public activities, training workshops, conferences and other public events that have been held without intervention for years.

An event by Himam, a local NGO committee coordinating government officials with international donors, was ordered cancelled, only to be allowed after high-level intervention.

The celebrated post-Arab Spring constitutional amendments in support of freedom of assembly and expression appear to be slowly being pulled back. Among the 43 constitutional changes signed into law by His Majesty King Abdullah in 2011, according to Article 4, Jordanian citizens and organisations are obliged only to inform authorities about holding public events, not get their permission.

The pressure on civil society does not happen in broad daylight.

When Amman Governor Khaled Abu Zeid was contacted by a local radio station to ask him about such practices, he vehemently denied having issued any new directives to hotels requiring prior approval for certain events.

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The result is that events are held or denied on a case-by-case basis, with organisations often forced to find a well-placed official to sponsor their events as a means of guaranteeing that they will not be stopped.

Attempts to roll back freedom of assembly are matched with attempts to muzzle opinion.

Jordanian news websites owners were forced to apply for licences to operate as part of the new Press and Publications Law that includes a clause banning the detention or arrest of journalists for what they write.

An amendment to the Cybercrime Law, passed quietly last June, allows the attorney general to detain a journalist for what he writes online.

A journalist is immune for what he writes in print media, but if the same article appears on line he can be imprisoned.

The criminalisation of defamation has given the government a new control tool that allows it to restrict freedom of expression.

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The Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists reported that since the implementation of Article 11 of the Cybercrime Law, seven journalists and social media activists have been detained.

Jordanians will not accept the return to the pre-Arab Spring era quietly.

The public engagement by activists is not going to die away because of the underhanded attempts by some in government to bring back restrictions that have been overcome by hard-fought public protests.

Students at the Jordan University are continuing a protest strike that began on February 29 to call for the rescinding recent tuition fee hikes.

A public campaign has been launched by media rights and social media activists, calling for the repeal of Article 11 of the Cybercrime Law.

The campaign aims at informing the public of the controversial article and increase pressure on the government and legislature to stop using detention and imprisonment to deal with issues concerning the constitutional right of free expression.

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There are calls to decriminalise defamation and amend the laws so that persons victimised by defamation can seek monetary rewards.

The government should avoid using defamation laws to protect its members from criticism.Organisations unable to hold public meetings in hotels are turning to wedding parlours to hold their events, as did the Independent Federation of Unions after being denied permission to hold their event in a known hotel.

But the issue is not being resolved and will most likely need to be challenged in court.
Our country's "free trade" agreements have followed a framework of trading away our democracy and middle-class prosperity in exchange for letting the biggest corporations dominate.

There are those who say any increase in trade is good. But if you close a factory here and lay off the workers, open the factory "there" to make the same things the factory here used to make, bring those things into the country to sell in the same outlets, you have just "increased trade" because now those goods cross a border. Supporters of free trade are having a harder and harder time convincing American workers this is good for them.

"Free Trade"

Free trade is when goods and services are bought and sold between countries without tariffs, duties and quotas. The idea is that some countries "do things better" than other countries, which these days basically means they offer lower labor and environmental protection costs. Allowing other countries to do things in ways that cost less "frees up resources" which can theoretically be used for investment at home.

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Opponents of free trade ask for tariffs to "protect" local businesses, jobs, wages and the environment from being undermined by low-cost goods from countries where people and/or the environment are exploited.

Free trade is generally sold as offering lower prices to consumers. It is also sold with claims that it "opens up foreign markets" to U.S. exporters. But it also opens up U.S. markets to imports.

Does Trade Really "Open New Markets?"

"When more than 95 percent of our potential customers live outside our borders, we can't let countries like China write the rules of the global economy."

"[W]hen 95 percent of the people we want to sell something to live outside of the United States, we must open foreign markets to American goods and services so we can create jobs at home."

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"Ninety-five percent of America's potential customers live overseas, so closing ourselves off to trade is not a solution."

It is a fact that only 5 percent of the world's population lives in the United States. The problem is that the line of argument that opening up trade "opens markets" brings with it certain misleading assumptions. It assumes first that non-U.S. markets are not already being served by local companies. Second, it ignores that free trade also opens our own markets to others. Third, it ignores that U.S. companies already can and do sell to most of the world's markets and vice versa. (For example, U.S. companies were already moving production to Mexico before NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement.) Suggesting that alternative approaches to trade would "close us off from trading" or "wall our economy off from the world" are ridiculous, misleading arguments.

If local companies are already meeting the needs in U.S. and non-U.S. markets, what does a trade deal really enable? Trade deals indeed "open up new markets" - for giant, predatory multinational corporations. They enable large, predatory companies that have enormous economies of scale to come in and dominate those markets, putting smaller, local companies out of business. So trade deals mean the biggest multinational companies get bigger and more multinational - at the expense of all the other companies. This includes enabling non-U.S. corporations to come to the U.S. and take over markets already served by smaller companies here.

The net result of allowing goods to cross borders without protecting local businesses is a "more efficient" manufacturing/distribution system powered by the biggest and best-capitalized operations. The rest go away. Economists will tell you that these increased efficiencies allow an economy to best utilize its resources. But obviously one effect of this "increased efficiency" is fewer jobs, resulting in lowered wages on all sides of trade borders.

After NAFTA, for example, smaller, more local Mexican farms were wiped out by large, efficient American agricultural corporations that were able to sell corn and other crops into Mexico for low prices. The result was a mass migration northward as desperate people could no longer find work in Mexico.

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Economists say even this is good because when costs are lower the economy can apply its resources more efficiently and increased investment can put the displaced people to work in better jobs. But we can all see that in our modern economy that's not what is going on. Investment in our economy is not increasing, partly because the resulting downward wage pressure has resulted in an economy with decreased demand. Fewer customers with money to spend is not a good environment for investment. Instead of these "freed up" resources (money) being used to provide better jobs with higher wages for everyone, they are instead being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.

As for opening new markets for American exporters, note that the record since the ascendance of free-trade ideology in the 1970s we have seen continuing and increasing U.S. trade deficits, with imports exceeding exports, resulting in flat wage growth.

Freeing up trade does not "open new markets" as much as it enables giant, multinational corporations to become even more giant and more multinational - at the expense of smaller companies and the rest of us.

Comparative Advantage

Economists say that free trade allows us to take advantage of the "comparative advantages" offered by other countries. A comparative advantage exists when one country can do something better than another country. For example, Central and South America can grow bananas better than the U.S., and we can grow wheat better than they can. So trading wheat for bananas makes sense.

Unfortunately, economists also say that low labor and environmental-protection costs are a comparative advantage. They say it is good for U.S. companies to take advantage of countries with governments that exploit labor and the environment, because they offer lower costs for manufacturing. (Of course, the ultimate form of such a comparative advantage would be slavery.)

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Here's the thing. Buying goods from low-wage and low-environmental protection countries means not making them here anymore. "Trade" increases, but so does our country's trade deficit as imports rise and exports fall. Factories here close, people here get laid off, wage pressures here increase and overall demand in our economy decreases.

When "thugocracies" that exploit workers and do not protect the environment are able to offer a comparative advantage over our democracy, then free trade makes democracy with its good wages and environmental protections into a comparative disadvantage.

Free Trade Undermines Democracy And Wages

"Give us a protective tariff, and we will have the greatest nation on earth." - Abraham Lincoln.

Democracy has a short-term "cost" with a longer-term gain. In countries where people have a say, the people say they want higher wages and benefits, good infrastructure, good education, a clean environment, safety on the job, and other services. These things all lead to a prosperous economy later, as long as benefits from this system are fed back into maintaining that infrastructure, education and services. This prosperous economy made America a desirable market to sell things to.

When the country and the idea of democracy were young we "protected" this concept with tariffs, so that goods from places where labor was cheap (or free) did not undermine our democracy. Those tariffs in turn funded investment in infrastructure and other common needs that enabled productivity gains that made our goods competitive elsewhere. But generally companies here served the population here and grew and prospered along with the rest of us.

At some point elites and free-market "economists" began an effort to convince us that "free trade" is a good thing and "protectionism" is not. We used to "protect" our country's manufacturing base from being undermined by goods from low-wage countries that don't protect workers or the environment. Then we didn't.

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"Free trade" broke down those borders of democracy. It enabled goods from low-wage countries into the U.S. with no protective tariffs. This made the low wages and lack of environmental and worker protections in some countries into a "comparative advantage" - which meant democracy because a comparative disadvantage. We stopped "protecting" American jobs, and allowed companies to freely lay off workers and close factories here and we have seen what has happened since.

The fact is, a democracy cannot "play by the same rules" as a country that can make people live in barracks at the factory and call them out to work at midnight if an order comes it, make them stand all day, pay them very little, pollute the environment, etc. The rules should instead be that we impose a tariff on goods from such countries unless they "level the playing field" and "play by the same rules" as democracies by giving people a say, paying more and protecting the environment.

Free trade became a scam intended to get around those costs of democracy - good wages, environmental protection and other common goods - but also to use cheap foreign labor and low regulation as a wedge to drive down those costs here as well, and ultimately weakening democracy itself. Every time you hear that regulations make "us" "less competitive" etc. you are hearing an appeal for our country to become more of a low-wage, low-cost "thugocracy."

Does Protecting Democracy Cause Trade Wars And Depressions?

Free-trade advocates claim that restoring tariffs to protect wages and democracy would start trade wars and even cause recessions and depressions. One claim they make is that tariffs helped cause the Great Depression of the 1930s. Economist Paul Krugman took on that argument in 2009's "Protectionism and the Great Depression," writing,

I've always seen this as an attempt at a Noble Lie; there's no good reason to believe that it's true, but it has been used to scare governments into maintaining relatively free trade. But the truth is quite different, as a new paper by Barry Eichengreen and Doug Irwin shows. Protectionism was a result of the Depression, not a cause. Rising tariffs didn't even play a large role in the initial trade contraction; like the spectacular trade contraction in the current crisis, the decline in trade in the early 30s was overwhelmingly the result of the overall economic implosion. Where protectionism really mattered was in preventing a recovery in trade when production recovered.

As for trade wars, economist Ian Fletcher points out in "Free Traders Can't Name a Single Trade War":

Trade wars are mythical. They simply do not happen. If you google "the trade war of," you won't find any historical examples. There was no Austro-Korean Trade War of 1638, Panamanian-Brazilian Trade War of 1953 or any others. History is devoid of them. [. . .] Trade wars are an invented concept, a bogeyman invented to push free trade. The giveaway, of course, is that free traders claim both that a) trade wars are a terrible threat we must constantly worry about, and b) it's obvious no nation can ever gain anything from having one. Think about that for minute.

Voters Finally Pushing Back

These are the reasons that voters across the country are finally pushing back against politicians selling "free trade." Friday's post, "'Free Trade': The Elites Are Selling It But The Public Is No Longer Buying" explained how Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are gaining from their opposition to free trade deals like NAFTA and the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership. From the post: "Voters have figured out that our country's current 'free trade' policies are killing their jobs, wages, cities, regions and the country's middle class. Giant multinational corporations and billionaires do great under free trade, the rest of us not so much."

Free trade encourages further exploitation of workers and the environment in other countries and here. It helps fuel calls inside of our own country for "less regulation" (fewer environmental protections), "right-to-work" laws (that break unions and lower wages) and "more competitive" tax policies (that defund democracy and our ability to provide public services) to "attract" companies back to the U.S.

It is time for Washington elites to scrap our current "free trade" negotiating model that allowed giant, multinational corporations to dictate our trade policies, and open up the process to all of the stakeholders, including labor, environmental, consumer, human rights and other groups. Then we can begin to negotiate trade policies that lift American workers along with workers across the world, while protecting the environment.

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Sometimes, the more things change, the more they don't stay the same. To sum up this current election cycle for the Republican Party in four words, "all bets are off." With the vacuum that's been created by the GOP's implosion and internecine wars, it appears that no matter who wins the nomination, it's going to be a fractured party. And while no one knows exactly what's going to transpire in the months ahead, this rupture isn't a question of "if," it's a matter of "how."

As a practical Republican (an increasingly endangered species), I want to speak directly to college students across America, particularly those of you who identify yourselves as Republicans. When I became eligible to vote in 1979, national politics was a much different animal. As a political science major at Claremont McKenna College, I gained a deeper understanding of how government works during the Reagan Presidency.

In stark contrast to today's environment in Washington, in 1980, there were 60 Senators who were considered willing to work across the aisle and it would have been unimaginable for Tip O'Neill to say, "let's do everything possible to make sure he's only a one-time President." I look back longingly on those days because people were thinking about what we could achieve, how the country could be better, what we could do to bring each other up and help each other succeed. Now, fast forward 36 years and Ronald Reagan wouldn't even qualify as Republican today, transforming his famous quote to "I didn't leave the Republican Party, the party left me."

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As government remains mired in gridlock and many older Americans cling to their party loyalties, your generation is going to have an unprecedented impact on the 2016 election.

One only has to look at the numbers to see that you cannot be ignored at the polls. Millennials (those of you born between 1982 and 2000) are now numbered at an estimated 83.1 million, the largest demographic in the U.S. and for the first time ever, equal in voting power to Baby Boomers. Provided you vote (45% of people between the ages of 18-29 voted in 2012 and only 41% for 18-24 year-olds), you will not only dramatically affect the general election, but Congressional and Senate races across the country. And for those of you who aren't registered, it's actually a lot easier than you think.

I also have good news for younger Republicans to consider during this divisive and potentially disastrous time for the party. You are not your parents! In Why America Is Moving Left, Peter Beinart notes the shifting values of the GOP's Millenials.

"The press often depicts American politics as a battle pitting ever more liberal Democrats against ever more conservative Republicans. Among the young, however, that's inaccurate. Young Democrats may be more liberal than their elders, but so are young Republicans. According to a Pew report, a clear majority of young Republicans say immigrants strengthen America, half say corporate profits are too high, and almost half say stricter environmental laws are worth the cost--answers that sharply distinguish them from older members of the GOP. Asked how they categorize themselves ideologically, more than two-thirds of Republican Millennials call themselves either 'liberal' or 'mixed,' while fewer than one-third call themselves 'conservative.' Among the oldest Republicans, that breakdown is almost exactly reversed."

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Despite all the predictions of gloom and doom from Republican candidates and the quagmire that a Trump nomination would hold, the future of politics is a little brighter than most people think. Your generation is one of the main reasons for that optimism because you have a chance to reshape the current dynamics. A poll by the Harvard Institute of Politics, noted that among potential voters age 18 to 29 what is valued most in a candidate, is integrity, level-headedness and authenticity, with political and business experience much further down the list. Today's political climate may reflect a continuing breakdown of the system, but crisis also creates opportunities and when the highest levels of government fail, the only place to initiate change is from the bottom up.

I was on a conference call recently with former Utah Governor John Huntsman, the Co-Chair of the No Labels Foundation, of which I'm proud to be a board member and supporter of their college chapters program. I raised a question about the role Millennials will play in the 2016 election and he replied that according to pollster Frank Luntz, you actually prefer the term "Young Americans." Lost in the bitter partisan rhetoric of Republican versus Democrat, we can lose sight of what ultimately unites us as citizens. Young Americans. I like the sound of that.

I want to issue an invitation to college students, especially GOP supporters. It's critical for the world to hear your thoughts and ideas on the presidential campaigns, since you will ultimately inherit the unresolved problems on the pivotal issues facing this country. Just click Join the Conversation, and you can post your blogs, articles, comments and questions and I'll share some of them in upcoming Huff Post blogs. It's time America pays attention to what the next generation of political leaders has to say about the current state of affairs and more importantly, what you want for the future of our country.
L.A. Detective Harry Bosch figures he can beat most criminals.

Overcoming himself is a different kettle of demons, and that's the adversary Harry is confronting in the second season of the taut and engaging series Bosch, which just dropped on Amazon.

Titus Welliver, well known to TV and movie fans for playing tough characters in muscular, often dark shows like Sons of Anarchy, Brooklyn South and Deadwood, makes Bosch hard-nosed and flawed, just as Michael Connelly has written him in a quarter century of crime novels.

Season two starts with Bosch returning from a six-month leave of absence, and Welliver says that has focused him on more than just the brutal crimes he routinely becomes obsessed with solving.

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"He's trying to come to terms with himself," says Welliver. "He's flawed and he knows it. There are things he wants to fix."

At the top of that list is his relationship with his daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz).

"He has trouble with any kind of intimate relationship," says Welliver. "He's been trying to mend his relationship with his ex-wife, partly for the sake of his daughter, but he's still the same guy in many ways and he fell into traps that led to problems."

Against that backdrop, he has to make it work with Maddie.

"He doesn't want to f--- it up," says Welliver. "This is the one relationship" that matters to him.

At the same time, Bosch quickly lands in the middle of a sordid case involving an Armenian gangster and porno movie producer who is married to Veronica Allen (Jeri Ryan), one of his former stars.

Veronica, above, presents a new twist even to a veteran of the hard-boiled L.A. crime scene.

"Harry is jaded," says Welliver. "But there's still a level of awkwardness. Where did the porn star come from?"

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Veronica's profession and attitude do occasionally enable Bosch to lighten the mood.

"Harry has a sense of humor," says Welliver, though the nature of his job mostly limits him to the familiar graveyard humor of cops, and not much of that.

"He doesn't joke much," says Welliver. "He has nothing but respect for victims."

Welliver himself has come to be known for characters who don't smile much, from Dr. Mondzac on NYPD Blue to prosecutor Glenn Childs on The Good Wife.

While he's not complaining - he's had steady work for a long time, in the movies and on TV - he says he wouldn't mind stretching once in a while.

"I'd love to do other things," he says. "Something totally out of left field. I'm sort of pegged as being this painfully serious guy, and that's not the case.

"I did a scene in the movie Red 2 with Bruce Willis and John Malkovich that was very comic. The director kept saying, 'Do your worst. Go as broad as you can.' That was fun."

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Other items on the 55-year-old Welliver's wish list include time behind the camera.

He's a painter, like his father Neil Welliver, so he frames scenes with a painter's eye.

"I look at everything that way," he says. "It's in my DNA. From the earliest time I watched movies or TV, I always spotted the way they were setting it up."

Then, 30 years ago, he got a guest tutorial from one of the men who set it up best.

"I was working on Mulholland Falls," Welliver recalls, "and the cinematographer was Haskell Wexler. The master. I started hang around him and one day he said, 'Would you like to look through the camera?'

"He very generously talked to me about what a director of photography does, figuring out how to capture the place they've set up. It was a very interesting conversation."

Wherever that path might lead, there's more Harry Bosch business in Welliver's immediate future.

"There's still a lot we don't know about Harry," he says, and he's talked that over with both Connelly and Eric Overmyer, who developed the TV series.

"We're exploring Harry slowly," says Welliver. "We'll find out more about his mother's murder. Every detective has that one case they haven't solved, and this is the one that haunts Harry.

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"We'll also find out more about his own history. He doesn't talk much about it, but if you put him on a witness stand and have a lawyer cross-examine him, more will come out."

Welliver says that's part of what drew him to Harry in the first place - the tangled, unspoken backstory.

"Harry's trying," Welliver says. "He's quit smoking. But the first thing we see this season is that he's running in the Hills. He shouldn't be doing that. He's too old to run in the Hills.
By David L. Phillips and Florian Qehaja

This article considers the rise of Islamic radicalization and violent extremism in Kosovo. It proposes strategies for de-radicalization by Kosovo state structures, civil society, religious figures, as well as the international community. The article draws from the "Report inquiring into the causes and consequences of Kosovo citizens' involvement as foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria (Kosovar Center for Security Studies, April 2015).

Findings

The Kosovo Government confirms 232 cases of Kosovars who have joined militant organizations in Syria and Iraq (as of January 2015). The actual figure may be considerably higher. Per capita, Kosovo has the highest number of jihadis of any country. About 60 Kosovars are known to have been killed in Syria or Iraq.

In the 1980-90s, Kosovars were motivated by a nationalist ideology. However, Islamism has been is on the rise since NATO's intervention in 1999. Radicalized Kosovars often adopt a "takfir" ideology, which distorts teachings of Islam and condones violence.

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ISIS recruits usually come from poorer, rural families in Kosovo. Close to 40 percent of Kosovars who went to Syria and Iraq have criminal records in Kosovo.

As of August 2014, 80 Kosovars have been arrested upon return from ISIS controlled territories or for recruiting Kosovars to the ISIS cause. Of these, 60 percent were released. Some are under house arrest or monitored by the authorities. The rest are unrestricted in their activities. While the police response has recently improved, the lack of involvement by other state institutions contributes to radicalization.

The Islamic Community of Kosovo (BIK) is weak and ineffective. It fails to propagate religious knowledge and scholarship that could have a moderating effect. It also downplays the potential for violent extremism among youth, contributing to radicalization.

The Internet and social media are sources of radicalization. Kosovo has a high Internet penetration rate. 76.62 percent of Kosovars use the Internet. Of these, 53.66 percent are below age 30. Hate speech and reference to conservative Islam are widespread in social media.

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Causes

Economic conditions contribute to radicalization. Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Overall unemployment is about 40 percent. Youth are hardest hit by Kosovo's stagnant economy. They lack jobs and hope for the future.

Kosovo's weak education system and high-drop-out rate also contribute to radicalization. Per capita spending on education is dramatically lower than any other country in the region.

Takfir imams radicalize youth through their sermons. Both mosques and private facilities are used to disseminate radical ideology and for recruitment.

Disillusionment results from Kosovo's failure to gain greater global recognition as a member of the international community. To date, only 112 countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state.

Youth are isolated. The EU's failure to enact visa liberalization for Kosovo compounds their sense of isolation.

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Kosovo state structures are weak due to political instability, corruption, incompetence. Serbia's political obstructionism exacerbates frustrations. Many Kosovo youth disapprove of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia (19 April 2013), and have engaged in emotional protests against the agreement and ruling elites.

Remedies

Kosovo needs a holistic approach to counter violent extremism. The holistic approach encompasses (i) prevention, (ii) de-radicalization, and (iii) reintegration. Countering violent extremism requires measures addressing its root causes (e.g. jobs, education and community-based outreach). A range of stakeholders -- state institutions, civil society, imams, and international donors - can help remedy radicalization.

The following actions are proposed: Education

-Invest in the education sector to promote critical and analytic thinking. Critical and analytic thinking is a bulwark against extremism.-Improve the education system by emphasizing pedagogic and skills training. -Expand rigorous inspection of religious teaching at mosques.

Imams

-Emphasize a religious curriculum that highlights peace and social harmony teachings in the Qur'an and hadiths.-Encourage a role for imams so devotees do not fall prey to radicalization.-Monitor unacceptable incendiary language in sermons, and make imams accountable for what they say.-Take punitive actions against imams whose teachings incite extremism.-Prevent radical imams from gaining celebrity status that may lead to a cult following.

Outreach

-Engage imams in a grass-roots dialogue with their congregants about Islam as a religion of peace. -Foster dialogue with civil society via religious charity organizations.-Organize workshops and other civil society forums on Islam.-Mobilize professors, teachers, community leaders, and credible imams as spokespersons.Grass-roots solutions

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-Adopt a community based approach.-Emphasize local faces and local efforts for outreach and advocacy. -Instruct families not to alienate family members who become devoted to Islam.

Media

-Create a Web-based platform addressing questions that youth have about Islam.-Produce short videos addressing key existential and philosophical questions about Islamic teachings.-Monitor and disable web sites that contribute to radicalization.

Security strategies

-Implement a screening process of those who return from ISIS controlled territories.-Distinguish rehabilitation activities from police work.-Make sure arrests do not create religious martyrs. -Monitor prison conditions to guard against the formation of a radicalized community in detention facilities. -Emphasize intelligence based policing. -Consider a role for imams in gathering information, which can be used by law enforcement.

Build national capacity

-Register BIK as a legal entity.-Centralize BIK's financing and enhance scrutiny of its accounts by central authorities. -Adopt a standardized curriculum for mosques, which is subject to BIK review and approval.-Expand BIK's role preventing individual financing for building mosques.

Internationalization-Monitor and regulate activities of the Turkish Development Agency (TIKA), in order to limit its financing of religious schools, mosque construction, and reconstruction of Ottoman structures.-Take a regional approach by involving stakeholders in Albania and Macedonia, who are also working to counter violent extremism.-Expand the exposure of Kosovars to European society and European values through EU visa liberalization.-Encourage greater involvement by the United States in Kosovo. Americans and Albanians have a strong kinship, which can help shape attitudes in Kosovo. -Avoid a conspicuous role for foreign donors, while welcoming their financing for rehabilitation and reintegration activities.

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Prevention, de-radicalization, and reintegration require pro-active measures. U.S. Special Forces recently gained possession of ISIS registration forms, which include 22,000 names, information on places of origin, and language capability. This intelligence asset can be used to determine which ISIS members come from Kosovo and to develop a strategy for outreach to them, their families, and communities.
TOPSHOT - The sister (L) of Mohammed Ismael, who died in one of three suicide car bombings claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group in the nearby town of Tal Tamr earlier this week, mourns during his funeral in Qamishli, a Kurdish-majority city in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, on December 13, 2015. Tal Tamr, in the Khabur region, is controlled by Kurdish forces and has been targeted in the past by IS jihadists, who in February overran much of Khabur and kidnapped at least 220 Assyrian Christians. AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

March 15, 2016 marks the fifth anniversary of the Syrian civil war, a battle that began in 2011 with scattered anti-government demonstrations and has since become a full-blown geopolitical and humanitarian crisis. So far, the conflict has mired regional and world powers in what some experts describe as a proxy war, taken more than 250,000 lives, left 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, internally displaced more than 6.5 million, forced 4.8 million into refugee life and seen the terrorist group the Islamic State rise from the ashes of Al Qaeda in Iraq to become a self-proclaimed "caliphate" that controls parts of the country.

Since the start of the crisis, numerous crimes against humanity and war crimes have been documented, including the use of nerve agents, chlorine and other toxic chemicals; indiscriminate weapons, such as barrel bombs; torture and execution; siege and the denial of assistance; and sexual violence and sex slavery. Currently, the only signs of peace are a fragile truce and fractious, stuttering peace talks that started up again on March 14. These talks will focus on stopping the violence, organizing a monitored peace and transitioning to a new government. There also will be negotiation for a possible political "out" for President Bashar al-Assad. What is not on the table is a transitional justice mechanism for the conflict's innocent victims.

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While peace and post-conflict efforts are in their infant stages, the international community must begin thinking about redress for Syrian civilians when the fighting ends. The people of Syria must not feel that they are alone in their suffering, and it is incumbent on those who value the rule of law to stand up and pledge that some day justice will be done. After all, noncombatants in this conflict have endured some of the most horrific atrocities the civilized world has ever witnessed.

Syrians collect items in the buildings that were left behind by residents fleeing violence on February 27, 2016 in the rebel-held town of Douma. (AMER ALMOHIBANY/AFP/Getty Images)

In international law, crimes against humanity and war crimes, such as those perpetrated upon innocent Syrian people, are covered under the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. However, Syria is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, so the ICC has no direct jurisdiction over the country, and efforts so far by the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution to refer the situation to the ICC have been opposed by permanent members Russia and China.

Nevertheless, justice for Syrian victims and their families can be attained, especially if the international community reaches out to the Syrian people to understand how they view justice and what mechanism -- beyond the ICC -- could work for them.

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For instance, there are four possible transitional justice mechanisms for Syria that could be organized by the U.N. outside the Security Council: a fully domestic Syrian court; an internationalized domestic court; a regional special court; or an international hybrid special court, similar to the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

A man carries a wounded girl following a reported bombardment with explosive-packed 'barrel bombs' by Syrian gov't forces in Aleppo on April 27, 2014. (Fadi al-Halabi/AFP/Getty Images)

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was created by the U.N. for the people of Sierra Leone in 2002 after that country's civil war. SCSL -- for which I was a chief prosecutor from 2002 to 2005, indicting former President Charles Taylor, who was convicted in 2012 -- used both local and international justice mechanisms. Importantly, the special court reached out to ordinary Sierra Leoneans with town hall meetings that explained the nature and purpose of the court and why it would use representative crimes in order to seek transitional justice. At the same time, these meetings enabled ordinary people to share their stories in an unofficial form of "truth and reconciliation."

In preparation for whatever transitional justice mechanism the Syrian people choose for themselves -- and working under the maxim that "justice delayed is justice denied" -- the Syrian Accountability Project, a student-run project at Syracuse University College of Law, where I now teach, has been carefully documenting atrocities that have occurred in Syria.

In recent months, SAP has turned its attention to the issue of sex crimes because somewhere within the millions affected by the conflict, there is an indeterminate number of victims of sexual violence and rape. Recognizing the severity of the sexual violence in this conflict, and closely following the conflict's fifth anniversary, on March 24, SAP will publish a white paper called "Looking Through the Window Darkly: A Snapshot Analysis of Rape in Syria, 2011-2015." The threat of rape is so grave in Syria that many families prematurely arrange their daughters' marriages to shelter them. Rape is also a primary motivator for families to flee the country.

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A young Syrian woman waits to cross the border with her family after waiting 20 hours on September 2, 2015 in Idomeni Greece. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Our white paper -- the first to closely analyze the extent of sexual violence -- draws on five years of documentation by SAP. Every year since 2011, Syracuse University students have diligently performed the somber task of gleaning open source documents for examples of crimes against humanity, using newspaper accounts and ground reports from NGOs close to the fighting, such as the Violation Documentation Center in Syria. The students record and describe the crime, then assign it an international or national statute which it violates, either from the Rome Statute, the Geneva Convention's Common Article III or Protocol Additional (II) and/or the Syrian Penal Code. Specific crimes they have documented include rape and sexual assault, the intentional targeting of civilians, extrajudicial execution, human shielding and attacking aid or medical personnel. It is important to note that evidence has been gathered on many parties on all sides of the conflict, including the Assad regime, the Free Syrian Army and jihadist groups.

SAP's work is of the utmost importance because one day it might be used in a Syrian special court, but only if the international community has the will to follow through on the wishes of the Syrian people for this or some other mechanism. Their work also is crucial because it shows the Syrian people that they are not forgotten and that their suffering will one day come to an end. Sometimes justice takes time, but it can and it does prevail. I know this from first-hand experience. We now hope and pray for a diplomatic breakthrough that will set Syria on the path to transition.

Molly E. White, juris doctor candidate (2016), Syracuse University College of Law, and chief registrar, Syrian Accountability Project, contributed to this article.

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President Obama is still trying to close Guantanamo. And Mohamedou Slahi, author of Guantanamo Diary, is still there.

Which reminds me, I have a message from Mohamedou. If you are among the dozens of people who interrogated, brutalized, and tortured him in Senegal, Mauritania, Jordan, Bagram Air Base (Afghanistan), and finally Guantanamo (Cuba) during the period 2000-2004, he would like you to read his book, correct any errors, and join him for a cup of tea, whenever that becomes possible.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi was born in Mauritania in 1970. An excellent student, he won a scholarship in 1988 to study in Germany, where he earned an engineering degree. He stayed until 1999, when he moved to Canada, and finally returned to Mauritania in 2000. In 1991-92, he went twice to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda and fight the communist government, an effort supported by the United States.

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Later suspecting ongoing al-Qaeda links and activities, the United States pressed German and Canadian authorities to investigate Mohamedou but both found the U.S. concerns unjustified. Subsequent interrogations in Senegal and Mauritania led to the same conclusion. Nevertheless, in November 2001, the United States arranged for his extraordinary rendition to a black site in Jordan, then to Bagram Air Base, and finally to Guantanamo, where he arrived in August 2002.

The increasingly severe interrogations ultimately led to a period of months in 2003-2004 during which he was kept in an isolation cell without his Koran or other personal items and was persistently deprived of sleep. He suffered shackling, hooding, beatings, sexual harassment, extreme cold, relentless loud music, death threats, and threats to kidnap and rape his mother. Throughout, Mohamedou told everything he knew and maintained he had no additional information.

Finally, suffering hallucinations and on the edge of losing himself, he reversed course. Over the next few months, he named everyone he could think of and made up stories to satisfy his interrogators.

In the summer of 2005, still in isolation but no longer being actively tortured, he wrote the manuscript of Guantanamo Diary. Though everything he wrote was initially deemed classified, his lawyers finally succeeded in getting the book published in 2015. It was edited by Larry Siems, former director of the Freedom to Write program at PEN American Center and author of The Torture Report.

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Meanwhile, despite being held in Guantanamo since 2002, Mohamedou has never been charged with any crime. In 2010 a federal judge granted his petition for habeas corpus and ordered his release. The Obama administration appealed this decision and a circuit court sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings. It remains unresolved.

One important feature of Guantanamo Diary is that the editor has provided detailed footnotes corroborating Mohamedou's story. These notes are often based on legal proceedings and government records made public through freedom-of-information-act requests by the American Civil Liberties Union.

A unique and remarkable feature of the book is that you can watch the military censors at work as you read. The editor received the manuscript with extensive redactions and has elected to include all of these black rectangles in the published book. Most pages have multiple redactions and some are blacked out entirely. Footnotes by the editor often identify or suggest what is missing.

At the end of the book is this brief author's note, apparently written by the editor, who was never permitted to communicate with the author:

In a recent conversation with one of his lawyers, Mohamedou said that he holds no grudge against any of the people he mentions in this book, that he appeals to them to read it and correct it if they think it contains any errors, and that he dreams to one day sit with all of them around a cup of tea, after having learned so much from one another.

I hope Mohamedou will not mind if I join him and invite a few guests of my own. I'd like to invite the psychologists who devised the program of torture Mohamedou experienced and the top officials of the American Psychological Association who saw no ethical problem with this (the APA reversed course in 2015). I'm sure they and Mohamedou could learn much from each other.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian community in Turkey faces security issues explained by domestic instability in Turkey and terrorist acts, expert in Turkish studies Tiran Lokmagyozyan told in a press conference at Armewnpress media hall. Armenians have double fear in such cases. The first one is that the security of the state is under threat. Besides, there are individual fears for being Armenian. It is well-known that whenever such incidents happen in Turkey, minorities, including Armenians, become the first target. We witnessed that when Turkey took measures against the Kurds, the name of Armenians could be heard more often, it seemed as if they struggled against Armenians first of all. The police made announcements by loudspeakers, calling Kurds-Armenians as a means to offend them. Or they said that Armenians head the PKK in order to weaken that organization or bring Kurds against Armenians, Tiran Lokmagyozyan said.

According to the expert, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has given an assessment to the Turkish policy, saying that supporting terrorist organizations will turn against Turkey some day.

We witness just that. Turkey makes use of such incidents by launching anti-Kurdish activities. After the previous explosion it was immediately announced that it was carried out by the PKK, but a few days later it was found out that another organization was responsible for that terror act. The recent explosion in Istanbul will also be used by Turkish authorities against Kurds, the expert said.

Though Erdogan serves the existing domestic situation in Turkey to his own goals, the expert in Turkish studies believes that this policy somehow weaken his stand. The recent explosion occurred among people loyal to Erdogan, in the centre of Ankara, next to administrative buildings. And questions arise among the public who will bear responsibility, who will leave their posts. When such incidents occur in other countries Erdogan condemns, but when the same happens in Turkey and a question of dismissing the Minister of Interior rises, Erdogan says that the security of the country is ensured, Tiran Lokmagyozyan said.

Referring to the media reports that this is the second time a terror act occurs prior to Erdogans visit to Azerbaijan, the expert in Turkish studies mentioned that even if there are any links between Erdogan and his visits to Azerbaijan, it is too early to speak about that. But the expert noted that there are differences of approaches in the relations of Turkey and Azerbaijan. Turkey has one key goal-Turanism, but Azerbaijan has no such aspirations, it pursues its own interests. If needed, Azerbaijan is ready to betray Turkey, Tiran Lokmagyozyan added.
I swore to myself that I would resist the temptation.

I fought the pull and the desire.

I tried... I really did...

But I can no longer resist...

How can I NOT comment on the U.S. presidential primaries!

Having just completed an around-the-world tour, I can report with accuracy and honesty that wherever I went, wherever I go, the topic of the U.S. elections raises its sometimes ugly, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic head as people, everywhere, perceive it as affecting them in one way or another.

And certainly the proliferation of channels and the exponential amplification effect of all the flowing 24/7 content makes it all seem up close and personal -- no matter where you are in the world.

But, lest I lead you on with false hopes of controversial political statements and nonpolitically correct commentary, full and open confession, I will not be opining about individual candidates or parties and my own personal preferences and choices...despite the fact that it is hard for me not to, particularly after this last weekend...

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Rather, I ask you to guess my preferences and probable vote...as it seems that is about all the pollsters can do -- despite the countless amounts of data that is available for their analysis...and therein lies my Ramble this week...with what I believe are important and critical questions all of us should be asking about some of the basic business assumptions around data we are being saddled with as truths.

RED-FACED is the operative word in describing the state of political polling in the world today...and I say the world because the trend is clearly global:

"Polls apart: UK experts red-faced after failing to forecast win for Cameron's Conservatives" - Fox News

"Netanyahu's shock re-election leaves Israel's pollsters red-faced" - Reuters

"Euro pollsters' track record offers pause for thought before Greek election ...Britain, Poland, Denmark and even Greece itself have left pollsters red-faced." -- NBCNews.com

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"'We were wrong': Alberta Election pollsters red-faced as Tories crush Wildrose" - National Post

Seems to me that the question that needs to be asked is obvious and clear -- in a world where we value companies at ridiculous amounts precisely because of the belief that they can predict the color of the shirt you are going to buy, and we arrive at that conclusion by the application of ever-evolving algorithms that crunch a never-ending and growing stream of data, how could I not be able to predict your vote?

Think about it -- the impulsiveness, the history and the preferences that go into the purchase of a shirt, for example, in a particular color and style seems to be far more complex than the simple are you voting for A or B when I know your affiliation and who you voted for before.

So what in the name of "who is going to win" is going on here?

Let me return the focus to North America and the US presidential primaries.

One issue seems to be the bucketing of people by assumed persona:

But one of the fundamental aspects of Trump's campaign -- which has confounded political pundits to no end -- has been his ability to find support across seemingly contradictory pockets of the American electorate. Since the start of this election, commentators have been obsessed with assigning each candidate to specific groups of voters based on their demographics, backgrounds and ideologies; Ted Cruz's base was supposed to be evangelical Christians concentrated in the south, while Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were the "establishment" guys that would appeal to moderates in northeastern suburbs. But Trump smashed through this framework by proving he was able to pick up supporters across all kinds of voters. - VICE

Read it again and imagine they are reporting on targeting you for a travel offer or a new car or that shirt I keep obsessing over (frankly because one that I will never buy seems to be following me all over...you know what I mean)...we claim we know:

Ted Cruz's presidential campaign has ramped up its aggressive voter-targeting operation, paying out more than $3m to a company that is using detailed psychological profiles to sway voters. -- The Guardian

Guess that money went to waste...but some spending seemed to work.

VICE reports on "How Bernie Sanders Pulled Off a Huge Upset in Michigan and What It Means":

Polls from earlier this week showed [Hillary Clinton] with double-digit leads, some as high as 27 points, and yet she lost to Sanders on Tuesday, 50-48 percent. How did everyone get it so wrong? The Sanders campaign invested heavily in Michigan, counting on a victory or close race there to prove that he could win big and diverse states. He outspent the Clinton campaign in Michigan in the last week before the primary but the polls barely budged. Even Sanders didn't think he would win Michigan.... Generally speaking, much of Michigan's polling leaves out cell phone users and thus huge numbers of young voters, who disproportionately back Sanders, and some minorities. Many of those pollsters used voters' history of participating in the Democratic primaries to determine how likely they were to turn out. But [Michigan State University's Matt] Grossman pointed out in an interview with VICE News on Tuesday [March 9th] that Michigan hasn't had a competitive Democratic presidential race in a while. In 2012, President Obama ran unopposed and in 2008, he failed to get on the ballot there. "So it was really hard to figure out who was going to vote," Grossman said.

So Bernie spent locally...and had any of the pollsters used insight instead of algorithm, my sense is there would have been fewer red faces...

The cell phone issue mentioned above is critical and raises many questions across many more areas than just politics:

Listen to this from NPR, "What You Need to Know About Early Polls and How to Read Them":

Polling, in general, is getting worse...Cellphones have made nearly everyone's lives easier - everyone except pollsters, that is. They can call your landline (if you have one) on an automatic dialer, but they have to dial your cellphone by hand. (In other words, and in polling terms - only "live caller" surveys are legally allowed to call cellphones.) Given the fast-growing number of cellphone-only homes (and the demography of who uses them - younger voters), that makes accurate polling a much more labor-intensive and expensive process, as calling a representative sample of landlines just takes that much more work.

Now add people, a second issue to the cellphone issue:

What's more, response rates -- how many people agree to be polled -- is way down from 30 years ago. All of that has made polls -- early or not -- less accurate with every successive election in recent years, Zukin points out.

Here's a similar argument from The New York Times:

Two trends are driving the increasing unreliability of election and other polling in the United States: the growth of cellphones and the decline in people willing to answer surveys. Coupled, they have made high-quality research much more expensive to do, so there is less of it. This has opened the door for less scientifically based, less well-tested techniques. To top it off, a perennial election polling problem, how to identify "likely voters," has become even thornier.

The obvious question is what about the Internet? We hear so much about the accuracy of "targeting and predictive analytics."

The NPR article mentioned above admits that the Internet does not yet solve the problem:

The biggest question in polling right now is what to do about it. Online polls are the future, Zukin adds, but, for now, they're just not that good of an option. They tend to be less reliable than phone polls, because they can't get a random sample -- the people who take them are a self-selecting group.

And The New York Times piece shares a similar concern:

The new economics have driven many election pollsters to the Internet, where expenses are a fraction of what it costs to do a good telephone sample. However, there are major problems with Internet polls. First is what pollsters call "coverage error." Not everybody is reachable online; Pew estimates that 87 percent of American adults are Internet users. A much bigger issue is that we simply have not yet figured out how to draw a representative sample of Internet users.

HMMMMMM, I wonder if any of the Digibabblists have paid attention? Frankly, if anyone were really paying attention, I'd bet some wild valuations of certain companies would certainly drop... N'est-ce pas?

Meanwhile USA Today sees the issue as human based -- serendipity as I call it:

Political experts pointed to three reasons the Iowa polls were off base This is an extremely volatile political climate, driven by an angry electorate whose voting preferences are difficult to gauge;

Pollsters low-balled turnout among evangelical voters and underestimated Cruz's get-out-the-vote operation;

The Iowa caucuses are uniquely tough to predict, with a quirky process and lots of last-minute deciders.

And of course there is always just plain old survival.

Referring to the 2006 Hamas elections,

Palestinian pollsters were at a loss to explain the discrepancy between the exit polls. Many voters said they had been afraid to admit to pollsters they had supported Hamas, fearing retribution.

And there you have it -- a combination of technology limitations and human quirkiness that in my opinion all add up to the notion that we are a hard group to predict, which of course immediately raises the issue of that damned shirt...

All in all, I believe the message is PEOPLE FIRST -- a soapbox I will never get off -- but one that every day seems to be getting bigger -- understand the audience -- look for insight, not just big data trends -- learn from the past by studying it - appreciate our serendipity and recognize that there are many factors at work here, and in the quiet private of the voters booth, the truth will win out.

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And I'd argue strongly that the issue is not limited to the election -- el contraire -- this is a serious business issue that effects all marketers -- all brands -- and frankly all of us..

Perhaps it's no simpler than this...listen:

People never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt. Otto von Bismarck

Limitations, serendipity, survival...the human condition...four factors that make us who and what we are...and for that I am thankful.

What do you think?
(Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post/Getty Images)

This is a runner-up in our Teens Against Trump essay contest. Read more essays from the series here.

Although I am only 16 and can't vote in the next presidential election, I would like to think I am very informed about the diversity of the intelligence levels of each candidate. If Mr. Donald J. Trump were to be elected into office, we would be victims of bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny, and just outright ignorance. To prove this theory, why not use Trump's own words, shall we?

On May 7, 2013, Donald J. Trump tweeted, "26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is misogyny. This is rape culture. In this statement, Trump is outright condoning rape as simply an act that must be expected when putting women and men together. If this man runs our country, the conviction numbers will go to zero, because according to Trump, it just happens. If Trump is president, this country will keep condoning the microaggressions and dehumanization against women that occurs every day.

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On November 6, 2012, Donald J. Trump tweeted, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."

While there is sufficient evidence proving that global warming is concrete, Trump still decides that it is not true. If Trump decides what is false and what is factual, disregarding all data, what do you expect him to do to the great nation we live in?



On August 6, 2012, Donald J. Trump tweeted, "An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud."

In case anyone forgot about Trump's blatant ignorance with suggesting that Barack Obama was not a natural-born citizen of the United States of America, here is your refresher. The ignorance that Trump showed throughout the entire situation was obtuse. He communicates without sufficient evidence.

On June 16, 2015, Donald J. Trump stated, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems. ... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

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So according to Trump, those who come into our country from Mexico -- most coming into our country for a job to support their family back home -- are rapists and criminals. Most Hispanic immigrants come into our country for the betterment of their lives. The United States is the opportunity capital of the world, and for Trump to state this is to take away the opportunities we offer the world. We are the melting pot of diversity, not xenophobia.
Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has joined Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in support of enhanced importation of prescription drugs. Specifically, Trump's plan is to: "Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products. Congress will need the courage to step away from the special interests and do what is right for America. Though the pharmaceutical industry is in the private sector, drug companies provide a public service. Allowing consumers access to imported, safe and dependable drugs from overseas will bring more options to consumers."

Sounds good. But is it really?

It is not always clear what people mean by "import prescription drugs" or, as it sometimes is said, "reimport prescription drugs." There are three possibilities. The first is to manufacture prescription drugs in a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved facility overseas, transport them to the U.S. in an FDA-approved supply chain and market them in the U.S. on terms comparable to domestically manufactured drugs. For innovator drugs that are still on patent, this would mean manufacture by the U.S. manufacturer and sale just as if they had been manufactured in the U.S. This is legal now. And I don't think any of the candidates are advocating for a policy that is tantamount to shipping drug-manufacturing jobs offshore!

The second possibility is that drugs are manufactured abroad under the auspices of the foreign government's regulatory regime (not the FDA), perhaps even in a country that does not recognize U.S. patents. Accordingly, they may be selling abroad at prices below those in the United States. Importing these drugs would do two things. The first would be to raise safety concerns because of the absence of FDA inspections in the manufacturing facilities and in the supply chain.

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The second would be that the drugs would be sold at low prices because the patent is being violated. This is tantamount to getting rid of patent protection -- something candidates are careful not to say -- which would destroy incentives to innovate and develop new therapies. It is a sure route to ending the advance of medical progress.

The third possibility is so-called reimportation. That is, allow U.S. consumers to purchase pharmaceuticals that were manufactured in (FDA-approved) U.S. facilities and exported abroad (e.g. Canada) and "reimport" them back to the U.S. Presumably, this would take place at a lower price because of government policies like price controls.

Weirdly some conservatives get seduced by this notion, and call it "free trade." "Free" trade is an abstract, academic benchmark that does not exist in the real world. One should never decide actual policy decisions on the basis of idealized notions. Even more important, quality competition would never involve price controls and price controls on competition should be an anathema to conservatives. But price controls are the only thing that is being imported - the drugs, after all, are already in the U.S. - in the form of the artificially suppressed price. Reimportation isn't good trade policy by any name.

Moreover, reimportation would not work. To begin, those drugs are being sold abroad in the quantities that are being sold and at the prices the government has mandated because the government and the consumers want them. Why in the world, would they permit large amounts to go back to the U.S. and result in either higher prices or rationed access to the drugs? They would not, and it will not happen. And from the flip side, why would a U.S. manufacturer export a large amount of drugs that simply got sent back to the U.S. to undercut U.S. contracts? It wouldn't.

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The migration crisis is a European crisis that calls for a European solution. Ever since I started my posting in the United States in January, the migration crisis in Europe has been my number one topic.

From presenting my credentials to President Obama, meetings with members of congress to conversations with visitors at our embassy: everyone wants to know how Austria, as an EU member state, has been coping with the influx and transit of several hundreds of thousand migrants since last Summer.

The urgency of this situation is clear to many Europeans, Americans and my peers, among them Ambassador Christos Panagopoulos of Greece, who has also published a blog in this publication this week.

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I was still in Austria when these unprecedented numbers of people, mostly from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, came to Europe last summer. Back then, I witnessed an incredible willingness to help by the Austrian public. But while Austria, alongside Germany and Sweden, welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees with open arms over the course of only a few months, we have now reached the turning point.

It seems evident that the refugee burden cannot rest upon Germany, Sweden and Austria alone: Austria, a country of eight million people, accepted 90 thousand applications for asylum in 2015, more than one percent of our population. If we put this into a U.S. perspective, the U.S. would have 3.4 million new asylum seekers, more than five times the population of D.C. in one year alone.

In reality, the U.S. has committed to accepting ten thousand refugees from Syria, i.e. 0.003 percent of the U.S. population. This should in no means discredit U.S. efforts, it is only to highlight the sheer numbers Austria is confronted with.

For 2016, the Austrian government has just introduced an intake cap of 37,500 refugees, a policy some have criticized as "un-European". But it is our understanding that we have to act and implement measures to relieve the pressure this unprecedented crisis has caused for our society.

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This is certainly not an "anti-European" approach. Our government has always and will continue to call for a European solution and to show solidarity with those in need, as even Austria's capped intake quota will remain one of the highest in Europe in 2016. However, as long as some members of the European Union are not forthcoming to working with the most affected destination countries like us, Austria sees itself forced to act unilaterally and through special agreements with neighboring countries. On February 24, 2016, Austria convened the conference "Managing Migration Together", which was attended by the ministers of foreign affairs and of the interior of Croatia, Slovenia and other countries of the Western Balkans. This conference was an important step towards a solution to the uncontrolled inflow of people to Central Europe and an important step for Austria to reduce the strain this crisis has put on our social welfare state and our sense of community.

All participants agreed that efficient management of the migration and refugee crisis requires a coordinated and comprehensive approach addressing all aspects in order to find sustainable and fundamental rights-compliant solutions, and not only temporary results. This includes increased efforts of all relevant EU actors and partners. Persons in need of international protection should receive protection as soon and as close to their countries of origin as possible.
In Flint, Michigan, the camera crews have packed up after the Democratic presidential debate at which the city's water crisis was a favorite topic. The Members of the U.S. Congress have concluded their fact-finding trip to look at the response to Flint's poisoning through polluted water. The lead pipes are being dug up and replaced. The crisis in Flint has passed, right?

Wrong.

After initial crises subside and public attention wanes, there is a risk that progress will slow and those in need will be forgotten. Flint residents know all too well what it means to be ignored and left behind. They also know how to demand action. Amid the total failure of management and oversight that allowed Flint's water supply to be drawn from the polluted Flint River for more than a year, it was the community and its allies who broke through institutional resistance and compelled the local government to fix the problem.

There are crises of this sort across the country, with communities facing shortfalls in in public health, employment, education, law enforcement and a host of other areas. Because public attention and resources always fluctuate, communities must demand dialogue with public and private leadership when they fail to meet even the most basic needs of residents--and keep up the pressure once people are paying attention. Flint residents are showing three effective ways to go about this, and their efforts hold important examples for communities in crisis.

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Speak Out

Almost immediately after Flint's water supply was switched to contaminated water, residents noticed disturbing changes in the smell, taste and color of their water. And just as quickly, they began using social media and public protest to declare their valid grievance. They found many deaf ears, but that spurred louder voices. Those voices continue to speak out today.

Social media is a powerful vehicle for expressing the popular will, and so too are organized marches and protests. The press is also needed. Community advocates and leaders are positioned to bring concerns to the public square and to the attention of professional and citizen journalists, who can in turn raise the message to a level public servants cannot miss or ignore. This forces a dialogue between stakeholders. The idea is to speak up with all the means available to you--and to do so relentlessly.

Find Strength in Numbers

Rallying cohorts and building coalitions around similar interests can help break through opposition. There is a growing coalition of groups in Flint working to address what will be life-long consequences for the thousands of people who were exposed to high lead levels. This is critical. Even after the lead pipes are replaced, the health impacts contaminated water has had will span a generation.

For example, many Flint residents live in what are called "food deserts," where they lack ready access to retailers selling healthy food. Beyond obvious health benefits, fresh fruits and vegetables also help reduce lead absorption. Encouraging the growth of venues for accessible fresh food in Flint neighborhoods will impact the community's long-term recovery from the water crisis. The Flint Farmer's Market has been an oasis of fresh food in the city, but one market isn't enough. It will take collective effort from many stakeholders to expand access to fresh food in Flint.

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Uniting towards a common need brings attention to community-identified priorities. More voices carry more weight and encourage dialogue on difficult issues. For all communities facing bureaucratic harms, Flint's example underscores the importance of building coalitions with natural allies.



Seek Outside Support

It took proactive effort from doctors and other scientists to prove that Flint's water was dangerous. The catalyst for their efforts was, in part, the public demand for dialogue on whether the water was safe. The efforts of these professionals set off a chain reaction that made the crisis an undeniable public priority. For her efforts in bringing the water crisis to light, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha (as well as former Flint resident LeeAnne Walters) will be awarded the Freedom of Expression Courage Award by the literary group PEN America.

Doctors aren't the only professionals who can amplify community voices, affect change, and find personal and professional rewards for it. As well as promoting the public welfare, there are often incentives for professionals to work with communities on a pro bono basis. In the legal profession, for example, there are programs that reward lawyers in the form of continuing legal education credits for supporting their local community. For lawyers, teachers, scientists and others, don't just lament societal ills; find a way to take action.
House of Cards season four, released March 4, transports fans out of the reality of a political race that feels like it's bordering on fiction into a faux political campaign ripe with the deception we believe must exist in the real one. But this season might bear more resemblance to reality than we'd like.

Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump continues to surprise the country and the Republican party with his imminent rise to the nomination. Supporters are turning out in droves to his rallies, and he's leading in the primaries. Despite numerous comments that would have knocked other political candidates out of the running immediately if not caused permanent damage to their political careers -- building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, banning Muslims from the country, refusing to participate in a debate based on his opinion of a female news anchor -- Trump, instead, gains votes and popularity.

In this season, current president Frank Underwood is fighting to keep his position of power. Despite his less than favorable standing in his own race, viewers are drawn to Underwood and his relentless selfish actions. Part of the appeal of House of Cards is that, for the first time ever, viewers don't feel like they're being lied to by their politicians. Frank and Claire are cold-hearted and self-interested. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want, and they make those motivations clear. The American public seems to be craving a similar kind of frankness from its real politicians.

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Many Trump supporters repeat similar stock phrases. He's honest. He says what he believes. He has the courage of his convictions. Frank Underwood embodies the same kind of candor. This cold-hearted, realist approach to government, which seems to go against the normal formula for a president, might be exactly what we're looking for. Someone who says exactly what they mean, even if what they mean is racist or that they only have their own best interest at heart.


St. Patrick's Day Bubble and Squeak (The Eating of the Green)

The nutty name comes from the sound of potatoes bubbling on the boil and then squeaking in the hot skillet. My potatoes don't always squeak, but my husband loves this dish. I love it because it's quick, easy and a brilliant use of greens.

You can make it even more nutrient-dense by swapping sweet potatoes for baking potatoes, you can ramp up the flavors by adding a tablespoon of nutritional yeast or teaspoon of smoked paprika or curry powder, but you owe it to yourself -- and the Irish -- to try the simple farm-fresh original.

1 pound baking potatoes (about 2), halved and chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 tablespoons vegan butter (such as Miyoko's or Earth Balance)

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 bunch kale, 1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced into ribbons or a dozen or so Brussels sprouts, halved

a handful fresh thyme leaves, optional

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Add chopped potatoes to a large pot. Cover with about an inch of water. Bring to a boil, then let them bubble away, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender and yield when poked with a fork or knife, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander. (Potatoes may be cooked up to a day ahead, then cooled, tightly covered and refrigerated. Remove from fridge and bring them back to room temperature for about an hour before proceeding.)

In a 10-inch skillet, melt vegan butter over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and turn golden. Add chopped kale or cabbage or Brussels sprouts, and give a quick saute, stirring frequently, until the greens are tender but still bright, about 5 minutes.

Mix in potatoes, mashing and stirring them into the onions and greens. Go for lumpy and hashlike, not fluffy and uniformly mashed. Sprinkle in thyme leaves, if using, and season everything generously with sea salt and pepper.

Use a wooden spoon or spatula to press everything down to form a cake. Cook, without stirring, until potatoes squeak and underside is crusty and golden, about 10 minutes.

Serve at once. Or if you're feeling adventurous, place a large plate over the top of the skillet and carefully turn out the potato cake, so the crusty side is on top. If it comes out in pieces, no worries, just press everything back into place. Then slide it back into the skillet and cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Eat. Enjoy.

Serves 4.


"The course of recent events has made it apparent we need to go outside of the Democratic Party to effect real change," Dr. Jill Stein said in a phone interview last week.

American politics is a two party system. The country is roughly split down geographic lines that mirror an ideological divide: urban liberal elites versus rural conservative populists.

Democrats versus Republicans.

The deadlocked split between the two main forces in American politics hasn't allowed for a viable third party movement. The Republican Party has successfully absorbed right wing movements and the Democrats have absorbed left wing movements.

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"The idea that the Democrats are going to save us is ridiculous," said Stein. She points to trade deals as evidence of this.

"Who is pushing the Trans Pacific Partnership? President Obama and the Democrats." Stein said that the legislation would have lasting detrimental consequences for the US and the world.

"The TPP is putting investors on same level of nation states," Stein explained. "Anyone who supports it should be taken to court and accused of treason. The TPP is dismantling of the framework of democracy. And the fact is, the Democrats are leading the charge."

Stein has been thoroughly unimpressed with the Obama years.

The Obama presidency has spent its time "expanding war and attacking our civil liberties," said Stein. "On civil liberties, on the press, using the espionage laws, Obama has been the worst president in history. And there's been no-one worse for immigrants."

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Stein is unhappy with the Obama administration's record on the environment as well. "There's a lot of lovely rhetoric on climate change, but no action. Production of fossil fuel has skyrocketed under Obama."

The administration's self-proclaimed environmental successes don't ring true for Stein.

"Even while they patted themselves on the back for Paris, behind closed doors they were lifting the ban on oil exports from the US. To lift that is to massively increase oil production" and correlatively increase the global destruction of the environment.

Stein acknowledges that her supporters are amenable to the goals of the Democrats to varying degrees, and that many will vote for the party in close elections. But, she said, this support is part of the problem.

"Reformist campaigns in the Democratic Party hold us back," she explained. Working to fix a broken political wing of the deep state, Stein said, cannot result in positive and lasting movements for the left.

"The deep state is written into the DNA of the Democratic Party," Stein said.

"Deep state" is shorthand for "predatory banks, fossil fuel giants, and the war industry." A consequence of concentrated political power in the hands of just two parties is a correlated concentration of targeted influence by the powerful.

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"That deep state cabal is calling the shots behind closed doors," Stein said, "And in order to catch the predator, you must name it."

"You can't just attack the billionaires, you have to go after the political parties in bed with the billionaires."

It's a veiled swipe at Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders is riding a populist wave to a strong challenge for the Democratic nomination.

"There are many things about Sanders that are great. We agree on a lot domestically," said Stein. "But to allow yourself to be lulled into compliance with the Democratic Party means you're allowing yourself to be reined in from establishing a real progressive message."

Stein said that she wished Sanders wouldn't divert his energy into a presidential campaign for the Democrats. "Sanders has taken the right domestic positions in the wrong party," she sighed. They will seek to destroy his campaign if he gets close to securing the nomination."

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There's ample historical precedent to back up her statement. In 1944, Henry Wallace's bid for the Democrat Party's vice-presidential nomination was defeated as the DNC shut off his mic at the convention and gave the duties to Truman.

"You don't have to even go that far back," Stein said, "The DNC installed a kill switch to prevent a true progressive nominee after McGovern got the nomination in 1972."

McGovern's resounding defeat was followed a decade later with the DNC changing the rules for super-delegates. The super-delegates were given outsized power to ensure an acceptable nominee for the party's patrons.

"Clinton is stacking delegates already," Stein sighed, "It's over. The party machinery is behind her. They destroyed Howard Dean and they destroyed Dennis Kucinich. The Democratic Party will dismantle any truly threatening campaign."

Stein and the Green Party are offering an alternative to the Democrats, she said. The Green Party represents a real leftist party in American politics that will stand by its principles. And if Stein is lucky enough to be the party's nominee again in 2016, she hopes to bring the party's message from its nominating convention in Houston in August to the nation.

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"The Democrats won't do it for us," she said. "We have to establish a political vehicle."

That vehicle includes a "Green New Deal" which Stein says will green the economy and social
The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church to be held in Crete during Pentecost has prompted a great deal of discussion. The affirmation at the January Synaxis of Primates in Chambesy to proceed with the Council was historic and almost one hundred years in the making. With the stage set, this essay will examine three points: an historical framework with which to view the June 2016 Council; the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and, the politics behind the Council with a focus on the Russian Orthodox Church.

1. From St. Constantine to Crete

Constantine the Great called the First Ecumenical Council in 325. In this first Council of Nicaea, the now well-known number of 318 assembled bishops - although the number actually present was likely lower - condemned and rejected Arianism. Following about one month of deliberations, the Creed, with the key word homoousios (one in essence) emphasizing the unity of the Father and Son, was complete. The Council also dealt with matters of Church administration.

Let us highlight three points from Nicaea and overlay them with the upcoming Council in Crete.

First, the Ecumenical Council was summoned at the beginning, and confirmed at the end, by St. Constantine the Great. This is consistent with the first requirement outlined in a sixth-century treatise that for a council to be considered as ecumenical it must be convened by the Emperor.

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Does the absence of an Emperor diminish the Holy and Great Council's legitimacy and potential? No. The ecclesiastical and political factors of the twenty-first-century differ from the context in the Ancient Church. Georges Florovsky writes that, "In a certain sense the General Councils as inaugurated at Nicaea may be described as Imperial Councils."

Second, on representation, the senior bishop in primacy of honour, Sylvester of Rome, was actually absent on account of old age and illness. He was represented by two priests who enjoyed a privileged position and even signed the acts before the bishops. Approval of council decisions by the Bishop of Rome/his proxies was sought-after in deference to his seniority and to ensure the unity of the Church.

Concerning participation in Crete, John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne who was present in Chambesy, noted during the Annual Schmemann Lecture that: "Not an insignificant portion of the hierarchy feels that the presence of lower clergy, non-bishops and certainly laity, is just not the same as having a bishop at a council." While almost all participants at a council should be bishops (or their proxies), as overseers of the Church, there is significant precedence for both the absence of some church leaders and the active participation of non-bishops. For example, the discussion around the meaning and importance of homoousios at Nicaea was led in large part by St. Athanasius, who, although he eventually became Archbishop of Alexandria, was "just" a deacon when he went to the First Ecumenical Council.

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Third, the Council was a deliberative assembly with a final vote usually unnecessary. Florovsky writes, "The collegiality of the bishops was assumed..." (although it did not hurt that an overseeing Emperor could threaten cantankerous clergy with exile). The key takeaway here is that decisions were not - and need not be - unanimous; otherwise, Arius and his supporters could have vetoed the decisions of Nicaea. The demand for unanimity by some has no more significance today than it did in 325, when it had none.

On the decision making process and acceptance, it should be noted that consensus requires dissension. While it is beyond the scope of this essay to detail the conditions for authenticity, suffice it to say that council decisions and outcomes must be divinely inspired, consistent with Apostolic Tradition and received positively by the faithful who are the people of God. Many local councils and even some which clothed themselves with the "Ecumenical" title and followed proper procedure were discredited and rejected. Decisions must seem good to the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 15:28) - this is the ultimate test, not the approval of every single participating bishop, some of whom may wish to play 'God'.

2. The Role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

In the absence of an Emperor, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has been entrusted by the Church with this leadership role. The Great Church in Captivity - the epithet coined by Sir Steven Runciman for the See of Constantinople during Ottoman rule - has served as the Ever-Illuminant Lighthouse of the Orthodox World. This is not a romanticized view of the Ecumenical Patriarchate but a historical reality.

Its power does not derive from government support, nor does its prestige spring forth from a conjured reality; instead, Constantinople's primacy of honour comes from the canons and decisions of Ecumenical Councils, Church Tradition and a certain phronema (mindset) inspired, by among other things, Constantinople's influence over ecclesiastical affairs throughout the centuries (e.g., architecture, iconography, missionary activity and hymnography), as well as the sixty-one recognized saints who have served as Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome (not "Second" Rome) and Ecumenical Patriarch. This spiritual maturity, or institutional memory, has been cultivated over 1,700-years.

It is Constantinople and its head, currently His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is entrusted with the coordination and ministry of pan-Orthodox unity and must at all times act with prudence consistent with its centuries-old responsibility to ensure all remain one. It is Constantinople who gave or raised to autocephalous status a number of Orthodox Churches, particularly in the twentieth-century. It is Constantinople who calls and chairs meetings of Primates, as it did in Chambesy or in 2014 for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It is Constantinople where newly elected patriarchs (or archbishops) first visit after their enthronement.

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Similar to the respect shown to Rome during the first millennium of Christendom, autocephalous churches now defer to Constantinople as the first among equals.

While the fourteen autocephalous churches are independent and no local church, including Constantinople, should interfere in the internal operations of another, there is also a system of order in the Church and the one who maintains it par excellence is the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

3. The Politics Behind the Holy and Great Council

Let us now turn our attention to the more politically-charged dynamics with a focus on the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and its head, Patriarch Kirill.

Following the recent Synaxis of Primates, the ROC held its Sacred Bishops' Council in Moscow. This gathering gave Kirill the platform to favourably spin the outcomes from Chambesy, particularly with regards to Ukraine. The ROC even issued the following news release: "Unilateral recognition of schism in Ukraine will have catastrophic consequences for the unity of the Orthodox Church" (my emphasis) even though many parishes in Ukraine nominally under the ROC do not even commemorate Kirill during the Divine Liturgy. In any event, such provocative and torqued rhetoric is scandalous and it can be argued that it draws attention to the lack of spiritual maturity of the current ROC leadership.

Yet it was Kirill's tete-a-tete with Pope Francis in Cuba that captured the world's attention. The ROC, which has been pursued for decades by the Vatican for such a meeting, strategically timed the use of this ace in the hole to outdo Bartholomew and try to suppress his image as the leader of global Orthodoxy.

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The media coverage was surely pleasing to the ROC with commentators often describing it as the "most powerful" Orthodox Church and other such misleading claims. This includes the impression that the meeting followed a 1,000-year separation despite the ROC only becoming independent from its Mother, Constantinople, in 1448 - but why let facts get in the way of a good headline. Needless to say, ROC officials did not correct the record; the Joint Declaration even referenced "the shared heritage of the Church of the first millennium" in spite of the fact that the ROC has minimal actual connection to it. Such statements may elevate the ROC in the minds of some, but they are disconnected from reality in the minds of most.

The meeting, according to insiders, was only made possible because the Kremlin (where Kirill was granted a residence in 2011) considered it in its own interest. President Vladimir Putin, according to the New York Times, "could have blocked the meeting but apparently concluded that it could burnish his global standing and undermine Western efforts to isolate Russia with sanctions over the Ukraine conflict." This was more or less confirmed by Kirill who recently remarked that his meeting with Pope Francis could help lower the tension between Russia and NATO - as if Kirill is a servant in Putin's political games.

As a side note, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in a rare show of strategic social media use (an area where they can learn much from the ROC) used two Tweets to express its happiness with the Pope-Patriarch meeting (here), as well as silently show the leadership of Bartholomew (here).

Regardless of the rhetoric and jockeying for positioning in global Orthodoxy, any Constantinople-Moscow comparative discourse only serves to elevate the perception of the latter. In truth, Kirill is Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; and Bartholomew is the Ecumenical Patriarch. Interestingly, though, the ROC, like the government of Turkey, avoids (or refuses) to use the word "Ecumenical" both for the Patriarch and his See, instead referring to it simply as the 'Patriarchate of Constantinople' in a sophomoric attempt to minimize this unassailable appellation from the seventh-century.

Conclusion

Florovsky, referencing V. V. Bolotov, writes that, "Church is ecclesia, an assembly, which is never adjourned." This Orthodox ethos, its unbreakable bond with tradition (paradosis) and with the faith of the Apostles, is unique in Christendom. This relationship is a source of strength but when taken to an extreme, where the Church's living tradition can no longer be nurtured, it becomes a weakness.

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Orthodox spirituality and its Christ-centred mystical tradition as exemplified by the Hesychast Councils of the fourteenth-century have much to offer the world. The Holy and Great Council in Crete is an opportunity for the Church to emphasize its unity and articulate and proclaim a modern-day message that conforms to Apostolic Tradition but still relevant in today's society.

The intra-Orthodox and inter-Christian dialogue will intensify before the 300 or so bishops from around the world gather in June. As His All-Holiness has remarked, "This is the moment of Orthodoxy." It is incumbent upon church hierarchs to demonstrate the relevancy and richness of Orthodox Christianity and not be distracted by the dissenting wrangling promulgated by some.
ANKARA, TURKEY - MARCH 14: Family members and relatives of car bombing victim Murat Gul mourn over a coffin during the funeral ceremony in a mosque on March 14, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to defeat terrorism after 37 people were killed and 125 people injured when a car bomb exploded on March 13th in the busy square in Turkish capital of Ankara. Sources suggest the suspected bomber was a female member of the outlawed Kurdistan WorkersParty (PKK). (Photo by Gokhan Tan/Getty Images)

"We have to get used to living with terrorism," a columnist for a government-backed Turkish newspaper said yesterday after another deadly bombing in Ankara.

But Turkish citizens' raw emotion showed everything but inurement. Turkey doesn't have to get used to this horror, if Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acts wisely now.

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Although no group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, which killed 37 people, suspicion has fallen on the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, a splinter group of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. After a bombing last month, also in Ankara, the TAK warned, "From now on, the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development party] and its collaborators won't be able to live in a fascist dictatorship so comfortably in their own city." Turkish officials stated this morning that they identified one of the reported bombers, a 24-year-old woman from the eastern city of Kars, who supposedly joined the ranks of the PKK in 2013.

Members of emergency services at the scene of an explosion in Ankara on March 13. (Riza Ozel/Hurriyet Daily via AP)

The recent attacks could be a harbinger of more to come; it seems the whole armed Kurdish movement is preparing for a violent spring. Or, more precise, the armed left in Turkey is preparing. Just this weekend, the PKK, which started its violent campaign against the Turkish state in 1984, announced that it will coordinate its strength, strategy and attacks with some ten Turkish leftist armed groups from now on. This renewed cooperation indicates violence could spread further across Turkey.

At the same time as the bomb attack in Ankara, the Turkish army cracked down in the mainly Kurdish cities of Yuksekova and Sirnak in the southeast. The cities are now under indefinite curfew. Such curfews, which enable army operations against militant groups entrenched in the towns, have led to considerable civilian deaths. As Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of a leftist party rooted in the Kurdish political movement put it, "New operations mean new massacres." Kurdish cities in the southeast will not be the only places prone to violence in the coming weeks. Ever since a ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed last summer, Kurdish politicians are increasingly blamed for the violence in the country. The government wants to lift parliamentary immunity from several People's Democratic Party politicians, including Demirtas. During parliamentary elections last year, nationalists carried out many attacks against HDP offices across the country. To assume this will not resume is naive.

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A man holds his daughter as he looks out at the ruined houses of Cizre, Turkey on March 2. (Cagdas Erdogan/Getty Images)

Turkey's massacres have become, in short, predictable. And even if the Kurdish armed movement is responsible for the last two attacks in Ankara, it is only Turkey's powerful president who can turn the tide. If he were brave, he would stop seeking absolute power and instead make his top priority the safety of his people. He would start talks again with the Kurdish leader who holds power over those who commit this violence, the imprisoned Abdullah Ocalan.

Talking to him again and giving him the opportunity to talk to those who consider him their leader is the only way to turn the tide. It would show that the government is willing to negotiate again and ready to abandon ineffective efforts to stop violence with violence. This willingness, combined with an immediate halt to operations in the southeast, might be enough for both the TAK and the PKK to give the negotiating table a chance, to change their strategy from pursuing an all-out war against the state.

If Erdogan doesn't act now, he will soon not be able to control the violence. If he continues to push towards an executive presidency with himself in the seat, he will be a man with considerable power -- except the power to force a violent genie back into its bottle.

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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Russia, as strategic partners, in cooperation within the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union, hold regular meetings on various platforms on Presidential levels. The Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, Doctor of Political Sciences Sergey Minasyan told reporters today at a press conference.

"Presidents S. Sargsyan and V. Putin meet 5-6 times a year on different platforms. They are mainly working meetings. "According to him, sometimes there are issues that need further discussions or solutions."I refer to the cooperation in the energy sector, for example, in regard to gas prices. Naturally, discussions related to the current situation of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, possible developments, regional security issues were discussed during the Sargsyan-Putin meeting. "

The analyst also referred to tensions of Russian-Turkish relations, in this context, the need for strengthening protection and security of the Armenian-Turkish border. "Russia, as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, takes measures to make the Armenian-Turkish border more secure, because the border is also the southern border of the Eurasian Economic Union ... Naturally, the Syrian conflict was discussed, and Serzh Sargsyan expressed support for the Russian policy in Syria. "

Sergey Minasyan also spoke about the publication of A. Khramchikhin in the Russian media about Armenian weapons. "I do not believe that the man is a known military expert, because he, who disseminates such information, cannot be an analyst. It was a superficial analysis, the published information is false and has nothing to do with the President's working visit. Given the accuracy of this information, only open sources can be based upon. I really cannot understand the active discussions that take place based on this kind of superficial publications, "he said.

Mary Hambardzumyan
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reads from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19, NRSV). "Today these words are fulfilled in your hearing," he boldly proclaims (Luke 4:21). The year of the Lord's favor which Jesus announces is the Jubilee Year described in the Book of Leviticus. God commands Israel to observe a Jubilee Year, a "sabbath of Sabbaths," every 49th year: this is a year in which slaves are freed, debts are forgiven, farm land and animals are allowed to rest, and, most importantly, land is redistributed. This is a year of social, economic, and environmental justice. Jesus' message is radical in the true sense, in that it expresses the root values of liberation and equality at the heart of Judaism, values which resonate with the Israelites' core identity as a community of slaves liberated by God from the tyranny of Pharaoh.

In an age that has seen the rich grow absurdly, unprecedentedly rich and the poor decline into abject, debilitating poverty, Sanders is the only major presidential candidate willing to sufficiently problematize the ever-widening wealth gap in our nation and world, and to offer revolutionary solutions to restore a level of economic equality consistent with a free society. As president, he would lead efforts to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, rebalancing our society and restoring our middle class.

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Our national and global economies are rigged in favor of a super-rich multi-millionaire and billionaire class that continues to consolidate its political power with each election cycle. This class of people controls and distorts our legislative process such that their personal and business interests come first and foremost, while the interests of ordinary Americans are obfuscated and neglected. Time and again, when it comes to issues like climate change, we see fossil fuel interests dictating absurd policies which are recklessly destructive of life. This pattern of corporate control of politics repeats itself in our trade deals, our foreign policy, and all along the spectrum of the military-industrial complex, including our disastrous for-profit prison system. Case by case the interests of the American people and the people of the world are drowned out by the money and power of the super rich. Our politicians go along with this madness because they are bought and paid for with campaign contributions, speaking fees, the promise of future private sector jobs, and other forms of bribery. The American people see clearly that our government is no longer functioning as a democracy, but as an oligarchy. We are being ruled by the owners of corporations who prioritize their own profits and do not really care about us or other life-forms on this planet. In protest against this blatant corruption of our political system, Sanders is the sole major candidate calling for a political revolution and walking the walk by not relying on campaign funding from millionaires and billionaires who spend unlimited sums buying elections through super PACS.
With a few days left in the States before I go abroad again, my old college friend took me on a road trip through Long Island. We drove from Stony Brook to Montauk, the easternmost point of the island.

Our first stop was a quick pullover at the Memory Motel because I had done some research earlier in the week and found out that back in 1975-76, the Rolling Stones had rented out Eothen, Andy Warhol's five-house compound to work on their 13th album, Black and Blue and would sometimes hang out at the bar of the motel. Apparently, it had the only piano and pool table in town. I still wonder how Warhol had a huge compound with five houses on it, but couldn't find a place to put a piano or pool table on it anywhere... but, anyway... the few visits to the motel did actually inspire them to write one of their underrated gems, "Memory Motel," on yes, their Black and Blue album.

We then tried to see Eothen, but it was designated as private property with 'No Trespassing' signs on the driveway. Supposedly, the current owner is Mickey Drexler, the CEO of J. Crew.

Next, we drove to Montauk Point Light, a beautiful lighthouse that was first lit in 1797! It is now considered a National Historic Landmark. It doesn't officially open for the 2016 season until May, so I was only able to get photos from outside the gates.

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The next stop was the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center. This is the home and art studios of famous abstract expressionist painters Jackson Pollock and his wife (also an acclaimed abstract expressionist in her own right) Lee Krasner. They bought the home in 1945 for $5,000. Pollock had a barn behind the house converted into his studio. Krasner donated part of the wetlands behind their home to The Nature Conservancy after Pollock's death. This is also a National Historic Landmark. Again, as it was February, the official 'open' season had not yet commenced. It will resume operation for visitors in May 2016.

The Pollock-Krasner House -- bought in 1945 for $5,000.

Rumor has it that Peggy Guggenheim lent them $2,000 for the down payment in exchange for some artwork.

Pollock's barn converted into a studio.

Part of the wetlands donated by Krasner to The Nature Conservancy.

The final stop was at Old Hook Mill, another historic landmark. This is a gorgeous windmill that was built in 1806 and operated effectively for over a hundred years. It will be open for visitors in July 2016.
Flint, Michigan residents are in crisis, placed in a situation no one in this country should have to face. Their water is contaminated with lead, putting their health at risk. But while the city's situation is extreme, it is not alone in its challenges.

Other communities nationwide could face a similar public health emergency if elected officials don't act to beef up U.S. water infrastructure. In recent years there have been reports of high levels of lead in the water supply in Washington, D.C. and Providence, R.I., among other places. However, public concern should also be focused on the state of the aging pipes that deliver water to the homes of millions of Americans.



This matter is a ticking time bomb that must be addressed by policymakers at all levels of government. That's why the Teamsters last year rolled out its "Let's Get America Working" platform that specifically addressed the need to invest in better water facilities.

A 2013 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) only rated the nation's drinking water a "D", noting much of the country's water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. The document states, "America's drinking water systems are aging and must be upgraded or expanded to meet increasing federal and state environmental requirements that add to the funding crisis. Not meeting the investment needs of the next 20 years risks reversing the environmental, public health, and economic gains of the last three decades."

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The cost over the next 25 years could reach more than $1 trillion, according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA). The group notes the needs are greater than $1,000 per person in five regions: Far West, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Plains and Southwest. Capital spending has not kept pace with needs for water infrastructure. The trend toward state and local governments' assuming the bulk of the investment requirements in the coming decades will continue, with local governments paying an increasing share of the costs.

A recent report by AWWA notes the top priority is replacing underground pipes, much of which were put in place more than 50 years ago. Delaying the process, the group says, could lead to higher rates of pipe breakage and a reduction in quality of water services. Household water bills will climb higher as a result.

And while much of the public focus might be on urban areas' water systems, the larger challenge could lie in smaller jurisdictions. The U.S. has more than 52,000 water systems, but some 82 percent of Americans are served by just eight percent of these systems. These smaller utilities will face even larger economic challenges to upgrade their infrastructure because they serve fewer customers but require more pipe miles per customer due to their more rural nature.

Just because these water challenges are widespread, of course, doesn't mean Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder should be let off the hook for what's going on in Flint. The situation there is a tragedy that Michiganders have been aware of and city residents have been dealing with since April 2014. Decisions made by state officials over the last year-and-a-half have led to a community being forced to use water from the Flint River - a source that has been found to contain unacceptable levels of lead.

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Five years ago, on March 17, 2011, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 (2011) authorizing "regional organizations or arrangements...to take all necessary measures...to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack" in Libya. The resolution was adopted with ten votes for, none against, and five abstentions.

In explaining the reason for its abstention, India implicitly questioned the narrative propagated by the U.S., France, and the UK, which depicted Qaddafi as bordering on genocidal. India noted that Resolution 1973 authorized "far-reaching measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, with relatively little credible information on the situation on the ground in Libya."

India was right to question the credibility of the narrative that was employed to ensure the adoption of Resolution 1973. For starters, the protests were not as peaceful as the pro-intervention narrative suggests. Some protesters in Libya had taken up arms from the first day of the uprising on February 15, 2011, and many more began using violent means soon after. Further, based on the events prior to the adoption of Resolution 1973, there was no indication that Qaddafi's threats were aimed at anyone other than those who took up arms against his regime.

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On April 14, 2011, Alan Kuperman asked whether President Obama had used a false pretense for war in Libya, noting that after nearly two months of fighting in Misrata, a city of 400,000 people, 257 people had been killed, including combatants. Of the 949 who had been wounded, 22--less than three percent--were women. Clearly, these statistics do not support the accusations that Qaddafi's forces were indiscriminately attacking cities and cutting down anyone who stood in opposition to his regime.

According to Kuperman, Qaddafi's "acts were a far cry from Rwanda, Darfur, Congo, Bosnia, and other killing fields. Libya's air force, prior to imposition of a UN-authorized no-fly zone, targeted rebel positions, not civilian concentrations. Despite ubiquitous cellphones equipped with cameras and video, there is no graphic evidence of deliberate massacre. Images abound of victims killed or wounded in crossfire -- each one a tragedy -- but that is urban warfare, not genocide." Even before Kuperman's assessment of the justification for intervention in Libya, David Kirkpatrick reported in The New York Times on March 21, 2011 that "the rebels feel no loyalty to the truth in shaping their propaganda...making vastly inflated claims of his [Qaddafi's] barbaric behavior."

All of this is consistent with what the Obama administration knew, which we now also know, thanks to the release of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails. As Dan Kovalik recently detailed, a March 30, 2011 email from Sidney Blumenthal to Secretary Clinton stated that the "humanitarian motive offered is limited, conditional and refers to a specific past situation." "In other words," wrote Kovalik, "while NATO would go on bombing for another 7 months, Blumenthal is already admitting that there is really no humanitarian basis for continuing the conflict."

This information was never written into the official narrative, because it was important for the U.S. and NATO that their war of aggression retained its "humanitarian" character. Of course, there was nothing humanitarian about the intervention. If the U.S. and NATO were truly concerned with the security of Libya's citizens, rather than launching 14,202 strike sorties by the middle of May 2011, they would have supported the creation of a humanitarian corridor. As Vijay Prashad noted, "The real humanitarian intervention there would have been to have conducted the creation of a corridor, a momentary ceasefire, let people leave as war refugees, and then see what happens, because this is not strictly the case in Benghazi of unarmed civilians fighting against a state."

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Instead, the U.S. and NATO repeatedly stood in the way of proposed ceasefires. Prior to the initiation of the "humanitarian" bombing campaign, Qaddafi proposed a ceasefire between his forces and the rebels, which was rejected. A second ceasefire offer, developed by the main regional stakeholder, the African Union, and supported by Qaddafi was rejected on April 10. The AU proposal called for a ceasefire, the creation of corridors for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and a dialogue to open discussions on reforming Libya's political system. A similar proposal was again rejected on April 29.

Clearly, the protection of life was not chief among U.S. and NATO's concerns. This is made even clearer by the U.S. and NATO's continuous military support for the rebels even as they committed war crimes. In its March 2012 report, the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya found that the rebels committed "acts of extrajudicial executions of those perceived to be loyalists, suspected mercenaries and captured Qadhafi soldiers, particularly when towns first came under control of thuwar (anti-Qaddafi forces)." Again, thanks to the release of Clinton's emails, we know that the Obama administration was aware that the rebels were committing crimes by as early as ten days into the bombing campaign. In a March 27, 2011 email from Blumenthal, Clinton was informed that "one rebel commander stated that his troops continue to summarily execute all foreign mercenaries in the fighting."

The U.S. and NATO perpetrated a war of aggression against Libya under knowingly false "humanitarian" pretenses. Further, while conducting their war of aggression, they materially supported the armed opposition with the knowledge that the rebels were committing war crimes. That adds complicity in the rebels' crimes to their "humanitarian" record. As if that were not enough, the U.S. and NATO, by virtue of the above, are responsible for the widespread lawlessness that consumed Libya subsequent to the intervention and that continues today.
Remember when it was shocking to suggest banning all Muslims from entering the U.S.? When the idea of a wall on the Mexican border was the punch line on a critically acclaimed comedy show? A lot has changed in just a few months, including a lot about what we find acceptable to say. And that's something we need to reflect on.

Some on the left are beginning to suggest that openly expressed bigotry is an improvement. Republicans have been dogwhistling about race for generations, from states' rights to Willie Horton to the War on Terror. Better that the mask is off now, and we can really see what we're dealing with.

This is a tempting, and almost reassuring thought. But it fails to take account of the way that every one of these once-shocking utterances changed not just our political discourse, but our standards for acceptable conduct. Mary Kate McGowan has argued in a series of powerful articles that every utterance we make, in at least a small way, changes our standards, at least for a conversation. Once I say that my son likes to play the guitar it no longer makes sense to ask if I have children. And some utterances, McGowan maintains, change our standards even more: openly racist utterances, unchallenged, make racism acceptable, at least for that conversation. A political campaign is a national conversation, so if McGowan is right we should be very concerned about what is said, and what comes to be seen as acceptable.

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But things cannot be this simple. Although a majority of white Americans harbor what psychologists call racial resentment, they are nonetheless very committed to the ideal of not being racist: this is known as the Norm of Racial Equality. This means that openly racist utterances won't always be so smoothly assimilated. So how does change take place? This is not unrelated to the more general problem of making sense of what we see in the Republican primary these days: what happened to the ideal of not being racist?

What happened, I think, is that we (as a society) are gradually shifting our views about what's required to not be racist -- and this shift is one that should concern us all. One reason this shift has been possible is Donald Trump's skillful employment of what I call 'racial figleaves' -- utterances added to openly racist ones, providing just enough cover for the audience to believe that nodding along does not make them racist. When Trump called Mexicans rapists, he famously added the bizarre caveat that "some, I assume, are good people"; when he called for a ban on Muslims, he noted that this would be just "until we can figure out what is going on". This caveat served as a figleaf -- allowing supporters to reassure themselves that Trump (and they) are not racists. (A day spent on pro-Trump online forums confirmed to me that utterances like this are playing exactly this role in defending Trump against accusations of racism.) Obviously the figleaf didn't work for everyone. But for the sizable number on whom it worked, being non-racist became capacious enough that it didn't rule out believing Mexicans to be rapists. And this should concern us all.

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But there's also a further phenomenon taking place. Because the figleaves have allowed Trump's openly racist utterances to be accepted by a large quantity of voters, we are getting used to hearing utterances like them from not just Trump but, crucially, others. A key effect of this is that utterances that are just slightly less racist come to seem acceptable. So, for example, a ban on Syrians comes to be seen as a moderate position once the ban on Muslims has been proposed.

And openly hateful utterances are an important step along the road to hateful acts. Lynne Tirrell, writing about the words of the Rwandan genocide, notes that "as people get used to this new disregard, non-linguistic disregarding actions become more widely accepted". We are already seeing violence at Trump rallies, and in the name of Trump. When we, as a society, change what we count as acceptable discourse, we need to realize that we may be legitimating more than just hateful language.
Tonight in Springfield, Missouri, I was a part of something much greater than myself when I had the privilege to hear Senator Bernie Sanders speak to a crowd of almost 5,000 people. While I was unbelievably excited to hear Senator Sanders speak in person and was solid in my decision to support him in the primary, I wasn't prepared for the emotional impact of coming together with thousands of Missourians to support the only candidate that I truly believe wants to be president simply to help others.

When talking about Senator Sanders to others, I will often explain that I believe Senator Sanders dreams about social justice and income inequality when he goes to sleep at night. Regrettably, I think every other candidate usually dreams about hearing the title "President" before his/her name.

This man speaks up for every single disenfranchised population and genuinely wants every person to prosper and gain access to the dream that has moved further and further away from everyday Americans as the top 1 percent grow richer off of the people putting their blood, sweat and tears into our nation. He is sincere, he is consistent, and he has united millions of people.

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People often tell me that they believe Senator Sanders won't be able to achieve all of his goals, so why bother? This logic frustrates me because I encourage my students daily to strive beyond what they believe to be possible.

Why have a goal if it isn't going to be something for which you have to strive? Not everything in life is easy to achieve. It is often that which requires the most work and perseverance that provides the greatest rewards.

Plus, by getting out the vote for Sanders, we have the chance to shift the power of Congress. Once this happens, Sanders' "lofty" and "radical" ideas suddenly become quite possible. It is also imperative to point out that he is handily defeating every Republican candidate by a greater margin that Secretary Clinton in polls of general election match-ups.

Listening to Representative Tulsi Gabbard, civil rights leader Ben Jealous, and finally Senator Sanders, my heart was in every yell, every clap, and every wave of my sign. I have voted in four previous presidential cycles (every cycle since I turned 18) and have never been able to follow my heart as much as I am in this primary. Too often in politics today, our vote is more of a vote against the other guy instead of a vote for our guy.

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Last week the White House announced a major policy initiative to help the one in three American families who experience diaper need. For someone who has spent the last 12 years working to get free diapers to families who cannot afford them, it was obviously a big day.

I started out by getting friends to buy cases of diapers at a warehouse club and giving them out to local social service agencies from my living room. Today diaper banking is a national movement. The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) has more than 280 member organizations working to keep babies, clean dry and healthy. It was an enormous boost to the movement when the White House matched online retailer Jet.com with a diaper manufacturer to find ways to package and ship diapers at lower cost to families and nonprofits all across the country. It's feasible that this year NDBN members could buy more than 15 million diapers from this program - allowing them to help many, many babies.

Diaper need is getting attention at the highest levels because it is a huge problem with far-reaching effects. When I worked as a clinical social worker, I witnessed families reusing soiled diapers -- dumping solid waste out and air-drying urine soaked diapers -- because they could not afford enough diapers for their infants and toddlers. It's horrible to think of any baby spending the day in a dirty diaper. It's also horrible to think of parents having to choose between their baby's comfort and paying the electric bill.

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The ramifications of diaper need don't end there. Children can get diaper rash and even serious infections requiring hospitalization by staying too long in a dirty diaper. Most child care providers will not accept a baby unless parents provide a supply of disposables. So diaper need makes parents miss work and keeps families trapped in poverty. It makes children miss out on early childhood education, and that is associated with kids achieving less in school and ending their education earlier.

NDBN collaborated with the New Haven MOMS Partnership at the Yale University School of Medicine on a study that showed a link between diaper need and maternal depression. Maternal depression in associated with a host of bad outcomes for families, including involvement in the child welfare system.

NDBN opened its doors five years ago to help start up local diaper banks, which operate much like food banks, and to increase their capacity to help families, while drawing national attention to diaper need. With the support of our founding sponsor Huggies, we started a movement. Today, NDBN is comprised of more than 280 member diaper banks and diaper pantries helping families in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. Plus, Huggies continues to donate more than 20 million diapers to the network every year -- 120 million diapers since 2011. At the request of the White House, they're donating two million more free diapers to NDBN in 2016, upping their support to 22 million diapers. And, if consumers jump on board and donate Huggies Rewards to the cause, Huggies will add an additional one million.

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That's incredible - and also not enough. Diaper need is pervasive among the 5.3 million children under the age of three living in poor and low-income families. Diaper banks serve about 1 million of those children.

Most diaper banks start with a few good hearted people saying: "Let's have a diaper drive in the office," or: "I've got a minivan and I'm free on Wednesdays. What can I do?" I am convinced that we would not have the attention of the White House or tech leaders without the years of work done by all the dedicated individuals who make up the diaper bank community. The truth is that diaper need is an enormous problem that we need to address at every level, from the national to the personal.

Personally, we need you, dear reader, and your faith community, workplace or civic group. Whether you want to give a couple of bucks or make the diaper movement your personal mission, we need you. There are many, easy ways to get involved:

Today: make an online gift to support diaper bank programs throughout the country.

This Month: join Huggies and donate your Huggies Rewards Points to help NDBN get more diapers to more babies in need, or host a local diaper drive.

This Year: Mark your calendar and get involved in Diaper Need Awareness Week, Sept. 26 - Oct. 2, 2016, or consider starting a diaper bank program.
The embers at Ground Zero still burned and the stench of 9/11's aftermath floated in the air. A still shell-shocked nation seemed (alarmingly) at ease with the prospect of employing physical torture, if deemed necessary by law enforcement. Many were quite okay with using it to "persuade," e.g., waterboard, a hypothetical terrorist, or terrorists, to literally spill his guts to the CIA. The torture might effectively help detect a ticking dirty bomb that would initiate nuclear holocaust at Capitol Hill, Times Square, the Sears Tower, Embarcadero, wherever.

Even Harvard's civil libertarian, Alan Dershowitz, and the Seventh Circuit's noted Judge Richard Posner were surprisingly comfortable that torture to disarm a terrorist plot was permissible. Dershowitz actually proposed a "torture warrant," by which law enforcement could quickly present evidence to a federal judge to gain court-ordered permission to torture. Posner didn't propose a procedure. In his review of Dershowitz' 2002 book "Why Terrorism Works" published in The New Republic -- "The Best Offense" -- Posner simply accepted the reality of torture. Agreeing with Dershowitz' point that "if the stakes are high enough, torture is permissible," Posner goes further to add that "no one who doubts that this is the case should hold a position of responsibility." His point could not be more plainly stated: "If torture is the only means of obtaining the information necessary to prevent the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Times Square, torture should be used -- and will be used -- to obtain the information." All this is astonishing given that experts are virtually uniform that torture too frequently leads to false results (forget what it says about our civilization). Indeed, if suffering excruciating pain almost anyone will lie -- they will falsely accuse anyone, including themselves -- to end the torment.

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Fifteen years have passed since 9/11 and we are faced with the Apple/FBI/San Bernadino iPhone dustup -- something altogether different, maybe. The San Bernardino terrorists are long dead and their horrific plot long ago thwarted. And there is no evidence, none that the public knows anyway, to suggest that if the FBI could hack into the San Bernadino County phone in question -- it is indeed the County's phone -- and somehow seize a spinelessly compliant terrorist confederate, they might potentially stop a still-nascent terrorist plot.

But that is not really the point. During a Congressional hearing this month, Apple's counsel came pretty close to saying the somewhat unthinkable: that even in a ticking time bomb scenario, and assuming Apple could quickly enough write the program (if that's what's actually needed) to "open the (back)door" to allow the FBI access to (an even dead) terrorist's iPhone contents, Apple would still not do it. Curiously, is that really believable, or merely a Donald Trump-like, "opening bid" negotiating strategy?

But look at it from Apple's vantage point -- there is not just the litigation underway in San Francisco over the San Bernadino phone. No. In a case pending in Federal Court in Brooklyn, a Magistrate Judge recently decided that the court simply can't force Apple to bypass passcode security in order to assist in the execution of a search warrant in a drug case, as the Government demanded. And New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., an extremely principled prosecutor, testified at that same Congressional hearing that he had some 175 iPhones under quarantine just awaiting the assistance of Apple or its competitors. Vance, frankly, didn't do FBI's request for Apple's help in San Bernadino any good with his testimony, however candid.

So if Apple won't voluntarily comply with the Government's various requests, and the courts don't have the authority to direct Apple (and other companies, but Apple has certainly taken the lead in this fight), what is left is the promulgation of a statute? But, as the House Committee recognized right away, passing a statute to require Apple to unzip the iPhone in question will let the camel's nose under the tent. And with the Brooklyn drug case, for example, and Vance's 175 cases, and who knows what across the country, clearly, the camel's extremely long neck is right behind its nose. And even Congress seems not prepared to say "civil rights be damned!"

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So, how do we get from here to there -- to the FBI getting Apple's technical help when it needs to right away (and assuming Apple, as patriotic as anyone, would ideally want to give it with proper restrictions in place). If truth be told -- I am a Luddite. I understand as much of the technical aspects of this as can be explained to someone who might have trouble turning on a computer. But isn't the real answer that both sides have to give, but only in the right -- indeed, ticking time bomb -- case? San Bernardino is too stale. There is no evidence that unlocking that particular iPhone will lead to information about any future attacks. Drug cases -- of course drugs should be stopped, but that is not where the Government should ask that Apple create a program to unlock the phones.

But Apple experts should write the required program, if that's what needs to be done, starting right now! Repeat, starting right now! Because even I (confessed Luddite) understand from the experts I have consulted that it will take time to write. And the program must be ready when needed. The other side of the deal has to be for the FBI, speaking for all American law enforcement, to make assurances, right now! -- the assurances being that this positively won't become a camel/tent situation. Under this protocol, the FBI will only come to Apple for a ticking time bomb situation -- one which Dershowitz and Posner describe as justifying torture. It won't come for a San Bernandino situation (after the fact, as here). Nor certainly for a drug case, or even a murder case. The FBI will only come to Apple (or its competitors) when clear-cut evidence of a future -- in the immediate future -- terrorist act is at play. In short, both parties need to show the good faith that good citizenship compels on both sides of the divide.
(Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post/Getty Images)

This is a runner-up in our Teens Against Trump essay contest. Read more essays from the series here.

I don't want to grow up with Donald Trump as president. I can't grow up with Donald Trump as president. I must not grow up with Donald Trump as president. As I watch his propaganda and supporters scream, "Make America Great Again," I know in my heart that the day he is elected, a little part of America will die. We will be no better than the countries he insults at campaign rallies. By electing Donald Trump as president, we won't be making America great again -- we will be destroying it. I don't want to grow up with Trump as president. I can't grow up like that. I must not grow up like that.

I don't want to grow up with Donald Trump as president, because I'm a woman. I wouldn't be able to stand the sight of our president shaming women for refusing to conform to his closed-minded standards of beauty and position. I am disgusted as I watch him judge women on appearance and nothing else. What does he see when he looks at a woman, at a girl? Does he see potential -- a musician, a professor, a future president? Or does he see an object with neither value nor thought, that he can break without consequence? What would he see in my mom, my best friend, my teacher? What would he see in me?

I can't grow up with Donald Trump as president, because I know that he values me more than others, and others more than me. I don't want to be a symbol of the social hierarchy he has created for the world. I can't live with Trump as president because I refuse to let race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, or any other thing that differentiates me from anyone else be a deciding factor of anyone's life. I hope someday we can live in a world without prejudice. But that dream will never happen with Donald Trump as president.

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I must not grow up with Donald Trump as president, because I can't bear the idea that he believes that I, as a Jewish American, am somehow better than the Muslim refugees fleeing to our country. My family members were refugees to North America, only a few generations ago. I don't want Donald Trump as president, because I believe refugees today should have the same rights and protections as my family.
Last year, I was invited to give a talk on peace in Carbondale, Illinois. I was surprised to discover that in recent years, activists from across Carbondale had come together with a broad vision of what their community could one day become--a nonviolent city. They wanted a new holistic approach to their work, with a positive vision for the future, so that over time, their community would be transformed into a culture of nonviolence.

They created a coalition, a movement and a city-wide week of action and called it, "Nonviolent Carbondale." They set up a new website, www.nonviolentcarbondale.org, established a steering committee, set up monthly meetings, and launched "Nonviolent Carbondale" as a positive way to promote peace and justice locally. In doing so, they gave everyone in Carbondale a new vision, a new idea, of what their community could become.

I think "Nonviolent Carbondale" offers a positive example of a new way forward for every community and city in the nation. Every city should become a nonviolent city. That should be the goal and vision of every local community, as Gandhi and Dr. King taught long ago. Activists and people from across the spectrum should come together locally to envision their community as a place of nonviolence and start organizing to make that goal come true. With all the violence, hatred, and warmaking these days, we need to help one another imagine what our local communities would look like if they were nonviolent, and systematically plan a long-term course of action to make that vision come true.

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From the start, the Carbondale activists held their local organizing meetings occasionally before city council meetings, which they then attended together as a group. At city council meetings, they started suggesting and lobbying ways their city could become more nonviolent. Their movement eventually became based out of the main Carbondale Library. Over the years, they have done positive work with their police department, local schools and school system, religious communities, the library system, and local non-profits. As grassroots activists, they have lifted up a positive vision of their community and brought it into the mainstream.

Over the years, they put their energies into their "11 Days" program--11 days in March filled with scores of actions and events for all ages across the city. Twice their 11 days focused on peace; twice on compassion; and last year on food. One of the outcomes from last year's 11 Days, for example, was a new organic food market started in the poorest neighborhood in town.

"Nonviolent Carbondale" offers a model for activists, movements and cities across the country. With their example in mind, the group I work with, Campaign Nonviolence, is launching the "Nonviolent Cities" project using "Nonviolent Carbondale" as an organizing model for other cities.

Taking the lead from friends and activists in Carbondale, Campaign Nonviolence invites activists across the U.S. to organize a similar grassroots movement in their city, to put the word "nonviolent" in front of their city, and to help others envision, organize and work for a new more disarmed local community, town, or city. As far as we can tell, this organizing tool has never been formally tried anywhere in the U.S., except in Carbondale. This movement is a new next step in the visionary, organizing nonviolence of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Perhaps the key aspect of "Nonviolent Cities" is that each city will be summoned to address its violence in all its aspects, structures and systems; to connect the dots between its violence; and to pursue a more holistic, creative, city-wide nonviolence, where everyone together is trying to practice nonviolence, promote nonviolence, teach nonviolence and even institutionalize nonviolence on the local level, to really build a new nonviolent community for itself and others. We want not just to undermine the local and regional culture of violence, and end all the killings, but to transform it into a culture of nonviolence.

That means that "Nonviolent Cities" organizers would promote the vision, teach nonviolence, and inspire people at every level in their community to work together for a new nonviolent community and a new nonviolent future. That would include everyone from the mayor and city council members to the police chief and police officers, to all religious and civic leaders, to all educators and healthcare workers, to housing authorities, to news reporters and local media; to youth and grassroots activists, to the poor and marginalized, children and the elderly. Together, they would address all the issues of violence and pursue all the angles and possibilities of nonviolence for their city's transformation into a more nonviolent community. The first goal would be a rapid reduction in violence in the community and an end to killing.

Nonviolent cities would work to end racism, poverty, homelessness and violence at every level and in every form; dismantle housing segregation and pursue racial, social and economic nonviolent integration; end police violence and institutionalize police nonviolence; organize to end domestic violence and teach nonviolence between spouses, and nonviolence toward all children; work to end gang violence and teach nonviolence to gang members; teach nonviolence in every school; help get rid of guns, gun shows and local weapons manufacturers; pursue more nonviolent immigration programs and policies; get religious leaders and communities to promote nonviolence and the vision of a new nonviolent city; reform local jails and prisons so they are more nonviolent and educate guards and prisoners in nonviolence; move from retributive to restorative justice in the entire criminal justice system; put up signs calling for nonviolence everywhere in the community; address local environmental destruction, climate change, and environmental racism, pursue clean water, solar and wind power, and a 100% green community; and in general, do everything possible to help their local community become more disarmed, more reconciled, more just, more welcoming, more inclusive, and more nonviolent.

If Carbondale, Illinois can seek to become a nonviolent city, any city can seek to become a nonviolent city. This is an idea whose time has come. This is an organizing strategy that should be tried around the nation and the world. The only way it can happen is through bottom up, grassroots organizing, that reaches out to include everyone in the community, and eventually becomes widely accepted, even by the government, media and police.

Two international groups pursue a similar vision--International Cities for Peace (www.internationalcitiesforpeace.org) and Mayors for Peace (www.mayorsforpeace.org, which has 6965 cities committed in 161 countries)--but, as far as I can tell, no U.S. group has ever attempted to invite local communities to pursue a vision of holistic city-wide nonviolence or organize a grassroots movements of nonviolent cities.

On our website, we have posted "Ten Steps Toward a Nonviolent City," a basic initial list of organizing tasks for local activists which includes: creating a local steering committee; finding a mainstream institution that can serve as a base; organizing a series of public meetings and forums; studying violence in the community; meeting with the mayor and the city council; and organizing a city-wide launch.

Gandhi once remarked that we are constantly being astonished by the advances in violence, but if we try, if we organize, if we can commit ourselves, he declared, we can make even more astonishing new discoveries and advances in nonviolence. With the example of "Nonviolent Carbondale" before us, we have a way to organize every local community and city in the nation, a way to envision how we can all one day live together in peace with justice, and the possibility of new hope. If we follow the example of Nonviolent Carbondale, we can help transform our culture of violence into something completely new--a culture of nonviolence. That should always be our goal.

***
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. By the decree of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, signed on March 14, Arsen Shoyan was relieved of the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Bulgaria. As "Armenpress" was informed from the Department of Public Relations and Mass Media of the Presidential Administration, by another decree of the President, Armen Sargsyan was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Bulgaria (residence in Sofia).
Awkward. That's as good a word as any to describe the teen years. Even those of us for whom adolescence is a distant memory can still recall cringe-worthy events that paved the road to adulthood.

For most, it's just a passing phase. But for millions of young women it can be a life-altering and potentially dangerous time.



A young girl walks to school in the rain with her umbrella and school bag wrapped in a plastic bag in Lagos, Nigeria. 2008 Olunosen Louisa Ibhaze

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In the developing world, one out of every three girls is married before she turns 18. One in nine is married before she is 15. Many are still children when they become mothers and their lives are threatened by pregnancy complications. However, early pregnancy is not a problem only in the developing world. In fact, the U.S. is among the seven countries where half of all the adolescent births in the world take place. Other countries include Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Ethiopia.

Teen pregnancy is different in all these countries. In Nigeria, girls who are married early face increased gender-based violence and risk of HIV infection. In the DRC, many families believe that having a husband can protect girls from sexual assault and rape. In the U.S., lack of real, responsible sex education contributes to teen pregnancy. But whether we're discussing child marriage in Nigeria or teen pregnancy in the U.S., the dangers of early pregnancy are real -- and largely preventable.

Early pregnancy prevents girls from reaching their full potential. In the developing world, many girls are pulled out of school due to stigma or for health or economic reasons after pregnancy. Without an education, they are then denied employment, which continues the cycle of poverty into the new generation of their families. Even in the U.S., teen pregnancy leads to gaps or incompletion of girls' education.

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Early unwanted pregnancy makes girls vulnerable to violence. Girls who get pregnant before the age of 18 in the U.S. and around the world are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence.

The way forward is education and access to health services. At home and abroad, girls should be learning and growing in schools, not mothering children. For years, activists, governments and organizations have been working to end child marriage around the world. In addition to continuing the good fight against child marriage, increasing access to health services and sex education could save the lives of many girls who are already in danger of early pregnancies.

There is a key role for the United States in addressing these threats:

By investing more in family planning and education, we can "change the now" and protect the lives of women around the world.

By reining in the Helms Amendment -- as both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have pledged to do -- the U.S. can help ensure that girls and women whose lives are threatened by pregnancy (and those who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest) have access to safe abortion care.

By supporting the efforts of the United Nations Population Fund, we can ensure that the world is safer for the girls who face early marriages and pregnancies.

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Authored by Berhane Gebru, Director of Programs, TechLab, FHI 360





Photo credit: Berhane Gebru, FHI 360

Hellen Mary Akiror's livelihood relies on the right amount of rainfall coming at the right time.

A farmer in Uganda's Soroti district, Hellen lives with her husband and seven children. Growing millet, groundnuts, sorghum, cassava and potatoes on her four acres, she is dependent on rain-fed agriculture for her survival. Yet, she said, "Rainfall comes at the wrong time, in huge quantities and stops when we need it most."

Hellen's story is all too common. In 2014, I met Mukasa, an elderly Ugandan farmer grappling with the fact that his village was facing unpredictable rainfall and temperatures higher than any in living memory. At the same focus group discussion where I met Mukasa, I also met Father Philippe, the pastor of Mukasa's parish. Father Philippe said, "We have sinned and the lack of rain and excess heat are the wrath of God." Another parish member said, "We destroyed the trees and we are facing the consequences."

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While the villagers' explanations vary, all agree on one point -- rainfall in the country is becoming scarce and unpredictable, and extreme heat is increasing in intensity and frequency. During the 80 years between 1911 and 1990, only eight droughts occurred, while in the 10 years between 1991 and 2000, the country experienced seven droughts. As in other sub-Saharan countries, higher temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts and floods in Uganda diminish food security, decrease the quantity and quality of water, and deteriorate natural resources.

As a research scientist in climate change adaptation and resilience, I hear many stories about the challenges of farming in Uganda. A farmer in the Nakasongola district told me that the farmers used to know when to plant and what to plant to expect a good harvest because they knew when rainfall would begin and end. Nowadays, the farmer said, "Rainfall comes and ends haphazardly, and we do not know whether we will survive one year to the next."

The Climate Change Adaptation and ICT (CHAI) project was built with these human stakes in mind. Using information and communication technology (ICT) tools in local languages, CHAI uses interactive FM-radio broadcast, mobile phones (text messaging and interactive voice response), email and face-to-face meetings to help farmers adapt and communities thrive. Hyper-local seasonal weather forecasts, livestock and crop market data, and guidance on drought and flood coping mechanisms help farmers decide what, when, where and how much to produce and sell.

The CHAI project provides Hellen, and more than 120,000 farmers in Uganda, with a new means of receiving adaptation information and tools to protect her family's well-being. She receives forecasts on her mobile phone two to three weeks before each season commences. The forecasts include advisories about how to prepare for imminent dry spells and how to build small, low-cost water harvesting structures. "Since I started getting messages from CHAI," says Hellen, "I know which crops I am supposed to plant and at what time." She has learned about early-maturing and drought-resistant crops. "These messages have really helped me," she says.

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"In addition to receiving information on how to cope with water problems, I also listen to monthly radio talk shows on Etop radio and weekly radio broadcasts that share more detailed information than what I receive on my phone." Hellen also receives weekly livestock and crop prices at 10 market outlets in the Soroti district and insight into who in the district can provide additional assistance.

I am a firm believer that this technology has the potential to strengthen resilience, avert future famine, build food security and reduce Africa's US$40 billion annual agricultural imports. Rigorous research performed by FHI 360 and Ugandan researchers showed that farmers who acted on information received through CHAI minimized crop loss and damage by up to 65 percent.

But for farmers, their families and their communities, this technology holds much more than the promise of economic savings: It could save their very livelihoods.

The CHAI project won the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Momentum for Change award as one of 16 global game-changing climate action initiatives and was honored at the 2015 UNFCCC Conference in Paris. The CHAI project is a partnership between FHI 360, Uganda HealthNet, Uganda's Ministry of Water and Environment (Climate Change Department, National Meteorological Authority, and Wetlands Management), Makerere University's Zoology Department and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the International Development Research Centre, Canada (IDRC).
While there are many gaping holes in our immigration system, none gets as much attention as our southern border with Mexico. It is no wonder that the current crop of presidential candidates focus so much of their time on the topic.

In my first essay, I made the bold statement: "Mexico isn't going to pay for the wall, and we're not going to deport millions of people and break up families. If you think either one is a good idea, you're not smart and probably not a person I want to hang out with."

The vast majority of readers who commented agreed with that sentiment. Not surprisingly, a significant number of people told me in a variety of colorful ways that we will indeed build a wall, Mexico will pay for it, and we will round up and deport every illegal immigrant (including their unwanted anchor babies) and send them back from whence they came. (These are the folks that I won't be inviting over for a cookout anytime soon.) But let's be clear about both of these notions -- the wall and mass deportation. Even if we built a big, strong, beautiful wall from San Diego to Boca Chica, thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants would still find their way into the United States. They will dig under, climb over, and drive through this fantastical wall (packaged in myriad creative ways). We would also see images of dead men, women, and children crammed into trucks, boats, and suffocated in collapsed tunnels paraded across our screens and newspapers (or maybe not). The death toll will be staggering and will be yet another stain on our national conscience.

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It's curious to me that none of the politicians who spit buckets of venom on this topic ever ask the one simple question that might point us to a humane and cost-effective solution. They never ask, why do so many people risk their lives to cross our southern border?

Even a cursory glance at the news coming out of Mexico reveals the glaringly obvious reason -- Mexico is a horrifically dangerous place. Mexico is in the midst of what amounts to a civil war. Only it's not a war between two opposing political factions, but instead it's a war waged by drug cartels against the legitimate Mexican state and federal governments. The situation is made worse by the fact that Mexico is still undergoing a slow recovery from the Global Recession of 2009, has one of the highest poverty rates in the Western Hemisphere, and has a significant portion of its labor force working in the black market. The drug-related violence is so bad that it has actually resulted in a drop in the average life expectancy of the Mexican male population.

While the government grapples with a bruised and battered economy, they are also struggling to maintain law and order in virtually every state in the country. Murders and assassinations of police, judges, and politicians are on the rise. Some communities are literally under the administrative control of drug cartels, the citizens either forced into service for or living in fear of the drug dealers. This is the reality for millions of people who just want to raise their children in peace.

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The world is currently watching millions of Syrians flee the violence in their homeland, seeking refuge in any country that will take them. Why should we be surprised that our neighbors to the south should want to flee violence and oppression on a similar scale in Mexico? Isn't it reasonable that they would want to come to the United States to escape the violence and economic turmoil of their homeland?

Before we get too far into this topic, let's agree on something: the United States has a problem with illegal immigration. Here are five quick facts from the Pew Research Center that anyone should be able to stipulate to when discussing the topic of illegal immigration:

There were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014. Mexicans make up about half of all unauthorized immigrants (49 percent), though their numbers have been declining in recent years. Six states alone account for 60 percent of unauthorized immigrants -- California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. Unauthorized immigrants make up 5.1 percent of the U.S. labor force. About 7 percent of K-12 students had at least one unauthorized immigrant parent in 2012.

Some people will argue that anyone wanting to flee Mexico should simply come to the US via one of the established and legal immigration pathways. That sounds great on paper but the reality of legally immigrating to the United States is difficult for everyone and impossible for many. The American Immigration Council states, "Many Americans wonder why all immigrants do not just come to the United States legally or simply 'get in line' to gain residence (a 'green card') if they are undocumented. Yet few people understand how grossly out-of-date the U.S. immigration system is and how unable it is to keep up with the demands of a growing and changing U.S. economy and to reflect the needs and values of our diverse nation. Lawmakers have failed for nearly 20 years to update our immigration laws or address the limited opportunities for securing legal immigration status. Today's overly restrictive legal limits on green cards mean that virtually all undocumented immigrants have no avenues for legal entry to the United States."

When you consider the violence, the devastating poverty, and the failure of our immigration policy, can we really blame them for coming by an means they can?

Before you answer that question, be sure to examine your role in illegal immigration. "What role could I possibly play in illegal immigration," you ask yourself. Stew on that for a few minutes, then continue on to Part 2 of this essay.

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Read the essay that started it all -- with more than one million views and read by people in more than 140 countries.

Other essays in this series:
Photo: Getty Images

Car bombs and suicide bombing attacks that have swept through the Middle East in the past decade are making a stop in the region's most stable and prosperous country -- Turkey. Did Ankara's reckless foreign policy come to haunt it?

First Suruc, then Ankara, then Istanbul and again Ankara. Hundreds of civilians lost their lives in bombing attacks, which take place as the Turkish military is battling Kurdish insurgents in the country's restive Southeast. But who is bombing these cities?

Turkey has no one enemy and victims of the attacks are not from one segment of the society. The attacks do not fully bear hallmarks of terrorist acts of groups we know. In Suruc and Ankara, for example, most of the victims were Kurdish activists. In Istanbul, mostly German tourists were targeted. In the latest two attacks in Ankara, military personnel and state apparatus are targeted. Sunday's explosion ripped through a bus stop in Cankaya, in the country's political heartland.

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The attackers make sure to signal that they're aiming at the country's military and state establishment, do not spare foreign tourists and are ready to instill fear in the hearts of ordinary Turks.

The Sunday attack in Ankara claimed the lives of more than 30 people and more than a dozen of them are still in critical condition. The attack unleashed a spate of political recriminations on the social media, with critics demanding the resignation of senior officials. Obviously, no surprise on that front.

The bombing attacks in Turkey's largest cities are already a recurring nightmare and the government did not waste time in capitalizing on the people's anger on Sunday. "We will use our legitimate right to self-defense to the fullest extent," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement, signalling a widening crackdown on Kurdish militants. He appeared to blame Kurdish militants for the attack, which he claimed came as a result of their "losing" battle with the Turkish security forces.

Erdogan also blamed previous attacks on the Kurdish militants, hoping to tap people's anger in his war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK. The attack in Ankara does not bear the hallmarks of attacks perpetrated by the PKK. Kurdish militants rarely attack civilians, let alone conducting large-scale indiscriminate assaults in dense urban areas. Rogue, small Kurdish groups could be behind the attack, but it is doubtful if they are capable of such an attack.

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As deadly attacks came to symbolize the security threats Turks are facing over the unceasing turmoil in the region, Turkish officials find themselves struggling in explaining how they failed to see them. The failure to prevent the attack in Ankara points to a deep rot in the country's intelligence organization, which has been under fire for carrying arms to Syria's rival factions. Adding fuel to a controversy was a warning by the US embassy just two days before the attack, anticipating a possible attack in Ankara. It was not clear why the Turkish authorities did not warn their citizens.

The attacks appear to mark a new era in Turkish history, with a popular government unable to stem the violence haunting ordinary people in large, urban areas. The singularities the Erdogan government has ascribed itself, such as the political and economic stability, seem to be slowly fading away. The recurring violence in Turkish cities helped shatter the image the Turkish government had worked hard to establish. The attacks bring fresh attention to a question that critics long asked: Is the Turkish government losing control over the country? Immediately after the attack, a Turkish court imposed a media blackout and shut down Twitter and Facebook to contain the mounting anger.

For over four years, since the war has started in neighboring Syria, Turkey adopted an open-door policy for Syrians fleeing violence. No one knows what type of criminals slipped into Turkey among these refugees. Islamic State cells within Turkey somehow managed committing attacks despite ongoing monitoring by the Turkish intelligence. Turkish authorities said after the attack in Ankara last year that they had been monitoring the cells involved in the blast.
A local resident is reflected on a religious picture as he votes for the first US presidential primary at a church in Concord, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016.New Hampshire voters headed to polls at the snowy break of day on February 9 for the crucial first US presidential primary, with Donald Trump chasing victory and Hillary Clinton looking to narrow the gap on Bernie Sanders. The northeastern state, home to just 1.3 million people, sets the tone for the primaries -- and could shake out a crowded Republican field as the arch-conservative Senator Ted Cruz and establishment candidates led by Marco Rubio battle for second place behind the frontrunner Trump. / AFP / Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Many pundits have wondered if Donald Trump can appeal to self-identified Christians, and now that a number of states have held primaries or caucuses, we have an answer. It appears that he bears great appeal even to some of the most socially conservative Christians.

That's kind of surprising, given that Trump is a sometimes-attending Presbyterian on his third marriage who doesn't seem to have much of a working knowledge of the Bible. His positions on the social issues Evangelicals care about-- abortion and same-sex marriage-- appear wobbly. He reeks of excess. Determining someone else's faith, of course, is a misguided enterprise, but the temptation to do so was irresistible even to the Pope.

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Yet, this is the man who handily won the primary in South Carolina, where over 70% of Republicans describe themselves as "born-again Christians." How did that happen?

First of all, it is a mistake to think that Christians simply want to vote for someone who shares their faith most heartily. That idea was thoroughly dispelled in 1980, when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter. Carter was a devout Southern Baptist, while Reagan shared some of the attributes of Trump: he was a divorced Presbyterian not known as a regular churchgoer. Yet Reagan thrived with the votes of conservative Christians.

Beyond that, there seems to be something about Trump that appeals to a wide swath of Christians. It could be this: He exudes confidence and authority. That aura of authority matches the way that many Christians view the Bible and their own faith, in that it gives them the authority to judge others and draw bright lines. The have learned to accept the world as divided up between good people and bad, rather than as one kingdom.

Listening to a Trump speech recently, I was struck by the way that he drew a circle around his audience and talked about "us." Trump cultivated that dynamic every time he starts a sentence with "What the people in this room understand...." He drew a clear in/out line, and defined his followers as being "in." On the outside of the group were the other Republican candidates and their deluded followers, President Obama, and Hillary Clinton.

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It shouldn't surprise us that this works. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that sometimes we want the bully to like us-- we want to be in his group of friends, laughing furtively at others. Most of us remember how easily the person a bully taunted sometimes became a follower.

Unfortunately, this tracks the dynamic relied on by too many Christian churches. They attract and keep adherents by describing a hostile world and a Biblical authority that is useful primarily to define others as evil. Liberal churches do this by demonizing fundamentalists, while conservative churches do it by describing the world outside of their walls as the poisoned domain of homosexuals, liberals, and others who they contend will not be found in heaven. Just like Trump, they draw clear in/out lines, and define themselves and their followers as part of the sacred zone within.
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 11: President Barack Obama speaks at the opening Keynote during the 2016 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival at Long Center on March 11, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for SXSW)

As a blind American who leads an organization of blind Americans, I know that there are many issues affecting the blind and others with disabilities that our courts, including the Supreme Court, must decide.

As just one example, lower federal courts are split on the critically important issue of how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to Internet websites and the content and services that they provide. Because of the lower court split, this issue may well be considered by the Supreme Court in the future. Therefore, the National Federation of the Blind, of which I serve as President, believes that the Senate should consider and vote upon President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, when selected.

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The failure of the Senate to consider a nominee before the next election will leave the seat empty for more than a year. During that time, the court will have only eight justices; should they be divided equally on any case, the Court will be unable to decide it. It is unacceptable that the court should be unable to reach decisions for so long.

Equally important to us is the question of whether or not the nominee has the understanding that disability is one of the diverse characteristics found among Americans, and that people with disabilities deserve to enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens.

In a recent guest post on the website scotusblog.com, President Obama wrote about the factors that he will consider in choosing his nominee. In addition to an eminently qualified jurist, and one who understands the limits of judicial power, President Obama said that he would seek a judge with "a keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook.

It's the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people's lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly changing times." I agree with this criterion.

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People with disabilities well know that while laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act theoretically support our equal participation in society and protect us from discrimination, courts too often engage in cramped interpretations of these laws that defeat their purpose. This is because too many judges do not yet see disabled individuals as equal.

Our laws have not, by themselves, fundamentally changed old attitudes, stereotypes and misconceptions about the disabled. Most people do not hate us or bear us ill will, but some have low expectations for our ability to learn, to work, and to participate in the everyday life of our communities and of the nation. It often seems that civil rights are meant for the non-disabled, while the disabled are subject to limitations of those same rights.

As a general rule, those who have a disability themselves, or who have a family member (such as a child) with a disability, are in the best position to comprehend our full capacity, as well as the mostly artificial barriers that prevent us from reaching it. I hope that President Obama will duly consider this fact as he selects a nominee.

There are highly qualified judges serving in local and state courts across the nation who have disabilities, and at least one on the federal bench (Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia) who is blind. President Obama could nominate any of these judges, assuming they meet his other criteria.

Alternatively, he could appoint someone with experience advocating for individuals with disabilities, or a jurist with a family member who has a disability. Even if he does not nominate any of the above, he should consider whether the judge's life experience or prior jurisprudence includes an understanding of the barriers and discrimination that we still face.

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Philosophy is pretty unpopular in America today. Marco Rubio says, with typical inelegance: "We need more welders and less philosophers." Governor Pat McCrory of North Carolina also singles out philosophy as a discipline offering "worthless courses" that offer "no chances of getting people jobs." Across the nation there's unbounded adulation for the STEM disciplines, which seem so profitable. Although all the humanities suffer disdain, philosophy keeps on attracting special negative attention -- perhaps because in addition to appearing worthless, it also appears vaguely subversive, a threat to sound traditional values.

Such was not always the case. Throughout its history in Europe, philosophy has repeatedly come in for abuse from the forces of tradition and authority. The American founding, however, was different: the founders were men of the Enlightenment, steeped in the ideas and works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and the ancient Greeks and Romans -- especially Cicero and the Roman Stoics. As men of the Enlightenment they took pride in steering their course by reason and argument rather than unexamined tradition. Their intellectual independence and theoretical thoughtfulness served them well when it came to setting up a new nation. We've traveled a long way from those roots, and not in a good direction.

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On March 13, America lost one of the greatest philosophers this nation has ever produced. Hilary Putnam died of cancer at the age of 89. Those of us who had the good fortune to know Putnam as mentees, colleagues, and friends remember his life with profound gratitude and love, since Hilary was not only a great philosopher, but also a human being of extraordinary generosity, who really wanted people to be themselves, not his acolytes. But it's also good, in the midst of grief, to reflect about Hilary's career, and what it shows us about what philosophy is and what it can offer humanity. For Hilary was a person of unsurpassed brilliance, but he also believed that philosophy was not just for the rarely gifted individual. Like two of his favorites, Socrates and John Dewey (and, I'd add, like those American founders), he thought that philosophy was for all human beings, a wake-up call to the humanity in us all.

Putnam was a philosopher of amazing breadth. As he himself wrote, "Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs in one." And in his prolific career Putnam, accordingly, elaborated detailed and creative accounts of central issues in an extremely wide range of areas in philosophy. Indeed there is no philosopher since Aristotle who has made creative and foundational contributions in all the following areas: logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of science, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, political thought, philosophy of economics. philosophy of literature.

And Putnam added at least two areas to the list that Aristotle didn't work in, namely, philosophy of language and philosophy of religion. (Philosophy of religion because he was a religious Jew, and he understood Judaism to require a life of perpetual critique.) In all of these areas, too, he shared with Aristotle a deep concern: that the messy matter of human life should not be distorted to fit the demands of an excessively simple theory, that what Putnam called "the whole hurly-burly of human actions" should be the context within which philosophical theory does its work.

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That commitment led him to oppose many fads of his time: for philosophy is prone to simplifying and reductive fads, from logical positivism to a later fad for computer modeling of philosophical problems. Putnam knew physics like virtually nobody else in the field, and so he also knew that it was fatal to reduce philosophy to physics: philosophy is a humanistic discipline. (I remember a marvelous and profoundly countercultural course he taught at Harvard, in the days when logical positivism was just beginning to wane, entitled "Non-Scientific Knowledge." It covered ethical knowledge, aesthetic knowledge, and religious knowledge, and Putnam showed the folly of imagining that physical reductionism could replace those normative subjects.) His independence from fads also led him to take a keen interest in the thought of the ancient Greeks, who looked stupid to the positivists but who actually had a few good ideas! He learned ancient Greek in order to work seriously on Aristotle, and he argued that Aristotle had important insights about the mind-body relationship that contemporary thinkers ought to take up.

At the same time, and again like Aristotle, Putnam never gave way to irrationalism, never took up a skeptical and dismissive attitude to philosophical theorizing: for, as he stressed, the attempt to order our world by the work of reason is one of the most deep and pervasive aspects of the hurly burly of human life. He believed that we are always prone to not just messiness and sloppiness, but, worse, to capitulation to forms of authority and pressure, and that the work of philosophy was needed to counter these baneful tendencies.

Most philosophers talk a lot of talk about following the argument, but eventually lapse into dogmatism, defending a well-known position at all costs, no matter what new argument comes along. The glory of Putnam's way of philosophizing was its total vulnerability. Because he really did follow the argument wherever it led, he often changed his views, and being led to change was to him not distressing but profoundly delightful, evidence that he was humble enough to be worthy of his own rationality. Once in the late 1970's he offered a class on metaphysics at Harvard with his colleagues Nelson Goodman and W. V. O. Quine. The other two held views very different from Putnam's, and they argued well. Putnam became more and more excited by the debate -- so much so that he would leave a department meeting in the middle of lunch to walk up and down the halls with Goodman. At the end of that term, his Presidential Address to the American Philosophical Association contained an elegant argument against himself -- somewhat in Goodman's spirit, though not exactly.
KANSAS CITY, KS October 31: Kansas Governor Sam Brownback talks with supporters during the 'Vote the Kansas way bus tour' at the Kansas Speedway on October 31, 2014 in Kansas City Kansas (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Kansas, that nirvana of conservatism, is trying to pass laws which would nullify the state's judiciary. Apparently the state's radically right legislators resent the temerity of judges ruling their legislation unconstitutional and are attempting to make such rulings grounds for impeachment. According to an article in the Daily Kos written by Dartagnan:

"Senate Bill 439 is currently set for debate before the state's GOP-stacked Judiciary Committee. If it is approved and signed by Governor Brownback, it will permit impeachment of any Judge who acts contrary to the wishes of the legislature. In other words, any Judge who strikes down or modifies any law the legislature passes, for any reason-- whether the law is blatantly Unconstitutional, violative of existing laws, or otherwise, is thereby subject to impeachment proceedings by the state Legislature. A previous law threatening to cut off all Judicial funding was declared unconstitutional by the state's High Court...." "The Kansas Bill here is unique, however, in providing an explicit measure for one branch of government to nullify another branch's authority completely as a form of "punishment' for not yielding to partisan ideology. It's a measure purely designed to intimidate and threaten the Judiciary into accepting the dictates of a Republican legislature. Which is exactly what the GOP-dominated Kansas legislature has in mind."

Kansas, the home of Koch Industries and the base for the Koch brother's usurpation of the Republican party, undertook an experiment in radical conservatism with the election of Governor Sam Brownback in 2010. He turned the state into the usual conservative Lord of the Flies-type dystopia with tax cuts for the rich followed by cuts in government services and education budgets only to be followed by more tax cuts for the wealthy.

One branch of government, the courts, stood in his way ordering funding for education to be restored to minimal levels in order to pass constitutional muster. However, the modern brand of authoritarian conservatism, though always claiming allegiance to a literal interpretation of the constitution, really has little respect for the constitution together with its messy implicit checks and balances. The constitution is perceived as an impediment in an otherwise relentless pursuit of unbridled power. And what is this power used for? Perhaps some biblical purpose like found in the teachings of Jesus such as comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable? No, quite the opposite!

Setting aside the morality of conservative policies, the failures of supply-side economics are highly predictable. The policy is based on fallacious economic assumptions. As David Atkins explains in the Washington Monthly:

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"In all but the most extreme cases, cutting taxes on the rich does nothing to create jobs, but slashing the salaries of teachers and cutting welfare benefits means less consumer demand, which in turns drives the economy into recession. The immorality would at least be somewhat tolerable if the ideology functioned at a broad utilitarian level, but it doesn't."

And the economy of Kansas has suffered even while neighboring states are doing comparatively well without the huge tax cuts engineered by Brownback and his co-conspirators. As Atkin's writes: In August of last year "a separate report showed Kansas is missing out on the growth in manufacturing employment, which is happening across much of the rest of America. One key statistic: Kansas lost 39,000 manufacturing jobs during the recession but has added just 4,000 since it ended."

Brownback and his conservative minions, backed by Koch brothers funding, are succeeding at destroying the economy of the state without the necessity of introducing anti-democratic measures to speed their efforts along. Besides what apolitical appellate or Supreme Court Justice would be able to make principled, objective rulings on the constitutionality of legislation given the inevitability of impeachment? The judicial branch is not intended to be a rubber stamp of the legislative branch, no matter how strong the authoritarian leanings of radical conservatives.

What kind of an unprincipled political party attempts to nullify an entire branch of government? For that matter, what kind of political party wants fewer people to vote? What kind rejects science? Anti-intellectualism is one thing, but the imposition of anti-democratic measures intended to support policies which are proven failures and serve the one percent at the expense of the common good are indicative of a dying political party clinging to life on support systems alone and unworthy of a once grand political party.

"They recognize no limits to their power, no curbs to their desire. There are few frontiers in democratic government that they will not work to violate, or to twist to their own purposes. And they absolutely will not stop. Ni shagu nazad, as Stalin said to his army. Not one step backwards."
Envision a peaceful Middle East, where instead of fear and disorder, there is thriving commerce, resulting in prosperity and jobs. Picture Jerusalem--a city that holds immense spiritual significance for Christians, Jews, and Muslims--flourishing. Imagine Israelis and Palestinians working side by side.

A visionary academic believes it is possible, and it can be accomplished through an idea that may be unlikely to some.

Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris, and Rome--three European cities and one American city--are the finalists to host the 2024 Olympic Games. Three of these cities have previously hosted the Olympics. Los Angeles and Paris have already held the Olympics a combined four times.

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According to the Olympic Charter, "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

John Graham is a professor emeritus of marketing and international business and faculty director of the Center for Global Leadership at UC Irvine. In recent years, the scholar has advocated for holding the Olympics in Jerusalem as a catalyst for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

People in the Middle East are used to conflict and violence. Thus, simply imagining peace there hasn't worked. It's time for a new way of thinking, a more attractive goal. Imagine instead a prosperous, dynamic Middle East. Imagine peoples and countries that creatively and cooperatively take advantage of their natural and spiritual resources. A new focus on prosperity as the ultimate goal will yield peace along the way. Holding the Olympic Games in Jerusalem in 2024 will be the best first step.

In The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Viking, 2011), Steven Pinker cites commerce as a historical force leading to a decrease in violence. Pinker wrote, "as technological progress allows the exchange of goods and ideas over longer distances and among larger groups of trading partners, other people become more valuable alive than dead, and they are less likely to become targets of demonization and dehumanization."

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The idea is that commerce can lead to peace.

The Olympics would result in a substantial infusion of money (tens of billions of dollars) and a massive building spree. The second step of the process would take place after the Olympics. Graham suggests that a large company such as Disney could use the Olympic infrastructure to launch a theme park and tourist destination (such as a Middle East Disneyland). This would create permanent jobs.

To quote Father Greg Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries, an organization that helps former gang members become productive members of society: "Nothing stops a bullet like a job."

While skeptical about the ability to implement an Olympic event in the Middle East, V. Seshan, a Pepperdine University professor emeritus of management, agrees that there is a potential benefit. "It's true that a rising tide of business does help economically," he said. "If you can raise the economic wealth in that region and Palestinians can participate in that, that would be helpful."

As Graham explained, Jerusalem would be an ideal location for a Disney park. It is an international city and the Middle East is a region in which Disney has yet to expand.

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"Quit worrying about peace," Graham said. "Focus on prosperity, and peace will happen along the way."

Of course, there are roadblocks such as security concerns and cooperation among factions with strained relations. Graham, Lynda Lawrence, and William Hernandez Requejo provide a plan for how to conduct such negotiations in their book Inventive Negotiation: Getting Beyond Yes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). They suggest an initial informal meeting among representatives of Israel, Palestine, and potentially Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan at a neutral location with international facilitation. "The process of the initial meetings would be brainstorming, but the consequences of these meetings would be new ideas and positive interpersonal relationships," they wrote.

Peace in the Holy Land is possible, but it will take a grand vision that leads to collaboration. If this still seems like an unattainable idea, consider that for many adults, the idea of Beijing hosting the Olympic Games was once unrealistic.
The Atlantic has just published a long essay, "The Obama Doctrine," by their national correspondent, Jeffrey Goldberg. Based in good part on a wide-ranging reflective interview with president Barack Obama, the article makes extensive use of direct quotes from that interview. Considerable space is devoted to the various American engagements in the Middle East along with Obama's views on prospects for the region.

It is a remarkable journalistic event insofar as it represents a preemptive attempt by a sitting president to shape the discourse about his record and his legacy. What he says is revealing --

less as analysis and interpretation of actions taken, though, than as an 'exhibit' of all that is peculiar about Obama's policy-making style -- and what the implications for American diplomacy have been.

Obama's overall stance is one of dissociation from his own administration and its conduct. Throughout, he appears to referring to himself in the third person. This can be seen as the soon to be memoir writer's attempt to cast himself as detached statesman while distancing himself from errors made. However, this degree of dissociation by a still incumbent president is odd. It suggests that he has been playing the role of participant-observer while in the Oval Office. Moreover, it conveys his sense that somehow the words he utters are equivalent to actions. Indeed, a feature of his presidency has been a frequent mismatch of words and deeds which never get reconciled. Nor do they in this seemingly candid interview. That raises a cardinal question: is this honest reflection or a characteristic flight from accountability?



Two, this strange attitude is most pronounced in his remarks about the Middle East. For example, he inveighs against allowing the United States to be placed in a position of picking sides in Islam's Sunni-Shi'ite civil war. He is especially adamant about the dangers of American power being used as a tool of the Saudis to advance their cause. Yet, this is exactly what he has been doing in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. Moreover, he never has confronted the KSA leaders about the promotion of wahhabism or their concrete support for ISIL and al-Qaeda (in Syria and Yemen -- where they fight side-by-side) -- either in private or in public.



Obama urges that the KSA and Iran learn to co-exist, "to share space," in the region. Yet, in the wake of the nuclear accord, he's gone overboard in denouncing the IRI as the primary source of instability in the Middle East and insists that until hey cease and desist, no normalization is possible. As Goldberg quotes Susan Rice in seconding the president: The Iran deal was never primarily about trying to open a new era of relations between the U.S. and Iran." In other words, if the US refuses adamantly to "share space" -- as in Iraq -- on what grounds does he here encourage the Saudis to do so. On Turkey, Obama is similarly mealy-mouthed -- although he refrains from the same direct criticism of Erdogan.



Finally, Obama strongly criticizes Washington's foreign policy Establishment as being overly rigid in their thinking and imposing their views on American leaders. This is baffling -- is not the president the head of the Establishment? Has Obama not stocked his two administrations -- to a man and to a woman -- with members of the Establishment? Does he not invite Robert Kagan to intimate Camp David deep think sessions? Hasn't he bowed the knee before the Israeli lobby? Does he not have the authority to address the country directly and to instruct them about world realities?

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Here is the Obama view of where he fits in Washington's power map of foreign policy-makers/Thinkers: "There's a playbook in Washington that presidents are supposed to follow. It's a playbook that comes out of the foreign-policy establishment. And the playbook prescribes responses to different events, and these responses tend to be militarized responses. Where America is directly threatened, the playbook works. But the playbook can also be a trap that can lead to bad decisions. In the midst of an international challenge like Syria, you get judged harshly if you don't follow the playbook, even if there are good reasons why it does not apply."

The deference and passivity accorded the upholders of the conventional wisdom exposes the critical flaw in Obama's interpretation of his authority as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief. He is not a constrained Doge of Venice under strict surveillance by the Great Council of aristocrats. He is not just the custodian and of some Holy Grail in the sacred custody of vestal virgins. He is not the prize student being tested in a simulation by masters of the guild. The Washington Consensus embodied by the head-nodders of the think tanks and op. ed. pages is nothing more than the calcified corpus of failed ideas which have brought the United States nothing but wrack and ruin for (at least) the past 15 years. The Iraq debacle cut the ground from under it -- thereby helping to clear the way for his entry into the White House. His historic task was reformation. Instead, he decided that acceptance into the ranks of the Establishment was worth a ritualized surrender.

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All of this is baffling. Part of the explanation lies in the president's singular personality. Despite his high intelligence, he seems to live with a great number of unreconciled contradictions. Some have to do with his background and upbringing. Some are intellectual. The title of the Atlantic article is misleading. There is no "Obama Doctrine." Incoherence is the hallmark of American actions in the Middle East and elsewhere. The interview with Goldberg confirms that.

Barack Obama gave Goldberg many, many hours of his time. The president allowed the writer to accompany on international jaunts, and accorded him entry to his inner circle. Goldberg has thanked the president by concentrating on the supposed historic error of not bombing Syria when Assad allegedly (if mistakenly)was accused of crossing the notorious 'red line' by using sarin gas. That is the pivot of the article; it is returned to time after time in positing the hard-line critique of the Obama foreign policy as the one authoritative perspective. Why does a president afford such liberties to a tendentious journalist?

European monarchs of old had court portraitists. American presidencies have Boswell's like Bob Woodward and now Jeff Goldberg. Boswells who are not friends but on assignment. The purpose is similar: to immortalize the ruler at the height of his powers. To show a forceful leader mastering a daunting problem with resolve, sobriety and dedication to the interests of his fellow citizens. This being America, the subject matter has to be one of action and suspense. Bush the Younger seeking retribution for 9/11. Now Barack Obama in a titanic struggle to escape the coils of stifling dogma.

A narrative account that covers a long span of time, though, does have a few drawbacks. It cannot fix the image at a single moment that will last for eternity. However laudatory, the written account is liable to be viewed differently as time goes by. And Goldberg's portrait is not very becoming. A picture wings the flying hour; a story is part of the flow of events. There is the further drawback that the chronicler may depict persons and things in ways that are not entirely complimentary to the main protagonist in the drama.

Journalistic talents may be available for lease but they do not come with a money back guarantee. For the exchange currency is not hard cash but access. The White House gets surefire blockbuster publicity -- and, in this case, the chance to set in place the first sketch of his presidential record. A further complication is that while the president is the patron, the commission is loosely written to allow the artist unmonitored access to other members of the court. Their vanities and ambitions are not identical with his. See the quoted remarks of John Kerry and Pentagon officials.

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In the light of the ensuing risks, why does Barack Obama enter into such a pact? Our celebrity culture provides part of the answer. Publicity is what it is all about. A public figure whose meteoric rise is a testament to star power must be acutely sensitive to the imperative of how vital to success is mythic imagery and turns in the limelight. The stage lights have the special glow when energized by a bestselling graphic account of high performance.

Then there is the simple truth that presidents want to celebrate themselves. They are the ultimate celebrity in a celebrity culture. They in fact feel proud of what they do and how they do it. Reality is clay in my hands. A successful leader must never allow the future to be hostage to history -- even yesterday's history. Except where history can be bent better to serve fresh exigencies -- or a post-presidency career of 30-35 years.

The selection of a hawk like Goldberg to be his interlocutor demonstrates another truth that also can be inferred from the Obama discourse. Authority on matters of foreign policy rests with the guardians of the very Establishment that constrains him. It is the neo-cons and their hard-line companions in arms who, he believes, are the cynosure of core American beliefs about the world and our place in it. So it ultimately with them that he must seek validation. This conviction of Obama's, of course, becomes self-confirming -- as we have observed for seven years.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow will support the federalization of Syria, if Syrian people decide in favor of it, "Armenpress" reports, citing RIA Novosti.

"As soon as an agreement is reached on the future regulation of Syria between the Syrian government and the opposition, and we will support this agreement. This is directly derived from the decisions of the international support group of Syria, Lavrov said during the press conference on the results of negotiations between Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui.

"Any way, as it may be called, federalization, decentralization, unitary state, shall be subject to agreement of all Syrians," the Russian Foreign Minister noted.
My prediction: this fall, Trump will lose to whoever the Democratic candidate is. As a result the panic level of Trump's supporters will increase dramatically, as will the violence. Remember: these are people who feel that they are in a life-or-death struggle with immigrants, homosexuals, Blacks, Feminists, Socialists, Liberals, Muslims, terrorists, evolutionists, intellectuals... pretty much everyone except those who are actually responsible for the losses of their jobs and security.

These working class folks, who have lost almost everything at the hands of the Capitalists, have been manipulated into fearing the loss of significance of the last thing that makes them feel secure and safe -- White privilege. Remember: when the Tea Party started it was a redirection of the rage people felt towards Wall Street because of the crimes that led to Crash of '08. That righteous anger was purposefully mutated into anger not at the Banksters, but at the Federal government, and then at anyone who was seen to have benefitted from Federal programs. Like voting rights, equal protection or marriage equality.

These and other programs were presented as examples of threats to some fundamental "Americanness," which was always a code for privilege. And sometimes it was simply because these desperate, frightened people saw a skin tone like theirs the very wealth that harangued them from the TV or from the stage, sometimes they simply felt comforted by the image of success, or sometimes because they heard a voice that reenforced fears they already had, these folks mentally associated themselves with the Rich Man or Woman on the stage or the TV, not with the worker they used to share the shop floor with. T

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hey have been made to feel under siege, that they are fighting for their lives, for their children. And when people are in a life-or-death struggle anything goes. So for these poor, deluded people Trump's loss will simply be further evidence of how far the forces arrayed against them will go. They will completely panic, and there will be more domestic terrorism, more random shootings of non-Whites, more violence against women.

These people have had so much taken from them regarding "the American Dream" that they should be in the front lines of the fight to overthrow those that lied to them, that cheated them, that profited from their misery. Instead, they are going to be the Brown Shirts that attack those that are working to overthrow the system that lies to, cheats, and abuses us all. We must prepare ourselves for this reactionary violence, but know that it is what always happens during a revolutionary change.

And if I'm wrong and Trump wins? They will feel justified in their violence. They will not only believe that theirs is a righteous cause, they will also have the full weight of the executive branch behind them. Also, were Trump to win, it would mean that voters had most likely returned Conservatives to Congress. That body could pass laws allowing for persecution as it has whenever panic and demagoguery gripped the nation.

Either way, in my opinion, political violence will increase after the fall election. So it will be up to elect a president who we firmly believe will deal with the fundamental failures of our economic system, who will shift us from being a trickle-down, profit at any cost, blame-your-fellow-worker-not-the-Boss nation. Because if these deluded, terrified people can come to feel that any privilege they have is not based on skin color but on being an equal citizen in a democracy that values their participation, that they are part of the fight to promote the General Welfare rather than simply being fodder in the war to further empower those who actually oppress them, if they see an economic system that rewards their hard work rather than lauding those who live by the sweat of someone else's brow, and if they can see themselves as a respected working class of a Nation (whose great wealth they contributed to with their labor and inventiveness) that uses its wealth for betterment of the lives of its workers first, last, and always perhaps they will calm the fuck down.
Imagine a place where children are so hungry they eat animal feed or leaves for food, where they frequently die of diseases or injuries that normally are easy to treat and cure, or where families rip apart mattresses and burn plastic bags to stay warm.

Such hardships are typical for families living in besieged towns and cities of Syria where at least a quarter of a million children are living in areas of Syria that have effectively been turned into open-air prisons. Many children who have not been maimed or killed have experienced severe emotional and psychological trauma.

"Fear has taken control," said one mother from Eastern Ghouta, as recounted in Save the Children's new report, Children under Siege. "Children now wait for their turn to be killed. Even adults live only to wait for their turn to die."

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Or as a Syrian aid worker noted: "It's the 21st century, but here in Syria it's like hundreds of years ago. This is what it means to live under siege."

Recent developments including the fragile cessation of hostilities and access by UN convoys to a handful of the besieged areas mark a step in the right direction toward providing children and families in these villages the essentials for survival. The real test of success will be whether life for millions of Syrians will now improve as a result of greater engagement by the international community.

After five years of war, siege conditions are more brutal and more widespread than they have ever been. Images of starving children in Madaya captured global media attention in January, but children and families also struggle in 18 other towns and cities that the UN declared to be under siege, and the Syrian American Medical Society has suggested that an additional 38 communities should be considered besieged as well. These sieges are enforced by all parties to the conflict.

Less than 1 percent of those living in besieged areas received food aid in 2015, according to the UN. These communities wait 9-12 months between food deliveries, and when aid finally reaches these areas, the supply is totally inadequate for the magnitude of the need. This means that many families continue to skip meals or survive on bread and water.

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Other items, like infant formula for children of malnourished mothers who are unable to breastfeed, have not been allowed in UN convoys by the Syrian government.

While access to food aid is the most basic need, access to medical care and education has also been denied to civilians. Last year, only 3 percent of those living in besieged areas received health assistance. One out of every four schools in the country has closed, and in those that are open, children have a difficult time learning when they are afraid, hungry, sick, and cold.

The horrors endured by so many living in these areas, should compel us to do all we can to step up aid and reduce violence against civilians. Right now, there is a long way to go to guarantee that civilians have their basic needs met and are treated with the dignity that they deserve.

Rather than allow circumstances to plummet to the heartbreaking stories and images that are now coming out of besieged areas, the United Nations Security Council and International Syria Support Group needs to design and implement measures to ensure consistent, safe passage for all humanitarian agencies and Syrian partners capable of delivering aid to hard-to-reach areas and to expand that coverage to all in need across the country. Convoys and food baskets, while welcome, are not the answer to meeting needs in besieged areas--we need to help Syrians rebuild their lives, and can't wait for the fighting to stop to do so.
(Original Caption) Washington: First lady Nancy Reagan cast a pensive glance as President Reagan addresses a group of high school students from 'Direct Connection' at the White House. The students recently held a mini-summit of U.S. and Soviet students in Helsinki then met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Suddenly, Bernie Sanders has an AIDS/HIV policy paper.

It went up on his campaign website over the weekend, shortly after he attacked Hillary Clinton for her bewildering comments on Friday about Nancy Reagan in which Clinton claimed the now-deceased former first lady was a "low-key advocate" for people with AIDS during the Reagan administration, who, along with her husband, "started a national conversation" about AIDS.

Sanders now calls for establishing "a multibillion-dollar Prize Fund to incentivize drug development" that would "provide virtually universal access to lower-cost life-saving medicines for HIV/AIDS as soon as they are approved for sale." He doesn't address expanding access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), the drug combination approved to prevent HIV infection among HIV-negative people at risk, nor many other issues, but his "Prize Fund" is a start.

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On CNN on Sunday morning, Sanders said, "I just don't know what she was talking about," regarding Clinton, though he was "glad she apologized." Clinton in fact apologized twice. The Clinton campaign had tweeted a statement from Clinton, a terse apology --"I misspoke...I'm sorry" -- sent on her feed on the day of Reagan's funeral, within hours of Clinton's comments, after a quick backlash had ensued.

Then on Saturday Clinton posted a fuller response online that lauded AIDS activists as those who truly started the conversation, talked about what she'd done as first lady on AIDS (and it should be noted that it was Bill Clinton's administration that turned things around after the horrific Reagan/Bush years), as a U.S. senator and as secretary of state. In her online post, Clinton took on the harsh HIV criminalization laws that stigmatize and criminalize people with HIV, and she discussed some plans if elected president, including making sure there's access to drug treatments, including PrEP for HIV negative people at risk.

It was a terrific statement, got a lot of media attention, and had the Sunday talk shows discussing the terrible, callous record of the Reagan administration on AIDS, when, during a period of years, thousands died as the president stayed silent, bowing to religious zealots while Nancy wouldn't even help her dying friend Rock Hudson when he reached out.

All of this, honestly, is a great thing to see. But there needs to be much more. Whatever caused Clinton to make such a strange gaffe, is, at this point, less important than the discussion itself: It got her to put out some details reminding us of her commitment in the past and offering some ideas moving forward, and it moved Sanders to rush out a policy statement with ideas as well.

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But statements aren't enough. We want to hear from the candidates directly and in more detail. Clinton spoke in a live broadcast (on MSNBC) about Nancy Reagan when she made the regrettable comments. Judging from social media, many believe she should now speak directly about her plans and engage in dialogue. I've invited her to come on my radio program on SiriusXM Progress to discuss the issue, and to talk about many other issues affecting LGBT people, and I've invited Senator Sanders on as well. And I'll continue to do so.

We've seen no discussion of LGBT issues in the Democratic debates at a time when a furious backlash against LGBT equality has erupted across the country, as states push forward with "religious freedom" bills meant to enshrine discrimination in law after last year's marriage equality ruling from the Supreme Court. Both candidates have tweeted condemnation of these laws, but there's been little to no discussion among them in the media.

While that ignorance during the debates could be laid at the feet of the media and moderators, it's also true that neither candidate has spoken with a gay journalist or interviewer specifically about issues LGBT voters care about. Many believe that's because the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest gay group, endorsed early (backing Clinton), and thus there's no incentive for the candidates to compete on the issues. In 2008, HRC endorsed Barack Obama only after Obama won the nomination, in June. As veteran lesbian journalist Kerry Eleveld notes, at this point in time in 2008, both Clinton and Obama had given several interviews to LGBT publications and gay interviewers specifically focused on the issues, and both gave more as the campaign went on.

This election cycle, it took Nancy Reagan 's death, ironically, to get a discussion going among the candidates about an issue important to LGBT people. But there's more to talk about on that issue -- actually talk, beyond the position papers -- and there are more issues affecting LGBT people to have a dialogue about.

The campaigns surely know that the LGBT electorate plays an outsized role in elections, raising money, working in the campaigns, getting the vote out, inspiring younger voters around issues of equality. In the past few days, gay voters -- and their allies -- were jarred by Clinton's Reagan comments, which have them asking questions and wanting to hear more from her on issues concerning them, even after her sincere apology. And they want to hear from Sanders, too, on the whole range of issues, not just a mention of "gay rights" from a podium or a position paper on a website.

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With the brutal campaign of Donald Trump unleashed and barreling forward, it's important to get every group, every Democratic voter, energized. We've seen an entire Democratic debate rightly focused on concerns of Latino voters, and an important one which took place in racially-polarized Flint, Michigan. Both debates were meant to discuss issues vital to constituencies in the party's base. But again, there's been no focus in the campaigns on issues important to LGBT voters.
Today, I was sitting in Mesa Grande, the cafe I most love to frequent in San Miguel de Allende, when I noticed an old, weathered woman entering the place. Dark-skinned, wrinkled, and small, she was moving very slowly across the room, more like shuffling than walking, stopping at each table and attempting to sell whatever it was she was carrying in her gnarled left hand.

Averting my eyes, I felt myself withdrawing, not wanting to encounter yet another beggar of the day needing something else to survive, but she kept coming, pausing now and then to rest.

When she finally made it to my table, all she did was stand. That's it. Stand. She said nothing. She did nothing. She just stood there, holding, in her hand, what appeared to be a bag of small red berries. I continued pretending to be busy, looking down, not wanting to be yet another refusal she would get that day, hoping she would leave so I could continue working, but she did not -- now staking her ground like a thousand generations of abuelas who know that they were here first.

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Unable to ignore her any longer, I slowly raised my head, then drifted into her eyes. She held my gaze for a long time. Like a flower. Like the way a baby, unblinking, looks at a stranger. Gently, she shook her bag of berries once, explaining without a single word that she was NOT a beggar, simply a seller of small red berries on a Tuesday afternoon. In the distance, I heard the whooshing sound of a cappuccino machine.

"Cuanto?" I asked, holding her gaze.

"Veinte," she replied.

"Veinte?" I asked again, wanting to stay with her for as long as my Spanish would allow.

"Si", she said. "Veinte."

"Bueno," I replied, pulling a 20 peso note from my pocket and placing it in her small brown hand. Smiling ever so slightly, she handed me the bag of berries, bowed, and continued on her way.

I checked my email. I made a list. I ate a piece of fruit. Ten minutes later, Carlos, the waiter, walked over to me, saw the bag of berries on the table and asked if he could have one.

"Si Carlos", I said, opening the bag so he could choose his favorite.

An hour later, when it was time to pay the bill, I handed Carlos the bag and asked him to share the contents with his esposa and hijo when he got home that night. A few people came and went. Someone ordered a croissant. But Carlos and I just stood there, grinning, unmoving, a bag of small red berries now the center of our world.

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Having moved abroad from the United States, there are aspects of life that take some getting used to. In South Korea, it's been an adventure trying new foods. As you can imagine, school lunches are different all over the world. Having worked in several schools in South Korea, I've got to sample many lunch options! Here's a glance into the world of school lunches in Asia.

In the public school system in South Korea, it's normal for the students and teachers to all eat together at the same time. We also eat the same meals and at the same tables. This fits in with the Korean culture, which is very communal.

There are a few things about Korean school lunches that tend to stay the same -- there is usually a soup and rice served with each meal. In addition to this, there is quite a variety with the types of foods that are served. In many Korean meals, banchan, or side dishes, are served. This may be kimchi, radishes, or a mixture of vegetables.

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The lunch above features kimchi jjigae, a spicy soup. The lunch also features noodles, rice, kimchi, nori seaweed, cucumbers and onions in a spicy sauce, and mini pajeon, which are little pancakes made with batter, onions and other vegetables, and seafood.

In Korea, students work very hard. It's normal for students to attend class all day long and then to attend private academies well into the evening. Many do this every day. For those who don't attend private academies, some public schools offer night classes. My current high school does this -- and we also serve dinner at the cafeteria. Many of my students are at school from 8am to 10pm each day -- this is very different than American public school life.

This meal features jajangmyeon, which is a Korean Chinese dish that includes noodles with a sauce made from black beans. It's also served with rice, kimchi, and animal shaped chicken nuggets with a honey mustard sauce.

I love when we have fruit for lunch. On this school day, the meal coordinator placed an extra slice of watermelon on my plate. This meal is bokum bap, or fried rice. It's also served with egg drop soup, and a spicy salad made from onions, cucumbers, and apples.

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Some of the school lunches include a bit of a Western touch. This lunch has a pasta side dish with potatoes in it. The soup featured in this lunch is dubu chigae, which includes zucchini, tofu, and spicy red pepper flakes. This is one of my favourite Korean soups.

Another lunch featured a side of french toast and a cheesy corn salad. The main entree is bibimbap, a collection of vegetables, rice, and gochujang, a spicy paste. When stirred all together, it's delicious!

At my high school, students take turns handling clean-up tasks. They collect the trays and utensils, and also get rid of trash.

As you can see, Korean school lunches are a bit different than most American school lunches, but there is always something delicious to be had. I look forward to lunch each day, because I like to guess what will be on the menu.
Is it time to increase your digital marketing spend? If you're like most businesses today, the answer is yes.

How can I be so confident? According to Gartner, the average business spends 2.5% of its annual revenue on digital marketing.

That's a pretty small percentage. It looks smaller still when you consider all the digital forums that require spending -- digital advertising, content creation, social media, email marketing, conversion rate optimization, mobile marketing, video production, blog creation, design, website development, PPC, SEO, CRO, etc.

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Digital marketing is a big deal. And it costs money, no matter how budget-savvy or growth-hacky you might be.

If you're among the majority of businesses who are spending a mere 2.5 cents for every dollar of revenue, here are some signs that it's time to increase your spending.

1. You don't have much content, period.

The most important word in digital marketing is content.

You've probably heard the phrase, "content is king." What does it mean? It means that content is the most important online factor. Content influences your ranking, attracts customers, impacts your revenue, and shapes your brand.

What is "content?" Broadly, it's anything about your brand that exists online -- websites, articles, infographics, reports, downloads, music, video, apps, etc. A business's online presence depends on the quantity and quality of its content.

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How's your content doing? Is there much of it online? Content can include just about anything, remember -- from an Instagram feed to a video library. If you have a relatively low level of online content, it's a good sign that your online spending is a bit too low.

2. Your competition begins to outrank you.

If you're familiar with SEO, you know that websites are "ranked" on search engines such as Google. If you sell medium-size widgets, then you want your website to have a high rank for the query "best medium-size widget."

But what happens if you begin to lose rank to the competition? It's a sign that your competitor is outdoing you on SEO. Perhaps they have better keyword targeting, superior content, or higher quality optimization on their website.

In order to regain your rank, you'll need to spend on SEO services and content marketing.

3. Your blog hasn't been updated in more than a month.

If you have a blog, you should keep it updated. What does it mean to keep your blog updated? It means that at minimum, once a month, you should post new content.

A blog is one of the best ways to improve your SEO. But if your blog isn't updated on a regular basis, it begins to lose its value. Search engines prefer "fresh" content such as new content, repurposed content, changed content, etc. As your blog ages, it receives less traffic contributing even less value to your overall marketing efforts.

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Websites aren't a one-and-done investment. They require regular output, publication, and creation of new content. If your content creation is lagging, it's a sign that you need to improve your marketing spend.

4. You do not have an active presence on one or more of the major social media platforms.

There's no arguing with the power of social media. As digital marketing goes, social is the fastest growing marketing channel. Of the world's 3.4 billion Internet users, 67% of them are active social media users, as reported by the Global Web Index and Smart Insights.

If your brand does not have a presence on social media, you are not merely missing out on a great opportunity. You are, in fact, virtually invisible to these social media users. Today's brands cannot afford social media invisibility.

Although social media platforms are free to join, they cost some time and effort to maintain. But the return on investment is worth it.

5. You're not doing any conversion optimization.

Failure to engage in conversion optimization is a sad oversight in the digital marketing universe. In years past, a business could afford to overlook conversion rate optimization. After all, it's a relatively new niche. Today, however, few businesses should even think about neglecting conversion rate optimization.

Conversion rate optimization is the process of making data-driven changes to your website that increase the percentage of visitors who take a desired action. In other words, you take the website traffic you have, and turn more of it into paying customers.

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Whereas acquiring customers, clicks, impressions, and eyeballs is relatively expensive, it doesn't cost much, by comparison, to convert those visitors into customers. Through a process of strategic changes and sequential tests, you can guarantee a higher conversion rate.

Conclusion

For a long time, students of marketing have learned that 10% is the magic number for marketing -- spend 10% of your annual revenue on marketing, and you'll do just fine.

Today, with a paltry 2.5% of that budget going towards digital marketing efforts, it's no wonder that your presence is suffering. The most well-respected brands in the world spend far more than 10% of marketing, and you can be sure that a huge percentage of their marketing budget goes directly to their digital marketing efforts.

Salesforce, for example, spends a whopping 53% of its budget on marketing; Twitter spends 44% of its budget on marketing; Oracle spends 20% of its budget on marketing.

Business leaders commonly complain: "We can't afford to spend more on marketing," and digital marketing gets a short shrift. But perhaps you can't afford not to spend more on marketing. As the world hurtles uncontrollably towards the point of digital saturation, investing in digital marketing could be the best thing you could possibly do for your business.

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The invitation is to live with these questions rather than to live by. To live by suggests each question gets a neat and tight answer and all is well. To live with reflects a commitment to respond to them throughout our lives, allowing them to refresh and renew our relationship with ourselves and deepening our capacity to be fully alive. In order to live with these questions, a refinement of pride must happen. Rather than be guided by undaunted certainty, we can engender an abiding curiosity that shepherds our beliefs and choices. These questions will also call forward other questions meant to deepen our connection to ourselves and to our experience.

The Questions

1) Where Do I Come From? This is a foundational question related to family and cultural legacies. We can think of legacies as the beliefs and attitudes we inherit from our ancestors. Clarifying this question may involve asking: Do I come from a pattern of domination or submission? What scripts define gender? Was there a history of alcohol abuse or dependency on mind-altering chemicals? How did family members define the meaning of their lives?



2) What Are My Natural Gifts or Strengths? This is a critical question that can help us to avoid pursuits where we don't belong. Our gifts are best expressed where others will benefit and we are making a contribution to the general good. This question also points toward an acknowledgement and celebration of our uniqueness, and likely in the direction of our life's purpose. Often, just being curious about what we love yields clarity about our gifts.

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3) How Am I Wounded? This question aims at revealing what we either received too much of (abuse) or too little of (neglect). Our maturation greatly depends upon getting honest about what we received and letting go of idyllic notions of having received just the right amount of everything! We employ defenses to protect us from feeling the grief and vulnerability that comes with our wounding. However, these defenses tend to over-protect, obstructing our capacities to give and receive love, as well as handcuff the expression of our talents. It can be helpful to ask: What defenses are limiting me? How to I deconstruct my defenses? What is my wound asking for?

4) What or Who Do I Need To Let Go Of? This question can help to point to where our time and energy need to be focused. It also supports staying in touch with life's non-permanence. The hope is we can more easily make peace with change.

5) What Do I Love? This question helps us to identify what is to be prioritized and protected. It can also help identify our gifts and possibly our life's purpose.

6) Where Am I Going? This question can reflect both what we desire and possibly what life is calling us to. The call we receive from life may be calling us to somewhere out in the world or into our internal world. The former call is typically an opening to the inner landscape.

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7) Who Is Coming With Me? This is a wonderful question reflecting the depth of rapport in our lives. It is often accompanied by several other relevant questions: Who knows me? Who loves me? Whom do I love?

8) What Do I Fear? This question often points to where courage needs to live, inviting us to consider some risk. Being clear about our fear can inform us about the options of either expanding due to taking some risk or of contracting in favor of protection.

9) What Is My Task? This question can also shed some light on our purpose. There may be a particular task, such as asking for something we want or creating or building something. It can be that our task is to learn how to live in a larger story with a greater capacity for compassion, creativity, courage and resiliency.

10) What Do I Need To Forgive About Myself? When we do not take on the responsibility of forgiving ourselves, we live in a condemned past. When we forgive ourselves, we give away past transgression and return our attention to the here and now. The Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfield reminds us, "We forgive ourselves when we give up all hope of having a better past." We enter the present with more compassion and freedom, liberating ourselves from being taken hostage by our mistakes.

11) With Whom Do I have Unfinished Business? Our relationships are inevitably for some form of refinement. Sometimes, it is a story we carry about others not liking or appreciating us. It could entail anger or a resentment we are carrying. Another option might be a need for us to offer an apology or some form of restitution for having hurt someone. Attending to our relationships has the tendency of restoring stability and serenity to our lives.

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12) What Is Life Currently Asking Of Me? This is one of my favorite questions. It is meant to be the compliment to the question: What do I desire? When these two questions live in concert, our rapport with life is deepened. There is diminishment of excessive self-orientation, with a willingness to be informed by our lived experience. The result can be a creative resonance with life.
A simple way to look at and analyze the workforce--specifically, people's level of happiness--is to conduct what is commonly called a climate check, but what I like to call the "umbrella test." It works in a few succinct steps, formulated as questions: (1) What climate do I experience in my job? (2) What's the climate for the people reporting to me? (3) What's the climate for the people who report to them?

I like how the tabulated result paints an immediate picture of the situation and pinpoints the likely source of the problem. If the climate's really bad at the top, and it gets worse as you go down in the organizational structure, you know what's happening: management is making it worse, not better, as you go down. This is not a good situation to be in, to say the least. Essentially, it means the entire place is in some form of unhappy crisis, and it probably starts with you.

If the climate is rough at the top but then improves as you move down through the same structure, it means, obviously, that the people who report to you are somehow making the situation better--they're acting as the umbrella. They're shielding and deflecting the bad weather coming from up top. This is an improvement compared to the first example, and it also represents a form of hope, something to build on. It means you've got a solid core, which is fantastic, and that you're the one who needs to change.

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What I've learned over the years is that my job is to try to shelter those below me from the inclement weather up at the top. But playing the part of umbrella is not always enviable. Sometimes, the person holding the umbrella is stuck in a position that compels him or her to hold back on the truth, "white-lying" to colleagues.

Rightly or wrongly, if people knew everything going on all the time in any business, nothing would ever get done. People would become overly worried about their jobs and everything that implies about losing your home, financial health, car payments . . . life! No, worry doesn't help the organization or the individual, so the key is to get rid of it. Hence the umbrella. It's not always fun to be the one holding the thing, but that comes with responsibility and is part of decision making. At some point, as the leader, your job is to make a decision. To act because the situation demands it. To know that the whole truth, at this stage, won't get any more "whole."

At some point, you will have to acknowledge the human condition. Some people do not deal well with any kind of change, so why create uncertainty? As a leader you have to accept human nature; it is not something that you can control, and this can be a hard lesson to learn.

Here's the way I see it. If an employee's function isn't directly connected to the object of worry, why let him in on the nasty secret? Like water off an umbrella, bad news tends to cascade. It turns into worry, which kills focus, which affects performance, which hurts business, which harms the numbers, which turns into more worry . . . Indeed, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Each person within the team has a role and the information necessary for delivering results for that specific role. At some point every employee will be informed of what's transpired or what's going on, but in a crisis situation we need to perform. The performance is all about "the We," while emotion is usually only about "the Me."

This nice expression sums it all up: "Worry is like a rocking chair. It keeps you busy, but it doesn't get you anywhere."

And sometimes you have to tell colleagues little white lies for totally different reasons. In 2014 we rebranded and changed our name from ING Direct to Tangerine. This was 16 months after our sale to Scotiabank. As part of the process I was supposed to meet the then CEO of Scotiabank to get final approvals for our new name--Tangerine. This was so important to me, to the team. And I missed the meeting!

We'd been through the entire process, decided on the new name, and I'd already gotten my boss aligned with our thinking. I had to go see the incoming CEO at Scotiabank and represent a large team that had worked hard for 12 months during the transition, and I had to do it alone. I had left nothing to chance, over-prepared meticulously the night before. The meeting was at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I could have sat at Starbucks from 8 o'clock in the morning on, but that would've been a bit much. And so I left the office in the northern part of Toronto and drove my own car (with plenty of buffer time before the meeting). But there was an accident on the Don Valley Parkway, and I was stuck in it. I couldn't get off. I couldn't move forward. I couldn't move back. Sitting there, powerless, it dawned on me: this is the professional equivalent of "The dog ate my homework."

A half-hour before the meeting was going to start, I called my boss and told him the situation. I'd only known him for a few months. I told him that I was stuck in traffic--the first such call I've ever had to make. Disappointed, he told me not to worry, he would handle everything. The fib? When I called my team they asked me how the meeting went, and I said, "It went well, we got what we needed, we got the green light"--an abridged version of the truth. But why?

How could I steal their victory from them? This was not about me and what I did. It was about the outcome and a great victory for the team.

I was deeply embarrassed and wholly disappointed that I'd let down people who had given me their full trust, all the women and men who were working on this pivotal project. When we discussed it, my boss just said not to worry. The groundwork had been laid over time and well in advance. This meeting was not going to be controversial. However, I should have been there. It was important to me that he know that I cared an awful lot about it.

Why lie to my colleagues? Yes, it made me feel better, and sometimes that's okay. But they deserved to feel the elation they had earned and I couldn't have muffled that. Sometimes you don't have to torture yourself more than you deserve, even if the dog eats your homework or if you forget the lending rates. These things don't change the quality of your character. They just make you human . . . and a little white-lie teller.

Life can be so much more fun if you can rid yourself of the guilt that comes with always letting someone down.
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"Anonymous sources within the US Navy's senior command have revealed that the US is not concerned over any immediate threat from the introduction of China's latest aircraft carrier in the Pacific, the Liaoning."

-- Defencereport.com

China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a great source of national pride. It is also a grim symbol of the arrogance of an American defense establishment that largely dismisses Beijing's under-sized training carrier as an antiquated bucket of rusty Soviet bolts.

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The prevailing Pentagon opinion is not wrong, at least when viewed through the keyhole of tactics and short term thinking. The Liaoning is indeed a refurbished Soviet carrier originally launched in 1988 that the Chinese picked up for a rusting song from the Ukraine in 1998.

The Liaoning is also a bit undersized. Its deck is just shy of 100 feet shorter than a American supercarrier like the Nimitz.

On flattop of that, the Liaoning has little in the way of advanced electronics or weaponry so that taken as a whole, it is clear that the Liaoning poses no direct competition to any American aircraft carrier strike groups patrolling in the East or South China Seas. Nor does the Liaoning pose a viable threat to any American forward bases in the region - tactical or otherwise.

These limitations of the Liaoning notwithstanding, there is also this stark reality: In an era of a rapidly shrinking American fleet, the Liaoning and its picket ships and air wing pose a growing threat to many of China's neighbors in the South China Sea, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam.

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Both of these countries are currently involved in contentious maritime disputes with China over contested land features. Both of these countries have also had territory and natural resources stripped from them at the point of a naval artillery gun.

For example, Beijing's revanchist navy took the Paracel Islands from Vietnam decades ago in a fiery battle based on an ancient historical claim unrecognized by international law. It now periodically sends huge drilling rigs backed by military forces into disputed areas of Vietnam's 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone base - even as it engages in an almost constant bullying of Vietnamese fisherman, who have been driven further and further offshore.

In a similarly belligerent fashion, and with its growing naval forces and paramilitary China Marine Surveillance ships as the tip of its spear, Beijing has also taken land features from both the Philippines and Vietnam in the Spratly Islands - with full American acquiescence. These land features, in turn, have been transformed into "unsinkable aircraft carriers" replete with 10,000 foot runways, missile-guidance capabilities, and sophisticated sonar and avionics with which to track enemy shipping and aircraft - forcing an "under-shipped" US to futilely send "freedom of navigation" patrols into the area.



Top: Liaoning Bottom: Type 001A Chinese Carrier Under Construction

As to where the Liaoning fits into Beijing's overall pattern of revanchist aggression, Heritage Foundation scholar Dean Cheng has succinctly captured the essence of a problem that the Pentagon has woefully failed to acknowledge:



Says Cheng:



When you look at the South China Sea and when you look at where various countries have their airfields and their air forces, what you can very quickly see is that much of the South China Sea is very far from land. So, as a result, if you put even a small aircraft carrier there, what you can create is something like an air defense bubble; and one of the lessons the Chinese have taken away from the wars of the past twenty years - Desert Shield, Desert Storm, the Balkans, Afghanistan - is that air superiority is essential to winning modern wars. You may not win with air superiority, but you will certainly lose without it; and so the ability to deploy an aircraft carrier, even if it is just to keep three or four modern aircraft overhead, is a huge advantage when everybody else in the area really can't put any aircraft overhead for any sustained period of time.

As for the Liaoning's broader strategic value, China looks to be playing the kind of long game that American leaders simply don't have in their intellectual and strategic wheelhouse. The White House and Congress are all about today and tomorrow. China's authoritarian junta is all about the 21st century. And the Pentagon doesn't really seem to grasp the fact that a threat to the Philippines or Vietnam from the Liaoning also poses a threat to the US presence in the Asia-Pacific.

From this perspective, the Liaoning should not simply be dismissed as a "training carrier." Rather, it should be seen as the first step in China's fielding of a fleet of flattops that will pose an ever-increasing threat from the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and the waters of the Pacific out to the Second Island Chain and beyond to the Hawaii.
North Carolinians know this story well: On February 2, 2014, a security guard noticed low water levels in a coal ash pond at Duke Energy's Dan River site. A storm water pipe underneath the pond had burst and was draining coal ash directly into the Dan River. The public was not notified until the following day, after thousands of tons of toxic coal ash and millions of gallons of polluted water had made its way downstream.

Coal ash is a dangerous slurry of chemicals - including arsenic, lead, chromium, and mercury - that can poison drinking water sources. There are 1,425 coal ash sites in 37 states, generating nearly 140 million tons of coal ash each year - enough to fill train cars stretching from the North Pole to the South Pole. Waste like this doesn't end up in affluent suburbs across America. As we've seen with Flint and dozens of other cases of environmental injustice, 70 percent of coal ash dumps are located in low-income communities.

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As we've learned in the wake of the Flint disaster, too much exposure to lead can lead to health problems for anyone, but it is especially harmful for fetuses and infants. The World Health Organization warns that it "can cause consequences which may be irreversible including learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental retardation." Other chemicals in coal ash, such as hexavalent chromium (recently the subject of drinking water advisories to neighbors of some coal ash ponds), are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other conditions.

North Carolina environmental regulators received harsh criticism in the wake of the spill for being far too lenient on Duke Energy, the country's largest electric utility. Months before the spill, the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) took over a federal lawsuit against Duke Energy over its coal ash pollution, and it quickly negotiated a settlement that fined the company a mere $99,111 and did nothing to actually address the pollution. There were no federal regulations regarding coal ash waste at the time.

Fortunately, the General Assembly enacted legislation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed standards in 2014, but these standards were not soon enough to save the Dan River, nor many other sites around the state that have been subject to the carelessness of Duke Energy.

Normally, citizens could seek a remedy in the courts when state governments do not adequately regulate coal ash. Yet in North Carolina, that's become increasingly difficult given the pay-to-play system that has replaced the innovative public financing program for judicial candidates - a program that Governor Pat McCrory eliminated in his first few months in office. Without public financing, judicial candidates must turn to deep-pocketed donors for the money needed to mount a successful campaign. Those private donors in turn may see favorable decisions in court.

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We shouldn't be surprised to find that Governor McCrory--a Duke executive for 28 years--has conveniently failed to enforce environmental regulations and faced federal investigation for doing so. Corporate polluters have spent big to elect legislators in North Carolina. We can expect that, when it comes to coal ash, Gov. McCrory will yield to his corporate ties and neglect to defend the health of North Carolinians, especially the poorest among us.

The Charlotte Observer recently editorialized on the state's distorted regulatory focus, writing that the disaster in Flint is "a cautionary tale for public officials and the citizens they serve" and that it should "resonate in states like North Carolina, where the regulatory focus has too often shifted away from protecting residents to accommodating business and industry." The state agencies that are supposed to protect our water have too often focused on satisfying industry.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Tired of the arbitrariness of the authorities of Azerbaijan, taxi driver Jeyhun Aliyev expressed readiness to move to live in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Armenpress reports, quoting the website of the TV channel MeydanTV, that Jeyhun Aliyev more than seven years works as a driver in Mingachevir station on the route to Kakh and Zaqatala. He regularly paid all the taxes and the money paid to the Fund of Social Protection.

According to him, a few years ago he was forced to get permission to work, but now he is not allowed to operate on this route, although he has a license.

In an interview with Meydan TV Aliyev said that he was deprived of the route, which is now owned by the head of executive power of Zaqatala Mubariz Ahmadzade.

He also notes that he has three children, his mother is invalid of the third degree, and he is ashamed to go home. "Ahmadzade put his eye on the route of such a poor orphan like me. What should I do? Kill yourself? Which country to escape? My eldest son will soon go to the army. With what feelings he will serve to Azerbaijan? I'm tired of my life. I'm in hopeless situation. I will take my family and go to Agdam. From there, I will move on to the side of the Armenians to live there. Our people do not help the poor and orphans, " Jeyhun Aliyev said.

Earlier Azerbaijani media also reported about civilians who crossed or tried to cross the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and surrendered to Armenia or NKR.

25 villagers from Kotuklu village of Gabala region tried to cross the border and move to Nagorbo Karabakh Republic on February 27. At a time when they, with white flags in their hands, tried to go over to NKR, they were surrounded by the Azerbaijani police.

According to a resident of the village of Ramin Ismailov, the villagers began to protest injustice by Nabiyev family and that is the reason they tried to move to NKR.

"Nabiyev slander and illegally arrest our children. Gara Nabiyev, representative of Baku 'Azerishig', Advisor to the Minister of Taxes Musavar Nabiyev and the representative of the executive power in the village Ikram Nabiyev took control of our district. They did not give us a chance to live. They throw drugs in every home and cars of the villagers, and then give orders to arrest innocent people. We are sick of it, so we tried to go on the Armenian side. " Ramin Ismailov said.

It is reported that all 25 residents of the village were taken to the police department of Agdam region.

Similar attempts have been carried out before.
Answer by Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator for Massachusetts, on Quora.

This gags me. I recently put out a report called "Rigged Justice" - highlighting 20 of the worst federal enforcement failures of 2015. In a single year, in case after case, across many sectors of the economy, federal agencies caught giant companies breaking the law -- defrauding taxpayers, covering up deadly safety problems, even triggering the financial collapse in 2008 -- and let them off the hook with barely a slap on the wrist. These companies paid meager fines, which some then handed over to their tax lawyers to see if they could get a tax deduction!

I think about it this way: After the financial crisis, where were the full-scale public investigations? Where were the armies of auditors, seizing hard drives and poring over the financial statements? Where were the teams of regulators who were supposed to be checking the books all along? Where were the task forces -- the combined efforts of federal and state officials -- who cross-examined low-level dealers and got them to tell what the big guys were up to? Where were the signs -- any signs at all -- that real resources were devoted to thorough investigations and that somebody with real power was taking this responsibility seriously?

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Weak enforcement comes from the top. It starts with the people who run our government agencies. For example, strong leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Labor has meant strong initiatives to protect consumers and workers. But the SEC, with weak leadership, has done as little as possible to hold anyone accountable for the crash, while the Department of Justice has dodged one opportunity after another to impose meaningful responsibility on big corporations and their executives.
It's hard to navigate the "how can I be a political pluralist in the midst of Donald Trump's ascent" conundrum. Not just because I'm a rabbi. Not just because I'm a Jew. Not just because I'm a Democrat. Not just because I'm a worried father.

It's hard, because I truly believe that there are multiple truths in the world, because I acknowledge that my politics can be wrong, because I know that I only know what I know. But I don't believe we have a choice at this moment in the theater of American politics. I believe we are in serious danger as a society.

Here's what I've decided, based on the very real likelihood of Trump's nomination:

First of all, yes, if he wins the GOP nomination, Democrats, Independents, and open-minded Republicans will have a unifying rallying call. The reverberations of his rise to power will fuel the kind of politics I support for years to come. But the cost is too high. I'd rather Hillary (fine, friends, or Bernie. You likely know I'm a Bernie-tinged American Rabbi who supports Hillary Clinton) face a GOP politician than a terrifying hate-clown.)

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Secondly, as the great Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously wrote in his seminal anti-Vietnam War essay, there is "no time for neutrality." I feel haunting echoes of Philip Roth's marginally fictionalized "The Plot Against America" happening in #RealLife. And there is no sideline safe enough for my family - or for yours - to stand on and wait for this to blow over. Donald J. Trump is (or, more gently stated, represents) an American nightmare.

Thirdly, this isn't capitalism vs. socialism (which leads to the terrible comparison between Bernie Sanders' and Trump's rallying the American angry). Trump willingly embodies what Jewish tradition calls Sinat Chinam, causeless hatred. He hates indiscriminately, and refuses to condemn bigotry (see under "Trump, David Duke, KKK").

There's so much more to say, but it's being said. By people with the resources and platforms to spread this warning everywhere. Here are four, to whom (and to whose staffs) we owe a great deal of thanks:


The danger of losing our social filters.

So apparently the Republican nomination for president hinges on the size of Donald Trump's penis. I am sorry this is even a topic. Surely almost any other penis is of more interest than Mr. Trump's. I mean, please, put that thing away.

Trump actually boasted last week that he could have gotten Mitt Romney to fellate him. ("I could've said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees,' and he would've dropped to his knees.") I suppose I might consider one of Romney's sons, assuming he'd stop trying to convert me long enough to be of use. Or Ben Carson, except his voice would rapidly put me to sleep, and where's the fun in that? See how fast we can descend into locker room talk?

Some people say "Little Marco" Rubio is a closet case. If that is true, his recent behavior has been so dreadful that we should all deny him sex. There was a precedent for this in the 1990s, when someone unhappy with Bill Clinton urged lesbians to deny sex to his cabinet officers Janet Reno and Donna Shalala.

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I think we had better stop this unseemly speculation before we get to also-rans like Mike Huckabee and Carly Fiorina. Imagine waking up from a drunken binge in Vegas and finding one of them lying next to you, propped up on an elbow and leering at you expectantly. I'm sorry, I said stop.

The provocation for this juvenile jousting traces back before Rubio's campaign-trail antics to Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair, who once called Trump a "short-fingered vulgarian." Trump never disputed the second part.

Let me end this bawdy banter by recalling the moment in the Benghazi hearing when a Republican congresswoman demanded to know if Secretary Clinton spent the fateful night alone. When Hillary burst out laughing at that ridiculous question, I fell in love as instantly as I did a half century ago when I watched a defiant young boxer say that the heavyweight champion of the world should be pretty like him. Granted, it's a different kind of love, a chaste, public-spirited love where no nasty bits factor into it.

I bet you would have said, had someone asked you a month or two ago, that our national discourse could not get any worse. Please stop saying that. It only tempts the gods! But this degraded situation is the result of letting demagogues get away with branding every social courtesy and civil gesture as a crime of "political correctness." That phrase is a reliable signal that an ugly sentiment is coming. The virtue of honesty is raised in its defense. Not honesty in the sense of showing a humble regard for the truth, but in the sense of sharing whatever brutish thought pops into your head.

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The conduct of the Republican primaries makes Lord of the Flies look like a well-ordered society. But however long the GOP's nihilist orgy continues, we will still live in a diverse society whose peaceful functioning requires mutual respect. If we elect the crude blowhard who leads the Republican field, thoughtful, informed national policy will be replaced by a demagogue's whim. Is it really so awful having a black president or a gay family down the block that it makes sense to spray gasoline all over and light a match?

It is a short step from saying anything to doing anything, as when Trump encourages his crowds to beat up protesters. Since he and his rivals so loudly tout their Christianity, let me point out that their Savior says, "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me," not "Knockest thou the crap out of someone." If both messages mean the same to you, you should be neither president nor pastor.

The Lords of Misrule, as we might dub the Party of Lincoln in its evident death throes, have overstayed their welcome. It is time for them to stagger home and sleep it off, and for the poor bastards on the morning shift to hose down the street and prepare for a new day. Better we all sober up now than wait until after the election, when we could groggily survey the wreckage and say, "Did I really do that?"
The rise of Donald Trump -- and the events of the last week -- have promoted serious discussion of the question of whether fascism can in fact triumph in the United States of America.

I do not raise that question simply as a means of slurring an opposition political candidate, or movement. I raise it as a technical, analytic question that deserves a serious answer.

In 1935, during the rise of fascism in Europe, the novelist Sinclair Lewis published a semi-satirical novel entitled It Can't Happen Here. In the novel, a United States senator named Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip is elected to the presidency, demanding that America return to patriotism and traditional values, and promising dramatic economic and social reforms. He argued that America needed a strong man to make the country great again.

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After he is elected, Windrip imposes a semi-plutocratic totalitarian form of leadership supported by a paramilitary reminiscent of Europe's brown shirts.

Now, 80 years later, the question of whether it could happen here once again confronts America.

Donald Trump, like the fascist leaders of Europe in the 1930s and their counterparts in South America in the 1970s and '80s, argues that he -- a strong leader -- can "Make America Great Again." Like earlier fascists, he addresses legitimate economic discontent by targeting international enemies, and internal threats that must be expunged from the body politic. In Trump's case, the "internal enemy" is comprised of "illegal" immigrants who are "rapists and criminals" and who, he argues, take American jobs. But they also include Muslims -- of any stripe. And, he doesn't mind whipping up latent white racism wherever he can find it.

Like other fascist movements, Trump says out loud -- and legitimates -- the kind of hateful, violent language that was previously whispered only in the privacy of people's living rooms.

And like previous generations of fascists, Trump frames his rhetoric in populist terms, while actually promoting policy solutions that would instead benefit plutocrats like himself.

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And it's worth noting, that while he doesn't always use exactly the same rhetoric, Senator Ted Cruz shares many of Trump's values.

It's not hard to see why Trump has been successful in Republican primary politics.

Much of the elite media and Washington political class was blindsided by his appeal. But this is because many of them missed the central underlying fact of American politics: normal people haven't had a raise in thirty years.

In the years 1986 to 2016, the real per capita gross domestic product -- the best measure of the economic property of a society -- increased 48 percent.

But virtually every dime of that increase went to the top 1 percent -- and often the top .01 percent -- of the population. Median household incomes barely budged. Measured in 2013 dollars, median household income was $50,488 in 1986. In 2013 it was $51,930.

There has been some fluctuation over the period. After dropping to $48,884 in 1993 -- the first year of Bill Clinton's presidency -- it increased to $56,080 in 1999. A year and a half later Clinton turned over the Oval office to George W. Bush.

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Of course the economic record of Bush ended in utter catastrophe with the Great Recession. Since then, President Obama has built the economy back with a record 72 months of successive private sector job growth. But median household income still isn't moving because the Republicans in Congress and the rules of the economic game still allow the corporate establishment to hang onto most of the fruits of that growth.

The iconic political result is the middle class Iowa focus group participant who said: "I haven't had a raise in 30 years -- and all of the growth has gone to those guys at the top, and all of the poor people at the bottom."

Democrats Clinton and Sanders have answered by pointing to the 1 percent, the corporate CEOs and the wealthy -- a political message which has the advantage of being true.

Trump and the Republicans have taken the opposite tack -- whipping up antagonism to "immigrants," "lazy people who don't get a job," and -- frankly -- anyone who is "not like you." This of course has nothing whatsoever to do with the truth.

We know empirically the effect that increasing income inequality has on political polarization.

Several years ago, political scientists Nolan McCarty, Keith T. Poole, and Howard Rosenthal published a study showing a direct relationship between economic inequality and polarization in American politics.

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They measured political polarization in congressional votes over the last century, and found a direct correlation with the percentage of income received by the top 1 percent of the electorate.

They also compared the Gini Index of income inequality with congressional vote polarization of the last half-century and found a comparable relationship.

Economic stagnation is the breeding ground for fear, racial hatred and extremist rhetoric. That is particularly true if other forms of social change simultaneously cause people to fear for their personal meaning and place in the world. An increasingly diverse America, the redefinition in relationships between men and women, gay and straight, is frightening to some Americans.

Racism is not the same thing as racial prejudice. Racism develops where a group of people's meaning and status in life are tied to their self-definition, as "not Black," or "not Brown.". If personal meaning doesn't come from excelling in your work life, or economic success, it's a lot easier for people to be convinced that they need to define themselves through race and nationality.

It is no accident that fascism arose in Europe out of the economic depression of the 1930s, and in South America in a period of economic stagnation.

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And Trump's ability to dominate the Republican political dialogue is also the direct result of the behavior of Republican elites -- ever since the resurgence of the "Conservative Movement" in the 1980s and especially since the Gingrich "revolution" and the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency.

The GOP has been divided for decades into its social conservative/populist wing, and the business wing. In fact the business wing always called the shots -- and used the mass wing of the party as cannon fodder to win elections so they could cut taxes for the wealthy, reduce government "regulation", and cut trade deals that benefit huge corporations.

The business wing would provide the money to whip them to a frenzy during elections -- and then do nothing for their economic well-being once they won. And they made matters worse by creating and funding the Tea Party movement that helped fuel the current anti-establishment Republican rebellion.

Now, the white working class component of the party has had enough and the Trump/Cruz campaigns have done everything they can to exploit their anti-establishment fury.

As I indicated in a HuffPost piece last August that predicted his success, Trump also has many personal advantages that have allowed him to capitalize on GOP primary politics.

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Trump is credible at delivering that right wing populist message because he can claim that the "establishment" won't own him, because he doesn't need their money. He claims he is free to destroy the status quo, since he won't owe anyone anything.

Trump understands that many voters, especially frustrated white, working class men, don't care about his "policy proposals" or his "experience" in government. They want a tough son-of-a-bitch who will tear down the establishment that they believe has failed them. And Trump has spent his entire career learning how to behave like a tough son-of-a-bitch. His trademark line, after all, is: "you're fired."

Trump had spent 25 years learning how to generate attention to himself. He is one of the most experienced and successful self-promoters in modern America. That self-promotion has been at the heart of his success building a fortune.

Trump is no Bill Gates who invented an entire new industry. He is a latter-day P.T. Barnum -- a brilliant promoter.

Of course part of his attraction lies in his willingness to say whatever he thinks might get attention. He thinks of himself as a bigger-than-life success who doesn't need to win in order to be a big deal. That frees him to be "authentic" and outrageous.

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And his skills at self-promotion are fed by an insatiable desire for attention. For Trump, attention appears to be the drug of choice. He craves it. He is driven by it. Don't expect that drive to lessen. The Presidential race has allowed him to taste a stronger, more powerful drug than ever before.

One of the reasons he is so successful -- and has such political endurance -- is his unwillingness to ever allow himself to be put on the defensive.

Trump understands a key rule of politics: when you're on the defense, you're losing.

As a result, outrageous comments that would sink any other candidate don't faze him. He never, ever apologizes -- he just counter-punches. His skill staying on offense gives him a coating of political Teflon. Every time the pundit class decides that one comment or the other will certainly lead to his eminent political demise, he just plows ahead, unruffled.

As he constantly points out, he is very, very rich. He could stay in the race as long as he wants, without fear that his contributions would dry up. That was a huge advantage. No one questioned that he could stay in the race, and that created its own momentum.

Finally, to many people, Trump seems like a winner. Voters follow winners, not losers.

For many people, Trump appears to be a winner in life -- at least in business. And he exudes the self-confidence that communicates success. No stench of personal or political failure here. His persona screams: winner.

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And remember that human beings, after all, are pack animals -- they travel in packs. Once he established himself as the leader of the GOP political pack, the sense of bandwagon has generated even more supporters. Bandwagon, after all, is an independent variable in politics.

All of this being the case, can Trump and his a new American Fascism triumph in this fall's election?

We count him out at our own peril. The same people, who predicted he would never succeed in the primary, now argue that he will mean the demise of the Republican Party. That is entirely possible, but it won't happen on its own.

America's most important line of defense against Trump in the general election is, as it happens, one of his greatest strengths in the primary: America's increasing diversity.

The fascists of Europe could scapegoat Jews because they were a very small percentage of the population. Trump has targeted Hispanics, Muslims, African Americans and he has certainly offended many women with his macho, patronizing rhetoric.

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What's more, millennials don't even get the kind of racial and ethnic fear upon which Trump thrives.

Democrats must work hard to turnout all of those diverse constituencies in record numbers.

And to that, we have to add a clear, unequivocal populist economic message that demands an increase in the incomes of ordinary Americans -- that demands that the political game can no longer be rigged through lobbyists and campaign contributors to benefit only corporate CEOs. We have to stand unequivocally for an economy that benefits everyone -- not just the 1 percent and the wealthy. And we have to be completely clear that we are the party of economic growth because growth comes from the middle out -- when ordinary people have money to spend in their pocket -- not from the top down as some kind of "trickle down."

Both of the Democratic contenders for president have adopted precisely that kind of message -- and Democrats down the ballot must do so as well.

Progressives cannot afford to allow a consummate insider like Donald Trump to pretend that he is some sort of tribune for the working classes -- or to position himself as an "outsider." Donald Trump is about one thing: Donald Trump. And he has not hesitated to cut wages, outsource jobs, use bankruptcy to deprive workers and investors of what is theirs, and shamelessly use outright fraud.

And if Trump gets the nomination, we can't be shy pointing out that in addition to his demagogic bigotry, and self-aggrandizing hypocrisy, he does not have the temperament to control the nuclear launch codes. If you think George W. Bush was a dangerous bull in a china closet when it came to America's foreign policy -- think about Donald Trump.

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The rise of Donald Trump and his movement -- and even if he doesn't win, the Trumpification of the Republican Party -- poses a grave danger to America. If Trump or Cruz become president it would be a tragedy beyond measure for our country.

But it also presents an historic opportunity for the progressive forces in America to win a wave election and move our country forward more fundamentally than at any other time in the last half century.

The only thing that is certain is that it's up to us. After all, history is predetermined only by those who shape it.
For the longest while, half a year almost, commentators have been wondering what on earth Donald Trump could possibly say or do that would make his candidacy collapse. Nothing seemed to have any impact. He insulted a war hero, he insulted women, he insulted Mexico, he insulted the disabled, he insulted all Muslims, he insulted reporters, he proposed torture, he proposed war crimes, he suggested that protesters at his rallies deserved to be beaten up, he suggested that he wished reporters could be beaten up, he bragged about how rich he supposedly was, he bragged about how big his male organ supposed was (despite having eerily small hands), he has been charged by New York State with fraud, he said he could shoot someone and not lose support. And that last seems to have turned out to be correct. Pretty much nothing Donald Trump (R-Trump Towers) could say or do would hurt him among his Republican supporters.

I get the sense, however, that something has finally cropped up to change all that. It's occurred too late for his opponents and for the Republican Party establishment which is understandably freaking out that Donald Trump is going to be its leader. After all, Donald Trump pretty much has the GOP nomination locked up before the Republican convention. And if for some reason he doesn't get the majority of delegates needed before the convention meets, and the GOP is able to get the nomination to someone else, it will rip the guts out of the Republican Party because Donald Trump will go ballistic (and we all know that Donald Trump will go ballistic), and so too will his crazed supporters who believe that their beloved can turn water into Trump Wine, never mind that it no longer exists.

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But denying Donald Trump the GOP nomination appears a lost cause at this point. Pretty much all analysts say that the only way to stop him before the convention is if he loses Florida. But he's between 15-20 points ahead of Marco Rubio, the state's own U.S. senator, who's fading fast. And neither Ted Cruz or John Kasich are going to win Florida. So, Donald Trump is pretty much going to get the Republican nomination for president. And nothing he can say or do will likely be able to stop that.

But -- something does seem to be have made its way into the public conscience that could finally hurt him, and if it's too late to stop him in the Republican Party, then at least in national general election.

And that's the growing aura of violence surrounding Donald Trump.

It started small. The quips about protesters deserving what they get. The quips about wishing he could kill reporters. "Just kidding. No. Yeah, just kidding." The quip about how he could shoot someone in the streets of New York and not lose support.

But then it ratcheted up. Protesters being punched at his campaign rallies. A protester getting arrested for battery against a protester. A reporter (for a heavily Trump-supportive publication, no less) being grabbed by apparently a Trump campaign official manhandling her to the extent that she has filed charges. A pompous bravado of almost pride in defending the attacks, to the degree of suggesting he might pay the legal fees for the Trump supporter charged with battery for punching (sorry, sucker-punching) the protester.

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And then it rose even higher. There was the boastful rant in St. Louis about how protesters at his rallies pretty much deserve what they get -- said just before a big campaign rally in Chicago, with its own racial divide, said almost knowing and intended that it would provoke violence, so that the Trump campaign would have to cancel the event and claim that it was the victim. (That Donald Trump could state in a phone conversation with Chris Matthews on MSNBC that we've gotten to the point in America where you can't hold a rally without violence was sickeningly laughable, given that every other candidate during this campaign holds rallies all the time without any violence, it only seems to happen at Trump rallies -- and that Chris Matthews didn't challenge him on the statement is an embarrassment.) Indeed, it was the Trump campaign itself that intentionally cancelled the rally that had to knowingly provoke and ratchet up the violence more -- lying that it was the Chicago police department who suggested it be cancelled, which the police emphatically deny that any such thing occurred.

And it goes on and on to an even higher level, out of control almost as a sickness. Donald Trump bizarrely suggesting that a protester has ties with ISIS. Donald Trump bizarrely almost threatening Bernie Sanders with a street fight of supporters. Trump adherents pushed more into a frenzy of support following the Chicago riot. The "Sieg heil" salute at a Trump rally.

And it seems pretty likely that it will only get worse. That tends to be the way violence works. That's most especially the way mob violence works. It feeds on itself, it takes on a life of its own. And it's the way it works when the leader of the mob brazenly promotes the violence. It only lessens when the leader defuses it -- and that isn't always effective if it comes too little, too late and can't be heard over the mindless hatred spewing out of the mob. And it is especially unlikely when it relies on Donald Trump being the one who would have to do the defusing. Donald Trump doesn't defuse violence, Donald Trump is the lit fuse. Donald Trump is a time bomb, ticking. Donald Trump clearly sees his delegate success as a result of his calls for hatred and support of violence, which is the only reasonable explanation why he continues it. Defusing that is counter-intuitive to Donald Trump.

Here's the good news.

While Donald Trump supporters might be fine with the insults and hatred, since words allow people to vent their own sense of ill-worth, violence is another matter entirely. It seems fair to think that at least a portion of Trump supporters from the "non-totally-racist wing" of his campaign will be horrified by what they're seeing, that this is not their idea of America the Beautiful, my country 'tis of thee, America being great again, and Trump will lose some of that support. But far more to the point, FAR more, is that the whole middle-of-the-road, undecided, independent voters -- the people who by their very nature are not impassioned by one side or the other -- are likely becoming horrified by the violence they see at the core of the Trump campaign. And will become more horrified as the violence increases. How can people far outside the middle of a mob riot of hate-filled violence be anything but horrified by the violence? Horrified that it will touch them if not stopped. Horrified this is not their idea of America the Beautiful.

And the violence will increase, because America has a long national tradition of dissent -- it goes back to our very founding. It's the whole point of where we came from. It's the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution, the South seceding from the Union, the Vietnam anti-war movement, all through our history, from our foundation. And we've seen the outside dissent and protest growing as it converges at Trump events. And it's not going away, that's just not what America does. It's the point of Free Speech and the First Amendment, as well. As the Trump hate speech and Trump support of violence grows, the equal-and-opposite protest against racism, fascism, authoritarianism, and hate will grow. And there will be more conflict. And the vast majority of the nation that is not Trump supporters will be gut-torn morally, viscerally and physically outraged.

And make no mistake, that outrage against Trump-inspired violence is by far the vast portion of America. Here's the reality: Donald Trump supporters only make up about 35% of the Republican Party. But the Republican Party only makes up a mere 29% of those in America who declare a party preference. That means only about 10% of Americans support Donald Trump. And it's deeply unlikely that all of those Trump supports stand for the violence. So, we're talking only maybe 7% who do. If that.

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And that is the corner that Donald Trump has finally turned. Already, the protesters and push-back has surfaced and grown. And it will only grow as the frenzied Donald Trump ratchets up his hate-filled rhetoric and provides a wider safe haven outlet for violence. It's one thing to be seen as a false-Populist. That was always the magic trick Donald Trump pulled to fool his wide-eyed supporters. And his one, tiny hope in the general election. But when you nurture violence, that pulls the curtain away and reveals the emptiness and insecure ego trying to compensate for those small hands. The words of hate and violence is not the language of a Populist. It is the platform of a demagogue.

Donald Trump has always been his own worst enemy. And now, the inevitable has started to occur. The Trump rhetoric seems to have be a drug for the speaker and is imploding. And with it, the Trump campaign will implode, as well, unless he can figure out a way to stop it, if he even wants to. And even at that, the country has probably already seen too much. And without the violent rhetoric, it's likely that the Trump hate-filled support could wither.

It's the Achilles heel and Catch-22 together that he's created for himself in the general election. And it could even come back to haunt him in the Republican race.

It's the disaster that Donald Trump caused for his own campaign. And it's huge.

*
Here is a scenario that should keep Democrats awake at night.

Bernie Sanders keeps doing well in the big Northern and Midwestern states. On Tuesday, he wins Ohio, maybe Illinois and Missouri, which sets him up to be competitive in the big, late primaries, notably New York and California.

Those wins may not be quite enough to deny Hillary Clinton the nomination, but the momentum is clearly with Sanders. The contest goes all the way to the convention. If Sanders is denied nomination, there will be a lot of deflated and disappointed Democrats.

Clinton supporters may hope they will turn out in force in November, if only to stop Donald Trump. But there has to be more to it than that. A lot of the independents who went for Sanders could stay home, or even switch to Trump. Somehow, she needs to discover her inner progressive.

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Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the stakes this Tuesday are equally high. If Trump wins both Florida and Ohio, he is very likely the nominee. If Governor John Kasich can beat him in his home state of Ohio, the race drags on a while longer; and maybe Trump's very real liabilities finally start catching up with him.

But the likelihood is that Trump will continue to do well in the very states where Hillary does badly. And that's why a Trump-Clinton race would be so ominous for Democrats.

Ted Cruz, speaking at the unusually mannered Republican debate last Thursday argued that Trump would be the easiest for Clinton to beat. But Cruz, Trump's closest rival, was whistling Dixie. Cruz doesn't travel well, and Trump does.

In fact, Karl Rove, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece trying to argue Trump's weakness against Clinton ended up demonstrating Trump's strength.

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Trump polled worse against Clinton in much of the country, Rove pointed out, except for a few states ... Like, uh, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, where he out-polls her. Oh, only those -- the very toss-up states that will decide the election!

So let us count the possible scenarios:

One is that Sanders keeps gaining on Clinton, but falls just short. A rather battered Hillary Clinton is the nominee. At that point, there is not much for Democrats to do except to keep pointing out all that is crazy about Trump, and to try to find a running mate who will bring along some of the Sanders energy. Sanders himself? Elizabeth Warren (which would give a senate seat to the Republicans)? It's not a long list.

Trump would know just how to go after Clinton's weaknesses. Jim Sleeper, writing in Salon, quotes Nathan J. Robinson, imagining how Trump would savage Clinton in the general election:

Everything she says is a lie.... She made up a story about how she was ducking sniper fire! There was no sniper fire. She made it up! How do you forget a thing like that? She said she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the guy who climbed Mount Everest. He hadn't even climbed it when she was born! Total lie! She lied about the emails, of course, as we all know, and is probably going to be indicted. You know she said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq! It was a lie! Thousands of American soldiers are dead because of her. Not only does she lie, her lies kill people. ....Check the polls, nobody trusts her. Yuge liar.

Now, Trump happens to be the bigger phony by a country mile, but how do you campaign against that without degenerating into the same kind of playground food-fight that Trump used to savage the rest of the Republican field?

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I recently got a fundraising appeal from an old friend who is an enthusiastic Clinton supporter. His letter said in part, speaking of Sanders:

"So, he is not going to be the nominee; he will not be President; and, if the skies opened and he was elected he would be surrounded by an impossible Congress."

This is the standard Clinton line -- she is inevitable, so get with the program.

Sorry, pal, this doesn't do it. A front-runner who keeps under-performing expectations cannot run and win on her presumed inevitability. She has to make a better case than that.

Alternatively, suppose Sanders runs the table in the remaining primaries, persuades the super-delegates that he has the momentum against Clinton, and would be the stronger nominee in November. This really is a revolution.

Would centrist Democrats, worried about their own seats, support Sanders? Would the surge of enthusiasm on the part of the young make up for losses elsewhere? How would Sanders fare when subjected to serious red-baiting? Would Michael Bloomberg, as a business-oriented Democrat decide to run after all? A Sanders nomination is not all sunshine, either.

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On the Republican side, the stakes are just as high. The recent entente among all the non-Trump candidates suggests that if they can keep Trump from getting an absolute delegate majority before the convention, he just might be stopped. Kasich could be the one with some momentum, now that most of the Southern primaries are behind us.

Can we imagine, say, a Kasich-Cruz ticket? That would be tougher for Democrats to beat than the opposite.

For all of the populist ferment on both sides, the general election could end up being an establishment Democrat (Clinton) against an establishment Republican (Kasich), and then where would the populist rage go? And would Trump run as an independent on the grounds that the GOP convention did not respect the fact that he came into the convention with the most delegates? In a three-way, would he carry a few states, possibly throwing the election into the House and President Paul Ryan?

For more than three decades, there has been a great deal of downward mobility in America, even as life has become sweeter and sweeter for the elite. As recently as 2008, there was no place for it to go in our political system. For many white working class male voters, the disaffection was compounded by partial gains of demographic groups whose aspirations had been even more suppressed -- blacks, women, people with disabilities, "despised minorities" in Louis Brandeis' phrase, such as gays and lesbians, and the symbolism of an African-American president.

By 2010, some of that rage had found a home in the Tea Party movement, much to the dismay of silk stocking Republicans. Today the pocketbook frustrations can either go right, with Trump, or left, with Sanders. They are not going away,

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For progressives, the true nightmare scenario is that Hillary Clinton narrowly wins the nomination but the momentum keeps getting away from her; and on the Republican side, as much as the party elite loathes Donald Trump, a lot of Republicans hold their noses and rally behind him.

He keeps talking populism, but at the end of the day he's a businessman. He will say what he needs to say to rally the disaffection, but do we really think he will increase taxes or regulation on big business? Let him scapegoat foreigners, or Muslims or African-Americans, as long as he keeps the anger away from Wall Street.

Is Trump that much of a cynic? Is the Republican elite? Are you kidding?

--

Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University's Heller School. His latest book is Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility.
In a place where "drinks" means "cocktails", "cocktails" means "smoothies", and every neighborhood has multiple "alcohole" shops, it was time to suss out the adult beverage scene. I mean Poland's annual vodka consumption stood at just under 17 liters per head in 2008 and lies in the heart of the Vodka Belt of Europe, the historic home of vodka. So to warm up on a blustery, snowy night, I decided to give vodka a shot. Well about 8 shots, really, and one big, smoky, not-just-for-breakfast-and-hangovers-anymore Helluva Mary. It was the Vodka Tour and I was ready to take a shot at it.

Like the craft brewery scene that's emerged around the U.S., Poland (at least Krakow) has a craft vodka scene. Shops showcasing their "homemade" spirits are popping up all over and keeping vodka in the national alcohol consumption race against front-runner beer and fast-approaching wine. I was more than happy to do my part to help vodka maintain its rightful position. And so, listening to our mellow yet engaging guide Adam talk about Polish social life and share his own personal stories (my favorite being his account of sloppily leaving the bars at 8:00am only to do a walk of shame amidst all the morning Catholic church-goers), our small, bundled-up group mosied from local joint to local joint. First experiencing a classic restaurant with old-fashioned decor and distinctly Polish music piped in overhead. The kind of place that businessmen might have brought their clients back in the day for a proper Polish meal- and are still going there. Presuming we had a night ahead full of stiff drinks, I promptly asked upon the first two shots being set in front of my place setting whether sipping was allowed. It was a definitive no.



Eat Krakow Vodka Tour group

And so the night went. From old-school Cechowa with its pure white rye vodka (egad!) to cozy Goscinna Chata with its vodka proudly made with bison grass to the contemporary Ed Red for their super-spicy version of a Bloody Mary. However, it was a vodka distillery called Szambelan whose quaint ambiance won over my heart and whose potent concoctions overwhelmed my senses (enter the "strong, but not very strong"- according to Adam- shot that practically burned my nose off). My favorites being the cherry-infused (think Vicks Formula 44D cough medicine) and the smoother honey-infused. Both which, to a devoted Pole, would probably be sacrilegious.
Iceland has always been one of my dream destinations!

Iceland (Island [istlant] in the Icelandic language) is located in the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean near the Arctic circle. It's a hidden gem of Europe full of natural wonders and Viking history. I spent my birthday week in Iceland, and I must say it was an epic week!! I will tell you why and I will highly recommend to include this beautiful country in your "best travel destinations".

Here is my list of awesome things to do in Iceland

1. Explore Reykjavik



Colourful view of Reykjavik

Reykjavik, the heart of Iceland. The city is charming and relaxed; you will have a lovely day exploring the city. You can see some interesting museums here about Vikings, eccentric arts and crafts and even a museum full of phallic specimens. The city's high street has loads of cafes and restaurants that offers mostly seafood.

Reykjavik is not busy as your typical European city, but about 2/3 of Iceland's population is residing here.

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2. Chase the Northern Lights



Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights in Iceland

Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis is a phenomenal show of nature caused by the magnetic particles of the earth and charged gaseous particles from the sun. The best time to see this extraordinary light show here in Europe will be during winter. We went cruising in the Atlantic Ocean to see this wonder away from the city lights of Reykjavik. It was cold out on the deck of our ship, but this natural light display is all worth it!

3. Try Icelandic Foods

The primary industry in Iceland is fishing hence most of the popular dishes here are... have a guess!! Yes, seafood! I think the prices of the seafood in Iceland are relatively cheap compared to the prices in the UK or other EU countries.

If you're up for an exotic dish and an adventurous Icelandic food smorgasbord, you can try orramatur (Thorramatur), which comprises of Hangikjot (smoked lamb meat), Hrutspungar (ram's testicles), Lifrarpylsa (lamb liver sausage), Blomor (lamb blood pudding, somehow similar to Black pudding), Hakarl (fermented shark's meat), Svi (lamb's head) served with Rye Bread and Flatbread.

4. Go Snorkeling / Diving in Silfra Fissure

This is a Y.O.L.O moment indeed! This is probably considered as the purest and clearest freshwater in the world. The Silfra Fissure is one of many unique places in the world, where it is possible to dive between the North American and Eurasian continental tectonic plates. Swimming in Silfra gives an awesome feeling knowing that you are almost able to touch the two continents at the same time. The water in the fissure comes from mountain glaciers miles away from the rift. The glacial water travels through porous volcanic rock that gives Silfra's beautiful clear water. As our guide from Guide to Iceland mentioned, you can drink the water from Silfra as it is so pure! Watch my YOLO snorkelling video in Silfra.

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5. Trek on a Glacier



Ice formation in Solheimajokull

Glaciers, One of the fascinating natural landscapes you can see and explore in Iceland. Glaciers are massive chunks of ice that are made up of compressed snow that has taken hundreds or maybe thousands of years to build up! There are good numbers of glaciers scattered around the country. The biggest of them all is the Vatnajokull glacier; it is also considered as the largest glacier in Europe.

The Glacier walk in Solheimajokull that we did can be considered as one of the easiest and friendliest one. Solheimajokull glacier tongue is a part of the Myrdalsjokull glacier in South Iceland about 2.5 hours drive from Reykjavik and about 30 mins drive to Vik.

6. Enjoy the Icelandic Landscape



ingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park

Iceland's landscape is thrillingly beautiful. Pictures won't do justice to its majestic beauty. You have to see and experience it for yourself to believe it. Everywhere you look was simply breathtaking, I'm not exaggerating! Iceland is a mixture of volcanic landscape, endless mountains and hills, glaciers, plains and countless waterfalls.

ingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is a UNESCO Heritage site; the park is very important to the Icelanders due to its historical and cultural events that took place here to build Iceland as a nation. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is also one of the highlights of the Park. This is also the shooting location for the popular series "Game of Thrones". Check out our self-drive adventure around the Golden Circle in Iceland.

7. Visit geothermal pools and springs



Thermal pool in Blue Lagoon

A visit to Blue Lagoon is a must when you go to Iceland. The experience is so surreal and unique. Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa; You can bathe in the warm thermal pool, and they also offer different spa services and a lot more.

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The water in the thermal pool is from the geothermal seawater from underneath the earth's surface with minerals, silica, and algae that can be beneficial for your skin and tired body. So when you visit the Blue Lagoon, don't forget to try some silica mud mask on your face and all over your body!

SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TO ICELAND NOW!

If you have anything to add to this list, feel free to comment below.

This article was originally published in Two Monkeys Travel Group website.
(Damon Dahlen/Huffington Post/Getty Images)

This is a runner-up in our Teens Against Trump essay contest. Read more essays from the series here.

When I first heard Donald Trump was running for president, I thought it was a joke. I, like so many other people, wanted to see how far he would take it before dropping out and leaving politics to the politicians. But then his campaign got scarier. He started using methods of fear to persuade Americans to support him. He has proven time and time again that he is sexist, racist, and arrogant. If we elect this man into presidency, we will have turned this nation from a melting pot of cultures and opportunities to a country where we are so desperate for change that we allowed a politically inexperienced businessman to take office. The thing that Donald Trump has to realize is that America is not his business, and its citizens are not his employees.

Look. There are a lot of things that I do not understand about how our nation is run. But I do know that the president is supposed to be diplomatic. Diplomats can't talk like Donald Trump does. They can't refer to a woman they don't like in such brutally misogynistic ways as a "slob" or a "fat pig." Other countries around the world base their opinions of America on the current leadership. If this is the example Trump would set for our country, America would have no allies left. Having Mr. Trump as president would be counterproductive when it comes to forging new political alliances, which is vital in this unstable world we currently live in.

Mr. Trump is by far one of the most arrogant people that I have ever had the displeasure of listening to. The way he speaks, thinking himself some sort of tragic hero who started from nothing (a small loan of one million dollars!), who used his wit and charm to prosper in the business world -- thinking himself the only one who can save America. Anyone who thinks that a million dollars is a small amount of money is not someone we should trust to understand how the typical American lives. The president should be in touch with how the average American household functions.

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Trump has called for a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. You know what this reminds me of? When Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps during World War II, promoting the spread of xenophobia and fear across the nation.
Do you have any advice for young fathers forming attachments with babies and toddlers? My husband is an extremely affectionate spouse, brother and son, but he struggles with emotionally connecting with our fourteen-month-old daughter.

The pregnancy was unplanned, but we were married and eagerly anticipating having children a few years down the road. I spent most of my pregnancy depressed about the premature ending to our "honeymoon," but he was so excited and supportive. He would even stay up at night talking to our unborn child!

When she was born, though, he told me, "I see you and I see me, and that's cool, but I don't feel anything else." He has made similar comments over the past fourteen months. He is so patient with me, but his fuse is shorter with our daughter than anyone else. She runs to him with hugs and kisses, but he barely acknowledges her affection. He barely reacted the first time she called him "Daddy."

He shares parenting responsibilities generously, but only as a favor to me. He goes through (almost) all the motions, but doesn't seem to get any joy or satisfaction from being a father. He gets defensive and upset when I suggest parenting classes or counseling, but he finally agreed to visit a religious leader with me next week.

I am desperately worried about the effect this will have on our daughter as she grows. I know she's getting old enough to start picking up on his coldness. My husband is a good and loving man. Is there anything we can do to help him form a secure attachment with our daughter?
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Greece is undoubtedly one of the countries with which Armenia has deep and vibrant friendly relations based on both common interests of the two countries, and on the age-old relationship and mutual sympathy between Armenian and Greek peoples. Armenpress reports that Armenian and Greek officials always highlighted the high level of relations and the importance and bilateral willingness to deepen these relations in various dimensions.

Since independence, Armenia and Greece are carrying out close cooperation in almost all sectors. The legal framework of bilateral relations is quite wide. It covers more than 40 agreements of cooperation in economic, military, cultural, scientific, healthcare, communications, tourism and other sectors, as well as protocols and memorandums.

Armenian-Greek military cooperation has particular level which is developing in sectors of military education, international peacekeeping, military industry and military-technical cooperation. Greece significantly supported the establishment of the Armenian peacekeeping forces. In 2004 Armenian servicemens peacekeeping mission started within the Greek battalion in Kosovo, in the frames of NATO peacekeeping mission.

Frequent high-level mutual visits prove the nature of the Armenian-Greek inter-state relations and high level political dialogue. Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan, during the state visit to Greece in 2011, touching on the Armenian-Greek relations, said that the friendship between the two peoples has turned into a true brotherhood.
Once a year International Women's Day celebrates women's social, economic, cultural and political achievement. It's nice to have 24 hours especially for this, but honestly. It's 2016. Time to bring women's achievement mainstream.

When women are safe and productive, their economies and networks also thrive. This benefits everyone, universally. Examples abound, from Manhattan office towers to towns and villages in sub-Saharan Africa.

On the eve of IWD 2016, last week Josh Bersin's team at Deloitte released a new report called Global Human Capital Trends. It's a primer on the inclusive work transformation underway in the world, and it maps straight to this year's conversation re: International Women.

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Bersin's view had me and my WeSpire colleagues from the start; opening passages align perfectly with our takeaways from IWD 2016 events. Highlights from the introduction:

"The 'new organization' is built around highly empowered teams, driven by a new model of management, led by more globally diverse leaders focused on a shared culture, designing a work environment that engages people, and constructing a new model of career development. Organizations are vying for top talent in a highly transparent job market and becoming laser-focused on their external employment brand. Executives are embracing tech to reinvent the workplace, focusing on diversity and inclusion as a business strategy, and realizing that, without a strong learning culture, they will not succeed."

Employers win when they invest in strong learning cultures where people can choose to participate on efforts to improve lives, inside the organization and literally anywhere in the world.

Diversity inclusion isn't a "nice to have;" it's a critical business strategy in and of itself -- a strategy that many of the top businesses in the world are actively pursuing, and because it's good for the bottom line. "Is Gender Diversity Profitable?," a new Peterson Institute/EY report of 21,980 global publicly traded companies in 91 countries reveals businesses with at least 30% female leaders add 6% to net margins. #significant

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We see massive efforts, financed by the private-sector, to help women who don't yet live in a world where good health care, education, employment, safety, and security are the norm.

Let's bring International Women's Day forward to the entire year ahead. Special congratulations to the well-designed, well-funded programs to advance women globally. Kudos to those influential people in executive positions who truly care, and who are creating sustainable impact from within their organizations.

"We run our women's network like a business," GE's Chief Diversity Officer Deb Elam told us at the Business of Inclusion conference held at the United Nations this week. "We use the program to attract, retain, develop, and promote women; with it, we drive mentoring and skills-based volunteering among our employees."

Improving the potential for women in regional economies is increasingly the smart m.o.

A new McKinsey report puts the opportunity conservatively at $12 trillion. Researchers analyzed a "best in region" scenario, in which all countries match the progress toward gender parity of the fastest-improving country in their region. "This would add as much as $12 trillion in annual 2025 GDP, equivalent in size to the current GDP of Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom combined, or twice the likely growth in global GDP contributed by female workers between 2014 and 2025 in a business-as-usual scenario."

Corporations like Microsoft are dead serious about their commitment on this:

"We work from a single mission statement around empowerment. Empowerment on the planet," says Toni Townes-Whitney, Corporate VP of MSFT Worldwide Public Sector.

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"At Microsoft we want to drive digital transformation across broad sectors. How can we reach all these girls and women in need? We are equipping them with tools, education. We're working hard on protection against human trafficking. Safety, yes. Government services, yes. We are on the ground, around the world, identifying solutions. In India, we work with the new head Postmaster, a woman who is using that distribution platform to serve up information and support for our initiatives."

U.S. school children are also learning about women's leadership and innovation via Microsoft's employee-led program in partnership with Girls Who Code. Their #MakeWhatsNext video belongs in every classroom and board room, a must-watch for students, women, men. Produced by Microsoft Philanthropies, thanks to COO Lori Harnick.

Much of the impactful work around the world is being accomplished via innovative strategic partnerships:

Qualcomm and Sony have created a goal to improve maternal and child health in Morocco, driving ultrasounds via a 3G network. "The program became sustainable after one year," Qualcomm's Angela Baker says, both in terms of cost and behavior change: "Now we have women coming into the clinics because they see how beneficial the services are."

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As with any successful engagement program, it's wise to set goals and priorities from the outset.

"What outcomes are you trying to achieve?," Qualcomm's Baker says. "Have these women grown their businesses? Are they hiring other women? Are their children going to school now? It's not only about how many phones we gave away; it's because these phones give women access to information, banking, healthcare, services for their families, and more. We want to leverage the benefits of mobile for social good."
Techpreneurs are often lauded for their business acumen and the disruptive power of their companies, but along with nous, behind almost every startup is a story of personal courage and persistence. This may be even more so in countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where 'safe' careers in large, established organizations or the public sector are often perceived - by society, family and friends - to be more legitimate than entrepreneurship.

Despite this, startups and entrepreneurism are considered key by those who feel an overly traditional, conservative approach to business impedes economic progress in the region. Many MENA countries are facing significant macroeconomic challenges, including high youth unemployment, underachieving education systems, high levels of public sector employment, and large informal sectors - and the deck is typically stacked against SMEs.

The Berlin-based magazine Zenith recently hosted a talk featuring the CEOs of four successful tech SMEs from the region, namely Rania Reda (ITQAN, Egypt), Mohamed Hamada (Ennota, Egypt), Ramzi El-Fekih (Creova, Tunisia) and Khaled Bouchoucha (IRIS, Tunisia). The event was designed to generate European exposure for the companies - and MENA startups more generally - including through connecting them with investors and the tech ecosystem in Berlin.

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Despite the disparate backgrounds and business foci of the speakers - from mobile payments to honey production, to small business software and IT solutions - common themes emerged. I interviewed Rania and Ramzi for a feature on tech startups in the region for Zenith's first English edition last year, and found them to be engaging, inspiring and smart. Here's the video from their talks.
I was working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as a medical resident when I learned that my 89-year-old grandfather had died. His heart had stopped suddenly, just moments after he emerged from the community pool for his daily exercise. The news came as a shock. Despite a long history of heart disease, his mind was still sharp and we frequently had engaging phone conversations.

But after the initial shock, I looked at my surroundings in the ICU and felt relieved that my grandfather had died a "good death" and not in a hospital.

My work in the hospital, and particularly in the ICU, led me to develop strong opinions about how I wished to die. I saw many patients with advanced medical conditions and poor prognoses spend their last days or weeks in a strange place, receiving intense medical interventions that caused discomfort -- like ventilators, central lines, and dialysis -- while only negligibly prolonging their lives. Their families not only had to watch their loved ones decline, they also had to deal with challenging and sometimes costly medical decision-making they did not always understand.

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One of my ICU patients, with history of a stroke and diabetes, was hospitalized for pneumonia. Like my grandfather, this patient went into cardiac arrest, but we managed to revive him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. I felt mixed about this "success" because of the patient's poor prognosis. He spent a week unresponsive before dying in the hospital, while anxious family members returned daily, hoping for an unlikely recovery.

I wanted to avoid this kind of death for other patients, my family, and myself. As a result, before I turned 30, my wife knew that if I ever faced a grim prognosis, I did not want intensive medical therapies -- admittedly not a typical conversation between two people in their twenties. And I was not alone; many of my of my fellow residents felt similarly about the end of life. Following aggressive treatment of another ICU patient, one colleague quipped that he planned to get "DNR" -do not resuscitate -tattooed on his chest to ensure that his end of life wishes would be known.

Indeed, in surveys physicians report a strong interest in advance directives for themselves, and many doctors describe that they would want to minimize intensive treatment in the face of terminal illness. Ken Murray, in his essay "How Doctors Die", writes that most doctors are aware of the limits of current medical interventions. He also describes that doctors see many of these same interventions performed -- futilely -- on very sick patients. As a result, Murray argues that doctors oppose heroic measures near the end of their own lives and tend to die comfortably at home.

But the narrative that doctors die differently than everyone else because of this insight may be worth revisiting. In a recent study, my colleagues and I compared location of death for doctors to that of the general population. Although we found that doctors were less likely than the general population to die in a hospital, we found no difference when comparing doctors to individuals with similar levels of education but no medical training. We also found that doctors were only marginally more likely to die outside of any medical facility, i.e. at home, than individuals with similar education. Our findings suggest that doctors' intense education and training may lead to slightly more favorable circumstances in death. But similarly favorable circumstances are experienced by individuals with high health literacy and socioeconomic status.

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The truth is that it's easy for me, as a young, healthy physician, to state that I want to die in my 80s without intensive medical intervention. Indeed, most Americans report a preference to die at home. But carrying out such a plan is difficult, because end of life decision making is not usually a straightforward choice between dying at 89 following a morning swim versus a prolonged stay in the ICU. More commonly, we are forced to choose whether or not to start or continue to treat a potentially fatal disease. And in a life or death situation, our preferences may not always hold, even for those of us who have a relatively sophisticated understanding of the treatment options and prognoses associated with medical decisions near the end of life.

My grandfather was a college graduate with a successful career as a builder. These advantages helped him live a long life and may have contributed to his "good death." But, ultimately, my grandfather's circumstances were not the result of a plan. He was just lucky, at least in the view of this grieving physician.
2.2 million American citizens are currently incarcerated in America. Among those who are incarcerated are murderers, rapists, and soup slurpers. That is correct, in NJ it is illegal to slurp soup.

Laws are enacted and enforced to protect us and to maintain order in society. However, we have countless laws, mostly old laws, which serve no purpose in society. These laws are rarely enforced which is why we don't hear about it often. However, they can be legally enforced, tying up the courts and wasting tax dollars. Alternatively, there are some laws that exist for a purpose; however, a violation of these rules should not be a criminal violation but rather result in a fine.

When citizens are incarcerated for trivial, non-violent infractions, we all lose. We end up with a less resilient economy, overextended law enforcement, and fractured families. These no-value laws aren't old laws by any means; this year, in 2016, Michigan reaffirmed an anti-sodomy law that is unconstitutional as the Supreme Court deemed anti-sodomy law unenforceable.

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Economic Consequences

There is a strong economic argument for decriminalizing certain laws in America. A significant amount of money is wasted when we criminalize inconsequential actions. First, law enforcement needs to spend resources finding and arresting an alleged offender. Then, the alleged offender needs to be brought to trial, which means tax dollars are spent paying the court, the judge, the jury, and the public defender. If the offender is found guilty, then resources must be spent on the correctional facility, correctional staff, and necessities for the offender. Necessities include anything from food, health care, educational obtainment and in states like California sex change surgery are paid for using tax dollars.

Furthermore, when we criminalize low level offenses, the cycle of poverty is likely to begin. When someone is jailed, they will lose their job which means upon being released, that person will have no source of income and without a source of income that person is likely to start collecting welfare. A person's chances of getting a new job will be negatively impacted by their criminal record which means that a person will likely stay on welfare for an extended period of time.

Overextended law enforcement and the effects on public safety

We have a limited amount of resources to split amongst all our law enforcement needs. By trying to focus on every single law infraction, we are diverting limited resources from focusing on major issues. In NY, and many other states, Brothel Laws exist which ban 3 or more non related individuals from cohabitation. Police resources are used to follow up with non-serious infractions such as Brothel Law complaints instead of following up with more serious infractions. This by no means is a critique of law enforcement's ability to prioritize issues; but rather, a critique of the system. If a vengeful person calls in a complaint citing the Brothel Law since four women who are unrelated live together in NYC, the police have an obligation to follow up with this complaint which diverts their attention from more serious violations.

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Fractured Family Structure

When we imprison our citizens, we destroy families. We take away fathers and mothers who provide a source of income and support for their family. For low level offenses, there are alternatives to correctional facilities that will allow offenders to continue to work and provide the support for the families. It is unnecessary to take a single mother away from her children, putting the children in foster homes, for an offense such as operating a hair salon without a license.

Solutions

The solution to over-criminalization is two-fold. First we need to overrule and strike certain laws, such as the ban against soup slurping. And second, we need to decriminalize certain acts and instead impose a fine. By imposing a fine, we still have a deterrence for certain actions, but we won't disrupt society. A fine, both literally and figuratively, makes the offender pay for the offense. A first time low level offense should not lead to jail time.
I first wrote about contemporary painter Tim Okamura in 2013. He had two solo exhibitions that year, This Story Has Not Yet Been Told...The Work of Tim Okamura, a retrospective of more than 10 years of paintings, and Depicted/Connected: Paintings. Both shows illustrated his highly skilled, elaborate and fascinating ability to use portraiture to tell a story.

Okamura describes his artwork as "investigating identity, the urban environment and contemporary iconography through a unique method of painting -- one that combines an essentially academic approach to the figure with collage, spray paint and mixed media."



Tim Okamura at Redbird Gallery, NYC. Photo credit: Stephanie Tartick

The native of Edmonton, Canada earned a B.F.A. with Distinction at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Canada before moving to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts in 1991. After graduating with an M.F.A. in 1993, he permanently relocated to Brooklyn.

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Since then he's been using his creations as a medium to share positive stories. You may have seen Okamura's artwork featured in films, including Prime, School of Rock, Pieces of April and Jersey Girl.

His paintings are filtered through the lens of his personal experience as someone of Japanese and British heritage growing up in area that was not diverse. Through his artistic process, Okamura discovered a welcomed challenge of telling the stories of women of color, which he believes should be represented in the art world. He searches for the inner strength in all of the women he paints. When you see his large-scale creations up close, you can feel the strength and vitality.

One of Okamura's portraits, "I Love Your Hair," was selected for "The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today," an exhibition resulting from the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The juried exhibition, which opened March 12 at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., consists of 43 artists' works.

Okamura is also an artist-in-residence at the Redbird Gallery located at 72 Gansevoort Street in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. The gallery was launched in 2014, and has been building it's programming incrementally.

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I asked the painter about his involvement in both projects.

"I Love Your Hair," oil and collage on canvas, 60 x 72", 2013. (Photo provided)

Q. How was your work selected for "The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today"?

A. Getting into the exhibition was a long process. After my initial submission was selected for the second round of judging the National Portrait Gallery picked up the painting from the collectors who own it in Miami, Jerome Soimaud and Karla Ferguson-Soimaud (Yeelen Gallery), and transported it to Washington, D.C. last summer. There were many luminaries on the judging panel, including renowned critic Jerry Saltz, and MOCA Los Angeles Chief Curator Helen Molesworth, so it was truly an honor to be selected to be a part of the show.



Q. What is the inspiration behind "I Love Your Hair"?

A."I Love Your Hair" was fairly straightforward in its initial concept but I think it ended up taking on several meanings as it developed, and I'm very happy about that. I've been representing a lot of women of color in my work over the last decade, and an important facet of my portrayals of many of these women has been hairstyle -- often natural hairstyles that I found very striking and beautiful on an artistic level but that also clearly resonated as an integral means of self-expression.

Obviously I think this is true of everyone, but it's incredible to observe how much emotional reaction a hairstyle can elicit. For me, the Afro in particular is extremely powerful -- especially in regards to the African-American community as it pertains to pride, politics, and consciousness -- and I have so much respect for what it can mean on that level.

But also as a painter, I really love how stunning an Afro can look if properly captured on canvas and this too was part of the initial impulse of the title, "I Love Your Hair."

Additionally, as I worked on the painting I came to reflect more on the history of this country, and the Civil Rights Movement, and some of those thoughts are communicated in the collaged elements in the background of the painting -- old advertisements for hair salons from the 1950s and 60s that were clearly aimed at a very different demographic. I wanted to emphasize the contrast between the mindset associated with that period in time, and where we are at now.

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Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I had chosen my beautiful friend and well-known social media personality, Yagazie Emezi, to pose for the piece -- and literally any time we would hang out during the process of making the work people would approach her and exclaim "I love your hair!," so I had confirmation the idea for the painting was being signed off on by a higher power. Such a cool experience!



Q. How do you feel about your work being included in the exhibition?

A. I'm so excited to have this work included in the exhibition. I think it's one of the more important pieces I've created in my career so far, and to have it exposed to a really large audience is so gratifying. After the exhibition's run at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. it will go on tour to museums around the country. As an artist, you can't really ask for more than that, so I'm extremely grateful.

Q. How did your residency at the Redbird Gallery in New York City come about?

A. The owner of the gallery, Phoenix Eisenberg, saw a solo show I did at the National Arts Club in 2014, and basically was keeping track of my work from that point. He got in touch with me in summer of 2015 to discuss the idea of the residency. I was able to move into the Redbird's studio for artists in the beginning of January.

Q. What pieces are you working on there?

A. I moved most of the work I had in progress or had recently finished over to the residency, with the intention of finishing or re-working several paintings. But I also thought it was a great opportunity to start my Samurai Women Warrior series, which has been really enjoyable to get under way and get early feedback on.

My time at the Redbird Artist Residency has been incredible. The gallery is located on Gansevoort Street, literally across the street from the Whitney Museum of American Art. A lot of the gallery's focus has been on street art and graffiti, so it's been great to be able to bridge that sensibility with my work, and bring a slightly different flavor to the mix.

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I have my own picture window in the front of the studio space, and have been rotating different paintings for public view. We've had open studio days on weekends, and the amount of foot traffic and cool people from around the world that I've been able to meet has been awesome.

Being able to interact with a broadly ranging audience, and getting such a positive response to the work has really contributed to such a valuable experience for me.
In this Sept. 5, 2014 photo, the Apple logo hangs in the glass box entrance to the company's Fifth Avenue store, in New York. Apple on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 sent invites to an Oct. 16 event during which itas expected to show off new models of its popular iPad and an update to its Mac OS system.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

On February 16, 2016, the Government, relying on the All Writs Act, requested an order from a federal judge compelling Apple to decrypt an iPhone used by one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino terrorist attacks. That Act, originally enacted in 1789, permits federal courts to "issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law." Federal Magistrate Sheri Pym granted the Government's requested order. Once served, Apple refused to comply, and filed a motion to vacate Magistrate Pym's order.

In its motion to vacate, Apple asserted that the All Writs Act did not authorize the court to conscript Apple into government service. Nothing in the general terms of the Act could be read to validate the judge's extraordinary order. In addition, Apple argued that the order violated its constitutional rights under the First and Fifth Amendments. More fundamentally, Apple opposed the order because it would require Apple to create "the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of [encrypted] locks--from restaurants and banks to stores and homes," thus damaging Apple, and the public at large.

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The Government's opposition to Apple's motion challenged some of the computer company's more esoteric constitutional arguments, but more generally relied on a broad and undifferentiated assertion of national security as the justification for its request. At the same time, the government characterized the controversy as being narrowly tied to a specific set of facts and, hence, of only slight precedential value. Somewhat inconsistently, as to the All Writs Act, the Government argued that the Act should be read as abroad authorization to federal judges to issue orders to non-parties to a litigation in circumstances well beyond anything contemplated by the authors of the All Writs Act. Essentially, the Government asserted that a federal judge should be authorized to make the policy judgment as to relative value and inviolability of digital encryption.

No doubt, this case raises several constitutional issues: a somewhat novel free-speech argument that would treat the forced creation of software as unconstitutionally compelled speech; a potential breach of the free expression and privacy rights of users of Apple products; and the due process problem generating by dragooning a private entity into the government service without specific statutory authorization to do so. And, of course, lurking in the background is the serious national security interests of the United States, including the nation's obligation to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks.

But this case is a poor vehicle for addressing, much less resolving, any of these perplexing and potentially conflicting constitutional concerns. The more precise issue is whether the court is properly situated to resolve this controversy. Most cases filed before a court can be resolved by reference to the precise facts presented. This case, however, is of a very different character. The most important facts are facts not before the court. They are the future consequences that might follow from a ruling that orders the decryption of a single iPhone. Adjusting the law to those potential consequences is not the usual stuff of judicial decisionmaking. Rather, it involves a political judgment that requires the type of policy compromise more properly assigned to the political branches. It seems that the All Writs Act is a slim reed on which to validate such a transfer of policy-making authority to the judicial branch.

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In some ways, this case is much like New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), the so called Pentagon Paper Case, where the executive branch of the U.S. government sought to enjoin the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing the contents of a classified study entitled History of U.S. Decision-Making Process on Viet Nam Policy. While that case is remembered largely as an example of the strong presumption against prior restraints on publication, one of the key facts was the absence of any congressional authorization for the injunction sought by the government. Of course, the All Writs Act was available as generalized authorization to issue appropriate writs, but the Court certainly did not see that statute as a validation for the unique prior restraint sought by the government. Rather, several members of the Court demanded a more precise authorization for the type of order sought. In other words, the All Writs Act is not a catchall provision that allows a federal court to design a remedy for the resolution of any and all modern problems. It permits a federal court to enter the usual writs under the usual circumstances. The All Writs Act simply cannot carry the weight the Government seeks to impose on it.

Moreover, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA") suggests that Congress might not authorize the type of order at issue in this case. Under that Act, a telecommunications company is not obligated to assist the government with the decryption of a communication unless the company "possesses the information necessary to decrypt the communication." While Apple is not a telecommunication company, CALEA at least suggests that Congress is not readily open to requiring private entities to create decryption programs for government use. Certainly, CALEA suggests that whether to do so is a policy judgment vested in Congress. To use the All Writs Act as an end run around this political choice would seem like an abuse of that statute.

There is an additional concern. No one in this litigation represents the interests of iPhone users. Apple's motion to vacate touched on the rights and potential harm to its users only in passing. It is evident that the First Amendment and privacy rights of the customers are at stake, and it's not entirely clear that Apple adequately represents those interests. Of course, those interests could be adequately represented in a political solution devised by Congress.
Con artist. Demagogue. And yes, in many ways, a fascist.

It can seem incredible that such a man is the front-runner for one of our two major parties.

But as shocking as Donald Trump may be, we've seen his type before. The trouble is, we Americans forget our history -- and that enables his rise.

Back in the 1930's, there was Father Charles Coughlin. A Canadian-born Catholic priest, Coughlin started out as a progressive who supported FDR's New Deal, before using his nationwide radio program and magazine to promote anti-semitism, Mussolini, Hitler and, like all such people, himself, above all.

In the 50's, we had Senator Joe McCarthy, who built his power by whipping up mass hysteria about communists and homosexuals supposedly subverting the U.S. government and army.

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By 1957, the toxic mixture of celebrity, fear-mongering, hatred and phony patriotism -- which shocks us so in Trump -- was already familiar. Familiar enough to shape the plot of a Hollywood classic, "The Sweet Smell of Success."


When most people think of San Francisco, they think: bridge, cable cars, Alcatraz (we get it, Clint Eastwood was great in that movie). But, from neighborhood pop-ups to back-alley street art to the most precisely curated design shops, the city is teeming with cool happenings. And we should know--we're based here.

When we want to play tourist, we frequently hit the blog Spotted SF for fresh ideas. It's the passion project of San Francisco-native Leslie Santarina, who does all the writing and photography for her finger-on-the-pulse little black book in her spare time. Her approach to discovering new places in her city is simple, and profound:

"I think about one thing that would bring joy to my day, do it, and see what else I can explore around it."

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An SF lifer, Santarina is intimately familiar with nearly every last corner of this city, so we asked her to share a few amazing experiences you're not likely to find in a guidebook about San Francisco.

Below you'll find her five picks. But first, the one definitely-in-a-guidebook place she considers worth it? "The Ferry Building--especially on Saturday morning, which is farmers-market day. It's a great opportunity to see, taste, and shop from the best local food growers and makers. Come hungry and eat your way through all the stalls in the building."

From the team at Spot. Get our brand-new app for free in the App Store.

BYOB Pizza Night: The Mill

The Whereabouts:

"The Mill is a cafe and bread shop on Divisadero Street in the NOPA neighborhood."

The Scoop:

"They are known for great coffee, thick slices of toast with toppings, and fresh loaves of bread made onsite by head-baker Josey Baker's team. Yes, that's his real name."

The Insider Tip:

"My favorite time to go is for Monday Night Pizza. It is a one-type, no-options pizza on a really delish sourdough crust. You can order by the slice or a whole pie. The best part is that it's BYOB. It makes for a tasty, affordable, and casual walk-in dinner spot."

RELATED STORIES: This Road Trip is One for the Bucket List

A New Kind of General Store: The Perish Trust

The Whereabouts:

"You'll also find this gem on Divisadero Street in NOPA."

The Scoop:

"It's a general store full of vintage items, found pieces, handmade objects from local artists, beautiful quarterly magazines, and books. You'll discover something new each time you visit. And owners Rod and Kelly are a fun duo."

The Insider Tip:

"They host a number of pop-ups throughout the year to showcase the work of local and visiting artisans."

A Local Cult Footwear Line: Freda Salvador

The Whereabouts:

"Their shop is on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights."

The Scoop:

"The two designers behind the brand--Megan and Cristina--understand the modern, always-on-the-go SF woman. Their designs are cool and casual, elegant but edgy, and totally walkable, and each pair is made with lush leathers and cool hardware in Spain. You can easily go from day-to-night in these."

The Insider Tip:

"They host a killer sample sale each year."

A Trending Neighborhood Strip: The 20th Street Corridor

The Whereabouts:

"Essentially it's the section of 20th Street that runs between South Van Ness and Potrero Avenue in the Mission District."

The Scoop:

"It's full of great eateries including

,

,

,

, and

(above). Sightglass is a warm and cozy spot serving coffee freshly roasted on site and some of the best baked goods in the city. Salumeria is a delicious spot for lunch with a bright, enclosed patio that's perfect for any kind of weather. And Trick Dog is a bar with one of the city's most inventive menus. There's also a thriving artist community here with plenty of studios, galleries, and street art to explore."

The Insider Tip:

"Trick Dog's cocktail menu is ever-changing--the most recent is inspired by a kitchy-cute dog calendar. But there is always a 'Trick Dog' you can order off the food menu, which is a hamburger shaped like a hot dog."

RELATED STORY: Say Hello to The Smallest Shop in SF

An Artisan Hub: Heath Ceramics

The Whereabouts:

"A couple blocks away from the 20th Street corridor."

The Scoop:

"Heath Ceramics has been making beautiful dinnerware since the 1940s and several years ago they took over a massive campus space to house their tile factory, a retail showroom, a gallery to feature the works of visiting artists, a cafe, and other artists' studios in the adjoining spaces."

The Insider Tip:

"You can visit all of these by signing up for a tour. And soon they'll have a bakery and restaurant opening as well."

All images courtesy of Spotted SF.

To discover more great places, give our beautiful new app a try.
The story of Jesus' passion and death has stirred my imagination since I was a child. In an act of profound mystery, Jesus walks towards the conflict swirling around him. Jesus accepts his arrest and does not raise his voice. His willingness to embrace the consequences of truth telling leaves him silent in the face of his accusers. His judges repeatedly say they can find no fault in this man, but the people want more. They want someone to blame.

It makes me think of the fear and anger roiling in our nation and capitalized on by some of our presidential candidates. Who can we blame? Who can I direct my anger towards? Many holler to deport those who are different. Many demand that the stranger at a rally be expelled. Many people with white skin fear those who have a darker pigment. And those with a darker pigment fear what will happen to them when white fear runs rampant. Fear and hate cause people to demand that those who are different be crucified so that those who are yelling will feel less uncomfortable in our complex society.

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But this is the deeper truth: Hate and fear have no place in the Gospel. Jesus welcomes everyone, including Pilate, Herod, Simon of Cyrene and the women of Jerusalem. He stands in the midst of conflict with reflection and respect. Facing groundless charges, he doesn't retaliate. He either answers simply or stays silent and lets the scenes play out trusting in the presence of a deeper truth. We are challenged, as a nation, to journey into this deeper truth. This deeper truth is the embodiment of love beyond understanding.

In September 2015 while on our Nuns on the Bus tour in advance of Pope Francis' visit to the United States, I met women who I think of as Jesus in the story of the passion. They are in the grip of suffering for their children, yet they do not cry out or retaliate. I met Amy, an African American mom in St. Louis, Missouri who worries every day about the safety of her two sons one in tenth grade and the other in eighth grade. She quizzes them regularly about what to do when stopped by the police. She tells them that they need to keep their hands out of their pockets and their arms away from their body. They need to say "yes sir" "no, sir" and don't demonstrate any teenage attitude. She showers her boys with worry and advice so that they might be safe. Her eighth grader asked her, "Mommy, how long is this going to go on?" Amy in her love told him the current truth when she said, "The rest of your life."

This is the worry of moms in a society where young African American teens can be seen too quickly as a threat. It is her worry which is quite like the worry of the women of Jerusalem. On his way to Calvary, Jesus says to them, "Do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children." Jesus in his love knows that it is not about him, but the struggles of our families and our destructive tendencies. It is the toxicity of racism that is crucifying our young men in the streets of our cities. We need to weep so that we may act differently.

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Also on the bus trip, in Missouri we met the two mothers who started Just Moms STL. They live near the superfund clean-up site known as West Lake Landfill. This buried toxic heap was created by the waste from the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. This nuclear waste was buried, but has been emitting radiation for over 70 years. Now these mothers have come together because their children have been diagnosed with brain cancer. They discovered that there is a 300% increase in the level of childhood brain cancer for those living near this site. Not only that, but we were told that the waste itself has caught fire underground and is gradually smoldering its way towards the Missouri River. And yet, no one is cleaning of the mess. Rather, the corporations are arguing about who should pay for it. They are doing this while children suffer and our land cries out to be rid of the toxicity of human making.

This is the road to Calvary. How do we become Simons of Cyrene to help with these crosses? Are we willing to let our hearts be broken open by the anguish and struggle of our time so that we might find some form of conversion and change?

Jesus walked step by step toward those who condemned him. He revealed the truth either in accepting the title he was given (King of the Jews), or his concern for the women of Jerusalem. In the midst of his anguish, he felt another's pain. This is the gift of love that is not preoccupied with itself, but rather sees the needs of others. Dare we love enough to move beyond our nation's endemic racism and embrace Amy and her sons so that their story might have a different ending? Do we love enough to move toward helping the moms trying to save their children from the toxicity that is consuming our planet?

Some presidential candidates breed fear and hate becoming like the mob in Jesus time demanding someone's life. They nourish the toxicity rife in our society. We as Christians are challenged by Jesus to live differently. We are challenged to stand up for Amy and her sons and the mothers at the West Lake Landfill. Do I act to change the future of our nation or do I too call for blood? The question for me is: Was I there when they crucified my Lord?

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Bible Study Questions:

1. There are those of us who are not victims of racism - indeed we benefit from racism through unearned societal privilege. Being an ally is a conscious decision. How do we become Simons of Cyrene to help our brothers and sisters who are being marginalized and persecuted?

2. Sometimes we can get overwhelmed by the anger in the air, especially during an election year. It is tempting to become a part of the brawl and lash out at those with whom we disagree. Being an advocate is a conscious decision: Do I act to change the future of our nation or do I too call for blood?

3. Was I there when they crucified my Lord? These lyrics from the beautiful spiritual we hear most often in lent convict each of us. It is important to live the space between Good Friday and Easter to fully comprehend the redemptive work of the cross. Use this time to understand that the face of Jesus is indeed that of people all around us. How will we 'be there' for people struggling in our communities?

For Further Readings

Johnson, Elizabeth, QUEST FOR THE LIVING GOD, Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, NY, 2007.

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Farmers muddy hands bundling bunch of organic dandelion greens in field

News that Ketchum Inc., the public relations firm leading the charge to promote chemical-dependent GMO agriculture, is launching a new "specialty group" to capture a slice of the growing organic food market caught many food industry players by surprise last week. Ketchum's new branch, called "Cultivate," is pitching itself to "help purpose-driven brands with a natural, organic, and sustainable focus."

The news comes as Ketchum remains a key player in PR efforts to dampen demand for organic foods, spinning messages that tell consumers organics are over-priced and over-hyped.



In 2013, Monsanto hired Ketchum's parent company, Omnicom, to "reshape" its reputation amid fierce opposition to GMOs, according to the Holmes Report. Ketchum now works closely with Monsanto and the agrichemical industry on its massively funded PR efforts to promote genetically engineered food and crops, stop GMO labeling, downplay concerns about pesticides, counteract consumer advocates and convince consumers that organic food is no different from conventional food.

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GMO Answers has been an effective marketing program for the agrichemical industry. The site was shortlisted for a Clio advertising award in 2014 for "crisis management and issue management," and Ketchum bragged in a video about the website's success in spinning media coverage of GMOs.

A closer look at Ketchum's past and current activities turns up more reasons that purpose-driven organic and natural food companies might want to steer clear of Ketchum's "Cultivate" branch.



Emails from the late 1990s indicate that Ketchum was involved in espionage against nonprofit groups that were raising concerns about GMOs.



More recently, Ketchum promoted Russia's interests in the U.S. for nine years. The firm dropped Russia as a client in 2015, but picked up another controversial international PR job: The Honduran government, under fire from a multi-million-dollar corruption scandal, has hired Ketchum to promote economic development and investment in Honduras.



When it comes to organic food and the food movement, Ketchum wants to play both sides of the issue.



In a recent Washington Post column, Tamar Haspel used Ketchum as a source to support her thesis that there isn't much of a food movement. Haspel wrote:



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The public relations firm Ketchum... has tried to pinpoint the kind of consumer we think of as part of the food movement: someone who regularly and publicly recommends or critiques foods or agricultural practices. The firm came up with a definition using those criteria and found that, in 2015, 14 percent of the population met them, up from 11 percent two years earlier.



The Ketchum study indicates that food concerns among consumers are rising, something just about everyone I've spoken to believes to be true. But hard data on the foods that people actually buy indicate that old habits die hard. Take organic foods. Sales growth has outpaced the rest of the market for many years, but organics still account for only five percent of the total market.

The PR Week story announcing Ketchum's new specialty group "Cultivate" had a different spin on the food movement and Ketchum's consumer data:



In its global Food 2020 study Ketchum found that food evangelists have increased 10 percent in just two years and can no longer be considered a small group of influencers.



The natural organic food sector is expected to become a $226 billion industry by 2018, according to Mintel's Report on Organic Food and Beverage Shoppers.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. The National Assembly (NA) of Armenia discussed the legislative initiative to abolish the imposition of value added tax (VAT) from cars imported by Armenian citizens of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union.

As Armenpress reports, the draft law on Making Amendments and Addenda to the Armenian law "On Value Added Tax" was presented by author of the bill, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Vardan Ayvazyan.

"This legislative initiative, which we have developed together with the government, has one goal. We propose to abolish VAT from cars imported by individuals from countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. You know that this initiative has already been approved by the government, and now we have to ratify it in parliament, Ayvazyan said.

Touching upon the question of Armenian NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov about when the law enters into force, Ayvazyan said that the law will come into force from the moment when the Parliament and the President will ratify it.

"We are going to discuss the mentioned project in the 24-hour mode. It depends on which process the discussions will have. When we ratify the draft, it will sign the president of Armenia, after which the bill will be promulgated and will enter into force " Ayvazyan said.

Sharmazanov also asked what would happen to the citizens who have already imported machines and pay VAT. The MP said that the discussion of the law is not retroactive.

"This version of the law, which I now present, is not intended to be retroactive. I think we will discuss this issue with the government, " Ayvazyan said.

He also said that physical persons have paid VAT in the amount of 700 million drams for the import of cars from the EAEU countries in 2015. According to Ayvazyan, people often prefer to pay 20 thousand drams a month and drive cars with foreign license plates, than to make customs clearance.
Originally posted in NCRonline Feb. 29, 2016

Following earlier Congressional initiatives to effectively recognize Morocco's illegal annexation of the occupied nation of Western Sahara, a bipartisan effort has been launched in Congress in support of Israel's colonization of occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank and greater East Jerusalem, effectively recognizing Israeli annexation of territories seized in the 1967 war.

The expansion of territory by military force is prohibited under the U.N. Charter, and the Israeli settlements are considered illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, a series of UN Security Council resolutions, and a landmark advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

This summer, Congress passed a trade bill that, for the first time, formally defines "Israel" as including Arab territories recognized by the international community as under foreign belligerent occupation. Part of the "fast track" legislation to help ensure passage of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, the clause was an attempt to force the Obama administration to pressure potential U.S. trading partners to no longer boycott products made in illegal settlements or discourage their companies from supporting the Israeli occupation.

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President Barack Obama, in a signing statement, said the administration would not abide by that section of the legislation. The State Department similarly rejected the pro-settlement language, noting that "[e]very U.S. administration since 1967 -- Democrat and Republican alike -- has opposed Israeli settlement activity beyond the 1967 lines."

The main target of the bill was the European Union, which prohibits funding of any projects beyond Israel's internationally recognized borders and recently issued a clarification of labeling laws declaring products made in Israeli settlements could not be marked as having been "Made in Israel."

Subsequently, members of Congress have written three separate letters to the EU's foreign policy chief and to the U.S. trade representative claiming that the EU initiative was a "de-facto boycott of Israel" and accusing the EU of implementing "restrictive and illegal trade measures" despite the fact that the decision was only in regard to the occupied territories and did not call for boycotting any products from the settlements, much less Israel itself. Signers of this effort included such prominent Democrats as Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

Ironically, supporters of such boycotts noted how "labeling the illegal products of Israeli colonies instead of banning them is seen by Palestinians as yet another EU failure to uphold European and international law."

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Another recent bill, sponsored by Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, would formally put Congress on record opposing the EU's interpretive notice on products from settlements. Co-sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as his Democratic counterpart Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the committee's ranking member, it places both parties' chief foreign policy leaders in the House of Representatives in opposition to the administration's efforts to curb expansion of Israel's illegal settlements. According to Lowey, such truth-in-labeling laws are designed "to extract one-sided concessions and feed into politically-motivated acts to boycott Israel," despite the fact that the initiative explicitly did not ban the actual importation goods from either Israel or Israeli settlements.

On Jan. 23, U.S. Customs re-issued a guidance noting how, according to a 1995 law, "It is not acceptable to mark [goods produced in the West Bank or Gaza Strip] with the words 'Israel,' 'Made in Israel,' 'Occupied Territories-Israel,' or any variation thereof"; that products produced in settlements should not be labeled as having originated in Israel; and that such products would be ineligible for duty-free entry into the United States as are Israeli products and thereby subjected to a 10 percent duty. In response, Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) have introduced a new bill calling on goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be labeled "Made in Israel" when sold in the United States.

Meanwhile, a Customs bill recently passed in Congress with bipartisan support calls on the United States to prevent investigations or prosecutions by any government or international organization of U.S. citizens for doing business with individuals or entities operating from the illegal settlements.

Indeed, the legislation states prohibitions against "boycott, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel" includes not just Israel itself but "Israeli-controlled territories." It also prohibits any U.S. court from recognizing or enforcing any judgment against Americans who conduct business in Israeli settlements and requires the president to submit a report on decisions by individuals, corporate entities and state-affiliated financial institutions, "that limit or prohibit economic relation" not only in Israel but in all "in Israeli-controlled territories."

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While some activists calling for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions have been criticized for blurring the distinction between the Israeli occupation and Israel itself, these bipartisan Congressional initiatives deliberately blur this distinction as well. Indeed, these efforts appear to be designed to undermine the Obama administration's efforts to end Israel's colonization drive and allow for the establishment of an independent viable Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Lara Friedman of the liberal Zionist group Americans for Peace Now notes how such efforts are "not about defending Israel at all," but rather about "shielding Israeli settlements from pressure" and "seeking to codify in U.S. law the view that there is no distinction between Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories."

Unlike in Israel itself, Arabs in the occupied territories are denied the right to vote in Israeli elections, are rigidly segregated, and lack the same rights as Jews. Therefore, according to Mitchell Plitnick of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, such legislation "serves no obvious purpose other than to maintain that occupation" and are effectively "siding with the most anti-Israel elements of the BDS movement who also see the West Bank, Israel and Gaza as a single state, under Israeli rule and therefore an apartheid state."
"Diversity of ideas makes us all wiser.

True leadership is embracing those who disagree with you, as well."

- "President" Frank Underwood, House of Cards

Donald Trump should take a tip from fictional president Frank Underwood in the Netflix hit show House of Cards. Although ruthless, Underwood is pretty savvy about culture and messages and the impact of both on the American character. He may have quietly embraced murder and extortion to get to the presidency, but he never would condone ugly and mean behavior out in the public eye, if for no other reason that it would make him look bad.

Not so with Trump. So far in this ugly, primary season, Trump has ruthlessly ejected protesters, advocating or implying (depending on whom you believe) that they be "punched," "taken out on a stretcher," or openly ridiculed (as Trump himself did to a disabled reporter). Trump obviously doesn't tolerate diversity of opinion. In addition, predictably, some Trump supporters and Trump rallies in South Carolina, Chicago, Dayton and Kansas City, have turned violent.

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According to "President" Underwood, Trump is not a true leader.

Over the past 22 years, Project Love, the non-profit, schools-based, character-building program I co-founded, has asked thousands of teens to define leadership. One such group defined leadership as follows:

"Being responsible, setting a personal example, being dedicated, being independent, taking charge, understanding, being motivated, being devoted, being kind, being a role model and a good influence, taking initiative, being a good communicator, being yourself, stating your opinion, taking a stand, working for others, helping not yelling, being open minded, being there for a friend, and having a positive attitude."

Trump has many of these leadership traits. He is dedicated, takes charge, takes initiative, is a good communicator, has strong opinions, has been a friend (especially to politicians whose favor he has been able to buy), and is dedicated. He has also been responsible by employing thousands of employees and has built a mega-company.

Because of these characteristics, several thoughtful friends of mine support Trump. One such friend sent me and others an email the other day urging us to support Trump in the Ohio primary because, according to him, "This is the last chance 'We the People' have to turn this country around." He and other Trump supporters are impressed with Trump's take charge, no-holds-barred approach and attitude, as opposed to gridlock and political correctness. I understand the lure of supporting someone who will get things done.

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However, according to the students' definition, Trump fails as a leader. The Project Love students added leadership traits such as positivity, helping not yelling, being kind and setting a personal example because they realized that, with the other attributes alone, Hitler would have been called a leader.

They also realized the significance of a force as powerful as the laws of physics: Positivity creates more positivity while negativity creates more negativity.

Students see these polar opposite forces in their high schools every day. One fight in the hallway draws cheering crowds and sanctions other fights in school.

Bullying encourages other bullying; making fun of disabled or disadvantaged students gives rise to similar behavior; meanness results in more meanness. This is precisely the chain reaction of negativity that we have seen with Trump's campaign and its effect on some of his supporters.

I have seen countless schools transformed by the power of kindness. Project Love students who have created a culture in which their peers are recognized for acts of kindness have created an ever-growing abundance of kindness. Kindness in this respect is indeed "power" and not weakness.

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But negativity has an equally powerful chain reaction. Biblical scholars have explained this force by questioning why the Angel of Death, charged with killing the first born sons of Egypt, had to see lamb's blood on the doorposts of Jewish homes to "pass over" and not kill the inhabitants. Their answer is that, once you unleash the power of negativity, it is hard to stop. Even the Angel of Death needed a sign in order to refrain from killing.

Donald Trump has unleashed a chain reaction of negativity. Unless he goes out of his way to become a responsible leader, embracing diverse opinions, the rights of free speech and peaceful protest -- along with tangible displays of kindness, love and respect -- his minions may become as dangerous as the deadly brown shirts of Nazi Germany. Many scholars have documented that Hitler's atrocities were committed by "ordinary people." These people were not just following orders; they were following the popular culture and absorbing the popular negativity of the day.

That's why culture is so important. America can be a kind, inclusive and caring place or a mean, negative and repulsive place. Much depends on how leaders and authority figures authorize or sanction the behavior of ordinary people.

Authority and negativity gone awry was demonstrated in the 1961 Milgram Shock Experiment at Yale University. In the experiment, social psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram asked ordinary Americans to participate in an alleged learning experiment.

During the sessions, Milgram's recruited "teachers" were asked to administer electric shocks on "learners" (really actors) who gave wrong answers to routine questions. Two-thirds of the "teachers" increased the shocks to lethal levels because the authorities leading the experiment ordered them to do so.

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Social psychology and history have shown us that those who support Trump are flirting with the dangerous power of negativity. If Trump becomes president, his anything-goes style will potentially do damage to our values, culture and behaviors.

Dr. Viktor Frankl, a prominent psychologist and Holocaust survivor who saw the full spectrum of human behaviors from kindness to carnage, said that there are two races of mankind -- the decent and the indecent.
If you want your kids to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies, you may need to tone down your negativity about this Halloween tradition.
As I watch Donald Trump marching across America, I've thought a lot about the limits of free speech. His rhetoric has me wondering if Trump realizes that there are limits -- especially on using language that is invoking demonstrable physical harm to others.

Perhaps the most recognized limit to free speech was established by United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States-- a case testing the limits of WWI protest speech.

As a part of the unanimous opinion of the court, Holmes wrote:

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic. [...] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

So we have to ask ourselves, is what Trump currently saying at his rallies inciting violence, promoting intolerance to the extent that it would pass Holmes' "substantive evils" test?

Later challenges to this decision included the 1969 case of Brandenburg v. Ohio, a case involving the local leader of the Ku Klux Klan against the State of Ohio. Additional tests were added to Holmes' "clear and present danger" to prove that speech was also likely to cause imminent harm before it could be proscribed. Put another way, as described by J.S. Mill,

An opinion that corn dealers are starvers of the poor, or that private property is robbery, ought to be unmolested when simply circulated through the press, but may justly incur punishment when delivered orally to an excited mob assembled before the house of a corn dealer, or when handed about among the same mob in the form of a placard.

So the next question we have to ask ourselves is this: is Trump inciting imminent acts of violence, doing it in front of a group of excitable people who could, under the right conditions and presented with the right scapegoats, turn into a mob?

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YES!!!! One need look no farther than the daily string of reports from Trump rallies to see both tests, "clear and present danger" and "imminent harm" are satisfied. The type of rhetoric flowing from Trump rallies -- "Knock the crap out of them," "I'd like to punch them in the face," "They'd be carried out on a stretcher" -- are clear violations of Trump's lawful right to free speech, because he continually encourages the kind of behavior which constitute nearly instantaneous "substantive evils"-- protesters being assaulted, a photographer being strangled by the Secret Service, another reporter being knocked to the ground, and violent clashes between Trump and anti-Trump factions.



When asked about the now-routine acts of violence and rioting taking place at his rallies, Trump's response is that people are angry and they are merely expressing that anger. But how does he explain the fact that it is only at his rallies that this anger is taking a physical expression? Might it be that attendees are responding to the level of both hate and physical violence he is personally promoting? Huffington Post writers Sam Stein and Dana Liebelson confirm, "Assaults are committed not only by rowdy Trump fans, but by the staff he employs to keep the events safe. But rather than denounce these incidents, Trump is making them part of his brand, and uses them to rev up crowds."

His "brand" is a license to bully, to street fight, to use all available means to quash voices of opposition. "There may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience," said Trump in Iowa. "If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell -- I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees." This, perhaps, is Trump's most specific incitement to date- the equivalent of riling up an angry mob "standing before the house of a corn dealer."

In a less specific threat, but just as ominous tone, Trump also made this statement after demonstrators shut down a Trump rally in Chicago. "If conservative Republicans ever went into his rally, you would see things happen that would be unbelievable..." A bit oblique perhaps, but given his record to date in calling for punching, stretchers, and "knock-outs" it seems a safe inference that Trump is again asking for something physical to happen. This is made more credible by the fact that he posted a tweet telling Sanders to "be careful."

Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican Governor of New Jersey and a cabinet member in the administration of George W. Bush said in an interview,

"You can't dial back the emotions he's excited in people easily... There will be consequences for that."

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When Kevin Rumley joined the Marine Corps after 9/11 to fight for his county, he never dreamed it would set him on a path to heroin addiction. But then again, no one who has struggled with drug dependency ever imagined ending up in that place.

Rumley's story is one that is becoming increasingly common in the military. While serving in the Marine Corps during the years building up to the Iraq War, he witnessed a culture of heavy drinking, rampant prescription pill abuse, and a "don't ask don't tell" policy when it came to addiction. After being injured by an IED explosion in Iraq in 2004, he came home to multiple surgeries and a seeming unending supply of prescription painkillers. Like so many injured veterans, he got hooked.

"For years I fed my addiction with prescription pills from the Veteran's Administration, but as my tolerance grew, I needed more and more pills just to feel normal," Rumley explains. "Then the VA stopped filling my prescriptions, so I went out to the streets to look for a potent and cheaper alternative. I found heroin. All those lines I had drawn in the sand about no matter how bad things got I would never snort drugs or inject drugs - over the next five years I crossed them all."

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For years Rumley struggled against a growing drug problem, even resorting to stealing syringes from local pharmacies when they wouldn't sell him any. But finally he sought help at an opioid detox program where he was put on suboxone, a medicine that reduces the cravings for illicit opioids. Thanks to successful suboxone treatment, he was able to give up heroin. Rumley went back to school for substance use counseling, graduated at the top of his class, and currently works as a certified addictions counselor helping other veterans who grapple with drug dependency.

Rumley has a few suggestions for how the military could better serve veterans and alleviate the drug and alcohol dependence that plague so many of our returning soldiers. First, the military can put more resources into viable discharge and reintegration plans for soldiers returning from a tour of duty.

"After being discharged, the pure shock of leaving the structure and support of your comrades can be overwhelming," he says. "Often veterans are isolated in rural communities because of PTSD issues that make them sensitive to noise and crowds. Sometimes the only support system they have is the VA, which gives out the pills that lead to addiction. It's no surprise that many turn to drugs or alcohol to cope."

Rumley is also a current advocate for syringe exchange programs, which he says would help veterans and other drug users avoid infections and connect with services that can help them address addiction. Syringe exchange programs provide sterile syringes while collecting used injection equipment and offering services such as HIV and hepatitis C testing, treatment and prevention education, drug treatment referrals, and other social service referrals.

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"One thing about syringe exchange is that it not only promotes healthier choices when it comes to injection, but it serves as a conduit to provide other health services to people," Rumley explains. "People can come to the syringe exchange and have an opportunity to engage with other people who have been through the same experiences and can show tangible success."

Rumley would also like to see the military adopt an evidence-based harm reduction approach to dealing with addiction issues.

"We have this unfortunate assumption as a society that if you are using drugs, you are accepting all negative consequences and nothing can be done about it," he says. "But the harm reduction approach says a lot can be done. We can start getting people to think about healthier choices even before they are thinking about recovery."

Another fellow veteran, Brad West, who went through the same injury-pills-opioid addiction-suboxone-substance use counselor trajectory as Rumley, says that harm reduction would be helpful in the military because it rejects that mindset that you need to wait to address an addiction problem until it is so bad you need professional treatment. West currently volunteers at a treatment facility for Marines and he sees the same story over and over again.

"The common thread is that they come back injured after a tour of duty, start taking pain pills, get addicted, and then their supply is cut off abruptly," he says. "When military doctors recognize drug dependency, they don't taper off the medication, they just cut the person loose. Then of course the person will start looking for drugs in other places because the withdrawal symptoms from opiates are really unpleasant. Most get discharged for a drug problem, even if they go through treatment, especially now as the military is downsizing and looking for reasons to let people go. But when they are let go they still have those addiction issues."

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West would like to see the military set up a system where soldiers can go if they have a problem to seek treatment instead of living in fear that admitting to an addiction will only lead to discharge.

"There is this culture that if you have an addiction you need to hide it," says West. "We need to remember that most of these veterans were legitimately injured in the line of duty serving their country. We need to stop treating people addicted to drugs as lepers and recognize that they are people who may need help."

There are some signs of hope in recent years that the military is starting to recognize the need to address addiction problems. Some bases and military hospitals have recently approved suboxone treatment for veterans and are making more efforts to ready returning soldiers for civilian life. As the national culture towards drug use as a whole shifts towards a more evidence-based, health centered approach, the military just might change too.


Japan's population is falling, officially. Yearly predictions had suggested it was so, but the country's census, conducted every five years since 1920, had never previously recorded a fall. It has now.

Between 2010 and 2015 Japan's population shrunk by just under a million people, to 127.1 million.

The United Nations predicts Japan's population will fall to 83 million by the end of this century, with more than a third of Japanese aged 65 or older by then.

The cause of this reduction is obvious. Japan's birth rate per woman is around 1.4. To keep population roughly stable requires an average of 2.1 births -- the so-called replacement level.

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Japan is not alone. Other developed economies where population is expected to fall markedly include South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy.

As many developed nations grapple with the implications of a falling population, those of us who work in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights face a challenge too. How should we respond to these changing demographics? The answer is by implementing a rights-based supportive approach for all women.

That means firstly, continuing to promote and protect the rights of every woman to decide if she wishes to have children, if she does, how many children she wishes to have, and when she wishes to have them.

Those who suggest one way to raise fertility rates is to undermine reproductive health rights where they have been hard won, such as the right to contraception and to safe abortion, are wrong.

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There are plenty of countries where such rights barely exist and fertility rates are also low, regardless. In South America, where access to contraception and safe abortion is impossible for tens of millions of women, many countries now have fertility rates at or below replacement level, and they are projected to fall further.

Secondly, we can highlight the barriers that may affect a woman's ability to choose to have the number of children she would like. There is evidence to suggest women in countries with some of the lowest fertility rates would like to have more children, but social and economic factors mean they do not.

This gap between actual and "desired" fertility has been known of for years. Almost a decade ago a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development suggested it was largest in developed countries with the lowest birth rates -- including Japan and South Korea.

Other research in Japan itself appears to support this suggestion. More than 1,600 women of all ages were interviewed at clinics in Hyogo Province, in a study published by the Reproductive Health Journal in 2013. Their mean desired number of children was 2.55, roughly a child per woman more than the current birth rate.

Other developed nations have found ways of increasing low birth rates they have perceived as a challenge, through supporting individual choices. In the mid-1990s fertility rates in France stood at around 1.6. In little more than a decade they were back to two births per woman.

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France offers a battery of policies intended to give parents greater economic support should they choose to have children and legal protection to make combining work and having children easier. They include generous leave entitlement for working parents and access to good and reasonably priced childcare.

It's also important to consider other barriers which may limit choice for women. The impact of having children on empowerment in employment and equal opportunity for growth is one.

A survey last year of more than 9,500 women across G20 countries, conducted for the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation, suggested women in the most developed countries had the greatest worry that having children would damage their career. Just 17 percent of Japanese women surveyed felt it would not, the lowest national score. German women were hardly any more confident, with just 21 percent believing it would not.

Japan has a minister charged with boosting its birth rate. Central to any policy must be the recognition of every woman's right to decide whether to have children, and how many to have.

Such an approach would aim to extend a woman' right to choose, and support her in any way possible in the choices she wishes to make.
If nothing else, such a strange and varied list of comparisons tells us one thing: that Trump has taken the American political system and white working class voters in particular into territory uncharted in recent memory. Hence all those fingers pointing to whatever extreme figures come to mind. Of course, since at least the Clinton years, the Democratic Party has been slowly melting down, leaving a political structure lacking much of a base as the power of the unions has evaporated, big city political machines have largely been relegated to old Thomas Nast cartoons, and "neo" has been added to those liberal politicians who have started making their off-hours money by preaching the good times gospel to the big banks rather than regulating them. Of course, that meltdown is mostly ancient history these days, as Bernie Sanders takes many of the party's voters on a trip elsewhere. On the other hand, the Grand Old Party is melting down right now, before our eyes, and it couldn't be a more dramatic spectacle. There was, for instance, that recent assault on Trump as a failed businessman, con artist, and fraud by 2012 losing presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the casino capitalist who had a knack for pillaging companies and jobs. A recent poll now tells us that his verbal assaults and tweets on Trump actually helped increase both The Donald's voters and their commitment (as last Tuesday's primaries seemed to indicate).
One day after violence broke out at a planned campaign event at the University of Illinois at Chicago for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, an event that Trump cancelled, Chicago's Archbishop Blase Cupich preached at a Mass for the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising, at the historic Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, on the urgent need to recognize equality among people and friendship as the key to democracy that leads to unity, peace and solidarity.

Old St. Patrick's was founded 170 years ago in 1846, by Irish immigrants not welcome elsewhere. The oldest continually-used church and public building in Chicago, it survived the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

To open his homily, Cupich shared a humorous story about his Croatian last name.

Years ago when I was serving as a bishop's secretary, I was asked to get another bishop on the phone. The housekeeper answered the phone in a strong brogue. I asked, "Is the bishop available." "And who would be callin," she insisted. "This is Fr. Cupich," I replied. "And how would you spell that," she demanded. "C-U-P-I-C-H," I offered. With a laugh in her voice, she blurted out: "Isn't that a funny name?" Now you have to realize that when all of this took place I was young and lacking in restraint, and so I couldn't let that go by. "Well, don't trouble yourself, deary," I explained. "We shortened it; it used to be O'Cupich." She reported me to her boss, wanting to know who that cheeky lad was.



Turning to the first reading from Isaiah 32:15-18, Cupich highlighted the prophet's use of the "image from the natural world to offer a vision about the restoration of society and the civic order to a people alienated from each other and their God. It is a restoration offered to those open to receiving God's spirit," he said. He continued:

"In those days: The spirit from on high will be poured out on us." The desert will give way to an orchard of justice and the orchard of justice will grow into a forest of peace, calm and security. The message is clear. The growth and preservation of human civilization, culture and the social order requires a discipline, a pacing, a collaboration and coordination involving everyone. Growth cannot be forced. It cannot be advanced by favoring some over others, including some and excluding others. It cannot be left to chance, but it has to be intentional, ordered and purposeful in bringing about social solidarity.

Cupich reminded those in attendance that disordered growth leads to cancer in living organisms, as well as in the human society. "When the common good of all is not the aim of society's growth, whether that be in the economy, education, civil rights or civic participation, a cancer grows that damages the whole social body."

The 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland served as an example of social isolation and discrimination that led to the killing of Irish nationalists by British forces and the destruction of much of the Dublin city center.

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Cupich asked:

How did this happen? What were the causes? A segment of society was told they didn't matter, and were treated as sub-human, "a lower class" not only economically but socially to be excluded from the body politic. Social cohesion wore thin in a system corrupted by inequality, favoring the powerful and wealthy, their self-promotion and preservation to the exclusion of the weak and voiceless. The result: many people lost hope, solidarity vanished, hearts hardened and society ended up becoming infected by a cancer that harmed all.

Twice in his homily Cupich used the same excerpt from the poem, Easter, 1916, by William Butler Yeats, to capture the outcome of long-term discrimination:

Too long a sacrifice

Can make a stone of the heart.

Cupich pointed out that an alternative reality is possible, one of unity, friendship, equality and solidarity, according to the text in John 15:9-17. "[Jesus] speaks of the importance of friendship for remaining together. The disciples are not just to be acquaintances but friends," Cupich said.

While friendships take time to develop, once rooted, they "transcend differences of opinion and conflicts, bring comfort in trial and they grow in moments of forgiveness and failing," said Cupich. "For their community to remain united, they needed to befriend one another," he said.

Turning to the broader community, Cupich pointed out that centuries ago Greek philosopher Aristotle, in the Nicomachean Ethics, "noted that friendships are needed for the growth of civilization. He remarked that while friendships, like justice, are not found in tyrannies, they are proper to democracies, 'because the citizens, being equal, have much in common.'"

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Aristotle's insight seems forgotten in today's politics and public discourse. Cupich continued:

Our nation seems to have lost a sense of the importance of cultivating friendships as fellow citizens who, being equal, share much in common. Instead, our politics and public discourse are often marked by enmity and animosity. There is an overly competitive character that defines how we relate to one another, emphasizing what divides us rather than what we share in common. And because we do not value growing together, a cancer is developing that threatens to harm us all. Positions harden, progress is stalled, and it is becoming clear that the body politic is nearing the limits of how much suffering it can endure.

Given the reality of divisive, and even violent, political discourse, Cupich asked, "Is it not time to remember that we are a democracy and that in being equal we have so much in common? Can we recapture the value of friendship as fellow citizens? Is that not what we should all pray for this day, as we call on the spirit of God promised by the prophet?"

Cupich asked all Chicagoans to be open to the spirit of God, to take up the work of restoration, a restoration that comes in building friendships, with a commitment to dialogue, a commitment to walk together equals who recognize differences, but know they have so much in common.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, called by Pope Francis, Cupich recommended that people reach out to each other with works of mercy that foster friendship and reconciliation and open up new horizons for us to live together as children of the one Father.

The full text of Archbishop Cupich's homily can be found here.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses his supporters during a presidential campaign rally at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio, on Monday, March 14, 2016. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal/TNS via Getty Images)

Bernie's win in Michigan was no "surprise". His surge was testimony to his campaign spirit. It also was based on a Michigan rejection of the false promises of Clinton-era corporate and financial globalization policies like NAFTA and the TPP. Five million US manufacturing jobs were lost between 1997 and 2014. The US lost 850,000 jobs to Mexico alone during 1993-2013 according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Hillary's weaknesses on trade will be highlighted in Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. Losses of white working class voters due to corporate-designed trade policies will benefit Donald Trump's campaign through November. The Rust Belt already has seen tremendous Democratic decline at the hands of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with no sign of reviving the Progressive La Follette tradition there. Wisconsin has become the 25th state to enact right-to-work laws, and its Civil Service system is replaced by one in which a worker can be fired at any time for any reason, a state model of the corporate globalization trend.

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Hillary still retains a strong margin of convention delegates votes based on her string of wins in the old Confederacy and her two-point margin in liberal Massachusetts and three-point victory in Nevada. But the Bernie surge may continue in the Midwest, Northwest and Pacific Rim States. Further momentum will help him in New York and Pennsylvania. Hillary's edge with super-delegates could be shaken if Bernie continues to notch up close victories.

Hillary still retains a strong margin based on her sweep of the Old South and super-delegates already pledged to her. The tighter the race, the more difficult it may become to build a united front of Democrats without lasting bruises and divisions lead to lower turnout and voter defections.

The Michigan results prove the continuing resonance of the Seattle '99 message that NAFTA, or today's TPP, ruins the lives and expectations of hundreds of thousands of industrial workers while importing huge numbers of Third World workers to low-paid, unprotected service sector jobs here. Trump's working class base is very attracted to his ultra-protectionist appeal because it speaks to their everyday facts of life: family incomes have remained stagnant for nearly three decades while the cost of living never ceases to rise. Scapegoating of immigrants is already out of control.

Until Bernie came along, a majority of elected Democrats and their corporate-financed think tanks fell under the spell of the neo-liberal doctrine that goes back to W.W. Rostow's model of "the stages of growth" in which workshop wages eventually evolve into working class or middle class opportunities. For most Americans this is a myth sharply disconnected from the facts of life. Our own family, for example, is ravaged by rising medical and other costs, which our income cannot possibly cover. That's the specter facing too many most of us.

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The neo-liberal model is cloaked as somehow automatic, moving ladder ascending from one generation to the next. In fact the engine is not a self-perpetuating invisible hand, but driven by unfettered greed, venality, and corruption of morals. As Bernie points out, that's what causes the universal perception that the system is rigged. Thus it is no surprise that exit polls reported by the New York Times Wednesday showed that, "Almost three-fifths of voters said that trade with other countries was more likely to take away jobs, ...and those voters favored Mr. Sanders by a margin of more than 10 points."

As an example of the glee of the wealthy in these circumstances, can you believe that Michael Milken, the philanthropist turned felon, once called me u to accuse me of no longer being the "revolutionary author of the Port Huron Statement"? At the time he was becoming a junk bond king, which he promoted as a breath-taking alternative to old-school stuffy investment portfolios. What provoked his accusation was my legislation cracking down on these junk bonds!

The cheerleaders for deregulation and the global NAFTA model range from ideological libertarians to straight-up vulture capitalists, equipped with lots of charities and liberal projects to assuage their guilt. However, at bottom it is an old-fashioned class struggle with employers intent on lowering wages, pensions, and benefits hidden behind mass advertising of sunny beaches, mermaids, and cash registers.

After the 1999 Seattle uprising there came a wave of token reforms to insure more "input", "transparency", and public relations exercises such as "greenwashing", amounted to little but scamming. Pliable politicians were targeted as easy marks for the new and hipper breed of corporate conmen on cocaine in their suave GQ costumes designed with sexy Rolexes to attract nubile starlets.

It's going to be impossible for this new privileged class to give up that level of overconsumption and entitlement without prosecutors and FBI agents dragging them away.

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Globalization and the new information economy are not going away, of course, but there is an alternative which some, including even Newsweek, call a Global New Deal. Hillary has used the phrase, so she may be restructuring her position on trade and the economy.

For now, Hillary's best opportunity to come together with Bernie on platform is in great opposition to these corporate finance-dominated trade pacts, specifically the TPP and its predecessors NAFTA and CAFTA. The pressure that led to her opposition to TPP came from our friends at the AFL-CIO. The trade issues adversely impact the very working class and union voters who are turning to Trump and defecting from the Democrats. This is no longer a matter for rival rhetoric or media optics.

These are real issues that have driven the debate since the Great Recession in 2008. Assuming that President Obama will stay committed to TPP, where is the basis for Democratic unity during the campaign? Trade representative Mickey Cantor's proposal for a "freshening" of trade agreements is token and embarrassing. A pivot on trade, a growing unity against Citizens United, and an infrastructure stimulus are only beginning steps. The stimulus must be based on the urgent need for a transition to a clean energy economy.

It's too early to suggest, but one way to close the breach in a hard-fought and bitter primary can be the choice of Vice President on the ticket. Assuming for the moment that Hillary retains a delegate advantage while Bernie maintains his fire and message; how to reconcile these two wings of the party? Many progressives will say fight it out to the last vote, but winning a tight primary season will leave the exhaustion and hard feelings that lower turnout and expose divisions that Trump, Rove, and others can exploit. Other progressives, sensing the obstacles before Bernie, are turning their attention to Vice Presidential choices like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, HUD Secretary Julian Castro, or Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.

But what is the goal? It surely is to empower Bernie's legions to the maximum for the general election and beyond. The Democrats should treat them as an autonomous vital and central interest group in the party's current coalition.

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No.

I don't believe Trump can win a general election for the presidency of the United States.

There are too many blocs of voters that Trump needs to persuade and eventually turnout in order for him to defeat a democratic nominee.

But that isn't the point.

Trump has activated (arguably) the most xenophobic, retroactive base of supporters this country has seen since the demise of the Confederacy. What's most intriguing is that he hijacked the GOP to carry out his mission of restoring America to it's rightful place as international front-runner. Moderate conservatives in New York must rally alongside conservative Mississippian extremists if Republicans punch his ticket and laud him as their nominee. This in turn will give validity and momentum to Trump's divisive rhetoric of vigilante patriotism.

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Fast forward now.

Trump loses the election.

"The Don" returns to his Tupperware Kingdom of gaudy hotels and tawdry merchandise.

(Because in all actuality, I am hard-pressed to believe that Mr. Trump is concerned with nothing more than the popularity and appreciation for the Trump brand.)

And for a brief moment the balance in the force is restored.

But what of his constituents?

When the "Make America Great" hats find their new home atop the upper shelf in the hallway closet, next to the dusty Budweiser hat that hasn't seen the light of day in over 3 years.

When the "Trump for President" posters get rolled out to the curb for trash day.

Where does the spirit of the Trump movement go?

A German physicist named Julius von Mayer is credited with discovering the first law of thermodynamics. That energy is neither created nor destroyed. The conservation of energy law resonates when I consider these developments in American politics.

Donald Trump did not create the dynamics and the socio-political climate by which he now finds himself engulfed within. Neither will the convictions and Zeitgeist of Donald Trump's movement be destroyed.

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It must go somewhere.

But where?

Several think pieces have likened this phenomenon to the age and rise of Hitler. And like many people I see some resemblance to these comparisons. However, I diverge because I believe that Hitler was both a narcissist and a nationalist. None of us question Mr. Trump's narcissism. I mean just look at those gigantic hands! But his nationalism is nothing more than inflated capitalism (read: opportunism).
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. On 14 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan met head of the General Staff of the Republic of Armenia's Armed forces, colonel-general Yuri Khachaturov.

Armenpress was informed from the Press Service of the Artsakh Presidents office that the sides discussed issues related to army building and cooperation between the two Armenian states in this sphere.

Artsakh Republic defense minister Levon Mnacakanyan participated in the meeting.
The State Board of Elections is set to review complaints against Chicago-based Liberty Principles PAC about whether it has been coordinating independent expenditures with candidates in violation of state campaign finance law.

Funded by Gov. Bruce Rauner and former Chicago Tribune chairman, Sam Zell, the group has produced political mailings disguised as newspapers to push its candidates for public office. The weekly "newspapers" have been flooding resident mailboxes across six suburban Illinois counties in the ramp up to the March 15th election.

Residents aren't happy. "I dump those newspapers in with the rest of the junk mail. Enough already," said a Lake Zurich woman, who asked not to be named.

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The election board will hold a hearing Monday - a day before the primary election -to determine whether the PAC, headed by Cicero political operative Dan Proft, coordinated with candidates and if there will be public hearings on the matter. In one instance, the complaint alleges that one of committee's "newspapers" conducted a front-page interview with Reggie Phillips, a candidate for the 110th house district - a strong indication of coordination.

The Governor's office could not be reached for comment on the nature of the legal complaints or why he is funding the bogus newspapers.

So why are Gov. Rauner and Zell funding these fake newspapers? Now that Michael Ferro, a staunch Rauner ally, is the controlling shareholder in Chicago Tribune, why is it even necessary?

This is the question responsible media should be asking.

Proft has partnered with Brian Timpone, the former CEO of troubled local news service provider, Journatic, LLC, to produce the newspaper-like political mailings. The two men have a history together - both got their start as staffers for Lee Daniels, the embattled former speaker of the Illinois house. After working for Daniels, Proft became the spokesman for Larry Dominick, the scandal-ridden town president of Cicero, and Timpone focused on online data mining.

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Timpone's participation in the shady project begs another question: Why is Zell involved in funding any of this? Didn't he learn his lesson with Timpone the first time around?

The answer is no.

In July 2012, Columbia Journalism Review ("CJR") published a story calling out Tribune for continuing its relationship with Journatic after the service was exposed in a segment on NPR's "This American Life" for plagiarizing, falsifying quotes, and using fake bylines in hundreds of outsourced "news" stories. Under fire, the Zell-run Chicago Tribune was forced to suspend its relationship with Timpone's Journatic then rehired the tainted company just six months later.

In addition to its deal with Chicago Tribune, Journatic also provided real estate content to Chicago Sun-Times, under Michael Ferro's leadership, before news of the scandal broke. Tim Knight, then CEO of Sun-Times Media, was also an investor in Journatic and helped expand its publishing contracts.

CJR summed up Brian Timpone's reputation this way: "Journatic is sinking deeper into a journalism ethics scandal that will leave its reputation in tatters."

But it won't prevent you from getting the big bucks from a wealthy governor and his pals if it serves their political interest.

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The Liberty Principle PAC political mailings look almost identical to standard newspapers and are mailed unsolicited every week. The fake newspapers include: The Lake County Gazette, The Champaign Urbana Sun, DuPage Policy Journal, Kankakee Times, East Central Reporter, McHenry Times, North Cook News, and West Cook News.

Some of the candidates supported by the PAC and its "newspapers" are: Allen Skillicorn, in the 66th house district; Bryce Benton, in the 50th state senate district; Dan McConchie, in the 26th state senate district; Brandi McGuire, 72nd house district; Mike DeSutter in the 74th house district; Brad Halbrook in the 102nd house district; Reggie Phillips in the 110th house district; and Paul Schimpf in the 598th senate district.

The political mailers mix story content from the Illinois Policy Institute's Illinois News Network with articles favorable to Liberty Principles PAC's candidates or against their opponents in order to resemble newspapers. Illinois Policy Institute is a tax-exempt 501c3 group that is also heavily funded by Gov. Rauner. IPI consistently promotes Rauner's positions on right-to-work laws, state pensions, and the budget impasse.

This isn't the first time Illinois Policy institute has tried to pass itself off as a legitimate news entity.

After being denied media credentials, Illinois News Network "reporters" sued to get access to press areas on the Illinois House and state senate floors. Last March, a U.S. District judge upheld the Illinois General Assembly decision and denied INN's credentials.

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FILE-This Saturday, April 18, 2015 file photo shows Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, speaking at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H. The Ohio House was slated to vote Wednesday, APRIL 22, 2015 on the stateas two-year, $71.5 billion budget after the GOP majority pulled many of the governoras tax policies, added more money for schools and revised certain health-care-related initiatives. The proposal contains a smaller state income tax cut than what Gov. Kasich had pitched in his spending blueprint, which funds state operations for the two years beginning July 1. House passage on Wednesday would send the bill to the Senate. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)

The coming primaries will decide who the Republicans will nominate for President. They would be wise to look to someone who can tackle issues of great national and international importance like hunger. For America usually goes with the candidate who shows leadership in feeding the hungry. John Kasich has.

Governor Kasich has been praised by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks as "a true champion for our emergency hunger relief efforts."

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When another governor, Franklin Roosevelt, was running for President in 1932 he had a strong record in New York of feeding the hungry. It was Roosevelt, in a speech in Buffalo before the election, who said, "It was the duty of the State to see to it that none of its citizens went hungry." Governor Roosevelt championed programs to help the poor and homeless.



Franklin D. Roosevelt in his "Governor's chair" in Albany, New York. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum)

The same held true for Roosevelt as president. When he made a campaign speech in Boston before his 1940 re-election bid, he talked about the importance of agriculture and fighting hunger.

Roosevelt said, "Surpluses not needed for reserves are now being used to feed the hungry and the ill-nourished." And Roosevelt praised the fact that 3 million children were getting school lunches during his administration, which was the forerunner of a national program signed by Harry Truman in 1946.

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President Roosevelt's philosophy is one all should follow:

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

When John F. Kennedy was running for president in 1960 he was very moved by the plight of the hungry and unemployed in West Virginia. He vowed to help them through difficult times. In fact, one of Kennedy's first orders as president gave food aid to West Virginia and other states in need.



JFK campaigning in West Virginia in 1960, a rural state with a struggling economy and high hunger rates. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

Likewise Kasich has fought hunger in Ohio, where food insecurity rose dramatically after the economic recession that started in 2007. Kasich has supported plans like the Ohio Food Program and Agricultural Clearance Program. These initiatives provide fruits, vegetables and other nutritious food to the 12 Ohio foodbanks. These foodbanks, part of the Feeding America network, provide emergency relief to the hungry.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the director of the Ohio Foodbanks, said recently, "Governor Kasich has risen to the challenge. He's responded at a critical time to keep food pantry shelves stocked and food on the table for local families. His leadership and investment in hunger relief helps our member foodbanks respond to the growing need in their communities."

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Governor Kasich and First Lady Karen Kasich have supported the weekend backpack plan that feeds hungry children. During the school week needy children can receive the free school lunch and breakfast. But when weekends arrive they may come home to little or no food in the pantry.

The backpacks give children food to take home on the weekends. The Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank calls them "power packs." Hunger does not take weekends off and the backpacks of food keep children nourished so they can grow and do better in school. The food backpacks need to be expanded nationwide to help end child hunger.

The next President will also have to fight hunger abroad, an often overlooked but very essential part of our foreign policy. It was Kennedy who understood this well during his campaign for president exclaiming that "food is strength, and food is peace, and food is freedom, and food is a helping hand to people around the world whose good will and friendship we want."

JFK understood the power of American food in terms of foreign policy. America's Food for Peace program, started by Dwight Eisenhower, was expanded during JFK's administration. School lunches for needy children abroad was an area of special emphasis.

President Ronald Reagan, speaking in Illinois just a couple months before the 1984 election, was praising Food for Peace. Reagan asked "And who could put a price tag on the good and simple virtues of decency and generosity that are the heart of Food for Peace and of the people who support it?"

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Reagan added, "I wish more attention were paid to facts like these." Wouldn't it be great today if more attention were paid to the important work of fighting hunger abroad, especially with more starving refugees than any time since World War II.

Kasich can be the one to do that for the Republican side. During his campaign he has spoken out against the blockade of food aid to civilians because of the civil war in Syria. As President, Kasich would be confronted with many urgent food emergencies like those in Syria and other war affected nations. The Food for Peace program can feed hungry war victims.

Kasich, among the Republicans, has the right track record.

As President Harry Truman said "No nation is any healthier than its children." That is why food and nutrition must be a guiding principle in policy making for any president.
Why replacing the Russian RD-180 engines is so difficult, and so senseless

By Dimitri Elkin and Woodrow Clark

The list of collateral damage from the geopolitical standoff between US-Russia continues to grow.

The latest victim is the successful rocket engine joint venture that lifts most of the American commercial and military satellites into space. America's access to space depends mainly on the Atlas V rocket that is jointly produced by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, working together since 2006 as the United Launch Alliance ("ULA"), and which is powered into space by the powerful engine that is RD-180, produced by Russia's NPO Energomash.

The Atlas is not the only rocket available to give America assured access to space. There is the powerful Delta IV rocket produced by Boeing. And also the Falcon 9 produced by SpaceX - neither of which utilizes a Russian engine. But the Delta is large and expensive, while the Falcon 9 is less powerful and cannot deliver heavy loads to high orbits.

The use of Russian advanced engines dates back to the early 1990s, but even further for over several decades as the US and Russia began collaborating in the 1975 with the joint Soyuz-Apollo mission. The advanced Atlas V rocket with its RD-180 engine completed testing in 2001, and since then, it has powered over 50 American missions to space, including many military ones. Despite the spotless safety record and compelling cost, what used to be the poster child for US-Russian cooperation is now under attack as a threat to US national security.

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Conservative American politicians, including Arizona Senator John McCain, have been criticizing US-Russian space cooperation for many years. But because of the RD-180 engine's lower cost and safe performance, the ULA had long been impervious to criticism.

However, after the annexation of Crimea, the use of Russian engines came under close scrutiny from both sides. A Pentagon study led by retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Mitch Mitchell concluded that losing access to the Russian-made engines would delay as many as 31 missions and would cost the United States as much as $5 billion. The Russians likewise hurt their own cause when the chief of Russia's NPO Energomash, Mr. Dmitry Rogozin, sent out a tweet on May 13, 2014, saying that cooperation on the RD-180 engine would only be possible if it is not used in the interest of the US Pentagon.

Then came the American sanctions, and Mr. Rogozin, was included in the list of sanctioned officials. On April 30, 2014, this gave the American private company, SpaceX grounds to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force, claiming that it had entered into an illegal contract with the ULA, since it buys engines from a supplier headed by a sanctioned individual. By December 2014, the United States Congress enacted a ban for future use of the RD-180, beyond the launches already scheduled until 2018.

Replacing Russian space technology turned out to be easier said than done. In November 2015, the ULA refused to submit a proposal to launch US Air Force GPS navigation satellites, on the grounds that it could not guarantee the availability of engines. This left SpaceX as the only contender for American space travel, a monopoly position that made many in the US government uncomfortable.

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With a possible replacement for RD-180 years away, Lockheed and Boeing pushed aggressively to have the ban lifted. Richard Shelby, a Republican Senator from Alabama, called the ban reckless. "Banning the use of RD-180 until the US has a domestically produced engine with similar capabilities undermines national security," he said. In December 2015, the US Congress voted to lift RD-180 ban as it was overturned as part of a government spending bill.

But this only inflated controversy further.

On January 27, 2016, the Senate Armed Services Committee had a hearing on the use of Russian-made rocket engines. Senator McCain accused the United Launch Alliance of extortion and questionable dealings with Russians. The US Airforce Secretary Deborah Lee James appealed to the complexity of the task that depended on "hard science," rather than on political wishes. The US Airforce Secretary entreated the Senate, arguing that instead of investing money to replicate the Russian engine, America should be investing in the development of the Vulcan, a new space vehicle for which a new engine would be an integral part.

This seems like a straightforward enough plan, but there are complications. First, there is no agreement on who (government, private sector) will provide the several billion dollars required to develop a new engine. Should it be the Pentagon? The Airforce? The United Launch Alliance? Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin expressed reservations about writing a blank check for a risky technical project.Second, until a US booster is ready, the United States will be forced to rely on the Russian engine, since neither the Falcon nor the Delta present an economically competitive option today. Air Force Secretary James publicly stated that the congressional mandate to stop using Russian-made engines by 2019 is extremely tight.

As remarkable as it may seem, US space technology is trailing that of Russia by a considerable margin, and closing this gap can be done only slowly and at a great expense to the US taxpayers. But thirdly, it might be reasonable to step back, and ask the most basic question: what is so special about the Russian RD-180 engine, such that no existing American competition (US private or public) can match its performance? The answer to this question puts a lot of issues in perspective. But to properly answer that question, it is necessary to take a brief excursion into rocket engine science, and the history of space competition between the US and the Soviet Union over the last half century.

ROCKET SCIENCE IN A NUTSHELL

A rocket moves forward because it spews out heated gases from its nozzle in the opposite direction. In fact, anything can travel in space that has something to throw in back of it. For example, you can fly in space on a cart loaded with stones. The cart will accelerate when a stone is thrown backwards. The cart can attain a greater speed by one of two ways: throwing heavier rocks; or throwing them faster. A rocket is fundamentally no different from a cart loaded with stones. The weight of the stones is the amount of fuel loaded on a rocket. The speed of the throw is the speed of the exhaust.

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Just like a cart with stones, the rocket's top speed depends on two things: how much fuel it has to spit out; and at what speed. In mathematics, this is known as the fundamental equation of rocket travel, devised by the father of Russian rocket science, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, in 1911.

There is a third way of making a rocket go faster and further: reduce the weigh of the rocket. This strategy was played out in the recent dramatic movie The Martian, when Matt Damon's character, faced with a fixed amount of fuel and the need to lift himself into Mars' orbit, reduced the weight of the rocket by cutting off part of his ship. Keep in mind that NASA was featured as a key dramatic element in that film. And even cited with strong cooperation by NASA to the film producers. But this could only happen in the movies when they get "creative". In reality, there are two issues: how to make engines more powerful; and how big of a rocket do you want to build?

The issue of how much speed a rocket can attain becomes especially critical when a spaceship needs to travel beyond the earth's orbit. To reach the moon, the spaceship needs not just a first cosmic velocity of 7.9 km per second that will keep the rocket orbiting the earth, but also the need for the so-called "second cosmic velocity" of 11.2 km per second.

During the space race for the moon in the 1960s, the US and the USSR faced the same issue as to how to make a more powerful engine that could propel a spacecraft to the second cosmic speed. The advantage of the Russian RD-180 engines over American rockets stemmed from the way the two nations chose to reach the moon.

THE SECRET OF THE CLOSED CYCLE

The heart of the rocket engine is a combustion chamber where fuel and oxygen are mixed and burned: the rocket needs to carry not only fuel, but also oxygen required for burning in order to propel through space. But the fuel loaded on a rocket is measured in hundreds of tons, and the pressure in the burning chamber is high. So, to inject fuel from the tank into the combustion chamber is a demanding task, especially if when the scientific fact to consider is that a rocket burns over 2 tons of fuel per second. To mix the fuel and oxygen, every rocket has a second smaller burning chamber called a pre-burner, which provides the power for fuel injection. In the standard design used by both the USSR and the US from the 1950s, the heated gas from the pre-burning chamber is spit outside and its energy is wasted, losing up to 25% of fuel and power.

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There is however potential to inject the heated gas from the first chamber into the main channel. This type of rocket engine design is called the closed cycle, which could boost engine power by 25%. But it will also increase pressure and the temperature of the combustion process.

During the Apollo program, the US engineers concluded that a closed cycle engine was not possible. The pressure and the temperature were simply too high to control. They stuck with the open cycle design, and compensated for the loss of efficiency with rocket size. The result was Saturn V, a massive rocket powered by five very large open cycle engines.

Russian engine designers of the 1960s took a different view. They believed that a closed cycle engine was possible, and were able to achieve it through a combination of material science and clever thermodynamics. For example, the fuel oxygen mix is injected in the combustion chamber in a thin layer over the walls of the chamber, creating the effect of evaporation, and lowering the temperature of the combustion chamber walls.

To compete with the US Saturn V, the USSR designed an N1 rocket powered by 30 closed cycle engines. But Russia did not get the entire rocket done in time. Americans beat Russians to the moon. Russians then chose to drop their aspirations for a manned moon mission.

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The Soviet N1 rocket never became operational, but it served a useful purpose: it proved that a closed cycle engine can work. In the early 1970s, the unused stock of closed cycle engines was put in high security storage, where they remained unseen for 20 years.

THE ENGINE THAT CAME FROM THE COLD

US-Russian space cooperation began in 1993 at the end of the Cold War, when Vice President Gore and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin agreed on technical and commercial cooperation between the US and Russia. At this time, the US Department of Defense was seeking a new launch vehicle, and the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission through their trade agreement allowed Lockheed Martin to search throughout the former Soviet Union for a more powerful engine.

When Americans came across the stored rocket engine of the N1 rocket and saw the specifications, they initially thought it was a mistake - the Russian engine's performance was unusually high. However, the US scientists quickly realized the scientific and technological value of the Soviet achievement. In 1995, Lockheed Martin chose the RD-180, a derivative of the N1 engine, as the main engine for the US Atlas rockets.

The first American rocket powered by the Russian RD-180 engine took off in May 2000 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. When Boeing and Lockheed Martin merged their space launch programs under the United Launch Alliance, the RD-180 became its main engine. It was a dramatic success of the free market and governments together in the new Russian-American cooperation.

Developed for the US and USSR Cold War space race, the RD-180 technology turned out to be well suited for the new challenges in the space age. The development of communication technologies demanded the launch of a larger number of smaller satellites. The RD-180 remained unchallenged by delivering an unmatched combination of power and cost, all based on the closed cycle rocket engine design developed in the 1960s by the then USSR.

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The closed cycle engine is not the only viable technology for a space engine developed during the Cold War era. The good old open cycle technology is still in use in the area of manned space flights, where as it should be that safety trumps the consideration of cost. Consider also China as the Martian film illustrated. Chinese rockets use open cycle propulsion. However the heavy lifting tasks that require numerous launches, means that the RD-180 will not have any equals for the foreseeable future. The ULA was so satisfied with the RD-180 engine's performance that it did not consider replacing it, until the Crimea crisis of 2014 occurred. As in the past, clearly governments such as China and Russia pay for taking the lead in science, whereas the US private sectors do not see the markets yet. SpaceX in the US is heavily funded now by US government funds.

REINVENTING THE COSMIC WHEEL

Last month the US Airforce commissioned two possible replacements for RD-180. The first one is called BE-4 by Blue Origin, a space venture backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The second alternative is AR1, developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne, a California based manufacturer of rocket engines. Both BE-4 and AR-1 are based on the closed cycle design, but fueled differently. AR-1 will be fuel by liquid kerosene, similar to RD-180. BE-4 will use methane. If successful, these two engines may provide America with a rocket booster that will meet or exceed the specification of RD-180.

The problem is that nobody can say with certainty, how quickly or how successfully the new engine developments will be achieved. Both Blue Origin and Aerojet are trotting down the same path that the USSR space scientists took in the 1960s. While the Americans have the benefit of knowing that a closed cycle engine is technologically possible, the process of development will be risky and expensive. The pressure and temperature involved in a closed cycle engine require very large testing stands, and potentially a very high tolerance for failure, before the right design can be pinned down. The Russian N-1 rocket exploded four times during the tests. It would be unlikely that the US would go through the new engine development without similar costly hiccups.

Already there are skeptical voices that suggest that the 2019 deadline for a new engine seems to be ambitious. The Wall Street Journal recently leaked a study by an independent panel that suggested that pushing domestic replacement to 2025 would be less risky, and would save taxpayers billions of dollars.

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The irony is that the US is about to spend billions on trying to fix something that is fundamentally not broken. The Atlas V rocket continues to lift US satellites into space - case in point is the recent NASA launch took place in Florida last month. The supply of RD-180 remains secure, and despite the political noise, there is no indication that Russia has any serious intention of using this as political leverage. Russia's space industry needs the revenue from RD-180 as much as America needs this product. The breakdown of the Russian-American rocket engine joint venture is rather unfortunate. Few of American foreign partners have been as reliable as Russia's space experts. When the American space program needed help, Roskosmos always delivered, noted Susan Eisenhower in Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation After the Cold War. But in today's Washington, politics trumps reality, and the decision to phase out RD-180 seems to be a fait accompli.

Shouldn't we pause and to ponder what if the relationship between US and Russia may someday improve? But instead of exploring options of finding common ground in the future, the American politicians pursue what is politically expedient in the current electoral cycle. But what makes sense politically, often fails technologically, like the October 2014 attempt to supply the International Space Station with an Antares rocket that was jointly produced by the US and Ukraine. A US-Ukrainian rocket seemed like a nice geopolitical snub to the Russians, but the rocket exploded during the takeoff.This is a space race between America and Russia starting all over again?

It certainly looks that way. But unlike the first space race, when both the USSR and the US reached for new horizons, the second space race seems to be about repeating old accomplishments. Even in the best case scenario, should the US succeed with developing a new closed cycle engine, Americans will not be breaking any new technological ground, but will simply be replicating proven Soviet technology, that by then will be more than fifty years old.
The Torah gives us a comprehensive and meticulous description of the vestments which the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest of Israel, had to wear when ministering in the Jerusalem Temple. These holy garments were intended to give "dignity and beauty" (Exodus 28:2) to the serving High Priest, the spiritual leader of the people of Israel. One of the four special garments was a holy crown of solid gold, known as the tziytz, engraved with Hebrew letters that spelled out, "Dedicated to God," which was worn on the Kohen's forehead.

The tziytz constantly reminded the Kohen (priest) that he had to remain dedicated to God and that he was serving the whole community not only himself.

Rabbi Yehuda teaches us in the Talmud (Yoma 7b) that the tziytz had transformative power, it could turn impure to pure. If an Israelite would bring an offer to the Temple and the given animal would be found to be impure, then the tziytz had the power to forgive the sacrifice's impurity and the animal would be accepted. However, this would only work if the Kohen Gadol (the high priest) was wearing the tziytz at that very moment, if the Kohen was off-duty, taking a nap, for example, and he had taken off the tziytz, then the sacrifice would be rejected.

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This illustrates the power of awareness, concentration, and focus. The Kohen could shape reality by concentrating on his true purpose. Nevertheless, he could continue to deal with mundane activities such as taking his kids to school or chatting with his wife but he remained constantly aware that these activities were all connected to his life purpose and not merely mundane activities. Building deep relationships with his loved ones was part of his total dedication to God. This real time connection had practical effects, it could transform an objectively impure sacrifice into a pure one.

In our days, the smartphone is the antithesis of the tziytz. While the tziytz is all about focus, our smartphone has been designed to be a vehicle of distraction. These devices have been designed with a notification engine that enable millions of apps to constantly compete for our attention. We may be engaged in an important discussion with our teenager daughter, trying to concentrate and deeply connect to her, to her world and feelings, but our device notifies us that we should pay attention to something 'a lot more important'. We may be trying to solve a business challenge with our colleagues but they constantly get distracted by their device, making it increasingly difficult to deepen our thoughts and to tackle the more complicated issues humanity is being faced with.
By Adam Steele

I'm not sure I'd believe any modern entrepreneur who tells me that sharing their work wasn't part of the reason they succeeded.

Most of us could never have gotten this far without the advice, processes and entire working programs that have been released freely by some of this generation's most charitable pros. I've been a longtime reader and follower of people like Pat Flynn and Gary Vaynerchuk, who have both preached the importance of sharing freely as a way to communicate authentic value to your audience.

I've always respected people who could confidently give their work away, either because they trusted in greater opportunities or because they just wanted to give back. However, as a marketer, keeping it close to the vest is a strong instinct. I had to teach myself to be comfortable with sharing what I knew with others, but the payoff has been amazing.

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Finding Opportunity in Frustration

My company came across an internal problem involving Google Analytics data. We discovered spammers had found ways to insert advertisements into data by registering visits that were referred by links that don't actually exist. You see it in your data, you click to find out what it is, and bam! Advertisement.

Monitoring traffic is a big part of what my company does, so anything that threatens the integrity of that data is a serious problem for us. And we weren't alone. Plenty of people who work with websites for a living have been calling Google out on the invasion of referral spammers for the better part of a year. There was never an official solution, but we came up with our own together, and it gave me the chance to finally perform the experiment I wanted with sharing.

Giving It Away

We decided that we were going to release our solution to this problem for free, long before it was finished. There were many factors that made this project a natural candidate for sharing. For one, we relied on the community of marketers to put it together in the first place. Finding a means of dealing with the spam was a project for a lot of people, and their experience and freely-released prototype tools played a large part in the tool we ultimately developed.

Second, we weren't quite sure that it was fully "done." It was a work in progress by design, constantly needing to be tweaked to improve its effectiveness. A traditional launch wouldn't have even been a fit for this kind of project. We weren't sure if it was ever going to be released as a product, and it would need a lot of feedback if it ever was going to reach that point. Sharing it for free would help us get it out to as many people as possible, and it meant getting feedback from the kind of people who were either in our market or among our peers.

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Finally, I simply had high hopes. I had seen the act of sharing pay great dividends for other people in my network. I expected a great response, but I was still shocked by just how well we did.

Generating a Response

Within almost a week, we were already showing up on the blogs of major players like Moz, Ahrefs and ProductHunt.

It wasn't simply the tool that interested people, either. Our team was getting a lot attention, too. Influential people were tweeting their thanks on our official feed, and we had multiple requests to appear for "Ask Me Anything" forums and podcasts.

I had never seen a response like this to any of our launches or traditional marketing campaigns. The act of authentically contributing to the community was worth more attention than money could buy. And the great thing was, we did end up pulling a profit from it: enough interested visitors stopped by and ordered our other services to make up for every working hour that was spent on it.

Giving a Little to Get a Lot

This was the first time I'd really trusted in sharing our work, but it's safe to say that it was among the most powerful advertising techniques I've ever used, albeit a little unusual. But let's forget profit for a minute: sharing just feels great. It feels great to be part of a community, and to be told that you've made life easier for the people who deal with the same challenges you do everyday.

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Maybe you've got a little project on the back burner -- something that's not quite big enough to be a product, but would still come in handy in your life, anyway. Consider making an impression by giving back. It may be worth more than you ever imagined.
BEN RICHARDSON VIA GETTY IMAGES

"I always wondered about my mother in India. Who was she? How was she? Why did she leave me?"

These questions have hounded Elisabet Purve-Jorendal who was born in India and given away for adoption in 1973 when she was less than six months old.

Purve-Jorendal, who was later adopted from an orphanage in Pune when she was two-and-a-half years old by a Swedish couple, told BBC that she had always wanted to know more about 'her roots'. But all she had was the adoption papers with the names of her mother and grandparents on it.

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"I realised how hard it was to get anywhere with that. How do you find someone in a country of 1.2 billion people? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. You must have the right connections, know how to press the right buttons," Purve-Jorendal who now lives in Helsingborg on the Sweden-Denmark border, told BBC.

According to the data shared by the Women and Child Development Ministry in 2015, the adoption rate of of children in India is between 800 to 1,000 per year.

Finally, with the help of Against Child Trafficking (ACT), a voluntary organisation based in Belgium, she finally found her birth mother's address.

And finally, when Purve-Jorendal came face-to-face with her birth mother in a small village in Maharashtra, she couldn't ask any of the questions that she had dreamt about. All she could do was stare at her.

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Jupiterimages via Getty Images Cucumbers

A nursery in Luton, a town in United Kingdom, suggested a four-year-old boy should be referred to a counter-terrorism project after he mispronounced the word cucumber as cooker bomb.

The Asian family told TV channels that concerns were raised with them after the child drew a picture of a man cutting a cucumber with a large knife.

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When he was asked about the drawing, the child apparently said it's a "cooker bomb". The staff then at the nursery complained to the boys mother and allegedly suggested a de-radicalisation scheme called Channel, which aims to provide help to anyone who is at risk of being drawn into terrorism.

In the last 4 years, more than 1,800 children have been referred to the de-radicalisation programme.

"[The member of staff] kept saying it was this one picture of the man cutting the cucumber....which she said to me is a 'cooker bomb', and I was baffled," the 4-year-old's mother told the BBC Asian Network.

When the staff kept insisting that the child be sent to the de-radicalisation programme, the mother refused: "She was adamant I had to sign it and I said, 'well Im not going to because I dont agree with what youve written', and I said Im not a terrorist, my son is not a terrorist'."

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The Bedfordshire nursery eventually did not report the case to Channel but instead reported it to a panel which included police and social services, who decided that there was no need for further action.

The issue comes against the backdrop of a debate about how schools and teachers are dealing with the pressures of government anti-extremism initiatives, designed to stop British youngsters being lured by Islamic State propaganda.

In January it was claimed a 10-year-old Muslim boy was visited by police after he wrote "terrorist house" - instead of "terraced house" during a school lesson. Last year, a Muslim schoolboy in north London was questioned about ISIS after a classroom discussion about environmental activism, the Guardian reported.

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Hindustan Times via Getty Images PANIPAT, INDIA - FEBRUARY 22: Heavy police force and Army jawan deployed at village Siwah after Jat agitation turned violent on February 22, 2016 in Panipat, India. Jats are agitating for quotas in jobs and want to be counted as a part of Other Backward Classes, a section that has 27% quotas in government jobs. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Jat organisations in Haryana gave an ultimatum to the government today  withdraw the cases registered against members of their community for the recent agitation and approve the reservation under OBC quota for Jats, or face another round of protests starting Friday.

According to reports, the protesters will submit memorandums to the respective Deputy Commissioners in each district today, giving them a three-day deadline to accept their demands.

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This time, the agitation will be far more intense. We will take it to villages. While we will submit memorandums to Deputy Commissioners tomorrow, the government has time till 18 March after which we will take to the roads again. We have warned the committee about our intentions, a Jat leader told The Tribune, adding that they were ready for a 'do-or-die' battle.

We have not heard anything from the MHA yet, PK Das, additional chief secretary (home) told Indian Express. We are closely monitoring the situation. The paramilitary shall be deployed in all the districts that were affected during Jat agitation last month, he added.

Meanwhile, a traders' body has claimed that the Haryana government has assured it of providing full compensation within one month to owners of shops and commercial establishments whose properties were damaged by protestors during the pro-quota Jat agitation last month.

Businessmen who had suffered massive financial loss during the agitation were upset with Khattar government for initial compensation which they had described as "insufficient".

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Traders had also threatened to observe a state wide bandh on 17 March.

Last month, the people of Jat community in Haryana had held a series of protests across North India, especially Haryana.

The protesters sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits.

The protests had turned violent as the agitators blocked railway lines, roads even the water supply to New Delhi.

Over 30 people were killed and the agitation cost a loss of 34,000 crore to North India.

(With inputs from PTI)

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DIBYANGSHU SARKAR via Getty Images TO GO WITH India-unrest-Maoist,FEATURE by Abhaya Srivastava In this photo taken on August 7, 2015, a member of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrols through a village in the Tisro area of the Giridih district in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand. Left-wing Maoist extremists have been fighting to overthrow the government for decades, but the conflict has taken on a new intensity since right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election last year. AFP PHOTO / Dibyangshu Sarkar (Photo credit should read DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- The Telegraph reported today that Kalyani Kullu, a tribal matriarch, and her three sons have given land to build a thana in Simdega, a district in Jharkhand which is hit by Maoists and the People's Liberation Front of India.

The newspaper reported that it is the "first case of voluntary land donation to the state in recent memory."

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Kullu and her three sons, who hail from Kochedega village, were honored in a function attended by over 2,000 people, where people played traditional instruments and sang, " Aapan ghar mein thana ailo re (a police station has come home), The Telegraph reported.

Villagers approached the police with Kullu's offer, six weeks ago.

"They told us the family was ready to provide surplus land adjoining our government plot," Singh told The Telegraph.

Rajeev Ranjan Singh, a senior police official, said that the market value of the cost is Rs.10 lakh, and it is of "tactical importance."

"We thought it was too good to be true. But, it was actually true. They are not rich landowners, they are a modest farming family but with a big heart," he told The Telegraph.

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"But now, thanks to this living example of a family reposing its faith in the police, the thana and the gesture will have a far-reaching impact in fighting Naxalism," he said.

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Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - MARCH 13: Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar addressing a press conference during the World Culture Festival organised by the Art of Living Foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on March 13, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The mega event witness artists, musicians and dancers from across the globe participating with utmost zest and enthusiasm. The 3-day mega event was embroiled in controversy till the very last moment before the National Green Tribunal gave it a green signal. But not before the organisers submitted Rs 25 lakh, part of the Rs 5 crore fine imposed by the green tribunal. (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Changing an earlier stand of not paying a penny to the National Green Tribunal for holding a mega Art of Living event on the Yamuna flood plains, spiritual leader and AOL founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Sunday said he will pay Rs five crore, but not as penalty, but as a "development fee" for a biodiversity park.

"This is not a penalty, not a fine It is development compensation. A development fee for a biodiversity park, he said on the concluding day of the three-day World Culture Festival on the banks of the Yamuna.

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On Friday, NGT told Ravi Shankar's foundation to deposit Rs. 25 lakhs and the balance amount of the penalty within three weeks.

The NGT also told AOL that if they failed to pay up then the tribunal will attach the grant which the Culture Ministry is supposed to pay to AOL. The next hearing is scheduled for April 4.

"All through, I have lived a spotless life. I have never been late to school. I have never paid fine, even of a single paisa. So, we said we will not pay any fine. But then I was told that this is not a fine or penalty. It was wrongly reported in newspapers. They said it was for the development here. We said, if this is for development and restoration, then we will whole-heartedly support this and put everything into this," Sri Sri said.

The green panel took strong exception to Ravi Shankar's remarks about refusal to pay Rs 5 crore and instead saying he would prefer to go to jail.

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"When a man of his stature makes such statements, it hits the very rule of law. If anybody hurts the image of the tribunal, he will be taken to rule of law. Don't treat tribunal as subject to your controversy with regard to the event," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought Ravi Shankar's assistance in cleaning the Yamuna river.

"We are sitting along the banks of Yamuna river. We have taken several initiatives for cleaning it. If Guruji takes a little initiative... Several governments need to come together to keep the Yamuna clean. The Delhi government and the Centre and many of its ministries need to come together. Today, on the left side of Guruji is the Union government and to his right is the Delhi government. If he takes the initiative and pledge to clean Yamuna under his leadership, then I think this can be achieved," Kejriwal said.

"I consider myself very fortunate that I could see this historic moment. I am thankful to Guruji. Jai Gurudev," Kejriwal added.

The World Culture Festival, organised by the AOL on the floodplains of Yamuna, is facing criticism from several quarters over ecological damage. The Centre and the Delhi government too have been criticised for giving the go-ahead to the function.

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With the Crown Prince & delegates from Middle East. #WorldCultureFestivalpic.twitter.com/fVWChd08XD  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) March 12, 2016

Senior ministers in the NDA government also came out in full support of Art of Living's controversial cultural event on the floodplains of Yamuna river, lashing out at those criticising it and said the "Yamuna is clean, but some minds are polluted".

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the event was posing no problem to the environment and instead the venue was witnessing a smooth flow of culture.

"I saw in the media that some people are saying Yamuna is polluted. See the Yamuna, very neat, very clean, very quiet, very calm,...only some minds are polluted. I hope that with the teachings of Guruji, their minds will also be clean, their country will be clean and the world will be clean," he said.

Union Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "Human values are eroding, the morals are going down. Violence, obscenity, vulgarity, is increasing in certain parts of public life. We should put an end to all this. In spite of verbal violent reaction from some people. Don't worry about them. In every society, there will be some people like them."

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At the Global Leadership Forum. #WCF2016pic.twitter.com/lzsq5sUDeB  Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) March 12, 2016

A string of Union Ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attended the last day of the event. BJP national president Amit Shah too was present at the event.

(With inputs from agencies)

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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. The regime of the cessation of hostilities in Syria has been violated 14 times over the past 24 hours, including 5 times - in Latakia, 5 times - in Daraa, 2 times - in Aleppo and once - in Damascus and Hama each, says a press release posted on the Russian Defense Ministrys website on March 14, Armenpress reports citing TASS.

"The Ahrar al-Sham group that considers itself opposition has opened mortar fire on the settlements of Klyaba Kinsiba and Jabal-Alakaya (Latakia province)," the release says.






Narada News You Tube screenshot

NEW DELHI -- Commotion broke out in West Bengal politics on Monday, with less than a month to go for State Assembly Election, as a sting operation unveiled in Delhi showed key leaders of the Trinamool Congress Party allegedly accepting cash for favouring a fictitious company.

The sting operation was conducted by journalist Mathew Samuel, who had also conducted Tehelka's Operation West End sting operation in 2001, which caused the then Defence Minister George Fernandes to resign.

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This sting operation, X Files, includes Mukul Roy, who served as Railways Minister in 2012, Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee, Sultan Ahmed, the "Muslim face of party," Saugata Roy, former Urban Development Minister in the Manmohan Singh government, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, "the second most important woman leader in Trinamool Congress, and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakkim.

Others who allegedly accepted cash were TMC leaders Sukhanto Adhikari and Karan Sharma, Madan Mitra, former minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, Mayor of Kolkata Sovan Chatterjee, lawmaker Iqbal Ahmed and M.H. Ahmed Mirza, a senior police official.

Interestingly, Samuel was till recently the editor Tehelka magazine, which is owned by TMC lawmaker and businessman K.D. Singh, whose Alchemist Group was found guilty of raising money illegally by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Samuel said today that this sting operation had no connection with Singh.

In the sting operation, now available online, senior TMC leaders are seen accepting bundles of cash in exchange for supporting operations of Impex Consultancy in West Bengal.

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"Whatever you want, my assistance, I will give you," said Sultan Ahmed, former Union Minister for Tourism in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. "You want any letter, any recommendation form, I will do," he said, after allegedly receiving Rs.5 Lakh in cash. "What would be left for kids if we deal with small stuffs," said Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakkim, allegedly in exchange for Rs.5 Lakh.

The cash involved in each transaction was between Rs.4 to 5 Lakh with the exception of Roy, who was offered Rs.20 Lakh.

In a press conference today, Mathew claimed that about Rs65 lakh was spent as bribe money to TMC leaders. He said the source of the money was Non Resident Indians (NRIs) from Dubai and the United States, without elaborating further.

The sting operation started two months before the 2014 Lok Sabha Election, and it was carried out for a period of two years, Mathew said.

The reporters, Samuel and Angel Abraham, decided to investigate corruption in West Bengal after her government was hit by the Rs 24.60 billion Saradha Chit Fund scam rocked the TMC government in 2014.

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"What we recorded on camera is unbelievable. Here almost all leaders of TMC were willing to flout almost any rules of the state for a bundle of cash," the video-report said.

Fielding questions on timing of the release of this report, so close to the West Bengal Assembly Election, Samuel said that he was not politically motivated.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O Brien said he had seen the  doctored video, and dismissed the report as a smear campaign ahead of the State assembly election

This is at best a minor distraction on a Monday morning. We are completely transparent. Mamata dis credentials are impeccable. The people of Bengal know. We are all busy with elections now. So whoever has tried to concoct this smear campaign, please go ahead and concoct your smear campaign or your video, your doctored videos. Where these videos came from, who doctored these videos, who will not a defamation case, we are not bothered, O Brien said.

To all our political opponents, you know you cant defeat us politically, so you try and create a cheap tricks department, a dirty tricks department," he said.

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Reno County sees a spike in drug and alcohol overdoses during October

The 27 overdoses through Oct. 21 is an average of more than one a day, the highet average since officials began tracking the data real time.
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. On March 10 representatives of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Azerbaijani saboteurs Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, sentenced in Arstakh Republic.

Armenpress reports that Etery Musayelyan,Communication officer of the ICRC mission in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said during the visit information of personal nature was exchanged.

The visit took place within the framework of the ICRC's standard procedures. The ICRC visits detainees to conduct monitoring on their detention conditions and treatment and assure contact between the prisoners and their relatives, Etery Musayelyan noted.

Remind, that Dilham Askerov was charged under 7 articles of the NKR Criminal Code and Shahbaz Guliyev - under 5 articles.The defendants are charged by espionage, illegaly crossing of protected state border by organized group without proper documentation and approval, illegal carrying of firearms and ammunition as an organized group, kidnapping by means of violence, which puts in danger life or health, the use of weapons against a minor performed by organized group, murder interfaced to kidnapping performed by organized group, motivated by ethnic hatred. Dilham Askerov is also charged with a murder of two persons performed by organized group, motivated by ethnic hatred.

On 29 December 2014 NKR Court of First Instance sentenced Dilham Askerov to life imprisonment and Guliyev - 22 years in prison.








American International Group could be on the hook for as much as $37 million in the ongoing legal woes of Bill Cosby.According to a New York Times report Sunday, the embattled entertainer carries $1 million in homeowners coverage in two of the three states in which he is facing multiple defamation suits as well as $35 million through an additional liability policy he shares with his wife, Camille.The little-used facet of homeowners coverage, called personal injury coverage, is typically included in policies purchased by wealthy individuals to battle lawsuits. It is the same provision that covered the legal defense of Roger Clemens, OJ Simpson and Bill Clinton, and will now pay the bill for Cosbys mounting legal fees.Cosbys insurer, AIG , has previously attempted to deny payment on his claims, arguing that Cosbys homeowners policy did not include denial of allegations of sexual abuse under the personal injury clause. The carrier pointed to an exclusion for personal injury arising out of any actual, alleged, or threatenedsexual molestation, misconduct or harassment.However, California Federal Judge Beverly OConnell dismissed the suit in November, finding that plaintiff has a duty to defend based on ambiguity in some of the policy language. AIG says it plans to appeal the ruling, but for now, the company is paying the legal fees in three of five defamation cases filed in California and Massachusetts.The events may have insurance agents wanting to revisit homeowners policies for some of their wealthier clients, though industry experts say the inclusion of a personal injury clause is not often discussed in conversations about coverage.I dont think that celebrities go out looking for defamation coverage, Philadelphia-based insurance attorney Randy Maniloff told the New York Times. I think they buy quality insurance, and that happens to include defamation coverage.In fact, many homeowners may not realize they are covered for defamation until they have a reason  like a lawsuit  to look over the clause.Its not common, attorney Richard D. Emery said of personal injury coverage, because defamation cases are not common. And certainly defamation cases based on sexual misconduct cases are even more rare.According to the Insurance Information Institute, roughly 7 million people in the United States held such umbrella policies 20 years ago, though current estimates are lacking.
When President Obama announced a softening of restrictions against Cuba many in the insurance business began weighing the possibilities. In a country where there are only two insurers, owned by a state-controlled company, there could be the potential for a lucrative new market to open up.However, even when current bans on business are eventually lifted there will still be significant challenges according to a report from the Insurance Information Institute.The reopening of U.S. diplomatic relations with Cuba may in the future present intriguing commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses, including property/casualty insurers, said III president Robert Hartwig. Cubas current economic and political situation may not create an ideal business environment for insurers today.Hartwig noted that Cubas risk profile, which includes hurricanes and earthquakes, makes the kind of environment which requires the kind of protection that only insurers can provide.The report highlights the government in Havanas limited financial ability to fully protect against the risks, which should open the doors for international insurers  if Cubans can be persuaded that their government cannot provide the full protection that they need.As Cubas economy potentially opens itself to private investments from around the world, insurers and reinsurers will carefully monitor developments and seek opportunities as economic, political and regulatory considerations allow, Hartwig commented.Insurance fraud charges have been laid against a chiropractor, a paralegal and a clinic employee following an investigation by Toronto Police and Aviva Canada. One of the insurers clients sparked the probe after allegedly being pressured to lie about auto accident injuries.Undercover investigators obtained video footage of the three professionals explaining how they could secure insurance payouts even though the investigators said that they were not injured.Chiropractor Edward Hayes, clinic employee Michelle Osacenco and paralegal Anna Kovtanuka are all scheduled to appear in court on March 17, 2016.Chinas Anbang Insurance Group Co. is in talks to acquire a portfolio of luxury hotels from Blackstone Group. The insurer is already the owner of New Yorks iconic Waldorf Hotel and has a wide range of investments in the US and Europe. The Wall Street Journal reports that Anbang has grown from a provincial auto insurance firm into a global owner of property and insurance assets.
Lanesborough Would Face Challenging Path to 'Tuition' Its Students

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.  The "different school" alternative being bandied about by Lanesborough officials does not appear to be as easy as some may think.

At its March 7 meeting, the board fielded questions about what happens if Lanesborough residents reject the Mount Greylock Regional School addition/renovation project on March 15.

Mount Greylock officials have argued that if a "no" vote drives the district out of the Massachusetts School Building Authority process, the two member towns, Williamstown and Lanesborough, would be on the hook for repairs and modifications to bring the current junior-senior high school up to contemporary building codes.

Those repairs and modifications are estimated to cost about $58 million  all paid by the member towns.

"What if we choose to go to a different school?" Lanesborough Selectmen Chairman John Goerlach suggested at Monday's meeting.

For several years, some Lanesborough residents, including current and former town officials, have talked about finding a new option for the town's post-elementary school students. The Central Berkshire Regional School District and, more recently, the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District have been mentioned as possible alternatives.

This summer, the Adams-Cheshire School Committee went so far as to draft a tuition agreement proposal that appeared to be driven by Adams Town Hall. The idea went by the wayside when Lanesborough's Board of Selectmen acknowledged that the authority to enter such agreements rests with the Lanesborough Elementary School Committee, which has shown no interest in doing so.

But the Adams-Cheshire "solution" continues to be floated by those, like Goerlach and Selectman Henry Sayers, who advocate a no vote on March 15.

The problem is that state law makes a tuition agreement with Adams-Cheshire seem unlikely.

One road to Hoosac Valley would go through the Lanesborough School Committee, which would have to sign off on the idea of siphoning off students from Mount Greylock while the town is still part of the two-town regional district.

The other route, of course, would be to dissolve the Mount Greylock district. But there are two problems there.

First, dissolving a regional district involves the approval of Williamstown's town meeting and the blessing of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Boston.

Second, even if Lanesborough clears that hurdle, it does not qualify  like neighboring Hancock and New Ashford  to enter into tuition agreements.

Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 71, Section 4 reads, in part: "Every town containing, according to the latest federal Census, five hundred families or householders, shall, unless specifically exempted by the board of education and under conditions defined by it, maintain a high school."

That means if the Mount Greylock district was dissolved tomorrow, Lanesborough would have to either build its own high school or, more realistically, join another regional district, unless DESE gives the town a special exemption.

In a newly formed Adams-Cheshire-Lanesborough Regional School District, Lanesborough would be on the hook for paying the remaining debt on the now 4-year-old renovation of Hoosac Valley  the very kind of bond that Mount Greylock building project opponents are trying to avoid.

All of which brings Lanesborough back to the problem that both Mount Greylock towns would face if the building project is defeated on March 15: how to pay for needed improvements to the outdated Cold Spring Road facility.

"We would have to spend millions of dollars that we currently do not have in our budget. Nor do we have it in next year's budget nor the year after's budget.," said Lanesborough Selectman Robert Ericson, who serves on the Mount Greylock School Building Committee and is the only member of the three-person board to support a yes vote on March 15.

"It's millions that we would have to cough up. Once you hit the 30 percent of assessed valuation, then a whole bunch of code compliance issues descend on you, and you have to fix all of those."
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YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenia President Serzh Sasrgsyan paid an official visit to Greece by the invitation of Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Armenpress was informed from the Department of Mass Media and Public Relations of the Armenian Presidents Staff that before the high-level negotiations Serzh Sarsgyan laid a wreath to the monument of Unnamed Soldier in Athens and paid tribute.

After the official welcoming ceremony at the Greek Presidential Palace, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos had a private conversation. Armenia President and Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who, before taking the Presidents office, was a member of Greece-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group and is sufficiently informed about the most important questions concerning Armenia, discussed the agenda of bilateral relations as well as bilateral and multilateral cooperation within international and regional organizations, Armenian-Greek cooperation in several mutually beneficial areas, inter-parliamentary relations, process of the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and issues related to the NKR conflicts negotiation process.

The presidents also discussed a number of topical issues on the international agenda, presented the views of the two countries on the mentioned issues, touched on the role of friendly Greece in Armenia-EU relations, the crisis in the Middle East, particularly in Syria which resulted humanitarian disaster and refugee crisis, which has become a European problem, and a daily challenge for the Greek government.

Following the private conversation, in honor of the official visit of President Serzh Sargsyan to the Republic of Greece, on behalf of the Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos official dinner was served, during which the presidents of the two countries exchanged toasts referring to the high level Armenian-Greek inter-state relations, the potential for their further strengthening and development of cooperation in mutually beneficial sectors and the centuries-long friendship of the Armenian and Greek peoples, as well as referred to the Armenian community in Greece which has a significant role in strengthening the mentioned friendship.

Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan said that Armenians and Greeks are more than friends. They are interconnected by a common history and traditions. Introducing the two ancient civilizations, Greek and Armenian peoples lived side by side, leaving their mark on the pages of world history. They struggled side by side, earning the right to survive. Based on the mentioned heritage we continue today to strengthen the Armenian-Greek friendship, which carries interstate nature already for 24 years, Serzh Sargsyan said.

Today we have a full agenda of bilateral political dialogue, from practical political dialogue to cooperation in educational and cultural sectors. We closely cooperate in military sector. Greece is one of our most important partners in Armenia-EU relations. Regular high-level visits provide opportunity to outline new opportunities for cooperation. The vivid evidence of my speech is my visit to Greece, the main purpose of which is to raise the level of our economic cooperation, based on available resources, Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan said and proposed a toast to the centuries-long history of the Armenian and Greek peoples, in sake of the present friendship and lasting coexistence of the future generations.

Welcoming Armenia President and his headed delegation, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos noted that President Serzh Sargsyan's official visit to Greece once again shows the significant importance and high level of the cooperation and relations of the two countries in political, economic and cultural sectors.

Noting that the Armenians and Greeks are connected to each other with strong historical and friendly ties, President Pavlopoulos stressed that the historic ties, that became the basis for today's bilateral relations, have strengthened over the centuries and in difficult conditions.

I would like to raise my glass and personally drink a toast to you and friendly Armenian people; wishing to implement national goals and objectives and progress in all sectors, Greek President said.

Within the framework of his official visit to Greece on March 14, President Serzh Sargsyan also gave an interview to the Public Television of Greece.
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As part of ICAOs activities supporting International Womens Day 2016, the UN aviation agency sponsored a special trip to Montreal on Sunday for 28-year old Shaesta Waiz, so that the young Afghan pilot could make a presentation on Monday to ICAOs 36-State Council regarding her round-the-world solo flight to encourage greater access for women and youth to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) educations. ICAO and several of its Council States will be supporting the recent graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on her ambitious 2016 mission, and Captain Shaesta was duly welcomed with gifts of appreciation and words of encouragement from ICAOs Council President, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu (centre left) and its Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu (centre right). Together with other Council Representatives, the ICAO officials and Shaesta affixed an ICAO logo and the flags of several ICAO Member States to the fuselage of her Beechcraft Bonanza  signifying their official support for her 2016 campaign.

 MONTREAL, 8 MARCH 2016  To help commemorate International Womens Day 2016, and in support of its Next Generation Aviation Professionals programme, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) sponsored a flight to Montreal this past Sunday by Captain Shaesta Waiz, a 28 year-old pilot from Afghanistan who the UN agency is supporting on her courageous Dreams Soar 2016 round-the-world flight.

The young Afghan pilot was met on the apron at Montreal-Trudeau airport by ICAOs Council President, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the agencys Secretary General, Dr. Fang Liu, several ICAO Member and Council State Representatives and other dignitaries from the Organization.

Seeking to encourage women worldwide to believe in themselves and to allow their dreams to soar, Captain Shaesta will fly through 33 stops on five continents beginning early this June. Her goal is to raise awareness for greater global access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education for women and youth, something she explained in greater depth during a special presentation to the ICAO Council on Monday afternoon.

I have a very strong passion for aviation that I want to share. But its more than that. I want to show women that they can succeed in anything  including flying around the world, she remarked. My aviation dreams have had a huge impact in making me the pilot and the woman I am today, and Im very grateful for ICAOs recognition and support as I embark on this incredible voyage for STEM.

Born in a refugee camp in Afghanistan and driven by a passion for aviation, Shaesta Waiz eventually went on to become that countrys first certified civilian female pilot.

When she completes her Dreams Soar journey later in 2016 it will be another big first, establishing her as the youngest female pilot in history to complete a round-the-world solo flight.

Aviation has always called out to adventurers and innovators, and Shaesta is a tremendous example of what our sector is looking for in the next generation of aviation professionals, remarked ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. How well we attract the best and the brightest young men and women to aviation careers will be critical to how effectively we confront and manage the challenges of growth which lie ahead, and Shaesta and her journey are an inspiration to them all.
Recent shootings on a road between two major tourist destinations in Laos have prompted the State Department to issue a travel alert.

Road 13 connects Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Vang Vieng, whose tourist attractions  tubing, kayaking and rock climbing, among them  are the draw.

On March 1, five people were wounded by gunfire on Road 13, similar to an attack Jan. 14 on a tourist bus, the State Department alert said. U.S. Embassy personnel may not travel on certain stretches of the road.

The State Department did not mention a motive in its March 7 alert, but Radio Free Asia noted that construction on a dam had perturbed many in local communities. Among the injured in the March 1 attack were Chinese workers, who are doing some of the work on the dam.

Info: www.lat.ms/1QyKSDP

Worldwide caution

On March 3, the State Department updated a July 29 Worldwide Caution that gives an overview of terrorist threats by region.

In Africa, it notes that "Al Shabab assassinations, suicide bombings, hostage taking and indiscriminate attacks in civilian-populated areas are frequent in Somalia" and that the terror group "retains its demonstrated capability to carry out attacks in government-controlled territory in Somalia and in neighboring countries such as Kenya and Djibouti."

On Monday, the Pentagon reported that a drone air strike against an Al Shabab training camp about 120 miles north of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, killed 150 people. Al Shabab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, was planning an attack, the Pentagon said.

The Associated Press also reported last week that the Australian navy had intercepted a cache of weapons headed for Somalia.

The State Department caution notes that Europe continues to b e "potentially vulnerable" to terrorism.

Info: www.lat.ms/1OXWqMD

Turkey

On Feb. 29, the State Department issued a warning on travel to southeastern Turkey and said U.S. citizens should be careful throughout the country. This was an update of a Feb. 4 warning.

Recent attacks have "targeted popular tourist sites, U.S. government buildings, police and other local authorities throughout Turkey," the State Department said.

Travel in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border could be dangerous, it noted, and it also urged Americans to avoid crowds, especially at tourist areas.

Info: www.lat.ms/1Fq7Qut

Russia

Russian divers spent more than an hour on a 335-foot dive in the White Sea, the Russian Geographical Society reported, making it the deepest recorded below-ice dive on record. Water temperatures were nearly 30 below zero, but divers reported seeing life at that depth.

Austria

Be careful about belching in Austria. A Vienna b artender was fined after an after-dinner burp erupted that police said was too loud. The diner had just finished a dinner of a doner kebab.

The restaurant where the incident occurred decided to treat the bartender to a two-day all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey, known for its doner kebabs, a Turkish dish usually cooked vertically on skewers.

The company also paid the man's $77 fine, Associated Press reported.

Kyrgyzstan

You might also want to mind your manners in Kyrgyzstan, where a joke about sausage led to a Scottish man's deportation, UPI.com reported.

On New Year's Eve, the man reportedly posted to Facebook an unsavory comment about the horse-meat sausage known as chuchuk.

Authorities at first said this was a crime under the country's hate laws.

Despite his posted apology, he was arrested and could have spent five years in jail. The legal system eventually decided he had not stirred up any ethnic violence, but apparently the documentation that allowed him to work in Kyrgyzstan was faulty and he was deported.

Sources: The U.S. State Department, Radio Free Asia, Reuters, Associated Press, UPI.com

travel@latimes.com

Source: Shootings in Laos prompt travel alert
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Press Release: EC and IMF Meet to Further Strengthen Partnership

Press Release No. 16/108

March 14, 2016

European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director, Carla Grasso, met on March 14, 2016 in Brussels to discuss the further strengthening of the EC-IMF partnership.

The EC and the IMF are natural strategic partners, with both institutions having a long track record of supporting economic reforms in their developing partners (EU) and member countries (IMF), including, for example, in the areas of mobilizing domestic revenue, improving public financial management, and fostering macroeconomic and fiscal stability. Cooperation on capacity development is a core component of the partnership, and covers a broad range of issues related to economic governance and institution building, as well as related human capacity development needs.

These issues are also at the core of the EU "Collect More-Spend Better" Staff working Document, which contributes to the international debate on financing for development and to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Over the next few months, the Partnership will receive high visibility on the international stage, including in the context of two specific high-level events: a seminar on Collect More- Spend Better: the role of Capacity Development during the IMF/WB Spring meetings on April 13, in Washington DC, and a Conference Collect More  Spend Better: Facing the challenges of the 2030 Agenda organized by the Commission on May 3 in Brussels.

Both sides are also expected to highlight their joint efforts, including with other development partners, to develop diagnostic assessment tools such as the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT) and to upgrade the Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework.

During the March 14 meeting, the European Commission and the IMF agreed on a harmonized approach on capacity development to strengthen the already excellent cooperation enjoyed between the two institutions, facilitate dialogue on joint priorities, sharpen the focus on results and help streamline the programming and implementation of procedures.

The Commission and the IMF development cooperation will be delivered through the Regional Technical Assistance Centers (RTACs); a new Public Financial Management-Partnership Program (PFM-PP) aimed at building synergies and closer collaboration between the two institutions to help countries build stronger public finance management systems; and a number of global initiatives supporting the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The latter will consist of cooperation in the contexts of the trust funds on revenue mobilization, managing natural resources wealth, and financial sector stability, along with continued support to diagnostic tools, such as the Tax Administration Diagnostic Assessment Tool (TADAT). In addition the Partnership will also include continued close cooperation in the field between EU Delegations and the IMF through selected national programs.
Governor Brown Issues Statement on Death of CHP Officer Nathan Daniel Taylo

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the death of California Highway Patrol Officer Nathan Daniel Taylor:

Anne and I extend our heartfelt condolences to Officer Taylors family, friends and the entire California Highway Patrol community. We are grateful for Officer Taylor, who served the state with great distinction.

Officer Taylor, 35, of Rocklin was struck by a vehicle on Saturday while investigating a traffic collision on westbound Interstate 80 at Castle Peak Road. He was transported to the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, NV, where he succumbed to his injuries late Sunday night.

Officer Taylor served as a member of the California Highway Patrol for nearly six years. He graduated from the CHP Academy in October 2010 and was assigned to the San Jose Area Office before transferring to the Gold Run Area Office in January 2013.

Officer Taylor is survived by his wife, Rebecca; three sons, ages 3, 5 and 8; his parents, Jeff and Linda Taylor; and two brothers, one of whom is a CHP officer.

In honor of Officer Taylor, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
American Religion Not as Exceptional As We Think

Durham, North Carolina - For generations, the United States has been considered a religious outlier - its citizens more dedicated to their faith and houses of worship than the rest of the developed world.

But new research from Duke University and University College London (UCL) suggests that American devotion to religion is waning, a decline mirrored across the Western world.

The study published in the American Journal of Sociology finds a slow, steady drop in the number of Americans who claim religious affiliations, attend church regularly and believe in God. It also finds that these drops are driven by generational differences.

None of these declines is happening fast, but the signs are now unmistakable, said David Voas, a social scientist with UCL and co-author of the study. It has become clear that American religiosity has been declining for decades, and the decline is driven by the same dynamic -- generational differences -- that has driven religious decline across the developed world.

The study examined U.S. data from the General Social Survey, which is conducted every two years, and compared it with similarly broad data from Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Across the board, people have slowly become less religious over time; the U.S. decline has been so gradual that until recently scientists havent had enough data to be sure the trend was real, said Mark Chaves of Duke, the studys other co-author.

The U.S. has long been considered an exception to the modern claim that religion is declining, said Chaves, a professor of sociology, divinity and religion. But if you look at the trajectory, and the generational dynamic that is producing the trajectory, we may not be an exception after all.

The study didnt draw comparisons between religions or religious denominations.

This slow drip is generational. A few examples:

-- 94 percent of Americans born before 1935 claim a religious affiliation. For the generation born after 1975, that number drops to 71 percent.

-- 68 percent of Americans 65 and older said they had no doubt God exists, according to the study. But just 45 percent of young adults, ages 18-30, had the same belief.

-- 41 percent of people 70 and older said they attend church services at least once a month, compared to just 18 percent of people 60 and younger.

The data are consistent over a long stretch of time, Chaves said.

If you break it down over five-year chunks, each age group is a little less religious than the one before it, he said.
Can you tell us what your book is about? My protagonist Joss finds herself having to make mortgage payments without help from her depre...
The United States Condemns Attack in Grand-Bassam, Cote d'Ivoire

Washington, DC - The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Cote dIvoire in the Grand-Bassam. We send our thoughts and prayers to all affected by this senseless violence.

The U.S. Embassy in Abidjan is making every effort to account for the welfare of American citizens in the area. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updated information to the U.S. citizen community as it becomes available.

Cote dIvoire is an important regional partner to the United States, and in the days ahead we stand ready to support the Ivorian government as it investigates this heinous attack.
A leading cardiologist and UCD professor has welcomed the proposed new fee to be paid to GPs under the GMS for carrying out 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).



Prof Eoin OBrien, Adjunct Professor of Molecular Pharmacology at the Conway Institute, told IMT that with ABPM now recommended for the accurate diagnosis and management of hypertension by the health authorities in the UK, the US and Canada  countries with far better control rates for hypertension than Ireland  the technique of ABPM should be readily available to all patients being treated for hypertension, to ensure adequate blood pressure control over the entire 24-hour period.

Prof OBrien added: ABPM must also be available to persons who have had a blood pressure measurement of 140/90 mmHg or greater reordered by any measurement technique, to exclude white coat hypertension, or to confirm sustained hypertension.

As part of the recent agreement between the IMO and the Department of Health/ HSE in respect of the Rural Practice Allowance (RPA) available to GPs and amendments to the Special Items of Service under the GMS contract  which have yet to be approved by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform  a new special-type consultation (STC) payment of 60 has been agreed for 24-hour ABPM.

The new initiatives  which will also see increased payments for suturing and bladder catherisation, as well as a new fee for long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs)  are due to commence on May 1, and are part of wider contract negotiations currently taking place between the IMO and Department of Health/ HSE.

dara.gantly@imt.ie
The Irish Medical Council has moved to sell its former headquarters Lynn House for 2.75 million, which it says will improve its capital position, Irish Medical Times reports.

Kingram House told IMT: The Councils net asset position has been adversely affected by accumulated deficits since 2009 and the sale of Lynn House is part of our commitment to improving our capital position and the future financial security of the organisation.

The Council has undertaken a programme of operational cost-cutting in recent years and this measure is designed to ultimately improve and ensure we maintain a healthy and sustainable capital position.

A 2009 valuation revalued Lynn House at Lower Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6, on an open market basis from 3 million to 2 million.

The currently vacant four-storey modern detached office building is now for sale by private treaty. David OMalley of real estate advisory firm, Savills, told The Irish Times last week that the building, with a net internal floor area of 730sqm (7,864sq ft), should be of interest to both investors and owner-occupiers. The fit-out includes suspended ceilings with recessed lighting, double-glazed windows, air conditioning, electric heating and 12 car-parking spaces.

The Council signed a five-year lease agreement for its new premises, Kingram House, at an annual rent of 820,000 in March 2008, which expired on December 31, 2012. There was an option to purchase the shareholding of Tanat Limited (incorporating Kingram House) for a fixed price, however, this option expired in March 2011.

As the Council did not exercise its option the owners of Tanat Limited had a call option whereby the Council were obliged to enter into a long-term lease of 20 years at an annual rent of 820,000. This 20-year lease commenced on January 1, 2013 and will expire on December 31, 2032.

According to the Councils latest Annual Report (2014), the terms of the lease were subject to litigation and the judgement found in favour of Tanat Ltd. The Council had appealed this decision, and has since executed the 20-year lease and settled all outstanding litigation with Tanat Ltd.

lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie
Inflatable Halloween Pumpkin Twice the Size of a House Rings in Spooky Season
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Having previously worked with acting greats like Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy and Matthew McConaughey, Christopher Nolans latest casting isOne Direction member Harry Styles.

The singer has been offered a role in the Interstellar directors new World War II film, Dunkirk, multiple sources told Deadline (who are usually right about these things).

Styles role is thought not to be a leading one, though his presence in the movie will still surely annoy many Nolan fans.

(Getty)

The move would make sense for Styles, who doesnt have a lot else going on at the moment what with One Direction being on hiatus.

He has been offered film roles in the past, including one in The Weinstein Companys Tulip Fever, but this will be his first feature.

Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hardy have already been confirmed for the film, along with relative unknown Fionn Whitehead.

Dunkirk will centre on Operation Dynamo, a British military operation that saw some 330,000 Allied soldiers rescued from detainment in a harbour.


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A dispute over the ownership of the Klingon language is boldly going where no legal row has gone before after two major Hollywood studios cited their copyright of the fictional Star Trek tongue to block the production of a fan-funded film.

Paramount Pictures Corp and CBS Studios, who own the Star Trek film and television franchises, have been locked in a court battle with the production team behind Axanar, an independent Star Trek prequel, amid claims that the fan film infringed innumerable copyrighted elements.

The two studios have now filed an amended complaint that lists exactly what these alleged interstellar intellectual infringements are.

Recommended Read more A celebration of the original Star Trek TV series 50 years on

According to lawyers for Paramount Pictures Corp and CBS Studios, the numerous copyright infringements in Axanar include the use of the Klingon language which court documents say was first spoken in the first Star Trek film in 1979, and has been used by the franchise ever since.

Estimates vary, but there are thought to be just 20-30 fluent Klingon speakers worldwide, though an independent Klingon Language Institute in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, is attempting to boost numbers through a scholarship programme.

However linguistic experts say the cumbersome language is struggling to attract new speakers as it is useful for discussing intergalactic warfare and blood feuds but with just 3,000 words lacks everyday vocabulary.

Klingon: A legal glossary Chut: Law

QucHata: Dishonour

Maj: Financial punishment

Pum: Accused

Dlv: Guilty

Chun: Innocent

Hegh jlp: Death penalty

BlghHa: Prison

BoDIj: Court

Mekba: The element of a Klingon trial where evidence is presented

Gnow juk Hol pajhard: the Klingon law of hereditary succession

The court papers also list infringements which include the use of the terms warp drive, the Stardate calendar system and depictions of the lesser-known Andorian, Tellarite and Romulan races. Its also claimed that Axanar infringes the uniform style of the franchise, specifically the gold shirts worn by Star Trek officers.

Adam Feuerberg, who co-hosts a Star Trek-themed podcast and is a friend of the Axanar production team, said the move by Paramount Pictures Corp and CBS Studios was good business, terrible PR and that neither side would emerge victorious from the court case. He said: Both sides seem to have an interesting take on the legal case behind copyright infringement, but copyright law is being redefined every day.

Despite the legal battle the team behind Axanar has already attracted more than $1m in crowd-funding, after enlisting the some of the crew who have worked on the films and reportedly signing up George Takei, who played Mr Sulu, as a consultant.
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The toilet circuit network of small music venues has claimed a victory after ministers agreed to introduce legislation which will protect noisy clubs from property developers.

Planning rules favouring complaints from residents in new developments over the noise levels from an established music venue nearby have been cited by clubs forced to close their doors.

Venues including The Cockpit in Leeds and the Sheffield Boardwalk, where Ed Sheeran and Arctic Monkeys played formative shows, have shut whilst in London an estimated 40% of music venues have closed over the past decade. A UK Music study of Bristols live scene found that 50% of the citys music venues were affected by development, noise or planning issues.

The Department for Communities and Local Government and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey have now acted to protect threatened venues, following a concerted campaign by grassroots clubs to protect the toilet circuit, cited as the lifeblood of the UK music scene.

New regulations, which will come into effect on April 6, mean that developers are now required to seek prior approval on noise impacts before a change of use for a property from an office to residential building can be carried out. The move amends a recent change of use permitted development right which made music venues vulnerable to noise complaints from residents after they moved into a new development in the area.

Local authorities will have to take into account the existence of an already established music venue, generating a certain amount of noise, when development applications are lodged.

A letter from Housing minister Brandon Lewis and James Wharton, minister for Local Growth, to the UK Music body, confirmed the change. It acknowledged that the closure of a venue as a result of complaints from residents moving into new housing in the area could be an unintended consequence of the permitted development.

Music festivals guide 2016 Show all 20 1 /20 Music festivals guide 2016 Music festivals guide 2016 Horizon Where: Bansko Ski Resort, Bulgaria When: 12-17 March Price: From 175 Line Up: Ame, Goldie, Nina Kraviz, John Talabot, Lady Leshurr, Craig Charles Music festivals guide 2016 Live At Leeds Where: Leeds, UK When: 30 April Price: 32.50 Line Up: Jess Glynne, Circa Waves, Mystery Jets, Band of Skulls, We Are Scientists Music festivals guide 2016 Primavera Sound Where: Barcelona, Spain When: 1-5 June Price: 175 Line Up: Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Sigur Ros, PJ Harvey, Tame Impala, Beach House, Suede, The Last Shadow Puppets Primavera Music festivals guide 2016 Best Kept Secret Where: Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands When: 17-19 June Price: 147.50 Line Up: Beck, Editors, Two Door Cinema Club, Beach House, Bloc Party, Caribou, Half Moon Run Best Kept Secret Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Glastonbury Where: Worthy Farm, Somerset When: 22-26 June Price: 220 Line Up: Coldplay, Muse, Jeff Lynnes ELO, PJ Harvey, Jess Glynne (TBC) Music festivals guide 2016 Roskilde Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 25 June-2 July Price: 2,020 DKK Line Up: LCD Soundsystem, New Order, PJ Harvey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foals, Tame Impala, Savages, Skepta, Tenacious D Simon Frsig Christensen / Roskilde Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Hideout Festival Where: Zrce Beach, Croatia When: 26-30 June Price: From 152.90 Line Up: The Martinez Brothers, Joris Voorn, Waze & Odyssey Hideout Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Bilbao BBK Where: Bilbao, Spain When: 7-9 July Price: From 69 Line Up: Arcade Fire, Pixies, Tame Impala, Foals, New Order, Hot Chip, Father John Misty, Years & Years, Wolf Alice Music festivals guide 2016 Open'er Where: Gdynia, Poland When: 29 July-2 August Price: From 130 Line Up: Bastille, Florence + the Machine, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The 1975, The Last Shadow Puppets, Wiz Khalifa Open'er Festival Music festivals guide 2016 Electric Love Where: Plainfeld, Austria When: 7-9 July Price: 119 Line Up: Alesso, Zedd, Tiesto, Chase & Status, Steve Aoki, Knife Party Music festivals guide 2016 Melt! Where: Ferropolis, Germany When: 15-17 July Price: From 136 Line Up: Two Door Cinema Club, Disclosure, Jamie xx, Sleaford Mods, Skepta, Jamie Woon Music festivals guide 2016 Sziget Where: Budapest, Hungary When: 10-17 August Price: From 215 Line Up: Bastille, Bloc Party, M83, Sigur Ros, Bring Me the Horizon Music festivals guide 2016 Flow Where: Helsinki, Finland When: 12-14 August Price: 165 Line Up: Sia, New Order, The Last Shadow Puppets, Jamie xx, M83, Chvrches, Four Tet, Stormzy, Daughter, The Kills Flow Festival / Jussi Hellsten Music festivals guide 2016 Rock En Seine Where: Paris, France When: 26-28 August Price: From 119 Line Up: TBC Music festivals guide 2016 Oasis Where: Marrakech, Morocco When: 16-18 September Price: From 110 Line Up: Bicep, Derrick May, Tale of Us, Dixon, Dusky, Hunee Music festivals guide 2016 Latitude Where: Henham Park, Suffolk When: 14-17 July Price: 205.50 Line Up: The Maccabees, The National, New Order, John Grant, Beirut, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Grimes Music festivals guide 2016 Bestival Where: Robin Hill, Isle of Wight When: 8-11 September Price: 190 Line Up: The Cure, Major Lazer, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim, Craig David, Years & Years, Wolf Alice, Tourist, Katy B Music festivals guide 2016 Isle of Wight Where: Newport, Isle of Wight When: 9-12 June Price: From 186 Line Up: Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics, Faithless, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, Buzzcocks, Sigma, Jess Glynne Music festivals guide 2016 Citadel Where: Victoria Park, London When: 17 July Price: From 54 Line Up: Sigur Ros, Caribou, Lianne La Havas, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Music festivals guide 2016 End of the Road Where: Larmer Tree Gardens When: 2-4 September Price: 195 Line Up: Joanna Newsom, The Shins, Animal Collective, Bat for Lashes, Teenage Fanclub, Devendra Banhart, Savages, Cat's Eyes Sonny Malhotra

The ministers said: We are now including a provision that allows the local planning authority to consider noise impacts on new residents from existing businesses within the area.

Before residents move into new housing next to a rock club, local authorities will require the developers to put in place noise mitigation measures where appropriate.

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This would ensure that, along with the creation of much needed new homes, local authorities are able to protect well-established music venues from having unreasonable restrictions placed on their operations.

Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, hailed a major victory for the UK's music venues and music fans. He said: For music venues, this has never been about stopping development or preventing the creation of much needed new housing; its always been about ensuring that new development recognises the culture, economy and vibrancy of city centres by building great housing, enabling existing music venues and new residents to live in harmony.

However the fight to protect small venues would go on, Mr Davyd said. The Government refused to write into law the Agent of Change Principle, adopted in Australia, which states that the person responsible for enacting a change is responsible for managing the impact of that change  the developer of an apartment block to be built near an established live music venue would have to pay for soundproofing.

Jo Dipple, CEO, UK Music, welcomed the amendment granted by ministers. If these new regulations have the desired effect, grassroots venues around the UK will have additional powers to help them survive and prosper, she said.

Horace Trubridge, Assistant General Secretary, Musicians Union said: We are delighted to see that the Government has responded to our calls for action to protect grassroots live music venues. Hopefully, this will ensure a brighter future for this vital resource.
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"PEACE IS A BY-PRODUCT OF VICTORY. PROSPERITY IS A BY-PRODUCT OF LIBERTY AND JUSTICE. "

"The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States QUESTION: WHICH VERSION OF ISLAM DID MUHAMMED PRACTICE, "MODERATE ISLAM"OR "RADICAL ISLAM"?



THE ANSWER IS THE ONLY THING YOU REALLY HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM - AND ITS APOLOGISTS.

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This year's BST Hyde Park line-up is looking to be the festival's most elite yet bolstered even further by the news that Stevie Wonder will take to the stage to perform studio album Songs in the Key of Life in full.

The Motown musician has been playing the set in the States to rave reviews since 2014 but is now poised to bring it to London for one night only on 10 July. He will be joined by his 30-piece touring band.

The Grammy Award-winning album was released in 1976 and features such hits as "Sir Duke", "Pastime Paradise" and "Isn't She Lovely" across two discs. It is revered as one of his most significant albums, with legendary musicians Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson both citing it as a key influence early on in their careers.

Wonder's announcement follows last week's confirmation that Carole King would make a rare headline appearance to perform her 1971 breakthrough record Tapestry in full on 3 July.

Other acts playing this year's outdoor festival include Massive Attack, Florence + the Machine, Kendrick Lamar and Take That.

Tickets for Wonder's set will go on sale this Friday (18 March) at 8 AM GMT.
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Andrew Haighs Weekend, a thoughtful story about two men who meet in a club then spend the whole weekend together, has been banned in Catholic Church-owned cinemas in Italy.

The move means it now cannot be shown in over 1,100 cinemas across the country, according to the films distributor Teodora Film, limiting its release to just 10.

The Italian Conference of Bishops' Film Evaluation Commission classified the film as "not advised, unusable and scabrous (indecent or salacious)."

It listed the film's principal themes - identified by critics as love and identity - as drugs and homosexuality.

I cannot see any other explanation than a problem of homophobia in the Church, company president Cesare Petrillo told AFP.

"They decided it was unacceptable, that it should be censored and they have used their power to paralyse the distribution.

"Normally a film like this would have been picked up by many of these cinemas. Instead there are whole regions and big cities like Florence, Bergamo and Padova where we have not been able to get it put on. And the only reason for that is that the main characters are gay."

Weekend was originally released in 2011, but has been re-released in Italy following the success of Haighs latest film 45 Years, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling).

The film only has a 14 rating in Italy, as opposed to 18 in the UK.

Last month, Lars von Trier's 2009 film Antichrist was banned in France pending a new rating.
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The BBC has come under fire for inviting a paedophile rap star onto a Radio 1 show.

Croydon rap star Bonkaz - real name Taylor Harris - was invited onto Annie Macs show as his single was awarded her hottest record in the world accolade in October last year.

However, it has since been alleged by The Mirror that Harris previously spent six weeks in jail and was put on the sex offenders register for seven years for an offence in 2010.

After a Google search, an article from the Croydon Guardian reveals that the then 19-year-old Harris was put in prison for groping a 13-year-old girls bottom. He was sentenced on 7 June that year.

Bonkaz

However, the BBC has claimed they were unaware of the rappers personal history: We werent aware of Bonkazs personal history before he became a rapper and would expect anything of this nature to be flagged by an artists management, a spokesperson told The Independent.

There are no tracks by Bonkaz currently on the playlist. Our child protection policy states that all young people must be accompanied by a responsible adult, such as a parent or professional chaperone, at all times whilst on BBC premises.

A source reportedly told The Mirror: This is a huge blunder by the BBC. With all the heat surrounding paedophilia, it is beyond belief that bosses rolled out the red carpet to a man with a conviction of this kind.

Under the name Bonkaz, Harris has amassed a large following, his videos having been viewed upwards of a million times on YouTube. He was also invited to the MOBO awards last November, having been nominated for best new artist.
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A dramatic surge in the Earths surface temperatures took place in February which saw the biggest month-on-month rise in global warming on record, latest figures released by Nasa show.

As global temperatures rise well above their seasonal averages, especially in the northern hemisphere, the sea ice in the Arctic continues its overall downward trajectory with a new record monthly low for a February.

While some of the temperature rise has been put down to the large El Nino event currently coming to an end in the Pacific Ocean, scientists repeated their warnings that the global climate system is now being strongly influenced by human emissions of greenhouse gases, especially by the rising concentrations of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels.

February was the warmest month on record, and 2016 is heading to become the warmest year on record, warmer even than 2015 which had itself set a clear record over previous warmest years, according to the global surface temperature measurements compiled and released by Nasa.

Nasa confirmed that February 2016 was not only the warmest month ever measured globally, at 1.35C above the long-term average, but that it was more than 0.2C warmer than January 2016, which itself had held the previous monthly temperature record.

Gavin Schmidt, the director of Nasas Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said on Twitter than he does not normally comment on individual months because there is too much weather, not enough climate but last month was special. He summarised his reaction to the data simply with: Wow.

Temperatures in the northern hemisphere especially saw temperature rise well above the global average, with the Arctic and northern Russia seeing exceptionally warm surface readings over land and sea.

 Climate change wreaks havoc on India's tea industry

The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre reported that the sea ice in the Arctic in February had once again failed to reform completely, leaving large patches of open ocean which in previous years had been topped with ice.

The extent of the sea ice in February was the lowest in the satellite record going back to the 1970s, for the second month in a row. This suggests a new record for winter sea ice will be reached in March  underling how higher temperatures are affecting both Arctic winters as well as summers.

Click HERE for larger annotated version of the graphic

European researchers, under the Copernicus Climate Service, using a slightly different method of analysing the surface temperature data than Nasa, also found that February 2016 was by far the warmest month on record.

It found for instance that February was more than 5C above the 1981-2010 average for the month over a region stretching from Finland to Greece and extending eastwards to western Siberia, Kazakhstan and the northern part of the Middle East. In parts of north-west Russia and the Barents Sea, temperatures peaked at more than 10C above average.

February 2016 was the most exceptional month yet in a spell of exceptional months. Globally, the average temperature for the month was: 0.86C above the February average for 1981-2010; almost 0.5C higher than the previous highest February value of 0.37C, which was reached in both 2010 and 2015, the service said.

Professor Phil Jones of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia said that the global temperature figures for February were remarkable given that January was itself such a clear monthly record. The lack of sea ice may have played a role, he suggested.

February 2016 is by far and away the warmest month yet recorded. Part of the warmth was due to the ongoing El Nino event in the Pacific, but the greater part is down to the anomalously warm temperatures in many mid- and high-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere, Professor Jones said.

In particular, the record low sea ice area in the Arctic has led to anomalously warm temperatures north of Scandinavia and western Russia, he said.

Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters

Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist at the University of Reading, said: This is a pretty big jump between January and February, although this data from Nasa is only the first set of global temperature data. We will need to see what the figures from NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and the Met Office say, which we will expect in the next few days.

This is what we would expect, given the big El Nino event that is currently occurring in the Pacific. We expect to see global averages to remain very warm for the next few months before a slight drop in monthly temperatures towards the end of the year, Dr Hawkins said.

This is in line with our expectations that due to the continuing effect of greenhouse gas emissions, combined with the effects of El Nino on top, 2016 is likely to beat 2015 as the warmest year on record, he said.
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Bouchra Jarrar is a dark-haired, slightly built Frenchwoman whose English is perhaps as bad as my abysmal French. I met her in June last year; I've attended her haute couture shows and been impressed by her refined, well-defined aesthetic, her painstaking handiwork and her sense of femininity. I came away from the meeting a little in love with her  with her passion, her quiet certainty in her taste and her steely determination to carve out a name for herself in the tricky Paris fashion landscape.

It's worked. She's the newly appointed creative director of the house of Lanvin, replacing the much-loved Alber Elbaz, who was unexpectedly and unceremoniously fired last October. Jarrar has shuttered her eponymous line (which also sold ready-to-wear). I emailed my congratulations; Jarrar said she was happy to take on the great mission of Lanvin.

It is something of a mission  to many an unenviable one. Elbaz was beloved by the fashion industry. He made women feel elegant, beautiful, often especially slender. His clothes were weightless, without corseted underpinnings or restriction. He designed like a woman rather than a man, putting a primacy on the feel of clothes over the look. A fitting successor to Jeanne Lanvin. A tough act to follow.

Plus size models changing the fashion industry Show all 9 1 /9 Plus size models changing the fashion industry Plus size models changing the fashion industry Ashley Graham Getty Images Plus size models changing the fashion industry Tess Holliday Plus size models changing the fashion industry Iskra Lawrence Plus size models changing the fashion industry Candice Huffine Plus size models changing the fashion industry Dalbesio at New York Fashion Week Plus size models changing the fashion industry Sabina Karlsson Plus size models changing the fashion industry Denise Bidot Plus size models changing the fashion industry Plus size models changing the fashion industry Barbie Ferreira

Elbaz's work was remarkable in that it evoked emotion  I remember being at a Lanvin show where the audience mounted their chairs and roared approval. But at the autumn/winter 2016 collection shown earlier this month, the focus wasn't on the designer  or lack thereof  but on the clothes. Tacky, drab, badly fitted clothes, spat Robin Givhan of The Washington Post. You couldn't always tell if they were cut for ease or just ill-fitting, said Bridget Foley of Women's Wear Daily. If they looked any sort of way, it was average, was the level-headed summary of critic Cathy Horyn.

The Bouchra Jarrar news has pushed aside those lacklustre reviews and focused attention on the new designer. Hers is a rare appointment that offers not only a suitable successor to Elbaz but engenders enthusiasm and affection rather than acrimony. Clever. Let's see what she comes up with in June, and in her resort collection.
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During New York Fashion Week in February, the Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled the thinking behind its next costume exhibition, Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. Eighteen months previously, a bunch of fashion editors were absent from the spring/summer 2015 season of New York because they were on a 36-hour flying visit to San Francisco to witness the unveiling of the Apple Watch. Why? Because fashion and tech are closer than ever before.

It isn't so much about houses such as Chanel eschewing stitching in favour of selective laser sintering (read: 3D printing) to craft garments, although that makes great pictures (and, by all accounts, a wonderful Met exhibit). It's more about pumping up technology we already have with fashion kudos  such as a cheap iPhone case glitzed with silly bits, as spun out by most designers to great commercial gain.

A more interesting luxury subset, however, has emerged in the form of headphones  not only are luxury merchants chasing the bandwagon, but entire brands are emerging to satisfy this perceived niche in the marketplace, appealing to audiophiles and the fashionable in equal measure. Dolce & Gabbana are at the forefront: they have created headphones that recall the crowns that adorn Madonnas in regional Italian Catholic shrines, attached to retro over-ear cups. As financial offerings to the gods, these are hefty: this spring's passementerie-fringed style will set you back 3,850.

The 950 Beats x Fendi on the catwalk

Those are an extreme example  but headphone prices have soared across the board, seen as a status symbol as opposed to a techy tool for music insiders. In 2012, the market research firm NPD Group reported that Beats by Dre, an audio-focussed subsidiary of Apple originally founded by the rapper Dr Dre, boasted a 64 per cent market share of headphones priced higher than $100. In August 2014, Apple's acquisition of the company was the largest in the global tech behemoth's history, costing around 2bn. Those prices have been hiked even higher, for last spring, Beats unveiled a collaboration with the Italian fashion house Fendi, in the label's hand-stitched Selleria leather. After an unfashionable delay, these have finally gone on sale this spring for 950 a pop  a bunch of colourways are already sold out.

Dolce & Gabbana (AFP/Getty)

In the same year as Apple's acquisition of Beats, a new company named Master & Dynamic launched. Forbes magazine has des cribed it as the anti-Beats  focusing not on Beats's athlete and musician-heavy marketing campaigns, but on sound quality, a niche market and timeless design that appeals to aesthetic aficionados. We think of the products as luxury technology accessories, says CEO and president Jonathan Levine, thoughtfully. We have an incredibly discerning customer base: form is certainly as important as function to this market. It's a group of people who are quite fanatical about design.

One of Dolce & Gabbanas ostentatious four-figure styles (Getty)

Master & Dynamic marketing imagery  featuring well-dressed sorts, often cropped at the neck  show them being clutched like accessories, alongside a Givenchy Antigona bag. The implication being, of course, that a Master & Dynamic headset is a similar sort of status symbol  but in its own right, without needing the cachet of a brand name. Top fashion retailers were quick to adopt our brand, says Levine. In the cases of some of the fashion stores we work with, we're the only technology brand they carry, which is interesting. Customers who care deeply about the brands they buy into from a fashion perspective care naturally think in the same way about all areas of their life. I'm guessing the same ideal customer would have a Prada coat, Diptique candles and furniture by Gio Ponti and Eames. It's lifestyle.

The Ten Best Headphones Show all 10 1 /10 The Ten Best Headphones The Ten Best Headphones 59190.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59189.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59188.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59187.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59186.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59185.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59184.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59183.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59182.bin The Ten Best Headphones 59181.bin

Master & Dynamic headphones  like so many of these new tech brands  are being marketed direct to fashion consumers as wearable status symbols. It's difficult to lug about an Eames lounge chair, but subtly but distinctly sporting the right lumps of technology is like reading a clever book on the bus. We've definitely noticed the rise of a customer who wants their tech purchases to be as considered as the fashion they buy, and we've greatly increased our lifestyle offering in response to this, more than doubling our brand offer within that category, says Damien Paul, head of menswear at MatchesFashion.com, which stocks Master & Dynamic.

The primary market for these products is seen as male  playing into lads' gadgetry stereotypes. But the look is definitely as important as the tech specs, even if we're not talking D&G crowns. A great pair of headphones are indisputably a fashion statement, says Levine. We have a growing following among those in the fashion world, which plays nicely into headphones' rise as a must-have luxury accessory similar to a great watch, bag or pair of sunglasses. Or maybe all of the above, rolled into one. Bargain.
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The US government is attempting to force WhatsApp to break its security so that it can read the messages of a specific user, according to reports.

The Justice Department and the Facebook-owned company are currently locked in a standoff about how to spy on certain messages, according to the New York Times. A judge has allowed the government to look in on the chats of the user, but it cant do so because those messages are encrypted, reports the New York Times.

The new case shows how the argument over encryption is spreading across the biggest technology companies, putting many of them against the Obama administration. The same dispute is playing out in the UK, as the British government attempts to force tech companies including WhatsApp and Apple to help hack into the phones of their users.

Encryption locks messages so that they can only be read by the device that sent them and the one meant to receive them. Technology companies say that using strong encryption is key to their products, and that weakening it in one case would mean weakening it for all.

Some investigators hope that the problems with WhatsApps encryption could be solved by having a judge force WhatsApp to help get information by unlocking the apps encryption, according to the NYT. Others say that the law should be changed to avoid similar difficulties in future.

But either decision could lead to a major re-writing of wiretapping laws to help governments get into encrypted conversations like WhatsApp. Current laws were written primarily for landline phones that were much easier to break into.

Neither WhatsApp or the government commented on the case to the NYT. But it does not involved terrorism.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The government may be waiting for a useful case that will allow it to escalate the dispute, according to some activists. That is Apples claim in a very similar case about the San Bernardinos shooters iPhone, which the company says is simply a way of setting a precedent that it can use in future cases.

The F.B.I. and the Justice Department are just choosing the exact circumstance to pick the fight that looks the best for them, Peter Eckersley, the chief computer scientist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the New York Times. Theyre waiting for the case that makes the demand look reasonable.

But law enforcement disputed that argument and said that the argument might not need to go to court.
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Advertising boss Sir Martin Sorrell is in line for a 70m payday, after his lucrative share scheme hit the jackpot, stoking fears about runaway pay at Britains top companies  again.

Sir Martin, the chief executive of WPP, will scoop the second highest FTSE pay packet on record when he is awarded about 3.55 million WPP shares, currently worth 15.65 each. It represents a 63 per cent pay increase from last year.

Extra dividend payments will push his pay to between 65m and 70m depending on where the share prices goes this week.

He was already one of Britains best paid chieftans after pocketing 43m last year.

His bumper wages are linked to a controversial scheme dreamt up by WPP in 2009, called Leap. It promised to pay Sorrell up to five times an annual share purchase of more 700,000 he made in 2011 if the firm went on to hit certain targets.

The payment has once again reignited fears about runaway pay at Britains biggest firms.

Leadership involves setting a good example, and for chief executives at the moment that should mean showing some restraint. Even admirers of WPPs success will wonder whether such a vast figure can be justified, said Stefan Stern of the High Pay Centre.

The pay will be split between about 55.6m from the Leap scheme and 8.5m in dividends from Sir Martins small ownership stake in WPP, which is worth nearly 300m in itself.

At last years WPP annual meeting about one in five WPP shareholders voted against his 43m pay package.

Despite the large figure, Sorrell fails to beat the 2009 payday for Reckitt Benckiser boss Bart Becht, who picked up 90m  the highest figure on record.

Executive pay has become a highly charged issue in Britains boardrooms following the so-called 2012 shareholder spring, when the bosses of firms such as Aviva and Trinity Mirror suffered a string of defeats over remuneration packages.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

This annual meeting season is likely to be less militant, but a number of chief executives could face shareholder uprisings.

Pascal Soriot, the boss of UK drug giant AstraZeneca, could encounter a protest vote over his 8.4m pay-packet, which was announced last week and comes as the group struggles with a dip in performance.

The pressure has been on Mr Soriot ever since he turned down a 70bn offer for the group from US drug rival Pfizer in 2014 with a promise to hit ambitious sales targets. Shares have fallen 10 per cent since the turn of the year.
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A Palestinian woman who grew up as a refugee and who now teaches refugee children has been awarded with a $1million (707,000) global prize for reaching excellence.

Hanan al-Hroub, who teaches primary school children in the West Bank city of al-Bireh, just outside of Ramallah, was handed the second annual Global Teacher Prize which recognises an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the profession.

The Pope announced Ms al-Hroub  who teaches about non-violence - as the winner in a video message while Prince William also sent his congratulations.

"I feel amazing and I still can't believe that the Pope said my name," al-Hroub told The Associated Press. "For an Arab, Palestinian teacher to talk to the world today and to reach the highest peak in teaching could be an example for teachers around the world."

Hanan al-Hroub, right and right on screen at top, raises hands with the other finalists after she won the second annual Global Teacher Prize (AP)

In her acceptance speech, Ms al-Hroub repeated her mantra of No to violence and spoke of the importance of having dialogue.

She said: I am proud to be a Palestinian female teacher standing on this stage, the BBC reported, and has promised to spend the prize money on creating scholarships for students who excel to encourage them to become teachers.

Palestinian supporters in the crowd flew the countrys flag and chanted: With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Palestine.

Ms al-Hroub grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem. She went into teaching after her children witnessed a shooting on her way home from school, which made her think about how teachers can help children who experience trauma.

She educates children about non-violence and has written a book called We Play and Learn, which focusses on the importance of playing, trust, respect, honesty and literacy.

Israel rejects Gaza truce call Show all 64 1 /64 Israel rejects Gaza truce call Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108241.bin AP Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107921.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108152.bin AFP Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108101.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108083.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108084.bin Israel rejects Gaza truce call 108102.bin Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107983.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107788.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107786.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107746.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107742.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107741.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107743.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107744.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107745.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107704.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107705.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107706.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107707.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107708.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107709.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107721.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107722.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107723.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107724.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107725.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107445.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107420.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107384.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107287.bin AP Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107288.bin Getty Images Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107289.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107442.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107444.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107447.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107449.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107452.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107453.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107454.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107455.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107456.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107457.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107458.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107459.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107460.bin Reuters Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107421.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107422.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107423.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107424.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107425.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107426.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107427.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107428.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107430.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107431.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107432.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107433.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107434.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107435.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107436.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107437.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107438.bin Getty Israel rejects Gaza truce call 107439.bin Getty

Her win comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Palestine, where months of violence has led to the death of 28 Israelis and two Americans at the hands of Palestinian civilians, while Israeli forces have killed at least 179 Palestinians, the majority of which were claimed to have been attackers.

Ms al-Hroub was one of 10 finalists flown to Dubai for the ceremony. The other finalists for the Varkey Foundation prize were from Australia, Finland, India, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Britain, and the United States. The British nominee, Colin Hegarty, is a maths teacher in London who created a special maths website with interactive online lessons.

Additional reporting by AP
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The Oscar-nominated actor Ellen Page has described how she came face-to-face with a self-confessed serial killer of gay people in Brazil while filming a documentary on attitudes to homosexuality.

A former police officer turned hitman told the X-Men star, who came out in 2014, that he had started his murder spree  which he said involved running over people he believed to be gay  after finding out that his son was homosexual.

The Canadian actor said she had made the Gaycation series, investigating LGBT cultures around the world with digital media company Vice, to highlight the vulnerability of gay people to homophobic discrimination and violence.

Ellen Page in quotes Show all 6 1 /6 Ellen Page in quotes Ellen Page in quotes As a girl, you're supposed to love Sleeping Beauty. I mean, who wants to love Sleeping Beauty when you can be Aladdin? GETTY IMAGES Ellen Page in quotes I think a lot of the time in films, men get roles where they create their own destiny and women are just tools, supporters for that GETTY IMAGES Ellen Page in quotes I'm actually just playing honest, whole young women GETTY IMAGES Ellen Page in quotes I don't want to become unhealthily attached to what I do. I'm grateful for what I do, but I also want to be able to be OK when I'm not doing it GETTY IMAGES Ellen Page in quotes I don't want to become unhealthily attached to what I do. I'm grateful for what I do, but I also want to be able to be OK when I'm not doing it GETTY IMAGES Ellen Page in quotes When we're growing up there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be GETTY IMAGES

In the episode on Brazil, which has one of the highest murder rates of gay and transgender people in the world, the killer, who goes by the alias of El Grande, told Page he had carried out murders while serving as a policeman in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

Speaking with his face covered by a mask, the now ex-officer said: We used to patrol and the only thing I didnt like were gays. If I saw them on the way Id run them over. I did not care what was going on. I didnt even care for the consequences. Asked by Page how he felt he could justify his actions, the man continued: I think every pigsty must be cleaned up. So how do I do my job? By cleaning up what was dirty. For me, they are worse than animals. If they cross my path, Ill take care of them.

The killer explained that he had begun his violence after finding his son having sex with another man, adding: I took issue. I started to hate gays, lesbians or anyone of that kind.

At one point during the interview, the actor  clearly upset by what she is being told  asked if it was safe to tell her interviewee that she is gay. After doing so, he replied: You know, each to their own. I live my life and they live theirs. Now, if they cross my path, its a different story.

 Julianne Moore and Ellen Page Tackle Gay Rights in New Movie

The 29-year-old actor, who is in a relationship with artist and surfer Samantha Thomas, acknowledged that she had been scared. Speaking at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, she said: I think wed be lying if we said we didnt feel frightened Youre not thinking about yourself. Youre thinking about the vulnerable people who are walking the streets of Rio and might not know this man is walking right by them or he might just run them over in his car.

The actor, who recently confronted Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz at a rally about gay rights, said America needed to do more to end the isolation of minorities. She said: If were in any way perpetuating a society that discriminates and treats people unfairly and doesnt strive toward true equality, you cause a lot of harm in peoples lives, and a lot of pain and a lot of difficulty.

She added: There can be such loneliness and isolation when youre growing up in a society that does infuse this idea in you that youre different or somethings wrong or youre sinful Im privileged; I live in LA; Ive done a job that has given me money; I can walk down the street and kiss my girlfriend. I think a lot about those more vulnerable than me.
People in KL are talking about JPO since long time but I was not really interested to visit not until on the 27th February 2016. If it was...
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Its good to know that despite being daughters of one of the most powerful and recognisable men in the world, Malia and Sasha Obama still act how any other siblings would when meeting one of the most sought-after actors on the planet.

Both daughters of Barack and Michelle Obama were present at a state dinner at the White House to mark the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire last week. As well as the countrys leader, other notable Canadians were present for the evening including actors Mike Meyers, Michael J Fox, Sandra Oh and Ryan Reynolds who attended with his American wife Blake Lively.

This was the first state dinner which Malia and Sasha attended and given a range of photos of the evening released by the White House, it seems they had a great time, particularly when meeting Reynolds. While Sasha, 14, appears to be understandably excited when in conversation with the Deadpool actor, Malia, 17, seems to be every elder sister by giving her a supportive, yet perhaps slightly sarcastic, thumbs up.

2015 in pictures from the White House Show all 25 1 /25 2015 in pictures from the White House 2015 in pictures from the White House Dec. 4, 2015 The President acquiesced to a selfie with 11-year-old Jacob Haynes and four-year-old James Haynes after taking a family photograph with departing White House staffer Heather Foster. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Dec. 22, 2015 When some of my friends heard that the President had hiked the grueling Koko Head Crater Trail, they sent me messages on whether I had made it to the top. The trail is 1,048 wooden steps, which climb more than 1,200 feet up the craters ridge. Some call it the Stairmaster from Hell. Ill admit that I was huffing and puffing up the trail, but to my friends, this photograph is proof that I indeed made it to the top with my boss. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Nov. 25, 2015 The President and his daughters Sasha and Malia participate in the annual National Thanksgiving Turkey pardon ceremony in the Rose Garden with National Turkey Federation Chairman Jihad Douglas. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Nov. 24, 2015 With the U.S. Marine Band playing the score from the movie, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the President feigns riding a bicycle in the sky as happened in the 1982 movie directed by Steven Spielberg, who had just been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Nov. 21, 2015 The President talks with a young refugee at a Dignity for Children Foundation classroom in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was working on a painting. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Oct. 30, 2015 The President and First Lady react to a child in a pope costume and mini popemobile as they welcomed children during a Halloween event on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Oct. 23, 2015 Afternoon autumn light bathes the President as he works at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Sept. 25, 2015 Two days after the visit of Pope Francis, the President and First Lady hosted President Xi Jinping of China and Madame Peng Liyuan for another State Visit. Before the formal State Dinner, the President showed President Xi and Madame Peng the Gettysburg Address in the Lincoln Bedroom. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Sept. 23, 2015 Though there were many poignant moments of the President and Pope Francis to choose from, but this frame, as they walked along the Colonnade, was one of my favorites because of the light and the way the President was interacting with His Holiness. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Sept. 18, 2015 This has to be the suit of the year. Matthew Lesko met the President before having a family photo taken with his son, Max Lesko, who was departing the White House after working in the Counsel Office. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House July 17, 2015 While visiting the Whitney Museum in New York City, the President hugged his daughter Malia as they looked at the art work. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House July 17, 2015 The President greets nine-month-old Josephine Gronniger, whose father, Tim Gronniger, brought his family by the Oval Office for a family photo. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House June 9, 2015 After a group photograph with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Space Shuttle Columbia alumni, the President helped some of the participants move a sofa back in place in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House June 8, 2015 We were at the G7 Summit in Krun, Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the leaders and outreach guests to make their way to a bench for a group photograph. The President happened to sit down first, followed closely by the Chancellor. I only had time to make a couple of frames before the background was cluttered with other people. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House June 4, 2015 At the Presidents insistence, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes brought his daughter Ella by for a visit. As she was crawling around the Oval Office, the President got down on his hands and knees to look her in the eye. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House May 18, 2015 Show us the Jeremy dance, the President said to departing Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard, during a farewell ceremony for Jeremy in the State Dining Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House May 14, 2015 The President had hosted a summit meeting at Camp David with the Gulf Cooperation Council. At the conclusion of the summit, each of the leaders was introduced before a final group photo in front of Laurel Cabin. Rather than shoot a tight shot of each leader, I used a wide angle lens to show more of the atmosphere of Camp David. Here, the President greets Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House May 12, 2015 The First Lady demonstrates her boxing skills during a #GimmeFive video taping. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon) 2015 in pictures from the White House April 17, 2015 Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes needed some assistance with his wardrobe so the President joined Brian Mosteller, Director of Oval Office Operations, and Personal Aide Ferial Govashiri in helping to spruce him up. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon) 2015 in pictures from the White House April 11, 2015 The culmination of years of talks resulted in this handshake between the President and Cuban President Raul Castro during the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House March 31, 2015 Throughout the first half of the year, the President met often with our team during the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Several times he conducted secure video conferences from the Situation Room while the negotiators were on the ground in Switzerland. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House March 27, 2015 The First Lady snuggled against the President during a video taping for the 2015 World Expo in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon) 2015 in pictures from the White House March 7, 2015 I was moving around trying to capture different scenes away from the stage during the event to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches. When I glanced back towards the stage, I noticed the President and First Lady holding hands as they listened to the remarks of Rep. John Lewis. I managed to squeeze off a couple of frames before they began to applaud, and the moment was gone. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Feb. 27, 2015 Its definitely true that former NBA player Shaquille ONeal is a big guy. But Ill admit that I used a wide angle lens and this angle to accentuate his size when he stopped by the Oval Office for a quick visit. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 2015 in pictures from the White House Feb. 23, 2015 The Presidents daughter Malia stopped by the Oval Office one afternoon to see her dad and, while they were talking, she wiped something from his face. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Many Twitter users seemed to agree that the siblings simply reacted how any of us would faced with that situation.

The inclusion of Malia and Sasha at their first state dinner was also reportedly noted by Mr Trudeau who himself was the child of a state leader when his father Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada from 1980 to 1984. In his address, he told them: I admire you very much, both of you, for your extraordinary strength and your grace, through what is a remarkable childhood and young adulthood that will give you extraordinary strength and wisdom beyond your years for the rest of your life.

Vancouver-born Reynolds also seemed thrilled to be at the event, later sharing a picture of himself and Mr Trudeau who he called not only a warrior for equality and the environment but one helluva hugger.
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Johnny Depp has placed himself at the forefront of Hollywoods war against Donald Trump - branding the Republican presidential frontrunner a brat.

Speaking to students at Arizona State University on Saturday, the 52-year-old actor spoke forthrightly about the billionaire property mogul.

I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. Theres a pretence. Theres something created about him in the sense of bullydom. But what he is, I believe, is a brat, said Depp.

The Pirates of The Caribbean actor then went on to do a disconcertingly accurate impression of Trump.

Also the absurdity of where his sentences might travel.  Reagan back in the day, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall! Donald Trump, Im going to build a wall. A fabulous wall, Depp added, prompting the crowd to break into an applause.

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And all of my billions are not going to have to pay for it. Because you know why? Mexico is going to pay for it.

This is by no means the first time Depp has publicly mocked the mogul-turned-politico.

Depp stars as Trump in a new 50-minute movie titled The Art of the Deal: The Movie which was filmed in December and leaked on the night Trump won New Hampshire in a landslide victory.

The biopic presents the former reality TV star as somewhere between a tyrannical megalomaniac and a plain old fool - Depps Trump is shamelessly sexist and brazenly racist and treats fellow characters with contempt.
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A Russian rocket is about to carry perhaps the most important European space mission into space.

The first of two ExoMars missions will set off to see if they can find evidence that there is or was life on the red planet.

The first mission will see an orbiter carried off by a heavy-lift proton rocket towards Mars. When it gets there it will look for methane and try and work out whether it is a sign of biological processes.

Recommended Read more Spacecraft designed to search for life on Mars set for launch

It will be followed in two years by another British-built rover, which will land on the planet itself. That will be full of new technology, including a special drill that can bury deeper into the planet and look for signs of living things.

If the scientists find evidence of life - even primitive life that existed billions of years ago - it will be one of the biggest discoveries of all time.

Humanity will have to re-assess its place in the universe, just as it did when Copernicus showed that the Earth and its sister planets orbited the Sun.

While American rovers have paved the way by investigating whether the Martian environment is or ever was suitable for living microbes, none of them has been equipped to search for life itself.

Planetary scientist Dr Peter Grindrod, from Birkbeck, University of London, who is funded by the UK Space Agency, said: "It's incredibly exciting.

"This is a series of missions that's trying to address one of the fundamental questions in science: is there life anywhere else besides the Earth?

"Finding that life exists elsewhere in the solar system would be a huge discovery, so the evidence has to be strong.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. 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Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. 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After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

"As they say, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

The ExoMars missions are being undertaken jointly by the European Space Agency (Esa) and Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos.

Monday's launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome will send two unmanned probes on a journey across space lasting seven months.

Timeline of the ExoMars mission: 0931 GMT, Monday March 14: Launch of the two ExoMars 2016 spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. In case of any delay, there is a launch "window" that lasts until March 25. Nine minutes 42 seconds after launch, the rocket's upper stage containing the two-craft "stack" will separate. An engine burn over Siberia will insert the spacecraft into an initial parking orbit. This will be followed by a series of other orbital manoeuvres. More than 10 hours after leaving Baikonur a final engine burn will tear the spacecraft away from the Earth's gravitational field and send it on course for Mars, coasting for the rest of the seven month journey. October 16: Three days before reaching Mars, TGO and Schiaparelli separate. October 19: TGO inserts itself into an orbit around Mars. Travelling at 13,000 mph, Schiaparelli begins its descent through the Martian atmosphere and lands on the Meridiani Planum plain close to the equator. December 2016: TGO makes adjustments to tighten its orbit around Mars. January 2017 - December 2017: TGO uses friction with the atmosphere to "aerobrake" and descend to an altitude of 250 miles, switching to a circular orbit. December 2017: TGO science operations begin.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Scientists believe they have taken a step closer to making a safe contraceptive pill for men, according to a report.

Fifty years after the female pill, researchers have yet to find a way to render men temporarily infertile without significant side-effects.

However, academics at Minnesota University told the American Chemical Societys annual meeting on Sunday that they had made a significant advance, The Times reported.

The scientists reported that they had made small changes to a previous version of the male pill to make it effective over a longer period and easier to take.

Gunda Georg, head of the research team, spelled out what a male pill would have to be like before it could go on sale.

It would have to be soluble so it could be taken by mouth. It would start working fairly quickly and it wouldnt diminish libido. It would be safe even if taken for decades, she said.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. 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Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

And because some users would eventually want to have children, its impact on fertility would be reversible, with no lingering ill effects on sperm or embryos.

Their work built on findings of a study published last year that identified an enzyme used by sperm to get inside the egg.

John Herr, a professor of cell biology who worked on that study, said: Understanding at the molecular level exactly how the sperm is able to bind with and enter the egg, opens opportunities to identify molecules that can disrupt or block the fertilisation event.

The male hormone testosterone has been used before as it can produce temporary infertility, without affecting libido.

Jillian Kyzer, one of the research team, said: At certain doses, testosterone causes infertility, but at those doses it doesnt work for up to 20 per cent of men, and it can cause side-effects, including weight gain and a decrease in good cholesterol.
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Heston Blumenthal has demanded that a bistro in a small village in France change its name because it is the same as his restaurant in Berkshire, the Fat Duck.

Jason Annetts, 41, who is British but lives in Confolens, near Limoges, opened the Fat Duck there in November last year, The Times reported. He said he chose the name because his one-year-old daughter Maisies first word had been duck.

However, he has now received a letter from lawyers acting for the celebrity chef insisting that he changes the name in case there was any confusion that the bistro is connected with Blumenthal.

I thought it was a joke at first. This is really way over the top. What threat am I to them? I am really upset, Mr Annetts told The Times.

The two restaurants are somewhat different. A meal at Blumenthals Fat Duck can cost 255, while Mr Annetts Fat Duck serves coq au vin for just 8.50.

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An offer to change the name to Le Fat Duckling was turned down, said Mr Annetts, who painted the sign himself.

He said he was reluctant to change the name because he was not a rich man and I cannot afford the time or the money.

Previously Mr Annetts ran a pub in Cambridge called the Three Horseshoes, a commonly used name for bars around the UK. He said he thought the same would apply with the Fat Duck.

A spokesman for Blumenthals Fat Duck said: We often only become aware of potential issues like this when we are informed by our patrons who query the relationship, as was the case here.

With a global following and a reputation that we have worked hard to establish, it is important for everyone, but most importantly our guests, that there is no confusion.
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Violence against animal rights campaigners who monitor hunts is growing so bad that it could result in someones death, warned an observer who was beaten by hunt supporters at the weekend.

Roger Swaine and Darryl Cunnington, both hunt monitors for the League Against Cruel Sports, were allegedly assaulted and had their cameras stolen by a masked group on quad bikes at a Leicestershire hunt on Saturday.

Mr Swaine received a cut to the temple and ear while Mr Cunnington is in a serious condition with a suspected broken neck after they attempted to monitor the Belvoir Hunt, established by the third Duke of Rutland in 1760.

Mr Cunnington remained in hospital as doctors conducted MRI scans and other tests and was not able to speak to The Independent.

But Mr Swaine talked about the terrifying ordeal  which he said comes against a backdrop of growing hostility towards hunt monitors.

Hunting with dogs was banned by the Labour government in 2004 although hunts are still allowed to meet for drag hunts where dogs follow an artificial scent. Animal rights campaigners monitor these meets to ensure no wild animals are caught.

Mr Swaine suggested the rise in violence against monitors could be, in part, due to the campaign by the Government last year to water down the hunting ban  even though it was ultimately unsuccessful.

Its got steadily worse since all this talk of repeal. MPs spoke of the hunts as an oppressed minority and talked about the hunting ban being a failed law, said Mr Swaine, a 43-year old former Rolls-Royce engineer. After that the atmosphere changed. Its very worrying how bad its getting  someones going to get really hurt if something isnt done. Well Darryls really hurt [now] but theres been a few deaths, more on an accidental level but something nastys going to happen.

Plans to repeal the ban were later watered down, then ditched altogether as the Scottish National Party pledged to oppose the vote. But during the campaign David Cameron, Environment Secretary Liz Truss and other Tory MPs expressed their opposition to the Hunting Act and sympathy for the country sports way of life.

Mr Swaine and Mr Cunnington, a former Leicestershire police officer, were sitting on a ridge a couple of miles from Belvoir Castle, near Melton Mowbray on Saturday afternoon, when they heard a quad bike approaching.

Two men got off the bike and one of them recognised Mr Cunnington. The older man said that he should have known better than to be there and that something will happen to you eventually. He then told the younger man to go and get the boys, Mr Swaine said.

The man returned with four masked guys who punched him in the side of the face and pushed Mr Cunnington over the ridge where he severely hurt himself, Mr Swaine alleges.

Leicestershire police confirmed that two men, aged 54 and 23, were arrested. They have since been bailed.

The hunt organiser declined to comment. The Department for Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs also declined to comment.
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Barack Obama's intervention in the EU referendum debate is a "piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy", Boris Johnson has claimed

The US president's warnings that Britain will lose influence on the world stage if it quits the 28-member bloc are also "wholly fallacious", according to the London Mayor.

New York-born Mr Johnson attacked the US for interfering in the debate, when it defends its own sovereignty with "hysterical vigilance".

Downing Street has refused to comment on reports that the US president, who has previously made it clear that America wants its closest ally to remain part of the EU, is heading to the UK next month to make the case to voters.

In his regular Daily Telegraph column, Mr Johnson wrote: "Sometime in the next couple of months we are told that president Obama himself is going to arrive in this country, like some deus ex machina, to pronounce on the matter.

"Air Force One will touch down; a lectern with the presidential seal will be erected. The British people will be told to be good to themselves, to do the right thing. We will be informed by our most important ally that it is in our interests to stay in the EU, no matter how flawed we may feel that organisation to be.

"Never mind the loss of sovereignty; never mind the expense and the bureaucracy and the uncontrolled immigration. The American view is very clear. Whether in code or en clair, the president will tell us all that UK membership of the EU is right for Britain, right for Europe, and right for America; and why?

What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence.

"Because that - or so we will be told - is the only way we can have 'influence' in the councils of the nations. It is an important argument, and deserves to be taken seriously. I also think it is wholly fallacious - and coming from Uncle Sam it is a piece of outrageous and exorbitant hypocrisy.

"There is no country in the world that defends its own sovereignty with such hysterical vigilance as the United States of America. This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control."

Mr Johnson, meanwhile, has come in for criticism from George Osborne for suggesting Britain could achieve a Canadian-style trade deal. The Chancellor insisted the agreement took seven years to negotiate and tariffs on exports remain in place for cars and beef.

"I hear people saying 'I want Britain to be like Switzerland, I want Britain to be like Norway, I want Britain to be like Canada'. You know what? I want Britain to be like Great Britain'," Mr Osborne told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show.

Mr Osborne also appeared to take a more personal swipe at the mayor, who came in for criticism over his performance during a recent appearance on the programme.

"If people want a politician who is just going to sit here and blather away and not actually do anything, then get someone else," he said.

PA
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A regional newspaper has spiked an article penned by David Cameron and accused Downing Street PR officers of carpet bombing newspapers across the country with generic love letters.

An editorial published in the Yorkshire Post explained how the newspaper refused to give column inches to the Prime Minister after being pitched a very personal opinion piece.

Beginning with the words I love Yorkshire and the Humber, it was designed to highlight some of the region's tourist attractions and promote English Tourism Week.

Doubts arose, however, over how genuine Mr Camerons column was when editors discovered other regional publications had ran remarkably similar pieces. It appeared very formulaic, lacked empathy and only made passing reference to the misery caused by the Yorkshire floods, the newspapers comment editor wrote.

They also discovered that several other newspapers had carried similar by-lined pieces, beginning with the same insincere words. The Herald, Plymouths newspaper, published a piece from the Prime Minister which began: I love Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

It added: From their stunning beaches and coastal walks to their creative arts projects, this county is one of the many jewels in Great Britains crown.

I love Northumberland, a piece in the Newcastle Chronicle started while I love Lincolnshire was carried in the Lincolnshire Echo.

The editorial in the Yorkshire Post, added: How much love can one PM provide? Im guessing similar columns were pitched to other media outlets. There was one problem  the Eastern Daily Press column extolling Mr Camerons love of Norfolk mistook Holkham off the East Coast for the Devon beach of Holcombe. A regular visitor would have known this.

This is not personal  it has all the hallmarks of a carpet-bomb PR drop that the Yorkshire Post is wise to, and that Mr Cameron is almost certainly unaware of.

Editors also expressed frustration after waiting six weeks to receive answers to questions in the wake of the floods that hit the region. It would have been a disservice to our readers to give the Prime Minsiter such a platform when so many homes, businesses and tourist destinations, the latest being Viking Centre and the iconic Settle to Carlisle railway, are paying such a high price for the floods.

The Independent has contacted Downing Street for a comment
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Campaigners against domestic violence barricaded the entrance to the Treasury on Monday, in protest over cuts to vital services for vulnerable people.

Domestic violence services across the UK have lost more than 30 per cent of their funding since 2010, according to Sisters Uncut, the feminist action group who organised the protest outside Westminster two days before the Budget.

According to reports protesters chanted slogans such as hey mister, get your hands off our sister outside the doors of the Treasury. No arrests were made but one of the campaigners claimed a member of the public pulled her hair and called her a vile bitch.

The group claim that austerity is a sexist, racist choice and the ability of domestic survivors to flee abuse now depends on their postcode.

Kat Vail, a member of the campaign group, said: We have a very basic demand: the government must ring fence funding for domestic violence services. This is the only way to make sure they can stay running and keep saving womens lives.

(Claudia Moroni)

Domestic violence is high in the UK  one in three women will experience it  yet services that support survivors are being forced to close because the government wont put a secure funding place in plan.

The activist group added that specialist domestic violence services that support women in minority groups decreased by 17 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

George Osborne has used his budgets to create a permanent pothole fund, but domestic violence services are still being forced to struggle with short-term, shallow pots of cash. Women are not safe if funding is not secure, said Tara Adams, a domestic violence support worker who took part in the demonstration.

Rachel Gibbons, another activist from Sisters Uncut, who also claims she was called a vile bitch by a member of the public during the protest, said: We were expecting aggression from the police, but not members of the public. People should be angry about the fact that women are dying because they cant flee abuse, not about us peacefully drawing attention it.

(Claudia Moroni)

To mark International Womens Day last week, Labour MP Jess Phillips stunned Parliament into silence as she read out the names of every woman who had been killed by a man in the previous year. The list of 120 included women and girls aged between 13 and 81.

Ms Phillips told the Commons: In 2015 a women was murdered in the UK every three days. Women murdered by men that they should have been able to trust.

Commonly, women are murdered by their partners, husbands and boyfriends, but also in some cases by their fathers, their sons, their brothers.

"We wish to give voice to honour the women who died. Today I stand to honour every victim and the fight to end violence against women."
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Labour MPs will abstain in a vote on the Governments latest so-called Snoopers Charter, the shadow home secretary has said.

Andy Burnham said the Investigatory Powers Bill, which contains a raft of government spying powers, should give people a presumption of privacy but said he would work constructively with the Government on it.

The proposed bill requires internet companies to hold records about which web pages all internet users have visited for a year, whether they are suspected of a crime or not.

The law would also require technology companies to bypass users encryption software and explicitly gives the security services to hack and bug private citizens computers.

Campaigners have warned the latter provision could lead to the effective outlawing of messaging services like iMessage, Snapchat, and WhatsApp, which use full end-to-end encryption.

The Bill will get its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

We believe the bill must start with a presumption of privacy, as recommended by the Intelligence and Security Committee, include a clearer definition of the information that can be held and set a higher threshold to justify access. There also needs to be higher protection for journalists and their sources, Mr Burnham told The Times newspaper.

Britain needs a new legal framework in this crucial area that is fit for the digital age, balancing powers with proper safeguards. So Labour will put party politics aside and work constructively with the Government to that end.

On the left of politics, there are deeply-held concerns that, in our countrys past, investigatory powers have been misused against trade unionists and ordinary people campaigning for justice. This is why the Government will have to work hard to earn our support.

Parliamentary arithmetic with Labour abstaining rather than voting against means the Bill will almost certainly pass  barring a huge rebellion by Tories on the issue.

The Home Secretary Theresa May is steering the Bill through Parliament (PA)

Were Labour to vote against the Bill a smaller rebellion of Conservative MPs could stop the new powers.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who is opposing the Bill, said Labour were "without doubt the worst opposition of all time".

Last month former Tory leadership contender David Davis warned that there was no doubt the Government was rushing the bill through Parliament to avoid scrutiny.

The Home Secretary said earlier this month the Government had taken significant steps to address the concerns raised by critical parliamentary committees.

The Intelligence and Security Committee, the Bills own joint committee, and the Science and Technology Committee had recommended changes.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Their efforts have assisted us in enhancing safeguards and refining technical aspects, Ms May said earlier this month as she unveiled a new draft of the laws.

The revised Bill we are introducing today is both clearer and stronger in protecting privacy.

The Investigatory Powers Bill will transform the law relating to the use and oversight of these powers. It will strengthen safeguards and introduce world-leading oversight arrangements.

A survey of the British public commissioned by Open-Xchange found that only 12 per cent believe the Home Secretary Theresa May has adequately explained the impact of the Investigatory Powers Bill to the UK public and presented a balanced argument for its introduction.
A statewide group representing Planned Parenthood affiliates and other health centers has endorsed Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to offer 12 weeks of paid leave to New York workers.

The Family Planning Advocates of New York State announced its support for the proposal Monday.

"Governor Cuomo's call for statewide paid family leave offers a safety net, especially for women and low-income workers, to care for loved ones while safeguarding their livelihoods," said Christian Oleck, chief financial officer and acting CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York.

"Paid family leave means all New Yorkers have the opportunity to succeed at work and at home and continue to create the healthy communities we are striving for at Planned Parenthood."

Under Cuomo's plan, workers would receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave. The program would be funded by an employee payroll deduction.

Employees who take leave from their jobs to care for a newborn child or a sick relative will receive 67 percent of their average weekly wages.

Cuomo included his proposal in the 2016-17 executive budget. He's negotiating a final budget with state legislative leaders.

The budget is due March 31.

"Paid family leave will allow working women across this state to better support their families  both at their jobs and at home  and it's time for the state Legislature to make this policy a reality," Cuomo said. "By passing the nation's strongest paid family leave policy, we will ensure greater financial security for working mothers across the state and help create stronger families overall."

The Family Planning Advocates of New York State is the latest endorsement Cuomo has received in his effort to establish a paid leave program.

Last week, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and 18 members of New York's congressional delegation backed Cuomo's proposal.

Shortly after Cuomo unveiled his plan in January, Vice President Joe Biden visited New York and held a rally with the governor to build support for paid leave.
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Internet service providers and technology companies will be forced to install "back-door" flaws into their products, so British police and security services can access them on demand.

The move was announced in draft documents published in support of Theresa May's controversial Investigatory Powers Bill, announced in November 2015.

Companies will also be banned from revealing whether they had been made to install "back-door" access routes, leaving customers unable to know whether their messages and search history are truly secure.

And if the draft documents are approved and the Bill known as the "Snoopers' Charter" is passed in Parliament, the controversial measures will be partially paid for by British taxpayers.

 Theresa May on Isis

The move, intended to prevent criminals and terrorists from networking and organising illegal activities online, follows a legal dispute between the FBI and technology company Apple over a similar issue.

An American court ruled that Apple had to help the FBI bypass encryption on an iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the San Bernadino killers. Farook and his wife killed 14 people in a mass shooting in December 2015.

But Apple launched a highly-publicised appeal, arguing that while they could unlock the phone, it would set a dangerous precedent and compromise their customers' privacy and security.

When announced, the Investigatory Powers Bill also sparked an immediate backlash from privacy campaigners. It requires internet and phone companies to store the search history of web users for a year and hand this information over to the police upon request, and made explicit for the first time the power of the police to hack phones and computers.

The new documents, expanding on Theresa May's initial proposal, indicate how companies will be forced to help the police hack into their own customers' data.

Any firm with more than 10,000 customers providing a "telecommunications service" to UK citizens could be subject to the legislation, forcing them to provide the "technical capability" for "interception" of personal data. Apple, Google, Facebook and a number of broadband companies are among the organisations affected by the measures.

They would also be bound by an effective gagging order, "under a duty not to disclose the existence and contents" of the order to hand over personal data.

An independent "investigatory powers commissioner" would be available to assess cases where companies felt their rights were being infringed, while the orders would have to be reviewed every two years regardless of circumstance.

However, there is no apparent way for private citizens to find out if their personal data is being scrutinised by the police, let alone appeal against this process.
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Michael Gove should be sacked if he leaked the Queens private views about the European Union, Labour has said.

Tom Watson, the partys deputy leader said the Justice Secretarys denial that he was the source of a story in The Sun newspaper did not appear to be categorical.

Buckingham Palace has complained to the press regulator Ipso that front page claiming she backs Brexit was inaccurate.

Tom Watson demanded a full inquiry into whether the Justice Secretary was the source of the story (House of Commons)

The paper however stands by the story, arguing that it was based on two impeccable parliamentary sources.

Mr Gove said last week: I don't know how The Sun got all its information and I don't think it's really worth my adding anything to what's already been said.

Privy councillors have close access to the Queen but are sworn to secrecy about her views  especially on political matters, where she is supposed to remain politically impartial by constitutional convention.

The Government rejected Mr Watsons call for a full investigation into whether Mr Gove leaked the Monarchs alleged views, arguing that no further action was required on the matter.

Copies of Britain's 'The Sun' newspapers are sold at a store in London, Britain, 09 March 2016. (EPA)

Labours deputy leader warned the Government against a cover-up, however.

Three members [of the privy council] have categorically denied that they are the source, yet the Justice Secretary has only said I dont know how the Sun got all its information. Hardly categoric, he said at an urgent question in the House of Commons.

He argued that the public have a right to know whether Mr Gove, who supports leaving the EU himself, was the source of the allegations about the Queen.

Only a minister or prime minister can order that investigation [into whether Mr Gove was the leak]  a cover-up will not do, he said.

Surely any member of the privy council who was a source of this story who whose special advisor or ally was stands in contempt of his privy council oath and should be removed from office if he wont honorably resign himself?

What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence.

Chris Grayling, the Leader of the House of Commons, said he did not think any further action should be taken, however.

My predecessor the then Lord President [Nick Clegg] has said that the story was categorically untrue, he said.

As the House is aware Buckingham Palace has referred the matter to Ipso, the new press complaints body. Given all of this I do not believe there is any need for further action here.

The Sun newspaper alleged that the Queen said she didnt understand European integration during a lunch with privy councillors after privy council meeting.

A source told the newspaper: People who heard their conversation were left in no doubt at all about the Queens views on European integration.
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Conservative MP Owen Paterson wanted to get pensioners to pick fruit for less than the minimum wage when he was Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, according to a forthcoming book by a Coalition Government colleague.

Mr Paterson suggested the idea to the Cabinet in 2013 to help cut immigration, the book by David Laws, who was a Liberal Democrat minister at the time, claims.

However the North Shropshire MP dismissed the account, saying it was completely wrong.

In his memoir, which is being serialised by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Laws wrote that Mr Paterson said he wanted to abolish the Agricultural Workers Scheme, which allowed Eastern European workers to come to the UK to do jobs like harvesting fruit and vegetables.

Someone suggested that while abolishing the scheme might reduce immigration, it could also be very unpopular with farmers, who would no longer find it easy to employ cheap labour for back-breaking outdoor work, Mr Laws wrote.

Oh, but I've thought of that, said Paterson. I think I have the answer. We'll try to get more British pensioners picking some of the fruit and vegetables in the fields instead.

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One of the officials taking notes looked up in surprise, clearly thinking she had heard incorrectly. She hadn't. And Paterson hadn't finished. 'Of course, getting British pensioners to do this work could lead to an increase in farmers' costs,' he said. After all, they may be a bit slower doing the work. I've thought of that too. I think we might arrange to exempt British pensioners from the minimum-wage laws, to allow them to do this work.

Other members of the Cabinet  even the more right-wing Conservatives  listened in stunned silence, while an official tried unsuccessfully, to stifle a laugh, the book relates. Conservative Ken Clarkie responded that all this hysteria about Bulgarians and Romanians was complete rubbish, total xenophobic tosh.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron told the Daily Mirror: This is Owen Paterson treating pensioners as cheap labour. Its the worst kind of reactionary politics and a sad state of affairs that this man graced the Cabinet table.

However Mr Paterson told Sky News that the account was completely wrong and almost the reverse of what happened.

I was very keen to keep it [the Agricultural Workers Scheme] on, he said.
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An Italian father and son have been shot dead after being mistaken for elephant poachers at a wildlife park in Zimbabwe.

The two men, identified as Caludio Chiarelli and his son Max Chiarelli, were members of the volunteer anti-poaching organisation Zambezi Society, which was conducting patrols in Mana Pools National Park on Sunday, according to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

Reports said the father and son had been with a group sent out to relieve a team of rangers deployed the previous day to follow a trail of suspected poachers. The rangers saw movement in the thicket, heard voices and opened fire, accidently shooting and killing on the spot the pair, the parks agency said in a statement.

They added: Unbeknown to them these were fresh deployments who had come to replace the rangers and had stopped to attend to a mechanical problem on their vehicle.

An official from the Italian embassy in Harare confirmed the deaths and said the father, who is a professional hunter, had been taking eight park rangers in his vehicle to relieve the group from which the shots were fired.

The official, who declined to be named, said Chiarelli had lived in Zimbabwe since 1982 and his son Max had been born in the Southern African country.

"It seems like an accident. We are in contact with Foreign Affairs to get an official report," the official said, referring to the Zimbabwean government department.

Mana Pools adjoins the Zambezi River, which runs along Zimbabwe's border with Zambia. Authorities have for years been battling poachers, most of whom come from Zambia and who have recently been using cyanide to kill elephants.

Poachers cut off the dead animals' tusks and sell them to dealers for up to $65,000 a kilogram, according to conservationists. The ivory is ultimately used for ornamental carving in China and other parts of east Asia.

Additional reporting by wires
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The number of Europeans killed in the terror attack on a Ivory Coast beach resort has risen to five after French officials confirmed four of their citizens have died along with one German.

Islamist militants opened fire on a beach in the resort town of Grand Bassam on the country's south coast killing at least 15 civilians and three soldiers. Three of the militants were also shot dead.

Those killed in the Sunday attack included people from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali as well as several Ivorians.

According to German press agency dpa, the German victim has been named as Henrike Grohs who has been the director of the Goethe Institute in the Ivory Coast since 2013.

A statement from Elysee Palace said that France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will go to Ivory Coast Tuesday in a show of solidarity.

It said that France will support Ivory Coast's counter-terrorism measures and affirmed that "co-operation between all states menaced by terrorist groups, notably in West Africa, must intensify more than ever."

A woman weeps as she looks for her son on the Ivorian beach where the gunmen attacked (Getty Images/AFP)

The attack - which has been claimed by the terror group al-Qaeda in the Maghreb - was the first Islamist extremist attack on Ivorian soil and has left the country reeling just a few years after its civil war ended in 2011.

President Alassane Ouattara's government began work on Monday to tighten security and prevent more violence.

 Deadly attack on resort in Ivory Coast

The country has served as a logistical base for French forces who are currently carrying out counter-terror operations in the region - including their offensive against militants in Mali who carried out a terror attack on a Raddisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako in November.

Ivorian officials are said to have been bracing themselves for an assault following the attack in Bamako and a similar hotel siege in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou in January which left 29 people dead.

Many witnesses said they at first suspected the gunshots were fireworks being set off by holidaymakers. Only when victims began crumpling to the ground did they realize the beach was being targeted in an assault.

A soldier comforts an injured boy in Bassam, Ivory Coast (Reuters)

The gunmen entered the beach from multiple directions, witnesses said.

Frenchman Charles-Philippe d'Orleans said he was at the beach with a friend when he heard the first shot and he thought it was a firecracker; then he heard another, louder one.

A security guard told beachgoers not to worry, that some youths had tried to enter the paid-access beach and that another guard had fired his weapon into the air, Mr d'Orleans told French radio station RTL.

The hotel beach resort where the gunmen opened fire (Getty Images)

More shooting then broke out so he and others hid behind a wall. Gunmen were "to the right, to the left, toward the road and toward the beach," Mr d'Orleans said. He said that when the gunfire receded he and his friend sped away in a car.

"Afterward we said 'Wow, we actually escaped something big,"' he said. 

Those who make a living off tourism believed the attack on three hotels would deal the sector a huge blow.

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"They've really ruined it for us. With all that has happened, I don't think that the clients are going to come back now," local security guard Francois Tanon said.

Security forces on Monday patrolled Grand-Bassam's beaches, which were otherwise largely deserted. Soldiers checked the trunks of cars approaching the beach. Authorities briefly closed a section of beach in front of La Nouvelle Paillote hotel after receiving reports that explosives had been found there.

Ivorian newspapers on Monday morning featured graphic photos of dead bodies sprawled on the beach. The headline for one paper, Le Patriote, proclaimed: "We are Grand-Bassam!"

Additional reporting by AP
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An US politician has been widely criticised for telling a rape survivor that government intrusion into his life was worse than sexual assault.

Republican Kentucky Senate Majority Chairman Dan Seum, 76, made the comments after listening to sexual assault survivors testifying in support of legislation that would require suspects arrested for felonies to allow DNA samples be taken.

Having listened to her testimony, the 76-year-old told Michelle Kuiper: "I understand your pain, but I can tell you I have eight children and 21 grandkids, that over the years this government through its intrusion has done more damage to me than all those criminals out there ever did.

"So I have fought this oppressive government, and thats what we are. Now that sounds radical, but the founding fathers said never trust this government.

"Thats why we have the Fifth Amendment, thats why we have the Second Amendment."

Ms Kuiper was raped while studying at the University of Louisville in 1994 but her attacker was not caught till 2011 after DNA evidence became available, Insider Louisville reports.

During that period, the same man raped two other women.

Kentucky Senate Democrats labelled Mr Seum's comments "shameful", with the Chairman of Kentucky Democratic Party, Sannie Overly saying: "A rape victim brave enough to step forward and share her personal story of a heinous crime should not get a lecture.

"He should apologise to these people and all Kentucky women who have experienced this horrific crime."

Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky (Google Maps)

Ms Kuiper said: "I was shaken and felt sick after his comments. Basically, he had told us he had suffered worse crimes than us."

She was seen silently weeping after the Republican State Senator's comments, according to WLWT.

Kentucky Senate Republican spokesman John Cox said Seum stood by his comments.

The bill was eventually passed by the committee 6-4,with Seum voting against it.
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It was short, simple and utterly to the point.

After Donald Trump took to social media to threaten to dispatch his supporters to flood the rallies of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator was quick to respond in kind.

Send them, he said. They deserve to see what a real honest politician sounds like.

Police break up skirmishes between demonstrators and supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The message, posted on Mr Sanders campaigns official twitter feed, came as the two men exchanged accusations in the aftermath of clashes at a rally organised by Mr Trump in Chicago on Friday night. Mr Trump ultimately decided to cancel the event amid security concerns.

Almost immediately, Mr Trump blamed Mr Sanders for the disruptions, saying that he had sent his own supporters to disrupt the event. In a threat to the Democratic contender, Mr Trump said Mr Sander was lying when he said his supporters had not been ordered to attend the event.

Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours, he said on Twitter.

Mr Sanders' campaign hit back with a prompt respone

Mr Sanders campaign responded with its own tweet, since deleted, but the Vermont senator followed up by issuing a statement in which he called Mr Trump a pathological liar.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall  and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

Obviously, while I appreciate that we had supporters at Trumps rally in Chicago, our campaign did not organise the protests, he said.

What caused the protests at Trumps rally is a candidate that has promoted hatred and division against Latinos, Muslims, women, and people with disabilities, and his birther attacks against the legitimacy of President Obama.

He added: What Donald Trump must do now is stop provoking violence and make it clear to his supporters that people who attend his rallies or protest should not be assaulted, should not be punched, should not be kicked. In America people have a right to attend a political rally without fear of physical harm.

The increasingly heated atmosphere in the campaign comes as the six remaining candidates prepare for five primary contests on Tuesday that could help decide who becomes each partys nominee. The six are contesting in Florida and Ohio, where the delegates are given on a winner-takes-all, and Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois, where delegates are awarded on a proportional basis.
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Swooping in from the night, the clatter of helicopter blades drowned out only by the theme song from Air Force One, Donald Trump took the stage in an outdoor amphitheatre in Boca Raton and made an admission. He is not universally adored.

My personality, eh, they dont love it so much, but thats okay, he offered. But who cares? I am a better person than the people I am running against, that I can tell you.

Yet as the race for the Republican nod reaches another key pass with voting in five states on Tuesday, including Florida, reminders abound of a record of both personal and business behaviour suggesting that Mr Trump problems go deeper than personality  that goodness might not be a top selling point either.

Ask those who thought they were buying a dream when they invested in the Trump International Hotel & Tower on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, only to see Mr Trump walk away from the project four years ago. A white cement hulk designed to look like an ocean liner, it is still not complete.

It was an outright lie, Michael Goodson, one of the buyers who now has a pending lawsuit against Mr Trump, told the Miami Herald. I thought the last thing Donald Trump would do was walk away.

 Trump Cancelled Chicago Rally For Sake of 'Peace and Happiness'

The debacle has haunted the developer in the last days of campaigning in Florida, with front page treatment by the Herald and other state newspapers and negative television advertising by outside political action group reminding voters about Felix Sater, an executive on the Fort Lauderdale project when Mr Trump was still involved. Sater was jailed once for stabbing a man with a broken glass and pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme with the Gambino family to defraud investors.

In a 2013 deposition arising from one of the many suits filed against him in the case, Mr Trump insisted he barely knew Sater. A spokesman for his campaign, Corey Lewandowski, similarly downplayed any links between the men.

Mr Trump has tens of thousands of employees across the country, well across the world, candidly, he said. I dont know who this individual is. He has nothing to do with the campaign, I will tell you that.

But the aborted project has given an opening for Mr Trumps opponents.

Trump entrusted convicts to help him run his company, the TV spot booms. Who would he entrust to run the country? Senator Ted Cruz has called for a probe of Mr Trumps alleged past dealings with Sater.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall  and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

As Mr Trump closes in on the Republican nomination, so media scrutiny of him generally has been ratcheting up, little of it supportive of his good person claim. In as many days, three major outlets  the Associated Press, Politico and the New York Times  have all set about picking at the Trump myth.

Politico call him out for making one misstatement every five minutes, on average, on the stump. Consider his Boca Raton event. He put the US trade deficit with China at $500bn, for the last 12 months of available data it reached $364bn. He boasted of self-funding his campaign; recent filings show he raised about $7.5m in individual donations.

The AP reported that as Mr Trump advocates scrapping a visa programme that offers foreign students work experience in the US, he is exploiting it to staff a huge Trump hotel in Chicago. The Washington Post, meanwhile, investigated Mr Trumps range of mens clothing and a deal signed with Phillips-Van Heusen, a manufacturer of affordable shirts produced by foreign workers in factories in 85 countries. Potentially more damaging still are revelations in The Washington Post that seemingly undercut the pledge repeatedly made by Mr Trump to stop American companies going overseas to make their goods, at the cost of US jobs at home. The report regards an attempt by Mr Trump in 2004 to find an apparel firm to produce quality shirts that would bear his name on the label. He eventually settled on Phillips-Van Heusen which has factories in 85 different countries. An executive who helped him find the firm told the paper that the question of geography never came up. Finding the biggest with the best practices is what was important to him, Jeff Danzer recalled. Finding a company that made in America was never something that was specified. According to the Post, the Donald J Collection of shirts, as well as eyeglasses, perfumes, cufflinks and suits all bearing his name, are variously made in Bangladesh, China, Honduras and other low-cost countries.

Marco Rubio promised to defy the pollsters who put him behind in Florida (Getty)

Mr Trump has faced questions about selling ties made in China at debates and was pressed on the issue this week by CNN. I talk about my ties in speeches, he contended. Im open. I say my ties many times are made in China. Its very hard to have apparel made in this country.

For the millions who have already purchased a Trump hat these attempts to take him down are merely mysterious. They are just jealous and they want attention, Maria Dujack, 59, a Polish-American who was born 12 miles from Auschwitz, said of protesters assembled just outside the Boca Raton venue. Lets give him a chance for four years.

* Senator Marco Rubio vowed to shock the country by winning his state of Florida in defiance of polling that showed him trailing the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump. A giant trove of delegates will be in play for the contenders in both parties as five states hold primary elections. Democrat Bernie Sanders must perform well in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri to have any hope of catching Hillary Clinton.
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Hillary Clinton told a man who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent almost four decades on death row that she was still in favour of the death penalty.

In the run-up to primaries in five states on 15 March, Ms Clinton said she was struggling with the concept of the death penalty but that it should still be applied for horrific mass killings under the federal, not the state, system.

The Democrat was asked a question on the subject by exonerated man Ricky Jackson, who came perilously close to [his] own execution. Mr Jackson was convicted at 18 years old for killing a salesman in Cleveland, Ohio in 1975. The key witness was 12 years old at the time and later recanted in court, as reported by CNN.

In light of what I just shared with you and in light of the fact that there are documented cases of innocent people who have been executed in our country, I would like to know how you can still take your stance on the death penalty in light of what you know right now? he asked.

Ms Clinton, speaking at a town hall event Sunday at Ohio State University, replied that capital punishment was a profoundly difficult question.

Recommended Read more Florida death penalty in legal limbo after US Supreme Court ruling

The states have proven themselves incapable of carrying out fair trials that give any defendant all the rights they should have and the support that the defendants lawyers should have, and Ive said I would breathe a sigh of relief either if the Supreme Court or the states themselves began to eliminate the death penalty, she said.

She pointed to so-called terrorist activities like the bombing of the government building in Oklahoma City in 1995, which killed 168 people, including children enrolled in the pre-school, as an example of a crime which should be punished by death.

Since Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001, the federal government has put to death two more men: Juan Raul Garza in 2001 and Louis Jones Jr. in 2003, and neither were involved in terrorism, according to LA Times. The only person on federal death row convicted of terrorism killings is the surviving Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Ms Clinton said she would advocate a very limited use of [capital punishment] and only for limited cases where there have been horrific mass killings.

Thats the exception that I really am struggling with and [it] would only be in the federal system, but what happened to you [Ricky Jackson] was a travesty, she said. Mr Jackson was released from prison in 2014 after almost 40 years behind bars.

The Democrat first came out in favour of the death penalty in October last year during a presidential campaign stop in New Hampshire.

Ms Clintons stance on the death penalty is contrary to her rival Bernie Sanders, who has advocated the complete abolition of the sentencing.

He said in February that he did not want "to see government be part of killing, noting how the sentencing was applied discriminately.

Florida and Delaware recently ruled that juries, and not just a judge, must decide whether a defendant should be sentenced to death, in a move to reconfigure their judicial systems.
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A woman from a big Chinese city visits her boyfriends rural hometown and is so appalled by the squalor that she dumps him. The story was fake but it swept through Chinese media because it highlighted the deep societal gap the ruling Communist Party has vowed to close.

Rural Chinese not only make less money than city-dwellers, they also receive significantly fewer social-welfare benefits, worsening a divide that was brought into focus by the fictional break-up, initially posted online as a real-life account.

The Chinese leadership has pledged to introduce policies to bring prosperity to the countryside. In a key policy address over the weekend, Premier Li Keqiang promised to improve rural infrastructure and access to social benefits.

The core of our job is to bring a society of common prosperity, said Zhu Liangyu, a Beijing delegate to the National Peoples Congress. We can only accomplish the task when rural peasants are economically prospering.

In 2014 the average annual income for a Shanghai resident was 47,710 yuan (5,000), more than four times the 10,117 yuan a year for an average resident in rural Jiangxi province.

Urban dwellers have only recently begun to outnumber rural ones in China, accounting for more than half of the population from 2011. But the split between city and country has been entrenched by the decades-long practice of differentiating citizens and their rights based on residence registration. The Herculean task of addressing that split was highlighted by the uproar nationwide over the break-up story, which emerged earlier this year.

The female protagonist was from Shanghai, which represents metropolitan China and is comparable to any city in a developed country. Her lover hailed from a poor village in the hinterland province of Jiangxi, which could be worse than Third World countries, according to Tang Yinghong, a psychologist and popular national media columnist. The pair matched two popular stereotypes: the urban, sheltered, well-heeled peacock girl and the self-made phoenix boy from the hinterland who makes good in the big city.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The two Chinas have vastly different lifestyles, cultures and ideological thoughts and the split between the two has reached an astonishing level, Mr Tang said.

The story as posted on an online forum was from the point of view of the woman, explaining why she fled her boyfriends hometown and the relationship. Accompanying it was a dimly lit photo of a squalid dinner table with dubious-looking dishes.

The story hit smartphones across China during the New Year holiday and much of the country jumped to vent their thoughts. Wu Qiang, a political scientist at Tsinghua University, said the furore showed the failure of Beijing to deliver the benefits of three decades of industrialisation to ordinary people, especially those in Chinas vast countryside.

A single photo of a rural dinner table has condensed so many social meanings of our time, he wrote. He said that Chinas rural-urban differences must be addressed, adding: Only when everyone has equal rights can we make up the feudal gap between the cities and the countryside.

AP
The Cancer Services Program of Cayuga County is teaming up with local businesses for the Main Streets Go Blue initiative in March to raise awareness about the importance of colorectal cancer screening and early detection. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and blue is the universally recognized color for colorectal cancer. Across New York state, there are many towns and cities just like Auburn that are raising awareness about this preventable cancer by turning their main streets blue and hosting colorectal cancer screening events throughout March.

If you see local businesses on Genesee Street with a blue shamrock displayed in their windows, youll know they support education about colorectal cancer and screening. These businesses have partnered with the CSP to provide life-saving information to the public. Our shared goal is to encourage more community members to get tested for colon cancer by spreading the message that this disease is preventable.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in New York state, but it doesnt have to be, as regular screening can prevent colorectal cancer. Screening tests can often detect the growths (polyps) that turn into cancer. These growths can then be removed before they turn into cancer. If colon cancer is found early, treatment can be very effective.

Colorectal cancer is one of the only cancers that can be detected and prevented through screening before it even starts. Colorectal cancer may not cause symptoms, especially at first, which is another reason regular screening is necessary to catch the disease in its earliest stages.

All men and women age 50 and older should get screened for colorectal cancer. Although this disease can occur at any age, most people who develop colorectal cancer are over age 50. Anyone with a personal or family history of colon polyps, colorectal cancer or a personal history of inflammatory bowel disease are at higher risk for developing colorectal cancer. These individuals should talk to their doctors about when to begin screening and how often they should be tested.

People at higher risk for colorectal cancer may need earlier or more frequent tests than other people. The important thing to remember is to talk to your doctor, decide which screening test is right for you, and complete the screening. There is more than one way to screen for colorectal cancer, and screening is easier than ever. For anyone without a doctor or without insurance, the Cancer Services Program of Cayuga County can help.

From 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, the Cancer Services Program is teaming up with Dr. William Foresman, Dr. Brian Bennett and Dr. Ryan Sidebottom to provide cancer screenings at Auburn Community Hospital. Men and women ages 50 and older with limited or no health insurance will be eligible for colorectal cancer screenings. Men ages 45 and older will be eligible for a prostate cancer screening. Women ages 40 and older will be eligible for breast cancer screenings. Please call the Cancer Services Program at (315) 253-1455 to schedule an appointment. Space is limited, so call today!

For more information, visit cancer.org and type "colorectal cancer" in the search box.
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Through calls to ban Muslims from the US and build walls across the Mexican border, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has become the poster boy for an anti-immigration rhetoric sweeping through Western politics.

And now, a far-right German party gaining popularity amid Europes refugee crisis, is also announcing some equally, if not more, extreme policies.

Alternative for Germany (AfD), formed three years ago by a group of economists, has struck a chord with Germans who are dissatisfied with conventional politics, particularly Chancellor Angela Merkels open-door policy for refugees.

Originally created in opposition to German-backed bailouts for poorer Eurozone members, AfD has developed an anti-immigration stance over the past year, bolstered by its current leader Frauke Petry.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) has held protest marches as part of its election campaign (EPA)

Initially considered a right-wing fringe group, the party has made huge gains in popularity since the refugee crisis hit the EU and on Sunday the group powered into three state legislatures.

In Saxony-Anhalt the party won 24 per cent of the vote to become the second-biggest party in the state parliament.

The rise of AfD in Germany mirrors growing support for other populist politicians such as Frances Front National leader Marine Le Pen and Mr Trump; and with one German newspaper comparing statements made by Mr Trump and Ms Petry, it appears AfD are using similar headline-grabbing tactics to those of the billionaire tycoon.

'German police should shoot at migrants'

While the Republican frontrunner has suggested the US build walls across borders to keep out migrants, Ms Petry has suggested even more extreme measures should be taken to halt the entrance of refugees into Germany.

In January, Ms Petry sparked huge backlash from left-wing parties and German police after saying authorities should, if necessary, shoot at migrants who attempt to enter the country illegally from Austria.

She told Mannheimer Morgen newspaper: "I don't want this either. But the use of armed force is there as a last resort."

The comments brought widespread condemnation, and led to an attempt by the mayor of Ausburg in Bavaria to stop her speaking in the city's town hall, claiming her comments were unconstitutional.

The AfD politician Dubravko Mandic was also criticised for posting a video on Facebook showing soldiers shooting at civilians behind a fence, Spielgel Online reports.

Refugees settle in Germany Show all 12 1 /12 Refugees settle in Germany Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany A refugee child Amnat Musayeva points to a star with her photo and name that decorates the door to her classroom as teacher Martina Fischer looks on at the local kindergarten Amnat and her siblings attend on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The children live with their family at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany. Mohamed and Autur live at an asylum-applicants' shelter in nearby Vossberg village. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Ali Hussein ((L), 19, and his cousin Sinjar Hussein, 34, sweep leaves at a cemetery in Gieshof village, for which they receive a small allowance, near Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, looks among donated clothing in the basement of the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to Mohamed, his wife Laloosh and their daughter Ranim as residents' laundry dries behind in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asya Sugaipova (L), Mohza Mukayeva and Khadra Zhukova prepare food in the communal kitchen at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Efrah Abdullahi Ahmed looks down from the communal kitchen window at her daughter Sumaya, 10, who had just returned from school, at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asylum-applicants, including Syrians Mohamed Ali Hussein (C-R, in black jacket) and Fadi Almasalmeh (C), return from grocery shopping with other refugees to the asylum-applicants' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat (2nd from L), a refugee from Syria, smokes a cigarette after shopping for groceries with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, and fellow-Syrian refugees Mohamed Ali Hussein (C) and Fadi Almasalmeh (L) at a local supermarket on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. All of them live at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian refugees Leila, 9, carries her sister Avin, 1, in the backyard at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to them and their family in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Somali refugees and husband and wife Said Ahmed Gure (R) and Ayaan Gure pose with their infant son Muzammili, who was born in Germany, in the room they share at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity, and are waiting for authorities to process their application for asylum 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel pauses for a selfie with a refugee after she visited the AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter for refugees in Berlin Getty Images

'Germans should have more children'

As the national spokeswoman for Germanys Eurosceptics, Ms Petry's ideas have often advocated "traditional" Christian values, which it claims are threatened by mass immigration, the International Business Times reports.

"More children for German families" is one of the party's most well-known ideologies and Ms Petry has previously suggested German women should have more children in order to avoid the need for immigration, the Bloomberg Times reports.

The suggestions have come under fire from rival parties, with Sigmar Gabriel, the Vice Chancellor of Germany, dubbing "Petry's call for all women to have at least three children," one of the politicians "bizarre demands".

AfD politician Heinrich Fiechtner has previously spoken of an "attack on the German people" in reference to the refugee crisis.

Angela Merkel is the 'worst Chancellor in history'

Following the partys staggering results on Sunday, Andre Ponnenburg, AfD leader in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, launched a scathing attack against Ms Merkel, describing her as the worst Chancellor in German history.

The comment has sparked intense backlash, with many highlighting Mr Ponnenburgs suggestion Ms Merkel is worse than former Chancellor and Dictator Adolf Hitler, who during his time in power constructed a genocide which killed around six million Jews.

In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany A police officer talks to a counterprotestor at the sidelines of right-wing movement 'Baergida' (Berlin Patriots against the islamization of the Occident), a Berlin version of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident), protest in Berlin In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany Participants of right-wing movement 'Baergida' (Berlin Patriots against the islamization of the Occident), a Berlin version of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident), protest in Berlin In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany People protest against right-wing initiative Pegida with a sign reading 'Stop agitation against Islam' in Berlin In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany Participants of the 'Alliance against Racism' demonstrate against right-wing initiative Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident) in Berlin. Counterdemonstrations against racism and xenophobia have been planned in Dresden, Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. The demonstrations staged by the anti-Islamic Pegida movement produce a series of slogans arguing that Germany is taking in too many foreigners, that the social structures are about to collapse due to the rising number of asylum-seekers, and that there is the threat of an 'Islamisation of the Occident' In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany German Justice Minister Heiko Maas takes part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin. The rise of the group, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida), has shaken Germany's political establishment In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany The lighting of the Brqandenburg Gate was switched off to make a statement against racism as People protest against right-wing initiative Pegida in Berlin In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany A left wing activist struggles with the riot police during a protest against a planed march of the Pegida movement in their first Berlin demonstration, which they have dubbed 'Baergida' In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany People protest against right-wing initiative Pegida in Hamburg In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany People protest against right-wing initiative Pegida in Munich In pictures: Anti-Pegida protesters Germany People protest against right-wing initiative Pegida in Stuttgart

The 'Pegida phenomenon must be seen in a differentiated manner'

Ms Petrys policies were given a further boost with the arrival of the xenophobic Patriotic Europeans Against Islamisation of the West (Pegida) movement, which attracted thousands to its rallies in the east German city of Dresden last year.

Co-founder and the initial leader of AfD, Bernd Lucke, urged the party to distance itself from Pegida because of fears that any links with the movement would alienate middle-class AfD members.

But Ms Petry, who became AfDs leader after Mr Lucke was ousted from the party, rejected the call and met Pegida supporters, saying she opposed a ban on contacts with the group.

She has since insisted the Pegida phenomenon must be seen in a differentiated manner.
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A man has shared a Facebook post calling for empathy with the victims of a suicide bomb attack in the Turkish capital of Ankara that killed at least 34 people and wounded 125.

James Taylor, who lives in Ankara, encouraged readers to imagine the attacks happened where they live.

"[It] is the equivalent of a bomb going off outside Debenhams on the Drapery in Northampton, or on New street in Birmingham, or Piccadilly Circus in London," he wrote.

"Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine the place you walk past every day, the bus stops you use, the roads you cross being obliterated."

"Contrary to what many people think, Turkey is not the Middle East," Mr Taylor adds.

"Ankara is not a war zone, it is a normal modern bustling city, just like any other European capital, and Kizilay is the absolute heart, the centre."

 Ankara attack

"It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is it not the same for Ankara?

"Is it because you just don't realise that Ankara is no different from any of these cities?"

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

It is the third explosion in the Turkish capital since October 2015.

Last month, a Kurdish militant group claimed an attack on a military convoy which killed 28 people.

In October, 103 people were killed and 250 wounded when two suicide bombers targeted a peace rally in the deadliest attack in Turkish history.

Mr Taylor concludes: "You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?"
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Members of a closed society of porters at Frances oldest auction house have at last gone on trial, accused of systematically pilfering bric-a-brac and art works including a Chagall painting.

The trial of the cols rouges (red collars, after the uniform) threatens to expose the dark underside of the Paris auction world; 49 members of the private club which has monopolised portering at Drouot for 180 years are accused of stealing tens of thousands of objects. Police recovered 250 tons of pilfered property, ranging from household appliances to antique furniture, diamonds, sketches by Pablo Picasso and paintings by Gustave Courbet and Marc Chagall.

The items, found in a warehouse in the Paris suburbs, also included a trunk of the personal memorabilia collected by the celebrated French mime artist, Marcel Marceau, before his death in 2007. Most of the 49 porters on trial admit the accusations of conspiracy to steal and to handle stolen goods. Some deny the charges. Four auctioneers are accused of knowingly selling stolen property and deny the charges. Drouot has denied any knowledge of the alleged thefts.

Recommended Read more Auction house porters accused of carrying out more than their jobs

Over the next three weeks, the prosecution will allege that a long-standing system of small-scale theft by some porters became a co-operative of crime. Objects would vanish when the porters cleared the homes of wealthy people after their deaths. If their heirs complained, the missing item would mysteriously reappear.

One of the porters is alleged to have said this was regarded as harmless, because it amounted to stealing from the dead; an open secret in the French auction world for decades. Problems arose when some porters extended the practice from relatively worthless items to valuable works of art. In February 2009, an anonymous caller contacted a French police unit that investigates art thefts. He said that a canvas by the 19th-century artist Gustave Courbet, supposedly lost in 2003, was about to be sold by a red collar for 100,000.

Phone taps are then alleged to have uncovered a network of theft. An investigating magistrate, Ann Bamberger, in her report, spoke of a near-mafia system and a practice which had become habitual, even institutional.

The red collars are also known as the Savoyards. Entry to the society has been monopolised by men from the Alpine region of Savoy since the 19th century. The territory was ceded to France in 1860, under the Treaty of Turin.
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An elderly Greek couple have opened up their home to refugees after witnessing the dire conditions at the Idomeni camp located on the border with Macedonia.

I saw them, they were sick, their lungs full of liquid. He coughs and coughs  what can I say?

A week ago two girls came by with eight children, they said they were hungry, I gave them something to eat; they told me they would like to shower so I let them in to shower.

Then a girl came and embraced me. I started to cry and so did my husband.

A refugee mother washes her 20-day-old baby at Greece's Idomeni camp (Iker Pastor/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

This weekend, a photograph emerged showing a refugee woman washing her 20-day-old baby at the Idomeni refugee camp, where more than 14,000 people are living, unable to travel further after Macedonia closed its borders.
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German voters have appeared to send a message to Chancellor Angela Merkel: Close the door on migrants.

Her center-right Christian Democratic Party suffered universal setbacks in local elections  in a vote widely seen as a referendum on Merkels humanitarian stance allowing vast waves of migrants to cross German borders.

The upstart Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, a populist force that campaigned on an anti-migrant, anti-Merkel platform  and which drew support from the left as well as the right  scored big gains. It landed 24.4 percent of the vote in one of the three states that went to the ballot box, according to projections based on exit polls produced for the German public broadcaster ARD.

The outcome amounted to a blow to Merkel just as the chancellor is set to fight this week for a new accord between the European Union and Turkey on the refugee crisis. It would stop the illegal flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea, but also compel reluctant European nations, including Germany, to take in more Syrian asylum seekers from Turkey.

Recommended Read more Merkel stands accused of daring to put the world before Germany

Nevertheless, analysts predicted that Merkel, who has defended her plan to shelter war-torn refugees while weeding out economic migrants, probably would hold firm. She has the luxury of claiming that key local CDU politicians, including Klockner, who failed on Sunday have criticized her refugee policy. They lost to opposition politicians who sometimes had been more supportive of the chancellors refugee policy than members of her own party.

When it comes to the refugee crisis, Merkel might change her tone, but not her politics, said Jurgen Falter, a political analyst at Mainz University. She seems to be so utterly convinced of her strategy that I do not expect her to do anything different, unless her European partners force her to.

At home, Merkel has already vowed to speed up deportations of migrants who are not fleeing war. In the past 12 months, more than a million migrants from the Middle East and beyond have sought sanctuary and jobs in Europes economic powerhouse. Yet in a sign that public tolerance may be growing thin, voter turnout was up Sunday, and above 70 percent in two of the states voting.

The results will probably further fuel the existing unease with Merkel within her own CDU, said Carsten Nickel, senior vice president of Teneo Intelligence.

The CDUs worst losses of the night came in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where her party was falling to 27 percent support  a record low. The CDU had held sway in the state for most of the post-World War II era, but ended the night down 12 percentage points from its last showing.

The CDU also lost ground  but less, about 3 percentage points  in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. Importantly, one of the CDUs rising stars, Julia Klockner, was failing in her bid to unseat the incumbent for Rhineland-Palatinates top job.

At the same time, the AfD  a party that sought to tap the anxiety of Germans over the wave of newcomers  made strong gains. The party drew voters to the polls who had rarely or never participated in elections. Projections showed it winning more than 24 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, located in the former East Germany where anti-migrant sentiment is running particularly high. The AfD also gained ground in the two other states, with preliminary results showing it won 12.6 percent of the vote in Rhineland-Palatinate and 15.1 percent in wealthy, heavily industrialized Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Migrants stranded on Greece's border with Macedonia staged a protest on March 13, marching along muddy, waterlogged fields calling for the border to be opened. Men, women and children chanted "Merkel" as they waved their fists in the air.

Source: Washington Post
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Mosques in France should be funded through a tax on halal meat, a French politician has reportedly said.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a leading figure in France's centre-right party The Republicans, said it was "reasonable" for citizens to find a way to fund their own religions.

She said a one-per-cent tax on halal meat - meat killed in a way considered holy within Islam - would amount to 60 million in funding to build mosques in France, according to The Local.

The previous spokeswoman for Nicolas Sarkozy made the suggestion in her new book, and was asked to defend the "novel idea" on France 2.

"You consume this product which has a religious aspect and the money goes to finance the religion," she said.

"I think that it is reasonable to find a way for everyone to finance their own religion."

People pray at the Villefontaine mosque in France in 2015 (Rex Features)

She added that the Catholic Church relied on donations from parishioners to sustain itself and that the same could be true of mosques in France.

Many protests have been held outside mosques in the country by Muslims over lack of funding and overcrowding within places of worship, with some politicians saying a lack of a dignified place to worship could fuel radicalisation in some cases.

Yet France's status as a secular nation - one in which the state and religion are kept separate - has heightened tensions over the prospect of increased funding.

Tensions in France were heightened when some of France's six million Muslims asked whether empty churches could be converted, according to Reuters.

While a large proportion of French people class themselves as Catholic, only a fraction of them regularly attend sermons, statistics have shown.

A ban on the full veil was widely interpreted as a hostile move against the country's Islamic community, while the availability of halal meat has been criticised by right-wing groups.
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Three refugees have drowned while attempting to cross a river from Greece into Macedonia, according to police, as refugees attempt to find a new route to cross into the country.

Macedonian police said the bodies of two men and a woman had been found in the Suva Reka river near the border town of Gevgelija on Monday morning, which had swelled due to heavy rain.

More than 1,000 refugees are reported to have left the Ideomeni camp in the north of Greece on Monday morning, walking for hours with their belongings in heavy rain before finally attempting to cross the fast-flowing water.

(Reuters)

Police said the bodies of two men and a woman had been found (AP)

(Reuters)

People held children and their belongings above their heads as they waded thigh-deep across the river, with many holding onto ropes while others made a human chain to help people across.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

This is the situation in which people have become desperate and frustrated, Ljubinka Brasnarska, a spokeswoman in Macedonia for the United Nations refugee agency the UNHCR, said. The border restrictions imposed by the countries have forced people to take desperate actions.

Macedonian authorities reportedly helped 23 refugees to a migrant transit camp earlier in the day when the three bodies were discovered, but have said they will take steps to return the several hundred refugees who evaded the border fence back to Greece.

Increased patrols by the armed forces and police are now being carried out along the Macedonian side of the border where refugees are likely to attempt to cross.

(Reuters)

(EPA)

(Reuters)

The already filthy conditions in the Idomeni camp are understood to have worsened during the heavy rains, where around 12,000 people have been stranded since Macedonia and the surrounding nations closed their borders to refugees attempting reach northern Europe.

Thousands have been stranded in Greece after Austria imposed a cap on refugees, setting off a domino effect of border closures across the Balkansm, though mpre than 8,500 refugees were reported to have still travelled from Turkey to the Greek islands in the past week.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Angela Merkel conceded that her open door policies on refugees had caused her ruling Christian Democrats to suffer humiliating losses to the xenophobic Alternative for Germany party in state elections, but the Chancellor insisted she would not change course on the divisive issue.

Speaking for the first time about her partys rout, some 18 hours after polls closed on Sunday night, a visibly shaken Ms Merkel told a press conference in Berlin that her policies  which allowed more than a million refugees to enter Germany last year  had determined the outcome of the weekends election.

Describing the result as a bad day for the CDU [Christian Democrats], she admitted that her policies had so far brought no lasting solution to the refugee crisis. However she said she was committed to finding a European solution to the problem during her meetings with the EU and Turkey later this week.

Asked whether the damaging election result would prompt her to ask for a parliamentary vote of confidence, she responded with a tart: Nein! In Sundays three state elections Ms Merkels conservatives and her Social Democrat coalition partners suffered devastating losses to the recently formed Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which campaigned vigorously against immigration and the slogan Merkel must go.

Josef Schuster, the president of Germanys Central Council of Jews, described the AfD as a right-wing populist party which accepts extreme right-wing opinions. He said the large number of votes the party had polled pointed to a frightening swing to the right.

 Germany: Anti-refugee AfD party make big gains in regional elections

In eastern Saxony Anhalt, the AfD achieved its best result ever after winning 24 per cent of the vote and becoming the second biggest party in the state after Ms Merkels CDU. In western Baden Wurttemberg, the AfD secured 15 per cent of the vote and in Rhineland Palatinate state, the party won 11 per cent.

Bjorn Hocke, one of the AfDs most outspoken leaders, described his partys success as the dawning of a new era. However, Ms Merkel said AfD gains were a protest against the unsolved question of many refugees and fears about integration.

Sundays results meant that the right-wing nationalist party now holds seats in eight of Germanys 16 state parliaments. And the AfD could enter the national parliament after next years general election.

Ms Merkels election debacle was certain to provoke further demands from her partys right wing for the course change she has so far resisted. The opening salvos were fired yesterday by Horst Seehofer, leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union, a sister party to the CDU and one of the Chancellors fiercest critics.

Describing the polls as a political earthquake, Mr Seehofer said he would redouble his efforts to ensure that Germany imposed an upper limit on the numbers of migrants entering the country.
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Three German universities have closed prayer rooms used by Muslims, leading to claims of discrimination.

The Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), Technical University of Dortmund (TU Dortmund) and the university of Essen Duisburg have all closed prayer rooms.

It is difficult for German universities to know how many Muslims study in their institutions, as they are not allowed to ask students about religion, The Local reports.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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TU Berlin closed its two separate prayer rooms for male and female students on Monday.

TU Berlin president Christian Thomsen told local news site Suddeutsche Zeitung the decision boiled down to the fundamental question: do we want religious facilities at our universities? I think higher education and religion should be kept separate.

He added: Previously Muslims didnt have much opportunity to practise their religion in Berlin. But now there are enough prayer rooms the students can use  perhaps not within walking distance, but a few stops away by bus. A prayer room at the university is no longer necessary.

A room for Muslim students which had been used for more than 20 years was also closed at the university of Essen-Duisburg.

Officials stated in an official letter the room has been closed due to "matters of space for the students to study".

"With more than 130 nations at our university, we cant offer a room for every religion or culture," the university added. "The room was installed in a time in which there were no places for Muslims to go nearby. This has changed in the past two decades."

The Technical University of Dortmund also permanently closed its prayer room - intended for people of all faiths - Die Welt reported in February.

The university said Muslim men had tried to take over the room by imposing gender segregation and storing prayer mats inside.

The trend to close prayer rooms comes amid a wave of anti-Islam protests in Germany.
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A huge car bomb has hit the Turkish capital, claiming the lives of at least 34 people and wounding dozens more.

The blast was the third to strike Ankara in less than six months. It will fuel fears that Turkey, which shares a border with Syria and is gripped by an internal conflict against Kurdish militias, is becoming dangerously unstable.

A car loaded with explosives detonated near a group of civilians at a bus stop in the central Kizilay district on Sunday shortly before 7pm local time in a suicide attack, the Turkish Interior Minister said. Police said one of the bombers was a woman.

The area is near a park, a metro station, a shopping centre and dozens of cafes. A courthouse and the justice and interior ministries are nearby. Footage from the aftermath of the blast showed mangled cars strewn across the busy main road and rescue workers running with stretchers. Turkeys Health Minister said that 125 people were wounded, 19 of them seriously.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but Turkish officials told Reuters that initial findings suggested the attack had been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated group. In what has become a familiar pattern in Turkey, authorities imposed a nationwide ban on reporting details of the incident. Social media users also reported being unable to access Twitter and Facebook.

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

Turkeys Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, held an emergency cabinet meeting after the bombing with the Interior Minister, the head of the intelligence agency and police and security chiefs. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that his countrys fight against terrorism would be successful, adding: Terror will be brought to its knees.

Turkey has been on high alert after a series of recent attacks by an array of groups in Istanbul, Ankara and in the south-east, where a 30-year conflict between the state and Kurdish militias was reignited last summer.

On Friday, the United States embassy warned citizens that there was a potential plot to attack government buildings in the Bahcelievler area of the city, about two miles from the blast.

 Ankara attack

The attack on the capital came less than a month after a car bombing on a military convoy killed 30 people just a few minutes walk from the bombing. That attack was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which described it as a suicide revenge mission for military operations in the town of Cizre. The town is one of several in Turkeys south-eastern region to have witnessed heavy clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK, which says it is fighting for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority.

The latest flare-up in the conflict began last summer and has been focused on urban centres, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and trapping civilians in the middle. Turkish authorities announced that the towns of Yuksekova and Nusaybin would go into an indefinite 24-hour lockdown as security forces prepared to launch operations.

In January, 13 tourists were killed in a suicide bombing near Istanbuls famous Blue Mosque in an attack blamed on a Syrian member of Isis.

In October, 103 people were killed when two suicide bombers detonated their vests in the middle of a peace rally in Ankara in another Isis attack. It was preceded by two other attacks blamed on the group in the south-eastern towns of Diyarbakir and Suruc, which killed a total of 37 people.

The latest bombing will cause deep alarm in Western capitals where Turkey, a Nato member, has long been seen as an important buffer zone between Europe and the turmoil in Syria, Iraq and beyond.

The European Union sees Turkey as a key partner in its plan to stem the flow of refugees and migrants.

Turkey is also facing a time of increased political tensions. President Erdogan has presided over a crackdown on media, civil society and the judiciary, prompting critics to warn that he is taking an increasingly authoritarian turn.
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The huge car bomb that tore through the Turkish capital was likely to have been the work of a female member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), authorities have said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the Ankara attack but the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said that there were strong indications that the Kurdish militant faction was responsible for the attack that claimed the lives of 37 people. The group has previously focused on attacking military targets.

The suicide bombing on Sunday night targeted a row of bus stops in a busy shopping district, killing students, young couples and families on their way home. One victim, Ozan Akkus, a 19-year-old engineering student, lost a close friend just five months previously in a double-bombing in Ankara blamed on members of the jihadist group Isis.

Recommended Read more The Ankara bombing shows how far from peace Turkey has strayed

The latest attack underlines the multiple threats facing Turkey, a country once seen as a haven of stability that has been increasingly rocked by the war in Syria.

A Nato member home to an estimated 2.7 million Syrian refugees, Turkey is not only battling several groups engaged in the Syrian conflict, it is also fighting an internal conflict in the south-East after the collapse of a two-year peace process with the PKK. Turkey blamed the militant group for the breakdown, saying that it was emboldened by the success of Kurdish militias in neighbouring Syria. The PKK blamed Turkey for failing to deliver on promises to give greater rights to Kurdish citizens. Unlike previous flare-ups, much of the fighting this time has taken place in urban centres, causing large numbers of causalities and trapping civilians in the middle. Turkey responded to Sundays attack by pounding PKK targets in northern Iraq and rounding up fighters. Plans for large-scale operations against fighters in towns in the south-east were already underway yesterday, and are expected to be scaled up in response to the latest attack.

Relatives of Murat Gul, one of the victims of Sundays bomb near a bus station in Ankara, mourn at his funeral (EPA)

Mr Davutoglu said that the authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the bombing and that DNA tests were underway on the remains of the suspected culprit, whom the deputy prime minister said was definitely female. She was reportedly born in 1992 and was from the eastern city of Kars near the Armenian border, and had joined the militant group in 2013. Tests will also take place on another body belonging to someone believed to have assisted her.

However, the Turkish government has been quick to apportion blame after other bombings, not always correctly. After an attack on a military convoy in Ankara that killed 29 people last month, the government mistakenly said that it was the work of a Syrian member of the YPG, a Kurdish militia fighting in Syria. It later said that it was the work of the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a splinter group of the PKK.

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

Analysts said that it would be highly significant if the latest attack was proven to be the work of the PKK. Howard Eissenstat, a Turkey expert at St Lawrence University in New York State, said that he believed that the attack was much more likely to be the work of a splinter group. He said: Such direct involvement would mean that the PKK is no longer aiming at a negotiated settlement and that it is no longer interested in international legitimacy. This possibility strikes me as extremely unlikely. It is much more likely that a claim will come from a splinter group like TAK, which does have a history of attacking purely civilian targets. Even so, this attack suggests a worrying escalation of scale.

Earlier, President Erdogan launched a scathing attack on the wider Kurdish movement. He said: There is no difference between a terrorist with a gun in his hand and someone who uses his position and pen at a point that supports terror. The fact that a person is a terrorist does not change if his position is an MP, a journalist or the director of an NGO. The person who pulls the trigger may be a terrorist, but these are the people who ensure that the terrorist achieves his goals.

Middle East Technical University (ODTU) first year student Ozancan Akkus (LEFT) suffered the same fate on Sunday as his close friend Ali Deniz Uzatmaz who was tragically killed in a terrorist attack in Ankara, just five months ago.

On Oct. 10, 2015, Ankara was hit by a terror attack outside the central railway station, killing Ali Deniz alongside 102 other people.
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An American fighting for the so-called Islamic State was taken into custody in northern Iraq after emerging from territory controlled by the group in war-ravaged Syria, media reports said on Monday.

According to CBS News, which cited two sources with the Kurdish peshmerga military force, the fighter was attempting to return to Turkey. He was identified as 27-year-old Muhammad Jamal Amin from the US state of Virginia.

Mr Amin was intending to escape to Turkey but handed himself over to Kurdish forces after they opened fire on him around dawn near the frontline in Golat village, according to the general, who said the fighter spoke English and broken Arabic.

A local commander, who did not want to be named, told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw that the man had mistaken Peshmerga territory for the Turkish border.

Recommended Read more 600 Isis fighters killed in the past 20 days

The fighter did not have a passport but was carrying an American driving licence and spoke English and broken Arabic, according to General Hashim Sitei who spoke to him.

"He said the situation with ISIS is not good," Mr Sitei said, noting that the fighter appeared tired. "We gave him food and treated him with respect and handed him over to military intelligence."

We are in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports, a State Department official in Washington said on customary condition of anonymity.

The New York Times reported a Pentagon spokesman as saying: Were aware of the reports, aware that the U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIL has been captured by peshmerga forces in northern Iraq. Were in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports.

The newspaper added that if the mans identity is confirmed, it would be the first American fighting with the so-called Islamic State to have surrendered in the field, according to Seamus Hughes, an expert on Islamist extremism in the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University.

Additional reporting by wires
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One of the two suicide bombers thought to be responsible for the Ankara attack in which 37 people were killed was a woman.

Evidence has been obtained that she joined the PKK militant group in 2013, Turkish security officials told Reuters.

She was born in 1992 and from the eastern Turkish city of Kars, they said.

The government has said it expects to officially identify the organisation behind the attack later on Monday.

On Monday, Turkey's military carried out air strikes against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq hours after the attack.

In pictures: Ankara bombing Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Family members and relatives grieve for victims of a car bombing outside the forensic morgue in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Men hold Turkish flags over the coffin of a car bombing victim during a commemoration ceremony in a mosque in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Feyza Acisu one of the victims who was killed in an explosion cries during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of Murat Gul one of the victims who was killed in an explosion pray near the coffin covered with Turkish flags during the funeral in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara killing at least 34 people and wounding 125, officials said, the latest in a spate of deadly attacks to hit Turkey In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion, the day after a suicide car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Turkish police secure the area as scenes of crime officers search the area after an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of victims who were killed in an explosion mourn in front of forensic medicine institution in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing People carry an injured person on a stretcher at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Relatives of people wounded in an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, react as they arrive at a hospital to see their loved ones In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers are seen on a bus at the explosion site in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic experts investigate the scene of an explosion in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing A burning car after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services attend the scene in central Ankara's Kizilay Square In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing Dogan Asik, 28, who was blown away from inside a bus by a powerful explosion speaks at the explosion site in the busy center of Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency services help an injured person following after an explosion in Ankara's central Kizilay district in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing The wreckage of a bus and a car are pictured at the scene of a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing Forensic services and firemen work around burnt out taxi vehicles after a blast in Ankara In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing In pictures: Ankara bombing At least 27 people were killed and 75 wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital Ankara in what appeared to have been a car bomb attack according to Ankara governor Mehmet Kiliclar Getty In pictures: Ankara bombing Medics carry an injured person at the explosion site in the busy center of Turkish capital, Ankara AP In pictures: Ankara bombing The bomb exploded close to bus stops near a park at Ankara's main square, Kizilay. The news channel said the explosion occurred as a car slammed into a bus, suggesting that the blast may have been caused by a car bomb AP In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters In pictures: Ankara bombing A destroyed bus is seen in the street after an explosion in Ankara EPA In pictures: Ankara bombing Emergency workers work at the explosion site in Ankara, Turkey Reuters

The state-run Anadolu news agency said nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK in the northern Iraq, including the Qandil mountains where the group's leadership is based.

Police detained dozens of suspected Kurdish militants in a southern Turkish city on Monday.

The attacks following the bombing in the Turkish capital on Sunday in which 37 people were killed and at leas 125 injured.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees" in response.

A senior government official said authorities believe Sunday's attack was carried out by two bombers - one of them a woman - and was the work of Kurdish militants.

It is the second attack blamed on Kurdish militants in the past month.

(Reuters)

"Our people should not worry, the struggle against terrorism will for certain end in success," President Erdogan said.

Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu postponed a visit to Jordan following the deadly bombing.

Interior minister Efkan Ala said Sunday's attack would not deter the country from its fight against terrorism.

A burning car after a blast in Ankara

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "appalled" by the atrocity, tweeting: "My thoughts are with all those affected."

US State Department spokesman John Kirby said: "We reaffirm our strong partnership with our Nato ally Turkey in combating the shared threat of terrorism."

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: "There can be no justification of such heinous acts of violence."
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Isis has lost 600 fighters and thousands of square kilometres of territory over the past three weeks, according to the US Secretary of State.

John Kerry made the revelations in Paris after holding talks on the Syrian conflict with the foreign ministers from France, Britain, Italy and Germany.

"In Syria, over the last three weeks alone, Daesh has lost 3,000 sq km (1,160 sq miles) and 600 fighters," said Mr Kerry, using an alternative term for Isis employed by Western leaders to undermine the radical Islamic groups claims to statehood.

Greater London measures around 1,572 sq km.

Mr Kerry added that the recent ceasefire in Syria has reduced violence in the war-torn state by 80-90 per cent, which he described as a "very, very significant" development. The landmark truce signed between the Syrian regime and rebels  but notably not by jihadist groups such as Isis and Nusra Front  began last month. More than 270,000 people have been killed since the civil war broke out in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Syrian government and opposition are due to begin fresh peace talks in Geneva on Monday.

Ahead of the UN-brokered talks, Mr Kerry criticised Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem for saying that removing President Bashar al Assad would cross a "red line". During a televised news conference in Damascus, Mr Muallem said: We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency. Bashar [al-Assad] is a red line; the property of the Syrian people.

Mr Kerry responded by saying his comments were "clearly trying to disrupt the [peace] process... and [that he was was] clearly trying to send a message of deterrence to others."

He continued: "But the fact is that stronger sponsors, Iran and Russia, have both adopted .... an approach which dictates that there must be a political transition and that we must move towards a presidential election at some point in time."

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, said Mr Muallem's comments were "a provocation and a bad sign and doesn't correspond to the spirit of the ceasefire".

Russia, a key ally of the Syrian regime, have stood firm in their support or Mr Assad, refusing to back any agreement that would see him leave his position. The Syrian government echoed this on Saturday, saying it would not entertain the idea of discussing presidential elections at the Geneva talks.

Mr Kerry is in the midst of determining whether to formally declare that Isis atrocities against religious minorities, against groups including Christians, Yezidis and Kurds, constitute "genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity."
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Up to 64 Britons or people with links to the UK have been identified in a huge cache of stolen Isis documents.

The names of some 1,700 people in 22,000 documents taken on "entrance questionnaires" by the Isis border authority in 2013 have been obtained by Sky News.

The dossier also contains the details of around 500 "graduates" from two training camps in Syria which train fighters for missions abroad.

The documents appear to ask recruits a series of questions

Of 371 militants who successfully completed their training in the first camp, four came from the UK.

In the second camp, among the 110 who passed was a Briton - known as Abu Dujana al-Britani - from Manchester. He was listed as dead by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The documents reveal his sponsor was Abu al Qaqaa al-Britani, real name Raphael Hostey, a married father born in 1992 who travelled to Syria from Manchester in 2013.

Another Britain reportedly mentioned in the files is Khalil Raoufi, who also left Manchester to travel to Syria in 2013.

Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawis successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a real war with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assads regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a conspiracy. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Ladens successor) concerned about Isis expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraqs second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloffs murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist groups al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isiss deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic citys ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyras residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamists positions. AFP

Also included are Britons Abdel Bary, Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan.

Bary was a former rapper from London, Hussain, is thought to have been Isis's head of media before he was killed in a US drone strike in August, and Khan previously appeared in a high-profile Isis propaganda video before he was killed by an RAF-led drone strike.

Investigators are looking into the possibility some Britons may have been sent home to to carry out attacks in the UK.
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Russia has accused Turkey of "creeping expansion" in Syria and say the Turkish military has established positions inside the war-torn country.

This is allegedly to prevent Kurdish militants from solidifying positions close to the Turkey  Syria border.

The remarks were made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Russian television news, Associated Press reported.

"Turkey has started to declare it has a sovereign right to create some safety zones on Syrian territory," Lavrov said in the TV interview.

"According to our information, they are digging in a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria."

He added: It's a sort of creeping expansion."

The comments are the latest development in a tense relationship between Turkey and Russia.

In November 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 military aircraft which it says violated its airspace.

Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Show all 5 1 /5 Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian aircraft goes down in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian aircraft goes down in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian aircraft goes down in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian aircraft goes down in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border Russian plane shot down by Turkish jets Russian aircraft goes down in Kizildag region of Turkey's Hatay province, close to the Syrian border

Also in the interview, Mr Lavrov said that Russia would insist that Kurdish groups are represented at UN peace talks on ending the Syrian conflict.

Turkey has long objected to Kurdish militias, such as the Democratic Union Party (PYD) attending negotiations.

In a meeting with the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, this weekend, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed Turkeys stance on including Kurdish groups in peace talks.

A terrorist organization should never be a reliable partner to defeat another terrorist organisation, Mr Cavusoglu said, Anadolu Agency reported.

Mr Cavusoglu continued: A terrorist organization, which is not radical Islamist should not be [considered] a better one than Daesh or Al Nusra."

From time to time, Al Nusra is also fighting Daesh for their interest; therefore, we cannot legitimize any other terrorist organization just because they are fighting others on the ground."

"Therefore, the PYD should never be a reliable partner to defeat Daesh."
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Vladimir Putin has announced that Russian troops will begin a partial withdrawal from Syria, in a surprise move that could herald a major shift in the conflict.

In a claim given a wary welcome by the Syrian opposition, the Russian President said that his five-month military campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad had achieved its aims, and ordered his Foreign Minister to intensify Moscows role in peace talks that have resumed in Geneva.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with ministers at the Kremlin, Mr Putin said he had ordered the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingent but said a Russian airbase and naval facility in the country would continue to operate.

A Syrian boy carrying another injured boy away from the scene of a Russian air strike in Damascus in December 2015 (Getty)

The announcement comes as Syria marks the fifth anniversary of the uprising against President Assad. Moscow has been one of the staunchest allies of Damascus, and the Russian military intervention at the end of September shifted the momentum in the conflict in its favour.

The presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Mr Assad had agreed to the decision following a telephone conversation with Mr Putin. Syrias state news agency quoted the Syrian President as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured victories against terrorism and returned security to the country.

While its intervention was officially launched to combat terrorist groups, Russia has been widely accused of using a relentless air campaign to target more moderate rebel groups as well as hundreds of civilian targets including schools and hospitals.

Recommended Read more How the West got it wrong as the Syrian civil war developed

The latest announcement will be met with cynicism in Western capitals, where diplomats say that Mr Putin has proved to be a mercurial and untrustworthy partner not just in the Syria conflict but also in the war in Ukraine.

Mr Putin said that the withdrawal would begin on Tuesday but did not give a timeline for completion, nor did he specify how many planes and troops would be pulled out. Russias airbase in Hmeymim, in Syrias coastal Latakia province, and its naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous would remain, he said. Russias UN ambassador said that Russia would continue the fight against terrorists  a term it has used to describe all those opposed to President Assad.

The official Syrian opposition, which had no prior warning, offered a cautious welcome. It said that, if implemented, a withdrawal would pile pressure on the Syrian government and give new impetus to the drive to reach a negotiated settlement.

Salim al-Muslat, spokesman for the rebel High Negotiations Committee, said: If this is a serious step it will form a major element of pressure on the regime, because the Russian support prolonged the regime. Matters will change significantly as a result of that.

The US also said that it had no advance knowledge of the announcement. A spokeswoman for the United Nations Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, refused to say whether he was aware of plans. Earlier in the day, Mr de Mistura warned that the only alternative to negotiations was a return to war. He is due to brief the UN Security Council on the developments from Geneva on Monday night.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

Mr Putin has always maintained that his forces were engaged in Syria to battle Isis and other groups deemed to be terrorists. Syrian opposition activists and Western diplomats have long insisted that Moscow was instead focused on propping up ailing Syrian government forces. That claim was all but vindicated as Mr Putin said that his mission had largely been accomplished even though Isis still remains a major force in Syria, as does the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.

Mr Putin insisted, however, that Syrias armed forces and the patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost in all respects.

He said the Russian air campaign had allowed Mr Assads military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks. He said some troops would stay in the country to monitor the ceasefire and create the conditions for the peace process.

Despite claims that Mr Putin was not serious about halting the violence in Syria, the cessation of hostilities that began at the end of February has defied expectations by largely holding for more than two weeks. That it has done so is largely thanks to pressure by international sponsors on their client groups in Syria, including by Russia. Some analysts have suggested that Mr Putin is eager for Russia to be treated as an equal partner by global powers.
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Half a decade since the Arab Spring reached Syria, the country is in tatters, with at least 250,000 killed, infrastructure and national cohesion destroyed, and an Isis statelet rampant in the north. But those committed to the opposition remain adamant that their initial demand  to bring down the regime  will still be achieved.

This year, for the first time, the anniversary of the initial protests comes during a period of relative peace  despite ceasefire violations such as the regimes air strikes in Aleppo on Friday that killed five civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The ceasefire was urgently needed, says Mohammad al-Masri, an editor at the Syrian Mirror opposition news website, who is based in Turkey. People are tired. Nobody can take that amount of killing. They needed a break, on both sides.

Last year was the worst yet in the war, 30 human rights groups said last week, with the country further fragmenting and more people living under siege, with less access to aid. Russian air strikes, which began on the last day of September, have killed thousands of civilians, the groups say.

Recommended Read more How the West got it wrong as the Syrian civil war developed

Mr Masri had already planned to leave Syria in late March 2011, just as protests were getting under way, to study in Jordan. But he volunteered to help the opposition reach out to journalists from around the world. I dreamt that after five years, the Syrian passport would be one of the most powerful in the world. Like those of the US and the UK, Mr Masri says.

I was dreaming that our parliament would be like Turkeys, our streets like Western Europe. Our schools and students like Japan.

After the self-immolation of a disenfranchised street vendor in Tunisia in December 2010 sparked the Jasmine Revolution there, anti-regime protests soon spread to Egypt, then to Libya. In March 2011, schoolboys in Syrias southern city of Deraa spraypainted Its your turn, doctor on a wall, a clear reference to President Bashar al-Assad, who is a trained ophthalmologist. Their detention by security officials led to local protests, which soon spread to the capital, Damascus.

Muhammad Shehideh, an English teacher and aid worker in the currently besieged rebel-held city of Daraya, to the west of Damascus, remembers the first protest there. He himself penned the slogan that was used: From Daraya to Houran [Deraa], one people who will not be humiliated (it rhymes in Arabic).

 Despite ceasefire, fighting continues in Syria

We felt a mixture of fear, anticipation, excitement and hope, he says. Many people were eager to raise their voices. At first, Mr Shehideh recalls, the resignation of Mr Assad was not even one of the demands made by the demonstrators. We didnt ask that Bashar would leave, he says, We just asked for more freedom, dignity, fighting corruption. Expectations were very high at the time.

Rafif Jouejati, a spokeswoman for the oppositions Local Co-ordination Committees, agrees: We were all full of hope, she says. The fall of the regime seemed imminent; we could practically taste freedom.

But then violence crept in, and escalated quickly. On that first Friday of protest in Daraya, Mr Shehideh says, officials gathered regime supporters for a counter demonstration near by. But by the following week, they brought buses of thugs unfortunately, shabeeha as we call them. Some were military troops, but they werent in uniform. They held batons, sticks and they started to beat us.

Anti-regime protesters tried to reason with the shabeeha, but they were not interested in a debate: We tried to speak to them but they wouldnt listen.

In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work

Across the country, each protest was met by ever greater force. The regime has always denied initiating violence, and says it responded only because of armed infiltrators; whatever the truth of that, deadly violence reached Daraya on what became known as Great Friday a day of unified protest across the nation on 22 April.

I believe more than 10,000 people demonstrated in Daraya  the regime brought military forces and riot police. They dispersed the protesters, they fired at them, and three were killed, and more than 20 injured. Despite the clear dangers, and the regimes willingness to use force, Mr Shehideh says the protesters were undeterred.

At that time, people knew that they were risking their lives, but they insisted on going on. We used to exchange jokes about going and never returning; people writing their wills before going out to protest, telling their friends what to do if they were killed.

In response to the increasingly bloody government crackdown, the Free Syrian Army was formed in July that year, comprising many defectors.

Osama Nassar, who founded the Syrian Non-Violence Movement, regrets that the opposition movement became militarised. Yes, the regime started the violence, and its the first side to be blamed, Mr Nassar says now from besieged Douma; he fled there from Damascus in 2013, when the regime issued an arrest warrant in his name.

Violence has always been the regimes only answer, even before the revolution. Violence is its court: it wasnt wise of us to challenge it in its own court. Having glimpsed the opportunity for reform after decades of repressive rule, his fellow revolutionaries were in a hurry, Mr Nassar says. We were all longing for freedom. He wishes the opposition had stuck to non-violent weapons of strikes and civil disobedience, even though this would have taken longer to have an effect.

Recommended Read more Five ways the Syrian civil war has changed the world

Mr Masri believes that the early involvement of foreign powers weakened the opposition, as its competing factions looked to their backers overseas. The opposition was so fragmented, all they cared about were the interests of the powers who elected them, he says, pointing his fingers at Qatar, Turkey and Britain among others.

He believes the regime is now weakened beyond repair, but that it will not surrender until every other option is exhausted. The regime is going to collapse, he says. Anyway, there is no regime any more  Its now just become groups of mercenaries under the names of different security branches.

Mr Assad was never the real issue for Mr Masri  it was the structures of the state that surrounded him. Assad himself is an employee. Assad wasnt the problem  its the construction of the regime.

The regime is, of course, not the only enemy for the moderate opposition now, and the growth of Isis over the past few years appears to pose a threat to the sovereignty of any future Syria.

But for Ms Jouejati, the jihadist group is merely an extension of the regime, albeit of a different shade. The ultimate goal is to effect regime change, and by regime change I mean the Assad mafia and all those other dictatorships Assad has spawned  groups such as Isis  that have adopted a deeply twisted version of Islam to further their political agendas.

Ms Jouejati also admits the opposition has made mistakes, but blames that on the lack of a political culture in Syria, itself the fault of a regime that brooked no opposition. No Syrian had been trained to serve in an opposition party, she says. Leadership was confused with dictatorship; healthy competition was non-existent.

Having lived her life between Syria and the US, Ms Jouejati blames many failings on the international community. Asked to cast her mind back to 2011 and say what she then expected Syria would have looked like now, she says that she fully expected it to have become a transitional state and the regime to have collapsed.

But she says she did not expect the international communitys relative indifference to human suffering, nor its vacillations over declared red lines. I did not expect the Obama administration to so blatantly turn its back on a people victimised by a Hitleresque regime wielding chemical weapons and barrel bombs.

Yet in an example of the triumph of hope over experience, this fifth anniversary of the war feels unlike any other  according to Marvin Gate, the pseudonymous curator of the Humans of Syria Facebook page, which tries to put real faces to events. This time something has happened, something has changed, Ms Jouejati says.

The temporary cessation of hostilities brokered by the US and Russia  but which excludes Isis and the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra  has allowed peaceful protests to resume again.

The amazing thing is that after five years, people still have the strength to go back to the streets. They have survived bombing, chemical weapons and sieges  and still they are willing to ask for their rights and to protest, even though they are tired.

And, she says, they are unified. They are all using the same slogan, and the same flag once again. Its not a civil war, its a revolution.
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Just before I left Syria last month, a tall and eloquent Franco-Lebanese man walked up to me in a Damascus coffee shop and introduced himself as President Bashar al-Assads architect. It was his task, he led me to understand, to design the reconstructed cities of Syria.

Who would have believed it? Five years after the start of Syrias tragedy  and within six months of this, remember, the regime itself trembled and the Western powers, flush with dangerous pride after destroying Gaddafi, predicted the imminent fall of the Assad dynasty  the Syrian government is preparing to rebuild its towns and cities.

Its worth taking that embarrassing trip down memory lane to the early spring and summer of 2011. The US and French ambassadors visited Homs to sit amid tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Assad government. EU diplomats were telling the political opposition not to negotiate with Assad  a fatal mistake, since the advice was based on the false assumption that he was about to be overthrown  and journalists were gathering with rebels in eastern Aleppo for the inevitable march of liberation on Damascus.

 Despite ceasefire, fighting continues in Syria

The Assad regime, came the message from the Washington think-tanks and mountebank experts, had reached  a cliche we should all beware of  the tipping point. La Clinton announced that Assad had to go. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius declared that Assad did not deserve to live on this planet  although he failed to name the galaxy to which the Syrian President might retire. And I complied with an Independent request to write Assads obituary  for future use, you understand  and still it moulders in the papers archives.

Looking back, its not difficult to see where we all got it wrong. We were high on Arab revolutions  Tunisia, then Egypt and then Libya  and journalists were growing used to liberating Arab capitals. We forgot that their dictators were all Sunni Muslims, that they had no regional super-power support  the Saudis could not save Hosni Mubarak in Egypt but Shia Iran was not going to allow its only Arab ally, Alawite-Shia-led Syria, to fall. At first, the Syrian Baath party and the regimes internal security agents behaved with their usual inane brutality. Teenagers who wrote anti-Assad graffiti on the walls of Deraa were tortured, the local tribal leaders abused  and a deputy minister dispatched to apologise for the governments errors. But torture was so much an instrument of state power that the intelligence apparatus knew no other way to resolve this unprecedented challenge to the regimes authority.

Recommended Read more On the front line with Iranian forces battling outside Aleppo

The government army was ordered to shoot down demonstrators. Hence the brief but ultimately hopeless dawn of the Free Syrian Army, many of them deserters who are now slowly returning to the ranks or drifting off home with the regimes tacit permission. But there were signs from the very start that armed groups were involved in this latest manifestation of the Arab awakening.

In May 2011, an Al Jazeera crew filmed armed men shooting at Syrian troops a few hundred metres from the northern border with Lebanon but the channel declined to air the footage, which their reporter later showed to me. A Syrian television crew, working for the government, produced a tape showing men with pistols and Kalashnikovs in a Deraa demonstration in the very early days of the rising.

This did not prove the Gulf-Turkish terrorist conspiracy which the Syrian regime now revealed to the world. But it did demonstrate that from the start  when ordinary Syrian families felt it necessary to defend their families with firearms  guns were available to the opposition. And once the governments own loyal militias were given free rein to attack the regimes enemies, the massacres began. In one Sunni village east of Latakia, a Western news agency reporter discovered that almost every civilian had been slaughtered.

The Assad regime, came the message from the Washington think-tanks and mountebank experts, had reached  a cliche we should all beware of  the tipping point <p> </p>

The sectarian nature of Middle East civil wars has always been manipulated. For 100 years, the West has used the confessional nature of society in the region to set up national governments which were, by nature, sectarian  in Palestine after the 1914-18 war, in Cyprus, in Lebanon, in Syria  where the French used Alawites as their force speciale  and, after 2003, in Iraq. This not only allowed us to portray Middle Eastern people as essentially sectarian in nature but permitted us to forget the degree to which minorities would naturally lend their support to local dictators  not least the Christians (Maronites, Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Melkite, and so on) of Syria.

And by constantly reminding readers and viewers of the Alawite domination of Assad, we journalists ourselves fell victim to our own reporting. We forgot  or did not care  that perhaps 80 per cent of the Syrian government army were Sunni Muslims who would, over the next four years, be fighting their co-religionists in the opposition militias and  by 2014  struggling against them in the al-Qaeda/Nusra alliance and in Isis.

Residents of Damascus taking advantage of the ceasefire between the Syrian army and rebels (Getty)

In Lebanon, the Syrian army was a deeply corrupting influence, its soldiers indisciplined, its officers often involved in dodgy business and real estate deals. But the Syrian army that found itself fighting for its life after 2012, especially when the Nusra and Isis suicide squads began to cut into their ranks  ritually chopping off the heads of their military prisoners by the dozen  became a different creature.

As ruthless as ever, its soldiers fought to survive  I suspect they even began to like fighting  and many of their frontline generals, when I met them, turned out to be Sunni Muslims as well as Alawites. In other words, the real backbone of the one institution which could save the Syrian state  was not an Alawite-Christian alliance but a Sunni-Alawite-Christian military force  out-gunned and out-manned after 60,000 dead, to be sure, but still capable of holding the line if it was reinforced with new armour and air power.

In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work

Enter Vladimir Putin. The Syrians within Assads current frontiers  less than half of the land mass, but including well over 60 per cent of the Syrian people  have adopted a phlegmatic approach to the Russians. Their Sukhoi jets strike at villages and towns beyond the front line  and Moscow has adopted exactly the same tactic of denying civilian casualties in air strikes that the Americans and British and French have for so long been using in their own anti-terror war in Syria and Iraq.

All civil wars generate their own special propaganda. When the Sunnis of Madaya were starving under siege by Syrian troops, the fact that their village was held by armed opposition groups was largely deleted from our stories. When Shia villages like Zahra and Nubl, both defended by government militiamen, were besieged by al-Nusra for three-and-a-half years, their liberation was scarcely mentioned.

 Questions over Syrian Kurds' links to Assad and Russia

And then there are the red lines. Assad used gas on his own people in Damascus, we all believe  after all, the UN report said so. But in fact the UN conclusions did not say that. This does not mean that the Syrian government did not use gas, or would not be prepared to use gas  there are no good guys in civil wars  but that UN proof was ultimately lacking.

Today, there are only two serious military forces with boots on the ground to fight Isis and al-Nusra and the other Islamist gangs: the Kurds and the Syrian army. And the latter, reinforced by Russian air power, are now  for the moment at least  winning. Ive even seen a new poster on the streets of Syrian cities. It shows Bashar al-Assad and, right alongside him, the face of Colonel Suheil al-Hassan, the Tiger as the army call him, the countrys most successful military commander, the Rommel of Syria.

He is also a ruthless man  Ive met him  but now we find his image, that of a Syrian officer, alongside that of Assad. We should pay attention to these phenomena. The army expresses its loyalty for Assad. But, every time Assad speaks, he shrewdly begins with praise for the martyrs of the Syrian army.

Is that why French and American intelligence officers are now reaching out again  from Beirut, of course  to their former contacts in the Syrian intelligence service? Is that why US Secretary of State John Kerry now suggests that the Americans may talk to Assad again?

On principle, I dont like armies  whomever they work for. But that doesnt mean we can disregard them. Nor can Assad.
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A sex slave held by the terror group Isis for seven months has described her captors as not like humans.

The 25-year-old woman, who has four children, was held by jihadists in Syria where she says she was abused every day by her captor.

"I cannot tell you how awful these people are. They were not like humans, you cannot imagine it, the Yazidi woman told Sky News.

She said her children were beaten to make sure she did as she was told, adding: I was so worried that he [her captor, known as Omar] would take away my children.

"They were very violent and shouting every day. My father and brothers were taken away and even now we don't have any news of them.

"Most probably they were killed but it's better. It's better that they are dead and not in prisons with these people. Even us, we were just wishing to die rather than stay with such people."

In December, Nadia Murad Basee Taha described the terrifying ordeal of how she was imprisoned by Isis fighters to the UN security council, before urging them to bring perpetrators of such violence to justice.

We, the women and children were brought by bus to another region," she said. "Along the way they humiliated us. They touched us and violated us.

They took us to Mosul with more than 150 other Yazidi families. There were thousands of Yazidi families and children who were exchanged as gifts.

One of these people came up to me, he wanted to take me, I was absolutely petrified. He forced me to serve as part of his military faction.

He humiliated me every day. He forced me to wear clothes that didnt cover my body. I was tortured.

I tried to flee but one of the guards stopped me. That night he beat me.

He asked me to take my clothes off. He put me in a room with the guards. Then they proceeded to commit their crime until I feinted.

Isis jihadists justify raping Yazidi women because they claim Islam allows them to have sex with non-Muslims.

Rothna Begum, womens rights researcher, Human Rights Watch, says: Isis forces have abducted thousands of Yezidis since August 2014 and committed organized rape, sexual assault, and other horrific crimes against many Yezidi women and girls.

These are war crimes and may be crimes against humanity.

We spoke to women and girls who escaped and told us they had been forced into marriage; bought and sold, sometimes in slavery markets and even multiple times, or given as gifts.

Isis acknowledges such crimes and attempts to justify them by categorizing captured Yezidi women and girls as spoils of war for its fighters, and claims that Islam permits sex with non-Muslim slaves.
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The Queen addressed the international community of Commonwealth nations on Monday, declaring inclusivity as the theme of 2016 across the former territories of the British Empire.

The irony of working to combat oppression around the world through the concept of a Commonwealth, the ghost of an imperial system implemented through a litany of brutal atrocities, has been noted.

At a star-studded event at Westminster Abbey in London, dignitaries from the 53-nation group came together to hear the Queen's message about being inclusive and accepting diversity wherever we live in the Commonwealth.

In the programme for the service, the Queen said: Today, and in the year ahead, the theme 'An Inclusive Commonwealth' is an inspiration for us all. Let us give it practical effect by supporting those in need and those who feel excluded in all walks of life. By doing so, we will continue to build a truly representative Commonwealth community.

Here are seven Commonwealth members who have failed to live up to those ideals.

Uganda

Uganda has recently tried to impose anti-gay laws where those accused can be punished by imprisonment (Corbis)

Ugandas president Yoweri Museveni extended his 30-year rule when the results of its recent elections were announced on 20 February  while his opponent was being held under house arrest.

The Independent went on patrol with a group of unpaid vigilante preventers, who critics say were used as an unofficial army of enforcers to stamp out any resistance against the incumbent leader.

The criminalisation of homosexuality  for the most part a direct result of colonialism in Africa  is evident particularly clearly in Uganda. While its infamous Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was nullified early last year, a new bill targeting the LGBT community  but with a less offensive title  is set to come into law.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan journalists light candles in memory of several killed or disappeared colleagues, in Colombo (Corbis)

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative was founded in 1987 in a bid to use the influence of the Commonwealth ideal to shine a light on the human rights abuses of individual states.

In its statement marking Commonwealth Day 2016, the organisation has chosen to highlight Sri Lanka and its sharp turn towards authoritarianism as the most pressing concern for the wider group.

The humanitarian crisis in the country after the cessation of armed conflict in 2009 damages Commonwealth credibility, the CHRI said.

Violations and abuses that have occurred in Sri Lanka include indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence, recruitment of children and other grave crimes, it said, quoting the UN HRC.

Kenya

An activist is detained by police officers during a demonstration against corruption in central Nairobi (Corbis)

In its report on The State of the Worlds Human Rights, released late last month, Amnesty International raised 10 key examples of countries where there have been attacks on the rights of individuals perpetrated on a national scale.

They included two current Commonwealth nations  Kenya and Pakistan  as well as The Gambia, a member until very recently when it withdrew citing neo-colonialism.

Human rights attacks around the world Show all 10 1 /10 Human rights attacks around the world Human rights attacks around the world China Escalating crackdown against human rights activists including mass arrests of lawyers and a series of sweeping laws in the name of national security. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Egypt The arrest of thousands, including peaceful critics, in a ruthless crackdown in the name of national security, the prolonged detention of hundreds without charge or trial and the sentencing of hundreds of others to death. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Gambia Torture, enforced disappearances and the criminalisation of LGBTI people; and utter refusal to co-operate with the UN and regional human rights mechanisms on issues including freedom of expression, enforced disappearance and the death penalty. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Hungary Sealing off its borders to thousands of refugees in dire need; and obstructing collective regional attempts to help them. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Israel Maintaining its military blockade of Gaza and therefore collective punishment of the 1.8 million inhabitants there, as well as failing, like Palestine, to comply with a UN call to conduct credible investigations into war crimes committed during the 2014 Gaza conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Kenya Extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees in its counter-terrorism operations; and attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Pakistan The severe human rights failings of its response to the horrific Peshawar school massacre including its relentless use of the death penalty; and its policy on international NGOs giving authorities the power to monitor them and close them down if they are considered to be against the interests of the country. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Russia Repressive use of vague national security and anti-extremism legislation and its concerted attempts to silence civil society in the country; its shameful refusal to acknowledge civilian killings in Syria and its callous moves to block Security Council action on Syria. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Saudi Arabia Brutally cracking down on those who dared to advocate reform or criticise the authorities; and committing war crimes in the bombing campaign it has led in Yemen (pictured) while obstructing the establishment of a UN-led inquiry into violations by all sides in the conflict. Getty Images Human rights attacks around the world Syria Killing thousands of civilians in direct and indiscriminate attacks with barrel bombs and other weaponry and through acts of torture in detention; and enforcing lengthy sieges of civilian areas, blocking international aid from reaching starving civilians. Getty Images

In Kenya, Amnesty reported extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and discrimination against refugees under the umbrella of the governments counter-terrorism operations against the al-Shabaab militant group.

It also said there had been concerted attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court and its ability to pursue justice.

Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago's anti-LGBT laws remain stuck in the colonial era (equality-network.org) (Image taken from equality-network.org)

Governed by Britain for more than 160 years until it obtained independence in 1962, Trinidad and Tobago has become the third-wealthiest nation in the Americas per capita due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas.

Yet while it is now a flourishing republic, the countrys anti-LGBT laws remain stuck in the colonial era.

So-called buggery laws, brought in under British rule, carry a 25-year prison term for consensual anal sex between two men. Current immigration laws also bar undesirables from entering the country in the first place  a list that includes homosexuals, prostitutes and other marginalised groups.

It is reported that these laws often go unenforced, and public opinion remains divided on the issue of gay rights  as this scathing comment article, run by the Trinidad Express after the US Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, shows.

The Maldives

In the Maldives, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative found a flagrant disregard to the rule of law, human rights and good governance (Corbis)

The CHRI says it carried out a fact-finding mission to the Maldives in November last year, and found the country in clear violation with the fundamental values of the Commonwealth.

Among other issues, it found a flagrant disregard to the rule of law, human rights and good governance, as well as warning that the country represents a fertile recruitment ground for jihadist fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Radicalised elements continuously harass and attack individuals perceived to be secular, unorthodox or un-Islamic with impunity, as government tolerates instead of punishes these perpetrators, it said, adding that the rise of ultra-conservative groups severely undermines advancement of womens rights and gender equality.

Malaysia

Despite experiencing growing economic prosperity, Malaysia is still beset by issues of equality (Corbis)

The lands which now make up Malaysia were dominated by Britain until the modern country was formed in 1963.

Since then, it has experienced growing economic prosperity  but it has made headlines this week after two Australian journalists were detained for attempting to question the Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The issue of press freedom in Malaysia appears to be coming to a head, but has been a growing concern for some time. In its statement on Human Rights Day last year, the CHRI said: We stand with the journalists and activists harassed and prosecuted for the legitimate exercise of their freedoms of speech and assembly in Malaysia.

England (and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)

In his message marking Commonwealth Day, David Cameron said the organisation was one of the ways "we amplify Britain's influence in the world".

He said: "It is by being a member of strong networks and international organisations such as the Commonwealth, the UN Security Council, the EU, Nato and G8 that we amplify Britain's influence in the world.

"As the only country to belong to all of these organisations, we have a unique opportunity to make our voice heard and our partners value the role we can play in bringing together these different networks, so we all work together to deliver greater security and prosperity for our citizens."

As can be seen from the examples of countries above, however, it is at least partly because of Britain's effort to "influence" the world in the past two hundred years that so many issues regarding inclusivity have arisen.
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This is not at attempt to trivialise claims of anti-Semitism  lets get that out of the way right at the start. Im not suggesting that the British left has no problem with anti-Semitism.

Just like other forms of racism, anti-Semitism never really goes away; it just lingers in the background, waiting for a comeback opportunity. The left, with all its progressive credentials, is not magically immune to this threat, and sometimes anti-Semitism takes cover behind genuine criticisms of Israel and its military occupation of the Palestinian territories. (My own bugbear is when people say the Zionists. It often feels to me that what they actually want to say, but know they cant, is the Jews.)

All of which is a necessary scene-setter for the current spat over anti-Semitism in the Labour party. Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader, stands accused of not taking the matter seriously enough, amid claims of anti-Semitism at Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) and within theparty more widely. The worry  as presented by Labour MP John Mann, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on anti-Semitism, on BBC Ones Sunday Politics  is that a toxic prejudice crept in to the Labour party with the new members that joined following Corbyns leadership bid and subsequent landslide victory. Its a two-pronged attack: both at Corbyn, the idea being that he somehow attracts unsavoury types, and also at new members, who may be unprecedented in numbers but are nevertheless considered the wrong kind of members.

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The trouble with these accusations is the way they are being used as a tool within the party. Nobody denies that claims of anti-Semitism should be investigated  and they are. Yesterday, the Labour party announced a widening of the scope of those investigations, to encompass not just the OULC, but also a complaint at LSE, where a Labour group student is claimed to have posted to Facebook during student union elections, about a takeover by leading Zionists.

The same inquiry, led by Labour peer Baroness Royall, is also taking in criticisms around the election of a youth representative to the National Executive Committee last month: Labour First candidate Jasmin Beckett, who won by a minuscule margin, has been accused of smearing as anti-Semitic the Momentum and Unite union candidate, James Elliot, encouraging her supporters to do the same. Beckett supporters have complained of bullying and intimidation by union officials  so now thats also in Royalls remit.

What smells bad however, is the attempt to bind the issue to a bigger beef over Corbyns leadership, so that unfounded assertions about his reluctance to tackle anti-Semitism become part of an attack over his claimed inability to lead. When concern about anti-Semitism is deliberately deployed in a tussle over political leadership then who exactly is it that doesnt take anti-Semitism seriously enough?

Its one thing to refuse to accept the democratic process by which Corbyn was elected and then start canvassing for an attempted coup. I could find all kinds of ways to describe that. But to drag the issue of anti-Semitism into this particular fight brings three words to mind: exploitative, cynical and offensive.

Rachel Shabi is the author of Not the Enemy: Israels Jews from Arab Lands
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Asked about what he most feared in politics, Harold Macmillan  according to legend  once replied, Events, dear boy, events! George Osborne might well be thinking of that refrain right now  the event in his case being the emergence of a large black hole in the economy that threatens to derail all his plans for this weeks Budget.

Not long ago, this looked like being a relatively easy Budget in political terms. With no election in sight and Labour seemingly more interested in attacking itself than the Government, it was shaping up to be the Budget that helped the Chancellor to nail down his prospects as a future leader of the Conservative Party. He would hand out some well-aimed gifts to the better-off  the kind of people who can be relied on to vote Conservative  by raising the higher-rate tax threshold to 50,000 for a start. At the same time, he would confirm his overall reputation as the man who restored order to the nations finances.

Those neatly laid plans lie in disarray as an 18bn shortfall  blamed mostly on lower than expected tax receipts  makes a further sharp squeeze on public spending inevitable while rendering giveaways for the better-off politically risky. It is doubly depressing for the Chancellor, when the Office for Budget Responsibility only last autumn was predicting that he would have an extra 27bn to play with. Now, wherever his axe falls and whatever raids he makes on the nations wallets through new stealth taxes, such as a rise in fuel duty or in insurance premiums, he will find it a struggle to meet his targets of reducing public sector debt and running a budget surplus by 2020. The would-be Iron Chancellor is turning out to have feet of clay.

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Always an agile politician, especially when backed into a corner, Mr Osborne has taken pre-emptive action. On Sunday, he was busy preparing the country for grim news  a good tactic, especially if you have a few sweeteners stashed away somewhere for a rainy day. We need to act now, so we dont pay later, he said, somewhat cryptically, adding regretfully that the world had become a difficult and more dangerous place.

Many people will probably accept that it is. However, even if the voters grudgingly accept that Britain can only do so much about a general slowdown in the world economy, no one likes the bearer of bad news. Some of Mr Osbornes colleagues in the Cabinet will be furious if they are told to make extra cuts to their already savaged departments. Tory MPs may well become restive, too, especially if the price of petrol goes up. Some of them have already discovered how easy it is for a relatively small number of rebels to humiliate the Government, as the recent defeat on Sunday trading hours showed.

In terms of Mr Osbornes own career prospects, this black hole could not have come at a worse moment. By the time David Cameron starts clearing his desk, probably some time in 2019, Mr Osborne had hoped to position himself as the candidate of safety, as opposed to the mercurial and untested Boris Johnson.

The Chancellor knows he is not much loved either in his own party or in the country, and was hoping to override that little difficulty, and Mr Johnsons more obvious appeal, by presenting himself as the man who delivered economic stability. Now he risks going into a contest against Mr Johnson with no obvious unique selling point except a reputation for cleverness. He can, of course, claim that things might well have been worse under someone else  but it is not the best campaigning slogan for a would-be prime minister.
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The Saudi led bombardment of Yemen has been going on for almost a year. The humanitarian situation is dire, and it is civilians that are paying the price. Thousands have been killed, with bombs hitting refugee camps, schools, hospitals and aid facilities.

The scale of the destruction was made clear when Medecins Sans Frontieres announced that one of its hospitals in the country was to close as a result of air strikes in the area surrounding it. This followed four air strikes on MSF facilities in three months.

In January, a UN Panel report accused Saudi forces of widespread and systematic attacks on civilian targets, suggesting the strikes could be in violation of international humanitarian law. This followed similar concerns from a number of human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam.

Last month the European Parliament took the unprecedented step of calling for an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The vote was non-binding, but it sent an important message to arms dealing nations.

However, it comes to Saudi Arabia and its international allies, the reports and the European vote have been ignored by the UK.

Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond pledged to " support the Saudis in every practical way short of engaging in combat." The UK government has provided almost uncritical political support, while licensing almost 3 billion worth of arms . Last year, Defense News reported that UK bombs earmarked for the RAF had been transferred to Saudi Arabia to aid the bombing.

For decades now, huge amounts of time and political capital have been spent on pushing weapons. The UK hosts major arms fairs and sends government ministers to lobby for arms sales abroad. There is even a 130 strong civil service body, UKTI DSO, that exists for the sole purpose of promoting arms exports.

Despite this enthusiasm for arms sales, UK arms export law is very clear. It says that licences for military equipment should not be granted if there is a clear risk that it might be used in violation of international humanitarian law. By any reasonable interpretation these criteria should surely prohibit all arms sales to Saudi Arabia that could be used in Yemen.

Last week Campaign Against Arms Trade and our lawyers at Leigh Day submitted a claim for a Judicial Review into the arms sales. We are calling on the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills to suspend all extant licences and stop issuing further licences for arms exports to Saudi while it holds a full review into whether the exports are compatible with UK and EU legislation.

An end to the arms sales would mean that UK arms companies are no longer profiting from the misery being inflicted on Yemen. Just as importantly, it would set a crucial and important precedent. It would finally break the UKs uncritical support the Saudi regime and put a stop to its complicit role in the collective punishment of Yemen.

Andrew Smith is a spokesperson for Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). You can follow CAAT on Twitter at @CAATuk
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Hear hear for regional theatre (David Lister, 12 March) and a televised awards scheme which recognises the whole of the UK. Calling the London-based awards the Oliviers implies the very best nationally, but actually only has a narrow frame of reference.

We have a home in Stratford-upon-Avon and a base in London at the Barbican, yet many of our fine productions last year, such as Othello and Hecuba, missed out as they were ineligible. That goes too for countless wonderful shows from other regional theatres.

We work regularly with over 20 partner theatres all over the country and can vouch for their fantastic quality of work, which surely should be celebrated.

Our regional theatres are a vital part of cultural life for audiences and are as essential for producing great actors, directors and writers as anything that happens in our capital.

It is already difficult for regional theatres to entice national newspapers to allow critics to review regional productions. The London theatre awards, as currently named, simply add to the sense that the rest of the country doesnt matter. Lets find a way of championing the very best work everywhere. Our audiences expect nothing less.

Catherine Mallyon

Executive Director,

Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon

Warwickshire

Clash of cultures over separate seating

Umaar Kazmis letter (14 March) seemed to be one long apology for ultra-religious Muslims. If, as he says, for a number of them sitting separately is a choice, then its more likely because of indoctrination than free choice.

Either way, gender segregation amounts to a medieval view of women in their communities, and shouldnt be tolerated at public meetings, being incompatible with our liberal values.

Steve Lustig

London NW2

I have a question for Umaar Kazmi.

Some years ago, when I was teaching and served as a local union representative, I was responsible for giving a lift to a colleague to meetings. He was a Muslim, had had a stroke and used a wheelchair.

Our AGM was to be held locally and my colleague, who had friends living near the venue, arranged for us to call on them afterwards. Their house was on a hill and the front path was very steep. The father and two sons watched me struggle to push my colleague up the path until it became clear that we were unable to proceed.

In the living room chairs were set out to watch the Test match and another set of chairs at the other end of the room. I settled my colleague and, wanting to be on hand should he need me, I sat down beside him as I always did at meetings. I had forgotten that, as a woman, I should have gone to the other end of the room.

The ladies of the house came in and sat there. The hostility was palpable. Suddenly, I was angry. I thought: This is England. Here we do not sit segregated. I have behaved as seemed right for my friend. I did not move.

The person who kindly helped us back down the path afterwards was the grandfather. He gave me a box of dates from Mecca from his recent pilgrimage. His kindness redeemed the event. What does Umaar Kazmi think I should have done?

Gill Ledsham

Windsor

Umaar Kazmi rightly wants conservative Muslims to have the freedom of choice to sit separately in political gatherings.

However having segregated meetings may take away the freedom of choice from people who would not want to sit separately.

In practice the only way to allow this choice is to have a third, mixed, section. My question is: how often does this happen?

Julie Dalton

Sheffield

As a friend of America, I worry about Trump

I think it was in the comedy film Primary Colors that the fictional Presidential candidate, Jack Stanton, played by John Travolta, said: I will not go negative. Any jackass can burn down a barn.

Well the jackasses have burnt down the barn this time. Donald Trump is not the main issue in the American presidential campaign; he is the only issue. No serious political arguments are taking place in the US now and no solutions are being advanced to the great American people for their problems.

As someone who has grown up in the shadow of Hadrians Wall, I know history tells us the answers are not to be found in the simplistic solutions advanced by Donald Trump.

Writing to you today from the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City I see a great city all around me, a beautiful city just at the beginning of spring. But I see a city with an awful lot of empty shops for rent. The contrast between rich and poor is ever wider. You see it when you cross over from Brooklyn into New York City itself.

When things go wrong good friends should say so. I genuinely fear for the future of democracy. I fear for this wonderful country America, which should be so full of hope.

Nigel F Boddy

Darlington

Tell our children about apprenticeships

The myths surrounding apprenticeships are deeply ingrained in our society (Governments apprenticeship push missing target audience, 14 March). Too many people still believe that they are the second-best option to going to university, because they have not been told what a modern apprenticeship entails.

Polling we commissioned from YouGov found that 63 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds have not received any careers advice on apprenticeships at school. This lack of information is doubtlessly the biggest barrier to the Governments drive to train 3 million more apprentices by 2020.

The Government needs to redouble its efforts to overcome the myths about apprenticeships. Everyone should know that an apprentice can earn while they learn, study for qualifications equivalent to a masters degree and kick-start their careers without drowning in debt.

The starting place for this will be to ensure that young people have better careers advice that acknowledges that apprenticeships are just as viable a career path as going to university.

Jackie Bedford

Chief Executive, Step Ahead

London EC1

Babies cant break into electric sockets

Andy Jacksons account of life as a stay-at-home father (14 March) lists electrical sockets among the hazards from which children are to be protected.

Growing up in an electricians family I knew from an early age that British electrical sockets are inherently child-safe. The openings are too small to admit even a crawling babys finger and any attempt to poke hair grips, teaspoons or any other metal object into them is defeated by an insulated shutter which only opens when a plug is inserted. These safety features are required by law and have been so since the 1930s and I am astonished that so few people seem aware of them.

Not so the socket covers which are supposed to protect children against this non-existent danger. They are unregulated and subject to no standards. Even a small child can remove one of these in seconds and, in the hands of an enterprising child, it can actually be used as a tool to defeat the sockets built-in safety features!

Socket covers should not be used and their sale should be banned.

Derek Haslam

Colne, Lancashire

Quit the EU and curb the rich

Francis Kirkham discusses the varying claims as to how much Britain pays into the EU, relative to how much we receive back (letter, 14 March). In doing so, he highlights one of the problems of our membership: we are not in full control of our finances. By leaving the EU, we could regain that control.

In due course, we would hopefully elect a government that isnt in thrall to the greedy and selfish. We may then see a reversal of the one-way traffic of recent decades, where wealth has flowed inexorably towards the already rich.

Keith ONeill

Shrewsbury

Cruises, cheap care for the old

Your second editorial of 12 March clearly is of the opinion that only the very wealthy can afford a cruise at a cost of 700 per week per person for life. May I point out that that is less than the amount my mother-in-law pays for her care home? And that is for life too. (And, surprise, she could by no means be described as wealthy.)

Conrad Cork

Leicester

Ordering etiquette in the greasy spoon

Im afraid I cant trust Barbara MacArthurs account of her encounter with a student in a cafe (letter, 14 March), as she clearly misheard the start of the conversation. No current student would have said, I want three eggs etc. They would have said, Can I get three eggs?

Mark Redhead

Oxford
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Conservationists are increasingly concerned about a radical new method of sea fishing being employed off the British coast, using electric shocks, which has been described as the marine equivalent of fracking.

Pulse fishing is claimed by its supporters to be the answer to many of the problems caused by traditional fishing with beam trawls in the same way as fracking, the hydraulic fracturing of underground shale rock formations to release the gas they contain, is said by its proponents to be the answer to our energy problems. Yet, just as fracking has triggered controversy about its side effects, the new fishing technique  which uses powerful pulses of electricity fired from towed electrodes into the seabed  has raised serious worries about its impact, especially as it has not been scientifically evaluated for damaging environmental effects, even though it is now going ahead on a large scale.

Pulse fishings electric shocks force commercially valuable bottom-dwelling fish and seafood such as sole and shrimps up from the seabed into the water column, and allows them to be easily caught in a trawl net. It has been taken up with enthusiasm by Dutch fishermen who fish in the southern North Sea and the English Channel, and has enabled them to increase greatly their catches of sole  their main target species.

It was brought in because it appears to have significant environmental advantages: it does much less apparent damage to the seabed than the heavy metal chains used in conventional beam trawling, and it is more selective with regard to target species, thus reducing the twin problems of bycatch (dragging up untargeted marine life) and discards (the throwing away of large numbers of unwanted fish, which has been one of the most heavily criticised aspects of the EUs Common Fisheries Policy, or CFP). Most of all, because pulse fishing gear is much lighter than traditional trawling equipment, it reduces fuel costs by over half.

The fuel saving was the reason that Dutch fishermen applied to the European Commission to use the technique, even though electro-fishing was outlawed in EU waters in 1998. In 2009 the Commission issued a derogation, or exception to the regulation, which allowed member states to equip 5 per cent of their beam trawl fleets with pulse fishing gear, and in 2010 five Dutch trawlers converted to the new technique; the cost is about 300,000 a boat.

However, since 2011 the Dutch have dramatically increased the number of pulse fishing boats to more than 80, using an article in the revised CFP which allows projects in support of avoiding unwanted catches in a fishery. There are now more than 100 boats actively using the technique, including some Dutch-owned boats sailing under British flags  perfectly legally  which means they can fish in English waters.

The growing concern is that pulse fishing has been brought in so quickly that no proper scientific trials have been carried out on its possible side effects on wider marine life and the seabed  although the Dutch have promised this will be carried out as the fishing proceeds. The problem is the scale of it, says Jean-Luc Solandt of the Marine Conservation Society. Its OK to do a scientific trial with one or two boats in a completely scientific environment, but this is being carried out on an industrial scale. Its gone way beyond what the original derogation allowed. Its science being done on the hoof. It stinks.

There are fears that the electric shocks may cause long-term damage to the sediments of the seabed and to non-target species, and that the technique may be so efficient that it will cause whole areas to be fished out. The nub of it is that we just dont know what is happening, says Jeremy Percy, director of Low Impact Fishers of Europe. Yet The Dutch have just sprung it on the world. These guys have spent around 300,000 each converting their boats, so its not going away. This is the marine equivalent of fracking  its meant to be squeaky-clean and wonderful, but it may very well not be. The real problem is that we just dont know.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says the EU regulations are designed to ensure pulse beams avoid adverse impact on our own waters and that it will consider evidence before supporting an EU decision to widen the use of this new technology.
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Sundays bomb attack in Ankara is a tragedy, not only for the 37 so far reported dead and the 127 injured but also for Turkey. With the device exploding in a busy city area, it represents a significant escalation in the PKKs armed campaign against the central government.

President Erdogans response was predictable; he declared his determination to pursue a war on terror (read: against the PKK) until terrorism is brought to its knees. At the same time a Turkish court blocked access to social media, including Facebook and Twitter, claiming this was to prevent circulation of photos of the bomb attack.

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The PKKs renewal of the armed conflict, which began with the murder of two policemen at their home on 22 July last year, can be considered an act of desperation. Ironically, it was Erdogan who in 2005 was the first Turkish leader to openly admit there was a Kurdish problem and who paved the way for a peace process, which led to a ceasefire in 2013. But domestic politics and Erdogans own ambitions got in the way.

He later stated I will never accept the term Dolmabahce consensus - referring to a 10-point plan for a resolution of the conflict agreed on by the AKP government and the Kurdish HDP (Peoples Democratic Party). However, when the HDP refused to support Erdogans plans for changing the constitution to provide for an executive presidency and one-man rule, in March last year, the peace process was doomed.

A suicide bomb in the Kurdish border town of Suruc last July, killing 32 activists, signalled the end and was considered by the PKK to be yet another attack instigated by Erdogans government. The twin bomb attacks on a peace rally in Ankara in October, killing 102 and injuring more than 400, were seen in the same light. But it was last years first election results, giving the HDP 80 out of the Turkish parliaments 550 seats and removing the AKPs overall majority, that posed the greatest threat to Erdogans rule.

A re-election in November reduced the HDPs seats to 59 and returned the AKP governments overall majority - but not enough to change the constitution.

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Now steps are being taken to remove the parliamentary immunity of five leading HDP deputies as a first step to prosecution, and the HDP is not expected to pass the electoral threshold at new elections, which might be held later this year.

As the HDPs co-chair Selahattin Demirtas has earlier stated: We are the only party on earth that can talk with Ankara, Kandil and Imrali [the island where the PKKs leader Abdullah Ocalan is imprisoned] - but with its elimination the path to a peaceful settlement will be blocked.

Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish and international press
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On hearing the controversy over Versailles  one of the BBCs new historical dramas, said to be some of the filthiest TV ever  I rushed to series-link it. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen might well be incensed already, which is priceless publicity, but only by personally observing every gorgeously grotty second  every regal bumming, dwarf molestation and set of juddering French tits  can I ascertain how offended I am, and report back.

I am, however I confess, a hardline supporter of showing the gruntier side of history. Sex, and our endless yearning for it, is one of the truly authentic things we have in common with our ancestors. Shagging never went out of fashion. Behind almost all snoozy tales of treaties, grudges and military might, I realised during my A-levels, are more fascinating tales of whoring and infidelity.

I may have not fully understood the Napoleonic-era Tsarist musings of Tolstoys War and Peace the first six times I tried to read it, but when frustrated Helene Kuragina and womaniser Fedya Dolokhov went at it hard on the dining table in BBC1s recent outing... this I understood.

And now Versailles bids to underline the historical rumours that Louis XIV was a right old rogue and that his court was a hotbed of carousing, cuckolding and kinky sex. This feels like perfect Sunday-night viewing to me. If it doesnt, perhaps experiment with ITV.

Andrew Bridgen would disagree with me. There are channels, he says, where, if you wish to view this sort of material, you would have to pay for it. BBC viewers dont have a choice. They have to pay for it, whether they approve or not.

It is quaint that Bridgen believes those encrypted channels called things like DirtyHousewifeXXX, are showing 10-part hefty-budget historical blockbusters. Its also odd that he seems to believe the BBC should only be able to broadcast programmes for which there is a general country-wide consensus of approval.

 Viewers shocked by sight of a penis in BBC One's War and Peace

In fact, it seems hazy to me whether Bridgen has actually watched the show over which he is now livid and bleating in a pearl-clutching manner. I will kindly err on the side that he has, even if Versailles has yet to be allotted a transmission date in the UK. Perhaps he watched it in France, where it was first shown? Because the other possibility is that a Conservative MP has been rooting around on the internet for an illegal stream of a mucky show in order to self-assess his levels of outrage. If thats the case, Id be happier funding a duck pond.

Poldark in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza and Ross Poldark on the upcoming episode 8, transmitting on 26 April . BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark on episode 8, airing on 26 April. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Dr Choake, Harris Pascoe, Ross Poldark and Treneglos. Episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza and Ross Poldark. Episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza in episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark and Demelza. Episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza in episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza and Ross Poldark. Episode 8. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Episode 7, transmitting on 19th April. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Tom Carne on episode 7. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Mark Daniel on episode 7. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Paul Daniel (Ed Browning), Episode 7 BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Paul Daniel on episode 7. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson). Episode 7 . BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Jud Paynter (Phil Davis). Episode 7. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Jinny (Gracee O'Brien), episode 7. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Jinny (Gracee O'Brien), episode 6. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Zacky Martin (Tristan Sturrock), Mrs Zacky (Emma Spurgin Hussy), episode 6. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark and the sunset, episode 5. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark, episode 5. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark and Dwight Enys, episode 5. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Aidan Turner has won an army of female fans as Ross Poldark. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark and Reverend Halse. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark (played by Aidan Turner) epitomises the risk-taking spirit of 18th-century mine owners. Mike Hogan/BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Sabrina Bartlett as Keren Daniel in Poldark. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Aidan Turner said it was 'strange' the BBC posted topless pictures of him on Twitter. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza and Ross Poldark on set. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Aidan Turner on set while filming Poldark. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark and Reverend Halse. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures The BBCs remake of Poldark, has been scheduled to compete directly with ITVs Mr Selfridge. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Robin Ellis as Reverend Halse. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Eleanor Tomlinson and Aidan Turner in Poldark. Mike Hogan / BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Ross Poldark played by Aidan Turner. Justin Sutcliffe Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Francis Poldark played by Kyle Soller. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Demelza Carne played by Eleanor Tomlinson. BBC Poldark in pictures Poldark in pictures Elizabeth Poldark nee Chynoweth played by Heida Reed. BBC

I looked more closely into Versailles to pre-prepare myself for moral unravelling. On further scrutiny, I found that the show involves female nipples, a couple in the heterosexual missionary position and scenes of gay sex  all of which is wholly commonplace in modern drama. Theres also a prince who wears womens clothes. I wonder if its this that got Bridgens goat? Those blooming trans people, sticking their noses in everywhere!

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The clips I found of the trans storyline showed a thoughtful subplot of a man in lipstick being lectured that his marriage was something of a sham. It didnt seem remotely sexy. Indeed, the opening episode does appear to show Louis XIV with his head between a womans thighs, and at one point Queen Marie-Therese has sex with a man of restricted growth, but, again, this is hardly worth calling Ofcom over. In fact, I think were all a little bit past being surprised that people with dwarfism have sex.

Im starting to worry that nothing in Versailles seems much worse than an episode of Hollyoaks: After Dark. If anything, I wanted it muckier.

Nevertheless, I rather enjoyed this comment from Sue Deeks, head of programme acquisition: Versailles will be a delicious treat for BBC2 viewers. Delicious, I think, not only for fans of corsets and cattiness, but especially for people like me who adore upsetting the third  or is it fourth?  generation of the Mary Whitehouse Brigade.

These flapping ninnies who want historical drama to be hour after hour of actors pointing at maps, the hot climax of each episode being the removal of a bonnet. Oh, these prissy prats who would snip at and censor something like Versailles, snuffing the Sun Kings flame right out.

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Versailles will be transmitted  this has been confirmed  after the watershed. It will be broadcast when children have gone to bed. Or, at the very least, when they should not be watching. If youre the sort of parent who lets your little dewdrops roam the house like savages after 9pm, informing you when theyre tired, Im afraid their inadvertent exposure to Queen Marie-Therese being whipped into orgasmic frenzy by a bloke of restricted growth is not my concern.

Similarly, if you are reading the furore about BBC2s Versailles and have decided it will be too much for your frail sensibilities and yet, despite this, may still in 10 weeks time find your TV tuned to it, then I am unsure how we can shield and protect you as a viewer.

As the MP says, there may be channels full of sex scenes I could pay for if thats what I want from television. But for viewers who cannot face adult issues, theres the red button on the corner of the remote marked off. Call your MP; he might give you some advice on how to press it.
Former Anglo Irish Bank boss David Drumm is spending a night behind bars in Ireland after being extradited from the US.

The 49-year-old is expected to be granted bail on Tuesday after appearing in court in Dublin charged with 33 fraud-related offences.

The one-time chief executive, who left Ireland for Boston in 2009 after Anglo collapsed costing Irish citizens 29 billion euro, is not expected to stand trial for two years.

All the charges against Drumm relate to the lender's operations in the year before it went bust.

Among them are fraud, forgery, misleading management reporting, unlawful lending, falsifying documents and false accounting.

Dublin District Court heard Drumm has 8.5 million euro of debts, no previous convictions, and that there were seven people in the courtroom willing to offer their houses as security if he was granted bail.

He also offered to have an electronic tag fitted, even though there is no provision for it in Irish law.

The father of two daughters told Judge Michael Walsh he did not have an American passport and that he was prepared to give an undertaking not to apply for a new Irish passport if granted bail.

"I am of course, your honour," Drumm told the court.

During a series of hearings in the Criminal Courts of Justice, Drumm sat in the dock in a dark suit with a blue shirt and tie as some detail of the 33 charges he faces were read out.

He is charged with conspiracy to defraud and false accounting relating to 7.2 billion euro deposits placed in Anglo accounts by the then Irish Life and Permanent between March and September 2008.

He faces a maximum sentence of an unlimited jail term if convicted of the conspiracy charge.

Drumm is also charged under the Companies Act over alleged unlawful lending to members of the Quinn family and the so-called Maple 10 investors to unwind a secret 28% shareholding in Anglo built up by tycoon Sean Quinn.

Those 16 charges could lead to a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

Drumm is also charged with seven offences under the Companies Act of being privy to falsifying documents which could lead to a maximum five years in jail if convicted and seven offences of creating false documents under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud) Offences Act which could lead to a maximum of 10 years in jail if found guilty.

He is charged with breaching European rules on making company reports.

No plea has been entered at this stage and the case will go to trial on indictment, the court heard.

While Judge Michael Walsh initially granted bail, Drumm was remanded in custody until Tuesday in order for paperwork on a total of 100,000 euro of independent sureties to be confirmed.

Drumm is also asked to provide a 50,000 euro cash surety of his own, sign on twice a day at Balbriggan Garda Station and remain in Ireland as part of the bail terms.

He will live at Shenick Avenue in Skerries, Co Dublin as he awaits trial, the court heard.

Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions told the court they objected to bail and believed Drumm was a flight risk as he had moved to the US in the wake of Anglo's collapse and had not returned since 2009.

Judge Walsh said: "The whole issue of him being a flight risk and having no ties to the jurisdiction, that does not hold up."

Copies of the bail conditions will be sent to the passport office in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, the court heard.

The judge was told the former banker's wife Lorraine is putting the family home in Massachusetts up for sale and she is expected to return to Ireland with one of his daughters in late June after she has finished school.

The trial will involve 120 witnesses and minutes from up to 15 company meetings, the court was told.

It also heard there are millions of documents, company accounts, 400 hours of phone recordings in relation to Anglo's dealings with Irish Life and Permanent, emails and other correspondence.

Two books of evidence were in the court.

On a possible trial date, Judge Walsh said: "I understand from other related matters that a trial date could be up to two years. There's no possibility of a trial up to 2017."

Drumm has been in the US since June 2009.

Ireland's fraud squad and the corporate watchdog in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement launched inquiries into the bank's collapse seven years ago.

The court was told repeated and unsuccessful attempts were made by investigators to secure an interview with Drumm in 2010 and 2011, while he was living near Boston.

Warrants were issued by the court for Drumm's arrest in June 2013.

He had been living in Wellesley, Massachusetts when he was detained by the US Marshals Service last October and he has been in custody in the US since.

Drumm initially fought the extradition application.

The court heard he was arrested at Dublin Airport at 5.30am on Monday after gardai travelled to the US to bring him to court.

He was initially taken to Ballymun Garda Station where he was charged before being taken to the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin city centre.

He made no reply when the charges were put to him in the station, officers told the court.

Drumm was appointed Anglo's chief executive in January 2005 and resigned in December 2008.

The bank was nationalised early the next year, a move which has cost Irish citizens billions as the State repays bondholders on the international money markets which financed the lending.

Drumm will appear before the same court on Tuesday when bail conditions will be finalised.
Ireland should secure a better deal on its international debt as part of the next Programme for Government, campaigners said.

The Social Justice Ireland think tank warned the Republic still faced a 64 billion euro burden and claimed it impeded long term economic prospects.

Its report said European authorities should relax the terms around Government bonds which the country issued to lenders in exchange for interest payments.

"The Programme for Government should include a genuine aim to secure a better deal for Ireland on this portion of our debt.

"To increase debt sustainability, European authorities should consider further changes to the status of the government bonds which were issued to replace the promissory notes.

"A better deal on Ireland's debt would also represent a more appropriate acknowledgement of Ireland's role in preserving the European project."

The advocacy organisation said a significant portion of the national debt originated from bailouts of the Irish financial sector.

"There has yet to be sufficient recognition of this by our European partners. This part of Ireland's debt represents a direct subsidy from the Irish public to international bondholders and the European banking system, the total cost of which was 64 billion euros."

It said the next Programme for Government should be focused on delivering: a vibrant economy, decent services and infrastructure, just taxation, good governance and sustainability.

The organisation claimed the ratio of tax increases to spending cuts during the crisis was wrong and that the restoration of public services and welfare payments should be prioritised with funds that become available over the term of the next government.

Key areas should be social housing, primary care and mental health facilities, infrastructure for rural broadband, childcare infrastructure and early education facilities.

The report said: "Many cuts imposed in recent years have been socially destructive and counter-productive."
Baked goods: Aryzta chief ececutive Owen Killian is going all out for growth

Revenue at Swiss-Irish food firm Aryzta increased by 5.5pc to 1.96bn in the first six months of its financial year while the company's earnings before interest tax and amortisation (EBITA) rose 2.7pc.

Aryzta posted EBITA of 230.8m with European food revenues reporting solid growth of 9.5pc up to 881.7m in the period ending January 31 2016.

The group's revenue in Europe increased by 4.7pc on an underlying basis while its North American revenue dipped by 4pc on an underlying level.

Associate and joint-ventures contributed 13.7m, which the firm says was in line with expectations.

Cash generation increased by 146.9m to 173m.

Chief executive at Aryzta, Owen Killian, said free cash flow remained strong in the period.

"Speciality food is a growth segment of the overall food market in Europe and North America where consumer demand was positive in the period. Aryzta is well-invested and well-positioned to grow, because its recently invested infrastructure is the most relevant and most competitive for this market," Mr Killian said.

The Aryzta chief continued, saying the firm was confident of meeting its strategic goals set for 2020.

"We are focused on establishing a sequential growth pattern and view short-term earnings guidance as less relevant, until we deliver on this priority," he said.
Cairn Homes listed on the London Stock Exchange in June.

Irish homebuilder Cairn Homes has announced the first of its asset transfers under the recently acquired Project Clear loan portfolio.

The firm spent 378m on the loans portfolio, which includes the Adamstown landbank in West Dublin, in December.

Three separate development sites have now moves into the company's direct asset ownership, three weeks after its sub-participation period ended.

The sites that have moved in are a one-acre site in Stillorgan, an eight-acre site at Cross Avenue and a six-acre site at Moyglare in Maynooth.

In a statement released to shareholders this morning, Carin also announced the acquisition of an additional site, adjacent to the Moyglare site.

Cairn acquired the site from York Capital at a cost of 27m. The company says the acquisition creates the potential for a 430-unit housing development in addition to a 500-bed student accommodation scheme.

Cairn Homes chief executive Michael Stanley said the firm was "delighted" with the first site transfers under the loan-to-own strategy.

"The separate Maynooth site acquisition adds value to the adjoining Project Clear asset, creating potential for one of the largest developments in Maynooth, a key student and Dublin commuter belt community, as well as a prime location for foreign direct investment into Ireland," Mr Stanley said.
Productivity drops for 70pc of workers when they decide to leave their job, with senior management most likely to be affected, a new survey has found.

Seven out of 10 of the 1,000 workers surveyed by gift card company One4All said their productivity dropped when they decided to leave their job, while two-fifths said their productivity dropped by more than 30pc.

Feeling valued by an employer is what keeps us engaged most as a workforce, according to 58pc of respondents. When choosing a new employer, around half of workers said a positive reputation for treating staff well and engaging with them was most important.

Younger workers  aged between 18 and 24  are most likely to want to leave work because they feel they are not appreciated, with some 31pc leaving for that reason. This compares with an average of 23pc amongst all age groups.

Productivity drops for 70pc of workers when they decide to leave their job, with senior management most likely to be affected, a new survey has found.

Seven out of 10 of the 1,000 workers surveyed by gift card company One4All said their productivity dropped when they decided to leave their job, while two-fifths said their productivity dropped by more than 30pc.

Feeling valued by an employer is what keeps us engaged most as a workforce, according to 58pc of respondents. When choosing a new employer, around half of workers said a positive reputation for treating staff well and engaging with them was most important.

Younger workers  aged between 18 and 24  are most likely to want to leave work because they feel they are not appreciated, with some 31pc leaving for that reason. This compares with an average of 23pc amongst all age groups.
Facebook plans to create 200 new jobs in its Dublin headquarters, the company has said.

The social networking giant says that it will employ 1,500 people in Dublin by the end of the year, with room to expand to 2,000 employees.

Facebook said the full-time roles in sales, engineering and online operations will be filled by the end of the year.

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The companys Irish boss, Gareth Lambe, made the announcement this morning, flanked by outgoing Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.

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The company recently said it would stop routing big UK sales through Ireland and pay more tax in Britain as a result.

Facebook moved into a bigger new building beside the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in 2014 and since then took on extra space next door at 5 Grand Canal Square, with space to accommodate extra staff.

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It is also planning to build a multi-million data centre in Clonee, Co Meath.
'An influx of companies from the UK could be beneficial to the Irish economy' Stock photo: PA

The Central Bank is in discussions with a number of international investment companies, in preparation for an influx of investment managers into Ireland if the UK votes to leave the EU.

The regulator envisions that "there will be quite a few possible applications for authorisation in this jurisdiction", Central Bank director of markets supervision Gareth Murphy said in an interview published over the weekend, in the event Britain decides to leave.

International asset management companies would probably be among the first financial services groups to move some business to Ireland if Britain decides to leave the EU. Asset managers are concerned they will not be permitted to sell funds that are regulated in the UK into Europe in a Brexit scenario, forcing them to move the products to European cities such as Dublin.

The financial regulator wrote to a number of investment companies, fund depositaries and administrators in the last two weeks, asking them to explain how Britain leaving the EU would affect their Irish operations, a spokesperson told the Irish Independent yesterday.

In an interview published online by the Financial Times yesterday, Mr Murphy said: "The transition [if the UK leaves the EU] could be very messy. I have pressed my staff to gather as much market intelligence [as possible] around this issue."

Mr Murphy said fund companies will want to "establish a foothold" in the EU in the event Britain votes to leave when it goes to the polls in June.

"The firms we regulate and their counterparts in the UK are faced with a considerable period of uncertainty if Brexit were to happen," he said.

"We are envisioning that there will be quite a few possible applications for authorisation in this jurisdiction."

An influx of companies from the UK could be beneficial to the Irish economy.

"Ireland does stand to benefit," said Niamh Meenan, head of global asset management at Grant Thornton.

"It needs to be prepared so that in the event of a Brexit, Ireland rather than Luxembourg is the obvious solution."

The official Irish position supports Britain remaining in the EU.

A Brexit could have serious consequences for trade between the two nations, the Government has warned.
Deutsche Bank appears to be feeling generous. Anshu Jain, who stepped down as its co-chief executive officer at the end of last June, received 2.2m in severance pay - and can keep a chauffeured car at the company's expense until he leads another firm.

Jain, who helped build Deutsche Bank into a fixed-income powerhouse, stepped down amid a series of top-level shuffles across European banks. His successor, John Cryan, took over a lender plagued by legal costs tied to misconduct and doubts over strategy. Jain will have use of an office and secretarial support as well as the chauffeur-driven car "to use to a reasonable extent until June 2017 at the latest or until he assumes another position of professional activity in a leadership function," the bank said, as compensation for a non-competition clause in his contract.

While the expense of a chauffeur and an office may be insignificant for a company of Deutsche Bank's size, the perks send a negative signal to the firm's employees as they face layoffs and bonus cuts, according to Alex Edmans, a finance professor at London Business School. But others say it's a smart move. "While this may look overly generous, it probably has made it easier for Deutsche Bank to deal with another distraction and get on with the monumental job of getting back on track," said Christopher Wheeler, a London-based analyst at Atlantic Equities.

The state of the nation in figures

That number-crunchers delight, the Economist magazines Pocket World in Figures has just been published for 2016  marking its 25th edition.

Number-cruncher or not, it is hard to resist looking to see how the old homeland shapes up. There is some bad news: the fourth highest burden of household debt, the seventh greatest beer drinkers and  not surprisingly  the 19th most obese men. We are also the sixth worst gamblers in the world, losing an average $488 per person per year.

Still, the balance seems to be on the side of good news. Even leaving aside the problematic stellar GDP ratings, Ireland ranks fourth in the EU, 11th in the world on the human development index, and the same for social progress. In 2013, Ireland didnt even make it into the 25 most heavily-taxed countries (Britain was 18th).

Despite having the sixth highest cost of living in the EU, Irish people are the most generous, with 60pc giving something to good causes.

Vice TV reaches for the Sky

Sky has agreed a deal with Vice, the achingly hip youth media company founded by former Baggot Inn bartender Shane Smith, to launch Viceland, the latters first European television channel, later this year. The distribution deal is non-exclusive and Vice is also understood to be in negotiations with rival pay-TV operators Virgin Media and BT ahead of the launch in September. Sky has, however, secured some exclusive programming rights and its sales force will also market advertising on the channel.

Viceland will feature original programming targeting a core audience of millennial viewers  typically defined as those born after 1980  on controversial subjects such as drugs, sexuality and discrimination.

Chief executive Smith has also laid claim to a breakthrough in more traditional television fodder with the first cooking show for millennials. The programme is presented by a rapper and former chef named Action Bronson.

His ability to connect with hard-to-reach millennials has made Smith, who has Irish parents, a fortune  Vices last investment round in December valued the company at more than $4bn. The companys other major shareholders include Fox.
'Last year, Osborne was seen as a key figure in the Tory election win after reaching out explicitly in his previous budget from his own political base to address the concerns of poorer workers, but this may yet be his last budget' Photo: PA

Britain's chancellor, or finance minister, George Osborne will deliver his eighth budget on Wednesday, a reflection of rare longevity at (close) to the political peak.

From an Irish perspective, Osborne has been a tough neighbour, having consistently lowered business taxes, including for new and riskier ventures, since he took office.

In many cases Britain's tax and investment regime is now significantly more business friendly than our own, except perhaps for larger multinational investors.

Last year, Osborne was seen as a key figure in the Tory election win after reaching out explicitly in his previous budget from his own political base to address the concerns of poorer workers, but this may yet be his last budget.

Spending plans this week will be overshadowed by deeper questions about the UK's place in or out of Europe.

Osborne has backed Cameron and is campaigning for a vote to stay within the European Union in the June 23 referendum, but their Conservative, or Tory, party is being rent asunder at all levels right up to the cabinet table.

Boris Johnson, Osborne's arch rival, tipped to be the next Conservative leader, and senior cabinet minister Michael Gove, are effectively heading up the campaign to quit the EU.

With the campaign splitting Tories, if Cameron's Brexit gamble fails, he and Osborne are likely to fall too.

That has transformed this week's budget from a post-election context, when reforms and spending curbs might have been expected, to a campaign rallying point in all but name.

Unsurprisingly, the planned centrepiece of this year's fiscal strategy - reform of the pensions system - has already been ditched.

Now is not the time to alienate older voters.

Other strong medicine that might have raised the ire of voters has no doubt also been jettisoned, at least for now.

Osborne can't sit still either.

This week's budget might not include a set-piece reform package, but there may well be tax sweeteners for middle England - the swing consistency Cameron and Osborne need to win to see off the Brexit challenge.

England isn't just the biggest constituent of the United Kingdom, it is both the most Eurosceptic, but also the most supportive, till now of Cameron's leadership.

Osborne's ultimate goal is a balanced budget by the end of the parliamentary term, so the fiscal space is limited.

The political challenge is to send voters away with a warm glow without breaking the bank, or adding to the economic complacency that appears to be making constitutional rebels out of some of Europe's most conservative voters.

Whether and how Osborne pulls it off may well determine the future of Britain, and Ireland, for decades to come.

It will also decide his own prospects at getting the top job in Number 10 Downing Street - depending on how, and when, David Cameron stands down.
The inclusive spirit of the 1916 Proclamation is one of its fundamental ideologies that we should be most proud of. Twelve years before full voting rights were passed for women in the UK, the revolutionary document, addressed to "Irishmen and Irishwomen", sought to establish a society that fostered equality in all senses of the term.

A handful of the vast array of books on the subject this centenary year nicely reflects this (even if the wholesale egalitarian spirit of those signatories has yet to be fully implemented).

It feels fitting, therefore, to read a foreword in The 1916 Irish Rebellion (Cork University Press 29.95) by Mary McAleese. The former Uachtaran describes Briona Nic Dhiarmada's prestigious chronicle as "an attempt to go beyond what has long been a strictly insular approach".

An initiative of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, this lush accompaniment to the Liam Neeson-narrated RTE series is richly adorned with archive photos and images. There is much contextual analysis with an eye on America, continental Europe and "the British Imperial project" but also, vitally, first-hand accounts from both sides of the divide.

At Home in the Revolution (Royal Irish Academy 25) delves into the actions and behaviours of women during that week, focusing on a variety of individuals from all backgrounds and how they negotiated what author and US academic Lucy MacDiarmid calls the "male-dominated revolutionary space". In what is a scholarly volume, MacDiarmid zooms in to examine other facets of female interaction with the Rising - the homestead, the bedroom, the white-hot street battle.

Marita Conlon-McKenna executes a more pacey game plan with just three key protagonists - Grace, Muriel and Nellie Gifford - in Rebel Sisters (Transworld 19.50). All three came from lofty roots but were determined to roll up their sleeves amid the revolutionary spirit sweeping Europe and were duly thrust into the Rising's vortex. Conlon-McKenna - who has form in the historical-novel field with the ubiquitous Children of the Famine trilogy - weaves romance, pathos and youthful idealism into the streets of 1916 (where they surely belong).

Inclusivity, of course, also applies to children and it can be tricky to give younger readers a sense of the Rising without them feeling they're being taught a school lesson.

A recent No 1 in the children's bestsellers chart, Patricia Murphy's Molly's Diary (Poolbeg 7.99) brings history to life through the journal of a 12-year-old girl whose family gets caught in the crossfire. Molly is as impressive a character as you could hope for - strong-hearted, gutsy, kind, capable and concerned. Murphy, an award-winning documentarian and children's author, nails this character's voice and, importantly, doesn't patronise the intelligence of her youthful target readership (9-12 years).

Young ones will also quickly ingest Padraig Pearse and the Easter Rising 1916 (Poolbeg 4.99). Part of Poolbeg's In A Nutshell series, it sets out to tell the fate of the totemic leader for six to nine-year-olds. What makes this particularly useful as a primer at home or in the classroom is how author Rod Smith gently folds in the key punctuation marks while inserting cameos by Connolly, Markievicz and Cumann na mBan. It doesn't glamorise nor does it paint the British forces as pantomime villains. Derry Dillon's sedate and evocative illustrations are a central factor in its dignified semblance.

Also small in dimension is A Pocket History of the 1916 Rising (4.99 Gill Books) by Tara Gallagher, Fiona Biggs and Fionnbarra O Duibhir, which packs a mighty punch in its ability to bring the newcomer up to speed without being a dummies' guide. Starting in 1798 but cleverly using the recent marriage equality referendum as the Rising's ideological conclusion, it is a handy, full-colour rundown of facts, figures and bite-size biogs of all the relevant players over that epoch - from William Gladstone to Sean O'Casey. An ideal gift for an overseas friend or relative.

Kevin Curran's 2013 debut Beatsploitation suggested a writer of real perception and sensitivity. In Citizens (Liberties 13.99), his second outing, he pulls off that rare trick of framing the Rising within a modern narrative by oscillating between the two eras. A disillusioned twenty-something can't wait to join his girlfriend in Canada and escape the economic graveyard of 2011 Ireland. His plan is delayed when he is given his great-grandfather's 1916 memoirs and he is faced with a Brooklyn-like dilemma between the old country and new. The Balbriggan author always brings an edge of hard-won resolve to his tales while keeping mindful of broader social issues.

Gene Kerrigan (of this parish) brings his typical journalistic nous and novelist's pulse to The Scrap (Doubleday Ireland 16.99). Kerrigan used eye-witness evidence from the Bureau of Military History to close in on the lot of F Company, 2nd Battalion rebel unit. The result, at once gripping and measured, belongs to that school of narrative that uses a particular corner to explain the contextual horizon ("a small band of mostly young men and women challenged an empire that comprised a fifth of the world's population - and lost. And then won").

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First published 26 years ago (in which time it has sold some 50,000 copies) and wisely reprinted for this year's centenary, Peter de Rosa's 1916 Rebels (Poolbeg 12.99) remains a classic of Easter Rising literature and one that seeks to tell the story with balance, sophistication and sweeping drama to readers who may not necessarily be bound up by Irish heritage.

For such audiences on foreign shores, de Rosa's book performed a similar service to Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Great Hunger in introducing Ireland's place in world history as one of breadth and far-reaching resonance.

There is an iconic feel to 1916: Portraits & Lives (Royal Irish Academy 30) that makes it an essential inclusion in the Easter Rising bookcase. Besides its lived-in title font and the immediacy of the edition's black-and-white palette, there are the striking cinematic plates by scraperboard artist David Rooney.

Editors Lawrence White and James Quinn set out to compile a collection of 30 individuals, all taken from the RIA's Dictionary of Irish Biography, whose lives were defined by 1916. Bit-players and Civil War icons such as de Valera or Collins are omitted in favour of a more pronounced cast list (such as pacifist radical Francis Sheehy-Skeffington or the Irish-born British officer John Bowen-Colhurst, whose brutality to five prisoners garnered much sympathy for the insurgents).

All these releases share one thing: They understand that the story of that Easter week lies not just with the fallen martyrs but also with men, women and children from Ireland's many strata.
Neil Jordan was thinking of leaving Ireland because he'd run out of stories to tell about the place. Now, it appears he's settled down again

It's a year in which 1916 commemoration fatigue is already reaching critical mass. An endless barrage of events, television programmes, political posturing and books have numbed any lingering sense of wonder at the birth of a nation. Strange then, that rewatching the movie Michael Collins after all these years, there is still a tingling feeling of awe at the events depicted. Buoyed by Liam Neeson's mesmerising performance, Sinead O'Connor's soaring voice on the soundtrack and Neil Jordan's directorial virtuosity, it still feels like one of the key artistic works that deal with the period and Jordan's request to Warner Brothers to put the film out on Blu Ray to mark the 20-year anniversary of its release seems more like curation than self-promotion.

"Generally I never look back on films I've done," the director and novelist tells me over tea at a Dublin hotel. "But I just came from the Savoy where I was looking at it and I felt quite emotional. I've made three movies which you could say were about guns and Ireland: Angel, The Crying Game and Michael Collins. I loved this film particularly though. Although it didn't come from a place that is in any way subversive, it represented an opportunity to tell the story of Ireland's engagement with violence."

Jordan came to Michael Collins riding a wave of success. His script for The Crying Game had won him an Oscar and the film had become one of the largest grossing foreign films in the US in 1992. Jordan followed it up by directing Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as homoerotic bloodsuckers in Interview With the Vampire, a box-office behemoth that led producer David Geffen to take another punt on Jordan.

The film had a slow gestation process; Jordan tells me that the script had "been in the vaults for some time." There was also the issue of the huge weight of history and the pressures of contemporaneous events bearing down on Jordan. The February before the movie came out, the precarious IRA ceasefire had been broken.

In 1996 Jordan told Rolling Stone that the death of Collins had the same resonance here that the death of JFK had in the US. Perhaps for these reasons there was also a notable sense of public ownership of the story: Immediately after the film's release there was criticism of the numerous historical anomalies in the film.

"You can't make a film like this without certain anomalies," Jordan says now.

"What strikes me looking back on this now is that the story isn't one of an uprising of the people. These are middle-class guys. It wasn't a revolution of the landless masses. It was school teachers and tenant farmers and civil servants. They were all Catholic to a man. Politically their perspectives were quite limited and they had an innocence that I personally actually found quite touching. They were revolutionaries in three-piece suits."

Although the film is set some 30 years before Jordan's birth, he says he was very much trying to model the Ireland depicted in the film on the country of his youth.

"I was trying to recreate the Ireland of my early childhood, particularly Dublin. My memories are of empty Georgian Squares. I grew up in Clontarf, the city was quite beautiful, it hadn't yet been destroyed."

He wasn't that good in school, he tells me, and his father wanted him to be a teacher, but Jordan had other ideas.

"I had to get out of Dublin in 1972 because I had no money. I couldn't really get a job here and so I went to England for a bit and then came back here. I was on the dole for a while, and then at one stage I just said I'm not going to be on the dole any more, I'm just going to do what I really always wanted to do, which was write. Since that, I never had to take another job."

He would go on to forge a career as a successful novelist - he has a new, well received book out called The Drowned Detective but says that, artistically, making movies was a "release" from the hard work of writing.

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Still, he has his criticisms of the industry: "The movie industry is boringly chauvinistic. You're generally sitting around a table with old, white men. Frankly, there is a bigger world out there."

He adds: "Having said that, three of the biggest studios in the world are run by women, so it's a complicated subject."

He says that after the publication of his novel Mistaken, he thought of leaving Ireland again, because he'd run out of stories to tell about the place. Now it would be appear he is settled again - in the life of the mind.

"People say to me, you're off in your own world, why are you always in your own world? I can't really think of any other world to be in but it's true, I was always in my own imagination."

'Michael Collins' is out now on Blu Ray and is on RTE 1 on Wednesday at 9.35pm
Actress Ellen Page attends the "Freeheld" premiere during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 13, 2015 in Toronto, Canada

Hollywood star Ellen Page has revealed she was 'frightened' during a face to face meeting with a serial killer who had murdered several gay people.

Page (29), who came out in 2014 and is currently dating surfer Samantha Thomas, interviewed the Brazilian killer, 'El Grande', for the documentary series Gaycation.

The series investigates life for gay people around the world and the interview was part of the episode on Brazil, which has one of the highest murder rates of gay and transgender people in the world.

During the interview, the killer revealed he had carried out the murders while working as a policeman in Rio de Janeiro.

We used to patrol and the only thing I didnt like were gays. If I saw them on the way Id run them over. I did not care what was going on. I didnt even care for the consequences, he told Page.

He added, I think every pigsty must be cleaned up. So how do I do my job? By cleaning up what was dirty. For me, they are worse than animals. If they cross my path, Ill take care of them.

Expand Close Actress Ellen Page (R) and Samantha Thomas attend the "Freeheld" premiere during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 13, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Actress Ellen Page (R) and Samantha Thomas attend the "Freeheld" premiere during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 13, 2015 in Toronto, Canada.

El Grande revealed that he had started to hate gay people after he found his son having sex with another man.

Page told the killer that she was gay and he replied, "You know, each to their own. I live my life and they live theirs. Now, if they cross my path, its a different story.

Speaking at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Page said she felt "frightened" during the interview but added, "You're not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about the vulnerable people who are walking the streets of Rio and might not know this man is walking right by them or he might just run them over in his car."

She added: There can be such loneliness and isolation when youre growing up in a society that does infuse this idea in you that youre different or somethings wrong or youre sinful

"Im privileged; I live in LA; Ive done a job that has given me money; I can walk down the street and kiss my girlfriend. I think a lot about those more vulnerable than me.
Jack Reynor is one of our hottest stars in Hollywood thanks to his break-out role in Transformers.

However, the Wicklow native (24) has revealed that he would love a "small little role" on RTE drama Fair City.

The talented star, whose first foray into the spotlight was working with Oscar nominee Lenny Abrahamson on What Richard Did, clearly hasn't forgotten his humble roots.

"I think that would be brilliant, man. I'd love it. Just a small little role," he said.

"Breeze in, cause a bit of mayhem you know, pull a few pints behind the bar. A bit of drama and be gone again."

Talent

He added that he's a big fan of the Carrigstown soap and that he's heard great reports about life on the set from his fellow actor pals.

"A couple of friends of mine have worked on Fair City and it's a fantastic show with so much Irish talent from the Dublin stage, some legendary names there, it would be a great opportunity," he said.

"I mean, it's probably not going to happen anytime soon but who knows?"

Reynor's latest movie is Sing Street and he said that he would always give preference to home-grown projects over big-budget LA movies.

"It's always pretty much down to the script and the character," he said. "That comes before anything else.

"But I've made five films now and they've been with unbelievable Irish film-makers and I understand the industry here and what it's about.

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"I love being home. I live in Ireland so if I'm going to shoot anywhere, ideally it will be in Ireland.

"The Irish industry is growing and growing at an astounding rate. It's world class. The writing and the talent coming out is incredible."

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Engaged to Madeline Mulqueen, Reynor added that he has no plans to make a permanent move to LA.

"It's important for me to stay close to my family but also to have a balanced lifestyle," he said.

"Take yourself out of that industry bubble as often as you can, because if you're in it for too long at a time, it's difficult to emerge."
FORMER Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has been granted bail subject to strict conditions, including his own bond of 50,000.

However, he will be held in Cloverhill Prison until bail issues are resolved tomorrow.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close David Drumm arriving from Boston on Aerlingus flight EI136 which landed in Dublin at 5.16am. Photo:Mark Condren David Drumm. Photo: Bizuayehu Tesfaye / Facebook

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Whatsapp David Drumm arriving from Boston on Aerlingus flight EI136 which landed in Dublin at 5.16am. Photo:Mark Condren

The decision to award bail was taken by Judge Michael Walsh despite strenuous objections from the State.

Mr Drumm, who will live at an address in Skerries, Co Dublin, will have to sign on twice daily at Balbriggan Garda Station.

He will also have to surrender his passport.

The former banker will have to provide a personal surety of 50,000, which must be lodged to the court.

An independent surety of 100,000 must also be offered, half of which must be in cash with the remainder kept in a bank account and frozen until the case is completed.

Mr Drumm is to be remanded in custody tonight. Judge Walsh said the bail issue could be tidied up tomorrow.

A visibly relieved Mr Drumm took the stand to tell the judge of the address he intended to live at.

He also said his passport was in the possession of gardai.

In making his decision, Judge Walsh said that while it was clear Mr Drumm had refused to return home for questioning by gardai, he was mindful of the constitutional presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the constitutional presumption of bail.

He said he needed to be mindful of the complexity of the case, which will involve a voluminous amount of paperwork and consultation with lawyers.

Judge Walsh noted Mr Drumm had no previous convictions.

He also said he understood there was no possibility of a trial until 2017.

Earlier, the court was told Drumm was charged at Ballymun Garda Station this morning with 33 offences, including fraud, conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

The State opposed the application for bail, citing the seriousness of the offences and their belief Drumm may be a flight risk.

Dressed in a navy suit, blue shirt and navy tie, Mr Drumm sat alone on a bench to the side of the court, a few feet away from his solicitor Michael Staines.

Det Sgt Michael McKenna said he wished to apply to have Mr Drumm remanded in custody.

He said he believed Mr Drumm was a serious risk of flight for a number of reasons.

The detective sergeant said there were a number of grounds for the application.

The first was the seriousness of the charges.

He said the charges he had put to Mr Drumm involved conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

Both of these offences relate to alleged fraudulent transfers between Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent amounting to 7.2bn, he said.

The second ground was the nature and strength of the evidence to support the charges, Det Sgt McKenna said.

He said there were a large group of witnesses - between 110 and 120 in relation to the two charges he had put to Drumm. The case was also built on a large quantity of emails, audio recordings, minutes of up to 15 company meetings, and other correspondence.

The third ground was the likely sentence which could follow from a guilty conviction.

Det Sgt McKenna said said some of the offences facing Mr Drumm had a maximum term of ten years.

He said the fourth ground for opposing bail was the conduct of the accused between 2009 and 2016, in particular his dealings with An Garda Siochana and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Det Sgt McKenna said it was his evidence that Mr Drumms ties to this jurisdiction were tenuous.

He said Drumm had gone into voluntary exile and that his immediate family remained in the US.

The detective sergeant said that despite the fact Mr Drumm had debts of over 8.5m, he seemed to be able to marshal large sums of money when required.

Det Sgt McKenna also told the court he wished to counter any suggestion that Mr Drumms extradition was timed to coincide with the General Election or that it had been delayed in any way in recent weeks.

He said that the US State Department had only signed off on the extradition order on March 10. He and his colleagues had travelled to the US the following day.

Barrister for the State, Dean Kelly BL, said it had emerged in extradition proceedings that Mr Drumm had strong ties with the US, which he relied upon repeatedly and at length.

Mr Kelly continued that Mr Drumm had said he would fight tooth and claw against his extradition.

His position only changes at the point at which the bail door closed for him, said Mr Kelly.

I say Mr Drumm is a flight risk because one thing and one thing alone brought him back.

Mr Kelly said the court could draw an inference as to whether at any stage or now it is Mr Drumms intention to face trial in this country.

However, Mr Drumms lawyer Michael Staines said his client was not a flight risk.

He wants to stay here and deal with this case and then restart his life, he said.
BARRY CASSELMAN is an author, journalist and lecturer who has reported and analyzed American presidential and national politics since 1972.

He founded, edited and published his first newspaper when he was 29. He has been a contributor to many national publications, including The Weekly Standard, realclearpolitics.com, Politico, Roll Call, Washington Examiner, The American Interest, Utne Reader, Campaigns and Elections Magazine, American Experiment Quarterly, Washington Times, The Rothenberg Political Report, Business Today, Election Politics, Business Ethics Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, Washington Insider, and American Commonwealth.

His regular op ed columns and other commentary in print, and on the internet, are distributed through the Preludium News Service. His blog The Prairie Editor has an international readership and appears on his website at www.barrycasselman.com .

He was a political analyst for WCCO-AM (CBS) for several years, for KSJN-AM (Public Radio International), and for KUOM-AM (National Public Radio). He has also broadcast on RAE in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and beginning in 2000, he produced and broadcast for Voice of America. In 2006, he presented news commentary on LBC, the independent 24-hour news radio network in London, England. He also provided election night analysis in 2006 for Minnesota Public Radio. In 2008, he returned to WCCO-AM for periodic national election commentary. Beginning in 2011, he began weekly commentary on the 2012 presidential campaign on a national radio podcast program originating in Dallas, TX.



Casselman was the original host of Talk To Your City on the Minneapolis Television Network, and was a frequent political commentator for KTCA-TV (PBS). In 1992 and 1994, he presented election night analysis for the Conus coast-to-coast All News Channel. In 1996, he provided live coverage from the presidential primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire for All News Channel nationwide. He has also appeared on C-SPAN. In 2008, he was interviewed by ABC-TV Evening News with Charles Gibson.

He has covered national presidential primaries, caucuses and straw polls since 1976, and attended Democratic and Republican national conventions since 1988. He has traveled throughout the United States to report on significant political events, including the national congressional debate in Williamsburg in 1996, the presidential debates, national conventions and events of the Democratic Leadership Council, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee, United We Stand America, Reform Party, National Governors Association, NAACP, AFL-CIO, Christian Coalition, CPAC, Green Party and the Independence Party.

In 2012, he was invited to be a civilian participant in the 58th annual seminar on national security at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. Also in 2012, he was a speaker at the Jefferson Educational Society's Global Summit IV. At that event, he received the Thomas Hagen "Dignitas" Award for lifetime achievement.



From 1990-2011, he was the executive director of the non-profit International Conference Foundation, and hosted more than 500 world leaders, foreign journalists and other international visitors. At the non-partisan Foundation, he also organized four national symposia: the first on low-income housing with then-HUD Secretary Jack Kemp; the second, a highly-acclaimed conference on Locating the New Political Center in America with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and leading spokespersons of the Clinton administration as well as newly-emerged independent groups; the third, a symposium on public communications with then-Governor Tom Ridge, former White House press secretary Mike McCurry, Tony Blankley and other national figures; and in 2003, a symposium on homeland security with Secretary Ridge and leading local and national experts. During this time, he also organized numerous smaller conferences, tours and events for the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. Department of State for its International Visitor Program and its Foreign Press Center programs. In 2008, he organized a special program for international media and visitors attending the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The Foundation also sponsored programs presenting domestic and international authors and their books.

In 2007, Mr. Casselman helped create and plan the nationally-broadcast and podcast dialogue between former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at the Cooper Union in New York City, and he continued to work on related debate and public policy discussion projects in the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.

Mr. Casselman has been a lecturer on public policy at Princeton Universitys annual international business conferences in New York, and its regional conferences in Chicago since 2005; He also has been a guest lecturer at George Washington University, Carleton College, The Chautauqua (NY) Institution, Gannon University, Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Santa Barbara City College, University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, Augsburg College, University of Minnesota, Jefferson Educational Society, and on the international voyages of the Queen Elizabeth 2, Sagafjord, Vistafjord and Royal Viking Sun. He has made presentations on journalism and the arts at Carleton College, University of Minnesota, College of St. Catherine, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Walker Art Center, Metropolitan State University, Mercyhurst College and the Brazilian Writers Union in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

His non-fiction book North Star Rising was published in 2007 by Pogo Press, an imprint of Finney Company. In 2008, Pogo Press published Minnesota Souvenir, Casselmans history and visitor guide for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. He was editor and co-author of the book Taking Turns: Political Stalemate or a New Direction in the Race for 2012, a preview of that year's national election.



He has been cited in Michael Barones Almanac of American Politics and in William Safires Political Dictionary. Casselman has invented a number of political words and phrases which are now in frequent usage, and listed in various online dictionaries.

He is also a widely-published American poet, short story writer and playwright whose work has been translated and published in Europe, South America and Asia. He is the author of four published books of literary prose and poetry. His work has been frequently anthologized. Two of his plays, in collaboration with composer Randall Davidson, have been performed by the Actors Theater of St. Paul, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Donats Ensemble of Wales, and by independent productions at the Union Depot in St. Paul and the Foss Theater at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. He has provided original texts for two award-winning experimental films, as well as texts for other independent short films and videos.

Barry Casselman was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. with major honors from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.F.A. at the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He has also studied in Paris, and attended the University of Madrid. He now lives in Minneapolis.
AN asylum seeker does not have a constitutional right to work here despite the fact that he is still awaiting a decision on whether he is a refugee after more than seven years, the Court of Appeal ruled.

By 2-1, the court rejected an appeal by the Burmese man against a High Court ruling that the Minister for Justice was entitled to refuse his application to work under Section 9.4.b of the 1996 Refugee Act which says the asylum application must first be dealt with before he can seek employment.

He claimed the refusal to allow him work - having been living in Direct Provision bed and board accommodation with a 19 per week payment since 2008 - has caused him personal distress and demoralisation.

The appeal court, while disagreeing on his constitutional action, agreed the fact that it has taken so long to deal with his asylum application "reflected little credit on the public administration and, for that matter the legal system, of this State".

He arrived in November 2008, applied for asylum which was refused the following month. He appealed and this was rejected in July 2009 by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT).

He brought a judicial review challenge to that decision in the High Court which in July 2013 ordered a reconsideration of his application.

He went through the same asylum process again and was again rejected by a RAT in November 2013. He brought another challenge in the High Court which again said his case should be referred back for re-consideration by the RAT.

A decision on this second re-consideration has yet to be made by the RAT.

The man has already indicated that if the RAT was to again reject him, he will make another asylum-linked application known as "subsidiary protection", a process which could also take several years.

The Court of Appeal was critical of that delay with all three judges agreeing with comments from dissenting judge, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, that it did not reflect well on the State.

However, his two colleagues, appeal court president Mr Justice Sean Ryan and Ms Mary Finlay Geoghegan, disagreed with Mr Justice Hogan's finding that because of the open ended nature of the ban on work, then the relevant part of the Refugee Act (Section 9.4.b) was unconstitutional.

Mr Justice Hogan said if an asylum seeker was entitled to work immediately, there would be a significant "pull factor" likely to attract significant numbers of economic migrants.

However, if for example, asylum seekers were required to wait for three years before a work application could be considered, this would "have the effect of deterring many - admittedly not all - claimants who were in reality economic migrants", he said.

It was his view that non-citizens in principle enjoy fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution "in much the same general (but perhaps not identical) manner as citizens". One of those is the right to earn a livelihood.

Therefore, he said, the "open-ended and indefinite exclusion" of the Burmese man from the labour market, by virtue of the Refugee Act, "strikes at the very substance of his right to earn a livelihood".

Section 9.4 of of the Refugee Act was therefore unconstitutional "in its present form", although the legislation itself is not in principle unconstitutional, he said.

Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan, on behalf of herself and Mr Justice Ryan, disagreed with Mr Justice Hogan's view that previous Supreme Court decisions meant non-citizens enjoyed the same general rights as citizens.

This was, in her view, "too broad a proposition".

One of those previous judgments supported the conclusion that "certain non-citizens may be entitled to certain constitutionally protected or personal rights", she said.

A right to work is inextricably linked to a person's status within the State and cannot be exercised in a vacuum, she said.
A Co Cavan estate agent sold a Dublin womans holiday apartment in Turkey before falsely and dishonestly misleading her and misappropriating the 42,000 proceeds in a personal AIB bank account, a judge was told today.

Barrister Clodagh Gartlan said in the Circuit Civil court that Sean Boylan, of 5 Annalee Grove, Cootehill, Co Cavan, had continuously deceived Marian Ryan, of Rushbrook View, Templeogue, Dublin, about the sale through his company M&M Marketing Strategies Limited.

Ms Gartlan, who appeared with Vincent and Beatty solicitors for Ms Ryan, told Judge Jacqueline Linnane it was feared Boylan may have already transferred the money elsewhere from his personal account.

She said Ms Ryan had reported to An Garda Siochana the misappropriation by Boylan of the sale proceeds due to her and the police were currently conducting an investigation into the matter.

The gardai have opened an investigation into the company in respect of apparent misappropriation of funds from the sale of other overseas properties conducted by the company, in particular in Bulgaria, Ms Gartlan told the court.

Marian Ryan stated in an affidavit she had asked Boylans company, formerly Extra Sales Consulting Limited trading as Extra Sales, to sell her apartment in Gold City, Analya, Turkey. Boylan had formerly been a director of M&M Marketing Strategies prior to the High Courts appointment of a Liquidator over it in July last year.

She said that in January 2013 she had appointed M&M Marketing Strategies to sell her apartment and in March last year a sale was agreed at 40,000 on the basis that at least 36,000 would be transferred into her bank account. At the behest of Boylan she had executed a Power of Attorney in the Turkey Embassy in Dublin.

A month later she had lost a personal direct sale of 45,000 because Boylan had told her it was too late to withdraw from the already agreed 40,000 transaction.

Ms Ryan said that on April 21, 2015 Boylan had falsely and dishonestly informed her the sale of her property would be concluded within six weeks knowing the sale had already concluded a month earlier.

She said she had been coerced into unknowingly relinquishing possession of her apartment on the basis the new owners wanted access to take measurements. A Turkish agent, who handled the sale for M&M Marketing Strategies, had confirmed to her he had already transferred 42,000 to Boylans personal bank account.

Boylan, who represented himself on the basis his solicitor was busy in another court, asked Judge Linnane for an adjournment which she refused. He said the money had not been paid into his personal AIB account but into an account including the name Property in Bulgaria Ltd.

It has always been my wish that we come to some agreement and that over a period she would get it all. I will do everything I can to do that. It has been my focus. I dont have the money, Boylan told the court.

Judge Linnane said Ms Ryan had not seen a single cent of her money despite having tried for months to recover it. She said the Liquidator had confirmed it had been paid to Mr Boylans AIB account.

She directed Boylan not to reduce his assets in Ireland below 42,000 pending further order of the court and warned him the matter was serious.
Patricia Quinn arrives at Laganside Court complex in Belfast where the Arlene Arkinson murder inquest continues

A former girlfriend of child killer Robert Howard has said she feared she could have been his next victim.

Patricia Quinn told a Coroner's Court in Belfast she was locked in a room for two days while visiting the paedophile in Scotland.

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She also described Howard as an evil, manipulative charmer to whom she was vulnerable.

She said: "For two days he kept me locked in. He kept the keys down the front of his trousers.

"Only he fell asleep, I could have been the next one."

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The inquest is investigating the death of missing teenager Arlene Arkinson from Castlederg in Co Tyrone, who vanished after a night out across the border in Co Donegal in August 1994.

The schoolgirl was last seen in a car with Howard, who was acquitted of her murder in 2005 by a jury that was not made aware of his conviction for murdering 14-year-old Hannah Williams from South London several years earlier.

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He remained the prime suspect until his death in prison last year aged 71.

Mrs Quinn was giving evidence to the inquest for a second time. She was previously excused after claiming the stress of the case had made her contemplate suicide.

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The court heard how she had visited Howard after he fled following the schoolgirl's disappearance in October 1994.

She had gone to Scotland and stayed for a fortnight, having been subjected to intimidation in her home town, the court heard.

"For two days I was closed in," she added. "I couldn't get out. Only I kept my cool, I could have been his next victim."

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Mrs Quinn later claimed that police in Northern Ireland had been informed about her ordeal but did not take it seriously.

"You know what they told me," she said. "They said you were lucky he didn't tie you up."

The mother of three has repeatedly denied being in a relationship with Howard, insisting they were just friends.

However, she accepted that a statement, given to police in 2002, detailed that they had been intimate.

Henry Toner QC, barrister for the Arkinson family, said: "What's described there is quite substantially more than kissing and cuddling."

Mrs Quinn provided a bail address for Howard when he was accused of drugging, raping and imprisoning a teenage girl in Castlederg in 1993.

She has also admitted lying to provide an alibi, adding that she did not know that Howard was a violent abuser.

"I said he did come in but he didn't come in," she said. "I was vulnerable to him. He could have charmed the bees off the trees.

"If I had knew (sic) the kind of man he was he would have never entered my front door.

"I did not know what kind of person he was until I went to Scotland and then I found out."

When asked by the Arkinson family barrister if she had thought about the "real consequences" of her lie, she replied that she felt guilty but was not responsible.

She said: "It was a white lie. Maybe it ended up a complicated lie, but at the time I thought it was only a wee white lie.

"The police have lied through their teeth this 21 years. They have made my life a misery. I don't care any more. In 93 and 94 they had him here for a reason. Nobody can deny that."

The hearing continues.
A young Dublin man who was seen handing 103,000 of ketamine to another man during a surveillance operation has been released on bail so he can prove he has turned his life around.

Jordan Maher (19) was granted bail pending his sentence in October on condition he gets a full-time job, avoids adverse garda attention and liaises with the Probation and Welfare Services.

Maher of Arthur Griffith Park, Lucan, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing 1.718kg of ketamine worth 103,132 at Maidens Row, Chapelizod, Dublin on June 4, 2015. He has no previous convictions.

Detective Garda Daragh O'Toole told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that he and colleagues had received confidential information about a co-accused. They followed this man's van to Arthur Griffith Park, where he picked up Maher.

The surveillance team followed the van to various locations, including a self storage unit in Kildare, before Maher was seen handing a brown paper bag to another man at Maiden's Row.

Det Gda O'Toole said Maher provided no material assistance in interview. He agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that the intelligence operation had not been targeting his client.

He accepted the transaction would have gone ahead with or without the presence of Maher. The detective further accepted that Maher was a young, impressionable man who had been smoking cannabis at the time.

Mr Bowman handed in a number of testimonials to the court and submitted to Judge Sarah Berkeley that his client was unlikely to have further dealings with the co-accused.

Judge Berkeley told counsel that if Maher was to be released on bail for a period, he had to prove himself and his maturity level.

She said he must be of good behaviour, remain drug free, take up full time work and contact the probation services.

She said she wanted to see proof of this employment on the next date, before adjourning the sentence.
A SUSPECT for a murder in Northern Ireland has brought a High Court challenge to an order that he be extradited.

Francis Lanigan's extradition was ordered by the High Court last September after he had opposed it on the basis that he faced a risk to his life from paramilitaries if he was handed over to face prosecution.

Mr Lanigan (49), with an address at Pinebrook, Mulhuddart, Dublin, was arrested in January, 2013, under an extradition warrant in connection with the murder of John Knocker, who was shot dead in a hotel car park in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on May 31, 1998.

Following the extradition order, the judge in the case asked for further information from the UK authorities in relation to his surrender.

In the meantime, Mr Lanigan brought separate judicial review proceedings challenging the constitutionality of the 2003 extradition legislation because, he claimed, his right to life would be in jeopardy if he was extradited.

The Minister for Justice and the State, who have been waiting to hand him over to the UK authorities, then asked the High Court to dismiss his latest case claiming it was a "collateral attack" on the extradition order as well as an abuse of process.

Mr Lanigan claims his life is in danger, if sent to Northern Ireland, due to an INLA feud as well as threats from both the IRA and Loyalists.

The case continues before Mr Justice Michael White.
FORMER Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has appeared in court charged with 33 offences, including fraud, conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

The 49-year-old appeared before Judge Michael Walsh at a packed sitting of Dublin District Court.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close David Drumm arriving from Boston on Aerlingus flight EI136 which landed in Dublin at 5.16am. Photo:Mark Condren David Drumm. Photo: Bizuayehu Tesfaye / Facebook

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Whatsapp David Drumm arriving from Boston on Aerlingus flight EI136 which landed in Dublin at 5.16am. Photo:Mark Condren

Lawyers for the State have opposed an application for bail, citing the seriousness of the offences and their belief Mr Drumm may be a flight risk.

Judge Walsh is set to consider the issue in the afternoon.

He was dressed in a navy suit, blue shirt and navy tie.

After the judge greeted him and invited him to take a seat, Drumm replied: "Good morning, thank you"

He sat alone on a bench to the side of the court, a few feet away from his solicitor Michael Staines.

As the court rose he blew a kiss, waved and smiled to some supporters sitting in the public gallery.

Judge Walsh heard evidence from two gardai in relation to the arrest of Drumm and the charges against him.

Mr Drumm, with an address in Wellesley, near Boston, and formerly of Malahide, Co Dublin, was the tenth person called this morning on a busy sitting of the court.

Det Sgt Michael McKenna told the court he arrested Mr Drumm at 5.30am this morning at Dublin Airport.

He said Drumm was conveyed to Ballymun Garda Station. Det Sgt McKenna said he put two charges to Mr Drumm and gave him copies of the charges at 6.35am

He said Mr Drumm made no comment to either of the charges.

Det Sgt Michael Prendergast, an officer seconded to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, gave evidence of 31 further charges he put to Drumm at the garda station at 6.39am.

He said Mr Drumm made no reply to any of the charges.

Detectives had travelled to the US late last week to collect Mr Drumm (49) after formalities surrounding his extradition were completed.

Mr Drumm resigned in December 2008 as Anglo Irish Bank was collapsing.

In 2009, the year Anglo Irish Bank was nationalised, he moved to Boston.

State solicitor Deirdre Manninger told Judge Walsh the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed there be a trial on indictment and that two books of evidence could be submitted to the court.

The documents were contained in two large boxes.

Det Sgt Walsh said he wished to apply to have Mr Drumm remanded in custody.

He said he believed Mr Drumm was a serious risk of flight for a number of reasons.

The detective sergeant said there were a number grounds for the application.

The first was the seriousness of the charges.

He said the charges he had put to Mr Drumm involved conspiracy to defraud and false accounting.

Both of these offences relate to alleged fraudulent transfers between Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent amounting to 7.2bn, he said.

The second ground was the nature and strength of the evidence to support the charges, Det Sgt McKenna said.

He said there were a large group of witnesses - between 110 and 120 in relation to the two charges he had put to Drumm. The case was also built on a large quantity of emails, audio recordings, minutes of up to 15 company meetings, and other correspondence.

The third ground was the likely sentence which could follow from a guilty conviction.

Det Sgt McKenna said said some of the offences facings Drumm had a maximum term of ten years.

He said the fourth ground for opposing bail was the conduct of the accused between 2009 and 2016, in particular his dealings with An Garda Siochana and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Det Sgt McKenna said it was his evidence that Drumms ties to this jurisdiction were tenuous.

He said Drumm had gone into voluntary exile and that his immediate family remained in the US.

The detective sergeant said that despite the fact Drumm had debts of over 8.5m, he had the capacity to leave the jurisdiction.

Det Sgt McKenna also told the court he wished to counter any suggestion that Drumms extradition was timed to coincide with the General Election or that it had been delayed in any way in recent weeks.

He said that the US State Department had only signed off on the extradition order on March 10. He and his colleagues had travelled to the US the following day.

Barrister for the State, Dean Kelly BL, said it had emerged in extradition proceedings that Drumm had strong ties with the US, which he relied upon repeatedly and at length.

Mr Kelly continued that Drumm had said he would fight tooth and claw against his extradition.

His position only changes at the point at which the bail door closed for him, said Mr Kelly.

I say Mr Drumm is a flight risk because one thing and one thing alone brought him back.

Mr Kelly said the court could draw an inference as to whether at any stage or now it is Mr Drumms intention to face trial in this country.

He continued: It is the directors position that he could not be relied upon to show up for his trial.

Drumms solicitor, Michael Staines, said his client would be seeking bail.

Mr Staines questioned the relevance of evidence given in extradition proceedings in the US.

My submission is that this is a bail application in an Irish court and what happens in an American court is irrelevant.
The Secretary General of the Department of Finance contacted Irish Life and Permanent in 2009 about the way the bank was treating an allegedly circular transaction of 7.2bn in their accounts, the trial of four bankers has heard.

Denis Casey (56), the former CEO of Irish Life and Permanent (ILP), told gardai that the intervention from the senior civil servant, Kevin Cardiff, came in the wake of efforts by bankers at Anglo Irish Bank to have ILP to treat the transaction differently in their accounts.

Mr Casey and three other former banking executives are on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court accused of conspiring to mislead investors by using interbank loans to manipulate Anglo Irish Bank's balance sheets in 2008.

At the start of week ten in the trial Matt Moran, Anglo's chief financial officer at the time, came under cross-examination from lawyers for Mr Casey and ILP's former director of finance Peter Fitzpatrick (63).

Mr Casey from Raheny, Dublin, Mr Fitzpatrick of Convent Lane, Portmarnock, Dublin, and former Anglo bankers John Bowe (52) from Glasnevin, Dublin, and Willie McAteer (65) of Greenrath, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary have all pleaded not (NOT) guilty to conspiring together and with others to mislead investors through financial transactions between March 1st and September 30th, 2008.

The interbank loans allegedly involved a circular transfer of billions by Anglo to ILP and back to Anglo via ILP's life assurance division. The deposits would appear as a corporate deposit on Anglo's balance sheet, allegedly bolstering their corporate funding figure for the end of year accounts.

Michael O'Higgins SC, defending Mr Casey, showed the jury an excerpt from his client's garda interviews in which he told investigators that Anglo had misrepresented the 7.2bn transactions.

He said that he had insisted the placements from Irish Life would be collateralised, meaning they would be secured against the cash deposits placed by Anglo with ILP.

He told gardai: Their objective was to bolster their deposits. My insistence...[was] that any transaction with Anglo be fully collateralised. Anglo did this by misrepresenting the transactions entered into with ILP as a non-collateralised transaction.

He said that after he resigned his position in February 2009 three phone-calls were made to change the accounting treatment of the transactions in ILP records to show it as a non-collateralised transaction.

The first of these, he said, were from Mr Moran. Another call was made from Donal O'Connor, who was chairman of the bank at that point.

He said these requests were rejected and following that, Mr Cardiff contacted ILP enquiring about the accounting treatment for the transaction and concluding that it was a 'spat' which should be sorted out between ILP and Anglo.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.

In other evidence the jury were shown a transcript of a telephone call in which Mr Bowe compared his co-accused to a nemesis.

In the call, made on September 22, 2008 Mr Bowe and Mr Moran are discussing the recent approach by Anglo to ILP to merge the two banks.

Mr Bowe said: Denis is not engaging. There could be two reasons. One is he's in denial about what's going on. And doesn't believe that it's going to have the impact on him that we think it will.

Or that he doesn't think he's going to see the impact that maybe he feels we'll have. We could bring him down, may be one way of looking at it.

The other is that the personal chemistry is just shot. It's a bit like your kind of nemesis sitting across from you, you know, you'll treat everything that is said with suspicion.

Mr Bowe continued: I don't know which it is because I haven't attended the meetings. It sounds like he's the boy in the corner with his head in his hands..crouched in the corner saying 'go away, go away',

Mr O'Higgins, defending Mr Casey, said the transcript showed that the relationship between the two banks in September 2008 was fractious and far from being a cosy relationship.

He said his client ran out the door from the bank merger meeting and the following Sunday there were newspaper articles saying the merger was a great idea and that ILP could otherwise be in a lot of trouble.

Counsel told Mr Moran that his client had left school at 16, got into Irish Life and worked his way from doing door-to-door sales for many years up to the top. He asked Mr Moran if it was true to say he didn't have much regard for his client.

The witness denied this was true.

In relation to the treatment of the 7.2bn transactions on Anglo's end of year accounts Mr Moran said that he believed an explanatory note would have been helpful to readers of the accounts. The jury have heard that notes were often included in accounts to explain or contextualise figures or transactions.

Mr O'Higgins put it to Mr Moran that one of reasons for his belief was that the transaction was material to the balance sheet, given it's size and it's unusual nature.

The witness said: I believe it is a significant material transaction to the balance sheet. He agreed the first purpose of the transaction was to increase or boost the customer figure for Anglo.

The second purpose was to suggest that a person had accepted the risk of the bank for the period of the deposit.

Mr O'Higgins put it to Mr Moran that the jury didn't have to decide if there was an intention to set off the back to back transactions against each other or if there was a legal right to do this.

He said because the transaction was carried out in a certain way that ILP didn't achieve their aim of having the transactions netted off but that it's very clear that ILP weren't prepared to take a risk on Anglo in the event of 7.2bn.

Mr Moran replied: From what I saw, it is clear that ILP wanted to eliminate the risk.

Counsel continued: If you gross it up without a note, you are leaving the reader [of the balance sheet] with an incorrect impression that the 7.2bn deposit represented a risk on the bank when in fact that was not the case.

The witness replied: At the time it was understood there was a risk.

Counsel put it to him that mindful of what you know now an explanatory note is demanded under accounting regulations. Mr Moran said you would put a note into the accounts if there was an anomaly.
Luas operators Transdev and trade union Siptu will meet at the Workplace Relations Commission today in a last ditch attempt to prevent the planned St Patrick's Day strike by tram drivers. It comes as Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe is considering whether to alter his St Patrick's Day trip this week if the Luas strike goes ahead as planned.

Mr Donohoe is due to travel to Madrid on Wednesday - 24 hours before the planned strike.

While a spokeswoman for Mr Donohoe said his travel plans remain in place, it is understood this may change if the strike proceeds.

Siptu last night said it was not concerned about the minister's travel arrangements, but called on him to ask Transdev to engage in discussions with drivers.

Siptu divisional organiser Owen Reidy said further industrial action was avoidable.

"It is not about if the minister cancels his trip. What it is really about is coming out and telling Transdev that because they have a state contract there is an onus on them to come out and talk to their staff.

"Any further industrial action, including St Patrick's Day, is entirely avoidable. It needs people to sit down and talk but we do not have a willing partner on the other side."

Transdev said it was looking forward to engaging in the talks. However, it said private buses have been ordered as a contingency measure to collect passengers from park and ride Luas stops and bring them to the city centre during Thursday's strike.

A spokesperson confirmed the buses will only link the park and ride stops on the red and green lines with the city centre and will not operate between other Luas stops.

Siptu described the contingency measure as "provocative".

"We think the company should be spending their time trying to reach a resolution with their staff rather than spending time, effort and money hiring buses," said Mr Reidy.

"That is not a satisfactory response or a way to ensure your customers have a proper service," he added.

Mr Donohoe yesterday said the special bus service planned to beat the strike action was an "exceptional fall-back measure for the country's national holiday".

He told RTE that he hopes normal Luas services will take place on Thursday.

Siptu said staff pickets will not interfere with the contingency bus services.

"We are obliged to picket in line with the law," said Mr Reidy.

"Our advice as always will be, and we have a duty to insure, that people abide by the letter of the law."

Strikes are planned for St Patrick's Day, when about a quarter of a million people are on the streets of the city centre taking part in festivities.

Further strike action is planned again for the Easter weekend - March 26-27 - and two further weekends, April 2-3 and April 23-24.

The Luas drivers are seeking pay rises of 27pc over five years, down from their initial demand of a 53pc pay rise. They have also offered to discuss productivity measures with management.

However, Transdev said the reduced pay claim by drivers was still excessive and does not form the basis of negotiations. It said it will consider wage increases of 1-3pc.
EU Digital Girl of the Year Niamh Scanlon has used the CoderDojo Coolest Project Awards to make life easier for motorists driving electric cars.

The 13-year-old has been working with the ESB to officially launch her app, which maps all electric car charging points around the country.

"My dad was interested in getting an electric car but wondered how to track down the nearest charging point.

"That got me thinking and I decided to create an app which mapped all the points out around Ireland.

"It also tells you if there is someone at each point so you don't have to queue for hours."

The Recharge My eCar app took her about three months to create and has earned her awards from Coolest Projects and Eir Junior Spider.

"I just love entering the Coolest Projects Awards every year. It's just so fun and a great way to use your imagination."

Niamh (13), who lives in north Dublin, is also one of the youngest mentors of the CoderDojo Scratch programme.

She started CoderDojo classes in Dublin City University when she was just nine and soon began mentoring older students.

In recent years she has also developed a learntocode.eu app so that people who can't access classes near their home can learn coding skills online.

"Girls are just as able as boys to code and get jobs in the IT sector and I think it's really important to promote this."

Meanwhile, Stephen Cushen (14), from Navan Road, has developed an app that allows a tourist to access bus and train times in real time anywhere in the world through Twitter.

"My sister was away at college and always had to annoy the hotel for bus times, which gave me the idea," he said.

"If a hotel registers with the app, then their guests can use a code on Twitter to access all real-time information on transport, including Dublin Bus, Irish Rail, London Underground and all the German and Dutch transport networks."

The Junior Certificate student admits he has caught the Coolest Project bug and is already thinking of new apps for next year.
Young coder Niamh Scanlon, European Digital Girl of the Year 2016, with Coolest Project Organiser Noel King, and Jennie and Sarah McGinn of OPSH.com at the announcement of Launchd, where the hottest 100 tech start-ups in Ireland will gather to inspire the countrys coolest young coders at the RDS on June 18. Below, coder Jake OToole. Photo Conor McCabe

The roll-out of computer coding classes will go ahead in September in second-level schools, despite the ongoing wrangle over junior cycle reform.

There was huge demand from schools to be among the first to offer the new subject, which is being introduced as a new-style short course for junior cycle students.

Coding clubs, such as CoderDojo, have already shown the keen interest among "digital native" children and teenagers to develop computer programming skills.

The next step for many youngsters is the CoderDojo Coolest Projects Awards, established to help youngsters from seven to 17 become entrepreneurs.

Last year, it featured more than 500 entries from young people across Ireland and beyond, as well as 5,000 spectators.

The hope is that the new junior cycle course will tap into that enthusiasm and help lay foundations of knowledge and confidence to inspire the next generation of software engineers.

The absence of computing on the school curriculum is seen as a major omission in a country, and a world, relying heavily on computer graduates - and employers continually raise concerns about a skills shortage.

Even when school-leavers opt to pursue computing at third-level, the drop-out rate is high and attributed to a lack of understanding or preparedness for what is involved.

A pilot project to trial the new Exploring Coding course could accommodate teachers from only 20 schools, leaving another 100 disappointed that they were not included in the first round of training. The level of interest among schools is an indication that they expect considerable demand for the subject from prospective pupils.

The Association of Secondary Teachers' Ireland (ASTI) is not co-operating with junior cycle reforms, so only teachers who are members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) are participating in the coding pilot project.

The training is being hosted by the Department of Education's Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) professional development service, in partnership with technology giant Intel and the Irish software engineering research centre LERO. Participating schools have received a bonus of state-of-the-art computer equipment for teachers and pupils from Intel.

Short courses are intended to broaden the learning experience for students and Chinese and artistic performance are among the other courses that will be introduced.

Five tips to help children get started

If you give your child the gift of coding, you open a new world of varied career opportunities for them.

However, many parents face a dilemma over what age to allow children web access and what equipment is appropriate.

This five-point guide is aimed at giving parents a clear pathway to help their children reach their potential in coding.

1 Most areas nationwide now have a CoderDojo within easy reach. Go along with your child to your local class and see for yourself how the classes work. More details can be found at www.coderdojo.com

2 Consider providing your child with a laptop or tablet to give them the tools to code. If not, your local CoderDojo may have laptops which can be shared.

Many parents may have concerns about giving their child such technology too young.

But coding provides a more rewarding outlet than playing games - it provides young people with the ability to create and explore games and technology.

3 Talk to your children about the web and exercise parental controls. The internet is an amazing place to learn but it also has its dangers.

While it is important to have parental controls in place to give your child controlled access to the web, it is also vital that you talk to them about the hidden dangers lurking online across all media platforms.

The net can be a powerful resource for learning and research. Make sure your children are clued in to how powerful it really is.

4 Time limits are well and good but children need time to practise code online and explore the technology across the web.

It is important to balance time to learn as opposed to giving your child too much screen time. This is a personal balance, which can only be decided by each individual parent.

5 Allow your child to learn at a comfortable pace and encourage them to experiment with code, create games or websites and problem solve around them.
Richard Bruton: 'It is not without irony that those loudest in their clamour for change are also those who refuse to play any part in implementing change in the only way open under our Constitution  namely, through an executive government'

The 32nd Dail is more diverse that any other in the past 50 years and it signals that the public wants something different from this parliament.

The election outcome offers us the chance to look at things differently, to do things differently - and that is an opportunity that should be seized by anyone that has a conviction about their ideas and wants to see them implemented.

Thankfully, we have the foundation of a strongly growing economy as a legacy of the last five years, which gives us choices in the coming years that were not there for the last Government.

As a parliament, with each deputy having a mandate in their own right, we can credibly aspire to fulfilling the ambitions of voters - but only if we find new ways of working together.

Unfortunately, there are some who don't seem to have any ambition to be part of the change but simply want to talk about change. It is not without irony that those loudest in their clamour for change are also those who refuse to play any part in implementing change in the only way open under our Constitution - namely, through an executive government, openly accountable to the people.

It is hard to take seriously complaints from such quarters that partisan interests should be cast aside to form a government, when it is solely partisan ambitions that are keeping them outside. Tog out and take to the pitch or continue to play your best hurling from the ditch - just don't pretend that you are doing both.

But back to those who want to tog out and take part.

What was heartening last Thursday was that there were many across the Dail who saw members as having a mutual responsibility to find a way to work together to achieve better outcomes for the people we serve.

In my view, any new Government, working collaboratively with the Dail and its members, must together:

 Appreciate the centrality of a strong economy and growing employment;

 Recognise the long-term nature of many of the challenges that we face as a community;

 Identify areas of reform which are shared;

 Commit to agreed work programmes and a better system for implementing change quickly;

 Judge progress openly against the evidence of outcomes for people and make sure that this proof of performance is the trigger for winning extra resources.

Our political system is too focused on the short term. There are a number of areas that spring to mind that suffer most readily from lurches in funding, in priorities or in institutional arrangements.

The areas in which I think a new Dail, working with an open government, could develop some long-term, coherent strategies include issues like housing, taxation climate change, pensions, healthcare and budgetary policy.

One of the reasons I retain my optimism for such an approach is my own experience with the jobs challenge that we faced as a Government five years ago.

We recognised that the crisis was too broad and deep for one department or agency to tackle. So we involved the whole of government in coming up with actions to help improve the prospects of creating or protecting jobs and, crucially, we consulted widely with stakeholders and others who might have good ideas to put into the mix.

But the key ingredient in all of this was that after the trawl and evaluation of ideas, a list of actions was agreed, a timetable was imposed and, through the Taoiseach, his office and the Department of Jobs, those timetables were policed and quarterly reports were published on delivery.

It worked. Ideas became a reality. The cumulative effect of going through this exercise each year for five years is that we helped create an environment where unemployment fell from 15.1pc to 8.8pc and 140,000 people are back in work.

Another benefit of this approach is that it allows performance evaluation to take place because you are tracking implementation closely. Once you can evaluate the impact of your policies, you can award more funding to the programmes that work most effectively.

If this systematic, collaborative and consultative approach worked in helping tackle the jobs crisis, there is no reason why, in my opinion, it can't work for other major policy challenges. Like-minded parties who want to see their ideas implemented can, and should, be accommodated in any such environment. Good ideas will flourish and all participants can watch and track the implementation of agreed plans, so that the Dail can approve and monitor their implementation.

We have a Taoiseach who has proven his ability to manage a coalition government and who has shown an openness to implementing and policing such a systematic approach to dealing with major policy challenges. I think most people in Fine Gael will recognise that there were important policy innovations and policy decisions that emerged from being in a coalition and being open to other points of view.

Fine Gael is confident of the policies that secured us the largest number of seats but we also recognise good ideas from elsewhere on the political spectrum.

It therefore makes eminent good sense to try to put the best ideas together - from like-spirited parties or individuals - and put a government programme together in the interests of the country. I believe we have the capacity to do just that.

Of course, sweetness and light will not readily break out in a new dawn for politics. But with reasonable intentions from reasonable people looking to serve the electorate that chose them, many things are possible.

In that environment, argument will focus on what matters and what can be done about it - not just about who you will or won't do a deal with.

Deputies on all sides will be better informed and, most importantly, the Dail will be a driver of wider reform in institutions, both local and national, which shape and improve people's lives. In the centenary year of the 1916 Rising, such an outcome has the potential to honour all sides of a diverse Dail.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail bosses have been forced to reassure their TDs that two former party advisers have been given no role in any coalition talks.

Reports that Frank Flannery and Noel Whelan have met to agree common ground behind the two parties caused consternation among backbenchers in both parties.

It was claimed Mr Flannery, Fine Gael's former director of elections, was involved in exchanging documents with Mr Whelan, who previously advised Fianna Fail.

Both men have denied the claims but sources confirmed that they meet regularly to discuss political matters.

"Frank and Noel are good friends. It wouldn't be unusual for them to discuss things," said a source.

"In this case they are both very concerned about the direction the country is going and would like to be able to help in any way possible."

Nonetheless, figures in both parties have been forced to reassure backbenchers who were furious over the suggestion that the pair would be given a key role in negotiation talks.

One minister told the Irish Independent: "They have not been mandated to do any negotiations so if they are meeting it's on their own initiative."

And a Fianna Fail strategist added: "Our guys have been calling us wondering what the hell is going on -which is absolutely nothing."

Nonetheless, sources say the two men meet regularly to share views on Irish politics and have done so since the election result presented the possibility of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail working together.

It comes as Mr Flannery told a Sunday newspaper that the current leadership of Fine Gael should step aside for younger TDs such as Health Minister Leo Varadkar.
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Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are preparing to offer a series of sweeteners to Independent TDs in a desperate bid to win their support ahead of next month's crucial vote for Taoiseach.

On April 6, TDs will once again vote for who they believe should be Taoiseach.

And with the Labour Party set to abstain this time around, Mr Martin is currently just seven votes behind Enda Kenny.

Senior figures in both parties will this week attempt to lure Independent deputies by offering a suite of proposals, some of which will be tailored to address the needs of specific constituencies.

Pledges are expected to be made on healthcare, housing and investment in rural towns and villages in the constituencies of Independents.

But the prospect of side deals being struck will leave both Mr Kenny and Mr Martin open to accusations of engaging in "auction politics" and the type of side deals offered in the past.

Although Fine Gael figures favour a 'grand coalition' with Fianna Fail, there is a widespread acceptance that a minority government is the most likely outcome.

Both leaders will this week dispatch negotiating teams in a bid to shore up support ahead of the vote for Taoiseach.

And there is now an acceptance at senior level within both parties that specific deals will have to be made in order to secure votes.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail negotiators are realistically eyeing up the votes of 15-17 Independent TDs, whose support could determine the next Taoiseach.

Fine Gael sources believe Independents may be persuaded to vote for Mr Kenny in return for certain commitments in areas such as mental health and housing, as well as a pledge to invest in rural areas.

Several ministers will be involved in the party's negotiations, including Leo Varadkar, Frances Fitzgerald, Simon Coveney and Simon Harris.

"It will be a case of us saying to people, 'Come join us in government' and you will have input into key areas and decisions," one Fine Gael source said last night.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail figures believe a number of Independents, including Finian McGrath, Maureen O'Sullivan and Mattie McGrath, will be interested in seeking concessions in areas as such as disability services, tackling crime and healthcare.

The party will this week dispatch a team of four TDs - Michael McGrath, Barry Cowen, Charlie McConalogue and Jim O'Callaghan - to hold talks with the Social Democrats and Independents.

The group will provide feedback to party leader Micheal Martin, who in turn will prepare a report for the parliamentary party.

Fianna Fail sources said they expected discussions to surround "bread and butter issues" including rural Ireland, broadband, commercial rates, class sizes and third-level education.

If Mr Kenny wins the vote - which sources in both parties say is the most likely outcome - Fianna Fail will offer its "tacit support" for a Fine Gael-led minority government.

"The loser must respect the victor. If the Dail decides to favour Enda Kenny, Micheal Martin will respect that," said a Fianna Fail strategist.

However, Fine Gael sources are highly wary of such a scenario for fear that Fianna Fail would eventually collapse the government at a time of its choosing.

"We won't be bounced into a minority government if it is not going to be a stable one," said a senior party source.

The ongoing wrangling comes after a Red C opinion poll for the 'Sunday Business Post' showed that there would be no significant change in the standing of all three main parties if another election was held.

Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said that while forming a 'grand coalition' would be a "huge ask" for both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, another election was not desirable.

"The last thing the country needs right now is a general election. I think it would be a slap in the face to the electorate," he said.
A DANGEROUS gang led by the criminal known as Mr Big have made chilling threats to dig up the body of slain terror boss Alan Ryan.

The drug-dealing mob are the chief suspects for the murder of both Alan and his brother Vinnie, who was laid to rest last week.

Now they have warned the gang will continue to target the North Dublin family.

Independent.ie has also learned that a series of hoax online accounts have been created to mock the murdered brothers.

Vinnie Ryan (25) was gunned down moments after dropping his girlfriend at her home in Finglas two weeks ago.

His brother, Real IRA chief Alan (32), was killed by a hitman as he walked near his Donaghmede home in September 2012.

The family, who recently called for no retaliation for Vinnies murder, have been subjected to a series of attacks by the Mr Big mob over the last four years.

Read More

Now a well-placed source has revealed: A number of gang members were spotted hanging around Alan and Vincents grave in Fingal cemetery.

The family have been told that this gang wants to dig up Alans body and put it on display. They are still tormenting the family. Its sick.

Family friend and criminologist Malachy Steenson said: There has been wave after wave of attacks on this family by this drug dealing gang. People may ask if this threat is real or if it is credible.

But if you look at what they have already done then there is no doubt in my mind but that they are capable of this.

He explained that mum Marion is terrified that every time one of her family members goes outside the door they are going to be killed.

He continued: "Republicans are taking these threats very seriously but appear to lack the ability to take on these gangs.

"It is now time for the state to protect its citizens."

The bizarre threat to dig up Alan Ryans remains is similar to a scene in crime drama Love/Hate where character Fran, played by Peter Coonan, dug up the remains of the mother of Noely, played by real life criminal Stephen Clinch.
Good news for anyone planning to take part in St Patricks Day festivities this Thursday: spring weather is on the way at last.

According to Met Eireann, Paddys Day will be a dry day with both cloudy and sunny spells. We can expect a cool morning with temperatures rising in the afternoon to between 8 and 11 degrees.

Following a cold morning with patches of fog, temperatures are to reach 13 degrees today for a dry day with some pleasant bright spells.

Tonight will be dry and quite cold with some ground frost and fog as temperatures fall to between zero and 4 degrees.

As for the outlook for the rest of the week, Met Eireann have said people can expect dry, fine conditions, falling to 8 or 9 degrees along the coast in the evenings.

The weather is going to continue dry and settled for the rest of the week and over the coming weekend with an anticyclone/high pressure system slow moving near Ireland and Britain blocking out the Atlantic rain belts.

Winds will be from between southeast and northeast in direction; mostly moderate in strength but fresh at times in some coastal areas and over high ground.

While the days will be mild, Met Eireann warn that temperatures will drop at night. The rain should hold off but there may be ground frost and fog developing and a risk of air frost on some nights.
A fundraising page set up in order to raise money to bring home the body of former Connacht rugby player who died in an Australian road crash has more than three times its target.

Kevin Moran (32), from Mulranny, Co Mayo, died after the accident in Brisbane on Friday.

The fundraising "Bring Kevin Moran Home" was set up to help raise funds to make arrangements to bring his remains home to Ireland.

Organisers of the fundraising page said: "We would like to sincerely thank the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust who are assisting with arrangements to get Kevin home."

Kevin's fiancee Anne Marie Perry told how it is heartbreaking that they will never make it down the aisle.

Writing online Kevin's partner Anne-Marie told of her devastation at losing the love of my life, my best friend, my partner in crime, my soul mate.

The couple, who had been living together Down Under, got engaged on Valentines Day this year.

Ms Perry posted the heartbreaking tribute on the former Connacht underage stars Facebook page over the weekend.

She wrote: Trying to put into words how I'm feeling right now is indescribable with a pain in my heart I will never fill.

Kevin Moran you truly were the love of my life and for us to never make it down the isle (sic) and all of our plans together is heartbreaking.

You had so much to offer. The love of my life, my best friend, my partner in crime, my soul mate!

Life is just so unfair sometimes and I can't understand why such tragic things happen. You put a smile on everyone's face, always having the Craic, and was (were) truly loved by so many people.

You really will have a place in so many people's hearts forever. You loved your family more than words could say and they loved you."
Leading members of the main anti-water-charges group are openly split over the future of Irish Water and the prospect of making hundreds of workers unemployed.

Sinn Fein has admitted that it does not know what will replace Irish Water in the event of its abolition - but admitted that the process is likely to involve compulsory redundancies.

However, two other leading members of the 'Right2Change' movement, trade unionist Brendan Ogle of Unite and TD Paul Murphy, rejected the suggestion of job losses among the 650 directly employed staff.

The future of the workers at the public utility is now subject to the most significant split to date in the movement.

Sinn Fein strategist and Dublin Mid-West TD Eoin O Broin said that his party wanted to establish an independent commission to examine the future of Irish Water.

"I think if you set up an independent commission and ask it to look at the best model of public ownership, then I do think there is a responsibility to accept its recommendations when it does come back," Mr O Broin told RTE's 'This Week' programme.

"Again, we would have to wait for the commission to make its recommendations, but I expect there would be redundancies, yes," he added.

Adrian Kane, the secretary of the group of unions representing Irish Water staff, said there was deep concern among staff following speculation about their futures.

But Mr O Broin denied that Sinn Fein was preparing to "go to war" with Irish Water workers, whose union representatives insist that they would strongly resist redundancies.

"Certainly, Sinn Fein wouldn't be looking to go to war with anybody," said Mr O Broin.

"But we also have to be very honest. While again, we can't prejudge what the outcome of any possible commission would be, clearly, if you are restructuring water services, there is a highly likelihood of redundancies and we would deal with that if it happened."

Speaking on the same RTE programme, Mr Ogle - who is a co-ordinator of Right2Water - rejected the prediction of redundancies outright.

He said: "We cannot have a situation where we are investing an extra 6-7bn in water services and sanitation and that equals less workers.

"Of course, as I just said, Irish Water needs to be restructured, where we have people working on frontline services, delivering and making sure we get water and sanitation services - we need more of them," he said.

Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit TD Mr Murphy told the Irish Independent that he did not accept the need for compulsory redundancies at the public utility, which also employs more than 3,500 workers indirectly.

"The only people we would be looking at is the people at the top, who are earning huge salaries," the Dublin South-West TD added.
Businessman Sean Gallagher has said he wouldnt rule out another tilt at becoming President but its not a short-term plan.

The former Dragons Den investor was hot favourite to win the presidency in 2011 but his campaign derailed in the final days after a bogus tweet read out during a live RTE debate led to questions about his character.

Mr Gallagher returned to RTE for an interview for the first time since that incident today and while he said he as most sore about the way he lost the election, he doesnt regret running.

The hardest part was while Martin McGuiness went back to Northern Ireland, Michael D went to the Aras, Mairead McGuinness back to the Special Olympics and Dana went elsewhere  shes a lovely woman  I had given up my business interests to run, he said.

Mr Gallagher said he wrote to the government suggesting that he could use his skills to help promote job creation but was disappointed not to get a reply.

Speaking on the Ray DArcy show, he added: I dont regret running (in 2011). Its a great opportunity to meet loads of people and a wonderful experience.

I met Michael D and his wife since then. Theyre lovely people and I have the height of respect for Michael D.

A number of parties have since approached Mr Gallagher to join them since his failed presidential bid but he said it would be inappropriate to say who he talked to.

Asked whether he would consider running again he said he wouldnt rule anything in or out but he expects Michael D Higgins to be in-situ for some time.
Plans to introduce two weeks paid paternity leave have been thrown into doubt as a result of the ongoing political impasse.

Civil servants across several government departments are unable to progress important legislation because ministers do not have the powers to issue directions.

And several measures that were given funding in October's Budget have effectively been frozen - because there is no government to ensure they are underpinned by legislation.

One of the most important measures at risk of delay is the provision of two weeks of paid paternity leave for fathers.

A major bill by Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan, which allows for the potential merger of up to 10 of the State's 14 institutes of technology, has also been sidelined until a government is formed.

Plans by former Drugs Minister Aodhan O Riordain to bring in a supervised injection centre in Dublin and Alan Kelly's plans to set up a planning regulator are also in doubt.

The regulator was announced last year in a bid to address poor practice and irregularities in the planning process.

Last week, outgoing minister Kevin Humphreys, said ministers were now merely entering their departments in a caretaker capacity to ensure that "the lights are on and there is air in the tyres".

"The clock is ticking on a lot of legislation at the moment and decisions need to be made shortly to get it done before the summer recess. If it goes past the end of April without a government being formed, then we're in real trouble," the former Dublin Bay South TD said.

"There were decisions made in the Budget, such as paternity leave, that need legislation. So during this period, there is no legislation taking place, yet there is a commitment that it will be in September. If it is not published by the summer recess, it can't be on the statute books."
Nama has been told that it must bring land to the market more quickly to stop developers hoarding sites.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan is concerned that the State's bad bank could be encouraging a trend of holding on to land in the anticipation of price increases.

And he said that hoarding distorted the value of development land that could otherwise be used to ease the mounting housing crisis.

Housing is one of the major issues facing the next Government and has dominated the agenda in recent days.

A rental market squeeze, made worse by a lack of supply of affordable homes, has pushed a record 6,000 people into emergency accommodation in B&Bs and hotels.

Meanwhile, the ESRI think tank has warned that Ireland is repeating the mistakes of the boom by making it impossible for families to buy homes near their workplace, meaning that they face long commutes from beyond the suburbs.

In correspondence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Nama was recently asked to increase the scale and pace of delivering residential units in areas of high demand.

Mr Noonan warned that the bad bank may be reinforcing a trend that is being followed by other developers - not selling land quickly enough.

But the minister told Nama that ensuring quicker supply of land to the market would "reverse" hoarding and encourage a faster supply of family homes.

"If the market believed that significant supply was coming to the market, expectations of future price increases would be tempered, which may lead to a reversal of hoarding behaviour.

"It seems that this behaviour may be self-fulfilling," he wrote.

"Withholding property from development will exacerbate the supply shortfall and drive future prices higher - reinforcing developer decisions to withhold property from development.

"I would like your assurance that in such cases Nama is doing everything it can to bring these sites to market as soon as practicable."

The minister believes that reversing this trend is a key issue to relieve huge pressures on the housing market.

Builders and developers are currently struggling to get projects off the ground, despite a chronic shortage of housing.

Construction Industry Federation of Ireland director general Tom Parlon has acknowledged that hoarding is an issue.

"People have bought too dear and the current market price will not stand up that sort of value now," he said.

Nama has proposed that the Department of Finance should engage with banks in order to establish whether there are measures which could be taken to speed up the sale of residential land sites.

It also said that loans should be advanced to local authorities to cover the cost of infrastructure that is needed to tackle the housing crisis.
Farmer Clive Clarke from Barna, Co Offaly, whose farm and butchers business was robbed six times in 13 years. Photo: Selina OMeara Photography

Rural homeowners are being targeted by criminals who put their properties under surveillance during the day by pretending to be legitimate traders.

Campaigner John Tully says that gangs are constantly scoping the countryside, on the lookout for easy prey or valuable machinery.

"They could be the man wearing a suit during the day but wearing a balaclava at night," he said.

"These people are getting local information."

'Savages'

But Mr Tully warned that the number of people living in rural communities who do not report suspicious activity was "massive".

He added: "I'd ask people not to give up, because if they do, these savages will win."

Rural crime remains a huge political issue, not least because of the lack of Government action to address the problem.

Last week, a farmer who has been hit with a wave of burglaries told how other farmers in the area were now going on armed patrol at night in order to defend their properties.

Clive Clarke (36) works as both a farmer and a butcher with his father. The family farm has been targeted by burglars six times in the last 13 years.

On Tuesday night, 13,000 worth of equipment - including quad bikes, trailers, money, a tractor, road diesel, meat and butcher's knives - were taken from his premises in Barna near Moneygall.

"There's people cracking up," he told the Irish Independent.

"If it's not the rain or bad prices, it's someone stealing your stuff. What's next? How can you take it?"

Mr Tully is urging residents of small towns and villages to get over their fears of being targeted by criminal gangs and to band together.

"It's up to people power," said the 53-year-old founder of the Save Our Community group.

The group was formed after his village of Littleton, Co Tipperary had been targeted in a crime wave that saw practically every local farm and business raided by roaming gangs of thieves in recent months.

His movement sparked similar meetings among rural communities living in fear of criminal gangs, amid a lack of garda resources nationwide.

But Mr Tully said that since then the number of raids on local businesses in his community had dwindled, which he believes is linked to locals standing up and being vigilant.

"A lot of people are afraid to say or do anything," he said, before adding that community was the key to preventing further crimes, despite the palpable sense of fear that exists in many rural areas.

"I spoke with 16 people today, including a bachelor farmer in his 60s, who had his farm ransacked after they broke into his shed by kicking down the door.

"He said, 'I'm afraid. I stay sitting up in a chair until 2am because I'm afraid.'"

Mr Tully said that criminals were feeding off that fear.

However, he said it was up to local residents to know the patterns of these criminals and to report to the gardai any suspicious activity or person that they see.
An American jihadi is attempting to recruit schoolgirls from Northern Ireland to join ISIS.

After a six month-long investigation, it can be revealed today how the terror group is trying to lure young local girls to Syria.

Posing as a 17-year-old student from Belfast, our reporter used social networking site Twitter to contact a woman connected to the militant group.

Within weeks the self-proclaimed jihadi media co-ordinator had allocated our reporter a husband and was asking for passport details to book flights to the ISIS stronghold.

Conversations began slowly, with communication made only through private messages on Twitter before the woman, who calls herself Maria, asked our reporter to add her on an encrypted messaging app.

Encrypted messaging apps are popular among ISIS recruiters as numbers and locations are not exchanged, meaning users are difficult to trace. Emojis and text-speech are also regularly used to appeal to a younger audience.

A series of messages sent by Maria  who targets British girls by writing mainly in English with a little Arabic  suggests that the Islamic States recruitment network is growing faster than ever before.

We dont bring people here because it is a fantasy, they come here because they have a cause and a purpose to serve, said Maria who claims to know loads of brothers and sisters in London.

Allahs faithful people are everywhere, inshallah [God-willing].

Before giving our reporter any more information, Maria interrogated our reporter after suspecting she may be a journalist.

After a video conversation via Skype and weeks of questioning at the request of her jihadi commander, she was satisfied  and gave a disturbing insight into how ISIS are recruiting jihadi brides here in the UK.

Most of the planning and facilitation is done by English speaking people, she said.

I am the media co-ordinator and I match people, talent, language, background and so forth.

I am responsible for all who reach out with faithful heart and try to get the help needed.

Like if there is a need for you in one area or the other, I will see how you can better benefit the cause.

At the same time if you have a certain need, I will match you with the right resources.

The more I know about you the better fit.

ISIS is regarded as the worlds most dangerous terrorist organisation, after expanding its rule in Syria and Iraq.

Formed in 2013, after growing out of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS is led by Baghdad-born terror boss Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and has already lured around 60 young British women to Syria.

The former Al-Qaeda leader is regarded by political analysts around the globe as a tactical mastermind, with his attention to detail and long-term vision an attraction for many potential recruits.

While the majority of Brits usually travel alone, three London teens, Khadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, made the journey to Syria together last February. Two of the girls were just 15 years old.

Last week Metropolitan Polices Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said evidence proves that ISIS are trying to build bigger attacks globally, and the UK is among its targets.

Trust me, hundreds want to come (to Syria) every day, but only dozens qualify through our channel, said Maria in a shocking admission.

According to recent figures published by the United Nations, recruiters can earn around 7,000 for each person they convert to jihadis.

More money is given if the person recruited has a particularly desirable skill or profession, such as a doctor or an IT specialist, a question Maria asked.

She then sent a link to a YouTube video which explained how to take the Islamic testimony, shahada, adding then record a video of you wearing hijab and reciting the shahada.

Once its seen and witnessed by the Iman here (Iman is the high religious authority) I then will move forward.

After satisfying this request, Maria finally showed her face for the first time in a Skype chat earlier this month.

My Amir was very happy with your reply, said Maria, who claims to be in Aleppo now following heavy bombing by the Russians and coalition forces which forced her and her sisters to leave the ISIS Syrian capital of Raqqa.

I pray you stay on the path that Allah had designed for us.

Now that we are closer to getting everything ready, when do you want to leave? I am hoping and praying for early summer. When does school year end?

Do you need someone meeting you in London or you can do it on your own once the ticket is secured?

Just six days ago Scotland Yard released alarming new figures which show a 57pc increase in terrorism-related arrests in the last three years, compared with the previous three.

Metropolitan Police now believe that ISIS is planning spectacular attacks, similar to the November 2015 Paris attacks. 130 people died in a series of shootings and suicide bombs across the French capital.

In March 2013, ISIS took over Raqqa  the first provincial capital to fall under rebel control.

Since then, the threat level posed by the organisation has been raised across Europe. Parts of central London have already been bomb-proofed, with many bollards now designed to withstand lorry bombs, and 24-hour surveillance in operation. Daily patrols are also carried out in a bid to prevent terrorist attacks in the UKs capital.

With a rising number of young British Muslims, a number of whom are converts, interacting with ISIS growing network, tighter controls are being enforced by authorities. But despite Europe and Americas clampdown on terrorism, ISIS do not seem deterred about recruiting more members.

Its not what you do to qualify, its more staying the course, said Maria.

Its a very hard but fulfilling life, your reason for being in the world is in front of your eyes every day.

And worringly, an American-born terror queen is confident that 2016 will be one to remember for Islamic State.

It will be a year of success and achievements.

All of our evidence has now been handed over to police.

JIHADI BRIDE CHECKLIST

Scottish jihadi bride Aqsa Mahmood recently wrote a checklist for new British recruits and posted it on her blog.

Heres a selection of her suitcase essentials:

First aid kit

Coconut oil

Mosquito spray

Cold and flu tablets

Android phone (Apple products are banned)

Earphones

Chargers (as the Syrian ones are all fake)

Dark winter coat

Fleecy pyjamas

Good underwear

Clothes to wear around your husband if you plan to marry
A spokesman for Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat said the two women were a half-mile offshore when they noticed the tide rising around them. Photo: PA

Two beach walkers and a body-boarder had to be rescued in separate operations by the emergency services.

In Dublin, two women walking on Sandymount Strand were cut off by the tide at around midday yesterday and had to be rescued. The walkers were only saved because they raised the alarm using a mobile phone.

A spokesman for Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat said the two women were a half-mile offshore when they noticed the tide rising around them.

One of them rang the Coastguard and they attempted to walk to shore as quickly as they could, but were soon waist-deep and the tide was rising faster than they could walk.

A lifeboat crew reached the pair and brought them ashore. Neither was harmed, although first aid for a minor injury was given to one of the walkers.

The RNLI said this was the third such incident in the area this year.

Meanwhile, a man was airlifted to hospital yesterday after being injured while body-boarding on a world-famous wave off Co Clare.

The man, aged in his 30s, was injured in Ballard Bay near Doonbeg around 9.30am and was air-lifted to hospital in Limerick.

Ballard Bay is home to Reilly's Wave, one of the best known waves in the world that attracts professional surfers and body boarders from across the globe.
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Billy Keane Opinion Even a dash to the Croke Park toilet wasnt enough to get rid of space invader who gave me Covid

I did the time, but there was no crime. Banged up I was, under house arrest after two red bars showed up on the Covid test. Im not too bad, thanks for asking. I have it down on a man who was nearly close enough to kiss me at the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Galway.
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Your personal finance questions  Should I give up my tracker mortgage now that interest rates are rising fast?

Q I am on a tracker mortgage so my mortgage bills have gone up twice since last July as a result of the two European Central Bank interest rate hikes. The interest rate on my tracker mortgage was 1.5pc before the ECB started to increase its rate in July. Now it is almost twice that at 2.75pc. Tracker mortgages have always been considered gold dust but I am now considering fixing my mortgage as I am worried the ECB may increase its rates again in the coming months, which would push my mortgage bills even higher. Would it be a good idea to give up my tracker and fix my mortgage?
Dr Conor Mulvagh is lecturer in Irish History with special responsibility for the Decade of Commemorations, 2013-2023, at the School of History in UCD. This is an edited extract of a lecture he delivered on the Rising last week.

The rebels of 1916 left two important legacies. Firstly, they can be said to have set an example and inspired the population into revolution. Secondly - and, I would argue, more importantly - they left a written document that set forth an idealised vision of how Ireland could govern itself in a way that was inclusive, without discrimination of gender or religion or class.

Militarily, the 1916 Rising was a failure. Buildings and strongholds were occupied all around Dublin and in a few other locations. The garrisons that took these buildings held out for a week and when the leadership of the rebellion finally surrendered, Dublin city lay in ruins and the citizens who the rebels believed they were fighting for booed and jeered the prisoners as they were led off to internment camps in England and Wales. While the rank and file were spared harsh punishment, the leaders of the Rising were tried and executed.

This fact, and the extension of martial law to areas of Ireland that had neither planned nor participated in the rebellion, caused one of the most decisive, rapid and important shifts ever to have occurred in Irish public opinion. Within a fortnight of the Rising, children on the streets of Dublin were referring to Patrick Pearse as 'St Patrick'. Two years later, the Sinn Fein party, the political movement that benefited from this change in public opinion, won almost every seat outside of Ulster in the General Election of 1918.

If the 1916 Rising was a symbolic sacrifice, then the result of the 1918 General Election provided Irish republicans with a mandate to initiate a far more ambitious military project that would eventually culminate in an agreed settlement for Irish Independence in 1921.

But to understand these events, we must go back to 1912, when Ireland was offered a more limited, but nonetheless extensive offer of greater independence.

However, this offer set in train a series of events that led directly to the door of the GPO four years later.

In the GPO in 1916, it is reputed that James Connolly, the socialist leader of the Irish Citizen Army, told his men that if they were victorious - and this was an increasingly unlikely outcome - then they were to hold on to their rifles.

Connolly foresaw the eventuality when the Irish Citizen Army might need to take up arms to defend its vision of Ireland against the more middle-class and Gaelic Irish Volunteers in a vision akin to Orwell's 'Animal Farm'.

Connolly imagined a revolution that was to bring about a socialist republic.

Freedom would not be freedom if it merely changed the identity of the ruling classes.

While the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army never found themselves facing each other down the barrel of a gun, in some senses, Connolly's scepticism about the impact of the revolution would come true.

After the War of Independence, cautioning his colleagues from being overly congratulatory, TD Kevin O'Higgins asserted to the Dail that the IRA's achievement had been to dislodge the British from nothing greater than a fairly good-sized police barracks.

From a social perspective, it has been argued, only somewhat unfairly, that the achievements of the new State in its early years amounted to little more than painting the postboxes green.

In this light, we must ask the question first posed seriously by Diarmaid Ferriter: what were the limits of liberty? Did the State make good on any of its promises to cherish the children of the nation equally?

The Proclamation's promise of gender equality soon gave way to the proposed exclusion of women from jury duty in 1927, the criminalisation of contraception in 1935, and finally, in 1937, the enshrinement of the woman's place as being in the home in the new Constitution.

In economic terms too, the real revolution had preceded the firing of any shots. Land transfer from landlord to tenant had come about gradually, with very little violence or bloodshed, between 1870 and the first decade of the 20th century.

This new smallholding farming class was socially conservative and eager to gain social advancement for themselves, not a great levelling of society to bring everyone down to the same level. Thus, the big fights after the revolution were about symbols, sovereignty, and emblems, not pounds, shillings and pence.
Recently I have new-found respect and admiration for my widowed mother. As the second-youngest of six children I've been asking, "How did she do it and keep sane at the same time". I am a man in his 30s with two small children under two years of age and am just about holding it together. My mother provided an answer: she was a hard-working housewife.

Looking back over the last couple of years, I only wish somebody had sat both myself and my wife down and explained the ups and downs that having children can bring in a little more detail.

We have two lovely children who bring a lot of happiness but it can be tough going with both of us working. Maybe if we had known we wouldn't have buried ourselves in so much debt and purchased a house that is now in negative equity. We both now have no choice but to continue to work.

With creche costs beyond our capabilities, we found ourselves looking at the au pair option. Being self-employed I appreciate the benefits that come with having a wife working in the public sector and the security that it brings.

As much as we both would like for my wife to give up work it is just not an option for us. With very little choice, we contacted a reputable au pair agency who came recommended. Having looked at some au pair websites, we decided an agency would give us some comfort in properly vetting a suitable au pair and provide us with an out if either of us or the au pair were unhappy. We were lucky to take on a nice Spanish au pair.

We could breathe again. We are now on our third au pair and see them as part of our family. One of the au pairs has requested to come back a second time during the summer months and is in regular contact to enquire about the children. We have found the whole au pair experience great and it has opened our eyes to other cultures. We have always taken the view that we treat our au pairs fairly and make sure they are happy. After all, they are minding our children. Why would you treat them any other way?

I now find it incredible that following a ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission that au pairs must be paid the minimum wage, we find ourselves in a situation were we might have to reconsider having an au pair. All because there were a couple of bad apples as host families.

I find commentators' reaction to the outcome of the election odd, but everyone, including mothers and grandparents that are picking up the pieces, can see the pressure there is out there. The squeezed middle are struggling. It doesn't take much to make people angry.

What do we do now? Do we consider one of us giving up work? Downsize? Or do we look at taking on one of the rumoured 15,000 illegal Brazilians who would be reluctant to take us to the Workplace Relations Commission?

If only we had a government to sort this out.

Gerry Cooney

Rathfarnham, Dublin 14

FG and FF must put country first

A hundred years after the 1916 Rising, the only difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail is which of the main players will be appointed Taoiseach.

The politics of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are indistinguishable; their policies differ only to the extent that one, or the other, might win a few more votes at election time.

I doubt that any of the current Fine Gael or Fianna Fail decision makers believe that the historic differences between the two parties still exist.

The reason for the continued existence of the two parties lies in personal ambition.

In this crucial time for our country, we cannot tread water for 18 or 24 months before decisions are made to help economic recovery.

It is time for politicians to put away personal ambition.

Our people voted for representatives who would act in the best interests of our country, not in their own best interests.

Now is the time for a sea change in our politicians.

Our mothers and fathers suffered for us, let us not trample on their sacrifice for personal gain.

Harry Spillane

Mount Merrion, Co Dublin

Plight of the poor in 2016

With St Patrick's Day and the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising approaching, it may be time to ask if the graces of Christianity and the goals of the Rising are truly present in Irish society, especially in light of the shocking plight of the less well off in Ireland.

Jimmy Cummins

Broadwater, Western Australia

St Patrick's Day globetrotting

Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny has cancelled the second day of his two-day St Patrick's Day visit to Washington ahead of potential talks on forming the next government. Last year, Mr Kenny, Joan Burton and 27 ministers took part in the St Patrick's Day programme abroad. This year, 10 acting ministers will travel.

It's an ill wind that does not blow someone some good - in this case the Irish taxpayer, who will save a small fortune on the reduced number of ministers globetrotting around the world.

If there ever was a valid reason for such travel, this year would have been no exception. The only reason for this cutback is that jobs are at risk - that is, the Taoiseach and ministers' jobs!

Seamus McLoughlin

Keshcarrigan, Co Leitrim

Putting on a political facade

Having, as I do, a somewhat idealistic turn of mind, I turned on the television recently to observe the historic vote for Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot.

As the members cast their votes above the Dail chamber, the cameras focused on Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath and Barry Cowen all engaging in an apparently hilarious threeway conversation. When they returned to their seats however, they rather conspicuously made sure that the facades of grim seriousness and faux mistrust were once again painted on their faces.

It was a brief but illuminating episode to observe, as it unmasked the political posturing they are clearly enacting for public consumption. They are taking us for fools, I thought. Soon the practised rhetoric of 'mistrust to be overcome' was back on their lips.

I could not help but think of Ruggero Leoncavallo's great opera about the tragic Pagliaccio. But as to whether it is they or we who are the clowns, who can tell? Either way, the following advice seems prudent:

"Laugh loud, Pagliaccio, forget all of your troubles, laugh off the pain that so poisons your heart."

David Mullins

Arklow, Co Wicklow
There is a variety of positions open for experienced people at Deloitte, not just in the areas traditionally associated with the professional services and consulting firm

Professional services and consulting firm Deloitte has over 120 vacancies for experienced people in all four of its business units - audit, tax, corporate finance and consulting  in addition to the usual 250 graduate positions it will be filling this year in Ireland.

Our business is achieving continued success, and to build on this we have vacancies now for people with more experience under their belt. In this instance we are looking for experience in audit, risk advisory, tax, consulting and corporate finance, says head of HR at Deloitte Orla Graham.

We take great pride in making Deloitte the leading place to develop a career, and a reflection of this is the number of people who have come back to us in the past number of years. These are people who trained with Deloitte, worked in industry and then came back to rejoin us. Last year we took on 11 people who had worked here before and built up two to five years experience elsewhere. It is great to see people like that coming back into the fold.

In addition to this we have been taking on people who have worked in specialist industry roles and gained technical or large-scale project experience relevant to our business.

There is a wide variety of roles to be filled at senior level within Deloitte at present, and often these are roles not usually associated with professional services.

Cyber security has become a growth area in terms of our risk advisory service and we have opportunities for people with data analytics/Big Data experience. The business is very different now to what it was 10 years ago across all service lines, which means different skill sets are required. All areas have moved forward and vacancies are no longer just for traditional audit and tax roles, says Graham.

In general we are looking for smart, bright people with a deep knowledge in their areas of expertise who are motivated and success focused. We want people with three plus years experience who can think around corners and are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.

The culture at Deloitte is entrepreneurial and collaborative where people are allowed to be truly themselves, Graham continues. The way we describe it is that people are not put through a cookie cutter machine. They are allowed to play to their strengths and are able to avail of a huge amount of learning and development through our sophisticated suite of programmes.

At Deloitte, we are very focused on developing leaders at all levels of the organisation from junior positions upwards.

Deloitte currently employs close to 2,000 people in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Waterford and its recently opened office in Galway.

It is a diverse and international workforce, with a 50:50 gender split and 25 nationalities working across the four business units, says Graham.

The common denominator in our workforce is smart people who think innovatively and strategically and work well with others. In terms of behaviours, people tend to share the values of integrity and collaboration and working here helps them to learn more about themselves.

Details on available positions at Deloitte can be found at www.deloitte.com/ie/careers.
Following a successful growth phase, EY Ireland is continuing to recruit people from various backgrounds. Some recent hires share their experience

Professional services firm EY Ireland is currently recruiting across a spectrum of roles, ranging from qualified accountants and senior executives to directors, and is looking for people from a diverse array of backgrounds.

In its latest financial year (to 30 June 2015), the firm appointed seven new partners and has either promoted or progressed 36% of its people.

With growth comes opportunity, and posting more than 33% growth in the past two years is a significant achievement. Our success is down to our talented people who continue to deliver exceptional client service, says country managing partner, EY Ireland, Mike McKerr.

EY has a leading people culture, and a transformational approach to developing talent. We continue to accelerate investment across the organisation and intend to acquire additional new office space in a number of Irish locations over the coming months to cater for our growing numbers.

In the past 12 months, EYs headcount has increased by 9.2% to over 1,700 people in Ireland, which is fuelling strong growth across all of the services lines.

At present EY has a specific need for senior leaders in its People Advisory Services, Assurance, Tax, Advisory and Financial Services divisions.

The firm aims to attract local and international talent but is also reaching out to those who have emigrated to come home and build a future with EY.

In addition to qualified accountants with experience in professional services, we are actively seeking applicants from a range of disciplines, including consultants for our growing Advisory team, to support increasing demand for services such as cost reduction, risk, change management and IT transformation projects, says McKerr.

We are also looking for people with a background in IT, cyber security and data analytics who can engage with clients and speak their language.

Recent new hires

Most people would see EY as an accountancy firm, but it does so much more than that especially in the Advisory area which has grown substantially in the past couple of years, notes McAniff - who was a founding member of Sigmar Recruitment and has worked in various business sectors having studied business with University College Dublins Quinn School of Business.

So far the job is going really well and Im confident that I have the exceptional team needed to deliver the recruitment demands for Vision 2020, she says.

As we hire over 350 students every year for our various graduate programmes, getting out on campus has been essential to understand what graduates are looking for in their careers.

Working with the team to come up with innovative campaigns to attract students is one of the most exciting parts of my role and I look forward to seeing them come to life.

Yvonne Kiely, director of Customer Practice and digital lead at EY, decided to apply for her role as she was impressed by the calibre of people she had met from EY and their commitment to building great teams.

With a B.Comm from NUI Galway and an MSc in marketing from Dublin City University, Kiely has previously worked across industry - with companies such as Dell, Vodafone and Ulster Bank - and in professional services working for clients in financial services, telecommunications, technology and consumer goods.

EY know what they want, where the market is heading and ensure that the best people are on their teams to help clients solve their problems, she says.

My first six months in the job have been fantastic - very busy, hugely diverse in terms of client work and lots of fun. Whats good about working in EY is the ambition that exists within Advisory and the support we as directors get from the partners on a daily basis.

The huge amount of talent that we work with at every level, from graduates to global service partners, makes it a very collaborative, informed and interesting place to work and succeed.

Meanwhile, Colin Ryan, partner, Financial Services Advisory Practice at EY, says what he loves about his job is the role his team plays in partnering with clients to solve and navigate complex issues across a broad range of topics.

I work with clients on their 2016 challenges, but also have to 'look around the corner' and build capability in our practice for what they are likely to be focused on next year.

The result is a very broad remit  my day job is constantly changing, which I love. It's all made possible by the expertise and commitment of our team and that's the best part of the job; the great and diverse colleagues I get to work with every day.

With a degree and a masters in IT and an MBA, Ryan has 16 years business consulting experience and has also worked in financial services in the US.

His decision to join EY was a combination of finding a company with similar values and growth ambitions to his own with a clear and integrated global and local market strategy, his previous experiences of the brand and, in particular, the people he met through the recruitment process.

My overriding impression at EY is of a consistent emphasis on 'fit' with the culture and values of the firm as well as a clear focus on long-term outcomes and career path rather than short-term metrics, he notes.

This was consistent with my first six months into the firm. All the focus has been on getting me 'plugged in' to our local and European practices, meeting peers, understanding the firm and our people and ensuring I have strong foundations in place as I start on my new career.

McKerr adds that in todays mobile and globally interconnected world, people are looking for varied and rich careers and EYs global footprint is one of its main competitive advantages in that regard.

We pride ourselves on our ability to work seamlessly across borders, and international assignments are a great way to help our high-performing people develop new skills, new friendships and new cultural experiences.
Cars from an Amtrak passenger train on their side near Cimarron, Kansas (AP)

An engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes before a passenger train derailed in western Kansas, an official has said.

The Amtrak train was apparently travelling at about 75mph when the engineer noticed the deformity in the rail and pulled the brakes, the official said.

The train carrying 131 passengers and 14 crew was travelling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it derailed shortly after midnight on Monday along a straight stretch of tracks in flat farmland near Cimarron, a small community about 160 miles west of Wichita.

Eight cars derailed and four of them ended up on their sides.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals for treatment and 29 of them had been released by late morning, Amtrak said. Ashley Rogers, a spokeswoman for Grey County, said none of the injuries were life-threatening. It was not known if any crew members were among the injured.

Daniel Aiken, 21, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard screaming as he climbed out of their overturned car. He stopped to smell a fluid that was flowing through the car, fearful that it was fuel, but was reassured when he realised it was water.

"Once people realised the train wasn't going to blow up," he said, "they calmed down."

"All the lights went out, it was dark," passenger Daniel Szczerba told Wichita TV station KWCH.

"People travelling in groups (of) four or five got thrown around the car as it turned over and lost people as they were trying to get out of the emergency exits."

Amtrak did not say how fast the train was travelling when it derailed.

It was foggy in the area at the time but it was not immediately known if that played any role.

Andy Williams, a spokesman for BNSF Railway, which owns the track, referred questions to Amtrak.

Amtrak said it is working with BNSF on the investigation.

Uninjured passengers were taken to the Cimarron community centre to wait for Amtrak to make arrangements to transport them to their destinations.

Kelsey Wilson, 21, said she woke up when she felt the ride "getting really bumpy" and the train started to shake. Ms Wilson, who was returning to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, after spending spring break at home in Pueblo, Colorado, said her car disconnected from the one in front and that she hit her head as it overturned.

Ms Wilson said she escaped through the top of the flipped car then slid down the side before she "passed out". She was taken to a hospital and released with a neck brace.

Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency was sending a team to investigate.
Six armed men attacked beachgoers outside three hotels in Grand-Bassam, killing at least 16 people, including four Europeans.

The attacks sent tourists fleeing through the historic Ivory Coast resort town. Bloodied bodies were sprawled on the beach when emergency services arrived.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara visited the scene and said: "We have 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers who were unfortunately killed."

Gunmen all dressed in black opened fire around lunchtime while people were eating and drinking at the beachside bars and restaurants or swimming in the ocean.

"They started shooting and everyone just started running. There were women and children running and hiding," said another witness, Marie Bassole. "It started on the beach. Whoever they saw, they shot at."

Ivory Coast's government said security forces had "neutralised" the six attackers.

Al Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb, which has carried out other recent attacks in the region, claimed responsibility for yesterday's shootings.

The bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand-Bassam - a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners - about 40km east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial centre. It was the third major attack on a tourism centre in a West African country since November.

"We don't know where they came from, and we don't know where they've gone," said a receptionist at the Etoile de Sud hotel in Grand-Bassam. Everyone in the hotel was safe, and gendarmerie were on guard, he said.

Beachgoers could be seen lining up with their hands above their heads as they filed out of the area. Residents who heard the gunfire hid in their homes, said Josiane Sekongo (25), who lives across from one of the many beachfront hotels.

An American embassy delegation had been present in Grand-Bassam yesterday, but the US Embassy in Abidjan said it had no evidence US citizens were targeted.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit by jihadists as well.

French President Francois Hollande pledged support, denouncing the shootings as a "cowardly attack".
SIX gunmen in balaclavas stormed three hotels at a resort in Ivory Coast yesterday, killing as many as 16 people, including four Europeans.

Beachgoers were filmed screaming and running for cover as up to six gunmen jumped off boats and began spraying bullets indiscriminately while shouting: "Allahu Akbar."

Witnesses described the attackers as African, armed with Kalashnikovs and grenade belts. They shot at "anyone they could find" as they "calmly" walked along the packed beachfront of Grand Bassam, a World Heritage site 40km east of the capital Abidjan at lunchtime.

At least one is thought to have been killed in a shootout with police. At around 6.30pm local time, an army officer in Grand Bassam said two attackers were encircled by special forces.

French president Francois Hollande said last night he "strongly condemns the cowardly attack" and confirmed the death of one French national.

The attack is the third on west African establishments popular with westerners in a matter of months.

It bore similarities to one by Isil in June 2015 on the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse, which claimed 38 lives, including three Irish tourists. Last night, al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was reported to have claimed responsibility. They were behind the two previous incidents in west Africa.

One tourist, Braman Kinda, saw four attackers who "roamed the beach firing shots".

"We were on the beach, we heard the gunshots and we saw people fleeing - we understood this was an attack," he said.

At least one assailant was killed, several witnesses reported. Another witness, Kouamena Kakou Bertin, said three others fled on foot.

A worker in one of the hotels on the beach said that he had seen at least six bodies on the sand and two male attackers armed with Kalashnikovs.

The bodies were of white Europeans, Africans and Lebanese, said Lacina Ouattara, who works at the Wharf Hotel.

"They started at the Etoile du Sud hotel and then made their way along the beach, which was packed as it was Sunday afternoon," he said.

They were "shooting at anyone they could find".

"I saw two men with guns. Kalashnikovs. Their faces were bare and I could see they were Africans. They were in their 30s and were dressed in civilian clothes," said Mr Ouattara. "They shouted 'Allahu Akhbar' as they moved along the beach."

He said the gunmen were intercepted by police as they reached La Paillote Hotel and a shootout ensued.
An Alaskan man has said he woke up after a night of heavy drinking to the news that someone had ploughed into two teams of mushers in a sled dog race, only to realise he was responsible after checking his snowmobile.

The 26-year-old man arrested in connection with snowmobile attacks on two musher teams in Alaska's Iditarod dog sled race appeared in court via video on Sunday after reportedly admitting he was heavily drunk at the time of the incident.

One dog was killed and three others were injured in the incident, in which two veteran mushers told race officials that a person driving a snowmobile tried to drive the machine into their sled teams.

Bail for Arnold Demoski was set at $50,000 in Fairbanks District Court, where Demoski appeared by video hookup from a correctional center, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

But Magistrate Romano DiBenedetto said "If the state had asked for $500,000, I probably would have granted it."

Demoski told the Alaska Dispatch News he hit the teams while driving blackout drunk.

"I don't care if people know if I was drinking and driving," it quoted him as saying on Saturday before his arrest.

"I hope they can forgive me," he said of the mushers. "I want this community to forgive me and I want my employers to forgive me, and hopefully I can get over this alcohol problem."

The incident occurred about 12 miles (19 kms) from the Nulato checkpoint, about 582 miles (936 kms) into this year's 975-mile (1,570-kms) course.

A dog belonging to four-time champion Jeff King was killed when his team was hit from behind by a snowmobile, and two of his other dogs were injured, the Iditarod Trail Committee said.

"It did not seem like an accident," King said, adding that the driver never stopped or returned to the scene.

Driver Ailey Zirkle said she had been attacked in the same area by a person riding a snow machine who "repeatedly attempted to harm her and her team," race officials said. One of her dogs sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Police arrested Demoski on charges of assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and criminal mischief.

Some 85 mushers and their dogs set off on March 6 from the town of Willow, about a 90-mile (144-kms) drive from Anchorage. Of those, only seven have withdrawn from the race.
Alex Stypik, a supporter of Donald Trump, joins the Republican presidential candidate on stage at a campaign rally in Bloomington, Illinois. Photo: Jim Young/Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refused to take responsibility for clashes that have erupted at his campaign events, saying he was not inciting violence but giving voice to the anger of his supporters.

The real estate tycoon used a round of television appearances to counter furious criticism from Republican rivals and Democrats alike that he was encouraging discord with divisive language disparaging Muslims and immigrants.

"I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape," Mr Trump said on NBC's 'Meet the Press'.

The tension at his rallies, Mr Trump said, came from people being "sick and tired" of American leadership that has cost them jobs through international trade deals, failed to defeat Isil terrorism and treats military veterans poorly.

"The people are angry at that - they're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger," he said.

Mr Trump, front-runner for the Republican nomination, appeared unchastened after simmering tensions between his supporters and protesters angry over his positions on immigration and Muslims erupted on Friday night, forcing him to cancel a Chicago rally and casting a shadow over his campaign appearances on Saturday.

The disturbances erupted days before the next five presidential nominating contests tomorrow, which could cement the billionaire's lead over Republican rivals US Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

The scenes in Chicago followed several weeks of violence at Trump rallies, in which protesters and journalists have been punched, tackled and hustled out of venues, raising concerns about security heading into the November 8 presidential election to replace US President Barack Obama. Mr Trump's Republican rivals, as well as Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, heaped criticism on the billionaire after Friday's clashes.

Toxic

Mr Kasich said Mr Trump had created a "toxic environment".

Mr Trump, who had rallies scheduled in Illinois, Ohio and Florida, hopes to beat both Mr Kasich and Florida senator Mr Rubio in their home states tomorrow. A new 'Wall Street Journal'/NBC News/Marist poll showed Mr Trump leading Mr Rubio 43pc to 22pc among likely primary voters in Florida.

Mr Trump lags behind Ohio's popular governor in that state, 33pc to Mr Kasich's 39pc, the poll showed.

Mr Trump yesterday turned the criticism of his rallies against the protesters he called professional "disrupters" sent by Mr Sanders.

"Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren't told to go to my events. Be careful, Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!" Mr Trump said on Twitter.

Mr Sanders responded by warning that Mr Trump has been an "incredibly divisive" figure whose "rhetoric is inciting violence." But Mr Trump shows no signs of toning down. He yesterday accused the protesters of arriving at his rallies with tomatoes to throw at him or of sticking their middle finger up.

Mr Trump said one 78-year-old supporter who sucker-punched a young black man being led out of a rally last week "got carried away" and said he had instructed his staff to look into paying the man's legal fees.

Republicans bank on avoiding Trump's 'electoral nightmare'

The anti-Donald Trump brigade is banking on defeating him this week in Ohio, and possibly Florida, paving the way for an 'open' convention that would deny him the Republican presidential nomination and avoid what it believes would be a general election debacle.

This is an uphill climb under any scenario, and probably impossible if Trump wins both states tomorrow. If the strategy works, however, it could create an even more perilous outcome.

But Republicans, from establishment politicians to conservative activists to big-money types, are more rattled than ever by the New York billionaire; several respected polls suggest Trump as the nominee would be an electoral nightmare, threatening to take down lots of Republicans.

Trump continues to win contests - 15 of 25 so far - and insists that he'll easily beat Hillary Clinton in the autumn. But his general election weaknesses are glaring. He's running well behind her in polls this month. More alarming to Republicans, only 27pc of voters in polls rated Trump as honest, 10 points less than Clinton on an issue that is her Achilles' heel. In another poll, Trump got a 64pc negative rating from all voters, compared with only a 25pc positive. That 39-point net negative is territory previously reached only by the likes of Richard Nixon during impeachment.
A man's 30-year prison sentence for conspiracy and racketeering has been overturned because his lawyer slept on and off throughout his trial.

Nicholas Ragin had served 10 years of his sentence before the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out his 2006 conviction due to the actions of his lawyer, Nikita V Mackey.

A former police officer and North Carolina State Representative, Mackey was found to have frequently slept for at least 30 minutes at a time throughout his client's trial.

Explaining their decision, Appeals Judge Roger Gregory wrote: "We hold that a defendant is deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when counsel sleeps during a substantial portion of the defendants trial.

"Nicholas Ragins Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated not because of specific legal errors or omissions indicating incompetence in counsels representation but because Ragin effectively had no legal assistance during a substantial portion of his trial," a statement read.

One witness testified at the appeals hearing in Richmond, Virginia, that Mackey was asleep "frequently...almost every day morning and evening" for "30 minutes at least".

Peter Adolf, another lawyer present at the original trial, testified that at one point the presiding judge "leaned into his microphone, because we were all sitting there and (Mackey) wasnt moving and said, Mr. Mackey . . . very loudly.

"Mackey then jumped up and sort of looked around and was licking his lips and moving his mouth and looked sort of confused and looked all over the room."
The department operated out of the city of Aguascalientes in Central Mexico

A unit of Mexican policewomen dubbed the sexiest force in the world has been disbanded by the new security chief.

Ever since 2010 the women-only group, in the city of Aguascalientes, have donned skintight leggings, heeled knee-high boots, aviator sunglasses and caps to patrol the streets.

They say their job was to provide a female face to policing, and increase trust in the force. Rolando Hidalgo Eddy, in charge of the citys police, described them as being very well trained and spoke proudly of how they received the same training as their male counterparts  including weapons instruction and abseiling from helicopters.

Enrique Pena Nieto, the Mexican president, famously posed with them in February 2013.

But Eduardo Bahena Pineda, the new face of policing in the state, has disbanded the force, according to Mexican newspaper Excelsior.

The women have been replaced by a unit of seven, who wear standard police uniforms.

Laura Elena Delgado Mireles, a member of the new force, said she was pleased she did not have to wear the old uniform.

Its far better for us to be comfortable, because the previous ones had heels, leggings  they were far less comfortable.

She said they were more respected in the new uniform.

Of the previous women, only one  Alma Rosa, remains and she told the paper that she was pleased with her new job.

People did come and talk to us before, but they didnt say much because we werent seen as real police, she said. Now Im a genuine operative and I bring to the force the necessary skills. Im much more proud of my job  I was proud of it before, too, but I feel more so in this unit.

Women in the city said they also preferred the new, toned down look.

There are some jobs that require a degree of seriousness, said Viridiana Rincon. I studied law and I could never imagine going to work like that. I mean, I think that people treat you the way they see you.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
A probe is underway at cereal firm Kelloggs after man reportedly filmed himself urinating on products on the assembly line.

The video was recorded in 2014 at a factory in Memphis, Tennessee, the company said in a statement after an internal investigation.

Cereals which are produced at the plant include Rice Krispies Treats, Rice Krispies Treats cereal and puffed rice cake products -- though all would be past their expiration date at this point.

The video was uploaded Friday to the site World Star Hip Hop.

Kelloggs spokesman Kris Charles said the company is "outraged by this completely unacceptable situation."

"We were shocked and deeply disappointed by this video that we just learned of yesterday," Charles said in a statement Saturday. "We immediately alerted law enforcement authorities and regulators."
Protesters are escorted out of UIC Pavilion before Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Demonstrators stand outside UIC Pavilion before Donald Trump's rally at the University of Illinois, Chicago

A woman walks with a sign outside UIC Pavilion before Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump's rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Two protesters of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump stand outside on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. Photo: AP

Demonstrators stand outside UIC Pavilion before Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump's rally at the University of Illinois, Chicago

A protester holds up a ripped campaign sign for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before a rally on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Photo: AP

Demonstrators celebrate after Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump cancelled his rally at the University of Illinois, Chicago

Protestors march in Chicago before the rally with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Photo: AP

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tries to pump up the crowd before a rally on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Photo: AP

A Trump supporter holds a sign against demonstrators after Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump cancelled his rally at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators celebrate after Donald Trump cancelled his rally at the University of Illinois, Chicago

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has cancelled one of his signature rallies over safety concerns after protesters swarmed into the arena where he was due to speak.

The announcement that the brash billionaire businessman would postpone the rally led a large portion of the crowd inside the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion to break out into raucous cheers. Many rushed on to the floor, jumping up and down with their arms up in the air.

"Trump represents everything America is not and everything Chicago is not," said student Kamran Siddiqui, 20. "We came in here and we wanted to shut this down. Because this is a great city and we don't want to let that person in here."

Some supporters of the Republican front-runner started chanting "We want Trump!" in response to the celebrations and there were some isolated physical confrontations between people in the crowd. Chicago police said five people were arrested.

"It's a shame," said Trump supporter Bill Tail, 43. "They scream about tolerance but are being intolerant themselves. That doesn't make sense."

As Mr Trump attempts to unify a fractured Republican Party ahead of next week's slate of winner-take-all primary elections, the confrontations between his legion of loyal supporters and protesters who accuse him of stoking racial hatred have become increasingly contentious, underscoring concerns about the divisive nature of his candidacy.

Expand Close Two protesters of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump stand outside on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. Photo: AP / Facebook

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Whatsapp Two protesters of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump stand outside on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus. Photo: AP

A North Carolina man was arrested after video footage showed him punching an African-American protester being led out of a Trump rally in the state on Wednesday. At that event, Mr Trump recalled a past protester as "a real bad dude".

"He was a rough guy, and he was punching. And we had some people - some rough guys like we have right in here - and they started punching back," he said. "It was a beautiful thing."

At Mr Trump's earlier rally in St Louis, he was repeatedly interrupted by protesters. Police there charged nearly three dozen people with general peace disturbance and one person with assault.

Texas senator Ted Cruz, Mr Trump's closest rival in the Republican race, said the billionaire had created "an environment that encourages this sort of nasty discourse".

Speaking at a suburban Chicago party dinner about 30 miles away from the university campus, he called the incident a "sad day".

"Political discourse should occur in this country without the threat of violence, without anger and rage and hatred directed at each other," he said.

Mr Cruz said blame for the events in Chicago rested with the protesters, but added: "In any campaign responsibility starts at the top.

"When the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence, to punch people in the face, the predictable consequence of that is that is escalates.

"Today is unlikely to be the last such incidence."

After postponing the Chicago rally Mr Trump said he did not "want to see people hurt or worse", telling MSNBC: "I think we did the right thing."

But Chicago police said they had sufficient manpower on scene to handle the situation and did not recommend that Mr Trump cancel the rally. That decision was made "independently" by the campaign, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Mr Trump said the anger on display in Chicago was not directed at him or his campaign, but rather a manifestation of the public's deep frustration with economic conditions in the US.

"Our businesses are being taken away from us, our businesses are being moved out of the country," he said on Fox News. "This is a demonstration against economic conditions on both sides."

But many of the protesters in Chicago said they were there to specifically to stop Mr Trump from speaking.

"Our country is not going to make it being divided by the views of Donald Trump," said Jermaine Hodge, a 37-year-old Chicago resident who owns a haulage company. "Our country is divided enough. Donald Trump, he's preaching hate. He's preaching division."

Dozens of University of Illinois at Chicago faculty and staff had petitioned administrators earlier in the week to cancel the Friday night rally, citing concerns it would create a "hostile and physically dangerous environment" for students.

One Trump supporter at the Chicago rally said Mr Trump had created the environment that led to Friday night's melee by holding the event at the school - a civil and immigrant rights organising hub with large minority student populations.

"I think he was kind of provoking things, to be honest with you," said Dan Kozak, 23, from suburban Tinley Park. "He could have picked the suburbs and nothing would have happened."

Hours before the Chicago event was due to start, hundreds of people lined up to get into the arena. Trump backers were separated from an equally large crowd of anti-Trump protesters by a heavy police presence and barricades.

Once inside, some supporters and protesters engaged in a series of intense verbal altercations. For the first time during his White House bid, the crowd at one of his events appeared to be an equal mix of those eager to cheer on the real estate mogul and those overtly opposed to his candidacy.
Frauke Petry, chairwoman of the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is pictured through a broken window after first exit polls in three regional state elections in Germany

Angela Merkel was reeling from a series of election losses last night that could prove the most serious challenge she has faced to her power in Germany.

The vote, on what the German press called 'Super Sunday', was for regional parliaments in three of the country's federal states.

But the timing meant that it was seen as a virtual referendum on Mrs Merkel's 'open-door' refugee policy.

The results could seriously undermine the German chancellor as she tries to persuade EU leaders to agree to a deal with Turkey to resolve the migrant crisis.

Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrat party (CDU) was beaten in its stronghold of Baden-Wuerttemberg for the first time in more than 50 years, according to exit polls.

In the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, it saw a lead of 10pc in the polls evaporate in just four months.

Most damaging of all for Mrs Merkel, the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party stormed to its best election results ever on a campaign that focused almost exclusively on an anti-migrant message.

In the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the CDU managed to cling on to first place, celebrations were muted as the AfD secured a shock second place with 23pc of the vote.

The AfD won seats in all three state parliaments and emerged from the night as a political force Mrs Merkel can no longer afford to ignore.

"We have fundamental problems in Germany that led to this election result," said Frauke Petry, the AfD leader.

"We're seeing above all that voters are turning away in large numbers from the big established parties and voting for us.

"They expect us finally to be the opposition that there hasn't been."

Ms Petry caused controversy ahead of the election by calling for police to shoot asylum seekers at the border.

Other parties won't share power with AfD, but its presence will complicate their coalition-building efforts. In all three states, the results were set to leave the outgoing coalition governments without a majority - forcing regional leaders into time-consuming negotiations with unusual partners.

"No question about it, none of the parties in the federal parliament has any reason to be happy about these election results," said Michael Grosse-Broemer, the parliamentary chief whip of Mrs Merkel's CDU.

"They're good results for a protest party with no real competence, the AfD, and that is very annoying."

"The democratic centre in our country has not become stronger, but smaller, and I think we must all take that seriously," said Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democrats leader.

There was a considerable increase in turn-out on previous state elections, which commentators put down to voters wanting to punish Mrs Merkel.

The CDU saw its share of the vote drop by a shocking 11.5pc in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The result in Rhineland-Palatinate, where its share dropped by 2.7pc, was particularly disappointing for the CDU after it had been widely expected to seize control from the Social Democrats (SPD).

Julia Kloeckner, the CDU leader in the state, publicly disowned the chancellor's refugee policy but it was not enough to rescue the campaign.

If there was any comfort for Mrs Merkel in the results, it was in the success of the rival Green Party in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

While the Greens displaced her own CDU, they have been considerably more supportive of her refugee policy than her own party.

There were warnings ahead of the elections that a poor result for the CDU could see the party look to a new leader ahead of next year's national elections.

But Mrs Merkel can point to the Greens' success as evidence that her refugee policy is a vote-winner - just not with her party's traditional voters.

A top official with Merkel's party called for it to stay on its course in the migrant crisis.

CDU general secretary Peter Tauber pointed to recent polls indicating that her popularity is rebounding and added: "This shows that it is good if the CDU sticks to this course, saying that we need time to master this big challenge." ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The damaged radome on the EgyptAir Boeing 737-800. Photo: Twitter

A bird strike damaged the nose of a passenger jet as it landed at Heathrow Airport.

More than 70 passengers were on board when the EgyptAir Boeing 737-800 was smothered in blood and feathers in the collision.

The plane, arriving from Cairo, landed safely at the west London airport on Friday despite the blow.

It flew back to Egypt on Saturday after being fitted with a new radome, which protects antenna from atmospheric and physical damage.

Amir Hashim, a senior procurement specialist at EgyptAir, photographed the plane after it sustained the impact.

He said: "The damage caused is clearly evident and SU-GDZ will be grounded until a new radome is fitted.

"Now, who has a spare?"

Estimates suggest that 90 per cent of bird strikes occur at or near airports.
Viktoria Gribovskaja, the ex-girlfriend of boxer Jamie Cox, outside Croydon Magistrates' Court in south London. Steve Parsons/PA Wire

Champion boxer Jamie Cox has been found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend after breaking into her flat.

Cox attacked Viktoria Gribovskaja at her home in Lambeth, south London, on July 16 last year after their relationship broke down and he attempted to collect his belongings.

Expand Close Viktoria Gribovskaja, the ex-girlfriend of boxer Jamie Cox, outside Croydon Magistrates' Court in south London. Steve Parsons/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Viktoria Gribovskaja, the ex-girlfriend of boxer Jamie Cox, outside Croydon Magistrates' Court in south London. Steve Parsons/PA Wire

The boxer said he had "barged" through her front bedroom doors because he feared she "could kill herself", which he said she had previously threatened to do.

Cox, the WBO European super-middleweight champion, also denied harassing her by sending abusive text messages and assaulting her by placing his hands around her throat.

But magistrates said they found the victim's account of the confrontation "credible and convincing" and the 29-year-old's evidence "not credible".

Cox, who appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court in south London under his real name, Jamie Russan, was convicted of assault by beating, violence to secure entry, harassment and criminal damage.

Chair of the bench Mary Marshall said Cox had intended his text messages, in one of which he called Ms Gribovskaja a "slut", to be "abusive and hurtful".

And she added his claim that he feared his ex-girlfriend might hurt herself was "inconsistent" with the messages he had sent her.

When giving evidence, Cox said if found guilty his career "would be very much in tatters if not over".

He will return for sentencing at the same court on April 11.
A British man living in Ankara has shared a Facebook post urging his followers to empathise with the victims of a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital last night.

The attack, which killed 37 people and injured more than 100, was carried out with a car bomb, the second such attack to take place in the city in less than a month and third explosion to ravage the city since October 2015.

James Taylor, who hails from Northamptonshire, England, but has called Ankara home for the last 18 months, encouraged readers to imagine the attacks had happened near their homes.

The bombing this evening occurred in the one of the most crowded parts of the centre of town, next to many bus stops with people waiting to go home, arriving for a night out, and sitting in the park relaxing and drinking tea.

(It) is the equivalent of a bomb going off outside Debenhams on the Drapery in Northampton, or on New street in Birmingham, or Piccadilly Circus in London.

He went on by inviting readers to consider the victims: The teenagers catching the bus to go home, the grandparents walking into town, the people waiting for a taxi after a long day laughing and socialising in the sun.

Now imagine they were English, and this attack was in England. If these people were instead the people you see every day on your way to work, people just like you and I, normal, happy people. Families, policemen, students, artists, couples. Your friends maybe. These people are no different. They just happen to be Turkish.

The post now has more than 42,000 shares on Facebook, and has amassed 50,000 likes and reactions.

He continues: It is very easy to look at terror attacks that happen in London, in New York, in Paris and feel pain and sadness for those victims, so why is it not the same for Ankara? Is it because you just don't realise that Ankara is no different from any of these cities?

Mr Taylor concludes with a reference to last years terror attacks in Paris, and asks his followers: You were Charlie, you were Paris. Will you be Ankara?
Security and forensic officials work at the site of Sunday's explosion in the centre of Turkish capital, Ankara (AP)

Turkey has lashed out at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in Ankara.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong indications" that Sunday's attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Mr Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people.

DNA tests are under way to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted, he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

"There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organisation," Mr Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK.

The attack further complicated Turkey's place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades. A fragile peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against IS in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for failing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS. Sunday's attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a February 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

Turkey considers the PKK and the Kurdish militia in Syria to be one and the same, and has been pressing its US allies to stop helping the Syrian Kurds. Washington considers the PKK a terrorist organisation but has backed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which has been effective in fighting IS.

Both the US and Turkey have generally good relations with the Kurds in northern Iraq; Monday's air strikes in northern Iraq targeted PKK bases rather than installations of the Iraqi Kurds.

Nine F-16s and two F-4 jets raided 18 PKK positions, including the Qandil mountains, where the group's leadership is based, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Ammunition depots, bunkers and shelters were among the targets.

Police carried out raids in the southern city of Adana, detaining 38 suspected PKK rebels, while 15 suspected Kurdish militants were detained in Istanbul, the agency reported. In addition, authorities were searching for 10 suspects connected to the female bomber, deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

Turkey already had plans for large-scale operations against Kurdish militants. Anadolu said an operation in Nusaybin, on the border with Syria, began on Monday, while tanks were deployed for another operation in the town of Yuksekova, near the border with Iraq. Authorities also imposed a curfew in the city of Sirnak, near the Iraqi border, signalling the military was preparing an offensive there as well.

Mr Davutoglu vowed that Turkey's struggle against the PKK would continue until the group is wiped out.

"After (the links) to the terror organisation were determined, our armed forces conducted a comprehensive operation in northern Iraq. Our struggle against the terror points in Nusaybin and Yuksekova are continuing," he said. "We will not shy away from taking the necessary steps."
Demonstrators in Sao Paulo parade inflatable dolls of Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in prison garb and Dilma Rousseff dressed as a thief (AP)

Huge demonstrations across Brazil have heaped even more pressure on embattled president Dilma Rousseff as she heads into a fight against impeachment proceedings.

According to police estimates, three million people took to the streets in 200 cities, calling on the president to resign amid widespread anger over corruption investigations and the worst recession in years.

This week lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings over allegations of fiscal mismanagement.

He does not have any say on the panel's membership, but on Saturday members of his centrist PMDB party pledged to be more independent from Ms Rousseff's administration.

Ms Rousseff, who has said she will not resign, is also under pressure from members of her own Workers' Party, whose leaders want her mentor and predecessor as president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to intervene by taking a cabinet post and bringing in others of his choice.

But Mr Silva is himself awaiting a decision by a Sao Paulo judge on whether he will be detained on corruption charges.

Sunday's protests add to the already-difficult position of Ms Rousseff, who, in addition to the impeachment effort, is faced with a sprawling investigation by federal prosecutors into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras that has moved closer to her inner circle in recent weeks.

In a statement after the protests, she said: "The peaceful character of this Sunday's demonstrations shows the maturity of a country that knows how to co-exist with different opinions and knows how to secure respect to its laws and institutions."

The biggest demonstration took place in Brazil's economic capital Sao Paulo, a bastion of simmering dissatisfaction with Ms Rousseff and the Workers' Party.

The respected Datafolha polling agency estimated about 500,000 people took part in the demonstration, while police said the turnout was nearly three times that number.

About one million people joined the anti-Rousseff demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, organisers estimated.

Analysts said the strong turnout could lead to the unravelling of her fragile governing coalition.

"There is a situation of ungovernability," said Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at Pontifical Catholic University in Sao Paulo. "The president has few cards."

He added, though, that the protests showed a "generalised discontent with the political system" without necessarily shoring up any particular opposition party or politician.

Crowds in the yellow and green hues of the Brazilian flag brandished signs reading "Workers' Party out". But demonstrators across Brazil stressed that their anger extended well beyond Ms Rousseff and her party, saying the "Car Wash" investigation into corruption at Petrobras had compromised the entire political class.

"Of course I want to see Rousseff booted out," said Maria de Lima Pimenta, a retired teacher who was at the anti-Rousseff march along Rio's Copacabana Beach. "But then the problem becomes, who will replace her? They're all crooks."

Protest organisers also stressed that the movement was not linked to any opposition political party and signs endorsing parties were largely absent from the demonstrations.

Several top politicians did turn out, including Aecio Neves, the opposition member who narrowly lost to Ms Rousseff in the 2013 presidential run-off election, and Sao Paulo state governor Geraldo Alckmin. But both were booed and like other politicians who ventured out to the demonstrations, they beat a rapid retreat.

The uncontested star of the protests was Sergio Moro, the federal judge in charge of the Petrobras case. While demonstrators denounced politicians of all stripes who have been implicated in the scandal, many brandished signs thanking him.

The Petrobras scandal has ensnared key figures from Ms Rousseff's party, including Mr Silva, as well as members of opposition parties.

Political tensions in Brazil have soared since earlier this month when Mr Silva was briefly detained by police for questioning as part of the Petrobras probe.

His supporters and detractors scuffled in front of his apartment in the Sao Paulo area and on Wednesday the tension rose again when Mr Silva was hit with money-laundering charges in a separate case.

Ms Rousseff said she would not quit, saying it was objectionable to demand the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution.

"If there is no reason to do so, I will not step down," she said, calling on journalists at the event in Brasilia to "at least attest that I don't look like someone who is going to step down".
German chancellor Angela Merkel at a party meeting at the headquarters of the German Christian Democratic Party in Berlin (AP)

German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she remains convinced there has to be a European solution to the migration crisis after enduring a difficult election night.

Mrs Merkel acknowledged that the refugee issue dominated three state elections and that many voters felt there is no satisfactory solution yet.

The nationalist, anti-migration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) powered into three state legislatures on Sunday after campaigning against Mrs Merkel's welcome for a huge influx of migrants last year. Meanwhile, Mrs Merkel's party lost in two states to centre-left rivals who backed her policies.

Mrs Merkel made clear she will not change course, saying: "I am firmly convinced, and that wasn't questioned today, that we need a European solution and that this solution needs time."
Two US-bound missiles found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia were used for training and did not contain any explosives, the Lebanese army has said.

Serbian investigators remain unconvinced, saying police found traces of suspected explosive materials on the cargo.

The Lebanese army said the missiles were being sent from Beirut to the American company that produced them. It said the return was in accordance "with administrative and legal measures after the training ended".

But the Serbian public prosecutors' office said in a statement it was investigating findings by border police that the packages "are suspected to contain explosive materials". It said the investigation also focused on where the missiles came from and what their final destination was.

"We hope that our expertise will be finished this week," prosecution spokesman Ivan Markovic said, adding that the final report could take time "because some of the information is located in foreign countries".

Serbia's N1 television has said the packages, with two guided armour-piercing missiles, were discovered on Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight landed at Belgrade airport from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Serbian media said documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland, Oregon, with a stopover in London.

The American-made projectiles can be fired from air, sea or ground platforms. They are also launched from drones in the US fight against terrorism. The practice version of Hellfire is fitted with an inert warhead without explosives.

A US official said the missiles are "inert training dummies".

"There was no explosive residue, no warhead and no engine," he said.

These are formally called "captive air training missiles" and they had been sent to Lebanon by their manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, for the Lebanese armed forces to practise mounting them on their Cessna planes, according to the official.

He said it is not clear how the Serbs picked up explosive residue on the crates, but added it was possible that it was a mistake or that someone who loaded them in Lebanon may have got some residue on them.

The Lebanese Al-Joumhouria newspaper, which is owned by former defence minister Elias Murr, reported that the Hellfire missiles were delivered to Lebanon by the US in October 2015, adding that they are laser-guided and specialised for training. It said the missiles were being shipped backed to the US after training ended in Lebanon, with the knowledge of Lebanese and American authorities.

The head of Beirut's Rafik Hariri Airport issued a statement saying that the missiles do not contain any explosives.

Fadi al-Hassan said the transport "happened in co-ordination with the army command and in accordance to the administrative, legal and security measures taken at the airport".
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a partial pullout of the Russian military from Syria, voicing hope that the move will contribute to the success of peace talks that began on Monday.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defence ministries, Mr Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's military to turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defence Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defence Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," he said.

Mr Putin did not specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. He emphasised that the Russian airbase in Hemeimeem in Syria's coastal province of Latakia and a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartous will continue to operate. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Mr Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues".

The Russian and US-brokered ceasefire that began on February 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The Islamic State group and al Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the ceasefire.

Mr Putin said the move would send a "good signal" to the parties to the conflict, help raise trust and help serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad.

Mr Putin added that the Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the ceasefire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy, in Geneva, Mr de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday. At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The Geneva talks come as the truce helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas" - zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

Mr de Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war - and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the UN is "a red line", and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months - a key demand of the opposition.

But Mr de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the UN Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue - the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Assad, however, has announced that parliament elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

On Monday, as the election campaign officially kicked off, streets in the capital Damascus were festooned with electoral banners and posters of hundreds of government-approved candidates.

In the so-called proximity talks, the two sides do not meet face-to-face, but meet separately with Mr de Mistura and his team, who shuttle back and forth.

The talks began on Monday with Mr de Mistura hosting a government delegation led by Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mr Ja'afari called the meeting "positive and constructive" and said the government delegation "submitted ideas and views" for a political solution to the crisis. He said the opposition will meet Mr de Mistura on Tuesday, and his delegation would meet again on Wednesday.

Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent from Syria but will not leave the country altogether.

State TV also quoted Assad as saying Russia will decrease its presence to levels "in line with the situation on the ground and the continuation of the cessation of hostilities".

Assad said the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured "victories against terrorism and returned security to the country".
This illustration obtained from NASA yesterday shows that 2015 was the warmest year since modern record-keeping began in 1880. Photo: AFP/Nasa/Getty

For the third month in a row, global temperatures in February broke records as the warmest seasonally adjusted month in more than a century, according to a new NASA report.

The data is calculated by comparing the temperature for a particular month with the average temperature for that month in the baseline period of 1951-1980.

The global surface temperature across land and ocean in February 2016 was 1.35C warmer, topping the previous record set just one month earlier when January reached 1.15C above the average and raising further concerns about global warming.

Dr Jeff Masters and Bob Henson of the Weather Underground blog called this 0.21C difference an extraordinary margin, describing the result as a true shocker, and yet another reminder of the incessant long-term rise in global temperature resulting from human-produced greenhouse gases.

Scientists say the unprecedented leap was spurred on by the combined impact of man-made global warming and a very strong El Nino pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

However, this year topped the previous February record, set in 1998, and came out 0.846C warmer, despite the comparable intensity of the El Nino events in both years.

This is really quite stunning... it's completely unprecedented, Stefan Rahmstorf, from Germanys Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research and a visiting professorial fellow at the University of New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

We are in a kind of climate emergency now.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3486042/Hillary-Clinton-does-not-want-grandchildren-live-world-dominated-Chinese-Obama-warns-future-conflict-Beijing.html

Hillary Clinton has spoken of her fears her grandchildren could grow up in a world where China are the dominant superpower.

She has spoken in private of her worries, saying: 'I don't want my grandchildren to live in a world dominated by the Chinese.'

The revelation emerged during a wide-ranging series of interviews Barack Obama gave to The Atlantic, in which the President warned of the potential for a future 'conflict' with Beijing.

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+2 Hillary Clinton (pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2012) has spoken of her fears her grandchildren could grow up in a world where China are the dominant state

'In terms of traditional great-state relations, I do believe that the relationship between the United States and China is going to be the most critical,' Obama said.

The President said that if China 'continues on a peaceful rise' then there was potential for it to share responsibility with the U.S. in maintaining international order.

But Obama fears that internal issues within China could see Beijing promote nationalism and focus only on problems within its region, which could have greater global implications.

In that case, 'not only do we see the potential for conflict with China, but we will find ourselves having more difficulty dealing with these other challenges that are going to come', he said.

Obama added: 'Ive been very explicit in saying that we have more to fear from a weakened, threatened China than a successful, rising China.

'I think we have to be firm where Chinas actions are undermining international interests, and if you look at how weve operated in the South China Sea, we have been able to mobilize most of Asia to isolate China in ways that have surprised China, frankly, and have very much served our interest in strengthening our alliances.'

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+2 President Barack Obama (pictured in Beijing with Chinese President Xi) warned of the potential for a future 'conflict' with Beijing

The President said Russia were less of a threat than China because of their own economic problems.

'The path that Putin is taking is not going to help them overcome those challenges. But in that environment, the temptation to project military force to show greatness is strong, and thats what Putins inclination is. So I dont underestimate the dangers there,' he said.

Much of Obama's interview focused on foreign policy during his presidency, but he also hinted of his hopes that whoever is in the Oval Office next continues with his work in the Middle East.

He spoke of his U-turn on bombing forces loyal to President Bashar Assad in Syria following chemical weapons attacks on civilians.

President Obama said Russia were less of a threat than China because of their own economic problems

Speeches given by Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as international support from France, had led many to believe that the U.S. was days away from a new conflict in the Middle East.

But, after a change of heart - and the British Parliament failing to back Prime Minister David Cameron on the issue - he told military officials that they would not be bombing Assad's forces.

'Our assessment that while we could inflict some damage on Assad, we could not, through a missile strike, eliminate the chemical weapons themselves, and what I would then face was the prospect of Assad having survived the strike and claiming he had successfully defied the United States, that the United States had acted unlawfully in the absence of a UN mandate, and that that would have potentially strengthened his hand rather than weakened,' Obama said.

He spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a G20 summit and the two world leaders were able to persuade Assad to hand over his chemical weapons stockpile, which Obama sees as a great success.

The rise of ISIS that followed, however, has been a difficult problem for the President.

He appreciates the brutality they mete out in Syria, Iraq and Libya, but has told advisers: 'Theyre not coming here to chop our heads off.'

Obama's feeling that ISIS terror is not a major threat to Americans on U.S. soil is what sparked his anger at Republican presidential candidates, such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who have called for the U.S. to not accept Syrian refugees on the basis of their religion.

'When I hear folks say that, well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims - when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person whos fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted - thats not American,' he said.

'Thats not who we are. We dont have religious tests to our compassion,' he added.
John Simpson (left), an Anderson native who founded a charity called Marines & Mickey, shakes hands with Marine Sgt. Julio Orango in this 2014 photo.

By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

John Simpson had a series of legal and business problems in the Upstate before he moved to Florida and founded the Marines & Mickey charity.

Military officials are now investigating the charity and Simpson's claims about his service in the Marine Corps have come under scrutiny.

Simpson, 40, was born in Anderson. He moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina, to live with his mother when he was 13.

In 1994, he joined the Marines. Simpson says he was assigned to a reconnaissance battalion and served as a drill instructor on Parris Island. According to a Marines Crops Manpower & Reserve Affairs Department spokeswoman, Simpson worked as a finance technician until he was demoted to the rank of private and involuntarily discharged after a special court martial in August 1997.

Simpson was absent without leave when he was pulled over north of Seneca by an Oconee County Sheriff's Office deputy about 7:40 p.m. June 19, 1997. The traffic stop near Lake Keowee was prompted by complaints from neighbors that a suspicious person had been driving through the area soliciting money for the fire department.

Simpson received a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to unlawfully carrying a pistol, court records show.

After his stint in the Marines, Simpson eventually wound up back in Anderson. According to court records, he was convicted of multiple counts of check fraud in connection with arrests in 1999 and 2001.

In 2005, state officials issued a license to Simpson Security, a burglar-alarm company owned by Simpson, according to the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Interviews and records show numerous customers complained about the business during the ensuing years.

One of the dissatisfied customers was Argentum Medical, which hired Simpson Security to install a security system for its business in Salem, according to state records. Claiming that the system did not function correctly, Argentum filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and state licensing officials before winning a $4,080 court judgment against Simpson Security in 2011.

In response to Argentum Medical's complaint, state officials publicly reprimanded Simpson Security, levied a $500 fine and suspended its license in 2012.

Despite the state's issuance of a cease-and-desist order, Simpson Security continued "in the practice of burglar alarm contracting," according to an order from South Carolina Administrative Law Judge Carolyn C. Matthews, who fined the company $10,000.

By the time the judge issued her order in July 2014, Simpson Security had gone out of business. Simpson sold the contracts for 236 of his customers to Nichols Security of Covington, Georgia, in July 2013, according to Patrick Massey, chief of operations of Nichols Security.

Massey said the company inherited a number of problems related to "terrible quality of workmanship."

Numerous customers had security devices installed "that were not wired to alarm systems," Massey said.

One lawsuit against Simpson Security is still pending in Anderson County, court records show.

In the suit, which was filed last September, Virginia Sibley said Simpson Security failed to complete the installation of a security system at her home on James Street in Anderson in 2011 and 2012. Sibley is seeking a refund of $14,767, as well as $1,500 for a TV that she says Simpson took from her but never paid for, court records show.

In an interview last week, Simpson said his company was "doing outstanding" until he had difficulties with a former employee "who ran it into the ground."

Simpson said Nichols Security spent two months conducting "due diligence" before agreeing to buy the contracts for his customers.

Responding to questions about Sibley's lawsuit, Simpson said Sibley refused to cooperate with one of his employees who tried to complete the installation of her security system. He denied taking a TV from her.

According to court records, a Charleston bank filed a foreclosure suit against Simpson and his wife, Tonya, in June 2013 involving their home on Springdale Road in Anderson. The home was sold in a public auction for $175,323 on March 4, 2014.

Simpson said he and his wife moved from Anderson to Estero, Florida, in 2013. He founded the Marines & Mickey charity the next year.

According to Simpson, the charity has sent more than 30 Marines and their families to Disney theme parks. He said Marines & Mickey also has paid for more than 300 relatives of Marines to attend boot camp graduations in San Diego and on Parris Island.

The co-founder of a foundation named after a Marine who was among five servicemen killed by a Muslim extremist in Chattanooga last year has accused Simpson of lying about his military service to dupe the dead marine's mother out of about $140,000. Simpson said representatives of the Lance Corporal Skip Wells Foundation made false allegations against him after he refused last month to give them control of his charity and its money.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is "responding to complaints regarding financial practices" of Marines & Mickey, a spokesman said last week. No charges have been filed.

Simpson is now running a surveillance security business in Florida. The name of the company is Semper Fi Security Systems.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

The South Carolina Senate is expected to consider legislation this week that supporters hope will lessen the threat of terrorism by discouraging foreign refugees from resettling in the state.

As currently crafted, the measure would require refugees to register with the South Carolina Department of Social Services within 30 days of entering the state. The bill also calls on the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to check on whether any refugees placed in the state pose a public safety risk

Sen. Kevin Bryant, a Republican from Anderson who is one of the bill's co-sponsors, said he will offer an amendment that is intended to strengthen the measure. Under his proposal, refugee-sponsoring organizations in the state would be civilly liable if a refugee from a country recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism kills or hurts anyone or damages or steals property.

He said his goal is to make South Carolina "an unwelcome place for refugees that could be coming from a place where terrorists are welcome."

Bryant and other senators have been expressing concern about refugees in South Carolina since 130 people died in coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris last November and 14 people were killed less than a month later during a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

Lutheran Services Carolinas, one of two organizations that sponsors the resettlement of refugees in the state, does not support the Senate bill.

"It is unfair," said Bedrija Jazic, the group's director of refugee and immigration services. "We are hoping that it does not pass."

According to Jazic, Lutheran Services Carolinas has resettled 47 refugees in the state since October.

The Senate bill also would prohibit any state or local funds from being spent to benefit refugees. However, that provision will not prevent the South Carolina Department of Social Services from using federal money to aid newly settled refugees, according to agency spokeswoman Karen Wingo.

Wingo said her department has spent $258,000 in federal dollars during the current budget year helping resettled refugees. This help has included cash, language classes, medical assistance and job training.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
The magazine provides a general overview of the options available to foreign firms to sell to the online India...
Abbott Indias fixed dose combination (FDC) of antibiotics cefixime and azithromycin, which was selling without central governments nod under the brand name Zimnic AZ is now on the list of banned FDCs.The Health Ministry on last Saturday banned more than 300 drugs (mainly FDCs), which were selling in the market.Health experts are of the view that cefixime is prescribed twice a day, while azithromycin is prescribed once a day, so it is an irrational combination. Besides, such combination is not approved in countries like the US, UK, Japan and France.Abbott India Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 4869.95, up by Rs. 18.75 or 0.39% from its previous closing of Rs. 4851.2 on the BSE.The scrip opened at Rs. 4788.85 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 4869.95 and Rs. 4755 respectively. So far 2513(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10308.8 crore.The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 6152.95 on 18-Sep-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 3700.15 on 23-Mar-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 5127 and Rs. 4836 respectively.The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.99 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 8.41 % and 16.6 % respectively.The stock is currently trading above its 100 DMA.
Around 400 workers of Tata Nano plant who are on strike for last 22 days, will stage a protest in front of district collector's office. Since February 22, around 400 workers of Tata Motors' Nano plant in Sanand are on strike demanding reinstatement of 28 suspended workers. (TNN)Passenger car shipments from India declined 3.71 per cent to 4,84,602 units in April-February period of this fiscal due to challenges in top export markets like Algeria, Europe and neighbouring countries. Car makers had shipped 5,03,292 units in the same period of the previous fiscal. (PTI)The last two weeks of March will see two of the biggest motorcycle shows in Japan. 43rd Tokyo Motorcycle Show starts on March 25 and ends on March 27 whereas the 32nd Osaka Motorcycle Show 2016 comences on March 19 and is till March 21. Honda has announced the lineup that it intends to showcase at both the shows. The exhibits will include, concepts, planned models and production models. (ET)US-based iconic cult bike maker Harley-Davidson is expecting growth in tier-II cities of the country where the company is expanding its business. Since its retail operations began in the country in 2010, over 12,000 (Harley Davidson) motor cycles have been sold out, MD, Harley Davidson India, Vikram Pawah told reporters here. (PTI)Bajaj Auto is expected to be developing a larger capacity variant of its new Avenger to take on the likes of Royal Enfield motorcycles. As per sources, the new Avenger variant could be badged 'Avenger 400' and will sit atop the Avenger range, which currently houses a 150cc and two 220cc variants. The Avenger 400 is expected to use the 375cc single-cylinder engine that Bajaj currently produces for KTM for its Duke and RC 390. The engine is likely to be offered in a different state of tune as on the KTM model with the main focus on cruising ability. (autocarindia)
The Kotak Mahindra Group signed an agreement today with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for investment in stressed assets in India. The agreement facilitates a total investment of up to US$ 525 million in the asset class, with CPPIB having the ability to invest up to US$ 450 million.This investment will address the growing opportunity arising from the current stress in the Indian banking and corporate sectors, and has a flexible investment mandate providing bespoke financing solutions to companies, in addition to investing in stressed asset sales by banks with the aim to restructure, recover and turnaround companies in distress.S. Sriniwasan, CEO, Kotak Special Situations Credit Fund, said: The Kotak Mahindra Group, and its affiliate Phoenix ARC, has been an active player in the distressed and structured credit market for over a decade. The current environment has created a much larger opportunity that requires significant capital commitment. We are delighted to have a world-class institution such as CPPIB put patient capital to work, backed by strong and active asset management, to capitalize on the stressed assets market.Adam Vigna, Managing Director, Principal Credit Investments, CPPIB, said: This investment is an important step in CPPIBs strategy to build a diversified credit business and will add to our direct credit investment capabilities in India. We are pleased to have Kotak as our advisor, and this investment will serve as an excellent complement to our existing credit investment business in Asia. Through this agreement, CPPIB will selectively invest in assets that we believe will deliver value in line with our long-term investment mandate.Eshwar Karra, CEO, Phoenix ARC Pvt. Ltd. said: The asset reconstruction industry has limited capital and there is an urgent need for substantial capital to buy non-performing assets from banks, as and when these loans get sold at fair value. This pool of capital with a flexible mandate, will work alongside the ARC, and positions us to comprehensively address the capital needs of both the borrowers and the selling lenders.
Altico Capital India Private Limited, a Non-Banking Financial Company headquartered in Mumbai, India, has recently announced the appointment of Naina Lal Kidwai as an Independent Non-Executive Director.Kidwais presence on the Board and her vast experience in financial markets landscape will significantly assist us in the growth of our business, further strengthen governance, enhance our brand and reputation, and optimise the value creation for all our stakeholders." mentioned Sanjay Grewal, Chief Executive Officer of Altico Capital. He added that Altico Capital is one of the largest foreign owned and controlled NBFCs by net worth and at INR 2,000 crores is well capitalized to capture loan growth opportunities being presented due to the capital constraints in the banking system.On her appointment, Kidwai mentioned that I am pleased to join the Board of Altico Capital and work with its marquee shareholders and Directors who have articulated their long term commitment to the platform through the high upfront capitalization and their cohesive vision towards wholesale lending in India. I am also pleased to work with an experienced senior management team on all aspects of the enterprise build out including strategy, systems, policies and procedures required for robust growth. Altico Capital is backed by strong financial sponsors in Clearwater Capital Partners (a credit and special situations platform based in the Asian region which has invested close to $5bn across 350 companies over the past 15 years), Abu Dhabi Investment Council (one of the largest sovereign wealth funds managing over a $100bn in assets) and Varde Partners (a global alternative investment firm headquartered out of Minneapolis-USA, focused on investing capital and resources across a broad array of sectors including RE, infrastructure and the financial sector. Varde has invested over $40 billion since inception and is currently managing investments world-wide).The Firms current focus is on senior secured lending to residential projects in the Real Estate sector across Tier-1 cities in India which include Mumbai, NCR, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and more recently Hyderabad which is rebounding with the increased political stability. On the strategy, Mr. Grewal mentioned Altico Capital is well positioned to capitalize on direct lending opportunities in India, with a focus on making senior secured loans to the real estate sector whilst retaining the flexibility to invest across multiple strategies. We expect to deploy $400mn every year for the foreseeable future given the overall requirements in the mid income and affordable housing segment in our core markets.Grewal mentioned that We are closely evaluating further asset growth and diversification strategies which may include the potential for commercial real estate funding to complement our residential lending footprint. Lastly, Altico Capital will also look to provide structured finance solutions to the capital starved infrastructure sector. Outside of the core strategy of financing mid-income and affordable housing segment, we will look to deploy an incremental $150mn steadily over the next 12-18months in the commercial RE and infrastructure sectors should the right opportunities present themselves.Kidwais past experience as the Executive Director on the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairperson of HSBC India, Vice Chairperson & Head Investment Banking at JM Morgan Stanley apart from her current directorship in other leading financial platforms such as Chairperson of Max Financial Services and Advent Private Equity will certainly guide Altico Capital to further achieve scale and asset diversification in the RE and non-RE sectors added Grewal.On the appointment Robert Petty, Managing Partner, Clearwater Capital and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Altico Capital said, We welcome Ms. Kidwai to Altico Capital. Her unparalleled experience especially in the financial sector, market reputation, leadership skills provide a rare combination that the Board and shareholder group are pleased to be adding to our already strong and diverse Altico Capital Board. Altico looks forward to benefitting from her close association with Industry Associations, key global and local Indian corporations as well as financial sponsors. The Board also looks forward to her overall leadership skills and experience from both an international as well as Indian context which will help us grow the business conservatively, profitably and consistently in one of the worlds most compelling growth markets. We look forward to working with Ms. Kidwai as we build the business further over the coming years."Naina Lal Kidwai retired as Executive Director on the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairperson of the India, after a 13-year stint. Before joining HSBC, she was Vice Chairperson and Head Investment Banking at JM Morgan Stanley and was responsible for directing the operations of the Investment Bank in India. She has completed her MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Boston, Massachusetts. She is on the Boards of Larsen & Toubro Limited, Advent Private Equity, Nestle SA., Cipla Limited, Max Financial Services Limited and Chairperson of South Asia Harvard Business School. She is currently involved with several Industry Associations and has been a past President of FICCI.
Global Vectra Helicorp hit 5% upper circuit at Rs.81.95 after the company has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Era Group Inc. (Era) to jointly develop Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) for the Indian market. Under the MoU, GVHL and Era will collaborate on an exclusive basis to develop a marketing and operational plan to reach and provide medical assistance to casualties following accidents and disasters, evacuate critical care patients and engage in other lifesaving missions within India.Vadilal Industries galloped 14.3% to Rs.608 on BSE. The company experienced a spurt in volumes by more than 7.03 times.JSPL gained 1.7% to Rs.60.75 on BSE.Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) subsidiary company- Jindal Power, has entered into a definitive agreement to divest 4.12 per cent holding in India Energy Exchange (IEX) at an undisclosed amount and is expected to realise the consideration within the current financial year. This step has been taken as a part of the monetisation plan.Procter & Gamble's India slipped 1.7% to Rs,6,025 after the company said it had stopped manufacture and sale of its cough-and-cold medicine Vicks Action 500 Extra with immediate effect, after regulators banned it citing potential health risk. Though unclear how much the product contributed to P&G's sales.Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd gained 2.1% to Rs.53.10 after the company said in a notice to BSE that it proposes to issue 700 secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures of face value Rs.10 lakh each aggregating Rs.70 crore, on a private placement basis.Zee Entertainment Enterprises slipped 3% to Rs.389.70 on BSE after the company said its board of directors approved in-principle an acquisition of 100% equity stake in Fly By Wire International, Bangalore.Lupin cracked 5.5% to Rs.1,776.25 on BSE. According to media reports, USFDA gave 8-9 observations on the drug majors Goa plant after inspection that ended on March 11.IFB Industries jumped 6% to Rs.334 on BSE.SpiceJet climbed 2.7% to Rs.60.60 on BSE. The erstwhile promoters of the low-cost carrier SpiceJet, Kalanithi Maran and the current management led by Ajay Singh have decided to approach the Bombay Stock Exchange and the market regulator, Securities and Exchanges Board of India, to resolve the dispute related to the issuances of warrants to the former owners of the airline.Shares of Crompton Greaves crashed 71% at Rs.44.80. As per TV report, the proposed demerger plan of the consumer products business came into effect from today. Last year, Crompton Greaves Board approved demerger of its consumer products business into a separate listed company, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd.Sasken Communications Technologies Ltd jumped 11.5% to Rs.423. The company said its board will meet on 17 March to decide the interim dividend.Ballarpur Industries slipped 4.7% to Rs.12.25 on BSE. As per media reports, lenders to the company were concerned over the company's Rs. 850 crore commercial papers coming up for repayment from end March, amid delays in selling of its Malaysian asset. On March 2, the company informed that the long stop date for sale of entire equity stake of 98.08% in Sabah Forest Industries Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia (SFI) by Ballarpur Paper Holdings B.V. (BPH), a step down subsidiary of the Company and holding company of SFI to Pandawa Sakti (Sabah) Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia (Purchaser) pursuant to the Share Sale Agreement, has been extended up to March 31, 2016, based on satisfactory discussions & written request of the Purchaser. Further, the performance guarantees of USD 22.50 Million executed in favour of BPH with respect to aforesaid transaction continue to be valid.Kridhan Infra slipped 0.95% to Rs.94.20 after the company announced that it has entered into share purchase agreement with Singapore's leading EPC Company SWEE Hong Ltd for acquisition of up to 42% stake.
SpiceJet: Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of SpiceJet has moved the Delhi High Court, alleging that the current management was not issuing his two entities 189 million convertible warrants, reports a business daily.SBI: In the last fortnight, State Bank of India, on behalf of itself and other consortium lenders, has put three large loans aggregating to INR 20,769 crore on the block, reports a business daily.Tata Motors: Tata Motors Group global wholesales in February 2016, including Jaguar Land Rover, were at 99,842 nos., higher by 17%, over February 2015.Maruti Suzuki India: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has missed a deadline it had set for introducing the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment citing the ongoing resistance against diesel vehicles, reports a financial newspaper.ONGC: ONGC reportedly said it will finalise "a multi- billion dollar investment plan" for the 98/2 fields of D5 Block in the KG Basin by the month-end or early April.JSW Steel: JSW Steels production of crude steel in February has gone up 7% to 10.13 lakh tonnes as against 9.47 lakh tonnes in the same period a year ago.Dr. Reddys Laboratories: Dr. Reddys Lab and TR-Pharmin announced a strategic collaboration agreement involving 3 biosimilar products. These products will be registered and subsequently commercialised as part of this agreement by TR-Pharm in Turkey.Bhushan Steel: The company has received the environment clearance for its Rs.30 billion project to set up a pellet unit with a production capacity of 7mn tonnes per annum (MTPA) in Odisha.Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The pharma company has completed the acquisition of the majority stake in Guwahati based Assam Hospitals Ltd.NMDC: The company has raised the lump price by over 8%to Rs. 1,950 per tonne effective March 11, its first hike for the higher grade of the ore since July, 2014.Future Consumer Enterprise: Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (FSC) has created an e-commerce vertical and is scaling up operations to cater to e-commerce biggies like Snapdeal and Pepperfry, reports a business daily.United Breweries Holdings Ltd: United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL) is facing as many as 8 winding-up petitions from 8 banks and financial institutions - including BNP Paribas and SBI - in various courts for failing to honour corporate guarantees of Rs. 7,256 crore provided to the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, reports a financial newspaper.IDBI Bank: IDBI Bank employees have decided to go on a four-day nation-wide strike from 28th March to oppose the Government's move to dilute its stake in the public sector bank, reports a business daily.Britannia: Britannia Industries Ltd. is three months away from taking a call on ramping up the dairy business, Managing Director Varun Berry has been quoted as saying by a business daily.HCC: The company bagged a award Rs. 635 crore contract by NTPC to construct Head Race Tunnel (balance works) for Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro-electric Power Project on the River Dhauliganga in Chamoli District of Uttarakhan.IOC: A whopping 51,000 tonnes of naphtha has been sold by the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) from late March to early April at rarely seen discount levels, says a Reuters report.Karnataka Bank: The bank enters into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CNX Corporation Limited (CCL) in order to expand its storage facilities to farmers and finance against the warehouse receipts (WHR).Reliance Power: Reliance Power Ltd on Friday moved the Delhi high court, seeking permission to continue mining coal in excess of what is permitted by the Centre, from its Moher and Moher-Amlohri blocks in Madhya Pradesh.
Yes Bank has signed an agreement with the India Brazil Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in knowledge sharing, consultancy, skill and technology, according to reports.

Yes Bank Ltd ended at Rs. 799.5, up by Rs. 7.1 or 0.9% from its previous closing of Rs. 792.4 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 788.25 and touched a high and low of Rs. 804.55 and Rs. 785 respectively. A total of 4575703(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 33606.32 crore.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 touched a 52 week high of Rs. 897 on 01-Jun-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 590 on 24-Aug-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 804.55 and Rs. 751.3 respectively.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 21.96 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 64.94 % and 13.09 % respectively.

The stock traded below its 200 DMA.
A new health protection scheme providing a cover of Rs 1 lakh per family, with top-up for senior citizens, Prime Ministers Jan Aushadhi Yojana for providing generic drugs at affordable prices, National Dialysis Services Programme to make dialysis affordable and accessible in the same breath, all these are indeed heartening budget pronouncements. But are they adequate and effective, especially for a country with the highest tuberculosis deaths, maximum still born cases and the lowest per capita health care spending among BRICS countries? Despite Indias adoption of Global Monitoring Framework on non-communicable diseases (NCD), about 60 per cent of deaths in India are NCD cases, with one among every four Indians at a risk.The conventional symptomatic approach of the government  whether current or previous  of focusing on end-stage ailments, not their root causes - which include diabetes, high BP, hypertension, malnutrition and substance abuse and a host of other fatal triggers  has always proved self defeating beyond a point. We all know the state of primary and community health centres in India, which are invariably short of specialist doctors and devoid of even the most basic facilities at many places. On paper, these centres serve the poor but in practice; the poor are forced to rely on the private setup which is almost always exorbitantly priced.Notwithstanding the 2016 budget provisions, health care is yet deprived of high-impact spends - whether in terms of infrastructure development, better access to health care services or significant insurance coverage. If pro-poor was the agenda, this sectors priorities should have been right on top. The idea of sustainability that India pledges allegiance to on every forum is simply not possible without a healthy India  literally healthy we mean.Theres no concrete plan either to improve the number of specialist medical experts in government hospitals, nor any scheme to improve their infrastructure. Privatising Health care is fraught with risks in India even if one assumes the legitimacy of government intentions to promote it. As it is, many private hospitals are trying to emulate the hospitality model of BLD packages rather than focus on providing fundamental care. Umpteen hospitals and clinics in India have been reduced to insurance companies profiting from the fear of death and disease which, at best, allow mere scientific possibilities to dictate the patients curative and palliative ordeal.We dont negate the value of private participation  especially in the areas of telemedicine, digital document management and archival, R & D in biotechnology, integrated manufacturing and product quality control systems  but the government cant shrug its responsibility, watching the action, or the lack of it, from the sidelines, more content to underline its role as a catalyst, rather than playing it.Make in India, Skill Development and Start up Stand up India have the biggest role to play in improving health care facilities & infrastructure as also stimulate action in key areas including manufacture of active pharma ingredients. The government should provide as many fiscal and tax incentives to build traction in this low-key if not neglected space. Letting bidis remain cheaper is clearly not one of them.
My ears stood up when the Agricultural Counsellor of the German Embassy told me in a meeting a couple of months ago that the new Ambassador was very passionate about wine. I requested an early meeting with the ambassador, Dr. Martin Ney. I was very pleased to know during the first few minutes of the meeting that he was a wine cognoscente with a passion for wines in general and specifically German wines-be it Riesling, Silvaner or Spatburgunder etc.

Mosel Rieslings for a dinner

He was fairly direct when he sought my guidance to help increase the presence of German wines in India. Having visited most of the wine producing areas more than twice, I am a great fan of Rieslings, especially from Mosel. As I wrote in a lighter vein an Article 7 years ago in 2009 in delWine-Riesling is a Riesling.unless it is from Mosel. And perhaps it should also be called Moseling.

Rieslings from Mosel are generally slightly sweet (off dry), fruity and crisp, making them an enviable match with slightly hot and spicy Indian food. They have a unique minerality in the flavour because of the soil having black/blue slate. As more Indians start drinking wine with food, Riesling would become popular with much faster speed than at the present time.

I was pleased when he accepted my very first recommendation- to host a dinner inviting select importers, f & B Personnel, sommeliers and journalists. He shuffled through his notes and asked me if one of the 7-9 March evenings would be fine for me so he could invite a group of 25 guests for a cosy, sit-down dinner. He requested me to recommend the guest list for dinner at his residence around his dinner table. He also graciously offered to take out Mosel Rieslings wines from his personal cellar and match with the Indian and German cuisine. Within a couple of days 7th March was finalised.

Dinner at the Ambassadors Residence

At 7:30 sharp the gates of the residence were opened and the few cars that had lined up outside before time, thanks to the thin traffic, were let in to drop the invitees at the porch. Ambassador Ney was ready to welcome everyone individually with a bottle of sekt (as sparkling wine is known in Germany) ready to pour. His charming wife Dr Gabriele Ney was soon at hand welcoming guests, occasionally interrupted by the staff busy with the last minute preparation for what felt like a State Banquet, except that the Ambassador was genuinely warm and welcoming, witty, informal and friendly, making everyone feel at home.

A pleasant surprise was the presence of Dr. Rolf Ganz from Mosel, known for its complex, generally off dry mineral Rieslings. Rolf had visited me at my residence last year. A long time resident of Bernkastel village, perhaps the most well-known wine village in Mosel, Rolf works with a bottling equipment manufacturer, making plants with a wide range of less than 100,000 bottles going up to 250 million! In fact, with an office in Mumbai, his company is already doing business in India. He would love to add wines to his list of exports too.

Rolf had timed his visit to India to be able to attend the event for which he helped his friend Ambassador Ney select wines and Dr. Gabriele deftly selected the Menu to pair each dish with a different wine. Cusanus stiftung Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Brut 2011 was a welcome aperitif sparkling wine with the delicious snacks, setting the tone for the evening as informal and yet an elegantly structured dinner with pre-determined seating with tags et al.

It was slightly embarrassing since a few Indian invitees who had confirmed, neither showed up nor informed the host, in a typical Delhi chalta hai style even as the hosts had lines of worry on their faces because more people had confirmed than the seats available and the staff could be seen moving around in hushed tone setting up extra chairs which eventually remained unoccupied, besides delaying the sit-down.

The Ambassador introduced himself formally at the dining table and after giving the genesis of the dinner evening, introduced Rolf Ganz who introduced the earlier Brut as the bubbly from a 500-year old winery and sparkling house in Mosel, run by a foundation. The St. Ludwig Slate Estate Riesling 2013 was a beautiful match for the Paneer Roulade made in Indian style. Chef Rajiv is very creative and one could see that from the presentation of the dish.

Dr. Loosen Blauschiefer Riesling trocken 2014 was my favourite wine not only because I know the owner Dr. Ernie Loosen (who also happens to be a cousin of Rolf) personally and it was dry fresh and crispy enough on the palate, but it was paired beautifully well with the Creamy Shrimp soup by Dr. Gabriele. Normally, I dont even care for wine with most soups, but the shrimp was a classic match and the creamy bit was balanced by the acidity in the wine. If it had been served at a Delhi Wine Club dinner, I would have unabashedly asked for another bowl. This wine was clean, crispy, dry with a minor sweetness and medium floral finish.

Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium Bernkasteler Riesling Kabinett feinherb 2013 served with the delicious combination of Dahi Murgh, Beans Poriual and Jeera rice (it was the Ambassadors idea to pair wine with an Indian main dish to show that the Mosel Riesling goes very well with Indian food. Although Rolf explained the term feinherb (a nebulous term even for Germans, but suffice it to say it implies the wine is dry-ish and sweet-ish for this Article!) It felt like 35 gms/li of res. sugar and though it was a natural match with the Kabinett Riesling, I would like the dish slightly hotter to counter the sweetness in the wine.

Heiling Geist Stiftung Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett feinherb 2014 did not get to express itself to those who paired it with the Espresso Tart with ice-cream dessert which was much sweeter,

Subhash Arora who had facilitated the dinner evening thanked the German First Couple in India and Rolf Ganz, who would do well to hold a Master class on Mosel wines on his next visit and explain what terms like Bernkasteler mean- it signifies a produce from the village of Bernkastel-or what is the significance of Kabinett, feinherb and similar terms for German wines (to make the labelling consistent I have listed them with the producers name first and the vintage as last).

Before we dispersed, it was unanimously decided that the Neys are perfect hosts- a very social, affable and wine loving couple who will make sure that Rieslings and other German premium wines (hopefully VDP wines as well-but that is another subject for future) find their rightful place on the Indian shelves and tables, despite the high tax regime. The wines served had kept that premise in mind.

Subhash Arora

Menu Wine Menu

Tags: Dr. Martin Ney, Mosel wines, Dr. Gabriele Ney, Mosel, German wines, Riesling, Dr. Rolf Ganz, Cusanus stiftung Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Brut 2011, St. Ludwig Slate Estate Riesling 2013, Dr.Loosen Blauschiefer Riesling trocken 2014, Ernie Loosen, Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium Bernkasteler Riesling Kabinett feinherb 2013, Heiling Geist Stiftung Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett feinherb 2014, Bernkasteler, Bernkastel, Kabinett, feinherb
In October 2012, when Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) announced a lockdown, a housewife from Delhi, wrote a note and hanged herself.

Susmita Chakravarti's suicide note read: "My husband works with Kingfisher where they have not paid him salary for the last six months. We are in acute financial crisis and so I am committing suicide."

The 45-year-old also wrote that she feared her husband would lose his job.

In the next few months, 7,000 KFA employees lost their jobs. They worked for 18 months, without a salary only to lose their jobs in the end.

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On Saturday, former KFA employees will send a letter to the prime minister. "Can the government pay the dues of the employees ex gratia and recover from the same company and the management of Kingfisher?" the letter asks.

These are stories from a cross-section of former employees of the now defunct airline about their struggles. An edited compilation:

Leslie DSouza (38) | Ramp manager, based in Mumbai. Joined Kingfisher in 2007. Dues worth 12 lakhs towards 17 months' unpaid salary

"I joined Kingfisher as it was a promotion posting. I was dating a girl then and we were to get married. But in 2011, after the Kingfisher crisis became public, our engagement broke. Salaries were not being paid regularly. After 2-3 months, they would pay one month's salary. There was a lot of uncertainty. I had an EMI of Rs 25,000, over a home loan taken to buy a 1BHK in Mira Road. My parents were dependent on me. My 12 years worth of savings dried up as I paid the EMIs, then a friend lent me a loan. There have been times when I was so depressed that I would think of taking drastic steps. When I watch Mallya on TV, throwing parties, buying properties, it hits me again and again that there's no justice. Today, I have a job, but not as a manager, but a sales agent. I'm 38 today, I'm unmarried and I'm doing what I did when I started my career at 21. And my salary is down by 45 %."

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Sudeep Choudhary (39) | Was assistant manager, flight operations, in charge of pilot licensing based in Delhi. Joined KFA during its launch in August 2005 and kept waiting for it to revive till February 2016. His monthly salary was Rs 35,000

"I am the sole earning member of my family that included my parents, wife and daughter. Once the last pay came in November 2011 or January 2012 (I don't even remember now), I survived by selling my wife's jewellery. I started a small restaurant in Dwarka's Mahavir Enclave last year but that is in losses. I am trying to make it viable. My father got ill and I did not have money to get him treated and save him. He passed away due to lack of proper treatment as my family mediclaim had lapsed. Yesterday was his first barsi (death anniversary) but I don't even have the money to observe his barsi in our home state of Assam as per tradition."

Mangesh Khochade (29) | Worked in guest services department. Was in Deccan, had to join Kingfisher post merger. Airline owes him Rs 1.20 lakh. Currently works in an aviation company in the Middle East

toi

"When the airline stopped paying salary regularly in 2011, I ran into serious financial hardships. Since I badly needed an income, I took up another job in a doughnut company. From 4 am to 2 pm, I would work at Kingfisher and then from 5 pm to 11 pm at the doughnut company which paid me Rs 5,000. My father fell ill and died in 2012. Thereafter my mother fell ill, but by then I could take care of her expenses as I was compelled to migrate to West Asia. "

Sanjay Bahadur (59) | The former vice-president (corporate affairs) was once a close aide of Mallya who represented Kingfisher in the aviation ministry, DGCA, AAI and BCAS.

Mallya used to go for ministry meetings with him. When salary stopped, Mallya stopped responding to Bahadur's pleas for financial help and has not spoken to him since then. Now works in a private company.

"I had sent my son for pilot training to the US and after he got his commercial pilot licence, had sent him for type certification on Airbus. I had huge student loans. When the salary stopped, I had to borrow from my father, friends and family to somehow pay the EMIs. We withdrew money from my wife's savings. KFA deducted our tax at source but did not deposit it with IT authorities. I keep getting notices from Bengaluru IT department for paying the same. I keep replying to the Delhi ITO, where I file my returns, but the notices don't stop. I don't get IT refunds. Reason: IT says we have adjusted against your previous dues. KFA stopped giving form 16 in its last few months."
60 hours after eight engineering students were trapped in the icy slopes of 12,000-ft high Chanderkhani pass in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, they were rescued and airlifted to safety on Sunday. 2, who are reportedly stuck in a cave, may be airlifted when the weather clears today, the Times of India reported.

Seven BTech final year students of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET), had gone trekking to Bijli Mahadev along with their friend and a college alumnus from Kullu on March 8. Three days later, one of the students had called up the emergency number '100' to seek help and mentioned a "medically unfit" friend.

Two choppers of Himalayan Heli Adventure airlifted six of them on Sunday and dropped them at Rumsu village, 27km from here. All six were found in a tent that was covered with a thick sheet of snow. According to a rescue team member, five students are in good health while one needs emergency treatment.

They lost their way and reached Footasore village. Suddenly the weather changed and it started snowing. They were stuck at a deserted place, which was buried under seven to eight feet of snow. They had tents and sleeping bags, which saved them. They melted the snow to quench thirst but were without food," Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kullu, Rohit Ratore, who supervised the 70-hour-long rescue operation told Mail Today.

One of the rescued trekkers, Chetan Chori, who hails from Ambala, Haryana, said that after visiting the shrine they had decided to trek up to the Chanderkhani Pass

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We pitched our tents on the Chanderkhani Pass after it started snowing. The snowfall continued and within hours our tents were covered under four feet of snow. We had nothing to eat. We informed our parents and asked them to rescue us. We survived by eating boiled snails," Chori said. While others were trapped inside their tents, Anil Kumar and Hitender Sharma left in search of a safer place to pitch their tent. They found a cave and took shelter there.

The duo, who are stuck in a cave about 150 metre above the tent, could not be lifted as it started snowing and visibility became almost zero. The Swiss pilots of the rescue team dropped food and water packets before returning. While ground search and rescue teams could not move towards Chanderkhani pass due to heavy snowfall in higher reaches, a small chopper that was pressed into service on Sunday morning spotted some footprints on snow. The chopper had to return to Manali due to bad visibility. A small chopper again flew out at 3.20pm after weather turned favourable for a few minutes. The crew finally spotted the youths in a snow-bound valley.

cityshor

ITBP jawans rescue missing trekkers trapped in Chanderkhani Pass at a height of 11,398 feet. #ITVideohttps://t.co/90l9T6wusW  India Today (@IndiaToday) March 14, 2016

It succeeded in communicating to the youths on the ground using signals before returning to Manali to take necessary equipment. Two choppers then went back to airlift six of them. "Initially only one chopper was pressed into service for aerial recce. Later, when students were spotted, we decided to send both the choppers as there were dark clouds coming towards Chanderkhani hill. The Swiss pilots are experts in carrying out such rescue operations even in extreme weather conditions and have saved many lives earlier too," Himalayan Heli Adventure managing director Manjeev Bhalla said.

Although bad weather is hampering the search ops,hopeful that by evening there might be some breakthrough- PRO,ITBP pic.twitter.com/gOSyVjsBoN  ANI (@ANI_news) March 13, 2016

Gerold Biner and Danial Lerjan are the Swiss pilots who were flying both the helicopters in snow and against strong winds and landed copters on hill face. The six airlifted youths  Chetan Shori and Saurav Sharma from Ambala, Rohit Kumar from Baghpat, UP, Akshay Kumar Bura from Chamba, Ankush Kumar from Gurdaspur, and Bharat Kayth from Kullu  have been sent to regional hospital Kullu. Hitender Sharma from Shimla and Anil Kumar from Hamirpur are still waiting for the rescue team.

Kullu additional deputy magistrate Vinay Singh Thakur said the pilot felt it very risky to airlift remaining two students. "They will be airlifted on Monday, as soon as the weather clears and pilots get good visibility. The ground search and rescue teams worked hard and small choppers did a miracle even in inclement weather," he said.
Should marital rape be criminalized? Even after some healthy debates, discussions and open-forums, there has not been any concrete answer to this. The government's refusal to make spousal sexual assault illegal has sparked a debate on this burning issue. Today, when women empowerment and gender disparity have become hot-topics of discussion, this question is surely the one which needs to be addressed.

Replying to the question on whether or not the government plans to criminalise marital rape, on Thursday, Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi said that the country was not ready for such a legislation yet.

In a written statement: "It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors..."

Image for representation purpose only.

Now that this statement has again sparked off a debate, Raveena Tandon and Nandita Das both have given their piece of mind on the same.

Bollywood actress, director and Social activist, Nandita Das said:

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"While the main challenge remains changing mindsets, the legal framework to fight those battles cannot be undermined. To criminalise marital rape is to acknowledge the fact that women have a right over their own bodies and marriage cannot take that away from them. Even before the law is made, some people are worried about its misuse. A tool that will give many women the right to escape such abuse should be upheld, and we needn't get distracted by the worry of a few who might misuse it.

The best of laws are misused by a minuscule population, but that cannot decide its efficacy or need.

Just because many cases of rape, domestic violence and dowry deaths are not reported, does that mean we should not have rules against it?

I sincerely hope that this public debate around the subject, whose time came a long time ago, will put enough pressure on the government and the judiciary to take cognisance of it and no reason will be pulled out in defence of such a crime. I am at a loss to understand the logic behind it not being applicable in India! In fact in a country that is so patriarchal, where most women are so disempowered, such a law is even more needed."

Here's what Raveena Tandon Thadani said:

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"What this implies right now is that those asking for a law against marital rape want it to be criminalised under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and not under 377, which is about unnatural sex. One has to understand the complexities before reacting."

(With inputs from TOI)
Two days after tweeting that he is an international businessman, not an absconder, and denying that he has fled India, liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Sunday said he has already been branded a criminal in the country and therefore, it is not the right time for him to return.

On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate issued a summons to Mallya to appear before it on March 18, in a money laundering case. Mallya's latest statement - tellingly, he also said, "I hope that I return one day," - would seem to indicate that he is extremely unlikely to heed the ED summons, or even be seen in India any time soon.

Reuters

In an email interview to Sunday Guardian, Mallya said he had left on March 2 on a "personal visit with a friend". TOI was the first to report on March 9 that he had left the country.

Lots of people have written that I was carrying seven bags. For two people, I don't think that's too much. I pack heavy. There was a lookout notice issued against me last year. But I didn't 'escape'. Why am I being portrayed as a criminal now? Loan defaults are a business matter. When the banks give out loans, they know the risk involved... Don't make me the villain. I have the best intentions. I'm quiet because I fear my words will be twisted like those of others," Mallya said in an interview on Sunday.

TOI had earlier given details of how Mallya flew out on a diplomatic passport in the first class section of a Jet plane along with seven bags.

BCCL

Asked if he left in a hurry after being tipped off that banks were about to move court against him, Mallya said, "That is a matter of interpretation. It's not the first time I've flown out from the country... I don't need anyone to tip me off about anything. Most of the big media houses are running a whole lot of lies about me... It's a big agenda that some people are pushing against me...I've always taken things on my chin. I've never hidden any aspect about my life. I'm forced to go into hiding and that makes me sick."

However, Mallya hedged when asked about his plans to return to India. "Of course I want to return. But I'm not sure I'll get a fair chance to present my side. I've already been branded a criminal. I do not feel the time is right. I feel passions are high. People need to think rationally. They need to understand that business, whether large or small, has risks involved... India has given me everything. It made me Vijay Mallya," he said.

When asked about his current location (there have been reports that he may be in Hertfordshire), he said, "I do not think it is wise for me to reveal my whereabouts. I'm no hardened criminal who authorities need to hunt."
An Advance Landing Ground (ALG) is a forward air strip, close to the border, which allows fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to operate. And with India being surrounded with some not-so-friendly neighbours, the use of these ALGs becomes even more important.

DPR Defence

Now the Indian Air Force has upgraded two of these ALGs at Ziro and Along close to the China border in Arunachal. According to Air Marshal Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding, Eastern Air Command, "The ALGs will further enhance our existing operational capabilities in the Eastern Air Command. The capacity build-up will enable operations by some of our new inductions including the C-130J Super Hercules. Besides enhancing air maintenance capability of the IAF in the region, the new airfield will also facilitate civil air connectivity soon".

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These ALGs have been upgraded keeping in mind the ability to accommodate the mammoth C-130J Super Hercules transport airplane which is central to the Air Forces ability to quickly deploy troops and equipment close to the theatre of operation. With a capacity to lift 21 tonnes of payload, these ALGs play a central role in defending the nation. Helicopters like the Mi-17V that India has recently acquired from Russia will also be used to provide forward air connectivity to the armed forces.

DPR Defence

Close to Ziro, in Panagarh are facilities to host the C-130J and it also serves at the headquarters of the new Mountain Strike Corps. In case of war breaking out, troops and gear can be deployed in quick time. Other ALGs that are also being upgraded include Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Tawang, Ziro, Pasighat, Walong and Vijaynagar.

DPR Defence
There was a time that we didn't need air conditioning at night. However, global warming has made its way into our bedrooms, and increasingly night-time temperatures have shown themselves to be sensitive to climate change, according to a new study.

The study led by Richard Davy from Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Norway has explained why the nights have been warming much faster than the days over the last 50 years around the globe.

Analysis of the causes of this more rapid warming at night shows this is likely to continue in the coming decades

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Researchers analysed the causes of these changes from observations and model reconstructions of the climate in the 20th century. They showed that part of this more rapid warming at night is innate to the climate system, because night-time temperatures are inherently more sensitive to climate forcing. The layer of air just above the ground is known as the boundary-layer, and it is essentially separated from the rest of the atmosphere.

At night this layer is very thin, just a few hundred metres, whereas during the day it grows up to a few kilometres. It is this cycle in the boundary-layer depth which makes night-time temperatures more sensitive to warming than the day, researchers said.

The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human emissions reduces the amount of radiation released into space, which increases both the night-time and the day-time temperatures

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However, because at night there is a much smaller volume of air that gets warmed, the extra energy added to the climate system from carbon dioxide leads to a greater warming at night than during the day. This higher sensitivity of night-time temperatures has also affected the number of cold-extreme nights we have seen in recent years. The number of extremely cold nights has dropped by half during the last fifty years, in contrast to the extreme-cold days which have decreased by a quarter.

This daily cycle in temperature directly affects human health since night-time temperature extremes can trigger temperature-related fatalities, researchers said. However, it also indirectly affects human health by controlling the growth rates of vegetation, and so affecting the length and stability of crop-growing seasons. The findings by Davy and colleagues shows that a correct simulation of the night-time boundary layer depth is the most important component to getting the right temperature change at night.

An improvement of the boundary-layer physics in climate models would very likely reduce our uncertainty in projections of temperature change, Davy said.
Students learn how conduct emergency intraocceous infusions on pediatric patients: Above. Click image to expand.

Students learn how conduct emergency intraocceous infusions on pediatric patients by using chicken legs: Above. Click image to expand.

Students work together on a live firehose: Above. Click image to expand.

Students work together on a live firehose: Above. Click image to expand.

A student firefighter gears up before entering the new burn building: Above. Click image to expand.

A student firefighter gears up before entering the new burn building: Above. Click image to expand.

Firefighters learn how to stabilize vehicles before extracting victims: Above. Click image to expand.

WASHINGTON, N.C. Beaufort County Community College (BCCC) will be holding its first Public Safety Weekend from March 4- March 6, 2016. Fire, EMS and law enforcement personnel can take advantage of the classes to fulfill their annual training requirements locally.Each year, emergency personnel are required to attend 36 hours of training, of which 35% can be at a training facility. Often firefighters, the majority of whom are volunteers, travel to remote parts of the state to fulfill their requirements. The Public Safety Weekend will mean that emergency personnel, including the 450 volunteer firefighters in the region, can fulfill a majority of their requirements at BCCC.Johnny Williams, Director of Fire Training Programs at BCCC, said, "Most of these firefighters are already donating their time. Having these trainings locally means that we are not pulling them as far away from their homes and families."Enrollment is on a "first-come, first-served" basis. Classes include Emergency Vehicle Driving, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Ventilation, Lowers and Raises and many more. Early registration for the classes closes on February 24, 2016. Late registrations will be taken at the start of the classes but some classes may not be available at that time. The weekend will feature several safety and emergency equipment vendors and PotashCorp and Code 3 Insurance are providing a free lunch.The event will be the first time that regional firefighters will experience BCCC's new "burn house," a state-of-the-art facility built by American Fire Training Structures in December 2015 with $250,000 from Beaufort County. The facility includes a configurable maze, a rappelling station, sprinkler systems, a confined space and a burn room. Until now, the facility has only been used by the students enrolled in BCCC's fire academy.The training facility and the weekend will also benefit homeowners in the area. The NC Department of Insurance awards points to fire departments based on their training and readiness. Homeowners in insurance districts serviced by 9S-rated fire departments can see a decrease in their homeowner's insurance rates. Of the nine possible points in the rating system, access to a training facility such as BCCC's burn house counts for up to 3.15 points, the largest single contributor in the crediting system. Beaufort County's investment in the training facility will not only make residents safer and help local emergency personnel, it will help decrease the insurance burden for area homeowners.The Connect NC Bond would help fund part of an expansion of the training facility at Beaufort County Community College. New facilities would include a 500-foot by 600-foot driving pad for emergency vehicle training as well as classrooms and storage space for props including emergency vehicles.For more information about BCCC's Public Safety Weekend, visit, or contact Johnny Williams atorOver 100 people attended, including instructors. The NC State Highway Patrol won the Top Shot Competition.Attila NemeczBeaufort County Community College5337 US Hwy 264 EastWashington, NC 27889
Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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Theres no better time to join Australias must-attend Mineral Sands Conference event to keep you up to date with the latest industry news, developments and trends.

Many analysts predict the market has reached the bottom of the pricing cycle and anticipate a steady recovery in Ti02 feedstock and zircon market conditions going forward.

With much industry debate around the impacts of Chinas softening market, what will this hold for the long-term outlook of mineral sands product appetite? Can we expect to see a volume-led recovery? What impacts will new technologies have on demand?
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The Syria Gambit  Geneva Peace Talks and Russias Pullout

By Peter Koenig How must it feel in Obamas skin, knowing that he is one of the most hated men in the world, that he is a criminal, a spineless stooge of the western oligarchs. - Continue

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DPRK: Isolated, Demonized, and Dehumanized by the West

By Andre Vltchek We are living in a twisted, truly perverse world, where mass murderers act as judges, and actually get away with it. - Continue

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The Islamic State Is Pretext To Again Mug Libya

By Moon Of Alabama This looks like another coup in the making this time by introducing a third government that will be completely controlled by foreigners. - Continue

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The Wrong Kind Of Victory

By Dmitry Orlov The US defense establishment can be considered victorious in one sense only: it has conquered and subdued the people of the United States. - Continue

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Israel Helped Plan Overthrow Of Mohamed Morsi

By Seif al-Din Abdel-Fattah Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon admitted, that the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi and the installation of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi was planned, in cooperation with generals in the Egyptian and Gulf armies and intelligence agencies. . - Continue

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9/11: The FBI Report and the Dancing Israelis Standing Truth on its Ear

By Mark Gaffney The FBI placed the five Israelis in a federal detention center, isolated them from one other, and began to interrogate them closely. - Continue

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In Case You Missed It

Israel Is Spying In And On The U.S.?

Fox News The FBI placed the five Israelis in a federal detention center, isolated them from one other, and began to interrogate them closely. - Continue

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Hillary Clinton And The Syrian Shoah

By Gilad Atzmon Thanks to the newly leaked Clinton email archive we may have a document that provides confirmation that the Yinon Plan was, de facto, an Israeli strategy to create sectarian chaos in the Middle East. - Continue

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Ted Cruzs Team of Islamophobes

By Derek Davison Cruz has assembled a collection of some of the most prominent Islamophobes in American right-wing circles. - Continue

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Sheldon Adelsons Israeli Newspaper Has a Crush on Donald Trump

By Robert Mackey Cruz has assembled a collection of some of the most prominent Islamophobes in American right-wing circles. - Continue

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Valentino's Ghost

Powerful Documentary How US Foreign Policy in the Middle East Drives Islamophobia at Home. - Continue

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Chilling Effect of Mass Surveillance Is Silencing Dissent Online, Study Says

By Nafeez Ahmed The study concluded, being aware of government surveillance significantly reduced the likelihood of speaking out in hostile opinion climates. - Continue

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Dozens killed or wounded in airstrikes on Syria's Raqqa: Pro-rebel Observatory : The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 39 people had been killed and dozens more wounded in the raids on Raqqa.

Syrian troops push toward Palmyra, with Russian support: Backed by Russian aircraft, Syrian troops pushed Friday toward the historic central town of Palmyray. Syrias state news agency SANA reported that scores of IS fighters have been killed or wounded in Syrian artillery fire near the town.

Iraqi forces kill 15 ISIS fighters during clashes west of Ramadi: The security forces and tribal fighters of Albu Nimir and Albu Mihl clans conducted a tactical military operation, pointing out that, Confrontations and violent clashes erupted between the clan fighters and ISIS elements in the area of Jabba, resulting in the killing of 15

IS jihadists kill US marine in Iraq : "Earlier today a US Marine providing force protection fire support at a recently established coalition fire base near Makhmur in northern Iraq was killed after coming under ISIL (IS) rocket fire," a statement said.

At least six civilians killed as Yemen rebels shell Taez city: Hospitals received six bodies, including two children, and 16 injured, including women, by the Houthi shelling," Hasan Izzi, director of the health office in Taez,

UN Investigating Saudi 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Yemen: The top U.N. human rights official said his organization will investigate possible Saudi-led coalition war crimes and crimes against humanity in Yemen.

Istanbul shopping area hit by suicide bomber : A suicide bomb attack at a busy shopping area in the Turkish city of Istanbul has killed at least four people, officials say. Another 36 were injured - 12 foreign nationals - as the bomb went off near a government building on Istiklal Street.

Palestinian teenager is shot dead after stabbing an Israeli border guard in the West Bank : The guard received minor injuries in the incident, which occurred today near a disputed place of worship, before another guard killed the assailant.

Appointment of Israeli spokesman viewed as snub to US : US-born David Keyes replaces Mark Regev, who became familiar to English-language audiences as the voice of the Netanyahu government during Israel's repeated attacks on Gaza. Regev will be Israel's new ambassador to the UK.

Trump and Clinton headline pro-Israel lobby conference : Parts of the Jewish Republican establishment may be warming to Trump. Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate and pro-Israel political financier, said he may be willing to back his fellow businessman. "Why not?" he reportedly said.

Bernie Sanders turns down invitation to address AIPAC confab : Citing his campaign schedule, Bernie Sanders said he would not address AIPACs conference next week, making him the only presidential candidate that will not attend the large annual pro-Israel gathering this year.

Nigeria: Army kill 35 bandits, arrest 39 in North West : The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Nigeria Army, Major Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, on Friday said no fewer than 35 armed bandits have been killed in the last two months in the North West.Oyebade said 38 of the bandits were arrested by soldiers and handed over to the police for prosecution.

At least 13 Egyptian policemen killed in Sinai attack : At least 13 Egyptian policemen were killed in the Sinai Peninsula when Islamist militants fired a mortar round at a security checkpoint in the city of Arish, security and medical sources said on Saturday.

Tunisian forces kill 2 'terrorists' near border attack town: Tunisian authorities said two "terrorists" were killed Saturday close to the southern town of Ben Guerdane near the border with Libya where jihadists mounted a deadly assault earlier this month.

Heavy gunfire in Libya capital as rivals clash : Heavy gunfire broke out in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Saturday after two rival armed groups clashed in the city over the killing of one of their fighters, a local security source and witnesses said.

Pakistan: Four terrorists among 6 suspects killed in encounters: Police on Saturday claimed to have shot dead six suspects including four terrorists of outlawed organisations during separate encounters in different areas. Ammunition, suicide jackets and explosive material were recovered from their possession.

Risk of nuclear war in Europe growing, warns Russian ex-minister: "The risk of confrontation with the use of nuclear weapons in Europe is higher than in the 1980s," said Igor Ivanov, Russia's foreign minister from 1998 to 2004 and now head of a Moscow-based think-tank founded by the Russian government.

How Russia Ruined American Plans in Crimea : All the financing of Maidan in Ukraine was driven by one particular goal, for which the U.S. State Department spared neither suitcases with dollars, nor cookies from Mrs. Nuland - Crimea

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam appears before Belgian judge: Europes most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam, has been released from hospital and taken under heavy guard to appear before a Belgian judge.

EU, Turkey seal deal to return migrants, but is it legal? Or doable? : "I have no illusions that what we agreed today will be accompanied by further setbacks. There are big legal challenges that we must now overcome," Merkel said after the 28 EU leaders concluded the deal with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Italy rescues 910 boat migrants, finds one body : On Saturday, the Italian coast guard said it had rescued 378 migrants in two separate operations and found one body. Another 112 migrants were picked up by a vessel operated for the European Union border agency Frontex and another 420 people by a ship under the EU's EUNAVFOR mission in the Mediterranean.

UK PM David Cameron delays release of Iraq report as EU referendum looms : British Prime Minister David Cameron will postpone publication of the Iraq war inquiry report until after the European Union referendum, leading to accusations that he is deliberately delaying controversial announcements.

The Government announces decision to privatise all state schools in England : The Conservatives are set to force every mainstream school in England to become an academy, reports the BBC. When schools become academies the property deeds are handed over at no cost to unaccountable academy chains.

Iain Duncan Smith resigns: The Grim Reaper is gone: In a career as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that has spanned six years, he has had a long and illustrious reign of disapproval, disdain, disgust, disparagement and disregard for the most vulnerable people in society

Next Financial Crisis Could Overwhelm World's Defenses, IMF Says : A system-wide shock could overwhelm the worlds crisis resources, which include nations foreign-exchange reserves, central-bank swap lines, regional funds such as the euro areas European Stability Mechanism, and the IMF itself, the lender said.

Brazil judge halts Lula's appointment to cabinet post: A Supreme Court justice suspends swearing-in of ex-president Lula amid political crisis over corruption allegations.

Governor Blocks $2.85 Minimum Wage Increase After Giving Staffers $73,405 Raises : Republican Gov. Robert Bentley signed a bill banning Alabama cities from raising their minimum wages. News has emerged that Bentley recently gave four of his cabinet members $73,405 raises  an 80 percent increase from the $91,000 salaries they were making previously.

Merrick Garland Often Deferred to Government in Guantanamo Cases: The judges vote was part of a pattern: As one wartime detention case after another has pitted state security powers against individual rights, he has often  though not always  deferred to the government.

Arizona: Trump protesters block streets in Fountain Hills: Maricopa County sheriff's deputies were seen directing tow trucks to start hauling the violators away. Earlier in the morning, protesters were lining up in Phoenix in advance of Donald Trumps appearance at a campaign event at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Protesters clash with SLC police outside Trump rally : Video clips captured outside the Donald Trump rally in Salt Lake City Friday night shows protesters in a shoving match with officers in riot gear. In the video, the protesters can be heard shouting "Trump Stinks!"

No, Donald Trump, we are not giving Iran $150 billion for 'nothing' : Trumps statement makes it sound like were cutting Iran a $150 billion check. In reality, the money is already Irans to begin with, just frozen under the many economic sanctions levied against the country.

Meet The People Behind Ted Cruzs Terrifying Foreign Policy Plan : Frank Gaffney, who served in the Department of Defense under President Reagan, was named as a foreign policy adviser for Cruz, has been described as one of Americas most notorious Islamophobes by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Who Is The Real Ted Cruz? : Cruz has been gorging at the table of the ultimate insider of all insiders  Goldman Sachs and Citibank .

Kasich's Contradictory Foreign Policy : [I]ts time that we punched the Russians in the nose, Kasich told radio host Hugh Hewitt during a December presidential debate. Theyve gotten away with too much in this world, and we need to stand up against them . . . in Eastern Europe where they threaten some of our most precious allies.
Jeffrey Goldbergs newly published book-length article on Barack Obama and the Middle East includes a major revelation that brings US Secretary of State John Kerrys Syrian diplomacy into sharper focus: it reports that Kerry has sought on several occasions without success over the past several months to get Obamas approval for cruise missile strikes against the Syrian government. That revelation shows that Kerrys strategy in promoting the Syrian peace negotiations in recent months was based on much heavier pressure on the Assad regime to agree that President Bashar al-Assad must step down than was apparent. It also completes a larger story of Kerry as the primary advocate in the administration of war in Syria ever since he became Secretary of State in early 2013. Goldberg reports that on several occasions Kerry requested that Obama approve missile strikes at specific regime targets, in order to send a message to Assad  and his international allies  to negotiate peace. Kerry suggested to Obama that the US wouldnt have to acknowledge the attacks publicly, according to Goldberg, because Assad would surely know the missiles return address. Goldberg reports that Kerry had recently submitted a written outline of new steps to bring more pressure on Assad. That is obviously a reference to what Kerry referred to in Senate testimony in February as significant discussions within the Obama administration on a Plan B to support the opposition that would be more confrontational. Kerry made no effort in his testimony to hide the fact that he was the chief advocate of such a policy initiative. But Goldbergs account makes it clear that Obama not only repeatedly rejected Kerrys requests for the use of force, but also decreed at a National Security Council meeting in December that any request for the use of military force must come from his military advisers in an obvious rebuff to Kerry. Immediately after Kerry had suggesting that a Plan B was under discussion in the administration, it was a senior Pentagon official who dismissed the idea that any confrontational move was under consideration, including the well-worn idea of a no-fly zone. Kerrys campaign for cruise missile strikes actually began soon after he became secretary in February 2013. At that point Assad was consolidating his military position, while al-Nusra Front and its extremist allies were already in a dominant position within the armed opposition, according to US intelligence. It was hardly a favourable situation for trying to build an opposition force that could be the instrument of the negotiated settlement he had in mind. At Kerrys urging Obama signed a secret presidential finding in May 2013 for a covert CIA operation the objective of which was to provide enough support to the rebels so they wouldnt lose, but not enough so they would win. But that was a compromise measure that Kerry believed would be inadequate to support a negotiated settlement. He wanted much more an urgent programme of aid to the opposition, and he resorted to a shady bureaucratic tactic to advance his aim. Beginning in March 2013 and throughout that spring, the armed opposition accused the Assad regime of using Sarin gas against opposition population centres on several occasions. The evidence for those accusations was highly doubtful in every case, but Kerry seized on them as a way of putting pressure on Obama. In June 2013, he went to the White House with a paper assuming the truth of the accusations and arguing that, if the United States did not impose consequences on Assad over his supposed use of chemical weapons, he would view it as green light to continue using them. At a National Security Council Meeting that month, Kerry urged shipments of heavy weapons to the rebels as well as US military strikes, but Obama still said no. After the 21 August 2013 Sarin attack in the Damascus area, Kerry was the leading figure on Obamas national security team arguing that Obama had to respond militarily. But after initially agreeing to a set of US missile strikes on regime targets, Obama decided against it. One of the reasons was that director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged to him privately that the intelligence was not a slam dunk, according to Goldbergs account. In lieu of a missile strikes, however, Obama agreed in October 2013 to a very risky major escalation of military assistance to the Syrian opposition. That fall the Pentagon sold 15,000 US TOW anti-tank missiles to the Saudis, and throughout 2014, the Saudis doled them out to armed groups approved by the United States. Dispensing anti-tank missiles was a reckless policy, because it was recognised by then that many of the groups being armed were already fighting alongside Nusra Front in the northwest. The missiles were crucial to the capture of all of Idlib province by the Nusra-led Army of Conquest in April 2015. Kerry was ready to take a risk on Nusra Front and its allies becoming unstoppable in order to jump-start his strategy of diplomatic pressure on Assad. But Kerry overplayed his hand. The Assad regime and Iran feared that the newly strengthened military force under Nusra Front control might break through to take over the Alawite stronghold of Latakia province. They prevailed on Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene with Russian airpower. As the Russian campaign of airstrikes began to push back the extremist-led military forces and even threaten their lines of supply, Kerrys strategy to pressure the Assad regime to make a major diplomatic concession became irrelevant. Kerrys demands for US cruise missile strikes became even more insistent. Without them, he argued, he couldnt get the Russians to cooperate with his peace negotiations plan. Goldberg quotes a senior administration official as saying, Kerrys looking like a chump with the Russians, because he has no leverage. Obama, who had already succumbed in 2014 to domestic political pressure to begin bombing the Islamic State, saw no reason to get into even deeper war in Syria in support of Kerrys plan  especially under the new circumstances. Assad was not likely to step down, and in case, the war would only end if Nusra Front and its Salafist-jihadi allies were no longer able to get the heavy weapons they need to fight the regime. The real origin of the present Syrian peace negotiations is thus Kerrys ambition to pursue the illusory aim of winning a diplomatic victory in Syria by much greater pressure on the Assad regime. Ironically, in setting in motion the military build-up of an al-Qaeda-dominated armed opposition, Kerry sowed the seeds of the military reversal that ensured the failure of his endeavour. As a result he became the rather pathetic figure shown in Goldbergs account pleading in vain for yet another US war in Syria. - Gareth Porter is an independent investigative journalist and winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for journalism. He is the author of the newly published Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/kerry-sought-missile-strikes-force-syrias-assad-step-down-1087172884#sthash.oK5k5IX9.WIQ8Ho6S.dpuf - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/kerry-sought-missile-strikes-force-syrias-assad-step-down-1087172884#sthash.oK5k5IX9.WIQ8Ho6S.dpuf Kerry Sought Missile Strikes to Force Syria's Assad to Step Down



Kerry sought to 'send a message' to Assad via cruise missile strikes against Syrian government positions but Obama refused proposal - See more at:



By Gareth Porter



March 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " MEE " - Jeffrey Goldbergs newly published book-length article on Barack Obama and the Middle East includes a major revelation that brings US Secretary of State John Kerrys Syrian diplomacy into sharper focus: it reports that Kerry has sought on several occasions without success over the past several months to get Obamas approval for cruise missile strikes against the Syrian government. That revelation shows that Kerrys strategy in promoting the Syrian peace negotiations in recent months was based on much heavier pressure on the Assad regime to agree that President Bashar al-Assad must step down than was apparent. It also completes a larger story of Kerry as the primary advocate in the administration of war in Syria ever since he became Secretary of State in early 2013. Goldberg reports that on several occasions Kerry requested that Obama approve missile strikes at specific regime targets, in order to send a message to Assad  and his international allies  to negotiate peace. Kerry suggested to Obama that the US wouldnt have to acknowledge the attacks publicly, according to Goldberg, because Assad would surely know the missiles return address. Goldberg reports that Kerry had recently submitted a written outline of new steps to bring more pressure on Assad. That is obviously a reference to what Kerry referred to in Senate testimony in February as significant discussions within the Obama administration on a Plan B to support the opposition that would be more confrontational. Kerry made no effort in his testimony to hide the fact that he was the chief advocate of such a policy initiative. But Goldbergs account makes it clear that Obama not only repeatedly rejected Kerrys requests for the use of force, but also decreed at a National Security Council meeting in December that any request for the use of military force must come from his military advisers in an obvious rebuff to Kerry. Immediately after Kerry had suggesting that a Plan B was under discussion in the administration, it was a senior Pentagon official who dismissed the idea that any confrontational move was under consideration, including the well-worn idea of a no-fly zone. Kerrys campaign for cruise missile strikes actually began soon after he became secretary in February 2013. At that point Assad was consolidating his military position, while al-Nusra Front and its extremist allies were already in a dominant position within the armed opposition, according to US intelligence. It was hardly a favourable situation for trying to build an opposition force that could be the instrument of the negotiated settlement he had in mind. At Kerrys urging Obama signed a secret presidential finding in May 2013 for a covert CIA operation the objective of which was to provide enough support to the rebels so they wouldnt lose, but not enough so they would win. But that was a compromise measure that Kerry believed would be inadequate to support a negotiated settlement. He wanted much more an urgent programme of aid to the opposition, and he resorted to a shady bureaucratic tactic to advance his aim. Beginning in March 2013 and throughout that spring, the armed opposition accused the Assad regime of using Sarin gas against opposition population centres on several occasions. The evidence for those accusations was highly doubtful in every case, but Kerry seized on them as a way of putting pressure on Obama. In June 2013, he went to the White House with a paper assuming the truth of the accusations and arguing that, if the United States did not impose consequences on Assad over his supposed use of chemical weapons, he would view it as green light to continue using them. At a National Security Council Meeting that month, Kerry urged shipments of heavy weapons to the rebels as well as US military strikes, but Obama still said no. After the 21 August 2013 Sarin attack in the Damascus area, Kerry was the leading figure on Obamas national security team arguing that Obama had to respond militarily. But after initially agreeing to a set of US missile strikes on regime targets, Obama decided against it. One of the reasons was that director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged to him privately that the intelligence was not a slam dunk, according to Goldbergs account. In lieu of a missile strikes, however, Obama agreed in October 2013 to a very risky major escalation of military assistance to the Syrian opposition. That fall the Pentagon sold 15,000 US TOW anti-tank missiles to the Saudis, and throughout 2014, the Saudis doled them out to armed groups approved by the United States. Dispensing anti-tank missiles was a reckless policy, because it was recognised by then that many of the groups being armed were already fighting alongside Nusra Front in the northwest. The missiles were crucial to the capture of all of Idlib province by the Nusra-led Army of Conquest in April 2015. Kerry was ready to take a risk on Nusra Front and its allies becoming unstoppable in order to jump-start his strategy of diplomatic pressure on Assad. But Kerry overplayed his hand. The Assad regime and Iran feared that the newly strengthened military force under Nusra Front control might break through to take over the Alawite stronghold of Latakia province. They prevailed on Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene with Russian airpower. As the Russian campaign of airstrikes began to push back the extremist-led military forces and even threaten their lines of supply, Kerrys strategy to pressure the Assad regime to make a major diplomatic concession became irrelevant. Kerrys demands for US cruise missile strikes became even more insistent. Without them, he argued, he couldnt get the Russians to cooperate with his peace negotiations plan. Goldberg quotes a senior administration official as saying, Kerrys looking like a chump with the Russians, because he has no leverage. Obama, who had already succumbed in 2014 to domestic political pressure to begin bombing the Islamic State, saw no reason to get into even deeper war in Syria in support of Kerrys plan  especially under the new circumstances. Assad was not likely to step down, and in case, the war would only end if Nusra Front and its Salafist-jihadi allies were no longer able to get the heavy weapons they need to fight the regime. The real origin of the present Syrian peace negotiations is thus Kerrys ambition to pursue the illusory aim of winning a diplomatic victory in Syria by much greater pressure on the Assad regime. Ironically, in setting in motion the military build-up of an al-Qaeda-dominated armed opposition, Kerry sowed the seeds of the military reversal that ensured the failure of his endeavour. As a result he became the rather pathetic figure shown in Goldbergs account pleading in vain for yet another US war in Syria. - Gareth Porter is an independent investigative journalist and winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for journalism. He is the author of the newly published Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare .
The Rise of Trump Shows the Danger and Sham of Compelled Journalistic Neutrality



By Glenn Greenwald



March 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Intercept " - As Donald Trumps campaign predictably moves from toxic rhetoric targeting the most marginalized minorities to threats and use of violence, there is a growing sense that American institutions have been too lax about resisting it. Political scientist Brendan Nyhan on Sunday posted a widely cited Twitter essay voicing this concern, arguing that Trumps rise represents a failure in American parties, media, and civic institutions  and theyre continuing to fail right now. He added, Someone could capture a major party [nomination] who endorses violence [and] few seem alarmed. Actually, many people are alarmed, but it is difficult to know that by observing media coverage, where little journalistic alarm over Trump is expressed. Thats because the rules of large media outlets  venerating faux objectivity over truth along with every other civic value  prohibit the sounding of any alarms. Under this framework of corporate journalism, to denounce Trump, or even to sound alarms about the dark forces hes exploiting and unleashing, would not constitute journalism. To the contrary, such behavior is regarded as a violation of journalism. Such denunciations are scorned as opinion, activism, and bias: all the values that large media-owning corporations have posited as the antithesis of journalism in order to defang and neuter it as an adversarial force. Just this morning, NPR media reporter David Folkenflik published a story describing the concern and even anger of some NPR executives and journalists over a column by longtime NPR commentator Cokie Roberts  the Beacon of Washington Centrism  that criticizes Trump. NPR has a policy forbidding its journalists from taking public stances on political affairs, he wrote. For any NPR reporter, Robertss statements  warning of the dangers of a Trump presidency  would be a clear violation of that policy. An NPR vice president, Michael Oreskes, published an internal memo to NPR staff this morning highlighting Robertss non-reporting and non-employee role as a reason she would not be punished, but he pointedly noted, If Cokie were still a member of NPRs staff we would not have allowed that. And in an interview that Oreskes directed Roberts to do this morning with Morning Edition host David Greene about the matter, the NPR host chided Roberts for expressing negative views of Trump, telling her: Objectivity is so fundamental to what we do. Can you blame people like me for being a little disappointed to hear you come out and take a personal position on something like this in a campaign? Imagine calling yourself a journalist, and then  as you watch an authoritarian politician get closer to power by threatening and unleashing violence and stoking the ugliest impulses  denouncing not that politician, but rather other journalists who warn of the dangers. That is the embodiment of the ethos of corporate journalism in America, and a potent illustration of why its fetishized reverence for objectivity is so rotted and even dangerous. Indeed, Roberts herself agreed that it was justified for her to speak out only because shes in the role of NPR commentator and not reporter: If I were doing it in your role as a reporter, Roberts told Greene, you should be disappointed. This abdication of the journalistic duty inevitably engendered by corporate neutrality rules is not new. We saw it repeatedly during the Bush years, when most large media outlets suppressed journalistic criticism of things like torture and grotesque war crimes carried out by the U.S. as part of the war on terror, and even changed their language by adopting government euphemisms to obscure what was being done. Outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR refused to use the word torture to describe techniques long universally recognized as such  which were always called torture by those same media outlets when used by countries adversarial to the U.S.  because to do so would evince bias, lack neutrality, and take sides in the torture debate. Contrary to what U.S. media corporations have succeeded in convincing people, these journalistic neutrality rules are not remotely traditional. They are newly invented concepts that coincided with the acquisition of the nations most important media outlets by large, controversy-averse corporations for which media was just one of many businesses. Large corporations hate controversy (it alienates consumers) and really hate offending those who wield political power (bad for business). Imposing objectivity rules on the journalists who work for their media divisions was a means to avoid offending anyone by forcing journalists to conceal their perspectives, assumptions, and viewpoints, and, worse, forcing them to dishonestly pretend that they had none, that they float above all that. This framework neutered journalism and drained it of all its vitality and passion, reducing journalists to stenography drones permitted to do little more than summarize what each equally valid side asserts. Worse, it ensures that people who wield great influence and power  such as Donald Trump  can engage in all sorts of toxic, dishonest, and destructive behavior without having to worry about any check from journalists, who are literally barred by their employers from speaking out (even as their employers profit greatly through endless coverage). This corporate, neutrality-uber-alles framework is literally the exact antithesis of how journalism was practiced, and why it was so valued, when the U.S. Constitution was enacted and for decades after. As Jack Shafer documented in 2013, those who claim that journalism has always been grounded in neutrality demonstrate a painful lack of historical understanding of American journalism. Indeed, American journalism began in earnest as a rebellion against the state: citizens using journalism to denounce in no uncertain terms the evils of the British Crown and to agitate for resistance against it. He cites Judith and William Serrins anthology, Muckraking: The Journalism That Changed America, which establishes the primacy of partisan, activist journalism from the revolutionary period through the modern era. That is the noble journalistic tradition that has been deliberately suppressed  outright barred  by our nations largest corporate media outlets, justifying their meek and impotent codes under the banner of an objectivity and neutrality that are as illusory and deceitful as they are amoral. As a result, nobody should be looking to our nations largest media outlets to serve as a bulwark against Trumpism or any other serious menace. The rules they have imposed on themselves, by design, ensure their own neutrality even in the face of the most extreme evils. * * * * * The debate over objectivity and neutrality in journalism has been, as I noted, quite relevant and pressing since long before the emergence of Donald Trump. I had a long exchange with former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller about this in 2013 in the context of the founding of The Intercept, where the arguments are laid out in full, and, as Folkenflik noted this morning, I spoke with him about this issue on CNN after that exchange with Keller: UPDATE: Regarding whether neutrality and objectivity are new journalistic concoctions, note that the two most revered figures in American broadcast journalism history  Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite  would have been fired from NPR and multiple other contemporary media outlets for their most notable moments: Murrow when he used his nightly news broadcast to repeatedly denounce Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and Cronkite when he did the same about the Vietnam War. Glenn Greenwald is a journalist, constitutional lawyer, and author of four New York Times best-selling books on politics and law. His most recent book, No Place to Hide, is about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Prior to co-founding The Intercept, Glenns column was featured at The Guardian and Salon .
Putin Orders Start of Russian Forces Withdrawal from Syria



By Reuters

March 14, 2016 "

Information Clearing House

" - "

Reuters

" - MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he was instructing his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria, over five months after he ordered the launch of a military operation that shored up his ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defense and foreign ministers, said Russian military forces in Syria had largely fulfilled their objectives and ordered an intensification of Russia's diplomatic efforts to broker a peace deal in the country.

But the Russian leader signaled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeimim military airport in Syria's Latakia province.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision. The move was announced on the day United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva.

"The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process," Putin said.

"I believe that the task put before the defense ministry and Russian armed forces has, on the whole, been fulfilled. With the participation of the Russian military ... the Syrian armed forces and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism and have taken the initiative in almost all respects," Putin said.
Syria: Another CIA Supplied Group Hands Its Weapons To Al-Qaeda By Moon Of Alabama March 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama" - Syria's Idleb province is held by Jabhat al-Nusra, aka al-Qaeda in Syria, and Ahrar al Sham with a sprinkling of "moderates" added to the mix. While Nusra and Ahrar have support from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the "moderates" are supported by the CIA which provides them with anti-tank weapons. When in 2013 these groups stormed government held positions in Idleb, Nusra, Ahrar and Islamic State Jihadis were leading the fighting and employed suicide bombers. Their attacks were supported by electronic warfare measures from Turkey which disabled the Syrian Army's communication. The CIA "moderates" were integrated as anti-tank teams using their U.S. supplied weapons in support of the Jihadi offense. The U.S. supported groups in Idleb are currently grouped under the moniker "Division 13" or "Brigade 13". The cessation of hostilities in Syria means that all these "moderates" in Idleb province have time to discuss their ideological differences. Jenan Moussa (@JenanMoussa) is the "Roving reporter Arabic Al Aan TV. Based in Dubai but roams around MidEast". She reports on Syria from a mostly pro-opposition standpoint and has long favored "moderate" as well as "not-so-moderate" Jihadis. Here are some of here recent tweets: Jenan Moussa @jenanmoussa Jenan Moussa Retweeted    Nusra attacks FSA supporters protesting Assad in #Idleb province. Nusra bans FSA flags, allows only Jihadi banners. 4:44 AM - 11 Mar 2016 Yesterday Nusra had meeting in Idleb with activists & local Syrian journalist urging them all not to carry FSA flags, only Jihadi banners. Here full video of Nusra attack on protestors in Maaret ElNoman. Its seriously amazing some dared to carry FSA flag https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=D-_ymP4BMxo Anti regime protests also in Sarmada, Harem &Darkoush in Idleb province. Protestors carried both FSA &Jihadi banners In Nusra mentality, FSA flag seen as 'pro-democracy &pro-secularism'. They have banned it but can't yet enforce ban in their territories. Moment when Nusra attacked AbuElias AlMaaeri, local anti-Assad celebrity. They took his mic for singing FSA slogans https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdRReICWEAAq-sa.jpg On Saturday some reports from Idleb claimed that Division 13 fighters, enraged that their propaganda protests were disrupted by Nusra, attacked some Nusra positions and fighters in Idleb. Charles Lister @Charles_Lister BIG: FSA's Division 13 has launched raids on Jabhat al-Nusra bases in Marat al-Numan (24hrs after clashes at opposition Friday protest). 11:11 AM - 12 Mar 2016 #Idlib rebel dynamics are hotting up pre-#Geneva talks: Division 13 denies attacking Nusra in Marat al-Numan: pic.twitter.com/2dpQLpYvcd Then came the counter(?) offense by Nusra. Jenan Moussa @jenanmoussa #BREAK Nusra (AlQaeda in Syria) is right now attacking HQ of FSA-group "Brigade 13" in Maraat Nouman, Khan Sheikhun, AlGhadfa, Jbala &Heesh> 3:18 PM - 12 Mar 2016 Nusra (AlQaeda Syria) is trying 2destroy last FSA groups in Idlib, who r already weak. Just like Nusra destroyed Jamal Marouf &Hazem before. If thing continue like this, FSA group division 13 will cease 2 exit in morning. Nusra (AlQaeda in Syria) will destroy them tonight. Nusra (AlQaeda in Syria) kills 4 FSA fighters from Division 13 as they attack their HQs in Maaret AlNoman. #Idlib Nusra (AlQaeda in #Syria) &Jund AlAqsa gathering their troops 2 attack main HQ of FSA division 13 in Maaret Noman. I am hearing that Nusra (AlQaeda in Syria) confiscated weapons of FSA Division13. If true, Division 13 receives U.S weapons including TOWs. FSA Brigade13 says their main specialist in firing (US-supplied) TOW rockets at SAA tanks "attacked w/ RPG by Nusra" 2 versions. Nusra says FSA attacked us first. FSA says we are weaker why would we attack? Nusra attacked us first. And that, dear folks, was the predictable end of the last "moderate" Jihadi group with direct U.S. support in Idleb. The CIA supplied weapons, lots of TOWs but allegedly also including anti-air MANPADs, are now, like on earlier occasions, in the hands of al-Qaeda. Excellent job Mr. Brennan!
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter On Disappearing People



By Craig Murray



March 14, 2016 " Information Clearing House " -- If you thought things had much changed under Obama, think again. There has been much publicity for the news that US forces have captured an alleged ISIS chemical weapons expert, Suleiman al-Afari. There was considerably less publicity for the news that he is being held in yet another new US black prison detention site. It is situated on the territory of the USAs Kurdish allies in Irbil, Iraq, but was constructed and is run entirely by the US military. Many detainees have vanished into its gates. Very few, if any, have come out again. Yet again the US is simply disappearing people into secret prisons on foreign soil. Obama has in effect maintained the Bush doctrine that enemy combatants are neither alleged criminals nor soldiers. They do not get the rights of alleged criminals to decent treatment and a fair trial, nor do they get the Geneva Convention rights of soldiers captured during a war. They are non-persons who can simply be pitched into a black hole. Even if they actually are terrorists, that does not leave them devoid of rights. I would also argue that to treat terrorists other than as common criminals, deserving of formal criminal process, contributes to their glorification and gives them a status they do not deserve. But formal process is essential because we know for certain that they often pick up people who are entirely innocent. I leave aside the argument that it is the United States which caused the collapse of Iraq and it is with Blair and Bush that the guilt ultimately lies. But I leave it aside with the comment that it is an argument deserving of much weight. I never quite made up my mind whether Obama was a decent man who was corrupted/bullied into adopting the neo-con agenda, or whether he was a play-acting sociopath all along. I do know that Clinton is a hardened warmonger who positively relishes the notion of enemies being killed. She is just a sociopath; she doesnt bother much with the acting. Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate



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The Inspector General of Police, IGP Solomon Arase has said that the number of people reportedly killed in the recent clash between Agatu people of Benue State and suspected Fulani herdsmen was over exaggerated.

The media was awash with reports over two weeks ago that armed herdsmen sacked Agatu communities, killing over 300 people, including children and pregnant women, while over 7,000 others were said to have been displaced as a result of the crisis.

The Fulani herdsmen accused the Agatu people of triggering the crisis by killing 10,000 of their cattle.

Addressing Stakeholders during a visit to Minna, the Niger state capital, Sunday, Arase said I was around, I travelled to Makurdi, I did not see where 300 people were buried.

If you kill, you dont just bury; you must take the corpse to the Police station before you bury, we dont have that number of people.

The IGP, however, failed to disclose the official casualty figure.

Arase said the Police High command had finalized plans to check the menace of cattle rustling around the country, adding that the police would next week start what he called Metro Patrol, designed to apprehend cattle rustlers.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has sacked the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency, Adeigbe Olushola, and three others following the Lekki building collapse that killed 35 people last week.

Apart from Olushola, Ambode approved the dismissal of the Head of Inspection and Quality Control in the agency, Adeoye Adeyemi; the Zonal District Officer in the agency, Dosunmu Gbadebo; while the Zonal Head of Eti-Osa West of the agency, Mrs. Akinde Sherifat, was compulsorily retired from the civil service.

A statement by the Lagos State Head of Service, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola, quoted the governor as saying the affected officers were dismissed after they were indicted for negligence.

According to him, negligence is an act of misconduct under the Public Service Rule 040401.

Rule 040401 of the Public Service act of misconduct states that A willful act of omission or general misconduct to the scandal of the pubic or to the prejudice of discipline and proper administration of the state Government should be visited with dismissal from the public service in line with the Public Service Rule 040503, the statement said.

The Head of Service said the disciplinary measure was the outcome of the recommendations of the Personnel Management Board to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was personally grieved by the number of lives lost in the building collapse.

Source:ThePunch
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday said President Muhammadu Buharis many foreign trips were not aimed at finding a lasting solution to the many challenges confronting the nation as claimed by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), but rather to show gratitude to presidents who backed him to become leader of the most populous black nation on earth.

The Lagos PDP Publicity Secretary, Taofeek Gani, made the claim in reaction to the presidents latest trip to Equatorial Guinea on Sunday.

According to Mr. Gani, despite Buharis numerous foreign trips since he was sworn-in as president on May 29, 2015 there has been no improvement in Nigerias economic situation.

The Lagos PDP spokesperson further said the statement attributed to Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday that Nigerias economy is beyond President Buhari, was an admission that the APC-led federal government was incapable of managing the affairs of the country.

What they have admitted is that they cannot provide solutions to the problems of the country. The expression by the Minister of Information is a vindication of our campaign that the APC-led federal government is too kindergarten and intellectually arrogant to manage the affairs of this sophisticated country.

They are arrogant because they do not want to see any trace of PDP in their government. They have decided to throw out the baby with the bath water. The experience and contributions of great minds like Akinwunmi Adesina, Okonjo-Iweala and other ministers under the PDP have all been rubbished because the APC government wants Nigeria to believe that there is nothing good in PDP, he said.

Mr. Gani further stated that the APC government was clueless because many programmes of the former administration have been scrapped.

He cited the Sovereign Wealth Fund championed by former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, which he noted saved Nigeria from even what America cannot survive when there was world economic downturn. The fact that there is a sharp fall in price of crude oil should not make the Nigerian economy this bad.

Our economy is bad because the people who are in control are clueless and intellectually arrogant, refusing to seek the advice of those that can assist them. They are only playing partisan politics with our lives. What is expected of the Honourable Minister is not only to apologise to Nigerians, but to honourably resign.

They have no solution to the myriads of problems confronting the country. The other day, they said all the foreign trips by President Buhari are to seek solution to our problems. If so, how come things are getting worse? I believe President Buharis numerous trips is just to say Thank You to world leaders who supported him during the last presidential election, he said.
At least 37 people have been killed and at least 71 people are still in hospital after a car bomb struck the Turkish capital, Ankara, officials say. A bomb-laden car exploded on Sunday evening in the centrally located Kizilay neighbourhood, near a major transport hub, private broadcaster NTV reported. The death toll rose by three to 37 on Monday morning, the Turkish health minister said, adding that at least one attacker was being counted in the overall toll.

Witnesses said the blast set vehicles on fire and heavily damaged several buses. The explosion, which could be heard several kilometres away, also sent burning debris showering down over an area a few hundred metres from the justice and interior ministries, a top courthouse, and the former office of the prime minister. These attacks, which threaten our countrys integrity and our nations unity and solidarity, do not weaken our resolve in fighting terrorism but bolster our determination, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement.

As of now there has been no claim of responsibility, said Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Istanbul. But this is a real concern for Turkey. It happened in the capital and this is the third explosion to have happened in Ankara since October.

Local broadcasters reported that an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook, Twitter and other sites in Turkey on Sunday, after images from the car bombing were shared on social media. Several local users reported difficulty in accessing the sites. Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert and associate fellow at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that insecurity was becoming the new normal in the country.
Ijebu (also known as Jebu or Geebu) was a Yoruba kingdom in pre-colonial Nigeria. It formed around the fifteenth century. According to legend, its ruling dynasty was founded by Obanta of Ile-Ife. That said about the Ijebus, INFORMATION NIGERIA has put together more cool facts them.

1. Ijebus were the first people to have contact with Europeans in 14th Century.

2. Ijebus were the first to be educated by western education.

3. Ijebu is the largest Ethnic group in Nigeria.

4. First people to manufacture gear of wars in history of Nigeria.

5. First people to contend the slavery extortion in the region.

6. The first people to invent money made from Cowry shell, later made Coin called PANADORA

which was acceptable through Africa and Europe.

7. Ijebu is the only tribe in Nigeria that has its origin from bible days.

8. According to the Biblical account; the Jebusites were a Canaanite tribe who inhabited and build Jerusalem prior to its conquest by king David.

9. Ijebu was the first indigenous CLERK to European missionaries.

10. The Europeans Observers found them more intelligent than the other groups in Nigeria.

11. When Oduduwa was blind, Ijebu king (fifth Awujale) was the one to provide remedy to restore the sight.

12. Ijebu is known for Sociability, Integrity and Handwork.

13. Ijebu was the one to raise agitation from emancipation from Colonialism.

14. Ijebu king (Orimolusi) was the second Oba appointed by Colonial master for London Conference in 1957 to negotiate independence.

15. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the first individual in the modern era to be named leader of the Yorubas (Asiwaju Omo Oodua)

16. The richest black woman in the world, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija is an Ijebu woman.

17. An Ijebu man was the first to play in English premier league in the early 60s.

18. Ijebu is famous with Egungun festival, Agemo festival, Ileya festival, e.t.c.

19. Mike Adenuga, an Ijebu man was the first Nigerian to singlehandedly own oil mining

and telecommunication companies.

20. An Ijebu man was the first musician to perform outside the shore of Nigeria.
The Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), has given marching orders to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, to fish out and prosecute the culprits of the recent killings in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.

Dambazau made gave the order in a statement issued on his behalf by his Press Secretary, Mr Osaigbovo Ehisienmen, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday.

The minister decried the incessant attacks on innocent Nigerians in Agatu and other communities in Benue, by unknown gunmen, calling on Mr. Arase to investigate the matter.

The perpetrators of this dastardly act are unwittingly testing the will and capabilities of government securities, he said.

Mr. Dambazau also expressed his condolence to the government and people of Benue State over the incident and pledged governments resolve to ensure the security of lives and property in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that incessant clashes between suspected herdsmen and communities in Agatu, had led to the killing of innocent Nigerians and destruction of property.
Much of the $2.1 billion arms funds which was allegedly mismanaged and is now being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have been traced to 11 different accounts in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and Niger Republic, The Nation reports.

According to the newspaper, its sources said yesterday that more accounts into which the funds were paid by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) might be uncovered in the next few weeks.

Although the payment mandates indicated that the wired funds were for technical equipment or supply of vehicles, the EFCC is interested in establishing whether or not the items were delivered and if the costs of the items were inflated or not.

Some of the transfers, according to sources, were effected through ONSA Foreign Operations Account No. 100367-USD-CABANK- with FBN Bank UK and a few others through the Central Bank of Nigeria and some commercial banks in the country.

Transfers being investigated are as follows:

$10million (July 11, 2014) BSIC-NIGER, Code Bank NE 110, Swift Code BSAHNENI, Account 020383700112 );

$38million paid to Societe Nigerienne de Banque (H0064B0100125111123981/22 CODEBIC( May 20, 2014)

$16million to a different account in Societe Nigerienne de Banque (H0064B0100125111123981/41 CODEBIC (May 20, 2014)

1,401,869 transferred to SONIBANK (Republique du Niger (October 2, 2013)

1, 395,346.84 to another account in SONIBANK( Republique du Niger on December 11, 2013

2,252,252.25 wired to SONIBANK (Republique du Niger) on April 1, 2014.

$36million remitted into CitiBank N.A.Canada Square, Canary Wharf London E14 5LB on May 20,2014;

$5million to CitiBank N.A. Canada Square, Canary Wharf London E14 5LB on June 4, 2014

$30million to CitiBank N.A.Canada Square, Canary Wharf London E14 5LB on March 9, 2015

$50million to Deutsche Bank Trust Company in New York on March 9, 2015

$6, 954,000 to Deutsche Bank Trust Company in New York on April 21, 2015

We have succeeded in retrieving documents relating to some funds that were wired abroad by ONSA. We were able to identify more than 11 foreign accounts and the actual remittances, The Nation quoted a reliable source in the EFCC to have said.

Already, we are tracking what the funds were used for including payment for technical equipment and supply of vehicles. Our investigation includes determining whether or not the equipment were bought and delivered; and whether the cost prices were inflated or not.

This crucial aspect of investigation accounted for why some military officers were handed over to the EFCC for investigation.

We are also collaborating with anti-corruption agencies in other jurisdictions to determine the validity of such transfers and confirm if the funds were not laundered.

The EFCC is being painstaking in its investigation to ensure fairness to all suspects under probe.
The senator representing Kaduna Central District, Shehu Sani, has accused Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, of thinking of removing President Muhammadu Buhari.

In an explosive interview in the March edition of The Interview magazine, Sen. Sani said, It would be counter-productive for the Governor to start thinking of evicting Buhari in 2019 to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

El-Rufai should do his job and stop putting his eyes on the Presidency, the former rights crusader-turned politician added.

Senator Sani, who belongs to the same governing All Progressives Congress with the governor, has been at loggerheads with Mr. El-Rufai for undisclosed political reasons.

The height of the political disagreement between the duo led to the purported suspension of the senator for 11 months by the state chapter of the party.

Mr. Sani, in the same interview, accused Mr. El-Rufai of ruling like an emperor, promising to give him war or peace, depending on the one he wants.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, on Monday visited the Calabar branch of the bank that was rocked by gas explosion last Friday.

The CBN governor, who refused to speak with journalists, also visited the victims of the blast at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

Mr. Emefiele also inspected the site of the blast before leaving the banks premises immediately for Abuja.

Four persons were reported dead in the blast, while several others were injured.

The CBN governors visit to the victims in the hospital was not open to journalists, but it was learnt that arrangements had been concluded for those who were in critical conditions to be transferred to other health facilities within or outside country where necessary.

(NAN)
A Bureau de Change operator Salisu Umaru, has told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that N1.5 billion was paid into his account for the son of a former Minister of Finance.

Umaru said he did not know what the ministers son used the cash for. The former minister and his son were not named so as not to jeopardise the investigation. The cash is believed to be part of the $2.1 billion phoney arms deals funds.

Giving the EFCC details of how the N1.5billion was wired into his companys account, the BDC operator said he never knew what the cash from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was meant for.

I was invited by EFCC and when I reported, I was shown my companys account statement with Zenith Bank called Jabama Ada Global Nigeria Limited in which there was an inflow of N500 million on 5/2/2015 and N1 billion on 16/4/2015 into the account from the Office of the National Security Adviser.

On the inflow of N500 million into my companys account on 5/2/2015, I wish to state as follows : That on the same date(5/2/2015), I paid the equivalent of US$2,380,952 to the son of the minister, being the equivalent of the said N500 million at the rate of N210 per dollar.

I do not know what he used the money for. My own business is to buy and sell dollars. It is only the ministers son that can explain what the money was meant for. The ministers son signed and collected the said N500 million.

On the N1 billion inflow into my companys account on 16/4/2015, I wish to say the money was disbursed as follows: $1,000,000, being the equivalent of N220 million; and $327,000 (equivalent of N72,600,000) were paid cash to the son of the minister while the sum of N704,400,000 was transferred to various accounts based on the instruction of the ministers son. He gave some of the instructions through text messages. Some of the instructions were also received from the father.

I also want to state that I do not know what the N1billion was meant for and what it was used for, he said.
A former Minister of Interior, Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho (retd.), has advised the newly-appointed Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, to court indigenous ship owners.

Iheanacho, who is the Chairman, Genesis Shipping Worldwide, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

The ex-minister also pledged the support of indigenous ship owners for Peterside.

Ihenacho said: It is our hope that he would concentrate his efforts in a genuine attempt to grow indigenous capacity through a judicious use of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).

The mariner said the new director-general must make Cabotage provisions work.

Iheanacho explained that Peterside would need to understand the difference and the distinction between the administrative responsibilities for the safety of shipping and security of the maritime environment.

The mariner said: Safety of shipping and its associated costs is a NIMASA function while the security of the marine environment is the responsibility of the Navy.

He said: NIMASA should be refocused to carry out its core maritime industrial safety and local capacity development responsibilities, while simultaneously demilitarising the outlook and presentation of the agency.

We welcome Mr Peterside as the director-general of NIMASA. He is a good man. We hope his appointment would mark the beginning of a positive change in the focus and administrative interventions of the agency (NIMASA), Iheanacho told NAN.
An Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Main Igbo Movement (MIM), has warned all pro-Biafran groups, especially the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), to desist from threatening credible Igbo sons in the course of its agitation.

The group was reacting to last Wednesdays attack on Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State by an IPOB member when the governor was delivering a speech at the Chatham House, London.

MIM said it will not condone further harassment of Igbo leaders by any group under any guise.

A statement issued weekend by its President-General, Nze Simon Okokwe, said the London incident was unacceptable and should be condemned by all Igbo.

The statement reads: The recent attack on the Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha in a foreign land by faceless hoodlums brandishing Biafran flag and claiming to be Biafra agitators is most embarrassing, not only to the governor but the entire Igbo. It shows the level we have degenerated.

In as much as we have nothing against peaceful agitation for any course whatsoever, including Biafra, we condemn in its entirety, any plan to coerce anyone to join or support any agitation, including the Biafra struggle.

To this end we are demanding an unreserved apology to Ndigbo and Okorocha for the humiliation meted to an illustrious Igbo son.

While we are not supporting any political party or politician, recent happenings in Igboland has warranted that we take stringent measures to purge ourselves of all tendencies to become a lawless people. It is our candid advice that all pro-Biafra groups be guided by the law of the land and the mutual respect for our culture, which forbids unrestrained behaviours.

To this end, we say enough is enough otherwise we will expose the criminals hiding under the guise of Biafra agitation to perpetrate crime.
Temporary reprieve came the way of an aide to the former National Security Adviser, Nickolas Ashinzeh, as an Abuja High Court on Monday ordered his immediate release from a military facility.

The court also warned Nigerian security agencies against wrongful detention of suspects.

Ashinzeh, a serving colonel, had approached the court to protest his prolonged detention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai, without trial since December 23, 2015.

Ashinzeh also prayed the court to order the respondents to pay N500 million as damage, and also issue an apology for violation of his rights.

In his ruling, the trial Judge, Yusuf Halilu, ordered the suspect to be released forthwith, adding that the agencies responsible for the detention must learn to act within the provisions of law.

The respondents have not behaved like those living in a civilized society. They behaved like we are still in the military era.

The EFCCs motto is: Nobody is above the law; but they are acting as if they are above the law here, Mr. Halilu said.

The judge further said the era of overzealousness on the part of security officers would no longer be tolerated.

The EFCC Act is not superior to the 1999 Constitution as amended, said Mr. Halilu.

The judge noted that based on Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, the detention of the applicant since December 23, 2015, is illegal, wrongful and a blatant violation of his (Mr. Ashinzehs) fundamental rights.

He, however, declined granting the applicants prayer regarding payment of the sum of N500 million for damages as well as an apology from the respondents.

Mr. Halilu also did not grant the prayers sought by the applicant that a perpetual injunction be issued to the three respondents.

Perpetual injunction can only be granted after trial especially when an accused person has proved his case.

If the EFCC has a case against the applicant they should take him to court, he added.
The cracks within the Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, widened on Sunday as a few hours after the Chairman of the party in the state, Umar Haruna Doguwa, retracted his statement indicting Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of alleged indiscipline by sponsoring thugs to Ganduje town, the Working Committee maintained its ground, saying the former governor stands indicted.

The Kano APC chairman said he was under duress when he made the statement indicting Kwankwaso, claiming he neither wrote nor initiated it.

The former governor turned senator had last Wednesday visited Ganduje town to commiserate with his former deputy now incumbent governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, over the death of his mother.

The condolence visit, however, turned into a violent display by armed political thugs, forcing the Kano APC to consider setting up a disciplinary panel to sanction Kwankwaso.

The former governor, in a statement last Friday, distanced himself from the violent display by the armed thugs and accused the state governor of splitting the APC.

However, the committee at an emergency news briefing on Saturday night in Kano, exonerated itself from the counter-statement credited to Doguwa denouncing the partys position on Senator Kwankwasos condolence visit.

The Secretary, Abbas Sani Abbas, who addressed reporters in reaction to the chairmans statement, said the party was surprised about the action of Mr. Doguwa, which portrayed him as betraying the mandate given him by the APC Executive Committee.

He said: We want to say that the chairman made the statement because of his selfish interest and that of his mentor. We, therefore, reaffirm the position of the earlier statement that we disassociate ourselves from what ex-Governor Kwankwaso, representing Kano Central, did by recruiting hoodlums, disrupting peace and propagating his presidential ambition.

We want to let APC members know that we are resolute in abiding by the partys constitution. The committee set up by the party will continue with its investigation and any person found guilty will be dealt with in accordance with the constitution.

We urge members to disregard the unauthorised second statement by the chairman. They should await action by the executive.

We remain loyal to the administration Governor Ganduje, the APC leader in the state.
Punch News

The Federal Road Safety Commission is insisting that the late Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholis driver had no driving licence record with the commission.

The Sun

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has refuted reports that while speaking on a radio show on Saturday, he claimed the Nigerian economy had gone out of the control of the current administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari

Thisday

The Governor of Bauchi state, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, has said that Nigerians should not see leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as magicians who can turn around the countrys economic rot within a short space of time.

Vanguard

The Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) of Delta on Saturday confirmed the death of Chief Felix Ibru, after a brief illness at the age of 80 years.

Daily Times

Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, OJaja 1 on Saturday married a new wife, Wuraola Otiti, a daughter of the families of Obanor and Obayuwana, in Benin City.

Daily Trust

The Akwa Ibom state Commissioner of Police, Murtala Mani, yesterday said that one person was arrested in connection with electoral violence during the re-run election held throughout the affected four local government areas.

Leadership

Ekiti State governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of usurping the statutory roles of the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC).

National Mirror

The immediate past Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and his successor, Chief Nyesom Wike yesterday engaged in a blistering war of words over the upcoming state and National Assembly re-run elections slated for March 19 Ameachi described Wike as an illiterate stating he was ready for any action from Wike during the re-run elections.

The Nation

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested three teenage robbers, who specialise in okada snatch and run .

Daily Independent

The army on Saturday said it has destroyed the Boko Haram camp in Alajeri, Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State.
Punch

The Presidency on Sunday denied the cancellation of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajos planned trip to India for fear that the embattled President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, may become acting President.

Vanguard

ABUJA Immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, spent his first weekend with inmates of the Kuje Prisons because of his inability to fulfill the bail conditions slammed on him by a Federal High Court.

The Sun

THE Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the disposition and assertion of some Anioma people of Delta State claiming that they are not Biafrans and should not be counted as such.

Thisday

President Muhammadu Buhari has exaggerated the militarys success against Boko Haram, according to officials in northern Nigeria in response to an American commanders testimony that the Islamic extremist group still holds territory.

Daily Times

A member of the seventh House of Representatives, and Chieftain of the all Progressives party, (APC) Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, has praised the National leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu , former Governors Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Fayemi, over their roles at ensuring that the party bounce back to reckoning in the future elections in Ekiti State.

Guardian

Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki weekend restated the commitment of the National Assembly under his watch to President Muhammadu Buhari administrations war against corruption.

Daily Trust

A former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, has said that Rivers State was gradually descending into anarchy with the ongoing killings under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led administration in the state.

National Mirror

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said yesterday that budget breakdown of the National Assembly would be published next week. This was contained in a statement signed by Mohammed Isa, Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Saraki, and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Leadership


Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory. Mahatma Gandhi

I will start this piece by ingeminating the story of a young man who wanted to travel to the city, but needed to have the foreknowledge of what life is all about. In his curiosity, he went to his mentor and asked: O mentor, what is life all about? His mentor looked at him and answered: Young man, life is like a mountain. In his perplexity, the young man left for the city. Many years later, he returned to his mentor so that he could tell him the meaning of that elusive comparism. After much pleading, his mentor decided to open up by explaining to him what he meant by saying life is like a mountain.

He stated: Life is an adventure which you must dare. Life is a challenge which you must meet. Life is a sorrow which you must overcome. Life is a duty which you must perform. Life is a struggle which you must grow from it. Life is a mystery which you must unfold. Life is a journey which you must complete. Life is a game which you must play. Life is a gift which you must appreciate. Life is a goal which you must achieve. Life is a puzzle which you must solve. Life is an opportunity which you must utilize. Life is a song which you must sing and finally, life is a promise which you must fulfill.

It was William Barclay that once said: There are two great days in a persons life- the day we are born and the day we discovered why. It is on this note that I humbly introduce the chief celebrant, retired Lieutenant General Abdurahman Bellow Dambazau CFR; a man who successfully completed the first chapter of his journey and has started a new page in total obedience to the will of God Almighty.

Born on March 14, 1954, General Dambazau rose through the rank and file of the Nigerian Army where he served as Chief of Army Staff and retired in 2010. Upon retirement, he started a new life in the academic world, but because life is sometimes what happens to us while we are busy making other plans, today, General Dambazau is Nigerias Minister of Interior!

Sworn-in as Interior Minister on November 11, 2015, by President Muhammadu Buhari, General Dambazau immediately rolled up his sleeves to effectively meet the challenges governance has put on his shoulders. And in less than six months, there are records on ground to justify the change mantra of the Buhari Administration. For Instance, the Interior Ministry entered in to the biggest partnership between it and the Lagos State Government which led to the procurement and launching of internal security hardware worth N4.8 billion. The Ministry this year organized the largest counter-terrorism training for officials and members of the Nigerian Police Force. The Minister has changed the orientation of the Nigerian Police from one that is rights violator to one that is a respecter of human rights of the citizens in the course of carrying out their duties.

Also, within these short periods, the Minister professionalized the operations of the Federal Fire Service (FFS). It can be noted that before now, the duties of the service are been performed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), while the FFS which has the fire mandate is left redundant. He has also ordered strict adherence to the nations National Fire Code in public and private buildings so as to mitigate the incessant fire outbreaks in the country. In the same vein, the Minister has personally visited some sites like Nnewi in Anambra State which recently experienced fire outbreak to commiserate with victims of the inferno and assured them of Federal Governments support and plans to prevent future occurrence.

The Minister has also instilled discipline in the activities of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Under the new rule, any member of the corps that misuse or abused the fire arms allotted to him or her while on duty would be severely dealt with according to the new directive. To complement the efforts of the Buhari Administration in economic diversification, the Minister recently authorized the deployment of 5, 000 officials of the NSCDC to various mining sites in the country. They are known as the Solid Minerals Defenders Armed Squad and their mandate is to curb illegal mining activities that often lead to inhuman treatments and environmental degradation across the federation.

Similarly, the Minister also ordered the deployment of another 5, 000 NSCDC officials to the North East to equilibrate the efforts of the army by winning the peace in the region because according to him, Winning the war against terrorism is important as winning the peace after the war is over. In lieu of this, the representatives of the various foreign governments in the country have pledged to support Nigeria in its bid to return civil life and authority to the North East.

Within these few periods, the Minister also ordered the reopening of the moribund farm centers managed and operated by the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS). Also, in collaboration with the British Minister of Justice, Jeremy Wright, General AB Dambazau has finalized the process of mutual exchange of prisoners between Nigeria and the United Kingdom so that thousands of Nigerians languishing in foreign prisons could be repatriated home to complete their jail terms.

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has equally been strengthened to effectively secure our border posts as well as stop the entrance of illegal migrants as well as small and light weapons in to the country. This can be seen in the deployment of advanced Information and Communication Technology tools to the most porous borders posts in the country. Similar advanced technologies are up and running at the Illela border post in Sokoto State as well as the NIS headquarters as pilot project.

Nonetheless, just as the former United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt once stated: The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or party or nation. It must be a peace which rests on the collaborative efforts of the whole world. Hence, in line with the above aphorism, the Minister while in Cameroon entered in to a tripartite agreement between Nigeria, Cameroon and the United Nations Commissions on Human Rights and Maritime Piracy to develop multilateral strategies for collaborative actions, information sharing and improved border security to check the inflows of small arms and light weapons, drugs, illegal migration, human trafficking and movement of terrorist groups across borders.

The Minister has also set machinery in motion for the relocation of over 60, 000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroon. For Example, while at the Minawao and Maruoa refugee camps in Cameroon, the Minister on behalf of the Federal Government donated food and other valuable items to Nigerians in those camps.

As part of the multinational strategy against insurgency and other internal security challenges faced by the nation, the Minister in a follow up to earlier visits by President Muhammadu Buhari to member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission recently signed another agreement with the Government of Benin Republic on regional security collaboration especially in the areas of tackling cross border crimes, cyber attacks, terrorism and trafficking of arms, drugs and humans.

Another offshoot of the three-day visits by the Minister to Benin Republic was the mutual agreement between the two nations to setting up a standing committee which will involve government, community leaders of boundary communities to resolving conflicts whenever there erupt. Others include; reactivation of the mixed joint border patrol and intensifying multinational collaboration on information and intelligence sharing as well as sensitizing citizens of both nations on the need to travel with valid documents while at the same time ensuring that pastoralists travelling across borders do not carry arms and other dangerous weapons which are contrary to ECOWAS principles and objectives.

In the periods under review, the Minister introduced so many far reaching policies and reforms which if well supported by all stakeholders will not only make Nigeria a safe haven for investments but will also make the country one of the safest places to live on planet earth.

Finally, I want to end with a quote from Jarrod Kintz for the Minister when he said: The year you were born only mark your entry in to the world, other years where you prove your worth are the ones worth celebrating. It is on this latitude that I humbly say Happy birthday to a retired General but not tired Public Servant.

Comrade Edwin Uhara is a Journalist and Public Affairs Commentator

He writes from Enugu
On January 19, 2016, Rotimi Amaechi who is the minister of Transportation appeared before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, headed by Senator Ahmed Sani, to brief the Senate panel on the activities of the agencies under his supervision.

During his appearance, he announced that the Federal Government had scrapped the Nigerian Maritime University, NMU, in Delta State.

He decollate the university. In his words We are not going ahead with the university project (NMU), proposed by NIMASA because we have an institution in Oron (NMA), we have Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria and we have the Nigerian College of Aviation (NCAT) in Zaria, which we could upgrade to a university status and NIMASA is proposing to build a new one.

What the minister failed to understand is that this university, when completed will be the first and only maritime degree awarding institution in Nigeria. None of those institutions he mentioned are degree awarding. To the best of my knowledge, they give diploma which cannot be compared in any way to degree qualifications.

Its also very pertinent to note that neither the NITT, NCAT, NMA nor the proposed NMU share the same scope. While NIIT deals with trainings relating to Transport Technology, NCAT is mainly focused on aviation matters. NMA in Oron is for staff training for those already in maritime sector and offers diploma programs to those interested in having career the sector.

However, the Proposed NMU would be training professionals and experts in the Maritime field, meaning it has nothing to do with Aviation, which NCAT is meant to address nor that of NITT, neither is it to take the functions of NMA who award diplomas.

Ive a couple of friends from the Niger Delta who in the need for professionalism in maritime training have gone to Maritime Universities in Ghana and Philippines to obtain maritime degrees. Lets not forget that the university when operational, will provide opportunities to Nigerians that seek professionalism in the Maritime sector.

It will also save our scare FX because instead of people going abroad to India or Ghana to study for maritime degree, Nigerians will rather stay home to study for the program.

As with all universities worldwide, this proposed university would also create thousands of jobs; directly and indirectly thereby improving to an extent the lives of those around the area.

If we consider all these, I believe it would be very inappropriate for Rotimi Amaechi to cancel the project. I therefore call and appeal to all those close to the minister to prevail on him to reconsider this decision.

Oke Umurhohwo, a marine scientist and environmental manager wrote from Lagos.
The Presidency has debunked media speculation that Vice President Yemi Osinbajos trip to India Tuesday has been cancelled following President Muhammadu Buharis trip to Equatorial Guinea.

Osinbajo was reportedly billed to attend the Indian/African summit but had to stay back to allegedly prevent Senate President Bukola Saraki from taking the mantle of leadership as Acting President.

In the absence of the president and his vice, the next in hierarchy, which is the Senate president, takes over as acting president.

According to the media reports, protocol officers in the Presidency made a blunder by scheduling the foreign trips of President Buhari to coincide with that of Mr. Osinbajo.

Reacting to the development, the Presidency through the media aide to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said the report was false and a bunch of speculation.

Mr. Akande said that the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Okey Enalemah, would be leading a delegation of Nigerians to the Summit in India.

Nigeria has been invited to the Indian/African summit and the minister of industry, trade and investment will be leading a delegation to the event.

There is nothing like cancellation. Remember that the visit of the Vice President to any country is not treated in secrecy.

Whenever the Vice President is to travel out of the country, we inform Nigerians.

So, this story in question is a bunch of speculation. There is no cancellation, he said.
The notes passed to the bank tellers were clear, police said. The man on the other side of the counter demanded money, and each message ended with an unusual twist: #nopolice, #becarefull, or #Afterwork? It was a calling card left at a series of robberies that investigators eventually dubbed the Hashtag String. The chain of bank heists came to a close Thursday, police said, when the man police were looking for unwittingly parked the suspected getaway car next to a detective investigating the case.

Leroy Earl-Morris Daley, 45, faces charges in nine robberies in Prince Georges and Montgomery counties stretching to at least September, police said. Four of those robberies came in quick succession Thursday  three within 15 minutes  just hours before his arrest. Not only do we have an unusual end to a string of bank robberies, said Prince Georges County Police spokeswoman Julie Parker, this is the first time that we know of that hashtags were used to rob a bank.

The day of Daleys arrest started with a bank robbery in New Carrollton around 10:45 p.m. Thursday, police said. While Prince Georges Sgt. Craig Winegardner was investigating the robbery at the TD Bank on Annapolis Road, he got a call from his counterparts in Montgomery County. They had three bank robberies back-to-back-to-back, with similar descriptions, Winegardner said.

Montgomery police offered clear images of the robber and vehicle used in the string to neighboring Prince Georges. A few hours later, as Winegardner stepped out of a restaurant in Glenarden, he noticed something he couldnt believe. Parked right next to my cruiser was the suspect vehicle, Winegardner said. I thought, theres no way its going to be this easy to close this big bank robbery string. Turns out, it was. Everything about the car next to the sergeants unmarked cruiser matched the description offered by Montgomery police, down to the make, model and dent on the back bumper, Winegardner said.

Washington.
Nigerian Ragge Legend Majek Fashek on Sunday visited the Christ Living Apostolic Ministries (CLAM), in Omole Lagos to share testimony of how God delivered him from drugs, according to Exclusive information and photos obtained by Newseveryhour.com.

Speaking during a testimony session, Fashek said the CLAM Senior Pastor Apostle Wole Oladiyun and his church stood by him during his trial times.

My testimony is that Jesus Christ is Lord, Jesus Christ is the Master, you know before I went to Abuja for my rehab, Baba Oladiyun here came to my rescue, most church wont do that.

May God bless him and keep this ministry, materials and spiritual are two different things, because Jesus Christ cannot come from Heaven to heal you. This Baba is a correct prophet Fashek said.

He said his encounter with Apostle Oladiyun last year brought a turn around to his life.

Speaking during his message, Apostle Oladiyun said it would have been a great disaster if devil has wasted a talent like Majek Fashek.

He recalls that Lord burdens him to take up his case and immediately it was announced the whole world rose up for his rehabitation.

Describing Fashek as a great legend that will blossom again, Apostle Oladiyun prayed that the Lord will perfect all He has started in the life of the ragge artist.

Today Jesus has ransom his life, today hes a better person, his destiny cannot longer be wasted, this



He called on churches and ministers of God to show Godly loves to people irrespective of religion, ethnic and condition.

Apostle Oladiyun laments that Love is fast eroding from the Church of God, its a pity, the church of God must come return to it roots by loving Jesus and loving humanity. Let show love to people around us, the poor, the downtrodden, the rich.

It would be recalled that last year, Apostle Oladiyun has asked that Majek Fashek be brought to him for deliverance.

Source: News Every Hour
Robbers have chopped off the wrists of a septuagenarian, Pa Jacob Ikilo, a security guard at a filling station at Eyaen village, on the Benin-Auchi Road, the Nation reports.

Pa Jacob is receiving treatment at the Male Orthopaedic Ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), where doctors are battling to save his right wrist.

The severed right wrist, being kept alive by a tiny blood vessel, requires N380,000 to be fixed back.

The incident was said to have occurred on Monday, February 29, at 3 am, when Pa Jacob was on night duty.

Pa Jacob said the robbers used machete to chop off his wrist when he went to check an unusual noise at the plant house.

He said he heard people running towards him. As he attempted to run, the robbers attacked him.

When I was coming from the generator house, they surrounded me. They just cut off this my hand (left hand). As I shout, they said shut up and cut the other hand. I fell down and started asking them to leave me, that I was dying.

The company manager was said to have invited the Egba Divisional Police Station after a driver discovered Pa Jacob.

Pa Jacob said he needs money to pay the bills as he had been working for the last six months without his N15, 000 monthly pay.He said his employer did not pay regularly even when he did 12 hours work daily.

Pa Jacob added that N3, 000 was deducted and paid to the company that helped him to get the job which made his take home pay N12,000.

Source:TalkofNaija
Thirty-nine of the reported 172 Nigerians who were deported from Libya on Friday 11th March 2016 were received by Prophet T.B. Joshua of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) during his church service on Sunday 13th March.

The deportees were each given the sum of N100,000 by Joshua, who is well known for his charitable gestures.

Fidelis Onos, who spoke on behalf of the group, said most of them had been imprisoned for up to one year in Libya after they were suddenly arrested.

The majority were working as bricklayers in the North African country where they had sought greener pastures.

We are not here to blame Libya, Fidelis is quoted as saying. If Nigeria was okay, we would never have left in the first place. Its the war in Libya that turned it to what it is today  in a place where there is no government, what can you expect?

He explained that United Nations officials visited the Nigerians in the Libyan prison and were touched at their plight, promising to arrange their repatriation back to Nigeria.

They were finally able to travel under the voluntary returnee programme organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Arriving in Lagos with only the clothes they came with, the deportees were provided with a meagre N6,500, leading to resentful outbursts from many at the airport.

Frustrated, angry and despondent, a group of them decided to seek refuge at The SCOAN, having watched Emmanuel TV in Libya, the church said.

Upon learning of their arrival in the church, Prophet T.B. Joshua immediately sent evangelists to provide food, alongside medical aid to some of the most malnourished in their midst, it continued.

After giving the young men N3.9million ($20,000), many were emotionally moved and shed tears.

If not for a man like T.B. Joshua, most of us would have ended up going into armed robbery, kidnapping or even joining a group like Boko Haram, said Godspower Chibuike as he appreciated Joshua for the gift.

If youths were encouraged like this, we wouldnt even think of travelling to places like Libya, another deportee stated, adding that he had never seen such an amount of money in his life.

The group were subsequently provided with toiletries alongside brand new clothing, as they had worn the same set of clothes since their arrival in Nigeria.

Remember, what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you, T.B. Joshua stated in conclusion.

Source: Trezzy blog
An Emirati fighter jet taking part in a combat mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen has gone missing, the United Arab Emirates said. The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces announced today that a fighter jet taking part in the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia  in Yemen was missing, said a statement on the official WAM news agency on Monday, without giving further details.

It is the first known case of an Emirati jet from the coalition going missing since the campaign began in March last year. In December, a Bahraini F-16 crashed in Saudi Arabia due to a technical error. The pilot was saved and the planes wreckage was found. It was the second coalition jet to crash after a Moroccan warplane went down during a mission over Yemen in May. Its pilot was later found dead and his body was returned home.

The coalition said at the time that the crash had been caused by a technical fault or human error, and it denied rebel claims that they downed the plane. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliances heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.

Yemen has been torn apart by conflict for the past two years. More than 6,100 people have died  half of them civilians  since the Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Yemen in March 2015, according to the UN. The conflict has led to a humanitarian crisis across the country. More than 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while the World Health Organization has warned that Yemens healthcare system is on the brink of collapse.

Aljazeera.
Although I've seen sporadic reports of forced Windows 10 upgrades appearing out of the blue for several weeks now, the complaints really started piling up Friday evening. More and more Windows 7 and 8.1 customers are complaining that Microsoft upgraded their computers to Windows 10 -- and they didn't do anything to bring it on.

For some people, that's a nuisance. For others, it's considerably more than a Microsoft "accident" like the kind we saw last October.

Skimming lightly through the Reddit deluge, I found comments like these:

"I needed to set up my department's bronchoscopy cart quickly for someone with some sick lungs  when I turned on the computer it had to do a Windows update."

"Saw this message box that said something like 'Your update is ready! Restarting and installing in 13 minutes.' If I made myself a meal or watched TV, I would have had Windows 10. Oh, and the best part is how they hid the Decline button in the More Info button."

"I thought my ex was crazy when she said her computer just randomly rebooted and started installing Windows 10. I guess she isn't crazy -- at least on this one thing."

"Yep, this happened to me this morning. Working, and all of a sudden Windows closed all my programs, logged me out, and started the upgrade. I quickly shut down my computer and was able to stop it, but my son wasn't so lucky. Same thing happened to him today. It is very concerning that they have this kind of access to push these updates without our consent. What else is being pushed through our computers or being pulled off in the background without us knowing?"

"We've been getting calls trickling in all week from doctor's offices, dental practices, B&Bs, and roofing companies -- among others -- that have been hit by this and it's a ******* mess. In some cases the upgrade went OK and the user is just really confused. In others Windows 10 is asking for a login password the user set years ago and hasn't used since; that was fun. In still another it's screwed up access to their shared folders. I'm >this< close to telling the techs to disable automatic updates completely for all business customers."

Those are the more printable versions.

It's easy to dismiss claims like this as the result of newbies playing where they shouldn't be or occurrences brought on by mishandling of Microsoft's precious settings. That's balderdash. Nothing could be further from the truth. I myself was bitten on Saturday morning -- and what I discovered has me spitting nails.

Here's what I know for sure.

A couple of weeks ago, I built a test Windows 7 Pro virtual machine using Hyper-V in Win10. I brought it from SP1 through all of the updates (a long process), not checking or unchecking any options. It's a clean machine, with all the defaults. Windows Automatic Update, for example, is set to Install Updates Automatically (Recommended). Recommended updates is set to "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates."

Friday night, I cranked the PC up and saw the GWX icon -- the one that says Get Windows 10 when you hover over it -- in the system tray. It's an old sore point. I've been writing about the GWX icon for a year now, ever since Microsoft surreptitiously released the KB 305583 Get Windows 10 patch last April.

Windows 10 upgrade checked and ready to run.

Looking at Windows Update (Start > Control Panel > System and Settings > Windows Update > Check for Updates), I saw that the Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 box was checked (see screenshot). It's in the Optional category, and it isn't italicized -- which normally means it isn't a recommended patch.

Of course, this is a Win7 Pro test PC. The last thing I want to do is change it to Windows 10.1 (er, Windows 10 Version 1511, Build 10586). I unchecked the box, signifying that I didn't want to install the upgrade.

I left the PC running overnight.

Windows 10 upgrade failed.

On Saturday morning, I woke up to a notice that Windows 10 couldn't be installed (see screenshot), failing with an error 80007000E-2000C. Of course, I hit the roof. I hadn't given Microsoft permission to install Windows 10. I'd even gone so far as to uncheck the update.

Usually error 80007000E means one of the installation files is scrambled. Sure enough, the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder has 1.7GB in it.

When I ran Check for Updates, the old Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 is listed, and its box is checked. Windows Update now tells me "Upgrade to Windows 10 / Start installing the newest version of Windows now." The only button on the dialog is Get Started.

If this were a real, working machine, I would've run GWX Control Panel long ago to keep the Win10 crap off my PC. But it's a test PC, and I don't want to flip those bits. I even left Automatic Update set to its default -- which I never do in the real world.

I then unchecked the Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 box again. A couple of hours later, I checked the Optional updates and, sure enough, Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 was checked again.

After experimenting a bit, it became apparent that Windows Update itself checks that box every time it's run, whether "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates" is selected or not. I don't recall ever seeing Windows Update act that way, and I've been watching Windows Update for a long, long time.

Go ahead. Make my day.

I unchecked the upgrade line one more time and left it alone overnight on Saturday. When I got back to the PC on Sunday morning, the Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 was checked, but Windows Update hadn't tried to run the upgrade. Instead, it sported that cheerful Upgrade to Windows 10 invitation (see screenshot) that you've no doubt encountered. The Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586 entry is still in the Optional list, and it's checked once again.

My guess -- it's only a guess -- is that Microsoft had a change of heart on Saturday and stopped forcing Windows 10 down the throat of every Win7/8.1 customer with Automatic Update turned on. I say that because the descriptions of forced upgrades on the Web vary all over the place. Some people say they were never asked for permission (as was the case for me on Friday night). Others say a EULA appeared with no explanation. Still others say they were given a variable amount of time -- 10 minutes, one hour -- to respond, or their PCs would automatically get the Windows 10 payload.

I say it's only a guess because Microsoft doesn't document any of this stuff.

The only documentation I've found is Mary Jo Foley's post on ZDnet from Friday, How existing Windows users can refuse Microsoft's Windows 10 update. My experience, and the experiences of many on the Web, vary greatly from Foley's claims. I never made a reservation for Windows 10. I wasn't "clearly prompted" before Win10 started its installation. I wasn't offered, and certainly didn't accept, a Windows 10 EULA. I received no notification that my PC is scheduled to be updated -- not three or four days prior to the dirty deed, and not prior to the installation proceeding. I wasn't offered a chance to reschedule or cancel.

It must be emphasized that Foley uses both Win10 and Win7 -- and she doesn't intend to change OSes on the Win7 PC until it keels over. She's not at fault. Microsoft's not even communicating with one of its best-known allies.

Combined warning and EULA.

I tried the experiment again on Sunday, this time running the update manually. Windows took a long time to download the bits, and I was then offered the Great, we'll get the upgrade started dialog you see in the screenshot. I was subsequently offered to set a time for the download. The sequence on Sunday is very, very different from the sequence I experienced on Friday night (where no input was required) and very different from many descriptions on the Internet. I can only surmise that things hit the fan in Redmond, and damage control was in full force by Sunday.

It appears as if corporate users behind Windows Update servers were spared the indignity -- although many admins set their update servers to pass through recommended updates, and it looks like this was passed on to some domain-joined PCs as if it were a recommended update.

There's no KB number associated with Upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Version 1511, 10586, thus no documentation, no way to hide it, and no definitive indication to users that it's a recommended update, although anecdotally it behaves that way.

Microsoft warned in early February that it would start dishing out Windows 10 as a recommended update, but nobody signed on for this kind of abuse.

And we still haven't seen the "hell no" switch that Windows chief Terry Myerson promised back in October: "You can specify that you no longer want to receive notifications of the Windows 10 upgrade through the Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 settings pages," he said then. Perhaps Microsoft forgot.

It remains to be seen what the real rules of engagement might be. Microsoft hasn't documented anything, as is its wont. We don't even know if the EULA should appear at the beginning or the end of the installation sequence -- a big consideration for those who don't want to download 3GB of useless data.

I have detailed information about recovering from a forced Windows 10 update in a companion post. If you got bit, head over there for a cure. If you haven't been bit yet, make sure you run GWX Control Panel, then turn Automatic Update to "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them."
Triple Digit Hog Rally Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Lean hogs extended their rally into the weekend with another $0.20 to $2.10 gains in the front months. December was up the most on Friday, but is still a $1.40 discount to Feb. Through the week, December... HEZ22 : 89.125s (+2.41%) HEJ23 : 93.850s (+0.78%) KMZ22 : 98.000s (+1.16%)

Cotton Limits the Weeks Pullback with Friday Strength Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Cotton futures traded in a wide 413 point range from +253 to -160 (Dec). At the close the front months were 32 to 173 points in the black. December closed the week at a net 402 point loss, having spent... CTZ22 : 79.13s (+2.24%) CTH23 : 78.55s (+1.67%) CTK23 : 78.15s (+1.44%)

Wheats Closed Mixed on Friday Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT CBT SRW futures ended the last trade day of the week with 1 to 1 1/2 cent gains. For the December contract that meant a net 9 cent loss for the week. KC futures pulled back by 1/2 a cent to 2 cents on... ZWZ22 : 850-6s (+0.18%) ZWH23 : 869-4s (+0.17%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.8533 (+0.24%) KEZ22 : 948-2s (-0.16%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.0581 (-0.16%) MWZ22 : 961-4s (-0.10%)

Nov Beans Held under $14 Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT The Friday session ended with soybean futures 3 1/4 to 4 cents higher with November options having expired. Nov soybeans spent the week in a 41 1/2 cent trading range and ended 11 3/4 cents higher from... ZSX22 : 1395-4s (+0.29%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.5026 (+0.29%) ZSF23 : 1404-4s (+0.32%) ZSH23 : 1411-6s (+0.28%)

New Contract High for Dec Cattle Barchart - Fri Oct 21, 4:40PM CDT Cattle added another 62 to 75 cents to the upside on Friday, with December printing a new life of contract high of $152.50. Dec gained a net $4.65 for the week. The weeks cash trade picked up on Thursday... LEV22 : 150.475s (+0.47%) LEZ22 : 152.425s (+0.49%) LEG23 : 155.525s (+0.44%) GFV22 : 175.275s (-0.17%) GFX22 : 178.350s (+0.45%)
In case you missed it, the worlds largest philanthropic organization has a new leader for its K-12 education efforts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced in February that Robert Bob Hughes will take the helm of the funders College-Ready Education program beginning June 1.

Hughes serves as president of New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City nonprofit that manages dozens of public schools, including seven charter schools, in New York City. He will succeed Vicki Phillips at Gates. Phillips stepped down in October 2015 after eight years with the funder.

Here are a few things to know about Gates new K-12 head and what his appointment could mean for the funders future education investments.

He's a Collaborator Who Knows How to Get Stakeholders Working Together

During his tenure at New Visions, Hughes led the New Century High Schools Initiative, an ambitious effort that brought together educators, teachers unions, NYCs Department of Education, and dozens of community partners to launch nearly 100 small high schools in areas of the city with high needs.

Hold on there, you may be saying. Didnt Gates spend millions on a small high schools program that wasnt successful? Well, yes and no. While initial evaluation suggested the program was a failure, a narrative that crystalized in the media, later evaluation by the research firm MDRC was more encouraging, finding that the smaller schools raised graduation rates at a higher rate than existing city high schools. (See a previous IP post on the "myth" of small school failure.)

Regardless, the important point, here, is that Hughes brings to the Gates Foundation long experience in engaging a range of stakeholders in educational change. In particular, he has a track record of working with teachers unions, as opposed to demonizing them, as many ed reformers tend to do. That's significant during a moment when some ed funders, including Gates, seem to be looking to reduce the polarization surrounding education and find more constructive paths forward that engage all the players who need to be at the table to improve student achievement.

Related: Can a New Focus on Learning by Funders Move K-12 Past the Ed Wars?

He Supports New Approaches to Teacher Preparation

New Visions partnered with Hunter School of Education to create the Urban Teacher Residency, a preparation program for new teachers that combines a one-year residency at a school with mentorship and graduate-level coursework at Hunter.

In addition to leading New Visions, Hughes also sits on the board of directors of the Fund for Teachers (FFT), a nonprofit that awards grants to teachers to design and pursue their own professional development. Many FFT grants enable teachers to pursue research and travel during summers for experiences and knowledge they can bring back to their classrooms.

Hughes past work on teacher preparation and professional development dovetails nicely with Gates interest in new approaches to teacher preparation. Last year, we reported on the funders interest in working with a wide range of organizations to improve teacher training and preparation.

Recent: Move Over Teach for America: Gates Gets Behind Diverse Approaches to Teacher Prep

He Is No Stranger to the Gates Foundation

Given the funders high profile in K-12 education, the educators, schools, and organizations that have received grants from the funder hardly comprise an exclusive club. New Visions, however, has received more than a dozen separate grants from the Gates Foundation over the years, totaling more than $75 million. These grants support not only New Visions development of small high schools, but also its implementation of the Common Core and construction of adaptive learning platforms.

All in all, Hughes appointment suggests interesting things happening at the Gates Foundation. Were looking forward to seeing how education grantmaking at this funder proceeds under his leadership.
Update 6/22/16  Safestore will move forward with its acquisition of Space Maker Stores (SMS) now that conditions for the purchase have been met. The transaction will be funded from Safestores existing debt structure, with 45 million of the groups 60 million accordion financing converted into a revolving credit facility, according to a press release.

In updated financial reporting for its fiscal year to April 30, 2016, SMS had unaudited EBITDA of 3.9 million based on revenue of 8.7 million. At the initial sales price, the SMS portfolio has an implied first-year net-operating-income yield of about 9.4 percent. Safestore believes operational changes could increase that figure to about 12 percent if the SMS portfolio reaches 80 percent occupancy at the present rental rate, the release stated. SMS occupancy was 62 percent at the end of April.

The SMS business indicated gross assets of 45.6 million on its pro forma as of April 30, 2015. Safestore earned 600,000 per year managing the portfolio.

3/14/16  Safestore Holdings PLC, which operates 131 self-storage facilities in France and the United Kingdom, has signed an option agreement to acquire Space Maker Stores Ltd. (SMS) from Allodial Capital Ltd. and James Elton for up to 44.4 million. The deal includes 43 million in cash and up to 1.4 million in deferred consideration, which could be paid between six months and three years after closing, according to a press release. The 12-property, U.K. portfolio, which is currently under Safestore management, comprises 496,000 square feet of rentable space.

Six of the SMS properties are freehold or long leasehold, while the other half are leasehold locations with an average remaining lease length of 16.6 years, the release stated. Safestore has managed the portfolio since 2010, but its contract was set to expire at the end of April. It will continue to manage the portfolio through the completion of the transaction. The portfolio is at 61 percent occupancy, but Safestore indicated it believes it can improve that figure once the SMS properties are fully integrated into its own operational platform.

The SMS business is expected to be earnings accretive from the completion of the acquisition, said Frederic Vecchioli, CEO for Safestore. We have a strong operational knowledge of Space Maker, having managed the business since 2010 under a management-services agreement.

In its fiscal year to April 30, 2015, SMS store earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 3.4 million based on revenue of 8.2 million, according to the release.

Safestore operates 131 self-storage facilities, including 95 facilities it owns in the U.K. and 24 in France. Its wholly owned properties comprise more than 5 million square feet of storage space, while its entire portfolio serves approximately 49,000 customers.
The CEO of Russias top financial institution has called for legal, tax and other changes to diversify the countrys oil-dependent economy.

Herman Gref enjoys unique standing in todays Russia. An outspoken advocate of economic reform in an increasingly authoritarian political environment, hes the market-friendly chair and CEO of the nations largest financial institution, Sberbank, which remains profitable in the midst of a two-year economic crisis.

Gref rose to prominence in government and business by impressing future president Vladimir Putin during the 1990s, when both were ambitious junior officials in St. Petersburgs municipal administration. In 2000, Putin, who had just succeeded Boris Yeltsin as president, appointed Gref minister of Economic Development and Trade. After presiding over an eight-year burst of economic growth, Gref took over as chief executive of Sberbank, then a stodgy Soviet-style savings bank, and turned it into a modern powerhouse offering the full range of retail and wholesale services.

Thanks in large part to its 40 percent market share, Sberbank continues to thrive despite the impact of global sanctions following Russias intervention in Ukraine and the price collapse of oil and gas, the countrys main source of revenue. During a recent visit to meet investors in New York, Gref, a youthful, gym-fit 52, sat down on a cold Saturday morning for a breakfast interview with Institutional Investor.

Can Russias economy grow if oil prices remain below $35 a barrel?

Last year the economy shrank by 3.7 percent, and this year our forecast is for another decline of 1.5 to 2 percent, which is more pessimistic than the consensus of 0.9 percent. Next year, if oil prices increase to $45, we may grow 0.5 to 1 percent. But we need reforms that lead to a diversification of the economy away from its dependence on oil and gas. We have to create a radical change in the investment climate. The first and most important measure is to protect property rights and to reform the judicial system involved with that issue. We also need tax reforms that encourage more investment. We must eliminate bureaucratic red tape, beginning at the top federal level. And these reforms must get under way within the next three years.

Do you convey these views to President Putin?

I speak out publicly about these ideas. I do not have frequent meetings with the president. But whenever I can, I convey my views to government officials, including the president. I see this as a first step in gaining acceptance for reforms.

In the wake of international sanctions linked to Ukraine, the low oil prices and the falling ruble, how has Sberbanks strategy changed over the past two years?

In a first stage, we focused on further cost cutting. We had already accomplished a lot before 2014, but we found significant other areas to cut back. Over the past two years, we closed 1,500 of our 18,000 branches. Our online and mobile banking transactions are increasing 20 to 30 percent annually. But the number of customers at our branches grew by 14 percent in 2014 and by 8 percent last year because a lot of other banks are in trouble and people are moving their accounts to Sberbank. Thats why we cannot reduce our branch network more quickly.

By 2018 we intend to reduce our operational costs by an additional $1 billion annually. We are also reviewing our risk management with the aim of increasing the quality of our assets. And we can already see results. The nonperforming loan rate for the Russian banking sector as a whole is 2.5 times higher than ours.

Last year we finished the installation of a single centralized IT platform to replace the 17 previously existing ones. This was a huge step forward, but it isnt nearly enough. If we want to survive in the long term against the financial services that will be offered by Google, Amazon and Apple, we need an IT platform that is cloud-based and open-sourced. And we intend to create one by 2018. By that year we also expect to increase our return on equity, which is now 11.8 percent, to 18 percent.

Abroad we will retreat from smaller markets and focus on the bigger, more profitable countries like Turkey. In Europe we will shrink the traditional branch network and move forward with digital banking.

Sberbank is still majority-owned by the Central Bank of Russia. What possibility is there that it will become a private sector bank as you have long advocated?

It wont happen anytime soon. President Putin said that Sberbank will be excluded from the list of state companies that will be privatized in the next two years. There are many politicians in the parliament who say Sberbank would receive a very low price at this point in the economic crisis. Also, the banking sector needs stability. Many banks have been forced to close down. So maybe it would be more realistic to restart the discussion of privatizing Sberbank in two or three years. I still think privatization would be a good idea.

You have run Sberbank for more than eight years and were minister of Economics and Trade for eight years before that. Would you consider returning to government?

I was probably subjected to more criticism than any other official when I was in government, and I wouldnt want to go through that experience again. I have promised investors that I wont leave Sberbank until we are satisfied with its modernization and efficiency and have a good succession plan in place. Afterward I want to go into business. But thats in Gods hands.
Investors return from a weekend in which populist political campaigns and terror attacks dominated headlines. Announcements following meetings from the Bank of Japan tomorrow and the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, not to mention commentary by Chinas top banker last Saturday (see below) and the European Central Banks easing last week, brings central bank monetary policy to the forefront of market narratives. With increasingly divergent growth signals between the U.S. and other developed economies, many analysts are anticipating depening policy divergence to shape the global market equilibrium.

Zhou downplays concerns as China data falls short. Retail sales and factory output data released over the weekend by Chinas National Bureau of Statistic fell short of consensus analyst forecasts. Retail sales rose 10.2 percent year-over-year versus expectations for a 10.8 percent expansion, following 11.1 percent in January. Separately, factory output grew 5.4 percent versus the same month last year. During a press conference in conjunction with the national legislature meeting in Beijing on Saturday, Peoples Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan dismissed concerns that excessive stimulus will be required to meet growth targets, reiterating that flexible and adjustable monetary policy could do the job. One bright spot among the weekends data was stronger-than-forecast urban fixed-investment figures for January.

Refugee crisis costs Merkel in German elections. The Christian Democratic Union, the political party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fared worse than anticipated in regional legislature elections in three states over the weekend, including the partys worst post-World War II showing in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The populist, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party had its best showing yet, winning over 20 percent of the popular vote in Saxony-Anhalt.

New bid emerges for Starwood. Management of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced on Monday that the Stamford, Connecticut-based hospitality company has received a $76 per share unsolicited bid. The proposed acquisition, led by Chinese firm Anbang Insurance Group, throws a last-minute monkey wrench into the $12.2 billion purchase by Marriott International that had already received board approval at both firms.

Millions join Brazilian protests. The total number of people who joined street protests in Brazilian cities, including Sao Paulo, over the weekend exceeded three million by some estimates, setting records for scale, as voters expressed frustration over the ongoing Petrobras scandal. The political landscape in South Americas largest economy is facing extraordinary upheaval with President Dilma Rousseff facing possible impeachment and the recent arrest of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva casting a shadow over the political and business establishment in the nation.

Chinese developer buys property portfolio from Citic. On Monday a $4.8 billion deal was announced in which China Overseas Land & Investment will acquire a residential property portfolio from Citic spanning more than 20 major Chinese cities. After the transaction Citic will hold 10 percent of China Overseas. Some analysts note that Citics portfolio will bring exposure to less-rapidly growing interior cities which represents new and more challenging markets for Chine Overseas.

Italian Bank on the block. Shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest continually operated banks in the world, surged in trading on Monday after media outlets reported on pressure by the Italian government and the European Central Bank to find a buyer. Paschi, Italys third-largest lender by assets, has struggled to rein in risk in recent years. The Italian banking system has become a major focus for ECB regulators in recent quarters with non-performing loan ratios that some analysts estimate exceed 15 percent.

Egypt devalues. On Monday, the Central Bank of Egypt released roughly $200 million into the financial system, at a 13 percent lower value than the previous exchange rate, triggering a surge in equities that lifted the Benchmark EGX 30 index by more than 4 percent intraday. Policymakers in Cairo have acted in response to declining foreign currency reserves as international trade came under pressure from lack of dollars after foreign investment was interrupted by the 2011 regime change.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will give the green light for driverless cars to be tested on U.K. motorways, helping to make the technology available to consumers by the end of the decade.

The government also aims to remove regulatory barriers so that driverless cars can be used on British roads within the current parliamentary term, the Treasury said in a statement on Saturday. Trials will be held on local roads this year, with test drives allowed on motorways and strategic roads for the first time in 2017.

At a time of great uncertainty in the global economy, Britain must take bold decisions now to ensure it leads the world when it comes to new technologies and infrastructure, Osborne said in a statement. Driverless cars could represent the most fundamental change to transport since the invention of the internal combustion engine.

As automakers from Mercedes-Benz to BMW AG jostle to get driverless cars ready for the road, Osborne is hoping the announcement in Wednesdays Budget will help Britain tap into a global market forecast to be worth 900 billion pounds ($1.3 trillion) by 2025.

Investment Sought

While tests have already been carried out in the U.S. and Germany, motorway trials are still in their infancy. The U.K. trials, which will be designed to ensure the cars safety, will help attract investment and enable manufacturers to bring new technologies closer to the point at which they can be sold. Germany announced earlier this year its planning a driverless-car pilot project on a portion of the A9 autobahn, the north-south artery that connects Munich and Berlin.

Automakers are already competing for the top spot in driverless innovation. While Google Inc.s self-piloting cars continue to clock up miles on California roads, BMW said this month its working on the BMW Vision Next 100, a car that includes an interactive windshield that can warn of bicycles, pedestrians or other road obstacles even if theyre blocked from human view.

Mercedes earlier this year showed a self-driving luxury concept called the F015, complete with swivel seats to enable driver and passenger to face each other for a chat. And last year, Audi sent an unmanned RS7 down a track at racing speeds.

In the U.K., Nissan Motor Co Ltd. said it will make its first mass-market driverless car in the northeast, at its Sunderland plant, while Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. plans to test its autonomous and connected vehicle technology on West Midlands roads this year.

Highways England will run the U.K. motorway trials and be responsible for safety. It is expected that individual lanes will be closed for the trials, though roads will remain open.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Ironshore Inc. has announced that Melanie Alexander will serve as head of Global Property Programs, overseeing the London-based property facility business. She will report to Tony Mammolite, president of Global Property.

Alexander has been underwriting on behalf of various syndicates at Lloyds for global property classes for over 16 years. Most recently, she was director for Shepherd Compello Ltd., where she launched a venture for the Lloyds broker and coverholder to diversify business lines to expand into new markets.

She served as chief operating officer of Decus Insurance Brokers Ltd. from 2008 to 2015 where she founded Brown & Browns Lloyds broker, which was the largest producer for Decus.

Her professional career also spans a five-year tenure as managing director of Arthur J. Gallagher, as well as director positions with Bell & Clements Ltd. and Nelson Hurst.

Melanies proven experience and firsthand knowledge of the Lloyds market will be invaluable in building Ironshores presence for underwriting property program business throughout our London platform, said Mammolite. We welcome her to the global team as we further our growth strategy within this sector of the industry.

Source: Ironshore

Topics Property Lloyd's London
A Chanhassen, Minn.-based medical device and equipment manufacturer will pay $1,020,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age and sex discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

EEOC said PMT Corporation violated federal civil rights laws by refusing to hire otherwise qualified applicants for outside sales positions because they were female or over the age of 40.

According to EEOCs lawsuit, PMT engaged in a pattern or practice of systemic hiring discrimination when, between Jan. 1, 2007, and late 2010, it hired over 70 individuals as sales representatives, but not a single applicant who was female or over 40 years of age.

The lawsuit further alleged that this result was intentional and directed by PMTs owner and president.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, PMT will pay $1,020,000 to a class of job applicants who were rejected for sales positions because they were women or over the age of 40, and to a former human resources employee who notified EEOC that she believed PMT was engaging in discriminatory practices.

In addition to the monetary damages, PMT will be monitored by EEOC for the next four years and will be required to revise its hiring practices for sales representatives to ensure that applicants are considered for employment based on merit, not their age or gender, in the future.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Minnesota
Warren Buffetts compensation for running Berkshire Hathaway Inc. edged up 1 percent last year to $470,244, reflecting an increase in the cost of keeping the billionaire safe. Buffetts salary remained at $100,000, the same amount he has received for more than a quarter century, Berkshire said in a Friday regulatory filing.

The regulatory filing also said that Berkshire Hathaway would face a proposal at the companys April 30 annual shareholder from a Nebraska advocacy group that its insurance divisions formally report on how they are responding to risks they face from climate change. Buffett and the Berkshire board oppose the proposal.

The cost of providing home and personal security services for Buffett rose to $370,244 from $364,011 a year earlier. Buffett also reimbursed $50,000 to Berkshire for personal costs.

Buffett often eschews trappings commonly associated with billionaires, and lives in a 10-room home on less than three-quarters of an acre in Omaha. But he still controls nearly 19 percent of Berkshires stock, and 33 percent of its voting power, according to the regulatory filing.

Buffett is worth $66.2 billion, Forbes magazine said on Friday.

Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who is also a billionaire, drew a $100,000 salary last year, Fridays filing showed.

Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg was the highest paid employee listed, with compensation of $1.36 million in 2015.

Executives who run some of Berkshires roughly 90 units make more than Buffett. Among them is Gregory Abel, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, who made $40.77 million last year.

Climate Change

Berkshires filing says the Nebraska Peace Foundation would propose at the companys April 30 annual shareholder meeting that Berkshire issue a report describing risks it faces from climate change.

The nonprofit group, which owns one Class A share of Berkshire, said such reporting could help Berkshires insurance units identify and anticipate gaps and opportunities, and confirm their status as industry leaders.

Berkshire opposes the proposal. In his annual shareholder letter on Feb. 27, Buffett said it was highly likely that climate change posed a major problem for the planet, but that Berkshires insurance units would not face big losses.

Climate change should not be on any list of worries for Berkshire shareholders, he said. The board said it agrees with him.

[The following is the Nebraska Peace Foundations climate change proposal and Warren Buffetts rebuttal in the SEC filing:

Shareholder Proposal

The Nebraska Peace Foundation owns one share of Class A Common Stock and has given notice that a representative of the Nebraska Peace Foundation intends to present for action at the meeting the following proposal.

WHEREAS: Climate change is a slow-moving process relative to many other public policy issues. Nonetheless, the future of the worlds climate system hinges heavily on actions taken by governments, corporations, and individuals over the next few decades. Claims exposure to weather-related events requires that insurance and reinsurance companies take the lead in evaluating and managing the impact of extreme weather. Meanwhile, climate change could have unanticipated adverse effects on the investments of insurers.

AND WHEREAS: Reporting of risks helps companies better integrate and gain strategic value from existing operations, identify and anticipate gaps and opportunities, develop company-wide communications, and receive feedback. Reporting on the impact of climate change for Berkshire Hathaway insurance companies would confirm their status as leaders in the global insurance industry, complementing the leadership BH energy companies demonstrate in the provision of renewable energy.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request the BH insurance division, within a reasonable period of time, issue a report describing the divisions responses to the risks posed by climate change. The report should include specific initiatives and goals relating to each risk issue identified; be prepared at a reasonable cost; and omit proprietary information.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT:

Insurance regulators worldwide are exploring the implication of climate change-related risks for the insurance sector and adapting their supervisory approach.

In 2013 the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in the US adopted revisions to the Financial Condition Examiners Handbook to support examiners in assessing any potential impact of climate change on solvency of insurance firms.

In September 2015, the Prudential Regulation Authority of the Bank of England (responsible for regulation of UK insurance companies) issued an 85-page report outlining the risks facing the insurance industry as a result of climate change. The PRA has indicated it expects PRA-regulated insurance firms to consider the risks identified.

The impact of climate change on the UK insurance sector: A climate change adaptation report by the Prudential Regulation Authority identifies three climate-change risk factors affecting insurers:

(i) Physical risks: the first-order risks which arise from weather-related eventssuch as damage to property, and also those that may arise indirectly through subsequent events, such as disruption of global supply chains or resource scarcity.

(ii) Transition risks: the financial risk which could arise for insurance firms from the transition to a lower-carbon economy. For insurance firms, this risk factor is mainly about the potential re-pricing of carbon-intensive financial assets, and the speed at which any such re-pricing might occur

(iii) Liability risks: risksfrom parties who have suffered loss and damage from climate change, and then seek to recover losses from others who they believe may have been responsible[through] third-party liability contracts such as professional indemnity or directors and officers insurance.

The operations and capital strength of BH insurance companies would benefit greatly from a thorough internal review of the risks posed by climate change.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY FAVORS A VOTE AGAINST THE PROPOSAL FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

The Board of Directors shares the views of Berkshires Chairman and CEO, Warren E. Buffett as to why Berkshire shareholders should vote against the shareholder proposal. Mr. Buffett described his reasons in his letter to Berkshire shareholders that is included in Berkshires 2015 Annual Report. A condensed summary of his thoughts regarding this proposal follow.

It seems highly likely to me that climate change poses a major problem for the planet. I say highly likely rather than certain because I have no scientific aptitude and remember well the dire predictions of most experts about Y2K. It would be foolish, however, for me or anyone to demand 100% proof of huge forthcoming damage to the world, if that outcome seemed at all possible and if prompt action had even a small chance of thwarting the threat. If there is only a 1% chance the planet is heading toward a truly major disaster and delay means passing a point of no return, inaction now is foolhardy. Call this Noahs Law: If an ark may be essential for survival, begin building it today, no matter how cloudless the skies appear.

Its understandable that the sponsor of the proposal believes Berkshire is especially threatened by climate change because we are a huge insurer, covering all sorts of risks. The sponsor may worry that property losses will skyrocket because of weather changes. And such worries might, in fact, be warranted if we wrote ten- or twenty-year policies at fixed prices. But insurance policies are customarily written for one year and repriced annually to reflect changing exposures. Increased possibilities of loss translate promptly into increased premiums.

Up to now, climate change has not produced more frequent or more costly hurricanes or other weather-related events covered by insurance. As a consequence, U.S. super-cat rates have fallen steadily in recent years which is why we have backed away from that business. If super-cats become costlier and more frequent, the likely  though far from certain  effect on Berkshires insurance business would be to make it larger and more profitable.

As a citizen, you may understandably find climate change keeping you up at nights. As a homeowner in a low-lying area, you may wish to consider moving. But when you are thinking only as a shareholder of a major insurer, climate change should not be on your list of worries.

Topics Carriers Legislation Climate Change Nebraska
Existing U.S. laws pose few barriers to adoption of autonomous vehicle technology so long as cars and trucks stick with existing designs allowing humans to take control, the agency overseeing traffic safety said Friday.

Its only when manufacturers push the envelope by developing vehicles without such things as traditional steering wheels and brake pedals that regulations may block new autonomous technology, according to a report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA issued the report in a briefing on its efforts to speed the adoption of driverless cars and other technology that assists human operators. It was produced by the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, which does research for the Transportation Department.

There are certain designs for which there are relatively few current regulatory obstacles, Gordon Trowbridge, a spokesman for NHTSA, said at the briefing. That means that we need operational guidance, model state policy, out there to help guide the operation and deployment of vehicles that may be relatively close to the road.

State Laws

The Volpe study looked at existing federal motor vehicle safety standards and whether those laws will impede the introduction of self-driving technologies. It didnt examine state laws, which govern driver qualifications, insurance requirements, and other issues.

In an update to U.S. efforts to promote autonomous vehicle technology, Trowbridge said NHTSA was planning pilot programs across the country to test vehicles, working with states on developing new model laws, and evaluating federal regulations for what changes may be required.

The agency is also hosting two forums in April to gather public input on the issue, one in Washington and another at an undetermined location in California, he said.

A Revolution

We are witnessing a revolution in auto technology that has the potential to save thousands of lives, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a press release Friday. In order to achieve that potential, we need to establish guidelines for manufacturers that clearly outline how we expect automated vehicles to function  not only safely, but more safely  on our roads.

President Barack Obama wants to spend $3.9 billion on autonomous vehicle technology over the next 10 years, according to his administrations proposed 2017 budget.

Adding more automated safety features to cars is one strategy to reduce roadway deaths, Mark Rosekind, NHTSAs administrator, said Thursday at a safety forum. The technology can help correct for human error, which the agency estimates is a factor in 94 percent of fatal car crashes, Rosekind said.

Traditional manufacturers and technology upstarts including are rushing to develop more autonomous cars.

Snowy Conditions

Daimler AG this year unveiled a new flagship Mercedes-Benz E-Class that can steer itself in auto-pilot mode, brake in emergencies, and evade obstructions. Ford Motor Co. has announced plans to test autonomous vehicles for better reaction to snowy conditions, one of the major technical hurdles.

Tesla Motors Inc.s chief executive officer, billionaire Elon Musk, says its technically feasible that its electric cars will be capable of driving autonomously across the U.S. within two to three years. Google Inc. operates perhaps the best-known fleet of self-driving cars, and Apple Inc. is presumed to be working on its own models.

In February 2014 NHTSA also promised to move forward with regulations that will require cars to be able to communicate with each other to avoid crashes. So-called vehicle-to-vehicle communications may in the future save lives on the scale of earlier safety innovations like seat belts and air bags, the agency said.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics USA Legislation Auto Tech
Clermont Specialty Managers, a W.R. Berkley company, is now offering data compromise and Cyber One coverages for their customers through Hartford Steam Boiler, a Munich RE company. The program provides protection for data breach and cyber-attacks.

Data compromise and CyberOne will be offered on all new and renewal policies with an option off provision. The data compromise coverage will include response expense and defense and liability coverage. CyberOne will include computer attacks and network security liability.

Coverages for the restaurant segment will be effective May 1 in Conn., D.C., Ill., Md., N.J., N.Y., Nev., Pa., and Va.

Coverages for the habitational segment will be effective May 1 in D.C., Md., and Va. And July 1 for Ill., N.J., N.Y., and Pa.

Clermont Specialty Managers provides commercial property casualty insurance for luxury cooperative, condominium, rental buildings and fine dining restaurants. In operation since 1986, Clermont was organized as the Habitational Insurance Division of Firemens Insurance Company of Washington, D.C. to provide package policies for upscale condominiums and cooperative apartment buildings in New York City.

Clermont now offers its habitational and restaurant customers commercial multi-peril coverage, including systems breakdown, monoline general liability and umbrella.

Clermont Specialty Managers currently writes in the states of Conn., D.C., Ill., Md., N.J., N.J., N.Y., Nev., Pa., and Va., on behalf of W.R. Berkley Insurance Group member companies.

Topics Cyber Excess Surplus
Recent torrential rains that pounded Louisiana left roads impassable, submerging cars and forcing people from their homes overnight.

The Bossier City area across the Red River from Shreveport took the brunt of the storm that began saturating northern Louisiana late on March 8. At least three people have died, and mandatory evacuations have been enforced by rescuers using large trucks able to negotiate the high waters.

At the Pecan Valley Estates mobile home park, Sam Cassidy and his wife were the last holdouts. The murky waters surrounded Cassidys home and his neighbors had already left. He said he would leave if the water started to get inside but he was worried about looters.

He said God might take it all with the flood but he wouldnt allow anyone else to. Thursday morning, with waters creeping up his front steps, he stood in waist-deep water watching his neighbors evacuate. An alligator swam by. By night it looked like a horror movie.

We were the only two here, he said. It was pitch black, the houses were empty. Its been an adventure.

Residents in two additional subdivisions in the region were ordered to leave Friday, while the Louisiana Downs racetrack was under a mandatory evacuation, said Bossier Parish Sheriffs Lt. Bill Davis. A flood warning was in effect for the Red Chute Bayou, where levees built to prevent water from overflowing were at risk.

The southeast of the state started to get battered by rain Thursday and Friday.

In Tangipahoa Parish, Sheriff Daniel Edwards said close to 50 roads were closed due to high water and an estimated 300 to 400 people had to evacuate.

Flash flood waters in many populated areas appeared to be receding by Friday afternoon, although more rain could change that.

To the east, in St. Tammany Parish officials said three local rivers were reaching historic levels and would continue to rise. They encouraged people in homes nearby to decide before dark whether to evacuate.

Thaddeus Jackson, 37, said water was already entering his two-story apartment in Hammond when he arrived home from work at around 2:30 a.m. He tried to protect his furniture, then he and his wife and children went to bed.

When I woke up this morning, the rescue people were banging on the door, telling us to get out, said Jackson.

Further to the east in Washington Parish, swollen rivers and creeks have led to widespread flooding, prompting rescues from scores of homes.

Mike Haley, a chief deputy for the parishs sheriff, said dozens of homes have been flooded. The Coast Guard even had to send a helicopter from New Orleans to rescue someone trapped on a roof.

There were no reports of serious injuries or deaths, said Haley, but he noted that the flooding was worse than what the parish saw during Hurricane Isaac in 2012.

The severe weather system that has dumped rain across the state has been feeding off of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, said Frank Revitte, from the National Weather Service in Slidell.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday, the system dumped 15-20 inches over north Louisiana before moving south where it dumped about 10-15 inches of rain Thursday and Friday in some areas  in just 3 to 4 hours  Rivette said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards traveled to northern Louisiana Friday to assess the situation after issuing a statewide declaration of emergency Thursday.

The Louisiana National Guard deployed roughly 400 people along with 30 to 35 high-water vehicles and 15 to 18 boats to assist in search-and-rescue operations in north Louisiana.

A section of Interstate 20 east of Bossier City remained closed and a portion of I-49 was closed south of Shreveport.

All of southeast Louisiana remained under a flash flood watch Friday as bands of heavy rain moved over the area.

The storms that have swamped Louisiana have also hammered other states in the region:

McGill reported from Natalbany, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Bill Fuller in New Orleans and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana Flood
The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) announced disciplinary actions against two Tennessee licensees for several violations including the knowing misappropriation and conversion of moneys and property; failure to report criminal prosecution pretrial hearings to TDCI; violating laws of the commissioner; and the use of fraudulent and dishonest conduct in the business of insurance.

The punishments were the result of work by TDCIs Insurance Fraud Investigations team.

Agents have a fiduciary duty to their clients who place the utmost trust and confidence in their agent to manage and protect their money and property said TDCI Assistant Commissioner for Insurance Michael Humphreys. The Department will continue to take action against agents who violate this trust. We are making every effort to ensure that consumers can count on licensed agents in Tennessee to act in their best interest. Anything less will not be tolerated.

Details of the cases include:

Janet F. Leathers of Madison, Tenn., had her license revoked and was assessed a $176,000 civil monetary penalty by final order, effective December 30, 2015, as a result of a May 7, 2015 hearing by an administrative law judge. The ALJ found Leathers to have committed a total of 44 violations of Tennessee insurance law. Specifically, the ALJ found 42 knowing violations for the misappropriation and conversion of moneys and property, and engaging in fraudulent and dishonest conduct. In addition, the ALJ found Leathers to have committed two violations for failure to inform the Department of her criminal prosecution. The violations stemmed from Leathers fraudulent conduct during her appointment as an insurance broker for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) in 2009, which subsequently led to her criminal indictment.

As an agent for BCBS, Leathers used stolen prescription form pads to forge and submit prescriptions for controlled substances using names of her BCBS clients as well as forging doctors signatures. The forgeries persisted over a five-month period and were found by the ALJ to constitute 42 knowing violations of the law. In 2011 Leathers was criminally indicted for the forgeries, and ultimately received judicial diversion in 2012. She was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, a $2,000 fine, and $5,539.60 in restitution. At no point did Leathers inform TDCI of her pending prosecution as required by law.

Marvin Lenard Berry of Shelby County, Tenn., had his license placed on a one year probation and was assessed a $2,000 fine and restitution payment to the victims totaling $433.15 after a consent order was finalized, effective March 2, 2016, between TDCI and Berry. The consent order was entered into as a result of Berrys misconduct as an appointed agent for Monumental Life Insurance Company. In 2011 Berry misappropriated collectively $443.15 in premiums from two separate victims and failed to remit the money to Monumental as a premium payment on behalf of the clients.

Topics Agencies Fraud Tennessee
The decision by the owner of a small Georgia insurance company to require his employees to carry firearms at the office has sparked a debate: Would having a gun on the job make you safer, or is it inviting violence into the workplace?

Lance Toland said his three offices, based at small airports in Georgia, havent had problems with crime but anyone can slip in these days if they want to. I dont have a social agenda here. I have a safety agenda.

When a longtime employee, a National Rifle Association-certified instructor whos been the companys unofficial security officer announced her retirement, Toland wanted to ensure the remaining employees were safe. He now requires each of them to get a concealed-carry permit, footing the $65 bill, and undergo training. He issues a Taurus revolver known as The Judge to each of them. The firearm holds five rounds, .410 shells that cast a spray of pellets like a shotgun.

It is a weapon, and it is a lethal weapon, said Toland, whose company specializes in aviation insurance. When a perpetrator comes into the home or the office, they have started a fire. And this is a fire extinguisher.

No employee balked at the mandate, he said. They all embraced it 100 percent, and they said, you know, Im tired of being afraid, Toland said.

An employers legal standing to impose such a requirement depends on several factors, foremost whether the business is high risk, a convenience store or taxi company, for example, said Carin Burford, a labor lawyer in Birmingham, Ala.

More than 400 people on average are killed in the workplace each year, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Just last week, a gunman with a criminal record who had just been served with an order to stay away from his former girlfriend began a shooting spree, eventually landing at the lawn mower parts factory where he worked. Authorities say he killed three people and wounded 14 others before a police officer shot and killed him.

About half of U.S. states have laws allowing people to keep firearms in their cars at work. There are companies that allow employees to bring firearms to the office. But its rare to hear of an employer making it a requirement.

Kevin Michalowski, executive editor of Concealed Carry Magazine, said he hasnt heard of any companies issuing a mandate, but hes increasingly hearing from companies, churches and schools seeking training so theyre prepared to deal with a workplace shooting.

He said while workplace shootings dont happen every day, when they do happen, people should have the ability to protect themselves  particularly before police are able to respond.

The gun-free-zone sign isnt going to stop anyone. In fact, it makes people more vulnerable, said Michalowski, who is a part-time officer in Wisconsin for a county sheriffs department and a rural police department. The good people who could stop things are disarmed.

One person who isnt convinced is Charles G. Ehrlich, an attorney in California. He was working for the Pettit & Martin law firm in California on July 1, 1993, when Gian Luigi Ferri, a failed entrepreneur and former client of the firm, arrived at the high-rise office building with multiple weapons, killing eight people and injuring six before killing himself.

Ehrlich was lucky. A meeting he was attending went long, and he didnt end up down the hall in a conference room that was Ferris first target. I heard the shouting and the noise but had just moments earlier left the floor.

Its not like it is on TV or at the movies where the good guy just shoots the bad guy, said Ehrlich, the former president of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Its very difficult to shoot a gun accurately, even when youre not under pressure.

Ehrlich also worries about the pressure cooker that exists in many workplaces  and that arming more employees might actually lead to more workplace shootings.

Conceivably, someone who was well-trained  an ex-Green Beret or something like that  couldve run down the hall, pulled out a weapon and fired a shot, he said of the shooting at the firm. But would he have prevented anyone from being killed? No. Unlike John Wayne who is always faster than the other guy, this guy got off the elevator and just started shooting.

Playing in the back of Tolands mind was something personal: A beloved uncle who had adopted him as a child was killed in 1979 during a nighttime robbery at the convenience store where he worked. Three men robbed him of less than $100. It was the first day he hadnt brought a firearm to the store.

Andrea Van Buren, an agent with Tolands firm for the past two months, was already comfortable with firearms. She carried a Glock nearly every day for the past decade and practices at a range every week.

When she hears about workplace shootings elsewhere, among her first thoughts is: Im glad its not happening here and then the second part is, it could happen here, and then I think, at least Im prepared, she said. Its sad. Its heartbreaking.

The revolver Toland is providing his employees isnt exactly ideal for concealment. It weighs two pounds and is more than 9 inches long. By contrast, a Beretta Nano 9mm handgun is more than a third lighter and measures less than 6 inches. Van Buren said shes not bothered by the impracticality. I liken it to, I have an office computer and I have an office gun.

She understands that not everyone wants to work for a company that requires having a weapon. Gun ownership isnt for everybody. Its a huge responsibility, she said. If youre carrying, youve got to be willing to use it.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Georgia Gun Liability
As the Leaf River rose north of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 26-year-old Rebecca Bruce and her fiance grabbed what they could and left the shed where they live. The water was more than 2 feet deep indoors when they left, she said.

We lost everything, Bruce said Saturday. Ive got a book bag full of dirty clothes, and I was lucky to get that.

Bruce was among about 20 people in a Red Cross shelter in the Forrest County Community Center on Saturday, as creeks and rivers continued to rise after torrential rains pounded the Deep South. It was one of nine shelters open in Mississippi and 24 in Louisiana.

Downpours  part of a system affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama  submerged roads and cars, washed out bridges and forced residents to flee homes.

At least three people have died in Louisiana alone. Mississippi officials were still looking for two missing fishermen, but had no reports of injuries or deaths, said Lee Smithson, head of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, or MEMA. A Hancock County sheriffs deputy was hospitalized after his patrol car skidded into a ditch Friday night, but is now recovering at home, Chief Deputy Don Bass told the Sun Herald.

MEMA reported major damage to 95 homes, minor damage to 277 others, with reports still coming in from 41 of the states 82 counties.

Smithson said Mississippi is dealing with the most widespread flooding since Hurricane Isaac dumped more than two feet of rain throughout the state.

However, he said, It has not been quite as rough a day as we thought it was going to be today.  It looks as if the significant rainstorms for the Mississippi Gulf Coast have not materialized.

Officials had been afraid that as many as 1,000 homes might flood in Forrest County, where the Leaf River was expected to crest Sunday at 29.5 feet. But on Saturday, Smithson said, the number likely to be affected was looking more like 100 to 150. About 75 raised fishing camps in Pearl River County, across from Slidell, were likely to be surrounded by water, he said.

Its the most widespread non-hurricane flooding the Louisiana National Guard has ever dealt with, said Col. Pete Schneider, a guard spokesman. He said about 1,000 soldiers and air crews were at work in 25 of Louisianas 64 parishes.

By Saturday morning, he said, National Guard crews in 160 high-water vehicles and 44 boats had rescued more than 2,100 people and nearly 190 pets. Others had given out 582,000 sandbags. Floods closed highways across north Louisiana, along its western edge and across the southeast, according to a map on the state Department of Transportation and Development website.

We have seen flood events in this state but never from one tip of the state to the next, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser told WDSU-TV.

___

Reporter Janet McConnaughey contributed to this report from New Orleans.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Louisiana Flood Windstorm Mississippi
Keith Edwards woke up in the middle of the night and heard what sounded like gunshots. Looking out the window, he saw flames, 25-feet tall, starting to consume his apartment building.

The massive overnight fire at his central Kentucky apartment complex killed three, injured at least five and forced some residents to leap from second-story windows to escape the flames.

There was a lot of screaming, a lot of crying. People were burned, they were injured and trapped up on the second floor, said Edwards, who escaped by climbing from the window of his first-floor apartment. Smoke so thick you couldnt even see. It was a nightmare.

He believes the noise he thought was gunfire was all of the windows exploding.

The neighbor in the apartment just above him was among the dead, he said. If it wasnt for his dog, a terrier-Chihuahua mix named Brat, he believes he would be too. Around 1 a.m., Brat started barking and running laps around the apartment, alerting him to the fire and allowing him time to escape before it consumed the entire building. He was treated on scene for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the windows and out the roof of the two-story structure, which had 10 apartments, said Winchester Fire Chief Cathy Rigney. Some people jumped from second-story windows to get away.

Edwards, a 46-year-old former professional bull rider, said he heard a thud near him as he escaped, but the smoke was so thick he couldnt see what it was. He learned later it was a man who jumped from the second floor landing to the ground. That man broke an arm in the fall, he said.

Rigney says two people were found dead at the scene and a third died in a hospital. Five more were taken to the hospital by medics, and other injured people drove themselves for treatment. Investigators remained at the scene after daybreak trying to determine the cause.

Rose Neal woke up around 1 a.m. after hearing a loud boom. She went outside and saw flames shooting from another building in her complex, where her relatives lived with three small children. She found them safe though shaken.

One of them, a toddler, suffered burns to the back of her neck as the family made its desperate escape from the blaze, Neal said.

Its devastating, its not what you want to wake up to, she said as she sat surveying the ruins of the charred building Friday morning. They lost everything. Everything is gone.

All those who died were adults, Rigney said. Neal said she knew an elderly woman who perished in the fire.

Edwards said he did not have a smoke detector installed in his apartment.

But James Tackett, the property owner, said he cleans each apartment when a tenant moves out and ensures it has a working smoke detector before the next moves in. Some of the apartments are government subsidized, so must pass inspection and wouldnt if the smoke detectors didnt work. He said the apartments have small stoves that frequently set off the detectors, so some tenants take them down or remove the batteries.

Doug Hogan with the state Public Protection Cabinet said the state requires the owner or manager of rental properties to install and maintain smoke detectors.

Rigney said she didnt know if each unit had a working detector, and determining that will be part of the investigation.

Teresa Henry, the citys code enforcement officer, said they had received no complaints against the apartment complex for several years. The complaints then had been about a bed bug infestation.

Andrew Cunningham rushed outside when he saw the firetrucks arrive and saw the building across from him entirely engulfed in flames. He estimated that the flames were 20-feet high. Some of his neighbors were injured; others sat on the ground weeping.

All lost everything. Community groups rushed to find clothes and supplies for the families displaced.

Edwards escaped with only Brat and the clothes he was wearing.

The screams, he said, hours after the fire was extinguished. I still hear them.

Writers Claire Galofaro and Rebecca Reynolds Yonker contributed from Louisville.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kentucky
Two California bills to ease regulation of Uber and other ridesharing companies have been bottled up for nearly a year in a committee chaired by a lawmaker whose brothers own a San Diego taxi company.

But state Sen. Ben Hueso denies family ties are the cause.

He told the Los Angeles Times the issue is public health and safety. Hes been critical of ride-hailing services, which dont have to meet the same safety and business regulations as taxi firms.

Huesos brothers own USA Cab, which is suing to require ride-hailing drivers to get commercial license plates.

Hueso says he was unaware of the suit.

Last year, the Assembly passed two bills exempting ride-hailing drivers from needing the plates and allowing them to carpool. Hueso hasnt scheduled votes on them.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California Legislation
Wasington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler took enforcement action and issued fines totaling $17,675 last month against insurance companies and producers who he says violated state insurance regulations.

Heres the list of fines and what Kreidler says warranted them:

Insurance companies

Madison National Life Insurance Co., Madison, Wis.; fined $4,500

Madison National Life allowed insurance producers to sell policies with lapsed appointments. State law requires insurers file a notice and pay a fee to the insurance commissioner for each licensed producer that will act as an agent of an insurer. Madison allowed 112 insurance producers with lapsed appointments to complete 147 transactions, which generated more than $15,000 in premiums.

Agents and brokers

LPL Financial Corp., Charlotte, NC; fined $2,000

LPL is a nonresident licensed insurance producer and a licensed business entity. It appointed a producer named Charles C. Fackrell to conduct business on its behalf. The insurance commissioner revoked Fackrells producer license in September 2015 for violating several state insurance licensing regulations. State law requires business entities to be aware of the actions of its appointees and to report violations of insurance regulations to the insurance commissioner and to take corrective action. LPL neither reported the violations nor took corrective action, and agrees to pay the fine.

Assurance Group, Inc.; Archdale, N.C.; fined $3,000

Assurance Group is a licensed insurance producer that sells insurance policies from many companies through salespeople who are required to be licensed producers. In the first nine years it did business in Washington state, it allowed 35 producers to sell policies without being formally affiliated with the company, a violation of state insurance rules.

Garcia Gilberto, Jr., Kennewick; fined $500

A consumer complained to the insurance commissioner that Gilberto pressured her into purchasing a Medicare supplement policy that she did not want. The consumer reported that she felt threatened and coerced by Gilberto, who came to her home to conduct business.

Koby Leach, Medical Lake, Wash.; fined $250

Leach failed to disclose a misdemeanor conviction on her insurance producer licensing application, but the conviction was disclosed in her background check results. the insurance commissioner will process Leachs licensing application once she pays the fine.

Kyle Jensen, Lake Forest Park, Wash.; fined $250

Jensen is a licensed insurance producer. He sold a policy for a recreational boat to a consumer who moored the boat at the Port of Edmonds. He erroneously issued the policy with an endorsement that listed the Port of Edmonds as an additional insured party, instead of simply listing the Port on the policy as an interested party.

Matthew Gingerich, Centralia; license revoked

Gingerich was a licensed insurance producer who was fired from employment with American Family Insurance after an audit revealed that he misappropriated nearly $30,000 in consumers premium payments. Gingerich put the consumers insurance accounts in a hold status so they would not receive a notice that their policies were canceled for nonpayment. As of February 2016, Gingerich had not yet repaid the money he kept. American Family was able to correct the policies of all but one affected consumer, whom they could not identify.

Scott R. Daniels, Sammamish; fined $5,000

A consumer complained to the Insurance Commissioner after purchasing seven new and replacement annuities from Daniels. The annuities Daniels sold to the consumer were not suitable for the consumers needs, and he failed to give the consumer adequate or complete information about the annuities he was selling, all of which are required by state law.

Giovanna Sierra Chavez, Yakima; license revoked

American National Insurance Co. notified the insurance commissioner that Chavez took more than $1,400 from three consumers and issued a fake insurance card to another consumer who did not have a policy. Two additional consumers complained to the Insurance Commissioner that Chavez never sent their premium payments of more than $1,100 to the insurers, leaving the consumers uninsured.

CEU Institute, Lake Mary, Fla.; fined $2,175

CEU is a continuing insurance education provider for insurance producers, who are required to complete continuing education credits to maintain their licenses. A routine audit of CEUs records revealed that it did not properly document attendance at its courses and issued certificates of completion to people who didnt complete the courses, which violates state insurance laws.

Since 2001, Kreidlers office has reportedly assessed nearly $20 million in fines, which are deposited in the states general fund to pay for other state services.

Topics Legislation Washington
Atlanta, GA, March 14, 2016  Known in the art world for her risk management expertise, Judith Pearson has joined Breckenridge Insurance Group as president of the newly formed Breckenridge Private Asset Management Group (BreckPAMG). This new entity offers comprehensive risk management solutions for unique liability exposures for high net worth clients and the institutions who serve them.

Prior to BreckPAMG, Pearson was a founder and president of ARIS, the only provider of title insurance for fine art and other important collectibles. She recently was named as an innovator and the only 2015 Power of 100 Leaders in the art world by Blouin/Artinfo International representing innovation in the insurance industry. Pearson has more than 30 years of insurance experience including having served as an EVP at AON and an underwriting manager at Chubb.

Ive known Judy as a leader in this niche for some time. The formation of BreckPAMG gives us an opportunity to further collaborate and enhance services we can offer our existing agents and clients while expanding our reach as part of our overall strategy noted Tracey Carragher, chief executive officer of Breckenridge Insurance Group.

BreckPAMG not only works with transactional intermediaries, but will directly support the needs of financial institutions, family offices, private investors, wealth advisors, artists and art galleries and museums in a variety of risk management and consulting roles. Services include transactional due diligence, provenance (ownership) research, risk analysis and management and a variety of insurance solutions from top-rated carriers.

Pearson commented: The exposures associated within the art world and related investments among high net worth clients and institutions are becoming increasingly complex. From art and object valuation, to tax and legal implications, to trust and transfer issues, the BreckPAMG team offers an informed perspective and customized solutions to mitigate these risks.

About BreckPAMG

Breckenridge Private Asset Management Group (BreckPAMG) provides comprehensive risk management solutions for unique liability exposures for high net worth clients and the institutions who serve them. Led by industry expert Judith Pearsonone of the 2015 Power of 100 Leaders in the art world by Blouin/Artinfo International for her role as an insurance innovatorthe team provides an informed perspective on managing unique and complex risks for diverse clients. For more information, visit www.breckpamg.com or call 855.936.1387.

About Breckenridge Insurance Group

Breckenridge Insurance Group, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is an international specialty wholesale insurance broker, program manager, managing general agent (MGA) and insurance services provider. The company offers access to diverse range of commercial insurance and financial services products to businesses and professional services firms in a variety of industries. The company serves independent insurance agents, brokers and legal and financial institutions throughout North America by way of Blue River Underwriters, OSC, Breckenridge Insurance Services, Breckenridge Elevation Authorities contract binding group and InSpecialty. For more information, please visit www.breckgrp.com or call 630.945.3878. CA Insurance License #0G13592

Topics Agencies Risk Management
Its old news by now that Google is shutting down Compare, its financial services and insurance comparison site. It wasnt open long  less than a year. When Compare was first announced, the industry reacted with warnings that this was a major disrupter in insurance distribution. With the massive audience that Google has, the industry expected that Google was going to swoop down and capture the online insurance market  which by the way is pretty big  typically 75% of prospects research online and 20-25% of all new auto policies are purchased on line according to those who track this type of metric.

So what happened? Well, the fundamental idea of capturing the online market is a sound idea. And Google was pretty smart at avoiding all the hard technical costs of building out the aggregator engine by partnering with those who had already done the hard work  like Compare.com, Coverhound and Bolt.

But the business model of an online aggregator is hard. There are three models  online agents  who earn full commissions. That wasnt really Googles deal. They werent interested in any of the after service or ongoing relationships. A traffic generator  sending a potential lead to another site and being paid for the eyeballs. Well, thats not very lucrative either  and frankly, Google can make money through their own advertising and search capabilities. Spending the money to build an online quoting front end only adds cost to something they already do quite well, thank you.

So why would Google have invested the money in an online quoting front end? To take advantage of a lead model. With a lead model, the aggregator collects data, processes a request for quote and sends a highly qualified lead to be fulfilled. The price per lead is significantly higher than the price for traffic. But theres a fundamental challenge with this model. For the lead to be valuable to a carrier, the lead has to actually purchase insurance. And because a lead is sold to multiple carriers, the acquisition costs rise for a carrier.

Lets say a lead is sold for $5 to ten carriers. The aggregator makes $50 for that lead. But only one carrier actually writes the lead. If ten leads are sold, and each carrier writes one, the aggregator makes $500 but the carrier has spent $50 for that lead. Play out a competitive situation where the leads arent equally distributed, and you can see that the acquisition costs can rapidly rise. If I only get one lead out of twenty, Ive spent $100 for that lead. If I only get one lead out of $30 Ive now spent $150 for that lead  which now is pretty close to what Id probably be paying an independent agent.

And what if the customer NEVER buys  and simply goes in looking for prices so they have a comparison to an off line model? The numbers rise rapidly. Remember those numbers above  75% shop on line and 25% purchase on line. That means that only one in three leads actually results in a sale. Assuming leads are distributed evenly, an aggregator will distribute 165 leads before I close one. That brings this $5 lead fee up to $82.50 , which is pretty expensive. The way to make those economics work is to increase the conversion rate so that more of the leads a carrier purchases actually ends up buying a policy.

So while carriers are very interested in participating in the online marketplace, they really want to work with those aggregators who are successful at converting traffic to leads that will convert to policyholders. The online agent model is attractive as the carrier doesnt pay until the policy is written. The traffic model is similar to online advertising, so that works as well. But the success of a lead model is a combination of the price of the lead and the likelihood of closing that lead  which is dependent on the number of carriers the lead is sold to and the propensity to buy.

So heres where Google lost an opportunity with Compare. They thought they could convert relatively low paying traffic into high paying leads simply by putting a quoting front end on and didnt think through what they could have done to improve the conversion rates.

With their analytical power, Google could have created a truly disruptive experience by providing consumers with a powerful recommendation engine. Google is a master at finding out information about individuals from social media and other publicly available data. They could have created an algorithm that used the information about the lead to tailor and target recommendations.

Personal auto isnt that hard. If we were talking about commercial, its a much harder set of algorithms. But honestly, its not that hard to create something that tells a customer that given their location, the value of their home, the type of vehicle and their driving record, 64% of people like you choose this limit/deductible/additional coverage etc. And getting a personalized recommendation drives conversion. When people trust that the advice is good, theyre willing to buy. Weve seen many examples of how inserting advice and recommendations into the quoting process drives conversion.

When I personally go to get an online quote  its part of my job  I enter information that shows I own a home in California and I drive a luxury car. So why oh why do the aggregator sites today recommend minimum limits coverage to me? My car is worth more than that. Today, trusting the advice from an aggregator site is dicey. And that is why policyholders continue to rely on the advice of an agent.

Does this mean the role of aggregators is dead? No.

But Google missed a major opportunity to truly disrupt by providing a powerful recommendation engine that could use their ability to easily find information about individuals and combine it with their powerful analytical abilities. They ended up creating just the same thing we had back in the 90s. Kudos to them for killing it quickly  but they missed an opportunity to use their capabilities to make the model work.

This blog entry has been reprinted with permission from Celent.

Readers are encouraged to respond using the Add Your Comments box below.

The opinions posted in this blog do not necessarily reflect those of Insurance Networking News or SourceMedia.
Unlike the UK, where 40% more drivers opted for usage-based insurance year-over-year, according to the British Insurance Brokers' Association, U.S. consumers have been reticent to adopt the product. But new initiatives from automakers may make the value easier to communicate and deliver, industry experts say.

The Wall Street Journal reports that General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen are among multiple automakers experimenting with new driver state sensing systems, developed by startups Eyeris Technologies, Harman International Industries and auto parts supplier Delphi Automotive PLC. The software analyzes facial expressions to detect signs of exhaustion and road rage, differing from current data insurers collect such as, how far customers drive or how often they brake and accelerate. Delphis driver monitoring system is expected to be installed in two vehicles to be sold in 2017.

Insurers need to think of telematics data in three parts, the dongle, smartphone and the car itself. They cannot afford to sit on the sidelines on this, said Donald Light, director of Celent Researchs North America property/casualty insurance practice. This is a flashing light for the insurance industry that it needs to get in front of what automakers are doing with connected cars.

These monitoring systems are likely to aid insurers in tapping into driver behavior and vehicle performance. But, the validity and power of the information compared to existing data in use depends on how data scientists evaluate it, Light says. In order to obtain the new information, insurers will likely offer discounts on premiums to customers in return for the data, which is only accessible through a court order or direct permission from the driver.

Insurers will want access to see how much of a difference this data source can make in their ability to prevent major accidents, he said. It could be as low as one percent or it could be that 33 percent more accidents can be prevented. Its up to the actuaries to determine that.

As the industry gets closer to self-driving cars, automation becomes another key issue for insurers, automakers and policyholders going forward, Light says. Technologies in place now, such as automatic breaking, forecast a heavy leniency on the part of drivers on technology that could ultimately fail.

Drivers may already not be paying attention to how quickly they should be breaking when they approach an object because they expect the car to do it for them autonomously, he said. The danger lies in driver complacency and lack of control.
What Is an Investment Manager?

An investment manager is a person or organization that makes investment decisions about portfolios of securities on behalf of clients under the investment objectives and parameters the client has defined. An investment manager may handle all activities associated with the management of client portfolios, from day-to-day buying and selling of securities to portfolio monitoring, transaction settlement, performance measurement, and regulatory and client reporting.

Key Takeaways Investment managers are people or organizations who handle all activities related to financial planning, investing, and managing a portfolio for individuals or organizations.

Clients of investment managers can be either individual or institutional investors.

Investment management includes devising strategies and executing trades within a financial portfolio.

The type of investment manager required depends on an individual's specific needs and stage of financial planning. Experts suggest evaluating a number of factors, such as performance and fees, before selecting an investment manager.

The four largest investment management companies in the world are BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group, State Street Global Advisors, and Fidelity Investments

Understanding Investment Managers

Investment managers can range in size from one- or two-person offices to large multi-disciplinary firms with offices in several countries. Investment managers typically base the fees they charge to clients on a percentage of client assets under management.

For example, an individual with a $5 million portfolio that is being handled by an investment manager who charges 1.5 percent annually would pay $75,000 in fees per year. According to Willis Towers Watson, as of 2020, the four largest investment management companies in the world based on AUM were BlackRock Inc. at $7.4 trillion, The Vanguard Group at $6.2 trillion, State Street Global Advisors at $3.1 trillion, and Fidelity Investments at $3 trillion.

Types of Investment Managers

Investors must understand the various types of investment managers. Certified financial planners typically develop a holistic financial plan for investors that takes information such as income, expenses, and future cash needs into consideration when planning a portfolio. A financial advisor, however, is often a stockbroker. Portfolio managers directly invest investors capital to achieve positive investment returns.

Currently, the industry is changing and financial advisors can now be personal financial consultants working with stockbrokers. Robo-advisors, moreover, are fintech platforms leveraging technology and investment knowledge to advise individuals about their money and investments and provide automated investment management on behalf of ordinary investors.

Factors to Consider When Selecting an Investment Manager

Investors must determine what type of investment manager they require. This is likely to depend on what stage they have reached in the financial planning process. For example, an investor who is just starting off on her savings journey may not need the services of a portfolio manager. Instead, she would be better off with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), who can teach her the basics of retirement planning. In contrast, an investor who has income left over after savings and wishes to invest it in securities is better off with a portfolio manager.

A background check of the investment managers professional regulatory qualifications will reveal any previous complaints and ensure the manager has the required skills and experience. Most investment managers and funds outline their investing philosophy on their sites or brochures. Investors should determine whether that philosophy (and risk level) is appropriate to their goals.

An investment manager should be easily contactable and take the specific needs of the client into consideration. As financial needs are continually changing, investors must feel comfortable reaching out to their investment manager at short notice to customize service.

Performance and Fees

An investor should review and evaluate an investment managers performance. It is prudent for investors to review at least five years of investment returns to determine the investment managers performance in various market environments. It is also helpful to consider their performance relative to peers to determine their deviation from the standard. Some sites, such as US News mutual fund rankings, provide this information on their sites.

Some experts are of the opinion that an investment manager should have skin the game, meaning that her salary should be tied to her performance and returns. But that may not always be the optimal solution as it could amplify the amount of risk that a manager takes on to achieve returns in line with benchmarks.

Investors should consider fee structures when comparing investment managers. Investment manager fees are a function of the investment asset class. Investment managers with higher fees often outperform those that have a lower fee structure, and investors should use caution if an investment manager has an excessively low fee structure. Investment managers' fees and expenses typically include management fees, performance fees, custody fees, and commissions.

Example of an Investment Manager

Sheena and Greg are both 30 years old and are expecting their first child. They have some savings stacked away but also have other commitments, such as mortgage payments on their new home. They are not sure whether the available cash is enough to help them plan for the new arrival. They consult a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) to help plan out their finances. The CFP suggests various options, such as putting some cash away in an education fund, to help them plan for the child.
What Is Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI)?

A cash flow return on investment (CFROI) is a valuation metric that acts as a proxy for a company's economic return. This return is compared to the cost of capital, or discount rate, to determine value-added potential. CFROI is defined as the average economic return on all of a company's investment projects in a given year. The return on investment (ROI) is a measure of how well an investment performs.

Key Takeaways Cash flow return on investment (CFROI) is a valuation metric that looks at cash flow, relative to a company's cost of capital.

CFROI assumes that the financial markets set the prices of stocks based on a company's cash flow, rather than primarily on earnings or other metrics.

CFROI gives investors insight into how a company works internally, how the company creates cash, finances its operations, and spends its money.

The metric is seen as a cleaner way of looking at company performance, by removing so-called distortions in a company's financial results. CFROI also takes into account the impact of inflation.

CFROI can be used to look at a company's performance over time or to compare a company's performance with peers in its sector.

Understanding Cash Flow Return on Investments (CFROI)

FCFROI is a registered trademark of HOLT, a unit of Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank. HOLT Value Associates, formed in 1991, created this valuation metric, which the founders believed gave more insight into the economic return of an entire company.

The formula for CFROI is:

CFROI = OCF / Capital Employed

Where:

OCF = Operating Cash Flow

Capital Employed = Total Equity + Short Term Debt + Capital Lease Obligations + Long Term Debt

HOLT expanded the concept of a single project internal rate of return (IRR) versus a hurdle rate, applying a similar calculation for the whole firm, whereby all of a company's projects are run through the valuation exercise and averaged to come up with a firm-wide CFROI.

The proprietary methodology removes what are believed to be distortions in a company's income statement and balance sheet, and makes adjustments for inflation, to create a clean comparison basis for historical analysis of an individual firm's value creation or destruction over time. The question of whether management has employed its resources profitably can be answered by CFROI calculations.

The internal rate of return (IRR) is used in capital budgeting to predict or estimate how profitable a proposed investment might be. The hurdle rate is the smallest amount a company expects to earn when it invests in a project.

Uses of CFROI

CFROI can also be useful to compare company performance with peers that may have different financing choices. The focus on cash generation capabilities, the true underlying foundation of firm value, makes possible universal comparisons with peers, whether domiciled in the same country (i.e., same accounting standards) or abroad.

One interesting facet of CFROI for investors is the opportunity to compare the company's stock price with CFROI. If CFROI has been running high, for example, and this performance is not fully reflected in the stock price, investors may be able to take advantage of this possible mismatch of valuation.
Automobiles require a number of raw materials for their production. This includes aluminum, glass and the iron ore to make steel, as well as petroleum products used to make plastics, rubber and special fibers. After raw materials are extracted from the earth, they are transformed into products that automakers or auto parts companies use in the assembly process. The automobile industry is one of the largest consumers of the world's raw materials.

A Lot of Automobile Parts

A large number of component parts go into assembling an automobile. Beyond the basic building blocks (engines and transmissions) there are the interior parts such as instrument panels, seats and HVAC systems, along with the necessary wiring to tie everything together. Over the years, the materials used to make these parts have changed somewhat, but the bulk of what goes into a car remains largely the same.

Key Takeaways The automobile industry consumes raw materials from around the world in the production of cars and auto parts.

Steel, rubber, plastics and aluminum are four commonly utilized commodities found in cars.

Also, the auto industry relies on oil and petroleum products, not just for gasoline, but for the synthesis of plastics and other synthetic materials.

First, raw materials are mined or otherwise extracted from the earth. Next, a raw material production company turns the raw materials into materials automakers can use in production. Those materials are then sold directly to automakers or to auto parts suppliers.

Steel

Steel is produced from iron ore and is perhaps the most widely used input in auto manufacturing. On average, 900 kilograms of steel is used in every car. Steel is used to construct a car's chassis and body, including the roof, body, door panels and the beams between doors. Steel is often used in mufflers and exhaust pipes. Technological advances over the years have enabled automakers to utilize different types of steel with varying levels of rigidity.

Plastics

Petroleum is the raw material source of the many plastic components in cars. Chemical companies transform petroleum byproducts into plastic. Plastics are the challenger to steel for prominence in auto manufacturing. The typical new car is made with 151 kilograms of plastics and composite materials, accounting for about 8% of the vehicle's weight and 50% of the volume materials. Among the countless car parts made from plastic are door handles, air vents, the dashboard and airbags. The versatility, durability and lightweight character of plastics make them an ideal material for various parts.

Aluminum

Aluminum is increasingly being used in car manufacturing, primarily because of its malleability and lightweight nature. In 1975, just 84 pounds of aluminum were used in the typical car, and that figure was forecast to reach 466 pounds in 2020 and 565 pounds in 2028. Wheels are commonly made of aluminum. The metal has replaced steel and iron in the construction of many critical auto parts, such as engine blocks.

Rubber

Rubber is essential for cars, and the auto industry is essential to the rubber industry. Tires are one of the most important parts of a car. Rubber is also used for making numerous belts, hoses and seals critical to the functioning of a car's engine. Like plastic, rubber is durable and easily molded into different shapes. Demand for natural rubber is forecast to reach $33.87 billion by 2027, up from $28.65 billion in 2019, with the automotive sector accounting for 65.3%.

The Bottom Line

From metals to fibers to the sand and quartz used to make glass, automobile manufacturing uses possibly more raw materials than virtually any other production industry. Since it first developed the assembly line process, the auto industry has always been a leader in innovations in mass production, and its adaptive use of raw materials is an important factor in its success.
Former Anglo Irish Bank Chief Executive David Drumm has appeared in court in Dublin charged with 33 offences including fraud, conspiracy to defraud and false accounting. He has been granted bail subject to strict conditions.

The judgement was handed down by Judge Michael Walsh, at the Dublin District Court, just before 3pm. Drumm will have to surrender his passports. Walsh asked Drumm to give evidence under oath that he did not own a US passport and would not seek one as part of his bail conditions.

Drumm is not allowed to leave Ireland. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) requested that his travel be restricted to inside County Dublin. The judge refused the request and said Drumms clean criminal record was to be taken into account.

Read more: EXCLUSIVE: David Drumm says he will never get a fair hearing in Ireland

The judge, in granting Drumm bail, pointed out that the possibility of a speedy trial was unlikely and said anything before 2017 would be optimistic.

Drumm, with an address in Wellesley, Massachusetts and formerly in Malahide, Dublin, will stay in Skerries, north County Dublin.

The former Anglo banker will lodge $55,524 (50k) with the court and provide an additional $55,524 in independent sureties (in cash and a frozen bank account).

Drumm, who has lived in Boston since 2009, landed in Dublin, on Aer Lingus Flight EI136, at 5.16am on Monday morning, accompanied by police detectives. Police travelled to Massachusetts late last week to collect the 49-year-old banker, once formalities surrounding his extradition were complete.

Detective Sergeant Michael McKenna told the court that Drumm was conveyed to Ballymun Garda Station on Monday morning. McKenna said he had put two charges to Drumm and gave him copies of the charges. He also said that Drumm made no reply to these charges.

The 33 charges Drumm faces are in relating to transactions carried out ahead of the collapse of the ill-fated bank.

DPP has opposed a bail application by #DavidDrumm describing him as serious 'flight risk' https://t.co/A8OBuyEzF0 pic.twitter.com/AQor5nEFor  The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) March 14, 2016

Lawyers for the State opposed Drumms application for bail citing the seriousness of his offenses and their belief that he would be a flight risk as their reasons.

Drumm wore a navy suit and blue shirt. His wife, Lorraine, was also present at The Dublin District Courts at The Criminal Courts of Justice.

Having been greeted by the Judge on Monday morning, and invited to sit, Drumm said Good morning, thank you. He sat on a bench next to his lawyer, Michael Staines. As the court was called to stand, Drumm blew a kiss, waved and smiled to some supporters in the public gallery.

The court heard evidence from two police officers in relation to Drumms arrest and the charges put against him.

Deirdre Manninger, lawyer for the State told the Judge that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed there be a trial on indictment and that two books of evidence could be submitted to the court. These documents fill two large boxes.

Detective Sergeant Walsh told the court he believed Drumm should be remanded in custody as he was a serious risk of flight for a number of reasons.

Drumm resigned from Anglo in December 2008 as the bank was collapsing. In 2009, the year the bank was nationalized, Drumm moved to Boston.

The officer, Walsh, told the court he had numerous grounds for the application to hold Drumm in remand including the seriousness of the charges. Referring to the charges of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting Walsh said Both of these offences relate to alleged fraudulent transfers between Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent amounting to 7.2bn.

He told the court the second ground was the nature and strength of the evidence to support the charges.

The officer said there was a group of between 110 and 120 witnesses in relation to these two charges. There are also a large quantity of emails, audio recordings, minutes of meetings and other correspondence.

The officers third reason was the likely sentence that would follow a guilty conviction for these two charges. Det Sgt McKenna said the sentence for just some of the charges Drumm faces had a maximum of ten years.

The fourth ground was the conduct of the accused between 2009 and 2016, in particular his dealings with An Garda Siochana and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. McKenna called his ties to this jurisdiction tenuous and said Drumm had gone in to voluntary exile. Drumms children remain in the US.

The police told the court that Drumm has debts of over $9.4 million (8.5m) however, he still had the capacity to leave the jurisdiction.

McKenna took time in the court to counter suggestions that Drumms extradition for the United States was timed to coincide with the General Election in Ireland, or that it had been delayed. He said the US State Department had signed off on the extradition on March 10. He and his colleagues had travelled to Boston the next day.

Lawyer for the State, Dean Kelly, said that during extradition proceedings it had emerged that Drumm had strong ties with the United States he added that Drumm had said he would fight tooth and claw against his extradition.

Kelly said His position only changes at the point at which the bail door closed for him

I say Mr Drumm is a flight risk because one thing and one thing alone brought him back.

He added that the court could draw an inference as to whether at any stage or now it is Mr Drumms intention to face trial in this country.

And said it is the directors position that he could not be relied upon to show up for his trial.

Staines, Drumms solicitor, said his client would seek bail. He also quested the relevance of the evidence given in the extradition proceedings.

Drumms defense had said Drumm was willing to sigh on at a police station twice daily, hand over his passport and put up a cash bail. They also said that Drumm was willing to be tagged. The Dublin court heart that seven people have put their houses on the line for his bail.
Hillary Clinton is stepping up her outreach to Irish American voters for St. Patrick's week with key states with large Irish populations such as Ohio and Illinois in play. A senior Clinton staffer is set to brief Irish American leaders this week on Hillary's Irish policy, released as a document last week. No other campaign, Republican or Democrat, appears to be pushing an outreach strategy on Irish issues.

In her policy paper, Clinton recounted the Clintons' role in the Irish Peace Process and promised her best efforts at immigration reform among other issues.

On Saturday night in Youngstown, Ohio she dropped into Donold's Irish Pub and Grill accompanied by key supporter Congressman Tim Ryan.

Clinton sipped a pint of Guinness calling it "fuel" for the battles ahead. There were shouts of "Vice President" when Ryan was introduced. Bar owner Christian Rinehart stated, "It was amazing, really cool to serve a Guinness to a presidential candidate," he said.

Meanwhile Hillary's Irish supporters say ethnic Irish voters helped her win the key state of Massachusetts in the recent primary there.

Up to now, Sanders has dominated the northeast, while Clinton has been stronger in the south. Massachusetts is the only northeastern state Clinton has won so far.

New York-based lawyer and Clinton supporter Brian ODwyer told the Irish Times that Clintons narrow win in the state (50.1 percent to 48.7 percent) was the primary that broke the back of Bernie Sanderss campaign. The victory showed that the Vermont senator could lose in his New England stronghold.

O'Dwyer claimed the victory on March 1 for Irish-American voters.

It showed she can count on the Irish, he said. If she had won all the areas in the south and not Massachusetts, maybe she couldnt win.

Boston and Springfield, cities with large Irish-American populations, swung the Massachusetts primary in Clinton's favor. She won Boston by 19,898 votes, or a 16-point margin, and Springfield by 23 points, with 11,550 votes to Sanderss 7,202.

The day before the Super Tuesday ballot, Clinton held rallies in the two cities. In Boston she had the support of every major Democratic figure in the state, including the citys mayor, Marty Walsh, the son of Co Galway natives.

At the Springfield rally, she mentioned the role she and her husband played in the Peace Process.

Most particularly, we worked to end the Troubles in Ireland, Clinton said. To give the people of Northern Ireland a chance for peace and security.

Standing next to her at the rally was Democratic congressman Richard Neal, whose Massachusetts district includes Springfield.

He said: There is an unyielding loyalty to the Clintons for what they did in Northern Ireland and how they pay attention to Ireland.
Ireland is in the midst of a political crisis following the inconclusive result of the recent general election. No party emerged with a clear majority and there is no sign at present of any alliance being put together for the purpose of forming a government.

Some experts are talking about a confidence and supply arrangement which would allow a minority government to function, as is currently the case in New Zealand.

The Sunday Independent stated that 'Confidence and supply' is an agreement that is more loose than a formal coalition. Under such a deal, a smaller party (or number of parties) backs a larger party in government on a vote-by-vote basis, in exchange for policy concessions, on budget and other key votes that could otherwise bring a government down if they did not pass.

But there is a very real prospect that another general election may have to be called in about six weeks' time. But an opinion poll carried out by the Red C company and published in the Sunday Business Post newspaper at the weekend showed that a second vote would still be inconclusive.

Read more: Enda Kenny to cut US St. Patricks Day visit short amid political turmoil

The poll placed Fine Gael on 27 percent, only 1.5 points higher than its election performance. Ratings for other parties were as follows (election figure in brackets): Fianna Fail 25 (24.3); Sinn Fein 15 (13.8); Labour 4 (6.6); Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit 4 (3.9); Social Democrats 5 (3); Green Party 3 (2.7); Renua Ireland 2(2.2); Others 15 (17.9).

The Labour Party, which was Fine Gael's minority partner in the outgoing coalition administration, has now been reduced from 33 seats to seven in Dail Eireann, the main house of the Irish parliament, which has a total of 158 deputies. This means Labour cannot play any major role in the formation of the next government.

Many commentators believe the only solution is a "grand alliance" of the old Civil War parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, but the latter appears to be strongly opposed to any such arrangement.

The only way to avoid a general election in the short term may be a minority government whereby Fine Gael would remain in office with the support of Fianna Fail from the opposition benches. Alternatively, Fianna Fail could be the minority government with Fine Gael backing from outside.

The leader of Fine Gael, Enda Kenny is continuing as Taoiseach (prime minister) in a caretaker capacity. He is cutting short his annual visit to the US for the St Patrick's festivities this week so that he can attend to the crisis situation back home.

Kenny is due to report on efforts to form a government when the Dail meets again on March 22. The next vote in the Dail on the position of Taoiseach is due to take place on April 6.

Fianna Fail is understood to be concerned that joining Fine Gael in a coalition government would leave Sinn Fein as the main party in opposition and the most obvious alternative to a Fine Gael-Fianna Fail administration.

The main focus of political debate at present is on whether Fianna Fail can remain in opposition while agreeing to the key elements of policy that Fine Gael would pursue in government.

There is considerable skepticism among observers and commentators that any arrangement can be reached which would allow a minority government to remain in office for long. There is consequently a widespread view that another election is inevitable in the near future.

Fianna Fail has appointed a team of four Dail deputies  Michael McGrath, Barry Cowen, Jim O'Callaghan and Charlie McConalogue  to negotiate with Independent TDs and fringe parties on a possible joint approach in the current situation. Fine Gael is also holding talks with the Independents.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that the position of Gerry Adams as leader of Sinn Fein might be redefined to allow for a greater role for his deputy, Mary Lou McDonald and/or the party's economic spokesman, Pearse Doherty. Adams is popular with members of the public but stumbled badly in media interviews during the election on the implications of party policy.

NOTE: Deaglan de Breadun is a Dublin-based journalist and the author of "Power Play: The Rise of Modern Sinn Fein" (Merrion Press).
One place in history where you might be surprised to see a green and gold Irish-themed military standard is in the 19th century Mexican Army, but it really happened.

St. Patricks Battalion, a unit of the Mexican Army, was composed mainly of Irish Catholic immigrants who deserted the U.S. Army and fled to Mexico during the war, which lasted from 1846-48.

The San Patricios, as they were called, were fierce fighters and were instrumental in some of the toughest battles during the war. But why were some of our Irish ancestors in Mexico, and why were they fighting against the U.S.  the very country many of them had immigrated to?

Why did they switch sides?

Very few were official citizens of the U.S.  many were poor Irish immigrants that had left their home country due to famine and poverty. As they arrived in the U.S., many were pressured into joining the army  an offer they often seized when promised a good paycheck and land after the war.

But life wasnt easy anywhere for Irish immigrants at this time in history. Many found U.S. military culture very alienating and were brutally abused by fellow soldiers and superiors who hated Irish Catholics  nativist sentiment was unfortunately strong in the U.S. Army at the time.

On top of that, military life only offered Protestant religious services. Once these Irish immigrants began to learn more about their enemy  Mexico printed pamphlets persuading immigrants to desert the U.S. army  some felt they had more in common with Mexicans than Americans.

Many Mexicans were Catholic, which was important, but its also likely that the Irish Catholics saw the Mexican struggle against America as similar to their countrymens struggle against England back home.

Whatever the reason, soldiers began to desert in droves just prior to or early on in the war. A good example is the eventual leader of the San Patricios, John Riley.

John Riley was born in County Galway in the year 1818. His birth record can be found in our Irish Catholic parish baptism records from that year.

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Riley immigrated to Canada and eventually made his way down to Michigan, where he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served in the 5th US Infantry Regiment, which was part of the army future President Zachary Taylor commanded during the Mexican American war.

As Taylors army reached the Rio Grande, many German and Irish immigrants began to defect. The Mexican army had been issuing leaflets promising deserters money, land and promotion. Riley and a group of 48 other Irish immigrants defected around this time, and they manned artillery for Mexico during the siege of Fort Texas in early May 1846.

The group grew in size, joined by other recent, disgruntled and marginalized immigrants  historians estimate the strength of the unit to be as much as 700 members at its peak. Lead by Riley, the San Patricios fought successfully in several battles but were eventually part of the Mexican Armys defeated forces at the Battle of Churubusco.

Many were killed or escaped with the fleeing Mexicans in the aftermath of this battle, and about 85 were captured by U.S. forces. Riley was wounded during the battle and was among those captured.

Aftermath

The captured San Patricios were put on trial  some claimed they deserted the U.S. Army out of drunkenness (a common defense used for military desertion at the time), others claimed they were coerced by Mexicans who captured them. Most of those charged either did not offer a defense, or their statements werent recorded.

At his trial, John Riley testified to the terrible discrimination suffered by Irish Catholics in the U.S. Army and cited the general anti-Catholicism in America as the major reason for the desertion of Irish immigrants. Riley received a lesser sentence than most others in the unit since his defection occurred before the U.S. was formally at war.

Branded with a D on his cheek for deserted, Riley was released and actually went on to continue serving in the Mexican Army.

Others were not so lucky. Fifty of the captured San Patricios were executed, most by hanging. Of the 9,000 men who deserted the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, the San Patricios were the only ones that suffered this punishment.

Traitors or heroes?

The early history of the San Patricios from the US perspective labeled the group as traitors, though Mexicans have always viewed the group as heroes who helped Mexico in a time of great need.

Contemporary historians look more objectively upon the San Patricios  most see their desertion as a manifestation and natural result of the anti-immigrant and particularly anti-Catholic sentiments in the United States at the time.

Its interesting to note that Irish expatriates have a well-documented history of fighting wars on behalf of other heavily Catholic nations. Many young men, so-called Wild Geese, fought in the continental wars of Europe for Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. Irish fighters have also played important roles in South American wars for independence.

The tale of St. Patricks battalion is another example of how difficult life was for many of our Irish immigrant ancestors. Whether they remained in their famine-stricken homeland, toiled in the slums of New York City, or joined the military, its worth knowing the story of their sacrifice.

What do you think were the men of Saint Patrick's Battalion traitors or heroes? Let us know your views in the comments section below.

Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! Subscribe to IrishCentral

* Originally published in 2016. Updated in February 2022.
A man will be sentenced today for raping a woman with Down Syndrome after luring her back to his flat in Dublin during the summer of 2013.

Faisal Ellahi, who is from Haripur in Pakistan, was found guilty following a five-week trial that ended just before Christmas.
Siptu says strike action will go ahead affecting Dart services in Dublin, unless plans for new timetables are withdrawn.

Unions representing train drivers are in talks with the company at the Workplace Relations Commission this morning, in a dispute over a new Dart timetable with services every 10 minutes.

The WRC is also holding talks today with nurses concerned about overcrowding and Luas drivers whore planning another strike on St Patricks Day this week.

Paul Cullen of Siptu says Dart drivers will walk off the job if the new schedule is brought in without agreement.

He said: "I'm looking for the company to take a step back here in relation to this issue. Quite frankly, if the company insists on introducing this 10 minute Dart service without agreement, there will be a dispute on the Dart.

"As this formed part of our previous discussions with regard to productivity, basically what we are going to say here today is that we are going to ask the company to withdraw that timetable until such time as the exercise, as recommended by the court, has been completed."

Iarnrod Eireann has said that additional drivers have been trained so "the improved service can be delivered within existing rostering parameters".

The company said: "As new drivers have been trained, the delivery of the enhanced schedule is not a productivity issue as claimed by driver unions SIPTU and NBRU.

"The company hopes the trade unions will engage with the normal process of timetable change at local level so this much-needed enhanced service can be delivered to customers as planned on 10th April."
At least 14 civilians and two special forces operatives have been killed by six armed men in a historic Ivory Coast resort town.

Beach-goers were attacked by gunmen outside three hotels in Grand-Bassam, with bloody bodies left sprawled on the beach.

Ivory Coast's president Alassane Ouattara said that the six attackers had also been killed.

Mr Ouattara has travelled to the town, pledging to visit the hotels involved to express condolences and salute the security forces for their quick response.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist websites.

The Islamic extremist group made the declaration in a post to its Telegram channels, calling three of the attackers "heroes" for the assault.

Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara, center, visits the area were gunmen attacked people in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, yesterday. Pic: AP

Bursts of gunfire sent people running from the beach at Grand-Bassam, a Unesco World Heritage Site and popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners about 25 miles east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial centre.

It is the third major attack on a tourism hotspot in West Africa since November.

Witness Marcel Guy said that he saw at least four gunmen with Kalashnikov rifles run onto the beach. One of the gunmen had a long beard, he said.

The gunmen approached two children on the beach, and Mr Guy said he heard the man speak Arabic. One of the children then knelt and started praying.

"The Christian boy was shot and killed right in front of my eyes," he said.

A reporter later saw four bodies sprawled out on the beach in front of a small resort next to the popular Etoile du Sud hotel.

Jacques Able, who identified himself as the owner of Etoile du Sud, said one person had been killed at the hotel.

A receptionist there said everyone was safe afterwards.

Beachgoers could be seen lining up with their hands above their heads as they filed out of the area.

Residents who heard the gunfire hid in their homes, according to Josiane Sekongo, 25, who lives across from one of the many beachfront hotels.

A US embassy delegation was in Grand-Bassam on Sunday, but the US Embassy in Abidjan said it is monitoring the situation and has no evidence US citizens were targeted. It could bot confirm whether or not any were hurt.

Dozens of people were killed in the earlier attacks on West African tourist sites, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be hit by jihadists as well.

The West African attacks indicate that extremist attacks are spreading from North Africa, where a beach attack in June killed 38 people in Tunisia.

"I have always said that Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Dakar (Senegal) are the next targets for jihadist groups because these two countries represent windows of France in Africa," said Lemine Ould M Salem, an expert on al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and author of a book, The Bin Laden of the Sahara.

Speaking outside the Etoile du Sud later, Mr Outtara said: "I present my condolences to the families of the people who were murdered, and of course I am very proud of our security forces who reacted so fast.

"The toll could've been much heavier."

Meanwhile, the United States strongly condemned the attack, sending "thoughts and prayers to all affected by this senseless violence".

The US Embassy in Abidjan is making every effort to account for the welfare of American citizens in the area, according to the statement issued by State Department spokesman John Kirby.

The statement said Ivory Coast is an important regional partner to the US, adding: "In the days ahead we stand ready to support the Ivorian government as it investigates this heinous attack."
The 2016 Industrial Relations News annual conference in UCD last week was entitled Great Expectations.

That was appropriate, because public-sector employees want their pound of flesh and they want it now.

The general secretary of the Public Services Executive Union, Tom Geraghty, said the public sector had borne a disproportionate share of the fiscal adjustment since the recession.

His members feel dumped upon, betrayed.

Public service union leaders are under pressure from the ranks to break out of the binds imposed by the three post-crisis public-pay agreements: Croke Park, Haddington Road, and Lansdowne Road.

The pressure to restore the pre-financial emergency status quo is considerable.

But this sense of having been unfairly targeted is not fully grounded in reality.

After all, a quarter of a million people lost their jobs, the great majority of them in the private sector.

Countless more swallowed pay cuts, and lost bonuses and overtime. Thousands of businesses went under.

But the sense of grievance among public servants is real, and many frontline public servants and managers have been forced to deliver much greater output, on a per-capita basis, while absorbing cuts under the FEMPI (financial emergency) Act.

Younger public servants find themselves on less beneficial contracts, yet are faced with boom-time housing costs.

The big question is whether there exists sufficient fiscal space for the demands to be met in full, or at least in large part.

First, there is the question of just how deep, widespread, and sustainable is the recovery. The level of recorded economic growth in Ireland, on the surface, at least, appears little short of spectacular. However, as always, Irish economic data needs to be taken with a few large sprinklings of salt.

While the recovery is spreading, Irish output statistics have benefitted from the equivalent of several Botox injections, arising from a rebound in the countrys pharmaceutical sector, which accounts for a disproportionate share of recorded activity.

There is always a large swing-door element to the pharma data, with large financial transfers overseas coming hot on the heels of income generation in Ireland.

Then, of course, there is the darkening, global economic outlook. Mr Draghis latest actions suggest that the eurozones top policymakers are more than a little concerned.

While Mr Geraghty believes that current public-pay arrangements cannot last if the recovery is sustained, he appears to accept that this is by no means a given. But does his membership, and that of other unions, operate on this basis?

There are other factors pointing to a narrower pathway towards full pay recovery. There is growing evidence that the appalling state of many A&E departments, and the cumulative effect of cutbacks across health and education, are impacting on the ability of these organisations to attract and retain key staff. One young academic expressed the view, privately, that too much emphasis is being placed in the media on pay concerns. In his view, high pupil-teacher ratios are driving some colleagues to exit the country in search of opportunities overseas.

Already, there is an acute shortage of IT expertise at third-level, and, indeed, across much of the public sector, a shortage exacerbated by soaring demand for technology skills.

Academics are being driven to distraction, in some cases, by in-house computer systems which are no longer fit-for-purpose.

Frustration among medics, at the lack of decision-making powers and at a general lack of planning, could be another reason why Ireland is suffering from a flight of talent.

These shortcomings cannot be redressed without large infusions of cash, though there is surely scope for greater efficiencies, born of imagination, as well.

Low morale is not linked simply to low pay. Some unions have cottoned on to this. The trade unions, in turn, need to take on board some realities. Arguably, the most pressing relates to the handling of its younger membership, a group that has borne the brunt of the post-2008 readjustment in pay and conditions.

One trade unionist frankly conceded that the movement gives more attention to the needs of senior members, who are much more likely to vote in elections than their younger counterparts.

However, if the unions wish to remain relevant in the 21st century, this imbalance needs to be addressed.

At the other end of the scale, there is evidence of growing difficulty in filling key posts at the top of the public sector.

Many are, it seems, being put off by the growth in accountability, and by the pressure to be out there explaining their decisions at sometimes hostile public fora. Viewed in this light, the situation in the private sector, when it comes to pay-bargaining, appears to be calmer.

A survey by IRN and the CIPD states that 54% of firms increased pay in 2015, as against just 45% who planned to do so. However, the actual increase in basic pay was a relatively modest 2.7%, while almost half of those paying the increase linked it to higher profits and/or improved performance.

This year, 50% plan another increase, with 23% looking to maintain the status quo, and 23% having made no decision.

The average increase planned is 2.8%  ranging from 4.3%, in the case of SMEs employing 50 or under, to just 2.5% in the case of larger firms. One speaker, Brendan McGinty, a former head of IR at Ibec, said that he had an intake of breath when he heard about the findings, adding that it represents a considerable leap from where we have been.

While the survey sample is quite large, there are always question marks over how reflective it is of what is happening on the ground.

The recent crisis at the Cadburys plant, in Coolock, in north Dublin, also serves as a reminder that plenty of manufacturers and companies are experiencing the full impact of low-cost competition from overseas, and survival, not enjoyment of the fruits of recovery, is the issue.
When selecting a suitable brand name for Irish spirit products intended for the export market, St Patricks Distillery in Cork seems to have chosen particularly well.

The original plan was to call the company Pratai, to reflect the fact that it was selling spirits produced from potatoes but company founder and managing director Tom Keightley changed his mind when he discovered that Americans, the key demographic, were likely to grievously mispronounce the Irish word for potato.

This was a really good lesson in branding and the importance of picking the right name, says Mr Keightly who chose the alternative name when he located the new venture at St Patricks woollen mills in Douglas.

Just one year after setting up, St Patricks is building up sales in Ireland, has started exporting to Germany and is planning a launch at a trade show in the US next month.

By March 17 next year, the company aims to be well established in export markets and to be well positioned to make the most of its very well recognised name.

Back in 2014, Mr Keightly became interested in the gluten-free market as a result of setting up a company selling food intolerance tests to pharmacies. Given that the food market was already well served, he decided to research the production of grain free alcohol.

Before visiting a distillery making potato vodka in Idaho in the US, he recruited Cyril Walsh as the general manager of the new company.

Starting out in early 2015 using private funding, he purchased a still.

Discovering that commissioning this required major funding, he sourced spirits produced from potatoes from another Irish company and began blending and bottling.

First products launched in early 2015 were a 100% potato vodka and a potato gin with juniper berries.

Mr Keightley says the growth in the craft beer industry has been followed by growth in interest in craft spirits and that the reception for the St Patricks products has been very good.

We started with gin and vodka but were asked if we could do whiskey, he says adding that the company also had requests from customers for flavoured gin.

Sourcing whiskey from a West Cork distillery, the company created St Patricks Distillery Oak Aged Irish whiskey by blending a three-year old grain with a 21-year old malt. By the time it exhibited at Bloom in the summer, the company was also offering gin with sloe and honey, gin with elderflower and extra dry gin.

The plan for year one was to develop sales in Ireland.

We are now listed in 100 bars and restaurants around the country  we are strong in Munster and Cork and are also selling in some Dublin pubs, says Mr Keightly adding that the company now employs a staff of six.

Getting in to both Cork and Dublin airport duty frees is helping St Patricks develop sales to tourists.

Exports to Germany happened sooner than planned, when a German distributor got in touch after picking up a bottle of St Patricks before catching a flight.

The first shipment to Germany went out last November.

We launched miniature bottles in January and have now been asked to do gift packs for duty frees, says Mr Keightly who expects these to sell very well as souvenirs and is also aiming to sell them to airlines.

The key target from the beginning has been the US and St Patricks will be exhibiting at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America trade show in Las Vegas next month.

Having found an importer in the US, the company is looking for distributors there.

We are targeting 80% exports by the end of this year  we are looking at the US and the UK markets and are also in discussions with potential distributors in Russia, Australia, India and China, says Mr Keightly.

Taking St Patricks spirits to the next level and getting the still running will require significant investment.

Mr Keightly expects to start fundraising later in the year.

Further plans for 2016 are likely to involve the launch of some new whiskeys.
MONDAY MARCH 13

Irish Volunteers organiser and Brigade vice-commandant Tomas MacCurtain was in Dublin at a meeting in the organisations headquarters. Also in attendance: Volunteers chief-of-staff Eoin MacNeill, and other headquarters staff like JJ OConnell, and IRB Military Council member Thomas MacDonagh who would be one of seven signatories to the Proclamation of the Republic, and Michael OHanrahan (who, like MacDonagh, was also executed after the Rising).

TUESDAY MARCH 14

Ernest Blythe, Liam Mellows, and Alfred Monaghan were identified by RIC Inspector General Neville Chamberlain as the Volunteers most active organisers, although he believed the growth in membership was slowing since Ireland was excluded from military conscription in January.

Police searched the homes of prominent Cork men in the Irish Volunteers: Tomas MacCurtain, Cork Brigade commandant; Sean Jennings, Brigade Council member; William Shorten; and David Barry from Glanworth near Fermoy. The RIC seized two revolvers and 68 rounds of ammunition, and a vast quanity of correspondence dealing with the Volunteer movement.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 15

John Devoy cashed a $10,000 cheque in a New York bank, converted it to pounds sterling and transmitted it to Ireland under the name J. Digby. Devoy was the Clan na Gael figure who was go-between in the deal to have German guns supplied to arm the Irish Volunteers in the Rising.

THURSDAY MARCH 16

Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) detectives note the return of Thomas Clarke to his shop at Parnell Street, which has continued to be a daily meeting place of extremists under surveillance during his absence following his accidental shooting in the arm.

Clarke also visited 12 DOlier Street with fellow IRB Military Council member Sean MacDiarmada, and IRB Supreme Council member Diarmuid Lynch who knew about the imminent arrival of German guns but probably not about the Rising itself planned for Easter weekend. MacDiarmada later left Dublin by train, as did Sean T OKelly (future President of Ireland), and Dublin-based Piaras Beaslai  another key figure in the Irish Volunteers and later a close aide of Michael Collins in his intelligence war against the British establishment.

Almost 6,000 Irish Volunteers marched in St Patricks Day processions around the country. In Dublin, Eoin MacNeill took the salute at a review in College Green.

DMP detectives note an injury to Clarkes arm, having believed over previous weeks that his prolonged absences from his shop were due to a severe cold.

For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE

FRIDAY MARCH 17

A St Patricks Day concert at the Rotunda Rink at the top of Dublins Sackville Street (now OConnell Street) was attended by Patrick Pearse, Eamon de Valera (Volunteers Dublin Brigade adjutant and 3rd Battalion commandant), JJ Walsh (Corkman whose tobacconists in Dublin was another key IRB meeting place), OHanrahan, and Clarkes aide Sean McGarry  the man who had accidentally shot his friend. The Rotunda was the venue of the meeting in November 1913 at which the Irish Volunteers was formed by Eoin MacNeill, spurred on by Belfast-born Quaker and IRB figure Bulmer Hobson.

SATURDAY MARCH 18

Irish Volunteers companies were instructed by headquarters to provide themselves with the national flag of uncrowned gold harp on a plain green ground. The order in The Irish Volunteer weekly newspaper said it should be borne on all formal parades such as those planned for Easter, explaining that, more so than the official Volunteer Flag, it fully symbolises what the Irish Volunteers stand for and will gain a readier understanding and respect from Irishmen in general.

SUNDAY MARCH 19

In Berlin, Roger Casement sent John McGoey to Ireland with an instruction to tell Tom Clarke and, through him, Bulmer Hobson, to try to call off the Rising. The message was not delivered, and it is unknown what happened to McGoey. Casement also dissuaded the German government from sending his Irish Brigade  made up of Irish members of the British Army held as prisoners of war by the Germans  to Ireland with the arms shipment. I finished my letter as well as I could, emphasising the importance of my request for a submarine. If I could get that and land in Ireland before this damned ship and her guns arrive, I might stop the whole dreadful thing.

Sources for this information include:

* Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) Movement of Extremists files, held by the National Archives of Ireland, and available to view online: www.nationalarchives.ie

* Witness statements collected by the Bureau of Military History, and the Military Archives timeline: www.militaryarchives.ie

* Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) inspector general and county inspector monthly reports, viewed on microfilm in Special Collections at University College Corks Boole Library.

compiled by Niall Murray

Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE
East Cork Municipal District councillors were fuming when it emerged a claimed assurance of funding from Marine Minister Simon Coveney and east Cork Fine Gael TD David Stanton was no longer forthcoming.

The 25mx5m pontoon, costing an estimated 170,000, had been planned as a summer fixture at Nealons Quay, close to Youghals town centre. Six permanent visitor moorings, estimated at 35,000, were to accompany the installation.

Municipal district officer Helen Mulcahy told the March meeting, contrary to expectations, the department would now only commit to funding towards the six moorings.

However the county council was continuing with a public consultation process, running until April 19, in relation to the overall project.

She said the consultation process was progressed on March 4 on foot of the perceived assurance of funding at a meeting last October between the two politicians and county engineer David Keane, along with local sailing and tourism personnel.

Youghal sailing Club Commodore, Patrick Buttimer, however, had attended the meeting. He recalled Mr Coveney saying he could sign off on up to 123,000 if the application was submitted prior to the general election and never mentioned any other criteria.

Cllr Michael Hegarty (FG), who had attended the meeting with the Oireachtas members, said he also had been told funding would be provided.

He said the department now says it doesnt want to set a precedence by providing funding, previous to the Part 8 planning process being completed.

Independent Cllr Mary Linehan-Foley branded the decision a total disgrace and said the public and tourist interests had been misled. I was told to my face by a sitting TD that the money was in place for a pontoon she stated.

Cllr Aaron OSullivan (FF) accused the politicians of election posturing,

Deputy Stanton denies funding was, or could have been, guaranteed. He said the minister simply advised Octobers meeting to make applications in line with a subsequent nationwide call for marine development funding.

Cork County Councils application had been part successful, he explained. He did not know why funding for the moorings was being provided previous to the Part 8 process but not for the pontoon.
Clonakilty Access Group (CAG) met officials following concerns raised after a public meeting in the town last week.

Disabled and able-bodied people have been inconvenienced by the upheaval of streets during year-long works to improve the towns sewerage and flood prevention schemes.

The access groups chairperson, Elizabeth Walsh, said several problems had been highlighted about the street works, some of which are now nearing completion.

She said one wheelchair-user had pointed out some of the new footpaths had a gradient which could lead to a wheelchair sliding into the road.

Ms Walsh said CAG would be asking the Irish Wheelchair Association to also examine their concerns.

She pointed out there was no signalised pedestrian crossing in the main thoroughfare which presented a serious problem for wheelchair-users and visually impaired people.

We want, and demand, the best, safest and most welcoming town centre for people with disabilities, mobility challenges, people with prams, buggies when these works are completed, and also while works are continuing, Ms Walsh said.

During the prolonged works, she said large rocks were placed on sections of roadways and paths to prevent people gaining access.

People were falling over them and they werent just people with disabilities.

She said CAG also didnt have any firm commitment from the local authority as to how many disabled parking spaces will be created when the works are finished, or where they would be located.

In addition, she said, while the planting of trees might enhance streetscapes, they could cause considerable problems for wheelchair-users. Ms Walsh pointed out there is quite a large percentage of physically-impared people using Clonakilty, and their wellbeing had to be taken into account.

We are fortunate to have in Clonakilty organisations like COPE and CoAction who do great work with people who have intellectual and in some cases also physical disabilities. We have people in our community who are blind, have had strokes, use crutches and wheelchairs and other mobility aid, she said.

We want the new Clonakilty town centre streets to be a place where they feel welcomed, independent and safe and we believe that this is the ultimate objective of the council too.

However, she pointed out, in September 2014, before the roadworks started, CAG made a four-page submission at the public consultation stage to the County Council, in which the group outlined several issuesl.

We also sought, and were assured at the time that we could have a meeting with the senior council officials who would be designing and overseeing these works, she said. Unfortunately, (until last week) we were never afforded the opportunity of this meeting and it seems that most of the matters we presented in our submission have been ignored.

She said that after a public meeting last Monday, the council agreed to meet a CAG delegation.
Thats just what five west Cork schoolboys did with their miniature, air-powered Formula One racing car capable of travelling more than 110km an hour.

They used 3-D software to design the colourful carbon-dioxide-powered lean machine, and spent months tweaking the complex blueprint before having it carefully built to their specifications at the University of Limerick.

The eye-catching balsa-wood fast car has now powered through to next months finals of the Irish Computer Societys F1 In Schools Technology Challenge  one of just five models to get to the final round on April 28 in the RDS.

The quintet from Bandon Grammar School beat off competition from 35 schools to make it to the decider.

A total of 74 teams from 52 schools in 21 counties originally entered the competition.

The only help we got from the teachers was just general guidance, because we tried to do it all ourselves.

The teachers were there to ensure we did things correctly, said team manager and Transition Year student Enda Boyle, 16,, a member of the five-strong team which organised itself along the lines of a working Formula One crew.

On top of designing the 8 car, the group raised 500 to cover transport and accommodation costs and to purchase special Formula One uniforms, bearing the logo of their main sponsor, to wear during the presentation of their vehicle to the judges.

The project began in September and was completed just last month. Woodwork and technical graphics teacher Melvin Buttimer said a huge amount of thought, planning, and work went into the design of the vehicle, powered through the ignition of a carbon dioxide canister.

This is all their own work  they had to do everything themselves from scratch and there has been no teacher intervention  I supervised but they did all the work.

The F1 in Schools competition is a unique technology challenge which enables second-level students to use the latest technology from the worlds of engineering and manufacturing.

Teams are not judged solely on speed but also on the quality of their engineering, graphic design, portfolio, media skills, handling of sponsorship, and verbal presentation of their work.

A global competition, the project is operated in Ireland by the Irish Computer Society.

www.f1inschools.ie
Cork City Council wants to acknowledge those of a special age, due to this years centenary of the Easter Rising.

A spokesman for City Hall said the theme for the parade is 1916 the legacy and citizens, who were born when the history of our modern nation was being forged, are our legacy.

The festival event in Cork runs from Thursday to Sunday and there will be free family fun and lots of 1916 commemoration events.

Festivities will kick off with the parade on St Patricks Day which will feature jaw-dropping street theatre, pageantry, and up to 3,000 people from community and voluntary groups.

Anyone aged 100 or over who is interested in participating can contact Robbie Crowley at Cork City Council 021 496 6222.

The parade is to be stream-lined live on www.corkcity.ie/tv and www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie.

Over the four days, the streets of Cork will be awash with talented mime artists, jugglers and magicians from around the world, and there will be a fantastic line-up of free live music for families on the stage at Grand Parade and traditional music in bars throughout the city with The Lee Sessions.

There will also be free creative workshops for children in Bishop Lucey Park on Saturday and Sunday and a local food and crafts market on the Grand Parade from 10am-6pm on March 17, 19 and 20.

Organisers Cork City Council are supported by Cork Airport, The Evening Echo and Corks RedFM.

For further information see www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie, Facebook@corkstpatricksfestival, or Twitter @corkpaddysfest.
County mayor, Cllr John Paul OShea, is leading the delegation on a three-city programme in Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

This follows the recent visit to County Hall of a political and business delegation from Jiangsu province, in China. The Chinese have since expressed interest in deepening connections in the food, pharmaceutical, and educational sectors.

The delegation will participate in a series of cultural and business events and meetings, which will address food, tourism, and IT opportunities for the Cork region.

The council is committed to strengthening strategic relationships with key regions across the US.

In the 15 years since the initial Sister County agreement, with Cook County, was signed, the enhanced commercial and cultural links have paid enormous dividends for Cork.

The creation of The Cork Convention Bureau, in 2007, born of ties with the Chicago Visitors and Convention Bureau, has resulted in 40 international ambassadors promoting Cork as a location for conferences, congresses, and meetings.

Last year, the bureau generated 9m of new business for Cork.

Trade and political visits between Cork and Chicago, to date, have focused primarily on tourism, IT, and biotechnology, and the relationship has resulted in many Cork businesses being introduced to the US market, including a Cork software development company now working with Abbot Laboratories and Astellas Pharma. As the result of a previous delegate mission, Park Magic trialled their pay-parking solution in Chicago, and have since experienced meteoric expansion.

Additionally, Documentum, a local Cork company, has taken up free office space in the Illinois Institute of Technology, an opportunity that came about through connections made during previous St Patricks Day delegate missions.

Cllr OShea said the delegation will meet with the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Counsel General for Ireland, the president of Cook County, Illinois, and the mayor of Detroit.

Conor Healy, chief excutive of Cork Chamber of Commerce, who is participating in the Chicago leg of the visit, said links between Cork and Chicago have grown significantly in recent years.

He said there was considerable scope for development, from a trade, tourism, and investment perspective.
Customs officers have seen it all, but their jobs are made very difficult by the fact that more often than not the people doing the smuggling are complete unknowns.

Of the 33 cases in 2015, where a total of 1.157m was forfeited by the State, the case of Andrei Piatlitski is one of the more unusual.

The Belarus-born Irish national was stopped at Dublin Airport on December 23, 2012. He was on the way to board a flight to Lithuania with his wife, when security at Dublin Airport detected something unusual.

His wife had 55,000 in cash concealed around her upper body. This unusual find prompted a further search of the couple and some 69,800 was found in Mr Piatlitskis holdall.

He told Customs that he saved the 124,800 from his employment in a scrap metal company during his 10 years working here.

The cash was seized and an investigation was conducted by Revenues Investigations and Prosecutions Division, who presented a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The DPP ordered forfeiture proceedings and the cash was handed over to the State by the court on May 20, 2015.

In another case, in June 2014, 10,000 was found on Kim Louise Hall who was about to board a flight to Amsterdam..

Ms Hall was travelling with her fiance Richard Harris. He told Customs officers he was travelling alone and only had 1,200 on him.

He proceeded through the boarding gate without acknowledging Ms Hall only to return some time later claiming the cash was partially his.

The cash was handed over to the State on March 9, 2015.

In one of a number of cases involving Chinese nationals finalised last year, Chiyu Chen and Ying Chen were stopped at Dublin Airport on October 23, 2012, about to fly to Amsterdam and on to China.

Officers found 32,290 concealed in a sophisticated manner within household and personal hygiene items in the check-in luggage.

They claimed the cash was from savings and was to fund childrens education in China.

Officers showed the court this did not stand up to scrutiny and that cash was being exported to avoid paying outstanding taxes, and was forfeited on December 4, 2015.

In another case, Irishman Karl Richter had arrived on a flight from Alicante, Spain, on July 22, 2014, and stayed overnight in Dublin Airport.

When he attempted to get the flight back the next day, he was stopped and had 9,900 on him.

He claimed his cousin had dropped the cash to him at the airport to purchase a vehicle back in Spain. He later claimed it was a gift from another person. The court forfeited the cash.

Andrew Keyes, the head of Customs Cash Investigation Unit, said Customs officers have heard and seen it all.

In one case last year, involving a Chinese person, cash was rolled up in tampon cartridges and hidden inside a picture frame.

He said: Its very easy to stop a member of a gang or someone with a string of convictions. These are people with no criminal convictions and no great known associations.

They are often someone who has become indebted or a family member has.

You can see the desperation to get the money back, its tragic. They are people in trouble. More often, though, they are people doing it for a few quid.

Either way, we simply have to do our job.
Many farmers are also still waiting on emergency funding from the Department of Agriculture. Cork City, Kilkenny, and Meath councils have not yet received any funds from the Department of Environment three months after Storm Desmond hit. While 14.48m has been requested by local authorities to fund the necessary and immediate works, 7.9m of this has yet to be paid.

In early January, the Government announced a package of measures to provide immediate support and to set-up more co-ordinated systems to deal with flooding. This included providing 18m to councils through the local authority clean-up fund and establishing two separate schemes for farmers who were badly hit by flooding.

A scheme to help businesses and organisations was set up through the Red Cross and families who were evacuated from their homes could also apply for help through a Department of Social Protection fund.

A Department of the Environment spokesman could not provide a date for when local authorities will receive the remaining funds to carry out essential works.

All claims that were requested by December 19 have been paid. The deadline for receipt of further final claims for clean-up costs and necessary immediate works was Monday, January 29, and we will be processing these as soon as we receive sanction from departmental finance to do so, the spokesman said.

Over 140 farmers have applied for assistance under the Emergency Flood Relief Measure which was set up by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney earlier this year.

The fund covers the direct costs arising from livestock lost to the flood, rental costs where livestock had to be moved off farms and into alternative premises due to potential welfare issues and flood damage to agricultural structures and fittings.

A separate fodder scheme to help farmers who had feed stuff destroyed in the floods has paid 305 applicants 628,871. The Red Cross has paid out around 2m of aid to businesses and sporting organisations in flood-prone areas which were unable to get insurance.

A total of 15 communities, voluntary and sporting bodies received 59,535 under the scheme, while 16 applicants have received 133,326 under the second phase, which requires businesses to be inspected.

The Department of Social Protection has paid 675,110 to 501 homeowners affected by flooding after the severe weather in December 2015 under its Humanitarian Assistance scheme.

Flooding costs by local authority

COUNTY: CLAIMED (PAID)

Carlow: 313,572.34 (21,886)

Cavan: 132,654 (41,526)

Clare: 900,000 (900,000)

Cork City: 297,000 (0)

Cork County: 1,743,930 (135,226)

Donegal: 963,300.54 (963,300.54)

Fingal: 6,800 (6,800)

Galway City: 39,387 (39,387)

Galway County: 980,418 (980,418)

Kerry: 535,226 (535,226)

Kildare: 59,071.58 (59,071.58)

Kilkenny: 407,500 (0)

Laois: 145,935.80 (145,935.80)

Leitrim: 772,480 (447,640)

Limerick: 883,179.13 (328,839.92)

Louth: 184,217 (184,217)

Longford: 420,000 (420,000)

Mayo: 980,000 (980,000)

Meath: 79,755 (0)

Monaghan: 141,732.25 (45,500)

Offaly: 427,067.08 (76,735.53)

Roscommon: 886,343.04 (285,000)

Sligo: 297,000 (297,000)

Tipperary: 781,857 (52,000)

Waterford: 656,958 (253,400)

Westmeath: 918,857 (241,309)

Wexford: 30,000 (30,000)

Wicklow: 499,000 (499,000)
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are to ramp-up their talks with Independents, and smaller parties, this week, as the pressure to form a government intensifies.

They are scrambling to get the support of other parties and Independents, before the next crucial date, of April 6, when TDs meet again in Leinster House.

The Dail will resume again on March 22 to discuss a number of issues, and provide an update on talks to form a government.

But neither of the two main parties is working towards this date, and another attempt to elect a taoiseach will not be made until next month.

Enda Kenny has cut short his St Patricks Day trip to the White House, and other senior members of Fine Gael, including Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar, have opted not to travel this week, as talks continue.

However, Mr Kennys commitments in Washington, and his attendance at an EU summit, will curtail the amount of time he has to speak with others in the coming week.

Fianna Fail has put together a negotiation team of Barry Cowen, Michael McGrath, Charlie McConalogue and Jim OCallaghan.

They will begin meeting with the Social Democrats, and others, on Tuesday.

Mr OCallaghan said there is no appetite among Fianna Fail TDs for a grand coalition and they will be meeting with 21 others in the coming days.

He said these talks will be centred around listening, and trying to see if there are common areas of interest.

Fianna Fails Sean Fleming yesterday said: I can see a government, with over 60 people supporting a [Fianna Fail minority] government.

The party now has 43 members in Leinster House, after Sean O Fearghail was elected ceann comhairle. It will need the backing of 17 others to bring its support to 60. Fine Gael has 50 elected TDs. It is unlikely that either party will obtain a majority in the Dail, unless they go into power together. Fine Gael appear more open to this option than Fianna Fail, who would have to put any such course of action to their members.

Mr Fleming said: We are staring with 43 people next Tuesday, when our negotiations start, and we will go from that.

He added that the Irish people did not want another election again, nor did the smaller parties and Independents.

There are two real, main options, at this stage: a Fine Gael-led minority government or a Fianna Fail-led minority government, and whoever comes out with the most support, the onus is on that group to form a government, he told RTEs This Week programme.

Referring to the Green Party and Labour, who have so far ruled themselves out of entering any government, Mr Fleming said: I actually think the inevitable will dawn on the 158 members of the Dail, and some of the people who said they want to be counted out will eventually be counted in.

Meanwhile, Finian McGrath, of the Independent Alliance, yesterday said that the onus was on all members of the Dail to sit down and hammer out a deal.

We were talking to the big parties, and all the other parties, last week, and, hopefully, again this week.

We are talking about the issues. We are not talking about bums on seats, we are not talking about cabinet seats, he said.
On St Patricks Day, 1916, thousands of men and boys in uniform  almost half of them carrying arms  took to the streets of cities and towns to demonstrate the growing membership.

Even they did not know on that mid-March Friday that they were being readied to take varying roles in a major rebellion against British rule in Ireland by the end of April.

But only the week before the patron saints national day, Dublin Castle had been advised that Irish Volunteers leaders were being warned to be in readiness for a German landing at an early date.

Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) inspector general Neville Chamberlain went on to write that general parades of the movement had been ordered, probably as a test of their strength. Sure enough, they turned out in huge numbers, with police taking note of who was in charge, how many took part in each event, and to what extent they were armed.

From almost 40 county inspectors (Cork, Galway, Tipperary and others were split into two Ridings), reports compiled in RIC headquarters put the numbers who turned out at just over 4,500 outside Dublin city. When 1,400 who paraded there  from among the capitals estimated 2,225 Irish Volunteers  were added, it was seen that a total 5,955 members of the organisation had shown up at nearly 40 events in 19 counties.

It was not just the police or government who were increasingly of the belief that something major was imminent. Sean Cody of Dublin Brigades 1st Battalion G company recalled nearly 40 years later to the Bureau of Military History how, at that time, It was felt by all that soon something big would take place.

Even the British military had to take an alternative route as soldiers carrying war material on horse-drawn vehicles encountered the procession of Volunteers, Cumann na mBan and James Connollys Irish Citizen Army that occupied the length of Dame Street from City Hall to College Green.

A large force of armed police were simply powerless to intervene and I cannot recollect a single incident to mar the fine demonstration arid the high standard of discipline and training displayed by the combined republican forces, Cody said.

It was certainly, as historian Fearghal McGarry has described it, like a dry run for a rising.

Earlier, the Dublin Brigade attended a military Mass in Saint Michael and Johns Church, which was unable to hold all Volunteers, so the 3rd Battalion had to attend an earlier service. An armed guard inside the altar-rails presented arms during the consecration, while Brigade officers saluted with their swords.

Perhaps more alarming than the numbers turning out nationally was the fact that 2,637 Volunteers almost half those on parades nationally  were carrying rifles or shotguns. These were part of an arsenal of nearly 4,000 such weapons believed by police to be in Irish Volunteers ownership.

They were mostly the remnants of the rifles from the 1914 gun-running episodes at Howth and Kilcoole, or arms owned by, donated or loaned to, Irish Volunteers companies from across the country. And many of those companies chose to carry pikes or hurleys rather than risk confiscation of their small, but precious, collections of arms.

In many cases, the Irish Volunteers (who were secretly coming under increasing control of the Irish Republican Brotherhood) marched alongside the ranks of the National Volunteers.

But in many places this militia, under the nominal control of Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond were by now an inactive organisation. Their numbers were slowly dwindling over the previous year, in tandem with once-strong public sympathy for the European war effort.

In Cork city, the Irish Volunteers boasted nearly 1,100 men as they took up position at the tail end of the civic parade organised under the chairmanship of Lord Mayor Thomas Butterfield. There had been speculation, mainly fuelled by the Cork Constitution  a unionist rival to the Redmond-supporting Cork Examiner  of possible tension between Tomas MacCurtains Cork Brigade of the Irish Volunteers, and the National Volunteers from which they had split 18 months earlier.

But while there was little basis to the rumours, companies arriving from around the county by train were under strict orders not to use ammunition without an order, or to be under the influence of drink.

(The recent failed prosecution of a Ballinspittle Volunteer who had accidentally fired two shots from a shotgun leaving a pub after a Sunday march could have influenced the need for such instructions. The journey home from one of Co Clares four St Patricks Day parades, at Carrigaholt, saw a row break out among two locals, and Irish Volunteers instructor Philip Curtin was remanded in custody by the local magistrate for breaking Michael ODeas jaw in three places.)

Despite the impressive numbers, police reported no demonstration of sympathy among the public who watched the processions, nor was the attitude of the spectators very encouraging. Indeed, that could have been an understatement of feelings among the 2,000 who lined the route of the Cork parade  from the Western Road, it moved in Great Georges Street (now Washington Street), left onto South and North Main Streets, along Popes Quay and Camden Place, over St Patricks Bridge onto St Patricks Street, Grand Parade, South Mall and ending at Parnell Place, where Lord Mayor Butterfield addressed the crowd.

Taking up the tail of the proceedings, the Irish Volunteers marched behind the much smaller cohort of 250 National Volunteers. They, in turn, were led by boy scouts carrying ropes, explained by placards as marking the space reserved for the four hundred of our comrades now fighting for Ireland in the trenches.

Such evocative reference to the local men at war in Europe might have encouraged the verbal abuse felt by the Irish Volunteers marching behind, particularly from family members of the missing soldiers.

British soldiers wifes [sic] and daughters spit in our faces, using vile language as they swarmed out of the slums on the principal streets, wrote John Lordan in 1950, a Kilmichael native who marched with the Volunteers from Kilmurry near Macroom.

They and others had left their limited arms at home, parading instead with croppy pikes made at a forge in Crookstown, a sign of the poor levels of weaponry at the disposal of the organisation.

It was this shortage which made the ongoing plot to import rifles from the Germans a crucial one if the imminent Rising was to succeed.

Parades

Outside of Dublin, the following numbers of Irish Volunteers paraded on St Patricks Day, 1916, according to police records:

Cork city:

1,080 men (560 with rifles or shotguns)

Castletownbere, Co Cork:

70

Galway city:

617 (206 armed)

Limerick:

748 (461 armed) in Limerick, Newcastlewest and Ardpatrick

Kerry:

748 (367 armed) in Tralee, Dingle, Caherciveen, Killarney and Listowel

Sligo:

165 in four locations

Monaghan:

138 in a church parade in Carrickmacross

Clare:

137 in Garranboy, Carrigaholt, Newmarket-on-Fergus and Crusheen

Tyrone:

130 (59 armed) at Coalisland and Boragh

Kilkenny:

122 (14 armed) in a church parade in the city

Wexford:

116 (24 armed) in Wexford, Ferns and Enniscorthy

Tipperary:

109 (49 armed) in Dovea, Tipperary and Dualla

Cavan:

76 (all armed) in Ballinagh

Westmeath:

65 in Athlone and Tyrrellspass

Roscommon:

65 in Ballaghadereen

Mayo:

60 (21 armed) in Castlebar

Offaly:

50 in Tullamore

Waterford city:

38

Meath:

26
Suicide and self-harm support organisation, Pieta House, conducted focus groups as part of a pilot project for its Resilience Programme, which is currently operating in seven schools in Cork and Dublin.

They found that the top student concern, at 50% of those asked, was school pressure, ahead of body image, anxiety and bullying, including cyber-bullying.

The finding was presented at a national conference, last week, into the issue of self-harm, organised by St Patricks University Hospital in Dublin.

According to Catherine Hughes, of Pieta House: In every school that we visited, school pressure was the biggest concern for students.

The Resilience Programme enables people to use their own strengths when faced with challenges, and creates a safe and confidential space where they can talk and be supported.

The programme was put together following interviews with teachers and student focus groups. It provides tips on how to adapt school culture to reduce student self-harm and suicidal ideation.

It employs long-term strategies incorporated into the curriculum, such as a five-week programme and outside, expert facilitators rather than staff.

Catherine Hughes said: We have had seven schools involved at this stage. Once the pilot/evaluation phase is completed, we have a waiting list of schools who hope to host the programme.

The conference also heard that many secondary-school students who accessed in-school counselling claimed they had more than one issue that concerned them.

Jimmy OConnell, a school counsellor in St Peters College, in Dunboyne, in Co Meath, gave a presentation on the programme in his own school.

Statistics for the last full school year, to summer 2015, showed that 141 students availed of counselling  97 girls and 44 boys, with 11 having self-harmed, including seven girls.

Family issues were cited as the reason for school-counselling referrals in 38 cases  more than a quarter of all referrals. Fourteen girls cited conflict with friends as a reason for the referral, and nine said school or exam anxiety were to blame. The most prevalent reason for referral among teenage boys was aggressive behaviour, at nine, while eight said it was due to stress and anxiety.

But the vast majority of students attending counselling at the school said they had more than one stressor: 33 students said they had three stressors, 29 students said they had two, and 26 said they had four.

The in-school counselling service complements the Jigsaw Meath School Project, which was established after eight youth suicides in the county, in 2005 and 2006, none of whom were known to HSE services.
Two hundred families are facing eviction from a Dublin housing estate, since a vulture fund moved against a developer.

Fianna Fail finance spokesperson, Michael McGrath, said citizens must be protected from these vulture funds, who have already used underhand tactics to trigger default on the part of borrowers, in an attempt to gain control of very valuable assets.

Mr McGrath warned that there was a real risk that this type of action may be stepped up, once these funds feel the political backdrop is more favourable.

There is now little doubt that we are going to see more of these developments, in the months ahead, unless concerted action is taken.

Clearly, vulture funds feel that there is limited sanction in the law, as it currently stands, to prevent them putting SMEs into receivership or seeking repossession of family and buy-to-let properties, Mr McGrath said.

The Sunday Business Post yesterday reported that more than 200 families living in a housing development in Tyrellstown, west Dublin, were facing eviction from their homes, following a deal between Goldman Sachs and a heavily indebted property developer.

Some families, living in rented accommodation in the Cruise Park area, have already been served with notices to quit their homes by property company, Twinlite.

Mr McGrath added: The new Dail must amend the legislation to ensure that any borrower who has entered into a restructuring arrangement, and who is sticking to it, cannot have that payment structure cancelled by the acquirer of a loan, or an agent operating on their behalf.

Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe also said members of the Dail must quickly act to address vulture funds.

How can we, in good conscience, sit in the Dail and not act immediately to prevent this spiral of homelessness from claiming more and more families, as the weeks go by?
The groups, in Lismore, say they wont let the theft hinder their celebration of 25 years as a heritage town. Ironically, the town just last week celebrated success in the nationwide Adopt A Monument scheme.

Crowbars were used to remove two roadside mile-markers, or milestones, from the limestone walls on the Lismore-to-Tallow road, in west Waterford.

Mealla Fahey, of Lismore Heritage, appealed to anyone who had seen anything suspicious on the Lismore-Tallow road last Wednesday night, or in the early hours of Thursday morning, to contact them or the gardai.

These cast-iron mile-markers are y-shaped, painted black and white, and feature the distance in miles, between Tallow and Lismore. They are about 3ft tall and about a foot wide, painted white with black writing, and are very distinctive. There are only five of them in all in this general area so were very anxious to trace them and have them returned.

They were probably taken to be sold on to Irish pubs abroad, so we would appeal to anyone in the market for such memorabilia to be on the look out. It has been a phenomenal year for this tight-knit community, and we were honoured to be crowned the Failte Ireland Top Small Tourism Town 2015 and have some great festivities planned for May 14, to celebrate 25 years as a tourism town.

This is extremely disappointing and disheartening. But it will not dissuade our efforts in any way. If anything, this theft will further unite and motivate what is a fantastic heritage town community.

The theft came just days after Lismore was confirmed as one of five areas nation-wide to be included under the Irish Heritage Councils Adopt A Monument scheme.

Work is also about to begin on the restoration of 19th century ice-houses on the edge of the town, in a joint project involving the local Tidy Towns Committee and Waterford City and County Council.

Tidy Towns spokesperson, Mary OBrien, was one of the first to be alerted: These mile-markers were landmarks for over 160 years, and I cant understand the mindset of anyone who would prise them from their limestone mortar in the dead of night, she said.

Were flabbergasted, but we wont let it stop us in our tracks. Were driving on with our Adopt A Monument programme, with our 1916 commemoration event in Millennium Park here in Lismore, on April 17, and with our 25-year celebrations in mid-May. We would appeal to whoever took these iconic landmarks to return them, or to anyone who is offered them for sale to alert us, or the appropriate authorities.
Every year on my daughters birthday, Facebook messages and cards arrive from far-flung places. Its our former au pairs with well-wishes; I jokingly call them the fairy godmothers.

For 20,000 families in Ireland, all or some of their childcare needs are being met by au pairs, so its not surprising that theres been a heated response to the news of the Workplace Relations Commissions ruling in favour of a Spanish au pair, awarded 9,000 when the WRC found that her host family were breaking employment law for paying her 100 a week.

Weve hosted eight au pairs, beginning when the kids were four and nine, from Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic. Its tricky to find a good match and we need someone adaptable (Im a single mother, juggling writing and an MA. Routine? What routine?). The kids are 11 and 16 now, and our household is noisy and chaotic. We laugh a lot, we cry a lot, we argue a lot and we dance in the kitchen. Oh, and Im an absolute stickler for the green veg.

Weve had hits and misses. Weve had au pairs who confidently declared themselves excellent cooks serve up pasta bakes where the pasta was still crunchy. Weve had au pairs like older sisters to the kids, always up for a laugh and a cuddle, who helped with homework with grace and good humour. Weve had au pairs who sulked, ignored the kids and spent every Monday in a hung-over fog, having blown their entire allowance on beer at the weekend. Weve had au pairs with breathtaking fridge-raiding tendencies.

Ive heard horror stories of outrageous exploitation. One of our au pairs was with a family with three children under five and both parents working. She was expected to do night feeds with a four-month-old baby five nights a week on top of her daily duties of caring for the baby and two pre-schoolers. We met to discuss her coming to us instead, and she cried when she told me her story.

Another au pair confided that a friend was driven to tears, screaming at the baby in her care, What do you WANT? The infant had special needs and the girl was isolated in a rural area for long hours with no transport and a constantly crying baby whose needs she didnt understand  a child protection nightmare if ever I heard one.

What I really dont understand is how exploitative parents can imagine that their childs welfare could be safe in such hands. Its extraordinary that were all talking about the welfare of au pairs and the needs of parents with no mention at all of the most voiceless and vulnerable group of all: the babies and children whose safety is on the line.

Au pair in landmark trial set to pursue her second host family https://t.co/8YlMzjmcmc (GM) pic.twitter.com/Yp3tRJJnRv  Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) March 13, 2016

For anyone contemplating an au pair, there are plenty of guidelines on the Irish National Au Pair Association website at inapa.org. Au pairs should work 30- 35 hours per week maximum, be available for light housework, have weekends free and access to language classes. The guidelines ensure you dont take advantage of an au pair and treat her as a skivvy while ensuring that your kids arent being minded by a stressed-out, resentful person.

A huge black market in childcare is being fed by parents, au pairs and dont forget, local cash-in-hand childminders. The Au Pairs in Cork closed Facebook group has 5,500 members, and the prevalence of young women from South America and the Philippines is notable; many of them want cash-in-hand work, and a way to stay and build a life in Ireland.

But in some cases, the term au pair seems to be rapidly becoming an euphemism for an undocumented domestic worker, and informal online arrangements provide no safety net for parents or vulnerable young people.

Ger Mallon and his wife Viv run Douglas Au Pairs, an agency in the suburbs of Cork. A line of distinction needs to be drawn between an au pair and a qualified childminder, Mr Mallon believes.

Being an au pair is not domestic labour, its a cultural exchange, Mr Mallon said. Weve been asking politicians to legislate for years; Ireland is the only country in the EU where au pairing is unregulated. We need to formalise the concept of an au pair as a separate cultural institution; its not a replacement for full-time childcare.

Theres no denying that many beleaguered parents are feeling aggrieved at the WRC ruling. Many say they go beyond the call of duty and that their role far exceeds that of employers. They say the 54 weekly room and board the WRC allowed parents as a deduction goes no way towards the true value, both financial and supportive, of their role as hosts to young girls.

Im so cross about this, said one mother-of-three who has had six au pairs in the last four years. On their days off we feed them and they have the full use of our homes seven days a week? What about taking them on holidays, hosting birthday parties for them, having their family to stay ?

How does her role differ to that of an employer? Paying for toiletries, doing their laundry, driving them into town on nights out, helping one of my au pairs get the morning-after pill, or being there emotionally for another who coming out as lesbian.
The plan is to release one episode each month with the final episode tipped to be released in September. The next Hitman episode, to be released in April, will be set in Italy, before the action moves to Morocco in May. The series will then go to Thailand, Japan, and the US.

IO Interactive also revealed that it plans to release a disc featuring all seven episodes. This physical release is expected in January 2017.
I can sympathise with some of the anger expressed by Louise ONeill in her article to mark International Womens Day.

Its easy to be angry as a woman about some aspects of Irish society. Short sentences for rapists, lack of adequate parental leave, negative attitudes towards breastfeeding  these are all things that should stir irate feelings in both men and women who want to improve Irish society.

But many people reading this article will not feel a sense of righteous anger at the need to work on improving these issues. Instead, theyll be astonished at the constant refrain that echoes throughout, namely that the repeal of the 8th Amendment is a prerequisite to a woman-friendly Ireland. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

Theres a lot of confusion about the 8th Amendment and what it does. Much of the blame for that confusion must rest with the outgoing government, who consistently blurred the facts during the months that led up to the 2013 abortion act. This means that commentators feel free to quote the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar as a reason to repeal the 8th Amendment, despite the fact that three independent reports determined that the lack of abortion was not a factor in her death.

The abortion debate in Ireland pits woman against woman in the worst way imaginable. Every woman who wants the best for herself and her loved ones is a feminist. But in Ireland today, there is very little room for a pro-life feminist, despite the fact that her reasons for holding that position may be based on what has been proven to be best for women.

Feminists who claim that abortion is something positive for women have their work cut out for them. Defending the 2013 Act will be hard enough when you consider the fact that it isnt based on any medical evidence whatsoever, allowing abortion up to birth if there is a threat of suicide even though there is no evidence anywhere in the world to show abortion treats suicide ideation but plenty to show that abortion can have a negative effect on a womans mental health.

Every feminist in the country should be demanding the repeal of this outrageous law as the first act of the new government.

When it comes to the 8th Amendment, theyll have to explain why we should remove a provision that is responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people. This provision isnt just a few words in our Constitution. Its a statement about the type of society we want, one that values everyone, born and unborn.

Campaigners in favour of abortion talk about the women who travel for abortions as if they return as committed advocates in favour of abortion. In reality, many of these women deeply regret what they felt was a cul-de- sac in their lives which led them to an abortion clinic and the loss of their child. These women shouldnt be used by abortion campaigners.

Many are now involved with the pro-life movement. Some want to speak out publicly about their experience, not to inflict shame or guilt on other women but so that they are aware of the risks of that misnomer, safe, legal abortion.

Unfortunately, there doesnt seem to be a place for them in the brave new Ireland that encourages any woman to shout your abortion, but only if youre shouting from a pro-choice perspective.

And we only have to look to Britain to see the devastation that abortion can wreak on a society  90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome aborted, one in four pregnancies ending in abortion, consent forms pre-signed by doctors that make a mockery of the idea that any legislation can contain sufficient safeguards. How are we ever supposed to protect women in Ireland against the corruptive effect of abortion on the medical profession if were not even prepared to discuss the abuses that are out there?

Its time to stop muddying the waters when we talk about abortion. If we want whats best for women, then we have to welcome all women to the debate and address the facts as they are.

Abortion is not the deliverance from male oppression that its advocates would have us believe. For many women I know, it was a last resort that introduced the kind of shame, guilt and regret that we wouldnt wish on any of the women we love.

I oppose abortion because I agree with Louise ONeill that all human life is beautiful. But I also oppose it because Ive seen the results of how it can devastate a woman after promising to be the solution to her problems.

Abortion is the ultimate betrayal of women and that, to a feminist, is the worst crime of all.

Cora Sherlock is deputy chair of the Pro Life campaign
SEAN MacDIARMADA organised the Easter Rising. Professor F.X. Martin called him the mainspring.

Organising was what MacDiarmada did best. He had been doing it all his adult life since the Belfast Irish Republican Brotherhood appointed him in 1907 at the age of 24 as full-time organiser for their republican Dungannon Clubs.

He became known to republicans nationally when he acted as organiser for Sinn Fein in the 1908 by-election in his home county of Leitrim: it was Sinn Feins first ever parliamentary contest. Sean T. OKelly said MacDiarmadas efforts made him an sar-fhear [the superman] of Leitrim.

In March 1908, he moved to Dublin where he hit it off with Tom Clarke, the veteran Fenian recently returned from America.

Soon he was full-time national organiser for the IRB, paid by Clan na Gael money from the US which Clarke controlled. From 1908 until his execution, MacDiarmada travelled the country, continually recruiting men for the IRB, an organisation which had withered since the 1880s.

In 1911, MacDiarmada suffered a serious health shock when he contracted polio, probably from dirty water he had used on his travels. However, within four months he was active again, walking on a stick, sometimes on a hurley.

From 1911 MacDiarmada was also the business manager of Irish Freedom, in effect the IRB newspaper. In that capacity he developed contacts all over Ireland with local circulation managers of the paper, in most cases men he had recruited into the IRB.

By 1912, MacDiarmada and Clarke had taken control of the IRB. From then on, they acted as a two-man executive of the IRB, Clarke as treasurer and MacDiarmada as secretary.

For MacDiarmada, none of this activity was simply a matter of doing a job. As manager of Irish Freedom, he kept working through meal times until he finished the task in hand.

Working for Irish independence was a vocation which consumed his life. Everything he did was a function of that aim. His spare time was taken up with Irish-Ireland activities.

He was a member of the Keating branch of the Gaelic League, an IRB hotbed. Other members included Cathal Brugha, Thomas MacDonagh, Thomas Ashe, Eamonn Ceannt.

The branch had its own Irish language journal, Banba, and a drama society, Na hAisteoiri, which staged plays in Irish. MacDiarmada acted in them.

He had started to call himself Sean MacDiarmada in 1906, which is how he signed the 1911 census. He was only being accurate when he described his religion on the census form as Naisiuntacht na hEireann (Irish nationalist).

For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE

MacDiarmada was obsessed with secrecy. He had imbibed from Tom Clarke the stories of betrayal of Fenians by informers and agents provocateurs.

MacDiarmada was determined to prevent information leaking out and he was substantially successful. He left no political testament. His surviving letters are personal rather than political.

Indeed, the irony is that if it were not for police surveillance reports, little would be known about his travels as IRB national organiser.

By 1913, with the formation of the Volunteers, MacDiarmada and Clarke at last had their army to enable them to mount an insurrection. From 1914, the IRB was determined there must be a rising before the war ended and accordingly MacDiarmada threw himself into its organisation.

As a ticket-of-leave man, Clarke could be sent back to jail for any misdemeanour so MacDiarmada increasingly took the lead role. By 1915, he held in his grasp lines of communication to all the leading figures in the Irish Volunteers across the country who had rejected John Redmonds call to arms in September 1914.

His planning and organising were done surreptitiously, under the noses of the official Volunteer command structure and of most of his fellow-members of the IRB Supreme Council. Until the last minute it seemed MacDiarmada would pull it off.

The Rising that took place was not the one MacDiarmada had organised or envisaged. There is good evidence there was a national plan kept in a safe in his office, not a blood sacrifice.

MacDiarmada had organised an enormous coordinated uprising with hundreds of men available in Kerry and Limerick, 1,000 in Cork, 700 in County Galway and 1,300 in Armagh, Down, Louth and Meath, not to mention the four battalions in the Dublin brigade. German weapons would arm the men of the south-west.

Over two days, the plan fell apart. The German weapons consignment was lost. Then the fatal countermanding order scuppered the deployment of volunteers around the country.

Nevertheless, MacDiarmada was intent on pressing on regardless, like his hero Robert Emmet. He believed that if Ireland did not demonstrate a will for independence by an insurrection, then the British government could claim that Irish people were content to be governed by the British.

MacDiarmada had devoted his life to that belief and the importance of his role is illustrated by the fact that his signature on the Proclamation of the Irish Republic is second only to Tom Clarkes.

Brian Feeney is head of history at St Marys University College, Belfast, a political commentator, and author of Sean MacDiarmada in the 16 Lives biography series published by OBrien Press.

Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE
A CHILD surrogacy conference took place in Dublin on Mothers Day, March 6. The title was Families Through Surrogacy, and it was a trade fair for fertility centres and legal and medical professionals, who were promoting the expanding, international, assisted human reproduction (AHR) industry.

This conference was business-like. It focused on the practicalities, legalities, and logistics of surrogacy in the US. Agencies represented included the trans-national Oregon Reproductive Medicine Ireland and various other US fertility centres, which had names like Growing Generations, Hope Springs and Create. The cost of having a child through surrogacy averages 100,000. The surrogate mother gets 30,000, so she is by no means the main beneficiary. Costly, but, as the conference was told, this was the gold standard in reproductive technology, the Rolls Royce of AHR, not to be compared with cheaper alternatives from Asian countries.

Last Saturday, March 12, Galway University hosted a legal conference on surrogacy. Because this took place in an academic setting, with expert contributors, does not mean it was an open-minded discussion. On the contrary, the promotional material made it clear that the conference would address a concern that the issue of surrogacy could lose priority. That was an understated, and disingenuous, reference to the rising movement against surrogacy across Europe.

Universities should be platforms for debate, not for advocacy. Given its timing, it is hard not to see this conference as part of a comprehensive strategy to advance the case for surrogacy in Ireland

Coincidentally, last Friday weeks Late, Late Show included an interview with two gay men, who had triplets via a surrogate mother in the US, 15 years ago.

This was the soft sell of the same campaign to normalise the industry in Ireland, by building social acceptance for families through surrogacy. Ryan Tubridys sympathetic interview with the couple avoided any hard questions.

The presence of two of the triplets in the audience signalled that this would not be an appropriate forum for asking such hard questions, but also, more subtly, that it would be mean-spirited and impertinent to do so.

The appropriateness of using children to promote sensitive and complex adult agendas is questionable. Children living at home with their parents do not have the necessary perspective, and maturity, to comment on the potential impact their upbringing may have on them in future years.

Far better to ask adults who have been born through surrogacy how the circumstances of their birth, and parenting, affected them in later life. Of course, it is too soon to find such adults. There may, however, be something to learn from the testimonies of the adults born through sperm donation, some of whom, like Dr Joanna Rose, and Dr Robert Oscar Lopez, who were raised by lesbian parents, told their stories in the Irish media during the marriage-referendum campaign.

The 15-year-old daughter of the gay couple, who told Tubridy that having no mother was not a problem, as she had lots of aunties and a godmother, may see her situation differently when she becomes a woman, and a mother, herself.

Most aunts and godmothers are also mothers in their own right. They have their own children, who take priority in their lives.

The two gay fathers, no doubt, have nieces and nephews and godchildren, too, but these relationships were not enough for them.

Why is being a parent more important than having one? It is not to deny that the love and loyalty of that young girl to her dad and her daddy are real to say that her needs and theirs might not be the same.

The context in which this legal, commercial, and ideological campaign is taking place, in Ireland, is the rapidly changing attitude towards surrogacy, particularly in Europe.

Last December, the European Parliament voted against surrogacy in all its forms. Following a damning report on surrogacy commissioned by the Swedish government, that country is set to ban surrogacy, not only within its own borders, but also to prevent Swedes from travelling for surrogacy elsewhere.

Feminists in France have been campaigning against surrogacy, because it exploits vulnerable women and commodifies children.

We have seen the scandals of surrogate mothers being forced to abort babies with disability, or obliged to stay in mother-and-baby homes away from their families for the duration of their pregnancy, and having to do so in places like Nepal.

We have seen how a Japanese billionaire could order 16 children from different Thai clinics. Human beings are not meant to be traded and graded in this way.

The Family and Relationships Bill of 2015 shirked the issue of surrogacy. It will have to be revisited, in the light of equality legislation and the passing of the marriage referendum.

Families through sperm donation is already provided for in legislation. We need to take stock and ask how a childs interest is served in either situation. Slick trade conferences, university endorsements, and soft-sell interviews that concentrate determinedly only on positives cant hide the fact that surrogacy is about adults having what they want, rather than children having what they need.
SOLVING yet another famous case, Sherlock Holmes noticed the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. It had not barked: That was the curious incident, the detective observed.

The same observation might be made about the Irish Catholic bishops, immediately following the 1916 Rising; why was there no joint pastoral, condemning the Rising?

Apart from the individual condemnations of a handful of bishops  Bishop Denis Kelly, of the diocese of Ross, being the most vociferous and trenchant  there was no unified, episcopal reaction to armed insurrection by an oath-bound society, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, even though the penalty of membership  theoretically  was excommunication.

The answer as to why the episcopal dog did not bark is complex. A draft condemnation was prepared, but never issued. That is partly explained by divisions within the hierarchy, and by the speed at which the events occurred. The Archbishop of Dublin, William Walsh, was deliberately slow to react. He resisted being pressurised, by Dublin Castle, to respond within a day of the Rising.

To have done so would have given the British government a propaganda tool to use against Irish nationalists  and the prelate was a strong Irish nationalist, but not a physical-force one. Prudence dictated procrastination. The unpredictability of the rapidly-changing events, between Easter Monday, April 24, and May 12, 1916, proved the wisdom of not jumping into the fray  particularly as such an episcopal condemnation would have been used by the British to justify executions and extra-judicial killings in the suppression of the Rising.

Living through those two weeks, an aged and ailing archbishop of Dublin would have realised that what was happening would likely redirect the course of Irish history. Those executed were not anonymous, anti-clerical [French] commundards or [Italian] carbonari; many were personally known to the bishops, and the clergy, as devout Catholic laymen, leaders in their respective professional fields, active members of the Gaelic League and the GAA.

The perception of respectability was reinforced by the manner in which the executed leaders chose to die  where they were given a choice  with the last sacraments and in the arms of the Church. The relationship of a number of the executed leaders to the Catholic Church was not as simple as the perception that emerged after the Rising, through the testimony of the brave chaplains who tended them, and in the content of the leaders letters to family.

Notwithstanding the disposition of individual revolutionary leaders, the dilemma for the hierarchy was that those who participated in the Rising were overwhelmingly Catholic and many had gone to great lengths to hear confession before they went out. For example, Patrick and Willie Pearse had gone to Mount Argus on Good Friday, with others, to get confession.

Questions surround the claim of Count Plunkett (with beard, between Eamon de Valera and Arthur Griffith) that he received advance blessing for the Rising, from Pope Benedict XV, right. Picture: PA/Getty

The following day, Patrick Pearse went to the Dominick St. Church, where he got communion with some difficulty, because it was Holy Saturday. He worried about not being able to take his mother to Mass on Easter Sunday, and made arrangements, in his absence, for it to be done. Many other stories of that kind could be reproduced here.

What the hierarchy would have faced, in the wake of the Rising and the executions  had they condemned the Rising  was not merely a revolt among the laity, but also a very strong dissident movement within the religious orders (male and female), the diocesan clergy, and even on the bench of bishops itself.

In speaking about the Rising as a turning point in Irish history, it might be worth proposing that  in the case of the Catholic Church  the rupture with the British Liberal government had occurred long before the events of the Rising. Episcopal patience with the Home Rule project stretched from 1886  the year after Walsh became Archbishop of Dublin  to the outbreak of World War 1.

Long before the Rising, therefore, the Catholic hierarchy had grown weary of waiting. Apart from the ideological clash between the doctrines of liberalism and Catholicism, the Liberal government had proved a constant source of disappointment, most notably with the Irish Universities Act (1908), which failed to deliver a Catholic University for the country.

But, since then, the hierarchy had witnessed what they perceived as the unchecked and treasonous behaviour of Sir Edward Carson and northern unionists  a view commonly shared by leading Catholic laymen, like the president of University College Cork, the Empire nationalist, Sir Bertram Windle. He wrote in his diary, in April, 1914: The parliamentary intrigues are still in full blast. Can it be supposed that there is any person, outside parliament, who still retains any vestige of respect for that most contemptible body.

In July, he wrote in his diary: No trouble in Ireland, after all [Curragh mutiny], but why does somebody not geld that ass Carson.

For regular updates on news and features (as well as twitter action action as it may have happened 100 years ago) to mark the revolutionary period follow @theirishrev HERE

Prior to the Rising, there was a strong feeling, among members of the clergy and the hierarchy, that the British government was operating a two-tier policy in Ireland, one strict and repressive for nationalists, and one indulgent and permissive for Carsons northern unionists.

The measured and moderate commander and chief of the Irish Volunteers, Professor Eoin MacNeill, wrote to a clerical friend on March 16, 1916: The late Dr Tohill, Bishop of Down and Connor, a holy and conscientious man, said to me many years ago: The connext [sic] with England is the one curse of Ireland. Every piece of knowledge that comes to me proves this to be true. I hold proof of the dishonourable and degrading character of English government in Ireland that would astonish the Russians.

He added: So far as I can judge, the majority of the priests in Ireland are in hearty support of the position taken by the Irish Volunteers, and I thank God for it, for it would be unfortunate for Ireland, and perhaps for the future of religion in Ireland, if they were not.

Two days before, Eamonn Ceannt, one of the leaders to be executed, thanked the same priest for a sermon he had given to a congregation of Irish Volunteers under Ceannts command: We were greatly delighted, and stimulated, by your remarks, which were as frank as they were unexpected. May we all live to see the day to which we look confidently forward.

That day was not far off. What Ceannt had recognised was that religion mattered to himself, and to rank-and-file volunteers.

IRB leaders were aware that the disposition of the Catholic Church was of importance to the success of an armed uprising. Joseph Mary Plunkett, at the centre of IRB plans for a rising at Easter, swore his father, Count George Noble Plunkett, into the organisation a few weeks before the rising.

He sent him on a mission to Rome to seek a papal blessing for those who were about to take part in the Rising. The count saw Pope Benedict XV in a private audience, and claimed that he had received the requested blessing. I remain unconvinced of that.

Upon his return, news of the blessing was circulated. Discounting the veracity of Plunketts account is for another forum, but what the episode reveals is the lengths to which the IRB went to ensure that the Irish Volunteers would not be put off, by episcopal censure, from participating in a rising.

In the end, the Catholic hierarchy did not bark in the first week of the Rising. When episcopal voices were raised a short time later, most notably those of Daniel Cohalan, of Cork, and Edward ODwyer, of Limerick, their message was of cold comfort to the British government.

The British Home Rule policy was nothing more than a husk by 1916, and was further devalued by the policy proposal, later that year, to institutionalise the conflict between nationalism and northern unionism, via partition. The latter was the nightmare outcome, for the Irish Catholic Church, of three decades of struggle; the Liberals were now prepared to leave northern Catholics as permanent hostages inside a Protestant north-eastern Ireland. In the immediate aftermath of the Rising, any debate about the ethics and morality of revolution were swept to one side by the executions, and by the hanging of Roger Casement, for treason, on August 3 in Pentonville.

The clergy acting as chaplains during the Rising were edified by the piety of those they tended. Within weeks, the executed leaders received a form of canonisation, vox populi, vox dei. Coupled with the Rising, the mass arrests, the deportations to Britain, and the policy of repression, an insurrection was transformed into a popular revolution.

If there were carbonari, or secular revolutionaries, among the IRB leadership  and there certainly were  what emerged, in the aftermath of the Rising, was a movement ultimately led by Eamon de Valera, who could write to the pope during the Civil War, on April 30, 1923: Please give to the Holy Father my dutiful homage. Though nominally cut away from the body of Holy Church, we are still spiritually, and mystically, of it and we refuse to regard ourselves, except as His children.

Dr Dermot Keogh is emeritus professor of history, University College Cork

Enjoyed this? Then check out our dedicated micro-site, developed in collaboration with UCC, to mark the revolutionary period HERE
What is it with Ireland and housing?

The last few decades were a missed opportunity to insulate and cut energy bills as the government delayed introducing EU legislation.

The latest attempt is on course to be another missed opportunity. The building renovation strategy submitted to the EU sets out how they will reduce greenhouse gases from buildings.

Ireland is praised for ticking the boxes, but then this is just a first version to be revised in 2014 after public consultation  but the Commission is still waiting.

It then reveals the overview is based on figures from 2007  a lot has happened since then. So it looks as though Irelands energy plans are something of a mirage.

The latest cure to build further outside Dublin will further exacerbate Irelands greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the already very high emissions from cars.

Biting the hand that feeds you

If Britain appears confused over its relationship with the EU, then many of the countrys members of the European Parliament are too.

Syed Kamall, the British Tory MEP who heads up the ECR group (European Conservatives and Reformists) has announced he will campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

While some are calling for him to resign as group leader, many wonder what he is doing taking EU money for doing a job he wants to do away with.

He fears that the UK will be forced to adopt the euro and he dislikes that freedom of movement for EU citizens is unfair to migrants.

The ECR has invited its two Eurosceptic and xenophobic German AfD members to leave  or be expelled next month.

Word is that German chancellor Angela Merkel asked David Cameron to arrange this as the AfD are a threat.

Eddies a man of many talents

Irish civil servants in Brussels get little recognition, despite working crazy hours, chasing after politicians and trying to keep up with the paper work and interminable meetings. Often, they have other talents, like the spokesperson in the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU, Eddie Brannigan, who played Inspector Hound in the hilarious Tom Stoppard play, The Real Inspector Hound, in Brussels tiny Warehouse Studio theatre.

Reprieve for Irelands corporation tax

Irelands corporation-tax regime got a reprieve during the week, when the EU finance ministers proposed, and the others agreed, not to make public the tax situation of multinationals.

Ireland has signed up to a very similar agreement with the OECD that countries will swap multinational tax arrangements with one another. This will allow countries to see if they are being deprived of tax, but the details will not be made public. This will also allow EU countries to ensure companies are paying fair tax, but not those companies in the developing world. NGOs, like Action Aid, are disappointed, as they say this is an essential element in ensuring fair play for developing countries, such as those in Africa, where special deals rob them of an estimated $200bn a year in tax.

Thalidomide suffering ongoing

The Thalidomide scandal of half a century ago has resulted in more stringent controls on medicines, especially for pregnant women.

But the children born with under-developed or missing limbs, as a result of that drugs use, are now suffering increased pain and trouble.

Fine Gael MEP, Mairead McGuinness, wants the European Commission to take action at EU level to help the victims, and their families, with the increasing health challenges many of them face daily.

There are 32 known survivors in Ireland, and, world-wide, about 5,000, or half of those who were affected, are still alive.

No adverse effect from environment laws

The OECD has come out with research that will upset a lot of their industry. It says that better environmental laws do not adversely affect trade in manufactured goods.

So this sends the carbon leakage idea much touted by governments as a reason to hold onto polluting businesses up in smoke.

Even high pollution or energy-intensive industries like chemicals, plastics, or steel making would suffer a small disadvantage from a further tightening of rules, but this would be compensated by growth from other cleaner activities.

In fact, the OECD says, manufacturers that already pollute less will gain global market share even with tougher domestic laws while those that do not adapt will see their exports decrease. Market conditions and workforce quality are what really drives exports.

Tobacco lobbying raises its head again

The fallout from the forced retirement of health commissioner John Dalli in 2012 continues with the botched tobacco lobbying issue now being used against the head of the EUs European Anti-Fraud Office.

Giovanni Kessler, former centre left Italian MEP and anti-Mafia prosecutor, took over at the office in 2011. He investigated Dalligate for the commission but now the Belgians want to prosecute him for listening on speakerphone to a conversation with a potential witness designed to gather evidence.

The college of commissioners lifted his immunity from prosecution two weeks ago after four requests from the Belgians to the delight of centre right members of the parliament prompting accusations of a political witch-hunt against him.
THE best thing about the Irish Cancer Society is that they didnt do a KFC. You know the way when the obesity issue first began to gain prominence, the word fried became evil? Back then, the Kentucky Fried Chicken people decided to go for initials. They took out the reference to Kentucky, their state of origin, presumably to remove all association with the deep-fried culinary tradition of the American Deep South. They took out the dirty F word. They even took out the bird word, which seemed a bit OTT, unless you are given to conspiracy theories, in which case you assume that sooner or later, youll buy a bucket of fried something and that something may be  well, lets not go there.

KFC rebranded and not a murmur came from Kentuckians, fried food aficionados or the chicken advocacy people. They rebranded so seamlessly that a friend of mine was astonished, recently, to find out that chicken was actually involved in the KFC offering. (Admittedly, this friend is one of those awful people who talks about eating clean so essentially, if its not raw and unpeeled, she doesnt know about it.) The Irish Cancer Society never followed this example, despite the fact that their title has a word in it that knocks fried to the bottom of the bucket as a fear maker. Cancer is a heart-stopper word. Or was, when the Irish Cancer Society started up. Back then, if you were diagnosed with cancer, you were goosed. Gone. Ready to pop your clogs. And possibly committed to concealing what was wrong with you, because cancer had a weirdly pejorative connotation.

In the intervening years, two things have happened. The first is that the instant death sentence has been lifted, for the most part. Cancer treatments have improved. In some parts of the world, particularly places like Florida, a US state which is awash in sunshine and contains more old people than any other state of the Union, cancer is now regarded as a chronic, rather than lethal disease. You meet people in Florida with steri-strips forming a kiss mark on their faces, and you immediately go Skin cancer. Grand. Its that routine.

The second thing that happened is Dr Google. Now, Dr Google has his points. Or her points, although Im convinced hes mainly a fella. But when it comes to cancer, Dr Google is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, he familiarises us with visible cancers like melanoma so that amateur or self-diagnosis is easy.

On the other hand, Dr Google has a tendency to amplify ambient stupidity. Chairing a conference of oncologists in Amsterdam last year, I found that just to mention Dr Google caused them emotional meltdown. If they could ban him, they would. One of them said, through gritted teeth, that one patient of hers, diagnosed with a particularly fast-travelling cancer, announced that she was postponing treatment for a few weeks because Dr Google told her a blueberry cleanse might do the trick.

A variant on this has just surfaced nearer home, where Dr Conleth Murphy, consultant oncologist at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, has just done his own bit of teeth-gritting over herbal remedies. Sure what harm, I hear you say, in taking something as natural as an herbal remedy, as long as you also take whatever chemo is prescribed for you? Dr Murphy hardly knows where to start rebutting that one, although he heads for the liver, pointing out that herbal remedies get eliminated from the body in the same way as conventional medicines. They are eliminated through the liver, and if your liver is already trying to cope with Interferon or whatever the oncologist has prescribed for you, you dont want it distracted by having to cope with herbals at the same time. But thats only the start of it. Theres also the possibility that your natural remedies and the conventional ones may not get along together that well.

We know that many of these herbs and drugs interact with each other and can potentially interfere with cancer treatment so the most important thing is that doctors and nurses are made aware if a patient is taking them, says Dr Murphy.

Bottom line, if you are diagnosed with cancer, ignore Dr Google, for starters. Then tell your medical team about anything else youre taking, including hormones. Then go on the Irish Cancer Societys website if you want to get a detailed steer and some solid help when it comes to managing and surviving the disease.

The Irish Cancer Society provides the most amazing range of services, including night-nursing at home for cancer patients who are not going to survive, and those services are for the most part paid for through fundraising.

Key to that fundraising is Daffodil Day. Here is where I get to declare an UN-vested interest. The company I then owned and ran did the PR for the very first Daffodil Day, back in 1988. Right now, however, me and the Irish Cancer Society have no commercial relationship, so I can talk freely about what has become a phenomenal example of great fundraising.

It started with a Dublin businessman named Charles Cully, who spotted the idea in Canada. The basic notion was that on a specially designated day daffodils are sold to allow the development of a cadre of specially-trained nurses to give specialised care to cancer patients. At the beginning, real daffodils were sold, which presented logistical problems akin to landing six elephants on the moon, although the printing of official wrapping paper ensured that anybody who bought a daffodil knew where their money was going. As time went on, however, it became clear that brooches of fabric daffs made more sense, except for the initial photographs. Those initial photographs, looked at down the years, have a wonderful sameness to them: lots and lots of bunches of bright yellow flowers symbolising spring and with it the return of hope. Add children and currently famous people and the visual carries the inevitability of magic.

One of the famous people back then was Charlie Haughey, leader of Fianna Fail, taoiseach, and extremely popular at the time. Others included Pat Kenny and Anne Doyle. Everybody gave their time and their face for free. I cant remember that anybody suffering from cancer got much of a look-in, and thats one of the great contrasts with this year, when the campaign features people like Stephanie Loughran and Bobby Kerr, hammering home the message that, while cancer may have tried to kill both, the small donations of millions of people on Daffodil Day helped prevent that happening.

The tone of Daffodil Day has changed. The services it funds have expanded, diversified and changed. The faces of the unpaid volunteers who deliver boxes of daffodil brooches and organise events have changed over time. But they went out, this year, as they have gone out for the last 28 years. Because of controversies involving charities, they knew they might get the odd barbed comment, but they also knew that the services their fundraising supports matter to every family in the country. They are heroes. Heroes helping heroes.
She had accompanied president Reagan on his homecoming visit to his ancestral Co Tipperary parish on June 3, 1984. A physically frail but extremely gracious woman, she smiled when parish priest Fr John Murphy called her Missus and sipped a Carolans Irish cream liqueur in the Ronald Reagan Lounge while her beloved husband enjoyed a pint of Smithwicks.

Her maternal instincts were obvious when she cradled in her arms Catherine Nancy OFarrell, the infant daughter of John and Mary OFarrell, who had named their licensed premises after the 40th US President.

Nancy Reagan and her husband were taken aback when they met with Myles Regan, Ardeen, Buttevant, Co Cork, who was the image of Mr Reagan.

It was amazing how much he and I resembled each other  his eyes and hair, his whole facial structure all resembled mine, Mr Reagan wrote in his autobiography, An American Life.

Hugh Peskett, the genealogist from Burkes Peerage who had traced Ronald Reagans roots from Tampico in Illinois to Ballyporeen, made him a presentation.

But then Mr Reagan gave Mr Peskett a handwritten note with his name embossed in the top left hand corner and asked him to do some further research to see if he was related to his treasury secretary Don Regan.

He disclosed that Don Regan and himself often joked about their similar names and referred to each other as cousins.

Nancy Reagan, regarded as one of the most powerful and influential first ladies in US history, was taken to her final resting place with a kilted piper playing Danny Boy. The post-funeral reception was held in the Air Force One pavilion, centre point of the hilltop presidential library and museum, north of Los Angeles.

Former president George W Bush and his wife Laura, president Obamas wife Michelle, and former first lady Hillary Clinton were among those present.

Located beneath one of the wings of the Boeing 707 aircraft that flew Ronald Reagan and six other US presidents around the world from 1973 to 2001 is the pub from Ballyporeen that bears his name. All furnishings including the bar counter and the original external signage were acquired from the OFarrell family and transported to the presidential library and museum, where it honours his Irish roots.

A framed copy of a letter that Mr Reagan once wrote to John OFarrell, who died last September, and his wife Mary, is displayed on the wall behind the cash register. Yes, he wrote, John Kennedy has an airport. Johnson has a space centre; but Ronald Reagan proudly has a pub. Now, thats got flair.
They should leave us alone until then, the countrys oil minister, Bijan Zangeneh, said, according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

After that we will work with them.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, and Qatar proposed an accord to freeze oil output and tackle a global surplus.

Oil extended gains after their meeting on February 16, and has climbed more than 40% since the 12-year low in January.

Oil at $70 a barrel is suitable, ISNA cited Zangeneh as saying.

Iran wants to boost output by 1 million barrels a day this year after international sanctions on its oil industry were lifted in January.

Production was 3 million barrels a day in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Brent crude closed on Friday at $40.39 a barrel.

Zangeneh will meet with Russian energy minister Alexander Novak today, according to ISNA.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-members have intermittently held discussions since November 2014, when OPEC first signalled it was unwilling to cut production on its own to support prices.

Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia, and Mexico met in Vienna that month without reaching any deal.

A tour of oil capitals from Moscow to Riyadh last month by Venezuelan energy minister Eulogio Del Pino failed to produce an accord.

Bloomberg
Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf crashed in the French Alps on March 24 last year, killing 150 people including three from Britain.

French investigators have urged new world rules requiring medical professionals to warn authorities when a pilots mental health could threaten public safety.

Evidence in an earlier report suggested co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had previously been treated for depression, deliberately downed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit.

The air accident bureau BEA has now published its final report on the crash almost one year on, looking at issues including cockpit safety, psychological testing of pilots, and how mental health issues are handled.

Lawyers for the families said it was concerning that issues experienced by Lubitz, who had seen 41 doctors in recent years and been referred to a psychiatric clinic a fortnight before the crash, had not been communicated from doctors to the airline or authorities.

Jim Morris, specialist aviation lawyer at Irwin Mitchell which represents British and Spanish families affected, said: We need clear and consistent guidelines in Europe and internationally on where the threat to public safety outweighs medical confidentiality for pilots  so the BEA safety recommendations are welcomed.

Traces of anti-depressants and sleeping medication were found in Lubitzs system. The BEA said because Lubitz had not informed anyone about the doctors warnings, no action could have been taken by the authorities or his employer to prevent him from flying.

Arnaud Desjardin, who led the BEA investigation, said at a press briefing in Le Bourget yesterday that experts found the co-pilots symptoms at that time could be compatible with a psychotic episode, but this information had not been communicated to Germanwings. He said guidelines are needed on the balance between patient privacy and a possible threat to public safety, describing the situation in Germany as particularly strict.

Voice recorder evidence has shown Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit and put the Airbus A320 into a continual descent before it crashed into a mountain.

Evidence showed the captain tried to break down the door. Cockpit security was strengthened on passenger planes after the 9/11 attacks with a code system installed to prevent people getting in.
Under a tentative deal struck last Monday, Turkey agreed to take back illegal migrants who enter Europe from Turkey, in exchange for more funding, an earlier introduction of visa-free travel to Europe for Turks, and a speeding up of Ankaras long-stalled EU membership talks.

Its flawed, morally and legally, Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said in Dubai.

Shetty said in an interview he would meet Frances interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, European Council President Donald Tusk and other EU officials this week to directly express our shock and outrage at what they are coming up with.

Leaders will meet again this week at an EU summit as they face Europes largest migration crisis since World War Two.

They are saying it does not breach EU law because Turkey is a safe country. By what stretch of the imagination is Turkey a safe country for these people? Shetty said.

Turkey has said the deal would not stop Syrian refugees legitimately seeking shelter in Europe.

Turkey and EU leaders say they want to discourage illegal migrants and stop smugglers. But the United Nations and rights groups say mass returns without considering individual asylum cases could be illegal. Amnesty says Europe should take in its fair share of the millions seeking refuge and spend more on those who remain in the region.

Most European countries are signatories to the (UN) refugee convention, so they are in direct violation, Shetty said.

The refugee convention is clear, these people fleeing from war and persecution have international protection. So they have to take it case-by-case.

Under the plan, the EU would admit one refugee directly from Turkey for each Syrian it took back from the Greek Aegean islands, and those who attempted the sea route would be returned.

The aim is to persuade Syrians and others that they have better prospects if they stay in Turkey, with increased EU funding for housing, schools and subsistence.

This idea of swapping human beings  it is just kind of shocking. These people have travelled, risking their lives, Shetty said.

He praised Turkey for taking in the largest number of Syrian refugees but said it could not be considered a safe country. There have been frequent clashes in the south between Turkish forces and members of the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkey has been dealing with the spillover from Syrias five-year war.

Reuters
President Alassane Ouattara visited the towns hotels to express condolences and salute the security forces for their quick responses.

Officials have urged the public to remain calm after the incident in the south-eastern beach resort, about 40km east of Ivory Coasts economic centre, Abidjan.

Witness Josiane Sekongo, 25, said shots rang out in the town, a popular weekend destination for Ivorians and foreigners. Ms Sekongo, who lives near of Grand- Bassams many beachfront hotels, said she ran outside when she heard the gunfire and saw people running away from the beach.

She said residents were hiding in their homes as security forces responded.

The owner of the Etoile du Sud hotel said at least one person was killed there, while a reporter saw four bodies on a beach next to the establishment. Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross cleared the bodies.

Witness Marcel Guy saw at least four gunmen with Kalashnikov rifles on the beach. He said one approached two children, and spoke in Arabic.

One child knelt and prayed, but the other was shot dead. The historic town of Grand-Bassam is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Some of the weapons found in Grand #Bassam, definitely point to an organized attack #IvoryCoast pic.twitter.com/ezJJeFrHHa  Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) March 13, 2016

Mr Ouattara later confirmed two special forces operatives were killed in the attacks, in addition to the 14 civilians and six attackers.

A group that monitors jihadist websites said al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Footage: People are fleeing the shooting in Grand Bassam #IvoryCoast pic.twitter.com/PipGxD3Uzc  Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) March 13, 2016

The Site Intelligence Group said the Islamic extremists made the declaration in a post to its Telegram channels, calling three of the attackers heroes for the assault.

Yesterdays attack in Ivory Coast marks the third time in recent months that a West African tourist centre has come under assault by gunmen. Dozens were killed in the earlier attacks, starting with a siege at a Malian hotel in November and then an assault on a hotel and cafe in Burkina Faso in January.

Analysts have warned for months that Ivory Coast, which shares a border with both of those affected countries, could be a potential target by jihadists as well.
They also said that Russia and Iran would need to show that the Syrian government was living up to what had been agreed.

Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said on Saturday that his government would not discuss presidential elections, at peace talks in Geneva this week, or hold talks with any party wishing to discuss the question of the presidency.

Its a provocation ... a bad sign and doesnt correspond to the spirit of the ceasefire, French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, told a news conference with his British, German, Italian, US, and EU counterparts.

Calling Moualems comments a clear attempt to disrupt the process, US secretary of state, John Kerry, said the Syrian government, and its backers, were mistaken if they thought they could continue to test the boundaries of a fragile truce.

Accusing Syria of carrying out the most violations of the truce, Kerry said Russian President, Vladimir Putin, needed to look at how Assad was acting.

So, President Putin, who is invested in supporting Assad, with an enormous commitment  and it has made a difference, obviously, on the battlefield  should be somewhat concerned about the fact that President Assad sent his foreign minister out, yesterday, to try and act as a spoiler, to take off the table something that President Putin and Iran had committed to, Kerry said.

This is a moment of truth, a moment where all of us have to be responsible.

He was referring to agreements, over the last few months, with the International Syrian Support Group  a mix of international and regional powers  who have pushed for a peace roadmap.

Todays talks will coincide with next weeks fifth anniversary of a war that has killed 250,000 people, created the worlds worst refugee crisis, and allowed for the expansion of the Islamic State militant group.

They are part of the first diplomatic push since the Russian air force intervened, in September, to support Assad, tilting the war the Syrian governments way and helping Damascus reclaim significant territory in the west. Its important, now, for those who support President Assad, to make sure that he is living up to this agreement, Kerry said.
Burma Burma Army Releases 46 Child Soldiers

The Burma Army discharges another 46 child soldiers, the first such release of 2016, according to the United Nations childrens agency Unicef.

RANGOON  The Burma Army discharged another 46 child soldiers on Saturday, the first such release of 2016, the UN childrens agency Unicef announced over the weekend.

Unicef said in its press release on Saturday that it welcomed the latest discharge as one more positive step toward ending the involvement of children in Burmas armed conflicts.

The children and young people discharged will benefit from reintegration programs to help them re-start their lives and seize new opportunities for their own development and participation in the life of the country, the statement reads.

The children and young people had all been under age 18 in 2012, when the Burmese government signed a joint action plan with the United Nations to address the issue of child recruitment. Those released over the weekend were handed over to their families at a ceremony in Rangoon, according to a report released in the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Sunday.

The Tatmadaw is committed to rid its ranks of underage soldiers, the report quoted Maj-Gen Tauk Tun of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), who was present at Saturdays ceremony.

While the number of underage soldiers still serving in the Burma Army remains unknown, Unicef reported in its statement that 745 child soldiers have been released by the military in a total of 12 batches since 2012.

Whilst the peace process moves forward, commitment to stop recruitment and use of children should be immediate, Unicef urged in the statement.

In addition to the Burma Army, the UN secretary-general has named seven of the countrys ethnic armed groups as persistent perpetrators of underage conscriptionthe Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, Karenni Army (KA), Shan State Army South (SSA-S) and United Wa State Army (UWSA).

The Burma Army has long faced accusations by both international and local human rights groups concerning rights abuses against civilians in conflict areas and recruitment of child soldiers. Activists have previously urged the government to establish a more expedient mechanism to rid the militarys ranks of underage recruits.
Burma Presidential Vote Due Tuesday

Burmas next president will be decided on Tuesday, after three nominees qualifications for the post are vetted.

RANGOON  The new president of Burmas incoming National League for Democracy (NLD) government will go to a vote on Tuesday, after a body scrutinizing presidential qualifications has worked out whether three men selected last week are fit for the post, according to the deputy speaker of Parliaments Upper House.

On Monday, the presidential qualification scrutinizing [body] will check whether the three vice presidents are qualified [to be president]. The selection for the president will be on the next day, Aye Tha Aung told media on Friday.

Htin Kyaw and Henry Van Thio, both of the NLD, were nominated by the Lower and Upper chambers of Parliament, respectively, on Thursday, while military representatives of the legislature picked Myint Swe, a former lieutenant-general and current Rangoon Division chief minister, as their nominee on Friday.

Constitutionally, the three nominees will be put to a ballot in a joint session of the countrys Union Parliament. The winner of the most votes becomes Burmas next president, and the runners-up will serve as vice presidents.

Parliaments tentative agenda for Monday states that the scrutinizing body will submit its findings to the Union Parliament on the same day, sometime after it convenes in the afternoon.

Htin Kyaw, a trusted confidante of NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi, is widely tipped to win Tuesdays vote. Suu Kyi herself is constitutionally barred from the presidency, and has said the partys presidential pick will effectively serve as a proxy in a government that she will lead from behind the scenes.
Burma Charismatic DKBA Leader Dies at 54

Gen. Saw Lah Pwe lost his battle with throat cancer in Pegu town on Sunday afternoon.

Gen. Saw Lah Pwe, the charismatic leader of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), died from throat cancer on Sunday afternoon in a Pegu town hospital, according to sources close to the ethnic armed group.

Saw Lah Pwe, better known by his nickname Nam Kham Mwe, had been battling cancer since last year and received numerous medical treatments in Rangoon and Singapore.

The 54-year-old received media attention after refusing to transform DKBA troops into a government-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF). He launched attacks against the Burma Army in 2010 during the general election in Myawaddy, a town in southeast Burma along the countrys border with Thailand.

Although a minority of DKBA troops accepted the governments BGF order in 2009, Saw Lah Pwe and approximately 1,500 troops from DKBA Brigade 5 rejected Naypyidaws demands.

Saw Lah Pwe also received media attention when the former Thai government accused him of drug trafficking, an allegation he officially denied.

On April 20, 2012, the Thai government listed him as one of the most notorious drug lords in Southeast Asia and placed a 1 million baht (about US$29,000) bounty on his head.

He immediately responded to the Thai government, inviting them, and anti-narcotics agencies including the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to his stronghold in Karen State to investigate the accusations.

In 2012, Saw Lah Pwe signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, reducing tensions in the area. The DKBA is one of eight non-state armed organizations that signed a so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government in October last year.

More than a dozen other groups have refused to sign the accord or been denied the chance to do so by the outgoing government of President Thein Sein.

Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that Saw Lah Pwe was 53 years old.
Burma Faction Annihilated in ANP Leadership Purge

Six Arakan National Party (ANP) dissenters, once key players within the former Arakan League for Democracy, have been dismissed following internal disputes.

RANGOON  Six prominent members of the former Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), which merged with the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) two years ago to form the Arakan National Party (ANP), were removed from their ANP leadership posts on Sunday, following a two-day meeting in Ponnagyun Townships Pannila village, in northern Arakan State.

Internal frictions intensified earlier this month when the six central executive committee (CEC) members of the ANP held a press conference to voice dissatisfaction with the partys direction. These six members were subsequently deemed to have intentionally undermined ANP rules and regulations.

Myo Kyaw, one of the dissenters, confirmed on Monday that the RNDP faction of the party had dismissed the six CEC members, who were not invited to the meeting, describing the decision as an injustice.

Phoe Minn, the ANPs vice chairperson and member of a team formed to investigate the CEC members, told The Irrawaddy that the party has already sent an official letter to the Union Election Commission (UEC) to explain the situation.

He acknowledged that no former ALD members were present at the meeting, but said a majority of the more than 40 central committee members in attendance agreed to the dismissal.

The ANP secured 44 out of the 77 seats it contested in the November election and demanded that the National League for Democracy (NLD) appoint as state chief minister an ANP member, threatening to otherwise rule out collaboration with the NLD.

Myo Kyaw said that without ALD members in the party [ANP], only RNDP members would be left in the ANP.

An Upper House lawmaker for the ANP, Htoot May, echoed these sentiments, saying the [ANP authorities] shouldnt fire [members] recklessly. Removing all [ALD faction] party members is inappropriate and could very well harm Arakanese interests.

Except for Aye Tha Aung, who currently serves as the deputy speaker of Parliaments Upper House, all CEC members from the ANP who were formerly affiliated with the ALD have been dismissed.

On the internal crisis, Myo Kyaw said: Ive heard they completely annihilated [the ALD].

He added that six ANP cofounders are discussing whether, going forward, the partys existence will be in accordance with existing laws. A UEC official, however, has supposedly stated that the commission would not interfere in the partys internal affairs.

Neither the UEC nor Aye Tha Aung could be reached for comment on Monday.

The merging of the RNDP and ALD in 2014 into the ANP was to stave off vote-splitting as the two parties looked ahead to the 2015 election. Though the move paid off at the polls, recently, the ANP has been beleaguered by internal disputes.
Burma Parliamentary Body Green-Lights Presidential Nominees

The Union Parliament has approved the two NLD and one military presidential picks to vie for Burmas highest civilian post.

RANGOON  Burmas Union Parliament announced on Monday that the two National League for Democracy (NLD) presidential nominees as well as one selected by military representatives passed a parliamentary scrutinizing bodys vetting process, qualifying all three to vie for Burmas highest civilian post.

Htin Kyaw, an executive committee member of an Aung San Suu Kyi-led foundation, and ethnic Chin lawmaker Henry Van Thio were selected on March 10 as the NLDs nominees. Military representatives from the Upper and Lower houses announced their nomination of Myint Swe, a former lieutenant-general and outgoing Rangoon chief minister, a day later.

Union Parliament Speaker Mahn Win Khaing presented the seven-member presidential scrutinizing bodys findings during a parliamentary session on Monday. The body is led by the Lower House and Upper House speakers and their deputies, two NLD lawmakersMyo Aung from the Lower House and Ba Myo Thein from the Upper Houseand a military representative.

Maj-Gen Than Soe, the military lawmaker on the parliamentary body, objected to the nomination of Henry Van Thio, saying that he and his family had stayed in a foreign country for six years and suggesting that the body ask a constitutional tribunal whether he was in violation of the presidential criteria.

Since the other six members of the body approved Henry Van Thio, however, it was decided that he met the presidential qualifications.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Than Soe also suggested additional scrutiny of Htin Kyaw because he is not an elected lawmaker. Again, however, the body decided that Htin Kyaw met the necessary qualifications.

While there were some disagreements over Myint Swes ability to stand for the presidency, the body ultimately approved him. Myint Swe was tipped to be selected as vice president in 2012 but was passed over because one of his sons was an Australian national. Since then, however, his son would appear to have become a Burmese citizen, removing an obstacle to his fathers nomination.

The Union Parliament will put the three nominees to a vote on Tuesday, with the one who receives the most votes becoming president and the other two vice presidents. Htin Kyaw, a close confidante to NLD chairwoman Suu Kyi, is expected to win the vote.
Interview Thai Actress: The Cause of Refugees Deserves Wider Attention

Well-known Thai actress and model Priya Pu Suandokmai joins a UNHCR fundraising campaign that highlights the plight of Burmas displaced in Thailand.

Well-known Thai actress and model Priya Pu Suandokmai has joined a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) fundraising project that highlights the plight of Burmas displaced in Thailand. The campaign, called Namjai (Generosity) for Refugees, aims to assist over 100,000 Burmese refugees currently living in nine camps on the Thai-Burma border. The Irrawaddys Saw Yan Naing interviewed Pu about her interest in refugee issues and how she became involved in the UNHCRs project in Thailand.

What made you want to join the UNHCRs Namjai for Refugees campaign?

I have known the UNHCR for two years now. It started when I read the news about refugees situation globally. I felt a lot of compassion for themI only wish to help them better their lives. The traumatic experiences they have faced are incredibly sad, and as humans we need to help one another. Thats why I Googled organizations that were taking care of refugees and the UNHCR came up, so I decided to email them.

Since then, I have joined UNHCR activities like charity fashion shows and a campaign promoting [awareness of] refugee children with disabilities. So when they proposed a new initiative to raise funds for refugees from Myanmar living in Thailand, I had no hesitation about joining the campaign.

What is your role in the Namjai for Refugees campaign?

Eight celebrities team up into four groups to use their talent to create artwork that will raise funds for refugees in Thailand. I asked my friend Sanshaia designer extraordinaireto be on my team and to design a special T-shirt that would [bring attention to] the voices of refugee women. Sanshai and I help promote the campaign through our networks and fans so that the UNHCR can receive enough funding to support refugees. When the campaign ends, we will showcase our design work and hopefully give out this special T-shirt as a token of appreciation to donors who supported our team.

How did you become interested in the plight of refugees?

Last year, I was following the news of refugees and thats when I decided to personally contact the UNHCR. I was deeply saddenedI could no longer not take action. I feel that [because of] my position, I have the ability to make changes in the world and that is an incredible thing. I have lived a very privileged life and I have more than enough time and effort to share toward bettering [others] lives.

What motivates you to visit Burmese refugees on the Thai border and learn about their lives?

I have always read about the refugee camps in the north of Thailand and it was an honor to have the opportunity to visit Mae La camp and meet the families there. I met the kindest people who have been through the most traumatic experiences, but have pushed through and shown bravery, strength and gratitude. After my visit, I had a better understanding of what they need and how we can help them. This was an unforgettable experience that keeps me motivated to advocate for their rights.

How did you feel after learning specifically about the challenges facing refugee women and children?

Despite the persecution and trauma that some of these people went through, they have shown me nothing but kindness and gratitude. I have been helping the UNHCR raise funds to help a boy called Johnity. Meeting him personally and seeing him improve through rehabilitation has been so heart-warming. I feel that everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion, should be entitled to human rights. Learning about the lives of the refugees has motivated me to continue my work with them.

How do you believe that your popularity can improve understanding of refugee issues among Thai audiences?

As public figures, we have the ability to make our voices and opinions heard in order to make the changes we wish to see in society. I feel if I can use my voice to make the voices of refugees heard, then together we can raise awareness. I believe people are compassionate, but sometimes what they need is more understanding.

There are still ongoing wars in northern and eastern Burma that have recently displaced thousands more refugees. What would you like to say to the parties that wage war in Burma and cause people to flee their homes?

Id like to talk about conflict in general. I have learned from the UNHCR that the number of refugees and people forced to flee from their homes has reached 60 million [globally], which is the highest since World War II. This is alarming and shows how urgently we need to find peace and the political will to end conflict and war. The recent development in Myanmar is promising. I hope that peaceful solutions can be found in the near future.

What are your plans for future advocacy projects?

My plan is to continue advocating for refugees rights both in Thailand and around the world. By engaging with the UNHCR, I realize the tremendous task this organization has to undertake. I am committed to using my reputation to make a difference in the lives of refugees through fundraising, advocacy and public relations. The cause of refugees deserves wider attention from global citizens.
Burma Wa Authorities Say Two Men Executed in Self-Ruling Region

Authorities in the Wa Special Region, territory controlled by Burmas largest ethnic armed group, execute two men found guilty of murder in the autonomous zone.

RANGOON  A court in Panghsang handed down death sentences to two people found guilty of murder in the autonomous Wa Special Region, where on Sunday the duo were executed, according to local sources.

Zhao Guoan, who is a spokesperson from the United Wa State Army (UWSA), confirmed the court ruling and the mens execution.

They killed other people. The court gave the death sentence to them yesterday, he told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

He said the crime and severe sentence were rare in the Wa Special Region, an autonomous zone in Shan State that is ruled by the UWSA and administers a judicial system independent of the Burmese government.

Our court only gives the death penalty when someone killed another. It happens only sometimes here, Zhao said.

The UWSA, Burmas largest ethnic armed group, administers the Wa Special Region essentially beyond the reach of the central government in Naypyidaw.

At the national level, Burma is considered a de facto abolitionist state and has not openly carried out an execution in decades.

The UWSA-run Wa State TV aired a broadcast on Sunday that showed photos of the two men made to kneel before police officers, presumably before being shot dead in accordance with the Panghsang courts ruling.

A separate report, also from UWSA-affiliated media, identified the men, one being Yan Lu, a 50-year-old ethnic Wa man who was found to have killed his two wives while under the influence of illicit narcotics.

Li Jian Guo, a 33-year-old Chinese citizen, was found guilty in the slaying of his 18-month-old son, also reportedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The weekend executions recall a similar case that played out in January in the Mong La Special Region, where a Chinese national was reportedly executed by officials apparently acting under instruction from the semiautonomous authority there. That man, too, was found guilty of murder, as well as arson. The Mong La Special region is administered by the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), a non-state armed group like the UWSA.
Asia Australia Deeply Concerned Over Arrest of Journalists in Malaysia

Australia is concerned about the arrest of two of its journalists in Malaysia for questioning Malaysian Prime Minister Razak over corruption allegations.

CANBERRA, Australia  Australia is deeply concerned over the arrest of two Australian journalists in Malaysia after they attempted to question Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over corruption allegations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday.

The journalists from the Australian Broadcasting Corporations (ABC) flagship investigative journalism program, Four Corners, were arrested in the Borneo state of Sarawak on Saturday night after approaching Najib outside a mosque.

Malaysian police said in a statement the pair had been arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross a security line. They were released on bail on Sunday and charged with obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his public functions.

Bishop told ABC radio Australia was deeply concerned.

We are providing consular support to the ABC crew and certainly raising this issue at the appropriate level with the Malaysian government, she said.

Najib has faced sustained pressure to resign since the middle of last year over allegations of corruption linked to the debt-laden state fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and deposits into his private accounts worth around US$680 million.

He has denied any wrongdoing and maintains he did not use the funds for personal gain. He was cleared earlier this year of any criminal offense or corruption.

Sally Neighbour, the programs executive producer, wrote on Twitter that the journalists had been in Malaysia reporting on the corruption scandal and denied any allegations of wrongdoing on their behalf.

Our journalists were doing what journalists do in countries with a free press, she wrote.

Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu have had their passports returned, Neighbour said, but have been barred from leaving the country.

Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad cranked up pressure on Najib to quit earlier this month, marking a seismic political shift by joining hands with long-standing foes, including the party of the jailed Anwar Ibrahim.
Monday, March 14th, 2016 (10:50 am) - Score 2,128

The Highlands Council has agreed to commence a mapping exercise that aims to identify the remaining not spots in superfast broadband cover, which is to be accompanied by a workshop event next month to debate the issue. Its hoped this will help to establish a clear plan for boosting coverage.

At present the 410 million Digital Scotland project is made up of two halves, with one focusing upon the Highlands and Islands region (145.8m of public and private investment) and the other working to connect the Rest of Scotland (264m).

Overall the scheme aims to roll-out to cover 85% of Scottish premises by the end of March 2016 and 95% by the end of 2017/18 (reaching an additional 750,000 premises by completion), yet the target for the Highland and Islands (HIE) region alone is still just 84% by the end of 2016. A new report from the council now suggests that the Highlands target could be boosted to 90% via a future contract.

A huge amount of work has already been done, although the Highlands are notoriously difficult for fixed line and mobile infrastructure providers to tackle due to the mix of rugged, mountainous and generally sparse rural land / communities. Put simply the public and private investment required to cover this area will be significant. Even delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) could prove to be a rather big challenge.

Highlands Council Statement (March 2016) It is recognised that many communities across the Highland are frustrated at the inadequate broadband and mobile coverage that currently exists and there is therefore an urgent need for information on future coverage plans for both broadband and mobile services with clarity over timescales enhancing this coverage.

In fairness quite a bit of work has already been done to tackle this problem, not least via BTOpenreachs construction of a new backhaul network comprising 800km of a land-based fibre optic cable and 400km of subsea fibre laid via 20 subsea cable routes.

In relation to that the Digital Scotland project has so far helped to expand fixed line superfast broadband (30Mbps+) to an additional 95,000 premises in the Highlands and Islands region (over 135,000 if you include BTs commercial deployments), but that 84% goal will still leave some pretty big gaps.

The Community Broadband Scotland programme was also established to support related communities and is working with a number of alternative network providers (i.e. theyre actively supporting 87 pipeline communities across Scotland to explore broadband solutions and related projects could potentially provide services to 16,000 premises).

Council Leader, Margaret Davidson, said (Press and Journal): People are getting rattier about it all the time. Theyre irritated at the speed that this is coming and I couldnt argue with them. I dont think we could ask for more political input and effort than (Deputy First Minister) John Swinney is putting into this, and mobile operators are really on the move with 4G coverage. But the area of not spots is huge and it isnt just the mountains. BT was committed to tell us by Christmas how far theyd get and where they definitely would never get. But weve had nothing from them.

The last Open Market Review of Scotlands fixed line superfast broadband connectivity, which was run at the end of 2014, suggested that around 230,000 premises could still be waiting for a superfast service to become available once the current contract completes (plus 51,000 needing basic broadband of at least 2Mbps). Most of those will be in the sparse and expensive to tackle rural areas.

Meanwhile Scotland has yet to even sign a Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) contract like most of the rest of the United Kingdom, which is despite the Broadband Delivery UK programme committing an extra 20.99m to the country in 2013 (this must be matched by the Scottish Government).

On top of that BT has confirmed that it will be able to return 17.8m in clawback (gain share) for a reinvestment into more coverage (here) and theres also the possibility of additional funding being found from other sources (e.g. EU). But weve been waiting to see all of this for a long time and the EU State Aid delays certainly havent helped.

Highlands Council Statement (March 2016) A second phase to the Next Generation Access (Superfast) rollout programme is currently being modelled to define the potential reach of additional investment. Through a combination of Scottish Government and UK Government funds, this could deliver increased coverage to 90% of the Highlands. However, this second phase will be subject to different State Aid requirements from the European Commission which requires open access to BT openreach cables, fibre and network infrastructure. Discussions with the Scottish Government and relevant partners are taking place to work through a revised procurement strategy with a view to engaging with partners in the middle of 2016.

So even if a second contract can be signed this year then it will still leave around 10% of premises in the Highlands to go without superfast speeds and that last bit is likely to be very expensive, which could limit the use of traditional fixed line solutions. We wouldnt be surprised to see a much greater reliance upon fixed wireless (even that wont work in some locations) and Satellite connectivity in related areas.

Meanwhile a spokesperson for BT has confirmed that 75% of premises in the councils area can now access fibre broadband (includes sub-30Mbps areas) and this drops to 63% when you only look at the coverage of 30Mbps+ speeds. However BT does expect to exceed the 84% HIE target, although they wont say by how much (probably only a little more than the target).

Interestingly BTs spokesperson has also urged Councillor Davidson to identify any communities missing out, although strictly speaking the telecoms giant is itself the one based placed to answer that question.

We should add that Mobile Network Operators are also making progress towards their commitment of providing 4G (Mobile Broadband) to 90% of Scotland by the end of 2017. EE are upgrading 113 mast sites in the Highlands and CTIL (Vodafone and O2) have upgraded 83 mast sites, with another 104 planned. But once again a big gap remains and the fight is now on to close it.
For many APAC governments, including Australia, IT security is fast becoming a matter of national defence and national security.



Citing a recent IDC FutureScape report on the implications of IT security in the Asia Pacific region, global security firm RSA says that in response to the growing threats, governments are setting up cybercrime and cyber-defence centres with the associated levels of infrastructure and investment.



But, despite the greater awareness and increased spending on security, RSA warns that many businesses are still struggling to balance the IT security cost with the impact it can potentially have on their business.





Michael Lee, RSA APJ Security Evangelist says that business owners are challenged by the issue of attaining the elusive return on investment from IT security as compared to other types of IT investment.Citing the IDC report, Lee says that when it comes to spending on IT security, most of this spend goes into security software, as one might expect as security appliances become virtualised and cloud services mature, yet Australia still has more than its fair share of high-profile attacks.David Jones, Kmart, Queensland TAFE, Pacnet (now Telstra), and Woolworths are just some of the Australian household names caught up in a breach of security in one form or another, and that was in 2015 alone.Combined with the lack of mandatory breach notification laws, many more breaches have gone unreported. With such a large spend in IT security, one would hope that Australia would be under-represented in Asia Pacific figures, but it's not.IDC does say that Australia invests heavily in the security software space as a percentage of overall software investment, second only to South Korea, and that we spend more on IT security than any other market  including China, for software products  although Beijing did surpass Canberra for security services spending in 2014.Where is the spend currently?, Lee asks.Gartner's Market Trends Security Analytics report highlights that security information and event management (SIEM) solutions have become the most popular bolt-on that organisations have deployed, in many cases almost as knee-jerk reaction to high-profile breaches. But SIEM's role is to collect, store and analyse data, and Verizon Enterprise's 2015 Data Breach Investigations report showed that SIEM was able to identify an advanced threat breach less than 1% of the time.Organisations spending on SIEM products are laying down a foundation for a defence-in-depth model, and the SIEM industry has become very adept at meeting the log collection and compliance reporting requirements of businesses.However, for companies to make the most of their investments, a comprehensive security solution is required that not only performs standard log capture, but augments this with full packet capture and deep analytics to understand network behaviour than merely report on it, says Lee.Lee picks up on the IDC report that the changing political and economic landscape makes Australia a target-rich market for highly focused hackers, be it commercial or consumer-based.Lee also cites IDCs prediction on various developments in IT security with future implications for the APEJ market, including a forecast that by 2020, half of all AP electronic transactions will be authenticated biometrically, driven by the widespread adoption and use of biometric-enabled mobile devices.IDC warns of supply chain risks, forecasting that by 2019, geopolitical divisions and global economic instability will result in cyberattacks targeting suppliers, forcing businesses in the Asia Pacific to increase spending by 35% or more to mitigate the risks.The breadth and depth of the security risks is underlined by IDC, with Lee pointing out that the analyst firm forecasts that by 2020, more than 1.5 billion people will be affected by data breaches, resulting in increasing calls for regulation and alternative authentication measures.Other predictions by IDC include: Self-Defending Applications. By 2019, adoption of application containerization for 3rd Platform applications in private, public, and hybrid cloud scenarios will rise more than 30%, creating an era of self-defending applications Cyber Insurance Maturity. By 2019, maturing cyber insurance models will enable insurers to influence security spending in three quarters of industry-regulated buying decisions Data Security Analytics Windfall. By 2017, the security services market will increase by at least 30% due to the scarcity and high price of available data scientists, leading sub Fortune 100 companies to seek alternatives EU Data Protections Regulations. By 2019, 20% of security spending will be driven by EU data protection regulation and privacy concerns. Jurisdiction issues among trading regions will not be resolved, leading to a patchwork of compliance regimes Tracers and Tethers. By 2018, 2nd Platform perimeter defences will be surpassed by 3rd Platform-architected, meshed security systems based on a tracers and tethers architecture, creating symbiotic security defences SaaS Security Adoption. By 2020, more than half of Web security market revenue will come from cloud-based offerings over traditional on-premises gateways Corporate Responsibility. By 2017, one-third of corporate boards will fill a seat with a risk mitigation expert who can provide guidance on data privacy and security initiatives.On the overall APEJ regional security environment, RSA says that the IDC report reveals that many organisations believe they are protected by the Great Firewall of China against external attacks.But, as Lee points out, IDCs research shows that software investments in this market are marred by the omnipresence of piracy  and underlines the point that China is frequently cited as a source of many cyberattacks. Additionally, the Internet economy of China - as evidenced by Alibaba's US$14.3-billion gross merchandise value in one day - is fast becoming a significant contributor to the country's overall GDP, and therefore, an industry that will require more protection.IDCs report maintains that the potential for China to become a major IT security market is marred by the ongoing US trade disputes. As a result of these disputes, US technology is being pushed out of Chinese government operations, and IDC claims that nowhere will this be more significant than in the sensitive area of security.Overall, concludes IDC, the APEJ region has a mix of developed and developing markets when it comes to IT security, with some markets offering robust legal frameworks that do drive aspect of the IT security markets, but there is a growing awareness that compliance does not equate to security.Future threats will continue to rise, and it is only a matter of time before news reports of major breaches of Asian companies appear, at which time IDC expects the markets to respond in a more positive manner than what it is currently doing.
Penn had announced the deal in August 2015, touting it as a key stepping stone to the expansion of Telstra outside of its Australian boundaries into the Asia Pacific region following its A$700 million acquisition of Pacnet.



But yesterday former CFO money cruncher Penn and his team admitted could not make the deal work financially.



According to yesterdays announcement, Telstra and San Miguel Corporation have been unable to reach commercial arrangements on a possible equity investment in a wireless joint venture in the Philippines and negotiations have therefore ceased.





Telstra Chief Executive Officer Andrew Penn yesterday said the organisations had agreed at the weekend to bring negotiations to an end.Despite an enormous amount of effort and goodwill on all sides, we were simply unable to come to commercial arrangements that would have enabled us all to proceed, Mr Penn said.While this opportunity is strategically attractive, and we have great respect for San Miguel Corporation and its President Mr Ang, it was obviously crucial that the commercial arrangements achieved the right risk-reward balance for all involved.Telstra has offered to continue technical network design and construction consultancy support to San Miguel Corporation, should those services be required, the telco said in its statement.We continue to pursue growth opportunities in Asia consistent with our strategy. Following our April 2015 acquisition of Pacnet, Telstra is now one of the largest connectivity providers in Asia, Mr Penn said.Our investment decisions will be guided by our capital management framework. Investments remain an important part of our future to ensure sustainable growth in earnings and shareholder returns over time.
When it comes to layered defense and security tools, less is often more just as more can sometimes be less. The average enterprise uses 75 security products to secure their network. That's a lot of noise and a lot of monitoring and testing for security practitioners.

To make sure that the security tools not only work but work in harmony with each other, some security professionals recommend taking a closer look at the layers of the security ecosystem to eliminate redundancies that contribute to alert overload.

There is a lot of threat intelligence information out there, and Stephan Chenette, CEO, AttackIQ said all of that threat information can be overwhelming. "They need to use the threat information to determine what is applicable to their organization and tailor it to their industry. Risk has a number of factors, not only the impact to organization but also the real probability of the threat," Chenette said.

Security teams need to distill down all of that threat intelligence and find what matters in relation to their business because most enterprises aren't regularly testing all of their security tools, "The alerts that matter are being missed," Chenette said.

The security industry has long touted defense in depth as the solution to thwarting off attacks, but the reality is that more layers don't prevent attacks, said Chenette.

For many enterprises there is a disconnect between the products they are buying and their effectiveness. "Many people are putting firewall, IPS, and antivirus in place thinking that intelligence is actually going to help them," Chenette said.

What is more effective is taking that threat intelligence and running attack tests and attack models to identify potential blind spots. "Defenders think in lists but attackers think in graphs," Chenette said. In order to build the best defense in depth strategy, the organization needs to start looking at whats at risk and whats at stake and then determine how to create security around those assets.

"Hope is not a strategy," said Chenette, so in order for companies to improve their security strategy, they need to realize that technology can fail. "Controls fail over time, and the worst outcome is that there is a breach because they had a control in place that shouldve detected," Chenette said.

Hope is not a strategy.

Stephan Chenette, CEO, AttackIQ

It's important to know what security controls are in place, whether the controls are even working, and whether those are the right controls for the realistic threats.

With an average of 75 security tools in play, redundancy exists. "Many organizations are hiring security experts to manage redundant products and manage alerts that dont mean anything. The goal of continuous testing is to find the core amount of security products. To truly have a smart strategy and resilient architecture," Chenette said.

Businesses that are trying to solve the hyper-convergence of technical and business problems by purchasing tools to mitigate risk, "are instead ending up with a lack of mitigation and a lot more telling me I have a problem," said Stan Black, CSO, Citrix.

Black said, "What we are all talking about now are complex attacks going after this ecosystem of technologies and trying to find the weakest link." The bad actors know that they can find a weak link, likely long before the enterprise. Once they get in, they progress.

"They end up with a multi front attack on the network. Cryptolockers have an inherent immediate need for security teams to focus on thwarting them," said Black. "They launch one of those and in concert launch a secondary attack with other malware that is their primary. They are using the window to come in and probe, send phishing emails, or change binary codes as they learn more about your response to these attacks," he continued.

Many of the issues with layered defense appear on different fronts. An IT help desk gets a call, then the security operations team starts seeing red flags on their screens. The events occur on different fronts, and they are not talking to each other.

"We need a common set of logs. Each group traditionally has captured their own logs for their unique purposes. We need to be moving toward a common language so that we can have a high fidelity look back to see an increase in persistence and nature. By using the same set of logs we are now able to work in concert and have full clarity of what other teams are seeing," Black said.

Black attributed the high number of security tools in an average enterprise security architecture to multiple acquisitions and growth over time. Rarely is the merging of security infrastructures a top priority during an M&A; thus, larger enterprises end up with a lot of redundancy in security tools.

"There are two ways to remove the problem," said Black. "Either find significant overlap between one problem and another--there's likely upwards of 50% overlap--or find which tools provide the highest level of fidelity and actionable information, and then remove or significantly reduce all others over time."

While some products do individually add value to the overall ecosystem, managing all of the security technology has become very complicated, said Geoff Webb, vice president of solutions strategy at Micro Focus.

Most enterprises are looking at their many layers of defense in depth and realizing that they have added many different tools to protect against many different types of attacks. "The security team's ability to manage and develop the architecture that is compromised," said Webb, "because it's difficult to understand exactly whats happening."

Webb said, "Its important to be realistic about what is possible given the people you have. Also, I recommend that they have a strategy that maximizes the results while minimizing the noise in the way they build their infrastructure. Thats why we are seeing this shift to analytics and machine learning. All of those are the result of the need to find balance in this space of too many things to look at and too little help."

Both Webb and Black recommended that security practitioners shift their thinking in order to build their security strategy in a way that protects from the inside out. "A very successful security team makes it hard to get in but also focuses on quickly getting them out and limiting the damage they can do," said Webb.

The physical network still needs defense, so firewalls and switches need to be in place, but many security professionals are exploring behavior analytics and virtualization technologies in order to understand user behavior and have complete visibility into the extended network.

"You really have to focus on what is the critical stuff," said Webb. Understanding the key sets of information. The confidential and private information should be the starting point to building a better security strategy.

"Look at whether you really need this product that is monitoring this information. Build outwards based on information and people rather than building inwards. Take a hard look at what the problem we are trying to solve is as opposed to putting tools in to prevent what was a previous security risk," said Webb.

Webb said he often recalls a quote from Bruce Schneier, who said, "Complexity is the enemy of security." The more complex the security infrastructure, the harder it is to defend.
Search and social media algorithms can produce strange results for their users -- but fiddling with them can produce strange results from their users. In both cases the results may be too important to leave purely to machines.

That was the message from two conference sessions this weekend at South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, as the largely youth-oriented technology conference moved into its second day under clearing skies.

"How to raise your IQ by eating gifted children," suggests the auto-complete feature of a search engine. Another tagged a specific ethnic group of humans as gorillas. In yet another case, women were not shown high-end job openings. And, Facebook will say that you are getting a particular advertisement "because you are similar to our customers."

Related: SXSW: Obama touts tech, others examine pitfalls

Christian Sandvig, a professor at the University of Michigan, presented these examples as part of a session titled "Algorithmic Lunacy and What to Do About It."

"We have a crisis of confidence in algorithms," he said, calling for "seamfull" (as opposed to seamless) design that makes the algorithms visible rather than invisible. "But that is premised on having non-evil designers who are trying to help (rather than delude) you," he added.

Fellow panelist and Intel research scientist Dawn Nafus told of the algorithm of her fitness monitor harping at her for being unhealthy for not taking enough steps daily at a time when she was confined to a wheelchair after an accident. As a result, she would not have qualified for a workplace health insurance discount, she complained.

She called on the industry to make data downloads the norm so that users can go "off script" and "domesticate" their data through personal analysis.

She recalled a friend who analyzed the data from his sleep monitor and found he was waking up every morning at exactly 3 am. A computer in the room was backing up at that time and awakening him, he discovered. Another friend saw that her periodic exercise routine was triggering her auto-immune disease and so was actually hurting her health.

"Make data downloading the norm," she pleaded. "It's super-cheap to build in a data download button."

But when Facebook experimented with the algorithm that selected the items for the news feeds of individual users, many users were deeply troubled, as discussed by panelists in a session titled "Massive Online Experiments: Practical Advice." The so-called emotional contagion experiment of 2012 (published in 2014) altered the news feeds of about 700,000 users to see if their emotions changed (as evidenced by the language of their postings) in response to changes in the emotional content of their news feeds.

There could be a number of reasons for the backlash, said Duncan Watts, principal researcher at Microsoft Research. The word "experiment" has negative associations with rats and petri dishes, he said, while the need to resort to an experiment implies disappointing ignorance on the part of those running things, he said. Meanwhile, people are not comfortable with machine-based randomization, although it is integral to many experiments, he added, as they would rather believe that humans are making the choices.

Jeff Hancock, a Stanford University professor who was involved in the study, analyzed the hate mail he got, and found four themes. Some asked, "How dare you manipulate my news feed?" although it was always generated by an algorithm of some sort. Others accused him of attempted mind control. Some complained that the news feed was important to them. And some asked if they were part of the experiment.

But the biggest problem, he added, was probably that Facebook violated their expectations. "They thought of it as a platform, and platforms don't experiment on people," he said.

Consent is not always required for such experiments -- especially when the users are exposed to minimal risks, added Hancock.

Elizabeth Churchill, Google's director of user experience, told the conference that designers should routinely design experiments to support their design decisions as part of the process of creating a user experience, using qualitative and quantitative measures that can work together to improve overall quality.

Next:Algorithms and experiments make strange bedfellows at SXSW
A recent government filing in connection with the continuing fight between Apple and the FBI over data encryption issues indicated that the U.S. Justice Department has a plan B that will demand the electronic signature of the tech giant.

As implied by the Department of Justice, if the Cupertino, California-based company does not comply with the court order, it may be compelled to surrender the source code of the whole operating system.

The legal rebuttal of the Justice Department addressed one of the main legal arguments made by Apple. According to the tech giant, forcing it to write the code will take away key security features from the iPhone of the terrorist Syed Farook.

In its filing, the department wrote a footnote indicating that "The FBI cannot itself modify the software on Farook's iPhone without access to the source code and Apple's private electronic signature."

"The government did not seek to compel Apple to turn those over because it believed such a request would be less palatable to Apple," continued the filing.

"If Apple would prefer that course, however, that may provide an alternative that requires less labor by Apple programmers," the filing added.

Could this latest legal strategy of the FBI be the Achilles heel of Apple Inc.? If successful, the government agency could demand that the tech giant surrender its iOS source code and its encryption key that it uses to sign updates.

The Justice Department's footnote in its legal filing said the agency would be happy to have the source code and the digital signing key of the tech giant and not require the company to create a tool that will unlock the terrorist's iPhone any more.

There is a precedent for a court order such as this. It was done in August 2013 during the NSA-Edward Snowden scandal when it later turned out that the FBI attempted to shut down Lavabit, an NSA secure email service.

Ladar Levison, the site owner was being forced then by the FBI to turn over his encryption keys to enable the agency to monitor Snowden's email messages.
Transportation advocates and elected officials began to celebrate after provisions were made for recent retirees to receive retroactive pay increases as the settlement of a prolonged contract dispute between NJ Transit and unions representing 4,200 of the railroad's employees.

The unions had threatened to strike after five years of working without a contract, but on Friday night, the two sides reached a tentative deal to avoid a shutdown of the commuter rail lines between North Jersey and New York City.

"There's no way I would have even tried to get to work on Monday. It would have been a zoo," Ron Simmons, a Hamilton Township resident who works for a financial firm in New York City, said Saturday while waiting for a train on the Trenton transit center. "I didn't think a strike would happen, but in this day and age, you can't be 100 percent sure of anything. I'm just glad they found common ground."

They also were thrilled to hear Gov. Chris Christie say that they won't have to worry about fare hikes for a while to cover the cost of the settlement.

"I'm pleased. I think we came to a fair, reasonable accommodation to the interests of the union and the interests of the taxpayers of the state," Christie said.

The terms of the settlement have not been officially disclosed, pending ratification by members of 11 rail unions. But The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the deal gives workers wage increases of about 21 percent over eight and a half years.

In return, the newspaper said, the unions agreed to a health plan that the rail carrier wanted, which would nearly double the cost of coverage to some members and introduce deductibles for medical treatment for the first time.

Christie said the contract agreement is for longer than what the board had recommended.
GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is refusing to take responsibility of violent rallies over the weekend saying he's 'just the messenger' for Americans who are frustrated with leadership in the country.

"There are a lot of people who are angry in this country," he said on CNN's "State of the Union"." My supporters have a tremendous love of this country," the billionaire continued. "They are tired of this country getting ripped off from everybody. I think, in many cases, I do lower the temperature. I tell the police to take it easy. The police did a great job. The Secret Service is fantastic."

At an outdoor rally in Bloomington, Illinois, he told the crowd, 'We have protesters so mean. They are so bad. Our people started swinging back, and the next day we are the bad guys.'

The businessman also shot down the criticism being tossed at him from both Democrats and his Republican rivals who claim that he is encouraging violence by using divisive language that disparages illegal immigrants and Muslims. Trump then lashed out at fellow Republicans who argue he is creating uncontrollable tension among Americans.

"My fellow Republicans are running against me," he said, citing GOP presidential primary rivals Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Gov. John Kasich (Ohio)."There's been nobody injured at my rallies - zero, zero. You're making it sound like everybody's broken down and injured. Give me a break."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said during an event Saturday that 'the ugly divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it's dangerous. ... That's not leadership. That's political arson.'

Trump is trying to cement his lead over his remaining Republican rivals - U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich - in five states that hold presidential nominating contests on Tuesday for Republicans and Democrats: Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.

Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago on Friday evening amid worries of violence.
A joint effort by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Russia spearheaded the launch of a two-phase project with a goal to probe the existence of life on the Red Planet. The project will explore both the atmosphere and the terrain of planet Mars.

Daniel Hawkins posted via Twitter a photo of the media briefing with regard to today's launch.

The heavy-duty Russian rocket sets off into space via Kazakhstan today, March 14. The Proton rocket carries the Mars probes designed to uncover signs of life, both past and present, on the Red Planet. The first phase of the mission is called the ExoMars 2016, and its costs is estimated at 1.2 billion euros ($A1.77 billion).

An orbiter, according to Sky News, carried the ExoMars 2016 mission, which will "hunt for methane in the Martian atmosphere and show if it is likely to have been generated by geology or biological processes." It is a rocket equipped with a satellite that is capable of delivering the mission in the Martian atmosphere.

The second phase of the mission will set off two years from now. It will be called the ExoMars 2018. This time, British-built rover bristling with cutting-edge technology will make its way towards Mars. The rover will be able to drill deep into the surface and try to search for any indication of life, incluing looking for chemical fingerprints of life.

Dr Peter Grindrod from the University of London says of this mission: "This is a series of missions that's trying to address one of the fundamental questions in science: is there life anywhere else besides the Earth?" Dr. Grindord is a planetary scientist who is funded by the UK Space Agency.

If any sign of life will be found through this mission - even those that existed billions of years ago - then it will be considered to be one of the biggest discoveries of all time.

The launch today happened at the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It launched the satellite on a "six-month journey towards its rendezvous with the Red Planet in October this year."

If successful, exploration of the Moon and Mercury might take place.
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The Republican National Committee is poised to take the battle over the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy to Democratic Senate candidates, including Russ Feingold.

The RNC announced Monday that it has set up what's called a SCOTUS Taskforce ahead of President Barack Obama's pending nomination to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans have vowed to block any nominee put forward by Obama.

While the RNC push is national, there is a local component, since Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is in a key race against Feingold.

Johnson has joined other GOP Senators in opposing any Obama nominee. Feingold has called for the Republican-led Senate to act on Obama's eventual pick.

The RNC will team with the conservative group America Rising to vet potential Supreme Court nominees, while also launching radio and digital ads and robocalls.

"This will be the most comprehensive judicial response effort in our party's history," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.

Priebus added, "Were going to hold everyone accountable and make sure Democrats have to answer to the American people for why they dont want voters to have a say in this process."

In Wisconsin, expect a flurry of activity, including a petition, robocalls, radio and digital ads and surrogates carrying the GOP message.
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Adding to the conversation around safe drinking water that is going on in the halls of Congress, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced her own water-related legislation, her office said Monday.

The U.S. Senate has been working to deliver an aid package to Flint, Mich., where water in aging pipes has resulted in lead poisoning. Flint's problems have opened up a broader debate about the condition of drinking water infrastructure and water policies around the country. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that it would take $384 billion of spending by 2030 to continue providing clean drinking water to all Americans.

"Flint is not alone; there are many other communities across the United States that face serious challenges," Baldwin, a Democrat, said in a news release. "With technological innovation, we could have better solutions to confront water problems."

Among those problems, Baldwin said, are lead safety, phosphorus reduction, and treatment of bacteria and nitrates.

Baldwin's Water Technology Acceleration Act would:

 Create an Innovative Water Technology Grant program to fund public-private partnerships that deploy, test and improve emerging water technologies.

 Help communities use innovative technologies to address drinking water, wastewater and storm runoff challenges. The bill would require the EPA to evaluate barriers to greater adoption of updated water technology and provide technical assistance to communities using new technologies successfully piloted elsewhere.
Kelli Golatke of Wauwatosa looks over some chocolate items with her children, Addie (left), 9, and Zelia, 7, at Ultimate Confections in Wauwatosa. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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As luck would have it, the melting point of chocolate is not far below the human body temperature of 98.6 degrees  making it perfect for melting lusciously in your mouth.

If that thought has you salivating, and especially if chocolate bunnies are the centerpiece of your Easter basket, you might want to hop over to your favorite candy seller sooner rather than later, because the price of cocoa is on the rise.

Cocoa bean prices jumped to a two-month high last week as dry weather threatened to shrink the crop in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the African nations that produce 60% of the world's cocoa, said Alex Breitinger with Breitinger & Sons, a commodity futures broker in Valparaiso, Ind.

Also, Breitinger said, sugar prices hit a three-month high on worries about El Nino weather resulting in the smallest sugar cane crop since 2012.

Cocoa beans were selling for $3,050 a metric ton on the futures market Friday, up about 10% over the past couple of months.

"Prices for chocolate bunnies could be rising. The cocoa and sugar markets have been rallying sharply, adding to the cost of making chocolate," Breitinger said.

Fortunately for area consumers, though, a spot check of confectioners in eastern Wisconsin found that many tend to buy their raw materials in bulk well ahead of their busiest seasons  Christmas and Easter  so the recent spikes in cocoa and sugar prices aren't likely to be a big factor for this holiday's retail chocolate prices.

"We set our price for (chocolate) rabbits months ago," said Tom Vande Walle, one of the family owners of Vande Walle's Candies Inc. in Appleton.

He said consumers might see an increase of 5 or 10 cents for some chocolate rabbits this year compared with a year ago.

"It didn't go up drastically because the last time we signed a contract, chocolate hadn't gone up that much from the previous contract," he said. "It's more important what the price is when we get to the end of the contract and what the forecast is going forward for us."

At Niemann's Candies Inc., 7475 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa, chocolate rabbit prices are the same as last year, said Jim Niemann, company president, although he's well aware of the direction of prices of chocolate ingredients.

"When we go into next year, that could be another story," Niemann said. "If this trend continues and we're still getting this upward pressure, that's when the prices have to be adjusted."

And, that upward pressure could well be a continuing trend. In 2015, the International Cocoa Organization said the weather in West Africa had been the driest in 35 years. Cocoa plants require lots of water and humidity or their bean production falls.

Plant disease, along with the threat of Ebola in West Africa, has further complicated things.

"There's been a lot going on with cocoa in the past few years," Breitinger said.

As production has slipped, demand for cocoa has risen in China and other new chocolate markets that have seen double-digit sales increases.

"China has gotten a taste for chocolate, and that has caused some fundamental shifts in the market. The demand from China has really pushed prices up over the course of the past few years," Breitinger said.

Demand for cocoa also has been climbing in Brazil, eastern Europe and India, according to the International Cocoa Organization.

"Chocolate is one of the most popular food products among all age groups of people. ... The rise in demand for dark chocolate is a promising trend emerging in the market. Many research studies indicate that dark chocolate can improve cognitive function and blood flow. Also, dark chocolate is rich in soluble fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, potassium and phosphorus," according to the Global Chocolate Market 2015-2019 report from the firm Research and Markets, based in Ireland.

At least one Milwaukee chocolate business says poor planning on the part of a large supplier has resulted in a lot of angst for some candy makers as they approach Easter.

"It's a real mess, and it's happened to people all over the United States. I have been on hold waiting and waiting and waiting, and finally I am getting a load in Tuesday," said Jim Fetzer, owner of Northern Chocolate at 2036 N. King Drive.

In contrast, Ultimate Confections at 820 N. 68th St., Wauwatosa, says it hasn't had trouble getting chocolate, although it has heard that prices have been fluctuating.

"We are lucky that it hasn't affected us. As a small company, when it costs you more to make something, you have to pass that cost along to the customer," said production manager Aaron Nikodem.
Inflation is a top issue for voters, but politicians' solutions could make things worse

Voters have shifted their top priority from abortion to their wallets, but candidates are limited in what they can do about rising prices.
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The chairman of North Milwaukee State Bank said Monday the institution's board tried all it could to keep the bank from failing, but in the end, it could not raise enough capital to offset its troubled loans.

On Friday evening, regulators closed North Milwaukee State, which immediately was taken over by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., of Raleigh, N.C., and reopened the next day as a division of the new owner.

William Jenkins, chairman of North Milwaukee Bancshares Inc., said it was "not as much a management issue" as it was the mission of serving the central city that made it tough for the bank to recover after the Great Recession. Too many of the bank's customers, hurt by unemployment and stressed by the economic downturn, have had difficulty paying back loans.

"Our customer base is churches, small businesses, start-ups, small depositors," Jenkins said.

Regulators require banks to have enough capital to serve as a cushion against loan losses, and North Milwaukee State could not meet those standards, Jenkins said.

In 2015, North Milwaukee State posted a loss of about $2.1 million, the fifth consecutive year it lost money.

In September, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued a "consent" order in which they told the bank to improve its management, board participation in operations and capital ratios. North Milwaukee State was under orders to improve its financial condition or make plans to merge with or sell to another bank.

Jenkins noted that North Milwaukee State, which was founded in 1971, was taken over by a bank that not long ago acquired another African-American owned institution that had been shut down by regulators. In February 2015, First-Citizens took over Capitol City Bank & Trust Co. of Atlanta when it failed.

Jenkins said North Milwaukee State lasted more than 40 years "for good reason," and he said he hoped First-Citizens would be a strong community lender. However, he said he was concerned that the number of black-owned banks in the United States continues to shrink and now is down to 21.

It was the first failure of a Wisconsin-based bank since Bank of Wausau was closed in 2013.

Every time a bank fails, the FDIC investigates the causes, said FDIC spokesman David Barr.

The acquisition of North Milwaukee State, which had about $67 million in assets, marks First-Citizen's entry into the Wisconsin market. First-Citizens, with assets of $31.4 billion, is one of North Carolina's largest banks.

In previous takeovers of failed Wisconsin banks, the acquirers were state banks or banks headquartered no farther away than Illinois or Michigan. But the FDIC is required to take the least costly bid for a failed bank. The FDIC estimated the closing of North Milwaukee State will cost its deposit insurance fund $9.6 million.

First-Citizens joins Indiana's Old National Bank and Ohio's Huntington Bank as large regional banks that are entering the Wisconsin banking market this year. In January, Old National, based in Evansville, Ind., announced it planned to acquire Madison's AnchorBank. Also in January, Huntington, of Columbus, Ohio, said it would acquire FirstMerit Bank, giving Huntington a branch presence in Wisconsin for the first time.

First-Citizens posted a profit last year of $210.4 million.

"I think their performance certainly would indicate that they are pretty well managed," said bank analyst Jon Bruss, chief executive of Fortress Partners Capital Management in Hartland.

Barbara Thompson, a senior vice president and spokeswoman for First-Citizens, said it was the bank's eighth FDIC-assisted transaction. Those deals have taken the bank to a lot of new territory in the U.S., and it's too soon to talk about any expansion plans in Wisconsin, she said.

"I couldn't really speak to what we may be doing in the future," she said.

She said the bank is evaluating its staffing needs at the North Milwaukee State location, but has appointed a market leader for Milwaukee  Luis Pagan, a senior vice president and regional branch operations manager.

"He's going to be focusing on the work we're doing there in Milwaukee," she said.
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The state Department of Tourism is launching a new ad campaign to try to draw more Wisconsin visitors.

The two new television commercials, introduced Monday at the Governor's Conference on Tourism, in Baraboo, highlight what the department calls "two authentic experiences...supper clubs as well as family and pet travel."

The ads can be seen at the departments' TravelWisconsin.com website.

"Investing in our tourism industry is great for Wisconsin and for our taxpayers," Gov. Scott Walker said, in a statement. "Last year, the advertising campaigns developed by Tourism reached hundreds of thousands of people and we saw more visitors to our state, which resulted in higher tax revenue."

The conference attracts innkeepers, restaurateurs, local tourism officials, attraction operators, state agency officials, tourism educators, and other representatives of the hospitality industry.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis travels the Straits of Hormuz. About 1,400 Wisconsin jobs are supported by the Navys aircraft carrier supply chain. Credit: U.S. Navy

SHARE Rick Giannini, president of Milwaukee Valve Co., shows some of the companys products, including a 1/2-inch Navy union end globe valve and a 4-inch Navy flanged gate valve (on shelf). A single Nimitz-class carrier has more than 12,000 Milwaukee Valve Co. valves on it. Michael Sears

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They're too big to sail the Great Lakes, but the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers generate millions of dollars in revenue for Wisconsin companies that help build and support the world's largest warships.

This week, Rick Giannini, president of Milwaukee Valve Co., is headed to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Navy and members of Congress about funding for the aircraft carrier fleet that's been criticized as being outdated and vulnerable to attacks from China.

Giannini is chairman of the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition, a national group of businesses that benefit from the ships that are floating cities of 4,500 sailors and military aircraft.

The debate over the future of aircraft carriers has long-term implications for at least 17 Wisconsin companies supplying products including valves, pumps and controls for the world's most technologically advanced ships.

About 1,400 Wisconsin jobs are supported by the Navy's aircraft carrier supply chain, which had a $137 million economic impact in the state between 2011 and 2015, according to the Carrier Industrial Base Coalition.

Milwaukee Valve Co., in New Berlin, is among 1,100 businesses from 46 states and 279 congressional districts contributing parts, services and support to the construction and maintenance of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

A single Nimitz-class carrier has more than 12,000 Milwaukee Valve Co. valves on it, used for many purposes such as controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid and drinking water.

The Navy represents about 25% of Milwaukee Valve Co.'s business, and the largest piece of that comes from aircraft carriers.

"Literally half of what we do in Wisconsin is Navy work," Giannini said, adding that the company has more than 700 employees and a foundry in Prairie du Sac where its bronze valves are cast.

New carrier is years away

Aircraft carriers are often the first warships to be called upon when there's a military crisis and the U.S. government wants to demonstrate its presence.

By law the Navy is required to have 11 aircraft carriers, although under a temporary waiver from Congress the fleet stands at 10 ships.

The next carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, is expected to be delivered to the Navy this year. However, it could be a few more years before it's ready for deployment.

It costs about $13 billion to build one of the new Ford-class carriers. Giannini and other coalition members are meeting with the Navy and members of Congress to ask for uninterrupted funding for the program as older carriers are overhauled and new ones are scheduled for construction.

The Navy could save up to $500 million by allowing the advance purchase of materials for the next two Ford-class carriers: Enterprise, and the yet-to-be-named CVN 81, according to Giannini.

The suppliers aren't asking the government for money that's not budgeted. Instead, they want funding early enough in the procurement process to allow them to buy materials in bulk, for several ships at a time.

"We hope this will end the uncertainty around the process and provide suppliers like us with greater confidence in planning," Giannini said.

However, critics of the Navy's aircraft carrier program, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have said the behemoth warships could be outdated and vulnerable to attacks as China and other nations develop long-range missiles.

Chinese "carrier-killing" missiles could reach one of the ships 900 miles from shore, so the ship couldn't get close enough to unleash its firepower on an enemy, according to Jerry Hendrix, a military strategist at the Center for a New American Security, in Washington, D.C.

"John McCain is right to critically examine the rising costs and declining utility of the carrier," Hendrix wrote in a recent CNAS report.

As a way to keep carriers relevant in modern warfare, the Navy could equip the ships with aerial combat drones capable of flying 1,500 miles to strike a target, according to Hendrix.

Faster development of carrier-based, unmanned attack aircraft is the right move for the Navy and the nation, he wrote.

Backers defend carriers

New threats to carriers should be taken seriously, but not having the fleet would be enormously dangerous to the nation's defense, said Michael Groothousen, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, originally from Milwaukee, who commanded the USS Harry S. Truman from March 2002 to July 2004.

An aircraft carrier brings "the most bang for the buck" to a military crisis, Groothousen said, including attacks that can be launched far from shore rather than a military base in a foreign country.

A carrier also is useful for humanitarian missions, such as providing medical assistance and emergency supplies after a tsunami, according to Groothousen.

"You can make millions of gallons of fresh water a day on one of these ships. There are things you can do with a carrier that are above and beyond combat," he said.

More than 1,000 feet in length, and too big for the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes, a U.S. Navy Nimitz-class carrier is being eclipsed in size by the upcoming Ford class of carriers.

Since they use nuclear power, the ships are capable of operating more than 20 years without refueling. An aircraft carrier has an expected life span of 50 years, but equipment has to be updated and overhauled before then.

Lovejoy Controls Corp. of Waukesha has modernized turbines on the Nimitz carriers, improving the equipment's reliability and performance.

"It's a good chunk of our business because there are six turbines on each carrier. I had the privilege of going on sea trials on the George H.W. Bush ... that was a fantastic experience," said company president Kim Lovejoy.

Oilgear Co. of Milwaukee makes hydraulic pumps used on the aircraft elevator system on the Gerald R. Ford.

Val-Fab Inc., a metal fabricator in Neenah, does aircraft carrier work for General Atomics, a California firm that's building the aircraft launch system for the upcoming USS John F. Kennedy.

The technical requirements are demanding, said Val-Fab owner Keith Picard.

"It's a pride thing, too. No doubt about it," he said.

Many things on an aircraft carrier are supersized, including the ship's horn made by Kahlenberg Industries in Two Rivers.

The horn weighs about 250 pounds and has a piston that travels up and down 130 times a second. Every U.S. Navy aircraft carrier has a Kahlenberg horn that sends out a 147-decibel sound blast to alert other vessels of the ship's presence.

If by some chance you couldn't see a massive aircraft carrier coming your way, you certainly could hear it, said Erik Kahlenberg, president of the company, which has been making ship whistles and horns for more than a century.

Wisconsin suppliers

The debate over the future of aircraft carriers has long-term implications for at least 17 Wisconsin companies that supply products and services for the world's most technologically advanced ships.

Some of the companies include:

DRS Power & Control Technologies of Milwaukee

Oilgear Co. of Milwaukee

Lovejoy Controls Corp. of Waukesha

Milwaukee Valve Co. of New Berlin

Kahlenberg Industries of Two Rivers

Val-Fab Inc. of Neenah

Legacy Power Conversion Inc. of Necedah

Superior-Lidgerwood-Mundy Corp. of Superior

Waukesha Bearings Corp. of Pewaukee

Appleton Marine Inc. of Appleton

Cordstrap USA of Sturtevant

Coltec Industries of Beloit

Airsan Corp. of Milwaukee

Airgas Safety Inc., a Pennsylvania firm with Wisconsin operations

MetalTek International of Waukesha

Sentry Equipment Corp. of Oconomowoc

Uline Inc. of Pleasant Prairie
Mason & Lulu by Lois Bielefeld

Mary Louise Schumacher Art City An online journal about visual art, the urban landscape and design. Mary Louise Schumacher, the Journal Sentinel's art and architecture critic, leads the discussion and a community of writers contribute to the dialogue. SHARE

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Pictures of children can be the very worst kind of picturessecond only to vacation snapshots in the canon of ultra-personal photographs that are over shared. There was a time when they were endured only occasionally. Of course now Facebook's servers are full of them, and our friends' children's faces can now define our daily breakfast experiences.

It is within this context of kid-photo-overload that I visited "A Person is a Noun," a dual exhibition at the Portrait Society Gallery examining the contemporary portrait through the works of photographers Tom Bamberger and Lois Bielefeld.

One photograph especially caught my attention, "Mason & Lulu" by Bielefeld. The large-scale color print features two figuressiblingswho stare unflinchingly into the camera lens, in the way precocious and confident people do. The light is eerie and otherworldly, and in fact Bielefeld mentions, in her notes for the show, her use of artificial light and time of day to capture a sense of the spiritual in these otherwise domestic, familiar environments. After taking in the many wild, prickly and nubbly textures of the whole scene  the weeds, sticks, shoe leather, hair, denim  I noticed two lights next to each of their heads. Next to Mason was a golden window; beside Lulu was the setting sun.

There they stand, gangly arms a-dangle at their sides, as though supporting the weight of their giant hands is tiresome after a long day of exploring. I wanted to know more about these kids. Maybe it was the haunted-Halloween feel of the light, or maybe it was the fact that the troubles of adulthood featured heavily in the care-worn faces in so many of the other photos, making this one a fresh exception.

"Mason and Lulu are kids of a woman I work with," Bielefeld wrote in an email exchange. "Lulu is a leukemia survivor and so she has this really special vibrancy about heras does her brotherand a special place in my heart after watching them all go through what they did. I immensely enjoyed my walkabout with them, exploring their really dark neighborhood at nightchatting with them and sort of forgetting their age. Both of them are so smart, vivacious, and really neat kids."

Bielefeld is a Milwaukee photographer who recently returned from a 10-week residency in Luxembourg, which was awarded by the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend. This is her third exhibition at the Portrait Society. Her previous major project, "Androgyny" presented portraits of androgynous individuals as well as videos and a sound installation staged in a full-scale constructed bathroom. Bielefeld has also been the recipient of a Mary L. Nohl Individual Fellowship.

"A Person is a Noun" is a two-part exhibition organized by Debra Brehmer and John Sobczak, taking place at both the Portrait Society Gallery and the Dean Jensen Gallery. The Dean Jensen Gallery features a separate set of artists, with a special selection of work from Sally Mann's "Family Pictures" series.

The exhibitions run through March 19 at the two venues. The Portrait Society Gallery, where the "Mason & Lulu" portrait hangs, is located on the fifth floor at 207 E. Buffalo St. The Dean Jensen Gallery is at 759 N. Water Street.

Stacey Williams-Ng is a painter, writer and regular Art City contributor. She is currently the Program Director for a Milwaukee-based community arts project called the Black Cat Alley. Follow her on Twitter (@staceywng) or for the project (@blackcatMKE).
Ald. Bob Donovan is challenging Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the April 5 election. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Milwaukee Ald. Bob Donovan walked out of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board meeting Monday over the presence of the newspaper's watchdog columnist, Daniel Bice.

Donovan said he had no intention of sitting down for an interview with the editorial board if Bice, whom he called a "gossip columnist," remained in the room.

"Write whatever you damn well please," Donovan said before leaving just minutes after he arrived.

David Haynes, the editorial page editor, told the south side alderman that it was the newspaper's longtime policy to allow reporters and columnists to join meetings when the editorial board interviews candidates and others.

"This will be a short meeting then," said Donovan, who is challenging Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the April 5 election.

"Then the meeting's over," Haynes said. "We're done."

"No, that's fine guys. Thank you," Donovan said.

Donovan's campaign largely has been focused on public safety and crime.

But Bice recently wrote about some of the south side alderman's past troubles with the law, including a 1992 citation for disorderly conduct for peeking through a hole in a partition between restroom stalls in a men's room at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Donovan was in his 30s at the time.

Bice's column also noted that in 2005, Donovan agreed to pay a $2,500 fine and to avoid any involvement with nonprofits for two years as part of a deal in which federal authorities dropped a misdemeanor fraud charge against him.

"I am not interested in speaking with an editorial board focused more on gossip and personal attacks than our city's real issues," Donovan later said in a statement.

Haynes disagreed.

"I'm disappointed in Alderman Donovan's decision to walk out of our meeting today," he said. "We demonstrate our interest in the serious problems facing this city every day on our pages and digital editions. Our invitation to the alderman to discuss these issues is, in fact, evidence of that."

Barrett has been comparing Donovan to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, raising questions about whether Donovan has the temperament to be Milwaukee's mayor.

In radio advertisements released earlier this month, Barrett accused Donovan of having "unsteady, erratic behavior" like Trump. The ads cite a pair of incidents involving Donovan, including a 2007 clash in which a constituent accused Donovan of cursing him out and trying to slap him in front of the man's 6-year-old niece. The man previously had two other people file restraining orders against him, and had been urging Donovan to help him take on a problem property next to his house.

In the other incident, which happened in 2008, Donovan was bloodied after scuffling with an apparently drunken man who had urinated in front of a store in his south side district.

"Alderman Donovan's main issue has been the need to get tough on law breakers," Journal Sentinel editor George Stanley said. "Dan Bice reported that the alderman paid a federal fine after voting to steer $200,000 in taxpayer money to a nonprofit that he founded. Bice reported that Donovan was cited for disorderly conduct after getting caught peeking into men's room stalls at UWM. He reported how a Donovan campaign staffer pleaded no contest to three counts of theft and owes a bunch in back taxes. Given that the alderman is seeking authority over fighting crime and spending millions in tax dollars, Bice has reported relevant facts, not gossip."

Donovan, who was first elected to the Common Council in 2000, is also running for re-election to his Common Council seat representing District 8.

Donovan's challenger in that race, Justin Bielinski, released a statement calling his behavior "childish."

"While not surprising to those who know him, the childish behavior displayed by my opponent today is not acceptable for any elected official, much less one who wants to be the mayor of a great city like Milwaukee," Bielinski said.
A man is assisted by members of the Vue family as he weeps at a memorial to Phia Vue and his his wife, Mai K. Vue, on the steps of the building where the couple lived and were killed. Their neighbor Dan J. Popp is charged in the shootings. Credit: Michael Sears

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One week after a shooting rampage on Milwaukee's southwest side, hundreds turned out for a candlelight vigil to honor three people killed in their homes in front of their children.

Family members, friends and supporters stood beneath dozens of umbrellas and three tents under a steady rain to remember Jesus R. Manso-Perez, 40; Phia Vue, 36; and his wife Mai K. Vue, 32, who were shot to death March 6. Their neighbor Dan J. Popp, 39, is facing three counts of first-degree intentional homicide.

Chia Youyee Vang, co-chair of the Milwaukee Police Department's District 4 Hmong Advisory Task Force, called the killings an "act of terror" and said, "This tragic incident has made us feel vulnerable and made us question our security."

Witnesses told police that Popp shot Manso-Perez in front of his son as they walked upstairs from a laundry room in the basement, after Popp first asked if they wanted a beer and then asked where they were from. When the father and his son, Jesus Manso-Carrasquillo, answered they were from Puerto Rico, Popp replied, "Oh, that's why you don't speak English."

Popp is accused of shooting Manso-Perez in the head and leaving his body on the stairs in a pool of blood before firing at Jesus Manso-Carrasquillo as he fled the four-unit apartment building in the 3300 block of S. 92nd St.

Then Popp, according to witnesses, kicked in the door of the Vue family's apartment. The Vues and their four children and Phia Vue's sister Thoa Vue sought refuge in a bedroom, but Popp pushed his way into the bedroom while holding a black rifle, the criminal complaint says.

Authorities say Popp pointed the rifle at Phia Vue and told the man to leave the bedroom with him, and after the sound of gunshots rang out, Popp returned to the Vues' bedroom and told Mai Vue, her children and sister-in-law to follow him out of the apartment.

Popp began dragging Mai Vue out of the apartment with her two smallest children, and as Thoa Vue passed the bathroom she opened the door and saw her brother lying motionless on the bathroom floor, the complaint says. Thoa Vue and two of the Vues' children ran out of the apartment building. Mai Vue was later found shot to death in the building.

Popp surrendered to police within minutes after the shootings. When he appeared in court last week, his defense attorneys raised the question of his mental competency in further court proceedings.

On the front doorstep where people gathered for the vigil Sunday evening, family members placed on easels large color photos of the victims, smiling for the camera. Below were bouquets of flowers and balloons.

Among the elected officials paying their respects were Mayor Tom Barrett, who extended his condolences on behalf of the city. When Barrett learned of the triple homicide a week earlier, he said, he was surprised.

"This is not a part of our city where we generally see violence," said Barrett, who noted the victims were spending their Sunday afternoons with their families when they were killed. "They left this life doing what they love, spending time with their families."

White candles were handed out and lighted, illuminating the faces of the grief-stricken, who held their candles next to each other to pass along the flame. Raindrops fell heavy on nylon umbrellas, sometimes making it difficult to hear speakers. Most did not extinguish their flames, instead waiting their turn to walk to the apartment front step to kneel quietly and add their candle to a pyre that grew larger as more people pressed forward.

Manso-Perez's family did not attend because they were at his funeral on Sunday, but earlier in the day they lighted a candle in solidarity with supporters who turned out for the vigil. A letter from Jesus Manso-Carrasquillo was read to the crowd by Darryl Morin, a Latino leader in Milwaukee. Manso-Carrasquillo wrote lovingly of his father and role model who told his son when they moved to Wisconsin seven years ago "we are not here to get help from the government, instead we are here to challenge ourselves to be better for our family and to have a better future."

The family went through tough times, sometimes with little to eat, but they persevered, Manso-Carrasquillo wrote in his letter, because they felt God had a bigger plan for them. Manso-Carrasquillo asked for justice for his family and for the Vue family.

"Just because my parents or any other parent do not speak English does not give anyone the right to end the life of someone else," Manso-Carrasquillo wrote.

At the end of the emotional vigil, the crowd prayed for the victims and their families. Perhaps it was fitting that for such a diverse group who came to honor three victims of different ethnicities, prayers were recited in three languages.

They prayed in English. They prayed in Hmong. And they prayed in Spanish.
SHARE About charter schools Charter schools are public schools run by non-profit companies. They exist through a contract with a state-approved entity that allows them freedom from some state rules in exchange for quality performance. If the school's students don't meet performance goals, the authorizer can close the school. Charter schools cannot teach religion and have to report the same data as traditional public schools. Most charter schools in Wisconsin are run by school boards. But in the Milwaukee area and Racine, the City of Milwaukee, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside can authorize charter schools. Those "independent" charter schools usually have more control over staffing and budgeting than district-authorized charter schools. As of the 2014-'15 school year, independent charter schools received $8,075 per pupil in state aid.

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Gary Bennett, chief of staff for Republican Sen. Alberta Darling, has been tapped to lead the University of Wisconsin System's school chartering agency, which lawmakers created last year to authorize new independent schools in Milwaukee and Madison.

Bennett, an education reform advocate who previously worked for Democratic Sen. Lena Taylor, was selected by UW System President Ray Cross to head the new Office of Educational Opportunity beginning April 1.

The appointment of Bennett, whose boss championed the measure creating the office as co-chair of the Legislature's powerful Joint-Finance Committee, prompted accusations of cronyism from at least one Democratic lawmaker.

"I do think Alberta Darling had a huge influence on that process," said state Rep. Sondy Pope, who on Monday reiterated her concerns that charter schools divert much-needed resources from traditional public schools.

Bennett declined to comment Monday. But a UW System spokesman and Darling defended his selection.

"It was a national search...with a very rigorous selection process," said Darling, who noted that Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat, was also listed among Bennett's references.

UW System spokesman Alex Hummel called Bennett "the top candidate in the search process (who) was selected based on his experience, knowledge and work in education."

Any effort by lawmakers or the public to see just how Bennett stacked up against other applicants is stymied by a separate measure Darling supported during the 2015-'17 biennial budget process: one that exempts the UW System from having to disclose the names of finalists for all but a few top-level posts.

"It shows what a bad law this is," said Bill Lueders of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a statewide group that works to protect public access to meetings and records.

"There's no reason the public shouldn't know who the other applicants are," said Lueders, who spoke out against the measure at the time. Failure to release the names only creates the perception "that he got the position because he had an inside track, when he probably got it because he is the objectively right candidate."

Cross named Bennett to the $95,000-a-year post earlier this month. The office was one of a handful of new chartering authorities created as part of the 2015-'17 budget bill, including Gateway Technical College, the Waukesha County Executive and the state's tribal colleges.

Milwaukee Public Schools, which has 20 charter schools already, questioned the need for the additional chartering authorities.

"With Milwaukee Public Schools, the City of Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee all actively authorizing charter schools in the city, the need for this new office is not clear to us," spokesman Tony Tagliavia said.

A 2005 graduate of Pepperdine University, Bennett holds a master's degree in education from the University of Las Vegas and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught for three years in Las Vegas, two of those through the alternative licensing program Teach for America.

As chief of staff, he served as the point person for many of Darling's education reform initiatives, including the expansion of charter schools.

Charter schools are public schools but are afforded more flexibility in staffing and curriculum than their traditional counterparts. Charter advocates say the flexibility is needed to better serve students in failing schools. Critics say they dilute resources from already financially strapped districts.
Crews from Cream City Wrecking and Dismantling worked last summer to deconstruct houses in the N. 30th St. corridor as part of a flood control project. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

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Excavation of flood control projects to protect neighborhoods and redevelopment investments along the 30th St. industrial corridor on Milwaukee's north side will begin this spring, as part of $3.78 million in contracts awarded Monday by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Controlling storm water on the surface also will cut flows to combined sanitary and storm sewers and the deep tunnel system, and reduce the risk of sewer overflows in an area that has been hit repeatedly by flooding, MMSD Executive Director Kevin Shafer said.

July 2010 flooding caused more than $32 million in damage to commercial, industrial and residential properties along the north end of the N. 30th St. corridor. Most of the damage was done to businesses and residences on both sides of the Canadian Pacific Railway lines north of W. Capitol Drive.

The first step in the district's flood control efforts here is to excavate three separate storm-water storage basins with a total capacity of 40 million gallons.

C.W. Purpero Inc. of Oak Creek will be paid $1.84 million to dig two storm-water storage basins north of W. Capitol Drive and east of the Canadian Pacific Railway lines, under one contract awarded Monday.

An estimated 100,000 cubic yards of soil will be removed to create the two basins.

The soil will be disposed of at a former sand and gravel quarry at 7003 W. Good Hope Road currently owned by SWP Properties LLC of Milwaukee, under a separate $1.65 million contract awarded Monday to SWP.

One of the two basins will be excavated on the east side of 30th St., south of W. Roosevelt Drive, the low point of the neighborhood. After the July 2010 flooding, residents told a Journal Sentinel reporter that houses near Hope Ave. looked as if they had been built in a pond.

MMSD bought 10 properties on that block and removed the houses in 2015.

A second basin east of the rail line will be dug near the intersection of N. 30th and W. Congress streets. This location is at the north edge of DRS Power & Control Technologies Inc.

Storm water flowing through neighborhoods west of N. 27th St. will drain to the two basins.

Purpero was awarded a second contract Monday in the amount of $295,190 to demolish 14 commercial buildings at the former Bee Bus Line property in the 4300 block of N. 35th St. The work is to be done within 60 days.

At least one-fourth of workers on this job must reside in 30th St. corridor ZIP codes, under contract requirements.

Excavation of a storm-water storage basin there is planned this summer under a separate contract to be awarded in June, Shafer said. The property is southeast of the N. 35th St. bridge over Lincoln Creek.

The three storm-water storage basins are being dug as part of a $46.1 million flood control plan for the 30th St. industrial corridor north of W. Capitol Drive.

Flood control projects will boost property values in the corridor and provide a catalyst for economic redevelopment and job creation on the north side, according to city and district officials.

One example of this proposed revitalization is the Century City Business Park, the former A.O. Smith/Tower Automotive plant south of Capitol Drive, with 45 acres of vacant land.
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What has become of creative expression? Why is everyone talking like everyone else these days? Know what I'm sayin'?

Does the following sound familiar?

Political reporters are on the campaign trail watching hotly contested races, asking gotcha questions and looking for sound bites. Candidates are taking center stage and hurling insults. Supporters and protesters are chanting slogans and some are clashing with police, causing a firestorm of controversy and a flurry of activity. I mean, it's so hard to keep up 24/7. The races are heating up and the politicians are doubling down. They've taken the gloves off and we're taking it all with a grain of salt. But it ain't over till it's over or the fat lady sings. I mean, like, aren't there any new ways of saying things any more? No sense in looking back. After all, hindsight is 20/20. However, there still may be time to connect the dots.

It's the 11th hour for solutions and we should be making last-ditch efforts. Of course, we all want to do the right thing. Officials, authorities, experts, knowledgeable observers and informed sources say we're at a tipping point in America. The rank-and-file are restless for answers and are reeling from events more than at any time in recent memory. I mean, doesn't history repeat itself?

Some are speaking out while others are sitting on their hands or sitting on the fence. Some have been there and done that. If you read between the lines you may agree that it seems something's gone terribly wrong. Politicians are under fire and we're under siege. Go figure.

Speaking either on the record or off the cuff or on the condition of anonymity, experts say part of the problem is poor parenting and troubled youth. Where have all the family values gone? Activists try to explain but many can't be reached for comment.

The bottom line is that there is no silver bullet much less a magic one. Maybe we just need to bite the bullet. I mean, maybe we need a reality check unless there's a major breakthrough. Surely nothing will happen until there's a level playing field. Maybe we need to think outside the box or be in the inner circle. Maybe I'm just beating a dead horse. Maybe all these comparisons are apples to oranges. Maybe I just need to get a life or get with the program. Maybe I just need to keep my chin up, my eyes open and my fingers crossed, and simply kick back. Maybe the glass is half-empty, maybe half-full. Surely, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

At the end of the day, the more things change, the more they stay the same. On the other hand, it is what it is. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope yet. After all, it's not rocket science or brain surgery. It's not like we can't just put this on the back burner and chill out. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day and surely good things come to those who wait. Maybe we all just need to wake up and smell the coffee. When push comes to shove and when you get down to bare bones or brass tacks, we're all in this together. Having said this, maybe I'm just preaching to the choir.

Thanks for having me. Have a nice day.

Joe Costanza is a retired journalist and an active curmudgeon.
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Whether it's a Democratic or Republican candidate running for president or even in some Wisconsin races, every candidate confidently promises the electorate that he or she will create jobs.

In the early primary state of South Carolina, the economy had suffered a 31% drop in manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years and a 70% drop in furniture exporting over the same period.

Did any of the candidates give us serious ideas they would pursue to reverse this trend?

Most Americans recognize it is business leaders and entrepreneurs who create jobs. But most of the candidates are lifelong politicians and many have been lawyers. How does that qualify them to claim they can create jobs?

The only time politicians historically have created jobs was back in the 1930s with programs such as the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. Interesting fact: the Milwaukee Waterworks at Lynwood was built by the WPA and 1,700 Milwaukeeans got jobs out of it.

But none of the politicians are calling for a return to governmental agencies that directly create and employ people.

So isn't it time we ask every candidate running for higher office just how he or she intends to create jobs?

In the first place, the candidates could start by being honest with the reality we face today. Most American corporations, even those with global outreach, are relentlessly driven to reduce their costs through new technology and automation. This is not limited to manufacturing. We now spend time talking to robots on the phone for customer service.

Second, they need to recognize the new reality that most new jobs are being created by start-up companies. This trend is accelerating. Because of automation, by 2020, current research predicts that 50% of the American workforce will be working for themselves either as entrepreneurs or freelancers. That calls for a dramatically different approach to job creation than has guided policy-makers in the past.

If they're serious, here are three ideas they could be proposing that would facilitate job creation in the private sector:

Government resources: Establish dedicated entities in government to reduce red tape and bureaucracy for entrepreneurs starting businesses. The focus should not be just assisting high-growth companies but also on what traditionally has been called "mom-and-pop businesses." The irony is that those businesses will not be eliminated by automation and now represent the future for the majority of Americans wanting a job.

Cities throughout the country should be given assistance in creating incubators to assist our citizens in starting their own businesses. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg created several incubators to assist immigrants and minorities in starting businesses The New Me Accelerator in Mountain View, Calif., provides a 12-week program for businesses led by unrepresented minorities. It's a make-it-or-break-it boot camp.

Education: The states and federal governments should spend less time debating Common Core and more time asking what kinds of skills students will need to prosper in a dramatically changing world.

Of course, today's students will need the basics in the triumvirate of reading, writing and computation. But increasingly, students are going to need the ability to think creatively in solving problems.

Those cognitive abilities will be necessary not only to secure work with existing companies but also to enhance their ability to provide a job for themselves as an entrepreneur or freelancer. Creative problem-solving can be taught and should be taught as standard in all primary and high schools.

Courses also should offer students the basics to succeed as an entrepreneur. One stellar example is MIT, which excels at teaching its undergraduate students the basics of entrepreneurship. As a result, MIT graduates over the last 25 years have created so many companies that the current cumulative revenue stream from them exceeds $1 trillion.

Tax structure: Modify the tax structure that currently rewards hedge funds and private equity firms with a tax break on their investment in companies called "carried interest." Currently, the tax break they receive translates into favorable tax treatment on the sale of that business at the lower capital gains rate.

If politicians are serious, they could condition that tax break to apply only if the private equity fund or hedge fund can demonstrate the company sold actually created more jobs than the all-too-typical downsizing to increase profitability to facilitate the ability to sell a business for more profit.

We've learned how easy it is for politicians to promise things, but the devil is always in the details. These are the kinds of ideas we need to see from our candidates before we elect them to the highest office in the land.

Dan Steininger is president of BizStarts, which assists entrepreneurs in starting their own companies; and of Steininger & Associates, which helps employers identify innovative approaches to driving new revenues for their companies.
Art Dahlberg, commissioner of the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services stands outside a so-called zombie home in 2014. Credit: Mike De Sisti

The state Senate is likely to take up a bill Tuesday that could severely damage municipalities' ability to clean up some abandoned foreclosed homes in their neighborhoods. Catering to the interests of lenders instead of the communities and citizens that legislators are supposed to serve, this bill should be rejected by the Senate.

The bill would strip municipalities of their ability to force financial institutions to quickly sell abandoned, foreclosed properties known as zombie homes.

"This would worsen the zombie property problem in Milwaukee and other communities considerably," Mayor Tom Barrett told the Journal Sentinel. "I don't know why someone would want to worsen that problem."

That's a great question. Abandoned homes are a plague in Milwaukee and other communities; why handcuff local officials' ability to deal with them? In most zombie home cases, the homeowners have walked away and the mortgage holder claims its hands are tied. Before a 2015 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision, the city could only take minimal measures to secure the properties. Meanwhile, they sat empty, rotting away, targets for vandals who strip out the metal and anything else of value. The homes become targets of criminals as well, who can use them as safe havens. Eventually, the home may be razed and the city has another empty lot.

Art Dahlberg, commissioner of the city's Department of Neighborhood Services, told us in 2014 that zombie homes are a "huge issue for neighborhoods overall. They sit and sit and sit, and nothing gets done. That radiates out to the neighbors."

Assembly Bill 720, apparently slated to be taken up on the Senate's last day this session, would undo some of the powers the city gained from that decision, in which the justices said that when a court declares a foreclosed property to be abandoned, the lender must offer it for sale. Foreclosed properties are auctioned off at sheriff's sales, and lenders often buy the properties themselves.

Current law requires a lender to sell an abandoned foreclosed property after a five-week "redemption" period, during which the homeowner has an opportunity to pay the mortgage, the Journal Sentinel reported. Assembly Bill 720 would give the lender one year to decide what to do with the property. At the end of that period, the lender could sell the property or opt to walk away from it, leaving it in the original owner's hands  even if that person erroneously assumed they lost title and is long gone.

The bill's lead Assembly sponsor, state Rep. Terry Katsma (R-Oostburg), has said the proposal would help address the lingering foreclosure crisis. It will address it all right  by making it worse.

State Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere), the measure's lead sponsor in the Senate, had expressed concerns last month that the proposal wasn't ready for discussion. That remains the case now. This bill should die a quiet death.
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Madison  Senate Republicans likely won't act Tuesday on bills to eliminate a deductions cap on student loan interest, fine so-called sanctuary cities and let Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele turn debt collection for the county over to the state.

The bills weren't on the agenda for Tuesday's planned final session that was released by the office of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), leaving the proposals with almost no time left as the session draws to a close.

A bill the Senate will take up is AB720, which would make it tougher for cities to force lenders to sell zombie homes  that is, abandoned properties that are being foreclosed. Republicans initially left it off the Senate agenda but then included it at the last moment Monday.

The bill is supported by lenders and the Wisconsin Bankers Association. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has voiced strong opposition, arguing it would make it more difficult for the city to battle zombie homes.

The Assembly adjourned last month after what GOP leaders in that house called the last day of their 2015-'16 session, sending a slew of bills to the Senate to approve or let die.

Those bills include Gov. Scott Walker's plans to address student debt and bipartisan measures to address the separate problems of dementia and of heroin and opiate addiction.

Some of the college debt proposals are likely to pass Tuesday, but not a bill to eliminate a $2,500 cap on the state tax deduction for student loan interest.

Fitzgerald spokeswoman Myranda Tanck said the bill came up relatively late in the session and would require money that the state's relatively tight budget doesn't have. Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said he'd keep working with senators on the issue.

The tax break legislation for student loan interest would save student loan debt payers in Wisconsin $5.2 million annually if fully phased in, according to the governor's office.

The maximum deduction for student loan interest payments is $2,500. The average increase in benefit for lifting the interest cap deduction is $165 per tax filer, according to the governor's office. This would benefit roughly 32,000 single and married filers.

The bulk of the benefit would go to tax filers in the $30,000 to $70,000 income range, and the benefit for this group would be more than $200.

Democrats have said Republicans aren't doing enough to help college graduates deal with high debt. Democratic lawmakers have pushed for a proposal to create a quasi-state agency to help borrowers refinance their loans at lower interest rates.

"After all of the talk, it is disappointing that Republicans are still refusing to tackle Wisconsin's student loan debt crisis," Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said in a statement. "Simply allowing individuals to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates could save families thousands of dollars a year."

But Walker and other Republicans said they're already holding down college costs and debt through their freeze on in-state tuition at University of Wisconsin schools.

The Senate also won't vote on the proposal to fine local governments if they try to prevent police from asking criminal defendants about their immigration status. Fitzgerald has already questioned the proposal, and an estimated 20,000 Latino and pro-immigrant demonstrators converged on the Capitol last month to protest AB 450 and another bill affecting immigrants.

Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) on Monday called the decision not to schedule it "a prime example of the adherence to political correctness practiced by some elected Republicans."

But the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera praised the Senate for not taking up the bill and said it's watching to make sure it isn't revived.

"Our fight is not over until we see that the Senate is not meeting anymore," said Mario Garcia Sierra, a member of the group.

The Senate also is not taking up AB 885, which would have let Abele enlist the state to collect on most Milwaukee County debt. The bill would also have set aside $1 million for worker training in the county and put some limits on debt collecting from those with very low incomes.

The plan is controversial in Milwaukee, where it was first proposed last year to cover the county's share of a subsidy for the planned Milwaukee Bucks arena.

The Senate is also skipping several other bills:

AB 554, which is being promoted by an Illinois water company, Aqua America Inc., would ease restrictions on out-of-state private ownership of water and sewage treatment utilities.

AB 251 would block state agencies from working on regulations if an economic analysis shows their cost exceeds $10 million. The measure would also allow lawmakers to conduct an independent analysis of the costs of regulations.

AB 486 would close a loophole so that private investors won't benefit from millions of dollars in income tax breaks generated by a taxpayer investment in the state's venture capital program. The bill would use a part of those savings to increase that same tax break on the private investment by those venture capitalists.

Cary Spivak, Mary Spicuzza and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Milwaukee.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele (left) is running ads accusing re-election challenger Chris Larson (right) of being a tool of big banks. Credit: Michael McLoone

With his second-place finish in the primary, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has staked out a new direction in his multimillion-dollar quest to hang on to his job.

Abele, a moderate Democrat, is running to the left of his liberal opponent, state Sen. Chris Larson, by accusing him of being a tool of big banks.

"Chris Abele doesn't take a dime from big banks," one of Abele's direct-mail pieces says.

This is what the ads don't tell you: Back in 2011  during his first run for public office  Abele did take cash from commercial and investment bankers.

Larson's team has counted more than $10,000 in campaign donations that the county exec's campaign received from banking officials five years ago.

The figure is high, however. That's because Larson's list included individuals such as real estate developer Joel Lee and retired mortgage insurance exec Curt Culver, though neither would be considered bankers by any definition.

In truth, Abele took in at least $6,000 from officials at U.S. Bank, PNC Bank, IxoniaBank and the old M&I Bank in 2011.

That's not a lot of cash. But Abele's team is spending hundreds of thousands  including more than$156,000 on airtime alone  on ads blasting Larson for an even smaller sum of campaign donations from banking interests.

"He's absolutely being hypocritical on this," Josh Kilroy, campaign manager for Larson, a Milwaukee Democrat, said of Abele. "Anyone who helps run a $1 billion-plus enterprise per year is in a position to help banks."

But Abele's camp is not backing down.

First, they note that Abele, a Milwaukee Dem, doesn't accept donations from political action committees run by banking interests or anything else. He also fought to create the job of county comptroller to make sure financial decisions are made by an independent source.

"Only one candidate running for county executive took money from big banks, then sided with Scott Walker and voted their way at the expense of working families," said Tia Torhorst, campaign manager for Abele. "That candidate is Chris Larson."

Torhorst is referring to Larson's votes in favor of one bill giving private-label credit card companies refunds for sales taxes paid on bad consumer debt and a crowdfunding bill backed by banks.

This isn't Larson's first objection to Abele's ubiquitous ad campaign.

Last week, he complained that the county exec counted $1,300 in donations from Kevin Flaherty, an exec at Associated Bank, as part of the tally of cash from Wall Street interests.

But Larson said Flaherty is a prominent gay rights activist who worked alongside the senator in a group called Equality Wisconsin. Larson noted that Flaherty stood with Abele at a news conference in which the county exec signed a domestic partner benefits law in 2012.

"Those donations were given because Kevin Flaherty shared values with Chris Larson regarding LGBT issues," Kilroy said. "He does not deserve to have his name dragged through the mud as Abele's campaign has done."

Again, Torhorst dismissed the criticism. She said it was still true that Larson took money from bankers and then voted their way on legislation.

So what does Flaherty have to say? Why did he give to Larson over the years?

You'll have to make your own best guess because Flaherty is sitting out this debate.

"I have no interest in talking," he said Monday before hanging up.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
By of the

Rain is in the forecast Tuesday in southern Wisconsin, but some counties could see severe weather, including damaging hail, thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes.

It's a big if, though.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., revised its map of severe weather for Tuesday to push Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, along with counties in southern Wisconsin, into at least a "marginal" chance of severe thunderstorms  with the possibility of damaging hail and high winds.

"I know that doesn't seem like a lot but the potential is still there primarily for a hail threat, and perhaps an isolated tornado" in southern Wisconsin, said Justin Schultz, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Sullivan.

An update Tuesday morning showed that the chance had been raised to "slight risk" from Madison to Milwaukee.

A warm front is expected to move into southern Wisconsin and hover over the area Tuesday afternoon. Instability in the middle atmosphere could create hail.

In Milwaukee, there's a chance of showers before 1 p.m. Tuesday and increasing chances of showers and thunderstorms later Tuesday, with up to a half inch of rain possible, according to the weather service forecast.

A high temperature in the low 50s is expected, with an east wind from 5 mph to 15 mph during the day, an east wind of about 15 mph Tuesday night and southwesterly wind gusts as high as 30 mph after midnight, according to the weather service.

The high temperature Monday in Milwaukee was 52, 10 degrees higher than normal for March 14, according to the weather service.
Josh Olson of Wauwatosa walks with his 5-year-old daughter, Bridget Olson, shielded with umbrellas from the rain as they head down N. 68th St. just south of W. Wisconsin Ave. in Wauwatosa on Sunday. Credit: Mike De Sisti

By of the

More rain is in the forecast this week with the possibility of strong thunderstorms on Tuesday in southern Wisconsin.

A strong cold front moving into the area could bring strong to isolated severe thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and evening, and possibly damaging winds and hail, according to the National Weather Service.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., is predicting a marginal risk for severe thunderstorms across the southern one-third of Wisconsin Tuesday, which could bring hail as large as 1 inch and winds gusting to 60 mph.

However, there's still considerable uncertainty about the amount of instability that may happen on Tuesday.

The forecast for Monday in southeastern Wisconsin calls for a 30% chance of rain, mostly before 10 a.m., and areas of fog before noon, cloudy skies and a high temperature near 50. Showers are likely on Tuesday with possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. and highs in the mid-50s.
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Maan News Agency |  

RAMALLAH (Maan)  Israeli troops used tear gas to suppress a march held by five Palestinian food production companies on Sunday near the Israeli Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

The companies protested by parking their trucks near the prison, after Israeli authorities banned their products from entering Jerusalem and Israel.



h/t Maan Images

An Israeli army spokesman did not immediately respond for request for information about the protest.

Israel informed the companies on Wednesday that their products were banned from entering Jerusalem through the Beitunia commercial crossing.

The director of marketing for the Hamoda company, Fadi Abu Hilweh, told Maan on Saturday evening that Israeli troops at the crossing have been turning back trucks of the five companies since Wednesday.

Hamoda head Ameer Haddad told Maan that Hamoda  along with the companies al-Juneidi Dairy and Food products, al-Rayyan Dairies, Salwa Foods, and Siniora Food Industries  all parked their trucks near the prison to protest the ban and the horrible consequences of this decision.

Haddad added that the companies export their products to Jerusalem under agreements with Israel and that there was no grounds for the ban.

He said the companies would continue protesting until Israeli authorities canceled the decision.

Abu Hilweh said the companies were not officially notified of any decisions to ban their products in Israel and were surprised when Israeli soldiers at Beitunia commercial crossing denied their products entry to Israel on Wednesday.

He added that about 50 percent of the five companies production goes to Palestinian consumers in occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinian communities in Israel.

If this ban continues, he said, the companies could lose some 1.2 billion shekels ($309.5 million) a year.

Hamoda has already notified its milk providers to halt supplies until the ban is resolved. Abu Hilweh said the five companies would have to discharge large numbers of workers if the ban continued.

He added that he was surprised when Israeli authorities informed the companies that the decision to ban products was a political decision and the Palestinian Authority was notified of the decision six months ago.

An official in the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, who requested anonymity, told Maan that the ministry was not notified of any such decision.

The ministry is looking into the case, which is a flagrant breach of Paris Protocols, the official said, referring to an agreement signed in 1995 between the PLO and Israel, that set procedures and regulations governing economic relations between the occupied West Bank and Israel.

Palestinian lawmaker and Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi said the Palestinian Authority should respond to the Israeli decision by banning Israeli products from entering the Palestinian market.

According to the protocols, bilateral trade agreements between Israel and other parties are considered valid in the occupied West Bank, however Israel prevents the import of many Palestinian products to the Israeli market.

A poll by the the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted in June 2015 reported that the overwhelming majority of those interviewed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip  86 percent  said they supported the campaign to boycott Israeli products.

Via Maan News Agency
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

al-Akhbar (Beirut) reports that al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Levant, also known as the Support Front (jabhat al-Nusra), repeated scenarios it had previously acted out against other moderate remnants of the old Free Syrian Army. It launched a massive attack on the headquarters of Division 13 and occupied most of its position in the southern hinterlands of Idlib.



h/t Wikipedia (File)

The al-Qaeda fighters captured or killed dozens of Division 13 fighters, who had received CIA training in the use of TOW anti-tank munitions in bases abroad. Syrias al-Qaeda reports directly to 9/11 mastermind Ayman al-Zawahiri, who now leads al-Qaeda.

With the TOWs, al-Qaeda can now more effectively fight other rebels, or if they get time, the al-Assad regime.

The dispute between al-Qaeda in Syria and US-backed Division 13 broke out about a week ago when civilian demonstrators against the al-Assad regime came out in Maarat al-Nu`man waving the flag of the civil Syrian revolution instead of the black banner of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda fighters attacked the demonstrators and tore up their flags, raising the black standard in their place.

The night before last, violent clashes broke out in the northern neighborhood of Maarat al-Numaan between guerrillas of Division 13 and al-Qaeda fighters in which 6 were killed all together along with several being wounded. Then al-Qaeda, angered (and it is easily angered) attacked the HQ of Division 13. After a firefight involving a hail of bullets, al-Qaeda won and took over. Then the fighting spread to surrounding small towns, which also fell to al-Qaeda.

As a result, al-Qaeda took control of a training camp and stores of American-supplied weapons including TOW anti-tank weapons. An al-Qaeda announcement tried to make Division 13 look like the aggressor here (Syrias extremists must be studying the techniques of Donald Trump always blame the other guy).

Activists denounced the Freemen of Syria (Ahrar al-Sham), a major Salafi Jihadi opposition group, for not condemning al-Qaedas actions. The Freemen of Syria is part of a political coalition, the Army of Conquest, of which al-Qaeda is also a member.

There have been several occasions on which the CIA vetted groups have been taken over by al-Qaeda, or in which US weapons leaked from Free Syrian Army remnants to militants.

When Russia began bombing Syria intensively last fall, it concentrated on al-Qaeda positions and those of close al-Qaeda allies, and was condemned for this prudent move by the US and Europe, who said that President Vladimir Putin should have concentrated on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). But it is al-Qaeda that is important in the western theater of the civil war.

The US is to its shame more or less allied with the allies of al-Qaeda in Syria, as though Washington learned absolutely nothing from the 1980s in Afghanistan. Groups such as the Freemen of Syria ought to have to relinquish their al-Qaeda ties before being rehabilitated in Washington. And, imagine, all this happened because al-Qaeda couldnt stand the civil revolutionary Syrian flag.

Al-Qaeda may have been emboldened by the current cessation of hostilities. But it should remember that Russia has exempted from that ceasefire two groups al-Qaeda and Daesh.
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By Ali R. Abootalebi | (Informed Comment) |  

The 2016 American presidential election can prove to be a turning point in the development of American politics. This is not because a declared democratic socialist is running for the post or because of Donald Trumps outrageous statements and proclamations pointing to a serious rise of the far right politics. This election is important because the viability of the American political system itself is in danger. The forces of globalization and political erosion in the United States are seriously threatening the viability of responsible politics in the country. The future of good governance in the country now more than ever demands an end to the two-party system domination. The emergence of a third alternative, a Social-Democratic Party, lets call it the SDPunlike the earlier ambitious but ultimately failed attempts at the creation of a Socialist Party can strengthen the cause of political development and true democracy.

A political revolution, as Bernie Sanders has repeatedly called for, cannot be realized without a revolution in the American party politics, reinvigorating the legislative branch. The creation of SDP can go far in improving the cause of governance through popular social empowerment. Senator Sanders should take advantage of the presidential campaigning momentum to rally his supporters to build a national Social Democratic Party with a vision for long run progressive change platform. This can prove more important than his bid for presidency.

The American electorate has historically preferred moderate candidates and policies, avoiding the extremes of both sides of political spectrum. Some may see the current ideological divide in the party as ephemeral and that the political clock will once again swing back to the middle. On the political left, Hillary Clintons campaign attack is propagating the idea that Senator Sanders cannot win a presidential contest with whoever the Republican Party nominee may be. The argument is that Senator Sanders democratic socialism does not resonate with the overall American peoples belief system and values. After all, the United States experience with political democracy has almost always favored the political center and moderate candidates. As this claim historically may be true, the causes of the polarization of the American public opinion are more pronounced than ever before.

The forward-looking, technologically savvy millennial generation has heard the Yes, we can message loud and clear, while witnessing their American dreams for better future evaporating by incompetent politicians and their allied corporate interests. The promises of globalization has turned into a nightmare for the American laborers and the middle class in general who have lost economic power because of it. Thus, the popularity of political left and far right politics in the country should not be viewed as ephemeral but due to a structural shift in the American electorates policy preferences in view of the failure of the political system to respond to the net negative impact of globalization of trade, finance and market on their livelihood.

The political and popular polarization in the country should raise serious questions over the future development of American politics. The congressional political squabbling and its historically low popularity and the popularity of Senator Sanders on the left and Mr. Trump on the far right is a sign of drastic changes in the country since the 1980s and the changing parameters of global political economy. Americans historical preference for moderate politics may have been true during the cold war years, and especially in the prosperous two decades after world war two. However the end of the Bretton woods and gold-based fixed exchange rate international monetary system, the arrival of supply-side economics, deregulations since the 1980s, and the end of the cold war changed the calculus for the American , and the international, political economy.

The countrys middle class continues shrinking and the triumph of capital over responsible social policy and governance has become widespread. This is evidenced in the repeatedly occurring and worsening economic crises since the end of the cold war, including the 1997 Asian economic crisis, the 1994 Mexican peso crisis, the 2000 U.S. stock market crash, 2007 subprime and housing market crisis, the 2007-2011 global financial crisis, and the ongoing soft world economic performance.

The political and popular polarization in the current presidential election in both the Republican and Democratic camps is a reflection of deep political problems. The weak political party system in the countryreflected in little party establishment control over its members and their ideological leanings and decentralized and fractured organizational setupno longer serve the best interest of the American public. Political democracies need to continuously evolve, presenting themselves as viable and responsive to the ever changing socioeconomic, political, and cultural shifts and the demands of the electorate. Otherwise, political systems are subject to political stagnation and erosion, resulting in, what the late Samuel Huntington called, political decay. Political parties are only shields protecting the legitimacy of the democratic political system functioning within its legal and constitutional boundaries. As such, party organization and platform, its leadership and discipline, vision, and proven proficiency in meeting the demands of its members and constituencies are crucial for the viability of the party itself, as well as the legitimacy of the political system.

The mechanics of electoral politics through such tools as gerrymandering, redistricting, super-delegates, electoral-college, and winner-take-all, among others, have contributed to the erosion of competitive politics and democracy in the country. Consequently, as some critics like the Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders argue, the American democracy has turned into an oligarchy, dominated by the rich and special interests. The media and the Supreme Court also have not helped the cause of responsible politics in the country either. The perception is, more true than not, that the corporate ownership of the mainstream media means profits and not the citizens welfare is the priority for the rich. The Supreme Courts split decision to treat corporations as individuals, endowed with the right to free speech, also means unlimited financial contributions by big businesses and Super PACS, robbing the electorate their rights to legitimate participation in, and the demand for, competitive politics and fair political outcome.

When it comes to voting behavior, the American electorate participation is unsurprisingly dispassionate and divorced from the reality of party politics and political partisanship. The People usually vote knowing well that what the politicians tell them at campaign rally can and will be ignored or forgotten in the polls-driven and special-interest dominated politics. Overall popular participation at local, state, and federal elections remain unenthusiastic and below the participation rate of Europeans and other democracies. The presidential elections seem particularly long, full of personal attacks, devoid of substantive debates over issues and policy, and with special interests and money fundamentally determining the political outcome. Americans overall view of politics in recent years stands at historical low.

And, we have come to rely on interest groups to further connect the ruled to the rulers. The presupposition is that in a pluralist democracy such as ours, interest groups are agents of interest articulation and can promote civil society and citizen participation in politics: They mobilize people with similar interests into interest groups in pursuit of their narrower interest that also serve the cause of responsible citizenship and political participation and good governance. In reality, however, groups in support of organized labor and progressive social advocacy groups have lost ground in competing with business interest groups and their lobbying partners: the interest of the main street has increasingly diverged from those of the Wall Street. This has been particularly true since the 1980s.

The deregulation of the 1980s, including the revocation of Glass Steagall Congressional Act, and the globalization of finance and market capitalism since the 1990s have further sharpened the labor-business divide over the distribution of economic and social resources and the extent of government intervention in the market and society. The evidence shows a shrinking American middle class and an extraordinary wealth gap between the top 1 percent of the Americans and the rest of the populace, as well as racial, ethnic, and income disparities. The age of globalization and technological revolution has dashed the earlier hopes of the millennial generation for a secured and free future in the face of irresponsible politics, much of it in a span of only few years since the end of the cold war in 1989.

The structural changes needed in the American body politics demand reconnecting the governed and the governors after years of political underperformance. This task calls for the creation of an alternative SDP to address the needs of the American electorate on the political leftand possibly the creation of a conservative party on the political right as well. Bernie Sanders political revolution requires not only popular input in electing a progressive candidate like him, it demands continuous popular engagement in politics through disciplined and well-organized party politics participation. Progressive candidates in the Congress can help the cause of progressive politics in the executive office, further mobilizing popular opinion to demand structural changes in the body politics and the better distribution of national resources though more effective governance. In that case, the American courts also will be more responsive in considering the popular will in their overall balancing calculation of legal and political rights. The inaction alternative will only see the continuing political decay. Then, no amount of political rhetoric and false promises through short term economic bandaging and irresponsible fiscal borrowing will resolve the countrys deep-rooted political problems, nor will it rescue it from its international decline.

Professor Ali R. Abootalebi teaches in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire (UWEC). He is the author of Islam and Democracy (2000) and numerous articles on Islam and Democracy, Arab Political Development and Global and Middle Eastern Politics. He can be reached at abootaar@uwec.edu
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. ("Dynasty" or the "Company") (TSX:DMM)(OTCQX:DMMIF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ruben Gellibert to the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer, to replace Nick Furber, who will continue on in a reduced role for as long as required to ensure a smooth transition before stepping away.

Mr. Gellibert, who was born and raised in Ecuador and moved to Canada in 2005, is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant and an Ecuadorean Authorized Public Accountant and has spent the last six years at Dynasty working closely with Mr. Furber, first in the position of Head Office Accountant and more recently as Corporate Controller. These positions have allowed him to gain comprehensive experience and knowledge in the financial, legal and operational matters of the Company. "We are very pleased to appoint Ruben to the role of Interim CFO," commented Dynasty CEO Robert Washer. "Ruben brings to the role his wealth of experience with Dynasty as well as his in-depth knowledge of the Ecuadorian culture and proficiency in the local language. The vast majority of Dynasty's employees are Ecuadorian and we look forward to drawing on Ruben's valuable business and Ecuadorean experience to help further the Company's operations."

Mr. Gellibert will continue to be based in Vancouver but will also spend time in Ecuador leading the financial teams in both Quito and Zaruma.

The management and board of Dynasty offer their sincere thanks to Mr. Furber for his contribution to the Company over the past nine years and his offer to assist with the transition. The Company also wishes him well in his future endeavours.

About Dynasty Metals & Mining

Dynasty Metals & Mining Inc. is a Canadian based mining company involved in the mining, exploration and development of mineral properties in Ecuador. The Company is currently focused on gold production and continued development at its Zaruma Gold Project. The Company also owns the Dynasty Goldfield Project, a permitted property 180km southwest of the Zaruma project, and the Jerusalem Project, an exploration property immediately south of the Fruta del Norte project.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.dynastymining.com or follow Dynasty on Twitter @DynastyMining.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (the "Company" or "Osisko") (TSX:OR) reports today fourth quarter net earnings1 of $4.5 million ($0.05 per share). Net earnings for the full year 2015 reached $28.5 million ($0.33 per share).

Highlights - 2016

Closed a $50.0 million financing in the form of a convertible debenture with Investissement Quebec;

Closed a bought deal financing for total gross proceeds of $172.6 million;

Declaration of a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per common share on February 17, 2016, payable on April 15, 2016 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 31, 2016.

Highlights - 2015

30,125 gold ounces earned and 30,104 ounces sold (2014 - 12,327 ounces earned and sold);

31,318 silver ounces earned and 31,263 ounces sold (2014 - 11,915 ounces earned and sold);

Revenues of $45.4 million (2014 - $17.2 million);

Dividend income mainly from holdings in Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation ("LIORC") of $5.9 million;

Net earnings of $28.5 million, $0.33 per basic share (2014(1) - net loss of $2.1 million, $0.05 per basic share);

Adjusted earnings(2) of $40.4 million, $0.46 per basic share 2 (2014 - $10.1 million and $0.22 per basic share);

(2014 - $10.1 million and $0.22 per basic share); Net cash flows provided by operating activities(3) of $32.2 million (2014 1 - $5.9 million);

- $5.9 million); Total value of working capital and marketable securities of $380.5 million at December 31, 2015;

Completed the friendly acquisition of Virginia Mines Inc. ("Virginia");

Full repayment of US$5 million advanced royalty payment to Goldcorp Inc. ("Goldcorp") (4,328 gold ounces);

Completed a bought deal private placement for total gross proceeds of over $200.0 million;

Acquisition of a 9.8% interest in LIORC;

Announced the acquisition of a portfolio of Canadian royalties held by Teck Resources Limited and its subsidiary Teck Metals Ltd. for a cash consideration of $28.0 million, with an additional $2.5 million payable on confirmation of certain rights;

Implementation of a Dividend Reinvestment Plan;

Increased its revolving credit facility from $100.0 million to $150.0 million with a possibility to increase by $50 million; and

Increased fourth quarter dividend to $0.04 per common share and declared on November 4, 2015 and payable on January 15, 2016 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 31, 2015.

(1) From continuing operations. (2) "Adjusted earnings" and "Adjusted earnings per share" are non-IFRS financial performance measures which have no standard definition under IFRS. Refer to the non-IFRS measures provided under the Non-IFRS Financial Performance Measures section of this Management and Discussion Analysis. (3) Before change in non-cash working capital items.

Highlights - Fourth Quarter 2015

7,989 gold ounces earned and 8,437 ounces sold (2014 - 5,010 ounces earned and 5,484 ounces sold);

8,574 silver ounces earned and 9,019 ounces sold (2014 - 4,902 ounces earned and 5,392 ounces sold);

Revenues of $12.8 million (2014 - $7.6 million);

Dividend income from holdings in LIORC of $1.6 million;

Net earnings of $4.5 million or $0.05 per basic and diluted share (2014 - net loss of $2.2 million or $0.04 per basic and diluted share);

Adjusted earnings of $10.5 million or $0.11 per share (2014 - adjusted earnings of $3.1 million or $0.06 per share);

Operating income of $4.0 million in 2015 (2014 - operating loss of $0.4 million); and

Net cash flows provided by operating activities before change in non-cash working capital items of $8.2 million (2014 - $2.6 million).

Sean Roosen, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the fourth quarter and full year results:

"In its first 20 months of existence, Osisko has raised a total of approximately $500 million in capital (including convertible debt), completed over $775 million in transactions, and has diversified its portfolio of Canadian gold royalties through the addition of the Eleonore, Island Gold and Lamaque royalties. Osisko is in a unique position to deliver on its strategy of growing its gold royalty portfolio with current cash and cash equivalents of approximately $450 million following its recent financings, with another $150-200 million of available credit."

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results

For the fourth quarter of 2015, Osisko's net earnings amounted to $4.5 million or net earnings per share of $0.05 compared to a net loss $2.2 million or $0.04 per share in the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenues in the fourth quarter of 2015 amounted to $12.8 million from the sale of gold and silver from the net smelter return ("NSR") royalties received from the Canadian Malartic and Eleonore mines compared to $7.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The Company received its first gold delivery from its NSR royalty from the Eleonore mine in December 2015 and sold these ounces during the same month. Virginia had received advance royalty payments of US$5.0 million from 2009 to 2013 for the Eleonore NSR royalty. The advance payment received was reduced to nil through royalty payment calculations in November 2015 (for a total of 4,328 gold ounces).

For the full year 2015, Osisko's net earnings from continuing operations amounted to $28.5 million or net earnings per share of $0.33 compared to a net loss of $2.1 million or $0.05 per share in the corresponding period of 2014. Revenues in 2015 amounted to $45.4 million compared to $17.2 million in 2014.

Royalty Interests

Canadian Malartic

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") and Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana"), (together referred to as the "Partners") indicated that during the fourth quarter of 2015, the Canadian Malartic mill processed an average of 52,780 tonnes per day compared with an average of 53,232 tonnes per day in the corresponding period of 2014. In the fourth quarter of 2015, throughput was lower primarily due to a longer than planned mill shutdown in December 2015. For the full year 2015, the Partners indicated that the Canadian Malartic mill processed an average of 52,300 tonnes per day compared with an average of 51,248 tonnes per day in 2014.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, the Partners indicated that production at the Canadian Malartic mine reached 145,744 ounces of gold. This compares with the fourth quarter of 2014 production of 132,738 ounces of gold. Production was higher in the 2015 period primarily due to higher grades. For the full year 2015, the Partners indicated that production at the Canadian Malartic mine was 571,618 ounces of gold, 11,618 ounces, or 2% above the previous guidance.

On September 22, 2015, the mine poured its two millionth ounce of gold since commencement of mining in April 2011.

The Partners indicated the following forecast of annual gold production for the Canadian Malartic mine: 560,000 - 580,000 ounces in 2016, 590,000 - 600,000 ounces in 2017 and 610,000 ounces in 2018. The Partners indicated that the 2016 guidance has been slightly reduced as throughput levels are forecast to be approximately 53,000 tonnes per day. Any increase in throughput above this 53,000 tonnes per day level remains contingent upon updating the existing operating permits. Several opportunities have been recognized to further optimize productivity, which could provide additional operational flexibility and result in increased production at the mine.

At Canadian Malartic, the Partners indicated proven and probable mineral reserves of 7.72 million ounces of gold contained in 221.5 million tonnes of ore at 1.08 g/t Au. The decrease in mineral reserves, compared to prior year, of 0.93 million ounces was principally due to mining extraction and production in 2015 which totalled 571,618 ounces of gold after recovery (644,000 ounces of in-situ gold mined), a lower price of US$1,150 per ounce used for the current year mineral reserve calculation, versus $1,300 per ounce in the prior year, a change in the cut-off grade to include the NSR royalty payable to Osisko which was not included in 2014 and the termination of the Gouldie open pit. Proven and probable gold mineral reserve grades increased to 1.08 g/t Au as compared to 1.06 g/t Au in the prior year.

The Partners indicated that mineral resources have decreased from 2014 levels as all mineral resources outside of the current pit have been revaluated at a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off. The higher cut-off reflects the decision that mineral resources outside the current pit will not be open-pit mined although the underground mining potential may be evaluated in the future.

The reserve and resources estimate at December 31, 2015 is presented in the table below:

Reserve and resource estimates Category Tonnes

(M) Grade

(g/t Au) Au

(M oz) Proven Reserves 54.9 0.97 1.72 Probable Reserves 166.6 1.12 6.00 Proven & Probable Reserves 221.5 1.08 7.72 Measured and Indicated Resources(1) 25.7 1.51 1.25 Inferred Resources(1) 9.0 1.47 0.43

(1) Excludes proven & probable reserves.

The Partners indicated that at Canadian Malartic, the approach of tripling the cut-off grade of the out-pit mineral resources had the effect of removing 686,000 ounces from the measured and indicated mineral resources, leaving 1,250,000 ounces (25.6 million tonnes of ore grading 1.51 g/t Au) in measured and indicated mineral resources. The same approach resulted in removing 688,000 ounces from the inferred mineral resource base, leaving 426,000 ounces (9.0 million tonnes of ore grading 1.47 g/t Au) of inferred mineral resources.

The Partners continue to work on initiatives to optimize throughput and costs at Canadian Malartic.

The Partners indicated that permitting activities for the Barnat extension and deviation of Highway 117 are continuing on schedule as indicated by the Partners. An Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for this project was submitted in February 2015. A second series of questions from the Quebec government was received in December 2015, and final responses were submitted in January 2016. Public hearings are expected to be held later in 2016. Granting of final permits is expected to occur after the completion of the public consultation process. In parallel, the Partners are currently working on permitting for improving the efficiency and environmental performance of the existing mobile crusher.

On the exploration side, the Partners reported that at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, 44 holes (35,870 metres) of drilling had been completed on the Odyssey zone. Drilling and data compilation will continue in the fourth quarter. Osisko holds a 5% NSR royalty on the Odyssey South Zone and a 3% NSR royalty on the Odyssey North Zone.

For more information, please refer to the press release of Agnico Eagle dated February 10, 2016 and the press releases of Yamana dated January 13, 2016 and February 18, 2016 filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Eleonore

Osisko, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Osisko Exploration James Bay Inc. (formerly Virginia Mines Inc.), owns a 2.0% to 3.5% NSR royalty in the Eleonore gold property located in the Province of Quebec and operated by Goldcorp.

Eleonore declared commercial production on April 1, 2015.

Goldcorp indicated that following the resolution of initial mill throughput issues, the processing plant achieved average throughput of 5,700 tonnes per day over the last six months of 2015 and validated nameplate design capacity of 7,000 tonnes per day on several days during the fourth quarter. Production increased over the prior quarter as a result of increasing gold grades as mining moved further into higher-grade horizons. For the fourth quarter of 2015, gold production totaled 105,100 ounces to reach 268,100 ounces for the year.

Osisko was not entitled to receive any gold or silver ounces until a US$5 million non-interest bearing royalty advance payment had been recovered from production of Eleonore by Goldcorp, which was completed in November 2015. The Company received its first royalties from Eleonore in December 2015 (402 gold ounces).

For 2016, Goldcorp indicated that a conservative ramp-up schedule at Eleonore is expected to lead to gold production of between 250,000 and 280,000 ounces. Mine throughput is expected to average 4,900 tonnes per day from four production horizons following the depletion of the pre-production stockpile at the end of 2015. The focus in 2016 is on increasing underground mining rates, mill throughput and improved dilution through adjustment of stope design. The production shaft is expected to be operational by the end of 2016, eliminating the need to truck or hoist ore through the exploration shaft. Gold recoveries are also expected to increase following successful lab and plant work on isolated reactive sulphide ore. Full ramp-up to 7,000 tonnes per day remains on track for the first half of 2018.

Goldcorp also indicated that a successful 2015 drilling program targeting the conversion of resources to reserves in the center and southern portion of the deposit contributed to a 7.7% increase in proven and probable gold mineral reserves to 5.35 million ounces and extended the deposit at depth, which remains open including the core area. The 2015 drilling program was completed with 40,400 metres drilled from the underground ramp, targeting the center and southern portion of the ore body. The program also completed 1,350 metres in the 494 area (Northern portion) where results continue to improve the confidence level regarding the size and the importance of this target. The 2015 positive results contributed to the successful conversion of resources to reserves and extended the deposit at depth, which remains open including the core area.

Eleonore completed the pre-feasibility study on mining the crown pillar in the fourth quarter of 2015. The study results did not pass the economic threshold for reserves and as a result, this material remains classified as mineral resource at December 31, 2015. Additionally, the results indicate no tangible benefit in accelerating the crown pillar and support its mining as planned at the end of Eleonore's life of mine plan.

Goldcorp also published in February 2016 updated mineral reserve and resource estimates as at December 31, 2015 for the Eleonore mine. Proven and probable mineral reserves were estimated at 5.35 million ounces of gold based on a price of US$1,100 per ounce of gold.

The reserve base is presented in the table below:

Reserve and resource estimates Category Tonnes

(M) Grade

(g/t Au) Au

(M oz) Proven and Probable Reserves 28.32 5.87 5.35 Measured and Indicated Resources(1) 4.58 5.49 0.81 Inferred Resources 9.97 7.11 2.28

(1) Excludes proven & probable reserves.

For more information, refer to the press release of Goldcorp dated February 25, 2016 and the Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2015, both filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Acquisition of Royalty Interests

Teck Canadian Royalties

The Company announced in October that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of Canadian royalties held by Teck Resources Limited and its subsidiary Teck Metals Ltd. ("Teck") for a cash consideration of $28.0 million, with an additional $2.5 million payable on confirmation of certain rights.

The portfolio consists of 31 royalties, most of which are NSR royalties, including the following key royalties (before the sale of a 15% interest to Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec as described below):

Three NSR royalties from 2% to 3% on the producing Island Gold Mine properties located in Northern Ontario owned by Richmont Mines Inc.;

2% NSR royalty on the Lamaque property located in the Abitibi owned by Integra Gold Corp.;

2% NSR royalty on the Hewfran Block located in Northern Quebec owned by Metanor Resources Inc.;

0.5% NSR royalty and right to $5 million payment upon commercial production on the Marban property Quebec owned by NioGold Mining Corp. ("NioGold") and located near the Canadian Malartic mine in Malartic;

1.5% NSR royalty on a portion of the Fenn-Gib property located in northern Ontario owned by Lake Shore Gold Corp.; and

1.5% to 2% NSR royalty on the Garrcon property located in northern Ontario and owned by Northern Gold Mining Inc.

The portfolio also includes other precious metal royalty assets on exploration and development properties. Certain NSR royalties are subject to buy-back clauses.

The first portion of the transaction with Teck was closed in November 2015, consisting of a portfolio of 28 royalties acquired for a cash consideration of $24.2 million with an additional $2.5 million to be paid on confirmation of certain rights. This portfolio includes the royalties on Richmont Mines Inc.'s producing Island Gold Mine and Integra Gold Corp.'s Lamaque property. The Company expects to close the second portion of its transaction with Teck in the first half of 2016.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec ("CDPQ") and Fonds de solidarite des travailleurs du Quebec (F.T.Q.) have a combined 15% right to participate in all future royalty or stream transactions entered into by Osisko. CDPQ has exercised its participation right to acquire 15% of the Teck royalty interests acquired by Osisko to date. The transaction was completed in February 2016 for $3.6 million.

Vezza Royalties

The Company acquired a 5% NSR royalty and a 40% net profit interest royalty in the Vezza gold property operated by Ressources Nottaway Inc. for a total acquisition price of $10.0 million. A first payment of $5.0 million was made in 2015 and the balance was paid in January and March 2016. The property is located 25 kilometres from Matagami, Quebec. Commercial production is forecasted for the second quarter of 2016.

Cariboo Gold Project

On November 30, 2015, Osisko entered into a binding letter agreement with Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. ("Barkerville") whereby Osisko has agreed to purchase a 1.5% NSR royalty on the Cariboo Gold Project (the "Royalty Financing"), located in British Columbia, Canada, for a cash consideration of $25.0 million.

The Cariboo Gold Project consists of 1,164 square kilometres of land along a strike length of 60 kilometres which includes several past producing mines in the Cariboo Gold District, a historically profitable yet still underexplored area of south-central British Columbia. Based upon historic estimates, historical gold production in the Cariboo area is approximately 3.8 million ounces. At Cariboo, the Cow Mountain deposit contains a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource totaling 2.8 million ounces Au in the indicated category (35.8 million tonnes at 2.4g/t) with an additional 2.0 million ounces Au in the inferred category (27.4 million tonnes at 2.3g/t), both using a 0.5g/t cut-off grade.

As part of the Royalty Financing, Osisko and Barkerville have also agreed to negotiate a gold stream agreement ("Gold Stream Agreement") following the completion by Barkerville of a feasibility study on the Cariboo Gold Project. Following a 60 day negotiation period, if Osisko and Barkerville have not entered into a Gold Stream Agreement, Barkerville shall either grant a right to Osisko to purchase an additional 0.75% NSR royalty for consideration of $12.5 million, or make a payment of $12.5 million to Osisko.

The Royalty Financing was closed on February 5, 2016.

Summary of Producing and Advanced Non-producing Royalty Interests

Asset Operator Interest(4) Commodities Jurisdiction Stage Island Gold Richmont Mines 1.7-2.55% NSR royalty Au Ontario Production Vezza Ressources Nottaway Inc. 5% NSR royalty Au Quebec Development Vezza Ressources Nottaway Inc. 40% NPI royalty(1) n/a Quebec Development Lamaque Integra Gold 1.7% NSR royalty Au Quebec Development Hewfran Block Metanor Resources 1.7% NSR royalty Au Quebec Exploration Windfall Oban Mining Corporation 0.5% NSR Royalty Au Quebec Exploration Cariboo Barkerville 1.5% NRS royalty Au British Columbia Development Marban NioGold Mining 0.425% NSR royalty Au Quebec Exploration Pandora Agnico/Yamana 2% NSR royalty Au Quebec Exploration Malartic CHL - Odyssey North Agnico/Yamana 3% NSR royalty Au Quebec Exploration Hammond Reef Agnico/Yamana 2% NSR royalty Au Ontario Permitting Upper Beaver Agnico/Yamana 2% NSR royalty Au, Cu Ontario Exploration Kirkland Lake Camp Agnico/Yamana 2% NSR royalty Au, Cu Ontario Exploration White Pine North - Copperwood Highland Copper 3% sliding-scale NSR royalty(2) Ag, Cu Michigan, USA Exploration

Summary of Royalty Options

Asset Operator Interest Price to Exercise Commodities Jurisdiction Stage Neita Unigold 2% NSR Royalty $2 million Au Dominican Republic Exploration Yellowknife City Gold TerraX 3% NSR Royalty $4 million Au Northwest Territories Exploration Oban Mining Projects(3) Oban Mining Corporation 1% NSR Royalty $5 million n/a n/a n/a

(1) NPI: Net Profit Interest (2) Subject to conversion of Osisko's $10.0 million convertible loan with Highland Copper Company Inc. (3) Osisko has a one-time right to purchase a 1% NSR royalty on Oban Mining Corporation's projects upon Oban's future financing completed prior to August 25, 2020. (4) After the sale of a 15% interest in the Teck royalties to Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

Portfolio of Investments

The Company's assets include a portfolio of shares of publicly traded companies. Osisko invests, and intends to continue from time to time investing, in various companies within the mining industry for investment purposes, and with the objective of improving its ability to acquire interests in exploration assets, future royalties or revenue streams. In addition to investment objectives, in some cases, the Company may decide to take a more active role, including providing management personnel, technical and/or administrative support, as well as nominating individuals to the investee's board of directors. These investments are reflected in investments in associates in the consolidated financial statements and include Oban Mining Corporation ("Oban"), NioGold and Falco Resources Ltd. In February 2016, Barkerville became a new associate following the nomination of Sean Roosen, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Osisko, as Co-Chairman of the board of directors of Barkerville.

Osisko may, from time to time and without further notice except as required by law, increase or decrease its investments at its discretion.

Investment in Associates - Oban Mining Corporation ("Oban")

In August 2015, Oban acquired Eagle Hill Exploration Corporation, Ryan Gold Corp. and Corona Gold Corporation to combine leadership, treasuries and assets to form a new leading Canadian focused gold exploration and development company. As part of this transaction, Osisko invested $17.8 million in common shares of Oban and Osisko was granted a right to acquire a 1% NSR on all properties held by Oban. Mr. John Burzynski has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Oban and Mr. Sean Roosen was appointed co-Chair of the Board of Directors.

Oban also completed a $13.1 million financing in September 2015 and announced in February 2016 an additional financing of $12.6 million to be completed in March 2016. As of December 31, 2015, Osisko has a 15.7% interest in Oban. In January 2016, Oban and NioGold announced that they had entered into an agreement where Oban will acquire all of the outstanding shares of NioGold. The transaction was completed on March 11, 2016.

Oban's flagship project is the high-grade Windfall Lake gold project located between Val-d'Or and Chibougamau in Quebec, Canada. Oban also holds a 100% undivided interest in a large area of claims in the Urban Barry area (82,400 hectares) of Quebec. Oban also holds a 100% interest in the Roach Property in northern Ontario and has options with other third parties to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Cote Property, the Golden Dawn Project, the Hunter Property and other properties in the vicinity.

In April 2015, an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment was released for the Windfall Lake Gold Project, outlining the design for a 1,200 tonnes per day underground mine producing 106,200 ounces of payable gold annually for 7.8 years. Oban is actively advancing the Windfall Lake Gold Project, with the objective of moving the project to a production stage as quickly as possible. In October 2015, it announced the commencement of a 55,000 metre drill program on the Windfall Lake gold project.

For more information, please refer to Oban's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Other Investments - Barkerville (associate since February 5, 2016)

On November 30, 2015, Osisko and Barkerville announced that they had entered into a binding letter agreement whereby Osisko agreed to purchase 32.0 million common shares of Barkerville, issued on a flow-through basis.

On December 24, 2015, Barkerville announced the completion of the first portion of the Private Placement, whereby Osisko subscribed for 18,750,000 Flow-Through Shares at a price of $0.32 per share for gross proceeds of $6.0 million.

On February 5, 2016, Osisko acquired the additional 13,250,000 flow-through shares of Barkerville at a price of $0.32 per flow-through common share for total gross proceeds of $4.2 million. Osisko now holds 47,625,000 common shares and 4,687,500 common share purchase warrants of Barkerville. Osisko's Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Sean Roosen, was appointed as Co-Chairman of Barkerville. As a result, Barkerville became an associate on February 5, 2016.

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation ("LIORC")

Since the beginning of 2015, Osisko has acquired a 9.8% interest in LIORC. The Company views this investment as a great opportunity to provide asset/commodity diversification to its current portfolio of royalties while maintaining the gold focus through exposure to a world-class, long-life iron ore asset in a stable jurisdiction. LIORC is entirely focused on the Iron Ore Company of Canada ("IOC") operations through:

7% gross royalty on the IOC iron ore operations;

A $0.10 per tonne marketing fee on all products sold by IOC; and

15% direct interest in IOC.

IOC is a major Canadian iron ore producer held by Rio Tinto (59%), Mitsubishi Corporation (26%) and LIORC. The mine located in the Newfoundland and Labrador Province in Canada has been producing and processing iron ore concentrate and pellets since 1954. The crude ore is processed into iron ore concentrate and then either sold or converted into many different qualities of iron ore pellets to meet its customers' needs. IOC is strategically situated to serve the markets of the Great Lakes and the balance of the world from its year-round port facilities at Sept-Iles, Quebec. The iron ore concentrate and pellets are transported to IOC's port facilities at Sept-Iles, Quebec via its wholly-owned Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway, a 418 kilometre rail line which links the mine and the port. From there, the products are shipped to markets throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region

As per LIORC's press release dated March 3rd 2016 (filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com)), the mine has reserves to continue operations for 28 years at current production rate with additional resources of a greater magnitude.

In 2015 and for the first quarter of 2016, LIORC declared quarterly dividends of $0.25 per share. Osisko's share of dividends in 2015 amounted to $5.8 million. Osisko's expected share of dividends for the first quarter of 2016 amounts to $1.6 million. Based on its current holding and on the historical information for the years 2009 to 2014, the Company's investment in LIORC would have provided for cash dividends of $6.2 million to $14.0 million on an annual basis.

The investment in LIORC provides diversification to gold production and is consistent with Osisko's philosophy of investing in long-life mines operated by world-class mining companies in safe jurisdictions.

Exploration and Evaluation

James Bay and Labrador Trough areas, Quebec

Osisko acquired exploration and evaluation projects through the acquisition of Virginia. Since the acquisition date, Osisko invested $8.0 million ($9.8 million before investment tax credits) in exploration and evaluation activities on the James Bay territory.

Since the acquisition of Virginia, the exploration program continued on the Coulon project (James Bay area), focusing mainly on a diamond drilling program on Lens 257 and on regional targets. Exploration work also includes ground and borehole geophysical surveys. The winter 2015 exploration program was completed during the year and consisted of 33 holes for a total of 18,036 metres. The fall 2015 drilling program included 10 holes totaling 5,008 metres, targeting again Lens 257 as well as the fertile stratigraphic contact on the west flank of the main fold area. Directional drilling extended Lens 257 towards the south-south-west and the north-north-east. Lens 257 is now followed over more than 720 metres laterally and remains open at both ends along its long axis. It could extend for an additional 250 metres towards south-south-west and could merge at depth with lens 9-25 to the north-north-east. Drilling over regional targets explained most of the geophysical anomalies, but failed to return any significant values.

A 22,800 metre drill program will be started on the Coulon project in 2016. This program will continue to test the upper and lower extensions of Lens 257 and the west flank of the main fold structure. Several other geological and geophysical targets will also be tested during this program.

Significant Financing Activities

2015 Bought Deal Private Placement of $200 million

On January 21, 2015, Osisko announced that it had entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters who had agreed to buy, on a bought deal private placement basis, 10,960,000 special warrants of the Company ("Special Warrants") at a price of $18.25 per Special Warrant, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $200 million. Each Special Warrant entitled the holder to acquire, for no additional consideration, one unit ("Unit") of Osisko, with each Unit comprised of one common share ("Common Share") of Osisko and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant a "Warrant") of Osisko. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share of Osisko at a price of $36.50, for a period of 84 months following the closing date.

The bought deal offering was closed on February 18, 2015 and Osisko issued 10,960,000 Special Warrants for gross proceeds of $200 million. On March 5, 2015, further to delivery to Osisko of a final receipt by regulators for its final short form prospectus, the Special Warrants were converted into 10,960,000 common shares of the Company and 5,480,000 Warrants having a maturity date of March 5, 2022. Transaction costs amounted to $10,399,000.

The Common Shares and Warrants (TSX:OR.WT) trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") since March 5, 2015.

Convertible Debenture

On February 12, 2016, the Company closed a financing with Ressources Quebec, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Investissement Quebec. Ressources Quebec subscribed to a $50.0 million convertible debenture of Osisko, which will mature in five years and will bear interest at an annual rate of 4% payable quarterly. Ressources Quebec will be entitled, at its option, to convert the debenture into common shares of the Company at a price of $19.08 at any time during the term of the debenture. Osisko paid a 1% financing fee to Ressources Quebec and reimbursed its costs incurred in connection with the financing.

2016 Bought Deal Financing of $173 million

On February 26, 2016, the Company closed a bought deal public offering (the "Offering") of 11,431,000 units of Osisko ("Units"), including the full exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters of the Offering, at a price of $15.10 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $172.6 million (estimated net proceeds of $164.6 million).

The Units were sold on a bought-deal basis through a syndicate of underwriters, co-led by BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets. Osisko plans to use the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including funding resource royalty and stream acquisitions.

Each Unit is comprised of one Common Share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant a "Warrant") of the Company. Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share of the Company at a price of $19.08 per Common Share, for a period of 36 months following the closing date.

The Common Shares and Warrants (TSX:OR.WT.A) trade on the TSX since February 26, 2016.

Revolving Credit Facility

In 2015, the Company increased its revolving credit facility ("Facility") from $100.0 million to $150.0 million. The Facility was extended by one year and was led by National Bank of Canada and syndicated between National Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal. The Facility may be increased by $50.0 million at Osisko's request, subject to standard due diligence procedures. The Facility is to be used for investments in the mineral industry, including the acquisition of royalties and the funding of precious metal streams. The Facility is secured by the Company's assets (including the royalty interests) and has a two-year term (December 23, 2017), which can be extended by one year on each of the first two anniversary dates of the amendments. As at December 31, 2015, the Facility was not drawn.

Quarterly Dividend

On February 17, 2016, the Board of Directors has declared the sixth quarterly dividend of $0.04 per common share payable on April 15, 2016 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 31, 2016.

In September 2015, the Company implemented a dividend reinvestment plan (the "DRIP"). Shareholders who are residents of Canada may elect to participate in the DRIP which commenced with the dividend that was paid on October 15, 2015 to shareholders on record as of September 30, 2015. Participation in the DRIP is optional and will not affect shareholders' cash dividends unless they elect to participate in the DRIP. In connection with the October 15, 2015 dividend payment date, the dividend paid to participants in the DRIP was by way of common shares issued from treasury at a 3% discount to the Average Market Price, as defined in the DRIP (available at http://osiskogr.com/en/dividends/drip/).

Financial Position

The Company completed the quarter with a strong balance sheet. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $258.5 million and net working capital stood at $248.9 million.

The Company is unhedged and, as of today, has approximately $450 million in cash and cash equivalents in addition to its revolving $150 million credit facility (which can be increased by $50 million), giving it the financial flexibility to enhance its royalty portfolio.

Outlook

Osisko Gold Royalties' 2016 outlook on royalties is based on the publicly available forecast for the Canadian Malartic mine published by Yamana and Agnico Eagle, and for the Eleonore mine published by Goldcorp.

Attributable royalty production for 2016 is estimated at 28,000 to 29,000 gold ounces for the Canadian Malartic mine, between 5,500 and 6,200 gold ounces for the Eleonore mine and between 1,000 and 2,000 ounces from other royalties. The Company also expects to continue its exploration programs in the James Bay area for approximately $10.3 million ($8.3 million net of estimated exploration tax credits), of which about $3.8 million will be financed by Quebec institutions and other partners.

Q4 and Full Year 2015 Conference Call Information

Osisko will host a conference call on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 10:00 EDT, where senior management will discuss the financial results and provide an update on the Company's activities. Those interested in participating in the conference call should dial in approximately five to ten minutes before the start of the conference to allow ample time to access at 1-(617)-826-1698 (international), or 1-(877)-648-7976 (North American toll free). An operator will direct participants to the call.

The conference call replay will be available from 1:00 pm EDT on March 15, 2016 until 11:59 pm EDT on March 21, 2016 with the following dial in numbers: 1-(855)-859-2056 (North American toll free) or 1-(404)-537-3406, access code 23394275.

About Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd

Osisko is an intermediate mining royalty and exploration company with two world-class gold royalty assets. These two cornerstone assets are a 5% NSR royalty on the world-class Canadian Malartic gold mine, located in Malartic, Quebec, and a 2.0-3.5% NSR on the Eleonore gold mine, located in James Bay, Quebec. Osisko also holds a 1.7-2.55% NSR royalty on certain claims comprising the Island Gold Mine, a 1.7% NSR royalty on the Lamaque South Project, a 3% NSR royalty on the Malartic CHL property as well as a 2% NSR royalty on the Upper Beaver, Kirkland Lake and Hammond Reef gold exploration projects in Northern Ontario. The Company also owns a 9.8% equity interest in Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation.

Osisko's head office is located at 1100 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal, Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2S2.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address future events, developments or performance that Osisko expects to occur including management's expectations regarding Osisko's growth, results of operations, estimated future revenues, requirements for additional capital, mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, production estimates, production costs and revenue, future demand for and prices of commodities, business prospects and opportunities are forward looking statements. In addition, statements (including data in tables) relating to reserves and resources and gold equivalent ounces are forward looking statements, as they involve implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, and no assurance can be given that the estimates will be realized. 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", "scheduled" and similar expressions or variations (Including negative variations), or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur including, without limitation, the performance of the assets of Osisko, the realization of the anticipated benefits deriving from the Virginia acquisition and its portfolio of investments, achievement of production forecasts published by operators of properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, realization of optimization process put forward by the operators at Canadian Malartic, timeliness of public hearings and grant of permits at Canadian Malartic, timeliness of full ramp-up by the operator at Eleonore, timely closing of second part of transaction with Teck, timely achievement of commercial production by operator at Vezza, extension of 257 lens at the Coulon project and successful completion of the 2016 drilling program at Coulon and in James Bay. Although Osisko believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors and are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may accordingly 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, without limitation: fluctuations in the prices of the commodities that drive royalties held by Osisko (gold and silver); fluctuations in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar; regulatory changes in national and local government, including permitting and licensing regimes and taxation policies; regulations and political or economic developments in any of the countries where properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest are located or through which they are held; risks related to the operators of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty, influence of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that become available to, or are pursued by Osisko; continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions; litigation; title, permit or license disputes related to interests on any of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest; development, permitting, infrastructure, operating or technical difficulties on any of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest; rate and timing of production differences from resource estimates or production forecasts by operators of properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest ; risks and hazards associated with the business of exploring, development and mining on any of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest, including, but not limited to unusual or unexpected geological and metallurgical conditions, slope failures or cave-ins, flooding and other natural disasters or civil unrest or other uninsured risks. The forward looking statements contained in this press release are based upon assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including, without limitation: the ongoing operation of the properties in which Osisko holds a royalty or other interest by the owners or operators of such properties in a manner consistent with past practice; the accuracy of public statements and disclosures made by the owners or operators of such underlying properties; no material adverse change in the market price of the commodities that underlie the asset portfolio; no adverse development in respect of any significant property in which Osisko holds a royalty, stream or other interest; the accuracy of publicly disclosed expectations for the development of underlying properties that are not yet in production; and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this press release, see the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the most recent Annual Information Form of Osisko which is filed with the Canadian securities commissions and available electronically under Osisko's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information set forth herein reflects Osisko's expectations as at the date of this press release and is subject to change after such date. Osisko disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd Consolidated Balance Sheets As at December 31, 2015 and 2014 (tabular amounts expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

December 31, December 31, 2015 2014 $ $ Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents 258,509 175,171 Short-term investments 200 - Accounts receivable 6,244 562 Other assets 508 315 265,461 176,048 Non-current assets Investments in associates 44,011 14,052 Other investments 105,485 65,692 Royalty interests 449,439 1,591 Property and equipment 835 125 Exploration and evaluation 96,220 823 Goodwill 111,204 - Deferred income taxes 8,778 11,634 1,081,433 269,965 Liabilities Current liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 11,469 2,987 Dividends payable 3,783 1,551 Provisions and other liabilities 1,264 375 16,516 4,913 Non-current liabilities Provisions and other liabilities 8,912 386 Deferred income taxes 118,766 1,440 144,194 6,739 Equity Share capital 745,007 69,716 Warrants 18,072 - Contributed surplus 10,164 681 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (41,203 ) 5,549 Retained earnings 203,800 187,280 Equity attributable to Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd shareholders 935,840 263,226 Non-controlling interests 1,399 - Total equity 937,239 263,226 1,081,433 269,965

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) For the periods ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 (tabular amounts expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)

Three months ended

December 31, Years ended

December 31, 2015 2014 2015 2014 $ $ $ $ Revenues 12,811 7,608 45,415 17,179 Expenses Depletion of royalty interests (588 ) - (588 ) - General and administrative (4,240 ) (3,095 ) (15,046 ) (5,285 ) Business development (3,491 ) (2,711 ) (10,982 ) (3,344 ) Exploration and evaluation (964 ) (750 ) (2,409 ) (6,010 ) Write-off of exploration and evaluation assets (192 ) (1,444 ) (192 ) (4,275 ) Gain on disposal of exploration and evaluation assets - - 500 - Cost recoveries from associates 688 - 1,526 - Operating income (loss) 4,024 (392 ) 18,224 (1,735 ) Interest income 747 560 4,055 2,115 Dividend income 1,560 - 5,855 - Finance costs (165 ) (43 ) (609 ) (43 ) Foreign exchange gain 4,464 426 11,117 611 Share of loss of associates (1,248 ) (242 ) (3,519 ) (824 ) Other gains (losses), net (2,877 ) (1,045 ) 1,599 1,072 Earnings (loss) before income taxes 6,505 (736 ) 36,722 1,196 Income tax expense (1,957 ) (1,446 ) (8,194 ) (3,291 ) Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations 4,548 (2,182 ) 28,528 (2,095 ) Net earnings from discontinued operations - - - 1,675,263 Net earnings (loss) 4,548 (2,182 ) 28,528 1,673,168 Net earnings (loss) attributable to: Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd's shareholders 4,614 (2,182 ) 28,749 1,673,168 Non-controlling interests (66 ) - (221 ) - Net earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations Basic 0.05 (0.04 ) 0.33 (0.05 ) Diluted 0.05 (0.04 ) 0.32 (0.05 ) Net earnings (loss) per share Basic 0.05 (0.04 ) 0.33 36.40 Diluted 0.05 (0.04 ) 0.32 36.40 Weighted average number of common shares outstanding ('000) Basic 94,445 48,534 87,856 45,964 Diluted 95,698 48,534 88,938 45,964

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows For the periods ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 (tabular amounts expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share amounts)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 14, 2016) - Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MLN) ("Marlin") is pleased to announce that its newly hired mining contractor (as described in our February 8th, 2016 press release) is fully mobilized and has been mining over 50,000 tonnes per day since March 9th, 2016. This rate of production is nearly double the previous contractor's mining rate at the Company's La Trinidad mine in Sinaloa, Mexico. This new fleet will allow Marlin to begin accessing the high grade HS Zone of its La Trinidad mine in the second quarter of 2016. The Company has 3.9 million tonnes of waste to remove at La Trinidad, at which time the high grade HS Zone will make Marlin one of the lowest cost operations globally.

Akiba Leisman, Chairman and CEO of Marlin, states that "this is an important milestone in the Company's history. We have been mining at La Trinidad for over two years, with the removal of over 21 million tonnes of material in order to get to the point we are now. In less than 80 days we will be at the high grade HS Zone, with grades more than three times what we have been mining to date. The countdown to the HS Zone has begun, as we look to make Marlin one of the lowest cost gold miners in the Americas."

About Marlin Gold

Marlin is a publicly-traded gold and silver mining company with properties located in Sinaloa, Mexico and Arizona, USA. Marlin's priority is to advance its properties toward commercial production and enhance shareholder value through the growth of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sailfish Royalty Corp. The La Trinidad property in Sinaloa, Mexico, declared commercial production on November 1, 2014. A NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the La Trinidad mine and Commonwealth project can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.marlingold.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary statement regarding forwardlooking information

This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward- looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by words such as the following: expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, assumes, potential and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements also include reference to events or conditions that will, would, may, could or should occur, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's intention to commence a NCIB, the potential purchases of Common Shares for cancellation under the NCIB program, the anticipated timing and the extent of such purchases under the NCIB program and the receipt of TSX-V approval. These forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while based on management's expectations and considered reasonable at the time they are made, are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill projections/expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's projects; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results and other tests and the estimation of gold resources; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of environmental issues at the Company's projects; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in work programs; the need to obtain permits and comply with environmental laws and regulations and other government requirements; fluctuations in the price of gold and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's public disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release. Unless required by law, Marlin has no intention to and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES
Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / March 14, 2016: BonTerra Resources Inc. (TSX-V: BTR, US: BONXF, FSE: 9BR1) (the "Company" or "BonTerra") is pleased to announce the continued consolidation of strategic property positions (totaling 1,582 hectares) to the west and south of its 100% owned Gladiator Gold Project. The Company has signed purchase agreements to acquire 100% of the Macho South Property (848 hectares), the Barry Property (395 hectares), and the Bailly Property (339 hectares) located in the Urban Barry Gold Camp, in the Souart and Barry Townships, Quebec. BonTerra continues to evaluate other key properties in the camp to add to its controlling stake of known geological structures.

Strategic Reasons for Property Purchases:

1) Extend the Gladiator Gold Project to cover a total of 25 kilometers of favourable greenstone belt lithology and structures that contain under explored gold showings;

2) To completely fill in the gap between the Coliseum and Arena Properties that was partially filled with the recent acquisition of the Lac Barry Property (News release March 11, 2016), and;

3) To provide gold exploration continuity 10 km eastward and 15 km southwestward from the 25,000-meter drill program on the Gladiator Gold Project at the western end of the Arena Property.

Nav Dhaliwal, President and CEO of BonTerra, stated: "BonTerra continues to consolidate key properties that are strategic to controlling the western and eastern key extensions of the Gladiator Gold Project. Over the past few weeks we have been able to increase our land position by over 170% to a total of 7,563 hectares, in Quebec's next emerging gold camp. Our technical team continues to uncover and trace an exciting high-grade gold system at depth and along strike from the original resource model developed in 2012. The Urban Barry structures continue to be pieced together with our ongoing exploration program."

Geological Description

All three properties, in addition to the recent acquisition of the Lac Barry Property, extend BonTerra's coverage of favourable gold host environments southward and closer to the edge of the Urban-Barry greenstone belt. These four properties, together with BonTerra's West and East Arena Properties, cover 25 kilometers of ideal greenstone belt lithology and known shear zones. Intersecting these shear zones near Archean greenstone belt edges can generate intense structural complexity gradients that represent exceptional gold exploration targets.

The Macho Property is located at the extreme southwestern end of BonTerra's Gladiator Project, adjacent to and south of Oban Mining Corporations' ("Oban") recently acquired Souart Property. The Souart Property is located approximately 10 km southwest of Oban's Windfall Lake gold deposit along an obvious SW-NE structural trend. BonTerra's Macho Property lies at the intersection of the Windfall-Souart structure and the East-West trending extended Lac Barry structure that is covered by BonTerra claims over a strike length of 25 km.

BonTerra is currently drilling its Spartacus gold deposit on the western portion of its West Arena Property. This initial 25,000 meter 2016 Drill Program, together with follow-up exploration, including additional drilling, is fully funded with BonTerra's current cash position of approximately $3 million. The geological information on BonTerra's recent property acquisitions is currently added to the Gladiator Project technical database in order to establish exploration priorities.

A current property map can be viewed at: http://www.bonterraresources.com/images/PropertyMap_20160313.pdf

Property Acquisition Terms:

BonTerra has agreed to purchase an undivided 100% interest in the Macho South Property from an arm's length third party for 1,200,000 common shares in the capital of BonTerra (the "Shares"), an undivided 100% interest in the Barry Property from an arm's length third party for 800,000 Shares, and an undivided 100% interest in the Bailly Property from Laurier Gold Corporation for 250,000 Shares. Each of the properties are subject to a 2% NSR Royalty, where BonTerra has the right to purchase one-half of each NSR Royalty for $1,000,000. The acquisitions are subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Robert Gagnon, Geo. has approved the information contained in this release. Mr. Gagnon is a Director for BonTerra and is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

BonTerra Resources Quick Facts:

Using a 4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the project currently contains an inferred resource of 905,000 tonnes, grading 9.37 g/t Au for 273,000 ounces of gold . Of note, ~90% of the worlds operating mines have an average gold grade less than 8 g/t. Mineral Resource Estimate and technical report filed July 27, 2012, Snowden Mining Consultants.

~$3.5 million in cash as at January 1, 2016; ~55 million shares outstanding.

2016 Exploration Program underway - up to 25,000 meters utilizing minimum of two drill rigs at its 100% owned Gladiator Gold Project to expand current gold resource. Results to date include 14.1 g/t Au over 6.6m and 7.2 g/t Au over 7.7m

7,563-hectare property position in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in mining-friendly Quebec.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,

Nav Dhaliwal, President & CEO

BonTerra Resources Inc.

For additional information, please contact:

Todd Hanas

Corporate Development

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

T: 866.869.8072

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on Bonterra''s current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements with respect to Bonterra's exploration and development plans. The words "will", "anticipated", "plans" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Bonterra's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. 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 labour relations matters. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. Bonterra disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
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OMAHA -- The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquariums African elephant import may have seemed abrupt, but it had been in the works for weeks.

As soon as the zoo and its partners in Dallas and Wichita received permits from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Jan. 22, plans were made to transport the elephants to the United States. A legal challenge from the animal rights group Friends of Animals did not alter those plans, said Omaha zoo CEO and Executive Director Dennis Pate.

They could have filed for a temporary restraining order any time since Jan. 22 and did not, Pate said. Once we got the permit, we were ready to move, unless the courts told us not to.

The zoos never planned to publicize information about the transport out of fear for the safety of the animals. So when the zoos sedated, crated and transported the elephants to a runway in Swaziland on Tuesday to start the journey to America, it came as a surprise to many.

But Pate said this was no impulsive move. Government agencies in the United States and in Swaziland knew about the transport plans well in advance.

An army of people  including about 60 in Omaha  were involved, some traveling to Africa to prepare the animals, some accompanying them on the long flight to the United States, some unloading and getting the elephants acclimated in their new home, and others ensuring the new habitat in Omaha was ready for them.

The zoos arranged for a Boeing 747 cargo plane to arrive in Swaziland, they ordered custom-built transport crates, they sent heavy machinery to the country, and they deployed veterinary staff to ensure that the transport went smoothly.

Dr. Doug Armstrong, the zoos director of animal health, was in Swaziland with the elephants and remained in the country when the animals left for the United States. On Saturday, he flew back to Omaha.

Armstrong had been managing biological sampling  checking ticks, collecting blood and feces samples and inspecting the elephants for tuberculosis.

Pate said Armstrong has been to Swaziland several times to monitor the elephants in the Big Game Parks wildlife reserve, where they lived. That testing will continue as the pachyderms transition to zoo life.

More than a dozen veterinarians, including Armstrong, have been conducting a years-long study on the lives of elephants, including all 17 imported from Swaziland. Although a report on the study has not yet been published, Pate said the lessons learned along the way were applied to the zoos elephant exhibit.

For example, elephants in captivity have a history of foot problems caused by concrete enclosures. So, Pate said, the zoo built a barn with sand that is 4 feet deep.

In captivity, elephants also have a history of inactivity. To combat that, Pate said, the zoo has timed hay drops that encourage the elephants to move about their 4-acre outdoor exhibit and throughout their 29,000-square-foot indoor space.

After the elephants left Swaziland, another of the zoos veterinarians, Dr. Jennifer Waldoch, met them in Fort Worth, Texas, and rode with them to Omaha.

On the plane, Waldoch and other vets took turns feeding the animals, traveling down the row of crates to alternate food and water.

We would have 10-liter bottles of water that we would pour into a bucket, Pate said. In some cases they would drink five of those 10-liter bottles of water.

Pate said the elephants were sedated in Swaziland in order to be loaded into crates, but he wasnt aware of any further sedation after the elephants left the country.

When Waldoch and the elephants arrived in Omaha shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday, Pate was first on the plane.

I felt very sympathetic to the rigors of their long journey and was anxious to get things moving to get them off the plane, on the trucks and in the hands of our veterinarians and animal care staff, Pate said. To be honest, after three and three-quarters years of working on this, it was a bit hard to believe that they were actually here.

There were a few whispers to the elephants about a promise to take good care of them.

On the runway with Pate was Dr. Lee Simmons, the zoos former director and current chairman of the Omaha Zoo Foundation, now in his 50th year with the zoo.

He was thrilled to be involved in all of this, Pate said. He has been through lots of these animal importations, though nothing even approaching this scale.

Once the elephants were loaded onto semitrailers, Pate and Simmons led a trail of cars behind the first truck, which traveled through downtown Omaha, the Old Market and Little Italy on the way to the zoo.

There, the elephants were slowly unloaded and ushered into their new exhibits, one by one. The task took until about midnight to complete.

The elephants will spend about 30 days in quarantine, being monitored by veterinarians. To ensure the animals did not bring any diseases with them, about a dozen workers in hazmat jumpsuits removed waste from the crates, some of which had collected in tarps underneath, and sent the material to Kansas City to be incinerated.

Pate said the elephants could go on display before the 30-day quarantine period is up, depending on how well they are doing.

Were going to have to let the elephants tell us.
OMAHA -- A 60-year-old Omaha man died after the car he was driving was struck nearly head-on Sunday evening by an SUV speeding eastbound in the westbound lanes of L Street near 36th Street, Omaha police said.

Paramedics worked to resuscitate the man, identified as Carl E. Gauff, on the way to the Nebraska Medical Center, but he died at the hospital, Omaha Police Sgt. Doug Klein said.

Gauff's 15-year-old grandson, Dontae S. Chavez, also was injured in the crash and taken by ambulance to the hospital. He is expected to survive.

The driver of the SUV, 39-year-old David Moshawosh Hadi of Omaha, was treated at the hospital after complaining of chest pain and was arrested on suspicion of felony motor vehicle homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol causing death or serious bodily injury and willful reckless driving, Klein said.

The collision occurred just before 8 p.m. Gauff had been driving a 2011 Hyundai Sonata west on L when the car collided with a 2000 Ford Expedition driven by Hadi, Klein said.
Turkey, a key U.S. ally and a member of NATO, continues to travel down a disturbingly authoritarian path. Last week, police in Istanbul stormed the offices of Zaman, the countrys most widely circulated newspaper, subjecting employees and supporters to tear gas and water cannons. Earlier, a court had transferred control of the publication to a panel of trustees after a prosecutor accused the paper of spreading terrorist propaganda.

Zaman and its English-language sister publication are identified with the Cemaat movement led by the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, political rival and former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This week the Cihan news agency, also linked to Gulen, said that it too would be managed by court appointees.

The takeover of those outlets follows similar actions against other news organizations. In October, authorities ordered the seizure of Koza Ipek Group, which operated several television stations critical of the government. Meanwhile, prosecutors have pursued more than 1,800 cases of insulting the president since Erdogan, a former prime minister, was elected president in 2014.

Such stifling of political opponents is impossible to reconcile with the preamble of the treaty establishing NATO, which invokes the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

The Obama administration called the action against Zaman troubling, joining the chorus of criticism from human-rights groups. But it is also mindful that Turkey is a NATO ally and a key player in both the fight against Islamic State and the negotiations to end the civil war in Syria.

This isnt the first time the commitment of the U.S. to human rights tugs it in one direction while strategic interests pull in another. After the Egyptian military overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013, the Obama administration suspended the delivery of some weapons. But it relented two years later, when Egypt was confronted with instability in neighboring Libya and threats from Islamic State-affiliated groups.

Last week, State Department spokesman John Kirby deflected a reporters suggestion that the U.S. might impose sanctions on Turkish officials similar to those Congress approved against Russians involved in human-rights abuses, saying, I wont get ahead of decisions that havent been made one way or another with respect to that. Kirby also suggested that disagreements over press freedom neednt tear asunder an entire bilateral relationship.

Perhaps not, but even if the U.S. feels constrained in the actions it can take, it should leave no doubt about what it thinks: that muzzling the press and political opponents is not just troubling but outrageous.

Los Angeles Times
Canada's Federal Minister for Heritage Melanie Joly joins members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in Toronto on Monday, March 14 2016. The minister attended an announcement of a $10-million funding for the organization Community Foundations of Canada for its project, the Community Fund for Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
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Apologies to Mark Twain, but reports of the death of private practice are somewhat exaggerated. There are still plenty of us around, and most of us are making out quite well. Not all, though. Im quite sure the murmurs of discontent have reached many ears by now. So much so that many doctors unhappy with the status quo have taken action. One such action is to go concierge.

Concierge practice, also known as retainer medicine, is basically an arrangement where the patient pays a fee up front (generally quoted as an annual figure, often payable in monthly installments) for the doctors professional services.The idea is that for their usually rather hefty annual payment, the patients receive enhanced services, most often as longer, more leisurely office visits, and greater access to the physician, typically his cell phone number.

Heres the thing: Im already doing all that. Standard appointments are thirty minutes: longer if you need them, same day if necessary. As for my cell phone, all you need to do is ask. Actually, if you want me to text you with test results, youll have my cell number forever after. No one has ever abused it, just like my residency director told me thirty years ago (though he was talking about the home phone number: same idea.) Leisurely appointments whenever you want them and total access all the time.

Ah, but what am I getting paid for all this, you ask? As long as Ive been in practice, Ive taken almost all insurances. How do they pay? Put it this way: Im not getting rich, but Im not starving. Still, Im providing concierge level care at insurance prices. Why do I keep doing it?

After all this time Ive amassed an incredibly diverse patient panel (even though I dont know how big it is) encompassing a wide span of socioeconomic class. Working class folk, professionals, white and blue collar workers alike are equally welcome. I cant afford to give away a lot of free care, but once youre an established patient, Ill work with you on payment issues for as long as you need. I like it this way. Just as family medicine doesnt limit me to one organ system, gender, age, or set of diseases, taking all insurances provides me with a further variety of patients; people from all different income levels and walks of life.

That means one big reason not to go concierge is so as not to betray the 99 percent, or whatever fraction of my patients couldnt afford the annual fee. Besides, the actual transition would be nigh impossible, since Im not sure what more I could do in the way of customer service than I already am.

Theres another more subtle issue, though, that Ive seen more outside the office setting; mainly from friends who have signed up with concierge doctors. The amounts of money involved tend to create an entitlement mentality, shifting the physician into more of a servant role, running the risk of compromised medical care. My concern is hearing a patient say something like, Hell, for $2,000 a year, the least you can do is give me some goddamned amoxicillin. Frankly, dealing with stuff like this scares the crap out of me.

Ive actually looked into concierge, finding out exactly whats involved. I spoke with a reputable company, including many doctors who were pleased with them and were incredibly happy with their new practices. I thought about it long and hard. But in the end, the two things above (deserting my patients, and dealing with newly enhanced entitlement issues) confirmed that this is not the right model for me.

Lucy Hornstein is a family physician who blogs at Musings of a Dinosaur, and is the author of Declarations of a Dinosaur: 10 Laws Ive Learned as a Family Doctor.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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On January 5, 2016, emergency crews were called to Our Kids Daycare and Learning Center in Middleton, Idaho. The reason: concern for carbon monoxide poisoning. The daycare centers director Robin Hagaman noted that some of the 12 toddlers in the classroom were acting strangely when they awakened from their naps and were also noted to have dilated pupils. In addition, two of the teachers were simultaneously experiencing headaches and nausea. The kids were moved out of that room toward another end of the facility, but carbon monoxide was not found to be the cause for the symptoms. Instead, blame was shifted to the essential oil diffuser found in the classroom.

What are essential oils and why are they used?

Essential oils are concentrated, volatile extracts taken from plants that are often aromatic. Their reported benefits include mood enhancement, stress relief, reduction in odor-causing bacteria and even immunity boosting. Theyve been used since the 13th century. Common examples include lavender, wintergreen, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, and frankincense. As Hagaman stated in an interview with KTVB 7 News, Weve got some essential oils to kind of help with the different smells in the room of toddlers and to help with the viruses that are going around and stuff. We had it up here on top of the little shelf, and it was going pretty steady.

Can essential oils cause harm?

Pure essential oils are very concentrated. In the Idaho daycare case, one theory proposed is that they could have used too much in the oil diffuser. Another was that cinnamon was added to enhance the aroma, causing additional symptoms. The most common unpleasant symptoms as a result of using essential oils include headaches, irritation of the skin and skin breakdown. In sensitive individuals with asthma, diffused essential oils may trigger an asthma attack. Some essential oils are poisonous if absorbed through the skin or swallowed.

So whats the verdict, Doctor?

Long story short: Nobody really knows if all essential oils are truly safe. Ugh  thats probably not what you wanted to read (sorry if you made it this far, only to be disappointed). Did I try rubbing Vicks VapoRub on the bottom of my 3-year-old childs feet once to help with a nighttime cough? Yep. Did it work? Nope. Does it seem to work on others? Maybe. I know a lot of grandmothers swear by it!

Some essential oils may have some non-specific health benefits, but the research is somewhat scarce and not overwhelmingly positive. They are often marketed as having broad-based health benefits which cannot be proven. The studies often neglect to mention the adverse effects of using the products. More non-industry-sponsored research is needed. Furthermore, essential oils arent thoroughly tested and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) like other food and chemical products you might put in your body, and that scares me. Essential oils are considered food supplements and not drugs.

The claim that essential oils make a daycare less likely to harbor viral infections in the winter is misguided. The science simply does not support it. A runny nose and droplets from a cough are not going to be sterilized by random vapors flowing through the air. What probably works better? Avoid sick contacts when possible, maintain good hand hygiene, and get an annual flu vaccine.

Justin Morgan is a pediatrician who blogs at Bundoo, where this article originally appeared. He can be reached at his self-titled site, Justin Morgan, MD.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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By Ed Palm

The Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal is back in the news again. A Pennsylvania grand jury recently found that two successive bishops in a small diocese covered up the abuse of hundreds of children by more than 50 priests over a 40 year period. Hollywood has illuminated the problem with the academy-award winning film "Spotlight," a dramatization of how The Boston Globe spotlighted the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. And, closer to home, the lead story in last Sunday's Seattle Times detailed how the Archdiocese of Seattle shuttled a pedophile priest through nine unsuspecting parishes despite repeated warnings from fellow priests and psychiatrists.

These sex-abuse scandals have cost the church millions of dollars in legal settlements and have highlighted a pervasive problem the church has finally had to acknowledge. But it is important to note that most of the abuses that have come to light have involved older priests, many of whom have since died. As a Catholic apostate of a certain age, I think I know why this is so and why the church has had so many problems in recent years with pedophile priests, gay or straight.

Back at the Catholic grade school I went to on the East Coast, my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Mary Norberta, at least once a week had us engage in a particular kind of meditation widely practiced by Catholic grade-schoolers in those days. She had us put our heads down on our desks, close our eyes and meditate on the question of "Do I have a vocation?"

In Catholic-school parlance, "vocation" meant a calling for the priesthood or the convent. Sister would drone on: "Think about it, boys and girls! In a class this size (about 30), there should be five or six vocations."

"If you have a vocation and you're denying it," she would warn, "you'll never be happy!"

Sister was distressed because only two members of our class, two girls, had heard the call and professed to be heading toward the convent. Sister was putting on the full-court press because, in those days, the major orders and some of the larger dioceses ran residential seminary and convent high schools for kids who thought they had vocations. The church wanted to put kids on the track to the religious life right after the eighth grade, when they were young and impressionable, and when they could still be somewhat sheltered from the distractions and temptations of secular life.

Aside from pressuring kids to make a major life decision at too early an age, this system has always impressed me as the perfect plan for creating schools for scandal for the boys in particular. The average eighth-grade boy is 13  the age at which most boys begin feeling the first full-flush, and even the embarrassing stirrings, of puberty. Think about how easy it is for a boy who isn't feeling the same attractions his classmates are feeling to take that as a sign of special election  as proof that he must have a calling from God. And then think about how many of these boys, in later life, after they had been ordained, may have had to admit to themselves that the reason they felt no attraction to girls is that they were actually attracted to men or even to young boys.

The counter-argument, of course, is, wouldn't such attraction manifest itself, and be felt, during puberty? Perhaps, but the church I grew up in always held the sort of pre-adolescent sexual experimentation often engaged in by young boys to be not nearly as serious as the things bad girls tempt boys to do.

To its credit, the church no longer aggressively recruits seminarians and novices out of the eighth grade. I'd like to think that church officials, unbidden and unpressured, finally realized how wrong this age-old system was. As Robert Browning's errant priest Fra Lippo Lippi complains, you should not take a young boy "and make him swear to never kiss the girls."

There are only a few high-school seminaries left in the United States. According to senior member "OTJM" of the website Catholic Answers, pragmatic concerns long ago began to spell the end of this system.

By the '60s and the '70s, the dropout rate was making most of the schools too expensive to maintain. And of those high-school seminarians who did stick it out to ordination, many left the priesthood to get married. "The thinking," OTJM added, was that "isolation from normal high school was not necessarily providing the maturity needed in (pastoral?) relationships with women."

The root problem, of course, is that by the '60s "the times, they (were) a-changin'." Despite Sister Norberta's best efforts, no boys in my class heard the call; and of the two girls who did, one left the convent short of taking her vows and the other left in later life.
Anthony Hubbard interviews Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn:

Gwyn has begun a series of inquiries which ask dangerous questions about both the SIS and the other intelligence agency, the GCSB. Gwyn herself is a controversial figure, a former Marxist activist who would once have been of great interest to the spies. Gwyn is a modest character with a lawyers precision and a sense of humour. The traditional face of intelligence is an ageing robot  spy-master, spy-watcher or politician  telling the public to mind its own business. Thats not Gwyn. As a young law graduate and freezing worker she belonged to the Socialist Action League, a far-Left group closely watched by the SIS.

Now recall Gwyn was hand picked by John Key to be Inspector-General. I cant imagine any other PM doing this. But he picked her because he wanted a robust highly reputable watchdog who would make sure the intelligence agencies acted within the law.

Key has been responsible for more transparency and openness around intelligence activities, than any predecessor  by a country mile.

Gwyn would like the agencies to disclose what actual powers they have. Historically spy legislation is pretty opaque. Former CIA contractor Edward Snowdens disclosures, showing the agencies scoop up enormous quantities of digital information, had led to a really important public debate about what powers do the agencies have. SIS head Rebecca Kitteridge called Snowden a traitor. I didnt say he was a traitor, says the Inspector-General. Gwyn says theres a gap in the intelligence world. Snowden revealed how closely the international spy agencies work together, but their oversight agencies cant do this. How do I know that what the [Kiwi] intelligence agencies get from other jurisdictions is lawfully and properly sourced? she asks. [And] how do we know what use other jurisdictions put our intelligence to? The ultimate solution, she says, would be to allow, say, the Inspector-General of the CIA and her to carry out a joint inquiry. Watchdogs of the world, unite.

Not a bad idea.

I believe intelligence agencies play a very valuable role in keeping us safe. But I also think they have a history of over-reaching in some areas, and this is why you need robust independent watchdogs.

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Stuff reports:

Rachel Rypma celebrated her 40th birthday last August, but is adamant she does not want a 41st. At 24, the Christchurch woman discovered she had the neurodegenerative genetic disorder Huntingtons Disease. At the time, she lived in Sydney with her partner, Gabe Rypma, pregnant and full of hope. Today, she lives alone in a care home in Christchurch and wants to die. She wants people to know what it is like for her, and hear her plea. As Rypma makes her way to a small living room she clutches her walking frame and struggles to keep her body on task.

Some people argue the alternative to euthanasia is palliative care. But not everyone is dying of terminal cancer.

Huntingtons destroys the brain and the body. It is sadly a sentence of hell on earth where you could spend many years physically unable to even feed yourself, and also with no mental ability.

Under the current law the only way to avoid this is to commit suicide with no help. But this means killing yourself possibly years before you have to, rather than the alternative of being able to have assistance to do so once your disease gets to a certain point.

Her limbs, torso and head are in constant motion, wildly flailing in different directions. The disease has taken control of Rypmas body and speech, but her mind has so far stayed intact. Eventually, she will probably slide into dementia. With her mother, Denise Forbes, by her side, Rypma concentrates to string the words together. Im not happy, and I want to die.

And for the sake of humanity she should be allowed to.

Most of her food has to be pureed and fed to her by carers, but eating is still hazardous. She often chokes or vomits at meal times. Tall and willowy, Rypma recently opted to shave her light brown hair. A large gold and orange medallion hangs around her neck. Throughout the interview she pauses to smile for the camera. It is a reminder of her former vitality. After the diagnosis, Rypma and her then partner, Gabe, made the painful decision to terminate the pregnancy. Gabe Rypma said his former wife was an advocate for euthanasia from the time she was diagnosed. She said, lets go and have an amazing life, but when the dignity is gone and I cant walk, then I want the choice to end my life.

Yet our law denies her such a choice.

In 2007 Rypma returned to Christchurch on her own. She had reached a low point and suffered from depression, Forbes said. After moving in to the care home three years ago she tried to run away and tried to take her life twice, Forbes said. She supported her daughters position on euthanasia. I believe someone in Rachels situation should have the right to choose. Forbes knew of another woman with Huntingtons Disease who starved herself to death, an agonising process that took nine weeks.

Truly terrible.

Rypma had a living will that specified she would not take medication if she was to fall ill. Forbes said it was likely she would succumb to an infection this winter. The disease was progressing rapidly. She had lost 14 kilograms over the past six months because of her constant movement. Huntingtons Disease nurse Jeanette Wiggins said 80 per cent of patients died when they accidentally inhaled food or drink and it lead to pneumonia.

So our compassionate society means we have to leave them to choke to death or hope they get pneumonia.

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Nestle Purina Pet Care Co. is the nation's pet policy leader. The company has cleared 500 pets for work. (Credit: Nestle Purina)

"Pets have moved from the backyard to the kitchen, to the bedroom and to the home office," says Kurt Venator, corporate veterinarian at Nestle Purina Pet Care Co., headquartered in St. Louis. The next move may be in the workplace you want to join.

Venator is director of strategy and programs, North America, with a staff of eight veterinarians providing education in cat and dog nutrition at veterinary schools in the United States and medicine at animal clinics.

His companys open pet policy, with 500 pets currently registered, began 17 years ago and now draws about 100 pets to work every day (mostly dogs and a few cats). Venator says that the trend is about creating healthy workplaces. Its not just about recruitment. People believe its the right thing to do.

In San Diego, Zeeto Group LLC, an SAAS registration marketing business with 70 employees, builds awareness of the benefits of bringing pets to work. Ashley Plaetzer, director of talent, says that reasons to bring them include "emotional support or medical reasons." She points out that pets relieve stress and that Zeeto launched the policy when a co-founder wanted his dog at work. For two consecutive years, San Diego newspapers heralded Zeeto for being one of the citys No. 1 or No. 2 best places to work.

TIMING AND COMMUNICATION

How are you going to find a company that allows pets, particularly one that needs your experience and skills? Obviously, a job has to be your first priority. Focus on the substance of your search  what you have to offer and to what kind of business.

Then, "start with the HR department on the website," says Venator. Some try to market and advertise (the pet perk). And they believe in it and are proud of it.

At Zeeto, its all over our marketing, Plaetzer comments. Were very upfront. We dont want there to be surprises for people who are allergic to pets or are afraid of them. About seven pets come to work daily  mostly dogs, a cat, a bowl of fish, even a hamster, bunnies or a bird.

If you dont see the perk mentioned on a website, ask yourself if youre being realistic. Venator mentions that safety, hygiene or other factors may mitigate against having animals at a specific company.

When should you ask about it? Plaetzer advises communicating openly and honestly from the start. This tactic will reduce surprises for the company or candidate.

"If its not a 'must-have,' " she posits, "you might mention it casually, saying something like, 'Did you ever think about this?' "

Venator adds that if youre passionate and you've done your due diligence, its fair to ask, 'Have you considered a pets at work policy?' Have an open, honest discussion. If not, would they consider one?

Plaetzer says not to give a new employer an ultimatum. "Provide options," she says, "such as a couple of days a week."

In Greenville, South Carolina, marketing associate Neil Shurley at The Faust-Boyer Group of Raymond James & Associates, suggests waiting until after youve proved yourself on the job. Two of the nine employees in his group negotiated arrangements to bring their dogs to work after they came on board.

But also remember that not all people are comfortable around dogs, he says, Be sure to have a plan for how your dog can be kept away from clients or co-workers who are allergic or otherwise averse to dog interaction.

He reports that "both pets, Einstein and Huckleberry now regularly appear in our monthly client newsletter."

(Knoxville News Sentinel syndicated columnist Mildred Culp, Ph.D., welcomes your questions. Contact her at culp@workwise.net.  2016 Passage Media.)
Fort Loudoun State Historic Area park manager Eric Hughey gives instructions to his fellow re-enactors. (ADAM BRIMER/NEWS SENTINEL)

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MOBY, MAYBE?

Author Herman Melville and his epic book "Moby-Dick" will be discussed starting Tuesday, March 15, at Lawson McGhee Library.

The book is the focus of a three-part guided "Melville Madness" discussion this month at Lawson McGhee Library, 500 W. Church Ave. It's also the topic of an April festival at the University of Tennessee.

"Moby-Dick" tells about the obsessive quest of a whaler captain named Ahab who searches for a white whale called Moby Dick that previously severed one of Ahab's legs at the knee and destroyed his ship.

A three-part discussion at Lawson McGhee will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. on Tuesdays, March 15, 22 and 29. UT Associate Professor English Dawn Coleman, who has read "Moby-Dick" "more times than she can count," will lead the discussion.

The event is held in conjunction with UT's semiannual AuthorFest series.

DOCUMENTARY FEST

Carson-Newman University will hold its Mossy Creek Documentary Arts Festival from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the Phoenix Theatre in Henderson Humanities Building on Carson-Newman's campus. The festival is open to the public. "Selma" and "The Clinton 12" will be viewed, as well as documentaries by Carson-Newman film students.

Info: www.cn.edu/news?view=1076.

STAGED READING

Tennessee Stage Company New Play Festival continues with a staged readings of "The Nearly Final Almost Posthumous Play of the Not-Quite-Dead Sutton McAllister" at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay St. The play by Ocoee, Fla., writer Kris Bauske tells the story of what happens when a world-renowned playwright has a nearly fatal stroke and his niece tries to find his final script. The event is free.

COLORED BY EXPERIENCE

The Blount County Public Library will host an adult coloring session at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17, in the Main Gallery of the library. Participants 16 years and older can bring their own coloring books and materials or select from a variety of intricate adult coloring pages and use coloring supplies provided at the library. Given that Thursday is St. Patrick's Day, be sure to bring your green crayon!

Info: 865-982-0981 or 865-273-1436.

REENACTMENT WEEKEND

Fort Loudoun State Historic Area in Vonore will hold a free Living History Event from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, March 19, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, March 20. Visitors will have the opportunity to view an 18th century infirmary, soldiers' barracks and a Cherokee encampment. Demonstrations will include tasks and skills common to a frontier fortification, including cooking and blacksmithing.

Info: 423-884-6217.
Some 170 Democrats are to meet Saturday at Bearden High School to pick delegates from the 2nd Congressional District to name a presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July.

Sylvia Woods, state Democratic Party Executive Committee member, said 97 people are on a list to select two delegates (one male, one female) and an alternate for Hillary Clinton and 72 to help select two delegates (one male, one female) for Bernie Sanders.

Those on the list attended conventions March 5 in Knox, Blount, Jefferson, Claiborne and Loudon counties. Campbell and Grainger counties also are in the district but neither held conventions, she said.

Democrats in all of Tennessee's congressional districts will select a total of 44 delegates Saturday under a system determined by the state party based on the March 1 primary. Clinton took 66.1 percent of the vote with Sanders, 32.4 percent.

Tennessee has 76 delegates and six alternates to the Democratic National Convention. The state executive committee will select other delegates April 9.

Saturday's election is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Republican delegates were selected in the March 1 GOP primary.

MORE ON UT DIVERSITY: State Sen. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican who represents a portion of Knox County, says he does not support eliminating state funds for University of Tennessee's Office for Diversity and Inclusion but does have concerns about some leadership decisions and use of state funds. The office has drawn criticism over the past several months for website posts regarding gender-neutral pronouns and holiday parties.

McNally, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, released a statement Saturday following a discussion on the issue by other Knox lawmakers Friday at the Knoxville Chamber.

"I support the critical mission of the office, that being federal compliance reporting, and efforts to aid the recruitment, and ongoing support of students and faculty of diverse backgrounds. However, recently it appears that the office has taken on more of the role of social activism, which I feel is neither appropriate nor proper. That role, in my opinion, belongs more to faculty and student organizations, as opposed to within offices set up to administer campus business," he said.

He also said he understands a concern that legislators are trying to micromanage UT.

"However, it is important to clarify that we in the Legislature have an important fiduciary duty to the citizens of Tennessee to insure that state dollars are spent wisely and in their best interests, to the very best we can determine that," McNally said.
(News Sentinel photo)

By News Sentinel Staff

A Lenoir City Police Department officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into his fatal shooting of an alleged DUI driver who attempted to flee a traffic stop early Sunday, officials said.

Officer Tyrel Lorenz, 29, was identified as the officer involved in the shooting, reported shortly after 1 a.m. outside Bimbo's convenience store, 1204 U.S. Highway 321, according to a joint statement released Monday by Lenoir City Police Chief Don White and 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson.

Lorenz had answered an E-911 call from the Ruby Tuesday's restaurant directly across the highway from Bimbo's regarding three people who had just left in a pickup, the statement reads.

Lorenz located the pickup at the store as the driver was refueling the truck. The officer had placed one of the vehicle's passengers in handcuffs when the driver, 30-year-old Joshua William Grubb of Clinton, began to drive away, authorities said.

"Lorenz commanded the driver to stop several times before Lorenz somehow ended up in the back bed of the pickup truck," a news release states. "Once in the truck bed Lorenz was still yelling at the driver to stop.

"It was after Lorenz was in the bed of the pickup and the truck was speeding away that Lorenz apparently shot the driver of the truck."

The pickup traveled into oncoming traffic down the wrong side of the four-lane divided highway and across the overpass above Interstate 75 before it struck a utility pole, less than a mile from convenience store, authorities said.

Lorenz, who was not hurt, immediately began to render first aid to Grubb, who had been shot multiple times, the release states. Grubb was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS personnel.

The two passengers in the truck now faces charges, including Brandon Lawrence Taylor, 31, of Clinton, who ran from the scene while still in handcuffs as Lorenz tried to stop Grubb, the police chief said.

"He went behind the gas station area, removed his shirt and was able to take his shoes off and get the handcuffs around in front of him," White said. "And I'm assuming he was trying to conceal the handcuffs with his shirt, went down across the interstate and went into two of the local hotels trying to use a phone."

White said Taylor was found in the bathroom of the Day's Inn motel by a deputy from the Loudon County Sheriff's Office.

The other passenger, Toni Ann Sutton, 40, of Heiskell, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sutton has a criminal history in Anderson County dating back to 1999, including charges of drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, identity theft, driving on a suspended or revoked license and resisting arrest.

Taylor, too, has a history of arrests in Anderson County on charges including aggravated assault, evading arrest and DUI.

Grubb was charged with DUI, driving on a suspended or revoked license and violation of the implied consent law in Anderson County in 2013.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is handing the investigation into the shooting. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending, and a forensics analysis of the scene is not yet complete, the release states.

Johnson's office is reviewing available footage from Lorenz's in-cruiser camera and body camera, as well as video surveillance footage from Bimbo's.

Johnson tentatively expects to present the results of the TBI probe to a Loudon County grand jury at its next meeting April 11 or 12.

White said the police department will conduct a "critical incident debriefing" later this week with all officers who responded to the scene, including Lorenz.

Lorenz has been with the Lenoir City Police Department since July 2015, and has been a law enforcement officer since 2010. He previously served as a deputy with the Roane County Sheriff's Office.

White said it was a tough situation for the officers to have to go through.

"This is the thing that you never want to happen in your career is to have to use deadly force," he said. "It's unfortunate; but everybody's managing and we're going to get through it."
SHARE David Bradshaw, area manager for the Oak Ridge branch of Pinnacle Financial Partners, on Monday removes the CapitalMark Bank & Trust sign after the merger of the two institutions to create a $9 billion entity. Also pictured, from left, are bank employees Andy Boyer, Lu Guy, Debi Minton and Simona Papadopoulos. David Bradshaw, area manager for Pinnacle Financial Partners, gestures while discussing the merger of CapitalMark Bank & Trust with Pinnacle to form a $9 billion financial institution. PHOTOS BY BOB FOWLER/NEWS SENTINEL

By Bob Fowler, fowlerb@knoxnews.com

OAK RIDGE  This wasn't a ribbon-cutting; it was a symbolic removal of one now-former financial institution's moniker to unveil the name of a $9 billion merger.

David Bradshaw, a former Oak Ridge mayor and longtime banking executive, did the honors Monday morning, taking down the CapitalMark Bank & Trust logo covering the Pinnacle Financial Partners' brand.

It's a union of the $1 billion in CapitalMark assets with Pinnacle's $8 billion portfolio that serves a variety of businesses from 43 offices in Tennessee's four urban markets  Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga.

There are five Pinnacle offices in Knoxville, now joined by the Oak Ridge branch, which opened in November 2012 under the CapitalMark umbrella, and retains the same five-member staff.

With the merger, Pinnacle has 1,100 employees serving 110,000 clients.

Pinnacle "is rated one of the best places to work, not only in Tennessee but the nation," Bradshaw said. "There's nothing better for us than to see our clients succeed."

Pinnacle Financial Partners was created in 2000 while CapitalMark was formed in 2007. The merger actually was finalized in July, but CapitalMark continued to operate under its brand until the systems and operations of the companies were totally integrated.

For the past month, Pinnacle has been contacting its clients to explain changes in procedures, materials and website (now www.pnfp.com).

"This is a significant milestone in our history," said M. Terry Turner, president and CEO of Pinnacle. He said teams from both organizations worked on the complex merger process. Pinnacle is now the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee.

Pinnacle offers investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services.

The Oak Ridge office remains in a historically intriguing location  Jackson Square, which was the center of town when it was a secret city created to help build the world's first atomic bomb during World War II.

The bank building was the location of the city's first bank  Hamilton National Bank of Knoxville  where workers' paychecks were processed and war bonds were sold.
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By Gerald Witt of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Knox County employees who have ideas to save taxpayer money can get a cut of the unspent funds in the form of a one-time bonus under a new plan supported by Mayor Tim Burchett.

"I think that if we incentivize this, they can come to me or their department head with an idea," Burchett said.

Knox County Commission is expected to review the proposal in a March 21 work session.

The proposal would create an employee incentive program "offering a bonus to county employees who identify and implement ongoing procedures that result in real-dollar savings to the county of at least $1,000 per year," according to the policy language. "The bonus is limited to 10 percent of first-year savings, with a maximum bonus amount of $5,000."

The bonus request must be made by the employee's department head and approved by the Knox County Department of Finance.

"The government money is taxpayer money," Burchett said.

He said the idea for the program had been on the table for years, initially pushed by a former Knox County commissioner.

"R. Larry Smith had talked about it for years, and it never seemed to get implemented," Burchett said. "And we just put it into effect."

Such incentive programs have a long history of popularity in governments.

Heather Kerrigan in "Governing" magazine in 2014 wrote that at the state level, money-saving ideas can net a bonus of up to $10,000 in states like Washington and West Virginia. In North Carolina, employees with such ideas can earn paid time off.

Burchett said that there's one caveat, however, in that it only applies to the departments he oversees. Those include departments like Engineering or Parks and Recreation.

If other elected county offices  such as the Criminal Court Clerk or Law Director, for example  wish to have a similar plan they must implement the policy themselves, Burchett said.

"We have good employees in Knox County, and they have a lot of really good ideas," Burchett said.
SHARE Butch Jones Drae Bowles

Events promote engineering, STEM

On April 2, two events on the University of Tennessee campus will raise awareness about engineering and other career fields with future and current students.

Big Orange STEM Saturday is 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Hodges Library and is for high school students, college freshmen and parents. The event includes speakers and breakout sessions about careers in science, technology, engineering and math. It's free, but participants should register at www.lib.utk.edu by March 25.

"Tomorrow's Engineers Today" is an annual event for middle school girls to gain hands-on engineering experience. It is from 9 a.m. -3 p.m. and cost is $5. There is an optional free half-day event for parents.

Registration is at www.eventbrite.com/e/tomorrows-engineers-today-tickets-20996778931 and closes March 25.

Students serving others on break

This week is spring break at UT and 70 students along with several faculty and staff are participating in alternative breaks to do community service across the Southeast.

Another group is going to the Czech Republic for international service on projects related to social justice education and preventing human trafficking.

After spring break, local alternative break weekend is April 16-17 and students will volunteer at the Knoxville Habitat for Humanity Restore and Knoxville EarthFest.

Trips include Savannah, Ga., to focus on animal outreach; St. Louis to promote urban youth development; Jackson, Miss., to help marginalized populations; Columbia, S.C., to aid Hispanic communities; and Greenville, Miss., to fight rural poverty.

Partnership helps deaf theatergoers

A collaboration between the University of Tennessee's Clarence Brown Theatre and Center on Deafness allows deaf theatergoers to enjoy stage productions.

Once a semester, "Deaf Night at the Theatre" adds sign language interpreters to a performance. This spring, it will be April 26 for a performance of "South Pacific."

Clarence Brown also has a captioning system during the third Sunday matinee of every production. For "South Pacific," it will be April 8.

Baker Center scores states' energy use

The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy recently released the first Energy Scorecard for the American States report. The score card includes a visual and interactive map to address energy assets, economy, energy diversity, affordability, electricity and environment for all 50 states.

The report aims to aid public policy development, but takes no specific stance. The full report is available at the center's website, bakercenter.utk.edu.
SHARE Mike Hammond, Knox County Criminal Court clerk

By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  The state House and Senate have approved establishment of a two-year pilot project in Knox County to allow some people convicted of crimes to pay court costs and litigation taxes assessed against them through community service work.

The bill, SB2032, was the brainchild of Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond, according to sponsors Rep. Bill Dunn and Sen. Richard Briggs, both Knoxville Republicans. The bill has passed the House and Senate unanimously and will go to the governor's desk, assuming anticipated Senate concurrence Monday with a minor House amendment.

As the law stands now, Dunn said on the House floor Thursday, a judge can either dismiss the financial penalties upon deciding a defendant is indigent and cannot afford them or just order the amounts paid, even though payment may cause a financial burden that results in no payment.

The bill provides community service as a "third option," he said, and that's a good thing for two reasons.

"No. 1, it might force someone who says they don't have any money  when they realize they might have to spend the next eight or 10 Saturdays doing community service  they may come up with the money," he said. "That might save the taxpayers.

"More importantly, somebody who's gotten on the wrong side of the law" could benefit, Dunn said. "If they start going out and performing community service, this could help them in rehabilitation, where they'll see there might be some joy in helping others."

On the Senate floor, Briggs simply outlined the provisions, assuring colleagues the measure would not affect other parts of state law revoking driver's licenses for unpaid penalties in some situations and that the community service option would be voluntary for defendants.

Hammond said the idea grew out of a chance conversation he had in Knox County with a man, facing a pile of financial penalties after pleading guilty to a minor offense, who asked him  not knowing Hammond's position  whether he should follow a friend's advice and simply tell the judge he was indigent and could not afford to pay.

Hammond said he didn't answer the man's question after stating his position as collector of court costs, but was inspired to contact Burt Rosen, head of the Knox Area Rescue Ministries. He gave KARM a list of 130 individuals who had declared themselves indigent in seeking dismissal of costs in court, giving KARM's shelter as an address.

Twenty of the 130 had never had any contact with the organization, a review of records showed, and some others had not had any contact in "a year or two or more," Hammond said.

That indicated that at least some were misleading the courts in declaring themselves indigent, he said. Others face real financial hardship in trying to pay the money while being honest.

The court clerk said he then talked with judges presiding over criminal cases and they generally agreed with providing an option of community service, but indicated reluctance to take such a step on their own without a law in place allowing it. Briggs and Dunn then agreed to sponsor the bill.

Dunn said it's his "hope and desire" that the bill will lead to expansion of the community service option statewide after Knox County deals with the program for two years and "gets the kinks out." In the brief House floor discussion, Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Hendersonville, declared herself "very excited" about that prospect, seeing the possibility of rehabilitation of those who have run afoul of the law by engaging in community service.

Hammond said various nonprofit organizations in Knox County could use the labor of defendants, citing Habitat for Humanity as one example.
Gov. Bill Haslam

By Richard Locker of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  The state House approved the controversial deannexation bill on a 68-25 vote Monday night. It will now be scheduled for a Senate floor vote, possibly as early as Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Bill Haslam said he's "concerned" about bill and questioned the constitutionality of the bill's House version, which allows deannexation from only six Tennessee cities  Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kingsport, Johnson City and tiny Cornersville in Marshall County.

The state constitution generally requires most legislation to impact the entire state without singling out individual places, but lawmakers have often made bills applicable to certain cities on the basis of population or local form of government and the laws stand if the courts find a valid public purpose.

The governor was asked about the bill by a municipal official during the Tennessee Municipal League's annual spring legislative conference.

"I think right now that bill deals with six cities. I'm not a lawyer but I wonder about the constitutionality of something that just applies to those six, but we'll see," he said.

"But I have a major concern. What I try to tell people in the Legislature is, you might not be from a city, you might be from a rural area or a suburban area but cities matter to you. The services that happen in cities, if those go away, then you've got a problem."

Haslam, the former mayor of Knoxville, urged the municipal officials from across the state to make their voices heard with their local legislators, including on the deannexation bill even though it may not affect their cities initially.

"There's a bill in the House. They're pretty far down the road. They're not quite as far down the road in the Senate. I would encourage you all to engage both sides on that issue," he said.

After the TML presentation, the governor told reporters that the deannexation bill is concerning. Asked if he would veto the bill if it wins legislative approval, he said:

"Let me just say at this point, I am concerned about it. The constitutionality of it, somebody else will have to rule on that so that's not for me to say. But I am concerned about the impact.

"You take a Memphis that has a challenging financial situation to begin with. Mayor (Jim) Strickland's called up two or three times to express his concerns about the impact. We'll see Mayor (Madeline) Rogero in a few minutes to talk about the impact on Knoxville and what that would look like. I know Mayor (Andy) Berke in Chattanooga is concerned.

"What I would say to people who live outside cities is, you want cities to be strong because they provide a lot of services that somebody is going to have to provide, whether it be police or transit or a lot of the issues that come along with urban life in America. You don't want those cities to be in a financially weak position."
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By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  The Tennessee General Assembly is the most conservative state legislature in the country. Or is it No. 4?

Tennessee is the nation's 12th most conservative state. Or is it No. 19?

Exactly how high Tennessee rates on the "most conservative" scale depends largely on who is doing the ranking and how they go about keeping score.

"If you're in the state Legislature or the U.S. Congress, there are many different groups who rank your votes," said Kent Syler, a political scientist at Middle Tennessee State University. And, "the scoring can be very subjective."

Tennessee Republicans earned bragging rights last week when the American Conservative Union put the General Assembly at the top of its list of most conservative state legislatures. The group presented the award to two lawmakers  state Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown and state Rep. Timothy Hill of Blountville  during its annual Conservative Political Action Conference just outside Washington.

Coming in just behind Tennessee in the conservative rankings were state legislatures in Idaho, Alaska, Arkansas and North Carolina.

Tennessee failed to grab the top slot in a different rating system by Boris Shor, a visiting government professor at Georgetown University in Washington. On his most recent scorecard, Shor listed the Tennessee Legislature as the nation's fourth most conservative.

So how did the two scoring systems come up with different scores?

Methodology.

The American Conservative Union made its ranking by looking at how state lawmakers voted last year on 13 bills in the state Senate and 12 in the state House. The group reviewed voting records on topics such as federal education funding, school choice, Common Core, abortion clinic regulations, a firearms carry rule, the federal Environmental Protection Agency's new power plant rules and traffic camera restrictions.

"We try to select votes that have a clear line between the conservative position and the non-conservative position," said Ian Walters, the group's spokesman.

The Tennessee Senate scored an 83 out of 100 on the conservative meter, while the House score was 78. Combined, the state's average score was 81  the highest in the nation.

Shor's rankings looked at voting patterns from a year earlier. His scorecard also was much more broad-based. It took into account every vote made by lawmakers in the House and the Senate during 2014.

While there's no question the Tennessee Legislature is conservative, he concluded, it ranked only fourth nationwide, right behind Oklahoma, Arkansas and Idaho.

Others have tried to measure the conservative bona fides of entire states  not just the legislatures. They, too, have come up with different results.

Gallup named Tennessee the nation's 12th most conservative state in 2015. But Tennessee barely cracked the top 20 when The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper that specializes in government coverage, published its own rankings a few months earlier. In that survey, Tennessee came in at No. 19.

Such rankings probably are meaningless for most people, Syler said, but are important for the organizations that do them and for the officeholders who often cite them as proof of their own political ideology.

When ranking the most conservative or liberal lawmakers or states, special interest groups usually look at a handful of votes that reflect their own self-interests or ideology. Sometimes, groups even make clear to lawmakers that an upcoming vote on a piece of legislation will be a "scored vote"  essentially putting lawmakers on notice.

Put simply, grading lawmakers on how they vote is a form of lobbying, Syler said.

"It's a way special interest groups can put pressure on legislators to vote the way they want them to," said Syler, who got an insider's view of Washington as the longtime chief of staff for then-U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, a Murfreesboro Democrat.

For Tennessee Republicans, getting a high conservative score from an organization like the American Conservative Union allows lawmakers to boast that they've gotten the group's stamp of approval. That can be important come election time, especially when an incumbent is trying to scare off potential challengers during a primary or fight back against charges of not being a true conservative.

"In a state that is as red as Tennessee is right now, where legislators aren't worried about a general election, this has a real benefit to them in the Republican primary," Syler said.

Michael Collins is the News Sentinel's Washington correspondent. His weekly Tennessee in D.C. column highlights Volunteer State lawmakers, causes and connections. Contact him at 202-408-2711 or michael.collins@jmg.com.
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The Knoxville Chamber urges Tennessee lawmakers to reject a proposed budget amendment that would deeply and negatively impact the University of Tennessee's Knoxville campus. The amendment would redirect $8 million from UT's Knoxville campus to rural programs and prevent funding its Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

More than 28,000 students are enrolled at UT-Knoxville. The state's flagship university is home to nationally ranked STEM and numerous other academic programs that are critical to preparing today's workforce. The loss of $8 million would negatively impact students and faculty at a time when the university is improving graduation rates, attracting significant research dollars and contributing to the state's overall economic success.

The annual budget for the Office for Diversity and Inclusion is approximately $522,000. While we understand concerns over missteps by this office, and are pleased with the chancellor's commitment to provide more oversight, defunding this office is neither warranted nor prudent.

Diversity and inclusion remain high priorities of employers whose businesses are competing in the global marketplace, including Alcoa, Scripps Networks Interactive and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These employers depend on UT to graduate students with the ability to work with individuals who have diverse backgrounds, life experiences and different points of view. The belief in the effectiveness of such skills is why employers have taken an active role in funding diversity initiatives. The proposed amendment would prevent even private donors from funding this important mission.

Gov. Bill Haslam's administration has been deeply involved in studying and reforming the state's higher education system as part of its "Drive to 55" campaign. That campaign seeks to significantly increase the number of residents with a post-secondary education, and positive results have already been seen. The Knoxville Chamber urges lawmakers to adopt the governor's budget as presented, and reject this amendment.

Robyn Jarvis Askew, chair, Knoxville Chamber
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn pledged Monday to provide tax incentives to companies that create jobs for young adults.



The government will "make efforts to expand jobs for young adults," Hwang said at the opening ceremony of a job fair in the central city of Daejoen. He did not elaborate on the tax incentives for companies.



Young South Koreans have been hit hard by a prolonged economic slump as local companies remain reluctant to hire new workers.



The unemployment rate for those between 15 and 29 jumped to a seven-month high of 9.5 percent in January from 8.4 percent tallied in December, according to government data.



President Park Geun-hye has described job creation as a key priority of the government. (Yonhap)




By Choi Sung-jin



Domestic steel companies, reeling from falling profits and growing financial difficulties amid the flood of cheap Chinese products, are going all out to reduce costs.



POSCO, for instance, has reduced transport costs of iron ore and coal by shortening the waiting time of cargo vessels.



When a cargo vessel carrying these raw materials arrives, a pilot should board the ship to guide it to the harbor. The problem is that the sea in Yeongil Bay where POSCO is located gets rough frequently with a northeastern wind, making it difficult to set a pilot boat afloat. In this case, the long waiting time of cargo vessels leads to considerable demurrage.



The nation's largest steelmaker has solved the problem by transporting pilots to the vessels aboard company helicopters. "Every time we use a chopper, the company can save 24 million won ($20,000) in demurrage a day," a company official said.



POSCO has also cut about 600 million won in annual logistic costs by operating an automated system that checks shipment information in real time. Thanks to these and other efforts, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker saved 257.3 billion won last year, plus 166.5 billion won saved by its subsidiaries.



"We will shift to low-cost, high-efficiency mode in every area of operating our organization, ranging from production to technological development and management, to save cost by more than 1 trillion won this year," said POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon.



Hyundai Steel recently changed its lighting at offices and factories to LED lamps, which can save about 40 percent of costs compared with the previous fluorescent lamps. The company is also pushing to make the most of cow dung to replace coal, and supplying mid- to low-temperature waste heat from its plants to neighboring areas.



Smaller steel companies are taking more drastic steps to survive.



Dongbu Steel, now managed by the Korea Development Bank and other creditors, is reportedly considering selling an electric furnace at its Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, plant - which has to use expensive electricity and scrap metal - to Iran or another foreign buyer.



Dongkuk Steel returned to profit last year by shutting its money-losing No. 2 plant in Pohang. The company is now producing only 1.5 million tons of thick plates at its Dangjin plant.



No less important than these cost-cutting efforts, however, is the enhancement of a fundamental competitive edge through new technology, experts say.



"The industry also has to come up with a more fundamental strategy to survive, for instance, developing higher value-added products and differentiating from foreign competitors in technology," said Korea Iron and Steel Association Vice Chairman Song Jae-bin.



In a related development, POSCO announced an unusual decision at its annual shareholders' meeting Friday. At the meeting, the company added "technology sale and engineering business" to its business portfolio, making public that it will sell not just steel technology but engineering know-how, including design and operation.



"At a time of global supply glut, resorting only to product sale has its limits," said a POSCO executive. "We have come to make the decision, based on our confidence of POSCO's technology accumulated by research and development for decades."



The company can, for instance, sell its up-to-date technology to other steel companies and receive royalties, or send its technicians overseas and earn service fees. Or the steelmaker can allow construction companies to build steel plants using its technology, with POSCO receiving part of the contract money.



POSCO's two most sellable technologies are compact endless cast and rolling mill (CEM) and FINEX, which allows the direct use of cheap iron ore fines and non-coking coal as feedstock, resulting in significantly lower operating costs and emissions than a blast furnace.



The company is pushing to sell FINEX technology to 15 foreign makers, and sell CEM to seven companies. POSCO said it had about 100 other independently developed technologies, and planned to turn more of them into a profit-making business.








By Choi Sung-jin



Korea's liquid crystal display makers are under growing pressure from Chinese competitors. The nation's two largest display makers, LG and Samsung, have already closed six of their 19 production lines, and plan to suspend two or three more.



These moves were inevitable with Chinese makers flooding the market with low-priced small and midsize LCD panels, sharply eroding Korean makers' profitability. The Chinese companies are also expanding production of large LCDs and OLED displays, and may soon catch up with their Korean counterparts.



According to industry sources, LG Display will suspend two production lines at its plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, from next year. The P2 and P3 line has manufactured 3.5th-generation (590mm x 670mm) and fourth-generation (680x880) panels since 1997 and 2000, respectively. LG is considering shifting part of its P4 line to producing OLED panels. It has already changed P1 line, out of a total 11 production lines, to be used for research.



Samsung Display had closed five of its eight LCD production lines until last year. The company sold its L5 line in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, to a Chinese maker. Out of the remaining three, Samsung is transforming its L6 line to use low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) technology that can produce high-definition LCD and OLED panels -- a desperate move to avoid operational suspension. Samsung has only two lines left producing LCDs for TVs and monitors.



"The prices of small and midsize LCD panels have been plunging in the past few years as Chinese makers pushed out low-priced products," said an industry executive. "Domestic LCD makes are shutting down their obsolete manufacturing lines finding few reasons to keep producing."



Korean companies were no match for their Chinese rivals' "price offensive," he said.



In 2010, while announcing its 12th five-year economic development plan, the Chinese government vowed to localize LCD panels, by raising its self-sufficiency ratio from below 1 percent in 2011 to 80 percent in 2015. Beijing then made regional governments subsidize nearly half the costs of building display manufacturing plants.



For instance, BOE, China's largest display maker, is building the world's largest, 10.5th-generation LCD plant at a cost of 40 billion yuan. But BOE has only to pay 4 billion yuan, or 10 percent of the total. It borrowed 18 billion yuan from banks, with the municipal government of Hefei, Anhui Province, shouldering the other 18 billion yuan.



Once production starts, the Chinese government provides subsidies. In 2014, BOE recorded sales of 36.8 billion yuan and an operating profit of 2.3 billion yuan, but its net profit rose to 2.7 billion yuan, aided by 830 million yuan in subsidies.



The LCD lines of BOE and other Chinese makers are mostly 8.5th-generation lines with panel size of 2,200x2,500, fit for 55-inch TV panels. But these companies are producing small and midsize panels for 10-32 inch TVs because of their lagging technology, pulling down the prices of smaller LCDs by an average of 40 percent.



Yet even the technological competitive edge of LG and Samsung many not last long, because the Chinese makers had begun to build LTPS lines under their government's policy shift to large-sized LCDs and OLED panels, the industry sources said.



When BOE began operating its 10.5th-generation plant by 2018, suitable for 65- and 75-inch TVs, these products would have price and even quality advantages over Korean products, they added.




Mercedes Benz will recall 1,378 C-Class cars.



By Jhoo Dong-chan

Mercedes Benz Korea, Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) Korea, and Honda will recall 3,215 cars and motorcycles for defects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday.



Four Chrysler models, including the mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) Jeep Grand Cherokee, were found to have safety-related mechanical defects in the airbag control system and power tailgate.



Jeep's 741 Grand Cherokee and Cherokee vehicles made between March 9, 2001, and March 28, 2003, have been cited for safety-related malfunctions, under which the airbag and seat belt pre-tensioner are activated without an accident.



A seat belt pre-tensioner applies an opposite force to the driver and passengers to prevent them making contact with the interior in the case of sudden braking or accident.



Another 529 Jeep Cherokees made between Feb. 24, 2015, and Sep. 3, 2015, were found to have a possible risk fire or malfunction in the power tailgate if water gets into the electronic control unit.



Fiat's Freemont model made between Sep. 4, 2012, and March 13, 2013, has been reported to have defects in its anti-lock braking system (ABS), under which the ABS may not perform if water is absorbed into the system's module. The ministry said 288 cars were affected.



FCA Korea said free repairs would be available starting Tuesday at any related service center.



Germany's premium automaker Mercedes Benz will recall 1,378 C-Class cars for possible airbag malfunction. If water is absorbed into and corrodes the airbag's power module, the airbag may not be operable in an accident.



The affected cars were made between Jan. 31, 2007, and Dec. 3, 2008, and Mercedes Benz is offering free repairs from Monday at any of its service centers.



The ministry said 128 Honda motorcycles will be recalled for possible leaks in the rear-wheel brake hose. The recall involves NSS300 models made between June 12, 2013, and Oct. 1, 2013.



Honda Korea's service centers started providing free repairs Monday.
By Kim Jae-won



The National Tax Service (NTS) is set to audit the Yoido Full Gospel Church, targeting pastor David Yonggi Cho who is suspected of embezzling 80 billion won ($67 million) of funds, said officials of the church on Monday.



They said that the church's pastor Lee Young-hoon told elders Sunday to prepare a room on the 11th floor of the Kookmin Ilbo's main office in Yeouido, Seoul because the NTS will soon begin a tax audit against the world's largest church. Kookmin is a daily newspaper run by the church.



"We will face the tax audit soon. That is the fact," said an official of the church, asking not to be named.



The official admitted that the problem in the church is well-known to the public.



The NTS refused to comment on the issue, referring to privacy concerns for taxpayers. This is the first time that the tax authorities will have conducted an audit of the megachurch.



The announcement came while the prosecutors' office is investigating Cho's aides over allegedly embezzling church funds. He allegedly took 60 billion won of funds intended for overseas mission projects as well as an additional 20 billion won as severance pay without approval from the church.



The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the 80-year-old pastor to two and half years in jail with four years of suspension for inflicting 13.1 billion won of losses to the church and tax evasion worth 3.5 billion won by ordering church officials to buy stocks in his son's company with church funds at a rate more expensive than the market price. His son Hee-joon was arrested after being sentenced to three years in prison.



Critics say that the collapse of Pastor Cho illustrates how deeply corrupt Korea's megachurches are, after a rapid growth during the last few decades. A few years ago, SaRang Community Church, a Presbyterian church, drew criticism for establishing a luxury 14-story church building in the lucrative southern Seoul district of Seocho, spending 300 billion won.



The church's pastor Oh Jung-hyun was also suspended from his job for six months in 2012 for plagiarizing his Ph.D thesis from the Potchefstroom University in South Africa. He was also accused of embezzling church funds during the construction of the new building. The church's congregation has been split since then by those supporting Oh and those opposing him.




By Yoon Ja-young



The country's conglomerates have been increasing dividend payouts recently, but they are still smaller than those of businesses in other major economies. Analysts say that small dividends are the cause of the undervaluation of Korean stocks.



Samsung Securities cited a Thomson Reuters' analysis of firms included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Index, Monday, reporting that the dividend yield ratio of Korean firms is estimated at 2.01 percent. A total of 107 Korean firms are included in the MSCI index.



This means if a person buys 1 million won worth of Korean stocks, the investor can expect to earn 20,100 won in dividends for the year.



Korea ranked 16th among 17 countries surveyed. Australia and Russia had dividend yield ratios of over 5 percent, while Italy, Brazil and the United Kingdom were also over 4 percent. Japan provided 2.5 percent, China 2.96 percent and the United States 2.33 percent. Only India was behind Korea, providing 1.9 percent.



Korean firms have been increasing dividend payouts recently. KEPCO decided to pay 3,100 won per share in dividends on its 2015 earnings, which is more than six times the previous year.



Lotte Confectionery doubled its dividend payout while SK hynix raise its by 66 percent and Shinhan Financial by 26 percent.



Companies listed on the main KOSPI bourse paid between 4 trillion won and 8 trillion won as total dividends in the early 2000s, but the number soared to over 10 trillion won in the mid-2000s. It has been increasing steeply recently following the government's pressure on businesses. Based on the determination that greater dividends will increase household income and boost consumption, the government has been giving tax benefits to those increasing dividend payouts.



While Korea's low dividend payout ratio, standing at around 20 percent, is partly responsible for sagging stock prices, some economists say that increasing dividends is not a cure-all.



"On top of the low capital gains following the sluggish stock market, the dividend yield ratio is also low in Korea, leading to increasing complaints from institutional investors, especially foreigners," said Shin Jung-soon, a finance professor at Ewha Womans University in a report.



"However, one should note that Korea's industry is mostly composed of IT, industrial goods and consumption goods that are closely related with the economy where it isn't easy to increase dividend payouts," he added, mentioning that industries where profit is visible and highly tenable are likely to pay more dividends.




Portrait of Jeong Gon-su and X-ray image of the portrait / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

57 cultural properties treated with cutting edge technologies



By Kwon Mee-yoo

When people go to a museum, they see cultural properties that have been cleaned, restored and neatly displayed in showcases. However, when such cultural assets are first found, many of them have been soiled, damaged or even broken. There are scientists behind these relics on display, who put forth their best efforts to conserve and restore the artifacts to their original state.

Titled "Conservation Science, Saving the Cultural Properties," a new exhibition of the National Museum of Korea (NMK) sheds light on efforts to conserve and restore precious cultural properties. It features some 57 cultural properties from those treated in the very early stages of conservation science to those handled with state-of-the-art technologies.

"2016 marks the 40th anniversary of conservation science at the NMK," said NMK Director General Kim Young-na. "This exhibition looks back upon the history and introduces what the conservation scientists do."

The discipline of conservation science is about investigating when, where, what and how various cultural properties were created and exploring ways to conserve and restore them.





White porcelain pitcher with dragon and cloud pattern from the Song Dynasty before restoration, above, and after 3D scanning restoration / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea



The Division of Conservation Science at the NMK began four decades ago with only two scientists and has now expanded to up to 30 members, but still has a long way to go. There are over 380,000 artifacts waiting for preservation treatment in the museum's storage, but current staffers can only handle about 1,600 a year.

The first part "Looking Inside Cultural Properties" elaborates on diverse types of materials in cultural properties such as metal, earth, stone, wood, paper and textile, which is the first step of understanding the artifacts and conservation research. The process of analysis uses a range of scientific equipment including the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer.

"Portrait of Jeong Gon-su," a vassal from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), was originally estimated to be painted around 1590 when Jeong was sent to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as an envoy. However, an X-ray image of the portrait revealed that Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) costume was painted under the finished portrait, pushing the estimated time of the painting to after the establishment of Qing.

The "Healing Damaged Cultural Properties" section gives insight into various methods used to repair and restore cultural assets. Conservation scientists stabilize damaged artifacts to capture their historic value.

The latest technologies such as 3D scanning and modeling are used to speculate on the original state of the cultural properties and restore them.

"Extending the Life of Cultural Properties" sheds light on the scientific methods of minimizing harm to the cultural assets caused by natural factors such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pollutants and fungus.

The highlight of the exhibit is a section that gives a glimpse into what conservation scientists really do. A replica of the conservation laboratory is installed in the exhibition hall and the museum's scientists conduct their research there.

The exhibit is on view until May 8. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr or call 02-2077-9000.
Dancers in rows of eight by eight perform the munmyo ilmu, as part of the seokjeon daeje at Sungkyunkwan, on March 22. / Photo by Jon Dunbar



By Jon Dunbar

This Wednesday, Confucianists nationwide will commemorate Confucius with a grand-scale ceremony.

Seokjeon daeje, literally "laying out offerings ceremony," will be performed at hyanggyo, or Confucian schools, across the country and the Confucian temple Munmyo.

The temple is located at the entrance of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), a modern university with roots going back to 1398. Students once studied Confucius' teachings here to prepare for the civil service exam.

Sixty-four red-robed dancers will perform the mass dance called munmyo ilmu, raising their hands to the heavens in slow, deliberate moves. They're accompanied by the otherworldly munmyo jeryeak, performed by 64 musicians on ancient stone and metal chimes and stringed and woodwind instruments.

"Music and ritual are according to Confucianism civilizing agents," said Boudewijn Walraven, a visiting professor at SKKU's Academy of East Asian Studies. "The music and dance therefore do not aim to excite or provide sensuous delight."

During the two-hour performance, officiants bow and make sacrifices at an altar inside the main temple building. The ritual resembles jesa, an ancestral funerary rite still performed by millions of Korea.

The front gate will be opened at 10 a.m. to let in members of the public along with the spirits of departed Confucian scholars. Volunteers will be present to stop guests from treading on the path through the middle of the temple grounds, reserved only for spirits during the ritual.

"The ritual has been performed without interruption ever since Sungkyunkwan came into existence, which as far as I know is unique as far as this kind of Confucian ritual is concerned," said Walraven. "Although Confucius has been venerated in China and Japan as well, the tradition has not been as continuous as in Korea."

This ceremony commemorates 39 historical figures of East Asia, namely the Five Sages including Confucius, 10 of his disciples and 24 other men of virtue. Eighteen Koreans are included, such as Confucian scholars Yi Hwang and Yi I.

The ancient philosopher Confucius, born 2,567 years ago, had a profound impact on East Asian society, his teachings influencing the establishment and operations of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) here. Seokjeon daeje was once carried out across the region, but now is only preserved here.

In 2011, the Korean government nominated the ceremony for UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, but the international body rejected it. In 2014, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon pledged the city's commitment to earning UNESCO recognition for the 618-year-old Sungkyunkwan Confucian academy and temple.
The Seoul Administrative Court on Monday judged as legitimate the tax authorities' imposition of value added tax (VAT) on a private language institute offering English telephone language services to students through a contract with a foreign call center.



The BCM Education Group filed a suit against a tax office in Seoul last year demanding the revocation of some 49 million won of VAT levied in 2009 on its educational service for the attendees of the institute through contracts with a Philippine call center.



The Seoul court said that any business should pay VAT when it pays for a service from foreign corporations that have no domestic offices or branches.













BCM, the plaintiff, has insisted that the educational service for students is subject to tax exemptions as provided in VAT rules.



But the court said the VAT exemption rule does not apply in this case, the as the Philippine business provided telephone English lectures to BCM under separate business contracts between the two. (Yonhap)
Members of liberal civic groups call on the government to scrap the anti-terrorism law during a rally in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, on March 8. The protesters claim the law will give the government legal grounds to place ordinary citizens under surveillance. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

Citizens are worried over the authorities'conducting surveillance on smartphones and all types of private communications since the passage of the controversial anti-terrorism bill, March 2.

The legislation allows the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to collect the personal information of those deemed suspected terrorists on all kinds of telecommunication platforms, including phone records, mobile messages and even financial transactions.

Moreover, the government and the ruling Saenuri Party are discussing another bill against cyberterrorism with a similar scope of government surveillance.

Critics express concerns that these moves leave open the possibility of the spy agency abusing the law to monitor civilians. Previously, the agency could only spy on those suspected of engaging in pro-North Korea activities.

Lawyers, social activists and citizens say the new law will give the spy agency monitoring power  just like the "Big Brother" from George Orwell's novel "1984"  under the name of fighting growing threats from North Korea.

The Lawyers for a Democratic Society issued a statement on March 3 denouncing the passage of the bill, stating it would file a constitutional appeal.

"Our stance is to have the anti-terrorism law scrapped," Kim Ji-mi, vice secretary-general of the group, told The Korea Times. "We will ask the Constitutional Court to review the law, and are currently are examining requirements."

The group said surveillance of citizens has been justified under the name of preventing terrorism.

"The greatest problem of the law is that there is no objective definition of key terms such as terror' or potential terrorists,' which means the scope with which the law can be applied is unlimited," Kim said.

"Now there are legal grounds for the NIS to collect personal information on citizens."

Because of the vague terms in the law, not just people involved in activities critical of the government but anyone could become subject to surveillance, civic groups say.

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) says the law may infringe on the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

"When people become upset, they should be able to relieve their anger by criticizing or cursing, but if someone was to say I am so mad I could burn down Cheong Wa Dae,' then he or she could become subject to police questioning," PSPD Secretary-General Park Kun-yong said.

"The fact that people have to live in a suffocating society, in which they cannot express their feelings and thoughts, causes actual harm, although invisible. This could be equivalent to or even greater than losing property or sustaining physical injury."

This has instilled a sense of discomfort and fear among citizens, prompting discussions to stop using Korea's most widely used mobile messenger KakaoTalk and migrate to foreign platforms. Rep. Lee Jong-kul of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) said Friday the counterterrorism law has resulted in a cyber migration of 400,000 users.

Nam, 23, a student at Korea University, said his friends have said on social media that they have joined Telegram, a Germany-based mobile messenger service.

"I was against the passage of the anti-terrorism bill," he said. "Because of the current administration's oppressive stance on anti-government activities, I believe the law can limit people's freedom of expression."
By Kim Bo-eun

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) said Monday it will audit the finances of Dulwich College Seoul, a foreign school based in southern Seoul, over alleged embezzlement.

The move follows the prosecution's indictment of school officials accused of embezzling billions of won.

The audit starts today.

Prosecutors indicted three board members of Dulwich College last week, on charges of embezzling 7.5 billion won through a paper company set up in Hong Kong.

"If we find irregularities, we'll take administrative measures according to relevant regulations," an SMOE official said.

The office said it would also conduct stricter on-site inspections of all foreign schools in the city and financial audits when necessary.
Lee Hae-chan Lee Mi-kyung



By Kim Hyo-jin

The main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) ruled out Rep. Lee Hae-chan, a former prime minister affiliated with the late President Roh Moo-hyun, from nominations to run in the April 13 general election, Monday.

The party's nomination committee announced that it has decided to select another candidate for Lee's constituency of Sejong. The decision immediately triggered a backlash from Lee's supporters in the party.

Some experts say the decision could deepen simmering tensions between incumbent leader Kim Jong-in and his predecessor Rep. Moon Jae-in, the de-facto leader of a pro-Roh faction in the party.

The committee designated three districts  Jung and Seongdong B, and Eunpyeong A in Seoul and Sejong Metropolitan Autonomous City  to put up candidates based on recommendations, excluding their current representatives, Chyung Ho-joon, Lee Mi-kyung and Lee Hae-chan.

Chyung is the son of Chyung Dae-cheol, a former senior advisor to the MPK who recently joined the minority opposition People's Party led by Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, and Lee Mi-kyung is of the pro-Roh faction.

The announcement came a few days after the committee excluded Rep. Jung Cheong-rae, another member of the pro-Roh faction.












By Yi Whan-woo





Oh Joon

South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Oh Joon warned Monday that North Korea will soon be able to deploy nuclear weapons.

"The latest test should be interpreted that North Korea's nuclear capability is very close to deployment after carrying out four nuclear tests," he said during a forum hosted by Kwanhun Club, an association of senior journalists, in downtown Seoul.

"Pyongyang's nuclear-related problems are at a threshold considering an urgent need for its non-nuclear proliferation.

"Under such circumstances, China and Russia were on the same page with the rest of United Nations Security Council members in approving the UNSCS's tougher-than-expected resolution against North Korea," he said. The resolution was approved on March 2.

Oh is one of 176 heads of South Korea's diplomatic missions from 161 countries, including 115 ambassadors and 44 consuls general who are temporarily back in Seoul for an annual meeting. The meeting began Monday for a five-day run.

Oh downplayed China's call to discuss peace talks aimed at ending the 1950-53 Korean War in line with North Korea's demands, in addition to dialogue on Pyongyang's denuclearization.

"It won't be appropriate to discuss them jointly," he said.





Korean diplomats gather in Seoul

Meanwhile, Oh and Korea's overseas missions joined the opening ceremony of the five-day gathering at the ministry in Doryeom-dong, downtown Seoul, Monday.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se called for "all-out efforts" to successfully implement the UNSC's latest and toughest sanctions on North Korea.

The participants attended a dinner hosted by President Park Geun-hye at Cheong Wa Dae following lectures from two senior presidential secretaries  Hyun Jung-taek of policy coordination and Kim Kyoo-hyun of foreign affairs.

On Tuesday, the Korean diplomats are scheduled to visit the truce village of Panmunjeom and then attend a round-table discussion on economic recovery in line with the foreign ministry's goals this year.

In an opening speech, Monday, Yun said that the government will put a priority on resolving North Korea's nuclear program and other weapons of mass destruction, adding "It will help settle all problems related to Pyongyang."

"As a result of our close coordination with the international community over two months, the UNSC adopted an unprecedentedly strong and effective sanctions resolution," he said.

"We should encourage the international community to ensure that the resolution is thoroughly implemented while ensuring pressure against North Korea will have synergy effect with support from our allies.

"By doing so, we can consequently change North Korean and bring it forward for the denuclearization talks," he added.

Yun also said that the diplomats should closely cope with rapid changes in the international economy in helping the South Korean economy to recover.

"I ask each one of 176 officials to take an active part in recovering exports, winning bids for overseas construction projects, countering restrictions on the import of South Korean products and helping young jobseekers to land a job abroad," he said.

Yun underscored that the government should better serve South Korean citizens abroad, be creative in its diplomacy concerning Northeast Asia, bolster the country's leadership globally and expanding Seoul's multilateral talks.

This year's gathering of heads of diplomatic missions abroad comes after the UNSC approved Resolution 2270 on March 2. It is aimed at expanding ban on international trade with North Korea in response to its latest nuclear test on Jan. 6 and long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7.

Seoul also imposed its independent sanctions last week in addition to the UNSC sanctions.

South Korea has diplomatic missions in 161 countries. They include a permanent mission to the U.N. headquarters in New York and to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.
The epicenter of the quake. / Courtesy of the Korea Administration of Meteorology



A 3.1-magnitude earthquake struck North Korea early Monday, South Korea's state weather agency said.

The quake was detected at 5:17 a.m. Monday in an area some 21km east of Songlim, North Hwanghae Province, which lies just north of the border. An official with the Korea Meteorological Administration said no major damage is expected.

The quake is not believed to be the result of a nuclear test as the affected area is away from the North's Punggye-ri underground nuclear test site in the country's northeast. (Yonhap)












Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill directing the State Department to prioritize efforts to help realize family reunions between Korean-Americans and their long-lost relatives in North Korea.



Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) brought the Divided Families Reunification Act (S. 2657) to the Senate on Wednesday, with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) co-sponsoring the legislation, according to congressional records and the office of Kirk.



The bill directs the State Department to prioritize discussions with members of the Korean-American community who still remain separated from their families in the North. It also calls for creating a regular dialogue mechanism between the State Department and Korean-American separated families.



"Time is running out for these reunifications to happen, and more families will have no knowledge of their loved ones' whereabouts," Kirk said in a statement. "We need to make sure that there is an official channel to assist in the reunification of Korean-Americans, including the 60,000 Korean-Americans in Illinois. This bipartisan bill gives a voice and hope to the thousands of families seeking reunification."



Warner said that the legislation will encourage the State Department to prioritize opening up family reunion opportunities to Korean-Americans by requiring discussions on the matter during bilateral negotiations with South Korea.



"These families have waited long enough," Warner said.



Millions of Koreans remain separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.



Since the first summit of their leaders in 2000, the rival Koreas have held 20 rounds of face-to-face family reunion events, including the latest one in late October. But these reunions did not involve Korean-Americans.



More than 100,000 Korean-Americans are believed to have loved ones in the North.

Last year, the two senators introduced a similar resolution calling for North Korea to permit reunions between Korean-Americans and their relatives in the North.



It also urged the State Department to prioritize efforts to help realize such reunions and called on South Korea to give Korean-Americans opportunities to participate in such reunion programs. (Yonhap)




Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se called on South Korean diplomats on Monday to devote all of their effort to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue following the adoption of new sanctions on the communist regime.



Yun made the call during an annual gathering of ambassadors and other heads of overseas missions, saying South Korea should lead the international community in enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270.



"As a result of our close coordination with the international community over two months, the Security Council adopted an unprecedentedly strong and effective sanctions resolution," he said at the session's opening at the ministry's headquarters in Seoul. "In order for the resolution to be strictly implemented, we must not become lax in its implementation and encourage the international community to follow it so that the pressure exerted on the North by our allies will create synergy."



Only then will the North be forced to change and come forward for "meaningful" talks on its denuclearization, Yun said.



The Security Council adopted the resolution earlier this month to punish the North for its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and a long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7. Among other measures, it calls for the mandatory inspection of all cargo going into and out of the North and a ban on the country's exports of coal and other mineral resources, which serve as a key source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime.



"More than ever before, we must carry out all-out diplomacy to resolve North Korea's nuclear and other issues," Yun said. (Yonhap)




North Korea on Monday belatedly called on the South Korean government to apologize and pay compensation for a boat collision that occurred last October.



North Korea had previously claimed that a South Korean vessel deliberately slammed into North Korean fishing boat Turubong-3 in the East Sea on Oct. 1, resulting in property damage and the injury of five North Koreans



In an article titled "Gangsters ignorant of human ethics and laws," the North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that "the Park Geun-hye clique should offer an apology for the crime committed against the North Korean boat and pay proper compensation for the damage."



The daily of the North's ruling Workers' Party claimed the puppet regime of the South has since evaded apology and compensation for the past months without feeling any sense of guilt, adding, "Any crime should be followed by due responsibility and punishment."



It also said that if the South tries to dodge responsibility, the eventual price for the crime will be higher and the punishment more severe.



"Moreover, what makes us more indignant is that the puppet regime of the South is insisting doggedly to justify the accident," it said. "It's like a shameless and brazen act of robbery in which we cannot find any bit of human conscience and duty from them."



According to the South Korean Coast Guard, it was later confirmed that the South Korean freighter "HIGHNY" left the scene after colliding with the North Korean fishing vessel.



According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct. 5, the South Korean vessel deliberately rammed into Turubong-3, a boat belonging to the Foreign Trade Administration Bureau of North Hamgyong Province when it was conducting a fishing operation, injuring five crewmen and damaging the boat before taking flight.



The KCNA added the incident was in violation of "the compulsory requirements of the United Nations Maritime Law, which calls for any ship which causes a crash in the open sea to help the other ship." (Yonhap)




Saudi otolaryngologist Yahya Dhafer Alahmari, third from left, observes his advisor Park Gyoung-ho, second from left, and other medical staff perform surgery in the operating room at St. Mary's Hospital in southern Seoul last week. Alahmari came to the hospital July last year for the clinical fellowship program.

/ Courtesy of St. Mary's Hospital





50 years after US medical aid, Korea shares health care expertise with others





By Kang Hyun-kyung

In the early days after his arrival in Seoul for the St. Mary's Hospital's clinical fellowship program, Yahya Dhafer Alahmari was struck by the homogeneity of the staff at local hospitals. The doctors, nurses and other medical staff at the hospital were all Koreans, a scene that was unfamiliar to the Saudi otolaryngologist. Alahmari said owing to the shortages of doctors and nurses at hospitals in his country of Saudi Arabia, the hospitals employ foreign doctors and other health professionals from all across the world to work side by side with their Saudi counterparts.

"The shortage of medical professionals is neither the consequence of Saudi students' reluctance to study medicine nor a reflection of bad working conditions for medical staff," he said. "In the past, there were only seven universities that had medical colleges in Saudi Arabia. But today, we have some 30 universities with medical colleges, thanks to governmental policy."

The other aspect of Korean hospitals that impressed the Saudi doctor was the systematic handling of patients, from admission to discharge. "There is a system in place everywhere in this country," he said.

Alahmari, 35, joined the St. Mary's Hospital's fellowship on July 1 near the end of the Muslims' fasting month, Ramadan. He said daytime fasting was somewhat challenging at that time because daylight hours in Korea are nearly two hours longer than in Saudi Arabia. "In Saudi Arabia, people enjoy shorter work hours during the Islamic fasting month, but here, I did not have that benefit, which made it more difficult for me to observe the month-long fast," he said.

However, Alahmari said he has had no major problems in adapting to the new environment in Korea. He said Korean hospitals provide a competitive environment for medical fellows because they have great research facilities and world-renowned faculty. In the past eight months, he has been training under Professor Park Gyoung-ho. During work hours, he researches his areas of interest and then observes his advisor and other medical staff perform surgery in the operating room.

Before joining the fellowship, Alahmari was head of the Otolaryngology Department at Orlhns Mohayle General Hospital, a 170-bed government-run hospital in the southern Saudi region.

He said Korean doctors are hard workers and always put their patients first. "In Saudi Arabia, doctors usually work eight hours a day, but here, Korean doctors work more than 10 hours (a day). They make themselves available to their patients even after work hours, which is impressive," he said.

The Saudi doctor is also amazed by Korean doctors' surgical skills. "The Korean doctors I've met at St. Mary's Hospital have great surgical skills," he said. "Learning surgical skills is one of the key reasons I chose to come to Korea and to this hospital for the one-year training program. So, I feel that I've achieved my original goal."

Approximately 40 Saudi doctors take part in medical training programs in five big hospitals in Korea, including St. Mary's Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center and Severance Hospital.

In 2013, the five hospitals and the Saudi government signed an agreement to allow Saudi doctors, with financial support from their government, to receive medical training in Korean hospitals. The first group of Saudi doctors came to Korea in 2014.

Korea and Saudi Arabia have been working closely in health care services since 2010. Against this backdrop, in 2013, the health ministers of the two countries signed the Medical System Twinning Project, a six-point agreement that enables Korean hospitals to export their expertise and know-how to Saudi Arabia. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the accord's name reflects the agreement for Korean hospitals to help their Saudi counterparts establish similarly excellent medical facilities in their country.



Minnesota Project

Industry insiders said the U.S. government-led Minnesota Project laid the groundwork for modern health care services in Korea after the war. Between 1955 and 1961, 226 Korean doctors were sent to the United States for three months to four years to receive advanced medical training. In addition, nearly 60 medical advisors from the University of Minnesota visited Korea to pass their expertise onto Korean hospitals. The U.S. medical experts' stays in Korea varied highly, from as short as 15 days to as long as seven years. Those who are familiar with the knowledge and technology transfer program said the Minnesota Project laid the groundwork for the Seoul National University Department of Medicine and its hospital.

After establishing an efficient health care system, the Korean government began to share what it learned from the United States with other countries struggling to meet the soaring demand for medical services. In Laos, Korea's version of the Minnesota Project is underway.

The Saudi government considers Korea an optimal partner in health care services because Korea built an advanced health care system within a relatively short time after the end of the Korean War in 1953.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, few countries have had as remarkable an expansion in health care coverage over the past three decades. "That Korea has achieved at modest costs relative to other OECD countries is all the more remarkable," the 2012 OECD Health Care Quality Review of Korea said.

Alahmari said Korean hospitals have competitive medical services and treatment and are some of the finest in the world. "In some areas, I even feel that Korean doctors are the world's best," he said.

He said Saudi patients are very familiar with medical services in Western countries and East Asia, including Korea, is a relatively new player.

"I have been here for several months in clinical training and know very well how systematically medical services are provided here," he said. "My uncle has a neck problem, and I advised him to get surgery here in Korea."

In the face of a rapidly increasing population and shortages in health care services, the Saudi government has embarked on an ambitious initiative to build dozens of hospitals and other medical facilities.

According to a Colliers International report, the Middle Eastern country's health care industry is behind those of many developed nations in health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product. Saudi Arabia has the lowest number of beds, nurses and doctors per population within the Gulf countries, it said. In addition, the average Saudi resident visits health care facilities only five times a year.

The shortages of doctors and medical facilities were some of the major policy problems identified by the Saudi health ministry. The Colliers International report said the migration of medical professionals to European countries is one reason behind the shortages of medical staff. In addition, according to experts, lifestyle-related diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, have sharply increased in the country, which causes a soaring demand for health care services.
The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has nominated late Korean-American war hero Kim Young-oak for this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom, his office said Thursday.



Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) sent a letter to President Barack Obama last month to nominate the late retired colonel, the office said. Kim, a son of a Korean independence fighter, was the first minority officer to command an Army combat battalion in American history.



"Colonel Kim served with exceptional valor in the European theater during the Second World War," Royce said in the letter. "During the Korean War, Mr. Kim was the first Asian-American to command a regular U.S. combat battalion, leading forces which pushed the enemy back from the thirty-eighth parallel."



After retirement from the military, Kim dedicated the remainder of his life to serving the people in his community, founding numerous nonprofit organizations to aid fellow Korean-Americans in Los Angeles, the lawmaker said.



"Colonel Kim's honorable service has received the highest recognition worldwide, and it would be appropriate to bestow such added recognition here in the United States. I request your full and thorough consideration of awarding Colonel Young Oak the Presidential Medal of Honor," he said. (Yonhap)




By Jeffrey I. Kim

People living in today's world depend on elevators. Elevators are installed in residential buildings as well as commercial buildings. Some apartment buildings are as high as business buildings. The elevators in high-rise buildings require higher safety standards.

When riding in elevators, passengers sometimes worry about it crashing. They may remember an action movie where the good guy gets in an elevator, but the bad guy has damaged the cables and the elevator falls down to the bottom at speed.

However, the probability of an elevator crash is fairly low because of technological advancements. Multiple safety features are built into elevator-operating systems. Elisha Graves Otis invented a revolutionary safety break in 1852. Since then elevator technology has constantly been developing to increase the level of passenger safety. If an elevator's hoisting rope breaks, a mechanical braking system kicks in with racks at the sides of the elevator shaft and it stops the elevator car from sliding down.

All elevators have between four and eight cables. Each cable is made from several lengths of steel material wound around one another and inspectors regularly check them for wear and tear. If one cable snapped, the remaining cables would hold the elevator car up. Even if several steel ropes broke and if the pawls do not work with the racks at the elevator shaft, the elevator car would not plummet to the ground. This is because the falling elevator car would compress the air at the bottom of the shaft and slow down the elevator significantly. In addition, most cable elevators have a built-in shock absorber at the bottom of the shaft and this would cushion the impact thereby saving passengers from fatal injuries.

There is another critical safety feature, called a counterweight. The counterweight hangs on the other end of the elevator ropes. It weighs about the same as the car filled to 40 percent capacity. This means that when the car is 40 percent full, the counterweight and the car are perfectly balanced. When the elevator descends, the counterweight is pulled up. So the falling car slows down.

Nevertheless, passengers locked in a dark and suspended elevator will suffer until they are saved. Deadly elevator accidents occur not because of the breaking of the steel ropes but because of the carelessness of passengers. Leaning against elevator doors by passengers and rough playing by children inside, can cause passengers to fall out of the elevator, thus falling down to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

There are internationally renowned elevator companies that do business in Korea and they complain about the inappropriate laws and rules governing the business of providing maintenance service for residence elevators. They are governed by both the Elevator Facilities Safety Management Act of the Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS) and the Housing Management Act of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT).

On Feb. 18, the Office of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman organized a foreign investors meeting where the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy directly heard their grievances. One notable grievance was that the residence elevator laws are too restrictive. The MLIT tries to keep elevator maintenance costs at an unreasonably low level whereas the MPSS regulates the technical requirements to ensure public safety. As a result, foreign elevator companies face limited market access and they feel sorry to observe the government trying to lower elevator-operating costs at the expense of safety.

In reforming the residence-elevator-related laws, I suggest the government authorities take heed of the following: (1) The MLIT's price control will not work; (2) the maintenance-service market for high-tech elevators and the market for low-tech elevators would be considered two separated markets. Then this will make both the high-tech and low-tech companies coexist in the elevator maintenance service market; (3) the MPSS may set two minimum safety standards for the two markets; (4) the government authorities should take into account that as people's wealth increases, they want to upgrade their safety level of elevators; and (5) the government should publicize the information of the elevator maintenance costs and the level of elevator safety.

Jeffrey I. Kim is a foreign investment ombudsman, a presidentially appointed troubleshooter for investors and entrepreneurs from overseas. He earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Sungkyunkwan University.
Kim Ki-tae

By Kim Jae-won

In the past, becoming a lawyer in the U.S. was a distant dream for ordinary Korean students and employees. Not only did it require excellent intellectual ability but adequate financial resources to attend a law school in the U.S.

But, Kim Ki-tae, a lawyer in New York State, says Koreans can pass the U.S. bar exam without going to a law school there. He is advertizing that Koreans can obtain a law license in the U.S by attending his private academy in southern Seoul and following his recommendations.

"The easiest way is to apply for the bar exam is to go to Palau which has a legal system similar to that of the U.S. And then take the bar exam in California, which allows those with a license to practice law in Palau to take the test," said Kim in an interview with The Korea Times.

He said anyone with a bachelor's degree of law can apply for the bar exam in Palau, and the test is not as difficult as people think. Palau is an island country in the western Pacific Ocean that gained independence from the U.S. in 1994.

"The Palau test is similar to that of Washington D.C. test. The exam consists of 200 multiple choice questions. You can pass the test if you get at least 66.5 percent of answers right," said Kim.

He said that people with common sense can answer those questions properly because they are not so difficult to solve.

Kim said that applicants to the U.S. bar also can try non-degree programs jointly run by U.S. law schools and local colleges. He said Hallym University of Graduate Studies offers a UConn Summer program in cooperation with the University of Connecticut in which professors from the U.S. law school lecture from May to August.

Those with a bachelor of law degree can apply for the Washington D.C. bar exam after completing 26 credits from the program. But in this case, students should pay $20,800 for the tuition with $800 per credit.

Kim also introduced a dual-degree program co-hosted by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Northwestern Law School. He said it is a good program because students can get a master's degree in intellectual property law from KAIST and a master of laws degree (LLM) from Northwestern, but this costs about 100 million won.

He said employees in Korea's big conglomerates, including Samsung, are seeking to gain U.S. law licenses because it gives them many advantages in their workplaces. "You should try it too because it is not as difficult as you might imagine."
By Kim Yoo-chul



The local artificial intelligence (AI) industry will get a boost from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) soon.



"MSIP is mapping out details about how to support local companies, helping them create ecosystems and win patents," said an MSIP official, Monday, adding that the ministry will announce more definite plans in April.



Minister Choi Yang-hee of MSIP will report the ministry's plan of action to President Park Geun-hye next month.



Officials say the plan may include cutting regulatory hurdles, creating a new IT ecosystem, developing intellectual property and offering financial packages to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).



Two weeks ago, MSIP introduced its five-member AI Team, under the authority of its information policy bureau.



Minister Choi visited research centers at Samsung and LG Electronics in Seoul, Sunday afternoon, after South Korean go grandmaster Lee Se-dol defeated the Google-owned self-taught AI AlphaGo in a Man-vs-Machine faceoff on the ultimate board game.



Shin Jong-kyun, one of three co-CEOs at Samsung Electronics, discussed Samsung's progress in AI.



The minister urged LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer Ahn Seung-kwon to push for AI development. Ahn vowed that LG will be quick to respond to the government's requests.



Korea is a late entrant in the AI market.



The United States announced its multi-billion dollar project _ Brain Initiative _ in April 2013, while the EU has been pushing forward its Human Brain Project since January 2013 and will be investing 1 billion euros in the project over the next decade.



Neighboring Japan and China are also teaming up with private institutes and companies to sharpen AI-related technologies and develop new business models using AI.



The AI market is estimated to grow from $419 million in 2015 to $5.05 billion by 2020. This growth could be attributed to factors such as diversified applications, improved productivity and increased customer satisfaction, according to market research firms.



Machine learning technology for use in medicine and education is expected to gain traction soon.



The Asia-Pacific region is expected to mark the highest AI growth in the world between 2015 and 2020.



The rapid adoption of machine learning technology in the media, finance and retail sectors and increasing usage of natural language processing (NLP) technology are contributing to the AI market's growth in the region, market research firms report.




The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

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PRESS RELEASE

Europes Mars Orbiter and First Lander Poised for Take-Off

March 12, 2016 (EIRNS)The first of two ambitious robotic Mars missions, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), is scheduled for launch on Monday morning, March 14. The Russian Proton rocket will send ESAs ExoMars 2016 spacecraft on its way from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on a mission to make precise measurements from orbit of Mars atmosphere, and test technology for entry into and then descent through the atmosphere, and landing on the surface. The lander is a demonstration mission, in preparation for a future rover on the red planet. The mission is composed of the Trace Gas Orbiter, and the Schiaparelli lander. If Mondays launch has to be postponed, launch is possible until March 25. Although Europe was the first space agency to orbit Mars successfully on the first try, in 2003, its small Beagle II lander fell silent after landing.

The mission is a joint ESA/ASI/Russian mission and will be directed by the Turin control room of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), which is the main financier with 500 million of the total 1.3 billion cost. Italys Thales Alenia Spazio company is the prime contractor and has coordinated 200 European firms which participated to the mission. The landing module, named "Schiaparelli" after the scientist who discovered the so-called "canals" of Mars, has been entirely built by ASI.

To test it in a hostile environment such as the one on Mars, Schiaparellis creator Dr. Francesca Esposito has organized three missions in the Sahara. "When we land on Mars," Dr. Esposito explained,

"we will be fully in the sand storm season. We know that in those conditions, the atmosphere is charged with electricity and generates many lightning strikes. We chose similar storms in the Sahara to understand what we could be facing."

A handful of spacecraft have been collecting measurements of the composition of Mars atmosphere for many years. The Trace Gas Orbiter, however, will do that with instruments that are 1,000 times more sensitive than those previously deployed. Traces of gases, in the parts per trillion, will be detectable.

The most anticipated of all the data the Trace Gas Orbiter will collect, would be the detection of methane. Even if it is mixed with sulfur dioxide, scientists point out, and volcanic activity, not life, is then the most likely source, that would be important in itself, indicating that Mars is still internally active. Water ice will be mapped down to a meter below the surface.

The 1,300-pound Schiaparelli lander, which will be the first craft to touch down during a dust storm, has a tiny meteorological station, and will make the first measurements of the planets electrical field. Three days before reaching Mars, the lander will break away from the orbiter, and head for the surface. Schiaparelli is equipped with three scientific experiments, to measure heat during its trip through the atmosphere, a descent camera, and the Dust characterisation, Risk assessment and Environment Analyser on Martian Surface (DREAMS), instrument, to carry out meteorological measurements.

Europes ExoMars 2016 mission has had a long and winding history. After NASA pulled out of the mission, due to planetary science budget cutbacks in 2012, the European Space Agency was able to engage Russia to provide the launch vehicles for the upcoming mission, and for the ambitious follow-on rover mission. For ESA, this saved their Mars program. For Russia, it was an opportunity to participate in a mission to a planet where they have not had success, despite many tries. But considering the world political situation, the joint missions also have an added significance.

Oleg Korablev, of Russias Space Research Institute, who is a principal investigator for the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on ESAs Trace Gas Orbiter, was quoted by Nature as saying, "The launch is crucial because its symbolic. Its psychologically very important." ESA ExoMars project scientist Jorge Vago added,
The pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante has captivated readers around the world with her bestselling Neapolitan Novels, a four-book series that explores the friendship of two women from Naples.

But who is she?

Ferrantes series -- My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child -- has hit bestseller lists in Europe and the U.S., but the author has refused to reveal her (or his) true identity.

Readers and scholars have been trying to determine who Ferrante is for years now. An Italian professor, Marco Santagata, is the latest academic to claim hes solved the mystery. According to Santagata, Ferrante is actually Marcella Marmo, a history professor at the University of Naples Federico II, the Guardian reports.

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But Marmo, an author whose books include The Knife and the Market: The Camorra Before and After the Unification of Italy, denies that shes the writer of the acclaimed Neapolitan Novels.

Truly, no, I am not Elena Ferrante, Marmo told an Italian newspaper. She says shes read only the first novel in the series.

Santagata says he reached his conclusion by studying yearbooks of a Pisa school from the 1960s. Marcella Marmo corresponds to my identikit, he said.

Edizioni E/O, Ferrantes Italian publisher, also denied that Marmo and Ferrante are one and the same. We deny that Elena Ferrante is Marcella Marmo and we hope to go back to talking about the book and not the identity of the author, the press said in a statement.

Marmo emailed Slate a link to a news story in which she denies being Ferrante. Notoriety has no upside. Its never pleasant. Thank you to everyone who thought that I could be a happy bestseller writer, but as Ive already tried in vain to say in recent days, I am not Elena Ferrante, she said.

Marmo continued: Despite having left no possibility for doubt, the story that I am behind Ferrantes identity continues to circulate. I politely ask the press to put away the mystery stories and leave me to my work in history.

The historian had a suggestion of her own, saying she thought Ferrante could be Silvio Perrella, a male Neapolitan writer and literary critic. Asked to comment by an Italian newspaper, Perrella declined.

Marmos denial is unlikely to stop the speculation over Ferrantes real identity, although the historian told the New York Times that identity is, after all, a complicated issue.

"[O]ne always has more than one identity, Marmo said. Im Neapolitan, Italian, a woman, a professor, a European and also a citizen of the world.
The copyright history of Harper Lee's classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" long ago crossed into the byzantine realm. But the latest development in the saga points to how copyright law has been perverted to serve the wrong people.

In 2013 the author of "Mockingbird," Harper Lee, sued her literary agent, alleging that he had taken advantage of her infirmities in 2007 to "dupe" her into assigning him the rights to the 1960 book. (She had suffered a stroke and was recovering in an assisted living facility.) She regained the rights in a 2012 arbitration, but he was still pocketing royalties, her lawyers claimed.

The disappearance of the iconic mass-market edition is very disappointing to us, especially as we understand this could force a difficult situation for schools and teachers with tight budgets.  Notice sent by Hachette, publisher of an inexpensive edition of "To Kill a Mockinbird," to booksellers

That lawsuit was settled out of court in 2013, only to be followed by the strange saga of "Go Set a Watchman," Lee's only other published work, issued last year. All sorts of questions swirled around "Watchman." Had it been the first draft of "Mockingbird"? A "sequel"? Did Lee--by then said to be isolated by age and the passing of her older sister/lawyer/buffer against the outside world, Alice--really want the book published? Doubts were cast upon the narrative of the manuscript's discovery, supposedly a chance finding by Tonja Carter, Alice Lee's successor as Harper Lee's lawyer, who also controlled access to Lee herself.

The latest chapter in the saga has just been written. Following the author's death at the age of 89 on Feb. 19, the Harper Lee estate has eliminated the mass-market edition of "To Kill a Mockingbird." List-priced at $8.99 by its publisher Hachette Book Group (but available for as little as five dollars and change), this is the edition through which a couple of generations of schoolchildren first encountered the book in class--and often encountered the joys of reading for the first time.

According to a March 4 notice issued by Hachette to booksellers and reported by the New Republic, permission for the mass-market edition has been withdrawn by the novel's publisher, HarperCollins. (HarperCollins also brought out "Go Set a Watchman.") Hachette can sell off its remaining copies, which it's doing at a further discount, but henceforth "Mockingbird" will be available chiefly in a HarperCollins trade paperback edition, which lists for $14.99.

The burden will fall on school districts that traditionally laid in a large volume of mass-market books for their pupils. Hachette says that more than two-thirds of the 30 million copies sold worldwide since publication have been its low-priced edition. Hachette told bookstores, according to the New Republic: "The disappearance of the iconic mass-market edition is very disappointing to us, especially as we understand this could force a difficult situation for schools and teachers with tight budgets who cannot afford the larger, higher priced paperback edition that will remain in the market."

The real problem this development points to is with copyright law, which has been getting consistently rewritten in the United States and other countries to extend the length of authors' rights to the point where their heirs, and heirs of heirs, are the chief beneficiaries of the copyright. But that's only superficially. The real beneficiaries are corporations, which continue to profit from successful works of art for decades after their creators have passed on. Corporations such as HarperCollins.

The concept of copyright is vested in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, which gives Congress the power "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." In other words, its purpose is not primarily to ensure unending profits for creators and their descendants, but to promote the spread of knowledge. Creators are ensured enough compensation to give them an incentive to create and keep them whole while doing so, but that's a means to an end. (Full disclosure: I'm the copyright holder on seven published books.)

----------

Related:

The squabble over Anne Frank's diary shows the absurdity of copyright law

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Over the years the original concept has been turned on its head. The original Copyright Act of 1790 granted a term of 14 years, renewable for another 14 years if the author was still alive. In 1831 the term was lengthened to 28 years plus a 14-year renewal by the author or his or her immediate survivors; subsequently the renewal term was extended to 28 years.

Then came the Walt Disney Co. Fretting that the copyright on Mickey Mouse was facing expiration in 1984, it lobbied hard for a revision. Congress responded in 1976 by extending the term to the creator's life plus 50 years. Other provisions extended Mickey's copyright to 2003. The law retroactively extended the maximum term of previous copyrights from 56 years to 75, which would make the copyright on "Mockingbird" effective until 2035.

That still wasn't enough for corporate rights holders, so we got the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (Bono of "Sonny & Cher" was by then deceased, but had championed the extension as a U.S. congressman). The Bono Act created a copyright term of life plus 70 years; for corporate works, the term is 95 years from the year of first publication; Mickey Mouse, who first appeared in the short "Steamboat Willie" in 1928, is protected until 2023.

Yet as we can see from the extinction of the mass-market paperback of "Mockingbird," such extensions stifle the dissemination of creative works rather than encourage it. The squabble over the copyright to Anne Frank's diaries, which we reported on here, also illustrates how the grip of copyright law leaves the control of creative works in the hands of people who may not share the desires of the works' creators. Harper Lee has passed on, Anne Frank is long gone, and Walt Disney is represented in the marketplace by a corporation that is hopelessly far removed from his artistic and even his business creation.

They all live on in their creative works, yet now, weeks or decades after their deaths, their direct interest in the life arcs of their creations obviously is gone with them. How much longer should those creations be locked behind the walls of copyright law?

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

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Chinese investment in U.S. trophy properties is soaring, and Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group is providing some of the biggest fireworks.

A consortium led by the insurer has made an unsolicited bid for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., according to a statement Monday from Marriott International Inc., which is in the process of acquiring Starwood. Earlier, Anbang was reported to be offering $6.5 billion for hotels that include the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego.

RELATED: $14-billion bid for Starwood hotels puts Chinese firm Anbang in spotlight >>

Until a few years ago, Anbang was largely unknown in the U.S. Read on to find out more.

Anbang is very wealthy

Anbang, pronounced ahn-bahn, got its start in 2004 with $75 million and a single branch in Beijing. Since then, it has steadily increased in value. By 2009, the company had assets of $5.1 billion. Today it is one of the largest insurance groups in China, with $250 billion in assets, 30,000 employees and more than 35 million clients.

Its early investors were Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., Chinese oil and gas company Sinopec and other large state-owned enterprises.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

It is well connected

Some have attributed the company's success to its strong political ties. Chinese media have attempted to publish reports on what power players are involved with Anbang, but some of those reports were taken offline shortly after being posted.

An investigation by the publication Southern Weekend found that those involved included Zhuo Ran, the granddaughter of Chinas former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping; Zhu Yunlai, son of former premier Zhu Rongji; and Chen Xiaolu, son of Communist Party revolutionary military commander Chen Yi.

It is part of a larger wave of interest in U.S. properties

As China's economy slows, Chinese companies are looking to diversify their assets outside their home market. Even the government has encouraged companies to "go out." U.S. real estate is an especially attractive target since Chinas economy was once driven by real estate and the topic is one companies know well, said William Yu, an economist with the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Investments in the U.S. are also seen as more stable, as some fear that Chinese currency could depreciate, he said.

If they invest in dollar assets, and if dollar assets appreciated, they would have additional gain on overseas investment, Yu said.

Anbang likes to make a splash

Anbang first burst on the U.S. hospitality scene in 2014, when it bought the New York Waldorf-Astoria hotel for $1.95 billion, the second-largest Chinese acquisition of a U.S. hotel on record.

The company will reportedly pay $6.5 billion to buy Strategic Hotels and Resorts, a portfolio of 16 luxury hotels owned by New York private equity firm Blackstone Group. Its hotels include four Southern California properties: the Hotel del Coronado, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, the Montage Laguna Beach and the Loews Santa Monica Beach. Blackstone had just completed its own acquisition of the portfolio in December.

It will have to fight for Starwood

Starwood is in the midst of an acquisition by Marriott, a move that would create the world's largest hotel company. The Marriott deal was valued at about $12.2 billion. The acquisition was announced in November, and shareholders from both companies are set to vote on the plan in two weeks.

The consortium led by Anbang has offered $76 in cash per Starwood share, as well as Interval Leisure Group Inc. common stock valued at about $5.50 per Starwood share.

Starwood said its board has not changed its recommendation to support the Marriott deal, but that it would carefully consider the outcome of discussions with the consortium. Starwood said it got a waiver from Marriott to speak with the consortium about the proposal. The waiver expires on Thursday.

Wes Golladay, a research analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said Anbang has a legitimate chance at buying Starwood because of the high premium its willing to pay.

Theyve already demonstrated the ability to close a large transaction, he said, referring to Anbangs Waldorf-Astoria purchase. I think its definitely going to be looked at very carefully.

But he said the Marriott deal comes with less risk since it is already far along in the regulatory process.

Yingzhi Yang and Nicole Liu in The Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

For more business news, follow @smasunaga.

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Lloyd Shapley dies at 92; UCLA professor won Nobel for game-theory work

Why 'dynamic' pricing based on real-time supply and demand is rapidly spreading
Lloyd S. Shapley, a researcher of strategic decision-making called game theory who shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in economics, has died. He was 92.

Rand Corp., where Shapley worked as a research mathematician for decades, said he died Saturday in Tucson. His health had declined after he broke a hip several weeks ago.

Shapley was 89 and professor emeritus at UCLA when he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work half a century earlier that analyzed match-making in markets.

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He shared the prize with Alvin Roth, who teaches economics at Harvard and Stanford.

Shapley came up with formulas to match supply and demand in markets where prices dont do the job; Roth put Shapleys math to work in the real world.

For example, students have to be matched with schools, and donors of human organs with patients in need of a transplant, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. How can such matching be accomplished as efficiently as possible? What methods are beneficial to what groups?

The academy said the two prize winners work sparked a flourishing field of research and helped improve the performance of many markets.

I consider myself a mathematician, and the award is for economics, Shapley said after learning of the honor. I never, never in my life took a course in economics.

The son of renowned astronomer Harlow Shapley, who helped estimate the size of the Milky Way galaxy, Shapley noted: Now, Im ahead of my father. He got other prizes. But he did not get a Nobel Prize.

Shapleys work remains the subject of discussion in academic circles, according to Rand. A conference was convened in 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss the Shapley Value, a concept he developed in 1953 that provides a method for uniquely valuing the contribution of each individual to a group where the value of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Born in Cambridge, Mass., Shapley was studying at Harvard when he was drafted into the military in 1943. While serving in the Army Air Forces in China, Shapley received the Bronze Star for breaking a Soviet weather code.

After the war, Shapley returned to Harvard, graduating with a bachelors degree in mathematics in 1948. He left to attend Princeton University, where he completed his doctorate in 1953. The following year, he embarked on what would be a 27-year career as a research mathematician at Rand.

He left in 1981 to join the faculty of UCLA as a professor of economics and mathematics.

That year, Shapley received the John von Neumann Theory Prize, awarded to those who make seminal contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.

Shapley is survived by two sons, Peter and Christopher, and their families.

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Joe Aguilar, who as chief creative officer of Oriental DreamWorks shepherded the Shanghai-based portion of production on Kung Fu Panda 3, is jumping ship to become chief executive of a new animation subsidiary of the Chinese studio Huayi Bros.

In an announcement Monday, Huayi said the new subsidiary would be staffed by a core team of industry professionals with experience in Hollywood. Markus Manninen, another DreamWorks Animation vet, will serve as artistic director of the new entity, which will be based in Shanghai.

Kung Fu Panda 3 recently became the highest-grossing animated film in Chinese history, having taken in $152.1 million since its late January release on the mainland.

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The film was jointly produced between DreamWorks Animation in Glendale and Oriental DreamWorks, a $330-million joint venture established in 2012 with China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and other Chinese investors. Oriental DreamWorks has yet to announce its next major project.

In a statement released by Huayi on Monday, Aguilar said the Chinese animation market has great potential but the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Filmmakers, he said, should take advantage of the wealth of content in Chinese pop culture while at the same time striving to internationalize their expression to make Chinese films more popular internationally.

Aguilar said he already had two projects in mind, one a pure animation comedy and the other a live-action/computer-animated comedy.

The hiring of Aguilar and Manninen follows another big personnel move by Huayi. The company recently named Jerry Ye, former vice president of Dalian Wandas culture division, as the chief executive of Huayi Bros. Pictures.

Aguilar has a long history in Hollywood with DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox, having worked on films including Madagascar 3, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Croods and Puss in Boots. Before coming to China, he helped DreamWorks Animation set up its India operations.

Swedish-born Manninen joined DreamWorks Animation in 2003, serving as visual effects supervisor on films including Kung Fu Panda and The Croods.

In an interview last summer at Oriental DreamWorks Shanghai offices, Aguilar said moving to China was like starting almost a new life.

I had to really learn the business all over again, he said. I felt invigorated in a way I didnt expect.

Follow @JulieMakLAT for news from China
Richard Simmons is alive and well and not being controlled by his longtime housekeeper or anyone else, the fitness guru said in an interview that aired Monday. The interview was in response to reports that Simmons, who has disappeared from public view in recent years, was being held against his will.

"No one is holding me in my house as a hostage; I do what I want to do as I've always done," the 67-year-old said. "So people should just believe what I have to say, because, like, I'm Richard Simmons."

He was Richard Simmons talking Monday by phone to the "Today" show, so while it's proof of life, it's not exactly 100% proof of life outside his home  but for now it'll have to do.

"All the people that are worrying about me, I want to tell them that I love them with my whole heart and soul, and not to worry, Richard's fine," he said. "You haven't seen the last of me. I'll come back and I'll come back strong."

Simmons' situation has been a matter of speculation for a while now after reports that friends and colleagues hadn't heard from him by phone or email for at least two years. Interest was heightened by a New York Daily News story on Saturday that opened with an anecdote from former assistant Mauro Oliviera, who said his former boss intentionally axed him out of his life in April 2014, saying, "I just want to be by myself, and I want to be in the house, and we're never going to see each other again."

Simmons told Savannah Guthrie something along those lines (minus the last part) in the "Today" chat, explaining that he's been hanging around home, taking walks and drives and working out in his home gym. He didn't want to be traveling anymore, he said; he'd had problems first with one knee and then the other. He'd taught "thousands and thousands" of classes, he said, and "it certainly has taken its toll on me."

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>

The "Sweatin' With the Oldies" guru also didn't touch on other allegations made by Oliviera  and firmly denied to the Daily News by Simmons' manager, Michael Catalano  that he is depressed "and being controlled by the very people that he controlled his whole life ... His brother, the manager and Teresa."

That'd be Teresa Reveles, Simmons' longtime housekeeper, who Oliviera said chased him out of the fitness star's home after that last visit and later, through her boss, threatened a restraining order, albeit one that never manifested itself.

"That's just very silly," Simmons told "Today" about the notion that his housekeeper was controlling his life. "Teresa Reveles has been with me for 30 years. It's almost like we're a married couple."

In late 2014, TMZ had a source saying that Simmons was depressed and fearful ahead of major knee surgery and after the death of his dog. The outlet said Simmons' friends hadn't heard from him since May of that year, that he'd ignored the death of a good friend's mom and skipped the funeral of pal Joan Rivers, and hadn't been seen at his fitness studio.

Oliviera had his own explanation for what he saw as Simmons' "tormented" mental state: I think it was [caused by] black magic, witchcraft. Thats not close to your culture, but to my culture in Brazil, and to Mexicans  Teresa Reveles is from Mexico  that is a real thing. They invoke the spirits. They light black candles, and red and blue candles. Ive never participated. I only saw from a distance. But at services, they do special meals. They offer meals to the bad spirits, and light candles, invoking with words.

OK, so, the "Today" interview went nowhere near those allegations, but the notion that Simmons might be depressed wasn't exactly dismissed.

"Survival has always meant a lot when you're an overweight kid and you've been made fun of and you're put down. Some of that stuff never leaves you, Savannah. It always sort of is like a shadow," Simmons said on Monday.

"Like Peter Pan."

Follow Christie D'Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ. Follow the Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.

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The directing debut for screenwriter Julia Hart, Miss Stevens -- which is anchored by an emotionally detailed lead performance by Lily Rabe -- is about the moment you realize you are the grown-up in the room.

Miss Stevens premiered as part of the narrative competition at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Rabe plays Rachel Stevens, a high school English teacher who is somewhat adrift in her own life. Without anything better to do, she agrees to take three students (Timothee Chalamet, Lili Reinhart and Anthony Quintal) on a short trip to a drama competition. It becomes something of a journey of personal reconciliation for Stevens, who must also weather the crises big and small of her young charges.

Before launching herself as a screenwriter, Hart was herself a schoolteacher in New York City for eight years. Her first produced screenplay was The Keeping Room, a Civil War-era drama that first premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival starring Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld and Muna Otaru and directed by Daniel Barber.

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The scripts for The Keeping Room and Miss Stevens were initially making the rounds to potential talent and backers at about the same time. Hart now sees how even she, at the time, was somewhat overlooking the potential of Miss Stevens.

Its funny because it was always kind of the underdog script, Hart said in an interview in Los Angeles just ahead of SXSW. It was always a more quote-unquote traditional narrative indie film, but we continued to be surprised in the process of making it and getting it out into the world. It is a lot more special than we had given it credit for.

Maybe its because I was a teacher, I felt the story of a teacher wasnt as exciting or interesting as one about three women defending themselves against rogue soldiers during the Civil War.

For a time, Miss Stevens was intended as a directorial vehicle for someone else, but the process of seeing The Keeping Room through production changed Harts thinking.

While I was watching someone else telling my story, I realized that I actually had the desire to tell my own stories, Hart said, which was something I definitely didnt know before that happened. ... It just really made me want to direct the next script myself.

Rabe is well known on the New York theater scene, earning a Tony nomination for The Merchant of Venice, and has had recurring appearances on TVs American Horror Story, on which she recently played serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Yet she has never before quite found a breakthrough film role.

Rabe attended Northwestern a few years behind Jordan Horowitz, the producer and co-writer of Miss Stevens. (Hart and Horowitz are also married and have an infant son.) Horowitz initially sent Rabe the Keeping Room script and then followed that up later by showing her Miss Stevens.

She just made so much sense to me, this character, Rabe said. I think that shes the protagonist of the story, its her story, but youre not being told how youre supposed to feel about the woman. Youre just being invited into this situation and into that womans heart and brain and story. As opposed to making a statement about what kind of woman she is or what kind of woman it is best to be.

You could say theres mess there, but what else is there? Rabe added. I felt she was so fully drawn, without any kind of apologizing.

The movie is dedicated to Rabes mother, the late actress Jill Clayburgh. It is noteworthy how Miss Stevens, in particular the title character and Rabes performance, sits directly in the lineage of some of Clayburghs best known roles in films, such An Unmarried Woman. Those were films about the very specific and contemporary struggles of women in their time, just as Miss Stevens has a lot to say about how women navigate the expectations and reality of the world today.

In a lot of ways, the movie is about two things for me, said Hart. Its about performance and the power of art to get you through the tough stuff, but its also about growing up and letting go.

Hart acknowledged the importance of Rabes casting to the project -- when this one came along, Hart playfully said alongside Rabe during a Q&A after Saturdays world premiere in Austin -- and how the script was then tailored for her.

I look back at the original script and it wasnt really about anything until Lily came on-board, Hart said. Then it became about something.

Twitter: @IndieFocus
There are plenty of ways in which the South by Southwest Film Festival has grown in scale over the years. But it is still the kind of event where one might run into a filmmaker such as Ti West on an Austin, Texas, street corner the night before the world premiere of his much-anticipated western, In a Valley of Violence.

And he will stop to chat for the cycle of a couple street lights, professing his seemingly genuine enthusiasm for the new film and how excited he is for people to see the performances by Ethan Hawke and John Travolta.

FULL COVERAGE: SXSW 2016

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All of which was born out Saturday night when West first revealed Valley, a movie that alternates between a grim seriousness and rollicking abandon. Think of it as intense fun.

Set sometime shortly after the end of the Civil War, Valley casts Hawke as Paul, a man trying to make his way down to Mexico with his dog. In a small town set in a remote valley, Paul runs afoul of the local sheriff (Travolta) and his hotheaded son/deputy (James Ransone). Even as he tries to get away from the town, Paul finds himself drawn back. The supporting cast includes Karen Gillan and Taissa Farmiga as sisters who run the local hotel.

After the premiere screening, West took the stage at the Stateside Theatre with Hawke, producer Jason Blum and supporting actors Larry Fessenden, Toby Huss and Tommy Nohilly along with a few other members of the crew.

This is the fourth world premiere West has had at SXSW going back to his debut in 2005 with The Roost. West made his name directing horror films such as The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers and so the first question inevitably had to do with why West decided to make a western.

I just felt like it was time to try something else, West said. You make a series of movies in a row and you want to try something different.

He added that his previous movie, 2013s The Sacrament, was steeped in an attempt at realism, and that in response he felt, As a filmmaker I wanted to make something that was quintessential traditional cinema, and for me, especially for American cinema, that is a western. As a filmmaker its a dream to make a western. So I thought, lets give it a shot.

Theres a little horror in there, interjected Blum. A smidge.

The film, from its title design to Jeff Graces evocative score, seems to have been influenced by the Italian westerns of Sergio Leone. Responding to a question about the effect of so-called spaghetti westerns on his own film, West said, Theres a sort of absurdist nature to them and that to me is whats fun about cinema, is when its not always about reality, its about heightened reality. And those movies go way out with that. And thats certainly baked in to some degree.

Inevitably, a question came up about the dog in the film. (Its pretty incredible.) Hawke noted that the dog was trained by the same person who handled Uggie, the dog from the Oscar-winning The Artist.

The dog was a huge fan of White Fang and had seen a lot of my earlier work, Hawke joked, noting the 1991 adaptation of the classic Jack London story he had appeared in, while also referring to his co-star as an elite animal performer.

Hawke went on to say that he likes working with animals because they dont know youre acting. So if they sense youre acting, they get all freaked out and wont act because you seem weird, right? So I always think it would be the greatest acting tutorial, would be to take young people and have them work with animals.

Jack Lemmon, who I worked with when I was younger [in 1989s Dad], said it was like working with Marilyn Monroe, Hawke continued. They were always going to use the take that Marilyn was good in, never the take that you were, so you had to be good all the time. So thats what its like working with a dog.

Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus
To her family, Ada Caso is known as la comunista  the communist. And in a Cuban American family, thats as bad as it gets. Though the label is mostly tongue-in-cheek, her liberal political bent makes her an outlier in her mostly conservative family.

Ive always been the black sheep in my family, she said.

Caso, 53, of Long Beach favors Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist. Most of her family members back Marco Rubio. Some may vote for Donald Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee.

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This year, immigration is particularly personal for some members of the Caso family and the Cuban American community, especially since two Cuban American presidential candidates  Rubio and Ted Cruz  have tried to outdo each other by taking an increasingly harder line on immigration.

Rubio, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. before Fidel Castro took power in 1959, has told reporters that hes open to curtailing the wet foot, dry foot policy, although he hasnt given specifics. Cruz, whose father also immigrated before Castro, favors leaving the policy unchanged.

That policy, authorized under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, allows Cubans who set foot on U.S. soil to file an asylum claim and qualify for government assistance, legal status and, eventually, U.S. citizenship.

It has drawn criticism from other Latin Americans because it grants special privileges only to Cubans. Some Cuban Americans have also called for the provision to be revoked, saying its original purpose  to help political refugees  has been overtaken by Cubans coming to the U.S. for economic reasons.

Both candidates have taken an aggressive stance against illegal immigration, adopting an enforcement-first approach. Both have also said they want to restrict the number of refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries.

Caso is torn about whether the special privilege for Cubans should remain. Though shes happy to see Cubans have the chance to improve their lives in the United States, she believes others should be afforded the same opportunity.

But she has harsh words for the two candidates overall stance on immigration.

I think they are hypocritical, she said. I think they dont remember where they came from.

Though Casos views put her far to the left of most of her relatives, many in Southern Californias Cuban American community tend to be less conservative than their counterparts in South Florida.

At an estimated 41,000, the Cuban American community in Los Angeles County is dwarfed by the more than 3.5 million people of Mexican descent  a group that is often the target of anti-illegal immigration sentiment.

The Caso familys fractured politics may seem counter to the long-standing perception that the Cuban American community is overwhelmingly conservative. In reality, a diverse political dynamic is increasingly becoming the norm.

Geography, a generational divide, continuous waves of Cuban migration and the passage of time are changing the political landscape of the Cuban American community in Southern California and nationwide, observers say.

Its never been a static thing  the Cuban American community, said Ruben G. Rumbaut, a professor at UC Irvine who has studied the Cuban diaspora for about 50 years. Its always changing.

Casos cousin Sheila Suarez ended up in California after her family migrated to the U.S. before Castro took power. Suarez calls herself a flower child who attended UC Berkeley in the 1960s.

The 65-year-old, who lives in La Crescenta, is also a Sanders supporter.

He reminds me of all of our hopes in the 1960s, of transforming this country of ending racism, income equality, all of that stuff, Suarez said.

Her uncle, Orlando Caso  who fled the Cuban government in 1968 after his home and business were taken away  said Sanders reminds him of a young Castro.

Shes crazy, he said about his daughter Adas support of the Vermont senator. The elder Caso, 79, of North Hollywood backs Rubio but plans to skip Novembers election if Trump wins the Republican nomination.

Suarez is not a Castro supporter but calls the embargo foolish. The blockade, initiated in 1961, at first banned all exports from the U.S. to Cuba except for medicine and some food. It was later expanded to include imports and became permanent. Only an act of Congress can lift the sanctions.

I think they are hypocritical. I think they dont remember where they came from.  Ada Caso, on Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio

She favors President Obamas move to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, which she has visited several times since her family left.

Like Suarez, those who left as children or who are second- or third-generation Americans are likely to be less connected to the island and its politics, Rumbaut said.

Although the original exiles from the late 1950s and early 60s werent homogenous in their politics, they were generally conservative.

Those who left as adults from Cuba, especially those who left for political reasons, arguably made the most consequential decision of their lives. It was an act of self-definition like no other and you dont change your attitude 10 years later or 30 years later. You dont say, Let bygones be bygones and everything will be fine, Rumbaut said.

Younger Cubans are more liberal and tend to be more Democratic than their elders, and their views on relations with Cuba and immigration also differ, according to a 2014 Florida International University poll.

Hugo J. Byrne, who left Cuba in 1961, said the 1966 law was necessary for his group of emigres because they were fleeing political persecution. Economic migration is another matter, he said.

As a country, you need to have borders. You need to have laws. Otherwise there would be chaos, said Byrne, a Pasadena resident.

Said his wife, Migdalia Mena-Byrne: We were fleeing terror in my time. They killed our friends just because they did not agree with the government. We came as refugees. The new Cuban arrivals are different and shouldnt be given legal status, she said.

They are no longer refugees. They come because of poverty, she said.

Both believe the 1966 law should be repealed because it was intended to protect dissidents and those who were politically persecuted, not economic migrants.

Ada Caso disagrees.

It shouldnt matter. Everyone has the right to make a life for their family whether they fled for political or economic reasons, she said. I think thats what all immigrants want.

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

Twitter: @thecindycarcamo

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Updates in California politics
Im Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

True Believers

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Protesting and heckling are not unusual tactics during stump speeches, and most Democrats and Republicans urge restraint and self-control. Not so Donald Trump. When a supporter punched a protester in the face during a recent rally, the candidate raised the stakes by saying that he might pay the mans legal fees. Critics believe the rhetoric is more than just dangerous.

Michigan on Steroids

Tuesdays primary in Ohio has become a toss-up for Democrats who hope to learn whether Bernie Sanders stunning upset over Hillary Clinton in Michigan last week was a fluke or a tipping point. No one dares predict the outcome in a state known for its precarious mix of blue-collar anger, young voter enthusiasm and African American strength.

The Water Hogs of the 90210

Comedian Amy Poehler, developer Geoff Palmer and philanthropist David Geffen, among others, recently received letters from the city of Beverly Hills, targeting them for wasting water during the drought. Its the latest step for a city whose approach to conservation has done little to stem usage among residents. In Beverly Hills, said one official, for whatever reason, people are not motivated.

Remembering Mama Naka

In 1956, Katherine Banks opened Nakas Broiler in Compton, just across the street from Centennial High School. Watching those students, Banks once said, made her feel like her deceased daughter, Joy La Nell, was still in her life. Sixty years later, students and patrons are celebrating Banks legacy and her commitment to fighting racism and helping teens.

La Comunista

Ada Caso is often teased for supporting Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, but the Long Beach resident is used to being out of step with her relatives, who favor Marco Rubio and Donald Trump. With a population of just 41,000, Cuban Americans are a distinct minority in Southern California, yet their mixed allegiances reflect the evolving character of this immigrant community.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

 Donald Trump has masterfully played to the aggrieved minority of his party, but will that be enough in the general election?

 What might raise a few eyebrows in the rest of the country doesnt faze voters in Miami who view Marco Rubios foibles as par for the course.

 Depending upon the Supreme Courts ruling on the Texas law regulating abortion clinics, women in the Rio Grande Valley might have to drive 230 miles to exercise their right to terminate their pregnancy.

 When Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown from San Bernardino didnt support Gov. Jerry Browns climate-change bill, she believed she was best representing her constituents. Then the protests began.

 A weekend storm brought several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada. The March Miracle is coming true.

 Hes clearly no pig-whisperer. Cesar Millan defends himself over allegations of animal cruelty after a French bulldog mix bit a pot-bellied pig.

 Workers celebrate a milestone in the raising of L.A.s newest skyscraper, soon to be the tallest in the West. The views are nothing less than stunning.

 Fifty years ago, Paul Van Doren started selling shoes out of a storefront in Anaheim, and today his company, Vans, is a global brand.

CALIFORNIA

 Flint, Mich., isnt the only municipality concerned about dirty tap water. Residents in Gardena started complaining last year about the brown or black water that came out of their faucets. Officials say the quality has since improved, but some residents remain skeptical.

 George Skelton: State Sen. Jeff Stone votes his conscience and breaks ranks with fellow Republicans to increase the legal smoking age and regulate electronic cigarettes.

NATION-WORLD

 The Pentagons $2.7-billion program to use radar-carrying blimps is jeopardized as two senators refuse a funding request.

 The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race turned violent when a snowmobiler ran into two mushers, killing a dog and injuring two others.

 A federal immigration judge, speaking as an expert witness, declares that unaccompanied minors do not need legal counsel during deportation hearings.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

 The Long Beach Opera is known for staging ambitious productions, and its latest, Fallujah, presents not only the horrors of war but also its savage beauty.

 Christopher Hawthorne: The renovation of an old flour mill into DTLAs new art gallery, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, falls flat. Could something greater have been achieved with this space?

 Afghan graffiti artist Shamsia Hassani risks working on the streets of Kabul to beautify the city and bring contemporary art to its residents.

BUSINESS

 Famed New York restaurateur Danny Meyer is bringing Shake Shack to West Hollywood. Can a Big Apple burger joint survive in the birthplace of McDonalds and In-N-Out?

 A Chinese insurance company has acquired the historic Hotel del Coronado near San Diego and the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel for $6.5 billion.

 Zootopia grosses $50 million during its second weekend in release, besting the J.J. Abrams-produced thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane.

SPORTS

 March Madness promises to be even more unpredictable this year. Blame the new 30-second shot clock and a shift in officiating.

 Id kind of like to do that, says Dodger pitching ace Clayton Kershaw on watching other players win the World Series.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

 A writer reflects on his life in the Mojave Desert and its lonely sentinel, the Joshua tree. (Beacon)

 All cast-iron skillets come with their own pedigree, but the best hail from South Pittsburg, Tennessee. (The Bitter Southerner)

 A rabbi from Toronto explains his love for a rock n roller from the Jersey shore. (Jewish Journal)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Youve heard of a murder of crows, a flight of swallows, even a scourge of mosquitoes. How about a stampede of dolphins? Thats what Dave Anderson, owner of Captain Daves Dolphin and Whale Safari, called the phenomenon he witnessed last Thursday in the water off Dana Point. Repeatedly leaping from the water at speeds of up to 25 mph, the dolphins turned the ocean into a frothy, high-speed wonderland.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
Amin Shokrollahi couldnt wait to lecture at an electronics conference in San Francisco. The annual gathering of top tech minds, investors and customers was the perfect place for the German-Iranian professor to gain support for his start-up.

But before he could make his trip to the January forum, Shokrollahi discovered his permission to travel to the United States from Switzerland had been revoked. He immediately knew why. Just weeks before his flight, Congress had made changes to the visa waiver program, which allowed citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. without a visa.

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After the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Congress amended the program so that those with dual citizenship in Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria, as well as people who have traveled to those countries in the last five years, had to apply for a visa. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced further restrictions for those who have recently traveled to Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Shokrollahi, 52, ended up missing the conference, as well as meetings with potential investors. About a week later, the U.S. consulate granted him a yearlong visa. But the earlier episode, with its lost opportunities, rankled him.

Most of the people being affected, the vast majority, they are being wrongfully targeted, said Shokrollahi, a mathematician who teaches at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Its like giving broad spectrum antibiotics that kill everything because you want to kill a few bacteria.

Edwin Smith, an expert in international law at USC, said the decision Congress made balanced the freedom to travel with national security interests. Dual-national terrorists who are able to sneak into the country pose a real threat, he said.

The thing that Daesh would like very much is to have dual-national Europeans get into the U.S., Smith said, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Thats the nightmare scenario.

But in recent weeks, Silicon Valley has been at the forefront of a push against the restrictions. The changes, tech leaders argued, would be bad for their bottom line if people doing business with their companies had difficulty coming to the U.S. And they worry that European countries will retaliate against U.S. travelers with similar restrictions.

Its like giving broad spectrum antibiotics that kill everything because you want to kill a few bacteria  Amin Shokrollahi

In a letter to Congress, the leaders of dozens of companies, including Twitter, Dropbox and Pinterest, called the policy discriminatory.

We protest this just as vigorously as if Congress had mandated special travel papers for citizens based on their faith or the color of their skin, the letter said. In the balancing act between fighting terrorism and upholding American liberties, these provisions go too far.

Ali Partovi, a tech investor and Iranian emigre, compared the restrictions to new sanctions, just months after a landmark nuclear deal led the U.S. to ease long-standing sanctions against Iran.

Theyre a sanction against Europe and against American companies that do business with Europe, Partovi, 43, said. Any company that has offices in Europe, or sells products to European customers, or buys from European suppliers, is impacted.

The European Union is scheduled to review the issue in April and has suggested that the bloc may suspend visa-free travel to Europe for all Americans for a year. Should the European Commission retaliate, it would not be the first time the union has found itself in a tit-for-tat battle with the U.S.

The EU slapped its first tariffs on a wide range of U.S. agricultural and manufactured goods in 2004 in a retaliatory move intended to pressure Congress to make significant changes in the way U.S. corporations were taxed.

The State Department has declined to comment on the possibility that Americans could face visa restrictions in response to the law Congress passed.

Look, Im not going to speak to what Europe writ large may or may not do or individual governments may or may not do, State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner said at a January news briefing.

The 30-year-old visa waiver program, which grants 90-day stays, is credited with bolstering the U.S. tourism industry.

Hooman Radfar, a partner at the San Francisco start-up studio Expa, said the change to the visa waiver program could be particularly difficult for small businesses because time is money.

Not being able to have someone for a month, while thats maybe not a big deal for GE, for a small business its catastrophic, Radfar said.

Radfar said his parents left Iran for the U.S. before he was born because they wanted the freedom they couldnt have in their native land. Allowing certain Europeans to be able to come to the U.S. with ease while making it harder for others is un-American, he said.

But the visa waiver bill that passed marked a relatively rare instance of bipartisan agreement in Washington.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who introduced the Senates version of the legislation, said new restrictions cut the risk of foreign fighters exploiting the visa program by requiring individuals who have traveled to high-risk countries to use the traditional visa process. Feinsteins legislation prohibited visa-free travel for those who have traveled to Syria and Iraq. The dual-national provision originated in the House, officials said.

I strongly believe that restricting use of the visa waiver program based on travel to high-risk countries will help prevent an estimated 5,000 foreign fighters from Europe who have trained in the Middle East from exploiting the program to enter the United States, Feinstein said in a statement.

But the senator said she disagreed with restrictions based on nationality, saying it is discriminatory and not the correct path.

A month after the bill was passed, lawmakers in both chambers introduced bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the dual-national restrictions.

I was disappointed the provision was included in legislation, over the strong objection of many members, and support the effort to repeal it, Feinstein said.

Partovi, the investor, said Iranians from all over the world work in the tech industry, and have earned their way into Silicon Valleys top ranks.... When you do something that hurts Iranians, all of Silicon Valley feels it.

At Southern California college campuses, some Iranian students said they fear that European countries will impose the same restrictions on them that the U.S. is imposing on Iranians in other countries.

We are alert, unified and ready to fight unjust discrimination like this, said UCLA student Arman Sharif, 19, who added that many Iranians in the U.S. have family in Europe. His mothers cousin lives in Germany.

Nikki Tavasoli, a graduate student of economics at UC Irvine, said shes concerned about the effect a reciprocal law would have on her career. A graduate student studying economics, Tavasoli said many of the conferences shes interested in attending take place in Europe. The 23-year-old, who has family in Sweden, said the move came out of the blue.

Its a blow to the Iranian diaspora, she said.

Her parents are upset by the law, Tavasoli added, but not as much as her. Like many older immigrant generations, they dont want to ruffle any feathers, so they wont speak out, she said. Tavasoli, however, said shes willing to take a stand if Europe institutes similar laws.

These are my rights, she said. I am willing to fight for them.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

Twitter: @sarahparvini

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A man who stole a West Covina police cruiser and led officers on a high-speed chase had stolen the vehicle after officers gave him a ride across the city, authorities said Monday.

The man, who was described as being 45 years old, was fatally shot at the end of the pursuit Sunday night, said Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Sgt. Bill Cotter.

According to investigators, the incident began uneventfully enough. The man had called police requesting some kind of assistance and after speaking with officers in person, asked for a ride to another part of West Covina.

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When they stopped to drop off the man, he somehow got into the drivers seat and took off in the cruiser, authorities said.

About 10 p.m., local TV stations began broadcasting the pursuit, showing the patrol car driving near downtown L.A. He also sped through West Covina, Alhambra, Los Angeles, North Hollywood and Hollywood with emergency lights flashing.

The car later drove north into the San Fernando Valley before driving south on the 170 Freeway and hit speeds of more than 100 mph, authorities said.

About 10:40 p.m., the chase ended when police cars surrounded the stolen cruiser in Glendale and a police car rammed into the stolen patrol car.

Jeff Cibrian lives across the street from where the chase ended and said relatives were texting him about a chase through Glendale when he heard police sirens approach over the roar of helicopters.

The car came to a stop in front of his home, he said.

I heard four gunshots  bap bap bap bap  [then] went scrambling to my TV to at least catch it on the news. I see the gentleman try to reverse, and thats when the SUV hit him, said Cibrian, 36.

The gunshots were consecutive and there wasnt any return gunfire, Cibrian said. The body remained in the cars passenger seat Monday morning, he said.

Details about what prompted police to shoot were not immediately released.

The identity of the suspect was not released. The shooting involved officers from the West Covina Police Department, Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William said.

Staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.

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Another storm pummeled Northern California on Sunday, dumping snow, heavy rain and powerful winds. It also triggered power outages and forced some evacuations.

About 18 inches of snow fell overnight in Kingvale, with an additional 6 to 12 inches of powder expected to fall Sunday. In the last three days, about 2 inches of rain fell in the valley areas, while up to 6 inches of rain hit the areas foothills.

It was a pretty good run. It was really helpful in rising the water levels, said Johnnie Powell, a forecaster for the National Weather Service based in Sacramento. Unfortunately, its coming to an end.

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After Monday, drier, warmer weather is in store for the week.

But the last five days of rain have brought above-average precipitation. During the first two weeks of March, about 4.28 inches fell in the Sacramento area. Normally, the area sees 3.15 inches over the whole month of March, Powell said.

From Saturday to Sunday evening, about 1 inch of rain fell in Richmond, about 0.8 fell in Napa and Sacramento, and 1.6 inches fell in Auburn. A half-inch to an inch was expected to fall through early Monday in the Central Valley, with 1 to 4 inches in the mountains and foothills.

The onslaught of rain lifted creeks and rivers near the flood stage. Alameda Creek near Sunol rose to 7 feet, triggering minor flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

In Morgan Hill, about 35 miles east of Santa Cruz, dozens of people at the Thousand Trails Campground were evacuated because of rapid flooding of the Uvas Creek, according to a statement from the campground.

A shelter was set up at Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church, according to Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Some residents in a hillside community in Moraga were forced to evacuate after heavy rains led to a landslide.

Winds were forecast to range from 20 to 35 mph, with gusts of up to 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service. A gust of 50 mph was recorded at the Redding Municipal Airport, Powell said.

The strong winds and rains contributed to power outages. More than 500 customers lost power near Sausalito after trees came in contact with electrical equipment, according to Pacific Gas & Electric. Downed power lines were reported in Oakland and San Jose, according to the utility.

Most of the snow was forecast in the Sierra as well as the Klamath Mountains, with 1 to 3 feet forecast for elevations above 6,000 feet. Up to 8 inches of snow was expected to fall near Lake Tahoe, with up to 4 inches near Bridgeport.

Scattered showers are expected to continue through Monday morning, with some possible thunderstorms, but the storm system is expected to move out of Northern California.

The rain is coming to an end by Monday afternoon, Powell said. Were in for a nice warm-up.

Temperatures should hover in the 60s on Tuesday and reach the 70s by Wednesday, he said.

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.

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Los Angeles officials cracked down on a Brentwood developer Monday, saying he should be barred for the next five years from building on a site where three trees were illegally chopped down.

Nazario Sauceda, director of the citys Bureau of Street Services, issued a four-page letter saying Sullivan Equity Partners deliberately ripped out three protected trees -- two live oaks and a towering western sycamore -- that were supposed to be preserved on its property.

Developer Sam Shakib, the companys managing partner, had permission from the city to remove dozens of trees from the property as part of a plan for constructing two 14,948-square-foot mansions. But as part of that permit, Shakib was supposed to safeguard other trees on the sprawling 12-acre site.

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The three trees, Sauceda concluded, were removed not by accident but intentionally to provide better access to the property or in some other fashion enable easier development.

Sam Shakib walks on his property in Brentwoods Sullivan Canyon. Shakib and his business partner are in hot water for cutting down three trees they were supposed to preserve as part of developing two mansions on the 12-acre site. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The decision provides a major win to Brentwood neighborhood activists, who contend the city improperly approved development in a canyon lined with chaparral, coastal sage scrub and a stream bed. They had been pressing urban forestry officials to revoke the building permits for the Sullivan Canyon mansion project, saying it would send a message to developers across the city.

This is a victory for every neighborhood in our city and for the rule of law, said Gideon Kracov, the attorney who represents the neighbors.

Kracov praised Mayor Eric Garcettis administration and the street tree agency for setting an important precedent on tree preservation. But Patrick Mitchell, the lawyer for the developer, called the citys penalty utterly draconian and the functional equivalent of giving someone the death penalty for a speeding ticket.

Mitchells client plans to file an appeal of Mondays decision to Garcettis appointees on the Board of Public Works. The city, apparently due to political pressure, is treating my client much harsher than similar or more severe tree cutting cases in the same city department, he said.

Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents Brentwood, had urged city officials to revoke the permits, sending a staffer to make his case at an administrative hearing last month. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental organization, had also pressed for the building permits to be rescinded.

Shakib and his business partner, Sean Namvar, had argued for months that a landscaping crew had removed the three trees by mistake. The company had obtained permission from the city to remove 56 protected trees on the site -- live oaks, black walnuts and other trees that carry an elevated status under the citys urban forestry rules.

Although three trees were mistakenly cut, four others that were supposed to come down did not, Mitchell said.

Twitter: @davidzahniser
The Justice Department on Monday pledged $2.5 million to help state judges and court administrators ensure their systems for levying fines and fees do not violate the rights of poor defendants.

The money, along with a separate letter offering advice on how to more fairly levy fines and fees, comes a year after the department concluded that the municipal court in Ferguson, Mo., the location of a 2014 fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, was more focused more on raising revenue through fines and fees than using such tools to improve public safety.

Department officials noted in the letter that such practices have profound consequences and can damage the faith residents have in their courts and police. Defendants can face escalating debts, be jailed for nonpayment despite posing no danger to the community and risk becoming trapped in cycles of poverty that can be nearly impossible to escape, according to the letter by Vanita Gupta and Lisa Foster, two top Justice Department officials.

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Gupta, the departments top civil rights lawyer, and Foster, the director of a program designed to improve the judicial system, urged courts to take steps to ensure they are treating defendants fairly and legally.

For example, they wrote, judges should not incarcerate a defendant for the nonpayment of fines or fees without first determining whether the person was too poor to pay. Courts should also consider alternatives to incarceration, and judges should not use arrest warrants or license suspensions to coerce people to pay court debts, they wrote.

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The letter comes in response to requests by judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, advocates and lawmakers who met with Justice Department officials in December to discuss how fines and fees are assessed, and to find ways to make sure they are more fairly administered.

The attention to fines and fees stemmed, in part, from the Justice Department investigation into the town, police force and municipal court of Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. In August 2014, Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot to death in by a white Ferguson police officer. That shooting and other deaths of African American residents at the hands of police have sparked unrest and protests, particularly in communities already angry at how they are policed and served by the courts.

The Justice Department determined that no criminal charges were warranted against the Ferguson officer, Darren Wilson. However, it found that Fergusons police force and its municipals courts routinely violated the rights of residents, particularly those who were poor and black, by focusing so heavily on raising revenues through fines and fees.

Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch said in December that Fergusons practices were shameful and unacceptable and turned the justice system into a for-profit enterprise at the expense of public safety.

Too many of our citizens are simply in jail because they dont have the money to get out, Lynch said. Weve outlawed usury. Weve outlawed debtors prisons. We cannot cloak it in the language of fines and fees and make it right.

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First he went after Little Marco Rubio. Then he targeted Lyin Ted Cruz.

Now as he faces a key test Tuesday in Ohio, a state that could ease his way to the Republican nomination or raise a significant hurdle, Donald Trump has turned his sights on its governor, presidential rival John Kasich.

He has yet to land on the sort of pithy put-downs he plastered on Florida Sen. Rubio or Texas Sen. Cruz, though absentee governor is an oft-repeated criticism of Kasich, who has vacated Ohio for long stretches of his second term.

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Instead, Trump has served up a smorgasbord full of scorn: Kasich is a baby. Kasich is weak. Kasich is a loser. Kasich isnt very bright. Kasich helped tank the economy as a Lehman Bros. executive. Kasich voted for lousy trade deals that have punished Ohios workers.

Your coal industry is dead. Your steel industry is dead, he told an audience Monday night in Youngstown. Your governor is totally overrated.

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The shift in tone and emphasis, after Trump long ignored Kasich, reflects the reality facing the New York businessman and GOP front-runner on one of the biggest voting days of the nominating season.

Five states will hold primaries Tuesday, including North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois, with 358 delegates at stake. That is more than a quarter of the number needed to claim the GOP nomination.

But the most important balloting will be in winner-take-all Florida and here in Ohio, testing Rubio and Kasich where voters know them best. A loss at home would force both to give up on the race, leaving just Cruz, who has demonstrated limited appeal, as the last candidate facing Trump.

A sweep of the two states and their combined 165 delegates could all but cinch the nomination for the New York business magnate.

Cruz continued to insist he would be the stronger of the two in a general election against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. If we nominate Donald Trump, Hillary wins, Cruz said at an Illinois stop Monday in heavily Republican DuPage County.

In Florida, Rubio struck a contemplative tone, comparing the tumultuous campaign to a broader shake-up of the countrys values.

We have a culture today where what used to be wrong is now considered right, the senator told a crowd at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

He cited Trumps often outlandish rhetoric  We never had a presidential candidate that has to be bleeped out  but conceded he bore some responsibility for the raunchy tone of the campaign, saying he felt terrible for his crass swipes at the front-runner over his tan, his hair and, implicitly, his genitals.

It embarrassed my children, he said. It embarrassed my wife.

Polls suggest Trump is well ahead in Florida, where he lives part time in a Palm Beach mansion. But in Ohio, Trumps lead in surveys has turned to a slight advantage for Kasich as the contest comes into sharper focus and the news since Friday night has been filled with accounts of violence at a Trump rally in Chicago.

In a sign of his concern, Trump canceled an election-eve rally in Florida and added the event Monday night outside Youngstown, an archetypal Rust Belt city filled with the white working-class voters who have been among his strongest supporters.

Weve got to beat Kasich, he said. Hes not going to be a great president.

Kasichs reaction to the mayhem in Chicago was to blame Trump. The governor accused him of fomenting a toxic environment that has poisoned the countrys politics and said the images from the near-riot sent an embarrassing message around the world.

Our enemies are going to take advantage of them, he said at a Sunday campaign stop outside Cleveland. Our friends are scratching their heads saying, What the heck is happening in America?

The sharper edge represents a shift for Kasich as well, who had positioned himself throughout the Republican contest as the one candidate who refused to stoop to sniping that others engaged in. I am not going to take the low road to the highest office in land, he said Monday night, drawing a huge cheer at a hometown rally in Westerville with what remains one of his standard lines.

But the stakes in Ohio are arguably higher for Kasich than Trump. A defeat and subsequent withdrawal from the contest would mark the second time he has run for president and lost and, at age 63, could spell the end of Kasichs national ambitions.

For all of Trumps name-calling, he has substantive differences with Kasich.

As a member of Congress, Kasich voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact with Canada and Mexico that removed all tariffs and quotas between the U.S. and the two countries. Trump blames NAFTA for decimating wide swaths of the countrys manufacturing base.

Ohio has never ever come back from that, Trump said at an appearance Sunday in West Chester, a Cincinnati suburb.

They differ over Common Core, the recommended federal education standards, which Trump has criticized.

One of the most significant areas of disagreement is over immigration, with Kasich opposing Trumps proposal to round up and deport the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally. As president, Kasich said in a debate last week, he would give them an opportunity to stay, though not obtain citizenship.

If America hadnt welcomed immigrants like his mother, Kasich said, Id be running for president of Croatia.

Inevitably, the two have taken their fight to Ohios airwaves, with each pummeling the other in millions of dollars worth of negative ads.

A political action committee supporting Kasich has aired a spot accusing Trump of attacking our Kasich with baldfaced unhinged lies. The closing screen features a sour image of the reality TV star and the words, Ohio doesnt trust Trump.

Trumps attack ad accuses Kasich, among other things, of helping Wall Street predator Lehman Bros. destroy the world economy.

For several years after leaving Congress in 2001, the governor worked for the investment bank, whose collapse helped precipitate the Great Recession. He responded with sarcasm.

I ran a two-man office in Columbus, Ohio, he told reporters. And if I bankrupted Lehman Bros. from a two-man office I should have been selected pope, not run for president.

Times staff writers Cathleen Decker in Youngstown, Melanie Mason in Miami and Chris Megerian in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Follow @markzbarabak for national & California politics

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ExxonMobil recognizes the risks posed by climate change. We believe that everyone -- including oil and gas companies -- should be engaged in meaningful action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Based on recent media coverage of our company however, you could be forgiven if you found this surprising. A coordinated public relations campaign is under way against ExxonMobil, which is misleading the public by accusing us of hiding what we knew about climate change and working against climate science. Sadly, the Los Angeles Times is one of the leading publications to repeat these accusations, having published an op-ed article recently (among other pieces to have run in the paper) by a Rockefeller heir supporting the divestment campaign against ExxonMobil.

At ExxonMobil, were proud of our history of science and technology research, and this includes our work in addressing climate change. Since the 1970s, we have openly and publicly researched and discussed the risks of climate change, carbon life-cycle analysis and emissions reductions. Our work has resulted in nearly 150 publicly available papers, including more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. We have worked alongside other top scientists and participated in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since its inception in 1988, including serving as co-authors for the organizations climate assessments. We continue to be active, public participants in the scientific communitys search for solutions.

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The fact is, in the last decade, ExxonMobil has spent billions of dollars to research and develop new energy technologies, as well as find ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint. We employ 2,200 PhD scientists and engineers, and more than 5,000 people at our global research and technology divisions. And we have joined with more than 80 universities around the world to research lower-emission technologies.

Let me share a few examples of ExxonMobils contributions to emissions reduction:

ExxonMobil, and our subsidiary XTO Energy, have been instrumental in the shale revolution that has enabled U.S. gas production to rise by close to 45% since 2005. Increased availability of natural gas, which emits up to 60% less carbon dioxide than coal when burned to generate electricity, is a big reason Americas greenhouse gas emissions have declined to levels not seen since the 1990s.

ExxonMobil scientists and engineers have pioneered nearly 300 patents for technologies that boost efficiency and cut emissions. We are actively researching solutions that could play a major role in emissions reduction in the decades to come, such as carbon capture and sequestration, and biofuels developed from advanced sources such as algae.

Advanced plastics made by ExxonMobils chemical company are promoting sustainability and reducing energy use. Auto parts built from strong-but-lightweight plastics made using oil and gas will help make cars 80% more fuel-efficient by 2040.

Given all of this, the recent accusations against ExxonMobil make no sense -- that is, until you learn that the anti-ExxonMobil campaign, and the supposedly unbiased media reports it rests upon, is in fact funded by groups actively opposed to the use of oil and natural gas. Some of the leaders of this campaign believe the best way to address climate change is to divest oil and gas company shares or to engage in other gestures intended to demonize an industry helping people around the world enjoy access to modern energy sources and rising living standards.

ExxonMobil fundamentally disagrees with that vision.

Our vision is one in which technological innovations continue to improve peoples quality of life around the world while reducing climate change risks.

Government policies have an important role to play in addressing climate risks, provided those policies are effective and fair. Not all of them are. ExxonMobil spoke out against the Kyoto Protocol in the 1990s because, among other things, it would have exempted two-thirds of the worlds emitters. And we opposed ill-conceived cap-and-trade programs in the 2000s, some of which would have exempted coal.

We support efforts by nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. When governments are considering policy options, ExxonMobil believes a revenue-neutral carbon tax is the most effective way to manage carbon emissions.

By 2040, the worlds population will have risen to 9 billion and global energy demand will be about 25% higher than it is today. ExxonMobil is confident in mankinds ability to meet this energy challenge, while also improving efficiency and deploying lower-emitting technologies. In the decades to come, we will continue to advance energy solutions that are affordable, reliable and scalable. And we will continue to support policies that can reduce emissions while enabling continued economic progress.

Suzanne McCarron is vice president of public and government affairs at ExxonMobil Corp.

This piece is part of Blowback, our online forum for rebuttals to the Los Angeles Times. If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed and would like to participate in Blowback, here is our submission policy and some FAQs.

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Through cities and suburbs, through isolated farmland and fractured steel towns, the Democratic presidential campaign has come to Ohio, whose verdict Tuesday will rest on an unpredictable mix of blue-collar anger, young voter enthusiasm and African American strength.

Hillary Clinton found sustenance here before, in a romping 2008 primary victory over Barack Obama, and she is counting on loyalty and the states Midwestern sensibility to help her dispatch this years opponent, Bernie Sanders.

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Sanders is hoping to build on his victory last week in Michigan, a neighboring state where he came from behind on the strength of his vehement opposition to foreign trade, attracting working-class voters and significantly cutting into Clintons black support.

The question for both: Was Michigan a fluke or a tipping point?

The answer may rest on the conflict that has torn Democratic voters in all the early states, between one candidate who inspires and another who argues she can more effectively accomplish goals they share.

John Collier, a 21-year-old junior at Ohio State wearing a long-sleeved Buckeyes shirt, discussed the presidential campaign in a student lounge on the universitys Columbus campus. He admires Clinton, he said. But thats not enough.

Ive heard it put before that Hillary Clinton is probably the most qualified candidate for the system that we have, said Collier, who is studying economics. Bernie Sanders is the most qualified candidate for the system we want to have.

Theres nothing against Hillary Clinton, he said. I think shes more qualified than any of the Republican candidates. But I think Bernie Sanders is the one that we need to elect if we want to see far-reaching progress.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders greets supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, on March 11. (Tony Dejak / Associated Press)

Chase Ritenauer is the 31-year-old mayor of downtrodden Lorain, Ohio, one of a string of industrial towns extending from Toledo east to Cleveland along Lake Erie. There, Broadway Avenue marches toward City Hall in a mournful parade of closed or little-frequented businesses. Ritenauer, unlike most Democrats his age, is siding with Clinton.

In his town, he said, people feel in America were not where we ought to be. Were seeing job losses and want someone whos going to stop that job loss and bring the jobs back home.

I like both of them, Ritenauer said. I like their positions and I will support the Democratic nominee. What separates her, to me, is that shes been there.... I walk into the job every day saying, How do I get things done? Shes in more of a position, given the things shes talked about, to actually do them.

In Ohio  a perennial general election powerhouse  the Democratic choice will play out amid pockets of economic improvement and malaise.

The Youngstown area where steel mills once reigned is now a hub for high-tech manufacturing, so much so that President Obama has cited it as a model in two State of the Union addresses. A steel plant in Canton that feeds the auto industry is booming. But its sister plant in Lorain, which relies on the health of the oil and gas industry, is struggling.

Overall the state has 200,000 fewer jobs than it did in 2000, when it hit peak employment, according to Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning policy research institute. In that time, median income has fallen 16%, along with hourly wages. The average income, just shy of $49,000 a year, is below the national average.

The state in October finally recovered the jobs lost in the Great Recession, about 18 months after most other states hit that mark.

The overwhelming reason is the loss of manufacturing employment in Ohio, said Amy Hanauer, the groups executive director. Not all of that is due to foreign trade deals, she said, but theres no question that jobs have left Ohio for other countries.

That plays directly into the case that Sanders is making as he blames job losses on deals including the North American Free Trade Agreement of the 1990s, backed by President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who believed it would open markets to U.S. manufacturers and create jobs. As Clinton and Sanders fought in Michigan, she acknowledged the deal had actually cost jobs.

For Sanders, it was only one of the centrist moves by both Clintons that he has criticized. But as in Michigan, trade has been his primary thrust in Ohio; ads running here assert that hes the only candidate who can be counted on to back workers, a nod not only to Clintons support of NAFTA but also her work in the Obama administration on behalf of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. (She has since come out against that agreement.)

Trade is not a new topic in the state. One of the most vociferous opponents of NAFTA was Sherrod Brown, then a congressman from Lorain and now the states U.S. senator. (He is now a Clinton supporter; he said he has talked to her about trade issues and thinks she can effectively protect workers.)

 How does the delegate process work, and why do we hear so much about them during the election? We broke down the process for you using Peeps. Track the delegate race and see also: The Iowa caucus explained using gummy bears For more, go to latimes.

Theres really not an area of the state that hasnt been touched by job losses, said Jeff Rusnak, Sanders state campaign director. If you look at Ohio, its the perfect state for Sen. Sanders. He really appeals to it because his message is so strong with the voters who have kind of been forgotten.

Ohio in many ways is Michigan on steroids.

Clinton started off with something of an advantage over Sanders, notably among the same voters hes seeking.

In 2008, Ohio voted after Obamas campaign roared to life, but it was Clinton who captured the state. She won those without college degrees  one of Sanders strongest groups now  by 18 percentage points and ran strongly among those at the lower end of the income scale. Among those who said trade had cost Americans jobs, she defeated Obama by 10 points.

But Sanders has leveled a far fiercer denunciation of Clintons trade positions than did Obama, who generally shared her views. That and the loss of even more jobs in the eight years since the last race pose the sharpest danger to Clinton now.

If Sanders continues to command young and liberal voters, Clinton is depending on the same mix of African American and suburban support that disappointed her in Michigan. Her campaign is running ads featuring the mothers of young African American men killed by police; in one, narrator Morgan Freeman casts Clinton as someone who has stood by the black community and the nations first black president, the man she defeated here.

The Clinton campaign is basing its hopes on the notion that Clinton will retain her 2008 supporters and  even more  that Ohioans want to look ahead, not relitigate the 1990s. She may also benefit from the fact that for all its jobs difficulty, the state is more conservative on the whole than Michigan, which has long had a weakness for liberal lightning rods.

Rep. Tim Ryan has represented some of the more grievously hit areas of Ohio for 14 years. Enough with the NAFTA fight, he said.

I really dont want to have a conversation about NAFTA, said Ryan, a Clinton supporter. I want to have a conversation of what we do now.

We know what the problem is, but at the end of the day we want someone who has a detailed, sophisticated plan, whos going to help us grow.... I dont see any of that coming out of Bernies campaign.

Such pragmatism doesnt sell with Sanders voters like Morgan Johnson, the state director of College Students for Bernie.

Hillary has done some amazing things and shes really had a terrific career, said Johnson, who is 21 and hoping to go to law school. But I like that Bernie is talking about reaching for the stars to at least get to the moon.

I dont feel comfortable with somebody basing policy off of, Heres the base line, heres what we can do, Johnson said. Whereas Bernie is calling to ask us what is possible, asking what is possible here and then working for those.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

mark.barabak@latimes.com

Twitter: @markzbarabak

Decker reported from Cleveland and Barabak from Columbus.

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Donald Trumps recently released plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act would drive up the federal deficit by nearly $500 billion over the next decade and cause 21 million Americans to lose health coverage, according to a new independent analysis.

Trumps Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again plan, which the GOP presidential front-runner outlined on his campaign website last month, does not include much detail.

But its major planks  including repealing Obamacare, deregulating health insurance and offering tax breaks to help Americans get coverage  would likely have a devastating effect, the new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget concludes.

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Mr. Trumps plan to repeal and replace Obamacare  based on the details available  would both add to the deficit and significantly reduce coverage, the report notes.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington-based fiscal watchdog, is often critical of politicians of both parties.

It earlier took to task Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his campaign pledge to create a single government health plan for all Americans, finding Sanders numbers unrealistic.

Trumps plans have been difficult to assess because until recently he made only broad promises to come up with a terrific replacement for the health law President Obama signed in 2010.

Beyond repeal, his current plan relies largely on bedrock conservative health proposals, including allowing insurers to sell their health plans anywhere in America, thereby avoiding state regulators.

He has also proposed to free states from much federal oversight of their Medicaid safety net health plans, a plan that Republicans have often tried to advance as a way to empower states while dramatically cutting federal spending.

The new report notes that without more detail about how Trump would structure so-called Medicaid block grants, it is difficult to assess what effect his plans would have.

But the overall effect of scrapping the 2010 health law is likely to be enormous, largely because that would eliminate new subsidized insurance marketplaces and federal aid that has allowed 30 states to expand eligibility for their Medicaid programs.

Thanks largely to these pillars of the health law, some 20 million previously uninsured Americans have gained coverage in recent years.

Nearly all of these people would lose their health care protections under Trumps plan, according to the report.

Repealing the current law would also eliminate major funding sources, including new taxes and savings in Medicare achieved by curtailing payments to hospitals, doctors and other providers. That would drive up the deficit.

The report notes that the fiscal effect of Trumps plan might be less if potential economic growth linked to repeal is included. But even then, the deficit would balloon by some $270 billion over the next decade, the report concludes.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

noam.levey@latimes.com

Follow @noamlevey on Twitter

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Barbara Boxer traces the beginning of her Senate career to an October 1991 day when she and six female colleagues from the House marched across the Capitol and demanded that senators consider Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.

An enlarged black and white photo from that walk is prominently displayed in the lobby of Boxer's Washington office.

"Without Anita Hill's bravery, I would not be here in the Senate. Period. No way," Boxer said recently.

Public outcry that the male dominated Senate didn't take Hill's allegations seriously helped sweep four women into Senate seats, including Boxer and fellow California Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

"To have a state elect two women from Northern California, both Jewish women, that was a bridge too far for most people, but when they looked at the Senate and they saw the Judiciary Committee without one woman on it it changed everything," Boxer said.

Sitting near a smaller color version of the same photo in her private office, Boxer says she didn't expect her more than two decades in Washington to end with another fight about the Supreme Court.

Justice Antonin Scalia's Feb. 13 death was unexpected, as was the Senate Republican leadership's announcement that they won't hold hearings or meet with a nominee until after the November election. They argue that a president with less than a year left in office shouldn't make such a consequential decision.

Democrats say that with more than 300 days left in office, it's President Obama's responsibility to fill the position rather than leave the court evenly split for at least another session.

"It's the first time in my history with Supreme Court vacancies, and I've voted on six, that I've seen a political party just say 'No, we're not going to hold a hearing, we don't care who it is,'" Boxer said. "This is unheard of. This is stunning, shocking and it's terrible for the American people. We're supposed to do our jobs."

How California's Senators voted Yea Justice Stephen Breyer; Nominated by President Clinton in 1994 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Clinton, 1993 Justice Elena Kagan; Obama, 2010 Justice Sonia Sotomayor: Obama, 2009 Nay Chief Justice John Roberts: Bush, 2005 Justice Samuel Alito: Bush, 2005

Neither Boxer or Feinstein would speculate on whether Republicans might waver in the months ahead, especially after the president puts forth a nominee.

A few cracks appeared Thursday, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pointing out that refusing to consider a nominee would set a precedent that Republicans may not like, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) telling a local radio station that a vote would be possible if Obama were a Republican.

Obama's choice is expected this week. He has urged Republicans not to politicize the court system.

Only nine sitting senators have served longer than Boxer and Feinstein and California's senators have considered six of the eight justices on the bench.

"We haven't had this situation," Feinstein said in an interview between meetings. "This will have been the first Supreme Court justice where the Senate refuses to even receive a nominee, to hear that nominee and to vote on that nominee."

They've seen fights over nominees before, but not like this.

In 2006, Boxer, Feinstein and two dozen Democrats voted in favor of filibustering Samuel Alito's confirmation. He was later confirmed 58-42, the closest confirmation vote since Thomas. Republicans said at the time the filibuster attempt set a dangerous precedent.

"There is only one way to send this nomination back to the president ... and that is to get 41 votes for a filibuster," Boxer was quoted as saying in a Jan. 27, 2006, article in The Times.

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Boxer said this week that if Republicans want to block Obama from filling Scalia's seat, they could have tried that route.

"If people want to filibuster they have a perfect right to," she said. "I totally support it for Supreme Court, but I don't support shutting down the process, not even meeting with the candidate, not even considering the candidate, not holding a hearing."

Looking at the history

Both Democrats and Republicans have tried to use historical examples to make the case for the Senate waiting or moving ahead.

Democrats released a video Thursday morning of several Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans saying that the committee is obligated to consider a judicial nominee, regardless of partisan politics.

The Judiciary Committee, led by several of the longest-serving senators, devoted the beginning of the panel's meeting Thursday to evaluating historical examples.

Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) referenced Thomas' confirmation fight and wrangling over the unsuccessful 1987 confirmation of Judge Robert Bork, saying he won't consider a nominee in such a politically charged year.

"I saw what happened to both of them. I saw what happened to their records, to their reputations, and to their families. If anyone wants to argue that either one of those individuals was treated to a fair process, they're free to make that argument. But to this senator, it would be laughable, if it weren't so sad," he said.

Graham, who ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination this year, warned colleagues that not considering a nomination in a president's final year will become the norm and will encourage each political party to select more ideologically pure judges.

Feinstein, who has served on Judiciary since taking office, noted that Thomas got a vote by the full Senate in 1991 even though the committee (led by then-Sen. Joe Biden) didn't support him.

"What is happening today is contrary to our committee's practices," she said. "It is this body's job, this committee's job to look carefully at the nominee and give that person a fair hearing and a vote."

The Senate hasn't left a vacancy on the court for a year since the Civil War, Feinstein said. She quoted President Lincoln's inaugural address in urging her colleagues to act.

"I'm appealing to the better angels of your nature. When there is a nominee, do what we have done in the past, give the nominee careful consideration, meet with the nominee, ask the nominee questions, hold a hearing and then hold a vote both here and on the floor," Feinstein said. "Vote no if you want, but let's have the fair process that's our tradition."

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of California's delegation at latimes.com/politics

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Welcome to your guide to the 2018 California governors race. The election may be far away, but listening tours are already underway, political consultants are doling out advice and pundits are handicapping favorites and wildcards.

Here are the players to keep an eye on:

Gavin Newsom

Top jobs: Californias lieutenant governor since 2010. Elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003 and reelected in 2007.

Biggest splash: Newsom, a Democrat, created a national firestorm as San Francisco mayor in 2004 when he ordered the city to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Baggage: While mayor, he had an affair with his campaign manager's wife.

Particulars: Newsom, 48, lives in Marin County with his wife and four children. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University.

Newsom launched his campaign for governor in February 2015 and thus far is the only major candidate raising money.

Since announcing his bid, Newsom proposed a statewide initiative to toughen California gun laws and threw his support behind another measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Both initiatives could go before state voters in November.

Newsom ran for governor in the 2010 election but dropped out of the race after the entry of Democratic rival Jerry Brown, who went on to win the election. He ran for the lower-profile lieutenant governor's office instead.

Newsom gained national attention when he was mayor of San Francisco for directing the city to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. The event was a catalyst for a nationwide political wrangle over the issue that ended when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of gays to marry in 2015.

As mayor, Newsom also launched the country's first universal healthcare initiative.

Status: He's running.

Antonio Villaraigosa

Top jobs: Los Angeles mayor for two terms, from 2005-13. Served as speaker of the state Assembly from 1998-2000.

Making history: Became L.A.s first Latino mayor since 1872.

Baggage: While mayor, he had an extramarital affair with a local television reporter.

Particulars: Villaraigosa, 63, lives in Los Angeles, has four children and is a UCLA graduate.

Villaraigosa, a Democrat, has dropped hints that he plans to run and has spent the last few months on a listening tour up and down California. When asked about his plans, the former mayor told The Times in February that he would be honored to serve again. He provided a glimpse of potential areas of focus for his gubernatorial campaign  education, poverty and Californians left behind in the new economy.

Villaraigosa served as mayor of Los Angeles for eight years. During his tenure, the city struggled to cope with plummeting revenues amid the nations economic downturn. He wrestled for concessions from public employee unions that were necessary, in part, because of raises that Villaraigosa approved before the recession.

Villaraigosa successfully led the campaign for Measure R, a $35-billion transportation package passed by voters in 2008 that imposed a countywide half-cent sales tax. The measure is credited with reshaping the region's notoriously inefficient transit system. Under his watch, the city also hired hundreds of new police officers and violent crime plummeted.

He considered a run for governor in 2010, as well as a U.S. Senate bid after Barbara Boxer announced her retirement. He eventually dismissed both.

Status: Expected to run.

John Chiang

State Treasurer John Chiang (Irfan Kahn / Los Angeles Times )

Top Jobs: Elected as state treasurer in 2014 after serving two terms as the state controller.

Biggest splash: Docked state legislators' pay for failing to pass a balanced budget on time.

Family tragedy: Chiangs sister, Joyce, a government lawyer in Washington, D.C., was murdered in 1999.

Particulars: Chiang, 53, is married and lives in Torrance. He graduated from the University of South Florida and Georgetown University Law Center.

Chiang has been elected to statewide office three times: twice as controller and as state treasurer in 2014. When speaking to business leaders last month, Chiang said he was strongly leaning toward a run for governor.

The eldest son of Taiwanese immigrants, Chiang grew up in Chicago and New York and moved west after earning his law degree. He worked for then-Controller Gray Davis and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. In 1998, he won a seat on the Board of Equalization, which oversees the collection of tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue. It was his first time in elected office.

As controller, Chiang made headlines in 2011 when he decided to dock state lawmakers' pay after they failed to produce a balanced spending plan by the June 15 deadline.

Two years earlier, Chiang also made news by refusing an order by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to furlough state workers three days a month amid the state budget crisis. The courts ultimately overruled Chiang, but his action made him a hero to organized labor.

Status: He's running.

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Kevin Faulconer

Top jobs: Elected mayor of San Diego in 2014. Formerly a San Diego City Council member and public relations executive at Porter Novelli.

Biggest splash: A Republican elected mayor in a heavily Democratic big city.

Political roadblocks: He is not well known outside San Diego and has a reputation for playing it safe.

Particulars: Faulconer, 48, lives in Point Loma with his wife and two children. He is a graduate of San Diego State University.

Faulconer rose to power in San Diego after his predecessor, Democrat Bob Filner, was forced to resign mid-term in 2013 amid accusations of sexual harassment.

Faulconer is currently running for reelection, a race he is expected to win. He has been mum about any plans to run for governor.

The very fact that a Republican was elected in the Democratic city elevated his stature within the California GOP, a party in desperate need of strong, top-shelf candidates. No Republican has won an election for statewide office in California since 2006.

Faulconer has bucked the national Republican line on two key issues. He was a strong supporter of the citys climate action plan to cut carbon emissions over the next 20 years to rely exclusively on renewable energy. He also advocates for a so-called pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

However, the San Diego mayor toed his party's line when he vetoed the San Diego City Councils effort to raise the minimum wage.

Status: Likely to run.

Eric Garcetti

Top jobs: Elected mayor of Los Angeles in 2013. Served as president of the Los Angeles City Council.

All in the family: Son of former Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

Hot seat: Criticized for taking a trip to Washington, D.C., last year amid demonstrations over a police shooting of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man.

Particulars: Garcetti, 44, is married and lives in Los Angeles. He was a Rhodes Scholar and earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Columbia University. Garcetti, a Democrat, served in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Garcetti is busy raising money for his 2017 mayoral reelection campaign, but he is widely believed to have aspirations for higher office  possibly California governor or the U.S. Senate, if Sen. Dianne Feinstein retires.

A big hitch for Garcetti is timing. The governors race will be well underway while Garcetti seeks a second term as L.A.s mayor.

The most ambitious policy initiative of Garcettis term as mayor was his successful push to raise L.A.'s minimum wage, which after some adjustments by the City Council will increase to $15 an hour by 2020. Garcetti also scored political victories with expanded earthquake safety regulations for apartment buildings and plans to restore the Los Angeles River.

Still, the mayor has faced criticism for failing to respond adequately to the citys growing homeless population and to the controversial police shooting of Ford. Violent crime in the city also rose by 20% in 2015.

Status: May run.

Tom Steyer

San Francisco billionaire and environmental advocate Tom Steyer speaks in Los Angeles in July 2014. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Top jobs: Steyer formerly ran the hedge fund Farallon Capital Management and is president of environmental advocacy organization NextGen Climate.

Wallet size: He has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Baggage: Farallon Capital Management pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into companies running coal mines and coal-fired power plants overseas.

Particulars: Steyer, 57, is married with four children and lives in San Francisco. A Democrat, he is a graduate of Yale University and earned his Master of Business Administration at Stanford University.

Steyer transformed himself from a billionaire hedge fund titan to one of the most aggressive environmental activists in the U.S.

He was the nation's biggest individual donor in the 2014 elections, spending more than $74 million on congressional and gubernatorial contests across the country and pledging to make climate change a top issue in hotly contested races.

Steyer left Farallon Capital Management in 2012, saying he wanted to focus his work on alternative energy. His NextGen Climate Action organization is touting an effort to boost the use of renewable energy nationwide to 50% by 2030.

Steyer contributed $1 million to a proposed statewide ballot initiative to add a $2-per-pack cigarette tax to help fund research and health care and smoker cessation programs. He recently joined the board of Latino Victory Fund, a political action committee that supports Latino candidates.

Steyer was considering a run for U.S. Senate after Sen. Barbara Boxer announced her retirement, but he opted not to run after Democratic state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris jumped into the race.

Status: May run.

Ashley Swearengin

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, the Republican nominee for California state controller. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Top job:Elected mayor of Fresno in 2008 and was reelected four years later.

GOP star: In the 2014 state controller's race, she received the most votes in the June primary election, but lost in the general election.

Backed Brown: Supported Democratic Gov. Jerry Browns push for a high-speed rail network.

Particulars: Swearengin, 43, lives in Fresno and is married with two children. She has a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Cal State Fresno.

Swearengin was Fresno mayor at the height of the nations financial meltdown, and is credited with steering the city away from bankruptcy, a fate Stockton and San Bernardino could not avoid. During that time, Swearengin cut back the city payroll and convinced unionized city employees to contribute more for their pensions.

Because of those accomplishments, she remains one of the state Republican Party's brightest prospects for statewide office.

As a teen, she moved with her family to Fresno, the states fifth largest city. There she attended a local high school and Cal State Fresno, then worked on a series of efforts to help area businesses and improve the region's chronic unemployment. In 2005, she joined the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, a public-private working group created by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In her 2014 bid for state controller, Swearengin received the most votes of any candidate in the primary election  besting the top two Democrats in the race, Board of Equalization member Betty Yee and former Assembly Speaker John A. Perez.

That provided a glimmer of hope for the Republican Party, but it was short-lived. In the November election, Yee won handily.

Status: May run.

Steve Westly

Top Jobs: Former state controller and eBay executive who is now a Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

Prior run: Spent $35 million of his own money in a failed 2006 gubernatorial bid.

Baggage: Sought to help advertising startup executive Gurbaksh Chahal during Chahal's domestic violence case.

Particulars: Westly, 59, is married and lives in Atherton. He gradated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree and has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Westly, a Democrat who runs a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, has been eager to return to public office since he lost the 2006 Democratic primary for governor.

San Jose Inside, a politics blog, reported last April that Westly told a few dozen technology executives and others at a private gathering in Atherton that hed made up his mind to run.

Westly is a longtime Democratic Party activist who made a fortune as an early executive at eBay Inc. He was elected state controller in 2002.

Westly has not run for public office since 2006, so reintroducing himself to the California electorate could be a difficult, expensive task.

In November, Ms. Magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem and other womens rights activists urged Westly not to run for governor. They alleged Westly sought leniency for Chahal, who was accused of hitting his girlfriend 100 times. Westly was a board member at the company Chahal led.

Westly said he supported Chahals eventual dismissal, and said he has been a strong supporter of programs to help victims of domestic violence.

Status: May run.

Longshots:

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Democrat.

California Controller Betty Yee, Democrat.

California Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, Democrat.

Former California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, Republican.

Former California Treasurer Phil Angelides, Democrat.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Democrat.

Moonshots:

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Republican.

phil.willon@latimes.com

Follow @philwillon on Twitter for the latest news on California politics

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Im Christina Bellantoni, welcoming you to the week with todays Essential Politics.

Theres one question Tuesdays elections might answer: Will Fridays bizarre and gripping events and the reverberations over the weekend that showcased campaign trail tensions influence voters?

The violence  and predictable political reactions to it  felt almost inevitable given the simmering anger thats been stirred up across America.

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Cathy Decker wrote Sunday that as Donald Trump himself suggested, the latest controversy very likely will cement support for him among his backers, who have already weathered disputes over his caustic criticisms of ethnic groups, women, the disabled and the pope, to mention a few. Their allegiance is apt to only harden if they believe that their leader, and they by extension, are under attack.

But as weve been reporting, progressive groups say they are just getting started. Kate Linthicum gets to the bottom of the coalition that organized the protest that upended the weekend.

And Trump, whose weekend rallies kept up the raucous feeling, suggested he might pay the legal fees for one of his supporters who is charged with assaulting a protester.

This weekend seemed as good a time as any to update our flowchart tracking who is for and who is against Trump, especially as Mitt Romney plans to show up on the campaign trail with Ohio Gov. John Kasich today. (And by the way, the governor is finally getting the Trump attack treatment).

As he has for much of this campaign, this weekend Trump dominated everything  even a Democratic town hall.

For their part, camps for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are wondering whether Michigan was a fluke or a tipping point.

Our team kept up with every twist and turn Saturday and Sunday, talking with voters and taking you inside campaign events.

TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Don Lee and Jim Puzzanghera examine how if he actually reaches the White House, the sheer size of Trumps business holdings, his active role in varied companies and his knack for self-promotion will pose unprecedented political, financial and ethical challenges.

A MATH GAME

Our team will be tracking the action leading up to the elections in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina on Trail Guide, with hundreds of delegates up for grabs.

 How does the delegate process work, and why do we hear so much about them during the election? We broke down the process for you using Peeps. Track the delegate race and see also: The Iowa caucus explained using gummy bears For more, go to latimes.

Are you voting in one of the states holding contests Tuesday? Send us your photos and tweets, or share what youre seeing at the polls.

Were tracking the delegate race bit by bit. But because the process can also be a little confusing, we produced another candy-themed political video to help make the delegate process as clear as  well, marshmallow.

Heres everything you wanted to know about how it works, explained using Peeps.

HITTING THE BRAKES ON UBER AND LYFT BILLS

State Sen. Ben Hueso, among the staunchest advocates for more regulations on Uber and Lyft, has used his power as chairman of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee to stall two widely supported ride-sharing bills.

Hueso, a Democrat from San Diego, says his personal experience with the transportation industry gives him insight into ride-sharing, but it stems from his familys taxicab business  one of the largest in San Diego. And the taxi company owned by Huesos brothers is suing the state over an issue that one of the bills seeks to address.

The lawmaker told Liam Dillon that he expected to lose his battle for greater ride-sharing regulations because of Uber and Lyfts popularity.

A REAL RACE IN SAN BERNARDINO

Fallout from last years SB 350 climate change fight is hitting one Southern California Democrat, Christine Mai-Duc reports. Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, one of a contingent of self-described moderate Democrats who held back support of the bill until a controversial oil provision was removed, is facing a potentially bruising reelection fight against a progressive outsider whos earned the backing of some environmental groups and labor unions.

SCOUTING SCOTUS

This could well be the week when we know President Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court, a person who at this point would generate a lot of attention without actually ever generating a confirmation hearing.

Sarah Wire talked with Californias senators  who have voted on six of the eight sitting justices  about the unusual situation they find themselves in. Its particularly poignant for retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, who didnt expect shed be facing a Supreme Court showdown in her final months in office. Boxer reflects on how Anita Hills testimony and the all-male Judiciary Committee is the reason she ended up in the Senate.

FAMILIAR PLAYERS RESURFACE

Hes back. Former state assemblyman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly is returning to politics with a last-minute bid challenging Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley). Donnelly, a former leader in the Minuteman border patrol group and tea party favorite, could benefit from votes mobilized by Trumps candidacy.

And former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who saw his convictions for perjury and voter fraud thrown out two months ago, has another curveball in store for the San Fernando Valley: Hes running for Congress against Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles).

A TOBACCO REFERENDUM IN NOVEMBER?

An intriguing story line emerged at the end of last week in the state Capitol: Could Big Tobacco be planning referendum measures asking the voters to overturn the newly approved package of tobacco bills, including a boost in the smoking age to 21 and new regulations on e-cigarettes?

Patrick McGreevy reports on the email a tobacco lobbyist sent to legislative staffers warning a big, big political campaign could be brewing this November if Gov. Jerry Brown signs the measures into law over the next few days.

George Skelton also tackles tobacco in his Monday column, detailing the eye-popping $10 per signature the lobby is willing to spend to get the referendum on the ballot. You cant say you were not warned, read the email threat.

PODCAST: POLITICAL SMOKE SIGNS

That big battle showed that the politics of tobacco in California are more complicated than you might think. Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers leads a discussion on this weeks California Politics Podcast that looks at the tricky tobacco negotiations among Democrats, as well as discussions about other big bills and the leadership team chosen by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. Remember that you can subscribe to the weekly podcast.

TODAYS ESSENTIALS

-- Californias snack tax may be back, if one legislator has her way and voters agree in 2018.

-- Our newest reporter Del Quentin Weber describes how the assassination attempt forever changed Nancy Reagan.

-- Cathy Decker, David Lauter and I did a podcast last week about the medias Trump obsession.

-- Cindy Carcamo details how immigration is particularly personal this year for Californias Cuban American community, especially because two Cuban American presidential candidates have tried to outdo each other by taking an increasingly harder line on immigration.

-- Trumps lawyers on Friday contested an Orange County womans request to withdraw from a lawsuit she filed against Trump University, claiming the entire case was built around her and it would be unfair to the defense for her to bail out now.

-- A new Treasury Department savings program aims to close the gap for the nearly half of California workers who dont have a retirement savings plan available at work.

LOGISTICS

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State Sen. Jeff Stone remembers vividly where he was when he heard that pop singer Nat King Cole had died.

He was on the Santa Ana Freeway in the back seat of his mothers car, headed from Anaheim to Los Angeles to visit his grandparents. It was Feb. 15, 1965, and he was 9.

I was alarmed that Nat King Cole had died of cancer from smoking, the Temecula Republican remembers. My mom was smoking in the car.

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I said, Mom, Nat King Cole just died of lung cancer. Why are you smoking? She said, Its a very bad habit and I should quit. Ive tried but I cant.

She eventually quit, but not until 15 years later. She died at 57 after her lung cancer spread to her liver.

Stone, 60, says he has never smoked, although, I remember trying.

In elementary school my best friend Mark and I went to a park and tried to smoke cigarettes. I threw up all over the place. My friend has smoked ever since. He has terrible emphysema.

Stone, a pharmacist, mentioned the Cole story on the Senate floor last week as lawmakers debated landmark anti-smoking legislation. They passed six bills and sent them to a non-committal Gov. Jerry Brown.

Stone was the only Republican to vote for the two biggest bills: One to increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21, the other to regulate nicotine-laced electronic cigarettes like tobacco.

I dont always vote the party line, the senator told me. My constituents come first.

Stone told his colleagues that tobacco companies spent $9 billion on advertising in 2012 and that 90% of smokers start their addictive habit before 18. By 21, he maintained, they would know more about smokings dangers.

And he contended that those cute electronic vapor devices with their yummy flavors are a gateway to killer tobacco.

But Stone voted with fellow Republicans against another bill: To allow counties to seek voter approval of a local tobacco tax aimed at discouraging smoking. He says thats because there was no guarantee the tax revenue would be spent on anti-smoking programs or treatment of tobacco-related ailments.

Bill sponsors contend that each county should decide how to spend its money. But this also gets into practical politics.

Under mind-boggling California law, a local tax that raises money for a specific purpose  such as healthcare  requires a two-thirds vote. If its for a general purpose and dumped into one big pot, only a simple majority vote is needed. So counties are leery of tying legal strings to a tax proposal.

Stone also says he would vote against a statewide tobacco tax increase. That would unfairly punish the poor who are addicted to cigarettes, he says. If its a choice between food and cigarettes, theyd go with cigarettes.

Thats logical if the tobacco tax were to be spent for the gamut of government, including schools and jails. But if its targeted for anti-smoking programs, healthcare or cancer research  things that help the addicted  a higher tobacco tax makes lots of sense.

There almost certainly will be a hefty tobacco tax proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot.

A broad coalition led by San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer  the nations largest individual campaign donor in 2014  and including cancer, heart, physician, hospital and union interests is collecting signatures to qualify an initiative for the ballot.

The measure would increase Californias cigarette tax by $2 per pack and raise similar levies on other nicotine products, including e-cigs. The states current 87 cents per pack tobacco tax is among the lowest in the nation.

The higher tax would raise up to $1.6 billion annually. Most would be spent on improving government healthcare programs. The rest would be used for anti-smoking education, cancer research and enforcing tobacco laws.

The governor and Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) tried to negotiate a deal with the tobacco lobby to allow the Legislature to pass its own tax increase. Yes, the nicotine peddlers are that powerful in the Capitol, especially among Republicans whose help is needed to raise any tax.

Brown and De Leon separately suggested the tax hike could be lower than $2 per pack. Perhaps some of the anti-tobacco legislation might be snuffed. The initiative could be scuttled, sparing both sides from spending tens of millions of dollars on a ballot fight.

But the lobbyists insisted on an ironclad guarantee that there wouldnt be another tax hike attempt for several years, say sources involved in the talks. That assurance was impossible to give. Any citizen can sponsor an initiative.

So the tobacco lobby didnt bite. Well, yes it did in one way. At least, it barked.

It threatened to drive up the price of qualifying initiatives for the ballot. How? Sponsoring a ballot measure to repeal the anti-smoking bills and paying collectors an astronomical $10 per signature. That would hurt everyone elses signature collecting, including for the $2 tax.

You cant say you were not warned, reads an e-mail from a tobacco lobbyist to a legislative strategist that was slipped to me.

There are many numbing statistics about smoking deaths. But virtually everyone has seen a close friend, a relative or loved one die early  often miserably  because of nicotine.

Nat King Cole, a heavy smoker, was only 45 when he succumbed. His signature song was Unforgettable. Thats certainly what his death was for one Republican lawmaker.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesSkelton

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Updates from Sacramento
Two faces of the Ducks defense were not at practice while Cam Fowlers was clearly visible.

Defensemen Sami Vatanen and Kevin Bieksa did not practice Sunday and their availability is day to day, Coach Bruce Boudreau said. Vatanen was struck in the chin area during the Ducks loss to Colorado on Wednesday, and Bieksa left in the third period in the teams loss to St. Louis on Friday because of a lower-body injury.

I dont think either one of them is long term, Boudreau said. I think its a short-term thing, and hopefully theyll both be back by the end of the week.

The Ducks can fill in with Korbinian Holzer and Clayton Stoner, and also have Shea Theodore with their minor league team as they regroup for three games at home starting Monday against New Jersey. It will be a reboot for Fowler, who will no longer have the full face shield he has worn since March 5 to protect an injured nose.

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Fowler, who was a minus-four on Friday against St. Louis, didnt even make it to the end of practice before removing the shield. It fogged up in a warm Honda Center rink.

Its pretty much healed now and Im to the point where I need to get back to normal, Fowler said. Its bothering me a little bit too much.

Fowler said it was no excuse for anything that was going on with my play, but was eager to turn the page on all fronts. The Ducks have consecutive regulation losses for the first time since mid-December, and they happened after intense games against the Kings and Washington Capitals.

Boudreau didnt know if that was a factor in the Ducks cooling off after an 18-1-1 run.

I think we lost a little bit of our sense of urgency in the last week, and I think well get it back now, Boudreau said.

This is their first adversity since a 25-4-2 drive. But perhaps they are better equipped to manage a setback because they were 12-15-6 before Christmas.

Weve come a long way as a group and weve done it together, aside from a couple new faces here, Fowler said. Theres things that if you get through them together you come out on the right side of it stronger. I feel like weve bonded in certain ways going through something like that.

Brandon Pirri update

Brandon Pirri practiced with the team for the first time in his recovery from an ankle injury.

Boudreau said Pirri might be available for the Ducks five-game trip starting March 20. He has not played since Feb.13 and has yet to make his Ducks debut after being acquired from Florida at the trade deadline.

Its been a while, Pirri said. You dont want to force things too much. But the teams been going good, so Im just trying to get back into shape and wait for my opportunity.

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Update: Former Ducks wing Kyle Palmieri returns to Anaheim for the first time since he was traded at last years draft. Palmieri has career highs of 25 goals and 45 points. John Moore on Saturday joined Scott Niedermayer as the only defensemen in New Jersey Devils history with three overtime goals or more in a season.
Spring seekers can take a clue from the worlds ancestors, who always cast their gaze heavenward at the beginning of the loveliest season.

Maya, for instance, likely knew the vernal equinox would send a snake-like flame of light slithering along the staircases at Mexicos Chichen Itza, and whoever built Stonehenge may have lined up the rocks with heavenly light in mind (New Agers and neopagans these days flock to Stonehenge at sunrise to mark the day that brings nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world).

If you keep your eye on the sky about this time of year, expect to get good views of Jupiter, the gibbous moon (not quite fully illuminated) and the outline of the constellation Orion. Of course, telescopes are a must, and star parties may be a fun way to go.

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In Oregon, the Rose City Astronomers and Vancouver Sidewalk Astronomers are hosting free star-gazing parties March 19  with telescopes and folks who know what theyre talking about  at Rooster Rock (an hour east of Portland) and L.L. Stub Stewart (an hour northwest of Portland) state parks.

Info: www.rosecityastronomers.net

Closer to home, Death Valley is hosting a free three-day Celestial Centennial and MarsFest Symposium on April 8-10. There, experts will tell you just about everything you need to know about the solar system. NASA agencies, including the Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will reveal sites in the park that could be stand-ins for Mars.

At night, youll get help navigating the universe using telescopes as youre gathered around the campfire. Maybe this is how early man saw the heavens, with less magnification but no less sense of wonder and hope.

Info: The event is free, but you must register before you go.
If youre a bargain hunter and youre not hopping on the Canadian vacation bandwagon, perhaps you havent realized what the Canadian dollar is worth in greenbacks these days.

Its like everything is 30 or 40% off, said Kate Colley, a spokeswoman for the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia. You can go up a level in hotels, add the massage, eat at a fine restaurant, do the tasting menu. Its that level of feeling flush for U.S. tourists.

The Canadian currency is at a 12-year low, pushed down by that countrys slow economic growth and dropping oil prices. In the United States, meanwhile, the dollar rallied last year and has continued to remain strong. One U.S. dollar gets you about 1.33 Canadian dollars.

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Plus youll find some great deals to be had because Canada is eager for tourist dollars.

Dr. Brad Keeler, a surgeon based in Loveland, Colo., spent a few days in February skiing with friends in Whistler, British Columbia.

He estimated that this years Canadian weekend saved him $500 to $600 from the usual weekend trip. In years past they have gone to Lake Tahoe, Vail, Colo., and helicopter skiing in Nevada.

In Whistler, he would look at a menu or price tag and his first thought was that the cost was reasonable, but once he converted it to U.S. dollars, Id think, Oh, wait. Thats a bargain, he said.

Here are a few tips that can help travelers maximize their savings.

 There is a 5% goods and services tax, or GST, on most items in Canada, including hotel and restaurant bills. That can be avoided, however, if you live in the United States and a merchant is willing to ship your souvenirs to you.

 When deciding where in Canada to vacation, remember that some provinces and territories have their own sales taxes. The cumulative tax on most things is 5% in Alberta, the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories; 10% in Saskatchewan; 12% to 13% in British Columbia (theres an extra 1% on most hotel rooms); 13% in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario; 14% in Prince Edward Island; and 15% in Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Similarly, some areas in Canada have a municipal or regional tax, and potentially a lodging tax or marketing fee.

On hotel rooms, that can add up to an extra 3% in British Columbia and 4% to 7% in Alberta.

It may sound as though there is the potential for a lot of added costs, but its not dissimilar to hotel room taxes in many U.S. destinations. Even so, travelers from the United States can still realize a savings.

For instance, a weekend in April at the Four Seasons in Vancouver is available for U.S. $776 ($1,034 Canadian), including taxes and fees, compared with $2,230 for that same weekend at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Those same dates at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary, Alberta, would cost U.S. $270 ($360 Canadian) for the weekend, versus $1,060 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica.

Two plane tickets from Los Angeles to either Calgary or Vancouver would add about $450 to the cost of the weekend.

The $805 Calgary trip, including airfare, would save close to 20% over the Santa Monica visit. The Vancouver trip would total about $1,300, a savings of nearly 40% over a local stay.

American visitors, American dollars, are very welcome in Canada, Colley said.

travel@latimes.com
The Taiwanese government published a study Monday showing that areas of eight cities and counties, including about half of the capital, Taipei, are highly vulnerable to structural collapse in an earthquake.

The study was ordered last month after a mid-strength earthquake killed 116 people in a collapsed apartment tower. That prompted a wide-ranging examination of earthquake preparedness, including the possibility of risks because of lax or inconsistent code enforcement.

Taiwan, despite material comforts and three decades of democracy, has let much of its development proceed with relatively light inspections compared with earthquake-prone peers such as Japan or California, engineers and historians say.

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Developers cut corners, and mixed-use high-rises let businesses use open ground-level space instead of putting in crucial support beams.

Officials say they have no estimates of the number of buildings facing risks from earthquakes that regularly shake the island of 23 million people.

But the publication Monday of a soil liquefaction study suggested the risk was greater than previously recognized. Liquefaction refers to a phenomenon that can occur during earthquake, causing the soil to move like a fluid instead of a solid. It poses a danger to any structures above.

Officials will spend $735 million over the next six years on improvements, the premiers spokesman said.

In 2013, then-Interior Minister Lee Hong-yuan warned that 4,000 structures could fall in a magnitude 6.3 quake, and many quakes around the Pacific Rim are significantly stronger.

Whether the government can offer incentives to help homeowners to do quake retrofits, in the future thats an important step for improvement in the cities, said Li Wei-sen, chief secretary of Taiwans National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction. The premier, he said, has indicated immediate need for inspections of older buildings.

In Tainan, the city worst hit by the recent quake, inspectors have found 86 unsafe buildings since February. In the neighboring city of Kaohsiung, five bridges were closed after the magnitude 6.4 quake, early on the morning of Feb. 6, shook much of southern Taiwan. Taiwan had earlier ordered retrofits of 2,400 schools.

Im worried, said Huang Yu-ling, an insurance worker who lives in Tainan. I hope that before putting up any more buildings, the government will announce soil conditions and developers will consider safety over short-term interests.

Her concern reflects that of much of Taiwan, where assigning blame has become a focal point since the last bodies were recovered from the fallen tower.

Safety issues go back about 40 years. Before 1980, Taiwan was relatively poor, had few professional architects and lacked understanding of quake safety, said New Taipei City-based publisher and historian Yang Lian-fu, whose doctoral thesis focused on population shifts.

Since the 1980s, building companies that are publicly traded or backed by government agencies typically follow quake safety codes, Yang said. The codes were strengthened to U.S. levels in 1999 after Taiwans worst quake in recent memory killed about 2,400 people. According to Li, Taiwans seismic codes now match Californias, which are significantly more robust than those for the U.S. overall.

But Yang said that smaller firms, about half the total, may cut corners and use connections in local government to get permits.

They know you, so they wont check all the way, Yang said of the permitting authorities. Only if the developers are good-hearted people will their quality be good.

Taiwan is unsafe as well because of its thousands of mixed-use buildings. Stores or offices on lower floors forsake crucial beams or walls to give themselves open space. If the ground floor buckles, everything above it can slip or collapse. Some structures are completely unlicensed.

Every buildings design and specifications are different, said Cheng Ming-chang, director of Tainan citys Civil Engineering Assn. Quake safety is not about how old a building is, but about its overall design and construction. Id advise everyone to get a checkup of their home.

When U.S.-based Degenkolb Engineers sent a team from California to check the Tainan quake damage for research and education purposes, it found severe irregularities in the buildings, such as weak floors and torsional problems, meaning exterior walls arranged in ways that allow structures to twist during quakes, firm principal Daniel Zepeda said.

The Tainan district prosecutors office is investigating three suspects associated with construction of the collapsed 17-story apartment tower, which was built partly on oil cans. The quakes impact in Tainan, some distance from the epicenter, was the equivalent of magnitude 5.

Remodeling on the collapsed buildings ground level and second floor may have weakened the structure as well, local media say, though the prosecutor would not comment on that element. When a building falls over, there have got to be a lot of reasons, prosecutors office spokesman Chen Chien-hung said.

Suspects could be charged with negligence after the investigation ends in about a month. The towers developer also owns 30 other properties in Tainan.

Government officials acknowledge they do not plan to check every structure in Taiwan. That work would be left to individual property owners, who may hesitate because of retrofitting costs or difficulty reaching agreement among multiple owners to share expenses.

Jennings is a special correspondent.
Some of the largest antigovernment demonstrations Brazil has seen took place Sunday, after long-standing accusations of corruption against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva crystallized into formal charges against him last week.

Lula was charged with money laundering and criminal misrepresentation last week. Though he denies any wrongdoing, the scandal now threatens to engulf his successor, President Dilma Rousseff.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

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Hundreds of thousands gathered Sunday to protest in cities and towns across Brazil, with 100,000 reported in Brasilia, and an estimated 500,000 in Sao Paulo -- the largest demonstration held in that city, according to pollsters Datafolha. The previous record was held by a Diretas Ja (Direct Elections Now) protest in 1984, toward the end of the countrys 21-year military dictatorship, with 400,000 people in attendance, according to the same group.

Demonstrators demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil, on Sunday. (Eraldo Peres / Associated Press)

Across Brazil, upward of 1.3 million people were estimated to be out on the streets Sunday to call for Rouseffs ouster and Lulas imprisonment.

In a sign of the volatility of the political times, powerful center-right politicians joined the Sao Paulo demonstration only to find themselves booed and jeered at. People seem to be in an Out With Them All mood, Luciana Genro, a member of Congress and founder of the Socialism and Liberty Party, tweeted. If Car Wash continues and goes all the way, the political caste will fall, she wrote, referring to Operation Car Wash, the name given to the corruption investigation into bribes and kickbacks at Brazils partly state-owned oil giant, Petrobras.

Demonstrators throng Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday to demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. (Andre Penner / Associated Press)

I want Dilma out, but we have a serious problem: There is no leader we can believe in. There is an impasse. We need a leader, a powerful leader, perhaps someone new, said Liege Carrela, 57, an architect, speaking in the thick of the crowd on Avenida Paulista.

From a series of large, well-organized platforms atop large trucks, each organized by a different element of the right-wing opposition movement, speaker after speaker decried government corruption, in many cases employing highly charged rhetoric. Lula says he knows nothing! shouted one speaker, his words amplified by a large sound system that sent them echoing down the streets on either side of the avenue. But I see no one here with the word idiot branded on their forehead. They take us for fools! he roared.

A demonstrator shouts slogans against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during a protest at Rio de Janeiros Copacabana beach. (Silvia Izquierdo / Associated Press)

The protests, planned by a loose coalition of new, right-wing political organizations, take place against the backdrop of an economic recession that may be the worst in Brazilian history, according to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo. By the end of the year, Brazils economy will have shrunk by 8.7%, after 11 consecutive quarters of contraction, the paper warned.

I want to see a big political shock, said protester Dalton Sales, 37, an economist at Citibank. There has to be a big change. I know its going to be difficult, but as a Brazilian, I always have hope that we can change for the better.

All around, protesters, who were for the most part white and visibly affluent, held signs and banners reading, Dilma Out, I want my country back, Hunger for Change, and Moro: Pride of Brazil, referring to Judge Sergio Moro, head of Operation Car Wash. Others brandished blowup dolls of Lula and Rousseff in prison garb. The atmosphere was cheerful, almost euphoric at times, and the crowd chanted and sang. Families could be seen taking selfies and group photographs. But some of the imagery was oddly violent. Thousands in the crowd wore paper masks depicting Lula and Rousseff as gray-faced zombies, blood oozing between Lulas bared teeth.

Hundreds of thousands gathered Sunday in antigovernment protests in cities and towns across Brazil. (Raphael Alves / AFP/Getty Images)

[Dilma] knew what was going on in her government, its impossible that she didnt, engineer Renato Castro, 61, said. I would prefer for her to resign, but she will never do that, so she has to be forced out.

At the Maksoud Plaza hotel, a block from the packed, seething Avenida Paulista, a newly formed committee made up of politicians and members of antigovernment groups convened to discuss the next steps toward Rousseffs impeachment.

If the presidential impeachment process, already underway, is successful this year, Vice President Michel Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party would become president. Should he be excluded for any reason, new presidential elections would be called  potentially disastrous in the year that Brazil is scheduled to host the Olympic Games.

If impeachment does succeed, but not until 2017, then a new president would be chosen by Congress.

Another possibility -- supported by opposition politicians, including former presidential candidate and current member of Congress Marina Silva -- is the quashing of Rousseffs 2014 election victory by the Supreme Court. Silva may be in the best position to win, say some commentators, in a snap election now.

New Zealand tourists David Webb, 26, a business advisor, and Laura Davies, 27, a civil engineer, had stumbled on the demonstration by accident on their third day in the city. Emulating some of the demonstrators around them, they had taken selfies with police officers and also with some guys in army fatigues. Informed that the protesters in military dress were probably members of extremist groups calling for military intervention, who are always present at the antigovernment protests, Davies face fell.

Oh, she said. Thats a lot more intense than I had realized.

Rigby is a special correspondent.

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In a surprise announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the withdrawal of most Russian troops from Syria beginning Tuesday, less than six months after Moscows war planes began bombarding forces arrayed against the Syrian government.

Putin described the move in a televised meeting as a bid to expedite the Syrian peace process. A new round of peace talks began Monday in Geneva, backed by both Moscow and the United States.

Putin gave no timetable for the pullout, other than saying it would begin Tuesday. Russia reportedly has some 4,000 military personnel in Syria.

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We have paved the way for the peace process, Putin said on Russian television during a meeting in Moscow in which he was flanked by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The withdrawal announcement comes as Syria nears the fifth anniversary of the conflict, which began in March 2011, morphing from street protests and a subsequent government crackdown to a brutal guerrilla campaign across much of the country. A fragile cessation of hostilities has been in effect in Syria since Feb. 27, leading to a major reduction in violence, according to U.S. and Russian officials. Both nations backed the cease-fire.

The Russian president lauded the military campaign in Syria, saying the effort had allowed President Bashar Assads government to retake hundreds of towns and villages and resulted in the destruction of opposition arms depots and oil routes, among other accomplishments.

Putin expressed confidence that the Syrian military and its allies  who served as boots on the ground as Russian war planes attacked from the skies  would be able to hold and consolidate gains made in recent months.

At this point, the U.S. doesnt expect the Russian military will depart Syria in the coming months, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments.

U.S. intelligence officials believe Putin has ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria to pressure Assad to step aside and allow another government friendly to Moscow to come to power. Russias departure from Syria would likely result in the loss of territorial gains by Assads forces over the last six months.

Washington officials have harshly criticized Russias involvement in the Syria war. President Obama has called for Assad to step down and has provided money and arms to rebels fighting to oust the Syrian leader.

But the Russian intervention has strengthened Assads hold on the country. At least 60% of Syrians still in the country reside in government-controlled areas, according to various estimates, including Damascus, the capital; Homs; western Aleppo; and the Mediterranean coastal area.

The Russian deployment to Syria also became a showcase for some of Moscows latest military hardware, from fighter jets to cruise missiles to tanks.

The major Russian military installations in Syria  an air base in northwest Latakia province and a naval base in the port city of Tartous  would continue operating, Tass reported. It was unclear if Russian airstrikes would continue.

Russia has conducted thousands of airstrikes since it began its Syrian air campaign Sept. 30. Russia said it was striking terrorists, but U.S. officials said the Russian warplanes were also hitting so-called moderate rebels backed by Washington and its allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Russia insisted that its strikes were exclusively against terrorist groups such as Nusra Front, the official Al Qaeda franchise in Syria, and Islamic State, the breakaway Al Qaeda faction that controls territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq. But rebels backed by the United States and its allies often cooperate on the Syrian battlefield with Al Qaeda-style factions like as Nusra Front.

The pace of Russian airstrikes has slowed considerably since the Feb. 27 cease-fire. Since then, violence in the country has declined by as much as 90%, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said during the weekend.

Just before the cease-fire was proclaimed, pro-government Syrian forces seemed poised to encircle the northern city of Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control for almost four years. Russian air power also helped choke off rebel supply routes from neighboring Turkey, a fact that drew protests from Turkey, a major backer of rebel factions in Syria.

In November, Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane over the Syrian-Turkish border area, drawing angry condemnations from Moscow. Relations between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia have been on the decline ever since. Russia has accused Turkey of aiding terrorist groups, including Islamic State, an allegation denied by Ankara.

Syrian state news agency SANA said that the withdrawal was decided by Putin and Assad during a phone call.

The two sides, SANA reported, agreed to lower [the number] of Russian Air Force in Syria in [a way] that complements the current field stage and the continuation of the cessation of hostilities.

The Syrian government has extended so-called reconciliation deals to thousands of former rebels, affording them the opportunity to return to civilian life in state-held areas with amnesty in exchange for laying down their arms or joining pro-government forces. The pace of reconciliation deals has accelerated in recent months, the government says.

Critics insist, however, that the reconciliation deals are little more than forced surrender and are taken to prevent starvation in opposition areas caused by the governments use of siege tactics.

Among the many foreign Islamist militants in Syria are several thousand Russian citizens, Moscow says. Russia said part of its motivation in Syria was to insure that Russian nationals radicalized in Syria did not return home to promote violence and instability on Russian soil.

Still, the Russian air campaign drew withering criticism from the Obama administration, which said Moscows move was impeding process toward peace in Syria. At one point, Obama said Russia risked getting bogged down in a quagmire in Syria.

Nonetheless, Russia has been a major partner with the United States in trying to promote a peace process in Syria.

The Syrian conflict has helped destabilize the region and prompted more than 4 million Syrians to flee the country, contributing to a refugee crisis in Europe.

Nobody knows what is in #Putins mind, but the point is he has no right to be in our country in the first place, Salim Muslet, spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition umbrella group at the peace talks in Geneva, said on the groups Twitter page.

Meanwhile, opposition activists reported that impromptu celebrations had broken out across opposition-held areas of the country after the news of Russias withdrawal announcement.

Analysts noted that Russia could decide to bolster forces in Syria anew if anti-government forces posed a renewed threat to Damascus.

Russia keeps track of the situation in Syria, and the Russian president can make a decision to beef up our [military grouping] there, Viktor Ozerov, a Federation Council official on defense and security told RIA Novosti news agency.

Times staff writer McDonnell and special correspondent Bulos reported from Beirut and special correspondent Mirovalev from Moscow. Times staff writer Brian Bennett in Washington contributed to this report.

Twitter: @mcdneville

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Palestinian American member of Islamic State surrenders, Iraqi general says
A Palestinian American member of Islamic State gave himself up to Iraqi Kurdish forces in the countrys north Monday, an Iraqi Kurdish general said, a rare instance of a voluntary surrender of a militant fighting with the extremist group in Iraq.

The man had been lurking near the peshmerga lines since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, which are playing key role  along with the Iraqi military  in battling the extremist Islamic State group.

Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

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Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up, Helkani said, adding that the man is a Palestinian American who was fighting with Islamic State in Iraq. The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from Islamic State militants late last year.

Helkani identified the man as Mohammed Jamal Amin and said he was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cellphones and three forms of identification, including a U.S. drivers license. The fighter is being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation, Helkani added.

The Iraqi Kurdish general did not provide further details or a hometown for the man but a photograph of the fighters American drivers license was posted on social media sites, identifying him as Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 27, from Alexandria, Va.

The discrepancy between the fighters family name on the license and the one provided by the Kurdish general could not immediately be reconciled. His first name was also spelled differently.

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In grainy cellphone footage, also posted on social media shortly after the surrender, the man is seen surrounded by Iraqi Kurdish troops and confirming that he is from the United States and that he is Palestinian. In response to an interrogators question, he says he was in the city of Mosul, which is under Islamic State control.

Though rare in Iraq, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State in neighboring Syria have told the Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of Islamic State members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Last week, Brett McGurk, President Obamas envoy to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, announced that Islamic State had lost more than 1,158 square miles of territory in Syria and more than 600 fighters over the last month.

In Iraq, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the last few weeks. Iraqi officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraqs north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully liberated by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition officials last month.

Islamic State still controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria and has declared an Islamic caliphate on the territory it holds. The extremist group also controls Iraqs second largest city, Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

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Afghan peace talks get a boost with Taliban rival signing on

Turkey carries out airstrikes after deadly bombing in Ankara

As Syrian peace talks near, Bashar Assads future remains a sticking point
The system for disciplining abusive or corrupt Border Patrol agents and officers is so flawed that it hardly acts to deter criminal misconduct in the nations largest law enforcement agency, according to an independent task force that investigated the problems.

The teams 49-page final report will be submitted Tuesday to a homeland security advisory council that commissioned it, and then given to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. A copy was obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Critics long have accused U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, of ignoring or downplaying abuses by agents and officers, including shootings of unarmed people, and of doing too little to stem systematic corruption by drug cartels, smugglers and other criminals.

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The report argues that corrupt Border Patrol agents pose a national security threat by failing to protect the country from the threat of international terrorism.

Cartels and other groups attempt to target, recruit and corrupt law enforcement personnel who then can facilitate the smuggling of drugs and people and other criminal activity, the report states. Such corrupt officials can assist the cartels by providing intelligence and facilitating the movement of large amounts of contraband across our borders and into our country.

On average, an investigation of alleged serious misconduct by a Border Patrol agent takes more than a year and a half, far too long to be an effective deterrent, the report states.

The discipline system is broken, it concludes.

The 10-member integrity advisory panel was headed by William J. Bratton, the former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and now the police commissioner of New York City, and Karen Tandy, the former administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection employs more than 60,000 people, including 44,000 armed law enforcement officers. It was created by merging agencies in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The latest report follows an interim report from the same group last spring that recommended 14 changes at Customs and Border Protection in an effort to curb corruption and other problems.

Unfortunately ... implementation of the principal interim recommendations needed to harden CPB against threats of public corruption have not been completed, the new document says.

The report makes 39 additional recommendations, contending they are needed to eliminate the risks of endemic corruption and the use of unlawful and unconstitutional use of force.

Officials said the agency failed to ramp up its office of internal affairs and to accelerate the investigation of alleged wrongdoing.

Last year, Johnson gave additional criminal investigative authority to the internal affairs office, but it has not hired investigators quickly enough, the report says.

It recommends that internal affairs investigators should study patterns in use-of-force incidents to identify repeat offenders among agents and officers.

The panel concluded that the current system, which focuses on agents who use force more than three times in six months, to be insufficient.

The report also recommends that the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection should have the authority to immediately fire or suspend without pay agents and officers who have committed egregious, serious and flagrant misconduct, such as accepting bribes.

Currently, agents and officers are allowed to keep their jobs while under investigation.

The panel also suggested adding analysts to evaluate employee data for signs of corruption and more closely watching the conduct of Border Patrol agents stopping traffic at checkpoints in the U.S. interior far from the border.

It also urges expanding the use of a satellite-based monitoring system that tracks movements of Border Patrol trucks, boats and aircraft. The system, it says, also should be used to find agents who may be using equipment to help drug smugglers and human traffickers.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined comment, saying the report had not been officially released.

Chris Rickerd, an expert on border security at the American Civil Liberties Union, hailed the report as an urgent call for action at the nations largest police force, which has been plagued by integrity failures, including excessive force,

The ACLU has called for Border Patrol agents to wear cameras and release more information about their use of U.S. checkpoints far from the Northern and Southwest borders.

Shawn Moran, a vice president of the Border Patrol union, said investigations of agents should be resolved more quickly, but he disagreed with many other recommendations from the report.

The commissioner should not be given broad powers to fire or suspend agents without pay, he said, because it could be used to silence critics. Also, Moran argued, agents who use force frequently should not be singled out for more scrutiny.

Are agents supposed to hesitate and not defend themselves because someone set up an arbitrary threshold above which someone will be scrutinized? Moran said in a telephone interview from San Diego.

All this is going to do is further demoralize agents and create a disincentive to agents to go out there and do their job, he said.

Arrests of border agents and customs officers exceed, on a per capita basis, arrests at other law enforcement agencies, according to the report. More than 170 agency employees have faced corruption charges since 2005.

On Nov. 18, for example, Border Patrol agent Juan Pimentel was stopped while driving north of Tucson by an Arizona state trooper who allegedly found four black suitcases packed with cocaine in a rented Ford Expedition.

Pimentel told authorities he was offered $50,000 to drive the cocaine to Chicago, according to a criminal complaint. On Dec. 30, Pimentel pleaded not guilty to intent to distribute cocaine, carrying a firearm during a drug crime, and bribery of a public official.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

Follow me @ByBrianBennett on Twitter.

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A new round of Syrian peace talks, unfolding as the nations conflict marks its fifth year, opens Monday in Geneva with both sides as deadlocked as ever on a core issue: the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Sunday called the renewed talks a moment of truth.

The talks are beginning as a fragile, 2-week-old cessation of hostilities holds in Syria, reducing violence by 80% to 90%, according to the U.S. State Department. The partial cease-fire represents the most sustained curb in violence since the conflict erupted in March 2011.

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The limited truce has also allowed for deliveries of food and other humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Syrians in besieged communities, the United Nations says.

The conflict has left much of Syria in ruins, destabilized neighboring nations, and forced almost half the countrys prewar population of 23 million from their homes, spurring Europes worst refugee crisis since World War II. Estimated death tolls range from at least 200,000 to more than 300,000.

The war also produced a new generation of Sunni Muslim militants who pose a global threat.

Diplomats view both the limited cease-fire and resumed aid deliveries as key confidence-builders that could provide momentum to a long-stalled negotiations process.

But even before the scheduled start of the U.N.-sponsored negotiations, the opposition and Damascus have staked out apparently irreconcilable positions on Assads fate.

The main opposition bloc in Geneva, the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee, has made it clear that it views Assads departure as obligatory for any move toward a U.N. blueprint for a transitional government in Syria.

We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al Assad or his death, Mohammed Alloush, the committees chief negotiator, told reporters Saturday in Geneva.

In Damascus, the government declared that Assads future was not up for negotiation, and chided Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special envoy, for suggesting that new presidential balloting should be held within 18 months.

Neither he [the U.N. envoy] nor anyone else has the right to talk about presidential elections, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said at a news conference in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The fundamental dispute about Assads future helped scuttle U.N.-backed talks two years ago in Switzerland. Last month, a new series of Geneva talks was suspended before substantive talks ever began. Many are skeptical that this weeks sessions will be any more successful.

Still, a generalized sense is evident among many diplomats that the war has gone on too long and done far too much damage  fanning the European refugee crisis and producing Islamic State, the Al Qaeda breakaway faction that controls territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq. Islamic State has been linked to deadly attacks in Paris; Ankara, Turkey; and Beirut, as well as the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt.

All of us have come here united in our deep belief that the Syrian civil war must end, Kerry said during a meeting in Paris on Sunday with a number of his European counterparts. It is our sense that this is a moment of truth.

In recent months, the Obama administration has modified its demands that Assad step down at the start of any interim governing process, conceding that he may remain on the scene for some indeterminate period, though he would have to leave office eventually, the U.S. says. In December, Kerry declared in Moscow that the United States was not seeking regime change in Damascus.

In Paris, Kerry blamed Damascus for trying to sabotage the talks, but said the process must go forward. Both Russia and Iran, key patrons of the Syrian government, have backed the need for a political transition and new presidential elections in Syria, Kerry noted.

Not included in the ongoing cease-fire in Syria is Al Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, and Islamic State. Hard-line Islamist factions have come to dominate the armed opposition fighting to overthrow Assads secular administration.

Significantly, the Syrian cease-fire was brokered by officials in Moscow and Washington, who put pressure on their surrogate forces on the ground. Foreign sponsors will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting if a peace process is to be moved forward, analysts say.

Expecting Syrians to come to terms among themselves is not productive, said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma. The ideological, political differences between them are too great.

The Russian air offensive that began last fall has decisively shifted much of the battle in Assads favor, giving Damascus less incentive to negotiate, many analysts say. In the opposition camp, many still seem to harbor hope that some kind of foreign intervention on their behalf may allow for a battlefield victory, however unlikely at this point.

The resumed talks will be proximity talks, in which U.N. interlocutors visit the rival negotiating teams set up in different venues at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva. A political transition in Syria is at the top of the agenda, the U.N. says.

If the talks collapse, Kerry has hinted at a vague Plan B, possibly involving a partition of Syria  something that no major bloc in the multi-sided war has publicly backed.

It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer, Kerry told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee last month.

But De Mistura has said more violence would be the likely outcome should the talks falter.

The Plan B as far as we can see is just a continuation of a horrible conflict that goes on and on, De Mistura said in an interview with the English-language division of Al Jazeera, the satellite network. And you know who will be the real victims  the Syrian people.

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

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Comparing a political figure to Adolf Hitler may be the worst thing one could say about any political candidate, but it is nothing new.

For his extreme anti-migrant talk regarding Mexicans and Muslims, leading GOP candidate Donald Trump has been compared to Hitler by people as disparate as comedian Louis C.K. and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

To put these recent remarks in context, here are a few times in recent history when political figures have been compared to the Fuhrer.

Richard Nixon

In 1971, the year before the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon was described by his Democratic rival George McGovern as a warmonger like Hitler.

"Except for Adolf Hitler's extermination of the Jewish people, the American bombardment of defenseless peasants in Indochina is the most barbaric act of modern times," said McGovern.

After the arrests of the five agents who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, McGovern said Nixons involvement in the Watergate break-in was "the kind of thing you expect under a person like Hitler."

Ronald Reagan

In 1983, Cuban President Fidel Castro denounced the U.S. invasion of Grenada and compared Ronald Regans administration to Hitlers regime, while describing the American people as similar to German citizens under Nazi rule.

The communist leader said the American people were being ''grossly manipulated by their government as the people were in the era of German Fascism.''

George W. Bush

In 2004, the leftist group MoveOn.org was taken to task for running ads that compared Bush to Hitler. Virginian Rep. Eric Cantor found the group's comparison of Bush to Hitler exploitative and offensive.

Im disgusted by the casual use of Hitler by liberal Democrats and groups such as MoveOn.org, Cantor said. To compare any American president, much less George W. Bush, to Adolf Hitler, cheapens the sacrifice of millions of lives that have been lost by this country over its history and really denigrates the efforts by the American military.

Barack Obama

In 2007, presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee likened Obamas foreign policy to Hitlers planned extermination of European Jews.

This presidents foreign policy is the most feckless in American history," said the former preacher turned politician. "It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.

Godwins Law

Writer and attorney Michael Godwin has tracked the phenomena of Internet groups using Nazi analogies to disparage public personalities since the 1990s. Although he sees the overuse of the Nazi comparison as hyperbolic and ultimately ineffective, he believes the insulting comparison is OK, so long as it is informed by a real understanding of historical events.

If youre thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler or Nazis when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician, Godwin said.
Doctors battling the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil fear the rising number of infants being born with microcephaly are resulting in more young mothers being abandoned by their partners.

While the tragedy of poor children being forced to grow up without their biological father is nothing new in Brazil, where 1 in 3 children from poor families are forced to endure such circumstances, the onslaught of the virus has only made matters worse.

Health Services Already Under Strain

With health services already under strain, abortion prohibited, and the virus hitting the poorest hardest, an absent father is yet another harsh reality for many young mothers already struggling to cope with prospect of rearing a child who may never walk or talk.

Ianka Barbosa was 7 months pregnant when she found out her child had microcephaly. Before the baby was even born, the father had already abandoned them both.

The 18-year-old Barbosa now shares she feels the break-up came about because of her child's condition, which doctors have attributed to the Zika virus she contracted before giving birth.

"I think, for him, it was my fault the baby has microcephaly," she told Reuters.

At a nearby specialized microcephaly clinic in Campina Grande, psychologist Jacqueline Loureiro shares the situation Barbosa now finds herself in is nothing new. At the clinic, she works with some 41 women, many of them already battling extreme stress and traumatization.

Of the women she works with, she estimates only about 10 have the emotional support of their partner

"At first many of the women say they have a partner, but as you get to know them better you realize the father is never around and the baby and mother have effectively been abandoned," Loureiro said.

In Brazil, gender roles remain strictly defined and women still tend to care for the baby and look after the home. Anything that runs afoul of that tends to strain the dynamic, and having a child born with such a serious illness is proving to be no exception.

Data on Zika Still Scare

Much remains unknown about Zika, including whether it actually causes microcephaly in babies. What is known is since October there have been 745 cases of microcephaly reported in Brazil, with most of them being linked to Zika infections in the mothers. The government there adds it is currently investigating another 4,230 suspected cases of microcephaly.

The World Health Organization recently declared Zika a global health emergency. Up until then, no data had been kept on microcephaly on the toll it was exacting on parents everywhere.

The Latin Post previously reported the disease has now started to take its toll on the Latin America economy. With the Brazilian economy already in the midst of an exaggerated economic downturn, the outspread of microcephaly now has many pregnant women reconsidering their plans to visit the country, adding yet another drag on the tourism economy.

A new report recently revealed airline booking to Latin America noticeably declined after U.S. officials warned travelers about the Zika virus.

Overall, bookings to Latin America regions hit by the mosquito-borne virus fell by 3.4 percent compared to a year ago after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a travel advisory back in early February.

In all, the World Bank reports the virus could lead to at least a $3.5 billion downturn in the Latin America economy in 2016.
Donald Trump is disavowing any responsibility for the growing level of violence at his campaign events. Instead. he is saying he is simply the messenger speaking to the rising frustration among many Americans.

"We have protesters [that are] so mean," Trump told a crowd in Bloomington, Illinois on Sunday, marking his return to the state less than 48 hours after he was forced to cancel an event in Chicago that was marred by violence and bloodshed.

"They're so bad," added the Republican front-runner, who earlier in his speech boasted to supporters he could turn the country around in just two years. "Our people started swinging back, and the next day we are the bad guys."

Violence Becomes Regular Occurrence at Trump Gatherings

Trump's comments come on the heels of a week of violent outbreaks at his rallies. The incidents prompted some to call for him to tone down his rhetoric and to acknowledge that his fiery words have played a role in the mayhem.

In defending himself, Trump told Fox News people are angry about everything from stagnant wages to fewer jobs to insufficient care for military veterans.

"The people are angry about that," he added during an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press." "They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger."

Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has accused Trump of being guilty of "political arson." She added, "The ugly, divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it's dangerous."

Through it all, Trump has continued to insist he doesn't condone any violence.

In one recent instance, an elderly white supporter punched a black protester in the face as he was being led away by security in North Carolina. During Trump's speech in Illinois, Trump was interrupted several times by protesters, prompting him to unapologetically instruct security to "get them out."

Trump also claims many of the protesters are hired hands, blaming Vermont Senator and democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders for sending in the troublemakers.

"Send them back to Bernie," he shouted during one recent rally. "What happened in Chicago was a set up. They are not protesters. They are disruptors."

UIC Protest Ends in Arrests

In a recent press release, Chicago police indicated three local men and a 45-year-old woman from Michigan were arrested in connection with protest violence on the campus of the University of Illinois. A CBS reporter was also briefly detained.

Before the rally was even scheduled to commence, dozens of UIC faculty and staff members petitioned the university to cancel the event, citing concerns it would create a "hostile and physically dangerous environment."
A record-breaking number of protesters rallied in the streets of Brazil on Sunday in a bid to oust the country's corruption embattled President Dilma Rousseff.

Like her predecessor, Rousseff is currently under investigation to determine her participation in the Petrobras scam that brought down dozens of top businessmen from the country.

Protesters Flood Brazilian Streets

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands joined anti-government demonstrations in over 150 cities, with the police estimating the number of protesters to reach around 3 million.

This, however, is believed to be highly exaggerated considering their past estimates.

Meanwhile, the polling company Datafolha released their own estimate of the number of the protesters in Sao Paulo to be at about 500,000 while military said it was about 1.4 million.

But regardless of their number, the people of Brazil want to change their leader in order to finally cleanse the government and thereby raise the economy for both big and small businesses.

"The country is at a standstill and we are fighting to keep our company afloat. We have reached rock bottom," Monica Giana Micheletti, 49-year-old small business owner who joined the Sao Paulo demonstration.

Others believe that while Rousseff's administration gave Brazilians some of their tangible needs, it did not provide what the people need most.

"This government helped many people buy homes, cars and electronics, but we still don't have health, education and basic sanitation," he said.

But most only want to change the government into one that would lead the country towards progress without skeletons hidden in their closet.

"Brazil needs to find a new and virtuous path and we will help the country find that path," said Aecio Neves, the head of Brazil's opposing PSDB party.

"I support her impeachment and new elections because the presidential vote in 2014 was financed with dirty money from corruption," protester and 39-year-old Sao Paolo engineer Alexandre Cortes said.

Will Dilma Rousseff Step Down?

Despite repeated calls for her to relinquish her presidency, the 68-year-old successor to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva refuses to step down.

According to the embattled president, the accusations thrown at her are not enough proof to make her leave the highest seat in the land, emphasizing that she was elected democratically.

This is despite the involvement of her Worker's Party that is being gradually being established after one of its founders, former Brazil President Lula Da Silva, was placed in "preventive custody."
Jermone D'Ambrosio emerged victorious during the fifth leg of the FIA Formula E after Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi was disqualified from the race held in Mexico City on Saturday.

The first ever ePrix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City on March 12 was not only historical, it proved to be controversial as well after one of the top racers had been kicked out of the race.

Di Grassi's Disqualification

According to race officials, one of Di Grassi's cars, the Abt Schaeffler, was to be 1.8 lbs. lighter than the required 888 kilogram minimum weight of the vehicles required for the competition.

The Abt Schaeffler was the vehicle the 31-year-old Brazilian used during the first half of the 43-lap race, which he would have won if officials were not able to discover that Di Grassi's car weighed only 886.2 kilograms.

Because of this, Di Grassi's supposed victory was chalked off, handing him no points from the fifth leg of the race and keeping him in second place in the overall driver ranking with 76 points, according to the official FIA Formula E website.

Swiss racer Sebastien Buemi continues to lead with 98 points while British driver Sam Bird holds the third place with 60 points.

D'Ambrosio's Bittersweet Victory

Belgian professional racer Jermone D'Ambrosio was leading the race during the first half of Saturday's Mexico ePrix.

However, the tides suddenly changed after the mandatory car switch midway through the competition, after which di Grassi took the lead.

The race continued to see the Belgian racer trailing behind di Grassi, who was later declared the winner of the race. Part of di Grassi's performance was due to a Fan Boost, which was granted to him for being one of the three most popular drivers in the race.

Fortunately for D'Ambrosio, race officials found out about di Grassi's vehicle being too light, which later granted D'Ambrosio a victory over the fifth Formula E race with 28 points.

D'Ambrosio is currently holding the fourth spot overall with 58 points.

Heated Race

Saturday's Mexico ePrix saw a colorful turn of events not only because of Di Grassi's disqualification but also because of the heated battled between Renault e.Dams driver Buemi and the Brazilian racer.

Apparently, the Swiss driver plowed into D'Ambrosio's vehicle which led to a heated exchange between the two drivers and their pit crews during the race.

Six laps later, the two were neck-to-neck with Buemi managing to overtake D'Ambrosio by cutting the chicane illegally along the end of the pit straight.
Cuba is shaping up to be one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world. So far, the Caribbean country has logged in an impressive one million foreign travelers in 2016 and the numbers are projected to be even greater throughout the year.

The Million Tourist Mark

According to reports, the one million mark reflected a 14.6 percent rise over the same period in 2015. Throughout the first quarter of the year, Cuba was able to welcome a huge flock of tourists from numerous markets including the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Argentina.

Tourism officials from Cuba project that the numbers will reach 3.7 million foreign visitors within the year, which is over 175,200 than last year's 3.5 million figure. Accommodations in state hotel facilities are also expected to rise by 12.3 percent from 2015.

The increasing number of tourists has translated well into Cuba's economy as the leisure industry is now dubbed as the most dynamic sector of the country's economy as well as the second strongest that's raking in foreign currency. In 2015, the industry was able to produce a revenue of $1.94 billion, a 10.7 percent boost from the previous year.

US-Cuba Factor

The tourism performance of Cuba has already been impressive last year with 145,000 American tourists visiting the country, a 79 percent increase from the previous year. This is likely an effect of President Barack Obama's initiative to improve relations between the United States and the Caribbean nation.

Between March 21 and March 22, the U.S. president will be visiting Cuba himself, the first of his position to do so in nearly 90 years. As Latin Post previously reported, Obama will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro to discuss a bevy of topics including democracy, businesses, freedom of speech, human rights, religion and trade.

The POTUS is leading the efforts of the current administration to improve the tourism opportunities in Cuba as the United States gears up for lifting more restrictions ahead of his landmark visit such as letting people, who fit into 12 specific categories travel to the nation. These categories include visiting Cuba for family, educational or cultural reasons.

Last month, the two countries already signed a milestone agreement to revive commercial flights between the nations. Additionally, the administration is also planning to scrap some of the barriers to trade and banking in the island nation. All of the final changes will reportedly be confirmed to the public on the eve of Obama's trip.

Despite the more relaxed tourist opportunities, general tourism is still expected be somewhat limited for Americans due to the U.S. embargo still in place. This can only be lifted by the U.S. Congress and is not likely to be completely lifted any time soon.
U.S. President Barack Obama promises dissidents that he would talk about rights with Cuban President Raul Castro days prior to his scheduled historic visit.

However, many remain uncertain that the Cuban leader would take Obama's words into account considering how rallies have become a traditional Sunday routine in the Caribbean island.

Obama's Vow

After taking unusual steps towards warming relations with Cuba, Obama has once again promised Cubans something that they have always wanted: freedom-or at least a chance at it.

In a letter dated March 10, Obama expressed his support and admiration for the Ladies in White, one of Cuba's biggest dissident groups.

The Ladies in White conduct weekly protests against Cuba's communist government during Sunday Mass at the Santa Rita Church in Havana even with the knowledge that they would be pushed away byb the local police whenever they shout "Freedom!"

They have also been known to be very active in criticizing the U.S. policy change during Obama's administration. The protesters believe that the change in policy is the reason the Cuban government has become stricter in blocking anti-government rallies and protests

This, however, is what Obama wants to correct, explaining thru the letter to the Ladies how the policy changes he initiated are for the good of the Cuban people.

He also promised that he will talk with President Castro the right of the Cuban people to freely express themselves in any way, even through rallies.

"We take seriously the concerns you have raised. I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," he said in the letter.

In response, Ladies in White leader Berta Soler said the letter was a positive feedback for them and that the group greatly appreciated it.

President Castro's Lack of Response

Despite Obama's promises, Cubans who reside both in the Caribbean island and in the U.S. mainland remain skeptical that the Cuban president would even listen to what he has to say.

In fact, even half half-Cuban presidential hopefuls, like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, deemed the crackdowns on dissident activity in Cuba is proof that Castro is far from being swayed by anyone-even Obama.

While the Obama administration acknowledges this, they still believe that the warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba would result to better days for the Cuban people since it would bring nourishment particularly for the country's middle class citizens.

"The fact of the matter is we don't have any expectation that Cuba is going to transform its political system in the near term. Even if we got 10 dissidents out of prison, so what? What's going to bring change is having Cubans have more control over their own lives," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders didn't target each other during Sunday night's Ohio State town hall, the last before Super Tuesday primaries begin in five states.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls instead found a common enemy in Donald Trump.

Before they could field questions from the town hall-style audience, both candidates were asked their thoughts on the Republican front-runner who had to cancel a Chicago rally Friday night after protestors clashed with his supporters. They denounced Trump's rhetoric and said he sets a dangerous precedent by encouraging violence.

"I hate to say this because I hate to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar," Sanders said following footage of incendiary comments Trump made about the Vermont senator. "Our campaign does not believe, and never will, encourage anybody to disrupt anything."

Sanders said people have the right to protest and that it's their First Amendment right, but he clarified that he would never ask supporters to get physical. He called on Trump to tell his audience that fighting is unacceptable and should not be part of the voting process.

"People have the right to protest. That's what America is about," Sanders said. "I have been on the picket lines my whole life, but that is very different from getting involved in violence."

CNN moderator Jake Tapper began Clinton's segment with similar concerns. The former New York senator said Trump doesn't just condone violence, he applauds it.

"It's clear Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign, pitting groups of Americans against one another," Clinton said. "He is trafficking in hate and fear. He is playing to our worst instincts rather than our angels of our better nature."

Like Sanders, Clinton pointed out Trump's reported plan to pay legal fees for a North Carolina man who sucker punched a reprimanded protestor last week. She said Trump needs to take responsibility for what happens at his events and called his campaign nothing short of "political arson."

"He has lit the fire, and then he throws his hands up and claims that he shouldn't be held responsible, and he should be held responsible."

Challenging Trump in a General Election

Town hall attendees didn't just want to hear the Democratic candidates come down on Trump. They wanted a strategic plan for beating him if Trump is elected the Republican nominee.

Sanders began by citing a Wall Street Journal poll that gave him an 18-point lead over Trump. He also said Republicans are banking on a low voter turnout. Sanders' three-point strategy ends by exposing Trump on "many, many levels."

"This is a guy who believes in defiance of all science that climate change is a hoax," Sanders said. "The American people are not going to elect a president who is insulting Mexicans, Muslims, women, veterans; insulting virtually everybody who is not quite like Donald Trump."

Clinton reminded the audience that she's received 600,000 more primary votes than Trump, along with endorsements from world leaders wary of the real estate magnate's presidency.

"It takes incredible seriousness, diligence, judgement, a temperament that is not going to be pushed one way or another depending upon who said what to you today," Clinton said. "And I believe that I will have an opportunity to really focus in on how dangerous Donald Trump presidency would be for our standing."

Memorable Quotes

"Thank God most people are not like Donald Trump" - Sanders

"I would breathe a sigh of relief if either the courts or the states themselves began to eliminate the death penalty." - Clinton, on abolishing the death penalty

"I know that all of us are so regretful that you or any person has to go through what you did. And I hope that now that you are standing her before us that you will have whatever path in life you choose going forward." - Clinton, fielding a question from a man exonerate of a crime after serving 39 years in jail.

"He is really, really conservative. But you know what? He is a decent guy, and I like him, and he and I are friends. And you find that, you find the fact that just because you have very significant political differences doesn't mean to say you cannot develop friendships with good people." - Sanders, on his friendship with Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe

"Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States. Of course we value trade - Oh, I beg your pardon. There is one guy who is talking about building a wall. Let me rephrase it, no rational person is talking about building a wall." - Sanders, referring to Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
March 15 is another round of presidential primaries for the Democratic and Republican Parties, and it could determine each party's nominee and the fate of Marco Rubio's political career.

Florida

For the Republican presidential candidates, Florida is one of two "winner take all" states on Tuesday night. The winner of the Florida Republican primary will win all 99 available delegates. For Rubio, the junior senator for Florida, the Sunshine State is a must-win state in keep his presidential campaign alive. Based on RealClearPolitics' estimates, Rubio has 163 delegates, currently third place behind Donald Trump's 460 delegates and Ted Cruz's 370 delegates. Rubio is ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has 63 delegates.

Based on polling data, Rubio is expected to lose in his home state to Trump. According to Quinnipiac University's latest poll, Trump leads Rubio by double digits, specifically 46 percent to 22 percent, while Cruz and Kasich finish the top four.

For the Democratic presidential candidates, not taking into account the superdelegates -- or "unpledged" delegates, 214 delegates are at stake in the Sunshine State. Unlike the GOP race, Florida is not a "winner take all" state. The winner of Florida's Democratic Party presidential primary will share the available delegates.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been leading polls conducted within the state. Based on Quinnipiac University poll, she leads rival Bernie Sanders by 26-percentage points (60 percent to 34 percent) and in the CBS News and YouGov survey by 28 percent (62 percent to 34 percent).

Clinton would need a substantial win to build on her delegate-count lead. Without superdelegates, according to RealClearPolitics, Clinton has 748 delegates and 542 delegates for Sanders. With superdelegates, Clinton's lead increases to 1,231 to Sanders' 576.

According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, more than two million Latinos are registered to vote in Florida.

Ohio

Ohio is another battleground state for Republicans and Democrats. First with the Democrats, 143 delegates are available and the result may not be as obvious compared to Florida.

Surveying 543 likely Democratic voters, Clinton leads by just five-percentage points (51 percent to 46 percent) in Quinnipiac University's poll. According Monmouth University, polling 302 likely voters between March 11 and March 13, her lead increases by 14 percent. She received 54 percent to Sanders' 40 percent.

In the GOP, Ohio is the other "winner take all" race, and Kasich is hoping to secure the win. Kasich is in fourth place on the overall delegate count, but polling data has shown he has an opportunity to win all 66 delegates. In the same Monmouth poll, Kasich leads the Republican pack by five percent. He received enough support to defeat Trump with 40 percent to 35 percent. Cruz placed third with 15 percent, while Rubio trailed at 5 percent. With Quinnipiac, however, Trump manages to tie Kasich at 38 percent. Cruz and Rubio maintained their respective third and fourth place positions.

Ohio reportedly has 199,000 Latino eligible voters.

North Carolina

North Carolina is not a "winner take all" state, but it's home to the third-largest delegate count for Republicans. With 72 delegates available, Trump is expected to have another win based on polls showing him with double-digit leads. Public Policy Polling (PPP) found 749 likely Republican voters favoring Trump with 44 percent, ahead of Cruz's 33 percent. Kasich placed third with 11 percent and Rubio at 7 percent.

"If John Kasich and Marco Rubio really combine for 20% of the vote in North Carolina on Tuesday Donald Trump will almost definitely win the state," said PPP President Dean Debnam. "The only way he's likely to be stopped is if supporters of the also rans shift their support to Ted Cruz."

While Clinton might encounter trouble in Ohio, she could see another win in North Carolina. With 107 delegates at stake, Clinton received a 19-percent lead over Sanders in the PPP survey. Polling 747 likely voters, she garnered 56 percent and Sanders attracted 37 percent.

According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 135,000 Latinos are registered to vote in North Carolina, representing 2.1 percent of the overall registered electorate.

Also at Play

Illinois and Missouri will also have primaries on Tuesday. On the Republican field, Illinois offers 69 delegates and Missouri has 52 delegates, both proportional states. For the Democrats, 156 delegates are available in Illinois and 71 delegates in Missouri.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.
A group of 50 pro-immigration groups have pressured Republican legislators to reject Majority House Leader Paul Ryan's plan to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in opposition to President Obama's immigration orders.

Ryan recently announced his plan to formally hold a vote on his resolution, hoping partisan support from House Republicans would help him move forward with his plan.

House Vote Planned for Later This Month

The House vote is expected to be held later this month. The Republicans have targeted U.S. vs. Texas, which is slated to go before the Supreme Court later this year. Justices are set to examine if the Obama administration acted within the guidelines of the law when the president moved to enact an executive action to shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation.

The pro-immigration faction now plans to push GOP members to reject Ryan's plan by voting no to the resolution, ending the growing controversy before it can even be formally heard by the court. The group penned a letter to Ryan and other Republican lawmakers requesting that they publicly vote against the hate they feel the measure represents.

"Those executive actions represent the dreams and aspirations of millions of children, parents and families who have built lives here, who contribute to our economy and our communities and who believe in the promise of America," the letter sent to Ryan said of the president's 2014 actions.

"Once implemented, President Obama's immigration executive action will keep those families together and transform their lives," the letter added. "In doing so, it will make our nation a better place to live for all of us."

The letter is signed by such groups as Unite Here!, United Food and Commercial Workers, Voto Latino and the Service Employees International Union. The group's plan also includes a five-figure digital ad buy and a protest slated to take place outside Ryan's district office in Racine, Wisconsin.

SEIU Targets GOP House Members in Latino Districts

Earlier this month, SEIU members also publicly targeted 25 GOP lawmakers who have significant Latino and Asian populations in their districts, pressuring them to join Democrats who have filed a brief with the court in support of the president's measure.

As Latin Post previously reported, former Solicitor General Paul Clement is set to serve as the GOP's legal mouthpiece on a pro bono basis. House Republicans plan to express their opposition to the president during the oral arguments phase of the trial.

"This is a very extraordinary step," Ryan recently told CNN. The congressman went on to defend his actions and stress that the president was not allowed to write laws.

"In fact, it's never been done before, but this executive amnesty is a direct attack on the Congress' Article 1 powers under our Constitution," Ryan added.

The Obama administration's repeated attempts to pass comprehensive reform legislation through Congress have all stalled amid partisan bickering.
Northern Nigeria officials are accusing their president Muhammadu Buhari of exaggerating the military's success against Boko Haram. An American commander noted that Buhari's comments about the militant group no longer holding any territory back in January is false.

Buhari told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the militants are "currently not holding any territory today as we speak" during a summit in Abu Dhabi last January. However, in a report by Fox News, the American commander, identified as General David Rodriguez testified recently that the extremist group still holds territory in northern Nigeria. He made his statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee that Boko Haram is still controlling a "significant territory" in the aforementioned area.

A local transport official in the Nganzai area of northeastern Borno state, Ngari Modu, backed Rodriguez's claims. ABC News reported that Modu said the statements of Rodriguez just proves that the Nigerian government is misleading the public over the real state of the issue. It remains unclear why Buhari said what he said during the summit in January.

Modu did say, however, that they are aware Boko Haram now lacks the capacity to carry out their "usual commando-like attacks" which is marching in and running down towns and villages. Modu pointed out that Boko Haram's weakening does not necessarily mean they are no longer around and are not controlling some territories, News 24 reported.

Modu added that he is one of the displaced people who stay in a camp in the city of Maidiguri as his home and his village remains to be a "no-go" zone.

Buhari promised that he will be stopping the rise of Boko Haram or other militant groups since he took office 10 months ago. Buhari has even replaced the military's leadership, resupplied the number of soldiers attacking the militant group, and moved the headquarters from Abuja to Maiduguri.

These efforts did change the status of the country as per Senator Mohammed Ndume of Borno. The soldiers were able to succeed in cutting off the supplies and access to food of Boko Haram an eventually, this could lead to the total eradication of the extremists thus the regaining of all territories.
South Africa has banned the leopard hunt for the 2016 season. This will be the first time in decades that the hunters are not allowed to hunt the "Big 5" game animals in the country.

According to Reuters Africa, hunters will not be allowed to target the so-called "Big 5" game animals in South Africa since the government imposed a ban on leopard hunts in 2016. The temporary restriction comes in the wake of a worldwide chaos last year over the killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe by a U.S. dentist.

But the decision allegedly was driven by science and not by emotion on the act. In fact, South African Environment Minister Edna Molewa is very vocal on her advocacy of the hunting industry. The government claimed that the campaign contributes approximately 6.2 billion rand or $410 million per year to Africa's most advanced economy.

ALJAZEERA reported that, the leopard is recognized as one of the "Big 5" game animals most desired by hunters. Lion, Rhino, buffalo, and elephant are also included on the list of the"Big 5." Because of their secretive and nocturnal characteristics, it is not easy for environmentalists to count down these leopards.

The Hunting of the "Big 5" has been legal in South Africa since the 1980's. The hunting game resumed at that time for white rhinos.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute, which is the government's research organization, made the recommendation of the temporary restriction order of hunting the "Big 5." It said that leopard numbers could not be firmly established. "There is uncertainty about the numbers and this is not a permanent ban, but we need more information to guide quotas," John Donaldson, its director of research stated.

Moreover, the institute also worked on studies and gathered data from a lot of source, but Donaldson expressed his concern that most of these animals are from protected areas and national parks, not from private lands. However, the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa or PHASA said that this provides an incomplete picture of the whole scenario.

"There are lots of leopards on private land," stated the chief executive of the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa, Tharia Unwin, via Yahoo! News. She also added that the association was providing the government with the leopard data from the private areas.

Meanwhile, most of the foreign hunters who come to South Africa for the hunting game are allegedly Americans. The association also noted that it cost up to $200,000 fine to shoot a leopard, and PHASA's members had to refund clients who already put down deposits for the leopard hunts, but the ban will still continue for 2016.
ambulance.jpeg

Left to right: Kermit Gorr, executive director of St. Luke's emergency and transportation services; John Evans, EMS program manager for Northampton Community College; Adam Maziuk, pre-hospital services coordinator for St. Luke's University Health Network; Eileen Truscott, interim director of healthcare education for Northampton Community College; and Paul Pierpoint, vice president of community education for Northampton Community College. (Courtesy photo)

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Northampton Community College students studying emergency medical services now will be able to practice emergency scenarios with a real ambulance.

St. Luke's University Health Network recently donated an ambulance to the college for use in its EMS degree program and community training. The ambulance will be used by students to practice real-world scenarios similar to what they will be doing as an EMT or paramedic professional, said John T. Evans, EMS program manager, at the college.

The ambulance is the first the college program has owned. It is expected to be re-lettered with the college's name and stationed at the college's Fowler Center on Third Street in South Bethlehem.

Simulations may include placing a patient on a stretcher and into the ambulance, checking vital signs, administering medication and transporting the patient from an ambulance to the emergency room.

Evans said students will be better prepared for real-life emergencies having practiced and refined their skills while working in the back of a moving ambulance.

The ambulance also will be used for community training and certification. The hospital and college have partnered in educating local fire, EMS and ambulance workers, both professional and volunteer.

Prior to the donation, EMS workers had to take an ambulance out of service when a crew member was being trained. Now, they don't have to, said Kermit Gorr, executive director of ambulance and transportation services for St. Luke's.

"Logistically it helps the ambulance squads, hospitals and all of the community," Gorr said. "We're investing in the future of our EMS providers. That is one of those gifts that will pay off for years to come."

Currently, about 30 students are enrolled in Northampton Community College's emergency medical technician programs. These include students interested in becoming emergency response employees, as well as volunteers and students enrolled in nursing or physician assistant programs.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Easton Area High School students chowed down Saturday in a hot-dog eating contest to help aid pediatric cancer research.

The contest was just one of several events hosted by students during their annual mini-thon. The mini-thon is organized by the school's National Honor Society, with participants remaining on their feet for the entire 10-hour event.

The event set a goal of raising $18,000 for the Four Diamonds Fund that supports the fight against pediatric cancer.

Four students -- Ares Vega, Justin DePhillipo, Daniel Gamut and Olivia George -- took part in the hot-dog eating contest. They appeared to each have three or four hot-dogs on their plates with George bowing out first.

In between bites, the participants cleared their palettes with bottles of cold water. A small crowd of peers cheered them on. When Vega appeared to be finishing first, the crowd chanted, "One more bite!"

Vega was deemed the winner in a little over a minute.

Students took part in other activities, including dancing to a DJ, dodgeball, volleyball, Zumba, yoga and a basket raffle. The group received donations from local grocers and eateries.

The event is patterned after the Thon at Penn State University, and some Red Rover alumni now attending Penn State participated in Saturday's event at the high school in Palmer Township, organizers said.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Victaulic Corp. crews are working to clean up the flow of about 50 gallons of water-soluble paint that spilled from the company's foundry in Forks Township and disrupted a tributary of the Bushkill Creek.

Victaulic spokeswoman Megan Longenderfer said the spill occurred Sunday night into Monday morning. It involved orange paint used in the company's manufacturing process.

The majority of the estimated 50 gallons stayed contained inside the facility, but an undetermined amount leaked into an onsite retention pond and a nearby tributary of the Bushkill, Longenderfer said.

Longenderfer said the material is nontoxic and company officials were advised it didn't appear to be a threat to fish or waterfowl.

Victaulic operations officials immediately enacted the company's standard response protocols, deploying spill kits to contain the nontoxic material and notified local, county and state officials, she said.

The county had personnel there Monday morning, as did the Forks Township Fire Department. The county conferred with hazardous materials personnel in Lehigh County, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was advised.

Crews stopped discharge from the holding pond by about 10 a.m. Monday.

Crews in the afternoon were working to pump affected water into containment devices for proper disposal. Crews were also onsite along Bushkill Creek, setting up additional measures to mitigate potential discharge into the water, Longenderfer said.

She said the company continues to assess the situation and will provide additional information as it becomes available.

"Victaulic is deeply committed to protecting our environment and are working closely with authorities to address the immediate cleanup," Longenderfer said.

ABOUT VICTAULIC:

Victaulic Corp. is mechanical piping solutions provider. The company was established in 1925 in New York to market what was known as a "radical new concept" in the piping industry: a mechanical, bolted coupling that would engage into pipe grooves and use a gasket seal.

Later, combining the words "victory" and "hydraulics," the name was shortened to Victaulic, and the company began to shift its focus to commercial piping applications to market its innovative method of joining pipes.

Today, Victaulic has five foundries and nine international manufacturing facilities, 28 major distribution hubs and employs more than 3,600 people worldwide. Victaulic products are available in 120 countries.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Easter arrives a bit early this year, so the Easter Bunny had to push up the dates of many of the area Easter events. Below is a list of egg hunts and related activities.

March 19

9 a.m. Phillipsburg Egg Hunt hosted by the Exchange Club of Warren County for children in pre-K to 2nd grade at Maloney Field, 200 Hillcrest Ave. Gates open at 8:30 a.m.

10 a.m. City of Bethlehem's annual Easter Egg Hunt is for Bethlehem residents and their children ages 3 through 8. The event will be held rain or shine in front of Memorial Pool, on Illicks Mill Road. Information: 610-865-7081.

10 a.m. Lopatcong Township, Lopatcong Pavilion, 9 Wildew Ave. For toddlers to age 9. 908-859-3355, ext. 224.

10 a.m. Pohatcong Police-Huntington Fire annual Easter Egg Hunt at Pohatcong School, 240 Route 519. For ages 1-10. Meet the Easter Bunny. Rain date March 20.

11 a.m. Calvary Wesleyan Church of Bethlehem hosts an event at Clearview Park, Pinehurst and Abington roads, Bethlehem. Information: 610-866-1388

11 a.m. Northampton Borough Egg Hunt, Municipal Borough Park complex, 16th and Laubach streets. For children ages up to 10. Rain date 1 p.m. March 20

11 a.m. Greenwich Township, Greenwich Township Elementary School, 101 Wyndham Farm Blvd. With Easter Bunny visit, free games, food and prizes. The Pre-K hunt starts at noon; K to grade 3 at 12:30 p.m. (Rain date March 20)

11 a.m. Easter Bunny Brunch and Egg Hunt, St. Thomas United Church of Christ, 902 E. Macada Road. $6. Information/reservations: 610-868-9167 (registration required by March 13)

12:30 p.m. The South Side Civic Association will hold an egg hunt at Little Heil Field, Packer Avenue, for area children.

1 p.m. Forks Township Parks and Recreation Easter Egg Hunt. Age categories include: 2-4, 5-7 and 8-10, at the Forks Township Amphitheater. $2. Prizes awarded at each age group. Hunt begins at 1:30 p.m.

1 p.m. Tatamy Borough Easter Egg Hunt will be held at the Tatamy Ball Field at Braden Park for children up to grade 6. Rain date March 20; donations accepted. Information: 610-252-7123.

1 p.m. March 19 Catasauqua firefighters' annual Easter Egg Hunt at Catasauqua Playground, 501 American St., near the intersection of Bridge and American streets. The rain date is March 20.

1 p.m. Portland Lodge 311 and the Portland Events Committee Easter Egg Hunt at the ball field on Division Street for children up to age 12. Easter Bunny and Chick arrive on Margaret, the Pink Fire Truck, at 1 p.m. Bring your own basket.

1 p.m. Williams Township Fire Co. Auxiliary hosts an Easter Egg Hunt at the firehouse, 2500 Morgan Hill Road, Williams Township. Rain or shine.

2 p.m. Washington Borough Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Washington Borough Park, between Broad Street and Route 31. For kids 3-12 with plenty of candy and prizes. Bring a bag or basket. Rain date March 26. Information: 908-689-3600, ext. 136.

3 p.m. Bethlehem Township, at the Bethlehem Township Community Center. Bring your Easter Basket and meet the Easter Bunny. Prizes will be awarded for each age group. Area will be divided for toddlers and elementary-age children.

Rain date is 3 p.m. March 26.

March 20

10 a.m. Easton Recreation's Easter Egg Hunt will be held at Cottingham Stadium, 12th and Northampton streets. Two age groups: 3-5 and 6-8.

1 p.m. Breakpoint Church Community Egg Hunt, Hackettstown, at Legion Field (next to the American Legion, 494 Willow Grove St.) Games, crafts, petting zoo, pony rides and Easter Bunny visit. Hunt begins at 2 p.m.

2 p.m. Easter Egg Hunt and Resurrection Story, Covenant United Methodist Church, 2715 Mountain View Drive, Bath. 610-837-7517.

March 24

1 p.m. The Hellertown Area Library will host a Library Egg Hunt with face painting, snacks, games, a craft and prizes. Registration required. 610-838-8381.

March 25

9 a.m. Dan's Camera City, 1439 W. Fairmont St., Allentown. For kids up to age 10. Information: 610-433-4672.

10 a.m. Wilson Borough Easter Egg Hunt, Meuser Park, Northampton Street. For ages 10 and under.

10 a.m. Palmer Township Easter Egg Hunt at Palmer Elementary School, 3050 Green Pond Road, Palmer Township. In the event of rain, the hunt moves to the Charles Chrin Community Center.

March 26

9:30-11:30 a.m. Hope UCC Allentown, 1031 Flexer Ave., free Breakfast with the Easter Bunny, egg hunt, games and activities. ($2 for photo with the Easter Bunny). 610-439-8118

10 a.m. Dimmick Park, Durham Street, Hellertown. For all children 1-12 years old. Sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Area Ambucs Club.

10 a.m. Kiwanis Egg Hunt, Upper Saucon Park, on Preston Lane.

10:30 a.m. First Baptist Church, 3235 Linden St., Bethlehem, for ages 2 through grade six. 610-865-4600

10:30 a.m. Easter Egg Hunt at Quaker Steak & Lube, 1304 Route 22, Pohatcong Township. Bring your own basket. 908-454-2900.

12 p.m., Easter Bunny in a Helicopter at Tolino Vineyards, 280 Mt. Pleasant Road, Bangor. Egg Hunt at 1 p.m. Outdoor event. $5

1 p.m. Emmaus Kiwanis' 64th annual Easter Egg Hunt at Emmaus Community Park, 1401 Shimerville Road.

1 p.m. Community Egg Hunt, Jordan United Church of Christ, 1837 Route 309 (at Walbert Avenue), South Whitehall Township. Information: 610-395-2218.

1 p.m. Laurys Station Volunteer Fire Co., 5314 Egypt Road, N. Whitehall Township. For children up to age 10.

2 p.m. Father DeNisco Council, Knights of Columbus Home, 1680 W. Bangor Road, Bangor.

Other Easter events

11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 19, 20 and 26. Easter Bunny Train, Delaware River Railroad, 162 S. Main St., Phillipsburg. Travel along the Delaware River with banjo players and jugglers. When the ride ends, kids can gather eggs and take a picture with Mr. Bunny. Cost: $18/adult, $11/child, $4/lapsitter

Information: 877-872-4674 ext. 877; 877trainride.com

Did we miss your event? Post it in the comments section below or email KJ at kjfrantz@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow lehighvalleylive.com on Twitter at @lehighvalley. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
John Morganelli to announce decision attorney general run in January

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli

(Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

By John Morganelli

Members of the Pennsylvania State Education Association should be seriously questioning their leadership when it comes to political endorsements.

For the past few years, PSEA has made political endorsements which are suspect. Based on what their own representatives have relayed to me, they are based on personal friendships of board members rather than the interests of the membership. These endorsements have not advanced the real interests of our state's teachers or other members of PSEA.

Let me be more specific. In 2008, when I was the Democratic candidate for attorney general, I went to PSEA in good faith with a longstanding record of supporting public education and protecting teachers. PSEA leadership sat there quietly and listened to my record.

They were told of my background:

Endorsed by the PSEA for district attorney.

A lifetime of being pro-union, endorsed by many labor unions on numerous occasions.

A labor background. My dad was a life time union member with AFL/CIO, Operating Engineers, and the Teamsters. My mom was a union garment worker.

Before being district attorney, I represented a labor union.

As district attorney I was praised editorially for standing up for a teacher's right to use reasonable force in our schools to protect themselves from unruly students.

I was a product of public schools and had family members who are teachers.

Despite a 100 percent record of supporting the agenda of PSEA, the leadership voted to endorse Republican Tom Corbett. When I asked at that time how PSEA could endorse Corbett, who was so opposite the interests of public education, opposite my pro-public education record, I was told by PSEA leadership that there were personal relationships on the board that were developed with Corbett because he had attended quarterly meetings of PSEA. In short, Corbett got endorsed because he enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with PSEA leadership.

PSEA leadership put aside the interests of its own members and endorsed and funded a person who wanted to bring public education to its knees, who always said he would make Pennsylvania a right-to-work state if the legislation were brought to him. Corbett devastated public education and did so with the help of PSEA which helped get him re-elected attorney general, which then propelled him to governor two years later.

Now, again, in 2016, PSEA has ignored certain facts about its endorsed attorney general candidate, Josh Shapiro. I exposed the fact that Shapiro has accepted $50,000 in campaign contributions from Students First, a charter school advocacy group that is hurting public schools. In 2006, Shapiro stated in a Project Vote Smart questionnaire that he supported national standards and testing of public school students which is opposed by PSEA. How can PSEA endorse a candidate who is in bed with the charter school folks and who is in favor of national standards?

Dan Wittimer of PSEA contacted my campaign and told us Shapiro was endorsed because of personal relationships Shapiro developed with board members. Once again, personal friendships takes precedence over the interests of the membership.

Despite the PSEA endorsement, I am taking my record directly to the folks of Pennsylvania and the rank and file membership of PSEA. I am asking every teacher and member of this union in Pennsylvania, and particularly in the Lehigh Valley, to ask themselves if they believe the best person for attorney general is one with absolutely no law-enforcement, prosecution or legal experience, who takes big money from charter school special interests and supports national standards -- or a career prosecutor who has stood up over and over again for our teachers in the class rooms.

I am also asking all PSEA members to contact their main office in Harrisburg at 717-255-7000 to demand an explanation about what their union leadership is really doing to protect their interests.

John Morganelli is the district attorney of Northampton County and a Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania attorney general. He was the Democratic candidate for attorney general in 2008.
A Bangor man is accused of assaulting his elderly mother to the point of breaking her ribs and threatening to kill her during a heated argument.

William M. Griffith (Courtesy photo)

William M. Griffith Jr, 50, of the 900 block of Upper Penna Avenue, at 8 p.m. Saturday allegedly began fighting with his 75-year-old mother at his home.

The victim told police in court records her son was acting "nasty" to her and slapped her in the face with the back of his hand. He proceeded to push her into a metal cabinet, in which police later determined led to the victim's broken ribs.

When the victim told Griffith she was calling the police, he threatened to throw her down the steps. He allegedly threatened to kill her, another son and his wife, as well as burn children.

The woman then drove herself to Easton Hospital, telling police in court records the pain was getting worse. She also told investigators she was afraid of her own son; he was a heroin user and addicted to prescription medication.

Griffith is charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment. He was arraigned Sunday before District Judge Richard Yetter III, who set bail at $75,000.

In lieu of bail, Griffith was taken to Northampton County Prison.

The judge ordered Griffith enroll in Pretrial Services, have no contact with the victim and refrain from drug and alcohol use. The judge allowed 10 percent of $75,000 bail if Pretrial Services approved it.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Its an extraordinary concentration. In a little over 230 metres - a minutes walk - there are more than 30 establishments in the village of Maynooth where a body can receive sustanance.

Its an extraordinary concentration. In a little over 230 metres - a minutes walk - there are more than 30 establishments in the village of Maynooth where a body can receive sustanance.

The collection of restaurants, tapas bars, coffee shops and fast food outlets, many of which have only arrived in the past 12 months, has put Maynooth at the top of the gastronomical pile in the county.

It remains to be seen if the north Kildare town can, like Kinsale or Dingle become known for its fine dining, and develop into what they call in the tourism business a unique selling point.

While not all of these restaurants are directly on the main street, no two restaurants are more than five minutes walking distance apart.

And while many of these eateries are long established, many of them, including some of the most prominent and popular opened since the recession began, and appear to have thrived.

So whats driving this growth? Where are all the customers coming from?

Many, especially those nearest the college, have thrived as a result of their proximity, with a market, beteen staff and students of as many as 8,000 people, all of whom must be fed every day.

But there are already a number of restaurants and cafes on campus - and students arent around at the weekend, or during the summer.

And invaribly there are a number of restaurants which are simply beyond the students budget - so the restaurants must rely on the more permant population to sustain them.

Maynooth has a population of over 12,000, with another 100,000 spread over Leixlip, Celbridge, Kilock, Clane, Straffan, Dunboyne and Lucan - all within a short, 15 minutes drive away.

If you were to stand at the entrance gates of the south - or old campus - of the college and start walking up the town, the first restaurant you will encounter is the appropriately named Gatehouse, which does a lunch time trade, but also has an evening menu.

Next to it is Tanseys which specialises in crepes and sandwiches.

Turn left and you will pass the Royal City Chinese, Rebel Pizza takeaway, Stone Haven restaurant and the newly established Coffee Lounge.

Beyond that youll pass the entrance down the steps to student favourite the Coffee Mill.

Inside Manor Mills you have one of three Obriens Sandwich Bars in Maynooth, the popular chain the Bagel Factory and Chill which also has a premises on campus.

Back out on the street, and across the road, youll see Cafe Bon Bon, a newer addition.

Turn the corner onto the main street and youll pass Abrakebabra, Orient Chinese, ONeils (which is a pub), Maximus takeaway and Mizzoni (pizza takeaway).

Thats followed by one of the newer restaurants Bistro 53, an old staple Supermacs, and Picaderos.

Down a side street is Twist which does regular cafe food during the day and tapas in the evening.

Back to the other side of the street is the Roost a large pub with a flying restaurant trade, followed by the small, but homely Keoghs.

Next is Mantra, and just off the main street Donatellos is a long established Italian restaurant.

Bradys pub does a good food trade as does McMahons (formerly Caulfields) and the Elite Confectionary which is a bakery.

A new arrival is Oak Alley in a refurbished house on the main street, and a well established favourite The Avenue.

Tesco has a restaurant and is beside another OBriens Sandwich Bar and a McDonalds.

On the square, opposite Bradys, youll see Boss Hogg which is a small but eclectic coffee shop.

The Glenroyal Hotel hosts the Saints Bar for pub grub, and Lan Tania, a Thai restaurant.

Finally, the Newtown Inn, away from the main street, also has a Chinese restaurant.
Leitrim County Council made a special presentation to newly elected Sinn Fein TD, Martin Kenny at Monday's meeting.

Council Chief Executive, Frank Curran, paid tribute to the former councillor, noting that, since his co-option following the resignation of Liam McGirl in November 2003, Kenny had worked tirelessly to represent his local community and the county.

With Deputy Kenny set to take up his new role in the Dail this Thursday, Mr Curran commended him for his many years of service to the county and the council noting that he had forged excellent relationships with the staff and executive of the council and had always acted with courtesy, professionalism and respect.

It is very important that Leitrim has a voice in the Dail and I believe (Deputy Kenny) will continue to represent his constituency in the same manner he has in the Council.

Cathaoirleach, Cllr John McCartin, also paid tribute to Deputy Kenny, praising the capable and courteous manner in which he had always approached his job and wishing him the very best in his career in Dail Eireann.

He also praised Cllr Paddy O'Rourke and Cllr Des Guckian for running in the last election.

Cllr O'Rourke observed that it was not until he entered the race for a seat that he understood the level of achievement involved in securing a seat, adding I am sure (Deputy Kenny's) apprenticeship in Leitrim County Council will stand him in good stead for his years going forward and I wish him every success in the future.

Cllr Des Guckian said that he hoped that when Deputy Kenny entered the Dail he didn't do like a lot of TDs and forget where he came from, and he urged Deputy Kenny to stand up against the Dublin centred agenda in the media.

Other messages of congratulations were given by Independent councillors, Enda Stenson and Gerry Dolan as well as by Sinn Fein councillor, Padraig Fallon on behalf of Martin's own party.

Cllr Mary Bohan paid tribute to Deputy Kenny on behalf of Fianna Fail while Cllr Frank Dolan added words of congratulations on behalf of Fine Gael.

Responding from the public seats of the Council chamber, Deputy Kenny thanked everyone for their words of tribute and said it was a very different prospect to be shouting in from the sidelines.

Thank you all for the last 13 years. There have been so many other councillors who have served alongside me who are no longer here and I want to pay tribute to them, he said.

I know that I have a big task ahead of me and I hope there will be a new future ahead for all of us.

I feel that Leitrim has been left behind and I want to play my part in addressing that.

He also paid tribute to the staff of Leitrim County Council and said on behalf of the 30,000 odd people who live in this county he wished to thank the staff for their work on the ground.

I am very grateful to all of you, to all the people of Co Leitrim and the media, he concluded before a special presentation was made by the Cathaoirleach.
Good for Youth, Good for Business is the title of a publication by the European Alliance for Apprenticeships that contains a small selection of organisations, examples and projects linked to apprenticeships in the EU, including examples from Britain.

What makes this relevant to a truly Liberal Britain?

In my view you can tell we dont yet live in a truly Liberal Britain because:

Apprenticeships are still seen as second class in relation to a conventional degree.

Why does it matter?

The word liberal is often associated with freedom of choice, with tolerance, with personal liberties.

I believe strongly that young people in particular should feel free to choose an educational and career path that provides them with fulfilment in line with their interests and talents. In a truly Liberal Britain there are no occupations that are more respectable than others.

There are historical reasons why in contrast to some other European countries, there is less commercial demand for skilled people due to a loss of certain industries in Britain. Other potential de-railing factors are the lack of a holistic education system that provides a framework for successful apprenticeships, a corporate sector that does not see technical and vocational training as a key responsibility, and stigma attached to vocational and technical training among young people.

And there is suspicion of state oversight of training. I suggest that we do need to think about that again.

By making a link between a Liberal Britain and people in education, employment or training. I suggest that building a Liberal Britain would improve peoples lives by:

Maximising the number of young people in education, employment or training.

We cannot and should not remove the state from building a Liberal Britain. In England, the regions with the highest proportion of 16-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire & Humber. These are the heartlands of the traditional British industries.

Building a Liberal Britain that would improve peoples lives requires the right priorities, funding and opportunities in all parts of Great Britain and to measure its success or otherwise, to enable continuous improvement.

My suggestion is that in a Liberal Britain we would:

Revolutionise Further Education to enable a more effective dual practical and theoretical vocational educational training.

By reducing fragmentation, with the aim to achieve consistent qualifications nationally, as well as by measure of international standards. In a Liberal Britain, the state and business will have to come an agreement.

By optimising how the cost of such a system is shared between the apprentice, businesses and the state.

By continuing to build on corporate employer and industry association engagement to foster a flexible approach to vocational training that reflects the less industrial base of our service industries like insurance services.

So as I look back over my answers, and I think about what ties them all together, I would complete this sentence as follows:

In sum, for me, Liberal Britain is a country where high productivity builds on both skills and knowledge.

This piece is part of the Your Liberal Britain series of posts here on Lib Dem Voice. Everyone can take part  why not send in your own vision for Liberal Britain? Your Liberal Britain is a grassroots initiative launched and run by new members of the party, inviting every Lib Dem to help explain what the party stands for. We all know we want to build a fair, free and open society  but what would it actually look like? And why should anyone care? What would a truly Liberal Britain look like, and what improvements would it bring to peoples lives?, and send it to To take part, simply write 500 words in response to the question , and send it to [email protected] , mentioning Liberal Britain in the subject line. To get inspiration for your post, read others in the series, and take a look at all these ideas that other members have submitted to Your Liberal Britain. You can also get involved by hosting a simple discussion evening with your local party  everything you need to run one is right here

* Thomas Liebers joined the Lib Dems in May last year, is an active campaigner in Richmond and is a member of the London Regional Executive.
On Sunday, Conference voted for all-women shortlists. As part of the debate, I gave a speech outlining how my experience showed that lots of men simply arent aware of the privilege they have. I was surprised that this speech would immediately precede the rare event of a leaders speech in a debate. Tim  I hope I set them up all right for you!

For the first 40 years of my life I lived as male. Transitioning to female in 2004, and starting my own software company at the same time, showed me what I had anticipated  that I had to work much harder to be treated as worth listening to. It didnt come as a shock to me, as Id observed this since childhood  in fact, it was one of the reasons I used to delay transition. But I know other trans women who have been surprised by this side-effect.

A few years ago, my sales director and I were discussing my experiences of gender transition. He was genuinely surprised when I explained how I felt I was now perceived in meetings, such as the one we had just left. However, in subsequent meetings, he found he also noticed it. People get used to privilege, and if youve always had it, you wont notice until its gone.

Having campaigned on equalities issues for a number of years now, I know that success is measured in terms of outcomes, not in terms of inputs. If people need to see over a tall fence, you need to give each person an appropriately sized box to stand on. Giving everyone the same-sized box could mean that some people still wont be able to see over the fence. Its not about tokenism, its about opportunity. Its exactly the same argument used to support Pupil Premium.

In my speech I also outlined the effect that not having representation has. Basically it means that you rely on allies, and laws can (and do) get passed without informed scrutiny from those with first-hand experience. Government can rest easy because it wont have to look those affected in the eye. Dont get me wrong  I dont want to lose the amazing allies the trans communities have had within Parliament, but it would be even better still to have at least one openly (Lib Dem) trans parliamentarian, as long as we allow them the space to be expert in other areas too. And it should always be recognised that, like most things, gender is a spectrum, not a binary.

Im relieved we are no longer being out-liberalled by the Church of England, who adopted all-women shortlists for the next few bishops. And I was surprised to see no mention of the all-men shortlists that must undoubtably have existed.

* Helen is a Wiltshire Councillor, and fought Chippenham in both 2017 and 2019. She is also currently the chair of the trans advocacy organisation TransActual.
Im home from York, having had about 7 hours sleep in the last two days. Thats not entirely due to hanging round in bars late at night with lovely people. When you are making the most controversial speech of the entire Conference, that tends to dominate.

For the second time in two years, I arrived in York to brilliant sunshine. Sadly, I didnt get to enjoy any of the city at all. In an ideal world, I would have gone down on Thursday, had some dinner with friends and spent Friday sightseeing. One of these days I will get myself organised so that Im not still writing speeches and doing all my pre-conference prep right up until the very last minute.

If I find myself in York again, I am definitely going back to the Barbican Guest House. Two minutes walk from the Conference Centre, spotlessly clean, comfortable, wonderful breakfast and a dog to pet. What more could anyone possibly want? How about a crystal decanter of sherry in the room? I am not kidding.

Here are some of my best bits of the weekend:

The rally

The first big event was Friday nights rally. Billed as an INtogether event with Tim Farron, Catherine Bearder and surprise guests we did wonder what we were letting ourselves in for.

There were four guests:

Eluned Parrott, the fantastic Welsh AM, described how she was called an elitist by a Brexit campaigner  who then drove off in a Porsche. She reminded us that things we take for granted, like maternity leave, have their basis in the EU. She talked about the authoritarian instincts of Labour and the SNP and implored people to go and help in the London, Scottish and Welsh elections.

There was the amazing Lauren Pemberton-Nelson who was our candidate in a recent Southwark by-election. She is basically me 30 years ago except with more talent. She said she wanted to go canvassing instead of doing her A levels. I remember that feeling.

A new member called Mohsin who has just given up being a city lawyer to practice criminal law, talked about the positive impact of the Pupil Premium and also about how a year studying in Holland through the Erasmus scheme had been such a positive thing for him because hed been able to come out and change his life.

Dr Saleyah Ahsan is a new member and a junior doctor. She invited us to go and stand with her as she works a shift in A & E, and go to the loo when she does and eat when she does. Or doesnt. She implored the Liberal Democrats to do more to back the junior doctors  and Tim certainly responded very strongly in his speech today. So, junior doctors should now know that they have 60,000 or so Lib Dems behind them.

The Diversity Debate

The most controversial hour and a half of the Conference. Who would have thought that the Lib Dems would back all-women shortlists (in fairly modest terms) on the same day that Jeremy Clarkson basically came out as a federalist? Can today get any stranger?

I was pretty nervous about speaking. Butterflies were in my stomach doing tug of war with each other on a trampoline from Saturday evening. However, once I got up there, I quite enjoyed it, although watching it back was excruciating because I cringed at every fluffed line or stumble. There was also an underlying sadness because I knew I was proposing something I passionately believed in but with which a fair few very dear people to me equally passionately disagreed.

There were fantastic speeches on both sides. Several young women from Liberal Youth spoke wearing I am not a token woman t-shirts. I always knew Alex White in particular would get up on the rostrum, without notes, and make a compelling speech. She and other young women talked about the casual sexism and unwanted attention that they had experienced within the party. Every female member of Liberal Youth, they said, had had endured that, they said. That has to be tackled and I certainly intend to talk to them and find a way of dealing with it.

I have to be honest, I was not especially confident that our view would prevail. Certainly, our collective experience in the bars on Friday night was that this would be a tough sell. Tim Farron and his team knew this. He could have bailed. Instead, he talked about it at every fringe and his Q and A and put a card in for the debate. In a debate on gender quotas for party committees in 2014, Tim had given a very flat kind of speech, Todays was an absolute barnstormer. He said he needed to lead a diverse team of MPs.

In the end the motion was passed by some margin without much in the way of hostility and rancour. I have every admiration and respect for all the Liberal Youth women. There is not much between me and them in terms of analysis of the problem. We just have different solutions.

New members

For the second Conference in a row, there were so many new faces, everywhere. When Mike German asked during todays appeal to put their hands up if they were a new member, one in five did so. They made some astonishingly good speeches in debates and on the fringe. The Your Liberal Britain initiative held two big sessions where members were encouraged to share their vision of what a liberal Britain would look like and what it would mean for peoples lives. This has been set up entirely by new members and they are doing a great job.

Fracking

Im glad I had the chance to atone for failing to vote against fracking in Scotland. We know how well that turned out.

Sir Ed Daveys amendment was pretty heavily defeated in the end.

Constitutional capers

It wouldnt be a Liberal Democrat conference without some sort of constitutional shenanigans going on.

There were two constitutional amendments being debated on Saturday afternoon. The first came from Mamchesters Iain Donaldson and Dave Page. They proposed that party bodies like the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats and LGBT+ Lib Dems should be able to sign up members to the Liberal Democrats in the same way that Liberal Youth do. Given that we are desperately trying to be more diverse, this seems to be eminently sensible.

A second amendment removing peers rights to sit on federal committees had been tabled by George Potter. This is a consequence of the fallout from Chris Rennards election to the Federal Executive and subsequent resignation from that position. What George had overlooked is that the peers didnt have any other way of getting on to Federal Policy Committee and it would be a bit unfair to exclude them. The motion was ultimately heavily defeated.

I havent even got to Tims speech yet, but well look at that another day.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
MORE than 350 former workers and associates of Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) will reunite in Limerick next month in an event organised by Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum.

The event, which takes place from April 12-15, will be the final ever Pan Am world reunion and is only the second to be hosted in Europe.

Foynes was the first European airport to which Pan Am began operating commercial transatlantic services on July 9 1939 under the command of Captain Harold Gray. The Yankee Clipper was the airline's first Boeing B314 NC18603 allocated to the Atlantic division. A replica of the aircraft is on display at the museum.

The forthcoming reunion programme will feature talks, workshops, networking events and a visit to the former airport at Foynes allowing former pilots, engineers, administration staff, ground handlers and air hostesses, many of whom are now in their 70s and 80s, to recount their times with the airline.

Reunion attendees, who later went on to become successful businessmen and women, filmmakers, journalists and authors after Pan Am's demise in 1991, will also don their old Pan Am uniforms during the three-day reunion.

Among those travelling to Limerick next month is Edward Trippe, son of Pan Am founder Juan Terry Trippe as well as Captain Don Cooper who was based with the carrier in Berlin for many years. Attendees will be from Singapore, Europe, South America, Guam, Hawaii, Canada and from all over the United States.

Margaret O Shaughnessy, director of Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum initiated the event two years ago when she spoke at one of the Pan Am reunions in Long Island, New York. "One of the attendees, Merry Barton, and I stayed in touch and I am delighted we have been successful in bringing this unique aviation event to Ireland," she said.

"The Boeing 314 has become the quintessential Pan Am clipper flying boat  the one people think of when they recall the era during which Foynes flourished as the hub of aviation activity between North America and Europe. I look forward to bringing former Pan Am employees to the Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum to visit the replica Yankee Clipper on display. It is sure to be a nostalgic and memorable visit for everyone concerned."

"This event will also deliver a significant boost to the local economy with attendees staying in hotels throughout Limerick City and in Adare. Many also have planned a holiday in Ireland around the Pan Am Spring Reunion.
THE trial of a man who is accused of raping a woman at a pub in Limerick city, resumes later today at the Central Criminal Court.

The accused man denies raping the woman in back-office of the pub during the early hours of November 10, 2012.

On Friday, a witness described how he was in extreme shock after a woman he had arranged to meet in a bar told him his friend of twenty years had forced himself on her during the evening.

The alleged victim has told the trial that she was on a date with another man when the accused brought her into the back office to show her the CCTV system which she found fascinating. She said it was here that she was brutally, brutally raped.

The witness described how had brought the upset and agitated woman home that night at her request after asking her if she wanted to go to the hospital or gardai.

He said he spoke to the accused man in the days afterwards and his friend categorically denied forcing himself on the woman. He said the accused man told him they had kissed.

The witness told Paul Coffey SC, prosecuting, that he had been friends with the accused man for twenty years.

He told the court he had met the complainant for the first time in the smoking area of the same bar the week before the alleged rape.

He said he had been taking down the name of a website his friends were talking about in his notebook when the woman took it and wrote her number down.

The man said he called her and they made an arrangement to meet in the bar the following week. He said they spent the majority of the night in each other's company but some with friends.

He told Sean Gillane SC, defending, that they had been kissing on and off through the evening. He said when numbers dwindled in the bar they discussed going somewhere more discrete to continue kissing.

The man said they went into the disabled toilets where they kissed passionately, laughed, joked and held each other for about 15 minutes. He said there appeared to be an attraction and they had a nice night out.

He disagreed with the woman's sequence of events that she had been intending to go to the toilet by herself when he had taken her by surprise, pushing the toilet door in behind her and setting about groping her.

He denied he had told the woman she was gagging for it. He said it would be against his nature to say something like this.

The man said they discussed meeting up again before going back into the bar and rejoining friends. He said he did not see her leave the area but later saw the woman at the front of the bar. He agreed the woman was upset and that she apologised to him.

He told her she had nothing to apologise to him for and she said the accused had forced himself on her.

I had never been in a situation like that, I was in extreme shock, it came out of nowhere for me, he said.

He said she asked him to bring her home and at the house asked him to come in. He said he was trying to make sense of what was going on. They went inside and she asked him to put on the kettle while she changed into the PJ's upstairs and brought down a duvet.

He said they had tea and she asked him not to tell anyone or discuss the matter with her daughter or daughter's friend who were sleeping upstairs. He said she didn't want to discuss it anymore and spoke about meeting up again at a later date.

The man said the woman started kissing him and although he was taken aback he kissed her back. He said it had been his intention to leave but that they both drifted off to sleep on the sofa.

He said he woke about 9.30am the next morning and the woman was already awake. She had been upstairs talking with her daughter. He said her daughter was angry and wanted answers.

The man denied persistently ringing the woman during December and encouraging her not to go to gardai.

He agreed that he later met his friend as he was flummoxed by the allegations. He agreed his friend was very upset and appeared absolutely sincere.

The witness agreed he told gardai that he did not think his friend was that kind of person.

I know him twenty years, I do not think it's in any way shape or form any part of his make up, he told the court.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan and a jury.
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When Donald Trump talks, he doesn't sound like an ordinary presidential candidate. His sentences are fragmented. He jumps around. On paper, his words appear garbled.

But there may be a good reason why this seeming incoherence hasn't hurt Trump in the Republican run for the presidential nomination: Trump's talk mirrors typical conversation, bolstering his status as an honest outsider.

"[Trump's] unique rhetorical style may come off as incoherent and unintelligible when we compare it with the organized structure of other candidates' answers," Georgetown University linguist Jennifer Sclafani told Live Science. "On the other hand, his conversational style may also help construct an identity for him as authentic, relatable and trustworthy, which are qualities that voters look for in a presidential candidate." [Quiz: Bizarre Presidential Elections]

Talking Trump

Trump's style is different from that of most modern public speakers. He has an especially repetitive style, University of Pennsylvania linguist Mark Liberman has pointed out on the blog Language Log. In a December post, Liberman excerpted a sample of an interview with Trump in which he was asked how to defeat the Islamic State group. Trump's response included variations of the phrase "bomb all these sites" three times in quick succession:

Well, if I were president, we probably wouldn't be in the problems we have right now, because it's incredible  we have an attack, and then all of a sudden, we bomb all these sites. Why didn't we bomb the sites before? We should have bombed the sites a long time ago.

Trump's vocabulary is also less diverse than other candidates', Liberman found, and his repetition tendency is a major cause of that. Trump also uses short verb phrases, which seem simplistic on their face, Sclafani said. She cited an example about immigration from the Feb. 25 Republican debate, in which Trump said:

But, we either have a country, or we don't have a country. We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back  some will come back, the best, through a process. They have to come back legally. They have to come back through a process  and it may not be a very quick process, but I think that's very fair, and very fine.

Germanic verb phrases like "come in," "go out" and "come back," are shorter and lighter than Latin-derived alternatives like "immigrate" and "deport," which Trump avoids, Sclafani said. But those simple phrases allow for parallel constructions like, "They will go out. They will come back"  which mirrors the parallel, "We either have a country, or we don't have a country."

"Despite the lack of logical coherence in his response, the simplicity and rhetorical structure of his statements may be appealing on another level," Sclafani said. [Oh Snap: 10 Memorable Political One-Liners]

An outsider's voice

Trump's rhetoric stands in sharp contrast to that of his opponents. Take this now-infamous tidbit from the March 3 Republican debate in Detroit, when Trump responded to a question about fellow candidate Marco Rubio attacking him personally in the preceding days:

Well, I also happened to call him a lightweight, OK? And I have said that. So I would like to take that back. He is really not that much of a lightweight. And as far as  and I have to say this, I have to say this. He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I have never heard of this. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands  if they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there is no problem. I guarantee.

In contrast, Rubio started with a classic politician's segue when asked about the back-and-forth insults between he and Trump. "Yes, you know, Bret, let me say something," he began, addressing the moderator. He then launched into a relatively smooth speech, with only one false start:

This campaign  for the last year, Donald Trump has basically mocked everybody with personal attacks. He has done so to people that are sitting on the stage today. He has done so about people that are disabled. He has done it about every candidate in this race.

So if there is anyone who has ever deserved to be attacked that way, it has been Donald Trump, for the way he has treated people in the campaign.

On paper, Rubio looks a lot more coherent than Trump. But this kind of communication isn't how people talk every day, Sclafani said.

"If you listen carefully to the type of conversation among friends you might overhear in a cafe, their utterances will be full of incomplete sentences, abrupt topic shifts and non-sequiturs [unconnected statements]," she said.

Another, former outsider candidate, Sarah Palin (John McCain's running mate from the 2008 election) has a similar jumpy style, Sclafani said. But Palin's Alaska accent might make people more likely to think of her as mentally slow, she said, while Trump's rapid New York cadence may make him seem smarter. Trump is also a brand, Sclafani said, and his mode of speech is part of his image.

"He comes off as the same type of person in the political sphere as he did in the reality TV/business sphere," she said, "which works toward his image as authentic and trustworthy."

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
3.141592  wait, what comes next? Doesn't matter  for the purposes of today's date, the first three digits of pi are the important ones.

Today, 3/14, is Pi Day, the math nerd's holiday celebrating the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Pi, also written as the Greek letter , is an irrational transcendental number. That means it can't be written as a fraction, and its decimal places continue, well, forever. (The fraction 22/7 is often used as a close estimate of pi in fractional form.)

Pi Day was the brainchild of physicist Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium, which has been holding special events on March 14 for 28 years running. To add to the fun, Pi Day is also the birthday of famed physicist Albert Einstein. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting Pi Day and "its celebration around the world." The goal, according to the resolution, is to engage children in the study of mathematics and science. [That's Big! The 9 Most Massive Numbers in Existence]

Pi Day is usually celebrated with math puzzles, like one released each year by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The consumption of pie and other round foods is also a popular Pi Day pastime. Last year's holiday was marked by some particularly enthusiastic celebrations, as the date  3/14/15  spelled out an additional two digits of pi. At SXSW (South by Southwest festival), revelers counted down to 9:26 a.m. and 53 seconds to spell out the first 10 digits of pi.

Pi has been calculated out to more than a trillion digits, with no discernable pattern. Reciting as many digits as possible has become a memorization challenge. The Guinness World Records lists Chao Lu as the current record holder for reciting the most digits of pi (67,890), though there are validated claims of the recitation of more than 100,000 digits. The trick to memorizing the number, for many, is to turn pi into words, often using a "language" called Pilish. The language uses the number of letters in a word to represent a digit of pi. For example, this mnemonic: "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics." (3.14159265358979)

But pi isn't just about parties and party tricks. The number is used on a daily basis by engineers, physicists and mathematicians. At NASA JPL, rocket scientists use formulas including pi to calculate planetary rotations, the orbits of spacecraft and the surface area of celestial bodies. The simplest equations involving pi are used to find the circumference and area of a circle: C=2 r (circumference equals two times  times the radius) and A= r2 (area equals  times the radius squared).

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science.
This illustration shows <em>T. euotica</em> prowling around Central Asia about 90 million years. Back then, the Central Asian climate was less like a desert, and more forested with rivers and lakes.

The skull of a horse-size dinosaur, a distant relative of the colossal Tyrannosaurus rex, suggests that braininess was behind the beast's rise to dominance millions of years ago.

The dinosaur fossils, discovered in the desert of Uzbekistan, suggest that although early tyrannosaurs were small animals, they had advanced brains, said study lead researcher Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. These keen brains likely helped tyrannosaurs become apex predators when they evolved into bigger beasts during the last 20 million years of the dinosaur age.

"Tyrannosaurs got smart before they got big, and they got big quickly right at the end of the time of the dinosaurs," Brusatte told Live Science. [See Images of the Fearsome Horse-Size Tyrannosaur]

T. rex may be famous, but little is known about its family tree. Tyrannosaurs originated about 170 million years ago in the mid-Jurassic, but they were mostly small, human- to horse-size dinosaurs at that time. Because of a 20-million-year gap in the fossil record, it's long been a mystery how these relatively small tyrannosaurs transitioned from marginal hunters to top predators, the researchers said in the study.

The new specimen fills that important gap. Paleontologists and study co-authors Alexander Averianov and Hans Sues discovered the tyrannosaur fossils in the Kyzylkum Desert of northern Uzbekistan. They dated the newfound species, named Timurlengia euotica, to the mid-Cretaceous, about 90 million years ago. During that time, Uzbekistan would have been hot and desertlike, but it also had forests, rivers and lakes, the researchers said.

T. euotica's skeleton, with the bones that paleontologists discovered highlighted in red. (Image credit: Todd Marshall and Steve Brusatte)

"The middle Cretaceous is a mysterious time in evolution because fossils of land-living animals from this time are known from very few places," Averianov, of Saint Petersburg State University in Russia, said in a statement. "Uzbekistan is one of these places. The early evolution of many groups like tyrannosaurs took place in the coastal plains of central Asia in the mid-Cretaceous."

The paleontologists uncovered a number of fossils, including vertebrae, claws and teeth. But the tyrannosaur's braincase  the part of the skull that holds the brain  was, by far, the most significant finding, they said. In fact, the researchers teamed up with Brusatte because of his experience with studying the braincases of theropods (bipedal, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs).

Using a computer tomography (CT) scan, the researchers found that T. euotica might have been only about the size of a horse and likely weighed up to 550 lbs. (about 250 kilograms)  a pip-squeak compared to the 9-ton (8 metric tons) T. rex  but its brain and senses were highly developed.

"It has a really advanced brain, really advanced senses," Brusatte said.

The CT scan revealed that T. euotica had a long cochlea in its inner ear, which would have enabled it to hear low-frequency sounds.

"Low-frequency sounds allow you to hear potential prey, maybe from a longer distance, but just better in general," Brusatte said. "Tyrannosaurs were better at hearing low-frequency sounds than almost any other type of dinosaur."

The scan also allowed the scientists to digitally reconstruct the dinosaur's sinuses, nerves and blood vessels within its skull. "It turns out that it basically has the same type of brain as T. rex, just smaller, Brusatte said. [Photos: 7-Year-Old Boy Discovers T. Rex Cousin]

The rest of the skeleton also provided clues about T. euotica.

"Timurlengia was a nimble pursuit hunter with slender, bladelike teeth suitable for slicing through meat," Sues, a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., said in the statement. "It probably preyed on the various large plant eaters, especially early duck-billed dinosaurs, which shared its world."

The study was published online today (March 14) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
More than 13 million Americans could become climate refugees by 2100 if the worst sea-level rise comes to pass, new research suggests.

Rising seas caused by climate change could permanently flood hundreds of U.S. counties, according to the study. The hardest-hit county will be Miami-Dade, Florida, where 2 million people could be forced to relocate. In fact, Florida is home to about half of these potential U.S. climate refugees.

"The Great Migration of southern African-Americans from the South into the North is pretty much the same kind of magnitude we're talking about it if we don't adequately address sea-level rise," said study co-author Mathew Hauer, a demography doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia in Athens. [See Which Counties Could House the U.S. Climate Refugees]

However, city, county, state and local governments can take steps to mitigate some of these effects, while global work to stem climate change could mean the worst-case scenario never comes to pass, the researchers wrote in the paper, which was published today (March 14) in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Growing coastal population

Past studies have provided estimates, based on current population levels, of how many people climate change would affect. However, some of the fastest-growing areas of the country are situated on the coasts, in low-lying areas vulnerable to climate change.

To get a better sense of how many people would be affected in the future if current growth rates are sustained, Hauer and his colleagues analyzed census data from counties around the continental United States. The team looked at historical growth rates in coastal regions, and then used those numbers to project future population levels. Based on the projections, the study found that population in coastal areas could be up to three times that of current levels.

The team then combined those estimates with estimates of sea-level rise from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In the NOAA's worst-case scenario, the oceans will rise about 6 feet (1.8 meters), on average, by 2100. These NOAA estimates account for permanent coastal flooding but not other potential hazards of climate change, such as increased hurricane numbers and intensity or storm surges.

If there is no climate change mitigation, 13 million people would be forced to move because their homes become partially submerged under water, the researchers found. In a better scenario, with only 3 feet (0.9 m) of sea-level rise, only 4.2 million people would be forced to move, the study found.

Mitigation

Of course, the millions displaced are not a foregone conclusion. For one, historical growth rates may not be a good predictor for future growth rates; some low-lying coastal areas are already so densely populated that they are unlikely to grow in the future, while others may be actively discouraging growth in vulnerable areas or taking steps to mitigate climate impacts, Hauer said.

Right now, climate change policy is often driven from the bottom up, by county- and city-level zoning laws, Hauer said.

Still, counties, cities and states can take a variety of steps to avoid a forced mass-migration, he said.

"You have protection, you have accommodation and you also have retreat," Hauer told Live Science.

For instance, in some areas, sea walls or marsh restoration may be sufficient to prevent the worst effects of sea-level rise, while in other places, zoning laws that discourage future building altogether may be the smartest approach, Hauer said.

"New York City is going to be able to adapt differently than, say, New Orleans," Hauer said.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
An artistic representation of the human eye from the authors of one of the new reports.

Stem cells could help treat people with cataracts and even some who are blind by regenerating eye tissue and replacing flawed lenses, according to new experiments in children and rabbits.

In order for people to see properly, both the lens of the eye and the cornea  the layer of tissue that covers the eye in front of the lens  must be transparent. Current treatments for people who have clouding in the lens or cornea involve artificial implants or donor transplants, respectively, but these surgical procedures can be risky, researchers said.

In the new research, scientists performed minimally invasive surgeries on 12 infants under age 2 who all had congenital cataracts  a major cause of childhood blindness. They removed the children's cataracts, but carefully spared certain cells in their eyes, called lens epithelial stem/progenitor cells (LECs), which could then go on to regenerate lenses.

They found that the infants' incisions healed within one month, and the transparency of their line of vision was more than 20 times better, compared to infants with congenital cataracts who received the current, standard treatment. [5 Amazing Technologies That Are Revolutionizing Biotech]

The finding shows that "we can harness our own stem cells to regenerate a tissue or organ," Dr. Kang Zhang, who led the study and is an ophthalmologist at the University of California, San Diego, told Live Science.

Researchers had not previously shown that LECs could be used to regenerate human lenses.

Cataracts involve clouding of the lens, and are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. The current treatment for cataracts involves surgically removing the clouded lens of the eye from its supporting capsule and replacing it with an artificial lens. More than 20 million cataract patients worldwide now undergo this procedure each year.

Zhang noted that only 4 in 10,000 cataract patients are infants. Still, "in principle, this approach should work for any age, because lens stem cells are present through life," he said. The stem cells of older patients may need a bit of a boost to regenerate lenses, he added.

The current treatment for cataracts is artificial lens implantation, which requires a cut about 6 millimeters wide to the lens capsule. The treatment can lead to inflammation and the destruction of the LECs, which normally help protect the lens from damage. Moreover, this surgery can lead to scars or the abnormal growth of lens cells  either of which can result in cloudiness in a patient's line of vision.

In early experiments, Zhang and his colleagues showed they could isolate LECs from mice, and that these cells could form transparent, lenslike structures. The scientists reasoned that minimally invasive surgeries, involving cuts of only 1 to 1.5 millimeters wide, could remove cataracts while also preserving LECs that could then go on to regenerate lenses, Zhang said. They achieved successful lens regeneration in rabbits and monkeys, before attempting the procedure in children.

In the study, the infants' surgical wounds were only about 4.3 percent the size of those created by the current method. The scientists also moved the site of the incision to the periphery of the lens rather than its center, according to the findings published online March 9 in the journal Nature. [Top 3 Techniques for Creating Organs in the Lab]

The researchers noted that they only tested a small number of patients with their new method. They will need "much larger and longer-term clinical trials to show its safety and efficacy," Zhang said.

When it comes to treating blindness due to problems with the cornea, the gold-standard treatment involves corneal transplants from donors. However, the immune systems of recipients can reject a transplanted cornea.

In a separate finding, also published March 9 in Nature, researchers tested out a promising strategy for avoiding such rejection that involves growing corneas from the cells of patients.

Researcher Kohji Nishida at Osaka University in Japan and his colleagues used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are mature cells that are chemically reprogrammed with the ability to become any tissue in the body, to grow new corneas.

During embryonic development, eye tissue is formed from three layers, and the cornea and lens emerge from the topmost layer. In the experiments, the scientists grew human iPSCs with a chemical that promoted the creation of a structure that resembled the developing eye. The researchers harvested stem cells from this structure, which generated molecules one might expect of the cornea. They grew sheets of corneal tissue from these cells, and found they could restore vision in rabbits that had corneal blindness.

It seems unlikely that growing a structure mimicking the embryonic eye is an economically viable strategy for treating corneal blindness, noted Julie Daniels, a professor of regenerative medicine and cellular therapy at the University of College London Institute of Ophthalmology, who was not involved in the study.

The real value of this research is how experiments with this kind of structure will help better understand eye development, and "such an understanding might eventually enable in situ manipulation of stem-cell populations throughout the eye" as Zhang and his colleagues accomplished, Daniels wrote in a commentary on this research.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science.
Supply chain and logistics operators should start planning now for the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership signed last month, according to one leading trade expert, who believes others including South Korea, China and Taiwan will join in the coming years.

Deborah Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, told delegates at LogiSYM 2016 supply chain symposium, held in Singapore last week, that TPP was the most consequential trade deal in decades.

The 12 signatories  Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam represent some 40% of global trade. Elms compared the breadth and scope of the deal in terms of its expected impact on trade to the North American Free Trade Agreement that came into force in 1994, and the entry of China into the World Trade Organisation in 2001.

Elms predicted that TPP would go live within the next two years. Moreover, on the date of entry into force 90% of all goods tariffs on cargoes moved between member states would immediately drop to zero.

The tariff reductions mean that firms will no longer have to contend with tariff peaks and companies would suddenly be competitive in places where they were formerly not, she said. TPP is much broader than most trade agreements and covers the free movement of almost all goods and services.

TPP members are going to make a host of changes designed to speed up and reduce costs at the borders and many firms will be eligible for self-certification of origin, eliminating the need for time-consuming trips to chambers of commerce or other bodies to obtain a certificate of origin.

The agreement also includes specific rules for express shipments and other expedited delivery processes. Customs officials are to allow pre-arrival processing and guaranteed release within specific time periods.

And supply chain and logistics companies may benefit directly from TPP because the agreement opens up services sectors for easier access to TPP firms. At the minimum companies should review their internal processes and current procedures and see if they have the best supply chain systems in place - I suspect many do not, she said.

According to Elms, there was also ample scope for TPP to be expanded in the future with South Korea, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama all likely additions. We project maybe another eight countries will join in the next eight years, she added. So it wont just be big on day one, it could be much bigger in future with as many as 20 countries.

She also contrasted TPP to the ASEAN Economic Community which entered into force at the start of 2016 but which has not so far removed all barriers to trade. Under TPP member nations cannot pick and choose which bits they implement, like in ASEAN, she said.

Everyone has the same rules. There are some exemptions for some developing countries, but this is all legally binding and if a government doesnt implement then theyll be hauled in.

And there will be harmonization of rules across ports within each country. They cant have inconsistent procedures in different ports.

LogiSYM will be hosting two further events in Asia this year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October and at Dubai in November. For more information contact Ceri Healey - [email protected]

Image: Shutterstock.com
Jose Luis Carrera, 72, passed away Friday, March 11, 2016, in Laredo, Texas.

Mr. Carrera was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1945 and had been a lifelong resident of Laredo.

After becoming a U.S citizen, Mr. Carrera worked at Cesar Electronics, along with his brother, for numerous years.

Mr. Carrera was a jack of all trades who partook in many endeavors in order to assist his family.

He will always be remembered.

He is preceded in death by his mother, Anita G. Carrera; father, Cesario Carrera; brothers, Santana Carrera, Roberto Carrera, Cesario Carrera and Francisco Santana Carrera.

He is survived by his loving wife of 45 years of marriage, Maria C. Carrera; as well as his sons, daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brothers and sisters.

Also surviving him are numerous other relatives and many friends.

Visitation will be Monday, March 14, 2016, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and a prayer service will be officiated by Pastor Elvia Pargas at 7 p.m. in the Hernandez-Lopez and Sons Northside Chapels, 800 Boston St on San Bernardo Avenue.

A Religious service will be officiated Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at 9 a.m. in the Northside chapel.

Funeral services will begin departing at 10 a.m. from the funeral home chapel.

Committal services and interment will then follow in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

www.HernandezLopezFH.com.
To the editor,

The following is my opinion. LMT letter writer Joseph Pelto brings to mind Donald Trumps Nevada post-caucus statement, I love poorly educated people.

It would be funny, except people like Pelto are not joking. People like him actually believe that we need a lying, pompous, vulgar, petty, bigoted, selfish, vindictive, spiteful boor; a misogynistic, racist, genocide-prone, intolerant, hate- and fear-mongering, sadistic, self-centered, capriciously malevolent demagogic bully and control freak to lead the worlds greatest democracy. Trumps followers state: He says what we think. They obviously dont think very deeply.

Politics is the study and practice of social organization, not domination of human beings by capturing power.

Democracy can only be safeguarded by constant watchfulness.

Right-wing zealots are willfully blind to the principles of liberalism, which provides balance between reactionary totalitarianism and anarchy.

Democracy is not perfect, but it beats whatever is in second place.

Our democracy is rule by majority with respect for minorities; it doesnt make everybody happy, but it is the fairest system to date.

As a retired post-secondary history instructor, I offered a Republican acquaintance, a retired federal employee, to review the Constitution with me.

He refused, saying that it would turn him into a communist! I was born here and served in the military, yet a former neighbor, a Mexican-American DPS trooper, told me that if I didnt like Trump I should go back to Mexico! Blind and hateful absurdity.

About 60 percent of this nations so-called Hispanics or Latinos are ethnic Mexican citizens who, like myself, resent being clumped onto government-devised labels.

I have close friends and former colleagues from Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic; all productive U.S. citizens.

But Laredos population is about 96% ethnic Mexicans, born on both sides of the border.

While I commend Mayor Saenzs attempt to promote Laredo on FOX News and that he voted Democrat in Texas primary, he unfortunately missed the opportunity to proclaim how the majority of Laredo voters proudly voted as Democrats.

That part of the interview reminded me of Trumps hemming and hawing when questioned about the Ku Klux Klans support.

It seems that Pelto and his ilk, including a few deluded token Hispanics, would have Trumps motto be Make America White Again!

Ive been listening to both parties debates. I use the term loosely, as the Republican circuses with their flying insults and vulgarities didnt constitute respectable public discourse, but rather insulted Americans intelligence.

Trump or Cruz would lead the country into chaotic disorder fueled by fear, hate, and unsubstantiated suspicion, denying respect for our nations multi-ethnic society.

Either Pelto is blind or bigoted, refusing to recognize this nations population of different ethnicities, cultures, and belief systems.

We seek freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and are law-abiding residents, but Trumps and Rubios sycophants darkly wish to deprive Americans liberties and civil rights.

A one-eyed man is king to a society of blind people.

Sincerely,

Dr. Carlos Valle, Jr.
Local politicians and business groups in Co Longford are being urged to "step up to the plate" after the county was left without a sitting TD for the first time in its history.

Longford's sole sitting TD James Bannon saw his re-election hopes disappear when he lost out to Labour's Willie Penrose for the fourth and final seat in the Longford-Westmeath constituency during the early hours of last Thursday morning.

Barely 48 hours on, various stakeholders from within Longford's political and business communities have called for a concerted, cross-assembly approach to ensure the county is not left behind.

"It's definitely not ideal that Longford no longer has a TD, there's no denying," admitted Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council, Cllr Gerry Warnock.

"But the challenge is there now for public representatives like myself to step up to the plate.

"We can't sit on our chairs with our heads in our hands and hope something comes down the chimney. That's not the way things work. We all need to step up to promote our county, our economy and do things for ourselves because the day of waiting for things coming down from Dublin has long gone."

Regeneration

Part of that self determining approach has coincided in the roll out of a County Council led regeneration programme across Longford town and county.

And while the fruits of that venture have yet to be fully realised, its hoped recent planning permission for a 233m Center Parcs holiday village in Ballymahon will revitalise the regions economic fortunes.

In the meantime, members of Longfords Chamber of Commerce are scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday, where it is expected the fallout from General Election 2016 will be discussed.

I feel very disappointed we don't have a TD in Longford, said Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Brady.

She said the group had planned for the possibility of what unfolded this week by organising a jobs and business expo in September and setting up a jobs taskforce for Longford.

What we have decided to do is to invite all of the candidates who ran in Longford but also the TDs who were elected to a breakfast meeting in April. It will be a members-only breakfast where we will be asking what plans they have for Longford and we will be asking TDs to sit on that taskforce, she added.

Head of Local Enterprise with Longford County Council Michael Nevin was careful to stay upbeat, saying the onus was on local interest groups to take the initiative themselves.

Having a local TD obviously helped to sell our case for Longford as an investable location and helped to open doors to government departments when looking to meet the right people, he said.

Now its up to ourselves to make sure we promote ourselves to make sure Longford is not left behind.

Former Fianna Fail TD Peter Kelly agreed.

He lost his seat during the Fianna Fail collapse of 2011 as the party suffered the full force of Irelands economic downturn from an indignant electorate.

Unless you have strong representation you will be left behind, he warned. But its up to the people of Longford to pull together and to promote Longford in a positive light.



The People of Longford are not to blame. Read Diarmaid Murphy's column on page 21
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President Obamas SXSW Interactive keynote address on Friday started late but was worth the wait, resulting in a fascinating conversation with Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith. President Obama came to South by Southwest Interactive not to to feast on Austins delicious tacos with the mayor, but also to urge attendees to get involved with helping the government use technology to solve problems. He spoke of hiring a SWAT team to overhaul Healthcare.gov after that disastrous launch, for example, and of a new initiative to help low-income families afford diapers. Obama concluded by telling the audience that whatever ones particular passion or concern was, We need you.

Smith didnt lob softballs all afternoon, either, pressing Obama on issues like Internet access for underserved communities and the raging debate currently going on over encryption and whether the government can order private companies to break it. The full video is embedded below (start at around 39 minutes).
Wartsila has signed a five-year maintenance agreement with the Nigerian gas transportation company Bonny Gas Transport Limited, (BGT), a subsidiary of Nigeria LNG Limited.

Wartsila will monitor and service the engines on board the BGT's six new LNG carriers and deliver spare parts, as well as expertise for inspections and major service overhauls. The contract marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation between Wartsila and BGT, and is the first of its kind for Wartsila in Africa.



Nigeria LNG Limited exports most of its cargo to the European Asian markets. The six LNG carriers are equipped with five Wartsila 50DF engines each and operate primarily on gas.



Dynamic Maintenance Planning increases predictability of costs and operations



Wartsila's Dynamic Maintenance Planning (DMP) concept utilizing Condition Based Monitoring (CBM) will determine the actual engine maintenance needs. Bonny Gas Transport will also have around the clock access to online operational and technical support.



The agreement is the first to apply Wartsila's Data Acquisition System, part of Wartsila's Genius services which helps customers optimise their operations and seize the opportunities that digitalisation offers. The system provides real-time access and analysis of data with one system and enables automated measuring- and guarantee of power availability.




The Coast Guard rescued a father and son Saturday after their sailboat grounded near Sarah Island in Hingham Harbor.



Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Bostons command center were alerted to the distress at about 5 p.m. after the pair used a cell phone to call for help.



They explained their recently purchased sailboat grounded while trying to take it across the harbor. They were wearing life jackets but had no radio, no boating safety equipment, and no boating experience.



A 29-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Point Allerton, in Hull, quickly arrived on scene and assessed the situation. They determined the boat was too hard aground, transferred the men to the Coast Guard boat, and took them to shore with no reported injuries.



Plans will be made by the two survivors Sunday to salvage the sailboat.



The problem this time of year is the air temperature is warming but the water is still dangerously cold, said Brian Fleming, operations unit coordinator in the Coast Guard command center. The water in Boston Harbor today was 42 degrees, if either of these men ended up in the water this story could have had a devastating ending.



Fleming explained cold-water shock, which happens when someone falls in cold water and instinctively gasps and inhales water, and hypothermia can be deadly.



People who plan to go out on a boat are highly encouraged to buy a submergible radio with GPS, they are inexpensive and will alert us to your location if you have an emergency, said Fleming. Cell phones are an unreliable way to contact people on shore.

Fleming said boating safety starts on shore and stressed the importance of planning ahead. Taking a boating safety class, having boating safety equipment, and filing a float plan are all ways to greatly increase your chances surviving an emergency.



Visit Boat Massachusetts to lean more about taking a state and nationally approved boating safety course, concentrating on the equipment and operating guidelines needed to enjoy boating in a safe and responsible way.



You can also get take a boating safety class and get a free vessel safety examination for your boat through the Coast Guard Auxiliary.


Climate Change Deniers, Loretta Lynch, and the Government War on Free Speech

During her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch admitted that she asked the FBI to examine whether the federal government should take legal action against so-called climate change deniers. Attorney General Lynch is not responding to any criminal acts committed by climate change skeptics. Instead, she is responding to requests from those frustrated that dissenters from the alleged climate change consensuses have successfully blocked attempts to create new government programs to fight climate change.

These climate change censors claim that the argument over climate change is settled and the deniers' success in blocking congressional action is harming the public. Therefore, the government must disregard the First Amendment and silence anyone who dares question the reigning climate change dogma. This argument ignores the many reputable scientists who have questioned the magnitude, effects, and role of human action in causing climate change.

If successful, the climate change censors could set a precedent that could silence numerous other views. For example, many people believe the argument over whether we should audit, and then end, the Federal Reserve is settled. Therefore, the deniers of Austrian economics are harming the public by making it more difficult for Congress to restore a free-market monetary policy. So why shouldn't the government silence Paul Krugman?

The climate change censorship movement is part of a larger effort to silence political speech. Other recent examples include the IRS's harassment of tea party groups as well as that agency's (fortunately thwarted) attempt to impose new rules on advocacy organizations that would have limited their ability to criticize a politician's record in the months before an election.

The IRS and many state legislators and officials are also trying to force public policy groups to hand over the names of their donors. This type of disclosure can make individuals fearful that, if they support a pro-liberty group, they will face retaliation from the government.

Efforts to silence government critics may have increased in recent years; however, the sad fact is the US Government has a long and shameful history of censoring speech. It is not surprising that war and national security have served as convenient excuses to limit political speech. So-called liberal presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt both supported wartime crackdowns on free speech.

Today, many neoconservatives are using the war on terror to justify crackdowns on free speech, increased surveillance of unpopular religious groups like Muslims, and increased government control of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Some critics of US foreign policy have even been forbidden to enter the country.

Many opponents of government restrictions on the First Amendment and other rights of Muslims support government actions targeting so-called "right-wing extremists." These fair-weather civil liberties defenders are the mirror image of conservatives who support restricting the free speech rights of Muslims in the name of national security, yet clam to oppose authoritarian government. Defending speech we do not agree with is necessary to effectively protect the speech we support.

A government that believes it can run our lives, run the economy, and run the world will inevitably come to believe it can, and should, have the power to silence its critics. Eliminating the welfare-warfare state is the key to protecting our free speech, and other liberties, from an authoritarian government.

Dr. Ron Paul

Project Freedom

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Ron Paul Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Donald Trump: Youre All Violent Communists Now!

According to Donald Trump, as I understand it, Bernie Sanders is responsible for any violence that has or will occur at Trump rallies. Case closed? Bernie is a Communist; and his followers are leftists who want to destroy this country! Case closed?

If Sanders folk dont get it, be forewarned: Trump is framing him and you!

To silver-hairs within the Trump legion who wear permanent frowns of repressed anger stoked by neo-conservative and anti-government propagandists on radio, cable news and the Internet, Bernie Sanders socialism - which arguably isnt socialism - is now conflated with Communism  that great evil empire whose phantom Mr. Trump has resurrected to revive long-buried hates and fears within his aging McCarthyite and Cold War warriors.

To younger Trumpists, the words communism and socialism might seem empty of meaning, hence empty of potency. But does it matter? What matters is USA! USA! USA!  meaning were Americans, youre not! In the late sixties, they would shout, love it or leave it. There were always true Americans, usually right-wingers, versus the rest.

The Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union actually was a war between socialist and capitalist economic systems, and capitalism won. Cold War II today isnt a war between systems because all three nations - U.S., Russia and China  adopt a variant of capitalism. It is a war for supremacy within global capitalism.

And it is global capitalism and its dislocating effects that have caused much of the discontent, anger and rage that now is exploited by Mr. Trump. It is important for both political parties to obscure this basis since both parties champion globalization but have failed to foresee its effects. I might add that both parties promote all current U.S. wars on behalf of economic goals; from the conquest of other nations resources; to control of global oil, gas and pipelines; or in maintaining the supremacy of the U.S. dollar as world reserve currency, American wars today are fought for capital domination.

In a Cass Sustein and Samantha Power (his wife) world of cognitive infiltration, war is R2P and humanitarian intervention, as most liberals and progressives now agree. As a consequence, debating war is taboo today.

Yet, the Pentagon will absorb more and more of Federal discretionary spending which many will unquestionably support as it depletes the very safety nets they depend upon. Many will support and go to war for USA! USA! USA! too. But how many would go to war just to enrich the defense industry, or to make the world safe for Goldman Sachs, Exxon-Mobile and Google? Mum is the word.

For the uneducated, uneducable or intellectually lazy, scapegoats are easier to blame than Wall Street or rich donors whose hands reach deeply into the pockets of the candidates. Immigrants are easier to blame than American mega-corporations that have outsourced American jobs since the 1980s. Socialists seeking a fair distribution of wealth are easier to blame than billionaires like Mr. Trump who represents and protects billionaires like himself and whose dynasties are underwritten and leveraged by Wall Street money. It is easier to obscure it all by speciously deflecting blame on scapegoats to gain the loyalty of victims before they grow smarter and turn against you.

Divert blame to powerless immigrants, ethnics or to so-called socialists like Sen. Sanders whose economic analysis and platform undermines the status quo financial power structure and who speaks most directly to the plight of the dispossessed and marginalized. Some people struggling with meager wages will vote against their own self-interest and support Mr. Trump - a candidate who has promised to lower their already low wages. In return they get to shout USA! USA! USA!

Our economic system has reached its contradictions and stretched the limits of profitability at the expense of the common good. It needs to usurp the economies of other countries to grow more profitable. It created the greatest gulf between rich and poor in recent history yet unsatiated. Like war, capitalism  the system itself - is never debated, only promoted.

Insofar as anti-Trump protestors at rallies, just throw them out, commanded Mr. Trump. The left is against freedom of speech and assembly, they are taking away his First Amendment rights. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!

It was no surprise that three who top the national charts for spewing the most memorable vulgar and inflammatory rhetoric rushed to publicly support Mr. Trump: Sarah Palin, Gov. Christie and Gov. LePage.

Following scuffles at a Trump rally in Chicago on March 11, and hours after a man attempted to charge his stage in Ohio, a Twitter account Lions Guard announced the formation of a volunteer group to protect Trump supporters from violent Far-Left agitators. Will they become a Protective Squadron or Schutzstaffel?

Contrary to what some Trumpists allege, Hitler wasnt a socialist because his movement was named National Socialist German Workers Party. Socialist is a term conservatives and the Right now disambiguously use to conflate Sen. Sanders democratic socialism with autocratic Nazism to confuse the uneducated.

Furthermore, the KKK isnt a leftist terrorism organization that conservative CNN analyst Jeffrey Lord peddled in defending Donald Trumps refusal to disavow the endorsement of far-right extremists.

Hitler was a fascist and fascism arises from the Right, not the Left, as every educated conservative and Rightist knows. But it is purposely inverted to build a platform of attack along with liberal and leftist vilifications to resurrect Cold War McCarthyism, red-baiting and domestic persecutions.

After years of tolerating right-wing propagandists spinning half truths, bogus history, conspiracy theories and plain hate, anger and racism, America now faces Mr. Trump who is nothing more or less than an extension of these extreme forces.

He is an outgrowth of a cancer that metastasized within the GOP over decades. It is more than a party that cripples government, shuts it down, and attracts the most regressive members of society. It is more than a No party. It is Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Lee Atwater, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Rush Limbaud, Rupert Murdoch, Fox News and a staunch conservative-evangelical base whose war against progress has now been bested by Mr. Trump. The GOP and right-wing incubated him!

If the election in November is between Hillary Clinton and Mr. Trump, there will be no peace after victory. If Mrs. Clinton is victorious, conservatives and the right-wing will war against her stronger and more viciously than they did with President Obama. If Mr. Trump wins, the very fabric of this country might be ripped apart, if it hadnt already.

It cant happen here wrote Sinclair Lewis in 1935.

In 2016, Trump could happen here.

(c) 2016 Michael T. Bucci

(Michael T. Bucci is a retired public relations executive now living in New England. He has authored nine books on practical spirituality collectively titled The Cerithous Material.)

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




The Indian students have always ruled the world of education, jobs and work delivery. To gain quality education is a common dream that almost everyone thinks of. As the craze for technology has grown over the periods, the excitement to learn more and more increased.

The exponential growth in the education sector expressed an urgent need of many education institutes. The education system to get developed by and large will take a lot of time to cover the leap of demand and supply.

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The duration of the course offered is about 6 years where the achievements of the students will help them achieve their education targets.

Belarus offers the MBBS course through the Vitebsk State Medical University that is located in the city of Vitebsk. The success story of the MBBS course dates from the year 1934.

In order to get you the most authentic information about the medical colleges or institutes in Belarus, SEED will be the guide. Their idea is to help, especially the Indian students that aims bigger to be a professional doctor.

To make up your mind before you apply, the SEED also throws some light on the tuition fee per year that is somewhat close to US$ 4,100/-. If you compare the tuition fee with the other countries where quality education comes after shelling a lot of money, Belarus is a fantastic option. Apart from the tuition fee, language is also not a barrier and the hostel fee is just US $ 600/-. The Vitebsk State Medical University is approved by the Medical Council of India (MCI), WHO, IMED, etc. and the course is taught in the English Medium.

To bring each MBBS course aspirant from India closer to their dream, Belarus offers the solution at a much affordable rate. Belarus to be the new affordable destination, by the Indian students as well, for the MBBS course.

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Everything has now been set in place for an imperialist intervention in Libya. Ashton Carter, United States Defence Secretary, has anointed Italy as leader of the Coalition. Meanwhile, in Italy, the past imperialist master of Libya, the war drums are beating.

At the end of February a meeting of Italys Supreme Defence Council decided to start preparing the Italian contingent. Already forty Italian intelligence service personnel are on the ground and 50 commandos will soon be on Libyan soil. They will join the intelligence services of other imperialist powers, such as France, USA and Britain. The official reason given for the intervention is, as usual, the fight against terrorism and restoration of order in Libya.

The question that has to be asked is: what caused the present chaos and civil war in the former Italian colony? It was the intervention promoted in April 2011 by the same imperialist powers, headed by France and Britain, with the support of the USA and with Italy having a secondary role. They presented their intervention as helping the revolution and halting the civil war. In reality the aim was to divert the movement of the masses, which was trying to follow the example of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, and also to sow confusion among all the peoples of the Arab country who were moving in the direction of revolution. Thus, the imperialists bombed without mercy cities and villages, producing more than 10,000 casualties, and overthrew and then killed Muhammar Gaddafi without even the pretence of a trial. Their aim was to divide the country up among themselves and get their claws on the countrys vast oil supplies.

What was the result of all this? They destroyed the old state apparatus, which in turn led to the break-up of the country. Every city is now controlled by a different armed militia and sometimes several militias are fighting for control over the same town or province. There is no state institution or military force that can claim to control the entire country.

This situation is what enabled ISIS to get a foothold and gain in strength. From Sirte, Gaddafis hometown, at the beginning of the year ISIS began to move eastwards towards the oil port of Sidra and the refinery of Ras Lanuf, and also towards oil production sites in the southern desert. The seizure of oil supplies and ports alarmed the western powers, but it is also worth nothing that ISIS has been funded and supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two historical partners and supposed allies of the west.

In Libya what we are now witnessing is a proxy war, with every imperialist and regional power backing its own proteges. As Von Clausewitz once wrote, War is the continuation of politics by other means. In this period of economic crisis, the struggle to conquer new markets and spheres of influence can assume a particularly ferocious character. The conflicts between rival powers are not only commercial or financial, but can spill over into armed confrontations.

The different factions in Libya

Apart from ISIS, the two main players are the government of Tripoli, supported by Qatar and Turkey, in the western part of the country, and the government of Tobruk, recognised by the so-called international community and supported by Egypt and the Arab Emirates. Imperialism is calling for the formation of a government of national unity, whose main task would be to ask for foreign military intervention.

As usual, a United Nations resolution has already been voted to be used as a fig-leaf behind which all the imperialist powers can hide. A government of national unity would be useful not only to appease public opinion in general and keep petty bourgeois pacifists happy  those same people who always cry peace but stop demonstrating as soon as they see a blue helmet labelled United Nations  but more importantly, in order to make such an intervention viable.

Despite all their efforts, however, there is still a long way to go. A deal was struck in Morocco last December but after three months it has not yet been approved by any of the parliaments. Both Tobruk and Tripoli are against, as are the majority of ordinary Libyans.

Both sides are trying to make substantial gains on the ground before sitting round the negotiating table and discussing an agreement. With the aid of the air strikes of the Egyptian air force, Tobruk is making a breakthrough in Benghazi, which on several occasions was about to take over from Ansar -El Sharia, a group formerly linked to Al-Qaeda. The real master of the Tobruk government, General Haftar, would like to be a prominent minister in the new unity government, that he presently considers to be too unbalanced.

Tripoli would also like to have a place in the sun. In this sense, the recent killing of two Italian technicians in Sabratha, in western Libya, on March 2 was quite revealing. Firstly, it revealed to the entire world that imperialism is already intervening in the country. Ten days before the murder of the tow Italians, the US air force had bombed Sabratha, leaving 41 people dead. French raids have also been frequent. Secondly, it revealed that Sabratha, as is the case with most areas of Libya, is not under the control of any national government, but is in the hands of local militias. Only after the mayor of Sabratha was recognised as such by the Italian government did he give permission for the other two Italians who had survived the attack to leave the town together with the corpses of the two victims.

Easy to go in, not so easy to leave

Once western troops are in Libya they will be seen as invaders, not liberators. This Western intervention will have far more disastrous consequences than that of 2011. Since in war one cannot be neutral, the Italian-led troops will have to side with one of the contending forces, most likely on the side of the Tobruk government, because of its links with the Al Sisi regime in Egypt.

It will not be too difficult to enter Libya, bit it will not be so easy to leave. The Pentagon has made references to a 5,000 strong contingent. ISIS alone, according to US intelligence sources, has around 6,000 fighters and is growing. More troops will inevitably be needed and the conflict will take on an increasingly more aggressive character. Tensions with NATO members such as Turkey will also be exacerbated.

The lessons of the Syrian experience are there for anyone who is prepared to take not. The Americans did learn something. Obama has openly criticised the 2011 attack, and recently lambasted Cameron and Sarkozy because they just abandoned Libya after the overthrow of Gaddafi, leaving the country in the present state of chaos.

Obama is clearly clashing with the hawks in the Pentagon that would prefer a more aggressive role on the part of the United States. But in the meantime he at least shares the generals' view about who would lead a future coalition.

A more reliable, but weaker ally: Italy

Libya for us is a net loss, the biggest loss since World War II" explains an editorial in Il sole-24 ore (March 4, 2016) the daily newspaper of the Italian bosses confederation [the Italian equivalent to The Financial Times]. That is why Prime Minister Renzi would like to regain Italy's past imperialist role in the Mediterranean. It is true that in the last few days he has repeated many times that there is no plan for a military mission in Libya, hastily adding, however, for now. In a recent press conference held together with Hollande, Renzi said, The Libyans must know that the time at their disposal (for the formation of a national government) is not unlimited.

If Italian troops are sent in, Renzi's government will be doing so not for humanitarian reasons but in order to defend the economic interests of the Italian bourgeoisie. Libya is seen as booty worth 130 billion dollars, and which "has 38% of the [African] continent's oil, 11% of European consumption..." (il Sole-24 Ore , March 6, 2015).

The Libyan civil war has produced a dramatic drop in oil output. Total current production stands at 360,000-370,000 barrels per day (bpd), and sometimes it drops to around 300,000 due to technical problems. That is less than a quarter of the 1.6 million bpd that Libya was producing before the 2011 uprising. ENI, the Italian multinational oil company, controls 70% of Libyan oil production, and it is the only multinational which presently still operates in Libya. Libyan oil accounts for 20% of ENI's total production. (La Stampa, March 8, 2016) The Italian bourgeoisie, and the Renzi government, cannot afford losing control over Libyas oil fields.

The real record of Italian imperialism

In this context, we should not forget the past record of Italian colonisation of Libya, before the Second World War. The Italian ruling class likes to prettify its past imperialist adventures as being different from those of other imperialist powers, somehow being less brutal and more humane. Italiani brava gente (Italians: good people) is the common saying. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In 1911 Italy occupied Libya with an expeditionary force of 100,000 soldiers. Shortly after landing, the army shot dead or hanged 5,000 Libyans, and deported several thousand others. In 1930, on the orders of Mussolini, half the population of Cyrenaica, about 100,000 people, was deported to fifteen concentration camps in Italy, while the air force crushed the resistance, bombing villages with chemical weapons. The region was fenced in with 270 km of barbed wire. The leader of the resistance, Omar Mukhtar, was captured and hanged in 1931. Then they began the colonisation of Libya, with an influx of Italians who seized the most fertile areas, leaving the local population to survive on parched infertile land.

There is also another reason for todays intervention. The European ruling class is firm in its belief that the only way to stop the influx of refugees and immigrants is to close the borders at the gates of Europe. "Refugees, do not come to Europe!" was the warning of Tusk, the President of the European Council, uttered a few days ago. And this is to be enforced by any means possible. This explains the agreement with the authoritarian government of Erdogan and the allocation of 3billion Euros for Ankara and also the need for military intervention in Libya. They forget that the 2011 bombing did not work, and the intervention led to the exodus of a million refugees from the Libyan coast, mostly to Italy. But the bourgeoisie, like a desperate man about to fall off the edge of a cliff, is incapable of reasoning and simply bases itself on its primeval instincts of plunder and arrogance. Thus, against all the textbooks of military strategy, some kind of intervention is likely.

We have to remember that whether they succeed or fail, they will make the workers in Italy pay for the cost of this adventure with more austerity while at the same introducing more repressive laws at home in the name of the fight against "terrorism." Their hypocrisy has no limits, and the fate of millions of human beings, as far as the rulers, bankers and bosses are concerned, is of no concern. Wars for them are just another expression of their domination of the world and of their struggle for the conquest of markets and spheres of influence.

We, the workers and youth, have nothing to gain from this conflict and everything to lose, and that is why we must resolutely oppose this imperialist military adventure and side with our brothers and sisters, the workers and youth of all the Arab countries. The only way of putting an end to both the barbarism of ISIS and the dictatorial regimes of the Middle East was shown by the revolutions of the Arab Spring in 2011. Only a return to class struggle can offer a way out, but this time the struggle must end with the overthrow of capitalist oppression that generates these monsters.

Our most important task in Italy and Europe, and the most concrete way of expressing solidarity with our class brothers in Libya and throughout the Middle East, is to fight capitalism and imperialism in our own countries, where we find those who are really to blame for the barbarism that permeates the world we are living in.
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NORTH BROOKFIELD --North Brookfield Savings Bank has launched its new fundraiser to help feed campers at Camp Putnam.

The New Braintree area camp provides a true camping experience for children and is affordable for all families regardless of income.

With a total fundraising goal of $1,500, North Brookfield Savings Bank has donated the first $1,000 and is inviting community members, customers and Bank employees to raise the remaining $500. The Bank will be collecting funds in all branches during the months of March and April.

Customers can make a $1 suggested donation (or more) at their branch in which they'll receive a "Community Emblem" to be displayed with their name. They can also make donations into collection jars displayed in each branch. Employees can donate in these same ways community members can, as well as have their own unique opportunity to donate $5 to participate in Casual Days. Progress charts will be displayed in the branches so advancement towards the goal can easily be tracked.

Camp Putnam, which spends nearly $40,000 on food per summer, offers campers tasty yet healthy home-cooked and "kid-friendly" meals such as homemade mac and cheese, tacos, Shepherd's pie, fresh fruits and veggies, pancakes, French toast and more in a family-style atmosphere.

Putnam Camp Executive Director Todd Stewart said:

"We are again so grateful to the customers, employees and leadership of NBSB for taking such an active role in supporting our community as a whole and our work at Camp Putnam specifically. "Our long-standing efforts to provide our campers fresh, delicious and healthy meals in a family-style atmosphere is a vital part of the 'Care and Share' mantra so central to our mission. Meals at Camp Putnam resemble the largest, happiest family gathering one could ever imagine! The generosity of NBSB will provide much needed funding to offset the exorbitant costs of feeding hundreds of children in this manner each summer."

Donna Boulanger, North Brookfield Savings Bank President and CEO said:

"We take pride in helping organizations like Camp Putnam, whose efforts help facilitate the happiness and health of our local community. Together as a community, we hope to reach our goal, allowing kids at Camp Putnam to enjoy the well-rounded meals they deserve."

Camp Putnam encourages and promotes emotional, social, intellectual and personal discovery for children in a safe, structured environment. To learn more about Camp Putnam, visit http://www.campputnam.org/.
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Is it possible to enjoy every style of beer on the market?

(Don Treeger | The Republican)

Beer news has been popping up faster than the vernal buds on trees, so it's time for a bit of spring cleaning of my virtual desk.

* First up is some great news from the People's Pint in Greenfield. The Pint and the Connecticut River Watershed Council have teamed up to raise awareness of the endangered shortnose sturgeon with a new beer, Shortnose Stout. Shortnose sturgeon live and reproduce in the Connecticut River. The CRWC works all along the 410-plus mile Connecticut River basin to protect rivers and fish.

Fans of both stouts and sturgeon can learn more about the species at the People's Pint uncorking celebration on March 18 from 4-6 p.m. at the pub at 24 Federal St. in Greenfield. The event is free and open to the public.



"Brewing the Shortnose Stout and working with the Connecticut River Watershed Council is a great opportunity to make a real difference with the beer we brew here at The Peoples Pint," said Chris Sellers, People's Pint brewer. "I am very excited to continue to use our brewery and restaurant as a platform and a tool to raise awareness of issues affecting both our local environment and our local community."

Fittingly coinciding with St. Patrick's Day, Shortnose Stout is a traditional dry Irish stout. The beer is described as having a light body with hints of caramel, followed by a deep, roasted finish. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of this beer go to the Connecticut River Watershed Council.



* For our next item, we travel across the country to one of the original craft breweries, Anchor Brewing Co., for another Irish-style stout. The brewery just announced the return of Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout, a dark Dublin-style brew.



Back by popular demand, Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout was inspired by the export stouts quaffed in San Francisco during the Gold Rush. They brewed it as a dark, intense, high-gravity beer, created to survive the long voyage around Cape Horn. Flying Cloud is made with an English pale malt, two black malts, and flaked barley to create a rich chocolate flavor. Nugget and Golding hops add a spicy, floral aroma.

The brew is inspired by the iconic ship of the same name. The average clipper ship took 125 days to sail from New York to San Francisco. But in 1851, Flying Cloud made the trip in 89 days, 21 hours, port to port, a record that stood for 138 years.



Anchor Flying Cloud San Francisco Stout will be available nationwide through May in four-packs and on draught at select bars and restaurants.

* Our last item comes from Pabst Brewing Co., which just announced the nationwide release of Old Tankard Ale. The brew is classic post-Prohibition beer that has only been available on draft in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Michigan since October 2015. After this trial run, Old Tankard Ale will now be available on draft and in 16-ounce cans across the country.

Old Tankard is described as a classic American ale that was first produced in Wisconsin in the 1930s, eventually becoming the second-most popular ale in America. It is brewed based on a recipe from Pabst's 1937 brewer's log. The brew employs two-row, imported Cara-Munich and Cara-Aroma malts with Nugget, Liberty, Willamette and Cascade hops.
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Pianist Garrick Ohlsson and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players performing at Jordan Hall in Boston on Sunday.

(Photo by Hilary Scott, courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra)

BOSTON - Why does Beethoven still matter?

It's been over 200 years since he created many of his masterpieces. And yet, music lovers around the world still adore his greatest works.

I doubt people will be saying the same thing in two centuries about most music being made nowadays. Seriously, do you really think audiences in 2216 will leap to their feet to give a standing ovation to musicians performing Rihanna's "Work" or "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber, the current top two songs in the country?

And yet, that's exactly what the audience did Saturday night at Boston's Symphony Hall. They gave a standing ovation to the Boston Symphony Orchestra after they performed a thrilling rendition of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, which was first performed in 1813.

No one doubts Beethoven's genius. And if there was any doubt Saturday night, all audience members had to do was look straight up above the stage. There, there's a golden plaque honoring all the world's great classical music composers. The plaque has one name on it - Beethoven.

So what makes Beethoven so great?

Part of his appeal probably has a lot to do with the wide range of music he created throughout his lifetime. His pieces can be passionate or haunting like his "Moonlight" or "Pathetique" piano sonatas. Or they can be lighthearted and playful like his 6th Symphony, "The Pastoral."

Beethoven also had an incredible sense of rhythm. Long before rappers like Eminem and Dr. Dre or electronic music mavericks like Daft Punk were crafting dense beats, Ludwig Van Beethoven was writing symphonies and sonatas filled with driving beats and catchy melodies. Forget about Ice T. The Original Gangster was Notorious L.V.B.

And while Beethoven might be most famous for monumental symphonies such as the 5th and the 9th, his music also often connects with audiences on a very intimate level. Listening to his solo or chamber works, you often feel as if he's whispering a personal secret into you ear.

This weekend, audiences in Boston were treated to Beethoven's wide-ranging talent during two, all-Beethoven concerts featuring many of the same musicians. The Saturday BSO concert featured a performance of Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto and 7th Symphony under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt. (The BSO will perform the same program Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Boston's Symphony Hall.) Then on Sunday, the BSO Chamber Players performed four, intimate compositions at Jordan Hall.

And if that wasn't enough Beethoven to satisfy your appetite, the BSO will perform his 4th Piano Concerto featuring pianist Murray Perahia on April 1, 2 and 5 in Boston.

Both all-Beethoven concerts this past weekend featured another world-renowned pianist, Garrick Ohlsson. The 67-year-old, White Plains, N.Y.-native might be best known for his performances featuring the music of Frederic Chopin. That's because Ohlsson is the only American to ever win the prestigious Chopin Piano Competition held every five years in Warsaw, Poland.

Ohlsson won the competition in 1970. Decades later, he still plays Chopin with pure passion and absolute precision. Hearing Ohlsson perform Chopin live is a truly spellbinding experience. I'll never forget hearing him play an all-Chopin solo concert at Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in 2010.

But one of the amazing things about Ohlsson is how well he can play so many other compositions by so many different composers. And even more impressive, he often does so from memory, without any music. Three years ago, I was transfixed as I listened to him perform several different pieces at Ozawa Hall. In my review of that July 25, 2013 concert, I wrote about what makes Ohlsson such an astonishing performer:



What makes Ohlsson such a phenomenal pianist is the way his large hands (I saw them backstage once, they're huge) seem to caress the keys, coaxing out the faintest whisper of a sound one moment, only to be followed by a barrage of notes played with fervor and flash and fire. Ohlsson truly makes the music come alive.

On Saturday, Ohlsson's and the orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 was equally enthralling. Most people know Beethoven's 2nd and 5th piano concertos better. But the 1st definitely deserves recognition.

Beethoven gave the 1st movement of the 1st concerto a bright, bubbly beginning. This movement also demonstrates another aspect of Beethoven's compositions that often makes his music so memorable. Here, he introduces a simple theme, then makes small variations from one movement to the next, until the soloist suddenly expands on the theme in one, rapid flourish of excitement.

This is what I was writing about earlier in all seriousness about Beethoven's music being the foundation for a lot of popular music, including rap and dance music. Listen to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" or Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." Much of the music that underpins those hit songs repeats over and over with slight variations mixed in for dramatic effect. The same is true for the 1st movement of Beethoven's 1st piano concerto as well as parts of many other masterpieces written by Beethoven.

Ohlsson and the orchestra easily handled these adjustments in the 1st movement Saturday. I was also especially impressed by how well they brought the piece's crisp, pulsating rhythm vividly to life.

But it was concerto's 2nd movement where Ohlsson and the orchestra really shined. I wasn't surprised. Beethoven wrote some of the best second movements in numerous concertos and symphonies. After a thrilling opening, he often slowed the music the way down and tapped into the soul of the piece.

In the 1st piano concerto's 2nd movement, Ohlsson and the orchestra seemed to make the concert hall feel a fraction of its size. Listening, I felt as if they were playing for just a small handful of us rather than thousands of people inside the concert hall. That's the beauty and the power of Beethoven - the way he effortlessly shifts from moments of grandeur suitable for a cast of thousands to intimate, personal asides in which he seems to be sharing a secret just with you.

And thanks to the contrast between the 2nd and 3rd movements, the 3rd movement feels even more exhilarating. This fast, thrilling section begins with a piano solo echoed by the orchestra. This call-and-response style builds and builds in complexity. It's a real crowd-pleasing way to finish the concerto and Ohlsson and the orchestra did not disappoint.

The same was true for Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Looking around the concert hall, you could easily tell that everyone was enjoying this piece, judging from all the smiles and tapping toes during the performance.

In many ways, the structure of the 7th Symphony is similar to the 1st Piano Concerto. The 7th Symphony's stirring 1st movement leads to a haunting 2nd movement followed by a thrilling 3rd movement. As for the 4th movement, it adds even more thrills in rapid fire succession. It's exhilarating, soul-stirring music and the BSO tore through the score with passion. No wonder the crowd gave them a well-deserved standing ovation.

Sunday's concert at Jordan Hall was equally thrilling but for different reasons. Here, Ohlsson and members of the outstanding Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players demonstrated Beethoven's ability to draw out the best from each instrument. And since there were only a few musicians performing four different pieces, you could hear the subtle nuances of each performer.

Beethoven's Trio in C Minor for Violin, Viola and Cello started off the program in dramatic fashion. Divided into four movements, this piece felt like a miniature symphony. And here again, I found myself drawn to the Trio's, haunting 2nd movement, which the musicians played to perfection.

Ohlsson joined forces with four members of the group's wind and horn section for Beethoven's Quintet in E Flat for Piano and Winds. Listening to this delicate composition, I was afraid to take notes or even move a muscle. The music had the feel of fine china and the last thing I wanted to do was to be the one who broke the magical spell cast by this charming piece. At times, the composition reminded me of the music you often hear playing in an old fashioned music box, especially Ohlsson's piano part. But don't let such simple melodies fool you. There's nothing childlike or simple about Beethoven's music.

After a brief intermission, the group performed a piece from a genre I didn't even know existed - a duet between a viola and double bass. Beethoven's Duo in E Flat With Two Obligatto Eyeglasses might seem like a novelty piece which gives performers you don't normally see near the back of the orchestra an opportunity to shine up front. But the reality is the piece was thrilling to see and hear. And who knew all the fancy footwork that goes into playing a double bass?

The final piece on the program was Beethoven's Piano Trio in E Flat for Piano, Violin and Cello. The cello played first, followed by the violin playing the same notes, then the piano doing the same. It's a seemingly simple composition. But Beethoven manages to make the music exciting, especially once the piano part quickly diverges and requires the pianist to play an increasingly more complicated part. Ohlsson and the other musicians made it all look so easy. And not just in that one piece - throughout the entire weekend.

Then again, that's another reason why Beethoven's music remains so timeless. On the surface, it can sometimes seem simple or superficial. But dig a little deeper and you quickly realize you're starring down a vast, bottomless chasm that could keep you busy for a lifetime - or even a few centuries.



The Boston Symphony Orchestra and pianist Garrick Ohlsson perform Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto and 7th Symphony under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Boston's Symphony Hall.

The BSO and pianist Murray Perahia will perform Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 on April 1, 2 and 5 at Boston's Symphony Hall.

To order tickets or for more information, call (888) 266-1200.
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Dr. Jordan Tishler focuses on medical marijuana through his "Inhale MD Health and Wellness" practice.

(Gintautas Dumcius/MassLive.com)

BROOKLINE - New England Treatment Access Inc. opened the doors of its medical marijuana dispensary here in February, after years of fighting with some residents and haggling with local government officials.

Around the same time that the NETA dispensary started admitting patients inside the former Brookline Bank building, a doctor specializing in medical marijuana quietly opened an office a five-minute drive away, on Brookline's Beacon Street.

So far, Dr. Jordan Tishler's practice has been largely unnoticed. Tishler, who also has an office in Cambridge on Massachusetts Avenue, is one of 136 doctors in Massachusetts registered with the state's medical marijuana program.

Voters approved marijuana for medical use in 2012, and state officials took their time with the licensing process.

There are six dispensaries now open in Massachusetts. Aside from the one in Brookline, there's one in Northampton (also owned by NETA) and the others are in Brockton, Salem, Ayer, and Lowell. Another 12 are in the inspection phase required by state regulators, all while at the federal level, marijuana remains a banned "Schedule I" drug.

"The state has been probably overly cautious but it's a new field and politically charged," Tishler said while sitting in his Cambridge office on a recent Wednesday.

His practice, "Inhale MD Health and Wellness," has 400 patients. "I'm stunned by how far patients will come to see me," traveling from New Bedford to Haverhill and Northampton, he said, adding that he had to send some to Maine before the dispensaries in Massachusetts opened.

The latest data available from the state Department of Public Health shows there are 26,137 certified medical marijuana patients in Massachusetts. Dispensaries have so far sold 23,766 ounces of medical marijuana, but patients have complained the state's ramp-up hasn't been fast enough.

Like state officials, doctors have also been leery of getting involved in medical marijuana.

Dr. Kevin Hill, an addiction psychiatrist, has staked out a middle ground within the medical community on the topic. "I don't think it should be a Schedule I drug, but there could be better evidence," he told MassLive.com. "If there were more studies done, I think more physicians would be willing to do it."

"Most physicians say this is a federally illegal narcotic and although no one has lost a court case yet or lost their license for certifying someone for a medical cannabis, why take the chance?" he added.

Tishler, 49, was an emergency room doctor at a local veterans' hospital when he heard the news of Massachusetts voters endorsing medical marijuana.

He said he started doing some "homework," and discovered "an astounding amount of scientific research" on cannabis. "We could always use more research. That's inarguable," he added.

Tishler said he doesn't have a typical patient - they range in age from a 20-year-old with Crohn's disease to an 80-year-old with rheumatoid arthritis.

Forty percent of his patients came through referrals, the rest arrive through word of mouth and advertising in local magazines.

His colleagues in the medical community have offered him "enthusiastic curiosity," since most don't know much about cannabis, according to Tishler. "Cannabis medicine is becoming a specialty unto itself," he said.

He recently toured the NETA shop in Brookline, which he referred to as pleasant and secure. "We're moving in the right direction for the care of patients," he said.

"I don't want to suggest cannabis is without risk," he added, stating that there is a risk of withdrawal symptoms, such as three to seven days of mood swings, irritability and trouble with sleep.

"You can't kill yourself with cannabis," he said. "But it can make you sick. That's the reality of any substance."

According to Dr. Hill, the addiction psychiatrist, people can become addicted to marijuana, and 9 percent of adult users do, losing spouses, multi-million dollar careers and educational opportunities.

Marijuana use can also lead to worsening anxiety, Hill added. "I'm not saying marijuana is as dangerous as opioids, but there needs to be more guidance and directions how to use it," he said.

By Hill's account, if medical marijuana was the state's mid-term, then Massachusetts has failed, which doesn't bode well for full-on legalization of recreational marijuana.

"We're eight months away and we've got a pretty lousy bill," he said, referring to the ballot initiative on track for statewide November ballot.

The initiative's tax rate is a problem for Hill, who says it's too low and the state could draw more money for education, prevention and treatment if it's higher. A panel of state senators last week recommended heavy taxation if the substance is legalized.

Backers of the initiative say a lower tax rate on legal marijuana is necessary to undercut the black market.

"To me, that's a red herring," since the black market will never be completely eliminated, said Hill, who added that he conceptually supports legalization.

Tishler said he backs legalization - Massachusetts voters could vote in November on whether recreational marijuana should be allowed - and added that adults should have the right to choose.

"Legalization is going to be a boon to patients," he said, since it will raise awareness of marijuana as a medicine.

He doesn't expect patients to stop taking medical marijuana and switch to using the recreational kind.

"Nobody needs permission to buy Tylenol, but people still go to the doctor," Tishler said.
BOSTON

A 52-year-old woman was killed when fire broke out in her East Canton Street apartment Saturday in Boston's South End, authorities said Sunday.

The Boston Globe reported that the unidentified woman was found dead in her bathroom by Boston firefighters as they extinguished the early morning blaze.

A man and a child also in the apartment at the time of the fire suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The Suffolk District Attorney's Office did not release any of the names of the individuals involved in 109 East Canton Street fire.

The fire appeared to have started in the bathroom of the third-floor apartment and fire damage was contained to that unit. However, other building residents on that floor said their apartments sustained heavy smoke damage.
BENNINGTON, VERMONT

 A large fire Saturday morning drove six families from their home when fire broke out in a three-story apartment complex. Firefighters had to search out and rescue one of the residents when they fell unconscious in the burning building.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported that the fire broke out just after 1 a.m. Saturday and firefighters were warned as they arrived that one resident was still inside the building. A search of the building found a locked area, forcing firefighters to break down the doors. The resident was found unconscious and was carried from the building, then transported to the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington for treatment.

The fire took several hours to bring under control, and it wasn;t until dusk Saturday evening that the fire was declared extinguished.

All six families who lived in the building were displaced by the fire. The American Red Cross was called in to assist the victims.
A bill that would grant Easthampton eight new "over-quota" liquor licenses has been reported out of committee on Beacon Hill and will soon head to the full Massachusetts Senate for a vote, said Sen. Don Humason (R-Westfield), who in November introduced the special legislation on behalf of the city.

The committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure reported the bill with a favorable recommendation on Feb. 29, Humason said.

"Senate Counsel is now doing third reading edits," said Humason in an email. "The whole Senate could vote on it within the next few weeks. Then it would go to the House for their approval."

The bill's language gives "highest preference to establishments located in the mill industrial zone and the downtown business zone in the city of Easthampton." It's not clear what criteria or process the city's Licensing Board will use to implement that provision.

Once the bill is approved by the Senate and the House, the licenses will be available for the Licensing Board to award as it sees fit. Under state law, all local licensing decisions need approval by the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

In Massachusetts, liquor licenses in any community are limited according to a population-based formula. Easthampton is already over-quota in its liquor licenses, meaning that any additional permits can only be issued through special legislation.

The Easthampton City Council in November, after two evenings of debate, voted to petition the Legislature for eight new full-pour liquor licenses. The licenses will be for establishments where drinks are consumed on-premise, and will not have to be tied to establishments that serve food. Existing or potential restaurant or bar owners will have to apply to the local Licensing Board in order to be considered for the licenses.

The initiative was supported by Mayor Karen Cadieux, who said in November that new licenses would be important for the city's economic development.

Once an over-quota license is issued, the Licensing Board will not be able to transfer it to another location, but may grant a license to a new applicant at the same location. In all, city businesses hold 41 liquor licenses distributed among restaurants, bars, package stores, clubs and more.

Twenty-three of those licenses are "all-pour" permits, five are for beer and wine only, three are "farmer-brewer" malt licenses, and the rest are for stores. In addition, Shelburne Falls Coffee on Union holds a seasonal beer and wine license.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com
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3-13-16 - Deerfield -- A fast-acting police officer kicked in the door of this Thayer Street apartment Sunday night and rescued an elderly resident who apparently left a gas burner on high without a flame for hours, police said. No injuries were reported.

(DEERFIELD POLICE / FACEBOOK)

DEERFIELD -- A fast-acting police officer kicked in the door of a Thayer Street apartment Sunday night and rescued an elderly resident who apparently left a gas burner on high without a flame for hours, police said.

Officer Chad Wrisley was summoned to the apartment building just after 11 p.m. for the reported odor of natural gas, according to a post on the department's Facebook page.

All of the apartments had been evacuated upon his arrival save for one and the strong smell of natural gas from emitting from it.

"Officer Wrisley kicked the door down (and) entered the apartment and removed the elder," stated the post. "Officer Wrisley acted without regard for his own safety to make sure that resident got out safely."

The elderly resident, checked out by South County EMS, was OK. The South Deerfield Fire Department found levels of natural gas inside the apartment.
HOLYOKE -- Aegis Energy Services will buy and expand into the adjacent 84 Sargeant St. where Parsons Paper company once thrived in a $7 million redevelopment that will feature 30 new jobs and be detailed in a press conference Monday.

"This is a significant milestone in our city's revitalization that should be celebrated and praised," Mayor Alex B. Morse said in a press release. "Redevelopment of the Parsons site has been an extremely difficult challenge, bringing with it significant legal, environmental and financial constraints that have impeded progress for years."

Morse will be joined by state and city officials at the press conference at the site at 10 a.m.

Established in 1853, Parsons Paper Co. was the first paper company in a city that came to be called the Paper City. A 2008 fire caused extensive damage to the complex, which officials said had been vacant for two or three years.

The Parsons property is 4.7 acres between the first- and second-level canals. Adjacent to South Holyoke, the site is one of the 10 key areas designated for redevelopment in the city's 2012 urban renewal plan, "Connect. Construct. Create. A plan for the revitalization of Center City Holyoke."

Aegis Energy Services at 55 Jackson St. makes, sells, services and finances combined heat and power engines, said Marcos A. Marrero, director of the city Department of Planning and Economic Development. Aegis Energy Services abuts the Parsons site.

According to the company website, "Aegis is a full service Combined Heat and Power developer that utilizes modular systems to reduce both energy costs and emissions for a variety of facilities, from healthcare and assisted living facilities, to recreational and multi-unit residential complexes, and hotels. There are also institutional, educational and industrial facility applications."

The deal includes the retention of 65 jobs and creation of at least 30 new ones, said Morse, who also heralded the up to 4 megawatts of renewable energy that the manufacturing expansion will produce. (One megawatt equals 1 million watts. A light bulb uses 25 to 100 watts and a refrigerator 150 to 300 when active, for example. Renewable energy is natural sources that can be replaced by natural ecological cycles.)

"The staff in the office of Planning and Economic Development and the Law Department should be applauded for their efforts as they've worked diligently with the (Holyoke) Redevelopment Authority and a cross-collaboration of public and private partners to make this project a reality," Morse said.

Among factors that made the project difficult were the necessary cleanup of contaminants from products known to have been used on the site like gasoline, fuel oil, metals-containing ash from the site's boiler stack and other chemicals; and the need for some demolition of the red-brick factory, officials said.

It's because of such factors and the challenge of marketing such a contaminated sprawl that houses a fire-gutted factory that the deal with Aegis Energy Services includes an extraordinary provision, Marrero said: The company will pay no property taxes on the site for 10 years, a 100 percent tax exemption for a decade described in the press release as Holyoke's "most aggressive tax incentive schedule in its history."

The project was "incredibly challenging," Marrero said.

"Consequently the financing framework for this project is probably the most complex that Holyoke has seen in decades. The implications a year from now will be significant: blight reduction, building reuse, job creation, expansion of manufacturing, more renewable energy and improved property values in the neighborhood," Marrero said.

Funding sources to make the demolition and cleanup on the site possible include, according to the press release:

$2 million from the state Brownfield Fund through MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency.

$1 Million in capital investments by the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department (HGE), which has secured an easement on the site for potentially 2.5 megawatts of hydroelectric generation.

$400,000 capital loan from the Holyoke Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (HEDIC), to be paid from the sale proceeds of the land to AEGIS Energy Services.

$250,000 from an agreement with Eversource Energy (formerly Northeast Utilities) as part of a mitigation payment associated with cleanup of contaminants in the Connecticut River.

Morse said he appreciated the efforts of Lee Vardakas of Aegis Energy on the project.

"We are fortunate to have this innovative company stay and grow in our city, and I thank him for his investments and contributions," he said.

Aegis Energy Services began here in 1985. In 2005, the company moved to its current, 20,000-square-foot site, which it has outgrown, Vardakas said in the press release.

"As a company we see the value of growing our business in Holyoke and it was important for us to make every effort to stay here and contribute to that progress. We see the exciting progress being made in Holyoke and appreciate all the city has done to help this project move forward," Vardakas said.

The contractor for the work is McConnell Enterprises Inc. of Essex, which will begin work on the site immediately to take advantage of the regularly scheduled draw-down of the water in the canals from March 22 to 24, the press release said.

Demolition and cleanup is projected to be completed by August. Then Aegis Energy Services will take over the site in a process that will include rehabilitating one 40,000-square-foot building and adding at least 30 new jobs, the press release said.

"This project illustrates the vital role the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund plays in transforming parcels around the commonwealth, and I applaud Holyoke for its commitment to this property," Marty Jones, MassDevelopment president and chief executive officer, said in the press release.

HGE Manager James M. Lavelle said the project has great potential for producing renewable energy.

"The Holyoke Gas and Electric is happy to have played a role in its redevelopment. We look forward to further exploring this option and collaborating with Aegis Energy to make Holyoke a greener place to do business," Lavelle said in the press release.

The approval of an urban renewal plan is necessary before a city can establish a redevelopment authority to undertake such projects. The redevelopment authority is independent of the city elected leaders because it is not a municipal agency, though the authority is governed by a five-member board appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.

The paper industry here was its most active from 1866 to 1880. In 1885, paper production surpassed the 200-tons per day mark.

Founder Joseph C. Parsons tried to purchase power from the owners of Hadley Falls Co., only to be told they would not sell power to him because they felt he could not succeed in the manufacturing of paper in Holyoke.

Parsons instead struck a deal with a gristmill owner who allowed him access to the land and the power he needed.

The success of Parsons Paper prompted other companies to enter the trade. One was Holyoke Paper Co. That company was established in 1857 and located at the southern end of the canal system, which is now occupied by the hydroelectric plant of the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department.

Whiting Paper Co. was established in 1865, just after the Civil War, and Crocker Burbank and Co. was established at about the same time, controlling seven mills and producing 12 tons of paper a day.

ae parsons mill fire 02.jpgFire tears through the former Parsons Paper mill on Sargeant Street in Holyoke June 9, 2008. (PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER EVANS)

National Vulcanized Fiber Co., of Yorklyn, Delaware bought the 313,000-square-foot Parsons Paper in 1959. National Vulcanized Fiber closed it in April 2005 and filed for bankruptcy.
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(Republican file)

LUDLOW - The town is engaged in a planning process to become less vulnerable to disasters caused by natural hazards, and is looking for public participation.

The public is invited to join the Hazard Mitigation Committee Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m. to share ideas for reducing risk and becoming less vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods, hurricanes and winter storms. The meeting will be held at the Town Hall, 488 Chapin Street, in the selectmen's conference room.

The purpose of the 2016 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update is to identify and assess the community's natural hazard risks and determine how to best minimize and manage those risks.

Upon completion, the plan will be presented to the town of Ludlow for adoption and submitted to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency for review and approval. A FEMA approved plan makes the community eligible for federal and state mitigation grant funding.

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission was awarded a grant from MEMA to develop the 2016 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. The previous plan was developed in 2007. The PVPC hired Jamie Caplan Consulting LLC to work with the PVPC and the town to develop the 2016 Hazard Mitigation Update.

Anyone with questions about the meeting or who would like to learn more ways to participate should contact Fire Captain Ryan M. Pease, fire prevention officer at the Ludlow Fire Department at 413-583-8332 or firesafety@ludlow.ma.edu.
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A 26-year-old man was shot to death on Cady Street in Ludlow early Sunday morning.

(Dave Canton)

LUDLOW - The Board of Selectmen thanked police and the Hampden District Attorney's office for their professionalism following a Sunday morning homicide that left a 26-year-old man dead.

The five members also asked residents to be patient as police and Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni's Office investigate the killing.

"Like many investigations of this nature, questions will likely outnumber answers, especially in these early stages.This matter is a top priority for law enforcement and we urge residents to be patient as the investigation continues," Board of Selectmen Vice Chairman Aaron Saunders said on behalf of the board.

The statement was from the five members of the board, Saunders, Chairwoman Carmina Fernandes and William E. Rooney, Manuel Silva, Brian M. Mannix.

The Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator Ellie Villano have been in close contact with the Ludlow Police Department and District Attorney since the shooting that happened at about 12:44 a.m.

"We are grateful for the bravery and professionalism of our police officers and firefighter/paramedics in their response to this incident, as they are with all incidents that place them in harm's way," Saunders said.

The victim was sitting in the passenger seat of a white BMW when he was shot multiple times. The car was parked in front of the Open Door Cafe on Cady Street at the time of the crime, police said.

Police initially received multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots fired outside the bar. When they arrived the man was unconscious. Officers and rescue personnel from the Ludlow Fire Department began performing life-saving measures. He was brought to Baystate Medical Center by Ludlow Fire Department paramedics and died at the hospital, police said.

Officials have not released the name of the victim or any motive in the crime. They have said it is believed to be an isolated shooting.

Ludlow Police with the Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Hampden County District Attorney Office along with Ludlow Police Department Detectives are investigating the killing.

Anyone with information on this crime should contact the Ludlow Police Department at (413)-583-8305 or send an anonymous text to CRIMES (or 274637), type the word SOLVE, and then the information.

"The safety and well being of Ludlow's residents is of utmost importance to the Board of Selectmen and we will continue to work to ensure the Town of Ludlow remains a safe and inviting community," Saunders said.

This is the first homicide in Ludlow in nearly a decade. The last one, which happened in 2007, also occurred on Cady Street outside the Open Door Cafe.

In that case Christopher Slatcher, then 31, ran over his girlfriend, Lorie Avery, 37, of Chicopee. The two had been arguing and Avery left the bar to walk home.

In 2008 Slatcher pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and was sentenced to 4 to 5 years in state prison. Avery was the mother of three who worked as a teacher's aide in the Chicopee schools.

Saunders said the Board of Selectmen have not received any liquor license complaints or other concerns about the Open Doors Cafe in recent years.
SPRINGFIELD  Ask anyone what they remember most about Jessica Rojas and the answer tends to be, her smile or her laugh.

"She had the best smile," said Nathan Laporte, Rojas 14-year-old son. Nathan lost his mother on March 3, 2012. She was killed by her boyfriend Jose Santiago, after coming home from celebrating her 25th birthday. Santiago was recently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder.



More than 100 of Rojas' closest family members and friends, as well as advocates for the safety of domestic violence victims, stood on the steps of Springfield City Hall Sunday to remember Rojas as well as the dozens of women and some men killed becasue of domestic violence.

Among those on the list was Springfield Police Officer Kevin Ambrose also killed in 2012 while responding to a domestic dispute in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood.

"There are too many victims, from young mothers to police officers just trying to protect our city," said Milta Vargas, domestic abuse coordinator for the Springfield Police Department. "A victim dies and people think we forget about them, but we don't. God knows I don't."

Shanique Spalding, of the YWCA, attended the event and set up a booth outside H&R Block on Main Street, after supporters marched there from Springfield City Hall. Rojas had a job with the city as well as H&R Block.

"We offer services for anyone experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault," said Spalding. She handed out cards with the number to the YWCA's 24-hour hotline. "If you just need to talk or need a place to go please do not hesitate to call."



Suehaley Arce, of Springfield, was Rojas best friend.

"We met in the 6th grade at Chestnut Middle School and we just stayed friends after that," she said. Arce was with her friend celebrating her birthday on the night she was killed. Rojas death spurred Arce to take action.

"I started volunteer at the YWCA in a temporary position and it just grew from there," she said. Now Arce is a domestic abuse advocate with the Springfield Police Department.

"It was my way of dealing with what happened, of helping other women even though I wasn't able to help her," she said.

Rojas' mom, Carmen Roman, stood near Arce during the walk, uncomfortable with speaking in public, but hugging and talking to every single person who came up to her.

"So many people loved her, so many people said she touched their lives," said Roman of her only daughter. "She was very hardworking and kind and she always smiled. She left behind four beautiful children. We all miss her so much."

Anyone who is experiencing domestic violence or knows someone who is can call (413) 733-7100 or 1-800-796-8711. All calls are confidential.
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Stop &Shop on Cooley Street

(MICHAEL S. GORDON/ THE REPUBLICAN)

SPRINGFIELD -- Stop & Shop and the union representing 35,000 of its workers across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, plan to head back to the bargaining table Thursday, March 17.

Union Stop & Shop employees continue work under the terms of a contract that expired at the end of February.

Daniel P. Clifford, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 in Springfield, wrote a message Monday to members in which he explained that as long as the old contract remains in place, he will not be rushed into a deal. He also reiterated that a strike would be counterproductive.

"Just so you know that it is my philosophy that as long as both sides are talking and willing to meet, you, Local 1459 members, continue to work bring home a pay check and have health insurance for you and your family. As long as both sides remain at the table, your working conditions remain the same. So I would ask you for your continued patience and cooperation, and go to work and continue to do the exceptional work that you all do for your store and your community."

Sticking points include health care issues of funding and designing a health plan for workers, Clifford said.

Stop & Shop spokesman Philip Tracey said only that the two sides met on Friday and will meet again this week.

Both sides must agree to scheduled negotiations, Clifford said. The meetings are taking place in Providence with the help of federal mediators whose job it is to keep talks on track.

Clifford said that by not scheduling a ratification vote, the union avoids imposing an artificial deadline on talks and puts all the uncertainty on Stop & Shop.

The UFCW also announced Monday a series of rallies including one from 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, March 24 at the Holyoke Stop & Shop, 28 Lincoln St.

The Union also said in a news release that Stop & Shop's parent company, Netherlands-based grocery giant Ahold, announced operating profits for the year greater or more than $1.4 billion.

Also on Monday, Ahold and Delhaize shareholders approved the merger of their companies, which is expected to be completed later this year. Prior to closing of the merger, Ahold shareholders will receive a payout of more than $1 billion.

The Ahold and Delhaize merger would bring Massachusetts chains Stop & Shop and Hannaford under the same ownership.
SPRINGFIELD - State legislators from the region said Monday they are concerned that the Friends of the Homeless resource center continues to get a far lower state-funded rate than other shelter programs in Massachusetts.

Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, said the evidence is clear that Springfield's shelter, serving the homeless in the region, is reimbursed at a lower rate "for doing fundamentally the same work" as others.

"That's unfair, and that's something we need to work on to fix," Lesser said. "We worked on it last year and we will continue to work on it. The argument is one of fundamental fairness."

Several legislators taking part in a meeting and tour at Friends of the Homeless on Worthington Street said there is need to determine if there is some justification for the disparate shelter rates in Massachusetts, and pursue increased funds for Friends of the Homeless.

Springfield's rate per bed is set at about $26.50 per bed as compared to a state average rate of $34, and some rates close to $80 per night, according to statistics provided by Friends of the Homeless. In addition, the Friends program provides services 24 hours a day, Executive Director William Miller said.

There is a statewide advocacy coalition seeking to raise the minimum bed rate to at least $30, Miller said.

State Rep. Benjamin Swan, D-Springfield, said he believes Springfield is being under-funded, and said there have been difficulties in trying to get more funding for Springfield "because it implies the rates all across the state should go up and that's a lot of money."

Swan said he will strive to increase the rate for Springfield to at least $30, or $32, and believes that would "help Springfield serve its client base in a much broader fashion."

"I think for the last several years or budget cycles, we've seen an equity issue in terms of rates," said Sen. James Welch, West Springfield. "When you see some organizations no matter where they are in the state, receiving two, three times as much as Friends of the Homeless and other organizations that are doing great work, you just have to kind of scratch your head and ask the question why there is such an inequity when it comes to rates."

Other legislators taking part in the local meeting were state Sen. Don Humason and state Reps. Carlos Gonzalez, Angelo Puppolo Jr., and Aaron Vega.

Miller, in a providing statistics and other information to the legislators on Monday, said that increasing the rate for Friends of the Homeless to the state average rate of $34 per bed would increase the amount to Friends by $350,000 annually.



The Friends' entire operating budget is less than $3 million annually, Miller said.



Friends has made progress in recent years, as it was funded as low as $12.92 per bed for one of its two shelter contracts before fiscal year 2011. Miller has annually lobbied for increasing the rate for Friends of the Homeless based on perceived disparities.



A number of shelters, particularly in Eastern Massachusetts had obtained legislative earmarks in the past that carried further in subsequent years, contributing to the disparity in rates around the state, Miller said.



Gonzalez said that ending homelessness is critical to Springfield's economic development resurgence. Thus, it is essential that the Western Massachusetts legislators "fight and champion the issue facing Friends of the homeless because they are doing such a great job." he said.



Gonzalez said he sees a need to address the issue when considering that urban areas such as Springfield "having more of the (homeless) population to serve and less of the funding."




CHICAGO - The woman who was photographed giving the "Heil, Hitler" salute outside a canceled Donald Trump rally said she only made the gesture after protesters did it first, although a protester and the photographer who took the photo said they didn't believe that was true.

Birgitt Peterson, a native of West Berlin who emigrated in 1982, told the Chicago Tribune that after the protesters brought up Hitler and made the gesture, she asked them if they knew what it meant, and raised her own arm and in German said, "Hail to the German Reich."

The picture, posted in the Chicago Tribune, shows Trump supporter Birgitt Peterson at rally last night. pic.twitter.com/d0DTkWX5To  Mark Bendiksen (@exalky) March 12, 2016

"It really makes her mad that they compare somebody (like Trump) to Hitler without knowing the history," her husband, Donald Peterson told the newspaper. "That is an insult to anybody who lived through it."

They spoke with the Chicago Tribune after the newspaper's photograph of Birgitt Peterson doing the Nazi salute went viral this weekend.

They said approximately 20 protesters started speaking to them. One told them that voting for Donald Trump is a vote for Hitler, and they started doing the Nazi salute, Peterson told the paper.

The Tribune photographer, Jason Wambsgans, said he took more than a dozen photos of Peterson giving the salute and did not witness any protesters doing it.

The protester who is in the photographs, Michael Joseph Garza, told the Tribune he didn't believe Peterson was responding to anyone with the gesture.

"I went up to her and said, 'Ma'am, please leave, we have understood you, we have made a (path),'" Garza told the newspaper. "She said, 'Go? Back in my day, this is what we did,' basically, and then she hailed Hitler."
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren with state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, state Rep. Mary Keefe and state Sen. Harriette Chandler, after her speech at Clark University.

(Lindsay Corcoran | MassLive.com)



WORCESTER - Elizabeth Warren credited her own public school education with getting her to where she is today - a senator fighting for all children to get a "world class education."



"We live in a new public education reality, and a strong federal role in public education is more important now than ever. We cannot abandon our children," Warren said.

The senator from Massachusetts spoke at Clark University Monday morning in the sixth annual Gurel Lecture that focused on urban education.

Warren, whose own career started as a teacher, stressed the importance of the federal government's role in ensuring all students get an equal chance at receiving an education.

"The federal government has a critical role to play in standing up to protect educational opportunities for low income children and children of color," said Warren.

Warren talked about her role in the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act last year, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. After voting against an early draft of the bill, Warren cosponsored several amendments, including adding requirements for states to put federal dollars toward struggling schools and provide data reporting.

The senator noted the act passed last year is just one step and that more should be done, including working toward providing all children with an affordable college education.

"The federal government should ensure a debt-free college education," Warren said.

In her speech, Warren went after "predatory" for-profit colleges that are leaving students, including low income and those of color disproportionally, with crippling amounts of debt.

"We have a lot of work to do. We can do it if we remember these aren't other peoples children, these are all our children. We want not just some of our children, but all of our children a fighting chance," Warren said.
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Political commentator and TV host Chirs Matthews has had guests who have contributed $79,050 to his wife's Congressional campaign.

(File photo)

When people wonder why voters shake their fists at media during Donald Trump rallies and accuse the press of playing boogeyman to democracy, they can refer to Chris Matthews.

The MSNBC "Hardball" host works for the same company that employs Brian Williams, noted broadcaster, commentator and liar. If you think such a company would be especially sensitive to questions of integrity, think again.

Matthews' wife, Kathleen, is running for Congress in Maryland. According to The Intercept, a flamethrowing news analysis blog that put together a list of Kathleen Matthews' political donors, her campaign has received $79,050 from guests on her husband's cable show - in many cases, just before or after they appeared.

The Intercept should not be a go-to news source, but its findings have yet to be questioned, let alone disproven. That won't happen as long as Team Matthews and NBC use silence to answer them.

When Kathleen Matthews announced her campaign run last year, her husband promised full transparency. That has not stopped him from making flattering references on-air about his wife, though not directly related to her political bid.

It's nice they love each other; so many power couples do not. Yet for as freely as Chris Matthews applies the word "journalist" to his name, he not does understand that the only way to handle such potential conflicts of interest is to work overtime to avoid them, and to get out front of the story because there will be questions.

Those most upset with Matthews are not from the Trump camp but with Bernie Sanders, a candidate they are convinced has been victimized by Matthews' slanted view of the Democratic Presidential race.

Matthews has taken snarky shots at Sanders, enough so that a politically left group collected 11,000 names on a petition demanding Matthews be taken off the air. Full disclosure: In my own much smaller corner of the journalism world, I take snarky shots at candidates, too.

But I do try to spread the snark around evenly, and besides, my wife is not running for Congress as part of the Democratic political machine represented by Sanders' opponent, Hillary Clinton. The conflict should be obvious to Matthews and it probably is, though not enough for him to play it straight and risk losing $79,050 in donations to his wife.

Those donations make up about 5 percent of Kathleen Matthews' campaign fund. They come from big names such as Sen. Barbara Boxer and the husband of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and there was $10,000 from New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, two days before she appeared on his show.

Give me a break. At least 11 donations came from people after they appeared on Matthews' show, according to the New York Post.

It's an outrage, not just for the political process but because it damages media credibility at a time the press needs to bend over backwards to play it straight and earn the trust it has obviously lost.

That's personal to me, and to a lot of us who work in the upper, middle and lower extremities of media. When Brian Williams brags about his phony heroism, and Matthews allows his coverage to be so indisputably linked to political and personal gain, we can understand why so many people think mainstream media is the problem, not the guardian.

That's why they are voting for people like Trump and Sanders. I don't think that's the solution, but I can understand the backlash.

And Matthews' disrespect for honest, transparent journalism is a worse transgression than what Williams did. One controversy made a TV anchor a laughingstock. The other is a manipulation of politics and media during a national election year.

Everybody makes mistakes and media people are not immune. What Matthews is doing, though, goes beyond that.

So far, he's been allowed to get away with it. For those who think media should still make its best effort to play a fair and impartial role in the process, this is a sad and telling moment is the misuse of influence and the damage it can do.
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Carlos Santiago, commissioner of higher education in Massachusetts, must deal with situations such as the windfall received by retired Bridgewater State University president Dana Mohler-Faria last year. (File photo)

When Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education Carlos Santiago met with the editorial board of The Republican in February, he made a strong case for better state support of public higher education, particularly at the community college level.

He's right, but his office must address questions raised by the retirement package available to Dana Mohler-Faria, the former president of Bridgewater State College, a four-year institution.

Mohler-Faria's ability to save more than $1 million of sick and vacation time resulted in a $270,000 one-time payout when he retired in 2015. He also receives an annual state pension of $183,000 and $100,000 per year as adviser to the university.

The retired administrator worked nearly 40 years in state jobs but only 13 as Bridgewater president. His final years included travel to Cape Verde (at least five times, according to the Boston Business Journal), Belize, Morocco, Turkey, Iraq and all over the United States.

This wasn't a golden parachute. It was a Fort Knox parachute.

When state public education officials such as Santiago say they are doing the best they can with available resources but could use more for worthwhile goals, why don't taxpayers rally in support? This is why.

This is not the fault of Santiago, who took over his position at just about the same time Mohler-Faria was leaving. But it's on his plate, and his office said serious discussions with Bridgewater officials are underway.

It's likely this comes after the fact and too late, and Mohler-Faria's activities are considered extreme for the system and not the norm. Nonetheless, his ability to maneuver with no supervision is abuse of privilege, whether it was legal or not.

Mohler-Faria's friends in high places included former Governor Deval Patrick. With the cost-conscious Charlie Baker and Santiago in key places, let's hope this can't happen again, and there should be no reason they can't start by removing the lucrative advisory position from an administrator who has done enough.

There would seem to be no connection to a four-year college president's personal windfall and support for worthy community colleges, including those in the Pioneer Valley. But there is, because people have the right to believe their education money is being spent appropriately.

Until situations like this one can be stopped, the public appetite for supporting public education won't be there, and all of us will lose.
By Erin Scala

Special To The Washington Post

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama weighed in on one of the pressing issues in the campaign for the Republican nomination to succeed him in the White House.

No, not how to stop Donald Trump  but whether the wine that bears his name is any good. "Has anybody bought that wine? I want to know what that wine tastes like," Obama said at a Democratic Party fundraiser in Dallas on Saturday. "I mean, come on. You know that's like some $5 wine. They slap a label on it. They charge you $50 and say it's the greatest wine ever."

As those of us who live near the winery know, though, the real shame about Trump Winery is not that its wines are not good. It's that some of them actually are  but these days, their association with the GOP frontrunner is likely to keep them off wine lists they otherwise belong on.

I work in the restaurant business in Charlottesville, Va., and though I'm a short distance from the winery and the restaurants where I work feature Virginia wines, I make a conscious decision not to carry the Trump brand. While the election might take over your dinner conversation, a welcome table is not one that pours liquid politics down your throat. (For the same reason, if other candidates got into the beverage industry, I wouldn't be serving Clinton Chardonnay, Bernie Beer, or Cruztraminer, either.)

Those Trump wines Obama was joking about, however, have a longer history in this area.

In 1999, the first vineyards went in the ground as Kluge Estate and set the tone for what would later become Trump Winery. For a greatly discounted price, in 2011, the Trumps bought the winery and its property from local socialite and entrepreneur Patricia Kluge after her business collapsed. Under the Kluge name, the vineyard's wines have been served at the White House and even at Chelsea Clinton's wedding rehearsal dinner.

The basic infrastructure remained intact, including the core management staff, and business continued. Trump's son Eric Trump supervises the winery now. Labels evolved from "Kluge" to "Trump" to today's all-capital-letters "TRUMP," in a font that evokes U.S. currency. Wines that had been earnest explorations into Virginia viticulture are now the red power ties of East Coast wine.

Trump Winery is one of the few "estate" wineries in the area focusing on growing their own fruit as opposed to buying it from neighbors. It's an operation headed up by a serious winemaker, Jonathan Wheeler. Wheeler makes a full spectrum of wines: sparkling, white, rose, red and dessert wines. He has a vast tract of 200 vineyard acres to play with, and he stands in a key position to influence the direction of the entire region.

Wheeler's focus on sparkling wines is particularly interesting. In Virginia, winemakers can usually count on fruit that comes in early, because it will get to the winery before mid-harvest rains and hurricanes have a chance to wreak havoc. To keep acidity in most sparkling wines of the world, grapes destined for bubbly are harvested earlier than others. This makes sparkling wine a practical choice in Virginia's climate. Sparkling wine, though, can be difficult to make, and it usually needs more aging than a still white wine. Wheeler diverts some cool-microclimate vineyard blocks to the bubbly, and this part of his production is one of his most promising contributions to Virginia wine. The sparkling Blanc de Noir made from a cooler pinot noir site is one of the best wines to come out of the Trump operation.

It's not the only wine that might catch your interest in a blind tasting, though. The recently bottled 2015 Chardonnay and Viognier currently available for sale come from one of the greatest Virginia white wine vintages in recent memory. Winemakers throughout the Monticello American Viticultural Area are excited about 2015 white grapes, which enjoyed a near-perfect growing season. We did get rains in 2015, but they came just after the start of the red harvest. Wheeler made his Chardonnay in steel and oak, and it's a balanced example of the vintage. The Viognier is a classic example of that varietal, too.

The reds are Bordeaux-style blends, usually based on a majority of Merlot, which does well in Virginia as an early ripener. They are lush, bold reds that have a little bit of aging potential, but you would mostly want to drink them on release.

Wheeler also makes a unique dessert wine from fortified Chardonnay, aged in old Bourbon barrels.

I've been watching and tasting from a distance for quite some time. On taste alone, there are a few bottlings that I'd like to support, but I'm sure Obama would agree: the intense branding makes the stuff hard to swallow.

Some of that hesitation predates Trump's involvement in politics. As a general rule, I disdain wine brands. When the strength of a wine's brand eclipses the actual product, the focus goes away from the wine itself, onto the brand and what that brand represents. Branding is easy, if you know how to do it. Winemaking is hard work, especially in Virginia, and it changes year by year. When a branded winery experiences mass popularity, the wine and the hard work of the winery team become disembodied from the brand, in this case reduced to a side note as the wine's meaning becomes less about Virginia terroir and more about Trump.

Does it matter why someone drinks a wine? Is it a shame that much of this carefully grown and made wine will be consumed in symbolic solidarity by fervent supporters of a candidate who, ironically, does not drink alcohol? Will Virginia's special 2015 white wine vintage be appreciated at all in the frenzy of 2016?

Trump Winery is certainly doing fine without my business (several wines are sold out), and I am doing fine without them in my wine program. But as these wines switch gears from beverage to propaganda, I worry that what could be an important part of Virginia's emerging wine legacy will be lost.

A century from now, how will Trump's politics have impacted Virginia's wine trade? Objectively, I want to appreciate some of these wines. Unfortunately, now that the label talks so loudly, what's in the bottle has lost its voice.



Erin Scala is the sommelier at Petit Pois and Fleurie in Charlottesville, Virginia, and writes about wine for C-VILLE Weekly and at her blog, Thinking-Drinking.


The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is launching its first major ad, keying off a St. Patrick's Day celebration in South Boston.

The campaign, which is seeking to place a question on the November statewide ballot legalizing marijuana, plans on Monday to unveil its ad on a digital billboard, featuring a St. Patrick's Day theme.

At the top of the ad is a green-colored beer, followed by a glass of whiskey, and then a green marijuana leaf, with the word "Safer" above the leaf. The ad also includes a link to the campaign's website.

The digital billboard ad is facing Seaport Boulevard in South Boston's Seaport District, close to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and the federal Moakley Courthouse.

The campaign plans to run the ad through Sunday, March 20, the same day as the annual St. Patrick's breakfast in South Boston, which draws elected officials, including marijuana legalization opponents like Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, from across the state to the convention center.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has launched an ad with a St. Patrick's Day theme.

The St. Patrick's Day breakfast in South Boston is hosted by state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, D-Dorchester.

Forry said last week she supports the concept of legalization of marijuana, but she called the proposed ballot question "broad" and said it "does not address serious concerns regarding regulations of product and sale of edible Marijuana based products."

The federal government classifies marijuana as an illegal substance.

"While folks are celebrating with a pint of green beer or a glass of whiskey, we want them to think about the fact that marijuana is an objectively less harmful substance," Will Luzier, campaign manager for the ballot initiative, said in a statement.

"Marijuana is less toxic than alcohol, it's less addictive, and it's far less likely to contribute to violent crimes and reckless behavior," Luzier added. "It simply doesn't make sense to have laws that allow the use of alcohol, yet punish adults who prefer a less harmful substance."

State lawmakers have been reluctant to tackle the topic of marijuana, as Massachusetts voters approved decriminalization of small amounts of the substance in 2008 and legalized marijuana for medical use in 2012.

A special state Senate committee on marijuana released a report last week after several senators traveled to Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2012.

The committee recommended a ban or temporary prohibition on home growing, which the ballot question would allow if it becomes law. The committee's report also called for heavier taxes on marijuana than the ballot question proposes.

A spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol called the report "recycled hysteria."
Senator Jon Tester announced today that he is looking for interns to join him in his D.C. office for the upcoming summer session. The internship period would start in late May and go through early August. And while these positions are unpaid, they provide an invaluable introduction to a career in policy, press, or government affairs.

"The more folks from Montana we can get to come work in D.C., the better off our government will be," Tester said of the program. "Im always excited to welcome a bright new crop of interns to Capitol Hill, they bring a sense of energy and enthusiasm to the office that reminds us all why we do what we do."

While individual internship duties vary, previous intern responsibilities have included policy research, memo writing, media monitoring, constituent correspondence, and bill tracking. Depending on their assigned responsibilities and areas of interest, interns have the opportunity to work closely with staff who specialize in everything from economic development to national security to education.

"Working in Senator Testers office these last six months has been a truly amazing experience," said Laura Peterson, a current legislative intern in Testers D.C. office. "Ive gotten to work with some of the smartest people on the Hill, doing work I can be proud of for the rest of my career."

To apply, current college students or recent graduates can send a cover letter, resume, three references, and a completed Internship Application Form http://www.tester.senate.gov/files/documents/tester_internship_application_distributed.pdf to [email protected]. Applicants may also include a short writing sample in their application, but it is optional. Be sure to include "Washington D.C." in the e-mails subject line and please indicate the specific dates and times you are available to work within the body of the email.

Feel free to email [email protected] with any follow up questions or concerns.
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
www.clearguidemedical.com

Contact: Susan Kamauff

kamauff@clearguidemedical.com

+1-443-602-8950

For Immediate Release:

Baltimore, MD: February 16, 2016

Clear Guide Medical Wins FDA Clearance for its SCENERGY Ultrasound-CT Fusion System

Introducing the first clinical device to provide real-time CT-Ultrasound fusion for interventional procedures on existing ultrasound machines.

Clear Guide Medical has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its innovative CT-Ultrasound fusion and image guidance system, the Clear Guide SCENERGY. This pioneering device helps interventional radiologists and surgeons perform minimally-invasive biopsies and other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures through an intelligently integrated display of fused ultrasound and CT images. The system is sold as an accessory to most ultrasound machines.

Working in collaboration with partner hospitals, SCENERGY was developed in response to a clear need for simpler multi-modality imaging using ultrasound while minimizing the number of CTs and time spent in the CT suite. By showing the clarity of CT with the real-time visualization of ultrasound, users experience the benefits of both modalities simultaneously. Procedure duration will drop with SCENERGYs fully automated registration process. Best of all, SCENERGY does not require special needles or new imaging equipment, preserving the customary workflow and maximizing the productivity of existing capital equipment.

SCENERGY is a real advance for image-guided interventions, said Dr. Philipp Stolka, CTO of Clear Guide Medical. Because SCENERGY is installed onto existing equipment, it can quickly be adopted in many different locations, benefitting patients sooner. We believe that its unique dynamic registration approach solves many problems that hindered the adoption of other guidance technologies.

Clear Guide Medical designed SCENERGY to address the myriad challenges associated with working with CT and ultrasound images simultaneously. Current fusion systems require long and complex registration processes. SCENERGY eliminates this burdensome step through automated registration and robust system fusion, which is continuously updated throughout the procedure. The time required for registration drops to seconds. Moreover, clinical recommendations to reduce CT radiation doses heighten the importance of good ultrasound visualization. With CT precisely overlaid on the ultrasound plane, deep and challenging lesions can be visualized and targeted efficiently.

The ability to see my target lesion clearly before, during and after a procedure means procedures can be reliably performed in ultrasound with real-time imaging, freeing up the CT suite for diagnostic imaging and mitigating exposure to ionizing radiation for the patient and staff, said Dr. Joseph Fonte of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, MA. This is a game-changer.

Adding to SCENERGYs simplicity is the intuitive instrument navigation that overlays the path of standard instruments on the imaging. The ability to lock in a target, then realign the probe from a different angle and find that target with precision can be helpful in a number of situations.

We have pioneered solutions like our real-time CT-ultrasound fusion technology to provide all users with better image clarity and real-time CT visualization, said Dorothee Heisenberg, CEO of Clear Guide Medical. SCENERGY is evidence of our commitment to transforming healthcare through innovations that enable best-in-class minimally-invasive procedures at an affordable price.

The SCENERGY is not yet available for sale outside the United States. Clear Guide Medical is currently pursuing other international clearances for clinical use. A research system was already installed in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Interventional Oncology.

ABOUT CLEAR GUIDE MEDICAL

Clear Guide Medical, Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in Baltimore, MD, develops innovative technologies to provide Computer-Assisted Instrument Guidance for minimally invasive medical procedures. The Clear Guide Medical systems are an accessory to most commercial ultrasounds, increasing the productivity of that capital equipment. More information can be found at www.clearguidemedical.com.
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 14, 2016

Google has sent a clear message to bloggers. Disclose the relationship and don't link to brand Web sites in exchange for products or services mentioned in blog posts that could contribute to an increase in the brand's position in organic search listings on its engine when receiving a freebee. Bloggers must add the nofollow code to the link that prevents its crawler from giving the post too much, well, equity, the quality of being fare and impartial, which could push it to the top in search query rankings.

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The nofollow code prevents "equity" from being passed from the blogger to the brand through a link in the eyes of the search engine as it calculates the position of the brand's Web page in a query page. It centers around Google PageRank, one of the stronger ranking elements that Google uses to serve-up their results

This warning isn't new, but rather a reminder that bloggers are just as responsible as brands when it comes to transparency and making sure readers understand the relationship between the brand and the blogger, so recommendations and reviews after receiving a gift doesn't taint purchase decisions. It seems Google has decided to make a public statement, says David Harry, SEO strategist at Verve Developments.

Harry knows at least one brand that has been penalized for bloggers linking to its Web site with targeted anchor text from a word after sending the blogger samples for review. "In was brownies, of all things," he explains. "Bloggers, being what they are, started linking back to the client with the anchor text "brownies" or "awesome brownies," although the client never asked for the link. It didn't matter. The brand was penalized.

Search marketers have long known that brands can get in trouble with targeted links from bloggers when sending out samples, but in this case Google decided to "flip the script, in the sense that they're now making it clear to bloggers that they can get in trouble for using clean links to companies when reviewing a product."

Google is "pointing the gun at the blogger, not just the company seeking a product review" letting them know both blogger and brand need to take responsibility of being transparent about the relationship as to not taint or sway the buying decision of consumer, Harry says. Rather simply lay out the facts to help consumers make the best decision for themselves.

The blogger should use nofollow code in the link pointing to the Web site page of the company that sent the product to test or review. Harry gives this example -- <a href="http://somesite.com" rel="nofollow">great brownies</a> -- of the code to use.

It shouldn't be a problem if the blogger remains objective and honest about their relationship with the brand, similar to the way search engines and publisher sites need to identify sponsored content in search engine query results and news feeds.

The Federal Trade Commission also requires bloggers to identify the relationship with a brand in its guidelines.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, March 13, 2016

Pepper, the robot from SoftBank, made an appearance at South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) Sunday.

The panel hosted by Mashable chief correspondent Lance Ulanoff. Rodolphe Gelin, EVP and chief scientific officer at Aldebraran, SoftBank Robotics was also on hand.

Robotics became a major theme at this year's SXSWi.

The Innovation Alliance and Save the Inventor used a patched-together towering robot and #PatentsMatter to draw in crowds at SXSWi. The organization launched a campaign asking people to take their photo with the robot and tweet on Twitter with the hashtag, bringing awareness to U.S. patents and any measures running through the U.S. Congress that weakens the protection for innovation.

The organization also wants to promote innovation in the U.S. to help America's economy flourish and thrive.
Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln brand is expanding its marketing in an effort that plays up its #MoreHuman side. The brand marketing campaign does not include actor Matthew McConaughey, who had been prominently featured in individual vehicle nameplate launches.

The effort, created by Lincoln AOR Hudson Rouge, has its roots on the Lincoln Web site and debuted on air recently during the Grammy Awards. Creative includes a 60-second Manifesto spot, a 30-second spot, Paint, that discusses the Revel audio technologies and a 30-second spot, Perspective, which touts camera technology.

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#MoreHuman focuses on all the little advancements and thoughtful details that make Lincoln a luxury car truly designed around the driver, according to Jon Pearce, Hudson Rouge global chief creative officer.

While the McConaughey ads have drawn in unprecedented amounts of awareness for the brand, many people still dont know what the new Lincoln is all about, he says. And thats an approach weve summarized as a more human approach to engineering, evidenced by features that are thoughtfully attuned to drivers and passengers."

Prior to #MoreHuman, the brand hadnt done any marketing that gives substantive reasons why consumers should consider Lincoln as a brand. While this new work is lower in the funnel, it is still beautiful/graphic/warm/enticing, which are all qualities embodied in the Lincoln brand, he says.

For anyone who has taken notice of the Lincoln brand (probably from the McConaughey advertising or seeing one on the street), when they decide to dig a little deeper, they will find the #MoreHuman work living on lincoln.com, Pearce says. Its intended to inform the person wondering whats up at Lincoln? as well as continue to convey to them that Lincoln is an authentic, contemporary luxury automotive brand that sees the automobile as an opportunity to connect with drivers and passengers.
by Thom Forbes @tforbes, March 14, 2016

Valeant Pharmaceuticals, whose shares have lost 73% of their value since August, according to Reuters, will finally be releasing its preliminary fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, several weeks late and dollars short of what it originally tallied for 2014 and 2015 because of accounting errors.

The last few months have been a public relations nightmare for the company, whose CEO, Michael Pearson, returned to work after a severe bout of pneumonia on Feb. 29 with some directors casting about for his replacement and the federal government investigating its pricing practices.

In fact, as Katie Thomas points out in the New York Times, each week seemingly brings a fresh set of headlines. Just this month, the company has added three new board members, lost a top executive, settled with a pharmacy that had questioned its tactics and defended itself against a congressional committee that said the company had refused to turn over documents.

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The Laval, Quebec-based company became a poster child for criticism of high drug prices, and a target of congressional inquiries, after the Wall Street Journal reported the company was buying the rights to certain treatments and quickly raising their prices by substantial amounts, the WSJs Jacquie McNish, Liz Hoffman and Jonathan D. Rockoff remind us in a piece published Friday.

They revealed some of the thinking behind some board members desire to oust Pearson because his intense focus on profits and fast-paced decision-making style were ill-suited for the mounting set of problems. But Pearson reportedly told the board no one  could match his close ties to benefit managers, insurers and doctors, and few shared his grasp of what drug discounts Valeant could afford. The board decided to retain him as CEO while giving the chairman title to board member Robert A. Ingram.

Valeant won't turn around until it restores its credibility, and it doesn't help to bring back the CEO who created the questions about financial reporting on his watch and his handling of questions about or, Erik Gordon, a professor and pharmaceuticals analyst at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, told the Associated Press Linda A. Johnson at the time.

As the Financial Times David Crow, Miles Johnson and Harriet Agnew write, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the companys relationship with Philidor, a now-defunct network of pharmacies that was controlled by Valeant and helped boost sales of some of its best-selling medicines.

The mail order pharmacy in turn controlled scores of tiny regional pharmacies, they report.

Valeant has strenuously denied wrongdoing, but at the end of last month it said it had booked almost $60 million of sales upon delivering medicines to Philidor, rather than waiting until the drugs were received by patients, as it should have done. As a result of the error, the company said it would have to restate earnings for 2014 and 2015.

Its also apparently refiguring its corporate strategy.

Back when its stock soared and investors fawned  just six months ago  Valeant Pharmaceuticals billed itself as a new kind of drug company. It thrived on acquiring new drugs rather than inventing them, and generating big profits from raising prices on old, undervalued treatments, writes the NYTs Thomas. Now the company has a different pitch  as an old-fashioned drug company, she says, talking more about investing in research and development and paying down the companys more than $30 billion in debt.

Hedge fund activist William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management is the third biggest Valeant shareholder, according to Forbes, has been an ardent supporter of the company despite its woes. It recently signaled its continued commitment with its vice chairman, Stephen Fraidin, joining the board along with Fred Eshelman, founding chairman of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, and Thomas W. Ross, former president of the University of North Carolina.

Either management will restore confidence in the reputation of the company with the public and the investment community or they wont. If they cant, then one of two things will happen: New management will be brought in, or the business will be sold, Ackman said last week, Forbes Antoine Gara reports.

But, as Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Max Nisen wrote a couple of weeks ago, a previous concession by Ackman that Valeant's public and investor relations could use a bit of a revamp  [is] an understated take. The company's PR and IR performance recently has been farcical, and its problems are much bigger than its communications strategy.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, March 14, 2016

Violence at Donald Trump rallies has escalated of late, and his reactions to these events are troubling members of both parties. Racially charged language and what sounds like forced semi-condemnations of the perpetrators puts Trumps objection to supporters attacking protesters in question.

Trumps words themselves point to incitement of violence toward demonstrators -- The Washington Post went so far as to ask: Could Donald Trump be held legally responsible for inciting violence at his rallies?

Going back months, there have been documented cases of beatings and general violence at his rallies. The GOP front-runner has gone so far as to tell supporters he would pay legal fees for those who get in trouble with law enforcement. The pot Trump has been stirring boiled over on Friday, in Chicago, for what most likely will be the first of many occasions.

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The altercations became so intense in Illinois that the Trump campaign decided to reschedule the event. Police reported five arrests, but said the authorities had nothing to do with the events cancellation -- contradicting statements from the Trump team.

Sunday morning shows pressed Trump on the escalating violence.

Both John Dickerson of CBSs Face the Nation and Chuck Todd of NBCs Meet the Press probed the GOP front-runner on whether he would take any responsibility for the turbulence at his rallies.

Trumps responses sounded calculated and fell short of condemning any supporters aggressive behavior. Speaking with Chuck Todd, he said, I dont accept responsibility, I do not condone violence in any shape. The reasoning then becomes slightly muddied. From what I saw, the young man stuck his finger up in the air, and the other man sort of just had it.

Trump is entering dangerous territory by rationalizing a supporter sucker punching a protester, in response to a gesture, at a rally in North Carolina, last Wednesday. To some, that sounded like a tacit endorsement of such actions.

The next night, at the GOP debate, Trump explained, We have some protesters who are bad dudes. They have done bad things. They are swinging. They are really dangerous, and they get in there and they start hitting people.

According to Janell Ross of The Washington Post, the use of dudes was racially charged and primitively coded. She added: This was the actual employment of language and logic used to justify cross burnings, lynchings and all manner of illegal, extra-judicial and inhumane behavior in U.S. history.

Trump is a new kind of populist politician ushering in a new era of acceptable and expected violence not seen for decades in the American political arena. He accuses Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign of coordinating the protests, adding warnings of retaliatory actions against it.

As veteran John Heilemann of Bloomberg Politics said on his show With All Due Respect, The mood in these crowds is something that I have not seen doing this for the past 25 years. I dont think youve ever seen it at a presidential campaign rally, and it happens at almost every Trump event. Its disturbing. Its weird.
by Sara Guaglione , March 14, 2016

The New York Times Company today announced that Elizabeth Webbe Lunny has been appointed vice president and publisher for the Companys luxury brand, T Magazine.

She most recently served as associate publisher of Womens Health, and prior to that was ad director at Vogue and associate publisher of WWD.

Lunnys appointment is effective today. In her new role, she will oversee T Magazine and work in partnership with T Editor In Chief Deborah Needleman.

Lisa Ryan Howard, senior vice president of advertising at The New York Times Company, stated that Lunny is a dynamic sales leader with an extensive background at premium media brands.

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Howard added that Lunnys experience in the fashion and luxury space combined with her digital and multimedia skills are an invaluable addition to T. Howard stated that they will work to expand the T footprint and build compelling new opportunities for luxury advertisers.

Lunny will fill the role left open by Brendan Monaghan, who left NYT late last year to become publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of Conde Nast Traveler.

Lunnys hire rounds out the companys team of ad executives at T. Just last month, Publishers Daily reported the appointment of Howard to also help fill in Monaghans position. Howard and Meredith Kopit Levien, EVP/CRO at The New York Times Company, stated at the time that they were planning to appoint a vice president and publisher of T soon.

Her earlier career was spent at Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and the launch of Teen Vogue.
by Sara Guaglione , March 14, 2016

Bob Cohn has been named president of The Atlantic as James Bennet, his co-president, leaves the position solely in the hands of Cohn to move back to The New York Times. Bob Cohn has been named president of The Atlantic as James Bennet, his co-president, leaves the position solely in the hands of Cohn to move back to The New York Times.

Cohn and Bennet were named co-presidents of The Atlantic in March 2014, after Scott Havens left the company to become senior vice president of digital for Time Inc. At the time, Bennet was editor-in-chief and Cohn was digital editor. Cohn also served as COO.

Bennet has been editor-in-chief for a decade. He and Cohn will lead the search for a new EIC.

Bennet joined The Atlantic from The New York Times, where he was Jerusalem bureau chief and White House correspondent. Now, he will return to the company for one of the top two editorial positions, Atlantic Media chairman David Bradley said in a memo to staff today.

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Bennet will be editorial page editor and also will serve on the NYT's executive committee.

In a statement today, Cohn said that under Bennets leadership, The Atlantic has reinvented itself for the modern media age,

He safeguarded the future of our 159-year-old magazine by insisting we express its mission and heritage in the most contemporary ways, on any and (almost) all platforms that our audiences use, he stated.

To me personally, hes been partner and friend on a fantastic journey, and I will sorely miss working with him, Cohn added.

According to a statement from the company, Cohns plans going forward with The Atlantic is to continue bringing new ideas and innovative technologies to both our journalism and our marketing platforms.

The Atlantic also increased its staff by 50% in 2015; it has similar hiring plans this year. As part of its multiplatform expansion of Washington politics and policy coverage, The Atlantic is tripling its Washington reporting team and growing its events and business staffs.

Bennet leaves The Atlantic at a peak year of investment and growth. Last month, the brand was named Magazine of the Year in the 2016 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media. The Atlantic now reaches an average monthly audience of 27 million and revenues have grown by 50%, across two years.

Just last Monday, Publishers Daily reported Michael Finnegan was promoted to president of Atlantic Media.


by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, March 14, 2016

Last week we talked about the consumer-reach challenges surrounding digital (bot fraud, ad blockers, losses due to charges by the programmatic ecosystem, etc.). But all media are struggling to deliver the same kind of consumer impact they were able to deliver in the not-too-distant past.

Television, once a bastion of reach, frequency and impact, today is fragmented through the enormity of channels across cable and satellite. And now there is even further fragmentation through digital-only channels like YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime, as well as Comcast and other distributors, who are all competing for the same eyeballs. Radio is fragmented along similar lines.

We dont really need to go into the downward spiral of print media, as it is well-documented. The only two relatively stable media in terms of audience delivery are outdoor and cinema (although that last one very much depends on the movie industrys ability to deliver blockbuster content).

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This is a real problem, because in the war on audience, there is an escalating battle between an audience equipped with software to circumvent or block out the very messages that pay for all the good stuff, versus content creators and distributors.

I was in Brussels last week to deliver a keynote at the UBA Trends Day. The UBA is the Belgian ANA, and its Trends Day is an impressive one-day event with over 1,300 attendees, of which a good few hundred were marketing and business students whose attendance was sponsored by a bank.

One of the speakers, Thomas Kolster  director of the Copenhagen-based Goodvertising Agency  asked the audience by show of hands who was using ad blockers themselves. About 10% of marketers raised their hands, but of the student group, who all sat together in the auditorium, almost 100% of hands were raised.

So no wonder the industry is looking for new ways to connect brands with consumers. One of the most-quoted strategies is to develop content factories that have the ability to break through with engaging storytelling efforts so attractive they will be welcomed into consumers social media feeds and other digital platforms.

This may very well work. But I would like to argue that before you start creating engaging content and try to influence peoples opinions and perceptions about your brand or service, there is another thing you must do first. Before you build your content factory, build a listening factory.

It is critically important to understand what people are saying about your brand and category today. Im not talking about how many positive vs. how many mean tweets you receive, or how many glowing reviews you have on review sites. And I am definitely not talking about empty measurement calories such as "likes," shares, or numbers of fans.

Your listening factory needs to deliver a deep analysis of what people are saying, where and when they are saying it, in what context they are saying it, what tone they use, what cultural tribes they are part of or refer to, and so on.

Really, truly understand the existing conversation you are part of today, and then figure out what you might be able to contribute to that, and when and how it would be appropriate to insert yourself into that conversation. Then, and only then, do you stand a chance of perhaps being accepted instead of being blocked. Good luck!
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 14, 2016

Shutterfly is asking a judge to send a high-profile fight over "faceprints" to arbitration.

The legal battle centers on Illinois resident Brian Norberg's allegations that his "faceprint" was added to Shutterfly's database after his picture was uploaded to the online photo service, and tagged with his name, by someone else. Shutterfly now says in new court papers filed on Thursday that the person who uploaded Norberg's photo was his wife, Megan Blatt.

Blatt, who was engaged to Norberg last June, allegedly has an account with Shutterfly, and agreed to its terms of service, which require arbitration of all disputes.

"The facts give rise to a strong inference that Mr. Norberg and his now-wife acted in concert to generate the claims in this lawsuit," Shutterfly says in papers filed on Thursday with U.S. District Court Judge Robert Norgle in Illinois.

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Norberg, who doesn't have an account with Shutterfly, alleged last June in a potential class-action that Shutterfly is violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which prohibits companies from storing people's "biometric identifiers" without their consent.

The company counters in its latest papers that the lawsuit was filed only 10 days after Blatt uploaded the photos. Shutterfly argues that the timing makes it "highly unlikely" that Norberg discovered the photos, hired a lawyer and then drafted a complaint in only 10 days' time.

The company adds that the "most logical explanation" is that the claims "were already in the works before Ms. Blatt joined ... and loaded the photos of her then-fiance (now husband)."

Norberg's attorney, David Milian, calls Shutterfly's motion "completely meritless."

"Shutterfly has resorted to baseless innuendo in an effort to avoid the merits of this lawsuit," he says in an email to MediaPost.

Venkat Balasubramani, an Internet law expert who has written about this lawsuit, says that people's associates generally aren't bound by arbitration agreements they didn't personally sign.

"The default rule is that if you agree to an arbitration clause, that doesn't necessarily mean your associate or friend is also bound by the clause," he says.

He adds that lawyers often are involved in the planning stages of class-actions. "Just because lawyers are involved, that doesn't mean all bets are off," he says.

Earlier in the case, Shutterfly unsuccessfully argued that the Illinois privacy law didn't apply to faceprints derived from photos. The statute excludes photos from the definition of "biometric identifiers," but also includes scans of "face geometry" in the definition.

Google and Facebook are facing similar lawsuits in in federal court in the Northern District of California.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, March 14, 2016

AKQA, the WPP agency that sponsors the Future Lions awards has announced the call for entries for the 2016 competition. This years theme: Start Something.

The brief: connect audiences to an idea from a global brand in a way not possible three years ago. The agency said that there are no boundaries or restrictions on which industries or media are chosen.

The deadline for entries is April 6.

AKQA also said that Google is this years official partner for Future Lions. Google will host a live Hangout for students called Ask The Judges on March 15. In addition, AKQA Group Creative Director Ian Wharton will provide guidance through Think with Google  a source of insights, trends and research.

Five winning ideas will be celebrated on stage at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on June 22, 2016 in the Debussy Theatre at Les Palais des Festivals. In addition to a trophy, the winners will receive full access to the Festival.

More on the Future Lions competition can be found here.
by Erik Sass @eriksass1, March 14, 2016

The New York Times Co. announced Friday that it has acquired HelloSociety, a digital marketing agency focused on social media influencers and mobile channels, from Science Inc.

Terms of the all-cash deal, which closed on March 11, werent disclosed.

Founded in 2012, HelloSociety combines a social marketing tech platform with a network of influencers across a number of social media channels, including Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, YouTube and blogs.

The new acquisition will be integrated with NYTCOs T Brand Studio, its in-house branded content outfit, in order to make it easier for NYT advertisers to conceive, create and execute influencer campaigns as part of broader branded content efforts.

HelloSocietys influencer network model has a strong visual component, according to NYTCO executive vice-president and chief revenue officer Meredith Kopit Levien, who hinted at the companys strategic approach to advertising in years to come: We believe the best digital advertising will increasingly take the shape of high-quality visual programming, and we are building out T Brand Studios services and capabilities to deliver on that promise.

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Speaking at the SXSW Conference in Austin, TX, NYTCO president and CEO Mark Thompson noted that this is the companys first acquisition since he took the helm over three years ago, adding that the publisher is extremely choosy, according to Ad Age, which first reported his remarks.

Social media influencers are looming large in the digital marketing landscape.

Last week, Time Inc. and YouTube fashion network StyleHaul, which maintains a network of influencers in the beauty and fashion category, announced a multiyear partnership to create advertising programs targeting Millennials. Walgreens is the first brand to leverage the partnership, as a complement to its existing Whatever Makes You Feel Beautiful campaign.

In December, Hearst joined forces with video advertising technology platform Reelio to create new, highly targeted networks of online influencers, streamlining the process for identifying social media partners and creating and distributing social media campaigns.

Under the terms of the partnership, Hearst will be able to sell custom-produced videos featuring YouTube stars as part of larger campaigns including print and digital components.
Blueberries are a popular fruit, easily added to cereals, salads and desserts or eaten as a sweet treat in their own right. They are also known by some as a superfood, containing a wide variety of nutrients that offer protection against conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Now, researchers believe that they may have a part to play in the fight against Alzheimers disease.

Share on Pinterest Could the nutritional components of blueberries offer protection against the cognitive decline caused by Alzheimers disease?

Lead author Robert Krikorian will present the findings of two studies  conducted by the team from the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center in Ohio  at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Our new findings corroborate those of previous animal studies and preliminary human studies, adding further support to the notion that blueberries can have a real benefit in improving memory and cognitive function in some older adults, Krikorian states.

The deep blue coloring of blueberries is due to compounds called anthocyanins, which are also found in other fruits and vegetables with similar colors, such as cranberries, red cabbage and eggplants.

Previous research has attributed protection against cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and some forms of cancer to anthocyanins. It is these anthocyanins, as well as high levels of antioxidants in the berries, that the researchers suggest are behind the beneficial effects they believe their studies illustrate.

According to the Alzheimers Association, in 2015, an estimated 5.3 million Americans had Alzheimers disease, a neurological disorder in which the death of brain cells causes memory loss and cognitive decline. Of these people, it is estimated that 5.1 million were aged 65 and older.

As the proportion of the US population aged 65 and older increases, the number of people with Alzheimers disease is expected to increase. The Alzheimers Association predict that by 2025, the number of people in this age group with the disease will increase by 40%, to 7.1 million people.

Earlier clinical trials conducted by Krikorian and the team indicated that blueberries could have an effect on the onset of Alzheimers symptoms, and so two follow-up studies were carried out.
People with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation may find that yoga helps them enjoy a better quality of life and reduce their blood pressure and heart rate.

Share on Pinterest Many of the patients reported that it felt good to let go of their thoughts and just be inside themselves for a while in the yoga sessions.

This was the main finding of a study published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular that compares patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation who practiced yoga with patients who did not.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a condition where the heart pumps blood at an irregular and often abnormally fast rate. This disrupts the flow of blood in the chambers of the heart and increases the risk of blood clots, which can result in a stroke.

AF episodes are often accompanied by chest pain, dizziness and sudden and severe shortness of breath (dyspnoea). The symptoms are unpleasant and leave patients feeling anxious and stressed as they wonder when the episode will finish, or as they anticipate the next one.

In paroxysmal AF, the episodes typically last less than 48 hours and stop by themselves, although they can last up to 7 days.

Lead author Maria Wahlstrom, a nurse who is studying for a PhD at the Sophiahemmet University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, explains the effect paroxysmal AF has on peoples lives:

Many patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation cant live their lives as they want to  they refuse dinners with friends, concerts and travelling  because they are afraid of an AF episode occurring.

AF is the most common heart rhythm disorder and affects around 1.5-2% of people in the developed world. There is no cure for the condition, and treatment focuses on managing symptoms and preventing complications like stroke by using medication, cardioversion (electric shock to try and restore normal heart rhythm) and catheter ablation (removal of some tissue in the heart).
The results of the largest infectious disease study ever to be undertaken have revealed that 100 million people around the world are at risk of blindness from the infectious disease trachoma. Share on Pinterest Smartphones enabled organizers to ensure that data could be easily collected in even the most remote parts of the world and then subsequently transmitted for analysis.

Image credit: Sightsavers/Tom Saater

The research project, which involved 2.6 million participants in 29 different countries, over a 3-year period, was made possible by the use of smartphone technology to help collect, log and transmit data from surveyors operating around the world. Dr. Caroline Harper, CEO of Sightsavers, says: The biggest infectious disease mapping exercise in history, The Global Trachoma Mapping Project, has been completed within agreed timescales and budget. Funded by the UK government, in partnership with the US and WHO [World Health Organization], this creates a lasting platform which will underpin the drive to eliminate blinding trachoma, and will also contribute to efforts to eliminate other neglected tropical diseases. She adds that it demonstrates how critical accurate data is in the battle to eliminate diseases, and has been a tremendous exercise in collaboration and the use of mobile technology. Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness in the world, impairing the vision of around 2.2 million people, of whom 1.2 million are irreversibly blind. It is a health problem in around 51 countries, including Asia and the Middle East, with Africa carrying the bulk of the burden. The disease is mostly prevalent in poor, crowded communities with limited access to clean water and sanitation. In its initial stages, it mainly passes between children aged 1-5 years and the women who care for them.

Trachoma responsible for 3% of worlds blindness 3-year old Anwar, from the Sudan, was one the millions of people surveyed for the study. Like many people living at risk of the disease, Anwars mother was unaware of the condition. I have six children  the oldest is 24 years and is a girl and Anwar, who is 3, is the youngest, she says. Today the people came to survey all of our children and they found that Anwar has got stage 1 trachoma. I dont know what this disease is, but the grader has explained it to me. Anwars family were all examined by grader Dr. Jasser, of the Trachoma Mapping Team. We have found that Anwar has got trachoma. says Dr. Jasser. It is a bacterial infection that is transmitted by flies so his mother needs to keep Anwars face clean and give him antibiotic ointment. Dr. Jasser further describes the conditions in which the family lives: The environment is very overcrowded  there are five other children in the family. They have a lot of animals like goats and chickens living around in the same environment as the children so it is not a clean environment. There are a lot of flies and a lot of poverty. After they use the ointment for 6 weeks, the condition should clear up, but the mother will need to also clean his face. Trachoma is responsible for 3% of the worlds blindness. It is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis and is thought to be spread through personal contact (hands, clothing) and by flies that have been in contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person. After repeated infection, it can develop into trichiasis  where the eyelids turn in and the lashes scrape the eyeball, causing great pain and ultimately leading to permanent blindness.

Complete map of disease prevalence from smartphones Ethiopia has the worlds highest trachoma prevalence, with an estimated 50 million people living in endemic areas. Yabeiywok Sema, who is 60 years old and lives with her husband and grandchildren, was diagnosed with trichiasis by the team of mappers who visited her house.I had constant pain in my eye and could see less and less which made farming, my main source of income, difficult, she says. I didnt visit the health clinic because I didnt realize how serious the infection was or that free surgery was available. At times the pain was very bad and I would rub my eyes to try to make it stop. Yabeiywok was referred to a local health clinic and had surgery 1 week later to stop her eyesight from deteriorating further. Over the course of the 3-year study, more than 550 teams of trained surveyors, including ophthalmic nurses and other government eye health care workers, visited millions of people in sample households in the most remote locations of 29 countries, including Chad, Eritrea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Colombia and Yemen. The teams conducted eye examinations and used mobile phones and tablets to record their findings, which were then sent to a data center in Atlanta, GA. There, the information was cleaned and analyzed before being sent to local governments for review, approval and use. Having a complete map of the diseases prevalence means that ministries of health in endemic countries have the evidence needed to focus preventative and treatment strategies to tackle the neglected tropical disease. The WHO approve a variety of measures designed to tackle the disease including interventions of surgery, antibiotics (through mass drug administration), face-cleanliness and environmental improvements (like sanitation). As a result of the research, health departments are now equipped with accurate information to help deploy targeted interventions.
Mental effort needed to deal with behaviour distracts from task in hand, say researchers.

Patients regarded as 'difficult' increase doctors' risk of getting a diagnosis wrong, irrespective of the time spent or the complexity of the case, finds research published online in BMJ Quality & Safety.

This is because the mental effort needed to deal with the problematic behaviour distracts from the task at hand - processing the clinical information correctly - concludes a companion study in the journal.

It is assumed that a doctor's response to patients regarded as 'difficult' could affect the accuracy of the diagnosis s/he makes, but to date there's been no empirical evidence to back that up.

The researchers therefore set about testing this by providing 63 doctors in the last year of their specialty training in family medicine with one of two versions of six clinical case scenarios. One version portrayed a 'difficult' patient with one of six conditions and the other described the same patient, but without the disruptive behaviour (neutral).

The difficult behaviours portrayed included a demanding patient; an aggressive patient; one who questions the doctor's competence; one who ignores the doctor's advice; one who doesn't expect the doctor to take him seriously; and one who is utterly helpless.

The six conditions comprised: pneumonia; a blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism); brain inflammation (meningoencephalitis); overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism); appendicitis; and inflammation of the pancreas caused by excess alcohol (acute alcoholic pancreatitis).

The latter three cases were deemed to be more complex. All included a brief description of the patient's medical history, their signs and symptoms, and the findings of the physical examination.

The doctors were asked to write down the most likely diagnosis as quickly as possible and then to review the same case, writing down the information for and against the diagnosis they had made, and to offer an alternative if they had got it wrong first time around.

Finally, they were asked to rate the likeability of the patient, using a validated (Likert) scale.

The results showed that not unexpectedly, diagnostic accuracy was higher for simpler cases. But the doctors were 42% more likely to misdiagnose a difficult patient than a 'neutral' one in a complex case, and 6% more likely to do so in a simple case.

The findings held true, irrespective of the time spent on diagnosis. Similarly, further reflection improved diagnostic accuracy, but it didn't make up for the impact of disruptive behaviours.

The average likeability ratings were significantly lower for patients portrayed as 'difficult' than they were for those portrayed as behaving neutrally.

In the second study 74 trainee hospital doctors were asked to diagnose eight clinical case scenarios, half of which involved difficult behaviours and half of which involved neutral behaviours.

The additional behaviours in this study included a patient who threatens the doctor and one who accuses the doctor of discrimination.

After making the diagnosis, the doctors were asked to recall the clinical findings and behaviours of each patient.

Diagnostic accuracy was 20% lower for difficult patients, even though the time spent on diagnosis was similar. The doctors also recalled proportionally fewer clinical findings (30% compared with 32.5%) and more behaviours (25% compared with 18%) in these patients.

This suggests that the mental energy needed to deal with the problematic behaviour interferes with processing the clinical information correctly, say the researchers.

They accept that vignettes don't necessarily reflect real doctor-patient interactions, and therefore clinical practice. But the potential negative impact of difficult behaviours is likely to be stronger in real life, they suggest.

And they nevertheless conclude that although the prevailing view is that doctors should be above reacting in this way to difficult patients..."the fact is, that difficult patients trigger reactions that may intrude with reasoning, adversely affect judgements, and cause errors."

They suggest that efforts should be made to boost medical students' and doctors' awareness of this.

In a linked editorial, Drs Donald Redelmeier and Edward Etchells of the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, University of Toronto, Canada, say the results echo previous analyses, suggesting that unpleasant people tend to have more unfavourable outcomes.

They suggest that doctors should engage in more reflection, teamwork, and consultation and consider checklists or computer assisted diagnostics to mitigate the effects of difficult behaviours on diagnostic accuracy.
In a series of experiments involving 320 patients and controls, researchers developed a blood test that can detect multiple pathologies, including diabetes, cancer, traumatic injury and neurodegeneration, in a highly sensitive and specific manner. The novel method infers cell death in specific tissue from the methylation patterns of circulating DNA that is released by dying cells.

The findings are reported in a paper published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, entitled "Identification of tissue specific cell death using methylation patterns of circulating DNA". The research was performed by an international team led by Dr. Ruth Shemer and Prof. Yuval Dor from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Prof. Benjamin Glaser from Hadassah Medical Center.

Cell death is a central feature of human biology in health and disease. It can signify the early stages of pathology (e.g. a developing tumor or the beginning of an autoimmune or neurodegenerative disease), mark disease progression, reflect the success of therapy (e.g. anti cancer drugs), identify unintended toxic effects of treatment and more. However to date, it is not possible to measure cell death in specific human tissues non-invasively.

The new blood test detects cell death in specific tissues by combining two important biological principles. First, dying cells release fragmented DNA to the circulation, where it travels for a short time. This fact has been known for decades; however since the DNA sequence of all cells in the body is identical, it has not been possible to determine the tissue of origin of circulating DNA, and simple measurements of the amount of circulating DNA is of very limited use. The second principle is that the DNA of each cell type carries a unique chemical modification called methylation. Methylation patterns of DNA account for the identity of cells (the genes that they express), are similar among different cells of the same type and among individuals, and are stable in healthy and disease conditions. For example, the DNA methylation pattern of pancreatic cells differs from the pattern of all other cell types in the body.

The researchers have identified multiple DNA sequences that are methylated in a tissue-specific manner (for example, unmethylated in DNA of neurons and methylated elsewhere), and can serve as biomarkers for the detection of DNA derived from each tissue. They then developed a method to detect these methylated patterns in DNA circulating in blood, and demonstrated its utility for identifying the origins of circulating DNA in different human pathologies, as an indication of cell death in specific tissues. They were able to detect evidence for pancreatic beta-cell death in the blood of patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes, oligodendrocyte death in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, brain cell death in patients after traumatic or ischemic brain damage, and exocrine pancreas cell death in patients with pancreatic cancer or pancreatitis.

"Our work demonstrates that the tissue origins of circulating DNA can be measured in humans. This represents a new method for sensitive detection of cell death in specific tissues, and an exciting approach for diagnostic medicine," said Dr. Ruth Shemer of the Hebrew University, a DNA methylation expert and one of the lead authors of the new study.

The approach can be adapted to identify cfDNA derived from any cell type in the body, offering a minimally-invasive window for monitoring and diagnosis of a broad spectrum of human pathologies, as well as better understanding of normal tissue dynamics.

"In the long run, we envision a new type of blood test aimed at the sensitive detection of tissue damage, even without a-priori suspicion of disease in a specific organ. We believe that such a tool will have broad utility in diagnostic medicine and in the study of human biology," said Prof. Benjamin Glaser, head of Endocrinology at Hadassah Medical Center and another lead author of the study.

The work was performed by Hebrew University students Roni Lehmann-Werman, Daniel Neiman, Hai Zemmour, Joshua Moss and Judith Magenheim, aided by clinicians and scientists from Hadassah Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center and from institutions in Germany, Sweden, the USA and Canada who provided precious blood samples of patients.

Support for the research came from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Human Islet Research Network of the NIH, the Sir Zalman Cowen Universities Fund, the DFG (a Trilateral German-Israel-Palestine program), and the Soyka pancreatic cancer fund.
Researchers in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel have developed a new method that allows them to record the vast range of antibodies in an individual, genetically in one fell swoop. For example, they can track very precisely how the immune system produces antibodies following a vaccination or an infection. The new genetic method, established by scientists led by Sai Reddy, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, delivers far more information than the previous decades-old antibody detection techniques.

Instead of antibody proteins, the ETH scientist's technique analyses a large number of messenger RNA molecules, which provide instructions to the body's protein production machinery to generate antibodies. Scientists use RNA sequencing to decipher the assembly instructions and to determine their evolution and relative amounts.

A large number of antibodies

"The scientific community has made huge progress in sequencing technology over the last few years. Sequencing has become faster and cheaper, and huge volumes of data can now be processed and analysed," Reddy explains. "Nevertheless, until now, the method was poorly suited to analysis of antibody RNA."

One of the big challenges is that the body contains a huge number of antibodies - with estimates pointing to several billion different variations. However, detecting their differences at the genetic level requires a high degree of sensitivity and precision.

Accuracy a major challenge

To prepare RNA molecules for sequencing, scientists begin by copying their genetic code billions of times. In the process, errors (or mutations) creep in. Until now, it was difficult for scientists to decide whether two slightly different genetic sequences represented two different antibodies, or a single antibody that had mutated during sample preparation.

Furthermore, the sequencing of a mixture of RNA molecules yielded only very imprecise information on the incidence of the respective molecules in the mixture. The reason is that when RNA molecules are copied, as mentioned earlier, not all are duplicated to exactly the same extent.

Over 98 percent of errors avoided

To address this problem, Reddy and his colleagues have supplemented the RNA sequencing process by creating a control system which uses genetic barcodes. This, combined with computer-aided analysis of the sequencing data, has allowed them to massively increase the sequencing accuracy, both regarding artificially introduced mutations and the relative concentration of RNA molecules in the mixture. "In this way, we were able to remove over 98 percent of errors," says Tarik Khan, a postdoc in Reddy's lab.

Specifically, in the new method, each RNA molecule is labelled with a random but unique genetic barcode before amplification. Furthermore, during amplification, the molecules are also tagged with additional unique barcodes in a manner that creates a record of the amplification bias.

Through computer-based analysis of the sequencing data, the scientists can use the barcodes to identify the original antibody RNA molecules (and to differentiate these from molecules that have mutated during the sequencing process). Moreover, using the barcodes and an algorithm, the researchers are able to recover the actual relative amounts of the antibody RNA molecules, thus eliminating copying bias.

Vaccine development and early detection

This new method of antibody sequencing can now be used in immunological research. It is useful, for example, in the development of antibody drugs and vaccines. Reddy is carrying out such work in collaboration with various pharmaceutical companies. "For example, our technique can be used to track precisely how an immune response changes over time, such as in human patients with an HIV infection," says the ETH professor, who was recently awarded one of the coveted Starting Grants from the European Research Council. "Previously, measurements of antibody proteins allowed scientists to discover primarily the very frequent antibodies. However, an immune response always yields a whole range of slightly different antibodies. Sequencing allows us to characterise even the rare ones very accurately - and very quickly."

Furthermore, antibody sequencing can be used to detect small quantities of antibody molecules at an early stage, whereas protein measurement requires a sufficiently high concentration of antibody protein in the blood. Sequencing thus opens up new possibilities in diagnostics; for example, in the early detection of cancer or autoimmunity diseases.
NASA limits an astronaut's radiation exposures to doses that keep their added risk of fatal cancer below 3 percent. Unfortunately, that ceiling restricts the time an astronaut may spend in space, which in turn restricts the ability to perform longer missions, say a mission to Mars. Now a network of research laboratories seeks to understand the mechanisms and effects of space radiation with the goal of predicting and preventing radiation-induced cancers, both in space and at home. One of these laboratories is that of Michael Weil, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and professor in the Colorado State University Department of Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, whose paper recently published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology describes attempts to personalize the assessment of radiation-induced cancer risk in astronauts.

"I have become a bit of a space aficionado, but I suspect the major impact of what we do is going to be for cancer patients," Weil says. This is because high-energy ions similar to the radiation experienced in space is being increasingly used in cancer treatments. Carbon ions are in use to treat cancer patients in Japan and Germany, and similar treatment facilities are in the planning stages in the United States. "The way carbon ions deposit energy is very suitable for hitting tumors while missing healthy tissue," Weil says. However, the same radiation used in cancer treatments presents a risk for the future development of new tumors.

On earth, discovering the cancer risk associated with radiation dose is generally done by noting levels of radiation exposure and later cancer development in large populations of people. For example, "Radiation epidemiologists know the radiation doses received by 120,000 survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings and their health outcomes. With this, we can estimate how much a given dose will increase cancer risk," Weil says.

But the calculation of cancer risk from space radiation is much different. First, space radiation is not the same as radiation on earth. "NASA is most concerned about galactic cosmic radiation and the worst component is HZE ions," Weil says. These ions, composed of atomic nuclei stripped of their electrons and moving through space at near light speed "can punch right through a couple meters of aluminum or right through an astronaut, leaving ionization tracks," Weil says. (The acronym HZE comes from high (h) atomic number (z) and energy (e)). Fortunately for everyone on earth, these HZE ions are deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere. However, the deflection of HZE ions also means that no epidemiological data exists that could ground risk calculations. Instead, determining the risk of HZE ions requires experimental models and technology.

"We don't have access to galactic cosmic radiation on earth, but we do have accelerators," Weil says. The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory on Long Island, NY can simulate the types of radiation found in space. NASA-funded researchers like Weil use the facility to irradiate mice or cultured human cells.

"How effective are these radiations at causing cancer?" Weil asks. "The answer is incredibly effective."

In addition to showing that HZE ions efficiently cause cancer, Weil and colleagues hope to understand how the timing of HZE ion delivery impacts risk.

"For example, maybe every morning when I wake up, I take 81 milligrams of aspirin because it's good for my heart. But if I take a year's dose all at once, that will cause problems." Weil says. We have good data on the effects of acute radiation exposures. However, while the accumulated dose an astronaut receives may be quite high, the dose is generally delivered over time, leading to a lower "dose-rate" and, potentially, less risk than if the same dose had been delivered over a shorter time. And, unfortunately, an accelerator is not capable of delivering low exposure over a protracted period.

"We don't have good experimental ways to approach this question," Weil says. He does, however, note that historical data from uranium miners who are at increased risk for lung cancer from occupational exposure to Radon gas provides clues to cancer risk with lower dose-rate exposures.

Another issue facing investigators is the difference between cancer incidence and cancer mortality.

"NASA is primarily concerned not just with how many cancers will be caused by space radiation, but with how many of these cancers will be fatal," Weil says. Cancer researchers know the incidence-to-fatality ratios of cancers experienced by earthbound populations - they can query a database for, say, the number of lung cancer cases and compare it to the number of lung cancer deaths. However, there is increasing evidence that not only are HZE ions especially good at causing cancer, but that the types of cancer they cause tend to be more aggressive than their counterparts on earth.

When Weil's group "hauled mice to an accelerator facility and irradiated them to produce liver tumors," more of these tumors than expected went on to metastasize to the lung, implying a more aggressive liver cancer. For NASA and potentially for earthling cancer patients, this means that risk assessments have to take into account not only the risk of developing cancer with HZE ion doses, but the higher percentage of these cancers that may be fatal.

The eventual goal of this work is twofold: To more accurately calculate cancer risk to spaceflight crews and provide a better understanding of how HZE ions cause cancer which, in turn, will lead to ways to mitigate this risk.

Ultimately you'd like to "develop a pill you can take that will prevent space radiation from causing cancer," Weil says. "To do that, you have to understand the mechanisms whereby radiation causes cancer."

And so, overall, the goal is to understand how, when and with what outcomes HZE ions cause cancer. In addition to allowing human beings to travel to Mars, solving these questions may make us healthier here at home.
The American Thoracic Society applauds the collaborative effort of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada to reduce methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change.

Joint U.S.-Canada commitment to reduce methane emissions by 40-45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025 speaks volumes; it is a serious policy response that shows a willingness to embrace rigorous scientific research in advancing actions to address the human health risk posed by global climate change.

"This decision is a big win for communities and for public health," said Atul Malhotra, MD, ATS President. "Controlling methane gas emissions is an important step to addressing the myriad human health effects caused by global climate change.

Hopefully this partnership between the U.S. and Canada will set the standard for more global initiatives."
Funding cuts could force hundreds of local pharmacies to close, cutting off a vital lifeline for elderly and vulnerable people and leaving some facing long journeys to collect essential medicines, councils warn.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils - who have responsibility for public health - is warning a 170 million reduction in NHS funding for community pharmacies could put many out of business.

In its response to the Department of Health's consultation over proposals to instead use clinical pharmacists in primary care settings such as GP practices, the LGA insists local pharmacies must remain at the heart of communities, rather than risk bringing more people to surgeries and adding to existing pressures.

The LGA says the closure of community pharmacies could leave many isolated and vulnerable residents, particularly in deprived areas, struggling to access pharmacies for their potentially life-saving medicines.

For some people the local pharmacy is their only contact with a health professional, providing access to invaluable health advice and enabling older people to live more independently.

A bigger role for community pharmacies would instead help take away some of the strain from hospitals and GP practices. Local pharmacies should be expanded within their communities, say councils, providing important public health services such as health checks, smoking cessation, sexual health, screening and immunisations, in addition to dispensing and selling medicines.

Pharmacies should modernise, with new ways of ordering prescriptions and collecting medicines, including online ordering and delivery to the patient's home.

Community pharmacies are also vital to ensure diverse and vibrant high streets, which can otherwise be dominated by betting shops, fast food outlets and payday lenders. The LGA said vacancy rates have doubled in recent years, with the amount of money shoppers are spending halved and insisted local pharmacies must remain at the heart of communities.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, LGA Community Wellbeing spokeswoman, said:

"Maintaining community pharmacies is crucial to keeping older and frail people independent. They need to be at the heart of communities, close to where people shop, work and go about their daily lives, rather than the heart of the NHS.

"For many elderly people, their local pharmacist is not just a dispenser of medicines, but someone who they know and look to for informal health advice and information. Vulnerable and elderly people should never be forced to travel potentially long distances to pick up vital medicines and receive health advice.

"Community pharmacies do need to change but the cuts in funding could lead to many being forced to close. They should actually play a bigger role in providing public health services, alongside their important existing roles of supplying medicines. Additional investment in community pharmacies could improve the prevention of disease and access to health services. They can also help contribute to thriving high streets.

"Being at the heart of communities means pharmacies see people in every state of health and are ideally placed to play a central role in the prevention of illness, which can reduce costs and pressures on the NHS and adult social care."
Findings from the Global Status of Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC): A 2005 - 2015 Decade Report, were presented today at the 10th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC) in Amsterdam by Fatima Cardoso, MD, director, Breast Unit at Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon. The report confirms the extent of misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding the most advanced and incurable stage of breast cancer - metastatic breast cancer (mBC) - as well as the level of isolation and helplessness felt by patients.1

The report highlights the extent of the social stigma associated with incurable breast cancer. 22-42% people across five European countries (France 22%, UK 24%, Germany 27%, Poland 33%, Turkey 42%2) feel that patients with metastatic breast cancer should not talk about their disease with anyone other than their physician.1 This social stigma is often driven by misunderstandings of the disease. 24-59% believe that metastatic breast cancer patients did not take preventive measures and are in some way responsible for their disease.2 In most of the European countries surveyed, at least half of respondents (France 45%, UK 60%, Germany 59%, Poland 68%, Turkey 69%2) believe that early detection or treatment can prevent disease progression2 and 48-76% (France 48%, UK 52%, Germany 55%, Poland 61%, Turkey 76%2) believe that advanced breast cancer is curable.1

The general public's knowledge of wider breast cancer issues often derives from survivor stories by patients with early breast cancer, which receive considerable media attention and ensure that breast cancer is a disease familiar to many people.1 In contrast, the report reveals that the terms 'advanced breast cancer' or 'metastatic breast cancer' are less widely understood.1

"It is clear that patients globally face stigma and isolation from their communities when they are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, a time when they are most in need of high- quality support," Fatima Cardoso, MD points out: "It is our responsibility to support women with advanced breast cancer as much as we support women with early breast cancer. We must improve public understanding of the advanced form of the disease and work to improve quantity as well as quality of life for patients."

Metastatic breast cancer patients will remain on treatment for the rest of their lives, and quality of life is often expressed by patients and physicians as a top priority for their ongoing care. In a survey of oncologists, nurses and breast cancer leaders (conducted across nine countries including Germany, Italy, Portugal and Sweden), 79% name greater quality of life and better support as two of the top five priorities for metastatic breast cancer patients, beyond medical treatment needs.2

The Global Status Report underscores the significant and complex challenges that continue to exist in the metastatic breast cancer landscape and the need for greater unity to meet the care and support needs of women living with this disease.

Public health experts expect the global number of breast cancer related deaths to rise by an estimated 43% by 2030.3

In the past decade has been a greater focus on improvements in early breast cancer outcomes than for metastatic breast cancer treatments.4 Pfizer is working with the ESO and the European breast cancer community to accelerate the understanding of advanced breast cancer and to seek changes in metastatic breast cancer outcomes that will lead to better care and support for patients."There is an unquestionable need for more research surrounding metastatic breast cancer worldwide," Dr. med. Michael Warmbold, Vice President Medical Oncology Europe/Africa/Middle East, says: "Through our work, we hope to address the challenges that continue to exist in the metastatic breast cancer landscape."

About the Global Decade Report

The Global Status of Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC): A 2005 - 2015 Decade Report, developed by Pfizer in collaboration with the European School of Oncology (ESO), assesses the status of mBC in terms of patient care, the wider breast cancer environment and scientific advances and developments.

The analysis is based on three newly commissioned primary surveys examining current perceptions of the state of breast cancer among the general public, patient advocacy groups, Breast Cancer Centres, oncologists and nurses in 34 countries around the world. This included the first survey of the global population's perceptions of mBC fielded in 14 countries and involving 14,315 adults (both mBC patients and non-patients). In Europe, the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Turkey participated. In addition, secondary analyses were conducted, and included an analysis of existing breast cancer resources and more than 3,000 previously published articles and abstracts, to determine the global mBC landscape over the past decade.

This report is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the global advanced and metastatic breast cancer landscape over the past decade, and was developed with guidance from a global steering committee of multidisciplinary leaders in the mBC community.

The late breaking abstract Global Status of Advanced/ Metastatic Breast Cancer (ABC/mBC): A Decade Report 2005-2015 (7LBA) were presented today at the 10th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC) in Amsterdam by Fatima Cardoso, MD, director, Breast Unit at Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon. The late breaking abstract was part of the plenary session "Keynote Lecture, Oral and Late Breaking Abstracts", 09:45-11:15, March 11th 2016.

For more information on the report, including methodology, please visit: www.BreastCancerVision.com.
A large meta-analysis of 47 randomized trials totaling 275,078 patients found that, on average, treatment effect estimates for subjective outcome events assessed by onsite assessors and those assessed by adjudication committees were similar.

The new article in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review is co-authored by Lee Aymar Ndounga Diakou, Ludovic Trinquart, Asbjrn Hrobjartsson, Caroline Barnes, Amelie Yavchitz, Philippe Ravaud, and Isabelle Boutron, from Cochrane France and INSERM U1153, Paris, France.

Many clinical trials assess the benefit of new treatments on non-fatal events. Such outcomes frequently lack standard definitions and are subjective in their determination. Central adjudication is the process of reviewing clinical data by a group of independent physicians to assess consistently and to validate events.

It is widely recommended that multicentre trials should have a central adjudication committee, rather than relying on the outcomes reported by assessors at the relevant site where the decision might be subjective. These central adjudication committees are commonly used, especially in large trials. However, the adjudication process can be very time and resource consuming. There is very limited evidence supported the use of adjudication committees.

This meta-analysis examined randomized trials across medical areas to evaluate the impact of central adjudication on the estimates for treatment effect produced by randomized trials. All selected trials reported the same subjective clinical event outcome assessed by both an onsite assessor and an adjudication committee. The authors investigated whether using the event data from the adjudication committee produced different treatment effect estimates than the data from onsite investigators.

The researchers combined the findings of 47 RCTs and found no evidence of difference, on average, in treatment effect estimates from onsite assessors and adjudication committee (combined ratio of odds ratios: 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 1.04).

When the researchers divided the data into whether or not the onsite assessors knew the patient's allocated treatment in the randomized trials and the various ways of submitting data to adjudication committees, they found that there might be important differences between onsite assessment and adjudication committee, depending on which methods are used. The combined ratio of odds ratio was 1.00 (95%CI 0.96 to 1.04) when onsite assessors were blinded; 0.76 (95% CI 0.48 to 1.12) when the adjudication committee assessed events identified independently from unblinded onsite assessors; and 1.11 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.27) when the adjudication committer assessed events identified by unblinded onsite assessors. There was a statistically significant interaction between these subgroups (P = 0.03)

The authors conclude that their findings question the benefit of having an adjudication committee for a randomized trial and highlight the need to revise the planning and functioning of adjudication committees.
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The research led by Richard Davy from Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre in Norway examined the causes of the more rapid warming of nights from observations and model reconstructions of the climate in the 20th century.The researchers found that sensitivity to warming is linked to the layer of air just above the ground which is known as the boundary-layer as it is essentially separated from the rest of the atmosphere.At night this layer is very thin, just a few hundred meters, whereas during the day it grows up to a few kilometres. It is this cycle in the boundary-layer depth which makes the night-time temperatures more sensitive to warming than the day, the researchers explained.The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human emissions reduces the amount of radiation released into space, which increases both the night-time and day-time temperatures.However, because at night there is a much smaller volume of air that gets warmed, the extra energy added to the climate system from carbon dioxide leads to a greater warming at night than during the day.This higher sensitivity of night-time temperatures has also affected the number of cold-extreme nights we have seen in recent years, the study said.The number of extremely cold nights has dropped by half during the last 50 years, in contrast to the extreme-cold days which have decreased by a quarter, the researchers pointed out.Understanding the different sensitivity of night and day-time temperatures is crucial for our understanding of climate change and it's affect on human health.Source: IANS
On March 14, 2016 the English-language Saudi daily Arab News published an article by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief and former ambassador to the U.S., titled "Mr. Obama, We Are Not 'Free Riders.'"

The article responds to statements made by U.S. President Barack Obama in a series of interviews with The Atlantic published on March 10, 2016. In the interviews, conducted Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama said that "free riders aggravate" him, referring to some of the U.S.'s allies in both Europe and the Arab world who, he said, expect America to lead the fight against terrorism (and action on other fronts) while refusing to take up the burden themselves. Obama also said that the Saudis must "share" the Middle East with their Iranian foes, adding that the rivalry between these two countries has "helped to feed proxy wars and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Yemen."[1]

Answering these statements in his article, Turki Al-Faisal says that Saudi Arabia plays a pivotal role in combating terror and extremism in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. He also states that Saudi Arabia helps America's economy by buying U.S. treasury bonds, by sending Saudis to study at American universities, and by employing Americans in its businesses and industries.

Wondering at Obama's harsh criticism of Saudi Arabia, the prince asks whether Obama is "petulant" because Saudi Arabia supported the Egyptian people in their uprising against the Muslim Brotherhood government, "which [Obama] supported." Alternatively, he says, perhaps Obama has inclined so far towards Iran that he equates "the [Saudi] Kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship" towards America with the behavior of Iran, which continues to sponsor terrorism across the Middle East and to regard the U.S. as its greatest enemy.

The following is the article, as published in Arab News.[2]



Turki Al-Faisal (Image: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat)

 "No, Mr. Obama. We are not 'free riders.' We shared with you our intelligence that prevented deadly terrorist attacks on America. We initiated the meetings that led to the coalition that is fighting Fahish (ISIL), and we train and fund the Syrian freedom fighters, who fight the biggest terrorist, Bashar Assad and the other terrorists, Al-Nusrah and Fahish (ISIL). We offered [to put] boots on the ground to make that coalition more effective in eliminating the terrorists. We initiated the support OCo military, political and humanitarian OCo that is helping the Yemeni people reclaim their country from the murderous militia, the Houthis, who, with the support of the Iranian leadership, tried to occupy Yemen, [and we did this] without calling for American forces. We established a coalition of more than thirty Muslim countries to fight all shades of terrorism in the world. We are the biggest contributors to the humanitarian relief efforts to help refugees from Syria, Yemen and Iraq. We combat extremist ideology that attempts to hijack our religion, on all levels. We are the sole funders of the United Nations Counter-terrorism Center, which pools intelligence, political, economic, and human resources, worldwide.

"We [also] buy US treasury bonds, with small interest returns, that help your country's economy. We send thousands of our students to your universities, at enormous expense, to acquire knowledge and knowhow. We host over 30,000 American citizens and pay them top dollar in our businesses and industry for their skills. Your secretaries of state and defense have often publicly praised the level of cooperation between our two countries.

"Your treasury department officials have publicly praised Saudi Arabia's measures to curtail any financing that might reach terrorists. Our King Salman met with you last September, and accepted your assurances that the nuclear deal you struck with the Iranian leadership will prevent their acquiring nuclear weapons for the duration of the deal. You noted 'the Kingdom's leadership role in the Arab and Islamic world.'

"The two of you affirmed the 'need, in particular, to counter Iran's destabilizing activities.' Now, you throw us a curve ball. You accuse us of fomenting sectarian strife in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. You add insult to injury by telling us to share our world with Iran, a country that you describe as a supporter of terrorism and which you promised our king to counter its 'destabilizing activities.'

"Could it be that you are petulant about the Kingdom's efforts to support the Egyptian people when they rose [up] against the Muslim Brothers' government and you supported [this government]? Or is it the late King Abdullah's (God rest his soul) bang on the table when he last met you and told you 'No more red lines, Mr. President.'

"Or is it because you have pivoted [towards] Iran so much that you equate the Kingdom's 80 years of constant friendship with America [with the behavior of] an Iranian leadership that continues to describe America as the biggest enemy, that continues to arm, fund and support sectarian militias in the Arab and Muslim world, that continues to harbor and host Al-Qaeda leaders, that continues to prevent the election of a Lebanese president through Hezbollah, which is identified by your government as a terrorist organization, that continues to kill the Syrian Arab people in league with Bashar Assad?

"No, Mr. Obama. We are not the 'free riders' to whom you refer. We lead from the front and we accept our mistakes and rectify them. We will continue to [regard] the American people as our ally, and don't forget that when the chips were down and George Herbert Walker Bush sent American soldiers to repel, [along] with our troops, Saddam's aggression against Kuwait, [our] soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder with [your] soldiers. Mr. Obama, that is who we are."

Endnotes:
Introduction

Some Palestinian civil society organizations operating in the West Bank that receive funding from Western countries, institutions, and foundations are openly expressing support for terrorism. They express this support with ceremonies exalting terrorists, with public displays of support for attacks and their perpetrators, by lionizing terrorists, and by posting inciting content on social media.

The following are several examples of such organizations:

The Palestinian Bar Association Awards Honorary Attorney's Certificate To Muhammad Al-Halabi, Who Killed Two In Jerusalem; Encourages Participation In Stabbers' Funerals

The Palestinian Bar Association is the official body for Palestinian attorneys in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[1] It receives regular funding from the EU, and has received aid from the EU Police Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and UN Women.[2] It also maintains cooperation ties with the International Legal Foundation (ILF).[3]

On October 10, 2015, the bar association announced that it would be posthumously awarding an honorary attorney's certificate to Muhannad Al-Halabi, who was killed after stabbing two people to death in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 3, 2015 and wounding a woman and a two-year-old baby.

The association's announcement said: "In its meeting today [October 10, 2015], the Palestinian Bar Association decided to award an honorary attorney's certificate to the martyred hero Muhannad Al-Halabi, and also decided that the next swearing-in ceremony [for new attorneys] will be named for him."

The announcement said further that, after taking these decisions, the members of the bar association's council had paid a condolence call to the family of Al-Halabi, "who had been an outstanding student in the Faculty of Law," to inform them of the decisions.[4]

Additionally, on November 1, 2015, the bar association announced that all legal institutions in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh areas would be closed the following day to allow bar members to participate in the funerals of "the hero martyrs" 'Omar Al-Faqih - killed after he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at the Qalandia checkpoint on October 17, 2015 - and Muhammad Shamasneh - killed after he carried out a stabbing attack on a bus on October 12, 2015.[5]



The announcement about Muhannad Al-Halabi on the website of the Palestinian Bar Association

The Popular Art Centre Organizes Ceremony For "Jerusalem Martyrs"

The Popular Art Centre is a community center for the arts in Ramallah.[6] It receives aid from the EU via the AM Qattan Foundation, as part of the former's project to support the performing arts.[7] It is also supported by the Taawon association, which in turn is funded by foreign bodies such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the EU, UNESCO, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Canadian embassy in Lebanon, and more.[8]

On February 6, 2016, the Popular Art Centre held a fundraiser in solidarity with the families of Jerusalem "martyrs" whose homes had been demolished, in which "songs of the Palestinian Revolution" were performed.[9] The Popular Art Centre raised $25,000, which it transferred to a fund for rebuilding the demolished homes.[10] One of the speakers at the fundraiser was Muhammad 'Alian, father of Bahaa 'Alian who, along with Bilal Abu Ghamen, perpetrated the October 13, 2015 shooting and stabbing attack on a bus in the Armon HaNatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem, in which three people were killed and seven were wounded. Bahaa's father congratulated the martyrs of each Palestinian city: "the martyrs of Hebron, capital of the 'Honor and Strength Intifada'; the martyrs of Jerusalem, the intifada's initiator and bride; the martyrs of Ramallah, the most beautiful of cities and the leader of the intifadas, and the martyrs of Nablus, Tulkarm, Jenin and the [refugee] camps of steadfastness and defiance..." He concluded: "We, the families of the martyrs, demand of [both] the official and the popular echelons to inculcate the culture of the martyrs and to organize culture activities dealing with the martyrs' legacy, their stories, and their lives, [activities dealing with] each and every martyr - for each of them has a story worthy of study, examination and attention."[11]



Muhammad 'Alian speaking at the fundraiser

On the eve of the fundraiser, the center posted a poem on its Facebook page calling for not "laying down the rifles" - a motto that was repeated in a video posted on the center's Facebook page of a song performed at the fundraiser.[12]



The video posted by the Popular Art Center: "From the Ramallah Cultural Palace we said no - no to laying down the rifles"



Poster announcing the Arts Center's fundraiser features images of martyrs and a map of Palestine from the river to the sea (Facebook.com/PopularArtCentre, February 6, 2016)

Shabab Al-Balad Youth Forum Posts Prayer For The Souls Of The Martyrs

Shabab Al-Balad is a youth forum aimed at encouraging culture and education; it operates in the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood in East Jerusalem and is part of the Hemmeh organization's volunteer network.[13] Hemmeh receives funding from Taawon (which in turn is funded by foreign bodies, as specified above), as well as from the Burj Al-Luqluq association, which operates in the Old City of Jerusalem and is funded by foreign bodies such as the UNDP, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNESCO, the EU, the French embassy in Jerusalem, the French Agency for Development (AFD), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the British Consulate in Jerusalem, the World Bank, the Pontifical Mission, and others.[14]

Shabab Al-Balad's Facebook page features a statement dated October 4, 2015 titled "Allah, accept them as martyrs" with photos of Muhannad Al-Halabi, who stabbed two people to death and wounded a woman and a baby in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 3, 2015, and Fadi 'Aloun, who carried out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 4, 2015.[15]



Shabab Al-Balad's Facebook post: "Allah, accept them as martyrs"

It should be noted that Bahaa 'Alian, one of the perpetrators of the October 13, 2015 shooting and stabbing attack on the bus in the Armon HaNatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem, in which three people were killed and seven were wounded, had been active in this group.[16]

The Handala Cultural Center Lays Wreath On Grave Of Stabber, Holds Mock Funeral For Tel Aviv Terrorist

Named for the well-known character created by Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-'Ali to symbolize Palestinian identity and resistance, the Handala Cultural Center operates out of Al-Saffa village in the West Bank.[17] A September 2015 festival organized by the center was supported by the Palestinian Culture Ministry, which is in turn supported by foreign bodies such as the EU, UNESCO, the UNDP, the MDG Achievement Fund - which is implemented through UN agencies and supported by the Spanish government - and others.[18]

On January 17, 2016, the center posted a video of a mock funeral for Nashat Melhem, an Israeli Arab who killed three people in Tel Aviv on January 1, 2016. The center's Scouts troop participated in the mock funeral.[19]



The Scouts troop of the Handala Cultural Center marches at mock funeral for Nashat Melhem

On January 30, 2016, the center's Facebook page featured photos of wreaths that the center had placed on the grave of Ibrahim 'Alan, killed after participating in a January 25, 2016 stabbing attack at a grocery store in Beit Horon, in which a woman was killed and another was wounded. The photos were accompanied by the caption "The martyrs do not die - their blood illuminates like a revolution."[20]

Al-Nahda Rural Society Posts Obituaries For Terrorists

The Al-Nahda Rural Society[21] operates in northwest Jerusalem. The society has hosted activities funded by the EU and British Consulate,[22] and participated in a project funded by the Japanese government to support small infrastructures in the Al-Quds governorate.[23] The society has also hosted an OCHA delegation.[24] It hosts activities funded by the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry,[25] which itself is funded by the EU and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).[26]

The Al-Nahda Rural Society is also supported by the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which belongs to the World Council of Churches.[27] A recent activity for harvesting olives that the society organized was conducted in cooperation with EAPPI and with the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) - a French humanitarian NGO which is itself funded by the EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Commission, FAO, the French Foreign Ministry, the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OCHA, SIDA, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the U.S. State Department, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF), the UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UNRWA, the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and the American Red Cross.[28]

On February 15, 2016, the society posted an obituary for the terrorists Mansour Al-Shawamra and 'Omar 'Amro, killed while attempting to carry out a shooting attack at the Old City of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate on February 14, 2016.[29] On October 16, 2015, the society posted an obituary for Muhammad Shamasneh, killed October 12, 2015 while carrying out a stabbing attack on a bus in Jerusalem.[30]



The obituary for Al-Shawamra and Amro

* B. Shanee is a research fellow at MEMRI.

Endnotes:
The mystery behind the infamous Bermuda Triangle has baffled the greatest of scientists and has left countless sailors and pilots scared.

For years, one has wondered the reason behind the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircrafts, but it seems that were closer to finding the answer now than before. At least, thats what the scientists believe after finding a series of craters off the coast of Norway.

 Flickr

And although this particular area may not be close to the location of the triangle (which stretches between Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Florida), scientists rationalize and offers an explanation on the basis of the width and depth of the craters.

The craters in the Barents Sea are 800m wide and 450m deep and are believed to have been created by the massive methane burps originating from the bottom of the ocean. Scientists from the Arctic University of Norway have also mentioned how these craters leak, which come through the sea bed and reach the water above.

This what they told the Sunday Times, Multiple giant craters exist on the sea floor in an area in the west-central Barents Sea and are probably a cause of enormous blowouts of gas. The crater area is likely to represent one of the largest hotspots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic.

 sites(dot)psu(dot)edu

These explosions possibly cause the craters to open up and water to push out thus causing the ships to sink, whereas planes lose their engines, perhaps also catch on fire as the methane is excited. It's also argued that the methane explosion, which doesn't sink ships, could still kill everyone on board by asphyxiation. This can be one of the reasons why 'ghost' ships have been found in the past with everyone on board dead, but no signs of trauma.

Scientists are now exploring this reason further and looking at whether these explosions are sufficient enough to swallow something as big as a vessel or an aircraft.
Europe can do much more for migrant crisis

Countries with far less means have been responding to much larger people movements says UNHCR chief

By Chinedu Onyejelem

Europe must go beyond a humanitarian response if it is to manage the ongoing migration emergency, the UNHCRs chief has warned.

Filippo Grandi told MEPs in Strasbourg that over 138,000 migrants and refugees  two-thirds of them women and children  have arrived in Europe in the first nine weeks of 2016 alone.

They account for just some of the 1,200,000 migrants who have arrived in Europe since January 2015, mainly by sea via the Mediterranean in small inflatable boats.

Thousands of these refugees are currently stranded in Greece following the decision by Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and non-EU members Serbia and Macedonia to close their borders to the mass migration from troubled regions in the Middle East and north Africa.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised them for acting unilaterally in closing the so-called Balkan route for migrants, adding that it has put Greece in a very difficult situation.

Grandi, meanwhile, maintains that Europe has all it takes to deal with the large migration.

On other continents, countries with far less means than Europe have been responding to much larger movements of people forced to leave their homes, and continue to do so, said the UNs high commissioner for refugees. In this very chamber, exhortations to states around the world to treat refugees according to principles and in an organised manner have resonated many times.

Grandi said it was time for Europe to deal with the situation in a dignified manner. This emergency does not have to be crisis, it can be managed, he added.

Reacting to discussions between EU heads of state and the Turkish government over the repatriation of refugees, Grandi said he was deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law.

He called on the EU Council to clarify details of the safeguards it plans to introduce in its agreement with Turkey during the councils meeting on 17 March.
State honours a century of women rising in Ireland on International Womens Day

By Staff Reporter

Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys welcomed women from across all sectors of Irish society to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham for a special event on International Womens Day (Tuesday 8 March) to highlight the role of women in the 1916 Rising.

President Michael D Higgins gave the keynote address, outlining the diverse and often boundary-breaking roles played by women in the Rising as well as the impact of the post-1916 conservatism on the role of women in Irish society.

The Presidents speech was followed by an excerpt from a new music commission by Simon OConnor, performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra and dedicated to the widows of those who lost their lives in 1916.

There was also a short performance by a local community group of a specially devised piece entitled Flames, Not Flowers.

In the decades that followed the Rising, the role played by women in bringing about our independence was diluted, often deliberately, said Minister Humphreys ahead of the day. The stories of those such as Margaret Skinnider and Dr Kathleen Lynn were overlooked and diminished over time.

The minister added: It is particularly fitting that the State pays tribute to the women of the Rising, and the achievements of Irish women at home and abroad over the last 100 years, on International Womens Day.

This is a moment when we, as a nation, remember the enormous contribution made by generations of Irish women, not just in the events of 1916, but right through to the Ireland of today. 

Later in the day, President Higgins viewed the specially commissioned Living for Ireland quilt, each panel of which was designed by a womens activist to commemorate the 77 women held in Richmond Barracks in 1916.
Syrian advocate for young Muslim women honoured at US gala

By Staff Reporter

A Syrian national and former Dublin City University student has been honoured by the US-based Womens Initiative for Self Empowerment (Wise) and Arab Student Union.

Kinda Darwish-Laffiteau, who works for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) assisting refugees, was recognised for her work with young Muslim women at a gala in New York on 1 March to mark International Womens Day.

At the IRC offices in Dallas, Texas, Darwish-Laffiteau runs a support group dealing with womens health and wellness issue, working to ensure that Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees receive both physical and mental health services.

She also works for Wise, a co-sponsor of the gala, as its regional director in Texas, providing training and workshops that teach self-defence and leadership skills to young Muslim women, and is an active member of the Daughters of Abraham, an interfaith community of Christian, Jewish and Muslim women.

Darwish-Laffiteau, who earned her Masters degree in development studies from Dublin City University, previously spent eight years working for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on programmes involving population and development as well as gender and communication.

She was a key contributor to the Modernisation of Vocational Education and Training in Syria, a project sponsored by the European Union (EU).

Speaking about her experience with Wise, Darwish-Laffiteau said she was delighted that it gives her the opportunity to share her gender, development and communication knowledge, work and personal experience in order to inspire young Muslim women in Texas, and equip them with the skills and self-confidence they need to follow their dreams and become role models for other young women in their local communities.

Although I was surprised and honoured to be named the director of the year at the Wise gala, she said after the event, I truly believe if you love God and love the work you do for Him then you will also be blessed with a happy and successful life.

She added that she strongly believes, in the words of leadership expert Sheila Murray Bethel, that one of the most courageous things you can do is identify yourself, know who you are, what you believe in and where you want to go.
Hong Kong Jesuit to be awarded Freedom of Dublin in Rising tribute

By Staff Reporter

Jesuit priest Fr Joseph Mallin is to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin by Dublin City Council.

The 102-year-old son of Michael Mallin, one of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising, will be bestowed with the honour  which acknowledges the contribution of recipients to the life of Irelands capital city  at a special ceremony in Hong Kong on 21 March.

Fr Mallin joins an illustrious list that includes former US presidents John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton, South African freedom fighter and president Nelson Mandela, Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the four members of rock band U2.

Dublin Lord Mayor Criona Ni Dhalaigh said she was honoured and privileged to propose Fr Joseph Mallin for Dublin Citys highest award, the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin.

He is the last surviving child of an executed leader of the Easter 1916 Rising and also has spent a life serving the people of Hong Kong and Macau through his ministry and teaching.

Among the privileges that come with the title are the right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates without paying customs duties, the right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries, and the right to vote in local and parliamentary elections.

Brother Kevin Crowley OFM Cap and John Giles were the last people to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 2015.
Recognise domestic work as real work say MEPs

By Staff Reporter

EU recognition of domestic work as real work, as well as the introduction of common rules, should eliminate discrimination and tackle precarious and undeclared work, said MEPs in a non-legislative resolution voted on recently.

The MEPs from the Womens Rights and Gender Equality Committee also called for the protection of migrant women, who represent the majority of domestic workers and carers.

The text, adopted by 16 votes to one with 14 abstentions, focuses on women as its figures show 83 per cent of the global domestic workforce in 2010 were women, with 2.2 million of them in the EU.

There are also over 20 million European carers, two-thirds of whom are women.

Today we achieved the first victory, said rapporteur Kostadinka Kuneva. Yet we have another battle to win which will take place in the European Parliament Plenary, where the report will be voted.

And there, it is our duty to ensure that we will not allow for the millions of domestic workers to remain invisible and unprotected.

The text calls on the European Commission to draw up legislative and non-legislative documents on domestic workers and carers and to conduct a study on how Member States regularise domestic work.

The MEPs are calling for an EU framework to better protect the rights of domestic workers and carers, and urge member states to recognise the professionalisation of the sector.

They are also pushing to regularise the precarious situation within the framework of the European Platform against undeclared work.

Awareness campaigns, clear legislation for legal employment, and foreseeing incentives are among the measures suggested to regularise domestic workers and carers position.

Specific rules should also be taken to protect migrant women who represent the majority of domestic workers and carers, the MEPs argue  such as making available legal avenues to migrate to the EU.

According to the text, migrant women often work under irregular conditions and have difficulties in accessing legal support.

Member states should also ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Member of their Families, the MEPs added.
Get your running shoes on for Down Syndrome Ireland

By Staff Reporter

Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) is calling on all its supporters to lace up their running shoes for this years World Down Syndrome Day with the first ever Purple Run.

With the help of Matt Cooper, host of Today FMs The Last Word, the charity is encouraging people to get active by taking part in the run in Dublins Phoenix Part at noon on Sunday 20 March.

The event is open to all age groups and abilities with the option of running either 1km or 5km, allowing all the family to take part.

Registration for the run takes place online with an entry fee of just 10, while people with Down syndrome and under-16s can enter free.

DSI will also host a free family carnival for World Down Syndrome Day on Monday 21 March adjacent to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

World Down Syndrome Day is about more than creating awareness, it is a celebration of every person with Down Syndrome, their families and those who support them, says Pat Clarke, chief executive of DSI.

Our charity is a family-led organisation that places the person with Down Syndrome at the centre of everything we do. We are urging everyone to get involved in the Purple Run on 20 March and to come along to the carnival the following day.

To register for the Purple Run and find out more information on Down Syndrome Ireland, visit www.downsyndromeireland.ie or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
US shows door to Egyptian student pilot over Kill Trump gag post on social media

By Staff Reporter

An Egyptian student pilot who joked on social media about killing Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is to permanently leave the United States.

Emadeldin Elsayed came to the attention of the FBI after his post in early February aroused the concerns of his flight school, the Universal Air Academy in El Monte, California.

I literally dont mind taking a lifetime sentence in jail for killing this guy, I would actually be doing the whole world a favor, Elsayed wrote on his Facebook page, prompting the school to expel him from the $40,000 course.

The 23-year-old was subsequently detained for over a month after his visa was revoked, and told US Secret Service agents in interview that he did not plan to hurt Trump or anyone else, but wrote the post in frustration at Trumps inflammatory comments about Muslims.

Although Elsayed is not facing any criminal charges over the posting, Judge Kevin Riley denied his appeal to be freed on bail at two separate deportation hearings, and he accepted to leave the country voluntarily by 5 July to avoid being deported, according to his lawyer Hani Bushra.

Migrant rights groups condemned the decision to revoke Elsayeds visa, claiming the US government is using the immigration system as a means to penalise people such as Muslims who are seen as threats to national security.

Hes being detained, I think, primarily because hes a Muslim and hes a Middle Easterner, Bushra told the Associated Press. This is not how our system should work. Their mentality is Whatever we can use to get this guy out of the country we can use.

Describing Elsayeds detention as illegal, the lawyer added that the situation has caused harm not only to his client but also to Muslims in the US.

He is devastated and he is smart enough to know that he is going to pay for this mistake for a long, long time, said Bushra. This kid is going to become a poster boy for hating America.
The World At Home

Charles Laffiteau's Bigger Picture

Previously I shared my belief that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will win the respective presidential nominations for the Democratic and Republican Parties unless something dramatic happens. I dont think its happened yet, but Ill let you be the judge.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders continues to be a thorn in Clintons side by not only winning his home state of Vermont and its neighbour state of Maine, but also taking primaries in Midwestern states like Colorado, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Michigan. Sanders has been beating Clinton thanks largely to his surprising strength among younger voters in the 18-to-29 bracket. But because Sanders upset wins in Michigan and Oklahoma only netted him 11 more delegates than Clinton, he continues to fall further behind in the overall delegate count.

Based on conversations I have had with some of Bernies younger supporters, I believe a large part of his appeal to younger voters is the authenticity of his message. Sanders truly believes that the political establishment of both political parties has turned its back on Americas working class and is not taking steps to address the growing problem of income inequality. Yet while there is more than a little truth in what Sanders is saying, I contend there is little or no chance electing him president would lead to any significant reduction in that income inequality.

Furthermore, no matter how much the authenticity of Bernies message resonates with Democratic primary voters, he still trails Hillary Clinton by more than 650 delegates going into the 15 March round of primary contests. With 1,221 delegates in hand, Clinton already has more than half of the 2,383 delegates she needs to become the Democratic presidential nominee. I just dont see a path to victory for Sanders, given the fact that to defeat Clinton he must now win more than 60 per cent of the remaining delegates.

Even though his 571 delegates are fewer than half the number Clinton has won, Sanders has still won nine of the 22 Democratic contests completed as I write this. While the delegate math is somewhat less favourable for Donald Trump than it is for Clinton, Trumps Republican challengers have won far fewer primaries. Marco Rubio has won a single primary and Ted Cruz has only won seven of the 23 Republican contests, versus 15 for the frontrunner.

After Trump won 252 delegates and eight of the 12 Super Tuesday primaries on 1 March, both Cruz and Rubio, his closest challengers, as well as a number of Republican establishment leaders, immediately went on the attack. Rubio and Cruz pummelled Trump, with Cruz blasting him for his 2008 campaign donations to Hillary Clinton, and Rubio accusing him of lying about his positions on trade and foreign policy. While some of their attacks fell flat, the challengers did succeed in putting Trump on the defensive.

These debate attacks were augmented by thousands of anti-Trump TV ads bankrolled by Marlene Ricketts and Our Principle, her anti-Trump political action committee (PAC). Prior to the debate, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney joined the fray by denouncing Trump as someone with neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president and accusing him of playing the American public for suckers. The 2008 Republican candidate John McCain piled on, claiming Trump was ignorant in the area of foreign policy.

The reason why so many Republican establishment figures are now attacking Trump is because they are deathly afraid that the GOP will not only lose the Presidential race, but they will also lose seats in both the House of Representatives and Senate if Trump becomes the Republican nominee. Romney even went so far as to suggest that Republicans vote for whichever Trump challenger appeared to be strongest in their state, hoping that doing so would lead to a contested convention that would settle on anyone but Trump.

Some political observers speculated that the combined weight of the Republican challengers personal attacks during the debates, the anti-Trump speeches by Romney and McCain and the anti-Trump attack ads led to an erosion of his support in the 5 March Republican contests. Although Cruz lost the Louisiana primary and the Kentucky caucus to Trump, he also won the Kansas and Maine caucuses and pulled 16 delegates closer. Cruz even went so far as to claim that the results were a manifestation of a real shift in momentum.

But three days later, on 8 March, Donald Trump proceeded to win Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii by an average of 11 percentage points over second-place finisher Cruz. While Cruz did pick up a win in Idaho, losing the other three more populous states to Trump meant the latter came away with more delegates, and effectively erased Cruzs previous 16-delegate gain.

The upcoming 15 March primaries are winner-takes-all contests that Trump challengers Rubio (Florida) and John Kasich (Ohio) must win if they want to stay in the race. But with Trump leading the polls in all five states, I believe it will mark the end of the line for both.

Charles Laffiteau is a US Republican from Dallas, Texas pursuing a career in public service. He previously lectured on Contemporary US Business & Society at DCU from 2009-2011 and pursued a PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy.
Roddy Doyles 2016

3. MANOEUVRES & MANDATES

Well, here we are again, comrades. And our date with destiny is edging ever closer.

Sorry, comrade?

Youre dressed for the Arctic, comrade.

Im canvassing tonight, so I cant stay long. Ive to get over to my constituency.

Fine. Its good of you to even think of us. Youre confident youll be re-elected?

Very. Not that it matters, but my constituents love me.

Oh good. Any chance you can coax them into action on Easter Monday?

I object to your patronising tone, comrade.

Was I being patronising? Im sorry. My ex-wife accused me of the same failing. More than once. I blame the Jesuits.

Theyll be out.

Sorry?

My constituents. Well have thousands of them. Its just a question of timing. If I told them tonight, theyd storm the GPO tonight.

And Im the one whos being patronising? Moving on. Do we have our comrades from Brazil with us tonight? Good God  we certainly do. Make room  make room. Youve brought friends, I see  eh.

Fernanda, Daniela, Ana Beatriz.

Hi  yes. Lovely to see you all again. I was just saying, youve brought some friends with you.

We say we will.

Good  excellent. How many? The pub is suddenly jammed.

Two hundred.

Two hundred?

We say two hundred.

I wont be buying the next round.

Through the chair  were opposed to the round system.

Sorry, I cant hear you. The noise is 

Were opposed to the round system!

Just as well.

Point of order. Buying a round of drinks is a working class tradition and the practice should be protected and celebrated.

Two hundred pina coladas? Good luck with that.

Objection.

What?

The implication that all these women drink pina coladas. Its sexist.

And racist.

And pine-apple-ist.

Comrades! Please.

What exactly is in a pina colada, anyway?

We invade the post office.

Sorry  eh, Fernanda?

Daniela.

Daniela  did you say you invaded the post office?

Yes.

The GPO?

GPO  yes.

Oh  why?

To see is easy or hard.

And?

Easy.

So 

We go all over. Upstairs, downstairs  every room.

No one stopped you?

No one.

Why not?

We are women. Always works. No one stop us. Victory is assured.

Well, thats very encouraging.

We liberate post office, then we kill bosses.

Ive to go.

Off to the hustings, comrade?

Yes.

What is hustings?

The comrade is a candidate in the election, Daniela. Hes actually a TD  a parliamentarian.

Is a waste of time.

I kind of agree with you. But I represent the working class. Im their only real voice in 

Not talk, fight.

Yeah  yeah, Im with you. Fundamentally. But 

Declaration of Rights of Man and of Citizen. You know this declaration?

Which one?

1793  you do not know this? Listen up. All people, listen up  stop talk. When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is for the people, and each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties. In English.

Thats terrific. And beautifully delivered. Where did you learn that, Daniela?

Objection.

We learn in school. In Brazil. In mamas milk. We all know this. This government violates the rights?

Big time.

So we kill them. And our bosses.

And the husbands.

And the children.

Especially the husbands.

Sorry  comrade?

Yes?

I, like  I didnt sign up for this. Im not killing any children.

Do they go to private schools?

You went to a private school.

Against my wishes.

Poor you. I dont want to sound elitist, or . But its our Rising and its being commandeered by a gang of 

Careful now, comrade.

Well, theyre so glamorous  look.

Well, now  actually. Glamour was an interesting aspect of the Rising that is only now being explored. It was arguably the only time in history when Irish men have looked glamorous.

They didnt look too bad in 1798 either.

The New Romantics of their day.

Mind you, the Fenians were a disaster.

Im with you there  emphatically. If the tracksuit had been invented in the 1860s, the Fenians would have marched out in shiny tracksuits.

Objection.

Noted. And moving on. Ive a question we might want to ponder. Does the election not ? I thought you were off to your constituency, comrade.

I can stay for the question.

Youll have the answer?

Probably.

Right  good. So. Does the forthcoming election not, coming as it does just before Easter and the anniversary of the Rising  does it not take the wind out of our sails?

What sales? We are not shopping. We are making revolution.

Sorry, Fernanda. What I meant was  do we actually have a mandate? Is the election not the workers opportunity to express their anger  and to put their own people into positions of power?

No.

Fine. Are we all agreed?

Yes.

Great.

 Roddy Doyle 2016
Almost 100 people mostly from Haiti who were rescued from an overcrowded boat off the Florida coast had no food or water for...
A deadly attack on a popular Ivory Coast beach resort Sunday that killed at least 16 most likely targeted a U.S. delegation led by the assistant commerce secretary, who was visiting the country, a diplomatic source in the region told Fox News.

There was no indication any Americans had been killed or wounded in the attack, according to the source.

Assistant Secretary of Commerce Marcus Jadotte was leading a group of Americans in Grand-Bassam, including college recruiters from the University of Florida. U.S. Embassy officials from the capital city of Abidjan were also included in the group, according to the source.

The delegation was supposed to arrive at the scene of the attack, Etoile du Sud, a hotel popular with Westerners. The delegation had not yet made it to the hotel when the attack occurred.

A jihadist group called Ansar Dine, or "defenders of the faith," linked to Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb was suspected of the attack, according to the source. Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb later claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a Jihad monitoring website cited by the Associated Press.

The U.S. Embassy in Ivory Coast instructed all Americans to "shelter in place."

The U.S. ambassador to the Ivory Coast was not in the country at the time of the attack having left to attend a conference in Washington led by Secretary of State John Kerry.

But the deadly attack did leave 14 civilians and two special forces soldiers dead, as well as all six attackers, President Alassane Ouattara said, according to Reuters.

The attackers, who were "heavily armed and wearing balaclavas, fired at guests at the Etoile du Sud, a large hotel which was full of expats in the current heatwave," a witness told AFP.

Marcel Guy said he saw at least four gunmen with Kalashnikov rifles on the beach. He said one approached two children, and spoke in Arabic. One child knelt and prayed, the other child was shot dead.

"I was swimming when it started and I ran away," said Dramane Kima, who showed video of the carnage to Reuters. He also took pictures of grenades and ammunition clips he believed were left behind by the gunmen.

Jacques Able, who identified himself as the owner of Etoile du Sud said one person had been killed at the hotel.

A receptionist at Etoile du Sud hotel said the attacks happened on the beach.

"We don't know where they came from, and we don't know where they've gone," he said of the gunmen.

Security forces and members of the Ivorian Red Cross were clearing the bodies.

Josiane Sekongo, who lives across from one of the town's many beachfront hotels, said she ran outside when she heard the gunfire and saw people running away from the beach. Sekongo, 25, said residents were hiding in their homes as security forces responded.

At least one French person died in the attack, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

French President Francois Hollande denounced the "cowardly attack."

"France will bring its logistical support and intelligence to Ivory Coast to find the attackers," Hollande said in a statement viewed by Reuters. "[France] will pursue and intensify its cooperation with its partners in the fight against terrorism."

Attacks by Islamists on hotels frequented by foreigners in two other West African countries, Mali in November and Burkina Faso in January, killed dozens of people and indicated that extremist attacks are spreading from North Africa.

-- Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier aboard a ship in the North Arabian Gulf sustained extensive damage when it caught fire during takeoff, Navy officials confirmed to Military.com.

The mishap took place March 8 aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, which is deployed in the U.S. Fifth Fleet with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

Around 1 p.m. that day, the Harrier, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162 (Reinforced), had been preparing for takeoff ahead of a mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, Stephens said. While Stephens did not specify the nature of the mission, aircraft from MEUs deployed to the Middle East have frequently been tasked with airstrikes on Islamic State targets and with surveillance and reconnaissance missions in support of the coalition fight against the extremists.

While applying takeoff power, the Harrier caught fire while still aboard the deck of the Kearsarge, according to an incident report from the Naval Safety Center. The Harrier's pilot was uninjured.

"The pilot safely exited the aircraft on deck with the assistance of Kearsarge and 26 MEU flight deck firefighters," Stephens told Military.com.

No other personnel were injured in the mishap. But damage to the aircraft totaled at least $2 million, making the incident a Class A mishap. Stephens offered no details about the damage to the Harrier, simply calling it "extensive."

The mishap is now under investigation by Navy and Marine Corps officials, who will determine the cause of the fire, he said.

The incident brings total Marine Corps aviation Class A mishaps to seven within the last 12 months, resulting in 22 U.S. military fatalities.

A recent congressional hearing with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller raised the question of whether readiness shortfalls had contributed to what has become a five-year high in the aviation mishap rate.

Neller noted that the Corps was in the process of recapitalizing all its aircraft and had had to contend with readiness shortfalls in every air frame.

The Harrier, which has been in service for the Marine Corps since 1985, is set to be replaced by the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter in 2025.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
The Afghan army's struggling 215th Corps in southwestern Helmand province is expected to get some respite in the coming weeks as the Taliban turns its attention to the lucrative poppy harvest, according to the U.S. military.

Army Brig. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner said that the recent spike in attacks in which the 215th Corps has lost ground to the Taliban in Helmand is expected to drop off in the coming weeks as the insurgents focus on securing the harvest and moving it to the smuggling routes through Pakistan and Iran.

In Helmand, by far Afghanistan's major producer of opiates, the harvest moves "within the province from south to north as the weather allows, and we expect to see the same sort of pattern this year," said Shoffner, the main spokesman for NATO's Operation Resolute Support.

"And so we anticipate that spike in activity [by the Taliban] will continue until about the latter part of March and then there should be a lull as the harvest gets under way," Shoffner said in a briefing from Kabul to the Pentagon last week.

The U.S., NATO and the Afghan government do little to interfere with the harvest. A spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which once had teams conducting raids around Afghanistan, said Monday that "We still have a presence there" but "the footprint there has been substantially reduced."

Opiates have been and continue to be Afghanistan's largest exports, with an estimated annual value of nearly $3 billion, or about 13 percent of Afghanistan's Gross Domestic Product, according to the United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime, or UNODC.

A typical Afghan farmer can get $200 for a kilogram of opium produced from poppy, according to the UNODC. The same amount of green beans will fetch $1.

Shoffner estimated that the Taliban gets about half its funding from drug trafficking and taxing farmers to move the crop.

In a speech last year, John Sopko, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said that the U.S. had spent a total of $8.4 billion on counter-narcotics programs in Afghanistan since 2002 with little effect.

"The bottom line -- record opium cultivation and production -- clearly shows we are not winning the war on drugs in Afghanistan," Sopko said.

As in past years, the Taliban fighters won't be the only ones taking a break for the poppy harvest. Desertion rates in the Afghan army usually increase during the harvest as troops leave their posts and return home to help their families bring in the crop that is worth far more to them than any substitute.

Shoffner said that the harvest was a factor in the high attrition rates for the 215th Corps but not the main one.

"It is definitely not the driving factor in attrition. It's really failure of leadership to ensure that the soldiers are properly cared for, that they're properly led, although the poppy harvest will affect the entire country," Shoffner said.

To cut down on corruption, the U.S. was trying to assist the Afghans in reforming the way troops are paid.

"The method of payment had been a paymaster who would arrive at the unit with cash on hand. Obviously, that lends itself to corruption," Shoffner said. "So if you have leaders that are unscrupulous," he said, "that means the soldiers that need it are not getting it."

To stop that, the U.S. has recommended a $1.70 Afghan Security Forces identity card. "It's an ID card that has got a scannable strip on the back that has got all of the soldier's biometric data," Shoffner said.

"And then, for accountability, that ID card is scanned" to allow the soldier to get paid," he said. "The ID costs about a $1.70 each. It works very, very effectively. And that allows them to have this automated computer database that is auditable, that's searchable, and it makes it much, much, more efficient in accountability."

Last month, the commander of the 215th Corps was relieved because of corruption and replaced by Gen. Mohammad Moeen Faqir. About 100 troops from the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division  part of a regular rotation to Afghanistan  have been sent into Helmand to help with the retraining of the 215th Corps and also to provide force protection for U.S. Special Forces teams in Helmand.

The overhaul of the 215th Corps will take time, Shoffner said. Of the six "kandaks," or battalions of about 600 troops each, in the 215th, only two have completed retraining and the other four were not expected to be ready until mid-summer, he said.

"The thing that makes it challenging for Afghan security forces in Helmand is they're doing this rebuild as they're fighting, as they're conducting security operations," Shoffner said.

Because of its value to the Taliban as a poppy producer, and its location where the Taliban movement was born, Helmand province has been the scene of the worst fighting since U.S. ground forces entered Afghanistan in 2001.

Since 2001, more than 955 U.S. and coalition troops have been killed in Helmand, according to the website icasualties.org. The next highest total was in neighboring Kandahar province, where more than 550 U.S. and coalition forces have been killed.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com
A bipartisan group of 40 House lawmakers has asked the Defense Department to delay plans to cut Tricare autism therapy payments by up to 15 percent.

"We are writing to express our continued concerns regarding the Defense Health Agency's (DHA) proposal to reduce Tricare reimbursement rates in 2016 for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to beneficiaries diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)," the letter sent March 9 says. "We remain concerned that the new rates could result in a substantive reduction in access to crucial ABA services for the more than 26,000 military children with ASD."

The letter, sent to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, was signed by 21 Republicans and 19 Democrats. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey; Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pennsylvania; Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut; and Rep. Thomas Rooney, R-Florida, are the letter's original co-signers. Smith and Doyle co-chair the Congressional Autism Caucus, while Larson and Thomas have long worked on Tricare and ABA therapy coverage issues in the House.

ABA therapy is widely considered the most effective treatment for autism. An autism therapy pilot project or "demonstration program" started by the DoD in 2014 combines a trio of Tricare programs that covered ABA therapy across categories of beneficiaries.

One of the stated goals of the demonstration is to expand the availability of therapy. But lawmakers say in the letter that the rate cut will have the opposite effect. They say some providers have already announced plans to leave some service areas in the face of the new payment plan.

"We are concerned that while access grows outside of the military community, Tricare's reduced reimbursement rates for ABA coverage compounded with overall increase in demand will further draw resources away from military families, instead of expanding access," the letter states.

ABA providers are currently paid a fixed rate by Tricare based on education and certification level, regardless of location. But the new plan would set a base hourly rate that is lower than the current payments, and then further adjust it either up or down based on a geographic rate calculation used by Medicare.

Tricare officials told Military.com on March 8 that they are unaware of any providers who have dropped Tricare because of the rate proposal. They said the rates, which were developed based on a duo of studies commissioned by Tricare, are competitive with private insurers. Complaints from providers are likely the results of the rates going unchanged for seven years, said Douglas McBroom, who oversees Tricare's autism program.

"Part of it is that we paid these fixed rates for seven years and that set a bar where they just thought that was rate," McBroom said in an interview with Military.com. "I feel in my heart that the rates are competitive ... Tricare is never the highest and never the lowest."

A similar letter signed by four U.S. senators was sent to the DoD on March 8. The new rates are set to go into effect late this month.

-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at amy.bushatz@military.com.
First Myanmar Investment will begin selling its shares on the Yangon Stock Exchange on March 25 becoming the first company to list on the countrys first modern bourse, which officially opened last December, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission chair.





The local conglomerate which is chaired by Serge Pun was one of six companies named in December as eligible to list on the exchange.

The others are First Private Bank Limited, Great Hor Kham Public, Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation, Myanmar Citizens Bank and Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public.

We will start with just one company, as it is a complicated process. The second company will follow a few days or weeks later, said SEC chair U Maung Maung Thein.

Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings will be the second company to list on the exchange, followed by Myanmar Citizens Bank and First Private Bank within a few months, he added.

FMIs shares will be valued at K20,000 each, lower than the K35,000 quoted on FMIs website in late January. The stock has been valued based on its historical price over the past three to four months before the listing, said U Maung Maung Thein.

The company does not plan to issue any new shares  instead, its 6800 shareholders will swap their physical securities for electronic accounts linked to the new exchange.

Of the six companies slated to list, only one  Great Hor Kham Public, based in Shan States Muse  has indicated its intention to raise new capital, telling The Myanmar Times it plans to list in mid-2016.





Five additional companies have applied to the Yangon Stock Exchange to list and another 10 are in discussions with securities companies, said U Maung Maung Thein, who hopes that at least 10 companies will list during the year.

Takashi Hibino, president and chief executive officer of Daiwa Securities Group which co-owns the exchange, told The Myanmar Times in December 2015 that listing 10 companies within a year would be the best-case scenario.

If the number exceeds 10, its a great, exceptional success. But six or seven? That will be fine, he said.

The SEC will remain under the Ministry of Finance for the next five years after which it will become independent, said U Maung Maung Thein on March 12.

Initially the exchange will only be open to local investors but may be opened to international buyers when a new Myanmar Companies Act is passed, officials said at the launch last December.

Local-foreign joint venture companies are also likely to be eligible to list under the new law, they said.

It is unclear whether overseas investors will be able to buy shares in sectors off-limits to foreigners under Myanmar law, such as jade and gemstones, domestic financial institutions and land.

The critical thing is to change the law to accept foreign investments, Mr Hibino said at the time. At the moment its a purely domestic market  without investment from overseas it will be very difficult to grow.
Thai traders have started asking Myanmars fishermen to provide catch certificates as the European Union tightens oversight of Thailands troubled fishing industry.





The EU now requires Thailand  a major global supplier of seafood  to prove where its fish have been caught when exporting internationally, said industry insiders, after a number of serious abuses were uncovered including forced labour and violence.

Catch certificates should help to combat illegal fishing and ensure the security of workers, said U Sein Thaung, deputy director of the Department of Fisheries in MyeIk district.

Thailand has been warned twice by the EU to crack down on illegal fishing or face a trade ban on seafood imports. An EU embargo could also forbid European ships from fishing in Thailands seas.

To try to avoid this, Thailand is making serious efforts at reform, and now requires Myanmar suppliers to provide certification, said U San Maung, a director at Myeik Public Corporation.

Actually it would be very good for Myanmar if the EU restricted Thailands fishery products. The problem is, Myanmars market is highly dependent on Thailand, he said.

Fishermen must apply for certification from Myanmars fishery department, specifying the species of fish for sale and which territory it has been caught in.





If the certification process does not run smoothly it could leave more than 1000 fishing and carrier vessels in

Myeik district out of work, said U Thet Soe, secretary general of the Tanintharyi Region Fisheries Federation.

If Thailand further tightens its restrictions on selling fish, we will need to set up a functioning fish market in Myeik. We are trying to do this soon, as we cant consume all the fish we catch here.

U Sein Thaung said he didnt foresee any problems. I think it is not such a big issue. The fishery department can collaborate with private fishing vessels to issue certificates in good time, he said.

According to data released by the fisheries department, there are 8125 inshore fishing vessels, 801 offshore fishing vessels, 114 offshore carrier vessels and 139 inshore carrier vessels licensed to operate in Myeik district.

U Thet Soe added that the fishing industry in Tanintharyi Region is thriving as the price of diesel falls. More than 1000 unlicensed fishing vessels operating in Thailands Mahachai, near to Bangkok, were forced ashore by the military government, providing additional opportunities to Myanmars suppliers, he said.

As previously reported by The Myanmar Times, the value of the local industry is rising fast. In 2003, fisheries exports from Tanintharyi, mostly to Thailand and Malaysia, were worth US$40 million. By 2014 they were worth $144 million, according to the local federation.
At least three newborns have died and another two dozen are reacting poorly after a round of hepatitis B vaccinations last week at Bago General Hospital. Health officials are scrambling to determine what went wrong during what should have been a routine procedure.





Between March 4 and 7, 28 infants were inoculated against hepatitis B at the Bago General Hospital, according to the Ministry of Health. The newborns quickly showed signs of adverse reactions.

By March 7, two of the infants died, 14 were brought back to the hospital suffering from fits and respiratory distress, two were put into critical care, and another 10 were monitored from the infant care ward.

The infants were suffering from blood poisoning symptoms, a ministry statement said. An investigation is continuing to determine whether the reactions are associated with the hepatitis B vaccine.

Within days, the infants conditions steadily worsened, however. Of the 14 brought back to the hospital in poor health, one died and four were taken via ambulance to the Yankin Children Hospitals Intensive Care Unit on March 9.

Physicians and ministry staff are struggling to put together the pieces.

Infants are routinely given vaccinations against hepatitis B soon after birth, often on a schedule of three doses. Myanmar is considered to have a high incidence of the viral infection, which is transmitted through bodily fluids and can cause chronic liver disease.





The vaccines that were used were recognised by the WHO, Dr Than Htut, director of the Food and Drug Administration, said at a press conference on March 11.

Though it should be assumed that the vaccinations are safe, they are being analysed at the best laboratory in Myanmar to determine whether the babies sicknesses and deaths were caused by this vaccine. All use of these vaccines is now banned during the investigation period.

The newborns at Bago Hospital were found to have been administered vaccines purchased through a private pharmacy instead of given as part of the official nationwide inoculation campaign, according to the field investigation team, which is being led by the Department of Medical Services, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Food and Drug Administration, and physicians from the child department of Yangon University.

The vaccines were called Engerix B and Hepavax B. The team is looking into whether the vaccines were imported through official channels, and whether they were past their expiration date.

Dr Than Htut said that if the lab tests reveal the vaccines to be toxic, the WHO, the countrys pharmaceutical industry and international health organisations will be notified.

Dr Soe Lwin Nyein from the Department of Public Health admitted that there are still several unknown variables. The field team is still trying to understand how the pharmacy selling the vaccine had stored it, if any of the vaccine is still in distribution and how the vaccine got to the nurses administering it.

Dr Than Htut said the process is also further complicated by the limited amount of vaccine that remains for testing.

The vaccines have been mostly used up and thrown into a municipal garbage pile. Only a bottle of the vaccine is left. That bottle is being examined. Also the nurse who gave the vaccinations and six nurses who assisted her are to be examined. Parents are to be examined as well. We need to know if the parents have had an allergic reactions to medications, said Dr Than Htut.

Results of the investigation will be released through state media and on the Department of Healths website and Facebook page.

Additional reporting by Laignee Barron, translation by Kyawt Darly Lin and Zar Zar Soe
The Tatmadaw has freed 46 child soldiers, the latest trickle of underage recruits to be released from the armed forces. State media showed pictures of the released recruits reuniting with family members on March 12.





The Tamadaw said it has taken action against nearly 400 soldiers involved in recruiting child soldiers since February last year, according to a state media report.

The Tatmadaw is committed to ridding its ranks of underage soldiers, Major General Tauk Tun of the Commander-in-Chiefs (Army) Office was quotes as saying in the military-backed Myawady.

The report also said that 72 military officers and 309 soldiers have been punished according to military laws, though exactly what kind of extra-judiciary discipline was taken was not specified.

General Tauk Tun refused to answer any questions from The Myanmar Times.

In June 2012, the Tatmadaw signed an agreement with the UN to end and prevent further child recruitment.

According to the Global New Light of Myanmar, the Tatamadaw has freed 744 child soldiers in 12 batches since 2012.

However, according to several NGOs, the Tatmadaw and armed ethnic groups continue to forcibly conscript minors.





U Aung Myo Min, director of Equality Myanmar, said that while he welcomes more children being freed from the Tatmadaw, he is certain that many more underage soldiers are losing their childhoods to the military.

The use of child soldiers can be considered a war crime in international court, he said.

The problem of children being recruited is especially prevalent in current conflict areas, he said, including in northern Shan State where the Tatmadaw and the Taang National Liberation Army are engaged in ongoing clashes.

The government forces and ethnic armed groups should both avoid using child soldiers in the conflict, even if these young people enter willingly, he said.

According to a report by London-based Child Soldiers International, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the Kachin Independence Army, the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army, the Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army, the Shan State Army-South, and the United Wa State Army have all been guilty of forcibly pressing minors into fighting or serving as porters.

The secretary of the KNU Pado Saw Kwel Htoo Win denied using child soldiers.

Our KNU policy very carefully protects women and children, so we dont accept any soldiers who are not yet 18 years old, he said.

He added however that the KNU will be meeting with the UN Childs Fund in May to work on promoting childrens rights and education in Kayin State.
General Saw Lah Bwe, a former leader of a Kayin armed group and alleged drug lord who was also well known as General Moustache, has died in Bago General Hospital, according to an aide.





Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) Captain Saw Soe Myint said the former commander had died on March 13. He had been suffering from throat cancer and had received treatment in Singapore in 2014.

I am really sad about his death. He is our Karen hero, said the captain who is escorting the late general back to DKBA headquarters in Kayin State.

The DKBA was one of eight ethnic armed groups to sign the ceasefire agreement with the government last October. The general had broken away from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army to keep fighting the Tatmadaw in 2010 but signed a bilateral ceasefire agreement in 2011.

In 2012 he denied allegations of drugs trafficking by Thailand which requested that Myanmar arrest him.

U Nyo Ohn Myint of the Myanmar Peace Center confirmed that the government had helped with travel documents so that the general could get overseas medical treatment although he was wanted by the Thai authorities. He said he had been actively involved in the peace process.

Captain Soe Soe Myint said DKBA policy would continue unchanged. The generals deputy, Saw Moshe, was said to have taken command.
The development sector in Myanmar needs to take a long, hard look at itself, according to industry experts.





Representatives from United Nations offices, NGOs and other civil society groups gathered in Yangon on March 11 to discuss how well they monitor and assess their own work.

Ko Pyae Phyo Maung, evaluation specialist with the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), said at the event there was a weak culture of self-assessment in the country.

He alleged that several development organisations, both local and international, were inclined to review their work through a donor-centric lens.

Many development programs seem to be evaluated to show positive results for the donor, rather than identifying real challenges and learning from these, he said.

Results are often not properly utilised, he added, so such programs may not address the real problems in a community.

Ko Pyae Phyo Maung called on development organisations to improve their regular checks and balances for each project and rigorously assess how they really benefit a community.

An evaluation specialist from the US, Jim Rugh, told The Myanmar Times that improving these self-critiquing processes is critical for accountability and learning in the development sector.





Having a [misguided] evaluation is worse than having no evaluation, he said. What data is gathered and the way its collected affects future programs.

Mr Rugh said local and international development organisations need to know what projects are making the most difference and why.

Each entity, he said, should be consistently asking, What did we learn from that process? How can we do better next time?

Speakers referred to the timing of evaluations as particularly important with the United Nations recently agreeing to follow up the Millennium Development Goals with 17 new targets to be achieved by 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals cover topics such as health, education and poverty.

According to information from the United Nations Evaluation Group, progress toward meeting the 17 targets will be informed by country-led evaluation and data.

To help achieve such evaluations, organisations at the March 11 assessment event launched the Myanmar Monitoring and Evaluation Association. Membership in the nascent body will be voluntary and may include evaluators, donors, and program partners, as well as government staff and parliamentarians who are interested in the field.
Everything had to be done in the utmost secrecy. But when their work was complete, it was circulated to every man, woman and child in the country.





The artists who designed the nations currency painted the treasure of the entire nation. But until recently, hardly anybody knew who they were.

U Aye Myint, now 86, was the man who put Bogyoke Aung San in the nations pockets and purses. With his team, he designed the K25 and K1 notes released in 1972 and the K5 and K10 notes that came out the following year.

U Aye Myint, trained in the traditional design skills of Myanmar, worked in the Security Printing Works in Wazi, Chauk township. The printing agency was established in 1972 with technical direction from the German firm Giesecke & Devrient.

Before, the government had always ordered currency designs from foreign countries  the UK, Pakistan, India and the Soviet Union. When they decided to do it here, we were not allowed to discuss our work with anyone, even our closest colleagues, said U Aye Myint, talking to The Myanmar Times in his home next to the Maha Gandaryon monastery in Amarapura.

He was assigned to the job after working on the decorations at the Myanmar Pavilion in Osaka, Japan, for World Expo 70. At the time he was a designer with the Cottage Industries Department and Saunders Weaving School in Amarapura, Mandalay.





Four of us were assigned to the work: two to the administrative side and the other two on the design, he said.

The design group developed the project in secret in England.

We worked on large-scale paper first. From the drafting stage to production, everything was secret, he said.

He told almost no one of his role even decades after the notes entered circulation. But, with the help of his eldest daughter, painter Daw Khin Moe Pwint, his role is slowly being recognised.

My father didnt want anyone to know. But I didnt think it would do any harm to tell people now, she said.

The K10 featured Bogyoke with a ceremonial offering bowl, all in reddish-brown, and the green K1 showed him weaving at a loom. None of us children knew what our father was working on.

Last June in Yangon and now in Mandalay, with the help of his daughter, U Aye Myint held an exhibition of his work, including stamp designs and ancient Myanmar religious images. I also designed lottery tickets, he said.

He was also responsible for three famous designs: depicting the national referendum of 1973, which was the first vote since the military coup of 1962; the stamps for the first peoples assembly; and the stamps issued for the 100th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union.

When I was young, the Indian postmen used to wear such smart uniforms, he recalled.

With the support of the Toyota Foundation, he released Ancient Myanmar Design with history professor Dr Than Tun and others.

U Aye Myint also worked on the design for the Shwedagon Pagoda stairway and Pitaka Pagoda (Minkun), as well as the lacquer murals at Bagan Thiripyitsaya Resort.

He still works as an adviser on pagoda design and insists ancient Myanmar design is still very much alive and well.

Even so, his daughter is taking no chances on U Aye Myints legacy. Daw Khin Moe Wai said she planned to set up a small museum for her father, and to keep his artworks.

My father toured ancient pagodas studying the designs. Nobody worked harder than he did.
The militarys nomination for vice president of former intelligence chief U Myint Swe has been met with widespread dismay, raising concerns that the elevation of such a prominent hardliner with strong business interests  and still the subject of US sanctions  bodes ill for power-sharing between the Tatmadaw and Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government.





The retired lieutenant general, currently the controversial chief minister of Yangon Region, was confirmed as the Tatmadaws candidate on March 11 following a meeting of the 166 appointed military MPs who make up just over 25 percent of all parliamentary seats.

Former political prisoners and members of Yangons regional parliament were vocal in their disappointment, while members of the National League for Democracy were privately dismayed.

Holding 390 seats out of a total of 657 in the combined houses of parliament, the NLD is assured of obtaining the post of president for its lower house candidate U Htin Kyaw. But it will need the cooperation of smaller ethnic parties in a tight contest for the position of first vice president if its upper house candidate, Henry Van Thio, is to defeat U Myint Swe who is likely to be able to count on 207 seats between the military bloc and the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

See the Hluttaw: In Graphics

U Tate Naing, secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, told The Myanmar Times that all former political prisoners would be disappointed with the nomination of U Myint Swe who was Yangon regional commander during the suppression of the 2007 Saffron uprising led by monks.

He was involved in and led the violent crackdown on the students, monks and people. We are surprised at his nomination by the military representatives and upset that he will be vice president, he said.

Having a hardline military proxy as vice president would be a challenge for the NLD government, U Tate Naing said.





The US confirmed that U Myint Swe is among dozens of military-related and business figures on the Treasury Departments sanctioned list of Specially Designated Nationals, with whom US citizens and companies cannot do business.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby told a Washington briefing on March 11 that the Obama administration remained committed to supporting Myanmars democratic transition. But he also singled out the reservation of 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military as a structural and systemic flaw in the constitution.

We have made our concerns known about this individual and this process, quite frankly, and well monitor it going forward, Mr Kirby said.

Some diplomats and international aid workers in Yangon saw the nomination of U Myint Swe as a sign of serious tensions between the military and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that were not resolved in three sessions of transition talks she held with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

An ethnic Mon, U Myint Swe is reported to be related by marriage to former senior general U Than Shwe, raising questions about the enduring influence of the former junta leader who also met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

With the Tatmadaw still mounting offensives in the north against ethnic armed groups, and the military controlling three key ministries, the NLD leader will have her work cut out in pursuing her goal of national reconciliation, diplomats said.

U Tun Tun Hein, an NLD spokesperson, noted that the party was concerned about the role U Myint Swe would play in the important National Defence and Security Council where the military has a majority of its 11 members. He would be judged by his actions, he said.

Some politicians say [U Myint Swe]  is a military hardliner. We dont want to talk now about the future. Lets talk about him after voting for the president, the spokesperson said.

Beyond his reputation as a military strongman who, as Yangon chief minister, deployed thuggish vigilantes to crack down on student protests last year, U Myint Swe has come under fire for his ties to crony businessmen and lack of transparency in conducting tenders.

Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, a former member of the Yangon Region Hluttaw, said U Myint Swe had not implemented reforms and failed as chief minister, a position appointed by the president.

The Yangon new city project damaged the governments image. If he really wants change, he needs to try to work in accordance with democratic standards and carry out his job with transparency, she said.

On social media, U Myint Swe was slammed as the red armband candidate, referring to the paramilitary forces deployed in Yangon last year against student demonstrators.

Questions remain over his eligibility on technical grounds. In 2012 he fell foul of the same constitutional provision that bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency, because his son-in-law was an Australian citizen. However Reuters quoted official sources as saying he had since given up his foreign citizenship.

U Ko Ko Naing, a USDP MP, defended the choice of U Myint Swe.

He can lead the country successfully because he served as a general in the military and also as Yangons chief minister. We believe he can do his best based on his experience, the MP said.
Parliment is expected to hold a final vote tomorrow of its combined houses for Myanmars next president and the two vice presidents, provided a special scrutiny committee finds no reason for their ineligibility.





The seven-member scrutiny committee, dominated by the National League for Democracy, is scheduled to report its findings to the Union parliament today.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, whose 657 delegates act as an electoral college, will then announce a date for the vote which parliamentary sources expect to be March 15.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyis choice of proxy as president  her trusted aide U Htin Kyaw  is all but guaranteed the top post thanks to the NLDs overwhelming majority won in last Novembers elections. However the contest between first and second vice president could see a tight race between the NLDs Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin Christian lawmaker, and U Myint Swe, a former general and hardline intelligence chief nominated by parliaments appointed military bloc.

The seven-member scrutiny committee comprises the two Speakers, two deputy speakers and one representative each from the lower house, upper house and military. Should any of the three candidates be found ineligible under the 2008 junta-written constitution  for example on residency requirements, their knowledge of military affairs or having close foreign relatives  then the vote for president would be delayed while parliament found another candidate.

Meet the NLD's nominees:

U Htin Kyaw: from computer science grad to NLD loyalist

From remote Chin State mountains to high office

Questions have been raised about time spent abroad by Henry Van Thio and whether U Myint Swe has an Australian son-in-law. But in general MPs seem confident all three will pass.

We have no worries for our candidates as the party has already checked their profile and made sure they meet the criteria of the 2008 constitution, said U Bo Bo Oo, a lower house representative for the NLD.

Both would be safe for president, he added.





The NLD has 390 seats in parliament, while the military has 166 allocated seats, and the USDP has 41. Eleven ethnic minority parties won 57 seats, and independents hold three.

Read more: NLD rallies behind leader's proxy choice
Myanmar's 51 million people had their hopes crushed last week when the presidential nominees were announced, a prominent nationalist monk has told The Myanmar Times. U Parmaukkha, also known as Magwe Sayadaw, said the listing of the final candidates by parliament deflated the last vestiges of widespread optimism Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could bypass or amend a constitutional clause that bars her from holding the top office.





The desires of the majority of the country  to see the democracy icon as president  have not been heeded, according to U Parmaukkha, a Ma Ba Tha central executive committee member.

The issue of constitutional reform to enable the National League for Democracy leader to become president sent seismic rifts through the nationalist Buddhist lobby.

The Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, known by its Myanmar-language acronym Ma Ba Tha, officially said it would remain neutral on the subject. However, that did not stop leading members from taking a side.

U Parmaukkha has previously spoken in support of a Daw Aung San Suu Kyi presidency, and even suggested that amending the constitution clause that bars her would be justifiable considering her popular backing.

I am really unhappy for our people that she will not be president, U Parmaukkha told The Myanmar Times. She should be more than a [behind-the-scenes] leader because with her talents and dedication she would help Myanmar progress. The people have already said they will respect her as the true leader of the nation even if she is not president, but that is not enough.

U Parmaukkhas stance appears to be in the minority among nationalists.

U Tawpaka, a member of Ma Ba Thas central leadership committee, said the organisation should not be involved in the politics of appointing a figurehead, but instead needs to focus on continuing to promote the nationalist agenda.





I have seen the news from the hluttaw but have no comment on the presidency, U Tawpaka said.

Under the outgoing administration, Ma Ba Tha played a central role in drafting, and pressuring President U Thein Sein to approve, legislation known as the four race and religion laws. The NLD opposed the legislative package  which critics condemned as discriminatory to women and Muslims  drawing the ire of some Ma Ba Tha activists who then campaigned against the party in the run-up to last Novembers election.

While divided on support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the nationalist lobby has rallied to preserve section 59(f), which aims to bar a president who might owe foreign allegiances through possessing  or being closely related to someone who possesses  foreign citizenship. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis two sons are British.

The NLD has long campaigned for revising the constitution which guarantees unelected military representatives a 25 percent bloc of the state, region and Union parliaments. The NLDs newly formed constitutional committee has vowed to change over 100 provisions of the junta-penned charter.

The party also mounted a campaign to suspend the controversial presidential eligibility clause, and were even rumoured to be considering pushing amendment to the parliamentary floor.

Nationalists demonstrating in Yangon last month suggested a unilateral NLD push to change the constitution would threaten the military and could prompt a coup. To avoid such a confrontation, the NLD backed away from pushing a Daw Aung San Suu Kyi president, at least for now.

In a statement released the same day as the presidential nominations were announced, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi acknowledged the sub-ideal situation, but asked that supporters be patient.

As we continue to try to realise the peoples desire completely, wed like to respectfully request the people to support us and surround us with great wisdom to reach the goal we aim to achieve peacefully, the 70-year-old leader said.

Members of the Myanmar Nationalist Network, which led the Yangon protest against amending section 59(f), said that while they supported the NLD leader becoming president, they agree with Senior General Min Aung Hlaings comments that constitutional reform must be done according to proper procedure.

Our nationalists wish for lawful actions by all candidates and parties so as not to violate the integrity of constitution, said Ko Naung Taw Law, secretary of the network.

NLD spokesperson U Win Htein has said the party leader will be president sooner or later with the party dedicated to amending the laws and working with the military to achieve a mutually agreeable power-sharing arrangement.
As the incoming National League for Democracy government prepares to take over next month, concern is growing over how much influence government ministers will have over policy. While the constitution, drafted by the military, makes it clear that security-related posts





will be largely beyond the reach of the elected government, indications are emerging that the new government could struggle to assert authority even over functions nominally under civilian control.

In January, parliament passed a K24 trillion budget for financial year 2016-17, which starts on April 1, the first day of the incoming government. In other words, the spending patterns and constraints under which the incoming NLD government will operate have already been determined by the outgoing Union Solidarity and Development Party, which was defeated at the polls last November. Only 3 percent of the budget was devoted to healthcare, among the lowest amount in the region but a significant boost from previous years which saw as little as 1pc allocated.

Senior officials in the Ministry of Health, who requested anonymity, have told The Myanmar Times that they are already preparing to implement plans for the coming year, leaving it unclear how much say the next health minister will have in the ministrys activities. Reportedly, the ministry has already turned down a request from NLD to view its plans.

Though U Htin Kyaw yesterday emerged as president-designate, pending confirmation by a parliamentary vote, no other members of the next government have yet been identified.

Dr Chit Soe, head of the rheumatology department at Yangons University of Medicine-1, said the incoming health minister should listen to front-line health workers rather than ministry bureaucrats.





I call on the new government to improve the quality of doctors and provide a better learning structure for medical students, he said, adding that rural and suburban health centres were in need of an upgrade after years of underfunding.

Dr Taza Kyaw, a senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at a public hospital in Loilin/Loileng, Shan State, said he looked forward to changes under the new government. The outgoing health minister, Dr Than Aung, is a former military officer, as are many senior bureaucrats in the ministry.

Last year, medical staff launched a black ribbon campaign to protest against the large number of former military officers they said had been parachuted into the health ministry without proper qualifications or experience. Many of the permanent under-secretaries appointed last year to run government departments are also former military officers, suggesting that military influence will remain potent even as the NLD appoints new ministers.

Dr Kyaw Zwe, a central committee member of the NLD health network, told The Myanmar Times the party already has plans to more than double the allocated health budget. He did not clarify how the party would accomplish the funding feat.

The 2015 government budget provided 3.2pc to the health sector, but in 2016 we will want 7pc, he said. We plan to increase the health budget by 3pc every year. So according to our policy, by 2020 the government is going to allocate 12pc of the budget for health and achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2040.

He added that current Minister for Health Dr Than Aung dedicated much of the annual spending to updating hospitals, but the NLD intends to devote more of the resource to improving public health access.

Dr Kyaw Zwe conceded that re-allocating funds could be tricky.

Policy is easy to draw up, but financing is the problem. If we have no budget we cannot implement the plans, he said. So we are going to work on health programs together with international donors and local donors especially in conflict areas like Kachin and Kayin states.

To meet public expectations, the new government will need to increase access to quality healthcare throughout the country, especially in rural areas, while bringing down costs payable by patients. Dr Kyaw Zwe also acknowledged that the NLD would not be able to institute quick fixes like providing free healthcare for all immediately, but would work on using the limited funds to support healthcare for impoverished families.

Another major issue the NLD will have to combat according to industry experts is the proliferation of unqualified people providing medical care, often prescribing fake or illegal medicines.

We hope for change, but its not easy to change the mindset of health staff, said U Myint Swe, president of the Ratana Metta charitable organisation.

He added that many high-ranking medical officials resented assistance provided by medical NGOs, though such assistance was often badly needed.

Both local and international NGOs are criticised, but the standards of medical care in each case are different, he said.

Most people living in the countryside, that is, about 70pc of the population, do not have access to good medical care. Many rural practitioners are not trained above the midwife level, and some are not qualified, he said.

Dr Sid Naing, country director of Marie Stopes International Myanmar, warned against inflated expectations regarding the incoming government, adding that it would be unrealistic to apply a 100-day test. The government should be able to empower health administrators to implement initiatives that would lead toward quality, better coverage, respect and security, he said.

The health sector across the board, whether public or private, required higher investment and high-level attention, he said. Service availability and quality for even the most disadvantaged communities in the most inaccessible locations must be ensured.

A national fund should be mobilised and pooled in advance to pay for healthcare for anyone as and when needed. To make health services relevant and useful for clients as well as to get public support, effective and proactive communication channels should be kept open.

Amid the host of challenges, the new leaders would also have opportunities to improve healthcare in Myanmar, he said.
In the years after Daw Aung San Suu Kyis house arrest ended in 2010, she has gone about reacquainting herself with the wider world. Among all the usual high-level meetings  presidents, prime ministers and more  she has ended up spending a fair bit of time with university leaders.





Given her background and interests, this makes complete sense. It is her Oxford education that she credits with a broad-minded respect for the best in human civilisation.

As a result, she is at home in scholarly circles. During the 1970s and 1980s, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis life outside Burma had a distinctively academic tone.

Then, from 1988 onward, university staff and students were counted among her most ardent supporters, both at home and abroad. The National League for Democracy draws much of its activist strength from its association with Myanmars long history of student agitation.

Nowadays the outlines of this story are well-known internationally. Her academic sensibilities and resistance to military rule have motivated top universities to offer Daw Aung San Suu Kyi their highest endorsement: honorary doctorates.

At her alma mater, the conferral in 2012 was an emotional day, given all the years she had lived in Oxford and her close personal connection with the university and its staff. That her late husband, Michael Aris, had spent 23 years at Oxford teaching Himalayan and Tibetan Studies ensures the connection has profound meaning for all sides.

When I was a student there  sadly after Mr Aris had already succumbed to prostate cancer  people around the medieval town still spoke of the family with great affection. Sometimes this was tempered by whispered suggestions that Daw Aung San Suu Kyis haughtiness was a long-term political and social liability.





Nonetheless, the University of Oxford, whatever those critical mutterings, was a bastion of steadfast support for democracy in Myanmar. The Ladys old undergraduate college, St. Hughs, played an especially important role in this regard. The colleges Junior Common Room was, a decade ago, renamed the Aung San Suu Kyi Room.

Since her release from house arrest, Oxford has sought to cultivate stronger ties with Myanmar, with two new academic positions named in her honour.

The incumbent Aung San Suu Kyi Senior Research Fellow is Matthew Walton, a leading scholar of Myanmars tortured contemporary politics. The Junior Research Fellow, currently Dr Khin Mar Mar Kyi, has a doctorate from my own Australian National University. Together they are creating new momentum in Oxford for the serious study of Southeast Asia.

It is fitting that some of the other universities associated with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have also developed a range of new activities. The Australian National University, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in November 2013, has generated new initiatives to support what is an increasingly broad range of Myanmar activities, including through our Myanmar Research Centre.

Then there are the major injections of financial, administrative and technical support flowing to Myanmars universities from the United States, Korea, Japan and Singapore. Many institutions are working hard to re-connect with Myanmar colleagues and support the improvement of local academic conditions.

It all takes time, patience and energy. These emerging academic relationships will benefit from flows of students and staff  to and from Myanmar  to ensure that momentum can build as quickly as possible.

They will also need high-level support from within the NLD. Happily, there is plenty of academic talent and enthusiasm in the partys ranks. For instance there is Daw Su Su Lwin who has been spearheading the NLDs education policy formation. She has served as MP in the Pyithu Hluttaw since 2012, and now chairs the parliaments international relations committee.

It will be a big week for her and her family, with expectations running high that her husband, U Htin Kyaw, will become Myanmars next president. His appointment should mean that the NLD has the power to implement their policies and will be seeking to stamp their values on university governance.

An obvious person to lead this high-level effort is U Aung Thu. Trained as a mathematician, the reform-minded former rector of the University of Yangon will be one to watch.

He has previously held positions as rector of Taungoo University and was also a deputy director general of the Department of Higher Education. Earlier in his career, he taught at universities in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe. Since December he has worked in the three-member NLD transitional committee, seeking to build a sound basis for the new government.

With its long-time support from among student activists, and the involvement of people like U Aung Thu, it makes sense that the NLD will be creative in its effort to bolster Myanmars university sector. All around the world, successful democratic governments rely on open and vibrant education systems to provide ideas for today while training the leaders of tomorrow.

 New Mandala

Nicholas Farrelly is the director of the Myanmar Research Centre at the Australian National University. He wrote about Daw Aung San Suu Kyis ANU honorary doctorate for The Myanmar Times on November 29, 2013.
Tanzanias heavy-hitter Diamond Platnumz is the biological father of Latifah Dangote, DNA tests conducted on Diamond, Zari Hassan and Latifah have confirmed.

Tanzanias Amani newspaper reports that the Bongo Fleva giant bowed to pressure from sections of fans and critics who claimed there could be a possibility that he did not sire Latifah Dangote.

In a bid to put the confusion to bed, Diamond Platnumz, Zari Hassan and Latifah Dangote traveled to South Africa to conduct the DNA test on baby Tifah  ostensibly a faraway land that no Tanzanian paparazzi or snoops would get scoop.

An insider who is very close with the Utanipenda star shared exclusive details of what transpired in South Africa.

Diamond and his family (Zari and Tifah) recently travelled to South Africa to conduct DNA test on baby Tifah, said the source.

He (Diamond) was bothered and disturbed by the constant persecution by fans who wanted a DNA test on baby Tifah. He was confused; he was in a dilemma. In a bid to clear the paternity issue, he asked Zari to accompany him to South Africa so that they could conduct DNA test on the baby before he leaves for the United States, revealed the source.

DNA test results

The DNA tests confirmed Nasib Abdul Juma (Diamond Platnumz) to be the biological father of Latifah Dangote. Diamond shed a lot of tearsIt hurt him the more when some quotas referred to Ivan Ssemwanga (Zaris ex-husband) as the little ones father. Others claimed that Tifah was sired by a Tanzanian tycoon. A lot was said, added the source.

Diamonds mother shocked

Diamonds mother Sanura Kasim Sandra was shocked by the news as all through she had her doubts about her granddaughters paternity  doubts that were cultivated in her by social media discussions which largely claimed that her son Diamond was taking care of someone elses child.

Diamond responds

People talked a lot, created a lot of lies. I was not worried nonetheless. All through I knew the baby is mine; though just to make myself happier and more peaceful, I decided to conduct a DNA test on Tifah, said Diamond.

Tifah is my daughter, completely! I am extremely overjoyed by the results (DNA). Thats why I am now freer, happier and having a good time. When you happen to visit my office, you will notice I have hung framed photos of Tifah everywhere. I am not worried at all. I can now courageously face my critics, affirmed Diamond Platnumz.

The Tanzanian top act also responded to why he shed tears.

It (crying) is not an issue. What did you expect me to do after getting results that I dearly needed, especially at a time when sections of the society constantly claimed that I wasnt my daughters biological father?

Diamond says he embraced DNA testing of his child  a practice that he says is not popular among Tanzanians  because he wanted to be a hundred percent sure of his status as a father.

Diamond Platnumz and Zari Hassan welcomed Baby Latifah Dangote in August 6, 2015.
President John Mahama says he was aware that late comedian Bishop Bob Okala, who passed away on Sunday, was not well and had been asked to rest.

He recounted that he saw Bob Okala at the Independence Day celebration on March 6 and noticed he was not well so he asked for medical attention for him.

The popular Ghanaian comedian, born Samuel Kwadwo Buabeng passed away at the Koforidua Hospital Sunday dawn after he collapsed on stage during a carnival at the Koforidua Jackson park.

Bob Okala was part of Kumawood actors who re-enacted the Gold Coast police performance during the 59th Independence Day parade at the Black Star Square on March 6.

President Mahama speaking in an interview with Accra-based 3FM Monday said he did not know what took the comedian to Koforidua considering the fact that he was not well.

They took him through many extensive tests and I think he was about to start his treatment regime but they had asked him to rest. I dont know what took him to Koforidua but unfortunately, I hear he collapsed on stage and passed away, he said.

The president added that I wish on behalf of all Ghanaians to express our condolences to his family.

President Mahama in a tweet on Sunday said: RIP Bob Okalla. You brought joy to many homes, and of course to Lordina & I. #RIPBobOkalla

Bob Okala shot to fame in the '90s through popular comedy show, Key Soap Concert Party, which was showed on GTV on Saturday evenings.

The veteran comedian, who was identified with a big clock on his wrist during his performances created a niche for himself in comedy and in no time got to star in some local movies.

In what many fans have described as a sad year for Ghanaian comedy, another popular comedian Yaw Donkor, famously known as Nkomode in the showbiz world passed away on February 5, 2016, and will be buried in April.

The two veteran comedians were always in a tight competition to determine who was funnier in the Key Soap Concert Party show.

Political 'Bishop' Bob Okala did not hide his support for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He was active on several campaign platforms to garner votes for the party.

Okala was 59.

Watch Bob Okala's last stage performance at Koforidua Jackson park before his untimely death:

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)
Issiaka Ouattara (C), spokesperson of the mutinous soldiers who took over Ivory Coast's second city of Bouake, speaks to journalists after negotiations with the defence minister (unseen) on January 7, 2017 in Bouake. By Sia KAMBOU (AFP)

07.01.2017 LISTEN

Abidjan (AFP) - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara announced Saturday he has reached an agreement with soldiers who seized the second city Bouake in an pay protest that spread to the economic capital Abidjan.

"I confirm my agreement to take into account the demands relating to bonuses and improving the living conditions of soldiers," Ouattara said in a brief declaration broadcast on television.

"Having given my agreement, I ask all soldiers to go back to their barracks to allow decisions to be carried out calmly," he added, without giving details of the deal.

The announcement came after shots rang out at a military base in Abidjan as soldiers put up barricades in the city, a day after troops took over Bouake, firing rocket launchers in the streets and terrifying residents.

The soldiers are seeking bonuses, pay rises and faster promotion.

The deal was reached after a meeting between Defence Minister Alain Richard Donwahi and a delegation of the mutineers in Bouake.

The situation had dramatically escalated Saturday as the unrest spread to Abidjan, the bustling commercial hub of the world's largest cocoa producer and home to the presidency, government and parliament.

Soldiers also took to the streets of Daloa and Daoukro in the country's centre as well as Korhogo in the north on Friday. Though the protests there eased, the unrest had spread to Man in the west as well as Abidjan by Saturday.
Nana Akufo-Addo - NPP Presidential Candidate

13.03.2016 LISTEN

Mr. Michael Ansah, Chairman of the NPP UK has said an NPP government under Nana Akufo-Addo will restore hope to Ghanaians. He was speaking at the formal inauguration ceremony of the Luton Chapter of NPP UK held on Saturday, 12 March 2016 in Luton, United Kingdom. Mr. Ansah urged all NPP members to take this message of hope to every corner of Ghana.

Comparing Ghana's economic performance between 2000-2008 under HE President Kufuor, the Chairman noted that all the social interventions and initiatives under the NPP administration have become dysfunctional under the incompetent NDC government. He mentioned the NHIS as a typical case. He noted with grave concern the poor economic performance that has seen the value of the Cedi drop significantly in the past 7 years.

Mr. Ansah bemoaned the level of corruption in the country and wondered how many Ghanaian lives could be transformed with the amount of money that is being lost to corruption in the past 7 years. He assured the Ghanaian Community that had come in their numbers to support the newly formed Chapter, that Nana Akufo Addo can be trusted with the destiny of the Country. 'Nana Addo will fight corruption with every energy in him'. He stated.

The NPP Luton Chapter Chairman noted that the newly formed Chapter is fully committed to supporting the party financially and with other resources to help unseat the incompetent and corrupt NDC administration.

The Parliamentary candidate for Bole Bamboi in her brief address called on all to support her effort to capture the President's former seat. She bemoaned the poor living conditions of the people in Bole Bamboi and pledged to work hard to improve their lives particularly in the areas of health and education.

The Branch Secretary, Dr. John Kissi presented certificates of recognition to the founding members of the Luton Chapter and thanked them for their sacrifices and support for the party. He urged them to continue in that same spirit and help bring the transformation and that Ghana needs and wants under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Present at the inauguration ceremony were current former Branch executives; Treausrer; Kofi Debrah, Organiser; Saeed Duah, former Tresurer; Eric Agyemang, Finance Committee Chairman; Alex Dadey, Parliamentary Candidate for Bole Bamboi; Ms Veronica Heming and other senior members of the Party.
13.03.2016 LISTEN

On 16th February 2016 Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Egyptian born Coptic Christian Arab, aristocrat, academic, politician and diplomat, was called home to rest in peace with the Pantheon of African ancestors. Born in November 1922 he rose to international limelight almost 70 years later when he was elected the 6th Secretary General of the United Nations.

For continental Africa he was and would continue to be remembered as the first son of the soil to head the international organisation. Because he hailed from Egypt, Boutros was equally the first from the Arab world to hold the position. He was certainly the first post-cold war Secretary General and remains the first Secretary General whose quest for a second term was famously or infamously shot down in 1996 by the venom of American veto power.

Boutros presided over some of the most challenging times of world conflicts and came off not too well complimented by critics. In Africa, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 during which an estimated 800,000 people were killed within 100 days was heaped on the UN for dragging its feet at best or turning a blind eye at worst.

The carnage therefrom was staggering and still beggar belief today. Although few will disagree that the Security Council was more to blame than the office of the Secretary General, the critics of Boutros would have us believe that a year before he assumed office, he was responsible for the sale of weapons worth some $26 million to the Rwandan government while he was Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs, weapons that may have been stockpiled for the eventual genocide.

Before the Rwandan tragedy, the Secretary General was already accused of taking sides in the Somali conflict and thus protracting the killing sprees there needlessly. The accusation was again premised on his time as Egypts Minister of Foreign Affairs during which Egypt gave strong support to President Siad Barre and his ruling clan. Some Somalis believed he still favoured same clan against the clan of warlord Farah Aideed who ousted Barre in 1991. When Boutros persuaded the US Secretary of State to capture Aideed in the Black Hawk Down helicopter attack, it put paid to belief that he could not be an impartial arbiter in the Somali conflict even as Secretary General of the UN.

Elsewhere in Europe, Boutros remained entangled in the breakup of Yugoslavia. The failure of the UN to prevent the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica further indicted the ability of the world body to protect lives and foster peace and security. It made the position of the Secretary General particularly dicey and the critics were implacable. They accused him of staying aloof from the Bosnian crisis, a criticism he did not seem to parry. Instead he shrugged off the Balkans as a rich mans war and suggested he could count ten places in the world with worse problems than Srebrenica.

The submission infuriated many Bosnians and irritated the Anglo-Saxon Western axis of the US and UK. The cup of Boutros quickly filled up in the aftermath of the Black Hawk Down when 18 American marines were killed by Somali militias. The sight of one of the bodies of the marines being dragged in streets of Mogadishu had nailed the urbane Secretary General in a made in the USA coffin long before the veto that killed his ambition to pursue An Agenda for Peace in a second term. The outrage was immediate and complete, and the political establishment in Washington soon began to bay for his exit.

Scathing as the criticisms might be, Boutros did not become Secretary General on the back of Africa or the Arab world by default, neither did he define incompetence, conceit or any of the negatives pelted at him. He straddled his Arab and African identities with an almost equal appeal. He was already the President of the Society of African Studies in Egypt and Vice-President of Socialist International when he run for the position of Secretary General. Having navigated the corridors of power in many foreign capitals outside of Cairo whilst he was Egypts Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, the shenanigans of world politics and international relations was very familiar territory.

As a scholar he was par excellence with over 100 publications in law, diplomacy and politics to his name. The Sorbonne trained law professor lectured at many universities across the world and chaired International Law and International Relations at Cairo University for many years. In addition to his native Arabic and English, he spoke French without flaw which possibly explained why France actively campaigned for him. Even as the US abstained when the vote was cast for the new Secretary General in December 1991 there was no second round as some had hoped from the field of seven other candidates that contested him from the continent. Boutros won handsomely!

Long before becoming UN Secretary General, he had already distinguished himself in the historic Camp David accords where he was one of the architects that negotiated the peace deal which still governs relations between Egypt and Israel today. Apart from cementing peace between the two otherwise adversarial countries the accords notably returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. It was a landmark in Israeli relations with an Arab country. His reputation therefrom must have won him enough plaudits and rightly so. If he needed a competitive advantage to stake a claim for the coveted position of Secretary General at the UN this was it and it more than sufficed.

As Secretary General, Boutros is reputed for his resolve to place human rights at the centre of the UN policy objectives and initiatives. His 1992 Agenda for Peace may have been largely unsung but the document remains the most comprehensive concept of peace attempted by the world body. It represents the core of what the UN should be all about, peace. For Boutros, peace building has to be those actions that solidify peace and prevent relapse into conflict. He argued for preventive diplomacy and ushered in an era of disarmament and reintegration of combatants in a holistic approach to peacekeeping. If the Agenda for Peace is not the success that Boutros envisioned, it is palpably because the US punitively withheld critical funding from the UN, not because he lacked will.

Boutros was a Francophile and did nothing to disguise it. From language to fine wines he simply loved everything French. He was known to be a personal friend of the then French President and is credited for bringing Egypt into the International Organisation of La Francophonie of which he would become the first Secretary General upon leaving the UN. As if that was not unbecoming enough, Boutros was his own man and steadfastly so. Barely six months to the election for a second term he infuriated Israel and their allies with an objective publication that suggested Israeli killings of Lebanese civilians taking shelter in a UN post were targeted. What happened six months later when his mandate as Secretary General was up for renewal is history.

Back home in Africa the press, policy makers and civil organisations were aghast that the US alone could find Boutros unworthy of a second term. Many lamented that right wing bullies in Capitol Hill had turned the world body into a punching bag of sorts. Others praised Boutros for a special $25 billion UN development initiative for Africa launched at his behest. Every Secretary General before him got a second term. The exception in the case of Africas Boutros was unfathomable. The entire continent was resolute in solidarity and stood by him to the very last minute albeit in vain. The combined African muscle is still far too weak against the full force of American veto power.

Some say there is a very thin line between diplomacy and deception. Perhaps, bringing a mind of his own into the office of Secretary General within the very first term was never the best way to deliver diplomacy or win a second term. Yet, for the same reason, Boutros would always remain an icon in Africa as the Secretary General who did not hesitate to take on the new unipolar hegemony and stood up for his conscience and objectivity even at the peril of privilege. May he rest in peace!

The writer is the International Spokesperson for Humanitas Afrika
Bamako (AFP) - Two Chadian peacekeepers were shot dead and a third lightly wounded by a colleague in northern Mali, the UN mission said on Sunday, less than three weeks after a similar shooting.

The suspect had been arrested and an investigation launched into the "tragic incident" at the camp at Tessalit in the Kidal region, a MINUSMA statement said.

All four soldiers involved in the shooting, which happened on Saturday evening, were part of the Chadian contingent of the force, another Chadian soldier at the camp said.

"In the last month, the men had been shut up. People talk about discipline, but we, we want all our allowances to be paid," the soldier said on condition of anonymity.

In the previous incident on February 25, a soldier also from the Chadian contingent killed his own commander and an army doctor following weeks of tensions over living conditions.

The 2,000 Chadian soldiers of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) -- MINUSMA's predecessor -- were at the forefront of a French-led military intervention launched in January 2013 to oust Islamist rebels who had taken over vast stretches of the north in the chaos following a coup.

Dozens of Chadian troops have deserted their posts in disputes over pay and conditions in recent years, complaining that they hadn't been paid in months.

Twenty-nine members of MINUSMA were killed last year and more than 80 were injured, making it the most deadly active mission for the United Nations.
13.03.2016 LISTEN

The apparently open season of physical assaults on politicians, especially parliamentarians and parliamentary candidates, ought to be a wakeup call for our leaders to shift focus from cynically pursuing their own socioeconomic interests to taking care of the greater interests of the general Ghanaian citizenry.

As the level of unemployment skyrockets through the roof, literally speaking, and ordinary citizens become increasingly desperate, it will become all-too-logical to attack our politicians who clearly appear to be living high on the proverbial hog. Matters are not helped the least bit, when you have well-heeled politicians like Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong publicly flaunting and bragging about their wealth and wanton exploits with some of our womenfolk. It does not make us seem like a civilized society.

In the latest of such attacks, Ms. Barbara Asher Ayisi, the New Patriotic Partys parliamentary candidate for Cape Coast North, was reportedly assaulted in the sacred privacy of her own home by a 22-year-old man whose name has yet to be revealed by law-enforcement authorities. According to news reports, the young would-be-assassin carried an iron rod and a knife to the home of the target of his intended victim. It was not clear to yours truly, as of this writing, the extent of injuries, if any, sustained by the targeted victim of assault. What we have been told by media reports is that neighbors managed to subdue the assailant with a flurry of punishing blows before local police personnel arrived at the crime scene.

There is the temptation to side with the evidently beneficent vigilantes by observing that the assailant, or would-be assassin, deserved the sort of severe beatings he is alleged to have received. But here also is a striking indication of the breakdown of civility and civilization, so to speak. In a functional democracy, the right thing to do ought to have been for those effecting what is termed as a citizens arrest of the assailant, to have applied just enough force to subdue the assailant while these good Samaritans awaited the arrival and intervention of law-enforcement officials.

Subjecting the assailant to the level of beatings he is alleged to have been meted, could easily have resulted in his death, thereby creating the possibility of another equally heinous crime  that of homicide. About the only situation in which homicide would have been justifiable would be one in which the assailant carried a deadly weapon, such that a Darwinian context of kill-or-be-killed was deemed to have been created, thereby inevitably necessitating the prompt and immediate liquidation of the assailant.

Where matters also get a bit weird and downright bizarre, is Ms. Ayisis rather farcical claim that she has studied enough psychology to be able to authoritatively contradict law-enforcement authorities who suspected that the assailant was clinically insane and needed to be committed to a mental asylum for the requisite observation and treatment. Unless she is a licensed clinical psychologist or psychotherapist, Ms. Ayisis assertion cannot be taken seriously.

But, of course, it is also quite understandable that she would stake such an at once scandalous and outrageous claim. Very likely, such knee-jerk reaction stems from the fact of the victims having been deeply shocked and traumatized by the entire episode.

Indeed, the victim may herself be in dire and immediate need of medical observation and treatment for her trauma; and I hope she has been advised to promptly do so. Needless to say, it is not her judgment call or right to determine whether or not her assailant was psychologically sound or unsound at the time of her attack. That judgment belongs entirely to the specialists.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Airtel Ghana says it has given its customers a subscription-based free voice, internet and SMS access to compensate them for the March 10, 2016 network interruption that affected some customers.

The company said the compensation package, dubbed "Airtel Gift", offered all customers the opportunity to enjoy free voice, data and SMS from 8am to 12 midnight on Friday 11th March 2016.

But customers were required to subscribe to the compensation package via the short code *202# before they could enjoy.

Airtel Ghana Marketing Director, Rosy Fynn explained that the network interruption was caused by a technical hitch during a routine network upgrade.

She expressed her sincere apologies to customers for the outage and thanked them for their patience and loyalty, and also assured them of Airtel's commitment to high standards of service delivery.

"As a network that believes in delivering unmatched quality services to customers, we will continue to work tirelessly to maintain the trust customers have in us," she said.

Rosy Fynn urged customers to contact Airtels call centers on 100 for any assistance.

Customers react

Meanwhile, Adom News spoke with some Airtel customers who said they did not see the text message inviting them subscribe to the compensation package, while others said the idea or subscription put them off.

Kofi Assan from Nungua, for instance, said "I did not see any message from Airtel because even on March 11, 2016 I didn't have service on my phone."

Mavis Sowah of La, said she saw the message but she was completely put off by the invitation to subscribe by midnight so she did not just did not subscribe.

She argued that if Airtel really wanted to compensate customers for the outage they could have either identified the affected persons and compensated them, or just made the compensation open instead of on subscription basis.

Meanwhile, Horst Koranteng of Manet Palm Estates at East Legon said he and his wife subscribed to the compensation package but wondered why they had to subscribe instead of just getting it automatically.

Horst also said the Airtel service in the estates has been really bad for a while now so even the compensation they subscribed to was not relevant because till date "we can't browse and voice call are bad and they keep dropping."

Airtel responds

Airtel Ghana's Head of Corporate Communications, Richard Ahiable said they use all platforms including radio stations across country, social media platforms and even direct SMS to all their over four million customers informing them about the compensation available for subscription.

He said they decided to open it to all customers because identifying only affected customers would have been very tedious and time consuming.

Ahiable however did not say why they chose to make it on subscription basis instead of just automatic compensation.
Nene Kanor Attiapah II, the Acting President of Ningo Traditional Council, has warned fishermen of Ahwiam, a fishing community near Ningo, to stop impregnating school girls which has resulted in a high drop-out rate in the area.

He said he would call the police to arrest any man or youth found to have impregnated any girl of school-going age and also ensure that the families of both the victim and culprit were sanctioned.

Nene Attiapah gave the warning in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after he had met with the chiefs and elders of Ahwiam on the issue.

He expressed regret at the increasing numbers of pregnant girls of school-going age adding: as the Acting President of the Council I will not allow such an eye-sore to continue. It is time the youth were warned to put an end to it.

Nene Attiapah said the fishermen lured the girls with fresh fish and ended up impregnating them adding that the problem had worsened the poverty rate and disturbing the peace of Ahwiam.

He reiterated his call on parents of the community to take good care of their children, especially the girl-child, and not allow them to roam the beaches in search of fish.

Nene Meerh III, the Chief of Ahwiam, who was at the meeting, said he had warned the people, especially the youth, on several occasions not to engage in premarital sex but that had not yielded any results.

It is sad to see a 14-year-old girl who is supposed to be in school being pregnant or carrying a baby at her back, compelling her to drop out of school.
Dear president Yoweri Museveni

On your greatness, you sat before a bunch of journalists, following your declaration as president elect 2016-2021 and assured the nation there will be peace. I was among the youth watching you with eyes of patriotic affinity for your vanity.

You then encouraged us to embark on our routine duties after months of tiring election campaigns, but forgot about one citizen. His name is Kizza Besigye. Your commandos have him in chains unable to work. Does your government really care his individual well-being is in the shambles?

Or maybe youre not even aware theres an assemblage of reincarnated bush rebels of 1986, masquerading in Uganda police uniforms laying siege to your former warrior physicians basic rights and freedoms bequeathed by the constitution of the republic of Uganda.

On my words, being a peace journalist-student at Young African Leadership Academys Aileen Getty School of Citizen Journalism, peace means more than just inaudibility of gunshots on the streets of Kampala or in the jungles of Busitema when Ugandans hearts are throbbing with anger of open injustice.

The deathless spirit of Nelson Mandela, who once dreamed of Africa which is in peace with itself must now be counting on us. Then, its the obligation of your government, Mr. president, to champion progress in place of backwardness and freedom in place of oppression.

President Museveni, you can but in vain wish peace in our hearts when our fellow citizen, Dr. Kizza Besigye is surrounded by AK47s and bullets and teargas while armed thugs are breaking into peoples homes in the North.

Mr. President, it seems your elongated regime is forgetting our national motto says, For God and my country and maybe you need to be reminded so by we the young whose minds are not yet hurt by long brewed grievances and thorns of the bush.

Those days must have been painful indeed, venerated by a long-lasting memorial gravestones but theyre gone. All I wish is you to lead by example of a good leader, as though parents cautiously making love; their children secretly listening, for were watching and learning from you!

God is watching.

For God and my country.

Boaz Opio  Citizen Journalist Student, Young African Leadership Academy (YaLa).
President John Mahama has condemned the attacks on Cote DIviore and Turkey in which at least 16 people have died.

In a statement from the Ministry of Communications signed by Dr. Edward K. Omane Boamah, the President described the attacks as "despicable and unconscionable".

On Sunday, March 13, news broke that some unidentified gunmen have attacked and killed some revellers at a beach resort in southern Cote d'Ivoire.

The BBC reported that at least 16 people lost their lives in the Al-Qaeda-linked militants attack in southern Cote d'Ivoire some 40km (25 miles) from the commercial capital Abidjan.

The resort is popular with both locals and foreigners. Four of the dead were Westerners, including a French and a German national, officials say.

In Turkey, an explosion in Guven Park in the Kizilay district, a key transport hub, wounded at least 125 people.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, government sources are casting suspicion on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

President Mahama expressed Ghana's deepest condolences and sympathies to President Alassane Quattara of Cote d'Ivoire and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, their government and people. He also wished those injured a speedy recovery.
BANKS TOO EXPOSED TO BDCs

The Managing Director of CAL Bak, Frank Adu Jnr has said that banks will continue to face difficult times for at least the next couple of years as a result of their exposure to the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).

JOB SCARE HOLKS BACK RETURNEES

Hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians that have fled the country for pastures new are now desperate to return home but are scared of poor economic and job prospects, a report commissioned by the Frederick Ebert-Stiftung Foundation and the Trade Union Congress of Ghana has revealed.

70M COCAINE BARON MARRIES WAMPAHS DAUGHTER

Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, is not having it easy weaning himself from any blame and responsibility in the arrest of his son-in-law, David McDermott, regarding the latters alleged dealings in the narcotics trade.

LEAVE OUT MY WIFE  SAY STAN DOGBE

Embattled Presidential Staffer Stan Xoese Dogbe Suspects there are some people in the NDC administration who are craving for his downfall by linking his wife to the error-laden Independence Day brochure.

BOB OKALA IS DEAD

Ace Comedian Bishop Bob Okala was on Sunday morning confirmed dead by authorities of the Koforidua Government Hospital.

TULLOW SUSPENDS CRUDE OIL LIFTING; PRODUCTION DROPS TO 40,000 BARRELS PER DAY

The deterioration in the condition of the turret bearing on the Floating Storage and Offlaoding vessel (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah has forced Tullow Oil to defer two liftings totaling over 1.6 million barrels of crude oil.

GHANA BAR ASSOCIATION SHREDS SPYBILL

The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has called for complete deletion of clause 4(3) and (4) from the Interception of Postal Packets & Telecommunications Bill, which empowers the National Security Coordinator to orally authorize interceptions for 48 hours without any court order or warrant.

IM SHOCKED MY IN-LAW IS A FUGITIVE  DR WAMPAH

Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Henry Kofi Wampah has stated that until the arrest of Mr David McDermott, the husband of his stepdaughter, Ramona Wampah, he had no knowledge that Mr McDermott was a fugitive of the British government.

NDUOM SPEAKS FROM US ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION ACTIVISM

Celebrated Ghanaian Entrepreneur, Dr Papa Kwasi Nduom, is billed to speak tomorrow Tuesday, March 15, 2016 from New York in the United States at an event dubbed Economic Advancement Programme.

PUPILS SIT ON WALLS DURING CLASS HOURS AT NWOWASU PRIMARY

The lack of school furniture has compelled scores of pupils at Nwowasu Presby Primary and Junior High School in the Sunyani municipality to resort to sitting on top of classroom ralls to partake in class work.
14.03.2016 LISTEN

I dont know that his being a wheelchair-bound person and the first physically challenged candidate to successfully win the presidential nomination of any political party in Ghana is very much of a big deal, as Mr. Ben Ephson, the National Democratic Congress-sponsored editor-publisher of the Daily Dispatch would have Ghanaians believe (See Greenstreet Can Push 2016 Polls into Runoff  Ephson Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/31/16). The fact of the matter is that Mr. Ivor Greenstreet is a Fante Cultural Mulatto of remarkable privilege. His biography highlights the fact that both of his parents are faculty members of the University of Ghana. Mr. Greenstreet himself holds a postgraduate law degree and has been the owner of several business enterprises, including an Accra nightclub.

So in a quite significant sense, the 2016 Presidential Candidate of the rump-Convention Peoples Party (r-CPP) is not of the same class or lowly economic and educational background as most of the members of the Kumasi branch of the Ghana Society for the Crippled that I had the opportunity of raising funds for, as leader of the Drama Troupe of the National Youth Organizing Commission (NYOC), presently the National Youth Council (NYC), in the early 1980s. Back then, the group was led by a portly wheelchair-bound clerical employee of the Kumasi City Council (KCC), now called the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), by the name of Mr. Atakora. I suspect Mr. Atakora, who made his residence at Abrepo-Junction, was a native of Asante-Mampong.

It is also not clear why Mr. Ephson thinks that it would be any much of a big deal for Mr. Greenstreet to cause the epic rematch between President John Dramani Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo to veer into a runoff or second round of voting. That would neither be the first nor second time in Ghanas postcolonial history or even that of the countrys Fourth Republic. It would really not need any much of an effort to bring this about. The general rule has been that anytime more than two major political parties contest in a presidential election, there is bound to be a runoff, as was witnessed in 2008 in the highly charged contest between then-Candidate John Evans Atta-Mills and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

It also does not necessarily follow that his ability to clinching 64-percent of the rump-CPP delegate votes automatically translates into making an identical impact on the national political landscape. For starters, the rump-CPP delegates who offered Mr. Greenstreet some 1,288 votes, out of a valid total of 1,992, are not a scientifically representative sampling of the rump-CPP voters themselves. But even more significantly, whether Mr. Greenstreet would be capable of obtaining a lions share of the 7-percent total that Mr. Ephson expects all the minority parties to collectively clinch remains to be seen. At the end of the day, what matters most is not the fact of whether Election 2016 goes into a runoff, but rather whether the most progressive and imaginative political party gets offered the mandate to steer the countrys affairs for the next four years.

I really dont see any politician who makes the noetic decision of pairing up with the pathologically megalomaniacal Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings going very far either in the 2016 presidential election or the political future of the country. Already, the prime loser of the most recent rump-CPP presidential primary, Ms. Samia Yaba Nkrumah, has virulently accused Mr. Greenstreet, the partys former General-Secretary, of having bought most of his delegate votes for amounts ranging from GHC 200 and 500. As I observed in a previous column not quite a while back, this is a very serious charge that has the potentiality of remarkably denting the image and reputation of both Mr. Greenstreet and the rump-CPP as a whole.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
14.03.2016 LISTEN

The Independence Day Brochure issue has brought about a huge disgrace to Ghana and Ghanaians all over the globe due to the negligence of some people holding some specific positions under this President Mahama NDC led government and sadly, this has not been the first, and therefore it is believed that this sort of disgrace has happened again because the First Gentleman of the land has been too weak to punish the people who were responsible for the previous due to reasons best known to himself.

Note;

The Communication Ministry has many sectors of which one of them is the Information Service Department(ISD).

This Department is the major operational agency of the Ministry.

It serves as Government's major public relations organisation both locally and abroad.

Other agencies under the Communication Ministry are;

1. General Administration

2. Ghana News Agency(GNA)

3. Ghana Broadcasting Corporation(GBC)

4. National Films and Television Institute(NAFTI)

Of which each of these agencies above has it's own role to help the Ministry function properly.

Research has shown that it is the ISD which has been responsible for the making of the Independence Day Brochure but was denied of it in this year's Independence day celebration and as a result, it is believed to have been the reason for this disgrace.

As to avoid a similar future disgrace of the country, Critical Thinkers International(CTI) is of the firm belief that President Mahama should be strong enough to punish anyone who has failed or fails in his responsibility in the future.

Note;

The Communication Ministry is headed by Dr Omane Boamah.

Stan Dogbe is the head of the Communication Bureau at the Flagstaff House.

Due to the function of this office not very different from that of the Communication Ministry, it is seen by most political analysts as a CLONE of the Communication Ministry, which might have just been created to serve as one of the avenues for the "Job For The Boys" and therefore making this office not very necessary for the welfare of the country.

Francis Kwarteng Arthur was sacked from his position as the Acting Director of ISD after accepting and apologising for the error that has brought about this huge disgrace.

Before his sack, he was under the supervision of either Dr. Omane Boamah or Stan Dogbe or both depending on the issue he is working on at any particular point in time.

With respect to this Independence Day Brochure, he was under the supervision of both because of the direct relation of this brochure to the President, Ghana and the outside world.

Unless otherwise quoted by Government, it is believed by CTI that Francis Kwarteng Arthur was sacked due to one or all of the reasons below;

1. The misrepresentations, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in the brochure.

2. His employment of a private company to do the entire brochure instead of the ISD of which he heads, which is responsible to handle such a task.

If it is any or both of the above reasons then Stan Dogbe and Dr. Omane Boamah are all as guilty as Francis Kwarteng Arthur and should also dance to same music that Francis Kwarteng is dancing to because they are his superiors and so they are to make sure everything Francis Kwarteng Arthur does is right/correct and appropriate before it is pushed to the public.

Finally, since it has been confirmed that the creation of this year's Independence Day brochure was dodged from ISD with Stan Dogbe to have denied the fact that it was his company, eventPR which did it, we are calling on government to brief us on the following;

1. Which company was employed to do it?

2. What kind of Public Procurement Method(Competitive bidding, Single Sourcing and others) was used to choose that company?

3. How much did the company charge?

Thank you.

Hhhmm, may God be praised always

...........SIGNED...........

Critical Thinkers International

[email protected]

http://www.criticalthinkersghana.blogspot.com

......SPOKEPERSONS......

Nana Kwadwo Akwaa..................... 00233246913905 / 00233209676413

Adiepena Mirekua Sarpong........... 00233244570177 / 00233508710909

Innocent Supremo Tetteh..:............ 00233243266937

Nana Kyei Baffour.......................... 008615580214166

Edward Brobbey...........

00233543976783
Hundreds of people at Kpodzie in the Adaklu District of the Volta Region have benefited from a health screening exercise organised by Divine Mother And Child (DMAC) Foundation and supported by Joy Industries.

The exercise which lasted for almost nine hours saw about 700 hundred attendants going through diabetes, blood grouping, hepatitis B among many others.

Executive Director of DMAC Foundation, Edmund Duodu, in an interview stated their intention to assist in providing quality healthcare to Ghanaians especially to the deprived.

According to him, the wellbeing of individuals and the nation depends on good healthcare and pledged their continuous support in that direction.

"We are committed to help provide accessible healthcare to the ordinary Ghanaian to help in the development of the individual and country at large," he explained.

He, however urged, the public to take issues concerning their health seriously in order to live healthy lives at all times.

Some attendants who participated in the exercise expressed gratitude to DMAC Foundation and Joy Industries for their care and support and urged them to periodically undertake the exercise since access to quality health care in the area remained a challenge.
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Honourable Boforo, Mary Salifu (Hajia), Member of Parliament (MP) for Savelugu has called on Ghanaians to vote enormously for women contesting Parliamentary seats in this years election.

She said the November 7 general elections especially that of the parliamentary present an opportunity to increase the number of women in parliament as part of efforts to attain gender parity by 2030.

Delivering a statement on the floor of Parliament on behalf of the Women Caucus of Parliament on the celebration of the 2016 International Womens Day, in Her capacity as the Chairperson of the Women Caucus, she said the World and Ghana in particular have much to celebrate, but was quick to add that progress towards achieving gender parity has slowed in many places.

On March 8 annually, countries celebrate the contributions of women to the socio-economic and political achievements of their nation. This day is also set aside to reflect and renew commitments towards the achievement of gender parity in all orbs of human endeavors.

The United Nations adopted Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality as the global theme for this years celebration of the International Womens Day.

Ghana on the other hand chose Gender Equality by 2030: Inclusion of All for Ghanas Sustainable Development.

A report by the World Economic Forum in 2015 predicted a hundred and seventeen (117) years; that is until 2133 for the world to achieve global gender parity.

However, Hajia Boforo, regardless of been alarmed and saddened by the report, still deems that the theme for this years celebration in Ghana is possible if everybody vow to support and move towards achieving the target.

Despite this revelation, I still have hope. I believe that achieving gender parity by 2030 as declared in the Ghanas theme for this years celebration is possible if everyone; men and women in this country can pledge to take a concrete step individually and collectively now, she opined.

The First Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Hon. Mary Boforo admitted that the goal would not be attained on a silver platter because challenges rooted in our culture still remain, our young girls are still being forced into early marriages; our women are still battered by their partners and husbands.

But furthered that we need to collectively tackle these issues head-on if we are to succeed and keep the promise of our young girls alive. We need to eradicate socio-cultural practices, norms and societal attitudes that discourage women from engaging in wage employment and in some occupations such as commercial driving, welding and auto mechanics, she lamented.

Hajia Mary Salifu Boforo, who is in her twenth (20) year as an MP noted that the country must improve upon the 10.9% representation of women in Parliament and urged Corporate businesses in the country to give more opportunities to women.

Tough this year happens to be her last year as MP; she ardently urged the good people of Ghana to rally behind women in politics and beseeched Ghanaians to vote for women who want to represent their constituents in Parliament.

This years Parliamentary elections present yet another critical opportunity to increase the number of women in this august House as we make every effort to attain gender parity by 2030. It is time this country improve upon the 10.9% representation of women in Parliament.

On behalf of the Women Caucus, I wish to make a passionate appeal to the people of this country to vote massively for our women parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming polls, she supplicated
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Politics requires energy and time and so is research work. I am not comparing the two, but rather pointing out two essential ingredients for successful research work. Much as politics and research are somewhat mutually in exclusive in the instance that results of campaign polls energize the campaign team on the trail to recalibrate and focus on areas where polls are relatively weak, the quintessential power of research informs policy formulation.

As a matter of fact, in the medical field, medical research has changed the face of modern medicine. It is useful to consider in detail the scope of changes in medical approaches to some common treatment that have occurred in the past few decades as a consequence of medical research. Findings in medical research has saved millions of patients, whose lives otherwise would have been short-lived. And research continues to be the main stay of the medical field for the pursuit of solutions and or cures to some of the deadliest ailments and diseases confronting us today.

This baits the reason why, I am so happy and proud to report the ground breaking research in the medical field by a Ghanaian medical expert in the person of Dr. Methodius G. Tuuli.

His ground breaking research findings could not have come at a more opportune time than now given that the Ghana Government is calling for effective structures to be put in place to enhance research on the continent, calling for more investment in that regard.

Dr. Methodius G. Tuuli reported in his groundbreaking research that a chlorhexidine/alcohol skin antiseptic cut cesarean section surgical site infections by half, compared with a solution of iodine and alcohol ( 2016 Feb 4. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1511048 ).

He assessed that the chlorhexidine solution significantly reduced the risk of both superficial and deep incisional infections at the annual Pregnancy Meeting sponsored by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. His study was simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine ( 2016 Feb 4. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1511048 .)

For the records, Dr. Tuuli of the Washington University, St Louis, noted that the randomized trial is the first to examine the two antiseptics in obstetric surgery. According to the medical expert, the results echo those repeatedly found in the general surgical literature, and, he said, clearly show that chlorhexidine-based skin prep is more effective than the more oftenemployed iodine-based prep.

Listen to Dr. Tuuli discuss the results: We become comfortable doing the things we have always done, because thats the way we were taught, and we see no reason to change, he said in an interview. I think now is the time to make a change for our patients. http://www.obgynnews.com/specialty-focus/obstetrics/single-article-page/chlorhexidine-beats-iodine-for-preventing-c-section-wound-infections/752eeeb0752719dc57f7d74081b5ce1f.html

Dr. Tuulis study comprised 1,147 patients who delivered via cesarean section from 2011-2015. They were randomized to either a chlorhexidine/alcohol antiseptic (2% chlorhexidine gluconate with 70% isopropyl alcohol) or the iodine/alcohol combination (8.3% povidone-iodine with 72.5% isopropyl alcohol).

Both groups received standard-of-care systemic antibiotic prophylaxis. They were followed daily until discharge from the hospital, and then with a telephone call 30 days after delivery to assess whether a surgical site infection had occurred, as well as any visits to a physicians office or emergency department that were related to a wound complication.

In an interview, Dr. Tuuli said that chlorhexidine has several properties that make it more effective than iodine. It is effective against both gram-negative and gram-positive organisms, including MRSA, and is not inactivated by organic matter. Although chlorhexidine is more likely than iodine to provoke an allergic reaction, none were observed in this study ( 2016 Feb 4. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1511048 .)

There is such a great feeling about research findings. Unless, you are an author, you would probably not understand this pleasant feeling that I am talking about. It takes to present a research finding to a large audience at a conference to understand the feeling of humility and self-reassuring, a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment and a feeling of love to share your findings so that people will get to know. Thats how researchers add to knowledge.

But, above all, there is a feeling of pride which is considered mutual. Mutual at various levels; As Ghanaians, we are definitely proud of this accomplishment.

Dr. Tuulis alma mater, the University of Ghana will be excited to share in this feeling of unparalleled accomplishment and pride.

As for St. Francis Xavier Junior Seminary located in Wa, in the Upper West region of Ghana, where his academic trajectory was very positively recorded, its a fulfilment of the proverb that a thousand-mile journey always begins with a step - It all started in Xavier.

And of course, our Nandom, where we hail from. We, from Nandom are basking already in the pride of our own. Do folks still remember that famous WHAT DO YOU KNOW question from the legendary quiz master, Dan Afari-Yeboah, when he asked contestants, In which town do we have the most medical doctors in Ghana?

Different wrong answers were given and the quiz master had to save the situation by giving the right answer - Nandom - to the surprise of all. That is the community we belong to and thats how proud we are about your research findings, brother Method!

Cletus D Kuunifaa

TMC Group

Can be contacted at [email protected] , [email protected] or follow him on twitter @ckuunifaa
President John Mahama says Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta liked Ghanas Independence Day brochure and he did not notice there were mistakes in it.

President Mahama noted that the Kenyan president was rather excited by the pictures in the brochure and he did not notice he was even named Ghanas president.

Organisers of the 59th Independence Day celebrations have been heavily criticised for the grammatical, typographical and factual mistakes found in the official independence brochure.

During and after the colourful event, social media was trending with the errors in the brochure, one of which referred to Uhuru Kenyata as the President of Ghana amongst other errors.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based 3FM Monday, President Mahama said the Kenyan president was fascinated by the pictures in the brochure including that of Ghanas first president Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his family.

More soon.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)
Cairo (AFP) - Human Rights Watch urged Egypt on Monday to annul the jail sentences handed to four Coptic Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam after they were seen in a video mocking Muslim prayers.

In February, a court in the central province of Minya sentenced three teenagers to five years and a fourth to a juvenile detention centre for an indefinite period.

Defence lawyer Maher Naguib said at the time that the four had not intended to insult Islam in the video, but were instead mocking the beheadings carried out by jihadists of the Islamic State group (IS).

"Mocking (IS), or any religious group, with a childish joke is not a crime," Nadim Houry, HRW's deputy director for the Middle East said in a statement.

"Instead of giving in to retrograde views on blasphemy, Egyptian authorities should protect freedom of expression."

The video was filmed on a mobile phone in early 2015 when the three teenagers who were sentenced to five years were aged between 15 and 17. None of the four have been arrested yet.

Their teacher who is also seen in the video was sentenced to three years in jail.

In the video, one teenager can be seen kneeling on the ground and reciting Muslim prayers while others stand behind him, laughing.

Later one of them is seen making a sign with his thumb to indicate the beheading of the one who is kneeling.

"The continued prosecution of blasphemy cases in Egypt goes against the government's claim to be promoting a more inclusive vision of religion," said Houry.

Egypt's constitution outlaws insults against the three monotheist religions recognised by the state -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Rights groups say that in recent years there has been a rise in such cases in Egypt, with the country's morality police also stepping up operations.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says that between 2011 and 2013, 42 defendants were tried in similar cases and of them 27 were convicted.

On Sunday, Egypt sacked justice minister Ahmed al-Zind after he said on television that he would arrest even "a prophet" in remarks that sparked outrage.

In December, an Egyptian court jailed controversial Muslim scholar Islam al-Behairy for one year for remarks he made on his television programme, in which he called for reforms in "traditional Islamic discourse".
14.03.2016 LISTEN

All over the airwaves currently it is Donald Trump making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Every now and again he makes one controversial statement after the other as to what he would do if he were to become Americas next leader. Foremost among his intentions is the policy he would immediately implement to deny prospective immigrants to America as well as so-called illegal immigrants he would want to ship back to their respective original home countries.

What Mr. Trump forgets is that he is also indirectly an immigrant in America because that country is strictly a land of immigrants of which those of German descent are in the majority. Mr. Trump should know that his ancestors also immigrated to the then New World from Europe and so he is also strictly not a native of that landmass. The actual owners of America are the native Indians who as I speak are almost extinct following their deliberate extermination by the white Europeans when they arrive in the New World.

Today as we speak, the quadrennial ritual of selecting Americas next President is ongoing and as always, it has generated a lot of heat and already some candidates have fallen along the line. Foremost among such victims is John Edward Bush ((Jeb) Bush), a candidate who happens to be of the political establishment class and thus suffered as a consequence. However, given the happenings in the primaries of the Grand Old Party (GOP)  the Republican Partythe foremost heirloom by Honest Abe to his fellow Americans, it is very likely that another candidate of the political establishment, Hilary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat, will likely become Americas 45th President come next January, even though most Americans would not have wanted it so.

This is because the broader masses of Americans cannot fathom why those voting in the primaries of the GOP keep giving the baton to the vainglorious Donald Trump in almost all the state primaries, who though an astute business magnate of the global exclusive club of billionaires, has scored zeroes through his foul-mouthing this far. Every act of this man so far on the campaign trail, who looks lost to the realities of our present World, has been RACIST at best and utter DISDAIN for other demographics or persuasions at worst. Barring a miracle, his selection as the presumptive nominee of the GOP for the 2016 presidential elections is almost a done deal.

However, in case that happens, the majority of Americas non-party affiliated citizens will surely hand the presidency to Mrs. Clinton, in case she also becomes the Democratic nominee. And if that happens, the World will be spared the emergence of a certain incendiary of a Mr. President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Worlds most resourced military and most likely, yet another unjustifiable invasion of another sovereign country on a non-existent excuse.

P. OKAE

ADENTAN-ACCRA
On 14 March 2016, the Council concluded consultations with Burundi under article96 of the EU-ACP partnership agreement (Cotonou agreement). Commitments proposed by the Burundian government are insufficient to address the EU concerns. The EU has suspended direct financial support to the Burundian administration, including budget support, but is fully maintaining both its financial support to the population and its humanitarian assistance.

In its decision, the Council also set out specific measures to be taken by the Burundian government that could lead to the resumption of full cooperation.

Federica Mogherini, High Representative for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.said: " The situation in Burundi remains of serious concern for the EU, though we have seen recently some glimpses of hope. Today's decision makes clear that for our relations to be fully resumed we expect a number of concrete measures to be carried out. The action we are seeking is achievable with will and determination: it builds on measures and processes already set in motion by the African Union, the East African Community and the United Nations, and welcomed by the 5 African Heads of State mandated by the African Union. In particular we believe it can support the inter-Burundian dialogue mediated by the East African Community which is key to finding a durable political solution to the crisis."

Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, added: "The EU is, and will remain, firmly committed to supporting the Burundian people in this crisis, which has already cost more than 400 lives, left thousands injured and forced over 240 000 people to take refuge in neighbouring countries. We reaffirm our full solidarity with the people of Burundi, who are the first victims of this crisis. We urge the government to show commitments needed to resume normalisation of our relationship with Burundi. Meanwhile, EU funded projects which aim to ensure access to basic services for the population, but without channelling financial resources through accounts held by the Government of Burundi, are being prepared and the EU remains committed to providing emergency assistance".

The Council's decision will be reviewed regularly, at least once every six months, including through joint monitoring missions by the European External Action Service and the Commission.

Background

On 8 December 2015, consultations took place with the Burundian government under article96 of the Cotonou agreement in order to examine these concerns and find ways to remedy them. The dialogue was held in the presence of representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the African Union, the East African Community, and the United Nations.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the necessary measures to ensure a swift return to compliance with democratic principles and values, human rights and the rule of law, on the basis of the Cotonou agreement and the principles set out in the Arusha agreements. Burundian government representatives proposed commitments. However, these have so far been judged unsatisfactory by the EU.

Article 96 provides the legal basis for the suspension of the Cotonou agreement, following a period of dialogue, in cases where one of the parties feels that the agreement's essential and fundamental elementsare not being respected.
Journalists are kindly invited to cover the official visit of the Italian President, H.E Sergio Mattarella to the African Union Commission, tomorrow Tuesday, 15 March 2016, as from 4 pm. The Italian President will be received in audience by H.E Dr, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) at the headquarters of the AU Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Venue: Small Conference Hall 1, on the second floor of the New Conference Center.

The Italian President will be accompanied during this visit by the Minister of Education, University and Research, Stefania Giannini, and by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mario Giro.

At the end of the visit, President Mattarella and H.E Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will deliver a press statement.

JOURNALISTS SHOULD ARRIVE EARLIER PLEASE AS FROM 3:30 PM.
Turkish police have raided the offices of Zaman, the country's biggest newspaper, hours after a court ruling placed it under state control.

Police entered the building in Istanbul late on Friday, firing tear gas at protesters who had gathered outside.

Zaman is closely linked to the Hizmet movement of influential US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Mr Gulen was once an ally of Mr Erdogan but the two fell out.

Many Hizmet supporters have been arrested.

The government in Ankara has come under increasing international criticism over its treatment of journalists.

'End of democracy'

The court ruled on Friday that Zaman, that has a circulation of some 650,000 , should now be run by administrators. No explanation was given.

Later, hundreds of Zaman supporters gathered outside the newspaper's offices to protest at the state takeover. One held a placard saying, "We will fight for a free press."

Police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

"I believe that free media will continue even if we have to write on the walls," Zaman's editor-in-chief Abdulhamit Bilici said shortly before the raid. "I don't think it is possible to silence media in the digital age."

He was speaking to the Cihan news agency, which was also affected by the court order.

In a tweet, Zaman journalist Emre Soncan wrote: "Turkey's government confiscated one of the country's last critical voices, #Zaman Daily.. The end of democracy."

His colleague Abdullah Ayasun tweeted: "An army of riot police inside Zaman. They threw me out."

Earlier, Zaman said Turkey was going through its "darkest and gloomiest days in terms of freedom of the press".

The newspaper's website was still functioning on Saturday, but did not carry news of the raid.

Dozens of police officers were later seen inside Zaman's main office in Istanbul

The US state department described the takeover as "the latest in a series of troubling judicial and law enforcement actions taken by the Turkish government".

The move against Zaman comes days after Turkey's Constitutional Court ordered the release from detention of two Turkish journalists charged with revealing state secrets.

Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, from the newspaper Cumhuriyet, were detained in November over a report alleging that the Turkish government had tried to ship arms to Islamists in Syria.

The pair still face possible life sentences at their trial on 25 March.

Last year, two newspapers and two television channels were put under state administration over their alleged links with the Hizmet movement.

Freedom of the press in Turkey


Istanbul  THE virtual control he already has of a majority of Turkey s newspapers and TV stations apparently isnt enough for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan . On Friday, with the zeal of its despotic leader, his government seized my paper, Todays Zaman, and its parent, the Turkish-language Zaman, which is the highest-circulating daily in the country. Together, these titles were two of the few remaining independent voices inside Turkey  and Todays Zaman, in particular, was a reliable English-language news source for diplomats, academics and expatriates.

On Friday, a government-controlled court appointed trustees to take over the newspapers in what amounts to a politically motivated assault. At midnight, protesters faced tear gas and water cannons as riot police stormed our Istanbul headquarters.

The authorities used power tools to force open the iron gate to the building. The following day, our Internet connection was cut off to stop staff members from working on a special edition about the takeover. Since then, the authorities have been unplugging the newspapers servers, destroying our digital archive.

Some hours after the raid, I told the police officer smoking a cigarette outside the main gate, This is a nonsmoking area. He replied: Not anymore. That response underscores a broader shift in Turkey: a dangerous trajectory toward an end of the rule of law.

Its bad enough that more than 20 Turkish journalists are behind bars. But Friday will be remembered as the day when media freedoms were even more severely curtailed, in flagrant violation of the Constitution.

In November, two prominent Turkish journalists, Can Dundar and Erdem Gul, senior editors of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, were arrested on charges of aiding an armed terrorist organization and publishing material that threatened state security. They were released last month, after the constitutional court ruled that their rights had been violated, but still face trial and, if convicted, possible life sentences. Mr. Erdogan said he had no respect for the court decision that led to their release.

This pressure is not a recent thing. In December 2014, state authorities detained Zamans editor in chief at the time, Ekrem Dumanli, as part of a systematic crackdown on government critics . My predecessor as editor in chief of Todays Zaman, Bulent Kenes, was imprisoned last October for critical Twitter comments. I myself received a suspended jail sentence late last year for somebody elses response to one of my tweets.

Protesting the government takeover of Zaman newspaper, in Istanbul. EMRAH GUREL / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Why have we been targeted by the president? According to the court order, these newspapers are accused of disseminating terrorist propaganda and aiding terrorist organizations. This has become a convenient catchall accusation for clamping down on government critics.

In the past, Zaman and Todays Zaman supported the Erdogan-led Justice and Development Partys pro-Western and democracy-oriented policies, as well as its efforts to introduce reforms that would pave the way toward Turkish membership in the European Union. Since the beginning of this decade, however, Mr. Erdogan and his party have become increasingly authoritarian.

Take, for example, the polices brutal response to the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul that arose after the uprooting of trees and the construction of a shopping mall. The protests attracted worldwide news coverage and elicited criticism from Turkeys most steadfast Western allies.

In March 2014, Mr. Erdogan, who was then Turkeys prime minister (he was elected president later that year), seemed to announce the nature of the new rule  one that involves silencing all forms of dissent  when he called for social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube to be shut down. He went on to describe Twitter as the worst menace to society.

The true oppression began in 2013 after two damning corruption inquiries resulted in several cabinet ministers being forced out. Trying to turn attention away from the graft allegations, Mr. Erdogan accused critics of being part of a parallel structure organized by the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen and his Hizmet movement that was seeking to overthrow him. A witch hunt followed against bureaucrats, businesses, journalists, teachers, philanthropists and ordinary citizens with perceived sympathies for Mr. Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

His sermons were published in Zaman, but Mr. Gulen has no official ties with the media group that owns the newspapers. Yet the court order that enabled the seizure of Zaman and Todays Zaman argued, without providing any evidence, that Mr. Gulen controlled the newspapers. Many of my colleagues are inspired by his peaceful, moderate teaching  as are millions of people around the world  but it is an insult to their intelligence and integrity to suggest they are under his control.

This may be the last article I write as the editor in chief of Todays Zaman, as I objected to the new administrations censorship on the day they turned Zaman into an official mouthpiece with a pro-government cover article. The world must tell the Erdogan regime that enough is enough.

As we saw in the court ruling on Mr. Dundar and Mr. Gul, which came after the American vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., expressed support for the two journalists, the international community still has leverage over Turkey. Merely showing concern for press freedom and civil liberties in Turkey while turning a blind eye to violations for the sake of business and regional deals may pay off for now, but unless the West takes firm action to check Mr. Erdogans slide into authoritarian rule, it risks losing a stable ally and rare democracy in a Muslim-majority nation.
Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeier issued the following statement today (14March) on yesterday's attacks in Ankara and Grand Bassam:

The reports from Ankara and Grand Bassam last night are deeply shocking. I condemn these terrible attacks in the strongest possible terms. We stand side by side with the people in Turkey and Cote d'Ivoire at this difficult time. The attacks show once again that the fight against terrorism is a joint task for the international community. Determined and longterm commitment from all sides is the only way to dry up support for terrorism and its brutal apologists. I regret to confirm that a German citizen was among those killed in the attack in Cote d'Ivoire. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families and friends of all of the victims. I sincerely wish those who have been injured a speedy recovery.
Members of the police hierarchy are mourning the sudden death of one of its top members  the bold and outspoken Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Angwubutoge Awuni.

He died early this morning at the Police Hospital after a short illness.

Family members were at the hospital this morning after they were given the news of his passing.

Joy Newss Kwetey Nartey has been to the Police Hospital where the revered Commander breathed his last and reports that the staff are devastated.

Some officers who spoke to Kwetey said they are surprised and saddened by his death.

Who was DCOP Angwubutoge Awuni?

If there was one thing journalists found difficult about ACP Awuni, then it was the pronunciation of his first name, Angwubutoge.

That name in Gurune or Frafra means speaking boldly without fear or favour. DCOP Awuni lived that name and that was what endeared him to journalists and people who love the truth.

He had a no-nonsense disposition and encouraged those who served under him to do same.

DCOP Awuni has served in diverse roles in the police service. He was one time a key voice at the public relations department of the police service.

He later served as National Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTU) before becoming the first Director when the unit later became a Department.

He also served as police commander in Yendi, Nima, and the Northern Region.

Until his death, he was leading the Eastern Regional Police Command to spearhead Operation Cowleg to deal with nomadic herdsmen in the region.

Deputy Regional Police Commander, ACP James Azumah Abass, describes DCOP Awuni as an exceptional police officer.

His conduct, honesty and idea of policing was quite different from any other person. He spoke his mind and fought corruption with all his zeal and it didnt matter whose ox was gored. Awuni will put it bluntly to you when were wrong, he said.

His desire for due process compelled him to order the arrest of former Greater Accra Regional Minister Nii Armah Ashietey in 2012 when he interfered with the registration process.

DCOP Awuni was one police officer who did not shy away from admitting that there was corruption in the police service.

In a service that has challenges with living up to its motto of integrity, DCOP Awuni has demonstrated that in speech and conduct and his colleagues say he will be dearly missed.
Security Expert, Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Aning has said that Ghanas security partnerships both local and international are based on a false presumption of consistent access to information from partners.

He said the make-believe by the government that it would be informed by its international partners of any security breaches, has proven to be misguided given the recent security breaches in the country.

According to him, the counter-claim by UK authorities about the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB)s alleged partnership in the arrest of Nayele Ametefeh at the Heathrow Airport in London with 12.5kg of cocaine raises doubts about governments security partnerships.

Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, Dr Aning said security officials are expected to run a check on people who enter the country but they failed to conduct due diligence in the case of David McDermott.

McDermott, 42, is a Brit from Ormskirk, who was arrested Friday, March 11 during a joint operation involving officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) of UK and the Ghanaian Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

He is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based organized crime group and one of UKs most wanted men. He had been living in Ghana for four years on the blind side of the security officials.

McDermott is married to Romana Wampah, a step-daughter of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Wampah which has raised eyebrows.

Dr Wampah has issued a statement expressing shock at the arrest of his son-in-law by security authorities.

According to him, he unaware that McDermott was a fugitive.

McDermott's arrest in Ghana has raised questions about the country's preparedness and ability to deal with high profile criminals and armed groups.

The Director of Faculty Affairs at the Kofi Annan International Peace-Keeping and Training Centre said it is standard procedure that background checks are conducted on persons who come into contact with national figures such as the Central Bank Governor.

Dr Aning said the failure of government to clarify the contents of its security partnerships is blame for the recent security breaches.

He believes the words of the Governor could have some effects on the cedi. For him, Dr Wampah should have run a background check on McDermott as an individual.

He said he doubted if the UK government informed Ghana's security operatives about the presence of David McDermott.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
The Trade Ministry has proposed that a legislative instrument be put in place to impose a ceiling on the annual importation of cement into Ghana.

The Ministry in a statement signed by sector Minister Ekwow Spio-Gabrah stated that companies that wish to import bagged cement shall be issued a permit to avoid the chaos that has lately saddled the sector.

It added that the limited imports will prevent local manufacturers from taking undue price advantage of consumers.

Below is a copy of the full statement

PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENDED EXECUTIVE ACTION AIMED AT PROTECTING THE LOCAL CEMENT INDUSTRY FROM CHEAP IMPORTS

In recent months, there have been claims and counter claims from different interest groups in the cement import and distribution sector. The claims have revolved around alleged low-priced dumping of imported cement. Other complaints have centred on the value that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) should rate cement imported into the country. Currently, cement manufacturers in Ghana have a production capacity of nearly 9 million metric tonnes per year, while national consumption is less than 6 million; this means an overcapacity of some 3 million tonnes per annum. Current imports of more than 1 million tonnes of cement per annum places additional pressure on local manufacturers.

The conflicts in the industry have led to the filing of competing petitions by local cement manufacturers and the cement importers. This standoff is unhealthy. To bring sanity into the sector, bring relief to local manufacturers and facilitate international trade, the Ministry of Trade and Industry proposes through Legislative Instrument to impose a ceiling on the annual importation of cement into Ghana. Companies that wish to import bagged cement shall be issued a permit to avoid the chaos that has lately saddled the sector. The limited imports will prevent local manufacturers from taking undue price advantage of consumers.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry, therefore, gives all cement importers up to 31st March 2016 to register with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Companies that are legitimately licensed under the ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme are exempted from the need to apply for permits.

Comments, opinions and recommendations are welcome from legitimate stakeholders in the cement industry.

Signed

Dr Ekwow Spio-Gabrah

Minister
The Minister of Trade and Industry with oversight responsibilities for trade regulations and controls under the Import and Export Law (Act 503 Section 13) of 1995 as amended in 2000, has issued the following Administrative Directive on the purchase and export of Raw Cashew Nut (RCN).

Henceforth, all traders and processors are to note that they are allowed to purchase Raw Cashew Nuts during the main harvesting season from January to June but export of Raw Cashew Nuts is permitted only after 31st May onwards.

Any raw cashew nuts that are brought to ports or borders of Ghana for export between 31st March and 31st May, 2016 shall be confiscated to the State.

The Public is hereby obliged to take note and comply with this directive.

It has been noted with concern that as much as 95% of Ghanas total production of cashew nuts estimated at 68,000 MT is exported in its raw form to overseas for processing.

Processing of RCN into cashew kernels in Ghana increased from 4,250MT in 2009 to 17,600MT but this has plummeted reaching a very low figure of 2,500MT in 2015. This implies that the industry is operating at just 5% of its installed processing capacity of 65,890MT.

Local processors are unable to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials for processing due to intensive competition with purchases from traders at the farm gate.

This situation is stifling the Ministrys objective of promoting value addition under the National Export Development Programme (NEDP) 2016-2020 which seeks to increase earnings from the Non-Traditional Export (NTE) sector.

The survival of the industry which is processing cashew in Ghana is on the brink of collapse and will only survive on the availability of adequate supply of raw cashew nuts for processing.
The Young Peoples Guild (YPG) of the Ash-town Presbyterian Congregation in Kumasi has officially launched its 20thanniversary celebration amid colour and funfair. The theme for the anniversary is The Anointing of the Holy Spirit: Walking Closer with God.

The launching of the anniversary coincided with the Youth and Students Week of the YPG which is celebrated nationwide by the group in all Presbyterian churches. The YPG is the youth wing of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) who fall between the ages of 18 and 30 years.

In a sermon, Mr. Frederick Nartey Dugba of the Tanoso Presbyterian Congregation in Kumasi urged the youth to use the Holy Spirit received to impart positively on the lives of others and help promote the development of the nation.

Mr. Dugba said the level of indiscipline among the youth in Ghana was so alarming and needed to be addressed. He therefore, advised the youth to study and abide by the Bible regularly.

He further advised the youth to eschew all negative acts such as fornication, stealing and pride. He also advised parents to show deep interest in the education and well-being of their children.

In an address, Mr. Richard Odomako Opoku, President of the Ash-town Presbyterian YPG, said the groups main focus was to help address the increasing moral decadence among the youth. He said this was being done through the continuous sharing of the Word of God, adding that the group has played a remarkable role in the growth and development of the Ash-town Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Opoku said activities outlined for the anniversary celebration included evangelism and all-night services, clean-up exercise, blood donation and eye screening exercise, games, and a thanksgiving service.

He called on all members of the church and other religious bodies to join them in the celebration of the anniversary.

The official launching of the anniversary was done by the resident Catechist, Bismark Adjei, and pledged the support of the church leadership for the organization of the activities outlined for the anniversary.
Guwahati: The 45th National Safety Week, observed at Nagaon Paper Mill (NPM), Kagajnagar on 4-11 March witnessed a series of activities including administering of safety pledges, wearing of safety badges by the employees, safety essay writing competitions, display of safety banner & posters with discussions over various industrial safety related issues.

The celebration kicked off with the hoisting of safety-day flag by Paban Kumar Bhuyan, chief executive/consultant (technical) of the NPM, a unit of Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited on 4 March 2016. It was followed by the pledge taking ceremony administered in Hindi, Assamese and English by Ashok Kr Roy, acting general manager (works) in presence of employees representatives Ananda Bordoloi and Atul Mahanta.

The winners of various competitions were honoured by the high level NPM officials including GK Choudhury, inspector of factories, Nagaon. Karan Konwar, a contract worker for Das electrical working under the electrical department was appreciated for his recent brave works to protect human life in a critical situation.

The concluding meeting was addressed Rajesh Kr Jha, Dhiren Borah, Lalit Raj, Nilakshi Konwar, JN Gogoi with others where NPM safety manager Dwijen Thakuria welcomed the guests and explained the importance of the safety related observations in the industrial avenues.
The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, HE Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, today received credentials from the newly appointed Australian Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. John Feakes.

In the discussion following, the President highlighted both the challenges facing Somalia and the significant progress made in sectors like security, democratization, and federalism.

The President acknowledged Australia's support for Somalia, especially the recent seizure of a vehicle carrying illegal weapons to Somalia which was apprehended by an Australian frigate.

The President particularly highlighted the need for a national youth skill and job creation initiative that reduces young people's vulnerability and provides them with skills they need to look after their families and contribute positively to the future of Somalia.

Ambassador Feakes congratulated the President and the Federal Government of Somalia for the progress made across Somalia in all sectors. He said Australia, and the rest of the world, are aware of the hardship and the challenges under which the Somali government is operating.

Ambassador Feakes thanked Somalia and the President for the warm reception, and promised to work on boosting the relationship between the two countries, ensuring ongoing development support to Somalia, including potential private sector investment and other initiatives.

The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon. Ahmed Ali Kadiye and other dignitaries were present.
AAGs Programme Manager for Greater Accra/Volta Region, Henrietta Lamptey, officially launches the womens association

14.03.2016 LISTEN

Over 15 years ago, ActionAid Ghana launched the Kpobiman Womens Association.

The group consisted of mobilised women from the Kpobiman community and its environs in the Ga West District.

The objective was simple. To empower women.

Although women constitute more than half of Ghanas population, they are one of the most marginalised groups in Ghana.

UNESCO estimates that of about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills, two-thirds are women.

In the United States, a wide gender pay gap exists. For every dollar a man is paid, a woman is paid 78 cents for that same job.

Out of 275 seats in parliament, women occupy just 30 in Ghana. This inequality affects how issues affecting women are mainstreamed and addressed.

In poor and marginalised communities, women have little access to education much less completing school, a factor attributed to early marriages, unpaid care work, and negative cultural practices in a patriarchal system that promotes the development of the male child as against females.

These and many other inequalities are the reason for the creation of womens groups.

ActionAid Ghanas womens group members originate from the communities we work in.

The groups help women identify with each others development issues, leading them to motivate and challenge themselves.

Some of the objectives of the womens groups include;

Promoting and strengthening women's leadership, both as a goal in itself and to ensure that women's concerns are prioritised in negotiations with stakeholders.

Organising women in the community for their social and economic development.

Empowering women through capacity-building on various issues including but not restricted to: sexual and reproductive health rights, unpaid care work, decent work and economic rights, leadership and participation in decision-making.

At the Kpobiman Womens Association, the lives of women have been enriched through essential skills training in soap-making, bread and pastry making, and many others.

The President of the association, Selina Avevor, also doubles as the Assembly Woman for the Kutunse Electoral Area, helping to highlight the needs of women at the local community level.

Lauding the success of the Kpobiman Womens Association, ActionAid Ghana, on 08 March, launched 4 more womens groups. The occasion coincided with the International Womens Day, a day set aside to recognise the social, political and economic achievements of women around the globe. The groups are the Treba Womens Association, Havor Womens Association, Opah Womens Association and the Kotokakorpe Womens Association.

46 year old Mercy Naadei Quansah joined the Kpobiman Womens Association 16 years ago.

According to her, through their weekly meetings and payment of dues she was able to raise money and invest it. As a member of a credible organisation, she was also able to obtain loans from the bank to start her own business.

For the past 2 years, I havent gone to take a loan from any bank. I used to be a hairdresser but with the training we received, I diverted and went into catering. Now I assist with the payment of bills at home, and also with paying for education of my children

Mercy adds that with her empowered status, she is able to cater for 6 children, including some other members of her extended family.

Doris Appertey hopes to emulate Mercys success.

Secretary of the newly inaugurated Opah Womens Association, the 44 year old says the success of the Kpobiman Womens Association is motivation for her participation.

We are hopeful that we can be as good as the Kpobiman women. They have a constitution that governs them and because of that, they have been diligent. I know that we can do the same.

Doris has undergone training on various economic skills including soap-making, which she says she is eager to share with the 12 other members of Opah Womens Association.

In the Greater Accra Region, AAG works directly in 22 communities within the Ga West, Ga East and Ga South municipalities.

The aim of the womens groups is to mobilise women living in deprived and marginalised communities and empower them through economic skills training with the purpose of strengthening development in those areas.
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Accra, March 14, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama has described as despicable and unconscionable, Sunday's terrorist attacks on Cote d'Ivoire and Turkey.

A release signed by Dr Edward K. Omane Boamah, Minister of Communications and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said President Mahama expressed Ghana's deepest condolences and sympathy to President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, the governments and people of those countries.

He also wished the injured a speedy recovery.

'Ghana stands by the two countries in their moments of profound grief and adversity. Let us work together as a global community to win the war against terrorism even as we strengthen global, regional and national security mechanisms', President Mahama stated.

On Sunday, March 13, 2016 terrorists struck the Grand Bassam beach resort in Cote d'Ivoire and the Kizilay District in Turkey during which a number of people lost their lives and several others injured.

GNA
File Photo

14.03.2016 LISTEN

When first I came across the brief news article captioned Police Officer Resigns to Campaign for Akufo-Addo (Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/25/16), I thought it was a prank or even an April Fools Joke. But when I checked my calendar, I discovered to my puzzled amusement that it was not the First of April. Then I reread the story and came to one significant conclusion. This was one heck of a very responsible and well-meaning Ghanaian law-enforcement agent who was genuinely disenchanted with the rag-tag and endlessly bumbling Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress and wanted to see a change of government as soon and as fast as possible.

The police officer whose name was given as Dianatah Nicodemus, appeared to envisage an Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government as the best alternative to enable him to appreciably improve the quality of his life. And he may be right; President John Dramani Mahama has spent most of the last year, we are told, secretly and disrespectfully negotiating with the Obama Administration for the release and hosting of hardcore and high-risk Islamist terrorists from the U.S.-operated maximum-security prison at Cubas Guantanamo Bay.

Ghanaians ought to have anticipated something in the nature of the anathema brought upon their pates by their politically irresponsible, adamant and insufferably arrogant leader, when President Mahama recently informed them that with the exceptions of former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum-Kufuor, they had absolutely no right to either criticize him personally or the government that he has established at the Flagstaff House. He intended to conduct himself and his government any way and manner he chose to, and that whoever had a problem with his style of governance could take a hike.

And so one can perhaps aptly assume that Corporal Dianatah Nicodemus is a very sensible and responsible young man who decided to heed the advice of the Bole-Bamboi Chief Resident of the Flagstaff House. At first, I readily assumed that Corporal Nicodemus was one of those Akufo-Addo kinsmen who try to spring up a prank from time to time, such as the one who established a think tank named after one of his forebears, named himself executive director of the same and began shamelessly manufacturing self-serving polling figures when the stark reality glaringly indicated something quite different.

The news report also stated that the resigned law-enforcement officer was with the New Juaben Municipal Police Command. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to read further that Officer Dianatah Nicodemus was actually a northern-descended Ghanaian citizen who intended to work hard for his keep in the 2016 Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Presidential Campaign. In return, Corporal Nicodemus reportedly expects to be rewarded with the plum post of District Chief Executive Officer which he intended to use as a stepping stone to launching a political career as a New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for his unspecified parliamentary district or constituency in the Northern Region. Now, this is a man who fully appreciates the give-and-take of realpolitik and is willing to go the whole proverbial nine yards in a bid to justifiably achieving the same.

We can only say kudos and god speed to Corporal Dianatah Nicodemus and fervidly hope that his dreams come to fruition in the not-very-distant future. Who said police officers were not permitted to dream big and actually follow up on their dreams like the rest of us? What was not the least bit clear to me from the article regarded the fact of whether Corporal Nicodemus had sought clearance from either Nana Akufo-Addo or any of the key operatives of his 2016 Presidential Campaign, in terms of his role with the campaign and any bread-and-butter issues until such time that he assumed the post of DCE and then subsequently appropriated the latter position as a spring board to his august parliamentary career.

But of course, the other aspect of my psyche which psychologists and psychoanalysts call the superego quickly pointed out to me that it was not my business vis-a-vis how Corporal Dianatah Nicodemus ended up in life. Of course, there may also be the other side of his former professional existence, in particular regarding how the young police officer felt treated by his bosses in the service. What is unarguable is the apparent fact that Corporal Nicodemus clearly appears to have since long arrived at the conclusion that his employment with the Ghana Police Service was decidedly at a dead-end. As a DCE, he would also get the chance to pass his leisure hours in a college lecture theater with the possibility of enviably earning one of those cheap MBAs and law degrees alleged to have been earned at public expense by many a deputy cabinet appointee in the Mahama government.

It is, however, not clear whether an Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, which we have been told time and again would be relatively far more fiscally disciplined, would help this young man to achieve his dreams.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
President John Mahama has urged that a simple printers devil shouldnt have been allowed to mar the beautiful celebration of the countrys 59th Independence Day on March 6.

He noted that the error-ridden anniversary brochure, that has been the subject of discussions on several forums, was unfortunate and a clear case of the printers devil.

Organisers of the 59th Independence Day celebrations have been heavily criticised for the grammatical, typographical and factual errors in the official independence brochure.

During and after the colourful event, social media was trending with the errors in the brochure, one of which referred to Uhuru Kenyata as the President of Ghana.

The errors have caused embarrassment beyond Ghana's borders with the country becoming the laughing stock among her peers.

The controversy generated by the brochure caused the dismissal of the Acting Director of the Information Service Department (ISD), Francis Kwarteng Arthur .

Commenting on the saga, in an interview on Accra-based 3FM Monday, he said, Im sure in communication you people call it the printers devil. Its unfortunate. I think those mistakes are avoidable.

President Mahama noted that the Chief of Staff is working on it to make sure that, that doesnt happen again, and was of the view that, the event, was a beautiful celebration. I dont think should have been marred by something as simple as the printers devil in a brochure.

He urged that steps must be taken to make sure we dont suffer any such embarrassment in the future.

Asked why the ISD boss was sacked the President said Francis Kwarteng Arthur said he saw the mistakes in the morning and he had to take a decision whether to distribute it or not to distribute. I would have thought that the Chairman of the celebrations planning committee would have been consulted on what to do.

He noted that Mr Arthur wrote to take responsibility for the incident and added that the final decision was within the purview of the Chief of Staff to deal with [it] and make sure it doesnt happen anymore.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)
Cassava from more than 100 acres of farmlands is lost annually at Mafi Adiekpe in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region as a result of the absence of modern processing facilities.

In the farming community of about 1,500 residents, cassava is the main source of employment for residents.

Men grow the crop whiles women process them into gari using traditional technology for sale.

But community leaders say out of the more than 200 acres of land they produce cassava on each year, less than half are beneficial to them.

We cant process all because we dont have the machine. We use our manual strengthand some go rotten. Sometimes if we uproot it plenty, some go rotten before we finish peeling itAnd we find it difficult to pay our childrens school fees, a farmer told Joy news Joseph Opoku Gakpo when he visited the community.

An opinion leader in the community, Lukotome Emmanuel who has been farming for more than 30 years told Joy News last year was one of the worst years of his career.

I could have gotten 20 bags of gari but because of the loss, I got only 10 because the rest of the cassava got rotten. I lost over 2000 cedis. And I am wondering where to get money for our farming activities this year, he explained.

The farmers called on government to support them with modern tools and implements for processing the cassava they harvest.

The community also has very poor roads which make access to markets difficult, Gakpo reports.

Assembly member for the area, Julius Karl Fieve called on government to help fix the roads so food can easily get to market centers from the community.
Grand-Bassam (Ivory Coast) (AFP) - Ivory Coast authorities ordered three days of mourning and tightened security at public places and at its borders Monday as the death toll from the first jihadist attack on its soil climbed to 18.

"Their aim was to frighten us, we will not let ourselves be scared," said Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko after emergency government talks.

Armed with grenades and assault rifles, gunmen Sunday stormed three hotels and sprayed the beach with bullets in the resort of Grand-Bassam, a sleepy town popular with expats just a short 40-kilometre drive from the commercial capital Abidjan.

The attack claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) left 15 civilians dead, including a German woman, as well as killing three special forces troops, the government said. A total of 33 people were injured, 26 of whom are still in hospital.

France said four of its nationals were among the dead.

AQIM's real target was France, analysts said, punished both as Ivory Coast's former colonial master and for hunting down jihadists in Mali and elsewhere.

Bakayoko said "three terrorists were killed" in the assault.

Asked whether more gunmen were involved -- some witnesses had reported six attackers -- the minister said "we're still looking. We don't suspect more but we're making sure we carry out the widest possible sweep."

Along with a three-day national mourning period starting Monday, he said the West African nation would boost security at "strategic sites and in public places... (such as) schools, embassies, international institutions... and the borders."

In the latest such jihadist assault in West Africa, witnesses described the panic as gunfire rang out across the sand and an assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest".

- 'I thought this was it' -

Condemnation came from around the world with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledging to help government "efforts to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice."

French President Francois Hollande's office said the attack would not deter France in its efforts to combat extremist violence at home or in its former colonies in Africa.

"France will support Ivory Coast in its initiatives to fight terrorism and considers that cooperation between all the states threatened by terrorist groups, particularly in West Africa, must intensify more than ever," a statement said.

It was the third such attack in four months in West Africa and a blow to a nation working to lure back foreign tourists to its palm-fringed beaches and rainforests as it recovers from a brutal civil war.

The German victim was named as 51-year-old Henrike Grohs, who headed Abidjan's Goethe Institute, the German language centre's secretary-general said.

Grand-Bassam is packed at weekends with visitors drawn by its magnificent beaches and UNESCO-listed colonial-era buildings.

Inside a hotel crowded with expats, an AFP journalist saw a bullet lodged in the front of the bar refrigerator and a large pool of blood on the floor.

Carine Boa, a Belgian-Ivorian teacher at an international high school in Abidjan, was at one of the beach bars with her two sons when the gunmen arrived.

"We were really scared. We thought of the people at the Bataclan," she said, referring to the concert venue attacked by gunmen during November's terror attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

"I thought this was it for us," she said.

Among the hundreds gathered at the attack site Monday morning was a woman in tears as she looked for her missing son, a vendor at the beach.

"He's not in hospital and not at the morgue," she said. "I don't know where he is. He's handicapped."

- Fears run high -

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group said AQIM, the terror group's North African affiliate, had claimed responsibility.

West African nations have scrambled to boost security after jihadist attacks in November and January on upscale hotels in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso that were also claimed by the group.

Sunday's attack also bore grim similarities to the Islamist gun and grenade assault on a Tunisian beach resort last June, which left 38 foreign holidaymakers dead.

"Hitting Ivory Coast is clearly a way of attacking France's historical ally in the region," said Antoine Glaser, author of a recently published critical account of French colonisation in Africa called "Arrogant comme un Francais en Afrique" (Arrogant like a Frenchman in Africa).

Robert Besseling of Exx Africa, a specialist intelligence company, said the attack should not have come as a surprise.

"Cote d'Ivoire has been receiving warnings for at least a year from France's intelligence service that Islamist militants are planning to attack major cities," said Besseling, using the French name for Ivory Coast.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders condemns the attack in Grand-Bassam in Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday that caused dozens of casualties, including Ivorian citizens and foreigners present in this beach resort. He offers his condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the attack. He expresses the solidarity of our country with Cote d'Ivoire,its people and its authorities.

Hitting civilians and unarmed tourists is a cowardly act. Those deeds are also aimed at the tourist sector, which contributes to employment and growth. The international community must stand ready to support Cote d'Ivoire not only in the fight against terrorism, but also against radicalism and illegal activities as breeding grounds for terror.
14.03.2016 LISTEN

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare has described governments decision to issue visa on arrival to citizens of the African Union (AU) as an opportunity to boost investments in the country.

Ghana is to start issuing visa on arrival to citizens of all 54 AU member countries from July 2016.

President John Mahama disclosed this during the countrys Independence Day Celebration in Accra.

Ghana currently offers visa-free entry for citizens of 15 countries within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Speaking at the sidelines of the 50th International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade fair, Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare said the presidents announcement will ensure that travellers go through a hassle-free process in the acquisition of visa.

Visa has always been a challenge for travellers and now that you don't need to acquire a visa prior to your journey, it will encourage more people to come and see our beautiful country, she maintained.

She also underscored the investment and job-creation opportunities the move holds for especially the country's tourism sector.

There will be good businesses for hotels, restaurants and it also encourages people to invest in our country. When there is more traffic, there is the need for this people to sleep in hotels and eat in restaurants.

What it means is that if you invest in hotels and restaurants, there will be good returns on your investments. The more the restaurants and the hotels, the more people they will employ she noted.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare also held discussions with Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Dr. Taleb Rifai and colleague Tourism Ministers from Kenya, Gambia and Sierra Leone.

The sector minister led Ghanas delegation to participate in the 50th International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin.

The delegation included officials from the Ghana Tourism Authority and Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts as well as private players in the tourism sector such as Sunseekers Tours, Jet Away Travels, Land Tours, Apstar Tours, Ghana Airports Company Limited, Golden Tulip Hotel Accra, and Ghana Tourist Development Company.
A 93-year-old Ohio woman has received the high school diploma she was denied in 1942 because of rules that expelled married students.

Dorothy Liggett was a few weeks from graduation from Akron's North High School when officials discovered she was married.

Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James hand-delivered the diploma to Liggett in a surprise ceremony Wednesday in suburban Fairlawn, The Akron Beacon Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1LTmUnE ).

Liggett's daughter Janice Larkin had written to James about her mother.

James said he read the letter and researched what happened.

"I felt terrible for the way Mrs. Liggett was treated all of those years ago and wanted to do what we could to make it up to her," James said. "To have invested 13 years in school, to have been a good student and still not receive a diploma because of that, was simply wrong."

Liggett and her late husband, John Huston, had run away to Kentucky to get married after he was called into the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Huston graduated from North High School two years earlier. The two had planned to have Liggett join her husband after she graduated.

During one school day, Liggett forgot her gym attire and the teacher told her to go to study hall. Liggett said she replied, "No, I'm married. I'm going home."

The school then acted on its policy to ban married students.

Superintendent James said they felt Ligget's birthday was the perfect occasion to make amends.

"While it may be an honor for Dorothy, for us it is a long overdue recognition," James said.
Global shipping and logistics conglomerate, Maersk Group, has expressed its commitment to continue investing in Ghana.

The group which operates in some 130 countries in a wide range of activities in the shipping, logistics, and the oil and gas industries with a workforce of over 88,000 employees are celebrating 25 years of operations in Ghana.

Maersk, through its subsidiary APM Terminals, is operating the containers terminal Meridian Port Services (MPS) in Tema in conjunction with partners. APM Terminals has now joined forces with its partners in MPS to investment some $1.5billion in expanding the Port of Tema.

The Maersk Group Chief Executive Officer, Nils S. Andersen in his second visit to Ghana in less than 2 years, described his companys partnership with Ghana so far as positive and productive hence, the decision to invest more in the country.

Ghana is important to the Maersk Group. Ghana represents 5 percent of Maersk Lines business in Africa, which is quite a lot, and its a country where we want to invest more. He said his visit is therefore to strengthen the 25-year partnership he noted.

He further revealed the company wants to play an active role in the future growth of Ghana through investments in trade, infrastructure, and energy.

Together with our partners, we have committed $1.5billion dollars to the expansion of the port in Tema which would create probably the largest and most modern terminal in the sub-Saharan Africa. This will enable Ghana's trade for the coming decades and support more efficient flows of exports as well as imports Mr. Andersen said.

According to him, plans are far advanced for the project to kick-start as the design and tender for the construction of the new port is being finalized.

We are still waiting for the last approval of the final agreement with the authorities but we have progressed quite far and we are very enthusiastic about the opportunities.

He added the construction of a new container terminal as part of the Tema Port expansion project will ensure a seamless transfer from the old to the new terminal to the benefit of the economy.

It will boost employment and allow the country export and import larger quantities of goods which are very important for securing growth in a country like Ghana. Together with our partners, we also have a principle agreement with the government to expand the road from Tema to Accra which will massively improve the infrastructure and logistic efficiency between the port and the main city. This is aside from the $1.5billion dollars project so all in all, it is a massive initiative that will really improve the logistic efficiency of the country, he said.

Plans for more offshore oil and gas service activities

Nils Andersen revealed that Maersk Group has a very large drill ship working offshore in the oil fields of ENI, describing the operations which started last year as steadily progressing and ahead of schedule.

He said the Group would like to offer more offshore equipment and offshore services.

There is a number of good oil companies operating in Ghana and we have very good drilling exploration platforms as well as supply vessels available for servicing so we are looking at exploring further opportunities. We also plan to offer the services of the largest tugboat operator in the world, Svitzer, which is also part of the Maersk Group he said.

Ghana as an open economy

Ghana, according to him is an open economy which has embraced globalization and containerization very well.

He commended Ghana for embracing Public/Private Concession in Tema port more than 10 years ago  culminating in the inauguration of a modern container terminal MPS in 2007.

Container volumes have since almost tripled in terms of trade in and out of the country.

Our shipping lines Maersk Line and Safmarine handle about one-third of the total export cargo out of Ghana. We are also the largest carrier of the export commodity, cocoa out of Ghana and we are proud of being part of the process of serving the needs of the country, Nils S. Andersen concluded.
Lawyer for the British fugitive arrested in Ghana over illicit drugs is accusing state prosecutors of violating the rights of his client.

Victor Adawudu says his client, David McDermott has been denied his right to counsel three days after he was arrested.

McDermott, 42, was picked up on Friday for his role in a 71 million worth of cocaine imported into the United Kingdom in 2013.

He is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks. He is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.

Until his arrest, Friday, McDermott has been in Ghana for some three years and is married to the daughter of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

He was hauled before an Accra Circuit Court, Monday, on charges of illegal possession of drugs and dealing in narcotics. He has pleaded not guilty.

He has been remanded to reappear at a later date.

His lawyers are however angry at the manner in which the state has handled the matter.

Victor Adawudu told Joy FM's Evans Mensah Ghana is a country of laws so "good governance and respect for human rights should be the hallmark."

He does not understand why state prosecutors will prevent him from meeting his client, three days after he was arrested.

He was even more angry that his client was sent to the court without the necessary legal representation.

According to him, several attempts to see his client have been to no avail. "He had been "incommunicado," he said, adding, this "Kangaroo mentality" by state prosecutors must stop.

"It is so sad. Due process must be followed," he pleaded. He said his client is not feeling too well and also needs to have access to his pregnant wife.
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Some youths of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Kpatinga in the Gushiegu constituency in the Northern Region have threatened to vote against the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) if the deposed District Chief Executive (DCE) is not reinstated.

They alleged the MP, Thomas Nassau, caused the removal of the DCE, Alhaji Alhassan Fuseini because he had a quarrel with him and felt his ambition to get re-elected will be threatened if he is not removed.

The leader of the group, Shahad Seidu said the partys fortunes in the coming election is in danger because its key supporters are angered by the development.

Seidu said the chief of Kpatinga and some key opinion leaders in the community have expressed their misgivings and readiness to vote against the MP.

According to him, the removal of Alhaji Fuseini will end the peace process he initiated to end clashes in the area.

Kpatinga and its surrounding areas are under curfew because of recent series of political and chieftaincy clashes.

However, since the curfew came into force, Kpatinga has experienced peace which the youths believe became possible because of the work that was done by Alhaji Fuseini.

Seidu said the newly appointed DCE, Abdulai Seidu, is a threat to the peace process and government must reconsider his appointment.

The feud between Thomas Nassau and Alhaji Fuseini according to Joy News' Hashmin Mohammed, dates back to the DCE's defeat in the NDC's constituency parliamentary primaries.

The incumbent MP polled 2,494 votes whiles the former DCE recorded 2, 447 votes.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | [email protected]
To H.E. John Dramani Mahama and All Patriotic Ghanaians

Introduction.

The sudden reemergence of the self-styled Homeland Study Group Foundation ( HSGF) in the Volta Region, threatens the security of Ghana and that of the West African sub-region. Its claim of homeland is unfounded, and its demand for a semi-autonomous region for a so-called Western Togoland is bogus; and, thus violates the constitution of Ghana between 1957 and 1992. Their perceived homeland was the western part of the former German colony, which was placed under the British colonial administration by the League of Nation in 1922, and the UN Trusteeship Council in 1945. The western part of the UN Trust territory included: (1) the northern Ewes in the Volta Region (Ho-Hohoe-Kpandu environs), (2) Jasikan-Worawora-Buem-Kete-Krakyi environs, (3) the eastern part of Northern Region (east Gonja-Salaga area, Dagbon kingdom of Yendi), and (4) the eastern part of Upper East Region (Mamprusi and Kussasi district, Pusiga/Nalerigu-Bawku-Bimbila-Gambaga). The key question is, who appointed the HSGF in the southern part of the Volta Region to speak for the Akans and Guans in the northern part of Volta Region, as well as the people in the eastern parts of the Northern and Upper East Regions? A closer look at their ridiculous demand and the ethnic makeup of their leaders clearly tie them to the activities and objectives of the All Ewe Conference and its offspring Togoland Congress (the thesis of my 1977 MA degree in history). But what makes the HSGF a toxin in our midst is its deliberately concocted interpretation of the terms of the 1956 UN Plebiscite, during which the majority of the citizens in the UN Trust territory (under the British colonial administration) freely voted for integration with the Gold Coast. The ludicrous demand of the HSGF therefore violates Article 4 (1) of the 1992 constitution. As well, its false claims and demands are typical of all terrorist groups across the world. Hence, it must be outlawed, and its leaders apprehended and tried in accordance with the laws of the land.

Mischaracterization of British Togoland as Homeland and Western Togoland.

First, to refer to the western portion of the former German Togoland, which was placed under the British colonial administration after the First and Second World wars, as homeland is incomprehensible. Prior to Germanys arbitrary demarcation and colonization of a territory it called Togoland in 1884, there was no kingdom or territory called Western Togoland. No ethnic loyalty on a larger scale was realized throughout Germanys occupation. When Britain therefore took over in 1922, there were no remains of large Ewe states as was the case of the Akans or Ga-Adangme on which to build. The western portion of the UN Trust territory was, therefore, not a homeland to any particular kingdom (Kwame Botwe-Asamoah, 1977 MA Thesis; F. M. Bourret).

Secondly, homeland refers to an unlawful occupation or annexation of a kingdom or country by a powerful external force denying the birth rights of the natives, including the right to self-determination, freedom of expression or speech, freedom of association and freedom to choose their leaders. Fact is, it was the Germans, who in July 1884 unlawfully announced protectorate over 21, 260 sq. miles of land and named it Togoland (UN Trusteeship Council Document T/pet). So to refer to the western portion of the former German Togoland (now forming part of the Eastern, Volta, Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana) as Western Togoland and homeland by the so-called Homeland Study Group Foundation, is out of sync with the political history of the territory.

In the accounts of F.M. Bourret, the Ewes had acknowledged British protection, even before the German occupation. During its colonization of Togoland, the German atrocities led to the adage that Death is better than a German prison (Katharine Skinner). That notwithstanding, the whole Eweland on both sides of todays Ghana and Togo came under British control throughout the First World War. In 1922, the Mandated Commission received reports indicating that the inhabitants in the Eweland appeared more satisfied to return to British rule (Bourret). It meant that if the League of Nations were to consider the consensus among the Ewes, their land, property and family ties would have remained undisturbed. In other words, all the Ewes would have come under the British colonial administration (Kwame Nkrumah). Had that become a reality, would the HSGF be referring to their invented Western Togoland as their Homeland, and making an outrageous demand for a semi-autonomous region? What about the desires of the Akans and Guans in the northern part of the Volta Region, as well as the ethic groups in the eastern sections of the Northern and Upper East Regions?

Here, it is important to elucidate that the southern and some parts of the Eweland, including Anlo, Tongu, Peki and Awudome and their environs were organic part of the Gold Coast Colony by 1850; this was before Asante [including the Bono kingdom] and the Northern Territories were annexed to the British crown under the Governor of the Gold Coast on Sept. 26, 1900, effective January 1, 1902 (Daniel M. McFarland and David Owusu-Ansah). As well, the Eweland in the British colony was slightly larger than that of the British Togoland in the north. So why include the former in the fictitious homeland of the so-called Western-Togoland in the outrageous demand? How and when did they (Anlo, Tongu, Peki and Awudome) become part of the German colony?

Brief History of British Togoland from Mandate to Trustee.

As indicated above, between 1914 and 1920, the greater half of German Togoland, including Lome and its hinterland were controlled by Britain (UN Trusteeship Document T/pet. 6/5-T/pet. 7/6 1947). Practically, this meant that all the people of Eweland came under one administration, namely the British colonial government

But during the Paris Conference of 1922, the Supreme Council of the League of Nations mandated the Western portion of the German colony, an area of about 13,000 square miles to Britain. Subsequently, in 1924, a royal order-in-council made specific provision for the government of the mandate. Under that provision, British Togoland was divided into two sections, and placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor of the Gold Coast in accordance with section 9 of the mandate treaty. It says: this area shall be administered in accordance with the laws of the mandate as part of the Gold Coast Colony. The mandatory shall therefore be at liberty to apply her laws to the territory subject to the mandate with such modification as may be required by local conditions (Bourret). The ordinance of 1924 thus made it possible for Northern Eweland to be united with the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast.

Five districts were created in the whole territory, one in Ho and the remaining four in the northern section of the mandate. The commissioner for Ho district, an area of about 2,607 square miles, had its own court with jurisdiction up to 100 fines for both civil and criminal matters. Any case beyond this legal limits, had to be passed on to the Gold Coast courts in Accra or Koforidua (Botwe-Asamoah; Bourret).

Though the Ewes (like all colonized people) demanded the removal of the arbitrary international frontiers that had deprived them of their kinship bonds and allegiance to their kings/queens, their right to visit their families, and their right to cultivate their farms on both sides of the UN Trust territory, the Gold Coast colonial administration continued to administer the western part of the UN Trust territory till the 1956 Plebiscite.

The United Nations Plebiscite of 1956.

The UN Plebiscite was based on a recommendation by 1954 UN Trusteeship Visiting Team that a plebiscite be held in the British Togoland for the people to decide whether they wanted (1) a union with the Gold Coast at the time of its independence or (2) a continuation of the Trusteeship under British administration as a separate entity from Gold Coast, pending the ultimate determination of its political future (Kwame Nkrumah).

Two main political organizations campaigned for and against the union with the Gold Coast. While branches of the CPP in the Trust territory, especially in the north, stood for the union, the Togoland Congress (an offspring of the All-Ewe Conference) opposed it. The British Togoland, as earlier pointed out, stretched from the northern Ewe territory (Ho-Hohoe-Kpandu environs through Jasikan-Worawora, Buem-Krakyi, eastern part of Northern Region (East Gonja, Yendi/Dagbon kingdom) to the eastern part of Upper East Region (Mamprusi and Kussasi). The Ewes constituted 1/3 of the population in the UN Trust territory (Botwe-Asamoah; UN Trusteeship Council Document T/pet).

The UN Plebiscite Commissioner, Senor Eduardo Espinzosa y Priesto and Plebiscite Administrator, Sir John Dring, assisted by a team of United Nations observers, supervised the plebiscite on May 9, 1956 (Nkrumah). The people in the British Togoland voted in favor of the unification with the Gold Coast colony by overwhelming margins. The greater part of the Ewes in the southern part of the Trust territory, led by S.G. Antor of the Togoland Congress, voted against the union.

From the Union with the Gold Coast to Ghanas Independence

In the 1956 general election, contested on Unitary vs. Federal system of government, the people in the Trans/Volta Togoland freely and actively participated in the process. In the end, the CPP won eight (8) of the thirteen (13) seats in the Trans/Volta Togoland. The overall results establishing a unitary nation-state thus brought together the four separate provinces under the British colonial administration, namely the Colony, Ashanti Province, Northern Territories and Trans/Volta Togoland to become Ghana on March 6, 1957, under Kwame Nkrumahs CPP government.

So why after Ghanas independence in 1957, would this self-styled Homeland Study Group Foundation come out again in this election year to demand a semi-autonomous region for Western Togoland, which never existed? More to the point, there has never been a sovereignty called Western Togoland in Africa. There is thus no legal basis for referring to the former British Togoland as Western Togoland. On hindsight, it is an insult to the dignity of all people who lived and hail from the western part of the UN Trust Territory that they once had a country of themselves before Britain made it a part of the Gold Coast (ghanaweb.com, 11 Feb. 2016). What an insult!

As pointed out, the inhabitants in the UN Trust territory, under the British colonial administration, freely voted for a union with Gold Coast towards its independence. So to say that the British made the UN Trust territory under the British colonial government a part of the Gold Coast on the eve of independence is preposterous. The fact is, it was the British, who in 1954, submitted to the UN Trusteeship Council that Her Majestys Government would no longer be in a position to continue to administer Togoland (under the British Colonial administration) as an integral part of the Gold Coast after it attained its independence (Nkrumah; UN Trusteeship Council Document T/pet).

Likewise, the HSGFs claims that there were some conditions agreed for the union at independence (ghanaweb.com, 11 Feb. 2016), which had been betrayed is absolutely fallacious. This is the kind of claims terrorists groups often use to incite the vulnerable youth in societies to cause mayhem. For instance. the Togoland Congress, which joined forces with the NLM and NPP (Northern Peoples Party) to counter the CPP Unitary campaign in the 1956 general election, resorted to terroristic act after Nkrumahs CPP won the election. On the eve of Ghanas independence on March 6, 1957, remnants of the Togoland Congress, led by S.G. Antor (Danquahs buddy and Busias ally), formed themselves into a ragged guerilla army in Alavanyo and prepared for an armed insurrection with homemade guns against the CPP government. The Governor-General sent troops to the region to put down the revolt (Kofi Awoonor). For their part, the NLM and NPP, on November 20, 1956, sent a resolution to the Secretary for Colonies in London, demanding a separate independent state for Asante and the Northern Territories, since they were not part of the Gold Coast Colony (McFarland and Owusu-Ansah).

The CPP government of Ghana at the time of independence, inherited the territorial frontier called Gold Coast, including the British Togoland, from the British Crown on March 6, 1957. It is therefore illogical for the latent terrorist Homeland Study Group Foundation to address their unfounded claims and demand to President John Dramani Mahama. They can take their unfounded claims, if they think they have a case, to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, given the proliferation and influx of weapons into the country, as well as the on-going political tension during this 2016 election year, the government of Ghana must waste no time in dealing with the group as a covert home-grown terrorists, under the 1992 constitution.

Conclusion.

Since independence, Ghana remains one of the few lucky African countries that has not been visited by civil war, violent (political) dissention and terrorism. The saying is that big things have small beginnings. For this reason, all political parties, religious bodies, National House of Chiefs, National Peace Council and other civil societies must rally behind the Ghana Government, represented by the National Security Council and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to flush out this dangerous group from Ghana and the West African sub-region.

To be continued!

March 6, 2016

Sources

1. Awoonor, N. Kofi (1990). Ghana: A political History From Pre-European to Modern, Accra: Sedco & Woeli.

2. Bourret, F.M. (1960). Ghana: The Road to Independence, Stanford University Press

3. Botwe-Asamoah, Kwame (1997). Ewe Nationalism: A Historical Perspective, MA Degree Thesis in History, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, 1997.

4. MaFarland, M. Daniel and Owusu-Ansah, David (1995). Historical Dictionary of Ghana, Second Edition), Metuchen &London, The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

5. Nkrumah, Kwame (1957.). Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah, 2nd edition, NY, International Publishers

6. Skinner, Katharine (2007). Reading, Writing and Rallies: the Politics of Freedom in Southern British Togoland, 1953-6, University of Birmingham, 7. U.N. Trusteeship Council Doc. T/pet 6/2, T/pet 7/3, 1946; Doc. T/pet 6/5, T/pet 7/6, Aug. 1947; Doc. T/pet 6/10, T/pet 7/12, Nov. 1947 & Doc. T/pet 6/11, T/pet 7/13, June 1948.

8. We want semi-autonomy, no secession, V/R Group, ghanaweb.com, 11 Feb. 2016

Attention:

His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana

Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, Speaker of Parliament

Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, Attorney General and Minister of Justice

National Security Council.

Mr. Yaw Donkor, National Security Coordinator

Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, President of the National Peace Council

Wulugu Naba, Pugansoa Naa, Prof. John S. Nabila, President of the National House of Chiefs
Head porters in the Ashanti region are unhappy with city authorities decision to levy them daily for their operations.

Members of the Ashanti regional branch of the Kayayei Youth Association say its unacceptable for assemblies to overburden poor and vulnerable head porters with market tolls.

Secretary of the association, Dauda Ibrahim wants metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to grant head porters tax exemptions.

On the streets of Kumasi, they balance heavy loads on their heads. Its a daily struggle for survival.

Over 19,000 registered porters live and operate in the Ashanti region alone. The porters, mostly from northern Ghana are in the south in search of greener pastures. But they are taxed daily by city tax collectors.

Speaking to Nhyira FM at a two-day workshop organized by the Gender, Children and Social Protection Ministry in Kumasi, spokesperson for the porters Dauda Ibrahim called on government to exclude kayayeis from taxes.

Its not fair. Why will you tax kayayo? For what reason? The thing is; kayayo should not be taxed. They do not have. Then why should you tax them again?" Mr. Ibrahim quizzed.

Life they say is not rosy as many of the kayayeis are homeless. The women among them are sometimes raped. With no social support for them, the porters struggle to cater for their own health needs.

Some of them [porters] they come they dont have places to sleep. They sleep outside. The men will come and rape them. Sometimes the rape, we send them to DOVVSU. Mr. Ibrahim said.

Mr. Ibrahim who appealed for support for the kayayei made a chilling account on how kayayeis have been living their lives in Kumasi.

Sometimes we are forced to beg for money to settle the bills of a sick kayayei at the hospital. Their immediate need as at now, they have no access to healthcare. They have no access to health insurance cards because they have no money to go to the hospital and pay.If the government will come out to help them; register it for them freely, they are there to do it freely.

Meanwhile, Ashanti Regional Director of Department of Gender, Augustina Gyamfi who is worried at the situation says the ministry is focusing on improving the lives of kayayeis.

Its a story of the vulnerable being made more vulnerable, they say.
Students of Cape Coast Polytechnic have vacated the classrooms to force the hand of government to add the institution to the list of polytechnics to be converted into technical universities.

The students claim the polytechnic faces possible extinction if it is not converted into a technical university.

Under a new policy to improve technical education in the country, government is considering upgrading six of the ten polytechnics into universities in September 2016.

Students of the polytechnic embarked on series of demonstration alleging their conversion spot had been given to Ho Polytechnic, a claim Deputy Education Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has debunked.

On Monday, they decided to take their demonstration a notch higher with a total boycott of lectures which brought teaching and learning to a complete halt, Joy News' Central Region correspondent Richard Kojo Nyarko reported.

The students said the decision is to save the future of the institution.

According to them, one month after the school advertised its admission processes only 45 prospective students have so applied.

They suspect prospective students would rather apply to other institutions which are likely to be converted into a university than to apply to a second class rated polytechnic.

"My view about the boycotting of lectures is that i think it is in the right direction because we believe if persuasion fails force must be applied," one of the students said.

Another said: "we need to boycott lectures because we have not been treated fairly by not giving us the technical university."

The SRC president of the Polytechnic Selorm Newman Ahiagber told Joy News they would rather lose lecture hours now than to have their polytechnic lose out completely in the future.

He would rather government converts all the polytechnics into universities rather than the piecemeal conversion approach being adopted by government.

The National Council for Tertiary Education in a statement said government is committed to converting all polytechnics into universities but will do in phases until all conversion criteria are met.

The Cape Coast and Tamale polytechnics have reapplied for assessment and for possible inclusion in the number of institutions to be converted.

The PRO of the Education Ministry Francis Gbadaglo called for calm amongst the students, insisting the remaining four of the polytechnics will soon be converted once they meet the criteria for conversion.

But Newman Ahiagber is not convinced. He wanted a firm assurance from the Education Ministry as to when their application will be reassessed.
Half-Assini (WR), Mar. 14, GNA - The Western Regional branch of Mathematics Association of Ghana (MAG) is organizing a Mathematics Competition for basic and Senior High school children in the Region as part of efforts to make the subject appealing to students.

Addressing 91 pupils and students, made up 38 females and 53 males at one of such competitions at Half Assini, the Regional Secretary of the branch, Mr Emmanuel Ackah Mensah, said those who would excel in the competition would be rewarded.

Mr Mensah said the programme seeks to allay the fears and perception that the subject is very difficult.

He said Mathematics is not too difficult to learn and urged the pupils and students to discard that notion concerning the subject.

Mr Mensah said Mathematics is an important subject, adding that it is one of the core subjects in Western African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.

He said the Jomoro branch of the Association will soon be inaugurated as part of MAG's decentralization process in the country, to enable the programme reach all corners of the District.

The Secretary appealed to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to offer financial support to the Association to enhance it programmes.

Mr Mensah also appealed to corporate bodies, non-governmental organizations and philanthropists to come to the aid of the Association with funds to enable it educate the children on the importance of Mathematics.

He said the GHC 7.00 participation fee paid by participants in the competition is quite inadequate to meet the costs involved in the awards.

Mr Mensah also appealed to companies on the Jubilee Field to use some of their Social Responsibility funds to support the Association in its efforts to help the students appreciate the importance of Mathematics.

The MAG Secretary said similar programmes occurred at the Nkroful Agricultural Secondary School (NASS), Sefwi Bekwai, Sefwi Wiawso, Bibiani and Daboase.

GNA
Tamale (N/R), March 14, GNA - Alhaji Mohammed Haroon Cambodia, the Northern Regional Director of Education has called for stakeholder and community support in the establishment of more Junior High Schools in the northern sector of the country to make up for the huge shortfall which is compelling large numbers of primary school graduates to truncate their education.

He said the fewer JHS in the area cannot absorb the huge number of pupils completing the primary school and the situation which has forced most of these children to commute longer distances to access JHS education, especially in the districts, has resulted in most of them dropping out of school.

Alhaji Cambodia made the call during the eighth Northern Regional education sector annual review meeting in Tamale.

The event was held under the theme: 'Systemic Change: The Catalyst to Sustainable Quality Education', the goal was to strengthen the decentralization of education at all levels in the Region.

It was also to track district and regional educational performances and to provide assistance to the schools lagging behind in the implementation of educational policies and directives.

Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, Deputy Northern Regional Minister said government had put in place relevant measures to improve quality education in the Northern sector and this focused on expanding access to higher education especially in the districts through infrastructure development to enhance teaching and learning.

Speaking on challenges affecting education in the Region, he mentioned parental neglect of children who cite poverty and unemployment, as hindering them to meet their parental obligation.

'Communal conflicts have also created devastating effect on education in the region', he stated.

Professor Seidu Al-hassan, Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies (UDS) also identified poor teaching and learning, lack of capacity training for teachers, inadequate teaching and learning materials and examination malpractices as some of the causes of poor performance in the northern sector.

He also pointed to cultural barriers such as early child marriages among girls resulting in girls dropping out of school, as also a setback.

Caption for pictures: 3222: Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, Northern Regional Minister addressing the eighth regional education sector annual review meeting in Tamale. 3225: These are the participants at the eighth regional education sector annual review meeting in Tamale. GNA
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Accra, March 14, GNA - The Vice-President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has arrived in New Dehli, India, for a two-day investment summit on Africa.

The Vice President was accompanied by a delegation of Government officials and Ghanaian entrepreneurs.

A statement signed by Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, a Presidential Staffer and copied to the Ghana News Agency said, the Vice-President was scheduled to address the opening session of the summit today.

Dubbed the '11th Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) EXIM Bank Conclave on India African Project Partnership', the summit was the single largest assembly of Indian industry players with their African counterparts under the auspices of both the Indian Exim Bank and the CII.

The Summit is expected to focus on agriculture, power, skills development and other sectors targeted for assistance under the improved Indian Government lines of credit to developing countries.

The statement said previous conclaves had successfully built bridges between Indian and African business leaders as well as senior Government officials. GNA
Sunyani, March 14, GNA - Research conducted by the Sweb Foundation, a Non-governmental Organisation shows that 90 per cent of children with forms of disabilities in the country are out of school.

According to the research the unfavourable school structures and unfriendly environment were impediments that denied disabled children access to primary education.

Existence of this unpleasant situation in basic schools, Mrs. Nicholina Agbobada, the Direct Assistance Project Officer of the Foundation, said impeded the nation's efforts towards the attainment of the goal two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mrs. Agbobada revealed the research findings at this year's 'We ring the bell campaign' organised by the Foundation at the Handmaid Preparatory and Junior High School at Nsoatre in the Sunyani West District of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The campaign is an annual worldwide campaign held on March 10, and was meant to draw attention to the right to education of school children with disabilities.

It is a Dutch Liliane Foundation initiative in partnership with the Samuel Wellington Foundation in Ghana.

Mrs. Agbobada was unhappy that school enrolment of people with disabilities in the country continued to decline because successive governments paid little attention to the situation.

She observed with regret that many primary schools lacked special teachers to attend to disabled children, a situation which was affecting academic performance of the special pupils and students.

Mrs. Agbobada emphasised that since education was a fundamental right of every child, policy makers must ensure that schools become more accessible to children with disabilities.

This, she said would not only sustain the interest of the disabled children to stay in schools but also motivate them to learn hard and achieve high academic laurels.

The school children held placards with inscriptions such as 'nothing about us without us', 'education is a right for us too' and 'we need inclusion not integration' and made unremitting noise at the school to mark the campaign

GNA
14.03.2016 LISTEN

Ho, March 14, GNA - Mr Wisdom Allai, a Senior Electoral Assistant of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Volta Region, on Monday, said the pilot electoral registration on Saturday boosted the confidence of stakeholders in the electoral system.

He said the rejection of multiple registrations by the machine excited agents of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the Ho Main Lorry Park Centre, with some commending the EC for upgrading the system.

'The exercise was normal and I'm happy the machine rejected multiple registrations including mine,' Mr Richard Kwadekpo, the Ho Central Chairman, NPP, told the Ghana News Agency.

Mr Allai said majority of the 54 persons who were registered out of the expected 60 also had their doubts and misconceptions about the system cleared.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) all the 40 males and 14 females were registered without any hitches.

Mr Henry Ametefe, the Volta Regional Organiser of the NDC, said he was happy that the system was now simpler and expressed the hope the main exercise would very successful.

GNA
Coaltar (E/R), March 11, GNA - Ms Jane Kwapong, a director at the Ministry of Women, Gender and Social Protection, has underscored the need for stepped-up effort to increase gender parity (equal opportunities to females) to enable society reap its far-reaching, development-oriented benefits.

'The lasting impact of Gender equality empowering women to overcome poverty comes with additional vital and non-quantifiable benefits that permeates other spheres of society such as families and communities and by extension, the entire country,' she said.

Ms Kwapong was speaking at an event organized by the Eastern Regional branch of Ghana National Association of Teachers Ladies (GNAT-LAS), to commemorate the International Day of Women, at Coaltar in the Eastern Region.

Pointing to research to buttress her point, she said recent findings indicated that the enormous returns on the investments in the education of girls and women alone has an all-encompassing potential to positively affect society in the long-run, a fact giving credence to one of Dr Kwegyir Aggrey's sayings to wit 'Educate a woman and educate the entire nation'.

'This called for urgent steps to scale up gender parity and inclusiveness in political appointments and the removal of workplace biases whiles also giving girls equal and unimpeded access to education', she added.

Ms Beatrice Gyadu, Eastern Regional Coordinator of GNAT-LAS called on women to be as bold as assertive and put themselves up to compete for vacant leadership positions at their work places and in the political arena.

She further urged women to surge forward on the academic ladder by taking advantage of the various educational opportunities available to them to both improve themselves and acquire the requisite qualifications for prominent.

GNA
Accra , March 14, GNA - Solidaridad would on Tuesday launch its global strategic plan for developing, testing and promoting good agricultural, mining and industrial practices targeted at producing more with less negative social consequences and damage to the ecosystem.

A statement signed by Isaac Gyamfi, the Regional Director Solidaridad West Africa, said the global strategic plan for 2016-2020 would be formally presented in Ghana during Solidaridad's global meeting dubbed, 'AMBITION 2020.'

The five-year Strategic Plan seeks to promote sustainable and inclusive social, environmental and economic innovations development globally.

The AMBITION 2020 places emphasis on the critical areas of interventions needed to transform agriculture into a commercially vibrant and competitive one, based on technology, enabling policy environment, with the associated robust infrastructure.

The strategic document is based on four thematic pillars - Good Practices, Robust Infrastructure, Landscape Management and Enabling Policy.

Innovation Development, Youth and Gender are cross cutting themes of the strategic document.

The West Africa Regional Office is hosting 120 international delegates from the Solidaridad Network for the event.

Additionally, about 100 invitees from the donor community, foreign missions, development investors, private sector partners and partner organisations in Africa will be attending the event.

'Solidaridad is a civil society organisation that is - market - solution oriented and a front-runner in the area of sustainable economic development,' the statement explained.

It is a network organisation with nine regional programmes on five continents, with the office for West-Africa based in Ghana.

The organisation specialises in facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains.

'It aspires to transform the manner in which we produce in such a way that it provides fair and profitable livelihoods and business opportunities, guarantees decent working conditions and a living income and does not deplete the landscapes where people thrive, now and for generations to come,' the statement explained.

The Founder and Executive Director of the Solidaridad Network, Nico Roozen, stated, 'What the world needs are civil society organisations (CSO) that can define a global strategy of change that matters and provide strong regional contributions to a comprehensive programming,' according to the statement .

'CSOs who are solution-oriented and who can engage with global institutions in both the public and private domain will be the most effective on the world stage. Solidaridad thinks globally and act's locally.'

The statement said: 'In that context and in line with our vision for a world, in which all we produce and consume can sustain us while respecting the planet, each other and the next generations.

Solidaridad West Africa Regional Office is poised for strategic consultations and engagements with sub-regional and regional development partners to create sustained change that leads socio economic prosperity and guarantees livelihoods for all.'

GNA
Accra, Mar. 14, GNA - The Energy Media Group has introduced into the market its second quarterly free energy magazine issue digging deeply into oil and gas market trends and presenting challenges and opportunities opened to emerging oil producers.

The maiden edition of the leading oil and gas magazine - Energy Ghana Magazine (EGM) was unveiled in August 2015, stimulating a debate around full-price petroleum deregulation to tame shortages, avert indebtedness and direct subsidies into productive initiatives.

Mr Henry Teinor, Editor of the EGM, said the second edition dealt with a wide range of topics about oil and gas market dynamics, and presented a distinct content tailored to meet varied demands of its audience.

'To our patrons, readers and stakeholders in the energy industry and oil and gas sectors, I am pleased to inform you that this edition comes with a huge variation of reading content designed to meet the demands of our global audience,' he said.

'We delved into the many development trends in the oil and gas markets in Africa and the challenges and opportunities that come with,' he said.

Mr Teinor, who is also the Chief Executive of the Energy Media Group, said Africa rise to oil production was plagued with governance challenges that largely affected the industry's market.

The edition carries many stories, including what is believed to be the heavily contested issue, the dynamics of corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas industry, which he said was featured to make available ample information to society.

The paradox of energy demand and supply in Ghana and Africa is a question that comes with some analysis which never seem to end.

Mr Teinor said: 'in this issue, we delved into it in an attempt to get some answers no matter how one views the future from the lenses of an energy expert; electric cars and solar power are now considered as sources of renewable [or otherwise]'.

In the midst of the oil price crash and its impact on economies with many countries battling survival, and Ghana being an oil producing country, the magazine questioned what the stakes are for the country and the escape strategy, if any.

The edition attempts to provide Ghana's stand in nuclear as the ostensibly unending debate about the country's desire to go nuclear rages.

'Good as it may be, we questioned Ghana's readiness,' Mr Teinor said.

The magazine also touched on health and safety issues integral to the petroleum sector as well as gender disparity within the oil and gas sector and questioned the need and call for equality or equity in the petroleum industry.

'In the quest to solve Ghana's power crisis, many solutions have been proposed, but is energy conservation the giant hope? This and many more on the energy front is what this edition brings to you,' Mr Teinor said.

The Energy Ghana Magazine seeks to give consumers comprehensive information on the petroleum sector as well as provoke intellectual debate for improved policies.

GNA
Paga (U/E), Mar. 14, GNA - Dr Kofi Mbia, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), has said there is the need for Ghana to speed up the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET).

The ECOWAS CET is one of the instruments for harmonizing trade among ECOWAS member states by developing and strengthening its common market.

The decision to have a CET was taken at an extra-ordinary meeting of Conference of Heads of State and Governments of Economic Community of West African States held in Senegal in 2013.

Whilst some countries in the sub region started the implementation process in January 2015, Ghana started the process on February 1, 2016.

The CEO made the call at a three day training programme organised by the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) in collaboration with the Borderless Alliance, with support from the German International Cooperation, at Paga in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.

The training programme attracted Border Town Operatives in the Region including customs officials, shippers, the private sector traders and other business associations drawn from the Paga border, the Namoo border and the Kulungugu border in the Region.

It was aimed at contributing to the effective implementation of the ECOWAS CET by strengthening the capacity of customs officials at the borders to understand the provisions of the ECOWAS CET.

It was also meant to raise awareness among the private sector and the cross border traders as well as the media with the overall objectives of ensuring transparent customs procedures, reducing border delays and facilitating intra-regional trade in the West Africa sub region.

Dr Kofi Mbia said his outfit viewed trade facilitation among thesShippers as very important as it helps in the improvement of transactions, reduces costs and saves time.

In view of that, the GSA over the years collaborated with the Customs, the Borderless Alliance and other key stakeholders in the trade and transport industry with the objective of improving business environment and to ensure that shippers in Ghana and the transit shippers remained very competitive in the international logistic chain, he said.

Dr Mbia said the implementation of the ECOWAS CET, would help promote a common tariff regime among member states as well as offer special protection measures aimed at addressing any trade imbalances across member states.

The CEO said a similar training programme would be organised for stakeholders at the Aflao border and allayed the fears of some Ghanaian traders that the ECOWAS CET might raise import tariffs of member states.

He gave the assurance that the harmonization of the tariff regime among member states would help address the issue and commended the Borderless Alliance, the German International Cooperation and the Ghana Revenue Authority for assisting the GSA to organize the programme.

Ms Afua Eshun, the Programme Advisor of the Borderless Alliance, said her outfit which is a regional advocacy organization and has a membership of eighty three private sector companies working in hand with public institutions, civil society organizations and the media in West Africa, shared the vision of ECOWAS - promoting the free movement of goods and persons in the sub region.

The Deputy Head of the Customers Technical Services Bureau, Seidu Yakubu , who served as the resource person took the participants through the ECOWAS CET, and stressed the need for effective collaboration and coordination among the stakeholders.

GNA
Accra, March 14, GNA - Dr Isaac Amo-Antwi, a Takoradi based Social Worker and an economics expert has cautioned that it is dangerous for multinational oil companies to be allowed to enter the downstream sector of the country's oil industry.

He said there were various levels in the chain of operations in the oil marketing business. 'Multinationals feed the Bulk Distributing Companies (BDCs) and the BDCs feed the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). So for multinationals to run the whole chain is dangerous and sets the ground for controlling the market'.

He noted that most African countries are moving away from what he termed 'vertical integration' in the downstream sector, and wondered why Ghana was embracing it.

He explained that under vertical integration operations, the ownership and control of two or more stages of a product supply chain between the production of the raw material and the sale of the finished product to a consumer was owned by one company.

It involves one company controlling the upstream, midstream and downstream oil leases, oil and gas exploration and production, processing of crude oil and sale of the refined products, he further stated.

The Upstream focuses on oil and gas exploration and production, whiles the Midstream level is the initial processing of crude oil at a field production site to remove gas, crude oil storage and the subsequent transportation of crude oil to a refinery.

Downstream sector operations include oil refining, storage of refined products and transportation of products to retail outlets where they are sold.

'The danger is that indigenous OMCs will die off, after succeeding in taking over the downstream from the local companies then we will see the real character of Multinationals', Dr Amo-Antwi noted.

He said there was the urgent need to protect local OMCs as the multinationals will use price war to knock-out the indigenous companies.

'The downstream must be left for Ghanaian entities,' he emphasised, and challenged the NPA to enforce the local content law.

He also urged NPA to enforce the regulation which mandates that some percentage of equity holdings of companies within the sector should be owned by Ghanaians, saying that 'this will help protect our national heritage and national interest'.

Dr Amo-Antwi challenged the AOMC to act to protect the interest of member oil marketing companies, and said the nation spent over $200 million of the country's foreign exchange earnings every month to import refined products and at least for once it should be left in the hands of Ghanaians.

'Why should we allow multinationals to take it through repatriation of their profits to their countries of origin? We must resist attempts by multinationals to enter into the retail market,' he said.

Dr Raziel Obeng-Okon, Financial and Investment Management Consultant also told the GNA that it would bring about undesirable consequences if multinational companies were allowed access to the Ghanaian downstream oil and gas sector through acquisition of several OMCs.

He said the situation would lead to a reduction of local entrepreneurs in the downstream oil sector, lack of financial muzzle of the remaining local entrepreneurs to compete with foreign owned OMCs, and increased capital flight by foreign owners.

He further noted that vertical integration would negatively impact on capital flight, and pose a major problem to the stability of the Ghanaian cedi.

'On the business front, it appears our telecommunication, mining, banking, upstream oil and gas sectors are significantly foreign-owned. If the downstream players (OMCs) have also become targets of foreign take-overs, then we need to be careful as a country,' he said.

Dr Obeng-Okon said allowing big foreign companies to take over significant numbers of indigenous OMCs may be at variance with the local content and participatory policy regarding the downstream petroleum sector.

He explained that the policy seeks to among other things, develop local capacity in all aspects of downstream petroleum value chain, a well as achieve at least 98 per cent local employment in all aspects of downstream petroleum sector.

It also seeks to increase the capabilities and international competitiveness of domestic businesses and industries, and achieve at least 60 per cent equity participation by Ghanaian providers of supplies and services in the downstream petroleum sector.

He said it was important to note that the local content policy objectives were expected to be attained through mandatory local content in the petroleum downstream sub-sector including processing, manufacturing, supply and marketing activities.

It also focuses on ensuring that those transactions are carried out by indigenous Ghanaian companies with a minimum of 60 per cent shareholding by Ghanaians.

Dr Obeng-Okon noted that currently there were about 3000 petroleum retail outlets across the country but most of those outlets were situated in the Greater Accra Region.

'I am aware that NPA is trying to ensure equity by encouraging retail outlets in the Northern part of the country but this may be difficult to achieve if foreign giants take over significant numbers of our OMCs because their model is always demand and profit driven.

'It is important that while encouraging foreign participation in the downstream oil and gas sector, we do so by ensuring that the local entrepreneurial initiative is not killed,' Dr Obeng-Okon stated.

He therefore called on the NPA to perform due diligence in situations where foreign companies were strategising to take over OMCs in Ghana.

'It is important for NPA to play the watch-dog in all joint-ventures, amalgamations, partnerships with Ghanaians in the downstream petroleum sector in order to avoid hostile take overs without recourse to laid down procedures,' Dr Obeng-Okon noted.

For his part Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Duah, AOMC Industrial Coordinator, said local indigenous companies were capable of matching any entrant into the Ghanaian oil and gas sector if the guidelines per the NPA policy were implemented properly.

GNA
Accra, March 14, GNA - David Philip Mcdermott aka David Smith, an alleged British drug baron has been remanded into lawful custody by an Accra Circuit Court.

Charged with prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs, Macdermott aged 42, has pleaded not guilty.

Police say between the year 2013 and 2016, he undertook prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs without lawful authority in Ghana and United Kingdom.

The 42-year-old is wanted for his role in a conspiracy to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the UK in 2013. .

Macdermott who was without any legal representation is expected to reappear on March 30 before the court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh.

The accused person, who was in handcuff, covered his face with his Polo Shirt in his bid to shy away from the cameras.

The court following prosecution's request remanded him pending further investigations in relation to Macdermott's acquisition of a Ghanaian passport and other issues.

The court explained to Macdermott that he had the right to a counsel of his choice.

Prosecuting Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) A. A. Annor said the accused person had been living in Ghana for the past three years.

DSP Annor said in the year 2014, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) received information from a reliable source that the accused person was involved in drug related business.

Based on that, surveillance was mounted on him and on March 11, this year, the fugitive was arrested from his hide out at Tse Addo residential area behind the Trade Fair Centre, Accra.

Prosecution said the accused was brought to the BNI for further investigation. Investigation also revealed that the accused was being sought for in the United Kingdom for similar offences.

DSP Annor said further investigation revealed that Macdermott was operating a gold mining company in the Eastern Region.

He is also believed to be in possession of a Ghanaian Passport bearing the name David Smith which he uses to travel in and out of Ghana for the past three years.

GNA
Accra, Mar. 14, GNA - An Accra District Magistrate Court hearing the case of Daniel Asiedu, the alleged killer of Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, says it believes Asiedu has a sound mind.

According to the court, it was struggling to see Aseidu as someone with unsound mind.

The Court presided over by Mr Stephen Owusu said this when he turned down for the second time a request made by Asiedu's Counsel to subject him to psychiatric examination.

It said 'the Court has not found the reasons yet that an accused person is not of sound mind.'

The Court ordered Asiedu to remain in the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to reappear on April 5.

Asiedu, who has been charged with murder, is said to have killed the MP in cold blood at his residence in Shiashie, near East Legon on February 8.

His plea has been reserved.

When the court drew Asiedu's attention to the good work being carried out by his counsel and what he would tell his counsel, Asiedu said: 'I pray that God will grant him (defence counsel) his heart 's desires.'

Defence Attorney Mr Augustines Obuor today repeated his plea to the Court to allow Asiedu undergo Psychiatric examination as that was going to help them put up their defence.

Defence Counsel: 'I will be grateful to get a psychiatric report to know his state of mind. Prosecution will not lose anything. It would rather guide the court.

After having conference with him this morning, I still think Asiedu should undergo psychiatric examination.'

Mr Obuor further prayed the Court to send his client to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison instead of the BNI cells.

According to Mr Obuor, Asiedu's rights were being curtailed in BNI cells as his counsel was not involved when his client was being interrogated.

Superintendent of Police Francis Baah said the Police would never disturb Asiedu's life whiles in BNI custody adding the Police had reason for keeping him.

Supt. Baah explained that Asiedu was being kept in BNI cells for the sake of accessibility and proximity.

Reacting to the defence counsel's plea to refer Asiedu for a psychiatric examination, Supt. Baah said he 'leaves that entirely to the court.'

According to the prosecutor, the Police had given the accused person access to his father and would repeat same for his pregnant girlfriend who Asiedu had requested to see.

Superintendent Francis Baah said the deceased, J.B. Danquah-Adu, lived with his family in a one storey building at Shiashie, while Asiedu, a school dropout, lived with his girlfriend at Agbogloshie in Accra.

On February 8, this year, at about 1140 hrs, the deceased went to his house with his driver Samuel Berko Sarkodie, he said.

The driver after dropping the deceased handed over the car keys to him (the deceased) and left for his residence at Kasoa.

At about 0100 hrs, however, Asiedu armed himself with a catapult, a sharp cutlass and a cutter, and on the blind side of the MP's security man, entered his residence.

Asiedu picked up a ladder and entered the top floor of the house, where the deceased was sleeping, whilst the security man at post was also fast asleep.

Asiedu on entering the deceased's room, the deceased woke up from his sleep and held Asiedu.

The Prosecution said Asiedu stabbed the deceased above his breast on his left side, so the deceased then held the knife of Asiedu and shouted for help.

Superintendent Baah said the deceased, subsequently, sustained deep cuts in his hands and became unconscious.

While the deceased was bleeding profusely, Asiedu stabbed him again below the breast on his right side and neck and left him (the deceased) to his fate.

Aseidu then took away two iphones and a tablet of the deceased, and managed to descend from the top to the back of the house and climbed one of the polytanks in the house, skipped the electric fence of the house into an adjoining house and escaped.

The Prosecution said the security man in the house heard the shouts of the deceased for help and he alerted other security men in the area for assistance but no one came to his aid.

Superintendent Baah said some neighbours, however, got in touch with the Police emergency number but when the Police arrived, the MP had passed on and the body was sent to the Police Hospital where it is awaiting autopsy.

The prosecutor said investigations led to the arrest of the accused who confessed to the crime.

The Exhibits retrieved from the accused, among other things, have been forwarded to the Police Forensic Laboratory for analysis.

Superintendent Baah said the accused also sustained injuries on his left finger and the last finger on his right hand.

GNA
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current-affairs-trends Vijay Mallya should come back and settle debt case: A-G Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi says that Mallya should voluntarily surrender his passport.
March 14, 2016

Putin: Withdrawal Of Russian Forces From Syria Starting March 15

This is an extremely interesting and likely very smart move. Putin again catches everyone off guard.

TASS reports:

Putin orders to begin withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria from March 15

March 14, 20:40 UTC+3 The Russian leader hopes the withdrawal of Russian troops will become a good motivation for launching negotiations between political forces in the country MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. Putin orders Russian defense minister to begin withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria from March 15. The Russian president said he hopes the start of the withdrawal of Russian troops will become a good motivation for launching negotiations between political forces of that country and instructed the foreign minister to intensify Russias participation in organization of peace process in Syria.

Via other sources Putin said: The armed forces achieved their goals in Syria. The two Air Force and Naval bases in Syria will stay and operate normally. The move was in agreement with the Syrian government.

I believe that, for this to have happened, there must be a deal in place with the U.S. to wind up the Syria situation. What did Putin get in return?

And what units will actually pull out? Three military cooks departing while civilians take up their jobs?

The tide of the war on Syria has changed. There is no longer a danger that Assad will lose the fight.

There were some Russian artillery and special forces units taking part in the ground operations in north Latakia. Latakia is now mostly cleaned up and the Russian bases there are no longer in danger. (The S-400 air defense will of course stay.) Will these troops now be pulled out?

Or is this, as announced, an "incentive" to put some urgency on progress in the Geneva negotiations? (An "incentive" that can be taken back should it not have the intended results.)

One can also think of this as a message to the U.S. to get serious: "Don't take our help in fighting ISIS for granted. We can simply secure Assad and leave. Then you alone will have to clean up the Jihadi mess you created."

Posted by b on March 14, 2016 at 17:56 UTC | Permalink

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How much have you got set aside for a rainy day? According to Government research the almost half of UK adults have less than 500 in savings  hardly sufficient to cover one months rent in huge swathes of the country. In a bid to kick-start the seemingly lost savings culture the Government has announced plans for a Help to Save scheme which will boost the savings of lower-income workers by 50%.

Only those in receipt of in-work benefits will be eligible for the scheme, which is worth up to 1,200 in free cash over two years. Workers must put aside 50 a month for four years to claim the maximum bonus, receiving 600 after the first two year period and a further 600 in another two years. Further details will be revealed in Wednesdays Budget Report.

Andy Cumming, head of Advice at Close Brothers Asset Management warned that the scheme would not be enough to boost the troubling savings ratio in the UK, but it might encourage some.

A worryingly low proportion of the UKs population is putting away sufficient savings for a rainy day  let along long-term goals like retirement. Setting aside a monthly amount can be much more challenging for lower paid workers, with longer-term planning falling victim to short-term priorities. The creation of this scheme is not a panacea in its own right that will mean that workers on smaller incomes will suddenly be able to prioritise building their savings, he said. The scheme is in line with Chancellor George Osbornes Help to Buy policy announced in last years Budget. First time buyers saving into an ISA receive an extra 50 to every 200 saved  if the cash is going towards a deposit for a mortgage. The minimum cash sum to benefit from the scheme is 1,600 and the maximum the Government will contribute is 3,000  which would be due on personal savings of 12,000. Making the Nation More Self-reliant The Help to Save scheme also has synergy with Osbornes most radical reform  that of the pensions industry. In the March 2014 Budget Osborne scrapped compulsory annuity purchases, and that, coupled with the introduction of auto-enrolment in October 2012 has encouraged more people than ever before into workplace savings schemes. These moves are believed to be the prelude to the Government scrapping the State Pension in years to come  the UK consumer is being forced to become more financially self-sufficient and take charge of their own pension provision. The Government no doubt hopes that with the new Help to Save scheme it can reinvigorate the savings culture in the UK; following the successful example of pension savings schemes in US and Australia. Carol Knight, Chief Operations Officer at TISA welcomed the scheme and said it would promote a savings habit. Combined with automatic enrolment, the Help to Save scheme starts moving the country back towards a position of individuals having financial security, she said. We look forward to working with the relevant trade bodies and the industry on how best to implement the scheme.
Upcoming Events; USDA Changes, and Impact of Agricultural Land Valuations

Americans have regained most of the wealth lost when the real estate bubble burst. Homeowners' equity has more or less doubled since the lows of 2009. Since 2013, real estate has outperformed the S&P 500 by 16 percentage points. Always good to have a diversified portfolio, right? Let's hope the Millennials are participating in this to some degree...

Given that in this industry nothing ever remains constant for long, the USDA has issued an 80-page document with 72 "clarifications", 48 "new" rules and one they deleted for a total of 121 changes. Karen Deis writes, "www.MortgageCurrentcy.com's USDA expert spent almost 25 hours coming up with the list. We have broken it down into bullet points to make it easier to understand, including the "interpretation" of how it will affect borrower qualifications and underwriting of the loan. These changes went into effect on March 9 so if LOs have any files in pre-approval status or have not yet been submitted, we recommend that you make sure the borrowers still qualify. The clarifications are exactly what lenders needed-easier to understand. But they added 48 more rules to the latest version of the handbook.

"Here are a couple of examples of just a few of the more significant ones. New - Discount points may be financed for ALL applications (Used to be just for low-income borrowers). New - Military applicants (still in service) are no longer required to provide evidence of discharge within 1 year. They only need to sign and "intent to occupy" form. New - Lump sum payments/deferred payments from Social Security are EXCLUDED from annual income calculations. New - Only two trade lines are required to validate a credit score (Used to be three). Clarification - Business losses are considered "zero" for annual income qualifications. Clarification - Applicant is ineligible for loan is outstanding federal judgments (other than IRS). Deleted - The requirement to recalculate a credit card payment that has been used to charge their application fee has been removed. And 114 more!

"A new security role of "Lender Agent" that was created by USDA Rural Development for participating lenders. Once designated as a "Lender Agent" - a User will be authorized to establish applications, order new and re-issue existing credit reports and request preliminary underwriting recommendations on behalf of an approved lender. Although this is a baby-step in the right direction, one glaring difference between FHA & VA loans, with those administered by the USDA, is that RHS-guaranteed loans must ultimately be approved by USDA staff. Under HUD/FHA's Lender Insurance Program (which currently accounts for over 70% of its single-family business), approved Direct Endorsement (DE) lenders can process, underwrite, close and insure FHA loan transactions - all without prior review by HUD staff.

In accordance with VA's imposed additional QM requirements for IRRRL transactions, M&T has updated its VA QM requirements, as reected on the VA IRRRL Product Pages. Eective immediately for pipeline and new applications, and required compliance no than Wednesday March 9th. In regard to USDA loans, effective immediately, loans closed with a lender credit or seller concession must include an itemization of the specific fees paid by the credit or concession. Each item must be listed separately, include a description of the fee and the amount paid. Just listing the fee line is not sucient.

ditech has begun purchasing United States Department of Agricultural (USDA) Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing loans (GRH). Only delegated Correspondent clients who have been approved as lenders by USDA and ditech are eligible to participate in this program.

Eective immediately, M&T Bank Form 2161 - USDA Addendum to Application is no longer required. The borrowers are required to list all Household Members on page 3 of the USDA Form RD 3555-21, and their signature on page 2 of RD3555-21 is sucient acknowledgment that the nancial information presented on the form and application is accurate.

Plaza Home Mortgage now supports the new GUS Lender Agent security role announced by USDA on Dec. 8, 2015. Brokers who become a Lender Agent will have access to create applications, order new or reissue existing credit reports and complete preliminary GUS submissions. To become a Lender Agent with Plaza, register to gain access to GUS by following these instructions.

While I am droning on about rural loans, values in those areas are changing. We've seen a rapid rise of the value of agricultural land to record levels over the past few years but those values have not only begun to flatten, but have already decreased in many cases. Meanwhile, with commodity prices having fallen between 40% and 50% since hitting their peak in 2013, the income that farmers rely on to repay agricultural loans has declined and is expected to fall even further. That is one reason why regulators are increasing their focus here as community banks continue to take action.

Rural community banks in particular have significant exposure to agricultural loans. Of the 5,412 community banks with assets under $10 billion, as of the end of Q2, about 1,889 had a proportion of agricultural loans well above the national average of 17.4%, according to a recent Fed study. The study also found the median assets of these banks was $104 million, with the largest number located in IA, followed by IL, KS, NE and MN.

The research also found the value of farmland (which serves as collateral for the majority of the loans held by community banks with high agricultural concentrations), soared between 2004 and 2014 - averaging YOY gains of 8.4% during that time. In fact, in real terms, land for crops in the Midwest became more expensive during that period than at any other point within the past 50 years, including the period before the Farm Crisis in the 1980s. If history is an indication of what declining values of commodities could mean for banks, community banks may need to take further action and regulators will certainly be taking a closer look on the next exam cycle.

Steve Brown from PCBB notes that, "The research points out that like the recent escalation in the value of agricultural land, a similar rise occurred in the mid-to-late 1970s. Back then, such properties saw strong YOY growth that occasionally climbed above 10%. But when the value of that same land dropped 27% (40% in real terms) by 1987, the fallout for community banks was significant. Between 1982 and 1988, roughly 200 community banks with significant agricultural exposure even failed.

"Still, on the whole, the researchers conclude that there would not be a material change to the capitalization of the majority of banks specializing in agricultural lending even after all of this and only a subset of banks would experience significant losses. Expect regulators to continue to monitor this closely so community bankers should be prepared."

Upcoming events?

The California MBA is conducting a March 17th webinar, "Life After MSA's". Hear from expert observers what others are doing, and find new strategies that can strengthen your brand. Additionally, hear about a brand-new technology just days away from launch. Free registration is available now.

Check out Sierra Pacific Mortgage's Market Power Series hosted by Kelli Brookman. On Friday, March 18th. from 11-12 PST Brian Traichel will expand your thoughts regarding LinkedIn. The class will show how to find leads, expand your network and think about using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool rather than just a recruiting tool. Whether you are a social media beginner, intermediate or expert this informational webinar offers valuable resources and tools to help you navigate and build relationship using LinkedIn as a functional day-to-day sales strategy platform. This session is open to all and you can save your seat by registering here.

FHA underwriting and appraisal review trainings are available for registration now. Space is limited and based on first come first serve. FHA Underwriting, March 23rd on-site at HUD Detroit Field Office. Register here. FHA Underwriting, April 6th on-site in San Antonio. Register here. FHA Appraisals, April 7th on-site in San Antonio. Register here. FHA Underwriting, April 12th on-site in Oklahoma City. Register here. FHA Appraisals, April 13th on-site in Oklahoma City. Register here.

Beginning March 22nd, MBA will be providing a 2-part webinar series on Warehouse Lending. For details and registration information, click here.

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be holding two VA home loans informational sessions in March. These informational sessions will cover the topics of entitlement, eligibility, VA forms, appraisals, funding fees, underwriting, closing costs and post-closing issues, and special circumstances. Click a link to register: March 24th in Cleveland OH, March 25th in Manchester NH.

Even though MBS traders don't really use the 10-year T-note as an exact proxy for mortgage rates, it is still easy to do. And we're up near 2.00% again. Last week began well but then prices sank and rates moved higher after Tuesday. Most of the news came from overseas: the European Central Bank gave investors plenty to digest on Thursday when it outdid markets' expectations for further monetary stimulus. Next Wednesday's FOMC rate decision is virtually guaranteed to be no change to Fed funds, but investors will eye the accompanying statement closely for clues regarding the future path of policy normalization.

For news this week there's a decent chunk - whether or not it outweighs whatever happens in Europe, China, or the price of oil remains to be seen. We have zip today. Tuesday includes February Retail Sales, February Producer Price Index, March Empire Manufacturing, and the March NAHB Housing Market Index. Wednesday, after the MBA's application numbers, we'll have February CPI, February Housing Starts and Building Permits, February Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, and the March FOMC Rate Decision - look for no change. Thursday has Initial Jobless Claims, March Philadelphia Fed, and the Q4 Current Account Balance - whatever that is. Friday we wind down with the March Michigan Sentiment number.

We wrapped up last week with the 10-year sitting at 1.98%.



Jobs and Announcements

In compliance news Ellie Mae is continuing to expand and is searching for a Senior Compliance Service Agent in its Pleasanton, CA or Omaha, NE locations. The Sr. Compliance Service Agent acts as a Compliance Service expert relevant to the use and application of Ellie Mae products and services and delivers complete resolutions, in a timely manner, and consistently, to address clients' questions and concerns with the user interface, documents, and tools available in the Ellie Mae product. The ideal candidate will have 5 or more years of recent experience in the mortgage industry in closing and funding, compliance or post-closing and shipping and 2 or more years of Project Management Experience. Experience using desktop loan origination, loan servicing, secondary marketing software applications. For more information please click here.

And on the retail side of the biz Liberty Home Mortgage is looking to expand its Independence, Ohio and Bonita Springs, Florida branches. Management is actively recruiting internal and remote loan officers to concentrate on improving their Florida and Ohio purchase market share. They are paying out 300 basis points on all employee generated closings and 200 basis points on all company generated closings. Purchase leads are provided as well as full operational support. Confidential inquiries should be directed to Liberty's operations manager Ian Shirey at 440-644-0003 for more information.

In other company-specific news, ABA Community Bank Mortgage LLC, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, has selected BOK Financial Correspondent Lending as its newest secondary market investor. "With this selection, ABA Community Bank Mortgage LLC owner banks can sell agency-eligible and jumbo loans on a servicing-released basis to BOK Financial and access their full line of fixed rate, ARM and affordable lending products. In addition, BOK Financial represents and warrants contractually with each client that they will not cross sell their borrowers any bank products and will refer their mortgage customers back to them in the event they contact BOK and wish to engage in a new transaction."

Nations Direct Mortgage and its DBA, Motive Lending, are expanding! The company will be expanding into a much larger facility in Santa Ana later this month. And in April they are opening an Operations Center in Dallas, TX for both brands. With their aggressive growth, they're looking for talented additions to their family. Don't miss the opportunity to work for a company that has tons of opportunity for growth, prioritizes its culture and employees and offers hands-on support from the leadership team! "We're looking for talented and motivated account executives, account managers and underwriters. Contact us about our wide open territories waiting for YOU to claim. If you have the vision and the drive, we'll provide the support and tools you need to take your career to a whole new level. Contact Alex Falas at recruiting@myndm.com or recruiting@motivelending.com to learn more." Nations Direct Mortgage is an approved Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae direct seller/servicer and was recently named by Thompson Reuters as a top 25 Wholesale FNMA and Ginnie Mae issuer.
Employed at Midland Memorial Hospital and volunteer for Midland Rape Crisis and Children's Advocacy Center and St. Ann's Catholic Church Youth Ministry

How old were you when volunteering and community service became a regular part of your life?

At the age of 18 I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. I knew that Gods plans for my life was to impact lives and become a difference maker. I knew I had to be a world shaker and history maker. All through high school I had teachers who believed in me and constantly encouraged me. ... I knew I had the choice: either let the world change me, or me change the world. At that point I knew I had to connect with an organization that had such an impact on my life.

What unexpected lesson have you learned through your volunteer experiences?

Life itself is a lesson. What we do in our life, how we impact others and how we make a difference is all up to us. There is a perception that volunteers do something for nothing but nothing couldn't be further from the truth. I believe that volunteering is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things that you could do in your life. I've found that the more I give and the more I put into every giving experience, the more I get and receive out of it. I've chosen and dedicated my life to making a difference - just as people have done in my life. It has been the people who have been placed in my life that have been my biggest inspiration. Working with sexual assault, abused victims, and helping bring teens closer to Christ has been the greatest reward. Someone once told me, Its not what others can do for you, but what you can do for others who have nothing to offer you. Giving and volunteering have been the ultimate rewards in my life. They have taught me to always be selfless and humble. I know where the ultimate reward is, and thats in Gods promise. Luke 6:38 says Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, press down, shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

How long has Midland been your home, and why have you stayed?

Midland has been my home all my life. I've chosen to stay here because I believe my purpose of giving back and making a difference is for the community of Midland.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The last state permit needed for a pipeline that will carry a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to Illinois was approved Thursday by Iowa utilities regulators, who also gave the Texas-based company authority to use eminent domain for land that property owners are unwilling to voluntarily provide.

The Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously to approve a hazardous pipeline permit for the Dakota Access pipeline, called Bakken pipeline because it will stretch 346 miles from Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Illinois, crossing through 18 Iowa counties and 1,300 parcels of land.

Together we weighed all the issues presented by the parties and found the issues of safety, economic benefits, environmental factors and landowners rights to merit the most significant weight in reaching our decision, board member Elizabeth Jacobs said.

The board decided that the pipeline met the requirements of Iowa law requiring it to promote the public convenience and necessity.

After the vote, about a dozen people in the audience stood one by one and stated, I am an Iowan and I vote no. Board members quickly left the room. Outside of the building, opponents held a rally.

That pipeline will be a legacy that we will live to regret if we do not stop it. It is going to poison the land, said Rodlynn Harrington, a Des Moines woman who was crying.

An appeal is likely from individual landowners, farmers and a coalition of environmental and property rights groups who have voiced concerns about spills that could harm farmland, rivers and streams.

While the ruling is certainly a setback and disappointing landowners will assess how to move forward on appeal and they are going through that process, said John Murray, a Storm Lake attorney who represents the Northwest Iowa Landowners Association.

Lawsuits also are expected to challenge whether the board has the authority to grant eminent domain to a company building a pipeline for profit. Such authority is frequently given to publicly owned utilities, but not often to for-profit companies, like Dakota Access, which is owned by publicly traded companies Phillips 66 and Energy Transfer Partners.

Owners of 296 parcels of land have refused to sign easements allowing the pipeline to go through their property, and may fight land condemnation proceedings at the county level and appeal their individual cases to district court.

The pipeline has been in the works since 2014, after North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple urged industry and government officials to build more pipelines to keep pace with North Dakotas rapid oil production and reduce truck and oil train traffic. North Dakota is the nations No. 2 oil producer behind Texas.

The project was first proposed when oil prices had slipped to about $80 a barrel. Theyre now closer to $40 a barrel.

This is fantastic and certainly a big step in getting Bakken barrels to quality markets and further displacing foreign barrels, said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, which represents hundreds of companies working in the states oil patch.

Energy Transfer Partners, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, had set a completion date for the pipeline late this year. It already has begun stockpiling steel pipe in anticipation of getting the needed permits.

Iowas permit requires Dakota Access to file with the board proof of a $25 million general liability insurance policy that must be in effect for the life of the pipeline, as well as irrevocable guarantees that parent companies will be liable for any leaks or spills. It also must provide the board a timeline of construction and quarterly status reports beginning July 1.

Dakota Access says the construction in Iowa will create $1 billion in economic benefit, including creating thousands of jobs.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources also approved a permit Thursday after finding no long-term environmental impact where the pipeline crosses public land, including the Big Sioux, Des Moines and Mississippi rivers. The project must still receive approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.



Associated Press writers Aleksandra Vujicic in Des Moines and James MacPherson in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.
HOUSTON  As Bob Dube dropped off his Texas longhorn at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, he noticed the educational sign near its stall and proclaimed it incorrect. Seven feet? Wrong, he said: That is not the biggest spread a longhorn can have.

Not anymore, anyway. Longhorn cattle, in Texas bigger-is-better fashion, are being bred for longer horns. These days, 7 feet is merely impressive, not at all the upper limit. In October 2014, a longhorn earned the Guinness World Record for longest horn spread on a steer with a measurement of nearly 10 feet.

They just kind of keep getting bigger all the time, Dube said.

These days, longhorns are raised as Texas icons. Joshua Specht, a historian of cattle ranching and beef production, is a lecturer at Monash University in Australia, and has studied the breed. Now, its a historical showpiece, I think, a lot more than anything else, he says.

And as a showpiece, longhorns have become, well, more longhorn-ish than they used to be. Theyre now bred partly for their overall look, with emphasis on traits such as horn width, coloring and muscling. Their horns have become longer, and their bodies are heavier.

Everything about the way they looked back then, has been taken to the extreme, Specht says.

By that, he means the Old West period of cowboys and trail drives, the years roughly between 1866 and 1886. Its Texas mythic era, the one that informs the states idea of itself: wild and free, tough and stubborn.

That describes longhorns, too. In the words of folklorist J. Frank Dobie, the breeds literary champion, they were iron-sinewed, wild-living cattle, creatures primordially harmonized to a nature that they at times defied.

Longhorns were feral descendants of escaped Spanish cattle, and after the Civil War, they roamed Texas wide-open spaces in large numbers, an easy source of meat for dirt-poor hunters. Cattle were so plentiful and capital so utterly lacking, wrote Dobie, ... they could not be sold for a dollar apiece.

Cattle were worth far more up north, and cowboys began driving herds of thousands for hundreds of miles, toward stops on the new railroads, where they could be sold. Many breeds wouldnt have survived the journey. Longhorns did.

Longhorns were the original cash cow, says Joe Paschal, a Corpus Christi-based livestock specialist with Texas A&M Universitys AgriLife Extension.

But their dominance didnt last long. Once railways and barbed wire crisscrossed the West, the breed was discarded in favor of other meat options, and the open range it once roamed had disappeared. By the 1920s, longhorns were closer to extinction than the buffalo. In 1927, in an attempt to save them, federal forest rangers assembled a herd in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.

Dobie, the folklorist, campaigned to preserve the breed, largely on sentimental grounds. In his 1941 book The Longhorns, he credited the wiry cattle with making Texas possible. Longhorns, he wrote, generated cowboys, brought ranches into existence, gave character to the grazing world of America, and furnished material for political economy.

The breed came back, of course, and these days, nothing telegraphs Texas like a longhorn. Their horns grace barbecue joints, steakhouses and Texas-themed bars; their skulls are wired to the front of Hotel Zazas hotel shuttles. Bevo, the University of Texas mascot, inspired many alumni to purchase their own longhorns. For people with a few acres, the cattle often serve as living yard art.

Specht, the cattle historian, notes that longhorns are often celebrated in a way thats not entirely true to their history. People view them as emblems of independence, of a time free of big business or government interference. Yet the rise and fall of longhorns, he says, resulted directly from business decisions.

These days, longhorns sell for a lot more than a dollar apiece. They generally cost anywhere from hundreds of dollars to more than $100,000, says Rick Fritsche, who registers the cattle with the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America. Dube, at the livestock show, said he knew of a breeder who turned down a quarter of a million dollars for a longhorn.

Sometimes big horns earn big checks, Fritsche says, but other factors are often more important  things such as cattle market values, pedigree, color and disposition.

Todays longhorns lead more comfortable lives than their ancestors. Theyre protected and strategically bred, not left to natural selection. Theyre fenced in. They receive vaccines and medication, and their nutrition has improved. Show longhorns are particularly pampered.

Have they gone soft?

We did modify the environment of these cattle a lot, says Paschal.

Still, Paschal and other experts insist that longhorns remain hearty enough to survive in a world untouched by humans.

I dont think that weve bred all the heartiness out of them, he says. I think its still there.

Fritsche, with the breeders association, said longhorns havent taken this evolutionary journey alone. Humans have likewise become healthier and less rugged.

Were not as survival-ready as we were 1,000 years ago, he said. I think its normal evolution that the animals are not.

People now raise longhorns for lots of reasons, he says, including their meat or unique personalities. Theyre good parents and have easy calving. And theyre beautiful to look at, each one with unique coloring.

Some breeders could care less that they have longer and longer horns, he said.

At the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the longhorns were young and old, male and female. Some had small-ish horns; others spanned 8 feet.

The big guys competed in the trophy steer category. (Steers, not bulls: After castration, males horns grow longer.) These cattle were beautifully colored, with whites, browns and blacks blended together. They carried their thick, lengthy racks gracefully. Sometimes they chased each other around the arena and intertwined their horns.

The grand champion was a hulking longhorn named Tanners New Friend, nearly 13 years old. At his shoulders, he measures at least 5 fee, 6 inches tall, and he weighs about 1,900 pounds. His body is white with reddish spots. Shaquille ONeal could lie between his 8-foot horns and feel short.

Hes definitely eye-catching, said Beth Tanner of Stephenville. Her son owns the steer.

Dube, who was displaying his steer at the AgVenture educational area, had entered Awww Dude in the trophy steer competition. The 3-year-old is speckled white, tan, dark brown and black. His horns span about 6 feet, and theyll probably keep growing.

Recently Dube started to ride Awww Dude like a horse; its a fairly common thing to do.

People get a big enjoyment out of seeing somebody ride a longhorn, Dube said.

They were the first cattle here in the state of Texas, he said, and everybody likes the Western heritage of them.
Escritor y filologo.

El autor, MANUEL GARCIA PEREZ, colaborador de MUNDIARIO y autor y asesor de Mundiediciones, es doctor en Filologia Hispanica por la Universidad de Murcia y licenciado en Antropologia por la UNED. Premio Nacional Fin de Carrera, fue coordinador del area de Sociedad y Cultura de MUNDIARIO, donde actualmente es columnista y critico literario. Docente, investigador y escritor de narrativa juvenil, escribio el poemario Luz de los escombros. En Mundiediciones publico, junto a Ilenia Martinez Marcos, la obra Comentario literario y linguistico para opositores a lengua y literatura. @mundiario
Queen Latifah is ready for love and ready to have a baby of her own but she won't be settling down nor starting a family with Paula Patton, despite recent reports.

The Flava Unit mogul recently completed her new movie project, The Perfect Match, released in theaters on Friday March 11. Patton, among many other actors, starred in the film and developed a close relationship with the hip hop legend. According to Gossip Cop, the two were recently photographed together while out doing promotional tours for the film and from there, the rumors began to fly suggesting that the two had become a couple.

A quick statement from Patton's rep, exclusively delivered to the site, cleared up all the rumors. "It's not true," the rep explained to Gossip Cop. "They are friends who produced a movie together and have been doing press appearances to support it."

Though the former Living Single star may not be settling down with Patton, she is however ready to settle down with a baby and start a family. According to Centric, the "Ladies First" rapper recently did an interview where she explained how she has been putting off motherhood for well over 40 years but now she thinks she may be ready for the new title of mother.

"I had some things to deal with," explained the Queen on her decision to hold out on having children. "I had to get a lot of partying out of my system early in life for about 40 years. You know what I'm saying. I'm good now. I think I'm ready."

According to the Black Reign hip hop legend, there's no telling when and if becoming a mother will actually happen for her but she is open to exploring all possibilities.

"I can't say what God has for me, but you will see. You'll see when I'm lugging the baby on the hip that there is actually a youngin around here," stated the 45-year-old. And when she says "youngin," she doesn't necessarily mean an infant. She has no problem adopting.

"Maybe I'll adopt a child that's not necessarily a baby," she explained. "There are a lot of kids that need love out there. I want to be there for somebody. I got to get all this stuff and give it somebody."

Watch the trailer for the film, The Perfect Match, in theaters now.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Fans of Disney's Frozen will be thrilled to know that Anna and Elsa got back together on a recent event as Kristen Bell joined friend Idina Menzel to support her A Broader Way Foundation. The stars performed an impromptu duet of Frozen songs, E Online reported.

The organization, A Broader Way, was founded by Menzel and her ex-husband, Taye Diggs, offers girls who live in urban communities an outlet to express themselves and develop their creativity through arts-centered programs, InStyle wrote.

Bell posted a photo of herself and Menzel on the mics with the caption, "Singing #frozen songs with the effervescent @idinamenzel at a benefit for her @abroaderway foundation :)" adding the hashtag "#frozen friendship xoxoxo" on the Instagram post.

Aside from Bell and Menzel, who voiced Anna and Elsa, Josh Gad, who provided the voice of the snowman who loves summer, Olaf, was there. Gad also shared their photo on his Instagram.

"Team #Frozen back together again for #broaderway. Love these girls! @kristenanniebell and @idinamenzel," Gad captioned a photo of himself with the two ladies.

The 35-year-old actor also shared a video of Bell singing on Instagram with the caption: "I mean who sounds like this at 10 AM?!!! @kristenanniebell singing a cut song from #frozen for today's #broaderway benefit. Insane."

Meanwhile, a Frozen 2 sequel will be coming soon. The new project is being produced by Peter Del Vecho and will feature songs from songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who wrote the award-winning song from the film, "Let It Go." The release date of the sequel has not yet been revealed, however, Disney revealed that Frozen: The Musical is scheduled for the spring of 2018, US Weekly reported.

To recall, Frozen was a hit movie in 2013 directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee which followed by a short film, Frozen Fever, in 2015 that came with the movie Cinderella.

I mean who sounds like this at 10 AM?!!! @kristenanniebell singing a cut song from #frozen for today's #broaderway benefit. Insane. A video posted by Josh Gad (@joshgad) on Mar 13, 2016 at 11:04am PDT

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bestival has been taking place in the UK since 2004 as a four-day event on the Isle of Wight. Last year the award-winning made its North American debut with a two-day offshoot in Toronto over the summer. This trend continues in the summer of 2016 and organizers have announced the lineup, which will be headlined by Tame Impala, The Cure, Odesza, Grimes and Jamie xx.

This is only the first wave of acts to be announced, but it is already heavy on dance acts. Two of the main headliners are electronic artists - Jamie xx and Odesza and they will be joined by others such as Madeon, Tchami, Porter Robinson (Live), Thomas Jack, Dubfire, Maya Jane Coles, Joris Voorn, Art Department, Anna Lunoe, Lee Foss, the mysterious Malaa, local rising star Shaun Frank and others.

Jamie xx and Shaun Frank are the two known returning acts from last year's lineup.

Non electronic acts are sprinkled around the lineup like the two main headliners Tame Impala and The Cure, while also being supported by others such as Daughter, The Wombats and The Twilight Sad.

Founder and booker Rob Da Bank has also put himself on the lineup.

The inaugural lineup in 2015 was headlined by Florence + The Machine, Nas celebrating 20 years of his seminal album Illmatic, Flume, SBTRKT, Flosstradamus, Jamie xx and Caribou.

Bestival will take place over just two days, not the four that occurs in the UK, on June 11 and 12. The action will go down in Woodbine Park on the Toronto waterfront.

Tickets are on sale now. Check out the complete lineup below and watch the recap from 2015.

(Photo : via Bestival)

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Instagram might welcome its latest celebrity to their popular social media platform, but not without some strings attached. Earlier today (Monday, March 14), Kanye West took to his personal Twitter account to announce his plans of possibly joining his wife Kim Kardashian-West on Instagram. There is one condition: he will only utilize it if the creativity within the posts aren't censored, attacked, or questioned.

Kanye has been known to surprise his fans through his eclectic set of tweets, always keeping them on their toes. One of the many reasons the controversial rapper has remained active on Twitter is because he's been able to write and post whatever comes to his mind without any rules or regulations. Kanye is hoping Instagram will offer him a similar outlet to share his ideas.

The announcement came fresh off of a string of tweets the 38-year-old Chicago native released regarding positivity and the things he cares about the most. Kanye listed people, the future, truth, and quality as things he cherishes.

on another note... I was thinking about getting an Instagram but only on one condition......  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 14, 2016

no one can ask me or try to tell me what to Instagram... It's my art...  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 14, 2016

"I was thinking about getting an Instagram but only on one condition......" Kanye tweeted. "No one can ask me or try to tell me what to Instagram...It's my art..."

His wife currently reigns as one of the most followed people on Instagram. Although Kanye has yet to create his account, Kim has kept his image alive and well on the social network by posting photos and videos of them together, as well as their children.

The 35-year-old mother of two recently became a Snapchat member after teasing videos with DJ Khaled. One of her most recent stories included an outing with Kanye and their daughter North in the car. Kanye was seen dancing in the car, while North gave her mommy the "death stare" due to her dislike for Snapchat.

My tweets are a form of contemporary art only compromised by people trying to tell me what to tweet and not to tweet...  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 14, 2016

Non artist trying to grab the paint brush...  KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 14, 2016

"My tweets are a form of contemporary art only compromised by people trying to tell me what to tweet and not to tweet," Kanye added. "Non-artists trying to grab the paint brush..."

Will Kanye's Instagram post be just as controversial as his tweets?

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ariana Grande killed it as host and musical guest on the most recent episode of "Saturday Night Live." The Dangerous Woman songstress poked fun at several fellow starlets, including Jennifer Lawrence. But what does that have anything to do with Hollywood "rebel," Lindsay Lohan?

During one hilarious sketch, Grande mocked J-Law during a fake episode of "Family Feud" - the crazy celebrity edition.

Following the skit, Lohan shared this screenshot on Instagram, praising Grande for her awesome work. The post was later deleted (via GossipCop.com):

The "Mean Girls" actress doesn't mention Lawrence by name, but some fans might remember that the "Hunger Games" beauty seemingly dissed Lohan during an interview on the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" back in December 2015. She joked that she sometimes suffers "Lindsay Lohan grade exhaustion, but without any drugs or alcohol."

Here's a refresher:

Well, Lohan's younger sister Ali wasn't too amused. She later tweeted:

@aliana: "I never breathe life into negativity but I stand by my family. Disappointed in Jennifer Lawrence. You lost a fan."

And the troubled "Freaky Friday" beauty was clearly thankful for the support:

@lindsaylohan: "@aliana thank you sister... Maybe who you're referring to should learn to support others like #mayaangelou."

The 25-year-old Academy Award winner never actually responded. But apparently, Lohan still holds a major grudge!

After Lohan reignited this nonexistent "feud," she decided to spread a little more positivity on social media:

Happy new Monday A photo posted by Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) on Mar 13, 2016 at 11:57pm PDT

But do Music Times readers even think that Lawrence cares?

Meanwhile, Grande has a lot of exciting stuff coming up, including the release of a new album. Expect an epic collaboration with Lil Wayne soon!

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Sacramento, CA  Tuolumne County Elections officials are keeping a close eye on proposed state legislation that calls for moving away from traditional polling sites to newly revised voting centers.

SB 450 is being pushed by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. It was one of the topics that Tuolumne County Clerk and Auditor-Controller Debi Bautista spoke about on Mother Lode Views this past weekend. Click here to find the entire 30-minute show. She notes that the proposal calls for voting centers to be open in the weeks leading up to the election, one-per 50,000 voters. Tuolumne County already allows for early voting during that period at the main elections office in downtown Sonora, so the county would not be impacted. However, additional voting centers would need to open in the days leading up to the election. Bautista says SB 450 would require one site per 15,000 voters three days before the election, and one per 10,000 on Election Day.

It will be interesting to see how it all comes to be, and if it will pass, says Bautista. What this is geared for is elections in 2018 or 2020, when this would be put into place.

Secretary of State Padilla says SB 450 would be way to modernize Californias election process. The proposal also calls for mailing every voter a ballot, allowing for Californians to simply drop it in the mail, if so choose. Tuolumne County already has around 75% of the electorate choosing the vote-by-mail option.
Sacramento, CA  State regulators will try to close a loophole that former lawmakers have used to lobby at the state capitol.

California law requires that exiting lawmakers be out of office for at least a year before lobbying former colleagues on behalf of a company or outside interest. The Associated Press reports that lawmakers have found a loophole by attending capitol meetings as an expert on topics, and not a registered lobbyist. The change would narrow in the definition of an expert in an attempt ensure that only bona-fide experts on topics of pending legislation can appear.

The state began allowing former lawmakers to speak as experts in the 1970s in an effort to gain additional knowledge base. In turn, they are not required to go through the hoops of registering as a state lobbyist. Most recently, the California Fair Political Practices Commission investigated the consulting firm of former Democratic Lt. Governor, and Assembly Speaker, Cruz Bustamonte. He spoke at the capitol, but did not have to report it because he was there as an expert. The FPPC found no wrongdoing by Bustamonte, under the current law, but this is one of the reasons the commission is proposing the change.
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Thousands of people turned out in support of GOP front-runner Donald Trump, who campaigned in Tampa Monday ahead of the primary election.



A line of people gathered outside the Tampa Convention Center ahead of the rally. Many wore their Trump gear, including the now-famous red "Make America Great Again" hats, while others were in Trump T-shirts.

About 4,000 supporters attended the rally, where they also heard former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speak in support of Trump. The venue was so full that hundreds of Trump supporters had to be turned away at the door.

Most of his supporters tell us they say it's time for a change in the U.S., and the only way to do that is to bust up the entrenched establishment in Washington D.C. and to get the big money influence out of politics. Many are staunch supporters of his plan to build a wall to stop illegal immigration.

Crowds gather at the Tampa Convention Center Monday morning. (Holly Gregory, staff)

The top reason cited by his supporters, though? They like that he says whatever he thinks.

Supporters weren't the only ones who turned out at Trump's rally Monday. Protesters also lined up outside the Tampa Convention Center hours before the rally started. Things became heated between the two camps. The two sides argued back and forth, but things didn't get out of hand.

"His words are divisive," protester Maria Hays said. "Theyre homophobic, theyre Islamophobic, theyre xenophobic, theyre misogynist, and thats not what our country stands for."



Trump was in Boca Raton Sunday night. He was originally going to rally tonight in Doral, but that event was called off after he decided to go to Ohio tonight instead. Ohio is more of a battleground for Trump right now, as the latest polls show a dead heat race between Trump and Gov. John Kasich.

A couple of Trump supporters attended his rally at the Tampa Convention Center appearance Monday. (Holly Gregory, staff)

There's another reason, though - the campaign got wind of a large organized protest scheduled to happen in Doral.

As for the other GOP candidates, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio rallied in Pinellas County over the weekend. He addressed a few hundred supporters in Largo.

We asked Rubio was his plan was if he didn't win in Florida. He said he wasn't sure, but he believes whoever takes the Sunshine State will take the nomination.



Protesters gather outside the Tampa Convention Center, where Trump spoke Monday afternoon. (Holly Gregory, staff)

He's said more than once that if that person is Donald Trump, he'll have a hard time backing him.

Rubio is traveling down the east coast of Florida today with stops in Melbourne, West Palm and eventually Miami.



Ted Cruz is focusing his attention on Illinois and Kasich is in Ohio. Both of those states hold primaries tomorrow, as well as North Carolina and Missouri.

A lone protestor lets his message be known Thursday outside the Tampa Convention Center. (Holly Gregory, staff)

A pair of Trump fans show their support for their candidate ahead of his rally at the Tampa Convention Center Monday afternoon. (Holly Gregory, staff)
On Tuesday, Florida Decides: The Sunshine State is one of five states holding crucial presidential primaries.

Florida could help propel a candidate to win their partys nomination. Both Democrat and Republican candidates are working up until the last minute, campaigning in Florida for votes.



Although a lot of people have already turned in their absentee ballots or voted early, there are still a good number of people who will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their vote.

Because Florida is one of the top 10 states with the most electoral votes and has a substantial amount of delegates, its an important stop for many. The candidates continue to make rounds across the state.



You know I am an old fashioned guy. Democracy to me is one person one vote. Not billionaires buy the elections, said Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders when he stopped in Kissimmee on Thursday.



Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio was in The Villages on Sunday for a rally and said, This election is really a referendum, and I used to say this election is a referendum on America and its identity, and it is. Its a referendum on our identity, as a nation as the people.

And the campaigning in Florida isnt stopping. Rubio will be having a meet-and-greet at That Little Restaurant in Melbourne on Monday afternoon, while Donald Trump will be at the Tampa Convention Center.



The other GOP hopefuls are holding events in Ohio and Illinois. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is holding rallies in Youngstown, Canton, and Westerville, Ohio, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is holding a rally in Rockford, Ill.

On the Democratic side, former President Bill Clinton will be campaigning on behalf of his wife, Hillary, Monday night at Rollins College in Winter Park, while Bernie Sanders will be holding rallies in Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri on Monday.
It's official: Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood will run for Volusia County sheriff.

Chitwood officially announced his candidacy Monday morning at the Yvonne Scarlett Golden Cultural Center.

He is seeking to replace Sheriff Ben Johnson, who announced in January that he would not run for re-election after 16 years in office.

After Johnson's announcement, Chitwood initially stated he wouldn't run for Volusia County Sheriff. He's had a change of heart, though.



"Shortly after making that decision, I thought, you may have closed the door on this," Chitwood said. "And then directing traffic with my command staff here at the (Daytona) 500, the day of the 500, when that race let out, I cannot tell you how many people came up to me and encouraged me to run."



Chitwood said he will use his vacation time to campaign .

Daytona Beach's mayor and some community leaders say they support Chitwood's decision to run.

He comes out where ever he is and listens to your complaints. He hears you and things are done," said said 73-year-old Patricia Hamilton.

I may be a little late to the pool party, but Im hoping to jump into this race and make a big splash," said Chitwod during his announcment.

Chitwood has served as Daytona Beach's police chief since May 30, 2006. Before coming to Florida, Chitwood spent 17 years with the Philadelphia Police Department before being hired as chief of police in Shawnee, Oklahoma, for one year.

Chitwood is also entering a crowded race.

There are six other candidates vying for the same spot, two of them high ranking officials with the Volusia County Sheriffs Office.



Name recognition may be Chitwood's strongest point on the county's east side. But does the same hold true on the countys west side?

"No, I never even heard his name," said Corine Martinez of Deland.

Dont look for the chief to quit his job while he runs for office. He says he does not have to resign until either hes asked to, or becomes sheriff.



Several came out to support Mike Chitwood on Monday, March 14, 2016, as he announced his candidacy for Volusia County sheriff. (Saul Saenz, Staff)
BRYAN - To mark the centennial celebration of the Farm Credit System, Capital Farm Credit will announce 100 scholarships to Texas students over 100 days - beginning on National Ag Day, March 15.

In addition to various scholarships given through colleges and universities, as well as other methods, each of Capital Farm Credits branch offices across the state will award at least one $1,000 scholarship.
It was one of the most tragic nights in West Texas history, a night that a nightmare came true.

It sounded like a freight train, only louder maybe.

We could see it coming. It was white and coming down from a high cloud. You could see it from the top of the cloud reaching to the ground, commented witnesses immediately after a devastating tornado slammed into the heart of Hale Center on June 2, 1965.

The twister cut a path of destruction that saw the death of four people, injured 76 and caused more than $8 million damage at the time.

But what was a crippling blow to a small community also revealed the strength, compassion and determination of West Texans who pulled together to rebuild their city.

Now almost 50 years later, the city of Hale Center wants to retell the story and commemorate the citys resiliency by publishing a hardback book under the working title A Town Too Proud To Die.

I think the town will really appreciate it, said Hale Center Mayor Gene Carter, who helped develop the idea alongside the citys Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture.

It will give us a chance to look back, and it will also allow us to see how far weve come and grown after that night.

The book will incorporate the stories of those living in Hale Center the night the tornado ripped through the city, leveling or heavily damaging places like Hale Center City Hall, First National Bank, the volunteer fire station, the elementary school, and First Baptist Church in its mile-long path.

The book will also touch on stories of the aftermath and cleanup, as Carter said the town and surrounding communities all pulled together to help their neighbors.

After we came out of the cellar, there was not time to think . . . we just started cleaning up, said Carter.

Carter, who was 36 at the time, said he remembers celebrating his daughters first birthday just hours before he heard the emergency sirens go off.

The mission of the group developing the book is to ensure that the twister is remembered by both those who were there, and those who came after it, according to Hale Center American newspaper publisher Phillip L. Hamilton, who was chosen by the Chamber of Commerce and Carter to provide production support for the book.

The group has also enlisted the help of retired Plainview Herald Lifestyles Editor Nicki Logan to direct the project with editorial.

Logan said she lived just outside Hale Center at that time, and was helping as a weather spotter.

I was honored when they asked me to do this project, she said.

Logan remembers the storm going into Hale Center, and seeing the devastation from the twister.

I could hardly believe it. It was horrifying, said Logan.

Logan recalls seeing the Hale Center Civil Defense team and many volunteers desperately sifting through rubble to get victims to safety. Logan also remembers the help of surrounding communities which rushed in to aid Hale Center, including Rusty Etheredge, a Plainview 14-year-old at the time who came with his father to provide a generator for the Hale Center hospital.

Stories like that are what Logan and project organizers are looking for as they collect stories, photographs and memorabilia from the 1965 tornado.

We want all these stories, said Logan.

The group is even looking for accounts of other Hale Center tornadoes, including two that hit on the same day in 1973.

Hamilton said those who are comfortable writing stories with pen and paper are encouraged to do so, and the working group will collect them, scan and return photos to anyone who has them.

The group working on the 50th anniversary book has purchased the website name halecentertornadoes.com and is working to establish a Hale Center Tornadoes group on Facebook. Both are still under construction, but will soon be online.

Contact can also be made with Logan by emailing nickilogan1@hotmail.com.

Also helping with the book are Chamber President Dennis Burton, Chamber Secretary Pat McCollon, Junior Garcia and more representatives from the City of Hale Center and Chamber of Commerce.

The book is still in the early development stages of production, but the group has already decided that pre-orders will be required for the first printing. Details on the cost and how to order the book will be forthcoming in the Hale Center American and on its website and Facebook page.

To comment:

hmarquez@hearstnp.com

806.296.1350
Republican presidential candidates debates have reached new lows, the office of president of the United States has been tarnished, buffoonery has ruled and few hard facts have emerged.

I join other Americans in bewilderment that some of the statements have been extremely poorly chosen, slipping from classification of absurdity to vulgarity. Propriety is going down faster than a ball of kite string on the Matterhorn.

About all Ive gained from the verbal slugfests is recollection of a joke from the musty corner of my memory bank

I dont give Donald Trump credit for much beyond his business acumen, and was jolted by a recent jab at Marco Rubio. He declared the people of Florida wouldnt elect him dogcatcher.

It brought to mind the account of a fiery newspaper editor decades ago who ran an editorial critical of a U.S. senatorial candidate. The man isnt qualified to be dogcatcher, he wrote. Taking considerable umbrage to the piece, the senatorial aspirant threatened a lawsuit if the editor didnt write an immediate editorial of apology. (This was way back when threats of lawsuits usually made it to the courts.)

Thinking things over and eager to avoid litigation, the editor complied in the following weeks edition. It was a much shorter piece. The gist of it was his admission to have erred in the previous editorial. The candidate is absolutely qualified to be dogcatcher, and for having said last week that he wasnt, I sincerely apologize. Then he added, But he isnt running for dogcatcher; hes running for the US Senate.

Uncle Mort, soon to be 104, is afraid lots of his friends in the thicket may sit this election out.

I guess Ill vote, he said. But too many Americans want the government to provide cradle-to-grave assistance, starting immediately.

I dont think hell do it, but he said hes so disenchanted with the warring political climate, out-of-control government debt, and general discord prevailing, hes thinking of moving to Canada. Maud and I might pack things up and relocate soon, he said, before they build a wall to keep us out.

Hes never spent a day in the hospital yet, but says if the lines for surgical procedures are as long as he hears they are north of the border, hell return to the States if he needs surgery.

My uncle has a favorite story of an old boy running for sheriff in the thicket during the Depression. He was beyond lazy, couldnt hold a job and didnt even take care of his family, Mort remembers. However, he may have been the most optimistic man Ive ever known.

Mort told about how the neer-do-well visited every home in the community. He had a Big Chief tablet, carefully entering notes about the mood of voters visited.

At one house, the woman ordered him to leave. Dont even think of coming in my house, she fumed. You are as sorry a man as Ive ever seen. They ought to hang you on the courthouse lawn. I wouldnt vote for you under any circumstances for any political office. Now, get off my porch before I set my dogs on you. He thanked her for her time, paused to open his Big Chief tablet at her front gate and wrote down: Doubtful.

The fellow they elected sheriff wasnt much good, either. One day a man from the country came into town looking for him. A deputy told him the sheriff was nearly always patrolling Main Street, working both sides.

The bumpkin trudged up and down both sides of the street -- as instructed -- -to no avail. Finally, he asked a storekeeper. Which side is the sheriff usually on?

Nobody knows for sure, the merchant answered. But when he was elected, he claimed to be on ours.

Mort and his domino buddies have been conducting a survey of residents in the thicket, and the results are overwhelming, unlikely to be challenged.

They asked the folks which presidential candidate would be least likely to appear in a Direct TV ad.

Mort said it was unanimous. Trump was viewed as being least likely to be a settler -- for Direct TV or any other company.

Dr. Don Newbury is a speaker in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Send inquiries/comments to: newbury@speakerdoc.com.
After 32 years of serving as the steward of Hale County's center of information, John Sigwald will shelf his last book later this week as the librarian will begin a new chapter in his life with his departure from Unger Memorial Library.

"If you have a good library in your community, like good school, it makes people want to move there, it really improves the quality of life," said Sigwald, as he reflected on the importance and value that a public library has on the development and stability of a community.

Since arriving in Plainview in 1983, Sigwald has been at the helm of the Unger Memorial Library, overseeing the growth of the public library and its 50,000-book catalog, while also leading the way for historical research and providing sufficient technological opportunities for citizens.

But if you would have asked Sigwald in his younger years if he thought the majority of his life would be spent engulfed in the written word, his answer may have been a skeptical "no."

"I only read a couple of extra-curricular books in high school," Sigwald said with a laugh.

"I read what was assigned, but I really wasn't a book worm."

Born into a military family, Sigwald lived across the country as a kid. It wasn't until his father's retirement from the service that Sigwald was able to plant his roots in Orlando, Fla.

After graduating high school, Sigwald decided to attend Illinois Tech, however, the enrollment wouldn't last long as Sigwald said he really missed the warmer weather of the South.

"I had no problem moving back to the South," Sigwald said with another chuckle.

With a half-brother living in San Antonio, Sigwald decided to move to Texas and attend Rice University in Houston.

Academically, Sigwald was a free spirit in his studies and sampled almost every class the university had to offer. However, once graduation came rolling along, Sigwald noticed he had enough credits to obtain a bachelor's in English and pursued that degree.

After graduating, Sigwald held a number of jobs including working as a city carrier with the Post Office in Houston. It was about that time Sigwald met his future wife Regina. Both full of youth and adventure, Sigwald said the two eventually ventured on an extensive four-month bicycle trip from Houston to Canada in 1976, a trip that would take them through West Texas for the first time.

"I remember passing through Lubbock before heading to New Mexico," Sigwald said.

Hearing stories of the tornadoes, Sigwald said he made sure their time on the Caprock was short.

Soon after their return to Houston, Sigwald landed a job with Gulf Oil.

Sigwald said he worked with two librarians in the corporation's massive technical information center.

Sigwald enjoyed the job and soon decided to pursue a life as a librarian.

"I thought maybe I'll try that," Sigwald said.

Sigwald enrolled in library school at the University of Texas and learned the ins and outs of public, school and academic libraries as well as specialty libraries like the one located at Gulf Oil.

After obtaining a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science, Sigwald found a job as the head of Technical Services at the Sioux City Public Library in Iowa.

But Sioux City just didn't feel like home for Sigwald and his new wife, so the young librarian contacted the UT Library School's placement office for any other job openings.

At that same time, the City of Plainview's finance director Norman Huggins had called the university's placement office in search of a full-time librarian.

Huggins and Sigwald were matched, and after a successful interview, Sigwald was offered the position as librarian at Unger Memorial Library.

"Honestly, I didn't even know where Plainview was, I knew that it was in Texas, but that's a big state," Sigwald said.

"We packed up a Ryder truck and moved down to Plainview."

At first impression, Sigwald said he quickly realized Plainview and the Unger library was the perfect size for him.

"When you walk in that door you can see the openness of the building. The library was open and welcoming," Sigwald said.

"Also, it was small enough that you could get things done without going through a lot of bureaucracy."

Sigwald said Hale County quickly accepted his family as the librarian began to work with the community in his promotion of reading.

"I remember going out to eat and seeing kids in the restaurant tell their parents, 'That's the librarian that came and read to us.' That really made me feel like a part of the community," Sigwald said with a smile.

Gina soon gave birth to the couple's son Rainer, and Sigwald became even more involved with the school district.

Sigwald's contribution to the devolvement of the Unger Memorial Library has been substantial.

In 1987, Sigwald was one of the key members in organizing the Friends of the Library, a non-profit organization that helps financially supplement the library as well as saw the formation of the Hale County Literacy program.

Also in 1987, Sigwald published the first edition of the "Hale County, Texas, Bibliography."

"At that time the city was having its centennial. I thought that's a good reason, let me put together books about the county," Sigwald said.

Using a dot-matrix printer, Sigwald and his staff created the more than 120-page bibliography, which contained a library of book references to Hale County.

Once published, Sigwald found more references of Hale County in other books and started saving the material.

"More would come up and I started collecting and setting them aside," Sigwald said.

"A few years ago I thought, I better get the second edition done before I croak."

In 2014, Sigwald and the staff of Unger Memorial Library released a 500-page second edition bibliography with a supplement publication released earlier this year.

During his tenure at Unger, Sigwald was a regional pioneer in fusing rising technology with the library system.

In 1988, Sigwald introduced an automated circulation system for checking out books.

In 1991, the entire card catalog was converted to a fully automated system, allowing visitors to simply type in a subject, title or author into a computer to locate a book.

Unger Memorial Library was also the first in the region to offer Internet access in a public library.

With a humble start, Sigwald said he won a computer at a library conference in 1996. The computer was placed in the library and hooked on to the Internet.

The next year Sigwald bought another computer and later with a $15,000 grant from the Mayer Foundation, the library was able to buy four more. The number of computers expanded to 10 after another grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Sigwald's list of services to Hale County and its public library has been massive and hard to capture outside of a book. From the creation of a library newsletter to the annual blood drive, Sigwald has kept the library in the community spotlight.

But Sigwald said it wasn't done alone, as he thanked the entire county community as well as his staff and City of Plainview.

"I've been pretty lucky to have the staff of people I have at this library," said Sigwald, as he praised the years of work and dedication from the library staff over the years.

"Also, the city has always been really supportive. I don't always get the money I want, but I always get the support I need," Sigwald said with another laugh.

The Sigwald family plans to move to the San Antonio area in the next couple of weeks to be closer to family. Sigwald has already designated a room in his new house to shelve a miniature library.

"I have accumulated a fair number of books over the years," Sigwald said.

"There's this myth that librarians read. I don't really have time to sit down and really read the books I want to read, and I've accumulated a lot. So that's going to keep me busy for a while."

As for the future of Unger Memorial, Sigwald said he is confident that it will be placed in the hands of a capable librarian who may continue new programs like the Kindle Readers and smartphone checkout ability new at Unger, but may also usher in new advances and programs to better benefit the community's information center.

"I've run my course, and I've done the best I think I could. Some new person is coming in, maybe somebody fresh out of library school like I was. Someone that can come in and have new ideas."

Sigwald's years of service will be recognized in a special retirement reception from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at the Unger Memorial Library. Formal presentations will be made at 5:15 p.m.
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Eva Williams wept defiantly as she told Anthony Lee Smith, the man convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing her brother, that she was glad Smiths aunt turned him in to police.

It took jurors under an hour Monday afternoon to assess punishment for Smith, 25, in the murder of Daniel Lee Cantu, 51, on July 28, 2013. Smith was convicted of murder Friday in the 186th state District Court, presided over by Judge Jefferson Moore.

Im grateful to your aunt, Williams told Smith in her victim impact statement. Im grateful you have a big mouth, and she heard you.

Smiths aunt, Jean Smith, told jurors last week that her nephew admitted to killing Cantu. She testified that she did not turn Smith in for the $5,000 reward money from Crime Stoppers, but because she would rather see Smith alive and in prison than dead on the street.

Cantu was shot once in the abdomen and died about 75 feet from his home at the Banyan Tree Apartments in the 8100 block of Crosscreek on the Northeast Side. When his body was found, his wallet and cellphone were missing. Police believed robbery was a motive. A witness testified Smith said he shot Cantu because of a confrontation at a flea market.

During the punishment phase Monday morning, the jury of six men and six women heard from Cantus siblings, a friend and band mate and a co-worker who each described Cantu as a kind, loving man with a big heart whose absence has forever changed their lives.

A part of me is gone, said Christopher Cantu, one of the victims brothers. Seeing him was everything. Growing up, my dad wasnt around. He (Daniel) was the oldest (of 12), and a father figure.

Misty Cantu, the youngest, testified that she had to postpone her wedding because her brother had been killed.

He was supposed to walk me down the aisle, Misty Cantu said through tears.

Friend and bandmate Greg Valdez testified that Cantu, a lover of rock n roll music, played electric guitar in their three-piece band, Needle Thread, at a club called Bonds 007 Rock Bar.

Danny was outgoing. If you needed anything, hed give it to you, Valdez said. The last time they played as a group was in May 2013.

In his closing statement, Smiths attorney, Christian Henricksen told the jury that although Smiths DNA was found on Cantus blue jeans and on a chain that held his wallet, it didnt prove Smith pulled the trigger. He also discounted a 911 call from Cantus cellphone, believed to have been made by Smith.

Cold-blooded killers dont call 911, they just dont do that, he said.

Daniel Cantu was the true victim in this case, prosecutor Kimberly Gonzalez said in her closing argument. Theres nothing to show that he did anything wrong. He was walking home.

ezavala@express-news.net

Twitter: @elizabeth2863
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Jenny Browne, named Monday as San Antonios new poet laureate, wants to concentrate on projects focusing on the citys physical landscape during her two-year tenure in the honorary literary position created in 2012.

The author of three collections of poetry, Browne is a faculty member of the English department at Trinity University.

My own writing, and my work at Trinity, has become increasingly focused on what it means to live and write in a time of environmental crisis, said Browne, who was hiking in far West Texas. So Im particularly interested in pursuing poetry initiatives and land-based projects that consider and perhaps even reimagine San Antonio as a changing physical place.

Browne is the citys third poet laureate, following Carmen Tafolla (2012-2014) and Laurie Ann Guerrero (2014-2016).

I dont think its an accident that I became a poet in San Antonio, Browne said. Part of a poets job is to pay closer attention to how it feels to human. To language and emotion, sure, but also to history, class, race and landscape. Our city inspires, challenges and whispers interesting things to me daily. I feel so lucky to get to write about it, and even luckier to be officially charged with thinking about how to make poetry a bigger part of cultural conversations.

Browne, who said she learned to walk on the grounds of Fort Sam Houston, is the author of the collections At Once, The Second Reason and Dear Stranger.

She received a prestigious James Michener Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her masters degree in poetry.

In 2007, Browne joined the Department of English at Trinity University, where she currently teaches courses in creative writing, as well as classes in environmental studies, and women and gender studies.

Im thrilled! poet Naomi Shihab Nye exclaimed when she learned of Brownes appointment. She is perfect for the honor because of her verve and vitality and her empathy and affection for community readers and writers of all ages and backgrounds. And she writes wondrously original and stunning poetry.

Brownes duties as poet laureate, for which she will receive a stipend of $3,500 a year, include public readings, workshops and educational programs for students.

The position of San Antonio poet laureate is an important one, especially as we approach National Poetry Month in April, Mayor Ivy Taylor said in a statement. It increases the communitys support and appreciation of the literary arts in our city. I congratulate Jenny and look forward to the initiatives she will set forth in her new role.

sbennett@express-news.net
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The unhinged hatred of Donald Trump continues. This time in San Antonio where a local Tex-Mex favorite was the victim of a prank, sort of, involving Trump, Trump supporters and tacos.

Saturday afternoon, a note showed up on the door of a Mama Margie's Mexican Cafe stating the following:

Please Note:

Due to his consistent disparaging comments directed towards Mexicans. WE WILL NO LONGER BE SERVING DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTERS OR SYMPATHIZERS. Thanks you for your cooperation  MGMT

The paper the note was written on had a Mama Margie's logo on it.

Pictures of the sign have since been making the rounds on social media sites with folks both in support of, and those angered by it going at each other.

RELATED: 27 signs you went to college in San Antonio

This calls for a #Margarita !! You go @mamamargies !! #DumpTrump

"I am Anti Trump ... he's an idiot. But he doesn't nor has he attacked Latin Americans. He's stated that he'll go after felons ... yes ... if you're illegal here ... you're a felon. So Mama Margie's ... your food was marginal anyways. Cruz For POTUS and illegals to Jail or Back to Mexico!" Wrote one person on Facebook.

While another felt the same: "Shameful that a restaurant would categorize Trump supporters as anti Mexican. I love Cancun, and Laredo. I visited the restaurant once. Wasn't very impressed."

Still the sign had plenty of support with posts cheering on the chain.

But there were also those who seemed to catch on right away. As one Facebook user noted, "Fake ! Stop freaking out ... You can still get your tacos."

Which is true, because Mama Margie's had nothing to do with the sign.

Susan O'Brien, one of the owners of the restaurant chain, said Sunday that they were not the ones who posted the sign.

"Mama's is in the business of tacos, not politics," O'Brien said by phone Sunday.

Mama Margie's has four San Antonio locations, but O'Brien declined to say at which restaurant the sign was posted.

Calls made directly to Mama Margie's locations were either not answered, or were met with hang-ups, or frustrated employees saying it was not them, then hanging up.

But to the person who did put the sign up, Mama's has an eye on you.

"We're actually trying to figure out who did it," O'Brien said. "We know it is not an employee."

RELATED: How Austin lost the Texas Taco War to S.A.

O'Brien continued saying "we have video of the person" who did put up the sign and that they are currently exploring options.

She would not say if they had contacted police.

Whether business has been affected by the sign is unknown and O'Brien would not comment further.

Meanwhile Trump mania, both hatred of and love for, continues. Most recently a rally was cancelled in Chicago when protesters turned violent, forcing the event to shut down.

Trump blamed professional agitators for the fiasco while opponents say it has been Mr. Trump's rhetoric that is causing such an intense backlash against the candidate.

RELATED: Trump's new normal: campaign rallies where chaos is expected

So if you love "The Donald" and are looking forward to four years of Mr. Trump as the next President of the United States, then feel free to go Mama's for some barbacoa, machacado, fajita or whatever taco you fancy. Then again if you hate Trump, his politics or supporters, then too, feel free to indulge the fare at Mama's.

As O'Brien said, it is all about the food, and not the fight.
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A North Texas man is behind bars after allegedly crashing his car into a police patrol car and pinning the officer inside after a high-speed chase early Sunday morning.

RELATED: Police: Naked New Mexico woman used heroin, pills and drank whiskey before high-speed chase

Josue Pablo Mendez-Gurrero has been charged with aggravated assault of a public servant and evading arrest, according to Arlington City Jail records.

An Arlington police officer tried to pull over Mendez-Gurrero because she suspected him of driving while intoxicated, Arlington police said Sunday.

Mendez-Gurrero fled the scene in his truck and reached speeds of more than 100 mph before losing control of his vehicle and spinning out, police said.

RELATED: North Texas school police officer arrested on charges of sexual assault of child

The suspect then rammed the officer's patrol car with his truck, damaging the vehicle and pinning the officer inside.

Mendez-Gurrero, who does not have an age listed in jail records, then fled the scene, according to police.

Officers arrested Mendez-Gurrero hours later after he passed out at a relative's house in Fort Worth, police said.

RELATED: Police: North Texas man accused of drunken driving crashed into man in wheelchair

The officer was treated at a hospital and released, police said. She is expected to make a full recovery.

"DWIs will not be tolerated in Arlington, nor will intentional ramming of our cars by suspects trying to flee," Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson said in a statement.

Mendez-Gurrero is being held in Arlington City Jail on a bond exceeding $53,000.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
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A San Antonio man is in critical condition after being shot several times in the chest while another man and woman are recovering from injuries sustained after facing two armed robbers late Sunday, police said.

RELATED: Teenage girl shot, killed near downtown San Antonio

The man currently in critical condition, who has not been identified by authorities but is in his 30s, was at a bus stop at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of E. Commerce St. and Spriggsdale Boulevard on the East Side when he became involved in an altercation with several juvenile males, police said Monday.

The teenage males left and later returned with more individuals to continue the altercation, police said.

One male produced a handgun and shot the man several times in the upper torso before fleeing the scene, according to police.

Officers near the scene heard the shots and arrived to find the man lying on the opposite side of the street from where the shooting took place, police said. He was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

RELATED: Workers escape injury after 8th-story scaffolding scare in downtown San Antonio

At a separate incident around 10:45 p.m., officers found a 26-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his arm with a 24-year-old woman after responding to a call of shots fired at an apartment complex in the 1000 block of Jackson Keller Road on the North Side.

The complainants told police they had purchased edible marijuana and were waiting for a female friend to come over.

The man answered a knock at the door and was confronted with two men armed with a gun, police said.

The gunmen forced the man back into his apartment and pistol-whipped the woman after learning that she was there, according to police.

The man managed to run away but was shot after the gunmen chased him through the complex.

Both suspects are believed to have fled the scene in a Ford Focus, police said.

RELATED: BCSO: Burglary suspects shoot man inside home in west Bexar County

The man was treated for non-life threatening injuries at University Hospital while the woman refused treatment.

The alleged gunmen have not yet been caught, police said.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
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SAN ANTONIO  A teenage girl was fatally shot early Monday morning near downtown following a "possible scuffle" at a gathering, police said.

RELATED: SAPD: Man, woman dead in apparent murder-suicide on North Side

A group of teenagers was driving, possibly on Nogalitos St., at around 3:40 a.m. Monday when they heard a gunshot, witnesses told San Antonio police officers.

The girl told the rest of the group that she had been shot, police said.

The teenager was taken to Santa Rosa Children's Hospital where she later died.

RELATED: BCSO: Burglary suspects shoot man inside home in west Bexar County

An officer found a bullet hole in the vehicle's rear hatch, police said Monday.

Officers learned that there had been a possible scuffle between the group and other individuals at a gathering prior to the shooting.

RELATED: Affidavit: Man used kids to hide stolen goods in Home Depot heist

Police are searching for the shooting suspect.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
If enacted, the state would join Hawaii in barring legal adults from purchasing or using tobacco products until they turn 21.

SACRAMENTO  Last week California lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Jerry Brown to increase the states legal age to purchase or use tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, from 18 to 21.

The Sacramento Bee reports the nations most populous state is on the brink of becoming only the second after Hawaii to bar [all] teenagers from lighting up, dipping or vaping.

"We can prevent countless California youth from becoming addicted to this deadly drug, save billions of dollars in direct health care costs and, most importantly, save lives," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez, author of the bill.

Opponents of raising the legal tobacco age from 18 to 21 maintain that people can make adult decisions when they turn 18 and live with the consequences, notes the news source, adding that 18-year-olds can register to vote, join the military, sign legally binding contracts and do most legal activities except purchase alcohol. The bill was amended to allow members of the military to continue buying cigarettes at age 18.

The news source writes that the California Senate vote came just over a week after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to raise the citys legal tobacco buying age to 21, joining more than 100 other U.S. cities that have increased the tobacco purchase age in recent years.

Read more about increased age limits for tobacco purchases in the March issue of NACS Magazine.
Newest video from the NACS Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council shows that employees want to be known as the unique person they are.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.  How well do you know your employees? Taking time to learnand rememberdetails about your team members, like the names of their family members or how they like to spend time on the weekends, can have a meaningful impact that goes a long way. Just taking the time to talk with them in the store shows employees that you care. And when you care about them, theyll care about the business.

The NACS Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council (NACS/CCRRC) is releasing a study on employee engagement in convenience retail that will be distributed in three parts. The third video, as part of the Power Up Employee Engagement video series, was released this week and provides a powerful example of the fact that employees, just like everyone else, want to be known as the unique person they are. It also shows that managers who make a genuine effort to do this can take a big step forward in building a new culture of engagement in their business, which can produce some amazing results that improve sales and profit, empowering you to grow your business.

Key learnings from this blog post and video include:

Caring improves commitment

Ask employees, How can I support you?

Make time to connect with employees

Recognize that values drive behavior

Be genuine with your employees

The three parts of the NACS/CCRRC study include:

A series of six videos from convenience retailers who took part in the NACS Leadership Challenge. They discuss how employee engagement grew their business, providing real tips by retailers, for retailers. Watch the first and second videos.

A narrated PowerPoint by Dr. Blake Frank, a management professor at the University of Dallas, about the power of employee engagement. This will be available in April.

A full quantitative study that speaks to the importance of employee engagement while providing insights retailers can use in their stores. The quantitative study will be released in June.

Look for more information on this study in upcoming editions of NACS Daily and NACS Magazine.
PHILADELPHIA  Alex Baloga, vice president of external relation for the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, wrote last week in the Philadelphia Business Journal in opposition to a budget plan by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. The mayors proposal would levy a three cent per ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages, which would increase the cost of a two-liter bottle of soda by $2.04. The proposed tax, he wrote, is so high that consumers would be forced to pay more in taxes than they would for the product itself.

If implemented, this tax would hit Philadelphians in every aspect of their livesmaking it more expensive to grab a bite at a convenience store, go to the movies or catch a Phillies game, Baloga says, noting that it would also raise grocery costs and cost jobsjobs that often provide ladders of opportunity for entire families in some of Philadelphias poorest neighborhoods to enter the middle class.

Both small businesses and poor Philadelphia families are already contending with recent gas rate increases, as well as a proposed 11% water rate hike. If Mayor Kenney wants to follow through on his campaign promise to invest in our neighborhoods, then he should support these business ownersnot punish them.

Baloga writes that much of Mayor Kenneys budget proposal rests on the city issuing a series of bonds to cover capital improvements in city-owned buildings and in parks and recreation facilities. However, he notes that these bonds would be guaranteed by revenue raised from this proposed [soda] tax on Philadelphians beverages, an unstable and untested revenue source. Instead, Baloga suggests that the mayor turn to tried-and-tested revenue sources that will support citywide programs for years to come.

We are confident as the mayors proposal is thoroughly vetted by [the] city council in the coming months, the flaws underlying this regressive tax plan will become clear. Ordinary Philadelphians have said time and again that this tax is unfair to families, and we are confident that their voices will prevail.
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Collier Child Care Resources welcomed five new businesses to the CCCR Business 100, bringing the total number of members to 61. The goal is to attain 100 members for this group comprised of local businesses, foundations and civic associations that make an annual contribution to CCCR's early learning programs. Recent additions include Commercial Management of Naples Inc., Family Wealth Planning Group  Raymond James, Hollinger Jobs.com, Naples Daily News and Thrive Physical Therapy + Wellness Solutions.

New location

WBN Marketing LLC has a new office location at Peacock Court Plaza, 6226 Trail Blvd., North Naples. The firm will hold a celebratory open house and networking event at 5 p.m. on March 23. Information: wbn-marketing.com

Nominations sought

Florida Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University is accepting nominations for the 2016 Distinguished Entrepreneur of Southwest Florida. The application deadline is March 31. Information: www. fsbdcswfl.org/de2016.

New website

Pushing the Envelope Inc., a marketing communication firm based in Fort Myers, has launched a new website: getpushing.com.

Events

The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly Business After Five networking event at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lamoraga Bar/Restaurant, 3936 U.S. 41 N. Information: www. napleschamber.org/events

To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com.
By June Fletcher of the Naples Daily News

Anyone looking in from the outside wouldnt have predicted much of a future for Eileen Connolly-Keesler.

Daughter of a construction worker and the youngest of five children, she grew up without much money in a small Wisconsin town. But her mother and grandmother both were determined that all of the children would go to college and have careers.

So Connolly-Keesler did, eventually becoming president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Collier County, an organization that matches donors to charities, to ensure the county's poorest residents have proper educations and futures, too.

The foundation oversees more than 510 funds, and it distributed more than $10.3 million to nonprofit groups and community programs in the past year.

It also manages more than $110 million in assets, up from $62 million when she took charge of the organization a little more than three years ago.

Yet she didn't set out to do philanthropic work. Her early passion was to work with domestic violence victims.

Personal experience motivated her.

"In high school I had a boyfriend who was a control freak," she said. "He once pinned me in the car for 1 hours for talking to friends at a party."

Because of that experience, she could relate to abused women when she did field work while studying for an undergraduate degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin.

"I began talking to women about their lives and fears," she said. "Pretty soon it was in my blood."

For nearly 15 years, Connolly-Keesler worked with the victims of violence at Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services in Oshkosh, eventually becoming its executive director.

During that time she helped open the county's first domestic abuse shelter in a former bed-and-breakfast and chaired the Governor's Council on Domestic Abuse, helping to draft laws to protect victims.

"I loved, loved, loved what I did," she said.

Yet the work was also sad and sometimes shocking  a few of the victims she worked with were killed by their perpetrators, she said.

And there were some surprises, too.

"Wealthy women were the toughest to work with because they had the most to lose," she said. "They had a hard time leaving their situations because they not only would lose their money, but they'd lose their friends, who tend to side with the powerful husband. Their kids tended to be angry at them, too, because they didn't want to lose their lifestyles."

Poorer women often had an easier time leaving because in many cases their abusers had not let them work or have control over their own finances, she said. Once they left, they could provide their children with a better life and, often, a higher standard of living, she said.

But in 1999 the top post at the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation opened up, and Connolly-Keesler applied almost on a whim.

She got the job and immediately wondered if she had made a mistake leaving a job she had loved so much. "I cried for six months," she said.

Nevertheless, she remained the organization's president and CEO for nearly 14 years and racked up some impressive credentials.

During her tenure, donors rose to 4,300 from 200 and assets to $77 million from $22 million. Donor funds increased to 650 from 80.

She also earned a master's degree in public administration from her alma mater during that time, attending classes on Saturdays.

All the while she also was raising three young children with her husband, Pat Keesler, director of sales for an Oshkosh airplane remanufacturer.

But over the years, Connolly-Keesler grew tired of cold Midwestern weather. When the top job at the Naples-based Community Foundation opened in June 2012, she took a look.

Her family had vacationed in the area for several years, and she thought it was an opportunity to have an impact.

"There's huge wealth here, but there's also huge poverty," she said. "A lot of times, the wealthy don't see all the poverty. Here was a chance to educate the community on what the realities are here."

Since she took the helm of the Naples operation in January 2013, she's worked to raise money for numerous causes: among them, providing mental health services to teens, helping disabled youth, and offering services and support to victims of human trafficking.

Yet she says her greatest challenge is to get Naples' wealthiest and most generous donors to give at least a portion of their philanthropic dollars to an area where some may spend only a few weeks a year.

So many of the area's charities and causes are being supported by a handful of full-time resident donors, she said. If any of them leaves the area or dies, the effects on some organizations could be catastrophic, she warned.

Even if they are part-time residents, donors need to "give where they live," she said, to help keep Collier's charities and social services running smoothly.

"There's nowhere near the amount of money available to meet the community's needs," she said.
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By Jacob Carpenter of the Naples Daily News

A repentant North Naples Ponzi schemer received 6  years in prison Monday for bilking more than 100 investors out of several millions of dollars.

Dorian Garcia, 31, funded a lavish lifestyle with money he received from investors, who were promised large returns through an investing system Garcia devised, federal prosecutors said. Garcia, however, barely invested any of the money, and the scheme, which lasted about five years, crumbled when federal investigators cracked down on him in spring 2015.

"I take full responsibility for the damage that I cause to the victims and their families," said Garcia, who has three children between the ages of 7 months and 4 years old. "Obviously because I have children, my whole perspective is to rehabilitate and become a productive member of society."

Federal trading commission investigators now believe Garcia received about $8.5 million from 111 investors, who are still owed about $5 million. Investigators have given various dollar values for Garcia's scheme since the allegations against him first became public in April 2015, in part because new investors and bank accounts have been discovered.

Lawyers for the trading commission are in the middle of civil litigation with Garcia. They're asking for $5 million in restitution and a penalty of no less than $7.5 million. Lawyers on both sides are trying to work out an agreed-upon restitution figure.

In his criminal case, Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Federal guidelines called for a sentence of 6  to 9 years in prison, and prosecutors agreed to ask for the 6 -year sentence because Garcia has cooperated with investigators. U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell handed down the sentence.

"Seventy-eight months (in prison) for an individual who has never been in trouble before is, in my eyes, a significant period of time," Chappell said.

No victims were in court Monday, but federal prosecutor David Lazarus and Chappell referred to letters, emails and prior court testimony given by some of those duped. Lazarus quoted a statement from one victim who lost $35,000 to Garcia, saying the victim was taken advantage of "at a very vulnerable time for us." Another victim, Lazarus said, reported that she's a single mother who has been "devastated" financially as a result of Garcia.

"This is a serious crime that has had long-term and lasting impact," Lazarus said.

Investigators said Garcia charmed investors by presenting himself as a wealthy financial wunderkind, regaling interested parties over fancy dinners in Naples, Miami and Las Vegas. He promised guaranteed returns on investments, at one point pledging a return of 300 to 600 percent while trying to solicit $1 million from an individual investor.

The money, however, went into Garcia's bank accounts for personal purchases, such as luxury cars, a million-dollar North Naples home, several high-end paintings and a personal chef. Garcia falsified documents to reflect positive returns and an inflated company value, which he said reached $31 million at one point, according to court documents.

Available court records don't indicate how many victims were from the Southwest Florida region.

Garcia said he hopes to repay his victims after his release from prison. His lawyer, Doug Molloy, said Garcia has no money at the moment.

"In accepting responsibility, he has worked very diligently to make as many investors as he can whole," Molloy said.
New medical examiner Dr. Jonathan Hayes at the Collier County Medical Examiner's Office in Naples on Monday, March 7, 2016. (Photo by Gregg Pachkowski/Special to the Daily News)

SHARE New medical examiner Dr. Jonathan Hayes at the Collier County Medical Examiner's Office in Naples on Monday, March 7, 2016. (Photo by Gregg Pachkowski/Special to the Daily News)

By Ryan Mills of the Naples Daily News

There's a ring around Dr. Jonathan Hayes' right forearm for each of his novels  two completed, one in the works.

On his left forearm are tattooed quotes from German composer Richard Wagner, American poet T.S. Eliot and the New York City noise rockers Sonic Youth  "How different from the sea is the boat?"  along with a portrait of his cat, Petey, originally sketched with marker by his friend, Jenny.

And then there's the mustache, salt and pepper and waxed to a fine point on each end.

"It's become such a hipster staple now," Hayes, 55, said in his English accent, "and the tattoos. I look like a barista."

Maybe. But Hayes, one of Collier County's newest residents, isn't here to make espresso.

A forensic pathologist in New York City for 25 years, Hayes moved to Naples in January for a change of scenery and to breathe new life into an impressive and varied career that's also seen him moonlighting as a novelist and journalist.

"I was getting a little burned out in New York. I mean, I think I felt burned out after 9/11," Hayes said. "I think I needed a complete change of environment just to reinvigorate and start over again."

Hayes also is here to provide relief to the Collier County Medical Examiner's Office, where a team of two medical examiners has seen its workload more than triple over the last quarter century.

In 1990, when Dr. Marta Coburn, Collier's chief medical examiner, first arrived in Naples, the office handled 1,018 cases, according to data provided by the office. The case load steadily increased. Last year, her office handled 3,687 cases.

Hayes has been a welcome addition to the team, said Dr. Manfred Borges, who joined Coburn in Collier County in 1992.

"The bottom line is, Naples has gotten bigger. There are more people here. There are more people during season. There are more people permanently. There are more cases," Borges said. "It's been the same two doctors for all these years, so it was about time the number of doctors also got bigger."

Murder and mayhem

Although his workload in Collier County will be similar to his workload in New York, Hayes said the pace here is easier.

There were only three homicides in Collier last year, compared to about 350 in New York City. In 1990, when Hayes started working in New York, there were 2,245 homicides in the city.

"There were days I would walk into the autopsy room and every single one of the eight tables would have a murder victim on it," he said. "It was very good for me to handle that high volume of mayhem. You learn a lot and you learn it very quickly."

Hayes was also part of the team that identified victims from the Sept. 11 terror attacks. They spent about eight months, 24 hours a day, trying to recover remains, he said.

In a profession where the practitioners are rarely shocked, 9/11 was shocking. It took a toll.

"Just the sheer amount. Thousands of dead, and among them cops and firemen, and we worked with the cops and firemen," Hayes said. "It was physically arduous and emotionally draining."

From the patio of his new house in Naples Park, Hayes enjoys listening to the soothing sound of birds in the morning.

It's a drastically different life from the mayhem and craziness he so enjoyed from his Union Square Park loft in downtown Manhattan, where people's lives are packed on top of one another.

In addition to being one of about 30 medical examiners in the city that never sleeps, Hayes started a writing career.

A fan of electronic music, he first wrote for Paper magazine chronicling the culture and music of the mid-90s rave scene, where he saw parallels to the early-80s post-punk scene of his youth.

Eventually he started traveling the world and writing food and video game reviews for The New York Times magazine, Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Living magazine, among others.

"I would do an autopsy on a medical case in the morning, testify in a murder trial in the afternoon, in the evening go and eat at a restaurant I was reviewing ... go home and sleep for an hour or two, have a can of Coke, and then go out and dance all night," Hayes said. "It was a crazy life. It felt like an intensely New York City life."

He's also written two novels: "Precious Blood" and "A Hard Death," thrillers about a New York City medical examiner who hunts a serial killer and ends up relocating to fictional coastal Florida town based on, you guessed it, Naples.

Finding his calling

Hayes was born in England, but grew up in Jamaica and the West Indies. He went to boarding school in England and medical school in London, before coming to the U.S. to study pathology at the Boston University Medical School.

Surgical pathology didn't move him, so he started spending time in the medical examiners office in the same building. It was there he identified his interest in forensics  the collection and analysis of scientific evidence during an investigation.

"As a child I loved Sherlock Holmes books. I liked Encyclopedia Brown, and all my life I'd been reading about forensics," he said.

He moved to Miami in 1989 for a one-year forensics training program with Dr. Joseph Davis, one of the greats in the field.

It was in Miami where Hayes befriended Coburn, another student in the program (Borges was in the following year's class). And it was during this time that Hayes first visited Naples. He and Coburn would both fill in for Collier County's medical examiner, Dr. David Engstrand, who was battling leukemia.

Coburn ended up staying in Naples, taking over the office after Engstrand's death in 1991.

Hayes headed off to New York, but they remained close.

"She always told me that someday she hoped we could work together, and she knew I felt the same way," Hayes said.

Looking forward

Twenty-five years in, Hayes said, he still finds his work interesting and challenging.

Most importantly, he said, it's profoundly rewarding. He brings closure to grieving families, offers critical information regarding public health, and provides information that helps bring killers to justice, possibly preventing further killings.

He's got plenty to learn in Naples; for instance, in New York it will take about a year for a body dumped on the side of the road to be scattered, he said. In Southwest Florida, it takes weeks.

He's not looking forward to late-night trips to the Everglades to recover bodies.

He is looking forward to the gentler pace Naples has to offer. He wants to set up an electronic music studio in his home. He needs to find a way to exercise; an avid bicycler in New York, he's intimidated by the high number of bike crashes in Naples.

And he's got some work to do on his tattoos. He's currently working on a sleeve of moths on his right arm.

"Tattoos like this, I think they don't look good until you've accumulated a certain amount," he said. "I think my mother will never think they look good."
Age: 75



Family: wife Chris, four children



Hometown: White Plains, New York



Naples resident since: 1973



Business background: In Naples, opened a Scotti Muffler franchise in 1973; opened Bill Barnett Toyota in 1975; added BMW to franchise in 1978; sold to Germain in 1983



NAPLES POLITICS:



Mayor (1996-2000, 2004-12)



City Council (1984-92, 2012-present)



Chairman Naples police and fire pension boards (1986-92)



POSITION ON:

Baker Park  Baker Park has been a work in progress from its inception. There were many hurdles that had to be overcome and now it will become a reality as our current City Council has approved a plan that we all agreed on.



Beaches  Our beaches are the heart and soul of Naples. Without them there would be no Naples. We must always do as much as we can to protect them and keep them re-nourished for all to enjoy and for generations to come.



Bikeability & walkability  We are committed to make our city as bike and pedestrian friendly and safe as we can make it. We have made great strides in the last few years and will continue to keep this a priority issue for the benefit of all and tie our community together.



Downtown Development  Downtown redevelopment is the issue that seems to be at the forefront of discussion. We must make sure that Fifth Avenue South remains a vibrant, friendly place to be while at the same time keeping that balance between residential and commercial interests.



Naples Municipal Airport  I am convinced that we are where we need to be with our commercial service at this time. We will continue to strive to resolve outstanding issues regarding noise and flight paths. We will work diligently with our Naples Airport Authority to make sure these concerns are heard and dealt with.



Water Management  Our Integrated Water Resources Plan initiated when I was Mayor in 2008 is very much in place. It was set up to identify sufficient sources of water and the funding that will be required to meet potable and irrigation demands within the city of Naples water service area through 2028 while sustaining natural resources and enhancing Naples Bay.
Age: 72



Family: wife Delores, two children



Hometown: Nashville

Naples resident since: 1998



Business Background: Manufacturing and distribution 1967-1998. Involved in numerous companies as employee, consultant, board member or owner, always striving to improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness.



NAPLES POLITICS

Mayor (2012-present)



City Council (2004-12, vice-mayor 2010-12)



Planning Advisory Board (2000-04, chair 2002-04)



Coastal Advisory Committee (2004-present)



Tourist Development Council (2004-present)



Big Cypress Basin Board (2006-12)



POSITION ON

Baker Park  I strongly support plan H2 which has been approved by Council and has allowed site planning to proceed. The bridge design is moving forward to completion and permitting. Private fundraising will continue to be my priority going forward. We will get the Peoples Park built.



Beaches  Our pristine beaches are our top asset, consistently rated as our most important element by residents and visitors. Served 12 years on the Coastal Advisory Committee, and have lead past renournishment projects, and have the knowledge and experience to continue maintaining our world class beaches.



Bikeability and Walkability  Connectivity is essential for the health, safety and comfort of our residents and visitors. Have been very involved in the studies, plans and actions to improve pedestrian and cyclist movement within our city. Dedicated to multiple corridors from the west to Baker Park and the Gordon River Greenway.



Downtown Development  It is time to review our planning documents to ensure they meet the test of time. Our success has overwhelmed parts of our city and it is time for another look. This will be a transparent, and participative process to ensure all voices are heard and considered.



Naples Municipal Airport  Living in Old Naples, I understand the issues and will ensure that a balance is reached between residents and the airport. Will support members of the Naples Airport Authority Board who are well qualified and understand the balance required. Will maintain and enforce the 75,000 pound weight limit.



Water Management  Having served on the Big Cypress Basin Board for six years, lead the alternate water system project, understand the complexity of the stormwater outflows, and the Golden Gate Canal system. We must continue to make progress on water quality issues in Naples Bay, the Gulf and Moorings Bay.


Age: 53



Family: husband Jeffrey, three children



Hometown: Tampa Bay

Naples resident since: 1988



Business background: Marketing and retail, working with national cosmetic firms and a Florida family-owned retailer



NAPLES POLITICS:

City Council (2008-present)



Florida League of Cities (2009-present)



Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council (2009-present, chair 2014-15)



Federal Action Strike Team (2009-present, chair 2014-15)



Aqualane Shores Association (2007-present, president 2007-09)



POSITION ON:

Baker Park  Whats not to like about the idea of a park. The challenge is how to pay for it. Mayor Sorey and Bill Barnett pursued approval of a park design before doing any professional industry due diligence. The majority of the city council, which I was a part of, 4-3, demanded the due diligence be performed. The independent expert engineer and park designer advised not to pursue the Sorey plan due to the risk of failure and presented a new concept, which was unanimously approved.



Beaches  I believe that our beaches and waterways are our greatest asset and we need to protect them. We need to remove the beach outfalls that are dumping untreated storm water directly into the bay and Gulf



Biking and walkability  These are both very desired objectives! We need to be careful however, that we fully understand the impact of pursuing these objectives. For example, in the case of Central Avenue, business owners are very concerned about the impact the downsizing of the street, to be more pedestrian and bike friendly, will have on their businesses.



Downtown development  All of the major projects involve substantial variances from our codes. The variances represent enormous potential financial gain to developers, yet the upside for the community is unclear. Many residents are understandably very concerned about overdevelopment. The fate of Naples charm is indeed at the forefront of this election.



Naples Municipal Airport  Conduct a noise and flight path study. Select flight paths that offer the safest routes and impact the fewest number of people. Exercise Council review and oversight of the airport to provide guidance and to assist Council in appointing the board. We should renegotiate the absurd $1 per year lease rate the airport pays the city. Long-range planning is essential to assure commercial service viability.



Water Management  Storm water management represents a major challenge. A recent report identified substantial concerns relative to the bay and the runoff directly into the gulf is also a huge concern. We need to move storm water management to the front burner and address the collection, treatment and redistribution of storm water before it ends up in the Gulf.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., gives a thumbs up to supporters as he boards his campaign bus during a stop at the Maple Street Biscuit Company in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

SHARE Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., gives a thumbs up to supporters as he boards his campaign bus during a stop at the Maple Street Biscuit Company in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to his supporters at a campaign event in Tampa, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., greets supporters at campaign stop at the Maple Street Biscuit Company in Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton) Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi makes introductory remarks for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, before Trump arrives at a campaign event in Tampa, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

By Julie Pace And Kathleen Ronayne, Associated Press

Marco Rubio, in full campaign mode on the last day before Florida's primary and perhaps his last full day campaigning for president, remained optimistic Monday that he would defy conventional political wisdom with a surprising win over GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

"Tomorrow's the day where we are going to shock the country," Rubio said Monday during a stop in Jacksonville, just hours after yet another statewide poll showed him trailing Trump by 20 points or more in Florida.

It was a hectic day of campaign stops and appearances for Rubio, as the tumultuous presidential primary season barreled toward a potentially decisive day for both Republicans and Democrats, with enough delegates up for grabs Tuesday to turn Trump and Hillary Clinton from front-runners to likely nominees.

The biggest prizes are Florida and Ohio, states with a long history of making or breaking White House aspirations. Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina also offer a crucial cache of delegates that could help Trump and Clinton pull further away from their rivals.

Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich hoped the two big states would give them a boost instead. Kasich seemed to have a better chance at that than Rubio.

Campaigning statewide over the weekend, Rubio looked exhausted. He nearly lost his composure talking to reporters about violence at recent Trump rallies. He rushed through crowds at restaurants and retail shops, shaking hands, kissing elderly women, tilting his head and furrowing his brow to convey his appreciation. A funeral mood set in, similar to what cloaked the campaign of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in its waning days.

In Largo, his voice cracked as he acknowledged that "it's getting harder every day" to fathom supporting Trump as the GOP nominee. Video of the moment quickly went viral, because it caught a rare flash of emotion from the usually scripted Rubio.

The contests Tuesday come at a remarkable moment in the presidential race for Republicans. Animosity toward Trump has risen to the point where he can rarely get through an event without being interrupted by protesters. The front-runner is also under scrutiny for appearing to encourage his supporters to physically confront those protesters, deepening divisions within the Republican Party.

In a lightly veiled jab at Trump, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said candidates "need to take responsibility for the environment at their events."

"There is never an excuse for condoning violence, or even a culture that presupposes it," Ryan told WRJN, a radio station in Racine, Wisconsin.

Even with the new controversy, Trump holds a comfortable lead in the GOP delegate count and could put himself well on his way to the nomination if he sweeps Tuesday's contests. During a campaign stop Monday in Tampa, where he appeared alongside former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Trump was already eying the general election.

"If we win Florida and we win Ohio, we can go and attack Hillary," he said.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, appearing in Tampa with Trump, endorsed him. "My mom is for Donald Trump and I always listen to my mom," Bondi said.

Heading into Tuesday, the billionaire businessman is locked in a tight contest in Ohio with Kasich, the state's governor. Seeking a final boost in his home state, Kasich spent Monday campaigning alongside Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee and a fierce critic of Trump.

"This is the guy Ohio has to vote for, and America's counting on you," Romney told the crowd at a Kasich event in North Canton. While Romney has not endorsed Kasich, he's said he'll do whatever is needed to help all of Trump's rivals.

If Trump sweeps Tuesday's contests, he would cross an important threshold by collecting more than 50 percent of the delegates awarded so far.

Trump's closest competition has come from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has defeated the businessman in seven states. He's also the only remaining GOP candidate who still says unequivocally that he would support Trump if he becomes the nominee.

Asked what could cause him to change his mind, Cruz said, "If, for example, he would go out on 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, I would not support him."

His comment was a reference to a previous statement by Trump that he could shoot someone on the famous Manhattan street and not lose support.

Among Democrats, Clinton, who has a comfortable margin in Florida polls over Bernie Sanders, has been itching to look ahead to the general election but continues to face persistent competition from the Vermont senator. While Clinton maintains a commanding lead in the delegate count, Sanders breathed new life into his campaign with a surprising victory last week in Michigan.

Reprising a theme that helped propel that Michigan win, Sanders on Monday pounded Clinton's past support for trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. He's escalated his criticism in recent days, hoping to undercut her edge among minorities and expand his advantage with white working-class voters.

"When it came down whether you stand with corporate America, the people who wrote these agreements, or whether you stand with the working people of this country, I proudly stood with the workers," Sanders said in Youngstown, Ohio. "Secretary Clinton stood with the big money interests."

Clinton's team is attempting to tamp down expectations for Tuesday night, stressing that the race remains close in the Midwest, despite public polling showing her with a sizable lead. Still, she's eying the general election and escalating her attacks on Trump, saying he's "inciting mob violence" at his rallies.

The campaign next shifts to the West, where Sanders' advisers have suggested he could rattle off a win streak and enter April with the chance to put a dent in Clinton's delegate lead.

The Tampa Tribune and The Washington Post contributed to this report.
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"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime you find you get what you need," the lyric goes on a Rolling Stones classic rock song.

Such was the case with what the state Legislature delivered to Southwest Florida when the 2016 session closed Friday.

Collier County's legislative delegation will undergo a facelift in 2017. State Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, leaves office due to term limits, redrawn maps eliminate eastern Collier from an east-coast based Senate district and two veteran House members leave their Naples-area seats to run for Richter's post.

With almost all new faces destined to represent Collier next year in Tallahassee, where tenure matters, this was a meaningful session.

Our "want list" included bolstering the affordable housing trust fund to help Collier address its No. 1 need  safe, affordable homes for all income brackets; spending Amendment 1 preservation money as voters advocated in 2014; record spending for education; tax cuts and investment in economic development.

Above all, there was a desire for the Legislature to finish on time, unlike in 2015 when expensive extra sessions added up because of a Senate and House divided. This year, thankfully it was an on-time finish, and in harmony.

Affordable housing

At a recent meeting about housing, Collier commissioners heard from staff that apartment buildings were at about 99 percent occupancy overall while nearly 250 more would-be renters are arriving yearly. Meanwhile, housing prices have risen by double-digits compared with a year ago, yet wage increases remain modest.

To help communities deal with housing issues such as these, the state is supposed to set aside a share of documentary stamp money from property sales. During the downturn, the Legislature diverted the money to balance the state budget. Going into session, nearly $325 million was expected to be available in 2016-17. Collier government's share of that would be about $3.6 million for housing programs.

State housing officials say the final budget awaiting Gov. Rick Scott's signature designates $214 million. That's not the full amount in the Senate's "want" but it's better than addressing the "need" with about $153 million the House suggested, a TaxWatch analysis shows.

Education

State leaders are touting the record per student spending for K-12 education in the $82.3 billion state budget, which includes about $31.8 billion for education. It breaks down to $7,178 per student, compared with $7,107 in this year's budget.

We see that $71 per student increase as a "can't always get what you want," however. Scott's initial proposed budget called for $7,221; the Senate $7,249 and the House $7,231. The 1 percent approved by the Legislature pales when compared with this year's 3 percent increase over the 2014-15 per student level.

On the plus side, state leaders say the overall education budget increase is $458 million, or about 2.3 percent over this year's. Also, it initially appeared the state was going to increase the required local property tax amount for schools, but reversed and instead provided about $428 million in welcomed property tax relief.

Environmental

The Legislature held steady on its position that voter-approved Amendment 1 money wasn't meant to buy a significant amount of land.

About $300 million yearly went to the Florida Forever acquisition program before the Great Recession, while a Senate memo lists about $50 million for that and another land-buying program in the just-approved budget.

However, lawmakers also voted to provide at least $250 million annually for 20 years to aid the Everglades ecosystem in what's dubbed the Legacy Florida Act.

Economic

Scott's proposed $1 billion business tax cut and economic investment plan didn't survive, yet there are two important economic pluses for Collier in the state budget.

It includes $2 million for a promising business accelerator program for the Immokalee area that could create innovative jobs in the food supply industry and $8 million for research into citrus greening, a disease that's devastating production across the region and state.
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Edith Parsons, Naples

Pick one, any one

Despite the fact that the current District 2 Collier County commissioner has two years of her term yet to serve, she has been working the political field with single-minded determination to get all her ducks in order.

Once a nominal candidate for a state House district, Georgia Hiller now is eyeing the office of her former ally and now implacable foe, Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock.

Given the circuitous trajectory to which any Collier County political hopeful is subjected, it is surprising that even the most desirable candidate can pass muster.

To add a little luster to her contentious career, she made a visit to the office of the construction head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

While the staff was appreciative of her enlightened support of a new permit to dredge Clam Pass, it must be remembered that in 2012, Hiller vociferously campaigned for the reduction of the width of the dredge channel and the return of control to the Pelican Bay Services District.

All this politicking went for naught, when smaller channels filled again, and resulted in the desperate call for restoration.

And so, until next time when we hear Hiller hesitantly and kindly ask the Corps' construction head  Just how many gallons does a foot-acre hold?  don't miss every exciting episode of Hiller's Hope Chest in your Naples Daily News.
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Steve Campbell, Naples

Where did they go?

A March 7 article in the Daily News was about a suicide bomb attack in Iraq killing at least 47.

When George W. Bush became president he went to the CIA and asked about the al-Quida connection to Saddam Hussain. He was told there was no connection.

So the nearly 950 sites of weapons of mass destruction that he and Colin Powell testified about to the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, that led to our Congress authorizing war, where did the weapons of mass destruction go?

(Maybe in the overall scheme of things, some e-mails aren't really that bad.)

The American people were told that the U.S. would be welcomed as liberators in Iraq. After years of death and destruction, just how is that working out?

George Bush was told before the war; "You break it, You own it." Where is he today?

Did anyone read the article about what other countries' leaders think about our present presidential contenders? They have already told us what they want to do. Are you really going to be surprised?
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By Jaimie Ross, Tallahassee President and CEO Florida Housing Coalition

Guest commentary

On behalf of hardworking families, seniors, veterans, those experiencing homelessness and those with special needs throughout the state, the Florida Senate and House of Representatives took a positive step this legislative session.

Together, both chambers came to an agreement on funding for affordable housing, recommending that $214.1 million be appropriated from Florida's housing trust funds toward affordable housing.

The Sadowski Coalition is truly thankful for all the hard work that the Senate and House have put into the budget for fiscal 2016-17.

We applaud them for coming to agreement on this vital issue that affects Floridians in all corners of the state, while also including more than $5.2 million for homeless and other housing projects.

Florida is in desperate need of affordable housing.

According to the "Make Room" report by Enterprise Community Partners, Florida has become the nation's toughest state for renters, with California and New York trailing closely behind.

Florida has the largest share of renters  31 percent  who spend more than half of their income on housing.

Moreover, according to the 2016 Florida Home Matters Report by the Florida Housing Coalition, more than 950,000 very low-income households are forced to spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing.

They are essentially one missed paycheck or one unexpected crisis away from homelessness.

All of Florida's housing trust funds should be used for the benefit of Floridians in need of a home.

Through this allocation, the Legislature used the opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of at-risk and low-income Floridians.

The assurance of having a home creates stability and dignity for everyone.
The Naples Yacht Club was proud to host Thomas J. Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, during the Clubs annual Speaker Series, where he shared his behind the scenes perspective on government corruption that is documented through the non-partisan foundations search for transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. Each year, the Club welcomes four prestigious guest speakers with backgrounds and experience in politics, culture, philanthropy, government and corporate business.



With a motto of Because no one is above the law, Judicial Watch uses the freedom of information laws and other tools to investigate government misconduct. Founded in 1994 during the Clinton Administration, the organization believes in holding government and judicial officials act ethically and do not abuse the powers entrusted to them. Fitton has more than 20 years of experience in conservative public policy and began leading Judicial Watch in 1998. Under his leadership, Judicial Watch was named one of Washingtons top ten most effective government watchdog organizations by The Hill newspaper. Fitton is a nationally recognized expert on government corruption, immigration enforcement, congressional and judicial ethics, and open government.



Mr. Fittons frank discussion of Judicial Watch and their research into national politicians was intriguing and informative. Our Members are highly engaged in political discussion and always enjoy the thoughtful discussion that follows a Speaker Series program such as this, said Mike Mooney, General Manager at Naples Yacht Club.



The Naples Yacht Club was founded in 1947 and holds the distinction as Naples' first private club. While the Club was built as a gathering place for people who are interested in yachting and seamanship, the Club has evolved to include programs such as the annual Speaker Series. The 2016 speakers include Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Charles J. Kropke, environmentalist and adventurer, Thomas J. Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, and Vicki Huddleston, Former US Ambassador. Past speakers have included former US Attorney General Edwin Meese, journalist Rita Cosby, former US Ambassador Sally J. Novetzke, past Director of the US National Clandestine Services Michael Sulick, President and CEO Roswell Park Cancer Institute Dr. Donald Trump, Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network Dr. John E. Niederhuber, and Fox News Anchor Brett Baier.
The Voice of Fort Myers Beach (VFMB), a coalition of citizens and stakeholders on the island that formed to bring clarity to the very important issues that development creates on the island, announces the release of its report detailing the specific obligations of the Town of Fort Myers Beachs current Comprehensive Plan. The report clearly states the maximum number of units or rooms permitted by the existing Town Comp Plan on the parcels owned by Grand Resorts FMB is less than half of what Grand Resorts FMB is proposing in its development plan.



VFMB believes in responsible development that is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan that has guided development for the past 17 years. In order for VFMB and all interested citizens to understand what the Comp Plan allows VFMB has enlisted Beverly Grady of Roetzel & Andress, to interpret the code and to clarify what is allowed under the Comp Plan as it is currently written.



The Towns Comprehensive Plan is very specific as to how hotel densities are to be calculated and Florida requires strict compliance with its provisions. The policies and goals are not suggestions. They are mandatory requirements. Stating there is a suggestion of using FAR (Floor Area Ratio) to increase density is contrary to the clear requirement for density calculation. (See attached schedule for historic application of the Comprehensive Plan). The inclusion of the countys densities and properties in the Grand Resorts proposed plan is unclear as to what process or authorization has taken place.

VFMB recognizes that the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code must be strictly followed unless changed by the Local Planning Agency and the Town Council and there are very clear steps that must be taken to do so. VFMB welcomes development that is consistent with the Comp Plan, but also that respects the problems that currently exist in the Town.

Traffic is paramount and it is a problem that screams for relief. Any new development must alleviate, not exacerbate, traffic flow.

Selling a public park for private development is a threshold issue that requires public debate and input prior to any authorization to file application for intense development.

Density and intensity must also be consistent with the code and the Comp Plan, and the character of the Town of Fort Myers Beach does not have the luxury of abundant infrastructure nor vast stretches of undeveloped land. Intensity that exceeds the current Comp Plan would be very hard to accept.

There are many issues at hand but VFMB hopes this report will help focus the debate and help all parties reach a plan that is in the best interest of all stakeholders on Fort Myers Beach. More information, the official report and additional support documents may be found online at VOICEofFMB.com.
Next week for one Clonmel secondary school it will feel as if their school has become one of the most important institutions in the world!

Loreto Secondary School are holding a three-day Model United Nations conference from Monday 14th to Wednesday 16th March, which is in effect a students simulation of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Nine secondary schools will partake in the conference which will afford all 170 delegates the opportunity to debate issues of serious relevance in todays world.

Besides the host school other schools involved will be Clonmel High School, Colaiste Dun Iascaigh (Cahir), Scoil Ruain (Killenaule), Loreto (Kilkenny), Loreto (Fermoy), Ursuline (Thurles), Presentation (Thurles) and Davis College (Mallow).

This students-organised Clonmel event will be the first-ever Model UN conference to be held in County Tipperary and Loreto are delighted with the honour that comes with staging such a General Assembly.

Three very important geo-political issues will form the main core of the event - Womens Rights, Youth and Health, Migration.

Students from all the schools have been undergoing detailed research work with these three specific topics in preparation for the conference and they will over the duration of the event get the opportunity to mirror all the actions of delegates at the United Nations Assembly.

The event gets underway at 3 pm on Monday with Jim Kelly, Deputy Irish Ambassador to the United Nations in attendance. Also partaking in the welcoming speeches will be Orla Murphy, a Cork woman who was one of just two Irish youth delegates at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly last September.

The keynote speaker of the conference at 9.30 am on Tuesday morning will be a 21-year-old Syrian woman Nada Alhariri, who is in Ireland under a refugee resettlement programme. She will share her story and speak about her identity as a Muslim woman and her experiences in a forced displacement context to where she finds herself now in County Tipperary, studying for her Leaving Cert and hoping to go on to study Pharmacy in University. It promises to be very interesting and topical keynote speech.

Career Guidance teacher at Loreto Clonmel, Martina Williams, credited the students who have put in a tremendous amount of work into preparing for this event. It is almost a totally student- organised event and we have 70 students participating. They do their research, they then get up and speak, they debate the issues, there are no personal pronouns allowed in use, and it is cross-curricular. And at the end of it they pass resolutions, vote on them and if need be make amendments.

Concluding, Ms Williams thanked Merck Sharp & Dohme, Duggan Steel (Kilkenny) and the Womens Network at Boston Scientific for their sponsorship.

By Jeddy Walsh

jeddy.walsh@nationalist.ie
(NaturalNews) Though still poorly understood, it is believed that a significant portion of the U.S. population suffers from chemical sensitivity, an allergic-type reaction occurring in response to a number of different industrial pollutants such as solvents, petrol, diesel and herbicides.Written by Doris Rapp, Our Toxic World: A Wake Up Call , helps readers understand the impact frequent chemical exposure has on our everyday health . As the book explains, not everyone is affected in the same way, and some are completely clueless as to what is causing their annoying symptoms i.e. wheezing, headaches, skin rashes, sleeping problems, joint pain and more.The following snippet from Rapp's book explains what it means to have chemical sensitivity.

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Is there censorship on YouTube?

Is the same true for Twitter?

So Facebook does it too?

(NaturalNews) Love or hate social media, there is no doubt that it has become one of  if not the  most powerful ways to communicate and share opinions.But questions are being asked as to whether those responsible for running of ocial media organizations, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, are censoring information based on their own ideological viewpoints  or views that they are being paid to promote.According to, YouTube has become the second largest online search engine in the world - second only to Google. In fact, it's also owned by Google. It is the third most visited website in the world, with people turning to YouTube for funny, viral or "how to" videos because of how easy it is to watch video content.However, it seems that, despite its popularity, YouTube may not be the best place to turn to for unbiased content. According to a post by, in 2014 it was reported that approximately 200 groups, which included government agencies and organizations of power, were granted the ability to report  or "flag"  up to 20 different videos at one time. This has become known as "super flagger" authority, and this extended reporting functionality has been granted to powerful government agencies, such as the UK Metropolitan Police.According to, this news has sparked concerns that YouTube (and therefore Google) is allowing governments to censor videos that they don't like. Whilst anyone can report a video on YouTube with the intent of having it removed, it seems that it's not only this "super flagger" status that YouTube has given governments. In June 2015, it became public that YouTube was working with the U.S. State Department when an email from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was leaked via a FOIA request. The email was titled "Google and YouTube" and allegedly details a request that was made my the U.S. State Department to block an unknown YouTube video, stating that "the block will stay through Monday. They will not be unblocking it before then."A recent report bystates that Twitter is "shadowbanning" politically inconvenient users every day, according to a confirmed source inside of the social media giant. It seems that Twitter has a whitelist of favored accounts which are prioritized in search results  and a corresponding blacklist of those it is not so fond of.Shadowbanning is perhaps more of a sneaky tactic than the "super flagging" that YouTube offers to governments because it doesn't actually alert the user to the fact that anything has happened  their content is merely hidden from view and doesn't appear in searches or in timelines.Facebook is the largest social media organization there is, and it shouldn't surprise you to learn that their team is also censoring what you can see. There have been cases of police intervention as a direct result of what has been posted on Facebook, including the Dutch police visiting the homes of people who had posted "anti-refugee" posts on Facebook, according to Deutsche Welle.If you look closely at the types of content Facebook is flagging, blocking and removing, it seems to be targeting users who express distrust in government actions or speak out against controversial government policies.Social media organizations should of course remove videos and posts that violate laws  however the removal of content simply because it doesn't fit in with what the government would like the public to be sharing flies in the face of freedom of speech. These reports show that we are not getting the full picture on social media  if you want propaganda-free information, check out GoodGopher.com, the search engine for independent news and information
San Francisco Mayor Edwin "Ed" Lee will visit Brazil and Panama in an effort to strengthen business ties between the city and Latin America.

The trips will be part of Lees LatinSF Initiative, a long-planned mission to build trade partnerships with the Latin American business community. He will leave Saturday and come back on March 19.

I am proud to be the first San Francisco Mayor to visit Brazil and Panama with a focus on developing new partnerships, sharing best practices, and driving investment in San Francisco, Lee said in a statement.

While in Brazil, Lee will visit Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil with a population of 12 million. He is also slated to attend conferences in Sao Paulo, which is widely regarded as the financial center of Brazil with a population of 20.1 million, according to a news release.

During his travels, Lee will hobnob with the mayors of Panama and Rio de Janeiro, along with business leaders.

LatinSF was created in partnership with the Mayors Office of Economic Development and the San Francisco Center for Economic Development.
According to a recent WSJ/NBC News/Marist poll of likely Illinois voters, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, while billionaire Donald Trump holds a strong lead over his Republican counterparts.

Clinton, an Illinois native, leads Sanders 51 percent to 45 percent in Illinois.

The two Democratic presidential candidates have both campaigned heavily in the state.

Sanders opened a Chicago campaign office in February and hosted a rally at Chicago State University later that month. He also held a campaign event in suburban Summit last week. Sanders is set to hold a rally Monday night at Chicago's Auditorium Theater.

Clinton opened two Chicago campaign offices in February. Last week, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, stumped for her in Evanston and Peoria. Clinton addressed the Plumbers Jac Local Union 130 UA in Chicago Monday.

Clinton currently leads Sanders in pledged delegates, 766 to 551.



In Illinois' winner-take-most primary, 182 Democratic delegates are up for grabs.

On the Republican ticket, Trump garnered 34 percent of support, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz receiving 25 percent, Ohio Gov. John Kasich receiving 21 percent and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receiving 16 percent.

Trump postponed a Chicago rally Friday, citing safety concerns, after thousands of protesters descended on the event to protest the Republican frontrunner's candidacy. He recently replaced his Illinois campaign director as a result of an alleged lack of organization. Trump held a campaign rally at Bloomington's Synergy Flight Center Sunday.

Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz, addressed a City Club of Chicago breakfast last Wednesday. The Texas senator also attended the Northwest Suburban Republican Lincoln Day Dinner last Friday.

Kasich appeared at a town hall event at a truck manufacturing company in suburban Lisle last Wednesday. He also held a Town Hall at Palatine's Park District Community Center that same day. Kasich's home state of Ohio will also be decided Tuesday.

Rubio has had no commitments in Illinois, although Conservative Solutions PAC, a super political action committee backing the senator, has spent over a half-million dollars on anti-Trump ads in the state. Rubio's home state of Florida will also be decided Tuesday.



Trump currently leads the Republican field with 460 pledged delegates. Cruz holds 369 pledged delegates, while Rubio holds 163 and Kasich holds 63.

Sixty-nine Republican delegates are up for grabs in Illinois' winner-take-most primary. The vote is two-pronged, so even if Trump wins Illinois' presidential preference vote, Cruz, Kasich and Rubio still have an opportunity to score delegates.

The survey was composed of 529 likely Democratic voters and 421 likely Republican voters. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.3 points and 4.8 points, respectively.
Four people are facing charges after pandemonium erupted at a canceled Donald Trump rally at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion on Friday night.

Chicago residents Sergio Giraldo, 23, Sohaan Goss, 21, and Timothy Bradford, 32, along with Kathleen Griffin, 45, of Barbeau, Michigan, are facing charges in connection with the violence surrounding the rally and accompanying protests.

The Republican presidential front-runner was scheduled to speak at the arena at 6 p.m., with doors opening at 3 p.m. When the rally's postponement was announced, the crowd burst into shouts and cheers, and scuffles broke out. People could be seen yelling at each other and making vulgar gestures; multiple punches were thrown. A man who took the podium was escorted away.

Two police officers were wounded in the scuffle, one of whom was struck in the head by a bottle. Both suffered non life-threatening injuries. A video posted on social media shows an officer with an apparent head wound at Van Buren and Racine. Both officers were treated at area hospitals and released.

Giraldo is charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery against a peace officer, one felony count of resisting and obstructing a peace officer. He is also facing two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer, according to a release from Chicago Police.

Goss has been charged with one felony count of aggravated battery of a peace officer and five misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstructing a peace officer.

Bradford is charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting and obstructing a peace officer, while Griffin faces on charge of resisting and obstructing a peace officer.

Officials said Friday they also issued one administrative notice of violation to 27-year-old Sopan Deb, a reporter from New York City. Police said he was temporarily detained, transported to the police station, and then released with the ticket.

Information on attorneys for Giraldo, Goss, Bradford. Griffin and Deb was not immediately available.

Officials from the Chicago Police Department originally said Friday that five people total were arrested amid the chaos that erupted following the announcement that Donald Trump would be postponing his appearance.

Interim Chicago Police Superintendent John Escalante said at a press conference Friday evening that two arrests were made by his department, two were made by the UIC police, and one was made by state police.

As of Saturday morning, however, the Chicago Police Department made four arrests, the State Police said it did not make any arrests, and the UIC police could not be reached for comment.

"It is unfortunate that parties on both sides allowed their political views to become confrontational, and that's unfortunately resulted in that scuffling and the arrests that were made," Escalante said. "We were confident that we had the right security for the event and the protesters as well."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement late Friday, praising the CPD for its "hard work tonight in unexpected circumstances, and their continued commitment to protecting peoples first amendment rights."
A Prince George's County police officer was killed in what police are calling an "unprovoked attack" outside police headquarters in the Palmer Park area of Landover, Maryland.

Police have identified the fallen officer as 28-year-old Jacai Colson, a four-year veteran of the Prince George's County Police Department. Colson was a narcotics officer and would have celebrated his 29th birthday this week.

"It is my sad duty to come to the community this evening and to tell you that one of your defenders, Jacai Colson... lost his life in defense of this county today," Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said in a news conference Sunday night.

Stawinski said Colson was killed in an "unprovoked attack" on the District III police station at about 4:30 p.m. when one man started firing a gun at officers.

"It wasn't about anything. This man launched an attack on a police station and engaged several Prince George's County police officers in a gun fight, to which they responded -- heroically."

The suspect was arrested at a Popeyes fast food restaurant nearby.

A second suspect was arrested a short time later. One suspect was wounded and taken to the hospital. Police could not confirm if the suspect was shot by an officer and said he is stable and is expected to survive.

Police do not believe there are any more suspects.

Colson was transported to Prince George's Hospital Center in the back of a police cruiser and later pronounced dead.

"This is truly a dark day in Prince George's County. An unwarranted, unprovoked attack on our officers at a police station," said John Teletchea, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 89 president. "We would ask for the community's prayers at this time...and we would ask for God to bless Prince George's County so we never see a day like this again."

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has ordered the flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Colson. He released the following statement:

"I am shocked and saddened by the news this evening of the death of Prince George's County police officer Jacai Colson in the line of duty. Our administration is committed to assisting Prince George's County officials during this time, and the Maryland State Police are working closely with local law enforcement to provide support as needed. The First Lady and I send our sincere prayers to the family and loved ones of Officer Colson, who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his fellow citizens and community. It is my hope that his proud legacy of commitment and passion for law enforcement and serving others will provide some comfort in the difficult days that lie ahead."

County officials expressed similar sentiments at the police news conference the night of the shooting.

"The thing that we have to do as a county, as a government and as a society, is to do our best to make sure this never happens again," Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker said.

The county state's attorney, Angela Alsobrooks, called the shooting an act of "evil" and "cowardice."

"This is a crime against this entire community and we will treat it as such," Alsobrooks said. "His life was precious."

The District III police station is next to Prince George's County police headquarters on Barlowe Road, police said.

Several roads were closed in the area to allow for police response and investigation.

Police had called this an "active shooter" situation earlier in the evening and had encouraged residents to shelter in place and avoid the area. That shelter in place order has been lifted.

Colson was from Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, NBC10 reports.

Two weeks ago in Prince William County in Virginia, 28-year-old Officer Ashley Guindon was shot and killed on her first day on the job. Two other officers were also shot. They were responding to a domestic dispute at a home in Woodbridge.
Seven health centers in Connecticut are receiving federal funding of at least $325,000 to help the fight against prescription opioid and heroin abuse, Sylvia M. Burwell, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced on Friday.



Opioid overdose, heroin overdose, is a big issue for our state, Dr. Ece Tek, an addiction psychiatrist, said.



Tek and physician Doug Bruce treat substance abuse and addiction patients from disadvantaged neighborhoods at New Havens Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, which is receiving $406,250.



It allows us to take another step toward expanding our compendium of services, Michael Taylor, CEO of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center, said.



The doctors said the federal funds will help them better merge primary care treatment with substance abuse services.



We want to be a one-stop shop (for) people with substance abuse disorders, Dr. Bruce said. They have multiple problems. People use drugs for a reason, so we know that the more hoops you make someone jump through, the fewer hoops they can do.



Dr. Bruce said he has seen an increase in children, as young as in middle school, starting to abuse prescription painkillers.



As a result of the availability of prescription opioids, that also then creates dependence issues and then it becomes a gateway drug for people to move to heroin, he said.



A new public service announcement the Governors Prevention Partnership released on Friday features a family with a son who has faced prescription pill addiction.



Keep your medication locked up, because youll never notice that a pill is gone, the mother says in the PSA.



Gov. Dannel Malloy is applauding the announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services.



This funding will no doubt provide help to those who need it. We must tackle prescription opioid and heroin use  this is a growing problem nationwide that Connecticut is working hard to combat, Malloy said. I applaud HHS and Secretary Burwell for investing in our community health centers so they can expand and build upon the critical services they provide our residents.



Heres a list of the Connecticut health centers receiving some of the $94 million in federal funding.

Bridgeport: Optimus Health Care, Inc.: $325,000

East Hartford: First Choice Health Centers, Inc.: $406,250

Hartford: Community Health Services, Inc.: $325,000

Middletown: Community Health Center, Inc.: $379,167

New Haven: Cornell Scott-Hill Health Corp.: $406,250

New Haven: Fair Haven Community Health Clinic, Inc.: $352,083

Waterbury: Staywell Health Care, Inc.: $325,000


A Plainfield man was airlifted to the hospital after a serious ATV crash Sunday evening.

Plainfield police say the crash accident occurred around 5:19 p.m. in the area of Davis Road. The victim, identified as Eric Hooper, 35, was riding his Yamaha Raptor when he lost control and the vehicle rolled over multiple times into the woods. Hooper wound up trapped under the vehicle until emergency crews arrived.

Hooper was transported out of the woods by American Legion Ambulance then airlifted by LifeStar to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

The Plainfield Police Department, Plainfield Fire Department, American Legion Ambulance and LifeStar all responded for this crash.


A nationalist, anti-migration party powered into three German state legislatures in elections Sunday held amid divisions over Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal approach to the refugee crisis. Merkel's conservatives lost to center-left rivals in two states they had hoped to win.

The elections in the prosperous southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate and relatively poor Saxony-Anhalt in the ex-communist east were the first major political test since Germany registered nearly 1.1 million people as asylum-seekers last year.

The three-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD  which has campaigned against Merkel's open-borders approach  easily entered all three legislatures.

AfD won 15.1 percent of the vote in Baden-Wuerttemberg and 12.6 percent in Rhineland-Palatinate, official results showed. It finished second in Saxony-Anhalt with some 24 percent, according to projections by ARD and ZDF television with most districts counted.

"We are seeing above all in these elections that voters are turning away in large numbers from the big established parties and voting for our party," AfD leader Frauke Petry said.

They "expect us finally to be the opposition that there hasn't been in the German parliament and some state parliaments," she added.

There were uncomfortable results both for Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union and their partners in the national government, the center-left Social Democrats. The traditional rivals are Germany's two biggest parties.

"The democratic center in our country has not become stronger, but smaller, and I think we must all take that seriously," said Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democrats' leader.

Merkel's party kept its status as strongest party in Saxony-Anhalt. It had hoped to beat left-leaning Green governor Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Wuerttemberg, a traditional stronghold that the CDU ran for decades until 2011. It also hoped to oust Social Democrat governor Malu Dreyer from the governor's office in Rhineland-Palatinate.

However, the CDU finished several percentage points behind the popular incumbents' parties in both states and dropped 12 percentage points to a record-low result in Baden-Wuerttemberg, with 27 percent support. Its performance in Rhineland-Palatinate, with 31.8 percent, was also a record low.

The Social Democrats suffered large losses in both Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt, where they were the junior partners in the outgoing governments, finishing behind AfD.

Other parties won't share power with AfD, but its presence will complicate their coalition-building efforts.

In all three states, the results were set to leave the outgoing coalition governments without a majority  forcing regional leaders into what could be time-consuming negotiations with new, unusual partners. Merkel's CDU still has a long-shot chance of forming an untried three-way alliance to win the Baden-Wuerttemberg governor's office.

Germany's next national election is due in late 2017. While Sunday's results will likely generate new tensions, Merkel herself should be secure: she has put many state-level setbacks behind her in the past, and there's no long-term successor or figurehead for any rebellion in sight.

A top official with Merkel's party called for it to stay on its course in the migrant crisis. CDU general secretary Peter Tauber pointed to recent polls indicating that her popularity is rebounding and added: "this shows that it is good if the CDU sticks to this course, saying that we need time to master this big challenge."

Merkel insisted last year that "we will manage" the challenge of integrating migrants. While her government has moved to tighten asylum rules, she still insists on a pan-European solution to the migrant crisis, ignoring demands from some conservative allies for a national cap on the number of refugees.

AfD's strong performance will boost its hopes of entering the national parliament next year. It entered five state legislatures and the European Parliament in its initial guise as a primarily anti-euro party before splitting and then rebounding in the migrant crisis.

The CDU may have been hurt by an attempt by its candidates in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate to put cautious distance between themselves and Merkel's migrant policies, which may simply have created the impression of disunity. The party slipped in polls there over recent weeks.

The two last month called for Germany to impose daily refugee quotas  something Merkel opposes but which neighboring Austria has since put in place. Separately, Merkel's conservative allies in Bavaria have attacked her approach for months, demanding an annual refugee cap.

Center-left incumbents Kretschmann and Dreyer often sounded more enthusiastic about Merkel's refugee policy than their conservative challengers.

"The result hopefully will be that the CDU and (their Bavarian allies) will realize that this permanent quarreling doesn't help them," Vice Chancellor Gabriel said.
A topsy turvy season in college basketball delivered a few more twists when the brackets came out Sunday.

Exhibit A: Oregon is a No. 1 seed.

Exhibit B: Monmouth and Valparaiso aren't part of March Madness, but Michigan and Syracuse are.

As usual, the NCAA selection committee released a 68-team bracket with its fair share of surprises. This year, the debate started early, when the committee named Pac-12 champion Oregon a top seed in the West, and made Michigan State a "2."

In a year in which six teams held the top spot in The Associated Press poll  one short of the record  there was no doubt there would be some debate about who belonged in the four top spots. That Kansas and North Carolina earned two of the spots wasn't that surprising. That Oregon  and even Virginia  beat out Michigan State for the other spot raised more eyebrows.

But there were no easy choices for the committee this season, and the way the big slate of conference tournaments played out only emphasized the way this season has gone. Of the 31 postseason tournaments, top seeds only won 10.

That gave automatic spots to bubble teams (or less) such as Fresno State, Gonzaga and Connecticut, while squeezing out a few spots on the bubble  even though there were two more available this season because Louisville (and Rick Pitino) and SMU (and Larry Brown) are both ineligible.

Among those sitting out include Monmouth, which played a killer nonconference schedule but didn't get rewarded, St. Mary's, which won the regular-season title in the West Coast Conference but fell to the 'Zags in the tournament, and Valpo, which ranked 49 in the RPI but had only four wins against top 100 teams.
A 16-year-old boy was killed and another person was wounded in an officer-involved shooting Sunday evening in Addison, police say.

Dan Reed, a spokesman for the Town of Addison, said a preliminary investigation indicates an officer from the adjacent town of Farmers Branch saw a vehicle in his apartment complex being burglarized and intervened. [[371953532,C]]

Reed said the officer chased the two men to a location in the 14300 block of Marsh Lane near Spring Valley Road. An altercation followed and shots were fired.

The driver of the getaway car, identified as 16-year-old Jose Raul Cruz, was killed at the scene. The passenger in the car was injured and taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Reed was not able to confirm if the teens were armed or if they fired any shots.

Authorities told NBC 5 the officer, identified by Farmers Branch police Monday afternoon as Ken Johnson, was not injured. Johnson, who served in the U.S. Army, joined the Farmers Branch Police Department last March and was previously an officer with Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

Johnson has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation into the shooting is underway.

The Addison and Farmers Branch police departments are conducting independent investigations.

NBC 5's Jocelyn Lockwood and Todd L. Davis contributed to this report.
Ahead of the next round of primaries on Tuesday, with the Republican presidential race in turmoil over the violence that has erupted at Donald Trump's rallies, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is doing all he can to try to squeeze out a victory in his home state.

As Florida and Ohio go to the polls, Rubio's campaign is urging his supporters in Ohio to back Gov. John Kasich there on Tuesday in the hope that Kasichs supporters will return the favor in Florida. The appeal mirrors a proposal from 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney to try to halt Trump as the New York businessman barrels toward the Republican nomination.

But the latest effort may be too late for Rubio, who is facing criticism for trying too soon for the presidency and running a lackluster campaign as a result. He trails the Republican front-runner in Florida by 21 percentage points in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Sunday, with 22 percent of likely Republican voters supporting Rubio to 43 percent for Trump. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas follows Rubio at 21 percent and Kasich trails at 9 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, the Ohio governor deferred a question about whether he would ask his supporters to vote for Rubio in Florida.

"My voters are not like robots where I can say, 'Go do something,' okay," Kasich said. "How do you run for office and tell people to vote for somebody else?"

Cruz meanwhile has made it clear that he wants a two-man race against Trump -- who could make an argument for being at least a part-time Florida resident at his private club at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach -- and hopes to force Rubio out with a loss in Florida. Other polls show Rubio behind 6 to 19 percentage points there.

Right now this is Donald Trumps to lose, said Mark Weaver, a longtime Republican consultant based in Ohio. Its hard to see the momentum stopping.

Weaver predicted a narrow win for Kasich in Ohio and a loss for Rubio to Trump in Florida. In both states, the Republican winner takes all of the delegates  99 in Florida, 66 in Ohio.

And I bet you its not enough to derail the Trump train, Weaver said.

Four other contests will be held on Tuesday: primaries in Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina and a Republican caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands. For Republicans, Florida and Ohio stand out as a last chance for their favorite sons and for their winner-take-all rules. But Illinois and Missouri together will allocate 121 delegates by congressional district, and North Carolina has 72 delegates to be distributed on a proportionate basis.

Kasich has a 6-point lead over Trump in Ohio, but Trump is ahead in Illinois, according to NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls done there. In Florida and in Illinois, Trump is favored among most key demographic groups except for likely voters who describe themselves as very conservative. Among that group, Cruz has the advantage.

For those who thought March 15 was going to be the end of the confusion, were going to know a lot more but the show will gone, said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute of Public Opinion.

Among the Democrats, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Florida, Ohio and Illinois, according to the polls.

Rubio has won only three contests: Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and Minnesota. Going into Tuesday's vote, Trump had 460 delegates to 370 for Cruz, 163 for Rubio and 63 for Kasich. To win the Republican nomination, a candidate needs 1,237 delegates.

Rubio told his supporters in Florida over the weekend that Trump -- whose rallies have gotten violent -- would fracture the party if he became the party's nominee. Rubio has been saying he doubts the polls that show him trailing Trump.

Theres a majority of Florida Republicans who do not want Trump to win or be the nominee, he said on CNN.

In a sign of how dissatisfied Florida's top Republicans are, Politico Florida reported that a group of the states GOP donors and strategists has been trying persuade former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to run independently for president. A memo that the website obtained noted Rice was reluctant to make a bid.

April Schiff, a Tampa-based Republican consultant and strategist who is not yet supporting a candidate, said Rubio should have remained in the Senate for a few more terms before running for president. At 44, he had plenty of time, she said. As it is, he has angered supporters who worked hard to get him elected to the Senate and who think he did little once he got there, she said. What he did try to do  a failed effort at immigration reform with a group of senators who became known as the Gang of Eight  alienated others.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio shot up through the political ranks and in 2006 became the first Cuban-American speaker of the Florida House while Jeb Bush was governor. Bush's camp was surprised when Rubio decided to compete for the nomination and, though Bush has suspended his campaign, some of the former governor's loyalists continue to see Rubio as an opportunist. Some even talk about writing in Bush's name on the ballot.

If Rubio loses Florida, he will be a particularly bad position politically, Schiff said. He has time to run again for his Senate seat or he could compete for the states governor race in two years, but she doubted he would be successful at either.

He could very well have destroyed his political career by doing what hes doing today and thats kind of disappointing because he was basically a rising star, Schiff said.
Once the Chargers officially stated their intention to go after a Downtown stadium site it was widely assumed they would try to ride the citizens initiative drafted by attorney Cory Briggs to a solution. However, there is one very large thorn in the side of that idea:



Its not legal.



According to California law, after an initiative has been drafted and submitted to the public for signature gathering, nothing in the initiative can be changed. Were talking nary a crossed t of dotted i.



The Briggs initiative began the signature-gathering process in November of 2015 so if that one makes it to a vote in November of 2016 its going to be about a Convention Center expansion alone. However, the Chargers are going to keep their drive towards Downtown on track by using a different tactic.



We are continuing to work with JMI and the Citizens' Initiative/Briggs/Frye coalition on various approaches, and we continue our regular dialogue with the City of San Diego, said Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani, who continues to work on the stadium situation. As a result of all of these discussions, we hope to have a conclusion to present to the public within the next two weeks, at the latest.



What that very likely means is theyre crafting a brand new citizens initiative. Remember the Chargers have set up a target date of March 24 to have an initiative composed. Trying to start something much later than that puts the signature-gathering process (and chances of getting anything on the November 2016 ballot) in jeopardy.



Fabiani also said the conclusion they come to will include a full financing plan for the proposed new facility. Since the Briggs plan for the Convention Center is going to ask for a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Mayor Faulconer has said from the start he would not support a tax increase for a stadium there are rumblings that the Bolts have found a way to finance the stadium using 100% private funding.



That would likely be possible if they can get Goldman Sachs, the financial giant that was on board to finance the Chargers proposed Carson stadium, to help again. The franchise has already approached Goldman Sachs to ask if they can assist in some capacity with a Downtown San Diego stadium.



If the team is able to draft its own plan and get the signature gathering process started by the end of March they plan on staging a full public relations blitz, something the team admits will be expensive, to help the voters of San Diego understand the proposal and mend as many fences as possible with what is still a largely disgruntled fan base.
Hartford, Connecticut, police have launched an internal investigation after a political sticker was spotted on a patrol car.

A photo of an Hartford Police Department cruiser with a "Trump" sticker inside has been circulating on social media.

Deputy Chief Brian J. Foley said in an email that the department's command staff was first made aware of the irresponsible application of the sticker on Saturday morning and immediately addressed the issue.

The sticker was removed and an internal investigation will take place, Foley said. He said the officer was counseled on the "critical importance of remaining neutral and impartial."

"I am, and we are, embarrassed and sorry for this lack of professionalism and judgment," Foley said.

The department also reached out directly to many community leaders to apologize.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Broadway cast of Hamilton to the White House Monday for a workshop and special performance of selections from the sold-out musical.

"It is an understatement to say this was one hot ticket," the president said, noting that the show "has become a favorite in the Obama household."

After Obama introduced the performace, members of the cast performed a few of the show's numbers on a White House live stream -- opening number "Alexander Hamiton," a portion of "Aaron Burr, Sir" and the show's anthem "My Shot."

You can watch the White House performance here.

"We wanted to share this incredible musical with folks who otherwise might not get the experience," the president said, praising the show for its diversity in casting and storytelling. "['Hamilton'] reminds us that this nation was built by more than just a few great men, and is an inheritance that belongs to all of us."

First lady Michelle Obama called the show "the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen," stating that "to my mind, this is what school should be."

"We hope this helps every teacher who spent hours trying to make 'The Federalist Papers' entertaining." the president joked.

This wasn't the first time the president and first lady have seen Hamilton. The two have attended performances in the past -- most recently in November as part of a fundraiser for the Democratic Party.

Miranda first performed material from the shows opening number for the duo during a May 2009 event celebrating poetry and music at the White House. The book, music and lyrics come from Miranda, with direction from Thomas Kali (In the Heights.), who intrdocued the show's numbers during Monday's White House live-stream.

Hamilton tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an orphan born in the West Indies who later moved to the 13 colonies. He went on to be a major figure in the Revolutionary War and served as secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington before he was killed in a duel.

The First Lady, the musical's cast and others tweeted about their trip to the White House through the day, using the hashtag #Bam4Ham:
A New Jersey state trooper killed when he was struck by a passing motorist last week was laid to rest.

The funeral for Trooper Sean Cullen was held Monday at noon at St. Charles Borromeo Church on 2500 Branch Pike in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. Interment followed at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, where Cullen grew up.

The 31-year-old died Tuesday after responding Monday on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township to a car on fire. Several fire trucks and police vehicles had emergency lights on. He was walking near the crash when he was struck.

Hundreds police officers, family members and friends came to pay their respects Sunday. Cullen left behind a fiancee, 9-month-old baby boy, his parents, a sister, a brother and an older brother who is also a trooper.

New Jersey State Trooper's union president Christopher Burgos says Cullen was "fulfilling his duty, as we are expected to do" when he was hit.
New Jersey voters will be asked in November whether to approve two new casinos in the northern part of the state under a ballot question that's has been authorized by the state Legislature.

The state Senate and Assembly voted Monday to approve a bill that would authorize the ballot question to ask voters whether they want to approve two casinos in separate counties at least 72 miles from Atlantic City.

Here are some of the key details of the proposal:

Why?

New Jersey's Constitution allows casino gambling only in Atlantic City. A constitutional amendment would be required to change this. A similar statewide referendum in 1976 authorized casino gambling in Atlantic City. Resorts, the nation's first casino outside Nevada, opened there in 1978.

Where?

The ballot question does not specify where the casinos would be located. That and other key details, such as the tax rate that the new casinos would pay, would be left to so-called "enabling legislation" to be passed by state lawmakers, either before or after the November referendum. State Senate President Steve Sweeney will not commit to setting a tax rate before the public votes on the ballot question.

Who?

Owners of existing Atlantic City casinos would have first crack at the new casino licenses. If they fail to apply within 60 days, the new licenses would be thrown open to anyone. The new casinos would have to cost at least $1 billion apiece.

Where Does the Money Go?

Tax revenue from the two new casinos would be split between a fund to revitalize Atlantic City and for programs and tax relief for senior citizens and the disabled. Two percent would go to the state's horse racing industry and to municipalities and counties that host the new casinos.

As years go by, the amount going to Atlantic City would decrease as the amount going to the other programs increases.

Who Wins?

Winners would include casino companies who get access to one of the world's most lucrative gambling markets, construction trades whose workers would build the casinos, employees who would staff them, and local governments that will receive host community benefits. The horse racing industry has long wanted to be able to offer gambling at tracks as neighboring states do; the 2 percent subsidy would help the industry. Atlantic City revitalization aid would probably be administered by a nonprofit board, but could not be used to help the city's budget or debt.

Who Loses?

Atlantic City will undoubtedly be hurt if there are suddenly new casinos within the state's borders. Elected officials, business leaders and some analysts say from two to four of Atlantic City's eight remaining casinos could close when faced with in-state competition. And without knowing what tax rate the state would impose, it is impossible to calculate whether the money coming to help Atlantic City would be more than the amount its casinos would lose to their new competitors, or shut down altogether.

The Ballot Question:

"Do you approve amending the Constitution to permit casino gambling in two additional counties in this State? At present, casino gambling is allowed only in Atlantic City in Atlantic County. Only one casino in each of the two counties would be permitted. Each casino is to be located in a town that is at least 72 miles from Atlantic City. The amendment would allow certain persons to apply first for a casino license."

The interpretative statements would read as follows: "At present, casino gambling is allowed only in Atlantic City in Atlantic County. This amendment would allow the Legislature to pass laws to permit casino gambling to take place in two other counties in this State. Only one casino in each of the two counties would be permitted. Each casino is to be located in a town that is at least 72 miles from Atlantic City. The amendment would allow certain persons to apply first for a casino license. The laws passed by the Legislature would provide for the location and type of casinos and the licensing and taxing of the operation and equipment. The amendment provides that the State's share of revenue from the operation of the two casinos and of the casinos in Atlantic City would be used for programs and property tax relief for senior citizens and disabled residents. It would also be used for the recovery, stabilization, or improvement of Atlantic City and other purposes as provided by law. Lesser portions would be used to aid the thoroughbred and standardbred horsemen in this State and each town and county in which a casino is located."
UPDATE: Sources say the officer was struck by friendly fire during the shootout. New details HERE

A Maryland police officer who was shot and killed outside a police station in Prince Georges county Sunday was originally from the Philadelphia area.

Prince Georges County narcotics officer Jacai Colson, 28, was shot in what investigators describe as an unprovoked attack outside the District III station in Landover, Maryland.

Investigators say a gunman opened fire outside the front door of the station around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Colson returned fire but was shot in the process. The 4-year veteran, who would have celebrated his 29th birthday this week, was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries. The alleged gunman was also shot during the incident but is expected to survive. He remains under police custody at an area hospital. A second suspect was also taken in for questioning. Charges are pending.

A member of the Upper Chichester Police Department confirmed with NBC10 that Colson was from Upper Chichester and graduated from Chichester High School in 2005. Sources told NBC Washington that Delaware State Police and Pennsylvania State Police will escort Colsons family to Maryland.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan ordered flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Officer Colson.

"The First Lady and I send our sincere prayers to the family and loved ones of Officer Colson, who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his fellow citizens and community, Hogan said in a released statement. It is my hope that his proud legacy of commitment and passion for law enforcement and serving others will provide some comfort in the difficult days that lie ahead."

CLICK HERE for more details on the shooting and investigation.


Jazz Live, the flagship concert program of KSDS Jazz 88, continued their series in fine fashion on March 8 with an appearance by bassist/vocalist Katie Thiroux, who fronted a quartet featuring drummer Matt Witek, guitarist Graham Dechter and veteran saxophonist Roger Neumann.

Thirouxs debut album as a leader, "Introducing KatieThiroux," made numerous best-of lists last year, so her show generated considerable buzz and a justifiably packed house in the Saville Theatre.

Kicking off the evening with a solo chorus, singing and playing the bass through Dont Be on the Outside, Thiroux consistently displayed expertise in so-called old-school performance values with a protean, woody pulse, solid intonation and subtle phrasing. Dechter is a master accompanist with ultra-smooth voicings and intricate single-lines while Neumann kept a blues aesthetic at a constant boil with growling lines in the tradition of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster.

Witeks keen brushwork animated Im Old Fashioned in an arrangement that capitalized on Neumanns loquacious vibrato and Dechters lithe chord melody as well as the leaders unamplified, natural sound -- which can take your breath away.

That sound reached a zenith with Thirouxs show-stopping solo variations on Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, followed immediately by a trio version of Rays Kicks, both dedicated to the spirit of bass icon Ray Brown, an obvious influence. Dechter delivered a super-hip cadenza to close the tune out, leaning heavily on the sound of moving diminished chords.

My favorite moments occurred on the seldom-heard Oscar Pettiford bebop classic Tricotism, delivered in arresting unison with Dechter -- which also birthed an amazing, explosive solo from Witek -- and on Thirouxs sweet, clear distillation of Theres a Small Hotel, which could not have swung any harder.

Thiroux closed out the evening with a nod to Duke Ellington on Just Squeeze Me, with a brilliant scat solo bookended by Neumanns rough-hewn carving through the changes.

Thirouxs career is clearly on the upswing, so this might be the last time a small program like Jazz Live will be able to afford bringing her down from her hometown of LA. So for now, well just have to be grateful that the folks at Jazz 88 were hip enough to grab her while she was still available.

Robert Bush is a freelance jazz writer who has been exploring the San Diego improvised music scene for more than 30 years. Follow him on Twitter @robertbushjazz. Visit The World According to Rob.
GETTING THE GETAWAY BUG... stuck in your craw can instantly lead you to the nearest screen, to research places to stay and things to do and that one restaurant your friend told you about, with the lemon risotto, the one that is escaping you, name-wise, at the moment. But not every destination's online HQ is set-up to handle those who've got the getaway bug, or at least handle in an easy-to-use manner. There's plenty to see on some famous sites, such as attractions and such, but getting to the meat -- er, lemon risotto, if you prefer -- of planning your two-nighter can involve a few wrong turns and mis-clicks. Thus it is always a pleasure to see beloved vacation spots play with the form and bubble up the attractive information -- beaches, bars, beds -- in such a way that the getaway bug is not only addressed, but met. Visit Santa Barbara has done just that, with an overhaul of their already usable site, meaning more American Riviera lovers can lay out all of their must-dos in faster fashion (fingers crossed). For when one gets that bug, the "let's leave Friday by 2 p.m." notion stuck in their craw, there's only one thing to do: Plan, with a capital P. You can start at the new site on the...

NEXT MONTH IN SANTA BARBARA... page. It's a nifty concept, one that takes the larger events calendar and shaves it down to a digestible four weeks. Top picks are listed in bold, with highlights given special play, too. There are fresh itineraries, in case you and your travel bud have no idea as to where to start on the planning front, and sb.Snapshots puts together a curtain of "I want to be there" photos, pics that include sailboats, oysters, surfers, bikes, views, and the red-tile-y stunners that are the building blocks of the burg. Haven't got the bug for a quick SB jaunt? A cruise around the site may goose you before you even go deep. Oh, dear Santa Barbara, you're always so getawayable, but with these new info paths into what you do best, that attribute has only increased.
In an effort to try and save the worlds diminishing population of critically endangered white abalone, a Bay Area laboratory hosted a spawning event  which in a single day potentially bred more white abalone than exist in the ocean.

On a recent day, the Bodega Marine Laboratory in the Sonoma County town of Bodega Bay buzzed with the excitement as researchers prepared for breeding day, an event that its held once a year over the last few years.

Inside a crowded lab the stars of the day  dozens of adult white abalone  sat in white buckets ready to do their thing. In what would normally seem an impediment to the miracle of procreation, the females and males were segregated to their own buckets  a nod to their peculiar breeding habits in the wild.

Abalone are called broadcast spawners, said researcher Kristin Aquilano who lead the event. So they send their egg and sperm into the water column and those eggs and sperm have to find each other in the water.

Inside each plastic bucket, researchers poured a chemical that tricked the abalone into thinking other creatures were spawning in their vicinity. Under the influence of the chemically induced peer-pressure, the males began to release sperm into the water and the females released eggs. Each release of eggs sent a stream of greenish liquid from the female abalone and cued the normally demure scientists to let out a collective cheer.

We get really excited every time our animals spawn, Aquilano said.

The scientists extracted the eggs and sperm from the buckets and combined them in a plastic container which they gently stirred and agitated with a small plunger. By the afternoon, the labs containers held millions of eggs  with one particularly fertile female alone kicking-in more than 10 million eggs.

Aquilano said that because challenging survival rates, the millions of eggs would likely only result in thousands of baby abalone. Still, she called the one-day baby boom a big success.

This has been one of the most successful spawnings that weve had to date, Aquilano said.

White abalone were once a popular seafood delicacy  which proved their undoing. In the 1970s they were overfished, dropping their numbers in the wild to what scientists estimate is currently a grim five-thousand, mainly in waters off Southern California. Researchers estimate the Bodega Marine Laboratorys population of wild abalone is even higher than the entire estimated wild population.

I think this is for the first time an opportunity to actually have a recovery of a critically endangered species in the marine environment, said lab director Gary Cherr.

Cherr said the biggest hurdle in the ocean was that the smattering of white abalone were spread too far apart, making it impossible for them to breed. He said the scientists hope to address the problem by repatriating the lab-bred population in the ocean.

We feel that if we can get them to a certain level of numbers, Cherr said, and theyre close together that they will naturally reproduce.

Cherr said continued breeding efforts could help the wild population rebound in a decade, and maybe even someday lead to a limited fishery.

We think if we can put enough out there, Cherr said, well actually have some success.


New cases have been identified in a mumps outbreak at the University of San Diego, county health officials reported Monday.

Three more undergraduate students have been diagnosed with the mumps after coming in contact with the student who was first diagnosed in February. That student lived in off-campus housing, officials said.

A fifth student who lives on campus was diagnosed just last week.

For me when I heard about it I was kind of scared, but then I didn't really know anyone who had it and they also offered the vaccination. So I think I'm a going to get that, USD student Courtney Wong told NBC 7.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a mumps outbreak as three or more cases linked by time and place.

A patient suffering from the mumps often has a fever, headache, earache, and inflammation of the salivary glands.

The complications can be something called encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, meningitis or inflammation of the surrounding of the brain, or orchitis, which is inflammation of the testicles and inflammation of ovaries. And those last two can cause infertility, Dr. Eric McDonald of the San Diego County Health Department explained.

Coughing, sneezing, kissing or close contact with an infected person can spread the disease.

An outbreak of mumps has also been reported at Harvard University. The CDC has received 250 reports of mumps so far in 2016. The total cases reported last year was 1,057.

The MMR vaccine is said to be 88-percent effective in preventing the mumps.

Free immunizations are being offered to all undergraduate students at the university to keep the outbreak from spreading, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency said. USD students and staff can call (619) 260-4595 to find out details on two vaccination clinics scheduled for this week.
The final resting place for Willie McCrae has a temporary problem that his grieving widow said cost her money and peace of mind.

"I was very devastated by what I found the first time that I came to visit Willie," Jessie McCrae told the News4 I-Team. The temporary marker she purchased to mark Willie's gravesite was shattered at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland, she said.

"They say that sometimes they get broken because tractors run over them and what have you," McCrae said. "Then I was told that I would need to purchase another one."

McCrae said that replacement cost her $40 -- an amount she said she shelled out again when she later found the second plaque broken, too.

McCrae's family isn't the only one to bring up problems with gravesite damage at Fort Lincoln and at dozens of other cemeteries, according to records obtained by the News4 I-Team.

Statewide, customers made more than 180 complaints to Maryland's Office of Cemetery Oversight (OCO) in 2015 -- a 40 percent increase from 2014. Complaints included reports of improper sales practices, incorrectly marked graves and damaged memorials.

McCrae's granddaughter, Calencia Crutchfield, said she also saw more damaged markers when visiting the grave.

"My granddad's name was not the only one thrown away," Crutchfield told the I-Team. "[It was] just the ultimate form of disrespect," she added, citing multiple broken plaques across the grounds at Fort Lincoln. The I-Team also found several chipped, cracked or broken grave markers at the cemetery on separate visits in 2015 and 2016, along with some graves muddied by tire tracks.

It's not clear if any of the damage spotted by the I-Team was included among the complaints from OCO, but the agency's director called all of the accounts of grave damage unacceptable.

"People pay a lot of money for those headstones and for those graves," said Marilyn Harris Davis, head of OCO. "It's not acceptable to us at all."

Still, OCO has never issued a citation of violation or fine against any of the cemeteries named in the complaints, Harris-Davis said. Instead, to enforce state rules and resolve problems for cemetery customers, Harris-Davis said she or another inspector will check out problems themselves. If they find damage or wrongdoing, they tell the cemetery to fix it, which gets families a faster resolution compared to the red tape involved with citations, Harris-Davis said.

"I've got to tell you, [the cemeteries] do comply," she said. "Sometimes it takes a little more prodding, but they comply."

SCI Dignity Memorial, which is the company that owns Fort Lincoln Cemetery, told News4 its policy on replacing damaged cemetery markers only applies to permanent ones, not temporary ones. SCI also said, in full:

"Out of respect for the privacy of the all the families we serve, it would be inappropriate to share details on any familys specific situation. We take all client family complaints very seriously and are committed to resolving them as quickly as possible and to everyones satisfaction. We are willing to work with families to resolve situations when they occur and encourage any family to contact us if they have any concerns.

"Temporary markers are used to temporarily mark a gravesite while the permanent memorial purchased by a family is ordered and produced. Temporary markers are not designed to last and endure the elements. They are put in place until a permanent marker can be ordered and installed. Fort Lincoln honors all contracts in the way that they are written. In the event a permanent marker is damaged by maintenance crews, it is the cemeteries' policy to repair the damage or replace the marker. But, this policy does not apply to temporary markers."

But no family, including Jessie McCrae's, should ever have to pay for damage that's not their fault, Harris-Davis said.

"That should not happen," she said. "And many, many times, we have the cemetery send [customers] a check. They should not have had to pay for that themselves if it's at the cost of the cemetery."

McCrae and her family did not file a complaint with the state at first because they didn't know they could, but they've now started that process. If you have a complaint to report about a cemetery in Maryland, you can file it by calling 410-230-6370.

Reported by Scott MacFarlane, produced by Ashley Brown, shot by Jeff Piper and Steve Jones, and edited by Jeff Piper.
Eight firefighters were injured when the front of a burning townhome collapsed onto them.

Firefighters were called to the 3-alarm fire on Churubusco Lane about 1 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, they found the townhome completely engulfed in flames.

Video from the scene shows firefighters battling the fire from the front of the home when they front wall collapsed on top of them. Police and fire crews rushed to help the trapped firefighters.

Fire officials say eight firefighters were transported to the hospital. They are expected to be OK.

About 20 people were displ aced by the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Fairfax County police believe speed and alcohol were factors in a crash that killed two people in Burke, Virginia.

Burke residents Cristian G. Dominguez, 25, and Cristian A. Merino, 28, were killed when Dominguez lost control of a Saturn sedan and struck a tree on Burke Commons Road about 12:20 a.m. Monday, police said. They were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

A 25-year-old passenger in the back seat was not injured. That person was wearing a seat belt.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call police at 703-691-2131.
Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday for nationwide protests against embattled President Dilma Rousseff that are widely seen as a key test of her ability to weather the political and economic crises lashing the country.

The president faces impeachment proceedings over alleged fiscal mismanagement with the country in the throes of the worst recession in decades and amid a sprawling investigation into corruption at the state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Observers say a big turnout at Sunday's protests could further hamper Rousseff's ability to fight for her political survival amid record-low approval ratings. But anemic turnout could breathe new life into her administration by suggesting that the majority of the population opposes her ouster.

Planned in more than 300 cities and towns throughout the country, the demonstrations were publicized largely through social media, with organizers saying they expected high turnout. Their prediction appeared to be playing out in cities where early demonstrations were held.

An estimated 100,000 people are thought to have taken part in the demonstration in the capital, Brasilia, and events in the central city of Belo Horizonte and the northeastern coastal city of Recife also appeared to draw thick crowds. In Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic capital, crowds began to flood the main thoroughfare hours ahead the scheduled start of the event.

Although Rousseff herself had raised fears of possible clashes between supporters of her Workers' Party and the anti-government demonstrators, no such incidents appeared to mar Sunday's protests, which had a festive, almost Carnival-like atmosphere.

In Rio de Janeiro, multitudes defied the threatening rain clouds overhead to converge on Copacabana Beach the morning after heavy rains that caused widespread flooding throughout the city. Dressed largely in the yellow and green hues of the Brazilian flag, the Rio demonstrators filled the broad avenue that runs along the beach, chanting anti-government slogans and singing the national anthem. Organizers estimated that about 1 million people turned out at the Rio protest. The police, whose crowd estimates are generally a fraction of that of organizers, has not provided its own count.

"The people are suffering. Every month the prices go up and more people get laid off and things get harder," said Dirceu de Castro, a 67-year-old engineer whose face was painted with patriotic green stripes. "If Brazil were a private company, Dilma would have been fired long ago."

Other demonstrators stressed their anger extended well beyond Rousseff and her Workers' Party, saying the so-called Car Wash investigation into corruption at Petrobras had compromised the entire political class.

"Of course I want to see Rousseff booted out," said Maria de Lima Pimenta, a 75-year-old retired schoolteacher. "But then the problem becomes, who will replace her? They're all crooks."

Protest organizers stressed the movement wasn't linked to any opposition political party, and signs endorsing parties were largely absent from the demonstrations.

The Petrobras scandal has ensnared key figures from Rousseff's Workers' Party, including her predecessor and mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as members of opposition parties.

Political tensions in Brazil have spiked since earlier this month when Silva was briefly detained by police for questioning as part of the corruption probe. Silva's supporters and detractors gathered in front of his apartment in the Sao Paulo area, and scuffles broke out between the two groups.

On Wednesday, the tension was ratcheted up another notch, as Silva was charged in a separate case with money-laundering.

In a show of solidarity with the former president, several hundred people gathered outside of Silva's apartment early Sunday. At one point, Silva himself went down to greet the approximately 400 supporters.

News reports have said Rousseff has offered Silva a ministerial post that would shield him from possible imprisonment on corruption and money laundering charges. Under Brazilian law, only the Supreme Court can authorize the investigation, imprisonment and trial of cabinet members.

Speaking on Friday, Rousseff said she would be "extremely proud" to have Silva, the once-wildly popular leader who governed Brazil from 2003-2011, but declined to say whether he would join the government.

Asked whether she would resign amid mounting pressure, Rousseff objected to the very principle of demanding the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution.

She said that "if there is no reason to do so, I will not step down," calling on journalists at the event in Brasilia to "at least attest that I don't look like someone who is going to step down."

Rousseff's second term in office runs through the end of 2018.

Prominent politicians from opposition parties and also from within the broad governing coalition have floated the idea of a "semi-presidential" regime as a way out of the political crisis. Under the proposal, Rousseff would remain head of state and a head of government figure would be created. Observers say the proposal would likely not be a fast fix, however, as it would have to win approval from Congress.
A janitor was arrested and charged in the theft of a pilot's gun in a bathroom at Philadelphia International Airport Saturday.

Police say an armed Federal Flight Officer went into the men's restroom inside the airport's sterile area next to the Terminal B Security Checkpoint around 8:30 a.m. When he left the bathroom he forgot a black nylon "shaving kit" sized bag that contained his Air Marshall issued H&K .40 caliber handgun, according to investigators.

The pilot went back to the bathroom but couldn't find his bag or gun. He then notified police and the Air Marshalls.

A Philadelphia Police officer said he searched through the restroom and later learned a janitor had been in the bathroom when the bag was taken. The officer then searched through the custodial closet inside the restroom entrance where he found the Flight Officer's gun, police said.

Airport surveillance video showed the janitor entering the restroom while the Flight Officer was inside, according to investigators. Officials said the janitor was the only airport employee seen on video who entered the restroom while the Flight Officer's bag was unattended. They also said the janitor was the only airport employee with a key to the custodial closet who was in the area at the time.

The janitor, who police identified as 31-year-old Victor Sheard, was arrested and charged with theft-unlawful taking, theft-receiving stolen property, violation of the uniform firearms act and other related offenses.

Philadelphia Police

A few flights were temporarily delayed when the gun went missing. Normal operations at the airport were later resumed.

The armed pilot is part of the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program. The program allows commercial pilots to volunteer to carry weapons to protect their aircraft from attacks. Officials have not yet revealed whether the pilot will face any disciplinary actions from the TSA for the incident.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, timing his move to the launch of Syria peace talks Monday  an end game that allows the Russian leader to cash in on his gains and reduce his risks in the conflict.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers Putin an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5 -month Russian air campaign that has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad's army to win back some key ground and strengthen his positions ahead of the talks. With Russia's main goals in Syria achieved, the pullback will allow Putin to pose as a peacemaker and help ease tensions with NATO member Turkey and the Gulf monarchies vexed by Moscow's military action.

At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and keep some troops there. Syria's state news agency also quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but won't leave the country altogether.

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia's foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assad's military to "radically" turn the tide of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

"With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I'm ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces in Syria, beginning tomorrow," Putin said.

He didn't specify how many planes and troops should be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syria's coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that thanks to the Russian air support the Syrian military has extended its control to 400 towns and villages over an area of 10,000 square kilometers.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured "victories against terrorism and returned security to the country."

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, who restarted peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva on Monday, said he had no comment on Putin's announcement when contacted by The Associated Press.

Earlier in the day, he warned that the only alternative to the negotiations is a return to war, and described political transition in the country as "the mother of all issues."

The Russian- and U.S.-brokered cease-fire that began on Feb. 27 has largely held, but both the Syrian government and its foes have accused one another of violations. The deal with Washington has achieved a key Putin goal: raising Russia's global profile to appear as an equal to the United States in mediating the Syrian conflict that has dominated global attention.

The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are excluded from the cease-fire and Russia has said it would continue its fight against the groups considered terrorists by the United Nations.

Speaking at the United Nations, Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin did not respond to questions on whether Russian airstrikes would end.

Putin's announcement, however, appears to indicate that Moscow will largely halt its military action for now. The Russian air force already has drastically reduced its activities since the cease-fire started.

Putin said Monday's move should help raise trust and serve as a stimulus for Syria's political talks. The Kremlin said the president coordinated the move with Assad, who voiced his readiness to "quickly launch a political process."

"I hope that today's decision will send a good signal to all conflicting parties," Putin said. "I hope it will significantly increase the level of trust among the participants in the Syrian settlement and contribute to solving the Syrian settlement by peaceful means."

Putin added that Russian troops will continue to oversee the observance of the cease-fire.

Moments before meeting with a Syrian government envoy in Geneva, de Mistura laid out both high stakes and low expectations for what is shaping up as the most promising initiative in years to end the conflict that moves into its sixth year on Tuesday. At least a quarter of a million people have been killed and half of Syria's population has been displaced, flooding Europe with refugees.

The truce, however, has helped vastly reduce the bloodshed and allowed the recent resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries to thousands of Syrians in "besieged areas"  zones surrounded by fighters and generally cut off from the outside world.

De Mistura laid out a stark choice for Syrian parties in the talks, saying: "As far as I know, the only plan B available is return to war  and to even worse war than we had so far."

The two sides are deeply split on Assad's future. His foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Saturday that any talk of removing Assad during a transitional period sought by the U.N. is "a red line," and rejected the international call for a presidential election to be held within 18 months  a key demand of the opposition.

But de Mistura, keeping to language laid out in the U.N. Security Council resolution in December that paved the way for the talks, insisted that political change, including a timetable for new elections within 18 months, is the ultimate goal.

"What is the real issue  the mother of all issues? Political transition," he said.

Asked if Putin discussed Assad's political fate in Monday's phone call with the Syrian leader, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasn't part of the conversation.

Assad has announced that parliamentary elections in Syria will go ahead next month according to schedule. A Syrian official, Hisham al-Shaar, said the elections will be held only in areas under government control and there will be no polling stations in Syrian embassies abroad or in refugee camps.

On Monday, as the election campaign officially kicked off, streets in the capital Damascus were festooned with electoral banners and posters of hundreds of government-approved candidates.

In the so-called proximity talks in Geneva, the two sides don't meet face to face, but meet separately with de Mistura and his team, who shuttle back and forth.

The talks began Monday with de Mistura hosting a government delegation led by Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari. Speaking to reporters afterward, Ja'afari called the meeting "positive and constructive" and said the government delegation "submitted ideas and views" for a political solution to the crisis. He said the opposition will meet de Mistura on Tuesday, and his delegation would meet again on Wednesday.

The talks have shaped up as the best, if distant, chance in years to end a war that has created an opening for radical groups including Islamic State and the al-Qaida-backed Nusra Front to gain large swaths of land, and prompted at least 11 million people to leave their homes  many fleeing abroad to places like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as to Europe.
Seven people were hospitalized after a three-vehicle crash in Rhode Island Sunday afternoon, according to police.

Authorities in Woonsocket say the crash happened around 3 p.m. on the southbound side of Route 99 when a vehicle struck another vehicle with a flat tire whose driver was being assisted by a good Samaritan.

Woonsocket police say three of the injured were taken to Landmark Medical Center, two were taken to Rhode Island Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, while two others sought medical treatment on their own and one injured person refused medical treatment at the scene.

There's no word on the conditions of the people taken to Landmark Medical Center.

The southbound side of Route 99 was shut down as police investigated the crash.

The investigation is ongoing.
As firefighters arrived at the crash at Sweet Tomatoes pizza shop in Newton, Massachusetts, they found the SUV deep into the restaurant. According to newly-released fire department reports "there was a major gas leak which could be smelled from (the) sidewalk and was filling (the) building."

Fearing an "explosion, fire, and possible building collapse, crews shut off the gas as other firefighters rushed to evacuate the building.

It was a very tragic scene, a chaotic scene, said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Crews found two people dead on scene and seven others hurt.

According to the report, one of the deceased victims was pinned between the SUV and a pizza oven. Though he's not identified in the report, the male victim who died is 32-year-old Gregory Morin of Newton.



WARNING: The report below includes graphic content.

Firefighters found the female deceased victim -- 57-year-old Eleanor Miele of Watertown -- lying on the floor, next to the SUV on the driver's side, "...crushed under debris."

A man outside the restaurant complaining of back pain, two other victims in critical condition "...stuck under debris...", another victim "...stuck behind two pizza ovens that were seriously damaged from the impact of the vehicle driving into them."

"Digging through the debris..." firefighters took the victims out on stretchers "...one at a time."

A spokesperson for Newton Fire declined comment, but District Attorney Ryan praised their efforts.

First responders did a great job in getting those people who were out of there -- getting them very quickly to hospitals, said Ryan.

Adding to the chaos, crews briefly searched for a possible missing baby -- "climbing on top of and looking under kitchen equipment, lifting granite counter top pieces...' digging through "...empty pizza boxes..." but it turned out to be a false alarm.

As for the driver, 55-year-old Bradford Casler, firefighters say he was "...conscious.." and "still in the driver's seat..." One firefighter said when he removed Casler from the SUV, Casler told him he wasn't hurt so the firefighter "...passed him off to a police officer."

We're looking at anything related to the car, the driver, to the situation itself and then be able to make a good determination, Ryan said.

Car Slams Into Newton, Massachusetts, Restaurant

So far no charges have been filed and the crash remains under investigation. DA Ryan calls it a complicated case and would not comment on the likelihood of any charges being filed against Casler. His license has been suspended during the investigation.
Police in Norwood, Massachusetts, are investigating after a person was killed early Monday morning, according to the Norfolk County DA's Office.

The incident happened at 42 Dean St. Police received a call around 1:40 a.m. for a report of shots fired.

Police found a 28-year-old man, identified later as Edison Tejeda, suffering from multiple gunshot injuries. He was taken to Norwood Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Tejeda was living at the Stone Bridge Apartments with relatives when the shooting took place. He previously lived on North Main Street in Brockton.

There was no immediate description of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call authorities at 781-440-5181 or email reportatip@norwoodma.gov.

The incident remains under investigation.


A man accused of domestic assault was arrested after Rhode Island police say he kicked an officer in the groin.



The Providence Journal reports officers responded to a home Saturday on Steere Avenue in Providence where a woman said 24-year-old Ross Amos had punched her repeatedly in the face and broken a ceramic plate over her head.



Police found Amos sitting in a locked car on Hyatt Street. An officer attempted to pull him out through an open window.



Police say they used pepper spray because Amos continued to resist and he kicked an officer in the groin during the struggle.



Amos faces charges of domestic felony assault, simple assault and resisting arrest.



It's unclear whether Amos has an attorney who could comment.



Online records don't list a phone number for Amos.
Prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke bail for a New Hampshire prep school graduate convicted of sexually assaulting a younger female student last year.

The Merrimack County Attorney's Office says in court paperwork filed Monday that Owen Labrie violated his bail conditions on at least eight occasions by traveling outside the parameters of his curfew.

Labrie is supposed to be at his mother's house in Vermont from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily, according to the terms of his release. But a recent story by reporter Susan Zalkind on vice.com said she ran into him on the MBTA from Cambridge to Boston on Feb. 29 and that he was nervous that he wasn't going to make it home in time.

Zalkind tweeted about the encounter in detail (see below) once she got off the train: "Coming to Boston is interesting, he says. Some strangers show him support. Others, he gestures punching himself in the face."



Prosecutors say those tweets led them to investigate Labrie's travels

Jaye Rancount, Labrie's lawyer, told the Concord Monitor she believes her client was in compliance. Labrie has 10 days to respond to the prosecutor's motion.

Now 20, Labrie was convicted in August of a misdemeanor sexual assault and a felony count of using a computer to lure a minor for a 2014 incident with a 15-year-old girl at St. Paul's School in Concord. Prosecutors tied the assault to a competition in which seniors at the school sought to have sex with underclassmen. Labrie was 18 at the time.

He was sentenced in October to a year in jail and has been forced to register as a sex offender in his home state of Vermont.
Vermont is at a below-normal risk of spring flooding, but could face an earlier and possibly more severe brush fire season, the Burlington office of the National Weather Service said Monday.

Both situations are due to Vermont's weird winter, which has seen above-average temperatures and below-average snowfall, Scott Whittier of the National Weather Service explained at a forum on flood preparedness hosted by the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Whittier said the March 13 snow depth at the stake on Mount Mansfield was 26 inches, compared to the normal 72 inches for the date. There is also less ice in rivers across Vermont than communities typically see at this time of year, he noted. Those factors should combine for a below-normal risk of spring flooding.

"Heavy rainfall and the weather that happens between now and through April are the keys," Whittier said, pointing out that severe rain storms, especially if there are multiple storms, could still create conditions that may spark flooding.

In late February, ice jams did cause flooding, road closures, and even evacuations in some Vermont communities, including Lyndonville. For that reason, emergency management officials said cities and towns always need to anticipate possible problems, and know what resources are available.

"Hopefully we won't have a bad [flooding] year this year, but the weather can change in Vermont any time," said Chris Herrick, Vermont's emergency management director.

Pathetic snowfall totals this year in Vermont have left dry fuel in the underbrush on roadsides and in the woods, Whittier pointed out, warning that could set the stage for wildfires until the vegetation greens up.

The Williston Fire Department has already outfitted its brush firefighting truck, a pickup which holds hand tools and water-filled backpacks, and is more capable of traversing backwoods conditions than a larger fire truck would be.

"I, personally, do not remember the last time we had it going this early," said Prescott Nadeau of the Williston Fire Department, describing how the department already has its brush unit on standby. "With the lack of snowfall we've had, and the dry vegetation, it can lead to a potentially dangerous brush fire season coming up."

Because of what it sees as a heightened risk for brush fires, the Williston Fire Department is reiterating the importance of following backyard brush burning rules and obtaining a proper brush burning permit.

The weather emergency preparedness forums continue throughout this week, and will include presentations from the National Weather Service, state emergency management leaders, regional planning commissions, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation, organizers said.

The forums run from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and will allow time for questions, according to the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

The remaining forums are scheduled for:

 Tuesday, March 15: Vermont State Police Barracks, 140 Fisher Pond Rd, St. Albans

 Wednesday, March 16: Johnson Municipal Offices, 239 Lower Main Street, Johnson

 Thursday, March 17: Brattleboro Retreat, 1 Anna Marsh Lane, Brattleboro

 Friday, March 18: Vermont State Police Barracks, New Haven, 2490 Ethan Allen Highway, New Haven

Vermonters who want to receive information about emergencies happening near them, such as flash flooding or a fire that has forced evacuations, can sign up for customized emails or text message alerts through Vermont Alert, a free service. For more information on enrolling in the alerts, visit the website.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren says it's still "way, way, way premature" to consider a vice presidential bid and she doesn't "have a timeline" on when she'll make a presidential endorsement.

Known as one of the boldest voices in the U.S. Senate, Warren has been uncharacteristically silent when it comes to the 2016 race for the White House. The senator, however, is showing signs she may soon be playing a greater role in the election.

Necn's Alison King sat down with the Bay State's senior senator at a restaurant in Roxbury, where she opened up about the race, and blasted front-runner Donald Trump, but only after voicing her outrage at Senate Republicans for refusing to consider any of President Obama's Supreme Court nominees.

"That is extremism. And it is the kind of extremism that has nursed and nurtured Donald Trump and Ted Cruz," Warren said of the GOP contenders.

She said the melee that erupted Friday at a canceled Trump rally in Chicago  leading to four arrests  "is on Trump" and that the Republican front-runner "has been fostering and fomenting" such behavior for months.

"It finally reached the next level. I think people are worried about what it means. We're in a new space and we're trying to figure out, how do we describe this?" she explained.

Warren later added, "I am not happy to see Donald Trump even threatening to get anywhere near the presidency. Don't take me there. That is a form of extremism. He advocates a form of ugliness that I don't want any part of."

She blasted 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who denounced Trump last week and announced plans to campaign with GOP contender John Kasich in Ohio.

"Where was Mitt Romney for the last eight years?" she said. "I'm sorry, where was Mitt Romney since he ran for president?"

The senator also said Democrats should take charge and unite against Trump.

"You know, I think we need to get up and we need to stand strong. We need to speak from the heart and speak loudly," she said, adding that she does plan to endorse a candidate but doesn't "have a timeline on it."

When asked what it would mean to elect Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, described by King as being "extremely divisive," Warren said it's important to focus on politics rather than people.

"You know, my view on this is we've got to make this fundamentally about the issues. It's not about our differences. It's not about who's liked and who isn't. It's about the things that we need our government to do," she explained.

She echoed that sentiment when asked in reference to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders whether the electorate is "ready to possibly vote for a Jewish candidate," saying, "I think we are ready for having somebody who is going to fight on our side."

Warren said she loves her job in the Senate, adding that it's "way, way, way premature" to wonder whether she would consider running as vice president. But with her comments she did not categorically rule it out.
The 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing weather flight received its second consecutive Air Combat Command Weather Flight of the Year award Feb. 29, 2016, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

To receive the award, a flight must submit an Air Force form 1206 with a list of team accomplishments, for ACC review. The statements found in the 1206 are a testament to the units ability.

Were taking care of global operations while also supporting a formal training unit at home station, said Senior Master Sgt. Ken, 432nd Operations Support Squadron weather flight superintendent. We have a really impressive team of individuals who are taking care of global combat operations.

The dedication of the weather flight enables the mission downrange, as well as home station with the training unit and other exercises.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Ken, 432nd Operations Support Squadron weather flight superintendent, compared to a fighter, bomber, or airline aircraft, RPAs can be just as, if not more susceptible to inclement weather.

Senior Airman Zane, a 432nd OSS weather forecaster added in the worst case scenario, an RPA can crash if theyre not giving up-to-date weather information to the crews.

Without this information, the crews wont know where they cant fly which is huge because they could easily get caught into an icy environment or a storm, Zane said.

According to leadership, not only is there a sense of duty of knowing these weather Airmen enable the RPA enterprise but a deep camaraderie within the unit that keeps them going

I can really feel the teamwork, and I feel like were more integrated into the mission than at my previous base, Zane said. Here we have more interaction with the operations downrange. Everyone works together well and were tight knit like a family. We all help each other out.

As the 432nd weather flight continues to brave each new storm, it takes them closer to another victory on the horizon.
This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitters approach.

Almost all data breaches involve use of legitimate logon credentials. Guarding against these insider threats requires the ability to detect when cybercriminals are using stolen credentials. Sadly, traditional network security tools are not effective in identifing or mitigating these threats. However, a new breed of user behavior analytics solutions has been designed for this specific purpose and is proving effective.

The expression insider threat usually conjures up images of rogue employees or criminally minded contractors or business partners that are authorized to access company data. But the term is also used in a much broader sense to mean any threat or attack that abuses the logon credentials or privileges of legitimate employees or other insiders.

Its true that employees or other insiders can often be traced to a data breach. In addition to disgruntled or malicious individuals intentionally stealing information, security misconfigurations, negligence in following company policies, succumbing to phishing or social engineering attacks, or other unintentional acts often result in theft of sensitive information.

However, the largest and most damaging data breaches are generally at the hands of outside hackers, organized crime, opposing governments, competitors or hacktivists. While they are not insiders themselves, these criminals almost always depend on obtaining logon credentials belonging to insiders, especially those that have administrative privileges. The number one objective of a cybercriminal is to obtain logon credentials for individuals with access to sensitive data. Once that has been accomplished, the imposter poses as a privileged insider, penetrates the system and copies the information hes after.

Whether by outsiders or from within, the unauthorized or negligent use of insider logon credentials and privileges are the common denominators in nearly all cybercrimes. Any associated hazard can be viewed as an insider threat.

Given this broader definition of insider threats, there are numerous activities related to the use of logon credentials and user activities that must be monitored to guard against cybercrime. Here are some of the more common behaviors that indicate the use of stolen credentials or other unauthorized and suspicious insider threats. A good user behavior analytics solutions will need to detect each of these:

* Suspicious geolocation sequence. Many users work from multiple remote locations, such as their homes, hotels, airport kiosks, satellite offices and customer locations. When accounts are used to logon from remote locations, enterprises need to determine if they are legitimate users or remote attackers who have managed to obtain valid user credentials. Monitoring the geolocation of each access attempt and validating it against whats physically possible given the time elapsed since a connection from another location, as well as verifying what is normal behavior for the legitimate account owner is critical in determining if user credentials have been stolen and are being used by remote hackers.

* Compromised service account. Service accounts are used by operating systems and various applications to perform automated background tasks. These accounts, usually unmonitored, own high access rights and are under constant risk of attack and compromise. Their activity should be monitored to ensure they are not accessing systems they shouldnt be, or transmitting data to unauthorized recipients, etc.

* Exfiltration attempts. Data exfiltration is a big concern in many organizations. Detecting data leaks has become more difficult as additional technologies and methods to transfer data emerge. Monitoring for abnormal user behavior such as accessing data thats not normally dealt with by the user, or transmitting data to unusual destinations can detect data exfiltration attempts.

* Credential sharing. Studies show that more than 20% of employees share their passwords with someone else, even though its strictly against policy. Monitoring for simultaneous, remote, or unusual usage of user accounts can help detect and mitigate credential sharing.

* Snooping users. In search of sensitive or valuable data, rogue insiders and malicious outsiders scan corporate systems hoping to find and access information they can sell or use for their own gain. Detecting and investigating such unusual user behavior can ward off impending cybercrimes.

* Departing employee. Employees who are preparing to leave an organization may pose a security threat. Even though departing employees may carry a high risk of data exfiltration and even sabotage, very few tools can effectively monitor their actions and detect suspicious behavior. Security personnel need to implement solutions designed to specifically and automatically monitor the accounts of departing employees and raise alerts if their behavior is suspicious.

* Privileged account abuse. Since privileged accounts are the prize possession for cybercriminals, monitoring their use for unusual behavior is extremely important. Automated, remote or simultaneous access can indicate an insider threat, as can unusual login times, systems accessed, and data transmissions.

* Unauthorized third party access (business partners and other suppliers). Contractors, business partners, and other service providers often have access to sensitive corporate data. However, they are not usually subject to the same security practices and policies as the hosting enterprise. As a result, applications or devices may become infected with malware designed to steal logon credentials. Its especially incumbent on the hosting enterprise to monitor the behavior of all third party users.

* Network misconfiguration. By monitoring normal user behavior, an anomalous act can often detect an improperly configured security setting. For example, if an employee accesses a system thats outside of their normal work pattern, it often indicates a hole in the security policies or settings. Correcting the misconfigurations in a timely manner can prevent imminent and future attacks.

Detecting insider threats is essential in todays environment and doing so calls for the diligent use of a number of cybercrime prevention techniques. Whether its a malicious employee or an outsider using compromised credentials, businesses must be on alert and maintain vigilant monitoring, focusing their attention internally on user behavior and suspicious activity to thwart potential insider attacks.

Fortscale is a provider of User Behavior Analytics security solutions for Fortune 2000 companies. Before founding Fortscale, Tendler was a lead agent of the 8200, the cyberwarfare division of the Israeli Defense Forces. He is a serial entrepreneur and a recognized expert in the fields of cybersecurity and threat intelligence.
Ask someone in Hanover, Germany, where to find the best public Wi-Fi and the answer may well be "In Berlin," 250 kilometers to the East.

That's because free gigabit Wi-Fi for Berliners was one of the first new services announced at the Cebit trade show in Hanover this week.

New York got its first taste of free gigabit Wi-Fi in January, when CityBridge turned on its first LinkNYC hotspots, which are gradually replacing payphones in the city.

In Berlin, it's not a billboard-advertising-funded startup that's delivering the service, but an established telecommunications operator.

That operator, Vodafone, runs one of Germany's three mobile networks -- and also has one million public Wi-Fi hotspots in the country, many of them piggybacked on the home routers it manages for its Internet access clients.

On Sunday, the company turned on gigabit public Wi-Fi hotspots at three locations in Berlin: restaurant Die Eins, near the German parliament building, Tiffanys Cafe on Ku-Damm, and at Allegretto Cafe near the Brandenburg Gate.

Download speeds could reach 1 Gbps if noone else is using the hotspot, while upload speeds could reach 600 Mbps.

Such dizzying speeds could one day become the norm for Wi-Fi in Germany, as Vodafone is intent on boosting bandwidth for its fixed-line customers. It says its cable network is already capable of delivering speeds of 200 Mbps to 25 million homes passed, although not all of those are customers. From April, it intends to begin raising the top speed to 400 Mbps, and for some lucky customers even to 1 Gbps by year-end.

In Berlin, Cisco Systems has supplied two of the base stations, while the third, near the Brandenburg Gate, is from AVM, which supplies the Fritz!Box cable and DSL modem-routers distributed by several German ISPs to their customers.

The LinkNYC hotspots generate revenue through video display advertising on two 55-inch LCD screens set into the sides of the kiosks. They are designed to be upgraded over the next few years as wireless and fiber technologies improve.

There's no word yet on how Vodafone's Berlin hotspots will evolve -- or how they will generate revenue for the network operator.
Google, Apple and Facebook were targeted by double the number of phishing sites as financial institutions, like banks and PayPal were in 2015, Webroot says in its latest annual briefing published in February.

The reason for the dot-com thrust is so that the hackers can accumulate larger numbers of user IDs and passwordsmany people on those sites use the same credentials across the Internet, Webroot explains. Attacking the Facebooks et al, garners multiple compromised accounts with each phishing victim, the security outfit says.

And indeed more Webroot users are coming across zero-day phishing sites. Half of Webroot users had a first contact with one in 2015, compared to about a third (30%) in 2014. Zero-day phishing attacks can steal personally Identifiable Information (PII).

U.S credit card numbers with date of birth run $15 on the black market, I discovered last year.

Zero-day phishing often involves whats called spear phishing where malware is deployed onto computers through links in e-mails that send users to malware-loaded web servers.

The term Zero-day refers to vulnerabilities in hardware or software where there isnt any prior knowledge of the deficiency, and therefore no vendor fix or software patch available for it, Webroot competitor FireEye explains on its website. A zero-day exploit used in 2015, for example, included Adobe Flash Player, FireEye recounts on its site. The threat in that case consisted of e-mails embedded with links to web servers containing a malicious Adobe Flash Player file.

Webroot says its data shows zero-day phishing attacks are becoming the hackers choice for stealing identities. Phishing is hard for users to spot. A study I wrote about last year found that users dont spend enough time looking for the scam.

Malware is morphing more to evade detection too, says Webroot also in the briefing (PDF).

Despite being based on common code, malware writers are aggressively altering parts of it to make the harmful applications harder to spot by signature-based detection methods, it says.

By changing binaries in a certain way, executables can appear to be unique, and thus not show-up in detection. This hiding, called polymorphism, is overwhelmingly how the iffy files are getting deliveredthe traditional anti-virus software cant spot them, Webroot says.

Webroots anti-malware solution doesnt rely on signature-detection its keen to explain, and instead uses Internet scanning to gather data on threats, among other things. It says its solution is better than traditional methods.

Additionally, that huge numbers of malicious IP addresses are being created daily, is among other findings in the briefing. A hundred-thousand dodgy IP addresses per day in 2015 is Webroots number. Thats up from about 85,000-a-day in 2014. The security company says that means cyber crooks arent relying on previously-used addressesthe new ones help concealment.

And interestingly, its the U.S. that hosts almost half (40%) of malign IP addresses, the security vendor says. Thats despite the general sense we have that most things cybercrime-oriented originate overseas. Malicious URLs are also largely hosted in the U.S., with 30% of them U.S.-based, Webroot says.

More malware, malicious IPs, websites, and mobile apps were discovered in 2015 than in any previous year, says Hal Lonas, chief technology officer at Webroot, in the report.
As we adjust to having turned the clocks ahead yesterday, lets take a look back at Microsofts initial public stock offering 30 years ago. On the public companys 25th anniversary, I put together the post youll see below. The story hasnt changed.

---

It's Thursday, March 13, 1986: Microsoft, founded more than a decade earlier and already a powerhouse in the world of personal computer software, executes an initial public stock offering that will raise $61 million for the company and leave 30-year-old co-founder Bill Gates unfathomably wealthy.

If you had the good fortune to have bought 100 shares at the $21 offering price that day and sat on the investment for 25 years, it would have mushroomed into 28,800 shares over the course of nine stock splits and be worth about three quarters of a million dollars today (Editors note: Again, that was as of 2011).

That's the good news. Here's the disheartening caveat: Had you instead sold your stash on Dec. 1, 1999, when Microsoft's stock price reached its peak, you would have reaped $1.4 million.

You have to believe someone did ... and tells that story every day.

Speaking of good fortune, Fortune magazine was granted inside access to Gates, his executive and legal teams, and their Wall Street partners in the months leading up to the IPO. That arrangement resulted in a terrific fly-on-the-wall story published four months later. (For some reason the version on Fortune's site has been stripped clean of paragraph indentations, which makes it a challenge to read; here's one of the many .pdf versions floating around.)

A few highlights gleaned from that story and other online resources:

Gates was not at all anxious to go public, but Microsoft was bumping up against federal regulations governing the number of private stockholders a company can have before being required to register with the SEC (see Facebook, 2011).

A quote from Gates:

''The whole (IPO) process looked like a pain, and an ongoing pain once you're public. People get confused because the stock price doesn't reflect your financial performance. And to have a stock trader call up the chief executive and ask him questions is uneconomic -- the ball bearings shouldn't be asking the driver about the grease.''

Crafting the prospectus was a labor of dental surgery, as the driving goal became guarding against future litigation that might be fueled by even the slightest hint that Microsoft was hyping its future prospects. Look which current CEO pops up as the voice of doom and gloom in a description of one meeting with the Wall Streeters:

For ten hours Gates, (Microsoft president and COO Jon) Shirley, and other managers exhaustively described their parts of the business and fielded questions. Surprisingly, the Microsoft crew tended to be more conservative and pessimistic than the interrogators. Steven A. Ballmer, 30, a vice president sometimes described as Gates's alter ego, came up with so many scenarios for Microsoft's demise that one banker cracked: ''I'd hate to hear you on a bad day.''

If you'd like to read what they finally came up with, you can read the prospectus here (.pdf).

More Gates cautiousness was on display as the parties strategized over how to price the initial stock offering.

By late January only one major item remained undecided -- a price range for the stock. The bull market that began in September had kept roaring ahead, pushing up P/E multiples for other software companies. The underwriters suggested a price range of $17 to $20 a share. Gates insisted on, and got, $16 to $19. His argument was ultraconservative: $16 would guarantee that the underwriters would not have to go even lower to sell the shares, while a price of $20 would push Microsoft's market value above half-a-billion dollars, which he thought uncomfortably high. ''That was unusual,'' says Christopher P. Forester, head of Goldman Sach's high-technology finance group. ''Few companies fight for a lower range than the underwriter recommends.''

They would eventually settle on $21.

The day before Microsoft's big event, Oracle went public with an offering of 2.1 million shares priced at $15 and that stock opened at $19.25, which was taken as a positive sign within the Microsoft camp.

And here's how the Fortune story described the opening bell:

On the trading floor at Goldman Sachs, (Microsoft CFO Frank) Gaudette heard a trader say, ''We're going to shoot the moon and open at 25!'' At 9:35 Microsoft's stock traded publicly on the over-the-counter market for the first time at $25.75. Within minutes Goldman Sachs and Alex. Brown exercised their option to take an extra 300,000 shares between them. Gaudette could hardly believe the tumult. Calling Shirley from the floor, he shouted into the phone, ''It's wild! I've never seen anything like it -- every last person here is trading Microsoft and nothing else.'' The strength of retail demand caught everyone by surprise. By the end of the first day of trading, some 2.5 million shares had changed hands, and the price of Microsoft's stock stood at $27.75. The opportunity to take a quick profit was too great for many institutional investors to resist. Over the next few weeks they sold off roughly half their shares.

Gates earned a mere $1.6 million for shares he sold that day, but his remaining 45% stake in the company was worth $350 million, instantly making him one of the nation's 100 wealthiest individuals.

Gates splurged by paying off his $150,000 home mortgage.

Today, of course, you can find that much money in the man's seat cushions.

Welcome regulars and passersby. Here are a few more recent buzzblog items. And, if youd like to receive Buzzblog via e-mail newsletter, heres where to sign up. You can follow me on Twitter here and on Google+ here.
With both the FBI and Apple taking strong stances as it pertains to the locked iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists, it's extremely possible that the ongoing battle might work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As it stands now, the FBi wants Apple to basically create a new version of iOS that would effectively bypass a built-in iOS security mechanism designed to completely wipe a device after 10-failed passcode entry attempts. Apple of course steadfastly refuses to comply with the FBI's demand, arguing that doing so would set a dangerous precedent and would ultimately made hundreds of millions of iOS users across the globe less secure.

Adding fuel to the fire, the DOJ filed a motion last week where it hinted that it might even seek an order which would compel Apple to hand over its iOS source code to the FBI.

Seeking to add a bit of levity to this serious issue, which of course has widespread ramifications, HBO's John Oliver yesterday covered the topic in a humorous and informative way.

"The government is essentially demanding Apple ome up with a cheat code for their top-selling iPhone game, F, Whats My Passcode, rated E for everyone, Oliver quipped at one point.

The entire video is well watching in its entirety, and provides a good primer for anyone who wants to catch up to the latest happenings about the controversial and hotly debated topic.
Thatcham teenager in National Youth Dance Company world premiere

AN outstandingly talented young dancer from Thatcham has been selected to join the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC), the countrys flagship organisation for young dancers. Seventeen-year-old Dominic McAinsh has just been in residency with the rest of the companys 40 dancers, rehearsing for the world premiere on April 7 of a new piece created by award-winning contemporary dance choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan, an associate artist of Sadlers Wells. Arts Editor TRISH LEE spoke to him

How happy are you to have been selected for NYDC?

I am extremely grateful for being picked to be in NYDC. Its an amazing start to a career in dance, which is what I aspire to.

How did the residency go? What have you learnt?

Both residencies have been really inspiring  we learned so much in the space of just a week. One of the key things I have learnt is the importance of watching, as well as doing. While learning a piece of repertoire, our choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan told us to watch the whole thing first before learning the individual steps, in order to understand what the finished product will look like.

How does it feel to be working towards the world premiere of a new piece? Are you excited/nervous?

I cant wait for the premiere, its so exciting. Its also my 18th birthday on the same day, so itll be particularly special for me.

How is it working with Michael Keegan-Dolan?

Michaels way of working allows us to be ourselves in the studio. He creates choreography around our own improvised movement, enabling us to work to our strengths. In the February residency we also did a yoga class every morning before breakfast, which was hard but a really great start to the day.

When did you start to dance?

At the age of 11 I joined the Read Dance and Theatre Company in Thatcham, where I took jazz, acting and singing classes. I later joined a contemporary dance company called In the Mix run by Jackie Cullen, of which I have been a member ever since. I also go to the CAT (Centre of Advanced Training) scheme at The Place in London every Saturday, where I take ballet,

contemporary and creative classes.

What school do you attend? Is it difficult to combine dance with studies?

Kennet School. It is sometimes difficult, because it can be hard to switch off one or the other  either deadlines at school or upcoming dance performances, for example.

Whats the best thing about dance?

It is the feeling of relief from other things going on in my life and getting to spend my time in a studio with other like-minded people.

What is your ambition after NYDC?

I am hoping to go into vocational

training in September and from there I want to become a professional dancer.

NYDC guest artistic director Michael Keegan-Dolan said: The work of the National Youth Dance Company is changing the way youth dance is perceived all over the country. The companys inspirational performances exceed expectations and I am thrilled to be part of this momentum. Im looking forward to the year ahead, to working with this wonderfully talented company of young dancers.

Sadlers Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 10 per cent of its revenue from Arts Council England.
Following in pawprints of Mothering Sunday

A FURRY mother and son duo at Dogs Trust Newbury are seeking a nurturing home together, following fast on the heels of Mothering Sunday (March 6).

Five-year-old Lola and her three-year-old son, Oddball, arrived at the Hamstead Marshall rehoming centre last month and have been winning over the staff with their sweet natured personalities ever since, but have yet to find their perfect home.

The inseparable pair are devoted to one another and staff hoping a dog lover with room in their hearts for two homeless hounds will offer the little family a permanent spot in loving home.

Dogs Trust Newbury Rehoming Centre Manager Nicki Barrow said:

"Its not often we see a mother and son duo looking for a home together but Lola and Oddball are like 'two pups in a pod' so we really want to make sure we find a home for them together.

They are such sweet characters and we know they will settle into their new home well with their devoted family member by their side."

Rehoming a pair of dogs, she said, could be incredibly rewarding:

We're appealing to anyone who thinks that they can offer them a home together to please get in touch  its a case of double the dog, but double the love."

If you think you could offer this mother and son duo a happy home, please get in touch with Dogs Trust Newbury on 0300 303 0292 or visit the centre at Plumbs Farm, Hamstead Marshall, Newbury, Berks, RG20 0HR.

Dogs Trust is the UKs largest dog welfare charity and has a network of 20 Rehoming Centres in the UK and one in Dublin. The charity cares nearly 17,000 stray, unwanted and abandoned dogs each year. For more information please visit www.dogstrust.org.uk.
Town council take over responsibility for weekly market

THATCHAMS market is under new management with the aim of attracting people to the town.

Thatcham Town Council has taken on the co-ordination of the weekly market and has reduced pitch fees to encourage new sellers and attract people to the town centre.

The town council had been paying a management company to run the stalls, however prices for stall holders were more expensive when compared to Newburys market.

Regular favourites at the market will continue to sell fresh fruit and vegetables, hot and cold drinks and hot food, cut flowers and potted plants, fresh and frozen meat, cakes, biscuits and preserves, health advice and fashion.

New and casual stallholders will be on-site most weeks selling bedding, mobile phone accessories, clothing accessories, cake pops, stone statues, felt crafts and handmade wooden gifts.

It is hoped Thatcham market will attract even more sellers with the added enthusiasm of new market manager, Steve Brind, who has been drumming up interest.

The mayor of Thatcham Sheila Ellison marked the takeover by cutting a ribbon. She said: We were blessed with beautiful sunshine and lots of shoppers at our first new market.

I wish all of our stallholders every success and look forward to seeing Thatcham thriving with people as it becomes even more of a wonderful shopping destination.

Mrs Ellison added that traders had been very optimistic and pleased with the change of management.

The town council will also be holding activities during the Love Your Local Market campaign, which runs from May 17 until May 31, supported by the National Association of British Market Authorities

If you are a trader and would like a stall in the market, contact Thatcham Town Council on (01635) 863592. Casual as well as regular traders, who meet the criteria, are welcome.

Charity and community organisations wanting a pitch on a one-off basis should also contact the town council.
Richard Benyon asked 'will you help save our libraries?' as he picks up litter

NEWBURY MP Richard Benyon was accosted by anti-cuts protesters as he picked litter at the weekend.

Mr Benyon joined other volunteers taking part in Clean for the Queen  a nationwide initiative to tidy Britains streets ahead of the Queens 90th birthday celebrations.

But some protesters used the event to grill the MP about his own Government forcing West Berkshire Council to make 17.5m-worth of cuts.

The West Berkshire Save Our Services (SOS) group recorded their encounter with Mr Benyon and posted the 43-second video on YouTube.

It has since been viewed more than 300 times and widely shared on social media.

It is clear from his tone that Mr Benyon was far from impressed about being cornered and at the end of the video, he can be heard saying: Im picking up litter and youre just standing there.

The video starts with campaigner Carolyne Culver asking the MP: Are you going to help us save the libraries Richard?

To which Mr Benyon replies: Ill do my best.

Ms Culver then asks: Can you help to lobby the Prime Minister to help us save our eight local libraries?

Mr Benyon is heard replying: Would you like to come and help me clear this?

Later, Ms Culver asks: Will you support our local libraries Richard?

The MP replies: I do, Im working hard to keep them open but Im also picking up litter and youre just standing there.

SOS insist it was not an anti-royalty protest, but one designed to show that the district should prioritise saving public services ahead of cleaning the streets.

A placard held up by one campaigner read: Id rather read than clean the streets in reference to West Berkshire Councils proposals to close eight of the districts nine libraries.

The group also took the opportunity to walk along the main street in Newbury, with a banner, using a megaphone to inform hundreds of shoppers about the council cuts.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Studies have shown that children with asthma are at higher risk for depression. Research also has shown an association between a parent or caregiver's depression and worsening symptoms in an asthmatic child.

Now researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Texas, Dallas are exploring this connection further: They are beginning a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study to determine whether treating a depressed caregiver will improve the child's asthma.

The findings could have major implications for the way children with asthma are treated. The researchers say the findings also eventually may reduce health disparities in child asthma because there is a higher percentage of depressed caregivers among children with asthma from minority and socio-economically disadvantaged groups.

The researchers are recruiting 200 families for the study through Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo (WCHOB) and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The study will involve screening caregivers of children with asthma for depression and offering treatment for those who are depressed. It builds on a previous pilot study that suggested a connection between caregiver depression and worsening asthma in children.

"We are hypothesizing that an improvement in the caregiver's depression will lead to a subsequent improvement in the child's asthma," said Bruce Miller, MD and Beatrice Wood, PhD, both professors of psychiatry and pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, co-founders and directors of the Center for Child and Family Asthma Studies at WCHOB, and principal investigators on the grant. Miller sees patients through UBMD Psychiatry.

Heather K. Lehman, MD, associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, is a co-investigator. She has been working with Miller and Wood for several years and is developing a collaborative research program to continue studies examining the interplay between depression and child asthma. She sees patients through UBMD Pediatrics. E. Sherwood Brown, MD PhD, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is also principal investigator on this study.

Family stress and asthma

Miller and Wood have been working together on factors that affect asthma in children for more than 20 years. "We have continuously found associations between emotional stress and worsening asthma, and that family relational stress plays a key role," said Wood.

Early in his career, Miller developed a model for how depression affects the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for involuntary neural processes affecting the airways. He found that depression in asthmatic children alters their autonomic nervous system function, causing their already reactive airways to become even more dysregulated, resulting in worse airway function under stressful conditions. These seminal findings were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2009.

Wood's research has demonstrated how family relationship patterns impact physical and emotional illness in children. A 2011 research paper co-authored by Wood and Miller showed that depression among parents of children with asthma was associated with negative parenting and also predicted child depression and worsening asthma.

Studies also have shown that in stressed families, children's asthma gets worse. "We have specifically shown that a negative family emotional climate predicts worse asthma disease activity," said Wood.

The current study will involve screening caregivers of children with asthma for depression. Those who meet criteria for clinical depression will be offered antidepressant medication. The child's asthma treatment plan will not be altered in order to determine the effect of treating caregiver depression to benefit the child's asthma.

Both caregiver and child will be followed monthly for a year to see if improvements in the caregiver's depression are followed by improvement in the child's asthma.

Treating the caregiver

A previous pilot study conducted by Brown at UT Southwestern Medical Center saw encouraging results. In that study, children who had been hospitalized with asthma improved when their parents, who screened positive for depression, were treated with antidepressants, even though the child's asthma treatment was not changed.

"When the parents' depression got better, the children's asthma got better," said Miller.

The purpose of the current study is to confirm these findings and better understand the mechanisms underlying the effect. "If a caregiver is depressed he or she may be less able to carry out the care of a child, especially a fragile child who is vulnerable with illness," Miller explained. "They may not be able to manage the child's medications or get the child to the doctor when necessary."

"At the same time," said Wood, "our previous studies have shown that depression in the parent cascades into negative parent-child relationships, child depression and worse asthma." She noted that Miller's 2009 study showed that depression in the child has a direct physiological effect on the child's asthma.
Researchers estimate that each year 1,825 college students ages 18-24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle collisions. About 20 percent of college students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder, with one in four college students report adverse academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.

"Alcohol abuse, binge drinking in particular, is thought to be a rite of passage for college students; but in reality it's a very serious health epidemic in the United States," said Peter Hendricks, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health Department of Health Behavior. "It is important to understand what alcohol is, why it's problematic, and what a person can do to minimize the risk should they choose to drink."

Understanding alcohol

Moderate drinking, as defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men, translating to seven or fewer drinks per week for women and 14 or fewer drinks per week for men. A standard drink is a 12-ounce beer, 8-ounces of malt liquor, a 5-ounce glass of wine or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor.

Binge drinking, which is especially problematic, is four drinks in two hours for women and five drinks in two hours for men. More than one-third of college students engage in binge drinking monthly.

"Alcohol leads to impulsive decisions and can be addictive," Hendricks said. "Even though it's legal for those 21 years of age and older, college students should be aware of the dangers of drinking alcohol."

Dangers of binge drinking

Megan McMurray, clinical psychology intern at UAB, notes that drinking alcohol in excess is dangerous and can quite easily lead to death. Overdose of alcohol can occur when a person has blood alcohol content sufficient to produce impairments that increase the risk of harm. Age, drinking experience, gender, the amount of food eaten and even ethnicity can influence BAC. Critical signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning include:

Confusion

Vomiting

Seizures

Slow breathing

Irregular breathing

Hypothermia

"As BAC increases, so does alcohol's effects and the risk for harm," McMurray said. "Even small increases in BAC can decrease coordination, make a person feel sick and impair judgment. This can lead to injury from falls or car crashes, leave one vulnerable to sexual assault or other acts of violence, and increase the risk for unprotected, unintended intercourse."

McMurray explained further, "When BACs get even higher, amnesia or blackouts occur. If a person has signs of alcohol poisoning, it is very dangerous to assume that an unconscious person will be fine by "sleeping it off.'"

Alcohol acts as a depressant, impairing basic bodily functions, such as the gag reflex, leaving people vulnerable to choking on their own vomit and dying in their sleep. Alcohol can also irritate the stomach, making the suppression of the gag reflex especially problematic.

Furthermore, on a national level, 696,000 students between the ages of 18-24 are assaulted every year by another student who has been drinking and 97,000 students between the ages of 18-24 report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape each year.

Minimizing the risk

According to an article published in Lancet in 2010, alcohol is rated as the single most harmful of all abused substances, ranking higher than heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine.

"Alcohol is ingrained in our culture, and binge drinking is perceived as a lighthearted, fun and humorous rite of passage among college students," Hendricks said. "It's crucial to communicate the dire risks of binge drinking and challenge the notion that alcohol use is a normal and harmless part of the college experience."

Hendricks recommends that those under the legal drinking age of 21 refrain from drinking alcohol. Moderate drinking (again, no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women) may be considered for those over the age of 21. Hendricks offers suggestions that may help reduce the harm of immoderate alcohol use:

Alternate each alcoholic beverage with a glass of water.

Eat a full meal before drinking occasions.

Sip drinks slowly and avoid taking shots, chugging or using a beer bong, as drinking quickly leads to a steep BAC curve and subsequent impairment.

Do not mix alcohol with other drugs as this increases risk of toxicity and harm. Mixing alcohol with benzodiazepines (for example, Xanax and Klonopin) is especially problematic and can lead to death.

Have a safe ride home by designating a driver or using public transportation, taxi or safe rides.

Never leave your friends.

Do not accept drinks from someone you do not know. Never take your eyes off of your drink.

Intoxicated individuals cannot provide consent to sexual contact or intercourse. Sexual contact or intercourse with an inebriated person may be considered rape in most states.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique, which can be employed in studies involving the determination of the composition of complex biochemical samples having high degrees of specificity.

This technique has become the gold standard in the field of Life Sciences, which include proteomics, metabolomics, and toxicology. This is due to the specificity and ability of MS to quantify minute quantities of hormones, disease biomarkers, and metabolites.

Challenges to the adoption of mass spectrometry

Though MS is being widely accepted, there exist a significant number of challenges that hinder its adoption into clinical and research laboratories.

The most obvious barriers include low throughput and low spatial resolution while performing routine analysis of large heterogeneous samples like excised tissue, wherein the context of the anatomical structure of the sample, measuring from microns up to millimetres, holds major significance.

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI)

Techniques using MSI like matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) are being widely used in pharmaceutical histology and clinical laboratories. The simultaneous achievement of high-throughput and high-spatial resolution that may be required for the usual applications is not feasible.

Owing to the destructive and serial nature of the process of data collection, images of MS are created using low resolving power and this is followed by the degradation of the sample using high beam exposure.

In order to make MS imaging a more viable option, the local regions of concern are to be pre-selected by well-qualified personnel. The sliced tissue that is to be examined or its adjacent section that is parallel to it must be stained and analyzed using a standard microscope before conducting MS analysis.

However, the staining process using chemicals tends to change the samples biochemistry by eliminating important biochemical constituents that are targeted, and moreover the sections that are taken from the parallel tissues are never similar.

Further, techniques involving MS call for advanced skills, so that only staff with training at the doctoral level would be able to use the system and test the results. A tool that will facilitate non-destructive and high resolution screening is required.

This user-friendly tool must be able to scan large tissue areas to recognize the target areas for follow-on MSI without involving the necessity of a staining protocol. One instrument that can be used for such applications is the Spero microscope designed by Daylight Solutions.

IR and MS imaging are both providing a chemical view of tissue contents, the first being based on the IR light absorption from molecular bonds and the latter providing mass information from the same molecules. In principle, beyond their specificities and beyond little comparable technicalities, they should be considered as equivalent. In practice, they cannot be considered as equivalent. MS imaging is clearly more difficult to operate and the interpretation of the data cannot be automated. Even worse, it usually requires isotopic labels to discriminate between mass-to-charge ratios and values and thus to identify chemical compounds in the sample. As a result, this technique is not still deployed for routines and remains the business of highly qualified staffs. In comparison, IR microscopy was suffering from its slowness. Now, that ultrafast acquisitions have been made accessible, the next bottleneck to remove is the automation of data treatments; but, thanks to its robustness and to the uselessness to use reagents or labels, IR imaging will be soon more standardisable and turned into a routine chemical analytical technique. A technique that is now fast and simple is surely promised to great future in pharmacology and biosciences." Dr. Petibois, head of research group 3D spectro-imaging at Inserm U1029 and recent interview contributor to the Insights from Industry series

The Spero microscope

The Spero microscope facilitates the spatial distribution of functional chemical groups in tissues and cells in real-time. This paves the way for quick generation of whole-side quantitative maps of an array of biomolecules, which include lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and collagen, without the need for the staining process.

Fresh frozen unstained sections of tissue as well as samples fixed with formalin can be analyzed using Spero. However, fresh frozen unstained tissue samples can preserve their lipid profile.

The detailed information given by Spero helps to easily identify the target regions for subsequent MSI or other similar molecular imaging methods automatically through pre-loaded algorithms or through a trained technicians visual inspection. Since this is a non-destructive, label-free technique, the sample tissue retains its pristine condition for further analysis using standard staining procedures.

The Spero microscope employs mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy technique, which produces digitally stained, high-contrast images of cells, biofluids, and tissues. This is done by measuring the relative absorption of light at frequencies of resonant vibration of a variety of functional chemical groups like carbonyl (C=O) and ammonia (NH 3 ) present in biological substances.

The speed and high resolution of the Spero microscope are attributed to a special kind of laser known as Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL), which was also designed by Daylight Solution. QCLs optical frequency can be tuned rapidly to the frequency range for vibrational resonances of functional groups that are biochemically relevant. This frequency range is known as the molecular fingerprint band, which ranges from 900 to 1800 wavenumbers (cm-1).

Spero-Based Research

Spero is used in the following applications:

Chemical images of the amide I peak vibrational resonance relating to proteins for a 4.8cm2 sample area containing 200 needle biopsy cores of unstained breast tissue, can be produced within 9 minutes at a 1m pixel resolution.

The high-throughput multiplexing capability of the Spero microscope has been found to be useful in rapid screening of serum droplet arrays along with TMAs and large sections of tissues. Spero can be applied to micro-well or pre-screen range of droplets prior to analysis using MS.

Spero can be used in histology laboratories as a workhorse tool to enhance the throughput and success rate of MSI analysis.

Conclusion

As Spero imaging technology is increasingly becoming a part of the workflow of standard analysis in clinical research and pharmaceutical laboratories, it can be anticipated that output and utilization of imaging technologies using mass spectrometer will become considerably greater, with increased saving of valuable time and resources.

Acknowledgements

Produced from materials originally authored by Dr Jeremy Rowlette, Director of Molecular Imaging, Daylight Solutions.

References and Further Reading

P. Bassan, M. J. Weida, J. Rowlette and P. Gardner, Large scale infrared imaging of tissue micro arrays (TMAs) using a tunable Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) based microscope, Analyst (RSC), 2014, DOI: 10.1039/c4an00638k G. Clemens, B. Bird, M.Weida, J. Rowlette and M. J. Baker, Quantum cascade laser-based mid-infrared spectrochemical imaging of tissues and biofluids, Spectroscopy Europe, 2014, Vol 26, no 4. C. Hughes, G. Clemens, B. Bird, T. Dawson, K. Ashton, M. Jenkinson, A. Brodbelt, M. Weida, E. Fotheringham, M. Barre, J. Rowlette, and M. Baker. Introducing discrete frequency infrared technology for high-throughput biofluid screening. Scientific Reports 6, 20172 (2016). DOI:10.1038/srep20173

About Daylight Solutions

Daylight Solutions molecular detection and imaging products consist primarily of lasers, sensors, and imaging systems, all of which leverage the companys mid-infrared, quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology. This core technology provides a versatile platform from which new products are developed, allowing the company to serve markets that include Scientific Research, Life Sciences, Defense, and Commercial.

The company is committed to innovation and introduced the worlds first broadly tunable mid-infrared laser system for scientific research, the worlds first semiconductor-based laser for protecting aircraft against shoulder-fired missiles, and the worlds first mid-infrared laser-based microscope for real-time biochemical imaging and material analysis.

Daylight Solutions consists of two separate business units. In 2009 the company created a wholly owned subsidiary to address the specific requirements of the defense industry. As a subsidiary, Daylight Defense developed the business and manufacturing infrastructure necessary to deliver classified, military-hardened products to the government. The Commercial business unit supports all other non-defense activities ranging from life sciences to industrial and consumer products.

Daylight Solutions and Daylight Defense are both ISO-9001 certified and possess advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.
Try to identify a different piece of Lynchburg-area history every week. If you have any mystery pictures of your own (or any old photos of Lyn
Red Hulk, Ronin, and more: 10 Heroes and Villains whose secret identities were hidden from readers

There's a longstanding superhero tradition of hiding the identity of certain characters even from readers
Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Looking Back Health Jewels Stitch in Time List of all candidates running in upcoming May 2016 Primary March 14, 2016 Thanks for voting in Idaho's recent Presidential Primary last week, but Idaho is not finished yet with sorting out which candidates will ultimately be on the November general election ballot.



Next up are the Democratic Presidential Caucuses, coming up in about a week on March 22. Then on May 17, another statewide primary will be held which this time will focus on candidates for state and local offices.



Last Friday was the deadline for filing to run in the upcoming primary, and the list of candidates has now been finalized. The May primary ballot will include 22 individuals running for local Boundary County office. Those local offices include precinct committee chairs, county commissioners, prosecuting attorney, and sheriff.



On the list of statewide offices in May's primary, we'll be voting for candidates to run for an Idaho U.S. Senator and for Idaho's representatives to Congress. Other offices listed in the May primary include positions in the Idaho Supreme Court, a judge in the Idaho Appellate Court, and our local Idaho Legislative District 1 State Senator and State Representatives.



The complete list of candidates who will be on the ballot for local Boundary County offices can be seen by clicking here.





Statewide, primary races that are relevant to Boundary County are shown in the graphic seen on the left.



As seen in the accompanying graphic, Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador is being challenged in the primary by two other Republicans. Three Democrats are also seeking that office. In an unusual note, two of the candidates seeking Mr. Labrador's seat as Idaho's District 1 Congressional Representative are not even living in Idaho. Democratic candidate Shizandra Fox listed a Glen Ellen, California address in her filing paperwork, and Republican candidate Isaac M. Haugen gave a Santa Rosa, California address as his contact mailing address in his run for Idaho Congressman.



That certainly seems rather unusual, but apparently in Idaho a candidate need only be an Idaho resident by the day of the general election in November. So our California candidates for our Idaho Congressional seat have eight months to pack up and relocate if they are hoping to win the November election and subsequently head off to Washington to serve as an Idaho Congressional Representative.



Among the other candidates running for the seat currently held by Mr. Labrador:



Democrat James Piotrowski, an attorney who has lived in Boise since 1998. He attended law school in Cleveland, and specializes in civil rights, workers' rights, and disability law.



Democrat Staniela Nikolova from Moscow, Idaho, who appears to be a University of Idaho student, and who also appears to be studying there toward degrees in psychology and molecular biology / biotechnology.



Republican Gordon Counsil, of Caldwell, who lists experience as a farmer, landlord, and has an academic background in elementary education. Mr. Counsil ran as an independent candidate for Idaho State Representative of District 10 in 2014, losing that election.



Candidates in the running to unseat current Idaho U.S. Senator Mike Crapo are:



Democrat Jerry Sturgill, a Boise businessman who works as a managing director of Headwaters MB, a Denver-based investment banking firm that "provides investment banking services to entrepreneurs,

owner/operators and business-owning families." He previously was a corporate law partner at Latham & Watkins and Stoel Rives LLP. His career has included serving as chairman and CEO of other businesses. He has a law degree from Brigham Young University.



Constitution Party candidate Ray J. Writz, who has run for state office in Legislative District 4 previously (the Coeur d'Alene area), losing a 2010 campaign for State Senator, a 2012 campaign for State Representative, and a 2014 race for State Senator. In 2014 news reports he indicated he operated a janitorial service and had schooling from the DeVry Institute.



Constitution Party candidate Pro-Life, formerly known as Marvin Richardson until he legally changed his name, has previously run for Idaho governor in 2006, the U.S. Senate in 2008, governor in 2010, and governor in 2014. In the upcoming May 2016 Primary Election, his wife is running for a State Senate seat, and his son is running for State Representative. Mr. Pro-Life has indicated he has worked in sales, in accounting, and in farming.



Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Jones is retiring, and six candidates have filed for election to that position. Those candidates include:



Rupert Attorney Robyn Brody, who founded the Brody Law Office, and is a graduate of the University of Denver. She moved to Twin Falls following her graduation from law school, practiced there, and later started her own law firm, based in Rupert, in 2010. She has served as a past President of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, and currently serves on the board of the St. Nicholas Catholic School in Rupert.



Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez, who is currently one of four members of the Idaho Court of Appeals. He has served on the Court of Appeals since January 2002 after being appointed to the position by Governor Dirk Kempthorne. Since then he has been elected to serve two full terms on the court. He received his law degree from the University of California, Hastings Law School.



Curt McKenzie, currently a Republican state senator serving in his seventh term from District 13 (Canyon County area). He has a law degree from Georgetown University.



William Breck Seiniger, Jr., a Boise attorney who graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law. He practices in the field of personal injury law, and owns the private firm of Seiniger Law. He previously ran for a position on the Idaho Supreme Court in 2014, but lost to incumbent Joel Horton in the primary election that year.



Clive J. Strong, who currently serves as the Division Chief of the Natural Resources Division in the office of the Idaho Attorney General. He has been with the Idaho Attorney General's office for 33 years. He has a law degree from the University of Idaho and a masters of law degree from the University of Michigan.



Christ Troupis, an attorney in Eagle, Idaho, who operates Troupis Law Office, which is engaged in the general practice of civil law. He indicates his firm "concentrates in serving the needs of small business owners and their families. Presently, the practice is concentrated on real estate and business issues." He is a graduate of Northwestern University and of the University of Southern California.



In our local legislative district, incumbent Republican State Senator Shawn Keough is being challenged for the Republican nomination by Priest River resident Glenn Rohrer. Running unopposed as a Democrat for that State Senate position is Boundary County resident Steve Tanner.



Republican incumbent State Representative Heather Scott has no Republican challengers. Two Democrats will run in the Primary to oppose Ms. Scott in November. They are Stephen F. Howlett and Kate McAlister.



Our other State Representative, Republican incumbent Sage G. Dixon, is also running unopposed for the Republican nomination to serve another term in his position. Two Democrats, Sarah Althea Brotherton and Bob Vickaryous (who is from Boundary County), are vying to challenge Mr. Dixon in November.



To see the entire list of all statewide candidates running in the May 2016 primary, including all legislative districts, click here.

Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!
Hold on to your faith

But addressing reporters following a four-hour meeting with SWUTT officials at the Unions Southern Main Road, California offices yesterday, Baptiste- Primus pointed out that insolvency of a company did not place workers rights and benefits, such as severance and pensions, as a high priority for the company.

It cant be ok that workers would work for so many years and in their twilight years, there is nothing that is facing them, it means therefore that you are removing hope from within their lifestyle and I can only ask the workers to remain strong, Baptiste -Primus said.

Hold on to your religious beliefs because religious beliefs gives us that strength to go forward, she said, adding, bad times do not last and thats the conversation I am having with the financial institutions., Bad times do not last so show a human face and go along with the workers. She also pointed out the difference between retrenchment and termination saying termination did not allow for the payment of benefits.

This is a rather troubling situation, it is never an easy one, certain reasons have been forwarded by the company giving reasons why they terminated 644 workers, she said, adding, It is not retrenchment. Retrenchment means that workers get their benefits.

This is termination. The company has been dissolved or the process has been started.

At this point in time as Minister of Labour, I do not know exactly what has happened. What I have received so far is information from the company saying it is winding up its operations. I dont know what that means, whether its a voluntary insolvency, I will have to meet with the company to obtain the necessary confirmation, she said. Baptiste-Primus revealed that a meeting with Arcelor Mittal officials is scheduled for 1pm at the Labour Ministrys office today.

There appears to be other variables involved in this situation which requires the Government to attend to with a sense of urgency and immediacy. The impact of this termination, the dissolution of the company, the impact is widespread. Baptiste Primus also highlighted the Ministrys ten-point plan to deal with retrenched workers which included speaking to the financial institutions and other lending agencies saying she was meeting with the president of the Bankers Association on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Henry also called on the retrenched workers to not lose hope as the Government had now become involved in the issue.

We are saying that with the involvement of the Government, there is hope, he said.

Henry once again cast doubt on the debt owed by Arcelor Mittal saying the company had registered a profit of US $40 Million dollars in 2014.
Sister apologises to victims family

But, Nadira Ankatiah, 38, also believes that her brother may have been pushed over the edge to commit such a gruesome act.

No one deserves to die like this, a grieving Ankatiah told Newsday.

This was a horrible thing that my brother did and I will never condone such an act. We are sorry this has happened, and I apologise to the family. But I want the world to know that my brother was not a monster. Speaking at the familys Garth Road, Princes Town home, Ankatiah said that her brother, who once worked as a contractor, had been unemployed for several months and was having a difficult time finding a job to secure maintenance payments for his children in the court.

He was really trying to get another job to pay the maintenance, but his ex- wife did not care to understand and she really gave him a very hard time. It was always warrant after warrant, week after week, that would come. My brother was frustrated, she said.

Mohammed, a geriatric nurse, was expected to have been in the Magistrates Court in Princes Town for a hearing in a domestic violence matter on the eve of her murder. Her body was in an abandoned house at Retrench Village, San Fernando on March 4. Her throat was slit from ear to ear.

On Wednesday last week, Shabir, 35, of Garth Road Princes Town, was found dead at the Manzanilla Beach. A bottle with the weedicide Gramoxone (Paraquat) was found next to his body.

Ankatiah said that her brother loved his children dearly.

The bond he shared with his children was so close, and lately, he had been denied visitation rights to see his them on weekends.

Think about it. How can you keep a man away from his children? This, I think, really hurt him because he loved his children so much. Ankatiah said that Aminas relatives painted the picture to the public that her brother was an abuser which was untrue.

Shabir was not abuser. All he was trying to do was to take care of his children. But she (Amina) would never understand and never give him a chance. There are many fathers out there who have the money to take care of their children but refuse to do so. It was not like that with my brother, she explained.

Ankatiah, who is also a mother of one, said that persons on the outside would make conclusions without knowing the circumstances.

Shabir was really looking hard for a job, even I would go through the classified section to help him find a job, but with this woman there was no mercy. She tell him hurtful things and made him feel less than a man. She said the court system is biased and needs to be changed.

Most of the time the magistrate does not listen to the fathers side of the story, or his situation, or what he is going through. And if this does not change, another situation like this may occur
South Western Division officers honoured

In honour of the Divisions success, Ag Police Commissioner Stephen Williams presented three awards to head of the division , Snr Supt. Nazrool Hosein on behalf of members of the Division.

Williams said the awards are a symbol of appreciation for a job well done and urged the officers to keep up the good work.

Over the past ten days, a total of 70 persons have been arrested in police exercises in the South Western Division with 45 warrants being executed and four firearms and 33 rounds of ammunition seized. One stolen vehicle was also recovered and over seven kilograms of marijuana seized. 160 traffic tickets were also issued and 115 persons were stopped and searched.

Last week Friday, while on surveillance duties along the coastline in Dow Village South Oropouche, members of the South Western Division Task Force arrested a 17 year old youth walking along the beach with a Glock pistol with 28 rounds of 9 mm ammunition One week ago while on patrol in Erin, officers attempted to stop a car when an occupant of the vehicle pointed a firearm at them and loud explosions were heard.

The officers returned fire and two nationals of the Dominican Republic were arrested. A search was conducted and one Baretta pistol and five rounds of ammunition were recovered. Enquiries are continuing in relation to the shooting. Officers from the Division also seized two shotgun barrels with firing pins affixed to a rat trap in Cedros .

The exercises were spearheaded by ACP Cecil Santana, Snr Supt Nazrool Hosein and Supt Darwin James, and included Insp Ramphal, Sgt Victor, CID, Task force, Operations unit and other officers from the Court and Process Branch and other stations in the Division.
Promotions coming to beef-up Child Protection Unit

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon said yesterday he is awaiting the note from Cabinet to affix a signature to send to Williams so that the vacancies could be filled in the shortest possible time.

Sources revealed that the acting Commissioner will be filling those vacancies before the end of the week.

According to Dillon, the new Child Protection Unit requires one superintendent of police, two assistant superintendents, ten inspectors, 18 sergeants, 28 corporals, 110 constables, 36 Special Reserve Police officers, one business operations administrator and one other business operations assistant.

Dillon told Newsday that Government is alarmed over the increase in abuse against children and believes that every police division should have the necessary manpower within the CPU to deal with any matter involving children.

He said that based on his own information, the Unit is not up to its required strength but with the Cabinet note and Cabinet approval every police division will have the necessary manpower to deal with those types of crimes committed against children.

Newsday understands that persons transferred to the Unit will be specially selected to handle the work involved. Dillon also noted that the CPU will also be working with schools. Contacted yesterday, Police Social Welfare Association President Inspector Ananad Ramesar said, the call for the provision of Inspectors, Sergeants and other ranks for the CPU is necessary however, the Minister needs to be mindful of what exists in the Human Resource Department and the time has come for Government to review the sanctioned strength in the ranks of Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP), Inspectors, Sergeants and Corporals.

It is necessary for the strength in the various ranks to be increased at the very least, ASPs should be increased by ten, Inspectors by 20, Sergeants by 30 and Corporals by 50. This increase will not only improve the morale in the police service but will mitigate in the promotion decisions that were flawed and have been impacted negatively resulting in a lot of instances with the non promotion of persons who should have been promoted.
150 kidney transplants in ten years

While this may not seem to be a significant figure, the impact that these transplants have had on the people needing them is quite significant .

Medical Director of the NOTU, Dr Lesley-Ann Roberts, said providing kidney transplants for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago not only improved the quality of their lives considerably, but also the social impact of this new facility has been commendable .

Speaking at the Health Ministrys weekly news conference at the Ministrys Head Office, Park Street, Port-of-Spain, last Friday, Roberts said children and adults who had to endure the rigours and challenges of dialysis could now pursue their studies and jobs and get on with their lives .

Roberts said there have been 126 kidney recipients coming from live donors--those who have donated kidneys to their significant other or a relative .

She said the other 26 have come from deceased or dead donors .

The ages have been from nine to 65, showing that this disease going on to end stage renal disease was no respecter of age In 2012, the NOTU introduced the retrieval of living donor kidneys by the laproscopic or keyhole surgery method. This advanced less-invasive procedure facilitated a much earlier discharge of the donor from the hospital allowing them to return to work much earlier .

Roberts said under the deceased programme, which was started in 2007, but went through a lull, 24 patients received kidneys from 13 deceased donors. The programme of deceased donation was well established in Intensive Care Units in three major hospitals  Port-of- Spain General Hospital, San Fernando General Hospital and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope .

Roberts said although Jamaica and Barbados instituted their kidney transplant programme in the 90s, considerably earlier than TT, the NOTU was the only transplant unit in the English- speaking Caribbean that could boast of a structured programme that was governed by appropriate legislation .

Our one-year graft survival stands at 93 per cent, and the three and five-year graft survival was 87 and 75 per cent respectively, she said. However, Roberts noted that while everyone who was in end stage renal failure could have a kidney transplant, not every patient was suited to have a kidney transplant .

A number of people will be eligible, but who are actually waiting for transplants are about five or six. We have a number of people who do not have donors and they are on the waiting list until a deceased donor turns up .

Its a process and the patient has to take the responsibility to produce their necessary documents so that they can be screened and put on this list, Roberts said .

All of us need to take responsibility for our kidney health. If you get the results that you have kidney disease, dont put it in a drawer and forget it until its broken, act on it.
This Gone Girl Cruise

Was Weirder Than

You Could Imagine
(Newser)  Laura Eisenhower won't be casting a vote for Hillary Clinton come November. The former secretary of state is, she says, "definitely not human." And that's no insult: Chances are, Eisenhower truly believes Clinton is an extraterrestrial. The great-granddaughter of former President Dwight Eisenhower was among a host of speakers to present their alternative views on a smorgasbord of topics during the Conspira-Sea cruise, which departed San Pedro, Calif., in January for a trip to Mexico and back. Writer Anna Merlan was on board the Ruby Princess to cover the conspiracy theorists' maiden voyage (there were also plenty of ordinary vacationers on the vessel the size of a small city). In a lengthy account published on Jezebel, Merlan chronicles her week of immersion into conspiracy theories around vaccinations, prescription drugs, the negative ego, and many more.

"It was like being in a church revival with 20 different denominations shouting for your attention," she writes. Among the many presenters were defamed physician Andrew Wakefield, who claims vaccinations cause autism; Dannion Brinkley, who tells us death is the "biggest buncha crap;" and Sherri Kane and Leonard Horowitz, who expose how the media and CIA control people. Late in the cruise, Kane and Horowitz ambushed Merlan in the ship's Internet lounge, filming her as they accused her of being a CIA agent. ("Sometimes," Kane says, "people don't even know they are.") And as conspiracies were discussed in one of the ship's conference rooms, some attendees became convinced a new conspiracy was afoot, Merlan writes. After all, there were myriad technical problems, not to mention an interruption in the form of an announcement about Zika virus from the captain. Coincidence? Read Merlan's whole fascinating account of the voyage here. (Read more conspiracy theorists stories.)
(Newser)  Nevaeh Hall was laughing and running around a Chuck E. Cheese only two months ago. Now the 4-year-old is brain-damaged for lifeable to open her eyes but not stand up or talkafter a simple dental visit to secure decaying teeth, the Houston Chronicle reports. "She's constantly moving her arms and having muscle spasms," says her mother, Courissa Clark. "She's agitated a lot. She cries most days." Nevaeh's family is suing the dentist, Bethaniel Jefferson, who apparently used several sedatives and a restraining device called a papoose on the Jan. 7 dental visit in Houston, KHOU reports. The device firmly straps in the head and limbs, making a child stable but helpless. "They made it seem like it was for her safety so she wouldn't fall off the table or put her hands in her mouth," says 23-year-old Clark.

Hearing Nevaeh cry two hours later, Clark went in and found her flailing wildly in Jefferson's arms. Yet Jefferson didn't seek emergency medical help for four hours, according to a Texas dental board that swiftly suspended her license and plans to revoke it pending a judge's recommendation, Click2Houston reports. Jeffersonwho's been reprimanded twice before over medical miscuesalso gave Nevaeh too many drugs for her 30-pound body, says family lawyer Jim Moriarty. "This child was essentially tortured," he adds. (Jefferson hasn't returned calls for comment.) Now dentist Craig Jacobs is warning other parents about the papoose. "If parents are being told to authorize or grant permission to papoose their child, they probably ought to run," says Jacobs. "You cannot allow your child to be held in a restraint device without you personally being present." (Another girl was declared brain-dead after a simple surgery went wrong.)
(Newser)  In North Korea's latest hint that it's displeased with the West, it has threatened to wipe out Manhattan with a hydrogen bomb so powerful it surpasses the imagination. "Our hydrogen bomb is much bigger than the one developed by the Soviet Union," a North Korean government nuclear scientist told state media, per the Washington Post. "If this H-bomb were to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile and fall on Manhattan in New York City, all the people there would be killed immediately and the city would burn down to ashes." Experts say this is the first time that Pyongyang has suggested it's capable of striking the US East Coast, the New York Daily News reports.

Experts aren't sure of the exact size and scale of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, though obliterating Manhattan with an H-bomb is thought to be well beyond its capabilities. This month alone, North Korea has also boasted of having missile-ready miniaturized nuclear warheads and threatened a "nuclear strike of justice." When Pyongyang makes nuclear threats, other countries tend to either panic or completely dismiss them as bluster, the AP notes. The more appropriate response may be somewhere in the middle: The threats tend to be followed not by massive strikes, but by low-level attacks on the South and missile tests that move its weapons program a little further along. (A young American remains in custody in the North.)
(Newser)  Catheryne Lucero and Raul Manzano thought the body of their infant son, who died soon after his birth on Sept. 1, 2014, was being cremated. Instead, his remains ended up in a dumpster behind a gas station in North Miami, Fla., four days later. Now the couple have been awarded $28 million after a jury determined that the Carey Royal Ram'n Mortuary was negligent in its transport of the child's body, CBS Miami reports. A homeless man searching for food amid the trash found the baby in a cardboard box. A toe tag provided police with "a big clue," the Miami Herald reported at the time, as it suggested the boy had been dead for some time and perhaps came from a funeral home.

The discovery was heavily covered by the media, and "the really bad part is the parents had been watching the reports ... and were thinking what a tragedy this is," Neal Hirschfeld, their lawyer in the civil trial, tells the Miami Herald. "They were so distraught." Shortly after the baby was found, Jarren Hood, son of the funeral home owner, told the police that he was supposed to take the body to the crematorium but went home instead; someone then stole the box from his van. A state panel in May found that Hood "committed negligence, incompetency, or misconduct" during the transport, and the funeral home, which is still in operation, was fined, per Hirschfeld. Hood was charged only with resisting arrest in the incident. (Another funeral home laid out the wrong body.)
(Newser)  So as to not disturb the neighbors, many apartment dwellers in Sweden are banned from noisy activities like vacuuming or drilling after 10pm. One activity that is allowed, however, is loud sexand that's just the way it should be, says Health Minister Gabriel Wikstrom. "My neighbors are once again having noisy sex. You're my only hope: could you ban risque exercises after 10pm?" a Swede tweeted Wikstrom on Wednesday, per the Local. The 31-year-old's response: "Sounds nice for them, I think. Good for their well-being and thus public health as well." The government's apparent endorsement of noisy sex quickly went viral, though Wikstrom says his real message didn't exactly come across. The problem: sex gets a bad rap and is too often related to sexual abuse, STIs, and unwanted pregnancies.

Then there's the fact that Sweden's sex rate is falling: A 2013 poll showed the average Swede had 3.8 encounters per month, down from five monthly romps in 1996. "That's a 24% decline," Wikstrom says. "It is often linked to stress, pressure, and people feeling they don't live up to a certain body ideal. That's a problem," he continues. "Obviously the state shouldn't tell people how often to have sex," but "we're humans, we need intimacy." In other words, "Swedes should have all the sex they want to have," even if it's noisy, he tells the BBC. "I'm sure there's a lot about our neighbors that can annoy us, but if they have actually managed to get down to business, you have to be forgiving." But does the minister follow his own advice? "It's a pretty personal question, but  it happens," he says. "I am satisfied with my sex life." (An Italian had sex so loud it was considered stalking.)
(Newser)  Flags were at half-staff across Maryland Sunday night after what authorities say was the totally unprovoked killing of a police officer outside a police station in Prince George's County. Undercover narcotics officer Jacai Colson, who would have turned 29 in a few days, was killed in a firefight after a suspect arrived outside the District III station in Landover and opened fire, the AP reports. The alleged shooter was wounded by police fire and taken into custody. A second man, who police say is the shooter's brother, was also arrested.

A nurse who lives in a nearby building tells the Washington Post that she saw a man in black firing a handgun at the station. "He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot," she says. "Just looking outside, I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at all these police officers running out, putting their lives really in danger.'" Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski says officers are devastated by the death of Colson, a four-year veteran of the force. The incident "wasn't about anything," the chief says. The gunman "opened fire on the first police officer he saw." Charges against the two suspects are pending, the New York Times reports. (Read more Maryland stories.)
(Newser)  Two-year-old twins Shaun and Rhys Scott were "full of love, happiness, fun, and cheek," their parents say. The boys died Saturday morning when they fell into a koi fish pond that was on the property where they lived in Dalgety Bay, Fife, in Scotland, the Telegraph reports. Parents Sarah Aitken and Mervyn Scott, "still in shock and devastated," released a statement thanking all the people who tried "to revive our miracle babies," a reference to the twins being conceived using in vitro fertilization. The boys "touched the lives of everyone they met," the parents say. "They have been taken from us far too early and will be forever missed and loved."

The family, according to reports, had recently moved into the rented house in the Scottish coastal town. The previous resident, who ran a koi supply business, installed the pond, according to the Guardian. The details of the tragedy are unclear. Police responded to an emergency call Saturday morning and the boys were later pronounced dead at a hospital. One expert told the Daily Record that about five kids in the UK between two and six drown in homes and ponds each year. A family friend tells the Telegraph that the couple had a difficult time getting pregnant, and they were overjoyed to find out they were having twins. "Why take it away from her?" the friend says. "Its just so unfair." In their statement, the parents write, "Both boys were long awaited little soldiers." The investigation is ongoing. (Read more Scotland stories.)
(Newser)  Donald Trump might have two media targets in his sights soon: A Washington Post investigation suggests that when Trump spends time on the campaign trail slamming greedy American firms for sending US jobs overseas, he is either a recent convert to the cause or a hypocrite. A Politico analysis, meanwhile, finds that Trump spouts a "misstatement" of some sort every five minutes in speeches. The Post spoke to people involved in a 2004 deal for Trump-branded clothing, one of the first of many similar deals. Trump was personally involved in the negotiations and at no point expressed any preference for having merchandise manufactured in the US, insiders say. The deal went to a firm that operates in dozens of countries, and Trump-branded items are now made in countries such as China and Bangladesh. A Harvard professor analyzed Trump products available online and found that many are made outside the US, with 628 of 838 Ivanka Trump products coming from overseas.

"I don't decry what he and his daughter do," the professor tells the Post. "But at the same time, for him to claim that this is somehow immoral and go after companies that have relocated manufacturing when he has done the same puts him in conflict with his own rhetoric." As for Politico, it put 4.6 hours of Trump speeches from last week through its fact-checking process and found more than 60 inaccuracies it considers "mischaracterizations, exaggerations, or simply false." Those include his claims that the US has a "$500 billion a year trade deficit with China"a figure that Politico says is $134 billion too highand his boasts that he never settles lawsuits or takes money from donors. It also takes issue with several of Trump's statements about his standing in the polls, including a boast that he's "winning every poll with the Hispanics," when, in fact, a major one in February found that 8 in 10 Hispanic voters viewed him unfavorably. (Bernie Sanders says Trump is a "pathological liar.")
(Newser)  Another horror in the litany suffered by women and girls at the hands of ISIS: Fighters are forcing captives to take birth control so they can continue to use them as sex slaves, according to a lengthy New York Times article. "It is a particularly modern solution to a medieval injunction," writes Rukmini Callimachi. An "obscure" point of Islamic law cited by ISIS says that a man cannot have sex with a woman he enslaves unless he is certain that she is not pregnant. In interviewing 37 Yazidi women, Callimachi heard story after story of women being forced to take birth control pills or shotssometimes bothand even encouraged to have abortions. In some instances, women were taken to the hospital for pregnancy tests. One girl recounts having to take a birth control pill in front of her captor each day.

"He gave me one box per month," she says. "When I ran out, he replaced it. When I was sold from one man to another, the box of pills came with me." Though, Callimachi writes, the rule isn't followed universally, the rate of pregnancy among the rape victims is "stunningly low." Of 700 victims to seek treatment at clinic in northern Iraq, just 35 became pregnant while they were being held. A doctor at the clinic said he would have expected at least 140. One woman was escorted to a hospital by her captor's mother for a pregnancy test, which was negative. The mother, Callimachi writes, "triumphantly told her son that the 18-year-old was not pregnant, validating his right to rape her, which he did repeatedly." One captive, an older woman not subjected to rape, says the insistence that birth control be used provides a degree of relief in a horrible situation: "No one wants to carry the child of their enemy." Read the whole article here. (Read more ISIS stories.)
(Newser)  Four-leaf clovers are supposed to bring good luck, but not so much for Guinness. The Irish beer company found itself apologizing to Canadians this week after the St. Patrick's Day ads it put up around the Toronto subway system's St. Patrick Station used the wrong green symbol to commemorate the holiday, Huffington Post Canada reports. Next to the Canadian maple leaf used to illustrate March 16 on the poster, Guinness put the "preferred foliage" of a four-leaf clover to symbolize March 17.

Alas, it's not the clover that represents the Irish holiday: Ireland's patron saint used a three-leafed shamrock to mark the Holy Trinity and to help spread the word of Catholicism, the Irish Times notes. An Irish man in Toronto alerted Guinness Canada to the error, per the Daily Edge, and the company said it simply got overexcited prepping for the big day and would take the posters down. (What is a shamrock, anyway? No one seems to know for sure.)
(Newser)  A Palestinian teacher who grew up in a refugee camp and educates her students about non-violence won the second annual Global Teacher Prize, a $1 million prize for teaching excellence, beating out 8,000 applicants from around the world. Hanan al-Hroub, a primary school teacher in the West Bank just outside Ramallah, was presented the award by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, but her name was announced by Pope Francis in a video in which he talked about the importance of education and teachers, especially for children who grow up amid war. "I feel amazing and I still can't believe that the pope said my name," al-Hroub told the AP. "For an Arab, Palestinian teacher to talk to the world today and to reach the highest peak in teaching could be an example for teachers around the world."

She said she will use the million-dollar prize money to create scholarships for students who excel in order to encourage them to choose careers in teaching. Her win comes at a time of spiking tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. As al-Hroub accepted her award, Palestinians in the audience waved their country's flag and some chanted, fists pumping in the air, "With our souls, our blood, we sacrifice for you Palestine." In her acceptance speech, she reiterated her mantra of "No to violence" and stressed the importance of dialogue. "The Palestinian teacher can talk to the world now. Hand in hand we can effect change and provide a safe education to provide peace," she said. The inaugural Global Teacher Prize last year went to Nancie Atwell, an English teacher from rural Maine. (Read more Global Teacher Prize stories.)
(Newser)  At least 29 people were injured when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in rural southwest Kansas early Monday, authorities say. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it came off the tracks just after midnight about 20 miles west of Dodge City, reports the AP. Five cars derailed on the train, which was carrying 128 passengers and 14 crew members. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The cause remains under investigation, and federal investigators were en route. "All the lights went out, it was dark," passenger Daniel Szczerba tells Wichita TV station KWCH. "People traveling in groups (of) four or five got thrown around the car as it turned over."

Kelsey Wilson, 21, recalls waking up when she felt the ride "getting really bumpy" and the train starting to shake. Wilson, who was returning to Truman State University in Missouri after spending spring break at home in Colorado, says that her car disconnected from the one in front and that she hit her head as it overturned. She escaped through the top of the flipped car. Daniel Aiken, 21, of Lenexa, Kan., who was traveling with Wilson, says he heard screaming as he climbed out of their overturned car. He stopped to smell a fluid that was flowing through the car, fearful that it was fuel, but he was reassured when he realized it was water. "Once people realized the train wasn't going to blow up," he says, "they calmed down." (Read more derailment stories.)
(Newser)  Ford will soon offer what it says is the first police car in the US with protection against bullets that can pierce armor. The doors on its new Police Interceptors are the first to meet federal government standards from "armor-piercing .30-caliber rifle rounds," Business Insider reports. Ford says it will add the two-layer armored panels to its Police Interceptors; one layer of ballistic-grade ceramic to help break the bullet into pieces, and another layer of synthetic-aramid fiber (the same material used for Kevlar) to catch the shrapnel. As the AP puts it, that's "the equivalent of a bulky SWAT team vest" and is meant to stop bullets from an AK-47 or similar weapon.

"Officers globally told us they needed protection from armor-piercing ammunition," a Ford Police Interceptor engineer says in a statement. "In some places outside the US, they face the armor-piercing threat on a daily basis," says another Ford engineer, per the AP. The Interceptor is available as a sedan (based on the full-sized Ford Taurus) and an SUV (based on the Ford Explorer). Previously, the optional ballistic panels available for its doors (which only appear on 5% to 10% of the vehicles Ford sells) protected only against non-armor-piercing bullets. Those doors will also still be available. (Read more Ford stories.)
(Newser)  Surprise, surprise: Vladimir Putin is pulling most of his troops out of Syria with his own version of "mission accomplished":

I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defense Ministry to be generally accomplished," he said Monday, per RT.com. "That is why I order to start withdrawal of the main part of our military group from the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic starting from tomorrow."

Moscow authorized Russian fighters to begin airstrikes in September with the stated goal of helping Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad defeat the Islamic State. Russia's "entry into the Syrian civil war tipped the balance in favor of the Syrian government, allowing it to recapture territory from rebels," says the BBC. On Monday, Putin said he coordinated the withdrawal with Assad, adding that it should give a boost to peace talks currently underway in Geneva, reports AP. He added that a Russian airbase in Hemeimeem and a naval base the Syrian port of Tartous would continue to operate. (Read more Syria stories.)
(Newser)  The 14-year-old victim of the Kalamazoo shooting rampage who was thought to be dead until she squeezed her mom's hand has now said her first word since the shooting. "This little girl loves her pig named Hamlet. Tonight, Abbie spoke her first word. It was 'pig,'" Kopf's dad said per a recent GoFundMe update. The campaign has so far raised almost $60,000 for Kopf's expenses.

Kopf, whose grandmother was killed in the Michigan shooting spree, was released from the hospital to a rehab facility last week, ABC News reports. On Sunday, her family posted the first picture of her since the shooting to the GoFundMe page. It shows her in a hospital bed, laughing, with her little sister and a number of stuffed animals. Previous updates on the crowdfunding site reveal that Kopf can walk with some assistance and often laughs with her family. (Read more uplifting news stories.)
A tentative migration plan has been reached by EU and Turkey last Monday in an effort to stem the flow of migrants flooding the EU gates. However, the deal has been met with fierce condemnation from Amnesty International saying that the draft plan to send migrants back to Turkey in exchange for increased refugee funding is not only legally problematic but also morally flawed.

Some observers believe that the draft agreement also underlies Turkey's sneaky attempt to fast tract its EU Membership application by asking not just for more funding but also a visa-free travel to Europe for its citizens.

"It's flawed, morally and legally. They are saying it does not breach EU law because Turkey is a safe country. By what stretch of the imagination is Turkey a safe country for these people? ...The refugee convention is clear, these people fleeing from war and persecution have international protection. So they have to take it case-by-case," remarked Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty as quoted by Yahoo News.

Shetty intends to convey the organization's protest against the draft agreement in a meeting with a number of EU officials. The plan would allow EU to admit one migrant from Turkey for every Syrian refugee Ankara takes from the Greek islands. Also, those who tried to enter to Europe by sea will be forcibly returned.

Apart from the Amnesty International, UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi also expressed his 'deep concern' of the proposed deal on refugees as he spoke before the European Parliament in a plenary session last Tuesday.

"As a first reaction I'm deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law," Grandi said as stated in a report by Politico.

Some observers from the media who have covered stories on the refugee crisis also expressed their skepticism over the deal's viability to effectively halt the entry of migrants at Europe's doorsteps.

Highly awarded journalist and migration news correspondent for The Guardian, Patrick Kingsley, threw some insights on the proposed deal in his interview with Huffington Post-owned WorldPost.

"It's going to require trust from the EU and Turkey. I'm skeptical that both sides are going to believe that the other is really going to uphold this deal, given the lack of trust in the past...There's severe logistical challenges that have to be overcome," said Kingsley when asked about the feasibility of the migration plan as quoted in a Huffington Post article.
A small village in Indonesia, called Bone-Bone, is spearheading the movement on minimizing tobacco use. The village is one of just a few in the country that has banned smoking and selling tobacco completely.

The ban first started in 2000 when the village first enforced a law of the elimination of selling tobacco products. Then in 2003, local authorities prohibited smoking in public, while making a full ban in 2006.

Though many countries in underdeveloped countries have also made minimal efforts, Indonesia is still the country progressing the least in its region to implement methods to cut tobacco use. According to CTV News, the country is the only one in Southeast Asia that has yet to ban tobacco ads on TVs and the only one in the Asia Pacific region to have not ratified a UN treaty on tobacco control though it has a high percentage of child smokers and high death toll because of tobacco related issues.

As one enters the 800-people village, they will come upon a sign that reads, "Thank you for not smoking, say no to cigarettes," while another says, "Please enjoy the scenery and fresh air in our village.

When asked about the reason, the village head, Muhammed Idris, didn't state that it was because of health, but it was for economic reasons.

Idris shared that many families couldn't send their children to school because fathers had been using crucial funds on cigarettes.

"I went to college with 13 other students from this village, only six graduated, the rest dropped out because they spent their tuition money on cigarettes," Idris told AFP.

Another villager, Amir, also admitted how much the ban saves money. Though he had smoked about 14 times each day, he admitted that he can now save money due to the restricted use.

"I can save money, I can buy what my family needs and -- most importantly -- I can pay for my children's education," said Amir.

About 10 Indonesian villages have also followed Bone-Bone and created a ban on smoking.
The second Captain America: Civil War trailer released this week may have dropped a major spoiler about the new Marvel movie.

As reported, a redditor named Imgur had taken a closer look of the new trailer, slowing each scene down and had discovered something that was never noticed before. The user pointed out a scene that involved Bucky, War Machine and Iron Man. And it ended up with Bucky losing his metal arm.

It has now been questioned who has injured Bucky and what fate awaits her in the new Captain America installment. Did Tony Stark killed him? It is not only Bucky who has received his share of injury. War Machine aka James Rodes can be seen hit by what it seems like Bucky's arm and Iron Man also falls down unconscious.

It is also not clear if Bucky will be returning and his team up with Steve Rogers will succeed or his death will finally change Captain America's point of view, and that is to leave his past behind and move forward with more challenges with The Avengers.

The original trailer of Captain America: Civil War showed Steve Roger (Chris Evans) taking Bucky Barnes' (Sebastian Stan) side. Rogers was in conflict with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) in their beliefs. The captain did not agree with Iron Man's idea that superheroes should have limitations and rules as this might just lead to the formation of a leader in the group who will control and abuse the other members. Tony Stark also adheres to the idea of the Avengers to support the government while Steve Rogers want the group to be a free superhero group not siding any institution.

The new Captain America movie welcomes other characters of the Marvel Universe--Ant-man, The Vision and yes, the new Spiderman played by Tom Holland. But because the conflict in the movie is hugely political, these superheroes will take sides. Either they choose Captain America or Iron Man.

As listed in Team Iron Man consists of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Bettany), War Machine (Don Cheadle) and the new character T'challa (Chadwick Boseman).

In Team Captain America, one can find Hawkeye, Sharon Carter, Falcon, Bucky Barnes and Ant-man.

Captain America: Civil War will hit theaters on May 6, 2016.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow this morning will taper off and give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. About one inch of snow expected..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Low 22F. Winds light and variable.
Ankara:

A car bomb ripped through a busy square in central Ankara today, killing at least 27 people and wounding 75, officials said, the latest in a spate of attacks to hit Turkey.

Ambulances rushed to the scene on Kizilay square, a key commercial and transport hub close to the citys embassy area, where the blast reduced several vehicles including a bus to burnt-out wrecks.

The attack comes just weeks after the city was hit by a suicide car bombing on February 17 targeting the military that killed 29 people, claimed by a dissident faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The provincial governors office said there were 27 dead and 75 wounded in todays attack.

The blast was caused by a vehicle packed with explosives close to Kizilay square, an official statement said.

Medical sources told AFP the wounded had been taken to 10 different hospitals around the city, with a dozen said to be in a very serious condition.

Turkey has been hit by a spate of deadly attacks since the middle of last year, most of them blamed on the Islamic State (IS) group, including a double suicide bombing in Ankara in October that left 103 people dead.

Coming so soon after the February bombing, todays attack will raise fresh questions about Turkeys ability to manage the twin security threat posed by IS and Kurdish rebels, as Ankara presses the European Union to speed up its membership process in return for help with the migrant crisis.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), linked to the PKK, said it carried out the February bombing in Ankara as revenge for operations by the Turkish military in the southeast of the country and warned foreign tourists not to visit the country.

A two-year ceasefire between the government and Kurdish rebels collapsed in the middle of last year and since December security forces have been waging a major campaign against the PKK in the southeast of the country.

Strict 24-hour curfews were imposed in a number of Kurdish-dominated towns and cities to allow the military and police to pursue the fight against fighters who had dug trenches and put up barricades.

Todays attack came hours before curfews were due to take effect in two more towns in the southeast as a prelude to fresh military operations.

Authorities said restrictions would be slapped on Yuksekova, near the Iranian border, and Nusaybin, on the frontier with Syria, to restore order and security following an increase in terrorist activity.

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New Delhi :

Disciplinary action will be taken against teaching and non-teaching staff of Delhi Universitys Deen Dayal Upadhyay College if they post any official matter on social media, a resolution passed by colleges governing body (GB) said, drawing criticism from some faculty.

The correspondence between authorities and teachers should not go in public domain as it not only lowers the prestige of the college but is also against the official procedures and rules, it said.

It is advised the entire teaching and non-teaching fraternity to refrain completely from putting such comments in public domain and it will be seriously viewed as subversive of discipline, the resolution said.

The order has drawn sharp criticism from teachers of the Delhi government-funded college.

This indicates the attitude of college towards transparency. Ironically, not only the communication college GB even has problems with Staff Association (basically teaching union of the college) notices to be placed on social media, a college professor said on condition of anonymity.

Echoing the concerns another professor asked, Can the GB inform which official procedure and the rule is violated by bringing out the communications to public forum?.

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New Delhi:

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday said that they would bring down RSS to half pants again. The RSS has updated itself because they are now in power. They would wear full pants instead of half pants, but we would again make them return in half pants, Lalu told the media.

We have to remove BJP form all the country, he added.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were in Lucknow to attend the marriage reception party of Shivpal Yadavs son Aditya.

Meanwhile, RSS general secretary Suresh (Bhaiyyaji) Joshi made the announcement of change in the dress code of RSS in Nagpur on Sunday.

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Islamabad:

Pakistan Prime Ministers Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are likely to meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose, the Pakistani official said.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.

The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group.

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Mumbai:

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi has said he will not chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai, comments that came against the backdrop of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats suggestion that the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India.



I dont chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab, Owaisi said, at a public rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district yesterday.



I wont utter that (slogan) even if you put a knife to my throat, Owaisi said, amid loud applause by the crowd.



Nowhere in the Constitution it says that one should say: Bharat Mata ki Jai, he said.



On March 3, Bhagwat had said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India, comments which came against the backdrop of the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus.



Now the time has come when we have to tell the new generation to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai (hail mother India). It should be real, spontaneous and part of all-round development of the youth, the RSS chief had said.



Owaisi said he will continue to support the family of Ishrat Jahan.

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Mumbai:

Market benchmark Sensex maintained its winning momentum for a second consecutive session, rising 86.29 points to close at a six-week high of 24,804.28, as investors went with firm global cues instead of a further fall in wholesale prices and disappointing factory output data.

Asian and European markets, which advanced for a third day ahead of policy reviews by Bank of Japan and the US Federal Reserve, kept sentiment upbeat here.

Besides, weak industrial production also couldnt stifle new positions despite declining for a third consecutive month in January.

WPI released offered little surprise, but forecasts for lower CPI figure for February, due for release later in the day, arrested declines on expectations of further rate cuts when RBI meets next in April, said Anand James, Co Head Technical Research Desk, Geojit BNP Paribas.

Deflationary trend continued for the 16th month in a row as wholesale prices declined by 0.91 per cent in February, prompting India Inc to press for a rate cut by RBI to boost factory output, which has been contracting since November.

The biggest gainer on Sensex was ICICI Bank, which climbed 3.70 per cent to Rs 221.70. Besides, Tata Motors surged 3.36 per cent to Rs 365.90 after the automaker on Friday said global wholesales in February, including that of Jaguar Land Rover, grew 17 per cent.

Sensex resumed higher at 24,801.70 and firmed up further to 24,960.51 on initial buying. But, declined afterwards to 24,734.04 before finishing at 24,804.28, showing a gain of 86.29 points or 0.35 per cent. It had last ended at 24,824.83 on February 1.

The NSE Nifty ended 28.55 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 7,538.75 after moving in a range 7,583.70 to 7,515.05.

Coal India was the worst Sensex performer with shares ending nearly 7 per cent down on massive selling by investors as the stock went ex-dividend today.

Shares of pharma firm Pfizer slumped 9 per cent as the company discontinued the manufacture and sale of popular cough syrup Corex with immediate effect.

Bhushan Steel ended 5.68 per cent higher after the company received the environment clearance for addition of 7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) pellet plant to the existing 5.6 mtpa integrated steel plant in Dhenkanal, Odisha.

Overseas, Asian markets rose, buoyed by gains on Wall Street Friday as well as the Bank of Japans two-day policy meeting, which began today.

Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by 0.04 per cent to 1.75 per cent.

European markets were also higher in their afternoon trade as key indices in France, Germany and the UK rose between 0.44 per cent and 1.54 per cent.

Major gainers were ICICI Bank (3.70 pc), Tata Motors (3.36 pc), BHEL (1.88 pc), ONGC (1.51 pc), GAIL (0.94 pc), Bharti Airtel (0.90 pc), SBI (0.86 pc), Axis Bank (0.85 pc), ITC (0.83 pc), NTPC (0.79 pc) and Dr Reddys (0.70 pc).

However, Coal India fell by 6.96 per cent followed by TCS (0.88 pc), M&M (0.73 pc), Sun Pharma (0.43 pc), Bajaj Auto (0.42 pc) and Wipro (0.25 pc).

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, bankex rose by 0.81 per cent, followed by industrials 0.73 per cent, FMCG (0.69 pc), auto (0.60 pc), finance (0.59 pc), oil&gas (0.47 pc), telecom (0.46 pc) and power (0.29 pc), while metal decline by 2.04 per cent followed by realty 0.32 per cent and consumer durables 0.23 per cent.

The market breadth remained negative as 1,330 shares ended lower, 1,323 closed higher while 173 ruled steady.

The total turnover rose to Rs 4,253.37 crore from Rs 2,419.55 crore on Friday.
London:

Flights between Britain and Europe could jump in price if the country votes to leave the European Union, according to a report commissioned by the Association of British Travel Agents released today.Our assessment of the reports findings is that a vote to leave will lead to uncertainties and may lead to increased costs for travel businesses and the travelling public, said Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, which represents 1,200 members, including airlines, tour operators and travel agencies.

Our view is that the potential risks and downsides are not matched by an equal upside for the traveller, he added.

The report, written by financial services firm Deloitte, concluded that low cost operators with smaller margins could be hardest hit, threatening an end to budget flights to the EU, the main destination for British tourists.

It said that a Brexit - Britains exit from the EU - could jeopardise the flow of trade and travel between Britain and mainland Europe, fuelled by the high likelihood of uncertainty during negotiations after the June 23 referendum.

This could last until a replacement set of trading relations and regulations were in place, which could take several years, said the report. A Brexit could also hit the value of the British pound, making foreign travel more expensive, it added.

Andrew Swaffield, boss of British-based budget carrier Monarch Airlines, warned that a Brexit would most likely lead to higher air fares and fewer scheduled flights between the EU and UK.

Around three-quarters of foreign holidays taken by Britons are in the EU and 63 per cent of tourists in Britain come from the EU. The top five tourist destinations for Britons are Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece.

Of those visiting Britain from the EU, the French are the most numerous, followed by Germans, Italians, Spaniards and Dutch. Bookmakers currently have a vote to remain in the union as  favourite, but some polls have the two camps neck-and-neck.
Islamabad:

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting her Pakistan counterpart Sartaj Aziz on the sidelines of SAARC ministerial meeting on March 17 in Nepal.



Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in Islamabad that Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines to extend formal invitations to their respective Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit that will be hosted by Pakistan.



When asked about the meeting between the two leaders, sources in New Delhi said, Aziz had sought a meeting to extend the invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the 19th SAARC Summit and India in all likelihood will go ahead with the meeting. However, they did not divulge what will be the issues that India will discuss.



This will be the second meeting between Swaraj and Aziz after December 9 when the two countries announced resumption of Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue (CBD).



Zakaria said that Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries on the sidelines of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on March 17, 2016 in Nepal to extend Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th SAARC Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year.



Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting on March 16 and 17.



Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune also reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.



Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal, a senior Pakistani official said on the condition of anonymity.



Swaraj-Aziz meeting will also provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January.



The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.



The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad.



The Swaraj-Aziz meeting may also discuss the possibility of an interaction between Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington where they are scheduled to attend the nuclear security summit being hosted by US President Barack Obama.

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DANBURY  A woman who drowned her newborn baby in a toilet after delivering it in her bathroom nearly a decade ago is seeking an early release from prison.

Panna Krom was 17 years old when she killed the infant on Dec. 28, 2006. She was eventually sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The woman, now 26, filed a clemency petition this month with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles asking that the second half of her sentence be replaced with five years of probation. Kroms petition argues that her sentence is excessive and that her exemplary conduct in jail suggests she poses no danger to herself or others and would be an asset to society if released.

Ive done everything I can in prison to become a better person and to make sure I never harm anyone again, Krom wrote to the board.

While at the York Correctional Institute in Niantic, the woman has graduated from high school, completed six semesters of college work, worked at several prison jobs, received excellent work evaluations and has never received a disciplinary ticket or gotten into fights, according to the petition documents provided by her attorney, Vicki Hutchinson.

Shes taking advantage of every opportunity she can get in prison, Hutchinson said. There isnt any more that she can do than she hasnt already done. Shes there just for punishment.

Krom was 16 when she became pregnant. She hid the pregnancy from her parents, who are Cambodian refugees, because she believed they would not approve a pregnancy out of wedlock, given their cultural and religious beliefs. She had no pre-natal care.

She was charged with murder several days after her mother found the baby, posthumously named Angel, wrapped in a sweatshirt in Kroms bedroom closet.

Krom later agreed to a plea deal that reduced the charge to first-degree manslaughter. If she had gone to trial on the murder charge, she would have faced at least 25 years in prison and possibly a life sentence.

Supporters say Kroms sentence is excessive because the crime she committed, known as neonaticide, often results in much shorter prison terms, if any.

Among five other cases of neonaticide by Connecticut teenagers, two resulted in prison terms under two years, one ended without a prison sentence and two never led to criminal charges at all, according to data compiled by Hutchinson.

In a letter accompanying the petition, law professor Michele Oberman said an assessment of U.S. neonaticide cases from 1988 to 2001 shows the average sentence in cases that ended in manslaughter convictions was just 3 1/2 years.

Pannas 18-year term is an extreme deviation from the norm, Oberman wrote.

Kroms suppporters also cited the high cost of housing an inmate in the state. The average annual cost per prisoner in Connecticut is $50,262, according to a 2012 report by the Vera Institute of Justice.

Shes certainly not going to harm anybody, Hutchinson said. Shes also not going to be a drain on our society.

Krom said that at the time of the crime she was not aware of the Safe Haven law, which allows a mother to anonymously drop off a child at hospitals or other safe havens with no repercussions or threats of prosecution. She now wants to educate young women on those laws to prevent them from committing the same crime.

Krom has already volunteered with the Safe Havens Working Group while in prison. State Rep. Pamela Sawyer, a former chairwoman for the coalition, said in a letter that Krom has been an impassioned and dedicated voice in the fight to eradicate neonaticide in Connecticut.

It is too late for Panna to undo her mistake of eight years ago, Sawyer wrote. It is not too late for the state to recognize the potential she has to help save lives by advocating for the important Safe Haven law she did not know about when she was pregnant.

Danbury States Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III said he opposes reducing Kroms sentence because her original charge was murder.

Many of these things were addressed at the time of disposition, he said. She was already given tremendous consideration... You have to remember that she drowned a newborn baby girl.

noliveira@newstimes.com, 203-731-3411, @olivnelson
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RIDGEFIELD  The upcoming presidential election and the sense of community fostered at Sundays chili festival were the main drivers for the largest turnout in the events six-year history.

More than 140 people turned out to sample chili from local restaurants and amateur cooks at the Lounsbury House.

The chili festival is the primary fundraiser for the Ridgefield Democratic Town Committee.

Town Committee Chairman Tom Madden said the fundraiser was important because the committee will use the money to help with the upcoming presidential election, including renting campaign office space on Main Street, getting people out to vote, bringing voters to the polls and other efforts.

Madden said the goal of the event was to let people meet each other and talk in a casual setting.

A number of elected officials attended the chili festival, including U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, state Comptroller Kevin Lembo, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi and several state legislators.

Marconi urged everyone to get as many people to vote as possible this November.

The single most important thing is to get people to exercise the right to vote, he said.

Marconi said the chili festival is a great way for him to connect with people about the local and state issues that have been overshadowed by the presidential election, such as the town and state budgets.

Alex Harris, vice chairman of the Ridgefield Democratic Town Committee, said the chili festival was a community event first. He said people always look forward to the chili and socializing.

Every year it gets better and if you couldnt make it this year, we hope to see you next year, Harris said.

Several women enjoying their chili on the porch at the Lounsbury House said they decided to attend the event to support the Democratic Party.

Im very concerned by whats happening in the country, said Alice Learman, a Ridgefield resident. I think its very scary and we have to do something to stop it. The viewpoint is narrowing.

Merrill spent a few minutes encouraging Democrats to stick together in the upcoming election to preserve Connecticuts progressive policies and civil rights.

Its going to be one heck of a year, she told the crowd. Were going to have to pull together in a way that I dont think weve had to do in a long time.

Merrill urged the group to get as many people to vote as possible, noting Connecticut has made it easier by allowing same-day registration and the ability to register online.

We cant sit this one out, Merrill said. Theres too much at stake.

kkoerting@newstimes.com
HARTFORD  Republicans tried in vain Monday to strengthen the so-called lockbox legislation to prevent raids on the states transportation fund, then they bailed out on supporting the proposed constitutional amendment.

After Rep. Tom ODea, R-New Canaan, ranking member of the legislative Transportation Committee, offered an amendment that would enlist the state Supreme Court to help protect the Special Transportation Fund, majority Democrats on the panel shot it down in a 17-13 vote.
File photo

DANBURY  Two homeless people were arrested last week after police said they disturbed employees and customers at two different stores in Danbury.

On Tuesday afternoon, officers were called to Lulas Market, 78 White St., after a woman hit an employee and a witness, police said. Jessica Anastasia, 22, had gone to the store to buy beer, but an employee refused to sell it to her because she was already intoxicated, according to the report.
VANCOUVER, March 14, 2016 /CNW/ - Renaissance Oil Corp. ("Renaissance" or the "Company") (TSX-V: ROE) is pleased to announce the Company has submitted the required Provisional Plans to the Comision Nacional de Hidrocarburos (the "CNH") of Mexico outlining the Company's plans for the transition of field operations of the Mundo Nuevo, Topen and Malva blocks from PEMEX to Renaissance. Upon approval of the Provisional Plans by the CNH, Renaissance will be granted a Signature Date to execute the License Contracts for each of the awarded blocks. We expect the Signature Date will be no later than May 13, 2016 and will mark an important milestone of Renaissance becoming an oil and gas operator in Mexico.

The CNH has provided additional clarity in terms of the Performance Guarantee that requires the Company to provide a letter of credit or a surety bond in an amount of 50% of the estimated Minimum Work Program. As per the guidelines provided by CNH the estimated aggregate amount of the letters of credit or surety bonds required for Renaissance's three awarded blocks is approximately USD$8 million.

Renaissance is pleased to announce the appointment of Willem Veltman as Operations Manager in Mexico. Mr. Veltman has over 30 years of oil and gas operations and senior management experience in Latin America with the most recent 26 years focused exclusively in Mexico. Mr. Veltman began his career with Schlumberger in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico and has subsequently had key roles with local companies and international organizations with petroleum operations in Mexico. Mr. Veltman has experience with associations and negotiations with PEMEX and has managed the growth of several oil and gas fields in Mexico. Mr. Veltman served as Asset Director at Petrofac Mexico, in charge of the USD$ 1.4 billion 30-yr E&P contract for the development of the mature Panuco - Cacalilao oil field. Previous to that, he oversaw the start-up and became the General Manager at GPA Energy, the oil and gas company of Grupo Industrial Monclova, in charge of organizing the group's 2006 bid for the Pemex tender of the USD$ 433 million Monclova gas field development contract. Mr. Veltman received his M.Sc. degree in Geophysics at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Mr. Veltman resides in Villahermosa, Mexico which is within 65 kilometres of Renaissance's three awarded petroleum development blocks.

Renaissance is pleased to welcome Harpreet Dhaliwal who has joined the Company as Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Dhaliwal is a Chartered Accountant with 8 years of experience in the resource sector including positions with Endeavour Mining Corporation and Uranium One Inc. Ms. Dhaliwal is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia.

Renaissance would like to thank Jeremy Crichton, the Company's former CFO, who has made a valuable contribution to Renaissance's development since 2014 when the Company was initially listed on the TSX-V. Mr. Crichton has recently left the Company to pursue other interests and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

The Company has received an extension to the term of the US$20 million senior secured term loan facility that will now mature on May 31, 2016. The facility is intended for the acquisition of certain Pemex project assets and/or project assets held by the state located in Mexico. The use of funds from the Facility and further extensions to its maturity are subject to the prior consent of the lender.

Renaissance's technical team and senior management, have recently conducted a field inspection on the awarded blocks of Mundo Nuevo, Topen and Malva. The Company was able to ascertain the working condition of production equipment, acquire updated production levels and obtained samples of the producing hydrocarbons. The Company is pleased to report that the lease conditions and equipment are in good working order and the combined production for the three blocks is currently estimated in excess of 700 barrels per day of light and medium crude oil, which is slightly above the Company's pre-auction estimates. Renaissance is encouraged by the new information it has gathered and continues to refine its field development plans of optimizing existing production facilities, workovers to existing wells and the drilling of a series of new development wells aimed to significantly increase field production levels.

Renaissance is a growing energy company focused on opportunities in Mexico. For further information, please visit our website at www.renaissanceoil.com.

RENAISSANCE OIL CORP.

Per:

Craig Steinke

Chief Executive Officer

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, without limitation, statements with respect to the expected listing of the Warrants. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements are discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

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.

The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined under the U.S. Securities Act) absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

SOURCE Renaissance Oil Corp.

For further information: Craig Steinke, Chief Executive Officer, Tel: 604-536-3637; Kevin J. Smith, Vice President, Business Development, Tel: 403-200-9047
As a child, Ugandan Paul Isaac Musasizi always had busy hands. He regularly pulled apart the family television, and used motors from old ...

As a child, Ugandan Paul Isaac Musasizi always had busy hands. He regularly pulled apart the family television, and used motors from old cassette players to make toy cars.Now, in his mid-thirties, he's the CEO of technology company Kiira Motors Corporation and the brains behind Africa's first solar-powered electric bus which makes its debut on February 16."In Uganda, we have non-stop sun," he says. "No other countries manufacturing vehicles are on the equator like Uganda. We should celebrate that, and make a business out of it."The 35-seater bus, known as the "Kayoola", can travel up to 50 miles straight and is powered by two batteries. One is connected to solar panels on the roof, while the other is charged electrically for longer distances and journeys at night.Musasizi says it takes just one hour to fully charge each battery, making the vehicle suitable for "all sorts of duties in the cities", such as school buses or longer-haul journeys across borders.Kiira Motors recently made a prototype of the bus, and ran a test drive near the national stadium in Kampala. The Kayoola debut is big news for the country, whose President Yoweri Museveni will attend the launch."I'm really humbled by the response to the bus so far, not only in Uganda but internationally," said Musasizi. "By launching the bus, we are saying Uganda now has the potential to add value in the world, especially within electric technology."Using the sun to power a nationThe bus is just the beginning of a bigger ambition Musasizi has to kickstart Uganda's solar-powered automobile industry. His vision includes every gas station in Uganda having solar pumps to charge vehicles instead of fuel.This month, Morocco switched on what will be the world's largest concentrated solar power plant. It has the potential to power over one million homes by 2018. Musasizi says Uganda should follow suit by developing solar farms to provide power for vehicles and other everyday applications."This is the time for us to be prospecting how solar farms are used past just lighting," he adds. "We need to explore this for vehicles -- because without proper transport technology, we cannot have a good economy."
The Presidency has stated categorically that President Muhammadu Buhari acts fully in the capacity of his office whether he is in Nigeri...

In reaction to a report by an online news medium that Nigerias vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, had to cancel his trip to India for the India-Africa conference because he did not want to relinquish power to Nigerias number three citizen, Senator Bukola Saraki, the Presidency noted that the President is still acting in his full capacity despite embarking on a state visit to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.In a statement issued by Laolu Akande, spokesperson for Prof Osinbajo, he said: Nigerians know wherever Mr. President is, at home or abroad he acts fully in his office except if on break, indisposed or incapacitated. So the question of his traveling creating a vacuum does not even exist at all.Then in reaction to the claims that Osinbajo would not be attending the India-Africa summit he said: It is simply untrue that an advance party from the Vice Presidents office departed for India. No such thing happened because there was no such final decision to travel.The statement then cleared the air on Nigerias participation at the summit. There are some insinuations online about Nigerias participation in the India-Africa conference holding from March 14-16 in New Delhi.For the avoidance of any doubt, Nigerias delegation to the the meeting is led by Industry and Trade Minister, Dr. Okey Enelamah, the statement read.
The Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, has urged Nigerians not to expect magic from the All Progressives Congress.

The Governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, has urged Nigerians not to expect magic from the All Progressives Congress.According to him, this is because it took the Peoples Democratic Party 16 years to create the mess the APC is trying to clean up.Abubakar said this in an interview in Abuja, on Saturday. He explained that it would be unfair to pass judgment on the APC which has spent less than 10 months in power.He said, It is unfair for the APC government to be judged. People have forgotten that the PDP held sway for 16 years. Therefore, people should not expect magic from the APC. We are committed. You can see from the time we took over that even oil, which price has been dwindling, has started to rise due to the efforts of Mr. President.So, people should not be impatient. People should give us at least 16 years and see if we would not remove the rot that the PDP had caused. It is unfair for Nigerians to judge us in eight or nine months. I am assuring Nigerians that the APC government at the centre is on course and all the APC governments in the states will deliver Insha Allah.The governor also explained that he was compelled to investigate the immediate past administration in his state in order to recover public property looted by those who betrayed public trust.According to him, investigations so far carried out by a high- powered committee earlier set up by him, has in addition to recovering looted public property, also exposed 19,000 ghost workers.He explained that although the state government was not an investigating outfit, the people of the state deserved to know how their affairs were being managed.Abubakar said, We are probing the last administration and a lot of revelations have so far been made. Right now, I have a high-powered committee that is investigating all contracts from 2007 to 2015.This is after I set up a public property recovery committee under (the chairmanship of) a retired Air Commodore that has succeeded in recovering a lot of property that were earlier carted away.The governor put the figure of ghost workers so far on the states payroll at 19,000.He said this was made possible after his administration insisted on the use of the Bank Verification Numbers to authenticate those on its payroll.Abubakar also stressed that he had given a directive stopping the use of cash to pay salaries.He maintained that as from February, all public servants at the state and local government levels should receive their salaries through designated banks.He said that his administration would use the findings of its investigating committee as a basis to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to bring the culprits to book and recover the outstanding state property in private hands.
Embattled Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), has asked a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere to quash the charges of w...

Embattled Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), has asked a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere to quash the charges of willful obstruction and perversion of the course of justice filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.Tarfa, in an affidavit filed in support of his preliminary objection to the charges, claimed that the charges were filed against him by the EFCC just to irritate, annoy and embarrass him.In the said 44-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the head of his law chambers, John Odubela, Tarfa contended that the charges disclosed no prima facie case against him and urged the court to dismiss them.The EFCC had on February 16, 2016 arraigned Tarfa on two counts before Justice Aishat Opesanwo.The anti-graft agency accused him of willfully obstructing two of its operatives, Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed, from arresting two Beninoise  Gnanhoue Sorou and Nazaire Modeste  who the EFCC said were reasonably suspected to have committed economic and financial crimes.It accused Tarfa of hiding the suspects in his vehicle for about five hours on February 5, 2016 to prevent them from being arrested, claiming the senior lawyer contravened Section 38(2) (a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.In the second count of the charge marked LD/2417c/16, the EFCC alleged that Tarfa attempted to pervert the course of justice by allegedly having a telephone conversation with Justice Mohammed Yunusa of a Federal High Court before whom Tarfa had two pending cases numbered FHC/L/CS/715/2015 and FHC/L/CS/715/2015.It claimed that by allegedly communicating with Justice Yunusa in the circumstances, Tarfa had violated Section 97(3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No.11, 2011.But upon being arraigned, Tarfa pleaded not guilty to the two charges and was granted bail on self-recognition.In his preliminary objection to the charges, Tarfa is contending that the EFCC failed to state the particular place and time when he committed the offences, which he was being accused of committing.He also argued that, giving the circumstances of the case, it is the people of Lagos State and not the Federal Republic of Nigeria that ought to file charges against him.He contended that the EFCC failed to show or attach any proof that it had obtained the fiat or the permission of the Attorney-General of Lagos State before filing the charges against him.The EFCC has no power to bring the information/charge as constituted, Odubela said in the affidavit.Tarfa also challenged the jurisdiction of the Lagos State High Court to entertain the case.This honourable court does not have the jurisdiction to entertain the information as presently constituted as same not only failed to disclose a prima facie case but was filed to irritate, annoy and embarrass the defendant/ applicant, Odubela averred.At the resumed proceedings on Monday, the lead counsel in Tarfas defence team, Mr. Emeka Ngige (SAN), said the EFCC had filed a counter-affidavit, which he had yet to respond to as he was only served last Friday at about 2.55pm.Justice Opesanwo adjourned till March 21 to hear all pending applications in the matter.
An Abuja High Court on Monday, March 14, issued a stern warning to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria ar...

An Abuja High Court on Monday, March 14, issued a stern warning to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria army to operate within the ambit of law.In his ruling on the prolonged detention of an aide to the former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki, Nicholas Ashinze, Justice Yusuf Halilu said the EFCC, Nigeria army and all other security agencies must learn to operate within the ambit of all.The respondents have not behaved as if they live in a civilized society, they behaved like we are still in the military era, Halilu said.The judge continued: They must learn to behave themselves and act within the basic provisions of the law.Citing Section 35 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Halilu said the detention of the applicant since December 23, 2015, is illegal, wrongful and a blatant violation of the fundamental human rights of Ashinze, a serving Nigeria army colonel.The judge also ordered the immediate release of the applicant on self-recognizance.The EFCCs motto is: Nobody is above the law; but they are acting as if they are above the law here, Halilu said.
Former England international Gary Lineker has stated why Gareth Bale will always play second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Former England international Gary Lineker has stated why Gareth Bale will always play second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo.The Welshman has had to be content himself playing in Ronaldo's shadow ever since joining Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, but Lineker is confident 26-year-old can become Real Madrid's main man once Cristiano Ronaldo is out of the picture."Bale's a wonderful talent. He's a great player, he's unbelievably talented," Lineker told AS. "He's always going to be in the shadow of Ronaldo while hes there, because all players are. But he could be the player that steps up once Ronaldos powers begin to wane."I think he's amazing with Wales because he is the main man there and I think he revels in that, he enjoys it. He can't quite be that yet at Real Madrid because they've got a global superstar there who is pretty demanding and who will always be the key man."If Cristiano got injured for a spell of time it wouldn't surprise me at all if Gareth stepped up to be the star player. I think he's got that ability within him. It's just whether he's got the personal inner belief in his own ability. And I think he has."Hes more than capable of doing that. Hes a wonderfully talented player."
The National Universities Commission has declared that any student who wants to study medicine will henceforth spend a minimum of 10 ye...

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie disclosed this during a lecture he delivered at the maiden matriculation and inauguration of the University of Medical Science, Ondo, Ondo State.He said the 2015 document for the training of medical students made provision for students to spend the first four years in studying basic sciences in university after which they would proceed to the medical school to spend another seven years.This development was imperative in order to enable the students mature psychologically for the profession, he said.
The Immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, spent his first weekend with inmates of the Kuje Prisons because...

The Immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, spent his first weekend with inmates of the Kuje Prisons because of his inability to fulfill the bail conditions slammed on him by a Federal High Court. The ex-CDS, who was granted bail by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja last Thursday, following arraignment for alleged money laundering, could not immediately meet the bail conditions in order to leave the prison. Among other conditions, he was to produce two sureties who could pay the sum of N1 billion each, have landed properties in the FCT and provide evidence of three years tax payment.Badeh was also to deposit his traveling documents with the Registrar of the court, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecuting him, is to ascertain full compliance with the stipulated conditions before the former air force chief could be allowed to go home, pending the commencement of full trial.Prisons sources revealed that the former CDS was still with them, having been unable to perfect the bail conditions outlined by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja. A senior prisons official confirmed also that Badeh had also refused to eat the food given to other inmates, preferring food from home.The official said that the Nigerian Prisons Service allowed Badeh to eat the food brought by his close family members since it was optional to eat the prisons meal. It is the right of every prison inmate to decide whether to bring in their food or eat what is provided by the NPS.In this case, Badeh opted to eat his own food and we have no objection to that. The only condition is that the person who brings the food for him, must first taste it before giving to him, the official explained. Badeh was remanded in prison custody on March 7 but admitted to bail on March 10 by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, following his arraignment along with a company, Iyalikam Nigeria Limited, on 10 counts of money laundering.However, a lawyer to the former CDS, Mr. Samuel Zibiri (SAN), told a national newspaper that Badeh had secured the two sureties the court mandated him to produce, raising hope he could be released early this week.
Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has said that Nigerians who criticize President Muhammadu Buhari over his frequent trips ...





Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has said that Nigerians who criticize President Muhammadu Buhari over his frequent trips abroad are not patriotic.Al-Makura also said that the trips dont stop Buhari from performing his duties.For anybody to talk about the foreign trips of Mr. President in a negative manner, such a person is not patriotic. Nigeria was a pariah state, Nigeria was isolated and stigmatised for the better part of PDP administrations, nobody wanted to do business with Nigeria, the governor said according to Leadership.The president would be doing disservice to the country if he does not go to correct those impressions that the world has about Nigeria, to tell the world that Nigeria is now a new place, Nigeria is now keying into the best practices in terms of statutory matters, in terms of international collaboration in economic activities.These are the things that will correct the wrong impression the whole world had about Nigeria; and I can tell you that I was in one of the trips Mr. President made to the United States and you could see the way and manner he was received with open arms. They stated categorically that they now have confidence to transact business with Nigeria.Look at his intervention, you dont have the vibrancy that Boko Haram used to have before he came. Look at the economy, when a lot of states could not pay salaries of workers, there was so much pressure and worries on how government would intervene and he was able to facilitate the bailout, he added.Meanwhile, Buhari has left Nigeria for an official trip to Equatorial Guinea and will expectedly return tomorrow, March 15, 2016.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerias former leader, has dismissed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a toothless bulldog. ...

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerias former leader, has dismissed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a toothless bulldog.He was not referring to the EFCC for which he was responsible. Of that, to which he had appointed Nuhu Ribadu chairman, he told his listeners at his 79th birthday event:When Nuhu was handling EFCC, he handled it in such a way that people coined the saying that 'the fear of Nuhu Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom' but what made the institution to become a toothless bulldogTo be fair to the old man, he did criticize the agency during the infamous era of Farida Waziri, who took over from Ribadu in 2008, describing her as unqualified and incapable.At his birthday event, he brought with him a rather sharp knife aimed, it would appear, at taking the air out of the momentum the commission is currently gaining.In fact, if Ribadus EFCC was criticized for focusing on Obasanjos enemies and Waziris for protecting Umaru YarAduas friends, the current EFCC deserves commendation for appearing to have no other agenda but justice.Perhaps nothing different should have been expected of the commissions current head, Ibrahim Magu, who was one of those top investigators swept aside by Mrs. Waziri when she assumed leadership in 2008. Magu not only lost his job, he was almost killed.But fate would bring him back and to the top of the agency. Speaking to civil society groups last month, he boldly lambasted some Nigerian lawyers and journalists, accusing them of conniving with criminals to subvert the course of justice and frustrate the war against corruption.Declaring the days of impunity to be over, he said, We have no other country than Nigeria. This war is the war of the people. Apart from the fear of God, we have no other fear. Apart from the interest of Nigeria, we have no other interest. And apart from the Rule of Law, we have no other rule guiding the work we are doing today.Were Obasanjo a true statesman, he would have taken off his cap at his birthday and led a rendition of the National Anthem in salute to such courage. He would have called for support and resources for the agency in order to fortify it as an institution.Instead, he looked for words of demolition. It is not difficult for me to speculate as to why he chose such a dishonourable path, but I will leave that to others.What is more significant than anything else is that Obasanjo was really referring not to the EFCC, but to President Buhari and his war against corruption. If the commission was looking for motivation or for a challenge, it now has it.I have always said that Nigeria cannot make a meaningful new start until a probe of Obasanjo takes place. His challenge of the EFCC is that reminder, and such a probe is in the interest of Nigerias past and its future.Politically, it must never be forgotten that the menace of the YarAdua/Goodluck Jonathan years was handcrafted by Obasanjo following the collapse of his third term bid had failed. He has yet to take responsibility for it.Obasanjos economic achievements are a myth, and his National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy collapsed at birth. Despite being handpicked by Obasanjo, President Yar'Adua is on record as lamenting that Obasanjo threw away $10 billion in the power sector alone.Next, what did transparent and accountable Obasanjo do with the billions of dollars in Abacha funds his government recovered? What did it do with the monumental extra oil revenues that fell on his laps from the Iraq war? What did it do with the $1 billion per annum accruing to us as part of the 2006 debt relief pact with the Paris Club? On that point, who is the former top official of the Obasanjo administration that the current Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, told the ICPC in 2006 had collected N60 billion as a commission in the transaction?And yes, the current administration is reforming the NNPC, but for eight years, Obasanjo served as his own Minister for Petroleum Resources because he claimed he could not find any trustworthy Nigerian for the job. While he is on his sanctimonious anti-corruption rants, why doesnt he tell Nigerians how he managed the place?During the Obasanjo years, he often took it upon himself to investigate funds and chase cheques, including the June 2004 mismanagement of $100 million federal funds meant for the payment of debts owed our embassies; the July 2004 attempt to defraud his government of about 36m Euros; and the 2005 embarrassment of his government sending a $10 million cheque to pay an International Seabed Authority obligation of only $22,000. Where are those funds, and did anyone go to jail for their involvement?What happened to the Obasanjo government investigation of the Okija Shrine scandal of 2004? Where are the crime control cameras his government budgeted for Abuja and Lagos?As corrupt as Nigeria was under Obasanjo, how many people did he send to prison for corruption? Where are the new roads and bridges he promised Lagosians in 2003 he would build during his second term to resolve the citys traffic menace? What happened to the contracts given to various contractors, including foreign firms, to build the Sagamu-Benin City Road?Criticized by Obasanjos own former colleagues at Transparency International during his tenure, his government was lamely telling the world that TI ought to have been looking at what Nigeria had done, not what it had achieved.Why does Obasanjo now forget that even Ribadu lamented at the time that nobody was serving a jail term for corruption? The principal reason for the failure of our law enforcement agencies is corruption, Ribadu concluded.Perhaps Obasanjo also does not know that Ribadu has since told the world that he lacked the political will to fight corruption?I could go on for weeks about Obasanjos betrayal of Nigeria, as opposed to the legacy of achiever and patriot he is scrambling to build.What he should be seeking, as a Christian, is penance. To that end, I challenge him to advocate changes in various statutes, such as election campaign finance and the electoral law, to attract true patriotsrather than charlatans and hypocritesinto public office.I Turn The PageIf you are reading this story in Sunday Punch, you did not buy the wrong newspaper: I hereby announce that I parted company with The Guardian at the end of February. I will now write for this organization along with Media Trust, as principal publishers of this column.I leave behind at The Guardian, where I was on the pioneer staff in 1983, wonderful memories and friends. As an organization, however, we had grown apart philosophically. Our relationship spanned February 1983 to February 2016.I return to The Punch, where I began my journalism career in 1979, and wrote my first two columns. I am delighted to find the front door still open to me. I am glad to be home.sonala.olumhense@gmail.comTwitter: @SonalaOlumhense
A magistrates court in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State on Thursday sentenced a 38-year-old Pastor Ruben Okotie ...

A magistrates court in Kwale, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State on Thursday sentenced a 38-year-old Pastor Ruben Okotie to six months imprisonment for seducing his house maid with red candle.Presiding magistrate of the Court, Chief magistrate Carl Moeteke, who sentenced the accused, said he was found guilty with overwhelmed evidence in a three counts of conspiracy, attempted rape and illicit sexual act. Moeteke therefore sentenced the accused to six months without option of fine to serve as deterrent to others. It was gathered that Pastor Okotie on the 22nd day of February 2016 in Kwale town seduced his housemaid with a red candle after his wife had gone to visit her sick parents in a neighbouring community.The housemaid, Helen, 13 years old and an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, was said to have resisted the attempt by the pastor to make love to her on her return from market where she had gone to buy food stuff and other cooking materials.The pastor was said to have threatened to eject her from his house if she failed to comply. It was stated that a week after, the pastor pounced on the maid and pushed a red candle into her private part after forcing her into his bedroom.He was reportedly arrested in Kwale when his wife reported the maids complaints to the police.Police prosecution witness, Sgt Promise Enebeli, told the court that Pastor Okotie was arrested when the matter was reported at the Kwale Police Division, adding that upon interrogation, he confessed to then crime and was charged to the court.But counsel to the accused Mr. Thomas Okobi, had dismissed claims of the housewife, Mrs. Esther Okotie, insisting that his client was innocent of the crime.The court, however, said that the evidence against the accused was overwhelming.
A 75-year old landlord in Ondo town was last weekend reportedly killed by his tenant over electricity bill.

The Septugenarian named Kayode Osunkalu, was a retired civil servant at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and owner of a two-storey building located at 17, Ayeferere street, Ondo.He was said to be hale and hearty before the unfortunate incident.Sources said the late Septuagenarian, had before the incident had an argument with his tenant, Tope Akideji over electricity bill that was brought to the house by the officials of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).Osunkalu was said to have ordered all his tenants to pay up within 24-hour the bill brought to the house by the BEDC.The move was said to have infuriated the suspect which resulted into argument between them.The suspect was said to have held the late landlord for several minutes and allegedly beat him.The late landlord was said to have slumped in the process and was rushed to the Ondo State Specialist Hospital where he was later confirmed dead by the Doctors.The Divisional Police Officer (DP0) in charge of Enuowa Division, Kunle Omisakin, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect has been transferred to the homicide section in Akure for further investigation.He said the remains of the late landlord had been deposited at the Ondo State Specialist Hospital mortuary, Ondo, while investigation has continued on the matter.(The Nation)
Barcelona full back, Dani alves, has stated that being a Barcelona player requires more than being just a great player.

Barcelona full back, Dani alves, has stated that being a Barcelona player requires more than being just a great player.The Brazil international said, 'In the end, you're going to have the protagonism anyway but you have to understand that at Barcelona it's not enough just to be a great player. You need to have a great understanding of the way Barcelona play. If you understand that, then you will have a long career here.'Those that don't, come and go and that doesn't mean they're bad players. They go somewhere else and they enjoy it because they're beasts. But at Barcelona it's not enough just to be a beast of a player.'
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny skies. High 82F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
07:06:46 AM

Feels Like:

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 81F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny skies. High 82F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first!

We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you.

Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers.

As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup.

We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily.
As local law enforcement officers honored their fallen predecessors in an annual ceremony last May, a 90-year-old woman, flanked by her three children, received an American flag.

Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office deputies presented Betty Roberts with the star-spangled banner, in its familiar triangle form, to honor a long-forgotten sacrifice. That flag, which remains preserved in Roberts apartment, represented the first public honor her father had received for his service in nearly seven decades.

Her father, Robert Fern McKinley, served eastern Pottawattamie County as the sheriffs deputy based in Avoca from 1939 to 1947. While responding to a report of a car accident on this date 69 years ago, he lost his life in the line of duty after crashing into a ditch  likely run off the road, officers on the scene reported  along U.S. Highway 59 between Avoca and Hancock.

More than 65 years after McKinleys death, Jon Barnes, a Pottawattamie County deputy researching the history of the sheriffs office, learned about McKinleys sacrifice, one that had never fully been honored. Barnes discovery has led him to ensure McKinley is honored on both the Iowa and national law enforcement memorials, a process hes completed but is awaiting final confirmation.

Its pretty sad, Barnes said. We do this job every day. Youd like to think people who got killed in the line of duty were honored, but he just got lost in the shuffle.

Robert Fern McKinley was born in Carson on July 11, 1897. He attended Iowa State University for college, where he played football. Details on his career with the Cyclones are uncertain, as many records before World War I are unavailable, according to the athletic departments media relations team.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I in May 1918, but the war ended just six months later. McKinley was honorably discharged in February 1919 without ever having served overseas. After his brief stint in the military, he returned to Pottawattamie County, where he worked in a variety of jobs over the two decades before he sworn in as a sheriffs deputy, Roberts said.

Her father tried his hand at farming for a year before he turned to operating a service station on Pierce Street in Council Bluffs and a Ford dealership in downtown Avoca. His best sales pitch was that his wife, Alma, offered to teach female customers how to drive  a rarity in the 1940s.

McKinley, a staunch Republican, was far from just a political activist; a listing of the activities in which McKinley was involved took a full paragraph in the Avoca Journal-Herald after his death. McKinley served as commander and adjutant of American Legion post, secretary of Pottawattamie County Fair for 10 years, a post hed resigned just a week prior to his death. He was also postmaster and district chair for the Junior Legion baseball team.

But McKinley, usually called just Fern, made public service his career on Jan. 1, 1939, when he was sworn in as the Pottawattamie County sheriffs deputy representing Avoca.

On the night of March 13, 1947, two boys on a farm along U.S. Highway 59 heard the wail of a car horn that didnt stop, likely the only way they would have known about a nearby car accident on a dark evening. They rushed out to the highway and found McKinleys car in Jim Creek.

Law enforcement officers who responded to the scene discovered one of their own already dead. McKinley had been ejected from his cruiser, and was found with a broken back, crushed chest and a heart pierced by a fractured rib. Evidence on the scene led them to believe hed been forced off the road.

No charges have ever been filed in McKinleys death. Authorities believed two men  John Giles and Edward Cook, high-profile criminals he arrested in Oakland in 1944  were somehow involved in his death. But they were two years into nearly two-decade sentences in a federal prison in Atlanta following a daring escape from the Squirrel Cage Jail. Efforts to determine with federal officials if Giles and Cook were in prison at that time were unsuccessful.

Betty Roberts, eight months pregnant with her first child, was with her mothers family on a farm near Avoca when she received the call that her father had been in an accident. Shortly thereafter, they learned the crash had claimed McKinleys life.

Alma was inconsolable and collapsed out of grief upon hearing the news. A doctor rushed to the house to ensure the health of Roberts baby.

Despite losing her father, Roberts maintained her composure throughout the funeral three days later, which the Avoca Journal-Herald described as one of the largest ever held in Avoca.

The doctor came, Roberts said. Everyone came. Half the state of Iowa, I think, came.

He was buried in Graceland Cemetery with full military honors. When the military band played Taps to honor a veteran, she broke down in tears for the first time since her fathers death. But, she said, the loss felt more real three weeks later after she gave birth.

My dad loved little children, Roberts said, and he didnt get to see his first grandchild.

Jon Barnes, a self-admitted history geek has researched and compiled the history of the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office for years. While researching the departments operations in Avoca, he found the story of Robert Fern McKinley.

Quickly, Barnes realized he had discovered the story of a fellow deputy who had died in the line of duty  but never been properly honored. He then sought to gather as much information as possible on McKinley to ensure he would receive his deserved, posthumous memorial.

A board member for the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Barnes is no stranger to research. He drove to Camp Dodge in Johnston to get McKinleys military record. He delved into the records from the East Pottawattamie County Courthouse regarding the sheriffs office. He pored over newspapers the 1940s.

I dont want to guess  hours and hours at the library, digging through records, Barnes said, with a laugh.

Over the course of months, he completed a full binder of information on his fallen predecessor. Through his research, Barnes soon got McKinley honored online on the Officer Down Memorial Page. Hes submitted applications for law enforcement memorials in Iowa and Washington, D.C., and is now awaiting confirmation that McKinley will be honored in May during National Police Week.

But his biggest connection came when he learned that McKinleys daughter was still alive.

Using public records, he tracked her down at an Omaha senior apartment complex. Unsure how to reach Roberts, he called the front desk. She was flabbergasted when the building manager reached out to her.

Wow, no mans been looking for me for a long time, Roberts said, with a laugh.

Soon, they struck up a friendship  one that has only grown stronger as Barnes preserves her fathers memory.

Barnes met with Roberts to help fill in missing details regarding her fathers service as a deputy. He gave her McKinleys official portrait from the sheriffs office and replicas of the badges McKinley would have worn.

She stores them in an envelope, right beside the flag she received from the sheriffs deputies at last Mays memorial service.

Of the four Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office deputies known to have died in the line of duty, two have been discovered only in the last few years by fellow deputies..

Sgt. Jason LeMaster  like Barnes, a board member for the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County  discovered the story of Special Deputy Claude B. Dail. A World War I veteran like McKinley, Dail was among 98 men who had been deputized in 1932 in response to a threat of mob violence surrounding a farmers strike.

Just three days later, a gun accidentally fired as deputies were testing weapons near the Squirrel Cage Jail. Dail, who was fatally wounded, was one of two deputies struck by a bullet. Efforts to find any living relatives have been unsuccessful. Despite the unfruitful search for family, Dail was among the fallen law enforcement officers honored at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington in 2014.

Although several decades have passed since the deaths of McKinley and Dail, their names are among many honored far after their watches have ended. Steve Groeninger, senior director of communications for the memorial, said several officers are honored after much longer  including the earliest known line of duty death in the U.S., a deputy from upstate New York who died in 1791, but was only recognized within the last few years.

Even though these additions are late, he said, theyre much deserved for the men and women who lost their lives protecting and serving.

Really, it makes this national monument more complete, Groeninger said. The goal is to honor every law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty in our nations history. Whether its from 2005 or 1805, they deserve the honor of being listed on the monument.

Though the honor McKinley has deserved was delayed for decades, Barnes is thankful it was done in the presence of Roberts, his only child. Alma died in 1998.

Its been a great life, Roberts said. I wouldnt trade it for anything.

Now, a life dear to her that ended prematurely is finally being honored.

What began as a hunt for history has now grown into a friendship between Barnes and Roberts. The pair, connected by service with the sheriffs office generations apart, speak often.

Robert Fern McKinley was sworn into the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office long before Jon Barnes. But, because of Barnes research and efforts, McKinleys sacrifice will never again be forgotten.

This is a part of the history of our office and the history of the county, Barnes said. I feel obligated to tell the story.
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Second season of Letterkenny to be shot in Sudbury

CraveTV, together with The Comedy Network, has ordered a second season of Letterkenny, CraveTV's first ever original series, which debuted Feb. 7.

A second season of Letterkenny is set to be shot in Sudbury this spring. Supplied photo.

CraveTV, together with The Comedy Network, has ordered a second season of Letterkenny, CraveTV's first ever original series, which debuted Feb. 7.



Produced by New Metric Media in partnership with DHX Media in association with Bell Media, a second season of the comedy series is set to shoot this spring in Sudbury.



CraveTV revealed that Letterkenny had the biggest debut of any series on CraveTV since the premium TV streaming service launched in 2014, with more CraveTV users watching Letterkenny than any other series or title on CraveTV.



Letterkenny is based on the Internet sensation Letterkenny Problems, a series of shorts which have raked in more than 14 million views. Created by Jared Keeso of Bravo's hit Canadian Screen Award-nominated original drama 19-2, Letterkenny is executive produced, directed, and co-written by Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky), who returns for Season 2.



"As CraveTV's first original series, Letterkenny is already a point of pride, its success and resonance with viewers is just the icing on the Super Soft Birthday cake," said Mike Cosentino, senior vice-president, programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV.



"A big congrats to Jared, the cast, crew, and our partners at New Metric Media. We look forward to working with you on another season of small-town shenanigans."



All six episodes of Season 1 of Letterkenny debuted on CraveTV Super Bowl Sunday where the series became an instant hit. It finished the day #1 amongst all titles with more views per episode than any other series.



The series has been #1 ever since, making Letterkenny the most successful title to ever launch on CraveTV. To date, already nearly one in three CraveTV users have watched Letterkenny.
March 14 MARIANAS TRENCH & WALK OFF THE EARTH Multi-Platinum selling Canadian pop-rockers Marianas Trench will bring their Never Say Die tour to the Sudbury with Platinum selling Canadian quintet Walk Off The Earth. Tickets range from $40 to $71.

March 14



MARIANAS TRENCH & WALK OFF THE EARTH

Multi-Platinum selling Canadian pop-rockers Marianas Trench will bring their Never Say Die tour to the Sudbury with Platinum selling Canadian quintet Walk Off The Earth. Tickets range from $40 to $71. Show starts at 7 p.m. at the Sudbury Arena.



March 15



FREE SWIMMING

Free public swimming sessions will be held at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre, Gatchell, Onaping, Dow, and Nickel District pools between March 14-20. For more information visit GreaterSudbury.ca.





FREE PUBLIC SKATING

Sudburys outdoor skating paths may be closed but you can still enjoy a skate indoors all week  and its free! Visit GreaterSudbury.ca/marchbreak for arenas and times.



March 16





EXTRAVAGANZA AT THE ART GALLERY

The Art Gallery of Sudbury has a number of workshops for children aged 4-14. Create your own comic strip, design a variety of fabric art pieces, create magical worlds using paint, print and sculpting techniques, watercolour and acrylic painting, build sculptures with househole items. Workshops run from March 14-18. Visit ArtSudbury.org to register.



March 17



FAGROONGALA

If you're looking for a fun way to celebrate St. Paddy's Day, Sudbury band Fagroongala has the solution for you. The band is made up of local musicians Duncan Cameron, Brittany Goldsborough, Patrick McGuire and Jane Russell, who, between them, play guitar, violin, mandolin, bouzouki, bodhran, whistle, viola and double bass. Fagroongala will be performing at Sudbury Theatre Centre starting at 7 p.m.



THE IRISH WAKE

Enjoy a night of floor stomping Irish tunes with Billy John, Seamus O'Connelly (Kev Morgan), Paul Loewenberg and Pierre O'Framboise. Show starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Townhouse Tavern.



March 19



MELTDOWN

Northern Lights Festival Boreals annual Meltdown is back! The event, scheduled for March 19th, gives emerging musicians the chance to compete for a booking at Northern Lights Festival 45, which will take place July 8th to 10th in Sudburys Bell Park. This is an excellent opportunity for new artists to gain valuable exposure, not to mention have great time doing it! Past winners have included Hello Holiday, Spencer Jose, and Patricia Cano. Meltdown 2016 takes place at the Townehouse Tavern beginning at 2 p.m.



MAPLE TAFFY SLEIGH RIDES

Climb aboard a horse drawn sleigh and enjoy a scenic tour through the intery trails of the Boreal Forest. Arrive at a bonfire stop in the woods and be treated to a French-Canadian tradition, tire derable also known as maple taffy. Local maple syrup produced from Sucrerie Seguin Sugarbush, located in Lavigne, is boiled then poured onto fresh snow - grab a popsicle stick to create snow taffy! Runs every weekend in March, departing at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wagonwheel Ranch, 2200 Kenneth Driver, Val Therese. Admission: $18/adult, $14/children ages 24 months  14 years, no charge for babies/toddlers under 24 months old. Seating on sleigh is limited. Reservations are required by calling 705-969-8601.



March 20



MASTERPIECE: PIECED LANDSCAPES OF THE NORTH

Intricate fabric designs, quilts and wall hangings by Fran Holland are on display at Artists on Elgin from March 1 to 30. Artists on Elgin is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Canberra Raiders will release winger Sisa Waqa at the end of June this season, to take up a new deal with French Rugby Club FC Grenoble the club announced on Monday.

Waqa will remain part of the Raiders NRL squad until his release and will continue to train and play with the squad.

Waqa said the decision to move to French Rugby was a tough one and said he remained committed to the Raiders until his release is finalised.

"The Raiders have been great for my career and my family and it has been a hard decision for me to make," Waqa said. "Im looking forward to finishing my time with the Raiders on a high and Ill keep working hard at training with the boys and hopefully get a chance to play again for the Raiders before I leave the NRL."

This article first appeared on Raiders.com.au
A New Yorker has been identified as one of the victims of yesterday's deadly tugboat crash near the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Divers are searching for 59-year-old Harry Hernandez of Staten Island.

He was one of three crew members aboard the tugboat when it struck a barge yesterday morning and sank.

62-year-old Paul Amon of New Jersey was pulled out of the water shortly after the crash and pronounced dead  then, divers found the body of a 29-year-old Long Island man, Timothy Conklin, this morning.

Officials say it could be some time before Hernandez, presumed dead, is found.

"We're not sure if the body is still in the boat," said Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. "The divers are going to resume and continue the process of trying to get in. The boat itself is 90 feet long and suffered some significant damage.

"But right now it's still very difficult to get inside. They may have to pull it up. So at this point the second, the third body I should say, has not been recovered."

Officials also say the tugboat was carrying five-thousand gallons of fuel, which spilled into the river.

Governor Cuomo says he does not expect the leak to cause significant long-term damage, and clean-up efforts are underway.
PARIS  A running theme in the oeuvre of Rashid Rana, the subject of a retrospective at the Musee Guimet in Paris, is that the whole is invariably at odds with the sum of its parts.

Echoing through the 27 works in the show, which is called Perpetual Paradox, is a view of a conflicted world as seen though the eyes of an artist torn between dualities that he confronts in Pakistan, a country of extremes.

Though he was born in Lahore and still works there, Mr. Rana first gained international recognition in India, with a solo show in 2004 at Nature Morte, a New Delhi gallery specializing in experimental art.

I am known in India but still relatively unknown by the general population in Pakistan, Mr. Rana said in an interview.
Season 1, Episode 8: Boasts and Rails

Actually, its about ethics in power brokerage.

Theres plenty of bad behavior to go around on Billions, which is a large part of its allure  a show about good people doing good things wouldnt be nearly so arresting. Neither Chuck Rhoades nor Bobby Axelrod would be in their positions if not for a willingness to cross lines others would not cross. After all, the more morally scrupulous you are, the fewer options you have to get ahead. And yet the line isnt fixed. It moves around all the time. Everyones the hero in their own story, and for Chuck and Bobby, being the hero involves advanced calculation between the means and the end. If they come out on the positive end of that equation, then presumably they can sleep at night.

Tonights deftly plotted episode, Boasts and Rails, considers two actions that, on their face, would seem to be impossible to rationalize: Chuck and Bryan setting up another employee at Axe Capital in order to keep their mole from exposure and Bobby seizing advantage of the stock market on 9/11 while his colleagues and future brother-in-law were in the towers, about to die. The screenwriter, Wes Jones, doesnt necessarily invite us to compare these sins to each other, but to understand how these men think about themselves. Sackers father, over dinner with Bryan, warns of a creeping erosion of principle that applies to public servants like him as well as the bad actors theyre chasing in the private sector. But for Chuck and Bobby, the erosion of principles does not mean the absence of principles  they just simply redraw the ethical lines.

Lets start with Chuck. One of the reasons Chuck didnt recuse himself from the case against Bobby is because he wasnt confident that Bryan had the ethical flexibility necessary to take down a quarry of Bobbys magnitude. That point seems beyond argument: Bobby has the resources, the connections and the ruthlessness to do anything to thwart the authorities and keep his operation afloat. The United States attorneys office, in concert with the F.B.I., can be savvy and careful within legal limits, but there will be times when that wont be enough to get the job done. And one of those times is now, when an informant is on the brink of pinning Bobby to a bad trade, but Bobby has been made aware that one of his guys is squawking. If Bryan fails to do bad to do good, then hell lose his best chance of nailing down the case.

Since Chuck and Bobby are forever ready to wrestle in the slop, Boasts and Rails is primarily about the miseducation of Bryan Connerty, because his values have room for corrosion. Before he makes his decision on whether to protect his informant by setting up an innocent fall guy at Axe, his erosion of principles begins with the more modest sin of leaking a redacted book chapter to the press. Lara may have succeeded in bullying the books author out of including the chapter in the final draft, but Sacker gets the earlier draft at a signing event and passes it along to Bryan. Its never a question that Bryan will leak it to the press, but his eagerness to do so suggests that hes already on that slippery slope.
Name Danielle Greco

Age 25

Hometown Philadelphia

Now Lives In a small apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with her best friend, Amy, whom she met on Myspace as a teenager.

Claim to Fame Ms. Greco is the star and on-camera personality of Danielle Live! and VFiles Shopping Network, online shows created by VFiles, the trendy SoHo streetwear boutique where Ms. Greco also happens to be a buyer. On Danielle Live! Ms. Greco offers her unscripted take on fashion trends, mulls over potential outfits and interviews industry insiders such as Rachael Wang and Preston Chaunsumlit.

Big Break Hired as the VFiles retail manager in 2013, Ms. Greco made an impression on the stores video producers, who asked her to host Out Hear, a show that featured musicians like ASAP Ferg. They basically said, Danielle seems pretty ridiculous, Ms. Greco said of why they chose her to host the show. The production team was floored by her natural ability. Soon after, Ms. Greco was tapped to host VFiles Shopping Network, a humorous riff on QVC, showcasing items from the store like sequin jeans from Ashish, which sell for $2,040. I just drank a ton of Red Bull and went crazy, she said.

Latest Project Ms. Greco and VFiles just wrapped up their New York Fashion Week runway show, which showcased a crowd-sourced roster of upstart designers who were chosen, contest-style, from the VFiles website. This years theme focused on wearable technology, and featured designers from Amsterdam, New York and elsewhere.
AMSTERDAM  Visitors to The European Fine Art Fair this year will be able to look inside the mind of the Dutch contemporary artist Folkert de Jong. Literally.

The Amsterdam-based sculptor has collaborated with radiologists in Utrecht to create an M.R.I. scan of his head, which he has used to make a holographic 3-D image of his skull. He has also created a bronze cast of a skeleton, which exploded during casting, and a hospital gurney covered in a glass vitrine that contains a replica of the cremains of a Formula One racer killed in a 1973 race.

Mr. de Jong created the series for Show Your Wound, the curated contemporary art section at the fair, known as Tefaf. The title comes from the work Zeige deine Wunde, created in an underground pedestrian passage in Munich 50 years ago by the German Fluxus artist Joseph Beuys.

Woundedness, or the wound itself, was a recurring theme for Beuys, who was a member of the Hitler Youth, volunteered for the Luftwaffe at age 19, was badly injured in the war, had a mental breakdown in 1950s and suffered a heart attack in 1975. Later, as one of the most influential artists and art theorists of the 20th century in Europe, Beuys explored questions of humanism, empathy and cultural mythologies.
PARIS  Craving fresh perspective on your lifes work is understandable after photographing the same area of a city for nearly half a century.

Having wandered the buzzing Tokyo district of Shinjuku for more than 40 years capturing urban scenes in his signature off-kilter, grainy black-and-white images, the Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama, 77, said he needed to reset.

In Daido Tokyo, at the Fondation Cartier in Paris until June 5, the artist brings his vision into clear focus and full color for a different look at the streets he has roamed and documented.

Having already had a major exhibition of his work at the foundation in 2003, Mr. Moriyama returns to present some of his seldom-seen color photographs from the past 20 years, as well as new images in a commissioned installation.
During the 28 previous editions of The European Fine Art Fair in the Dutch town of Maastricht, its appeal has been straightforward. Its like the Met museum, but everything is for sale, said Boris Vervoordt, a director of Axel Vervoordt, a gallery based in Belgium.

The gallery is again among the 275 dealers showing their wares at the 29th edition of Tefaf, which takes place March 11 to March 20 at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Center.

Though contemporary works from around the world are now part of the mix, the fair has also been one of the few places where older European pieces are available, like a head of Eros, a Roman work in marble from the first century B.C., at the Vervoordt booth.

The nonprofit European Fine Art Foundation, which runs the fair, made news this year by announcing a major expansion to the United States. It has joined with the art advising firm Artvest to stage two new fairs: Tefaf New York Fall, to take place in October, and Tefaf New York Spring, replacing two existing fairs at the Park Avenue Armory.
Eight young funny folks show off their talents in The Characters, one of the new sketch-comedy series peppering the small screen. Juilliard opens its doors with three live-streaming master classes. And HBO examines the Ebola outbreak and its aftermath in three short documentaries.

Whats Streaming

THE CHARACTERS on Netflix. Eight fresh-faced comedians fast-forward through personas and scenarios in half-hour episodes of their own  some successful, some not so much. Lauren Lapkus, dolled up like a demented Britney Spears, takes on dating shows. Kate Berlant skewers the art world with help from Frank Gehry. John Early humiliates his creations at rehearsal dinners and on first dates. And Natasha Rothwell harks back to the classic variety-show genre. The best results are comedic tapestries full of interconnected characters and sharp satire, Neil Genzlinger wrote in The New York Times. (Image: Ms. Berlant.)

JUILLIARD MASTER CLASS 4 p.m. on Medici.tv. Armchair musicians can venture, virtually, inside the Juilliard Schools hallowed halls for tips on historical performance from Harry Bicket, artistic director of the English Concert, a period orchestra in Britain, and the chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera. The first of three master classes to be streamed live over the next week, its followed on Friday by a vocal arts class with Fabio Luisi, the principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, and next Monday by a chamber music class with the cellist David Finckel, co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with his wife, the pianist Wu Han.

Whats on TV

DEMOCRATIC TOWN HALLS 6 p.m. on MSNBC. On the eve of more Tuesday primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders speaks to voters in Columbus, Ohio, with Chuck Todd moderating. At 7, Hillary Clinton addresses voters in Springfield, Ill., with Chris Matthews moderating.
And in the 1970s, while raw coral, polished but left in its natural, branch-like form, was a hot accessory for hippies, jewelers such as Boucheron carved dark pink roses and orange-red cabochons that they set with textured gold and diamonds.

Today, houses like Dior and Cartier continue to use coral in their designs but concern about its scarcity  the result of centuries of overharvest  have led many jewelers to reconsider. Some, like Tiffany and Company, have stopped working with coral altogether; others work only with older pieces.

One such jeweler is the German designer Otto Jakob, who like Epoque exhibits annually at the European Fine Art Fair, better known as Tefaf, in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The elite event, which began on March 11, draws some of the worlds pre-eminent jewelers and jewelry dealers to present the best of their collections alongside Old Masters, 20th-century master works and precious antiques and antiquities.

It was a 2014 visit to the regional museum in Trapani that profoundly influenced many of his designs, said Mr. Jakob, who is based in Karlsruhe, Germany. Inspired by the ways in which Trapani jewelers imbedded coral into gold, he both emulates and, as it were, reverses the process: sculpting indentations into raw coral and occasionally other materials. He then embellishes the cells with enamel or fills them with precious metals, carved ornaments or diamonds.

Still, he is conscientious when using the gem, which he reverently describes as the grave of the ancestors of the living corals. He uses only specimens acquired early in his career  his fascination with corals dates to the 1980s  and which he has kept, like personal treasure, ever since. Its a sacred material, said Mr. Jakob, who added that he uses it only when my ideas feel thrilling and magnificent.

Similarly, Mr. Hemmerle keeps to older coral, sourcing pieces from antique dealers worldwide, although not only for environmental reasons. We like working with antique coral for its distinct colors that vary from vibrant red to creamy orange with subtle nuances in tone, he said.
If you live here, you can feel the Bay Area becoming the capital of Technopolis. My house is way out on the BART line, just about as far from Silicon Valley as it is possible to get via public transportation, and yet the advertisements in my station speak only to the geeks: Is your CRM a plus or a minus? The University of San Francisco, aspiring to be Stanford, hangs posters from streetlights touting itself as the University of Look, Mom, I just got funded.  The area still has its natural beauty, but attempts to enjoy it must be plotted like military campaigns: The 32-mile trip back from the beach on Presidents Day took me two hours.

Silicon Valleys unofficial motto is that it is here to improve our lives, and while in many respects this is true  who among us would willingly surrender their Gmail or iPhone camera?  San Franciscans are beginning to realize what they are asked to give up in return: San Francisco.

My story last week documenting some aspects of this transition prompted over 1,200 comments. Some of them suggested I didnt go far enough when I said people here were waiting for some shrinkage in the tech bubble.

Count me as one native who will now dance upon the employment graves of every tech bro as he falls to ruin, wrote Anna, saying she had watched a friends sick, elderly mother tossed out of her home by a wealthy techie.

Others literally want the earth to move: Many of us secretly wish for another shaker  no one gets hurt but the ones that arent used to it pack up and get the hell out, said SMedeiros.
Is he single?

Apparently, fixing up attractive bachelors with suitable wives was one of her hobbies. She was particularly fond of Leonardo DiCaprio and didnt approve of him dating models. She felt he was a wonderful man and deserved a loving, devoted wife, the friend explained.

I covered the Reagan White House in its second term for Time magazine. I was new to political reporting and the Washington bureau, and like everyone else who covered the White House, I was scared of Nancy Reagan.

Once, I was with her and only a few other aides and photographers on an aircraft carrier in July 1985, a few days after Reagan had surgery to remove a cancerous polyp in his colon; the White House had assured the public that everything was fine, but Mrs. Reagan didnt seem convinced. Impeccable in a jaunty navy and white top and red sailor pants, Mrs. Reagan looked like someone had punched her in the stomach. Our job as pool reporters was to record her every word and movement and share it with the White House press corps. Usually, she ignored the pool, but that day she looked at us as if she were a cornered animal; even to me, and I was quite callous then, our presence seemed like a cruel intrusion on her vulnerability. She got through the visit, gamely feigning good cheer with the crew, but below deck I was amazed at how fragile, small and wounded she looked  she almost vibrated with worry.

Image Mrs. Reagan at the White House in 1982. Credit... George Tames/The New York Times

Being asked to cover her funeral in Simi Valley, Calif., last week was like being asked to time travel back to the 1980s. Yet at the ceremony, almost everyone I knew from those days, Jim Baker, Ed Meese, George Shultz, men who had seemed so big, powerful and intimidating back then, now look fragile, small and wounded.
TARRYTOWN, N.Y.  The body of a second tugboat crewman was recovered by searchers on Sunday a day after the boat slammed into a barge near the foot of the Tappan Zee Bridge. The body of the tugboat captain was recovered from the Hudson River after the dawn crash, and a third member of the crew was still missing and presumed to be dead, according to officials.

The tugboat, Specialist, was escorting a barge carrying a tower crane down the Hudson River to a Jersey City terminal when it hit a stationary barge just south of the bridge, and rapidly plunged about 40 feet, officials said. The cause of the crash was uncertain on Sunday, and an investigation was continuing.

We try to wonder if there is a lesson to learn, if there is something that could be done differently, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference beside the Tarrytown Marina, shortly before the body of the second man, identified as Timothy Conklin, 29, of Westbury, Long Island, was brought by a police boat and taken by stretcher up the dock. Sometimes its just a pure accident, and thats what this appears to be, the governor said. A pure accident.
HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y.  More than six weeks after declaring an environmental emergency in this upstate village, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo made his first visit here on Sunday, announcing that a new filter system had successfully cleared a toxic chemical known as PFOA from the municipal water supply.

The PFOA is out of the water, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a command center set up by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Today is good news, he added.

Despite Mr. Cuomos optimistic proclamations, state officials  including the governors office  were still warning residents not to use tap water for drinking or cooking until a full flush of the local water system had been completed.

Such precautions have become commonplace in Hoosick Falls and surrounding areas since late last year, when federal officials warned the village that its water, which is drawn from municipal wells, contained unsafe levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, a commercial chemical used in manufacturing Teflon and other products.
It was a brutal crime, even for Rikers Island.

Jahmal Lightfoot, an inmate in one of the jails at the complex, was tackled to the ground and kicked repeatedly until both his eye sockets were fractured and his nose was broken. His attackers were not other prisoners, but five members of an elite unit of correction officers carrying out an order from Eliseo Perez Jr., an assistant chief for security, Bronx prosecutors have said.

Mr. Lightfoot provoked Mr. Perezs ire that day in July 2012 by daring to stare at him as correction officers were checking inmates for weapons. This guy thinks hes tough, Mr. Perez reportedly said, before ordering officers to kick his teeth in, according to prosecutors.

Now Mr. Perez and nine others  all current or former correction officers  face a number of criminal charges, including attempted gang assault, assault, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct, in connection with the beating of Mr. Lightfoot and an alleged attempt to cover up the attack. Nine of the officers are on trial in State Supreme Court in the Bronx. The 10th, Michael Pollard, who has medical problems, will be tried separately.

The case against the Rikers officers highlights a culture of violence and abuse that seems to permeate Rikers Island, New York Citys main jail complex, at a time when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and others are calling for it to be closed. The new Bronx district attorney, Darcel D. Clark, a fellow Democrat who has made Rikers Island one of her top priorities, is opening an office on the island to prosecute crimes committed there more quickly and effectively.
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Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

 Violence on the campaign trail.

Worries that raw anger in the presidential race could explode into violence became a reality over the weekend, with outbursts at campaign rallies for Donald J. Trump. One event, in Chicago, was canceled.

Mr. Trumps Republican opponents are expressing doubts about whether to stand by their pledges to support him if he becomes the nominee. His closest rival in the delegate count, Ted Cruz, is focusing on overlooked states, and Ohios primary is emerging as a crucial contest for both parties in Tuesdays voting.
Chapel Hill, N.C.  TUESDAY is Primary Day in North Carolina, and while things like trade, immigration and the deficit will help people pick their candidate for president, theres another issue that has an outsize impact on how the Tar Heel State votes: barbecue.

Year in and year out, the way a politician approaches the question of cooked meat determines how he fares at the polls. As Herbert OKeefe, the editor of The Raleigh Times in the 1950s, once said, No man has ever been elected governor of North Carolina without eating more barbecue than was good for him.

In our state the linkage between politics and barbecue dates back at least to 1766, when the governor appointed by the king, William Tryon, tried to win the good will of citizens annoyed by the Stamp Act by laying on a barbecue in Wilmington. (It didnt work: The local Sons of Liberty poured out the beer and threw the barbecued ox in the river. Note that this was a full seven years before the Boston Tea Party, which gets all the publicity.)

In more recent times, barbecue has even figured as a campaign issue. When a North Carolina secretary of state, Rufus Edmisten, ran for governor in 1984, he got in trouble with an offhand remark. Id be eating barbecue three times a day for a solid year, he later recalled, and I got up one night and, in a very, very lax moment  the devil made me do it  I made a horrible statement. I said, Im through with barbecue. Well, you would have thought I had made a speech against my mother, against apple pie, cherry pie, the whole mess. He lost the election to a Republican (only the second one to be elected since Reconstruction).
On Friday, I watched yet another bizarre scene from an already bizarre election cycle: The affable but hopelessly vacant Ben Carson endorsing the demagogic real estate developer who once said of Carson that he had a pathological temper as a child and compared him to a child molester.

Carson said in his endorsement speech that there are actually two different sides to the front-runner.

What does this mean? Which one is real? Are they both? Is there a Jekyll to this Hyde? It was an exceedingly strange and feeble attempt to diminish the danger that this man poses, but in a way, if anyone could understand this duality, it would be Carson.

This is the same Ben Carson who has inveighed against the purveyors of division, who played a video at his presidential campaign announcement in Detroit in which the narrator said in part:

If America is to survive the challenges of the modern world, we need to heal, we need to be inspired, and we need to revive the exceptional spirit that built America. Never before have we been so closely connected to each other, but more divided as a country.
To the Editor:

Reading Mr. Trump, in Translation (editorial, March 9) quotes Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel of Germany as saying, Whether Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen or Geert Wilders  all these right-wing populists are not only a threat to peace and social cohesion, but also to economic development.

Here in Europe, bluntly intolerant political parties are not limited to the opposition benches. There are worrying signs in Hungary and Poland concerning the governing parties. Turkey, which seeks European Union membership, has a government that is using force against groups it opposes (Needing Help, Europe Ignores Turkish Abuses, front page, March 9).

Parliamentary democracies do not have the checks-and-balance system of American democracy. The specter of a possible Trump presidency needs to have a Congress capable of confronting it. Republican voters, and independents who tend to vote Republican, who do not want Donald Trump elected president should notify Republican congressional candidates that they will not support any such candidates who fail to publicly dissociate themselves from Mr. Trump.

Donald Trumps strident xenophobic rhetoric, and blatant contempt for and verbal abuse of those who oppose him, are warning signs of a real danger facing the Republican Party and American democracy.
The dispute over a White House meeting is the latest evidence of the fraught relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. It prompted finger-pointing on both sides, but the basic facts are these: Mr. Netanyahu asked to meet with Mr. Obama during a visit to Washington for a conference later this week, the White House agreed and then Mr. Netanyahu canceled.

That Mr. Netanyahus government announced this decision in the media rather than to the White House is not a surprise, considering the disrespect the prime minister has shown Mr. Obama in the past. Its hard to understand how that serves Israels interests.

Its unfortunate that this strange squabble is overshadowing two pressing issues. One involves the new 10-year defense agreement the two governments are negotiating, an anchor of their alliance. The existing agreement, which expires in 2018, provides $3.1 billion a year to Israel, making it the top recipient of American aid. The even larger issue involves the slow but inexorable death of the two-state solution for peace with the Palestinians.
In 2010, Ryngaert made his curatorial debut installing the work of a Korean furniture designer in the window of a Brussels fashion boutique. He was just 27, yet had already been collecting for years; his then-roving gallery, Victor Hunt, was an attempt to support the experiments of his young designer friends in ways that the established galleries werent. I started not only paying for production, but also hired a production manager who handles fabrication, so that the designers can concentrate on their creative process, says Ryngaert. And yet, Victor Hunt, so named to take the focus off its owner, is no idealistic underdog. It gained a permanent downtown address in 2011, and has garnered buzz at Design Miami and Collective Design with innovative glass lighting by Sylvain Willenz and kaleidoscopic clocks by Humans Since 1982. By early next year, Ryngaert plans to unveil a project thats ambitious by any standards: an entire house and its contents, from soup to nuts, designed by Tomas Alonso.
Long before street style photography became a bona fide pop-culture phenomenon, there was Malick Sidibe. As a portrait artist, he captured the hope of postcolonial Mali in the 60s and 70s, documenting that countrys vibrant youth culture  batik print Mod minidresses, bell bottoms and all.

Now, at 80, Sidibe has lent some of his most iconic images to a new, limited-edition T-shirt collection with Zainab Sumu, the designer behind the Boston-based brand Primitive Modern. Taken at nightclubs, parties, on the street and in Sidibes studio, the portraits are a reminder that style is not how expensive something is, its how you wear it, said Sumu, who was born in Sierra Leone and got her start in fashion retail in New York and L.A., before studying design at the Massachusetts School of Art and Design. Even though he wasnt a fashion photographer per se, he was able to show that side of people.

Image Malick Sidibe Credit... Sarah Hickson

Sumu chose four images from Sidibes archive, spanning from 1963 to 1974, for the collection (two styles for men, two for women) and placed each on a textile design inspired by indigenous Malian printing techniques. One of the photos, of the young kid wearing bell bottoms, he was probably just walking in the market. But you see his style, you feel his essence, said Sumu, who launched Primitive Modern in Oct. 2015 with a collection of scarves. The brands mission is to collaborate with artisans throughout North and West Africa on textile and fashion design, photography and art.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey released last week found that 42 percent of Americans believed Apple should cooperate with law enforcement officials to help them gain access to the locked phone, while 47 percent said Apple should not cooperate. Asked to weigh the need to monitor terrorists against the threat of violating privacy rights, the country was almost equally split, the survey found.

That finding may have seemed unlikely in the wake of terrorist attacks last year in Paris and San Bernardino. In December, eight in 10 people said in a New York Times/CBS News survey that it was somewhat or very likely that there would be a terrorist attack in the United States in the coming months. A CNN poll the same month found that 45 percent of Americans were somewhat or very worried that they or someone in their family would become a victim of terrorism.

But despite the fears about terrorism, the publics concern about digital privacy is nearly universal. A Pew Research poll in 2014 found more than 90 percent of those surveyed felt that consumers had lost control over how their personal information was collected and used by companies.

The Apple case already seems to have garnered more public attention than the Snowden revelations about metadata collection and programs with code names like Prism and XKeyscore. The comedian John Oliver once mocked average Americans for failing to know whether Mr. Snowden was the WikiLeaks guy or the former N.S.A. contractor (he was the latter).

Now, people are beginning to understand that their smartphones are just the beginning. Smart televisions, Google cars, Nest thermostats and web-enabled Barbie dolls are next. The resolution of the legal fight between Apple and the government may help decide whether the information in those devices is really private, or whether the F.B.I. and the N.S.A. are entering a golden age of surveillance in which they have far more data available than they could have imagined 20 years ago.

Its an in-your-face proposition for lots more Americans than the Snowden revelation was, said Lee Rainie, director of Internet, science and technology research at Pew Research Center.

Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said: Everyone gets at a really visceral level that you have a lot of really personal stuff on this device and if it gets stolen its really bad. They know that the same forces that work at trying to get access to sensitive stuff in the cloud are also at work attacking the phones.
The family in Southern Comfort, a sweetheart of a musical that opened on Sunday at the Public Theater, behaves as most families do. Its members are loving and supportive, but also prone to conflict over things small and large. Father and son squabble over sexual politics. Son resents the stepmother on the horizon. Offense is taken when a much-loved picnic dish is ignored.

But theres a difference. The clan in this musical is not related by blood. Its members are a grab bag of folks brought together by the unofficial patriarch, Robert Eads, who was born Barbara but has transitioned to a male identity. He has gathered around him a couple of other similar men and their partners, creating a tight-knit community in, of all unlikely places, a rural Georgia town.

If this sounds familiar you probably saw the documentary film the musical is based on, which won a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001. Lest you assume that the theater is jumping late on the transgender bandwagon, I should note that the musical, with book and lyrics by Dan Collins and music by Julianne Wick Davis, and direction by Thomas Caruso (who conceived it with Robert DuSold), has been in development for more than 10 years and has had two prior runs.

Now in the Anspacher Theater, Roberts chosen family has found a suitable new home. Never has this space felt more intimate and inviting. James J. Fentons rough-hewed set design deftly disguises one of the thick columns, which can be problematic, as a tree trimmed in Joseph Cornell-style boxes full of bric-a-brac. Shadows of a picket fence ring the floor of the stage. But its the spirited, tuneful country score and the colorful characters that draw us close to the emotional ups and downs of Roberts family.
Do you like your corn pone on the salty side? How about with hot peppers and a pinch of arsenic mixed in, to be served with country ham, beefcake and cheesecake, with, of course, plenty of moonshine to wash it all down?

If thats what your robust palate craves (and my, what big taste buds you have), youll be happy to hear that a hot dish of such fare is available at the Laura Pels Theater, where The Robber Bridegroom opened on Sunday night with Steven Pasquale discovering his sense of humor in the title role. Alex Timberss exceedingly high-spirited revival of this 1975 musical about a Mississippi that never was will not be to everyones liking.

But even those allergic to Southern-fried shtick are unlikely to go away feeling entirely empty. Mr. Timbers  whose varied credits include the immersive Imelda Marcos-centered disco frolic Here Lies Love and the punch-drunk Rocky on Broadway  uses visual wit and gleefully macabre gags to provide awakening jolts during this sustained singing hayride.

Even within a genre known for combining unlikely ingredients, The Robber Bridegroom stands out as a curiosity among American musicals. First seen by New Yorkers in a fondly remembered repertory production from John Housemans Acting Company in 1975  a production that starred two newcomers named Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone  The Robber Bridegroom suggests a classic European folk story reimagined by Charles Addams and staged by the Grand Ole Opry.
CELEBRITY CRUISES EXPANDS IN THE GALAPAGOS



Because of environmental restrictions, all boats operating in the Galapagos are small, but the biggest of the small  Celebrity Cruises  plans to add two boutique ships to its fleet by acquiring Ocean Adventures and its two ships, the 16-passenger M/C Athala II and the 48-passenger M/V Eclipse. The vessels will join the 100-passenger Celebrity Xpedition, which runs year-round trips in the Galapago (fares start around $3,500 a person for seven nights on the Xpedition). The new small ships will enable Celebrity to visit destinations new to the line, including Puerto Villamil, Darwin Bay, Black Turtle Cove and Chinese Hat Islet, and offer more land-based hotel stays in the islands. Celebrity will begin operating the new ships late this spring, and will update both during a dry-dock renovation in January 2017. Prices for cruises on the small ships have yet to be determined. Existing bookings with Ocean Adventures will be honored and unchanged.

TRAINS ON SALE IN EUROPE

Spring train fare sales from Rail Europe aim to entice summer travelers to Switzerland, France and Germany and aboard the Chunnel-transiting Eurostar. The largest distributor of European rail passes in North America, Rail Europe is offering the Swiss Travel Pass at 30 percent off for first-class bookings, a saving of about $105 for a three-day pass costing $246 after the discount, through March 29 for travel before July 1 (use coupon code ESwissSpring). The France Rail Pass in first or second class is selling for 20 percent off through March 31 for unlimited travel on all domestic trains; prices start at $165 in second class for three days with the sale. German Rail Pass deals sold by March 30 for travel before May 31 are 20 percent off, starting at $262 for second class after the discount for a seven-day pass. The German pass covers travel to several destinations in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Italy. Children under 12 travel free on the Swiss, France and German passes. Rail Europe is also offering 20 percent off fares on first-class seats aboard the Eurostar traveling between London, Paris and Brussels through Aug. 19 if booked before March 29. A similar discount will be applied to first-class Eurostar seats on service between London and Avignon, Marseille and Lyon in France through Sept. 30.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND THE DERBY BY RAIL

Combining transportation and accommodation, Vacations by Rail plans to run train trips to two popular spring events, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville and the Washington, D.C., Cherry Blossom Festival. Using private rail cars, its Kentucky Derby trip departs Union Station in Chicago on May 4 and includes tickets to the Derby as well as to the day-before Oaks races at Churchill Downs, as well as meals, beverages and accommodations in refurbished vintage rail cars with sleeper cabins and public lounges (prices from $5,199 a person). The six-day Cherry Blossom Festival trip leaves Chicago April 12 and includes city sightseeing and the Cherry Blossom Parade (from $2,300 a person).

A PARTNERSHIP FOR UNITED AND AIR ZEALAND

Following the American Airlines code-share expansion with Qantas, the competition for trans-Pacific fliers intensifies with the announcement that United Airlines and Air New Zealand are forming a joint venture. Pending government approval, the two carriers, both members of the Star Alliance, will coordinate schedules and sales when United begins nonstop service between San Francisco and Auckland on July 1. United plans to operate the service three times a week using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner planes and expand to daily service in November with larger Boeing 787-9 models.
A gunman opened fire outside a police station in a Maryland suburb of Washington on Sunday afternoon, setting off a shootout in which one officer was killed.

Two suspects were in custody on Sunday night in connection with the attack in Landover, Md. The authorities identified the officer killed as Jacai Colson, 28, a four-year veteran of the Prince Georges County police force.

One of the suspects was believed to be the gunman, who the police said was struck during the gunfight and was in custody at a hospital. The second suspect was brought in for questioning. Charges were pending on Sunday night, the police said.

The gunman fired on the station around 4:30 p.m. Officer Colson returned fire but was fatally shot, the police said in a statement. The department described the shooting as an ambush and an unprovoked attack.
When the head of a local gun group tried to present Donald J. Trump with a lifetime membership card at a campaign event on Sunday in Cincinnati, Mr. Trump asked the man to toss it to him over a phalanx of guards, not wanting an unfamiliar member of the crowd to get too close.

Earlier in the day, at a rally in Illinois, Mr. Trump hoped to invite a Hispanic supporter from the audience to join him onstage and say a few words. But first he asked his security personnel if they would allow it.

He knows if he makes a move, hes going to get clobbered by these guys, Mr. Trump said, offering something of a warning to anyone who would do him harm.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Get live updates about the Ohio primary.

The way John Kasich tells it, he inherited a troubled state that was hemorrhaging jobs, saddled with a huge budget shortfall and in desperate need of a rescue.

Five years later, he says he has turned Ohio around. That story is a cornerstone of his bid for president, as he tells voters he can bring his Ohio success story to the rest of the country. Lets take some Ohio to Washington to help the entire United States of America, Mr. Kasich said at a cavernous auto glass plant near Dayton on Friday.

Ohio has indeed gained several hundred thousand jobs since Mr. Kasich took office, and he turned an imposing budget gap into a surplus while also cutting income taxes, all accomplishments that back up his boasts.

But a closer review of his record shows the reality is more complicated. Other states recovered from the recession more quickly than Ohio did. He closed the budget shortfall in part by cutting aid to local governments, forcing some of them to raise their own taxes or cut services. And increasing sales taxes helped make the income tax cuts possible. Ohio was in intensive care, and Governor Kasich came in and really stabilized the patient, said Rea S. Hederman Jr., the executive vice president of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a right-leaning group. But were still a sick state, economically speaking.
WASHINGTON  Brent Brown used to call Barack Obama a liar who had betrayed America. Then one day last year, while in the throes of a painful flare-up of his ulcerative colitis, he sat down and wrote Mr. Obama a letter thanking the president for saving his life.

Mr. Browns improbable story  that of a Republican who campaigned against Mr. Obama but eventually came to credit the presidents signature health care law with his very survival  got the attention of the White House, where the mail has taken on an outsize role in the writing of Mr. Obamas legacy in his last year in office.

So when it came time this month for Mr. Obama to promote the Affordable Care Act in Milwaukee, Mr. Brown, 32, got the chance to sit down for a lunch with the president, and then introduce him to a crowd of 700 at a middle school there.

I would not be alive without access to care I received due to your law, Mr. Brown, who recently had surgery to treat his disorder, a chronic inflammation of the bowels, had written to the president. So thank you from a dumb young man who thought he knew it all and who said things about you that he now regrets.
SEOUL, South Korea  After three straight losses, a South Korean expert rallied on Sunday for his first victory against a Google computer program playing Go, an ancient board game known as the most complex ever invented.

Lee Se-dol, 33, a boyish South Korean Go master, was all smiles after a brilliant move forced the Google program, AlphaGo, to surrender the match in the middle of the contest.

Hundreds of local Go enthusiasts and reporters who were gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seoul burst into applause over the human Go masters dramatic comeback against the machine.

You know, I have played many, many Go games, but I dont think I have ever been as happy with one single victory as with this one, Mr. Lee said. This is priceless.
Nice, good, attractive, pleasant, fine: Those words come to mind when watching the work of Lydia Johnson, whose company returned to the Ailey Citigroup Theater on Thursday. Ms. Johnson makes unadorned, soundly structured, musically adept ballets for a lovely, unpretentious group of dancers. She seems to know exactly what shes doing; nothing is out of her control.

In the four works she presented, including one premiere, what felt exciting at first  her sensitivity to music, in particular  grew less so throughout the evening. We saw what Ms. Johnson was good at, then saw it again and again.

Night of the Flying Horses, from 2013, best illustrated her sharply attuned ear, capturing both the vigor and solemnity of musical selections by the Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. In her orchestrations for four women and three men, finely etched details brightened an old-school formality. And her dancers seemed acutely aware of where and how to allocate their energy: just how limply to fall into a partners embrace; just how much force to throw behind the swing of a leg.

What Counts, from last year, also showed a keen curiosity about rhythm, responding to the jarring shifts of meter in a score by the jazz trio the Bad Plus. Blake Hennessy-York and Sarah Pon, in the works core duet, matched the firmness of plunging piano chords and crashing cymbals, again with a kind of bold efficiency.
When Richard Engel was 13, traveling abroad with his parents, he dreamed of becoming a reporter. He imagined working at the old International Herald Tribune and living in an apartment in Paris, overlooking the Champs-Elysees. He saw himself wearing white suits and brandishing a bone cigarette holder, and writing dispatches about intrigues and politics and spies and damsels and all the rest.

He did grow up to become a reporter  he is the chief foreign correspondent for NBC  but would spend much of his 20-year award-winning career not in glamorous Paris, but in war zones in the Middle East. As an enterprising freelance reporter, unable to get a visa to travel to Iraq but determined to cover the coming war, he got himself into the country by volunteering as a human shield for a peace organization in early 2003, and struck a deal with ABC News; he would become the last American television reporter left in Baghdad.

In 2005, his Baghdad hotel was badly rocked by a truck bomb across the street, and as the entire region exploded into war and revolution, he would have other close calls  including being kidnapped in Syria in 2012  that he says would leave him with fingerprints of post-traumatic stress.

Mr. Engels harrowing adventures make for gripping reading in his new book, And Then All Hell Broke Loose, and he deftly uses them as a portal to look at how the Middle East has changed since he arrived in the region as a young reporter back in 1996. The result is a book that gives readers a brisk but wide-angled understanding of the calamities that have unfurled there over the last two decades  most notably, the still unspooling consequences of the United States invasion of Iraq, and the sad trajectories of revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Syria, which began in hope and have snowballed into fiasco. Countless articles and books, of course, have chronicled these same events  with a narrower focus and more detail  but for readers looking for an astute, fast-paced overview, this book is a great explainer.
Passengers arent the only ones frustrated by airplane Wi-Fis high cost, slow speed and balky connections.

A legal skirmish between American Airlines and the Wi-Fi provider Gogo broke out last month, highlighting the increased friction. American cited a clause in its contract with Gogo that permits it to end the agreement if a competing Wi-Fi provider offers a deal that Gogo cannot match. It said ViaSat, a Gogo rival, made such an offer.

American later dropped its legal action after Gogo said it would submit a competing proposal.

We know in-flight connectivity is something our customers want and need, said Casey Norton, a spokesman for American Airlines. They expect a living-room type of experience.

But there could be more to the dispute than just the quality of Wi-Fi service. Analysts point out that either switching vendors or renegotiating the terms of its contract could yield financial benefits for American, too.
Anbang Insurance Group is in what may be an expensive hurry.

The Chinese insurer is leading a consortium that has made a $13 billion cash offer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide  potentially breaking up a sale to Marriott International. That follows another big American hotel industry acquisition over the weekend and the purchase of New Yorks Waldorf Astoria in 2014. Its hard to see how they can all meet the financial criteria of Anbangs chairman, Wu Xiaohui.

Mondays news of Anbangs offer came just two weeks before Starwood and Marriott shareholders are scheduled to vote on the cash-and-shares deal they struck in November. Anbang has also agreed to buy the real estate heavy Strategic Hotels & Resorts for $6.5 billion  months after the Blackstone Group took the company private for around $6 billion.
SAN FRANCISCO  Stephen Pratt surprised many when he left IBM after working on its vaunted Watson artificial intelligence technology in February, after just eight months on the job.

It turns out that Mr. Pratt has set his sights on starting up his own A.I. business.

Mr. Pratt and the investment firm TPG Growth plan to announce on Monday that they have formed Noodle.ai, which aims to bring a combination of artificial intelligence and data analysis to corporate customers.

It is a field that has grown exceptionally popular in recent years, spurred on in part by the visibility of IBMs Watson, which famously defeated human Jeopardy champions like Ken Jennings. Now, a range of companies like IBM and start-ups believe that A.I. can help companies make sense of their vast amounts of data much more quickly.

In setting up Noodle, Mr. Pratt is reuniting with TPG, the $70 billion investment firm known for deals like the takeovers of Neiman Marcus and J. Crew. The two worked together from 2014 to 2015 trying to identify data analytics companies to invest in.
The cash offer by Anbang and its investment partners is the latest in a wave of overseas deal-making by Chinese companies. So far this year, Chinese companies have announced $81.9 billion worth of foreign deals, compared with just $10.55 billion in the same period a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Anbangs pursuit of Starwood follows fast on the heels of reports that the Chinese company has agreed to acquire Strategic Hotels and Resorts from the Blackstone Group in a deal valued at $6.5 billion just months after Blackstone bought the company.

Strategic Hotels owns the Four Seasons hotels and resorts in Silicon Valley, Washington and Jackson Hole, Wyo., the Fairmont and Intercontinental hotels in Chicago and the JW Marriott Essex House hotel in Manhattan.

Anbang, led by its chairman, Wu Xiaohui, has been an aggressive deal maker in recent years. Mr. Wu is married to the granddaughter of Deng Xiaoping, Chinas former top leader who oversaw the opening of the Chinese economy to capitalism and investment from foreign companies.

In addition to its deal for Waldorf Astoria, Anbang, which is based in Beijing, has also bought an American insurer, Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance, for nearly $1.6 billion, and a controlling stake in a South Korean life insurer. Last year, it also unsuccessfully offered to buy a Portuguese lender.
A number of states, in response to pressure from these parents, have passed or considered legislation to make it easier to obtain marijuana-based products. And some families have become marijuana refugees, moving to Colorado where it has been easier to obtain a particular extract, known as Charlottes Web, after the girl who first used it to control seizures.

Hundreds of other children and young adults have been using Epidiolex outside of clinical trials, under programs that allow desperate patients to use experimental drugs.

While many parents have reported significant reductions in seizures, experts have been cautious about anecdotal reports, saying that such treatments needed to be compared with a placebo to make sure they work. As such, the results from the GW trial have been closely watched.

Im very proud and happy about this study because it is science  we did things the way they should be done, the studys lead investigator, Dr. Orrin Devinsky of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at New York University Langone Medical Center, said in an interview. I would strongly advocate that in the United States we need to do systematic assessments of medical marijuana.

The study involved 120 patients with an average age of 10 and an average frequency of 13 convulsive seizures a month at the start of the study, despite taking an average of three other drugs. Half of the children were randomly assigned to take the drug and the other half the placebo, in addition to the epilepsy medicines they were already taking.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.  The former editor in chief of the website Gawker testified on Monday that he was not being sincere when he said in a videotaped deposition that children over the age of 4 were fair game for sex tapes to be published online.

The former editor, Albert J. Daulerio, sought to clarify his comments under questioning from Gawkers lawyer, Michael Sullivan. The deposition was played last Wednesday, in a court where a $100 million suit brought by the former wrestler Hulk Hogan, claiming invasion of privacy, is being tried.

In that testimony, Mr. Daulerio was asked by the plaintiffs lawyer if he could imagine a situation in which a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy.

If they were a child, Mr. Daulerio replied.

Under what age? the lawyer asked.

Four.

Gawker issued a statement later that day saying Mr. Daulerio was being flippant. On Monday, he told Gawkers lawyer that he was not being serious when he made the comments.
Federal health officials last week modified their travel notices related to the Zika virus to say that pregnant women can safely travel to areas at altitudes above 6,500 feet.

The mosquitoes that transmit the virus are not normally found at high altitudes, and some important tourist and business destinations in Latin America, including, for example, Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia, are high above sea level and can safely be visited, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

In January, when the agency first issued travel advisories, it applied them to entire countries. Some countries, including Mexico, objected that some of their important cities were mosquito-free. Early last week, the World Health Organization suggested pregnant women avoid areas with Zika transmission, letting individual countries define which areas were risky.

The C.D.C. also advises pregnant women to guard against mosquito bites if they do visit areas with Zika transmission and to avoid sex during their pregnancies with men who have traveled to such areas or to use condoms.
Pregnant women and their unborn children are particularly vulnerable to malaria: the women because they may develop lethal anemia, and the babies because infected red blood cells tend to clump in the placenta, robbing the fetus of nutrients.

In Africa, about 30 million women a year become pregnant in areas where falciparum malaria  the most dangerous kind  is common.

To protect them, health agencies use intermittent preventive treatment, or I.P.T., under which all pregnant women in such areas are given doses of anti-malarial drugs at regular intervals, whether or not they are tested for the disease.

But malaria fighters sharply disagree over how to do it, and a study recently published by The New England Journal of Medicine adds fuel to the debate.
CINNAMINSON, N.J.  A New Jersey state trooper killed when he was struck by a passing driver last week has been laid to rest.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at St. Charles Borromeo Church here on Monday for the funeral of Trooper Sean Cullen, 31. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and had been a trooper for about two years.

Trooper Cullen died last Tuesday, one day after he was injured on Interstate 295 in Deptford Township after responding to a car fire. Several fire trucks and police vehicles had their emergency lights on, and Trooper Cullen was walking near the crash when he was struck.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, the acting governor, attended the funeral in place of Gov. Chris Christie, who was campaigning outside the state for the Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump on Monday.
One morning this month, Silvia Cota, a nurse supervisor in the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, gathered her nurses together in a huddle to prepare them for the future.

It really is not a complicated thing, Ms. Cota told them, speaking loudly over the bustle of patients and emergency room staff. We just have to get used to it.

Starting on March 27, the way prescriptions are written in New York State will change. Gone will be doctors prescription pads and famously bad handwriting. In their place: pointing and clicking, as prescriptions are created electronically and zapped straight to pharmacies in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

New York is the first state to require that all prescriptions be created electronically and to back up that mandate with penalties, including fines and imprisonment, for physicians who fail to comply. Minnesota has a law requiring electronic prescribing but does not penalize doctors who cling to pen and paper.
On foreign policy, Mr. Trump certainly uses muscular language. He says he would bomb the hell out of the Islamic State. Thats a welcome change from Mr. Obama, whose equivocations about the use of force have made America look weaker in the eyes of Israels enemies. And Mr. Trump has also been in line with the Netanyahu government in condemning the nuclear deal with Iran. But many of Mr. Trumps statements on foreign policy suggest he has an isolationist streak. Last September, for example, he said: Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of ISIS. Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care? That poses a problem for Israel: The last thing Israel wants is an America that refuses to lead.

That is, except when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian relations, because if theres anywhere the Netanyahu government might want to see a hands-off America, it would be on that issue. But here, Mr. Trump suddenly wants to take the lead. He promises he would broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians and assures that he would do it as a neutral guy. For Israel neutral is a code word with one meaning: unsupportive. In fact, neutral is how Israelis tend to describe Mr. Obamas policies by way of expressing displeasure. There are other ways Mr. Trump echoes the Obama administration: He has hinted that the lack of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has to do with Israels lack of enthusiasm rather than, as Mr. Netanyahu and most Republicans believe, because the Palestinians arent a serious partner for peace.

And then, of course, there is Mr. Trumps unpredictability. While previous presidential candidates did not always support policies that were to Israels liking, most of them had a fairly comprehensible agenda: Mr. Obama wanted to get a deal with Iran, to pull out of Iraq and to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Whatever the Netanyahu government thought about his policies  and it disliked most of them  Mr. Obama almost always tried to do exactly what he promised. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, is vague about his plans, if he has any. Sometimes he promises to destroy the Islamic State, other times he wants to leave the task to Russia. He criticizes the Iran deal, but unlike some other Republican candidates, doesnt say he will rip it up if he is elected.

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has repeatedly called himself Israels biggest and best friend. When it comes to Israel-United States relations, friendship is a word with many definitions. Early in his presidency, Mr. Obama said that his role as a friend to Israel is partly to hold up a mirror and tell the truth when he disagreed with its policies. Its no wonder that these days, the American president and his Israeli counterpart often look more like adversaries than friends.

Israels government hoped a new president would restore a more traditional definition of friendship  one based on mutual trust and support. But if the choice comes down to Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump, thats unlikely. From a President Clinton, Israels hawkish government would come under more of the same pressure it received from the Obama administration. From a President Trump  anything is possible.
STRASBOURG, France  The protection of refugees is an integral part of the international order for safeguarding human rights that countries developed in the aftermath of the atrocities of World War II. Its in that context that European nations agreed on an array of rules on human rights and the treatment of refugees, resulting in probably the worlds best-functioning system for protecting them.

Now, however, the refugee crisis unfolding along the borders of the European Union has elicited a chaotic response. There is a clear danger that the union and its member states are losing their way, and are at risk of backsliding on fundamental commitments.

The deal the European Council is discussing with Turkey is a case in point. In exchange for concessions on visa requirements for Turks traveling to Europe, the European Union is asking Ankara to take back all migrants, including refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and others, who are currently crossing from Turkey into Greece by irregular means; the European Union proposes in turn to accept an equivalent number of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey.

Some union officials are portraying this deal as a good solution to the crisis. In reality, the automatic forced return that the deal allows is illegal and will be ineffective.
After a weekend of violence at his rallies, Donald Trump arrived in Florida for a rally in Boca Raton on Sunday night, crowing at how well we handled those confrontations, because nobody got hurt, apparently meaning nobody got killed. Standing in an open-air amphitheater filled with thousands of supporters and surrounded by scores of police officers, this seasons version of George Wallace coyly asked, Do we have a protester, anyone? and Is there a disrupter in the house?

This is the new measure of Mr. Trumps vile presidential campaign: stand behind a security cordon, stir up racially charged viciousness and attacks, then talk about how it symbolizes love from people who want to see America be made great again.

After violence erupted at his rallies in North Carolina, Chicago and Ohio in recent days, Mr. Trump has offered only defiance and further incitement. I love you, he said over and over on Sunday in Florida. We have a massive situation going on.

Earlier on Sunday, in the same wink-wink manner with which he had disavowed the Ku Klux Klan, Mr. Trump said on NBCs Meet the Press that he doesnt condone violence, even as he justified and encouraged it. He defended the supporter who punched a young protester in the face in North Carolina last week and who said afterward that maybe hed have to kill him next time, saying, He obviously loves this country and maybe he doesnt like seeing whats happening to the country.
Three days before arriving, the lander, named Schiaparelli, after the 19th-century Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, will separate from the orbiter. It will enter the atmosphere at 13,000 miles per hour and will quickly decelerate on its way to settling down on the surface.

The main objective of Schiaparelli is to demonstrate its landing system. (The European Space Agencys last attempt to land on Mars  the Beagle 2 spacecraft, which accompanied the Mars Express orbiter in 2003  failed.)

Schiaparelli carries instruments to measure Marss atmosphere during the height of the dust storm season. Its batteries are expected to last only two to four days.

The Trace Gas Orbiter is expected to operate much longer, until at least 2022, circling Mars at an altitude of 250 miles. Its instruments will measure gases, like methane, water vapor and nitrogen, that exist in minute quantities but that could hold important clues about the possibility of life on Mars.

Methane is the most intriguing trace gas. Sunlight and chemical reactions break up methane molecules in the atmosphere. Any methane there must have been created recently, and the two possibilities for creating methane are microbes and a geological process requiring heat and liquid water.
On March 6, 1857, The New-York Times described the commencement exercises at New-York Medical College. The first prize for the best thesis went to Nehemiah Nickerson for his thesis on Infantile Paralysis. It was the first time the newspaper mentioned what would come to be known as polio.

The Times said little else about infantile paralysis or poliomyelitis until Aug. 4, 1899, when an article with the headline Puzzling Child Disease appeared on Page 3.

By Aug. 7, polio was front-page news. The disease was spreading with remarkable rapidity, with more cases in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and nearby towns.

Then, apart from a brief mention in December 1900, infantile paralysis disappeared from The Times until the summer of 1907, when another outbreak prompted several reports.
It would seem that for someone like Kim Kardashian West  queen of selfies, breaker of Internets, mother of two  sharing a nearly nude selfie with millions of followers on social media is a pretty ho-hum weekday activity.

But her latest racy photo, published last week on Twitter with a mundane caption (When youre like I have nothing to wear LOL), quickly drew a mix of young, powerful celebrities into a debate over whether sharing such an image is a symbol of sexual empowerment, or an example of a powerful woman selling herself short.

In a climate where the harassment and bullying of young women online has reached alarming levels, experts say the encouragement of freedom of healthy sexual expression among women is increasingly necessary. But, they say, so is discussion about what, exactly, constitutes empowerment, and why.

Though Ms. Kardashian West could share a revealing nude photo and be praised (and even paid) for her efforts, her legions of young fans might be exploited, harassed or shamed if they try the same thing. Nor do they have valuable brands to burnish. Even Ms. Kardashian West is not totally protected: In addition to receiving thousands of messages that call her queen and mom, she faces a regular onslaught of abusive messages.
In 1943, a group of officer candidates, debonair in their khakis and caps, approach a bar just off their Alabama base, in search of some music and beers.

Colored round the back, the barman says before slamming a door in their faces.

This small indignity is part of the systemic and incidental racism that these men experienced during their training and deployment. As members of an elite group of African-American fighter and bomber pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, they successfully flew a number of heroic missions while experiencing discrimination both within and outside the military.

Some of their stories are told in Fly, a sentimental though captivating play at the New Victory Theater, from the Pasadena Playhouse and the Crossroads Theater Company. Intended for both children and adults, the script, by Ricardo Khan and Trey Ellis, relies on historical shorthand and overly explicit approaches to character, but the whole is moving and powerful.

After an introduction involving schematic projections and a percussive dance by a silent narrator known as the Tap Griot, we meet four recruits: Chet (Desmond Newson), an eager adolescent; W. W. (Brooks Brantly), a Chicago smoothie; Oscar (Terrell Wheeler), a no-nonsense race man; and J. Allen (Damian Thompson), formerly a constable in the West Indies. While infighting and abuse from a superior officer threaten their success, most of them deploy.
Why would one drug benefit from anothers ads? For stigmatized conditions, like depression and other mental illnesses, drug ads may serve to normalize them, encouraging sufferers to seek treatment, even if its not with the specific advertised drug.

Doctors appear to benefit from TV drug advertising. Only they, and certain types of assistants and nurses, prescribe drugs, so for advertising to increase their use, visits to physicians must increase. And thats what studies have found. One-third of adults said that drug advertising prompted a discussion with their physician. Collectively, every $28 spent by drug companies per year on ads resulted in one more visit to a doctor that led to a prescription. One more person making one more doctor visit doesnt sound like much, but drug companies spend billions on advertising.

Interestingly, the A.M.A.s call for an advertising ban does not extend to promotion aimed at doctors. Yet the drug industry spends about seven times more on visits to doctors offices by drug company representatives, free samples and advertising in professional journals than on ads directed at consumers. Physicians may more readily prescribe drugs theyre familiar with through these types of promotion.

Though doctors often may yield to patients requests for a specific drug, in many cases they apply their own judgment and prescribe a different one, or none at all. When it comes to depression, a randomized controlled trial showed that drug requests led to more appropriate care, though not always with pharmaceuticals. The study sent professional actors to doctors offices, where they pretended to have depression. Among those who did not request drugs, only 56 percent received appropriate care  any combination of an antidepressant prescription, a referral to a mental health professional or a follow-up appointment. Just one-quarter of the people requesting a specific drug received it; about half received no drug at all. But among those who requested a specific drug, 90 percent received appropriate care, but not all of it involved drugs.

Another way drug ads can help patients is by encouraging them to continue with medication theyve already been prescribed. According to one study, for every 10 percent increase in viewership of drug ads, between 1 and 2.5 percent more people adhere to their prescribed drug regimen. Several studies of spending on ads for statin drugs found that it was associated with a greater proportion of high-cholesterol patients who successfully brought their cholesterol levels under control.
Drillers are pumping less, and at around $40 a barrel, the state is collecting less in taxes on the oil that is pumped, making for a state budget crater of crisis proportions. The Republican-controlled Legislature has so far been loath to consider new taxes in an election year, and education, along with health and welfare, accounts for about two-thirds of the state budget.

The deeper story, educators and state officials said, is that a long-delayed day of reckoning over education policies and promises made in a different era, under different circumstances, has arrived.

In the mid-1970s, for example, when memories of the bleak and barren boarding schools for rural tribal people were still fresh, Alaska declared that it would eliminate the differences between rich districts and poor ones. Fairness and equity, the state said, would be the rule. Oil money allowed that promise to be kept, with the state paying almost $60,000 per year, per pupil, to educate students in some of the countrys most remote and isolated public schools.

The University of Alaska, gifted with a flood of oil money and federal research grants  which have also been in retreat  embarked on a path of ambition that included introducing new academic disciplines. As enrollment grew to nearly 29,000 students, the school built hundreds of buildings across three major campuses  in urban centers like Anchorage and Fairbanks, and in rural spots off the road system where the costs for heating fuel and supplies, all of which have to be delivered by airplane, can be absurdly high.

In 2006, when the stock market was near its peak, Alaska also shifted its teacher retirement system for new hires, from guaranteed pensions to self-directed plans similar to a 401(k). Then, to make the idea more attractive, it made benefits portable, meaning that teachers vested in plans could quit and not lose money that they, or the state, had put in. The result, as tough times have walloped the schools, is a flood of resignations, and teachers heading south with Alaskan money in their pockets, looking for new jobs somewhere else.
Senate Republicans who refuse to do their jobs are already seeing the consequences of their inaction, said Amy Brundage, a former White House deputy communications director who is coordinating communications around the court campaign. Hardworking Americans dont get to choose to stop doing their jobs. So we will continue to put pressure on Senate Republicans back home and force them to explain why they wont fulfill their constitutional responsibility to their voters and constituents.

The tone and frequency of the organized activities against Republicans  news conferences, petitions, protests at offices, letter-writing campaigns, rallies  are only going to escalate once Mr. Obama announces his choice and puts a face on a fight that now focuses mainly on the Senate process of considering a nominee.

Democratic strategists believe that if they can make Senate Republicans squirm as they are forced to constantly defend the partys stance, those Republicans will in turn lean on the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to back off his blanket refusal to allow a confirmation hearing.

How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process.

The way Democrats believe they can best make their point is to have activists do whatever they can to get under the skin of senators like Mr. Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, who is getting some of the worst Iowa press coverage of his long career because of his now almost daily declaration that he has no intention of considering Mr. Obamas choice for the court.

Mr. Grassley, who is up for re-election this year, is a particular target of Democrats, who see him as a potential weak link in the Republican chain of resistance. But they also plan to be relentless against other Republican senators facing tough re-election fights, including Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rob Portman of Ohio and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Sanders is not unlike Tea Party Republicans in his tactics, except his are a decaf version. While he is unlikely to turn against his party on important votes, he is most proud of the things he has tried  unsuccessfully  to block over the years. And he boasts about them constantly on the campaign trail: the Iraq war, the Wall Street bailout and the Patriot Act after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Yet in spite of persistent carping that Mr. Sanders is nothing but a quixotic crusader  during their first debate, Hillary Clinton cracked, Im a progressive, but Im a progressive who likes to get things done  he has often been an effective, albeit modest, legislator. He has enacted his agenda piece by piece, in politically digestible chunks with few sweeping legislative achievements in a quarter-century in Congress.

Over one 12-year stretch in the House, Mr. Sanders passed more amendments by roll call vote than any other member of Congress. In the Senate, he secured money for dairy farmers and community health centers, blocked banks from hiring foreign workers and reined in the Federal Reserve, all through measures attached to larger bills.

But in his presidential campaign Mr. Sanders is trying to scale up those kinds of proposals as a national agenda, and there is little to draw from his small-ball legislative approach to suggest that he could succeed.

Mr. Sanders is suddenly promising not just a few stars here and there, but the moon and a good part of the sun, from free college tuition paid for with giant tax hikes to a huge increase in government health care, which has made even liberal Democrats skeptical.
Of the many ways in which Donald J. Trump is disrupting American politics, one of the most compelling is his disregard for the established rules of communicating with voters.

More than any other candidate, Mr. Trump embodies the evolving norms of communication that are being enabled and encouraged by technology and the matrix of connectivity that defines modern life: authenticity over authority, surprise over consistency, celebrity over experience.

His approach is jarring to a political establishment that has taken very different lessons from its experiences over decades of modern campaigning. Risk-averse above all, candidates and those who advise them have long prized message discipline, shied away from anything spontaneous and looked for opportunities to attack opponents who stray from talking points.

To those portions of the electorate fed up with politics as usual, Mr. Trumps willingness to say just about anything and to improvise as he goes seems more refreshing and trustworthy than disqualifying.
Carrying horns, handwritten signs and bottles of gasoline to set tires on fire, a group of men marched into one of the many protests that have paralyzed parts of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, this year.

They were angry with their president, who let Parliament collapse and failed to hold scheduled elections. They were angry with the United Nations for not ensuring a fair vote for his successor. And they were angry with the former American secretary of state who had helped put him in power.

You see all these people here? said one of the Haitian-flag-draped protesters, Jean Renold Cenatus, 32, who said he was unemployed. Its because of what Mrs. Clinton did five years ago that we are facing this situation.

In their post-2000 lives as global citizens, Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have been tied to no country more closely than Haiti. As a United Nations special envoy, Mr. Clinton helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the country after its devastating 2010 earthquake. Mrs. Clinton traveled there four times as secretary of state and shepherded billions of dollars in American aid.
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department on Monday called on state judges across the country to root out unconstitutional policies that have locked poor people in a cycle of fines, debt and jail. It was the Obama administrations latest effort to take its civil rights agenda to the states, which have become a frontier in the fight over the rights of the poor and the disabled, the transgender and the homeless.

In a letter to chief judges and court administrators, Vanita Gupta, the Justice Departments top civil rights prosecutor, and Lisa Foster, who leads a program on court access, warned against operating courthouses as for-profit ventures. It chastised judges and court staff members for using arrest warrants as a way to collect fees. Such policies, the letter said, made it more likely that poor people would be arrested, jailed and fined anew  all for being unable to pay in the first place.

It is unusual for the Justice Department to write such a letter. It last did so in 2010, when the department told judges that they were obligated to provide translators for people who could not speak English. The letters do not have the force of law, but they declare the federal governments position and put local officials on notice about its priorities.

Ms. Gupta said that in some cities, hefty fines served as a sort of bureaucratic cover charge for the right to seek justice. People cannot even start the process of defending themselves until they have settled their debts.
DAKAR, Senegal  It was nothing short of miraculous. Somehow, during the two hours she endured in a stuffy, crowded hotel bathroom in Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast, 1-year-old Elinor did not make a sound as gunmen carried out a bloody rampage just outside the door.

In the end, she was spared, along with her mother, Charline Burton, who works for an organization devoted to stopping the kind of violent extremism that was unfolding on the other side of the bathroom door.

I was so terrified myself, and terrified she would start screaming and get us all killed, Ms. Burton said in a telephone interview on Monday, less than 24 hours after the attack that killed 15 civilians and three members of the Ivorian security forces in Grand-Bassam, a seaside resort 30 miles from the countrys economic capital, Abidjan. I dont know how it happened, but she did not cry.

On Monday, military and police officers were swarming Grand-Bassam, which is known for its colonial architecture, looking for evidence that would help explain how such an assault had unfolded in Ivory Coast.
BEIJING  The Chinese characters for pure and true, signifying halal, hang over numerous restaurants across China, a symbol of a commitment to prepare food in accordance with Islamic law, including its ban on pork and alcohol.

But some of Chinas more than 23 million Muslims worry that businesses routinely flout those guidelines, selling sweets laced with lard, for instance, or pork disguised as beef.

As political leaders gathered in Beijing for the annual session of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a government advisory body, officials once again raised the idea of imposing national standards on halal food, which have been under consideration since 2002.

Ma Guoquan, a delegate from Ningxia, a region in northwest China that is home to a large Muslim population, said it was important to respect the traditions of ethnic minorities and to promote the unity of Chinese society.
These factory workers in Southern China are fighting for labor rights. For inspiration they look to an unlikely source: Kentucky coal miners. 00:13:41 -00:13:59 We want to let them know how foreign workers organize, demonstrate and negotiate. The workers were brought here together by this man, Wu Guijin, a former factory worker turned labor activist. TITLE: In China, A Surge in Strikes 00:19:21 -00:19:28 Chinese workers rights have always been bad. 00:19:28 -00:19:38 But now, especially during these years of economic downturn, the situation is getting worse and worse. In 2013, Mr. Wu participated in a strike at a furniture factory. But China can be a dangerous place for those that step up to the establishment. 00:06:17 -00:06:21 I was accused of gathering crowds to disturb traffic order. 00:02:53 - 00:03:02 Because I safeguarded rights with my workmates collectively, I was put into prison for more than one year. 00:03:02 - 00:03:06 Now I am released. I am helping with workers. 00:20:30 -00:20:38 In my opinion, Chinese workers are some of the best in the world. 00:20:38 -00:20:43 And generally speaking, they work hard and can bear hardship without any complaints. 00:20:43 -00:20:49 They will not protest until they have no - alternative. PART II Geoffrey Crothall, China Labour Bulletin They are supposed to get pensions, social insurance. They are supposed to get severance pay when they are laid off. These fundamental labor rights are being denied to them. And the only thing they can do in the situation is (to) take collective action The government refuses to help or just tries brush them off. And in many cases, they have no option but to resort to these very extreme measures, such as climbing to a lot of buildings, threatening to jump or even taking much more violent measures Across China, the frequency of worker strikes and demonstrations has more than doubled from a year ago. There is clearly a very obvious correlation in the number of protests that we are seeing in relation to the economic distress clearly evident throughout the country. So at the moment the picture not at all optimistic. PART THREE Lunch with Workers These workers toiled in a foreign owned textile factory until recently. When the factory decided to relocate to a more affordable location, workers pensions started to disappear. Mr. Wu is helping the workers file suit in a local court. Mr. Wu Why did they relocate the factory? Where will it go? And what happen happened to the workers employment duration after relocation? Would there be any change to the salary? They demanded an explanation. 169 00:00:40-00:00:45 red vest: We have been working in this factory for 17, 18 years, but they only paid for our 11 years social insurance.  170 00:01:40-00:01:47[crying] black: I dont think we will win because the government was helping when we were trying to defend our rights. 00:01:47-00:02:02 black: Now in the legal process, they wont help us; if they help us, the government will lose face. 00:02:02-00:02:15 black: But we are trying to do what we can, to set an example for younger workers, to fight for our rights. Mr. Wu Workers have awoken. Many enterprises are transforming and relocating. Workers have to face problems like finding new employment or retirement problems, and especially getting their outstanding wages. All of these things invoke their motivation to take some action. PART FOUR Part Five - back to beginning 00:05:21 -00:05:24 America was not born good. 00:05:25 -00:05:30 America used to be awful. It became what it is by protesting. As factories continue to close and labor disputes continue to rise, social stability across Chinas factory landscape has become a concern. 00:05:34 -00:05:38 People will die in Chinas future revolution. 00:05:38 -00:05:41 Many people do not believe this, but I think it must happen. And while labor activists like Mr Wu aim to help those who are most vulnerable, the government has been making his job increasingly difficult  and increasingly dangerous. OUTRO Labour Expert Dude Now, the political situation is much tougher. The key difference I think is the current administration is taking much time offline on civil society Those labor rights groups now are the target of a very vicious crackdown. Several have been arrested and are facing charges in Guangzhou currently. Labor Activist 00:53:15 -00:53:23 For now, the situation is very intense but we are still doing it. 00:53:23 -00:53:43 If I get arrested or go missing, I will not regret it, as long as I do right by my own conscience.
BERLIN  The results of German state elections, in which an insurgent far-right party garnered up to 25 percent of the vote, have signaled a rare turn toward political vulnerability for Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as potential instability for her country and perhaps paralysis for Europe as a whole.

Whether Europeans like it or not, they have come to count on Ms. Merkels leadership through successive crises in the past decade. Ms. Merkels Germany has seemed impervious to the protest votes and economic woes engulfing much of the Continent.

But the elections in two western states and an eastern one on Sunday amounted to a stark warning that Germans are not happy with the prospect of integrating a million migrants and refugees from the wars in Iraq and Syria.

The outcome is likely to further complicate efforts to solve a migration crisis in which coordination among Europeans is already so haphazard that Ms. Merkel has looked to Turkey to solve the problem for them.
Mr. Sakhanh was found to have withheld details about time he had spent in Italy, including an arrest in 2012, Inspector Blombergsson said. The ensuing investigation linked Mr. Sakhanh to the video of the killings.

The video, which the rebel who shared it said had been filmed for fund-raising, had not previously been publicly posted. It showed the man identified by the Swedish authorities as Mr. Sakhanh among a group of rebels as their commander, Abdul Samad Issa, recited a sectarian monologue and ordered the killing of seven shirtless and terrified prisoners, five of them bound.

The commander, known as The Uncle by his fighters, fired the first shot, into the back of one prisoners head. Then the others opened fire. The man identified as Mr. Sakhanh was shown wearing a neat brown jacket and appeared relaxed and joking. He was holding a Kalashnikov rifle, with which he shot a helpless man at his feet.

During the inquiry, Inspector Blombergsson said, the investigators learned that Mr. Sakhanh lived for some time in a town near Milan, and had been arrested in February 2012 after participating in an occupation of the Syrian Embassy in Rome. He fled Italy and joined rebels in Syria, and began working with the commander known as the Uncle.

Fingerprints from his Swedish immigration application matched those from his criminal file in Italy, Inspector Blombergsson said, and in his mug shot from Italy he appears to be wearing the same brown jacket that the gunman wore in the mass killing video. The investigators also found another video of the prisoners, with many rebels posing behind them before the killing. Mr. Sakhanh was visible in that scene, too, the police said.
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq  Before dawn on Monday, Kurdish soldiers noticed a man approaching them near the ancient city of Sinjar, the site of violent clashes with Islamic State fighters. The soldiers sounded an alarm, warning of a possible suicide bomber. But the man soon called out in a mixture of broken Arabic and perfect English that he wanted to surrender.

He was unarmed and was carrying three cellphones, said Sarbaz Hama Ameen, a Kurdish pesh merga officer who was present. He also had a few thousand dollars in mixed currency and, most surprising, a Virginia drivers license.

Within hours, the American authorities were investigating how a young man from the Washington suburbs ended up in northern Iraq, near the border with Syria, in the midst of the bloody war with the Islamic State. The F.B.I was trying to piece together his travels and figure out what drew him there.

Image A photograph on social media shows a man the Kurdish military says is an American who turned himself in on Monday. Credit... via Associated Press

Little was certain, including the mans identity. Kurdish officials originally released one name, then circulated the drivers license bearing a different one: Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26. In Alexandria, Va., at the address on the license, a man identified as Mr. Khweiss father alternated between defending his son to reporters, denying he was his father and making threats.
Israel called on the United Nations Security Council on Monday to punish Iran for testing missiles capable of reaching Israel, which the Israelis said was a sign that the Iranians could not be trusted to honor the nuclear agreement reached last year.

Irans interests can no longer be hidden, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters as the Council met in a private session, at the request of the United States, to discuss last weeks missile tests.

Mr. Danon brought with him a photograph of an Iranian missile that appeared to be inscribed with the phrase Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth in Persian and Hebrew.

The provenance of that photograph, which appeared to be the same as one published by Irans Fars news agency, has not been confirmed. Fars, which is associated with Irans hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has been known to digitally alter photographs of missiles, and other official Iranian news media have not disseminated the image.
More than 300,000 of these children, who total about 3.7 million, were born as refugees, according to the report by Unicef, the United Nations Childrens Fund. It said their lives had been shaped by violence, fear and displacement.

In all, Unicef estimated that 8.4 million Syrian children, or 80 percent of Syrias 18-and-under population, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, either in Syria or in neighboring countries.
ISTANBUL  Turkeys prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said Monday that the government had almost certain evidence that the Kurdistan Workers Party, or P.K.K., had carried out Sundays car bombing in Ankara, the capital, a development that is likely to increase tensions with the United States.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 37 people in a public square, but the Turkish military almost immediately began carrying out airstrikes on Sunday against P.K.K. bases in the mountains of Iraqs autonomous Kurdistan region.

Mr. Davutoglu said that investigators were continuing their efforts to identify perpetrators through DNA matches and that 11 people had been detained in connection with the bombing. It was not clear whether those individuals were linked to the P.K.K.

The attack is likely to raise new tensions between Turkey and the United States over the civil war in Syria. The United States, in seeking reliable ground forces to help fight the Islamic State, has given support to a powerful Syrian Kurdish militia movement that is an offshoot of the P.K.K.
CAIRO  Two air force pilots from the United Arab Emirates were killed on Monday when their warplane crashed while fighting over Yemen, according to Saudi Arabias official news agency.

The news agency blamed a technical malfunction for the crash, but the claim was impossible to verify independently. Local media reported that the plane, a French Mirage, had crashed in Yemens southern port city of Aden, and showed pictures of the wreckage.

Saudi Arabia announced the deaths in its capacity as the leader of a coalition of Arab states that has been fighting a rebel group in Yemen known as the Houthis for almost a year.
This feast for two or more is not for the finicky. At El Vez in Battery Park City, the chef, David LaForce, roasts a pigs head to a glorious burnish, making it the centerpiece for dinner. Gather friends, roll up your sleeves and pick it to shreds for tacos. The half-head serving includes the cheeks and crackling shards of skin, soft corn tortillas and a crisp pigs ear salad. Garnishes like grilled scallions, chiles, cucumbers, salsas and nuggets of radish come alongside: Carnitas de Cabeza, $55 with side dishes, Wednesdays only, to order two days in advance, El Vez, 259 Vesey Street (West Street), 212-233-2500, elveznyc.com.

Image Credit... James Nieves/The New York Times

To Consult: A Sparkling Cocktail Book for Aperitivos

You do not need mixology cred to figure out how to combine spirits and soda water. But this bright little book is a useful primer, offering dozens of classic and modern variations on the spritzer, discussing its Italian roots and even providing the tidbit that in Caesars day, it was gauche to drink alcohol without cutting it. The authors define various bitter liqueurs like Aperol and Campari and include a few recipes for what to serve with that Negroni Sbagliato: Spritz: Italys Most Iconic Aperitivo Cocktail, With Recipes, by Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau, (Ten Speed Press, $18.99).
The artist Emilie Clarks first kill was a common goldeneye duck, shot down two Novembers ago on an island in the Baltic Sea in Sweden.

She hung it for three days, skinned, gutted and froze it, then smuggled it past customs wrapped in polka-dot paper and tied with a bow. Back in New York, she put it in her Le Creuset pot with fennel and shallots.

Ms. Clark, 46, had traveled to Sweden as research for a series of paintings that she eventually titled Meditations on Hunting, now on display at the Morgan Lehman Gallery in Chelsea. It is a sequel of sorts to a 2013 installation for which she collected leftovers and food waste (milk at the bottom of a cereal bowl, grease smudged in a pan) from a year of meals she made for her husband and two sons.

Image A painting in Ms. Clarks Meditations on Hunting, now on display at the Morgan Lehman Gallery in Chelsea. Credit... Emilie Clark.Untitled TH-22 from Meditations on Hunting, 2016. Watercolor and graphite on paper. 95"x62".

She has always eaten meat and been conscientious about its origins. Still, she said, It felt like there was a gap that I had to contend with.
SAN DIEGO  Comic books and San Diego are nearly synonymous because of the annual Comic-Con International held each July. But IDW Publishing, a hometown company that exhibits at the convention, has given comic-book fans a reason to visit anytime by opening its San Diego Comic Art Gallery.

The gallery is at the companys headquarters at Liberty Station, a mixed-use development in the citys Point Loma section that was formerly a naval training center. When the company moved there last year, setting up a gallery was one of its objectives. Its an airy, raw space with concrete floors and stark white walls that allow the comic art on display to pop.

Its been a labor of love for all of us, said Ted Adams, IDWs chief executive and publisher. We wanted a place year-round where people could celebrate comic art.
The Museum of Fine Arts commissioned a version of the Twitter dress from the London-based CuteCircuit. Visitors can send tweets from their phones, or artworks from the museums collection (selected on an iPad attached to the display) that will then appear across the 10,000 micro-LEDs in the dresss fabric (and its machine-washable). Also on view is a dress by Pauline van Dongen that is embedded with solar panels that can charge a cellphone after two hours in the sun. A top-and-shorts ensemble by Ying Gao is covered in dressmaker pins that move in a shimmering, undulating fashion when voice-activated.

If #techstyle is focused on the tomorrow of garments as gadgets, Manus x Machina will be more a historical retrospective of hand and machine as equal players in the design process.
Then, the day before this interview was to take place, he was hit with a bombshell. Vanity Fair magazine published an interview with Ms. Garner, in which she discussed the dissolution of their relationship. Speaking of Mr. Affleck, she told the magazine: I always say, When his sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, its cold. He can cast quite a shadow.

In person, Mr. Affleck was friendly and funny, but also soft-spoken and vulnerable. At times he seemed anxious and out of sorts, as if waiting for some other shoe to drop.

Despite vowing not to, he did eventually address Ms. Garners Vanity Fair profile.

And though he said he could not pinpoint why he chose to play Batman right now, he did offer a broader theory on the parts that currently appeal to him.

When he watches other movies that strain to make their protagonists likable and valorous, Mr. Affleck said: I find that boring. Instead, I think its interesting how we manage the best version of ourselves, despite our flaws and our weaknesses and our sometime tendencies to do the wrong thing.

He has also realized that for all of his Hollywood success, some part of him will always feel like a relentless striver who must prove, through his work, that he has a right to be there.

That never goes away, he said. All these habits that we develop, that help us at some point, they have flip sides. In this case, its hard to turn that feeling off.
The Alabama Loggers Council and the Alabama Forestry Association are gearing up for their annual Log A Load for Kids fundraiser to benefit Children's of Alabama, and in this area, the Piedmont District is planning a day of shooting events, an auction and other activities on Saturday, April 18, at The Oaks in LaFayette.

"Our goal is to unite loggers, landowners, foresters and wood products manufacturers in a common effort to benefit Alabamas critically ill, injured and abused children," the Alabama Forestry Association said on its website. "The concept of Log a Load for Kids calls for loggers and others in the Alabama forestry community to donate what a load of logs is worth to a logger -- about $350. Any donation is appreciated and acknowledged."

Locally, loggers in the Piedmont District are going a step further, with a sporting clay shoot, a turkey shoot, a live auction and more.

"The day will feature shooting rounds, breakfast and lunch, a chance to win a Winchester Super X3 12-gauge shotgun, guess the weight of a load of wood, fun for the kids guessing the amount of M&Ms in a jar, and a live auction of donated items from the area," the organizers said in a press release. "The annual Log A Load for Kids campaign has always seen great success here in Chambers County, and that is expected to be the case once again this year."

Last year's one-day Piedmont District event donated $34,000.

Log A Load first partnered with The Childrens Hospital of Alabama in 1992 with statewide donations of more than $45,000. In 1995, the group adopted the Childrens Hospital of Alabama CHIPS Center with a donation of over $265,000. Since then, the campaign has raised more than $6 million for Childrens of Alabama and the CHIPS Center.

Entry fees for the sporting clay shoot are $50 per individual, $200 for a four-man team, $300 for a four-man team plus a shooting station sponsorship, $400 for a four-man team plus an exhibitor sponsorship, $500 for a four-man team plus shooting station sponsorship and exhibitor sponsorship, $100 for a shooting station sponsorship only (provides for one sponsor sign, four spaces available at each station), and $200 for an exhibitor sponsorship only (provides one equipment exhibit display).

This day of family fun will kick off at 7:30 a.m. with registration. The sporting clay shoot begins at 8:30, and the events will carry on throughout the day.

For more information on the Log a Load event, contact Mandy Cain at 334-234-1118, 334-864-7701 or woodchoptimber@gmail.com.

All proceeds will benefit Childrens of Alabama.
Some regard Newport Beach as a vapid enclave for the wealthy, a world of $300,000 Ferraris, tony addresses and oh-so trendy shops at Fashion Island.

But there is more to this beach city than its status seekers. In many ways, Newport Beach is surprisingly normal both for its successes and its struggles. Still, many of those issues are larger than what most cities ever face.

Dont forget it was Newport Beach that joined the unsuccessful attempt 15 years ago to get a commercial airport built at the former El Toro Marine base to replace John Wayne Airport.

This is a city where the average income is in the six figures and whose leaders are well-equipped to compete for tourist dollars, cope with aging infrastructure and grapple with heated fights over development.

The new City Hall and Civic Center turned into an economic hand-grenade after construction costs soared to more than $150 million. That controversy was a skirmish compared with the issues surrounding the 401-acre beachfront development known as Banning Ranch.

The biggest threat to Newport Beach is nothing less than climate change. City engineers warn that rising oceans could flood large areas of seafront property. The looming question is who pays?

CLIMATE CHANGE WARNINGS

Diane Dixon permanently moved to Newport Beach about three years ago from Pasadena and immediately jumped into politics. After a short stint on the City Council, the USC grad became mayor and promised to reduce Newports long-term debt.

She points to her background for being able to make that promise. Before briefly working for the Irvine Co., she served as senior vice president for corporate affairs and communications at Avery Dennison Corp., a publicly traded Fortune 500 company.

For too long, Dixon says, the city postponed certain projects. She notes the need for half-century-old private docks to be rebuilt, harbor dredging and mitigating rampant eelgrass. Its part of the circle of life to replenish public infrastructure.

Still, Dixon has concerns. Our unfunded pension liability, she says, keeps me up at night. She says CalPERS keeps moving the goalpost and estimates the citys liability at $250 million.

A review of city projects finds deteriorated and sometimes broken cast iron water mains in Corona del Mar (updates will be made this summer); an outdated 60-year-old fire station (to be rebuilt by mid-2017); the bridge that connects Big Balboa Island with Little Balboa Island declared functionally obsolete by Caltrans (a new bridge is scheduled to be complete by the end of this year).

But the need for beefed up seawalls dwarfs those projects. Dixon estimates the cost to replace or repair seawalls at $100 million.

A few years ago, I talked with Newport Beach Assistant City Engineer Robert Stein. He joked that in 90 years theres a good chance residents on Balboa Island during high tides will get in kayaks and go downtown to get supplies.

Stein made the comment lightly. But his prediction about rising sea levels was serious.

Today, city records describe the problem of 75- to 85-year-old seawalls in more genteel terms. But their warnings are even more dire: There are a few segments around Balboa Island that are not quite high enough should we experience extremely high tides and waves.

The report goes on to note that six years ago, seawater flowed over seawalls during a moderate storm surge at high tide. Three years later, ocean water touched the top of seawalls during a king tide with no wind or waves.

The city report concludes, Should there be further rise in sea level, longer segments of the existing seawall around Balboa Island could be subjected to this overtopping.

Design options and style concepts are scheduled to be posted online this month.

We are doing today, Dixon says of the seawalls, what we should have done 40 years ago.

BANNING RANCH BATTLES

Numerous development projects dot the city. They range from a seven-story, 49-unit collection of condos with subterranean parking near Fashion Island to a luxury, 130-room hotel on 4.25 acres in Lido Village.

But the whale is Banning Ranch, a massive swath of coastal bluffs, wetlands, abandoned oil wells and land east of the Santa Ana River and north of Pacific Coast Highway.

For years, developers and environmentalists fought over its future.

Finally, it looked like the area would be open for both development and public use.

Three years ago, the Newport Beach City Council approved building 1,375 homes and 75,000 square feet of retail on 95 acres. That would have left some 300 acres of open space.

Still, environmentalists went to war.

The Banning Ranch Conservancy rallied its troops to make the entire ranch a nature preserve. The Save Newport Banning Ranch crowd followed suit.

Banning Ranch is the largest parcel of unprotected coastal open space and wetland property remaining in Orange County, Save Newport Banning Ranch stated, and can provide public access to many outdoor recreational activities such as hiking and biking.

Last fall, the California Coastal Commission basically agreed with the protesters and declared the land important to sensitive coastal species. One of those species is the California gnatcatcher, a little bird that has been the bane of developers for decades.

Developers caved, downgrading their plans to what many people would consider more than a reasonable compromise. The latest proposal is for 895 residential units on 53 acres, a 75-room boutique hotel and 45,000 square feet of retail space. That leaves 323 acres of open space.

The next Coastal Commission meeting on the matter is slated for May. Already, the Banning Ranch Conservancy is gearing up. The groups rallying cry: Lets fight for every cubic inch of Banning Ranch that we can save in May!

Perhaps they forgot the entire area is private land.

Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
Santa Ana police officers face charges of petty theft and vandalism 10 months after being caught on video eating snacks and threatening a disabled woman during a raid at a local pot shop.

The Orange County District Attorneys Office said Monday it is filing one misdemeanor count of theft against officers Brandon Matthew Sontag, 31; Nicole Lynn Quijas, 37; and Jorge Arroyo, 32, on suspicion of stealing cookies and other snacks during the raid. Sontag is also accused of vandalism in breaking some of the stores surveillance cameras.

If convicted, Arroyo and Quijas each face maximum sentences of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Sontag, if convicted of both counts, faces up to 18 months in jail and a $2,000 fine. The officers are scheduled to be arraigned April 11 in Orange County Superior Court.

The officers could not be reached Monday. John Franks, president of the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, said the officers attorneys requested the union to decline comment.

The charges follow a 10-month investigation by the District Attorneys Office that included a review of unedited surveillance video of the May 26, 2015, raid at Sky High Holistic, a business the city has accused of selling marijuana without a permit.

(Editors note: This video was edited, and the wording that appears mounted on some of the screen images is from a source other than The Orange County Register or the Santa Ana Police Department. The profanity that appears on one of the video frames was not placed there by the Register or the Santa Ana Police Department).

A separate investigation by the Santa Ana Police Department has been completed, but its results are not yet public, said police spokesman Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

All three officers remain on paid leave.

Bertagna said their status with the department likely will be determined after an administrative appeals process is completed and a formal review by Santa Ana police Chief Carlos Rojas.

Video showing Santa Ana police officers surfaced last year, soon after the late-afternoon raid during which several officers served a search warrant at Sky High.

The video, viewed more than a million times, shows police breaking through Sky Highs front door and ordering at least a half-dozen customers to the floor.

Everybody on the ground! one officer shouts. Hands on your head!

A portion of the video also shows officers making demeaning remarks about Sky High volunteer Marla James, 55. In the video, James, an amputee, is seen sitting in a wheelchair during the raid.

Did you punch that one-legged old benita? a male officer asks a female officer, apparently referring to James.

I was about to kick her in her (expletive) nub, a female officer replies, according to subtitles accompanying the video clip.

The video also shows officers disabling the 16 video cameras in public view at Sky High the day of the raid. The store had four other cameras, hidden from view, that continued to record events inside the store.

Sontag is accused of damaging five of the disabled surveillance cameras by banging and smashing the camera lenses. Each camera was valued at $80 to $100, prosecutors said.

The video also shows an officer unwrapping a small package and putting something in his mouth.

According to the charges filed Monday, Sontag, Quijas and Arroyo entered Sky Highs break room and took snacks, including cookies and protein bars, available to staff.

Prosecutors said the trio consumed some of the items and took extra cookies with them before leaving. Prosecutors said the three also shared some protein bars with other Santa Ana officers, but that that there was insufficient evidence to say if other officers knew the snacks came from the dispensary.

The D.A.s Office declined to say if the officers were tested to see if the snacks theyre accused of eating contained marijuana. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that snacks eaten during the raid contained any drugs.

Matthew Pappas, a Long Beach attorney who represents Sky High and other dispensaries  and who publicized the video  said he is pleased charges were filed against the officers.

They should be held accountable, he said.

James, the Sky High volunteer, said she doesnt feel vindicated by the charges filed Monday. Still, she added, shes glad officers face legal action.

Even misdemeanors are good. Im happy prosecutors paid attention.

714-796-7767, sschwebke@ocregister.com or Twitter: @thechalkoutline
The storied life of Mel Brooks came to Costa Mesa on Sunday afternoon in the person of the man himself in A Hilarious Live Conversation with Mel Brooks at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and for a highly appreciative audience of 3,000, it was one for the books.

The legendary director, producer, writer and actor regaled the audience with personal recollections and anecdotes and answered questions, but not until after a screening of Brooks first major movie hit, 1974s Blazing Saddles.

Aside from a movie theater-style presentation of the film surrounded by fellow fans, the audience got to see Brooks himself as penny-pinching, cross-eyed governor William J. Petomane and as a Yiddish-speaking Sioux chief.

Moderator Kevin Salter, producer of the 2014 one-man show Mel Brooks: Live at the Geffen, called Blazing Saddles the funniest movie ever made, asking could this movie be made today? Probably not, a reference to its prevalent ethnic humor and crudities, all decidedly un-P.C.  and all elements that made it an instant comedy classic upon initial release.

Brooks was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation, and though he had a chair beside Salter, the 89-year-old spent much of the time on his feet, evincing the same kind of energy and enthusiasm that typifies his filmed or videotaped interviews, including the 2013 PBS American Masters biography.

Brooks related how after having made his first two films (The Producers and The Twelve Chairs), Hollywood producer David Begelman approached him with the offer to direct a new spoof of Westerns.

I like it, he told Begelman after reading screenwriter and director Andrew Bergmans outline, but I dont make movies that dont spring from my mind. Brooks said the offer of $150,000 instantly changed his mind.

When the scripts co-writer, Richard Pryor, was uninsurable for the lead role of Black Bart, Brooks told Pryor he was quitting as director  but Pryor urged him to stay since his final payment for the script hinged on Brooks being director.

Brooks called the audition and casting of Cleavon Little as Bart like a gift from heaven. Similarly, health issues forced Gig Young, Brooks first choice for The Waco Kid, out of the movie at the start of shooting, leading to Gene Wilders casting.

Brooks also praised stars Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman (one of the best comics that ever lived), cinematographer Joseph Biroc and composer John Morris  and recalled how key Warner Bros. execs either wanted Blazing Saddles buried or heavily edited to mitigate any possibly offensive humor.

Blazing Saddles, Brooks said, caught the imagination of the public, going from 25 theaters in early February 1974 to summertime wide release of 200 movie houses and, by 1975, to 400 or 500 more  unheard of, he said, for its time, considering its fairly low budget ($2.2 million) and lack of major stars.

With his first big check from the film, Brooks moved his beloved mother Kate from Brooklyn, New York, to Miami Beach, telling of how tea at moms new condo ended up including all her neighbors from the building. (Wife) Anne (Bancroft) and I spent three hours just kissing people and signing autographs.

While most of the stage time dealt with Blazing Saddles, Brooks also related his meeting with Alfred Hitchcock, a director whose talents he idolized, for input into the Hitchcock parody High Anxiety, noting that you cant send up a picture unless you really love the genre being spoofed.

The director said it was such a pleasure to sit backstage listening to the effusive reaction to Blazing Saddles from the Segerstrom audience, which included his author/screenwriter son Max and Maxs 11-year-old son, Henry.

Audience member Gene Fontana called Brooks a legend. Ive seen every movie hes ever made, and all are hilarious. He takes whats taboo and makes it funny, and thats hard to do.

Carissa Cummings and Collin Neal said they met and became friends watching Blazing Saddles, Cummings saying its so wonderful to see Brooks, and with such energy for someone his age. He transcends time.

Contact the writer: emarchesewriter@gmail.com
LADERA RANCH  Who would have thought from our Mass on the grass wed be here today? the Rev. Reynold Furrell said to roughly 400 of his congregants Sunday on a 7-acre plot of land in Ladera Ranch.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange broke ground Sunday on its newest parish, Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Its tucked next to a strip mall and a residential community just off Antonio Parkway.

The day, which included kids digging in the future confessional spot with mini-shovels, was a ceremonial one.

It will be the first parish the local diocese will build in at least five years and is part of an expansion the church is undergoing in the Southwest, with Southern California one of the leading regions in the country, Diocese of Orange spokesman Ryan Lilyengren said.

Its not that common outside of Southern California, Lilyengren said of opening new parishes. The Catholic Church is a pretty old institution.

He said much of the churchs growth in recent years is a result of the popularity of Pope Francis, who has preached the importance of mercy and raised awareness of migrants plight, such as his plea for Europe and the U.S. to accept Syrian refugees.

The building of the church is more than a decade in the making, with its first Mass held in a Ladera Ranch park in 2005 with only five families, Furrell said. The congregation is now 2,000 families strong and meets in temporary buildings on the diocese-owned land.

But not for much longer.

The 18,328-square-foot church, being built with community fundraising of roughly $7 million, plans to open in about a year. It will be in Spanish mission style, with a 19th century Mexican tabernacle and vintage stained glass.

After Mass around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, congregants snapped pictures on their iPhones as Furrell blessed the groundbreaking and dove in with a shovel. They were able to take home jars of the dirt from the grounds of the church they will have helped build.

Weve been able to dream about this from the beginning, said Coto de Caza resident Jamie Heim, who joined the church at its start about 10 years ago.

Her husband, Richard Heim, is on the building committee.

Were excited about this day, he said. If you look around here, you see so many young faces.  They are indeed the future of our church. I would like to have my fourth daughter get married here.

Its exciting. Its a good foundation for the family, Ladera Ranch resident Chris Rodenbour said as he waited with family to get food after the groundbreaking. Itll be fun to see it from the ground up.

Contact the writer: 714-796-6910 or jclay@ocregister.com
In defending himself against lawsuits from women who say he sexually assaulted and then defamed them, Bill Cosby is facing mountainous legal expenses.

Luckily for him, he has homeowners insurance.

That is the surprising tool Cosby is using to pay his legal fees as he battles defamation claims filed by 10 women in three states.

Cosbys insurer, American International Group, better known as AIG, has gone to court to deny him coverage, arguing, among other things, that it should not have to cover claims that arose from alleged acts of sexual misconduct.

But so far, Cosby is winning.

The court finds that plaintiff has a duty to defend, Judge Beverly Reid OConnell, of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said in a ruling last November that favored Cosby.

Though it may seem novel, Cosbys policy is a lot like those held by millions of affluent homeowners and other wealthy people who bolster their insurance coverage so that they are protected if they are ever sued.

Pitcher Roger Clemens, O.J. Simpson and Bill Clinton have all used so-called personal injury coverage, typically tied into their homeowners policy, to battle lawsuits.

In 1994, Clinton was fending off accusations that he had sexually harassed Paula Corbin Jones, and that he had his aides cast her account as a lie when they denied the incident occurred.

Jones sued on defamation and other grounds, and Clintons insurers helped defray the costs. Clintons lawyer said that Clinton was surprised when he learned his policies would help cover the legal expenses.

The typical homeowners policy covers bodily injury, the sort of claim that arises when the mail carrier slips on your broken front stoop. But many wealthy Americans, with assets to protect, often pay for enhanced personal injury clauses or umbrella policies that provide coverage in a range of other circumstances, including lawsuits that accuse the policyholder of defamation. Two decades ago, the insurance industry estimated that 7 million people in the United States held such umbrella policies, although the Insurance Information Institute said it does not have current estimates.

I dont think that celebrities go out looking for defamation coverage. I think they buy quality insurance, and that happens to include defamation coverage, said Randy Maniloff, an insurance coverage lawyer in Philadelphia.

But in Cosbys case, the defamation suit has become a popular weapon for women who say the entertainer sexually assaulted them decades ago. When they came forward, it was too late to sue on sexual assault grounds, because the statute of limitations had expired. So women have sued him for defamation instead, asserting they were branded as liars when Cosbys lawyers and other representatives dismissed their allegations as fabrications.

To cover his legal costs, Cosby is relying on the insurance policies he had on his homes in Massachusetts and California, each with limited liability coverage of $1 million, according to court records. Cosby and his wife, Camille, also have an extra liability policy with coverage of $35 million.

Cosby wants his insurer to pay for the cost of defending him and to cover any final judgments, up to the set limits.

For now, AIG is paying the legal fees in three of the five defamation cases. Its unclear if it is covering the costs for the others, filed by two women in Massachusetts. The company did not return calls seeking comment.

But AIG is fighting in federal court in Massachusetts and California and in state court in Pennsylvania to reclaim its legal costs, while also arguing that it should not be on the hook for any final judgments.

The insurance company says Cosby is not covered because there is a sexual misconduct exclusion in his policies, a clause that rules out claims for personal injury arising out of any actual or alleged sexual misconduct.

In her November decision, though, OConnell in California rejected that argument in a defamation case brought by the former actress Janice Dickinson.

Sexual misconduct may be the subject matter of defendants statements, but defendants statements, not his alleged sexual misconduct, directly caused the injury for which Dickinson now seeks relief, she said.

The judge decided, among other things, that the policy was worded ambiguously; and in matters of ambiguity, the law is interpreted in favor of extending coverage.

AIG says it plans to appeal the ruling. It has also amended its complaint to put forth additional grounds for its assertion that Cosby is not covered, including the fact that the named insured on the California policy is not Cosby, but his limited liability company.

Not all of Cosbys legal bills are being paid by AIG. For example, he has no insurance to cover the cost of his defense in a criminal case in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors say Cosby sexually assaulted a young woman in his home in 2004. Cosby has denied wrongdoing in that case, and in all the cases that are the subject of the defamation suits.
Digital First Media bid $45.5 million and won the stalking horse initial bankruptcy-auction bid for The Orange County Register, The Press-Enterprise and related real estate, a bankruptcy attorney for the owner of the two newspapers said Sunday.

The bid by Digital First  owner of the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram and other papers around the country  sets the stage for a court-supervised auction scheduled for Wednesday, said Alan Friedman, bankruptcy attorney for Freedom Communications, owner of the Register and Press-Enterprise.

Two other groups bid for Freedoms papers and real estate: an investor group headed by Freedom CEO Rich Mirman; and Tribune Publishing, owner of the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune and other papers. Friedman added that several bids interested only in Freedoms real estate assets also are being evaluated.

Spokespeople for Mirmans investor group could not be reached for immediate comment Sunday. Officials at Tribune Publishing declined comment.

Freedom filed for bankruptcy protection in November, and the sale proceeds will help back pay its creditors. Digital Firsts bid does not include the Registers pension plan obligations. The federal governments Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. would take over Freedoms retirement obligations if the sale doesnt include the pension.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. typically covers pension benefits up to $60,136 a year. It has a $15 million secured claim in the bankruptcy already, as well as a $155 million tentative unsecured claim if it ends up with Freedoms pension plan.

The Los Angeles Daily News first reported the $45.5 million stalking horse bid Sunday. If Digital First is outbid, as stalking horse bidder it will be paid a $1.1 million breakup fee and up to $200,000 in expenses.

Digital First was chosen by Freedom, with input from creditors, after analysis by FTI Consulting, a Los Angeles-based investment bank.

In a statement, Ron Hasse, publisher of Digital Firsts Los Angeles News Group, expressed his companys hopes for the two newspapers.

The announcement validates our proven track record of sustainable profitability and plans for managing these two highly regarded publications so they can continue to provide outstanding local and independent coverage to Orange County and Riverside County, Hasse wrote. We know there are a lot of talented employees at both papers and we would welcome the opportunity to have them join the Digital First Media team. However, as pleased as we are with this news, it is not the conclusion of this process. At that point  after the Freedom assets have been awarded  we will be able to more thoroughly discuss the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Newspaper analyst Ken Doctor was surprised by Digital First Medias aggressive bid  especially after some public discussions that questioned the value of certain Freedom assets.

We see an opening bid that portends a sales price closing in on $50 million, Doctor said.

Digital Firsts move puts Tribune, in particular, in a tough spot, Doctor said. It will be expensive to win the bidding and losing to Digital First means a strong, regional competitor would be created, he said.

Tribunes new leader, Michael Ferro is now forced to decide if he wants to spend more than half the companys cash to get the deal done, Doctor says. Even leanly run Digital First will provide competitive reporting strength in Southern California  all its properties added together  compared to the L.A. Times.
CARACAS, Venezuela  Officials have recovered the remains of four people belonging to a group of over 20 missing miners believed to have been killed by a gang seeking control over a wildcat gold claim in southeastern Venezuela.

Attorney General Luisa Ortega said the remains were found Monday in an area of jungle in Bolivar state near where the miners went missing a week ago.

She said the search continues for the remaining 17 miners. Opposition politicians said as many as 28 miners are missing.

Ortega said authorities have arrested one individual through the investigation and several more are pending.

The circumstances leading to the massacre are unclear but relatives who said they witnessed the attack accuse local officials of being involved, a claim the government denied.
GENEVA  Still looking far from ready to compromise, representatives from Syrias government and opposition arrived here Sunday ahead of another round of U.N.-backed negotiations to end their catastrophic civil war.

The talks that are scheduled to begin Monday come barely more than a month after a previous round of negotiations here in Geneva collapsed because of fighting that continued to rage back in Syria. But even as expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough remain low, glimmers of hope have emerged because of a drop in violence from a partial truce that came into effect more than two weeks ago.

With government and rebel forces verging on exhaustion after more than four years of civil war, their rival great power sponsors  Russia and the United States  appear to have taken greater interest in forging a diplomatic solution. Moscow backs Syrian President Bashar aAssad and Washington supports his opposition, but they nevertheless brokered the shaky cease-fire that took hold on Feb. 27 and have cajoled their allies into returning to Geneva.

This truce was negotiated between Russia and the U.S., not between the various Syrian actors, said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and director of the University of Oklahomas Center for Middle East Studies. Its success demonstrates how exhausted all sides are.

But while Secretary of State John F. Kerry said that violence has been reduced by 80 to 90 percent under the cease-fire, U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned that most of the violations have been perpetrated by Syrian government forces and their Iranian and Hezbollah allies on the ground. Militiamen from Iran and the Lebanese militant group have participated in pro-government ground attacks that have been backed by airstrikes from Russia, which intervened militarily in the conflict in late September. Moscows support has helped Assad regain momentum in a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, uprooted millions and empowered the Islamic State and other extremists.

Frustration over Russias inability or unwillingness to rein in Assads forces led Kerry on Sunday to publicly remind Russia and Iran that they accepted responsibility for the forces that they control or influence. . . . So President Putin, who is invested in supporting Assad . . . should be somewhat concerned.

This is a moment of truth, Kerry said during a visit to Paris, a moment where all of us have agreed to be responsible.

Although Washington and Moscow agreed not to litigate cease-fire violations publicly, he said, its important now for those who support President Assad to make sure that he is living up to this agreement. And therefore, as a result, that they are living up to this agreement, too.

Statements on Saturday by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem added to U.S. irritation. Moualem confirmed the governments participation in the talks, but said any opposition attempt to discuss Assads future was a red line for Damascus. The government delegation will reject any attempt to put this on the agenda, he said at a news conference in the Syrian capital.

We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency. . . . I advise them that if this is their thinking, they shouldnt come to the talks, he said. The opposition, Moualem said, is operating under delusions that they will take power in Geneva that they failed to take in battle.

While the international agreement under which the negotiations are being held does not specifically mention Assad, it outlines the establishment of a transitional government with full executive powers to take control of Syria while a new constitution is being written and preparations are being made for elections. The opposition has repeatedly said its interpretation of that agreement is that there is no place for Assad in the transition.

The Obama administration, while continuing to say that peace is impossible as long as Assad remains in office, has avoided saying that the talks should be specifically about his future. But Kerry seemed Sunday to move closer to the opposition position, saying that Assad sent his foreign minister out . . . to try and act as a spoiler, to take off the table something that President Putin and Iran had committed to in signing the agreement.

Kerry said that he was in contact with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and that U.S. and Russian task force representatives were meeting this weekend in both Geneva and Amman, where the United States operates a center to monitor cease-fire violations.

Russia has significantly decreased its airstrikes against opposition fighters and civilians in recent weeks, according to administration officials, and has increased its strikes against the Islamic State. Opposition groups that signed up for the cease-fire have largely complied with it.

But Syrian government forces, in addition to continued use of air-dropped barrel bombs, have conducted ground operations against opposition-held areas around Damascus and the Mediterranean province of Latakia in an apparent effort to retake ground.

While the government has lifted sieges to allow humanitarian access in some areas, Kerry confirmed reports that Syrian forces have removed medical supplies from the relief convoys operated by the United Nations and non-governmental aid organizations.

By continuing military operations on the ground, administration officials said, Assad may also be trying to goad opposition forces into violating the truce. Two of the largest armed groups  Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham  have come under attack near the cities of Homs and Hama. The two Islamist organizations have so far been observing the cease-fire, but have kept the opposition negotiating team at arms length.

The talks beginning Monday are expected to last for 10 days, during which the United Nations expects no face-to-face contact between the government and opposition delegations. The plan is then to adjourn them for further consultations on all sides before resuming around April 5.
Indian and Chinese restaurant Wok N Tandoor opened a location in Orange on Feb. 17. The restaurant already has a location in Artesias Little India.

Wok N Tandoor offers traditional Indian and Chinese food as well as innovative items such as Szechuan Fries and Indian pizzas. Indian sweets and snacks are available as well.

The company also caters.

Orange location owner Natasha Brahmbhatt said there are a few differences between the Artesia and Orange locations. The Artesia location is fine dining with a full bar while the Orange outpost is an express version. Beer and wine will be added in the next month.

Theres a large Indian community in the surrounding area who already go to the Artesia location and we wanted to bring something closer, Brahmbhatt said. It allows people to come more often and other people to come and try Indian food. Its a generation now where people are more willing to try new foods.

She added that Millennials are more willing to try new foods than older generations and she hopes Wok N Tandoor will offer people a cheap way to try new things. The most expensive item on the menu is $11.99.

There is a create your own bowl option for $8.95 at lunch.

If the restaurant does well Brahmbhatt will open additional locations.

Wok N Tandoor is located at 1948 N Tustin St., the former space of Titos La Familia.

Wok N Tandoor isnt the only recent addition to Oranges budding culinary scene. Other additions include:

Raising Canes: Louisiana-based Raising Canes recently opened its third California restaurant in Orange. The fast-food chain, known for its fried chicken fingers, also sells sells crinkle-cut fries, Texas toast, coleslaw, soda and sweet tea.

The Orange restaurant is located at 2249 N. Tustin St.

Rekindle Caffe: The coffee and pastry shop is opening at 434 N. Tustin St. soon, according to its Facebook page.

Sammys Stack House: An IHOP at 707 N. Tustin St. has closed and reopened as Sammys Stack House.

Pie Hole: The hand-held savory and sweet pie shop is expected to open Old Towne Orange in April.

Blakelys Chicken: A rotisserie chicken restaurant is replacing Freebirds in Orange on Katella Avenue and Tustin Street.

Watsons Soda Fountain & Cafe: The well known shop, which switched ownership in July, will re-open March 21.

Staff writer Nancy Luna contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
Many parents of children with special needs say local and state leaders are unjustly scaring families over a federal lawsuit that seeks personal information to help determine whether California public schools properly educate those with learning disabilities.

The California Department of Educations notice last month advising parents they can object to the release of private student information has kicked up a furor.

People were frantic, said Simran Mangat Garcia, a parent in the Orange Unified School District. Everybody on Facebook was saying they want your Social Security number, and they want your insurance information and your privacy is at stake.

I was going on Facebook to say: Dont jump to conclusions.  Calm down,  she said.

Garcia, a leader in the Talk About Curing Autism group, is one of many parents of children with special needs concerned that, in their view, education leaders have misinformed parents and created unnecessary alarm.

Districts across Orange County and the state, at the request of the California Department of Education, are telling parents on their websites, in letters and with robo-calls that they have until April 1 to file an objection with the court.

Some sent home the notices in different languages because not all parents speak English, have access to computers or could access the information.

A Fullerton School District notice says the state had to disclose extensive confidential student-record information for use in a lawsuit. The Santa Ana Unified School District robo-called parents, saying it had information on how you can protect your students and not have their information released by the state.

The objection forms sent to the court by parents seek to block the release of students personal data that could include Social Security numbers and records pertaining to behavior, discipline, and mental and physical health.

Information on some 10 million students, those in the public-school system since 2008, could become available to the plaintiffs. The federal suit accuses the state of failing to meet U.S. law in providing proper education to children with special needs. The state denies the allegation.

Educators say they are only informing parents, and not advocating, while fighting to protect the privacy rights of all students.

I strongly believe that no school district in this area is taking a side in this case, said Frank Donavan, superintendent of the Magnolia School District in Anaheim. As school district administrators, we are doing our best to protect the rights and privacy of our students.

I still cannot understand how any school district can be ordered to turn over the confidential records of all of their students, he said.

In the end, parents likely wont be allowed to decide whether their childrens information becomes available to the court cases plaintiffs.

Early this month, U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller in Sacramento modified her earlier ruling to specify that data, while still possibly being made available to the plaintiff, cant be removed from the California Department of Education building.

Earlier, the judge ruled that few could see the information and that it would be destroyed or returned at the end of the lawsuit, filed in 2011 by groups representing families of children with disabilities.

Exactly what information will be available to the plaintiffs was still being decided.

The plaintiffs want to know: Are school districts dropping eligible students from special-education services? Are they providing children with accommodations, such as extra testing time, instead of creating a more-extensive plan under the Individualized Education Program? Are a disproportionate number of students from certain ethnicities labeled with certain disabilities?

We never asked for anyones files, said Christine English, a spokeswoman for one of the groups, the California Concerned Parents Association, but rather asked for the information in numerical format. And we dont want Social Security numbers. Parents dont even need to provide Social Security information to enroll their students in school.

The judge said a lot of objections have come in, although her court declined to provide a number. In her nine-page ruling, Mueller said some objection forms were based on incomplete or misleading messages that have been conveyed, adding that the states notice was translated variously as encouragement to object.

In Orange County, an estimated 50,000 children in public schools have disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, dyslexia and autism, while statewide special-education services were provided to 717,961 people from newborns to 22-year-olds last school year, according to the states website.

Recently, the nonprofit Justice in Education held a workshop in Santa Ana, where some 25 advocates and parents of children with special needs gathered to listen to English.

Until that night, Stella Davidson-Mendoza wasnt sure which way to go.

I was a little bit alarmed, said the mother of three in the Tustin Unified School District. I was panicked. I didnt want my childrens information out.

After hearing more about the lawsuit and the measures taken to protect data, she decided to not file an objection.

In the end, said Shanin Ziemer, a parent in the Anaheim Union High School District and a leader in the county PTA:

Everyone is trying to do the best for their children. Nobody is anti-special ed. The concern is: How can we help them out without endangering our own kids?

Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@ocregister.com
SACRAMENTO  Californians are entitled to view a wide variety of emails, memos and other records created by their state and local governments. Ask to see who your state lawmaker is emailing, however, and theyll get a two-page canned response that says, in essence, no way.

Access to public records is considered paramount to maintaining trust in government holding politicians accountable. But California lawmakers wrote themselves out of the 1968 Public Records Act that requires other government officials to release their records when the public asks.

Lawmakers instead apply their own, less transparent law.

The issue has come into focus repeatedly since the Legislative Open Records Act was signed in 1975, but little has changed.

Government transparency laws like those allowing public access to records allow citizens to keep an eye on their government, ensuring politicians are keeping their promises, and deter corruption, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School who serves as president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

When people know that theyre going to have to tell the public what theyre doing, or how theyre getting and spending money, or how theyre spending their time, then they may think twice before engaging in questionable behavior, Levinson said.

Legislators have long defended their carve-outs as necessary protections for constituents and for maintaining a forum for frank debate in the Legislature.

The Associated Press requested a weeks worth of calendar entries and emails for the four top lawmakers in every state and most governors.

In California, officials in Gov. Jerry Browns office said they release the governors calendar monthly and declined to provide earlier access to a week of appointments. Brown did not use his official email account during the week requested by the AP, spokesman Evan Westrup said.

The Assembly and Senate Rules committees declined requests for emails and calendars for the top legislative leaders, citing a number of exemptions including privacy and legislative privilege.

Californias legislative branch is bound by a less transparent public records law than the Public Records Act, which applies to other government agencies, including the executive branch and local governments.

The Legislative Open Records Act, signed in 1975, exempts from public disclosure all correspondence of and to individual members of the Legislature and their staff as well as any communications between private citizens and the Legislature.

In denying the APs requests, the Rules committees also cited a 1991 California Supreme Court decision that said Gov. George Deukmejian was not required to disclose his calendar. Yet, Brown and his predecessor, as well as other statewide elected officials, regularly release their schedules upon request.

In 2011, three lawmakers told the AP and San Jose Mercury News they would be willing to release their personal meeting calendars, but were prohibited from doing so by the rules committees that control legislative documents. The rule appeared to be extremely rare among state legislatures.

That same year, then-Assembly Speaker John Perez said hed create a task force to study open-records issues following an uproar over the Assemblys refusal to release lawmakers office spending records during a feud with another Democratic lawmaker.

The task force does not appear to have ever met, and Perez referred questions about it to the Assembly Rules Committee. Chief Administrator Debra Gravert said she was hired three years later but would research the issue.

We already did more disclosure than was required by law, and more disclosure than the Senate did, Perez said.
WASHINGTON  A senior member of the Saudi royal family has criticized comments made by Barack Obama in a recent magazine article, suggesting that the U.S. presidents harsh remarks about the kingdom were a curveball in Americas relationship with one of its main Arab allies.

Prince Turki al-Faisal made his criticism of Obamas comments in an open letter, Mr Obama. We are not free riders,  published Monday in the Arab News newspaper. Prince Turki, a former Saudi ambassador to Washington, appears to be the first senior member of the Saudi royal family to publicly criticize Obamas comments.

In the lengthy Atlantic magazine feature published last week, Obama told correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg that free riders aggravated him. The comment appeared to be largely aimed at Americas European and Arab allies who the president felt did not contribute their fair share on the international stage.

The U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia had appeared to be a particular source of ire for the president, who told Goldberg that its complicated when asked if the Saudis were friends. In comments to Goldberg, Obama appeared to criticize the conservative domestic values of Saudi Arabia and suggest that the nation would have to learn to share the Middle East with its regional rival, Iran.

In his letter, Prince Turki takes aim specifically at the free riders comment, listing a broad set of examples of that he believes shows Saudi leadership. Saudi Arabias role in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen is cited, as is the recent creation of an Islamic military alliance against terrorism. Prince Turki also describes Saudi Arabia as the biggest contributors to the humanitarian relief efforts to help refugees from Syria, Yemen and Iraq and makes a pointed reference to Saudi Arabias purchase of U.S. treasury bonds that help your countrys economy.

Prince Turki writes that Obamas comments about Saudi Arabia may be because he is petulant that Saudi Arabia supported the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt or because the U.S. president has pivoted to Iran.

Despite the harsh words, the letter ends on a positive note. We will continue to hold the American people as our ally and dont forget that when the chips were down  such as the 1991 war that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait  Saudi and U.S. soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, Prince Turki wrote.

Prince Turki has criticized Obama before, accusing him of failed favoritism towards Israel in a 2011 column published in The Washington Post. Though he is no longer in the Saudi government, his high ranking position in the Saudi royal family and his long career in the countrys diplomatic and intelligence services lends his opinion weight. Notably, the letter was published in English and addressed directly to the president, suggesting its intended audience was American rather than Saudi.

The Saudi government did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Prince Turkis letter, but Fahad Nazer, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, suggested that many in Saudi Arabia supported the sentiment.

Many Saudis readily admit that they are now simply awaiting the end of President Obamas tenure, Nazer wrote in an e-mail to WorldViews, with some boldly proclaiming that anyone will be better than Obama. 
SAN FRANCISCO 

Forecasters have issued an avalanche warning along the Sierra crest after a weekend storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow on the mountains around Lake Tahoe.

The warning issued Monday covers the highest reaches of the range in California and Nevada.

Schools opened two hours late at Incline Village, where 5 inches of new snow was reported for a two-day total of 12 inches.

The National Weather Service in Reno said a high wind advisory remains in effect until 8 p.m. Monday at Tahoe and Pyramid Lake.

The service said both lakes could see gusts up to 45 mph and 2- to 4-foot waves.

On Sunday, the strong winds toppled a 30-foot box trailer being towed near Carson City, and likely caused a power outage that affected as many as 7,000 people in Washoe County.

More than a foot of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada, and up to 3 feet is expected in the higher elevations through Monday.
KABUL  An Afghan insurgent leader blacklisted by the United Nations will join peace talks with the Kabul government, in a potential boost to flagging U.S. efforts to broker an end to Afghanistans years-long war.

In a statement Sunday, the notorious warlord and radical Islamist commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said he is ready to participate in negotiations to show Afghans that we want peace.

We see that the Americans want to fight, and most of the Kabul officials see peace as a threat to the power, said the statement, which was posted online. In spite of this, we are ready to participate in the talks.

The announcement from Hekmatyar  who leads the group Hezb-i-Islami  comes one week after the Taliban leadership rejected talks with the government, refusing face-to-face meetings and postponing the peace process indefinitely. Negotiations had been scheduled to start earlier this month in Islamabad, Pakistans capital.

Unless the occupation of Afghanistan is ended . . . such futile, misleading negotiations will not bear any fruit, the Taliban said in a statement, blaming U.S. airstrikes and night raids for the ongoing fighting in places such as Helmand province.

The talks have been backed by the United States, China and Pakistan, whose ties to the Taliban leadership are an open secret.

Hekmatyar, too, is said to have links to Pakistans shadowy intelligence service. The U.S. State Department designated him a global terrorist in 2003 and just last week slapped sanctions on two of his groups top explosives experts.

Hezb-i-Islami has attacked government targets and courted relations with the Afghan leadership in Kabul. It also has allied with the Taliban and squared off against Taliban insurgents on the battlefield.

It is unclear if Hekmatyars participation will persuade leverage the Taliban to join the process. Hekmatyar, 68, served briefly as prime minister in Kabul during the civil war in the 1990s, and became infamous for launching rocket attacks on his city.

A delegation dispatched by Hekmatyar was in Kabul on Sunday to confirm the insurgent leaders cooperation with the government, one Afghan official said. He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government fell apart last year after it was revealed that Taliban leader Mohammad Omar died in 2013. The news of his death fractured the movement as the leadership sought to choose a successor.

Still, the insurgency has made steady gains in areas across Afghanistan in recent years. According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a U.S. government watchdog, the Taliban controls more territory than it has since the U.S. invasion toppled its government in 2001.
Raymundo Corona, a farmer from Mexico, has gone and built a 22-foot Aztec pyramid in the desert, 74 km from the Mexico-US border. When people asked him why he went through the trouble of building a pyramid in the desert, he said he was simply following the instructions of an alien who paid him a visit three decades ago.

Speaking to a local newspaper, Corona described the alien as a tall man with honey-colored eyes and white hair, by the name of Herulayka. He apparently came from a planet called Nefilin, which Corona says is 20 times the size of Earth and is located in the constellation of Orion.

The Mexican farmer added that Herulayka warned him that he would be taken for a drunk or a drug addict if he ever built the pyramid, but his conviction was so strong that he went ahead and did it anyway. He really believes that the alien paid him a visit in 1984, when he was 33 years old. His wife was pregnant at the time and about to give birth to their baby girl when he first saw the strange man in his dreams.

Photo: YouTube caption

A few nights later, he heard a knock on his door and it turned out to be the same man. Corona was scared out of his wits and ran outside, but then regained his composure and got back home. He figured the strange figure might be a God, but the man, sensing his thoughts, said: Im not a God, I am a man like you, I have the same importance as you.

Photo: Victor Murillo C.

He told me to build the temple in the form of a pyramid, Corona explained. When I asked him why it had to be in the form of a pyramid, he said it was because it should be like my faith, something that winds and storms couldnt move and was always pointing upwards.

Photo: jjconyers

He told me he came from the constellation of Orion, from a place called Nefilin which is a place 20 times larger than Earth where people are similar to human beings, he added. He was a tall man with honey colored eyes and white hair down to the ground. He was barefoot and wore a tunic tied with a rope.

Photo: YouTube caption

The man supposedly warned Corona that building the temple would not be easy, telling him: Many people will laugh at you, defame and say it was an act of insanity or something he did during a bender, it was an act of a madman or a drug addict. The alien also said that humans were destroying their own planet and needed to look after it like a child.

Building a temple in the form of a pyramid was not an easy task, especially not for Corona, who had only studied until the sixth grade. He had to make several mathematical calculations that were way beyond his understanding, and to this day, he has no idea how he managed to do it. He just believes that the knowledge was embedded in his genetic system, waiting for him to access it.

Source: La Vanguardia
For the past 15 years, factory owner Kamal Parmar has been running an after-school program for slum kids in Ahmedabad, India, helping them with basic skills like reading and writing and even preparing for their school tests.

Parmars story begins one afternoon 15 years ago. He was standing outside his metal fabrication workshop, near the slums of the Bhudarpura neighborhood, when he met a few kids returning home from the local municipal school. They were ecstatic about the end of their exams, which they claimed to have aced, so he decided to stop them and ask them a few questions. Thats when he made a shocking discovery  the students, even the older ones, did not know how to read.

I took their exam paper and asked a few questions to some of them, he says in a 2014 documentary titled Footpath School. But none of them knew any answers. I thought to ask a few others. I asked them to read, but they did not even know how to read. Surprised, I asked them what did they write in their exams. All they knew was identifying the alphabet. And that left me thinking that something should be done for these children. And that is how, 15 to 17 years back I started this school.

Photo: Humans of Amdavad/Facebook

First, Parmar spoke to 400 students who lived in the area and discovered that only five were literate. So he invited the kids to visit his home every evening, where he set up a makeshift classroom with metal desks made at his own workshop. Despite being a school dropout himself, the factory worker planned to teach them everything he knew  right from the alphabet to preparing for school tests  while focusing patiently on the needs of each individual student.

The humble school started off with 10 students, but over the years, Parmar managed to attract more students with a simple strategy  delicious dinners prepared right outside his school. I teach them for two hours every day, and then we all have dinner together, he said, speaking to Humans of Amdavad, a Facebook page that documents stories from the people from the Indian city. Dinner doesnt include simple Roti-Sabji, I provide them with hygienic and fancy dishes like Pav-Bhaji, Chana Puri, Idli-Sambhar, and also sweets. Due to dinner a lot of students are attracted here. I also take them to picnic once in a year.

Photo: Footpath School Ambawadi

Today, the Footpath School has a total of 155 students and many of the kids that Parmar has taught in the past 15 years have gone on to attend college and build successful careers. One of my girl student recently became Manager at a bank, then one of the students became a computer engineer, the other one became a mechanical engineer, and one of the girls is applying for medical, and the list continues. Imagine, those who couldnt read and write are now engineers and doctors and managers at a bank. For me, this is success.

Despite having studied only till the seventh grade, Parmar says hes been able to teach the kids by devising innovative techniques. I too began to learn along with the girls who studied further, he explained in the documentary film. Even at present, I teach around 50 girls in my own way. I ask them to read first. After reading I ask them to form questions on their own and read them out. This way they themselves form questions and also find the answers. In six months they learn all seven subjects like this  by forming questions, finding answers and learning them by-heart.

Photo: Footpath School Ambawadi

I often ask the municipal school staff, why children learn so little in their school, he said, speaking to The New Indian Express. Children love coming here. We teach them about our country, democracy, and what it is like being an Indian.

So far I have analysed one thing, said Ronak Solanki, one of Parmars first students. From all the students who were with me in the Municipal School, no one is studying today. They have not even passed 10th. He has supported us to a great extent. When we were required to enrol for our 10th standard tuitions, he provided us the tuition fees. Even our 11th and 12th science stream tuition fees were paid by him.

Photo: Footpath School Ambawadi

Parmars family has been very supportive of his project, and are proud to see how much of an impact he has had on the kids in the neighborhood. In fact, when he first expressed desire to start the school, his two sons took over the workshop so he would have all the time he needed. Since childhood we have seen our father doing social work, and we used to feel very proud of him, said Gautam Parmar, one of the sons. If we two brothers werent there to run the garage, then probably he would have continued to run it. But we saw that he loved to do social work, so I and my brother decided to stick to our garage business and let him do his social work.

According to Parmar, one of the best aspects of the Footpath School is that he doesnt have to recruit any teachers. Ten of his ex-students are currently serving as teachers at the school, and he also has volunteers stopping by from all over the world. Many of them sponsor meals for the children as well  around 20 to 25 of the dinners served in a month are paid for through generous donations.

Photo: Footpath School Ambawadi

My experience with these kids was amazing, said Reema Shah, a school teacher who volunteers at the Footpath School. One day I was passing through the street. I saw them learning, so I got down from my scooter and taught them for just 30 minutes. After that the love and affection I got from them was unbelievable. These children dont get proper benches to sit, have no silence zone classrooms, the vehicles passing by make lots of noise, yet they pay 100 percent concentration on what teachers tell them. This touched my heart.

For those who are inspired by his story, but cannot actually volunteer at the Footpath School, Parmar has a simple piece of advice: Try to educate just one child a year, and see the difference it makes to the society.

I have always valued education. And when these children dont get it right, I feel we should think of something for them, the inspiring roadside teacher concludes.

Kumar Parmars dedication towards education reminds of Rajesh Kumar Sharma, who set up a similar school under a bridge in New Delhi, where he teaches children from the citys slums too poor to attend regular schools.
Five top business editors are on a PRSA/NY panel Tuesday March 15 but its at the MSL Group on Hudson st. downtown rather than at Anchin, Block & Anchin in midtown, site of chapter events Dec. 8, 2015 and Jan. 19, 2016. The event is sold out. Members pay $60 and non-members, $80.

Chapter officers including Bill Doescher, president, and Henry Feintuch, 2014 president, have been asked to switch the meeting to AB&A, the largest single office CPA firm in the nation with nearly 90 CPAs on staff. Members were told last week via the chapter website that capacity had been reached at MSL.



Doescher said the location of the panel will not be changed. "We are pleased with the excellent venue for tomorrow evening's event," he said. Anchin "does a number of important things for the chapter and we don't want to abuse the privilege," he said in an email.

AB&A has a large conference room with a capacity of well over 100. The firm declined to estimate the total capacity of the room. It hosted the Dec. 8 chapter meeting at which Richard Edelman, Peter Finn and Ed Moed talked about hiring practices and the Jan. 19, 2016 program on omnichannel marketing.



MSL will hold the event in the reception area of its offices. Capacity is about 70 in that area, a staffer said.

The chapters website warned last week that There will be no onsite registration available.

MSLs New York offices are at 375 Hudson st. on the West Side, a short distance from the Holland Tunnel.

A possible reason for the switch to MSL is that Mark McClennan, 2016 chair of the national Society, is an MSL employee and holding this important panel could be a way of publicizing MSL. McClennan has refused to answer phone calls or emails of the ODwyer Co. Parent Publicis is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. CEO Maurice Levy has been informed of the boycott which has been in force since the early 2000s.



Feintuch said the chapter was not trying to do any particular favor to MSL in holding the event at its offices.

Program Extolled by Chapter

The program, called Meet the Business Media, is for companies looking to establish themselves as leaders to investors, customers, and other stakeholders. A placement in an influential business media outlet is the ultimate coup, it says. The pitch has to be just right. "Join us as we welcome journalists from some of the most prominent business outlets, it says.

Panelists are:

Crystal Lau, producer, CNBC Closing Bell.

Kevin Chupka, producer, Yahoo! Finance

Charisse Jones, business travel, USA Today

John Kell, senior reporter, Fortune



Rubin Ramirez, assignment editor, head of video, TheStreet
Stacey Stevens

In todays turbulent times, its tempting for fully-grown, mature members of our food and beverage sector to shriek, turn and run the other direction when faced with the threat of their company or product being linked to a food safety issue.

Lets face it: in our industry, microbiological pathogens lurk around every drain, every ceiling tile that collects condensation and every box of ingredients unpacked in a restaurant kitchen.

Most of us practitioners of public relations dont claim to understand the finer distinctions between Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum and Escherichia coli. So, how can we ensure our companies and clients stay out of the tag, CDC says youre it spotlight?

Dairy Forum 2016, a gathering of 1,100 food industry executives from around the globe, hosted by International Dairy Foods Association in January, explored this question in the session Caution: Company Under Pressure, which I had the honor of moderating.

According to panel member Joe Levitt, Partner at Hogan Lovells and former Director of the FDAs Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the single biggest problem is thinking this cant or wont happen to you.

Communicators: its our job to get our companies and clients past that mindset, and once we do, the path to preparedness  and ideally prevention  is clear.

Your QA team is reexamining and reinventing its system from top to bottom. Theres no such thing as zero risk. And pledging to adopt the very highest food safety standards represents a major investment of time and resources.

At The Ice Cream Club, headquartered in Boynton Beach, FL, company owners watched the Listeria outbreaks linked to ice cream in 2015 with trepidation. But they didnt just watch, they sprang into action. They brought in outside auditors, instructing them, Were not looking for a gold star; we want you to thoroughly review our facility for any areas of risk and opportunities to improve! They installed new equipment, joined IDFAs Listeria Task Force, updated protocols and methodically retrained their employees. Importantly, they walked the production facility floor day-in-and-day-out, visibly modeling the behaviors they wanted employees to follow. This was a critical success factor in helping employees acclimate to the dynamic new food safety culture.

Youre at the table when your leadership talks FSMA. Communicators have pressing media interviews to conduct, content strategies to approve and executives to prep for the next earnings call. But the historic legislation that directed FDA to build a new system of food safety oversight  one focused on applying the best available science along with common sense, to prevent outbreaks of foodborne illness  must be part of our jobs too. Make sure you understand what your operations team is doing in light of the multi-year implementation of Food Safety Modernization Act regulations, and update your food safety and quality messaging and proof points accordingly. Then, take it upon yourself to make sure your quality assurance, supply chain management and science/regulatory experts appreciate the importance of reputation management, issues management and crisis communication to their efforts. And make sure your FSMA-compliant Recall Plan includes the communications plan and assets youll need to deploy in order to properly notify customers and the public when necessary.

Youre building your reputation, every day and in every way. The key to the success of any response-mode communication effort is that your stakeholders and the general public already know your name and enough about you to give you the benefit of the doubt when something negative surfaces. The best way for members of the food industry to ensure this is the case is to visibly engage in corporate social responsibility, responsible sourcing, nutrition, health and wellness and sustainability efforts. Make meaningful commitments and talk to the public  online and offline  about them in an authentic and passionate way.

You have a plan in place, and you know when to pull the trigger. Your crisis plan should be a living, breathing arsenal of strategies, checklists and tactics so you and your colleagues can respond without losing time to internal deliberations  is this a four-alarm fire, or a three-alarm fire?  when something hits. Youre going to need to marshal external resources quickly as well, so your plan should map out your network of legal, scientific, communications and operational advisors. And remember that scenario-based tabletop exercise that got cut from last years budget? It certainly would have been helpful if the key players had gotten a practice session in before the playbook was put to use!

Your third-party academic experts know you, and can speak to your track record. The list of third-party experts compiled by your summer intern isnt going to do much good in a crisis if you havent built and maintained relationships with everyone on it. Invite scientific and academic experts to tour your facilities, make an effort to visit their institutions, and update them regularly on company events and milestones.

You tap your industry associations and other support systems. When your brand or company reputation is called into question, youre not alone. Industry associations such as IDFA have communication resources, and they employ technical experts who maintain strong relationships with federal regulators. They can advise you on preventive controls and communication strategies to shore up your prevention plan and are well equipped to buoy your team in the event of an escalated issue or crisis.

The stakes for food and beverage executives are higher than ever as the FDA becomes increasingly aggressive in using the criminal sections of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act in the wake of food safety incidents. There have been more criminal prosecutions in the past five years of food company managers than in the prior two decades combined.

With a culture of food safety excellence and crisis preparedness in place, you may not avoid tag, youre it entirely, but youll be in a much better position to get back-into-the-game, and back-to-business, as quickly as possible.



* * *

Stacey Stevens leads the Issues and Crisis Navigation practice at FoodMinds, LLC in Chicago.
Atlantic editor-in-chief James Bennet, who held various newsroom positions at the New York Times a decade ago, will return to the newspaper of record, this time as its newest editorial page director.

James Bennet

Bennet begins his new role in May. The news was first reported Sunday by Politico and confirmed today by the Times.

Bennet, who joined the Atlantic in 2006, was named editor-in-chief in 2012, becoming the first Atlantic staffer to have been appointed to that position, and has since been credited with revitalizing that publication and transforming its website and live events presence. Prior to his 10 years at the Atlantic, Bennet worked at the New York Times, which he joined in 1991 and served as White House correspondent and Jerusalem bureau chief.



His brother is Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO).

As editorial page editor, Bennet succeeds Andrew M. Rosenthal, the influential editor who joined the Times in 1987 from the Associated Press. Rosenthal, who was appointed editorial page editor in 2007, will leave his post in late April, but will pen a column prior to his departure covering the 2016 presidential election, among other subjects.

Rosenthal in a statement wrote that, I feel very honored to have served in this position for longer than any editorial page editor in the modern history of The Times and during a period of such sweeping change, both in our business and in the world we cover.

Bennet will report to publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. who wrote in a statement that, We also knew, or at least hoped, that someday [Bennet] would return.

A separate statement released today by Atlantic Media reported that chairman David Bradley, along with newly elected president Bob Cohn, magazine will now lead the search for a new editor in chief.
John Martin Meek, a former political speechwriter who spent nearly 40 years as a Washington, D.C. public affairs executive, died on March 11 at age 86.

John Martin Meek

Meek was born in 1929 in Oklahomas Dust Bowl, the youngest of nine siblings. He joined the Navy in 1948 and served as a hospital corpsman in the Korean War before receiving a journalism degree in 1956 from the University of Oklahoma, where he was also editor of campus newspaper Oklahoma Daily.

Meek later worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas, and in 1958 received a masters degree from Syracuse University, but left the field of journalism in 1961 to become press secretary to Senator Robert Kerr (D-OK) and later, Senator J. Howard Edmondson (D-OK). He served as press office manager for Robert F. Kennedys (D-NY) senate campaign, for whom he also wrote speeches, then spent four years as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. He also penned a speech for President John F. Kennedy regarding the space program. He held numerous positions at the Democratic National Committee, serving as congressional relations director, chairman special assistant and coordinator of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Meek entered the private sector in 1970, when he was hired by Daniel J. Edelman to open and serve as general manager of Edelman Worldwides Washington, D.C. office. Meek helped grow the agencys then-nascent Capitol Hill outpost and was later named President of Edelman International.



Public relations author Rene A. Henry, who headed Edelman's LA office when it opened in 1967, told O'Dwyer's that the PR powerhouses D.C. shop grew markedly under Meeks direction.

Before John, [Edelman] was a money losing revolving door, Henry said. He turned it into a profit machine.

Meek left Edelman in 1982 to form his own Washington D.C.-based firm, Hartz Meek International, which he founded with fellow Oklahoman Jim Hartz, a former Today Show host. Meek later reincorporated that firm as HMI Inc. Communications.

Meek was a lecturing professor on journalism and marketing at American University; the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ, and was the author of three books, including The Other Pearl Harbor: The Army Air Corps and its Heroes on Dec. 7, 1941, which was published in 2011 by Tate Publishing & Enterprises.

Meeks recognition in the PR industry includes five Silver Anvil Awards from The Public Relations Society of America.

Meek is survived by a brother, three children  Camilla, David and James  and five grandchildren. Son James Gordon Meek served as a Washington correspondent with the New York Daily News and is now an investigative producer at ABC News.
Emma Rose Conroy has been named as Offalys Best Young Entrepreneur, and has won an investment of 20,000, as part of the 2million Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition.

Emma Rose Conroy has been named as Offalys Best Young Entrepreneur, and has won an investment of 20,000, as part of the 2million Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition.

Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur is an integral part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the Local Enterprise Offices.

At a function at the Tullamore Court Hotel on October 6, awards were made for Offalys best start-up, the best new idea, and the best add-on to an existing business, as well as an overall award for the best young entrepreneur in the county, and the winners and investments won were as follows:

Best New Idea: Jack Dooley representing Greener Globe - 10,000

Best Business Start Up: Emma Rose Conroy, Eurostallions - 20,000

Best Established Business with new Add on service: Mark Clendennen, Applied Concepts Ltd - 20,000

The three businesses will now go through to regional finals where they will compete for the right to go through to the national finals and ultimately compete for the award of being named Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur at a ceremony in Dublin.

Marking the occasion, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said, Central to our plans for jobs and growth is supporting more businesses to start-up. Two thirds of all new jobs are created by start-ups, so if we are to create the jobs we need we must support more entrepreneurs to start new businesses. That is why we put in place the entrepreneurship forum chaired by Sean OSullivan and that is why we established the Local Enterprise Offices to provide more and better Government supports to businesses in one easily-accessible place at local level.

He continued, Part of this plan is also fostering a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and promoting start-up business as a career option for young people. That is what is behind this new competition to find the best young entrepreneur in Offaly also ultimately Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur. We have excellent start-ups and entrepreneurs in Ireland  we just dont have enough of them. It is great to see so many excellent entrepreneurs and business-people in Offaly getting involved in this competition, and I am delighted to congratulate the winner Eurostallions. I wish all three winners every success in the later stages of the competition  and wish all participants every success as they grow their businesses and contribute to the job-creation we need.

Speaking at the awards, Head of Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Orla Martin, said, The level of new talent emerging in county Offaly offers great hope and encouragement for the future of the county. The Local Enterprise Office looks forward to working with these inspirational entrepreneurs for many years to come.

The Local Enterprise Office is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union.

.

The 9 Offaly Finalists were as follows:

Best Business Idea: David Cleary, Rockridge Foods - Rockridge Foods is Irelands first dairy free milk producer based in Co. Offaly, with plans to launch a range of almond milks in early 2015.

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Jack Dooley, Representing Greener Globe: Greener Globe is owned by four 5th year students from Tullamore College. They have created two water conservation devices: a water saving showerhead, and a leak Detection System.

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Martin McGuinness, www.thateasy.ie: www.thateasy.ie is a website offering a unique approach to hiring local service providers.

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Darren McNelis, Nevermiss: An app and online service that allows people in the tech and entrepreneur space find out what events in their industry are going on without having to search multiple websites or platforms.

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Best Business Start Up

Emma Rose Conroy , Eurostallions: Trading since March 2014, Euro Stallions, is Irelands first and only fully dedicated stallion semen agency and Irelands first EU Approved Semen Storage Centre. Euro Stallions specialises in providing sport horse breeders ease of access to the worlds top sport horse stallions.

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Conor Lynch, Conor Lynch: Design and handcraft of a unique range of high quality wooden products. This range includes bowls, clocks, pens, candleholders and bottle stoppers.

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Jack Pilkington, Pilkos Pet Farm: Established in 2013, Pilkos Pet Farm based outside Daingean, offers a high quality, friendly experience to visitors.

Best Established Business with new Add on service

Mark Clendennen, Applied Concepts Ltd: Founded in 2010, Applied Concepts Ltd specialises in the design and manufacturing of abrasive blasters, and in the supply of abrasive blast media, blast pot consumables, abrasive blasting safety gear, various blast equipment parts and accessories

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Keith Lambe, Keith Lambe Diesel Services: Set up in 2012, Keith Lambe Diesel Services has grown to become the number 1 diesel repair centre provider in the Midlands and beyond. The business is based in Roscore, just off the N52 at Blueball, Tullamore.

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Pictured are Irelands Best Young Entrepreneurs Winners Group. Back Row L to R: Jack Dooley, Cian Fogarty, Greener Globe, Eurostallions, Mark Clendennen Applied Concepts, Pat Falvey. Front Row: L to R: Orla Martin Head of Local Enterprise, Sinead Dooley Cathaoirleach Offaly County Council, Geraldine Beirne, LEO Business Advisor
Here we go again!

Here we go again!

Do we ever learn in this country? Does our capacity for negativity and self-destruction know any bounds?

A big criticism of governments is frequently that they fail to govern at critical times in a countrys history.

And so this Government has rightly said that it will seek the advice of the Attorney General, Maire Whelan, to determine if a referendum on the new EU fiscal pact is necessary. Yet there are those who say there should be a referendum anyway.

An expensive, time-wasting referendum at a time when the focus should be, all day, every day, on saving the country economically? Are we crazy?

EU leaders struck a deal on Monday night on a new pact with the objective of reinforcing the single currency by strengthening Europes budget rules.

It seemed like a good days work at the end of a long process. There was a strong measure of consensus. And that is what most people have been looking for.

It was blindingly obvious that some kind of fiscal treaty was long overdue.

What was agreed in Brussels establishes legal limits on national debt and budget deficits. Such a level of fiscal responsibility is long overdue in Ireland.

Those who argue that we could lose our sovereignty because of the new treaty have surely missed something very basic. That ship has sailed.

We have already lost our sovereignty because of the recklessness, greed and incompetence of some politicians, bankers and developers in the past.

A constitutional challenge is likely if the Attorney recommends to the Government that a referendum is not necessary. And those who would launch such a challenge are entitled to do so. Thats democracy.

But we cannot have it every way. It is the job of the Government to govern.

A constitutional referendum is only required when what is being done needs to be enshrined in the Constitution.

At this time of grave crisis, can we not all grasp that?

Does the countrys survival not take precedence over ego, opportunism and recklessness

Monday nights deal includes a package to promote employment.

That is long overdue. Killing an economy stone dead with unrelenting austerity is a bad road to follow.

The hope must now be that the debate on the deal will be constructive and devoid of political point scoring.

That might be a wish too far. But let all those involved be aware that the very future of the country is at stake.

Meanwhile, what is it about some politicians that expressions of regret for what they said, or might not have said, are so few?

Taoiseach Enda Kenny put his foot in it when he said last week in Switzerland that Irelands economic woes were due to people going mad borrowing in a system that spawned greed, went out of control and crashed.

This was no deliberate attempt by Mr Kenny to insult the Irish people, or blame Sean and Mary Citizen for the economic crisis in front of the great and good at an economic forum in snow-bound Davos.

It was no more than a sloppy use of language.

A reference to some people would have underpinned what he had said earlier in a lucid and impressive interview with Miriam OCallaghan for RTEs Prime Time programme.

In that interview, he made it clear that it was the States new elite, bankers, developers and politicians who caused our grief.

The garbled words he later used at an open forum were human error. But Mr Kenny was abroad, wearing the green jersey, and he should have been more careful with his language.

The fact is that the vast majority of Irish people lived ordinary lives during the swashbuckling Celtic Tiger era.

Some bought houses at hugely inflated prices because they needed somewhere to live and, in some cases, rear families. If they are in negative equity today, or unable to pay the mortgage because of unemployment, as many are, they are no more than the victims of market forces not caused by themselves. Inevitably, the Opposition parties seized on Mr Kennys ill-judged remarks. That was to be expected.

Mr Kenny could have ended the controversy pretty quickly by immediately saying he was sorry if his comments were misinterpreted But no. A sullen defensiveness set in on the part of Mr Kenny and his Cabinet colleagues.

What is so hard about a politician saying sorry if he or she feels they have said something out of turn which insulted people at a difficult time in the States history.

Politicians should realise that sometimes putting your hands up defuses a row inspired by a gaffe much faster than the Ostrich-like digging in to insist on innocence.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  It might be the most important piece of financial information about you, and its finally easier for you to actually look at.

Big banks and credit card companies are increasingly offering customers free access to their FICO score. This score, named after the software and analytics company that developed it, is used by lenders to determine how risky you are when they are deciding whether to issue a new credit card, mortgage or auto loan.

Banks have been able to make scores available to customers for four years, a result of a FICO initiative, but they have been slow to do so. Discover Financial was the first major credit card issuer to give its customers access to their FICO scores, in 2013. Banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, among others, have adopted the program in the past year.

This is a piece of information that grades you and judges your ability to borrow, and because it is so crucial, you should be entitled to have it, said Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.

Its the latest move by the banks to give credit information to consumers since Congress required that the three credit bureaus offer credit reports to individuals once a year. Credit reports contain much of the information that goes into determining your score, but not the actual number.

A borrowers FICO score is used in 90 percent of lending decisions, but until recently a person had to pay for it  if it was available at all. Worse, borrowers looking for their credit score would sometimes be provided whats known as an educational score that guesses a persons FICO score but is not the score used to determine that persons ability to borrow.

Knowing your credit score can help you negotiate for better rates and shop for better loan deals. Also, if you know your score is weak, you can work to improve it and possibly save hundreds of dollars on a future loan, or thousands of dollars on a mortgage.

Because of the lack of availability, FICO estimates that only half of Americans have accessed their score in the past year and far more dont know what their score is.

Fair Isaac Corp. created the FICO score in the late 1980s. Jim Wehmann, executive vice president of scores for FICO, said the company recently developed what it calls its Open Access program partly because banks were already paying for borrowers FICO scores and there was little to no cost for banks to pass along the score.

There was lots of confusion out there about what a FICO score is, and those educational scores were not helping. We felt the banks were the natural conduit to get consumers FICO scores, because thats where the credit process begins, Wehmann said.

Wehmann estimated that 100 million Americans now have access to their FICO score through a credit card or their bank.

There are different types of credit scores that FICO calculates, but the most common is a number between 300 and 850 points. The higher the score, the more creditworthy that borrower is. The average U.S. credit score is about 695, FICO said. FICO uses a formula  it does not share the exact calculations  that factors a borrowers payment history, how much debt the person has, if they have ever filed for bankruptcy and other financial behavior.

Free FICO scores have become a selling feature for banks. When Chase added free FICO score access to its Slate card in March 2015, applications and usage rose, said Pamela Codispoti, president of consumer branded cards at Chase. Codispoti said the bank is considering adding the FICO score feature to its other cards.

It was really about stepping up to meet a consumer need. Everyone benefits when our customers have more tools to handle their financial lives, she said.

Getting your credit score through your bank wont affect your credit score, FICO says, because the borrower is not actively looking to get new credit. Some credit card companies, such as Chase and Discover, also provide tips on how a customer can improve his or her credit score, like making sure you dont max out credit cards or miss payments.

Consumer advocates  regular critics of big banks  back the trend.

The increased availability of free FICO scores could mean decreased revenue for the three main credit agencies  Equifax, TransUnion and Experian  that sell credit scores, credit monitoring and credit reports to consumers. The agencies main source of business, though, is compiling, maintaining and selling credit reports to banks.

Copyright 2016 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
After predictions of its demise, the traditional office structure is crumbling. Only 38 percent of companies in a recent survey say they are functionally organized. For large companies with more than 50,000 employees, that number shrinks to 24 percent.

These organizations are moving away from the top-down hierarchies, inherited from the industrial age, suggests a new Deloitte survey of more than 7,000 companies.

Traditionally, jobs were organized by function  sales people worked with sales people; marketing people with marketing  and success meant moving up the chain.

But in a modern workplace, people have less-defined jobs and move laterally from project to project, said Deloittes Josh Bersin, who worked on the study.

Were now operating businesses as networks of teams, he said. Companies that havent already made this shift are thinking about it: 92 percent of those surveyed cited organizational redesign as the top priority.

The general thinking is that top-down management is slow and painful. Studies have found that hierarchy leads to conflict in teams, which is how most work is done these days.

The traditional structure doesnt necessarily work in every environment, said Jeff Luttrell, a director of talent acquisition at Alorica. In this age, we dont just report in to one group anymore.

Companies that stick with the hierarchy fall behind, added Bersin. They cant innovate, they cant adapt.

So companies are adapting, ditching rigid levels and titles for something more fluid. What that something looks like depends on the organization. There are, of course, high-profile examples such as Zappos and Medium, which have adopted the alternative management structure called holacracy. Or companies such as Valve, which have completely flat, leaderless organizations.

But many more organizations are naturally shifting to teams in a less formal, often messier way. Bersin calls the new structure amoeba like, in that groups of teams shift and move to adapt to a businesss needs. He likens it to the way Hollywood operates, assembling experts to tackle given projects, for a given period of time, and then dismantling and reassembling.

While the hierarchy may be heading toward extinction, the move to team-based work hasnt been painless. The same Deloitte survey last year found that 74 percent rated the work environment as complex or highly complex. Companies are struggling with it, said Bersin. Someday in the future this will all be natural; were not there yet. Were still thinking about, How do I get promoted? 
Nebraska will receive a $6 million federal grant to support 39 Nebraska homeless housing and service programs.

The Omaha metro area will get $2,790,170 of the $6 million.

These grants are part of the Obama administrations efforts to address homelessness by providing needed housing and support services.

A safe, stable home is the foundation for opportunity in all of our lives, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in a press release. Thats why were continuing to challenge communities to deploy proven strategies to help people experiencing homelessness find a place to call home. We know this goal is not just aspirational  its achievable.

According to the press release, the grants this year are the most competitive that HUD has experienced in the Continuum of Care grant program. To be most effective, communities made challenging decisions, often having to shift funds from existing projects to create new ones that would have more substantial impact on homeless populations.

Programs across the region are assisting the homeless to become self-sufficient, Jennifer Tidwell, regional administrator, said in a press release. These dollars are helping rebuild the lives of families and individuals who have faced incredible hardships.

HUD estimates that there were 564,708 people experiencing homelessness on any given day in 2015. Communities around the country have reported an 11 percent decrease in homelessness since 2010. Veteran homelessness also fell, by 36 percent. Chronic homelessness declined 22 percent, and family homelessness declined by 19 percent, according to HUD. The estimated number of unaccompanied homeless youths and children in 2015 was 36,097.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1304, news@owh.com
With India-Bangladesh coming together, ISI set to get further exposed on fake currency

D-Syndicate raises its ugly head again: This time on the target are Hindu leaders

Bangladesh to South India: Fake currency takes another route

Feature

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Just as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) completes one clean up act where the circulation of fake currency is concerned, another headache crops up.

This time it is a network in Telangana which has been sourcing fake currency from Bangladesh directly. The trail of the fake currency has been traced to Telangana and investigators say that it had first landed in Malda, West Bengal from Bangladesh.

The incident on hand has been reported from the Karimnagar district. A car laden with fake currency worth Rs 2.3 lakh had been seized and the police also took into custody four persons.

It was found that these persons had visited Malda and sourced the fake notes. Investigations also showed that two persons had brought down one consignment by train while the other by bus.

The trail into South India:

Malda has becoming a landing point for fake currency off late. Almost 99 per cent of the cases relating to fake currency have been reported from Malda.

Although the investigators have not found anything to suggest that the notes are being printed in Malda, there are clear indications that they have landed from Bangladesh.

This is to do with the fact that the notes which earlier would find its way into India through the Pakistan border has now changed route.

A majority of the notes are pushed directly into Bangladesh from Pakistan from where it is sent to India. Malda has been the landing point due to the proximity to the Bangladesh border.

There has been a demand for these notes which land in West Bengal as they are of very high quality and it is very difficult to tell the difference between the original and the fake.

NIA officials who have been probing these cases say that they will take a closer look at the one being investigated in Telangana as well. There is a clear trail and it is connected to the various cases that we have been probing the NIA says.

In the Telangana case, the police discovered that these four persons were brining down fake currency in smaller numbers as they were still testing the waters.

The notes seized which are in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 were being handed out at small shops in smaller numbers. One of these notes had reached the hand of a man who unknowingly tried depositing it in a bank.

However, on being told that the note was fake, he reported the same immediately.

This led to the police investigation which ultimately managed to apprehend the accused. The police say that there are many other players and they are on their trail.

Most of these persons take the train out of Vizag to reach West Bengal. They source the fake currency and upon their return to Vizag they have a member of their gang waiting for them.

These persons are largely targeting smaller villages where the awareness is not very high, police officials also say.
Why Bengaluru is becoming Hub of Start-Ups?

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Bengaluru which was called at one point in time garden city and pensioners' paradise soon won the title of Silicon Valley of India and now it is again morphing itself into Start-Ups hub.

Bengaluru has risen four places in the latest Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking report submitted by a San Francisco-based research company named Compass. Venture capital funds also favoured Bengaluru over most other cities.

Melting pot of cultures:

Some inherent strengths that Bengaluru possesses are it houses many public sector undertaking like ISRO, HAL, BEL, and many more since many a decades. Bengaluru also houses IISc, IIMB, NID and many such organisations of national and international repute.

These units ensured that Bengaluru became melting pot of different cultures as people from various states of India started migrating to Bengaluru in search of work.

People from across the globe started making Bengaluru their home once IT giants set up their offices here.

Skilled labour:

Bengaluru definitely has exceedingly technology savvy people. So for all those who want to start up a new technology company would want to start it in Bengaluru.

Also there already exists an ecosystem of vendors who provide related services. This makes life simple for a new entrepreneur.

Cheap labour:

As per one article published it is said that hiring software engineers is much cheaper in Bangalore, with an average annual salary of $23,500 (Rs. 15 lakh), compared with $118,000 in the Valley. Employees in Bangalore also get much less equity at just 7 percent. That compares with an average of 23 percent for the region.

Facilities to hone skills:

A new entrepreneur may want to hone some skills before setting up a company. For that purpose also Bengaluru is an excellent location as one can hone any skill whether it is accounting or marketing. If not that a new entrepreneur will always get to meet many entrepreneurs who will have success and failure stories to share.

Bengaluru also houses several research and development centers for many firms such as ABB, Airbus, Bosch, Boeing, GE, GM, Google, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Nokia, Oracle, Philips, Shell, Toyota and Tyco.

Buyers:

Bengaluru houses many enterprising people who would be more than willing to try out a new product or service or a substitute. This makes it very easy for a new entrepreneur to promote his product or service.

Building associations:

For all those who want to build associations so as to become successful entrepreneur, Bengaluru is one of the most favoured destination. The city provides ample opportunities through formal and casual events in the city to meet like-minded people.

Connectivity:

Bengaluru is well connected with all the major cities within India and abroad. Also there are various means available to commute within the city.

Places to party and socialise:

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So why should new entrepreneurs not party? Bengaluru provides numerous options for party goers to relax and also socialise among peers which can come in very handy for new entrepreneur. Who would not want word of mouth publicity of new business?

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 15:14 [IST]
Arvind Kejriwal seeks Sri Sri's help to clean Yamuna

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 14: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, Mar 13 sought Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's help in cleaning the Yamuna river.

"We are sitting along the banks of Yamuna river. We have taken several initiatives for cleaning it. If Guruji takes a little initiative, several governments need to come together to keep the Yamuna clean. The Delhi government and the Centre and many of its ministries need to come together," Kejriwal said.

Ravi Shankar takes a dig at critics, says he belongs to all

"Today, on the left side of Guruji is the Union government and to his right is the Delhi government. If he takes the initiative and pledge to clean Yamuna under his leadership, then I think this can be achieved," Delhi Chief Minister said at the World Culture Festival.

"I consider myself very fortunate that I could see this historic moment. I am thankful to Guruji. Jai Gurudev," Kejriwal added.

The World Culture Festival, organised by the Art Of Living on the floodplains of Yamuna, is facing criticism from several quarters over ecological damage. The Centre and the Delhi government too have been criticised for giving the go-ahead to the function.

The Delhi Chief Minister said he is very "selfish" and is seeking help in two areas, include cleaning of Yamuna river. Noting that the Art Of Living volunteers are "disciplined", he also sought assistance of its volunteers in Delhi government's functions.

PTI

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 10:56 [IST]
Prashant Kishor claims Nitish Kumar in touch with BJP says don't be surprised if he joins hands with it again

Bihar: BJP leader booked in clash over event on JNU row

India

oi-PTI

Muzaffarpur/Patna, March 14: A state-level BJP leader has been booked in connection with a clash between ABVP and CPI-ML workers over an event on the JNU row at Muzaffarpur even as the issue was today raised in the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

An FIR was registered at Mithanpura police station in Muzaffarpur late last night based on a report by Block Development Officer Mohammad Zaffaruddin on the incident yesterday in which at least four persons were injured.

Mithanpura Station House Officer Kiran Kumar said besides naming the vice president of the state BJP cultural wing, Chandra Kishore Prashar, 200 other unknown persons have been mentioned in the FIR registered over the clash, which saw stone pelting and use of staffs.

Senior Superintendent of Police RK Mishra said video footage of the incident is being studied to identify those involved in the clash.

At least four persons were injured in the clash between ABVP and CPI(ML) in front of the municipal corporation auditorium at Muzaffarpur where a programme in connection with the row at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was organised by people associated with CPI-ML.

ABVP workers are alleged to have objected to the holding of the programme, 'Main JNU Bol Raha Hoon', leading to the clash. Kavita Krishnan, politburo member of CPI-ML (Liberation), former JNUSU President Ashutosh Kumar and Subodh Kumar Malakar, a JNU professor who is also the PhD supervisor to JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, among others, were among those attending the programme.

The matter was, meanwhile, raised in the Legislative Assembly today during Zero hour by CPI-ML MLA Sudama Prasad who demanded stern action against right-wing workers for attacking Krishnan and others over the programme.

Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan, who is also a former president of JNUSU, voiced concern over the incident and sought a debate on what he described as efforts by certain sections to promote "intolerance" in the country.

PTI
Bihar: Girls protest after being asked to remove Hijab during exam

Bihar: When asked to take off hijab to check for bluetooth device, Muslim student leaves exam centre

Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000

Bihar: Self-styled godman comes out after 15 days samadhi from a 15 feet deep pit

India

oi-Jagriti

Patna, Mar 14: A self-styled godman in Bihar's Madhepura district came out alive after taking a 15 days long Samadhi from a 15 feet deep pit.

According to report, Pramod baba took Samadhi in a 10 ft long, 10 ft wide and 15 ft deep pit on February 28 at Bhatgama village in Madhepura.

Several top officials along with a medical team rushed to the Samadhi site after they got the information about Pramod baba.

However the medical team and administration were not allowed to disturb his sadhna by his followers.

Godman 'Baba Devendra' dupes Shilpa Shetty's parents of Rs 2 crore

"Baba is safe. He has been seen by the doctor deputed by the district administration after he came out of his Samadhi today," Madhepura Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar was quoted as saying.

OneIndia News
Qutab Minar is 'Vishnu Stambh' build on a temple of Vishnu at the site: VHP leader

Fact Check: Is the new Australian PM, Albanese a staunch supporter of VHP

CCB will probe murder of VHP activist at Mysuru

India

oi-Vicky

Mysuru, Mar 14: The murder of a VHP activist at Mysuru will now be probed by the CCB (City Crime Branch). The case was transfered to the CCB, a specialised investigating unit following demands for a thorough probe into the matter.

Mysuru had witnessed protests through the day with members of the both the VHP and BJP demanding that the investigation be handed over to the CCB.

Mysuru remained tense today following a bundh call to protest the killing of VHP activist, Raju.

The 39 year old activist was killed last night near the Netaji circle which falls under the Udayagiri police station limits.

[Communal clash alert for Mysore: Cops told to be on their toes]

There were violent scenes witnessed following the murder with a major crowd demanding answers from the police commissioner of the city, B Dayanand.

The police commissioner while trying to pacify the crowd was ruffled up by the protestors.

The incident occurred when Raju was standing near the Netaji circle.

He was attacked by a group of bike borne persons. The police say that he was attacked with a sickle and died instantly.

The reasons behind the murder is still unclear. While the protestors have said that he had constructed a Temple earning the wrath of some, others claim he had opposed the construction of a Mosque.

The police had said that they are probing all angles including one of personal rivalry.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 17:37 [IST]
Foreign ministers of Indo-Pak meet on Wednesday?

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Mar 14: The message from the Prime Minister's office regarding relations with Pakistan is to continue to talk but keep the pressure up. Not talking is not a solution according to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval.

The relations between India and Pakistan will once again be tested when the foreign ministers of both the countries are likely to meet on the sidelines of the South Asian summit to be held in Nepal this week.

In the aftermath of the Pathankot attack, the foreign secretary level talks had been postponed as India expected action first against the Jaish-e-Mohammad before it could proceed.

While the talks had been postponed, the National Security Advisors of both the countries continued to stay in touch mostly over phone.

What is on the anvil?

When the foreign ministers of both countries meet at Nepal on Wednesday there would be a couple of things on the table to be discussed. While the progress made by Pakistan into the investigations of the Pathankot attack will be high on the agenda, the two ministers will also try and set the stage for future bi-laterals.

India would not only seek a progress report on the probe into the Pathankot attack, but would also expect Pakistan to fix a date for their investigators to visit India. The visit by the Pakistan's Special Investigation Team to India to probe the attack has not yet been fixed.

While it was said that the team would visit during March, there is no date fixed as yet and Wednesday's meeting is likely to clear that up, highly placed sources tell OneIndia.

Officials say that they are positive about the meeting of the two external affair ministers. Talks have to continue at any cost and there is no point in putting them off.

While on one hand the pressure quotient needs to be high in order to ensure that Pakistan takes steps against the non-state actors, there are also other issues such as trade which have to be discussed.

Former Research and Analysis Wing chief, C D Sahay tells OneIndia that putting off talks is never a good option. We need to keep engaging with Pakistan no matter what, Sahay also added.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 8:17 [IST]
As per constitutional norms: Goa Speaker on merger of Cong MLAs with BJP

Goa: Man arrested for recording video of girl in hostel bathroom in Panaji

Foreign tourists cross 5 lakh mark in Goa in 2014: Minister

India

oi-PTI

Panaji, Mar 14: The foreign tourist arrivals in Goa crossed the historical five lakh mark during 2014 while the growth continued in the subsequent year, state Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar informed the Assembly today.

In a written reply tabled on the floor of the House, Parulekar said 5.1 lakh foreign tourists arrived in the year 2014 and their numbers grew to 5.4 lakh during 2015.

He was responding to a question tabled by BJP legislator Glenn Ticlo. As per the data, Goa has recorded an overall 30.54 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in 2015, while domestic tourist arrivals were up by 34 per cent and foreign tourists by 5.4 per cent.

(Portugal should apologise to Goa for exploitation: Goa minister)

A total of 52,97,902 tourists visited Goa in 2015, including 47,56,422 domestic and 5,41,480 foreign tourists, the data said.

Tourist arrivals during monsoon (June, July and August, 2015) recorded a 22 per cent increase as against 18 per cent in 2014. Foreign tourist arrivals from UK, Russia, UAE, the USA, Portugal, South Africa and many others showed a rise in 2014 and 2015 despite continued recession and economic crisis that hit the European regions.

The electronic visa regime introduced by the central government in December, 2014 also facilitated easy access of foreign tourists to the state, the minister said.

Within a year (till December 31, 2015), a total of 49,626 eTVs were issued to foreign tourists, he added.

PTI
At least 125 dead after violence at football match in Indonesia

Indo-Indonesian armies share skills in combat firing

India

oi-Oneindia

By OneIndia Defence Desk

New Delhi, March 14: The armies of India and Indonesia are currently engaged in the fourth edition of Joint Training Exercise codenamed, Garuda Shakti.

The Indian Army contingent comprises of platoon sized troops of an Infantry Battalion from Southern Command theatre and the Indonesian Army comprises of troops from 503 Airborne Battalion of the TNI-AD.

According to Army officials, the exercise is underway with adequate stress being laid on weapon handling and live firing practices. The exercise which began on March 10 at Magelang in Indonesia will conclude on March 23.

"We were given time to familiarise with the Indonesian Army's weapon system before commencing firing practice using their weapons. The Indonesian Army conducted a demonstration of reflex firing, which was followed by the Indian Army the next day," says an Army spokesperson.

On its part, the Indian Army too presented reflex firing skills and also demonstrated ambidextrous weapon handling capabilities undertaken during combat situations.

"The demonstration was conducted in phases and was followed by firing practice by Indonesian Army under the guidance of instructors from Indian Army," says the spokesperson.

The exercise is aimed at building positive relations between both armies and also to enhance the ability to undertake joint tactical level operations in a counter- insurgency environment, as mandated by the United Nations Charter.

Indian Army says that the mission of the exercise is to identify areas of expertise to evolution combat tactical drills during joint counter-insurgency operations.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 19:12 [IST]
Truth has come out, says Sasikala in reaction to OPS's remark before panel

Jayalithaa DA case: Hearing resumes at SC on March 15

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, March 14: The Supreme Court will continue hearing the disproportionate assets case against Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa.

The matter will come up for hearing tomorrow and Karnataka's Special Public Prosecutor B V Acharya will continue arguments from where he left off on Thursday,March 4.

On Thursday the court had adjourned hearing on the matter to March 15th after Karnataka's counsel Dushyanth Dave concluded arguments. Acharya will focus largely on the companies that were alleged to be benami in nature. It was the allegation of the prosecution that some companies had cropped up and had acted as fronts for the accused persons.

Dave who opened the final arguments had pointed towards the mistakes that the Karnataka High Court had made while delivering the order of acquittal. He pointed out that the High Court had not even once stated a reason as to why it over turned the verdict of the trial court which had passed an exhaustive judgment while convicting Jayalalithaa and three others.

Meanwhile, it is yet to be seen if the Supreme Court will hear an interlocutory application filed by an advocate.

The advocate had contended that the appeal ought to be heard by a division bench of the Karnataka High Court and not the Supreme Court of India. He said that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to hear this appeal at this stage.

The court assured the advocate of a hearing. However the court also directed him to file an interlocutory application. The matter is likely to heard tomorrow.

OneIndia News
Karnataka to strengthen ATS and up the number of prisons

JNU row: Cry for release of Umar, Anirban gets shriller

India

oi-Oneindia

By Maitreyee Boruah

New Delhi, March 14: Along with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, two more student leaders of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)--Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya -were also arrested under sedition charges. Kanhaiya has been released on bail recently. However, both Umar and Anirban are still in jail.

Moreover, former Delhi University professor SAR Geelani was arrested on sedition and other charges on February 15. While six JNU students have been charged with sedition over an event on JNU campus, Geelani is facing the charges over an event at the Press Club, Delhi.

It order to ensure the release of Umar, Anirban and Geelani, students of JNU and their supporters are all set to host People's March, a protest rally, on March 15. Simultaneously, the protest rally will also be hosted in Bengaluru.

In a video address to students and activists, Kanhaiya announced about the March 15 event. The event is to demand the release of Umar, Anirban and Geelani and dropping of sedition charges against all of us, says Kanhaiya.

Moreover, the students want promulgation of Rohith Act on the lines of Nirbhaya Act. The idea of Rohith Act was mooted by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, University of Hyderabad (UoH), Hyderabad, after Rohith Vemula committed suicide on the campus of UoH.

The campus of UoH is on the boil since the suicide of Rohith. The 26-year-old Dalit research scholar was found hanged on the university campus on January 17.

"We demand that Rohith Act be introduced and implemented which will ensure legislative protection for students from marginalised communities in higher educational institutions," said student leaders of JNUSU.

The protesting students want an end of "saffron interference" in educational institutions. "We reject all the bogus enquiry committees formed by the government in various universities to harass students," said student leaders of JNUSU.

Here is the video:

OneIndia News
Joint Anti Terror Mechanism: Will India-Pak revive it?

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Mar 14: The joint anti terrorism mechanism which was set up by India and Pakistan in the year 2006 is likely to be revived in a bid to narrow down the trust deficit. While India did make a move to ease out ties with Pakistan, the Pathankot came as a major dampener.

Since the tough talk from India, there have been visible attempts being made by Pakistan to wipe out the trust deficit.Post the Pathankot attack, Pakistan was never in denial that the terrorists came from their soil.

Foreign ministers of Indo-Pak meet on Wednesday?

Further they were quick to register a FIR and also set up a team to probe the incident. Although the probe has been relatively slow, Pakistan has shown a certain amount of intent, India believes.

The intelligence alert that ten terrorists had entered India was shared by Pakistan and although it was not concrete or really actionable it still showed intent.

Reviving Joint Anti Terrorism Mechanism of 2006

During the talks held between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan (Ajit Doval and Naseer Khan Januja) the reviving of the Joint Anti Terrorism Mechanism was discussed.

The NSA largely stayed in touch over phone apart from one meeting at Bangkok recently. Both the NSA's set the stage to discuss the revival of the mechanism as they felt it would ease out the trust deficit apart from putting up a better fight jointly against terrorism.

Set up in the year 2006 this mechanism never took off. This was because the intelligence agencies of both countries never trusted each other.

There were allegations and counter allegations. Then came the 26/11 attack which pretty much shut down the mechanism. The relations had strained to a new low and the question of sharing intelligence between the two countries was out of the question.

Sources tell OneIndia that the foreign secretaries would have to work out the modalities. We have suggested that such a mechanism would help in the fight against terror, but whether the 2006 mechanism would continue in its existing form or a new institutionalized manner to share information would be set up is the call that needs to take when the foreign secretaries meet, the official also informed.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 8:44 [IST]
Law Ministry to make an exception to intervene in SCs widows welfare case, says Prasad

No plans from Govt to bring law to 'regulate appointment and conduct' of SC & HC judges

Law min cautions Modi Govt against terms of Rafale deal

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 14: The Law Ministry has cautioned the government that certain clauses in the draft inter-governmental agreement, including the one on material breach, signed for the purchase of 36 French Rafale fighter aircraft are not in India's interest.

It has advised the Defence Ministry to reconsider certain clauses while finalising the deal.

Sources said one of the issues flagged by the Department of Legal Affairs is that in case of material breach by French companies of their obligations under the supply protocol, the Indian side would first have to take legal recourse against them but cannot involve the French government.

It also suggested that the liability clause should be more stringent and include the French government.

(Rafale deal: India, France ink MoU, to sort out 'financial aspects')

The clause would come into force in case of any deficiency in completion of the deal by the companies. In case of a commercial dispute, the arbitration proceedings should take place in India and not Switzerland as suggested in the draft, the Law Ministry has opined.

India and France had on January 25 inked the inter- governmental agreement on the sale of 36 French Rafale fighter jets but were unable to sign the final deal due to "financial" issues.

This agreement was among the 14 pacts signed between the two countries after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Francois Hollande.

"Leaving out financial aspect, India and France have signed inter-governmental agreement on purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. We expect that even the financial aspects pertaining to purchase of Rafale jets will be resolved as soon as possible," Modi had said at a joint press event with Hollande.

The two countries are negotiating a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets in fly-away condition since the announcement for the same was made by Modi in April last year during his visit to France.

However, the final deal is yet to be sealed as the two sides are still negotiating the price which is estimated to be about Rs 60,000 crore.

PTI
Chhagan Bhujbal gets bail after two years in PMLA case

Chhagan Bhujbal rules out Malik's resignation, says Centre putting pressure on min to collapse Maha govt

Case against Maha former minister for allegedly threatening to kill man

Maharashtra Sadan scam: ED arrests NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal

India

oi-Avinash

Mumbai, Mar 14: ED arrests NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal in a money laundering case in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam on Monday night here.

The former Maharashtra deputy chief minister was questioned here on Monday by a team of ED officials in connection with corruption cases lodged against him.

Earlier in the day, the NCP leader was accompanied by senior party colleague Jitendra Awhad, several legislators and a large number of party activists from Nashik.

(ED questions Bhujbal in corruption cases)

They raised slogans hailing Bhujbal as he entered the ED office.

#Visuals Security outside Mumbai ED Office: NCP Leader Chaggan Bhujbal arrested by ED in the money laundering case pic.twitter.com/caL7uyGHMG  ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

#Visuals from Mumbai ED Office: Former Maharashtra Deputy CM Chaggan Bhujbal arrested by ED in money laundering case pic.twitter.com/pBcDuKvAkh  ANI (@ANI_news) March 14, 2016

The ED had on February 1 arrested Bhujbal's nephew Sameer Bhujbal. Later last month, it questioned Bhujbal's son Pankaj Bhujbal, a legislator.

Hailing the NCP leader's arrest in the money laundering case BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said,"At last Chhagan Bhujbal has been arrested. Now it is turn of Irrigation Scam, Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare to follow Bhujbal."

Bhujbal and his party, the NCP, have termed the ED's actions a "political vendetta".

"It is BJP's vendetta politics, will fight it politically & in court of law," NCP leader Nawab Malik told ANI following Bhujbal's arrest.

The ED's probe follows a Bombay High Court ruling in January when it sought progress reports from the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau and the ED within four weeks on their investigations against the Bhujbals.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)
Mallya a Congress' baby; UPA forced bank to give him loans: BJP

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 14: Hitting back at Congress for questioning whether the Centre would seek Vijay Mallya's deportation, BJP said the industrialist was a "Congress' baby" and accused the previous UPA dispensation of helping him by forcing a bank to provide a loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his company's poor finances.

"Mallya is a Congress' baby. When his company (Kingfisher Airline) was on the verge of closure, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested such private companies should be helped. The government pushed banks to give him a package of Rs 3,100 crore," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said, adding Congress should come clean on its "deals" with him.

While around 25 cases have been initiated against Mallya under Modi government, his frozen bank accounts were opened under the then UPA government and he was given loan, he said.

"What was the compulsion of Congress that it helped Mallya time and again? It should make it clear instead of trying to mislead the nation by blaming Modi government. Why did you open his frozen accounts? Why did State Bank of India give him loan of Rs 3,100 crore despite his poor finances?" he asked.

Defending the NDA government over Mallya's departure for London, Sharma said there was no court order against his travel abroad when he left on March 3.

Congress today asked the government whether it will seek Mallya's deportation from the UK or would put his case in "cold storage" by going in for his extradition as, it claimed, was done in the matter related to Lalit Modi. Sharma added that former IPL boss Lalit Modi, like Mallya, was a "product" of Congress.

PTI
Mysore tense: Protest against VHP activist's murder

India

oi-Vicky

Mysore, Mar 14: Mysore is likely to remain tense today following a bandh call to protest the killing of VHP activist, Raju. The police have launched an investigation into the murder of the 39 year old activist who was killed on Sunday near the Netaji circle which falls under the Udayagiri police station limits.

There were violent scenes witnessed following the murder with a major crowd demanding answers from the police commissioner of the city, B Dayanand.

The police commissioner while trying to pacify the crowd was ruffled up by the protestors. The incident occurred when Raju was standing near the Netaji circle. He was attacked by a group of bike borne persons. The police say that he was attacked with a sickle and died instantly.

The police are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the murder. There have been allegations that he had earned the wrath of some people as he was instrumental in setting up a temple in locality at Kyathamaranahalli. The police say that they are looking into that aspect as well.

VHP to launch agaitation against Jharkhand govt policies

The VHP has demanded that the matter be probed thoroughly and the culprits brought to book.

The police commissioner of Mysore says that an investigation has been launched into the incident and they will conduct a speedy probe. Prahlad Joshi, the BJP's state president has also urged the police to conduct a speedy probe and bring the culprits to book.

OneIndia News
Pursue Kannada through Kannada Gottilla; stop saying Kannada Gottilla!

India

oi-Shreyas

Bengaluru, Mar 14: The Rangoli Art Center at MG Road, Metro station on the first Sunday (6) of March was intoxicated to the Kannada sprinkled melodious rhythm as Kannada learning enthusiasts volunteered sharp ears to learn the basic spoken Kannada.

A unique forum, named after a 'catch-word' commonly used by non-Kannada mass in Karnataka, 'kannadagottilla.com', organised a basic Kannada learning class at Rangoli Art Center in consortium with Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited. However the forum since its inception, from past one year has been teaching Kannada through WhatsApp. And guess what? It has made to enjoy the dine and wine of Kannada to over 1500 non-Kannadigas.

Kannada Gottilla (Don't know Kannada) was shaped by a former techie and currently working as technical trainer, Anup Maiya along with his elder brother Rakesh Maiya. These passionate Kannada lovers have roped in as many as 18 members (volunteers), all of whom are mostly friends of Anup Maiya and Rakesh. The live class at MG Road, an advanced venture that was took off of on March 6 would continue to function, particularly on first Sunday of every month.

Thanks to the new venture as learning through live classes would emancipate learners from the barriers of the virtual world. For the conversation or spoken language to come vociferous from the heart, 'one to one' conversation acts as foundation. Anup Maiya, may be realising this has now created the platform with the support of his friends and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

Maiya speaking to OneIndia said he has enthusiastic team which impart education on Kannada usage in daily life. "We have formulated our own syllabus to teach the language and it is systematic," Maiya says. In WhatsApp virtual teaching also, the forum has its own syllabus to school non-Kannadigas and "we have taught over 1000 people the language."

The motto of the forum is to stop non-Kannadigas from saying Kannada Gottilla and start conversing in Kannada. Maiya says the teaching of the language is also in view of facilitate outsiders to ease daily life in Karnataka, mainly in capital city, Bengaluru.

While WhatsApp learners has to pay Rs 100 as fee, the live classes will not demand for any fees to learn the language. Kannada Gottilla also holds classes for corporate companies, first such class being held in Blue Jeans Networks. The fee for such classes depend on the requirements of the company.

On the first day of live class, as many as 20-25 Kannada learners gathered to understand the science of the spoken Kannada. To the surprise of many, non-Kannadigas were picking up the language with ease, yet again thanks to all the teachers led by Niveditha Gayu and Prashanth.

For Hemanth of Northern India state, Uttarakhand, popular Kannada actor, Late Dr Rajkumar came as a driving force to learn Kannada. A song sung by Rajkumar, which he listened in an eatery shop back in 2001 influenced him to know more about Rajkumar, subsequently developing love for the language. Hemanth says "I started to wade though internet searching for Kannada learning forum and the I found Kannada Gottilla.com."

Now Hemanth reads, writes and speaks in Kannada after he learning the language through WhatsApp and songs of Dr Rajkumar aka Appaji. Another learner Anu Kamath from Kerala also now writes and reads as she humbly thank Kannada Gottilla.com. Anu says "though I write and read Kannada, I am a bit hesitant to speak, with feeling of inferiority complex grips."

Both Hemanth and Anu are elated to know that Anup Maiya has started the live class. The language come alive better in the real world and the new venture will remove virtual barricades to make Kannada bloom in the hearts of non-Kannadigas.

OneIndia News.
Asaram case: ATS nabs sharp shooter who killed 3 witnesses

India

oi-PTI

Ahmedabad, Mar 14: In a major breakthrough, self-styled godman Asaram Bapu's alleged henchman, suspected to have shot dead three key witnesses in rape cases filed against the religious leader, has been arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat.

Kartik Haldar was arrested from Raipur in Chhatisgarh yesterday in a joint operation by ATS and Crime Branch unit of city police and brought here today, a senior official said.

Besides murdering the three witnesses, Haldar had also attempted to kill four other persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the rape cases filed against the jailed religious leader in Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, said JK Bhatt, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) and in-charge IG of ATS.

During interrogation, Haldar told officials he had been instructed by other 'sadhaks' (followers) of Asaram to kill these witnesses so as to weaken the cases against the controversial preacher, ATS said in a statement.

Haldar, a sharp shooter and henchman of the self-styled godman, also told the police he was funded by some of the sadhaks of Asaram's ashrams located in various parts of the country, it stated.

He was allegedly involved in the killings of Asaram's personal doctor Amrut Prajapati in June 2014, his assistant-cum-cook Akhil Gupta in January 2015 and another key witness, Kripal Singh, in July 2015 in different parts of the country, said the release.

All of them were shot from close range as part of a conspiracy to eliminate those who had given their testimonies against Asaram, ATS said. Prajapati, an Ayurvedic doctor, was shot dead by Haldar at his dispensary in Rajkot.

The doctor was vocal about Asaram's misdeeds and also became a witness in the rape case, filed by one of the two victim sisters here three years back. Gupta became a witness in the same case in 2013.

He was fatally shot by the accused near his house in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The probe in this case was handed over to CBI.

The sharp shooter then targeted Singh, who was killed in Shahjahanpur, UP. Singh used to work as a clerk in the office of a transporter whose minor daughter had lodged a case of sexual assault against Asaram in Jodhpur. Singh was the prime witness in that case, said the release.

PTI
We cannot wait longer now: SC to hear Vijay Mallyas contempt case in January for final disposal

Vijay Mallya can be evicted from London home over unpaid loan, UK court orders

Mallyas London home to be held on by family

Vijay Mallya's 'escape': Congress asks these 5 questions to Modi govt

India

oi-Mukul

New Delhi, Mar 14: Congress has slammed Modi Government over beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya leaving India in the middle of a massive loan default probe.

Media in UK didn't look for me in the obvious place, says Vijay Mallya

Lashing out at Centre for providing tacit support to Mallya in this financial bungling of thousands of crores, Congress has asked 5 question to Government.

In a press conference, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala announced that party will raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha.

Here are the 5 questions.

1. Targetting government over the blackmoney promise, Surjewala asked whether government will seek deportation of Kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya by putting pressure on the UK government.

2. He also asked whether Mallya met with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before leaving the country. Whether Jaitley informed prime Minister about the meeting. These things need to be informed to Parliament.

3. Party also asked why CBI converted its Look Out Notice for the detention of Vijay Mallya to Look Out Notice for information. Congress leader asked whether it was done under political pressure?

4. Surjewala asked ED issued a summon asking Mallya to appeaar before it. Then other agencies like CBI,SEBI, IT,Service Tax also swing into action over money laundering case. Whether these entire proceedings were mere a eyewash as Mallya had already left the country on March 2.

5. Congress alleged that United Spirits had signed $ 75 million deal with Diageo on 25 Feb 2016, out of which Mallya got $40 million. Party asked how Modi government will confiscate this amount and take action for this patent illegality.

Will the PM, Shri Modi who speaks about 'transparency & accountability' answer the following questions #VijayMallya pic.twitter.com/ktthUKTxPY  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 14, 2016

OneIndia News
Dhanteras 2022: How much gold can you buy from Dubai

Media in UK didn't look for me in the obvious place, says Vijay Mallya

India

oi-Sandra

New Delhi, Mar 14: Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya who had last week hit out at media houses in the country, on Monday took a dig at the UK media which is running from pillar to post to trace him.

Mallya on Sunday, March 13 tweeted: "I am being hunted down by media in UK. Sadly they did not look in the obvious place. I will not speak to media so don't waste your efforts."

Vijay Mallya slams media, says 'Let media bosses not forget help, favours that I provided'

I am being hunted down by media in UK. Sadly they did not look in the obvious place. I will not speak to media so don't waste your efforts.  Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) March 13, 2016

Last week Mallya hit out at the media houses in India and said: "As an Indian MP I fully respect and will comply with the law of the land. Our judicial system is sound and respected. But no trial by media."

Mallya even said: "Let media bosses not forget help, favours, accommodation that I have provided over several years which are documented. Now lies to gain TRP ?"

"Once a media witch hunt starts it escalates into a raging fire where truth and facts are burnt to ashes," he added.

Hyderabad court issues non-bailable warrant against Vijay Mallya

On Sunday, he said that the time was not right for his return. "I've seen the highest to the lowest points in this matter. But I hope that I return one day. India has given me everything. It made me Vijay Mallya," he said.

Meanwhile, a court in Hyderabad issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in an alleged cheating case.

OneIndia News
They stay among you to kill you: Ansarul Bangla Team could be Indias biggest threat

Was an al Qaeda cell helped by naxals in Jharkhand?

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, Mar 14: Was a cell of the al-Qaeda in the sub-continent (AQIS) operating in the jungles of Jharkhand with the help of naxals? The Delhi police recently bust a module and carried out nation wide arrests stating that a cell of the AQIS was trying to set up shop in India.

There were arrests made in Bengaluru and Odisha and the police had claimed that these clerics had not only brainwashed youth, but were also facilitating terror camps.

The Delhi police had provided inputs regarding this module and one of them was that a camp was being run inside the jungles of Jharkhand.

While the Jharkhand police are still awaiting information from the Delhi police about the correct modalities of this camp, officers also suspect that some of these camps could have been operating in naxal bases.

Did naxals help the AQIS?

The AQIS has really not made much of a mark in India. There have been feeble attempts on part of some cadres to set up shop, but nothing concrete has emerged as of now. The AQIS was announced by the global chief of the outfit, Ayman al-Zawahiri in September 2014, but it never took off.

While there is no concrete information suggesting that naxals had lent space to AQIS operatives, officers say that it is worth probing. The naxals would provide space to anyone who would try and hurt India. Investigations in the past too have shown that some elements in Pakistan have aided the naxals in the form of weapons and funds.

The Delhi police contends that one of the clerics arrested in Odisha who goes by the name Abdul Rehman Kasmi was running the camps. At the time of his arrest, the police had said that he had travelled extensively to Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

During the investigation, some leads suggesting that he was running a camp deep in the jungles of Jharkhand had also cropped up. He had operated along with two others, the police contend.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that terror groups are known to run camps in jungles. There have been instances in the past too which had shown a link between the naxals and some operatives of the radical SIMI faction.

It is a matter that needs to be probed as naxals are known to give out space in exchange for funds and arms, the officer also informed.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 14, 2016, 9:37 [IST]
Kanhaiya Lals killing only shows the deep, dangerous pattern by Islamists to target Hindus

Udaipur killing: He had refused to open his shop for days, says wife of murdered

Udaipur killing: Accused went to Dawat-e-Islami in Karachi in 2014, says Top cop

Is Pak using new names to play old games in J&K?

UP CM Yogi announces Rs 5 lakh to kin of migrant workers killed in J&K terror attack

12 killed in terror attack at Ivory Coast beach resort

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Accra (Ghana), March 14: At least 12 people, including some foreign nationals, have been reported dead after an armed group attacked a popular restaurant on a beach close to the L'Etoile Sud Hotel at Grand Bassam resort outside the Ivorian capital Abidjan.

The Indian embassy in Abidjan could not confirm whether any Indian national was in the area where the attack took place.

There were, however, conflicting reports on the terror attack. A local resident, Etienne Konan, told IANS on phone that between two and 15 armed individuals attacked a popular restaurant on a beach at Grand Bassam which is popular with Westerners and Lebanese.

Konan said some of the media reports claimed that over 50 people were killed in the attack but the official casualty figure is still not out.

According to some reports, the situation has been brought under control after state security forces arrived at the scene.

"It is a worrying situation making the West African region a very dangerous place. It started in Mali where a hotel was attacked on November 20 last year. Then another attack took place at a hotel in Burkina Faso on January 15," Konan said.

Intelligence Bureau warns of major terror attack at Banihal, J&K

French security sources earlier this year had warned the authorities in Ivory Coast and Senegal of possible terror attacks in public areas.

Soon after Sunday's attack, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a travel alert to its citizens.

"On 13 March, there have been reports of an armed attack at Grand Bassam resort near Abidjan. You should avoid the area if possible. If you are in the vicinity follow the instructions of the security authorities," it said.

"There is a high threat from terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners," it added.

"As seen in Mali and Burkina Faso, terrorist groups continue to mount attacks on hotels frequented by foreigners. Be especially vigilant in these locations and avoid crowded places," the advisory said.

IANS
In Turkey, freedom is in danger

International news brief: Series of earthquakes rattle Hawaii and more

Turkey blast: Death toll mounts to 34

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Ankara, March 14: At least 34 people were killed and 125 others injured in a strong explosion that hit the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday, the governor's office said.

The blast took place in Kizilay district in the heart of Ankara at 18:35 local time, according to a statement.

Private news broadcaster NTV said a bomb-loaded car exploded near bus stops where many people were present. A number of vehicles, including a bus carrying passengers, were set on fire near Guven Park, a major transportation hub. The wounded were rushed to 10 different hospitals for medical treatment, Xinhua reported.

Witnesses said smoke could be seen rising above the area from a distance, and square Kizilay has been closed fearing a possible second explosion.

Turkey's TV watchdog has declared a broadcasting ban on images of the scene and victims.

Earlier on Friday the US embassy in Ankara warned its citizens over a potential terror attack against "government buildings and housing located in the Bahcelievler area" in the Turkish capital.

This is the third major blast in the Turkish capital since last October.

28 killed in Ankara bomb attack on Turkish military

On October 10, 2015, alleged Islamic State (IS) militants bombed a peace rally near Ankara Railway Station near a major city thoroughfare, killing at least 103 people.

On February 17, a suicide car bomb targeted military shuttles in the capital city, killing at least 29 people and injuring 81 others.

IANS
Shubham couldn't have enmity with anyone, says father on son's stabbing in Australia

Australia, France to verify MH370 debris

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kuala Lumpur, March 14: Suspected debris from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 discovered in Mozambique and French overseas Reunion Island will be sent to Australia and France for verification, Malaysian officials said on Monday.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai called for patience for experts to carry out the verification process, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It is important to re-emphasise that at this juncture, it has not been confirmed whether any of the recovered debris came from MH370," Liow said.

A piece of debris suspected to be part of the horizontal stabiliser that washed ashore in Mozambique was sent to Malaysia for preliminary analysis.

Another piece of debris was reported to be found in Mozambique by a South African holiday maker and was later sent to Malaysia.

Malaysian authorities have been in contact with South Africa and an expert team will be dispatched to take the custody of the debris, Liow said.

Both pieces will be sent to Australia for further examination and verification by an international investigation team.

On the suspected debris found in the French overseas Reunion Island, where a wing part called flaperon was discovered last year, Liow said, the piece would be transferred to France to be verified by the authorities.

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, most of them Chinese.

The flaperon has so far remained the only debris confirmed to be from the plane.

IANS
Aziz, Swaraj may meet in Nepal: Report

International

oi-PTI

Islamabad, Mar 14: Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj may meet on the sidelines of a SAARC ministerial-level meeting in Nepal this week, according to a media report today.

Quoting diplomatic sources, The Express Tribune reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepalese tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

A senior Pakistani official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islamabad was ready to resume the dialogue at any time, and was also open to a meeting between Aziz and Swaraj in Nepal.

"There is no proposal as of now for the meeting in Nepal but Pakistan will respond positively if India approaches us for this purpose," the Pakistani official said. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup last week said that no schedule of bilateral meetings in Nepal have been drawn up with Pakistan or any other country.

The meetings, if held, will provide an opportunity to the two sides to discuss the much-delayed talks between the foreign secretaries, who were to meet in Islamabad in January. The key foreign secretary-level talks are meant to draw up a roadmap for a series of meetings between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, water, and trade and commerce.

The efforts to resume the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad militant group. Sources said Aziz and Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

Sushma, Jaishankar to attend Saarc meetings in Nepal

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.

PTI
Fact Check: Did Trump thank Musk for welcoming him back to Twitter

Donald Trump dons 'Made in China' suits, ties

International

oi-PTI

Washington, Mar 14: Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump dons made-in-China shirts and ties, the US media reported on the controversial real estate tycoon who has blamed the Communist country and India for taking away American jobs.

Trump's signature line of men's suits, dress shirts and ties are made in China and the bulk of his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump's fashion line is also manufactured overseas.

Actor Johnny Depp mimicks Donald Trump, calls him a 'brat'

Harvard professor and trade expert Robert Lawrence told CNN that it's not just Trump's products but over 800 items in the Ivanka's fashion line, including shoes, dresses, purses and scarves were also all "imported."

"In a recent debate Marco Rubio mentioned ties. But the ties made in China are just the tip of the iceberg," said Lawrence, who served on President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers.

He said none of Ivanka's clothing line appears to be made exclusively in the US and 354 items are listed as made in China.

It's very hard to have apparel made in this (US) country: Donald Trump

"I talk about my ties in speeches. I'm open. I say my ties many times are made in China. It's very hard to have apparel made in this country," Trump, 69, had told the US network in an interview earlier.

The issue is getting renewed scrutiny as Trump wants to put a tax on Chinese and Mexican goods like clothing coming into the US to level the playing field and bring back middle class jobs. He said the tax could be as high as 35 or 45 per cent.

Economists warn this would ignite a trade war and could cause a recession.

Trump has repeatedly blamed China and India among other countries for taking away jobs from Americans and vowed to bring them back if elected as the US President.

"They are taking our jobs. China is taking our jobs. Japan is taking our jobs. India is taking our jobs. It is not going to happen anymore, folks!" Trump told his supporters last month.

The top five countries that America imports clothing from are China, India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Mexico.

PTI
Terror in Islamabad: A top secret mission, all for the nation, all for the truth

Unlike Pakistan where 'fanatics are eulogised': India slams Islamabad over reaction on Prophet comment row

On move to extend China-Pak Economic Corridor, India says its inherently unacceptable

'Sartaj Aziz to meet Sushma Swraj in Nepal'

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Islamabad, March 14: Pakistan Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz is expected to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Nepal, sources said on Monday.

Quoting diplomatic sources, Express News reported that India and Pakistan were exploring the possibility of a meeting between Sushma Swaraj and Aziz and also between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in the Nepali tourist city of Pokhara.

Aziz and Swaraj will be in Pokhara for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting on March 16 and 17.

"Sartaj Aziz will meet Foreign Ministers of Saarc Countries on the sidelines of the Saarc Council of Ministers' meeting on 17 March 2016 in Nepal," a foreign ministry release here said.

"Aziz will extend Sharif's formal invitation to their respective Heads of State/Heads of Government for the 19th Saarc Summit, being hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad this year," it added.

The efforts to resume the India-Pakistan Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue hit a deadlock after the terror attack on Pathankot airbase that India has said was carried out by militants from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group.

Sources said Aziz and Sishma Swaraj, if they meet, will discuss the possibility of an interaction between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi later this month in Washington.

The two prime ministers are scheduled to travel to the United States later this month to attend a nuclear security summit to be hosted by US President Barack Obama.

IANS
What Omprakash Mishra said before he was replaced as Mamata's opponent

Kolkata

oi-Shubham

Kolkata, March 14: Omprakash Mishra, a professor of International Relations in Jadavpur University, was initially set to take on Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the state and the supremo of the ruling Trinamool Congress from Bhabanipur constituency in South Kolkata. He was later replaced by former Union minister Deepa Dasmunshi.

West Bengal polls 2016: Congress, Left 'reach' understanding except 7 seats

Polls 2016: Mamata is walking too much, Jayalalithaa struggling to move

Prof Mishra had contested the 2004 Lok Sabha election from Jadavpur constituency in South Kolkata but finished third after the Left and TMC candidates. He also contested the 2006 Assembly election from Jadavpur constituency in Kolkata (district South 24 Parganas) but finished a distant third.

Oneindia spoke to the Congress leader on Monday, a day before he formally launched his campaign for the election, for a brief interview. Here is what he told us:

Oneindia: Why the electoral understanding/alliance between the Congress and Left Front has taken so much time to get finalised?

Prof. Mishra: This is the first time ever that the Left and the Congress are making an electoral adjustment. We have reached consensus in almost all 294 seats excepting around seven to eight which have less than five per cent vote share.

These seats on which we are yet to reach an agreement are in the districts of Murshidabad (three), Malda (two), South Dinajpur and Kolkata (one each).

Oneindia: How many seats are the Congress contesting from?

Prof Mishra: That I can't say like this since talks are still on. But we will contest in more than 90 seats for sure. Other parties like the RJD, JD(U), Aamra Aakranto have also been accommodated.

Oneindia: Is the Trinamool Congress worried about the Opposition's coming together?

Prof Mishra: Yes, it is very worried and will lose the election in a big way.

Oneindia: In case the Opposition wins, is there a chief ministerial face in your camp?

Prof Mishra: Nothing as of yet. We can decide these things later. The Left is a senior ally, after all.

Oneindia: It is being said that the Trinamool and BJP have a secret understanding in this election. Your thoughts.

Prof Mishra: Yes, they have a secret understanding. Moreover, Chandra Kumar Bose, the candidate that the BJP has fielded from Bhabanipur, has little political base and doesn't know anything about the place.

Oneindia News
A Dalit youth was killed for marrying a girl of upper caste in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur. This is a suspected case of honor killing and it has been sent that the girl's family sent people to murder the husband. India today successfully test-fired its locally built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile. Tt was test fired from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army. It is capable of covering 700 Kms distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has been served a show-cause notice by the Ethics committee of Parliament asking whether he had declared himself as a British citizen during his stay in the United Kingdom.
Sky News 21 Oct 2022

Rishi Sunak supporters are claiming that he has the votes to progress to the next stage of the Conservative leadership contest.
by  Graham Pierrepoint



With well over 100 days left until the UK decides whether or not it wishes to stay part of the European Union, many people are wondering what the fuss is all about. So far, in the past few weeks, there have been politicians and popular figures waxing lyrical about what the best course of action to take is, why Britain should stand on its own two feet, or why it should continue to be linked to European laws and practices. The fact of the matter is that the referendum will ultimately decide, for it will show how the British public has ultimately voted on the in/out question.

Professor Stephen Hawking, famed author of A Brief History of Time, has this week joined the debate by showing concern over what may happen to British science were ties to be cut with the European Union, according to Herald Scotland. Hawking states that he fears removing the UK from the EU will restrict talented researchers from emigrating to Britain who are currently dependent upon financial support and aid from the European Union. The celebrated scientist states that there are currently a large number of talented professionals who have come from the EU who are essential to Britains scientific research  warning that, should the UK leave the union (or perform what has been termed as a Brexit), science will suffer greatly in the country as a result.

Professor Hawkings thoughts on the potential Brexit come as he leads 150 Fellows of the Royal Society in a formal letter to The Times, claiming that British science will suffer untold damage should the division come to pass. The letter also makes comment on the freedom that professionals can currently experience in coming to and from Europe via European Union protection  stating that such freedoms could potentially be tightened should the UK opt to leave.

The debate is raging on within political parties and between major household names alike, and at the time of writing, opinion polls show that the UK public is keen to stay within Europe  but citizens will have to wait until the 23rd June to both vote on their preferred option and see just where the UK will reside in future. Such a change means drastic movements in trade as well as in law and immigration  meaning that the British public must be prepared to learn a new law of the land should they vote in favor of a Brexit.
President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has on Monday led the National Security team to Malabo

for talks with President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea on further

measures to protect the people and resources of the Niger Delta and Gulf of

Guinea.

The Special

Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, stated in a

press release on Sunday that the conclusion and signing of an agreement by

Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea for the establishment of a combined maritime

policing and security patrol committee on Tuesday is expected to be the major

outcome of Buharis talks with his host, according to Special Adviser to the

President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

Both Presidents,

according to Adesina, are also expected to discuss and agree on other

collaborative measures to combat crimes such as piracy, crude oil theft,

attacks on oil rigs, arms smuggling and human trafficking in the Gulf of

Guinea.

Both leaders

will also confer on the rescheduling of the joint summit of the Economic

Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central

African States (ECCAS) on additional cooperative measures to curb terrorism and

violent extremism in West and Central Africa.

The

summit was to have been hosted by Equatorial Guinea last year, but was

postponed because of Nigerias general elections.

In

accordance with the main focus and agenda of the trip, Buhari will be

accompanied by the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd);

the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (rtd); and

other senior security officials.

The

Nigerian leader is scheduled to return to Abuja on Tuesday, Adesina

stated.

It would be

recalled that in February, President Buhari said that his administration would

partner with the 11-member ECCAS to rid Nigeria and her neighbours of the

menace of the extremist Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram.

Speaking at

the State House Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while

receiving a message from President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea,

Buhari had said that he welcomed the effort to organise a joint meeting between

ECCAS and ECOWAS with a view to coordinating their responses to the threat of terrorism

in the Lake Chad Basin area.

In a press

release dated February 12, 2016, Senior Special Assistant to the President on

Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu,

stated that Buhari particularly noted the role of Mbasogo in bringing about the

proposed summit and described the effort as very commendable.

President

Buhari said he was deeply touched by the commitment shown in Nigerias security

by Equatorial Guinea and gave assurances of his commitment to enhancing

security and bilateral relations between the two countries.

The

Special Envoy of the Equatorial Guinean President, Mr Juan Antonio Bibang

Nchuchuma, who brought the message, said his President was prepared to expand

and share security intelligence and information with Nigeria to help in the war

against corruption and terrorism. He also requested for a meeting of the

security chiefs from both countries, Shehu had stated.
Precious Chukwueke Dances Inside The Pool As She Celebrates Her Birthday

Nigerian actress precious Chukwueke aka. Orange Berry was seen dancing inside a swimming pool with her beautiful attire as she celebrates her birthday. Gistvic Reports.





See more photos below:

Watch Video Below:

















SOURCE: GISTVIC.COM

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Reprinted from Consortium News

Industrialized Agriculture is addicted to chemistry in the form of pesticides. The addiction was marketed to the American People, along with other post World War Two miracles such as nylon stockings and the ball point pen. The pen and the nylons, of course, ultimately proved much less dangerous than the chemical fix for company profits.

Between 1947 and 1949, pesticide companies invested nearly $4 billion into expanding their production facilities, and made huge profits. By 1952-53, there were some 10,000 separate new pesticide products registered with the USDA, in what was labeled by journalists and historians as "The Golden Age of Pesticides."

Today, well over 33 million pounds of fumigants are used in California agriculture each year with over 9 million of cancer-causing chloropicrin alone. For strawberries grown in the state, fumigants account for 87 percent of all pesticide use. A 2014 report by the California Department of Public Health (DPH) found that fumigants dominate the top five pesticides of public health concern sprayed and spread in close proximity to schools.

A disturbing new study out of UCLA's Sustainable Technology & Policy Program found, in a case study of three fumigant pesticides commonly applied together in California, that "these pesticides may interact to increase the health risk for California farm workers and residents" and regulators do not exercise their authority to regulate the application of multiple pesticides to prevent or decrease risks to human health.

The UCLA study found that "Each of the pesticides ... causes adverse health effects in humans or animals, including acute, developmental, reproductive, and neuro-toxicity, and carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. There is a reasonable likelihood that the three pesticides can interact to synergistically increase the toxicity to humans."

According to Dr. Ann Lopez, Executive Director for the Center for Farmworker Families, the most at risk are the children in their formative years, who are impacted at local schools, located near the growing fields, and are constantly being exposed to the extensive drift of these dangerous fumigants. Dennis J Bernstein spoke recently to Dr. Lopez and to Mark Weller. Weller is Program Director for Californians for Pesticide Reform.

DB: Let me start with you Dr. Lopez. Give us a little bit of background on the chemicals we are talking about, in terms of the spraying near schools. How dangerous is this chemistry. What we know about the multiple impacts.

AL: Well, the researchers actually worked with three different pesticides, that are frequently used in California. Two in particular are very distressing because they are used in strawberry fields almost everywhere. The first one is chloropicrin which is a carcinogen. ... We inherited it from World War II as so called vomit gas because when you sprayed it on the enemy, in the war, they would have to remove their face mask in order to vomit.

Chloropicrin causes poisoning of the lungs, skin and the digestive tract. And the other one that's of major concern is Telone or 1,3-dichloropropene. This one is another cancer causing chemical. And it's also neurotoxic, and impacts fertility. And I'll come back to the neurotoxic part shortly. But what they did is they studied the impact on the body, of combination of pesticides. In other words, what happens when children are exposed to chloropicrin and Telone, either in succession or as a mixture.

And they found that each pesticide potentiates the impact of the other. So that what happens is you get a combined effect that's much greater than you would get with either one individually. And they work by dismantling the detoxifying mechanisms of the body, the so-called co-factors, like glutathione. And they also impact the DNA. So they alter the DNA in a way that could put the cells on the path to cancer.

So this is basically what they discovered. It's the first study of this kind that I've seen. And the reason that it's so distressing is because these chemicals are not like liquids or solids that you just dump on the ground and that's the end of it. They stay in that location, rather, they're mobile. They are vapors that move over the ground. And so when we have these narrow buffer zones around residences and schools, like we do, right now it's only 1/4 of a mile. This stuff can move over the ground, and just move right into the classroom or the playground, and impact the children. I think this is terrible. This is very, very distressing. So that is the concern and it's just a thumbnail sketch of the study, itself.

DB: And Dr. Lopez, say something about the impacts that we know, in terms of specifically on children, because we're talking about spraying these cancer causing chemicals near schools. These are kids in the formative years. I imagine this has a special impact, the kids are more vulnerable.

AL: Absolutely. Yes, the growing bodies of children are much more vulnerable. They take in a whole lot more liquid than adults. And they take in more air. So they are bound to absorb a lot more of these chemicals. And, it's distressing because the neurotoxins affect the brain and spinal cord. And I have worked in the areas where this study was done, northern Monterey county and Santa Cruz county for about 18 years, with farm workers.

All of them, every family I've ever talked to wants their kids educated and out of farm work. So what we do is we send the most oppressed, the poorest, and the voiceless, essentially, to these elementary schools where we spray right near the school. And these children go to school hoping to become educated and have a better future, and we're subjecting them to chemicals that can potentially alter their brain and spinal development. I just think it's unconscionable.

DB: And this is observed in terms of their actual behavior.
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Critics have long questioned why violent intervention was necessary in Libya. Hillary Clinton's recently published emails confirm that it was less about protecting the people from a dictator than about money, banking, and preventing African economic sovereignty.

The brief visit of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Libya in October 2011 was referred to by the media as a "victory lap." "We came, we saw, he died!" she crowed in a CBS video interview on hearing of the capture and brutal murder of Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi.

But the victory lap, write Scott Shane and Jo Becker in the New York Times, was premature. Libya was relegated to the back burner by the State Department, "as the country dissolved into chaos, leading to a civil war that would destabilize the region, fueling the refugee crisis in Europe and allowing the Islamic State to establish a Libyan haven that the United States is now desperately trying to contain."

US-NATO intervention was allegedly undertaken on humanitarian grounds, after reports of mass atrocities; but human rights organizations questioned the claims after finding a lack of evidence. Today, however, verifiable atrocities are occurring. As Dan Kovalik wrote in the Huffington Post, "the human rights situation in Libya is a disaster, as 'thousands of detainees [including children] languish in prisons without proper judicial review,' and 'kidnappings and targeted killings are rampant'."

Before 2011, Libya had achieved economic independence, with its own water, its own food, its own oil, its own money, and its own state-owned bank. It had arisen under Qaddafi from one of the poorest of countries to the richest in Africa. Education and medical treatment were free; having a home was considered a human right; and Libyans participated in an original system of local democracy. The country boasted the world's largest irrigation system, the Great Man-made River project, which brought water from the desert to the cities and coastal areas; and Qaddafi was embarking on a program to spread this model throughout Africa.

But that was before US-NATO forces bombed the irrigation system and wreaked havoc on the country. Today the situation is so dire that President Obama has asked his advisors to draw up options including a new military front in Libya, and the Defense Department is reportedly standing ready with "the full spectrum of military operations required."

The Secretary of State's victory lap was indeed premature, if what we're talking about is the officially stated goal of humanitarian intervention. But her newly-released emails reveal another agenda behind the Libyan war; and this one, it seems, was achieved.

Mission Accomplished?

Of the 3,000 emails released from Hillary Clinton's private email server in late December 2015, about a third were from her close confidante Sidney Blumenthal, the attorney who defended her husband in the Monica Lewinsky case. One of these emails, dated April 2, 2011, reads in part:

Qaddafi's government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver . . . . This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

In a "source comment," the original declassified email adds:

According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to commit France to the attack on Libya. According to these individuals Sarkozy's plans are driven by the following issues: A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production, Increase French influence in North Africa, Improve his internal political situation in France, Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world, Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi's long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa

Conspicuously absent is any mention of humanitarian concerns. The objectives are money, power and oil.

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(6th in the series, "Kasskara: Sunken Land of the Hopi Ancestors")



White Bear has told us that as Kasskara was sinking into the Pacific, the Hopi ancestors migrated to South America via a series of islands, Easter Island being the only one on their route still above the surface of the sea.



They established themselves at Taotooma (Tiahuanaco), but after a long time, when the new continent had emerged sufficiently from the ocean, the Kachinas guided the people north where they would establish themselves in what we call Mexico before migrating again to the Four Corners region of the current United States. White Bear described a ceremony that he said helps the Hopi recall details of their ancestors' migration through the brutally hot jungle, saying the ritual confirms that his people had received crucial survival skills from the Kachinas, such as the ability to avoid being devoured by wild animals:



White Bear stressed the importance of the divinities and Kachinas belonging to the Clan of the Bow because it shows both clans had experienced the same events. The Sun and Coyote Clans also share the same traditions, he said, "But only the Bow Clan, whose traditions are the most complete, celebrate the ceremony of 'the Ancestors that Came from the Sky'."

The Clan of the Bow began its migration north through the jungle starting from an unspecified locale referred to as the "City of Fog", which the Hopi called "Pamisky", White Bear said. "Tewaletsiwa (an elder) from the Clan of the Bow did not know exactly where it was in South America. He said, 'If I saw the City of Fog, I would recognize it easily.' He knew also the history of the town of Taotooma The Kachinas had told the clan to go towards the jungle, but starting from the City of Fog, the clan went instead down towards the plains," White Bear said. "I suppose that city had to be somewhere in Ecuador."

He explained that when the Clan of the Bow was ready to undertake the migration, the Kachinas were there to help the people cross the jungle, showing them the way and protecting them during the journey. Yet while babies born in the lowlands could survive, at the highest altitudes they could not, even with the Kachinas present. During the day the Kachinas protected the people, and this is what is shown in the ceremony. "The divinities made noise with their rattles, and other Kachinas inserted their sticks in the ground (sonic devices?), which made the wild animals flee," White Bear said. "It is only today that animal bones are used for the rattles; before we used shells. And today we do not use leather of jaguar as before but the leather of hind (deer)," White Bear said, adding that Tewaletsiwa had spoken earnestly about the sound waves the shells produced, saying that the instruments emitted magnetic waves.



"When the clan rested at night, the Kachinas rose like stars above the jungle, and their light protected the people against the wild animals," White Bear said. "I would like to add that the Kachinas used weapons only for protection, and the Hopi ancestors did not kill animals for food. In Taotooma the Kachinas had asked them to eat less and to nourish themselves with plants, thereby increasing the level of spiritual knowledge." The Kachinas stayed with the people of the Clan of the Bow until others arrived at Palatquapi.

Palatquapi

When the clans were still migrating through what is today South America and Mexico, long before the creation of Oraibi by the Bear Clan, many clans wanted to reunite. They remembered the destruction of their first city, Taotooma, in South America, White Bear said, and wanted to live again in harmony with the great mind: Taiowa. They had disobeyed their Creator and scattered in all directions. The Kachinas, however, persuaded them to return to the right path. Those of the chiefs who could still make use of their third eye ('brow' chakra, associated with spiritual insight) gathered the clans in order to create an arts center that promoted advanced spiritual knowledge. White Bear explained:



From South America the people migrated north to a place called Palatquapi. We know the site as Palenque.

(Image by Ryan McFarland, Author: Ryan McFarland) Details Source DMCA



"Every Hopi remembers this place as none could ever forget this city that bore the name Palatquapi, which in our language means 'red city'. According to my grandmother, Palatquapi was the first large city in the central western hemisphere. The people who did not come to this center increasingly lost their spirituality and started to venerate the sun as their god. I would like to add that the Clan of the Bear had crossed this region a long time previously to go to North America in order to open this country for us. This city has been located. It is called 'Palenque' now and is located in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was a great community. It was not built by slaves. The people knew what had happened to their first city and wanted to prove to themselves that this time they would do better. It was as if they wanted to be rehabilitated. All that was undertaken in this community was based on spiritual principals and people of very high rank could be found there. Additionally, relations and agreements with the Kachinas were reinforced.

White Bear further explained that in Palatquapi there was a building that had been built with particular care. It was the most important building because it was to be used for learning. My father had spoken to me about it before I started school. He told me about the four floors of the building and their purposes:

"On the ground floor young people learned the history of their clans and that of the previous world. The upper floors were the most important. On the second floor the pupils were educated in all that relates to the plan of life. They learned everything about nature that surrounds us, both through theoretical and practical teaching--how flowers grow, where insects come from, and how various species of birds, mammals, and all that lives in the sea, grow and develop. Here pupils were urged to open and use their third eyes. They also learned about the chemical elements on which our life is based. The body is composed of elements that come from the earth. If we do not obey the laws and mistreat the earth, we will suffer not only psychologically but also physically. The diseases that strike the human body are caused by the fault of people themselves."

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This is a reprint from NewsBred.







Even if it bores you, please pay close attention to English newspapers in India for their agenda these days. It's a dangerous game to break up India, Balkanize it.



You could find these tell-tale signs by their front and edit pages. These are considered "heart" of a newspaper. For example, Indian Express, which is more brazen than others, today makes no mention of Indian home minister Rajnath Singh informing the Lok Sabha that key documents related to the preparation of the second affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan case were not traceable in his ministry and an internal probe was on. (Times of India and Hindustan Times did make it a front page story. Kudos.)



Then comes the edit page. The Express op-Ed page has two pieces; one by Archana Prasad, who feels that BJP is polarizing opinion but since she is a professor of JNU we could take it with a pinch of salt. The second is an issue I want your utmost attention--it's a piece of Harsh Mander with the scary headline: "Can the Indian Spring be far behind?" (Interestingly, there is no mention of Indian Spring in the article!!! But Express is a zealot these days, fit to be pulled up by regulating agencies.)

This Indian Spring is a take on Arab Spring. To put the bare-facts of Arab Spring, it's hailed in western and our media as spontaneous people's uprisings against repression, from Libya and Egypt to Syria and Yemen, the so-called Middle East North Africa (MENA).

Christopher L. Brennan, in his book "Fall of the Arab Spring: From Revolution to Destruction" views this widespread Arab upheaval, not as authenticgrass-root movements for democracy but as a US-engineered destabilization moves.

Similarly, Ahmed Bensaad's 2011 book "L'Arabesque Americaine" concerns the US government's role in instigating, funding and coordinating the Arab Spring "revolutions".

Wikileaks cables also support covert funding for such activities. We all know Libya, Syria, Yemen and Egypt are worse off for these Spring revolutions. Here you have Mr Mander/Indian Express praying for an "Indian Spring" of similar catastrophe to Balkanize our India.

Mr Mander keeps writing edit pieces in Hindustan Times and Indian Express. It's time readers know about his background.

Mander, a former IAS officer, was a member of the National Advisory Council, which was termed as Sonia Gandhi's kitchen cabinet.

Mander "voluntarily took retirement" but media termed it as "quitting," anguished as he was because of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

He wrote an op-ed in Times of India, post-Godhra riots, which the Press Council of India (PCI) called "LIES."

The Press Council of India reprimanded Mander by stating, "guilty of spreading false rumours about alleged Hindu atrocities" in his column: "Hindustan Hamara" dated 20/3/2002. The decision by the PCI was pronounced on 30/6/2002 vide decision reference 14/06/02-03

His modus operandi has been described thus: to organize protests through NGOs against multi-nationals or nuclear projects entry into India. These companies then pay "consulting fees" ..., later these protests by NGOs fizzle out or vanish without trace.

For his hard work, Mander was presented by Sonia Gandhi as the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana award in a function attended by Jstice A.M. Ahmadi (the judge who let Union Carbide off the hook).

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"We need a more Open digital world -- that's good for business, the economy and the future of humanity. To get there is going to take "bottom-up" effort and Rob Kall's book is an exciting roadmap for how that can happen."



Rufus Pollock, author of "The Open Revolution", Founder of Open Knowledge, and formerly Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge
Although Native Americans still want President Obama to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier - this is really the biggest wish most Natives seem to have - they are happy with Obama's decision to designate Oak Flat as a National Historic Place, which could ruin plans for transforming this ancient tract of Apache sacred land into a copper mine owned by foreign interests.

But the catalyst of this political maneuver was probably a direct result of New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is also listed as the Granite State's 'Junior Senator', which is really a misnomer because if Burning Bernie keeps up his major makh and mojo, he might just find himself in the Oval Office as Obama's Democratic replacement. According to a March 2 editorial in Indian Country Today Media Network written by Stephen Fox: "Taking on these mining companies and fighting back against the millions of dollars these companies and their allies spent and continue to spend on lobbyists and political contributions, Senator Sanders introduced S. 2242, the Save Oak Flat Act, to correct not only an injustice to Native Americans but also against the American people. This situation is generally unknown to most American citizens. Sanders' legislation, the Save Oak Flat Act, would repeal Section 3003, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange Act (Land Exchange), of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which would privatize part of the Tonto National Forest and transfer Oak Flat, a sacred area of Apaches and other Native Americans, to Resolution Copper Mining, jointly owned by foreign-owned mining companies BHP Billiton (United Kingdom) and Rio Tinto (Australia), resulting in the destruction of this sacred area. Resolution Copper Mining seeks to develop the largest copper mine in North America on this sacred land that will result in the collapse of an area at least 2 miles in diameter and the destruction of the Oak Flat area.

"The Save Oak Flat Act would immediately halt this giveaway of land and natural resources owned by the American people to foreign-owned mining companies. Sanders' bill is cosponsored by New Mexico's Senator Martin Heinrich and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin."





Oak Flat is sacred Apache ceremonial land that needs to stay just the way it is - no copper mine could ever replace its pristine beauty.

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Gosar and McCain's nefarious scheming to to have Oak Flat made into a copper mine owned by an Australian-British corporation, Resolution Copper, may have been thwarted by Obama's decree, along with Sen. Sanders' hard work and diligence, but nothing is certain yet. There are no guarantees that even with a designation as a National Historic Place, the ultimate salvation from ruin of this large tract is a sure-fire go. And just like the devil, scheming tea-bagging rattlesnakes like the Arizona federal leaders involved with this sell-off never sleep. They are always looking for ways to make even the best of dreams virtual nightmares. All for the almighty dollar disguised under the All-American word 'PROGRESS'. This 2,400 acres of sacred ceremonial lands owned by the Apaches - known as Oak Flat or Chi'chil Bildagoteel - lies in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. Sites the Apaches call Apache Leap, a mountain held sacred by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and even the Tonto National Forest, will be turned into caves, barren extraction areas spanning miles, and a desolate, environmentally hazardous landscapes if the copper mine sees its way here.

In protest, more than 300 Apache tribal members have occupied the site in protest since early 2015. They are determined to protect their ancestral grounds where girls hold their coming-of-age ceremonies, along with other sacred ceremonial rituals. It's a beautiful place of natural wonder and beauty, but where money is to be made, political prostitutes like Gosar, McCain, Flake, and Kirkpatrick also abound.



Canupa Gluha Mani, leader of the Strongheart Warrior Society, told this writer in a telephone interview early Monday morning (March 14): "On what grounds does White America have to take ceremonial land away? What authority do they have? The authority they claim to have is that they oversee and supersede issues when in fact, they don't. Some tribal governments default on the rights of indigenous people. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Whtie America can take our land away, extract minerals, and strip away everything in the interests of White America. Corporate America cannot extract the earth like this. What grounds do they have? It's their white supremacy. All these governments -- do they understand? The indigenous people - through the independence of their status - never relinquished their treaty obligations of their inherent status. This goes back to time immemorial. Today we have indigenous people who are warriors and who stand up for the rights of Native Americans. That's what Strongheart has done. We fight for the rights of Indian people. A dog soldier proverb is that 'A nation can never be conquered unless the hearts of our women are under the earth.'"

The Strongheart Warrior Society is based in South Dakota, is primarily comprised of Lakota Natives, but is involved in political, economic and social struggles that many American Indian tribes face. Canupa Gluha Mani, a full-blooded Lakota, told this writer during another telephone interview over the past winter that the Strongheart Warrior Society was actively involved with helping the Apaches fight this federal land-grab deal.



Apache spokesman Wendsler Nosie, Sr. wrote an open letter to U.S. Rep. Gosar that Oak Flat "has always been our connection to our Mother, our right to exist, a central part of our prayers, songs, stories and spiritual practices. It is from here that we emerged. It is who we are. We have lost so much."

In mid-March, Gosar threw Trump-like tantrum, throwing around his anger with these words: "Shame on the Park Service and Forest Service for ramming a bogus historic place listing down the throats of Arizonans. Clearly, the Obama Administration cares more about pandering to extremist environmental groups and a D.C. lobbyist from the Clinton Administration than following the law and listening to the American public. Oak Flat has never been a sacred site, as confirmed by the local tribe's own former historian. Yet, Obama's minions are hell-bent on sabotaging an important mining effort by listing a small, public campground 20 miles away from the nearest tribe's reservation as a historic site."

In a March 3 article that appeared in Tucson Weekly, Apache Stronghold Chief Organizer, Wendsler Nosie, is noted as saying: "Oak Flat, known to us Chi'chil Bildagoteel, has always been our connection to our Mother, our right to exist, a central part of our prayers, songs, stories and spiritual practices. It is from here that we emerged. It is who we are. We have lost so much. So many of our people, the original people of this land, have been wiped out, and those that remained were removed, exiled, from our indigenous lands and placed in concentration camps. Chi'chil Bildagoteel, our holy land, was put under the care of the U.S. government, and because of its uniqueness, the great value of maintaining its ecological and cultural integrity, protected by its laws. But now these laws are being subverted. The land handed over to foreign mining concerns through underhanded backroom deals by Arizona representatives in the U.S. Congress eliminates these protections."

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For months, US president Barack Obama played coy on the developing controversy over law-enforcement bureaucrats' demands that American tech innovators be required to build "back doors" into their products. That changed on March 11. In a talk at the Austin, Texas SXSW Interactive festival, Obama warned against "an absolutist view" of individual privacy and strong encryption.

"[I]f your argument is strong encryption, no matter what, and we can and should, in fact, create black boxes," said Obama, "then that I think does not strike the kind of balance that we have lived with for 200, 300 years. And it's fetishizing our phones above every other value."

Weirdly citing the unconstitutional institution of local DUI checkpoints on our roads and the US government's barbaric post-9/11 practice of subjecting air travelers to sexual assault by Transportation Security Administration employees in the nation's airports, Obama appealed to the American tradition of "compromise" to support his argument. All, of course, while averring that he is "way on the civil liberties side of this thing." With civil-liberties friends like Barack Obama, who needs civil-liberties enemies?

With apologies to the late Barry Goldwater, absolutism in defense of individual privacy and strong encryption is no vice, nor is moderation in their defense a virtue.

But if President Obama really is interested in a compromise, I guess I'm willing to offer one. It begins with four words:

You first, Mr. President.

In 2008, you promised Americans "the most transparent administration in history." You've since not just failed to deliver on that promise, but taken things in exactly the opposite direction.

Your administration has denied or redacted parts of more Freedom of Information Act requests than any since the Act became law in 1966.

Chelsea Manning languishes in a military prison, Edward Snowden lives in exile, Julian Assange remains trapped in Ecuador's embassy in London, and numerous other whistleblowers have been imprisoned or otherwise persecuted, all for the "crime" of telling us things about the US government that you didn't want us to know.

You've even assumed the power to order American citizens assassinated -- while refusing to let the rest of us know who they are or why you had them killed.

In theory, YOU work for THE REST OF US. Since when does the employee get to read the boss's email on demand, but not vice-versa?

So show us you're serious. Start with pardons for Manning and Snowden and an end to the pursuit of Assange. Then start fulfilling instead of denying FOIA requests. And the thing with murdering people? That needs to end, completely, permanently.

Get on those things, then we'll talk. But I'm going to go ahead and predict that this isn't the kind of "compromise" you meant.
2016 is set to be an unusually busy election season for the African continent, with at least a dozen sub-Saharan elections due to be held before the year is out. One poll in particular--the Chadian presidential election, scheduled for April 10--has set itself apart from the rest, primarily on account of sitting president Idriss Deby Itno's promise to re-instate term limits on the office if he is re-elected. In doing so, he would be bucking a trend of African leaders defying or doing away with limits on their time in power, with Paul Kagame's referendum in Rwanda and Pierre Nkurunziza's destabilizing decision to run for a third term attracting the most international press. Deby, who first ascended to leadership in Chad by overthrowing dictator Hissene Habre in 1990, oversaw the promulgation of Chad's current constitution in 1996 and has been elected president in every vote since. In 2005, it was Deby's government that removed the two-term limit from the constitution after a referendum; at the time, of course, Chad was being roiled by instability and civil strife (fomented by neighboring Sudan) which would have made an organized transition of power highly impractical.

Just a few years removed from the end of hostilities between Chad and Sudan, the country has transformed from a battlefield into a driving force for stability in the region as a whole. In 2013, Chadian forces formed a highly effective part of the French-led multinational force in northern Mali. Using their experience in desert combat, the country's troops pursued Tuareg rebels and jihadist groups deep into the Sahara--a terrain partner troops from West Africa (the ECOWAS states) were unable to operate effectively in. More recently, Chad partnered with Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin through the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) to directly combat the jihadist group Boko Haram, whose bloody campaign has spread beyond northern Nigeria to threaten Lake Chad. This willingness to serve as a force for regional stability has heightened Deby's own stature on the continent, demonstrated by his elections to the presidency of the African Union (AU) this past January.

It is in this context that Chadians will be going to the polls next month, with 14 candidates in all vying for the post. As of now, Deby will be running against opposition figures such as Saleh Kebzabo, who ran for the office twice before (in 1996 and 2001) and served in various ministry posts up until 2001, as well as former political allies such as ex-prime ministers Nouredine Delwa Kassire Koumakoye and Joseph Djimrangar Dadnadji (who started his own party last year). The popular mayor of the southern city of Moundou, Laoukein Kourayo Medard, will also be joining the race this year for the first time. Also of note in this election will be the introduction of biometric-voter identification, a measure demanded by the opposition after allegations of fraud in previous balloting and a step toward increased transparency in the country's electoral process.

As Chad's neighbors and partners in central Africa await the results of next month's elections, recent comments from Saleh Kebzabo may well offer cause for concern. In an interview with Jeune Afrique, the former journalist and government official dismissed his country's prominent role in regional peacekeeping and counterterrorism operations by stating: "Chad occupies a particular position within the actual context, but it cannot be the police for central Africa. It simply does not have the means." Kebzabo's comments suggest he would backtrack on Chad's newfound role as a lynchpin of security operations and conflict mediation efforts, despite the ongoing threat posed by Boko Haram and the AU leadership he is currently seeking to inherit (in the event of an electoral victory).

Seemingly fearful of a pro-Deby bias on the part of the international community, opposition candidates have repeatedly decried normally routine engagements as evidence of a preference for the sitting leader's continued rule. When Deby was elected to the head of the AU, for example, opposition legislator Ngarlejy Yorongar blasted the Union for giving his political rival a "helping hand" in the midst of an election. Kebzabo, for his part, harshly criticized a meeting between the Chadian president and French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Paris last month, accusing France of taking an official position on the eve of the vote. Rebuffing Kebzabo's allegations, a French diplomat pointed out: "Idriss Deby currently presides over the African Union, and Chad is an important ally in France in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel. This meeting had nothing to do with the Chadian electoral agenda."

With the slate of candidates finalized and the election less than a month away, Chad appears set for a highly competitive contest (particularly by African standards). Several opposition groups have capitalized on recent protests over the rape of Zouhoura Ibrahim (which has highlighted the serious problem of sexual violence Chad continues to face) as an indication of popular opposition to Deby's tenure. The sitting president, however, recently made a key appointment that reflects a level of magnanimity rarely seen among African leaders. Possibly seeking to improve his administration's appeal among Saleh Kebzabo's southern base, Chad's president named Albert Pahimi Padacke--who hails from the same region as Kebzabo and who twice ran against Deby for the presidency--as prime minister.

Placing Padacke at the head of the government should give a boost to Deby's campaign; just how much of a boost will become apparent come April 10.
"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."

-First Amendment - United States Constitution

In the era of false equivalency it should not be surprising that television's talking heads have tried to place equal blame on victims of Trump inspired violence. It is no surprise that Fox's Greta Van Susteren stated without any proof that the rally in Chicago was cancelled because " a few protesters who looked like a few anti-Trump supporters, went up there and caused problems ."

However, it is bewildering that when Trump states on MSNBC that " some of these protestors are dangerous people...extremely dangerous, extremely physical " and host Chris Matthews does not even ask for an example of this violence. Certainly the example Trump gave of a protester " jumping up and down for 15 minutes " did not rise to the level of " violence or potential violence ."

Trump rallies are public events. If someone wants to counter the message being spread at these events without disrupting them, the first amendment gives them the right to do so. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples where this has not been the case as Trump marches towards becoming the Republican nominee. For example, in January, "a muslim woman wearing a hijab was escorted out of Donald Trump's campaign event...by police after she stood up in silent protest during Trump's speech." In February, "about 30 black students who were standing silently at the top of the bleachers at Donald Trump's rally here Monday night were escorted out by security officials before the presidential candidate began speaking." In Chicago, the candidate had not even taken the stage, so it is clear that none of the protesters were guilty of interrupting him.

There have been those who have taken their actions further by engaging in civil disobedience and actively disrupted Trump's speeches. Protest is also a form of speech and should not be impinged on by the government. While law enforcement does have the right to remove these protestors from the event, they also have an obligation to prevent them from being harmed. Trump fan John McGraw should have been immediately arrested after he sucker punched a protester. White supremacist Matthew Heimbach and Korean War veteran Alvin Bamberger have both publicly acknowledged assaulting a protester but have yet to be held legally accountable for their actions. This purposeful inaction by law enforcement serves to impede speech by encouraging violence against protesters and should not be tolerated in a democratic society.

Last summer, Trump called Bernie Sanders "weak" for giving up the microphone when confronted by Black Lives Matter protesters and vowed that he would never let this happen at his rallies by saying "I don't know if I'll do the fighting myself, or if other people will, but that was a disgrace." His fans have followed his lead, but when confronted with an actual reality, the reality star caved and cancelled his rally rather than confront those who disagree with his vision for America. When a protester got too close to the stage at an Ohio rally, the self-proclaimed alpha male did not confront him directly; he cowered behind his Secret Service detail\. The Wizard has been exposed behind the curtain, but it remains doubtful that his fans will stop clicking their heels in belief that he can "make America great again."

____________________________________________

I am a candidate for the District 2 seat on the LAUSD School Board, founder of Change The LAUSD and member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. Opinions are my own.
We Are the Change

By Richard Girard

I am going to start by quoting from my 30 November 2012 OpEdNews article "Crass Materialism :"

"Noted economist John Maynard Keynes stated in the book Essays in Persuasion(1931; chapter 5, 'The Future'), 'For at least another hundred years we must pretend to ourselves and to everyone that fair is foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful and fair is not. Avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods for a little longer still.' Keynes also argued that the 'love of money,' and all of the other vices associated with greed would have to continue until the world's economy has grown enough to satisfy human wants and provide the potential for removing poverty from the economic equation.

We can no longer afford to wait a century from when Keynes made his statement, now less than fifteen years away. If we do, there may be no civilization left from which to 'remove poverty;' only the impoverished dregs of what was once a scientifically advanced human culture, fighting over the remaining scraps. As Socrates observed two-and-a-half millennia ago, 'Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires. All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service.' (Quoted from Plato's Phaedo, section 65c--66e.) With almost nothing left, the survivors may be fighting for everything with nuclear weapons.

Our materialistic society is proving destructive of humanity's best interests. Whether you wish to use the free market materialism of the Austrian and Chicago Schools of Economics, or the dialectic materialism of Karl Marx's Communism, neither is providing the answers we need for our future survival. When you put things ahead of people, it will always prove destructive of the needs of humankind--both individually and collectively--and of the dignity of the human race itself. Marx at least had a noble motive behind his ideas: the opportunity for everyone to fully develop their human potential. The followers of von Mises, von Hayek, and Friedman simply desire to create a world in which social Darwinism was codified, and a permanent class system of rich and poor established.

Materialism in any form is easy to sell to the average person, even one who imagines himself to be deeply spiritual, whether the faith is in God or in some amorphous, inexplicable future. These are the reasons the spiritual descendants of John Calvin--and to some extent Martin Luther--use the beliefs of 'predestination" and "the elect' to such devastating effect upon their sheep-like Fundamentalist followers. If you are not wealthy, it is because you are not right with God."

"You say you want a revolution,

Well you know,

We'd all want to change the world;

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Expansion into the USA flexword opens new site in Jacksonville, Florida Expansion into the USA

flexword opens new site in Jacksonville, Florida

(Mannheim/Jacksonville, March 2016) flexword Translators & Consultants, which has its head office in Mannheim, continues to pursue growth: the language service provider, which is one of Germany's biggest professional providers, is now expanding into the States and has opened its fourth national office in Jacksonville, Florida. It already has national offices in Germany, the UK and Serbia. The new US office is located in the heart of Florida's biggest and economically most important metropolis. Werner Arnautovic, Director of flexword Deutschland and the newly-formed US company flexword Inc. says: "Expanding into the USA is in many respects an im-portant strategic step for us: firstly, we are able to serve customers in the States as well as subsidiaries of European companies on their home soil and secondly we are extending our service window for Europe into the night."

flexword is starting off with three staff in the office, who work closely with the project managers in Europe and oversee translations in almost every language provided by a pool of 8,000 qualified translators and proofreaders around the world. The local conditions make Jacksonville the ideal launch pad for the US business: Werner Arnautovic explains: "The region itself has tremendous economic strength and, with its major port, it is home to countless large European corporations - including some in our customer portfolio.

The company, which was established in Mannheim in 1992, is one of Germany's biggest providers. It has already handled projects for over 1,000 clients in a variety of sectors from automotive to pharmaceuticals and has been internationally active for many years. flexword operates strictly according to the native speaker principle. This is more restrictive than re-quired by EN Standard 15038, of which the company was one of the early adopters. Conse-quently, all translations are undertaken by the pool of qualified translators and proofread-ers around the globe. Werner Arnautovic: "The new office gives us six more project man-agement hours. This enables us to manage incoming and outgoing orders during off-peak hours and at night, which marks another milestone in our company's history."

The office will be increased to a staff of around 10 over the next two years.

For more information please contact Elise Grosdidier either by:

phone +49 (0) 621 39 74 78-290 or email Elise.Grosdidier@flexword.de



ABOUT FLEXWORD:

flexword translators & consultants is a full-service language service provider company headquartered in Mannheim, Germany with offices located in both England and Serbia. Since 1992, flexword translators & consultants serves all industries and translates all languages. flexword translators & consultants is certified with EN 15038 for translation services and EN ISO 9001 certified for quality management. For more information please contact Elise Grosdidier either by phone +49 (0) 621 39 74 780 or email elise.grosdidier@flexword.de.



Flexword

Neckarauer Str. 35, 68199 Mannheim

Germany

Elise Grosdidier



This release was published on openPR.



Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release.
TryHealthier - The Art of Living Website Launch

TryHealthier.com is a website devoted to providing well researched articles and tips on how an individual can keep their body, mind and spirit healthy in a way that is easy for anyone to understand.TryHealthier.com will stand out from the competition due to the fact that this service actually focus on helping the readers with high quality articles and also trough the "ask the doctor" feature that can be found easily on the homepage of the website.TryHealthier also aims to enlist the help of the medical community in educating and providing personalized information and answers in regards to the user's health issues or concerns through the "Ask The Doctor" section of the website and also, the company is proud to announce that it will provide this service for free, forever.The company has conducted many surveys related to the services it provides and the overall usability of the website and the feedback TryHealthier received was amazing - over 95% percent of the users questioned said that they would recommend this service to a close friend or relative.***ContactCristea VladFounder & Marketing Drectorcontact@tryhealthier.comTryHealthier launched due to the increasing need for accurate information on how an individual can keep him/herself healthy in our fast paced world.The founders of this project, Vlad Cristea, an engineer and health&fitness enthusiast and Baciu Alina, a general surgery resident, seek to create a reliable platform that is easy for anyone to access and use.Name of the Company: TryHealthierAddress: Str. A.D. Xenopol nr 26, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, 400475 RomaniaContact Information: email: contact@tryhealthier.comPhone: +40743854896Presscontact: Cristea Vlad
Gospel Music Composer/ Producer Dr. Brenda Jefferson Stuns on the 31st Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards Red Carpet

www.BrendaJefferson.com

http://www.BrendaJefferson.com

Gospel music producer/composer/ preacher Brenda Jefferson will be a presenter on the upcoming 31st Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards which airs on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at (6PM EST).Tampa, FL, March 11, 2016 - Gospel music producer/composer/ preacher Brenda Jefferson will be a presenter on the upcoming 31st Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards which airs on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at (6PM EST). The 2016 Stellar Awards was held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV on February 26, 2016. Dr. Jefferson looked stunning as she graced the red carpet pre-award show for interviews. As of lately Dr. Brenda has been really busy doing ministry and working on new music.The producer/songwriter Brenda Jefferson A.K.A. Pastor or Dr. Brenda Jefferson is currently in the works of releasing her second studio album which is set to be entitled "Invocation." "Invocation" is due to be released sometime late Spring/ Early Summer of 2016. The "Invocation" album is testament to the spirits of Faith, Love and Inspiration, these are just a few of the messages that Dr. Brenda enjoys teaching with her husband Bishop M.B. Jefferson at their Deeper Life Christian Church in Tampa, FL.Brenda Jefferson found much fame from her debut gospel album "A Time of Refreshing" which shot up the gospel music charts and solidified her place as gospel royalty. Her featured single, "Oh Clap Your Hands," took off and instantly became a fan favorite. Now the Tampa based Pastor/Dr. and Musician is back and ready to spread God's word through music.Although its been several years since Dr. Brenda has released an album, she's no stranger to producing quality music. For her new album she's enlisted the help of some of the biggest names in gospel music such as; 2016 Stellar Award Winners Dorinda Clark-Cole, Isaac Carree, Myron Butler, Sam Washington and many more.For more information about Brenda Jefferson and Deeper Life Christian Church please follow her on twitter at @DrBrendaJ to attend a live speaking engagement or request an interview or book Dr. Jefferson for an event please contact Calvin Jefferson pastorcalvin@dlcctampa.com at 813-229-6805 or check her out online at Facebook: @DrBrendaJefferson orABOUT Dr. Brenda JeffersonDr. Brenda Jefferson, Co-Pastor of Deeper Life Christian Church in Tampa, FL is one of todays most dynamic Christian leaders. She is a fixture of inspiration and hope, provoking a lifestyle of holiness and integrity in men and women across the nation. This celebrated songwriter, author, designer, mentor, and multi-faceted entrepreneur, is fueled by a passion to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. As an anointed musical arranger, Brenda embraces Gods true healing power through song.Contact:Darnell ClarkImage Makers Media Group, LLC646 Antone StreetAtlanta, GA 30318412-353-9240Dclark@imagemakersmedia.com
The Veterans Inaugural Ball, January 20, 2017

www.theveteransinaguralball.com

www.theveteransinauguralball.com

Alliance of Americas Veterans Holds Ball to Celebrate the Presidential inaugurationWashington, D.C., March 11, 2016-In celebration of the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, an alliance of veterans and Veteran Service Organizations will host an elite, non-partisan inaugural ball at the prestigious Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington D.C. The Veterans Inaugural Ball will benefit the Coalition to Salute Americas Heroes, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Paralyzed Veterans of America--bringing together Veterans, Government Officials, and A-List celebrities for a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate our proud, American tradition on the night of the inauguration of the President of the United States of America.The Veterans Inaugural Ball in conjunction with the Veterans Awards ceremony will be saluting non-profit organizations for their selfless service in the lives of our veterans and their families across our great nation. Upon arrival, our diverse and prominent attendees will walk down a black carpet in remembrance and honor of our Fallen Heroes. The captivating, panoramic views of the White House, Lafayette Square and St. Johns Church (Church of the Presidents) will be accompanied by a gourmet dinner and live performances. The consummate location of the Hay-Adams in the heart of our nations capital, will be a gratifying experience on its own. Guests will leave with a lasting impression and reflect on what the United States holds dear: Our Nations Heroes!Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy AwardThe Veterans Inaugural Ball in conjunction with the Veterans Awards ceremony, will honor Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, US Navy SEAL, by presenting the Best Veterans Education Award to the most impactful educational institution in service to our men and women in uniform. The guests of The Veterans Inaugural Ball will have the honor of having Lieutenant Michael P. Murphys family in attendance the night of the inauguration.About Military Order of the Purple HeartChartered by Congress in 1958, The Military Order of the Purple Heart is composed solely of military men and women who received the Purple Heart Medal for wounds suffered in combat or as a result of acts of international terrorism.About the Coalition to Salute Americas HeroesThe Coalition to Salute Americas Heroes, founded in 2010, strives to help severely-wounded veterans and families of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn recover from their injuries and illnesses, and to inspire other organizations and the general public to participate in this effort.About Paralyzed Veterans of AmericaThe Paralyzed Veterans of Americas mission is to help veterans by securing benefits that have been denied and helping veterans get back to work.Additional details and ticketing information about the event can be found onContact:Heather HaroChief Communications Officerhharo@veteransinauguralball.com(703) 642-5360An alliance of Veteran Service Organizations will be hosting a Veterans Awards ceremony in conjunction with the Veterans Inaugural Ball to salute the selfless service of our Veterans and celebrate the Inauguration of our 45th President of the United States.5413 Backlick Rd
Business Intelligence Vendor to Enhance Predictive Analytics in Yellowfin 7.2

http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-Yellowfin-7-2-launch-Webinar-Make-your-data-valuable-for-everyone-217889

www.yellowfinbi.com

http://www.yellowfinbi.com

Global Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics software vendor, Yellowfin, is set to release a string of enhanced predictive analytics capabilities when it launches the next iteration of its BI platform, Yellowfin 7.2.Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, March 12, 2016 -- Yellowfin 7.2 will be launched in a series of Webinars across Wednesday 16 March 2016.For details, register for the official Webinar launch of Yellowfin 7.2 HERE: yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-Yellowfin-7-2-launch-Webinar-Make-your-data-valuable-for-everyone-217889Demand for predictive analytics is quickly growing as it becomes increasingly important for organizations to use their data assets to pinpoint trends and conduct accurate forecasting, said Yellowfin Director of Product Marketing, John Ryan. Yellowfin 7.2 will deliver enhanced forecasting and trending capabilities, extending the breadth of Yellowfins analysis capabilities, and making it easier for users to understand where their business is heading.Research firm Transparency Market Research has forecast the global predictive analytics software market to grow from USD $2.1 billion in 2012 to over $6.5 billion by 2019  a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17.8% from 2013 to 2019.MarketsandMarkets has predicted similarly impressive growth figures, estimating the worldwide predictive analytics market to grow at a CAGR of 25.2% from 2013 to 2018. In fact, MarketsandMarkets forecast the global predictive analytics market to reach $9.2 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 27.4% during the forecast period.Yellowfin will host three concise 40-minute Yellowfin 7.2 release Webinars throughout Wednesday 16 March 2016.Register for the official Webinar launch of Yellowfin 7.2 HERE:About Yellowfin:Yellowfin is a global Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics software vendor passionate about making BI easy. Founded in 2003 in response to the complexity and costs associated with implementing and using traditional BI tools, Yellowfin is a highly intuitive 100 percent Web-based reporting and analytics solution. Yellowfin is a leader in mobile, collaborative and embedded BI, as well as Location Intelligence and data visualization.Over 10,000 organizations, and more than 1.5 million end-users across 70 different countries, use Yellowfin every day. For more information, visitFor regular news and updates, follow Yellowfin on Twitter (@YellowfinBI), LinkedIn (Yellowfin Business Intelligence), YouTube (Yellowfin Team) or email pr@yellowfin.bi to subscribe to Yellowfins free e-newsletter.For further media information, interviews, images or product demonstration, please contact:Lachlan James, Yellowfin Global Communications Manager on +61 (0)3 8617 4954, +61 (0)431 835 658 or lachlan.james@yellowfin.biYellowfin is a global Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics software vendor passionate about making BI easy.Contact:Lachlan JamesYellowfinLevel 46, 360 Elizabeth StreetMelbourne 3000, Victoria+61 0 3 8617 4954lachlan.james@yellowfin.bi
88 % of Britons Believe Cybercrime is Now as Big A Threat as Offline Crime

www.vestvpn.com

http://www.vestvpn.com

In-depth survey on internet crime also finds that 93% of people in UK think online crime is going to get considerably worse over the next ten years.Hertfordshire, England, March 12, 2016 -- The results of new research in the UK have revealed that 88% of Britons see cybercrime as now being as big a threat as offline crime, whilst 76% of people believe governments and large organisations are not doing enough to combat hackers and cybercrime.In addition, a huge 93% of people surveyed by online security company vestvpn.com think online crime is going to get considerably worse over the next ten years.Researchers also asked British internet users what measures they take to avert the threat of computer viruses, hacking or cybercrime, with a security conscious 83% saying they use anti virus software. However the limitations of the most popular anti virus solutions in preventing hacking, phishing and scams mean there is still huge room for improvement amongst internet users.This was further highlighted by the survey finding that just 19% of Britons regularly change their online passwords or use a random password generator. Alarmingly 7% of internet users in the UK take no personal security measures whatsoever online, whilst 10% avoid banking and shopping online completely due to fear of cybercrime.Meanwhile 26% of Brits acknowledge they have been confronted with an attempted online scam in the last five years. Over the same five year period, 8% of Britons have actually suffered financial losses in an online scam, just 3% less than the 11% who have suffered financial losses in an offline / real-life crime.Another alarming statistic to emerge from the study was that 16% of the adult UK population  approximately 7.84 million people  have been the victim of a virus or hack in the last five years in which email or personal data was compromised.Asked what most concerns them about online crime 37% responded potential financial losses, whilst for 30% the main worry is potential theft of personal data, followed by 14% who fear for their familys safety.Stuart Spice, whose online security company Vest carried out the survey, commented, The sheer scale of online crime, hacking and identity breaches globally and in the UK means most people are familiar with the key issues, even if many of us are not quite sure what to do about it.Large companies and government organisations are themselves unable to prevent hacks and online theft of both data and financial assets, so many individuals feel helpless against criminals online, with the threats often coming from beyond the UK. Anti virus software can only go so far, so ensuring your internet connection is truly secure and following guidelines on matters such as rigid password security can make a huge difference to your online safety.Vests research on consumer cybercrime experience and perceptions was carried out in March of 2016 and all survey respondents were UK based internet users over the age of 18. Vest are online privacy and security specialists whose innovative new VPN based service protects the identity and security of its users, whilst blocking malicious content and cutting off intrusive user tracking at source.About Vest:Vest is a new breed of privacy technology which protects your identity and security when you use the internet by filtering malicious content and blocking intrusive user tracking at its source. Your anonymity is assured, so that means no prying eyes, no snooping advertisers and no risk of fraud. VisitVest is a new breed of privacy technology which protects your identity and security when you use the internet by filtering malicious content and blocking intrusive user tracking at its source.Contact:Stuart SpiceVest VPN48b The Broadway, Darkes LanePotters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 2HW+44 0 203 026 0273+44 0 7949 345072info@vestvpn.com
Black Note Graffiti Perform At 2016 SXSW

www.Blacknotegraffiti.com

http://www.Blacknotegraffiti.com

Michigans hard rock band Black Note Graffiti will perform two shows right in the middle of 2016 SXSW at the RedGorilla Music Festival in Austin TX.Ann Arbor, MI, March 12, 2016 -- Michigans hard rock band Black Note Graffiti will perform two shows right in the middle of 2016 SXSW at the RedGorilla Music Festival in Austin TX. The headlining shows will be on Thursday March 17th at 7pm at The Dizzy Rooster and March 18th at 7 pm at the Roof Top Bar in Austin, TX. They will be performing songs from their upcoming sophomore release Volume II, which promises more hard rockin energy from the band.Black Note Graffiti is headlining this years Hash Bash in Ann Arbor with Tommy Chong on Saturday April 2nd as well.Since their inception, the band also has found success by charting on CMJ and landing media deals to air on ESPN, NASCAR, MTV, and DISCOVERY.The multi-talented leader of the band Kris Keller will also be in the audience in Austin representing Noteborn Music Company and will be scouting for new bands at the festival to sign and license material to TV and Movies. There is a lot of excitement for the band right now and their ability to help other indie bands is a driving force behind what they stand for.Black Note Graffiti is anxious to give their fans great live performances on one of the worlds biggest stages for indie music in the heart of Texas. The great music tradition of Austin will surely continue with this yearly event. The electricity and energy of introducing some of the new material that will be on the upcoming release is certain to be one of the highlights of their show and create more anticipation for the new release.Keller and the band look forward to seeing some familiar faces, meeting some new ones and creating some more fans along the way. If Volume II picks up where Volume I left off it then it is a guaranteed rollercoaster ride of heavy metal and eclectic sounds.Volume ll will be released this summer and updates and more information is available on their website.Keller and the band look forward to seeing some familiar faces, meeting some new ones and creating some more fans along the way.Contact:Kris KellerNoteborn Music CompanyP.O. Box 8171Ann Arbor, MI 48107734-231-4968info@blacknotegraffiti.com
OrsInfotech Launches OMR software Solution To Improving Student Results With OMR Software

ORS Infotech

http://www.orsinfotech.com/contact-us/

Today verging on each foundation and organization make utilization of OMR paper. Numerous passageway forms and papers make utilization of OMR papers having bubbles which are to be obscured for correct answer. The air pockets are to be filled utilizing pens or pencils. These imprints are totally recorded and examined which are then contrasted with format to check the answers gave.OMR softwares are utilized as they give awesome establishment adaptability and incredible breadth of utilization. Where as OMR scanners just make utilization of transoptic paper. Be that as it may, utilization of OMR software can be worked past this restriction, one can make possess archives utilizing word processor and utilization of OMR papers can be over looked.There are three efficacies on which OMR software assessments are gone ahead. ID standardized identification is the one of a kind code which categorize one client from another. While the air pockets or sections which are obscured by the clients are additionally investigated by softwares. The information is customized by TVR utilizing information from the information base.How OMR Can Advantage Your TeachersThe advantage of OMR software can maybe be best enlightened by inspecting the whole process - from the design of the questionnaire to the stamping of the finished sheet.The teacher or examiner will commonly design the test utilizing a form format that contains both the inquiries and the answer "bubbles". Versatile vector representation and/or raster pictures can be utilized for papers where illustrations are required, for example, maths, science, science, material science, and so forth.To minimize conning, the diverse segments of every paper can be randomized, implying that two understudies sitting beside each other won't have the same test format (in spite of the fact that it will at present be the same test). Contingent upon the OMR software being utilized, distinctive scores can be assigned to various areas, along these lines taking into account precise understudy appraisal.Every paper is given an extraordinary standardized identification that connections it to the layout being utilized furthermore contains the understudy's recognizable proof to guarantee that, once the paper is denoted, the correct score is dispensed to his or her record. A TVR, or Layout Variable Substitution, can likewise be embedded for form customisation.At the point when the design procedure is finished, the forms can be printed and passed out to be finished by the understudies. Once filled in, the forms are stacked into the report feeder of a scanner that will then make a computerized rendition of the finished test, denoting every one of the inquiries and store the aftereffects of every understudy in the database record corresponding to the understudy ID. The checking process takes not exactly a second, which implies the truth will surface eventually spared and precision enhanced.How OMR Can Advantage Your UnderstudiesBecause of the way that OMR considers total stamping, teachers will now have the capacity to gage understudy capability in various zones. This information can then be utilized to figure out where understudies may require extra lessons or additional thoughtfulness regarding guarantee for a more adjusted training, consequently enhancing their general imprints. What's more, keeping in mind that we forget, when understudies do well, schools have a tendency to flourish.Different territories where OMR software can be utilized both for the advantage of understudies and instructive bodies incorporate fitness and IQ testing or wherever the utilization of various decision inquiries are suitable. Schools that look to utilize new teachers can likewise utilize OMR software to break down the consequences of MBTI (Myers-Briggs Sort Indicator) questionnaires, to evaluate the identities of planned educators and guarantee that they utilize the right individuals to instruct their understudies.OrsInfotech leading software development company provides you best services in In IT Industry . we have highly experience employees in all department .we offers web designing , software development, android development, iphone development services .01 3rd Floor, Amit Complex,Opp. Panchratna Appts. ,Subhanpura Main Road ,Vadodara -390023 Gujarat , INDIA.E-mailMarketing: sales@orsinfotech.comOffice: info@orsinfotech.comSupport: support@orsinfotech.comWebsite :
Digital Sky Design is the leading agency offers web design in Wandsworth

http://digitalskydesign.co.uk/

United Kingdom 12-03-2016. Digital Sky Design is the award-winning company engaged to provide highest level of web design in Wandsworth. The growth of a business in these days is totally dependent on the connectivity of a company with its potential customers. Through an eye-catchy or mind-catchy website you can attract more and more customers within less time or can achieve the desired heights. Having an interactive website gives your business a way to achieve popularity in digital era and also help to boost business profitability.Increased usability of internet has put a new face to the way businesses interacting with its customers. When it comes to web design in Kent then you need reference of leading and specialized designing company like Digital Sky Design. It is the digital marketing agency offers highest level of service for web design and gives you a chance to gain maximum profitability. The responsive and user-friendly website must help you to interact with potential customers and let them know about your business, brand and products.The professional and specialized web designers must use innovative and personalized approaches to develop the most effective web solution. The right web solution is key to success for a business wants to grow more and more. An interactive website must help you to maximize your business exposure and successful online presence will definitely improve your companys bottom line. For the best standard of web design in Wandsworth, you need reference of highly specialized and dedicated web designing company to get consistent results.If you are looking for the leading, dedicated and specialized web designing and digital marketing agency then simply prefer to Digital Sky Design.For more detail on web design in Wandsworth you can visit at:Digital Sky Design is the premier digital marketing agency offer creative solutions for the growth of a business. It aims to provide highest level of services for web design in Wandsworth and to help your business grow more and more. Web designing services will give you chance to built effective, respected and successful online presence among customers.First Floor, Tudors Business Centre, Water House Lane, Kingswood, Surrey, KT20 6EN, United Kingdom
BlueRose Packaging Offers Clients with the Best Wooden Crates and Bubble Cushioning

http://www.bluerosepackaging.com/

BlueRose Packaging is a renowned packaging company that renders customers with a varied option in bubble cushion. Clients who want to ship light or heavy duty goods have procured the choicest of bubble cushion options from this company. This company has also assisted its clients in satisfying their storage needs with efficacy. It directly ships clients all their orders without any delay. The company is known for its punctuality as well as the high-grade quality of rolls, perforated and split bundles that it provides clients with. Its clients can select their custom packaging from this provider, for befitting their special requirements in shipping. The company has bubble cushion in conventional sizes, of 12" roll, 24" roll, 48 and 72" rolls. The material used by the company for bubble cushion is either clear or anti-static.The company is also recognized for its Wooden Crates, which are specially designed for clients to render them with an alternative to cardboard corrugated boxes. Clients, who need larger dimension of boxes and storage devices, employ Wooden Crates from the company to take care of their shipping and moving essentials. The shipping boxes from the company does not comprise of slim containers or plastic ingredients that can be damaged easily by external conditions. Instead, this company makes use of Heat Treated Wooden Crates that enable its clients with the shipment of larger items of variable dimensions.The company is tactically located to provide its clients with the most formidable delivery system. All its customers' orders are delivered promptly, within a span of a few hours and with utmost care. As such, clients can fulfill their domestic and international shipping requirements without much effort. The company has all its products made available for affordable costs. Wood crates from BlueRose Packaging are value-for-money storage items that clients can use for varied purposes. Apart from being durability, these wood crates are competent enough for transporting goods from one location to the other. Clients can get their preference of wood crates in varied styles and designs.Bubble cushion materials from BlueRose Packaging are of good quality and responsive to shock. This company has paid attention to the density of their bubble cushion material, to render a significant bubble size to their clients. Heavy duty items can procure smaller bubble cushion material, whereas for their lighter packaging they can use larger bubble cushion material. Several clients have optimized their custom packaging from the company, by rendering their products a thicker shield to guarantee the safety of your goods. Visitin case of any further queries.BlueRose Packaging is a renowned manufacturer of bubble cushion and wooden crates. The company renders clients with innumerable options in bubble cushion and wooden crates to help clients ship their standard and custom based packaging. It is also favored by clients in shipping domestic and international consignments at affordable prices.2950 Sunshine Wy,Anaheim, CaliforniaUSA, 92807Phone : 8778084698
Edgematics nominated for the Best EMEA partner in the emerging markets category by Tableau Software

http://www.edgematics.com

www.edgematics.com

Partners recognized for excellent performance and notable achievementsEdgematics Technologies, a leading data management solution provider in the Middle East region, today announced that Tableau (NYSE: DATA), a global leader in rapid-fire, easy-to-use business analytics software, commended its partners with a series of awards during its annual European, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) Partner Summit in London this week.Our annual Tableau Partner Summit gives us the opportunity to acknowledge our partners doing exemplary work to help customers see and understand their data, said Paul Greenspan, Director of Channels in EMEA at Tableau. Our partners are an integral part of our business, bringing a diverse range of solutions and services to customers across the EMEA region and were thrilled to recognize their contributions. Tableaus Partner awards recognize excellent performance and notable achievements from its global partners.Edgematics is delighted and honored to be nominated for this prestigious award, said Raheel Khan, Managing Director of Edgematics. We will continue our efforts to work hand in glove with Tableau to define the culture of "Self-Service Analytics" in the region and help companies to become truly "data-driven enterprise". Tableau is the only truly-Self-service BI solution in the market today, Khan added.About EdgematicsEdgematics is a focused data management solutions provider operating in the Middle East and Africa region since 2010 with offices in UAE, Qatar, Saudi and India. Its success and reputation have been built upon the ability to manage and own Data Integration and Business Intelligence projects from start to finish, ensuring all aspects of the project are completed and delivered according to customer requirements. Their deep domain experience and coverage of the various industries like Retail, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Travel and Transportation, Telecommunications, Healthcare & Life sciences helps them formulate the enterprise-wide BI strategy keeping firm focus on their customers business outcomes.Edgematics has close partnerships with the worlds top data management, business intelligence and Analytics technology vendors and is uniquely placed to independently advise our customers in choosing and integrating the right technology solution for their specific needs, industry, systems and business objectives. For more information on Edgematics, please visitTableau and Tableau Software are trademarks of Tableau Software, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.We are committed to improving your business performance.Edgematics is a dynamic company founded in 2010 by specialists in the Information Management software solutions industry and operating in the Middle East and Africa region. It has full-fledged offices in UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and Information Management Competency Centres (IMCC) based in India. Its success and reputation has been built upon the ability to manage and own projects from start to finish, ensuring all aspects of the project are completed and delivered according to customer requirements.Working with Edgematics our customers can benefit from our experience, capability and commitment to helping them make better business decisions, delivering immediacy, clarity and insight through specific and actionable information.Our deep domain experience of over 300 person years and our coverage of the various industries like Retail, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Travel and Transportation, Telecommunications, Healthcare & Life sciences helps you formulate the enterprise wide BI strategy keeping firm focus on your business outcomes.Edgematics has close partnerships with the worlds leading data management, business intelligence and performance management and Analytics technology vendors and is uniquely placed to independently advise our customers in choosing and integrating the right technology solution for their specific needs, industry, systems and business objectives.Our dedicated and comprehensive professional services and support teams work tirelessly with our customers to quickly and effectively define and realize clear business benefits from their investment and faith in Intelligent Solutions.Edgematics mission is to earn the loyalty of clients and grow our business by providing information management solutions which deliver long term commercial benefits, based upon key business requirementsEdgematics is committed to delivering excellence and value to its customers and continuing to deliver intelligent solutions.Our VisionTo be a leading data management services partner for forward looking customers, by fostering innovations and collaboratively transforming technology into business advantage.To provide a rewarding and positive work experience to all of our associates within an environment that fosters teamwork, open dialogue, and personal development.Why Edgematics :At the heart of every organization is its data. And Data is a strategic asset that has to be managed. Consultants at Edgematics have for years been providing Data Management solutions that has enabled organisations gain insight into their data, helping them make better informed decisions in the process, and leading them to experience growth.Enable Success :Making our customers successful is our passion and we achieve this by delivering solutions that allow our customers to go to market with innovative products and solutions, at the right time, every time.Value Creation :We create value by providing innovation as a key attribute in our engagements. Innovation is achieved through frameworks, delivery supremacy and an approach to do it right the first time.Credible, Niche Partner :Our growth has been possible by focus, return on attention and our ability to reference every customer successfully all the time. We have created relationships that allow us to operate as Partners and not as Vendors.Office Suite No. 610, Yes Business Centre BuildingP.O. Box 5003502, Al-Barsha 1, Dubai, U.A.E.T: +971 4 456 6988, T: +971 4 456 6824 W:
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 Offers Improved Performance, Scale and Security for High-Performance Linux-based Workloads

Gunnar Hellekson

http://www.redhat.com

http://www.sec.gov

DUBAI, UAE, 13th March, 2016 - Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6. This new version of Red Hats KVM-based virtualization solution offers increased performance, scale, and security for high-intensity Linux workloads. It also updates user experience and management tools to help reduce cost and time of VMware migrations by eliminating the need to purchase a third-party migration tool. Lowering the costs and sprawl of proprietary virtualization solutions is a common customer challenge addressed by Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization.Customized for large computing environments like SAP or Oracle deployments, as well as compute and graphic-intensive workstations, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization demonstrated a 36 percent performance advantage compared to other virtualization solutions in SPECvirt 2013 testing.1 The new PCI Device Assignment feature is designed to accelerate high-performance workloads, such as CAD/CAM. This enables a direct pass through of physical devices to virtual machines helping some customers to achieve near bare-metal performance for critical resources while reducing overhead of multiple, expensive workstations.Other advancements in Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 build on Red Hats recognized leadership for scale, performance and cost-effectiveness of virtual machine workloads with these new features:Increased Performance and Scalability Hotplug memory support provides dynamic, one-click memory scaling, working with underlying infrastructure to give an application more memory on the fly while avoiding disruption to the application runtime. PCI device assignment enables administrators to directly assign a physical adaptor or device to a virtual machine, allowing for near bare-metal performance for graphics and networking-intensive computing.Security Updates & Risk Management Host Update Manager: Streamlines the patch release process across the virtualized environment through integration with Red Hat Satellite, a systems management solution used by [half of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization customers][need backup]. Object Health Status: Provides visibility into external system health events, such as issues with storage, CPU, server or hard-drive performance, via the Red Hat Enterprise VIrtualization interface. This feature alerts admins to events that may cause downtime or negatively impact virtual machine performance, so they can proactively manage risk and potential downtime.Simplified VMware Migration: Virtual machine-to-virtual machine (Virt-v2v) Integration: Enables customers to identify critical Linux workloads to move to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization by connecting directly to vCenter and providing simple click-through steps to migrate the workload over. This select workload migration strategy can lower total cost of virtualization and improve performance of mission-critical Linux workloads without the pain of rip and replace.Building on previous releases, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 provides the infrastructure layer for customers to move their workloads to containers or the cloud. It also integrates with Red Hats hybrid cloud management platform, Red Hat CloudForms, to manage heterogeneous environments across multiple clouds, hypervisors, containers, and traditional computing infrastructure.Supporting QuotesGunnar Hellekson, director of Product Management, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Atomic, Red HatRed Hat has enhanced its virtualization platform offering to provide benefits for organizations moving towards the bimodal IT model. The simplified workload migration introduced in this newest release of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization enables users to combine existing investments and move away from a fully proprietary virtualization platform to implement a multi-hypervisor strategy.Michael Klusener, head of SAP Services, Finanz Informatik Technologie Service"SAP solutions in the banking industry require a superior level of performance. The combination of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and the Cisco UCS platform enables us to provide financial service providers with a highly available, scalable, and secure SAP environment in the cloud that helps users significantly reduce their operating costs.Wing K. Lee, Chief Executive Officer, YTL Communications"Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization has provided the flexibility we need to offer a highly reliable and scalable cloud and 4G service in Malaysia. As the flag-bearer of nationwide 4G service in Malaysia, we expect that Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization will continue to enable us to deliver unparalleled experience to our customers as we embark on exciting new 4G services to help the country progress and to close the digital divide.AvailabilityRed Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 is available as a standalone offering, as an integrated offering with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and as part of a comprehensive solution called Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure. Existing subscribers can upgrade to version Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.6 through the Red Hat Customer Portal.About Red Hat, Inc.Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As a connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more atForward-Looking StatementsCertain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to the ability of Red Hat to compete effectively; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Red Hats intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, Red Hat's growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in Red Hats most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Red Hat's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while Red Hat may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Red Hat specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Red Hat's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.###Red Hat, CloudForms and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.Colin SaldanhaPROCRE8 for Red HatVilla 41, 81D Street, Uptown Mirdiff, PO BOX 78835, Dubai UAETel: +97150 6400762Email: colin@procre8.biz
Countdown begins for CoreNet Global Asia Summit 2016 in Singapore

www.corenetglobal.org

WHAT:CoreNet Global, the global association for corporate real estate (CRE) hosts the 2016 CoreNet Global Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore from 22-24 March, 2016 at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Hotel. The Summit features insightful sessions from veteran CRE practitioners on leading topics in Corporate Real Estate and their implications in Asia, as well as thought-provoking sessions on technology, risk, talent and other broad business drivers.The theme of this years Summit is The Bigger Picture: Geopolitics, Economics & the Environment, focusing on Geopolitical events, the global economy, sustainability and advances in technology that influence business and corporate real estate strategies, especially in Asia.The worlds leading corporate real estate (CRE) association will attract more than 500 CRE executives benefiting from learning cutting-edge technologies, new and creative CRE solutions, and networking with colleagues from around the world.WHY:The mission of CoreNet Global, the global association for CRE executives, is to advance the practice of corporate real estate through professional development opportunities, publications, research, conferences, and chapters and networking groups.This Summit will focus on interesting sessions over two days some of which are few listed below:- Big Data in the Smart City: Towards an Urban Internet of Things C discussing the rise of technology advances such as big data, IoT along with the concept of Smart Cities and Smart Citizens How Workplaces in Asia Can Better Engage Employees and Raise Productivity - examines trends and cultural nuances that influence workstyles and the evolution of workplace design on employees How Asias Technology Occupiers use real estate to harness opportunity - Discovers how Asian cities / building infrastructure change to respond to growth in the technology sector and attract the next generation of tenants Location X Factor C Major APAC Cities vs. New Alternative Hubs - Changes in the economic, geopolitical and environmental landscapes have forced companies to reassess their business modelsOther highlights of the Summit include roundtable discussions, Knowledge Cafes on risk landscapes and how to respond to risks and the resilience challenge, and Learning Theatres on how to engage employees and clients. There are also sessions on the Sharing Economy, Real Estate in China and India, and Security and the Implications for Corporate Real Estate.WHO:The Summit is a must-attend for CRE practitioners in Asia and other global organizations, as well as subject matter experts in the fields of CRE, business management, economics, IoT, academics etc. The summit is open for media to attend and media passes will be made available on preregistration for attendance at corenetglobal@eastwestpr.com or via phone at +65 6222 0306.ABOUT CORENET GLOBALCoreNet Global is the worlds leading professional association for corporate real estate (CRE) executives with strategic responsibility for the real property used by multinational corporations for their own operations. CoreNet Globals more than 9,500 members, who include 70% of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, please visitCaroline FernandesEASTWEST Public Relations on behalf of CoreNet Global12 Purvis Street, #02-01, Suite C, Singapore 188591+6562220306caorenetglobal@eastwestpr.com
Tier4 Mattress Releases New Website

Tier4 Mattress, one of the premier mattress stores in Washington D.C. has released a new organizational website. The aesthetically pleasing website is easy on the eyes and offers online consumers a faster than average load speed which makes researching mattresses online easier than ever. The dc mattress store created the website in an effort to provide more useful information on buying a mattress in Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland.Buying a mattress online or in-person is not an easy task for consumers. This is because of the widespread confusion on what mattress types and brands are the highest quality and best investment for consumers. One central idea that the Tier4 website highlights is that name brand mattress manufacturers oftentimes create one mattress model and then license this model to hundreds of different mattress retail stores using different names. This makes comparison shopping virtually impossible for consumers. Tier4 mattress helps eliminate this confusion by focusing on providing information on the mattress manufacturer, in addition to the model. By reviewing a company's strengths over time, consumers can better gauge what type of mattress a company produces best, helping to narrow down their selection when it comes time to buy a new mattress.Additional disinformation about the mattress industry is how best to determine the actual dollar value of a specific mattress. This is again due to the widespread distribution of similar mattress models with different names being provided exclusively to certain name brand retailers. Typically, a unique mattress model has a very short life line in retail stores. Many mattresses are featured for less than a year before they are replaced with a newer model. Stores such as Tier4 mattress are able to offer these recently retired models at a far reduced price. This means that consumers will not be paying any inflated costs that accompany shopping at certain mattress stores.About Tier4 Mattress :Tier4 Mattress offers name brand, luxury mattresses at a reduced price. Inventory includes name-brand, tier 4 luxury prices at an appealing discounted price.Contact Person :Jacob AyubiAddress Details :5720 Georgia Ave NW,Washington,District of Columbia,United States - 20011Phone Number : (844) 210-4730Email : alex@321webmarketing.com###Tier4 Mattress offers name brand, luxury mattresses at a reduced price. Inventory includes name-brand, tier 4 luxury prices at an appealing discounted price.5720 Georgia Ave NW, Washington District of Columbia, United States, 20011
Staff Development Training by LBU

On Thursday, Feb 25 2016, Helen Jones (Quality Officer  Collaborative Provision, Quality Assurance Services, Leeds Beckett University) organised a staff development programme for staff at The British College on Quality Assurance Processes for Collaborative Partners.We would like to thank the Leeds Beckett University team for their support and guidance which has helped TBC to adopt all aspects of university quality management processes and regulations. The continuation of this collaboration provides both the University and TBC with an excellent opportunity to work together to achieve the strategic aims of both parties.The British College provides world-class education in Nepal for students who need to gain internationally recognised qualifications from the UK Universities. In this regard we have a distinctive identity as the pioneering International College in Nepal. We offer internationally recognised degrees and courses which are relevant to the current job market, enhancing each and every student's employability.Trade Tower, Thapathali Road,Thapathali, Kathmandu 44600, NepalP. O. Box : 9877
Mobile Phone Accessories Market Expected to Reach US$ 121.72 Bn by 2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-112

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-112

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FMI study offers an 11-year forecast for the global mobile phone accessories market between 2015 and 2025. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.9% during the projected period. The study provides market dynamics and trends in all the seven regions which influence the current nature and future status of the mobile phone accessories market over the forecast period.Report DescriptionThis Future Market Insights report examines the global mobile phone accessories market for the period 20152025. The primary objective of the report is to offer key insights into market trends and opportunities in the mobile phone accessories market across the various regions.The mobile phone accessories market has grown significantly in recent years due increasing adoption of smartphones and tablets. The continuous decrease of mobile phone prices is also supporting market growth. Escalation in disposable income has transformed consumers buying and spending trend especially in urban areas. Adoption of mobile devices by tech savvy youth across the globe is significantly contributing to growth in demand for mobile phone accessories. Increasing Internet penetration has uplifted online retailing trend in the mobile accessories due to convenience of cash on delivery payment option and price discounts and wide variety of products offered by e-retailers. The aforementioned factors are anticipated to catalyze growth of the global mobile phone accessories market over the forecast period.In the next section, FMI covers the mobile phone accessories market performance in terms of global mobile phone accessories market revenue split to better understand dynamics and trends of the mobile phone accessories market. This section also includes FMIs analysis of key trends, drivers and restraints which are influencing the mobile phone accessories market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model is included in the mobile phone accessories market report to better equip clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.Request Free Report Sample@As highlighted earlier, the global mobile phone accessories market has been segmented on the basis of products into protective case, headphone/earphone, charger, memory card, battery, power bank, portable speaker and others. Furthermore, the market is also segmented by price range into premium, mid and low and on the basis of distribution channel into multi-brand store, single-brand store and online store. Multi-brand store is further sub-segmented into organized store and independent store. The report provides key insights into these segments, sub-segments and categories for a comprehensive understanding of the market.The next section of the report highlights mobile phone accessories market adoption by region. It provides a market outlook for 20152025 and sets the forecast within the context of the mobile phone accessories market ecosystem. This study discusses key regional trends contributing to growth of the global mobile phone accessories market on a worldwide basis and also analyses the extent to which global drivers are influencing the market in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East and Africa.All the above sections, by product, distribution channel, price and region, evaluate the present scenario and growth prospects of the mobile phone accessories market for the period 20152025. We have considered 2014 as the base year and provide data for the trailing 12 months.To calculate the mobile phone accessories market size, we have considered revenue generated from the sales of various mobile phone accessories. The forecast presented here assesses total revenue across the mobile phone accessories market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing the current market, which forms the basis of how the mobile phone accessories market is projected to develop in future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of three different types of analysis based on supply side, consumer spending and economic envelope. However, forecasting the market in terms of various mobile phone accessories segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalising them after the forecast has been completed.It is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse it on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities across the mobile phone accessories market.As previously highlighted, the mobile phone accessories market is split into a number of segments and sub-segments. All the mobile phone accessories market segments and sub segments in terms of product type, distribution channel, price range and region are analysed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand individual segments relative contribution to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identification of various key trends of the mobile phone accessories market.Also, another key feature of this report is the analysis of key mobile phone accessories market segments, sub-segments and regional adoption and revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar. This is traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the mobile phone accessories market.Furthermore, to understand key growth segments in terms of growth. Future Market Insights developed the mobile phone accessories market Attractiveness Index. The resulting index should help providers identify real market opportunities.Download TOC@In the final section of the report, mobile phone accessories market competitive landscape is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view, based on categories of provider in the value chain, presence in mobile phone accessories product portfolio and key differentiators. Key categories of providers covered in the report are mobile phone accessories service providers. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the mobile phone accessories market value chain. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on in-depth assessment of capabilities and success in the mobile phone accessories market. Key competitors covered are BYD Inc., Energizer, Sony Corporation, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Corporation, JVC Corporation, Beats (Apple Inc.), Plantronics Pty Ltd, Sennheiser Electronics GmbH & Co. KG, Bose Corporation, Otterbox, and Griffin Technology.Key Segments CoveredMobile Phone Accessories MarketBy Product TypeBatteryChargerHeadphone/EarphoneMemory CardPortable SpeakerProtective CaseOthersBy Distribution ChannelMulti-brand StoreOrganized StoreIndependent StoreSingle-brand StoreOnline StoreBy Price RangePremiumMidlOWKey Regions/Countries CoveredNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaWestern EuropeGermanyItalyFranceU.K.Rest of Western EuropeEastern EuropePolandRussiaAsia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ)ChinaIndiaIndonesiaSouth KoreaRest of APEJMiddle East & AfricaGCCNorth AfricaSouth AfricaRest of MEAKey CompaniesSamsung Electronics LimitedBYD Company LimitedSennheiser Electronic GmbH & Co. KGBeats (Apple Inc.)JVC CorporationSony CorporationPlantronics Pty. LimitedBose CorporationPhilips Electronics LimitedAudio-Technica CorporationOtterbox Inc.Griffin TechnologyPelican Products Inc.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Spinal Implants and Spinal Devices Market To Enroll $15.73 Billion Market Value by 2020

Spinal Implants and Spinal Devices

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=712

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=712

The Spinal Implants and Spinal Devices Market is expected To Enroll $15.73 Billion market value, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2015 to 2020. A number of factors such as technological advancements in spine surgery devices, increasing aging and obese population along with the rising incidence and prevalence of spinal disorders, and rising demand for minimally invasive spine surgery are propelling the growth of the global spinal implants and spinal devices market. However, stringent product approval process, especially in developed countries, high cost of treatment procedures, and uncertainty in reimbursement are some of the major factors restraining the growth of this market. In addition to this, challenges associated with this market such as lack of adequate physician education and patient awareness about the newly developed spine treatment procedures and government cost containment measures are also limiting the demand for spinal implants and devices.For Sample Pages of this Research & Forecast, Ask Here @The spinal implants and spinal devices market, by technology, includes spinal fusion and fixation, vertebral compression fracture treatment, and motion preservation/non-fusion technologies. On the basis of products, the global spinal implants and spinal devices market is divided into six major segments, namely, thoracic fusion and lumbar fusion devices, cervical fusion devices, spine biologics, vertebral compression fracture treatment devices, motion preservation/non-fusion treatment devices, and spine bone stimulators. Bases on the type of surgery, the global spinal implants and spinal devices market is divided into two segments, namely, open surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The spinal decompression devices market, by type of procedure, covers discectomy, laminotomy/laminectomy, foraminotomy/foraminectomy, facetectomy, and corpectomy procedures.As of 2015, North America is estimated to hold the largest share of the global spinal implants and spinal devices market, followed by Europe. However, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.2% from 2015 to 2020. A number of factors, including rising healthcare expenditure in developing nations owing to growing income levels, increasing government funding, presence of a large patient population, rising obesity cases, and growing awareness on the newly developed spine treatment techniques and devices are propelling the growth of the spinal implants and spinal devices market in the Asia-Pacific region. However, challenges associated with this market, such as scarcity of expertise and trained healthcare workers and lack of adequate patient awareness restricts the market growth in this region.The research study is aimed at identifying emerging trends and opportunities in the Global Spinal Implants and Spinal Devices Market along with detailed classifications, in terms of revenue. It provides comprehensive competitive landscape and identifies the key players with respect to market size and market share.For 'Queries' related to this research material, visit 'Inquiry Before Buy' @Medtronic, plc (U.S.), DePuy Synthes (U.S.), Stryker Corporation (U.S.), NuVasive, Inc. (U.S.), Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), Globus Medical, Inc. (U.S.), Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), Orthofix International N.V. (Netherlands), K2M Group Holdings, Inc. (U.S.), and LDR Holding Corporation (U.S.) are the key players operating in the global spinal implants and spinal devices market.About Research Publisher: MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets is worlds No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.Mr. RohanMarkets and MarketsUNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZMagarpatta city, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, India1-888-600-6441
Emerging Opportunities in Logistics Outsourcing Market with Current Trends Analysis

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-125

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-125

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-logistics-outsourcing-market

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Logistics Outsourcing Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2014 - 2020" report to their offering.Logistics outsourcing, most commonly known as third-party logistics is a process or operation of sub-contracting industrial functions like cross-docking, inventory keeping, warehousing and transportation to a third party or supply chain management provider. Third party logistics providers include raw material suppliers, distributors and other value-added service providers. These services are generally integrated and used together to provide end-user convenience. The decision for outsourcing logistics by a parent company is generally dependent on company size, complication of logistics and relative economic benefits of outsourcing.Logistics outsourcing includes contracting of material management, supply chain management, distribution management, shipment packaging and channel management. E-business web portals and stores are in extensive need of on-clock dispatch and delivery services offered by outsourced logistics providers. The advantages associated with the logistics outsourcing market are  improvement of suppliers capability due to the use of information technology, specialization of operation, focus on core competencies and uniform growth. However, lack of monitoring control over logistics and risks associated with vendor reliability are some of the drawbacks of this market.Request Free Report Sample@Regions across the globe with an attractive logistics outsourcing market, in terms of contract logistics, include North America and Southeast Asia. RoW (Rest of the World) is showing growth in inter-regional logistics. Major factors driving the development of logistics outsourcing market are globalization, time-proportional economy, presence of virtual organizations, improved customer awareness, strategic concerns to achieve more flexibility and better IT infrastructural support. On the other hand, loss of logistics, poor transportation, local protection regulations and lack of post-outsourcing measurements are some of the factors hampering growth of this market.The global logistics outsourcing market is segmented on the basis of service type, transport media used and geography. The market can vary in service type as simple service, combined service, consulting service and value-added service. On the basis of transport media used to handle logistics, it can be classified into air freight, ocean carriers, railways and trucking. The market can be categorised on the basis of geography into North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa.Visit For TOC@Globalized product availability, demand for product individualization in terms of logistics, on-time delivery, just-in-time inventory, agility in time response transport, big data analytics and atomization of shipment are some of the global market trends guided by technological innovations like remote tracking and monitoring using RFID tags and EDI-based location of the shipment. Analytics based on big data is providing better accuracy of frequency of tasks and decision-making capabilities. There is a continuous insourcing trend by online retailers (like Amazon.com) for inventory so as to be more cost-effective and unified in terms of operations, and to emphasize on outsourcing for end-product transportation services only. These technological up gradations continuously enhance services provided by outsourced logistics providers.Exel Logistics (U.K.), Menlo Worldwide Logistics (U.S.), FedEx (U.S.), Ryder Logistics (U.S.) and Tibbett and Britten (U.K.) are some of the key outsourced logistics providers. These companies have a wide global presence and provide multi-sector services. They are continuously trying to reach influential market and customers by means of removing bottlenecks related to international shipments and reducing cost through geographical spread of inventory. The market in Asia-Pacific region shows a steady and consistent growth through service innovations by companies, so as to attract economic customers. The companies need to shift their focus from integrated services to offering broad range of products & services portfolio. With more focus on growing B2C sector, the scope for logistics outsourcing will extend towards value-added and specialized services.Full Report Analysis@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
FMI Releases New Report on the Native Advertising Market 2015-2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-992

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-992

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Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Native Advertising Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering.In recent years, growth has been observed in the native advertising market which is emerging quickly and still a new concept. Native advertising is different from content marketing. The word "native" refers to the content's consistency with other media on the platform. Native advertising is a type of online advertising that matches function and form of the platform on which it seems. In other words, it is a form of brand advertising which will enable marketers to better utilize digital marketing (to meet communication need) from branding to direct marketing. For instance, to promote product an article is written by an advertiser, but using the same form as an article written by the editorial staff. Native Advertising format includes images, articles, promoted videos, music, among many others. Example of the technique include twitters promoted tweets, search advertising and Facebook's promoted posts. In 2015, as per survey conducted by the association of national advertisers revealed that almost two-thirds of marketers will increase their native advertising budgets.Native Advertising Market: Drivers & RestraintsIn digital media, native advertising is one of the newest topic and therefore publishers and advertisers are closely monitoring it. The Native Advertising is expected to register a steady year-on-year growth throughout the forecast period. The native advertising background is evolving rapidly, through publishers working with advertisers to create increasingly effective ad experiences. For these ad products, changing consumer perceptions is escalating the growth in the native advertising market. Particularly on mobile devices, native advertising has proven higher click rates than to banner ads. However, some consumers consider these ads as annoying instead of useful could pose a restraint to the growth in native advertisement market.Request Free Report Sample@Native Advertising Market: SegmentationOn the basis of types, the global native advertising market is segmented as:In Feed Ad Units (Forbes, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter)Search Ads (Yahoo, Google, Bing, Ask )Recommendation Units (Outbrain, Taboola, Disqus, Gravity)Promoted Listings (Etsy, Amazon, Foursquare, Google)In-Ad (IAB Standard) - ( Appssavvy, Martini Media, EA, Onespot, Federated Media)Custom / Can't be Contained (Hearst, Flipboard, Tumblr, Spotify, Pandora)On the basis of platform, the global native advertising market is segmented as:Closed PlatformsOpen PlatformsHybrid PlatformsNative Advertising Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global native advertising market is anticipated to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. On the basis of geographic regions, global native market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, Asia Pacific is expected to witness a relatively faster CAGR during the forecast period. The remaining regions are expected to grow at a steady rate over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Native Advertising Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in the global native advertising market areIAB Playbook,Outbrain, Taboola, Sharethrough, AdsNative, TripleLift, Nativo, Instinctive, Polar, OneSpot and Livefyre among many others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Up to 30% of women in the GCC and South Asia suffer from infertility resulting from PCOS

Dubai, UAE: There is a high incidence of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in the Middle East/GCC region mainly due to hereditary and ethnic influences. Approximately up to 20-25% of women in the GCC of Middle Eastern and South Asian ethnicity suffer from PCOS. Experts believe that cases can reach 30% or even higher in the subfertility population in the region. The Obs Gyne Conference aims to tackle the different challenges, treatments and share the latest updates concerning the management of PCOS.PCOS is the most common endocrine abnormality in women of reproductive age worldwide. It is a genetic disorder with a broad spectrum of clinical and morphological outcomes. It was defined in 1935, and initially called Stein  Leventhal Syndrome, when American gynaecologists Irving F. Stein, Sr., and Michael L. Leventhal associated the presence of ovarian cysts with anovulation. It is an unavoidable disease but can be managed at any age depending on the patients needs and expectations at the time.PCOS can present in any age especially after weight gain, but can also first present in young adolescent girls. The symptoms associated with this condition vary, but may include some of the following: irregular or absent menstrual periods, hirsutism (increased hair growth), alopecia (female pattern baldness), oily skin & acne, weight related issues, and infertility or difficulty in getting pregnant, says Dr Salem El Shawarby, Consultant & UK Subspecialist in Reproductive Medicine/ IVF, Director ofCorniche Fertility Centre, Corniche Hospital, Abu Dhabi, UAE.Dr El Shawarby will discuss the prevention of long-term health hazards in PCOS women at the reproductive health and infertility conference at the Obs-Gyne Exhibition and Congress that will take place March 27-29 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.Women with PCOS are at greater risk for developing certain complications during pregnancy. In addition, infants born to mothers with PCOS are at higher risk of spending time in the neonatal intensive care unit. Complications of pregnancy associated with PCOS, such as preeclampsia, could be a reason for these risks. Also, conditions common to PCOS like metabolic syndromes such as diabetes and increased androgens may increase the risks affecting infants.The best approach to managing PCOS is regular exercise, a healthy balanced food program, and adequate weight control. Lifestyle changes are often initiated as fist line of treatment for improvement of short and long-term outcomes and should precede and/or accompany any pharmacological treatment. Women known to have the condition should not in general delay getting pregnant, and should seek expert fertility advice earlier highlighted Dr El Shawarby.Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, in charge of the healthcare portfolio within Informa's Global Exhibitions division, organises 26 exhibitions yearly covering the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and US market, connecting more than 150,000 healthcare professionals worldwide and offering a range of marketing solutions for companies involved with the healthcare sector. Over 100 congresses take place in parallel with the exhibitions.Dubai, UAE P.O Box 9248
RMR010: Date Night Feat. Cam Nacson - Neon Lights (Including Debut Track by The Rhythm Method)

After having the Date Night guys drop some house music gold on Respect Music Records late last year with their remix of Sharif D + Black Cherrys If I Was Yours, it is with no surprise that they have come back with yet another masterpiece by the name of Neon Lights.Date Night is comprised of 3 super talented artists, DJ/Producer Mike Dean the driving force and man with his fingers on the pulse of the industry, Engineer/Producer Anders David the man with the ear and skills behind the desk and the man who needs little introduction to RM fans, Sharif D the Musician/Producer/Performer. As one can imagine with a lineup like this, Date Night is a definite industry mover and shaker and one to keep an eye/ear out for.Now whilst thus far their sounds have been heavily influenced by House, this time they are taking the listener on a journey into the Drum & Bass genre, featuring the amazing vocals of Cam Nacson who basically makes a call to the youth to grasp life tightly and make the most of things no matter what! To top this track off it also has the trademark sound of Sharif D on the sax, which is the cherry on top of this melodic number, creating a sexy lounge style similar to that of DJ Marky and XRSs works.To give this release even further weight, it has been garnished with 4 very diverse and tasty remixes. Firstly there is the CC Disco Groove Remix offering a shout to the late 70s Disco era and late 90s house scene, provided courtesy of Wade Teo and Brad France of Crazy Corner Productions. This remix is definitely the one for all the lounge bars worldwide to nod to.Secondly there is a remix by the very talented and funky Mark Maxwell offering up a style that he is without a doubt making his own, giving the track a tasteful merging of genres such as Deep House, Tropical House and Nu Disco, creating the perfect vibe for pool parties worldwide from the WMC in Miami all the way over to Ibiza.Thirdly back again after dropping a glitch hop remix for Sharif D's debut with the label, Cutloose is back to take Neon Lights on a chill step/nu wave hip hop journey with a spacious remix reminiscent of productions by Pomo, Snakehips and Darius.Then to wrap the package up, a club banger for all the late night dance floors and festivals has been offered up by a new act signed to the Respect Music Records label by the name of The Rhythm Method. Once again the genre lines are very much blurred here, with this track being a shout to the old with a twist of the new. Lets just say that if The Prodigy and Tchami gave birth to a love child in the middle of a UK Garage Club dance floor in the late 90s where you would find the likes of Artful Dodger and Zed Bias spinning vinyl on the regular, The Rhythm Method would be that child.So in all a very complete and diverse release yet again from Respect Music Records who are definitely Bringing The Funk, Soul & Rhythm on this joint!Respect Music Records is Respect Musics own independent digital label supporting similar styles to that of Respect Music Radio such as Funk, Soul, Reggae, House, Jazz, Breakbeat, Hip Hop, Drum and Bass, Garage, 2-Step, Dubstep or Trap, no matter the genre as long as it has Soul, Funk or Rhythm influencing its core we will support it!PO Box 5183 Robina Town CentreGold Coast, QueenslandAustralia 4230
Aiming high  'NC Fertigung' features interview with Thierry Wolter from CERATIZIT

Aiming high  interview with Thierry Wolter from CERATIZIT in 'NC Fertigung'

http://www.ceratizit.com/

http://www.ceratizit.com/fileadmin/_Images_and_files/Unternehmen/News_und_Presse/News/Interview_with_Thierry_Wolter/Interview_with_Thierry_Wolter_NC_Fertigung_.pdf

A three-page interview with Thierry Wolter, board member of the CERATIZIT Group, with the title 'Aiming high', was published in the special section on precision tools of the February edition of the technical journal 'NC Fertigung'.The February 2016 edition of NC Fertigung, an industry magazine reporting on technical management in the cutting tools and metal working sector, includes an interview with Thierry Wolter from CERATIZIT on new goals, concepts and their implementation.CERATIZIT GROUP: 'Aiming high'The CERATIZIT Group () is strengthening its market position amongst the big international carbide and tooling specialists through both targeted acquisitions and the company's in-house research and development department.CERATIZIT is one of the fastest growing companies in the tooling sector, with more than 5,800 employees worldwide.Concentrating on our customers and projects we are a company that has very conservative values, but at the same time is open for new ideas and concepts. We see close collaboration between management and the employees as the right way forward for the CERATIZIT Group.CERATIZT GROUP: from a one-brand strategy to a brand architecture"In the past few years we have completed a strategic change from a one-brand strategy to a brand architecture which, under the umbrella brand name CERATIZIT Group, unites four top-class brands," explains Thierry Wolter, member of the CERATIZIT board. "The four top-class brands enable us to focus on specific target groups: Hard Material Solutions by CERATIZIT, which is the classic wear parts sector; Toolmaker Solutions by CERATIZIT, which produces pre-products and semi-finished products such as carbide rods; Tool Solutions by CERATIZIT, through which we supply private label tools to the market; and Cutting Solutions by CERATIZIT, where we develop, produce and provide assistance for cutting tool solutions and products."The CERATIZIT Group is evolving to become a global player as a full-range supplier offering the right products for a wide field of applications and supporting the customer with considerable know-how and expertise."It is our goal to grow faster than the market. We have managed to do so in recent years and want to keep to it that way," says Thierry Wolter.For more information on this topic, the complete article from 'NC Fertigung' is available for download: 'Aiming high' (available in German: Hohe Ziele:(source: Helmut Angeli).For over 90 years, CERATIZIT has been a pioneer developing exceptional hard material products for cutting tools and wear protection. The family owned company, headquartered in Mamer, Luxembourg, develops and manufactures highly specialized tungsten carbide cutting tools, inserts and rods. The CERATIZIT GROUP is the market leader in several wear part application areas and develops successful new types of hard metal, cermet and ceramic grades used for instance in the wood and stone working industry.CERATIZIT S.A.101, Route de HolzemLU-8232 MamerLuxembourgT. +352 31 20 85-1F. +352 31 19 11E. info@ceratizit.com
ASEAN Confectionery Market Trends, Regulations And Competitive Landscape Outlook to 2025

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/asean-confectionery-market

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-as-420

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Confectionery Market: ASEAN Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 - 2025" report to their offering.ASEAN Confectionery Market OverviewItems in confectionery market consists of candies, chocolates, toffees, lollies, bakery items;basically food items that are rich in sugar and sweet content. Mostly confectionery market items consists of food products like butter, cocoa, honey, milk, flour, fruits, honey, nuts, sugar syrup and more. They are consumed globally, mostly by all regions and countries and are expected to grow in developing countries. Confectionery market is growing in mostly all the South East Asian countries and saw a tremendous growth in the last couple of years.ASEAN Confectionery Market SegmentationThe confectionery market is segmented into three segments  Chocolates, Sugar confectionery and Gum. Chocolates constitutes the significant part of confectionery market. Cocoa and sugar are the raw materials for chocolate and latex is the raw material used for gum.Worlds largest cocoa processor Barry Callebauts production has also moved to Asia pacific and Latin America because of its low production costs and great future opportunities.Its factories are in Malaysia and Thailand. Nestle has acquired a majority stake in Chinese confectioner Hsu Fu Chi.Request Free Report Sample@ futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-as-420Europe constitutes the biggest share of confectionery market, followed by Asia Pacific confectionery market. ASEAN region has become an attractive place to do business. Some big MNCs have shifted their base(plants) for the production of chocolate to Indonesia to improve efficiency and reduce costs in supply. Indonesia has the most consumption of confectionery items as compared to other South East Asian countries. Flavors GmbH (WILD), another company is opening its branch center in Singapore to serve the hub for the ASEAN region. Main markets in South East Asian countries include Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia for confectionery market.ASEAN Confectionery Market DynamicsRising disposable income, higher population, high GDP growth and consumer spending are the major key drivers of ASEAN confectionery market. The biggest constraint to ASEAN confectionery market could be rise in raw material cost and uncertain consumer behaviour. Also health issues, increasing government regulations, could also be the biggest challenge for confectionery market. Chocolate segment expected to grow the most under ASEAN confectionery market. On special occasions and celebrations, sale of confectionery items increase because people gift each other and its consumption and demand increase. Vietnam is gradually cutting down the import tax imposed on products of ASEAN, countries in accordance with the ASEAN Free Trade Area, AFTA, regulations. As a result, the Vietnamese confectionery market is vibrant compared to other nations.Full Report Analysis@ASEAN Confectionery Market Distribution ChannelMostly confectionery items are sold in retail stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores. Multinational flavor companies and smaller local manufacturers are active in South EastAsia confectionery market. The latter offers good distribution expertise and local connections. Innovation by producers playing a great role in experimenting with flavors, taste, size which is driving a growth of this market. Enterprises operating under Vietnamese confectionery market use modern technology of foreign countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan and Austria to make their products, and apply non-chemical preservation techniquesASEAN Confectionery Market Key PlayersKey players in this confectionery market are Ferraro, Hersheys,Lindt, Wrigleys, Perfetti Van Melle and ChupaChupa. Product innovation and consistent in quality are the reasons for their success. Dunkin Donuts has signed a franchisee agreement to develop a brand in Vietnam with Vietnam Food and Beverage Co. domestic confectionery companies have simultaneously launched many new products in confectionery market. Pioneers of the campaign included famous companies such as Kinh Do, Bibica, Kotobuki, and smaller producers like Nguyen Tran and ThanhPhat, etc. ierce competition was found between Malaysian Khongguan biscuits and Vietnamese products.Visit For TOC@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Good Growth Opportunities in Global Electronic Medical Records Market Till 2025, Finds New Research Report

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-387

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-387

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Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Electronic Medical Records Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015 - 2025" report to their offering.Electronic medical record (EMR) also termed as digital medical records or computerized medical record is a systemic digital collection of health information of a patients medical history. Electronic medical record is a digital record that can be shared across different healthcare settings. EMR helps in storage and tracking of patients charts, demographics, medications, histories, test results, SOAP notes and others. EMRs are considered as great improvement over paper records as they allow more storage of patients information and eliminate illegible handwriting. EMRs are currently being considered as the most common way to boost patients safety, improve efficiency of practice, efficient way of medication prescription and mange chronic illness.The market for electronic medical records is also being encouraged by federal government initiatives by the release of Meaningful Use standards in 2010. Additionally, in 2009 a funding for EMRs was introduced as a part of the American Recovery and Reimbursement Act which focused on increased adoption of EMRs. Moreover, for avoiding the Medicare penalties many of the hospitals in the U.S. have implemented EMRs that would increase the market revenue of EMRs. Similarly, the market for electronic medical records would be driven by increasing demand for healthcare cost containment and growing need for the improvement of healthcare services.Request Free Report Sample@The market for medical records can be segmented on the basis of various types of components, end users, applications and geography. Electronic medical records market by components is further categorized on the basis of EMR hardware and EMR software. EMR software market can be further analyzed on the basis of web based EMR and client based EMR. Based on application areas electronic medical records market is classified as general application EMR and specialty specific EMR. Hospitals and physicians remain the endusers of the market.Geographically, North America accounts for the largest share of the global electronic medical records market. The region currently holds a market share of more than 45% globally. The dominance of North America in this market is seen due to technological advancements, presence of various market leaders which allows easy penetration in the North America region. Additionally, growing acceptance of EMR solutions across the healthcare industry in the U.S., increasing government initiatives and development of health information network across the U.S are some of the factors that are expected to drive the growth of this region in near future. European region accounted for the second largest share of the market due to slow economic recovery that inhibited the growth of EMR in this region However, in near future, growth in this region is expected due to government funding especially in the Nordic countries, Germany and the U.K. Asia-Pacific region currently accounts fora small share of the global electronic medical records market but due to growing government initiatives and increasing awareness, this region is expected to show promising growth in next five to ten years. Additionally, implementation of United Health Systems is expected to show lucrative growth in the Latin American countries such as Brazil.Visit For TOC@Major players operating in this market includes Cerner Corporation, eClinicalWorks LLC, Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc., Ingenix, GE Healthcare, Athenahealth Inc., Mckesson Corporation, Greenway Medical Technologies Inc., Nextgen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., E-MDS INC., Wellsoft Corporation, Quadramed Corporation, Bizmatics Inc., Siemens Healthcare, Epic Systems, Aprima Medical Software Inc., Isoft Group Ltd. and others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Mr. Sudip SahaFuture Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Approved Standard Work: Ceresana Publishes Fourth Market Report on Pigments

Market Study: Pigments

www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/additives/pigments/

www.ceresana.com/en

For the fourth time now, the market research company Ceresana analyzes the world market for pigments: Sales amount to 9.7 million tonnes per year. The most important sales market is the production of paints and varnishes which accounts for 45% of total demand. Processing of pigments in plastics ranks second at a considerable distance, followed by the application areas construction material, printing inks, and paper.Titanium Dioxide DominatesTitanium dioxide (TiO2) remains the most-in-demand type of pigments: It registered more than 59% of total demand. Titanium dioxide is mainly used for paints and coatings: Only few micrometers of coating are sufficient to cover the substrate completely. Additionally, titanium dioxide pigments are used for white paper and the production of plastics on a large scale.From Yellow to BlackSecond largest sales market is iron oxide pigments, followed closely by carbon black. Iron oxides are the most commonly used inorganic color pigments. The continually increasing importance of iron oxide pigments is based on their non-toxicity, chemical stability, wide variety of colors (ranging from yellow, orange, red, and brown to black), and good performance-price ratio. About 1.9 million tonnes of iron oxide were processed worldwide in 2014. Carbon black is mainly used as filler for rubber applications, especially in car tires. Carbon black is also important for the paint industry: Carbon black is the most common black pigment used. The smaller the particle size, the deeper the black.Growth Market Organic PigmentsOther inorganic and organic pigments only account for a small share on total global pigment market, registering an amount of 1 million tonnes. However, their application areas are versatile - and they are further increasing. Depending on the chemical composition, inorganic and organic pigments can be differentiated: While inorganic pigments are metallic salts, organic pigments consist of carbon. At times, both kinds can be combined. Organic pigments have a lower coverage, but exhibit higher color strength and gloss than inorganic pigments. Compared to many inorganic pigments, organic pigments are much more expensive. Most often, they are used as printing inks, followed by paints and plastics.The Study in Brief:Chapter 1 provides a description and analysis of the global pigment market, including forecasts up to 2022: The development of revenues, demand volumes and production is analyzed for each region.Chapter 2 offers a detailed analysis of 16 countries: Demand, export, import, production, and revenues. Additionally, demand split by applications is examined in regard to these countries. Market data on demand volume for each country is split by the single types of pigments.Chapter 3 analyzes regional markets for pigments in detail: Data and influential factors of application in paints and varnishes, plastics, paper, construction materials, printing inks, and other application areas.Chapter 4 examines the demand for pigments - split by the types titanium dioxide, carbon black, iron oxide, other inorganic pigments, and organic pigments.Chapter 5 offers a useful directory of the 95 most important producers of pigments, clearly arranged according to contact details, revenues, profit, product range, production sites, and profile summary. The most important manufacturers include: BASF, Akzo Nobel, Altana, Clariant, Cristal, DIC, Evonik, Ferro, Huntsman, Kronos, Lanxess, Merck, Mitsubishi Chemical, and Tronox.Further information:Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector and operates branch offices in Constance, Vienna and Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, Ceresana has been supplying several thousand customers from 60 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 100 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts in the following markets: Chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industry, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and construction materials.Learn more about Ceresana atCeresanaTechnologiezentrumBlarerstr. 5678462 ConstanceGermanyPhone: +49 7531 94293 10Fax: +49 7531 94293 27Press Contact: Martin Ebner, m.ebner@ceresana.com
Enterprise Mobility Market by Software, Devices, Security, Industry Size, Growth, Share and Forecast To 2022

brisk insights

http://www.briskinsights.com/category/technology-and-media-industry

http://www.pdfdevices.com/global-contact-lens-technology-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-the-cagr-of-10-6-during-2015-2022-brisk-insights/

http://www.briskinsights.com/

Enterprise Mobility Market by Software, Devices, Security, Industry Size, Growth, Share and Forecast To 2022According to a recently published report, the Global Enterprise Mobility Market is expected to grow at the CAGR of 7% during 2015-2022. The Global Enterprise Mobility Market is segmented on the basis of software, device, security, industry and geography. The report on Global Enterprise Mobility Market forecast 2015-2022 provides detailed overview and predictive analysis of the market.View Full Report Here @ briskinsights.com/report/enterprise-mobility-marketThe Global Enterprise Mobility Market is expected to grow at an impressive pace due to rise in adoption of mobiles and emerging mobile business user workforce. Global reduction in hardware costs and huge demand for security products are creating huge scope for the market. Additionally, growth in the mobility cloud domain is expected to create huge opportunity for the Global Enterprise Mobility Market.North America is expected to contribute highest in global enterprise mobility market. Rise in adoption of Global Enterprise Mobility Market by device such as Smartphone, Tablets, Laptops and so on are the major drivers for the Global Enterprise Mobility Market. Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Inc, Air Watch, Aruba Networks, Cisco Systems, Inc, IBM Corporation, Hewlett-Packard and Good Technology, Inc, Meru Networks, Citrix Systems, In care the key market players. Mergers and acquisition, partnerships are the key winning strategy of the market.Scope of the report1. Global Enterprise Mobility Marketby software2012- 2022($ billion)1.1. Global Mobile Device Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.2. Global Mobile Application Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.3. Global Telecom Expense Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.4. Global Enterprise Mobile Content Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.5. Global Mobile Device Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.6. Global Enterprise Mobile Email Management market 2012-2022 ($ billion)1.7. Global other market 2012-2022 ($ billion)For More Reports Related to Same Category @2. Global Enterprise Mobility Market by devices 2012-2022( $billion)2.1. Global Smartphone Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)2.2. Global Tablet Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)2.3. Global Laptop Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)3. Global Enterprise Mobility Marketby security solutions 2012-2022( $ billion)3.1. Global Mobile Data Security Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)3.2. Global Mobile Device SecurityMarket 2012-2022 ($ billion)3.3. Global Mobile ID Management Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)3.4. Global Network security Market 2012-2022 ($ billion)4. Global Enterprise Mobility Market regional outlook 2012-2022( $ billion)4.1. North America4.2. Europe4.3. Asia Pacific4.4. Middle East & Africa4.5. Central & South America5. Competitive Landscape5.1. HEWLETT-PACKARD5.2. ALCATEL-LUCENT5.3. AVAYA, INC5.4. AIR WATCH5.5. ARUBA NETWORKS5.6. CISCO SYSTEMS, INC5.7. IBM CORPORATION5.8. HEWLETT-PACAKARD5.9. GOOD TECHNOLOGY, INC5.10. MERU NETWORKS,5.11. CITRIX SYSTEMS, INC5.12. MCAFEE, INC.5.13. DELL, INC.5.14. JUNIPER NETWORKS, INC.5.15. CISCO SYSTEMS, INC.5.16. FORTINET, INC.Latest Report:Brisk Insights is a global market research firm. Our insightful analysis is focused on developed and emerging markets. We identify trends and forecast markets with a view to aid businesses identify market opportunities optimize strategies. Working in a highly dynamic and multi-dimensional business makes decision making complex. Effective business decisions are a result of the synthesis of market information. Our Research and data analysis is an efficient and cost-effective way of providing robust market analysis and can yield highly valuable intelligence relating to consumers, competitors and markets.Jennifer SmithOffice 1094109 Vernon HouseFriar LanenottinghamNG1 6DQPhone: +448081890034 (UK)Website:
IQ4I Research & Consultancy published a new report on Catheters Global Market  Forecast To 2022

Catheters Global Market worth $38,112 million by 2022

This report analyzes the catheters global market in terms of market revenue ($ million) for all segments and it enables catheters manufacturers, catheters product distributors and wholesalers, Hospitals and ASCs (Ambulatory Surgical Centers), OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers)/Contract manufacturers, Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and other associated stake holders to identify and analyze market expansion opportunities, upcoming technologies, technological developments, competition in catheters global market.The catheters are narrow tubular medical devices that are inserted into the body (body cavity, duct or blood vessels) through a narrow opening for the purpose of therapeutic or diagnostic applications such as for performing surgeries or to treat diseases especially for draining and administering fluids. The process of insertion of a catheter is called catheterization. These devices are manufactured using various types of polymers such as silicone rubber, nitinol, nylon, polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate, latex and thermoplastic elastomers. Among these, silicone is the most commonly used material due to its inertness as it does not react with body fluids and other medical fluids. Catheters come in different lengths and sizes for men, women and children. The demand for effective therapy that delivers satisfactory results yet costing less, combined with advancements in technology such as customizable catheters, catheter based imaging driving the catheter global market growth. The use of catheters can be seen in cardiology, urology, neurosciences, intravenous and during special procedures. According to IQ4I estimates, the catheters global market is expected to reach $38,112 million by 2022.Factors, such as, increasing life expectancy combined with aging population, prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and urinary diseases, growing healthcare expenditures in developing countries and trend towards single use catheters & self catheterization are driving growth in catheters market. Opportunities for growth in this market can be explored by expanding operations in emerging markets of China and India, development of minimally invasive procedures and innovations in new manufacturing materials for of catheters.The catheter market is mainly segmented by products, materials, end-users and geography. The catheters global market by products is classified into cardiovascular catheters, neurovascular catheters, urology catheters, intravenous catheters and specialty catheters. In 2015, cardiovascular catheters occupied the highest share of 33.7% and specialty catheters is expected to be the fastest growing segment with a high single digit CAGR from 2015 to 2022. Based on materials the market is segmented into silicone, polyurethane, polyethylene, teflon/PTFE and others (nitinol, nylon). End-users include hospitals, home healthcare providers, ambulatory surgical centres, diagnostic laboratories and academic and research laboratories. Finally, the catheters market is classified by geographical regions into North America, Europe, Asia-pacific and Rest of the World.North American region commanded largest market revenue in 2015 followed by Europe. High investments in healthcare infrastructures and demand for quality services in this market are propelling the market growth. However, Asia-pacific region is expected to grow at the high double digit CAGR from 2015 to 2022 due to, increased healthcare awareness, improved economic growth and increasing healthcare funding by the governments. Significant mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, joint ventures are some of the industry trends that are playing a major role for the market growth.Major players in catheters market include, Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), Johnson & Johnson (U.S.), Teleflex Incorporated (U.S.), B.Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Becton Dickinson and Company (U.S.), C.R. Bard (U.S.), Coloplast (Denmark), AngioDynamics, Inc. (U.S.), St.Jude Medical (U.S.) and Philips (Netherlands).IQ4I Research is a is a global strategy, consulting and a market research firm.Mr Satish BirudukotaAssociate Director, Head Market ResearchIQ4I Research and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.No- 11, Industrial Suburb, 1st Stage, West of Chord Road,RajajiNagar, Bangalore- 560010Call Us: +91 80 60500229E-mail:bd@iq4i.com
Raptivity to exhibit at Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2016

www.raptivity.com

Raptivity to exhibit at the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo, visit us at booth #317 to know more about Engagement Analytics.The Raptivity Team will be exhibiting at the Learning Solutions Conference and Expo 2016, being held in Orlando, Florida, from March 16  18. Raptivity will be exhibiting at booth #317 and has plans to showcase its flagship interactivity building tool  Raptivity, along with Raptivity Linker. Visitors to the Raptivity booth can also gain insights into Raptivitys newly launched Engagement Analytics. With Engagement Analytics, the team aims to provide eLearning developers and administrators sophisticated insights into whats working and whats not with their interactive content. All this will be demonstrated by means of a user-friendly dashboard.Learning Solutions Conference and Expo is one of the largest e-learning conferences and expositions in the industry. Backed by the eLearning Guild, the expo is the perfect hub to explore new avenues in the eLearning ecosystem. The expo will be a host to 100+ sessions covering  eLearning best practices, How-To, case studies and emerging trends shaping the industry.Janhavi Padture, Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Harbinger Knowledge Products, who is all set to be a part of Learning Solutions Conference and Expo, says This year Engagement Analytics is at the forefront for us. As the eLearning ecosystem is evolving with new trends, Raptivity moves ahead in the league with this newly launched concept. Engagement Analytics can enable the eLearning fraternity with essential learning statistics to deliver a greater learning experience. I encourage attendees to stop by our booth to see it all in action.To meet team Raptivity at the event, visit booth #317.About RaptivityRaptivity is a rapid interactivity builder that allows you to quickly and easily create learning interactions. It has a diverse variety of 190+ interactions to select from. Raptivity helps the educators and trainers to enrich their content with the well-designed interactions from various categories like games& simulations, presentation aids, visual aids, brain teasers, assessments and many more.Raptivity is a world renowned award winning eLearning product that has been appreciated by various learning bodies. It was recently adjudged the winner in ComputED Gazette's 18th Annual Education Software Review Awards (EDDIES) 2013. It has also won the prestigious ComputED Gazette's '19th Annual Best Educational Software Awards (BESSIE's) in eLearning creation website category.About Harbinger Knowledge ProductsHarbinger Knowledge Products is recognized as a global leader in interactivity solutions for knowledge-sharing applications including learning, presentation and web development. Harbinger Knowledge Products is a part of Harbinger Group, which serves customers in over 65 countries through its offices in Pune (India), Redmond (WA, USA) and through its partner network worldwide.For three consecutive years, Deloitte has named Harbinger Knowledge Products among the fastest growing technology companies in its Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific and Technology Fast 50 India programs. Red Herring named Harbinger amongst world's top 100 private technology companies. Harbingers patented technology and sound thought leadership have resulted in groundbreaking products, including market-leading Raptivity, innovative YawnBuster, and cutting-edge SiteJazzer and TeemingPod.For more information, visitor contact Harbinger Knowledge Products at 425.861.8400.Address:16770 NE 79th Street,Suite 100Redmond, WA 98052 USASaru SawaikarGeneral Manager- Marketing and StrategyHarbinger Knowledge Products Private Limitedsaru@harbingergroup.com
Christensen Law Extends Safe Ride Home to St. Patricks Day

https://www.davidchristensenlaw.com/

https://www.davidchristensenlaw.com/

Christensen Law will now extend its life-saving Safe Ride Home program to people who may celebrate St. Patricks Day by drinking too much alcohol.We have every reason to believe our Safe Ride Home program has saved the lives of people who over-celebrated on Thanksgiving Eve and New Years Eve, says Dave Christensen, founder of Christensen Law. Weve helped more than 250 people return home safely, and we want to continue offering that service to the community.The Michigan State Police see an increase in drunk driving accidents around St. Patricks Day, and are expected to increase drunk driving patrols in counties across the state.Christensen Law wants to help people get home safely from their St. Patricks Day celebration  and without being charged with driving under the influence (DUI). The cost of a drivers auto insurance can increase significantly if the driver has a DUI on his or her record.We want to decrease the number of people killed on Michigan roads each year, Christensen says. The number rose 10 percent in 2015 compared with the previous year.The National Safety Council recently reported that 982 people were killed on state roads in Michigan during 2015.As a personal injury lawyer, Christensen has seen too many people suffer as a result of drunk driving. For years he has been involved with organizations such as the Washtenaw Council on Alcoholism, Spectrum Treatment and Prevention Services, and others that deal with alcohol/drug addiction. Thats why hes offering special help.How Safe Ride Home WorksIf youve had too much to drink on St. Patricks Day, just call a cab or Uber to take you from the bar to your home. Pay for the ride that night and get a receipt. The next day, simply email a copy of your receipt along with a copy of your drivers license or State of Michigan ID card to saferidehome@davidchristensenlaw.com to receive a reimbursement of up to $35.Restrictions: Offer is good from 1 p.m. on March 17, 2016 to 4 a.m. on March 18, 2016. You must be at least 21 years old. Maximum reimbursement is $35, good for a one-way ride to your home. Receipts must be received by Christensen Law by midnight, March 21, 2016 to be eligible for reimbursement. Ride must be within Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw counties. Provider of ride must be a licensed taxi company or Uber. Email a copy of the official taxi company or Uber receipt along with a copy of your valid drivers license or State of Michigan ID card to saferidehome@davidchristensenlaw.com OR send those materials via U.S. Mail to Christensen Law Safe Ride Home, 25925 Telegraph Rd., Suite 200, Southfield, MI 48033.Call Christensen Law at 248-213-4900 for more details.Christensen Law is a personal injury law firm that specializes in helping victims of automobile and truck accidents. For more info visit:Founder David Christensen earned his law degree, with honors, as well as a Masters Degree from the University of Michigan. He is past chairman of the Michigan Association for Justices no-fault committee, past chairman of the negligence section of the Michigan State Bar, and is a member of the Council of Chief Justices Civil Justice Initiative. He testifies before the Michigan legislature, and his expertise has led to appointments to key positions that affect the development of Michigans no-fault law. In 2012, Christensen was chosen as a Leader in the Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.David Christensen Law25925 Telegraph Rd.Suite 200Southfield, MI 48033248-213-49003049 Miller Rd.Ann Arbor, MI 48103734-890-5200Christensen Law is a personal injury law firm that specializes in helping victims of automobile and truck accidents. For more info visit:Founder David Christensen earned his law degree, with honors, as well as a Masters Degree from the University of Michigan. He is past chairman of the Michigan Association for Justices no-fault committee, past chairman of the negligence section of the Michigan State Bar, and is a member of the Council of Chief Justices Civil Justice Initiative. He testifies before the Michigan legislature, and his expertise has led to appointments to key positions that affect the development of Michigans no-fault law. In 2012, Christensen was chosen as a Leader in the Law by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.PO Box 871346Canton, MI
ProfiSignal Software Overview: Process Monitoring and Automation

Professional DAQ Software

www.DataLoggerInc.com

www.dataloggerinc.com

Delphin ProfiSignal Software Analyzes and Trends DataCHESTERLAND, OHMarch 14, 2016At CAS DataLoggers we occasionally receive calls from customers with questions about Delphin ProfiSignal's licensing model. In this brief Technical Article originally from Delphin Technology we explain how ProfiSignal licensing works. This professional data acquisition software is ideal for monitoring and automating your industrial or lab process, complete with archiving and trend functionality.Packaging:With the purchase of any Delphin datalogger, we supply the latest version of the DataService Configurator software as well as the latest firmware on a CD. This CD is encrypted with the "license.lic" license code.If you have also purchased Delphin ProfiSignal software (or it is included in the purchase package), the CD will also contain the corresponding ProfiSignal version (Viewer, Go, Basic or Klicks) with the same "license.lic" license code. These different Delphin ProfiSignal versions are based on the number of channels (including virtual and/or software channels) that you can use simultaneously within a project.Delphin has three levels of channel numbers: Max. 40 channels, Max. 250 channels, Unlimited numbers of channels.You need to state the number of channels required prior to purchasing the software. The different software versions are shown in the following table:Standard or Separate:Purchase of the Delphin Expert Key, Expert Logger, Expert Transient and LogMessage devices includes ProfiSignal Go as standard. For the ProfiMessage or Expert Vibro range you can separately order the required ProfiSignal version.With ProfiSignal Viewer, you can analyze offline-saved *.hds (projects) and *.drp (reports) files, evaluate them, and export the data from offline trends into *.csv / ASCII files.Version Details:ProfiSignal Go enables you to analyze and export data both online and offline. If users want to create and process complete projects using ProfiSignal, they require either ProfiSignal Basic or ProfiSignal Klicks.Note that ProfiSignal can be installed only once per PC, and must be activated within 30 days of the purchase date either online or via Delphin. Each extra PC requires a paid license. The Runtime version might be sufficient for requirements here.Functions for each version can be extended by activating additional modules. If, for example, you wish to use an SQL database, you may order Delphins AlarmManagement or Audittrail options separately. For Expert Vibro devices, we recommended you also buy the Vibro option, specially developed for analyzing vibrations.CAS DataLoggers:CAS Data Loggers is an experienced distributor of data loggers, paperless recorders and data acquisition equipment. We have been in business for over 20 years, and actively involved in selling data loggers and real-time systems since 2001. We want to help you select the most appropriate product for your application, and we also provide free on-call technical support on all of our products.We can also provide value-added services including on-site installation, wiring and packaging, engineering and design services, and complete turn-key systems.For more info on Delphin Data Loggers, Profisignal software, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit our website atContact Information:CAS DataLoggers, Inc.8437 Mayfield Rd.Chesterland, Ohio 44026(440) 729-2570(800) 956-4437sales@dataloggerinc.com
Fix Bad SQL Databases with DataNumen SQL Recovery v. 2.5

https://www.datanumen.com/sql-recovery/compare.htm

https://www.datanumen.com/sql-recovery/

https://www.datanumen.com/

DataNumen has launched DataNumen SQL Recovery v. 2.5, a Windows utility that fixes bad files that were built by MS SQL Server and by other applications that write MDF and NDF files. Version 2.5 showcases a redesigned file analysis and recovery engine that shorten the amount of time required to fix files, and require less computer memory to recover damaged files.While Microsoft SQL Server includes basic tools for preventing and tweaking corrupt database files, DataNumen SQL Recovery 2.5 delivers a robust set of repair regimens. The software scans SQL files and recovers more information than competitive applications. It even supports files as large as 16 terabytes. Visitfor a detailed feature-by-feature comparison of the ability of DataNumen SQL Recovery and ten other file repair applications to fix 1,000 randomly-selected .MDF files.DataNumen reduces the risk in buying their SQL file recovery software in two significant ways: first, if any other program can fix more data than DataNumens software, DataNumen will give back the payment amount. Second, DataNumen SQL Recoverys free trial program can preview the data that can be recovered. After seeing which information can be recovered, users can buy the full version of the application to process and save the reconstructed SQL files.The software works with SQL Server 2005 through 2016. SQL Recovery 2.5 can be run in batch mode to repair a group of bad SQL files. DataNumen SQL Recovery works with local and network drives, as well as removable media from CD/DVD discs and all forms of floppy disks. The software can be launched from Windows Explorer with a single click of the file that needs to be fixed. Users who prefer to drag and drop files can repair files using that technique.Database administrators and network professionals use DataNumen SQL Recovery to quickly fix data bases throughout the enterprise. Police and security pros use the application for forensic work.Price and availabilitySQL Recovery version 2.5 works with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 and Windows Server 2003, 2008, and 2012. The cost is USD$299.95 per user, with affordable licenses available for larger groups.LinksProduct page:Company website:DataNumen, Inc. is an industry leader in data recovery software and technology. Founded in 2001, DataNumen has been marketing applications like DataNumen SQL Recovery as well as recovery software for .DBF files and for Oracle and MS Access databases. The company also offers programs that fix files created by Microsoft Office, RAR software, PDF programs, and more than ten additional popular file types.DataNumenpr@datanumen.com1301 Bank of America TowerSuite 791, 12 Harcourt RoadCentralHONG KONG
IP69K: FQ rotational speed sensors from RHEINTACHO

The intelligent continuation of a success story

With its high IP69K protection class, RHEINTACHO is set to introduce a complete new series of plastic sensors for detecting rotational speed and direction from the second quarter of 2016.Thanks to different sensor lengths, cable outlet directions and connector options, this product line offers users a high degree of flexibility, enabling adaptation to entirely individual requirements. And even if none of the available models is suitable, RHEINTACHO will be pleased to draw on its recognised expertise in customised solutions to develop the right solution for you.Why IP69K? RHEINTACHO Sales Manager Wolfgang Sexauer: "There are two main reasons why we were motivated to develop this new series. Firstly, we see a tendency to specify higher IP classes in many applications for safety reasons, than was the case a few years ago. Secondly, the IP69K protection class enables technical potentials to be realised even more efficiently today. This applies to both available materials and, of course, to intelligent constructions."The FQ product line is consequently a further development of the current FK product line, which fulfils protection class IP65. In recent years the FK sensors have developed into a genuine success model. Numerous electromotor applications would be inconceivable without these rotational speed sensors. The basic geometrical data for the RHEINTACHO FK has meanwhile been adopted by significantly larger competitors too.The electronic design of the FQ product line is successively complemented with different variants in order to fulfil different requirements. In detail: Frequency range, detection distance, EMC and temperature stability. According to the current development plan, all versions will be designed as a two-channel sensor, enabling the detection of rotational speed and direction of rotation.RHEINTACHO wholeheartedly welcomes higher specifications from users in regard to its sensors. "Our experience has shown that specifying too low an IP class and putting the onus on users via operating or maintenance instructions, is not practical. This simply doesnt work", continues Wolfgang Sexauer. "When a machine is to be cleaned with a steam jet for practical reasons, it is difficult to convince the operators otherwise  regardless of what is found in the operating manuals. Subsequent problems "in the field" are then inevitable. Whether in consideration of all actual costs a more cost-effective, lower-specified component is then the means of choice is at least doubtful. And just for this reason we are expanding the proven FK product line to include the FQ series with its higher protection class. We always strive to offer the best technical and economic solution, tailored to the specific application."RHEINTACHO Messtechnik GmbH is a company with longstanding tradition and has been engaged for over 115 years in the field of rotational speed, a crucial control quantity for mechanical processes. Just over 70 employees are employed at the companys headquarters in Freiburg. In-house product development, production and assembly departments guarantee quick and innovative solutions to customers individual requirements. The production range incorporates a wide range of solutions of a high technical quality, principally in the field of rotational speed: sensors, hand-held measuring devices, rotary encoders and switching devices. RHEINTACHO UK Ltd, a subsidiary of the German company RHEINTACHO Messtechnik GmbH, is specialized in the production of non-electronic measurement and indication instruments, and acts as a sales and service center for the UK and Ireland.RHEINTACHO Messtechnik GmbHWaltershofener Str. 179111 FreiburgGermanyMr. Wolfgang SexauerHead of Sales & MarketingTel: +49 (0)761 4513 139Email: sexauer@rheintacho.de
eSentire Partners With Credence Security to Help Mid-Sized Enterprises in the Middle East Combat Cybercrime

www.esentire.com

Cambridge, Ontario & Dubai, United Arab Emirates  March 14, 2016  eSentire, Inc., a leader in Active Threat Protection solutions and managed security services, today announced it has partnered with Credence Security, a leading provider of cybersecurity, digital forensics, and IT technologies and solutions, to provide mid-sized enterprises in parts of the EMEA region, specifically the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa regions, with advanced cybersecurity capabilities and threat protection.This announcement follows eSentires recent launch of its new global channel partner program, which spans North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. eSentire recognizes that security is a business issue across the globe and has invested in the creation of a Security Operations Center that will support customers in the Middle East and Africa.As a new entrant in to the EMEA, it is essential to partner with a company that is solely focused on cybersecurity, has strong technology and sales support capabilities, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the local market, and most importantly, relationships with resellers and end customers in the region, said Mark Adams, vice president of channels, eSentire. As a value-added distributor, Credence Security has the pre-requisites to help us tell the eSentire story and work with us to deliver best-in-class cybersecurity solutions to mid-sized enterprises in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.Partnering with Credence Security allows eSentire to gain market presence and access to a key part of the EMEA market, connecting its service capabilities to partners and customers in that region. By partnering with eSentire, Credence Security can further strengthen its portfolio of complementary security solutions, creating opportunities for growing its business with existing accounts, and adding new customers.As an eSentire distributor for reseller partners in the Middle East, Credence Security will have dedicated resources focusing on providing pre-sales support to partners and end customers for eSentires core portfolio of Active Threat Protection services, specifically: Network InterceptorTM  a proprietary network appliance delivered as a continuous managed service. Host InterceptorTM  a service that works in conjunction with Network Interceptor to provide core network containment capabilities. Log SentryTM  a service that collects, centralizes, and correlates critical event log data from any network-attached asset. Continuous Vulnerability Scanning (CVS)  delivered as a continuous managed service. CVS affords the end customer with the opportunity to drastically reduce their exploit window by having a current list of systems requiring patching and password updates.Cyber-attacks like phishing and watering hole attacks are growing more and more sophisticated by the day and can easily bypass traditional security technologies that focus on perimeter defense, said Garreth Scott, director of sales, Credence Security. Backed by eSentires best-in-class technology solutions, skilled security analysts, threat intelligence team, and global network of sensors, we can now offer mid-sized enterprises in the Middle East the most advanced cybersecurity-as-a-service available, ultimately helping them stay one step ahead of the attackers.Credence Security is also helping eSentire with its demand generation efforts, having already uncovered several end user opportunities in the region.eSentire and Credence Security will exhibit in stand B-140 at the Gulf Information Security Expo & Conference (GISEC), March 29-31st at the Dubai World Trade Centre.###About eSentire Inc.eSentire is a proven industry leader, keeping mid-sized organizations safe from constantly evolving cyber attacks that traditional security defenses simply cant detect. eSentire combines people, process, and technology to deliver an unmatched, premium level service that detects, remediates, and communicates sophisticated cyber threats in real-time, 24/7. Protecting more than $3 trillion in Assets under Management (AuM), eSentire is the award-winning choice for security decision-makers in mid-size enterprises. eSentire has received multiple accolades for exceptional service, including the HFM (Hedge Fund Manager) Service Provider award (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). In 2015, eSentire was named to Deloittes Technology Fast 50TM and Fast 500TM lists, and included in the 2015 Cool Vendors in Cloud Security Services report by Gartner, Inc.For more information, visitand follow @esentire on Twitter.PR Contact:Angela TuzzoMRB Public Relations for eSentire+1 732.758.1100, x. 108atuzzo@mrb-pr.com
Endoscopy Devices Market  Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014 - 2020

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/market-analysis/endoscopy-devices-market.html

http://goo.gl/jeXKi6

http://goo.gl/juaL60

http://www.syndicatemarketresearch.com/

Endoscopy is an invasive medical procedure for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of complications in the internal organs. The endoscopy is performed using a device called endoscope. This device is placed into the patient body either through the natural cavities or through incisions. Endoscopy device consist of camera or the light source at the tip that helps the physicians or medical professionals to analysis the internal organs of interest. Most of the endoscopic procedures make patient discomfort but it takes less recovery time.The endoscopy devices market has the several driving factors but one of the most important factors that is expected to propel the growth of the market is recovery time is shorter and fastest recovery. Another important factor is U.S. FDA policies support easier approval process for endoscopy devices. However, high costs of endoscopy devices is expected to be one the major constraint in growth of this industry, especially in emerging markets. Additionally, increasing disease prevalence is also expected to trigger the demand for endoscopy devices market.Browse the full Endoscopy Devices Market  Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2014 - 2020report atIn order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the endoscopy devices market, we have included a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the endoscopy devices market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product segments and application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the endoscopy devices market by segmenting the market based on products and applications. All the application segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020. Key product segmented market covered under this study includes endoscopes, operative devices and visualization systems. Key application market covered under this study includes gastrointestinal surgeries, urology/gynecology surgeries, ENT surgeries, cardiovascular surgeries, neuro/spinal surgeries, laparoscopy surgeries and arthroscopy surgeries. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Rest of the World with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for endoscopy based on individual applications in all the regions and countries.Get Sample Research Report:Key industry participants analyzed and profiled in this study includes CONMED Corporation, Olympus Corporation, Fujifilm Holding Corporation , Karl Storz Endoscopy, Boston Scientific Corporation, Pentax Medical Corporation , Cook Medical, Inc., Stryker Corporation, Covidien PLC, Smith & Nephew plc, Hoya Corporation, Medtronic plc, Richard Wolf GmbH, Fujifilm Holdings Corporation and Ethicon, Inc.Global Endoscopy Devices Market: Device Segment AnalysisEndoscopeOperative DevicesVisualization SystemsGlobal Endoscopy Devices Market: Application Segment AnalysisGastrointestinal SurgeriesUrology/Gynecology SurgeriesENT SurgeriesCardiovascular SurgeriesNeuro/Spinal SurgeriesLaparoscopy SurgeriesArthroscopy SurgeriesGlobal Endoscopy Devices Market: Region Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaDo inquiry Before Purchasing Report:Syndicate Market Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. SMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants uses proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each SMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food and beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports strive to serve the overall research requirement of clients.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442, USAToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Priviera by Oberoi Realty wins the Best Residential Luxury Project of the Year

www.oberoirealty.com

MUMBAI, March 11th, 2016: Oberoi Realty, one of Indias leading real estate development companies has been honoured with the Best Residential Luxury Project of the Year award for its ultra-luxury project Priviera by Oberoi Realty at the 10th edition of CNBC Awaaz Real Estate Awards 2015-16.The CNBC Awaaz Real Estate Awards follow a very stringent process and a robust methodology consisting of a two-phased jury process. The event witnessed participation by some of the biggest names in the real estate sector and an independent jury comprising of renowned architects, bankers, industrialists and sectoral experts in the country chose the winners.Mr. Vikas Oberoi, Chairman & Managing Director, Oberoi Realty said, We are deeply honoured to receive this recognition from CNBC Awaaz Real Estate Awards for Priviera, our luxury residential project. Priviera is a perfect blend of serenity, aesthetics and elegance to give its discerning customers the exclusive lifestyle they deserve. We have always strived to better ourselves with every project and getting recognised for the same feels good. Every award we receive motivates us to go a step further in our quest for excellence. As a company we remain immensely committed to deliver premium and uber-luxury spaces that continue to enhance the quality of life of all our customersSynonymous with projects high on design and quality, Oberoi Realty has been making a significant contribution in offering luxurious living to its buyers for three decades now. Priviera is its uber-luxury project located at Mumbais posh Khar West neighbourhood. This 15-storeyed premium residence offers 12 spacious 4-bedroom apartments - one on each floor, offering its residents the much-desired exclusivity and privacy.Along with the expansive apartments, the residents are offered luxurious amenities on the rooftop overlooking the glittering Arabian Sea, giving them the feeling of living in a villa. Its location, distinctive design and high-end amenities make it a much coveted boutique home for the ultra-rich elite. Designed by Guz Architects, Singapore and perfected by Meinhardt, Singapore, the development is ready for possession with all requisite approvals by each facet being custom-designed to maximise the quotient of luxury living.About Oberoi Realty LimitedOberoi Realty Ltd. is Indias leading real estate development company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is focused on premium developments in the residential, office space, retail, hospitality and social infrastructure verticals. In the real estate space, Oberoi Realty is an established brand with an impeccable track record. Its primary aim is to build aspirational developments for its customers with distinctive designs, functional aesthetics and quality finishes that translate into landmark projects through its mixed-use and single-segment developments. This mix of innovative design, planning initiatives and use of cutting-edge technologies has enabled the company to successfully deliver 39 completed projects across Mumbai, the financial capital of India. More information about the company is available onQueen's Mansion, 1st Floor, Prescot Road Next to Cathedral School, Fort,Mumbai - 400001
Laboratory Testing Inc. Appoints Machine Shop Manager

www.labtesting.com

Brad McVaugh of Hatfield, PA was promoted to Machine Shop Manager at Laboratory Testing Inc. (LTI). The Machine Shop prepares all test specimens required for destructive testing, including corrosion and mechanical testing. The machinists also rough cut and grind metallography specimens, prepare chips for ICP analysis and perform electrical discharge machining (EDM).In addition to the new responsibilities of managing all Machine Shop operations, McVaugh will retain two previous positions he took on last year, Shipping/Receiving Manager and Project Manager of Continuous Improvement. In these roles, he oversees incoming and outgoing orders, delivery service and company projects designed to streamline order processing and improve accuracy and turnaround.McVaugh is a third-generation family member of Laboratory Testing Inc., a company founded by his grandfather, Robert (Bob) W. McVaugh, Sr. While attending high school and college, he worked part time as a CNC Machinist in Lab Testings Machine Shop. His father, Mike McVaugh, has been president of the laboratory since 1984.Brad McVaugh earned a degree in Business Management from Moravian College in 2009. After graduation, he was employed by Baum Precision Machining in Plumsteadville, PA as a Production Manager. He joined LTI in June 2013 as Customer Service/Sales Supervisor.The four main processes performed by the Machine Shop at Lab Testing are sawing, milling, turning and grinding. Most specimens are machined from metals, including metal matrix composites, hardened steels and nickel-base alloys, using the latest CNC equipment. The Shop runs two work shifts to meet timely turnaround requirements necessary to support the testing departments. All machining services are Nadcap accredited and LTI is on the NIST Qualified Manufacturers List for Charpy V-notch Impact verification specimens.Laboratory Testing Inc. (LTI) of Hatfield, PA is a family-owned independent testing and metrology laboratory in business since 1984. The laboratory offers materials testing and analysis services including mechanical, chemical, metallurgical and corrosion testing, nondestructive testing, root cause failure analysis, calibration services, dimensional inspection and test specimen machining. All test and inspection results are provided in certified reports. The laboratory specializes in metal and polymer testing, but also analyzes powdered metals, ores, ferroalloys, composites and ceramics. LTI is accredited by the PRI Nadcap program in materials and nondestructive testing and by A2LA to ISO/IEC 17025 for mechanical, metallurgical and chemical testing, dimensional inspection and calibration services. LTI Metrology, a division of Laboratory Testing Inc., provides dimensional inspection services and NIST-traceable calibration services for measuring hand tools, masters and a wide-range of measuring instruments and equipment. On-site calibration, repairs, new instruments and replacement parts are offered. Information on Laboratory Testing services and accreditations is available at, sales@labtesting.com or 800-219-9095.Laboratory Testing Inc.2331 Topaz DrHatfield, PA 19440Sharon Bentzley
GoGaS at the Passenger Terminal Expo 2016: Smart solutions for a green future

Low intensity gas infrared heaters for an energy efficient aircraft deicing

Dortmund/Germany - GoGaS Goch GmbH & Co. KG, the innovation leader in the field of energy-efficient heating systems for terminals and hangars based in Dortmund, is exhibiting together with his business partner Magnovent, at this year's Passenger Terminal Expo, the world's leading trade fair for suppliers to airport development schemes across the globe, in hall 10.1, booth 3005.The focus is on the introduction of the wide range of smart solutions that GoGaS and Magnovent products have to offer in order to achieve maximum energy savings and CO2 reductions.Many possible combinations within the GoGaS product rangeFor over 60 years, GoGaS masters the challenge to find synergies and to combine the advantages of different products in order to develop the optimal heating system for terminals and hangars. Individual heating concepts are created on the basis of the hall condition, saving requirements and statutory climate targets. The innovative product portfolio consists of gas-powered high intensity heaters, condensing low intensity heaters, HVLS fans and solar air systems. It allows the Dortmund company to provide heating concepts with high emissions savings and potential energy savings over 50%.High intensity heaters  warmth you can seeEspecially in areas with a certain ceiling height almost no other system can compete with high intensity gas infrared heaters. The infrared radiation even travels long distances with nearly no losses and applies warmth directly to where it`s needed. Due to the high energy efficiency of the heaters the process is operated very quickly and also saves resources thanks to the relatively low energy consumption.Low intensity heater system DSF: many facets for even more efficiencyWith the development of the low intensity heater system DSF, GoGaS successfully took the next step to the future of infrared tube heaters. The new [ten-sided] reflector made of high-quality aluminum reflects nearly 100% of the infrared radiation to the comfort area. The modular design of the radiant system DSF provides countless assembly variants, thus enabling GoGaS to respond individually to areal conditions. They are also ideal for deicing of aircrafts.LUBI Wall  sunny views for your walletTransform your building facades into energetic active surfaces with the solar air system LUBI Wall. The LUBI Wall uses a kind of a greenhouse effect which helps to reduce your energy costs and energy consumption by bringing renewable heated fresh air into your building. The warm air can not only be used for heating the hall, but also for night cooling and free ventilation.HLVS Fans  Always the perfect temperatureHigh ceilings and fluctuating occupancy in airport terminals, garages and hangars make it difficult to keep temperatures at a comfortable level. MacroAir AirVolution-D fans keep travelers and airport staff comfortable by preventing hot and cold spots with unsurpassable cost savings between 30% and 50%.GoGaS stands for competence in infrared and energy efficiency.Our range of innovative products offers energy efficient solutions for heating and process heat.We work with a synergy of heat sources: infrared waves, warm air, solar energy or flue heat recovery. This means we act as system-independent consultants to deliver complete and individual solutions.Each project benefits from many years of experience in infrared technology  be it in the Space heating Departments, where we design gas-fired, decentralized radiant or warm air heating systems or be it in the Process Heat Department, where we supply custom engineered thermal processing or drying systems for many industrial applications.Just like our products, we at GoGaS want us also to evolve and improve continuously. The continuous improvement of internal processes is, just like improving our products, a large part of the corporate philosophy. Therefore, we use a comprehensive quality management system. Thus, we ensure that we send you always the best product with the best service.GoGaS Goch GmbH & Co. KGMontserrat SalvadorZum Ihnedieck 18DE-44265 DortmundPhone: +49 231 46505-54E-Mail: montserrat.salvador@gogas.com
www.testcon.info: New Documentation Site for Programming Software test.con

www.testcon.info

www.pro-sign.de

The graphical programming software test.con now has its own documentation website. All Test Controllers of the company Gantner Instruments with the final designation T, as f. e. Q.station 101DT or Q.gate IPT are programmed with this software. test.con is based on simple technical signs and symbols, which can be recognized easily by engineers and technicians. These signs and symbols are represented as function blocks. No programming language has to be learned to program a Controller. By connecting the function blocks, a function block network is developed and translated into a machine-readable network description and loaded into the controller.Learn graphical programming in test.con with tutorialsThe videos, which can be found onare there for audiovisual help. On the one hand, there are introduction tutorials for the graphical programming software test.con and the Q.station. On the other hand, further hardware or software related topics are discussed. By watching the tutorials, a basic knowledge is developed with which the controller can be programmed. test.con programming elements such as function blocks, user interface as well as classes and instances and libraries are explained. In the introduction video, the user space application for programming a display and a real-time application are introduced and shown.For help, questions and suggestions: A moderated discussion forumNew is also the moderated discussion forum. Specific questions and problems are answered quickly by the support team. In that way, other test.con users can profit from known issues and their solutions. By using the forums search function, threads and posts can be found, which might be useful for the user. Furthermore there is the possibility to share experiences and examples with other test.con users in German or English. Strategically the forum is divided into the sections Mixed, Hardware and Software.Documentation records about test.con onlineAll documentation is now not only available as online help in the programming system test.con, but it can also be called online. Users can learn about the theoretical background of graphical programming, read about basic functions and elements in the test.con manual and watch tutorials. A Step-by-Step introduction can be found as video tutorial and as text document in the documents section. By using the websites search function the user can find help about f. e. specific function blocks. Flaws in the documentation can also continuously be improved and updated, not least because of the users help in the discussion forum. These measures are taken so users will have quick access into graphical programming, because nothing is more frustrating than outdated, complicated documentation.Application examplesIn this section user-specific examples can be found. Some function blocks as the RS232 Communication on Q.station or the PID controller are further explained. In another example, a protocol about the On-board Diagnostics Interface (OBD2) is introduced. The OBD2 protocol is used in automotive industry. It grants access to emission-related measuring channels of the engine control unit, as f. e. water temperature, rotational speed, ignition timing and injection amount. Another application example refers to the Page Flow Diagram, with which the display of a Q.station can be programmed. The section Application Examples is still being extended and updated, it should help users to find new ideas and impulses.Gantner Instruments is specialized in precision, industrial measurement data acquisition and signal conditioning.ProSign GmbHWerner-Heisenberg-Str. 139106 MagdeburgResponsible for PR: Katja Lehmannlehmann@pro-sign.de
VOICE of FMB releases official report unveiling true density requirements for Grand Resorts and Lee County Land Use

The Voice of Fort Myers Beach (VFMB), a coalition of citizens and stakeholders on the island that formed to bring clarity to the very important issues that development creates on the island, announces the release of its report detailing the specific obligations of the Town of Fort Myers Beachs current Comprehensive Plan. The report clearly states the maximum number of units or rooms permitted by the existing Town Comp Plan on the parcels owned by Grand Resorts FMB is less than half of what Grand Resorts FMB is proposing in its development plan.VFMB believes in responsible development that is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan that has guided development for the past 17 years. In order for VFMB and all interested citizens to understand what the Comp Plan allows VFMB has enlisted Beverly Grady of Roetzel & Andress, to interpret the code and to clarify what is allowed under the Comp Plan as it is currently written.The Towns Comprehensive Plan is very specific as to how hotel densities are to be calculated and Florida requires strict compliance with its provisions. The policies and goals are not suggestions. They are mandatory requirements. Stating there is a suggestion of using FAR (Floor Area Ratio) to increase density is contrary to the clear requirement for density calculation. (See attached schedule for historic application of the Comprehensive Plan). The inclusion of the countys densities and properties in the Grand Resorts proposed plan is unclear as to what process or authorization has taken place.VFMB recognizes that the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code must be strictly followed unless changed by the Local Planning Agency and the Town Council and there are very clear steps that must be taken to do so. VFMB welcomes development that is consistent with the Comp Plan, but also that respects the problems that currently exist in the Town.Traffic is paramount and it is a problem that screams for relief. Any new development must alleviate, not exacerbate, traffic flow.Selling a public park for private development is a threshold issue that requires public debate and input prior to any authorization to file application for intense development.Density and intensity must also be consistent with the code and the Comp Plan, and the character of the Town of Fort Myers Beach does not have the luxury of abundant infrastructure nor vast stretches of undeveloped land. Intensity that exceeds the current Comp Plan would be very hard to accept.There are many issues at hand but VFMB hopes this report will help focus the debate and help all parties reach a plan that is in the best interest of all stakeholders on Fort Myers Beach. More information, the official report and additional support documents may be found online at VOICEofFMB.com.VOICE of Fort Myers Beach, comprised of almost a dozen Fort Myers Beach stakeholders and growing, has asked Fort Myers Beach town council and Lee County officials to slow things down, logically think things through and make responsible decisions in regards to Grand Resorts FMB's proposed development plan.CONRIC PR6216 Whiskey Creek, Suite BFort Myers, FL 33919
Career Marine Transitions to Successful Entrepreneur, Shares Secrets According to the Small Business Administration, 99.7 percent of all businesses are considered small, which is having under 500 employees. While there is a lot of information readily available to explain to would-be entrepreneurs about how to go through the steps to open one of these small businesses, thats only half the equation. Just opening shop and hanging a sign out wont be enough to stay in business over the long term or be successful.



There are some specific skills that people have to have if they want to be successful in business, explains Will Post, founder and CEO, Hound & Gatos Pet Foods Corporation. If they happen to have them, great, but if they dont, they are things that can be learned. Whether someone has already opened their business or they are planning to, putting these skills at the top of your priority list will help ensure success.



Post is a former Marine who became an entrepreneur following his time in the military. Here are the five most important skills that he feels every entrepreneur must have to succeed in business:



1. Marketing skills. It doesnt matter how good your product or service is if nobody knows about it. Entrepreneurs have to engage in various ways to get the word out about the business and what they have to offer. They either need to have these skills to do the work on their own, or hire the right people to do it without them. A business that doesnt do any type of marketing will have a difficult time surviving in the long term.

2. Communication ability. The business world is filled with communication, whether it is business to consumer, business to business, or the business owner to employees. Being able to effectively communicate and have good interpersonal skills with others is important for all entrepreneurs.

3. Management know-how. Being an entrepreneur means knowing what to do with the business as it goes along. Entrepreneurs need to have at least some basic business skills so they can evaluate, make a plan, and keep the company moving forward.

4. Leadership. This one is crucial for any entrepreneur who will have employees. The mission of a good leader is to bring out the best in others. When doing so, the business as a whole will benefit.

5. Sales ability. Every entrepreneur ends up selling, even if they may not consider themselves to be a sales person. They are selling themselves, their ideas, their products and services, and their vision for the future.



Some of these skills people have going into it, and others you pick up along the way when you realize something needs to be done better, adds Post. A successful entrepreneur will look at what needs to be done and will find a way to learn how to do it, or hire someone who can. Ive learned a lot in my entrepreneurial experience, and Im happy to keep on learning if it keeps my business growing and moving forward.



There are also some characteristics that stand out as being particularly helpful for entrepreneurs to have. These include being self-reliant, persistence, self-confidence, being hard-working, and having a passion or belief in what you are doing. As a career Marine, Post learned a lot of skills and gained characteristics in the military that help him with running his business today. These include learning how to handle a variety of situations that may arise, how to take initiative, being adaptable, and to be a hard worker who perseveres.



Post has a passion for changing the pet food industry, which has fueled his success. He was fed up with the unhealthy pet foods with hidden ingredients and set out to revolutionize the industry. Today, Hound & Gatos Pet Foods Corporation is a leader in healthy pet foods, and three-time winner of the Most Trusted Pet Foods award by TruthAboutPetFoods.com. Additionally, the company has won the Top Approved Pet Foods three years in a row by Whole Dog Journal. The company, uses only the best sourced ingredients, uses 100 percent meat, makes their pet food right in South Dakota, and offers complete DNA disclosure to show the source of the meat used in their foods. They never use things found in other popular pet foods, such as generic livers, carrageenan, chemicals, unidentifiable additives, and preservatives. They have also never had any of their food recalled.



Hound & Gatos Pet Foods strives to help owners obtain the best quality products for their pets, and they deliver with 100 percent animal protein with no fillers. Visit www.HoundGatos.com and discover the difference of premium quality hypoallergenic pet food. The products are distributed through Animal Supply Co., Pet Food Experts and Canada's Global Pet Foods. The foods are also available in Canada, at PetOnly.CA and Trueman Dist.



About Hound & Gatos Pet Foods

Hound & Gatos Pet Foods is a result of one pet lovers vision of providing only the best for his beloved pets. Will Post, CEO and founder, began Hound & Gatos with the mission to deliver the nutrition his four pets (two Savannah cats and two bird dogs) needed and deserved to be healthy. Today, Hound & Gatos Pet Foods provides award winning 100 percent animal protein (DNA tested) dog and cat foods with no fillers for pet lovers and their special pets across the United States and Canada. Customers can ask stores to carry the pet foods, which are supplied through distributors. For more information, visit www.HoundGatos.com .



Kelly Morrison

kelly@chermurphypr.com

540.533.5033



This release was published on openPR.



Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release.
Kids Write 4 Kids Pioneers the Inclusion of Youth on Judging Panels for Canadian Writing Contests

http://www.ripplepublishing.ca

http://www.ripplefoundation.ca

Kids Write 4 Kids (KW4K), a Canada-wide creative challenge for students in grades 4-8, has recently unveiled its 2016 judging panel of twelve in preparation for the contests March 31st entry deadline. This year KW4Ks judging panel will include winners from last years challenge, Faith Emiry and Christopher Smolej, both aged 13, making KW4K the first writing contest in Canada to have youth judges. KW4Ks aim is to widen the opportunities for youth to get involved in the decision-making process and to show them that their opinions matter.Both KW4K youth judges are published authors who are passionate about writing and want to encourage others to read and write. Emiry, who grew up in Northern Ontario, started out writing stories for her younger sister and is now a published author of Mikas Fortune, the winning story she wrote for KW4K. The enchanting tale is about a mother and daughter whose lives are spinning out of control, guided by the predictions of the magical fortune cookies. Chris Smolej wrote the wacky adventure story of fast food fighting for freedom called Escape from the Taco Shop. This is Smolejs first book and it helped him discover his passion for writing and reading, which he hopes to inspire his peers to uncover as well. By participating in the judging, Chris and Faith can represent their generation and do just that, encourage youth to read and write.By including youth in decision-making, we foster the communication between the younger and the older generations, says Ivy Wong, the founder of Kids Write 4 Kids contest. We have two adult authors, Joyce Grant and Manjusha Pawagi, on our judging panel to give two generations a chance to learn from each other. Both authors are well acquainted with writing for youth. Manjusha Pawagi recently wrote two childrens books, The Girl Who Hated Books and Pianomania. The former has been published in over 20 languages and was turned into a short animation by the NFB. Joyce Grant is a freelance journalist and author of the Gabby series of picture books. Other judges on the KW4K panel were all avid readers as children. Their love for reading and writing has led them to diverse professions in marketing and communications, law, literary advocacy and even medical writing. By providing youth with opportunities to share their stories and now to choose the best ones, KW4K hopes to help build a generation of adults that love to read and write, and who inspire others to do the same.About Kids Write 4 KidsThe KW4K annual creative challenge is a non-profit program under Ripple Foundation that runs from October 1st to March 31st. Parents and guardians are encouraged to submit their childrens story of 500-7500 words in length or poetry (minimum of 10 poems). The contest is open to Canadian residents enrolled full-time in a public or private institutional school. Contest rules can be found on the KW4K websiteThe books of the winning authors are available for download at Apple iBookstore, Amazon Kindles Kindle and Kobo eBooks. Printed versions can be purchased from the Amazon Bookstore. Kids Write 4 Kids net proceeds are donated to the schools of the winning authors and to charities.Contact:Yeni Adeyemo647-891-4726pr@ripplefoundation.caRipple Digital Publishing started Kids Write 4 Kids as a not-for-profit initiative to encourage kids to be creative, to read and write. Due to the success of Kids Write 4 Kids, in 2015, the Ripple Foundation was established as the official not-for-profit organization to assume Kids Write 4 Kids as its signature creative writing program. The Ripple Foundation believes that creativity, education and imagination are the key components to success, and the foundation is dedicated to fostering these in the lives of youth across Canada. The mandate of this organization is to fund, develop and facilitate initiatives that raise awareness of and promote creativity and education in youth across the country. Visitfor more information.69 Yorkville Ave., Suite 208Toronto, ONM5R 1B8416-928-0465
Barrington Cove in North Naples is now 30 percent sold out

www.drhorton.com/swfla

www.drhorton.com/swfla. Home

D.R. Hortons Southwest Florida division has begun land development for the final phase of sales in Barrington Cove, a gated community of only 133 homes sites in the prestigious north Naples area. Several homes are currently under construction for near-term delivery, with managers specials also available for a limited time. Prices start at $402,990 on a portfolio of eight distinctive home plans, with many directional exposures and different types of views to choose from.The discerning homeowners at Barrington Cove enjoy a unique combination of convenience and serenity, with a setting that is nestled among native cypress and pine trees, yet just two miles north of Immokalee Road on Livingston Road. Lake views and wooded lots are abundant, with luxurious home plans ranging from 1,983 to 3,609 square feet of living space.The one- and two-story homes in Barrington Cove feature three to five bedrooms, two to three-and-a-half baths, and a two- to three-car garage. The public is invited to tour the professionally decorated 2,587-square-foot Bedford model. This two-story home plan offers a spacious kitchen and cafe that are open to a large great room and lanai, as well as a formal dining room. The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath plan offers the flexibility of open loft space, a two-car garage and an optional den.Barrington Cove residents enjoy easy access to the famous white sandy beaches of Naples and Bonita Springs and an array of options at dining and shopping destinations like the Mercato. The community is also conveniently located by I-75 and is near the desirable schools of North Naples.To schedule a tour of the model in Barrington Cove and to learn about the great limited-time incentives, call sales agent Angela Garzone at (239) 287-9499 or Lisa Stamm-Buchman at (239) 313-8854. Visitfor more information.Founded in 1978 in Fort Worth, Texas, D.R. Horton has operations in 79 markets in 27 states in the East, Midwest, Southeast, South Central, Southwest, and West regions of the United States. D.R. Horton has been the largest builder in the United States by volume for fourteen consecutive years. For over 35 years, D.R. Horton has consistently delivered top-quality new homes to homebuyers across the nation. The livable floor plans, energy-efficient features, and robust new home warranty demonstrate our commitment to excellence in construction. D.R. Horton exhibits leadership in residential development through design innovation, superior craftsmanship, and responsiveness to the needs of its customers. The simple vision that began over 35 years ago represents years of value and security when you choose America's Builder to make your dreams come true. For more information, visit our website atand community information including pricing, included features, terms, availability, and amenities are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Square footage dimensions are approximate. D.R. Horton is an equal housing opportunity builder.CONRIC PR6216 Whiskey Creek, Suite BFort Myers, FL 33919
New oral anticoagulation reversal resource for healthcare professionals launches on epgonline.org

http://www.epgonline.org/oac-reversal-knowledge-centre/en/

www.epgonline.org

www.epgonline.org

A new oral anticoagulation reversal resource has launched on epgonline.org, the website for healthcare professionals. This resource has been developed to provide accurate information on the approaches to oral anticoagulation reversal for patients who experience or are at risk of significant bleeding, or require surgery.Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are being used increasingly for the treatment of conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AF), venous thromboembolism (VTE) and thromboprophylaxis as a viable alternative to oral vitamin K antagonists. As with all therapies, there are sometimes serious side effects. Risk of haemorrhage is more likely if there is a high level of anticoagulant within the bloodstream. Clear strategies to swiftly and completely reverse oral anticoagulation are essential, especially in patients experiencing a serious bleed1,2. Patients who require emergency surgery or invasive diagnostic procedures, or those with very high INRs, are also candidates for urgent anticoagulation reversal1,2.The Oral Anticoagulation Reversal Knowledge Centre is available to access in full and at no cost to registered users of epgonline.org at the following address:. Information is arranged in fully referenced sections including disease management (bleeding risks, disease burden and treatment options, etc.), oral anticoagulants, a key publications digest, symposia and congress highlights, useful resources and more.Dr Toby Galbraith, Director of Content Strategy for epgonline.org, said: With the increasing use of NOACs in everyday medical practice, it is important for healthcare professionals to have access to information on OAC reversal information, available treatment options and disease information in one convenient location. The Oral Anticoagulation Reversal Knowledge Centre has been developed by EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd for epgonline.org in collaboration with CSL Behring, with content provided by CSL Behring. This resource is not intended for healthcare professionals outside Europe.ENDSNotes to Editors: EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd publishes, an independent website dedicated to providing healthcare professionals worldwide with free access to a comprehensive range of disease and medicines information. Categorised by medical specialty, content within epgonline.org includes a multi-language database of approved medications, treatment guidelines, clinical trial information, journal abstracts, latest medical industry news, apps and a blog written by members. CSL Behring is a global leader in the plasma protein biotherapeutics industry with a company history dating back to 1904. They research, develop, manufacture and market biotherapies, which are used to treat serious and rare conditions, including coagulation (bleeding) disorders such as haemophilia and von Willebrand disease and immune deficiencies. Biotherapies are also used in the rapid reversal of warfarin and to prevent haemolytic disease in new-born infants resulting from Rh factor incompatibilities. CSL Behring employs more than 9,000 people in 19 countries.References:1. Hanley JP. Warfarin reversal. J Clin Pathol. 2004;57:1132-9.2. Hirsh J, Fuster V, Ansell J, Halperin JL; American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation. American Heart Association/ American College of Cardiology Foundation guide to warfarin therapy. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;41:1633-52.EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd publishes, an independent website dedicated to providing healthcare professionals worldwide with free access to a comprehensive range of disease and medicines information. Categorised by medical specialty, content within epgonline.org includes a multi-language database of approved medications, treatment guidelines, clinical trial information, journal abstracts, latest medical industry news, apps and a blog written by members.EPG Health Media (Europe) Ltd51-55 The PantilesTunbridge WellsKentTN2 5TEUnited KingdomKristie Marchant - press@epghealthmedia.com
FLINT, Mich. (AP)  A U.S. House committee chairman leading hearings on the Flint water crisis sparked by lead contamination visited the city over the weekend, touring facilities, meeting officials and residents and calling for answers and accountability.

Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the oversight panel, met with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver on Saturday at the Flint water plant. He also attended a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency open house and was joined by Flint Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee and GOP Reps. Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg and John Moolenaar.

Chaffetz said the "system totally failed and people need to be held accountable."

"We better darn well understand how we got into this mess so that it never, ever happens again," he said. "It's really hard to comprehend how pervasive it is. I just can't imagine my own family having to go through this for what will be years. We want to help. We want to do it in a bipartisan way. There's plenty of fault to go around, but we want to hold people accountable."

Weaver said she appreciated the visit and urged passage of a federal aid package for Flint. Senators from both parties reached a tentative deal last month for a $220 million package to fix and replace lead-contaminated pipes in Flint and other cities, but the bill remains on hold.

The visit precedes more hearings starting Tuesday, in which Gov. Rick Snyder, former Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley and EPA chief Gina McCarthy are set to testify.

State and federal officials have been criticized for their inadequate response to the problems in Flint, which switched from Detroit's water system to the Flint River in 2014 as a way to save money until a new pipeline to Lake Huron was ready. During those 18 months, the corrosive water leached lead from the city's old plumbing because certain treatments weren't added to the water.

No level of lead in the human body is considered safe, especially in children. The river water also may have been a source of Legionnaires' disease, which killed at least nine people in the region.
CHICAGO (AP)  The Latest on presidential candidates visiting Illinois (all times local):

2:45 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders plans to hold a rally in Chicago on Monday evening. The Vermont senator's campaign says he will be at Roosevelt University for a 10:30 p.m. program.

The Chicago stop will end a busy day for the candidate after jaunts to Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri.

More than 1,000 delegates in both parties are at stake on Tuesday when Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio vote.

Clinton now has 766 delegates to Bernie Sanders' 551, based on primaries and caucuses alone.

Including superdelegates  party leaders and elected officials who can support any candidate  Clinton's lead is even bigger: 1,231 to Sanders' 576.

___

2:05 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is planning a sweep through Illinois a day ahead of the state's primary.

The Cruz campaign says the Texas senator will hold rallies Monday in Rockford, Glen Ellyn, Peoria, Decatur and Springfield.

More than 1,000 delegates in both parties are at stake on Tuesday when Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio vote.

According to an Associated Press count, Donald Trump leads the overall race for GOP delegates with 460. Cruz has 370, Rubio has 163 and Kasich has 63. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

___

1:55 p.m.

Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department say they are reviewing videos and officer statements following the arrest of a CBS News journalist outside a Donald Trump campaign rally.

CBS News digital journalist Sopan Deb described his Friday arrest on the network's "Face the Nation" show Sunday. Deb says he was outside the venue shooting video of a man with a bloodied head being arrested and heard officers directing the crowd to clear the street.

He says he was shooting another scuffle when one or more officers pulled him down from behind and, in his words, "bashed my face into the street." He says an officer put his boot on his neck and handcuffed him as he told officers he had press credentials.

Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the journalist was cited for resisting arrest.

___

12:05 p.m.

Donald Trump is through one of three Sunday events after a rally at an airplane hangar in Bloomington, Illinois, that was much calmer than the Friday night rally in Chicago that was cancelled.

Trump called a man up on stage who was a legal immigrant, read poetry and was interrupted four times. He stuck around to greet supporters afterward.

It was his first event back in the state since the one in Chicago Friday night that Trump cancelled, he said, out of concern for supporters and protesters who packed the hall and later erupted into a melee.

An Associated Press reporter counted fewer than 30 people being removed from the airplane hangar, which officials said accommodated a capacity crowd of about 3,000.

Trump observed from the stage, "See. Nobody gets hurt."

Illinois' primary is Tuesday.

___

11:30 a.m.

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton plans to visit a Chicago union hall a day ahead of the Illinois primary.

The Clinton campaign says the candidate will hold a public event Monday morning at the Plumber's JAC Local Union 130 UA in Chicago.

Clinton is expected to discuss job creation and encourage Illinoisans to vote.

More than 1,000 delegates in both parties are at stake on Tuesday when Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio vote.

Clinton now has 766 delegates to Bernie Sanders' 551, based on primaries and caucuses alone.

Including superdelegates  party leaders and elected officials who can support any candidate  Clinton's lead is even bigger: 1,231 to Sanders' 576.

___

11:00 a.m.

Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump is returning to Illinois after canceling a Friday night appearance in Chicago amid clashes between protesters and his supporters.

The mood was far more muted Sunday outside the Bloomington airport in central Illinois, where about 100 protesters gathered along an access road on an a foggy, overcast morning near the airplane hangar where Trump was scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. CST.

Some participants say they decided to drive the 130 miles from Chicago after the abrupt cancellation of that event. And some protesters say they felt emboldened to stand in a light but steady drizzle only after seeing reports of clashes in Ohio, Kansas City and elsewhere Saturday.

___

8:50 a.m.

A large police presence is overseeing a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Bloomington, Illinois.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports (http://bit.ly/21pA25P ) officers from several law enforcement agencies are working together to staff the Sunday morning event.

Local anti-Trump activist Sonny Garcia says more than 1,000 people have indicated on a Facebook page that they plan to protest Trump's central Illinois campaign stop. Garcia has appealed for a peaceful demonstration.

On Friday night, Trump canceled a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago after a large number of protesters showed up.

Some isolated confrontations took place afterward and police reported three men from Chicago and a 45-year-old woman from Michigan were arrested and charged for participating in a disturbance at the protest.

___

7:25 a.m.

Chicago authorities say four people were charged after the protest against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The Chicago Police Department said in a news release sent Saturday night that the three men from Chicago and a 45-year-old woman from Michigan were arrested and charged for participating in a disturbance at the protest Friday night.

The large demonstration drew hundreds of people, and Trump canceled the rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Some scuffles and fistfights broke out inside. Outside, two officers were hurt.

Two of the men face felony charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer. All face misdemeanor charges of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
To the editor:

I am writing about the issue currently before the Midland City Council, to approve or not approve, PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) status for an extension/takeover/buyout of the existing, failed Bracken Woods complex. I want to start by saying that I am in favor of extending a charitable helping hand to those in need and who struggle in meeting lifes daily demands.

However, I believe charity is primarily the responsibility of individuals and groups of individuals, and not the proper responsibility of government, be it city, county, state or federal. But, setting that aside, if government is to be involved in charitable giving, I think it needs to be appropriate and legal and it should actually accomplish its stated purpose.

PILOT programs would be blatantly illegal, except for a Michigan Law, Public Act 346 of 1966. This law allows for (but does not require) local governments to exempt housing projects from paying the normal, full, legal load of property taxes. First of all, I will state, that I believe this law should not apply to Midland. The laws stated purpose was to provide for investments of housing in severely blighted communities. There are problems and issues in Midland, certainly, but I would be happy to argue with anyone who wants to claim that Midland is a blighted location.

Leaving that aside, I have an issue which I am asking the Midland City Attorney to evaluate. I have read this Michigan law which is the only vehicle which allows for any and all PILOT status projects. The issue which I think is the most serious is 125.1415a.

To me, the English in this section seems to say that the PILOT payment applies only to the units in the development which are actually rented to low-income occupants in any tax year. For all other units in the development, the payment for property taxes is supposed to be the full amount of the taxes which would be paid on that portion of the housing development which would be paid in the absence of the PILOT ordinance approval and status.

My main question is this: Is the City of Midland violating the law on all of the existing PILOT developments previously approved and would the same apply if Bracken Woods were to be granted PILOT status? Secondary questions relate to who has been, is and will be performing the calculations so that the law has been, is and will be followed? And, how much will this cost the city to ensure accountability?

If this portion of the law is followed, then the PILOT programs will be accomplishing what the law intended. There will be incentive to housing developers in proportion to the number of low-income people who are assisted with obtaining housing.

I look forward to hearing the City Attorneys interpretation of this part of the law that allows for PILOT projects in the first place.

BRUCE PYNNONEN

Midland
PONTIAC  The Pontiac Church of Christ has a new home.

The church has moved to 520 N. Oak St., the former location of the Trinity Lutheran Church, which disbanded in 2015.

Its a real blessing to have the opportunity to worship where we have the ability to grow, said Pastor Andy Diestelkamp. We were getting pretty crowded.

The previous location at 935 N. Main was the former Quigleys Grocery Store, but had served the congregation for more than 50 years, Diestelkamp said.

We loved it and for the most part, it fit our needs, he said. However, on certain Sundays if we had a lot of visitors, we ran out of room.

The church has about 55 members.

The new place is now 70 years old, but about three times bigger, Diestelkamp said. The church purchased the building in February and after some minor remodeling, held its first service March 6.

It was in very good shape when we got it, but we did a few minor things like a little touch-up work and some painting, he said. We have some things we want to do like update the bathrooms, but we are excited to be in a new place. The most important thing about our church is being together to worship together. But there is something about being in a new place that is exciting.

Diestelkamp said members of the congregation have embraced the move.

We have only had the one service in there, but people were happy with the extra space and are anxious to see if we can now grow, he said. When you move from of a place where you have been for 50 years, there is going to be some sentimental feelings and some are going to miss our old place and thats to be expected. That place holds a lot of special memories, but we will build new memories here.

The Oak Street location will be placed on the market for sale, Diestelkamp said.
Sodra Appoints CFO Jorgen Lindquist as Interim President of Sodra Wood

March 14, 2016 - Sodra's announced that its CFO, Jorgen Lindquist, has been appointed interim President of Sodra Wood, replacing Hakan Svensson.

Lindquist will assume his position immediately and will serve as the interim Business Area President in addition to his role as the CFO.

According to Sodra, its business area for sawn and planed timber plus interior wood, has been suffering from weak profitability for some time, and the company's extensive restructuring program over the past few years has not yielded sufficient results.

"Despite intensive efforts with many major and significant changes in recent years, we have not achieved the profitability and strategic position expected of Sodra Wood. It is only natural, therefore, that we are now seeking a new leader who can help the business area move forward," says President and CEO Lars Idermark.

"Hakan Svensson has served in a variety of roles at Sodra since 2005, has made valuable contributions to the Group and will now be at my disposal," daid Idermark.

Lindquist has served as Sodra's CFO since September 2015 and was previously CFO and interim President of Swedspan, an industrial company in the IKEA Group.

A process to recruit a new President for Sodra Wood is currently underway, Sodra added.

Sodra, with headquarters in Vaxjo, Sweden, produces market pulp, wood products and biofuels. The company operates three pulp mills in Sweden (Morrum, Monsteras and Varo.) with a total capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per year. Sodra produces both softwood and hardwood pulp  90% softwood and 10% hardwood. To learn more, please visit: www.sodra.com.

SOURCE: Sodra
A group of Australian scientists claimed that cats are just like humans. They discovered that felines possess personality traits that are remarkably alike to their owners.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the researchers formulated their conclusions by conducting almost 3,000 cat personality tests. They also partnered with psychologists to generate more reliable findings.

The researchers utilized a personality test questionnaire that was originally formulated outside Australia and used on both domestic cats and captive wildcats on shelters. It was the first time that the test was applied to a huge a number of domestic cats.

"People are fascinated by cats, they have really intriguing personalities," Dr. Philip Roetman, lead researcher, told The Advertiser. "From a research perspective, it's really interesting to understand and look at the personalities of different animals, especially when we are talking about management."

The study, which is part of the University of South Australia Discovery Circle's Cat Tracker project, has found that felines possess five common personality traits that are akin to those of humans. These human-like characteristics include skittishness, outgoingness, friendliness, dominance and spontaneity.

"Skittishness is similar to neuroticism in people, outgoingness is similar to extroversion and friendliness is akin to agreeableness," Roetman explained. "The big difference in cats is dominance and spontaneity."

Roetman said that the study is relevant because it could help cat owners create a better environment for their feline friends. He added that the results will guide owners to do things differently based on their cat and what it likes.

Experts have always referred cats' behavior as complex and difficult for owners to understand. In the same manner, felines do not really understand their owners the way dogs do, according to John Bradshaw, a cat-behavior expert at the University of Bristol and the author of the book Cat Sense, in one of his interviews with National Geographic.

"They obviously know we're bigger than them, but they don't seem to have adapted their social behavior much. Putting their tails up in the air, rubbing around our legs, and sitting beside us and grooming us are exactly what cats do to each other," Bradshaw stated.
ISIS fighters are reportedly forcing birth control on female slaves to keep their sex trade running. The practice has been widespread among ISIS members in order to conform to the medieval Islamic codes stating that female captives must not be pregnant when raped.

An investigative report of The New York Times revealed that ISIS fighters are exploiting modern birth control methods in order to maintain their supply of sex slaves. With this, they may be able to rape their female captives repeatedly and continue selling them to fellow fighters.

The newspaper has cited interviews with 37 Yazidi women who managed to escape from their captors. Many of the women revealed that they were forced to take birth control pills or be injected with the Depro-Provera hormonal contraceptive to avoid pregnancy. Moreover, one of the women was aggressively forced to have a painful abortion so that she will continue to be available for sex.

Some women also disclosed to the newspaper that when they were taken to the slave markets in the Sinjar region of Iraq, buyers would often require sellers to show proofs that their captives were not pregnant. Some fighters would even bring their own gynecologists to support that their captives were not impregnated.

New York Times attributed the unspoken rule of the Islamic State in keeping its captives pregnancy-free to the centuries-old rulings implicating that an owner can only rape his female slave if she is not pregnant. The slave should undergo istibra, a process of ensuring that the womb is empty.

The practice of forcing birth control among sex slaves was believed to be the reason why there is a very low pregnancy rate among the Yazidi women. Only five percent of the rape victims got pregnant during their enslavement.

United Nations reported in January that up to 3,500 people are being held as slaves by the Islamic State militants. Most of these slaves are Yazidi women and children. The report also stated that from January 2014 to October 2015, at least 18,802 civilians were killed in violence and 36,245 civilians were wounded.
When Madeline Domian lost her aunt Kathi to gastric cancer last year, she decided that she wanted to so something to help. But as a child who has seen more than her fair share of the horrors from the disease, she decided to help other kids fight the disease instead. This is how she came up with Katie-Do Kare Kits 4 Kids.

During an assembly, Madeline spoke with the kids in her school about the kits. She described her relationship with her aunt and explained what she wanted to do with the help of the entire school.

The ten-year-old also came up with an idea to hold a contest between grades to see who can collect most of the necessary items for the kits. Students in kindergarten through second grade are in charge of socks and blankets, while third- through fifth-grade students are focused more on activity items such as games and colored pencils.

Madeline Domian is one very special 10-year-old. After watching her Aunt Kathi battle and e https://t.co/h2TlhYq7xo pic.twitter.com/uYICo0hZl0  Hot Moms Club (@HotMomsClubBuzz) March 12, 2016

Parenting noted that the kits also include things like mints, lotion, and gum, to help with the side effects of chemotherapy. "I didn't think anyone would ever want to be that sick," Madeline said. "Especially kids, because all they want to do is play and have fun."

All in all, the kids from the Missouri elementary school were able to assemble a total of 50 kits, which Madeline dropped off at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. "Kids at my school love to be happy," the ten-year-old hero explained. "So the fact that we're making other kids happy makes them happy."

One of the recipients of the kits is 17-year-old Kinsey Siadek, who suffers from osteosarcoma, who was ecstatic to receive one of Madeline's kits. "Some of the items came at a time where I really needed them," she told Today.

Among the things, her favorite was the blanket. Apparently, the fact that it was handmade "gives it an extra special feeling," claims the cancer patient. "We had no idea Maddie wanted to do something so big," Michelle Domian, Madeline's mom told Today. "But we're incredibly proud of her."
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If the early years of Cigar Citys Hunahpu Day were marked with crowd-control and beer-allotment problems, the 2016 version was an example of how to do a beer festival right. The esteemed Florida brewery held the event in Tampas Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park on Saturday, inviting 150 breweries from around the country to help celebrate the release of Hunaphu, a whale of an imperial stout with a 100 rating on RateBeer. Attendees could sample 400 different beers, including more than 60 Cigar City beers poured out of a semi trailer with built-in tap handles overflowing with goodness.

Although there were plenty of Florida beer companies present, brewers came from as far as Scandinavia to share their beer with festival-goers. I got in town the day before to see Cigar Citys operations and attend a brewers bottle share, where I got to taste both regular and brandy barrel-aged Hunaphu, The Bruerys Grey Monday, The Rare Barrels Map of the Sun, Hardywood Parks Christmas Morning, and the first ever pouring of our neighbor Wild Heavens Gravitational Wave imperial stout.

Tasting so many world-class beers on Friday freed me up to try lots of new things at the festival on Saturday, though I did get the day started with a sip of Toppling Goliaths Morning Delight.

Every festival has at least one beer that, when the gates open, causes a crowd rushes to one tent to wait in line for a taste of something rare and special. At Hunahpu Day, there were several tents that generated immediate lines (Side Project, 3 Sons, 3 Floyds), but none were quite so long as Toppling Goliaths. The Iowa brewery brought about 300 pours worth of Morning Delight, an American Imperial Stout. It was very boozy, reminiscent of an Irish coffee with a bit of a peppery spice on the finish. Its a great beer, though there were certainly beers I enjoyed more, in many cases without having to wait in any kind of line.

Here are 10 of the most interesting and exceptional beers I tasted at Hunahpu Day 2016:



City: Portland, Ore.

ABV: 8.12%

The best sour beers take time. Lots of time. And a lot of young American breweries feel the very real pressure to rush their beers to market. But you can taste the difference with Cascade Pater, a red ale aged in oak barrels with cherries for more than a year. Tart and dry, full of fruit flavor but not overly acidic, it was a wonderful early beer for a spring day in Florida. Ive yet to have a beer I didnt love from Cascade, and now that theyre distributing in Georgia, I can keep putting that statement to the test. They also brought a delicious honey ginger lime sour that gave equal emphasis on all four of those words. On a day thats all about big, chocolaty, rich imperial stouts, the sours from Cascade were a wonderful change of pace.



City: Atlanta, Ga.

ABV: 12.5%

A couple of months ago, I met some friends at Atlantas Wrecking Bar for dinner before a Sufjan Stevens concert. It happened to be on the release day for the brewpubs whale of a beer, Mexican Siberius Maximus and we got the last small pour off the keg. So I was thankful to get to try it again in Tampa. The Russian Imperial Stout with a spicy chocolate kick is una fiesta en la boca and I was happy to be invited. Made with enough smoked serranos and chiplotle morita peppers to ignite your taste buds, the cocoa nibs and vanilla beans cool things down with a desserty sweetness and keep the beer from just making you reach for your water. It was encouraging to see the number of good breweries from Georgia represented, something I couldnt have imagined just five years ago.



City: Denver

ABV: Unlisted

Denvers Trve Brewing brought a barrel-fermented gose-style ale aged on peaches that they made in partnership with Prairie Artisin Ales out of Tulsa, Okla. I cant imagine how many Oklahoma peaches it took to get this full fruity flavor, but the wild yeast added a puckering tartness. The hazy golden concoction spoke well of collaborations, which dont always equal the sum of their parts. There was no holding back in the making this beer.



City: Satila, Sweden

ABV: 4%

Im fairly certain this head on this beer glows in the dark. A beet Berliner Weisse, it looked like a deep red bowl of borscht prepared at the ruins of the Chernobyl reactor, but was surprisingly refreshing. I could gulp down a pint of this. Vegetables are hit-and-miss when it comes to beer. But like cucumber, beets apparently provide a similar dry but rich flavor while making it easy to drink. I can confidently say Ive never had another beer anything like this, but any brewers looking for an unusual ingredient to experiment with would do well to give beets a chance. And if any beer was going to give me a superpower, this was it.





City: Copenhagen, Denmark

ABV: 8.1%

Brewed with Reisling grapes, this effervescent hybrid of wine and beer is as light and bubbly as a mimosa, hiding its 8% abv very well. Its alternately classified as a Belgian strong, a sour/wild ale or a Biere de Champagne. Call it what you like; its the beer Id want to drink with brunch out on a patio on a warm Sunday morning.



City: Seattle

ABV: 11%

Last December, we blind tasted 71 different Christmas and winter beers and were shocked when an American brewery overtook Belgian masterpieces like St. Bernardus Christmas and Scaldis Noel. So when I came across Fremonts tent and saw that they were pouring the coffee & cinnamon version of their Bourbon Abominable Winter Ale, I got excited. It was everything I loved about our tasting winnerthe boozy whisky and port flavors, the sweet dark fruit and molasses, the inexplicable smoothness of a beer this bigplus the added complexity from coffee and cinnamon. Tasting it this way made me feel good about selecting Fremont as the winner. Its all I want for next Christmas.



City: St. Louis

ABV: 13%

I had three beers from Side Project, and its difficult for me to single out just one. The 2 Candles imperial stout with maple syrup was divine, smooth as it is rich. The Noir du Fermier was a dry, complex wine-like farmhouse ale that I could have drank all day. But I have to call attention to The Scribe, a collaboration with Side Projects home of operations, Perennial Artisan Ales. The dark fruitits aged on black currants, sweet cherries and raspberries inside Cabernet and Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna bourbon barrelscombines beautifully with the sweet malt flavor of the quad. Inspired by a mead, its as complex and flavorful as anything I drank at the fest.



City: Anaheim, Calif.

ABV: 14.3%

I really tried to stay away from the 14% imperial stouts at the fest, but I couldnt pass up a chance to taste Bottle Logics Fundamental Observation. Its aged a four different whiskey barrelsHeaven Hill, Bernheim, Four Roses, and Buffalo Tracebut its the vanilla that really stands out, smoothing the rough edges out of the booze, more ice-cream parlor than smoky saloon. (Note: the version pouring at the festival was FO16, a single-barrel aged in WL Weller wheat whiskey barrel.)



City: Los Angeles

ABV: 4.5%

For a long time, the beer culture in San Diego and San Francisco couldnt quite take hold in Los Angeles. But Smog City has emerged as one of a handful of breweries to make LA beer geeks proud. Cuddlebug is an apricot sour with plenty of funk. Along with apricot and other pit-fruit flavors, theres a citric aciditylemon zest, grapefruit, even passionfruit. Its a zinger that drinks light, a refreshing beer among all those quads and imperial stouts that I said I wasnt going to drink.



City: Avondale Estates

ABV: 5.1%

Full disclosure: Wild Heaven is our friend and neighbor, and I even own a handful of shares in the brewery, so I cant even pretend to be unbiased. But the Raspberry Sour, so new it doesnt have any other name than Raspberry Sour, was so light and delicately balanced between just-dry-enough raspberry and lip-puckering sour funk that its what I most want to drink right now as I type these words. Fortunately, I dont have to travel all the way to Tampa for this one and can walk over to the brewery for more.

And finally, there was the Hunahpu itself, a sweet, chocolaty booze bomb of an imperial stout. A beer so flavorful that it would inspire thousands of people to buy a multi-hundred dollar ticket to a beer fest that includes bottles of this whale. Its a beer deserving of the hype, especially when the hype leads to a day like this, a beautiful gathering of brewers and beer lovers in perfect Florida whether, happy to be discovering new beers to get excited about.
Electro-poppers Purity Ring are hitting the road in April in support of their 2015 album, another eternity. Strung between festival dates at Sasquatch, Governors Ball and Bonnaroo are a number of headlining shows with support from Lydia Ainsworth, for which tickets go on sale Friday. Check out the groups full itinerary below, and read our 2015 feature on Purity Ring here.

Purity Ring Spring Tour Dates

May

27  Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theater

28-30  The Gorge, Wash. @ Sasquatch Music Festival

31  Omaha, Neb. @ Sokol Auditorium

June

1  Milwaukee, Wis. @ Pabst Theatre

2  Columbus, Oh. @ Newport Music Hall

4  New York, N.Y. @ Governors Ball

7  Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club

10-12  Manchester, Tenn. @ Bonnaroo
Paramount is no longer the American distributor of Mark Osbornes CG, stop-motion animated film based on Antoine de Saint-Exuperys beloved 1943 childrens book.

Osborne shared the news that Paramount was dropping the movie from its release schedule via Twitter on Friday, only a week before the film was scheduled to release.

Many thanks to everyone for the outpouring of love and support in these strange times, Osborne said. As it turns out, the much anticipated U.S. release of this special and unique film will have to be anticipated just a little bit more.

Its not total heartbreak and gloom for the heartwarming fable about a young prince who has fallen to Earth. Osborne followed up his original tweet by revealing that the film would be released to American audiences later this year.

3/3  All I can say is #thelittleprince will in fact be released by another distributor later this year.  Mark Osborne (@happyproduct) March 12, 2016

Paramount has not stated why they dropped the film, but its still scheduled for a wide release in Canada on March 18.
On February 01 we posted a report titled "Europe's Antitrust Chief Determined to Pursue Apple in Tax Case." On February 12 we posted another report titled "U.S. Treasury Secretary Calls on the EU Commission to reconsider their Tax Probes targeting U.S. Companies," and when they didn't get a favorable response from the EU commission, the U.S. Treasury let it be known very publicly that they would seek to introduce retaliatory measures against the EU if they didn't back down on their tax cases against Apple. Now, this coming Wednesday, Apple, Google, McDonald's and IKEA will be asked about their European tax deals as EU lawmakers ratchet up the pressure on multinationals to pay more tax on their profits locally.

Reuters reports that "The hearing, organized by the European Parliament's tax committee, follows a similar event in November last year when Anheuser-Busch, Google and eight other companies were quizzed on the same subject.

While the committee has no power to order changes, the hearing reflects the political concerns over multinationals avoiding local tax liabilities.

The European Commission is also investigating several cases to see if they breach the bloc's state aid rules which prohibit EU countries from giving some companies an unfair advantage by making special deals on tax."

Will there be fireworks on Wednesday with Apple calling the EU's investigation "Political Crap" to their face as Apple's CEO Tim Cook did with Charlie Rose back in back in December 2015? Only time will tell.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.

Note: The special committee on Tax Rulings in Europe is known as 'TAXE'
In early March it was reported that the UK's Investigatory Powers Bill had been watered down in its final form. The report noted that "after being persuaded about the important role encoding communications played in the protection of legitimate online activity such as banking, shopping and personal data, the Government is to clarify its position in the Investigatory Powers Bill." But now it seems that might have been mere talk or window dressing for the public.

According to a new report by The Sunday Times, "Police and intelligence agencies will be able to hack into people's mobile phones, tablets and computers using 'back-door' technology, which the government will force firms to install under proposed laws.

According to documents published in the past two weeks, internet service providers and technology giants would be obliged to build secret security flaws into their technology to allow them to be accessed by police and the security services on demand.

This would enable the authorities in Britain to do what the FBI has been unable to do in the US in its attempts to force Apple to give it access to the iPhone of the terrorist Syed Farook, who, with his wife, killed 14 people in California in December.

In a draft Code of Practice on Equipment Interference (EQ), a section states that communication service providers (CSPs) may be required to 'provide a technical capability to give effect to interception, equipment interference, bulk acquisition warrants or communications data acquisition'.

An executive at one leading tech company told the Sunday Times: 'People shouldn't be in any doubt, the government is pushing for some of the most invasive surveillance legislation out there today."

Last week we posted two reports showing governments working on passing legislation taking a harder line against technology companies refusing to assist law enforcement access data and evidence found on smartphones. One was titled "France is One Step Closer to a New Law that Would Fine Apple $386,000 each Time they're Denied Access to a Criminal's Phone," and the other titled "Apple Could Face Future Civil Penalties for Refusing to Comply with Court Orders as new Legislation goes to the U.S. Senate."

Next week Apple and the FBI will meet at a hearing in federal court in Riverside, California to discuss Apple's request to dismiss the motion to compel them to assist the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c. Judy Pym could rule on the motion during that hearing, but more likely she will issue a written opinion later because it is a "high-profile order with a lot of public interest," says Alexander Abdo, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. No matter who wins, an appeal is virtually certain.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.
This week the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Samsung that reveals that future Samsung portable and mobile devices may be used to monitor various parameters of an object, for example, state variables such as heart rate and blood pressure, pulse rate, blood flow velocity and skin conditions of a user, using advanced laser speckle interferometric methodology. The portable/mobile devices that may use this new methodology include Galaxy smartphones and tablets in addition to Galaxy Gear. The patent filing reveals that Samsung acquired three of the patents behind this invention from Russian developers.

Samsung is all too aware of the unrest with their shareholders of late who are demanding the company make products to better compete with Apple and Chinese competitors while pushing them to do a better job in developing software that matters to consumers and IT departments.

Samsung aggressively acquiring these new laser speckle interferometric related patents would strongly suggest that they're aiming to get the leap on Apple in the area of health and fitness apps. To learn more about this invention, see our Patently Mobile report.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 4am to 6pm PST and sporadically over the weekend.
Christ in the House of His Parents (1850), by John Everett Millais (1829-1896) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

* * *

The Young Messiah is the latest Bible movie to appear. The problem is that its not (technically speaking) all that biblical. We know very little about Jesus childhood, and so the film draws from extrabiblical sources of mostly dubious historical value. For backgrounds sake, its drawn from Anne Rices 2005 novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Rice has since left the Catholic Church and organized religion (I have written about the inadequacy of her reasoning in that respect).

As soon as I saw the first TV ad for this movie my immediate reaction was to be suspicious of it. I highly suspected that it would portray the young Jesus in a way that was contrary to the Catholic faith, in terms of Jesus own self-consciousness and omniscience. I havent seen it [as of 3-14-16, I have seen it; see Addendum at the end], but this is indeed the case, according to several sources. One of my roles as a professional Catholic apologist is, of course, to be a sort of watchdog, and I write occasionally about religious films, from that standpoint  not from the purely artistic perspective (though I like art  especially music  as much as the next person).

Thus, following that distinction, Im not asserting (I want to make it clear) that there is no good in it whatsoever or that it cant possibly be a good movie qua movie, or move people, or even bring some into the faith or a deeper faith walk (God may use whatever and whomever He likes for that purpose); but it is so suspect that I would strongly recommend avoidance of it, lest someone receive wrong theology from it (more on that below).

I was happy to learn that the director consulted Christian theologians and didnt include some aspects of Rices novel that were thought to be too controversial. Indeed, The Young Messiah has been glowingly reviewed by Cardinal Sean OMalley, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

These distinguished men of the Church (I once met Abp. Chaput and am a great admirer of his) seem to see nothing wrong with the movie at all, which (with all due profound respect to the office of bishop, and with trembling) is disturbing to me and a curiosity. Steven D. Greydanus, everyones favorite Catholic movie critic, wrote an almost ecstatic review. He links to a second piece he wrote specifically about Jesus self-awareness. I must, again, respectfully disagree with his summary of the issue of Jesus human knowledge (Stevens not a bishop, but I like his work a lot!). He stated that when and how Jesus came to the conscious human knowledge of his identity that he did not have at conception is not a matter of clear scriptural teaching or defined Catholic dogma.

This is untrue. There are several aspects of development of the human knowledge of Jesus (an extraordinarily complicated aspect of Christology) that are legitimate and perfectly orthodox. But not knowing Who He was (or growing into that awareness) is not one of these. Dr. Ludwig Otts Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma is a solid source for the determination of what the Church teaches on a doctrinal and dogmatic level. It will soon be updated, by the way. My good friend, Dr. Robert Fastiggi, of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, is involved in that. Dr. Ott provides the following dogmatic statements (his bolding):

Christs soul possessed the immediate vision of God from the first moment of its existence. (Sent. certa.) . . . Christs soul possessed it in this world . . . from the Conception. . . . (p. 162) Christs human knowledge was free from positive ignorance and from error.(Sent. certa.) Cf. D2184 et seq. (p. 165)

Dr. Ott explains Sent. certa. (pp. 9-10) as follows:

A Teaching pertaining to the Faith, i.e., theologically certain (sententia ad fidem pertinens, i.e., theologice certa) is a doctrine, on which the Teaching Authority of the Church has not yet finally pronounced, but whose truth is guaranteed by its intrinsic connection with the doctrine of revelation (theological conclusions).

One question that follows, regarding the present subject matter, is: if Christ possessed the Beatific Vision from conception, is it possible for anyone to say that this did not include His knowledge of His Divinity?

Dr. Bryan R. Cross is a professor of theology and also has a Master of Divinity degree from Covenant Theological seminary. He wrote on a Facebook thread (I have his permission to cite his words and name):

Lets distinguish between the claim that with regard to acquired knowledge Christ was initially ignorant in His human intellect, and the claim that with regard to the Beatific Vision Christ was ignorant in His human intellect until some later point in life (say, the age of reason). The former is not a theological error; the sort of knowledge in which Jesus grew during His earthly life was acquired knowledge. But the magisterial teaching that Christ had the Beatific Vision in His human intellect from conception (cf. Mystici Corporis, 75) requires at least the third grade of theological assent (requiring religious submission of mind and will). And knowledge (in His human intellect) of His divine identity is necessarily included in what He knew through the Beatific Vision, because through the Vision He knew all things that pertained to His earthly mission.

The doctrine of Jesus knowledge of His own Divinity from the time of His conception is not a dogma at the highest level (de fide), so the denial of it cannot be properly called a heresy [I mistakenly did that in the first version of this paper, for which I apologize], but it is a theologically certain truth of the Catholic faith. Hence, Dr. Cross observed:

It isnt heresy, but, the nearly unanimous consensus of Catholic theologians from the beginning of the thirteenth century up until Pius XII held that Christ in His human soul and human intellect possessed the Beatific Vision from conception, and thus from conception knew in His human intellect that He was God. Thats not something we moderns should simply dismiss as though it carries no weight at all. [Material] heresy is limited to the denial of that which requires the first grade of assent. There isnt a technical name for the denial of that which requires the third grade of assent.

Brad Miner, in his review of The Young Messiah in The Catholic Thing (3-12-16) notes the serious theological errors in the film:

The Young Messiah Christology is appalling. The movie fails to grasp the truth about Christs knowledge of Himself. It suggests that this confused, questioning prodigy had to be taught that He is God. But were that the case, as it clearly is in the film, the boy would not be God. . . . It is heresy [Dave: too strong a word in terms of canon law: false or erroneous] to assert that His divinity was ever hidden from Jesus, that His awareness was developmental. As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith put it in a 1966 document [Dave: 7-24-66] about popular errors following Vatican II: A certain Christological humanism is twisted such that Christ is reduced to the condition of an ordinary man who, at a certain point, acquired a consciousness of his divinity as Son of God. . . .

As the closing music swells, Jesus addresses his Heavenly Father: Someday youll tell me why Im here. To be clear, Pius XII wrote in Mystici Corporis (1943) that there was never a question in our Lords mind about his identity, never a moment of doubt: For hardly was He conceived in the womb of the Mother of God, when He began to enjoy the Beatific Vision, and in that vision all the members of His Mystical Body were continually and unceasingly present to Him, and He embraced them with His redeeming love. Neil Maddens review in Conservative Review (3-10-16) also takes note of these serious theological deficiencies: The Young Messiah depicts Mary and Joseph as having more knowledge about Jesus true nature than He does. This is a problem. If Jesus always was God, begotten and not made, surely wouldnt an omnipotent God know who he was as he was learning and growing in preparation for His mission here on Earth? . . . Almost as troubling about the storyline are how many of its plot points seem to be adapted from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a heretical Gnostic text which portrays the child Jesus as an omnipotent menace, rather than the Lamb of God and perfect Savior of mankind. . . . The Young Messiahs rich cinematography and hopeful message undoubtedly have the power to uplift and inspire audiences, but the viewer must be willing to overlook the theological problems of the storyline itself in order to appreciate these qualities. Furthermore, if one wishes to use this film as an evangelization tool, he or she must be ready to clear up any confusion that will arise as a result of the storys apocryphal speculation. I wrote about these unfortunately widespread Christological errors in my paper, Jesus Had to Learn That He Was God?: drawn largely from my 2007 book, The One-Minute Apologist. Since I am a mere lay apologist, with no authority, and only the ability (hopefully) to persuade, I cited more authoritative sources (as is my constant custom, wherever possible). The late Fr. William G. Most was a superb Catholic theologian and thinker, of impeccable orthodoxy. I linked to his book, The Consciousness of Christ, which is available online. In chapter 4, he states: The Epistle to the Hebrews (4:15) is often quoted as supporting a general charge of ignorance in Jesus, one which would, probably, include ignorance of His Messiahship and divinity: We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect (kath homoioteta) has been tempted (pepeirasmenon) as we are, yet without sinning. So, the argument goes, since we are ignorant, He must have been ignorant. The basic flaw in this line of thought is that it ignores the literary genre of Hebrews, generally admitted to be homiletic. Within that genre, it is common to speak a bit loosely, and therefore it would be out of place to attempt precise deductions from mere implications. Further, who would know just where to draw the line, if we ignored the genre? Would that text quoted refer to merely external, physical sufferings? Did He have various kinds of bodily diseases like other humans? Mental illnesses? Did He even suffer from psychoses as many persons do? And so on. Common Catholic faith and piety have provided interpretative guidelines that critical exegesis ignores to its own detriment. We are attempting to remain within this tradition. In his chapter 7, Fr. Most cites magisterial sources: Only July 3, 1907, the Holy Office, in the Decree Lamentabili directed against the Modernists, a document approved by Pope St. Pius X, rejected the following propositions: The natural sense of the Gospel texts cannot be reconciled with what our theologians teach about the consciousness and infallible knowledge of Jesus Christ. . . .Christ did not always have a consciousness of His messianic dignity. Fr. Most concludes in chapter 8 [R]eason concurs with what the documents of revelation and the Church have taught us, namely, that the human soul and mind of Jesus, from the first instant of its existence, enjoyed the Vision of God. In it Jesus could not help but see His own divinity, and have all knowledge available to Him, as it related to any matter to which He turned His attention. His consciousness was, therefore, fully in keeping with His two natures-human and divine-in one Divine Person. See also a related article by Fr. Most: An Ignorant Jesus? * The most interesting and in-depth treatment of our topic that I cited in my post was The Double Consciousness of Christ , by Bertrand de Margerie, S. J. (Faith and Reason, Spring, 1987). Those who wish to truly have a handle on these issues are strongly urged to read this entire piece. But here is the heart of it: The Human Consciousness of the Son of God Made Man * In Christ, as we know through Revelation and faith, there are two natures, one divine, the other human. That is, there are two principles of operation. Consequently, consciousness is immediately a quality of the nature, there are two consciousnesses in Christ: one divine, the other human. * However, all the actions of the human nature of Christ, all the actions posited by this human nature, are ultimately ascribed to the divine Person of the Logos acting through its human nature. (Let us not forget that the same Logos, Son of God, acts both as God, as possessing the divine nature, and as man, through his human nature.) So the acts of human consciousness of the Incarnate Son of God are always posited by his divine Person acting through his human nature. The divine Ego of the Son is always both the Subject and the ultimate object of these acts. * In other words, due to the unique Person of Christ which is divine, there is no human consciousness of Christ which would be the consciousness of a Person only human. When Jesus says I, his divine Person expresses in this human word and concept his human consciousness of a divine Self. * This means that the same and unique divine Ego knows himself divinely on one side, humanly on the other. It is not a human ego who would know itself humanly, as in our case. It is a divine Ego who knows Himself not only divinely, but also humanly. * How? On the ultimate basis of the New Testament, on the more proximate basis of traditional Catholic theology (recognizing since the thirteenth century, at least, the existence in Jesus, since his conception, of the act of Beatific Vision as affecting his human intelligence), several modern Catholic theologians have concluded that there is a connection between this act and His human consciousness of his divine Self. Without the permanent elevation of the human mind of Jesus to the act of Beatific vision, that is to say, to the face to face vision of His Eternal Father and of His own eternal and divine Ego, there is no possible explanation of His permanent consciousness of His divine identity. * . . . the general Biblical witness to the divinity of Jesus would oblige us to postulate for Him, ever since the creation and immediate assumption of His soul by the Logos, this beatific vision, this beatifying and immediate experience of His divine Person by his human intelligencein other words, His human consciousness of His divine Ego. * . . . Nothing in the Gospel indicates in Jesus a becoming conscious of a previously unknown identity: neither the first human words recorded by Luke as pronounced by Jesus, in the Temple of Jerusalem, when He said to Mary: I had to be in my Fathers house (Lk 2:48-50, obviously meaning, not Joseph, but his Eternal Father), nor the first declaration of the eternal Father witnessing to His beloved Son during His baptism by John, in the Jordan. Jesus did not learn Who He was: He always knew it; as the Belgian Bishops wrote in 1967, no one had to tell him who He was. If, therefore, someone says that Jesus developed in His awareness of His divinity (was ignorant and then obtained this knowledge), they are wrong: even if it is a bishop. They have somehow missed or misunderstood these magisterial teachings, somewhere along the line. Its entirely possible for a bishop (even a pope, on very rare occasions) to be mistaken. Their individual opinions (many do not realize) are not magisterial: not even in summaries of a collective of bishops. Theyre only magisterial when expressed in an ecumenical council (or at least a synod), in conjunction with the popes agreement and approval. The writers and priests whom I cite above are not magisterial, either, but they cite magisterial sources of teaching.

*

So, back to the film . . . Its good to discuss and ponder the relationship of cinema to theology, faith, and the theological certitudes of the Catholic faith. No one should get their theology from movies, but the fact remains that millions who dont know any better, will or could be led astray by serious theological error (which is present in this film). Thats the point. Drama has great power to influence and move a soul. In fact, Jesus of Nazareth in 1977 was instrumental in my devoting my life to Jesus as an evangelical Protestant in 1977. That was an orthodox movie. So was The Passion, which was the most moving and soul-wrenching experience Ive ever had in a movie theater.

*

Im all for the notion of cinema reaching folks who might not otherwise be interested in the gospel and Christianity. Ive devoted my own life and career to reaching out in every way I can, and to make Catholicism more accessible. So I get that; I really do. Ive been sharing the gospel for 35 years. But if the methods we use (including films) have erroneous theology, then I have a problem with that. That raises the old red flag.

* In my opinion, with error so rampant today, people dont need anything that will lead them further astray. If a person knew his or her theology well, then they could discern the error and spit out the bones so to speak. But the problem is that many people (including even many who are otherwise orthodox) do not understand or fully grasp Jesus omniscience and those sorts of complicated things; and its because these are very complicated aspects of theology, dealing with the Two Natures of Christ. * It was the same with The Last Temptation of Christ. It worked, strictly viewed as a movie / piece of drama (I saw it), yet it contained blasphemy and very serious theological falsehood (the notion that Jesus was subject to concupiscence and internal temptation). * Movies should ideally be orthodox and not lead astray folks who watch them, completely unsuspecting that the source material is from dubious historical sources. Many (I dare say, most) would simply casually assume that the information that the movie drew from was in the Bible, when in fact much of it is not.

*

One can view it simply as a film; or one can take a larger view, as to how it may harm people spiritually, by giving them some bad and erroneous theology. The less people know about theology, the more dangerous it is to see such a film. I argued in precisely the same way about Harry Potter (back when the theological debates were raging pro and con about that): that it could very well (with its explicit occultic elements) be dangerous for those less educated in Christianity, but not so for those who are (like my four children, who are Potter fanatics).

* Millions will assume that all of this is in the Bible, and that concerns me. Ive always held the view that movies purporting to be historical have a responsibility to be as accurate as possible, within the parameters of use of the usual historical fiction elements. I have had that discussion with a filmmaker friend of mine (a perfectly orthodox Catholic), who disagrees. But I am looking at it from the point of view of an amateur historian and apologist, whereas he obviously views it from the artistic perspective. Hes thinking about art. Im thinking about theology, doctrine, and possible effects and influences on people. * Bottom line, then: should a film that is otherwise moving, pleasing drama, edifying, wholesome, liked by many good Catholics, be promoted even if it has serious Christological error, because the good outweighs the bad, and it is a supposed net gain for the cause of evangelism and making Catholic theology and the history of our Lord Jesus come alive? I say no. The errors are so serious that, to me, they are dealbreakers.

* * Id love to see these erroneous elements taken out of the movie (could there not be  as a compromise  two versions: a Catholic one, similar to the Catholic RSV, that changes just a few Bible passages?). Then we wouldnt have to have this discussion at all. There would still be much speculation in the film about Jesus childhood, of course, but this could (if done properly) be acceptable within certain parameters (in the best sense of historical fiction), if it is minus the outright falsehood.

*

* * *

ADDENDUM: I saw the film on 3-14-16, and, as I fully expected, it didnt cause me to change one word of my critique (all Ive done is add this section), because of my reasoning and methodology, that I explained in the combox yesterday: I highly doubt that it will change my opinion about what I wrote, because I wrote only about the one aspect, and I know from several sources (some of whom defend it) that it is in the movie. So nothing has changed, except that people cant try to discredit my critique because I hadnt yet seen it. The central theme of the film is Jesus not knowing that He is God, or even the Messiah. Its repeated over and over, till near the end, when the Blessed Virgin sits Jesus down by a tree and finally reveals to Him Who He is. This is, of course, a very serious and momentous theological falsehood. The only other error I detected was Mary praying forgive us our sins; thus possibly implying (but not necessarily) that her (wrongly imagined) sins were part of the petition. As I wrote about already, mine was not a movie review per se; it was a critique of one theological error and falsehood that is the central point of the story (as my title above well indicates). Also, I noted that from many reports it was probably a beautiful movie qua movie. This remains true, now that I have seen it. It was touching, pious, moving, exquisitely filmed and scripted, not contradictory to the Bible excepting the issue herein discussed. The acting was terrific; especially that of the young boy. The only thing wrong with it is that it features a pernicious, dangerous error: that Jesus was completely ignorant about His being God till the age of seven, when His mother told Him. This is how the devil works, after all. Hes not stupid. He knows that if he can put forth some false teaching in the midst of a film otherwise beautiful, orthodox, and seeming to be perfectly okay, made, no doubt, by well-meaning folks unaware of the false theology involved, or why it is wrong, that he will succeed in his devious plans. Hes far too clever to promulgate his errors in an ugly, revolting fashion, that would turn off most Christians. No! You dont go to a Satanic Black Mass to learn the falsehoods that the devil is trying to push; rather, its inserted into something that has a lot of truth and beauty, so that it will be accepted alongside the good things.

NOTE: Be sure to read my very extensive follow-up post, Jesus ALWAYS Knew He Was God (Doctrinal History), which consists of extensive citation of a 1922 dissertation on the young Jesus consciousness. Fr. Patrick Joseph Temple, S.T.L. goes through the views of the Church fathers, the medievals, the early heretics, and then modernists after 1829, and does scriptural exposition of Luke 2:40-52, showing that Catholic tradition always taught that Jesus knew Who He was from conception, as a result of the Hypostatic Union and His possession of the Beatific Vision.

***

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Evidence is building up that, because religion helps people to deal with uncertainties of life, its particularly attractive to the kind of people who have a hard time dealing with uncertainty.

But what about atheists? Some atheists seem rather fixed and absolutist in their beliefs. Perhaps they use atheism as a prop in much the same way that others use religion.

To test this idea, Malgozata Kossowsk (Jagiellonian University, Poland) and colleagues ran a study on 116 local young adults (average age 22)  just under a quarter of whom were university educated, and about 13% were non-believers. So a pretty representative sample of the population.

They first asked them to complete a bunch of questionnaires on-line, which measured how intolerant they were of uncertainty, how dogmatic they were in general, and specifically about their religious and non-religious beliefs (in particular, whether they thought that their world-view was the only correct one).

If they agreed with statements like Only the major religious traditions guarantee admittance to God then they were marked as religious dogmatists, and if they agreed with statements like Faith is an expression of a weak personality they were marked as dogmatic atheists.

In a series of analyses, what the researchers found was that there was a definite pathway. People who were intolerant of uncertainty were more likely to have dogmatic beliefs and, in turn, were more likely to either be religious or atheistic dogmatists  as shown in the figure.

Then they invited their subjects into the laboratory for what they were told was a personality questionnaire. Half of them were asked questions that made them reflect on the uncertainty in their lives. For example, they were asked whether they agreed with statements like In my life there are situations when I felt a lot of stress because of uncertainty, and Sometimes I cannot sleep at night if I do not know what might happen the next day.

The other half were given more neutral statements, ones that were easy to answer and so should have reinforced their self-certainty.

Then they asked them about their prejudices. For example, what they thought about homosexuals or anti-abortionists (pro-lifers).

Dogmatic believers and atheists were, as you might expect, more likely to support prejudiced attitudes towards the other side. But, for both groups, the level of prejudice increased when they experienced uncertainty.

So it seems that dogmatic atheists, like dogmatic believers, reinforce and retrench their beliefs as a way of dealing with a complex and uncertain world.

Although dogmatism and intolerance are both responses to uncertainty, and dogmatic religion and dogmatic atheism have certain similarities, that doesnt mean that atheism and religion are straightforward mirror images.

For a start, its not at all clear what proportion of atheists have dogmatic beliefs, or what proportion of religious people do. The current study doesnt explore that in their sample, which anyway might be different from the population at large.

However, it seems likely that religion is going to attract people who cannot tolerate uncertainty. After all, one of the major features of religion is it provides answers to imponderable questions  as well as reassurance that a god has a plan for you.

And what limited research there is does suggest that atheists do tend to be a little less dogmatic than Christians. Atheists also tend to be freethinkers  theyre sceptical and tend to deviate from conventional beliefs. Surprisingly, the same research suggests that this psychological trait is actually linked to greater dogmatism!

That may change in the future, as atheism becomes more common in many countries. That may also lead to a rise in intolerant forms of atheism  or indeed, a decrease.

But whatever the future holds in terms of the balance between religion and atheism, this research suggests that dogmatism is here to stay!

Kossowska, M., Czernatowicz-Kukuczka, A., & Sekerdej, M. (2016). Many faces of dogmatism: Prejudice as a way of protecting certainty against value violators among dogmatic believers and atheists British Journal of Psychology DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12186
I probably should not vent about my students parents on my blog, but I am feeling a bit frustrated. The stabbing of an American student in Israel is certainly a cause for concern. Like any parent would, I have imagined my own son traveling abroad as a student and being in that situation, being stabbed and bleeding to death as others or perhaps I myself tried desperately to save him. It is what parents do. We worry. We think, What if it was my child? We try to keep them safe to the extent that we can, and we often prefer to err on the side of being overprotective.

But we can go too far, worrying more about less likely things, than we do about more serious dangers that are faced on a daily basis. The fact of the matter is that it has been very rare for an American student to be the victim of an attack in Israel. If we are inclined to do so, we can calculate the odds. We can check the statistics, and learn that at the height of the intafada period 2000-2006, ones odds of being killed in a terrorist attack were lower for that entire period if one lived in Israel, than ones odds were of being killed in a single year period as a victim of a homicide if one lived in Canada. And the likelihood of either of those two scenarios is much, much lower again than ones likelihood of dying in a traffic accident in the United States in a given year.

Yes, a terrorist attack with an American fatality has been in the news. I get that. But I have seen in the news several times since Ive been living in Indiana that an exchange student has died here in this state. And there have been at least two deaths from shootings in Indianapolis in the past two days.

What I dont understand is how people can think that Israel is too dangerous for their child to go to, but it is safe for them to live and study in Indianapolis. Do they not understand that their perception of Israel is akin to someone judging the city of Indianapolis based on this article?

Can anyone help me understand my students parents, and perhaps find ways to communicate more effectively about this with them? Is it just my own life experience that helps me to understand this topic differently than others do? I grew up in New York City, and was always surprised when people from elsewhere asked How can you live there? Isnt it dangerous? That helped me to understand that people sometimes see only the crimes and incidents on the news, and never realize that these things are the exception and not the rule. I also lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the troubles, and there too realized that not only was life largely a matter of going about ones business with the occasional explosion in the distance, but one could walk down the Falls Road as a group of foreign students, something the local Protestants would never do. Northern Ireland was a lot like Israel and the West Bank: checkpoints, soldiers with machine guns, fear of terrorism, bombings. And it was a lot like Israel and the West Bank: most of the time, very warm and friendly people who went about their lives and made the best of difficult circumstances.

I felt safer in Northern Ireland than I do in Indianapolis. And I feel safer when I am visiting Israel and the West Bank than I do on a daily basis in Indianapolis.

Can anyone help me understand why this is not clear to other people? Do you actually have to live and travel extensively abroad in order to grasp this point? Do you actually have to live in another country where there are few guns in circulation to realize that an American city is one of the most terrifying places to live on Earth, short of an actual war zone  and yet also to realize that, even so, most of us who reside in an American city will live out our days without being shot?

Let me be clear that I am not offering a guarantee of safety to students who travel with me. I am merely pointing out that getting in your car has much less guarantee of safety, and yet you continue to do it daily. The one thing I can guarantee is that your trip to Israel and the West Bank will be much more rewarding than your average car journey has been!

Of related interest, Jaffa is the town where the stabbing I mentioned at the start of the post took place. There is a movie which is set there that will be shown on the Butler Campus.:

Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. A New View Film Series presented by the Desmond Tutu Center is showing Dancing in Jaffa in the Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall. The series is FREE and OPEN to the public.

Heres the trailer:
In the first elections since last years migration crisis in Germany, three states voted, with mixed results.

According to Der Spiegel, In Rhineland-Palatinate (on the border with Belgium/Luxembourg/France, capital city Mainz, population 4 million), the CDU (Angela Merkels party) lost votes since the last election in 2011, to be sure, but not dramatically  from 35.2% to 31.8%. Their mainstream rival, the SPD, gained a smidge, from 35.7% to 36.2%. The main movement, surprisingly, was a drop in the Greens from 15.4% to 5.3%, in combination with the gain among the upstart AfD, Alternative fuer Deutschland (Altenative for Germany), which, having been founded in 2013 as a Euro-skeptic party and moved on to opposition to Merkels migration policies, contested in the election for the first time and took 12.6% of the vote.

Did voters really move from the Greens to AfD? It seems unlikely. Perhaps there were other reshufflings going on. And interestingly, voter turnout increased from 61% to 70%.

However, the SPD was in power already, having won a bare plurality in 2011, and, more importantly, having managed to have formed the majority coalition, in this case with the Greens. According to Deutsche Welle, they cannot do the same this year because of the electoral losses among the Greens, so theyll most likely form a coalition with the Greens and the Liberals (a small, libertarian-ish, pro-business party which is often a coalition partner)  a so-called Traffic Light Coalition due to the colors of the parties.

In Baden-Wurttemberg, on the other hand, the rejection of the Establishment seems more obvious  the CDU dropped from 39% to 27%, and the SPD dropped from 23.1% to 12.7%. Who gained? The Greens  who were already a part of the governing coalition with the SPD, took the plurality of the vote, 30.3%, up from 24.2%, and AfD took 15.1%.

Again, because of the SPDs losses, the Greens wont be able to maintain their existing coalition, and will presumably also look to a Traffic Light coalition. But its already remarkable that the Green/SPD coalition existed in the first place, as that 2011 combination was the first time since postwar Germany came into being that the CDU didnt control that historically conservative state. (The Reuters article linked to below attributes this to German nuclear power fears in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster just prior to those elections.)

In Sachsen-Anhalt, in the former East Germany, the results are the most dramatic. The CDU again lost support, from 32.5% to 29.8%, but thats not particularly noteworthy compared to other movements: the SPD dropped from 21.5% to 10.6%, the Left dropped from 23.7% to 16.3%, and AfD entered elections with a whopping 24.3% of the vote. Turnout was up here, too, from 51% to 61 or 64% (the two national broadcasters differ here).

So what do you make of this?

The consensus of the English-language reporting is that Merkel got shellacked, badly, due to her migrant policies. For instance, Reuters says, Merkels party suffers drubbing in German state vote. But its not that simple: looking simply at the changes from 2011, in Rhineland-Palatinate voters moved from the Greens to AFD. In Baden-Wurttemberg, both the Greens and AfD took votes from both CDU and SPD. And in Sachsen-Anhalt, AfD primarily drew voters from the SPD and the Left, demonstrating that extremists from the Left and the Right arent all that different, after all.

As the BBC observes, the politics of the migrant issue arent black and white:

The unprecedented success of the populist AfD shows just how vehemently some German voters disagree with Chancellor Merkels pro-refugee stance. Many are conservative voters disenchanted with her centrist policies, and swayed by the robust populist narrative offered by AfD. So is this a blow to Mrs Merkels leadership? Not necessarily. It was also a historic victory for the Greens, who support the chancellors position on refugees. And during the campaign in Baden-Wurttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt the CDU candidates saw their voters fall away as they sporadically tried to undermine the chancellors message and regain the populist ground from AfD. Remarkably in those states it was the CDUs left-wing opponents who backed Mrs Merkels refugee policies most consistently  and tonight reaped the rewards for it. These results are proof that Germany is becoming increasingly polarised between voters who passionately support Mrs Merkels pro-refugee stance and those angered by it.

Of course, the notion that the left-wing groups reaped the rewards is due to the fact that both the Left (Linke) and AfD are pariah parties; that is, it is deemed out of the question for the CDU to form a coalition with the AfD, under any circumstance, in the same way as, in the other direction, the Left (former communists) were deemed to extreme for the SPD to join together with. Which means that, even if the overall mood of the country shifted right, the electoral results wont show it.

More than anything, it looks like the pro-immigrant policies of Chancellor Merkel, coming from a traditionally pro-business, socially-conservative (for Germany) political party, have shaken everything up, given that mainstream voters dont have an obvious alternative to turn to. Perhaps there are significant realignments coming up, if German anger grows as the number of migrants does.

Or perhaps not  as the closing of borders in Macedonia and elsewhere in the East, and the hopes for a positive outcome to new agreements with Turkey, mean that future developments in the issue of mass migration are very much up in the air.
I am busy because I am vain. I want to appear important. Significant. What better way than to be busy? The incredible hours, the crowded schedule, and the heavy demands on my time are proof to myself  and to all who will notice  that I am important.

 Eugene Peterson

I am convinced that one of the most powerful reasons that most of us choose busyness over rest is that we think busy equals important. We choose chronic sleep-debt over any kind of right ordered peacefulness because our self-worth is tied to activityour identity is wrapped up in what we do. I am what I do is a massive stumbling block to meaning.

Henri Nouwens short reflection on leadership pushes back on three ways that busyness and self-worth are connected. He names them as three temptations: 1) to be Relevant, 2) to be powerful, and 3) to be spectacular.

About the temptation to be RELEVANT, Nouwen has this to say:

I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.

I think you can remove the words leader of the future and it makes just as much sense. The Christian is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in the world with nothing to offer but ones own vulnerability. We have no idea how difficult this is, or how counter-cultural it is.

By the way, thats why we give something up for Lent  it teaches us to be vulnerable.

The temptation to be POWERFUL is related. Nouwen says,

What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.

Holy cow. Power/Control is the favorite culture substitute for the hard task of love. That stings.

Theres no better example of this than parenting. How will you lead your kids when you no longer hold all the power? Parents who only lead through size & position struggle like crazy when their kids become teenagers, because the parents never learned how to lead through their own vulnerability. Vulnerability is essential for love to exist. No vulnerability  no love. Leading through love is the way of Jesus. Leading through power is the way of the tempter.

Thats why we give something up for Lent. It trains us in powerlessness.

The third temptation is the temptation to be SPECTACULAR, which is huge in our culture. I think a key question of our time is: In a world where the spectacular is king, who will dare to do a small thing faithfully? Who will risk being faithful in obscurity? Who will dare to follow Jesus while nobody is watching?

Thats why we give up something for Lent. It teaches us to do a small thing faithfully.

During Lent we choose to give up a thing or two  what we give up is not that important; why we do is everything. Lent dares us to undergo life without one or two of our favorite pacifiersthings that dont really nourish our souls. They just keep them quiet. In Lent we go without these things, and the soul starts to cry out, bearing witness to our need to be relevant, powerful, and spectacular.

Nothing is too small to give up because anything we give up will eventually point out to us the ways in which our soul so often turns to something other than God to get us through the day.

Its not too late. Pick one thing. Give it up until Easter. If you are really brave, give up chronic busyness for the next three weeks Allow this to show you the ways in which you are yielding to the temptations Jesus faced  to be relevant, to be powerful, to be spectacular. Allow it to teach you about the vulnerability that leads to love.
"We're not used to seeing growth in our check business," said Deluxe's Tracey Engelhardt, who reports a 6% to 7% increase in revenue for check orders from businesses and consumers in each of the last three quarters, driven by various factors originating from the pandemic.
Iran defends all Muslims against Daesh: General Soleimani

03/14/16 Source: Press TV

Major General Qasem Soleimani, a commander of Irans Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), says Iran defends all Muslims against the Daesh Takfiri threat. The commander of the IRGCs Quds Force made the comments during a ceremony in the southeastern province of Kerman on Sunday.



Major General Qasem Soleimani

(photo by Mehr News Agency)





Takfirism is a fire in the homes of our Sunni brothers. And those who created it thought they could... (use it to) bring the Islamic Republic and Shiism to their knees, he said.

The commander also questioned claims of Iranian adventurism in the region, stressing Iran's measures are aimed at defending the dignity of all Muslims.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies accuse Iran of meddling in crises gripping Syria and Yemen, in both of which the monarchy itself has been directly engaged.

Is it an adventurous move for the Islamic Republic to defend Muslims properties and lives... (and) to stop the destruction of Muslims mosques? he said.

The commander noted that the reason for such claims is that the Islamic Republic plays a central role in the Muslim world.

Although the Muslim country is under the "dominance" of the Saudi royal family, and the people play "no role" in its governance, Iran has never gotten engaged in any form of adventurism" against Saudi Arabia, Soleimani said.

It has always been the Saudis who have been adventurous towards Islam, he said, referring to Riyadhs killing of thousands of Muslim men and women in Yemen and crackdown on its own people.

Saudi Arabia has relentlessly been attacking Yemen since March last year while it has been implicated in providing support for Daesh along with its allies, including Qatar and Turkey.

On the other hand, the kingdom has been part of a US-led coalition which launches air raids in Iraq and Syria allegedly to target the Takfiris.
Prisoner's mother rejects her own sentence of jail, lashes

03/14/16 Source: Radio Zamaneh

Simin Eyvazideh, the mother of political prisoner Omid Haghshenas, has been sentenced to 91 days in jail and 74 lashes.



Simin Eyvazideh pictured with her son Omid Haghshenas



The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reports that Eyvazzadeh had until Saturday March 12 to appeal the sentence.

Eyvazzadeh told the campaign: "The charge against me has nothing to do with my actions; therefore, I do not accept the sentence and find it unfair and unreasonable and expect to be completely acquitted."

Eyvazzdeh was arrested in November along with 17 other citizens gathered in protest in front of Evin Prison. She was released on bail nine days later.

Last month, she was sentenced to 74 lashes and 91 days in jail for the charge of "disrupting public order by participating in illegal gatherings in support of the head of the Erfan Halgheh Cult."

Erfan Halgheh is a mystical view of life and healing presented and taught by Mohammad Ali Taheri, an Iranian scholar on alternative medicine. Taheri was arrested in 2010 for the charge of "insulting sanctities" and is serving his sentence in Evin Prison.

Omid Hagshenas is a children's rights activist who was arrested in September of 2013 and sentenced to 10 years in prison He has appealed his sentenced. In December, Haghshenas was released on bail pending the result of his appeal.

Activist describes menacing summons to court

Iranian political activist Heshamatollah Tabarzadi has been summoned to court for Wednesday March 16. Tabarzadi announced the news on social media, adding that if he is arrested, he will go on a hunger strike from the moment they take him.



Heshmatollah Tabarzadi



Tabatzadi writes: "They rang my bell today and two bearded motorcyclists with faces familiar to many of us said, we are from Evin Prison court and have a summons for Heshmat Tabarzadi. I said leave it there and go, I do not know you and won't open the door. They said you must sign it. I did not open and they kept coming back. They said come on Wednesday or a warrant will be issued. I said I have been the subject of many warrants. So they appear to have left."

Tabarzadi adds that whether he decides to go or not, he will not provide any information to any interrogator and will not put up any bail.

Tabarzadi is the secretary of the Democratic Front of Iran, an organization that has been targeted with arrests on several occasions in the recent years.
Tehran Stock Exchange roars to 2-year high

03/14/16 Source: Press TV

Tehran's benchmark TEPIX index rises above the 80,000-point mark for the first time in two years, driven by continued optimism about prospects of an economic growth following the lifting of sanctions.





This undated photo shows two traders talking at Tehran Stock Exchange.





The Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) shrugged off France's warnings of possible European sanctions on Iran over its recent ballistic missile launches to surge a whopping 870 points and hit 80,236 at the close on Monday, IRNA reported.

Steel, telecommunication and automotive industries made the biggest gains in the day during which about $135,000 worth of stocks were traded.

TSE is among the five biggest markets in the Middle East, where more than 300 companies are listed with a market capitalization of around $100 billion.



Source: Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)





It has surged over 20% since the implementation of a nuclear deal on January 17 when TSE ended the day at about 65,000 points, even as global stock markets have tumbled.

The lifting of sanctions has generated a tide of euphoric mood in anticipation of money from outside the country flowing into Iranian stocks.

International business delegations are pouring into the country. Dozens of them have toured Iran over the past year to assess the landscape and visited some of the listed Iranian manufacturers.

Investors are encouraged by prospects of new investment and a rise in economic growth and the Iranian market's low valuations.

Iran is being billed a G20 country in waiting with its largest educated population in the region, making it a de facto regional economic leader, according to experts.

While international investment on Tehran's bourse was already legal, sanctions especially on the banking system made it impossible to transfer money in and out of Iran.

On Monday, the Mehr news agency quoted the Central Bank of Iran as saying that Iranian banks were fully reconnected to the global transaction network SWIFT and there was no hurdle to opening letters of credit.

Mehr said Iranian banks have so far opened 450 million euros of LCs through the Iran-Europe Commercial Bank (IECB) since the lifting of sanctions.
EU Considering Sanctions On Iran, Ties With Russia

03/14/16

Source: RFE/RL

European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss possible sanctions against Iran, as well as the bloc's relations with Russia, when they meet in Brussels on March 14.

The gathering of the European Foreign Affairs Council, which includes foreign ministers from all EU member states, comes as the EU is also examining reengagement with Iran following its nuclear deal with world powers in July 2015.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on March 13 that EU sanctions against Iran would be adopted, "if necessary," in response to Iran's recent ballistic-missile tests.

Ayrault made the remarks after meeting in Paris with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, and Italy.

The latest ballistic-missile tests by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) took place in early March.

If the missiles are confirmed as capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the tests would violate a United Nations Security Council resolution.

In January, the United States imposed sanctions against 11 companies and individuals over ballistic missiles tests in late 2015 by Iran.

Iran maintains its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons and says it will continue missile development.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said the tests do not violate Iran's nuclear deal with world powers or UN Security Council resolutions.

With a range of 2,000 kilometers, Iran's ballistic missiles would be capable of reaching Israel and U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

The EU ministers on March 14 also were expected to discuss relations with Russia, which have been impacted by the Kremlin's support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukaine and by a Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Some Western officials have accused Russia of exacerbating Europe's migrant crisis with military action in Syria in order use refugees as a bargaining chip for the lifting of EU economic sanctions.

The EU's main economic sanctions against Russia's energy and bank sectors - imposed over Russia's role in Ukraine's conflict -- are up for renewal at the end of July.

On March 9, EU ambassadors decided to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months over its illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in March 2014.

Those sanctions include asset freezes and visa bans on 146 people and 37 entities that, according to the EU, have benefited from Russia's annexation of Crimea or have been responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.

That blacklist includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, President Vladimir Putin's adviser Sergei Glazyev, and Dmitry Kiselyov, who many regard as the Kremlin's chief propagandist.

It also includes several companies in Crimea, and various battalions formed by the Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Other topics on the agenda of the March 14 foreign ministers' gathering in Brussels include the UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva between Syria's government and moderate Syrian opposition factions.

Those indirect peace talks are due to begin on March 14.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and BBC

Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
The Death of the King: A play by acclaimed Iranian writer and director Bahram Beyzaie

03/14/16



www.thedeathoftheking.com



Written by Bahram Beyzaie

Translated by Soheil Parsa and Peter Farbridge

Directed by Soheil Parsa

Sponsored by the Stanford Festival of Iranian Arts and the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program of Iranian Studies and the Bita Daryabari Endowment in Persian Letters.

A Modern Times Stage Company / The Theatre Centre co-production



Departing from a single line in Persia's history books, critically-acclaimed Iranian playwright, Bahram Beyzaie wrote 'The Death of the King' shortly after the Iranian Revolution. Beyzaie's play tells the story of an ordinary family charged with treason, accused of killing their nation's ruler. The execution gallows are being prepared while a miller, his wife and their daughter, embark on a desperate bid to reveal the truth about their despotic yet desperate leader. This highly-inventive and physical production explores the vulnerability of ordinary citizens struggling under the extraordinary circumstance of their political fate. Inspired by events that occurred 1,300 years ago, this play remains profoundly relevant to our times. Directed by award-winning Canadian director Soheil Parsa, this production should not be missed.

*Play is being performed in English

Performances:

Wednesday, April 13 at 8:00 PM

Thursday, April 14 at 8:00 PM

Friday April 15 at 8:00 PM

Saturday April 16 at 2:00 PM & 8:00 PM

Sunday April 17 at 1:00 PM

Sunday April 17 at 5:00 PM

Tickets:

$35 -Evening shows

$25 -Matinee shows

$15 - Stanford staff, faculty, students, alumni

20% Group Discount for Groups of 8+. (Must purchase in person or call the Ticket Office for this promo)

Tickets Online or call 650-725-2787

LOCATION: ODC Theater, San Francisco (MAP)

More information